Chapters xxvi.-xxxvii., completing the document, are given in the present volume. The preceding chapters, with Bibliographical Data, are found in our VolumeIII.
Documents XV. and XVI. are letters from Charles Lalemant to Sieur de Champlain and the provincial of the Récollets, respectively, dated at Quebec, July 28, 1625. They are taken from Sagard'sHistoire du Canada(Paris, 1636), pp. 868, 869, 870; in the Tross reprint of Sagard (Paris, 1865), they are in vol. iii., pp. 789, 790.48
Document XVII. is a letter from Lalemant to his general, at Rome, dated New France, August 1, (presumably 1626). It was written in Latin, the original being preserved in the Archives of the Gesù at Rome. This is one of the letters copied for Carayon, by Father Martin, in 1858, and translated by the latter into French, for thePremière Mission, where it appears on pp. 117-121,—see Bibliographical Data for Document XIII., in our Volume III. We follow the Martin apograph, in Latin (preserved at St. Mary's College, Montreal), and our translation into English is made therefrom.49
The above three letters by Lalemant were selected by O'Callaghan from Sagard and Carayon,—thethird being, of course, Martin's French translation,—and published at Albany in 1870, with a brief "Avis" giving the sources of the documents. This publication, known in the Lenox Catalogue as "O'Callaghan Reprint No. 2," bears the following title-page:
Copie de Trois | Lettres | escrittes ès années 1625. et 1626. | Par le P. Charles Lallemant | Superieur des Missions de la Compagnie | de Iesvs en la | Novvelle France. | A Albanie | De l'Imprimerie de J. Munsell | M.DCCC.LXX.
Collation of O'Callaghan's Reprint.Title, 1 p.; reverse of title, with inscription: "Edition tirée à vingt cinq exemplaires. O'C.," 1 p.; "Avis" (by O'Callaghan), 1 p.; text, pp. 5-14.
For further references, see Brown, vol. ii., no. 316 and p. 166; Harrisse, nos. 426, 427, 429; Sabin, vol. x., no. 38679; O'Callaghan, nos. 1209, 1250; Winsor, p. 301; Lenox, p. 18.
We follow the original publication (Paris, 1627), now in the Lenox Library, of Lalemant's letter to his brother, Jerome; it is described in the Lenox Catalogue, p. 4, under "H. 41."
There are extant, four different reprints of this document, as follows:
1. It appears to have first been reprinted inMercure François, tome xiii., pp. 12-34; the portion of the journal wherein this is found, is devoted to the events of the year 1626, but the royal Privilege for the volume was "Donné au camp de la Rochelle le 28. de Septembre, l'an de grace 1628." The original publication appeared without statement of Privilege; it is, therefore, impossible to say when in 1627 permission to print was granted. In the Quebec edition oftheRelations(1858), it is inadvertently stated (vol. i.) that this letter commences on p. 1 (instead of p. 12) of tome xiii. ofMercure, an error which Sabin, Harrisse, and others have repeated. As will be seen by a comparison of our text with that of issues which follow theMercure, the differences between the original and this first reprint are slight.
2. The next reprint appears in Danjou'sArchives Curieuses, 2nd series, tome iii. (Paris, 1838), pp. (405-426). This follows the text of the original, and not that of theMercure. The following clause in the Lenox Catalogue, p. 19,—the final sentence of note under "7(b)" in list of O'Callaghan's Reprints,—is misleading: "The copy in the Astor Library of that work is printed from the original letter of 1627." The "copy in the Astor" is simply this reprint inArchives Curieuses, of which rare collection the Astor has a set.
3. The third reprint, but the first in separate form, was issued by O'Callaghan at Albany, 1870, and is the one designated in the Lenox Catalogue (p. 19) as "7(b)." The text of theMercurereprint is followed, with a made-up title-page, as follows:
Relation | de ce qvi s'est passé | en la | Novvelle France | en l'annee M.DC.XXVI. | Enuoyée au Père Hierosme L'Allemant | par le P. Charles L'Allemant Superievr de | la Mission de la Compagnie de Iesvs | en | Canada. | D'après la Copie dans le Mercure François | Tome 13. | A Paris | Chez Estienne Richer ruë S. Iean de Latran | M.DC.XXIX.
Collation of same.Title, 1 p.; reverse of title, with inscription: "Edition tirée a vingt-cinq exemplaires, O'C.," 1 p.; Tables des Matieres, 2 pp.; text, pp. 1-51; Table, pp. 53-59.
4. A second separate reprint was issued by O'Callaghan in 1871, and is that referred to in the Lenox Catalogue (p. 19) as "7(a)." This follows the original text, and not that of theMercure; it is set in small type in imitation of the original (Paris, 1627), and comes into the same number of pages. Upon the otherwise blank page facing the last page of the text, is the inscription: "Calqué sur l'exemplaire dans la collection | de Mr. James Lenox, de New York." The title-page is apparently photo-lithographed from the original.
For further references to this document, which has had a curious bibliographical history, see Harrisse, no. 41; Sabin, vol. x., no. 38680 (original), and no. 38682 (reprint); Carayon, nos. 1254, 1255, and p. 1179; Ternaux, no. 496; Winsor, pp. 300, 301;Historical Magazine, vol. iii., p. 19; Brown, vol. ii., p. 166; Lenox, p. 4 (H. 41), 19; and the Barlow (no. 1272), Murphy (no. 1480), and O'Callaghan (nos. 1250, 1982) sale catalogues.
Title-page.We give a photographic facsimile of original.
Collation of Original.Title, 1 p.; text, pp. 1-16.
Charles Lalemant's letter of Nov. 22, 1629, to the superior of the Jesuit College at Paris, originally appeared without title or headlines, inLes voyages du Sieur de Champlain(Paris, 1632), 2nd part, pp. 275-279. O'Callaghan reprinted it in what is known in the Lenox list as "No. 3," of which,—as with others of the O'Callaghan series,—but twenty-five copies were published. He omitted the preliminary editorial note, on p. 275, made up a title-page of his own,and furnished the Avant-Propos. In the present issue, we reproduce the O'Callaghan title-page and Avant-Propos, but in all other respects strictly follow the original publication. See further references in Winsor, p. 301; Sabin, vol. x., no. 38681; Lenox, p. 18.
Title-page.We imitate O'Callaghan's Reprint.
Collation of O'Callaghan's Reprint.Title, 1 p.; reverse of title, with inscription: "Tirée à vingt cinq exemplaires, lesquels ne font | pas à vendre. O'C.," 1 p.; Avant-Propos (by O'Callaghan), 1 p.; blank, 1 p.; text, pp. 5-15; colophon, 1 p.: "Achevé d'Imprimer à Albany, N. Y., par | J. Munsell, çe 14 Juin, 1870."
(Figures in parentheses, following number of note, refer to pages of English text.)
1(p.15).—The pilot: see vol.ii.,note88.
2(p.15).—Pretended Religion: see vol.iii.,note31.
3(p.21).—On Turnell, see vol.i,note66.
4(p.33).—The Marshal: Sir Thomas Dale (spelled Deel, by Biard). See vol.i,note64.
5(p.33).—The General: this was Sir Thomas Gates, one of the prominent men of his time in both military and civil service. He was of Devonshire, and probably at this time a little over 50 years of age; had been an officer in the Drake-Sidney expedition to America (1585-86) and published an account of it in 1589; later, had military commands in Spain and Holland; was commander of the English expedition to Virginia in 1608, and appointed the first sole and absolute governor to the colony there; returned to England in April, 1614. He lived about six years longer, and took much interest in the affairs of Virginia. Both he and Dale were men of energy and executive ability; to their efforts are mainly ascribed the establishment and continuance of the Jamestown colony.
6(p.69).—The French name for the English Channel; given on account of its shape, resembling a sleeve (Fr.manche). It gives its name to the maritime department of France in which are situated Cherbourg and St. Lô.
7(p.75).—The ambassador: see vol.ii.,note94.
8(p.85).—On Betsabes, see vol.iii.,note16.
9(p.91).—River of smelts: the Liesse River of Lescarbot (see vol.ii.,note37).
10(p.95).—On this point, cf. Maurault (Hist. Abenakis, p. 95,note4): "The Abnakis always exhibited profound grief at the death of a child; the parents were inconsolable. The cause of this great sorrow was the belief of the savages that a child was wretched in the other world, because it was too young and weak to procure for itself the necessities of life there."
11(p.101).—The letters patent here referred to were those issued to Sir Thomas Gates and others, for the establishment of colonies in Virginia, and constituted the colonial charter. This document,dated April 10, 1606, granted some 20,000 square miles to the two companies, but claimed for the crown all of North America between 34° and 45° north latitude, presumably amounting to some 2,000,000 square miles, as the width of the continent was then understood. The text is given, with collateral and illustrative papers, in Brown'sGenesis, pp. 52et seq.
12(p.105).—For a graphic account of the colonial enterprises of Jean Ribaut and René de Laudonnière in Florida (1562-65), consult Parkman'sPioneers, pp. 33-150. Cf. Laudonnière's own narrative, and Ribaut's journal, as given in Goldsmid'sHakluyt, vol. xiii., pp. 407-507; also Guérin'sNavigateurs Français, (Paris, 1846), pp. 180-204.
13(p.105).—Concerning these early discoveries by the French, see vol.ii.,notes49,72; and vol.iii.,notes5,9.
14(p.107).—Biard here refers to the colony established in 1610 by John Guy and others at Cupids Harbor (opening into Conception Bay), N. F. Lord Bacon was prominent in this enterprise, and it was his influence that secured the charter and subsidies granted to the Newfoundland Colonization Company, as it was called. The company seems to have existed till at least 1628. For Guy's charter, and letters written by him, with an account of his enterprise and of other early colonies in that region, see Prowse'sHist. N.F., pp. 92-133.
15(p.107).—The map of Ortelius (1570) shows New France as extending southward to 40°. Van der Aa's "Canada" (1619,ca.) and Blaeu's "Extrema Americæ" (1620), give the Kennebec river as the dividing line between New England and New France; the latter region is extended by Van der Aa to the south of the Great Lakes, and as far as the Mississippi river. Winsor gives (Cartier to Frontenac, p. 9), a sketch reduced from a tracing of the alleged map of Denis (1506), mentioned in vol.iii, of the present series,note4.
16(p.109).—Reference is here made to the "Pandects," orCorpus Juris Civilis, a collection of the Roman civil law, made in the sixth century by Emperor Justinian. The "law of Alluvions" has two branches,—the law of abandonment, and that of accretion (acquirendo). Biard's reference is to theCorpus Juris Civilis, Digest, book 41 ("De adquirendo rerum dominio"), 29 and 30. The sign ff, used in our text, was employed by early jurisconsults to signify the Digest, and even the Pandects as a whole; it is supposed to be a corruption of the Greek character π͂ (or perhaps of θ).—See Hermann Hugo'sDe Prima Scribendi Origine(Antwerp, 1617), p. 153.
17(p.109).—Regarding the Count de Soissons, see vol.ii.,note24.
18(p.109).—Cf. with these arguments of Biard, Champlain's"Abregé des decovvertvres de la Nouuelle France," in hisVoyages(ed. 1632), part 2, pp. 290-296; and Hinsdale's "Right of Discovery," inOhio Archæol. and Hist. Quarterly, Dec., 1888.
19(p.113).—Concerning the French fisheries in Newfoundland, which, with the neighboring Banks, furnished the greater part of the Canadian product, see Prowse'sHist. N.F., pp. 49-50; and Dionne'sNouv. France, chaps. viii., ix. For a detailed account of the Canadian fisheries at the present time, see Joncas's "Fisheries of Canada," inCanadian Economics(Montreal, 1884), pp. 41-73.
Lalemant says (doc. no. xviii.,post) that the usual exportation of beaver skins from New France was 12,000 to 15,000 annually; and that it had, in one year, been 22,000. These skins were sold in France at a pistole each, or ten livres. The Company of Merchants is said to have realized an annual dividend of 40 per cent on its investment. Garneau cites De Caen as saying, when Quebec was restored to him by Kirk, in 1632: "But as for our settlement, my people have found it utterly consumed, along with 9,000 beaver skins, valued at 40,000 livres."—Histoire du Canada(4th ed., Montreal, 1882), vol. i., p. 127,note*. See, also, chapter on "New France and the Fur-trade," in H. H. Bancroft'sN.W. Coast, vol. i., pp. 378-403; and Dionne'sNouv. France, chap. xiii. Gagnon'sEssai de bibliographie canadienne(Quebec, 1895), p. 128, mentions Bruslons'sDictionnaire universel de commerce(Savary's ed., Paris, 1723) as "an immense compilation, containing highly valuable information in regard to Canadian commerce in the seventeenth century."
20(p.171).—Charles Lalemant (also written L'Alemand, L'Almand, Lallemant, and Allemand) was born at Paris Nov. 17, 1587, and became a novice of the Jesuits July 29, 1607, at Rouen. He studied philosophy at La Flèche, 1609-12; during the following three years, he was an instructor in the college of Nevers; four years more he devoted to the study of theology at La Flèche, and one year at Paris. He was a professor in the college at Bourges, 1620-22; and, for three years more, principal of the boarding school of Clermont, Paris. In March, 1625, he was appointed superior of the mission at Quebec, whither he went with his brethren Massé and Brébeuf, and the Récollet missionary Joseph La Roche-Daillon, arriving in June of that year. Here Lalemant remained till November, 1627, when he went to France to procure supplies. Returning in the following May, the ship was captured by Admiral Kirk, the Jesuits being sent to England, and later to France. In June, 1629, Lalemant, with several other Jesuits, made a second attempt to return to Canada; but they were shipwrecked on the rocks near Canso. Noyrot and Malot perished in the waves, Vieuxpont joined Father Vimont at Grand Cibou, and Lalemant was taken back to France by a Basque fishingvessel, arriving at St. Sebastien after still another shipwreck. Quebec having been meanwhile captured by the English, the Canadian missions were interrupted until 1632, when the region was restored to France. Lalemant, upon his return to France, in 1629, was appointed rector of the college at Eu; and, later, of that at Rouen. In April, 1634, his superiors granted his earnest request that he might again go to Canada. He was placed in charge, with Massé and De Nouë, of the chapel "Notre-Dame de Récouvrance" (built by Champlain on his return to New France), and was the latter's friend and spiritual director, attending him at his death. Lalemant returned to France in 1639, and there, during several years, acted as agent for the Canadian missions; he was afterwards successively rector of the colleges at Rouen, La Flèche, and Paris, and at the last place superior of the Maison Professe. There he died, Nov. 18, 1674.
21(p.171).—The General.This was Emery de Caen, who, with his uncle, Guillaume de Caen, was placed by Montmorency in charge of commercial affairs in New France; both were Huguenots—the latter a merchant, the former a naval captain.
It is necessary, in this connection, to outline the commercial monopolies that successively dominated New France in its infancy. For an account of the first of these, granted to De Monts, see vol.i.,note2. His patent was finally canceled in 1609; and in January, 1611, he gave up his claims in America to Madame de Guercheville. Meanwhile, Champlain (see vol.ii.,note42) was continued as lieutenant of the King in New France, with personal command over the Quebec colony, which was sustained mainly through his efforts, with the aid of the Rouen merchants who had been associated with De Monts.
Company of Associates.—The Rouen associates withdrew from the enterprise, toward the close of 1611; and, in the following year, Champlain undertook the formation of a new company, to be composed of merchants from Rouen, Havre, St. Malo and La Rochelle. It was open to all who were willing to share both the profits and the losses, thus avoiding the jealousies that had been aroused against the limited membership of De Monts's company. The Rochelle men finally declined to enter the company, which afterwards lost heavily by the illicit trade in which the former engaged with the savages. Champlain also accuses these merchants of selling arms and ammunition to the natives, and exciting their hostility against the Quebec colonists.—See hisVoyages(1632), part 2, pp. 2, 3. The Count de Soissons (vol.ii, of this series,note24) was appointed governor of New France, with Champlain as his lieutenant. After considerable delay, the Company of Associates was organized (1613-14); among its members were, besides De Monts and Champlain,Thomas Porée, Lucas Legendre, Mathieu Dusterlo, and Daniel Boyer. Quarrels arose among the associates, caused by commercial and even religious differences of opinion; and some of them tried to eject Champlain from his command. Although this attempt failed, his work was greatly hindered and embarrassed, until the Duke of Montmorency, Condé's successor as viceroy, came to his aid (1620).
Company of De Caen.—Dissensions and complaints still arising, the Company of Associates was summarily dissolved by Montmorency, in November, 1620, and a new company formed. At its head were the De Caens; there were, also, Guillaume Robin, Jacques de Troyes, and François Hervé, merchants; François de Troyes, chief of royal finance at Orléans; Claude Le Ragois, receiver-general of finance at Limoges; Pierre de Verton, counselor and secretary of the King; and others. The old company had resented Montmorency's order of dissolution; but within a year its membership and interests were consolidated with those of the new association. The latter received a monopoly for eleven years, to which the King added eleven more; but it also was dissolved by Richelieu, early in 1627, to make room for his "Company of New France," also known as the "Company of the Hundred Associates."
Company of New France.—This association was personally controlled and managed by Richelieu; and had members in official positions about the court, and in Paris, Rouen, and other cities of France. Among these were Marquis Deffiat, superintendent of finance; Champlain; Claude de Roquemont; the Commander de Razilly; Sebastian Cramoisy, the Parisian publisher; Jean de Lauson, long the president of the company, and intendant of Canada; Louis Houel, secretary of the King, and controller of the salt works at Brouage; and several leading merchants of Paris, Rouen, Dieppe, and Bordeaux. The reasons for the formation of this company, the royal charter granted to it, and its articles of association, are given inMercure François, vol. xiv. (1628), pp. 232-267. For a complete list of the (107) members, see Creuxius'Hist. Canad.; for a copy of the list, with the company's charter, and other interesting particulars, see Sulte'sHistoire des Canadiens-Français(Montreal, 1882-84), vol. ii., pp. 27-33. The company was granted jurisdiction over the territory extending from Florida to the Arctic Circle, and from Newfoundland to the "great fresh lake" (Huron). Only Catholics were permitted to join this association, or to settle in its colonies; and no Huguenot or foreigner might enter Canada. The capture of Quebec by the English (1629) temporarily broke up this monopoly; but it resumed operations when that region was retroceded to France (vol.ii.,note42). The charter of the company obliged it to send 4,000 colonists thither before 1643; to lodge and support them duringthree years; and then to give them cleared lands for their maintenance. The vast expense attending this undertaking was beyond the ability of the Associates; therefore, in 1645, they transferred to the inhabitants of Quebec their monopoly of the fur trade, with their debts and other obligations,—retaining, however, their seigniorial rights. Finally (Feb. 24, 1663), the Hundred Associates abandoned their charter, and New France again became the property of the crown.
All these monopolies appear to have sought mainly their own financial interests. They sustained the Quebec settlement, but in penurious fashion, and only so far as it aided their trade with the natives; but they did nothing to make it an agricultural community, or to forward Champlain's schemes for the permanent colonization of Canada,—neither of which objects could well be attained under the feudal tenure by which the colonists held land under the companies.
For more extended accounts of these enterprises, see Parkman'sPioneers, pp. 364-366, 419-432; hisJesuits, pp. 155-157, 194, 195, 331; Ferland'sCours d'Histoire, vol. i, pp. 161, 162, 167, 185, 189, 197-201, 215, 217, 220, 226, 338-340; Rochemonteix'sJésuites, vol. i., pp. 128-135, 159, 163, 164, and vol. ii., pp. 65-66; Slafter's "Memoir of Champlain," inVoyages(Prince Soc.), vol. i., pp. 110-114, 122, 144-158, 187; Faillon'sColon. Fr., vol. i., pp. 132-136, 150, 160-175, 189-232, 268-272, 333-352; Winsor'sCartier to Frontenac, pp. 130, 131, 167, 168; Garneau'sCanada, vol. i., pp. 63-75; and Margry'sCollection de manuscrits relatifs à la Nouvelle France(Quebec, 1883), vol. i., pp. 62-85.
The losses of the De Caens at the capture of Quebec (referred tonote ante,19) were heavy; and, as some compensation therefor, they were granted a monopoly of the fur trade in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for one year. Emery De Caen was therefore appointed provisional governor of Canada for that period, upon the restitution of the province by the English; and on July 13, 1632, he took formal possession of Quebec in the name of his King. Laverdière gives (Champlain, close of vol. ii.) numerous "Pièces justificatives;" see pp. 6-31 of these, for documents showing De Caen's losses through Kirk's attack, and his attempts to secure redress from the latter through the English government. L'Abbé H. A. B. Verreau, inReport on Canadian Archives(1874), p. 197, mentions that in Paris he found documents granting islands in the West Indies to De Caen, in 1633 and 1640.
22(p.171).—Champlain, in thorough accord with the policy then dominant at the court of France, was fully as desirous of establishing the Christian religion among the savages of America as of gainingnew possessions for France. He had tried, in 1612, to induce Madame de Guercheville to send the Jesuits to Quebec, and to aid De Monts in establishing a colony there; see hisVoyages(1632), pt. i., pp. 112, 113. This proposal was rejected, on account of De Monts's Calvinistic faith. But when the Company of Merchants was formed, two years later, Champlain at once made plans for the establishment of missions in New France. Consulting Louis Houel, of Brouage, the latter advised him to apply to the Récollets (vol.ii., of the present series,note41), who had already won renown from their successful missions in Spanish America.
That Order gladly responded to the appeal; and, having secured the consent of the King of France and of the Pope, and assurances of aid from the Company of Merchants, the first Récollet missionaries to Canada departed from France, April 24, 1615.—See Introduction, vol. i., pp. xx., xxi. Other Récollets were sent over, from time to time; and, in 1620-21, they built a convent and chapel (the first in Canada) on St. Charles River, about half a French league from the fort of Quebec. This they named Notre-Dame des Anges; it was situated (according to Laverdière) on the spot where now stands the General Hospital.
By 1624, five Récollet missions had been established—at Tadoussac, Quebec, and Three Rivers; at Carhagouha, in the Huron country; and among the Nipissings. There was another, in Acadia, on St. John River, founded in 1619, conducted by three Récollets from Aquitaine, and supported by certain commercial companies at Bordeaux. This mission was closed in July, 1624; and, immediately thereafter, its priests joined their brethren at Quebec.
Just before their arrival, a conference of the Récollet missionaries was held at Quebec, at which they resolved to ask the coöperation of the Jesuits (also noted for the success of their foreign missions) in the Canadian field, which was far too large and arduous for their limited resources, hoping that the latter order would send some missionaries at its own expense. The Récollets, even more austere than the other Franciscan orders, were forbidden by their rules to own property; hence their missionaries could not look to their own order for aid. The Company of Merchants had agreed with Champlain to support six of the Récollets; but, as many of its members were Protestants, this outlay was probably an unwelcome burden to them. Moreover, the religious dissensions constantly arising between the Huguenots and the Catholics were felt to be a hindrance to the labors of the missionaries, who would have preferred that Protestants should be entirely excluded from the management of affairs. Sagard says (Canada, pp. 860, 861) that he complained to Montmorency of the disorders in Canada, for which he blamed theHuguenots; and that the Récollet provincial at Paris, with Father Irenæus Piat (envoy from the Canadian missionaries, to negotiate with the Jesuits), made formal charges against them in the council, to the same effect. The viceroy (in Rochemonteix's phrase, "a man of the world, who loved pleasures quite as well as honors") had meanwhile gladly disposed of his troublesome Canadian dignities (January, 1625) to his nephew Henri de Lévis, duke of Ventadour, a pious man who cared not for trade or conquest, but only for the conversion of the savages. De Lévis's spiritual director was a Jesuit; the application of the Récollets for aid from the Society of Jesus came at an opportune time for both orders. It is also probable that the influences of the court, at that time strongly inclined toward the Jesuits, helped to bring about the arrangement. There was, however, considerable opposition to its consummation, especially from the Company of Merchants; but, according to Faillon, the new viceroy asserted his authority over them, and obliged them to yield. In accordance with the agreement, the Jesuit fathers Lalemant, Massé, and Brébeuf, with the coadjutors François Charreton, Jean Goffestre, and Gilbert Burel, were sent to New France in April, 1625. There they pursued their missionary labors until the capture of Quebec by the English, four years later. After that event, Kirk sent all the missionaries back to France, by way of England. When the French returned (1632), they were accompanied solely by Jesuit priests, for Richelieu would not allow the Récollets to resume their Canadian missions.
For accounts of this transaction, from a Récollet standpoint, see Shea'sLe Clercq, pp. 224-233; and Sagard'sCanada, pp. 860-865. The Jesuit view is given in Rochemonteix'sJésuites, vol. i., pp. 137-153. Cf. Faillon'sColon. Fr., vol. i., pp. 206-212.
23(p.171).—This was Joseph de la Roche-Daillon (written also d'Allion), a Récollet priest of the province of St. Denis, allied to the house of the counts du Lud (or Lude). He accompanied the Jesuit missionaries to Canada, and, after remaining at Quebec for a year, went to the Huron country with Brébeuf and De Nouë. In October, 1626, he visited the Neutral Nation, and spent the winter there. In the summer of 1628, he returned from the Huron mission to Quebec, remaining there until its capture; Champlain mentions his visit to "Father la Roche," just before that event, to ask if the Récollets could supply any grain to the colony. Sagard gives (Canada, pp. 880-892) a letter written to a friend by Daillon, describing his visit to the Neutrals; it is reproduced by Le Clercq (Shea's ed., vol. i., pp. 263-272). Harris (citing Noiseux'sListe chronologique) gives the date of Daillon's death as July 16, 1656.—Early Missions in Western Canada(Toronto, 1893), p. 56,note.
24(p.171).—The trading station: Three Rivers (see vol.ii.,note52). This point was long a favorite fur-trade rendezvous for the Indians. The Récollet missionaries established a residence here in June, 1615, which was maintained until 1628. The fortified French settlement at Three Rivers was established by Champlain in July, 1634, to protect the Huron and Algonkin fur trade from the incursions of the Iroquois, and to serve as an outpost of defence for Quebec. The first colonist was Jacques Hertel, who in 1633 had obtained a grant of land there. The Jesuit missionaries were also among the proprietors of the new town, having obtained from the Company of New France (seenote21,ante), by a grant dated Feb. 15, 1634, six arpents of land at Three Rivers; but they did not secure possession of this till Montmagny delivered it to them (1637). However, within two months after La Violette, Champlain's lieutenant, had erected his stockade at Three Rivers, two of the Jesuit fathers,—Le Jeune and Buteux,—had established a residence there, which was for many years an important center of missionary work.—See Sulte'sCan.-Français, vol. ii., pp. 48-54: he gives a list; containing also much genealogical information, of the early inhabitants of Three Rivers; and the document granting land there to the Society of Jesus, copied fromTitres seigneuriaux(Quebec, 1852), p. 70. Cf. Ferland'sCours d'Histoire, vol. i., p. 270; he states that the church registers of Three Rivers are continuous since February, 1635; and that these records are the oldest existing in Canada. The first entry gives the exact date on which the settlement was begun—July 4, 1634.
Sulte has published, at Montreal, several works concerning this town:Histoire de la ville des Trois-Rivières(1870),Chronique trifluvienne(1879), andAlbum de l'Histoire des Trois-Rivières(1881).
25(p.171).—Father Nicholas Viel, then stationed at Montargis, France, was sent to the Canadian mission of the Récollets, with Brother Gabriel Sagard (seenote48,post), in 1623. Arriving at Quebec, June 28 of that year, they at once accompanied Father Joseph Le Caron to the Huron country, which they reached in August, and settled at the residence already established at Quieunonascaran. At the end of ten months, Le Caron and Sagard returned to Quebec, leaving Viel in charge of the mission. In the summer of 1625, he went with the Hurons on their annual trading voyage to Quebec, taking with him an Indian lad named Ahautsic, whom he had baptized and confirmed. A storm scattering the fleet, the three Hurons in his canoe viciously threw him and his disciple into the water, at the last rapid above Montreal, which from that time has borne the name of Sault au Récollet. Sagard and Le Clercq givefull accounts of Father Viel's missionary work, and of his tragic death. The latter states that Viel left a dictionary of the Huron language, with other memoirs, in the hands of certain Frenchmen then living in the Huron country, who, later, conveyed the MSS. to Father Le Caron, at Quebec.
26(p.171).—Joseph Le Caron was one of the four Récollets who began the mission of that order in Canada (seenote22,ante). Verbal permission to engage in this work was given them by the papal nuncio at Paris, that their departure might not be delayed by waiting for the usual brief; for some unknown reason the issue of this paper was delayed until March 20, 1618. The original document is now in the departmental archives of France, according to Faillon (Col. Fr., vol. i., p. 146). It is addressed to Father Le Caron and other Récollet brothers and priests: Sagard copies it in hisCanada, pp. 12-17.
Upon arriving at Tadoussac, May 25, 1615, Jamay (the superior) went with Le Caron to Three Rivers, where they at once proceeded to establish a sedentary mission for the Indians. Leaving this in the care of Jamay (whose headquarters were at Quebec), Le Caron departed for the Huron country, living with the savages at their town of Carhagouha (near Thunder Bay; later known as Toanché). Here he remained until the following May, meanwhile visiting with Champlain the Tobacco Nation and adjoining tribes. By these Indians he was cruelly treated, at the instigation of the medicine men (whom the French missionaries styled "sorcerers").
In July, 1616, the Récollet missionaries held at Quebec a conference with Champlain and other friends of their work, at which it was decided that they needed more missionaries, more French colonists, and a seminary for the education of Indian children. To obtain aid in these directions, Jamay and Le Caron soon afterwards went with Champlain to France, where at first they received but little help or encouragement. Jamay remained to forward the interests of the mission; while Le Caron, now appointed its superior, returned to Canada in the spring of 1617, accompanied by Father Paul Huet. A year later, desiring to work personally among the savages, Le Caron delegated to Father d'Olbeau his authority as superior, and spent a year at Tadoussac, with the Montagnais. During 1619-22, he labored at Quebec, then again wintered with the Montagnais; and in July, 1623, returned to the Huron mission, accompanied by Viel and Sagard (seenotes25,48). During his year's stay there, he did much to aid Champlain in securing the temporary treaty of peace which, in July, 1624, was concluded between the Iroquois, on one part, and the French and their savage allies on the other.
In August, 1625, Le Caron went to France on the affairs of the mission, and returned the following year with Brother Gervase Mohier and a reinforcement of Jesuit missionaries. He remained at Quebec, as superior of his mission, until 1629, when all the priests were sent back to France by Kirk. As the Récollets expected to resume work on the Canadian mission, Le Caron was appointed its procurator in France; but he died on March 29, 1632,—according to Le Clercq—through grief at the exclusion of his order from Canada.
Upon the invasion of Canada by the English, the Récollet missionaries had been urged by their savage disciples to take refuge with them in their towns, where they would be safe from attack, and could minister to the religious wants of the natives until the French should return. The fathers wished to accept this proposal; but as it was opposed by the council of Quebec, Le Caron felt obliged to decline it, for which he was afterwards blamed by some of his brethren in France.
Full details of his work are given by Le Clercq and Sagard: the former copies a letter written by La Caron to his provincial at Paris, Aug. 7, 1618; also fragments of memoirs sent by him to that officer in 1624.—See Shea'sLe Clercq, vol. i., pp. 134-137, and 213-224. He is said to have prepared a dictionary of the Huron language (Ibid., p. 249). Other MSS. of his were burned in March, 1631, as a result of sanitary measures then taken against a contagious disease in the convent of St. Margaret, near Gisors, Normandy, of which he was superior.—See "Memorial of the Récollets, 1637," in Margry'sDécouvertes et établissements des Français dans l'Amérique septentrionale(Paris, 1876-86), vol. i., p. 11.
27(p.173).—The purpose of his voyage.Sagard tells us (Canada, p. 871) that this was to improve the condition of Canada, and to ask the King for funds to support the children and new converts in the seminary planned by the Récollets. Le Clercq asserts that it was through Le Caron's influence that Emery de Caen was recalled from Canada, and replaced by a Catholic, Raymond de la Ralde (who had been De Caen's lieutenant); also that the same influence had much to do with the formation of Richelieu's Company of New France.—See Shea'sLe Clercq, vol. i., pp. 253-259. Rochemonteix, however, claims (Jésuites, vol. i., p. 165) that Richelieu's determination to replace Montmorency's company by that of the Hundred Associates was due mainly to Father Noyrot's influence, and to his representations of the state of affairs in Canada.
28(p.177).—Mutio Vitelleschi was born at Rome, in 1565; on Nov. 15, 1615, he became Aquaviva's successor as general of the Society of Jesus; his death occurred Feb. 9, 1645. Ranke, inHistory of the Popes(Foster's tr., London, 1871), vol. ii., p. 388, says:"Vitelleschi was by nature mild, indulgent, and conciliatory; his intimates called him the angel of peace; and he found consolation on his deathbed from the conviction that he had never injured any one. These were admirable qualities of a most amiable man, but did not suffice to fit him for the government of an order so widely extended, active, and powerful. He was unable to enforce strictness of discipline, even with regard to dress; still less could he oppose an effectual resistance to the demands of determined ambition." Daurignac, inHistory of the Society of Jesus(Clements's tr., Baltimore, 1878), vol. i., p. 398, says that he was designated "the Angel" by Pope Urban VIII., on account of his docility and humility. It was under his generalship (Feb. 12, 1622) that Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, and Francis Xavier, were canonized by Gregory XV.; that the first centenary of the society was held (Sept. 25, 1639), when its reports showed that it occupied 36 provinces, and had 800 houses and 15,000 members; and that the great controversy between the Jansenists and Jesuits began. Even more important, according to Ranke, was the change which occurred, during this administration, in the government and discipline of the society, by which the "professed" members attained supremacy, and occupied positions in business, administration, and other affairs of the world, which before had belonged mainly to the coadjutors,—those of provincials, rectors, and superiors of colleges. The former ascetic strictness of discipline was relaxed; and the society became less ardent in its devotion to the interests of the Holy See. Vitelleschi and his immediate successors strove, but with little success, to correct these tendencies.—See Ranke,ut supra, pp. 387-393; he obtains most of his information from a MS. in the Corsini library at Rome, entitledDiscorso sopra la religione de' padri Gesuiti, e loro modo di governare(1681-86,circa). Cf. Daurignac's account (ut supra, pp. 324-398) of the order under Vitelleschi's administration.
29(p.177).—During the seventeenth century, all navigated seas were infested with pirates. Lescarbot mentions (vol. ii. of the present series, p. 131) that Poutrincourt met, in the English Channel, a ship of "Forbans" or pirates; the word "forban" means, literally, one banished, an outlaw, and characterizes most of the European pirates of the time. Sagard (Canada, 115, 120, 121), relates that, on his journey to New France, his ship was threatened by a Dutch pirate, in the very harbor of Rochelle. Sulte (Can.-Français, vol. ii., p. 20,note) cites the case of one of De Caen's vessels, which was captured (September, 1624) while en route from Gaspé to Bordeaux, by Turks, near the coast of Brittany; the Frenchmen were carried away as slaves.
Brown (Cape Breton, p. 110), who says he obtained his information from original documents in the Public Record office at London, writes: "The fishermen of Newfoundland were cruelly harassed by pirates. In eight years (1612-20), the damage done by the pirates was estimated at 40,800l.; besides the loss of 180 pieces of ordnance, and 1,080 fishermen and mechanics carried off by force. On August 8, 1625, the Mayor of Poole wrote to the Privy Council, saying that, unless protection were afforded to the Newfoundland fleet of 250 sail, 'of the Western Ports,' they would be surprised by the Turkish pirates; and, on the 12th of the same month, the Mayor of Plymouth informed the Council that twenty-seven ships and 200 men had been taken by pirates in ten days." Brown also citesDiscourse and Discovery of Newfoundland(London, 1623), written by one Captain Whitbourne, who was sent out in 1615, to hold a court of admiralty for inquiry into certain abuses; and who says that Peter Easton, a pirate, had ten sail of well-appointed ships, that he was master of the seas, and levied a regular tax on fishing vessels.
As early as 1620, John Mason, then governor of Newfoundland, received a commission from the English admiralty to suppress pirates; and he captured, among others, a Sallee (or Moorish) pirate in the Irish harbor of Crookhaven (1625). Prowse (Hist. N.F., pp. 108, 174, 182), gives the text of this commission; he also states that Placentia was raided five times previous to 1685, by English buccaneers, who plundered the town of all movable property.
30(p.177).—Jean de Brébeuf was born March 25, 1593, at Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy. He belonged to a noble family, from which, according to theBiographie Universelle(Paris, 1843-66), the English family of Arundel had its descent. Entering the Society of Jesus Nov. 8, 1617, at Rouen, he was ordained five years later; and in 1625 was sent to Canada as one of the first Jesuit missionaries (note22,ante). The first year he spent among the Montagnais; but in 1626 went, with De Nouë, to the Huron country, where they settled at Toanché (known to the Récollets as Carhagouha; seenote26,ante), in the bark cabin which Le Caron had erected eleven years before. Here Brébeuf remained (alone, after the first year) until the capture of Quebec. Returning to Canada with Champlain (1633), he at once resumed work in the Huron country, where he labored until his death (excepting 1641-44, when at Quebec). During the winter of 1640-41, he endeavored (but without success) to establish a mission in the Neutral Nation. He lived successively at Ihonatiria, a new village built not far from the deserted Toanché; Teanaustayé, called by the missionaries St. Joseph, in the present township of Médonte, Simcoe county, Ontario; and St. Ignace and St. Louis, about half-way between the former towns. In March, 1649, a thousand Iroquois attacked and destroyed the two last-namedvillages capturing there Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, both of whom were put to death with cruel tortures,—the former dying March 16, the latter on the day following. Their bodies were rescued by their brethren and their bones afterwards taken to Quebec,—where, in the Hôtel Dieu, Brébeuf's head is still preserved, inclosed in a silver bust sent from France by his family. A minute account of this martyrdom is given by one of the lay brothers of the Huron mission, Christophe Regnaut (Regnault), in a MS. written at Caen in 1678. A copy of this document, with an English translation, is given by Brymner, inCanadian Archives, 1884, pp. lxiii.-lxvii., and will in due course be reproduced in the present series.
Harris (Miss. West. Canada., p. 212,note) states that he has seen in St. Martin's church (Ritualist), Brighton, England, a figured window in memory of Father Brébeuf. A memorial church, in honor of all the Jesuit martyrs in the Huron country, is now (January, 1897) approaching completion at Penetanguishene, Ontario; an illustration thereof will appear in vol. v. of this series.
Brébeuf'sRelationsof the Huron mission will appear in succeeding volumes of our series; that for 1636 contains an elaborate account of the social condition, manners, and customs of that nation, and a treatise on their language—this last being reproduced, in an English translation, by Albert Gallatin inTransactions of Amer. Antiquarian Society, vol. ii., (Cambridge, 1836), pp. 236-238. At the close of Champlain'sVoyages(ed. 1632) may be found translations into Montagnais of Ledesma's "Christian Doctrine," by Brébeuf; and of the Lord's Prayer, Apostles' Creed, etc., by Massé.
31(p.181).—Anne de Nouë was born Aug. 7, 1587; his father was the seigneur of Prières and of Villers, near Rheims, France. Anne's early years were spent at court, first as a page, then as an officer of the King's bedchamber; but at the age of twenty-five he devoted himself to a religious life, and entered the Jesuit novitiate (Sept. 20, 1612). He spent ten years in the study of philosophy and theology, at the Jesuit colleges of Paris, La Flèche, and Nevers; then became acting rector at Bourges, where he remained until sent to Canada (1626). Accompanying Brébeuf to the Huron country, he came back to Quebec in the following spring, apparently remaining there until the English invasion. During this time he essayed to spend a winter with the Montagnais, but suffered so greatly from cold and hunger that he was obliged to leave them. Returning to Canada with De Caen (1632), his first care was to repair the convent and other buildings destroyed by the English. Unable, after repeated efforts, either to learn the native languages, or to endure the hardships of life among the savages, he spent the remainder of his life in the French settlements on the St. Lawrence,—ministering to thesick and dying, instructing the colonists, supplying the temporal needs of his brethren, directing workmen who repaired buildings or cultivated the ground,—as Rochemonteix says, "he became, in the mission, the servant of all." His disposition was enthusiastic and impetuous, yet gentle, lovable, and self-sacrificing. On a journey to Fort Richelieu, to administer the sacraments to the garrison there, he was frozen to death on the St. Lawrence river, Feb. 1, 1646.
32(p.181).—Philibert Noyrot was born October, 1592, in the diocese of Autun; he entered the Jesuit order Oct. 16, 1617, and spent four years in study at Paris and Bourges. Four years later, having been ordained as a priest, he was appointed procuror of the latter college, retaining this office until his death. It was by his advice, according to Rochemonteix, that Ventadour (whose confessor he was) bought the viceroyalty of Canada from Montmorency. In 1626, Noyrot went to Quebec, taking with him twenty workmen to build a residence for the Jesuit missionaries there. Lalemant immediately sent him back to France, to report to Richelieu on the affairs of Canada, and to secure the removal of the Huguenots from the direction of the mercantile company. This resulted in the formation of the Company of New France (seenote27,ante). In order to relieve the scarcity at Quebec, Noyrot loaded a ship with a year's supply of provisions for the missionaries and their workmen; but, according to Le Clercq, these supplies were stopped at Honfleur by De Caen and La Ralde, from resentment at Noyrot's complaints about their conduct. In consequence of this disappointment, the workmen of the mission were taken back to France by Lalemant. Twice again did Noyrot seek to convey supplies to his brethren at Quebec: the first time (July, 1628), he was driven back by Admiral Kirk; the second (June, 1629), he perished by shipwreck near Canso (seenote20,ante).
33(p.181).—Regarding Cotton, (Coton) see vol.ii.,note68.
34(p.183).—For sketch of Massé, see vol.i.,note39.
35(p.191).—Le Clercq, apparently without good reason, mentions this letter as "falsely attributed to Lalemant."—See Rochemonteix'sJésuites, vol. i., p. 155,note.
36(p.191).—A younger brother of Charles Lalemant; a sketch of his life will be given in a later volume.
37(p.193).—Meslin(ormaslin; derived from Latinmiscere): mixed grain, especially a mixture of rye and wheat.
38(p.195).—Champlain wished to make Quebec an agricultural colony, but his efforts were thwarted by the narrow and selfish policy of the mercantile companies, who cared only to develop the fur trade. They gave the colonists no means for cultivating the soil, and, according to Champlain, "had not themselves cleared an arpentand a half of land in the 22 years during which they were, according to his Majesty's intention, to have peopled and cultivated the colony of Quebec." Sagard says (Canada, p. 168) that the space cleared was not even one arpent. The merchants even oppressed Hébert (vol.ii.,note80),—"the only colonist who supported his family from the produce of his land, making many illegal claims upon him for his yearly harvests, and compelling him to sell only to the company, and that at a specified rate."—Champlain'sVoyages(1632), part 2, pp. 144, 183, 184. Cf.Mercure François, vol. xiv. (1628), p. 234. The Récollet missionaries were cultivators, and, desirous of leading the savages from a nomadic to asedentarylife, even induced a few of the latter to imitate their example. The Jesuits also paid much attention to agriculture.—See Faillon'sCol. Fr., vol. i., pp. 161-164; Rochemonteix'sJésuites, vol. i., pp. 154-157; and Sulte'sCan.-Français, vol. ii., p. 18.
Champlain says (Laverdière's ed., pp. 1144, 1155) that the plow was first used in Canada, April 27, 1628; this was doubtless by Couillard, Hébert's son-in-law.
Arpent: a word of Celtic derivation, according to Columelle and Littré; it occurs as early as the eleventh century (e.g.,Chanson de Roland). An old French land measure, containing 100 square perches, but varying in different provinces. The linear arpent of Paris was 180 French feet (variously computed at from 191.83 to 192.3 English feet), the common arpent 200, and the standard arpent 220. The first of these was the one used in New France, under theCoutume de Paris, and it still remains the legal measure in all the seigniories of Quebec. The Quebec Department of Crown Lands, which we adopt as preferable authority, translates the arpent into 191.85 English feet.
Bourdon's map of the settlements on the St. Lawrence, from Quebec to Cape Tourmente (1641; reproduced at end of Tanguay'sDict. Généal., vol. i.), indicates that each lot had seven arpents of river frontage, and a depth of a French league or more (84 arpents to the league). Giffard's concession at Beauport (the first of the seigniories) was 1½ leagues along the river, and the same in depth.—Sulte'sCan.-Français, vol. ii., pp. 47-48. Duralde's survey of the Illinois country (1770) assigned to each inhabitant a lot, measuring from one to four arpents wide, and forty arpents deep.—See H. W. Williams's chapter on "St. Louis Land Titles," in Scharf'sHistory of St. Louis(Phila., 1883), vol. i., pp. 316-329. Williams, whom Scharf indorses as an authority, computes the arpent at 192 feet 6 inches, English measure.
The assignment of lands throughout New France in long, narrow strips, was obviously made to secure for each settler a frontage onthe river, then the main highway; and to bring the inhabitants of each settlement into close neighborhood, for social and defensive purposes. The same reasons, of course, governed the allotment of lands in Roger Williams's colony at Providence (1640),—an interesting similarity to French Canadian custom. The "home-lots" at Providence had an (estimated) river frontage of 105 to 120 English feet, all running up to a common highway along the crest of the back-lying ridge; each lot contained from 4½ to 5½ acres. For description and plats, see Charles W. Hopkins'sHome Lots of the Early Settlers of Providence Plantations(Providence, 1886).
39(p.201).—Cf. vol.iii.,note22.
40(p.201).—See vol.ii.,note21.
41(p.205).—Cf. vol.iii.,note19.
42(p.209).—For value of écu, see vol.i.,note34. The livre was a money of account, in value somewhat less than the modern franc; but in ordinary speech, both terms signified the same value; six livres = one crown. The livre of Tours was worth 20 sous; that of Paris, 25 sous. The pistole was a money of account, equal to ten livres tournois, and worth ten francs of the present currency.
43(p.211)Anti-Coton: a sarcastic pamphlet, published in September, 1610; it attacked the Jesuits, and especially Father Coton, the confessor of Henry IV., of whose murder the Jesuits had been accused by their enemies. Daurignac says (Hist. Soc. Jesus, vol. i., p. 205) that this pamphlet was attributed to Pierre Dumoulin, a Protestant minister of Charenton. This and other like attacks on the Jesuits had been circulated in Canada, and had prejudiced against them even many Catholics.
44(p.233).—This mention of Lalemant being at Pentegoët in 1613, has been copied by some later writers; but it is apparently an oversight. Biard would certainly have included Lalemant in his account of the Acadian missions, if the latter had been there.
45(p.237).—Alexander Vieuxpont was born Dec. 25, 1599, at Auxeville, Normandy. He became a Jesuit novice Sept. 13, 1620, at Rouen, and for seven years pursued his studies there, at Rennes, and at La Flèche. Thence he was sent to Alençon, and two years later (June, 1629), he went with Noyrot to Canada. Cast ashore near Canso, in the shipwreck wherein the latter perished, Vieuxpont went to Grand Cibou, to join Father Vimont, then laboring among the savages of Cape Breton. In 1630, recalled to France by his superiors, he became a traveling preacher in the rural districts near Rouen; he did not return to Canada.
46(p.243).—After the destruction of Port Royal (1613), the English took no immediate steps to secure possession of Acadia. Eight years later, Sir William Alexander (afterwards secretary of state forScotland) obtained from James I. a grant of all the lands from the St. Croix River to the St. Lawrence, under the title of "Nova Scotia;" thus were ignored all French rights in that region. In 1625, this grant was renewed by Charles I., with considerable additions. Alexander, not having the necessary funds, was unable to establish any colonies there until 1627; when (having associated with himself Gervase Kirk and his sons, William Berkley, John Love, and others, under the title of "Merchant Adventurers of Canada"), he sent his son, as governor of Nova Scotia, with a few Scotch emigrants, to form a settlement at Port Royal. David Kirk, whose vessel had conveyed them, returned to England for reinforcements; and, in the following year, he seized Miscou, and all the French fishing vessels in the Gulf; threatened Quebec; and captured De Roquemont's squadron, sent by the Hundred Associates with supplies and artillery for Champlain's succor. In 1629, he captured Quebec. Early in that year, Sir James Stewart, who had purchased a tract of land from Alexander, brought a colony to Port Baleines, Cape Breton (near the present Louisburg); he also began to seize the French vessels fishing on that coast. This excited the anger of Captain Charles Daniel (one of the Hundred Associates, and a brother of the Jesuit Antoine Daniel), who had recently come from France; he seized and demolished Stewart's fort, and proceeded to erect another at Grand Cibou. (This name, meaning "the great river," was doubtless applied by the natives to the estuary now known as Great Bras d'Or; but Daniel's colony was planted at St. Anne's Bay,—thus named by him,—just north of the Bras d'Or). Charles Leigh, who made a voyage to Cape Breton in 1597, mentions "the harborow of Cibo;" see Goldsmid'sHakluyt, vol. xiii., p. 69. Here he left a garrison of forty men, with the two Jesuits Vimond and Vieuxpont, and took the English colonists back to their own country (except a few, whom he carried to France as prisoners). Champlain, arriving in Dieppe Dec. 31, 1629, met Daniel there, and obtained from him his "Relation" of the above enterprise, which is given in Champlain'sVoyages(1632), part 2, pp. 271-275.