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The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century

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The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century the PeTer^Udred memorial librarq of the V HE« llnibersitq of Pittsburgh EDITION DE LUXE. THE WORKS OF FRANCIS PARKMAN. VOLUME III. F 1030 The Edition de Luxe of Francis Parkman's Works is limited to Three Hundred Copies, of which this is Nwnber ..././/. Ignatius Loyola. THE JESUITS IN NORTH AMERICA IN THE SEVEN- TEENTH CENTURY ^ ^ * -• FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA • Part Second BY FRANCIS PARKMAN * * <* * IN TWO VOLUMES Vol. I. BOSTON jt LITTLE • BROWN AND • COMPANY^ MDCCCXCVII Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by Francis Paekman, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Copyright, 1895, By Grace P. Coffin and Katherine S. Coolidoe. Copyright, 1897, By Little, Brown, and Company. Stnibetsfts ^Brcss: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. PREFACE. Few passages of history are more striking than those which record the efforts of the earlier French Jesuits to convert the Indians. Full as they are of dramatic and philosophic interest, bearing strongly on the political destinies of America, and closely involved with the history of its native population, it is wonderful that they have been left so long in obscurity. While the infant colonies of England still clung feebly to the shores of the Atlantic, events deeply ominous to their future were in progress, un- known to them, in the very heart of the con- tinent. It will be seen, in the sequel of this volume, that civil and religious liberty found strange allies in this Western World. The sources of information concerning the early Jesuits of New France are very copious. During a period of forty years, the Superior of the Mission sent, every summer, long and de- *• ^ kJ O j[ vi PREFACE. tailed reports, embodying or accompanied by the reports of his subordinates, to the Provincial of the Order at Paris, where they were annually published, in duodecimo volumes, forming the remarkable series known as the Jesuit Relations. Though the productions of men of scholastic training, they are simple and often crude in style, as might be expected of narratives hastily written in Indian lodges or rude mission-houses in the forest, amid annoyances and interruptions of all kinds. In respect to the value of their contents, they are exceedingly unequal. Mod- est records of marvellous adventures and sacri- fices, and vivid pictures of forest life, alternate with prolix and monotonous details of the con- version of individual savages, and the praise- worthy deportment of some exemplary neophyte. With regard to the condition and character of the primitive inhabitants of North America, it is impossible to exaggerate their value as an authority. I should add, that the closest exami- nation has left me no doubt that these mission- aries wrote in perfect good faith, and that the Relations hold a high place as authentic and trustworthy historical documents. They are very scarce, and no complete collection of them exists in America. The entire series was, how- ; PREFACE. vu ever, republished, in 1858, by the Canadian government, in three large octavo volumes. 1 These form but a part of the surviving writ- ings of the French-American Jesuits. Many additional reports, memoirs, journals, and let- ters, official and private, have come down to us some of which have recently been printed, while others remain in manuscript. Nearly every prominent actor in the scenes to be described has left his own record of events in which he bore part, in the shape of reports to his Superi- ors or letters to his friends. I have studied and compared these authorities, as well as a great mass of collateral evidence, with more than usual care, striving to secure the greatest pos- sible accuracy of statement, and to reproduce an image of the past with photographic clearness and truth. The introductory chapter of the volume is independent of the rest ; but a knowledge of the facts set forth in it is essential to the full understanding of the narrative which follows. In the collection of material, I have received 1 Both editions — the old and the new — are cited in the follow- ing pages. Where the reference is to the old edition, it is indicated by the name of the publisher (Cramoisy), appended to the citation, in brackets. In extracts given in the notes, the antiquated orthography and accentuation are preserved. viii PREFACE. valuable aid from Mr. J. G. Shea, Rev. Felix Martin, S.J., the Abbes Laverdiere and H. R. Casgrain, Dr. J. C. Tache, and the late Jacques Viger, Esq. I propose to devote the next volume of this series to the discovery and occupation by the French of the Valley of the Mississippi. Boston, 1st May, 1867. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. native tribes. Page Divisions. — The Algonquins. — The Hurons: their Houses; For- tifications ; Habits ; Arts ; Women ; Trade ; Festivities ; Medi- cine. — The Tobacco Nation. — The Neutrals. — The Eries. — The Andastes. — The Iroquois : Social and Political Organ- ization. — Iroquois Institutions, Customs, and Character. — Indian Religion and Superstitions. — The Indian Mind ... 3 CHAPTER I. 1634. NOTRE-DAME DES ANGES. Quebec iu 1634. — Father Le Jeune. — The Mission-house: its Domestic Economy. — The Jesuits and their Designs ... 88 CHAPTER II. LOYOLA AND THE JESUITS. Conversion of Loyola. — Foundation of the Society of Jesus. — Preparation of the Novice. — Characteristics of the Order. — The Canadian Jesuits 95 CHAPTER III. 1632, 1633. PAUL LE JEUNE. Le Jeune's Voyage : his First Pupils ; his Studies ; his Indian Teacher. — Winter at the Mission-house. — Le Jeune's School. — Reinforcements 101 — x CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. 1633, 1634. le jeune and the hunters. Page Le Jeune joins the Indians. — The First Encampment. — The Apostate. — Forest Life in Winter. — The Indian Hut. The Sorcerer : his Persecution of the Priest. — Evil Com- pany. — Magic. — Incantations. — Christmas. — Starvation. — Hopes of Conversion. — Backsliding.— Peril and Escape of Le Jeune*. his Return 110 CHAPTER V. 1633, 1634. THE HURON MISSION. Plaus of Conversion. — Aims and Motives. — Indian Diplomacy. — Ilurons at Quebec. — Councils. — The Jesuit Chapel. — Le Borgne. — The Jesuits thwarted. — Their Perseverance. — The Journey to the Hurons. — Jean de Brcbeuf. — The Mis- sion begun 129 CHAPTER VI. 1634, 1635. BREBEUF AND HIS ASSOCIATES. The Huron Mission-house : its Inmates ; its Furniture ; its Guests. — The Jesuit as a Teacher, — As an Engineer. — Bap- tisms. — Huron Village Life. — Festivities and Sorceries. — The Dream Feast. — The Priests accused of Magic. — The Drought and the Red Cross 146 CHAPTER VII. 1636, 1637. THE FEAST OF THE DEAD. Huron Graves. — Preparation for the Ceremony. — Disinterment. — The Mourning. — The Funeral March. — The Great Sep- ulchre. — Funeral Games. — Encampment of the Mourners. _ Gifts. — Harangues. — Frenzy of the Crowd. — The Clos- ing Scene. — Another Rite. — The Captive Iroquois. — The Sacrifice 159 — CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER VIII. 1636, 1637. the huron and the jesuit. Page Enthusiasm for the Mission. — Sickness of the Priests. — The Pest among the Hurons. — The Jesuit on his Pounds. — Ef- forts at Conversion. — Priests and Sorcerers. — The Man- Devil. — The Magician's Prescription. — Indian Doctors and Patients. — Covert Baptisms. — Self-devotion of the Jesuits 172 CHAPTER IX. 1637. CHARACTER OF THE CANADIAN JESUITS. Jean de Brebeuf. — Charles Garnier. — Joseph Marie Chaumonot. —Noel Chahanel. — Isaac Jogues. — Other Jesuits. — Nature of their Faith. — Supernaturalism. — Visions. — Miracles . 188 CHAPTER X. 1637-1640. PERSECUTION. Ossossane. — The New Chapel. — A Triumph of the Faith. — The Nether Powers. — Signs of a Tempest. — Slanders. — Rage against the Jesuits. — Their Boldness and Persistency. — Nocturnal Council. — Danger of the Priests. — Brebeuf's Letter. — Narrow Escapes. — Woes and Consolations . 200 CHAPTER XI. 1638-1640. PRIEST AND PAGAN. Du Peron's Journey. — Daily Life of the Jesuits. — Their Mis- sionary Excursions. — Converts at Ossossane. — Machinery of Conversion. — Conditions of Baptism. — Backsliders. The Converts and their Countrymen. — The Cannibals at St. Joseph 218 — xn CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. 1639, 1640. the tobacco nation. — the neutrals. Page A Change of Plan. — Sainte Marie. — Mission of the Tobacco Na- tion. — Winter Journeying. — Reception of the Missionaries. — Superstitious Terrors. — Peril of Gamier and Jogues. Mission of the Neutrals. — Huron Intrigues. — Miracles. — Fury of the Indians. — Intervention of Saint Michael. — Re- turn to Sainte Marie. — Intrepidity of the Priests. — Their Mental Exaltation 230 CHAPTER XIII. 1636-1646. QUEBEC AND ITS TENANTS. The New Governor. — Edifying Examples. — Le Jeune's Corre- spondents. — Rank and Devotion. — Nuns. — Priestly Author- ity. — Condition of Quebec. — The Hundred Associates. — Church Discipline. — Plays. — Fireworks. — Processions. — Catechising. — Terrorism. — Pictures.— The Converts. — The Society of Jesus. — The Foresters 241 CHAPTER XIV. 1636-1652. DEVOTEES AND NUNS. The Huron Seminary. — Madame de la Peltrie : her Pious Schemes ; her Sham Marriage ; she visits the Ursulines of Tours. — Marie de Saint Bernard. — Marie de l'lncarnation : her Enthusiasm ; her Mystical Marriage ; her Dejection ; her Mental Conflicts ; her Vision ; made Superior of the Ursulines. — The IIotel-Dieu. — The Voyage to Canada. — Sillery. Labors and Sufferings of the Nuns. — Character of Marie de l'lncarnation. — Of Madame de la Peltrie 259 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VOLUME ONE. Ignatius de Loyola Frontispiece From an engraving by J. Sadeler, in the Bibliotheque Nationale. Country of the Hurons -P«#* 3 Paul le Jeuxe " 88 From an engraving by Ren6 Lochon. Le Jeune baptizing Ixdian Children " 206 Drawn by B. West Clinedinst. Duchesse d'Aiguillon " 244 From the painting in the Hotel Dieu, Quebec. Madame de la Peltrie " 260 From the painting by C. Huot in the Convent des Ursulines, Quebec. Marie de l'Incarnation "267 From an engraving by J. Edeliuck in the Convent des Ursulines, Quebec. THE JESUITS m NORTH AMERICA. SI "0 SB D M 3 -- (£ wVv^syiikf ,- .-V \ I THE JESUITS IN NORTH AMERICA. INTRODUCTION. NATIVE TRIBES. Divisions. — The Algonquins. — The Hurons: their Houses; Fortifications ;" Habits; Arts; Women; Trade; Festivi- ties; Medicine.
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