Jesuits are able to aid the people there, with "more than 40 casks of grain," for seed and for food. On June 6, thirty-four Frenchmen are sent to the Huron country. A grant of two leagues of land, opposite Montreal, is made to the Jesuits.

He relates these in detail, and then describes the condition of the martyrs' remains, which he has helped to bring from St. Ignace to Ste. Marie, and afterward carefully examines, finding that the appearance of the bodies [page 9] fully confirms the statements of the Hurons. The bones of these victims are carried to Quebec, " where they are held in great veneration. "

he obtained full particulars of it from the Christian Hurons taken captive by the Iroquois, who were present throughout the horrible torments inflicted upon the unfortunate Jesuits.

In reply to a note from the latter, the missionary returns thanks for promised aid, which is especially needed at this time, when the French are continually harassed by Iroquois raids. The little settlement of Three Rivers is so slightly defended that the French are in daily peril of their lives; but all connected with the mission—not only the priests, but their servants—are ready to lay down their lives, if need be, for the sake of the little Indian church which they have there founded.

LXVIII. This is a letter by Buteux to the father general, dated at Three Rivers, September 21, 1649.

assing the church, Samuel Chapdelaine said thoughtfully—"The mass is beautiful. I am often very sorry that we live so far from churches. Perhaps not being able to attend to our religion every Sunday hinders us from being just so fortunate as other people."

Meantime the women in their turn had begun to leave the church. Young or old, pretty or ugly, nearly all were well clad in fur cloaks, or in coats of heavy cloth; for, honouring the Sunday mass, sole festival of their lives, they had doffed coarse blouses and homespun petticoats, and a stranger might well have stood amazed to find them habited almost with elegance in this remote spot; still French to their finger-tips in the midst of the vast lonely forest and the snow, and as tastefully dressed, these peasant women, as most of the middle-class folk in provincial France. Cleophas Pesa

A moment earlier it had seemed quite deserted, this church set by the roadside on the high bank of the Peribonka, whose icy snow-covered surface was like a winding strip of plain. The snow lay deep upon road and fields, for the April sun was powerless to send warmth through the gray clouds, and the heavy spring rains were yet to come. This chill and universal white, the humbleness of the wooden church and the wooden houses scattered along the road, the gloomy forest edging so close that it seemed to threaten, these all spoke of a harsh existence in a stern land. But as the men and boys passed through the doorway and gathered in knots on the broad steps, their cheery salutations, the chaff flung from group to group, the continual interchange of talk, merry or sober, at once disclosed the unquenchable joyousness of a people ever filled with laughter and good humour.

From all this may be easily gathered the present state of the young Christianity of this country, and the hope for the future. Two or three things besides will help to the same end. The first is the method we pursue in the instruction of the Savages. We gather together the men as often as we can; for their councils, their feasts, their games, and their dances do not permit us to have them here at any 'hour, nor every day. We pay especial attention to the Old Men, inasmuch as they are the ones who determine and decide all matters, and everything is ordered by their advice. [8] All come willingly to hear us; all, without exception, say they have a desire to go to Heaven and fear the fiery torments of hell. They have hardly anything to answer us with; we could wish sometimes that they would bring forward more objections, which would always afford us better opportunity to explain our holy Mysteries in detail.

which is strengthened by the perfect health God gives us, and which he has given to all the French who have been in this country; for, they say, it is very strange that, except a single man who died here from natural causes, all the others, during the twenty-five years or thereabout in which the, French have been frequenting this region, have scarcely ever been sick.

the accent of that Nation is a little different from that of the Bears, with whom we live.

There was one of these Sorcerers named Tehorenhaegnon, more famous than the others, who promised marvels, provided the whole Country made him a present of the value of ten hatchets, not to speak of a multitude of feasts; but these efforts were in vain,—dreaming, feasting, dancing, were all to no purpose, there fell not a drop of water; so that he had to confess that he could not succeed, and he declared that the crops would not ripen; but unfortunately, or rather fortunately for us, he said that he was hindered from making it rain by a Cross which is before our door, and that the house of the French was a house of demons, or of ill-disposed people who had come into their Country in order to make them die.

if three days pass without its being watered with rain from Heaven, everything begins to fade and hang its head.

IRST, I notice the dryness of the past Summer, which has been very general [22] throughout these Regions, so far as I can learn from Kébec letters, and from Savages returning from distant trading expeditions; everything was so dry and so and that at the least spark of fire the forests and fields were at once in a blaze. Thus it happened that many Savages, going about the country and not being on their guard, had their Cabins and provisions burned, as did also two of our men. But to speak only of the Huron Country,—the drought was very great,

During the year, the missionaries in that far-away field have baptized eighty-six savages,—an encouraging gain over the fourteen who were " rescued from the service of the devil " during the first year of their labors. Their great hope is in the conversion of the children, who, they report, show surprising aptitude and willingness to learn the doctrines of the Christian faith; and, through them, many parents have been reached.

I cannot tell you the satisfaction and consolation these little children give us. When we consider their Fathers, still plunged in their superstitions, although recognizing sufficiently the truth, we are afraid that God, provoked by their sins, has rejected them for a time; but, as for the children, without doubt he holds out his arms to them and draws them to himself. The eagerness they show to learn the duties of a Christian keeps us from doubting it. The smallest ones throw themselves into our arms, as we pass through the Cabins, and do not require to be urged to talk and to learn. Father Daniel hit upon the plan of quieting a little child, crying in its mother's arms, by having it make the sign of the Cross. And indeed, one day when I had just been teaching the Catechism to them in our Cabin, this child made us laugh; its mother was carrying it in her arms, and was going out; but, as soon as she reached the door, it began to cry so that she was [page 21] compelled to turn back. She asked it what was the matter. "Let me begin again," [13] it said, " let me begin again, I want to say more." I then got it to make again the sign of the Cross, and it immediately began to laugh and to jump for joy. I saw the same child, another time, crying hard because it had had its finger frozen; but it quieted down and laughed, as soon as they had it make the sign of the Cross. I dwell willingly upon this matter, as I am sure pious souls take pleasure in hearing all these particulars. In the beginnings of this infant Church, what can we speak about if not the stammerings of our spiritual children? We have one little girl, among others, named Marie Aoesiwa, who has not her equal. Her whole satisfaction seems to be in making the sign of the Cross and in saying her Pater and Ave. Scarcely have we set foot in her Cabin, when she leaves everything to pray to God. When we assemble the children for prayers or for Catechism, she is always among the first, and hastens there more cheerfully than many would to play. She does not stir from our Cabin, and does not omit making the sign of the Cross, and saying over and over fifty times a day the Pater and Ave. She gets others to do the same; and, one of our [14] Frenchman having newly come, her only greeting was to take his hand, and have him make the sign of the Cross. Often she is in the field when our Fathers recite their Office there; she stands in the road, and, almost every time they return, she begins to make the sign of the Cross, and to pray to God in a loud voice. Another little girl named Catherine had often been wayward about receiving instruction, and so had not been rewarded like the others. Some days afterward, [page 23] one of her companions brought her to one of our Fathers, giving him to understand that she was quite disposed to learn; but, when it came to the point, she acted as usual. The little girl who had brought her became annoyed, and used all her little natural rhetoric to make her open her lips and to get her to speak,—sometimes using threats, sometimes holding out a reward from me if she spoke properly; she was so earnest that she succeeded, to the great satisfaction of those of our Fathers who were listening to her. Another benefit that results from this practice—which is in confor

I cannot tell you the satisfaction and consolation these little children give us. When we consider their Fathers, still plunged in their superstitions, although recognizing sufficiently the truth, we are afraid that God, provoked by their sins, has rejected them for a time; but, as for the children, without doubt he holds out his arms to them and draws them to himself.

At a council of the Huron chiefs, Brébeuf produces [page 1] letters from Champlain and Duplessis-Bochart, who exhort the tribesmen to follow the teaching of the missionaries, and embrace Christianity; to emphasize this advice, and in accordance with the custom of the country, he " presents to the assembly a collar of twelve hundred beads of Porcelain, telling them that it was given to smooth the difficulties of the road to Paradise."

Their great hope is in the conversion of the children, who, they report, show surprising aptitude and willingness to learn the doctrines of the Christian faith; and, through them, many parents have been reached.

the conversion, baptism, and happy death of some Hurons." During the year, the missionaries in that far-away field have baptized eighty-six savages,—an encouraging gain over the fourteen who were " rescued from the service of the devil " during the first year of their labors.