Letter 172

My very dear son,
May Jesus be our life and our love for time and Eternity. The ships arrived here in May and will depart very soon. The ship by which I am sending this letter is weighing anchor, another has sailed and as I said nothing in my other letters about the state of the Church, I thought I should tell you something for your consolation. Last year a peace treaty was made with the five nations of the Iroquois, one of which is near the Dutch settlement. This nation had great difficulties about including the Hurons and The Algonquins in the peace. Finally they agreed, subject to certain conditions, that is: they would keep the peace within certain territorial limits. Outside they are free to exercise their hostility. Their treaty with the French was unconditional. All this was observed till Spring when these Agnerognons, always crafty and malicious showed us what could be expected from an infidel nation that does not know Jesus Christ.

At the time of the conclusion of the peace two of the Fathers were sent to the Upper Iroquois as they persistently asked for them. They set out with their Ambassadors in full view of the Agrerognons, envious but hiding it. The Fathers were received everywhere with great demonstrations of esteem and affection all coming out to escort them from village to village. When they arrived at a stop the chiefs of the Nation assembled, giving the Fathers the first seats at their councils. They welcomed and feasted everyone and treated them as messengers come from Heaven. Fr Chaumonot began at once to speak of the Faith and to say public prayers with them. They listened and admired. They thought him a man of prodigies. The instructions went on all winter and from morning till night the bark Chapel which Jean Baptist, the first Christian, had erected was never empty and the Fathers had no time to say Mass or the office except at night. A Church was already formed because on the journey he had been instructing a number of Catechumens. These were baptised in their own country with a great number of others both children and adults. Last Lent in a specially convened Council, they begged the Fathers to press the Governor and his Superiors of the Missions to send more priests and to scatter them among the villages and to send at the same time a number of French laymen to make a settlement. A spot was fixed on for this project at a meeting place of the five Nations of the Iroquois where they could be taught their religion and have the opportunity to trade with the French. Fr D’Ablon left immediately with a few Onontagerons and others. Theirs is the principal and the biggest of the nations and after a fatiguing journey they arrived in Quebec at Passiontide. They brought their request to the Governor and to the Superior of the Missions. The Father Superior having heard of the great start of the Mission and the wonders God has wrought in such a short time decided that he must help by sending more Missionaries. He is a truly Apostolic man and made such efforts to promote this glorious enterprise that in a short time, fifty-five Frenchmen including four priests and three brothers were ready. They set out from here in May with the greatest zeal and fervour. A few soldiers of the garrison were among them and Mons. Dupuis, an honourable gentleman holding a command in the fortress, offered to lead them. When he did me the honour of coming to say goodbye, he assured me fervently, that he did not feel like a soldier, but voluntarily risking his life and would think himself happy to die for such a project. All this entailed great expenses but the Fathers sacrifice all for the service of God and the salvation of souls.

As for me I cannot comprehend their great courage for with them nothing counts when it is a question of saving souls for Jesus Christ. The Agnerognons having heard of the project to send Fathers and French men to the upper nations to make a settlement and a permanent Mission, became furious, thinking that this alliance of French, Hurons and Algonquins with their neighbours would ruin them. In time to prevent this happening, 400 of them hid in the woods to ambush the party. They let the Father Superior and his group pass but when these were out of sight they threw themselves on the canoes that were following, led by Fr Mesnard and a brother and coming silently they pillaged and beat outrageously all those they could lay hands on, pretending not to know who they were. Then as if walking out of a dream, they pretended to be astonished and stopped suddenly saying: “What? it’s you! You are our brothers, we thought you were the Algonquins and Hurons whom we had the right to attack outside certain limits”. The French knew well it was only pretence and called them knaves and perjurers and telling them they would go to war with them, but seeing that the numbers were equal they separated. These barbarians continued to vent their rage and spite and came at night unseen to the Island of Orleans and in the morning saw men women and children, all Hurons planting their Indian corn. They hurled themselves on them, killing six and taking all the others, 85 of them, and tied them up in their canoes. All this was done unknown to the French, but if the attack had come five or six hours later their capture would have been bigger. They would have taken three or four hundred who had come to hear Mass and would be returning to their wilderness. Luckily these were warned by fugitives and took refuge in the fortress. We were surprised to see the river covered with canoes approaching Quebec especially when it became known that they were Agnerognons who had made a treaty and given a solemn promise to the Father Superior not to come past Three Rivers. This showed them to be enemies of the French as well as of the Indians so the isolated houses remained abandoned and the people took refuge in Quebec where there was no garrison for as a result of the Treaty the men had returned to their own affairs. The barbarians passed in front of the Fort. It was feared they were coming to attack but they made no signs to show they were friends. They passed by and continued their journey until they saw the abandoned houses. They decided the people had left because they distrusted them. They were offended, battered in doors, pillaged all they could get and went to Three Rivers to try to sell their loot. We heard from a Christian who had escaped from their hands, half burned with two fingers cut off, that they had brought the captives to their country and spared their lives - all except six of the principal Christians whom they condemned to be burnt alive. One of them, named Jacques, an excellent Christian, and prefect of the sodality .gave exceptional witness of Faith and patience. Because they saw in him a more luminous piety than in the others they continued to burn him for three days during which he prayed incessantly invoking the name of Jesus and exhorting his companions by word and example. However violent his sufferings no word of complaint escaped his lips. Finally he died the death of a saint and we regard him as such. He who brought the news having escaped from the fire, ran for several days until, by God’s Providence; he came to the Father Superior and his group four days journey from Onnontage, which was the place appointed for the French settlement. The poor man was near death, having walked twenty-four leagues, continually bleeding from his wounds. The Father did everything possible for him, and when he was able to walk he gave him an escort to bring him to Montreal. We are waiting from day to day for news of the safe arrival of the Fathers. Pray for all these affairs, my dear son and for our good Indian Christians, refugees in Quebec till God pleases to calm the storm.

From Quebec. 14 August 1656.
P. 222 to 223