1645, 1646.
THE PEACE BROKEN.
Uncertainties • The Mission of Jogues • He reaches the Mohawks • His
Reception • His Return • His Second Mission • Warnings of Danger • Rage
of the Mohawks • Murder of Jogues
There is little doubt that the Iroquois negotiators acted, for the
moment, in sincerity. Guillaume Couture, who returned with them and
spent the winter in their towns, saw sufficient proof that they
sincerely desired peace. And yet the treaty had a double defect. First,
the wayward, capricious, and ungoverned nature of the Indian parties to
it, on both sides, made a speedy rupture more than likely. Secondly, in
spite of their own assertion to the contrary, the Iroquois envoys
represented, not the confederacy of the five nations, but only one of
these nations, the Mohawks: for each of the members of this singular
league could, and often did, make peace and war independently of the
rest.
It was the Mohawks who had made war on the French and their Indian
allies on the lower St. Lawrence. They claimed, as against the other
Iroquois, a certain right of domain to all this region; and though the
warriors of the four upper nations had sometimes poached on the Mohawk
preserve, by murdering both French and Indians at Montreal, they
employed their energies for the most part in attacks on the Hurons, the
Upper Algonquins, and other tribes of the interior. These attacks still
continued, unaffected by the peace with the Mohawks. Imperfect, however,
as the treaty was, it was invaluable, could it but be kept inviolate;
and to this end Montmagny, the Jesuits, and all the colony, anxiously
turned their thoughts. [1]
[1] The Mohawks were at this time more numerous, as compared with the
other four nations of the Iroquois, than they were a few years later.
They seem to have suffered more reverses in war than any of the others.
At this time they may be reckoned at six or seven hundred warriors. A
war with the Mohegans, and another with the Andastes, besides their war
with the Algonquins and the French of Canada soon after, told severely
on their strength. The following are estimates of the numbers of the
Iroquois warriors made in 1660 by the author of the Relation of that
year, and by Wentworth Greenhalgh in 1677, from personal
inspection:--
1660 1677
Mohawks 500 300
Oneidas 100 200
Onondagas 300 350
Cayugas 300 300
Senecas 1,000 1,000
2,200 2,150
It was to hold the Mohawks to their faith that Couture had bravely gone
back to winter among them; but an agent of more acknowledged weight was
needed, and Father Isaac Jogues was chosen. No white man, Couture
excepted, knew their language and their character so well. His errand
was half political, half religious; for not only was he to be the bearer
of gifts, wampum-belts, and messages from the Governor, but he was also
to found a new mission, christened in advance with a prophetic
name,--the Mission of the Martyrs.
For two years past, Jogues had been at Montreal; and it was here that he
received the order of his Superior to proceed to the Mohawk towns. At
first, nature asserted itself, and he recoiled involuntarily at the
thought of the horrors of which his scarred body and his mutilated hands
were a living memento. [2] It was a transient weakness; and he prepared
to depart with more than willingness, giving thanks to Heaven that he
had been found worthy to suffer and to die for the saving of souls and
the greater glory of God.
[2] Lettre du P. Isaac Jogues au R. P. Jérosme L'Allemant. Montreal, 2
Mai, 1646. MS.
He felt a presentiment that his death was near, and wrote to a friend,
"I shall go, and shall not return." [3] An Algonquin convert gave him
sage advice. "Say nothing about the Faith at first, for there is nothing
so repulsive, in the beginning, as our doctrine, which seems to destroy
everything that men hold dear; and as your long cassock preaches, as
well as your lips, you had better put on a short coat." Jogues,
therefore, exchanged the uniform of Loyola for a civilian's doublet and
hose; "for," observes his Superior, "one should be all things to all
men, that he may gain them all to Jesus Christ." [4] It would be well,
if the application of the maxim had always been as harmless.
[3] "Ibo et non redibo." Lettre du P. Jogues au R. P. No date.
[4] Lalemant, Relation, 1646, 15.
Jogues left Three Rivers about the middle of May, with the Sieur
Bourdon, engineer to the Governor, two Algonquins with gifts to confirm
the peace, and four Mohawks as guides and escort. He passed the
Richelieu and Lake Champlain, well-remembered scenes of former miseries,
and reached the foot of Lake George on the eve of Corpus Christi. Hence
he called the lake Lac St. Sacrement; and this name it preserved, until,
a century after, an ambitious Irishman, in compliment to the sovereign
from whom he sought advancement, gave it the name it bears. [5]
[5] Mr. Shea very reasonably suggests, that a change from Lake George to
Lake Jogues would be equally easy and appropriate.
From Lake George they crossed on foot to the Hudson, where, being
greatly fatigued by their heavy loads of gifts, they borrowed canoes at
an Iroquois fishing station, and descended to Fort Orange. Here Jogues
met the Dutch friends to whom he owed his life, and who now kindly
welcomed and entertained him. After a few days he left them, and
ascended the River Mohawk to the first Mohawk town. Crowds gathered from
the neighboring towns to gaze on the man whom they had known as a
scorned and abused slave, and who now appeared among them as the
ambassador of a power which hitherto, indeed, they had despised, but
which in their present mood they were willing to propitiate.
There was a council in one of the lodges; and while his crowded auditory
smoked their pipes, Jogues stood in the midst, and harangued them. He
offered in due form the gifts of the Governor, with the wampum belts and
their messages of peace, while at every pause his words were echoed by a
unanimous grunt of applause from the attentive concourse. Peace speeches
were made in return; and all was harmony. When, however, the Algonquin
deputies stood before the council, they and their gifts were coldly
received. The old hate, maintained by traditions of mutual atrocity,
burned fiercely under a thin semblance of peace; and though no outbreak
took place, the prospect of the future was very ominous.
The business of the embassy was scarcely finished, when the Mohawks
counselled Jogues and his companions to go home with all despatch,
saying, that, if they waited longer, they might meet on the way warriors
of the four upper nations, who would inevitably kill the two Algonquin
deputies, if not the French also. Jogues, therefore, set out on his
return; but not until, despite the advice of the Indian convert, he had
made the round of the houses, confessed and instructed a few Christian
prisoners still remaining here, and baptized several dying Mohawks. Then
he and his party crossed through the forest to the southern extremity of
Lake George, made bark canoes, and descended to Fort Richelieu, where
they arrived on the twenty seventh of June. [6]
[6] Lalemant, Relation, 1646, 17.
His political errand was accomplished. Now, should he return to the
Mohawks, or should the Mission of the Martyrs be for a time abandoned?
Lalemant, who had succeeded Vimont as Superior of the missions, held a
council at Quebec with three other Jesuits, of whom Jogues was one, and
it was determined, that, unless some new contingency should arise, he
should remain for the winter at Montreal. [7] This was in July. Soon
after, the plan was changed, for reasons which do not appear, and Jogues
received orders to repair to his dangerous post. He set out on the
twenty-fourth of August, accompanied by a young Frenchman named Lalande,
and three or four Hurons. [8] On the way they met Indians who warned
them of a change of feeling in the Mohawk towns, and the Hurons,
alarmed, refused to go farther. Jogues, naturally perhaps the most timid
man of the party, had no thought of drawing back, and pursued his
journey with his young companion, who, like other donnés of the
missions; was scarcely behind the Jesuits themselves in devoted
enthusiasm.
[7] Journal des Supérieurs des Jésuites. MS.
[8] Ibid.
The reported change of feeling had indeed taken place; and the occasion
of it was characteristic. On his previous visit to the Mohawks, Jogues,
meaning to return, had left in their charge a small chest or box. From
the first they were distrustful, suspecting that it contained some
secret mischief. He therefore opened it, and showed them the contents,
which were a few personal necessaries; and having thus, as he thought,
reassured them, locked the box, and left it in their keeping. The Huron
prisoners in the town attempted to make favor with their Iroquois
enemies by abusing their French friends,--declaring them to be
sorcerers, who had bewitched, by their charms and mummeries, the whole
Huron nation, and caused drought, famine, pestilence, and a host of
insupportable miseries. Thereupon, the suspicions of the Mohawks against
the box revived with double force, and they were convinced that famine,
the pest, or some malignant spirit was shut up in it, waiting the moment
to issue forth and destroy them. There was sickness in the town, and
caterpillars were eating their corn: this was ascribed to the sorceries
of the Jesuit. [9] Still they were divided in opinion. Some stood firm
for the French; others were furious against them. Among the Mohawks,
three clans or families were predominant, if indeed they did not compose
the entire nation,--the clans of the Bear, the Tortoise, and the Wolf.
[10] Though, by the nature of their constitution, it was scarcely
possible that these clans should come to blows, so intimately were they
bound together by ties of blood, yet they were often divided on points
of interest or policy; and on this occasion the Bear raged against the
French, and howled for war, while the Tortoise and the Wolf still clung
to the treaty. Among savages, with no government except the intermittent
one of councils, the party of action and violence must always prevail.
The Bear chiefs sang their war-songs, and, followed by the young men of
their own clan, and by such others as they had infected with their
frenzy, set forth, in two bands, on the war-path.
[9] Lettre de Marie de l'Incarnation à son Fils. Québec, ... 1647.
[10] See Introduction.
The warriors of one of these bands were making their way through the
forests between the Mohawk and Lake George, when they met Jogues and
Lalande. They seized them, stripped them, and led them in triumph to
their town. Here a savage crowd surrounded them, beating them with
sticks and with their fists. One of them cut thin strips of flesh from
the back and arms of Jogues, saying, as he did so, "Let us see if this
white flesh is the flesh of an oki."--"I am a man like yourselves,"
replied Jogues; "but I do not fear death or torture. I do not know why
you would kill me. I come here to confirm the peace and show you the way
to heaven, and you treat me like a dog." [11]--"You shall die
to-morrow," cried the rabble. "Take courage, we shall not burn you. We
shall strike you both with a hatchet, and place your heads on the
palisade, that your brothers may see you when we take them prisoners."
[12] The clans of the Wolf and the Tortoise still raised their voices in
behalf of the captive Frenchmen; but the fury of the minority swept all
before it.
[11] Lettre du P. De Quen au R. P. Lallemant; no date. MS.
[12] Lettre de J. Labatie à M. La Montagne, Fort d'Orange, 30 Oct.,
1646. MS.
In the evening,--it was the eighteenth of October,--Jogues, smarting
with his wounds and bruises, was sitting in one of the lodges, when an
Indian entered, and asked him to a feast. To refuse would have been an
offence. He arose and followed the savage, who led him to the lodge of
the Bear chief. Jogues bent his head to enter, when another Indian,
standing concealed within, at the side of the doorway, struck at him
with a hatchet. An Iroquois, called by the French Le Berger, [13] who
seems to have followed in order to defend him, bravely held out his arm
to ward off the blow; but the hatchet cut through it, and sank into the
missionary's brain. He fell at the feet of his murderer, who at once
finished the work by hacking off his head. Lalande was left in suspense
all night, and in the morning was killed in a similar manner. The bodies
of the two Frenchmen were then thrown into the Mohawk, and their heads
displayed on the points of the palisade which inclosed the town. [14]
[13] It has been erroneously stated that this brave attempt to save
Jogues was made by the orator Kiotsaton. Le Berger was one of those who
had been made prisoners by Piskaret, and treated kindly by the French.
In 1648, he voluntarily came to Three Rivers, and gave himself up to a
party of Frenchmen. He was converted, baptized, and carried to France,
where his behavior is reported to have been very edifying, but where he
soon died. "Perhaps he had eaten his share of more than fifty men," is
the reflection of Father Ragueneau, after recounting his exemplary
conduct.--Relation, 1650, 43-48.
[14] In respect to the death of Jogues, the best authority is the letter
of Labatie, before cited. He was the French interpreter at Fort Orange,
and, being near the scene of the murder, took pains to learn the facts.
The letter was inclosed in another written to Montmagny by the Dutch
Governor, Kieft, which is also before me, together with a MS. account,
written from hearsay, by Father Buteux, and a letter of De Quen, cited
above. Compare the Relations of 1647 and 1650.
Thus died Isaac Jogues, one of the purest examples of Roman Catholic
virtue which this Western continent has seen. The priests, his
associates, praise his humility, and tell us that it reached the point
of self-contempt,--a crowning virtue in their eyes; that he regarded
himself as nothing, and lived solely to do the will of God as uttered by
the lips of his Superiors. They add, that, when left to the guidance of
his own judgment, his self-distrust made him very slow of decision, but
that, when acting under orders, he knew neither hesitation nor fear.
With all his gentleness, he had a certain warmth or vivacity of
temperament; and we have seen how, during his first captivity, while
humbly submitting to every caprice of his tyrants and appearing to
rejoice in abasement, a derisive word against his faith would change the
lamb into the lion, and the lips that seemed so tame would speak in
sharp, bold tones of menace and reproof.