Although we were in a Protestant country, our Reverend Fathe

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MEMOIR

OF

FATHER VINCENT DE PAUL,

RELIGIOUS OF LA TRAPPE:

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH

BY

A. M. POPE,

WITH A PREFACE

BY

THE RIGHT REVEREND DR. CAMERON,

BISHOP OF ARICHAT.

PREFACE.

The reply of Maximilian to the wealthy courtier who tendered him a

goodly purse of gold for a title of nobility, was worthy of that

emperor: "I can enrich thee," he said, "but only thy own virtue can

enoble thee" All true grandeur, excellence, and dignity, are the

offspring of virtue. Even the most renowned oracles of paganism

proclaim this, and the very persecutors of holiness are often

constrained to pay homage to their victim. No wonder, then, that

whenever we are privileged to find one of those rare mortals, whom

virtue has unmistakably marked as her own, we lovingly attach an

exceptional importance to everything connected with his history. Such

assuredly was he whose "account of what befel" him during his first

ten years in America, is now for the first time published in English.

A brief sketch of the religious Order to which he belonged, of the

life he led, and of the Monastery he founded, may give added interest

to his own simple and edifying narrative.

What Scripture terms "the world," and so emphatically denounces as

such, is the poisonous source of the mother-evils described by St.

John as "the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the

eyes, and the pride of life." Flight from the contamination of this

threefold inordinate love of pleasures, riches and honors, being

essential to salvation, is most easily, most surely and most

meritoriously achieved by those who, in answer to a Divine call,

consecrate and give themselves wholly to God, by the practice of the

evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. Those who

embrace this angelic profession form the choice portion of the fold

of Christ. They rank as His spouses, and, by the holy ambition of

their virgin love, console Him for the craven defections or the cold

indifference of so many Christians.

All Christians animated by the spirit of Jesus are religious, just

as they are holy, and kings and priests (I Peter 2,9). Such is the

unity of the marvellous body of Christ, the Church, whose soul is

infinite love, that her every member shares, in some sense and

measure, all her sublime prerogatives. But as God willed that in His

family some goods should be common to all, so He likewise decreed

that other goods should be reserved to comparatively few, and through

these chosen and privileged ones benefit the rest. Hence, as besides

this elementary royalty and priesthood conferred by baptism, there

are, according to the express order of God superior and official

royalties and priesthoods, in like manner besides the fundamental

religion, which is the vital breath of every soul in a state of

grace, there is a religion more eminent, more definite, more perfect.

Thus as there is here below a sacerdotal and royal state, so likewise

is there a religious state which is confined to those only who bind

themselves by vows to a monastic life. It is evident, therefore, that

when Catholics use the expression "religious Order," or term a monk

or nun "a religious," they are perfectly justified in doing so, the

cavillings of Dr. Trench to the contrary notwithstanding.

Each religious order is characterized by the special purpose for

which it was founded, and by the constitution and rule which its

members are to follow. The observance of the Benedictine rule was

greatly relaxed in the monasteries of France towards the close of the

eleventh century, when St. Robert (1098) inaugurated a reform at

Citeaux, which resulted in the establishment of the Cistercian Order.

A monastery of this Order was subsequently (1140) founded in La

Perche, France, by the Count of Perche, and was called La Trappe. In

1662 the commendatory abbot of La Trappe, Armand Jean le Bouthilier

de Rance', a nobleman who abandoned wealth and a brilliant career,

visited La Trappe, undertook a new reform of the Cistercian rule, and

thus became the founder of that branch of this Order which became

known as the congregation of La Trappe. In consequence of the

Revolution of 1789, one of the Trappist Fathers, Dom Augustin

conducted twenty-four of his brethren from France to Valsainte, in

Switzerland. Here they decided to adopt a rule still more strict than

that which they had hitherto observed. This step occasioned a

division in the Trappist Order: some monasteries following the rule

of Valsainte, others that of de Rance'. An appeal to Rome resulted in

a decree dated October 3rd, 1834, by which all Trappist monasteries

were placed under one government. The decree not having however had

the desired effect, the Holy See decided in 1847 to sanction two

distinct congregations, one to follow the constitution of de Rance',

and the other to observe the rule of St. Benedict, with the primitive

constitution of the Cistercian Order. To the latter congregation

belong the Trappist monasteries of Canada and the United States,

whose time-table on week days during winter is as follows:--

At two o'clock, a. m., the Trappists rise and proceed to their

chapel, where they devote their time to the recitation of the Office,

meditation, &c., till 7.45, when they have High Mass, followed by

manual labor, which, with the interruption of only half an hour given

to the recitation of Office and examen of conscience, continues till

2 p. m.; ten minutes more and they break their long fast of twenty-four

hours with the lean and only repast of the day. At 6 p. m. begins

spiritual reading, immediately followed by compline and other

devotional exercises till 7, when they retire to their much needed

rest on their hard straw mattresses. Perpetual silence is prescribed,

unless in case of necessity, so that the Trappist's whole life is one

of extraordinary austerity and of incessant recollection, reminding

him at every turn of the shortness of life and the tremendous rigor

of judgment. The time-table for summer varies in some minor practices

and observances, while, according to that of Sundays and holidays,

those religious in the latter case rise at midnight, and in the

former at 1 a. m., and busy themselves till 7 o'clock, p. m. during

winter, and 8 o'clock during summer in the praises of the Lord.

James Merle was born at Lyons, France, the 29th October, 1768. His

father was a much respected physician in that city. On the 7th of

April, 1798, while the godless Revolution was carrying resistless

devastation over the country, he privately received the holy order of

priesthood at the hands of Mgr. C. F. D. Dubois de Sanzay, Archbishop

of Vienne, and seven years afterwards he entered the Trappist Order,

taking the name of Father Vincent de Paul, by which he has always

since been known.

In his memoir Father Vincent speaks of having bought a large tract

of land near the sea in Nova Scotia, and of having built a house

thereon. This was in Tracadie, where he resided for some years

previous to his return to France in 1823. In 1824 he came again to

Tracadie with another worthy priest of his Order, Father Francis, a

native of Freiburg, together with three lay brothers, and the house

above referred to became thenceforth the monastery of Petit

Clairvaux. A few years later three other lay brothers were admitted,

two of them from Halifax, and one from the United States.

Until the Rev. John Quinn was appointed parish priest of Tracadie,

(1837) Father Vincent had pastoral charge of the three missions of

Tracadie, Havre au Boucher, and Pomquet, and the old people of the

place still recount his innumerable acts of extraordinary zeal and

devotion. "He scarcely ever had the stole off his neck during Lent,"

is the remark of one of them. He also made frequent excursions to

Cheticamp, Arichat, and other parts of Cape Breton, to preach

missions there, and to assist the dying. In his memoir he speaks of

that sublime pilgrimage of the heart, the admirable devotion of the

Way of the Cross, as one especially acceptable to God; and no wonder

it bore marvellous fruit as conducted by him. At each station this

holy servant of God did not content himself with reading the usual

prayers: he gave expression to heavenly thoughts inspired by his own

burning love of his crucified Saviour, producing a mysterious and

lasting echo in all hearts. The church was always crowded on those

occasions. To prepare children for their first communion, he devoted

six entire weeks of instruction each year. His capacity for work was

immense; and while hurry never appeared in his actions, he managed to

glide through them with a masterly ease far out-stripping the

speediest progress of ordinary mortals. A supernatural light seemed

to supersede the necessity of recourse to the usual slow and

laborious process of reasoning in seeing one's way, and to endow him

with an intuition excluding all doubt, and with an instinct ever

ready in performance. Thus for everything he found ample time,

because no particle of his time was lost. He was a living,

palpitating, breathing, vocal, acting temple of the Holy Ghost, and

this Divine indwelling was, in a manner, visible to all. At the

altar, during the holy sacrifice which he daily offered, it seemed to

transfigure his countenance so as to impress his heavenly citizenship

upon all beholders. In administering the sacrament, in instructing

the people, in his incessant endeavors to keep or win them from sin,

and to provide for all their spiritual wants, the same irradiation of

holiness imparted the most extraordinary efficacy to his charity and

zeal.

So palpable was this impress of sanctity in his every-day-life, that

no one could come in contact with him without perceiving it and

feeling its inherent power. Such being the rare effulgence of Father

Vincent's sanctity as seen amid the dust and darkness of the world,

one can more readily realize the transcendent perfection and purity

of his soul as nurtured and revealed in his divine communing in his

own beloved cloister. No wonder, then, that when this admirable

servant of God, fall of days and merits, was called away to his

reward on the morning of New Year's Day, 1853, all felt that they had

one intercessor more in heaven. No wonder that miraculous cures

wrought through his mediation began soon to multiply. Nor was Father

Vincent's reputation for sanctity confined to Catholics. Even

Protestants not only acknowledged the heroism of his virtues, but

also sought to possess some earth from his grave, and one of them, J.

H., still living, was restored to health and usefulness by the

application of this relic to his diseased and disabled limbs.

The next Prior of Petit Clairvaux was the dauntless and holy Father

Francis, whose advanced age obliged him in 1858 to resign his office

into the hands of the sweet Father James, a native of Belgium, and a

religious eminently qualified for the position. Such was the success

of his administration that in 1876 the community was raised by Pius

IX of blessed memory to the dignity of an abbey--an abbey, which,

with its forty-one fervent religious, now wisely governed by the

worthy Abbot Dominic, presents an example of heroic abstinence,

mortification and prayer, well calculated to put the characteristic

dissipation, effeminacy and dissoluteness of the age to blush, and to

bring home to our minds that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness

with God." (I Co. 3,19).

JOHN CAMERON,

_Bishop of Arichat._

MEMOIR

OF

FATHER VINCENT.

[Some account of what befel Father Vincent de Paul, Religious of La

Trappe, with observations made by him when in America, where he has

spent about ten years, with the permission of his Superior, in

obedience to whose orders he writes the following:]

The reverend Father Abbot, of La Trappe, Dom Augustin, (De

Lestrange) foreseeing that Bonaparte would seek to destroy the

communities existing in Europe, resolved on sending a party of his

religious to America, in order that they might establish themselves

there and preserve their monastic state.

In 1812, I, in company with two other brothers, was sent by him to

the United States, there to found an establishment of our Order. We

left Bordeaux on the 15th June, and on the 6th of the month of August

we arrived at Boston. We had with us one of our Trappistines, whose

object was also to found a community; with this intention she had

preceded her companions, but now found herself alone, as passports

were refused to the other sisters. We were welcomed by the worthy Mr.

Matignon, parish priest of the town, who coaxed us to remain in the

diocese of Bishop Cheverus. However as we had received orders to

establish ourselves near Baltimore, after a few days rest I started

for that town alone, leaving my brothers and the nun in Boston,

intending to send for them when I should find a suitable site for the

two projected establishments. I paid my respects to His Grace the

Archbishop of Baltimore, who received me kindly, but appeared at a

loss where to find a site such as we desired. After many unsuccessful

efforts and researches, he established me temporally on a farm

belonging to the Society of Jesus (of which he was a member) until

such time as we could procure the sort of place we wanted; then as I

thought that time might be long in coming, I summoned my brothers to

me, and arranged for a suitable lodging for the nun.

During our stay, a rich man of Baltimore, who was once a Protestant

and had been converted, offered us 2000 acres of land in the

mountains of Pensylvania, near a river called the Delaware. He was

even generous enough to offer me the services of his son, who was

also a recent convert, and who came with us to point out the property

which, however, I was not able to inspect thoroughly as I remained

there only one day.

I returned soon after with two young men who were inclined to join

our Order. They commenced a somewhat rude novitiate, for we fasted

and kept silence on the way, going always on foot for want of money.

After great suffering from fatigue and heat (as it was summer), we

arrived at a little town, distant about sixty miles from

Philadelphia, whence we had started on our tour of inspection. This

little town, which was called Milford, was quite near to the land

that was to be ours.

On the way we passed through many Protestant villages whose

inhabitants appeared to be anxious for the light of the true faith,

and this budding town of Milford did not look askance at us, as

almost all of its inhabitants came to mass on Sunday. After mass one

of the young men aforementioned, who knew English well, expounded the

catechism to them, and they listened with attention. The Protestant

minister came afterwards to preach, but we were told that none of the

people went to hear him which without doubt annoyed him greatly. One

of the principal men of the place, a Protestant, as indeed they were

all, begged me to remain with them, saying that they would subscribe

me a pension, and that he would head the list with the sum of fifty

dollars. But we had not come to this country to be missionaries, so

we left Milford to go and inspect our land.

Travelling through these immense and trackless forests was very

difficult, and we often went astray. One day when I was alone with a

child who served me in the capacity of guide, we were greatly

puzzled. We wished to find a little hut that we had built in the

woods in which to sleep; nightfall was coming on, and there seemed no

chance of finding our camp before sundown. I said to the child: "here

is a low, flat rock, on which I will spend the night." He replied

that if I remained there I should be devoured by the bears, of which

there were a great number on these mountains; we had already heard

their cries and hideous howlings. At length, thanks be to God, we

found the cabin, which was not a very safe refuge for us, as it was

only a little hut built of young trees. The two novices and I slept

there like Indians, either on the bare ground or on couches formed by

heaps of the branches of trees.

Having no provisions with us we were obliged for the first few days

to eat what we could find in the woods, such as certain little blue

berries that they call "bluets," and other wild fruits, which the

people of the country despise. On the third or fourth day help came.

A Jew and a Protestant appeared on the scene, bringing us potatoes.

This Jew showed a leaning towards our religion, and the Sunday

previous I had said mass in his house. I do not doubt that if we had

remained longer with these people many would have been converted.

There was one entire family, of father, mother and three children,

whom I had instructed, and who were to receive baptism and embrace

the Catholic religion. Unfortunately the woman was the victim of evil

counsel at Milford, and was deterred from her good purpose. There

were many people in Milford who were bitter enemies to the truth.

I often said mass in our cabin. One day we made a cross and carried

it in procession for nearly a mile: we sang psalms, and part of the

way went barefoot, until we reached the spot where we planted the

cross, which was our consolation and our safeguard, as there were in

this desert a great number of rattlesnakes and other reptiles no less

dangerous. When we left our retreat we would sometimes step upon them

and would hear the noise that these serpents make with their rattles.

At last having walked over a great portion of these two thousand

acres of land during the two weeks that we spent there, we left these

solitudes and went down to Philadelphia. [Footnote: It was not deemed

advisable to accept this property, it being almost entirely rock or

marsh land. Besides which it was not suitable for one of our

establishments, communication with other places being too difficult.]

Upon arriving at the town I told the Bishop how well-disposed were

the people whom we had seen, and suggested to him to send some

missionaries there, but he told me that he had none to send. If I had

been free I would have returned at once to labor for the conversion

of these poor people.

After a year of crosses and difficulties in the way of our discovering

a suitable and convenient place for our establishment, we found

ourselves in Maryland, an excellent province, producing all the

necessaries of life in abundance. It is near the sea, and near to the

Potoxen, and not far from the Potomac, two great rivers that add to

its commercial advantages and render it more flourishing. We thought

we had at last found the country in which to succeed in establishing

our foundation. I consulted His Grace the Archbishop of Baltimore, and

the reverend gentlemen of the seminary of St. Sulpice, and in

accordance with their advice, I decided to go there and commence the

work. Three more brothers sent from France by our Reverend Father

Abbot, arrived at this juncture and joined us. We bought the land and

set ourselves to work to cultivate it. We built a house for ourselves,

which consisted of trees placed one upon another--what is called in

this country a _loghouse_. It was small, being only eighteen feet

long, and as many wide. We shortly commenced another which would serve

as a chapel. The negroes of the country--who are all Catholics--gave

us a helping hand in this work On arriving here we found lodgings in a

private house near our clearing, in which we remained until our

_loghouse_ was fit to receive us.

Maryland produces an abundance of Indian corn, the cultivation of

which is the chief work of the negroes. We subsisted almost entirely

upon this food, with potatoes and occasionally bread; wheat, however,

and buckwheat grow very well. We arrived there at the beginning of

the year 1813, and during the winter we were occupied in cutting down

trees and preparing the land for work in the spring, so that when

that season arrived we had an acre and a half of land under

cultivation. Part of this we planted with potatoes, another part was

a garden where we sowed different vegetables, and we also laid out an

orchard of young fruit trees. So far everything looked well, but when

summer came, and while we were working most zealously we all fell ill

with fever, and many of us were attacked with dysentery. I attribute

these maladies to many causes,--first to the miasma or poisonous

vapors exhaled from newly cleared land, then to the great heat and

the bad water that we had to drink, which, though it had been pure

enough in the winter and spring, had become bad by reason of a

multitude of little insects that were perpetually drowning themselves

in it. Another reason that contributed to render us ill was the

number of different sorts of flies by which we were devoured day and

night. There were among others two species of flies which in this

country they call _tics_. Some of them are large, others are

small, they fasten themselves to the skin and so penetrate into the

flesh that one can only remove them by pulling them to pieces, even

then a part remains and causes an insupportable itching.

We were dying one after another in this place when our Rev. Father

Abbot on his way from Martinique, with several religious, arrived at

New York. He summoned our community to him, as well as that of the

Rev. Father Urbain, which a short time previously had united with

ours, so that these three little communities now formed but one,

under our chief Superior, who thus in a moment effected a foundation

such as we had spent years of fruitless effort endeavoring to

establish. Our new monastery was established in the country near New

York, and did much good. Thirty-three poor children (almost all of

them orphans) were brought up there, and were given all the

necessaries of life, even to their clothes. Protestants came to see

the good work and two ministers were converted. These gentlemen came

sometimes to see us, and assisted at our religious ceremonies. They

liked to converse with our Reverend Father Abbot, who won them by his

frank and polite manner. In addition to the work of this monastery,

our Reverend Father Abbot supported and directed another house of our

Order which he had also founded, and which was productive of much

good. This was a community of nuns. There was yet another convent,

one belonging to the Ursulines quite near, that is to say about three

or four miles from our monastery, which our community supplied with a

chaplain. I was obliged to go there every Sunday to say mass and to

confess the nuns. When we arrived in their neighborhood they were

without a priest; we could not leave them in such need, so that I,

ill though I was, had to say two masses on Sundays, one in the church

of the Ursulines, the other in that of our sisters. However, this was

to me a cause of rejoicing, although I was fatigued after my voyages

and overwhelmed by the work with which I was charged, I was

compensated and consoled by the good that I could be the means of

doing. I remember having received the abjuration of Protestantism of

three young ladies who were boarders at the Ursuline Convent, and who

had the happiness of becoming Catholics.

Although we were in a Protestant country, our Reverend Father Abbot

undertook to have the procession of the Blessed Sacrament on the

festival of Corpus Christi, thinking it might do some good. He had

several repositories built in a field adjoining our house, these he

decorated in the best style possible and managed to have a canopy and

boys to swing censors and others to throw flowers before the Blessed

Sacrament. When the time for the procession arrived we saw our

Reverend Father bearing Jesus Christ in his hands and walking under

the dais borne by four religious in dalmatics accompanied by the

community and by several strangers singing hymns and canticles.

Numbers of children preceeded the Blessed Sacrament, exercising the

solemn functions which had been allotted to them. This infantine

band, clad in white surplices girded with different colors, resembled

angels and presented a spectacle at once beautiful and edifying to

the beholder. The Protestants who were present appeared to be much

pleased with the procession.

Our Reverend Father Abbot wished with all his heart to be able to

continue the good work thus commenced, but he was obliged to abandon

it for want of pecuniary means, and perhaps also because of the

ill-will of many who offered opposition to his projects; besides which

King Louis XVIII had been restored to the throne of France, and

religion was being re-established in that country. Almost all our

brothers were dispersed here and there throughout Europe, and it

would be necessary to reunite them. Persuaded, besides, that he would

receive more help in France than in the United States, and in short,

reflecting that there would perhaps be more good to be done yet in

the old world than in the new, (the Revolution having been the cause

of such wickedness and having done so much harm) our Father Abbot

decided that he and his community would return to France. He embarked

in the autumn of 1814, and took with him from New York the greater

number of our Brothers and all our Sisters, leaving only six Brothers

and myself behind, with orders that we should join him in France

after I had arranged our business matters and recovered my strength,

for I had still within me the germ of that malady of which mention

has been made in speaking of Maryland where I contracted it, as did

the others. It left me with a slow fever, that lasted for a long time.

At this junction two of our Brothers died, a lay Brother and an

oblate. This latter had been almost a millionaire he having acquired

a large fortune in the West India Islands; he lost it, however, in

the negro rebellion, and retired to La Trappe, where he died poor

enough.

Belonging to the house in which we were living was an orchard which

we had made our cemetery, here we had buried our two brothers; but,

as we were going to leave this spot and did not wish to expose their

bodies to be perhaps profaned by heretics who might buy the ground

and not wish to have them there, we determined to exhume them. They

had been buried about a fortnight, and the weather was warm, so we

provided ourselves with incense to burn in case there might be a foul

odour. This precaution, however, was not necessary, as there was no

smell perceptible, they were as fresh, so to speak, as if they were

still alive. We remarked especially that the body of Brother Jean

Marie, (the lay Brother) was supple. I touched it myself, and saw

that it was really so, for while I held him his legs swayed as would

those of a person in life.

Near the town there was a little cemetery well walled in, and

intended for the poor. As our brothers were poor in fact, and by

profession, I had them laid there, and in the same spirit of poverty

interred them side by side in the same grave. We accompanied these

good brothers to the tomb, offering our prayers for their repose, and

all was finished before daylight.

About the middle of the month of May, 1815, our business being

concluded, we left New York, and fifteen days later arrived at

Halifax, without having experienced bad weather. After two week's

delay in searching for another vessel, we at length found one, and by

means of the recommendation of Mr. Burke, then pastor of the town,

and since Bishop, we were taken on board with our seven trunks

without being obliged to pay anything for our passage. The ship was a

transport called the "Ceylon," and was delayed by contrary winds. The

second day after we embarked the wind still being from a wrong

quarter, I was stupid and imprudent enough to go ashore to see about

some business that was not of grave importance--when lo! the wind

veered round suddenly and became favorable. The ship sailed, but

Father, Vincent remained and lost his passage!

I thus found myself alone in a strange country, and without means. I

made every effort to discover some way of overtaking the ship, but in

vain. It was impossible to do so, and I felt very sad at the thought

of my brothers being carried so far away from me.

My Superior in France, to whom I made known this event, wrote to me

that as God had permitted it, I could remain until farther orders,

and occupy myself with the salvation of the Indians; for which object

I accordingly labored up to the time of my leaving Nova Scotia, that

is to say up to the month of October, 1823. These labors, however,

did not prevent my working for the good of our Order, as we shall see

later.

Mr. Bourke having gone to Ireland, we were only two priests for the

town of Halifax and its suburbs, where there were many Catholics,

without counting the Mic-macs, who are the Indians inhabiting Nova

Scotia. These Indians were called to the Faith about four centuries

ago. French priests or Jesuits coming at the peril of their lives,

brought them the light of the Gospel. Many of these ministers of our

Lord fell victims of their own zeal and charity, being murdered by

this nation, then pagan and barbarous. Since these Indians became

acquainted with the true religion they have never been known to

conform to any other, but have preserved their firmness in the faith

up to the present day in spite of the danger of perversion to which

they are so often exposed, more especially since they have lived among

the English, and in spite of their ignorance, for it is difficult to

teach them. Their language which they call "Mic-mac," is a jargon

without rule. They have been taught to read in it, but only by means

of hieroglyphics. A figure or a sign which they write themselves on

bark or on paper, may sometimes signify only one word, sometimes again

it stands for a whole phrase. Some have thought they detected Arab

words amongst this language, but I think it bears more resemblance to

that of children just learning to speak without being able to

understand what they say. For example for the "_yes_" they say

[long-e] (ay); for "_no_" they say "mena." The accent of the Mic-mac

is soft and slow. I have remarked that, they do not convey their ideas

well in any other language. When one translates Mic-mac for them into

French or English, they often appear dissatisfied, and one can see

from their manner that the true sense is not given. What renders their

faith more remarkable and meritorious is, that they confess through

the medium of an interpreter, and they avail themselves of the first

they find, no matter who, provided he knows their language. They are

often interpreted by their relatives, even the oldest by the youngest.

Mr. Mayar, a French priest who was formerly missionary to these parts

and who died in Halifax full of merit before God, was deeply regretted

by these Indians. By means of great application, and by the aid of

light from heaven, he accomplished the task of translating into their

language a number of the prayers and chants of the church, so that

they now sing the _Kyrie_, the _Gloria in Excelsis_, the _Credo_, &c,

even the _Te Deum_, on the Roman or Parisian tone, (for this worthy

priest came from Paris). They know many hymns of the Blessed Virgin,

which they sing equally well, also the prose _Dies Irae_. They sing

mass fairly well, especially the tone Royal, and the mass for the

dead. Some persons may be surprised at this, and perhaps harbor a

doubt of it, but I can testify as a witness to its truth. More than a

hundred times they have sung it for me. So recently as the month of

August, 1823, I was in a parish called Havre-a-Bouchers, when

twenty-six canoes filled with Indians arrived there; they came to have

their children baptised, and for confession, &c. There were eight

singers among them, and during the week that they remained, they sang

mass for me each day, and one might say conducted themselves like

canons or like Trappists! They have clear voices. These poor Indians

might shame some of our European Catholics by their zeal and their

piety; they will go fifty or even a hundred leagues to find a priest

and to receive the Sacraments, and as it often happens that they have

no provisions when they arrive, they pass two or three days without

eating, occupied only with their souls and forgetful of the wants of

the body.

While in Halifax, which is the capital of Nova Scotia, I found

myself overladen with work. The priest who was with me being in very

delicate health and often indisposed, most of the work fell to me. He

was at length obliged to go away for change of air and was absent for

a month, during which time it fell to me to baptize, confess, marry,

visit the sick in town and country, and be on my feet day and night,

besides saying mass on Sundays and Holy days.

Although I knew very little English, I preached twice in that

language in the Catholic church of the town, where there were about

two thousand Catholics, of whom the greater number were Irish.

Soon I felt constrained to go further into the Province of Nova

Scotia to minister to the wants of the poor, neglected inhabitants.

The first place to which I went was a parish called Chezzetcook,

composed of French Acadians, who were without a priest. It is seven

leagues from the town (Halifax) and when it possessed a missionary

the Indians had been accustomed to go there. They were not long in

learning of my presence, and came from a circuit of fifteen or twenty

leagues. I had a transparancy representing the suffering souls in

purgatory, which our Revered Father Abbot had made. The figures

expressing different shades of grief and of the desire as well as the

hope of seeing God, combined with the brilliant and real looking

flames, were well calculated to produce an impression. I showed it to

them and explained it by means of one of their interpreters who knew

French. At once penetrated with compassion and charity for the

suffering souls in purgatory they began to weep, and to look up the

money they had with them so as to have the Holy Sacrifice offered on

behalf of these suffering souls, and that without my having said

anything to give them the idea. They all wear the cross, some have it

hung round their necks, others fasten it on their breast. It is

seldom that an Indian leaves home without his beads; they generally

have them and do not neglect to say them, sometimes repeating the

chapelet several times a day, as well as in the middle of the night,

when they rise to pray. They observe all the fasts of the Church, and

the penances imposed on them they generally perform on Fridays. On

that day in a spirit of penitence, and in memory of the passion of

Jesus Christ, a man will hold out to his wife the backs of his hands,

which the wife strikes with a rod, giving twenty, thirty, or fifty

blows. She then in turn presents her hands and receives the same

chastisement from her husband. This chastisement is dealt out

indiscriminately, children are thus chastized by their parents, and

what is surprising, the little Indians when struck on the hands do

not withdraw them, no matter how much they feel the pain. I have seen

them bleeding, yet in spite of that they were firm and motionless.

Their religion is not only exterior, they have it in their heart as

will be seen by the following fact: The feast of St. Anne is a great

festival for the Indians, and I made a point of being at Chezzetcook

on that day. Two hundred Indians assembled, most of them came in a

spirit of devotion, but some of them had evil designs, for they

mediated killing their king and all his family. I discovered this

plot in time, and learnt the cause with astonishment. It was that

they believed that the chief and all his family would change their

religion, that they had become Protestants, or that they intended so

to do. This is how it came about. Some heretics called Methodists,

had done all in their power to attract the king of the Indians to

their sect, going so far as to give him all sorts of provisions, and

other valuables, such as cows, pigs, farming implements, &c. One of

these Methodists was sent among the Indians to learn their language,

and so corrupt them more easily. In this way the report got about

that their Chief, Benjamin (which was the name of the king) had

joined the Methodists with all his family. Mr. Mignault, parish

priest of Halifax, and myself knew this to be false, for Benjamin

himself, whom we had warned against the dangers that threatened him,

had replied: "The potatoes, cows, and the other provisions of Bromlet

(which was the name of the Methodist who had given him the things)

are good, I have taken them and made use of them, but his religion is

worthless, I will have none of it."

In consequence of this we assembled the Indians in the church of

Chezztecook, which was not large enough to hold them all, and we made

the king repeat his profession of faith in their presence, so that

they should no longer doubt his sincerity. He did this in a most

edifying manner. His example was followed by all his officers, who

also made their profession of faith. We remarked in particular one of

his brothers who was conspicuous by the touching beauty and eloquence

of his speech, and by the earnestness of the gestures which he

employed. Some fragments of his discourse were rendered into our

language by an Acadian interpreter, who understood Mic-mac pretty well.

"How," said he, "could we leave our religion that will save our

souls if we follow it, this religion that comes from God, whose son

died on the cross for our salvation? Shall we lose our souls that

have cost Him so dear, for which he suffered so much, and which he

shed all his blood to purchase? No, better die than change our faith

and do such a great wrong."

I had written to Mr. Mignault to come so as to render the affair

more imposing and dignified, and he arrived in good time. He carried

a large crucifix, which at the conclusion of the ceremony the Indians

came to venerate. The missionary then said a few words of

instruction, after which the Indians embraced each other as brothers

and friends, in token of general satisfaction and peace. I heard all

their confessions, and a large number had the happiness of receiving

Holy Communion. On the eve of St. Anne's feast, they made a bonfire,

and while the wood burned they fired off guns and danced around the

fire, clapping their hands in imitation of musical instruments. This

lasted for a great part of the night, however, they had previously

said their evening prayers, and sung hymns and canticles.

We can obtain almost anything from them in the name of our holy

religion, so great is their attachment to it, as will be seen by the

following: One day while I was in Halifax, a number of Indians came

to the presbytery to complain to me of the Governor who resided in

the town. They clamored for the guns and powder which had been

promised to them, and which they were accustomed to receive every

year from the English Government in addition to their gifts of woolen

blankets. The missionaries distributed, or saw to the distribution of

these latter. I was obliged to go myself to see the Governor on the

subject of this small rebellion, for the Indians wore a threatening

air. His Excellency begged me to pacify them and to tell them that

their demand would soon be granted. I returned and said a few words

in the name of religion, which at once quieted them.

Another time some barbarous and fanatical miscreants set a number of

Indians against us, making them believe that we only drew them around

us in order to do them harm, and to emperil their safety. This they

apparently believed, for we were warned that they would attempt our

lives. I spoke to them instructing them as well as I was able. At

last by the arguments of the religion to which they are so attached,

I turned them from their wicked purpose. I am sure that afterwards

they experienced a lively remorse for having entertained such a

thought. Formerly, that is to say, before priests came among them,

they had the barbarous custom of killing their fathers and mothers

when they became old and infirm. Many of the bludgeons and war clubs

with which they killed their parents have been found quite recently.

Now, however, they take care of them until their death, respecting

and loving them. It is thought that before they had any knowledge of

religion they were cannibals.

How is it that this people who were formerly so unnatural and so

barbarous are to-day so different, so humane, and quiet and

tractible? What has rendered them so docile and submissive; in short,

what has worked this happy change if not the Catholic religion?

Protestants, as we have shown above, have tried to civilize them, and

to imbue them with different sentiments, even going so far as to live

among them and entering into their pursuits, but their undertakings

have always failed, each attempt has met with the same result It is

only the true religion and its priests that have power to convert and

civilize these savages and make them useful members of society. Each

year they have masses said for different intentions, and in this they

give evidence of generosity and nobleness of sentiment. The first

mass that they recommend is for the human race, that is for all men

living; the second is for the souls in purgatory; the third for all

Indians and others who have died during the year; the fourth to thank

God for all benefits received from His hand during the year, and the

fifth to offer up to Him the coming year so that he may bless it. For

this object they save their money, sometimes to the end of the year,

sometimes to the feast of St. Anne, when they have an opportunity to

come to their religious duties. This, however, does not prevent their

having a special mass said, should any of their near relatives die.

They generally recommend high masses for these general intentions,

and for thanksgiving.

Before the French took possession of Nova Scotia, which they called

Acadia, the Indians lived only by hunting and fishing, and had no

clothing, but such as they made of the skins of wild beasts. Their

houses were hut-like in form, as they are at the present time, for

they have not changed their ancient manner of living. I have often

slept in their cabins, which are very uncomfortable for civilized

people, such as Frenchmen, although the Indians prefer them to our

houses. A proof of this is that, notwithstanding the length of time

they have lived among Europeans, they have not made up their mind to

imitate them. This may possibly arise from idleness, for it would

cost them much labor as well as time and money were they to erect

houses such as ours. They are not rich enough to employ workmen, but

in less than a day, without expense and with little labor, they can

build the house in which they live, sleep, cook, &c., and which is

much less trouble for them. They cut fifteen or twenty little trees

of about the same size as the arm of a youth of fifteen. From these

they remove the branches, if there be any, and make them into posts

of nine or ten feet in length. They then plant them in the earth at

equal distances, in the form of a circle, placing them so that they

may incline inwards, so that the base is much larger than the summit.

An opening is left at the apex sufficient to admit of the escape of

the smoke from the fire, which is always made in the middle of the

cabin. They then cover these poles with the bark of trees, leaving an

open space for the entrance. If they are not too poor, they cover

this space with some pieces of old blankets. Their houses are built

in the shape of a sugar loaf, their bed is the naked earth, or some

small branches of trees, shreded fine, that serve as a mattrass.

These cabins are never more than fifteen or twenty feet in diameter.

Their cookery consists chiefly in suspending above their fire some

eels or hares that they have killed. These they eat almost before

they have changed color, (what the Acadians term _boucare_).

There are some who have kettles, and who cook their fish in water,

with potatoes, which vegetable for some time past the Indians of Nova

Scotia have planted, and which now forms almost their principle

nourishment. Many have boats in which they go codfishing. Although

they are generally rather idle, they occupy themselves nevertheless

at work which requires attention and a certain kind of application,

such as making pretty boats out of bark and pretty boxes of different

shapes and colors, and elegant and highly ornamented baskets. For

this ornamentation they use the quills of the porcupine, an animal

very common in America. These quills they die black, red, blue, &c.

They make these colors themselves by means of certain barks which

they boil in water. They then fasten the colored quills on the bark

of their boxes in tasteful and varied patterns. This is generally

considered to be women's work. That of the men is heavier, such as

the making of churns and other wooden utensils for domestic use. They

tan the skins of the animals they kill and make their shoes or

moccasins out of them. These are very thin and do not last long. As,

regards their dress, both men and women are oddly attired. Their

clothes are fashioned somewhat after the manner of ours, but the

sewing is all on the outside and the stitches are very large. The

selvedge of the cloth, (which they are always careful to secure when

buying it) also shews on the outside, from their shoulders to their

heels, and is considered ornamental. The squaws' dresses are similar,

with the addition of a hood, which, when turned up, completely covers

their head. The more elegant are ornamented with ribbons, flowers,

beads, &c. It is more particularly when they come to their devotions

that they decorate themselves thus. The men also at such times dress

themselves with more than usual care. They live very peaceably

together, willingly lend to each other, and have almost everything in

common. If one receives a gift of anything, bread for example, all

the others, men and women, regard it as a present made to all, and

are as grateful as if each had received it, consequently there is no

such thing as jealousy among them. A beautiful example for all

Christians!

We will now speak of their dexterity. It is wonderful to see them

manage their bark canoes, which are extremely light. These little

boats are narrow at both ends, a little wider in the middle, and

generally about nine or ten feet long. They move with surprising

quickness in the midst of the angry waves. Two persons are sufficient

to propel them, and it can be done by one. When fishing eels they

stand at the end of their canoes and spear the eels with a long stick,

to the end of which is fastened a sharp pointed iron. This instrument

they call _higogue_. They are so long sighted that they can see to the

bottom, of water twenty feet in depth. They wait until the fish rise,

then spear them as they go along. Their dexterity is such that they

seldom miss their aim. I have often gone with them; we have journeyed

together by sea and by land. When there are _portages_, that is to say

lands to cross, in order to regain the sea or lakes, they put their

canoes on their heads and carry them to the water, and if they are

overtaken by rain or by bad weather, they turn them over and take

shelter underneath them.

Without counting the Indians who in 1818 numbered many thousand

souls in Nova Scotia and in Cape Breton, which Province alone, is

almost as large as France, there were at least twelve hundred and

fifty Catholic families scattered over these two large Provinces. At

that time we numbered only seven priests, two of whom were very

infirm, which was the reason of my being obliged to leave the Halifax

mission and to repair to a place two hundred miles from there, on the

coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in the neighborhood of Cape

Breton, This part of Nova Scotia (to which I was sent by Bishop Burke

on his return from his visit to Europe, where he had been made Bishop

of Sion and Vicar Apostolic of this Province), was without a priest,

although it contained a great number of Catholics. On my arrival I

found three parishes abandoned and deprived of the precious

consolations of religion. Many children were brought to me for

baptism, and I had numerous confessions to hear, &c. They came from

great distances to take me to visit the sick who had ample time to

die before I could get near them.