MGR. DE LAVAL AND THE SAVAGES
Now, what were the results accomplished by the efforts of the
missionaries at this period of our history? When in their latest hour
they saw about them, as was very frequently the case, only the wild
children of the desert uttering cries of ferocious joy, had they at
least the consolation of discerning faithful disciples of Christ
concealed among their executioners? Alas! we must admit that North
America saw no renewal of the days when St. Peter converted on one
occasion, at his first preaching, three thousand persons, and when St.
Paul brought to Jesus by His word thousands of Gentiles. Were the
missionaries of the New World, then, less zealous, less disinterested,
less eloquent than the apostles of the early days of the Church? Let us
listen to Mgr. Bourgard: "A few only among them, like the Brazilian
apostle, Father Anthony Vieyra, died a natural death and found a grave
in earth consecrated by the Church. Many, like Father Marquette, who
reconnoitred the whole course of the Mississippi, succumbed to the
burden of fatigue in the midst of the desert, and were buried under the
turf by their sorrowful comrades. He had with him several Frenchmen,
Fathers Badin, Deseille and Petit; the two latter left their venerable
remains among the wastes. Others met death at the bedside of the
plague-stricken, and were martyrs to their charity, like Fathers Turgis
and Dablon. An incalculable number died in the desert, alone, deprived
of all aid, unknown to the whole world, and their bodies became the
sustenance of birds of prey. Several obtained the glorious crown of
martyrdom; such are the venerable Fathers Jogues, Corpo, Souël,
Chabanel, Ribourde, Brébeuf, Lalemant, etc. Now they fell under the
blows of raging Indians; now they were traitorously assassinated; again,
they were impaled." In what, then, must we seek for the cause of the
futility of these efforts? All those who know the savages will
understand it; it is in the fickle character of these children of the
woods, a character more unstable and volatile than that of infants. God
alone knows what restless anxiety the conversions which they succeeded
in bringing about caused to the missionaries and the pious Bishop of
Petræa. Yet every day Mgr. de Laval ardently prayed, not only for the
flock confided to his care but also for the souls which he had come from
so far to seek to save from heathenism. If one of these devout men of
God had succeeded at the price of a thousand dangers, of a thousand
attempts, in proving to an Indian the insanity, the folly of his belief
in the juggleries of a sorcerer, he must watch with jealous care lest
his convert should lapse from grace either through the sarcasms of the
other redskins, or through the attractions of some cannibal festival, or
by the temptation to satisfy an ancient grudge, or through the fear of
losing a coveted influence, or even through the apprehension of the
vengeance of the heathen. Did he think himself justified in expecting to
see his efforts crowned with success? Suddenly he would learn that the
poor neophyte had been led astray by the sight of a bottle of brandy,
and that he had to begin again from the beginning.
No greater success was attained in many efforts which were exerted to
give a European stamp to the character of the aborigines, than in divers
attempts to train in civilized habits young Indians brought up in the
seminaries. And we know that if success in this direction had been
possible it would certainly have been obtained by educators like the
Jesuit Fathers. "With the French admitted to the small seminary," says
the Abbé Ferland, "six young Indians were received; on the advice of the
king they were all to be brought up together. This union, which was
thought likely to prove useful to all, was not helpful to the savages,
and became harmful to the young Frenchmen. After a few trials it was
understood that it was impossible to adapt to the regular habits
necessary for success in a course of study these young scholars who had
been reared in complete freedom. Comradeship with Algonquin and Huron
children, who were incapable of limiting themselves to the observance
of a college rule, tended to give more force and persistence to the
independent ideas which were natural in the young French-Canadians, who
received from their fathers the love of liberty and the taste for an
adventurous life."
But we must not infer, therefore, that the missionaries found no
consolation in their troublous task. If sometimes the savage blood
revealed itself in the neophytes in sudden insurrections, we must admit
that the majority of the converts devoted themselves to the practice of
virtues with an energy which often rose to heroism, and that already
there began to appear among them that holy fraternity which the gospel
everywhere brings to birth. The memoirs of the Jesuits furnish numerous
evidences of this. We shall cite only the following: "A band of Hurons
had come down to the Mission of St. Joseph. The Christians, suffering a
great dearth of provisions, asked each other, 'Can we feed all those
people?' As they said this, behold, a number of the Indians,
disembarking from their little boats, go straight to the chapel, fall
upon their knees and say their prayers. An Algonquin who had gone to
salute the Holy Sacrament, having perceived them, came to apprise his
captain that these Hurons were praying to God. 'Is it true?' said he.
'Come! come! we must no longer debate whether we shall give them food or
not; they are our brothers, since they believe as well as we.'"
The conversion which caused the most joy to Mgr. de Laval was that of
Garakontié, the noted chief of the Iroquois confederation. Accordingly
he wished to baptize him himself in the cathedral of Quebec, and the
governor, M. de Courcelles, consented to serve as godfather to the new
follower of Christ. Up to this time the missions to the Five Nations had
been ephemeral; by the first one Father Jogues had only been able to
fertilize with his blood this barbarous soil; the second, established at
Gannentaha, escaped the general massacre in 1658 only by a genuine
miracle. This mission was commanded by Captain Dupuis, and comprised
fifty-five Frenchmen. Five Jesuit Fathers were of the number, among them
Fathers Chaumonot and Dablon. Everything up to that time had gone
wonderfully well in the new establishment; the missionaries knew the
Iroquois language so well, and so well applied the rules of savage
eloquence, that they impressed all the surrounding tribes; accordingly
they were full of trust and dreamed of a rapid extension of the Catholic
faith in these territories. An Iroquois chief dispelled their illusion
by revealing to them the plans of their enemies; they were already
watched, and preparations were on foot to cut off their retreat. In this
peril the colonists took counsel, and hastily constructed in the
granaries of their quarters a few boats, some canoes and a large barge,
destined to transport the provisions and the fugitives. They had to
hasten, because the attack against their establishment might take place
at any moment, and they must profit by the breaking up of the ice, which
was impending. But how could they transport this little flotilla to the
river which flowed into Lake Ontario twenty miles away without giving
the alarm and being massacred at the first step? They adopted a singular
stratagem derived from the customs of these people, and one in which the
fugitives succeeded perfectly. "A young Frenchman adopted by an Indian,"
relates Jacques de Beaudoncourt, "pretended to have a dream by which he
was warned to make a festival, 'to eat everything,' if he did not wish
to die presently. 'You are my son,' replied the Iroquois chief, 'I do
not want you to die; prepare the feast and we shall eat everything.' No
one was absent; some of the French who were invited made music to charm
the guests. They ate so much, according to the rules of Indian civility,
that they said to their host, 'Take pity on us, and let us go and rest.'
'You want me to die, then?' 'Oh, no!' And they betook themselves to
eating again as best they could. During this time the other Frenchmen
were carrying to the river the boats and provisions. When all was ready
the young man said: 'I take pity on you, stop eating, I shall not die. I
am going to have music played to lull you to sleep.' And sleep was not
long in coming, and the French, slipping hastily away from the banquet
hall, rejoined their comrades. They had left the dogs and the fowls
behind, in order the better to deceive the savages; a heavy snow,
falling at the moment of their departure, had concealed all traces of
their passage, and the banqueters imagined that a powerful Manitou had
carried away the fugitives, who would not fail to come back and avenge
themselves. After thirteen days of toilsome navigation, the French
arrived in Montreal, having lost only three men from drowning during the
passage. It had been thought that they were all massacred, for the plans
of the Iroquois had become known in the colony; this escape brought the
greatest honour to Captain Dupuis, who had successfully carried it out."
M. d'Argenson, then governor, did not approve of the retreat of the
captain; this advanced bulwark protected the whole colony, and he
thought that the French should have held out to the last man. This
selfish opinion was disavowed by the great majority; the real courage of
a leader does not consist in having all his comrades massacred to no
purpose, but in saving by his calm intrepidity the largest possible
number of soldiers for his country.
The Iroquois were tricked but not disarmed. Beside themselves with rage
at the thought that so many victims about to be sacrificed to their
hatred had escaped their blows, and desiring to end once for all the
feud with their enemies, the Onondagas, they persuaded the other nations
to join them in a rush upon Quebec. They succeeded easily, and twelve
hundred savage warriors assembled at Cleft Rock, on the outskirts of
Montreal, and exposed the colony to the most terrible danger which it
had yet experienced.
This was indeed a great peril; the dwellings above Quebec were without
defence, and separated so far from each other that they stretched out
nearly two leagues. But providentially the plan of these terrible foes
was made known to the inhabitants of the town through an Iroquois
prisoner. Immediately the most feverish activity was exerted in
preparations for defence; the country houses and those of the Lower Town
were abandoned, and the inhabitants took refuge in the palace, in the
fort, with the Ursulines, or with the Jesuits; redoubts were raised,
loop-holes bored and patrols established. At Ville-Marie no fewer
precautions were taken; the governor surrounded a mill which he had
erected in 1658, by a palisade, a ditch, and four bastions well
entrenched. It stood on a height of the St. Louis Hill, and, called at
first the Mill on the Hill, it became later the citadel of Montreal.
Anxiety still prevailed everywhere, but God, who knows how to raise up,
in the very moment of despair, the instruments which He uses in His
infinite wisdom to protect the countries dear to His heart, that same
God who gave to France the heroic Joan of Arc, produced for Canada an
unexpected defender. Dollard and sixteen brave Montrealers were to offer
themselves as victims to save the colony. Their devotion, which
surpasses all that history shows of splendid daring, proves the
exaltation of the souls of those early colonists.
One morning in the month of July, 1660, Dollard, accompanied by sixteen
valiant comrades, presented himself at the altar of the church in
Montreal; these Christian heroes came to ask the God of the strong to
bless the resolve which they had taken to go and sacrifice themselves
for their brothers. Immediately after mass, tearing themselves from the
embraces of their relatives, they set out, and after a long and toilsome
march arrived at the foot of the Long Rapid, on the left bank of the
Ottawa; the exact point where they stopped is probably Greece's Point,
five or six miles above Carillon, for they knew that the Iroquois
returning from the hunt must pass this place. They installed themselves
within a wretched palisade, where they were joined almost at once by two
Indian chiefs who, having challenged each other's courage, sought an
occasion to surpass one another in valour. They were Anahotaha, at the
head of forty Hurons, and Métiomègue, accompanied by four Algonquins.
They had not long to wait; two canoes bore the Iroquois crews within
musket shot; those who escaped the terrible volley which received them
and killed the majority of them, hastened to warn the band of three
hundred other Iroquois from whom they had become detached. The Indians,
relying on an easy victory, hastened up, but they hurled themselves in
vain upon the French, who, sheltered by their weak palisade, crowned
its stakes with the heads of their enemies as these were beaten down.
Exasperated by this unexpected check, the Iroquois broke up the canoes
of their adversaries, and, with the help of these fragments, which they
set on fire, attempted to burn the little fortress; but a well sustained
fire prevented the rashest from approaching. Their pride yielding to
their thirst for vengeance, these three hundred men found themselves too
few before such intrepid enemies, and they sent for aid to a band of
five hundred of their people, who were camped on the Richelieu Islands.
These hastened to the attack, and eight hundred men rushed upon a band
of heroes strengthened by the sentiment of duty, the love of country and
faith in a happy future. Futile efforts! The bullets made terrible havoc
in their ranks, and they recoiled again, carrying with them only the
assurance that their numbers had not paralyzed the courage of the
French.
But the aspect of things was about to change, owing to the cowardice of
the Hurons. Water failed the besieged tortured by thirst; they made
sorties from time to time to procure some, and could bring back in their
small and insufficient vessels only a few drops, obtained at the
greatest peril. The Iroquois, aware of this fact, profited by it in
order to offer life and pardon to the Indians who would go over to their
side. No more was necessary to persuade the Hurons, and suddenly thirty
of them followed La Mouche, the nephew of the Huron chief, and leaped
over the palisades. The brave Anahotaha fired a pistol shot at his
nephew, but missed him. The Algonquins remained faithful, and died
bravely at their post. The Iroquois learned through these deserters the
real number of those who were resisting them so boldly; they then took
an oath to die to the last man rather than renounce victory, rather than
cast thus an everlasting opprobrium on their nation. The bravest made a
sort of shield with fagots tied together, and, placing themselves in
front of their comrades, hurled themselves upon the palisades,
attempting to tear them up. The supreme moment of the struggle has come;
Dollard is aware of it. While his brothers in arms make frightful gaps
in the ranks of the savages by well-directed shots, he loads with grape
shot a musket which is to explode as it falls, and hurls it with all his
might. Unhappily, the branch of a tree stays the passage of the terrible
engine of destruction, which falls back upon the French and makes a
bloody gap among them. "Surrender!" cries La Mouche to Anahotaha. "I
have given my word to the French, I shall die with them," replies the
bold chief. Already some stakes were torn up, and the Iroquois were
about to rush like an avalanche through this breach, when a new Horatius
Cocles, as brave as the Roman, made his body a shield for his brothers,
and soon the axe which he held in his hand dripped with blood. He fell,
and was at once replaced. The French succumbed one by one; they were
seen brandishing their weapons up to the moment of their last breath,
and, riddled with wounds, they resisted to the last sigh. Drunk with
vengeance, the wild conquerors turned over the bodies to find some still
palpitating, that they might bind them to a stake of torture; three were
in their mortal agony, but they died before being cast on the pyre. A
single one was saved for the stake; he heroically resisted the
refinements of the most barbarous cruelty; he showed no weakness, and
did not cease to pray for his executioners. Everything in this glorious
deed of arms must compel the admiration of the most remote posterity.
The wretched Hurons suffered the fate which they had deserved; they were
burned in the different villages. Five escaped, and it was by their
reports that men learned the details of an exploit which saved the
colony. The Iroquois, in fact, considering what a handful of brave men
had accomplished, took it for granted that a frontal attack on such men
could only result in failure; they changed their tactics, and had
recourse anew to their warfare of surprises and ambuscades, with the
purpose of gradually destroying the little colony.
The dangers which might be risked by attacking so fierce a nation were,
as may be seen, by no means imaginary. Many would have retreated, and
awaited a favourable occasion to try and plant for the third time the
cross in the Iroquois village. The sons of Loyola did not hesitate;
encouraged by Mgr. de Laval, they retraced their steps to the Five
Nations. This time Heaven condescended to reward in a large measure
their persistent efforts, and the harvest was abundant. In a short time
the number of churches among these people had increased to ten.
The famous chief, Garakontié, whose conversion to Christianity caused so
much joy to the pious Bishop of Petræa and to all the Christians of
Canada, was endowed with a rare intelligence, and all who approached him
recognized in him a mind as keen as it was profound. Not only did he
keep faithfully the promises which he had made on receiving baptism, but
the gratitude which he continued to feel towards the bishop and the
missionaries made him remain until his death the devoted friend of the
French. "He is an incomparable man," wrote Father Millet one day. "He is
the soul of all the good that is done here; he supports the faith by his
influence; he maintains peace by his authority; he declares himself so
clearly for France that we may justly call him the protector of the
Crown in this country." Feeling life escaping, he wished to give what
the savages call their "farewell feast," a touching custom, especially
when Christianity comes to sanctify it. His last words were for the
venerable prelate, to whom he had vowed a deep attachment and respect.
"The guests having retired," wrote Father Lamberville, "he called me to
him. 'So we must part at last,' said he to me; 'I am willing, since I
hope to go to Heaven.' He then begged me to tell my beads with him,
which I did, together with several Christians, and then he called me and
said to me: 'I am dying.' Then he gave up the ghost very peacefully."
The labour demanded at this period by pastoral visits in a diocese so
extended may readily be imagined. Besides the towns of Quebec, Montreal
and Three Rivers, in which was centralized the general activity, there
were then several Christian villages, those of Lorette, Ste. Foy,
Sillery, the village of La Montagne at Montreal, of the Sault St. Louis,
and of the Prairie de la Madeleine. Far from avoiding these trips, Mgr.
de Laval took pleasure in visiting all the cabins of the savages, one
after another, spreading the good Word, consoling the afflicted, and
himself administering the sacraments of the Church to those who wished
to receive them.
Father Dablon gives us in these terms the narrative of the visit of the
bishop to the Prairie de la Madeleine in 1676. "This man," says he,
speaking of the prelate, "this man, great by birth and still greater by
his virtues, which have been quite recently the admiration of all
France, and which on his last voyage to Europe justly acquired for him
the esteem and the approval of the king; this great man, making the
rounds of his diocese, was conveyed in a little bark canoe by two
peasants, exposed to all the inclemencies of the climate, without other
retinue than a single ecclesiastic, and without carrying anything but a
wooden cross and the ornaments absolutely necessary to a _bishop of
gold_, according to the expression of authors in speaking of the first
prelates of Christianity."
[The expedition of Dollard is related in detail by Dollier de
Casson, and by Mother Mary of the Incarnation in her letters. The
Abbé de Belmont gives a further account of the episode in his
history. The _Jesuit Relations_ place the scene of the affair at
the Chaudière Falls. The sceptically-minded are referred to
Kingsford's _History of Canada_, vol. I., p. 261, where a less
romantic view of the affair is taken.]--Editors' Note on the
Dollard Episode.