us that the kingdom of our Redeemer shall be recognized throughout
the earth; and that there shall be neither caves of dragons nor dens
of cockatrices, nor inaccessible rocks, nor abysses so deep, that his
grace will not soften and his salvation cure, his abundance fertilize,
his humility raise up, and over which his cross will not at last
victoriously triumph. And why shall I not hope that the time has come
when this prophecy is to be fulfilled in these lands? If that be so,
what can there be so difficult that our Lord cannot make it easy?
In the second place, I rely upon the King, our Sire. He is a Sovereign
who promises us nothing less than the late King, his father, the
incomparable Henry the Great. This work began in the latter's reign,
and it may be said that in the century since France has appropriated
this country, or has so completely taken possession of it, there
has not been so much accomplished at any time as since our present
king became sovereign; may God fill his reign with all blessings. He
will not permit his name and arms to stand in these regions side by
side with paganism, his authority with barbarism, his renown with
savagery, his power with poverty, [36] his faith with lack of works,
nor leave his subjects without aid or succor. His mother also, another
Queen Blanche,[45] looking to the glory of God, will contemplate these
lately-acquired wildernesses, where in the beginning of her Regency the
Gospel plough has, through her instrumentality, created some hope of a
harvest; and will recall what the late King, great in wisdom as well as
in courage, said to Sieur de Potrincourt when he came to this country:
"Go," said he. "I plan the edifice; my son will build it." We beg your
Reverence to lay this matter before him, together with the work which
might be done by their Majesties in these lands, if it were their good
pleasure to endow and to give a fair revenue to this mission, from
which all those who would be educated and maintained here might go
forth through the whole country.
That is the second resource upon which our hopes are founded; to
which I will add the piety and liberality which we experienced upon
our departure from the lords and ladies of this most noble and most
christian court, who promised me that they would not fail to assist
this enterprise with their means, in order not to lose what they have
already invested in it, which serves them as monuments of glory and of
eternal happiness before God.
M. de Potrincourt, a mild and upright Gentleman, [37] brave, beloved
and well-known in these parts, and M. de Biancourt, his son, who
reflects the virtues and good qualities of his father, both zealous in
serving God, and who honor and cherish us more than we deserve, also
encourage us in devoting all our energy to this work.
Finally, we are encouraged by the situation and condition of this
place, which, if it is cultivated, promises to furnish a great deal
for the needs of human life; and its beauty causes me to wonder that
it has been so little sought up to the present time. From this port
where we now are, it is very convenient for us to spread out to the
Armouchiquois, Iroquois, and Montagnais, our neighbors, which are
populous nations and till the soil as we do; this situation, I say,
makes us hope something for the future. For, if our Souriquois are few,
they may become numerous; if they are savages, it is to domesticate
and civilize them that we have come here; if they are rude, that is no
reason that we should be idle; if they have until now profited little,
it is no wonder, for it would be too much to expect fruit from this
grafting, and to demand reason and maturity from a child.
In conclusion, we hope in time to make them susceptible of receiving
the doctrines of the faith and of the christian and catholic religion,
and later, to penetrate [38] farther into the regions beyond, which
they say are more populous and better cultivated. We base this hope
upon Divine goodness and mercy, upon the zeal and fervent charity of
all good people who earnestly desire the kingdom of God, particularly
upon the holy prayers of Your Reverence and of our Reverend Fathers and
very dear Brothers, to whom we most affectionately commend ourselves.
From Port Royal, New France, this tenth day of June, one thousand six
hundred and eleven.
PIERRE BIARD.
FOOTNOTES:
[X.] Charles de Biencourt, esquire, sieur de Saint-Just and son of
Monsieur de Poutrincourt. He was then nineteen or twenty years old.
(_Lescarbot_ and _Champlain_.)--[Carayon.]
[XI.] Thomas Robin, esquire, sieur de Cologne, living in the city of
Paris. (_Lescarbot._)--[Carayon.]
[XII.] Champlain and Charlevoix, who copied this, were wrong in saying
the 12th of June.--[Carayon.]
[XIII.] Lescarbot says: "His father accompanied him as far as port de
la Hève, a hundred leagues, more or less, from Port Royal." This makes
it appear that Chachippè, Port Saint John, and la Hève are one and the
same place.--[Carayon.]
[XIV.] To sail on a bowline means to sail close to the wind.--[Carayon.]
[XV.] The _cormorant_ is a long-necked, high-stepping sea-bird, which
lives upon fish.--[Carayon.]
[XVI.] "The year before he had been made a prisoner by Sieur
de Potrincourt; and having slyly escaped from him, he had been
obliged to wander about in the woods in great misery."--(_Printed
Relation._)--[Carayon.]
[39] Lettre du Père Ennemond Masse au R. P. Claude Aquaviva, Général
de la Compagnie de Jésus.
_(Traduite sur l'original latin._)
PORT-ROYAL, 10 juin 1611.
MON TRÈS-RÉVÉREND PÈRE,
Pax Christi.
Si Votre Paternité a vu avec plaisir ma lettre du 13 octobre, j'en ai
éprouvé bien davantage à recevoir la sienne du 7 décembre; d'autant
plus que je suis le premier de la Compagnie qui ait reçu la première
lettre que Votre Paternité ait jamais envoyée au Canada. Je prends ce
fait comme un heureux augure, et je l'accepte comme venant du ciel,
pour m'exciter _à courir avec ferveur dans la carrière_, afin de
mériter et de recevoir _le prix de cette vocation céleste_, et enfin
de me sacrifier moi-même plus promptement et plus complétement pour le
salut de ces peuples.
Je vous l'avoue; _j'ai dit alors_ franchement à Dieu: _Me voici: Si
vous choisissez ce qu'il y a de faible et de méprisable dans ce monde,
pour renverser_ [40] et _détruire ce qui est fort_, vous trouverez tout
cela dans Ennemond. _Me voici: envoyez-moi, et rendez ma langue_ et
_ma parole intelligible, afin que je ne sois pas barbare pour ceux qui
m'entendront._
Vos prières, j'en ai la confiance, ne seront pas sans succès, comme
semble le présager notre arrivée ici, le très-saint jour de la
Pentecôte. _Nous sommes faibles en Jésus-Christ, mais_, je l'espère,
_nous vivrons avec lui par la force de Dieu_. Que Votre Paternité,
je l'en conjure, obtienne par ses saintes prières et ses saints
sacrifices, que le Seigneur accomplisse toutes ces choses en nous.
Le fils indigne en Jésus-Christ de la Compagnie de Jésus.
ENNEMOND MASSE.
Port-Royal, dans la Nouvelle-France, le 10 juin 1611.
[39] Letter from Father Ennemond Masse to Reverend Father Claude
Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus.
(_Translated from the Latin original._)
PORT ROYAL, June 10, 1611.
MY VERY REVEREND FATHER,
The peace of Christ be with you
If Your Reverence read with pleasure my letter of October 13th, I felt
a great deal more in receiving yours of December 7th, especially as I
am the first of the Society to receive from Your Reverence the first
letter which you have ever sent to Canada. I take this event as a happy
omen, and accept it as coming from heaven, to incite me _to run with
ardor in the race_, in order to merit and receive _the reward of this
heavenly vocation_, and to sacrifice myself more promptly and more
completely for the salvation of these people.
I admit to you _that I said then_ freely to God: _Here I am; if you
choose what is weak and despicable in this world to overthrow_ [40]
_and destroy that which is strong_, you will find all this in Ennemond.
_Here I am; send me, and make my tongue and my words intelligible, so
that I may not be a barbarian to those who will hear me._
Your prayers, I am sure, will not be in vain, as our arrival here upon
the most holy day of Pentecost seems to presage. _We are weak in Jesus
Christ, but_, I hope, _we shall live with him by the power of God_.
It is my earnest entreaty that Your Reverence, by your prayers and
holy sacrifices, may prevail upon the Lord to accomplish all these
things in us.
The unworthy son in Jesus Christ, of the Society of Jesus,
ENNEMOND MASSE.
Port Royal, New France, June 10, 1611.
[41] Lettre du P. Pierre Biard, au T.-R. P. Claude Aquaviva, Général
de la Compagnie de Jésus.
(_Traduite sur l'original latin._)
PORT-ROYAL, 11 juin 1611.
MON TRÈS-RÉVÉREND PÈRE,
Pax Christi.
Après quatre mois d'une navigation vraiment trèspénible et
très-périlleuse, nous sommes enfin arrivés, grâce à la protection
de Dieu et aux prières de Votre Paternité, à Port-Royal, dans cette
Nouvelle-France, terme de notre voyage.
Nous avons en effet quitté Dieppe le 26 janvier de cette année 1611, et
nous sommes arrivés cette même année le 22 mai. Je donne en français
au R. P. Provincial la relation de toute notre entreprise et de l'état
où nous avons trouvé les choses ici. C'est ce qui me paraissait plus
urgent et plus utile, puisque j'étais dans l'impossibilité de le faire
en même temps en latin. Je ne me suis pas encore arrêté huit jours à
Port-Royal, et tout le temps est [42] absorbé par des interruptions
continuelles et par les nécessités de la vie. Au reste, le P. Masse et
moi, nous nous portons assez bien, grâce à Dieu: mais il nous a fallu
prendre un serviteur pour les travaux matériels. Nous ne pouvions nous
en passer sans un grand détriment pour l'esprit et pour le coeur.
M. de Potrincourt, qui commande ici au nom du Roi, nous aime et nous
estime en proportion de sa piété.
A la première occasion nous nous empresserons, avec la grâce de Dieu,
de dire quelles sont nos espérances de succès.
Le vaisseau s'est déjà éloigné. Je vais être obligé d'aller le
rejoindre en canot, pour qu'il ne parte sans mes lettres.
Je conjure Votre Paternité, par les mérites de Jésus-Christ, de se
souvenir de nous et de ces contrées très-solitaires, et de venir à
notre secours, autant qu'elle le pourra, non-seulement par le moyen
des prières très-ferventes de notre Compagnie, mais aussi par la
bénédiction et les faveurs de notre Saint-Père le Pape (comme je les ai
déjà demandées).
Assurément nous semons dans une grande pauvreté et dans les larmes;
daigne le Seigneur nous accorder de moissonner un jour dans la joie.
C'est ce qui arrivera, comme je l'espère et comme je l'ai [43] dit,
grâce aux prières et aux bénédictions de Votre Paternité, que je
sollicite humblement,
de Votre Paternité,
Le fils et serviteur indigne,
PIERRE BIARD, S. J.
A Port-Royal, dans la Nouvelle-France, ou Canada, le 11 de juin 1611.
[41] Letter from Father Pierre Biard, to the Very Reverend Father
Claude Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus.
(_Translated from the Latin original._)
PORT ROYAL, June 11, 1611.
MY VERY REVEREND FATHER,
The peace of Christ be with you.
After four months of very painful and perilous navigation, we have at
last arrived, thanks to the protection of God and to the prayers of
Your Reverence, at Port Royal, in New France, the end of our journey.
In truth we left Dieppe the 26th of January this year, 1611, and
arrived May 22nd of this same year. I am giving to the Reverend Father
Provincial the narrative in French of our whole undertaking, and of the
condition in which we found things here. This seemed to me the more
necessary and useful, as it was impossible for me to write it at the
same time in Latin. I have not yet been settled a week in Port Royal,
and all the time has [42] been taken up by continual interruptions and
in providing the necessities of life. As to ourselves, Father Masse
and I, we are feeling very well, thank God; but we have been obliged
to take a servant to do the drudgery. We could not dispense with one
without a great deal of anxiety and trouble.
M. de Potrincourt, who commands here in the name of the King, loves and
esteems us in proportion to his piety.
We shall take the first opportunity to impart to you what may be, by
the grace of God, our prospects of success in this country.
The ship has already gone. I shall be obliged to overtake it in a
canoe, that it may not leave without my letters.
I conjure Your Reverence, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to
remember us and these solitary lands, and to come to our aid in so far
as you are able, not only by the fervent prayers of our Society, but
also by the blessing and favor of our Holy Father the Pope (which I
have already invoked). Surely we sow in great poverty and in tears; may
the Lord grant that we some day reap in joy. Which will come to pass,
as I hope and have said, [43] through the prayers and blessings of Your
Reverence, which are humbly solicited by your
Unworthy son and servant,
PIERRE BIARD, S. J.
Port Royal, New France, or Canada, June 11, 1611.
[Illustration: FIGVRE DE LA TERRE NEVVE, GRANDE RIVIERE DE CANADA, ET
CÔTES DE L'OCEAN EN LA NOVVELLE FRANCE
_Ian Swelinc fecit I Millot excudit_ MARCVS: LESCARBOT _nunc primum
delin'auit publicauit donauit Avec privilege du Roy_
FROM LESCARBOT'S HISTOIRE DE LA NOVVELLE FRANCE; PARIS, 1612.
[Reduced to 2/3 the dimensions of original.]]
VII
JOUVENCY'S CANADICÆ MISSIONIS RELATIO
ROME: GIORGIO PLACKO, 1710
SOURCE: We follow the general style of O'Callaghan's Reprint No.
4. The Title-page, Eulogy of Biard, and Table of Contents, are the
work of that Editor. The Text, and List of Missions in 1710, he
reprinted from Jouvency's _Historia Societatis Jesu_ (Rome, 1710),
part v., pp. 321-325, 961, 962; the proof of these we have read
from a copy of that work, found in the library of the College of
St. Francis Xavier, New York. The bracketed pagination in Arabic
figures is that of Jouvency; that in Roman, of O'Callaghan.
CANADICÆ
MISSIONIS
RELATIO
_Ab anno 1611 usque ad annum 1613, cum statu ejusdem Missionis,
annis 1703 & 1710_,
Auctore JOSEPHO JUVENCIO, Societatis
Jesu, Sacerdote.
[Illustration]
Ex Historiæ Soc. Jesu. Lib. xv. Part. v, impressa
ROMÆ
Ex Typographia Georgii Plachi
M. D. CC. X.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE
CANADIAN
MISSION
_From the year 1611 until the year 1613, with the condition of the
same Mission in the years 1703 and 1710_,
By JOSEPH JOUVENCY, a Priest of the
Society of Jesus.
Printed from the History of the Society of Jesus, Book xv., Part v.
ROME
From the Press of Giorgio Placko
1710.
[i] P. Petri Biardi Eulogium ac Vita.
DE Patre Petro Biardo qui tantam in Missione Canadica inchoanda partem
gessit hæc scribit Pater Josephus Juvencius in sua Historiâ sub anno
1622.
"Ex omnibus qui hoc anno vivere in provincia Lugdunensi desierunt,
luctu maximo elatus est Avenione P. PETRUS BIARDUS Gratianopolitanus.
Religionis propagandæ studio navigaverat ad barbaros Canadenses,
fueratque inter primos ejus terræ cultores, ut in quinta parte narratum
est. Inde pulsus ab hæreticis Anglis, & redire in Galliam coactus,
totum se impendit [ii] juvandis popularibus suis, quorum ut saluti
consuleret, nihil sibi reliqui ad laborem diligentiamque faciebat.
Ejus tamen industriam experti maxime sunt Parodienses in præfectura
Carolitana, quam civitatem per usitata ordinis ministeria diu coluit.
Novissime regionis præfectus Marchio Ragnius, jussus a rege copias in
Campaniam ducere contra Ernestum Mansfeldium Galliæ finibus imminentem,
Biardum sibi adsciverat comitem expeditionis, & sacrorum ministrum.
Per eam occasionem nescias, utrum spectata magis sit apostolici viri
charitas, an patientia. Magna erat in castris inopia commeatuum. Diaria
militibus præbebantur adeo maligne, ut nonnulli fame perirent. Biardus
cibario, & demensum suum, ac siquid præterea pecuniolæ a ditioribus
emendicando corrogasset, inter egentissimos militum partiebatur, se
ipsum fraudans diurno victu, ut aliis benigne faceret. Avenionem
concesserat [iii] denique, ut attritas tot laboribus vires paucorum
dierum otio reficeret. Verum quasi divinans, instare sibi omnium
laborum & vitæ finem, totum illud tempus impendit excolendo piis
commentationibus animo inter tirones, seque ad primam tirocinii formam
senex emeritus ita composuit, ut nullam omitteret earum exercitationum,
quibus ad sui mundique contemptum erudiri solent novitii. His intentum,
nihilque jam præter cælestia cogitantem mors oppressit, xv. Cal.
Decembris."
Adhæc non inutile forsan videbitur adjicere quæ ab auctore antiquiore
Philippo scilicet Alegambe scripta sunt in Catalogo Scriptorum
Societatis Jesu, sub verbo Biard:
"PETRUS BIARDUS natione Gallus, patriâ Gratianopolitanus, operarius
magni zeli, atque adeò multarum palmarum, quas [iv] in horridis et
inuiis Canadensium Septentrionalis Americæ populorum siluis primus
legit. Extrema ibi omnia passus, nihil tamen inhumanum magis, quàm
Hæreticos, expertus est. Feritatis oblita gens barbara integerrimi
hominis innocentiam venerari discebat; cùm ecce tibi sanctitatis
inimica, Deumque nesciens Hæresis, cum Anglis Canadæ oras irrupit;
difficillimæ expeditionis ingens pretium fuit, exosum inde abducere
Jesuitam. Habitus est in vinculis aliquamdiu; & vix tandem in Galliam
nudus ab omni remissus. Intereà verò dum integrum illi esset ad noualia
Canadæ redire, damnum ab Hæreticis illatum sanctè vitus est: reliquo
vitæ tempore quæsiuit intentissimis studiis ad vitam illos, à quibus
ad necem adductus fuerat. Docuerat olim Theologiam Lugduni, non sine
laude. Reuersus è Missione Castrensi, cùm Auenionem diuertisset, &
opportunitate temporis vsus secessisset in Nouitiatum, in ipsis [v]
penè spiritualium Exercitiorum initiis, ad paradisi contemplationem, vt
credimus, euocatus est, die XIX. Nouembris, Anno MDCXXIJ.
Præter _Epistolam ad R. P. Præpositum Generalem è Portu Regali_, et
_Relationem Expeditionis Anglorum in Canadam_, P. Biardus scripsit
_Librum pro auctoritate Pontificis_, contra Martinettum Ministrum.
Gallicè etiam edidit seorsim _Relationem Novæ Franciæ & itineris Patrum
Societatis Jesu ad illam_. Lugduni apud L. Muguet, MDCXVI. in 12."
[i] Eulogy and Life of Father Peter Biard.
CONCERNING Father Peter Biard, who performed so great a part in the
establishment of the Canadian Mission, Father Joseph Juvency[46] writes
these things in his History, under the year 1622:
"Of all who during the present year have departed this life in
the province of Lyons, the most regretted was FATHER PETER BIARD,
of Grenoble, who, was taken away at Avignon. With the desire of
propagating religion, he had journeyed to the barbarous Canadians,
and had been among the first settlers of that country, as has been
narrated in the fifth part (of this volume). Upon being driven
thence by the heretical English, and compelled to return to France,
he entirely devoted himself [ii] to the service of his countrymen;
and, that he might provide for their salvation, in no respect showed
himself deficient either in labor or diligence. His industry, however,
was especially enjoyed by the Paray le Monial, in the prefecture
of Charolles, which community he long served with the customary
ministrations of the order. Finally, the prefect of the district,
Marchio Ragne, upon being ordered by the king to lead troops into
Campania against Ernest von Mansfeld,[47] who was threatening the
frontiers of France, had selected Biard as his companion during the
expedition, and as a minister of sacred rites. Upon that occasion one
would doubt whether the charity of the apostolic man, or his patience,
were the more remarkable. There was in the camp a great scarcity of
provisions. Rations were so poorly furnished to the soldiers that
some perished with hunger. Biard divided among the most needy of
them, both his own allowance and whatever small sums of money he had
collected by begging from the more wealthy, depriving himself of daily
sustenance, that he might do a kindness to others. He had retired to
Avignon, [iii] at last, that he might with a few days' leisure refresh
his energies, which had been worn out by so many toils. But divining,
as it were, that the end of all labors and of life was at hand, he
spent all that period in disciplining his spirit by pious meditations
among the novices; and, although an aged man who had served his time,
so adapted himself to the earliest form of the novitiate, that he
omitted none of those exercises by which beginners are educated to a
contempt of themselves and of the world. While intent upon these, and
already thinking of nothing but heavenly things, death seized him on
the 17th day of November."
To these things it will perhaps not seem useless to add what has been
written by an earlier author, namely, Philip Alegambe,[48] in the
Bibliography of the Authors of the Society of Jesus, under the word
Biard:
"PETER BIARD, a French citizen, born in Grenoble, a laborer of great
zeal, and of very many laurels which [iv] he first gathered in the
dreadful and pathless forests of the Canadian tribes of North America.
Although suffering there every extremity, he still experienced nothing
more brutal than the Heretics. The barbarous race, forgetting its
savageness, was learning to venerate the character of this most
righteous man; when, behold, Heresy, hostile to holiness and ignorant
of God, burst, together with the English, upon the shores of Canada.
The reward of a very laborious expedition was great,--to drive thence
the hated Jesuit. For some time he was kept in bonds; and at last,
stripped of everything, he was with difficulty restored to France. But
meanwhile, until it was safe to return to the wilds of Canada, he took
vengeance in a holy manner for the injury inflicted by the Heretics;
during the rest of his life he sought with the greatest enthusiasm to
win to life those by whom he had been devoted to death. He had formerly
taught Theology at Lyons, not without commendation. On his return from
the Military Mission, when he had turned aside to Avignon, and, making
use of his opportunity, had retired into the Novitiate, in [v] almost
the very beginning of his spiritual Exercises, he was called away
to the contemplation of paradise, as we believe, on the 19th day of
November, in the year 1622.
Besides a _Letter to R. P. General Commander from Port Royal_, and
_An Account of the Expedition of the English against Canada_, Father
Biard wrote _A Book Advocating the authority of the Pontiff_ against
Martinet, a minister. In French, also, he published separately _An
Account of New France and of the journey thither of the Fathers of the
Society of Jesus_. Lyons, by L. Muguet, 1616, in 12mo."--[O'CALLAGHAN.]
[vii] Tabvla Rervm.
Pag.
_SOCIETAS Jesu, in Canadam, seu Novam Franciam inducta_ 5
II _Initium Canadicæ Missionis, & primi fructus_ 7
III _Domicilia Societatis & Missiones in Nova Francia_ 18
IV _Missio Canadensis ab Anglis proturbata_ 25
V _Unus è Societate interficitur; alii Canada ejiciuntur_ 27
VI _Missiones Societatis Jesu in America septentrionali, Anno 1710_
37
[vii] Table of Contents.
[_The page numbers refer to O'Callaghan's Reprint._]
Page.
_THE Society of Jesus introduced into Canada or New France_ 5
II _Beginning and first fruits of the Canadian Mission_ 7
III _Settlements and Missions of the Society in New France_ 18
IV _The Canadian Mission driven out by the English_ 25
V _One of the members of the Society is killed; the others are expelled
from Canada_ 27
VI _Missions of the Society of Jesus in North America, in the year
1710_ 37
Missionis Canadicæ Relatio.
[321 §. II.] SOCIETAS JESU, IN CANADAM, SEU NOVAM FRANCIAM INDUCTA.