The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 5: Quebec, 1632-1633
History
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 5: Quebec, 1632-1633
Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); Indians of North America -- Canada; Jesuits -- Missions; Jesuits -- North America
XX. This document (dated Quebec, August 28, 1632) is Le Jeune's famous
_Relation_ of 1632, the first of the Cramoisy series, which were
thereafter annually issued until 1672. In this document, Le Jeune, the
new superior of the Canada mission, relates to the French provincial
of his order, in Paris, the particulars of the stormy passage recently
made by the two missionaries to the New World, in De Caen's ship.
Le Jeune gives his impressions of the country, and of the natives.
He describes the tortures inflicted by some of them, upon three
Iroquois captives. Schools should be established for the youth, if
the adults are to be properly influenced. Mosquitoes greatly torment
the missionaries. The circumstances are related of the landing of De
Caen's party at Quebec, which is found in ruins; mass is celebrated in
the house of Mme. Hébert, and the condition of that pioneer family is
described. Quebec being surrendered to De Caen by the English garrison,
the Jesuits return to their old habitation on the St. Charles, only
the walls of which have withstood the shock of war. Le Jeune then
reverts, in his story, to the condition of the savages, telling of
their simplicity and their entire confidence in the missionaries. The
Jesuits baptize an Iroquois lad, and a native child has been left in
their charge. The successful garden of the mission is described, and
the relator tells how he almost lost his life by drowning.
XXI. Le Jeune's _Relation_ for 1633 is addressed from Quebec to the
French provincial of the order, Barthelemy Jacquinot, in Paris. In
the first installment of the document, given in the present volume,
Le Jeune, as superior of his order in Canada, mentions the kindness
shown the mission by the Company of New France, and the good behavior
of the French at Quebec, during the preceding winter. A description
is given of a visit he made to the savages in the vicinity of that
settlement, and his attempts to learn their language; he tells how the
Montagnais sought shelter near the fort, from the Iroquois; mentions an
eclipse of the moon (October 27); records, as they happened, whatever
events of interest occurred in the colony, giving, in this connection,
considerable information about the traits, customs, and religious ideas
of the Indians.
The narrator tells how his Montagnais interpreter, Pierre, who had
been educated in France, fell into disgrace with the commandant, and
was received by the missionaries, that he might instruct them in his
language. The narrator describes his own difficulties in that pursuit,
and in compiling a native dictionary and grammar.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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