The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present TimeCampbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
History
The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time
Campbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
Jesuits -- History
France began its colonization in North America by the settlement of
Acadia in 1603. De Monts, who was in charge of it, was a Huguenot and,
strange to say, had been commissioned to advance the interests of
Catholicity in the colony. Half of the settlers were Calvinists, and the
other half Catholics more or less infected with heresy. A priest named
Josué Flesché was assigned to them; he baptized the Indians
indiscriminately, letting them remain as fervent polygamists as they
were before. The two Jesuit missionaries, Pierre Biard and Enemond
Massé, who were finally forced on the colonists, had to withdraw, and
they then betook themselves, in 1613, to what is now known as Mount
Desert, in the state of Maine, but that settlement was almost
immediately destroyed by an English pirate from Virginia. Two of the
Jesuits were sentenced to be hanged in the English colony there, but
thanks to a storm which drove them across the Atlantic, they were able,
after a series of romantic adventures, to reach France, where they were
accused of having prompted the English to destroy the French settlement
of Acadia.
Meantime, Champlain, who had established himself at Quebec in 1608,
brought over some Recollect Friars in 1615. It was not until 1625 that
Father Massé, who had been in Acadia, came to Canada proper with
Fathers de Brébeuf, Charles Lalemant, and two lay-brothers. With the
exception of Brébeuf, they all remained in Quebec, while he with the
Recollect La Roche d'Aillon went to the Huron country, in the region
bordering on what is now Georgian Bay, north of the present city of
Toronto. The Recollect returned home after a short stay, and Brébeuf
remained there alone until the fall of Quebec in 1629. As the English
were now in possession, all hope of pursuing their missionary work was
abandoned, and the priests and brother returned to France. Canada,
however, was restored to its original owners in 1632, and Le Jeune and
Daniel, soon to be followed by Brébeuf and many others, made their way
to the Huron country to evangelize the savages. The Hurons were chosen
because they lived in villages and could be more easily evangelized,
whereas the nomad Algonquins would be almost hopeless for the time
being.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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