Part 16

Potrincourt had asked of Henry IV. the fort at Port Royal, because it had been granted as a gift to him by sieur de Monts at the very time of its establishment, which was perhaps the best reason he could give for advancing and maintaining his pretensions, and had obtained not merely a claim upon it, but its possession. Following the grant of this fort, and also the government of a definite territory in New France, to Potrincourt, the King informed Father Coton[68] that he wished to employ the services of our Brethren in bringing the Savages to Christ. He also desired him to write to the General of the Society, in his own name, in order that Fathers might be selected for this undertaking, whom the King himself would take measures to send thither at the first available opportunity, while an annuity of 2,000 livres was to be allowed the Mission. It was during the eighth year of this century when the King made this decision in regard to Canadian affairs; but, in spite of his plans, by reason of more weighty business which called his attention elsewhere, [570] and also the hindrance caused by his death, but especially because of the negligence of those who were managing the Canadian province for the Crown, the departure of our brethren was delayed until the third year thereafter. Moreover, either by some accident, or by the purpose of men, it came to be delayed the entire space of three years, although our brethren were already equipped. Such difficulties, also, suddenly arose as plainly showed that our plans for this voyage were displeasing to the Evil Spirit. The Queen had paid over 500 golden crowns, according to the decree of the late King; Mesdames _de Vernueil_, _de Sourdis_, and _de Guercheville_ had given generous contributions,--one, the sacred furniture of the altar; another, an abundance of linen vestments; the third, a very liberal allowance of money for the expenses of the voyage. Father Pierre Biard and Father Enemund Massé had been selected for the undertaking, and had prepared themselves with great courage, eagerly awaiting their departure. The day for sailing had been agreed upon by them with Biencourt, the son of Potrincourt, and Thomas Robin, the leaders of the expedition, for the 24th day of October, 1610; but, when they arrived upon that day, the ship was undergoing repairs, and that, too, in a negligent manner, upon the land; so far was it from being provided with suitable equipment either for navigation or for the Canadian colony. Two Calvinists had devoted their services and resources to the repair of the ship, and, because Biencourt and Robin lacked means to pay for the work, the Calvinist merchants had contracted for a specified portion of the profits of the voyage. By this right, as masters in the ship, they thought themselves able to declare, in the presence of the Jesuits, that there would be no place for them in the vessel; [571] and they emphatically asserted that, if it should be otherwise, they would straightway forsake the prosecution of the work, and all other business in their contract. From this resolution, not even the authority of the Queen herself, pronounced with dignity and severity by Sieur _de Cicoigne_, the royal Governor of the city of Dieppe, could move these servants of Calvin. The matter was apparently in a desperate condition, because only this one ship was that year being fitted out for New France, and the two Calvinists would not permit themselves to be moved in any respect. This difficulty of ours deeply pained Madame de Guercheville, a woman of extreme piety and great spirit; but her ingenuity speedily devised a method by which she might place us on the ship, not as passengers, but as partners, to the exclusion of the churlish Heretics. She therefore collected in a few days, from the leading men and women of the Court, 4,000 livres, as much as was necessary for fitting out the ship; and by raising that sum deprived the two Calvinists of a share in the vessel, establishing at the same time a sufficient capital from which there might each year be paid to the director of the Canadian undertaking an allowance for our Mission. When, therefore, by the diligence of this woman, the obstacles which delayed us had been removed, although nearly three months had been spent in equipping the ship, still, in the eleventh year of this century, on the 24th day of January, we set sail under the leadership of God, from the shore at Dieppe; and, after a voyage lasting in all four months, arrived at Campseau harbor, on the Southern coast of New France; at a distance thence of 120 leagues, either by sea or land, we joyfully entered Port [572] Royal. The exercises of the members of the Society in piety, humility, and kindness toward all manner of men, were especially observed by our brethren during that sea-voyage, because an expedition of great importance was being undertaken, and also for the reason that, besides a few Calvinists, we were associated with officers and seamen to whom it was absolutely necessary that we should, on account of our frequent intercourse, give more correct ideas concerning the Institutum[69] of the Society than they had formerly received. When we brought the ship to the coast of this region, Champlain[70] met us,--a man renowned not only for his valor in other respects, but also for his voyages in this sea for seven years past; whom, to our utter amazement, we have seen battling against masses of ice, equal in size to great hills upon land, with the greatest courage, and with remarkable activity and skill, sailing forth bravely amid all these dangers. Concerning the St. Lawrence, the greatest river of Canada, this same Champlain writes, in his commentaries upon his voyages, that its surface is frozen to the depth of three entire yards, during January and the two following months, to the distance of a hundred leagues upward from its mouth; and that the freezing of the water does not extend farther, although no part of the river, since it flows directly from west to east, is more Northerly than another, or more protected by mountains, so as to be warmer. He adds also that in the beginning of April, by the melting of so great a mass of ice, the broad mouth of the St. Lawrence is almost blocked with frozen masses, which, he says, are carried forth a long distance into the sea, and usually melt within twelve days, each year.

APPVLSVS nostrorum ad Francicum Sinum, [573] Portumque Regium, in ante diem septimum calendas Quintiles, eumdemque Pentecostes sacrum felicissimo planè omine incidit. Nihil Potrincourtio accidere poterat allato commeatu opportunius, si tamen is amplus esset, vt quem rei angustiæ coegerant, Barbaris partem familiæ alendam diuidere. Vt ne autem instructiores à commeatu veniremus, fecerat tum nauigij, sexaginta dumtaxat doliorum, breuitas; tum plus instrumenti piscatorij, quàm cibariorum in nauem immissum; tum deniq; ab tricenis senis capitibus, quot vehebamur, grauior in nauticam penum illata solido quadrimestri labes. Quamobrem Potrincourtio sexaginta hominum contubernio, tenuissima re domestica, iam eum pæne ipsis initiis opprimente, maturè prouidendum fuit, ne Portus Regij penuaria cella in sequentem hiemem exhausta relinqueretur. Cuius procurationis, vt familiæ patrem decuit, sumto sibi onere, ipse in Galliam traiecturus, de Porturegiensi multitudine pæne quadragesimus medio Iulio soluit, exeuntéque Augusto Galliæ littori appulsus est, relicto Biencourtio filio, cum reliqua cohorte, qui Porturegiensi arci præsideret.

THE arrival of our brethren at French Bay [573] and Port Royal occurred on the 26th day of June, and also,--certainly a most auspicious omen,--the sacred feast of Pentecost. Nothing more opportune could have happened to Potrincourt than the arrival of supplies, if only these had been abundant, since his privations had compelled him to place a portion of the colony to be supported among the Savages. Moreover, the fact that we had not come well-furnished with provisions was due, not only to the smallness of the ship, which was of only sixty tons burden, but also to the placing of more fishing tackle than provisions in the cargo; then, finally, by thirty-six persons, the number which was on board, there was a great consumption of the ship's stores during four entire months. Wherefore, Potrincourt, almost overwhelmed, at the outset, by the necessity of maintaining sixty men in this scarcity of provisions, was forced to take early precautions lest the meagerly furnished storehouse at Port Royal should be left bare for the coming winter. As behooved the father of the colony, he took upon himself the burden of managing this business, and resolved that he himself would cross over to France. With about forty of the people at Port Royal, leaving his son Biencourt in command of the fort there, and the rest of the company, he set sail in the middle of July; and, in the latter part of August, he reached the French coast.

NOSTRIS interea, quod suarum partium esset, enixè satagentibus, cordi erat in primis popularis linguæ cognitio, quam Galli leuiter modò delibatam, si vnum exciperes, tradere præceptis, vsúve docere non poterant; vt vna dumtaxat reliqua esset ratio eius ab stupidis indigenis, non institutione, sed assidua consuetudine tandem exprimendæ. His itaque, muneribus, comitate, atque [574] omni officij genere conciliandis cùm nostri nihil non tentassent, parum aut nihil permouerunt. Enimuerò, præterquam quod minimè idoneis ad disciplinam magistris vtebantur, à quibus nihil expromeres, nisi affluẽter antè saginato aqualiculo, & quos moræ, vel non diuturnæ, impatientissimos idemtidem abs te abalienaret, auelleretque studiosa cuiusque rei percontatio: ipsa quoque linguæ conditio, idoneorum, ad res etiam vulgatissimas, vocabulorum indigentissimæ, nostrorum incensa studia destituit, & animos grauiter afflixit. Rerum scilicet, quæ sub aspectum, tactum, & reliquos sensus cadunt, ex Barbarorum responsis nomenclatio vtcumque deprehendebatur: sed earum quæ sensuum vim fugiunt, summa est apud eam gentem appellationum penuria, & alta quoque rerum ignoratio. Posterioris autem generis desperata disciplina, cum neque priorem Barbari aut possent, aut vellent tradere; vna reliqua spes erat in adolescente Gallo, vernaculæ linguæ bene perito, eximia humanitate, & comitate, quem etiam Pater Biardus non vulgari beneficio sibi demeruerat. Is erat Pontgrauæus, Pongrauæi filius, egregij viri superioribus annis cum Champlænio vices Domini de Monts in Francia Noua gerentis; quem adolescentem, decem & octo leucis Regio portu non longiùs, hiemare parantem, ad amnem Sancti Ioannis, summa ipsius voluntate, nullius incommodo, nostri eius institutione Canadicum idioma erudiẽdi adire cuperent. Verumtamen Biencourtius eius profectionis consultus, ac rogatus etiam à nostris, vt, eius bona venia, [575] proficere per Pontgrauæum in peregrino idiomate sibi liceret, cuius ignoratione, suæ nauigationis in Nouam Franciam fructu penitus exciderent: quòd ea communicatio cum Pontgrauæo nouarum rerum supicionem moueret Biencourtio, nihil impetrarunt. Tantisper ergo nostris has difficultates æquo animo tolerantibus, dum qua se aperiret via suo instituto conuenientior, Deus materiam non procul quæsitam subiecit, de grauiter ægroto. Henrico Membertouio, Sagamo, bene merendi; & corporis, & animi eius diligenter curanda salute. SAGAMO apud eam gentem cuiusque populi præses appellatur: Sagamon verò agebat inter Souriquios, in Acadia, Membertouius, ad Aquilonare latus Porturegiensis castelli, ad Sancti Ioannis flumen. Cùm tamen dysenteria cœpit tentari, degebat in _Baïa Mariana_, vt vocant, hoc est, in Mariano Sinu, Portum Regium inter, Meridianumque littus, vnde asportari se iusserat in arcem, vt medicorum nostrorum curatione vteretur. Angusta sua cellula eum nostri exceperunt, diebusque non paucis, absente ipsius coniuge, ac filia, diu noctuque, in grauissimo sordidi morbi fœtore, pro assiduissimis, & maximè sollicitis ministris ei libentissimè operam suam nauauere. Is vbi Confessione fuerat expiatus, Sacróque inunctus oleo, de sepultura sua egit cum Biencourtio, seque humari velle ait in maiorum suo sepulcro. Biencourtius, qui tanti rem esse non putaret, facilè assentiebatur; auditisque Patris Biardi contra suam sententiam rationibus, occurri posse incommodis censebat, si [576] sepulcrum illud ritu Christiano lustraretur; quæ Biencourtij opinio Membertouium tantò constantiorem in suo decreto cùm faceret, Pater Biardus neque id se illis assensurum confirmauit, & cur non assentiretur ostendit. Non dubium erat, quin si Sagamus in consilio perstaret, eiusque adstipulator fieri pergeret Biencourtius, offensionis atque turbarum inde quidpiam oriretur: sed huic malo Diuina occurrit prouidentia; postridie siquidem Membertouius sua sponte postulauit commune Christianorum cœmeterium, qua & in sententia mortem obiit; vti scilicet hoc suo facto fidem suam omnibus Christianis ac Barbaris testatam relinqueret, suffragiorumque Ecclesiæ fieret particeps. Magnus omnino vir fuit hic Sagamus, non suorum magis, quàm nostrorum iudicio, cuius eximiam indolem supra vulgare Canadiorum ingenium longè ideo extulisse visus est Deus optimus, vt hunc sibi iustas eius gentis primitias legeret. Ex octogenis ferè Nouo-Francis, quos ab ineunte Iunio anni sexcentesimi decimi, nulla planè imbutos catechesi, temere Baptismo impertierat Iossæus nescio quis, sui muneris parum intelligens sacerdos, vnus dumtaxat Membertouius, pro eo quantum suos omnes populares sagacitate & prudentia longo interuallo anteibat, sollerter dispexerat, quanti esset, Christianum non censeri quidem, sed reipsa idoneis eo nomine præditum moribus viuere. Et certè reliquis omnibus de illo octogenario belluinum à Baptismo viuendi morem perpetuò retinentibus, hic solus vt Christiano dignum erat, in [577] multa etiam ignorantia, priusquam eò nostri aduenissent, vitam cum laude traduxit. Primus omnium de Nouo-Francis salutaribus aspersus aquis, earum vim potentissimam ita scilicet visus est combibisse, vt ei nihil longius esset quã vt eos nãcisceretur magistros, quorum disciplina Christianis institutis eò vsque instrueretur, dum idoneus fieret, qui suos inter populares Apostolicum ageret doctorem. Ardentis huius desiderij locupletes testes nostri, has voces eius ex ore sæpenumerò exceperunt: Per Deum immortalem, date operam Patres, nostrum vt idioma breui perdiscatis, vti vobis doctoribus vsus, sicuti vos estis, ego quoque concionator, & docendi magister euadã, nostráque coniuncta opera Nouo-Francorũ gens vniuersa ad Christum traducatur. Hunc virum, vix quindecim mensibus, ex quo in Christianorum numerum venerat, superstitem, paucis diebus nostra institutione informatum, multæ tamen verè Christiani ac pij animi virtutes illustrem fecerant; quam scilicet tam vberem frugem singulares probæ indolis dotes in eo nuper, patriis etiam moribus viuente, præsagierant. Omnium prouincialium testimonio, quotquot multis antè sæculis floruerant, Sagamos hic vnus animi robore, muneris militaris scientia, clientelarum multitudine, frequentiáque, potentia, & gloriosi nominis claritudine inter suos, atque ipsos hostes facilè superauit. Quem celebritatis splendorem perpetuum non potuit, etiam inter Barbaros, nulla vllius rei doctrina imbutos, consequi, nisi ex certa fama, adeóque etiam notitia eximiæ in eo vigentis [578] æquitatis, atque temperantiæ. De temperantia quidem eius, vt prætereà nihil afferri possit, luculentum sanè fuit, sibi magnoperè moderantis hominis, documentum, perpetua in Membertouio monogamia, quo in genere solitarium verè phœnicem Nouo-Francia eum adhuc agnouit. Quod enim reliqui omnes indigenæ, sed Sagami præsertim, ex vxorum multitudine stirpis numerosam seriem expetunt summoperè, atque sperant, suæ vtique potentiæ singulare columen ac firmamentum; id vti more gentis vsurparet, adduci numquam potuit Membertouius, quòd altiore quadam, supra vulgus Sagamorum, sapientia perspiceret, grauiora inter discordes vxores, & earum liberos simultatum, sub eodem tecto, detrimenta existere, quàm emolumenta opum, & neutiquam consentientis potentiæ. Sollemne est illi genti, ex superstitioso ritu, quod genus omnes habent præcipuum, demortuorum neminem suo vnquam nomine appellare, sed aduentitium cuiuis, ex re nata, indere, quo cum perpetuo inter commemorandum denotent: quo ex more Henricum Membertouium ab virtutibus bellicis nuper clarissimum, congruenti eius laudibus nomenclatione, Magnum Imperatorem, suo idiomate, nuncuparunt.