Читать книгу A Canadian History for Boys and Girls - Emily Poynton Weaver - Страница 10
ОглавлениеThe Iroquois.
After Champlain’s death the Iroquois became more and more daring. Indeed it seemed for a time as if they might utterly destroy the colony. They lay in wait for travellers; they killed men at work in the fields; they carried off children; and they ruined the fur trade by preventing other Indians from coming to Quebec.
The new governor, Montmagny, a brave soldier, begged for help from France, but the Hundred Associates would not listen to him. Their great object was to make money, and, in spite of their promises, they neither sent out fresh settlers nor took care of those already in the colony.
The Religious Orders.
The religious people of France, however, took a great interest in Canada. During these years of danger and misery many priests and nuns crossed the sea and came to live in the wilds. One rich lady, Madame de la Peltrie, brought out six nuns at one time. Three gave themselves to teaching, and three to looking after the poor and the sick, beginning their noble work when smallpox was raging amongst the Christian Indians near Quebec.
The Jesuits.
Meanwhile, far in the wilderness, the Jesuits were labouring to win the war-like Hurons to Christianity. At first they treated the missionaries kindly, building them a long bark house, which was divided into chapel, store-room, and living-room. For a time the priests were followed all day long by curious crowds who wished to see their handmill grinding corn, or to hear the ticking of their clock. They patiently taught all who would listen, bribing the children with peas-porridge to learn hymns and the catechism; but it was slow and painful work. The “medicine-men,” or “rainmakers,” hated them. In times of drought or sickness they pretended that the crosses of “the black-robes” frightened away “the Bird of Thunder,” and that their witchcrafts brought the smallpox. If the priests baptized a dying child, as they often did, the “medicine-men” said that they had charmed away its life. Many a time they were in danger of being tortured to death, but at length they gained the love of the savages, and made many converts.
Huron House.
Montreal Founded, 1642.
About this time, the town of Montreal was founded by a society formed for the conversion of the Indians. When the new settlers arrived at Quebec, the people there begged them to go no farther. But they believed that they had been commanded by God to go to Montreal, so they pressed on under the leadership of Sieur de Maisonneuve. The new settlement was named Ville Marie, in honour of the Virgin Mary. Happily it was not discovered by the Iroquois till the colonists had had time to fortify it. The savages were then afraid to attack the place, though they lingered near it for months, killing any one who ventured outside the gates. One day Maisonneuve, who had been unjustly accused of cowardice, led a party of men to hunt the Indians from their lurking-places with dogs. The French were driven back with loss; but Maisonneuve, with a pistol in each hand, covered the retreat of his men, and was the last to re-enter the gates. This took place on the spot, now in the heart of Montreal, called the Place d’Armes.
Fear of the Iroquois.
One of the Iroquois nations, named the Mohawks, now began to obtain fire-arms from the Dutch colony on the Hudson, and of course its warriors were more to be dreaded than before. To guard against them, the French built a fort at the mouth of the Richelieu, and tried to persuade some of the friendly Indians to settle near Quebec. They also gave guns and gunpowder to those who became Christians. But the fear of the Iroquois had broken the spirit of the Algonquins. Nothing could overcome their terror, though they told stories of old times when they had driven the Iroquois southward. The Hurons boldly continued the struggle; but their cunning foes, not content with battle and murder, tried to set them and the French against one another, and to ruin both by deceptive treaties.
Father Jogues.
At last the Five Nations made peace for a short time, and the Mohawks even consented to receive a Jesuit missionary. Father Jogues, though he had suffered cruelly whilst a prisoner in their hands, undertook the dangerous task. For a little while he was kindly treated. But when a terrible disease attacked the tribe, and a plague of caterpillars destroyed their crops, he was accused of having caused these evils by witchcraft, and was cruelly murdered. Then the young braves took the war-path, and once more French settlements and Indian villages ran red with blood.
Jesuit Missionary.
The Huron Missions.
During these trying years of warfare the Jesuit missions to the Hurons had done well. Eighteen priests, besides a number of laymen, laboured amongst them. The missions were like well-stocked farms, with good buildings, herds of cattle, and fields of Indian corn. At one of them the fathers had been able, in a time of famine, to feed three thousand people. But though everything seemed so bright, a terrible blow was about to fall, fatal alike to the savages and their instructors.
Mission Villages Destroyed.
In July 1648, during the absence of the warriors of the village, St. Joseph was attacked by an Iroquois war-party. Young and old were mercilessly slain. Amongst them fell the Jesuit, Father Daniel, in the act of baptizing a dying convert. Late in the following winter the Iroquois destroyed the missionary villages of St. Louis and St. Ignace, putting their people to death with frightful cruelty. The fathers Brébœuf and Lalemant suffered with their flock, bearing agonizing tortures with a patience and courage that seemed wonderful even to their murderers. The horrid work was scarcely done when a panic seized the Iroquois. They fled in haste, hotly pursued by Huron warriors from other villages. But the latter were too late to save their friends or overtake their foes.
Flight of the Hurons.
The proud spirit of the Hurons was almost broken by these disasters. They fled in terror from their homes; and, with sad hearts, their priests burnt the mission village of Ste. Marie, which had not fallen with the others, and went with them. Some sought shelter with neighbouring tribes, and about seven thousand found a refuge on St. Joseph’s Island in Lake Huron. Here a strong fort was built. But there was not food for so great a multitude, and they died by hundreds from hunger. Then a terrible disease broke out among them. Still their cruel enemies did not leave them. They hovered in the neighbourhood, shooting or carrying off the poor wretches who ventured to the mainland in search of food. In the spring the Jesuits led some of the survivors to Quebec, and they settled on the island of Orleans, whilst others fled toward the north.
Other Wars.
The Iroquois had not yet had enough of cruelty and slaughter. After ruining the Hurons they fell savagely on other tribes of Indians, and attacked the French more fiercely than before. In all this fighting they lost many men; but they had a curious plan for supplying themselves with fresh warriors, by adopting their conquered foes, whom they afterwards treated as if they really belonged to their tribes. Some of the Hurons were thus adopted.
The different governors of New France, who at this time rarely held the position long, were often at their wits’ end to protect the colony. The settlers were too few to hold the savages in check, and their earnest entreaties for aid from France were not heeded. Year after year the merciless raids went on, though the cunning Iroquois often tried to deceive the French, as they deceived their Indian foes, by pretending to wish for peace.
Teachers Sent to the Onondagas.
Once, for instance, one of the Five Nations, the Onondagas, asked for teachers to show them how to do different kinds of work. Their request was granted, but it was only a plot to get some of the French into their power. The Onondagas had hardly left Quebec with their teachers when the Mohawks, another Iroquois tribe, carried off some Hurons, and plundered several houses near Quebec; but the townspeople dared not fire a shot lest their countrymen should be murdered. The latter soon discovered their danger, and made a plan to escape, secretly preparing some boats for the purpose. A Frenchman then pretended to be ill, and, according to a strange Indian custom, invited the Onondagas to a “medicine feast,” which was supposed to cure the sick man if each man ate all that was set before him. This time each guest was provided with an enormous quantity of food, and long before the feast was over the French got out their boats and slipped quietly away. When morning dawned, and the Indians discovered that they had gone, they were far on their way towards Quebec and safety.
Defence of the Long Sault, 1660.
Several years after this it was rumoured that the Iroquois, many of whom had wintered on the Ottawa, were preparing to attack the French from several points at once. But the danger was turned aside by the heroism of sixteen young Frenchmen, under one named Dollard des Ormeaux. They were joined by a few Indians, but some of these went over to the enemy. Before leaving Montreal the young men made their wills, took the sacrament, and bade their friends farewell, for they believed that they were going to their deaths. And so it proved. For eight terrible days they held a rough fort at the foot of the rapids, called the Long Sault, against many hundred Iroquois. At last they were overpowered. Not a single Frenchman lived to tell the tale, which was carried to Montreal by three Indians. But they had not died in vain, for the Iroquois had lost so many of their braves that they put off their intended attack on the colony.
Laval.
In 1659, Francois de Laval, afterwards the first bishop of Quebec, came from France to be the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada. He agreed with the Jesuits in many of their ideas, and was a man of strong will and great influence over others. He was exceedingly anxious that both the French and Indian children of the colony should be well taught, and that young men should be properly trained for the priesthood; and for these purposes he founded a school or seminary at Quebec, giving up several large grants of land to help in its support. In private he lived a simple, self-denying life; but in public he insisted on being treated, as head of the Church, with more honour than the governor. This gave rise to many quarrels.
The Brandy Traffic.
Another long-standing cause of dispute was the sale of “fire-water” to the Indians. When once the passion for drink seized them they would part with all they had to obtain it. Some even sold their children for the sake of getting “French milk,” as they called it. When drunk they often committed the most dreadful crimes, but the traders insisted on giving them brandy, declaring that without it they would not sell their furs. The different governors generally sided with them, though they were openly breaking the law; but Laval did his utmost to force them to obey it.
The dispute was at its height when one day there was a severe earthquake. Bells rang, walls cracked, and houses and steeples swayed to and fro like trees in a strong wind. The people were terribly frightened. They thought it a token of God’s anger, and went in crowds to confess their sins. But they were soon at their old work of selling brandy again.
A Change of Government.
Laval had gone to France to beg the king to stop the brandy traffic, and when Louis XIV heard how poorly the Hundred Associates had kept their promises, he decided to break up the company, and to take the government of New France upon himself.
