"Dès qu'il eut expiré, le P. Lallemant fut reconduit dans la cabanne, où son martyre avoit commencé; il n'est pas même certain qu'il soit demeuré auprès du Père de Brebœuf jusqu'à ce que celui-ci eût rendu les derniers soupirs; on ne l'avoit amené là, que pour attendrir son compagnon, et amollir, s'il étoit possible, le courage de ce héros. Il est au moins constant par le témoignage de plusieurs Iroquois, qui furent acteurs dans ce tragédie, que ce dernier mourut le seize, et qu'il ne fut que trois heures dans le feu, au lieu que le supplice du P. Lallemant dura dix-sept heures, et qu'il ne mourut que le dix-sept.
"Quoiqu'il en soit, sitôt qu'il fut rentré dans sa cabanne il reçut au-dessus de l'oreille gauche, un coup de hache, qui lui ouvrit le crane, et lui en fit sortir de la cervelle. On lui arracha ensuite un œil, à la place duquel on mit un charbon ardent; c'est tout ce qu'on a pu sçavoir de ce qui se passa alors jusqu'à ce qu'il eût expiré; tous ceux, qui assistèrent à sa mort s'étant contentés de dire que les bourreaux s'étoient surpassés en cruauté. Ils ajôutèrent que de tems en tems il jettoit des cris capables de percer les cœurs les plus durs, et qu'il paroissoit quelquefois hors de lui-même; mais qu'aussitôt on le voyoit s'élever au-dessus de la douleur, et offrir à Dieu ses souffrances avec une ferveur admirable. Ainsi la chair étoit souvent foible, et prête a succomber; mais l'esprit fut toujours prompt à la relever, et la soutint jusqu'au bout. Le P. Lallemant étoit de Paris, fils et petit fils de lieutenans-criminels. Il étoit extrêmement maigre, et il n'y avoit guére que six mois, qu'il étoit arrivé dans la Nouvelle France. Il mourut dans sa trente-neuvième année."—Charlevoix, vol. ii., p. 12.
FOOTNOTES:
[218] 1 Corinth., iv., 9.
No. XVIII.
"The Jesuits are commonly very learned, studious, and are very civil and agreeable in company. In their whole deportment there is something pleasing; it is no wonder, therefore, that they captivate the minds of the people. They seldom speak of religious matters, and if it happens, they generally avoid disputes. They are very ready to do any one a service, and when they see that their assistance is wanted, they hardly give one time to speak of it, falling to work immediately to bring about what is required of them. Their conversation is very entertaining and learned, so that one can not be tired of their company. Among all the Jesuits I have conversed with in Canada, I have not found one who was not possessed of these qualities in a very eminent degree. They do not care to become preachers to a congregation in the town or country, but leave these places, together with the emoluments arising from them, to the priests. All their business here is to convert the heathen; and with that view their missionaries are scattered over every part of the country. Near every town and village peopled by converted Indians are one or two Jesuits, who take great care that they may not return to paganism, but live as Christians ought to do. Thus there are Jesuits with the converted Indians in Tadoussac, Lorette, Beçancourt, St. François, Sault St. Louis, and all over Canada. There are likewise Jesuit missionaries with those who are not converted, so that there is commonly a Jesuit in every village belonging to the Indians, whom he endeavors on all occasions to convert. In winter he goes on their great hunts, where he is frequently obliged to suffer all imaginable inconveniences, such as walking in the snow all day, lying in the open air all winter, lying out both in good and bad weather, lying in the Indian huts, which swarm with fleas and other vermin, &c. The Jesuits undergo all these hardships for the sake of converting the Indians, and likewise for political reasons. The Jesuits are of great use to their king; for they are frequently able to persuade the Indians to break their treaty with the English, to make war upon them, to bring their furs to the French, and not to permit the English to come among them. There is much danger attending these exertions; for, when the Indians are in liquor, they sometimes kill the missionaries who live with them, calling them spies, or excusing themselves by saying that the brandy had killed them. These are the chief occupations of the Jesuits in Canada. They do not go to visit the sick in the town; they do not hear the confessions, and attend to no funerals. I have never seen them go in procession in honor of the Virgin Mary or other saints. Every body sees that they are, as it were, selected from other people on account of their superior genius and abilities. They are here reckoned a most cunning set of people, who generally succeed in their undertakings, and surpass all others in acuteness of understanding. I have therefore several times observed that they have enemies in Canada. They never receive any others into their society but persons of very promising parts, so that there are no blockheads among them. The Jesuits who live here are all come from France, and many of them return thither again after a stay of a few years here. Some who were born in Canada went over to France, and were received among the Jesuits there, but none of them ever came back to Canada. I know not what political reason hindered them. During my stay in Quebec, one of the priests, with the bishop's leave, gave up his priesthood and became a Jesuit. The other priests were very ill pleased with this, because it seemed as if he looked upon their condition as too mean for himself."—Kalm, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 648.
"The Recollets are a third class of clergymen in Canada. They have a fine large dwelling-house here, and a fine church, where they officiate. Near it is a large and fine garden, which they cultivate with great application.
"In Montreal and Trois Rivières they are lodged in almost the same manner as here. They do not endeavor to choose cunning fellows among them, but take all they can get. They do not torment their brains with much learning; and I have been assured that, after they have put on their monastic habit, they do not study to increase their knowledge, but forget even what little they knew before. At night they generally lie on mats, or some other hard mattresses. However, I have sometimes seen good beds in the cells of some of them. They have no possessions here, having made vows of poverty, and live chiefly on the alms which people give them. To this purpose the young monks, or brothers, go into the houses with a bag, and beg what they want. They have no congregations in the country, but sometimes they go among the Indians as missionaries.
"In each fort, which contains forty men, the king keeps one of these monks instead of a priest, who officiates there. The king gives him lodging, provisions, servants, and all he wants, besides two hundred livres a year. Half of it he sends to the community he belongs to; the other half he reserves for his own use. On board the king's ships are generally no other priests than these friars, who are therefore looked upon as people belonging to the king. When one of the chief priests[219] in the country dies, and his place can not immediately be filled up, they send one of these friars there, to officiate while the place is vacant. Part of these monks come over from France, and part are natives of Canada.
"There are no other monks in Canada besides these, except, now and then, one of the order of St. Austin, or some other who comes with one of the king's ships, but goes off with it again.