The Makers of Canada: Champlain

by N.-E. Dionne

Father Jamet did not return to Quebec, and he was therefore replaced as commissary by Father Le Caron, who appointed Father Huet as his assistant. The vessel conveying the party sailed from Honfleur on April 11th, 1617, under the command of Captain Morel. The passage was very rough, and when within sixty leagues of the Great Bank of Newfoundland, numerous icebergs bore down on the ship like huge mountains. Father Le Clercq says that in the general consternation Father Joseph, seeing that all human succour could not deliver them from shipwreck, earnestly implored the aid of heaven in the vows and prayers which he made publicly on the vessel. He confessed all, and prepared himself to appear before God. All were touched with compassion and deeply moved when Dame Hébert raised her youngest child through the hatchway to let it share with the rest the good father's blessing. They escaped only by a miracle, as they acknowledged in their letters to France.

The ship arrived at Tadousac on July 14th, and mass was said in a little chapel which Father Huet had constructed with poles and branches, and a sailor stood on either side of the altar with fir branches to drive away the cloud of mosquitoes which caused great annoyance to the celebrant. The mass was very solemn. Besides the French, there were many Indians present who assisted with devotion amid the roar of the cannon of the ship, and the muskets of the French. After the service a dinner was given by Champlain on board the vessel. On the arrival of the party at Quebec some days after, they found that the inhabitants were nearly starving, and that Father d'Olbeau was anxiously awaiting the news from France.

Both Champlain and Father Le Caron were obliged to confess that their mission had been unsuccessful. What, therefore, was to be done? To return to Old France would have been contrary to the intentions of the Récollets. They had been sent to Canada by their superiors, and they had no order to act contrary to their instructions. After having studied the situation they resolved that Father d'Olbeau should visit France, see the king in person, and place before him the settlers' condition and their own. During his absence Father Huet undertook the charge of the mission at Tadousac, and Brother Pacifique du Plessis was appointed to teach catechism to the Indians of Three Rivers.

It was at about this time that Father Le Caron performed the first marriage ceremony in Canada, the contracting parties being Étienne Jonquest of Normandy, and Anne Hébert, eldest daughter of Louis Hébert.

The condition of the Récollets at this time was unenviable. The agents of the merchants were not better disposed towards them than the interpreters. Some of these agents were demoralized, and the reproach that they received from the fathers caused them to avoid their presence. The conduct of some of these agents was so bad that even the Indians, who were not strict in their morals, were scandalized. When we take into consideration these circumstances, and the meagreness of the resources of the order, and the difficulties they had in acquiring the language, we can form a faint idea of the hardness of their lot, and it was not without just cause that they decided to send Father d'Olbeau to France with Champlain, in order that the true state of affairs might be urged still further before the king.

Father Le Clercq says: "Meanwhile Monsieur de Champlain employed all his address and prudence, and the intrigues of his friends to obtain what was necessary for the establishment of his new colony. Father d'Olbeau, on his side, spared nothing; both spoke frequently to the members of the company, but in vain, for these people, who always had their ears open to flattering tales of the great profit to be made in the Indian trade, closed them to the requests and entreaties made them. They therefore contented themselves with what they could get."

Father d'Olbeau at length received some consolation and compensation for all his labours, when a bull was issued by the pope, granting a jubilee to New France, which was celebrated at Quebec on July 29th, 1618, and was the first of its kind. For the celebration of this religious festival, the Récollets had built some huts, which were used as stations, and French and Indians proceeded from one of those improvised chapels to the other, singing the psalms and hymns of the church. In the year 1618, the Récollets in New France were only three in number: Fathers Le Caron and d'Olbeau, and Friar Modeste Guines.

During the winter of 1617-18 the missionaries were called upon to decide a difficult question. Two Frenchmen had disappeared in 1616, and the discovery of their bones proved that they had been murdered. A diligent search was instituted which led to the detection of the murderer, who acknowledged his crime. The question of punishment, however, was difficult from the fact that a clerk named Beauchesne, who had been invested with extensive civil power by Champlain, was in the habit of receiving gifts from the Indians. It was consequently considered dangerous to do anything that would displease the Indians, as they were known to be terrible in their vengeance. The Récollets had strongly protested against this method of receiving gifts, which placed the settlement in a false position towards the Indians. It was finally decided to release the prisoner and to accept as hostages two young Indians. When the matter was brought before Champlain, he approved of the course adopted, and stated that it was not a wise policy to be too severe.

This affair, which at one time appeared likely to produce disagreeable consequences, passed over without event, and some time after a party of Indians visited Quebec for the purpose of effecting a complete reconciliation. Thus, when Champlain left for France in 1618, the colony was secure.

Father Huet, who accompanied Champlain, was charged with many important missions, one of which related to the administration of baptism to the Indians. They were quite willing to be baptized, but they had no idea of the nature of the sacrament, and although they promised to keep their vows before the ceremony, they soon returned to their old superstitions. Their want of sincerity was a trial to Father Huet, and he desired to have the opinion of the Doctors of the Sorbonne to guide him in his future actions.