[28] (p. [157]).—The Parliament of Paris originated in a division of the king's court, made necessary by the increase of its functions, consequent upon the progress of the royal power in France. Judicial affairs were allotted to the decision of Parliament; its organization was defined in 1302, by Philip the Fair, who ordained that it should assemble at Paris twice a year, for two months, exercising jurisdiction over the whole kingdom. Charles V. (1364-80) made the Parliament permanent. Its jurisdiction was much restricted, successively by Charles VII., Louis XI., and Francis I.; eight other provincial Parliaments had been formed, by the early part of the 16th century, which reduced that of Paris to little more than a municipal jurisdiction, and all had been thoroughly subjected to royal authority. The Parliament of Paris refused, from 1554 to 1662, to admit the Jesuits into the kingdom, and, later, opposed Henry IV.; but it was compelled to submit by Mazarin, and, later, by Louis XIV. and Louis XV. In 1762, however, it decreed the abolition of the order of Jesuits, and Louis XV. was obliged to confirm this action; though he exiled the Parliament, eight years later. Within four years, it was recalled by Louis XVI.; but supporting, in 1789, the privileged orders against the people, it lost all popularity, and in the following year was suppressed by the Constituent Assembly. It had been mainly composed of lawyers ever since Louis XII. forbade any to enter the Parliament, or to sit as judges, who were not "literate and graduate."
[29] (p. [157]).—The author of the Lettre Missive (vol. [i]. of this series). He is again mentioned by Lescarbot, in this Relation.
[30] (p. [157]).—The original church of Ste. Genevieve (dedicated to the patron saint of Paris) was built by Clovis, about 510. Near the beginning of the 13th century, it was replaced by another building, erected by King Philippe Augustus; this having, in time, become almost a ruin, gave way to the present handsome edifice, which was begun in 1758, and built under the auspices of Louis XV. See Hunnewell's Historic Monuments of France (Boston, 1884), pp. 195, 196.
[31] (p. [159]).—Short robe. A term used, at that time, to designate the military profession.
[32] (p. [165]).—Wheat (blé) is here used generically, but meaning maize; or, more probably, as a shortened form of blé d'Inde, the term applied by Champlain and other French explorers to the corn cultivated by the aborigines.
[33] (p. [165]).—The subject of agriculture among the Indians is exhaustively treated in Carr's "Mounds of the Mississippi Valley," in Smithsonian Report (Washington, 1891), pp. 507-533. His general conclusion is that corn was "cultivated in greater or less quantities by all the tribes living east of the Mississippi and south of the great lakes and the St. Lawrence,"—indeed, far more extensively than is generally supposed; and that "the Indian looked upon it as a staple article of food, both winter and summer; that he cultivated it in large fields, and understood and appreciated the benefits arising from the use of fertilizers." Beans, squashes, and pumpkins were also staple crops. In regard to the labor of women, Carr says: "The Iroquois or Six Nations are the only people among whom, so far as I know, it cannot be shown that the warriors did take some part either in clearing the ground or in cultivating the crop; and we find that even among them the work was not left exclusively to the women, but that it was shared by the children and the old men, as well as the slaves, of whom they seem to have had a goodly number. *** This statement ['that the field-work was not left entirely to the women'], as to the actual condition of a large majority of the tribes living east of the Mississippi and south of the St. Lawrence, is believed to be true; yet it is not denied that there were many instances in which this labor was, practically, left to the women, owing to the fact that the men were away from home, hunting or fighting. This fact was, unfortunately, of frequent recurrence; but, as it was the result of an accidental and not of a permanent condition of affairs, it would hardly be fair to ascribe it to the existence of any custom, or to any belief in the derogatory character of the work."—Cf. Rochemonteix (Jésuites, vol. i., p. 97, note).
[34] (p. [167]).—A word derived, according to Littré, from the Basque orenac, meaning "deer;" elsewhere written orignac, orignas, and orignat; by modern writers, orignal. The "Canadian elk" (orignac being used interchangeably with élan, the elk of Northern Europe), or moose (the latter an Indian name), is Alces Americanus, the largest of the Cervus family. The males are said to attain a weight of 1,100 or 1,200 pounds, and a height of five feet at the shoulder. See also Champlain's Voyages (Prince Soc.), vol. i., p. 265.
[35] (p. [169]).—Slafter thinks that these roots were probably those of Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus. This plant, indigenous in the Northern regions of America, had been carried to Europe by the Italians, who named it girasole (their word for the sunflower, another species of Helianthus), afterwards corrupted to Jerusalem. Champlain saw these plants cultivated by the Indians—in 1605, near Cape Cod; and again at Gloucester, in 1606.—See Champlain's Voyages (Prince Soc.), vol. ii., pp. 82, 112. The savages also cultivated ground-nuts, of several varieties; among them, Arachis hypogæa and Apios tuberosa.—See Carr's "Food of Certain American Indians," in Proceedings of American Antiquarian Society, vol. x., part i., pp. 168, 169.
Lescarbot says the roots mentioned in the text were called canadas; Ferland thinks they were those of Apios tuberosa (Cours d'Histoire, vol. i., p. 84).
[36] (p. [171]).—The smelt, Salmo eperlanus, is found in both salt and fresh water; it is four to eight inches in length.