Letter of Father Pierre Biard, to the Very Reverend Father Claude Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus, at Rome. (May 26, 1614.)
(Copied by Father Felix Martin, from the original Latin preserved in the Archives of the Gesù at Rome.)
VERY REVEREND FATHER IN CHRIST,
The peace of Christ be with you.
Both affection and duty urge me, fresh from such multiplied and mighty perils, from which I have been rescued by the surpassing favor of the Lord and by the prayers of your Paternity, to send you my greetings; and, in so far as it is possible, I throw myself at your knees and embrace you, assuredly with the utmost gratitude and devotion. And, indeed, I am bound, as it were, to contemplate myself, both to do penance, as I hope, and to express my gratitude; so great are the perils out of which I now marvel to see myself delivered. But, as it may at this time [2] be wearisome to weave a long story of all these things, and as it is probable that Your Paternity has already learned many of them from Father Enemond Massé, I shall pass over all the rest, and confine myself for the present to this one matter: in what manner, after our violent capture by the English in New France, we were taken from place to place, and at last restored to this our native land.
Eramus ut Vestra Paternitas scit in Nova Francia quatuor [3] omnino e societate, anno superiore 1613. [6] Et quidem tunc primum incipiebamus novam moliri commodo loco habitationem, novam coloniam &c. Ecce subito nescio quo casu (casus certe fuit non consilium) injecti nostrum in littus Angli Virginenses, magno furore navem nostram invadunt, ȏibus [omnibus] prope defensoribus in terra occupatis. Pugnatum tamen est aliquandiu, sed necessario facta est non multo post deditio. In certamine duo e gallis occisi, quatuor vulnerati et insuper frater noster Gilbertus Duthet, vulneratus [4] ad mortem fuit. Is postridie inter manus meas religiose expiravit.
There were, as Your Paternity knows, only four [3] of our society in New France in the last year, 1613. Then, too, we first began to build in a convenient place a new settlement, a new colony, etc. But most unexpectedly, by some hazard or other (for a hazard it certainly was, and not a premeditated plan), some English from Virginia were driven upon our shores, who attacked our ship with the utmost fury, at a time when nearly all its defenders were occupied on land. Resistance was nevertheless made for a time, but we were soon obliged to surrender. In the struggle, two of the French were killed, four were wounded; and, in addition, our brother Gilbert Duthet received [4] a mortal wound. He made a most Christian end, the following day, under my ministration.
Capta navi et rebus ȏibus [omnibus] direptis; multum nobis fuit, nobis inquam sacerdotibus et jesuitis, non occidi. Verum et hoc ipsum non occidi, si solum fuisset, omni nace [sc. nece] atrocius erat. Nam quid sane ageremus in locis omnino desertis et incultis rerum omnium nudi et egentes? Sylvatici quidem ad nos clam et de nocte ventitabant, infortunium nostrum complorabant, quæ poterant pollicebantur et magno certe animo et fideli. [5] Verum ea erat locorum rerumque conditio ut nusquam nisi mors, aut calamitosior morte miseria occurreret. Et eramus omnino triginta in his angustiis. Una res molliores reddebat Anglos, quod videlicet una e nostris scapha ipsis nequicquam obversantibus evaserat; hanc quia foro [sc. fore] testem nostræ oppressionis non dubitabant, vitæ nostræ parcere cogebantur. Timebant enim talionem et regem nostrum. Ergo tandem (magnum scilicet beneficium) nobis triginta qui supereramus [8] unam aiunt [6] sese velle scapham relinquere quo per eam circumeamus oram maritimam si quam forte navem gallicam reperiamus quæ nos in patriam revehat. Demonstratum est in eam scapham plures quam quindecim ingredi non posse. Verum aliud nihil obtineri potuit, nec de nostris quidem navigiis. Ne morere [sc. morer] in hac difficultate sibi quisque ut potuit consuluit: P. Enemundus Massæus in eam quam dixi scapham ingressus est cum aliis quatuordecim; eique favit Deus uti jam Vestra Paternitas cognovit. [7] Ego ducem anglum adii obtinuique pro me et P. Jacobo Quentino socio meo, itemque pro Joanne Dixon qui admissus erat in societatem et servo item uno ut deveheremur ad insulas vicinas in quibus Angli piscari solent, inibique ut Angli illis piscatoribus commendaremur. Quo per eos in Angliam delati inde, quod facile est, in Galliam rediremus. Obtinui hoc quidem inquam verbis, sed verbis fides non fuit. Nos enim una cum reliquis gallis qui restabamus in universum quindecim detulerunt [8] ipsi recta in suam Virginiam longe ab eo loco in quo capti fueramus leucis facile ducentis quinquaginta. At in Virginia novum periculum. Etenim qui ibi præest suspendi nos omnes volebat, sed in primis jesuitas. Sed restitit is qui nos ceperat capitaneus, fidemque datam opposuit. Et valuit tandem vel fides vel regis timor.
Our ship having been captured and everything pillaged, it was a great concession to us,—that is, to us priests and jesuits,—that we were not killed. And yet this sparing of our lives, if considered in itself only, would have been worse than any death. For what were we to do in an absolutely desert and barren region, despoiled and destitute of everything? The Savages, indeed, used to come to us stealthily and by night; and, with great generosity and devotion, commiserated our misfortune, and promised us whatever they could. [5] Truly the condition of things was such that either death itself, or a more calamitous misfortune, everywhere threatened us. There were in all thirty of us, in these distressing circumstances. One consideration rendered the English less severe, namely, that one of our boats had escaped, in spite of their watchfulness; and, as they had no doubt that it would bear witness to the violence done us, they were obliged to spare our lives, for they feared reprisals and dreaded our king. Therefore they finally offered (a great favor, forsooth) to leave for our thirty survivors [6] a single boat, in which we might coast along the seashore, on the chance of finding some french vessel to take us back to our own country. It was shown that this boat could not hold over fifteen men; but nothing further could be obtained, even from among our own boats. To be brief: in this perplexity each of us took counsel as he could; Father Enemond Massé embarked with fourteen companions in the boat I have mentioned, and the Lord favored him, as Your Paternity has already learned. [7] I went to the english captain and obtained a promise from him that I and Father Jacques Quentin, my companion, and also John Dixon—who had been admitted into the society—and one servant, should be transported to the neighboring islands where the English usually fish, and that we should there be recommended to these English fishermen; so that, having been carried by them to England, we might easily return thence into France. I obtained, as I say, a promise to this effect, but there was no good faith in this promise. For they carried us off, together with the frenchmen who remained, fifteen in all, [8] straight to their own country, Virginia, distant from the place in which we had been captured at least two hundred and fifty leagues. In Virginia, however, a new peril arose; for the governor there wished to hang us all, and especially the jesuits. But the captain who had taken us resisted, alleging his promise to us. Finally this promise, or their fear of our king, prevailed.