[27] (p. [173]).—The purpose of his voyage. Sagard tells us (Canada, p. 871) that this was to improve the condition of Canada, and to ask the King for funds to support the children and new converts in the seminary planned by the Récollets. Le Clercq asserts that it was through Le Caron's influence that Emery de Caen was recalled from Canada, and replaced by a Catholic, Raymond de la Ralde (who had been De Caen's lieutenant); also that the same influence had much to do with the formation of Richelieu's Company of New France.—See Shea's Le Clercq, vol. i., pp. 253-259. Rochemonteix, however, claims (Jésuites, vol. i., p. 165) that Richelieu's determination to replace Montmorency's company by that of the Hundred Associates was due mainly to Father Noyrot's influence, and to his representations of the state of affairs in Canada.
[28] (p. [177]).—Mutio Vitelleschi was born at Rome, in 1565; on Nov. 15, 1615, he became Aquaviva's successor as general of the Society of Jesus; his death occurred Feb. 9, 1645. Ranke, in History of the Popes (Foster's tr., London, 1871), vol. ii., p. 388, says: "Vitelleschi was by nature mild, indulgent, and conciliatory; his intimates called him the angel of peace; and he found consolation on his deathbed from the conviction that he had never injured any one. These were admirable qualities of a most amiable man, but did not suffice to fit him for the government of an order so widely extended, active, and powerful. He was unable to enforce strictness of discipline, even with regard to dress; still less could he oppose an effectual resistance to the demands of determined ambition." Daurignac, in History of the Society of Jesus (Clements's tr., Baltimore, 1878), vol. i., p. 398, says that he was designated "the Angel" by Pope Urban VIII., on account of his docility and humility. It was under his generalship (Feb. 12, 1622) that Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, and Francis Xavier, were canonized by Gregory XV.; that the first centenary of the society was held (Sept. 25, 1639), when its reports showed that it occupied 36 provinces, and had 800 houses and 15,000 members; and that the great controversy between the Jansenists and Jesuits began. Even more important, according to Ranke, was the change which occurred, during this administration, in the government and discipline of the society, by which the "professed" members attained supremacy, and occupied positions in business, administration, and other affairs of the world, which before had belonged mainly to the coadjutors,—those of provincials, rectors, and superiors of colleges. The former ascetic strictness of discipline was relaxed; and the society became less ardent in its devotion to the interests of the Holy See. Vitelleschi and his immediate successors strove, but with little success, to correct these tendencies.—See Ranke, ut supra, pp. 387-393; he obtains most of his information from a MS. in the Corsini library at Rome, entitled Discorso sopra la religione de' padri Gesuiti, e loro modo di governare (1681-86, circa). Cf. Daurignac's account (ut supra, pp. 324-398) of the order under Vitelleschi's administration.
[29] (p. [177]).—During the seventeenth century, all navigated seas were infested with pirates. Lescarbot mentions (vol. ii. of the present series, p. 131) that Poutrincourt met, in the English Channel, a ship of "Forbans" or pirates; the word "forban" means, literally, one banished, an outlaw, and characterizes most of the European pirates of the time. Sagard (Canada, 115, 120, 121), relates that, on his journey to New France, his ship was threatened by a Dutch pirate, in the very harbor of Rochelle. Sulte (Can.-Français, vol. ii., p. 20, note) cites the case of one of De Caen's vessels, which was captured (September, 1624) while en route from Gaspé to Bordeaux, by Turks, near the coast of Brittany; the Frenchmen were carried away as slaves.
Brown (Cape Breton, p. 110), who says he obtained his information from original documents in the Public Record office at London, writes: "The fishermen of Newfoundland were cruelly harassed by pirates. In eight years (1612-20), the damage done by the pirates was estimated at 40,800 l.; besides the loss of 180 pieces of ordnance, and 1,080 fishermen and mechanics carried off by force. On August 8, 1625, the Mayor of Poole wrote to the Privy Council, saying that, unless protection were afforded to the Newfoundland fleet of 250 sail, 'of the Western Ports,' they would be surprised by the Turkish pirates; and, on the 12th of the same month, the Mayor of Plymouth informed the Council that twenty-seven ships and 200 men had been taken by pirates in ten days." Brown also cites Discourse and Discovery of Newfoundland (London, 1623), written by one Captain Whitbourne, who was sent out in 1615, to hold a court of admiralty for inquiry into certain abuses; and who says that Peter Easton, a pirate, had ten sail of well-appointed ships, that he was master of the seas, and levied a regular tax on fishing vessels.
As early as 1620, John Mason, then governor of Newfoundland, received a commission from the English admiralty to suppress pirates; and he captured, among others, a Sallee (or Moorish) pirate in the Irish harbor of Crookhaven (1625). Prowse (Hist. N.F., pp. 108, 174, 182), gives the text of this commission; he also states that Placentia was raided five times previous to 1685, by English buccaneers, who plundered the town of all movable property.
[30] (p. [177]).—Jean de Brébeuf was born March 25, 1593, at Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy. He belonged to a noble family, from which, according to the Biographie Universelle (Paris, 1843-66), the English family of Arundel had its descent. Entering the Society of Jesus Nov. 8, 1617, at Rouen, he was ordained five years later; and in 1625 was sent to Canada as one of the first Jesuit missionaries (note [22], ante). The first year he spent among the Montagnais; but in 1626 went, with De Nouë, to the Huron country, where they settled at Toanché (known to the Récollets as Carhagouha; see note [26], ante), in the bark cabin which Le Caron had erected eleven years before. Here Brébeuf remained (alone, after the first year) until the capture of Quebec. Returning to Canada with Champlain (1633), he at once resumed work in the Huron country, where he labored until his death (excepting 1641-44, when at Quebec). During the winter of 1640-41, he endeavored (but without success) to establish a mission in the Neutral Nation. He lived successively at Ihonatiria, a new village built not far from the deserted Toanché; Teanaustayé, called by the missionaries St. Joseph, in the present township of Médonte, Simcoe county, Ontario; and St. Ignace and St. Louis, about half-way between the former towns. In March, 1649, a thousand Iroquois attacked and destroyed the two last-named villages capturing there Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, both of whom were put to death with cruel tortures,—the former dying March 16, the latter on the day following. Their bodies were rescued by their brethren and their bones afterwards taken to Quebec,—where, in the Hôtel Dieu, Brébeuf's head is still preserved, inclosed in a silver bust sent from France by his family. A minute account of this martyrdom is given by one of the lay brothers of the Huron mission, Christophe Regnaut (Regnault), in a MS. written at Caen in 1678. A copy of this document, with an English translation, is given by Brymner, in Canadian Archives, 1884, pp. lxiii.-lxvii., and will in due course be reproduced in the present series.
Harris (Miss. West. Canada., p. 212, note) states that he has seen in St. Martin's church (Ritualist), Brighton, England, a figured window in memory of Father Brébeuf. A memorial church, in honor of all the Jesuit martyrs in the Huron country, is now (January, 1897) approaching completion at Penetanguishene, Ontario; an illustration thereof will appear in vol. v. of this series.
Brébeuf's Relations of the Huron mission will appear in succeeding volumes of our series; that for 1636 contains an elaborate account of the social condition, manners, and customs of that nation, and a treatise on their language—this last being reproduced, in an English translation, by Albert Gallatin in Transactions of Amer. Antiquarian Society, vol. ii., (Cambridge, 1836), pp. 236-238. At the close of Champlain's Voyages (ed. 1632) may be found translations into Montagnais of Ledesma's "Christian Doctrine," by Brébeuf; and of the Lord's Prayer, Apostles' Creed, etc., by Massé.
[31] (p. [181]).—Anne de Nouë was born Aug. 7, 1587; his father was the seigneur of Prières and of Villers, near Rheims, France. Anne's early years were spent at court, first as a page, then as an officer of the King's bedchamber; but at the age of twenty-five he devoted himself to a religious life, and entered the Jesuit novitiate (Sept. 20, 1612). He spent ten years in the study of philosophy and theology, at the Jesuit colleges of Paris, La Flèche, and Nevers; then became acting rector at Bourges, where he remained until sent to Canada (1626). Accompanying Brébeuf to the Huron country, he came back to Quebec in the following spring, apparently remaining there until the English invasion. During this time he essayed to spend a winter with the Montagnais, but suffered so greatly from cold and hunger that he was obliged to leave them. Returning to Canada with De Caen (1632), his first care was to repair the convent and other buildings destroyed by the English. Unable, after repeated efforts, either to learn the native languages, or to endure the hardships of life among the savages, he spent the remainder of his life in the French settlements on the St. Lawrence,—ministering to the sick and dying, instructing the colonists, supplying the temporal needs of his brethren, directing workmen who repaired buildings or cultivated the ground,—as Rochemonteix says, "he became, in the mission, the servant of all." His disposition was enthusiastic and impetuous, yet gentle, lovable, and self-sacrificing. On a journey to Fort Richelieu, to administer the sacraments to the garrison there, he was frozen to death on the St. Lawrence river, Feb. 1, 1646.
[32] (p. [181]).—Philibert Noyrot was born October, 1592, in the diocese of Autun; he entered the Jesuit order Oct. 16, 1617, and spent four years in study at Paris and Bourges. Four years later, having been ordained as a priest, he was appointed procuror of the latter college, retaining this office until his death. It was by his advice, according to Rochemonteix, that Ventadour (whose confessor he was) bought the viceroyalty of Canada from Montmorency. In 1626, Noyrot went to Quebec, taking with him twenty workmen to build a residence for the Jesuit missionaries there. Lalemant immediately sent him back to France, to report to Richelieu on the affairs of Canada, and to secure the removal of the Huguenots from the direction of the mercantile company. This resulted in the formation of the Company of New France (see note [27], ante). In order to relieve the scarcity at Quebec, Noyrot loaded a ship with a year's supply of provisions for the missionaries and their workmen; but, according to Le Clercq, these supplies were stopped at Honfleur by De Caen and La Ralde, from resentment at Noyrot's complaints about their conduct. In consequence of this disappointment, the workmen of the mission were taken back to France by Lalemant. Twice again did Noyrot seek to convey supplies to his brethren at Quebec: the first time (July, 1628), he was driven back by Admiral Kirk; the second (June, 1629), he perished by shipwreck near Canso (see note [20], ante).