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Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Coroners, for the year next ensuing; out of which respective elections and presentments, the Governor or his Deputy shall nominate and commissionate the proper number for each office, the third day after the said presentments, or else the first named in such presentment, for each office, shall stand and serve for that office the year ensuing.

XVIII. But forasmuch as the present condition of the province requires some immediate settlement, and admits not of so quick a revolution of officers; and to the end the said Province may, with all convenient speed, be well ordered and settled, I, William Penn, do therefore think fit to nominate and appoint such persons for Judges, Treasurers, Masters of the Rolls, Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Coroners, as are most fitly qualified for those employments; to whom I shall make and grant commissions for the said offices, respectively, to hold to them, to whom the same shall be granted, for so long time as every such person shall well behave himself in the office, or place, to him respectively granted, and no longer. And upon the decease or displacing of any of the said officers, the succeeding officer, or officers, shall be chosen, as aforesaid.

XIX. That the General Assembly shall continue so long as may be needful to impeach criminals, fit to be there impeached, to pass bills into laws, that they shall think fit to pass into laws, and till such time as the Governor and provincial Council shall declare that they have nothing further to propose unto them, for their assent and approbation: and that declaration shall be a dismiss to the General Assembly for that time; which General Assembly shall be, notwithstanding, capable of assembling together upon the summons of the provincial Council, at any time during that year, if the said provincial Council shall see occasion for their so assembling.

XX. That all the elections of members, or representatives of the people, to serve in provincial Council and General Assembly, and all questions to be determined by both, or either of them, that relate to passing of bills into laws, to the choice of Officers, to impeachments by the General Assembly, and judgment of criminals upon such impeachments by the provincial Council, and to all other cases by them respectively judged of importance, shall be resolved and determined by the ballot; and unless on sudden and indispensible oc

casions, no business in provincial Council, or its respective committees, shall be finally determined the same day that it is moved.

XXI. That at all times when, and so often as it shall happen that the Governor shall or may be an infant, under the age of one and twenty years, and no guardians or commissioners are appointed in writing, by the father of the said infant, or that such guardians or commissioners, shall be deceased; that during such minority, the provincial Council shall, from time to time, as they shall see meet, constitute and appoint guardians or commissioners, not exceeding three; one of which three shall preside as deputy and chief guardian, during such minority, and shall have and execute, with the consent of the other two, all the power of a Governor, in all the public affairs and concerns of the said province.

XXII. That, as often as any day of the month, mentioned in any article of this charter, shall fall upon the first day of the week, commonly called the Lord's Day, the business appointed for that day shall be deferred till the next day, unless in case of emergency.

XXIII. That no act, law, or ordinance whatsoever, shall at any time hereafter, be made or done by the Governor of this province, his heirs or assigns, or by the freemen in the provincial Council, or the General Assembly, to alter, change, or diminish the form, or effect, of this charter, or any part, or clause thereof, without the consent of the Governor, his heirs, or assigns, and six parts of seven of the said freemen in provin cial Council and General Assembly.

XXIV. And lastly, that I, the said William Penn, for myself, my heirs and assigns, have solemnly declared, granted and confirmed, and do hereby solemnly declare, grant and confirm, that neither I, my heirs, nor assigns, shall procure or do any thing or things, whereby the liberties, in this charter contained and expressed, shall be infringed or broken; and if any thing be procured by any person or persons contrary to these premises, it shall be held of no force or effect. witness whereof, I, the said William Penn, have unto this present character of liberties set my hand and broad seal, this five and twentieth day of the second month, vulgarly called April, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and eighty-two.

WILLIAM PENN.

In

CANADA RESTORED TO FRANCE.

417

CHAPTER XV.

1626-1689.

THE FRENCH IN CANADA AND LOUISIANA.

-

Montreal

Expeditions of Jean Nicolet-Labors of the Jesuits - LeJeune, Brébeuf, Daniel and Davost founded - Hardships of Raymbault and Jogues - The opposition of the Five Nations - Huron missions broken up - Radisson and Groseilliers - Charter of the Company of New France transferred to the Company of the West-Courcelles invades the Long House - Missions established in Michigan - Marquette and Joliet discover the Mississippi - Their voyage down the river - La Salle makes discoveries on the Mississippi - His voyage to Louisiana - Organizes expeditions to settle Louisiana His death-Fate of the murderers - The voyages of Hennepin and others - Du Lhut-Charter of the West Indies Company revoked Disputes between Frontenac and the clergy-Rupture between Frontenac and Talon - Power of Frontenac limited - Frontenac succeeded by De la Barre - - Attack on the Iroquois - Operations of Denonville-Frontenac again governor Conditions in New France contrasted with the English colonies.

In our first chapter we have seen what beginnings the French had made in settling Canada and the contiguous territory. The French had been prevented from occupying the upper waters of the Hudson by the hostility of the Mohawks who cut off all communication between the French and the Dutch and English to the south, but from the earliest time the French made continuous efforts to penetrate the wilderness and to convert the natives to the Christian religion in the hope not only of bringing them to a civilized state but also of more easily acquiring any territory which might be desired. In 1626 the French missionaries who had accompanied Champlain to Canada penetrated the northern shore of Lake Ontario until they reached the rivers which flowed into Lake Huron. On March 29, 1632, Canada, then called New France, was restored to the French by the treaty of Saint

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Germain-en-Laye,* and the Jesuits obtained a grant from the authorities to occupy the vast territory which was thus laid open. They then began those missionary labors which have probably never been surpassed by any missionaries in the history of

the world.

In July, 1634, Champlain sent Jean Nicolet upon a western expedition to ascertain the truthfulness of the stories regarding a great western sea, and this expedition may be said to have begun the search by the French for the Mississippi. He went up the Ottawa River to Lake Nipissing and thence to Georgian Bay. The party then launched their canoes on Lake Huron for the journey to the Sault Ste. Marie and the Ojibway tribe which dwelt in that vicinity: they then entered Lake Michigan and followed its western shores as far as Green

For the terms of which see Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, pp. 135-138.

418 EXPEDITIONS OF NICOLET AND THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES.

Bay where they came to the village of the Winnebagoes. From Green Bay, the party pushed up the Fox River, where the Mascoutins were met. It is uncertain as to whether Nicolet entered the Wisconsin River, but he evidently went further south than Green Bay to reach the country occupied by the Algonquin tribe of the Illinois. He also established friendly relations with the Pottawattamies. He then retraced his course, arriving at his starting place July, 1635.*

In October, 1633, Father Paul Le Jeune, Superior of the Residence of Quebec, started on a journey to the encampment of the Montagnais, in the vicinity of the St. Lawrence. His purpose was to convert the Indians of that tribe; but after spending a long, arduous winter with them, the condition of his health compelled him to return to Quebec, where he arrived in April, 1634, in a weak and ema

*

Fiske, New France and New England, pp. 98100; Charles Moore, The Northwest under Three Flags, pp. 3-6 (1900); C. W. Butterfield, History of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet (1881); The account by Barthélemy Vimont in Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, vol. xxiii., pp. 275279; Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, p. 149 et seq. See also J. V. Brown, The Mississippi River and Its Source, in Minnesota Historical Collections, vol. vii., pp. 40-46; Thwaites, Story of Wisconsin, chap. i.; Grace Clark's translation of Henry Jonan's Jean Nicolet, in Wisconsin Historical Collections, vol. xi., pp. 1-22; Benjamin Sulte's Notes on Jean Nicolet, in Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, vol. viii., pp. 188-194; and his Les Interprèter du Temps de Champlain, in Memoirs of the Royal Society of Canada (1883). C. W. Butterfield also prepared a Nicolet bibliography in Wisconsin Historical Collections, vol xi., pp. 23–25.

ciated condition, having failed to accomplish his purpose."

*

In 1634 three Jesuit missionaries, Jean de Brébeuf, Ambroise Davost and Antoine Daniel, accompanied by a party of Huron Indians, set out for the far distant wigwams of the Huron tribe. First paddling up the St. Lawrence, they next ascended the tributaries of the Ottawa, surmounting its falls and rapids, and by carrying their canoes through the pathways of the forest, and after enduring all manner of hardships, they reached the eastern projection of Lake Huron, 300 miles distant. They there converted one of the leading chiefs, and succeeded in establishing six missions among the savages on the borders of the lake.† Hildreth says: "Now and then, one of these fathers would make a voyage to Quebec in a canoe, with two or three savages, paddle in hand, exhausted with rowing, his feet naked, his breviary hanging about his neck, his shirt unwashed, his cassock half-torn from his lean body, but with a face full of content, charmed with the life he led, and inspiring by his air and his words a strong desire to join him in the mission." Great excitement was created in France upon receipt

66

* Parkman, The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 101-128 (ed. of 1905). + Campbell, Pioneer Priests, vol. ii., pp. 65–164, 197-231; Parkman, The Jesuits in North America, p. 129 et seq.; Colby, Canadian Types of the Old Régime, pp. 82-105; Brébeuf, Relation des Hurons; Shea, American Catholic Missions, p. 172 et seq.

MONTREAL FOUNDED; RAYMBAULT AND JOGUES.

of the news of these remarkable successes, and many efforts were put forth to establish the Roman Catholic religion in Canada. About 1637 a

Jesuit college was established at Quebec, to be followed shortly after by a hospital for the use of both the French and Indians, and later by a convent of Ursuline sisters.*

On May 17, 1642, Montreal, which was in the highway of the newly established missions, was founded (under the name of Ville Marie). The design was to establish on the Island of Montreal a fortified town which should be both a bulwark against the Iroquois and a religious centre from which the light of the Gospel could be carried to the surrounding Indian tribes. The scheme, which took definite shape in 1636, was formulated by Jean Jacques Olier, a young priest resident near Paris, and Jérome le Royer de la Dauversière, a layman of La Fléche in Anjou, and their chief financial supporter was Baron de Fancamp. A Society of A Society of Notre-Dame de Montréal was formed with six members, subsequently increased to forty-five, and in the summer of 1641 the first band of fortyfour colonists set out and soon arrived at Quebec. On May 8, 1642, after having spent the winter at Quebec, the party started for Montreal and on the 17th began life in their new home with a celebration of Holy

* Parkman, The Jesuits, pp. 246, 260; Douglas, Quebec in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 253-262; Miles, Canada, p. 106.

419

Communion. Neither Olier nor Dauversière had come over, but the colonists had been ably led by Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, who was the outstanding figure in the infant community. Among the women who came with the first colonists was Jeanne Mance, who nursed the sick and cheered the whole community by her gentle ways.*

From this time forth fresh bodies of Jesuits continued to arrive and to emulate the zeal of their predecessors. Among these were Charles Raymbault and Isaac Jogues. These two explored two explored the shores of Lake Huron, in 1641 reaching the settlement of the Chippewas, at the foot of the falls of St. Mary, and then starting on the return journey,† Raymbault succeeded in reaching Quebec, but his constitution had been undermined by the hardships through which he had passed and he soon died.‡ died.‡ Jogues, however, while descending the St. Lawrence in 1643 with a party of Huron converts, was beset by a party of hostile Mohawks and captured. His Indian com

* Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, p. 161 et seq.; Parkman, The Jesuits, pp. 281 et seq., 357 et seq.; Colby, Canadian Types of the Old Régime, pp. 105-112; Douglas, Quebec, pp. 270-274; Miles, Canada, p. 106 et seq.

Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, vol. xx., p. 97, vol. xxiii., p. 19; Parkman, The Jesuits, p. 307; Thomas M. Cooley, Michigan: a History of Governments, p. 10.

So Charles Moore says in his Northwest Under Three Flags, p. 8; and Bancroft, vol. ii., p. 142; but according to others it occurred at the Sault. Thwaites Jesuit Relations, vol. xxiii, p. 273; Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, p. 160.

panions were either killed by the tomahawk or burned to death in his sight, and the same fate was in store for him; but after he had run the gauntlet several successive times between rows of tormentors, he was left to regain a little of his strength in order that the savages might be able to practice their cruelties for a greater length of time. But he succeeded in escaping, and made his way to the Mohawk Valley, finally reaching Rensselaerwyck, where he was hospitably received by the Dutch commander.* The other missionaries who fell into the power of the savage tribe also underwent the same tortures,† and a similar fate was the portion of the missionaries who went toward the east, where, at a very early period, before the landing of the Pilgrims, the Jesuits had attempted to convert the natives to Christianity. In 1646, however, conditions became so favorable, accord

Campbell, Pioneer Priests, vol. i., pp. 1-30; Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, pp. 159-161; Bancroft, vol. ii., pp. 141-143; Roberts, New York, vol. i., pp. 145-147; Parkman, The Jesuits, pp. 305–334, and the authorities there cited, especially Megapolensis, A Short Sketch of the Mohawk Indians; Johnson, French Pathfinders, pp. 155161; Shea, American Catholic Missions, pp. 206

ing to Gabriel Druilletes, the missionary explorer, that steps were taken by the Jesuits to establish a permanent mission. On August 29, 1646, he left Sillery with a party of Indians, reached the waters of the Kennebec, and descended to the Abenaki villages where he performed his religious duties as well as his knowledge of the language would permit. He visited some of the English settlements along the Penobscot, and then returned to the Kennebec, going back to Quebec the following summer. In 1650 he again went to the Kennebec region for the purpose of negotiating a treaty with the New England colonies, and in order to accomplish his mission was compelled to visit Boston, Plymouth, Salem and other places, but he returned to Quebec without definite action having been taken and though he again visited New England, in 1651, his errand was fruitless.*

"It is certain," says Charlevoix

as quoted by Hildrethin speaking on this subject, "as well from the annual relations of those happy times, as from the constant tradition of that country, that a peculiar unction attached to this savage mission,

212. Father Jogues' account of his experiences giving it a preference over many

will be found in Collections of the New York Historical Society, 2d series, vol. iii., pt. i., pp. 173-219; an extract being given in Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, vol. i., no. 40. See also Thwaites. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, vol. xxiv., pp. 294-297; xxv., pp. 4363; xxxi, pp. 93-99; xxxix, pp. 175-225; Jameson, Narratives of New Netherland, pp. 242-254.

For the details see Parkman, The Jesuits, p. 235 et seq.

others far more brilliant and more fruitful. The reason, no doubt, was that nature, finding nothing there to

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