HISTORY: Chapter 3, History of Cayuga Co., NY 1879; Cayuga co., NY

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1789 - History of Cayuga County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical
Sketches of some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, by Elliot G. Storke,
assisted by Jas. H. Smith. Pub. by D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, N.Y. 1879

CHAPTER III.
NATIVE INHABITANTS, (CONTINUED.)

JESUIT MISSIONS AMONG THE CAYUGAS - THE JESUIT RELATIONS - DURATION OF THE
MISSIONS - DETAILS OF THE VARIOUS CAYUGA MISSIONS - THEIR RESULTS - WHY THE
MISSIONS FAILED-RESULTS OF THE FAILURE.

In the preceding chapter incidental reference has been made to the influence
of the French Jesuit missions among the Five Nations. In the present chapter a
more detailed description will be given of their early missionary operations
among the Cayugas which embodies the earliest information concerning them,
dating back more than two hundred and twenty years, and more than a century
before the present race of white men occupied our soil.

The history of their operations in this County had not until about three years
since been accessible to our citizens. At that time, Rev. Charles Hawley, D.
D., President of the Cayuga County Historical Society, a gentleman thoroughly
informed in aboriginal history, conceived and executed the plan of supplying
the deficiency. After considerable research, he obtained a copy of the
"Relations des Jesuits," in the old original French, and translated and
published so much of those " Relations" as applied to this county from 1656 to
1672. A copy being forwarded to Dr. John G. Shea, the eminent Indian
historian, he replied, under date of New York, November 1st, 1876, thanking
Dr. Hawley for his admirable translation," and for the happy idea of " thus
giving to the present residents of the old land of the Cayugas these records
of intelligent and devoted men laboring there two centuries ago." Dr. Shea at
the same time offered to translate from the old " Relations " all that he
could find applying to the Cayugas, and did so, carrying the history forward
to 1679. It is from these " Relations " thus supplied by the courtesy of Dr.
Hawley that we make up the record contained in this chapter.

It will be noticed that in the relations respecting the Cayugas, very little
is said of their habits and modes of life, except as connected with their
religious instruction. The reason for this is that full and minute
descriptions, bearing upon the former subjects, had been given in previous "
Relations" of the Huron missions.

These missionaries were educated men. They took careful notes of what they saw
and heard ; made maps and drawings and made out full and elaborate reports of
their operations, published in large and expensive volumes, which are
exceedingly rare and interesting. as containing the first accounts we have of
our native inhabitants. (1)

The first missionaries arrived in Canada in 1625. They came for a very
different purpose from that which had actuated the previous settlers. The
latter had come to traffic and make gain, and in carrying on their operations
often deceived and swindled the red man. But the missionaries came to teach
and christianize the heathen. The traders had come with guns and swords to
inspire terror and to enforce obedience ; the missionaries were heralds of
peace and good will. They came from the most enlightened nation of Europe to
dwell among barbarians,-to learn their languages and usages so as to be able
to instruct and influence them. They came from an old to a new country ; from
a mild to a rigorous climate, and exchanged a life of comparative ease and
refinement in France for the privations and hardships of the wilderness among
savages.

As showing the discomforts of the Indian homes of the fathers, we quote the
following from the " Jesuits in North America," (Parkman's,) being a synopsis
of the relation of Le Jeune, the first Indian missionary :

"Here among the lodges of bark were stretched innumerable strings of hide,
from which hung to dry an incredible multidude of eels. A boy invited him into
the lodge of a withered squaw, (his grandmother,) who hastened to offer him
four smoked eels on a piece of bark, while the other squaws of the household
instructed him how to roast them on a forked-stick over the embers. All shared
the feast together, his entertainers using as napkins their own hair, or that
of their dogs."

But the discomforts of a Winter lodge, as described by the same author, were
very great:

" Enter the hut, there in a space of thirteen feet square were packed nineteen
savages,-men, women and children, with their dogs,-crouched. squatted, coiled
like huge hogs, or lying on their backs, with their knees drawn up
perpendicularly to keep their feet out of the fire. The bark covering was full
of crevices, through which the icy blasts streamed in upon him from all sides,
and the hole above, at once window and chimney, was so large that as he lay he
could watch the stars, as well as in the open air; while the fire in the
midst, fed with fat pine-knots, scorched him on one side, on the other he had
much ado to keep himself from freezing. At times, however, the crowded hut
seemed heated to the temperature of an oven ; but these evils were slight when
compared with the intolerable plague of smoke. During a snow storm, and often
at other times, the wigwam was filled with fumes so dense, stifling and acrid
that all its inmates were forced to lie flat on their faces breathing through
mouths in contact with the cold earth."

So much for the discomforts of the missionary homes with the Indians. Another
extract from the same excellent and graphic author, will show the horrid
barbarities to which they were at all times exposed. Father Bressani, a
missionary among the Hurons in 1644, was taken prisoner by the Iroquois and
compelled to endure their relentless cruelties, which Mr. Parkman thus
describes : " They split his hand with a knife between the little and ring
finger, beat him with sticks until he was covered with blood." They then
stripped him, and, though the weather was very cold, exposed him to it on the
torture scaffold for two hours compelling him to sing. They then permitted the
children to torture him by thrusting sharpened sticks into his bruised flesh,
and also compelling him to dance, pulling out his hair and beard and burning
his flesh with fire-brands, accompanied with the cry, " We will burn you to
death." This was continued every evening for a week. After this they burned
him with live coals and hot stones, greatly enjoying his agony for hours. In
this condition, bruised, burned, and lacerated as he was, they compelled him
to undergo a march of several days, when they suspended him by the heels, and
afterwards placed food for the dogs upon his body that cruelly hurt him in
biting it off. He was finally liberated, sold to the Dutch, regained his
strength and reentered the missionary field.

Theirs was a rare and heroic self-sacrifice, and they devoted themselves to
their appointed work with marvellous zeal and fidelity. They were, in a large
degree, successful in winning the confidence of the red men, though some of
them were submitted to the torture and the flames and most of them carried
their lives in their hands. While they were sincerely and enthusiastically
devoted to the work of evangelizing the Indians, it cannot be denied that many
of them exerted a strong political influence in behalf of his most catholic
majesty, the King of France, by allying the various savage tribes among whom
they dwelt, to the French interest.

The French missions were maintained for nearly a century, and of many of the
tribes, little has been or can be known, except what is sup-plied by their "
Relations."

In 1645-'6, Father Jerome Lallemant, comparing the different Iroquois Nations,
said that " the Cantons . of the Cayugas and Senecas surpass them all by the
excellence of the soil, the beauty of the country and the mildness of the
climate. The inhabitants, being influenced by these super-inducements, have
always shown themselves the most tractable of all the Iroquois."

The first mission founded among the Cayugas was in 1656, and soon after the
establishment of the Onondaga mission. The latter was the first Iroquois
mission and had had a favorable beginning ; a chapel had been built, a school
opened, and a fort projected for the defense of the nation from its enemies.

The missionaries at Onondaga now arranged to extend their labors to the
Cayugas and Senecas. The Cayugas had been represented in the first missionary
council at Onondaga, where they were received with much formality. The
council, though engaged in important ceremonies, adjourned them until the
following day in honor of their distinguished guests with whom they exchanged
complimentary presents. Saonchiogwa, the head chief of the Cayugas, was very
cordial to the " Black Robes," as the priestswere called, and assured them of
his desire to take them as brothers, understood to be a mark of the highest
confidence, and was so accepted by the missionaries. The next day the several
nations represented in the council, engaged in formal replies to the speeches
and presents of the missionaries, and with their songs of welcome. (2)

After the Onondagas had bestowed and explained the presents, Saonchiogwa,
chief of the Cayugas, replied in a long, eloquent and sagacious speech. In
behalf of his nation and him-self, he thanked the French for having adopted
them, and pledged himself that they should never dishonor the proud
distinction. They had never been adopted except by persons of rank ; but
adoption by the French was the crowning glory of all their alliances. He
closed by striking up a song, both new and pleasing, in which all his
companions joined, keeping time by striking their mats, while he danced
violently. The import of his exclamations was a warm approval of the whole
proceedings, which he emphasized by a present of beads.

In pursuance of the wishes expressed by this council, six Jesuit fathers left
Quebec, May 17th, 1656, and with them came also several laymen. A council was
convened at Onondaga soon after their arrival and the alliance heretofore
made, was confirmed by the distribution of additional presents. A few weeks
later a representative Cayugan, in behalf of his nation asked that one of the
fathers might be sent to them. He assured them that such was the desire of all
his people, and that a chapel would be built for their use.

This request was granted. Father Menard was sent to the Cayugas, and Chaumanot
to the Senecas. They arrived among the Cayugas in August, 1656, from whence,
after a short stay, Chaumanot proceeded to his work among the Senecas, Menard
remaining among the Cayugas.

To preserve the alliance which had been formed with the French at Onondaga,
"to keep bright the chain of friendship " with the Indians, annual presents
must be exchanged. This Menard considered a very agreeable necessity, as, in
the distribution of these presents, it opened the way for him to proclaim to
them the faith here, in a way similar to that which had so well succeeded at
Onondaga.

He found, however, in fact, great antipathy not only against the faith but
against their own persons also. These dislikes had come to the Iroquois
through the Hurons, among whom the black-robes had labored for many previous
years. The Hurons insisted that the missionaries brought with them sickness
and misfortunes. (3)

And so strong were their antipathies that the first presents which Menard
bestowed were unavailing, and worthless, but the principal men of the nation,
from motives of policy, did not break with the missionary ; but set their
Huron slaves at work to build a bark chapel, which at the end of two days was
completed and ready for occupancy.

The fathers spread the floor with " beautiful mats," and arranged two images
in the chapel, one of our Lord and the other of our Lady. The effect, Menard
relates :

" So greatly surprised our barbarians that they came in crowds to consider it,
and gaze upon the countenances and movements of the two images. I thus had
abundant opportunities to explain our mysteries ; and so inquisitive were they
about the images, that each day was but one asking and answering of questions
from morning till night ; the result of which was that they were so subdued in
spirit, that in a few days we had many converts, not only of the Hurons and
slaves, but also from the natives of the country.

" Many brought their children to me for baptism, and aided me in teaching them
the prayers by repeating them after me ; and, in a short time grace brought
such marvellous changes that the little children, who, at the first, made me
the constant object of their ridicule and sport now rendered me the offices of
good angels. conducting me into the cabins, attending me wherever I visited,
and giving me the names of those I baptized, as well as those of their
parent's, that which these barbarians are accustomed to carefully conceal from
us, believing that we record their names that we may send them to France and
there pro-cure their death by magic."

The first person whom father Menard deemed worthy of baptism was a man eighty
years old, and as he relates, "nigh unto death," and in whom he found " all
the dispositions of a soul chosen for heaven." The second was a cripple
deformed by a cancer, by whom the father was received with joy, and who was so
assiduous in his application to the work assigned him by the priest, that he
speedily administered to him the sacred. rite. The chief interest, however,
which surrounded this second case, was that the now suffering Iroquois had
been a renowned warrior, and was one of the party one thousand strong who, on
the 16th of March, 1649, had attacked, captured, and burned the Huron town of
St. Ignace, and on " that same day had slain with his own hands eight Hurons
and taken five others prisoners," and had bought of the Mohawks the two
captive fathers, Brebeuf and Lallemant, who were in the town at the time of
its capture, in order to restore them to liberty. They returned the wampum
belts, however, which had been the price of the freedom of the captives who
were "burned with all imaginary fury. (4)

This second convert was much esteemed by the Cayugas, and his conversion to
the Christian faith led many others to embrace it ; not only by his
influential example, but " through the zeal of his discourse." But Menard met
the difficulties common to all the early French missionaries.
He said :

"Our faith is accused of being the murderer of all who profess it ; and the
death of several christians of Onondaga, having given occasion for this
delusion of the savages ; and the speech of a certain chief, an enemy of our
religion, made at a council, served to excite still more their prejudices. So
that not only many natives of the country, judging it was safer to believe
what this man of authority among them said, than to put faith in the totally
opposite experience of our ancient Hurons, have begged me to regard it well
for them to omit attendance at prayers until their fear of me should abate ;
but also they accuse the faith of the French of all the evils, both public and
private, with which they are afflicted. Thus it is, that a certain apostate
endeavored to make these barbarians believe, citing the Hollanders for proof
of what he said, when he asserted, that the children of the Iroquois died two
years after their baptism ; and that the christians, either broke a leg, or
pierced their foot with a thorn, or became emaciated, or vomited up the soul
with the blood, or were attacked with some other signal malady."

In learning the Iroquois language, father Menard had for teachers three
brothers, given him " by the providence of God," of good natural dispositions,
kind, patient and assiduous as teachers ; and he was so rapidly instructed in
the language by them as soon to be able to reciprocate their kindness by
giving them religious instruction, of which with the aid of the images, he was
able to give them an apprehension.

The superstitious notions of the Indians often put the lives of the
missionaries in jeopardy. Menard was accused of being a sorcerer, that he had
over the people the power of life and death ; that he could if he so willed,
heal the sick, and if they died he was responsible for their death. Some of
the more suspicious sought to rid the

nation of so powerful and dangerous a guest, but were restrained by others.
Menard, at this his first visit, gained many converts, but at the end of two
months, for reasons not explained in the "Relations," left for Onondaga. He,
however, returned to the mission after a brief absence, accompanied by several
Frenchmen, and also by many prominent Cayugas, who had visited him at Onondaga
to urge his return. He found his chapel in the same condition in which he had
left it and at once resumed his labors and reported that his prospects of
success were as good as those of Onondaga. The first missions among the
Cayugas and Onondagas were, however, of short duration. The Mohawks became
jealous of the French, and the Oneidas murdered three of the colonists. The
French retaliated and ill blood was excited. A conspiracy, involving the
complete destruction of the colony, was disclosed to the French by a christian
Indian, and in February, 1658, the colony secretly fled to Canada. (5)

A war followed between the French and the Five Nations, lasting about two
years. Through the influence of Garacontie, the chief sachem of the Onondagas,
and a firm friend of the missionaries, an embassy headed by the chief of the
Cayugas, Saonchiogwa, was dispatched to Montreal to negotiate a peace. They
arrived in July, 166o, without previous notice to the French that they wished
for peace. Presents were brought as pledges of the desired peace, and they
were explained in an eloquent and adroit speech by Saonchiogwa, which he
concluded thus : " A black-gown must come with me, otherwise no peace, and on
his coming depend the lives of twenty Frenchmen."

The proposals were accepted and Father Le Moyne who seven years before had
first visited Onondaga and subsequently all of the Five Nations and was
therefore well known to them, was sent with them. He was received at the
mission house of the Onondagas, by the sachems of the Onondaga, Cayuga and
Seneca nations. The proceedings of the embassy were ratified, and Le Moyne
visited different parts of the missionary field, spending a month with the
Cayugas, where, by the aid of a French surgeon who accompanied him, he
successfully treated patients sick with the small pox.

Le Moyne thus speaks of the reasons which led him to visit the Cayugas: "The
Iroquois, of Cayuga, who are less cruel and whom we have found more
affectionate (than the other Iroquois nations,) especially in view of our
sympathy for the remnant of the Huron church among them, were moved with
compassion at our troubles, and in order to give protection to the father,
invited him to come and instruct them until the danger should have passed. The
father was rejoiced at this offer, more for the -sake of the salvation of
these barbarians, than for any consideration of personal safety, and went to
serve them for some weeks. He was received with public acclamation, and found
an ample field for the exercise of his zeal."

The missions were now interrupted by eight years of war between the Iroquois
and the French at the end of which the faithful Garacontie succeded in his
desire for the restablishment of the missions. He went himself to Quebec on
this errand, and, in October, 1668, returned with fathers Milet and de
Carheil. Father Etienne de Carheil arrived at Cayuga on the 6th of November,
1668. A chapel was built for him and the mission dedicated to St. Joseph. Of
this mission he writes: "The church begins already to grow. It numbers among
its converts not only women and children, but also warriors, two of whom are
among the most noted,one because he bears the name of the Burgh of Cayuga,
which he maintains with honor, and the other in consequence of his riches and
valor. (6) Beside the town of Cayuga, which is the seat of the mission, there
are two others under his charge, one four leagues from there, and the other
nearly six leagues. The last two are situated upon a river (Seneca,) which,
coming from the region of the Andastague, descends at four leagues distant
from Onondaga, on its way to empty into Lake Ontario."

Father de Carheil found it very difficult to overcome their superstitions. He
framed a prayer in ridicule, " according to their notions," addressed to the
beaver, which the Cayugas regarded as the " Master of their life."

" We must pray," said he, " to the Master of our life ; and since this beaver
is the Master of thy life, let us offer him a prayer : Thou, 0, beaver, who
canst not speak, thou art the Master of the life of me who can speak ! Thou,
who hast no soul, thou art Master of my life, who has a soul."

Visiting a sick person, with the design of baptizing her, he is invited to a
feast, the Indian panacea for disease, at which everything must be eaten as a
means of curing the invalid. He thus rebukes the practice : " I do not see, my
brothers, that I can heal her by making myself sick by over eating, and by a
remedy which the piaster of our lives forbids ; since it would make two
persons sick instead of one."

After these rebukes, the father was often repulsed, driven from the cabins
while attempting to offer consolation or aid to the sick. They believed that
by pouring water upon their heads, as in baptism, he caused their death, and
the most determined opposition was made to his ministrations. His death was
resolved upon, and those intent upon it were only restrained by the active
influence of his friends. He was chased from one cabin by a young warrior for
refusing to admit that in " roasting an ear of Indian corn in the ashes, he
was roasting the master of his life."

But this danger soon passed, and Father de Carheil lived and labored among the
Cayugas for sixteen years from 1668 to 1684. He had had much previous
experience as a missionary, having been sent twelve years before, 1656, as a
missionary to the Hurons, and could speak their language posed valuable works
in both languages.

Father de Carheil writes from Cayuga, under date of June, 1670, that this
Canton has three principal bourgs or villages : Cayuga, Thiohero and Ontare,
or St. Rene. The Indian reverence and that of the Iroquois with fluency, and
corn- He, next to Garicontie of the Onondagas, was the most influential of the
Iroquois chiefs, and a sincere and devoted friend of the missionaries. He was
baptized . by the Lord Bishop of Canada, whither he had gone as the head of a
commission to negotiate a peace. The ceremonies at yield implicit obedience.

Father Chaumanot, who came to Cayuga with Father Menard, in 1656, and
proceeded thence to the Senecas, relates a few illustrative cases:

" It is not long since, that a man of the bourg   health, was obliged to take
a
rest from his labors, of Cayuga, dreamed one night that he saw ten men plunge
into a frozen river through a hole in the ice and all came out of a similar
opening a little way beyond. The first thing he did on awakening, was to make
a great feast, to which he invited ten of his friends. They all came, it was a
joyous occasion. They sang, they danced went through all the ceremonies of a
regular banquet. 'This is all well enough.' At length said the host, `You give
me great pleasure, my brothers, that you enjoy the feast. But this is not all.
You must prove to me that you love me.' Thereupon he recounted his dream,
which did not appear to surprise them; for immediately the whole ten offered
themselves for its prompt execution. One goes to the river and cuts in the ice
two holes, fifteen paces from each other, and the divers strip themselves. The
first leads the way, and plunging into one of the holes, fortunately comes out
at the other. The second does the same ; and so of all of them, until the
tenth, who pays his life for the others, as he misses his way out and
miserably perishes under the ice."

But a more cruel sacrifice was sometimes made in compliance with the demands
of a dream. This too happened, as Chaumanot relates, to a Cayugan. He dreamed
that he had made a cannibal feast, and thereupon invites the chiefs of the
nation to assemble in council, and informs them of his dream, and states that
if not executed it will cost the life of the nation. One offers his brother as
a sacrifice; but the dreamer demands a woman; a maiden is offered and prepared
for the cruel ordeal; but, while all are expecting sacrifice of the innocent
victim, the dreamer exclaims, " I am content, my dream is satisfied," and the
offered victim is released.

Among the converts to the faith in 1670, was the famous chief of the Cayugas,
Saonchiagwa. He, next to Garicontie of the Onondagas, was the most influential
of the Iroquois chiefs, and a sincere and devoted friend of the missionaries.
He was baptized by the Lord Bishop of Canadsa, whither he had gone as the head
of a commission to negotiate a peace. The ceremonies attending his baptism
were very elaborate and imposing, and calcuated to make a deep impression upon
the minds of the ignorant savages. They were concluded with a magnificent
feast at which were present large numbers of Iroquois, Algonquins and Hurons,
all of whom were liberally entertained, and, on their departure, loaded with
supplies for those left at home.

In 1671, Father de Carheil, on account of ill health, was obliged to take a
rest from his labors, which he did for a year, Father Rafeix, of the Seneca
mission, supplying the place in de Carheil's absence ; the latter returned at
the end of the year 1672, and remained with the mission     until 1684.

Of Father Rafeix's labors, de Carheil writes: in his relation of 1672-'3:

"The number baptized this year is fifty-five, of j whom eleven are adults, the
rest are children; of whom thirteen received baptism in the chapel which with
the ceremonies, the others without ceremonies. I had not yet until this year
been able to baptize any one, except secretly and without any one being
cognizant of it, except those from whom I could not conceal it, when necessity
and an evident danger of death obliged me to prepare them for this sacrament
by a previous instruction, with which I could not dispense, on account of
their too advanced age. I was compelled to act in this manner, to avoid the
calumnies which hell raised up against me and against baptism, by the
universal idea which he had imprinted on all minds that this first and most a
necessary of all sacraments had not the advantageous effects which I had
declared to them; but others, quite contrary, which I concealed, in order to
bring them to it more easily, and of which the chief two which sprang from it
as their source, were a speedy death, and an eternal captivity after death,
under the dominion of the French. As the rage of the demons could invent
nothing more contrary to the salvation of the souls of my dear mission than
this thought, the I therefore, I could hope to do nothing for the
establishment and advancement of the faith, except by banishing it from their
minds; or, at least, gradually diminishing it, although with the efforts I had
made in this direction in previous years, I could not see any success, and
this even, I could hope for it still less than ordinarily; because sickness
and death had been more frequent than before.

As for the eleven adults whom I baptized, they are all dead, inasmuch as I no
longer baptize any who are not in danger of immediate death, apart from which
I find none who are susceptible of all the dispositions necessary to baptism.
License in marrying and unmarrying at their option, the spirit of murder and
human respect prevent their becoming docile to instruction. Of the. children
baptized, eighteen are dead, who, added to the adults, make in all
twenty-nine.

The " Relations " of 1674-'5 are mainly con-fined to a description of de
Carheil's missionary instruction and their results, similar in character to
those already quoted.

The " Relations " of 1676-'7 are quite brief in respect to the Cayuga mission.
A noticeable change of opinion in reference to the Senecas and Cayugas is
expressed. Le Moyne, it will have been noticed, gave as a reason for visiting
the Cayugas, that they were " more tractable and affectionate" yet here we
have the opposite opinion given, thus : " The upper Iroquois, that is to say
those that are the most remote from us, as the Sonowtowans, (Senecas,) and the
Ouoguens, (Cayugas,) are the most haughty and the most insolent, running after
the missionaries with ax in hand, chasing and pelting them with stones,
throwing down their chapels, and their little cabins, and, in a thousand other
ways treating them with indignity."

But the apostolic zeal of the fathers supports and consoles them ; "knowing
well that the apostles did not plant the faith in the world otherwise than by
persecution and suffering." They say they had baptized within the year three
hundred and fifty Iroquois, and that the spiritual gain among the Cayugas was
fifty persons.

The notice of the mission of 1677-'8 is also very brief and of the same
general tone ; "Father de Carheil, who had experienced most of the effects of
Iroquois fury, and who for the last two years had been in aproximate danger of
death, had not failed to administer at Ouoguen, (Cayuga,) baptism to fifty
persons, and to send to heaven more than forty children who had died with
baptismal grace."

Father Dablon thus sums up the condition of the several Iroquois missions, for
the six years, from 1673 to 1679:

"By all that we have related, it may be judged that the Iroquois mission
render great glory to God, and contribute largely to the salvation of souls.
This encourages the missionaries, amid the evident danger of death in which
they have lived constantly for three years, that the Iroquois speak of making
war upon us ; so that they have not been willing to leave their missions,
although they were urged by their friends, who warned them of the evil designs
formed against their persons. They accordingly per-severe in Iaboring for the
conversion of these peoples ; and, we learn that God has rewarded their
constancy by a little calm, which he has given them, and by more than three
hundred baptisms which they have conferred this last year to which I add that
the preceding year they had baptized three hundred and fifty Iroquois. The
year before Father Gamier had baptized fifty-five in one of the towns of the
Sonowtowans ; Father de Carheil as many at Ouoguen ; Father Milet forty-five
at Onelout, (Oneida) ; Father Jean de Lamberville more than thirty at one of
the towns of Agnie, (Mohawk), and Father Bruyas, in another, eighty; Father
Jacques de Lamberville, seventy-two at Onnontage, and Father Pierron ninety at
Sonowtowan. It is estimated that they have placed in heaven more than two
hundred souls of children and sick adults, all dead, after baptism."

Nothing further is now accessible bearing upon the Jesuit missions among the
Cayugas, resident in New York. A colony of this nation had located in Canada,
at the western extremity of Quinte Bay, in fear of the Andastes, and among
them missions were established ; but it is not within the scope of this work
to trace their operations there, and we close this subject with the following
succinct, able and eloquent summary of the causes of the failure of the
Jesuits :

" The cause of the failure of the Jesuits is obvious. The guns and tomahawks
of the Iroquois were the ruin of their hopes. Could they have curbed or
converted these ferocious bands, it is little less than certain that their
dream would have become a reality. Savages tamed, not civilized, for that was
scarcely possible, would have been distributed through the valleys of the
great lakes and the Mississippi, ruled by priests in the interests of
Catholicity and of France. Their habits of agriculture would have been
developed and the instincts of mutual slaughter repressed. The swift decline
of the Indian population would have been arrested, and it would have been made
through the fur trade, a source of prosperity to New France. Unmolested by
Indian enemies and fed by a rich commerce, she would have put forth a vigorous
growth. True to her far-reaching and adventurous genius, she would have
occupied the West with traders, settlers and garrisons and cut up the virgin
wilderness into fiefs, while as yet the colonies of England were but a weak
and broken line along the shores of the Atlantic ; and when at last the great
conflict came, England and liberty would have been confronted, not by a
depleted antagonist, still feeble from the exhaustion of a starved and
persecuted infancy, but by an athletic champion of the principles of Richelieu
and Loyola.

" Liberty may thank the Iroquois, that by their insensate fury the plans of
their adversary were brought to nought and a peril and a woe averted from her
future. They ruined the trade which was the life-blood of New France ; they
stopped the current of her arteries and made all her early years a misery and
a terror. Not that they changed her destinies. The contest on this continent
between liberty and absolutism was never doubtful ; but the triumph of the one
would have been dearly bought, and the downfall of the other incomplete.
Populations formed in the habits and ideas of a feudal monarchy and
con-trolled by a hierarchy profoundly hostile to freedom of thought, would
have remained a hindrance and a stumbling block in the way of that majestic
experiment of which America is the field.

" The Jesuits saw their hopes struck down and their faith, though. not shaken,
was sorely tried. The providence of God seemed in their eyes dark and
inexplicable ; but, from the standpoint of liberty, that providence is as
clear as the sun at noon. Meanwhile let those who have prevailed, yield new
honor to the defeated. Their virtues shine amidst the rubbish of error, like
diamonds and gold in the gravel of the torrent."*

(1) On ancient worm-eaten pages, between covers of begrimed parchment, the
daily life of this ruined community (the Hurons its firesides, its funeral
rites, its festivals, are painted with a minute and vivid fidelity. -
Parkman's Jesuits.

(2) They sang, " Happy Land ! Happy Land ! in which the French are to dwell !"
which was responded to by the Onondagas, led by their chief : " Glad Tidings !
Glad Tidings ! It is well that we have spoken together. It is well that we
have a heavenly message. I salute thee. My brother, I salute thee. It is well
you have come to us. 0, the charming voice. 0, the charming voice thou -hast."
They added this: " Farewell to war ! Farewell to the hatchet ! Until now we
have been enemies; henceforth we are brothers, yes, we are truly brothers."

(3) "The persecutions of the Jesuit priests among the Hurons, had been marked
by deeds of peculiar cruelty, originating mainly in a belief in their power as
sorcerers and conjurers. Pierre Chaumanot was emerging from a house at the
Huron town called by the Jesuits St. Michael, where he had just baptized a
dying girl, when her brother, standing hidden in the doorway, struck him on
the head with a stone. Chaumanot, severely wounded, staggered without falling
when the Indian sprang upon him with his tomahawk. The bystanders arrested the
blow. Francois Le Mercier, in the midst of a crowd of Indians at the town of
St. Louis, was assailed by a noted chief, who rushed in raving like a mad man,
and, in a tor-rent of words, charged upon him all the miseries of the nation.
Then taking a brand from the fire, he thrust it into the Jesuit's face, and
told him that he should be burned alive." - Parkman on Jesuits.

(4) Brebeuf was led apart and bound to a stake. He seemed more concerned for
his captive converts than for himself, and addressed them in a loud voice,
exhorting them to suffer patiently, and promising heaven as their reward. The
Iroquois, incensed, scorched him from head to foot to silence him ; whereupon,
in the tone of a master, he threatened them with everlasting flames for
persecuting the worshipers of God ; as he continued to speak with voice and
countenance unchanged, they cut away his lower lip and thrust a red-hot iron
down his throat. He still held his tall form erect and defiant, with no sign
or sound of pain  and they tried another means to overcome him. They led out
Lallemant, that Brebeuf might see him tortured_ They had tied strips of bark,
smeared with pitch, about his naked body. When he saw the condition of his
superior, he could not hide his agitation and called out to him with a broken
voice, in the words of St. Paul, " we are made a spectacle or the world, to
angels and to men." Then he threw himself at Brebeuf's feet ; upon which the
Iroquois seized him, made him fast to a stake, and set fire to the bark that
enveloped him. As the flame rose, he threw his arms upward with a shriek of
supplication to heaven. Next they hung around Brebeuf's neck a collar made of
hatchets, heated red-hot; but the indomitable priest stood like a rock. A
Huron in the crowd who had been a convert of the mission, but now was an
Iroquois by adoption, called out, with the malice of a renegade, to pour hot
water on their heads, since they had poured so much cold water on those of
others. The kettle was accordingly slung and the water boiled, and poured
slowly on the heads of the two missionaries. " We baptize you," they cried, "
that you may be happy in heaven, for nobody can be saved without a good
baptism." Brebeuf would not flinch; and in a rage they cut strips of flesh
from his limbs and devoured them before his eyes. Other revolting cruelties
followed and the horrid scene closed.-Condensed from Parkman's Jesuits.

(5) The colony was under the command of Dupuys, who, relying implicitly upon
the good faith of the Indians, had neglected to pre-serve his canoes. To
construct new ones in view of the Indians would advertise them of his
intentions and bring their hatchets upon the settlements at once. He,
therefore, had small batteaux made in the garrets of the Jesuit's houses, and
kept them concealed when finished. A young Frenchman had been adopted into the
family of a chief and acquired great influence over the tribe. By their
customs an adopted son had all the privileges of a son by birth. W hen Dupuys
had a sufficient number of batteaux finished, this young man went to his
foster father, and, in a solemn manner, related that he had dreamed the
previous night that he was at a feast where the guests ate and drank
everything that was set before them. He asked the old chief to permit him to
make such a feast for the tribe. The request was granted and the feast was
spread. Many Frenchmen were present, and with horns, drums and trumpets, kept
up a continual uproar. The French, meanwhile, were diligently embarking and
loading their batteaux, undisturbed by the feasting savages. At length the
guests, who had been eating and drinking for hours, ceased gormandizing to
take some repose. The young Frenchman commenced playing upon a guitar, and, in
a few minutes, every red man was in a profound slumber. He then joined his
companions, and before morning the whole colony was far on the way toward
Oswego.-Lossing's Field Book of the Remolutioa, VOL I, p. 229.

(6) These feasts often lasted for days, accompanied by howlings and dances and
all sorts of extravagant actions.