CHAPTEH XXIV. 



1645-1648. 

 THE HURON CHURCH. 



Hopes of the Mission. — Christian and Heathen. — Body and 

 Soul. — Position of Proselytes. — The Huron Girl's Visit 

 TO Heaven. — A Crisis. — Huron Justice. — Murder and 

 Atonement. — Hopes and Fears. 



How did it fare with, the missions in these days 

 of woe and terror'? They had thriven beyond 

 hope. The Hurons, in their time of trouble, had 

 become tractable. They humbled themselves, and, 

 in their desolation and despair, came for succor to 

 the priests. There was a harvest of converts, not 

 only exceeding in numbers that of all former years, 

 but giving in many cases undeniable proofs of sin- 

 cerity and fervor. In some towns the Christians 

 outnumbered the heathen, and in nearly all they 

 formed a strong party. The mission of La Concep- 

 tion, or Ossossane, was the most successful. Here 

 there were now a church and one or more resident 

 Jesuits, — as also at St. Joseph, St. Ignace, St. 

 Michel, and St. Jean Baptiste : ^ for we have seen 

 that the Huron towns were christened with names 

 of saints. Each church had its bell, which was 



1 Ragueneau, Relation des Hurons, 1646, 56. 



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