322 



CANADA. 



Canada, ment. A very general zeal for the Christian instruc- 

 ^V" * tion of the Indians, was excited throughput the 

 French empire ; and many individuals of rank and 

 property devoted their lives and their fortunes to the 

 cause. The Jesuits, however, soon engrossed the 

 sole direction of this undertaking ; and were greatly 

 instrumental in obstructing the prosperity of the co- 

 lony, both by their perpetual contentions, which they 

 maintained with the governors, 'and by the pernicious 

 effects which their labours produced upon the cha- 

 racter of the natives. The individuals, indeed, who 

 were personally employed as missionaries, were gene- 

 rally men of true piety, always possessed of undaunt- 

 ed zeal, and frequently distinguished by extraordi- 

 nary talents. Their astonishing hardships, unceasing 

 perseverance, and heroic suffering?, can never be too 

 highly applauded, andean scarcely be adequately de- 

 scribed. Besides the ordinary perils and privations, 

 to which they were daily exposed, they have often 

 been known to rush into the midst of contending sa- 

 vage armies, for the purpose of discharging the du- 

 ties of their office ; calmly to employ themselves, 

 amidst the horrid carnage of an Indian engagement, 

 in baptizing the wounded and the dying ; and gene- 

 rally in such cases to terminate their labours by the 

 patient endurance of the most excruciating tortures. 

 But all their exertions were unhappily attended with 

 very little success ; and in some respects even proved 

 rather hurtful than beneficial. They habituated them- 

 selves to the modes of savage life ; assumed the dress 

 and occupations of the Indian tribes, whom they went 

 to instruct ; rendered themselves in a great measure 

 dependent upon their protection and services ; and in 

 this manner too often incurred the contempt, instead 

 of acquiring the veneration of the natives. Even 

 when they were successful in their ministrations, they 

 may be said to have made allies to the French, rather 

 than converts to Christianity. They did little more, 

 in most cases, than admit the Indians by baptism into 

 the bosom of the Catholic church, instruct them in 

 a few unmeaning ceremonies, and inspire them with a 

 bigotted hatred of the unconverted tribes ; while they 

 left them as rude with regard to the arts of life, as 

 ignorant of the principles of society, as averse to in- 

 dustrious habits, as regardless of Christian duties, as 

 complete barbarian s in short, in every respect, as ever 

 they had been. Their converts even lost, in a great 

 degree, the useful qualities of the savage, without ac- 

 quiring the virtues of the Christian ; relaxed their 

 wonted courage and vigilance, and trusted to the 

 Saints for defence against their enemies ; depended 

 upon their new allies, in many instances, both for pro- 

 tection and provisions ; and thus became a heavy bur- 

 den, instead of proving a useful barrier to the colony. 

 The degraded appearance, also, and enfeebled spirit 

 of the Indian band, who thus submitted to the tuition 

 of the Catholic colonists in Canada, compared with 

 the industrious pursuits, orderly conduct, improved 

 habitations, and increasing comforts of those, who 

 were instructed by the protestant missionaries, on the 

 borders of New England, tended greatly to inspire 

 the natives, in general, with a growing respect and 

 attachment to the English, while it confirmed their 

 contempt and dislike of the French. The English 

 colonists naturally exerted their endeavours to en- 



courage this predilection ; and many of the Indians Canada, 

 became still more partial to their intercouse, for this " v 1 

 additional reason, that they found in these states a 

 better price for their furs, than what the French mer- 

 chants could afford. These two circumstances, the 

 mutual hatred of the converted and unconverted na- 

 tives of Canada, the former of whom were generally 

 in alliance with the settlement at Quebec ; and the 

 principle, which the French adopted of treating all 

 those Indian tribes as enemies, who carried their com- 

 modities to the traders of New England, or who re- 

 ceived English missionaries among them, kept the 

 province of Canada in a state of perpetual contest, as 

 long as it remained in the possession of France. 

 These ecclesiastical proceedings were so interwoven 

 with the civil affairs of the colony, and had such an 

 influence even upon its commercial interests, that this 

 short sketch of their nature and effects, seemed ne- 

 cessary to explain and account for succeeding events ; 

 but it has led us rather to anticipate the general his- 

 tory of the province, and we now return to the nar- 

 rative of a few of the most prominent particulars in 

 its progress. 



Until the year 1627, the prosperity of the settle- 

 ment was greatly retarded by religious dissensions 

 among the colonists themselves ; but, at this period, 

 the French minister, Richelieu, who cordially hated 

 the Protestants, put the province of New France un- 

 der the management of a chartered company. He 

 endowed them with grent privileges, upon condition, 

 that they should exclude the Huguenots, and esta- 

 blish Catholic priests in every district ; and gave 

 them a constitution, which, with the exception of 

 what regarded religion, has been reckoned as a model 

 for colonial establishments. About this time Charles 

 I. of England entered into a war with France ; and 

 Sir David Kirk, or rather Kertk, a French Calvinist, 

 having received the command of three English ships, 

 sailed upon an expedition against Quebec ; defeated 

 the squadron which was sent to its relief; and, after 

 reducing the colonists to the greatest extremities, 

 compelled them to capitulate in the year 1629. He 

 fulfilled so faithfully the terms of surrender, and 

 treated the vanquished with so much humanity, that 

 the greater part of the settlers declined the privilege 

 of being conveyed to old France, and remained under 

 their conquerors in Canada. The colony was resto- 

 red to France by the treaty of St Germain, in ] 632 ; 

 but it was only by the most astonishing exertions 

 of a succession of able and enterprising governors, 

 that its existence was preserved amidst the various 

 difficulties, under which it laboured, from the neglect 

 which it experienced on the part of the mother coun- 

 trv, from its own intestine divisions, and from the de- 

 solating excursions of the hostile Indians. 



About the year 1662, it was reduced to the eve of 

 destruction by the rash and haughty temper of the 

 governor general, D'Avaugour. Previous to that 

 period, he had issued the strictest orders against sel- 

 ling spirituous liquors to the savages ; and a woman 

 of Quebec, having been detected in that pernicious 

 traffic, was instantly committed to prison. By the 

 intreaties of her relations, one of the fathers among 

 the Jesuits was induced to intercede with the gover- 

 nor for her release. D'Avaugor, enraged to fin-4 



