112 THROUGH CANADA 



There was even some analogy between the 

 Indian practises and the Jesuits' creed. " You do 

 good to your friends," said Le Jeune to an Algonquin 

 chief, " and you burn your enemies ; God does the 

 same." 



Hell was depicted to them as a place where, 

 according to Jesuit theology, the hungry would get 

 nothing to eat but frogs and snakes, and the thirsty 

 nothing to drink but flames. The brutal tempera- 

 ment of the tribes was imitated in the interests of 

 the Indians' conversion. The decorations of their 

 mission church on the shores of Lake Huron were 

 criticized by a priest as not being sui^ciently awe- 

 inspiring. " If three, four, or five devils were painted 

 tormenting a soul with different punishments, one 

 applying fire, another serpents, another tearing him 

 with pincers, and another holding him fast with a 

 chain, this would have a good effect, especially if 

 everything was made distinct, and misery, rage and 

 desperation appeared plainly in his face." 



Apart from the crudities and grotesqueness of 

 the Jesuits, stand their splendid heroism and devo- 

 tion. One must judge them in the dim light of two 

 centuries ago. Their conception of truth was the 

 ordinary medieval one in which they " saw men as 

 trees walking." Their endurance and self-sacrifice 

 attest the divinity in man and remain an imperish- 

 able memorial. As the steamer plied along the 

 shore of the great lake, one could see in imagination 



