, 1879-05-04


| in 1850, by Theycnot during,La Salle's trip K
the moutbs ct the Mississippi, was, it seems
liable to be discussed by the latter:
Had been able to find these "Notes IN Mar.
quetum, "'they would certainly be very curious
thing ut present.
Unfortunately, all have been able to collect
| about Marquette is what have published in the
first OF the two volumes Of Documents which /
gave you from page 255 to page 210), and moth
| ing more has been done to honor the memory o1
the two explorers, except the biography Of Louis
! Joliet written By myself, Said biography has
9aE P1 pss & SRs9ae @ & IN s. * s ns
The ensemble of the facts which I
have been the first to produce in honor
/ Of Joliet protects me against accusations
| of 'partialitv in claiming the priority Of the
! discovery Of the Mississippi for La Salle,-pri-
l. ority Which have proved il 1862 in the Journal
/ General de pInstructio,s Pubique, which l have
! maintained since In the Keuzs' Maritime ct
! Co'onin'e, and which does not appear to me to
have been disproved, in spite OF the greatest
efforts to that end. -.
its very true that the two first trips Of La
Sal1c as we'll as the letter OF his niece may
SEEM insufficient {page 379, 1st voi.). It is
very true TINT iu a country full of parties ind
in:rieucs, as was Canada then, the testimony Of
| Count Frontenac was not sufficient for people
1 who had succeeded In having him recalled.
However, I cannot pass iu sencc the following
sentence relating TO Joliet, and which may be
the counterpart Of tho Nots II. lMarq1tetum.
/ ''Thc Jesuits.:' says dc Frontenuc, .thaving
heard tina, II. de La Salle intended to ask for tho
concession OF Lake Erie and tic LAKE. Of tue Ill
Il nois decided to ask themselves the
grant OF said concession in favor OF Messra Joliet
aud Lcbcr,--both men entirely devoted to them
the arst OF whom they have cxtoled very high be-
forehund, althoueh he only Travelled after II. de
1a Sac. who will himself bear testimony that jol
/. lets reports fa'se in many things"
! This is clear (pagc 324, 1st vol.).
j In my opinion, the name Of the celebrated
Orienta1ist Renaudot to whom Boileau dedi-
Gated his epistle on the love Of God, aud who
puts forward the brief details furnished him by
La Salle, is guaranty OF sincerity on his part,
and I rnd another on tic part Of La Sale him
self, in the simplicity OF bis language and bis
When he told Rcuaudot be had discovered
the Mississippi as fur as the Seth degree, he
plainly showed nis LOYALTY, in my opinion; for,
his rivals claiming to have explored two degrees
farther south. bad he cared to take TO himself
an honor to Which be was not entitled, who
could have prevented him from saying that he
had pushed farther still?
Tie are other considerations resulting from
the general facts. Tile rivalry between the Jcs-
uits anu La Salle; the antagonism OF the Jesu-
it's using Joliet as an Instrument put at their
disposal by the purity OF the mcrchnnts. euenies
OF La Sale, did not commence in 1918, az From
tenac wrote. It commences as, early rs 1869,
when the Sulpicleus starts with La Sale. It in,
crcases IN 1t7l, when In salle mikes his
;quette meet at Sault Ste. Marie, on the
14tl, Of June. (sce the report Of tile taking Of
possession by Daumont dc st. Lusson.)
1t is about tlat time, In the Interval which
visit to Jean Talou. at Quebec, that La Salle
will have made the voyage reported by Renau-
dot, as follows: (see page 375, 1st vol.>
Shortly after he mado a second attempt On the
making poeta@e Of SIX seven leagues to embar'z
That like, which he ct0sset towards the north.
liz assembled the river which flows in that lakc, -
Detroit River, -passcd through the luke OF salt
water,-Lakc st. Clair, entered the sea OF fresh
water, Lake Hpron, -Inrarl the istamus which
divides that SEA III wo,-Mchilinacktnuc, and
the bay Ut sknnks, s,-Grern bay,-esllorcd paw
very ,nnch larger, Lake Michigan, at the cnd OF
which, towards the west. he fonnd sery beautl-
river running from east to west-1llinois River
lie fnllowed that river, and having gone far MS
aSu degrees longitude, 81 degree. latitude. found
frcin northwest 10 uthcast-a(isslssippi. lie fol-
lowed that river Us far Us the 5h degree latitude,
certain hope OF being able Fome dav to reach by I
that route tns Gull Of Mexico. tscc LIST VOL,
pssc 379.} !
LaSalle was back IN Montreal on the 18th of, |
October. 1G7s, where he acknowledged debt OF
Ash liyrcs |
According to this, were even those documents |
denied, until l have clearly explained what La
Sale, M enterprtslng nnd energetic man, who |
was not discouraged by obstacles. did in the two |
trips from 1860 to 1872, announced officially, |
shall remain, for my part. in the situation OF
une OF our most celebrated surgeons, Dupuy-
tren, who persisted IN his bclefFof an ubscess,
Although bis lancet met nothing the lfirst time:
tlc absccss. Of which certain circumstances had |:
given him presentiments
But in history, perseverance alone IS not re-
luised; good luck .:is 4! reeessafsto hnd your
- =: l. 1.,,,, h,,,. ,.7,~i,.7 |