The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-05-05

| tribes of Indians. Parkman, to whom
am indebted for many of the facts of
his life, describes him as "a tall,
strong man, with features that seemed
carved by nature for a soldier, but
which the mental habit Of years had
stamped with the visible impress of
the priesthood" He speaks of him as
"that masculine Apostle of the Faith"
the "Ajax of the Huron Mission y
He seems to have been formed both
physically and mentally, for any sta
tion in life. As one of the English
Earls Of his ancestral line, had fate so
ordered, he might have won fame in
love as in war. He was possessed of
all the qualities of a noble, vigorous
manhood. Mature had given him
strong, healthy passions, warm heart,
mind capable of easy ignition, a soul
full of deep enthusiasm, and will
that held all in eIl-balanced control.
To such nature, glowing with a
white heat under the intensity of reli-
giOus conviction, any sacrifice was pos
sible. The difficulty would be in get
ting control of such nature once
under control there would be no turn
ing back. This is the mystery of Jes-
uitism, that it so thoroughly controlled
such superior natures, and held such
firm, steadfast wills bound so complete
ly to its own interests.
The narrowing, cramping force of
Jesuitism obstructed the flow of this
manly nature and left it with no prop
er channel of outlet. The consequence
was a morbid, unsOund condition of
thought out Of which sprang the
chimera which fed the fires of his zeal.
Visions, signs, voices from heaven
were frequently seen or heard by him.
Visitations from hell were not infre-
quent. Demons in the guise of men,
women, bears, wildcats, wolves, ap-
peared to tempt him from the true
faith. When he called on God, or the
angels, or some of the saints, or made
the sign of the cross they left him.
Once a great cross, appeared moving in
the air from that quarter toward where
the Iroquois dwelt large enough he
! said Ito cruelty all the missionaries at
once" All of which presents the
melancholy spectacle of strong nature
damned up and left to stagnate in an
unwholesome air. But with all this
morbidness and fervid power of feeling
he was never rash; never impetuous.
His presence of mind never fOrsook him
in any emergency, he never flinched
in any danger, his cool judgment was
never clouded. But the awful end
came at last.
Between the HurOns and the Six
Nations-or allied Iroquois of Central
New York-there was an old and bit
ter feud. The HurOns, even when
| allied with the French, were not able
to resist the terrible onslaughts of the
blood-thirsty Iroquois. After many a
war carried on, on both sides with
savage cruelty, the Hur0ns were liter
ally exterminated. They had suffer
ed greatly from famine and disease and
were unable to defend themselves
against the hardy, resolute enemy.
The Huron warriors were tortured and
scalped, the women and children
| butehered or burned alive, the villages
destroyed and the whole nation wiped
out. The Jesuit mission house and
church were destroyed and the priests
| taken prisoners. Brebeuf, with some
others, was taken to the Iroquois vii
lage to be tortured. On their arrival
! there they took Brebeuf and bound him
| to stake. He continued to eXhort his
captive Huron converts to be true to
the faith he had taught them. The
enraged Iroquois scorched him from
| head to foot. He threatened them
with hell fire forever. They cut away
his lower lip and thrust red hot iron
down his throat. They hung around
his neck a string of hatehets heated
red hot, and in derision of his custom
of baptism poured boiling water on
his head. The indomitable Jesuit
stood like rock uttering no sound.
They cut strips of flesh from his
limbs and devoured them before his
eyes. Finally they scalped him, and
seeing him nearly dead came in crowds
to drink the blood of so valiant an
enemy, thinking so to imbibe his
courage. Last of all a grizzled chief
tore out his heart and ate it to make
his own strong. Thus after four hours
of such hOrrid torture died this noble
scion of a noble house. Pity for the
man, honor for the hero, glory in the
martyred servant of the Lord Jesus
Christ is, in spite Of ones self, almost
drowned in Indignation against a reli-
gious system which trades on the NOR
bid forces of human nature, and aims,
by all means, to provoke the lurid enthu-
siasm which slumbers in every strong
personality. These unholy methods
and aims of Jesuitism are not the least
of its crimes.
"GOd moves in a mysterious way .
I