Echo de l'ouest. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1883-1929, 1891-09-10
UN COUP DE FUSIL.

auec la plume dun 6crivain artiste
Lake ChDnplui'e and its Shores
CONNIE l'auteur a d6ja su le fair'
pour d'autres regions, dams des Ii
vres qui trouvent de nombreux ad
mirateurs. Ses scenes des monta
gnes Adirondacks seules lui on
valu une reputation enviable; tout
lecteur de langue anglaise conna1t
Adirondack Murray. Son nouvel
Outrage lui vaudra d. justes 6lo
ges. Ce nest done pas pour le re-
76ler au monde qu'un eorivain de
langue francaise desire en- parlel
aujourd'hui, mais plutot pour aver
tir M. Murray quill m6connu
l'histoire du Canada sur un point
de quelque Importance ct que plu-
sieurs de ses compatriotes ont as
sez phabltude d'interpr6ter les fats
en- question de la meme maniere
que lui.meme.
Supposons que 1'aie q parler de
notre pays en- 1880 ct que je ne me
serve presque uniquement que des
renseignements de 189Ol Tel est
le cas- de M. Murray: il traite de ce
qui a lieu en- 1909, mais il raisonne
absolument CONNIE sill s'agissait
de 1860 ou 1893. en- un mot, il ne
tient aucun compte de la succession
des 6venements.
Voici son texte, aux pages IS, IL:
"Champlain was now drawing
nigh to the saddest day for him
and France that either ever knew;
the day when he should shed blood
without cause. The blood Of Uni
ted p ople, the strongest and the
most warlike confederacy of Red
men on the continent, and Of whom
the fame was as wide ss their So
vereignty, that they never forgot
a friend or forgave a foe. Strange
fate this wich befell the just and
humane Champlain, that, stumb
ling on, in his ignorance Of Indian
politics and power, he should, by
one blundering shot, on the shores
of this lake that was to bear his
name, decide the character of ci-
vilization, and forfeit a continent to
France.
ut was in this enconter that the
Aquanu Schionl - United People,
as the confederated Indians called
themselves - saw for the first time
a Christian white man, and were
taught their first lesson IN the hu-
name ethics of what Is called Chris.
tianity. It was in the battle also
that the red warriors of the Mo-
hawks had their first introduction
to Frenchmar. For hundred
and fifty years they carried the
memory Of it on the edge of their
tomahawks and the points Of their
soalping-knives. More than once
the recollection of the wrong done
them on the shore of Lake Cham
plain by the armed representative
Of Old France, Of the blood of their
chiefs there ruthlessly shed, stood
like a wall Of fire between the feeb-
le English settlement south Of
them and the French and In.
dian hordss wioh we're marshall
led to destroy them in the
north. More than once Fran
CO, through Church and State,
practised all the arts of persuasion
and intimidation to entice the
dreaded Iroquois to her side or
wedge them from their alliance
with the English, and failed. Thy
could not forget what France had
done to them in their first encoun-
ter near Ticonderoga. The slaugh-
ter of the Indian chiefs by Cham
plain was not only a crime but 9
political blunder-a blunder Of
such magnitude and SO for-reach
ing in it's after results as to beco-
me monumental"
De imagination ct du senti-
ment q la place de la connaissance
des fats! Ainsi, Chsmplain SO
promenait en- canot sur le lac, IL
apercoit des Sauvages, pan! un
coup de feu ct les Sauvages sont
mortsl ii ne savait pas quill s'atta-
qualt 3 une puissante confedera-
ton. laquelle n'exista que plus
tard. Tout est 4 refaire dams ces
deux passages de NJ. Murray. Re-
mettons les chooses q leur place.
C'est durant le KYLE steele que