The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-04-04
THE WESTERN PIONEERS
s
Work of the Catholic r1ission-
aries in Exploring the
Wilderness.
Historian Bancroft Contributes
Valuable Information on
the Subject.
Father Marquette Made the First
White Settlement in
Michigan.
continued from last week.)

| Bancroft, referring to the colonization
of America, says: "The first permanent
efforts of French enterprise in coloniZlng
America preceded any permanent English
settlement north of the Potomac. Years
before the Pilgrims anchored within Cape
Cod the Roman Church had been planted
| by missionaries from France in the eastern
mo:ety of Maine, and lie Caron, an I'M
ambitious Franciscan, the companion OF
Champlain, had passed into the hunting
grounds of the Wyandots, and, bound by
his vows of the life Of beggar, had, Oh
foot or padding a bark canoe, gone on
ward and still onward, taking aims OF
| the savages until he reached the rivers
of Lake Huron. While Quebec contained
scarce so inhabitants, priests OF the Fran
ciscan Order-Le Caron, Viel and Sagard
had labored for years as missionaries
! in Upper Canada, or made their way TO
the neutral Huron tribe that dwelt on
the waters of the Niagara. 1t
was neither commercial enterprise nor
| royal ambition which carried the power OF
| France into the heart Of our continent;
the motive was religion. Religious en-
thusiasm colonized New England and re-
Hgious enthusiasm founded Montreal,
made a conquest of the wilderness OF the
upper lakes and explored the Mississippi
Within three Years after the sec
ond occupation of Canada the number CT
Jesuit priests of the province reached 49,
and every tradition bears testimony to
their worth. They had the faults Of as
cetic superstition, but the horrors Of
Canadian life in the wilderness were re-
sisted by an invincible passive courage
and g. deep internal tranquility. Away.
from the amenities of life, away from the
opportunities of vainglory, they became
dead to the world, and possessed Their
souls in unalterable peace. The few who
lived to grow old, though bowed by the
tolls of long mission, still kind}ed with
the fervor of apostolic zeal. The history
of their labors is connected with the origin
of every celebrated town in the annals of
French America; not cape was turned
nor river entered but Jesuit led the
way" Of course Bancroft is not an au-
thority on the subject of ascetic superstl-
ton. but his use of the words certainly
removes any Suspicion of partiality.
Losing says: 1.-The Jesuits were pecu-
liarly the men for the work-(of settling
and Christianizing a new and savage
country sagacious, far-seeing and po-
litic. Jealous, obedient, devoted, industrl-
Gus, persevering, long suffering and self
sacrific:ng-men of the world who could
adapt themselves to every condition and
plane of life, from the pitiful suppllant
as a beggar to the naughty bearing of
| king. They worked with untiring en-
ersy and signal success for religion and
the state"
The limits of this article do not permit
any but a passing refernce to the thrilling
adventures Of the early missionaries. AS
John Culinary Shea says in his History
of Catholic Missions: 'Fain, would we
pause and follow each in his laDors, his
trials and his tolls; recount their dangers
from the heather Huron, the skulklng
Irouuois. the frozen rivers, hunger, co!d
and accident; and show GARNER, wrest-
ling with the floating ice, through Whlch
he sank, on mission Of mercy; Cha psnel
struggling on for years on MISSION from
which every fiber of his frame shFank
with loathing; Chaumonot compiling MS
Indian grammar on the frozen eartn. or
the heroic Breboeuf, paralyzed by 1all,
Iv01 01ynp
hands and feet along the frozen ROAD,
when. the very trees were splitting with
cold
Bancroft. after describing the dreadful
deaths of many of the missionaries, says:
eft NAV be asked if these massacres
ouenched enthusiasm. / answer that the
Iesuits never receded one foot: but as in
a brave army new troops press forward
to fill the places of the fallen, there was
never wanting heroism and enterprise IN
behalf of the cross and French dominion.
s. They were undismayed by bar
barism or the martyrdom of their breth-
rem. = They pressed upon the
steps, of their corntrymen, who had been
boiled and roasted; they made their home
among cannibals; hunger, thirst, naked
ness we're to be encountered; nature itself
Offered trials. :s To what inclen.-
encies from nature and from man. was
each missionary among the barbarians
exposed! He defies the severity OF the
climate, wad.ng through waters or
through SHOWS without the comfort OF fire;
having no bread but pounded maize, and
often no fool but the unwholesome moss
from the rocks; laboring incessantly, ex-
posed to live, as it were, without Do'lrish-
menk, to sleep without a resting place,
to travel far, and always incurring per-
lis, to carry his life in his hand, or rather
daily, and oftener than every day, to hold
it up as a target, expecting captivity,
death from the tomahawk, tortures, fire. .
8 The .mcatE stirring chapters of our his
/ tory are those which tell of the labors and
|privaticns, the horrible tortures and mar
tyrrdom OF the devoted missionar:es- Bre
hceM, Daniel, allemsnd. Raymbault,
EJogues Gsoupil Mesnard, 1tsarea1l Nous,
ressan Viel and hand reds of others