The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-04-04

the ancient faith could have produced
such shining Christian martyrs.
The subject of controversy at present,
Jacques Tor James, Marquette, was norm
in the city of Laon, France, in the year
1857. His family were noble stock OF
high antiquity and martial spirit, whose
members figured constantly in the daz-
zling wars of France. Nor is our own re-
public without its obligations to the yalo1'
of this family. Three of the Marquettes
came here in the French army during
the war of the revolution and died fight
ing our battles. Yet it is not these serv-
ices that have given this honored name
a place in American history; the unsought
tribute which it has acquired among lis
is due to the labors of one who renounced
the enjoyments of country and home and
devoted his days to the civilization and
conversion of our native tribes; who died
in the bloom Of youth, worn down by toll,
in a lone, neglected spot, and who has
been raised to a lofty pedestal among the
great, the good and the holy who have
honored our land; the family is known to
us only as connected with Father James
Marquette, the first explorer OF the Mis-
sssippi.
Marquette received an excellent educa-
Society of Jesus, and after IA years. of re-
treat, study and teaching. he was invested
with the sacred dignity Of the priesthood
Taking st. Francis Xavier as his patron
and model, he ardently sought a foreign
mission to some pagan land. Soon his
wish was granted. Canada and its dusky
tribes were then attracting much arten
Lion in France. Wonderful were the stc
RES told of the River st. Lawrence ard
the chain Of majestic lakes stretching far
away into the unknown Interior and
whose shores were crowded with Indian
warriors of savage aspect, harsh lam
glagea and barbarious customs. This was
the field chosen by Marquette. and he
.laTded at Quebec in September, 1906,
buoyant with life and health. New York
was red with missionary blood and he
longed TO follow in the footsteps Of the
scores who had entered but never re-
turned from that bowling wilderness. But
he was debarred from this by his ignor-
ance of the native languages. At Three
Rivers and vicinity, therefore, he passed
18 months in the study Of the Huron and
Algonquin languages and as he had
remarkable faculty in this direction he
soon mastered a forest dialect.
For some years there had been rumors
of the existence in the far west Of great
river. In August, 1854, two young fur
traders went from Quebec to the western
wilderness and two years afterwards re-
turned with so canoes and a. retinue Of
Indians. Their tales of the magnificent
country which they had traversed caused
great enthusiasm, and it was determined
to push further explorations in that d.
rection. The map which was prepared
by the Jesuits at Paris in 1860 proves
that in this earliest period they had traced
the highway of waters from Lake Erie to
Lake Superior, and had gained a glimpse
at least of Lake Michigan. Bancroft says:
Thus did the religious zeal of the French
bear the cross to the banks of st. Mary
and the confines of Lake Superior and
looked wistfully toward the homes of the
Sioux in the valley of the Mississippi,
five years before the New England Elliot
had addressed the tribe of Indians that
dwelt within six miles of Boston harhor'
In August, 1865, Father Claude Allouez,
a daring Jesuit, embarked on a, mission by
way of the Ottawa to the far west Among
the Chippewas he proclaimed the King
Of France as their sovereign and built
mission houses, at one of which. that of
the Holy Spirit, it is mentioned that a
choir OF Chippewas were taught 10 chant:
the Pater and the Ave. During his So
journ he lighted the torch of faith for
more than 20 different nations. While
thus engaged his curiosity was aroused
by the tales told by the Illinois and Sioux
of the noble river ON which they dwe1t
and which flowed towards the south, of
which Allouez reported the name to be
"Messipi," which the Indians called the
Father Of Waters. Returning to Que
bee after two years he urged the estab-
lishment of French colonies in the lands
he had explored, and accordingly Fathers
Marquette and Claude Dablon were sent
from Quebec to establish missions on
Lake Superior, nearly two thousand miles
away, to explore the mysterious land and
plant the banner Of the cross in the very
heart Of the heathen world
Continued next week) ~