da, before the conqueft of Quebec by the English, and whofe
fucceffors were extremely defirous of refuming their functions
in that colony. Talon's views in this re-establishment was to
moderate the influence and power of the jefuits over the na-
tives, whom they abfolutely governed, not only by the way they
had over their confciences, but by debarring them from, or
indulging them in, the ufe of fpirituous liquors. He obtained
at the fame time a recruit of five hundred families from his
moft christian majefty for peopling Canada; but after setting
fail with part of them, the fhip they were in was wrecked
and many of them loft. Talon, however, foon raised fresh
recruits both of recolle&s and inhabitants, with whom he ar-
rived at Quebec, where he found that the fame ftorm, which
had wrecked his fhip had done damage to the amount of
100,000 francs.

Irregula- TALON's zeal for peopling Canada, though founded on
rities of the right maxims of policy, was not without its inconveniences;
French
for his colonists imported, into the country, vices, till then un-
Joldiers. known to the inhabitants. Three French foldiers meeting
with an Iroquois chief, who had with him a valuable cargo
of furs, first made him drunk and then murdered him; but
notwithstanding all the precautions they took, they were dif-
covered and thrown into prifon. While their process was
preparing, fix Mahingan Indians, who were poffeffed of furs
to the amount of 1000 crowns, after being made drunk,
were murdered and robbed by three other French foldiers,
who fold the furs as their own property, and had fo little
precaution, that they did not even bury the dead bodies,
which were discovered by their countrymen. The latter,
imagining the Iroquois were the perpetrators of the murders,
flew to arms, and demanded fatisfaction; but one of the
French foldiers, quarrelling with his confederates, difcovered
the truth, and then both the Mahingans and Iroquois united
in a war against the French. Four of the Mahingans burnt
the house of a French lady with herself in it; and the Iroquois
were equally exafperated by the impeaching murderer accufing
his two confederates of defigning to poifon all the favages
they met with. Matters, however, were but juft coming to
extremities, when Courcelles arrived at Montreal, and, in the
prefence both of the Mahingans and Iroquois who were there,
put to death the French foldiers, who had murdered the
Iroquois chief, promifing that the aflaffins of the three Ma-
hingans fhould meet with the fame fate, as foon as they could
be difcovered. This example of fpeedy juftice charmed the
favages, and difarmed them of their wrath; and, upon Cour-
celles promifing to make good all the damages that had been

done,

done, they laid afide all farther refentment. Courcelles, having thus eftablished his authority by his juftice, applied himself to compofe the differences between the Iroquois and the Outaouais, which had broken out into hoftilities, and fo highly was he refpected, that both fides fent deputies to Quebec, where, chiefly by the prudence of Garakonthie, all interefts were reconciled. Garakonthie, who, no doubt, had'a fecret understanding with the French before the departure of the deputies to their own country, publickly profeffed his having been long a chriftian in his heart, and his detefting the errors. in which he had been educated, and earnestly defiring the bishop to baptize him, which he accordingly performed with great ftate and ceremony. The name he received at the font was Daniel; and the ceremony was attended with a noble entertainment given to the favage deputies, which had a moft excellent effect upon the unconverted natives in general.

WHILE the province of Canada was in this defirable fitua- Mortality

The

tion, a molt dreadful mortality broke out amongst the northern natives, which carried off whole tribes, particularly savages. among ft the that of the Attikamegues, who never have been fince heard of under that name. About the fame time, Tadouffac, which had hitherto been the chief mart of the Indian favages in the fur trade with the French, began to be entirely deferted, as likewife did Trois Rivieres, by means of the fmall pox breaking out, which carried off 1500 favages at once. French, however, maintained their fettlement at Trois Rivieres, though they could not do that at Tadouffac. The fame loathfome diftemper made likewife great havock at Sylleri, where all the converts died. It was at this time that the Huron chriftian fettlement of Loretto, which we have already mentioned, was inftituted by father Chaumonot; and that the English fubjects of New York, in the neighbourhood of the canton of Agnier, began to tamper with the natives, and to endeavour to bring them over to proteftantifim; but, according to Charlevoix, without effect. They then endeavoured to intimidate the women, by telling them that the government of New York would not fuffer them to appear with beads and other marks of popery in their province; but Zeal of all was to no purpose, for the ladies, on the head of religion, proved ftill more intractable than the men. Notwithstanding this, many of the Agniers continued to infult the miffionaries. A chief of one of their cantons turned father Perron out of the affembly of the natives, and impofed filence upon

their wo

men.

them; upon which Perron threatened them with the refent ment of the great Onnonthio, and to complain of the affront to the governor-general. We are told that this fhew of refolution in the miffionary fo greatly daunted the Iroquois chief, that he came and afked pardon of the father, who reproached him foundly for his infolence and impiety, and would not even hear what the favage had to urge in behalf of himself, The haughtinefs of the father produced an effect very contrary to what might have been naturally expected, for the chief immediately undertook to bring all his canton into the pale of chriftianity. For this purpose, he went round all its elders, and perfuaded them to agree to a general affembly, which being accordingly held, was opened by a speech from the chief, which might have proceeded from the most zealous miffionary. He was feconded by father Perron, and Garakonthie happening providentially to be there, he harangued in his turn, on the fame fubject with fo much energy, that the affembly unanimously came to the following resolutions. First, no longer to acknowledge Agrefkoue, (which it seems was the name of the fupreme deity of thofe favages,) as the author of life, and that he fhould be no longer worshipped, Secondly, that their jugglers or empirics fhould no longer be called to vifit their fick; and, thirdly, that they abolish all indecent and fuperftitious dances.

Ill fuccefs WE have mentioned these particulars, rather to give our of the mif- countrymen, now that they are become poffeffed of New fionaries. France, fome idea of the manners and difpofitions of the favages and the true method of treating them, than for any material information they contain . Charlevoix acknowledges that the event was far from answering those promising appearances. In the canton of Onneyouth, father Bruyas, the miffionary there, had very indifferent fuccefs, though he was feconded by the indefatigable zeal of Garakonthie. The miffionaries attributed the averfion of the natives for them to the neighbourhood of New York, from which they were furnished with spirituous liquors. All the zeal of Garakonthie, and his affiftant-miffionary, could not prevail with a fingle favage of either fex to declare for them, or to hear their inftructions. They comforted themselves, however, by peopling heaven with a great number of children, whom they baptized in the laft ftages of their lives. They had better fuccefs with the other cantons of the Upper Iroquois, who were farther removed from the English, and had been greatly mortified by the late wars. They had ftill greater fuccefs with

the Upper Algonquins, in whofe converfion not only the miffionaries, but the government of New France took great concern. A large quantity of ground was cleared and fown with grain of all kind, near the fall of St. Mary, which was in the heart of their fettlements, and was the center of a confiderable commerce. But after all, there is reafon for believing that their fuccefs in propagating their religion, even there, was nothing equal to what they gave it out to be, as appeared on every occafion.

COURCELLES, ever fince the French expeditions Differences against the Agniers, had affected to treat all the favage na- with the tions in the neighbourhood of New France, as his master's Tfonnonfubjects, and had been at great pains in prescribing them the thouans. terms of their pacifications with one another; of which he gave them to understand he was to be the guarantee. This haughtiness had a confiderable effect upon the favages lying in the neighbourhood of the French, who found their account in the fame; but was by no means relished by the Tonnonthouans, who fell upon the Pouteoutamis, notwithstanding Courcelles had but very lately concluded a peace between them. He immediately fent a threatening meffage to the affailants, and charged them to keep the peace on pain of his high difpleasure. The Tfonnonthouans refented this haughtiness in a manner worthy a free people, and told the governor-general, that they neither were, nor ever would be, fubjects to France. Courcelles had ordered them to give up the Pouteouatamis prifoners. This, at firft, they refufed to do; but, after fome deliberation, the great chief of the Goyogouins, who has been already mentioned, and who was next in credit with all the Iroquois to Garakonthie, perfuaded them to put into his hands eight prifoners, out of thirty-five of the Pouteouatamis. He then delivered then up to Courcelles, who received them as the whole, being glad of getting off with fome The Goyogouin chief, fhew of credit in fo ticklish an affair. in presenting the captives, acquainted Courcelles, that he had undertaken that commiffion only with a view of being baptized by the hands of the bishop. This gave great pleasure to all the French. M. Talun, who was by this time returned to Canada, was his godfather, and gave him the name of Lewis, together with a grand entertainment to all the christian savages at Quebec, Loretto, and Sylleri, in the name of the new convert. About this time, most of the christian Agniers, amongst whom were fome eminent female converts, removed to the Huron fettlement of Loretto, where they were encouraged by Courcelles to refide, in hopes, that they would in time prove a barrier against their favage countrymen, if

B 4

they

and the

favages.

they fhould renew their inroads. As their numbers confiderably encreased, he formed a fettlement for the chriftian Iroquois almoft oppofite to Montreal, in a place called Magdalen's Meadow, from whence it was removed foon after two leagues farther to the fouth; and it is now called the miffion of the fall of St. Lewis. In the mean while, Talon began to carry into execution a project he had formed when he was laft in France, which was to fend a proper meffenger through the most diftant parts of Canada, to engage all the different nations of the favages to fend deputies to a certain place to treat with them about putting themfelves under the protection of France. Having communicated his project to Courcelles, the latter recommended as a proper perfon for this negotiation, one Nicholas Perrot, who was in the fervice of the jefuits, and, being a man of addrefs, had been employed by them in different parts of Canada.

A grand TALON having approved of this choice, Perrot received congrefs be- his inftructions, and vifited all the northern tribes, who were tween the known to the French, and invited them to fend their deputies, French by a certain time, to the falls of St. Mary, there to meet one of the great Onenthio's commanders. From thence he went towards the weft, and edging to the fouth, he fell down to Chicagou, which is fituated at the bottom of Lake Michigan, then the refidence of the Miamis, being escorted all the way by a party of Poutcouatamis to prevent them from infults; the favages being then at war with each other. Perrot found the chief of the Miamis, as well as his fubjects, to be very different from the other favages. He could raife four or five hundred warriors, and was always attended by forty of them as his body-guard. He lived in fome kind of itate, and had his minifters, to whom he iflued his orders, without communicating them to any other. Tetinchoua, for that was his name, being apprized of Perrot's approach, who travelled under the title of envoy-general of France, received him and his escort in a warlike manner, and ordered him a fplendid apartment with a guard of fifty men. In fhort, nothing could be wanting to teftify their high esteem for the French nation; and, when Perrot let out for St. Mary's fall, Tetinchoua would have attended him; but was difluaded by his fubjects, on account of his great age and infirmities. Perrot then would have vifited a great many nations lying towards the Miffifippi, particularly the Mafcoutins, the Kicapous, and the Illinois, but had not time. In May, 1671, the grand aflembly was held at St. Mary's fall, and favages reforted to the meeting even from the fouthern part of Hudfon's Bay. The reader, however, is to judge for himself of

the