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still less intelligible, and increased my difficulties. But Our Lord, who willed to save this soul, immediately sent us a young man, who served us as interpreter. He had been with us in the Cabin of Louys, and had heard us talking of our mysteries, so that he already knew a considerable part of them, and understood very well what I said. It is said that this woman, who was named Marie, in the midst of her greatest weakness foretold that she would not die for eight days; and so it happened.

They seek Baptism almost entirely as an aid to health. We try to purify this intention, and to lead them to receive from the hand of God alike sickness and health, death and life; and teach them that the life-giving waters of Holy [6] Baptism principally impart life to the soul, and not to the body. However, they have the opinion so deeply rooted that the baptized, especially the children, are no longer sickly, that soon they will have spread it abroad and published it everywhere. The result is that they are now bringing us children to baptize from two, three, yes, even seven leagues away.

Moreover, the divine Goodness which acts in us according to the measure of our Faith, has thus far preserved these little ones in good health; so that the death of those who have passed away has been attributed to incurable and hopeless maladies contracted beforehand; and, if another has occasionally suffered from some trifling ailment, the parents, although still unbelieving, have attributed it to the neglect and irreverence they have shown toward the service of God.

There is in our village a little Christian girl named Louyse, who at six months began to walk alone; the

rien veu de femblable, & l'attribuent à l'efficace du S. Baptefme. Vn autre nous difoit vn iour auec beaucoup de ioye, que son petit [7] garçon, qui eftoit presque toufiours malade, & comme tout etique auant le Baptefme, s'eftoit du depuis parfaictement bien porté. Cecy fuffira pour monftrer comme Noftre Seigneur va leur imprimant vne grande opinion de ce diuin Sacrement; laquelle fe fortifie par la bonne & entiere fanté que Dieu nous donne, & qu'il a toufiours donnée à tous les François qui ont efté en ce pays: car, difent-ils, c'eft merueille qu'horfmis vn feul qui eft mort icy de fa mort naturelle, tous les autres, depuis vingt-cinq ans ou enuiron qu'on y hante, n'ayent quasi pas esté malades.

encor.

De tout cecy on pourra facilement recueillir l'eftat present du Christianisme naissant en ce pays, & l'esperance du futur. Deux ou trois chofes y feruiront La premiere eft la methode que nous tenons à l'inftruction des Sauuages. Nous affemblons les hommes le plus fouuent que nous pouuons, car leurs confeils, leurs feftins, leurs ieux, & leurs danses ne nous permettent pas de les auoir icy à toute heure, ny tous les iours. Nous auons égard particulierement aux Anciens, d'autant que ce font eux qui determinent & decident des affaires, & tout fe fait fuiuant leurs aduis. [8] Tous viennent volontiers nous entendre, tous vniuerfellement difent qu'ils ont enuie d'aller au Ciel, & qu'ils redoutent ces braises ardentes de l'enfer: ils n'ont quafi rien à nous repliquer, nous fouhaitterions quelquesfois qu'ils propofaffent plus de doutes, ce qui nous donneroit toufiours plus d'occasio de leur déchiffrer par le menu nos faincts Mysteres. En verité les Cõmandemens de Dieu font tres-iuftes

parents declare they have seen nothing like it, and attribute it to the efficacy of Holy Baptism. Another person told us one day, with great delight, that his little [7] boy, who had always been sick and much emaciated before Baptism, had been very well since then. This will suffice to show how Our Lord is inspiring them with a high opinion of this divine Sacrament, which is strengthened by the perfect health God gives us, and which he has given to all the French who have been in this country; for, they say, it is very strange that, except a single man who died here from natural causes, all the others, during the twenty-five years or thereabout in which the French have been frequenting this region, have scarcely ever been sick.

From all this may be easily gathered the present state of the young Christianity of this country, and the hope for the future. Two or three things besides will help to the same end. The first is the method we pursue in the instruction of the Savages. We gather together the men as often as we can; for their councils, their feasts, their games, and their dances do not permit us to have them here at any hour, nor every day. We pay especial attention to the Old Men, inasmuch as they are the ones who determine and decide all matters, and everything is ordered by their advice. [8] All come willingly to hear us; all, without exception, say they have a desire to go to Heaven and fear the fiery torments of hell. They have hardly anything to answer us with; we could wish sometimes that they would bring forward more objections, which would always afford us better opportunity to explain our holy Mysteries in detail. Of a truth, the Commandments of God

& tres-raifonnables, & ceux là doiuent estre moins qu'hommes qui y trouuent à redire; car nos Hurons qui n'ont encor que la lumiere naturelle, les ont trouué fi beaux, & fi conformes à la raifon, qu'apres en auoir ouy l'explication, ils difoient par admiration ca chia att8ain aa arrih8aa, certes voila des affaires d'importance, & dignes d'eftre propofées dans des confeils; ils difent la verité, ils ne difent rien hors de propos, nous n'auons iamais entendu de tels difcours. Entre autres chofes qui leur ont fait auoüer la verité d'vn Dieu, Createur, Gouuerneur & Conferuateur de toutes chofes, fut l'exemple que ie leur apportay de l'enfant cõçeu dans le ventre de la mere. Car qui est-ce, disois-ie, sinõ Dieu, qui organise le corps de cet enfant, qui d'vne mefme matiere [9] forme le cœur, le foye, le poulmon, bref vne infinie varieté de membres fi neceffaires, & tous fi bien proportionnez & ioints les vns auec les autres: ce n'eft pas le pere, car ces merueilles s'accompliffent en fon absence, & quelquesfois apres fa mort. Ce n'eft non plus la mere, car elle ne fçait ce qui fe passe dedans fon ventre: que fi c'est le pere ou la mere qui forment ce corps à discretion, pourquoy n'engendrent-ils vn fils ou vne fille quand ils veulent? pourquoy ne produisent-ils des enfans beaux, grands, forts & adroits. Et fi les parens donnent l'ame à leurs enfans? pourquoy ne leur departent-ils à tous de grands efprits, vne heureuse memoire, & toutes fortes de belles & loüables qualitez, veu qu'il n'y a perfonne qui ne defirast auoir de tels enfans, s'il eftoit en fon pouuoir? A cela nos Hurons s'eftonnent, & n'ayant que refpondre, ils cõfeffent que nous difons la verité, & qu'en effet il y a vn Dieu, que d'orefnauant ils le veulent recognoistre,

are very just and reasonable, and they must be less than men who find therein anything to censure. Our Hurons, who have as yet only the light of nature, have found them so noble, so agreeable to reason, that after having heard the explanation of them they would say, in admiration, ca chia attwain aa arrihwaa, "Certainly these are important matters, and worthy of being discussed in our councils; they speak the truth, they say nothing but what is to the purpose; we have never heard such discourse." Among other things which made them acknowledge the truth of one God, Creator, Governor, and Preserver of all things, was the illustration I employed of the child conceived in its mother's womb. "Who," said I, "but God forms the body of this child; who out of one and the same material [9] forms the heart, the liver, the lungs,-in short, an infinite variety of members, all necessary, all well-proportioned, and joined one to another? Not the father, for these wonders take place in his absence, and sometimes after his death. Nor is it the mother, for she does not know what takes place in her womb. If it be the father or the mother that forms this body at discretion, why is not a son or a daughter begotten at will? Why do they not produce children, handsome, tall, strong, and active? And, if parents give the soul to their children, why do they not impart to all of them great minds, a retentive memory, and all sorts of noble and praiseworthy qualities, seeing that there is no one who would not desire to have such children if this were in his power?" To all this the Hurons, full of wonder, make no reply. They confess that we speak the truth, and that indeed there is a God; they declare that henceforth they will recognize,

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