VOLUMES III.— IV

AcADiA AND Québec, 1616-29.

In thèse volumes is continued the narrative of Father Biard concerning the destruction of Saint-Sauveur and Port-Royal, in 1613, and what became of the French colonists of those two settlements. Hère we hâve the starting-point of the long séries of conflicts relative to the délimitation of territories between the English and French authorities, a question which may be said to emlirace the whole history of Canada until 1760 or even 1763. The kings of France and England made grants of various tracts along the coast, each one trespassing on the prétentions of the other. Délimitation of territories means the privilège of trading with the Indians through a more or less large area of land, and this was of the

tHE JËSUITS* RELAtlONS AND ALLIED DOCUMENTS l4l

Litmost conséquence. Neither of the two antagonists would gfîve up what he considérée! the main object of a possession in the new world — so that the history of Acadia, Canada, Louisiana, New England, Pennsylvania, etc., was stamped beforehand during- the days of 1604-13, U'hen the sovereigns of the two great nations affixed theif seals to the parchments above alluded to.

Father Biard saw ail this at a glance, but was not discouraged. He says : "Fof my part, I consider it a great advantage that we hâve learned more and more about the nature of thèse territorîes and lands, the character of the Inhabitants, the means of helping them, the obstacles which are liable to arise against the progress of the work, and the help that must be given to oppose the enemy. . . So, in truth, it is not otherwise that God usually gives us prudence and better management of things, only through various expériences, and for the most part through our Dwn faults, and those of others. . . It is a great resuit that the French hâve won the confidence and friendliness of the Savages, through the great familiarity and fréquent intercourse which they havè had with them."

The second half of the fourth volume is filled with letters and communications from Father Charles Laiemant, Jesuit, written at Québec in 1625-26, when his order was introduced for the first time on the shores of the St. Lawrence. This clever man, a rertiarkable observer, comes well in the séries after Biard ; he had also visited Acadia in 1613 and his knowledge of the new missions amongst the Indians helped him greatly in describing the nature of the work required to civilize the country, apart from the conversion of the infidels. Ue shows the true position of affairs in regard to trade,

agriculture, colonization and the learning of so many Etrange and difficult languages as were to be found in "thèse vast forests." He already understood that many years would elapse before the French could master the situation and hold their ground at such a distance from the mother country. He squarely advocated the policy of a substantial establishment, to make the natives believe in the ability of the Frenchmen to succeed independently of the scanty resources of charities received occasionally by an annual vessel from France. The population of Québec — the whole of Canada at that time — was but forty-tvvo soûls, and they had "only eighteen or twenty acres cleared at the most." Champlain says that the mercantile companies "had not themselves cleared an arpent and a half of land in the twenty-two years during which they were, according to His Majesty's intention, to hâve peopled and cultivated the colony." Father Lalemant adds that the Algonquins "cleared two or three acres where they sowed Indian corn, and they hâve been doing this for only a short time." He saw clearly that there was no future in such a System.

He is much interested in the prospect of a fruitful mission amongst the Hurons of Upper Canada, a sedentary nation much ahead of the wandering Algonquins of the neighborhood of Québec. He sent two subordinates there with a view of first acquiring the language, in the hope that greater resources may soon be afforded the Jesuits by their friends in France and the fur company, to enable them to proceed with décisive results in the excution of their scheme. The vivid picture of the colony which he traces in poignant, though moderate, words, is much after the manner of Champlain, whose complaints

in that respect are well known to ail readers of his Works. ^