Georgetown University - Ye Domesday Booke Yearbook (Georgetown, DC)

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»W ij iti i i Z oooc Jjh.x. ( tj rh:lU l- ' Kijf c Jc jo let PUfUffU TMU J A t Photostatic copy of page 7, in an eleven-page account of his visit to New Amsterdam, written by Father Isaac J agues in 1643.

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trip to Quebec necessary ; and Father Jogues was chosen to lead the expedition. It was a journey involving extreme danger. The Iro- quois were on the warpath and the route lay between their villages and those of the Hurons. The trip was begun in early June and they arrived safely in mid-July. For the time, at least, they were to be spared. After spending two weeks in Quebec, Jogues and some forty persons, including four Frenchmen, started to return on August 1 . One of the Frenchmen was Rene Goupil, the donne. He had made the journey to New France, determined to work for the missions. When he heard of Father Jogues ' presence in Quebec, he went to him and asked to be taken to work among the Hurons. Father Vimont, the Superior of New France, recom- mended him highly ; and Jogues accepted his offer. Scarcely a day out, they were ambushed and taken captive by the Iroquois. What followed can only be described by the principal victim, Father Jogues. . . . assailing me with their fists and knotty sticks, they left me half dead on the ground; and, a little later, they also tore off my nails, and bit with their teeth my two forefingers, causing me incred- ible pain. They did the same thing to Rene Goupil. Afterwards they were taken to a village as captives. This is a description, in part, of what happened to them in that village. . . . our wounds, not healed, had putrefied, so that the worms dropped from them ... at the gate of the village an Indian drew a hatchet and struck Rene ' s head with it. He fell, half dead; but remembered, according to the agreement made between us, to invoke the most Holy Name of Jesus ... I gave the last abolution to my dear companion, who still breathed; but whose life the barbarian finally took away with two more blows. Jogues tells how the Indians dragged Rene ' s body through the village and threw it into the river; how he spent hours in the icy water attempting to find the corpse, in spite of the savages threats to kill him for so doing. It was not until the following Spring that he found the martyr ' s bones; and reverently buried them. In these words Jogues pays tri- bute to his young companion, the first of the eight to die: He was a man of unusual simplicity and innocence of life, of invincible patience and very conformable to the Divine Will. Jogues was made a slave of one of the Mo- hawk families, and for more than a year he lived as a drudge, his life in constant danger. At last he escaped with the aid of the Dutch and went to France. When he arrived in Paris to report to his provincial, he was so much in demand, that he longed to escape and return to his mission. The queen, Anne of Austria, insisted on seeing him, and hearing his story. From the Pope he received a special permis- sion to offer the Holy Sacrifice with his muti- lated hands. His will prevailed; and in 1644 he set sail for Canada once more. When he arrived, he was sent to Montreal. He bided his time, waiting until he could return to Huronia, working meanwhile among the savages around Montreal. Unexpectedly, the Iroquois sent an embassy to sue for peace. They arrived on July 5, 1644; and after lengthy proceedings peace was concluded in May, 1646. Jogues was selected to head a French mis- sion, which was to meet the Iroquois chiefs at Ossernon, their principal village. The dan- gerous mission proved successful ; and Jogues returned to Quebec in safety after two months. But, determined to return to the Mohawks as a missionary, he had left behind a box of pious articles at Ossernon.