A considerable reinforcement came out with Montmagny, and among the rest several men of birth and substance, with their families and dependants19. "It was a sight to thank God for," exclaims Father Le Jeune, "to behold20 these delicate young ladies and these tender infants issuing from their wooden prison, like day from the shades of night." The Father, it will be remembered, had for some years past seen nothing but squaws, with pappooses swathed like mummies and strapped21 to a board.
Both Montmagny and De Lisle were half churchmen, for both were Knights22 of Malta. More and more the powers spiritual engrossed23 the colony. As nearly as might be, the sword itself was in priestly hands. The Jesuits were all in all. Authority, absolute and without appeal, was vested in a council composed of the governor, Le Jeune, and the syndic, an official supposed to represent the interests of the inhabitants. There was no tribunal of justice, and the governor pronounced summarily on all complaints. The church adjoined the fort; and before it was planted a stake bearing a placard with a prohibition24 against blasphemy25, drunkenness, or neglect of mass and other religious rites26. To the stake was also attached a chain and iron collar; and hard by was a wooden horse, whereon a culprit was now and then mounted by way of example and warning. In a community so absolutely priest-governed, overt27 offences were, however, rare; and, except on the annual arrival of the ships from France, when the rock swarmed28 with godless sailors, Quebec was a model of decorum, and wore, as its chroniclers tell us, an aspect unspeakably edifying.
In the year 1640, various new establishments of religion and charity might have been seen at Quebec. There was the beginning of a college and a seminary for Huron children, an embryo29 Ursuline convent, an incipient30 hospital, and a new Algonquin mission at a place called Sillery, four miles distant. Champlain's fort had been enlarged and partly rebuilt in stone by Montmagny, who had also laid out streets on the site of the future city, though as yet the streets had no houses. Behind the fort, and very near it, stood the church and a house for the Jesuits. Both were of pine wood; and this year, 1640, both were burned to the ground, to be afterwards rebuilt in stone.
Aside from the fur trade of the Company, the whole life of the colony was in missions, convents, religious schools, and hospitals. Here on the rock of Quebec were the appendages31, useful and otherwise, of an old-established civilization. While as yet there were no inhabitants, and no immediate32 hope of any, there were institutions for the care of children, the sick, and the decrepit33. All these were supported by a charity in most cases precarious34. The Jesuits relied chiefly on the Company, who, by the terms of their patent, were obliged to maintain religious worship.
Quebec wore an aspect half military, half monastic. At sunrise and sunset, a squad35 of soldiers in the pay of the Company paraded in the fort; and, as in Champlain's time, the bells of the church rang morning, noon, and night. Confessions36, masses, and penances37 were punctiliously38 observed; and, from the governor to the meanest laborer39, the Jesuit watched and guided all. The social atmosphere of New England itself was not more suffocating40. By day and by night, at home, at church, or at his daily work, the colonist41 lived under the eyes of busy and over-zealous priests. At times, the denizens42 of Quebec grew restless. In 1639, deputies were covertly43 sent to beg relief in France, and "to represent the hell in which the consciences of the colony were kept by the union of the temporal and spiritual authority in the same hands."
The very amusements of this pious community were acts of religion. Thus, on the fête-day of St. Joseph, the patron of New France, there was a show of fireworks to do him honor. In the forty volumes of the Jesuit Relations there is but one pictorial44 illustration; and this represents the pyrotechnic contrivance in question, together with a figure of the Governor in the act of touching45 it off. But, what is more curious, a Catholic writer of the present day, the Abbé Faillon, in an elaborate and learned work, dilates46 at length on the details of the display; and this, too, with a gravity which evinces his conviction that squibs, rockets, blue-lights, and serpents are important instruments for the saving of souls. On May-Day of the same year, 1637, Montmagny planted before the church a May-pole surmounted47 by a triple crown, beneath which were three symbolical48 circles decorated with wreaths, and bearing severally the names, Iesus, Maria, Ioseph; the soldiers drew up before it, and saluted49 it with a volley of musketry.
On the anniversary of the Dauphin's birth there was a dramatic performance, in which an unbeliever, speaking Algonquin for the profit of the Indians present, was hunted into Hell by fiends. Religious processions were frequent. In one of them, the Governor in a court dress and a baptized Indian in beaver-skins were joint50 supporters of the canopy51 which covered the Host. In another, six Indians led the van, arrayed each in a velvet52 coat of scarlet and gold sent them by the King. Then came other Indian converts, two and two; then the foundress of the Ursuline convent, with Indian children in French gowns; then all the Indian girls and women, dressed after their own way; then the priests; then the Governor; and finally the whole French population, male and female, except the artillery-men at the fort, who saluted with their cannon the cross and banner borne at the head of the procession. When all was over, the Governor and the Jesuits rewarded the Indians with a feast.
Now let the stranger enter the church of Notre-Dame de la Recouvrance, after vespers. It is full, to the very porch: officers in slouched hats and plumes53, musketeers, pikemen, mechanics, and laborers54. Here is Montmagny himself; Repentigny and Poterie, gentlemen of good birth; damsels of nurture55 ill fitted to the Canadian woods; and, mingled56 with these, the motionless Indians, wrapped to the throat in embroidered57 moose-hides. Le Jeune, not in priestly vestments, but in the common black dress of his Order, is before the altar; and on either side is a row of small red-skinned children listening with exemplary decorum, while, with a cheerful, smiling face, he teaches them to kneel, clasp their hands, and sign the cross. All the principal members of this zealous community are present, at once amused and edified58 at the grave deportment, and the prompt, shrill59 replies of the infant catechumens; while their parents in the crowd grin delight at the gifts of beads60 and trinkets with which Le Jeune rewards his most proficient61 pupils.
The methods of conversion62 were simple. The principal appeal was to fear. "You do good to your friends," said Le Jeune to an Algonquin chief, "and you burn your enemies. God does the same." And he painted Hell to the startled neophyte63 as a place where, when he was hungry, he would get nothing to eat but frogs and snakes, and, when thirsty, nothing to drink but flames. Pictures were found invaluable64. "These holy representations," pursues the Father Superior, "are half the instruction that can be given to the Indians. I wanted some pictures of Hell and souls in perdition, and a few were sent us on paper; but they are too confused. The devils and the men are so mixed up, that one can make out nothing without particular attention. If three, four, or five devils were painted tormenting65 a soul with different punishments,—one applying fire, another serpents, another tearing him with pincers, and another holding him fast with a chain,—this would have a good effect, especially if everything were made distinct, and misery66, rage, and desperation appeared plainly in his face."
The preparation of the convert for baptism was often very slight. A dying Algonquin, who, though meagre as a skeleton, had thrown himself, with a last effort of expiring ferocity, on an Iroquois prisoner, and torn off his ear with his teeth, was baptized almost immediately. In the case of converts in health there was far more preparation; yet these often apostatized. The various objects of instruction may all be included in one comprehensive word, submission,—an abdication67 of will and judgment68 in favor of the spiritual director, who was the interpreter and vicegerent of God.
点击收听单词发音
1 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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2 zealous | |
adj.狂热的,热心的 | |
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3 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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4 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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5 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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6 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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7 inmates | |
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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8 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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9 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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10 embroidery | |
n.绣花,刺绣;绣制品 | |
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11 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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13 spouse | |
n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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14 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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15 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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16 suite | |
n.一套(家具);套房;随从人员 | |
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17 corpse | |
n.尸体,死尸 | |
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18 edifying | |
adj.有教训意味的,教训性的,有益的v.开导,启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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19 dependants | |
受赡养者,受扶养的家属( dependant的名词复数 ) | |
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20 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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21 strapped | |
adj.用皮带捆住的,用皮带装饰的;身无分文的;缺钱;手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词);用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带 | |
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22 knights | |
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马 | |
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23 engrossed | |
adj.全神贯注的 | |
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24 prohibition | |
n.禁止;禁令,禁律 | |
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25 blasphemy | |
n.亵渎,渎神 | |
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26 rites | |
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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27 overt | |
adj.公开的,明显的,公然的 | |
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28 swarmed | |
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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29 embryo | |
n.胚胎,萌芽的事物 | |
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30 incipient | |
adj.起初的,发端的,初期的 | |
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31 appendages | |
n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 );依附的人;附属器官;附属肢体(如臂、腿、尾等) | |
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32 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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33 decrepit | |
adj.衰老的,破旧的 | |
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34 precarious | |
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的 | |
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35 squad | |
n.班,小队,小团体;vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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36 confessions | |
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔 | |
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37 penances | |
n.(赎罪的)苦行,苦修( penance的名词复数 ) | |
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38 punctiliously | |
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39 laborer | |
n.劳动者,劳工 | |
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40 suffocating | |
a.使人窒息的 | |
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41 colonist | |
n.殖民者,移民 | |
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42 denizens | |
n.居民,住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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43 covertly | |
adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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44 pictorial | |
adj.绘画的;图片的;n.画报 | |
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45 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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46 dilates | |
v.(使某物)扩大,膨胀,张大( dilate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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47 surmounted | |
战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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48 symbolical | |
a.象征性的 | |
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49 saluted | |
v.欢迎,致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 );赞扬,赞颂 | |
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50 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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51 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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52 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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53 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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54 laborers | |
n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工 | |
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55 nurture | |
n.养育,照顾,教育;滋养,营养品;vt.养育,给与营养物,教养,扶持 | |
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56 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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57 embroidered | |
adj.绣花的 | |
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58 edified | |
v.开导,启发( edify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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60 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
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61 proficient | |
adj.熟练的,精通的;n.能手,专家 | |
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62 conversion | |
n.转化,转换,转变 | |
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63 neophyte | |
n.新信徒;开始者 | |
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64 invaluable | |
adj.无价的,非常宝贵的,极为贵重的 | |
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65 tormenting | |
使痛苦的,使苦恼的 | |
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66 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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67 abdication | |
n.辞职;退位 | |
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68 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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