Father Jacques Marquette

“ The following year Father Marquette wished to keep his promise given to the Illinois. His health is weakened by the trials of a long mission, but what matters this to him? There are souls to save. He preaches the truths of religion to the poor savages gathered in attentive silence; but his strength diminishes, and he regretfully resumes the road to Michilimackinac. He did not have time to reach it, but died near the mouth of a river which long bore his name. His two comrades dug a grave for the remains of the missionary and raised a cross 147near the tomb. ”

“ Brother Jacques was conscious of the sound.
"My mother," he repeated.
"You lie, Jesuit!"
"Not at this hour, my father."
"Son of Margot Bourdaloue, you! ... Ah!" The marquis rose again, leaning on both arms. "Have you come to mock my death-bed?"
"Truth is not mockery."
"Away, lying Jesuit!"
The priest stooped. "Look well into my face, Monsieur; look well. Is there not something there to awaken your memory?" Brother Jacques brought his face within a span of the marquis's. "Look!"
"The eyes, the eyes! ... Margot, a son? ... What do you want?" The marquis moistened his lips. ”

“ Father Marquette in vain presented his calumet of peace. They were ready to attack, when the elders, perceiving at last the calumet, commanded the young warriors to stop, and, throwing their arms at the feet of the strangers, as a sign of peace, entered their canoes, and constrained them to land, though not without some uneasiness.
As the savages were not acquainted with any of the six languages spoken by Father Marquette, he [135] addressed them by signs, until an old man was found, who understood a little Illinois. ”

“ In 1672, letters from Quebec informed Marquette that the government had taken up the project of exploring the Mississippi, and that he was the missionary selected to accompany the expedition. His heart exulted at the prospect. The hope of a glorious martyrdom while opening the way to future heralds of the Cross buoyed him up, though in his humility he never spoke of martyrdom. ”

“ Marquette established them in a new mission, at Point St. Ignace, opposite Mackinaw; and it was from here that, in 1673, he joined the party of Louis Joliet, en route to the Mississippi River. The St. Ignace mission became the largest and most successful in the Northwest, there being encamped there, during Marquette's time, about 500 Hurons and 1,300 Ottawas. The interesting story of Marquette, a familiar chapter in American history, will be fully developed in the documents of this series ”

“ Marquette sought by his journey the honour of a higher master than an earthly sovereign; “I shall gladly lay down my life for the salvation of souls,” said he, in answer to a messenger of the Pottawatomies who warned him, “that these distant nations never spared strangers; that their mutual wars filled the shores with warriors; and that the great river abounded with monsters which devoured both men and canoes; and that the excessive heat was mortal.” And on hearing his reply, the children of the Wilderness united with him in prayer for his preservation. ”

“ He did not propose to confide any of his thoughts to the priest. "He is old, and is wasteful of his energies."
"Yes, he has wasted his energies; in your cause, Monsieur, remember that. Your father had nothing in common with D'Hérouville. Their paths had never crossed ... and never will cross again."
The Chevalier kicked the stones impatiently. So Brother Jacques understood why the marquis had fought the Comte d'Hérouville?
"May I be so bold as to ask what took place between you and Monsieur le Marquis on the night of his arrival in Quebec?" ”

“ Men and women together, Kootanie George and Ernestine, Garcia and Drennen, Père Marquette and Mère Marquette, felt the difference between her and themselves.
"We seem to interrupt," she said coolly, her voice deeply musical, as she turned to Père Marquette. He, looking a little dazed and stupid from all that had taken place, but never forgetful of his duties as host, had come toward her hesitantly, his lips seeking to form a new phrase of greeting. "We are tired and need food. ”

“ He took charge of, and put on a firm basis the famous Kaskaskian mission, which death had compelled Marquette to relinquish. None of the missionaries of his time dared more or travelled over a wider territory than Allouez. He even reached the western end of Lake Superior. His life was one alternation of triumphs and defeats. At times he had to prevent the Indians from adoring him as a god; at others they were about to sacrifice him to their deities. ”

“ A county-court-house, the Peter White library, and the Federal building are the most prominent public buildings. Marquette is the seat of Roman Catholic and Protestant Episcopal bishoprics. The city is best known as a shipping centre of one of the richest iron-ore districts in the world, and its large and well-equipped ore docks are among its most prominent features. Marquette is the port of entry of the customs district of Superior. ”

“ Mademoiselle bit her lip.
"There is only one thing stranger," she said coldly.
"And that is—?" said my father, bending toward her attentively.
"That you should betray the last request of the man who once sheltered you and trusted you, and showed you every kindness. Tell me, captain, is it another display of artistic temperament, or simply a lack of breeding?"
Her words seemed to fall lightly on my father. He took a pinch of snuff, and waved his hand in an airy gesture of denial.
"Bah," he said. "If the Marquis were alive, he would understand. He was always an opportunist, the Marquis. ”

“ God is our Father and our God, but only in Christ Jesus. ”

“ As the explorations of Marquette opened the way for the still more wonderful excursions of La Salle, I must here introduce a brief account of his adventures. There is something in blood. The Marquette family had been illustrious in France from time immemorial. Generation after generation, many of its members had obtained renown, not only for chivalric courage, but for every virtue which can adorn humanity. Their ancestral home was a massive feudal castle on an eminence near the stately city of Leon. ”

“ Spare us, O mighty medicine!"
"I will do so, if you promise to become as white men in the faith and be baptized." Tamed by fear, the red men laid aside their weapons and knelt at a brook where Marquette, gathering water in his hands, gave the rite of baptism to each, and laid down the moral law they were to live by. Wanena, who had fainted from sheer fright when she saw the idol burning, was restored, and it may be added that the priest who Christianized her also married her to Du Lhut, who prospered and left his name to the city of the lake. ”

“ According to Marcion, the good God never judges, but everywhere manifests His goodness—is, therefore, not to be feared, but simply to be loved, as a father. But here the question occurs, What becomes of the men who do not believe the gospel? Marcion answers, The good God does not judge them, but merely removes them from His presence. Then they fall under the power of the Demiurge, who—rewards them for their fidelity? ”

“ If it were not for me, your brother would be drinking his wine in paradise, instead of cursing at the American climate. And you, Mademoiselle—would you have preferred to remain with the police?"
He looked thoughtfully into his snuff box.
"Dead men press no bills—surely you recall the Marquis said that also. No, Mademoiselle, we must be practical to live. The Marquis would understand. The Marquis was always practical."
She caught her breath sharply, but my father seemed not to have perceived the effect of his words.
"Ah," he said, "here is Brutus with the meal." ”

“ I thought of you, Monsieur le Marquis, you in your château with plenty to eat and drink, and a fire toasting your noble shins. Have I not thought of you?"
"I am an old man," said the marquis, bewildered. This priest must be a nightmare, another of those phantoms which were crowding around his bed.
"How I longed for riches, luxury, content! For had I not your blood in my veins and were not my desires natural? I became a priest because I could starve no longer without dying. I have seen your true son in the forests, have called him brother, though he did not understand. ”

“ The Marquis rose.
"Now let us die," he said.
"And kill, as well," said the Imânus.
The blows from the butt-ends of the muskets already shook the chest that stood within the door, barring the entrance.
"Turn your thoughts to God," said the priest; "earth no longer exists for you."
"Yes," rejoined the Marquis, "we are in the tomb."
All bowed their heads and smote their breasts. The priest and the Marquis alone remained standing. All eyes were fixed on the ground,—the priest and the peasants absorbed in prayer, the Marquis buried in his own thoughts. ”

“ For all these do not contain or imply an opposition to and an overturning of the [precepts] of the past, as Marcion's followers do strenuously maintain; but [they exhibit] a fulfilling and an extension of them, as He does Himself declare: "Unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." [148] For what meant the excess referred to? In the first place, [we must] believe not only in the Father, but also in His Son now revealed; for He it is who leads man into fellowship and unity with God. ”

“ One cannot do everything at once, my father."
"Oh! Monsieur le Marquis," replied the Monk, with a respectful bow, "it needs but a minute to turn a sinner into a penitent, a lost soul into one of the elect. If only you would ..."
"Well and good, my father, to-morrow. There I hear the dinner bell,"—and he dismissed him with a wave of the hand, and plunged down a side path.
The tutor came up to Père Delar. "What is wrong with the Marquis? He is quite changed; usually so light-hearted, he is grown anxious, gloomy, haggard." ”

“ The study of nature, the pursuit of knowledge, and the exercise of our faculties, when controlled by religion and virtue, may all, perhaps, assist in qualifying us for occupations and enjoyments in the ‘kingdom of the Father,’ infinitely more excellent and refined indeed, yet not entirely dissimilar.
“But whatever view we take of the mode of our future existence, it must revive and invigorate our minds to feel that the evidence of the resurrection of mankind is full and complete ”

“ Who am I? I am a young man who is in search of his father. Your face, and especially your nose, so resembled mine, that I made sure that I had succeeded. Pity me, sir—pity me," continued I, covering up my face with my hands.
The bishop, perceiving that there was little of the impostor in my appearance, and that I was much affected, allowed a short time for me to recover myself, and then entered into an explanation. When a curate, he had had an only son, very wild, who would go to sea in spite of his remonstrances. He saw him depart by the Portsmouth coach, and gave him the sum mentioned. ”

“ No more skilful place-finder existed, and any member of the advanced section who wanted a place for himself or for a friend had recourse to Mortemer.
"But the little man is all right," Father Rowley had told Mark. "Many people would have used his talents to further himself. He has every qualification for the episcopate except one—he believes in the Sacraments." ”

“ Nothing is more necessary for one who is to be a teacher among a population whose Catholicity is of blood and family tradition as well as of grace, than to know that there is virtue, true and high in its own order, outside the visible pale of the Church. Especially is this necessary if Catholics in any age or country are to be fitted for a missionary vocation. That this is the vocation of the Church of his day was Isaac Hecker's passionate conviction. He was able to communicate this to Catholics of the old stock as well as to influence non-Catholics in favor of the Church ”

“ No one, however strong he may feel his obligations, will ever be man enough to fulfill them except he be a Christian—that is, one who, like Christ, cares first for the will of the Father. ”

“ But the Marquis’s surprising invention was doomed to another, and a more novel persecution than could well be conceived possible, one which assuredly might very justly be doubted, had we not the written record before our eyes. Among the other manuscripts at Badminton House is the letter of a Roman Catholic priest, dated 6th of September, 1670, addressed to the Marchioness “at her house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.” [S]
As her spiritual adviser, he says:—“Almighty God hath, Madam, put you into a happy and flourishing condition, fit and able to serve God, and to do much good to yourself and others ”

“ So the chief president felt no hope of breaking her inflexible spirit, except by the agency of a minister of religion; for it was not enough to put her to death, the poisons must perish with her, or else society would gain nothing. The doctor Pirot came to the marquise with a letter from her sister, who, as we know, was a nun bearing the name of Sister Marie at the convent Saint-Jacques. Her letter exhorted the marquise, in the most touching and affectionate terms, to place her confidence in the good priest, and look upon him not only as a helper but as a friend. ”

“ The Marquesan had a joyful religion, full of humor and abandon, dances and chants, and exaltation of nature, of the greatness of their tribe or race, a worship that was, despite its ghastly rites of human sacrifice, a stimulus to life.
The efforts of missionaries have killed the joy of living as they have crushed out the old barbarities, uprooting together everything, good and bad, that religion meant to the native. ”