Libr@rsi

14 PREFACE TO VOL. XLIV
of peace, and promise to bring hither, next spring,
an Oneida who had murdered a Frenchman. D'Argenson
promises to send Le Moyne to them in the
spring, and releases some of their prisoners, but
detains others as hostages.
XCVIII. The Relation of 1657-58 is given entire
in this volume. It is prefaced by a brief note in
which the Paris editor implies the loss (as in previous
years) of some of the documents sent him from New
France and mentions the ;
persecutions freshly begun
against the Jesuits,—
referring to the disastrous ending
of their Onondaga mission.
The Relation begins with a clear-sighted analysis
of the motives and actions of the Iroquois with
regard to that mission. A letter from Ragueneau to
the provincial describes the forced retreat of the missionaries,
who have returned ''
laden with some
spoils wrested from the powers of Hell." These
are " more than five hundred children, and many
adults, most of whom died after Baptism." They
' '
have also
' '
restored Faith and renewed piety
among
the poor Huron captives. Irritated at the imprisonment
of some of their warriors by D'Ailleboust, the
Onondagas plot the destruction of the French among
them. The latter make their escape, and return to
Quebec, arriving there April 23, 1658. The Iroquois
are harassing the French settlements, which not only
are feeble, but have not dared to attack the enemy,
fearing savage vengeance upon the French at Onondaga.
The latter, upon reaching Quebec, learn from
escaped Huron captives that all the kindness shown
to the French by the Onondagas was merely a pretense
by those perfidious savages to lure first the
French, and afterward the Hurons, into their power,