Libr@rsi

1656-58] RELA TION OF 1636-37 25
seems to have cured him, solely with that design, of
a disease which every one considered incurable.
[169] Among the many Hurons who have preserved
their Faith in captivity, the Father met a woman
who had retained all the fervor of a good Christian.
He learned from her that the Hurons from the Island
of Orleans continued to practice our Religion as
zealously as ever, and that one of them, called
Jacques Otsiaouens, had by his constancy astonished
the Iroquois who were burning him, omitting not a
single one of his usual prayers, and continually invoking
the name of JESUS in his tortures.
The Hurons of Saint Michel manifested no less
devotion and were delighted to see once more one of
their beloved Pastors. Every one at first asked either
for absolution for himself, or Baptism for his chil-
dren. Even the old people, who had despised the
light of the Gospel while their country was flourish-
ing, now anxiously sought it, and earnestly asked for
Baptism. So true is it that affliction gives understanding,
and that adversity opens the eyes of those
whom [170] prosperity had blinded. Nevertheless,
however sweet those fruits of the Gospel may have
been, the Father was soon obliged to deprive himself
of them, because more pressing affairs called him
elsewhere.
He had a fine opportunity, on the way, of ridiculing
the superstition of the Infidels. His guide offered
him a piece of wood, to throw upon two round stones
which, surrounded by evidences of the superstition
of these poor people, are encountered upon the road.
It is the custom, in passing, to throw a small stick
on the stones by way of words:
homage, and add these
Kou'e askennon eskatongot,— that is to say.