Preparation and the fervor that they displayed in

preparation and the fervor that they displayed in that divine action
astonished as much as it edified us.
“It is our custom to withdraw into retirement at times, for eight or ten
days, for the performance of spiritual exercises, —that is to say, for the
purpose of conferring with God on the affairs of eternity; and when the
Savages do not see us, they say that we are hiding ourselves. The
Mothers having thus hidden themselves, the little Huron Seminarist
wished also to hide. She withdrew into a small grove that lies within the

48
cloister, made herself a kind of cabin, and passed the greater part of the
day in praying to God. One of her companions found her there, and
asked her what she was doing. ‘I am hiding,’ she said, ‘like the Mothers,
to pray to God for myself, for you, for the French, arid for the Savages.’
The other told her companions of this, and at once they all, except the
two youngest, [Page 189] hastened to make a little house, of leafy
branches. They shut themselves up amidst this verdure, observed
silence, and spent a good portion of their time in praying and in reciting
the [116] Rosary, with as much devotion as mature and more aged
persons show.
“On Good Friday, when the little Seminarists saw the Mothers fasting
more strictly than usual, they wished to imitate them. They, therefore,
concealed the food that was given them; some contented them-selves
with a little bread boiled in pure water; the others ate only dry bread,
without touching their evening collation. That was not all. They cast
themselves at the feet of the Mother, and begged her to allow them to
take the discipline. Having received permission to do so, these poor
children manifested a fervor which indicated nothing of the moods of
Barbarians. They are allowed to practice this devotion only very seldom
and after importunities that are as agreeable to God as is the
mortification itself.
“On one occasion among others, while they were supplicating and
pressing with extraordinary persistence to be allowed that favor, they
were asked why they wished to take upon themselves such severe
punishment. They replied that our Lord had first received it, and that his
sufferings inspired them with the desire to [117] suffer for the salvation
of their countrymen, and for their own sins. Such sentiments do not
grow in nature’s garden without being well watered by grace.”
* * *
Vol. XLIV.
Iroquois, Lower Canada:
1656-1657

49
CLEVELAND: The Burrows Brothers
Company, PUBLISHERS, M DCCC XCVIII
¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯
CHAPTER VII.
OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MANNERS
AND CUSTOMS OF THE FRENCH, OR THE
EUROPEANS, AND THOSE OF THE SAVAGES.
KNOW not whether I am mistaken, but I would be willing to say that the organs of our
senses resemble, in some respects, primary matter, which, having neither beauty nor
deformity in itself, yet composes the most beautiful or the most ugly things, according to
the forms given it by the Agents. The temperament of our senses,-whencesoever it comes,
whether from our birth or from our habits,-gives to them inclination or aversion, love or