Girard0230

25 December 1842 — Father Antoine Garin to Father Jean-Baptiste Épalle, Kororareka

Translated by Fr Brian Quin SM, June 2016

[Actually two lists of items needed by the mission properly speaking {Garin} and things needed for the printery {Yvert}. Both lists will be modified by later letters written in 1843: Yvert in doc 231, 7 Jan 1843, and Garin in doc 258, 30 May 1843. Forest, having replaced Garin in Kororareka, will send, on 4 November 1843, a “triplicate” or third form of Garin’s list (doc 283) with the final revision which Yvert will have drawn from his own list.

[In the hand of Poupinel]

Bay of Islands (Kororareka), 25th December 1842.

3 lists of things asked for by the missionaries in New Zealand.

Bay of Islands (Kororareka), 25th December 1842, New Zealand

[1]

Things and various items thought to be needed right now.

[2]

To be dispatched each year for the Fathers and Brothers, of good quality.

[3]

For a Father

• 1 spare tricorne hat (the Bishop did not receive any with Father Séon’s dispatch.)
• 1 ditto - good
• 1 ditto - ordinary
• 1 spare soutane (Father Baty’s are not long enough)
• 1 ditto - good
• 1 ditto - ordinary
• 1 ditto - summer, for very hot weather, able to be used for 3 years.
• 1 Velvet culottes
• 1 summer trousers (a bit large)
• 1 ditto - woollen cloth
• 1 spare
• 2 pairs of shoes (boots, besides being very expensive, are also very uncomfortable.)
• 1 pair of ankle boots (bottines)
• 1 ditto - spare shoes.
• 1 black silk hat
• 1 spare

NB It is enough that each Father brings his lay dress, without his needing to renew it.

• 1 cloak, every 5 years.
• 2 pairs of woollen gaiters
• Waxed cloth for making cloaks
• Shirts, white hats, handkerchiefs, stockings, serviettes, table cloths, hand towels, jerseys, flannels, underpants, etc, will be sent according to demand, as they begin to be in short supply.

Right, now for the procure.

• 12 jerseys
• 36 flannels
• 36 pairs of underpants
• 36 black collars, strong and well packed
• 6 white hats for each Father.
• 6 pairs of winter stockings ditto ditto
• 6 pairs of summer stockings ditto ditto
• 1 waxed cloth for a tricorne hat ditto

[4]

For a Brother

• 1 hat every 2 years
• 1 cap --- woollen, with waxed cloth.
• Ditto – spare.
• 1 levite every 3 years, for Sundays
• habit jacket, every 2 years
• short woollen jacket
• 1 summer jacket.
• waistcoats 1 summer 1 winter
• 1 ditto woollen, spare, for Sundays.
• 1 trousers large strong woollen
• 2 ditto summer strong
• 1 trousers black woollen cloth for Sundays
• 1 black hat made of cotton
• Shoes and bottines (ankle boots) as for the Fathers.
• White hats and stockings, as for the Fathers.
• pairs of gaiters in black leather.

[5]

Mr Yvert (printer)

• 1 hat every 2 years
• 1 levite, black cloth,every year
• trousers in black cloth every year
• waistcoats in black cloth every year (buttons “en corne”?)
• 2 black collars every year
• 2 hats in black silk, every year
• 3 pairs of shoes, every year.
• 1 black palletot (?) every year, summer
• 1 levite (?) heavy winter cloth, well fur-lined, every 4 years, a bit long. All the stockings must be made of wool

[6]

NB Fairly often it will happen that a person will not use all his things in the indicated time; in that case he will give them to someone else, when the need is seen. For example, my pair of boots was given to good Father Pèzant, who needed them urgently

[7]

Library

• 4 copies of the history of the Church by Henrion
• 4 copies of Bergier’s dictionary
• 12 Novum Testamentum (New Testament – in French) and Imitation ( of Christ) – printed together.
• 1 large print Breviary and in 4 volumes.
• 10 New Testaments in Greek

Father Comte wants a grammar, a dictionary and a Bible – all in Greek

• 12 copies of the Canon Law (Alby) (Ask for them from Propaganda in Rome).

[8]

Arts and Trades

Things needed to set up 3 looms. Only the little items, such as “remis,”?, combs, shuttles, candle-rings [?], etc. Only the 3 “bas des battans” – and a single spinning wheel.

[9]

Sacristy

• 6 pairs of candlesticks with little stands ( ? souches) for low Masses.
• 15 pairs of little stands(?)
• 6 albs
• 1 iron for making altar breads
• 6 large cutting irons and 6 small (for cutting altar breads)
• 4 pairs of silver cruets
• 6 containers for holy oils, marked on the lid and in a leather box.
• 100 pounds of wax, of which ¼ in “cierges” and ¾ in “bougies”. [Both words mean candles.]
• 6 altar hangings
• “Barette” for the Bishop - 2 cinctures, Roman style

[10]

Pharmacy materials

• Eau de Cologne 60 phials. Arnica, 12 little bottles, Oil of ricein ( ?), 3 bottles
• Blue stone for 12 stations. 100 little phials very strong, to carry medicaments, and different sizes. Several little boxes of ointment for wounds, and an inch in diameter, 200 in all.
• Camphor 12 bottles. Chlorine 3 bottles.
• Remedies for tooth decay – 6 bottles of elixir from the Grande Chartreuse, remedies for eye problems, for scrofulous diseases with tumours, a very common sickness. Please send exact information on how these diseases should be treated.

[11]

Books in the English language

• Douay Bible --------- 12 copies.
• 6 Boyer, with accent and pronunciation
• 12 Cobbett’s Grammar
• 100 Prayers and instructions recommended for the use of Catholics serving in the Fleets etc
• 100 Daily Companion
• 12 Garden of Souls
• 30 Four Dialogues.
• 500 Butler’s Catechism
• 100 A Papist misrepresented etc
• 100 A short history of .....

NB Keep in mind Mr Perisse’s offer for printing English books.

• 100 bells – 3 pounds’ (weight) each.
• 50 ditto- 5 ditto ditto

Very thick, very thick with small clapper. Order them specifically very thick, tested by great blows of a hammer or other pieces of iron, with which our natives strike often.

• 100 writing cases made of solid material
• 80 pounds of tobacco from French manufacturers 2nd grade quality.

[12]

(Supplement) Shirts are of great use to us for dressing the natives and making them happy. If we had trousers, we would make them even more so; they overwhelm us with requests of this sort. Waistcoats or short vests would be even more welcomed.

[13]

Among the medications, please send us more of the citrin ointment for scabies.

[14]

In letters recently received from Futuna, the Fathers tell us not to send them soutanes or winter trousers.

They have little use for cloaks.

[15]

Some copies of Paroissien Romain would be very useful for the Brothers for following the Sunday ceremonies.

[16]

A good amount of camphor.

[17]

Reverend Father and very dear confrère

I am sending you a list of things we need; this list has been examined by the members of the Bishop’s council, with him presiding over them. No doubt you must have made these requests or perhaps others which would not match very well those here. The Bishop wants you to share with whoever is responsible the modifying, according to prudence and the presumed intentions of his Lordship, what could give reason for believing that one is not understood, although it may not be surprising, nevertheless that the present requests differ a bit from those preceding, because the situation here changes very rapidly.

Your totally devoted and most humble servant

Garin

Provincial, procurator, missionary apostolic.

[18]

P S We are very concerned about what may have happened to Father Borjon and Brother Deodat, who left Auckland nearly 8 months ago for Nicholson. They have probably perished in the open sea, because neither the ships which have come from that town, nor travellers over land have been able to give us any news but this; that they are lost! It has been said that debris from a shipwreck has been seen out at sea. The name of the ship that was carrying them was the Speculator. It was a small, poorly built schooner. On one side we groan at the loss we have experienced, because it involved the loss of a great number of souls; but from another point of view we rejoice in thinking that their intercession with God, that they have gone to possess in heaven will abundantly compensate for this loss. We still, however, like to oscillate between fear and hope. Who knows? There are so many opportunities! Perhaps they have had one which will return them to us later! May God’s will be done!

[19]

It would be very desirable that they Old and New Testaments could be sent in big pictures, like the life of Jesus Christ, which we already have. I mean the main events represented in pictures; there is nothing more attractive for the natives, and nothing more fitted for instructing them at this time. Synoptic pictures, statistics, simplified - with colour of the trees of the true vine, very much capture their attention.

Caps of whatever style sometimes satisfy them as much as much as a fine levite or cloak, we would get many thanks for them; here the Europeans sometimes sell a cap worth 50 sous to the natives for a pound!

[20]

Things needed for the printery, binding etc.

[21]

A press raisin. NB This press is not absolutely necessary right now, but in 15 months it will be almost indispensable, and a year will be enough to get it here, and the perfection of our work. Besides, it must be understood that our presses will last many years. So it’s a long-term investment. This press, a bit smaller than the first, would safely cost a fifth less, seeing that we already have 2 inkpots.

[22]

200 pounds weight of printing ink.

[23]

300 reams of paper: carre (?), sized, good quality

[24]

Cardboard for binding 3000 copies in octavo

[25]

Skins stitched [?] together for binding 2000 copies in octavo

• ditto coloured? Ditto 500 ditto
• ditto moroccan-style 200 ditto

[26]

Parchment for binding 4000 ditto

[27]

Coloured paper ditto 10 000 ditto

• Ditto very fine ditto 2000 ditto

[28]

Little thin (strips of)? cardboard to cover little booklets from 40 to 100 pages, and more. This little cardboard, which folds like a sheet of paper, must be coloured. Enough of it is needed to bind 12,000 copies in duodecimo and octavo.

[29]

Gold sheets, good quality, for about 100 francs.

[30]

Instruments for gilding, only in wheels and flat pieces in copper for 60 francs.

[31]

3 brushes for washing the forms or characters, one of them soft.

[32]

6 bottles of varnish for the covers of bound books.

[33]

Pretty illustrations for about 100 francs. A variety, so few of each sort.

[34]

Letters for titles and for about 150 francs.

• Collection of Messrs Laurent and de Bernis.
• Page no 1 letters “armees et ombrees” (?)
• No 28 – 2P. of little Roman n.s. - 3 fr. – Medical formulas
• 31 - 2P of large roman- 2 fr – Musician
• Page no 5 --- “ombrees” Egyptian
• 59 2P “ de gaillarde“ - 3 fr –« Redaction serieuse » ( ?)
• Page no 8 - lengthened
• 2 2P « de gaillarde » --- 4 fr 50 Laurent and Deberny, casters in characters and engravers.
• 4 2P of large text 3. 75 ditto ditto
• Page no 10 letters “armees and ombrees”
• 83 2P “de gailarde” shaped (?) 3 fr 25 - order of the day
• 84 ditto ditto large text edged
• Page no 11 – Stars
• 2 – 2P of philosophy 3 fr 25 Laurent and de Berny engravers, Paris.
• Page no 12 Gothics
• 4large Roman and Paragon -- 3 fr 25 Department upper Garonne
• 9 “gros canon “ (chancellery) 3 fr 75 Laurent and Deberny, founders in characters.
• Page no 13 Ordinary letters
• 2P in large text, c 32 – 1 fr 20 Memories of the Empire

NB These eleven sets of big letters will be made only on the Maori text (?), according to the insurance policy left with Messrs Laurent and de Berny, of which the following is a copy.

• a — 5500
• e — 1900
• g — 600
• h — 1000
• i — 2500
• k — 1800
• m — 700
• n — 1300
• o — 2300 NB There is no i (?) in Maori.
• p — 400 The cost should not exceed 150 fr.
• r — 800
• t — 1900
• r — 800
• t — 1900
• u — 1600
• w — 400

[35]

Jewels of piety

• No. 30 — No. 31 — No. 88 — No. 90 No. 3383

[36]

Characters little roman, roman No. 5

Lower case

• a — 24000
• e — 2000
• g — 1000
• h — 3000
• i — 2000
• k — 8000
• m — none
• n — none
• o — none
• p — 1000
• r — none
• t — 4000
• u — ____
• w — 2000

Capitals

• A — 1000
• e — none
• g — none
• h — 1000
• i — 200
• k — 1200
• m — none
• n — none
• o — none
• p — none
• r — none
• t — none
• u — none
• w — none
• comma — 2000
• + cross — 300 – for the same character.

[37]

Un soufflét a bu retourne, for the printery.[ ?]

[38]

Assortment of good thread and string for binding

[39]

Some ” mains de grand papier pour couvrir les fringuettes.” [ ?]

[40]

Paper to use for de-inking the rollers

[41]

Ox–foot oil for the press

[42]

Some signs/ notices? Suich as “pieds de mouche, mains etc to go with little 3 Roman, Roman no 5. Also a variety of crosses would be needed, rather large, and easy to match with little Roman.