Girard0269

3 September 1843 - Father Jean-Baptiste Petit-Jean to Father Jean Forest, Auckland

Summary

Problems of living with/without Brother Colomb (Pierre Poncet). More about financial problems. The letter ends in mid-sentence: maybe some part relative to Brother Colomb had been removed.

Sheet of “Bath” paper, folded to form four written pages, with Poupinel’s annotation at the top of the first page.

It seems that Petit-Jean wrote this letter to the same superior as his letters of July 6 and July 12, 1843 (cf. doc. 266, §3, and 268, §2), meaning Father Jean Forest, the provisional provincial of New Zealand. Forest appears to have sent the first sheet of this letter to Colin, along with the other two letters.

The current state of this document—apparently incomplete, lacking both a signature and an address—suggests that the relevant portion of the communication was limited to the discussion about Brother Colomb (Pierre Poncet).

Translation by Merv Duffy, February 2025.

Text of the Letter

[Handwriting of Poupinel]

N(ew) Zealand ¤ Father Petitjean

Auckland, September 3, 1843

My Very Reverend Father,

[1]

I have the honour of acknowledging receipt of your letter of the 22nd of this month.

You must have received a letter (it was a note enclosed in a letter to His Lordship) in which I explained to you the simple way in which I manage without a brother. Imagine a man in a furnished room to whom a caterer brings his meal.

I eat at the same hours as the Henessy family. Their young son serves me at my place when the meal is ready. The baker brings me my bread. My hens—or, if you prefer, our hens, so as not to say "mine" too much—provide a nice supplement of two or three eggs per day.

[2]

Nothing was thriving with Brother Colomb. As soon as he left, I felt relieved of a heavy burden. Perhaps in other hands, he will be lighter? The one thing this brother lacks the most is feeling. He has none.

Reverend Father Garin sent back a few small items that, he said, the brother had taken by mistake. I am willing to believe it—it was by mistake. It was not even worth mentioning. However, it should be well understood that he is a rummager, a petty thief, or at least a hoarder of the first order.

I might have the same tendency as him—for example, I gave him a brand-new pair of pants; he tore them.

— Mend them.

— No.

— He goes rummaging through the trunk of belongings, pulls out a new pair of pants, and puts back the torn ones—all without permission, of course.

[3]

I repeat: I am content. My isolation does not plunge me into melancholy.

In the evening, after dinner, around 6 p.m., I usually go to Mr. Henessy’s to chat, but only if he himself is there. Without a doubt, I will be even happier when I have a brother and, above all, a collaborator.

I must work on improving my regularity, my wake-up time, my meditation. But I ask God’s forgiveness. I will start tonight, right now. Dixi nunc coepi. (I said: Now I begin.)

It is true that I do not have external opportunities to sin. But who is without struggle? There is a growing awareness of the importance of frequenting the sacraments.

[4]

The fact that I have no other financial support than what I receive from my flock means that, for now, we can only cover the most urgent needs. This is thanks to a providential multiplication of resources, even though weekly revenues do not exceed 17 shillings.

No one pays anymore. Even Madame Outhwaite, the most reliable, is heavily behind on payments.

As long as poverty remains as severe as it is, there is no point in appealing to the people, for the distress has reached its limit. If this continues, there will be neither money nor credit, etc.

Fortunately, butchers and bakers are advancing food to the starving immigrants—bread and meat. Everyone is drowning in debt.

I see Mr. Wood, a subscriber for the Kororareka and Auckland chapel, being sued for debt, etc., etc.

His Lordship remains courageous in his travels. The Good Lord grants him consolations to compensate for the hardships he endures. May the Lord be blessed.

[5]

Please be so kind as to tell Father Procurator that I have received the crate containing 18 bottles of wine, etc. I thank him. (I find the wine a little sour.)

This will spare me from writing a separate letter to Father Procurator, and I preferred to share with you my reflections on Brother Colomb. If I had spoken to others, I might have seemed resentful.

I will entrust Borel, who is leaving for the Bay, with two shirts and one old pair of pants belonging to Brother Colomb.

This letter will likely be delivered by Mr. Spicer.

By the way, he does not like the location of the church in the Bay of Islands. We discussed it together.

They refused to let Mr. Coolahan unload the crate that was addressed to me—simply because they wanted to extort five shillings from me.

What can you do? Everyone is poor.

If it had been possible to have the crate addressed directly to Mr. Coolahan himself, I would have saved my money, and Mr. Coolahan could have slipped the crate in among his belongings—or I would have at least given him something if he had incurred expenses

Notes

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