Merv at 02:57, 4 September 2026

2026-09-04T02:57:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:57, 4 September 2026
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	:''Tonga Tabou, 25 July 1844''		:''Tonga Tabou, 25 July 1844''

	''My dear sir and confrère,''
			:My dear sir and confrère,

	;[1]: Bishop Bataillon is leaving tomorrow<ref>According to Monfat, ''Tonga'', p. 287, Bataillon embarked for the Fiji Islands on 31 July 1844.</ref> for Fiji aboard the merchant ship ''Adolphe'', which he has chartered. I have only enough time left to offer you a few words of friendship and a few others concerning the welfare of our confrères here in the missions.		;[1]: Bishop Bataillon is leaving tomorrow<ref>According to Monfat, ''Tonga'', p. 287, Bataillon embarked for the Fiji Islands on 31 July 1844.</ref> for Fiji aboard the merchant ship ''Adolphe'', which he has chartered. I have only enough time left to offer you a few words of friendship and a few others concerning the welfare of our confrères here in the missions.

Merv at 02:56, 4 September 2026

2026-09-04T02:56:22Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:56, 4 September 2026
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	:Procurator for the Foreign Missions.		:Procurator for the Foreign Missions.

			=== Notes ===
	<references />		<references />

			=== Editorial Notes ===
	<references group="editorial" />		<references group="editorial" />

Merv: Created page with "==25 July 1844 — Father Philippe Calinon to Father Victor Poupinel, Tonga== ''Based on the fair copy, APM OC 208 (Tonga), Calinon. '' ''Translated by Merv Duffy and ChatGPT, September 2026'' ''One sheet forming four written pages; the fourth page also bears the address and Poupinel’s annotation. '' === Address and annotation === ''[Page 4; address written crosswise over the text:]'' To Father Poupinel
Procurator General for the Foreign Missions ''[In P..."

2026-09-04T02:48:15Z

Created page with "==25 July 1844 — Father Philippe Calinon to Father Victor Poupinel, Tonga== ''Based on the fair copy, APM OC 208 (Tonga), Calinon. '' ''Translated by Merv Duffy and ChatGPT, September 2026'' ''One sheet forming four written pages; the fourth page also bears the address and Poupinel’s annotation. '' === Address and annotation === ''[Page 4; address written crosswise over the text:]'' To Father Poupinel<br /> Procurator General for the Foreign Missions ''[In P..."

New page

==25 July 1844 — Father Philippe Calinon to Father Victor Poupinel, Tonga==

''Based on the fair copy, APM OC 208 (Tonga), Calinon. ''

''Translated by Merv Duffy and ChatGPT, September 2026''

''One sheet forming four written pages; the fourth page also bears the address and Poupinel’s annotation. ''

=== Address and annotation ===

''[Page 4; address written crosswise over the text:]''

To Father Poupinel<br />
Procurator General for the Foreign Missions

''[In Poupinel’s hand:]''

:Tonga Tabou, 25 July 1844<br />
:The Reverend Father Calinon

=== Letter ===

:''Tonga Tabou, 25 July 1844''

''My dear sir and confrère,''

;[1]: Bishop Bataillon is leaving tomorrow<ref>According to Monfat, ''Tonga'', p. 287, Bataillon embarked for the Fiji Islands on 31 July 1844.</ref> for Fiji aboard the merchant ship ''Adolphe'', which he has chartered. I have only enough time left to offer you a few words of friendship and a few others concerning the welfare of our confrères here in the missions.

;[2]: When you send another consignment, think above all of those who were here before us. Most of them need a complete outfit just as much as those who are only now setting out. All their belongings are wearing out or are already worn out. I particularly commend to you Fathers Servan, Roulleaux, and Grange, and Brother Augustin. We had to draw upon our own supplies to meet their most pressing needs.

;[3]: Never allow, my dear Father, the articles belonging to one member to be mixed with those belonging to another in the consignments. This subsequently results in deplorable confusion when people separate.<ref group="editorial">The French text has ''sépare'', corrected from ''séparent''.</ref> You should see what it is like to divide everything up aboard ship when there is not enough time, not enough crates, insufficient presence of mind, or all three at once. Some receive a great deal; others, too little. Brother Renault, for example, has just informed me that his clothes are in New Caledonia. Just try to find out whether they are coming!

;[4]: Spare no expense in obtaining sturdy trunks for us that close securely. It would be desirable for them to be lined with metal, either inside or outside. Never have padlocks fitted to them, since these are torn off by impacts and friction. Most of ours had already lost their padlocks by the time they reached Avignon. The hides covering them were gnawed by rats. The iron locks have oxidized and no longer work. You can judge how this exposes our belongings among<ref group="editorial">The French text has ''de'', corrected from ''d’une''.</ref> covetous populations who do not respect property rights. I am speaking only of the non-Christians. The locks and other metal fittings should be well-made and of copper.

;[5]: Always have as many crates made as there are chapel sets being sent, and do not place in them anything unrelated to worship. This crate is the missionary’s only sacristy cupboard. You can imagine the difficulty in which we found ourselves when each of us had to gather the pieces of his chapel set from a shared package and store them as best he could in his already overcrowded trunks. The disadvantages are easy to foresee. Give us slate altar stones. The ones you supplied are too heavy. Moreover, nearly all of them were broken.

;[6]: When preparing packages, take care that they rarely exceed 150 kilograms in weight. For this reason, some of ours had to be divided at Nuku Hiva.<ref>The ''Phaéton'', carrying Calinon and his companions, called at the Marquesas Islands, at Nuku Hiva, on 2 January 1844, but had to continue immediately to Tahiti. Their belongings did not arrive at Nuku Hiva until later, aboard another ship, and they had to wait for them in Tahiti until mid-April. See APM 031, eighth departure, Calinon’s unpublished letter to Colin of 19 March 1844, § 2; [[Girard0328|Document 328]], § 1, note 1.</ref> None of us was present, and this caused difficulties that I do not have time to relate to you. We suffered damage that made us realize the necessity of wrapping articles in oiled cloth, especially iron objects, and of scattering plenty of aromatic substances among fabrics to protect them from insects: camphor, pepper, tobacco, and so forth. Cutting instruments should also be varnished along their edges or coated with a light layer of melted wax.

;[7]: The breviaries given to the members should be sturdily bound. Each person should be given two copies.<ref group="editorial">The French text has ''exemplaires'', corrected from ''emplaires''.</ref> I know one of our men who left with us whose breviary will soon be nothing more than a collection of loose pages. He expected to find more in the packages. A vain hope.

;[8]: Father Bréhéret was obliged to give his cloak to the bishop, just as Father Favier had to give him his umbrella. Please send replacements to them at the next opportunity. Father Favier has also been deprived of his cloak as a result of an event beyond his control.

;[9]: I expect the bishop will tell you that too few of certain things were sent to him: for example, only one pair of gloves, one pair of ceremonial stockings, one hat, and so forth. I will also tell you privately, beloved confrère, that in your accounts you listed several articles as having been purchased with the money allocated to His Lordship by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, although someone stated that they were donated free of charge—for example, Father Roudaire’s statue of the Virgin and one or two other things. Forgive me for making this observation, with the assurance that I would not make it if I loved you less.

;[10]: Your notes mention paper<ref group="editorial">The words ''de papier'' were inserted above the line in the French manuscript.</ref> in two packages. The first was taken away by the Bishop of Amata. The second contained so little that, when it was divided into four lots, the individual shares were extremely small. Do not forget to send us a crate containing paper of various qualities. Send us ink in bottles as well, together with inkwells and other accessories.

;[11]: We had no bedding.<ref group="editorial">In the French manuscript, ''de lits'' replaces ''delit''.</ref> Do not forget to give some to those who leave after us. Although we are in the tropics, it is cold here during certain months of the year. Also give each person a writing desk in which to keep the things needed for writing.

;[12]: We have nothing with which<ref group="editorial">The word ''pour'' was inserted above the line in the French manuscript.</ref> to decorate the altars. Have some small rods made, although they would need to be covered with fabric to make them more seemly. Do not hesitate to send them to us in every colour and size. They can be put to excellent use in these very poor regions. We cannot give worship its imposing majesty because we lack the necessary things. No banners, no processional crosses, no choirboys’ vestments,<ref group="editorial">In the French manuscript, ''d’habits'' replaces ''d’abits''.</ref> no copes, no monstrances, no incense, and so forth. Yet it is only through outward splendour that we can surpass our Protestant adversaries. Our converts are not yet sufficiently advanced in religious knowledge to be able to dispense with such proofs.

;[13]: Almost all our confrères here ask me whether people in France think they go about without trousers. It is truly strange that no one thought of procuring any for them. Until now they have made trousers themselves from their bedsheets, but that cannot continue. It would be so easy to satisfy them on this point....

;[14]: Lightweight cassocks are needed here. Woolen cloth is unbearable except during June and July, which correspond to December and January in France. Whatever you can find that is least warm will be best.

;[15]: One very necessary thing that you would not suspect, Reverend Father, is mosquito netting for the night. These regions abound in insects, but the most harmful of all is that little nocturnal fly which harasses us constantly. It is almost as though one were sleeping among wasps. A few metres for each person of the gauze used to line the inside of hats would provide us with a barrier against this troublesome visitor.

;[16]: Those of us who have just arrived from France will soon be barefoot, because footwear is worn out aboard ship and because we shared what remained with those who had less than we did. We need lightweight shoes in these scorching climates, even if they are merely cheap goods of the kind sold at fairs and on market stalls. Give each person five or six pairs, made of fabric or anything else—it matters little—and we will leave you in peace for two years.

;[17]: The dresses sent here for the local people are valuable, but they are exhausted so quickly and are generally too small for this gigantic race. If, instead, you could send us pieces of cloth—calico, printed cotton, or any other kind—the good souls of France would save the labour of making them and would satisfy their protégés all the better.

;[18]: You would also render a great service to all our Fathers and Brothers if you sent each of them a good pair of razors. Theirs are blunt and nearly unusable. Send them sharpening stones as well. Several have asked me not to forget this observation and appear to attach the greatest importance to it.

;[19]: But the most essential thing of all, without which the work of the missions would make little progress, is to have medicines for the sick. Therefore, dear confrère, I beg you to take this matter to heart and to send us, among other substances, those I shall now name: calomel, eau de Cologne, laudanum,<ref>The printed French transcription reads ''eau d’anum''; the editor instructs the reader to understand this as ''laudanum''.</ref> opium, camphor, bluestone, alum, black and white pitch, sulfur, barley sugar, licorice root, black licorice, blistering plaster, cinchona bark, rhubarb, Epsom salt, essence of turpentine, sulfuric acid, and so forth, together with various ointments such as cerate, Tenerand cerate, and others.

;[20]: Several Fathers have asked me to point out that holy-oil cases made of copper should not be sent, because the atmosphere here is so corrosive that they oxidize easily. They should therefore be made of tin, or else of silver. If you could add a lantern for each mission station to the next consignment, you would render us a great service.

;[21]: I shall now give you a list of the articles most sought after in our missions as objects of exchange or as gifts.

;[22]: Razors; long, non-folding knives with Turkish-style blades; clothing made of any fabric, but especially in bright colours; axes of every size; adzes likewise; pipes; cooking utensils; paper and everything necessary for writing; fishhooks, especially large ones such as those used for sharks; chests and trunks that can be locked with a key or padlock; spades for digging the earth; plane irons, which are extremely sought after; empty bottles; English hand saws; flints; tinder; large scissors; large needles; thread of every colour; European-style lamps; and so forth.

;[23]: In general, the local people are beginning to disdain decorative trinkets. They no longer value toys and toilet articles. They are even becoming particular about useful or necessary objects if these are of inferior quality.

;[24]: I would have still other things to tell you, my dear Father, but one must not ask for so much at once.<ref group="editorial">The French editorial apparatus reads: ''fois pr + J’espère''.</ref> I beg you to take all these notes into consideration and to believe that, for life, I am the most sincere and devoted

:of your servants
:and friends,

::Calinon
::Missionary priest

:To the Reverend Father Poupinel,<br />
:Procurator for the Foreign Missions.

<references />
<references group="editorial" />

Girard0338 - Revision history

Merv at 02:57, 4 September 2026

Merv at 02:56, 4 September 2026