Girard0432 - Revision history

Merv at 23:52, 16 August 2022

2022-08-16T23:52:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:52, 17 August 2022
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	;[32]: Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.		;[32]: Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.
	;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.		;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.
	;[34]: So a new order of things began. We were finally able to breathe after so many trials and the Fijians, delivered from fear of Finau, seemed to reproach themselves for having been too hard to us. We even hoped that the mission was going to take hold among them, when suddenly a storm blew up that was worse than anything we had experienced up till then. The famous Ma’atu, king of Niuatoputapu, having ignited a war in Wallis, brought terror to Futuna, and spread the most hateful news about us throughout Fiji, arrived here still full of anger to get us chased out of Lakeba.<ref> Girard: Ma’afu, chief of Niuatoputapu, had taken part with his people in the civil war of Wallis, on the side of Po’oi, the Protestant chief of Wallis; he left Wallis in November 1844 after the first battles. It would appear that he is not Ma’afu, the Tongan chief, who was barely 22 when he arrived in Fiji in 1848, three years after the date of this letter. </ref> He had many people with him and four or five Wallisians who had apostatised during the journey, and through whom he confirmed all his lies. He blamed the bishop for all the troubles in Wallis, gave assurances that it was his well known intention to continue to bring about the fall of heretics at any price. He renewed old and dirty lies, saying that there were, under all the churches of Wallis, hidden apartments where they kept women whose infants were killed after the mothers had been abused, that they had seen with their own eyes these secret places and the pretended virgins who were detained there. He added other horrors with which I don’t want to soil this letter. Finally, he made us so black that the heretic Fijians of Vanua Balavu, where he had passed, wanted to come here to massacre us. These lies flew from mouth to mouth, indignation showed on all the faces. We no longer dared to show ourselves. In fact, how could we reply to these people who said they had seen the things they recounted? This famous chief was the great friend of anyone about to die. For us it was like these two ferocious beasts had been able to join together. But God did not permit this and his providence, which was watching over us, brought the remedy out of the excess of the evil itself because the Fijians, who had been uncritical at first of these hateful rumours, later began to reflect, began to doubt, and the more sensible of them, who had kept silent, giving the lead were not afraid to say out loud that these stories were too frightful to be true. When we saw this happy return of spirits we also lifted our voices to defend and avenge the truth which had been so malignantly attacked. Little by little the storm abated, not always without leaving some traces of its passage because we were not able to totally destroy all these calumnies, some of which might still remain in some heads less sensible than others. Besides, the heretics were not able to persuade those whom they had the greatest interest to deceive. The king and the Fijian chiefs had enough judgement to discover from the first glance the falsity of all these rumours, as I had learned from the mouth of the king himself, because having gone to visit him at the height of the storm and having asked him what they thought of the news from Wallis, he replied without hesitation: “We Fijians know that these are pure lies.”		;[34]: So a new order of things began. We were finally able to breathe after so many trials and the Fijians, delivered from fear of Finau, seemed to reproach themselves for having been too hard to us. We even hoped that the mission was going to take hold among them, when suddenly a storm blew up that was worse than anything we had experienced up till then. The famous Ma’atu, king of Niuatoputapu, having ignited a war in Wallis, brought terror to Futuna, and spread the most hateful news about us throughout Fiji, arrived here still full of anger to get us chased out of Lakeba.<ref> Girard: Ma’afu, chief of Niuatoputapu, had taken part with his people in the civil war of Wallis, on the side of Po’oi, the Protestant chief of Wallis; he left Wallis in November 1844 after the first battles. It would appear that he is not Ma’afu, the Tongan chief, who was barely 22 when he arrived in Fiji in 1848, three years after the date of this letter. </ref> He had many people with him and four or five Wallisians who had apostatised during the journey, and through whom he confirmed all his lies. He blamed the bishop for all the troubles in Wallis, gave assurances that it was his well known intention to continue to bring about the fall of heretics at any price. He renewed old and dirty lies, saying that there were, under all the churches of Wallis, hidden apartments where they kept women whose infants were killed after the mothers had been abused, that they had seen with their own eyes these secret places and the pretended virgins who were detained there. He added other horrors with which I don’t want to soil this letter. Finally, he made us so black that the heretic Fijians of Vanua Balavu, where he had passed, wanted to come here to massacre us. These lies flew from mouth to mouth, indignation showed on all the faces. We no longer dared to show ourselves. In fact, how could we reply to these people who said they had seen the things they recounted? This famous chief was the great friend of anyone about to die. For us it was like these two ferocious beasts had been able to join together.
			;[35]: But God did not permit this and his providence, which was watching over us, brought the remedy out of the excess of the evil itself because the Fijians, who had been uncritical at first of these hateful rumours, later began to reflect, began to doubt, and the more sensible of them, who had kept silent, giving the lead were not afraid to say out loud that these stories were too frightful to be true. When we saw this happy return of spirits we also lifted our voices to defend and avenge the truth which had been so malignantly attacked. Little by little the storm abated, not always without leaving some traces of its passage because we were not able to totally destroy all these calumnies, some of which might still remain in some heads less sensible than others. Besides, the heretics were not able to persuade those whom they had the greatest interest to deceive. The king and the Fijian chiefs had enough judgement to discover from the first glance the falsity of all these rumours, as I had learned from the mouth of the king himself, because having gone to visit him at the height of the storm and having asked him what they thought of the news from Wallis, he replied without hesitation: “We Fijians know that these are pure lies.”
	;[36]: We took advantage of the peace that we were given to take up again the work on the little house that we were hurrying to put up, so that we could shelter from the rain from which our old hut, badly covered and all in ruins, didn’t protect us enough. Besides it was so small that brother was obliged more often to lie down under the stars. We have received no help from the heretics, who are not afraid to say to our faces that when the house is finished, they will burn it down. These threats, which we take as an insult rather than as a plan of action, only stir up our eagerness. We went with our converts to search in the mountains and among the rocks for big pieces of wood which we carried on our shoulders. Everyone played their part. But I was not able to share in this noble work with my confreres until the end: sickness stopped me.		;[36]: We took advantage of the peace that we were given to take up again the work on the little house that we were hurrying to put up, so that we could shelter from the rain from which our old hut, badly covered and all in ruins, didn’t protect us enough. Besides it was so small that brother was obliged more often to lie down under the stars. We have received no help from the heretics, who are not afraid to say to our faces that when the house is finished, they will burn it down. These threats, which we take as an insult rather than as a plan of action, only stir up our eagerness. We went with our converts to search in the mountains and among the rocks for big pieces of wood which we carried on our shoulders. Everyone played their part. But I was not able to share in this noble work with my confreres until the end: sickness stopped me.
	;[37]: The bad food which we had been eating had upset my stomach. This had been a problem for me for several months and had sapped my strength without my realising it. The harm ended up by degenerating into a flow of blood, <ref>This expression “a flow of blood” occurs several times in this book, and was suffered not only by Fr. Roulleaux, but by several other people in this story. I have not been able to find out what is the medical condition it refers to. In general terms it must be some sort of bleeding.</ref>which is often enough fatal in hot countries. Since we had neither medicine nor food available, I was soon reduced to such a thin and weak state that I believed that this time my hour had come. I thought to put things in order to prepare for death which could not be far off. One night I complained to the Blessed Virgin that I was like an abandoned child and that she had no pity for me. This good mother was without doubt touched because help was not made to wait, and it came from a direction that one would have least expected. That same morning, the ministers send word to say, through an Englishman who worked for them, that everything in their houses was at my service and that I had only to ask for what I wanted. They came themselves in the evening to see me and without break during six weeks that the sickness lasted they visited me two times a day and sent me from their table the necessary things that we could not get here. As there had been some of their people who had died of this sickness in Fiji, they had plenty of medicine to treat it, with instructions on how to administer it. Also they succeeded in putting me in a passable state of health, although I have not recovered all my strength, and when I started to get better asthma made its presence felt, which has bothered me a lot and made me pass part of the nights not sleeping. I have to say in truth that they have helped me to recover with all possible zeal.		;[37]: The bad food which we had been eating had upset my stomach. This had been a problem for me for several months and had sapped my strength without my realising it. The harm ended up by degenerating into a flow of blood, <ref>This expression “a flow of blood” occurs several times in this book, and was suffered not only by Fr. Roulleaux, but by several other people in this story. I have not been able to find out what is the medical condition it refers to. In general terms it must be some sort of bleeding.</ref>which is often enough fatal in hot countries. Since we had neither medicine nor food available, I was soon reduced to such a thin and weak state that I believed that this time my hour had come. I thought to put things in order to prepare for death which could not be far off. One night I complained to the Blessed Virgin that I was like an abandoned child and that she had no pity for me. This good mother was without doubt touched because help was not made to wait, and it came from a direction that one would have least expected. That same morning, the ministers send word to say, through an Englishman who worked for them, that everything in their houses was at my service and that I had only to ask for what I wanted. They came themselves in the evening to see me and without break during six weeks that the sickness lasted they visited me two times a day and sent me from their table the necessary things that we could not get here. As there had been some of their people who had died of this sickness in Fiji, they had plenty of medicine to treat it, with instructions on how to administer it. Also they succeeded in putting me in a passable state of health, although I have not recovered all my strength, and when I started to get better asthma made its presence felt, which has bothered me a lot and made me pass part of the nights not sleeping. I have to say in truth that they have helped me to recover with all possible zeal.

Merv at 23:51, 16 August 2022

2022-08-16T23:51:23Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:51, 17 August 2022
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	;[29]: Hunger and sickness were not the only trials we had then. The ministers, the same ones at this time, made incredible efforts to win back the two young people who had left them. They entreated them through their relatives, subjected them to the jokes of their friends about rosaries, they themselves seized every encounter to embarrass them by objections which we destroyed as they came up. Finally, seeing that all this was useless, they had recourse to more powerful means: to authority and to force. They came one Friday, accompanied by Finau and a crowd of chiefs and heretic catechists, to do their preaching in our village and in front of our door. Having finished the explanation of the bible they retired with a modest air, like people who were foreign to all that was going on.		;[29]: Hunger and sickness were not the only trials we had then. The ministers, the same ones at this time, made incredible efforts to win back the two young people who had left them. They entreated them through their relatives, subjected them to the jokes of their friends about rosaries, they themselves seized every encounter to embarrass them by objections which we destroyed as they came up. Finally, seeing that all this was useless, they had recourse to more powerful means: to authority and to force. They came one Friday, accompanied by Finau and a crowd of chiefs and heretic catechists, to do their preaching in our village and in front of our door. Having finished the explanation of the bible they retired with a modest air, like people who were foreign to all that was going on.
	;[30]: The chief alone remained with his numerous followers. They were seated in a circle in front of him to have kava. We saw all this from our little hut. Already they had got one of the deserters from heresy to appear. The other was at that moment with us. A Fijian came to look for him with an insolent air and to snatch him, so to speak, from our hands. We then believed that it was our duty to show ourselves, and we went outside at that same moment. Finau, seeing us, seemed a bit embarrassed. He immediately recovered himself, exchanged some words with his people and invited us to sit and drink kava. We were not in favour, and we refused. Then he spoke to our catechumens. His expressions were very moderate, he exhorted them to have confidence in him and in their relatives rather than in two strangers whom they didn’t know. But he seemed very disturbed and we could see that he had to force himself to contain his indignation and the hatred that he had for us. All his looks were fixed on us and seemed to question us. They were hostile looks and the chief seemed besides to be badly disposed, so we judged it wisest to keep silent and to reply only by our expression and to maintain that. Events showed that we would have spoken in vain. Our two catechumens, having understood from the angry manner of their chief what they could expect, were cowards and returned to heresy, one that same evening, the other the next day. We had only a few weeks, we had no more time to instruct and strengthen them. For the rest, we don’t look on them as lost to our religion. Everything shows that they are still attached by heart and by conviction, and we hope that they will come back when the mission will have gained a little substance.		;[30]: The chief alone remained with his numerous followers. They were seated in a circle in front of him to have kava. We saw all this from our little hut. Already they had got one of the deserters from heresy to appear. The other was at that moment with us. A Fijian came to look for him with an insolent air and to snatch him, so to speak, from our hands. We then believed that it was our duty to show ourselves, and we went outside at that same moment. Finau, seeing us, seemed a bit embarrassed. He immediately recovered himself, exchanged some words with his people and invited us to sit and drink kava. We were not in favour, and we refused. Then he spoke to our catechumens. His expressions were very moderate, he exhorted them to have confidence in him and in their relatives rather than in two strangers whom they didn’t know. But he seemed very disturbed and we could see that he had to force himself to contain his indignation and the hatred that he had for us. All his looks were fixed on us and seemed to question us. They were hostile looks and the chief seemed besides to be badly disposed, so we judged it wisest to keep silent and to reply only by our expression and to maintain that. Events showed that we would have spoken in vain. Our two catechumens, having understood from the angry manner of their chief what they could expect, were cowards and returned to heresy, one that same evening, the other the next day. We had only a few weeks, we had no more time to instruct and strengthen them. For the rest, we don’t look on them as lost to our religion. Everything shows that they are still attached by heart and by conviction, and we hope that they will come back when the mission will have gained a little substance.
	;[31]: Heresy triumphed. It had made Marie-Joseph apostatise, it came to take away two of our catechumens and to remove from us some sort of hope of making new converts by this act of open persecution. But its triumph was soon disturbed; scarcely five weeks later Finau died after being sick for two days, at almost the same day and the same hour at which he had got our catechumens to renounce their religion. The hand of God, in striking him, took away from heresy its strongest support and delivered us from a truly cruel enemy. This man had a profound hatred of our religion. He could neither see us nor hear speak of us without anger immediately showing on his face. It is probable enough that he had resolved to get rid of us and he had a good reason for this, as we shall see further on. Everyone here bent before his authority because the king, without liking it, was not able to do anything without his agreement, regarding him as a necessary support against the often unjust and unreasonable pretensions of the court of Bau, to which he is a tributary. Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.		;[31]: Heresy triumphed. It had made Marie-Joseph apostatise, it came to take away two of our catechumens and to remove from us some sort of hope of making new converts by this act of open persecution. But its triumph was soon disturbed; scarcely five weeks later Finau died after being sick for two days, at almost the same day and the same hour at which he had got our catechumens to renounce their religion. The hand of God, in striking him, took away from heresy its strongest support and delivered us from a truly cruel enemy. This man had a profound hatred of our religion. He could neither see us nor hear speak of us without anger immediately showing on his face. It is probable enough that he had resolved to get rid of us and he had a good reason for this, as we shall see further on. Everyone here bent before his authority because the king, without liking it, was not able to do anything without his agreement, regarding him as a necessary support against the often unjust and unreasonable pretensions of the court of Bau, to which he is a tributary.
			;[32]: Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.
	;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.		;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.
	;[34]: So a new order of things began. We were finally able to breathe after so many trials and the Fijians, delivered from fear of Finau, seemed to reproach themselves for having been too hard to us. We even hoped that the mission was going to take hold among them, when suddenly a storm blew up that was worse than anything we had experienced up till then. The famous Ma’atu, king of Niuatoputapu, having ignited a war in Wallis, brought terror to Futuna, and spread the most hateful news about us throughout Fiji, arrived here still full of anger to get us chased out of Lakeba.<ref> Girard: Ma’afu, chief of Niuatoputapu, had taken part with his people in the civil war of Wallis, on the side of Po’oi, the Protestant chief of Wallis; he left Wallis in November 1844 after the first battles. It would appear that he is not Ma’afu, the Tongan chief, who was barely 22 when he arrived in Fiji in 1848, three years after the date of this letter. </ref> He had many people with him and four or five Wallisians who had apostatised during the journey, and through whom he confirmed all his lies. He blamed the bishop for all the troubles in Wallis, gave assurances that it was his well known intention to continue to bring about the fall of heretics at any price. He renewed old and dirty lies, saying that there were, under all the churches of Wallis, hidden apartments where they kept women whose infants were killed after the mothers had been abused, that they had seen with their own eyes these secret places and the pretended virgins who were detained there. He added other horrors with which I don’t want to soil this letter. Finally, he made us so black that the heretic Fijians of Vanua Balavu, where he had passed, wanted to come here to massacre us. These lies flew from mouth to mouth, indignation showed on all the faces. We no longer dared to show ourselves. In fact, how could we reply to these people who said they had seen the things they recounted? This famous chief was the great friend of anyone about to die. For us it was like these two ferocious beasts had been able to join together. But God did not permit this and his providence, which was watching over us, brought the remedy out of the excess of the evil itself because the Fijians, who had been uncritical at first of these hateful rumours, later began to reflect, began to doubt, and the more sensible of them, who had kept silent, giving the lead were not afraid to say out loud that these stories were too frightful to be true. When we saw this happy return of spirits we also lifted our voices to defend and avenge the truth which had been so malignantly attacked. Little by little the storm abated, not always without leaving some traces of its passage because we were not able to totally destroy all these calumnies, some of which might still remain in some heads less sensible than others. Besides, the heretics were not able to persuade those whom they had the greatest interest to deceive. The king and the Fijian chiefs had enough judgement to discover from the first glance the falsity of all these rumours, as I had learned from the mouth of the king himself, because having gone to visit him at the height of the storm and having asked him what they thought of the news from Wallis, he replied without hesitation: “We Fijians know that these are pure lies.”		;[34]: So a new order of things began. We were finally able to breathe after so many trials and the Fijians, delivered from fear of Finau, seemed to reproach themselves for having been too hard to us. We even hoped that the mission was going to take hold among them, when suddenly a storm blew up that was worse than anything we had experienced up till then. The famous Ma’atu, king of Niuatoputapu, having ignited a war in Wallis, brought terror to Futuna, and spread the most hateful news about us throughout Fiji, arrived here still full of anger to get us chased out of Lakeba.<ref> Girard: Ma’afu, chief of Niuatoputapu, had taken part with his people in the civil war of Wallis, on the side of Po’oi, the Protestant chief of Wallis; he left Wallis in November 1844 after the first battles. It would appear that he is not Ma’afu, the Tongan chief, who was barely 22 when he arrived in Fiji in 1848, three years after the date of this letter. </ref> He had many people with him and four or five Wallisians who had apostatised during the journey, and through whom he confirmed all his lies. He blamed the bishop for all the troubles in Wallis, gave assurances that it was his well known intention to continue to bring about the fall of heretics at any price. He renewed old and dirty lies, saying that there were, under all the churches of Wallis, hidden apartments where they kept women whose infants were killed after the mothers had been abused, that they had seen with their own eyes these secret places and the pretended virgins who were detained there. He added other horrors with which I don’t want to soil this letter. Finally, he made us so black that the heretic Fijians of Vanua Balavu, where he had passed, wanted to come here to massacre us. These lies flew from mouth to mouth, indignation showed on all the faces. We no longer dared to show ourselves. In fact, how could we reply to these people who said they had seen the things they recounted? This famous chief was the great friend of anyone about to die. For us it was like these two ferocious beasts had been able to join together. But God did not permit this and his providence, which was watching over us, brought the remedy out of the excess of the evil itself because the Fijians, who had been uncritical at first of these hateful rumours, later began to reflect, began to doubt, and the more sensible of them, who had kept silent, giving the lead were not afraid to say out loud that these stories were too frightful to be true. When we saw this happy return of spirits we also lifted our voices to defend and avenge the truth which had been so malignantly attacked. Little by little the storm abated, not always without leaving some traces of its passage because we were not able to totally destroy all these calumnies, some of which might still remain in some heads less sensible than others. Besides, the heretics were not able to persuade those whom they had the greatest interest to deceive. The king and the Fijian chiefs had enough judgement to discover from the first glance the falsity of all these rumours, as I had learned from the mouth of the king himself, because having gone to visit him at the height of the storm and having asked him what they thought of the news from Wallis, he replied without hesitation: “We Fijians know that these are pure lies.”

Merv at 23:50, 16 August 2022

2022-08-16T23:50:15Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:50, 17 August 2022
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	;[27]: This did not put him off the uselessness of the means used up till then. He wanted to try himself to see if he could be more successful than the others. So he came to see us in our little hut. I saw him from a distance as he came with hurried steps. He was alone and cast angry looks at our hut. I judged that it would be necessary to adopt a gentle tone to calm his irritated heart. So I hurried to spread a mat myself to present him with a nice kava root, and to show the most smiling face that I could. He hardly gave me his hand. Every time he lifted his eyes to Mosese, who was seated facing him, his face again took on an angry expression. After some moments of silence he tried two or three times to say, “I have come to see if you are definitely leaving, which I know.” I didn’t hurry before answering that he had not drunk any kava. He seemed to calm down a little. Then I said to him that the bishop had intended to take us to Somosomo, but he had been held back by the fear of the captain; that it had also been our intention at first, but wearied by so much travelling and seeing our trunks and boxes damaged by loading and unloading so many times, we wanted to wait for his return, and besides their canoes were not safe and we were afraid to go on them.		;[27]: This did not put him off the uselessness of the means used up till then. He wanted to try himself to see if he could be more successful than the others. So he came to see us in our little hut. I saw him from a distance as he came with hurried steps. He was alone and cast angry looks at our hut. I judged that it would be necessary to adopt a gentle tone to calm his irritated heart. So I hurried to spread a mat myself to present him with a nice kava root, and to show the most smiling face that I could. He hardly gave me his hand. Every time he lifted his eyes to Mosese, who was seated facing him, his face again took on an angry expression. After some moments of silence he tried two or three times to say, “I have come to see if you are definitely leaving, which I know.” I didn’t hurry before answering that he had not drunk any kava. He seemed to calm down a little. Then I said to him that the bishop had intended to take us to Somosomo, but he had been held back by the fear of the captain; that it had also been our intention at first, but wearied by so much travelling and seeing our trunks and boxes damaged by loading and unloading so many times, we wanted to wait for his return, and besides their canoes were not safe and we were afraid to go on them.
	;[28]:He seemed to think over these reasons and returned home seeming satisfied, but it was probably only in appearance because either the same day or the next day he ordered his chiefs to take care that no one brought us anything to eat, nor helped us to put up any buildings. His orders forbidding these things were observed faithfully. They went even further, if they did not always obey in that, they stole at night the yams of Mosese and his convert, which they knew to be our only source of food. Judge, very reverend father, the sad plight in which we found ourselves. By such severe measures within a few days we had very little to eat. Our two catechists from Wallis, foreigners here, passed whole days without eating. The others, who were bolder, went into houses and devoured whatever they could find. For ourselves we had hardly anything apart from pawpaw, a small local fruit, which people only eat in the time of famine, and which our converts went to look for in the bush for us. Then the two ministers, who were not ignorant of what was going on, sent us through their domestic staff, some yams with a piece of fresh pork. Did they do this from a certain feeling of humanity? I am led to believe it. Whatever the reason, we did not believe that we could accept it. Fr. Breheret sent it back quite promptly. We contented ourselves with thanking them through Mosese, sending through him the food they had sent to us. However, at the end of some weeks, we both fell sick. Fr. Breheret recovered fairly quickly. For myself, exhausted already long before, I truly thought that I was going to be put out of action. My stomach was so irritated that I was no longer able to take anything. I also had at the same time a bad cough, which was a worry. The sickness did not always make great progress. It disappeared at the very moment when we least expected it. I recommended myself especially to Fr. Chanel, whose cross I wore. I have remained convinced that it was he who saved me.		;[28]:He seemed to think over these reasons and returned home seeming satisfied, but it was probably only in appearance because either the same day or the next day he ordered his chiefs to take care that no one brought us anything to eat, nor helped us to put up any buildings. His orders forbidding these things were observed faithfully. They went even further, if they did not always obey in that, they stole at night the yams of Mosese and his convert, which they knew to be our only source of food. Judge, very reverend father, the sad plight in which we found ourselves. By such severe measures within a few days we had very little to eat. Our two catechists from Wallis, foreigners here, passed whole days without eating. The others, who were bolder, went into houses and devoured whatever they could find. For ourselves we had hardly anything apart from pawpaw, a small local fruit, which people only eat in the time of famine, and which our converts went to look for in the bush for us. Then the two ministers, who were not ignorant of what was going on, sent us through their domestic staff, some yams with a piece of fresh pork. Did they do this from a certain feeling of humanity? I am led to believe it. Whatever the reason, we did not believe that we could accept it. Fr. Breheret sent it back quite promptly. We contented ourselves with thanking them through Mosese, sending through him the food they had sent to us. However, at the end of some weeks, we both fell sick. Fr. Breheret recovered fairly quickly. For myself, exhausted already long before, I truly thought that I was going to be put out of action. My stomach was so irritated that I was no longer able to take anything. I also had at the same time a bad cough, which was a worry. The sickness did not always make great progress. It disappeared at the very moment when we least expected it. I recommended myself especially to Fr. Chanel, whose cross I wore. I have remained convinced that it was he who saved me.
	;[29]: Hunger and sickness were not the only trials we had then. The ministers, the same ones at this time, made incredible efforts to win back the two young people who had left them. They entreated them through their relatives, subjected them to the jokes of their friends about rosaries, they themselves seized every encounter to embarrass them by objections which we destroyed as they came up. Finally, seeing that all this was useless, they had recourse to more powerful means: to authority and to force. They came one Friday, accompanied by Finau and a crowd of chiefs and heretic catechists, to do their preaching in our village and in front of our door. Having finished the explanation of the bible they retired with a modest air, like people who were foreign to all that was going on. The chief alone remained with his numerous followers. They were seated in a circle in front of him to have kava. We saw all this from our little hut. Already they had got one of the deserters from heresy to appear. The other was at that moment with us. A Fijian came to look for him with an insolent air and to snatch him, so to speak, from our hands. We then believed that it was our duty to show ourselves, and we went outside at that same moment. Finau, seeing us, seemed a bit embarrassed. He immediately recovered himself, exchanged some words with his people and invited us to sit and drink kava. We were not in favour, and we refused. Then he spoke to our catechumens. His expressions were very moderate, he exhorted them to have confidence in him and in their relatives rather than in two strangers whom they didn’t know. But he seemed very disturbed and we could see that he had to force himself to contain his indignation and the hatred that he had for us. All his looks were fixed on us and seemed to question us. They were hostile looks and the chief seemed besides to be badly disposed, so we judged it wisest to keep silent and to reply only by our expression and to maintain that. Events showed that we would have spoken in vain. Our two catechumens, having understood from the angry manner of their chief what they could expect, were cowards and returned to heresy, one that same evening, the other the next day. We had only a few weeks, we had no more time to instruct and strengthen them. For the rest, we don’t look on them as lost to our religion. Everything shows that they are still attached by heart and by conviction, and we hope that they will come back when the mission will have gained a little substance.		;[29]: Hunger and sickness were not the only trials we had then. The ministers, the same ones at this time, made incredible efforts to win back the two young people who had left them. They entreated them through their relatives, subjected them to the jokes of their friends about rosaries, they themselves seized every encounter to embarrass them by objections which we destroyed as they came up. Finally, seeing that all this was useless, they had recourse to more powerful means: to authority and to force. They came one Friday, accompanied by Finau and a crowd of chiefs and heretic catechists, to do their preaching in our village and in front of our door. Having finished the explanation of the bible they retired with a modest air, like people who were foreign to all that was going on.
			;[30]: The chief alone remained with his numerous followers. They were seated in a circle in front of him to have kava. We saw all this from our little hut. Already they had got one of the deserters from heresy to appear. The other was at that moment with us. A Fijian came to look for him with an insolent air and to snatch him, so to speak, from our hands. We then believed that it was our duty to show ourselves, and we went outside at that same moment. Finau, seeing us, seemed a bit embarrassed. He immediately recovered himself, exchanged some words with his people and invited us to sit and drink kava. We were not in favour, and we refused. Then he spoke to our catechumens. His expressions were very moderate, he exhorted them to have confidence in him and in their relatives rather than in two strangers whom they didn’t know. But he seemed very disturbed and we could see that he had to force himself to contain his indignation and the hatred that he had for us. All his looks were fixed on us and seemed to question us. They were hostile looks and the chief seemed besides to be badly disposed, so we judged it wisest to keep silent and to reply only by our expression and to maintain that. Events showed that we would have spoken in vain. Our two catechumens, having understood from the angry manner of their chief what they could expect, were cowards and returned to heresy, one that same evening, the other the next day. We had only a few weeks, we had no more time to instruct and strengthen them. For the rest, we don’t look on them as lost to our religion. Everything shows that they are still attached by heart and by conviction, and we hope that they will come back when the mission will have gained a little substance.
	;[31]: Heresy triumphed. It had made Marie-Joseph apostatise, it came to take away two of our catechumens and to remove from us some sort of hope of making new converts by this act of open persecution. But its triumph was soon disturbed; scarcely five weeks later Finau died after being sick for two days, at almost the same day and the same hour at which he had got our catechumens to renounce their religion. The hand of God, in striking him, took away from heresy its strongest support and delivered us from a truly cruel enemy. This man had a profound hatred of our religion. He could neither see us nor hear speak of us without anger immediately showing on his face. It is probable enough that he had resolved to get rid of us and he had a good reason for this, as we shall see further on. Everyone here bent before his authority because the king, without liking it, was not able to do anything without his agreement, regarding him as a necessary support against the often unjust and unreasonable pretensions of the court of Bau, to which he is a tributary. Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.		;[31]: Heresy triumphed. It had made Marie-Joseph apostatise, it came to take away two of our catechumens and to remove from us some sort of hope of making new converts by this act of open persecution. But its triumph was soon disturbed; scarcely five weeks later Finau died after being sick for two days, at almost the same day and the same hour at which he had got our catechumens to renounce their religion. The hand of God, in striking him, took away from heresy its strongest support and delivered us from a truly cruel enemy. This man had a profound hatred of our religion. He could neither see us nor hear speak of us without anger immediately showing on his face. It is probable enough that he had resolved to get rid of us and he had a good reason for this, as we shall see further on. Everyone here bent before his authority because the king, without liking it, was not able to do anything without his agreement, regarding him as a necessary support against the often unjust and unreasonable pretensions of the court of Bau, to which he is a tributary. Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.
	;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.		;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.

Merv at 23:48, 16 August 2022

2022-08-16T23:48:13Z

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	;[41]: There remains now for me to say something about the Fijians, and to add some reflections that are not written in my letter.		;[41]: There remains now for me to say something about the Fijians, and to add some reflections that are not written in my letter.
	;[42]: I still don’t have exact ideas about this archipelago. Therefore I shall speak only of rather general things. I don’t think that the population is more than one hundred thousand, from the information that I have received. There are only two independent lands: Bau, a small peninsula of Viti Levu, and Somosomo, an island next to Vanua Levu; Somosomo recognises the superiority of Bau. All the other islands and the different people of the two big islands obey one or other of these two powers and pay them tribute, that is to say they provide them annually with a certain quantity of fibre,<ref> French “tresse” (English “fibre”) appears often in this book. The Fijian word is “magimagi”, a strong thread made from the fibre of coconut husks. It was used to tie together the large timbers of Fijian traditional houses, as they had no nails. It is still seen in Fiji traditional buildings, e.g. at tourist resorts. </ref> tapa, mats etc.		;[42]: I still don’t have exact ideas about this archipelago. Therefore I shall speak only of rather general things. I don’t think that the population is more than one hundred thousand, from the information that I have received. There are only two independent lands: Bau, a small peninsula of Viti Levu, and Somosomo, an island next to Vanua Levu; Somosomo recognises the superiority of Bau. All the other islands and the different people of the two big islands obey one or other of these two powers and pay them tribute, that is to say they provide them annually with a certain quantity of fibre,<ref> French “tresse” (English “fibre”) appears often in this book. The Fijian word is “magimagi”, a strong thread made from the fibre of coconut husks. It was used to tie together the large timbers of Fijian traditional houses, as they had no nails. It is still seen in Fiji traditional buildings, e.g. at tourist resorts. </ref> tapa, mats etc.
	;[43]: These islands and people of second rank are not, however, independent of each other. They form small kingdoms, which also have their tributary islands. So you can say that there is a hierarchy of powers, at the head of which are Bau and Somosomo. It is not only that these two reigning powers have material forces superior to the others; sometimes even they are beaten in battle. But it is from time immemorial that their right to command in Fiji is recognised, so that after beating them one does not cease for that reason to obey them. These people are almost continually at war, not to make conquests, but to get revenge for hurts, and these wars are wars of extermination. All who fall in battle are massacred on the battlefield, cooked and eaten. There is horrific cannibalism. In the war going on at present between Bau and Rewa, they eat each other like wild animals. At any moment you can see big canoes arriving, filled with human bodies destined for the kitchen. In times of peace, the chiefs, for the least reason, will have someone clubbed senseless. If it is a person of no rank, they will eat him; if he is a chief, they are satisfied to take out only the heart, the liver and the tongue, which they cook for the chief, and the body is buried. Sometimes they send to have whole villages massacred to make a feast. In Vanua Levu they track each other in the bush like wild animals, to then eat them. There are some islands where they add insult to this ferocity. They cut off the head of the victim, which they soak well in oil, they comb and prepare the hair neatly. Then when the body has been cooked, they replace the head to serve as an ornament at this frightful feast. Human flesh is almost their ordinary food. They speak of delicate pieces of the human body with a fierce smile that would make you shudder. Cruelty and vengeance are the foundation of their character. It is a principle in Fiji that one never pardons. This year the king of Bau had his brother killed, one of his sons, and one of his nephews. Kamisese, of whom I spoke at the beginning of this letter, is also destined to have the same ending. He fled from the middle of his family to avoid death and has come to seek exile in these eastern islands, where mixing with the Tongans has moderated a little the Fijian ferocity. It is still the custom in Fiji to massacre unfortunate people, Fijians or whites, who are shipwrecked. The Fijians of the island where they are shipwrecked throw themselves on them to massacre them as they come out of the water; they are cooked in a Fijian oven and eaten. That is the right of the people, among themselves.		;[43]: These islands and people of second rank are not, however, independent of each other. They form small kingdoms, which also have their tributary islands. So you can say that there is a hierarchy of powers, at the head of which are Bau and Somosomo. It is not only that these two reigning powers have material forces superior to the others; sometimes even they are beaten in battle. But it is from time immemorial that their right to command in Fiji is recognised, so that after beating them one does not cease for that reason to obey them.
			;[44]: These people are almost continually at war, not to make conquests, but to get revenge for hurts, and these wars are wars of extermination. All who fall in battle are massacred on the battlefield, cooked and eaten. There is horrific cannibalism. In the war going on at present between Bau and Rewa, they eat each other like wild animals. At any moment you can see big canoes arriving, filled with human bodies destined for the kitchen. In times of peace, the chiefs, for the least reason, will have someone clubbed senseless. If it is a person of no rank, they will eat him; if he is a chief, they are satisfied to take out only the heart, the liver and the tongue, which they cook for the chief, and the body is buried. Sometimes they send to have whole villages massacred to make a feast. In Vanua Levu they track each other in the bush like wild animals, to then eat them. There are some islands where they add insult to this ferocity. They cut off the head of the victim, which they soak well in oil, they comb and prepare the hair neatly. Then when the body has been cooked, they replace the head to serve as an ornament at this frightful feast. Human flesh is almost their ordinary food. They speak of delicate pieces of the human body with a fierce smile that would make you shudder. Cruelty and vengeance are the foundation of their character. It is a principle in Fiji that one never pardons. This year the king of Bau had his brother killed, one of his sons, and one of his nephews. Kamisese, of whom I spoke at the beginning of this letter, is also destined to have the same ending. He fled from the middle of his family to avoid death and has come to seek exile in these eastern islands, where mixing with the Tongans has moderated a little the Fijian ferocity. It is still the custom in Fiji to massacre unfortunate people, Fijians or whites, who are shipwrecked. The Fijians of the island where they are shipwrecked throw themselves on them to massacre them as they come out of the water; they are cooked in a Fijian oven and eaten. That is the right of the people, among themselves.
	;[45]: As well as cannibalism there is polygamy. There are even examples of polyandry. The big chief of Bau has more than one hundred wives. His oldest son, who also has the name of Tui, has perhaps the same number. It is the same thing at Somosomo. The chief of Lakeba has more than forty. The chiefs, following the example of the king, multiply wives in proportion to their rank, so that among the ordinary people a good number of the men are forced to live celibate. At the death of these kings and chiefs, they strangle perhaps one of their wives to honour the dead person. The choice falls on the noblest ones. They strangled six on the death of the last king of Lakeba. At Somosomo, besides the wives, they also kill some common men to honour the death of the king. You would be tempted to believe, after all these calculations, that nearly half of the population dies a violent death.		;[45]: As well as cannibalism there is polygamy. There are even examples of polyandry. The big chief of Bau has more than one hundred wives. His oldest son, who also has the name of Tui, has perhaps the same number. It is the same thing at Somosomo. The chief of Lakeba has more than forty. The chiefs, following the example of the king, multiply wives in proportion to their rank, so that among the ordinary people a good number of the men are forced to live celibate. At the death of these kings and chiefs, they strangle perhaps one of their wives to honour the dead person. The choice falls on the noblest ones. They strangled six on the death of the last king of Lakeba. At Somosomo, besides the wives, they also kill some common men to honour the death of the king. You would be tempted to believe, after all these calculations, that nearly half of the population dies a violent death.
	;[46]: These, very reverend father, are the people to whom providence has sent us. How will the gentle and chaste commandments of the Gospel take root in these degraded hearts, on top of all that we have seen up till now? I don’t know; God knows. How even do we establish priests in the middle of these inhospitable people if we can’t frighten them by the frequent appearance of warships? However the time seems to have come for them to be evangelised, to not leave heresy to advance everywhere, which is more difficult even than destroying paganism. When the Fijians have tasted the poison of heresy, they are as it were bewitched; we have no more hold over them. They become false, hypocrites, secretive. That is written on their faces. One sees, following that, an anxious, deceitful, and hateful manner. We can say, in all truth, that heresy perverts the pagans, destroying in them the little bit of good that idolatry had left.		;[46]: These, very reverend father, are the people to whom providence has sent us. How will the gentle and chaste commandments of the Gospel take root in these degraded hearts, on top of all that we have seen up till now? I don’t know; God knows. How even do we establish priests in the middle of these inhospitable people if we can’t frighten them by the frequent appearance of warships? However the time seems to have come for them to be evangelised, to not leave heresy to advance everywhere, which is more difficult even than destroying paganism. When the Fijians have tasted the poison of heresy, they are as it were bewitched; we have no more hold over them. They become false, hypocrites, secretive. That is written on their faces. One sees, following that, an anxious, deceitful, and hateful manner. We can say, in all truth, that heresy perverts the pagans, destroying in them the little bit of good that idolatry had left.

Merv at 23:46, 16 August 2022

2022-08-16T23:46:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:46, 17 August 2022
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	:Based on the document sent, [[APM]] OF 208 (Fiji) Roulleaux.		''Based on the document sent, [[APM]] OF 208 (Fiji) Roulleaux.''

			''Six sheets forming 24 written pages. In the register of letters, ED1, one copy carries the number 172.''

	~~:Six sheets forming 24 written pages. In the register of letters, ED1, one copy carries the number 172.~~

	;[p. 1]:		;[p. 1]:

Merv at 23:44, 16 August 2022

2022-08-16T23:44:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:44, 17 August 2022
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	;[31]: Heresy triumphed. It had made Marie-Joseph apostatise, it came to take away two of our catechumens and to remove from us some sort of hope of making new converts by this act of open persecution. But its triumph was soon disturbed; scarcely five weeks later Finau died after being sick for two days, at almost the same day and the same hour at which he had got our catechumens to renounce their religion. The hand of God, in striking him, took away from heresy its strongest support and delivered us from a truly cruel enemy. This man had a profound hatred of our religion. He could neither see us nor hear speak of us without anger immediately showing on his face. It is probable enough that he had resolved to get rid of us and he had a good reason for this, as we shall see further on. Everyone here bent before his authority because the king, without liking it, was not able to do anything without his agreement, regarding him as a necessary support against the often unjust and unreasonable pretensions of the court of Bau, to which he is a tributary. Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.		;[31]: Heresy triumphed. It had made Marie-Joseph apostatise, it came to take away two of our catechumens and to remove from us some sort of hope of making new converts by this act of open persecution. But its triumph was soon disturbed; scarcely five weeks later Finau died after being sick for two days, at almost the same day and the same hour at which he had got our catechumens to renounce their religion. The hand of God, in striking him, took away from heresy its strongest support and delivered us from a truly cruel enemy. This man had a profound hatred of our religion. He could neither see us nor hear speak of us without anger immediately showing on his face. It is probable enough that he had resolved to get rid of us and he had a good reason for this, as we shall see further on. Everyone here bent before his authority because the king, without liking it, was not able to do anything without his agreement, regarding him as a necessary support against the often unjust and unreasonable pretensions of the court of Bau, to which he is a tributary. Here is a fact which has unequalled proof: Bishop Pompallier, during his voyage to Fiji, had anchored at Oneata, a small island of 250 to 300 inhabitants, all heretics. After the Mass that he celebrated, he used Mosese to speak to them about the Catholic religion. The young people seemed to be disposed to embrace it, but the false caution of the old people opposed it. Later they chased out the same Mosese who was living among them. Hardly had we arrived when one of these Fijians came to find me to become a Catholic. I encouraged him and gave him a miraculous medal. A little later he came back with several others and asked to be instructed. He knew how to read; I gave him in writing the payer and a small summary of the main truths of our religion. I armed him with a rosary, gave him some little gifts and established him as a catechist on his island. Hardly had he returned to Oneata when he declared himself and his wife to be Catholics. Quite a big number were thinking of imitating them, but they wanted, before turning, to have the permission of the king of Lakeba who immediately went to Finau to know his thoughts about this. Finau, without openly explaining, said enough, however, to make clear that he was not in agreement. The king then sent orders to stop them. The catechist (Koroitacina) and his wife held firm for some time more, but, threatened by the chiefs with being chased from the island, they ended up by giving in to the persecution.
	;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.		;[33]: You see, very reverend father, the influence that this big chief had and how easy it was for him to paralyse the progress of the mission. His successor, without being exactly favourable to us because he is also a heretic, does not hate us. He has made a voyage to Sydney where he saw the Catholic faith tolerated. He does not wish to persecute us any more here and he leaves his people a bit free in the choice of their faith.
	;[34]: So a new order of things began. We were finally able to breathe after so many trials and the Fijians, delivered from fear of Finau, seemed to reproach themselves for having been too hard to us. We even hoped that the mission was going to take hold among them, when suddenly a storm blew up that was worse than anything we had experienced up till then. The famous Ma’atu, king of Niuatoputapu, having ignited a war in Wallis, brought terror to Futuna, and spread the most hateful news about us throughout Fiji, arrived here still full of anger to get us chased out		;[34]: So a new order of things began. We were finally able to breathe after so many trials and the Fijians, delivered from fear of Finau, seemed to reproach themselves for having been too hard to us. We even hoped that the mission was going to take hold among them, when suddenly a storm blew up that was worse than anything we had experienced up till then. The famous Ma’atu, king of Niuatoputapu, having ignited a war in Wallis, brought terror to Futuna, and spread the most hateful news about us throughout Fiji, arrived here still full of anger to get us chased out of Lakeba.<ref> Girard: Ma’afu, chief of Niuatoputapu, had taken part with his people in the civil war of Wallis, on the side of Po’oi, the Protestant chief of Wallis; he left Wallis in November 1844 after the first battles. It would appear that he is not Ma’afu, the Tongan chief, who was barely 22 when he arrived in Fiji in 1848, three years after the date of this letter. </ref> He had many people with him and four or five Wallisians who had apostatised during the journey, and through whom he confirmed all his lies. He blamed the bishop for all the troubles in Wallis, gave assurances that it was his well known intention to continue to bring about the fall of heretics at any price. He renewed old and dirty lies, saying that there were, under all the churches of Wallis, hidden apartments where they kept women whose infants were killed after the mothers had been abused, that they had seen with their own eyes these secret places and the pretended virgins who were detained there. He added other horrors with which I don’t want to soil this letter. Finally, he made us so black that the heretic Fijians of Vanua Balavu, where he had passed, wanted to come here to massacre us. These lies flew from mouth to mouth, indignation showed on all the faces. We no longer dared to show ourselves. In fact, how could we reply to these people who said they had seen the things they recounted? This famous chief was the great friend of anyone about to die. For us it was like these two ferocious beasts had been able to join together. But God did not permit this and his providence, which was watching over us, brought the remedy out of the excess of the evil itself because the Fijians, who had been uncritical at first of these hateful rumours, later began to reflect, began to doubt, and the more sensible of them, who had kept silent, giving the lead were not afraid to say out loud that these stories were too frightful to be true. When we saw this happy return of spirits we also lifted our voices to defend and avenge the truth which had been so malignantly attacked. Little by little the storm abated, not always without leaving some traces of its passage because we were not able to totally destroy all these calumnies, some of which might still remain in some heads less sensible than others. Besides, the heretics were not able to persuade those whom they had the greatest interest to deceive. The king and the Fijian chiefs had enough judgement to discover from the first glance the falsity of all these rumours, as I had learned from the mouth of the king himself, because having gone to visit him at the height of the storm and having asked him what they thought of the news from Wallis, he replied without hesitation: “We Fijians know that these are pure lies.”
	of Lakeba.<ref> Girard: Ma’afu, chief of Niuatoputapu, had taken part with his people in the civil war of Wallis, on the side of Po’oi, the Protestant chief of Wallis; he left Wallis in November 1844 after the first battles. It would appear that he is not Ma’afu, the Tongan chief, who was barely 22 when he arrived in Fiji in 1848, three years after the date of this letter. </ref> He had many people with him and four or five Wallisians who had apostatised during the journey, and through whom he confirmed all his lies. He blamed the bishop for all the troubles in Wallis, gave assurances that it was his well known intention to continue to bring about the fall of heretics at any price. He renewed old and dirty lies, saying that there were, under all the churches of Wallis, hidden apartments where they kept women whose infants were killed after the mothers had been abused, that they had seen with their own eyes these secret places and the pretended virgins who were detained there. He added other horrors with which I don’t want to soil this letter. Finally, he made us so black that the heretic Fijians of Vanua Balavu, where he had passed, wanted to come here to massacre us. These lies flew from mouth to mouth, indignation showed on all the faces. We no longer dared to show ourselves. In fact, how could we reply to these people who said they had seen the things they recounted? This famous chief was the great friend of anyone about to die. For us it was like these two ferocious beasts had been able to join together. But God did not permit this and his providence, which was watching over us, brought the remedy out of the excess of the evil itself because the Fijians, who had been uncritical at first of these hateful rumours, later began to reflect, began to doubt, and the more sensible of them, who had kept silent, giving the lead were not afraid to say out loud that these stories were too frightful to be true. When we saw this happy return of spirits we also lifted our voices to defend and avenge the truth which had been so malignantly attacked. Little by little the storm abated, not always without leaving some traces of its passage because we were not able to totally destroy all these calumnies, some of which might still remain in some heads less sensible than others. Besides, the heretics were not able to persuade those whom they had the greatest interest to deceive. The king and the Fijian chiefs had enough judgement to discover from the first glance the falsity of all these rumours, as I had learned from the mouth of the king himself, because having gone to visit him at the height of the storm and having asked him what they thought of the news from Wallis, he replied without hesitation: “We Fijians know that these are pure lies.”
	;[36]: We took advantage of the peace that we were given to take up again the work on the little house that we were hurrying to put up, so that we could shelter from the rain from which our old hut, badly covered and all in ruins, didn’t protect us enough. Besides it was so small that brother was obliged more often to lie down under the stars. We have received no help from the heretics, who are not afraid to say to our faces that when the house is finished, they will burn it down. These threats, which we take as an insult rather than as a plan of action, only stir up our eagerness. We went with our converts to search in the mountains and among the rocks for big pieces of wood which we carried on our shoulders. Everyone played their part. But I was not able to share in this noble work with my confreres until the end: sickness stopped me.		;[36]: We took advantage of the peace that we were given to take up again the work on the little house that we were hurrying to put up, so that we could shelter from the rain from which our old hut, badly covered and all in ruins, didn’t protect us enough. Besides it was so small that brother was obliged more often to lie down under the stars. We have received no help from the heretics, who are not afraid to say to our faces that when the house is finished, they will burn it down. These threats, which we take as an insult rather than as a plan of action, only stir up our eagerness. We went with our converts to search in the mountains and among the rocks for big pieces of wood which we carried on our shoulders. Everyone played their part. But I was not able to share in this noble work with my confreres until the end: sickness stopped me.
	;[37]: The bad food which we had been eating had upset my stomach. This had been a problem for me for several months and had sapped my strength without my realising it. The harm ended up by degenerating into a flow of blood, <ref>This expression “a flow of blood” occurs several times in this book, and was suffered not only by Fr. Roulleaux, but by several other people in this story. I have not been able to find out what is the medical condition it refers to. In general terms it must be some sort of bleeding.</ref>which is often enough fatal in hot countries. Since we had neither medicine nor food available, I was soon reduced to such a thin and weak state that I believed that this time my hour had come. I thought to put things in order to prepare for death which could not be far off. One night I complained to the Blessed Virgin that I was like an abandoned child and that she had no pity for me. This good mother was without doubt touched because help was not made to wait, and it came from a direction that one would have least expected. That same morning, the ministers send word to say, through an Englishman who worked for them, that everything in their houses was at my service and that I had only to ask for what I wanted. They came themselves in the evening to see me and without break during six weeks that the sickness lasted they visited me two times a day and sent me from their table the necessary things that we could not get here. As there had been some of their people who had died of this sickness in Fiji, they had plenty of medicine to treat it, with instructions on how to administer it. Also they succeeded in putting me in a passable state of health, although I have not recovered all my strength, and when I started to get better asthma made its presence felt, which has bothered me a lot and made me pass part of the nights not sleeping. I have to say in truth that they have helped me to recover with all possible zeal.		;[37]: The bad food which we had been eating had upset my stomach. This had been a problem for me for several months and had sapped my strength without my realising it. The harm ended up by degenerating into a flow of blood, <ref>This expression “a flow of blood” occurs several times in this book, and was suffered not only by Fr. Roulleaux, but by several other people in this story. I have not been able to find out what is the medical condition it refers to. In general terms it must be some sort of bleeding.</ref>which is often enough fatal in hot countries. Since we had neither medicine nor food available, I was soon reduced to such a thin and weak state that I believed that this time my hour had come. I thought to put things in order to prepare for death which could not be far off. One night I complained to the Blessed Virgin that I was like an abandoned child and that she had no pity for me. This good mother was without doubt touched because help was not made to wait, and it came from a direction that one would have least expected. That same morning, the ministers send word to say, through an Englishman who worked for them, that everything in their houses was at my service and that I had only to ask for what I wanted. They came themselves in the evening to see me and without break during six weeks that the sickness lasted they visited me two times a day and sent me from their table the necessary things that we could not get here. As there had been some of their people who had died of this sickness in Fiji, they had plenty of medicine to treat it, with instructions on how to administer it. Also they succeeded in putting me in a passable state of health, although I have not recovered all my strength, and when I started to get better asthma made its presence felt, which has bothered me a lot and made me pass part of the nights not sleeping. I have to say in truth that they have helped me to recover with all possible zeal.

Merv at 23:44, 16 August 2022

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Merv at 23:43, 16 August 2022

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← Older revision		Revision as of 11:43, 17 August 2022
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	;[23]: Up till then everything went well; people kept silence. But when I began to throw holy water on the body of our convert one Fijian, who had been murmuring softly since the beginning, was not able to contain his indignation any longer; he hurled insults at us and threw some handfuls of dirt at us. His eyes blazed with anger, and it could be said of him that all the fury of Satan had passed into his heart. I interrupted my singing for a while to let him know that we were doing this according to the wishes of the king. Then he began to tremble and left us to finish in peace this funeral ceremony which I concluded with the sign of the cross in Fijian. It is the only public act of religion that we have performed here. The priest of their gods, the queen, the chief of the illage and a crowd of other people were present. But all the circumstances have made a successful outcome of what was an exceptional favour and the devil, far from being beaten, still reigns as master over these poor people.		;[23]: Up till then everything went well; people kept silence. But when I began to throw holy water on the body of our convert one Fijian, who had been murmuring softly since the beginning, was not able to contain his indignation any longer; he hurled insults at us and threw some handfuls of dirt at us. His eyes blazed with anger, and it could be said of him that all the fury of Satan had passed into his heart. I interrupted my singing for a while to let him know that we were doing this according to the wishes of the king. Then he began to tremble and left us to finish in peace this funeral ceremony which I concluded with the sign of the cross in Fijian. It is the only public act of religion that we have performed here. The priest of their gods, the queen, the chief of the illage and a crowd of other people were present. But all the circumstances have made a successful outcome of what was an exceptional favour and the devil, far from being beaten, still reigns as master over these poor people.
	;[24]: God visibly chained up the fury of the devil so that we could handle the means of saving this child, because it was in the house of a chief who was an enemy of our religion, surrounded by a group of women, that we gave him the grace of baptism. This chief was so attached to all their superstitions that in a visit we made to the king several days later in a newly built royal house and which had to be consecrated that same day to the devil, he stood up against all the other chiefs who wanted to change the pagan ceremonies because of us, and he showed thus his disgusting dedication. He put so much fire into it that he was totally distorted. The punishment followed quickly; eight days later he was suddenly struck dead in his house. As soon as we heard the news we ran to oppose the strangulation, according to custom, of his main wife, but we arrived too late. The crime had already been committed and she lay on the bier close to her husband. I was very upset by the outcome for this unfortunate woman who had several times shown interest in our frequent visits to Michael Bubureta. But it is necessary to become hardened; these scenes are very frequent in all these islands where the enemy of the human race, murderer from the beginning, pours out the fury which he bears to mankind.		;[24]: God visibly chained up the fury of the devil so that we could handle the means of saving this child, because it was in the house of a chief who was an enemy of our religion, surrounded by a group of women, that we gave him the grace of baptism. This chief was so attached to all their superstitions that in a visit we made to the king several days later in a newly built royal house and which had to be consecrated that same day to the devil, he stood up against all the other chiefs who wanted to change the pagan ceremonies because of us, and he showed thus his disgusting dedication. He put so much fire into it that he was totally distorted. The punishment followed quickly; eight days later he was suddenly struck dead in his house. As soon as we heard the news we ran to oppose the strangulation, according to custom, of his main wife, but we arrived too late. The crime had already been committed and she lay on the bier close to her husband. I was very upset by the outcome for this unfortunate woman who had several times shown interest in our frequent visits to Michael Bubureta. But it is necessary to become hardened; these scenes are very frequent in all these islands where the enemy of the human race, murderer from the beginning, pours out the fury which he bears to mankind.
	;[25]: All these things, and many others that I have omitted, took place during the absence of Finau, whom we awaited impatiently to determine definitively the place where we would settle. He finally came from Kabara with a canoe to take us, according to his promise, to Somosomo. Ratu Seru desired that fervently, the heretics rejoiced in advance at it, and the ministers had even gone to ask the king to compel us to leave his island if we persisted in remaining here. After having seriously thought and prayed to God to direct us according to his plans, we went to announce to this chief that we were resolved to live in Lakeba. This is the place where the mission had started, where the bishop had first		;[25]: All these things, and many others that I have omitted, took place during the absence of Finau, whom we awaited impatiently to determine definitively the place where we would settle. He finally came from Kabara with a canoe to take us, according to his promise, to Somosomo. Ratu Seru desired that fervently, the heretics rejoiced in advance at it, and the ministers had even gone to ask the king to compel us to leave his island if we persisted in remaining here. After having seriously thought and prayed to God to direct us according to his plans, we went to announce to this chief that we were resolved to live in Lakeba. This is the place where the mission had started, where the bishop had first proposed that we establish ourselves, and where we have been for some time. We already have some catechumens. The king seemed to have gone back on his first refusal. Only the Tongans, foreigners like us, wanted us to go away, to satisfy the hatred of their ministers. If we left they would publish everywhere that we had been chased out. Besides, were we certain that we would be received in Somosomo? Such was the reasoning behind our decision. Finau was drinking kava with his chiefs when we informed him. He immediately lost his temper against us and the Catholic religion, and asked if we were claiming to take over Fiji by force, as we had done in Tahiti. He added several very abusive expressions about our religion. His intention, I think, was to arouse his people against us and to lead them to chase us from the island. I replied with reserve, but with assurance, that I saw what source he had drawn on, that the taking of Tahiti was a political affair not a religious one, that France left them their former ministers, that as we get to know the language a little better we would be able to make them understand how false are the ideas that heresy gave them about our Catholic religion and its priests, that it was wise to listen to all the arguments, to discover on what side the truth could be found. “Truth! Truth! What does truth matter to us?” he replied brusquely. “The English religion has come here first, we find it good, and we will remain attached to it.” After such language I knew that we had nothing to add and we left.
	proposed that we establish ourselves, and where we have been for some time. We already have some catechumens. The king seemed to have gone back on his first refusal. Only the Tongans, foreigners like us, wanted us to go away, to satisfy the hatred of their ministers. If we left they would publish everywhere that we had been chased out. Besides, were we certain that we would be received in Somosomo? Such was the reasoning behind our decision. Finau was drinking kava with his chiefs when we informed him. He immediately lost his temper against us and the Catholic religion, and asked if we were claiming to take over Fiji by force, as we had done in Tahiti. He added several very abusive expressions about our religion. His intention, I think, was to arouse his people against us and to lead them to chase us from the island. I replied with reserve, but with assurance, that I saw what source he had drawn on, that the taking of Tahiti was a political affair not a religious one, that France left them their former ministers, that as we get to know the language a little better we would be able to make them understand how false are the ideas that heresy gave them about our Catholic religion and its priests, that it was wise to listen to all the arguments, to discover on what side the truth could be found. “Truth! Truth! What does truth matter to us?” he replied brusquely. “The English religion has come here first, we find it good, and we will remain attached to it.” After such language I knew that we had nothing to add and we left.
	;[26]: Over the following days they tried all sorts of ways to force us to leave. They spread the rumour that they were going to come and take us by force and carry us on the canoe that was waiting for us in the port. They tried to frighten us. The ministers stirred up the people from underneath. They even went as far as to feign an order from the king to chase us out. The alleged representative of the Fijian king presented himself one evening at the door of our hut and did all the customary ceremonies used in these circumstances. Then he told us, from his master, that we had to leave here as soon as possible, that there was enough evangelisation of his small kingdom. We had absolutely no idea that it was a deceit. We replied seriously that we were surprised at the sudden change from the king, that these were not the sentiments that he had shown a few days ago, that we were the only true missionaries on his island, that for the rest we would go and see him and decide this affair with him. We learned later that the king had no part in this, that it was purely the work of Finau’s ministers who could not bear the idea that we remain on the island.		;[26]: Over the following days they tried all sorts of ways to force us to leave. They spread the rumour that they were going to come and take us by force and carry us on the canoe that was waiting for us in the port. They tried to frighten us. The ministers stirred up the people from underneath. They even went as far as to feign an order from the king to chase us out. The alleged representative of the Fijian king presented himself one evening at the door of our hut and did all the customary ceremonies used in these circumstances. Then he told us, from his master, that we had to leave here as soon as possible, that there was enough evangelisation of his small kingdom. We had absolutely no idea that it was a deceit. We replied seriously that we were surprised at the sudden change from the king, that these were not the sentiments that he had shown a few days ago, that we were the only true missionaries on his island, that for the rest we would go and see him and decide this affair with him. We learned later that the king had no part in this, that it was purely the work of Finau’s ministers who could not bear the idea that we remain on the island.
	;[27]: This did not put him off the uselessness of the means used up till then. He wanted to try himself to see if he could be more successful than the others. So he came to see us in our little hut. I saw him from a distance as he came with hurried steps. He was alone and cast angry looks at our hut. I judged that it would be necessary to adopt a gentle tone to calm his irritated heart. So I hurried to spread a mat myself to present him with a nice kava root, and to show the most smiling face that I could. He hardly gave me his hand. Every time he lifted his eyes to Mosese, who was seated facing him, his face again took on an angry expression. After some moments of silence he tried two or three times to say, “I have come to see if you are definitely leaving, which I know.” I didn’t hurry before answering that he had not drunk any kava. He seemed to calm down a little. Then I said to him that the bishop had intended to take us to Somosomo, but he had been held back by the fear of the captain; that it had also been our intention at first, but wearied by so much travelling and seeing our trunks and boxes damaged by loading and unloading so many times, we wanted to wait for his return, and besides their canoes were not safe and we were afraid to go on them.		;[27]: This did not put him off the uselessness of the means used up till then. He wanted to try himself to see if he could be more successful than the others. So he came to see us in our little hut. I saw him from a distance as he came with hurried steps. He was alone and cast angry looks at our hut. I judged that it would be necessary to adopt a gentle tone to calm his irritated heart. So I hurried to spread a mat myself to present him with a nice kava root, and to show the most smiling face that I could. He hardly gave me his hand. Every time he lifted his eyes to Mosese, who was seated facing him, his face again took on an angry expression. After some moments of silence he tried two or three times to say, “I have come to see if you are definitely leaving, which I know.” I didn’t hurry before answering that he had not drunk any kava. He seemed to calm down a little. Then I said to him that the bishop had intended to take us to Somosomo, but he had been held back by the fear of the captain; that it had also been our intention at first, but wearied by so much travelling and seeing our trunks and boxes damaged by loading and unloading so many times, we wanted to wait for his return, and besides their canoes were not safe and we were afraid to go on them.

Merv: Created page with "==12 November 1845. — Father Joseph-François Roulleaux to Father Jean-Claude Colin, Lakeba, Fiji== Translated from the French by Fr John Crispin SM, in ''The Mission of Ou..."

2022-08-16T23:42:17Z

Created page with "==12 November 1845. — Father Joseph-François Roulleaux to Father Jean-Claude Colin, Lakeba, Fiji== Translated from the French by Fr John Crispin SM, in ''The Mission of Ou..."

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