Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/636

 HURON

570

HURON

That their eloquence was not less incisive and telling wlien, in denouncing a criminal action, they heaped confusion on the head of the unnamed culprit is evinced by a harangue recorded verbatim in Relation 164,S Hlw-Y). ed., 79; ('lev. ed., XXVIII, 277).

The Huron's intolerance of all restraint is corrob- orated by Father Jerome Lalemant: "I do not be- lieve that there is any people on earth freer than they, and less able to yield subjection of their wills to any power whatever, so much so that fathers here have no control over their children, or captains over their suljjccts, or the laws of the country over any of them, except in so far as each is pleased to submit to them. There is no punishment which is inflicted on the guilty, and no criminal who is not sure that his life and property are in no danger, even if he were convicted of three or four murders, or of being su- borned by the enemy to betray his country. ... It

recesses of the forest when their deliberations de- manded secrecj'.

Their administration of public affairs was, as de Brebcuf explains at some length, and as one would naturally suppo.se, twofold. First, there was the administration of the internal alTairs of the country. Under this head came all that concerned either citizens or strangers, the public or the individual interests in each village, festivals, dances, athletic games — lacrosse in particular — and funeral ceremonies; and generally there were as many captains as there were kinds of affairs. The secoml branch of their admin- istration was composed of war chiefs. They carried out the decisions of the general assembly. ".\s for their wars," says Champlain, "two or three of the elders or the bravest chiefs raised the levies. They repaired to the neighbouring villages and carried presents to force a following." Of course other in-

is not that laws or penalties proportioned to the crime are wanting, but the guilty are not the ones who undergo the punishment, it is the community that has to atone for the misdeeds of individuals" etc.

Their legislative bodies consisted of their village councils and what might be called their states- general. The former were of almost daily occurrence. There the elders had control, and the outcome of the deliberations depended upon their judgment, yet every one who wished might be present and every one had a right to exjjress his opinion. When a matter had been thoroughly debated, the speaker, in asking for a decision, addressed the elders, saying: "See to it now, yovi are the masters." Their general councils, or assemblies of all the clans of which the nation was made up, were the states-general of the country, and were convened only as often as necessity required. They were held usually in the village of the principal captain of all the country, and the council- chamber was his cabin. This custom, however, did not preclude the holding of their assemblies in the open within the village, or at times also in the deep

centives were also employed to excite the enthusiasm of the braves.

In the larger villages there were captains for times both of peace and war, each with a well-defined jurisdiction, that is, a certain numljer of families came under their control. Occasionally all depart- ments of government were entrusted to one leader. But by mere right of election none held a higher grade than others. Pre-eminence was reached only by intellectual superiority, clear-sightedness, eloquence, munificence, and bravery. In this latter case only one leader bore for all the burdens of the state. In his name the treaties of peace were made with other nations. His relatives were like so many lieutenants and councillors. .\t his demise it was not one of his own children who succeeded him, but a nephew or a grandson, provided there was one to be found pos- sessing the qualifications required, who was w'illing to accept the office, and who, in turn, was accept- able to the nation.

6. Their Religion. — The first Europeans who had occasion to soiourn any considerable time among the