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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17174-8.txt b/17174-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c1c772 --- /dev/null +++ b/17174-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7262 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval +by A. Leblond de Brumath + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval + +Author: A. Leblond de Brumath + +Release Date: November 28, 2005 [EBook #17174] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS OF CANADA: BISHOP LAVAL *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan Lane, Stacy Brown Thellend and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +_THE MAKERS OF CANADA_ + + +BISHOP LAVAL + +BY + +A. LEBLOND DE BRUMATH + + + + +TORONTO + +MORANG & CO., LIMITED + +1912 + + + + +_Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year 1906 +by Morang & Co., Limited, in the Department of Agriculture._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + Page +_CHAPTER I_ +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN +CANADA 1 + +_CHAPTER II_ +THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANÇOIS DE LAVAL 15 + +_CHAPTER III_ +THE SOVEREIGN COUNCIL 31 + +_CHAPTER IV_ +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEMINARY 47 + +_CHAPTER V_ +MGR. DE LAVAL AND THE SAVAGES 61 + +_CHAPTER VI_ +SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY 77 + +_CHAPTER VII_ +THE SMALLER SEMINARY 97 + +_CHAPTER VIII_ +THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONY 113 + +_CHAPTER IX_ +BECOMES BISHOP OF QUEBEC 129 + +_CHAPTER X_ +FRONTENAC IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR 143 + +_CHAPTER XI_ +A TROUBLED ADMINISTRATION 157 + +_CHAPTER XII_ +THIRD VOYAGE TO FRANCE 169 + +_CHAPTER XIII_ +LAVAL RETURNS TO CANADA 181 + +_CHAPTER XIV_ +RESIGNATION OF MGR. DE LAVAL 195 + +_CHAPTER XV_ +MGR. DE LAVAL COMES FOR THE LAST TIME TO +CANADA 211 + +_CHAPTER XVI_ +MASSACRE OF LACHINE 223 + +_CHAPTER XVII_ +THE LABOURS OF OLD AGE 235 + +_CHAPTER XVIII_ +LAST DAYS OF MGR. DE LAVAL 249 + +_CHAPTER XIX_ +DEATH OF MGR. DE LAVAL 261 + +INDEX 271 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH +IN CANADA + + +If, standing upon the threshold of the twentieth century, we cast a look +behind us to note the road traversed, the victories gained by the great +army of Christ, we discover everywhere marvels of abnegation and +sacrifice; everywhere we see rising before us the dazzling figures of +apostles, of doctors of the Church and of martyrs who arouse our +admiration and command our respect. There is no epoch, no generation, +even, which has not given to the Church its phalanx of heroes, its quota +of deeds of devotion, whether they have become illustrious or have +remained unknown. + +Born barely three centuries ago, the Christianity of New France has +enriched history with pages no less glorious than those in which are +enshrined the lofty deeds of her elders. To the list, already long, of +workers for the gospel she has added the names of the Récollets and of +the Jesuits, of the Sulpicians and of the Oblate Fathers, who crossed +the seas to plant the faith among the hordes of barbarians who inhabited +the immense regions to-day known as the Dominion of Canada. + +And what daring was necessary, in the early days of the colony, to +plunge into the vast forests of North America! Incessant toil, +sacrifice, pain and death in its most terrible forms were the price that +was gladly paid in the service of God by men who turned their backs upon +the comforts of civilized France to carry the faith into the unknown +wilderness. + +Think of what Canada was at the beginning of the seventeenth century! +Instead of these fertile provinces, covered to-day by luxuriant +harvests, man's gaze met everywhere only impenetrable forests in which +the woodsman's axe had not yet permitted the plough to cleave and +fertilize the soil; instead of our rich and populous cities, of our +innumerable villages daintily perched on the brinks of streams, or +rising here and there in the midst of verdant plains, the eye perceived +only puny wigwams isolated and lost upon the banks of the great river, +or perhaps a few agglomerations of smoky huts, such as Hochelaga or +Stadaconé; instead of our iron rails, penetrating in all directions, +instead of our peaceful fields over which trains hasten at marvellous +speed from ocean to ocean, there were but narrow trails winding through +a jungle of primeval trees, behind which hid in turn the Iroquois, the +Huron or the Algonquin, awaiting the propitious moment to let fly the +fatal arrow; instead of the numerous vessels bearing over the waves of +the St. Lawrence, at a distance of more than six hundred leagues from +the sea, the products of the five continents; instead of yonder +floating palaces, thronged with travellers from the four corners of the +earth, then only an occasional bark canoe came gliding slyly along by +the reeds of the shore, scarcely stopping except to permit its crew to +kindle a fire, to make prisoners or to scalp some enemy. + +A heroic courage was necessary to undertake to carry the faith to these +savage tribes. It was condemning one's self to lead a life like theirs, +of ineffable hardships, dangers and privations, now in a bark canoe and +paddle in hand, now on foot and bearing upon one's shoulders the things +necessary for the holy sacrament; in the least case it was braving +hunger and thirst, exposing one's self to the rigours of an excessive +cold, with which European nations were not yet familiar; it often meant +hastening to meet the most horrible tortures. In spite of all this, +however, Father Le Caron did not hesitate to penetrate as far as the +country of the Hurons, while Fathers Sagard and Viel were sowing the +first seeds of Christianity in the St. Lawrence valley. The devotion of +the Récollets, to the family of whom belonged these first missionaries +of Canada, was but ill-rewarded, for, after the treaty of St. +Germain-en-Laye, which restored Canada to France, the king refused them +permission to return to a region which they had watered with the sweat +of their brows and fertilized with their blood. + +The humble children of St. Francis had already evangelized the Huron +tribes as far as the Georgian Bay, when the Company of the Cent-Associés +was founded by Richelieu. The obligation which the great cardinal +imposed upon them of providing for the maintenance of the propagators of +the gospel was to assure the future existence of the missions. The +merit, however, which lay in the creation of a society which did so much +for the furtherance of Roman Catholicism in North America is not due +exclusively to the great cardinal, for Samuel de Champlain can claim a +large share of it. "The welfare of a soul," said this pious founder of +Quebec, "is more than the conquest of an empire, and kings should think +of extending their rule in infidel countries only to assure therein the +reign of Jesus Christ." + +Think of the suffering endured, in order to save a soul, by men who for +this sublime purpose renounced all that constitutes the charm of life! +Not only did the Jesuits, in the early days of the colony, brave +horrible dangers with invincible steadfastness, but they even consented +to imitate the savages, to live their life, to learn their difficult +idioms. Let us listen to this magnificent testimony of the Protestant +historian Bancroft:-- + +"The horrors of a Canadian life in the wilderness were resisted by an +invincible, passive courage, and a deep, internal tranquillity. Away +from the amenities of life, away from the opportunities of vain-glory, +they became dead to the world, and possessed their souls in unalterable +peace. The few who lived to grow old, though bowed by the toils of a +long mission, still kindled with the fervour of apostolic zeal. The +history of their labours is connected with the origin of every +celebrated town in the annals of French Canada; not a cape was turned +nor a river entered but a Jesuit led the way." + +Must we now recall the edifying deaths of the sons of Loyola, who +brought the glad tidings of the gospel to the Hurons?--Father Jogues, +who returned from the banks of the Niagara with a broken shoulder and +mutilated hands, and went back, with sublime persistence, to his +barbarous persecutors, to pluck from their midst the palm of martyrdom; +Father Daniel, wounded by a spear while he was absolving the dying in +the village of St. Joseph; Father Brébeuf, refusing to escape with the +women and children of the hamlet of St. Louis, and expiring, together +with Father Gabriel Lalemant, in the most frightful tortures that Satan +could suggest to the imagination of a savage; Father Charles Garnier +pierced with three bullets, and giving up the ghost while blessing his +converts; Father de Noue dying on his knees in the snow! + +These missions had succumbed in 1648 and 1649 under the attacks of the +Iroquois. The venerable founder of St. Sulpice, M. Olier, had foreseen +this misfortune; he had always doubted the success of missions so +extended and so widely scattered without a centre of support +sufficiently strong to resist a systematic and concerted attack of all +their enemies at once. Without disapproving the despatch of these flying +columns of missionaries which visited tribe after tribe (perhaps the +only possible method in a country governed by pagan chiefs), he believed +that another system of preaching the gospel would produce, perhaps with +less danger, a more durable effect in the regions protected by the flag +of France. Taking up again the thought of the Benedictine monks, who +have succeeded so well in other countries, M. Olier and the other +founders of Montreal wished to establish a centre of fervent piety which +should accomplish still more by example than by preaching. The +development and progress of religious work must increase with the +material importance of this centre of proselytism. In consequence, +success would be slow, less brilliant, but surer than that ordinarily +obtained by separate missions. This was, at least, the hope of our +fathers, and we of Quebec would seem unjust towards Providence and +towards them if, beholding the present condition of the two seminaries +of this city, of our Catholic colleges, of our institutions of every +kind, and of our religious orders, we did not recognize that their +thought was wise, and their enterprise one of prudence and blessed by +God. + +Up to 1658 New France belonged to the jurisdiction of the Bishops of St. +Malo and of Rouen. At the time of the second voyage of Cartier, in +1535, his whole crew, with their officers at their head, confessed and +received communion from the hands of the Bishop of St. Malo. This +jurisdiction lasted until the appointment of the first Bishop of New +France. The creation of a diocese came in due time; the need of an +ecclesiastical superior, of a character capable of imposing his +authority made itself felt more and more. Disorders of all kinds crept +into the colony, and our fathers felt the necessity of a firm and +vigorous arm to remedy this alarming state of affairs. The love of +lucre, of gain easily acquired by the sale of spirituous liquors to the +savages, brought with it evils against which the missionaries +endeavoured to react. + +François de Laval-Montmorency, who was called in his youth the Abbé de +Montigny, was, on the recommendation of the Jesuits, appointed apostolic +vicar by Pope Alexander VII, who conferred upon him the title of Bishop +of Petræa _in partibus_. The Church in Canada was then directly +connected with the Holy See, and the sovereign pontiff abandoned to the +king of France the right of appointment and presentation of bishops +having the authority of apostolic vicars. + +The difficulties which arose between Mgr. de Laval and the Abbé de +Queylus, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, were regrettable, but, thanks +to the truly apostolic zeal and the purity of intention of these two men +of God, these difficulties were not long in giving place to a noble +rivalry for good, fostered by a perfect harmony. The Abbé de Queylus had +come to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the company of St. +Sulpice, and to establish there a seminary on the model of that in +Paris. This creation, with that of the hospital established by Mlle. +Mance, gave a great impetus to the young city of Montreal. Moreover, +religion was so truly the motive of the foundation of the colony by M. +Olier and his associates, that the latter had placed the Island of +Montreal under the protection of the Holy Virgin. The priests of St. +Sulpice, who had become the lords of the island, had already given an +earnest of their labours; they too aspired to venerate martyrs chosen +from their ranks, and in the same year MM. Lemaître and Vignal perished +at the hands of the wild Iroquois. + +Meanwhile, under the paternal direction of Mgr. de Laval, and the +thoroughly Christian administration of governors like Champlain, de +Montmagny, d'Ailleboust, or of leaders like Maisonneuve and Major +Closse, Heaven was pleased to spread its blessings upon the rising +colony; a number of savages asked and received baptism, and the fervour +of the colonists endured. The men were not the only ones to spread the +good word; holy maidens worked on their part for the glory of God, +whether in the hospitals of Quebec and Montreal, or in the institution +of the Ursulines in the heart of the city of Champlain, or, finally, in +the modest school founded at Ville-Marie by Sister Marguerite +Bourgeoys. It is true that the blood of the Indians and of their +missionaries had been shed in floods, that the Huron missions had been +exterminated, and that, moreover, two camps of Algonquins had been +destroyed and swept away; but nations as well as individuals may promise +themselves the greater progress in the spiritual life according as they +commence it with a more abundant and a richer record; and the greatest +treasure of a nation is the blood of the martyrs who have founded it. +Moreover, the fugitive Hurons went to convert their enemies, and even +from the funeral pyres of the priests was to spring the spark of faith +for all these peoples. Two hamlets were founded for the converted +Iroquois, those of the Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga) and of La Montagne +at Montreal, and fervent neophytes gathered there. + +Certain historians have regretted that the first savages encountered by +the French in North America should have been Hurons; an alliance made +with the Iroquois, they say, would have been a hundred times more +profitable for civilization and for France. What do we know about it? +Man imagines and arranges his plans, but above these arrangements hovers +Providence--fools say, chance--whose foreseeing hand sets all in order +for the accomplishment of His impenetrable design. Yet, however firmly +convinced the historian may be that the eye of Providence never sleeps, +that the Divine Hand is never still, he must be sober in his +observations; he must yield neither to his fancy nor to his imagination; +but neither must he banish God from history, for then everything in it +would become incomprehensible and inexplicable, absurd and barren. It +was this same God who guides events at His will that inspired and +sustained the devoted missionaries in their efforts against the +revenue-farmers in the matter of the sale of intoxicating liquors to the +savages. The struggle which they maintained, supported by the venerable +Bishop of Petræa, is wholly to their honour; it was a question of saving +even against their will the unfortunate children of the woods who were +addicted to the fatal passion of intoxication. Unhappily, the Governors +d'Avaugour and de Mézy, in supporting the greed of the traders, were +perhaps right from the political point of view, but certainly wrong from +a philanthropic and Christian standpoint. + +The colony continuing to prosper, and the growing need of a national +clergy becoming more and more felt, Mgr. de Laval founded in 1663 a +seminary at Quebec. The king decided that the tithes raised from the +colonists should be collected by the seminary, which was to provide for +the maintenance of the priests and for divine service in the established +parishes. The Sovereign Council fixed the tithe at a twenty-sixth. + +The missionaries continued, none the less, to spread the light of the +gospel and Christian civilization. It seems that the field of their +labour had never been too vast for their desire. Ever onward! was their +motto. While Fathers Garreau and Mesnard found death among the +Algonquins on the coasts of Lake Superior, the Sulpicians Dollier and +Gallinée were planting the cross on the shores of Lake Erie; Father +Claude Allouez was preaching the gospel beyond Lake Superior; Fathers +Dablon, Marquette, and Druillètes were establishing the mission of Sault +Ste. Marie; Father Albanel was proceeding to explore Hudson Bay; Father +Marquette, acting with Joliet, was following the course of the +Mississippi as far as Arkansas; finally, later on, Father Arnaud +accompanied La Vérendrye as far as the Rocky Mountains. + +The establishment of the Catholic religion in Canada had now witnessed +its darkest days; its history becomes intimately interwoven with that of +the country. Up to the English conquest, the clergy and the different +religious congregations, as faithful to France as to the Holy See, +encouraged the Canadians in their struggles against the invaders. +Accordingly, at the time of the invasion of the colony by Phipps, the +Americans of Boston declared that they would spare neither monks nor +missionaries if they succeeded in seizing Quebec; they bore a particular +grudge against the priests of the seminary, to whom they ascribed the +ravages committed shortly before in New England by the Abenaquis. They +were punished for their boasting; forty seminarists assembled at St. +Joachim, the country house of the seminary, joined the volunteers who +fought at Beauport, and contributed so much to the victory that +Frontenac, to recompense their bravery, presented them with a cannon +captured by themselves. + +The Church of Rome had been able to continue in peace its mission in +Canada from the departure of Mgr. de Laval, in 1684, to the conquest of +the country by the English. The worthy Bishop of Petræa, created Bishop +of Quebec in 1674, was succeeded by Mgr. de St. Vallier, then by Mgr. de +Mornay, who did not come to Canada, by Mgr. de Dosquet, Mgr. Pourroy de +l'Aube-Rivière, and Mgr. de Pontbriant, who died the very year in which +General de Lévis made of his flags on St. Helen's Island a sacred pyre. + +In 1760 the Protestant religion was about to penetrate into Canada in +the train of the victorious armies of Great Britain, having been +proscribed in the colony from the time of Champlain. With conquerors of +a different religion, the rôle of the Catholic clergy became much more +arduous and delicate; this will be readily admitted when we recall that +Mgr. Briand was informally apprised at the time of his appointment that +the government of England would appear to be ignorant of his +consecration and induction by the Bishop of Rome. But the clergy managed +to keep itself on a level with its task. A systematic opposition on its +part to the new masters of the country could only have drawn upon the +whole population a bitter oppression, and we would not behold to-day the +prosperity of these nine ecclesiastical provinces of Canada, with their +twenty-four dioceses, these numerous parishes which vie with each other +in the advancement of souls, these innumerable religious houses which +everywhere are spreading education or charity. The Act of Quebec in 1774 +delivered our fathers from the unjust fetters fastened on their freedom +by the oath required under the Supremacy Act; but it is to the prudence +of Mgr. Plessis in particular that Catholics owe the religious liberty +which they now enjoy. + +To-day, when passions are calmed, when we possess a full and complete +liberty of conscience, to-day when the different religious denominations +live side by side in mutual respect and tolerance of each other's +convictions, let us give thanks to the spiritual guides who by their +wisdom and moderation, but also by their energetic resistance when it +was necessary, knew how to preserve for us our language and our +religion. Let us always respect the worthy prelates who, like those who +direct us to-day, edify us by their tact, their knowledge and their +virtues. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANÇOIS DE LAVAL + + +Certain great men pass through the world like meteors; their brilliance, +lightning-like at their first appearance, continues to cast a dazzling +gleam across the centuries: such were Alexander the Great, Mozart, +Shakespeare and Napoleon. Others, on the contrary, do not instantly +command the admiration of the masses; it is necessary, in order that +their transcendent merit should appear, either that the veil which +covered their actions should be gradually lifted, or that, some fine +day, and often after their death, the results of their work should shine +forth suddenly to the eyes of men and prove their genius: such were +Socrates, Themistocles, Jacquard, Copernicus, and Christopher Columbus. + +The illustrious ecclesiastic who has given his name to our +French-Canadian university, respected as he was by his contemporaries, +has been esteemed at his proper value only by posterity. The reason is +easy to understand: a colony still in its infancy is subject to many +fluctuations before all the wheels of government move smoothly, and Mgr. +de Laval, obliged to face ever renewed conflicts of authority, had +necessarily either to abandon what he considered it his duty to +support, or create malcontents. If sometimes he carried persistence to +the verge of obstinacy, he must be judged in relation to the period in +which he lived: governors like Frontenac were only too anxious to +imitate their absolute master, whose guiding maxim was, "I am the +state!" Moreover, where are the men of true worth who have not found +upon their path the poisoned fruits of hatred? The so-called praise that +is sometimes applied to a man, when we say of him, "he has not a single +enemy," seems to us, on the contrary, a certificate of insignificance +and obscurity. The figure of this great servant of God is one of those +which shed the most glory on the history of Canada; the age of Louis +XIV, so marvellous in the number of great men which it gave to France, +lavished them also upon her daughter of the new continent--Brébeuf and +Lalemant, de Maisonneuve, Dollard, Laval, Talon, de la Salle, Frontenac, +d'Iberville, de Maricourt, de Sainte-Hélène, and many others. + +"Noble as a Montmorency" says a well-known adage. The founder of that +illustrious line, Bouchard, Lord of Montmorency, figures as early as 950 +A.D. among the great vassals of the kingdom of France. The +heads of this house bore formerly the titles of First Christian Barons +and of First Barons of France; it became allied to several royal houses, +and gave to the elder daughter of the Church several cardinals, six +constables, twelve marshals, four admirals, and a great number of +distinguished generals and statesmen. Sprung from this family, whose +origin is lost in the night of time, François de Laval-Montmorency was +born at Montigny-sur-Avre, in the department of Eure-et-Loir, on April +30th, 1623. This charming village, which still exists, was part of the +important diocese of Chartres. Through his father, Hugues de Laval, +Seigneur of Montigny, Montbeaudry, Alaincourt and Revercourt, the future +Bishop of Quebec traced his descent from Count Guy de Laval, younger son +of the constable Mathieu de Montmorency, and through his mother, +Michelle de Péricard, he belonged to a family of hereditary officers of +the Crown, which was well-known in Normandy, and gave to the Church a +goodly number of prelates. + +Like St. Louis, one of the protectors of his ancestors, the young +François was indebted to his mother for lessons and examples of piety +and of charity which he never forgot. Virtue, moreover, was as natural +to the Lavals as bravery on the field of battle, and whether it were in +the retinue of Clovis, when the First Barons received the regenerating +water of baptism, or on the immortal plain of Bouvines; whether it were +by the side of Blanche of Castile, attacked by the rebellious nobles, or +in the terrible holocaust of Crécy; whether it were in the _fight of the +giants_ at Marignan, or after Pavia during the captivity of the +_roi-gentilhomme_; everywhere where country and religion appealed to +their defenders one was sure of hearing shouted in the foremost ranks +the motto of the Montmorencys: _"Dieu ayde au premier baron chrétien!"_ + +Young Laval received at the baptismal font the name of the heroic +missionary to the Indies, François-Xavier. To this saint and to the +founder of the Franciscans, François d'Assise, he devoted throughout his +life an ardent worship. Of his youth we hardly know anything except the +misfortunes which happened to his family. He was only fourteen years old +when, in 1636, he suffered the loss of his father, and one of his near +kinsmen, Henri de Montmorency, grand marshal of France, and governor of +Languedoc, beheaded by the order of Richelieu. The bravery displayed by +this valiant warrior in battle unfortunately did not redeem the fault +which he had committed in rebelling against the established power, +against his lawful master, Louis XIII, and in neglecting thus the +traditions handed down to him by his family through more than seven +centuries of glory. + +Some historians reproach Richelieu with cruelty, but in that troublous +age when, hardly free from the wars of religion, men rushed carelessly +on into the rebellions of the duc d'Orléans and the duc de Soissons, +into the conspiracies of Chalais, of Cinq-Mars and de Thou, soon +followed by the war of La Fronde, it was not by an indulgence synonymous +with weakness that it was possible to strengthen the royal power. Who +knows if it was not this energy of the great cardinal which inspired the +young François, at an age when sentiment is so deeply impressed upon the +soul, with those ideas of firmness which distinguished him later on? + +The future Bishop of Quebec was then a scholar in the college of La +Flèche, directed by the Jesuits, for his pious parents held nothing +dearer than the education of their children in the fear of God and love +of the good. They had had six children; the two first had perished in +the flower of their youth on fields of battle; François, who was now the +eldest, inherited the name and patrimony of Montigny, which he gave up +later on to his brother Jean-Louis, which explains why he was called for +some time Abbé de Montigny, and resumed later the generic name of the +family of Laval; the fifth son, Henri de Laval, joined the Benedictine +monks and became prior of La Croix-Saint-Leuffroy. Finally the only +sister of Mgr. Laval, Anne Charlotte, became Mother Superior of the +religious community of the Daughters of the Holy Sacrament. + +François edified the comrades of his early youth by his ardent piety, +and his tender respect for the house of God; his masters, too, clever as +they were in the art of guiding young men and of distinguishing those +who were to shine later on, were not slow in recognizing his splendid +qualities, the clear-sightedness and breadth of his intelligence, and +his wonderful memory. As a reward for his good conduct he was admitted +to the privileged ranks of those who comprised the Congregation of the +Holy Virgin. We know what good these admirable societies, founded by the +sons of Loyola, have accomplished and still accomplish daily in Catholic +schools the world over. Societies which vie with each other in piety and +encouragement of virtue, they inspire young people with the love of +prayer, the habits of regularity and of holy practices. + +The congregation of the college of La Flèche had then the good fortune +of being directed by Father Bagot, one of those superior priests always +so numerous in the Company of Jesus. At one time confessor to King Louis +XIII, Father Bagot was a profound philosopher and an eminent theologian. +It was under his clever direction that the mind of François de Laval was +formed, and we shall witness later the germination of the seed which the +learned Jesuit sowed in the soul of his beloved scholar. + +At this period great families devoted to God from early youth the +younger members who showed inclination for the religious life. François +was only nine years old when he received the tonsure, and fifteen when +he was appointed canon of the cathedral of Evreux. Without the revenues +which he drew from his prebend, he would not have been able to continue +his literary studies; the death of his father, in fact, had left his +family in a rather precarious condition of fortune. He was to remain to +the end of his career the pupil of his preferred masters, for it was +under them that, having at the age of nineteen left the institution +where he had brilliantly completed his classical education, he studied +philosophy and theology at the Collège de Clermont at Paris. + +He was plunged in these noble studies, when two terrible blows fell upon +him; he learned of the successive deaths of his two eldest brothers, who +had fallen gloriously, one at Freiburg, the other at Nördlingen. He +became thus the head of the family, and as if the temptations which this +title offered him were not sufficient, bringing him as it did, together +with a great name a brilliant future, his mother came, supported by the +Bishop of Evreux, his cousin, to beg him to abandon the ecclesiastical +career and to marry, in order to maintain the honour of his house. Many +others would have succumbed, but what were temporal advantages to a man +who had long aspired to the glory of going to preach the Divine Word in +far-off missions? He remained inflexible; all that his mother could +obtain from him was his consent to devote to her for some time his clear +judgment and intellect in setting in order the affairs of his family. A +few months sufficed for success in this task. In order to place an +impassable abyss between himself and the world, he made a full and +complete renunciation in favour of his brother Jean-Louis of his rights +of primogeniture and all his titles to the seigniory of Montigny and +Montbeaudry. The world is ever prone to admire a chivalrous action, and +to look askance at deeds which appear to savour of fanaticism. To Laval +this renunciation of worldly wealth and honour appeared in the simple +light of duty. His Master's words were inspiration enough: "Wist ye not +that I must be about my Father's business?" + +Returning to the Collège de Clermont, he now thought of nothing but of +preparing to receive worthily the holy orders. It was on September 23rd, +1647, at Paris, that he saw dawn for him the beautiful day of the first +mass, whose memory perfumes the whole life of the priest. We may guess +with what fervour he must have ascended the steps of the holy altar; if +up to that moment he had merely loved his God, he must on that day have +dedicated to Jesus all the powers of his being, all the tenderness of +his soul, and his every heart-beat. + +Mgr. de Péricard, Bishop of Evreux, was not present at the ordination of +his cousin; death had taken him away, but before expiring, besides +expressing his regret to the new priest for having tried at the time, +thinking to further the aims of God, to dissuade him from the +ecclesiastical life, he gave him a last proof of his affection by +appointing him archdeacon of his cathedral. The duties of the +archdeaconry of Evreux, comprising, as it did, nearly one hundred and +sixty parishes, were particularly heavy, yet the young priest fulfilled +them for seven years, and M. de la Colombière explains to us how he +acquitted himself of them: "The regularity of his visits, the fervour of +his enthusiasm, the improvement and the good order which he established +in the parishes, the relief of the poor, his interest in all sorts of +charity, none of which escaped his notice: all this showed well that +without being a bishop he had the ability and merit of one, and that +there was no service which the Church might not expect from so great a +subject." + +But our future Bishop of New France aspired to more glorious fields. One +of those zealous apostles who were evangelizing India at this period, +Father Alexander of Rhodes, asked from the sovereign pontiff the +appointment for Asia of three French bishops, and submitted to the Holy +See the names of MM. Pallu, Picquet and Laval. There was no question of +hesitation. All three set out immediately for Rome. They remained there +fifteen months; the opposition of the Portuguese court caused the +failure of this plan, and François de Laval returned to France. He had +resigned the office of archdeacon the year before, 1653, in favour of a +man of tried virtue, who had been, nevertheless, a prey to calumny and +persecution, the Abbé Henri-Marie Boudon; thus freed from all +responsibility, Laval could satisfy his desire of preparing himself by +prayer for the designs which God might have for him. + +In his desire of attaining the greatest possible perfection, he betook +himself to Caen, to the religious retreat of M. de Bernières. St. +Vincent de Paul, who had trained M. Olier, was desirous also that his +pupil, before going to find a field for his apostolic zeal among the +people of Auvergne, should prepare himself by earnest meditation in +retirement at St. Lazare. "Silence and introspection seemed to St. +Vincent," says M. de Lanjuère, the author of the life of M. Olier, "the +first conditions of success, preceding any serious enterprise. He had +not learned this from Pythagoras or the Greek philosophers, who were, +indeed, so careful to prescribe for their disciples a long period of +meditation before initiation into their systems, nor even from the +experience of all superior men, who, in order to ripen a great plan or +to evolve a great thought, have always felt the need of isolation in the +nobler acceptance of the word; but he had this maxim from the very +example of the Saviour, who, before the temptation and before the +transfiguration, withdrew from the world in order to contemplate, and +who prayed in Gethsemane before His death on the cross, and who often +led His disciples into solitude to rest, and to listen to His most +precious communications." + +In this little town of Caen, in a house called the Hermitage, lived Jean +de Bernières of Louvigny, together with some of his friends. They had +gathered together for the purpose of aiding each other in mutual +sanctification; they practised prayer, and lived in the exercise of the +highest piety and charity. François de Laval passed three years in this +Hermitage, and his wisdom was already so highly appreciated, that during +the period of his stay he was entrusted with two important missions, +whose successful issue attracted attention to him and led naturally to +his appointment to the bishopric of Canada. + +As early as 1647 the king foresaw the coming creation of a bishopric in +New France, for he constituted the Upper Council "of the Governor of +Quebec, the Governor of Montreal and the Superior of the Jesuits, _until +there should be a bishop_." A few years later, in 1656, the Company of +Montreal obtained from M. Olier, the pious founder of the Seminary of +St. Sulpice, the services of four of his priests for the colony, under +the direction of one of them, M. de Queylus, Abbé de Loc-Dieu, whose +brilliant qualities, as well as the noble use which he made of his great +fortune, marked him out naturally as the probable choice of his +associates for the episcopacy. But the Jesuits, in possession of all the +missions of New France, had their word to say, especially since the +mitre had been offered by the queen regent, Anne of Austria, to one of +their number, Father Lejeune, who had not, however, been able to accept, +their rules forbidding it. They had then proposed to the court of France +and the court of Rome the name of François de Laval; but believing that +the colony was not ready for the erection of a see, they expressed the +opinion that the sending of an apostolic vicar with the functions and +powers of a bishop _in partibus_ would suffice. Moreover, if the person +sent should not succeed, he could at any time be recalled, which could +not be done in the case of a bishop. Alexander VII had given his consent +to this new plan, and Mgr. de Laval was consecrated by the nuncio of the +Pope at Paris, on Sunday, December 8th, 1658, in the church of St. +Germain-des-Prés. After having taken, with the assent of the sovereign +pontiff, the oath of fidelity to the king, the new Bishop of Petræa said +farewell to his pious mother (who died in that same year) and embarked +at La Rochelle in the month of April, 1659. The only property he +retained was an income of a thousand francs assured to him by the +Queen-Mother; but he was setting out to conquer treasures very different +from those coveted by the Spanish adventurers who sailed to Mexico and +Peru. He arrived on June 16th at Quebec, with letters from the king +which enjoined upon all the recognition of Mgr. de Laval of Petræa as +being authorized to exercise episcopal functions in the colony without +prejudice to the rights of the Archbishop of Rouen. + +Unfortunately, men's minds were not very certain then as to the title +and qualities of an apostolic vicar. They asked themselves if he were +not a simple delegate whose authority did not conflict with the +jurisdiction of the two grand vicars of the Jesuits and the Sulpicians. +The communities, at first divided on this point, submitted on the +receipt of new letters from the king, which commanded the recognition of +the sole authority of the Bishop of Petræa. The two grand vicars obeyed, +and M. de Queylus came to Quebec, where he preached the sermon on St. +Augustine's Day (August 28th), and satisfied the claim to authority of +the apostolic vicar. + +But a new complication arose: the _St. André_, which had arrived on +September 7th, brought to the Abbé de Queylus a new appointment as grand +vicar from the Archbishop of Rouen, which contained his protests at +court against the apostolic vicar, and letters from the king which +seemed to confirm them. Doubt as to the authenticity of the powers of +Mgr. de Laval might thus, at least, seem permissible; no act of the Abbé +de Queylus, however, indicates that it was openly manifested, and the +very next month the abbé returned to France. + +We may understand, however, that Mgr. de Laval, in the midst of such +difficulties, felt the need of early asserting his authority. He +promulgated an order enjoining upon all the secular ecclesiastics of the +country the disavowal of all foreign jurisdictions and the recognition +of his alone, and commanded them to sign this regulation in evidence of +their submission. All signed it, including the devoted priests of St. +Sulpice at Montreal. + +Two years later, nevertheless, the Abbé de Queylus returned with bulls +from the Congregation of the Daterie at Rome. These bulls placed him in +possession of the parish of Montreal. In spite of the formal forbiddance +of the Bishop of Petræa, he undertook, strong in what he judged to be +his rights, to betake himself to Montreal. The prelate on his side +believed that it was his duty to take severe steps, and he suspended the +Abbé de Queylus. On instructions which were given him by the king, +Governor d'Avaugour transmitted to the Abbé de Queylus an order to +return to France. The court of Rome finally settled the question by +giving the entire jurisdiction of Canada to Mgr. de Laval. The affair +thus ended, the Abbé de Queylus returned to the colony in 1668. The +population of Ville-Marie received with deep joy this benefactor, to +whose generosity it owed so much, and on his side the worthy Bishop of +Petræa proved that if he had believed it his duty to defend his own +authority when menaced, he had too noble a heart to preserve a petty +rancour. He appointed the worthy Abbé de Queylus his grand vicar at +Montreal. + +When for the first time Mgr. de Laval set foot on the soil of America, +the people, assembled to pay respect to their first pastor, were struck +by his address, which was both affable and majestic, by his manners, as +easy as they were distinguished, but especially by that charm which +emanates from every one whose heart has remained ever pure. A lofty brow +indicated an intellect above the ordinary; the clean-cut long nose was +the inheritance of the Montmorencys; his eye was keen and bright; his +eyebrows strongly arched; his thin lips and prominent chin showed a +tenacious will; his hair was scanty; finally, according to the custom of +that period, a moustache and chin beard added to the strength and energy +of his features. From the moment of his arrival the prelate produced the +best impression. "I cannot," said Governor d'Argenson, "I cannot highly +enough esteem the zeal and piety of Mgr. of Petræa. He is a true man of +prayer, and I make no doubt that his labours will bear goodly fruits in +this country." Boucher, governor of Three Rivers, wrote thus: "We have a +bishop whose zeal and virtue are beyond anything that I can say." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SOVEREIGN COUNCIL + + +The pious bishop who is the subject of this study was not long in +proving that his virtues were not too highly esteemed. An ancient +vessel, the _St. André_, brought from France two hundred and six +persons, among whom were Mlle. Mance, the foundress of the Montreal +hospital, Sister Bourgeoys, and two Sulpicians, MM. Vignal and Lemaître. +Now this ship had long served as a sailors' hospital, and it had been +sent back to sea without the necessary quarantine. Hardly had its +passengers lost sight of the coasts of France when the plague broke out +among them, and with such intensity that all were more or less attacked +by it; Mlle. Mance, in particular, was almost immediately reduced to the +point of death. Always very delicate, and exhausted by a preceding +voyage, she did not seem destined to resist this latest attack. +Moreover, all aid was lacking, even the rations of fresh water ran +short, and from a fear of contagion, which will be readily understood, +but which was none the less disastrous, the captain at first forbade the +Sisters of Charity who were on board to minister to the sick. This +precaution cost seven or eight of these unfortunate people their lives. +At least M. Vignal and M. Lemaître, though both suffering themselves, +were able to offer to the dying the consolations of their holy office. +M. Lemaître, more vigorous than his colleague, and possessed of an +admirable energy and devotion, was not satisfied merely with encouraging +and ministering to the unfortunate in their last moments, but even +watched over their remains at the risk of his own life; he buried them +piously, wound them in their shrouds, and said over them the final +prayers as they were lowered into the sea. Two Huguenots, touched by his +devotion, died in the Roman Catholic faith. The Sisters were finally +permitted to exercise their charitable office. Although ill, they as +well as Sister Bourgeoys, displayed a heroic energy, and raised the +morale of all the unfortunate passengers. + +To this sickness were added other sufferings incident to such a voyage, +and frightful storms did not cease to attack the ship until its entry +into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Several times they believed themselves on +the point of foundering, and the two priests gave absolution to all. The +tempest carried these unhappy people so far from their route that they +did not arrive at Quebec until September 7th, exhausted by disease, +famine and trials of all sorts. Father Dequen, of the Society of Jesus, +showed in this matter an example of the most admirable charity. He +brought to the sick refreshments and every manner of aid, and lavished +upon all the offices of his holy ministry. As a result of his +self-devotion, he was attacked by the scourge and died in the exercise +of charity. Several more, after being conveyed to the hospital, +succumbed to the disease, and the whole country was infected. Mgr. of +Petræa was admirable in his devotion; he hardly left the hospital at +all, and constituted himself the nurse of all these unfortunates, making +their beds and giving them the most attentive care. "He is continually +at the hospital," wrote Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "in order to +help the sick and to make their beds. We do what we can to prevent him +and to shield his health, but no eloquence can dissuade him from these +acts of self-abasement." + +In the spring of the year 1662, Mgr. de Laval rented for his own use an +old house situated on the site of the present parochial residence at +Quebec, and it was there that, with the three other priests who then +composed his episcopal court, he edified all the colonists by the +simplicity of a cenobitic life. He had been at first the guest of the +Jesuit Fathers, was later sheltered by the Sisters of the Hôtel-Dieu, +and subsequently lodged with the Ursulines. At this period it was indeed +incumbent upon him to adapt himself to circumstances; nor did these +modest conditions displease the former pupil of M. de Bernières, since, +as Latour bears witness, "he always complained that people did too much +for him; he showed a distaste for all that was too daintily prepared, +and affected, on the contrary, a sort of avidity for coarser fare." +Mother Mary of the Incarnation wrote: "He lives like a holy man and an +apostle; his life is so exemplary that he commands the admiration of the +country. He gives everything away and lives like a pauper, and one may +well say that he has the very spirit of poverty. He practises this +poverty in his house, in his manner of living, and in the matter of +furniture and servants; for he has but one gardener, whom he lends to +poor people when they have need of him, and a valet who formerly served +M. de Bernières." + +But if the reverend prelate was modest and simple in his personal +tastes, he became inflexible when he thought it his duty to maintain the +rights of the Church. And he watched over these rights with the more +circumspection since he was the first bishop installed in the colony, +and was unwilling to allow abuses to be planted there, which later it +would be very difficult, not to say impossible, to uproot. Hence the +continual friction between him and the governor-general, d'Argenson, on +questions of precedence and etiquette. Some of these disputes would seem +to us childish to-day if even such a writer as Parkman did not put us on +our guard against a premature judgment.[1] "The disputes in question," +writes Parkman, "though of a nature to provoke a smile on irreverent +lips, were by no means so puerile as they appear. It is difficult in a +modern democratic society to conceive the substantial importance of the +signs and symbols of dignity and authority, at a time and among a people +where they were adjusted with the most scrupulous precision, and +accepted by all classes as exponents of relative degrees in the social +and political scale. Whether the bishop or the governor should sit in +the higher seat at table thus became a political question, for it +defined to the popular understanding the position of Church and State in +their relations to government." + +In his zeal for making his episcopal authority respected, could not the +prelate, however, have made some concessions to the temporal power? It +is allowable to think so, when his panegyrist, the Abbé Gosselin, +acknowledges it in these terms: "Did he sometimes show too much ardour +in the settlement of a question or in the assertion of his rights? It is +possible. As the Abbé Ferland rightly observes, 'no virtue is perfect +upon earth.' But he was too pious and too disinterested for us to +suspect for a moment the purity of his intentions." In certain passages +in his journal Father Lalemant seems to be of the same opinion. All men +are fallible; even the greatest saints have erred. In this connection +the remark of St. Bernardin of Siena presents itself naturally to the +religious mind: "Each time," says he, "that God grants to a creature a +marked and particular favour, and when divine grace summons him to a +special task and to some sublime position, it is a rule of Providence +to furnish that creature with all the means necessary to fulfil the +mission which is entrusted to him, and to bring it to a happy +conclusion. Providence prepares his birth, directs his education, +produces the environment in which he is to live; even his faults +Providence will use in the accomplishment of its purposes." + +Difficulties of another sort fixed between the spiritual and the +temporal chiefs of the colony a still deeper gulf; they arose from the +trade in brandy with the savages. It had been formerly forbidden by the +Sovereign Council, and this measure, urged by the clergy and the +missionaries, put a stop to crimes and disorders. However, for the +purpose of gain, certain men infringed this wise prohibition, and Mgr. +de Laval, aware of the extensive harm caused by the fatal passion of the +Indians for intoxicating liquors, hurled excommunication against all who +should carry on the traffic in brandy with the savages. "It would be +very difficult," writes M. de Latour, "to realize to what an excess +these barbarians are carried by drunkenness. There is no species of +madness, of crime or inhumanity to which they do not descend. The +savage, for a glass of brandy, will give even his clothes, his cabin, +his wife, his children; a squaw when made drunk--and this is often done +purposely--will abandon herself to the first comer. They will tear each +other to pieces. If one enters a cabin whose inmates have just drunk +brandy, one will behold with astonishment and horror the father cutting +the throat of his son, the son threatening his father; the husband and +wife, the best of friends, inflicting murderous blows upon each other, +biting each other, tearing out each other's eyes, noses and ears; they +are no longer recognizable, they are madmen; there is perhaps in the +world no more vivid picture of hell. There are often some among them who +seek drunkenness in order to avenge themselves upon their enemies, and +commit with impunity all sorts of crimes under the pretext of this fine +excuse, which passes with them for a complete justification, that at +these times they are not free and not in their senses." Drunken savages +are brutes, it is true, but were not the whites who fostered this fatal +passion of intoxication more guilty still than the wretches whom they +ignominiously urged on to vice? Let us see what the same writer says of +these corrupters. "If it is difficult," says he, "to explain the +excesses of the savage, it is also difficult to understand the extent of +the greed, the hypocrisy and the rascality of those who supply them with +these drinks. The facility for making immense profits which is afforded +them by the ignorance and the passions of these people, and the +certainty of impunity, are things which they cannot resist; the +attraction of gain acts upon them as drunkenness does upon their +victims. How many crimes arise from the same source? There is no mother +who does not fear for her daughter, no husband who does not dread for +his wife, a libertine armed with a bottle of brandy; they rob and +pillage these wretches, who, stupefied by intoxication when they are not +maddened by it, can neither refuse nor defend themselves. There is no +barrier which is not forced, no weakness which is not exploited, in +these remote regions where, without either witnesses or masters, only +the voice of brutal passion is listened to, every crime of which is +inspired by a glass of brandy. The French are worse in this respect than +the savages." + +Governor d'Avaugour supported energetically the measures taken by Mgr. +de Laval; unfortunately a regrettable incident destroyed the harmony +between their two authorities. Inspired by his good heart, the superior +of the Jesuits, Father Lalemant, interceded with the governor in favour +of a woman imprisoned for having infringed the prohibition of the sale +of brandy to the Indians. "If she is not to be punished," brusquely +replied d'Avaugour, "no one shall be punished henceforth!" And, as he +made it a point of honour not to withdraw this unfortunate utterance, +the traders profited by it. From that time license was no longer +bridled; the savages got drunk, the traders were enriched, and the +colony was in jeopardy. Sure of being supported by the governor, the +merchants listened to neither bishop nor missionaries. Grieved at seeing +his prayers as powerless as his commands, Mgr. de Laval decided to +carry his complaint to the foot of the throne, and he set sail for +France in the autumn of 1662. "Statesmen who place the freedom of +commerce above morality of action," says Jacques de Beaudoncourt, "still +consider that the bishop was wrong, and see in this matter a fine +opportunity to inveigh against the encroachments of the clergy; but +whoever has at heart the cause of human dignity will not hesitate to +take the side of the missionaries who sought to preserve the savages +from the vices which have brought about their ruin and their +disappearance. The Montagnais race, which is still the most important in +Canada, has been preserved by Catholicism from the vices and the misery +which brought about so rapidly the extirpation of the savages." + +Mgr. de Laval succeeded beyond his hopes; cordially received by King +Louis XIV, he obtained the recall of Governor d'Avaugour. But this +purpose was not the only one which he had made the goal of his ambition; +he had in view another, much more important for the welfare of the +colony. Fourteen years before, the Iroquois had exterminated the Hurons, +and since this period the colonists had not enjoyed a single hour of +calm; the devotion of Dollard and of his sixteen heroic comrades had +narrowly saved them from a horrible danger. The worthy prelate obtained +from the king a sufficiently large assignment of troops to deliver the +colony at last from its most dangerous enemies. "We expect next year," +he wrote to the sovereign pontiff, "twelve hundred soldiers, with whom, +by God's help, we shall try to overcome the fierce Iroquois. The Marquis +de Tracy will come to Canada in order to see for himself the measures +which are necessary to make of New France a strong and prosperous +colony." + +M. Dubois d'Avaugour was recalled, and yet he rendered before his +departure a distinguished service to the colony. "The St. Lawrence," he +wrote in a memorial to the monarch, "is the key to a country which may +become the greatest state in the world. There should be sent to this +colony three thousand soldiers, to be discharged after three years of +service; they could make Quebec an impregnable fortress, subdue the +Iroquois, build redoubtable forts on the banks of the Hudson, where the +Dutch have only a wretched wooden hut, and in short, open for New France +a road to the sea by this river." It was mainly this report which +induced the sovereign to take back Canada from the hands of the Company +of the Cent-Associés, who were incapable of colonizing it, and to +reintegrate it in the royal domain. + +Must we think with M. de la Colombière,[2] with M. de Latour and with +Cardinal Taschereau, that the Sovereign Council was the work of Mgr. de +Laval? We have some justification in believing it when we remember that +the king arrived at this important decision while the energetic Laval +was present at his court. However it may be, on April 24th, 1663, the +Company of New France abandoned the colony to the royal government, +which immediately created in Canada three courts of justice and above +them the Sovereign Council as a court of appeal. + +The Bishop of Petræa sailed in 1663 for North America with the new +governor, M. de Mézy, who owed to him his appointment. His other +fellow-passengers were M. Gaudais-Dupont, who came to take possession of +the country in the name of the king, two priests, MM. Maizerets and +Hugues Pommier, Father Rafeix, of the Society of Jesus, and three +ecclesiastics. The passage was stormy and lasted four months. To-day, +when we leave Havre and disembark a week later at New York, after having +enjoyed all the refinements of luxury and comfort invented by an +advanced but materialistic civilization, we can with difficulty imagine +the discomforts, hardships and privations of four long months on a +stormy sea. Scurvy, that fatal consequence of famine and exhaustion, +soon broke out among the passengers, and many died of it. The bishop, +himself stricken by the disease, did not cease, nevertheless, to lavish +his care upon the unfortunates who were attacked by the infection; he +even attended them at the hospital after they had landed. + +The country was still at this time under the stress of the emotion +caused by the terrible earthquake of 1663. Father Lalemant has left us a +striking description of this cataclysm, marked by the naïve exaggeration +of the period: "It was February 5th, 1663, about half-past five in the +evening, when a great roar was heard at the same time throughout the +extent of Canada. This noise, which gave the impression that fire had +broken out in all the houses, made every one rush out of doors in order +to flee from such a sudden conflagration. But instead of seeing smoke +and flame, the people were much surprised to behold walls tottering, and +all the stones moving as if they had become detached; the roofs seemed +to bend downward on one side, then to lean over on the other; the bells +rang of their own accord; joists, rafters and boards cracked, the earth +quivered and made the stakes of the palisades dance in a manner which +would appear incredible if we had not seen it in various places. + +"Then every one rushes outside, animals take to flight, children cry +through the streets, men and women, seized with terror, know not where +to take refuge, thinking at every moment that they must be either +overwhelmed in the ruins of the houses or buried in some abyss about to +open under their feet; some, falling to their knees in the snow, cry for +mercy; others pass the rest of the night in prayer, because the +earthquake still continues with a certain undulation, almost like that +of ships at sea, and such that some feel from these shocks the same +sickness that they endure upon the water. + +"The disorder was much greater in the forest. It seemed that there was a +battle between the trees, which were hurled together, and not only their +branches but even their trunks seemed to leave their places to leap upon +each other with a noise and a confusion which made our savages say that +the whole forest was drunk. + +"There seemed to be the same combat between the mountains, of which some +were uprooted and hurled upon the others, leaving great chasms in the +places whence they came, and now burying the trees, with which they were +covered, deep in the earth up to their tops, now thrusting them in, with +branches downward, taking the place of the roots, so that they left only +a forest of upturned trunks. + +"While this general destruction was going on on land, sheets of ice five +or six feet thick were broken and shattered to pieces, and split in many +places, whence arose thick vapour or streams of mud and sand which +ascended high into the air; our springs either flowed no longer or ran +with sulphurous waters; the rivers were either lost from sight or became +polluted, the waters of some becoming yellow, those of others red, and +the great St. Lawrence appeared quite livid up to the vicinity of +Tadousac, a most astonishing prodigy, and one capable of surprising +those who know the extent of this great river below the Island of +Orleans, and what matter must be necessary to whiten it. + +"We behold new lakes where there never were any; certain mountains +engulfed are no longer seen; several rapids have been smoothed out; not +a few rivers no longer appear; the earth is cleft in many places, and +has opened abysses which seem to have no bottom. In short, there has +been produced such a confusion of woods upturned and buried, that we see +now stretches of country of more than a thousand acres wholly denuded, +and as if they were freshly ploughed, where a little before there had +been but forests. + +"Moreover, three circumstances made this earthquake most remarkable. The +first is the time of its duration, since it lasted into the month of +August, that is to say, more than six months. It is true that the shocks +were not always so rude; in certain places, for example, towards the +mountains at the back of us, the noise and the commotion were long +continued; at others, as in the direction of Tadousac, there was a +quaking as a rule two or three times a day, accompanied by a great +straining, and we noticed that in the higher places the disturbance was +less than in the flat districts. + +"The second circumstance concerns the extent of this earthquake, which +we believe to have been universal throughout New France; for we learn +that it was felt from Ile Percé and Gaspé, which are at the mouth of our +river, to beyond Montreal, as likewise in New England, in Acadia and +other very remote places; so that, knowing that the earthquake occurred +throughout an extent of two hundred leagues in length by one hundred in +breadth, we have twenty thousand square leagues of land which felt the +earthquake on the same day and at the same moment. + +"The third circumstance concerns God's particular protection of our +homes, for we see near us great abysses and a prodigious extent of +country wholly ruined, without our having lost a child or even a hair of +our heads. We see ourselves surrounded by confusion and ruins, and yet +we have had only a few chimneys demolished, while the mountains around +us have been overturned." + +From the point of view of conversions and returns to God the results +were marvellous. "One can scarcely believe," says Mother Mary of the +Incarnation, "the great number of conversions that God has brought +about, both among infidels who have embraced the faith, and on the part +of Christians who have abandoned their evil life. At the same time as +God has shaken the mountains and the marble rocks of these regions, it +would seem that He has taken pleasure in shaking consciences. Days of +carnival have been changed into days of penitence and sadness; public +prayers, processions and pilgrimages have been continual; fasts on bread +and water very frequent; the general confessions more sincere than they +would have been in the extremity of sickness. A single ecclesiastic, +who directs the parish of Château-Richer, has assured us that he has +procured more than eight hundred general confessions, and I leave you to +think what the reverend Fathers must have accomplished who were day and +night in the confessional. I do not think that in the whole country +there is a single inhabitant who has not made a general confession. +There have been inveterate sinners, who, to set their consciences at +rest, have repeated their confession more than three times. We have seen +admirable reconciliations, enemies falling on their knees before each +other to ask each other's forgiveness, in so much sorrow that it was +easy to see that these changes were the results of grace and of the +mercy of God rather than of His justice." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Old Régime in Canada_, p. 110. + +[2] Joseph Séré de la Colombière, vicar-general and archdeacon of +Quebec, pronounced Mgr. de Laval's funeral oration. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEMINARY + + +No sooner had he returned, than the Bishop of Petræa devoted all the +strength of his intellect to the execution of a plan which he had long +meditated, namely, the foundation of a seminary. In order to explain +what he understood by this word we cannot do better than to quote his +own ordinance relating to this matter: "There shall be educated and +trained such young clerics as may appear fit for the service of God, and +they shall be taught for this purpose the proper manner of administering +the sacraments, the methods of apostolic catechism and preaching, moral +theology, the ceremonies of the Church, the Gregorian chant, and other +things belonging to the duties of a good ecclesiastic; and besides, in +order that there may be formed in the said seminary and among its clergy +a chapter composed of ecclesiastics belonging thereto and chosen from +among us and the bishops of the said country, our successors, when the +king shall have seen fit to found the seminary, or from those whom the +said seminary may be able of itself to furnish to this institution +through the blessing of God. We desire it to be a perpetual school of +virtue, and a place of training whence we may derive pious and capable +recruits, in order to send them on all occasions, and whenever there may +be need, into the parishes and other places in the said country, in +order to exercise therein priestly and other duties to which they may +have been destined, and to withdraw them from the same parishes and +duties when it may be judged fitting, reserving to ourselves always, and +to the bishops, our successors in the said country, as well as to the +said seminary, by our orders and those of the said lords bishops, the +power of recalling all the ecclesiastics who may have gone forth as +delegates into the parishes and other places, whenever it may be deemed +necessary, without their having title or right of particular attachment +to a parish, it being our desire, on the contrary, that they should be +rightfully removable, and subject to dismissal and displacement at the +will of the bishops and of the said seminary, by the orders of the same, +in accordance with the sacred practice of the early ages of the Church, +which is followed and preserved still at the present day in many +dioceses of this kingdom." + +Although this foregoing period is somewhat lengthy and a little obscure, +so weighty with meaning is it, we have been anxious to quote it, first, +because it is an official document, and because it came from the very +pen of him whose life we are studying; and, secondly, because it shows +that at this period serious reading, such as Cicero, Quintilian, and the +Fathers of the Church, formed the mental pabulum of the people. In our +days the beauty of a sentence is less sought after than its clearness +and conciseness. + +It may be well to add here the Abbé Gosselin's explanation of this +_mandement_: "Three principal works are due to this document as the +glorious inheritance of the seminary of Quebec. In the first place we +have the natural work of any seminary, the training of ecclesiastics and +the preparation of the clergy for priestly virtues. In the next place we +have the creation of the chapter, which the Bishop of Petræa always +considered important in a well organized diocese; it was his desire to +find the elements of this chapter in his seminary, when the king should +have provided for its endowment, or when the seminary itself could bear +the expense. Finally, there is that which in the mind of Mgr. de Laval +was the supreme work of the seminary, its vital task: the seminary was +to be not only a perpetual school of virtue, but also a place of supply +on which he might draw for the persons needed in the administration of +his diocese, and to which he might send them back when he should think +best. All livings are connected with the seminary, but they are all +transferable. The prelate here puts clearly and categorically the +question of the transfer of livings. In his measures there is neither +hesitation nor circumlocution. He does not seek to deceive the sovereign +to whom he is about to submit his regulation. For him, in the present +condition of New France, there can be no question of fixed livings; the +priests must be by right removable, and subject to recall at the will of +the bishop; and, as is fitting in a prelate worthy of the primitive +Church, he always lays stress in his commands on the _holy practice of +the early centuries_. The question was clearly put. It was as clearly +understood by the sovereign, who approved some days later of the +regulation of Mgr. de Laval." + +It was in the month of April, 1663, that the worthy prelate had obtained +the royal approval of the establishment of his seminary; it was on +October 10th of the same year that he had it registered by the Sovereign +Council. + +A great difficulty arose: the missionaries, besides the help that they +had obtained from the Company of the Cent-Associés, derived their +resources from Europe; but how was the new secular clergy to be +supported, totally lacking as it was in endowment and revenue? Mgr. de +Laval resolved to employ the means adopted long ago by Charlemagne to +assure the maintenance of the Frankish clergy: that of tithes or dues +paid by the husbandman from his harvest. Accordingly he obtained from +the king an ordinance according to which tithes, fixed at the amount of +the thirteenth part of the harvests, should be collected from the +colonists by the seminary; the latter was to use them for the +maintenance of the priests, and for divine service in the established +parishes. The burden was, perhaps, somewhat heavy. Mgr. de Laval, who, +inspired by the spirit of poverty, had renounced his patrimony and lived +solely upon a pension of a thousand francs which the queen paid him from +her private exchequer, felt that he had a certain right to impose his +disinterestedness upon others, but the colonists, sure of the support of +the governor, M. de Mézy, complained. + +The good understanding between the governor-general and the bishop had +been maintained up to the end of January, 1664. Full of respect for the +character and the virtue of his friend, M. de Mézy had energetically +supported the ordinances of the Sovereign Council against the brandy +traffic; he had likewise favoured the registration of the law of tithes, +but the opposition which he met in the matter of an increase in his +salary impelled him to arbitrary action. Of his own authority he +displaced three councillors, and out of petty rancour allowed strong +liquors to be sold to the savages. The open struggle between the bishop +and himself produced the most unfavourable impression in the colony. The +king decided that the matter must be brought to a head. M. de Courcelles +was appointed governor, and, jointly with a viceroy, the Marquis de +Tracy, and with the Intendant Talon, was entrusted with the +investigation of the administration of M. de Mézy. They arrived a few +months after the death of de Mézy, whom this untimely end saved perhaps +from a well-deserved condemnation. He had become reconciled in his +dying hour to his old and venerable friend, and the judges confined +themselves to the erasure of the documents which recalled his +administration. + +The worthy Bishop of Petræa had not lost for a moment the confidence of +the sovereign, as is proved by many letters which he received from the +king and his prime minister, Colbert. "I send you by command of His +Majesty," writes Colbert, "the sum of six thousand francs, to be +disposed of as you may deem best to supply your needs and those of your +Church. We cannot ascribe too great a value to a virtue like yours, +which is ever equally maintained, which charitably extends its help +wherever it is necessary, which makes you indefatigable in the functions +of your episcopacy, notwithstanding the feebleness of your health and +the frequent indispositions by which you are attacked, and which thus +makes you share with the least of your ecclesiastics the task of +administering the sacraments in places most remote from the principal +settlements. I shall add nothing to this statement, which is entirely +sincere, for fear of wounding your natural modesty, etc...." The prince +himself is no less flattering: "My Lord Bishop of Petræa," writes Louis +the Great, "I expected no less of your zeal for the exaltation of the +faith, and of your affection for the furtherance of my service than the +conduct observed by you in your important and holy mission. Its main +reward is reserved by Heaven, which alone can recompense you in +proportion to your merit, but you may rest assured that such rewards as +depend on me will not be wanting at the fitting time. I subscribe, +moreover, to my Lord Colbert's communications to you in my name." + +Peace and harmony were re-established, and with them the hope of seeing +finally disappear the constant menace of Iroquois forays. The +magnificent regiment of Carignan, composed of six hundred men, reassured +the colonists while it daunted their savage enemies. Thus three of the +Five Nations hastened to sue for peace, and they obtained it. In order +to protect the frontiers of the colony, M. de Tracy caused three forts +to be erected on the Richelieu River, one at Sorel, another at Chambly, +a third still more remote, that of Ste. Thérèse; then at the head of six +hundred soldiers, six hundred militia and a hundred Indians, he marched +towards the hamlets of the Mohawks. The result of this expedition was, +unhappily, as fruitless as that of the later campaigns undertaken +against the Indians by MM. de Denonville and de Frontenac. After a +difficult march they come into touch with the savages; but these all +flee into the woods, and they find only their huts stocked with immense +supplies of corn for the winter, and a great number of pigs. At least, +if they cannot reach the barbarians themselves, they can inflict upon +them a terrible punishment; they set fire to the cabins and the corn, +the pigs are slaughtered, and thus a large number of their wild enemies +die of hunger during the winter. The viceroy was wise enough to accept +the surrender of many Indians, and the peace which he concluded afforded +the colony eighteen years of tranquillity. + +The question of the apportionment of the tithes was settled in the +following year, 1667. The viceroy, acting with MM. de Courcelles and +Talon, decided that the tithe should be reduced to a twenty-sixth, by +reason of the poverty of the inhabitants, and that newly-cleared lands +should pay nothing for the first five years. Mgr. de Laval, ever ready +to accept just and sensible measures, agreed to this decision. The +revenues thus obtained were, none the less, insufficient, since the king +subsequently gave eight or nine thousand francs to complete the +endowment of the priests, whose annual salary was fixed at five hundred +and seventy-four francs. In 1707 the sum granted by the French court was +reduced to four thousand francs. If we remember that the French farmers +contributed the thirteenth part of their harvest, that is to say, double +the quantity of the Canadian tithe, for the support of their pastors, +shall we deem excessive this modest tax raised from the colonists for +men who devoted to them their time, their health, even their hours of +rest, in order to procure for their parishioners the aid of religion? Is +it not regrettable that too many among the colonists, who were yet such +good Christians in the observance of religious practices, should have +opposed an obstinate resistance to so righteous a demand? Can it be +that, by a special dispensation of Heaven, the priests and vicars of +Canada are not liable to the same material needs as ordinary mortals, +and are they not obliged to pay in good current coin for their food, +their medicines and their clothes? + +The first seminary, built of stone,[3] rose in 1661 on the site of the +present vicarage of the cathedral of Quebec; it cost eight thousand five +hundred francs, two thousand of which were given by Mgr. de Laval. The +first priest of Quebec and first superior of the seminary, M. Henri de +Bernières, was able to occupy it in the autumn of the following year, +and the Bishop of Petræa abode there from the time of his return from +France on September 15th, 1663, until the burning of this house on +November 15th, 1701. The first directors of the seminary were, besides +M. de Bernières, MM. de Lauson-Charny, son of the former +governor-general, Jean Dudouyt, Thomas Morel, Ange de Maizerets and +Hugues Pommier. Except the first, who was a Burgundian, they were all +born in the two provinces of Brittany and Normandy, the cradles of the +majority of our ancestors. + +The founder of the seminary had wished the livings to be transferable; +later the government decided to the contrary, and the edict of 1679 +decreed that the tithes should be payable only to the permanent +priests; nevertheless the majority of them remained of their own free +will attached to the seminary. They had learned there to practise a +complete abnegation, and to give to the faithful the example of a united +and fervent clerical family. "Our goods were held in common with those +of the bishop," wrote M. de Maizerets, "I have never seen any +distinction made among us between poor and rich, or the birth and rank +of any one questioned, since we all consider each other as brothers." + +The pious bishop himself set an example of disinterestedness; all that +he had, namely an income of two thousand five hundred francs, which the +Jesuits paid him as the tithes of the grain harvested upon their +property, and a revenue of a thousand francs which he had from his +friends in France, went into the seminary. MM. de Bernières, de +Maizerets and Dudouyt vied in the imitation of their model, and they +likewise abandoned to the holy house their goods and their pensions. The +prelate confined himself, like the others, from humility even more than +from economy on behalf of the community, to the greatest simplicity in +dress as well as in his environment. Aiming at the highest degree of +possible perfection, he was satisfied with the coarsest fare, and +incessantly added voluntary privations to the sacrifices demanded of him +by his difficult duties. Does not this apostolic poverty recall the +seminary established by the pious founder of St. Sulpice, who wrote: +"Each had at dinner a bowl of soup and a small portion of butcher's +meat, without dessert, and in the evening likewise a little roast +mutton"? + +Mortification diminished in no wise the activity of the prelate; +learning that the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, that nursery of +apostles, had just been definitely established (1663), he considered it +his duty to establish his own more firmly by affiliating it with that of +the French capital. "I have learned with joy," wrote he, "of the +establishment of your Seminary of Foreign Missions, and that the gales +and tempests by which it has been tossed since the beginning have but +served to render it firmer and more unassailable. I cannot sufficiently +praise your zeal, which, unable to confine itself to the limits and +frontiers of France, seeks to spread throughout the world, and to pass +beyond the seas into the most remote regions; considering which, I have +thought I could not compass a greater good for our young Church, nor one +more to the glory of God and the welfare of the peoples whom God has +entrusted to our guidance, than by contributing to the establishment of +one of your branches in Quebec, the place of our residence, where you +will be like the light set upon the candlestick, to illumine all these +regions by your holy doctrine and the example of your virtue. Since you +are the torch of foreign countries, it is only reasonable that there +should be no quarter of the globe uninfluenced by your charity and +zeal. I hope that our Church will be one of the first to possess this +good fortune, the more since it has already a part of what you hold most +dear. Come then, and be welcome; we shall receive you with joy. You will +find a lodging prepared and a fund sufficient to set up a small +establishment, which I hope will continue to grow...." The act of union +was signed in 1665, and was renewed ten years later with the royal +assent. + +Thanks to the generosity of Mgr. de Laval and of the first directors of +the seminary, building and acquisition of land was begun. There was +erected in 1668 a large wooden dwelling, which was in some sort an +extension of the episcopal and parochial residence. It was destroyed in +1701, with the vicarage, in the conflagration which overwhelmed the +whole seminary. Subsequently, there was purchased a site of sixteen +acres adjoining the parochial church, upon which was erected the house +of Madame Couillard. This house, in which lodged in 1668 the first +pupils of the smaller seminary, was replaced in 1678 by a stone edifice, +large enough to shelter all the pupils of both the seminaries. The +seigniory of Beaupré was also acquired, which with remarkable foresight +the bishop exchanged for the Ile Jésus. "It was prudent," remarks the +Abbé Gosselin, "not to have all the property in the same place; when the +seasons are bad in one part of the country they may be prosperous +elsewhere; and having thus sources of revenue in different places, one +is more likely never to find them entirely lacking." + +The smaller seminary dates only from the year 1668. Up to this time the +large seminary alone existed; of the five ecclesiastics who were its +inmates in 1663, Louis Joliet abandoned the priestly career. It was he +who, impelled by his adventurous instincts, sought out, together with +Father Marquette, the mouth of the Mississippi. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] The house was first the presbytery. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MGR. DE LAVAL AND THE SAVAGES + + +Now, what were the results accomplished by the efforts of the +missionaries at this period of our history? When in their latest hour +they saw about them, as was very frequently the case, only the wild +children of the desert uttering cries of ferocious joy, had they at +least the consolation of discerning faithful disciples of Christ +concealed among their executioners? Alas! we must admit that North +America saw no renewal of the days when St. Peter converted on one +occasion, at his first preaching, three thousand persons, and when St. +Paul brought to Jesus by His word thousands of Gentiles. Were the +missionaries of the New World, then, less zealous, less disinterested, +less eloquent than the apostles of the early days of the Church? Let us +listen to Mgr. Bourgard: "A few only among them, like the Brazilian +apostle, Father Anthony Vieyra, died a natural death and found a grave +in earth consecrated by the Church. Many, like Father Marquette, who +reconnoitred the whole course of the Mississippi, succumbed to the +burden of fatigue in the midst of the desert, and were buried under the +turf by their sorrowful comrades. He had with him several Frenchmen, +Fathers Badin, Deseille and Petit; the two latter left their venerable +remains among the wastes. Others met death at the bedside of the +plague-stricken, and were martyrs to their charity, like Fathers Turgis +and Dablon. An incalculable number died in the desert, alone, deprived +of all aid, unknown to the whole world, and their bodies became the +sustenance of birds of prey. Several obtained the glorious crown of +martyrdom; such are the venerable Fathers Jogues, Corpo, Souël, +Chabanel, Ribourde, Brébeuf, Lalemant, etc. Now they fell under the +blows of raging Indians; now they were traitorously assassinated; again, +they were impaled." In what, then, must we seek for the cause of the +futility of these efforts? All those who know the savages will +understand it; it is in the fickle character of these children of the +woods, a character more unstable and volatile than that of infants. God +alone knows what restless anxiety the conversions which they succeeded +in bringing about caused to the missionaries and the pious Bishop of +Petræa. Yet every day Mgr. de Laval ardently prayed, not only for the +flock confided to his care but also for the souls which he had come from +so far to seek to save from heathenism. If one of these devout men of +God had succeeded at the price of a thousand dangers, of a thousand +attempts, in proving to an Indian the insanity, the folly of his belief +in the juggleries of a sorcerer, he must watch with jealous care lest +his convert should lapse from grace either through the sarcasms of the +other redskins, or through the attractions of some cannibal festival, or +by the temptation to satisfy an ancient grudge, or through the fear of +losing a coveted influence, or even through the apprehension of the +vengeance of the heathen. Did he think himself justified in expecting to +see his efforts crowned with success? Suddenly he would learn that the +poor neophyte had been led astray by the sight of a bottle of brandy, +and that he had to begin again from the beginning. + +No greater success was attained in many efforts which were exerted to +give a European stamp to the character of the aborigines, than in divers +attempts to train in civilized habits young Indians brought up in the +seminaries. And we know that if success in this direction had been +possible it would certainly have been obtained by educators like the +Jesuit Fathers. "With the French admitted to the small seminary," says +the Abbé Ferland, "six young Indians were received; on the advice of the +king they were all to be brought up together. This union, which was +thought likely to prove useful to all, was not helpful to the savages, +and became harmful to the young Frenchmen. After a few trials it was +understood that it was impossible to adapt to the regular habits +necessary for success in a course of study these young scholars who had +been reared in complete freedom. Comradeship with Algonquin and Huron +children, who were incapable of limiting themselves to the observance +of a college rule, tended to give more force and persistence to the +independent ideas which were natural in the young French-Canadians, who +received from their fathers the love of liberty and the taste for an +adventurous life." + +But we must not infer, therefore, that the missionaries found no +consolation in their troublous task. If sometimes the savage blood +revealed itself in the neophytes in sudden insurrections, we must admit +that the majority of the converts devoted themselves to the practice of +virtues with an energy which often rose to heroism, and that already +there began to appear among them that holy fraternity which the gospel +everywhere brings to birth. The memoirs of the Jesuits furnish numerous +evidences of this. We shall cite only the following: "A band of Hurons +had come down to the Mission of St. Joseph. The Christians, suffering a +great dearth of provisions, asked each other, 'Can we feed all those +people?' As they said this, behold, a number of the Indians, +disembarking from their little boats, go straight to the chapel, fall +upon their knees and say their prayers. An Algonquin who had gone to +salute the Holy Sacrament, having perceived them, came to apprise his +captain that these Hurons were praying to God. 'Is it true?' said he. +'Come! come! we must no longer debate whether we shall give them food or +not; they are our brothers, since they believe as well as we.'" + +The conversion which caused the most joy to Mgr. de Laval was that of +Garakontié, the noted chief of the Iroquois confederation. Accordingly +he wished to baptize him himself in the cathedral of Quebec, and the +governor, M. de Courcelles, consented to serve as godfather to the new +follower of Christ. Up to this time the missions to the Five Nations had +been ephemeral; by the first one Father Jogues had only been able to +fertilize with his blood this barbarous soil; the second, established at +Gannentaha, escaped the general massacre in 1658 only by a genuine +miracle. This mission was commanded by Captain Dupuis, and comprised +fifty-five Frenchmen. Five Jesuit Fathers were of the number, among them +Fathers Chaumonot and Dablon. Everything up to that time had gone +wonderfully well in the new establishment; the missionaries knew the +Iroquois language so well, and so well applied the rules of savage +eloquence, that they impressed all the surrounding tribes; accordingly +they were full of trust and dreamed of a rapid extension of the Catholic +faith in these territories. An Iroquois chief dispelled their illusion +by revealing to them the plans of their enemies; they were already +watched, and preparations were on foot to cut off their retreat. In this +peril the colonists took counsel, and hastily constructed in the +granaries of their quarters a few boats, some canoes and a large barge, +destined to transport the provisions and the fugitives. They had to +hasten, because the attack against their establishment might take place +at any moment, and they must profit by the breaking up of the ice, which +was impending. But how could they transport this little flotilla to the +river which flowed into Lake Ontario twenty miles away without giving +the alarm and being massacred at the first step? They adopted a singular +stratagem derived from the customs of these people, and one in which the +fugitives succeeded perfectly. "A young Frenchman adopted by an Indian," +relates Jacques de Beaudoncourt, "pretended to have a dream by which he +was warned to make a festival, 'to eat everything,' if he did not wish +to die presently. 'You are my son,' replied the Iroquois chief, 'I do +not want you to die; prepare the feast and we shall eat everything.' No +one was absent; some of the French who were invited made music to charm +the guests. They ate so much, according to the rules of Indian civility, +that they said to their host, 'Take pity on us, and let us go and rest.' +'You want me to die, then?' 'Oh, no!' And they betook themselves to +eating again as best they could. During this time the other Frenchmen +were carrying to the river the boats and provisions. When all was ready +the young man said: 'I take pity on you, stop eating, I shall not die. I +am going to have music played to lull you to sleep.' And sleep was not +long in coming, and the French, slipping hastily away from the banquet +hall, rejoined their comrades. They had left the dogs and the fowls +behind, in order the better to deceive the savages; a heavy snow, +falling at the moment of their departure, had concealed all traces of +their passage, and the banqueters imagined that a powerful Manitou had +carried away the fugitives, who would not fail to come back and avenge +themselves. After thirteen days of toilsome navigation, the French +arrived in Montreal, having lost only three men from drowning during the +passage. It had been thought that they were all massacred, for the plans +of the Iroquois had become known in the colony; this escape brought the +greatest honour to Captain Dupuis, who had successfully carried it out." + +M. d'Argenson, then governor, did not approve of the retreat of the +captain; this advanced bulwark protected the whole colony, and he +thought that the French should have held out to the last man. This +selfish opinion was disavowed by the great majority; the real courage of +a leader does not consist in having all his comrades massacred to no +purpose, but in saving by his calm intrepidity the largest possible +number of soldiers for his country. + +The Iroquois were tricked but not disarmed. Beside themselves with rage +at the thought that so many victims about to be sacrificed to their +hatred had escaped their blows, and desiring to end once for all the +feud with their enemies, the Onondagas, they persuaded the other nations +to join them in a rush upon Quebec. They succeeded easily, and twelve +hundred savage warriors assembled at Cleft Rock, on the outskirts of +Montreal, and exposed the colony to the most terrible danger which it +had yet experienced. + +This was indeed a great peril; the dwellings above Quebec were without +defence, and separated so far from each other that they stretched out +nearly two leagues. But providentially the plan of these terrible foes +was made known to the inhabitants of the town through an Iroquois +prisoner. Immediately the most feverish activity was exerted in +preparations for defence; the country houses and those of the Lower Town +were abandoned, and the inhabitants took refuge in the palace, in the +fort, with the Ursulines, or with the Jesuits; redoubts were raised, +loop-holes bored and patrols established. At Ville-Marie no fewer +precautions were taken; the governor surrounded a mill which he had +erected in 1658, by a palisade, a ditch, and four bastions well +entrenched. It stood on a height of the St. Louis Hill, and, called at +first the Mill on the Hill, it became later the citadel of Montreal. +Anxiety still prevailed everywhere, but God, who knows how to raise up, +in the very moment of despair, the instruments which He uses in His +infinite wisdom to protect the countries dear to His heart, that same +God who gave to France the heroic Joan of Arc, produced for Canada an +unexpected defender. Dollard and sixteen brave Montrealers were to offer +themselves as victims to save the colony. Their devotion, which +surpasses all that history shows of splendid daring, proves the +exaltation of the souls of those early colonists. + +One morning in the month of July, 1660, Dollard, accompanied by sixteen +valiant comrades, presented himself at the altar of the church in +Montreal; these Christian heroes came to ask the God of the strong to +bless the resolve which they had taken to go and sacrifice themselves +for their brothers. Immediately after mass, tearing themselves from the +embraces of their relatives, they set out, and after a long and toilsome +march arrived at the foot of the Long Rapid, on the left bank of the +Ottawa; the exact point where they stopped is probably Greece's Point, +five or six miles above Carillon, for they knew that the Iroquois +returning from the hunt must pass this place. They installed themselves +within a wretched palisade, where they were joined almost at once by two +Indian chiefs who, having challenged each other's courage, sought an +occasion to surpass one another in valour. They were Anahotaha, at the +head of forty Hurons, and Métiomègue, accompanied by four Algonquins. +They had not long to wait; two canoes bore the Iroquois crews within +musket shot; those who escaped the terrible volley which received them +and killed the majority of them, hastened to warn the band of three +hundred other Iroquois from whom they had become detached. The Indians, +relying on an easy victory, hastened up, but they hurled themselves in +vain upon the French, who, sheltered by their weak palisade, crowned +its stakes with the heads of their enemies as these were beaten down. +Exasperated by this unexpected check, the Iroquois broke up the canoes +of their adversaries, and, with the help of these fragments, which they +set on fire, attempted to burn the little fortress; but a well sustained +fire prevented the rashest from approaching. Their pride yielding to +their thirst for vengeance, these three hundred men found themselves too +few before such intrepid enemies, and they sent for aid to a band of +five hundred of their people, who were camped on the Richelieu Islands. +These hastened to the attack, and eight hundred men rushed upon a band +of heroes strengthened by the sentiment of duty, the love of country and +faith in a happy future. Futile efforts! The bullets made terrible havoc +in their ranks, and they recoiled again, carrying with them only the +assurance that their numbers had not paralyzed the courage of the +French. + +But the aspect of things was about to change, owing to the cowardice of +the Hurons. Water failed the besieged tortured by thirst; they made +sorties from time to time to procure some, and could bring back in their +small and insufficient vessels only a few drops, obtained at the +greatest peril. The Iroquois, aware of this fact, profited by it in +order to offer life and pardon to the Indians who would go over to their +side. No more was necessary to persuade the Hurons, and suddenly thirty +of them followed La Mouche, the nephew of the Huron chief, and leaped +over the palisades. The brave Anahotaha fired a pistol shot at his +nephew, but missed him. The Algonquins remained faithful, and died +bravely at their post. The Iroquois learned through these deserters the +real number of those who were resisting them so boldly; they then took +an oath to die to the last man rather than renounce victory, rather than +cast thus an everlasting opprobrium on their nation. The bravest made a +sort of shield with fagots tied together, and, placing themselves in +front of their comrades, hurled themselves upon the palisades, +attempting to tear them up. The supreme moment of the struggle has come; +Dollard is aware of it. While his brothers in arms make frightful gaps +in the ranks of the savages by well-directed shots, he loads with grape +shot a musket which is to explode as it falls, and hurls it with all his +might. Unhappily, the branch of a tree stays the passage of the terrible +engine of destruction, which falls back upon the French and makes a +bloody gap among them. "Surrender!" cries La Mouche to Anahotaha. "I +have given my word to the French, I shall die with them," replies the +bold chief. Already some stakes were torn up, and the Iroquois were +about to rush like an avalanche through this breach, when a new Horatius +Cocles, as brave as the Roman, made his body a shield for his brothers, +and soon the axe which he held in his hand dripped with blood. He fell, +and was at once replaced. The French succumbed one by one; they were +seen brandishing their weapons up to the moment of their last breath, +and, riddled with wounds, they resisted to the last sigh. Drunk with +vengeance, the wild conquerors turned over the bodies to find some still +palpitating, that they might bind them to a stake of torture; three were +in their mortal agony, but they died before being cast on the pyre. A +single one was saved for the stake; he heroically resisted the +refinements of the most barbarous cruelty; he showed no weakness, and +did not cease to pray for his executioners. Everything in this glorious +deed of arms must compel the admiration of the most remote posterity. + +The wretched Hurons suffered the fate which they had deserved; they were +burned in the different villages. Five escaped, and it was by their +reports that men learned the details of an exploit which saved the +colony. The Iroquois, in fact, considering what a handful of brave men +had accomplished, took it for granted that a frontal attack on such men +could only result in failure; they changed their tactics, and had +recourse anew to their warfare of surprises and ambuscades, with the +purpose of gradually destroying the little colony. + +The dangers which might be risked by attacking so fierce a nation were, +as may be seen, by no means imaginary. Many would have retreated, and +awaited a favourable occasion to try and plant for the third time the +cross in the Iroquois village. The sons of Loyola did not hesitate; +encouraged by Mgr. de Laval, they retraced their steps to the Five +Nations. This time Heaven condescended to reward in a large measure +their persistent efforts, and the harvest was abundant. In a short time +the number of churches among these people had increased to ten. + +The famous chief, Garakontié, whose conversion to Christianity caused so +much joy to the pious Bishop of Petræa and to all the Christians of +Canada, was endowed with a rare intelligence, and all who approached him +recognized in him a mind as keen as it was profound. Not only did he +keep faithfully the promises which he had made on receiving baptism, but +the gratitude which he continued to feel towards the bishop and the +missionaries made him remain until his death the devoted friend of the +French. "He is an incomparable man," wrote Father Millet one day. "He is +the soul of all the good that is done here; he supports the faith by his +influence; he maintains peace by his authority; he declares himself so +clearly for France that we may justly call him the protector of the +Crown in this country." Feeling life escaping, he wished to give what +the savages call their "farewell feast," a touching custom, especially +when Christianity comes to sanctify it. His last words were for the +venerable prelate, to whom he had vowed a deep attachment and respect. +"The guests having retired," wrote Father Lamberville, "he called me to +him. 'So we must part at last,' said he to me; 'I am willing, since I +hope to go to Heaven.' He then begged me to tell my beads with him, +which I did, together with several Christians, and then he called me and +said to me: 'I am dying.' Then he gave up the ghost very peacefully." + +The labour demanded at this period by pastoral visits in a diocese so +extended may readily be imagined. Besides the towns of Quebec, Montreal +and Three Rivers, in which was centralized the general activity, there +were then several Christian villages, those of Lorette, Ste. Foy, +Sillery, the village of La Montagne at Montreal, of the Sault St. Louis, +and of the Prairie de la Madeleine. Far from avoiding these trips, Mgr. +de Laval took pleasure in visiting all the cabins of the savages, one +after another, spreading the good Word, consoling the afflicted, and +himself administering the sacraments of the Church to those who wished +to receive them. + +Father Dablon gives us in these terms the narrative of the visit of the +bishop to the Prairie de la Madeleine in 1676. "This man," says he, +speaking of the prelate, "this man, great by birth and still greater by +his virtues, which have been quite recently the admiration of all +France, and which on his last voyage to Europe justly acquired for him +the esteem and the approval of the king; this great man, making the +rounds of his diocese, was conveyed in a little bark canoe by two +peasants, exposed to all the inclemencies of the climate, without other +retinue than a single ecclesiastic, and without carrying anything but a +wooden cross and the ornaments absolutely necessary to a _bishop of +gold_, according to the expression of authors in speaking of the first +prelates of Christianity." + + [The expedition of Dollard is related in detail by Dollier de + Casson, and by Mother Mary of the Incarnation in her letters. The + Abbé de Belmont gives a further account of the episode in his + history. The _Jesuit Relations_ place the scene of the affair at + the Chaudière Falls. The sceptically-minded are referred to + Kingsford's _History of Canada_, vol. I., p. 261, where a less + romantic view of the affair is taken.]--Editors' Note on the + Dollard Episode. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY + + +To the great joy of Mgr. de Laval the colony was about to develop +suddenly, thanks to the establishment in the fertile plains of New +France of the time-expired soldiers of the regiment of Carignan. The +importance of the peopling of his diocese had always been capital in the +eyes of the bishop, and we have seen him at work obtaining from the +court new consignments of colonists. Accordingly, in the year 1663, +three hundred persons had embarked at La Rochelle for Canada. +Unfortunately, the majority of these passengers were quite young people, +clerks or students, in quest of adventure, who had never worked with +their hands. The consequences of this deplorable emigration were +disastrous; more than sixty of these poor children died during the +voyage. The king was startled at such negligence, and the three hundred +colonists who embarked the following year, in small detachments, arrived +in excellent condition. Moreover, they had made the voyage without +expense, but had in return hired to work for three years with the +farmers, for an annual wage which was to be fixed by the authorities. +"It will seem to you perhaps strange," wrote M. de Villeray, to the +minister Colbert, "to see that we make workmen coming to us from France +undergo a sort of apprenticeship, by distribution among the inhabitants; +yet there is nothing more necessary, first, because the men brought to +us are not accustomed to the tilling of the soil; secondly, a man who is +not accustomed to work, unless he is urged, has difficulty in adapting +himself to it; thirdly, the tasks of this country are very different +from those of France, and experience shows us that a man who has +wintered three years in the country, and who then hires out at service, +receives double the wages of one just arriving from the Old Country. +These are reasons of our own which possibly would not be admitted in +France by those who do not understand them." + +The Sovereign Council recommended, moreover, that there should be sent +only men from the north of France, "because," it asserted, "the Normans, +Percherons, Picards, and people from the neighbourhood of Paris are +docile, laborious, industrious, and have much more religion. Now, it is +important in the establishment of a country to sow good seed." While we +accept in the proper spirit this eulogy of our ancestors, who came +mostly from these provinces, how inevitably it suggests a comparison +with the spirit of scepticism and irreverence which now infects, +transitorily, let us hope, these regions of Northern France. + +Never before had the harbour of Quebec seen so much animation as in the +year 1665. The solicitor-general, Bourdon, had set foot on the banks of +the St. Lawrence in early spring; he escorted a number of girls chosen +by order of the queen. Towards the middle of August two ships arrived +bearing four companies of the regiment of Carignan, and the following +month three other vessels brought, together with eight other companies, +Governor de Courcelles and Commissioner Talon. Finally, on October 2nd, +one hundred and thirty robust colonists and eighty-two maidens, +carefully chosen, came to settle in the colony. + +If we remember that there were only at this time seventy houses in +Quebec, we may say without exaggeration that the number of persons who +came from France in this year, 1665, exceeded that of the whole white +population already resident in Canada. But it was desirable to keep this +population in its entirety, and Commissioner Talon, well seconded by +Mgr. de Laval, tenaciously pursued this purpose. The soldiers of +Carignan, all brave, and pious too, for the most part, were highly +desirable colonists. "What we seek most," wrote Mother Mary of the +Incarnation, "is the glory of God and the welfare of souls. That is what +we are working for, as well as to assure the prevalence of devotion in +the army, giving the men to understand that we are waging here a holy +war. There are as many as five hundred of them who have taken the +scapulary of the Holy Virgin, and many others who recite the chaplet of +the Holy Family every day." + +Talon met with a rather strong opposition to his immigration plans in +the person of the great Colbert, who was afraid of seeing the Mother +Country depopulated in favour of her new daughter Canada. His +perseverance finally won the day, and more than four hundred soldiers +settled in the colony. Each common soldier received a hundred francs, +each sergeant a hundred and fifty francs. Besides, forty thousand francs +were used in raising in France the additional number of fifty girls and +a hundred and fifty men, which, increased by two hundred and thirty-five +colonists, sent by the company in 1667, fulfilled the desires of the +Bishop of Petræa. + +The country would soon have been self-supporting if similar energy had +been continuously employed in its development. It is a miracle that a +handful of emigrants, cast almost without resources upon the northern +shore of America, should have been able to maintain themselves so long, +in spite of continual alarms, in spite of the deprivation of all +comfort, and in spite of the rigour of the climate. With wonderful +courage and patience they conquered a vast territory, peopled it, +cultivated its soil, and defended it by prodigies of valour against the +forays of the Indians. + +The colony, happily, was to keep its bishop, the worthy Governor de +Courcelles, and the best administrator it ever had, the Commissioner +Talon. But it was to lose a lofty intellect: the Marquis de Tracy, his +mission ended to the satisfaction of all, set sail again for France. +From the moment of his arrival in Canada the latter had inspired the +greatest confidence. "These three gentlemen," say the annals of the +hospital, speaking of the viceroy, of M. de Courcelles and M. Talon, +"were endowed with all desirable qualities. They added to an attractive +exterior much wit, gentleness and prudence, and were admirably adapted +to instil a high idea of the royal majesty and power; they sought all +means proper for moulding the country and laboured at this task with +great application. This colony, under their wise leadership, expanded +wonderfully, and according to all appearances gave hope of becoming most +flourishing." Mgr. de Laval held the Marquis de Tracy in high esteem. +"He is a man powerful in word and deed," he wrote to Pope Alexander VII, +"a practising Christian, and the right arm of religion." The viceroy did +not fear, indeed, to show that one may be at once an excellent Christian +and a brave officer, whether he accompanied the Bishop of Petræa on the +pilgrimage to good Ste. Anne, or whether he honoured himself in the +religious processions by carrying a corner of the dais with the +governor, the intendant and the agent of the West India Company. He was +seen also at the laying of the foundation stone of the church of the +Jesuits, at the transfer of the relics of the holy martyrs Flavian and +Felicitas, at the consecration of the cathedral of Quebec and at that of +the chief altar of the church of the Ursulines, in fact, everywhere +where he might set before the faithful the good example of piety and of +the respect due to religion. + +The eighteen years of peace with the Iroquois, obtained by the +expedition of the Marquis de Tracy, allowed the intendant to encourage +the development of the St. Maurice mines, to send the traveller Nicolas +Perrot to visit all the tribes of the north and west, in order to +establish or cement with them relations of trade or friendship, and to +entrust Father Marquette and M. Joliet with the mission of exploring the +course of the Mississippi. The two travellers carried their exploration +as far as the junction of this river with the Arkansas, but their +provisions failing them, they had to retrace their steps. + +This state of peace came near being disturbed by the gross cupidity of +some wretched soldiers. In the spring of 1669 three soldiers of the +garrison of Ville-Marie, intoxicated and assassinated an Iroquois chief +who was bringing back from his hunting some magnificent furs. M. de +Courcelles betook himself at once to Montreal, but, during the process +of this trial, it was learned that several months before three other +Frenchmen had killed six Mohegan Indians with the same purpose of +plunder. The excitement aroused by these two murders was such that a +general uprising of the savage nations was feared; already they had +banded together for vengeance, and only the energy of the governor saved +the colony from the horrors of another war. In the presence of all the +Indians then quartered at Ville-Marie, he had the three assassins of the +Iroquois chief brought before him, and caused them to be shot. He +pledged himself at the same time to do like justice to the murderers of +the Mohegans, as soon as they should be discovered. He caused, moreover, +to be restored to the widow of the chief all the furs which had been +stolen from him, and indemnified the two tribes, and thus by his +firmness induced the restless nations to remain at peace. His vigilance +did not stop at this. The Iroquois and the Ottawas being on the point of +recommencing their feud, he warned them that he would not allow them to +disturb the general order and tranquillity. He commanded them to send to +him delegates to present the question of their mutual grievances. +Receiving an arrogant reply from the Iroquois, who thought their country +inaccessible to the French, he himself set out from Montreal on June +2nd, 1671, with fifty-six soldiers, in a specially constructed boat and +thirteen bark canoes. He reached the entrance to Lake Ontario, and so +daunted the Iroquois by his audacity that the Ottawas sued for peace. +Profiting by the alarm with which he had just inspired them, M. de +Courcelles gave orders to the principal chiefs to go and await him at +Cataraqui, there to treat with him on an important matter. They obeyed, +and the governor declared to them his plan of constructing at this very +place a fort where they might more easily arrange their exchanges. Not +suspecting that the French had any other purpose than that of protecting +themselves against inroads, they approved this plan; and so Fort +Cataraqui, to-day the city of Kingston, was erected by Count de +Frontenac, and called after this governor, who was to succeed M. de +Courcelles. + +Their transitory apprehensions did not interrupt the construction of the +two churches of Quebec and Montreal, for they were built almost at the +same time; the first was dedicated on July 11th, 1666, the second, begun +in 1672, was finished only in 1678. The church of the old city of +Champlain was of stone, in the form of a Roman cross; its length was one +hundred feet, its width thirty-eight. It contained, besides the +principal altar, a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, another to Ste. Anne, +and the chapel of the Holy Scapulary. Thrice enlarged, it gave place in +1755 to the present cathedral, for which the foundations of the older +church were used. When the prelate arrived in 1659, the holy offices +were already celebrated there, but the bishop hastened to end the work +which it still required. "There is here," he wrote to the Common Father +of the faithful, "a cathedral made of stone; it is large and splendid. +The divine service is celebrated in it according to the ceremony of +bishops; our priests, our seminarists, as well as ten or twelve +choir-boys, are regularly present there. On great festivals, the mass, +vespers and evensong are sung to music, with orchestral accompaniment, +and our organs mingle their harmonious voices with those of the +chanters. There are in the sacristy some very fine ornaments, eight +silver chandeliers, and all the chalices, pyxes, vases and censers are +either gilt or pure silver." + +The Sulpicians as well as the Jesuits have always professed a peculiar +devotion to the Virgin Mary. It was the pious founder of St. Sulpice, M. +Olier, who suggested to the Company of Notre-Dame the idea of +consecrating to Mary the establishment of the Island of Montreal in +order that she might defend it as her property, and increase it as her +domain. They gladly yielded to this desire, and even adopted as the seal +of the company the figure of Our Lady; in addition they confirmed the +name of Ville-Marie, so happily given to this chosen soil. + +It was the Jesuits who placed the church of Quebec under the patronage +of the Immaculate Conception, and gave it as second patron St. Louis, +King of France. This double choice could not but be agreeable to the +pious Bishop of Petræa. Learning, moreover, that the members of the +Society of Jesus renewed each year in Canada their vow to fast on the +eve of the festival of the Immaculate Conception, and to add to this +mortification several pious practices, with the view of obtaining from +Heaven the conversion of the savages, he approved this devotion, and +ordered that in future it should likewise be observed in his seminary. +He sanctioned other works of piety inspired or established by the Jesuit +Fathers; the _novena_, which has remained so popular with the +French-Canadians, at St. François-Xavier, the Brotherhoods of the Holy +Rosary and of the Scapulary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He encouraged, +above all, devotion to the Holy Family, and prescribed wise regulations +for this worship. The Pope deigned to enrich by numerous indulgences the +brotherhoods to which it gave birth, and in recent years Leo XIII +instituted throughout the Church the celebration of the Festival of the +Holy Family. "The worship of the Holy Family," the illustrious pontiff +proclaims in a recent bull, "was established in America, in the region +of Canada, where it became most flourishing, thanks chiefly to the +solicitude and activity of the venerable servant of God, François de +Montmorency Laval, first Bishop of Quebec, and of God's worthy +handmaiden, Marguerite Bourgeoys." According to Cardinal Taschereau, it +was Father Pijard who established the first Brotherhood of the Holy +Family in 1650 in the Island of Montreal, but the real promoter of this +cult was another Father of the Company of Jesus, Father Chaumonot, whom +Mgr. de Laval brought specially to Quebec to set at the head of the +brotherhood which he had decided to found. + +It was the custom, in these periods of fervent faith, to place +buildings, cities and even countries under the ægis of a great saint, +and Louis XIII had done himself the honour of dedicating France to the +Virgin Mary. People did not then blush to practise and profess their +beliefs, nor to proclaim them aloud. On the proposal of the Récollets in +a general assembly, St. Joseph was chosen as the first patron saint of +Canada; later, St. François-Xavier was adopted as the second special +protector of the colony. + +Montreal, which in the early days of its existence maintained with its +rival of Cape Diamond a strife of emulation in the path of good as well +as in that of progress, could no longer do without a religious edifice +worthy of its already considerable importance. Mgr. de Laval was at this +time on a round of pastoral visits, for, in spite of the fatigue +attaching to such a journey, at a time when there was not yet even a +carriage-road between the two towns, and when, braving contrary winds, +storms and the snares of the Iroquois, one had to ascend the St. +Lawrence in a bark canoe, the worthy prelate made at least eight visits +to Montreal during the period of his administration. In a general +assembly of May 12th, 1669, presided over by him, it was decided to +establish the church on ground which had belonged to Jean de +Saint-Père, but since this site had not the elevation on which the +Sulpicians desired to see the new temple erected, the work was suspended +for two years more. The ecclesiastics of the seminary offered on this +very height (for M. Dollier had given to the main street the name of +Notre-Dame, which was that of the future church) some lots bought by +them from Nicolas Godé and from Mme. Jacques Lemoyne, and situated +behind their house; they offered besides in the name of M. de +Bretonvilliers the sum of a thousand _livres tournois_ for three years, +to begin the work. These offers were accepted in an assembly of all the +inhabitants, on June 10th, 1672; François Bailly, master mason, directed +the building, and on the thirtieth of the same month, before the deeply +moved and pious population, there were laid, immediately after high +mass, the first five stones. There had been chosen the name of the +Purification, because this day was the anniversary of that on which MM. +Olier and de la Dauversière had caught the first glimpses of their +vocation to work at the establishment of Ville-Marie, and because this +festival had always remained in high honour among the Montrealers. The +foundation was laid by M. de Courcelles, governor-general; the second +stone had been reserved for M. Talon, but, as he could not accept the +invitation, his place was taken by M. Philippe de Carion, representative +of M. de la Motte Saint-Paul. The remaining stones were laid by M. +Perrot, governor of the island, by M. Dollier de Casson, representing M. +de Bretonvilliers, and by Mlle. Mance, foundress of the Montreal +hospital. The sight of this ceremony was one of the last joys of this +good woman; she died on June 18th of the following year. + +Meanwhile, all desired to contribute to the continuation of the work; +some offered money, others materials, still others their labour. In +their ardour the priests of the seminary had the old fort, which was +falling into ruins, demolished in order to use the wood and stone for +the new building. As lords of the island, they seemed to have the +incontestable right to dispose of an edifice which was their private +property. But M. de Bretonvilliers, to whom they referred the matter, +took them to task for their haste, and according to his instructions the +work of demolition was stopped, not to be resumed until ten years later. +The colonists had an ardent desire to see their church finished, but +they were poor, and, though a collection had brought in, in 1676, the +sum of two thousand seven hundred francs, the work dragged along for two +years more, and was finished only in 1678. "The church had," says M. +Morin, "the form of a Roman cross, with the lower sides ending in a +circular apse; its portal, built of hewn stone, was composed of two +designs, one Tuscan, the other Doric; the latter was surmounted by a +triangular pediment. This beautiful entrance, erected in 1722, according +to the plans of Chaussegros de Léry, royal engineer, was flanked on the +right side by a square tower crowned by a campanile, from the summit of +which rose a beautiful cross with _fleur-de-lis_ twenty-four feet high. +This church was built in the axis of Notre-Dame Street, and a portion of +it on the Place d'Armes; it measured, in the clear, one hundred and +forty feet long, and ninety-six feet wide, and the tower one hundred and +forty-four feet high. It was razed in 1830, and the tower demolished in +1843." + +Montreal continued to progress, and therefore to build. The Sulpicians, +finding themselves cramped in their old abode, began in 1684 the +construction of a new seigniorial and chapter house, of one hundred and +seventy-eight feet frontage by eighty-four feet deep. These vast +buildings, whose main façade faces on Notre-Dame Street, in front of the +Place d'Armes, still exist. They deserve the attention of the tourist, +if only by reason of their antiquity, and on account of the old clock +which surmounts them, for though it is the most ancient of all in North +America, this clock still marks the hours with average exactness. Behind +these old walls extends a magnificent garden. + +The spectacle presented by Ville-Marie at this time was most edifying. +This great village was the school of martyrdom, and all aspired thereto, +from the most humble artisan and the meanest soldier to the brigadier, +the commandant, the governor, the priests and the nuns, and they found +in this aspiration, this faith and this hope, a strength and happiness +known only to the chosen. From the bosom of this city had sprung the +seventeen heroes who gave to the world, at the foot of the Long Sault, a +magnificent example of what the spirit of Christian sacrifice can do; to +a population which gave of its own free will its time and its labour to +the building of a temple for the Lord, God had assigned a leader, who +took upon his shoulders a heavy wooden cross, and bore it for the +distance of a league up the steep flanks of Mount Royal, to plant it +solemnly upon the summit; within the walls of the seminary lived men +like M. Souart, physician of hearts and bodies, or like MM. Lemaître and +Vignal, who were destined to martyrdom; in the halls of the hospital +Mlle. Mance vied with Sisters de Brésoles, Maillet and de Macé, in +attending to the most repugnant infirmities or healing the most tedious +maladies; last but not least, Sister Bourgeoys and her pious comrades, +Sisters Aimée Chatel, Catherine Crolo, and Marie Raisin, who formed the +nucleus of the Congregation, devoted themselves with unremitting zeal to +the arduous task of instruction. + +Another favour was about to be vouchsafed to Canada in the birth of +Mlle. Leber. M. de Maisonneuve and Mlle. Mance were her godparents, and +the latter gave her her baptismal name. Jeanne Leber reproduced all the +virtues of her godmother, and gave to Canada an example worthy of the +primitive Church, and such as finds small favour in the practical world +of to-day. She lived a recluse for twenty years with the Sisters of the +Congregation, and practised, till death relieved her, mortifications +most terrifying to the physical nature. + +At Quebec, the barometer of piety, if I may be excused so bold a +metaphor, held at the same level as that of Montreal, and he would be +greatly deceived who, having read only the history of the early years of +the latter city, should despair of finding in the centre of edification +founded by Champlain, men worthy to rank with Queylus and Lemaître, with +Souart and Vignal, with Closse and Maisonneuve, and women who might vie +with Marguerite Bourgeoys, with Jeanne Mance or with Jeanne Leber. To +the piety of the Sulpicians of the colony planted at the foot of Mount +Royal corresponded the fervour both of the priests who lived under the +same roof as Mgr. de Laval, and of the sons of Loyola, who awaited in +their house at Quebec their chance of martyrdom; the edifying examples +given by the military chiefs of Montreal were equalled by those set by +governors like de Mézy and de Courcelles; finally the virtues bordering +on perfection of women like Mlle. Leber and the foundresses of the +hospital and the Congregation found their equivalents in those of the +pious Bishop of Petræa, of Mme. de la Peltrie and those of Mothers Mary +of the Incarnation and Andrée Duplessis de Sainte-Hélène. + +The Church will one day, perhaps, set upon her altars Mother Mary of +the Incarnation, the first superior of the Ursulines at Quebec. The +Theresa of New France, as she has been called, was endowed with a calm +courage, an incredible patience, and a superior intellect, especially in +spiritual matters; we find the proof of this in her letters and +meditations which her son published in France. "At the head," says the +Abbé Ferland, "of a community of weak women, devoid of resources, she +managed to inspire her companions with the strength of soul and the +trust in God which animated herself. In spite of the unteachableness and +the fickleness of the Algonquin maidens, the troublesome curiosity of +their parents, the thousand trials of a new and poor establishment, +Mother Incarnation preserved an evenness of temper which inspired her +comrades in toil with courage. Did some sudden misfortune appear, she +arose with all the greatness of a Christian of the primitive Church to +meet it with steadfastness. If her son spoke to her of the ill-treatment +to which she was exposed on the part of the Iroquois, at a time when the +affairs of the French seemed desperate, she replied calmly: 'Have no +anxiety for me. I do not speak as to martyrdom, for your affection for +me would incline you to desire it for me, but I mean as to other +outrages. I see no reason for apprehension; all that I hear does not +dismay me.' When she was cast out upon the snow, together with her +sisters, in the middle of a winter's night, by reason of a +conflagration which devoured her convent, her first act was to prevail +upon her companions to kneel with her to thank God for having preserved +their lives, though He despoiled them of all that they possessed in the +world. Her strong and noble soul seemed to rise naturally above the +misfortunes which assailed the growing colony. Trusting fully to God +through the most violent storms, she continued to busy herself calmly +with her work, as if nothing in the world had been able to move her. At +a moment when many feared that the French would be forced to leave the +country, Mother of the Incarnation, in spite of her advanced age, began +to study the language of the Hurons in order to make herself useful to +the young girls of this tribe. Ever tranquil, she did not allow herself +to be carried away by enthusiasm or stayed by fear. 'We imagine +sometimes,' she wrote to her former superior at Tours, 'that a certain +passing inclination is a vocation; no, events show the contrary. In our +momentary enthusiasms we think more of ourselves than of the object we +face, and so we see that when this enthusiasm is once past, our +tendencies and inclinations remain on the ordinary plane of life.' Built +on such a foundation, her piety was solid, sincere and truly +enlightened. In perusing her writings, we are astonished at finding in +them a clearness of thought, a correctness of style, and a firmness of +judgment which give us a lofty idea of this really superior woman. +Clever in handling the brush as well as the pen, capable of directing +the work of building as well as domestic labour, she combined, according +to the opinion of her contemporaries, all the qualities of the strong +woman of whom the Holy Scriptures give us so fine a portrait. She was +entrusted with all the business of the convent. She wrote a prodigious +number of letters, she learned the two mother tongues of the country, +the Algonquin and the Huron, and composed for the use of her sisters, a +sacred history in Algonquin, a catechism in Huron, an Iroquois catechism +and dictionary, and a dictionary, catechism and collection of prayers in +the Algonquin language." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SMALLER SEMINARY + + +The smaller seminary, founded by the Bishop of Petræa in 1668, for +youths destined to the ecclesiastical life, justified the expectations +of its founder, and witnessed an ever increasing influx of students. On +the day of its inauguration, October 9th, there were only as yet eight +French pupils and six Huron children. For lack of teachers the young +neophytes, placed under the guidance of directors connected with the +seminary, attended during the first years the classes of the Jesuit +Fathers. Their special costume was a blue cloak, confined by a belt. At +this period the College of the Jesuits contained already some sixty +resident scholars, and what proves to us that serious studies were here +pursued is that several scholars are quoted in the memoirs as having +successfully defended in the presence of the highest authorities of the +colony theses on physics and philosophy. + +If the first bishop of New France had confined himself to creating one +large seminary, it is certain that his chosen work, which was the +preparation for the Church of a nursery of scholars and priests, the +apostles of the future, would not have been complete. + +For many young people, indeed, who lead a worldly existence, and find +themselves all at once transferred to the serious, religious life of the +seminary, the surprise, and sometimes the discomfort, may be great. One +must adapt oneself to this atmosphere of prayer, meditation and study. +The rules of prayer are certainly not beyond the limits of an ordinary +mind, but the practice is more difficult than the theory. Not without +effort can a youthful imagination, a mind ardent and consumed by its own +fervour, relinquish all the memories of family and social occupations, +in order to withdraw into silence, inward peace, and the mortification +of the senses. To the devoutly-minded our worldly life may well seem +petty in comparison with the more spiritual existence, and in the +religious life, for the priest especially, lies the sole source and the +indispensable condition of happiness. But one must learn to be thus +happy by humility, study and prayer, as one learns to be a soldier by +obedience, discipline and exercise, and in nothing did Laval more reveal +his discernment than in the recognition of the fact that the transition +from one life to the other must be effected only after careful +instruction and wisely-guided deliberation. + +The aim of the smaller seminary is to guide, by insensible gradations +towards the great duties and the great responsibilities of the +priesthood, young men upon whom the spirit of God seems to have rested. +There were in Israel schools of prophets; this does not mean that their +training ended in the diploma of a seer or an oracle, but that this +novitiate was favourable to the action of God upon their souls, and +inclined them thereto. A smaller seminary possesses also the hope of the +harvest. It is there that the minds of the students, by exercises +proportionate to their age, become adapted unconstrainedly to pious +reading, to the meditation and the grave studies in whose cycle the life +of the priest must pass. + +We shall not be surprised if the prelate's followers recognized in the +works of faith which sprang up in his footsteps and progressed on all +hands at Ville-Marie and at Quebec shining evidences of the protection +of Mary to whose tutelage they had dedicated their establishments. This +protection indeed has never been withheld, since to-day the fame of the +university which sprang from the seminary, as a fruit develops from a +bud, has crossed the seas. Father Monsabré, the eloquent preacher of +Notre-Dame in Paris, speaking of the union of science and faith, +exclaimed: "There exists, in the field of the New World, an institution +which has religiously preserved this holy alliance and the traditions of +the older universities, the Laval University of Quebec." + +Mgr. de Laval, while busying himself with the training of his clergy, +watched over the instruction of youth. He protected his schools and his +dioceses; at Quebec the Jesuits, and later the seminary, maintained even +elementary schools. If we must believe the Abbé de Latour and other +writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the children of the +early colonists, skilful in manual labour, showed, nevertheless, great +indolence of mind. "In general," writes Latour, "Canadian children have +intelligence, memory and facility, and they make rapid progress, but the +fickleness of their character, a dominant taste for liberty, and their +hereditary and natural inclination for physical exercise do not permit +them to apply themselves with sufficient perseverance and assiduity to +become learned men; satisfied with a certain measure of knowledge +sufficient for the ordinary purposes of their occupations (and this is, +indeed, usually possessed), we see no people deeply learned in any +branch of science. We must further admit that there are few resources, +few books, and little emulation. No doubt the resources will be +multiplied, and clever persons will appear in proportion as the colony +increases." Always eager to develop all that might serve for the +propagation of the faith or the progress of the colony, the devoted +prelate eagerly fostered this natural aptitude of the Canadians for the +arts and trades, and he established at St. Joachim a boarding-school for +country children; this offered, besides a solid primary education, +lessons in agriculture and some training for different trades. + +Mgr. de Laval gave many other proofs of his enlightened charity for the +poor and the waifs of fortune; he approved and encouraged among other +works the Brotherhood of Saint Anne at Quebec. This association of +prayer and spiritual aid had been established but three years before his +arrival; it was directed by a chaplain and two directors, the latter +elected annually by secret ballot. He had wished to offer in 1660 a more +striking proof of his devotion to the Mother of the Holy Virgin, and had +caused to be built on the shore of Beaupré the first sanctuary of Saint +Anne. This temple arose not far from a chapel begun two years before, +under the care of the Abbé de Queylus. The origin of this place of +devotion, it appears, was a great peril to which certain Breton sailors +were exposed: assailed by a tempest in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about +the beginning of the seventeenth century, they made a vow to erect, if +they escaped death, a chapel to good Saint Anne on the spot where they +should land. Heaven heard their prayers, and they kept their word. The +chapel erected by Mgr. de Laval was a very modest one, but the zealous +missionary of Beaupré, the Abbé Morel, then chaplain, was the witness of +many acts of ardent faith and sincere piety; the Bishop of Petræa +himself made several pilgrimages to the place. "We confess," says he, +"that nothing has aided us more efficaciously to support the burden of +the pastoral charge of this growing church than the special devotion +which all the inhabitants of this country dedicate to Saint Anne, a +devotion which, we affirm it with certainty, distinguishes them from +all other peoples." The poor little chapel, built of uprights, gave +place in 1675 to a stone church erected by the efforts of M. Filion, +proctor of the seminary, and it was noted for an admirable picture given +by the viceroy, de Tracy, who did not disdain to make his pilgrimage +like the rest, and to set thus an example which the great ones of the +earth should more frequently give. This church lasted only a few years; +Mgr. de Laval was still living when a third temple was built upon its +site. This was enlarged in 1787, and gave place only in 1878 to the +magnificent cathedral which we admire to-day. The faith which raised +this sanctuary to consecrate it to Saint Anne did not die with its pious +founder; it is still lively in our hearts, since in 1898 a hundred and +twenty thousand pilgrims went to pray before the relic of Saint Anne, +the precious gift of Mgr. de Laval. + +In our days, hardly has the sun melted the thick mantle of snow which +covers during six months the Canadian soil, hardly has the majestic St. +Lawrence carried its last blocks of ice down to the ocean, when caravans +of pious pilgrims from all quarters of the country wend their way +towards the sanctuary raised upon the shores of Beaupré. Whole families +fill the cars; the boats of the Richelieu Company stop to receive +passengers at all the charming villages strewn along the banks of the +river, and the cathedral which raises in the air its slender spires on +either side of the immense statue of Saint Anne does not suffice to +contain the ever renewed throng of the faithful. + +Even in the time of Mgr. de Laval, pilgrimages to Saint Anne's were +frequent, and it was not only French people but also savages who +addressed to the Mother of the Virgin Mary fervent, and often very +artless, prayers. The harvest became, in fact, more abundant in the +missions, and + + "Les prêtres ne pouvaient suffire aux sacrifices."[4] + +From the banks of the Saguenay at Tadousac, or from the shore of Hudson +Bay, where Father Albanel was evangelizing the Indians, to the recesses +of the Iroquois country, a Black Robe taught from interval to interval +in a humble chapel the truths of the Christian religion. "We may say," +wrote Father Dablon in 1671, "that the torch of the faith now illumines +the four quarters of this New World. More than seven hundred baptisms +have this year consecrated all our forests; more than twenty different +missions incessantly occupy our Fathers among more than twenty diverse +nations; and the chapels erected in the districts most remote from here +are almost every day filled with these poor barbarians, and in some of +them there have been consummated sometimes ten, twenty, and even thirty +baptisms on a single occasion." And, ever faithful to the established +power, the missionaries taught their neophytes not only religion, but +also the respect due to the king. Let us hearken to Father Allouez +speaking to the mission of Sault Ste. Marie: "Cast your eyes," says he, +"upon the cross raised so high above your heads. It was upon that cross +that Jesus Christ, the son of God, become a man by reason of His love +for men, consented to be bound and to die, in order to satisfy His +Eternal Father for our sins. He is the master of our life, the master of +Heaven, earth and hell. It is He of whom I speak to you without ceasing, +and whose name and word I have borne into all these countries. But +behold at the same time this other stake, on which are hung the arms of +the great captain of France, whom we call the king. This great leader +lives beyond the seas; he is the captain of the greatest captains, and +has not his peer in the world. All the captains that you have ever seen, +and of whom you have heard speak, are only children beside him. He is +like a great tree; the rest are only little plants crushed under men's +footsteps as they walk. You know Onontio, the famous chieftain of +Quebec; you know that he is the terror of the Iroquois, his mere name +makes them tremble since he has desolated their country and burned their +villages. Well, there are beyond the seas ten thousand Onontios like +him. They are only the soldiers of this great captain, our great king, +of whom I speak to you." + +Mgr. de Laval ardently desired, then, the arrival of new workers for the +gospel, and in the year 1668, the very year of the foundation of the +seminary, his desire was fulfilled, as if Providence wished to reward +His servant at once. Missionaries from France came to the aid of the +priests of the Quebec seminary, and Sulpicians, such as MM. de Queylus, +d'Urfé, Dallet and Brehan de Gallinée, arrived at Montreal; MM. François +de Salignac-Fénelon and Claude Trouvé had already landed the year +before. "I have during the last month," wrote the prelate, "commissioned +two most good and virtuous apostles to go to an Iroquois community which +has been for some years established quite near us on the northern side +of the great Lake Ontario. One is M. de Fénelon, whose name is +well-known in Paris, and the other M. Trouvé. We have not yet been able +to learn the result of their mission, but we have every reason to hope +for its complete success." + +While he was enjoining upon these two missionaries, on their departure +for the mission on which he was sending them, that they should always +remain in good relations with the Jesuit Fathers, he gave them some +advice worthy of the most eminent doctors of the Church:-- + +"A knowledge of the language," he says, "is necessary in order to +influence the savages. It is, nevertheless, one of the smallest parts of +the equipment of a good missionary, just as in France to speak French +well is not what makes a successful preacher. The talents which make +good missionaries are: + +"1. To be filled with the spirit of God; this spirit must animate our +words and our hearts: _Ex abundantia cordis os loquitur_. + +"2. To have great prudence in the choice and arrangement of the things +which are necessary either to enlighten the understanding or to bend the +will; all that does not tend in this direction is labour lost. + +"3. To be very assiduous, in order not to lose opportunities of +procuring the salvation of souls, and supplying the neglect which is +often manifest in neophytes; for, since the devil on his part _circuit +tanquam leo rugiens, quærens quem devoret_, so we must be vigilant +against his efforts, with care, gentleness and love. + +"4. To have nothing in our life and in our manners which may appear to +belie what we say, or which may estrange the minds and hearts of those +whom we wish to win to God. + +"5. We must make ourselves beloved by our gentleness, patience and +charity, and win men's minds and hearts to incline them to God. Often a +bitter word, an impatient act or a frowning countenance destroys in a +moment what has taken a long time to produce. + +"6. The spirit of God demands a peaceful and pious heart, not a restless +and dissipated one; one should have a joyous and modest countenance; one +should avoid jesting and immoderate laughter, and in general all that is +contrary to a holy and joyful modesty: _Modestia vestra nota sit +omnibus hominibus_." + +The new Sulpicians had been most favourably received by Mgr. de Laval, +and the more so since almost all of them belonged to great families and +had renounced, like himself, ease and honour, to devote themselves to +the rude apostleship of the Canadian missions. + +The difficulties between the bishop and the Abbé de Queylus had +disappeared, and had left no trace of bitterness in the souls of these +two servants of God. M. de Queylus gave good proof of this subsequently; +he gave six thousand francs to the hospital of Quebec, of which one +thousand were to endow facilities for the treatment of the poor, and +five thousand for the maintenance of a choir-nun. His generosity, +moreover, was proverbial: "I cannot find a man more grateful for the +favour that you have done him than M. de Queylus," wrote the intendant, +Talon, to the minister, Colbert. "He is going to arrange his affairs in +France, divide with his brothers, and collect his worldly goods to use +them in Canada, at least so he has assured me. If he has need of your +protection, he is striving to make himself worthy of it, and I know that +he is most zealous for the welfare of this colony. I believe that a +little show of benevolence on your part would redouble this zeal, of +which I have good evidence, for what you desire the most, the education +of the native children, which he furthers with all his might." + +The abbé found the seminary in conditions very different from those +prevailing at the time of his departure. In 1663, the members of the +Company of Notre-Dame of Montreal had made over to the Sulpicians the +whole Island of Montreal and the seigniory of St. Sulpice. Their purpose +was to assure the future of the three works which they had not ceased, +since the birth of their association, to seek to establish: a seminary +for the education of priests in the colony, an institution of education +for young girls, and a hospital for the care of the sick. + +To learn the happy results due to the eloquence of MM. Trouvé and de +Fénelon engaged in the evangelization of the tribes encamped to the +north of Lake Ontario, or to that of MM. Dollier de Casson and Gallinée +preaching on the shores of Lake Erie, one must read the memoirs of the +Jesuit Fathers. We must bear in mind that many facts, which might appear +to redound too much to the glory of the missionaries, the modesty of +these men refused to give to the public. We shall give an example. One +day when M. de Fénelon had come down to Quebec, in the summer of 1669, +to give account of his efforts to his bishop, Mgr. de Laval begged the +missionary to write a short abstract of his labours for the memoirs. +"Monseigneur," replied humbly the modest Sulpician, "the greatest favour +that you can do us is not to allow us to be mentioned." Will he, at +least, like the traveller who, exhausted by fatigue and privation, +reaches finally the promised land, repose in Capuan delights? Mother +Mary of the Incarnation informs us on this point: "M. l'abbé de +Fénelon," says she, "having wintered with the Iroquois, has paid us a +visit. I asked him how he had been able to subsist, having had only +sagamite[5] as sole provision, and pure water to drink. He replied that +he was so accustomed to it that he made no distinction between this food +and any other, and that he was about to set out on his return to pass +the winter again there with M. de Trouvé, having left him only to go and +get the wherewithal to pay the Indians who feed them. The zeal of these +great servants of God is admirable." + +The activity and the devotion of the Jesuits and of the Sulpicians might +thus make up for lack of numbers, and Mgr. de Laval judged that they +were amply sufficient for the task of the holy ministry. But the +intendant, Talon, feared lest the Society of Jesus should become +omnipotent in the colony; adopting from policy the famous device of +Catherine de Medici, _divide to rule_, he hoped that an order of +mendicant friars would counterbalance the influence of the sons of +Loyola, and he brought with him from France, in 1670, Father Allard, +Superior of the Récollets in the Province of St. Denis, and four other +brothers of the same order. We must confess that, if a new order of +monks was to be established in Canada, it was preferable in all justice +to apply to that of St. Francis rather than to any others, for had it +not traced the first evangelical furrows in the new field and left +glorious memories in the colony? + +Mgr. de Laval received from the king in 1671 the following letter: + + "My Lord Bishop of Petræa: + + "Having considered that the re-establishment of the monks of the + Order of St. Francis on the lands which they formerly possessed in + Canada might be of great avail for the spiritual consolation of my + subjects and for the relief of your ecclesiastics in the said + country, I send you this letter to tell you that my intention is + that you should give to the Rev. Father Allard, the superior, and + to the four monks whom he brings with him, the power of + administering the sacraments to all those who may have need of them + and who may have recourse to these reverend Fathers, and that, + moreover, you should aid them with your authority in order that + they may resume possession of all which belongs to them in the said + country, to all of which I am persuaded you will willingly + subscribe, by reason of the knowledge which you have of the relief + which my subjects will receive...." + +The prelate had not been consulted; moreover, the intervention of the +newcomers did not seem to him opportune. But he was obstinate and +unapproachable only when he believed his conscience involved; he +received the Récollets with great benevolence and rendered them all the +service possible. "He gave them abundant aid," says Latour, "and +furnished them for more than a year with food and lodging. Although the +Order had come in spite of him, he gave them at the outset four +missions: Three Rivers, Ile Percé, St. John's River and Fort Frontenac. +These good Fathers were surprised; they did not cease to praise the +charity of the bishop, and confessed frankly that, having only come to +oppose his clergy, they could not understand why they were so kindly +treated." + +After all, the breadth of character of these brave heroes of evangelic +poverty could not but please the Canadian people; ever gay and pleasant, +and of even temper, they traversed the country to beg a meagre pittance. +Everywhere received with joy, they were given a place at the common +table; they were looked upon as friends, and the people related to them +their joys and afflictions. Hardly was a robe of drugget descried upon +the horizon when the children rushed forward, surrounded the good +Father, and led him by the hand to the family fireside. The Récollets +had always a good word for this one, a consolatory speech for that one, +and on occasion, brought up as they had been, for the most part under a +modest thatched roof, knew how to lend a hand at the plough, or suggest +a good counsel if the flock were attacked by some sickness. On their +departure, the benediction having been given to all, there was a +vigorous handshaking, and already their hosts were discounting the +pleasure of a future visit. + +On their arrival the Récollet Fathers lodged not far from the Ursuline +Convent, till the moment when, their former monastery on the St. Charles +River being repaired, they were able to install themselves there. Some +years later they built a simple refuge on land granted them in the Upper +Town. Finally, having become almoners of the Château St. Louis, where +the governor resided, they built their monastery opposite the castle, +back to back with the magnificent church which bore the name of St. +Anthony of Padua. They reconquered the popularity which they had enjoyed +in the early days of the colony, and the bishop entrusted to their +devotion numerous parishes and four missions. Unfortunately, they +allowed themselves to be so influenced by M. de Frontenac, in spite of +repeated warnings from Mgr. de Laval, that they espoused the cause of +the governor in the disputes between the latter and the intendant, +Duchesneau. Their gratitude towards M. de Frontenac, who always +protected them, is easily explained, but it is no less true that they +should have respected above all the authority of the prelate who alone +had to answer before God for the religious administration of his +diocese. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Racine's _Athalie_. + +[5] A sort of porridge of water and pounded maize. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONY + + +This year, 1668, would have brought only consolations to Mgr. de Laval, +if, unhappily, M. de Talon had not inflicted a painful blow upon the +heart of the prelate: the commissioner obtained from the Sovereign +Council a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of intoxicating drinks +both to the savages and to the French, and only those who became +intoxicated might be sentenced to a slight penalty. This was opening the +way for the greatest abuses, and no later than the following year Mother +Mary of the Incarnation wrote: "What does the most harm here is the +traffic in wine and brandy. We preach against those who give these +liquors to the savages; and yet many reconcile their consciences to the +permission of this thing. They go into the woods and carry drinks to the +savages in order to get their furs for nothing when they are drunk. +Immorality, theft and murder ensue.... We had not yet seen the French +commit such crimes, and we can attribute the cause of them only to the +pernicious traffic in brandy." + +Commissioner Talon was, however, the cleverest administrator that the +colony had possessed, and the title of the "Canadian Colbert" which +Bibaud confers upon him is well deserved. Mother Incarnation summed up +his merits well in the following terms: "M. Talon is leaving us," said +she, "and returning to France, to the great regret of everybody and to +the loss of all Canada, for since he has been here in the capacity of +commissioner the country has progressed and its business prospered more +than they had done since the French occupation." Talon worked with all +his might in developing the resources of the colony, by exploiting the +mines, by encouraging the fisheries, agriculture, the exportation of +timber, and general commerce, and especially by inducing, through the +gift of a few acres of ground, the majority of the soldiers of the +regiment of Carignan to remain in the country. He entered every house to +enquire of possible complaints; he took the first census, and laid out +three villages near Quebec. His plans for the future were vaster still: +he recommended the king to buy or conquer the districts of Orange and +Manhattan; moreover, according to Abbé Ferland, he dreamed of connecting +Canada with the Antilles in commerce. With this purpose he had had a +ship built at Quebec, and had bought another in order to begin at once. +This very first year he sent to the markets of Martinique and Santo +Domingo fresh and dry cod, salted salmon, eels, pease, seal and porpoise +oil, clapboards and planks. He had different kinds of wood cut in order +to try them, and he exported masts to La Rochelle, which he hoped to see +used in the shipyards of the Royal Navy. He proposed to Colbert the +establishment of a brewery, in order to utilize the barley and the +wheat, which in a few years would be so abundant that the farmer could +not sell them. This was, besides, a means of preventing drunkenness, and +of retaining in the country the sum of one hundred thousand francs, +which went out each year for the purchase of wines and brandies. M. +Talon presented at the same time to the minister the observations which +he had made on the French population of the country. "The people," said +Talon, "are a mosaic, and though composed of colonists from different +provinces of France whose temperaments do not always sympathize, they +seem to me harmonious enough. There are," he added, "among these +colonists people in easy circumstances, indigent people and people +between these two extremes." + +But he thought only of the material development of the colony; upon +others, he thought, were incumbent the responsibility for and defence of +spiritual interests. He was mistaken, for, although he had not in his +power the direction of souls, his duties as a simple soldier of the army +of Christ imposed upon him none the less the obligation of avoiding all +that might contribute to the loss of even a single soul. The disorders +which were the inevitable result of a free traffic in intoxicating +liquors, finally assumed such proportions that the council, without +going as far as the absolute prohibition of the sale of brandy to the +Indians, restricted, nevertheless, this deplorable traffic; it forbade +under the most severe penalties the carrying of firewater into the woods +to the savages, but it continued to tolerate the sale of intoxicating +liquors in the French settlements. It seems that Cavelier de la Salle +himself, in his store at Lachine where he dealt with the Indians, did +not scruple to sell them this fatal poison. + +From 1668 to 1670, during the two years that Commissioner Talon had to +spend in France, both for reasons of health and on account of family +business, he did not cease to work actively at the court for his beloved +Canada. M. de Bouteroue, who took his place during his absence, managed +to prejudice the minds of the colonists in his favour by his exquisite +urbanity and the polish of his manners. + +It will not be out of place, we think, to give here some details of the +state of the country and its resources at this period. Since the first +companies in charge of Canada were formed principally of merchants of +Rouen, of La Rochelle and of St. Malo, it is not astonishing that the +first colonists should have come largely from Normandy and Perche. It +was only about 1660 that fine and vigorous offspring increased a +population which up to that time was renewed only through immigration; +in the early days, in fact, the colonists lost all their children, but +they found in this only a new reason for hope in the future. "Since God +takes the first fruits," said they, "He will save us the rest." The wise +and far-seeing mind of Cardinal Richelieu had understood that +agricultural development was the first condition of success for a young +colony, and his efforts in this direction had been admirably seconded +both by Commissioner Talon and Mgr. de Laval at Quebec, and by the +Company of Montreal, which had not hesitated at any sacrifice in order +to establish at Ville-Marie a healthy and industrious population. If the +reader doubts this, let him read the letters of Talon, of Mother Mary of +the Incarnation, of Fathers Le Clercq and Charlevoix, of M. Aubert and +many others. "Great care had been exercised," says Charlevoix, "in the +selection of candidates who had presented themselves for the +colonization of New France.... As to the girls who were sent out to be +married to the new inhabitants, care was always taken to enquire of +their conduct before they embarked, and their subsequent behaviour was a +proof of the success of this system. During the following years the same +care was exercised, and we soon saw in this part of America a generation +of true Christians growing up, among whom prevailed the simplicity of +the first centuries of the Church, and whose posterity has not yet lost +sight of the great examples set by their ancestors.... In justice to the +colony of New France we must admit that the source of almost all the +families which still survive there to-day is pure and free from those +stains which opulence can hardly efface; this is because the first +settlers were either artisans always occupied in useful labour, or +persons of good family who came there with the sole intention of living +there more tranquilly and preserving their religion in greater security. +I fear the less contradiction upon this head since I have lived with +some of these first colonists, all people still more respectable by +reason of their honesty, their frankness and the firm piety which they +profess than by their white hair and the memory of the services which +they rendered to the colony." + +M. Aubert says, on his part: "The French of Canada are well built, +nimble and vigorous, enjoying perfect health, capable of enduring all +sorts of fatigue, and warlike; which is the reason why, during the last +war, French-Canadians received a fourth more pay than the French of +Europe. All these advantageous physical qualities of the +French-Canadians arise from the fact that they have been born in a good +climate, and nourished by good and abundant food, that they are at +liberty to engage from childhood in fishing, hunting, and journeying in +canoes, in which there is much exercise. As to bravery, even if it were +not born with them as Frenchmen, the manner of warfare of the Iroquois +and other savages of this continent, who burn alive almost all their +prisoners with incredible cruelty, caused the French to face ordinary +death in battle as a boon rather than be taken alive; so that they +fight desperately and with great indifference to life." The consequence +of this judicious method of peopling a colony was that, the trunk of the +tree being healthy and vigorous, the branches were so likewise. "It was +astonishing," wrote Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "to see the great +number of beautiful and well-made children, without any corporeal +deformity unless through accident. A poor man will have eight or more +children, who in the winter go barefooted and bareheaded, with a little +shirt upon their back, and who live only on eels and bread, and +nevertheless are plump and large." + +Property was feudal, as in France, and this constitution was maintained +even after the conquest of the country by the English. Vast stretches of +land were granted to those who seemed, thanks to their state of fortune, +fit to form centres of population, and these seigneurs granted in their +turn parts of these lands to the immigrants for a rent of from one to +three cents per acre, according to the value of the land, besides a +tribute in grain and poultry. The indirect taxation consisted of the +obligation of maintaining the necessary roads, one day's compulsory +labour per year, convertible into a payment of forty cents, the right of +_mouture_, consisting of a pound of flour on every fourteen from the +common mill, finally the payment of a twelfth in case of transfer and +sale (stamp and registration). This seigniorial tenure was burdensome, +we must admit, though it was less crushing than that which weighed upon +husbandry in France before the Revolution. The farmers of Canada uttered +a long sigh of relief when it was abolished by the legislature in 1867. + +The habits of this population were remarkably simple; the costume of +some of our present out-of-door clubs gives an accurate idea of the +dress of that time, which was the same for all: the garment of wool, the +cloak, the belt of arrow pattern, and the woollen cap, called tuque, +formed the national costume. And not only did the colonists dress +without the slightest affectation, but they even made their clothes +themselves. "The growing of hemp," says the Abbé Ferland, "was +encouraged, and succeeded wonderfully. They used the nettle to make +strong cloths; looms set up in each house in the village furnished +drugget, bolting cloth, serge and ordinary cloth. The leathers of the +country sufficed for a great portion of the needs of the population. +Accordingly, after enumerating the advances in agriculture and industry, +Talon announced to Colbert with just satisfaction, that he could clothe +himself from head to foot in Canadian products, and that in a short time +the colony, if it were well administered, would draw from Old France +only a few objects of prime need." + +The interior of the dwellings was not less simple, and we find still in +our country districts a goodly number of these old French houses; they +had only one single room, in which the whole family ate, lived and +slept, and received the light through three windows. At the back of the +room was the bed of the parents, supported by the wall, in another +corner a couch, used as a seat during the day and as a bed for the +children during the night, for the top was lifted off as one lifts the +cover of a box. Built into the wall, generally at the right of the +entrance, was the stone chimney, whose top projected a little above the +roof; the stewpan, in which the food was cooked, was hung in the +fireplace from a hook. Near the hearth a staircase, or rather a ladder, +led to the loft, which was lighted by two windows cut in the sides, and +which held the grain. Finally a table, a few chairs or benches completed +these primitive furnishings, though we must not forget to mention the +old gun hung above the bed to be within reach of the hand in case of a +night surprise from the dreaded Iroquois. + +In peaceful times, too, the musket had its service, for at this period +every Canadian was born a disciple of St. Hubert. We must confess that +this great saint did not refuse his protection in this country, where, +with a single shot, a hunter killed, in 1663, a hundred and thirty wild +pigeons. These birds were so tame that one might kill them with an oar +on the bank of the river, and so numerous that the colonists, after +having gathered and salted enough for their winter's provision, +abandoned the rest to the dogs and pigs. How many hunters of our day +would have displayed their skill in these fortunate times! This +abundance of pigeons at a period when our ancestors were not favoured in +the matter of food as we are to-day, recalls at once to our memory the +quail that Providence sent to the Jews in the desert; and it is a fact +worthy of mention that as soon as our forefathers could dispense with +this superabundance of game, the wild pigeons disappeared so totally and +suddenly that the most experienced hunters cannot explain this sudden +disappearance. There were found also about Ville-Marie many partridge +and duck, and since the colonists could not go out after game in the +woods, where they would have been exposed to the ambuscades of the +Iroquois, the friendly Indians brought to market the bear, the elk, the +deer, the buffalo, the caribou, the beaver and the muskrat. On fast days +the Canadians did not lack for fish; eels were sold at five francs a +hundred, and in June, 1649, more than three hundred sturgeons were +caught at Montreal within a fortnight. The shad, the pike, the wall-eyed +pike, the carp, the brill, the maskinonge were plentiful, and there was +besides, more particularly at Quebec, good herring and salmon fishing, +while at Malbaie (Murray Bay) codfish, and at Three Rivers white fish +were abundant. + +At first, food, clothing and property were all paid for by exchange of +goods. Men bartered, for example, a lot of ground for two cows and a +pair of stockings; a more considerable piece of land was to be had for +two oxen, a cow and a little money. "Poverty," says Bossuet, speaking +of other nations, "was not an evil; on the contrary, they looked upon it +as a means of keeping their liberty more intact, there being nothing +freer or more independent than a man who knows how to live on little, +and who, without expecting anything from the protection or the largess +of others, relies for his livelihood only on his industry and labour." +Voltaire has said with equal justice: "It is not the scarcity of money, +but that of men and talent, which makes an empire weak." + +On the arrival of the royal troops coin became less rare. "Money is now +common," wrote Mother Incarnation, "these gentlemen having brought much +of it. They pay cash for all they buy, both food and other necessaries." +Money was worth a fourth more than in France, thus fifteen cents were +worth twenty. As a natural consequence, two currencies were established +in New France, and the _livre tournois_ (French franc) was distinguished +from the franc of the country. The Indians were dealt with by exchanges, +and one might see them traversing the streets of Quebec, Montreal or +Three Rivers, offering from house to house rich furs, which they +bartered for blankets, powder, lead, but above all, for that accursed +firewater which caused such havoc among them, and such interminable +disputes between the civil and the religious power. Intoxicating liquors +were the source of many disorders, and we cannot too much regret that +this stain rested upon the glory of New France. Yet such a society, +situated in what was undeniably a difficult position, could not be +expected to escape every imperfection. + +The activity and the intelligence of Mgr. de Laval made themselves felt +in every beneficent and progressive work. He could not remain +indifferent to the education of his flock; we find him as zealous for +the progress of primary education as for the development of his two +seminaries or his school at St. Joachim. Primary instruction was given +first by the good Récollets at Quebec, at Tadousac and at Three Rivers. +The Jesuits replaced them, and were able, thanks to the munificence of +the son of the Marquis de Gamache, to add a college to their elementary +school at Quebec. At Ville-Marie the Sulpicians, with never-failing +abnegation, not content with the toil of their ministry, lent themselves +to the arduous task of teaching; the venerable superior himself, M. +Souart, took the modest title of headmaster. From a healthy bud issues a +fine fruit: just as the smaller seminary of Quebec gave birth to the +Laval University, so from the school of M. Souart sprang in 1733 the +College of Montreal, transferred forty years later to the Château +Vaudreuil, on Jacques Cartier Square; then to College Street, now St. +Paul Street. The college rises to-day on an admirable site on the slope +of the mountain; the main seminary, which adjoins it, seems to dominate +the city stretched at its feet, as the two sister sciences taught +there, theology and philosophy, dominate by their importance the other +branches of human knowledge. + +M. de Fénelon, who was already devoted to the conversion of the savages +in the famous mission of Montreal mountain, gave the rest of his time to +the training of the young Iroquois; he gathered them in a school erected +by his efforts near Pointe Claire, on the Dorval Islands, which he had +received from M. de Frontenac. Later on the Brothers Charron established +a house at Montreal with a double purpose of charity: to care for the +poor and the sick, and to train men in order to send them to open +schools in the country district. This institution, in spite of the +enthusiasm of its founders, did not succeed, and became extinct about +the middle of the eighteenth century. Finally, in 1838, Canada greeted +with joy the arrival of the sons of the blessed Jean Baptiste de la +Salle, the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, so well known throughout +the world for their modesty and success in teaching. + +The girls of the colony were no less well looked after than the boys; at +Quebec, the Ursuline nuns, established in that city by Madame de la +Peltrie, trained them for the future irreproachable mothers of families. +The attempts made to Gallicize the young savages met with no success in +the case of the boys, but were better rewarded by the young Indian +girls. "We have Gallicized," writes Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "a +number of Indian girls, both Hurons and Algonquins, whom we subsequently +married to Frenchmen, who get along with them very well. There is one +among them who reads and writes to perfection, both in her native Huron +tongue and in French; no one can discern or believe that she was born a +savage. The commissioner was so delighted at this that he induced her to +write for him something in the two languages, in order to take it to +France and show it as an extraordinary production." Further on she adds, +"It is a very difficult thing, not to say impossible, to Gallicize or +civilize them. We have more experience in this than any one else, and we +have observed that of a hundred who have passed through our hands we +have hardly civilized one. We find in them docility and intelligence, +but when we least expect it, they climb over our fence and go off to run +the woods with their parents, where they find more pleasure than in all +the comforts of our French houses." + +At Montreal it was the venerable Marguerite Bourgeoys who began to teach +in a poor hovel the rudiments of the French tongue. This humble school +was transformed a little more than two centuries later into one of the +most vast and imposing edifices of the city of Montreal. Fire destroyed +it in 1893, but we must hope that this majestic monument of Ville-Marie +will soon rise again from its ruins to become the centre of operations +of the numerous educational institutions of the Congregation of +Notre-Dame which cover our country. M. l'abbé Verreau, the much +regretted principal of the Jacques Cartier Normal School, appreciates in +these terms the services rendered to education by Mother Bourgeoys, a +woman eminent from all points of view: "The Congregation of Notre-Dame," +says he, "is a truly national institution, whose ramifications extend +beyond the limits of Canada. Marguerite Bourgeoys took in hand the +education of the women of the people, the basis of society. She taught +young women to become what they ought to be, especially at this period, +women full of moral force, of modesty, of courage in the face of the +dangers in the midst of which they lived. If the French-Canadians have +preserved a certain character of politeness and urbanity, which +strangers are not slow in admitting, they owe it in a great measure to +the work of Marguerite Bourgeoys." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BECOMES BISHOP OF QUEBEC + + +The creation of a bishopric in Canada was becoming necessary, and all +was ready for the erection of a separate see. Mgr. de Laval had thought +of everything: the two seminaries with the resources indispensable for +their maintenance, cathedral, parishes or missions regularly +established, institutions of education or charity, numerous schools, a +zealous and devoted clergy, respected both by the government of the +colony and by that of the mother country. What more could be desired? He +had many struggles to endure in order to obtain this creation, but +patience and perseverance never failed him, and like the drop of water +which, falling incessantly upon the pavement, finally wears away the +stone, his reasonable and ever repeated demands eventually overcame the +obstinacy of the king. Not, however, until 1674 was he definitely +appointed Bishop of Quebec, and could enjoy without opposition a title +which had belonged to him so long in reality; this was, as it were, the +final consecration of his life and the crowning of his efforts. Upon the +news of this the joy of the people and of the clergy rose to its height: +the future of the Canadian Church was assured, and she would inscribe +in her annals a name dear to all and soon to be glorified. + +Shall we, then, suppose that this pontiff was indeed ambitious, who, +coming in early youth to wield his pastoral crozier upon the banks of +the St. Lawrence, did not fear the responsibility of so lofty a task? +The assumption would be quite unjustified. Rather let us think of him as +meditating on this text of St. Paul: "_Oportet episcopum +irreprehensibilem esse_," the bishop must be irreproachable in his +house, his relations, his speech and even his silence. His past career +guaranteed his possession of that admixture of strength and gentleness, +of authority and condescension in which lies the great art of governing +men. Moreover, one thing reassured him, his knowledge that the crown of +a bishop is often a crown of thorns. When the apostle St. Paul outlined +for his disciple the main features of the episcopal character, he spoke +not alone for the immediate successors of the apostles, but for all +those who in the succession of ages should be honoured by the same +dignity. No doubt the difficulties would be often less, persecution +might even cease entirely, but trial would continue always, because it +is the condition of the Church as well as that of individuals. The +prelate himself explains to us the very serious reasons which led him to +insist on obtaining the title of Bishop of Quebec. He writes in these +terms to the Propaganda: "I have never till now sought the episcopacy, +and I have accepted it in spite of myself, convinced of my weakness. +But, having borne its burden, I shall consider it a boon to be relieved +of it, though I do not refuse to sacrifice myself for the Church of +Jesus Christ and for the welfare of souls. I have, however, learned by +long experience how unguarded is the position of an apostolic vicar +against those who are entrusted with political affairs, I mean the +officers of the court, perpetual rivals and despisers of the +ecclesiastical power, who have nothing more common to object than that +the authority of the apostolic vicar is doubtful and should be +restricted within certain limits. This is why, after having maturely +considered everything, I have resolved to resign this function and to +return no more to New France unless a see be erected there, and unless I +be provided and furnished with bulls constituting me its occupant. Such +is the purpose of my journey to France and the object of my desires." + +As early as the year 1662, at the time of his first journey to France, +the Bishop of Petræa had obtained from Louis XIV the assurance that this +prince would petition the sovereign pontiff for the erection of the see +of Quebec; moreover, the monarch had at the same time assigned to the +future bishopric the revenues of the abbey of Maubec. The king kept his +word, for on June 28th, 1664, he addressed to the common Father of the +faithful the following letter: "The choice made by your Holiness of the +person of the Sieur de Laval, Bishop of Petræa, to go in the capacity +of apostolic vicar to exercise episcopal functions in Canada has been +attended by many advantages to this growing Church. We have reason to +expect still greater results if it please your Holiness to permit him to +continue there the same functions in the capacity of bishop of the +place, by establishing for this purpose an episcopal see in Quebec; and +we hope that your Holiness will be the more inclined to this since we +have already provided for the maintenance of the bishop and his canons +by consenting to the perpetual union of the abbey of Maubec with the +future bishopric. This is why we beg you to grant to the Bishop of +Petræa the title of Bishop of Quebec upon our nomination and prayer, +with power to exercise in this capacity the episcopal functions in all +Canada." + +However, the appointment was not consummated; the Propaganda, indeed, +decided in a rescript of December 15th, 1666, that it was necessary to +make of Quebec a see, whose occupant should be appointed by the king; +the Consistorial Congregation of Rome promulgated a new decree with the +same purpose on October 9th, 1670, and yet Mgr. de Laval still remained +Bishop of Petræa. This was because the eternal question of jurisdiction +as between the civil and religious powers, the question which did so +much harm to Catholicism in France, in England, in Italy, and especially +in Germany, was again being revived. The King of France demanded that +the new diocese should be dependent upon the Metropolitan of Rouen, +while the pontifical government, of which its providential rôle requires +always a breadth of view, and, so to speak, a foreknowledge of events +impossible to any nation, desired the new diocese to be an immediate +dependency of the Holy See. "We must confess here," says the Abbé +Ferland, "that the sight of the sovereign pontiff reached much farther +into the future than that of the great king. Louis XIV was concerned +with the kingdom of France; Clement X thought of the interests of the +whole Catholic world. The little French colony was growing; separated +from the mother country by the ocean, it might be wrested from France by +England, which was already so powerful in America; what, then, would +become of the Church of Quebec if it had been wont to lean upon that of +Rouen and to depend upon it? It was better to establish at once +immediate relations between the Bishop of Quebec and the supreme head of +the Catholic Church; it was better to establish bonds which could be +broken neither by time nor force, and Quebec might thus become one day +the metropolis of the dioceses which should spring from its bosom." + +The opposition to the views of Mgr. de Laval did not come, however, so +much from the king as from Mgr. de Harlay, Archbishop of Rouen, who had +never consented to the detachment of Canada from his jurisdiction. +Events turned out fortunately for the apostolic vicar, since the +Archbishop of Rouen was called to the important see of Paris on the +death of the Archbishop of Paris, Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont, in +the very year in which Mgr. de Laval embarked for France, accompanied by +his grand vicar, M. de Lauson-Charny. The task now became much easier, +and Laval had no difficulty in inducing the king to urge the erection of +the diocese at Quebec, and to abandon his claims to making the new +diocese dependent on the archbishopric of Rouen. + +Before leaving Canada the Bishop of Quebec had entrusted the +administration of the apostolic vicariate to M. de Bernières, and, in +case of the latter's death, to M. Dudouyt. He embarked in the autumn of +1671. + +To the keen regret of the population of Ville-Marie, which owed him so +much, M. de Queylus, Abbé de Loc-Dieu and superior of the Seminary of +Montreal for the last three years, went to France at the same time as +his ecclesiastical superior. "M. l'abbé de Queylus," wrote Commissioner +Talon to the Minister Colbert, "is making an urgent application for the +settlement and increase of the colony of Montreal. He carries his zeal +farther, for he is going to take charge of the Indian children who fall +into the hands of the Iroquois, in order to have them educated, the boys +in his seminary, and the girls by persons of the same sex, who form at +Montreal a sort of congregation to teach young girls the petty +handicrafts, in addition to reading and writing." M. de Queylus had used +his great fortune in all sorts of good works in the colony, but he was +not the only Sulpician whose hand was always ready and willing. Before +dying, M. Olier had begged his successors to continue the work at +Ville-Marie, "because," said he, "it is the will of God," and the +priests of St. Sulpice received this injunction as one of the most +sacred codicils of the will of their Father. However onerous the +continuation of this plan was for the company, the latter sacrificed to +it without hesitation its resources, its efforts and its members with +the most complete abnegation.[6] Thus when, on March 9th, 1663, the +Company of Montreal believed itself no longer capable of meeting its +obligations, and begged St. Sulpice to take them up, the seminary +subordinated all considerations of self-interest and human prudence to +this view. To this MM. de Bretonvilliers, de Queylus and du Bois devoted +their fortunes, and to this work of the conversion of the savages +priests distinguished in birth and riches gave up their whole lives and +property. M. de Belmont discharged the hundred and twenty thousand +francs of debts of the Company of Montreal, gave as much more to the +establishment of divers works, and left more than two hundred thousand +francs of his patrimony to support them after his death. How many +others did likewise! During more than fifty years Paris sent to this +mission only priests able to pay their board, that they might have the +right to share in this evangelization. This disinterestedness, unheard +of in the history of the most unselfish congregations, saved, sustained +and finally developed this settlement, to which Roman Catholics point +to-day with pride. The Seminary of Paris contributed to it a sum equal +to twice the value of the island, and during the first sixty years more +than nine hundred thousand francs, as one may see by the archives of the +Department of Marine at Paris. These sums to-day would represent a large +fortune. + +Finally the prayers of Mgr. de Laval were heard; Pope Clement X signed +on October 1st, 1674, the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec, +which was to extend over all the French possessions in North America. +The sovereign pontiff incorporated with the new bishopric for its +maintenance the abbey of Maubec, given by the King of France already in +1662, and in exchange for the renunciation by this prince of his right +of presentation to the abbey of Maubec, granted him the right of +nomination to the bishopric of Quebec. To his first gift the king had +added a second, that of the abbey of Lestrées. Situated in Normandy and +in the archdeaconry of Evreux, this abbey was one of the oldest of the +order of Citeaux. + +Up to this time the venerable bishop had had many difficulties to +surmount; he was about to meet some of another sort, those of the +administration of vast properties. The abbey of Maubec, occupied by +monks of the order of St. Benedict, was situated in one of the fairest +provinces of France, Le Perry, and was dependent upon the archdiocese of +Bourges. Famous vineyards, verdant meadows, well cultivated fields, rich +farms, forests full of game and ponds full of fish made this abbey an +admirable domain; unfortunately, the expenses of maintaining or +repairing the buildings, the dues payable to the government, the +allowances secured to the monks, and above all, the waste and theft +which must necessarily victimize proprietors separated from their +tenants by the whole breadth of an ocean, must absorb a great part of +the revenues. Letters of the steward of this property to the Bishop of +Quebec are instructive in this matter. "M. Porcheron is still the same," +writes the steward, M. Matberon, "and bears me a grudge because I desire +to safeguard your interests. I am incessantly carrying on the work of +needful repairs in all the places dependent on Maubec, chiefly those +necessary to the ponds, in order that M. Porcheron may have no damages +against you. This is much against his will, for he is constantly seeking +an excuse for litigation. He swears that he does not want your farm any +longer, but as for me, I believe that this is not his feeling, and that +he would wish the farm out of the question, for he is too fond of +hunting and his pleasure to quit it.... He does his utmost to remove me +from your service, insinuating many things against me which are not +true; but this does not lessen my zeal in serving you." + +Mgr. de Laval, who did not hesitate at any exertion when it was a +question of the interests of his Church, did not fail to go and visit +his two abbeys. He set out, happy in the prospect of being able to +admire these magnificent properties whose rich revenues would permit him +to do so much good in his diocese; but he was painfully affected at the +sight of the buildings in ruins, sad relics of the wars of religion. In +order to free himself as much as possible from cares which would have +encroached too much upon his precious time and his pastoral duties, +Laval caused a manager to be appointed by the Royal Council for the +abbey of Lestrées, and rented it for a fixed sum to M. Berthelot. He +also made with the latter a very advantageous transaction by exchanging +with him the Island of Orleans for the Ile Jésus; M. Berthelot was to +give him besides a sum of twenty-five thousand francs, which was +employed in building the seminary. Later the king made the Island of +Orleans a county. It became the county of St. Lawrence. + +Mgr. de Laval was too well endowed with qualities of the heart, as well +as with those of the mind, not to have preserved a deep affection for +his family; he did not fail to go and see them twice during his stay in +France. Unhappily, his brother, Jean-Louis, to whom he had yielded all +his rights as eldest son, and his titles to the hereditary lordship of +Montigny and Montbeaudry, caused only grief to his family and to his +wife, Françoise de Chevestre. As lavish as he was violent and +hot-tempered, he reduced by his excesses his numerous family (for he had +had ten children), to such poverty that the Bishop of Quebec had to come +to his aid; besides the assistance which he sent them, the prelate +bought him a house. He extended his protection also to his nephews, and +his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to him about them as follows: "The +eldest is developing a little; he is in the army with the king, and his +father has given him a good start. I have obtained from my petitions +from Paris a place as monk in the Congregation of the Cross for his +second son, whom I shall try to have reared in the knowledge and fear of +God. I believe that the youngest, who has been sent to you, will have +come to the right place; he is of good promise. My brother desires +greatly that you may have the goodness to give Fanchon the advantage of +an education before sending him back. It is a great charity to these +poor children to give them a little training. You will be a father to +them in this matter." One never applied in vain to the heart of the good +bishop. Two of his nephews owed him their education at the seminary of +Quebec; one of them, Fanchon (Charles-François-Guy), after a brilliant +course in theology at Paris, became vicar-general to the Swan of +Cambrai, the illustrious Fénelon, and was later raised to the bishopric +of Ypres. + +Meanwhile, four years had elapsed since Mgr. de Laval had left the soil +of Canada, and he did not cease to receive letters which begged him +respectfully to return to his diocese. "Nothing is lacking to animate us +but the presence of our lord bishop," wrote, one day, Father Dablon. +"His absence keeps this country, as it were, in mourning, and makes us +languish in the too long separation from a person so necessary to these +growing churches. He was the soul of them, and the zeal which he showed +on every occasion for the welfare of our Indians drew upon us favours of +Heaven most powerful for the success of our missions; and since, however +distant he be in the body, his heart is ever with us, we experience the +effects of it in the continuity of the blessings with which God favours +the labours of our missionaries." Accordingly, he did not lose a moment +after receiving the decrees appointing him Bishop of Quebec. On May +19th, 1675, he renewed the union of his seminary with that of the +Foreign Missions in Paris. "This union," says the Abbé Ferland, "a union +which he had effected for the first time in 1665 as apostolic bishop of +New France, was of great importance to his diocese. He found, indeed, in +this institution, good recruits, who were sent to him when needed, and +faithful correspondents, whom he could address with confidence, and who +had sufficient influence at court to gain a hearing for their +representations in favour of the Church in Canada." On May 29th of the +same year he set sail for Canada; he was accompanied by a priest, a +native of the city of Orleans, M. Glandelet, who was one of the most +distinguished priests of the seminary. + +To understand with what joy he was received by his parishioners on his +arrival, it is enough to read what his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to +him the following year: "I cannot express to you the satisfaction and +inward joy which I have received in my soul on reading a report sent +from Canada of the manner in which your clergy and all your people have +received you, and that our Lord inspires them all with just and true +sentiments to recognize you as their father and pastor. They testify to +having received through your beloved person as it were a new life. I ask +our Lord every day at His holy altars to preserve you some years more +for the sanctification of these poor people and our own." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] _Vie de M. Olier_, par De Lanjuère. As I wrote this life some years +ago with the collaboration of a gentleman whom death has taken from us, +I believe myself entitled to reproduce here and there in the present +life of Mgr. de Laval extracts from this book. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FRONTENAC IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR + + +During the early days of the absence of its first pastor, the Church of +Canada had enjoyed only days of prosperity; skilfully directed by MM. de +Bernières and de Dudouyt, who scrupulously followed the line of conduct +laid down for them by Mgr. de Laval before his departure, it was +pursuing its destiny peacefully. But this calm, forerunner of the storm, +could not last; it was the destiny of the Church, as it had been the lot +of nations, to be tossed incessantly by the violent winds of trial and +persecution. The difficulties which arose soon reached the acute stage, +and all the firmness and tact of the Bishop of Quebec were needed to +meet them. The departure of Laval for France in the autumn of 1671 had +been closely followed by that of Governor de Courcelles and that of +Commissioner Talon. The latter was not replaced until three years later, +so that the new governor, Count de Frontenac, who arrived in the autumn +of 1672, had no one at his side in the Sovereign Council to oppose his +views. This was allowing too free play to the natural despotism of his +character. Louis de Buade, Count de Palluau and de Frontenac, +lieutenant-general of the king's armies, had previously served in +Holland under the illustrious Maurice, Prince of Orange, then in France, +Italy and Germany, and his merit had gained for him the reputation of a +great captain. The illustrious Turenne entrusted to him the command of +the reinforcements sent to Candia when that island was besieged by the +Turks. He had a keen mind, trained by serious study; haughty towards the +powerful of this world, he was affable to ordinary people, and thus made +for himself numerous enemies, while remaining very popular. Father +Charlevoix has drawn an excellent portrait of him: "His heart was +greater than his birth, his wit lively, penetrating, sound, fertile and +highly cultivated: but he was biased by the most unjust prejudices, and +capable of carrying them very far. He wished to rule alone, and there +was nothing he would not do to remove those whom he was afraid of +finding in his way. His worth and ability were equal; no one knew better +how to assume over the people whom he governed and with whom he had to +deal, that ascendency so necessary to keep them in the paths of duty and +respect. He won when he wished it the friendship of the French and their +allies, and never has general treated his enemies with more dignity and +nobility. His views for the aggrandizement of the colony were large and +true, but his prejudices sometimes prevented the execution of plans +which depended on him.... He justified, in one of the most critical +circumstances of his life, the opinion that his ambition and the desire +of preserving his authority had more power over him than his zeal for +the public good. The fact is that there is no virtue which does not +belie itself when one has allowed a dominant passion to gain the upper +hand. The Count de Frontenac might have been a great prince if Heaven +had placed him on the throne, but he had dangerous faults for a subject +who is not well persuaded that his glory consists in sacrificing +everything to the service of his sovereign and the public utility." + +It was under the administration of Frontenac that the Compagnie des +Indes Occidentales, which had accepted in 1663 a portion of the +obligations and privileges of the Company of the Cent-Associés, +renounced its rights over New France. Immediately after his arrival he +began the construction of Fort Cataraqui; if we are to believe some +historians, motives of personal interest guided him in the execution of +this enterprise; he thought only, it seems, of founding considerable +posts for the fur trade, favouring those traders who would consent to +give him a share in their profits. The work was urged on with energy. La +Salle obtained from the king, thanks to the support of Frontenac, +letters patent of nobility, together with the ownership and jurisdiction +of the new fort. + +With the approval of the governor, Commissioner Talon's plan of having +the course of the Mississippi explored was executed by two bold men: +Louis Joliet, citizen of Quebec, already known for previous voyages and +for his deep knowledge of the Indian tongues, and the devoted +missionary, Father Marquette. Without other provisions than Indian corn +and dried meat they set out in two bark canoes from Michilimackinac on +May 17th, 1673; only five Frenchmen accompanied them. They reached the +Mississippi, after having passed the Baie des Puants and the rivers +Outagami and Wisconsin, and ascended the stream for more than sixty +leagues. They were cordially received by the tribe of the Illinois, +which was encamped not far from the river, and Father Marquette promised +to return and visit them. The two travellers reached the Arkansas River +and learned that the sea was not far distant, but fearing they might +fall into the hands of hostile Spaniards, they decided to retrace their +steps, and reached the Baie des Puants about the end of September. + +The following year Father Marquette wished to keep his promise given to +the Illinois. His health is weakened by the trials of a long mission, +but what matters this to him? There are souls to save. He preaches the +truths of religion to the poor savages gathered in attentive silence; +but his strength diminishes, and he regretfully resumes the road to +Michilimackinac. He did not have time to reach it, but died near the +mouth of a river which long bore his name. His two comrades dug a grave +for the remains of the missionary and raised a cross near the tomb. Two +years later these sacred bones were transferred with the greatest +respect to St. Ignace de Michilimackinac by the savage tribe of the +Kiskakons, whom Father Marquette had christianized. + +With such an adventurous character as he possessed, Cavelier de la Salle +could not learn of the exploration of the course of the Upper +Mississippi without burning with the desire to complete the discovery +and to descend the river to its mouth. Robert René Cavelier de la Salle +was born at Rouen about the year 1644. He belonged to an excellent +family, and was well educated. From his earliest years he was +passionately fond of stories of travel, and the older he grew the more +cramped he felt in the civilization of Europe; like the mettled mustang +of the vast prairies of America, he longed for the immensity of unknown +plains, for the imposing majesty of forests which the foot of man had +not yet trod. Maturity and reason gave a more definite aim to these +aspirations; at the age of twenty-four he came to New France to try his +fortune. He entered into relations with different Indian tribes, and the +extent of his commerce led him to establish a trading-post opposite the +Sault St. Louis. This site, as we shall see, received soon after the +name of Lachine. Though settled at this spot, La Salle did not cease to +meditate on the plan fixed in his brain of discovering a passage to +China and the Indies, and upon learning the news that MM. Dollier de +Casson and Gallinée were going to christianize the wild tribes of +south-western Canada, he hastened to rejoin the two devoted +missionaries. They set out in the summer of 1669, with twenty-two +Frenchmen. Arriving at Niagara, La Salle suddenly changed his mind, and +abandoned his travelling companions, under the pretext of illness. No +more was needed for the Frenchman, _né malin_,[7] to fix upon the +seigniory of the future discoverer of the mouth of the Mississippi the +name of Lachine; M. Dollier de Casson is suspected of being the author +of this gentle irony. + +Eight years later the explorations of Joliet and Father Marquette +revived his instincts as a discoverer; he betook himself to France in +1677 and easily obtained authority to pursue, at his own expense, the +discovery already begun. Back in Canada the following year, La Salle +thoroughly prepared for this expedition, accumulating provisions at Fort +Niagara, and visiting the Indian tribes. In 1679, accompanied by the +Chevalier de Tonti, he set out at the head of a small troop, and passed +through Michilimackinac, then through the Baie des Puants. From there he +reached the Miami River, where he erected a small fort, ascended the +Illinois, and, reaching a camp of the Illinois Indians, made an alliance +with this tribe, obtaining from them permission to erect upon their soil +a fort which he called Crèvecoeur. He left M. de Tonti there with a few +men and two Récollet missionaries, Fathers de la Ribourde and Membré, +and set out again with all haste for Fort Frontenac, for he was very +anxious regarding the condition of his own affairs. He had reason to be. +"His creditors," says the Abbé Ferland, "had had his goods seized after +his departure from Fort Frontenac; his brigantine _Le Griffon_ had been +lost, with furs valued at thirty thousand francs; his employees had +appropriated his goods; a ship which was bringing him from France a +cargo valued at twenty-two thousand francs had been wrecked on the +Islands of St. Pierre; some canoes laden with merchandise had been +dashed to pieces on the journey between Montreal and Frontenac; the men +whom he had brought from France had fled to New York, taking a portion +of his goods, and already a conspiracy was on foot to disaffect the +Canadians in his service. In one word, according to him, the whole of +Canada had conspired against his enterprise, and the Count de Frontenac +was the only one who consented to support him in the midst of his +misfortunes." His remarkable energy and activity remedied this host of +evils, and he set out again for Fort Crèvecoeur. To cap the climax of +his misfortunes, he found it abandoned; being attacked by the Iroquois, +whom the English had aroused against them, Tonti and his comrades had +been forced to hasty flight. De la Salle found them again at +Michilimackinac, but he had the sorrow of learning of the loss of +Father de la Ribourde, whom the Illinois had massacred. Tonti and his +companions, in their flight, had been obliged to abandon an unsafe +canoe, which had carried them half-way, and to continue their journey on +foot. Such a series of misfortunes would have discouraged any other than +La Salle; on the contrary, he made Tonti and Father Membré retrace their +steps. Arriving with them at the Miami fort, he reinforced his little +troop by twenty-three Frenchmen and eighteen Indians, and reached Fort +Crèvecoeur. On February 6th, 1682, he reached the mouth of the Illinois, +and then descended the Mississippi. Towards the end of this same month +the bold explorers stopped at the juncture of the Ohio with the Father +of Rivers, and erected there Fort Prudhomme. On what is Fame dependent? +A poor and unknown man, a modest collaborator with La Salle, had the +honour of giving his name to this little fort because he had been lost +in the neighbourhood and had reached camp nine days later. + +Providence was finally about to reward so much bravery and perseverance. +The sailor who from the yards of Christopher Columbus's caravel, uttered +the triumphant cry of "Land! land!" did not cause more joy to the +illustrious Genoese navigator than La Salle received from the sight of +the sea so ardently sought. On April 9th La Salle and his comrades could +at length admire the immense blue sheet of the Gulf of Mexico. Like +Christopher Columbus, who made it his first duty on touching the soil of +the New World to fall upon his knees to return thanks to Heaven, La +Salle's first business was to raise a cross upon the shore. Father +Membré intoned the Te Deum. They then raised the arms of the King of +France, in whose name La Salle took possession of the Mississippi, and +of all the territories watered by the tributaries of the great river. + +Their trials were not over: the risks to be run in traversing so many +regions inhabited by barbarians were as great and as numerous after +success as before. La Salle was, moreover, delayed for forty days by a +serious illness, but God in His goodness did not wish to deprive the +valiant discoverers of the fruits of their efforts, and all arrived safe +and sound at the place whence they had started. After having passed a +year in establishing trading-posts among the Illinois, La Salle +appointed M. de Tonti his representative for the time being, and betook +himself to France with the intention of giving an account of his journey +to the most Christian monarch. His enemies had already forestalled him +at the court; we have to seek the real cause of this hatred in the +jealousy of traders who feared to find in the future colonists of the +western and southern country competitors in their traffic. But far from +listening to them, the son of Colbert, Seignelay, then minister of +commerce, highly praised the valiant explorer, and sent, in 1684, four +ships with two hundred and eighty colonists to people Louisiana, this +new gem in the crown of France. But La Salle has not yet finally drained +the cup of disappointment, for few men have been so overwhelmed as he by +the persistence of ill-fortune. It was not enough that the leader of the +expedition should be incapable, the colonists must needs be of a +continual evil character, the soldiers undisciplined, the workmen +unskilful, the pilot ignorant. They pass the mouth of the Mississippi, +near which they should have disembarked, and arrive in Texas; the +commander refuses to send the ship about, and La Salle makes up his mind +to land where they are. Through the neglect of the pilot, the vessel +which was carrying the provisions is cast ashore, then a gale arises +which swallows up the tools, the merchandise and the ammunition. The +Indians, like birds of prey, hasten up to pillage, and massacre two +volunteers. The colonists in exasperation revolt, and stupidly blame La +Salle. He saves them, nevertheless, by his energy, and makes them raise +a fort with the wreck of the ships. They pass two years there in a +famine of everything; twice La Salle tries to find, at the cost of a +thousand sufferings, a way of rescue, and twice he fails. Finally, when +there remain no more than thirty men, he chooses the ten most resolute, +and tries to reach Canada on foot. He did not reach it: on May 20th, +1687, he was murdered by one of his comrades. "Such was the end of this +daring adventurer," says Bancroft.[8] "For force of will, and vast +conceptions; for various knowledge and quick adaptation of his genius to +untried circumstances; for a sublime magnanimity that resigned itself to +the will of Heaven and yet triumphed over affliction by energy of +purpose and unfaltering hope, he had no superior among his +countrymen.... He will be remembered in the great central valley of the +West." + +It was with deep feelings of joy that Mgr. de Laval, still in France at +this period, had read the detailed report of the voyage of discovery +made by Joliet and Father Marquette. But the news which he received from +Canada was not always so comforting; he felt especially deeply the loss +of two great benefactresses of Canada, Madame de la Peltrie and Mother +Incarnation. The former had used her entire fortune in founding the +Convent of the Ursulines at Quebec. Heaven had lavished its gifts upon +her; endowed with brilliant qualities, and adding riches to beauty, she +was happy in possessing these advantages only because they allowed her +to offer them to the Most High, who had given them to her. She devoted +herself to the Christian education of young girls, and passed in Canada +the last thirty-two years of her life. The Abbé Casgrain draws the +following portrait of her: "Her whole person presented a type of +attractiveness and gentleness. Her face, a beautiful oval, was +remarkable for the harmony of its lines and the perfection of its +contour. A slightly aquiline nose, a clear cut and always smiling mouth, +a limpid look veiled by long lashes which the habit of meditation kept +half lowered, stamped her features with an exquisite sweetness. Though +her frail and delicate figure did not exceed medium height, and though +everything about her breathed modesty and humility, her gait was +nevertheless full of dignity and nobility; one recognized, in seeing +her, the descendant of those great and powerful lords, of those perfect +knights whose valiant swords had sustained throne and altar. Through the +most charming simplicity there were ever manifest the grand manner of +the seventeenth century and that perfect distinction which is +traditional among the families of France. But this majestic _ensemble_ +was tempered by an air of introspection and unction which gave her +conversation an infinite charm, and it gained her the esteem and +affection of all those who had had the good fortune to know her." She +died on November 18th, 1671, only a few days after the departure for +France of the apostolic vicar. + +[Illustration: The Ursuline Convent, Quebec + +Drawn on the spot by Richard Short, 1761] + +Her pious friend, Mother Mary of the Incarnation, first Mother Superior +of the Ursulines of Quebec, soon followed her to the tomb. She expired +on April 30th, 1672. In her numerous writings on the beginnings of the +colony, the modesty of Mother Mary of the Incarnation has kept us in the +dark concerning several important services rendered by her to New +France, and many touching details of her life would not have reached us +if her companion, Madame de la Peltrie, had not made them known to us. +In Mother Incarnation, who merited the glorious title of the Theresa of +New France, were found all the Christian virtues, but more particularly +piety, patience and confidence in Providence. God was ever present and +visible in her heart, acting everywhere and in everything. We see, among +many other instances that might be quoted, a fine example of her +enthusiasm for Heaven when, cast out of her convent in the heart of the +winter by a conflagration which consumed everything, she knelt upon the +snow with her Sisters, and thanked God for not having taken from them, +together with their properties, their lives, which might be useful to +others. + +If Madame de la Peltrie and Mother Mary of the Incarnation occupy a +large place in the history of Canada, it is because the institution of +the Ursulines, which they founded and directed at Quebec, exercised the +happiest influence on the formation of the Christian families in our +country. "It was," says the Abbé Ferland, "an inestimable advantage for +the country to receive from the schools maintained by the nuns, mothers +of families reared in piety, familiar with their religious duties, and +capable of training the hearts and minds of the new generation." It was +thanks to the efforts of Madame de la Peltrie, and to the lessons of +Mother Incarnation and her first co-workers, that those patriarchal +families whose type still persists in our time, were formed in the early +days of the colony. The same services were rendered by Sister Bourgeoys +to the government of Montreal. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] Allusion to a verse of the poet Boileau. + +[8] _History of the United States_, Vol. II., page 821. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A TROUBLED ADMINISTRATION + + +A thorough study of history and the analysis of the causes and effects +of great historical events prove to us that frequently men endowed with +the noblest qualities have rendered only slight services to their +country, because, blinded by the consciousness of their own worth, and +the certainty which they have of desiring to work only for the good of +their country, they have disdained too much the advice of wise +counsillors. With eyes fixed upon their established purpose, they +trample under foot every obstacle; and every man who differs from their +opinion is but a traitor or an imbecile: hence their lack of moderation, +tact and prudence, and their excess of obstinacy and violence. To select +one example among a thousand, what marvellous results would have been +attained by an _entente cordiale_ between two men like Dupleix and La +Bourdonnais. + +Count de Frontenac was certainly a great man: he made Canada prosperous +in peace, glorious in war, but he made also the great mistake of aiming +at absolutism, and of allowing himself to be guided throughout his +administration by unjustified prejudices against the Jesuits and the +religious orders. Only the Sovereign Council, the bishop and the royal +commissioner could have opposed his omnipotence. Now the office of +commissioner remained vacant for three years, the bishop stayed in +France till 1675, and his grand vicar, who was to represent him in the +highest assembly of the colony, was never invited to take his seat +there. As to the council, the governor took care to constitute it of men +who were entirely devoted to him, and he thus made himself the arbiter +of justice. The council, of which Peuvret de Mesnu was secretary, was at +this time composed of MM. Le Gardeur de Tilly, Damours, de la Tesserie, +Dupont, de Mouchy, and a substitute for the attorney-general. + +The first difficulty which Frontenac met was brought about by a cause +rather insignificant in itself, but rendered so dangerous by the +obstinacy of those who were concerned in it that it caused a deep +commotion throughout the whole country. Thus a foreign body, sometimes a +wretched little splinter buried in the flesh, may, if we allow the wound +to be poisoned, produce the greatest disorders in the human system. We +cannot read without admiration of the acts of bravery and daring +frequently accomplished by the _coureurs de bois_. We experience a +sentiment of pride when we glance through the accounts which depict for +us the endurance and physical vigour with which these athletes became +endowed by dint of continual struggles with man and beast and with the +very elements in a climate that was as glacial in winter as it was +torrid in summer. We are happy to think that these brave and strong men +belong to our race. But in the time of Frontenac the ecclesiastical and +civil authorities were averse to seeing the colony lose thus the most +vigorous part of its population. While admitting that the _coureurs de +bois_ became stout fellows in consequence of their hard experience, just +as the fishermen of the French shore now become robust sailors after a +few seasons of fishing on the Newfoundland Banks, the parallel is not +complete, because the latter remain throughout their lives a valuable +reserve for the French fleets, while the former were in great part lost +to the colony, at a period when safety lay in numbers. If they escaped +the manifold dangers which they ran every day in dealing with the +savages in the heart of the forest, if they disdained to link themselves +by the bond of marriage to a squaw and to settle among the redskins, the +_coureurs de bois_ were none the less drones among their compatriots; +they did not make up their minds to establish themselves in places where +they might have become excellent farmers, until through age and +infirmity they were rather a burden than a support to others. + +To counteract this scourge the king published in 1673, a decree which, +under penalty of death, forbade Frenchmen to remain more than +twenty-four hours in the woods without permission from the governor. +Some Montreal officers, engaged in trade, violated this prohibition; the +Count de Frontenac at once sent M. Bizard, lieutenant of his guards, +with an order to arrest them. The governor of Montreal, M. Perrot, who +connived with them, publicly insulted the officer entrusted with the +orders of the governor-general. Indignant at such insolence, M. de +Frontenac had M. Perrot arrested at once, imprisoned in the Château St. +Louis and judged by the Sovereign Council. Connected with M. Perrot by +the bonds of friendship, the Abbé de Fénelon profited by the occasion to +allude, in the sermon which he delivered in the parochial church of +Montreal on Easter Sunday, to the excessive labour which M. de Frontenac +had exacted from the inhabitants of Ville-Marie for the erection of Fort +Cataraqui. According to La Salle, who heard the sermon, the Abbé de +Fénelon said: "He who is invested with authority should not disturb the +people who depend on him; on the contrary, it is his duty to consider +them as his children and to treat them as would a father.... He must not +disturb the commerce of the country by ill-treating those who do not +give him a share of the profits they may make in it; he must content +himself with gaining by honest means; he must not trample on the people, +nor vex them by excessive demands which serve his interests alone. He +must not have favourites who praise him on all occasions, or oppress, +under far-fetched pretexts, persons who serve the same princes, when +they oppose his enterprises.... He has respect for priests and ministers +of the Church." + +Count de Frontenac felt himself directly aimed at; he was the more +inclined to anger, since, the year before, he had had reasons for +complaint of the sermon of a Jesuit Father. Let us allow the governor +himself to relate this incident: "I had need," he wrote to Colbert, "to +remember your orders on the occasion of a sermon preached by a Jesuit +Father this winter (1672) purposely and without need, at which he had a +week before invited everybody to be present. He gave expression in this +sermon to seditious proposals against the authority of the king, which +scandalized many, by dilating upon the restrictions made by the bishop +of the traffic in brandy.... I was several times tempted to leave the +church and to interrupt the sermon; but I eventually contented myself, +after it was over, with seeking out the grand vicar and the superior of +the Jesuits and telling them that I was much surprised at what I had +just heard, and that I asked justice of them.... They greatly blamed the +preacher, whose words they disavowed, attributing them, according to +their custom, to an excess of zeal, and offered me many excuses, with +which I condescended to seem satisfied, telling them, nevertheless, that +I would not accept such again, and that, if the occasion ever arose, I +would put the preacher where he would learn how he ought to speak...." + +On the news of the words which were pronounced in the pulpit at +Ville-Marie, M. de Frontenac summoned M. de Fénelon to send him a +verified copy of his sermon, and on the refusal of the abbé, he cited +him before the council. M. de Fénelon appeared, but objected to the +jurisdiction of the court, declaring that he owed an account of his +actions to the ecclesiastical authority alone. Now the official +authority of the diocese was vested in the worthy M. de Bernières, the +representative of Mgr. de Laval. The latter is summoned in his turn +before the council, where the Count de Frontenac, who will not recognize +either the authority of this official or that of the apostolic vicar, +objects to M. de Bernières occupying the seat of the absent Bishop of +Petræa. In order not to compromise his right thus contested, M. de +Bernières replies to the questions of the council "standing and without +taking any seat." The trial thus begun dragged along till autumn, to be +then referred to the court of France. The superior of St. Sulpice, M. de +Bretonvilliers, who had succeeded the venerable M. Olier, did not +approve of the conduct of the Abbé Fénelon, for he wrote later to the +Sulpicians of Montreal: "I exhort you to profit by the example of M. de +Fénelon. Concerning himself too much with secular affairs and with what +did not affect him, he has ruined his own cause and compromised the +friends whom he wished to serve. In matters of this sort it is always +best to remain neutral." + +Frontenac was about to be blamed in his turn. The governor had obtained +from the council a decree ordering the king's attorney to be present +at the rendering of accounts by the purveyor of the Quebec Seminary, and +another decree of March 4th, 1675, declaring that not only, as had been +customary since 1668, the judges should have precedence over the +churchwardens in public ceremonies, but also that the latter should +follow all the officers of justice; at Quebec these officers should have +their bench immediately behind that of the council, and in the rest of +the country, behind that of the local governors and the seigneurs. This +latter decree was posted everywhere. A missionary, M. Thomas Morel, was +accused of having prevented its publication at Lévis, and was arrested +at once and imprisoned in the Château St. Louis with the clerk of the +ecclesiastical court, Romain Becquet, who had refused to deliver to the +council the registers of this ecclesiastical tribune. He was kept there +a month. MM. de Bernières and Dudouyt protested, declaring that M. Morel +was amenable only to the diocesan authority. We see in such an incident +some of the reasons which induced Laval to insist upon the immediate +constitution of a regular diocese. Summoned to produce forthwith the +authority for their pretended ecclesiastical jurisdiction, "they +produced a copy of the royal declaration, dated March 27th, 1659, based +on the bulls of the Bishop of Petræa, and other documents, establishing +incontestably the legal authority of the apostolic vicar." The council +had to yield; it restored his freedom to M. Morel, and postponed until +later its decision as to the validity of the claims of the +ecclesiastical court. + +This was a check to the ambitions of the Count de Frontenac. The +following letter from Louis XIV dealt a still more cruel blow to his +absolutism: "In order to punish M. Perrot for having resisted your +authority," the prince wrote to him, "I have had him put into the +Bastille for some time; so that when he returns to your country, not +only will this punishment render him more circumspect in his duty, but +it will serve as an example to restrain others. But if I must inform you +of my sentiments, after having thus satisfied my authority which was +violated in your person, I will tell you that without absolute need you +ought not to have these orders executed throughout the extent of a local +jurisdiction like Montreal without communicating with its governor.... I +have blamed the action of the Abbé de Fénelon, and have commanded him to +return no more to Canada; but I must tell you that it was difficult to +enter a criminal procedure against him, or to compel the priests of St. +Sulpice to bear witness against him. He should have been delivered over +to his bishop or to the grand vicar to suffer the ecclesiastical +penalties, or should have been arrested and sent back to France by the +first ship. I have been told besides," added the monarch, "that you +would not permit ecclesiastics and others to attend to their missions +and other duties, or even leave their residence without a passport from +Montreal to Quebec; that you often summoned them for very slight causes; +that you intercepted their letters and did not allow them liberty to +write. If the whole or part of these things be true, you must mend your +ways." On his part Colbert enjoined upon the governor a little more +calmness and gentleness. "His Majesty," wrote the minister, "has ordered +me to explain to you, privately, that it is absolutely necessary for the +good of your service to moderate your conduct, and not to single out +with too great severity faults committed either against his service or +against the respect due to your person or character." Colbert rightly +felt that fault-finding letters were not sufficient to keep within +bounds a temperament as fiery as that of the governor of Canada; on the +other hand, a man of Frontenac's worth was too valuable to the colony to +think of dispensing with his services. The wisest course was to renew +the Sovereign Council, and in order to withdraw its members from the too +preponderant influence of the governor, to put their nomination in the +hands of the king. + +By the royal edict of June 5th, 1675, the council was reconstituted. It +was composed of seven members appointed by the Crown; the +governor-general occupied the first place, the bishop, or in his +absence, the grand vicar, the second, and the commissioner the third. +As the latter presided in the absence of the governor, and as the king +was anxious that "he should have the same functions and the same +privileges as the first presidents of the courts of France," as moreover +the honour devolved upon him of collecting the opinions or votes and of +pronouncing the decrees, it was in reality the commissioner who might be +considered as actual president. It is, therefore, easy to understand the +continual disputes which arose upon the question of the title of +President of the Council between Frontenac and the Commissioner Jacques +Duchesneau. The latter, at first "_Président des trésoriers de la +généralité de Tours_," had been appointed _intendant_ of New France by a +commission which bears the same date as the royal edict reviving the +Sovereign Council. While thinking of the material good of the colony, +the Most Christian King took care not to neglect its spiritual +interests; he undertook to provide for the maintenance of the parish +priests and other ecclesiastics wherever necessary, and to meet in case +of need the expenses of the divine service. In addition he expressed his +will "that there should always be in the council one ecclesiastical +member," and later he added a clerical councillor to the members already +installed. There were summoned to the council MM. de Villeray, de Tilly, +Damours, Dupont, Louis René de Lotbinière, de Peyras, and Denys de +Vitré. M. Denis Joseph Ruette d'Auteuil was appointed +solicitor-general; his functions consisted in speaking in the name of +the king, and in making, in the name of the prince or of the public, the +necessary statements. The former clerk, M. Peuvret de Mesnu, was +retained in his functions. + +The quarrels thus generated between the governor and the commissioner on +the question of the title of president grew so embittered that discord +did not cease to prevail between the two men on even the most +insignificant questions. Forcibly involved in these dissensions, the +Sovereign Council itself was divided into two hostile camps, and letters +of complaint and denunciation rained upon the desk of the minister in +France: on the one hand the governor was accused of receiving presents +from the savages before permitting them to trade at Montreal, and was +reproached for sending beavers to New England; on the other hand, it was +hinted that the commissioner was interested in the business of the +principal merchants of the colony. Scrupulously honest, but of a +somewhat stern temperament, Duchesneau could not bend to the imperious +character of Frontenac, who in his exasperation readily allowed himself +to be impelled to arbitrary acts; thus he kept the councillor Damours in +prison for two months for a slight cause, and banished from Quebec three +other councillors, MM. de Villeray, de Tilly and d'Auteuil. The climax +was reached, and in spite of the services rendered to the country by +these two administrators, the king decided to recall them both in 1682. +Count de Frontenac was replaced as governor by M. Lefebvre de la Barre, +and M. Duchesneau by M. de Meulles. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THIRD VOYAGE TO FRANCE + + +Disembarking in the year 1675 on that soil where as apostolic vicar he +had already accomplished so much good, giving his episcopal benediction +to that Christian throng who came to sing the Te Deum to thank God for +the happy return of their first pastor, casting his eyes upon that manly +and imposing figure of one of the most illustrious lieutenants of the +great king, the Count de Frontenac, what could be the thoughts of Mgr. +de Laval? He could not deceive himself: the letters received from Canada +proved to him too clearly that the friction between the civil powers and +religious authorities would be continued under a governor of +uncompromising and imperious character. With what fervour must he have +asked of Heaven the tact, the prudence and the patience so necessary in +such delicate circumstances! + +Two questions, especially, divided the governor and the bishop: that of +the permanence of livings, and the everlasting matter of the sale of +brandy to the savages, a question which, like the phoenix, was +continually reborn from its ashes. "The prelate," says the Abbé +Gosselin, "desired to establish parishes wherever they were necessary, +and procure for them good and zealous missionaries, and, as far as +possible, priests residing in each district, but removable and attached +to the seminary, which received the tithes and furnished them with all +they had need of. But Frontenac found that this system left the priests +too dependent on the bishop, and that the clergy thus closely connected +with the bishop and the seminary, was too formidable and too powerful a +body. It was with the purpose of weakening it and of rendering it, by +the aid which it would require, more dependent on the civil authority, +that he undertook that campaign for permanent livings which ended in the +overthrow of Mgr. de Laval's system." + +Colbert, in fact, was too strongly prejudiced against the clergy of +Canada by the reports of Talon and Frontenac. These three men were +wholly devoted to the interests of France as well as to those of the +colony, but they judged things only from a purely human point of view. +"I see," Colbert wrote in 1677 to Commissioner Duchesneau, "that the +Count de Frontenac is of the opinion that the trade with the savages in +drinks, called in that country intoxicating, does not cause the great +and terrible evils to which Mgr. de Québec takes exception, and even +that it is necessary for commerce; and I see that you are of an opinion +contrary to this. In this matter, before taking sides with the bishop, +you should enquire very exactly as to the number of murders, +assassinations, cases of arson, and other excesses caused by brandy ... +and send me the proof of this. If these deeds had been continual, His +Majesty would have issued a most severe and vigorous prohibition to all +his subjects against engaging in this traffic. But, in the absence of +this proof, and seeing, moreover, the contrary in the evidence and +reports of those that have been longest in this country, it is not just, +and the general policy of a state opposes in this the feelings of a +bishop who, to prevent the abuses that a small number of private +individuals may make of a thing good in itself, wishes to abolish trade +in an article which greatly serves to attract commerce, and the savages +themselves, to the orthodox Christians." Thus M. Dudouyt could not but +fail in his mission, and he wrote to Mgr. de Laval that Colbert, while +recognizing very frankly the devotion of the bishop and the +missionaries, believed that they exaggerated the fatal results of the +traffic. The zealous collaborator of the Bishop of Quebec at the same +time urged the prelate to suspend the spiritual penalties till then +imposed upon the traders, in order to deprive the minister of every +motive of bitterness against the clergy. + +The bishop admitted the wisdom of this counsel, which he followed, and +meanwhile the king, alarmed by a report from Commissioner Duchesneau, +who shared the view of the missionaries, desired to investigate and come +to a final decision on the question. He therefore ordered the Count de +Frontenac to choose in the colony twenty-four competent persons, and to +commission them to examine the drawbacks to the sale of intoxicating +liquors. Unfortunately, the persons chosen for this enquiry were engaged +in trade with the savages; their conclusions must necessarily be +prejudiced. They declared that "very few disorders arose from the +traffic in brandy, among the natives of the country; that, moreover, the +Dutch, by distributing intoxicating drinks to the Iroquois, attracted by +this means the trade in beaver skins to Orange and Manhattan. It was, +therefore, absolutely necessary to allow the brandy trade in order to +bring the savages into the French colony and to prevent them from taking +their furs to foreigners." + +We cannot help being surprised at such a judgment when we read over the +memoirs of the time, which all agree in deploring the sad results of +this traffic. The most crying injustice, the most revolting immorality, +the ruin of families, settlements devastated by drunkenness, agriculture +abandoned, the robust portion of the population ruining its health in +profitless expeditions: such were some of the most horrible fruits of +alcohol. And what do we find as a compensation for so many evils? A few +dozen rascals enriched, returning to squander in France a fortune +shamefully acquired. And let it not be objected that, if the Indians had +not been able to purchase the wherewithal to satisfy their terrible +passion for strong drink, they would have carried their furs to the +English or the Dutch, for it was proven that the offer of Governor +Andros, to forbid the sale of brandy to the savages in New England on +condition that the French would act likewise in New France, was formally +rejected. "To-day when the passions of the time have long been silent," +says the Abbé Ferland, "it is impossible not to admire the energy +displayed by the noble bishop, imploring the pity of the monarch for the +savages of New France with all the courage shown by Las Casas, when he +pleaded the cause of the aborigines of Spanish America. Disdaining the +hypocritical outcries of those men who prostituted the name of commerce +to cover their speculations and their rapine, he exposed himself to +scorn and persecution in order to save the remnant of those indigenous +American tribes, to protect his flock from the moral contagion which +threatened to weigh upon it, and to lead into the right path the young +men who were going to ruin among the savage tribes." + +The worthy bishop desired to prevent the laxity of the sale of brandy +that might result from the declaration of the Committee of Twenty-four, +and in the autumn of 1678 he set out again for France. To avoid a +journey so fatiguing, he might easily have found excuses in the rest +needed after a difficult pastoral expedition which he had just +concluded, in the labours of his seminary which demanded his presence, +and especially in the bad state of his health; but is not the first +duty of a leader always to stand in the breach, and to give to all the +example of self-sacrifice? A report from his hand on the disorders +caused by the traffic in strong liquors would perhaps have obtained a +fortunate result, but thinking that his presence at the court would be +still more efficacious, he set out. He managed to find in his charity +and the goodness of his heart such eloquent words to depict the evils +wrought upon the Church in Canada by the scourge of intoxication, that +Louis XIV was moved, and commissioned his confessor, Father La Chaise, +to examine the question conjointly with the Archbishop of Paris. +According to their advice, the king expressly forbade the French to +carry intoxicating liquors to the savages in their dwellings or in the +woods, and he wrote to Frontenac to charge him to see that the edict was +respected. On his part, Laval consented to maintain the _cas réservé_ +only against those who might infringe the royal prohibition. The Bishop +of Quebec had hoped for more; for nothing could prevent the Indians from +coming to buy the terrible poison from the French, and moreover, +discovery of the infractions of the law would be, if not impossible, at +least most difficult. Nevertheless, it was an advantage obtained over +the dealers and their protectors, who aimed at nothing less than an +unrestricted traffic in brandy. A dyke was set up against the +devastations of the scourge; the worthy bishop might hope to maintain +it energetically by his vigilance and that of his coadjutors. +Unfortunately, he could not succeed entirely, and little by little the +disorders became so multiplied that M. de Denonville considered brandy +as one of the greatest evils of Canada, and that the venerable superior +of St. Sulpice de Montréal, M. Dollier de Casson, wrote in 1691: "I have +been twenty-six years in this country, and I have seen our numerous and +flourishing Algonquin missions all destroyed by drunkenness." +Accordingly, it became necessary later to fall back upon the former +rigorous regulations against the sale of intoxicating liquors to the +Indians. + +Before his departure for France the Bishop of Quebec had given the +devoted priests of St. Sulpice a mark of his affection: he constituted +the parish of Notre-Dame de Montréal according to the canons of the +Church, and joined it in perpetuity to the Seminary of Ville-Marie, "to +be administered, under the plenary authority of the Bishops of Quebec, +by such ecclesiastics as might be chosen by the superior of the said +seminary. The priests of St. Sulpice having by their efforts and their +labours produced during so many years in New France, and especially in +the Island of Montreal, very great fruits for the glory of God and the +advantage of this growing Church, we have given them, as being most +irreproachable in faith, doctrine, piety and conduct, in perpetuity, and +do give them, by virtue of these presents, the livings of the Island of +Montreal, in order that they may be perfectly cultivated as up to now +they have been, as best they might be by their preachings and examples." +In fact, misunderstandings like that which had occurred on the arrival +of de Queylus were no longer to be feared; since the authority to which +Laval could lay claim had been duly established and proved, the +Sulpicians had submitted and accepted his jurisdiction. They had for a +longer period preserved their independence as temporal lords, and the +governor of Ville-Marie, de Maisonneuve, jealous of preserving intact +the rights of those whom he represented, even dared one day to refuse +the keys of the fort to the governor-general, M. d'Argenson. Poor de +Maisonneuve paid for this excessive zeal by the loss of his position, +for d'Argenson never forgave him. + +The parish of Notre-Dame was united with the Seminary of Montreal on +October 30th, 1678, one year after the issuing of the letters patent +which recognized the civil existence of St. Sulpice de Montréal. Mgr. de +Laval at the same time united with the parish of Notre-Dame the chapel +of Bonsecours. On the banks of the St. Lawrence, not far from the church +of Notre-Dame, rises a chapel of modest appearance. It is Notre-Dame de +Bonsecours. It has seen many generations kneeling on its square, and has +not ceased to protect with its shadow the Catholic quarter of Montreal. +The buildings about it rose successively, only to give way themselves +to other monuments. Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is still respected; the +piety of Catholics defends it against all attacks of time or progress, +and the little church raises proudly in the air that slight wooden +steeple that more than once has turned aside the avenging bolt of the +Most High. Sister Bourgeoys had begun it in 1657; to obtain the funds +necessary for its completion she betook herself to Paris. She obtained +one hundred francs from M. Macé, a priest of St. Sulpice. One of the +associates of the Company of Montreal, M. de Fancamp, received for her +from two of his fellow-partners, MM. Denis and Leprêtre, a statuette of +the Virgin made of the miraculous wood of Montagu, and he himself, to +participate in this gift, gave her a shrine of the most wonderful +richness to contain the precious statue. On her return to Canada, +Marguerite Bourgeoys caused to be erected near the house of the Sisters +a wooden lean-to in the form of a chapel, which became the provisional +sanctuary of the statuette. Two years later, on June 29th, the laying of +the foundation stone of the chapel took place. The work was urged with +enthusiasm, and encouraged by the pious impatience of Sister Bourgeoys. +The generosity of the faithful vied in enthusiasm, and gifts flowed in. +M. de Maisonneuve offered a cannon, of which M. Souart had a bell made +at his expense. Two thousand francs, furnished by the piety of the +inhabitants, and one hundred louis from Sister Bourgeoys and her nuns, +aided the foundress to complete the realization of a wish long +cherished in her heart; the new chapel became an inseparable annex of +the parish of Ville-Marie. + +These most precious advantages were recognized on November 6th, 1678, by +Mgr. de Laval, who preserved throughout his life the most tender +devotion to the Mother of God. On the other hand, the prelate imposed +upon the parish priest the obligation of having the Holy Mass celebrated +there on the Day of the Visitation, and of going there in procession on +the Day of the Assumption. Is it necessary to mention with what zeal, +with what devotion the Canadians brought to Mary in this new temple +their homage and their prayers? Let us listen to the enthusiastic +narrative of Sister Morin, a nun of St. Joseph: "The Holy Mass is said +there every day, and even several times a day, to satisfy the devotion +and the trust of the people, which are great towards Notre-Dame de +Bonsecours. Processions wend their way thither on occasions of public +need or calamity, with much success. It is the regular promenade of the +devout persons of the town, who make a pilgrimage there every evening, +and there are few good Catholics who, from all the places in Canada, do +not make vows of offerings to this chapel in all the dangers in which +they find themselves." + +The church of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours was twice remodelled; built at +first of oak on stone foundations, it was rebuilt of stone and consumed +in 1754 in a conflagration which destroyed a part of the town. In 1772 +the chapel was rebuilt as it exists now, one hundred and two feet long +by forty-six wide. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LAVAL RETURNS TO CANADA + + +Mgr. de Laval was still in France when the edict of May, 1679, appeared, +decreeing on the suggestion of Frontenac, that the tithe should be paid +only to "each of the parish priests within the extent of his parish +where he is established in perpetuity in the stead of the removable +priest who previously administered it." The ideas of the Count de +Frontenac were thus victorious, and the king retracted his first +decision. He had in his original decree establishing the Seminary of +Quebec, granted the bishop and his successors "the right of recalling +and displacing the priests by them delegated to the parishes to exercise +therein parochial functions." Laval on his return to Canada conformed +without murmur to the king's decision; he worked, together with the +governor and commissioner, at drawing up the plan of the parishes to be +established, and sent his vicar-general to install the priests who were +appointed to the different livings. He desired to inspire his whole +clergy with the disinterestedness which he had always evinced, for not +only did he recommend his priests "to content themselves with the +simplest living, and with the bare necessaries of their support," but +besides, agreeing with the governor and the commissioner, he estimated +that an annual sum of five hundred livres merely, that is to say, about +three hundred dollars of our present money, was sufficient for the +lodging and maintenance of a priest. This was more than modest, and yet, +without a very considerable extension, there was no parish capable of +supplying the needs of its priest. There was indeed, it is true, an +article of the edict specifying that in case of the tithe being +insufficient, the necessary supplement should be fixed by the council +and furnished by the seigneur of the place and by the inhabitants; but +this manner of aiding the priests who were reduced to a bare competence +was not practical, as was soon evident. Another article gave the title +of patron to any seigneur who should erect a religious edifice; this +article was just as fantastic, "for," wrote Commissioner Duchesneau, +"there is no private person in this country who is in a position to +build churches of any kind." + +The king, always well disposed towards the clergy of Canada, came to +their aid again in this matter. He granted them an annual income of +eight thousand francs, to be raised from his "_Western Dominions_," that +is to say, from the sum derived in Canada from the _droit du quart_ and +the farm of Tadousac; from these funds, which were distributed by the +seminary until 1692, and after this date by the bishop alone, two +thousand francs were to be set aside for priests prevented by illness or +old age from fulfilling the duties of the holy ministry, and twelve +hundred francs were to be employed in the erection of parochial +churches. This aid came aptly, but was not sufficient, as Commissioner +de Beauharnois himself admits. And yet the deplorable state in which the +treasury of France then was, on account of the enormous expenses +indulged in by Louis XIV, and especially in consequence of the wars +which he waged against Europe, obliged him to diminish this allowance. +In 1707 it was reduced by half. + +It was feared for a time by the Sulpicians that the edict of 1679 might +injure the rights which they had acquired from the union with their +seminary of the parishes established on the Island of Montreal, and they +therefore hastened to request from the king the civil confirmation of +this canonical union. "There is," they said in their request, "a sort of +need that the parishes of the Island of Montreal and of the surrounding +parts should be connected with a community able to furnish them with +priests, who could not otherwise be found in the country, to administer +the said livings; these priests would not expose themselves to a sea +voyage and to leaving their family comforts to go and sacrifice +themselves in a wild country, if they did not hope that in their +infirmity or old age they would be free to withdraw from the laborious +administration of the parishes, and that they would find a refuge in +which to end their days in tranquillity in a community which, on its +part, would not pledge itself in such a way as to afford them the hope +of this refuge, and to furnish other priests in their place, if it had +not the free control of the said parishes and power to distribute among +them the ecclesiastics belonging to its body whom it might judge capable +of this, and withdraw or exchange them when fitting." The request of the +Sulpicians was granted by the king. + +It was not until 1680 that the Bishop of Quebec could return to Canada. +The all-important questions of the permanence of livings and of the +traffic in brandy were not the only ones which kept him in France; +another difficulty, that of the dependence of his diocese, demanded of +his devotion a great many efforts at the court. The circumstances were +difficult. France was plunged at this period in the famous dispute +between the government and the court of Rome over the question of the +right of _régale_, a dispute which nearly brought about a schism. The +Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. de Harlay, who had laboured so much when he +was Bishop of Rouen to keep New France under the jurisdiction of the +diocese of Normandy, used his influence to make Canada dependent on the +archbishopric of Paris. The death of this prelate put an end to this +claim, and the French colony in North America continued its direct +connection with the Holy See. + +Mgr. de Laval strove also to obtain from the Holy Father the canonical +union of the abbeys of Maubec and of Lestrées with his bishopric; if he +had obtained it, he could have erected his chapter at once, assuring by +the revenues of these monasteries a sufficient maintenance for his +canons. The opposition of the religious orders on which these abbeys +depended defeated his plan, but in compensation he obtained from the +generosity of the king a grant of land on which his successor, +Saint-Vallier, afterwards erected the church of Notre-Dame des +Victoires. The venerable prelate might well ask favours for his diocese +when he himself set an example of the greatest generosity. By a deed, +dated at Paris, he gave to his seminary all that he possessed: Ile +Jésus, the seigniories of Beaupré and Petite Nation, a property at +Château Richer, finally books, furniture, funds, and all that might +belong to him at the moment of his death. + +Laval returned to Canada at a time when the relations with the savage +tribes were becoming so strained as to threaten an impending rupture. So +far had matters gone that Colonel Thomas Dongan, governor of New York, +had urged the Iroquois to dig up the hatchet, and he was only too +willingly obeyed. Unfortunately, the two governing heads of the colony +were replaced just at that moment. Governor de Frontenac and +Commissioner Duchesneau were recalled in 1682, and supplanted by de la +Barre and de Meulles. The latter were far from equalling their +predecessors. M. de Lefebvre de la Barre was a clever sailor but a +deplorable administrator; as for the commissioner, M. de Meulles, his +incapacity did not lessen his extreme conceit. + +On his arrival at Quebec, Laval learned with deep grief that a terrible +conflagration had, a few weeks before, consumed almost the whole of the +Lower Town. The houses, and even the stores being then built of wood, +everything was devoured by the flames. A single dwelling escaped the +disaster, that of a rich private person, M. Aubert de la Chesnaie, in +whose house mass was said every Sunday and feast-day for the citizens of +the Lower Town who could not go to the parish service. To bear witness +of his gratitude to Heaven, M. de la Chesnaie came to the aid of a good +number of his fellow-citizens, and helped them with his money to rebuild +their houses. This fire injured the merchants of Montreal almost as much +as those of Quebec, and the _Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu_ relates that +"more riches were lost on that sad night than all Canada now possesses." + +The king had the greatest desire for the future reign of harmony in the +colony; accordingly he enjoined upon M. de Meulles to use every effort +to agree with the governor-general: "If the latter should fail in his +duty to the sovereign, the commissioner should content himself with a +remonstrance and allow him to act further without disturbing him, but as +soon as possible afterwards should render an account to the king's +council of what might be prejudicial to the good of the state." Mgr. de +Laval, to whom the prince had written in the same tenor, replied at +once: "The honour which your Majesty has done me in writing to me that +M. de Meulles has orders to preserve here a perfect understanding with +me in all things, and to give me all the aid in his power, is so evident +a mark of the affection which your Majesty cherishes for this new Church +and for the bishop who governs it, that I feel obliged to assure your +Majesty of my most humble gratitude. As I do not doubt that this new +commissioner whom you have chosen will fulfil with pleasure your +commands, I may also assure your Majesty that on my part I shall +correspond with him in the fulfilment of my duty, and that I shall all +my life consider it my greatest joy to enter into the intentions of your +Majesty for the general good of this country, which constitutes a part +of your dominions." Concord thus advised could not displease a pastor +who loved nothing so much as union and harmony among all who held the +reins of power, a pastor who had succeeded in making his Church a family +so united that it was quoted once as a model in one of the pulpits of +Paris. If he sometimes strove against the powerful of this earth, it was +when it was a question of combating injustice or some abuse prejudicial +to the welfare of his flock. "Although by his superior intelligence," +says Latour, "by his experience, his labours, his virtues, his birth +and his dignity, he was an oracle whose views the whole clergy +respected, no one ever more distrusted himself, or asked with more +humility, or followed with more docility the counsel of his inferiors +and disciples.... He was less a superior than a colleague, who sought +the right with them and sought it only for its own sake. Accordingly, +never was prelate better obeyed or better seconded than Mgr. de Laval, +because, far from having that professional jealousy which desires to do +everything itself, which dreads merit and enjoys only despotism, never +did prelate evince more appreciative confidence in his inferiors, or +seek more earnestly to give zeal and talent their dues, or have less +desire to command, or did, in fact, command less." The new governor +brought from France strong prejudices against the bishop; he lost them +very quickly, and he wrote to the minister, the Marquis de Seignelay: +"We have greatly laboured, the bishop and I, in the establishment of the +parishes of this country. I send you the arrangement which we have +arrived at concerning them. We owe it to the bishop, who is extremely +well affected to the country, and in whom we must trust." The minister +wrote to the prelate and expressed to him his entire satisfaction in his +course. + +The vigilant bishop had not yet entirely recovered from the fatigue of +his journey when he decided, in spite of the infirmities which were +beginning to overwhelm him, and which were to remain the constant +companions of his latest years, to visit all the parishes and the +religious communities of his immense diocese. He had already traversed +them in the winter time in his former pastoral visits, shod with +snowshoes, braving the fogs, the snow and the bitterest weather. In the +suffocating heat of summer, travel in a bark canoe was scarcely less +fatiguing to a man of almost sixty years, worn out by the hard ministry +of a quarter of a century. However, he decided on a summer journey, and +set out on June 1st, 1681, accompanied by M. de Maizerets, one of his +grand vicars. He visited successively Lotbinière, Batiscan, Champlain, +Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Trois Rivières, Chambly, Sorel, St. Ours, +Contrecoeur, Verchères, Boucherville, Repentigny, Lachesnaie, and +arrived on June 19th at Montreal. The marks of respectful affection +lavished upon him by the population compel him to receive continual +visits; but he has come especially for his beloved religious +communities, and he honours them all with his presence, the Seminary of +St. Sulpice as well as the Congregation of Notre-Dame and the hospital. +These labours are not sufficient for his apostolic zeal; he betakes +himself to the house of the Jesuit Fathers at Laprairie, then to their +Indian Mission at the Sault St. Louis, finally to the parish of St. +François de Sales, in the Ile Jésus. Descending the St. Lawrence River, +he sojourns successively at Longueuil, at Varennes, at Lavaltrie, at +Nicolet, at Bécancourt, at Gentilly, at Ste. Anne de la Pérade, at +Deschambault. He returns to Quebec; his devoted fellow-workers in the +seminary urge him to rest, but he will think of rest only when his +mission is fully ended. He sets out again, and Ile aux Oies, +Cap-Saint-Ignace, St. Thomas, St. Michel, Beaumont, St. Joseph de Lévis +have in turn the happiness of receiving their pastor. The undertaking +was too great for the bishop's strength, and he suffered the results +which could not but follow upon such a strain. The registers of the +Sovereign Council prove to us that only a week after his return he had +to take to his bed, and for two months could not occupy his seat among +the other councillors. "His Lordship fell ill of a dangerous malady," +says a memoir of that time. "For the space of a fortnight his death was +expected, but God granted us the favour of bringing him to +convalescence, and eventually to his former health." + +M. de la Barre, on his arrival, desired to inform himself exactly of the +condition of the colony. In a great assembly held at Quebec, on October +10th, 1682, he gathered all the men who occupied positions of +consideration in the colony. Besides the governor, the bishop and the +commissioner, there were noticed among others M. Dollier de Casson, the +superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, several Jesuit +Fathers, MM. de Varennes, governor of Three Rivers, d'Ailleboust, de +Brussy and Le Moyne. The information which M. de la Barre obtained from +the assembly was far from reassuring; incessantly stirred up by Governor +Dongan's genius for intrigue, the Iroquois were preparing to descend +upon the little colony. If they had not already begun hostilities, it +was because they wished first to massacre the tribes allied with the +French; already the Hurons, the Algonquins, the Conestogas, the +Delawares and a portion of the Illinois had fallen under their blows. It +was necessary to save from extermination the Ottawa and Illinois tribes. +Now, one might indeed raise a thousand robust men, accustomed to savage +warfare, but, if they were used for an expedition, who would cultivate +in their absence the lands of these brave men? A prompt reinforcement +from the mother country became urgent, and M. de la Barre hastened to +demand it. + +The war had already begun. The Iroquois had seized two canoes, the +property of La Salle, near Niagara; they had likewise attacked and +plundered fourteen Frenchmen _en route_ to the Illinois with merchandise +valued at sixteen thousand francs. It was known, besides, that the +Cayugas and the Senecas were preparing to attack the French settlements +the following summer. In spite of all, the expected help did not arrive. +One realizes the anguish to which the population must have been a prey +when one reads the following letter from the Bishop of Quebec: "Sire, +the Marquis de Seignelay will inform your Majesty of the war which the +Iroquois have declared against your subjects of New France, and will +explain the need of sending aid sufficient to destroy, if possible, this +enemy, who has opposed for so many years the establishment of this +colony.... Since it has pleased your Majesty to choose me for the +government of this growing Church, I feel obliged, more than any one, to +make its needs manifest to you. The paternal care which you have always +had for us leaves me no room to doubt that you will give the necessary +orders for the most prompt aid possible, without which this poor country +would be exposed to a danger nigh unto ruin." + +The expected reinforcements finally arrived; on November 9th, 1684, the +whole population of Quebec, assembled at the harbour, received with joy +three companies of soldiers, composed of fifty-two men each. The Bishop +of Quebec did not fail to express to the king his personal obligation +and the gratitude of all: "The troops which your Majesty has sent to +defend us against the Iroquois," he wrote to the king, "and the lands +which you have granted us for the subsidiary church of the Lower Town, +and the funds which you have allotted both to rebuild the cathedral +spire and to aid in the maintenance of the priests, these are favours +which oblige me to thank your Majesty, and make me hope that you will +deign to continue your royal bounties to our Church and the whole +colony." + +M. de la Barre was thus finally able to set out on his expedition +against the Iroquois. At the head of one hundred and thirty soldiers, +seven hundred militia and two hundred and sixty Indians, he marched to +Lake Ontario, where the Iroquois, intimidated, sent him a deputation. +The ambassadors, who expected to see a brilliant army full of ardour, +were astonished to find themselves in the presence of pale and emaciated +soldiers, worn out more by sickness and privations of every kind than by +fatigue. The governor, in fact, had lost ten or twelve days at Montreal; +on the way the provisions had become spoiled and insufficient, hence the +name of Famine Creek given to the place where he entered with his +troops, above the Oswego River. At this sight the temper of the +delegates changed, and their proposals showed it; they spoke with +arrogance, and almost demanded peace; they undertook to indemnify the +French merchants plundered by them on condition that the army should +decamp on the morrow. Such weakness could not attract to M. de la Barre +the affection of the colonists; the king relieved him from his +functions, and appointed as his successor the Marquis de Denonville, a +colonel of dragoons, whose valour seemed to promise the colony better +days. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +RESIGNATION OF MGR. DE LAVAL + + +The long and conscientious pastoral visit which he had just ended had +proved to the indefatigable prelate that it would be extremely difficult +to establish his parishes solidly. Instead of grouping themselves +together, which would have given them the advantages of union both +against the attacks of savages and for the circumstances of life in +which man has need of the aid of his fellows, the colonists had built +their dwellings at random, according to the inspiration of the moment, +and sometimes at long distances from each other; thus there existed, as +late as 1678, only twenty-five fixed livings, and it promised to be very +difficult to found new ones. To give a pastor the direction of +parishioners established within an enormous radius of his parish house, +was to condemn his ministry in advance to inefficacy. To prove it, the +Abbé Gosselin cites a striking example. Of the two missionaries who +shared the southern shore, the one, M. Morel, ministered to the country +between Berthier and Rivière du Loup; the other, M. Volant de +Saint-Claude, from Berthier to Rivière du Chêne, and each of them had +only about sixty families scattered here and there. And how was one to +expect that these poor farmers could maintain their pastor and build a +church? Almost everywhere the chapels were of wood or clapboards, and +thatched; not more than eight or nine centres of population could boast +of possessing a stone church; many hamlets still lacked a chapel and +imitated the Lower Town of Quebec, whose inhabitants attended service in +a private house. As to priests' houses, they were a luxury that few +villages could afford: the priest had to content himself with being +sheltered by a respectable colonist. + +During the few weeks when illness confined him to his bed, Laval had +leisure to reflect on the difficulties of his task. He understood that +his age and the infirmities which the Lord laid upon him would no longer +permit him to bring to so arduous a work the necessary energy. "His +humility," says Sister Juchereau, "persuaded him that another in his +place would do more good than he, although he really did a great deal, +because he sought only the glory of God and the welfare of his flock." +In consequence, he decided to go and carry in person his resignation to +the king. But before embarking for France, with his accustomed prudence +he set his affairs in order. He had one plan, especially, at heart, that +of establishing according to the rules of the Church the chapter which +had already existed _de facto_ for a long while. Canons are necessary to +a bishopric; their duties are not merely decorative, for they assist the +bishop in his episcopal office, form his natural council, replace him +on certain occasions, govern the diocese from the death of its head +until the deceased is replaced, and finally officiate in turn before the +altars of the cathedral in order that prayer shall incessantly ascend +from the diocese towards the Most High. The only obstacle to this +creation until now had been the lack of resources, for the canonical +union with the abbeys of Maubec and Lestrées was not yet an accomplished +fact. Mgr. de Laval resolved to appeal to the unselfishness of the +priests of the seminary, and he succeeded: they consented to fulfil +without extra salary the duties of canons. + +By an ordinance of November 6th, 1684, the Bishop of Quebec established +a chapter composed of twelve canons and four chaplains. The former, +among whom were five priests born in the colony, were M. Henri de +Bernières, priest of Quebec, who remained dean until his death in 1700; +MM. Louis Ange de Maizerets, archdeacon, Charles Glandelet, theologist, +Dudouyt, grand cantor, and Jean Gauthier de Brulon, confessor. The +ceremony of installation took place with the greatest pomp, amid the +boom of artillery and the joyful sound of bells and music; governor, +intendant, councillors, officers and soldiers, inhabitants of the city +and the environments, everybody wished to be present. It remained to +give a constitution to the new chapter. Mgr. de Laval had already busied +himself with this for several months, and corresponded on this subject +with M. Chéron, a clever lawyer of Paris. Accordingly, the constitution +which he submitted for the infant chapter on the very morrow of the +ceremony was admired unreservedly and adopted without discussion. +Twenty-four hours afterwards he set sail accompanied by the good wishes +of his priests, who, with anxious heart and tears in their eyes, +followed him with straining gaze until the vessel disappeared below the +horizon. Before his departure, he had, like a father who in his last +hour divides his goods among his children, given his seminary a new +proof of his attachment: he left it a sum of eight thousand francs for +the building of the chapel. + +It would seem that sad presentiments assailed him at this moment, for he +said in the deed of gift: "I declare that my last will is to be buried +in this chapel; and if our Lord disposes of my life during this voyage I +desire that my body be brought here for burial. I also desire this +chapel to be open to the public." Fortunately, he was mistaken, it was +not the intention of the Lord to remove him so soon from the affections +of his people. For twenty years more the revered prelate was to spread +about him good works and good examples, and Providence reserved for him +the happiness of dying in the midst of his flock. + +His generosity did not confine itself to this grant. He could not leave +his diocese, which he was not sure of seeing again, without giving a +token of remembrance to that school of St. Joachim, which he had +founded and which he loved so well; he gave the seminary eight thousand +francs for the support of the priest entrusted with the direction of the +school at the same time as with the ministry of the parish, and another +sum of four thousand francs to build the village church. + +A young Canadian priest, M. Guyon, son of a farmer of the Beaupré shore, +had the good fortune of accompanying the bishop on the voyage. It would +have been very imprudent to leave the venerable prelate alone, worn out +as he was by troublesome fits of vertigo whenever he indulged too long +in work; besides, he was attacked by a disease of the heart, whose +onslaughts sometimes incapacitated him. + +It would be misjudging the foresight of Mgr. de Laval to think that +before embarking for the mother country he had not sought out a priest +worthy to replace him. He appealed to two men whose judgment and +circumspection he esteemed, M. Dudouyt and Father Le Valois of the +Society of Jesus. He asked them to recommend a true servant of God, +virtuous and zealous above all. Father Le Valois indicated the Abbé Jean +Baptiste de la Croix de Saint-Vallier, the king's almoner, whose zeal +for the welfare of souls, whose charity, great piety, modesty and method +made him the admiration of all. The influence which his position and the +powerful relations of his family must gain for the Church in Canada +were an additional argument in his favour; the superior of St. Sulpice, +M. Tronson, who was also consulted, praised highly the talents and the +qualities of the young priest. "My Lord has shown great virtue in his +resignation," writes M. Dudouyt. "I know no occasion on which he has +shown so strongly his love for his Church; for he has done everything +that could be desired to procure a person capable of preserving and +perfecting the good work which he has begun here." If the Abbé de +Saint-Vallier had not been a man after God's own heart, he would not +have accepted a duty so honourable but so difficult. He was not unaware +of the difficulties which he would have to surmount, for Mgr. de Laval +explained them to him himself with the greatest frankness; and, what was +a still greater sacrifice, the king's almoner was to leave the most +brilliant court in the world for a very remote country, still in process +of organization. Nevertheless he accepted, and Laval had the +satisfaction of knowing that he was committing his charge into the hands +of a worthy successor. + +It was now only a question of obtaining the consent of the king before +petitioning the sovereign pontiff for the canonical establishment of the +new episcopal authority. It was not without difficulty that it was +obtained, for the prince could not decide to accept the resignation of a +prelate who seemed to him indispensable to the interests of New France. +He finally understood that the decision of Mgr. de Laval was +irrevocable; as a mark of confidence and esteem he allowed him to choose +his successor. + +At this period the misunderstanding created between the common father of +the faithful and his most Christian Majesty by the claims of the latter +in the matter of the right of _régale_[9] kept the Church in a false +position, to the grief of all good Catholics. Pope Innocent XI waited +with persistent and calm firmness until Louis XIV should become again +the elder son of the Church; until then France could not exist for him, +and more than thirty episcopal sees remained without occupants in the +country of Saint Louis and of Joan of Arc. It was not, then, to be hoped +that the appointment by the king of the Abbé de Saint-Vallier as second +bishop of Quebec could be immediately sanctioned by the sovereign +pontiff. It was decided that Mgr. de Laval, to whom the king granted an +annuity for life of two thousand francs from the revenues of the +bishopric of Aire, should remain titular bishop until the consecration +of his successor, and that M. de Saint-Vallier, appointed provisionally +grand vicar of the prelate, should set out immediately for New France, +where he would assume the government of the diocese. The Abbé de +Saint-Vallier had not yet departed before he gave evidence of his +munificence, and proved to the faithful of his future bishopric that he +would be to them as generous a father as he whom he was about to +replace. By deed of May 10th, 1685, he presented to the Seminary of +Quebec a sum of forty-two thousand francs, to be used for the +maintenance of missionaries; he bequeathed to it at the same time all +the furniture, books, etc., which he should possess at his death. +Laval's purpose was to remain for the present in France, where he would +busy himself actively for the interests of Canada, but his fixed resolve +was to go and end his days on that soil of New France which he loved so +well. It was in 1688, only a few months after the official appointment +of Saint-Vallier to the bishopric of Quebec, and his consecration on +January 25th of the same year, that Laval returned to Canada. + +M. de Saint-Vallier embarked at La Rochelle in the beginning of June, +1685, on the royal vessel which was carrying to Canada the new +governor-general, M. de Denonville. The king having permitted him to +take with him a score of persons, he made a most judicious choice: nine +ecclesiastics, several school-masters and a few good workmen destined +for the labours of the seminary, accompanied him. The voyage was long +and very fatiguing. The passengers were, however, less tried than those +of two other ships which followed them, on one of which more than five +hundred soldiers had been crowded together. As might have been +expected, sickness was not long in breaking out among them; more than +one hundred and fifty of these unfortunates died, and their bodies were +cast into the sea. + +Immediately after his arrival the grand vicar visited all the religious +establishments of the town, and he observed everywhere so much harmony +and good spirit that he could not pass it over in silence. Speaking with +admiration of the seminary, he said: "Every one in it devoted himself to +spiritual meditation, with such blessed results that from the youngest +cleric to the highest ecclesiastics in holy orders each one brought of +his own accord all his personal possessions to be used in common. It +seemed to me then that I saw revived in the Church of Canada something +of that spirit of unworldliness which constituted one of the principal +beauties of the budding Church of Jerusalem in the time of the +apostles." The examples of brotherly unity and self-effacement which he +admired so much in others he also set himself: he placed in the library +of the seminary a magnificent collection of books which he had brought +with him, and deposited in the coffers of the house several thousand +francs in money, his personal property. Braving the rigours of the +season, he set out in the winter of 1685 and visited the shore of +Beaupré, the Island of Orleans, and then the north shore as far as +Montreal. In the spring he took another direction, and inspected all +the missions of Gaspesia and Acadia. He was so well satisfied with the +condition of his diocese that he wrote to Mgr. de Laval: "All that I +regret is that there is no more good for me to do in this Church." + +In the spring of this same year, 1686, a valiant little troop was making +a more warlike pastoral visit. To seventy robust Canadians, commanded by +d'Iberville, de Sainte-Hélène and de Maricourt, all sons of Charles Le +Moyne, the governor had added thirty good soldiers under the orders of +MM. de Troyes, Duchesnil and Catalogne, to take part in an expedition +for the capture of Hudson Bay from the English. Setting out on +snowshoes, dragging their provisions and equipment on toboggans, then +advancing, sometimes on foot, sometimes in bark canoes, they penetrated +by the Ottawa River and Temiskaming and Abitibi Lakes as far as James +Bay. They did not brave so many dangers and trials without being +resolved to conquer or die; accordingly, in spite of its twelve cannon, +Fort Monsipi was quickly carried. The two forts, Rupert and Ste. Anne, +suffered the same fate, and the only one that remained to the English, +that named Fort Nelson, was preserved to them solely because its remote +situation saved it. The head of the expedition, M. de Troyes, on his +return to Quebec, rendered an account of his successes to M. de +Denonville and to a new commissioner, M. de Champigny, who had just +replaced M. de Meulles. + +The bishop's infirmities left him scarcely any respite. "My health," he +wrote to his successor, "is exceedingly good considering the bad use I +make of it. It seems, however, that the wound which I had in my foot +during five or six months at Quebec has been for the last three weeks +threatening to re-open. The holy will of God be done!" And he added, in +his firm resolution to pass his last days in Canada: "In any case, I +feel that I have sufficient strength and health to return this year to +the only place which now can give me peace and rest. _In pace in idipsum +dormiam et requiescam._ Meanwhile, as we must have no other aim than the +good pleasure of our Lord, whatever desire He gives me for this rest and +peace, He grants me at the same time the favour of making Him a +sacrifice of it in submitting myself to the opinion that you have +expressed, that I should stay this year in France, to be present at your +return next autumn." The bad state of his health did not prevent him +from devoting his every moment to Canadian interests. He went into the +most infinitesimal details of the administration of his diocese, so +great was his solicitude for his work. "We must hasten this year, if +possible," he wrote, "to labour at the re-establishment of the church of +Ste. Anne du Petit-Cap, to which the whole country has such an +attachment. We must work also to push forward the clearing of the lands +of St. Joachim, in order that we may have the proper rotation crops on +each farm, and that the farms may suffice for the needs of the +seminary." In another letter he concerns himself with the sum of three +thousand francs granted by the king each year for the marriage portion +of a certain number of poor young girls marrying in Canada. "We should," +says he, "distribute these moneys in parcels, fifty francs, or ten +crowns, to the numerous poor families scattered along the shores, in +which there is a large number of children." He practises this wise +economy constantly when it is a question, not of his personal property, +but of the funds of his seminary. He finds that his successor, whom the +ten years which he had passed at court as king's almoner could not have +trained in parsimony, allows himself to be carried away, by his zeal and +his desire to do good, to a somewhat excessive expense. With what tact +and delicacy he indulges in a discreet reproach! "_Magna est fides +tua_," he writes to him, "and much greater than mine. We see that all +our priests have responded to it with the same confidence and entire +submission with which they have believed it their duty to meet your +sentiments, in which they have my approval. My particular admiration has +been aroused by seeing in all your letters and in all the impulses of +your heart so great a reliance on the lovable Providence of God that not +only has it permitted you not to have the least doubt that it would +abundantly provide the wherewithal for the support of all the works +which it has suggested to you, but that upon this basis, which is the +firm truth, you have had the courage to proceed to the execution of +them. It is true that my heart has long yearned for what you have +accomplished; but I have never had sufficient confidence or reliance to +undertake it. I always awaited the means _quæ pater posuit in suâ +potestate_. I hope that, since the Most Holy Family of our Lord has +suggested all these works to you, they will give you means and ways to +maintain what is so much to the glory of God and the welfare of souls. +But, according to all appearances, great difficulties will be found, +which will only serve to increase this confidence and trust in God." And +he ends with this prudent advice: "Whatever confidence God desires us to +have in His providence, it is certain that He demands from us the +observance of rules of prudence, not human and political, but Christian +and just." + +He concerns himself even with the servants, and it is singular to note +that his mind, so apt to undertake and execute vast plans, possesses +none the less an astonishing sagacity and accuracy of observation in +petty details. One Valet, entrusted with the purveyance, had obtained +permission to wear the cassock. "Unless he be much changed in his +humour," writes Mgr. de Laval, "it would be well to send him back to +France; and I may even opine that, whatever change might appear in him, +he would be unfitted to administer a living, the basis of his character +being very rustic, gross, and displeasing, and unsuitable for +ecclesiastical functions, in which one is constantly obliged to converse +and deal with one's neighbours, both children and adults. Having given +him the cassock and having admitted him to the refectory, I hardly see +any other means of getting rid of him than to send him back to France." + +In his correspondence with Saint-Vallier, Laval gives an account of the +various steps which he was taking at court to maintain the integrity of +the diocese of Quebec. This was, for a short time, at stake. The +Récollets, who had followed La Salle in his expeditions, were trying +with some chance of success to have the valley of the Mississippi and +Louisiana made an apostolic vicariate independent of Canada. Laval +finally gained his cause; the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Quebec +over all the countries of North America which belonged to France was +maintained, and later the Seminary of Quebec sent missionaries to +Louisiana and to the Mississippi. + +But the most important questions, which formed the principal subject +both of his preoccupations and of his letters, are that of the +establishment of the Récollets in the Upper Town of Quebec, that of a +plan for a permanent mission at Baie St. Paul, and above all, that of +the tithes and the support of the priests. This last question brought +about between him and Mgr. de Saint-Vallier a most complete conflict of +views. Yet the differences of opinion between the two servants of God +never prevented them from esteeming each other highly. The following +letter does as much honour to him who wrote it as to him to whom such +homage is rendered: "The noble house of Laval from which he sprang," +writes Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, "the right of primogeniture which he +renounced on entering upon the ecclesiastical career; the exemplary life +which he led in France before there was any thought of raising him to +the episcopacy; the assiduity with which he governed so long the Church +in Canada; the constancy and firmness which he showed in surmounting all +the obstacles which opposed on divers occasions the rectitude of his +intentions and the welfare of his dear flock; the care which he took of +the French colony and his efforts for the conversion of the savages; the +expeditions which he undertook several times in the interests of both; +the zeal which impelled him to return to France to seek a successor; his +disinterestedness and the humility which he manifested in offering and +in giving so willingly his frank resignation; finally, all the great +virtues which I see him practise every day in the seminary where I +sojourn with him, would well deserve here a most hearty eulogy, but his +modesty imposes silence upon me, and the veneration in which he is held +wherever he is known is praise more worthy than I could give him...." + +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier left Quebec for France on November 18th, 1686, +only a few days after a fire which consumed the Convent of the +Ursulines; the poor nuns, who had not been able to snatch anything from +the flames, had to accept, until the re-construction of their convent, +the generous shelter offered them by the hospitable ladies of the +Hôtel-Dieu. Mgr. de Saint-Vallier did not disembark at the port of La +Rochelle until forty-five days after his departure, for this voyage was +one continuous storm. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] A right, belonging formerly to the kings of France, of enjoying the +revenues of vacant bishoprics. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MGR. DE LAVAL COMES FOR THE LAST TIME +TO CANADA + + +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier received the most kindly welcome from the king: he +availed himself of it to request some aid on behalf of the priests of +the seminary whom age and infirmity condemned to retirement. He obtained +it, and received, besides, fifteen thousand francs for the building of +an episcopal palace. He decided, in fact, to withdraw from the seminary, +in order to preserve complete independence in the exercise of his high +duties. Laval learned with sorrow of this decision; he, who had always +clung to the idea of union with his seminary and of having but one +common fund with this house, beheld his successor adopt an opposite line +of conduct. Another cause of division rose between the two prelates; the +too great generosity of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier had brought the seminary +into financial embarrassment. The Marquis de Seignelay, then minister, +thought it wiser under such circumstances to postpone till later the +return of Mgr. de Laval to Canada. The venerable bishop, whatever it +must have cost him, adhered to this decision with a wholly Christian +resignation. "You will know by the enclosed letters," he writes to the +priests of the Seminary of Quebec, "what compels me to stay in France. I +had no sooner received my sentence than our Lord granted me the favour +of inspiring me to go before the most Holy Sacrament and make a +sacrifice of all my desires and of that which is the dearest to me in +the world. I began by making the _amende honorable_ to the justice of +God, who deigned to extend to me the mercy of recognizing that it was in +just punishment of my sins and lack of faith that His providence +deprived me of the blessing of returning to a place where I had so +greatly offended; and I told Him, I think with a cheerful heart and a +spirit of humility, what the high priest Eli said when Samuel declared +to him from God what was to happen to him: '_Dominus est: quod bonum est +in oculis suis faciat_.' But since the will of our Lord does not reject +a contrite and humble heart, and since He both abases and exalts, He +gave me to know that the greatest favour He could grant me was to give +me a share in the trials which He deigned to bear in His life and death +for love of us; in thanksgiving for which I said a Te Deum with a heart +filled with joy and consolation in my soul: for, as to the lower nature, +it is left in the bitterness which it must bear. It is a hurt and a +wound which will be difficult to heal and which apparently will last +until my death, unless it please Divine Providence, which disposes of +men's hearts as it pleases, to bring about some change in the condition +of affairs. This will be when it pleases God, and as it may please Him, +without His creatures being able to oppose it." + +In Canada the return of the revered Mgr. de Laval was impatiently +expected, and the governor, M. de Denonville, himself wrote that "in the +present state of public affairs it was necessary that the former bishop +should return, in order to influence men's minds, over which he had a +great ascendency by reason of his character and his reputation for +sanctity." Some persons wrongfully attributed to the influence of +Saint-Vallier the order which detained the worthy bishop in France; on +the contrary, Saint-Vallier had said one day to the minister, "It would +be very hard for a bishop who has founded this church and who desires to +go and die in its midst, to see himself detained in France. If Mgr. de +Laval should stay here the blame would be cast upon his successor, +against whom for this reason many people would be ill disposed." + +M. de Denonville desired the more eagerly the return of this prelate so +beloved in New France, since difficulties were arising on every hand. +Convinced that peace with the Iroquois could not last, he began by +amassing provisions and ammunition at Fort Cataraqui, without heeding +the protests of Colonel Dongan, the most vigilant and most experienced +enemy of French domination in America; then he busied himself with +fortifying Montreal. He visited the place, appointed as its governor +the Chevalier de Callières, a former captain in the regiment of +Navarre, and in the spring of 1687 employed six hundred men under the +direction of M. du Luth, royal engineer, in the erection of a palisade. +These wooden defences, as was to be expected, were not durable and +demanded repairs every year. The year 1686, which had begun with the +conquest of the southern portion of Hudson Bay, was spent almost +entirely in preparations for war and negotiations for peace; the +Iroquois, nevertheless, continued their inroads. Finally M. de +Denonville, having received during the following spring eight hundred +poor recruits under the command of Vaudreuil, was ready for his +expedition. Part of these reinforcements were at once sent to Montreal, +where M. de Callières was gathering a body of troops on St. Helen's +Island: eight hundred and thirty-two regulars, one thousand Canadians, +and three hundred Indian allies, all burning with the desire of +distinguishing themselves, awaited now only the signal for departure. + +"With this superiority of forces," says one author, "Denonville +conceived, however, the unfortunate idea of beginning hostilities by an +act which dishonoured the French name among the savages, that name +which, in spite of their great irritation, they had always feared and +respected." With the purpose of striking terror into the Iroquois he +caused to be seized the chiefs whom the Five Nations had sent as +delegates to Cataraqui at the request of Father de Lamberville, and +sent them to France to serve on board the royal galleys. This violation +of the law of nations aroused the fury of the Iroquois, and two +missionaries, Father Lamberville and Millet, though entirely innocent of +this crime, escaped torture only with difficulty. The king disapproved +wholly of this treason, and returned the prisoners to Canada; others +who, at Fort Frontenac, had been taken by M. de Champigny in as +treacherous a manner, were likewise restored to liberty. + +The army, divided into four bodies, set out on June 11th, 1687, in four +hundred boats. It was joined at Sand River, on the shore of Lake +Ontario, by six hundred men from Detroit, and advanced inland. After +having passed through two very dangerous defiles, the French were +suddenly attacked by eight hundred of the enemy ambushed in the bed of a +stream. At first surprised, they promptly recovered from their +confusion, and put the savages to flight. Some sixty Iroquois were +wounded in this encounter, and forty-five whom they left dead on the +field of battle were eaten by the Ottawas, according to the horrible +custom of these cannibals. They entered then into the territory of the +Tsonnontouans, which was found deserted; everything had been reduced to +ashes, except an immense quantity of maize, to which they set fire; they +killed also a prodigious number of swine, but they did not meet with a +single Indian. + +Instead of pursuing the execution of these reprisals by marching +against the other nations, M. de Denonville proceeded to Niagara, where +he built a fort. The garrison of a hundred men which he left there +succumbed in its entirety to a mysterious epidemic, probably caused by +the poor quality of the provisions. Thus the campaign did not produce +results proportionate to the preparations which had been made; it +humbled the Iroquois, but by this very fact it excited their rage and +desire for vengeance; so true is it that half-measures are more +dangerous than complete inaction. They were, besides, cleverly goaded on +by Governor Dongan. Towards the end of the summer they ravaged the whole +western part of the colony, and carried their audacity to the point of +burning houses and killing several persons on the Island of Montreal. + +M. de Denonville understood that he could not carry out a second +expedition; disease had caused great havoc among the population and the +soldiers, and he could no longer count on the Hurons of Michilimackinac, +who kept up secret relations with the Iroquois. He was willing to +conclude peace, and consented to demolish Fort Niagara and to bring back +the Iroquois chiefs who had been sent to France to row in the galleys. +The conditions were already accepted on both sides, when the +negotiations were suddenly interrupted by the duplicity of Kondiaronk, +surnamed the Rat, chief of the Michilimackinac Hurons. This man, the +most cunning and crafty of Indians, a race which has nothing to learn +in point of astuteness from the shrewdest diplomat, had offered his +services against the Iroquois to the governor, who had accepted them. +Enkindled with the desire of distinguishing himself by some brilliant +deed, he arrives with a troop of Hurons at Fort Frontenac, where he +learns that a treaty is about to be concluded between the French and the +Iroquois. Enraged at not having even been consulted in this matter, +fearing to see the interests of his nation sacrificed, he lies in wait +with his troop at Famine Creek, falls upon the delegates, and, killing a +number of them, makes the rest prisoners. On the statement of the latter +that they were going on an embassy to Ville-Marie, he feigns surprise, +and is astonished that the French governor-general should have sent him +to attack men who were going to treat with him. He then sets them at +liberty, keeping a single one of them, whom he hastens to deliver to M. +de Durantaye, governor of Michilimackinac; the latter, ignorant of the +negotiations with the Iroquois, has the prisoner shot in spite of the +protestations of the wretched man, who the Rat pretends is mad. The plan +of the Huron chief has succeeded; it remains now only to reap the fruits +of it. He frees an old Iroquois who has long been detained in captivity +and sends him to announce to his compatriots that the French are seeking +in the negotiations a cowardly means of ridding themselves of their +foes. This news exasperated the Five Nations; henceforth peace was +impossible, and the Iroquois went to join the English, with whom, on the +pretext of the dethronement of James II, war was again about to break +out. M. de Callières, governor of Montreal, set out for France to lay +before the king a plan for the conquest of New York; the monarch adopted +it, but, not daring to trust its execution to M. de Denonville, he +recalled him in order to entrust it to Count de Frontenac, now again +appointed governor. + +We can easily conceive that in the danger thus threatening the colony M. +de Denonville should have taken pains to surround himself with all the +men whose aid might be valuable to him. "You will have this year," wrote +M. de Brisacier to M. Glandelet, "the joy of seeing again our two +prelates. You will find the first more holy and more than ever dead to +himself; and the second will appear to you all that you can desire him +to be for the particular consolation of the seminary and the good of New +France." On the request of the governor-general, in fact, Mgr. de Laval +saw the obstacle disappear which had opposed his departure, and he +hastened to take advantage of it. He set out in the spring of 1688, at +that period of the year when vegetation begins to display on all sides +its festoons of verdure and flowers, and transforms Normandy and +Touraine, that garden of France, into genuine groves; the calm of the +air, the perfumed breezes of the south, the arrival of the southern +birds with their rich and varied plumage, all contribute to make these +days the fairest and sweetest of the year; but, in his desire to reach +as soon as possible the country where his presence was deemed necessary, +the venerable prelate did not wait for the spring sun to dry the roads +soaked by the rains of winter; accordingly, in spite of his infirmities, +he was obliged to travel to La Rochelle on horseback. However, he could +not embark on the ship _Le Soleil d'Afrique_ until about the middle of +April. + +His duties as Bishop of Quebec had ended on January 25th preceding, the +day of the episcopal consecration of M. de Saint-Vallier. It would seem +that Providence desired that the priestly career of the prelate and his +last co-workers should end at the same time. Three priests of the +Seminary of Quebec went to receive in heaven almost at the same period +the reward of their apostolic labours. M. Thomas Morel died on September +23rd, 1687; M. Jean Guyon on January 10th, 1688; and M. Dudouyt on the +fifteenth of the same month. This last loss, especially, caused deep +grief to Mgr. de Laval. He desired that the heart of the devoted +missionary should rest in that soil of New France for which it had +always beat, and he brought it with him. The ceremony of the burial at +Quebec of the heart of M. Dudouyt was extremely touching; the whole +population was present. Up to his latest day this priest had taken the +greatest interest in Canada, and the letter which he wrote to the +seminary a few days before his death breathes the most ardent charity; +it particularly enjoined upon all patience and submission to authority. + +The last official document signed by Mgr. de Laval as titulary bishop +was an addition to the statutes and rules which he had previously drawn +up for the Chapter of the city of Champlain. He wrote at the same time: +"It remains for me now, sirs and dearly beloved brethren, only to thank +you for the good affection that you preserve towards me, and to assure +you that it will not be my fault if I do not go at the earliest moment +to rejoin you in the growing Church which I have ever cherished as the +portion and heritage which it has pleased our Lord to preserve for me +during nearly thirty years. I supplicate His infinite goodness that he +into whose hands He has caused it to pass by my resignation may repair +all my faults." + +The prelate landed on June 3rd. "The whole population," says the Abbé +Ferland, "was heartened and rejoiced by the return of Mgr. de Laval, who +came back to Canada to end his days among his former flock. His virtues, +his long and arduous labours in New France, his sincere love for the +children of the country, had endeared him to the Canadians; they felt +their trust in Providence renewed on beholding again him who, with them, +at their head, had passed through many years of trial and suffering." He +hardly took time to rest, but set out at once for Montreal, where he was +anxious to deliver in person to the Sulpicians the document of +spiritual and devotional union which had been quite recently signed at +Paris by the Seminary of St. Sulpice and by that of the Foreign +Missions. Returning to Quebec, he had the pleasure of receiving his +successor on the arrival of the latter, who disembarked on July 31st, +1688. + +The reception of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier was as cordial as that offered +two months before to his predecessor. "As early as four o'clock in the +morning," we read in the annals of the Ursulines, "the whole population +was alert to hasten preparations. Some arranged the avenue along which +the new bishop was to pass, others raised here and there the standard of +the lilies of France. In the course of the morning Mgr. de Laval, +accompanied by several priests, betook himself to the vessel to salute +his successor whom the laws of the old French etiquette kept on board +his ship until he had replied to all the compliments prepared for him. +Finally, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the whole clergy, the civil +and military authorities, and the people having assembled on the quay, +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier made his appearance, addressed first by M. de +Bernières in the name of the clergy. He was next greeted by the mayor, +in the name of the whole town, then the procession began to move, with +military music at its head, and the new bishop was conducted to the +cathedral between two files of musketeers, who did not fail to salute +him and to fire volleys along the route." "The thanksgiving hymn which +re-echoed under the vaults of the holy temple found an echo in all +hearts," we read in another account; "and the least happy was not that +of the worthy prelate who thus inaugurated his long and laborious +episcopal career." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MASSACRE OF LACHINE + + +The virtue of Mgr. de Laval lacked the supreme consecration of +misfortune. A wearied but triumphant soldier, the venerable shepherd of +souls, coming back to dwell in the bishopric of Quebec, the witness of +his first apostolic labours, gave himself into the hands of his Master +to disappear and die. "Lord," he said with Simeon, "now lettest thou thy +servant depart in peace according to thy word." But many griefs still +remained to test his resignation to the Divine Will, and the most +shocking disaster mentioned in our annals was to sadden his last days. +The year 1688 had passed peacefully enough for the colony, but it was +only the calm which is the forerunner of the storm. The Five Nations +employed their time in secret organization; the French, lulled in this +deceptive security, particularly by news which had come from M. de +Valrennes, in command of Fort Frontenac, to whom the Iroquois had +declared that they were coming down to Montreal to make peace, had left +the forts to return to their dwellings and to busy themselves with the +work of the fields. Moreover, the Chevalier de Vaudreuil, who commanded +at Montreal in the absence of M. de Callières, who had gone to France, +carried his lack of foresight to the extent of permitting the officers +stationed in the country to leave their posts. It is astonishing to note +such imprudent neglect on the part of men who must have known the savage +nature. Rancour is the most deeply-rooted defect in the Indian, and it +was madness to think that the Iroquois could have forgotten so soon the +insult inflicted on their arms by the expedition of M. de Denonville, or +the breach made in their independence by the abduction of their chiefs +sent to France as convicts. The warning of their approaching incursion +had meanwhile reached Quebec through a savage named Ataviata; +unfortunately, the Jesuit Fathers had no confidence in this Indian; they +assured the governor-general that Ataviata was a worthless fellow, and +M. de Denonville made the mistake of listening too readily to these +prejudices and of not at least redoubling his precautions. + +It was on the night between August 4th and 5th, 1689; all was quiet on +the Island of Montreal. At the end of the evening's conversation, that +necessary complement of every well-filled day, the men had hung their +pipes, the faithful comrades of their labour, to a rafter of the +ceiling; the women had put away their knitting or pushed aside in a +corner their indefatigable spinning-wheel, and all had hastened to seek +in sleep new strength for the labour of the morrow. Outside, the +elements were unchained, the rain and hail were raging. As daring as +the Normans when they braved on frail vessels the fury of the seas, the +Iroquois, to the number of fifteen hundred, profited by the storm to +traverse Lake St. Louis in their bark canoes, and landed silently on the +shore at Lachine. They took care not to approach the forts; the darkness +was so thick that the soldiers discovered nothing unusual and did not +fire the cannon as was the custom on the approach of the enemy. Long +before daybreak the savages, divided into a number of squads, had +surrounded the houses within a radius of several miles. Suddenly a +piercing signal is given by the chiefs, and at once a horrible clamour +rends the air; the terrifying war-cry of the Iroquois has roused the +sleepers and raised the hair on the heads of the bravest. The colonists +leap from their couches, but they have no time to seize their weapons; +demons who seem to be vomited forth by hell have already broken in the +doors and windows. The dwellings which the Iroquois cannot penetrate are +delivered over to the flames, but the unhappy ones who issue from them +in confusion to escape the tortures of the fire are about to be +abandoned to still more horrible torments. The pen refuses to describe +the horrors of this night, and the imagination of Dante can hardly in +his "Inferno" give us an idea of it. The butchers killed the cattle, +burned the houses, impaled women, compelled fathers to cast their +children into the flames, spitted other little ones still alive and +compelled their mothers to roast them. Everything was burned and +pillaged except the forts, which were not attacked; two hundred persons +of all ages and of both sexes perished under torture, and about fifty, +carried away to the villages, were bound to the stake and burned by a +slow fire. Nevertheless the great majority of the inhabitants were able +to escape, thanks to the strong liquors kept in some of the houses, with +which the savages made ample acquaintance. Some of the colonists took +refuge in the forts, others were pursued into the woods. + +Meanwhile the alarm had spread in Ville-Marie. M. de Denonville, who was +there, gives to the Chevalier de Vaudreuil the order to occupy Fort +Roland with his troops and a hundred volunteers. De Vaudreuil hastens +thither, accompanied by de Subercase and other officers; they are all +eager to measure their strength with the enemy, but the order of +Denonville is strict, they must remain on the defensive and run no risk. +By dint of insistence, Subercase obtained permission to make a sortie +with a hundred volunteers; at the moment when he was about to set out he +had to yield the command to M. de Saint-Jean, who was higher in rank. +The little troop went and entrenched itself among the débris of a burned +house and exchanged an ineffectual fire with the savages ambushed in a +clump of trees. They soon perceived a party of French and friendly +Indians who, coming from Fort Rémy, were proceeding towards them in +great danger of being surrounded by the Iroquois, who were already +sobered. The volunteers wished to rush out to meet this reinforcement, +but their commander, adhering to his instructions, which forbade him to +push on farther, restrained them. What might have been foreseen +happened: the detachment from Fort Rémy was exterminated. Five of its +officers were taken and carried off towards the Iroquois villages, but +succeeded in escaping on the way, except M. de la Rabeyre, who was bound +to the stake and perished in torture. + +On reading these details one cannot understand the inactivity of the +French: it would seem that the authorities had lost their heads. We +cannot otherwise explain the lack of foresight of the officers absent +from their posts, the pusillanimous orders of the governor to M. de +Vaudreuil, his imprudence in sending too weak a troop through the +dangerous places, the lack of initiative on the part of M. de +Saint-Jean, finally, the absolute lack of energy and audacity, the +complete absence of that ardour which is inherent in the French +character. + +After this disaster the troops returned to the forts, and the +surrounding district, abandoned thus to the fury of the barbarians, was +ravaged in all directions. The Iroquois, proud of the terror which they +inspired, threatened the city itself; we note by the records of Montreal +that on August 25th there were buried two soldiers killed by the +savages, and that on September 7th following, Jean Beaudry suffered the +same fate. Finding nothing more to pillage or to burn, they passed to +the opposite shore, and plundered the village of Lachesnaie. They +massacred a portion of the population, which was composed of seventy-two +persons, and carried off the rest. They did not withdraw until the +autumn, dragging after them two hundred captives, including fifty +prisoners taken at Lachine. + +This terrible event, which had taken place at no great distance from +them, and the news of which re-echoed in their midst, struck the +inhabitants of Quebec with grief and terror. Mgr. de Laval was cruelly +affected by it, but, accustomed to adore in everything the designs of +God, he seized the occasion to invoke Him with more fervour; he +immediately ordered in his seminary public prayers to implore the mercy +of the Most High. M. de Frontenac, who was about to begin his second +administration, learned the sinister news on his arrival at Quebec on +October 15th. He set out immediately for Montreal, which he reached on +the twenty-seventh of the same month. He visited the environments, and +found only ruins and ashes where formerly rose luxurious dwellings. + +War had just been rekindled between France and Great Britain. The +governor had not men enough for vast operations, accordingly he prepared +to organize a guerilla warfare. While the Abenaquis, those faithful +allies, destroyed the settlements of the English in Acadia and killed +nearly two hundred persons there, Count de Frontenac sent in the winter +of 1689-90, three detachments against New England; all three were +composed of only a handful of men, but these warriors were well +seasoned. In the rigorous cold of winter, traversing innumerable miles +on their snowshoes, sinking sometimes into the icy water, sleeping in +the snow, carrying their supplies on their backs, they surprised the +forts which they went to attack, where one would never have believed +that men could execute so rash an enterprise. Thus the three detachments +were alike successful, and the forts of Corlaer in the state of New +York, of Salmon Falls in New Hampshire, and of Casco on the seaboard, +were razed. + +The English avenged these reverses by capturing Port Royal. Encouraged +by this success, they sent Phipps at the head of a large troop to seize +Quebec, while Winthrop attacked Montreal with three thousand men, a +large number of whom were Indians. Frontenac hastened to Quebec with M. +de Callières, governor of Montreal, the militia and the regular troops. +Already the fortifications had been protected against surprise by new +and well-arranged entrenchments. The hostile fleet appeared on October +16th, 1690, and Phipps sent an officer to summon the governor to +surrender the place. The envoy, drawing out his watch, declared with +arrogance to the Count de Frontenac that he would give him an hour to +decide. "I will answer you by the mouth of my cannon," replied the +representative of Louis XIV. The cannon replied so well that at the +first shot the admiral's flag fell into the water; the Canadians, +braving the balls and bullets which rained about them, swam out to get +it, and this trophy remained hanging in the cathedral of Quebec until +the conquest. The _Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec_ depicts for us +very simply the courage and piety of the inhabitants during this siege. +"The most admirable thing, and one which surely drew the blessing of +Heaven upon Quebec was that during the whole siege no public devotion +was interrupted. The city is arranged so that the roads which lead to +the churches are seen from the harbour; thus several times a day were +beheld processions of men and women going to answer the summons of the +bells. The English noticed them; they called M. de Grandeville (a brave +Canadian, and clerk of the farm of Tadousac, whom they had made +prisoner) and asked him what it was. He answered them simply: 'It is +mass, vespers, and the benediction.' By this assurance the citizens of +Quebec disconcerted them; they were astonished that women dared to go +out; they judged by this that we were very easy in our minds, though +this was far from being the case." + +It is not surprising that the colonists should have fought valiantly +when their bishops and clergy set the example of devotion, when the +Jesuits remained constantly among the defenders to encourage and assist +on occasion the militia and the soldiers, when Mgr. de Laval, though +withdrawn from the conduct of religious affairs, without even the right +of sitting in the Sovereign Council, animated the population by his +patriotic exhortations. To prove to the inhabitants that the cause which +they defended by struggling for their homes was just and holy, at the +same time as to place the cathedral under the protection of Heaven, he +suggested the idea of hanging on the spire of the cathedral a picture of +the Holy Family. This picture was not touched by the balls and bullets, +and was restored after the siege to the Ursulines, to whom it belonged. + +All the attempts of the English failed; in a fierce combat at Beauport +they were repulsed. There perished the brave Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène; +there, too, forty pupils of the seminary established at St. Joachim by +Mgr. de Laval distinguished themselves by their bravery and contributed +to the victory. Already Phipps had lost six hundred men. He decided to +retreat. To cap the climax of misfortune, his fleet met in the lower +part of the river with a horrible storm; several of his ships were +driven by the winds as far as the Antilles, and the rest arrived only +with great difficulty at Boston. Winthrop's army, disorganized by +disease and discord, had already scattered. + +A famine which followed the siege tried the whole colony, and Laval had +to suffer by it as well as the seminary, for neither had hesitated +before the sacrifices necessary for the general weal. "All the furs and +furniture of the Lower Town were in the seminary," wrote the prelate; "a +number of families had taken refuge there, even that of the intendant. +This house could not refuse in such need all the sacrifices of charity +which were possible, at the expense of a great portion of the provisions +which were kept there. The soldiers and others have taken and consumed +at least one hundred cords of wood and more than fifteen hundred planks. +In brief, in cattle and other damages the loss to the seminary will +amount to a round thousand crowns. But we must on occasions of this sort +be patient, and do all the good we can without regard to future need." + +The English were about to suffer still other reverses. In 1691 Major +Schuyler, with a small army composed in part of savages, came and +surprised below the fort of the Prairie de la Madeleine a camp of +between seven and eight hundred soldiers, whose leader, M. de +Saint-Cirque, was slain; but the French, recovering, forced the major to +retreat, and M. de Valrennes, who hastened up from Chambly with a body +of inhabitants and Indians, put the enemy to flight after a fierce +struggle. The English failed also in Newfoundland; they were unable to +carry Fort Plaisance, which was defended by M. de Brouillan; but he who +was to do them most harm was the famous Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, son +of Charles Le Moyne. Born in Montreal in 1661, he subsequently entered +the French navy. In the year 1696 he was ordered to drive the enemy out +of Newfoundland; he seized the capital, St. John's, which he burned, +and, marvellous to relate, with only a hundred and twenty-five men he +subdued the whole island, slew nearly two hundred of the English, and +took six or seven hundred prisoners. The following year he set out with +five ships to take possession of Hudson Bay. One day his vessel found +itself alone before Fort Nelson, facing three large ships of the enemy; +to the amazement of the English, instead of surrendering, d'Iberville +rushes upon them. In a fierce fight lasting four hours, he sinks the +strongest, compels the second to surrender, while the third flees under +full sail. Fort Bourbon surrendered almost at once, and Hudson Bay was +captured. + +After the peace d'Iberville explored the mouths of the Mississippi, +erected several forts, founded the city of Mobile, and became the first +governor of Louisiana. When the war began again, the king gave him a +fleet of sixteen vessels to oppose the English in the Indies. He died of +an attack of fever in 1706. + +During this time, the Iroquois were as dangerous to the French by their +inroads and devastations as the Abenaquis were to the English colonies; +accordingly Frontenac wished to subdue them. In the summer of 1696, +braving the fatigue and privations so hard to bear for a man of his age, +Frontenac set out from Ile Perrot with more than two thousand men, and +landed at the mouth of the Oswego River. He found at Onondaga only the +smoking remains of the village to which the savages had themselves set +fire, and the corpses of two Frenchmen who had died in torture. He +marched next against the Oneidas; all had fled at his approach, and he +had to be satisfied with laying waste their country. There remained +three of the Five Nations to punish, but winter was coming on and +Frontenac did not wish to proceed further into the midst of invisible +enemies, so he returned to Quebec. + +The following year it was learned that the Treaty of Ryswick had just +been concluded between France and England. France kept Hudson Bay, but +Louis XIV pledged himself to recognize William III as King of England. +The Count de Frontenac had not the good fortune of crowning his +brilliant career by a treaty with the savages; he died on November 28th, +1698, at the age of seventy-eight years. In reaching this age without +exceeding it, he presented a new point of resemblance to his model, +Louis the Great, according to whom he always endeavoured to shape his +conduct, and who was destined to die at the age of seventy-seven. + + [Note.--The incident of the flag mentioned above on page 230 is + treated at greater length in Dr. Le Sueur's _Frontenac_, pp. 295-8, + in the "Makers of Canada" series. He takes a somewhat different + view of the event.--Ed.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE LABOURS OF OLD AGE + + +The peace lasted only four years. M. de Callières, who succeeded Count +de Frontenac, was able, thanks to his prudence and the devotion of the +missionaries, to gather at Montreal more than twelve hundred Indian +chiefs or warriors, and to conclude peace with almost all the tribes. +Chief Kondiaronk had become a faithful friend of the French; it was to +his good-will and influence that they were indebted for the friendship +of a large number of Indian tribes. He died at Montreal during these +peaceful festivities and was buried with pomp. + +The war was about to break out anew, in 1701, with Great Britain and the +other nations of Europe, because Louis XIV had accepted for his grandson +and successor the throne of Spain. M. de Callières died at this +juncture; his successor, Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, +brought the greatest energy to the support in Canada of a struggle which +was to end in the dismemberment of the colony. God permitted Mgr. de +Laval to die before the Treaty of Utrecht, whose conditions would have +torn the patriotic heart of the venerable prelate. + +Other reasons for sorrow he did not lack, especially when Mgr. de +Saint-Vallier succeeded, on his visit to the king in 1691, in obtaining +a reversal of the policy marked out for the seminary by the first bishop +of the colony; this establishment would be in the future only a seminary +like any other, and would have no other mission than that of the +training of priests. By a decree of the council of February 2nd, 1692, +the number of the directors of the seminary was reduced to five, who +were to concern themselves principally with the training of young men +who might have a vocation for the ecclesiastical life; they might also +devote themselves to missions, with the consent of the bishop. No +ecclesiastic had the right of becoming an associate of the seminary +without the permission of the bishop, within whose province it was to +employ the former associates for the service of his diocese with the +consent of the superiors. The last part of the decree provided that the +four thousand francs given by the king for the diocese of Quebec should +be distributed in equal portions, one for the seminary and the two +others for the priests and the church buildings. As to the permanence of +priests, the decree issued by the king for the whole kingdom was to be +adhered to in Canada. In the course of the same year Mgr. de +Saint-Vallier obtained, moreover, from the sovereign the authority to +open at Quebec in Notre-Dame des Anges, the former convent of the +Récollets, a general hospital for the poor, which was entrusted to the +nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu. The poor who might be admitted to it would be +employed at work proportionate to their strength, and more particularly +in the tilling of the farms belonging to the establishment. If we +remember that Mgr. de Laval had consecrated twenty years of his life to +giving his seminary, by a perfect union between its members and his +whole clergy, a formidable power in the colony, a power which in his +opinion could be used only for the good of the Church and in the public +interest, and that he now saw his efforts annihilated forever, we cannot +help admiring the resignation with which he managed to accept this +destruction of his dearest work. And not only did he bow before the +impenetrable designs of Providence, but he even used his efforts to +pacify those around him whose excitable temperaments might have brought +about conflicts with the authorities. The Abbé Gosselin quotes in this +connection the following example: "A priest, M. de Francheville, thought +he had cause for complaint at the behaviour of his bishop towards him, +and wrote him a letter in no measured terms, but he had the good sense +to submit it previously to Mgr. de Laval, whom he regarded as his +father. The aged bishop expunged from this letter all that might wound +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, and it was sent with the corrections which he +desired." The venerable prelate did not content himself with avoiding +all that might cause difficulties to his successor; he gave him his +whole aid in any circumstances, and in particular in the foundation of +a convent of Ursulines at Three Rivers, and when the general hospital +was threatened in its very existence. "Was it not a spectacle worthy of +the admiration of men and angels," exclaims the Abbé Fornel in his +funeral oration on Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, "to see the first Bishop of +Quebec and his successor vieing one with the other in a noble rivalry +and in a struggle of religious fervour for the victory in exercises of +piety? Have they not both been seen harmonizing and reconciling together +the duties of seminarists and canons; of canons by their assiduity in +the recitation of the breviary, and of seminarists in condescending to +the lowest duties, such as sweeping and serving in the kitchen?" The +patience and trust in God of Mgr. de Laval were rewarded by the +following letter which he received from Father La Chaise, confessor to +King Louis XIV: "I have received with much respect and gratitude two +letters with which you have honoured me. I have blessed God that He has +preserved you for His glory and the good of the Church in Canada in a +period of deadly mortality; and I pray every day that He may preserve +you some years more for His service and the consolation of your old +friends and servants. I hope that you will maintain towards them to the +end your good favour and interest, and that those who would wish to make +them lose these may be unable to alter them. You will easily judge how +greatly I desire that our Fathers may merit the continuation of your +kindness, and may preserve a perfect union with the priests of your +seminary, by the sacrifice which I desire they should make to the +latter, in consideration of you, of the post of Tamarois, in spite of +all the reasons and the facility for preserving it to them...." + +The mortality to which the reverend father alludes was the result of an +epidemic which carried off, in 1700, a great number of persons. Old men +in particular were stricken, and M. de Bernières among others fell a +victim to the scourge. It is very probable that this affliction was +nothing less than the notorious influenza which, in these later years, +has cut down so many valuable lives throughout the world. The following +years were still more terrible for the town; smallpox carried off +one-fourth of the population of Quebec. If we add to these trials the +disaster of the two conflagrations which consumed the seminary, we shall +have the measure of the troubles which at this period overwhelmed the +city of Champlain. The seminary, begun in 1678, had just been barely +completed. It was a vast edifice of stone, of grandiose appearance; a +sun dial was set above a majestic door of two leaves, the approach to +which was a fine stairway of cut stone. "The building," wrote Frontenac +in 1679, "is very large and has four storeys, the walls are seven feet +thick, the cellars and pantries are vaulted, the lower windows have +embrasures, and the roof is of slate brought from France." On November +15th, 1701, the priests of the seminary had taken their pupils to St. +Michel, near Sillery, to a country house which belonged to them. About +one in the afternoon fire broke out in the seminary buildings. The +inhabitants hastened up from all directions to the spot and attempted +with the greatest energy to stay the progress of the flames. Idle +efforts! The larger and the smaller seminary, the priests' house, the +chapel barely completed, were all consumed, with the exception of some +furniture and a little plate and tapestry. The cathedral was saved, +thanks to the efforts of the state engineer, M. Levasseur de Néré, who +succeeded in cutting off the communication of the sacred temple with the +buildings in flames. Mgr. de Laval, confined then to a bed of pain, +avoided death by escaping half-clad; he accepted for a few days, +together with the priests of the seminary, the generous hospitality +offered them by the Jesuit Fathers. In order not to be too long a burden +to their hosts, they caused to be prepared for their lodgment the +episcopal palace which had been begun by Mgr. de Saint-Vallier. They +removed there on December 4th following. The scholars had been divided +between the episcopal palace and the house of the Jesuits. "The +prelate," says Sister Juchereau, "bore this affliction with perfect +submission to the will of God, without uttering any complaint. It must +have been, however, the more grievous to him since it was he who had +planned and erected the seminary, since he was its father and founder, +and since he saw ruined in one day the fruit of his labour of many +years." Thanks to the generosity of the king, who granted aid to the +extent of four thousand francs, it was possible to begin rebuilding at +once. But the trials of the priests were not yet over. "On the first day +of October, 1705," relate the annals of the Ursulines, "the priests of +the seminary were afflicted by a second fire through the fault of a +carpenter who was preparing some boards in one end of the new building. +While smoking he let fall in a room full of shavings some sparks from +his pipe. The fire being kindled, it consumed in less than an hour all +the upper storeys. Only those which were vaulted were preserved. The +priests estimate that they have lost more in this second fire than in +the first. They are lodged below, waiting till Providence furnishes them +with the means to restore their building. The Jesuit Fathers have acted +this time with the same charity and cordiality as on the former +occasion. Mgr. L'Ancien[10] and M. Petit have lived nearly two months in +their infirmary. This rest has been very profitable to Monseigneur, for +he has come forth from it quite rejuvenated. May the Lord grant that he +be preserved a long time yet for the glory of God and the good of +Canada!" + +When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to raise it from its ruins, a great +grief seized upon him at the sight of the roofs destroyed, the broken +doors, the shattered ramparts of the city of David. In the middle of +the night he made the circuit of these ruins, and on the morrow he +sought the magistrates and said to them: "You see the distress that we +are in? Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem." The same +feelings no doubt oppressed the soul of the octogenarian prelate when he +saw the walls cracked and blackened, the heaps of ruins, sole remnants +of his beloved house. But like Nehemiah he had the support of a great +King, and the confidence of succeeding. He set to work at once, and +found in the generosity of his flock the means to raise the seminary +from its ruins. While he found provisional lodgings for his seminarists, +he himself took up quarters in a part of the seminary which had been +spared by the flames; he arranged, adjoining his room, a little oratory +where he kept the Holy Sacrament, and celebrated mass. There he passed +his last days and gave up his fair soul to God. + +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier had not like his predecessor the sorrow of seeing +fire consume his seminary; he had set out in 1700 for France, and the +differences which existed between the two prelates led the monarch to +retain Mgr. de Saint-Vallier near him. In 1705 the Bishop of Quebec +obtained permission to return to his diocese. But for three years +hostilities had already existed between France and England. The bishop +embarked with several monks on the _Seine_, a vessel of the Royal Navy. +This ship carried a rich cargo valued at nearly a million francs, and +was to escort several merchant ships to their destination at Quebec. The +convoy fell in, on July 26th, with an English fleet which gave chase to +it; the merchant ships fled at full sail, abandoning the _Seine_ to its +fate. The commander, M. de Meaupou, displayed the greatest valour, but +his vessel, having a leeward position, was at a disadvantage; besides, +he had committed the imprudence of so loading the deck with merchandise +that several cannon could not be used. In spite of her heroic defence, +the _Seine_ was captured by boarding, the commander and the officers +were taken prisoners, and Mgr. de Saint-Vallier remained in captivity in +England till 1710. + +The purpose of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier's journey to Europe in 1700 had +been his desire to have ratified at Rome by the Holy See the canonical +union of his abbeys, and the union of the parish of Quebec with the +seminary. On setting out he had entrusted the administration of the +diocese to MM. Maizerets and Glandelet; as to ordinations, to the +administration of the sacrament of confirmation, and to the consecration +of the holy oils, Mgr. de Laval would be always there, ready to lavish +his zeal and the treasures of his charity. This long absence of the +chief of the diocese could not but impose new labours on Mgr. de Laval. +Never did he refuse a sacrifice or a duty, and he saw in this an +opportunity to increase the sum of good which he intended soon to lay +at the foot of the throne of the Most High. He was seventy-nine years of +age when, in spite of the havoc then wrought by the smallpox throughout +the country, he went as far as Montreal, there to administer the +sacrament of confirmation. Two years before his death, he officiated +pontifically on Easter Day in the cathedral of Quebec. "On the festival +of Sainte Magdalene," say the annals of the general hospital, "we have +had the consolation of seeing Mgr. de Laval officiate pontifically +morning and evening.... He was accompanied by numerous clergy both from +the seminary and from neighbouring missions.... We regarded this favour +as a mark of the affection cherished by this holy prelate for our +establishment, for he was never wont to officiate outside the cathedral, +and even there but rarely on account of his great age. He was then more +than eighty years old. The presence of a person so venerable by reason +of his character, his virtues, and his great age much enhanced this +festival. He gave the nuns a special proof of his good-will in the visit +which he deigned to make them in the common hall." The predilection +which the pious pontiff constantly preserved for the work of the +seminary no whit lessened the protection which he generously granted to +all the projects of education in the colony; the daughters of Mother +Mary of the Incarnation as well as the assistants of Mother Marguerite +Bourgeoys had claims upon his affection. He fostered with all his power +the establishment of the Sisters of the Congregation, both at Three +Rivers and at Quebec. His numerous works left him but little respite, +and this he spent at his school of St. Joachim in the refreshment of +quiet and rest. Like all holy men he loved youth, and took pleasure in +teaching and directing it. Accordingly, during these years when, in +spite of the sixteen _lustra_ which had passed over his venerable head, +he had to take upon himself during the long absence of his successor the +interim duties of the diocese, at least as far as the exclusively +episcopal functions were concerned, he learned to understand and +appreciate at their true value the sacrifices of the Charron Brothers, +whose work was unfortunately to remain fruitless. + +In 1688 three pious laymen, MM. Jean François Charron, Pierre Le Ber, +and Jean Fredin had established in Montreal a house with a double +purpose of charity: to care for the poor and the sick, and to train men +and send them to open schools in the country districts. Their plan was +approved by the king, sanctioned by the bishop of the diocese, +encouraged by the seigneurs of the island, and welcomed by all the +citizens with gratitude. In spite of these symptoms of future prosperity +the work languished, and the members of the community were separated and +scattered one after the other. M. Charron did not lose courage. In 1692 +he devoted his large fortune to the foundation of a hospital and a +school, and received numerous gifts from charitable persons. Six +hospitallers of the order of St. Joseph of the Cross, commonly called +Frères Charron, took the gown in 1701, and pronounced their vows in +1704, but the following year they ceased to receive novices. The +minister, M. de Pontchartrain, thought "the care of the sick is a task +better adapted to women than to men, notwithstanding the spirit of +charity which may animate the latter," and he forbade the wearing of the +costume adopted by the hospitallers. François Charron, seeing his work +nullified, yielded to the inevitable, and confined himself to the +training of teachers for country parishes. The existence of this +establishment, abandoned by the mother country to its own strength, was +to become more and more precarious and feeble. Almost all the +hospitallers left the institution to re-enter the world; the care of the +sick was entrusted to the Sisters. François Charron made a journey to +France in order to obtain the union for the purposes of the hospital of +the Brothers of St. Joseph with the Society of St. Sulpice, but he +failed in his efforts. He obtained, nevertheless, from the regent an +annual subvention of three thousand francs for the training of +school-masters (1718). He busied himself at once with finding fitting +recruits, and collected eight. The elder sister of our excellent normal +schools of the present day seemed then established on solid foundations, +but it was not to be so. Brother Charron died on the return voyage, and +his institution, though seconded by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, after +establishing Brothers in several villages in the environs of Montreal, +received from the court a blow from which it did not recover: the regent +forbade the masters to assume a uniform dress and to pledge themselves +by simple vows. The number of the hospitallers decreased from year to +year, and in 1731 the royal government withdrew from them the annual +subvention which supported them, however poorly. Finally their +institution, after vainly attempting to unite with the Brothers of the +Christian Doctrine, ceased to exist in 1745. + +Mgr. de Laval so greatly admired the devotion of these worthy men that +he exclaimed one day: "Let me die in the house of these Brothers; it is +a work plainly inspired by God. I shall die content if only in dying I +may contribute something to the shaping or maintenance of this +establishment." Again he wrote: "The good M. Charron gave us last year +one of their Brothers, who rendered great service to the Mississippi +Mission, and he has furnished us another this year. These acquisitions +will spare the missionaries much labour.... I beg you to show full +gratitude to this worthy servant of God, who is as affectionately +inclined to the missions and missionaries as if he belonged to our body. +We have even the plan, as well as he, of forming later a community of +their Brothers to aid the missions and accompany the missionaries on +their journeys. He goes to France and as far as Paris to find and bring +back with him some good recruits to aid him in forming a community. +Render him all the services you can, as if it were to missionaries +themselves. He is a true servant of God." Such testimony is the fairest +title to glory for an institution. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] A respectfully familiar sobriquet given to Mgr. de Laval. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LAST YEARS OF MGR. DE LAVAL + + +Illness had obliged Mgr. de Laval to hand in his resignation. He wrote, +in fact, at this period of his life to M. de Denonville: "I have been +for the last two years subject to attacks of vertigo accompanied by +heart troubles which are very frequent and increase markedly. I have had +one quite recently, on the Monday of the Passion, which seized me at +three o'clock in the morning, and I could not raise my head from my +bed." His infirmities, which he bore to the end with admirable +resignation, especially affected his limbs, which he was obliged to +bandage tightly every morning, and which could scarcely bear the weight +of his body. To disperse the unwholesome humours, his arm had been +cauterized; to cut, carve and hack the poor flesh of humanity formed, as +we know, the basis of the scientific and medical equipment of the +period. These sufferings, which he brought as a sacrifice to our Divine +Master, were not sufficient for him; he continued in spite of them to +wear upon his body a coarse hair shirt. He had to serve him only one of +those Brothers who devoted their labour to the seminary in exchange for +their living and a place at table. This modest servant, named Houssart, +had replaced a certain Lemaire, of whom the prelate draws a very +interesting portrait in one of his letters: "We must economize," he +wrote to the priests of the seminary, "and have only watchful and +industrious domestics. We must look after them, else they deteriorate in +the seminary. You have the example of the baker, Louis Lemaire, an +idler, a gossip, a tattler, a man who, instead of walking behind the +coach, would not go unless Monseigneur paid for a carriage for him to +follow him to La Rochelle, and lent him his dressing-gown to protect him +from the cold. Formerly he worked well at heavy labour at Cap Tourmente; +idleness has ruined him in the seminary. As soon as he had reached my +room, he behaved like a man worn out, always complaining, coming to help +me to bed only when the fancy took him; always extremely vain, thinking +he was not dressed according to his position, although he was clad, as +you know, more like a nobleman than a peasant, which he was, for I had +taken him as a beggar and almost naked at La Rochelle.... As soon as he +entered my room he sat down, and rather than be obliged to pretend to +see him, I turned my seat so as not to see him.... We should have left +that man at heavy work, which had in some sort conquered his folly and +pride, and it is possible that he might have been saved. But he has been +entirely ruined in the seminary...." This humorous description proves to +us well that even in the good old days not all domestics were perfect. + +The affectionate and respectful care given by Houssart to his master +was such as is not bought with money. Most devoted to the prelate, he +has left us a very edifying relation of the life of the venerable +bishop, with some touching details. He wrote after his death: "Having +had the honour of being continually attached to the service of his +Lordship during the last twenty years of his holy life, and his Lordship +having had during all that time a great charity towards me and great +confidence in my care, you cannot doubt that I contracted a great +sympathy, interest and particular attachment for his Lordship." In +another letter he speaks to us of the submission of the venerable bishop +to the commands of the Church. "He did his best," he writes, +"notwithstanding his great age and continual infirmities, to observe all +days of abstinence and fasting, both those which are commanded by Holy +Church and those which are observed from reasons of devotion in the +seminary, and if his Lordship sometimes yielded in this matter to the +command of the physicians and the entreaties of the superiors of the +seminary, who deemed that he ought not to fast, it was a great +mortification for him, and it was only out of especial charity to his +dear seminary and the whole of Canada that he yielded somewhat to nature +in order not to die so soon...." + +Never, in spite of his infirmities, would the prelate fail to be present +on Sunday at the cathedral services. When it was impossible for him to +go on foot, he had himself carried. His only outings towards the end of +his life consisted in his visits to the cathedral or in short walks +along the paths of his garden. Whenever his health permitted, he loved +to be present at the funerals of those who died in the town; those +consolations which he deigned to give to the afflicted families bear +witness to the goodness of his heart. "It was something admirable," says +Houssart, "to see, firstly, his assiduity in being present at the burial +of all who died in Quebec, and his promptness in offering the holy +sacrifice of the mass for the repose of their souls, as soon as he had +learned of their decease; secondly, his devotion in receiving and +preserving the blessed palms, in kissing his crucifix, the image of the +Holy Virgin, which he carried always upon him, and placed at nights +under his pillow, his badge of servitude and his scapulary which he +carried also upon him; thirdly, his respect and veneration for the +relics of the saints, the pleasure which he took in reading every day in +the _Lives of the Saints_, and in conversing of their heroic deeds; +fourthly, the holy and constant use which he made of holy water, taking +it wherever he might be in the course of the day and every time he awoke +in the night, coming very often from his garden to his room expressly to +take it, carrying it upon him in a little silver vessel, which he had +had made purposely, when he went to the country. His Lordship had so +great a desire that every one should take it that he exercised +particular care in seeing every day whether the vessels of the church +were supplied with it, to fill them when they were empty; and during the +winter, for fear that the vessels should freeze too hard and the people +could not take any as they entered and left the church, he used to bring +them himself every evening and place them by our stove, and take them +back at four o'clock in the morning when he went to open the doors." + +With a touching humility the pious old man scrupulously conformed to the +rules of the seminary and to the orders of the superior of the house. +Only a few days before his death, he experienced such pain that Brother +Houssart declared his intention of going and asking from the superior of +the seminary a dispensation for the sick man from being present at the +services. At once the patient became silent; in spite of his tortures +not a complaint escaped his lips. It was Holy Wednesday: it was +impossible to be absent on that day from religious ceremonies. We do not +know which to admire most in such an attitude, whether the piety of the +prelate or his submission to the superior of the seminary, since he +would have been resigned if he had been forbidden to go to church, or, +finally, his energy in stifling the groans which suffering wrenched from +his physical nature. Few saints carried mortification and renunciation +of terrestrial good as far as he. "He is certainly the most austere man +in the world and the most indifferent to worldly advantage," wrote +Mother Mary of the Incarnation. "He gives away everything and lives like +a pauper; and we may truly say that he has the very spirit of poverty. +It is not he who will make friends for worldly advancement and to +increase his revenue; he is dead to all that.... He practises this +poverty in his house, in his living, in his furniture, in his servants, +for he has only one gardener, whom he lends to the poor when they need +one, and one valet...." This picture falls short of the truth. For forty +years he arose at two o'clock in the morning, summer and winter: in his +last years illness could only wrest from him one hour more of repose, +and he arose then at three o'clock. As soon as he was dressed, he +remained at prayer till four and then went to church. He opened the +doors himself, and rang the bells for mass, which he said, half an hour +later, especially for the poor workmen, who began their day by this +pious exercise. + +His thanksgiving after the holy sacrifice lasted till seven o'clock, and +yet, even in the greatest cold of the severe Canadian winter, he had +nothing to warm his frozen limbs but the brazier which he had used to +celebrate the mass. A good part of his day, and often of the night, when +his sufferings deprived him of sleep, was also devoted to prayer or +spiritual reading, and nothing was more edifying than to see the pious +octogenarian telling his beads or reciting his breviary while walking +slowly through the paths of his garden. He was the first up and the last +to retire, and whatever had been his occupations during the day, never +did he lie down without having scrupulously observed all the spiritual +offices, readings or reciting of beads. It was not, however, that his +food gave him a superabundance of physical vigour, for the Trappists did +not eat more frugally than he. A soup, which he purposely spoiled by +diluting it amply with hot water, a little meat and a crust of very dry +bread composed his ordinary fare, and dessert, even on feast days, was +absolutely banished from his table. "For his ordinary drink," says +Brother Houssart, "he took only hot water slightly flavoured with wine; +and every one knows that his Lordship never took either cordial or +dainty wines, or any mixture of sweets of any sort whatever, whether to +drink or to eat, except that in his last years I succeeded in making him +take every evening after his broth, which was his whole supper, a piece +of biscuit as large as one's thumb, in a little wine, to aid him to +sleep. I may say without exaggeration that his whole life was one +continual fast, for he took no breakfast, and every evening only a +slight collation.... He used his whole substance in alms and pious +works; and when he needed anything, such as clothes, linen, etc., he +asked it from the seminary like the humblest of his ecclesiastics. He +was most modest in matters of dress, and I had great difficulty in +preventing him from wearing his clothes when they were old, dirty and +mended. During twenty years he had but two winter cassocks, which he +left behind him on his death, the one still quite good, the other all +threadbare and mended. To be brief, there was no one in the seminary +poorer in dress...." Mgr. de Laval set an example of the principal +virtues which distinguish the saints; so he could not fail in that which +our Lord incessantly recommends to His disciples, charity! He no longer +possessed anything of his own, since he had at the outset abandoned his +patrimony to his brother, and since later on he had given to the +seminary everything in his possession. But charity makes one ingenious: +by depriving himself of what was strictly necessary, could he not yet +come to the aid of his brothers in Jesus Christ? "Never was prelate," +says his eulogist, M. de la Colombière, "more hostile to grandeur and +exaltation.... In scorning grandeur, he triumphed over himself by a +poverty worthy of the anchorites of the first centuries, whose rules he +faithfully observed to the end of his days. Grace had so thoroughly +absorbed in the heart of the prelate the place of the tendencies of our +corrupt nature that he seemed to have been born with an aversion to +riches, pleasures and honours.... If you have noticed his dress, his +furniture and his table, you must be aware that he was a foe to pomp and +splendour. There is no village priest in France who is not better +nourished, better clad and better lodged than was the Bishop of Quebec. +Far from having an equipage suitable to his rank and dignity he had not +even a horse of his own. And when, towards the end of his days, his +great age and his infirmities did not allow him to walk, if he wished to +go out he had to borrow a carriage. Why this economy? In order to have a +storehouse full of garments, shoes and blankets, which he distributed +gratuitously, with paternal kindness and prudence. This was a business +which he never ceased to ply, in which he trusted only to himself, and +with which he concerned himself up to his death." + +The charity of the prelate was boundless. Not only at the hospital of +Quebec did he visit the poor and console them, but he even rendered them +services the most repugnant to nature. "He has been seen," says M. de la +Colombière, "on a ship where he behaved like St. François-Xavier, where, +ministering to the sailors and the passengers, he breathed the bad air +and the infection which they exhaled; he has been seen to abandon in +their favour all his refreshments, and to give them even his bed, sheets +and blankets. To administer the sacraments to them he did not fear to +expose his life and the lives of the persons who were most dear to him." +When he thus attended the sick who were attacked by contagious fever, he +did his duty, even more than his duty; but when he went, without +absolute need, and shared in the repugnant cares which the most devoted +servants of Christ in the hospitals undertake only after struggles and +heroic victory over revolted nature he rose to sublimity. It was because +he saw in the poor the suffering members of the Saviour; to love the +poor man, it is not enough to wish him well, we must respect him, and we +cannot respect him as much as any child of God deserves without seeing +in him the image of Jesus Christ himself. No one acquires love for God +without being soon wholly enkindled by it; thus it was no longer +sufficient for Mgr. de Laval to instruct and console the poor and the +sick, he served them also in the most abject duties, going as far as to +wash with his own hands their sores and ulcers. A madman, the world will +say; why not content one's self with attending those people without +indulging in the luxury of heroism so repugnant? This would have +sufficed indeed to relieve nature, but would it have taught those +incurable and desperate cases that they were the first friends of Jesus +Christ, that the Church looked upon them as its jewels, and that their +fate from the point of view of eternity was enviable to all? It would +have relieved without consoling and raising the poor man to the height +which belongs to him in Christian society. Official assistance, with the +best intentions in the world, the most ingenious organization and the +most perfect working, can, however, never be charity in the perfectly +Christian sense of this word. If it could allay all needs and heal all +sores it would still have accomplished only half of the task: relieving +the body without reaching the soul. And man does not live by bread +alone. He who has been disinherited of the boons of fortune, family and +health, he who is incurable and who despairs of human joys needs +something else besides the most comfortable hospital room that can be +imagined; he needs the words which fell from the lips of God: "Blessed +are the poor, blessed are they that suffer, blessed are they that +mourn." He needs a pitying heart, a tender witness to indigence nobly +borne, a respectful friend of his misfortune, still more than that, a +worshipper of Jesus hidden in the persons of the poor, the orphan and +the sick. They have become rare in the world, these real friends of the +poor; the more assistance has become organized, the more charity seems +to have lost its true nature; and perhaps we might find in this state of +things a radical explanation for those implacable social antagonisms, +those covetous desires, those revolts followed by endless repression, +which bring about revolutions, and by them all manner of tyranny. Let us +first respect the poor, let us love them, let us sincerely admire their +condition as one ennobled by God, if we wish them to become reconciled +with Him, and reconciled with the world. When the rich man is a +Christian, generous and respectful of the poor, when he practises the +virtues which most belong to his social position, the poor man is very +near to conforming to those virtues which Providence makes his more +immediate duty, humility, obedience, resignation to the will of God and +trust in Him and in those who rule in His name. The solution of the +great social problem lies, as it seems to us, in the spiritual love of +the poor. Outside of this, there is only the heathen slave below, and +tyranny above with all its terrors. That is what religious enthusiasm +foresaw in centuries less well organized but more religious than ours. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +DEATH OF MGR. DE LAVAL + + +The end of a great career was now approaching. In the summer of 1707, a +long and painful illness nearly carried Mgr. de Laval away, but he +recovered, and convalescence was followed by manifest improvement. This +soul which, like the lamp of the sanctuary, was consumed in the +tabernacle of the Most High, revived suddenly at the moment of emitting +its last gleams, then suddenly died out in final brilliance. The +improvement in the condition of the venerable prelate was ephemeral; the +illness which had brought him to the threshold of the tomb proved fatal +some weeks later. He died in the midst of his labours, happy in proving +by the very origin of the disease which brought about his death, his +great love for the Saviour. It was, in fact, in prolonging on Good +Friday his pious stations in his chilly church (for our ancestors did +not heat their churches, even in seasons of rigorous cold), that he +received in his heel the frost-bite of which he died. Such is the name +the writers of the time give to this sore; in our days, when science has +defined certain maladies formerly misunderstood, it is permissible to +suppose that this so-called frost-bite was nothing else than diabetic +gangrene. No illusion could be cherished, and the venerable old man, +who had not, so to speak, passed a moment of his existence without +thinking of death, needed to adapt himself to the idea less than any one +else. In order to have nothing more to do than to prepare for his last +hour he hastened to settle a question which concerned his seminary: he +reduced definitely to eight the number of pensions which he had +established in it in 1680. This done, it remained for him now only to +suffer and die. The ulcer increased incessantly and the continual pains +which he felt became atrocious when it was dressed. His intolerable +sufferings drew from him, nevertheless, not cries and complaints, but +outpourings of love for God. Like Saint Vincent de Paul, whom the +tortures of his last malady could not compel to utter other words than +these: "Ah, my Saviour! my good Saviour!" Mgr. de Laval gave vent to +these words only: "O, my God! have pity on me! O God of Mercy!" and this +cry, the summary of his whole life: "Let Thy holy will be done!" One of +the last thoughts of the dying man was to express the sentiment of his +whole life, humility. Some one begged him to imitate the majority of the +saints, who, on their death-bed, uttered a few pious words for the +edification of their spiritual children. "They were saints," he replied, +"and I am a sinner." A speech worthy of Saint Vincent de Paul, who, +about to appear before God, replied to the person who requested his +blessing, "It is not for me, unworthy wretch that I am, to bless you." +The fervour with which he received the last sacraments aroused the +admiration of all the witnesses of this supreme hour. They almost +expected to see this holy soul take flight for its celestial mansion. As +soon as the prayers for the dying had been pronounced, he asked to have +the chaplets of the Holy Family recited, and during the recitation of +this prayer he gave up his soul to his Creator. It was then half-past +seven in the morning, and the sixth day of the month consecrated to the +Holy Virgin, whom he had so loved (May, 1708). + +It was with a quiver of grief which was felt in all hearts throughout +the colony that men learned the fatal news. The banks of the great river +repeated this great woe to the valleys; the sad certainty that the +father of all had disappeared forever sowed desolation in the homes of +the rich as well as in the thatched huts of the poor. A cry of pain, a +deep sob arose from the bosom of Canada which would not be consoled, +because its incomparable bishop was no more! Etienne de Citeaux said to +his monks after the death of his holy predecessor: "Alberic is dead to +our eyes, but he is not so to the eyes of God, and dead though he appear +to us, he lives for us in the presence of the Lord; for it is peculiar +to the saints that when they go to God through death, they bear their +friends with them in their hearts to preserve them there forever." This +is our dearest desire; the friends of the venerable prelate were and +still are to-day his own Canadians: may he remain to the end of the +ages our protector and intercessor with God! + +There were attributed to Mgr. de Laval, according to Latour and Brother +Houssart, and a witness who would have more weight, M. de Glandelet, a +priest of the seminary of Quebec, whose account was unhappily lost, a +great number of miraculous cures. Our purpose is not to narrate them; we +have desired to repeat only the wonders of his life in order to offer a +pattern and encouragement to all who walk in his steps, and in order to +pay the debt of gratitude which we owe to the principal founder of the +Catholic Church in our country. + +The body of Mgr. de Laval lay in state for three days in the chapel of +the seminary, and there was an immense concourse of the people about his +mortuary bed, rather to invoke him than to pray for his soul. His +countenance remained so beautiful that one would have thought him +asleep; that imposing brow so often venerated in the ceremonies of the +Church preserved all its majesty. But alas! that aristocratic hand, +which had blessed so many generations, was no longer to raise the +pastoral ring over the brows of bowing worshippers; that eloquent mouth +which had for half a century preached the gospel was to open no more; +those eyes with look so humble but so straightforward were closed +forever! "He is regretted by all as if death had carried him off in the +flower of his age," says a chronicle of the time, "it is because virtue +does not grow old." The obsequies of the prelate were celebrated with a +pomp still unfamiliar in the colony; the body, clad in the pontifical +ornaments, was carried on the shoulders of priests through the different +religious edifices of Quebec before being interred. All the churches of +the country celebrated solemn services for the repose of the soul of the +first Bishop of New France. Placed in a leaden coffin, the revered +remains were sepulchred in the vaults of the cathedral, but the heart of +Mgr. de Laval was piously kept in the chapel of the seminary, and later, +in 1752, was transported into the new chapel of this house. The funeral +orations were pronounced, which recalled with eloquence and talent the +services rendered by the venerable deceased to the Church, to France and +to Canada. One was delivered by M. de la Colombière, archdeacon and +grand vicar of the diocese of Quebec; the other by M. de Belmont, grand +vicar and superior of St. Sulpice at Montreal. + +Those who had the good fortune to be present in the month of May, 1878, +at the disinterment of the remains of the revered pontiff and at their +removal to the chapel of the seminary where, according to his +intentions, they repose to-day, will recall still with emotion the pomp +which was displayed on this solemn occasion, and the fervent joy which +was manifested among all classes of society. An imposing procession +conveyed them, as at the time of the seminary obsequies, to the +Ursulines; from the convent of the Ursulines to the Jesuit Fathers', +next to the Congregation of St. Patrick, to the Hôtel-Dieu, and finally +to the cathedral, where a solemn service was sung in the presence of the +apostolic legate, Mgr. Conroy. The Bishop of Sherbrooke, M. Antoine +Racine, pronounced the eulogy of the first prelate of the colony. + +The remains of Mgr. de Laval rested then in peace under the choir of the +chapel of the seminary behind the principal altar. On December 16th, +1901, the vault was opened by order of the commission entrusted by the +Holy See with the conduct of the apostolic investigation into the +virtues and miracles _in specie_ of the founder of the Church in Canada. +The revered remains, which were found in a perfect state of +preservation, were replaced in three coffins, one of glass, the second +of oak, and the third of lead, and lowered into the vault. The opening +was closed by a brick wall, well cemented, concealed between two iron +gates. There they rest until, if it please God to hear the prayers of +the Catholic population of our country, they may be placed upon the +altars. This examination of the remains of the venerable prelate was the +last act in his apostolic ordeal, for we are aware with what precaution +the Church surrounds herself and with what prudence she scrutinizes the +most minute details before giving a decision in the matter of +canonization. The documents in the case of Mgr. de Laval have been sent +to the secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites at Rome; and from +there will come to us, let us hope, the great news of the canonization +of the first Bishop of New France. + +Sleep your sleep, revered prelate, worthy son of crusaders and noble +successor of the apostles. Long and laborious was your task, and you +have well merited your repose beneath the flagstones of your seminary. +Long will the sons of future generations go there to spell out your +name,--the name of an admirable pastor, and, as the Church will tell us +doubtless before long, of a saint. + + + + +INDEX + + +A + +Ailleboust, M. d', governor of New France, 8 + +Albanel, Father, missionary to the Indians at Hudson Bay, 11, 103 + +Alexander VII, Pope, appoints Laval apostolic vicar with the title of + Bishop of Petræa _in partibus_, 7, 26; + petitioned by the king to erect an episcopal see in Quebec, 131; + wants the new diocese to be an immediate dependency of the Holy See, 133 + +Alexander of Rhodes, Father, 23 + +Algonquin Indians, 2, 9, 11 + +Allard, Father, Superior of the Récollets in the province of + St. Denis, 109, 110 + +Allouez, Father Claude, 11; + addresses the mission at Sault Ste. Marie, 104 + +Anahotaha, Huron chief, joins Dollard, 69, 71 + +Andros, Sir Edmund, governor of New England, 173 + +Argenson, Governor d', 29; + his continual friction with Laval, 34; + disapproves of the retreat of Captain Dupuis from the mission of + Gannentaha, 67 + +Arnaud, Father, accompanies La Vérendrye as far as the Rocky Mountains, 11 + +Assise, François d', founder of the Franciscans, 18 + +Aubert, M., on the French-Canadians, 118, 119 + +Auteuil, Denis Joseph Ruette d', solicitor-general of the Sovereign + Council, 167 + +Avaugour, Governor d', withdraws his opposition to the liquor trade and + is recalled, 38-40; + his last report, 40; + references, 10, 28 + + +B + +Bagot, Father, head of the college of La Flèche, 20 + +Bailly, François, directs the building of the Notre-Dame Church, 88 + +Bancroft, George, historian, quoted, 4, 5, 152, 153 + +Beaudoncourt, Jacques de, quoted, 39; + describes the escape of the Gannentaha mission from the massacre of + 1658, 66, 67 + +Beaumont, Hardouin de Péréfixe de, Archbishop of Paris, 134 + +Belmont, M. de, his charitable works, 135, 136; + preaches Laval's funeral oration, 265 + +Bernières, Henri de, first superior of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56; + entrusted with Laval's duties during his absence, 134, 143, 162; + appointed dean of the chapter established by Laval, 197; + his death, 239 + +Bernières, Jean de, his religious retreat at Caen, 24, 25; + referred to, 33, 34 + +Berthelot, M., rents the abbey of Lestrées from Laval, 138; + exchanges Ile Jésus for the Island of Orleans, 138 + +Bishop of Petræa, see _Laval-Montmorency_ + +Bouchard, founder of the house of Montmorency, 16 + +Boucher, governor of Three Rivers, 29 + +Boudon, Abbé Henri-Marie, archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, 23 + +Bourdon, solicitor-general, 79 + +Bourgard, Mgr., quoted, 61 + +Bourgeoys, Sister Marguerite, founds a school in Montreal which grows + into the Ville-Marie Convent, 9, 126; + on board the plague-stricken _St. André_, 31, 32; + as a teacher, 91, 92, 156; + through her efforts the church of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is + erected, 177, 178 + +Bouteroue, M. de, commissioner during Talon's absence, 116 + +Brébeuf, Father, his persecution and death, 5, 16, 62 + +Bretonvilliers, M. de, superior of St. Sulpice, 88, 89, 135, 162 + +Briand, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Bizard, Lieutenant, dispatched by Frontenac to arrest the law-breakers + and insulted by Perrot, 160 + +Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, the, 125 + +Brulon, Jean Gauthier de, confessor of the chapter established + by Laval, 197 + + +C + +Caen, the town of, 24 + +Callières, Chevalier de, governor of Montreal, 214; + lays before the king a plan to conquer New York, 218; + at Quebec when attacked by Phipps, 229; + makes peace with the Indians, 235; + his death, 235 + +Canons, the duties of, 196, 197 + +Carignan Regiment, the, 53, 77, 79, 114 + +Carion, M. Philippe de, 88 + +Cataraqui, Fort (Kingston), built by Frontenac and later called after + him, 84, 145; + conceded to La Salle, 145 + +Cathedral of Quebec, the, 84, 85 + +Champigny, M. de, commissioner, replaces Meulles, 204, 215 + +Champlain, Samuel de, governor of New France and founder + of Quebec, 4, 8, 12 + +Charlevoix, Pierre François Xavier de, on colonization, 117, 118; + his portrait of Frontenac, 144, 145 + +Charron Brothers, the, make an unsuccessful attempt to establish a + charitable house in Montreal, 125, 245-8 + +Château St. Louis, 112, 160, 163 + +Chaumonot, Father, 65; + the head of the Brotherhood of the Holy Family, 86, 87 + +Chevestre, Françoise de, wife of Jean-Louis de Laval, 139 + +Clement X, Pope, 133; + signs the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec, 136 + +Closse, Major, 8, 92 + +Colbert, Louis XIV's prime minister, 52; + a letter from Villeray to, 77, 78; + opposes Talon's immigration plans, 80; + receives a letter from Talon, 107; + Talon's proposals to, 115; + a dispatch from Frontenac to, 161; + reproves Frontenac's overbearing conduct, 165; + asks for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, 170, 171 + +Collège de Clermont, 21, 22 + +College of Montreal, the, 124, 125 + +Colombière, M. de la, quoted, 23, 256, 257 + +Company of Montreal, the, 25; + its financial obligations taken up by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 135 + +Company of Notre-Dame of Montreal, 85, 108, 127, 189 + +Company of the Cent-Associés, founded by Richelieu, 4; + incapable of colonizing New France, abandons it to the royal + government, 40, 41; + assists the missionaries, 50; + a portion of its obligations undertaken by the West India Company, 145 + +Consistorial Congregation of Rome, the, 132 + +Couillard, Madame, the house of, 58 + +Courcelles, M. de, appointed governor in de Mézy's place, 51; + acts as godfather to Garakontié, Indian chief, 65; + an instance of his firmness, 82, 83; + meets the Indian chiefs at Cataraqui, and gains their approval of + building a fort there, 84; + succeeded by Frontenac, 84; + lays the corner-stone of the Notre-Dame Church in Montreal, 88; + returns to France, 143 + +_Coureurs de bois_, the, 158, 159 + +Crèvecoeur, Fort, 148, 149 + + +D + +Dablon, Father, 11, 62, 65; + describes Laval's visit to the Prairie de la Madeleine, 74, 75; + quoted, 103, 140 + +Damours, M., member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166; + imprisoned by Frontenac, 167 + +Daniel, Father, his death, 5 + +Denonville, Marquis de, succeeds de la Barre, 193, 202, 204; + urges Laval's return to Canada, 213; + his expedition against the Iroquois, 214-16; + seizes Indian chiefs to serve on the king's galleys, 214, 215; + builds a fort at Niagara, 216; + recalled, 218 + +Dequen, Father, 32, 33 + +Dollard, makes a brave stand against the Iroquois, 39, 68-72, 75 (note) + +Dollier de Casson, superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 11; + at the laying of the first stone of the Church of Notre-Dame, 89; + preaching on the shores of Lake Erie, 108; + joined by La Salle, 148; + speaks of the liquor traffic, 175; + at Quebec, 190 + +Dongan, Colonel Thomas, governor of New York, urges the Iroquois to + strife, 185, 191, 213, 216 + +Dosquet, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Druillètes, Father, 11 + +Duchesneau, intendant, his disputes with Frontenac upon the question of + President of the Council, 166, 167; + recalled, 168, 185; + asked by Colbert for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, 170, 171; + instructed by the king to avoid discord with La Barre, 186, 187 + +Dudouyt, Jean, director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56, 134, 143, 163; + his mission to France in relation to the liquor traffic, 171; + grand cantor of the chapter established by Laval, 197; + his death, 219; + burial of his heart in Quebec, 219 + +Dupont, M., member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166 + +Dupuis, Captain, commander of the mission at Gannentaha, 65; + how he saved the mission from the general massacre of 1658, 65-7 + + +E + +Earthquake of 1663, 42-5; + its results, 45, 46 + + +F + +Famine Creek, 193, 217 + +Fénelon, Abbé de, see _Salignac-Fénelon_ + +Ferland, Abbé, quoted, 35; + on the education of the Indians, 63, 64; + his tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, 93-5; + on Talon's ambitions, 114; + quoted, 130; + his opinion of the erection of an episcopal see at Quebec, 133; + on the union of the Quebec Seminary with that of the Foreign Missions + in Paris, 140; + on La Salle's misfortunes, 149; + quoted, 155; + praises Laval's stand against the liquor traffic, 173; + on Laval's return to Canada, 220 + +Five Nations, the, sue for peace, 53; + missions to, 65; + references, 217, 223, 234 + +French-Canadians, their physical and moral qualities, 118, 119; + habits and dress, 120; + houses, 120, 121; + as hunters, 121, 122 + +Frontenac, Fort, 84, 215, 217, 223 + +Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count de, governor of Canada, 16; + builds Fort Cataraqui, 84, 145; + succeeds Courcelles, 84, 143; + his disputes with Duchesneau, 112, 166, 167; + early career, 144; + Charlevoix's portrait of, 144, 145; + orders Perrot's arrest, 160; + his quarrel with the Abbé de Fénelon, 160-5; + reproved by the king for his absolutism, 164, 165; + his recall, 168, 185; + succeeds in having permanent livings established, 181; + again appointed governor, 218, 228; + carries on a guerilla warfare with the Iroquois, 228, 229; + defends Quebec against Phipps, 129-31; + attacks the Iroquois, 233, 234; + his death, 234 + + +G + +Gallinée, Brehan de, Sulpician priest, 11, 105, 108, 148 + +Gannentaha, the mission at, 65; + how it escaped the general massacre of 1658, 65-7 + +Garakontié, Iroquois chief, his conversion, 65; + his death, 73, 74 + +Garnier, Father Charles, his death, 5 + +Garreau, Father, 11 + +Gaudais-Dupont, M., 41 + +Glandelet, Charles, 141, 197, 218; + in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, 243 + +Gosselin, Abbé, quoted, 35; + his explanation of Laval's _mandement_, 49, 50; + quoted, 58, 59; + on the question of permanent livings, 169, 170 + + +H + +Harlay, Mgr. de, Archbishop of Rouen, opposes Laval's petition for an + episcopal see at Quebec, 133; + called to the see of Paris, 134; + his death, 184 + +Hermitage, the, a religious retreat, 24, 25 + +Hôtel-Dieu Hospital (Montreal), established by Mlle. Mance, 8 + +Hôtel-Dieu, Sisters of the, 33, 210, 236 + +Houssart, Laval's servant, 250, 251, 252, 253, 255, 264 + +Hudson Bay, explored by Father Albanel, 11, 103; + English forts on, captured by Troyes, 204, 214; + Iberville's expedition to, 233 + +Hurons, the, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 39; + forty of them join Dollard, 69; + but betray him, 70, 71; + they suffer a well-deserved fate, 72 + + +I + +Iberville, Le Moyne d', takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson + Bay, 204, 233; + attacks the English settlements in Newfoundland, 233; + explores the mouths of the Mississippi, founds the city of Mobile, and + becomes the first governor of Louisiana, 233; + his death, 233 + +Ile Jésus, 58, 185, 189 + +Illinois Indians, 148 + +Innocent XI, Pope, 201 + +Iroquois, the, 2; + their attacks on the missions, 5; + persecute the missionaries, 8; + conclude a treaty of peace with de Tracy which lasts eighteen + years, 54, 82; + their contemplated attack on the mission of Gannentaha, 65; + make an attack upon Quebec, 67-72; + threaten to re-open their feud with the Ottawas, 83; + urged to war by Dongan, 185, 191; + massacre the tribes allied to the French, 191; + descend upon the colony, 191, 192; + La Barre's expedition against, 193; + Denonville's expedition against, 214; + several seized to serve on the king's galleys, 214, 215; + their massacre of Lachine, 224-7 + + +J + +Jesuits, the, their entry into New France, 1; + their self-sacrificing labours, 4; + in possession of all the missions of New France, 25; + as educators, 63; + their devotion to the Virgin Mary, 85; + religious zeal, 109; + provide instruction for the colonists, 124; + at the defence of Quebec, 230; + shelter the seminarists after the fire, 240, 241 + +Joliet, Louis, with Marquette, explores the upper part of the + Mississippi, 11, 59, 82, 146, 153 + +Jogues, Father, his persecution and death, 5, 62, 65 + +Juchereau, Sister, quoted, 240, 241 + + +K + +Kingston, see _Cataraqui_ + +Kondiaronk (the Rat), Indian chief, his duplicity upsets peace + negotiations with the Iroquois, 216-18; + his death, 235 + + +L + +La Barre, Lefebvre de, replaces Frontenac as governor, 168, 185; + holds an assembly at Quebec to inquire into the affairs + of the colony, 190; + demands reinforcements, 191; + his useless expedition against the Iroquois, 193; + his recall, 193 + +La Chaise, Father, confessor to Louis XIV, 174, 238 + +La Chesnaie, M. Aubert de, 186 + +Lachesnaie, village, massacred by the Iroquois, 228 + +Lachine, 116, 147, 148; + the massacre of, 225-7 + +La Flèche, the college of, 19, 20 + +Lalemant, Father Gabriel, his persecution and death, 5, 62; + his account of the great earthquake, 42-5; + references, 16, 35, 38 + +Lamberville, Father, describes the death of Garakontié, + Indian chief, 74, 215 + +La Montagne, the mission of, at Montreal, 9, 74, 125 + +La Mouche, Huron Indian, deserts Dollard, 71 + +Lanjuère, M. de, quoted, 24, 135 + +La Rochelle, 26, 77, 114, 116, 202, 219 + +La Salle, Cavelier de, 16, 116; + Fort Cataraqui conceded to, 145; + his birth, 147; + comes to New France, 147; + establishes a trading-post at Lachine, 147, 148; + starts on his expedition to the Mississippi, 148; + returns to look after his affairs at Fort Frontenac, 149; + back to Crèvecoeur and finds it deserted, 149; + descends the Mississippi, 150; + raises a cross on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico and takes possession + in the name of the King of France, 151; + spends a year in establishing trading-posts among the Illinois, 151; + visits France, 151; + his misfortunes, 152; + is murdered by one of his servants, 152; + Bancroft's appreciation of, 152, 153; + his version of the Abbé de Fénelon's sermon, 160, 161 + +Latour, Abbé de, quoted, 33; + on the liquor question, 36-8; + _re_ the Sovereign Council, 40; + describes the characteristics of the young colonists, 100; + on Laval, 187, 188, 264 + +Lauson-Charny, M. de, director of the Quebec Seminary, 55, 134 + +Laval, Anne Charlotte de, only sister of Bishop Laval, 19 + +Laval, Fanchon (Charles-François-Guy), nephew of the bishop, 140 + +Laval, Henri de, brother of Bishop Laval, 19, 21, 139, 141 + +Laval, Hugues de, Seigneur of Montigny, etc., father of Bishop Laval, 17; + his death, 18 + +Laval, Jean-Louis de, receives the bishop's inheritance, 19, 21, 22, 139 + +Laval-Montmorency, François de, first Bishop of Quebec, his birth and + ancestors, 17; + death of his father, 18; + his education, 19-21; + death of his two brothers, 21; + his mother begs him, on becoming the head of the family, to abandon his + ecclesiastical career, 21; + renounces his inheritance in favour of his brother Jean-Louis, 21, 22; + his ordination, 22; + appointed archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, 22; + spends fifteen months in Rome, 23; + three years in the religious retreat of M. de Bernières, 24, 25; + embarks for New France with the title of Bishop of Petræa + _in partibus_, 26; + disputes his authority with the Abbé de Queylus, 27, 28; + given the entire jurisdiction of Canada, 28; + his personality and appearance, 28, 29; + his devotion to the plague-stricken, 33; + private life, 33, 34; + friction with d'Argenson on questions of precedence, 34; + opposes the liquor trade with the savages, 36-9; + carries an appeal to the throne against the liquor traffic, 39; + returns to Canada, 41; + his efforts to establish a seminary at Quebec, 47-50; + obtains an ordinance from the king granting the seminary permission to + collect tithes, 50; + receives letters from Colbert and the king, 52, 53; + takes up his abode in the seminary, 55; + his pastoral visits, 74, 75, 87; + founds the smaller seminary in 1668, 97-9; + his efforts to educate the colonists, 97-100, 124; + builds the first sanctuary of Sainte Anne, 101; + his ardent desire for more missionaries is granted, 104, 105; + his advice to the missionaries, 105-7; + receives a letter from the king _re_ the Récollet priests, 110; + created Bishop of Quebec (1674), 129; + his reasons for demanding the title of Bishop of Quebec, 130, 131; + visits the abbeys of Maubec and Lestrées, 138; + leases the abbey of Lestrées to M. Berthelot, 138; + exchanges the Island of Orleans for Ile Jésus, 138; + visits his family, 139; + renews the union of his seminary with that of the Foreign Missions, 140; + returns to Canada after four years absence, 141; + ordered by the king to investigate the evils of the liquor + traffic, 171, 172; + leaves again for France (1678), 173; + acquires from the king a slight restriction over the liquor traffic, 174; + confers a favour on the priests of St. Sulpice, 175, 176; + returns to Canada (1680), 184, 186; + wills all that he possesses to his seminary, 185; + makes a pastoral visit of his diocese, 189; + his ill-health, 190; + writes to the king for reinforcements, 191, 192; + decides to carry his resignation in person to the king, 196; + establishes a chapter, 197, 198; + sails for France, 198; + to remain titular bishop until the consecration of his successor, 201; + returns to Canada, 202, 220; + ill-health, 205; + reproves Saint-Vallier's extravagance, 206; + an appreciation of, by Saint-Vallier, 209; + a letter from Father La Chaise to, 238, 239; + officiates during Saint-Vallier's absence, 244; + his last illness, 249-53, 261, 262; + his death, 263; + and burial, 264-6 + +Laval University, 15, 99, 124 + +Leber, Mlle. Jeanne, 91, 92 + +Le Caron, Father, Récollet missionary, 3 + +Lejeune, Father, 25 + +Lemaître, Father, put to death by the Iroquois, 8; + ministers to the plague-stricken on board the _St. André_, 31, 32 + +_Le Soleil d'Afrique_, 219 + +Lestrées, the abbey of, 136, 138, 185 + +Liquor traffic, the, forbidden by the Sovereign Council, 36; + opposed by Laval, 36-9; + the Sovereign Council gives unrestricted sway to, 113; + again restricted by the council, 115, 116; + a much discussed question, 169-75 + +Lorette, the village of, 74 + +Lotbinière, Louis René de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166 + +Louis XIV of France, recalls d'Avaugour, and sends more troops + to Canada, 39; + writes to Laval, 52, 53; + petitions the Pope for the erection of an episcopal see + in Quebec, 131, 132; + demands that the new diocese shall be dependent upon the metropolitan + of Rouen, 132, 133; + granted the right of nomination to the bishopric of Quebec, 136; + his decree of 1673, 159, 160; + reproves Frontenac for his absolutism, 164, 165; + orders Frontenac to investigate the evils of the liquor + traffic, 171, 172; + forbids intoxicating liquors being carried to the savages in their + dwellings or in the woods, 174; + contributes to the maintenance of the priests in Canada, 182, 183; + his efforts to keep the Canadian officials in harmony, 186, 187; + sends reinforcements, 192; + grants Laval an annuity for life, 201; + at war again, 235 + + +M + +Maisonneuve, M. de, governor of Montreal, 8, 16, 92, 176 + +Maizerets, M. Ange de, comes to Canada, 41; + director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56; + accompanies Laval on a tour of his diocese, 189; + archdeacon of the chapter established by Laval, 197; + in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, 243 + +Mance, Mlle., establishes the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Montreal, 8; + on board the plague-stricken _St. André_, 31; + at the laying of the first stone of the church of Notre-Dame, 89; + her death, 89; + her religious zeal, 91, 92 + +Maricourt, Le Moyne de, 16; + takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204 + +Marquette, Father, with Joliet explores the upper part of the + Mississippi, 11, 59, 82, 146, 153; + his death, 146, 147 + +Maubec, the abbey of, 131; + incorporated with the diocese of Quebec, 136; + a description of, 137 + +Membré, Father, descends the Mississippi with La Salle, 149, 150, 151 + +Mesnu, Peuvret de, secretary of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166 + +Métiomègue, Algonquin chief, joins Dollard, 69 + +Meulles, M. de, replaces Duchesneau as commissioner, 168, 185; + replaced by Champigny, 204 + +Mézy, Governor de, 10; + succeeds d'Avaugour, 41; + disagrees with the bishop, 51; + his death, 51, 52 + +Michilimackinac, 146, 149, 216 + +Millet, Father, pays a tribute to Garakontié, 73, 215 + +Mississippi River, explored by Marquette and Joliet as far as the + Arkansas River, 11, 59, 82, 146; + La Salle descends to its mouth, 150, 151 + +Monsipi, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204 + +Montigny, Abbé de, one of Laval's early titles, 7, 19 + +Montigny-sur-Avre, Laval's birthplace, 17 + +Montmagny, M. de, governor of New France, 8 + +Montmorency, Henri de, near kinsman of Laval, 18; + beheaded by the order of Richelieu, 18 + +Montreal, the Island of, 8, 86; + made over to the Sulpicians, 108, 175; + the parishes of, united with the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 175, 176, 183 + +Montreal, the mission of La Montagne at, 9, 74; + its first Roman Catholic church, 87-90; + its religious zeal, 90-2; + see also _Ville-Marie_ + +Morel, Thomas, director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 101; + his arrest, 163; + set at liberty, 164; + his death, 219 + +Morin, M., quoted, 89, 90 + +Mornay, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Mother Mary of the Incarnation, on Laval's devotion to the sick, 33; + on his private life, 34, 254; + on the results of the great earthquake, 45, 46; + on the work of the Sisters, 79, 80; + her religious zeal and fine qualities, 92, 93; + Abbé Ferland's appreciation of, 93-5; + speaks of the work of Abbé Fénelon and Father Trouvé, 109; + on the liquor traffic, 113; + sums up Talon's merits, 114; + speaks of the colonists' children, 119; + on civilizing the Indians, 125, 126; + an appreciation of, by Abbé Verreau, 127; + her death, 154; + her noble character, 155 + +Mouchy, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, 158 + + +N + +Nelson, Fort (Hudson Bay), held by the English against de Troyes' + expedition, 204; + captured by Iberville, 233 + +Newfoundland, English settlements attacked by Iberville, 232 + +Notre-Dame Church (Montreal), 87-90, 176 + +Notre-Dame de Bonsecours, chapel (Montreal), 176-9 + +Notre-Dame de Montréal, the parish of, 175, 176 + +Notre-Dame des Victoires, church of, 185 + +Noue, Father de, his death, 5 + + +O + +Oblate Fathers, their entry into New France, 1 + +Olier, M., founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 5, 6, 25; + places the Island of Montreal under the protection of the + Holy Virgin, 8, 85; + his death, 135; + succeeded by Bretonvilliers, 162 + +Onondagas, the, 67 + +Ottawa Indians, threaten to re-open their feud with the Iroquois, 83, 215 + + +P + +Pallu, M., 23 + +Parkman, Francis, quoted, 34, 35 + +Péricard, Mgr. de, Bishop of Evreux, 21; + his death, 22 + +Péricard, Michelle de, mother of Bishop Laval, 17; + her death, 26 + +Peltrie, Madame de la, 92; + establishes the Ursuline Convent in Quebec, 125; + a description of, by Abbé Casgrain, 153, 154; + her death, 154 + +Permanence of livings, a much discussed question, 169, 181, 184, 236 + +Perrot, François Marie, governor of Montreal, 89; + his anger at Bizard, 160; + arrested by Frontenac, 160, 164 + +Perrot, Nicholas, explorer, 82 + +Peyras, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166 + +Phipps, Sir William, attacks Quebec, 11, 229-31 + +Picquet, M., 23 + +Plessis, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 13 + +Pommier, Hugues, comes to Canada, 41; + director of the Quebec seminary, 55 + +Pontbriant, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Pourroy de l'Aube-Rivière, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Prairie de la Madeleine, 74, 232 + +Propaganda, the, 130, 131 + +Prudhomme, Fort, erected by La Salle, 150 + + +Q + +Quebec, attacked by Phipps, 11, 229-31; + the bishops of, 12; + attacked by the Iroquois, 67-72; + arrival of colonists (1665), 78, 79; + the cathedral of, 84, 85; + its religious fervour, 92; + the Lower Town consumed by fire, 186; + overwhelmed by disease and fire, 239 + +Quebec Act, the, 13 + +Queylus, Abbé de, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, 7; + comes to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the Sulpicians, + and to establish a seminary, 8; + disputes Laval's authority, 27; + goes to France, 27; + returns with bulls placing him in possession of the parish + of Montreal, 28; + suspended from office by Bishop Laval and recalled to France, 28; + returns to the colony and is appointed grand vicar at Montreal, 28; + his religious zeal, 92; + his generosity, 107; + returns to France, 134; + his work praised by Talon, 134 + + +R + +Rafeix, Father, comes to Canada, 41 + +Récollets, the, their entry into New France, 1; + refused permission to return to Canada after the Treaty of St. + Germain-en-Laye, 3, 110; + propose St. Joseph as the patron saint of Canada, 87; + their popularity, 111, 112; + build a monastery in Quebec, 112; + espouse Frontenac's cause in his disputes with Duchesneau, 112; + provide instruction for the colonists, 124; + their establishment in Quebec, 208 + +_Régale_, the question of the right of, 184, 201 + +Ribourde, Father de la, 149; + killed by the Iroquois, 149, 150 + +Richelieu, Cardinal, founds the Company of the Cent-Associés, 4; + orders Henri de Montmorency to be beheaded, 18; + referred to, 117 + +Rupert, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204 + + +S + +Sagard, Father, Récollet missionary, 3 + +Sainte Anne, the Brotherhood of, 101 + +Sainte Anne, the first sanctuary of, built by Laval, 101; + gives place to a stone church erected through the efforts + of M. Filion, 102; + a third temple built upon its site, 102; + the present cathedral built (1878), 102; + the pilgrimages to, 102, 103 + +Sainte-Hélène, Andrée Duplessis de, 92 + +Sainte-Hélène, Le Moyne de, 16; + takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204; + his death at the siege of Quebec, 231 + +Saint-Vallier, Abbé Jean Baptiste de la Croix de, king's almoner, 199; + appointed provisionally grand vicar of Laval, 201; + leaves a legacy to the seminary of Quebec, 202; + embarks for Canada, 202; + makes a tour of his diocese, 203, 204; + his extravagance, 206; + pays a tribute to Laval, 209; + leaves for France, 210; + obtains a grant for a Bishop's Palace, 211; + his official appointment and consecration as Bishop of Quebec, 202, 219; + returns to Canada, 221; + opens a hospital in Notre-Dame des Anges, 236; + in France from 1700 to 1705, when returning to Canada is captured by + an English vessel and kept in captivity till 1710, 242, 243; + the object of his visit to France, 243 + +_St. André_, the, 27; + the plague breaks out on board, 31, 32 + +Ste. Anne, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204 + +St. Bernardino of Siena, quoted, 35, 36 + +St. François-Xavier, adopted as the second special protector of + the colony, 87 + +St. Ignace de Michilimackinac, La Salle's burying-place, 147 + +St. Joachim, the seminary of Quebec has a country house at, 12; + the boarding-school at, established by Laval, 100, 124, 245; + receives a remembrance from Laval, 199 + +St. Joseph, the first patron saint of Canada, 87 + +St. Malo, the Bishop of, 6, 7 + +St. Sulpice de Montréal, see _Seminary of St. Sulpice_ + +St. Sulpice, the priests of, see _Sulpicians_ + +Salignac-Fénelon, Abbé François de, goes to the north shore of Lake + Ontario to establish a mission, 105, 108; + teaches the Iroquois, 125; + his sermon preached against Frontenac, 160, 161; + his quarrel with Frontenac, 160-5; + forbidden to return to Canada, 164 + +Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga), the mission of, 9, 74, 147, 189 + +Sault Ste. Marie, the mission of, 11; + addressed by Father Allouez, 104 + +Seignelay, Marquis de, Colbert's son, sends four shiploads of colonists + to people Louisiana, 151, 152; + postpones Laval's return to Canada, 211 + +Seigniorial tenure, 119, 120 + +Seminary, the, at Quebec, founded by Laval (1663), 10; + the priests of, assist in defending Quebec against Phipps, 11, 12; + Laval's ordinance relating to, 47, 48; + its establishment receives the royal approval, 50; + obtains permission to collect tithes from the colonists, 50; + its first superior and directors, 55; + affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, 57, 58; + a smaller seminary built (1668), 58, 59, 97-9; + the whole destroyed by fire (1701), 58, 240, 241; + its union with the Seminary of Foreign Missions renewed, 140; + receives a legacy from Saint-Vallier, 202; + sends missionaries to Louisiana, 208; + in financial difficulties, 211 + +Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, affiliated with the Quebec + Seminary, 57, 58; + contributes to the support of the mission at Ville-Marie, 136; + its union with the Quebec Seminary renewed, 140; + a union with the Seminary of St. Sulpice formed, 221 + +Seminary of Montreal, see _Ville-Marie Convent_ + +Seminary of St. Sulpice, the, founded by M. Olier, 5, 6, 25; + enlarged, 90; + its ancient clock, 90; + takes up the financial obligations of the Company of Montreal, 135; + joined to the parish of Notre-Dame de Montréal, 175, 176, 183; + visited by Laval, 189; + affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions, 221 + +_Seine_, the, captured by the English with Saint-Vallier on board, 242, 243 + +Souart, M., 91, 92, 124 + +Sovereign Council, the, fixes the tithe at a twenty-sixth, 10; + forbids the liquor trade with the savages, 36; + registers the royal approval of the establishment of the + Quebec Seminary, 50; + recommends that emigrants be sent only from the north of France, 78; + passes a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of liquor, 113; + finds it necessary to restrict the liquor trade, 115, 116; + its members, 158; + judges Perrot, 160; + its re-construction, 165-7; + a division in its ranks, 167; + passes a decree affecting the policy of the Quebec Seminary, 236 + +Sulpicians, their entry into New France, 1; + become the lords of the Island of Montreal, 8, 108; + their devotion to the Virgin Mary, 85; + at Ville-Marie, 92; + more priests arrive, 105, 106; + their religious zeal, 109; + provide instruction for the colonists, 124; + granted the livings of the Island of Montreal, 175, 176; + request the king's confirmation of the union of their seminary with + the parishes on the Island of Montreal, 183, 184 + + +T + +Talon, intendant, appointed to investigate the administration + of de Mézy, 51; + his immigration plans opposed by Colbert, 80; + writes to Colbert in praise of the Abbé de Queylus, 107; + brings out five Récollet priests, 109; + obtains from the Sovereign Council a decree permitting the unrestricted + sale of liquor, 113; + develops the resources of the country, 114, 115; + returns to France for two years, 116; + praises Abbé de Queylus' work, 134, 135; + retires from office, 143 + +Taschereau, Cardinal, 40, 86 + +Tesserie, M. de la, member of the Sovereign Council, 158 + +Tilly, Le Gardeur de, member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166, 167 + +Tithes, the levying of, on the colonists, 10, 50, 51, 54; + payable only to the permanent priests, 55; + the edict of 1679, 181; + Laval and Saint-Vallier disagree upon the question of, 208, 209 + +Tonti, Chevalier de, accompanies La Salle as far as Fort Crèvecoeur, 148; + attacked by the Iroquois and flees to Michilimackinac, 149; + again joins La Salle and descends the Mississippi with him, 150; + appointed La Salle's representative, 151 + +Tracy, Marquis de, viceroy, appointed to investigate the administration + of de Mézy, 51; + builds three forts on the Richelieu River, 53; + destroys the hamlets of the Mohawks and concludes a treaty of peace + with the Iroquois which lasts eighteen years, 53, 54, 82; + reduces the tithe to a twenty-sixth, 54; + returns to France, 81; + his fine qualities, 81, 82; + presents a valuable picture to the church at Sainte Anne, 102 + +Treaty of Ryswick, 234 + +Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, 3, 110 + +Treaty of Utrecht, 235 + +Trouvé, Claude, goes to the north shore of Lake Ontario to establish + a mission, 105, 108 + +Troyes, Chevalier de, leads an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204 + +Turgis, Father, 62 + + +U + +Ursuline Convent (Quebec), established by Madame de la Peltrie, 112, 155; + consumed by fire, 210 + +Ursuline Sisters, 33, 125, 154, 231 + + +V + +Valrennes, M. de, commands Fort Frontenac, 223, 232 + +Vaudreuil, Chevalier de, 214; + in command at Montreal, 223; + opposing the Iroquois at massacre of Lachine, 226, 227; + succeeds Callières as governor of Montreal, 235 + +Verreau, Abbé, pays a tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, 127 + +Viel, Father, Récollet missionary, 3 + +Vignal, Father, ministers to the plague-stricken on board + the _St. André_, 31, 32; + referred to, 8, 91, 92 + +Ville-Marie (Montreal), the school at, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, 9; + the Abbé de Queylus returns to, 28; + takes precautions against the Iroquois, 68; + the school of martyrdom, 90, 91; + fortified by Denonville, 213, 214; + governed by Vaudreuil in Callières' absence, 223; + besieged by Winthrop, 229; + references, 82, 83, 85, 122, 124, 135, 162, 178, 217 + +Ville-Marie Convent, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, 126, 127, 175, 176 + +Villeray, M. de, writes to Colbert, 77, 78; + member of the Sovereign Council, 166, 167 + +Vitré, Denys de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166 + + +W + +West India Company, 81 + +Winthrop, Fitz-John, attacks Montreal, 229, 231 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval +by A. 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Leblond De Brumath. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 1.5em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + a {text-decoration: none;} + img {border: none;} + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: 85%; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + .left {text-align: left;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .padtop {margin-top: 3em;} + .botright {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} + + .indent {text-indent: 1.5em;} + .noindent {text-indent: 0;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes p {border: 0; margin-top: 2em; text-indent: 0;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval +by A. Leblond de Brumath + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval + +Author: A. Leblond de Brumath + +Release Date: November 28, 2005 [EBook #17174] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS OF CANADA: BISHOP LAVAL *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan Lane, Stacy Brown Thellend and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/illo1.jpg"><img src="images/illo1_th.jpg" width="400" height="529" alt="Bishop Laval" title="" /></a> +</div> + + + +<h3 class="u padtop"><i>THE MAKERS OF CANADA</i></h3> + +<h1 class="padtop">BISHOP LAVAL</h1> + +<h4 class="padtop" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em;">BY</h4> + +<h3 style="margin-top: 1em;">A. LEBLOND DE BRUMATH</h3> + +<h4 class="padtop">TORONTO<br /> +MORANG & CO., LIMITED<br /> +1912</h4> + + +<div class="padtop" style="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;"> +<p><i>Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year 1906 +by Morang & Co., Limited, in the Department of Agriculture.</i></p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table class="center" summary="toc"> +<tbody> +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><i>CHAPTER I</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CANADA</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER II</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANÇOIS DE LAVAL</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER III</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE SOVEREIGN COUNCIL</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER IV</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEMINARY</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER V</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">MGR. DE LAVAL AND THE SAVAGES</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER VI</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER VII</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE SMALLER SEMINARY</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER VIII</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONY</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER IX</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">BECOMES BISHOP OF QUEBEC</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER X</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">FRONTENAC IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XI</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">A TROUBLED ADMINISTRATION</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XII</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THIRD VOYAGE TO FRANCE</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XIII</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">LAVAL RETURNS TO CANADA</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XIV</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">RESIGNATION OF MGR. DE LAVAL</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XV</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">MGR. DE LAVAL COMES FOR THE LAST TIME TO CANADA</td><td class="botright"> <a href="#Page_211">211</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XVI</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">MASSACRE OF LACHINE</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XVII</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE LABOURS OF OLD AGE</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XVIII</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">LAST DAYS OF MGR. DE LAVAL</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" style="padding-top: 1.5em;" colspan="2"><i>CHAPTER XIX</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">DEATH OF MGR. DE LAVAL</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="left" style="padding-top: 1.5em;">INDEX</td><td class="botright"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3> +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CANADA</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>If</b></span>, standing upon the threshold of the twentieth century, we cast a look +behind us to note the road traversed, the victories gained by the great +army of Christ, we discover everywhere marvels of abnegation and +sacrifice; everywhere we see rising before us the dazzling figures of +apostles, of doctors of the Church and of martyrs who arouse our +admiration and command our respect. There is no epoch, no generation, +even, which has not given to the Church its phalanx of heroes, its quota +of deeds of devotion, whether they have become illustrious or have +remained unknown.</p> + +<p>Born barely three centuries ago, the Christianity of New France has +enriched history with pages no less glorious than those in which are +enshrined the lofty deeds of her elders. To the list, already long, of +workers for the gospel she has added the names of the Récollets and of +the Jesuits, of the Sulpicians and of the Oblate Fathers, who crossed +the seas to plant the faith among the hordes of barbarians who inhabited +the immense regions to-day known as the Dominion of Canada.</p> + +<p>And what daring was necessary, in the early <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span>days of the colony, to +plunge into the vast forests of North America! Incessant toil, +sacrifice, pain and death in its most terrible forms were the price that +was gladly paid in the service of God by men who turned their backs upon +the comforts of civilized France to carry the faith into the unknown +wilderness.</p> + +<p>Think of what Canada was at the beginning of the seventeenth century! +Instead of these fertile provinces, covered to-day by luxuriant +harvests, man's gaze met everywhere only impenetrable forests in which +the woodsman's axe had not yet permitted the plough to cleave and +fertilize the soil; instead of our rich and populous cities, of our +innumerable villages daintily perched on the brinks of streams, or +rising here and there in the midst of verdant plains, the eye perceived +only puny wigwams isolated and lost upon the banks of the great river, +or perhaps a few agglomerations of smoky huts, such as Hochelaga or +Stadaconé; instead of our iron rails, penetrating in all directions, +instead of our peaceful fields over which trains hasten at marvellous +speed from ocean to ocean, there were but narrow trails winding through +a jungle of primeval trees, behind which hid in turn the Iroquois, the +Huron or the Algonquin, awaiting the propitious moment to let fly the +fatal arrow; instead of the numerous vessels bearing over the waves of +the St. Lawrence, at a distance of more than six hundred leagues from +the sea, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span>the products of the five continents; instead of yonder +floating palaces, thronged with travellers from the four corners of the +earth, then only an occasional bark canoe came gliding slyly along by +the reeds of the shore, scarcely stopping except to permit its crew to +kindle a fire, to make prisoners or to scalp some enemy.</p> + +<p>A heroic courage was necessary to undertake to carry the faith to these +savage tribes. It was condemning one's self to lead a life like theirs, +of ineffable hardships, dangers and privations, now in a bark canoe and +paddle in hand, now on foot and bearing upon one's shoulders the things +necessary for the holy sacrament; in the least case it was braving +hunger and thirst, exposing one's self to the rigours of an excessive +cold, with which European nations were not yet familiar; it often meant +hastening to meet the most horrible tortures. In spite of all this, +however, Father Le Caron did not hesitate to penetrate as far as the +country of the Hurons, while Fathers Sagard and Viel were sowing the +first seeds of Christianity in the St. Lawrence valley. The devotion of +the Récollets, to the family of whom belonged these first missionaries +of Canada, was but ill-rewarded, for, after the treaty of St. +Germain-en-Laye, which restored Canada to France, the king refused them +permission to return to a region which they had watered with the sweat +of their brows and fertilized with their blood.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span>The humble children of St. Francis had already evangelized the Huron +tribes as far as the Georgian Bay, when the Company of the Cent-Associés +was founded by Richelieu. The obligation which the great cardinal +imposed upon them of providing for the maintenance of the propagators of +the gospel was to assure the future existence of the missions. The +merit, however, which lay in the creation of a society which did so much +for the furtherance of Roman Catholicism in North America is not due +exclusively to the great cardinal, for Samuel de Champlain can claim a +large share of it. "The welfare of a soul," said this pious founder of +Quebec, "is more than the conquest of an empire, and kings should think +of extending their rule in infidel countries only to assure therein the +reign of Jesus Christ."</p> + +<p>Think of the suffering endured, in order to save a soul, by men who for +this sublime purpose renounced all that constitutes the charm of life! +Not only did the Jesuits, in the early days of the colony, brave +horrible dangers with invincible steadfastness, but they even consented +to imitate the savages, to live their life, to learn their difficult +idioms. Let us listen to this magnificent testimony of the Protestant +historian Bancroft:—</p> + +<p>"The horrors of a Canadian life in the wilderness were resisted by an +invincible, passive courage, and a deep, internal tranquillity. Away +from the amenities of life, away from the opportunities of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span>vain-glory, +they became dead to the world, and possessed their souls in unalterable +peace. The few who lived to grow old, though bowed by the toils of a +long mission, still kindled with the fervour of apostolic zeal. The +history of their labours is connected with the origin of every +celebrated town in the annals of French Canada; not a cape was turned +nor a river entered but a Jesuit led the way."</p> + +<p>Must we now recall the edifying deaths of the sons of Loyola, who +brought the glad tidings of the gospel to the Hurons?—Father Jogues, +who returned from the banks of the Niagara with a broken shoulder and +mutilated hands, and went back, with sublime persistence, to his +barbarous persecutors, to pluck from their midst the palm of martyrdom; +Father Daniel, wounded by a spear while he was absolving the dying in +the village of St. Joseph; Father Brébeuf, refusing to escape with the +women and children of the hamlet of St. Louis, and expiring, together +with Father Gabriel Lalemant, in the most frightful tortures that Satan +could suggest to the imagination of a savage; Father Charles Garnier +pierced with three bullets, and giving up the ghost while blessing his +converts; Father de Noue dying on his knees in the snow!</p> + +<p>These missions had succumbed in 1648 and 1649 under the attacks of the +Iroquois. The venerable founder of St. Sulpice, M. Olier, had foreseen +this misfortune; he had always doubted the success of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span>missions so +extended and so widely scattered without a centre of support +sufficiently strong to resist a systematic and concerted attack of all +their enemies at once. Without disapproving the despatch of these flying +columns of missionaries which visited tribe after tribe (perhaps the +only possible method in a country governed by pagan chiefs), he believed +that another system of preaching the gospel would produce, perhaps with +less danger, a more durable effect in the regions protected by the flag +of France. Taking up again the thought of the Benedictine monks, who +have succeeded so well in other countries, M. Olier and the other +founders of Montreal wished to establish a centre of fervent piety which +should accomplish still more by example than by preaching. The +development and progress of religious work must increase with the +material importance of this centre of proselytism. In consequence, +success would be slow, less brilliant, but surer than that ordinarily +obtained by separate missions. This was, at least, the hope of our +fathers, and we of Quebec would seem unjust towards Providence and +towards them if, beholding the present condition of the two seminaries +of this city, of our Catholic colleges, of our institutions of every +kind, and of our religious orders, we did not recognize that their +thought was wise, and their enterprise one of prudence and blessed by +God.</p> + +<p>Up to 1658 New France belonged to the jurisdiction of the Bishops of St. +Malo and of Rouen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> At the time of the second voyage of Cartier, in +1535, his whole crew, with their officers at their head, confessed and +received communion from the hands of the Bishop of St. Malo. This +jurisdiction lasted until the appointment of the first Bishop of New +France. The creation of a diocese came in due time; the need of an +ecclesiastical superior, of a character capable of imposing his +authority made itself felt more and more. Disorders of all kinds crept +into the colony, and our fathers felt the necessity of a firm and +vigorous arm to remedy this alarming state of affairs. The love of +lucre, of gain easily acquired by the sale of spirituous liquors to the +savages, brought with it evils against which the missionaries +endeavoured to react.</p> + +<p>François de Laval-Montmorency, who was called in his youth the Abbé de +Montigny, was, on the recommendation of the Jesuits, appointed apostolic +vicar by Pope Alexander VII, who conferred upon him the title of Bishop +of Petræa <i>in partibus</i>. The Church in Canada was then directly +connected with the Holy See, and the sovereign pontiff abandoned to the +king of France the right of appointment and presentation of bishops +having the authority of apostolic vicars.</p> + +<p>The difficulties which arose between Mgr. de Laval and the Abbé de +Queylus, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, were regrettable, but, thanks +to the truly apostolic zeal and the purity of intention of these two men +of God, these difficulties <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span>were not long in giving place to a noble +rivalry for good, fostered by a perfect harmony. The Abbé de Queylus had +come to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the company of St. +Sulpice, and to establish there a seminary on the model of that in +Paris. This creation, with that of the hospital established by Mlle. +Mance, gave a great impetus to the young city of Montreal. Moreover, +religion was so truly the motive of the foundation of the colony by M. +Olier and his associates, that the latter had placed the Island of +Montreal under the protection of the Holy Virgin. The priests of St. +Sulpice, who had become the lords of the island, had already given an +earnest of their labours; they too aspired to venerate martyrs chosen +from their ranks, and in the same year MM. Lemaître and Vignal perished +at the hands of the wild Iroquois.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, under the paternal direction of Mgr. de Laval, and the +thoroughly Christian administration of governors like Champlain, de +Montmagny, d'Ailleboust, or of leaders like Maisonneuve and Major +Closse, Heaven was pleased to spread its blessings upon the rising +colony; a number of savages asked and received baptism, and the fervour +of the colonists endured. The men were not the only ones to spread the +good word; holy maidens worked on their part for the glory of God, +whether in the hospitals of Quebec and Montreal, or in the institution +of the Ursulines in the heart of the city of Champlain, or, finally, in +the modest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span>school founded at Ville-Marie by Sister Marguerite +Bourgeoys. It is true that the blood of the Indians and of their +missionaries had been shed in floods, that the Huron missions had been +exterminated, and that, moreover, two camps of Algonquins had been +destroyed and swept away; but nations as well as individuals may promise +themselves the greater progress in the spiritual life according as they +commence it with a more abundant and a richer record; and the greatest +treasure of a nation is the blood of the martyrs who have founded it. +Moreover, the fugitive Hurons went to convert their enemies, and even +from the funeral pyres of the priests was to spring the spark of faith +for all these peoples. Two hamlets were founded for the converted +Iroquois, those of the Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga) and of La Montagne +at Montreal, and fervent neophytes gathered there.</p> + +<p>Certain historians have regretted that the first savages encountered by +the French in North America should have been Hurons; an alliance made +with the Iroquois, they say, would have been a hundred times more +profitable for civilization and for France. What do we know about it? +Man imagines and arranges his plans, but above these arrangements hovers +Providence—fools say, chance—whose foreseeing hand sets all in order +for the accomplishment of His impenetrable design. Yet, however firmly +convinced the historian may be that the eye of Providence never sleeps, +that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> Divine Hand is never still, he must be sober in his +observations; he must yield neither to his fancy nor to his imagination; +but neither must he banish God from history, for then everything in it +would become incomprehensible and inexplicable, absurd and barren. It +was this same God who guides events at His will that inspired and +sustained the devoted missionaries in their efforts against the +revenue-farmers in the matter of the sale of intoxicating liquors to the +savages. The struggle which they maintained, supported by the venerable +Bishop of Petræa, is wholly to their honour; it was a question of saving +even against their will the unfortunate children of the woods who were +addicted to the fatal passion of intoxication. Unhappily, the Governors +d'Avaugour and de Mézy, in supporting the greed of the traders, were +perhaps right from the political point of view, but certainly wrong from +a philanthropic and Christian standpoint.</p> + +<p>The colony continuing to prosper, and the growing need of a national +clergy becoming more and more felt, Mgr. de Laval founded in 1663 a +seminary at Quebec. The king decided that the tithes raised from the +colonists should be collected by the seminary, which was to provide for +the maintenance of the priests and for divine service in the established +parishes. The Sovereign Council fixed the tithe at a twenty-sixth.</p> + +<p>The missionaries continued, none the less, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span>spread the light of the +gospel and Christian civilization. It seems that the field of their +labour had never been too vast for their desire. Ever onward! was their +motto. While Fathers Garreau and Mesnard found death among the +Algonquins on the coasts of Lake Superior, the Sulpicians Dollier and +Gallinée were planting the cross on the shores of Lake Erie; Father +Claude Allouez was preaching the gospel beyond Lake Superior; Fathers +Dablon, Marquette, and Druillètes were establishing the mission of Sault +Ste. Marie; Father Albanel was proceeding to explore Hudson Bay; Father +Marquette, acting with Joliet, was following the course of the +Mississippi as far as Arkansas; finally, later on, Father Arnaud +accompanied La Vérendrye as far as the Rocky Mountains.</p> + +<p>The establishment of the Catholic religion in Canada had now witnessed +its darkest days; its history becomes intimately interwoven with that of +the country. Up to the English conquest, the clergy and the different +religious congregations, as faithful to France as to the Holy See, +encouraged the Canadians in their struggles against the invaders. +Accordingly, at the time of the invasion of the colony by Phipps, the +Americans of Boston declared that they would spare neither monks nor +missionaries if they succeeded in seizing Quebec; they bore a particular +grudge against the priests of the seminary, to whom they ascribed the +ravages committed shortly before in New England by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> Abenaquis. They +were punished for their boasting; forty seminarists assembled at St. +Joachim, the country house of the seminary, joined the volunteers who +fought at Beauport, and contributed so much to the victory that +Frontenac, to recompense their bravery, presented them with a cannon +captured by themselves.</p> + +<p>The Church of Rome had been able to continue in peace its mission in +Canada from the departure of Mgr. de Laval, in 1684, to the conquest of +the country by the English. The worthy Bishop of Petræa, created Bishop +of Quebec in 1674, was succeeded by Mgr. de St. Vallier, then by Mgr. de +Mornay, who did not come to Canada, by Mgr. de Dosquet, Mgr. Pourroy de +l'Aube-Rivière, and Mgr. de Pontbriant, who died the very year in which +General de Lévis made of his flags on St. Helen's Island a sacred pyre.</p> + +<p>In 1760 the Protestant religion was about to penetrate into Canada in +the train of the victorious armies of Great Britain, having been +proscribed in the colony from the time of Champlain. With conquerors of +a different religion, the rôle of the Catholic clergy became much more +arduous and delicate; this will be readily admitted when we recall that +Mgr. Briand was informally apprised at the time of his appointment that +the government of England would appear to be ignorant of his +consecration and induction by the Bishop of Rome. But the clergy managed +to keep itself on a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span>level with its task. A systematic opposition on its +part to the new masters of the country could only have drawn upon the +whole population a bitter oppression, and we would not behold to-day the +prosperity of these nine ecclesiastical provinces of Canada, with their +twenty-four dioceses, these numerous parishes which vie with each other +in the advancement of souls, these innumerable religious houses which +everywhere are spreading education or charity. The Act of Quebec in 1774 +delivered our fathers from the unjust fetters fastened on their freedom +by the oath required under the Supremacy Act; but it is to the prudence +of Mgr. Plessis in particular that Catholics owe the religious liberty +which they now enjoy.</p> + +<p>To-day, when passions are calmed, when we possess a full and complete +liberty of conscience, to-day when the different religious denominations +live side by side in mutual respect and tolerance of each other's +convictions, let us give thanks to the spiritual guides who by their +wisdom and moderation, but also by their energetic resistance when it +was necessary, knew how to preserve for us our language and our +religion. Let us always respect the worthy prelates who, like those who +direct us to-day, edify us by their tact, their knowledge and their +virtues.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANÇOIS DE LAVAL</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>Certain</b></span> great men pass through the world like meteors; their brilliance, +lightning-like at their first appearance, continues to cast a dazzling +gleam across the centuries: such were Alexander the Great, Mozart, +Shakespeare and Napoleon. Others, on the contrary, do not instantly +command the admiration of the masses; it is necessary, in order that +their transcendent merit should appear, either that the veil which +covered their actions should be gradually lifted, or that, some fine +day, and often after their death, the results of their work should shine +forth suddenly to the eyes of men and prove their genius: such were +Socrates, Themistocles, Jacquard, Copernicus, and Christopher Columbus.</p> + +<p>The illustrious ecclesiastic who has given his name to our +French-Canadian university, respected as he was by his contemporaries, +has been esteemed at his proper value only by posterity. The reason is +easy to understand: a colony still in its infancy is subject to many +fluctuations before all the wheels of government move smoothly, and Mgr. +de Laval, obliged to face ever renewed conflicts of authority, had +necessarily either to abandon what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span>he considered it his duty to +support, or create malcontents. If sometimes he carried persistence to +the verge of obstinacy, he must be judged in relation to the period in +which he lived: governors like Frontenac were only too anxious to +imitate their absolute master, whose guiding maxim was, "I am the +state!" Moreover, where are the men of true worth who have not found +upon their path the poisoned fruits of hatred? The so-called praise that +is sometimes applied to a man, when we say of him, "he has not a single +enemy," seems to us, on the contrary, a certificate of insignificance +and obscurity. The figure of this great servant of God is one of those +which shed the most glory on the history of Canada; the age of Louis +XIV, so marvellous in the number of great men which it gave to France, +lavished them also upon her daughter of the new continent—Brébeuf and +Lalemant, de Maisonneuve, Dollard, Laval, Talon, de la Salle, Frontenac, +d'Iberville, de Maricourt, de Sainte-Hélène, and many others.</p> + +<p>"Noble as a Montmorency" says a well-known adage. The founder of that +illustrious line, Bouchard, Lord of Montmorency, figures as early as 950 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> among the great vassals of the kingdom of France. The +heads of this house bore formerly the titles of First Christian Barons +and of First Barons of France; it became allied to several royal houses, +and gave to the elder daughter of the Church several cardinals, six +constables, twelve marshals, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span>four admirals, and a great number of +distinguished generals and statesmen. Sprung from this family, whose +origin is lost in the night of time, François de Laval-Montmorency was +born at Montigny-sur-Avre, in the department of Eure-et-Loir, on April +30th, 1623. This charming village, which still exists, was part of the +important diocese of Chartres. Through his father, Hugues de Laval, +Seigneur of Montigny, Montbeaudry, Alaincourt and Revercourt, the future +Bishop of Quebec traced his descent from Count Guy de Laval, younger son +of the constable Mathieu de Montmorency, and through his mother, +Michelle de Péricard, he belonged to a family of hereditary officers of +the Crown, which was well-known in Normandy, and gave to the Church a +goodly number of prelates.</p> + +<p>Like St. Louis, one of the protectors of his ancestors, the young +François was indebted to his mother for lessons and examples of piety +and of charity which he never forgot. Virtue, moreover, was as natural +to the Lavals as bravery on the field of battle, and whether it were in +the retinue of Clovis, when the First Barons received the regenerating +water of baptism, or on the immortal plain of Bouvines; whether it were +by the side of Blanche of Castile, attacked by the rebellious nobles, or +in the terrible holocaust of Crécy; whether it were in the <i>fight of the +giants</i> at Marignan, or after Pavia during the captivity of the +<i>roi-gentilhomme</i>; everywhere where country and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span>religion appealed to +their defenders one was sure of hearing shouted in the foremost ranks +the motto of the Montmorencys: <i>"Dieu ayde au premier baron chrétien!"</i></p> + +<p>Young Laval received at the baptismal font the name of the heroic +missionary to the Indies, François-Xavier. To this saint and to the +founder of the Franciscans, François d'Assise, he devoted throughout his +life an ardent worship. Of his youth we hardly know anything except the +misfortunes which happened to his family. He was only fourteen years old +when, in 1636, he suffered the loss of his father, and one of his near +kinsmen, Henri de Montmorency, grand marshal of France, and governor of +Languedoc, beheaded by the order of Richelieu. The bravery displayed by +this valiant warrior in battle unfortunately did not redeem the fault +which he had committed in rebelling against the established power, +against his lawful master, Louis XIII, and in neglecting thus the +traditions handed down to him by his family through more than seven +centuries of glory.</p> + +<p>Some historians reproach Richelieu with cruelty, but in that troublous +age when, hardly free from the wars of religion, men rushed carelessly +on into the rebellions of the duc d'Orléans and the duc de Soissons, +into the conspiracies of Chalais, of Cinq-Mars and de Thou, soon +followed by the war of La Fronde, it was not by an indulgence synonymous +with weakness that it was possible to strength<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span>en the royal power. Who +knows if it was not this energy of the great cardinal which inspired the +young François, at an age when sentiment is so deeply impressed upon the +soul, with those ideas of firmness which distinguished him later on?</p> + +<p>The future Bishop of Quebec was then a scholar in the college of La +Flèche, directed by the Jesuits, for his pious parents held nothing +dearer than the education of their children in the fear of God and love +of the good. They had had six children; the two first had perished in +the flower of their youth on fields of battle; François, who was now the +eldest, inherited the name and patrimony of Montigny, which he gave up +later on to his brother Jean-Louis, which explains why he was called for +some time Abbé de Montigny, and resumed later the generic name of the +family of Laval; the fifth son, Henri de Laval, joined the Benedictine +monks and became prior of La Croix-Saint-Leuffroy. Finally the only +sister of Mgr. Laval, Anne Charlotte, became Mother Superior of the +religious community of the Daughters of the Holy Sacrament.</p> + +<p>François edified the comrades of his early youth by his ardent piety, +and his tender respect for the house of God; his masters, too, clever as +they were in the art of guiding young men and of distinguishing those +who were to shine later on, were not slow in recognizing his splendid +qualities, the clear-sightedness and breadth of his intelligence, and +his wonder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span>ful memory. As a reward for his good conduct he was admitted +to the privileged ranks of those who comprised the Congregation of the +Holy Virgin. We know what good these admirable societies, founded by the +sons of Loyola, have accomplished and still accomplish daily in Catholic +schools the world over. Societies which vie with each other in piety and +encouragement of virtue, they inspire young people with the love of +prayer, the habits of regularity and of holy practices.</p> + +<p>The congregation of the college of La Flèche had then the good fortune +of being directed by Father Bagot, one of those superior priests always +so numerous in the Company of Jesus. At one time confessor to King Louis +XIII, Father Bagot was a profound philosopher and an eminent theologian. +It was under his clever direction that the mind of François de Laval was +formed, and we shall witness later the germination of the seed which the +learned Jesuit sowed in the soul of his beloved scholar.</p> + +<p>At this period great families devoted to God from early youth the +younger members who showed inclination for the religious life. François +was only nine years old when he received the tonsure, and fifteen when +he was appointed canon of the cathedral of Evreux. Without the revenues +which he drew from his prebend, he would not have been able to continue +his literary studies; the death of his father, in fact, had left his +family in a rather <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span>precarious condition of fortune. He was to remain to +the end of his career the pupil of his preferred masters, for it was +under them that, having at the age of nineteen left the institution +where he had brilliantly completed his classical education, he studied +philosophy and theology at the Collège de Clermont at Paris.</p> + +<p>He was plunged in these noble studies, when two terrible blows fell upon +him; he learned of the successive deaths of his two eldest brothers, who +had fallen gloriously, one at Freiburg, the other at Nördlingen. He +became thus the head of the family, and as if the temptations which this +title offered him were not sufficient, bringing him as it did, together +with a great name a brilliant future, his mother came, supported by the +Bishop of Evreux, his cousin, to beg him to abandon the ecclesiastical +career and to marry, in order to maintain the honour of his house. Many +others would have succumbed, but what were temporal advantages to a man +who had long aspired to the glory of going to preach the Divine Word in +far-off missions? He remained inflexible; all that his mother could +obtain from him was his consent to devote to her for some time his clear +judgment and intellect in setting in order the affairs of his family. A +few months sufficed for success in this task. In order to place an +impassable abyss between himself and the world, he made a full and +complete renunciation in favour of his brother Jean-Louis of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span>his rights +of primogeniture and all his titles to the seigniory of Montigny and +Montbeaudry. The world is ever prone to admire a chivalrous action, and +to look askance at deeds which appear to savour of fanaticism. To Laval +this renunciation of worldly wealth and honour appeared in the simple +light of duty. His Master's words were inspiration enough: "Wist ye not +that I must be about my Father's business?"</p> + +<p>Returning to the Collège de Clermont, he now thought of nothing but of +preparing to receive worthily the holy orders. It was on September 23rd, +1647, at Paris, that he saw dawn for him the beautiful day of the first +mass, whose memory perfumes the whole life of the priest. We may guess +with what fervour he must have ascended the steps of the holy altar; if +up to that moment he had merely loved his God, he must on that day have +dedicated to Jesus all the powers of his being, all the tenderness of +his soul, and his every heart-beat.</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Péricard, Bishop of Evreux, was not present at the ordination of +his cousin; death had taken him away, but before expiring, besides +expressing his regret to the new priest for having tried at the time, +thinking to further the aims of God, to dissuade him from the +ecclesiastical life, he gave him a last proof of his affection by +appointing him archdeacon of his cathedral. The duties of the +archdeaconry of Evreux, comprising, as it did, nearly one hundred and +sixty parishes, were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span>particularly heavy, yet the young priest fulfilled +them for seven years, and M. de la Colombière explains to us how he +acquitted himself of them: "The regularity of his visits, the fervour of +his enthusiasm, the improvement and the good order which he established +in the parishes, the relief of the poor, his interest in all sorts of +charity, none of which escaped his notice: all this showed well that +without being a bishop he had the ability and merit of one, and that +there was no service which the Church might not expect from so great a +subject."</p> + +<p>But our future Bishop of New France aspired to more glorious fields. One +of those zealous apostles who were evangelizing India at this period, +Father Alexander of Rhodes, asked from the sovereign pontiff the +appointment for Asia of three French bishops, and submitted to the Holy +See the names of MM. Pallu, Picquet and Laval. There was no question of +hesitation. All three set out immediately for Rome. They remained there +fifteen months; the opposition of the Portuguese court caused the +failure of this plan, and François de Laval returned to France. He had +resigned the office of archdeacon the year before, 1653, in favour of a +man of tried virtue, who had been, nevertheless, a prey to calumny and +persecution, the Abbé Henri-Marie Boudon; thus freed from all +responsibility, Laval could satisfy his desire of preparing himself by +prayer for the designs which God might have for him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span>In his desire of attaining the greatest possible perfection, he betook +himself to Caen, to the religious retreat of M. de Bernières. St. +Vincent de Paul, who had trained M. Olier, was desirous also that his +pupil, before going to find a field for his apostolic zeal among the +people of Auvergne, should prepare himself by earnest meditation in +retirement at St. Lazare. "Silence and introspection seemed to St. +Vincent," says M. de Lanjuère, the author of the life of M. Olier, "the +first conditions of success, preceding any serious enterprise. He had +not learned this from Pythagoras or the Greek philosophers, who were, +indeed, so careful to prescribe for their disciples a long period of +meditation before initiation into their systems, nor even from the +experience of all superior men, who, in order to ripen a great plan or +to evolve a great thought, have always felt the need of isolation in the +nobler acceptance of the word; but he had this maxim from the very +example of the Saviour, who, before the temptation and before the +transfiguration, withdrew from the world in order to contemplate, and +who prayed in Gethsemane before His death on the cross, and who often +led His disciples into solitude to rest, and to listen to His most +precious communications."</p> + +<p>In this little town of Caen, in a house called the Hermitage, lived Jean +de Bernières of Louvigny, together with some of his friends. They had +gathered together for the purpose of aiding each other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span>in mutual +sanctification; they practised prayer, and lived in the exercise of the +highest piety and charity. François de Laval passed three years in this +Hermitage, and his wisdom was already so highly appreciated, that during +the period of his stay he was entrusted with two important missions, +whose successful issue attracted attention to him and led naturally to +his appointment to the bishopric of Canada.</p> + +<p>As early as 1647 the king foresaw the coming creation of a bishopric in +New France, for he constituted the Upper Council "of the Governor of +Quebec, the Governor of Montreal and the Superior of the Jesuits, <i>until +there should be a bishop</i>." A few years later, in 1656, the Company of +Montreal obtained from M. Olier, the pious founder of the Seminary of +St. Sulpice, the services of four of his priests for the colony, under +the direction of one of them, M. de Queylus, Abbé de Loc-Dieu, whose +brilliant qualities, as well as the noble use which he made of his great +fortune, marked him out naturally as the probable choice of his +associates for the episcopacy. But the Jesuits, in possession of all the +missions of New France, had their word to say, especially since the +mitre had been offered by the queen regent, Anne of Austria, to one of +their number, Father Lejeune, who had not, however, been able to accept, +their rules forbidding it. They had then proposed to the court of France +and the court of Rome the name of François de Laval; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span>but believing that +the colony was not ready for the erection of a see, they expressed the +opinion that the sending of an apostolic vicar with the functions and +powers of a bishop <i>in partibus</i> would suffice. Moreover, if the person +sent should not succeed, he could at any time be recalled, which could +not be done in the case of a bishop. Alexander VII had given his consent +to this new plan, and Mgr. de Laval was consecrated by the nuncio of the +Pope at Paris, on Sunday, December 8th, 1658, in the church of St. +Germain-des-Prés. After having taken, with the assent of the sovereign +pontiff, the oath of fidelity to the king, the new Bishop of Petræa said +farewell to his pious mother (who died in that same year) and embarked +at La Rochelle in the month of April, 1659. The only property he +retained was an income of a thousand francs assured to him by the +Queen-Mother; but he was setting out to conquer treasures very different +from those coveted by the Spanish adventurers who sailed to Mexico and +Peru. He arrived on June 16th at Quebec, with letters from the king +which enjoined upon all the recognition of Mgr. de Laval of Petræa as +being authorized to exercise episcopal functions in the colony without +prejudice to the rights of the Archbishop of Rouen.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, men's minds were not very certain then as to the title +and qualities of an apostolic vicar. They asked themselves if he were +not a simple delegate whose authority did not conflict <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span>with the +jurisdiction of the two grand vicars of the Jesuits and the Sulpicians. +The communities, at first divided on this point, submitted on the +receipt of new letters from the king, which commanded the recognition of +the sole authority of the Bishop of Petræa. The two grand vicars obeyed, +and M. de Queylus came to Quebec, where he preached the sermon on St. +Augustine's Day (August 28th), and satisfied the claim to authority of +the apostolic vicar.</p> + +<p>But a new complication arose: the <i>St. André</i>, which had arrived on +September 7th, brought to the Abbé de Queylus a new appointment as grand +vicar from the Archbishop of Rouen, which contained his protests at +court against the apostolic vicar, and letters from the king which +seemed to confirm them. Doubt as to the authenticity of the powers of +Mgr. de Laval might thus, at least, seem permissible; no act of the Abbé +de Queylus, however, indicates that it was openly manifested, and the +very next month the abbé returned to France.</p> + +<p>We may understand, however, that Mgr. de Laval, in the midst of such +difficulties, felt the need of early asserting his authority. He +promulgated an order enjoining upon all the secular ecclesiastics of the +country the disavowal of all foreign jurisdictions and the recognition +of his alone, and commanded them to sign this regulation in evidence of +their submission. All signed it, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span>cluding the devoted priests of St. +Sulpice at Montreal.</p> + +<p>Two years later, nevertheless, the Abbé de Queylus returned with bulls +from the Congregation of the Daterie at Rome. These bulls placed him in +possession of the parish of Montreal. In spite of the formal forbiddance +of the Bishop of Petræa, he undertook, strong in what he judged to be +his rights, to betake himself to Montreal. The prelate on his side +believed that it was his duty to take severe steps, and he suspended the +Abbé de Queylus. On instructions which were given him by the king, +Governor d'Avaugour transmitted to the Abbé de Queylus an order to +return to France. The court of Rome finally settled the question by +giving the entire jurisdiction of Canada to Mgr. de Laval. The affair +thus ended, the Abbé de Queylus returned to the colony in 1668. The +population of Ville-Marie received with deep joy this benefactor, to +whose generosity it owed so much, and on his side the worthy Bishop of +Petræa proved that if he had believed it his duty to defend his own +authority when menaced, he had too noble a heart to preserve a petty +rancour. He appointed the worthy Abbé de Queylus his grand vicar at +Montreal.</p> + +<p>When for the first time Mgr. de Laval set foot on the soil of America, +the people, assembled to pay respect to their first pastor, were struck +by his address, which was both affable and majestic, by his manners, as +easy as they were distinguished, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span>but especially by that charm which +emanates from every one whose heart has remained ever pure. A lofty brow +indicated an intellect above the ordinary; the clean-cut long nose was +the inheritance of the Montmorencys; his eye was keen and bright; his +eyebrows strongly arched; his thin lips and prominent chin showed a +tenacious will; his hair was scanty; finally, according to the custom of +that period, a moustache and chin beard added to the strength and energy +of his features. From the moment of his arrival the prelate produced the +best impression. "I cannot," said Governor d'Argenson, "I cannot highly +enough esteem the zeal and piety of Mgr. of Petræa. He is a true man of +prayer, and I make no doubt that his labours will bear goodly fruits in +this country." Boucher, governor of Three Rivers, wrote thus: "We have a +bishop whose zeal and virtue are beyond anything that I can say."</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE SOVEREIGN COUNCIL</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>The</b></span> pious bishop who is the subject of this study was not long in +proving that his virtues were not too highly esteemed. An ancient +vessel, the <i>St. André</i>, brought from France two hundred and six +persons, among whom were Mlle. Mance, the foundress of the Montreal +hospital, Sister Bourgeoys, and two Sulpicians, MM. Vignal and Lemaître. +Now this ship had long served as a sailors' hospital, and it had been +sent back to sea without the necessary quarantine. Hardly had its +passengers lost sight of the coasts of France when the plague broke out +among them, and with such intensity that all were more or less attacked +by it; Mlle. Mance, in particular, was almost immediately reduced to the +point of death. Always very delicate, and exhausted by a preceding +voyage, she did not seem destined to resist this latest attack. +Moreover, all aid was lacking, even the rations of fresh water ran +short, and from a fear of contagion, which will be readily understood, +but which was none the less disastrous, the captain at first forbade the +Sisters of Charity who were on board to minister to the sick. This +precaution cost seven or eight of these unfortunate people their lives. +At least M. Vignal <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span>and M. Lemaître, though both suffering themselves, +were able to offer to the dying the consolations of their holy office. +M. Lemaître, more vigorous than his colleague, and possessed of an +admirable energy and devotion, was not satisfied merely with encouraging +and ministering to the unfortunate in their last moments, but even +watched over their remains at the risk of his own life; he buried them +piously, wound them in their shrouds, and said over them the final +prayers as they were lowered into the sea. Two Huguenots, touched by his +devotion, died in the Roman Catholic faith. The Sisters were finally +permitted to exercise their charitable office. Although ill, they as +well as Sister Bourgeoys, displayed a heroic energy, and raised the +morale of all the unfortunate passengers.</p> + +<p>To this sickness were added other sufferings incident to such a voyage, +and frightful storms did not cease to attack the ship until its entry +into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Several times they believed themselves on +the point of foundering, and the two priests gave absolution to all. The +tempest carried these unhappy people so far from their route that they +did not arrive at Quebec until September 7th, exhausted by disease, +famine and trials of all sorts. Father Dequen, of the Society of Jesus, +showed in this matter an example of the most admirable charity. He +brought to the sick refreshments and every manner of aid, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span>and lavished +upon all the offices of his holy ministry. As a result of his +self-devotion, he was attacked by the scourge and died in the exercise +of charity. Several more, after being conveyed to the hospital, +succumbed to the disease, and the whole country was infected. Mgr. of +Petræa was admirable in his devotion; he hardly left the hospital at +all, and constituted himself the nurse of all these unfortunates, making +their beds and giving them the most attentive care. "He is continually +at the hospital," wrote Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "in order to +help the sick and to make their beds. We do what we can to prevent him +and to shield his health, but no eloquence can dissuade him from these +acts of self-abasement."</p> + +<p>In the spring of the year 1662, Mgr. de Laval rented for his own use an +old house situated on the site of the present parochial residence at +Quebec, and it was there that, with the three other priests who then +composed his episcopal court, he edified all the colonists by the +simplicity of a cenobitic life. He had been at first the guest of the +Jesuit Fathers, was later sheltered by the Sisters of the Hôtel-Dieu, +and subsequently lodged with the Ursulines. At this period it was indeed +incumbent upon him to adapt himself to circumstances; nor did these +modest conditions displease the former pupil of M. de Bernières, since, +as Latour bears witness, "he always complained that people did too much +for him; he showed a distaste for all that was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span>too daintily prepared, +and affected, on the contrary, a sort of avidity for coarser fare." +Mother Mary of the Incarnation wrote: "He lives like a holy man and an +apostle; his life is so exemplary that he commands the admiration of the +country. He gives everything away and lives like a pauper, and one may +well say that he has the very spirit of poverty. He practises this +poverty in his house, in his manner of living, and in the matter of +furniture and servants; for he has but one gardener, whom he lends to +poor people when they have need of him, and a valet who formerly served +M. de Bernières."</p> + +<p>But if the reverend prelate was modest and simple in his personal +tastes, he became inflexible when he thought it his duty to maintain the +rights of the Church. And he watched over these rights with the more +circumspection since he was the first bishop installed in the colony, +and was unwilling to allow abuses to be planted there, which later it +would be very difficult, not to say impossible, to uproot. Hence the +continual friction between him and the governor-general, d'Argenson, on +questions of precedence and etiquette. Some of these disputes would seem +to us childish to-day if even such a writer as Parkman did not put us on +our guard against a premature judgment.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> "The disputes in question," +writes Parkman, "though of a nature to provoke a smile on irreverent +lips, were by no means so puerile as they appear. It is difficult in a +modern <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span>democratic society to conceive the substantial importance of the signs +and symbols of dignity and authority, at a time and among a people where +they were adjusted with the most scrupulous precision, and accepted by +all classes as exponents of relative degrees in the social and political +scale. Whether the bishop or the governor should sit in the higher seat +at table thus became a political question, for it defined to the popular +understanding the position of Church and State in their relations to +government."</p> + +<p>In his zeal for making his episcopal authority respected, could not the +prelate, however, have made some concessions to the temporal power? It +is allowable to think so, when his panegyrist, the Abbé Gosselin, +acknowledges it in these terms: "Did he sometimes show too much ardour +in the settlement of a question or in the assertion of his rights? It is +possible. As the Abbé Ferland rightly observes, 'no virtue is perfect +upon earth.' But he was too pious and too disinterested for us to +suspect for a moment the purity of his intentions." In certain passages +in his journal Father Lalemant seems to be of the same opinion. All men +are fallible; even the greatest saints have erred. In this connection +the remark of St. Bernardin of Siena presents itself naturally to the +religious mind: "Each time," says he, "that God grants to a creature a +marked and particular favour, and when divine grace summons him to a +special task and to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span>some sublime position, it is a rule of Providence +to furnish that creature with all the means necessary to fulfil the +mission which is entrusted to him, and to bring it to a happy +conclusion. Providence prepares his birth, directs his education, +produces the environment in which he is to live; even his faults +Providence will use in the accomplishment of its purposes."</p> + +<p>Difficulties of another sort fixed between the spiritual and the +temporal chiefs of the colony a still deeper gulf; they arose from the +trade in brandy with the savages. It had been formerly forbidden by the +Sovereign Council, and this measure, urged by the clergy and the +missionaries, put a stop to crimes and disorders. However, for the +purpose of gain, certain men infringed this wise prohibition, and Mgr. +de Laval, aware of the extensive harm caused by the fatal passion of the +Indians for intoxicating liquors, hurled excommunication against all who +should carry on the traffic in brandy with the savages. "It would be +very difficult," writes M. de Latour, "to realize to what an excess +these barbarians are carried by drunkenness. There is no species of +madness, of crime or inhumanity to which they do not descend. The +savage, for a glass of brandy, will give even his clothes, his cabin, +his wife, his children; a squaw when made drunk—and this is often done +purposely—will abandon herself to the first comer. They will tear each +other to pieces. If one enters a cabin whose inmates have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span>just drunk +brandy, one will behold with astonishment and horror the father cutting +the throat of his son, the son threatening his father; the husband and +wife, the best of friends, inflicting murderous blows upon each other, +biting each other, tearing out each other's eyes, noses and ears; they +are no longer recognizable, they are madmen; there is perhaps in the +world no more vivid picture of hell. There are often some among them who +seek drunkenness in order to avenge themselves upon their enemies, and +commit with impunity all sorts of crimes under the pretext of this fine +excuse, which passes with them for a complete justification, that at +these times they are not free and not in their senses." Drunken savages +are brutes, it is true, but were not the whites who fostered this fatal +passion of intoxication more guilty still than the wretches whom they +ignominiously urged on to vice? Let us see what the same writer says of +these corrupters. "If it is difficult," says he, "to explain the +excesses of the savage, it is also difficult to understand the extent of +the greed, the hypocrisy and the rascality of those who supply them with +these drinks. The facility for making immense profits which is afforded +them by the ignorance and the passions of these people, and the +certainty of impunity, are things which they cannot resist; the +attraction of gain acts upon them as drunkenness does upon their +victims. How many crimes arise from the same source? There is no mother +who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span>does not fear for her daughter, no husband who does not dread for +his wife, a libertine armed with a bottle of brandy; they rob and +pillage these wretches, who, stupefied by intoxication when they are not +maddened by it, can neither refuse nor defend themselves. There is no +barrier which is not forced, no weakness which is not exploited, in +these remote regions where, without either witnesses or masters, only +the voice of brutal passion is listened to, every crime of which is +inspired by a glass of brandy. The French are worse in this respect than +the savages."</p> + +<p>Governor d'Avaugour supported energetically the measures taken by Mgr. +de Laval; unfortunately a regrettable incident destroyed the harmony +between their two authorities. Inspired by his good heart, the superior +of the Jesuits, Father Lalemant, interceded with the governor in favour +of a woman imprisoned for having infringed the prohibition of the sale +of brandy to the Indians. "If she is not to be punished," brusquely +replied d'Avaugour, "no one shall be punished henceforth!" And, as he +made it a point of honour not to withdraw this unfortunate utterance, +the traders profited by it. From that time license was no longer +bridled; the savages got drunk, the traders were enriched, and the +colony was in jeopardy. Sure of being supported by the governor, the +merchants listened to neither bishop nor missionaries. Grieved at seeing +his prayers as powerless as his commands, Mgr. de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> Laval decided to +carry his complaint to the foot of the throne, and he set sail for +France in the autumn of 1662. "Statesmen who place the freedom of +commerce above morality of action," says Jacques de Beaudoncourt, "still +consider that the bishop was wrong, and see in this matter a fine +opportunity to inveigh against the encroachments of the clergy; but +whoever has at heart the cause of human dignity will not hesitate to +take the side of the missionaries who sought to preserve the savages +from the vices which have brought about their ruin and their +disappearance. The Montagnais race, which is still the most important in +Canada, has been preserved by Catholicism from the vices and the misery +which brought about so rapidly the extirpation of the savages."</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval succeeded beyond his hopes; cordially received by King +Louis XIV, he obtained the recall of Governor d'Avaugour. But this +purpose was not the only one which he had made the goal of his ambition; +he had in view another, much more important for the welfare of the +colony. Fourteen years before, the Iroquois had exterminated the Hurons, +and since this period the colonists had not enjoyed a single hour of +calm; the devotion of Dollard and of his sixteen heroic comrades had +narrowly saved them from a horrible danger. The worthy prelate obtained +from the king a sufficiently large assignment of troops to deliver the +colony at last from its most dangerous enemies.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> "We expect next year," +he wrote to the sovereign pontiff, "twelve hundred soldiers, with whom, +by God's help, we shall try to overcome the fierce Iroquois. The Marquis +de Tracy will come to Canada in order to see for himself the measures +which are necessary to make of New France a strong and prosperous +colony."</p> + +<p>M. Dubois d'Avaugour was recalled, and yet he rendered before his +departure a distinguished service to the colony. "The St. Lawrence," he +wrote in a memorial to the monarch, "is the key to a country which may +become the greatest state in the world. There should be sent to this +colony three thousand soldiers, to be discharged after three years of +service; they could make Quebec an impregnable fortress, subdue the +Iroquois, build redoubtable forts on the banks of the Hudson, where the +Dutch have only a wretched wooden hut, and in short, open for New France +a road to the sea by this river." It was mainly this report which +induced the sovereign to take back Canada from the hands of the Company +of the Cent-Associés, who were incapable of colonizing it, and to +reintegrate it in the royal domain.</p> + +<p>Must we think with M. de la Colombière,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> with M. de Latour and with +Cardinal Taschereau, that the Sovereign Council was the work of Mgr. de +Laval? We have some justification in believing it +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span>when we remember +that the king arrived at this important decision while +the energetic Laval was present at his court. However it may be, on +April 24th, 1663, the Company of New France abandoned the colony to the +royal government, which immediately created in Canada three courts of +justice and above them the Sovereign Council as a court of appeal.</p> + +<p>The Bishop of Petræa sailed in 1663 for North America with the new +governor, M. de Mézy, who owed to him his appointment. His other +fellow-passengers were M. Gaudais-Dupont, who came to take possession of +the country in the name of the king, two priests, MM. Maizerets and +Hugues Pommier, Father Rafeix, of the Society of Jesus, and three +ecclesiastics. The passage was stormy and lasted four months. To-day, +when we leave Havre and disembark a week later at New York, after having +enjoyed all the refinements of luxury and comfort invented by an +advanced but materialistic civilization, we can with difficulty imagine +the discomforts, hardships and privations of four long months on a +stormy sea. Scurvy, that fatal consequence of famine and exhaustion, +soon broke out among the passengers, and many died of it. The bishop, +himself stricken by the disease, did not cease, nevertheless, to lavish +his care upon the unfortunates who were attacked by the infection; he +even attended them at the hospital after they had landed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span>The country was still at this time under the stress of the emotion +caused by the terrible earthquake of 1663. Father Lalemant has left us a +striking description of this cataclysm, marked by the naïve exaggeration +of the period: "It was February 5th, 1663, about half-past five in the +evening, when a great roar was heard at the same time throughout the +extent of Canada. This noise, which gave the impression that fire had +broken out in all the houses, made every one rush out of doors in order +to flee from such a sudden conflagration. But instead of seeing smoke +and flame, the people were much surprised to behold walls tottering, and +all the stones moving as if they had become detached; the roofs seemed +to bend downward on one side, then to lean over on the other; the bells +rang of their own accord; joists, rafters and boards cracked, the earth +quivered and made the stakes of the palisades dance in a manner which +would appear incredible if we had not seen it in various places.</p> + +<p>"Then every one rushes outside, animals take to flight, children cry +through the streets, men and women, seized with terror, know not where +to take refuge, thinking at every moment that they must be either +overwhelmed in the ruins of the houses or buried in some abyss about to +open under their feet; some, falling to their knees in the snow, cry for +mercy; others pass the rest of the night in prayer, because the +earthquake still continues with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span>a certain undulation, almost like that +of ships at sea, and such that some feel from these shocks the same +sickness that they endure upon the water.</p> + +<p>"The disorder was much greater in the forest. It seemed that there was a +battle between the trees, which were hurled together, and not only their +branches but even their trunks seemed to leave their places to leap upon +each other with a noise and a confusion which made our savages say that +the whole forest was drunk.</p> + +<p>"There seemed to be the same combat between the mountains, of which some +were uprooted and hurled upon the others, leaving great chasms in the +places whence they came, and now burying the trees, with which they were +covered, deep in the earth up to their tops, now thrusting them in, with +branches downward, taking the place of the roots, so that they left only +a forest of upturned trunks.</p> + +<p>"While this general destruction was going on on land, sheets of ice five +or six feet thick were broken and shattered to pieces, and split in many +places, whence arose thick vapour or streams of mud and sand which +ascended high into the air; our springs either flowed no longer or ran +with sulphurous waters; the rivers were either lost from sight or became +polluted, the waters of some becoming yellow, those of others red, and +the great St. Lawrence appeared quite livid up to the vicinity of +Tadousac, a most astonishing prodigy, and one capable of surprising +those who know the extent of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span>this great river below the Island of +Orleans, and what matter must be necessary to whiten it.</p> + +<p>"We behold new lakes where there never were any; certain mountains +engulfed are no longer seen; several rapids have been smoothed out; not +a few rivers no longer appear; the earth is cleft in many places, and +has opened abysses which seem to have no bottom. In short, there has +been produced such a confusion of woods upturned and buried, that we see +now stretches of country of more than a thousand acres wholly denuded, +and as if they were freshly ploughed, where a little before there had +been but forests.</p> + +<p>"Moreover, three circumstances made this earthquake most remarkable. The +first is the time of its duration, since it lasted into the month of +August, that is to say, more than six months. It is true that the shocks +were not always so rude; in certain places, for example, towards the +mountains at the back of us, the noise and the commotion were long +continued; at others, as in the direction of Tadousac, there was a +quaking as a rule two or three times a day, accompanied by a great +straining, and we noticed that in the higher places the disturbance was +less than in the flat districts.</p> + +<p>"The second circumstance concerns the extent of this earthquake, which +we believe to have been universal throughout New France; for we learn +that it was felt from Ile Percé and Gaspé, which are at the mouth of our +river, to beyond Montreal, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span>as likewise in New England, in Acadia and +other very remote places; so that, knowing that the earthquake occurred +throughout an extent of two hundred leagues in length by one hundred in +breadth, we have twenty thousand square leagues of land which felt the +earthquake on the same day and at the same moment.</p> + +<p>"The third circumstance concerns God's particular protection of our +homes, for we see near us great abysses and a prodigious extent of +country wholly ruined, without our having lost a child or even a hair of +our heads. We see ourselves surrounded by confusion and ruins, and yet +we have had only a few chimneys demolished, while the mountains around +us have been overturned."</p> + +<p>From the point of view of conversions and returns to God the results +were marvellous. "One can scarcely believe," says Mother Mary of the +Incarnation, "the great number of conversions that God has brought +about, both among infidels who have embraced the faith, and on the part +of Christians who have abandoned their evil life. At the same time as +God has shaken the mountains and the marble rocks of these regions, it +would seem that He has taken pleasure in shaking consciences. Days of +carnival have been changed into days of penitence and sadness; public +prayers, processions and pilgrimages have been continual; fasts on bread +and water very frequent; the general confessions more sincere than they +would have been in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span>extremity of sickness. A single ecclesiastic, +who directs the parish of Château-Richer, has assured us that he has +procured more than eight hundred general confessions, and I leave you to +think what the reverend Fathers must have accomplished who were day and +night in the confessional. I do not think that in the whole country +there is a single inhabitant who has not made a general confession. +There have been inveterate sinners, who, to set their consciences at +rest, have repeated their confession more than three times. We have seen +admirable reconciliations, enemies falling on their knees before each +other to ask each other's forgiveness, in so much sorrow that it was +easy to see that these changes were the results of grace and of the +mercy of God rather than of His justice."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>The Old Régime in Canada</i>, p. 110.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Joseph Séré de la Colombière, vicar-general and archdeacon of +Quebec, pronounced Mgr. de Laval's funeral oration.</p> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEMINARY</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>No</b></span> sooner had he returned, than the Bishop of Petræa devoted all the +strength of his intellect to the execution of a plan which he had long +meditated, namely, the foundation of a seminary. In order to explain +what he understood by this word we cannot do better than to quote his +own ordinance relating to this matter: "There shall be educated and +trained such young clerics as may appear fit for the service of God, and +they shall be taught for this purpose the proper manner of administering +the sacraments, the methods of apostolic catechism and preaching, moral +theology, the ceremonies of the Church, the Gregorian chant, and other +things belonging to the duties of a good ecclesiastic; and besides, in +order that there may be formed in the said seminary and among its clergy +a chapter composed of ecclesiastics belonging thereto and chosen from +among us and the bishops of the said country, our successors, when the +king shall have seen fit to found the seminary, or from those whom the +said seminary may be able of itself to furnish to this institution +through the blessing of God. We desire it to be a perpetual school of +virtue, and a place of training whence we may <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span>derive pious and capable +recruits, in order to send them on all occasions, and whenever there may +be need, into the parishes and other places in the said country, in +order to exercise therein priestly and other duties to which they may +have been destined, and to withdraw them from the same parishes and +duties when it may be judged fitting, reserving to ourselves always, and +to the bishops, our successors in the said country, as well as to the +said seminary, by our orders and those of the said lords bishops, the +power of recalling all the ecclesiastics who may have gone forth as +delegates into the parishes and other places, whenever it may be deemed +necessary, without their having title or right of particular attachment +to a parish, it being our desire, on the contrary, that they should be +rightfully removable, and subject to dismissal and displacement at the +will of the bishops and of the said seminary, by the orders of the same, +in accordance with the sacred practice of the early ages of the Church, +which is followed and preserved still at the present day in many +dioceses of this kingdom."</p> + +<p>Although this foregoing period is somewhat lengthy and a little obscure, +so weighty with meaning is it, we have been anxious to quote it, first, +because it is an official document, and because it came from the very +pen of him whose life we are studying; and, secondly, because it shows +that at this period serious reading, such as Cicero, Quintilian, and the +Fathers of the Church, formed the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span>mental pabulum of the people. In our +days the beauty of a sentence is less sought after than its clearness +and conciseness.</p> + +<p>It may be well to add here the Abbé Gosselin's explanation of this +<i>mandement</i>: "Three principal works are due to this document as the +glorious inheritance of the seminary of Quebec. In the first place we +have the natural work of any seminary, the training of ecclesiastics and +the preparation of the clergy for priestly virtues. In the next place we +have the creation of the chapter, which the Bishop of Petræa always +considered important in a well organized diocese; it was his desire to +find the elements of this chapter in his seminary, when the king should +have provided for its endowment, or when the seminary itself could bear +the expense. Finally, there is that which in the mind of Mgr. de Laval +was the supreme work of the seminary, its vital task: the seminary was +to be not only a perpetual school of virtue, but also a place of supply +on which he might draw for the persons needed in the administration of +his diocese, and to which he might send them back when he should think +best. All livings are connected with the seminary, but they are all +transferable. The prelate here puts clearly and categorically the +question of the transfer of livings. In his measures there is neither +hesitation nor circumlocution. He does not seek to deceive the sovereign +to whom he is about to submit his regulation. For him, in the present +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span>condition of New France, there can be no question of fixed livings; the +priests must be by right removable, and subject to recall at the will of +the bishop; and, as is fitting in a prelate worthy of the primitive +Church, he always lays stress in his commands on the <i>holy practice of +the early centuries</i>. The question was clearly put. It was as clearly +understood by the sovereign, who approved some days later of the +regulation of Mgr. de Laval."</p> + +<p>It was in the month of April, 1663, that the worthy prelate had obtained +the royal approval of the establishment of his seminary; it was on +October 10th of the same year that he had it registered by the Sovereign +Council.</p> + +<p>A great difficulty arose: the missionaries, besides the help that they +had obtained from the Company of the Cent-Associés, derived their +resources from Europe; but how was the new secular clergy to be +supported, totally lacking as it was in endowment and revenue? Mgr. de +Laval resolved to employ the means adopted long ago by Charlemagne to +assure the maintenance of the Frankish clergy: that of tithes or dues +paid by the husbandman from his harvest. Accordingly he obtained from +the king an ordinance according to which tithes, fixed at the amount of +the thirteenth part of the harvests, should be collected from the +colonists by the seminary; the latter was to use them for the +maintenance of the priests, and for divine service in the established +parishes. The burden was, perhaps, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span>somewhat heavy. Mgr. de Laval, who, +inspired by the spirit of poverty, had renounced his patrimony and lived +solely upon a pension of a thousand francs which the queen paid him from +her private exchequer, felt that he had a certain right to impose his +disinterestedness upon others, but the colonists, sure of the support of +the governor, M. de Mézy, complained.</p> + +<p>The good understanding between the governor-general and the bishop had +been maintained up to the end of January, 1664. Full of respect for the +character and the virtue of his friend, M. de Mézy had energetically +supported the ordinances of the Sovereign Council against the brandy +traffic; he had likewise favoured the registration of the law of tithes, +but the opposition which he met in the matter of an increase in his +salary impelled him to arbitrary action. Of his own authority he +displaced three councillors, and out of petty rancour allowed strong +liquors to be sold to the savages. The open struggle between the bishop +and himself produced the most unfavourable impression in the colony. The +king decided that the matter must be brought to a head. M. de Courcelles +was appointed governor, and, jointly with a viceroy, the Marquis de +Tracy, and with the Intendant Talon, was entrusted with the +investigation of the administration of M. de Mézy. They arrived a few +months after the death of de Mézy, whom this untimely end saved perhaps +from a well-deserved condemnation. He had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span>become reconciled in his +dying hour to his old and venerable friend, and the judges confined +themselves to the erasure of the documents which recalled his +administration.</p> + +<p>The worthy Bishop of Petræa had not lost for a moment the confidence of +the sovereign, as is proved by many letters which he received from the +king and his prime minister, Colbert. "I send you by command of His +Majesty," writes Colbert, "the sum of six thousand francs, to be +disposed of as you may deem best to supply your needs and those of your +Church. We cannot ascribe too great a value to a virtue like yours, +which is ever equally maintained, which charitably extends its help +wherever it is necessary, which makes you indefatigable in the functions +of your episcopacy, notwithstanding the feebleness of your health and +the frequent indispositions by which you are attacked, and which thus +makes you share with the least of your ecclesiastics the task of +administering the sacraments in places most remote from the principal +settlements. I shall add nothing to this statement, which is entirely +sincere, for fear of wounding your natural modesty, etc...." The prince +himself is no less flattering: "My Lord Bishop of Petræa," writes Louis +the Great, "I expected no less of your zeal for the exaltation of the +faith, and of your affection for the furtherance of my service than the +conduct observed by you in your important and holy mission. Its main +reward is reserved by Heaven, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span>alone can recompense you in +proportion to your merit, but you may rest assured that such rewards as +depend on me will not be wanting at the fitting time. I subscribe, +moreover, to my Lord Colbert's communications to you in my name."</p> + +<p>Peace and harmony were re-established, and with them the hope of seeing +finally disappear the constant menace of Iroquois forays. The +magnificent regiment of Carignan, composed of six hundred men, reassured +the colonists while it daunted their savage enemies. Thus three of the +Five Nations hastened to sue for peace, and they obtained it. In order +to protect the frontiers of the colony, M. de Tracy caused three forts +to be erected on the Richelieu River, one at Sorel, another at Chambly, +a third still more remote, that of Ste. Thérèse; then at the head of six +hundred soldiers, six hundred militia and a hundred Indians, he marched +towards the hamlets of the Mohawks. The result of this expedition was, +unhappily, as fruitless as that of the later campaigns undertaken +against the Indians by MM. de Denonville and de Frontenac. After a +difficult march they come into touch with the savages; but these all +flee into the woods, and they find only their huts stocked with immense +supplies of corn for the winter, and a great number of pigs. At least, +if they cannot reach the barbarians themselves, they can inflict upon +them a terrible punishment; they set fire to the cabins and the corn, +the pigs are slaughtered, and thus a large <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span>number of their wild enemies +die of hunger during the winter. The viceroy was wise enough to accept +the surrender of many Indians, and the peace which he concluded afforded +the colony eighteen years of tranquillity.</p> + +<p>The question of the apportionment of the tithes was settled in the +following year, 1667. The viceroy, acting with MM. de Courcelles and +Talon, decided that the tithe should be reduced to a twenty-sixth, by +reason of the poverty of the inhabitants, and that newly-cleared lands +should pay nothing for the first five years. Mgr. de Laval, ever ready +to accept just and sensible measures, agreed to this decision. The +revenues thus obtained were, none the less, insufficient, since the king +subsequently gave eight or nine thousand francs to complete the +endowment of the priests, whose annual salary was fixed at five hundred +and seventy-four francs. In 1707 the sum granted by the French court was +reduced to four thousand francs. If we remember that the French farmers +contributed the thirteenth part of their harvest, that is to say, double +the quantity of the Canadian tithe, for the support of their pastors, +shall we deem excessive this modest tax raised from the colonists for +men who devoted to them their time, their health, even their hours of +rest, in order to procure for their parishioners the aid of religion? Is +it not regrettable that too many among the colonists, who were yet such +good Christians in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span>observance of religious practices, should have +opposed an obstinate resistance to so righteous a demand? Can it be +that, by a special dispensation of Heaven, the priests and vicars of +Canada are not liable to the same material needs as ordinary mortals, +and are they not obliged to pay in good current coin for their food, +their medicines and their clothes?</p> + +<p>The first seminary, built of stone,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> rose in 1661 on the site of the +present vicarage of the cathedral of Quebec; it cost eight thousand five +hundred francs, two thousand of which were given by Mgr. de Laval. The +first priest of Quebec and first superior of the seminary, M. Henri de +Bernières, was able to occupy it in the autumn of the following year, +and the Bishop of Petræa abode there from the time of his return from +France on September 15th, 1663, until the burning of this house on +November 15th, 1701. The first directors of the seminary were, besides +M. de Bernières, MM. de Lauson-Charny, son of the former +governor-general, Jean Dudouyt, Thomas Morel, Ange de Maizerets and +Hugues Pommier. Except the first, who was a Burgundian, they were all +born in the two provinces of Brittany and Normandy, the cradles of the +majority of our ancestors.</p> + +<p>The founder of the seminary had wished the livings to be transferable; +later the government decided to the contrary, and the edict of 1679 +decreed that the tithes should be payable only to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span>permanent +priests; nevertheless the majority of them remained of their +own free will attached to the seminary. They had learned there to +practise a complete abnegation, and to give to the faithful the example +of a united and fervent clerical family. "Our goods were held in common +with those of the bishop," wrote M. de Maizerets, "I have never seen any +distinction made among us between poor and rich, or the birth and rank +of any one questioned, since we all consider each other as brothers."</p> + +<p>The pious bishop himself set an example of disinterestedness; all that +he had, namely an income of two thousand five hundred francs, which the +Jesuits paid him as the tithes of the grain harvested upon their +property, and a revenue of a thousand francs which he had from his +friends in France, went into the seminary. MM. de Bernières, de +Maizerets and Dudouyt vied in the imitation of their model, and they +likewise abandoned to the holy house their goods and their pensions. The +prelate confined himself, like the others, from humility even more than +from economy on behalf of the community, to the greatest simplicity in +dress as well as in his environment. Aiming at the highest degree of +possible perfection, he was satisfied with the coarsest fare, and +incessantly added voluntary privations to the sacrifices demanded of him +by his difficult duties. Does not this apostolic poverty recall the +seminary established by the pious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span>founder of St. Sulpice, who wrote: +"Each had at dinner a bowl of soup and a small portion of butcher's +meat, without dessert, and in the evening likewise a little roast +mutton"?</p> + +<p>Mortification diminished in no wise the activity of the prelate; +learning that the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, that nursery of +apostles, had just been definitely established (1663), he considered it +his duty to establish his own more firmly by affiliating it with that of +the French capital. "I have learned with joy," wrote he, "of the +establishment of your Seminary of Foreign Missions, and that the gales +and tempests by which it has been tossed since the beginning have but +served to render it firmer and more unassailable. I cannot sufficiently +praise your zeal, which, unable to confine itself to the limits and +frontiers of France, seeks to spread throughout the world, and to pass +beyond the seas into the most remote regions; considering which, I have +thought I could not compass a greater good for our young Church, nor one +more to the glory of God and the welfare of the peoples whom God has +entrusted to our guidance, than by contributing to the establishment of +one of your branches in Quebec, the place of our residence, where you +will be like the light set upon the candlestick, to illumine all these +regions by your holy doctrine and the example of your virtue. Since you +are the torch of foreign countries, it is only reasonable that there +should be no quarter of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span>the globe uninfluenced by your charity and +zeal. I hope that our Church will be one of the first to possess this +good fortune, the more since it has already a part of what you hold most +dear. Come then, and be welcome; we shall receive you with joy. You will +find a lodging prepared and a fund sufficient to set up a small +establishment, which I hope will continue to grow...." The act of union +was signed in 1665, and was renewed ten years later with the royal +assent.</p> + +<p>Thanks to the generosity of Mgr. de Laval and of the first directors of +the seminary, building and acquisition of land was begun. There was +erected in 1668 a large wooden dwelling, which was in some sort an +extension of the episcopal and parochial residence. It was destroyed in +1701, with the vicarage, in the conflagration which overwhelmed the +whole seminary. Subsequently, there was purchased a site of sixteen +acres adjoining the parochial church, upon which was erected the house +of Madame Couillard. This house, in which lodged in 1668 the first +pupils of the smaller seminary, was replaced in 1678 by a stone edifice, +large enough to shelter all the pupils of both the seminaries. The +seigniory of Beaupré was also acquired, which with remarkable foresight +the bishop exchanged for the Ile Jésus. "It was prudent," remarks the +Abbé Gosselin, "not to have all the property in the same place; when the +seasons are bad in one part of the country they may be prosperous +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span>elsewhere; and having thus sources of revenue in different places, one +is more likely never to find them entirely lacking."</p> + +<p>The smaller seminary dates only from the year 1668. Up to this time the +large seminary alone existed; of the five ecclesiastics who were its +inmates in 1663, Louis Joliet abandoned the priestly career. It was he +who, impelled by his adventurous instincts, sought out, together with +Father Marquette, the mouth of the Mississippi.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The house was first the presbytery.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>MGR. DE LAVAL AND THE SAVAGES</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>Now</b></span>, what were the results accomplished by the efforts of the +missionaries at this period of our history? When in their latest hour +they saw about them, as was very frequently the case, only the wild +children of the desert uttering cries of ferocious joy, had they at +least the consolation of discerning faithful disciples of Christ +concealed among their executioners? Alas! we must admit that North +America saw no renewal of the days when St. Peter converted on one +occasion, at his first preaching, three thousand persons, and when St. +Paul brought to Jesus by His word thousands of Gentiles. Were the +missionaries of the New World, then, less zealous, less disinterested, +less eloquent than the apostles of the early days of the Church? Let us +listen to Mgr. Bourgard: "A few only among them, like the Brazilian +apostle, Father Anthony Vieyra, died a natural death and found a grave +in earth consecrated by the Church. Many, like Father Marquette, who +reconnoitred the whole course of the Mississippi, succumbed to the +burden of fatigue in the midst of the desert, and were buried under the +turf by their sorrowful comrades. He had with him several Frenchmen, +Fathers<span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> Badin, Deseille and Petit; the two latter left their venerable +remains among the wastes. Others met death at the bedside of the +plague-stricken, and were martyrs to their charity, like Fathers Turgis +and Dablon. An incalculable number died in the desert, alone, deprived +of all aid, unknown to the whole world, and their bodies became the +sustenance of birds of prey. Several obtained the glorious crown of +martyrdom; such are the venerable Fathers Jogues, Corpo, Souël, +Chabanel, Ribourde, Brébeuf, Lalemant, etc. Now they fell under the +blows of raging Indians; now they were traitorously assassinated; again, +they were impaled." In what, then, must we seek for the cause of the +futility of these efforts? All those who know the savages will +understand it; it is in the fickle character of these children of the +woods, a character more unstable and volatile than that of infants. God +alone knows what restless anxiety the conversions which they succeeded +in bringing about caused to the missionaries and the pious Bishop of +Petræa. Yet every day Mgr. de Laval ardently prayed, not only for the +flock confided to his care but also for the souls which he had come from +so far to seek to save from heathenism. If one of these devout men of +God had succeeded at the price of a thousand dangers, of a thousand +attempts, in proving to an Indian the insanity, the folly of his belief +in the juggleries of a sorcerer, he must watch with jealous care lest +his convert should lapse from <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span>grace either through the sarcasms of the +other redskins, or through the attractions of some cannibal festival, or +by the temptation to satisfy an ancient grudge, or through the fear of +losing a coveted influence, or even through the apprehension of the +vengeance of the heathen. Did he think himself justified in expecting to +see his efforts crowned with success? Suddenly he would learn that the +poor neophyte had been led astray by the sight of a bottle of brandy, +and that he had to begin again from the beginning.</p> + +<p>No greater success was attained in many efforts which were exerted to +give a European stamp to the character of the aborigines, than in divers +attempts to train in civilized habits young Indians brought up in the +seminaries. And we know that if success in this direction had been +possible it would certainly have been obtained by educators like the +Jesuit Fathers. "With the French admitted to the small seminary," says +the Abbé Ferland, "six young Indians were received; on the advice of the +king they were all to be brought up together. This union, which was +thought likely to prove useful to all, was not helpful to the savages, +and became harmful to the young Frenchmen. After a few trials it was +understood that it was impossible to adapt to the regular habits +necessary for success in a course of study these young scholars who had +been reared in complete freedom. Comradeship with Algonquin and Huron +children, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span>who were incapable of limiting themselves to the observance +of a college rule, tended to give more force and persistence to the +independent ideas which were natural in the young French-Canadians, who +received from their fathers the love of liberty and the taste for an +adventurous life."</p> + +<p>But we must not infer, therefore, that the missionaries found no +consolation in their troublous task. If sometimes the savage blood +revealed itself in the neophytes in sudden insurrections, we must admit +that the majority of the converts devoted themselves to the practice of +virtues with an energy which often rose to heroism, and that already +there began to appear among them that holy fraternity which the gospel +everywhere brings to birth. The memoirs of the Jesuits furnish numerous +evidences of this. We shall cite only the following: "A band of Hurons +had come down to the Mission of St. Joseph. The Christians, suffering a +great dearth of provisions, asked each other, 'Can we feed all those +people?' As they said this, behold, a number of the Indians, +disembarking from their little boats, go straight to the chapel, fall +upon their knees and say their prayers. An Algonquin who had gone to +salute the Holy Sacrament, having perceived them, came to apprise his +captain that these Hurons were praying to God. 'Is it true?' said he. +'Come! come! we must no longer debate whether we shall give them food or +not; they are our brothers, since they believe as well as we.'"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span>The conversion which caused the most joy to Mgr. de Laval was that of +Garakontié, the noted chief of the Iroquois confederation. Accordingly +he wished to baptize him himself in the cathedral of Quebec, and the +governor, M. de Courcelles, consented to serve as godfather to the new +follower of Christ. Up to this time the missions to the Five Nations had +been ephemeral; by the first one Father Jogues had only been able to +fertilize with his blood this barbarous soil; the second, established at +Gannentaha, escaped the general massacre in 1658 only by a genuine +miracle. This mission was commanded by Captain Dupuis, and comprised +fifty-five Frenchmen. Five Jesuit Fathers were of the number, among them +Fathers Chaumonot and Dablon. Everything up to that time had gone +wonderfully well in the new establishment; the missionaries knew the +Iroquois language so well, and so well applied the rules of savage +eloquence, that they impressed all the surrounding tribes; accordingly +they were full of trust and dreamed of a rapid extension of the Catholic +faith in these territories. An Iroquois chief dispelled their illusion +by revealing to them the plans of their enemies; they were already +watched, and preparations were on foot to cut off their retreat. In this +peril the colonists took counsel, and hastily constructed in the +granaries of their quarters a few boats, some canoes and a large barge, +destined to transport the provisions and the fugitives. They had to +hasten, because the attack <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span>against their establishment might take place +at any moment, and they must profit by the breaking up of the ice, which +was impending. But how could they transport this little flotilla to the +river which flowed into Lake Ontario twenty miles away without giving +the alarm and being massacred at the first step? They adopted a singular +stratagem derived from the customs of these people, and one in which the +fugitives succeeded perfectly. "A young Frenchman adopted by an Indian," +relates Jacques de Beaudoncourt, "pretended to have a dream by which he +was warned to make a festival, 'to eat everything,' if he did not wish +to die presently. 'You are my son,' replied the Iroquois chief, 'I do +not want you to die; prepare the feast and we shall eat everything.' No +one was absent; some of the French who were invited made music to charm +the guests. They ate so much, according to the rules of Indian civility, +that they said to their host, 'Take pity on us, and let us go and rest.' +'You want me to die, then?' 'Oh, no!' And they betook themselves to +eating again as best they could. During this time the other Frenchmen +were carrying to the river the boats and provisions. When all was ready +the young man said: 'I take pity on you, stop eating, I shall not die. I +am going to have music played to lull you to sleep.' And sleep was not +long in coming, and the French, slipping hastily away from the banquet +hall, rejoined their comrades. They had left the dogs and the fowls +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span>behind, in order the better to deceive the savages; a heavy snow, +falling at the moment of their departure, had concealed all traces of +their passage, and the banqueters imagined that a powerful Manitou had +carried away the fugitives, who would not fail to come back and avenge +themselves. After thirteen days of toilsome navigation, the French +arrived in Montreal, having lost only three men from drowning during the +passage. It had been thought that they were all massacred, for the plans +of the Iroquois had become known in the colony; this escape brought the +greatest honour to Captain Dupuis, who had successfully carried it out."</p> + +<p>M. d'Argenson, then governor, did not approve of the retreat of the +captain; this advanced bulwark protected the whole colony, and he +thought that the French should have held out to the last man. This +selfish opinion was disavowed by the great majority; the real courage of +a leader does not consist in having all his comrades massacred to no +purpose, but in saving by his calm intrepidity the largest possible +number of soldiers for his country.</p> + +<p>The Iroquois were tricked but not disarmed. Beside themselves with rage +at the thought that so many victims about to be sacrificed to their +hatred had escaped their blows, and desiring to end once for all the +feud with their enemies, the Onondagas, they persuaded the other nations +to join them in a rush upon Quebec. They succeeded easily, and twelve +hundred savage warriors assembled at Cleft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> Rock, on the outskirts of +Montreal, and exposed the colony to the most terrible danger which it +had yet experienced.</p> + +<p>This was indeed a great peril; the dwellings above Quebec were without +defence, and separated so far from each other that they stretched out +nearly two leagues. But providentially the plan of these terrible foes +was made known to the inhabitants of the town through an Iroquois +prisoner. Immediately the most feverish activity was exerted in +preparations for defence; the country houses and those of the Lower Town +were abandoned, and the inhabitants took refuge in the palace, in the +fort, with the Ursulines, or with the Jesuits; redoubts were raised, +loop-holes bored and patrols established. At Ville-Marie no fewer +precautions were taken; the governor surrounded a mill which he had +erected in 1658, by a palisade, a ditch, and four bastions well +entrenched. It stood on a height of the St. Louis Hill, and, called at +first the Mill on the Hill, it became later the citadel of Montreal. +Anxiety still prevailed everywhere, but God, who knows how to raise up, +in the very moment of despair, the instruments which He uses in His +infinite wisdom to protect the countries dear to His heart, that same +God who gave to France the heroic Joan of Arc, produced for Canada an +unexpected defender. Dollard and sixteen brave Montrealers were to offer +themselves as victims to save the colony. Their devotion, which +surpasses all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span>that history shows of splendid daring, proves the +exaltation of the souls of those early colonists.</p> + +<p>One morning in the month of July, 1660, Dollard, accompanied by sixteen +valiant comrades, presented himself at the altar of the church in +Montreal; these Christian heroes came to ask the God of the strong to +bless the resolve which they had taken to go and sacrifice themselves +for their brothers. Immediately after mass, tearing themselves from the +embraces of their relatives, they set out, and after a long and toilsome +march arrived at the foot of the Long Rapid, on the left bank of the +Ottawa; the exact point where they stopped is probably Greece's Point, +five or six miles above Carillon, for they knew that the Iroquois +returning from the hunt must pass this place. They installed themselves +within a wretched palisade, where they were joined almost at once by two +Indian chiefs who, having challenged each other's courage, sought an +occasion to surpass one another in valour. They were Anahotaha, at the +head of forty Hurons, and Métiomègue, accompanied by four Algonquins. +They had not long to wait; two canoes bore the Iroquois crews within +musket shot; those who escaped the terrible volley which received them +and killed the majority of them, hastened to warn the band of three +hundred other Iroquois from whom they had become detached. The Indians, +relying on an easy victory, hastened up, but they hurled themselves in +vain upon the French, who, sheltered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span>by their weak palisade, crowned +its stakes with the heads of their enemies as these were beaten down. +Exasperated by this unexpected check, the Iroquois broke up the canoes +of their adversaries, and, with the help of these fragments, which they +set on fire, attempted to burn the little fortress; but a well sustained +fire prevented the rashest from approaching. Their pride yielding to +their thirst for vengeance, these three hundred men found themselves too +few before such intrepid enemies, and they sent for aid to a band of +five hundred of their people, who were camped on the Richelieu Islands. +These hastened to the attack, and eight hundred men rushed upon a band +of heroes strengthened by the sentiment of duty, the love of country and +faith in a happy future. Futile efforts! The bullets made terrible havoc +in their ranks, and they recoiled again, carrying with them only the +assurance that their numbers had not paralyzed the courage of the +French.</p> + +<p>But the aspect of things was about to change, owing to the cowardice of +the Hurons. Water failed the besieged tortured by thirst; they made +sorties from time to time to procure some, and could bring back in their +small and insufficient vessels only a few drops, obtained at the +greatest peril. The Iroquois, aware of this fact, profited by it in +order to offer life and pardon to the Indians who would go over to their +side. No more was necessary to persuade the Hurons, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span>suddenly thirty +of them followed La Mouche, the nephew of the Huron chief, and leaped +over the palisades. The brave Anahotaha fired a pistol shot at his +nephew, but missed him. The Algonquins remained faithful, and died +bravely at their post. The Iroquois learned through these deserters the +real number of those who were resisting them so boldly; they then took +an oath to die to the last man rather than renounce victory, rather than +cast thus an everlasting opprobrium on their nation. The bravest made a +sort of shield with fagots tied together, and, placing themselves in +front of their comrades, hurled themselves upon the palisades, +attempting to tear them up. The supreme moment of the struggle has come; +Dollard is aware of it. While his brothers in arms make frightful gaps +in the ranks of the savages by well-directed shots, he loads with grape +shot a musket which is to explode as it falls, and hurls it with all his +might. Unhappily, the branch of a tree stays the passage of the terrible +engine of destruction, which falls back upon the French and makes a +bloody gap among them. "Surrender!" cries La Mouche to Anahotaha. "I +have given my word to the French, I shall die with them," replies the +bold chief. Already some stakes were torn up, and the Iroquois were +about to rush like an avalanche through this breach, when a new Horatius +Cocles, as brave as the Roman, made his body a shield for his brothers, +and soon the axe which he held in his hand dripped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span>with blood. He fell, +and was at once replaced. The French succumbed one by one; they were +seen brandishing their weapons up to the moment of their last breath, +and, riddled with wounds, they resisted to the last sigh. Drunk with +vengeance, the wild conquerors turned over the bodies to find some still +palpitating, that they might bind them to a stake of torture; three were +in their mortal agony, but they died before being cast on the pyre. A +single one was saved for the stake; he heroically resisted the +refinements of the most barbarous cruelty; he showed no weakness, and +did not cease to pray for his executioners. Everything in this glorious +deed of arms must compel the admiration of the most remote posterity.</p> + +<p>The wretched Hurons suffered the fate which they had deserved; they were +burned in the different villages. Five escaped, and it was by their +reports that men learned the details of an exploit which saved the +colony. The Iroquois, in fact, considering what a handful of brave men +had accomplished, took it for granted that a frontal attack on such men +could only result in failure; they changed their tactics, and had +recourse anew to their warfare of surprises and ambuscades, with the +purpose of gradually destroying the little colony.</p> + +<p>The dangers which might be risked by attacking so fierce a nation were, +as may be seen, by no means imaginary. Many would have retreated, and +awaited a favourable occasion to try and plant for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span>the third time the +cross in the Iroquois village. The sons of Loyola did not hesitate; +encouraged by Mgr. de Laval, they retraced their steps to the Five +Nations. This time Heaven condescended to reward in a large measure +their persistent efforts, and the harvest was abundant. In a short time +the number of churches among these people had increased to ten.</p> + +<p>The famous chief, Garakontié, whose conversion to Christianity caused so +much joy to the pious Bishop of Petræa and to all the Christians of +Canada, was endowed with a rare intelligence, and all who approached him +recognized in him a mind as keen as it was profound. Not only did he +keep faithfully the promises which he had made on receiving baptism, but +the gratitude which he continued to feel towards the bishop and the +missionaries made him remain until his death the devoted friend of the +French. "He is an incomparable man," wrote Father Millet one day. "He is +the soul of all the good that is done here; he supports the faith by his +influence; he maintains peace by his authority; he declares himself so +clearly for France that we may justly call him the protector of the +Crown in this country." Feeling life escaping, he wished to give what +the savages call their "farewell feast," a touching custom, especially +when Christianity comes to sanctify it. His last words were for the +venerable prelate, to whom he had vowed a deep attachment and respect. +"The guests <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span>having retired," wrote Father Lamberville, "he called me to +him. 'So we must part at last,' said he to me; 'I am willing, since I +hope to go to Heaven.' He then begged me to tell my beads with him, +which I did, together with several Christians, and then he called me and +said to me: 'I am dying.' Then he gave up the ghost very peacefully."</p> + +<p>The labour demanded at this period by pastoral visits in a diocese so +extended may readily be imagined. Besides the towns of Quebec, Montreal +and Three Rivers, in which was centralized the general activity, there +were then several Christian villages, those of Lorette, Ste. Foy, +Sillery, the village of La Montagne at Montreal, of the Sault St. Louis, +and of the Prairie de la Madeleine. Far from avoiding these trips, Mgr. +de Laval took pleasure in visiting all the cabins of the savages, one +after another, spreading the good Word, consoling the afflicted, and +himself administering the sacraments of the Church to those who wished +to receive them.</p> + +<p>Father Dablon gives us in these terms the narrative of the visit of the +bishop to the Prairie de la Madeleine in 1676. "This man," says he, +speaking of the prelate, "this man, great by birth and still greater by +his virtues, which have been quite recently the admiration of all +France, and which on his last voyage to Europe justly acquired for him +the esteem and the approval of the king; this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span>great man, making the +rounds of his diocese, was conveyed in a little bark canoe by two +peasants, exposed to all the inclemencies of the climate, without other +retinue than a single ecclesiastic, and without carrying anything but a +wooden cross and the ornaments absolutely necessary to a <i>bishop of +gold</i>, according to the expression of authors in speaking of the first +prelates of Christianity."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[The expedition of Dollard is related in detail by Dollier de +Casson, and by Mother Mary of the Incarnation in her letters. The +Abbé de Belmont gives a further account of the episode in his +history. The <i>Jesuit Relations</i> place the scene of the affair at +the Chaudière Falls. The sceptically-minded are referred to +Kingsford's <i>History of Canada</i>, vol. I., p. 261, where a less +romantic view of the affair is taken.]—Editors' Note on the +Dollard Episode.</p></div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>To</b></span> the great joy of Mgr. de Laval the colony was about to develop +suddenly, thanks to the establishment in the fertile plains of New +France of the time-expired soldiers of the regiment of Carignan. The +importance of the peopling of his diocese had always been capital in the +eyes of the bishop, and we have seen him at work obtaining from the +court new consignments of colonists. Accordingly, in the year 1663, +three hundred persons had embarked at La Rochelle for Canada. +Unfortunately, the majority of these passengers were quite young people, +clerks or students, in quest of adventure, who had never worked with +their hands. The consequences of this deplorable emigration were +disastrous; more than sixty of these poor children died during the +voyage. The king was startled at such negligence, and the three hundred +colonists who embarked the following year, in small detachments, arrived +in excellent condition. Moreover, they had made the voyage without +expense, but had in return hired to work for three years with the +farmers, for an annual wage which was to be fixed by the authorities. +"It will seem to you perhaps strange," wrote M. de<span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> Villeray, to the +minister Colbert, "to see that we make workmen coming to us from France +undergo a sort of apprenticeship, by distribution among the inhabitants; +yet there is nothing more necessary, first, because the men brought to +us are not accustomed to the tilling of the soil; secondly, a man who is +not accustomed to work, unless he is urged, has difficulty in adapting +himself to it; thirdly, the tasks of this country are very different +from those of France, and experience shows us that a man who has +wintered three years in the country, and who then hires out at service, +receives double the wages of one just arriving from the Old Country. +These are reasons of our own which possibly would not be admitted in +France by those who do not understand them."</p> + +<p>The Sovereign Council recommended, moreover, that there should be sent +only men from the north of France, "because," it asserted, "the Normans, +Percherons, Picards, and people from the neighbourhood of Paris are +docile, laborious, industrious, and have much more religion. Now, it is +important in the establishment of a country to sow good seed." While we +accept in the proper spirit this eulogy of our ancestors, who came +mostly from these provinces, how inevitably it suggests a comparison +with the spirit of scepticism and irreverence which now infects, +transitorily, let us hope, these regions of Northern France.</p> + +<p>Never before had the harbour of Quebec seen so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span>much animation as in the +year 1665. The solicitor-general, Bourdon, had set foot on the banks of +the St. Lawrence in early spring; he escorted a number of girls chosen +by order of the queen. Towards the middle of August two ships arrived +bearing four companies of the regiment of Carignan, and the following +month three other vessels brought, together with eight other companies, +Governor de Courcelles and Commissioner Talon. Finally, on October 2nd, +one hundred and thirty robust colonists and eighty-two maidens, +carefully chosen, came to settle in the colony.</p> + +<p>If we remember that there were only at this time seventy houses in +Quebec, we may say without exaggeration that the number of persons who +came from France in this year, 1665, exceeded that of the whole white +population already resident in Canada. But it was desirable to keep this +population in its entirety, and Commissioner Talon, well seconded by +Mgr. de Laval, tenaciously pursued this purpose. The soldiers of +Carignan, all brave, and pious too, for the most part, were highly +desirable colonists. "What we seek most," wrote Mother Mary of the +Incarnation, "is the glory of God and the welfare of souls. That is what +we are working for, as well as to assure the prevalence of devotion in +the army, giving the men to understand that we are waging here a holy +war. There are as many as five hundred of them who have taken the +scapulary of the Holy Virgin, and many others <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span>who recite the chaplet of +the Holy Family every day."</p> + +<p>Talon met with a rather strong opposition to his immigration plans in +the person of the great Colbert, who was afraid of seeing the Mother +Country depopulated in favour of her new daughter Canada. His +perseverance finally won the day, and more than four hundred soldiers +settled in the colony. Each common soldier received a hundred francs, +each sergeant a hundred and fifty francs. Besides, forty thousand francs +were used in raising in France the additional number of fifty girls and +a hundred and fifty men, which, increased by two hundred and thirty-five +colonists, sent by the company in 1667, fulfilled the desires of the +Bishop of Petræa.</p> + +<p>The country would soon have been self-supporting if similar energy had +been continuously employed in its development. It is a miracle that a +handful of emigrants, cast almost without resources upon the northern +shore of America, should have been able to maintain themselves so long, +in spite of continual alarms, in spite of the deprivation of all +comfort, and in spite of the rigour of the climate. With wonderful +courage and patience they conquered a vast territory, peopled it, +cultivated its soil, and defended it by prodigies of valour against the +forays of the Indians.</p> + +<p>The colony, happily, was to keep its bishop, the worthy Governor de +Courcelles, and the best ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span>ministrator it ever had, the Commissioner +Talon. But it was to lose a lofty intellect: the Marquis de Tracy, his +mission ended to the satisfaction of all, set sail again for France. +From the moment of his arrival in Canada the latter had inspired the +greatest confidence. "These three gentlemen," say the annals of the +hospital, speaking of the viceroy, of M. de Courcelles and M. Talon, +"were endowed with all desirable qualities. They added to an attractive +exterior much wit, gentleness and prudence, and were admirably adapted +to instil a high idea of the royal majesty and power; they sought all +means proper for moulding the country and laboured at this task with +great application. This colony, under their wise leadership, expanded +wonderfully, and according to all appearances gave hope of becoming most +flourishing." Mgr. de Laval held the Marquis de Tracy in high esteem. +"He is a man powerful in word and deed," he wrote to Pope Alexander VII, +"a practising Christian, and the right arm of religion." The viceroy did +not fear, indeed, to show that one may be at once an excellent Christian +and a brave officer, whether he accompanied the Bishop of Petræa on the +pilgrimage to good Ste. Anne, or whether he honoured himself in the +religious processions by carrying a corner of the dais with the +governor, the intendant and the agent of the West India Company. He was +seen also at the laying of the foundation stone of the church of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +Jesuits, at the transfer of the relics of the holy martyrs Flavian and +Felicitas, at the consecration of the cathedral of Quebec and at that of +the chief altar of the church of the Ursulines, in fact, everywhere +where he might set before the faithful the good example of piety and of +the respect due to religion.</p> + +<p>The eighteen years of peace with the Iroquois, obtained by the +expedition of the Marquis de Tracy, allowed the intendant to encourage +the development of the St. Maurice mines, to send the traveller Nicolas +Perrot to visit all the tribes of the north and west, in order to +establish or cement with them relations of trade or friendship, and to +entrust Father Marquette and M. Joliet with the mission of exploring the +course of the Mississippi. The two travellers carried their exploration +as far as the junction of this river with the Arkansas, but their +provisions failing them, they had to retrace their steps.</p> + +<p>This state of peace came near being disturbed by the gross cupidity of +some wretched soldiers. In the spring of 1669 three soldiers of the +garrison of Ville-Marie, intoxicated and assassinated an Iroquois chief +who was bringing back from his hunting some magnificent furs. M. de +Courcelles betook himself at once to Montreal, but, during the process +of this trial, it was learned that several months before three other +Frenchmen had killed six Mohegan Indians with the same purpose of +plunder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> The excitement aroused by these two murders was such that a +general uprising of the savage nations was feared; already they had +banded together for vengeance, and only the energy of the governor saved +the colony from the horrors of another war. In the presence of all the +Indians then quartered at Ville-Marie, he had the three assassins of the +Iroquois chief brought before him, and caused them to be shot. He +pledged himself at the same time to do like justice to the murderers of +the Mohegans, as soon as they should be discovered. He caused, moreover, +to be restored to the widow of the chief all the furs which had been +stolen from him, and indemnified the two tribes, and thus by his +firmness induced the restless nations to remain at peace. His vigilance +did not stop at this. The Iroquois and the Ottawas being on the point of +recommencing their feud, he warned them that he would not allow them to +disturb the general order and tranquillity. He commanded them to send to +him delegates to present the question of their mutual grievances. +Receiving an arrogant reply from the Iroquois, who thought their country +inaccessible to the French, he himself set out from Montreal on June +2nd, 1671, with fifty-six soldiers, in a specially constructed boat and +thirteen bark canoes. He reached the entrance to Lake Ontario, and so +daunted the Iroquois by his audacity that the Ottawas sued for peace. +Profiting by the alarm with which he had just inspired them, M.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> de +Courcelles gave orders to the principal chiefs to go and await him at +Cataraqui, there to treat with him on an important matter. They obeyed, +and the governor declared to them his plan of constructing at this very +place a fort where they might more easily arrange their exchanges. Not +suspecting that the French had any other purpose than that of protecting +themselves against inroads, they approved this plan; and so Fort +Cataraqui, to-day the city of Kingston, was erected by Count de +Frontenac, and called after this governor, who was to succeed M. de +Courcelles.</p> + +<p>Their transitory apprehensions did not interrupt the construction of the +two churches of Quebec and Montreal, for they were built almost at the +same time; the first was dedicated on July 11th, 1666, the second, begun +in 1672, was finished only in 1678. The church of the old city of +Champlain was of stone, in the form of a Roman cross; its length was one +hundred feet, its width thirty-eight. It contained, besides the +principal altar, a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, another to Ste. Anne, +and the chapel of the Holy Scapulary. Thrice enlarged, it gave place in +1755 to the present cathedral, for which the foundations of the older +church were used. When the prelate arrived in 1659, the holy offices +were already celebrated there, but the bishop hastened to end the work +which it still required. "There is here," he wrote to the Common Father +of the faithful, "a cathedral made of stone; it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span>large and splendid. +The divine service is celebrated in it according to the ceremony of +bishops; our priests, our seminarists, as well as ten or twelve +choir-boys, are regularly present there. On great festivals, the mass, +vespers and evensong are sung to music, with orchestral accompaniment, +and our organs mingle their harmonious voices with those of the +chanters. There are in the sacristy some very fine ornaments, eight +silver chandeliers, and all the chalices, pyxes, vases and censers are +either gilt or pure silver."</p> + +<p>The Sulpicians as well as the Jesuits have always professed a peculiar +devotion to the Virgin Mary. It was the pious founder of St. Sulpice, M. +Olier, who suggested to the Company of Notre-Dame the idea of +consecrating to Mary the establishment of the Island of Montreal in +order that she might defend it as her property, and increase it as her +domain. They gladly yielded to this desire, and even adopted as the seal +of the company the figure of Our Lady; in addition they confirmed the +name of Ville-Marie, so happily given to this chosen soil.</p> + +<p>It was the Jesuits who placed the church of Quebec under the patronage +of the Immaculate Conception, and gave it as second patron St. Louis, +King of France. This double choice could not but be agreeable to the +pious Bishop of Petræa. Learning, moreover, that the members of the +Society of Jesus renewed each year in Canada their vow to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span>fast on the +eve of the festival of the Immaculate Conception, and to add to this +mortification several pious practices, with the view of obtaining from +Heaven the conversion of the savages, he approved this devotion, and +ordered that in future it should likewise be observed in his seminary. +He sanctioned other works of piety inspired or established by the Jesuit +Fathers; the <i>novena</i>, which has remained so popular with the +French-Canadians, at St. François-Xavier, the Brotherhoods of the Holy +Rosary and of the Scapulary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He encouraged, +above all, devotion to the Holy Family, and prescribed wise regulations +for this worship. The Pope deigned to enrich by numerous indulgences the +brotherhoods to which it gave birth, and in recent years Leo XIII +instituted throughout the Church the celebration of the Festival of the +Holy Family. "The worship of the Holy Family," the illustrious pontiff +proclaims in a recent bull, "was established in America, in the region +of Canada, where it became most flourishing, thanks chiefly to the +solicitude and activity of the venerable servant of God, François de +Montmorency Laval, first Bishop of Quebec, and of God's worthy +handmaiden, Marguerite Bourgeoys." According to Cardinal Taschereau, it +was Father Pijard who established the first Brotherhood of the Holy +Family in 1650 in the Island of Montreal, but the real promoter of this +cult was another Father of the Company of Jesus, Father Chaumonot, whom +Mgr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> de Laval brought specially to Quebec to set at the head of the +brotherhood which he had decided to found.</p> + +<p>It was the custom, in these periods of fervent faith, to place +buildings, cities and even countries under the ægis of a great saint, +and Louis XIII had done himself the honour of dedicating France to the +Virgin Mary. People did not then blush to practise and profess their +beliefs, nor to proclaim them aloud. On the proposal of the Récollets in +a general assembly, St. Joseph was chosen as the first patron saint of +Canada; later, St. François-Xavier was adopted as the second special +protector of the colony.</p> + +<p>Montreal, which in the early days of its existence maintained with its +rival of Cape Diamond a strife of emulation in the path of good as well +as in that of progress, could no longer do without a religious edifice +worthy of its already considerable importance. Mgr. de Laval was at this +time on a round of pastoral visits, for, in spite of the fatigue +attaching to such a journey, at a time when there was not yet even a +carriage-road between the two towns, and when, braving contrary winds, +storms and the snares of the Iroquois, one had to ascend the St. +Lawrence in a bark canoe, the worthy prelate made at least eight visits +to Montreal during the period of his administration. In a general +assembly of May 12th, 1669, presided over by him, it was decided to +establish the church on ground which had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span>belonged to Jean de +Saint-Père, but since this site had not the elevation on which the +Sulpicians desired to see the new temple erected, the work was suspended +for two years more. The ecclesiastics of the seminary offered on this +very height (for M. Dollier had given to the main street the name of +Notre-Dame, which was that of the future church) some lots bought by +them from Nicolas Godé and from Mme. Jacques Lemoyne, and situated +behind their house; they offered besides in the name of M. de +Bretonvilliers the sum of a thousand <i>livres tournois</i> for three years, +to begin the work. These offers were accepted in an assembly of all the +inhabitants, on June 10th, 1672; François Bailly, master mason, directed +the building, and on the thirtieth of the same month, before the deeply +moved and pious population, there were laid, immediately after high +mass, the first five stones. There had been chosen the name of the +Purification, because this day was the anniversary of that on which MM. +Olier and de la Dauversière had caught the first glimpses of their +vocation to work at the establishment of Ville-Marie, and because this +festival had always remained in high honour among the Montrealers. The +foundation was laid by M. de Courcelles, governor-general; the second +stone had been reserved for M. Talon, but, as he could not accept the +invitation, his place was taken by M. Philippe de Carion, representative +of M. de la Motte Saint-Paul. The remaining stones <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span>were laid by M. +Perrot, governor of the island, by M. Dollier de Casson, representing M. +de Bretonvilliers, and by Mlle. Mance, foundress of the Montreal +hospital. The sight of this ceremony was one of the last joys of this +good woman; she died on June 18th of the following year.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, all desired to contribute to the continuation of the work; +some offered money, others materials, still others their labour. In +their ardour the priests of the seminary had the old fort, which was +falling into ruins, demolished in order to use the wood and stone for +the new building. As lords of the island, they seemed to have the +incontestable right to dispose of an edifice which was their private +property. But M. de Bretonvilliers, to whom they referred the matter, +took them to task for their haste, and according to his instructions the +work of demolition was stopped, not to be resumed until ten years later. +The colonists had an ardent desire to see their church finished, but +they were poor, and, though a collection had brought in, in 1676, the +sum of two thousand seven hundred francs, the work dragged along for two +years more, and was finished only in 1678. "The church had," says M. +Morin, "the form of a Roman cross, with the lower sides ending in a +circular apse; its portal, built of hewn stone, was composed of two +designs, one Tuscan, the other Doric; the latter was surmounted by a +triangular pediment. This beautiful entrance, erected in 1722, according +to the plans of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> Chaussegros de Léry, royal engineer, was flanked on the +right side by a square tower crowned by a campanile, from the summit of +which rose a beautiful cross with <i>fleur-de-lis</i> twenty-four feet high. +This church was built in the axis of Notre-Dame Street, and a portion of +it on the Place d'Armes; it measured, in the clear, one hundred and +forty feet long, and ninety-six feet wide, and the tower one hundred and +forty-four feet high. It was razed in 1830, and the tower demolished in +1843."</p> + +<p>Montreal continued to progress, and therefore to build. The Sulpicians, +finding themselves cramped in their old abode, began in 1684 the +construction of a new seigniorial and chapter house, of one hundred and +seventy-eight feet frontage by eighty-four feet deep. These vast +buildings, whose main façade faces on Notre-Dame Street, in front of the +Place d'Armes, still exist. They deserve the attention of the tourist, +if only by reason of their antiquity, and on account of the old clock +which surmounts them, for though it is the most ancient of all in North +America, this clock still marks the hours with average exactness. Behind +these old walls extends a magnificent garden.</p> + +<p>The spectacle presented by Ville-Marie at this time was most edifying. +This great village was the school of martyrdom, and all aspired thereto, +from the most humble artisan and the meanest soldier to the brigadier, +the commandant, the governor, the priests and the nuns, and they found +in this aspiration, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span>this faith and this hope, a strength and happiness +known only to the chosen. From the bosom of this city had sprung the +seventeen heroes who gave to the world, at the foot of the Long Sault, a +magnificent example of what the spirit of Christian sacrifice can do; to +a population which gave of its own free will its time and its labour to +the building of a temple for the Lord, God had assigned a leader, who +took upon his shoulders a heavy wooden cross, and bore it for the +distance of a league up the steep flanks of Mount Royal, to plant it +solemnly upon the summit; within the walls of the seminary lived men +like M. Souart, physician of hearts and bodies, or like MM. Lemaître and +Vignal, who were destined to martyrdom; in the halls of the hospital +Mlle. Mance vied with Sisters de Brésoles, Maillet and de Macé, in +attending to the most repugnant infirmities or healing the most tedious +maladies; last but not least, Sister Bourgeoys and her pious comrades, +Sisters Aimée Chatel, Catherine Crolo, and Marie Raisin, who formed the +nucleus of the Congregation, devoted themselves with unremitting zeal to +the arduous task of instruction.</p> + +<p>Another favour was about to be vouchsafed to Canada in the birth of +Mlle. Leber. M. de Maisonneuve and Mlle. Mance were her godparents, and +the latter gave her her baptismal name. Jeanne Leber reproduced all the +virtues of her godmother, and gave to Canada an example worthy of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span>primitive Church, and such as finds small favour in the practical world +of to-day. She lived a recluse for twenty years with the Sisters of the +Congregation, and practised, till death relieved her, mortifications +most terrifying to the physical nature.</p> + +<p>At Quebec, the barometer of piety, if I may be excused so bold a +metaphor, held at the same level as that of Montreal, and he would be +greatly deceived who, having read only the history of the early years of +the latter city, should despair of finding in the centre of edification +founded by Champlain, men worthy to rank with Queylus and Lemaître, with +Souart and Vignal, with Closse and Maisonneuve, and women who might vie +with Marguerite Bourgeoys, with Jeanne Mance or with Jeanne Leber. To +the piety of the Sulpicians of the colony planted at the foot of Mount +Royal corresponded the fervour both of the priests who lived under the +same roof as Mgr. de Laval, and of the sons of Loyola, who awaited in +their house at Quebec their chance of martyrdom; the edifying examples +given by the military chiefs of Montreal were equalled by those set by +governors like de Mézy and de Courcelles; finally the virtues bordering +on perfection of women like Mlle. Leber and the foundresses of the +hospital and the Congregation found their equivalents in those of the +pious Bishop of Petræa, of Mme. de la Peltrie and those of Mothers Mary +of the Incarnation and Andrée Duplessis de Sainte-Hélène.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span>The Church will one day, perhaps, set upon her altars Mother Mary of +the Incarnation, the first superior of the Ursulines at Quebec. The +Theresa of New France, as she has been called, was endowed with a calm +courage, an incredible patience, and a superior intellect, especially in +spiritual matters; we find the proof of this in her letters and +meditations which her son published in France. "At the head," says the +Abbé Ferland, "of a community of weak women, devoid of resources, she +managed to inspire her companions with the strength of soul and the +trust in God which animated herself. In spite of the unteachableness and +the fickleness of the Algonquin maidens, the troublesome curiosity of +their parents, the thousand trials of a new and poor establishment, +Mother Incarnation preserved an evenness of temper which inspired her +comrades in toil with courage. Did some sudden misfortune appear, she +arose with all the greatness of a Christian of the primitive Church to +meet it with steadfastness. If her son spoke to her of the ill-treatment +to which she was exposed on the part of the Iroquois, at a time when the +affairs of the French seemed desperate, she replied calmly: 'Have no +anxiety for me. I do not speak as to martyrdom, for your affection for +me would incline you to desire it for me, but I mean as to other +outrages. I see no reason for apprehension; all that I hear does not +dismay me.' When she was cast out upon the snow, together with her +sisters, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span>in the middle of a winter's night, by reason of a +conflagration which devoured her convent, her first act was to prevail +upon her companions to kneel with her to thank God for having preserved +their lives, though He despoiled them of all that they possessed in the +world. Her strong and noble soul seemed to rise naturally above the +misfortunes which assailed the growing colony. Trusting fully to God +through the most violent storms, she continued to busy herself calmly +with her work, as if nothing in the world had been able to move her. At +a moment when many feared that the French would be forced to leave the +country, Mother of the Incarnation, in spite of her advanced age, began +to study the language of the Hurons in order to make herself useful to +the young girls of this tribe. Ever tranquil, she did not allow herself +to be carried away by enthusiasm or stayed by fear. 'We imagine +sometimes,' she wrote to her former superior at Tours, 'that a certain +passing inclination is a vocation; no, events show the contrary. In our +momentary enthusiasms we think more of ourselves than of the object we +face, and so we see that when this enthusiasm is once past, our +tendencies and inclinations remain on the ordinary plane of life.' Built +on such a foundation, her piety was solid, sincere and truly +enlightened. In perusing her writings, we are astonished at finding in +them a clearness of thought, a correctness of style, and a firmness of +judgment which give us a lofty idea of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span>this really superior woman. +Clever in handling the brush as well as the pen, capable of directing +the work of building as well as domestic labour, she combined, according +to the opinion of her contemporaries, all the qualities of the strong +woman of whom the Holy Scriptures give us so fine a portrait. She was +entrusted with all the business of the convent. She wrote a prodigious +number of letters, she learned the two mother tongues of the country, +the Algonquin and the Huron, and composed for the use of her sisters, a +sacred history in Algonquin, a catechism in Huron, an Iroquois catechism +and dictionary, and a dictionary, catechism and collection of prayers in +the Algonquin language."</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE SMALLER SEMINARY</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>The</b></span> smaller seminary, founded by the Bishop of Petræa in 1668, for +youths destined to the ecclesiastical life, justified the expectations +of its founder, and witnessed an ever increasing influx of students. On +the day of its inauguration, October 9th, there were only as yet eight +French pupils and six Huron children. For lack of teachers the young +neophytes, placed under the guidance of directors connected with the +seminary, attended during the first years the classes of the Jesuit +Fathers. Their special costume was a blue cloak, confined by a belt. At +this period the College of the Jesuits contained already some sixty +resident scholars, and what proves to us that serious studies were here +pursued is that several scholars are quoted in the memoirs as having +successfully defended in the presence of the highest authorities of the +colony theses on physics and philosophy.</p> + +<p>If the first bishop of New France had confined himself to creating one +large seminary, it is certain that his chosen work, which was the +preparation for the Church of a nursery of scholars and priests, the +apostles of the future, would not have been complete.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span>For many young people, indeed, who lead a worldly existence, and find +themselves all at once transferred to the serious, religious life of the +seminary, the surprise, and sometimes the discomfort, may be great. One +must adapt oneself to this atmosphere of prayer, meditation and study. +The rules of prayer are certainly not beyond the limits of an ordinary +mind, but the practice is more difficult than the theory. Not without +effort can a youthful imagination, a mind ardent and consumed by its own +fervour, relinquish all the memories of family and social occupations, +in order to withdraw into silence, inward peace, and the mortification +of the senses. To the devoutly-minded our worldly life may well seem +petty in comparison with the more spiritual existence, and in the +religious life, for the priest especially, lies the sole source and the +indispensable condition of happiness. But one must learn to be thus +happy by humility, study and prayer, as one learns to be a soldier by +obedience, discipline and exercise, and in nothing did Laval more reveal +his discernment than in the recognition of the fact that the transition +from one life to the other must be effected only after careful +instruction and wisely-guided deliberation.</p> + +<p>The aim of the smaller seminary is to guide, by insensible gradations +towards the great duties and the great responsibilities of the +priesthood, young men upon whom the spirit of God seems to have rested. +There were in Israel schools of prophets; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span>this does not mean that their +training ended in the diploma of a seer or an oracle, but that this +novitiate was favourable to the action of God upon their souls, and +inclined them thereto. A smaller seminary possesses also the hope of the +harvest. It is there that the minds of the students, by exercises +proportionate to their age, become adapted unconstrainedly to pious +reading, to the meditation and the grave studies in whose cycle the life +of the priest must pass.</p> + +<p>We shall not be surprised if the prelate's followers recognized in the +works of faith which sprang up in his footsteps and progressed on all +hands at Ville-Marie and at Quebec shining evidences of the protection +of Mary to whose tutelage they had dedicated their establishments. This +protection indeed has never been withheld, since to-day the fame of the +university which sprang from the seminary, as a fruit develops from a +bud, has crossed the seas. Father Monsabré, the eloquent preacher of +Notre-Dame in Paris, speaking of the union of science and faith, +exclaimed: "There exists, in the field of the New World, an institution +which has religiously preserved this holy alliance and the traditions of +the older universities, the Laval University of Quebec."</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval, while busying himself with the training of his clergy, +watched over the instruction of youth. He protected his schools and his +dioceses; at Quebec the Jesuits, and later the seminary, maintained even +elementary schools. If we must believe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span>the Abbé de Latour and other +writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the children of the +early colonists, skilful in manual labour, showed, nevertheless, great +indolence of mind. "In general," writes Latour, "Canadian children have +intelligence, memory and facility, and they make rapid progress, but the +fickleness of their character, a dominant taste for liberty, and their +hereditary and natural inclination for physical exercise do not permit +them to apply themselves with sufficient perseverance and assiduity to +become learned men; satisfied with a certain measure of knowledge +sufficient for the ordinary purposes of their occupations (and this is, +indeed, usually possessed), we see no people deeply learned in any +branch of science. We must further admit that there are few resources, +few books, and little emulation. No doubt the resources will be +multiplied, and clever persons will appear in proportion as the colony +increases." Always eager to develop all that might serve for the +propagation of the faith or the progress of the colony, the devoted +prelate eagerly fostered this natural aptitude of the Canadians for the +arts and trades, and he established at St. Joachim a boarding-school for +country children; this offered, besides a solid primary education, +lessons in agriculture and some training for different trades.</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval gave many other proofs of his enlightened charity for the +poor and the waifs of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span>fortune; he approved and encouraged among other +works the Brotherhood of Saint Anne at Quebec. This association of +prayer and spiritual aid had been established but three years before his +arrival; it was directed by a chaplain and two directors, the latter +elected annually by secret ballot. He had wished to offer in 1660 a more +striking proof of his devotion to the Mother of the Holy Virgin, and had +caused to be built on the shore of Beaupré the first sanctuary of Saint +Anne. This temple arose not far from a chapel begun two years before, +under the care of the Abbé de Queylus. The origin of this place of +devotion, it appears, was a great peril to which certain Breton sailors +were exposed: assailed by a tempest in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about +the beginning of the seventeenth century, they made a vow to erect, if +they escaped death, a chapel to good Saint Anne on the spot where they +should land. Heaven heard their prayers, and they kept their word. The +chapel erected by Mgr. de Laval was a very modest one, but the zealous +missionary of Beaupré, the Abbé Morel, then chaplain, was the witness of +many acts of ardent faith and sincere piety; the Bishop of Petræa +himself made several pilgrimages to the place. "We confess," says he, +"that nothing has aided us more efficaciously to support the burden of +the pastoral charge of this growing church than the special devotion +which all the inhabitants of this country dedicate to Saint Anne, a +devotion which, we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span>affirm it with certainty, distinguishes them from +all other peoples." The poor little chapel, built of uprights, gave +place in 1675 to a stone church erected by the efforts of M. Filion, +proctor of the seminary, and it was noted for an admirable picture given +by the viceroy, de Tracy, who did not disdain to make his pilgrimage +like the rest, and to set thus an example which the great ones of the +earth should more frequently give. This church lasted only a few years; +Mgr. de Laval was still living when a third temple was built upon its +site. This was enlarged in 1787, and gave place only in 1878 to the +magnificent cathedral which we admire to-day. The faith which raised +this sanctuary to consecrate it to Saint Anne did not die with its pious +founder; it is still lively in our hearts, since in 1898 a hundred and +twenty thousand pilgrims went to pray before the relic of Saint Anne, +the precious gift of Mgr. de Laval.</p> + +<p>In our days, hardly has the sun melted the thick mantle of snow which +covers during six months the Canadian soil, hardly has the majestic St. +Lawrence carried its last blocks of ice down to the ocean, when caravans +of pious pilgrims from all quarters of the country wend their way +towards the sanctuary raised upon the shores of Beaupré. Whole families +fill the cars; the boats of the Richelieu Company stop to receive +passengers at all the charming villages strewn along the banks of the +river, and the cathedral which raises in the air its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span>slender spires on +either side of the immense statue of Saint Anne does not suffice to +contain the ever renewed throng of the faithful.</p> + +<p>Even in the time of Mgr. de Laval, pilgrimages to Saint Anne's were +frequent, and it was not only French people but also savages who +addressed to the Mother of the Virgin Mary fervent, and often very +artless, prayers. The harvest became, in fact, more abundant in the +missions, and</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Les prêtres ne pouvaient suffire aux sacrifices."<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">4</a></p></div> + +<p>From the banks of the Saguenay at Tadousac, or from the shore of Hudson +Bay, where Father Albanel was evangelizing the Indians, to the recesses +of the Iroquois country, a Black Robe taught from interval to interval +in a humble chapel the truths of the Christian religion. "We may say," +wrote Father Dablon in 1671, "that the torch of the faith now illumines +the four quarters of this New World. More than seven hundred baptisms +have this year consecrated all our forests; more than twenty different +missions incessantly occupy our Fathers among more than twenty diverse +nations; and the chapels erected in the districts most remote from here +are almost every day filled with these poor barbarians, and in some of +them there have been consummated sometimes ten, twenty, and even thirty +baptisms on a single occasion." And, ever faithful to the established +power, the missionaries taught their neophytes not only religion, but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span>also the respect due to the king. Let us hearken to Father Allouez +speaking to the mission of Sault Ste. Marie: "Cast your eyes," says he, +"upon the cross raised so high above your heads. It was upon that cross +that Jesus Christ, the son of God, become a man by reason of His love +for men, consented to be bound and to die, in order to satisfy His +Eternal Father for our sins. He is the master of our life, the master of +Heaven, earth and hell. It is He of whom I speak to you without ceasing, +and whose name and word I have borne into all these countries. But +behold at the same time this other stake, on which are hung the arms of +the great captain of France, whom we call the king. This great leader +lives beyond the seas; he is the captain of the greatest captains, and +has not his peer in the world. All the captains that you have ever seen, +and of whom you have heard speak, are only children beside him. He is +like a great tree; the rest are only little plants crushed under men's +footsteps as they walk. You know Onontio, the famous chieftain of +Quebec; you know that he is the terror of the Iroquois, his mere name +makes them tremble since he has desolated their country and burned their +villages. Well, there are beyond the seas ten thousand Onontios like +him. They are only the soldiers of this great captain, our great king, +of whom I speak to you."</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval ardently desired, then, the arrival of new workers for the +gospel, and in the year<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> 1668, the very year of the foundation of the +seminary, his desire was fulfilled, as if Providence wished to reward +His servant at once. Missionaries from France came to the aid of the +priests of the Quebec seminary, and Sulpicians, such as MM. de Queylus, +d'Urfé, Dallet and Brehan de Gallinée, arrived at Montreal; MM. François +de Salignac-Fénelon and Claude Trouvé had already landed the year +before. "I have during the last month," wrote the prelate, "commissioned +two most good and virtuous apostles to go to an Iroquois community which +has been for some years established quite near us on the northern side +of the great Lake Ontario. One is M. de Fénelon, whose name is +well-known in Paris, and the other M. Trouvé. We have not yet been able +to learn the result of their mission, but we have every reason to hope +for its complete success."</p> + +<p>While he was enjoining upon these two missionaries, on their departure +for the mission on which he was sending them, that they should always +remain in good relations with the Jesuit Fathers, he gave them some +advice worthy of the most eminent doctors of the Church:—</p> + +<p>"A knowledge of the language," he says, "is necessary in order to +influence the savages. It is, nevertheless, one of the smallest parts of +the equipment of a good missionary, just as in France to speak French +well is not what makes a successful preacher. The talents which make +good missionaries are:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span>"1. To be filled with the spirit of God; this spirit must animate our +words and our hearts: <i>Ex abundantia cordis os loquitur</i>.</p> + +<p>"2. To have great prudence in the choice and arrangement of the things +which are necessary either to enlighten the understanding or to bend the +will; all that does not tend in this direction is labour lost.</p> + +<p>"3. To be very assiduous, in order not to lose opportunities of +procuring the salvation of souls, and supplying the neglect which is +often manifest in neophytes; for, since the devil on his part <i>circuit +tanquam leo rugiens, quærens quem devoret</i>, so we must be vigilant +against his efforts, with care, gentleness and love.</p> + +<p>"4. To have nothing in our life and in our manners which may appear to +belie what we say, or which may estrange the minds and hearts of those +whom we wish to win to God.</p> + +<p>"5. We must make ourselves beloved by our gentleness, patience and +charity, and win men's minds and hearts to incline them to God. Often a +bitter word, an impatient act or a frowning countenance destroys in a +moment what has taken a long time to produce.</p> + +<p>"6. The spirit of God demands a peaceful and pious heart, not a restless +and dissipated one; one should have a joyous and modest countenance; one +should avoid jesting and immoderate laughter, and in general all that is +contrary to a holy and joyful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span>modesty: <i>Modestia vestra nota sit +omnibus hominibus</i>."</p> + +<p>The new Sulpicians had been most favourably received by Mgr. de Laval, +and the more so since almost all of them belonged to great families and +had renounced, like himself, ease and honour, to devote themselves to +the rude apostleship of the Canadian missions.</p> + +<p>The difficulties between the bishop and the Abbé de Queylus had +disappeared, and had left no trace of bitterness in the souls of these +two servants of God. M. de Queylus gave good proof of this subsequently; +he gave six thousand francs to the hospital of Quebec, of which one +thousand were to endow facilities for the treatment of the poor, and +five thousand for the maintenance of a choir-nun. His generosity, +moreover, was proverbial: "I cannot find a man more grateful for the +favour that you have done him than M. de Queylus," wrote the intendant, +Talon, to the minister, Colbert. "He is going to arrange his affairs in +France, divide with his brothers, and collect his worldly goods to use +them in Canada, at least so he has assured me. If he has need of your +protection, he is striving to make himself worthy of it, and I know that +he is most zealous for the welfare of this colony. I believe that a +little show of benevolence on your part would redouble this zeal, of +which I have good evidence, for what you desire the most, the education +of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span>native children, which he furthers with all his might."</p> + +<p>The abbé found the seminary in conditions very different from those +prevailing at the time of his departure. In 1663, the members of the +Company of Notre-Dame of Montreal had made over to the Sulpicians the +whole Island of Montreal and the seigniory of St. Sulpice. Their purpose +was to assure the future of the three works which they had not ceased, +since the birth of their association, to seek to establish: a seminary +for the education of priests in the colony, an institution of education +for young girls, and a hospital for the care of the sick.</p> + +<p>To learn the happy results due to the eloquence of MM. Trouvé and de +Fénelon engaged in the evangelization of the tribes encamped to the +north of Lake Ontario, or to that of MM. Dollier de Casson and Gallinée +preaching on the shores of Lake Erie, one must read the memoirs of the +Jesuit Fathers. We must bear in mind that many facts, which might appear +to redound too much to the glory of the missionaries, the modesty of +these men refused to give to the public. We shall give an example. One +day when M. de Fénelon had come down to Quebec, in the summer of 1669, +to give account of his efforts to his bishop, Mgr. de Laval begged the +missionary to write a short abstract of his labours for the memoirs. +"Monseigneur," replied humbly the modest Sulpician, "the greatest favour +that you can do us is not to allow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span>us to be mentioned." Will he, at +least, like the traveller who, exhausted by fatigue and privation, +reaches finally the promised land, repose in Capuan delights? Mother +Mary of the Incarnation informs us on this point: "M. l'abbé de +Fénelon," says she, "having wintered with the Iroquois, has paid us a +visit. I asked him how he had been able to subsist, having had only +sagamite<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> as sole provision, and pure water to drink. He replied that +he was so accustomed to it that he made no distinction between this food +and any other, and that he was about to set out on his return to pass +the winter again there with M. de Trouvé, having left him only to go and +get the wherewithal to pay the Indians who feed them. The zeal of these +great servants of God is admirable."</p> + +<p>The activity and the devotion of the Jesuits and of the Sulpicians might +thus make up for lack of numbers, and Mgr. de Laval judged that they +were amply sufficient for the task of the holy ministry. But the +intendant, Talon, feared lest the Society of Jesus should become +omnipotent in the colony; adopting from policy the famous device of +Catherine de Medici, <i>divide to rule</i>, he hoped that an order of +mendicant friars would counterbalance the influence of the sons of +Loyola, and he brought with him from France, in 1670, Father Allard, +Superior of the Récollets in the Province of St. Denis, and four other +brothers of the same order. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> +We must confess that, if a new order of monks was to be +established in Canada, it was preferable in all justice to apply to that +of St. Francis rather than to any others, for had it not traced the +first evangelical furrows in the new field and left glorious memories in +the colony?</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval received from the king in 1671 the following letter:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"My Lord Bishop of Petræa:</p> + +<p>"Having considered that the re-establishment of the monks of the +Order of St. Francis on the lands which they formerly possessed in +Canada might be of great avail for the spiritual consolation of my +subjects and for the relief of your ecclesiastics in the said +country, I send you this letter to tell you that my intention is +that you should give to the Rev. Father Allard, the superior, and +to the four monks whom he brings with him, the power of +administering the sacraments to all those who may have need of them +and who may have recourse to these reverend Fathers, and that, +moreover, you should aid them with your authority in order that +they may resume possession of all which belongs to them in the said +country, to all of which I am persuaded you will willingly +subscribe, by reason of the knowledge which you have of the relief +which my subjects will receive...."</p></div> + +<p>The prelate had not been consulted; moreover, the intervention of the +newcomers did not seem to him opportune. But he was obstinate and +unap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span>proachable only when he believed his conscience involved; he +received the Récollets with great benevolence and rendered them all the +service possible. "He gave them abundant aid," says Latour, "and +furnished them for more than a year with food and lodging. Although the +Order had come in spite of him, he gave them at the outset four +missions: Three Rivers, Ile Percé, St. John's River and Fort Frontenac. +These good Fathers were surprised; they did not cease to praise the +charity of the bishop, and confessed frankly that, having only come to +oppose his clergy, they could not understand why they were so kindly +treated."</p> + +<p>After all, the breadth of character of these brave heroes of evangelic +poverty could not but please the Canadian people; ever gay and pleasant, +and of even temper, they traversed the country to beg a meagre pittance. +Everywhere received with joy, they were given a place at the common +table; they were looked upon as friends, and the people related to them +their joys and afflictions. Hardly was a robe of drugget descried upon +the horizon when the children rushed forward, surrounded the good +Father, and led him by the hand to the family fireside. The Récollets +had always a good word for this one, a consolatory speech for that one, +and on occasion, brought up as they had been, for the most part under a +modest thatched roof, knew how to lend a hand at the plough, or suggest +a good counsel if the flock were attacked by some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span>sickness. On their +departure, the benediction having been given to all, there was a +vigorous handshaking, and already their hosts were discounting the +pleasure of a future visit.</p> + +<p>On their arrival the Récollet Fathers lodged not far from the Ursuline +Convent, till the moment when, their former monastery on the St. Charles +River being repaired, they were able to install themselves there. Some +years later they built a simple refuge on land granted them in the Upper +Town. Finally, having become almoners of the Château St. Louis, where +the governor resided, they built their monastery opposite the castle, +back to back with the magnificent church which bore the name of St. +Anthony of Padua. They reconquered the popularity which they had enjoyed +in the early days of the colony, and the bishop entrusted to their +devotion numerous parishes and four missions. Unfortunately, they +allowed themselves to be so influenced by M. de Frontenac, in spite of +repeated warnings from Mgr. de Laval, that they espoused the cause of +the governor in the disputes between the latter and the intendant, +Duchesneau. Their gratitude towards M. de Frontenac, who always +protected them, is easily explained, but it is no less true that they +should have respected above all the authority of the prelate who alone +had to answer before God for the religious administration of his +diocese.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Racine's <i>Athalie</i>.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> A sort of porridge of water and pounded maize.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONY</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>This</b></span> year, 1668, would have brought only consolations to Mgr. de Laval, +if, unhappily, M. de Talon had not inflicted a painful blow upon the +heart of the prelate: the commissioner obtained from the Sovereign +Council a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of intoxicating drinks +both to the savages and to the French, and only those who became +intoxicated might be sentenced to a slight penalty. This was opening the +way for the greatest abuses, and no later than the following year Mother +Mary of the Incarnation wrote: "What does the most harm here is the +traffic in wine and brandy. We preach against those who give these +liquors to the savages; and yet many reconcile their consciences to the +permission of this thing. They go into the woods and carry drinks to the +savages in order to get their furs for nothing when they are drunk. +Immorality, theft and murder ensue.... We had not yet seen the French +commit such crimes, and we can attribute the cause of them only to the +pernicious traffic in brandy."</p> + +<p>Commissioner Talon was, however, the cleverest administrator that the +colony had possessed, and the title of the "Canadian Colbert" which +Bibaud <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span>confers upon him is well deserved. Mother Incarnation summed up +his merits well in the following terms: "M. Talon is leaving us," said +she, "and returning to France, to the great regret of everybody and to +the loss of all Canada, for since he has been here in the capacity of +commissioner the country has progressed and its business prospered more +than they had done since the French occupation." Talon worked with all +his might in developing the resources of the colony, by exploiting the +mines, by encouraging the fisheries, agriculture, the exportation of +timber, and general commerce, and especially by inducing, through the +gift of a few acres of ground, the majority of the soldiers of the +regiment of Carignan to remain in the country. He entered every house to +enquire of possible complaints; he took the first census, and laid out +three villages near Quebec. His plans for the future were vaster still: +he recommended the king to buy or conquer the districts of Orange and +Manhattan; moreover, according to Abbé Ferland, he dreamed of connecting +Canada with the Antilles in commerce. With this purpose he had had a +ship built at Quebec, and had bought another in order to begin at once. +This very first year he sent to the markets of Martinique and Santo +Domingo fresh and dry cod, salted salmon, eels, pease, seal and porpoise +oil, clapboards and planks. He had different kinds of wood cut in order +to try them, and he exported masts to La Rochelle, which he hoped to see +used in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span>shipyards of the Royal Navy. He proposed to Colbert the +establishment of a brewery, in order to utilize the barley and the +wheat, which in a few years would be so abundant that the farmer could +not sell them. This was, besides, a means of preventing drunkenness, and +of retaining in the country the sum of one hundred thousand francs, +which went out each year for the purchase of wines and brandies. M. +Talon presented at the same time to the minister the observations which +he had made on the French population of the country. "The people," said +Talon, "are a mosaic, and though composed of colonists from different +provinces of France whose temperaments do not always sympathize, they +seem to me harmonious enough. There are," he added, "among these +colonists people in easy circumstances, indigent people and people +between these two extremes."</p> + +<p>But he thought only of the material development of the colony; upon +others, he thought, were incumbent the responsibility for and defence of +spiritual interests. He was mistaken, for, although he had not in his +power the direction of souls, his duties as a simple soldier of the army +of Christ imposed upon him none the less the obligation of avoiding all +that might contribute to the loss of even a single soul. The disorders +which were the inevitable result of a free traffic in intoxicating +liquors, finally assumed such proportions that the council, without +going as far as the absolute <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span>prohibition of the sale of brandy to the +Indians, restricted, nevertheless, this deplorable traffic; it forbade +under the most severe penalties the carrying of firewater into the woods +to the savages, but it continued to tolerate the sale of intoxicating +liquors in the French settlements. It seems that Cavelier de la Salle +himself, in his store at Lachine where he dealt with the Indians, did +not scruple to sell them this fatal poison.</p> + +<p>From 1668 to 1670, during the two years that Commissioner Talon had to +spend in France, both for reasons of health and on account of family +business, he did not cease to work actively at the court for his beloved +Canada. M. de Bouteroue, who took his place during his absence, managed +to prejudice the minds of the colonists in his favour by his exquisite +urbanity and the polish of his manners.</p> + +<p>It will not be out of place, we think, to give here some details of the +state of the country and its resources at this period. Since the first +companies in charge of Canada were formed principally of merchants of +Rouen, of La Rochelle and of St. Malo, it is not astonishing that the +first colonists should have come largely from Normandy and Perche. It +was only about 1660 that fine and vigorous offspring increased a +population which up to that time was renewed only through immigration; +in the early days, in fact, the colonists lost all their children, but +they found in this only a new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span>reason for hope in the future. "Since God +takes the first fruits," said they, "He will save us the rest." The wise +and far-seeing mind of Cardinal Richelieu had understood that +agricultural development was the first condition of success for a young +colony, and his efforts in this direction had been admirably seconded +both by Commissioner Talon and Mgr. de Laval at Quebec, and by the +Company of Montreal, which had not hesitated at any sacrifice in order +to establish at Ville-Marie a healthy and industrious population. If the +reader doubts this, let him read the letters of Talon, of Mother Mary of +the Incarnation, of Fathers Le Clercq and Charlevoix, of M. Aubert and +many others. "Great care had been exercised," says Charlevoix, "in the +selection of candidates who had presented themselves for the +colonization of New France.... As to the girls who were sent out to be +married to the new inhabitants, care was always taken to enquire of +their conduct before they embarked, and their subsequent behaviour was a +proof of the success of this system. During the following years the same +care was exercised, and we soon saw in this part of America a generation +of true Christians growing up, among whom prevailed the simplicity of +the first centuries of the Church, and whose posterity has not yet lost +sight of the great examples set by their ancestors.... In justice to the +colony of New France we must admit that the source of almost all the +families <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span>which still survive there to-day is pure and free from those +stains which opulence can hardly efface; this is because the first +settlers were either artisans always occupied in useful labour, or +persons of good family who came there with the sole intention of living +there more tranquilly and preserving their religion in greater security. +I fear the less contradiction upon this head since I have lived with +some of these first colonists, all people still more respectable by +reason of their honesty, their frankness and the firm piety which they +profess than by their white hair and the memory of the services which +they rendered to the colony."</p> + +<p>M. Aubert says, on his part: "The French of Canada are well built, +nimble and vigorous, enjoying perfect health, capable of enduring all +sorts of fatigue, and warlike; which is the reason why, during the last +war, French-Canadians received a fourth more pay than the French of +Europe. All these advantageous physical qualities of the +French-Canadians arise from the fact that they have been born in a good +climate, and nourished by good and abundant food, that they are at +liberty to engage from childhood in fishing, hunting, and journeying in +canoes, in which there is much exercise. As to bravery, even if it were +not born with them as Frenchmen, the manner of warfare of the Iroquois +and other savages of this continent, who burn alive almost all their +prisoners with incredible cruelty, caused the French to face ordinary +death in battle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span>as a boon rather than be taken alive; so that they +fight desperately and with great indifference to life." The consequence +of this judicious method of peopling a colony was that, the trunk of the +tree being healthy and vigorous, the branches were so likewise. "It was +astonishing," wrote Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "to see the great +number of beautiful and well-made children, without any corporeal +deformity unless through accident. A poor man will have eight or more +children, who in the winter go barefooted and bareheaded, with a little +shirt upon their back, and who live only on eels and bread, and +nevertheless are plump and large."</p> + +<p>Property was feudal, as in France, and this constitution was maintained +even after the conquest of the country by the English. Vast stretches of +land were granted to those who seemed, thanks to their state of fortune, +fit to form centres of population, and these seigneurs granted in their +turn parts of these lands to the immigrants for a rent of from one to +three cents per acre, according to the value of the land, besides a +tribute in grain and poultry. The indirect taxation consisted of the +obligation of maintaining the necessary roads, one day's compulsory +labour per year, convertible into a payment of forty cents, the right of +<i>mouture</i>, consisting of a pound of flour on every fourteen from the +common mill, finally the payment of a twelfth in case of transfer and +sale (stamp and registration). This seigniorial tenure was burdensome, +we must admit, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span>though it was less crushing than that which weighed upon +husbandry in France before the Revolution. The farmers of Canada uttered +a long sigh of relief when it was abolished by the legislature in 1867.</p> + +<p>The habits of this population were remarkably simple; the costume of +some of our present out-of-door clubs gives an accurate idea of the +dress of that time, which was the same for all: the garment of wool, the +cloak, the belt of arrow pattern, and the woollen cap, called tuque, +formed the national costume. And not only did the colonists dress +without the slightest affectation, but they even made their clothes +themselves. "The growing of hemp," says the Abbé Ferland, "was +encouraged, and succeeded wonderfully. They used the nettle to make +strong cloths; looms set up in each house in the village furnished +drugget, bolting cloth, serge and ordinary cloth. The leathers of the +country sufficed for a great portion of the needs of the population. +Accordingly, after enumerating the advances in agriculture and industry, +Talon announced to Colbert with just satisfaction, that he could clothe +himself from head to foot in Canadian products, and that in a short time +the colony, if it were well administered, would draw from Old France +only a few objects of prime need."</p> + +<p>The interior of the dwellings was not less simple, and we find still in +our country districts a goodly number of these old French houses; they +had only one single room, in which the whole family ate, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span>lived and +slept, and received the light through three windows. At the back of the +room was the bed of the parents, supported by the wall, in another +corner a couch, used as a seat during the day and as a bed for the +children during the night, for the top was lifted off as one lifts the +cover of a box. Built into the wall, generally at the right of the +entrance, was the stone chimney, whose top projected a little above the +roof; the stewpan, in which the food was cooked, was hung in the +fireplace from a hook. Near the hearth a staircase, or rather a ladder, +led to the loft, which was lighted by two windows cut in the sides, and +which held the grain. Finally a table, a few chairs or benches completed +these primitive furnishings, though we must not forget to mention the +old gun hung above the bed to be within reach of the hand in case of a +night surprise from the dreaded Iroquois.</p> + +<p>In peaceful times, too, the musket had its service, for at this period +every Canadian was born a disciple of St. Hubert. We must confess that +this great saint did not refuse his protection in this country, where, +with a single shot, a hunter killed, in 1663, a hundred and thirty wild +pigeons. These birds were so tame that one might kill them with an oar +on the bank of the river, and so numerous that the colonists, after +having gathered and salted enough for their winter's provision, +abandoned the rest to the dogs and pigs. How many hunters of our day +would have displayed their skill in these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span>fortunate times! This +abundance of pigeons at a period when our ancestors were not favoured in +the matter of food as we are to-day, recalls at once to our memory the +quail that Providence sent to the Jews in the desert; and it is a fact +worthy of mention that as soon as our forefathers could dispense with +this superabundance of game, the wild pigeons disappeared so totally and +suddenly that the most experienced hunters cannot explain this sudden +disappearance. There were found also about Ville-Marie many partridge +and duck, and since the colonists could not go out after game in the +woods, where they would have been exposed to the ambuscades of the +Iroquois, the friendly Indians brought to market the bear, the elk, the +deer, the buffalo, the caribou, the beaver and the muskrat. On fast days +the Canadians did not lack for fish; eels were sold at five francs a +hundred, and in June, 1649, more than three hundred sturgeons were +caught at Montreal within a fortnight. The shad, the pike, the wall-eyed +pike, the carp, the brill, the maskinonge were plentiful, and there was +besides, more particularly at Quebec, good herring and salmon fishing, +while at Malbaie (Murray Bay) codfish, and at Three Rivers white fish +were abundant.</p> + +<p>At first, food, clothing and property were all paid for by exchange of +goods. Men bartered, for example, a lot of ground for two cows and a +pair of stockings; a more considerable piece of land was to be had for +two oxen, a cow and a little money.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> "Poverty," says Bossuet, speaking +of other nations, "was not an evil; on the contrary, they looked upon it +as a means of keeping their liberty more intact, there being nothing +freer or more independent than a man who knows how to live on little, +and who, without expecting anything from the protection or the largess +of others, relies for his livelihood only on his industry and labour." +Voltaire has said with equal justice: "It is not the scarcity of money, +but that of men and talent, which makes an empire weak."</p> + +<p>On the arrival of the royal troops coin became less rare. "Money is now +common," wrote Mother Incarnation, "these gentlemen having brought much +of it. They pay cash for all they buy, both food and other necessaries." +Money was worth a fourth more than in France, thus fifteen cents were +worth twenty. As a natural consequence, two currencies were established +in New France, and the <i>livre tournois</i> (French franc) was distinguished +from the franc of the country. The Indians were dealt with by exchanges, +and one might see them traversing the streets of Quebec, Montreal or +Three Rivers, offering from house to house rich furs, which they +bartered for blankets, powder, lead, but above all, for that accursed +firewater which caused such havoc among them, and such interminable +disputes between the civil and the religious power. Intoxicating liquors +were the source of many disorders, and we cannot too much regret that +this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span>stain rested upon the glory of New France. Yet such a society, +situated in what was undeniably a difficult position, could not be +expected to escape every imperfection.</p> + +<p>The activity and the intelligence of Mgr. de Laval made themselves felt +in every beneficent and progressive work. He could not remain +indifferent to the education of his flock; we find him as zealous for +the progress of primary education as for the development of his two +seminaries or his school at St. Joachim. Primary instruction was given +first by the good Récollets at Quebec, at Tadousac and at Three Rivers. +The Jesuits replaced them, and were able, thanks to the munificence of +the son of the Marquis de Gamache, to add a college to their elementary +school at Quebec. At Ville-Marie the Sulpicians, with never-failing +abnegation, not content with the toil of their ministry, lent themselves +to the arduous task of teaching; the venerable superior himself, M. +Souart, took the modest title of headmaster. From a healthy bud issues a +fine fruit: just as the smaller seminary of Quebec gave birth to the +Laval University, so from the school of M. Souart sprang in 1733 the +College of Montreal, transferred forty years later to the Château +Vaudreuil, on Jacques Cartier Square; then to College Street, now St. +Paul Street. The college rises to-day on an admirable site on the slope +of the mountain; the main seminary, which adjoins it, seems to dominate +the city stretched at its feet, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span>the two sister sciences taught +there, theology and philosophy, dominate by their importance the other +branches of human knowledge.</p> + +<p>M. de Fénelon, who was already devoted to the conversion of the savages +in the famous mission of Montreal mountain, gave the rest of his time to +the training of the young Iroquois; he gathered them in a school erected +by his efforts near Pointe Claire, on the Dorval Islands, which he had +received from M. de Frontenac. Later on the Brothers Charron established +a house at Montreal with a double purpose of charity: to care for the +poor and the sick, and to train men in order to send them to open +schools in the country district. This institution, in spite of the +enthusiasm of its founders, did not succeed, and became extinct about +the middle of the eighteenth century. Finally, in 1838, Canada greeted +with joy the arrival of the sons of the blessed Jean Baptiste de la +Salle, the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, so well known throughout +the world for their modesty and success in teaching.</p> + +<p>The girls of the colony were no less well looked after than the boys; at +Quebec, the Ursuline nuns, established in that city by Madame de la +Peltrie, trained them for the future irreproachable mothers of families. +The attempts made to Gallicize the young savages met with no success in +the case of the boys, but were better rewarded by the young Indian +girls. "We have Gallicized," writes Mother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> Mary of the Incarnation, "a +number of Indian girls, both Hurons and Algonquins, whom we subsequently +married to Frenchmen, who get along with them very well. There is one +among them who reads and writes to perfection, both in her native Huron +tongue and in French; no one can discern or believe that she was born a +savage. The commissioner was so delighted at this that he induced her to +write for him something in the two languages, in order to take it to +France and show it as an extraordinary production." Further on she adds, +"It is a very difficult thing, not to say impossible, to Gallicize or +civilize them. We have more experience in this than any one else, and we +have observed that of a hundred who have passed through our hands we +have hardly civilized one. We find in them docility and intelligence, +but when we least expect it, they climb over our fence and go off to run +the woods with their parents, where they find more pleasure than in all +the comforts of our French houses."</p> + +<p>At Montreal it was the venerable Marguerite Bourgeoys who began to teach +in a poor hovel the rudiments of the French tongue. This humble school +was transformed a little more than two centuries later into one of the +most vast and imposing edifices of the city of Montreal. Fire destroyed +it in 1893, but we must hope that this majestic monument of Ville-Marie +will soon rise again from its ruins to become the centre of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span>operations +of the numerous educational institutions of the Congregation of +Notre-Dame which cover our country. M. l'abbé Verreau, the much +regretted principal of the Jacques Cartier Normal School, appreciates in +these terms the services rendered to education by Mother Bourgeoys, a +woman eminent from all points of view: "The Congregation of Notre-Dame," +says he, "is a truly national institution, whose ramifications extend +beyond the limits of Canada. Marguerite Bourgeoys took in hand the +education of the women of the people, the basis of society. She taught +young women to become what they ought to be, especially at this period, +women full of moral force, of modesty, of courage in the face of the +dangers in the midst of which they lived. If the French-Canadians have +preserved a certain character of politeness and urbanity, which +strangers are not slow in admitting, they owe it in a great measure to +the work of Marguerite Bourgeoys."</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>BECOMES BISHOP OF QUEBEC</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>The</b></span> creation of a bishopric in Canada was becoming necessary, and all +was ready for the erection of a separate see. Mgr. de Laval had thought +of everything: the two seminaries with the resources indispensable for +their maintenance, cathedral, parishes or missions regularly +established, institutions of education or charity, numerous schools, a +zealous and devoted clergy, respected both by the government of the +colony and by that of the mother country. What more could be desired? He +had many struggles to endure in order to obtain this creation, but +patience and perseverance never failed him, and like the drop of water +which, falling incessantly upon the pavement, finally wears away the +stone, his reasonable and ever repeated demands eventually overcame the +obstinacy of the king. Not, however, until 1674 was he definitely +appointed Bishop of Quebec, and could enjoy without opposition a title +which had belonged to him so long in reality; this was, as it were, the +final consecration of his life and the crowning of his efforts. Upon the +news of this the joy of the people and of the clergy rose to its height: +the future of the Canadian Church was assured, and she would <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span>inscribe +in her annals a name dear to all and soon to be glorified.</p> + +<p>Shall we, then, suppose that this pontiff was indeed ambitious, who, +coming in early youth to wield his pastoral crozier upon the banks of +the St. Lawrence, did not fear the responsibility of so lofty a task? +The assumption would be quite unjustified. Rather let us think of him as +meditating on this text of St. Paul: "<i>Oportet episcopum +irreprehensibilem esse</i>," the bishop must be irreproachable in his +house, his relations, his speech and even his silence. His past career +guaranteed his possession of that admixture of strength and gentleness, +of authority and condescension in which lies the great art of governing +men. Moreover, one thing reassured him, his knowledge that the crown of +a bishop is often a crown of thorns. When the apostle St. Paul outlined +for his disciple the main features of the episcopal character, he spoke +not alone for the immediate successors of the apostles, but for all +those who in the succession of ages should be honoured by the same +dignity. No doubt the difficulties would be often less, persecution +might even cease entirely, but trial would continue always, because it +is the condition of the Church as well as that of individuals. The +prelate himself explains to us the very serious reasons which led him to +insist on obtaining the title of Bishop of Quebec. He writes in these +terms to the Propaganda: "I have never till now sought the episcopacy, +and I have accepted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span>it in spite of myself, convinced of my weakness. +But, having borne its burden, I shall consider it a boon to be relieved +of it, though I do not refuse to sacrifice myself for the Church of +Jesus Christ and for the welfare of souls. I have, however, learned by +long experience how unguarded is the position of an apostolic vicar +against those who are entrusted with political affairs, I mean the +officers of the court, perpetual rivals and despisers of the +ecclesiastical power, who have nothing more common to object than that +the authority of the apostolic vicar is doubtful and should be +restricted within certain limits. This is why, after having maturely +considered everything, I have resolved to resign this function and to +return no more to New France unless a see be erected there, and unless I +be provided and furnished with bulls constituting me its occupant. Such +is the purpose of my journey to France and the object of my desires."</p> + +<p>As early as the year 1662, at the time of his first journey to France, +the Bishop of Petræa had obtained from Louis XIV the assurance that this +prince would petition the sovereign pontiff for the erection of the see +of Quebec; moreover, the monarch had at the same time assigned to the +future bishopric the revenues of the abbey of Maubec. The king kept his +word, for on June 28th, 1664, he addressed to the common Father of the +faithful the following letter: "The choice made by your Holiness of the +person of the Sieur de Laval, Bishop of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> Petræa, to go in the capacity +of apostolic vicar to exercise episcopal functions in Canada has been +attended by many advantages to this growing Church. We have reason to +expect still greater results if it please your Holiness to permit him to +continue there the same functions in the capacity of bishop of the +place, by establishing for this purpose an episcopal see in Quebec; and +we hope that your Holiness will be the more inclined to this since we +have already provided for the maintenance of the bishop and his canons +by consenting to the perpetual union of the abbey of Maubec with the +future bishopric. This is why we beg you to grant to the Bishop of +Petræa the title of Bishop of Quebec upon our nomination and prayer, +with power to exercise in this capacity the episcopal functions in all +Canada."</p> + +<p>However, the appointment was not consummated; the Propaganda, indeed, +decided in a rescript of December 15th, 1666, that it was necessary to +make of Quebec a see, whose occupant should be appointed by the king; +the Consistorial Congregation of Rome promulgated a new decree with the +same purpose on October 9th, 1670, and yet Mgr. de Laval still remained +Bishop of Petræa. This was because the eternal question of jurisdiction +as between the civil and religious powers, the question which did so +much harm to Catholicism in France, in England, in Italy, and especially +in Germany, was again being revived. The King of France <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span>demanded that +the new diocese should be dependent upon the Metropolitan of Rouen, +while the pontifical government, of which its providential rôle requires +always a breadth of view, and, so to speak, a foreknowledge of events +impossible to any nation, desired the new diocese to be an immediate +dependency of the Holy See. "We must confess here," says the Abbé +Ferland, "that the sight of the sovereign pontiff reached much farther +into the future than that of the great king. Louis XIV was concerned +with the kingdom of France; Clement X thought of the interests of the +whole Catholic world. The little French colony was growing; separated +from the mother country by the ocean, it might be wrested from France by +England, which was already so powerful in America; what, then, would +become of the Church of Quebec if it had been wont to lean upon that of +Rouen and to depend upon it? It was better to establish at once +immediate relations between the Bishop of Quebec and the supreme head of +the Catholic Church; it was better to establish bonds which could be +broken neither by time nor force, and Quebec might thus become one day +the metropolis of the dioceses which should spring from its bosom."</p> + +<p>The opposition to the views of Mgr. de Laval did not come, however, so +much from the king as from Mgr. de Harlay, Archbishop of Rouen, who had +never consented to the detachment of Canada from his jurisdiction. +Events turned out fortunately <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span>for the apostolic vicar, since the +Archbishop of Rouen was called to the important see of Paris on the +death of the Archbishop of Paris, Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont, in +the very year in which Mgr. de Laval embarked for France, accompanied by +his grand vicar, M. de Lauson-Charny. The task now became much easier, +and Laval had no difficulty in inducing the king to urge the erection of +the diocese at Quebec, and to abandon his claims to making the new +diocese dependent on the archbishopric of Rouen.</p> + +<p>Before leaving Canada the Bishop of Quebec had entrusted the +administration of the apostolic vicariate to M. de Bernières, and, in +case of the latter's death, to M. Dudouyt. He embarked in the autumn of +1671.</p> + +<p>To the keen regret of the population of Ville-Marie, which owed him so +much, M. de Queylus, Abbé de Loc-Dieu and superior of the Seminary of +Montreal for the last three years, went to France at the same time as +his ecclesiastical superior. "M. l'abbé de Queylus," wrote Commissioner +Talon to the Minister Colbert, "is making an urgent application for the +settlement and increase of the colony of Montreal. He carries his zeal +farther, for he is going to take charge of the Indian children who fall +into the hands of the Iroquois, in order to have them educated, the boys +in his seminary, and the girls by persons of the same sex, who form at +Montreal a sort of congregation to teach young girls the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span>petty +handicrafts, in addition to reading and writing." M. de Queylus had used +his great fortune in all sorts of good works in the colony, but he was +not the only Sulpician whose hand was always ready and willing. Before +dying, M. Olier had begged his successors to continue the work at +Ville-Marie, "because," said he, "it is the will of God," and the +priests of St. Sulpice received this injunction as one of the most +sacred codicils of the will of their Father. However onerous the +continuation of this plan was for the company, the latter sacrificed to +it without hesitation its resources, its efforts and its members with +the most complete abnegation.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">6</a> Thus when, on March 9th, 1663, the +Company of Montreal believed itself no longer capable of meeting its +obligations, and begged St. Sulpice to take them up, the seminary +subordinated all considerations of self-interest and human prudence to +this view. To this MM. de Bretonvilliers, de Queylus and du Bois devoted +their fortunes, and to this work of the conversion of the savages +priests distinguished in birth and riches gave up their whole lives and +property. M. de Belmont discharged the hundred and twenty thousand +francs of debts of the Company of Montreal, gave as much more to the +establishment of divers works, and left more than two hundred thousand +francs <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span>of his +patrimony to support them after his death. How many others did +likewise! During more than fifty years Paris sent to this mission only +priests able to pay their board, that they might have the right to share +in this evangelization. This disinterestedness, unheard of in the +history of the most unselfish congregations, saved, sustained and +finally developed this settlement, to which Roman Catholics point to-day +with pride. The Seminary of Paris contributed to it a sum equal to twice +the value of the island, and during the first sixty years more than nine +hundred thousand francs, as one may see by the archives of the +Department of Marine at Paris. These sums to-day would represent a large +fortune.</p> + +<p>Finally the prayers of Mgr. de Laval were heard; Pope Clement X signed +on October 1st, 1674, the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec, +which was to extend over all the French possessions in North America. +The sovereign pontiff incorporated with the new bishopric for its +maintenance the abbey of Maubec, given by the King of France already in +1662, and in exchange for the renunciation by this prince of his right +of presentation to the abbey of Maubec, granted him the right of +nomination to the bishopric of Quebec. To his first gift the king had +added a second, that of the abbey of Lestrées. Situated in Normandy and +in the archdeaconry of Evreux, this abbey was one of the oldest of the +order of Citeaux.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span>Up to this time the venerable bishop had had many difficulties to +surmount; he was about to meet some of another sort, those of the +administration of vast properties. The abbey of Maubec, occupied by +monks of the order of St. Benedict, was situated in one of the fairest +provinces of France, Le Perry, and was dependent upon the archdiocese of +Bourges. Famous vineyards, verdant meadows, well cultivated fields, rich +farms, forests full of game and ponds full of fish made this abbey an +admirable domain; unfortunately, the expenses of maintaining or +repairing the buildings, the dues payable to the government, the +allowances secured to the monks, and above all, the waste and theft +which must necessarily victimize proprietors separated from their +tenants by the whole breadth of an ocean, must absorb a great part of +the revenues. Letters of the steward of this property to the Bishop of +Quebec are instructive in this matter. "M. Porcheron is still the same," +writes the steward, M. Matberon, "and bears me a grudge because I desire +to safeguard your interests. I am incessantly carrying on the work of +needful repairs in all the places dependent on Maubec, chiefly those +necessary to the ponds, in order that M. Porcheron may have no damages +against you. This is much against his will, for he is constantly seeking +an excuse for litigation. He swears that he does not want your farm any +longer, but as for me, I believe that this is not his feeling, and that +he would wish the farm <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span>out of the question, for he is too fond of +hunting and his pleasure to quit it.... He does his utmost to remove me +from your service, insinuating many things against me which are not +true; but this does not lessen my zeal in serving you."</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval, who did not hesitate at any exertion when it was a +question of the interests of his Church, did not fail to go and visit +his two abbeys. He set out, happy in the prospect of being able to +admire these magnificent properties whose rich revenues would permit him +to do so much good in his diocese; but he was painfully affected at the +sight of the buildings in ruins, sad relics of the wars of religion. In +order to free himself as much as possible from cares which would have +encroached too much upon his precious time and his pastoral duties, +Laval caused a manager to be appointed by the Royal Council for the +abbey of Lestrées, and rented it for a fixed sum to M. Berthelot. He +also made with the latter a very advantageous transaction by exchanging +with him the Island of Orleans for the Ile Jésus; M. Berthelot was to +give him besides a sum of twenty-five thousand francs, which was +employed in building the seminary. Later the king made the Island of +Orleans a county. It became the county of St. Lawrence.</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval was too well endowed with qualities of the heart, as well +as with those of the mind, not to have preserved a deep affection for +his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span>family; he did not fail to go and see them twice during his stay in +France. Unhappily, his brother, Jean-Louis, to whom he had yielded all +his rights as eldest son, and his titles to the hereditary lordship of +Montigny and Montbeaudry, caused only grief to his family and to his +wife, Françoise de Chevestre. As lavish as he was violent and +hot-tempered, he reduced by his excesses his numerous family (for he had +had ten children), to such poverty that the Bishop of Quebec had to come +to his aid; besides the assistance which he sent them, the prelate +bought him a house. He extended his protection also to his nephews, and +his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to him about them as follows: "The +eldest is developing a little; he is in the army with the king, and his +father has given him a good start. I have obtained from my petitions +from Paris a place as monk in the Congregation of the Cross for his +second son, whom I shall try to have reared in the knowledge and fear of +God. I believe that the youngest, who has been sent to you, will have +come to the right place; he is of good promise. My brother desires +greatly that you may have the goodness to give Fanchon the advantage of +an education before sending him back. It is a great charity to these +poor children to give them a little training. You will be a father to +them in this matter." One never applied in vain to the heart of the good +bishop. Two of his nephews owed him their education at the seminary of +Quebec; one of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span>them, Fanchon (Charles-François-Guy), after a brilliant +course in theology at Paris, became vicar-general to the Swan of +Cambrai, the illustrious Fénelon, and was later raised to the bishopric +of Ypres.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, four years had elapsed since Mgr. de Laval had left the soil +of Canada, and he did not cease to receive letters which begged him +respectfully to return to his diocese. "Nothing is lacking to animate us +but the presence of our lord bishop," wrote, one day, Father Dablon. +"His absence keeps this country, as it were, in mourning, and makes us +languish in the too long separation from a person so necessary to these +growing churches. He was the soul of them, and the zeal which he showed +on every occasion for the welfare of our Indians drew upon us favours of +Heaven most powerful for the success of our missions; and since, however +distant he be in the body, his heart is ever with us, we experience the +effects of it in the continuity of the blessings with which God favours +the labours of our missionaries." Accordingly, he did not lose a moment +after receiving the decrees appointing him Bishop of Quebec. On May +19th, 1675, he renewed the union of his seminary with that of the +Foreign Missions in Paris. "This union," says the Abbé Ferland, "a union +which he had effected for the first time in 1665 as apostolic bishop of +New France, was of great importance to his diocese. He found, indeed, in +this institution, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span>good recruits, who were sent to him when needed, and +faithful correspondents, whom he could address with confidence, and who +had sufficient influence at court to gain a hearing for their +representations in favour of the Church in Canada." On May 29th of the +same year he set sail for Canada; he was accompanied by a priest, a +native of the city of Orleans, M. Glandelet, who was one of the most +distinguished priests of the seminary.</p> + +<p>To understand with what joy he was received by his parishioners on his +arrival, it is enough to read what his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to +him the following year: "I cannot express to you the satisfaction and +inward joy which I have received in my soul on reading a report sent +from Canada of the manner in which your clergy and all your people have +received you, and that our Lord inspires them all with just and true +sentiments to recognize you as their father and pastor. They testify to +having received through your beloved person as it were a new life. I ask +our Lord every day at His holy altars to preserve you some years more +for the sanctification of these poor people and our own."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Vie de M. Olier</i>, par De Lanjuère. As I wrote this life some years +ago with the collaboration of a gentleman whom death has taken from us, +I believe myself entitled to reproduce here and there in the present +life of Mgr. de Laval extracts from this book.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>FRONTENAC IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>During</b></span> the early days of the absence of its first pastor, the Church of +Canada had enjoyed only days of prosperity; skilfully directed by MM. de +Bernières and de Dudouyt, who scrupulously followed the line of conduct +laid down for them by Mgr. de Laval before his departure, it was +pursuing its destiny peacefully. But this calm, forerunner of the storm, +could not last; it was the destiny of the Church, as it had been the lot +of nations, to be tossed incessantly by the violent winds of trial and +persecution. The difficulties which arose soon reached the acute stage, +and all the firmness and tact of the Bishop of Quebec were needed to +meet them. The departure of Laval for France in the autumn of 1671 had +been closely followed by that of Governor de Courcelles and that of +Commissioner Talon. The latter was not replaced until three years later, +so that the new governor, Count de Frontenac, who arrived in the autumn +of 1672, had no one at his side in the Sovereign Council to oppose his +views. This was allowing too free play to the natural despotism of his +character. Louis de Buade, Count de Palluau and de Frontenac, +lieutenant-general of the king's <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span>armies, had previously served in +Holland under the illustrious Maurice, Prince of Orange, then in France, +Italy and Germany, and his merit had gained for him the reputation of a +great captain. The illustrious Turenne entrusted to him the command of +the reinforcements sent to Candia when that island was besieged by the +Turks. He had a keen mind, trained by serious study; haughty towards the +powerful of this world, he was affable to ordinary people, and thus made +for himself numerous enemies, while remaining very popular. Father +Charlevoix has drawn an excellent portrait of him: "His heart was +greater than his birth, his wit lively, penetrating, sound, fertile and +highly cultivated: but he was biased by the most unjust prejudices, and +capable of carrying them very far. He wished to rule alone, and there +was nothing he would not do to remove those whom he was afraid of +finding in his way. His worth and ability were equal; no one knew better +how to assume over the people whom he governed and with whom he had to +deal, that ascendency so necessary to keep them in the paths of duty and +respect. He won when he wished it the friendship of the French and their +allies, and never has general treated his enemies with more dignity and +nobility. His views for the aggrandizement of the colony were large and +true, but his prejudices sometimes prevented the execution of plans +which depended on him.... He justified, in one of the most critical +circumstances <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span>of his life, the opinion that his ambition and the desire +of preserving his authority had more power over him than his zeal for +the public good. The fact is that there is no virtue which does not +belie itself when one has allowed a dominant passion to gain the upper +hand. The Count de Frontenac might have been a great prince if Heaven +had placed him on the throne, but he had dangerous faults for a subject +who is not well persuaded that his glory consists in sacrificing +everything to the service of his sovereign and the public utility."</p> + +<p>It was under the administration of Frontenac that the Compagnie des +Indes Occidentales, which had accepted in 1663 a portion of the +obligations and privileges of the Company of the Cent-Associés, +renounced its rights over New France. Immediately after his arrival he +began the construction of Fort Cataraqui; if we are to believe some +historians, motives of personal interest guided him in the execution of +this enterprise; he thought only, it seems, of founding considerable +posts for the fur trade, favouring those traders who would consent to +give him a share in their profits. The work was urged on with energy. La +Salle obtained from the king, thanks to the support of Frontenac, +letters patent of nobility, together with the ownership and jurisdiction +of the new fort.</p> + +<p>With the approval of the governor, Commissioner Talon's plan of having +the course of the Mississippi explored was executed by two bold men: +Louis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> Joliet, citizen of Quebec, already known for previous voyages and +for his deep knowledge of the Indian tongues, and the devoted +missionary, Father Marquette. Without other provisions than Indian corn +and dried meat they set out in two bark canoes from Michilimackinac on +May 17th, 1673; only five Frenchmen accompanied them. They reached the +Mississippi, after having passed the Baie des Puants and the rivers +Outagami and Wisconsin, and ascended the stream for more than sixty +leagues. They were cordially received by the tribe of the Illinois, +which was encamped not far from the river, and Father Marquette promised +to return and visit them. The two travellers reached the Arkansas River +and learned that the sea was not far distant, but fearing they might +fall into the hands of hostile Spaniards, they decided to retrace their +steps, and reached the Baie des Puants about the end of September.</p> + +<p>The following year Father Marquette wished to keep his promise given to +the Illinois. His health is weakened by the trials of a long mission, +but what matters this to him? There are souls to save. He preaches the +truths of religion to the poor savages gathered in attentive silence; +but his strength diminishes, and he regretfully resumes the road to +Michilimackinac. He did not have time to reach it, but died near the +mouth of a river which long bore his name. His two comrades dug a grave +for the remains of the missionary and raised a cross <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span>near the tomb. Two +years later these sacred bones were transferred with the greatest +respect to St. Ignace de Michilimackinac by the savage tribe of the +Kiskakons, whom Father Marquette had christianized.</p> + +<p>With such an adventurous character as he possessed, Cavelier de la Salle +could not learn of the exploration of the course of the Upper +Mississippi without burning with the desire to complete the discovery +and to descend the river to its mouth. Robert René Cavelier de la Salle +was born at Rouen about the year 1644. He belonged to an excellent +family, and was well educated. From his earliest years he was +passionately fond of stories of travel, and the older he grew the more +cramped he felt in the civilization of Europe; like the mettled mustang +of the vast prairies of America, he longed for the immensity of unknown +plains, for the imposing majesty of forests which the foot of man had +not yet trod. Maturity and reason gave a more definite aim to these +aspirations; at the age of twenty-four he came to New France to try his +fortune. He entered into relations with different Indian tribes, and the +extent of his commerce led him to establish a trading-post opposite the +Sault St. Louis. This site, as we shall see, received soon after the +name of Lachine. Though settled at this spot, La Salle did not cease to +meditate on the plan fixed in his brain of discovering a passage to +China and the Indies, and upon learning the news <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span>that MM. Dollier de +Casson and Gallinée were going to christianize the wild tribes of +south-western Canada, he hastened to rejoin the two devoted +missionaries. They set out in the summer of 1669, with twenty-two +Frenchmen. Arriving at Niagara, La Salle suddenly changed his mind, and +abandoned his travelling companions, under the pretext of illness. No +more was needed for the Frenchman, <i>né malin</i>,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> to fix upon the +seigniory of the future discoverer of the mouth of the Mississippi the +name of Lachine; M. Dollier de Casson is suspected of being the author +of this gentle irony.</p> + +<p>Eight years later the explorations of Joliet and Father Marquette +revived his instincts as a discoverer; he betook himself to France in +1677 and easily obtained authority to pursue, at his own expense, the +discovery already begun. Back in Canada the following year, La Salle +thoroughly prepared for this expedition, accumulating provisions at Fort +Niagara, and visiting the Indian tribes. In 1679, accompanied by the +Chevalier de Tonti, he set out at the head of a small troop, and passed +through Michilimackinac, then through the Baie des Puants. From there he +reached the Miami River, where he erected a small fort, ascended the +Illinois, and, reaching a camp of the Illinois Indians, made an alliance +with this tribe, obtaining from them permission to erect upon their soil +a fort which he called Crèvecœur. He left M. de Tonti there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span>with a +few men and two Récollet missionaries, Fathers de la Ribourde +and Membré, and set out again with all haste for Fort Frontenac, for he +was very anxious regarding the condition of his own affairs. He had +reason to be. "His creditors," says the Abbé Ferland, "had had his goods +seized after his departure from Fort Frontenac; his brigantine <i>Le +Griffon</i> had been lost, with furs valued at thirty thousand francs; his +employees had appropriated his goods; a ship which was bringing him from +France a cargo valued at twenty-two thousand francs had been wrecked on +the Islands of St. Pierre; some canoes laden with merchandise had been +dashed to pieces on the journey between Montreal and Frontenac; the men +whom he had brought from France had fled to New York, taking a portion +of his goods, and already a conspiracy was on foot to disaffect the +Canadians in his service. In one word, according to him, the whole of +Canada had conspired against his enterprise, and the Count de Frontenac +was the only one who consented to support him in the midst of his +misfortunes." His remarkable energy and activity remedied this host of +evils, and he set out again for Fort Crèvecœur. To cap the climax of +his misfortunes, he found it abandoned; being attacked by the Iroquois, +whom the English had aroused against them, Tonti and his comrades had +been forced to hasty flight. De la Salle found them again at +Michilimackinac, but he had the sorrow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span>of learning of the loss of +Father de la Ribourde, whom the Illinois had massacred. Tonti and his +companions, in their flight, had been obliged to abandon an unsafe +canoe, which had carried them half-way, and to continue their journey on +foot. Such a series of misfortunes would have discouraged any other than +La Salle; on the contrary, he made Tonti and Father Membré retrace their +steps. Arriving with them at the Miami fort, he reinforced his little +troop by twenty-three Frenchmen and eighteen Indians, and reached Fort +Crèvecœur. On February 6th, 1682, he reached the mouth of the +Illinois, and then descended the Mississippi. Towards the end of this +same month the bold explorers stopped at the juncture of the Ohio with +the Father of Rivers, and erected there Fort Prudhomme. On what is Fame +dependent? A poor and unknown man, a modest collaborator with La Salle, +had the honour of giving his name to this little fort because he had +been lost in the neighbourhood and had reached camp nine days later.</p> + +<p>Providence was finally about to reward so much bravery and perseverance. +The sailor who from the yards of Christopher Columbus's caravel, uttered +the triumphant cry of "Land! land!" did not cause more joy to the +illustrious Genoese navigator than La Salle received from the sight of +the sea so ardently sought. On April 9th La Salle and his comrades could +at length admire the immense blue <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span>sheet of the Gulf of Mexico. Like +Christopher Columbus, who made it his first duty on touching the soil of +the New World to fall upon his knees to return thanks to Heaven, La +Salle's first business was to raise a cross upon the shore. Father +Membré intoned the Te Deum. They then raised the arms of the King of +France, in whose name La Salle took possession of the Mississippi, and +of all the territories watered by the tributaries of the great river.</p> + +<p>Their trials were not over: the risks to be run in traversing so many +regions inhabited by barbarians were as great and as numerous after +success as before. La Salle was, moreover, delayed for forty days by a +serious illness, but God in His goodness did not wish to deprive the +valiant discoverers of the fruits of their efforts, and all arrived safe +and sound at the place whence they had started. After having passed a +year in establishing trading-posts among the Illinois, La Salle +appointed M. de Tonti his representative for the time being, and betook +himself to France with the intention of giving an account of his journey +to the most Christian monarch. His enemies had already forestalled him +at the court; we have to seek the real cause of this hatred in the +jealousy of traders who feared to find in the future colonists of the +western and southern country competitors in their traffic. But far from +listening to them, the son of Colbert, Seignelay, then minister of +commerce, highly praised the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span>valiant explorer, and sent, in 1684, four +ships with two hundred and eighty colonists to people Louisiana, this +new gem in the crown of France. But La Salle has not yet finally drained +the cup of disappointment, for few men have been so overwhelmed as he by +the persistence of ill-fortune. It was not enough that the leader of the +expedition should be incapable, the colonists must needs be of a +continual evil character, the soldiers undisciplined, the workmen +unskilful, the pilot ignorant. They pass the mouth of the Mississippi, +near which they should have disembarked, and arrive in Texas; the +commander refuses to send the ship about, and La Salle makes up his mind +to land where they are. Through the neglect of the pilot, the vessel +which was carrying the provisions is cast ashore, then a gale arises +which swallows up the tools, the merchandise and the ammunition. The +Indians, like birds of prey, hasten up to pillage, and massacre two +volunteers. The colonists in exasperation revolt, and stupidly blame La +Salle. He saves them, nevertheless, by his energy, and makes them raise +a fort with the wreck of the ships. They pass two years there in a +famine of everything; twice La Salle tries to find, at the cost of a +thousand sufferings, a way of rescue, and twice he fails. Finally, when +there remain no more than thirty men, he chooses the ten most resolute, +and tries to reach Canada on foot. He did not reach it: on May 20th, +1687, he was murdered by one of his comrades.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> "Such was the end of this +daring adventurer," says Bancroft.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">8</a> "For force of will, and vast +conceptions; for various knowledge and quick adaptation of his genius to +untried circumstances; for a sublime magnanimity that resigned itself to +the will of Heaven and yet triumphed over affliction by energy of +purpose and unfaltering hope, he had no superior among his +countrymen.... He will be remembered in the great central valley of the +West."</p> + +<p>It was with deep feelings of joy that Mgr. de Laval, still in France at +this period, had read the detailed report of the voyage of discovery +made by Joliet and Father Marquette. But the news which he received from +Canada was not always so comforting; he felt especially deeply the loss +of two great benefactresses of Canada, Madame de la Peltrie and Mother +Incarnation. The former had used her entire fortune in founding the +Convent of the Ursulines at Quebec. Heaven had lavished its gifts upon +her; endowed with brilliant qualities, and adding riches to beauty, she +was happy in possessing these advantages only because they allowed her +to offer them to the Most High, who had given them to her. She devoted +herself to the Christian education of young girls, and passed in Canada +the last thirty-two years of her life. The Abbé Casgrain draws the +following portrait of her: "Her whole person presented a type of +attractiveness and gentleness. Her face, a beautiful oval, was +remarkable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span>for +the harmony of its lines and the perfection of its contour. A +slightly aquiline nose, a clear cut and always smiling mouth, a limpid +look veiled by long lashes which the habit of meditation kept half +lowered, stamped her features with an exquisite sweetness. Though her +frail and delicate figure did not exceed medium height, and though +everything about her breathed modesty and humility, her gait was +nevertheless full of dignity and nobility; one recognized, in seeing +her, the descendant of those great and powerful lords, of those perfect +knights whose valiant swords had sustained throne and altar. Through the +most charming simplicity there were ever manifest the grand manner of +the seventeenth century and that perfect distinction which is +traditional among the families of France. But this majestic <i>ensemble</i> +was tempered by an air of introspection and unction which gave her +conversation an infinite charm, and it gained her the esteem and +affection of all those who had had the good fortune to know her." She +died on November 18th, 1671, only a few days after the departure for +France of the apostolic vicar.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 559px;"> +<a href="images/illo2.jpg"><img src="images/illo2_th.jpg" width="559" height="350" alt="The Ursuline Convent, Quebec" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">The Ursuline Convent, Quebec<br /> +Drawn on the spot by Richard Short, 1761</span> +</div> + + +<p>Her pious friend, Mother Mary of the Incarnation, first Mother Superior +of the Ursulines of Quebec, soon followed her to the tomb. She expired +on April 30th, 1672. In her numerous writings on the beginnings of the +colony, the modesty of Mother Mary of the Incarnation has kept us in the +dark concerning several important services rendered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span>by her to New +France, and many touching details of her life would not have reached us +if her companion, Madame de la Peltrie, had not made them known to us. +In Mother Incarnation, who merited the glorious title of the Theresa of +New France, were found all the Christian virtues, but more particularly +piety, patience and confidence in Providence. God was ever present and +visible in her heart, acting everywhere and in everything. We see, among +many other instances that might be quoted, a fine example of her +enthusiasm for Heaven when, cast out of her convent in the heart of the +winter by a conflagration which consumed everything, she knelt upon the +snow with her Sisters, and thanked God for not having taken from them, +together with their properties, their lives, which might be useful to +others.</p> + +<p>If Madame de la Peltrie and Mother Mary of the Incarnation occupy a +large place in the history of Canada, it is because the institution of +the Ursulines, which they founded and directed at Quebec, exercised the +happiest influence on the formation of the Christian families in our +country. "It was," says the Abbé Ferland, "an inestimable advantage for +the country to receive from the schools maintained by the nuns, mothers +of families reared in piety, familiar with their religious duties, and +capable of training the hearts and minds of the new generation." It was +thanks to the efforts of Madame de la Peltrie, and to the lessons of +Mother <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span>Incarnation and her first co-workers, that those patriarchal +families whose type still persists in our time, were formed in the early +days of the colony. The same services were rendered by Sister Bourgeoys +to the government of Montreal.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Allusion to a verse of the poet Boileau.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>History of the United States</i>, Vol. II., page 821.</p> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>A TROUBLED ADMINISTRATION</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>A</b></span> thorough study of history and the analysis of the causes and effects +of great historical events prove to us that frequently men endowed with +the noblest qualities have rendered only slight services to their +country, because, blinded by the consciousness of their own worth, and +the certainty which they have of desiring to work only for the good of +their country, they have disdained too much the advice of wise +counsillors. With eyes fixed upon their established purpose, they +trample under foot every obstacle; and every man who differs from their +opinion is but a traitor or an imbecile: hence their lack of moderation, +tact and prudence, and their excess of obstinacy and violence. To select +one example among a thousand, what marvellous results would have been +attained by an <i>entente cordiale</i> between two men like Dupleix and La +Bourdonnais.</p> + +<p>Count de Frontenac was certainly a great man: he made Canada prosperous +in peace, glorious in war, but he made also the great mistake of aiming +at absolutism, and of allowing himself to be guided throughout his +administration by unjustified prejudices against the Jesuits and the +religious orders.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> Only the Sovereign Council, the bishop and the royal +commissioner could have opposed his omnipotence. Now the office of +commissioner remained vacant for three years, the bishop stayed in +France till 1675, and his grand vicar, who was to represent him in the +highest assembly of the colony, was never invited to take his seat +there. As to the council, the governor took care to constitute it of men +who were entirely devoted to him, and he thus made himself the arbiter +of justice. The council, of which Peuvret de Mesnu was secretary, was at +this time composed of MM. Le Gardeur de Tilly, Damours, de la Tesserie, +Dupont, de Mouchy, and a substitute for the attorney-general.</p> + +<p>The first difficulty which Frontenac met was brought about by a cause +rather insignificant in itself, but rendered so dangerous by the +obstinacy of those who were concerned in it that it caused a deep +commotion throughout the whole country. Thus a foreign body, sometimes a +wretched little splinter buried in the flesh, may, if we allow the wound +to be poisoned, produce the greatest disorders in the human system. We +cannot read without admiration of the acts of bravery and daring +frequently accomplished by the <i>coureurs de bois</i>. We experience a +sentiment of pride when we glance through the accounts which depict for +us the endurance and physical vigour with which these athletes became +endowed by dint of continual struggles with man and beast and with the +very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span>elements in a climate that was as glacial in winter as it was +torrid in summer. We are happy to think that these brave and strong men +belong to our race. But in the time of Frontenac the ecclesiastical and +civil authorities were averse to seeing the colony lose thus the most +vigorous part of its population. While admitting that the <i>coureurs de +bois</i> became stout fellows in consequence of their hard experience, just +as the fishermen of the French shore now become robust sailors after a +few seasons of fishing on the Newfoundland Banks, the parallel is not +complete, because the latter remain throughout their lives a valuable +reserve for the French fleets, while the former were in great part lost +to the colony, at a period when safety lay in numbers. If they escaped +the manifold dangers which they ran every day in dealing with the +savages in the heart of the forest, if they disdained to link themselves +by the bond of marriage to a squaw and to settle among the redskins, the +<i>coureurs de bois</i> were none the less drones among their compatriots; +they did not make up their minds to establish themselves in places where +they might have become excellent farmers, until through age and +infirmity they were rather a burden than a support to others.</p> + +<p>To counteract this scourge the king published in 1673, a decree which, +under penalty of death, forbade Frenchmen to remain more than +twenty-four hours in the woods without permission from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span>governor. +Some Montreal officers, engaged in trade, violated this prohibition; the +Count de Frontenac at once sent M. Bizard, lieutenant of his guards, +with an order to arrest them. The governor of Montreal, M. Perrot, who +connived with them, publicly insulted the officer entrusted with the +orders of the governor-general. Indignant at such insolence, M. de +Frontenac had M. Perrot arrested at once, imprisoned in the Château St. +Louis and judged by the Sovereign Council. Connected with M. Perrot by +the bonds of friendship, the Abbé de Fénelon profited by the occasion to +allude, in the sermon which he delivered in the parochial church of +Montreal on Easter Sunday, to the excessive labour which M. de Frontenac +had exacted from the inhabitants of Ville-Marie for the erection of Fort +Cataraqui. According to La Salle, who heard the sermon, the Abbé de +Fénelon said: "He who is invested with authority should not disturb the +people who depend on him; on the contrary, it is his duty to consider +them as his children and to treat them as would a father.... He must not +disturb the commerce of the country by ill-treating those who do not +give him a share of the profits they may make in it; he must content +himself with gaining by honest means; he must not trample on the people, +nor vex them by excessive demands which serve his interests alone. He +must not have favourites who praise him on all occasions, or oppress, +under far-fetched pretexts, persons who serve the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span>princes, when +they oppose his enterprises.... He has respect for priests and ministers +of the Church."</p> + +<p>Count de Frontenac felt himself directly aimed at; he was the more +inclined to anger, since, the year before, he had had reasons for +complaint of the sermon of a Jesuit Father. Let us allow the governor +himself to relate this incident: "I had need," he wrote to Colbert, "to +remember your orders on the occasion of a sermon preached by a Jesuit +Father this winter (1672) purposely and without need, at which he had a +week before invited everybody to be present. He gave expression in this +sermon to seditious proposals against the authority of the king, which +scandalized many, by dilating upon the restrictions made by the bishop +of the traffic in brandy.... I was several times tempted to leave the +church and to interrupt the sermon; but I eventually contented myself, +after it was over, with seeking out the grand vicar and the superior of +the Jesuits and telling them that I was much surprised at what I had +just heard, and that I asked justice of them.... They greatly blamed the +preacher, whose words they disavowed, attributing them, according to +their custom, to an excess of zeal, and offered me many excuses, with +which I condescended to seem satisfied, telling them, nevertheless, that +I would not accept such again, and that, if the occasion ever arose, I +would put the preacher where he would learn how he ought to speak...."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span>On the news of the words which were pronounced in the pulpit at +Ville-Marie, M. de Frontenac summoned M. de Fénelon to send him a +verified copy of his sermon, and on the refusal of the abbé, he cited +him before the council. M. de Fénelon appeared, but objected to the +jurisdiction of the court, declaring that he owed an account of his +actions to the ecclesiastical authority alone. Now the official +authority of the diocese was vested in the worthy M. de Bernières, the +representative of Mgr. de Laval. The latter is summoned in his turn +before the council, where the Count de Frontenac, who will not recognize +either the authority of this official or that of the apostolic vicar, +objects to M. de Bernières occupying the seat of the absent Bishop of +Petræa. In order not to compromise his right thus contested, M. de +Bernières replies to the questions of the council "standing and without +taking any seat." The trial thus begun dragged along till autumn, to be +then referred to the court of France. The superior of St. Sulpice, M. de +Bretonvilliers, who had succeeded the venerable M. Olier, did not +approve of the conduct of the Abbé Fénelon, for he wrote later to the +Sulpicians of Montreal: "I exhort you to profit by the example of M. de +Fénelon. Concerning himself too much with secular affairs and with what +did not affect him, he has ruined his own cause and compromised the +friends whom he wished to serve. In matters of this sort it is always +best to remain neutral."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span>Frontenac was about to be blamed in his turn. The governor had obtained +from the council a decree ordering the king's attorney to be present +at the rendering of accounts by the purveyor of the Quebec Seminary, and +another decree of March 4th, 1675, declaring that not only, as had been +customary since 1668, the judges should have precedence over the +churchwardens in public ceremonies, but also that the latter should +follow all the officers of justice; at Quebec these officers should have +their bench immediately behind that of the council, and in the rest of +the country, behind that of the local governors and the seigneurs. This +latter decree was posted everywhere. A missionary, M. Thomas Morel, was +accused of having prevented its publication at Lévis, and was arrested +at once and imprisoned in the Château St. Louis with the clerk of the +ecclesiastical court, Romain Becquet, who had refused to deliver to the +council the registers of this ecclesiastical tribune. He was kept there +a month. MM. de Bernières and Dudouyt protested, declaring that M. Morel +was amenable only to the diocesan authority. We see in such an incident +some of the reasons which induced Laval to insist upon the immediate +constitution of a regular diocese. Summoned to produce forthwith the +authority for their pretended ecclesiastical jurisdiction, "they +produced a copy of the royal declaration, dated March 27th, 1659, based +on the bulls of the Bishop of Petræa, and other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span>documents, establishing +incontestably the legal authority of the apostolic vicar." The council +had to yield; it restored his freedom to M. Morel, and postponed until +later its decision as to the validity of the claims of the +ecclesiastical court.</p> + +<p>This was a check to the ambitions of the Count de Frontenac. The +following letter from Louis XIV dealt a still more cruel blow to his +absolutism: "In order to punish M. Perrot for having resisted your +authority," the prince wrote to him, "I have had him put into the +Bastille for some time; so that when he returns to your country, not +only will this punishment render him more circumspect in his duty, but +it will serve as an example to restrain others. But if I must inform you +of my sentiments, after having thus satisfied my authority which was +violated in your person, I will tell you that without absolute need you +ought not to have these orders executed throughout the extent of a local +jurisdiction like Montreal without communicating with its governor.... I +have blamed the action of the Abbé de Fénelon, and have commanded him to +return no more to Canada; but I must tell you that it was difficult to +enter a criminal procedure against him, or to compel the priests of St. +Sulpice to bear witness against him. He should have been delivered over +to his bishop or to the grand vicar to suffer the ecclesiastical +penalties, or should have been arrested and sent back to France by the +first ship. I have been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span>told besides," added the monarch, "that you +would not permit ecclesiastics and others to attend to their missions +and other duties, or even leave their residence without a passport from +Montreal to Quebec; that you often summoned them for very slight causes; +that you intercepted their letters and did not allow them liberty to +write. If the whole or part of these things be true, you must mend your +ways." On his part Colbert enjoined upon the governor a little more +calmness and gentleness. "His Majesty," wrote the minister, "has ordered +me to explain to you, privately, that it is absolutely necessary for the +good of your service to moderate your conduct, and not to single out +with too great severity faults committed either against his service or +against the respect due to your person or character." Colbert rightly +felt that fault-finding letters were not sufficient to keep within +bounds a temperament as fiery as that of the governor of Canada; on the +other hand, a man of Frontenac's worth was too valuable to the colony to +think of dispensing with his services. The wisest course was to renew +the Sovereign Council, and in order to withdraw its members from the too +preponderant influence of the governor, to put their nomination in the +hands of the king.</p> + +<p>By the royal edict of June 5th, 1675, the council was reconstituted. It +was composed of seven members appointed by the Crown; the +governor-general occupied the first place, the bishop, or in his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span>absence, the grand vicar, the second, and the commissioner the third. +As the latter presided in the absence of the governor, and as the king +was anxious that "he should have the same functions and the same +privileges as the first presidents of the courts of France," as moreover +the honour devolved upon him of collecting the opinions or votes and of +pronouncing the decrees, it was in reality the commissioner who might be +considered as actual president. It is, therefore, easy to understand the +continual disputes which arose upon the question of the title of +President of the Council between Frontenac and the Commissioner Jacques +Duchesneau. The latter, at first "<i>Président des trésoriers de la +généralité de Tours</i>," had been appointed <i>intendant</i> of New France by a +commission which bears the same date as the royal edict reviving the +Sovereign Council. While thinking of the material good of the colony, +the Most Christian King took care not to neglect its spiritual +interests; he undertook to provide for the maintenance of the parish +priests and other ecclesiastics wherever necessary, and to meet in case +of need the expenses of the divine service. In addition he expressed his +will "that there should always be in the council one ecclesiastical +member," and later he added a clerical councillor to the members already +installed. There were summoned to the council MM. de Villeray, de Tilly, +Damours, Dupont, Louis René de Lotbinière, de Peyras, and Denys de +Vitré. M. Denis Joseph<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> Ruette d'Auteuil was appointed +solicitor-general; his functions consisted in speaking in the name of +the king, and in making, in the name of the prince or of the public, the +necessary statements. The former clerk, M. Peuvret de Mesnu, was +retained in his functions.</p> + +<p>The quarrels thus generated between the governor and the commissioner on +the question of the title of president grew so embittered that discord +did not cease to prevail between the two men on even the most +insignificant questions. Forcibly involved in these dissensions, the +Sovereign Council itself was divided into two hostile camps, and letters +of complaint and denunciation rained upon the desk of the minister in +France: on the one hand the governor was accused of receiving presents +from the savages before permitting them to trade at Montreal, and was +reproached for sending beavers to New England; on the other hand, it was +hinted that the commissioner was interested in the business of the +principal merchants of the colony. Scrupulously honest, but of a +somewhat stern temperament, Duchesneau could not bend to the imperious +character of Frontenac, who in his exasperation readily allowed himself +to be impelled to arbitrary acts; thus he kept the councillor Damours in +prison for two months for a slight cause, and banished from Quebec three +other councillors, MM. de Villeray, de Tilly and d'Auteuil. The climax +was reached, and in spite of the services rendered to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span>country by +these two administrators, the king decided to recall them both in 1682. +Count de Frontenac was replaced as governor by M. Lefebvre de la Barre, +and M. Duchesneau by M. de Meulles.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THIRD VOYAGE TO FRANCE</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>Disembarking</b></span> in the year 1675 on that soil where as apostolic vicar he +had already accomplished so much good, giving his episcopal benediction +to that Christian throng who came to sing the Te Deum to thank God for +the happy return of their first pastor, casting his eyes upon that manly +and imposing figure of one of the most illustrious lieutenants of the +great king, the Count de Frontenac, what could be the thoughts of Mgr. +de Laval? He could not deceive himself: the letters received from Canada +proved to him too clearly that the friction between the civil powers and +religious authorities would be continued under a governor of +uncompromising and imperious character. With what fervour must he have +asked of Heaven the tact, the prudence and the patience so necessary in +such delicate circumstances!</p> + +<p>Two questions, especially, divided the governor and the bishop: that of +the permanence of livings, and the everlasting matter of the sale of +brandy to the savages, a question which, like the phœnix, was +continually reborn from its ashes. "The prelate," says the Abbé +Gosselin, "desired to establish parishes wherever they were necessary, +and procure <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span>for them good and zealous missionaries, and, as far as +possible, priests residing in each district, but removable and attached +to the seminary, which received the tithes and furnished them with all +they had need of. But Frontenac found that this system left the priests +too dependent on the bishop, and that the clergy thus closely connected +with the bishop and the seminary, was too formidable and too powerful a +body. It was with the purpose of weakening it and of rendering it, by +the aid which it would require, more dependent on the civil authority, +that he undertook that campaign for permanent livings which ended in the +overthrow of Mgr. de Laval's system."</p> + +<p>Colbert, in fact, was too strongly prejudiced against the clergy of +Canada by the reports of Talon and Frontenac. These three men were +wholly devoted to the interests of France as well as to those of the +colony, but they judged things only from a purely human point of view. +"I see," Colbert wrote in 1677 to Commissioner Duchesneau, "that the +Count de Frontenac is of the opinion that the trade with the savages in +drinks, called in that country intoxicating, does not cause the great +and terrible evils to which Mgr. de Québec takes exception, and even +that it is necessary for commerce; and I see that you are of an opinion +contrary to this. In this matter, before taking sides with the bishop, +you should enquire very exactly as to the number of murders, +assassinations, cases of arson, and other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span>excesses caused by brandy ... +and send me the proof of this. If these deeds had been continual, His +Majesty would have issued a most severe and vigorous prohibition to all +his subjects against engaging in this traffic. But, in the absence of +this proof, and seeing, moreover, the contrary in the evidence and +reports of those that have been longest in this country, it is not just, +and the general policy of a state opposes in this the feelings of a +bishop who, to prevent the abuses that a small number of private +individuals may make of a thing good in itself, wishes to abolish trade +in an article which greatly serves to attract commerce, and the savages +themselves, to the orthodox Christians." Thus M. Dudouyt could not but +fail in his mission, and he wrote to Mgr. de Laval that Colbert, while +recognizing very frankly the devotion of the bishop and the +missionaries, believed that they exaggerated the fatal results of the +traffic. The zealous collaborator of the Bishop of Quebec at the same +time urged the prelate to suspend the spiritual penalties till then +imposed upon the traders, in order to deprive the minister of every +motive of bitterness against the clergy.</p> + +<p>The bishop admitted the wisdom of this counsel, which he followed, and +meanwhile the king, alarmed by a report from Commissioner Duchesneau, +who shared the view of the missionaries, desired to investigate and come +to a final decision on the question. He therefore ordered the Count <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span>de +Frontenac to choose in the colony twenty-four competent persons, and to +commission them to examine the drawbacks to the sale of intoxicating +liquors. Unfortunately, the persons chosen for this enquiry were engaged +in trade with the savages; their conclusions must necessarily be +prejudiced. They declared that "very few disorders arose from the +traffic in brandy, among the natives of the country; that, moreover, the +Dutch, by distributing intoxicating drinks to the Iroquois, attracted by +this means the trade in beaver skins to Orange and Manhattan. It was, +therefore, absolutely necessary to allow the brandy trade in order to +bring the savages into the French colony and to prevent them from taking +their furs to foreigners."</p> + +<p>We cannot help being surprised at such a judgment when we read over the +memoirs of the time, which all agree in deploring the sad results of +this traffic. The most crying injustice, the most revolting immorality, +the ruin of families, settlements devastated by drunkenness, agriculture +abandoned, the robust portion of the population ruining its health in +profitless expeditions: such were some of the most horrible fruits of +alcohol. And what do we find as a compensation for so many evils? A few +dozen rascals enriched, returning to squander in France a fortune +shamefully acquired. And let it not be objected that, if the Indians had +not been able to purchase the wherewithal to satisfy their terrible +passion for strong drink, they would have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span>carried their furs to the +English or the Dutch, for it was proven that the offer of Governor +Andros, to forbid the sale of brandy to the savages in New England on +condition that the French would act likewise in New France, was formally +rejected. "To-day when the passions of the time have long been silent," +says the Abbé Ferland, "it is impossible not to admire the energy +displayed by the noble bishop, imploring the pity of the monarch for the +savages of New France with all the courage shown by Las Casas, when he +pleaded the cause of the aborigines of Spanish America. Disdaining the +hypocritical outcries of those men who prostituted the name of commerce +to cover their speculations and their rapine, he exposed himself to +scorn and persecution in order to save the remnant of those indigenous +American tribes, to protect his flock from the moral contagion which +threatened to weigh upon it, and to lead into the right path the young +men who were going to ruin among the savage tribes."</p> + +<p>The worthy bishop desired to prevent the laxity of the sale of brandy +that might result from the declaration of the Committee of Twenty-four, +and in the autumn of 1678 he set out again for France. To avoid a +journey so fatiguing, he might easily have found excuses in the rest +needed after a difficult pastoral expedition which he had just +concluded, in the labours of his seminary which demanded his presence, +and especially in the bad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span>state of his health; but is not the first +duty of a leader always to stand in the breach, and to give to all the +example of self-sacrifice? A report from his hand on the disorders +caused by the traffic in strong liquors would perhaps have obtained a +fortunate result, but thinking that his presence at the court would be +still more efficacious, he set out. He managed to find in his charity +and the goodness of his heart such eloquent words to depict the evils +wrought upon the Church in Canada by the scourge of intoxication, that +Louis XIV was moved, and commissioned his confessor, Father La Chaise, +to examine the question conjointly with the Archbishop of Paris. +According to their advice, the king expressly forbade the French to +carry intoxicating liquors to the savages in their dwellings or in the +woods, and he wrote to Frontenac to charge him to see that the edict was +respected. On his part, Laval consented to maintain the <i>cas réservé</i> +only against those who might infringe the royal prohibition. The Bishop +of Quebec had hoped for more; for nothing could prevent the Indians from +coming to buy the terrible poison from the French, and moreover, +discovery of the infractions of the law would be, if not impossible, at +least most difficult. Nevertheless, it was an advantage obtained over +the dealers and their protectors, who aimed at nothing less than an +unrestricted traffic in brandy. A dyke was set up against the +devastations of the scourge; the worthy bishop might hope to maintain +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span>it energetically by his vigilance and that of his coadjutors. +Unfortunately, he could not succeed entirely, and little by little the +disorders became so multiplied that M. de Denonville considered brandy +as one of the greatest evils of Canada, and that the venerable superior +of St. Sulpice de Montréal, M. Dollier de Casson, wrote in 1691: "I have +been twenty-six years in this country, and I have seen our numerous and +flourishing Algonquin missions all destroyed by drunkenness." +Accordingly, it became necessary later to fall back upon the former +rigorous regulations against the sale of intoxicating liquors to the +Indians.</p> + +<p>Before his departure for France the Bishop of Quebec had given the +devoted priests of St. Sulpice a mark of his affection: he constituted +the parish of Notre-Dame de Montréal according to the canons of the +Church, and joined it in perpetuity to the Seminary of Ville-Marie, "to +be administered, under the plenary authority of the Bishops of Quebec, +by such ecclesiastics as might be chosen by the superior of the said +seminary. The priests of St. Sulpice having by their efforts and their +labours produced during so many years in New France, and especially in +the Island of Montreal, very great fruits for the glory of God and the +advantage of this growing Church, we have given them, as being most +irreproachable in faith, doctrine, piety and conduct, in perpetuity, and +do give them, by virtue of these presents, the livings of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> Island of +Montreal, in order that they may be perfectly cultivated as up to now +they have been, as best they might be by their preachings and examples." +In fact, misunderstandings like that which had occurred on the arrival +of de Queylus were no longer to be feared; since the authority to which +Laval could lay claim had been duly established and proved, the +Sulpicians had submitted and accepted his jurisdiction. They had for a +longer period preserved their independence as temporal lords, and the +governor of Ville-Marie, de Maisonneuve, jealous of preserving intact +the rights of those whom he represented, even dared one day to refuse +the keys of the fort to the governor-general, M. d'Argenson. Poor de +Maisonneuve paid for this excessive zeal by the loss of his position, +for d'Argenson never forgave him.</p> + +<p>The parish of Notre-Dame was united with the Seminary of Montreal on +October 30th, 1678, one year after the issuing of the letters patent +which recognized the civil existence of St. Sulpice de Montréal. Mgr. de +Laval at the same time united with the parish of Notre-Dame the chapel +of Bonsecours. On the banks of the St. Lawrence, not far from the church +of Notre-Dame, rises a chapel of modest appearance. It is Notre-Dame de +Bonsecours. It has seen many generations kneeling on its square, and has +not ceased to protect with its shadow the Catholic quarter of Montreal. +The buildings about it rose successively, only to give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span>way themselves +to other monuments. Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is still respected; the +piety of Catholics defends it against all attacks of time or progress, +and the little church raises proudly in the air that slight wooden +steeple that more than once has turned aside the avenging bolt of the +Most High. Sister Bourgeoys had begun it in 1657; to obtain the funds +necessary for its completion she betook herself to Paris. She obtained +one hundred francs from M. Macé, a priest of St. Sulpice. One of the +associates of the Company of Montreal, M. de Fancamp, received for her +from two of his fellow-partners, MM. Denis and Leprêtre, a statuette of +the Virgin made of the miraculous wood of Montagu, and he himself, to +participate in this gift, gave her a shrine of the most wonderful +richness to contain the precious statue. On her return to Canada, +Marguerite Bourgeoys caused to be erected near the house of the Sisters +a wooden lean-to in the form of a chapel, which became the provisional +sanctuary of the statuette. Two years later, on June 29th, the laying of +the foundation stone of the chapel took place. The work was urged with +enthusiasm, and encouraged by the pious impatience of Sister Bourgeoys. +The generosity of the faithful vied in enthusiasm, and gifts flowed in. +M. de Maisonneuve offered a cannon, of which M. Souart had a bell made +at his expense. Two thousand francs, furnished by the piety of the +inhabitants, and one hundred louis from Sister Bourgeoys and her nuns, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span>aided the foundress to complete the realization of a wish long +cherished in her heart; the new chapel became an inseparable annex of +the parish of Ville-Marie.</p> + +<p>These most precious advantages were recognized on November 6th, 1678, by +Mgr. de Laval, who preserved throughout his life the most tender +devotion to the Mother of God. On the other hand, the prelate imposed +upon the parish priest the obligation of having the Holy Mass celebrated +there on the Day of the Visitation, and of going there in procession on +the Day of the Assumption. Is it necessary to mention with what zeal, +with what devotion the Canadians brought to Mary in this new temple +their homage and their prayers? Let us listen to the enthusiastic +narrative of Sister Morin, a nun of St. Joseph: "The Holy Mass is said +there every day, and even several times a day, to satisfy the devotion +and the trust of the people, which are great towards Notre-Dame de +Bonsecours. Processions wend their way thither on occasions of public +need or calamity, with much success. It is the regular promenade of the +devout persons of the town, who make a pilgrimage there every evening, +and there are few good Catholics who, from all the places in Canada, do +not make vows of offerings to this chapel in all the dangers in which +they find themselves."</p> + +<p>The church of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours was twice remodelled; built at +first of oak on stone <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span>foundations, it was rebuilt of stone and consumed +in 1754 in a conflagration which destroyed a part of the town. In 1772 +the chapel was rebuilt as it exists now, one hundred and two feet long +by forty-six wide.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>LAVAL RETURNS TO CANADA</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>Mgr. de Laval</b></span> was still in France when the edict of May, 1679, appeared, +decreeing on the suggestion of Frontenac, that the tithe should be paid +only to "each of the parish priests within the extent of his parish +where he is established in perpetuity in the stead of the removable +priest who previously administered it." The ideas of the Count de +Frontenac were thus victorious, and the king retracted his first +decision. He had in his original decree establishing the Seminary of +Quebec, granted the bishop and his successors "the right of recalling +and displacing the priests by them delegated to the parishes to exercise +therein parochial functions." Laval on his return to Canada conformed +without murmur to the king's decision; he worked, together with the +governor and commissioner, at drawing up the plan of the parishes to be +established, and sent his vicar-general to install the priests who were +appointed to the different livings. He desired to inspire his whole +clergy with the disinterestedness which he had always evinced, for not +only did he recommend his priests "to content themselves with the +simplest living, and with the bare necessaries of their support," but +<span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span>besides, agreeing with the governor and the commissioner, he estimated +that an annual sum of five hundred livres merely, that is to say, about +three hundred dollars of our present money, was sufficient for the +lodging and maintenance of a priest. This was more than modest, and yet, +without a very considerable extension, there was no parish capable of +supplying the needs of its priest. There was indeed, it is true, an +article of the edict specifying that in case of the tithe being +insufficient, the necessary supplement should be fixed by the council +and furnished by the seigneur of the place and by the inhabitants; but +this manner of aiding the priests who were reduced to a bare competence +was not practical, as was soon evident. Another article gave the title +of patron to any seigneur who should erect a religious edifice; this +article was just as fantastic, "for," wrote Commissioner Duchesneau, +"there is no private person in this country who is in a position to +build churches of any kind."</p> + +<p>The king, always well disposed towards the clergy of Canada, came to +their aid again in this matter. He granted them an annual income of +eight thousand francs, to be raised from his "<i>Western Dominions</i>," that +is to say, from the sum derived in Canada from the <i>droit du quart</i> and +the farm of Tadousac; from these funds, which were distributed by the +seminary until 1692, and after this date by the bishop alone, two +thousand francs were to be set aside for priests prevented by illness or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span>old age from fulfilling the duties of the holy ministry, and twelve +hundred francs were to be employed in the erection of parochial +churches. This aid came aptly, but was not sufficient, as Commissioner +de Beauharnois himself admits. And yet the deplorable state in which the +treasury of France then was, on account of the enormous expenses +indulged in by Louis XIV, and especially in consequence of the wars +which he waged against Europe, obliged him to diminish this allowance. +In 1707 it was reduced by half.</p> + +<p>It was feared for a time by the Sulpicians that the edict of 1679 might +injure the rights which they had acquired from the union with their +seminary of the parishes established on the Island of Montreal, and they +therefore hastened to request from the king the civil confirmation of +this canonical union. "There is," they said in their request, "a sort of +need that the parishes of the Island of Montreal and of the surrounding +parts should be connected with a community able to furnish them with +priests, who could not otherwise be found in the country, to administer +the said livings; these priests would not expose themselves to a sea +voyage and to leaving their family comforts to go and sacrifice +themselves in a wild country, if they did not hope that in their +infirmity or old age they would be free to withdraw from the laborious +administration of the parishes, and that they would find a refuge in +which to end their days in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span>tranquillity in a community which, on its +part, would not pledge itself in such a way as to afford them the hope +of this refuge, and to furnish other priests in their place, if it had +not the free control of the said parishes and power to distribute among +them the ecclesiastics belonging to its body whom it might judge capable +of this, and withdraw or exchange them when fitting." The request of the +Sulpicians was granted by the king.</p> + +<p>It was not until 1680 that the Bishop of Quebec could return to Canada. +The all-important questions of the permanence of livings and of the +traffic in brandy were not the only ones which kept him in France; +another difficulty, that of the dependence of his diocese, demanded of +his devotion a great many efforts at the court. The circumstances were +difficult. France was plunged at this period in the famous dispute +between the government and the court of Rome over the question of the +right of <i>régale</i>, a dispute which nearly brought about a schism. The +Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. de Harlay, who had laboured so much when he +was Bishop of Rouen to keep New France under the jurisdiction of the +diocese of Normandy, used his influence to make Canada dependent on the +archbishopric of Paris. The death of this prelate put an end to this +claim, and the French colony in North America continued its direct +connection with the Holy See.</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval strove also to obtain from the Holy Father the canonical +union of the abbeys of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> Maubec and of Lestrées with his bishopric; if he +had obtained it, he could have erected his chapter at once, assuring by +the revenues of these monasteries a sufficient maintenance for his +canons. The opposition of the religious orders on which these abbeys +depended defeated his plan, but in compensation he obtained from the +generosity of the king a grant of land on which his successor, +Saint-Vallier, afterwards erected the church of Notre-Dame des +Victoires. The venerable prelate might well ask favours for his diocese +when he himself set an example of the greatest generosity. By a deed, +dated at Paris, he gave to his seminary all that he possessed: Ile +Jésus, the seigniories of Beaupré and Petite Nation, a property at +Château Richer, finally books, furniture, funds, and all that might +belong to him at the moment of his death.</p> + +<p>Laval returned to Canada at a time when the relations with the savage +tribes were becoming so strained as to threaten an impending rupture. So +far had matters gone that Colonel Thomas Dongan, governor of New York, +had urged the Iroquois to dig up the hatchet, and he was only too +willingly obeyed. Unfortunately, the two governing heads of the colony +were replaced just at that moment. Governor de Frontenac and +Commissioner Duchesneau were recalled in 1682, and supplanted by de la +Barre and de Meulles. The latter were far from equalling their +predecessors. M. de Lefebvre de la Barre was a clever <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span>sailor but a +deplorable administrator; as for the commissioner, M. de Meulles, his +incapacity did not lessen his extreme conceit.</p> + +<p>On his arrival at Quebec, Laval learned with deep grief that a terrible +conflagration had, a few weeks before, consumed almost the whole of the +Lower Town. The houses, and even the stores being then built of wood, +everything was devoured by the flames. A single dwelling escaped the +disaster, that of a rich private person, M. Aubert de la Chesnaie, in +whose house mass was said every Sunday and feast-day for the citizens of +the Lower Town who could not go to the parish service. To bear witness +of his gratitude to Heaven, M. de la Chesnaie came to the aid of a good +number of his fellow-citizens, and helped them with his money to rebuild +their houses. This fire injured the merchants of Montreal almost as much +as those of Quebec, and the <i>Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu</i> relates that +"more riches were lost on that sad night than all Canada now possesses."</p> + +<p>The king had the greatest desire for the future reign of harmony in the +colony; accordingly he enjoined upon M. de Meulles to use every effort +to agree with the governor-general: "If the latter should fail in his +duty to the sovereign, the commissioner should content himself with a +remonstrance and allow him to act further without disturbing him, but as +soon as possible afterwards should render an account to the king's +council of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span>what might be prejudicial to the good of the state." Mgr. de +Laval, to whom the prince had written in the same tenor, replied at +once: "The honour which your Majesty has done me in writing to me that +M. de Meulles has orders to preserve here a perfect understanding with +me in all things, and to give me all the aid in his power, is so evident +a mark of the affection which your Majesty cherishes for this new Church +and for the bishop who governs it, that I feel obliged to assure your +Majesty of my most humble gratitude. As I do not doubt that this new +commissioner whom you have chosen will fulfil with pleasure your +commands, I may also assure your Majesty that on my part I shall +correspond with him in the fulfilment of my duty, and that I shall all +my life consider it my greatest joy to enter into the intentions of your +Majesty for the general good of this country, which constitutes a part +of your dominions." Concord thus advised could not displease a pastor +who loved nothing so much as union and harmony among all who held the +reins of power, a pastor who had succeeded in making his Church a family +so united that it was quoted once as a model in one of the pulpits of +Paris. If he sometimes strove against the powerful of this earth, it was +when it was a question of combating injustice or some abuse prejudicial +to the welfare of his flock. "Although by his superior intelligence," +says Latour, "by his experience, his labours, his virtues, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span>his birth +and his dignity, he was an oracle whose views the whole clergy +respected, no one ever more distrusted himself, or asked with more +humility, or followed with more docility the counsel of his inferiors +and disciples.... He was less a superior than a colleague, who sought +the right with them and sought it only for its own sake. Accordingly, +never was prelate better obeyed or better seconded than Mgr. de Laval, +because, far from having that professional jealousy which desires to do +everything itself, which dreads merit and enjoys only despotism, never +did prelate evince more appreciative confidence in his inferiors, or +seek more earnestly to give zeal and talent their dues, or have less +desire to command, or did, in fact, command less." The new governor +brought from France strong prejudices against the bishop; he lost them +very quickly, and he wrote to the minister, the Marquis de Seignelay: +"We have greatly laboured, the bishop and I, in the establishment of the +parishes of this country. I send you the arrangement which we have +arrived at concerning them. We owe it to the bishop, who is extremely +well affected to the country, and in whom we must trust." The minister +wrote to the prelate and expressed to him his entire satisfaction in his +course.</p> + +<p>The vigilant bishop had not yet entirely recovered from the fatigue of +his journey when he decided, in spite of the infirmities which were +beginning to overwhelm him, and which were to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span>remain the constant +companions of his latest years, to visit all the parishes and the +religious communities of his immense diocese. He had already traversed +them in the winter time in his former pastoral visits, shod with +snowshoes, braving the fogs, the snow and the bitterest weather. In the +suffocating heat of summer, travel in a bark canoe was scarcely less +fatiguing to a man of almost sixty years, worn out by the hard ministry +of a quarter of a century. However, he decided on a summer journey, and +set out on June 1st, 1681, accompanied by M. de Maizerets, one of his +grand vicars. He visited successively Lotbinière, Batiscan, Champlain, +Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Trois Rivières, Chambly, Sorel, St. Ours, +Contrecœur, Verchères, Boucherville, Repentigny, Lachesnaie, and +arrived on June 19th at Montreal. The marks of respectful affection +lavished upon him by the population compel him to receive continual +visits; but he has come especially for his beloved religious +communities, and he honours them all with his presence, the Seminary of +St. Sulpice as well as the Congregation of Notre-Dame and the hospital. +These labours are not sufficient for his apostolic zeal; he betakes +himself to the house of the Jesuit Fathers at Laprairie, then to their +Indian Mission at the Sault St. Louis, finally to the parish of St. +François de Sales, in the Ile Jésus. Descending the St. Lawrence River, +he sojourns successively at Longueuil, at Varennes, at Lavaltrie, at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +Nicolet, at Bécancourt, at Gentilly, at Ste. Anne de la Pérade, at +Deschambault. He returns to Quebec; his devoted fellow-workers in the +seminary urge him to rest, but he will think of rest only when his +mission is fully ended. He sets out again, and Ile aux Oies, +Cap-Saint-Ignace, St. Thomas, St. Michel, Beaumont, St. Joseph de Lévis +have in turn the happiness of receiving their pastor. The undertaking +was too great for the bishop's strength, and he suffered the results +which could not but follow upon such a strain. The registers of the +Sovereign Council prove to us that only a week after his return he had +to take to his bed, and for two months could not occupy his seat among +the other councillors. "His Lordship fell ill of a dangerous malady," +says a memoir of that time. "For the space of a fortnight his death was +expected, but God granted us the favour of bringing him to +convalescence, and eventually to his former health."</p> + +<p>M. de la Barre, on his arrival, desired to inform himself exactly of the +condition of the colony. In a great assembly held at Quebec, on October +10th, 1682, he gathered all the men who occupied positions of +consideration in the colony. Besides the governor, the bishop and the +commissioner, there were noticed among others M. Dollier de Casson, the +superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, several Jesuit +Fathers, MM. de Varennes, governor of Three Rivers, d'Ailleboust, de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +Brussy and Le Moyne. The information which M. de la Barre obtained from +the assembly was far from reassuring; incessantly stirred up by Governor +Dongan's genius for intrigue, the Iroquois were preparing to descend +upon the little colony. If they had not already begun hostilities, it +was because they wished first to massacre the tribes allied with the +French; already the Hurons, the Algonquins, the Conestogas, the +Delawares and a portion of the Illinois had fallen under their blows. It +was necessary to save from extermination the Ottawa and Illinois tribes. +Now, one might indeed raise a thousand robust men, accustomed to savage +warfare, but, if they were used for an expedition, who would cultivate +in their absence the lands of these brave men? A prompt reinforcement +from the mother country became urgent, and M. de la Barre hastened to +demand it.</p> + +<p>The war had already begun. The Iroquois had seized two canoes, the +property of La Salle, near Niagara; they had likewise attacked and +plundered fourteen Frenchmen <i>en route</i> to the Illinois with merchandise +valued at sixteen thousand francs. It was known, besides, that the +Cayugas and the Senecas were preparing to attack the French settlements +the following summer. In spite of all, the expected help did not arrive. +One realizes the anguish to which the population must have been a prey +when one reads the following letter from the Bishop of Quebec: "Sire, +the Marquis de <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span>Seignelay will inform your Majesty of the war which the +Iroquois have declared against your subjects of New France, and will +explain the need of sending aid sufficient to destroy, if possible, this +enemy, who has opposed for so many years the establishment of this +colony.... Since it has pleased your Majesty to choose me for the +government of this growing Church, I feel obliged, more than any one, to +make its needs manifest to you. The paternal care which you have always +had for us leaves me no room to doubt that you will give the necessary +orders for the most prompt aid possible, without which this poor country +would be exposed to a danger nigh unto ruin."</p> + +<p>The expected reinforcements finally arrived; on November 9th, 1684, the +whole population of Quebec, assembled at the harbour, received with joy +three companies of soldiers, composed of fifty-two men each. The Bishop +of Quebec did not fail to express to the king his personal obligation +and the gratitude of all: "The troops which your Majesty has sent to +defend us against the Iroquois," he wrote to the king, "and the lands +which you have granted us for the subsidiary church of the Lower Town, +and the funds which you have allotted both to rebuild the cathedral +spire and to aid in the maintenance of the priests, these are favours +which oblige me to thank your Majesty, and make me hope that you will +deign to continue your royal bounties to our Church and the whole +colony."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span>M. de la Barre was thus finally able to set out on his expedition +against the Iroquois. At the head of one hundred and thirty soldiers, +seven hundred militia and two hundred and sixty Indians, he marched to +Lake Ontario, where the Iroquois, intimidated, sent him a deputation. +The ambassadors, who expected to see a brilliant army full of ardour, +were astonished to find themselves in the presence of pale and emaciated +soldiers, worn out more by sickness and privations of every kind than by +fatigue. The governor, in fact, had lost ten or twelve days at Montreal; +on the way the provisions had become spoiled and insufficient, hence the +name of Famine Creek given to the place where he entered with his +troops, above the Oswego River. At this sight the temper of the +delegates changed, and their proposals showed it; they spoke with +arrogance, and almost demanded peace; they undertook to indemnify the +French merchants plundered by them on condition that the army should +decamp on the morrow. Such weakness could not attract to M. de la Barre +the affection of the colonists; the king relieved him from his +functions, and appointed as his successor the Marquis de Denonville, a +colonel of dragoons, whose valour seemed to promise the colony better +days.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>RESIGNATION OF MGR. DE LAVAL</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>The</b></span> long and conscientious pastoral visit which he had just ended had +proved to the indefatigable prelate that it would be extremely difficult +to establish his parishes solidly. Instead of grouping themselves +together, which would have given them the advantages of union both +against the attacks of savages and for the circumstances of life in +which man has need of the aid of his fellows, the colonists had built +their dwellings at random, according to the inspiration of the moment, +and sometimes at long distances from each other; thus there existed, as +late as 1678, only twenty-five fixed livings, and it promised to be very +difficult to found new ones. To give a pastor the direction of +parishioners established within an enormous radius of his parish house, +was to condemn his ministry in advance to inefficacy. To prove it, the +Abbé Gosselin cites a striking example. Of the two missionaries who +shared the southern shore, the one, M. Morel, ministered to the country +between Berthier and Rivière du Loup; the other, M. Volant de +Saint-Claude, from Berthier to Rivière du Chêne, and each of them had +only about sixty families scattered here and there. And how was one to +expect that <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span>these poor farmers could maintain their pastor and build a +church? Almost everywhere the chapels were of wood or clapboards, and +thatched; not more than eight or nine centres of population could boast +of possessing a stone church; many hamlets still lacked a chapel and +imitated the Lower Town of Quebec, whose inhabitants attended service in +a private house. As to priests' houses, they were a luxury that few +villages could afford: the priest had to content himself with being +sheltered by a respectable colonist.</p> + +<p>During the few weeks when illness confined him to his bed, Laval had +leisure to reflect on the difficulties of his task. He understood that +his age and the infirmities which the Lord laid upon him would no longer +permit him to bring to so arduous a work the necessary energy. "His +humility," says Sister Juchereau, "persuaded him that another in his +place would do more good than he, although he really did a great deal, +because he sought only the glory of God and the welfare of his flock." +In consequence, he decided to go and carry in person his resignation to +the king. But before embarking for France, with his accustomed prudence +he set his affairs in order. He had one plan, especially, at heart, that +of establishing according to the rules of the Church the chapter which +had already existed <i>de facto</i> for a long while. Canons are necessary to +a bishopric; their duties are not merely decorative, for they assist the +bishop in his episco<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span>pal office, form his natural council, replace him +on certain occasions, govern the diocese from the death of its head +until the deceased is replaced, and finally officiate in turn before the +altars of the cathedral in order that prayer shall incessantly ascend +from the diocese towards the Most High. The only obstacle to this +creation until now had been the lack of resources, for the canonical +union with the abbeys of Maubec and Lestrées was not yet an accomplished +fact. Mgr. de Laval resolved to appeal to the unselfishness of the +priests of the seminary, and he succeeded: they consented to fulfil +without extra salary the duties of canons.</p> + +<p>By an ordinance of November 6th, 1684, the Bishop of Quebec established +a chapter composed of twelve canons and four chaplains. The former, +among whom were five priests born in the colony, were M. Henri de +Bernières, priest of Quebec, who remained dean until his death in 1700; +MM. Louis Ange de Maizerets, archdeacon, Charles Glandelet, theologist, +Dudouyt, grand cantor, and Jean Gauthier de Brulon, confessor. The +ceremony of installation took place with the greatest pomp, amid the +boom of artillery and the joyful sound of bells and music; governor, +intendant, councillors, officers and soldiers, inhabitants of the city +and the environments, everybody wished to be present. It remained to +give a constitution to the new chapter. Mgr. de Laval had already busied +himself with this for several months, and corresponded on this subject +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span>with M. Chéron, a clever lawyer of Paris. Accordingly, the constitution +which he submitted for the infant chapter on the very morrow of the +ceremony was admired unreservedly and adopted without discussion. +Twenty-four hours afterwards he set sail accompanied by the good wishes +of his priests, who, with anxious heart and tears in their eyes, +followed him with straining gaze until the vessel disappeared below the +horizon. Before his departure, he had, like a father who in his last +hour divides his goods among his children, given his seminary a new +proof of his attachment: he left it a sum of eight thousand francs for +the building of the chapel.</p> + +<p>It would seem that sad presentiments assailed him at this moment, for he +said in the deed of gift: "I declare that my last will is to be buried +in this chapel; and if our Lord disposes of my life during this voyage I +desire that my body be brought here for burial. I also desire this +chapel to be open to the public." Fortunately, he was mistaken, it was +not the intention of the Lord to remove him so soon from the affections +of his people. For twenty years more the revered prelate was to spread +about him good works and good examples, and Providence reserved for him +the happiness of dying in the midst of his flock.</p> + +<p>His generosity did not confine itself to this grant. He could not leave +his diocese, which he was not sure of seeing again, without giving a +token of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span>remembrance to that school of St. Joachim, which he had +founded and which he loved so well; he gave the seminary eight thousand +francs for the support of the priest entrusted with the direction of the +school at the same time as with the ministry of the parish, and another +sum of four thousand francs to build the village church.</p> + +<p>A young Canadian priest, M. Guyon, son of a farmer of the Beaupré shore, +had the good fortune of accompanying the bishop on the voyage. It would +have been very imprudent to leave the venerable prelate alone, worn out +as he was by troublesome fits of vertigo whenever he indulged too long +in work; besides, he was attacked by a disease of the heart, whose +onslaughts sometimes incapacitated him.</p> + +<p>It would be misjudging the foresight of Mgr. de Laval to think that +before embarking for the mother country he had not sought out a priest +worthy to replace him. He appealed to two men whose judgment and +circumspection he esteemed, M. Dudouyt and Father Le Valois of the +Society of Jesus. He asked them to recommend a true servant of God, +virtuous and zealous above all. Father Le Valois indicated the Abbé Jean +Baptiste de la Croix de Saint-Vallier, the king's almoner, whose zeal +for the welfare of souls, whose charity, great piety, modesty and method +made him the admiration of all. The influence which his position and the +powerful relations of his family must gain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span>for the Church in Canada +were an additional argument in his favour; the superior of St. Sulpice, +M. Tronson, who was also consulted, praised highly the talents and the +qualities of the young priest. "My Lord has shown great virtue in his +resignation," writes M. Dudouyt. "I know no occasion on which he has +shown so strongly his love for his Church; for he has done everything +that could be desired to procure a person capable of preserving and +perfecting the good work which he has begun here." If the Abbé de +Saint-Vallier had not been a man after God's own heart, he would not +have accepted a duty so honourable but so difficult. He was not unaware +of the difficulties which he would have to surmount, for Mgr. de Laval +explained them to him himself with the greatest frankness; and, what was +a still greater sacrifice, the king's almoner was to leave the most +brilliant court in the world for a very remote country, still in process +of organization. Nevertheless he accepted, and Laval had the +satisfaction of knowing that he was committing his charge into the hands +of a worthy successor.</p> + +<p>It was now only a question of obtaining the consent of the king before +petitioning the sovereign pontiff for the canonical establishment of the +new episcopal authority. It was not without difficulty that it was +obtained, for the prince could not decide to accept the resignation of a +prelate who seemed to him indispensable to the interests of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> New France. +He finally understood that the decision of Mgr. de Laval was +irrevocable; as a mark of confidence and esteem he allowed him to choose +his successor.</p> + +<p>At this period the misunderstanding created between the common father of +the faithful and his most Christian Majesty by the claims of the latter +in the matter of the right of <i>régale</i><a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> kept the Church in a false +position, to the grief of all good Catholics. Pope Innocent XI waited +with persistent and calm firmness until Louis XIV should become again +the elder son of the Church; until then France could not exist for him, +and more than thirty episcopal sees remained without occupants in the +country of Saint Louis and of Joan of Arc. It was not, then, to be hoped +that the appointment by the king of the Abbé de Saint-Vallier as second +bishop of Quebec could be immediately sanctioned by the sovereign +pontiff. It was decided that Mgr. de Laval, to whom the king granted an +annuity for life of two thousand francs from the revenues of the +bishopric of Aire, should remain titular bishop until the consecration +of his successor, and that M. de Saint-Vallier, appointed provisionally +grand vicar of the prelate, should set out immediately for New France, +where he would assume the government of the diocese. The Abbé de +Saint-Vallier had not yet departed before he gave +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span>evidence +of his munificence, and proved to the faithful of his future +bishopric that he would be to them as generous a father as he whom he +was about to replace. By deed of May 10th, 1685, he presented to the +Seminary of Quebec a sum of forty-two thousand francs, to be used for +the maintenance of missionaries; he bequeathed to it at the same time +all the furniture, books, etc., which he should possess at his death. +Laval's purpose was to remain for the present in France, where he would +busy himself actively for the interests of Canada, but his fixed resolve +was to go and end his days on that soil of New France which he loved so +well. It was in 1688, only a few months after the official appointment +of Saint-Vallier to the bishopric of Quebec, and his consecration on +January 25th of the same year, that Laval returned to Canada.</p> + +<p>M. de Saint-Vallier embarked at La Rochelle in the beginning of June, +1685, on the royal vessel which was carrying to Canada the new +governor-general, M. de Denonville. The king having permitted him to +take with him a score of persons, he made a most judicious choice: nine +ecclesiastics, several school-masters and a few good workmen destined +for the labours of the seminary, accompanied him. The voyage was long +and very fatiguing. The passengers were, however, less tried than those +of two other ships which followed them, on one of which more than five +hundred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span>soldiers had been crowded together. As might have been +expected, sickness was not long in breaking out among them; more than +one hundred and fifty of these unfortunates died, and their bodies were +cast into the sea.</p> + +<p>Immediately after his arrival the grand vicar visited all the religious +establishments of the town, and he observed everywhere so much harmony +and good spirit that he could not pass it over in silence. Speaking with +admiration of the seminary, he said: "Every one in it devoted himself to +spiritual meditation, with such blessed results that from the youngest +cleric to the highest ecclesiastics in holy orders each one brought of +his own accord all his personal possessions to be used in common. It +seemed to me then that I saw revived in the Church of Canada something +of that spirit of unworldliness which constituted one of the principal +beauties of the budding Church of Jerusalem in the time of the +apostles." The examples of brotherly unity and self-effacement which he +admired so much in others he also set himself: he placed in the library +of the seminary a magnificent collection of books which he had brought +with him, and deposited in the coffers of the house several thousand +francs in money, his personal property. Braving the rigours of the +season, he set out in the winter of 1685 and visited the shore of +Beaupré, the Island of Orleans, and then the north shore as far as +Montreal. In the spring he took another direction, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span>and inspected all +the missions of Gaspesia and Acadia. He was so well satisfied with the +condition of his diocese that he wrote to Mgr. de Laval: "All that I +regret is that there is no more good for me to do in this Church."</p> + +<p>In the spring of this same year, 1686, a valiant little troop was making +a more warlike pastoral visit. To seventy robust Canadians, commanded by +d'Iberville, de Sainte-Hélène and de Maricourt, all sons of Charles Le +Moyne, the governor had added thirty good soldiers under the orders of +MM. de Troyes, Duchesnil and Catalogne, to take part in an expedition +for the capture of Hudson Bay from the English. Setting out on +snowshoes, dragging their provisions and equipment on toboggans, then +advancing, sometimes on foot, sometimes in bark canoes, they penetrated +by the Ottawa River and Temiskaming and Abitibi Lakes as far as James +Bay. They did not brave so many dangers and trials without being +resolved to conquer or die; accordingly, in spite of its twelve cannon, +Fort Monsipi was quickly carried. The two forts, Rupert and Ste. Anne, +suffered the same fate, and the only one that remained to the English, +that named Fort Nelson, was preserved to them solely because its remote +situation saved it. The head of the expedition, M. de Troyes, on his +return to Quebec, rendered an account of his successes to M. de +Denonville and to a new commissioner, M. de Champigny, who had just +replaced M. de Meulles.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span>The bishop's infirmities left him scarcely any respite. "My health," he +wrote to his successor, "is exceedingly good considering the bad use I +make of it. It seems, however, that the wound which I had in my foot +during five or six months at Quebec has been for the last three weeks +threatening to re-open. The holy will of God be done!" And he added, in +his firm resolution to pass his last days in Canada: "In any case, I +feel that I have sufficient strength and health to return this year to +the only place which now can give me peace and rest. <i>In pace in idipsum +dormiam et requiescam.</i> Meanwhile, as we must have no other aim than the +good pleasure of our Lord, whatever desire He gives me for this rest and +peace, He grants me at the same time the favour of making Him a +sacrifice of it in submitting myself to the opinion that you have +expressed, that I should stay this year in France, to be present at your +return next autumn." The bad state of his health did not prevent him +from devoting his every moment to Canadian interests. He went into the +most infinitesimal details of the administration of his diocese, so +great was his solicitude for his work. "We must hasten this year, if +possible," he wrote, "to labour at the re-establishment of the church of +Ste. Anne du Petit-Cap, to which the whole country has such an +attachment. We must work also to push forward the clearing of the lands +of St. Joachim, in order that we may have the proper <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span>rotation crops on +each farm, and that the farms may suffice for the needs of the +seminary." In another letter he concerns himself with the sum of three +thousand francs granted by the king each year for the marriage portion +of a certain number of poor young girls marrying in Canada. "We should," +says he, "distribute these moneys in parcels, fifty francs, or ten +crowns, to the numerous poor families scattered along the shores, in +which there is a large number of children." He practises this wise +economy constantly when it is a question, not of his personal property, +but of the funds of his seminary. He finds that his successor, whom the +ten years which he had passed at court as king's almoner could not have +trained in parsimony, allows himself to be carried away, by his zeal and +his desire to do good, to a somewhat excessive expense. With what tact +and delicacy he indulges in a discreet reproach! "<i>Magna est fides +tua</i>," he writes to him, "and much greater than mine. We see that all +our priests have responded to it with the same confidence and entire +submission with which they have believed it their duty to meet your +sentiments, in which they have my approval. My particular admiration has +been aroused by seeing in all your letters and in all the impulses of +your heart so great a reliance on the lovable Providence of God that not +only has it permitted you not to have the least doubt that it would +abundantly provide the wherewithal for the support of all the works +which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span>it has suggested to you, but that upon this basis, which is the +firm truth, you have had the courage to proceed to the execution of +them. It is true that my heart has long yearned for what you have +accomplished; but I have never had sufficient confidence or reliance to +undertake it. I always awaited the means <i>quæ pater posuit in suâ +potestate</i>. I hope that, since the Most Holy Family of our Lord has +suggested all these works to you, they will give you means and ways to +maintain what is so much to the glory of God and the welfare of souls. +But, according to all appearances, great difficulties will be found, +which will only serve to increase this confidence and trust in God." And +he ends with this prudent advice: "Whatever confidence God desires us to +have in His providence, it is certain that He demands from us the +observance of rules of prudence, not human and political, but Christian +and just."</p> + +<p>He concerns himself even with the servants, and it is singular to note +that his mind, so apt to undertake and execute vast plans, possesses +none the less an astonishing sagacity and accuracy of observation in +petty details. One Valet, entrusted with the purveyance, had obtained +permission to wear the cassock. "Unless he be much changed in his +humour," writes Mgr. de Laval, "it would be well to send him back to +France; and I may even opine that, whatever change might appear in him, +he would be unfitted to administer a living, the basis <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span>of his character +being very rustic, gross, and displeasing, and unsuitable for +ecclesiastical functions, in which one is constantly obliged to converse +and deal with one's neighbours, both children and adults. Having given +him the cassock and having admitted him to the refectory, I hardly see +any other means of getting rid of him than to send him back to France."</p> + +<p>In his correspondence with Saint-Vallier, Laval gives an account of the +various steps which he was taking at court to maintain the integrity of +the diocese of Quebec. This was, for a short time, at stake. The +Récollets, who had followed La Salle in his expeditions, were trying +with some chance of success to have the valley of the Mississippi and +Louisiana made an apostolic vicariate independent of Canada. Laval +finally gained his cause; the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Quebec +over all the countries of North America which belonged to France was +maintained, and later the Seminary of Quebec sent missionaries to +Louisiana and to the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>But the most important questions, which formed the principal subject +both of his preoccupations and of his letters, are that of the +establishment of the Récollets in the Upper Town of Quebec, that of a +plan for a permanent mission at Baie St. Paul, and above all, that of +the tithes and the support of the priests. This last question brought +about between him and Mgr. de Saint-Vallier a most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span>complete conflict of +views. Yet the differences of opinion between the two servants of God +never prevented them from esteeming each other highly. The following +letter does as much honour to him who wrote it as to him to whom such +homage is rendered: "The noble house of Laval from which he sprang," +writes Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, "the right of primogeniture which he +renounced on entering upon the ecclesiastical career; the exemplary life +which he led in France before there was any thought of raising him to +the episcopacy; the assiduity with which he governed so long the Church +in Canada; the constancy and firmness which he showed in surmounting all +the obstacles which opposed on divers occasions the rectitude of his +intentions and the welfare of his dear flock; the care which he took of +the French colony and his efforts for the conversion of the savages; the +expeditions which he undertook several times in the interests of both; +the zeal which impelled him to return to France to seek a successor; his +disinterestedness and the humility which he manifested in offering and +in giving so willingly his frank resignation; finally, all the great +virtues which I see him practise every day in the seminary where I +sojourn with him, would well deserve here a most hearty eulogy, but his +modesty imposes silence upon me, and the veneration in which he is held +wherever he is known is praise more worthy than I could give him...."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span>Mgr. de Saint-Vallier left Quebec for France on November 18th, 1686, +only a few days after a fire which consumed the Convent of the +Ursulines; the poor nuns, who had not been able to snatch anything from +the flames, had to accept, until the re-construction of their convent, +the generous shelter offered them by the hospitable ladies of the +Hôtel-Dieu. Mgr. de Saint-Vallier did not disembark at the port of La +Rochelle until forty-five days after his departure, for this voyage was +one continuous storm.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> A right, belonging formerly to the kings of France, of enjoying the +revenues of vacant bishoprics.</p> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>MGR. DE LAVAL COMES FOR THE LAST TIME TO CANADA</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>Mgr. de Saint-Vallier</b></span> received the most kindly welcome from the king: he +availed himself of it to request some aid on behalf of the priests of +the seminary whom age and infirmity condemned to retirement. He obtained +it, and received, besides, fifteen thousand francs for the building of +an episcopal palace. He decided, in fact, to withdraw from the seminary, +in order to preserve complete independence in the exercise of his high +duties. Laval learned with sorrow of this decision; he, who had always +clung to the idea of union with his seminary and of having but one +common fund with this house, beheld his successor adopt an opposite line +of conduct. Another cause of division rose between the two prelates; the +too great generosity of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier had brought the seminary +into financial embarrassment. The Marquis de Seignelay, then minister, +thought it wiser under such circumstances to postpone till later the +return of Mgr. de Laval to Canada. The venerable bishop, whatever it +must have cost him, adhered to this decision with a wholly Christian +resignation. "You will know by <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span>the enclosed letters," he writes to the +priests of the Seminary of Quebec, "what compels me to stay in France. I +had no sooner received my sentence than our Lord granted me the favour +of inspiring me to go before the most Holy Sacrament and make a +sacrifice of all my desires and of that which is the dearest to me in +the world. I began by making the <i>amende honorable</i> to the justice of +God, who deigned to extend to me the mercy of recognizing that it was in +just punishment of my sins and lack of faith that His providence +deprived me of the blessing of returning to a place where I had so +greatly offended; and I told Him, I think with a cheerful heart and a +spirit of humility, what the high priest Eli said when Samuel declared +to him from God what was to happen to him: '<i>Dominus est: quod bonum est +in oculis suis faciat</i>.' But since the will of our Lord does not reject +a contrite and humble heart, and since He both abases and exalts, He +gave me to know that the greatest favour He could grant me was to give +me a share in the trials which He deigned to bear in His life and death +for love of us; in thanksgiving for which I said a Te Deum with a heart +filled with joy and consolation in my soul: for, as to the lower nature, +it is left in the bitterness which it must bear. It is a hurt and a +wound which will be difficult to heal and which apparently will last +until my death, unless it please Divine Providence, which disposes of +men's hearts as it pleases, to bring about some change in the <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span>condition +of affairs. This will be when it pleases God, and as it may please Him, +without His creatures being able to oppose it."</p> + +<p>In Canada the return of the revered Mgr. de Laval was impatiently +expected, and the governor, M. de Denonville, himself wrote that "in the +present state of public affairs it was necessary that the former bishop +should return, in order to influence men's minds, over which he had a +great ascendency by reason of his character and his reputation for +sanctity." Some persons wrongfully attributed to the influence of +Saint-Vallier the order which detained the worthy bishop in France; on +the contrary, Saint-Vallier had said one day to the minister, "It would +be very hard for a bishop who has founded this church and who desires to +go and die in its midst, to see himself detained in France. If Mgr. de +Laval should stay here the blame would be cast upon his successor, +against whom for this reason many people would be ill disposed."</p> + +<p>M. de Denonville desired the more eagerly the return of this prelate so +beloved in New France, since difficulties were arising on every hand. +Convinced that peace with the Iroquois could not last, he began by +amassing provisions and ammunition at Fort Cataraqui, without heeding +the protests of Colonel Dongan, the most vigilant and most experienced +enemy of French domination in America; then he busied himself with +fortifying Montreal. He visited the place, appointed as its governor +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> Chevalier de Callières, a former captain in the regiment of +Navarre, and in the spring of 1687 employed six hundred men under the +direction of M. du Luth, royal engineer, in the erection of a palisade. +These wooden defences, as was to be expected, were not durable and +demanded repairs every year. The year 1686, which had begun with the +conquest of the southern portion of Hudson Bay, was spent almost +entirely in preparations for war and negotiations for peace; the +Iroquois, nevertheless, continued their inroads. Finally M. de +Denonville, having received during the following spring eight hundred +poor recruits under the command of Vaudreuil, was ready for his +expedition. Part of these reinforcements were at once sent to Montreal, +where M. de Callières was gathering a body of troops on St. Helen's +Island: eight hundred and thirty-two regulars, one thousand Canadians, +and three hundred Indian allies, all burning with the desire of +distinguishing themselves, awaited now only the signal for departure.</p> + +<p>"With this superiority of forces," says one author, "Denonville +conceived, however, the unfortunate idea of beginning hostilities by an +act which dishonoured the French name among the savages, that name +which, in spite of their great irritation, they had always feared and +respected." With the purpose of striking terror into the Iroquois he +caused to be seized the chiefs whom the Five Nations had sent as +delegates to Cataraqui at the request of Father <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span>de Lamberville, and +sent them to France to serve on board the royal galleys. This violation +of the law of nations aroused the fury of the Iroquois, and two +missionaries, Father Lamberville and Millet, though entirely innocent of +this crime, escaped torture only with difficulty. The king disapproved +wholly of this treason, and returned the prisoners to Canada; others +who, at Fort Frontenac, had been taken by M. de Champigny in as +treacherous a manner, were likewise restored to liberty.</p> + +<p>The army, divided into four bodies, set out on June 11th, 1687, in four +hundred boats. It was joined at Sand River, on the shore of Lake +Ontario, by six hundred men from Detroit, and advanced inland. After +having passed through two very dangerous defiles, the French were +suddenly attacked by eight hundred of the enemy ambushed in the bed of a +stream. At first surprised, they promptly recovered from their +confusion, and put the savages to flight. Some sixty Iroquois were +wounded in this encounter, and forty-five whom they left dead on the +field of battle were eaten by the Ottawas, according to the horrible +custom of these cannibals. They entered then into the territory of the +Tsonnontouans, which was found deserted; everything had been reduced to +ashes, except an immense quantity of maize, to which they set fire; they +killed also a prodigious number of swine, but they did not meet with a +single Indian.</p> + +<p>Instead of pursuing the execution of these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span>reprisals by marching +against the other nations, M. de Denonville proceeded to Niagara, where +he built a fort. The garrison of a hundred men which he left there +succumbed in its entirety to a mysterious epidemic, probably caused by +the poor quality of the provisions. Thus the campaign did not produce +results proportionate to the preparations which had been made; it +humbled the Iroquois, but by this very fact it excited their rage and +desire for vengeance; so true is it that half-measures are more +dangerous than complete inaction. They were, besides, cleverly goaded on +by Governor Dongan. Towards the end of the summer they ravaged the whole +western part of the colony, and carried their audacity to the point of +burning houses and killing several persons on the Island of Montreal.</p> + +<p>M. de Denonville understood that he could not carry out a second +expedition; disease had caused great havoc among the population and the +soldiers, and he could no longer count on the Hurons of Michilimackinac, +who kept up secret relations with the Iroquois. He was willing to +conclude peace, and consented to demolish Fort Niagara and to bring back +the Iroquois chiefs who had been sent to France to row in the galleys. +The conditions were already accepted on both sides, when the +negotiations were suddenly interrupted by the duplicity of Kondiaronk, +surnamed the Rat, chief of the Michilimackinac Hurons. This man, the +most cunning and crafty of Indians, a race which has nothing to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span>learn +in point of astuteness from the shrewdest diplomat, had offered his +services against the Iroquois to the governor, who had accepted them. +Enkindled with the desire of distinguishing himself by some brilliant +deed, he arrives with a troop of Hurons at Fort Frontenac, where he +learns that a treaty is about to be concluded between the French and the +Iroquois. Enraged at not having even been consulted in this matter, +fearing to see the interests of his nation sacrificed, he lies in wait +with his troop at Famine Creek, falls upon the delegates, and, killing a +number of them, makes the rest prisoners. On the statement of the latter +that they were going on an embassy to Ville-Marie, he feigns surprise, +and is astonished that the French governor-general should have sent him +to attack men who were going to treat with him. He then sets them at +liberty, keeping a single one of them, whom he hastens to deliver to M. +de Durantaye, governor of Michilimackinac; the latter, ignorant of the +negotiations with the Iroquois, has the prisoner shot in spite of the +protestations of the wretched man, who the Rat pretends is mad. The plan +of the Huron chief has succeeded; it remains now only to reap the fruits +of it. He frees an old Iroquois who has long been detained in captivity +and sends him to announce to his compatriots that the French are seeking +in the negotiations a cowardly means of ridding themselves of their +foes. This news exasperated the Five Nations; henceforth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span>peace was +impossible, and the Iroquois went to join the English, with whom, on the +pretext of the dethronement of James II, war was again about to break +out. M. de Callières, governor of Montreal, set out for France to lay +before the king a plan for the conquest of New York; the monarch adopted +it, but, not daring to trust its execution to M. de Denonville, he +recalled him in order to entrust it to Count de Frontenac, now again +appointed governor.</p> + +<p>We can easily conceive that in the danger thus threatening the colony M. +de Denonville should have taken pains to surround himself with all the +men whose aid might be valuable to him. "You will have this year," wrote +M. de Brisacier to M. Glandelet, "the joy of seeing again our two +prelates. You will find the first more holy and more than ever dead to +himself; and the second will appear to you all that you can desire him +to be for the particular consolation of the seminary and the good of New +France." On the request of the governor-general, in fact, Mgr. de Laval +saw the obstacle disappear which had opposed his departure, and he +hastened to take advantage of it. He set out in the spring of 1688, at +that period of the year when vegetation begins to display on all sides +its festoons of verdure and flowers, and transforms Normandy and +Touraine, that garden of France, into genuine groves; the calm of the +air, the perfumed breezes of the south, the arrival of the southern +birds with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span>their rich and varied plumage, all contribute to make these +days the fairest and sweetest of the year; but, in his desire to reach +as soon as possible the country where his presence was deemed necessary, +the venerable prelate did not wait for the spring sun to dry the roads +soaked by the rains of winter; accordingly, in spite of his infirmities, +he was obliged to travel to La Rochelle on horseback. However, he could +not embark on the ship <i>Le Soleil d'Afrique</i> until about the middle of +April.</p> + +<p>His duties as Bishop of Quebec had ended on January 25th preceding, the +day of the episcopal consecration of M. de Saint-Vallier. It would seem +that Providence desired that the priestly career of the prelate and his +last co-workers should end at the same time. Three priests of the +Seminary of Quebec went to receive in heaven almost at the same period +the reward of their apostolic labours. M. Thomas Morel died on September +23rd, 1687; M. Jean Guyon on January 10th, 1688; and M. Dudouyt on the +fifteenth of the same month. This last loss, especially, caused deep +grief to Mgr. de Laval. He desired that the heart of the devoted +missionary should rest in that soil of New France for which it had +always beat, and he brought it with him. The ceremony of the burial at +Quebec of the heart of M. Dudouyt was extremely touching; the whole +population was present. Up to his latest day this priest had taken the +greatest interest in Canada, and the letter which he wrote to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span>seminary a few days before his death breathes the most ardent charity; +it particularly enjoined upon all patience and submission to authority.</p> + +<p>The last official document signed by Mgr. de Laval as titulary bishop +was an addition to the statutes and rules which he had previously drawn +up for the Chapter of the city of Champlain. He wrote at the same time: +"It remains for me now, sirs and dearly beloved brethren, only to thank +you for the good affection that you preserve towards me, and to assure +you that it will not be my fault if I do not go at the earliest moment +to rejoin you in the growing Church which I have ever cherished as the +portion and heritage which it has pleased our Lord to preserve for me +during nearly thirty years. I supplicate His infinite goodness that he +into whose hands He has caused it to pass by my resignation may repair +all my faults."</p> + +<p>The prelate landed on June 3rd. "The whole population," says the Abbé +Ferland, "was heartened and rejoiced by the return of Mgr. de Laval, who +came back to Canada to end his days among his former flock. His virtues, +his long and arduous labours in New France, his sincere love for the +children of the country, had endeared him to the Canadians; they felt +their trust in Providence renewed on beholding again him who, with them, +at their head, had passed through many years of trial and suffering." He +hardly took time to rest, but set out at once for Montreal, where he was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span>anxious to deliver in person to the Sulpicians the document of +spiritual and devotional union which had been quite recently signed at +Paris by the Seminary of St. Sulpice and by that of the Foreign +Missions. Returning to Quebec, he had the pleasure of receiving his +successor on the arrival of the latter, who disembarked on July 31st, +1688.</p> + +<p>The reception of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier was as cordial as that offered +two months before to his predecessor. "As early as four o'clock in the +morning," we read in the annals of the Ursulines, "the whole population +was alert to hasten preparations. Some arranged the avenue along which +the new bishop was to pass, others raised here and there the standard of +the lilies of France. In the course of the morning Mgr. de Laval, +accompanied by several priests, betook himself to the vessel to salute +his successor whom the laws of the old French etiquette kept on board +his ship until he had replied to all the compliments prepared for him. +Finally, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the whole clergy, the civil +and military authorities, and the people having assembled on the quay, +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier made his appearance, addressed first by M. de +Bernières in the name of the clergy. He was next greeted by the mayor, +in the name of the whole town, then the procession began to move, with +military music at its head, and the new bishop was conducted to the +cathedral between two files of musketeers, who did not fail to salute +him and to fire volleys along <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span>the route." "The thanksgiving hymn which +re-echoed under the vaults of the holy temple found an echo in all +hearts," we read in another account; "and the least happy was not that +of the worthy prelate who thus inaugurated his long and laborious +episcopal career."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>MASSACRE OF LACHINE</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>The</b></span> virtue of Mgr. de Laval lacked the supreme consecration of +misfortune. A wearied but triumphant soldier, the venerable shepherd of +souls, coming back to dwell in the bishopric of Quebec, the witness of +his first apostolic labours, gave himself into the hands of his Master +to disappear and die. "Lord," he said with Simeon, "now lettest thou thy +servant depart in peace according to thy word." But many griefs still +remained to test his resignation to the Divine Will, and the most +shocking disaster mentioned in our annals was to sadden his last days. +The year 1688 had passed peacefully enough for the colony, but it was +only the calm which is the forerunner of the storm. The Five Nations +employed their time in secret organization; the French, lulled in this +deceptive security, particularly by news which had come from M. de +Valrennes, in command of Fort Frontenac, to whom the Iroquois had +declared that they were coming down to Montreal to make peace, had left +the forts to return to their dwellings and to busy themselves with the +work of the fields. Moreover, the Chevalier de Vaudreuil, who commanded +at Montreal in the absence of M. de <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span>Callières, who had gone to France, +carried his lack of foresight to the extent of permitting the officers +stationed in the country to leave their posts. It is astonishing to note +such imprudent neglect on the part of men who must have known the savage +nature. Rancour is the most deeply-rooted defect in the Indian, and it +was madness to think that the Iroquois could have forgotten so soon the +insult inflicted on their arms by the expedition of M. de Denonville, or +the breach made in their independence by the abduction of their chiefs +sent to France as convicts. The warning of their approaching incursion +had meanwhile reached Quebec through a savage named Ataviata; +unfortunately, the Jesuit Fathers had no confidence in this Indian; they +assured the governor-general that Ataviata was a worthless fellow, and +M. de Denonville made the mistake of listening too readily to these +prejudices and of not at least redoubling his precautions.</p> + +<p>It was on the night between August 4th and 5th, 1689; all was quiet on +the Island of Montreal. At the end of the evening's conversation, that +necessary complement of every well-filled day, the men had hung their +pipes, the faithful comrades of their labour, to a rafter of the +ceiling; the women had put away their knitting or pushed aside in a +corner their indefatigable spinning-wheel, and all had hastened to seek +in sleep new strength for the labour of the morrow. Outside, the +elements were unchained, the rain and hail were raging. As daring <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span>as +the Normans when they braved on frail vessels the fury of the seas, the +Iroquois, to the number of fifteen hundred, profited by the storm to +traverse Lake St. Louis in their bark canoes, and landed silently on the +shore at Lachine. They took care not to approach the forts; the darkness +was so thick that the soldiers discovered nothing unusual and did not +fire the cannon as was the custom on the approach of the enemy. Long +before daybreak the savages, divided into a number of squads, had +surrounded the houses within a radius of several miles. Suddenly a +piercing signal is given by the chiefs, and at once a horrible clamour +rends the air; the terrifying war-cry of the Iroquois has roused the +sleepers and raised the hair on the heads of the bravest. The colonists +leap from their couches, but they have no time to seize their weapons; +demons who seem to be vomited forth by hell have already broken in the +doors and windows. The dwellings which the Iroquois cannot penetrate are +delivered over to the flames, but the unhappy ones who issue from them +in confusion to escape the tortures of the fire are about to be +abandoned to still more horrible torments. The pen refuses to describe +the horrors of this night, and the imagination of Dante can hardly in +his "Inferno" give us an idea of it. The butchers killed the cattle, +burned the houses, impaled women, compelled fathers to cast their +children into the flames, spitted other little ones still alive and +compelled their mothers to roast them. Everything was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span>burned and +pillaged except the forts, which were not attacked; two hundred persons +of all ages and of both sexes perished under torture, and about fifty, +carried away to the villages, were bound to the stake and burned by a +slow fire. Nevertheless the great majority of the inhabitants were able +to escape, thanks to the strong liquors kept in some of the houses, with +which the savages made ample acquaintance. Some of the colonists took +refuge in the forts, others were pursued into the woods.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the alarm had spread in Ville-Marie. M. de Denonville, who was +there, gives to the Chevalier de Vaudreuil the order to occupy Fort +Roland with his troops and a hundred volunteers. De Vaudreuil hastens +thither, accompanied by de Subercase and other officers; they are all +eager to measure their strength with the enemy, but the order of +Denonville is strict, they must remain on the defensive and run no risk. +By dint of insistence, Subercase obtained permission to make a sortie +with a hundred volunteers; at the moment when he was about to set out he +had to yield the command to M. de Saint-Jean, who was higher in rank. +The little troop went and entrenched itself among the débris of a burned +house and exchanged an ineffectual fire with the savages ambushed in a +clump of trees. They soon perceived a party of French and friendly +Indians who, coming from Fort Rémy, were proceeding towards them in +great danger of being surrounded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span>by the Iroquois, who were already +sobered. The volunteers wished to rush out to meet this reinforcement, +but their commander, adhering to his instructions, which forbade him to +push on farther, restrained them. What might have been foreseen +happened: the detachment from Fort Rémy was exterminated. Five of its +officers were taken and carried off towards the Iroquois villages, but +succeeded in escaping on the way, except M. de la Rabeyre, who was bound +to the stake and perished in torture.</p> + +<p>On reading these details one cannot understand the inactivity of the +French: it would seem that the authorities had lost their heads. We +cannot otherwise explain the lack of foresight of the officers absent +from their posts, the pusillanimous orders of the governor to M. de +Vaudreuil, his imprudence in sending too weak a troop through the +dangerous places, the lack of initiative on the part of M. de +Saint-Jean, finally, the absolute lack of energy and audacity, the +complete absence of that ardour which is inherent in the French +character.</p> + +<p>After this disaster the troops returned to the forts, and the +surrounding district, abandoned thus to the fury of the barbarians, was +ravaged in all directions. The Iroquois, proud of the terror which they +inspired, threatened the city itself; we note by the records of Montreal +that on August 25th there were buried two soldiers killed by the +savages, and that on September 7th following, Jean Beaudry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span>suffered the +same fate. Finding nothing more to pillage or to burn, they passed to +the opposite shore, and plundered the village of Lachesnaie. They +massacred a portion of the population, which was composed of seventy-two +persons, and carried off the rest. They did not withdraw until the +autumn, dragging after them two hundred captives, including fifty +prisoners taken at Lachine.</p> + +<p>This terrible event, which had taken place at no great distance from +them, and the news of which re-echoed in their midst, struck the +inhabitants of Quebec with grief and terror. Mgr. de Laval was cruelly +affected by it, but, accustomed to adore in everything the designs of +God, he seized the occasion to invoke Him with more fervour; he +immediately ordered in his seminary public prayers to implore the mercy +of the Most High. M. de Frontenac, who was about to begin his second +administration, learned the sinister news on his arrival at Quebec on +October 15th. He set out immediately for Montreal, which he reached on +the twenty-seventh of the same month. He visited the environments, and +found only ruins and ashes where formerly rose luxurious dwellings.</p> + +<p>War had just been rekindled between France and Great Britain. The +governor had not men enough for vast operations, accordingly he prepared +to organize a guerilla warfare. While the Abenaquis, those faithful +allies, destroyed the settlements of the English in Acadia and killed +nearly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span>two hundred persons there, Count de Frontenac sent in the winter +of 1689-90, three detachments against New England; all three were +composed of only a handful of men, but these warriors were well +seasoned. In the rigorous cold of winter, traversing innumerable miles +on their snowshoes, sinking sometimes into the icy water, sleeping in +the snow, carrying their supplies on their backs, they surprised the +forts which they went to attack, where one would never have believed +that men could execute so rash an enterprise. Thus the three detachments +were alike successful, and the forts of Corlaer in the state of New +York, of Salmon Falls in New Hampshire, and of Casco on the seaboard, +were razed.</p> + +<p>The English avenged these reverses by capturing Port Royal. Encouraged +by this success, they sent Phipps at the head of a large troop to seize +Quebec, while Winthrop attacked Montreal with three thousand men, a +large number of whom were Indians. Frontenac hastened to Quebec with M. +de Callières, governor of Montreal, the militia and the regular troops. +Already the fortifications had been protected against surprise by new +and well-arranged entrenchments. The hostile fleet appeared on October +16th, 1690, and Phipps sent an officer to summon the governor to +surrender the place. The envoy, drawing out his watch, declared with +arrogance to the Count de Frontenac that he would give him an hour to +decide. "I will answer you by the mouth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span>of my cannon," replied the +representative of Louis XIV. The cannon replied so well that at the +first shot the admiral's flag fell into the water; the Canadians, +braving the balls and bullets which rained about them, swam out to get +it, and this trophy remained hanging in the cathedral of Quebec until +the conquest. The <i>Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec</i> depicts for us +very simply the courage and piety of the inhabitants during this siege. +"The most admirable thing, and one which surely drew the blessing of +Heaven upon Quebec was that during the whole siege no public devotion +was interrupted. The city is arranged so that the roads which lead to +the churches are seen from the harbour; thus several times a day were +beheld processions of men and women going to answer the summons of the +bells. The English noticed them; they called M. de Grandeville (a brave +Canadian, and clerk of the farm of Tadousac, whom they had made +prisoner) and asked him what it was. He answered them simply: 'It is +mass, vespers, and the benediction.' By this assurance the citizens of +Quebec disconcerted them; they were astonished that women dared to go +out; they judged by this that we were very easy in our minds, though +this was far from being the case."</p> + +<p>It is not surprising that the colonists should have fought valiantly +when their bishops and clergy set the example of devotion, when the +Jesuits remained constantly among the defenders to encourage and assist +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span>on occasion the militia and the soldiers, when Mgr. de Laval, though +withdrawn from the conduct of religious affairs, without even the right +of sitting in the Sovereign Council, animated the population by his +patriotic exhortations. To prove to the inhabitants that the cause which +they defended by struggling for their homes was just and holy, at the +same time as to place the cathedral under the protection of Heaven, he +suggested the idea of hanging on the spire of the cathedral a picture of +the Holy Family. This picture was not touched by the balls and bullets, +and was restored after the siege to the Ursulines, to whom it belonged.</p> + +<p>All the attempts of the English failed; in a fierce combat at Beauport +they were repulsed. There perished the brave Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène; +there, too, forty pupils of the seminary established at St. Joachim by +Mgr. de Laval distinguished themselves by their bravery and contributed +to the victory. Already Phipps had lost six hundred men. He decided to +retreat. To cap the climax of misfortune, his fleet met in the lower +part of the river with a horrible storm; several of his ships were +driven by the winds as far as the Antilles, and the rest arrived only +with great difficulty at Boston. Winthrop's army, disorganized by +disease and discord, had already scattered.</p> + +<p>A famine which followed the siege tried the whole colony, and Laval had +to suffer by it as well as the seminary, for neither had hesitated +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span>before the sacrifices necessary for the general weal. "All the furs and +furniture of the Lower Town were in the seminary," wrote the prelate; "a +number of families had taken refuge there, even that of the intendant. +This house could not refuse in such need all the sacrifices of charity +which were possible, at the expense of a great portion of the provisions +which were kept there. The soldiers and others have taken and consumed +at least one hundred cords of wood and more than fifteen hundred planks. +In brief, in cattle and other damages the loss to the seminary will +amount to a round thousand crowns. But we must on occasions of this sort +be patient, and do all the good we can without regard to future need."</p> + +<p>The English were about to suffer still other reverses. In 1691 Major +Schuyler, with a small army composed in part of savages, came and +surprised below the fort of the Prairie de la Madeleine a camp of +between seven and eight hundred soldiers, whose leader, M. de +Saint-Cirque, was slain; but the French, recovering, forced the major to +retreat, and M. de Valrennes, who hastened up from Chambly with a body +of inhabitants and Indians, put the enemy to flight after a fierce +struggle. The English failed also in Newfoundland; they were unable to +carry Fort Plaisance, which was defended by M. de Brouillan; but he who +was to do them most harm was the famous Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, son +of Charles Le Moyne. Born in Montreal in 1661, he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span>subsequently entered +the French navy. In the year 1696 he was ordered to drive the enemy out +of Newfoundland; he seized the capital, St. John's, which he burned, +and, marvellous to relate, with only a hundred and twenty-five men he +subdued the whole island, slew nearly two hundred of the English, and +took six or seven hundred prisoners. The following year he set out with +five ships to take possession of Hudson Bay. One day his vessel found +itself alone before Fort Nelson, facing three large ships of the enemy; +to the amazement of the English, instead of surrendering, d'Iberville +rushes upon them. In a fierce fight lasting four hours, he sinks the +strongest, compels the second to surrender, while the third flees under +full sail. Fort Bourbon surrendered almost at once, and Hudson Bay was +captured.</p> + +<p>After the peace d'Iberville explored the mouths of the Mississippi, +erected several forts, founded the city of Mobile, and became the first +governor of Louisiana. When the war began again, the king gave him a +fleet of sixteen vessels to oppose the English in the Indies. He died of +an attack of fever in 1706.</p> + +<p>During this time, the Iroquois were as dangerous to the French by their +inroads and devastations as the Abenaquis were to the English colonies; +accordingly Frontenac wished to subdue them. In the summer of 1696, +braving the fatigue and privations so hard to bear for a man of his age, +Frontenac set out from Ile Perrot with more than two thousand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span>men, and +landed at the mouth of the Oswego River. He found at Onondaga only the +smoking remains of the village to which the savages had themselves set +fire, and the corpses of two Frenchmen who had died in torture. He +marched next against the Oneidas; all had fled at his approach, and he +had to be satisfied with laying waste their country. There remained +three of the Five Nations to punish, but winter was coming on and +Frontenac did not wish to proceed further into the midst of invisible +enemies, so he returned to Quebec.</p> + +<p>The following year it was learned that the Treaty of Ryswick had just +been concluded between France and England. France kept Hudson Bay, but +Louis XIV pledged himself to recognize William III as King of England. +The Count de Frontenac had not the good fortune of crowning his +brilliant career by a treaty with the savages; he died on November 28th, +1698, at the age of seventy-eight years. In reaching this age without +exceeding it, he presented a new point of resemblance to his model, +Louis the Great, according to whom he always endeavoured to shape his +conduct, and who was destined to die at the age of seventy-seven.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[<span class="smcap">Note</span>.—The incident of the flag mentioned above on page 230 is +treated at greater length in Dr. Le Sueur's <i>Frontenac</i>, pp. 295-8, +in the "Makers of Canada" series. He takes a somewhat different +view of the event.—Ed.]</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>THE LABOURS OF OLD AGE</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>The</b></span> peace lasted only four years. M. de Callières, who succeeded Count +de Frontenac, was able, thanks to his prudence and the devotion of the +missionaries, to gather at Montreal more than twelve hundred Indian +chiefs or warriors, and to conclude peace with almost all the tribes. +Chief Kondiaronk had become a faithful friend of the French; it was to +his good-will and influence that they were indebted for the friendship +of a large number of Indian tribes. He died at Montreal during these +peaceful festivities and was buried with pomp.</p> + +<p>The war was about to break out anew, in 1701, with Great Britain and the +other nations of Europe, because Louis XIV had accepted for his grandson +and successor the throne of Spain. M. de Callières died at this +juncture; his successor, Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, +brought the greatest energy to the support in Canada of a struggle which +was to end in the dismemberment of the colony. God permitted Mgr. de +Laval to die before the Treaty of Utrecht, whose conditions would have +torn the patriotic heart of the venerable prelate.</p> + +<p>Other reasons for sorrow he did not lack, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span>especially when Mgr. de +Saint-Vallier succeeded, on his visit to the king in 1691, in obtaining +a reversal of the policy marked out for the seminary by the first bishop +of the colony; this establishment would be in the future only a seminary +like any other, and would have no other mission than that of the +training of priests. By a decree of the council of February 2nd, 1692, +the number of the directors of the seminary was reduced to five, who +were to concern themselves principally with the training of young men +who might have a vocation for the ecclesiastical life; they might also +devote themselves to missions, with the consent of the bishop. No +ecclesiastic had the right of becoming an associate of the seminary +without the permission of the bishop, within whose province it was to +employ the former associates for the service of his diocese with the +consent of the superiors. The last part of the decree provided that the +four thousand francs given by the king for the diocese of Quebec should +be distributed in equal portions, one for the seminary and the two +others for the priests and the church buildings. As to the permanence of +priests, the decree issued by the king for the whole kingdom was to be +adhered to in Canada. In the course of the same year Mgr. de +Saint-Vallier obtained, moreover, from the sovereign the authority to +open at Quebec in Notre-Dame des Anges, the former convent of the +Récollets, a general hospital for the poor, which was entrusted to the +nuns of the Hôtel-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span>Dieu. The poor who might be admitted to it would be +employed at work proportionate to their strength, and more particularly +in the tilling of the farms belonging to the establishment. If we +remember that Mgr. de Laval had consecrated twenty years of his life to +giving his seminary, by a perfect union between its members and his +whole clergy, a formidable power in the colony, a power which in his +opinion could be used only for the good of the Church and in the public +interest, and that he now saw his efforts annihilated forever, we cannot +help admiring the resignation with which he managed to accept this +destruction of his dearest work. And not only did he bow before the +impenetrable designs of Providence, but he even used his efforts to +pacify those around him whose excitable temperaments might have brought +about conflicts with the authorities. The Abbé Gosselin quotes in this +connection the following example: "A priest, M. de Francheville, thought +he had cause for complaint at the behaviour of his bishop towards him, +and wrote him a letter in no measured terms, but he had the good sense +to submit it previously to Mgr. de Laval, whom he regarded as his +father. The aged bishop expunged from this letter all that might wound +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, and it was sent with the corrections which he +desired." The venerable prelate did not content himself with avoiding +all that might cause difficulties to his successor; he gave him his +whole aid in any circumstances, and in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span>particular in the foundation of +a convent of Ursulines at Three Rivers, and when the general hospital +was threatened in its very existence. "Was it not a spectacle worthy of +the admiration of men and angels," exclaims the Abbé Fornel in his +funeral oration on Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, "to see the first Bishop of +Quebec and his successor vieing one with the other in a noble rivalry +and in a struggle of religious fervour for the victory in exercises of +piety? Have they not both been seen harmonizing and reconciling together +the duties of seminarists and canons; of canons by their assiduity in +the recitation of the breviary, and of seminarists in condescending to +the lowest duties, such as sweeping and serving in the kitchen?" The +patience and trust in God of Mgr. de Laval were rewarded by the +following letter which he received from Father La Chaise, confessor to +King Louis XIV: "I have received with much respect and gratitude two +letters with which you have honoured me. I have blessed God that He has +preserved you for His glory and the good of the Church in Canada in a +period of deadly mortality; and I pray every day that He may preserve +you some years more for His service and the consolation of your old +friends and servants. I hope that you will maintain towards them to the +end your good favour and interest, and that those who would wish to make +them lose these may be unable to alter them. You will easily judge how +greatly I desire that our Fathers may merit the continuation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span>of your +kindness, and may preserve a perfect union with the priests of your +seminary, by the sacrifice which I desire they should make to the +latter, in consideration of you, of the post of Tamarois, in spite of +all the reasons and the facility for preserving it to them...."</p> + +<p>The mortality to which the reverend father alludes was the result of an +epidemic which carried off, in 1700, a great number of persons. Old men +in particular were stricken, and M. de Bernières among others fell a +victim to the scourge. It is very probable that this affliction was +nothing less than the notorious influenza which, in these later years, +has cut down so many valuable lives throughout the world. The following +years were still more terrible for the town; smallpox carried off +one-fourth of the population of Quebec. If we add to these trials the +disaster of the two conflagrations which consumed the seminary, we shall +have the measure of the troubles which at this period overwhelmed the +city of Champlain. The seminary, begun in 1678, had just been barely +completed. It was a vast edifice of stone, of grandiose appearance; a +sun dial was set above a majestic door of two leaves, the approach to +which was a fine stairway of cut stone. "The building," wrote Frontenac +in 1679, "is very large and has four storeys, the walls are seven feet +thick, the cellars and pantries are vaulted, the lower windows have +embrasures, and the roof is of slate brought from France." On November +15th,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> 1701, the priests of the seminary had taken their pupils to St. +Michel, near Sillery, to a country house which belonged to them. About +one in the afternoon fire broke out in the seminary buildings. The +inhabitants hastened up from all directions to the spot and attempted +with the greatest energy to stay the progress of the flames. Idle +efforts! The larger and the smaller seminary, the priests' house, the +chapel barely completed, were all consumed, with the exception of some +furniture and a little plate and tapestry. The cathedral was saved, +thanks to the efforts of the state engineer, M. Levasseur de Néré, who +succeeded in cutting off the communication of the sacred temple with the +buildings in flames. Mgr. de Laval, confined then to a bed of pain, +avoided death by escaping half-clad; he accepted for a few days, +together with the priests of the seminary, the generous hospitality +offered them by the Jesuit Fathers. In order not to be too long a burden +to their hosts, they caused to be prepared for their lodgment the +episcopal palace which had been begun by Mgr. de Saint-Vallier. They +removed there on December 4th following. The scholars had been divided +between the episcopal palace and the house of the Jesuits. "The +prelate," says Sister Juchereau, "bore this affliction with perfect +submission to the will of God, without uttering any complaint. It must +have been, however, the more grievous to him since it was he who had +planned and erected the seminary, since he was its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span>father and founder, +and since he saw ruined in one day the fruit of his labour of many +years." Thanks to the generosity of the king, who granted aid to the +extent of four thousand francs, it was possible to begin rebuilding at +once. But the trials of the priests were not yet over. "On the first day +of October, 1705," relate the annals of the Ursulines, "the priests of +the seminary were afflicted by a second fire through the fault of a +carpenter who was preparing some boards in one end of the new building. +While smoking he let fall in a room full of shavings some sparks from +his pipe. The fire being kindled, it consumed in less than an hour all +the upper storeys. Only those which were vaulted were preserved. The +priests estimate that they have lost more in this second fire than in +the first. They are lodged below, waiting till Providence furnishes them +with the means to restore their building. The Jesuit Fathers have acted +this time with the same charity and cordiality as on the former +occasion. Mgr. L'Ancien<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> and M. Petit have lived nearly two months in +their infirmary. This rest has been very profitable to Monseigneur, for +he has come forth from it quite rejuvenated. May the Lord grant that he +be preserved a long time yet for the glory of God and the good of +Canada!"</p> + +<p>When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to raise it from its ruins, a great +grief seized upon him at the sight of the roofs destroyed, the broken +doors, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span>the + shattered ramparts of the city of David. In the middle of the night +he made the circuit of these ruins, and on the morrow he sought the +magistrates and said to them: "You see the distress that we are in? +Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem." The same feelings no +doubt oppressed the soul of the octogenarian prelate when he saw the +walls cracked and blackened, the heaps of ruins, sole remnants of his +beloved house. But like Nehemiah he had the support of a great King, and +the confidence of succeeding. He set to work at once, and found in the +generosity of his flock the means to raise the seminary from its ruins. +While he found provisional lodgings for his seminarists, he himself took +up quarters in a part of the seminary which had been spared by the +flames; he arranged, adjoining his room, a little oratory where he kept +the Holy Sacrament, and celebrated mass. There he passed his last days +and gave up his fair soul to God.</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Saint-Vallier had not like his predecessor the sorrow of seeing +fire consume his seminary; he had set out in 1700 for France, and the +differences which existed between the two prelates led the monarch to +retain Mgr. de Saint-Vallier near him. In 1705 the Bishop of Quebec +obtained permission to return to his diocese. But for three years +hostilities had already existed between France and England. The bishop +embarked with several monks on the <i>Seine</i>, a vessel of the Royal Navy. +This ship <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span>carried a rich cargo valued at nearly a million francs, and +was to escort several merchant ships to their destination at Quebec. The +convoy fell in, on July 26th, with an English fleet which gave chase to +it; the merchant ships fled at full sail, abandoning the <i>Seine</i> to its +fate. The commander, M. de Meaupou, displayed the greatest valour, but +his vessel, having a leeward position, was at a disadvantage; besides, +he had committed the imprudence of so loading the deck with merchandise +that several cannon could not be used. In spite of her heroic defence, +the <i>Seine</i> was captured by boarding, the commander and the officers +were taken prisoners, and Mgr. de Saint-Vallier remained in captivity in +England till 1710.</p> + +<p>The purpose of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier's journey to Europe in 1700 had +been his desire to have ratified at Rome by the Holy See the canonical +union of his abbeys, and the union of the parish of Quebec with the +seminary. On setting out he had entrusted the administration of the +diocese to MM. Maizerets and Glandelet; as to ordinations, to the +administration of the sacrament of confirmation, and to the consecration +of the holy oils, Mgr. de Laval would be always there, ready to lavish +his zeal and the treasures of his charity. This long absence of the +chief of the diocese could not but impose new labours on Mgr. de Laval. +Never did he refuse a sacrifice or a duty, and he saw in this an +opportunity to increase the sum of good which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span>he intended soon to lay +at the foot of the throne of the Most High. He was seventy-nine years of +age when, in spite of the havoc then wrought by the smallpox throughout +the country, he went as far as Montreal, there to administer the +sacrament of confirmation. Two years before his death, he officiated +pontifically on Easter Day in the cathedral of Quebec. "On the festival +of Sainte Magdalene," say the annals of the general hospital, "we have +had the consolation of seeing Mgr. de Laval officiate pontifically +morning and evening.... He was accompanied by numerous clergy both from +the seminary and from neighbouring missions.... We regarded this favour +as a mark of the affection cherished by this holy prelate for our +establishment, for he was never wont to officiate outside the cathedral, +and even there but rarely on account of his great age. He was then more +than eighty years old. The presence of a person so venerable by reason +of his character, his virtues, and his great age much enhanced this +festival. He gave the nuns a special proof of his good-will in the visit +which he deigned to make them in the common hall." The predilection +which the pious pontiff constantly preserved for the work of the +seminary no whit lessened the protection which he generously granted to +all the projects of education in the colony; the daughters of Mother +Mary of the Incarnation as well as the assistants of Mother Marguerite +Bourgeoys had claims upon his affection. He fostered with all his power +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span>establishment of the Sisters of the Congregation, both at Three +Rivers and at Quebec. His numerous works left him but little respite, +and this he spent at his school of St. Joachim in the refreshment of +quiet and rest. Like all holy men he loved youth, and took pleasure in +teaching and directing it. Accordingly, during these years when, in +spite of the sixteen <i>lustra</i> which had passed over his venerable head, +he had to take upon himself during the long absence of his successor the +interim duties of the diocese, at least as far as the exclusively +episcopal functions were concerned, he learned to understand and +appreciate at their true value the sacrifices of the Charron Brothers, +whose work was unfortunately to remain fruitless.</p> + +<p>In 1688 three pious laymen, MM. Jean François Charron, Pierre Le Ber, +and Jean Fredin had established in Montreal a house with a double +purpose of charity: to care for the poor and the sick, and to train men +and send them to open schools in the country districts. Their plan was +approved by the king, sanctioned by the bishop of the diocese, +encouraged by the seigneurs of the island, and welcomed by all the +citizens with gratitude. In spite of these symptoms of future prosperity +the work languished, and the members of the community were separated and +scattered one after the other. M. Charron did not lose courage. In 1692 +he devoted his large fortune to the foundation of a hospital and a +school, and received numerous gifts from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span>charitable persons. Six +hospitallers of the order of St. Joseph of the Cross, commonly called +Frères Charron, took the gown in 1701, and pronounced their vows in +1704, but the following year they ceased to receive novices. The +minister, M. de Pontchartrain, thought "the care of the sick is a task +better adapted to women than to men, notwithstanding the spirit of +charity which may animate the latter," and he forbade the wearing of the +costume adopted by the hospitallers. François Charron, seeing his work +nullified, yielded to the inevitable, and confined himself to the +training of teachers for country parishes. The existence of this +establishment, abandoned by the mother country to its own strength, was +to become more and more precarious and feeble. Almost all the +hospitallers left the institution to re-enter the world; the care of the +sick was entrusted to the Sisters. François Charron made a journey to +France in order to obtain the union for the purposes of the hospital of +the Brothers of St. Joseph with the Society of St. Sulpice, but he +failed in his efforts. He obtained, nevertheless, from the regent an +annual subvention of three thousand francs for the training of +school-masters (1718). He busied himself at once with finding fitting +recruits, and collected eight. The elder sister of our excellent normal +schools of the present day seemed then established on solid foundations, +but it was not to be so. Brother Charron died on the return voyage, and +his institution, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span>though seconded by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, after +establishing Brothers in several villages in the environs of Montreal, +received from the court a blow from which it did not recover: the regent +forbade the masters to assume a uniform dress and to pledge themselves +by simple vows. The number of the hospitallers decreased from year to +year, and in 1731 the royal government withdrew from them the annual +subvention which supported them, however poorly. Finally their +institution, after vainly attempting to unite with the Brothers of the +Christian Doctrine, ceased to exist in 1745.</p> + +<p>Mgr. de Laval so greatly admired the devotion of these worthy men that +he exclaimed one day: "Let me die in the house of these Brothers; it is +a work plainly inspired by God. I shall die content if only in dying I +may contribute something to the shaping or maintenance of this +establishment." Again he wrote: "The good M. Charron gave us last year +one of their Brothers, who rendered great service to the Mississippi +Mission, and he has furnished us another this year. These acquisitions +will spare the missionaries much labour.... I beg you to show full +gratitude to this worthy servant of God, who is as affectionately +inclined to the missions and missionaries as if he belonged to our body. +We have even the plan, as well as he, of forming later a community of +their Brothers to aid the missions and accompany the missionaries on +their journeys. He goes to France and as far as Paris to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span>find and bring +back with him some good recruits to aid him in forming a community. +Render him all the services you can, as if it were to missionaries +themselves. He is a true servant of God." Such testimony is the fairest +title to glory for an institution.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> A respectfully familiar sobriquet given to Mgr. de Laval.</p> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>LAST YEARS OF MGR. DE LAVAL</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>Illness</b></span> had obliged Mgr. de Laval to hand in his resignation. He wrote, +in fact, at this period of his life to M. de Denonville: "I have been +for the last two years subject to attacks of vertigo accompanied by +heart troubles which are very frequent and increase markedly. I have had +one quite recently, on the Monday of the Passion, which seized me at +three o'clock in the morning, and I could not raise my head from my +bed." His infirmities, which he bore to the end with admirable +resignation, especially affected his limbs, which he was obliged to +bandage tightly every morning, and which could scarcely bear the weight +of his body. To disperse the unwholesome humours, his arm had been +cauterized; to cut, carve and hack the poor flesh of humanity formed, as +we know, the basis of the scientific and medical equipment of the +period. These sufferings, which he brought as a sacrifice to our Divine +Master, were not sufficient for him; he continued in spite of them to +wear upon his body a coarse hair shirt. He had to serve him only one of +those Brothers who devoted their labour to the seminary in exchange for +their living and a place at table. This modest servant, named<span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> Houssart, +had replaced a certain Lemaire, of whom the prelate draws a very +interesting portrait in one of his letters: "We must economize," he +wrote to the priests of the seminary, "and have only watchful and +industrious domestics. We must look after them, else they deteriorate in +the seminary. You have the example of the baker, Louis Lemaire, an +idler, a gossip, a tattler, a man who, instead of walking behind the +coach, would not go unless Monseigneur paid for a carriage for him to +follow him to La Rochelle, and lent him his dressing-gown to protect him +from the cold. Formerly he worked well at heavy labour at Cap Tourmente; +idleness has ruined him in the seminary. As soon as he had reached my +room, he behaved like a man worn out, always complaining, coming to help +me to bed only when the fancy took him; always extremely vain, thinking +he was not dressed according to his position, although he was clad, as +you know, more like a nobleman than a peasant, which he was, for I had +taken him as a beggar and almost naked at La Rochelle.... As soon as he +entered my room he sat down, and rather than be obliged to pretend to +see him, I turned my seat so as not to see him.... We should have left +that man at heavy work, which had in some sort conquered his folly and +pride, and it is possible that he might have been saved. But he has been +entirely ruined in the seminary...." This humorous description proves to +us well that even in the good old days not all domestics were perfect.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span>The affectionate and respectful care given by Houssart to his master +was such as is not bought with money. Most devoted to the prelate, he +has left us a very edifying relation of the life of the venerable +bishop, with some touching details. He wrote after his death: "Having +had the honour of being continually attached to the service of his +Lordship during the last twenty years of his holy life, and his Lordship +having had during all that time a great charity towards me and great +confidence in my care, you cannot doubt that I contracted a great +sympathy, interest and particular attachment for his Lordship." In +another letter he speaks to us of the submission of the venerable bishop +to the commands of the Church. "He did his best," he writes, +"notwithstanding his great age and continual infirmities, to observe all +days of abstinence and fasting, both those which are commanded by Holy +Church and those which are observed from reasons of devotion in the +seminary, and if his Lordship sometimes yielded in this matter to the +command of the physicians and the entreaties of the superiors of the +seminary, who deemed that he ought not to fast, it was a great +mortification for him, and it was only out of especial charity to his +dear seminary and the whole of Canada that he yielded somewhat to nature +in order not to die so soon...."</p> + +<p>Never, in spite of his infirmities, would the prelate fail to be present +on Sunday at the cathedral <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span>services. When it was impossible for him to +go on foot, he had himself carried. His only outings towards the end of +his life consisted in his visits to the cathedral or in short walks +along the paths of his garden. Whenever his health permitted, he loved +to be present at the funerals of those who died in the town; those +consolations which he deigned to give to the afflicted families bear +witness to the goodness of his heart. "It was something admirable," says +Houssart, "to see, firstly, his assiduity in being present at the burial +of all who died in Quebec, and his promptness in offering the holy +sacrifice of the mass for the repose of their souls, as soon as he had +learned of their decease; secondly, his devotion in receiving and +preserving the blessed palms, in kissing his crucifix, the image of the +Holy Virgin, which he carried always upon him, and placed at nights +under his pillow, his badge of servitude and his scapulary which he +carried also upon him; thirdly, his respect and veneration for the +relics of the saints, the pleasure which he took in reading every day in +the <i>Lives of the Saints</i>, and in conversing of their heroic deeds; +fourthly, the holy and constant use which he made of holy water, taking +it wherever he might be in the course of the day and every time he awoke +in the night, coming very often from his garden to his room expressly to +take it, carrying it upon him in a little silver vessel, which he had +had made purposely, when he went to the country. His Lordship had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span>so +great a desire that every one should take it that he exercised +particular care in seeing every day whether the vessels of the church +were supplied with it, to fill them when they were empty; and during the +winter, for fear that the vessels should freeze too hard and the people +could not take any as they entered and left the church, he used to bring +them himself every evening and place them by our stove, and take them +back at four o'clock in the morning when he went to open the doors."</p> + +<p>With a touching humility the pious old man scrupulously conformed to the +rules of the seminary and to the orders of the superior of the house. +Only a few days before his death, he experienced such pain that Brother +Houssart declared his intention of going and asking from the superior of +the seminary a dispensation for the sick man from being present at the +services. At once the patient became silent; in spite of his tortures +not a complaint escaped his lips. It was Holy Wednesday: it was +impossible to be absent on that day from religious ceremonies. We do not +know which to admire most in such an attitude, whether the piety of the +prelate or his submission to the superior of the seminary, since he +would have been resigned if he had been forbidden to go to church, or, +finally, his energy in stifling the groans which suffering wrenched from +his physical nature. Few saints carried mortification and renunciation +of terrestrial good as far as he. "He is certainly the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span>austere man +in the world and the most indifferent to worldly advantage," wrote +Mother Mary of the Incarnation. "He gives away everything and lives like +a pauper; and we may truly say that he has the very spirit of poverty. +It is not he who will make friends for worldly advancement and to +increase his revenue; he is dead to all that.... He practises this +poverty in his house, in his living, in his furniture, in his servants, +for he has only one gardener, whom he lends to the poor when they need +one, and one valet...." This picture falls short of the truth. For forty +years he arose at two o'clock in the morning, summer and winter: in his +last years illness could only wrest from him one hour more of repose, +and he arose then at three o'clock. As soon as he was dressed, he +remained at prayer till four and then went to church. He opened the +doors himself, and rang the bells for mass, which he said, half an hour +later, especially for the poor workmen, who began their day by this +pious exercise.</p> + +<p>His thanksgiving after the holy sacrifice lasted till seven o'clock, and +yet, even in the greatest cold of the severe Canadian winter, he had +nothing to warm his frozen limbs but the brazier which he had used to +celebrate the mass. A good part of his day, and often of the night, when +his sufferings deprived him of sleep, was also devoted to prayer or +spiritual reading, and nothing was more edifying than to see the pious +octogenarian telling his beads or reciting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span>his breviary while walking +slowly through the paths of his garden. He was the first up and the last +to retire, and whatever had been his occupations during the day, never +did he lie down without having scrupulously observed all the spiritual +offices, readings or reciting of beads. It was not, however, that his +food gave him a superabundance of physical vigour, for the Trappists did +not eat more frugally than he. A soup, which he purposely spoiled by +diluting it amply with hot water, a little meat and a crust of very dry +bread composed his ordinary fare, and dessert, even on feast days, was +absolutely banished from his table. "For his ordinary drink," says +Brother Houssart, "he took only hot water slightly flavoured with wine; +and every one knows that his Lordship never took either cordial or +dainty wines, or any mixture of sweets of any sort whatever, whether to +drink or to eat, except that in his last years I succeeded in making him +take every evening after his broth, which was his whole supper, a piece +of biscuit as large as one's thumb, in a little wine, to aid him to +sleep. I may say without exaggeration that his whole life was one +continual fast, for he took no breakfast, and every evening only a +slight collation.... He used his whole substance in alms and pious +works; and when he needed anything, such as clothes, linen, etc., he +asked it from the seminary like the humblest of his ecclesiastics. He +was most modest in matters of dress, and I had great difficulty in +preventing him from wearing his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span>clothes when they were old, dirty and +mended. During twenty years he had but two winter cassocks, which he +left behind him on his death, the one still quite good, the other all +threadbare and mended. To be brief, there was no one in the seminary +poorer in dress...." Mgr. de Laval set an example of the principal +virtues which distinguish the saints; so he could not fail in that which +our Lord incessantly recommends to His disciples, charity! He no longer +possessed anything of his own, since he had at the outset abandoned his +patrimony to his brother, and since later on he had given to the +seminary everything in his possession. But charity makes one ingenious: +by depriving himself of what was strictly necessary, could he not yet +come to the aid of his brothers in Jesus Christ? "Never was prelate," +says his eulogist, M. de la Colombière, "more hostile to grandeur and +exaltation.... In scorning grandeur, he triumphed over himself by a +poverty worthy of the anchorites of the first centuries, whose rules he +faithfully observed to the end of his days. Grace had so thoroughly +absorbed in the heart of the prelate the place of the tendencies of our +corrupt nature that he seemed to have been born with an aversion to +riches, pleasures and honours.... If you have noticed his dress, his +furniture and his table, you must be aware that he was a foe to pomp and +splendour. There is no village priest in France who is not better +nourished, better clad and better lodged <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span>than was the Bishop of Quebec. +Far from having an equipage suitable to his rank and dignity he had not +even a horse of his own. And when, towards the end of his days, his +great age and his infirmities did not allow him to walk, if he wished to +go out he had to borrow a carriage. Why this economy? In order to have a +storehouse full of garments, shoes and blankets, which he distributed +gratuitously, with paternal kindness and prudence. This was a business +which he never ceased to ply, in which he trusted only to himself, and +with which he concerned himself up to his death."</p> + +<p>The charity of the prelate was boundless. Not only at the hospital of +Quebec did he visit the poor and console them, but he even rendered them +services the most repugnant to nature. "He has been seen," says M. de la +Colombière, "on a ship where he behaved like St. François-Xavier, where, +ministering to the sailors and the passengers, he breathed the bad air +and the infection which they exhaled; he has been seen to abandon in +their favour all his refreshments, and to give them even his bed, sheets +and blankets. To administer the sacraments to them he did not fear to +expose his life and the lives of the persons who were most dear to him." +When he thus attended the sick who were attacked by contagious fever, he +did his duty, even more than his duty; but when he went, without +absolute need, and shared in the repugnant cares which the most devoted +servants of Christ in the hospitals <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span>undertake only after struggles and +heroic victory over revolted nature he rose to sublimity. It was because +he saw in the poor the suffering members of the Saviour; to love the +poor man, it is not enough to wish him well, we must respect him, and we +cannot respect him as much as any child of God deserves without seeing +in him the image of Jesus Christ himself. No one acquires love for God +without being soon wholly enkindled by it; thus it was no longer +sufficient for Mgr. de Laval to instruct and console the poor and the +sick, he served them also in the most abject duties, going as far as to +wash with his own hands their sores and ulcers. A madman, the world will +say; why not content one's self with attending those people without +indulging in the luxury of heroism so repugnant? This would have +sufficed indeed to relieve nature, but would it have taught those +incurable and desperate cases that they were the first friends of Jesus +Christ, that the Church looked upon them as its jewels, and that their +fate from the point of view of eternity was enviable to all? It would +have relieved without consoling and raising the poor man to the height +which belongs to him in Christian society. Official assistance, with the +best intentions in the world, the most ingenious organization and the +most perfect working, can, however, never be charity in the perfectly +Christian sense of this word. If it could allay all needs and heal all +sores it would still have accomplished only half of the task: relieving +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span>body without reaching the soul. And man does not live by bread +alone. He who has been disinherited of the boons of fortune, family and +health, he who is incurable and who despairs of human joys needs +something else besides the most comfortable hospital room that can be +imagined; he needs the words which fell from the lips of God: "Blessed +are the poor, blessed are they that suffer, blessed are they that +mourn." He needs a pitying heart, a tender witness to indigence nobly +borne, a respectful friend of his misfortune, still more than that, a +worshipper of Jesus hidden in the persons of the poor, the orphan and +the sick. They have become rare in the world, these real friends of the +poor; the more assistance has become organized, the more charity seems +to have lost its true nature; and perhaps we might find in this state of +things a radical explanation for those implacable social antagonisms, +those covetous desires, those revolts followed by endless repression, +which bring about revolutions, and by them all manner of tyranny. Let us +first respect the poor, let us love them, let us sincerely admire their +condition as one ennobled by God, if we wish them to become reconciled +with Him, and reconciled with the world. When the rich man is a +Christian, generous and respectful of the poor, when he practises the +virtues which most belong to his social position, the poor man is very +near to conforming to those virtues which Providence makes his more +immediate duty, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span>humility, obedience, resignation to the will of God and +trust in Him and in those who rule in His name. The solution of the +great social problem lies, as it seems to us, in the spiritual love of +the poor. Outside of this, there is only the heathen slave below, and +tyranny above with all its terrors. That is what religious enthusiasm +foresaw in centuries less well organized but more religious than ours.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>DEATH OF MGR. DE LAVAL</h3> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap"><b>The</b></span> end of a great career was now approaching. In the summer of 1707, a +long and painful illness nearly carried Mgr. de Laval away, but he +recovered, and convalescence was followed by manifest improvement. This +soul which, like the lamp of the sanctuary, was consumed in the +tabernacle of the Most High, revived suddenly at the moment of emitting +its last gleams, then suddenly died out in final brilliance. The +improvement in the condition of the venerable prelate was ephemeral; the +illness which had brought him to the threshold of the tomb proved fatal +some weeks later. He died in the midst of his labours, happy in proving +by the very origin of the disease which brought about his death, his +great love for the Saviour. It was, in fact, in prolonging on Good +Friday his pious stations in his chilly church (for our ancestors did +not heat their churches, even in seasons of rigorous cold), that he +received in his heel the frost-bite of which he died. Such is the name +the writers of the time give to this sore; in our days, when science has +defined certain maladies formerly misunderstood, it is permissible to +suppose that this so-called frost-bite was nothing else than diabetic +gangrene. No <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span>illusion could be cherished, and the venerable old man, +who had not, so to speak, passed a moment of his existence without +thinking of death, needed to adapt himself to the idea less than any one +else. In order to have nothing more to do than to prepare for his last +hour he hastened to settle a question which concerned his seminary: he +reduced definitely to eight the number of pensions which he had +established in it in 1680. This done, it remained for him now only to +suffer and die. The ulcer increased incessantly and the continual pains +which he felt became atrocious when it was dressed. His intolerable +sufferings drew from him, nevertheless, not cries and complaints, but +outpourings of love for God. Like Saint Vincent de Paul, whom the +tortures of his last malady could not compel to utter other words than +these: "Ah, my Saviour! my good Saviour!" Mgr. de Laval gave vent to +these words only: "O, my God! have pity on me! O God of Mercy!" and this +cry, the summary of his whole life: "Let Thy holy will be done!" One of +the last thoughts of the dying man was to express the sentiment of his +whole life, humility. Some one begged him to imitate the majority of the +saints, who, on their death-bed, uttered a few pious words for the +edification of their spiritual children. "They were saints," he replied, +"and I am a sinner." A speech worthy of Saint Vincent de Paul, who, +about to appear before God, replied to the person who requested his +blessing, "It is not for me, unworthy <span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span>wretch that I am, to bless you." +The fervour with which he received the last sacraments aroused the +admiration of all the witnesses of this supreme hour. They almost +expected to see this holy soul take flight for its celestial mansion. As +soon as the prayers for the dying had been pronounced, he asked to have +the chaplets of the Holy Family recited, and during the recitation of +this prayer he gave up his soul to his Creator. It was then half-past +seven in the morning, and the sixth day of the month consecrated to the +Holy Virgin, whom he had so loved (May, 1708).</p> + +<p>It was with a quiver of grief which was felt in all hearts throughout +the colony that men learned the fatal news. The banks of the great river +repeated this great woe to the valleys; the sad certainty that the +father of all had disappeared forever sowed desolation in the homes of +the rich as well as in the thatched huts of the poor. A cry of pain, a +deep sob arose from the bosom of Canada which would not be consoled, +because its incomparable bishop was no more! Etienne de Citeaux said to +his monks after the death of his holy predecessor: "Alberic is dead to +our eyes, but he is not so to the eyes of God, and dead though he appear +to us, he lives for us in the presence of the Lord; for it is peculiar +to the saints that when they go to God through death, they bear their +friends with them in their hearts to preserve them there forever." This +is our dearest desire; the friends of the venerable prelate were and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span>still are to-day his own Canadians: may he remain to the end of the +ages our protector and intercessor with God!</p> + +<p>There were attributed to Mgr. de Laval, according to Latour and Brother +Houssart, and a witness who would have more weight, M. de Glandelet, a +priest of the seminary of Quebec, whose account was unhappily lost, a +great number of miraculous cures. Our purpose is not to narrate them; we +have desired to repeat only the wonders of his life in order to offer a +pattern and encouragement to all who walk in his steps, and in order to +pay the debt of gratitude which we owe to the principal founder of the +Catholic Church in our country.</p> + +<p>The body of Mgr. de Laval lay in state for three days in the chapel of +the seminary, and there was an immense concourse of the people about his +mortuary bed, rather to invoke him than to pray for his soul. His +countenance remained so beautiful that one would have thought him +asleep; that imposing brow so often venerated in the ceremonies of the +Church preserved all its majesty. But alas! that aristocratic hand, +which had blessed so many generations, was no longer to raise the +pastoral ring over the brows of bowing worshippers; that eloquent mouth +which had for half a century preached the gospel was to open no more; +those eyes with look so humble but so straightforward were closed +forever! "He is regretted by all as if death had carried him off in the +flower of his age," says a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span>chronicle of the time, "it is because virtue +does not grow old." The obsequies of the prelate were celebrated with a +pomp still unfamiliar in the colony; the body, clad in the pontifical +ornaments, was carried on the shoulders of priests through the different +religious edifices of Quebec before being interred. All the churches of +the country celebrated solemn services for the repose of the soul of the +first Bishop of New France. Placed in a leaden coffin, the revered +remains were sepulchred in the vaults of the cathedral, but the heart of +Mgr. de Laval was piously kept in the chapel of the seminary, and later, +in 1752, was transported into the new chapel of this house. The funeral +orations were pronounced, which recalled with eloquence and talent the +services rendered by the venerable deceased to the Church, to France and +to Canada. One was delivered by M. de la Colombière, archdeacon and +grand vicar of the diocese of Quebec; the other by M. de Belmont, grand +vicar and superior of St. Sulpice at Montreal.</p> + +<p>Those who had the good fortune to be present in the month of May, 1878, +at the disinterment of the remains of the revered pontiff and at their +removal to the chapel of the seminary where, according to his +intentions, they repose to-day, will recall still with emotion the pomp +which was displayed on this solemn occasion, and the fervent joy which +was manifested among all classes of society. An imposing procession +conveyed them, as at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span>time of the seminary obsequies, to the +Ursulines; from the convent of the Ursulines to the Jesuit Fathers', +next to the Congregation of St. Patrick, to the Hôtel-Dieu, and finally +to the cathedral, where a solemn service was sung in the presence of the +apostolic legate, Mgr. Conroy. The Bishop of Sherbrooke, M. Antoine +Racine, pronounced the eulogy of the first prelate of the colony.</p> + +<p>The remains of Mgr. de Laval rested then in peace under the choir of the +chapel of the seminary behind the principal altar. On December 16th, +1901, the vault was opened by order of the commission entrusted by the +Holy See with the conduct of the apostolic investigation into the +virtues and miracles <i>in specie</i> of the founder of the Church in Canada. +The revered remains, which were found in a perfect state of +preservation, were replaced in three coffins, one of glass, the second +of oak, and the third of lead, and lowered into the vault. The opening +was closed by a brick wall, well cemented, concealed between two iron +gates. There they rest until, if it please God to hear the prayers of +the Catholic population of our country, they may be placed upon the +altars. This examination of the remains of the venerable prelate was the +last act in his apostolic ordeal, for we are aware with what precaution +the Church surrounds herself and with what prudence she scrutinizes the +most minute details before giving a decision in the matter of +canonization. The documents in the case of Mgr. de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> Laval have been sent +to the secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites at Rome; and from +there will come to us, let us hope, the great news of the canonization +of the first Bishop of New France.</p> + +<p>Sleep your sleep, revered prelate, worthy son of crusaders and noble +successor of the apostles. Long and laborious was your task, and you +have well merited your repose beneath the flagstones of your seminary. +Long will the sons of future generations go there to spell out your +name,—the name of an admirable pastor, and, as the Church will tell us +doubtless before long, of a saint.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span></p> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +<b>A</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ailleboust, M. d'</span>, governor of New France, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<br /> +Albanel, Father, missionary to the Indians at Hudson Bay, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +<br /> +Alexander VII, Pope, appoints Laval apostolic vicar with the title of Bishop of Petræa <i>in partibus</i>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">petitioned by the king to erect an episcopal see in Quebec, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">wants the new diocese to be an immediate dependency of the Holy See, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Alexander of Rhodes, Father, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +<br /> +Algonquin Indians, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<br /> +Allard, Father, Superior of the Récollets in the province of St. Denis, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br /> +<br /> +Allouez, Father Claude, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">addresses the mission at Sault Ste. Marie, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Anahotaha, Huron chief, joins Dollard, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +<br /> +Andros, Sir Edmund, governor of New England, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +<br /> +Argenson, Governor d', <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his continual friction with Laval, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disapproves of the retreat of Captain Dupuis from the mission of Gannentaha, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Arnaud, Father, accompanies La Vérendrye as far as the Rocky Mountains, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<br /> +Assise, François d', founder of the Franciscans, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +<br /> +Aubert, M., on the French-Canadians, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +<br /> +Auteuil, Denis Joseph Ruette d', solicitor-general of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<br /> +Avaugour, Governor d', withdraws his opposition to the liquor trade and is recalled, <a href="#Page_38">38-40</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his last report, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">references, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>B</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Bagot, Father</span>, head of the college of La Flèche, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br /> +<br /> +Bailly, François, directs the building of the Notre-Dame Church, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +<br /> +Bancroft, George, historian, quoted, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br /> +<br /> +Beaudoncourt, Jacques de, quoted, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the escape of the Gannentaha mission from the massacre of 1658, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Beaumont, Hardouin de Péréfixe de, Archbishop of Paris, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +<br /> +Belmont, M. de, his charitable works, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">preaches Laval's funeral oration, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Bernières, Henri de, first superior of the Quebec seminary, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">entrusted with Laval's duties during his absence, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed dean of the chapter established by Laval, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Bernières, Jean de, his religious retreat at Caen, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +<br /> +Berthelot, M., rents the abbey of Lestrées from Laval, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exchanges Ile Jésus for the Island of Orleans, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Bishop of Petræa, see <i>Laval-Montmorency</i><br /> +<br /> +Bouchard, founder of the house of Montmorency, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Boucher, governor of Three Rivers, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br /> +<br /> +Boudon, Abbé Henri-Marie, archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +<br /> +Bourdon, solicitor-general, <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /> +<br /> +Bourgard, Mgr., quoted, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br /> +<br /> +Bourgeoys, Sister Marguerite, founds a school in Montreal which grows into the Ville-Marie Convent, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on board the plague-stricken <i>St. André</i>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as a teacher, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">through her efforts the church of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is erected, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Bouteroue, M. de, commissioner during Talon's absence, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br /> +<br /> +Brébeuf, Father, his persecution and death, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /> +<br /> +Bretonvilliers, M. de, superior of St. Sulpice, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br /> +<br /> +Briand, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Bizard, Lieutenant, dispatched by Frontenac to arrest the law-breakers and insulted by Perrot, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br /> +<br /> +Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, the, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +Brulon, Jean Gauthier de, confessor of the chapter established by Laval, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>C</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Caen</span>, the town of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br /> +<br /> +Callières, Chevalier de, governor of Montreal, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">lays before the king a plan to conquer New York, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Quebec when attacked by Phipps, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes peace with the Indians, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Canons, the duties of, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> +<br /> +Carignan Regiment, the, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br /> +<br /> +Carion, M. Philippe de, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +<br /> +Cataraqui, Fort (Kingston), built by Frontenac and later called after him, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conceded to La Salle, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Cathedral of Quebec, the, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> +<br /> +Champigny, M. de, commissioner, replaces Meulles, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +Champlain, Samuel de, governor of New France and founder of Quebec, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Charlevoix, Pierre François Xavier de, on colonization, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his portrait of Frontenac, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Charron Brothers, the, make an unsuccessful attempt to establish a charitable house in Montreal, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245-8</a><br /> +<br /> +Château St. Louis, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br /> +<br /> +Chaumonot, Father, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the head of the Brotherhood of the Holy Family, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Chevestre, Françoise de, wife of Jean-Louis de Laval, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> +<br /> +Clement X, Pope, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">signs the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Closse, Major, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +<br /> +Colbert, Louis XIV's prime minister, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a letter from Villeray to, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposes Talon's immigration plans, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a letter from Talon, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Talon's proposals to, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a dispatch from Frontenac to, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reproves Frontenac's overbearing conduct, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">asks for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Collège de Clermont, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br /> +<br /> +College of Montreal, the, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +Colombière, M. de la, quoted, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a><br /> +<br /> +Company of Montreal, the, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its financial obligations taken up by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Company of Notre-Dame of Montreal, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br /> +<br /> +Company of the Cent-Associés, founded by Richelieu, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">incapable of colonizing New France, abandons it to the royal government, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assists the missionaries, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a portion of its obligations undertaken by the West India Company, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Consistorial Congregation of Rome, the, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> +<br /> +Couillard, Madame, the house of, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br /> +<br /> +Courcelles, M. de, appointed governor in de Mézy's place, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">acts as godfather to Garakontié, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an instance of his firmness, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">meets the Indian chiefs at Cataraqui, and gains their approval of building a fort there, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">succeeded by Frontenac, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">lays the corner-stone of the Notre-Dame Church in Montreal, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to France, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Coureurs de bois</i>, the, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> +<br /> +Crèvecœur, Fort, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>D</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Dablon, Father</span>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes Laval's visit to the Prairie de la Madeleine, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quoted, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Damours, M., member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">imprisoned by Frontenac, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Daniel, Father, his death, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br /> +<br /> +Denonville, Marquis de, succeeds de la Barre, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">urges Laval's return to Canada, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his expedition against the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_214">214-16</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">seizes Indian chiefs to serve on the king's galleys, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">builds a fort at Niagara, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recalled, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Dequen, Father, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br /> +<br /> +Dollard, makes a brave stand against the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68-72</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a> (note)<br /> +<br /> +Dollier de Casson, superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at the laying of the first stone of the Church of Notre-Dame, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">preaching on the shores of Lake Erie, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">joined by La Salle, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks of the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Quebec, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Dongan, Colonel Thomas, governor of New York, urges the Iroquois to strife, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br /> +<br /> +Dosquet, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +<br /> +Druillètes, Father, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<br /> +Duchesneau, intendant, his disputes with Frontenac upon the question of President of the Council, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recalled, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">asked by Colbert for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instructed by the king to avoid discord with La Barre, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Dudouyt, Jean, director of the Quebec seminary, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his mission to France in relation to the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">grand cantor of the chapter established by Laval, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">burial of his heart in Quebec, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Dupont, M., member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Dupuis, Captain, commander of the mission at Gannentaha, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how he saved the mission from the general massacre of 1658, <a href="#Page_65">65-7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>E</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Earthquake</span> of 1663, <a href="#Page_42">42-5</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its results, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>F</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Famine</span> Creek, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /> +<br /> +Fénelon, Abbé de, see <i>Salignac-Fénelon</i><br /> +<br /> +Ferland, Abbé, quoted, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the education of the Indians, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_93">93-5</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Talon's ambitions, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quoted, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his opinion of the erection of an episcopal see at Quebec, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the union of the Quebec Seminary with that of the Foreign Missions in Paris, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on La Salle's misfortunes, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quoted, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">praises Laval's stand against the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Laval's return to Canada, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Five Nations, the, sue for peace, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">missions to, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">references, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></span><br /> +<br /> +French-Canadians, their physical and moral qualities, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">habits and dress, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">houses, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as hunters, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Frontenac, Fort, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br /> +<br /> +Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count de, governor of Canada, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">builds Fort Cataraqui, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">succeeds Courcelles, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his disputes with Duchesneau, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">early career, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Charlevoix's portrait of, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">orders Perrot's arrest, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his quarrel with the Abbé de Fénelon, <a href="#Page_160">160-5</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reproved by the king for his absolutism, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his recall, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">succeeds in having permanent livings established, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">again appointed governor, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">carries on a guerilla warfare with the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">defends Quebec against Phipps, <a href="#Page_129">129-31</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attacks the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>G</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Gallinée, Brehan de</span>, Sulpician priest, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<br /> +Gannentaha, the mission at, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how it escaped the general massacre of 1658, <a href="#Page_65">65-7</a></span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +<br /> +Garakontié, Iroquois chief, his conversion, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Garnier, Father Charles, his death, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br /> +<br /> +Garreau, Father, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<br /> +Gaudais-Dupont, M., <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br /> +<br /> +Glandelet, Charles, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Gosselin, Abbé, quoted, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his explanation of Laval's <i>mandement</i>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quoted, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the question of permanent livings, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>H</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Harlay, Mgr. de</span>, Archbishop of Rouen, opposes Laval's petition for an episcopal see at Quebec, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">called to the see of Paris, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Hermitage, the, a religious retreat, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br /> +<br /> +Hôtel-Dieu Hospital (Montreal), established by Mlle. Mance, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<br /> +Hôtel-Dieu, Sisters of the, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Houssart, Laval's servant, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br /> +<br /> +Hudson Bay, explored by Father Albanel, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">English forts on, captured by Troyes, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Iberville's expedition to, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Hurons, the, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forty of them join Dollard, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">but betray him, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">they suffer a well-deserved fate, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>I</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Iberville, Le Moyne d'</span>, takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attacks the English settlements in Newfoundland, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explores the mouths of the Mississippi, founds the city of Mobile, and becomes the first governor of Louisiana, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ile Jésus, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br /> +<br /> +Illinois Indians, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<br /> +Innocent XI, Pope, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br /> +<br /> +Iroquois, the, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their attacks on the missions, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">persecute the missionaries, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conclude a treaty of peace with de Tracy which lasts eighteen years, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their contemplated attack on the mission of Gannentaha, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">make an attack upon Quebec, <a href="#Page_67">67-72</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">threaten to re-open their feud with the Ottawas, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">urged to war by Dongan, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">massacre the tribes allied to the French, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">descend upon the colony, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">La Barre's expedition against, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Denonville's expedition against, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">several seized to serve on the king's galleys, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their massacre of Lachine, <a href="#Page_224">224-7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>J</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jesuits</span>, the, their entry into New France, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their self-sacrificing labours, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in possession of all the missions of New France, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as educators, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their devotion to the Virgin Mary, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">religious zeal, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">provide instruction for the colonists, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at the defence of Quebec, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">shelter the seminarists after the fire, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Joliet, Louis, with Marquette, explores the upper part of the Mississippi, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +<br /> +Jogues, Father, his persecution and death, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +<br /> +Juchereau, Sister, quoted, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>K</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Kingston</span>, see <i>Cataraqui</i><br /> +<br /> +Kondiaronk (the Rat), Indian chief, his duplicity upsets peace negotiations with the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_216">216-18</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>L</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">La Barre, Lefebvre de</span>, replaces Frontenac as governor, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">holds an assembly at Quebec to inquire into the affairs of the colony, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">demands reinforcements, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his useless expedition against the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his recall, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></span><br /> +<br /> +La Chaise, Father, confessor to Louis XIV, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br /> +<br /> +La Chesnaie, M. Aubert de, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> +<br /> +Lachesnaie, village, massacred by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br /> +<br /> +Lachine, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the massacre of, <a href="#Page_225">225-7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +La Flèche, the college of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br /> +<br /> +Lalemant, Father Gabriel, his persecution and death, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his account of the great earthquake, <a href="#Page_42">42-5</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">references, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lamberville, Father, describes the death of Garakontié, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +La Montagne, the mission of, at Montreal, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +La Mouche, Huron Indian, deserts Dollard, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +<br /> +Lanjuère, M. de, quoted, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> +<br /> +La Rochelle, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> +<br /> +La Salle, Cavelier de, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fort Cataraqui conceded to, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">comes to New France, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishes a trading-post at Lachine, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">starts on his expedition to the Mississippi, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to look after his affairs at Fort Frontenac, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">back to Crèvecœur and finds it deserted, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">descends the Mississippi, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">raises a cross on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico and takes possession in the name of the King of France, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">spends a year in establishing trading-posts among the Illinois, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">visits France, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his misfortunes, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is murdered by one of his servants, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bancroft's appreciation of, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his version of the Abbé de Fénelon's sermon, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Latour, Abbé de, quoted, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the liquor question, <a href="#Page_36">36-8</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>re</i> the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the characteristics of the young colonists, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Laval, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lauson-Charny, M. de, director of the Quebec Seminary, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +<br /> +Laval, Anne Charlotte de, only sister of Bishop Laval, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> +<br /> +Laval, Fanchon (Charles-François-Guy), nephew of the bishop, <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +<br /> +Laval, Henri de, brother of Bishop Laval, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +<br /> +Laval, Hugues de, Seigneur of Montigny, etc., father of Bishop Laval, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Laval, Jean-Louis de, receives the bishop's inheritance, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> +<br /> +Laval-Montmorency, François de, first Bishop of Quebec, his birth and ancestors, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death of his father, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his education, <a href="#Page_19">19-21</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death of his two brothers, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his mother begs him, on becoming the head of the family, to abandon his ecclesiastical career, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">renounces his inheritance in favour of his brother Jean-Louis, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his ordination, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">spends fifteen months in Rome, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">three years in the religious retreat of M. de Bernières, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">embarks for New France with the title of Bishop of Petræa <i>in partibus</i>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disputes his authority with the Abbé de Queylus, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">given the entire jurisdiction of Canada, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his personality and appearance, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his devotion to the plague-stricken, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">private life, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">friction with d'Argenson on questions of precedence, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposes the liquor trade with the savages, <a href="#Page_36">36-9</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">carries an appeal to the throne against the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to Canada, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his efforts to establish a seminary at Quebec, <a href="#Page_47">47-50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">obtains an ordinance from the king granting the seminary permission to collect tithes, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives letters from Colbert and the king, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">takes up his abode in the seminary, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his pastoral visits, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">founds the smaller seminary in 1668, <a href="#Page_97">97-9</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his efforts to educate the colonists, <a href="#Page_97">97-100</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">builds the first sanctuary of Sainte Anne, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his ardent desire for more missionaries is granted, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his advice to the missionaries, <a href="#Page_105">105-7</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a letter from the king <i>re</i> the Récollet priests, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">created Bishop of Quebec (1674), <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his reasons for demanding the title of Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">visits the abbeys of Maubec and Lestrées, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leases the abbey of Lestrées to M. Berthelot, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exchanges the Island of Orleans for Ile Jésus, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">visits his family, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">renews the union of his seminary with that of the Foreign Missions, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to Canada after four years absence, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ordered by the king to investigate the evils of the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leaves again for France (1678), <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">acquires from the king a slight restriction over the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">confers a favour on the priests of St. Sulpice, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to Canada (1680), <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">wills all that he possesses to his seminary, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes a pastoral visit of his diocese, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his ill-health, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">writes to the king for reinforcements, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">decides to carry his resignation in person to the king, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishes a chapter, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sails for France, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to remain titular bishop until the consecration of his successor, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to Canada, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ill-health, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reproves Saint-Vallier's extravagance, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an appreciation of, by Saint-Vallier, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a letter from Father La Chaise to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">officiates during Saint-Vallier's absence, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his last illness, <a href="#Page_249">249-53</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and burial, <a href="#Page_264">264-6</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Laval University, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> +<br /> +Leber, Mlle. Jeanne, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> +<br /> +Le Caron, Father, Récollet missionary, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br /> +<br /> +Lejeune, Father, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br /> +<br /> +Lemaître, Father, put to death by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ministers to the plague-stricken on board the <i>St. André</i>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Le Soleil d'Afrique</i>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> +<br /> +Lestrées, the abbey of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br /> +<br /> +Liquor traffic, the, forbidden by the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposed by Laval, <a href="#Page_36">36-9</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Sovereign Council gives unrestricted sway to, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">again restricted by the council, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a much discussed question, <a href="#Page_169">169-75</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lorette, the village of, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br /> +<br /> +Lotbinière, Louis René de, member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Louis XIV of France, recalls d'Avaugour, and sends more troops to Canada, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">writes to Laval, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">petitions the Pope for the erection of an episcopal see in Quebec, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">demands that the new diocese shall be dependent upon the metropolitan of Rouen, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">granted the right of nomination to the bishopric of Quebec, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his decree of 1673, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reproves Frontenac for his absolutism, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">orders Frontenac to investigate the evils of the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forbids intoxicating liquors being carried to the savages in their dwellings or in the woods, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contributes to the maintenance of the priests in Canada, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his efforts to keep the Canadian officials in harmony, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sends reinforcements, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">grants Laval an annuity for life, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at war again, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>M</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Maisonneuve, M. de</span>, governor of Montreal, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> +<br /> +Maizerets, M. Ange de, comes to Canada, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">director of the Quebec seminary, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">accompanies Laval on a tour of his diocese, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">archdeacon of the chapter established by Laval, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Mance, Mlle., establishes the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Montreal, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on board the plague-stricken <i>St. André</i>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at the laying of the first stone of the church of Notre-Dame, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her religious zeal, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Maricourt, Le Moyne de, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Marquette, Father, with Joliet explores the upper part of the Mississippi, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Maubec, the abbey of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">incorporated with the diocese of Quebec, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a description of, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Membré, Father, descends the Mississippi with La Salle, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /> +<br /> +Mesnu, Peuvret de, secretary of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Métiomègue, Algonquin chief, joins Dollard, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br /> +<br /> +Meulles, M. de, replaces Duchesneau as commissioner, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">replaced by Champigny, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Mézy, Governor de, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">succeeds d'Avaugour, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disagrees with the bishop, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Michilimackinac, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br /> +<br /> +Millet, Father, pays a tribute to Garakontié, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +Mississippi River, explored by Marquette and Joliet as far as the Arkansas River, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">La Salle descends to its mouth, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Monsipi, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> +<br /> +Montigny, Abbé de, one of Laval's early titles, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> +<br /> +Montigny-sur-Avre, Laval's birthplace, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +<br /> +Montmagny, M. de, governor of New France, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<br /> +Montmorency, Henri de, near kinsman of Laval, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">beheaded by the order of Richelieu, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Montreal, the Island of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">made over to the Sulpicians, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the parishes of, united with the Seminary of St. Sulpice, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Montreal, the mission of La Montagne at, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its first Roman Catholic church, <a href="#Page_87">87-90</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its religious zeal, <a href="#Page_90">90-2</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">see also <i>Ville-Marie</i></span><br /> +<br /> +Morel, Thomas, director of the Quebec seminary, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his arrest, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">set at liberty, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Morin, M., quoted, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +<br /> +Mornay, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Mother Mary of the Incarnation, on Laval's devotion to the sick, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on his private life, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the results of the great earthquake, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the work of the Sisters, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her religious zeal and fine qualities, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Abbé Ferland's appreciation of, <a href="#Page_93">93-5</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks of the work of Abbé Fénelon and Father Trouvé, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sums up Talon's merits, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks of the colonists' children, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on civilizing the Indians, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an appreciation of, by Abbé Verreau, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her noble character, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Mouchy, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>N</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Nelson</span>, Fort (Hudson Bay), held by the English against de Troyes' expedition, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">captured by Iberville, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Newfoundland, English settlements attacked by Iberville, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br /> +<br /> +Notre-Dame Church (Montreal), <a href="#Page_87">87-90</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> +<br /> +Notre-Dame de Bonsecours, chapel (Montreal), <a href="#Page_176">176-9</a><br /> +<br /> +Notre-Dame de Montréal, the parish of, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> +<br /> +Notre-Dame des Victoires, church of, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br /> +<br /> +Noue, Father de, his death, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>O</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Oblate Fathers</span>, their entry into New France, <a href="#Page_1">1</a><br /> +<br /> +Olier, M., founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">places the Island of Montreal under the protection of the Holy Virgin, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">succeeded by Bretonvilliers, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Onondagas, the, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> +<br /> +Ottawa Indians, threaten to re-open their feud with the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>P</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Pallu</span>, M., <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +<br /> +Parkman, Francis, quoted, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> +<br /> +Péricard, Mgr. de, Bishop of Evreux, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Péricard, Michelle de, mother of Bishop Laval, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Peltrie, Madame de la, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishes the Ursuline Convent in Quebec, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a description of, by Abbé Casgrain, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Permanence of livings, a much discussed question, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Perrot, François Marie, governor of Montreal, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his anger at Bizard, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">arrested by Frontenac, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Perrot, Nicholas, explorer, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /> +<br /> +Peyras, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Phipps, Sir William, attacks Quebec, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229-31</a><br /> +<br /> +Picquet, M., <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +<br /> +Plessis, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> +<br /> +Pommier, Hugues, comes to Canada, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">director of the Quebec seminary, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Pontbriant, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Pourroy de l'Aube-Rivière, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Prairie de la Madeleine, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br /> +<br /> +Propaganda, the, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br /> +<br /> +Prudhomme, Fort, erected by La Salle, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>Q</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Quebec</span>, attacked by Phipps, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229-31</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the bishops of, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attacked by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_67">67-72</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">arrival of colonists (1665), <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the cathedral of, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its religious fervour, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Lower Town consumed by fire, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">overwhelmed by disease and fire, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +<br /> +Quebec Act, the, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> +<br /> +Queylus, Abbé de, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">comes to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the Sulpicians, and to establish a seminary, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disputes Laval's authority, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">goes to France, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns with bulls placing him in possession of the parish of Montreal, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suspended from office by Bishop Laval and recalled to France, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to the colony and is appointed grand vicar at Montreal, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his religious zeal, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his generosity, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to France, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his work praised by Talon, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>R</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rafeix, Father</span>, comes to Canada, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br /> +<br /> +Récollets, the, their entry into New France, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refused permission to return to Canada after the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">propose St. Joseph as the patron saint of Canada, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their popularity, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">build a monastery in Quebec, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">espouse Frontenac's cause in his disputes with Duchesneau, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">provide instruction for the colonists, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their establishment in Quebec, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Régale</i>, the question of the right of, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br /> +<br /> +Ribourde, Father de la, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">killed by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Richelieu, Cardinal, founds the Company of the Cent-Associés, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">orders Henri de Montmorency to be beheaded, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Rupert, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>S</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sagard, Father</span>, Récollet missionary, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br /> +<br /> +Sainte Anne, the Brotherhood of, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> +<br /> +Sainte Anne, the first sanctuary of, built by Laval, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">gives place to a stone church erected through the efforts of M. Filion, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a third temple built upon its site, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the present cathedral built (1878), <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the pilgrimages to, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Sainte-Hélène, Andrée Duplessis de, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> +<br /> +Sainte-Hélène, Le Moyne de, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death at the siege of Quebec, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Saint-Vallier, Abbé Jean Baptiste de la Croix de, king's almoner, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed provisionally grand vicar of Laval, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leaves a legacy to the seminary of Quebec, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">embarks for Canada, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes a tour of his diocese, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his extravagance, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pays a tribute to Laval, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leaves for France, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">obtains a grant for a Bishop's Palace, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his official appointment and consecration as Bishop of Quebec, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to Canada, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opens a hospital in Notre-Dame des Anges, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in France from 1700 to 1705, when returning to Canada is captured by an English vessel and kept in captivity till 1710, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the object of his visit to France, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>St. André</i>, the, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the plague breaks out on board, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ste. Anne, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Bernardino of Siena, quoted, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a><br /> +<br /> +St. François-Xavier, adopted as the second special protector of the colony, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Ignace de Michilimackinac, La Salle's burying-place, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Joachim, the seminary of Quebec has a country house at, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the boarding-school at, established by Laval, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a remembrance from Laval, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></span><br /> +<br /> +St. Joseph, the first patron saint of Canada, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Malo, the Bishop of, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Sulpice de Montréal, see <i>Seminary of St. Sulpice</i><br /> +<br /> +St. Sulpice, the priests of, see <i>Sulpicians</i><br /> +<br /> +Salignac-Fénelon, Abbé François de, goes to the north shore of Lake Ontario to establish a mission, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">teaches the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his sermon preached against Frontenac, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his quarrel with Frontenac, <a href="#Page_160">160-5</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forbidden to return to Canada, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga), the mission of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br /> +<br /> +Sault Ste. Marie, the mission of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">addressed by Father Allouez, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Seignelay, Marquis de, Colbert's son, sends four shiploads of colonists to people Louisiana, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postpones Laval's return to Canada, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Seigniorial tenure, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /> +<br /> +Seminary, the, at Quebec, founded by Laval (1663), <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the priests of, assist in defending Quebec against Phipps, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Laval's ordinance relating to, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its establishment receives the royal approval, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">obtains permission to collect tithes from the colonists, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its first superior and directors, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a smaller seminary built (1668), <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97-9</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the whole destroyed by fire (1701), <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its union with the Seminary of Foreign Missions renewed, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a legacy from Saint-Vallier, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sends missionaries to Louisiana, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in financial difficulties, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, affiliated with the Quebec Seminary, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contributes to the support of the mission at Ville-Marie, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its union with the Quebec Seminary renewed, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a union with the Seminary of St. Sulpice formed, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Seminary of Montreal, see <i>Ville-Marie Convent</i><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +<br /> +Seminary of St. Sulpice, the, founded by M. Olier, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">enlarged, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its ancient clock, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">takes up the financial obligations of the Company of Montreal, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">joined to the parish of Notre-Dame de Montréal, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">visited by Laval, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Seine</i>, the, captured by the English with Saint-Vallier on board, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br /> +<br /> +Souart, M., <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> +<br /> +Sovereign Council, the, fixes the tithe at a twenty-sixth, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forbids the liquor trade with the savages, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">registers the royal approval of the establishment of the Quebec Seminary, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recommends that emigrants be sent only from the north of France, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">passes a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of liquor, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">finds it necessary to restrict the liquor trade, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its members, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">judges Perrot, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its re-construction, <a href="#Page_165">165-7</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a division in its ranks, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">passes a decree affecting the policy of the Quebec Seminary, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Sulpicians, their entry into New France, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">become the lords of the Island of Montreal, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their devotion to the Virgin Mary, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Ville-Marie, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">more priests arrive, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their religious zeal, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">provide instruction for the colonists, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">granted the livings of the Island of Montreal, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">request the king's confirmation of the union of their seminary with the parishes on the Island of Montreal, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>T</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Talon</span>, intendant, appointed to investigate the administration of de Mézy, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his immigration plans opposed by Colbert, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">writes to Colbert in praise of the Abbé de Queylus, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">brings out five Récollet priests, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">obtains from the Sovereign Council a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of liquor, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">develops the resources of the country, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to France for two years, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">praises Abbé de Queylus' work, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">retires from office, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Taschereau, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br /> +<br /> +Tesserie, M. de la, member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<br /> +Tilly, Le Gardeur de, member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<br /> +Tithes, the levying of, on the colonists, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">payable only to the permanent priests, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the edict of 1679, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Laval and Saint-Vallier disagree upon the question of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Tonti, Chevalier de, accompanies La Salle as far as Fort Crèvecœur, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attacked by the Iroquois and flees to Michilimackinac, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">again joins La Salle and descends the Mississippi with him, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</span><br /><span class='pagenum indent'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed La Salle's representative, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Tracy, Marquis de, viceroy, appointed to investigate the administration of de Mézy, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">builds three forts on the Richelieu River, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">destroys the hamlets of the Mohawks and concludes a treaty of peace with the Iroquois which lasts eighteen years, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reduces the tithe to a twenty-sixth, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to France, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his fine qualities, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">presents a valuable picture to the church at Sainte Anne, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Treaty of Ryswick, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br /> +<br /> +Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br /> +<br /> +Treaty of Utrecht, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Trouvé, Claude, goes to the north shore of Lake Ontario to establish a mission, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br /> +<br /> +Troyes, Chevalier de, leads an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> +<br /> +Turgis, Father, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>U</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ursuline Convent</span> (Quebec), established by Madame de la Peltrie, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">consumed by fire, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ursuline Sisters, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>V</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Valrennes, M. de</span>, commands Fort Frontenac, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br /> +<br /> +Vaudreuil, Chevalier de, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in command at Montreal, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposing the Iroquois at massacre of Lachine, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">succeeds Callières as governor of Montreal, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Verreau, Abbé, pays a tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> +<br /> +Viel, Father, Récollet missionary, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br /> +<br /> +Vignal, Father, ministers to the plague-stricken on board the <i>St. André</i>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ville-Marie (Montreal), the school at, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Abbé de Queylus returns to, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">takes precautions against the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the school of martyrdom, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fortified by Denonville, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">governed by Vaudreuil in Callières' absence, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">besieged by Winthrop, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">references, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ville-Marie Convent, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> +<br /> +Villeray, M. de, writes to Colbert, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Vitré, Denys de, member of the Sovereign Council, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>W</b><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">West India</span> Company, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br /> +<br /> +Winthrop, Fitz-John, attacks Montreal, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br /> +</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval +by A. 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Leblond de Brumath + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval + +Author: A. Leblond de Brumath + +Release Date: November 28, 2005 [EBook #17174] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS OF CANADA: BISHOP LAVAL *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan Lane, Stacy Brown Thellend and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +_THE MAKERS OF CANADA_ + + +BISHOP LAVAL + +BY + +A. LEBLOND DE BRUMATH + + + + +TORONTO + +MORANG & CO., LIMITED + +1912 + + + + +_Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year 1906 +by Morang & Co., Limited, in the Department of Agriculture._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + Page +_CHAPTER I_ +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN +CANADA 1 + +_CHAPTER II_ +THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANCOIS DE LAVAL 15 + +_CHAPTER III_ +THE SOVEREIGN COUNCIL 31 + +_CHAPTER IV_ +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEMINARY 47 + +_CHAPTER V_ +MGR. DE LAVAL AND THE SAVAGES 61 + +_CHAPTER VI_ +SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY 77 + +_CHAPTER VII_ +THE SMALLER SEMINARY 97 + +_CHAPTER VIII_ +THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONY 113 + +_CHAPTER IX_ +BECOMES BISHOP OF QUEBEC 129 + +_CHAPTER X_ +FRONTENAC IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR 143 + +_CHAPTER XI_ +A TROUBLED ADMINISTRATION 157 + +_CHAPTER XII_ +THIRD VOYAGE TO FRANCE 169 + +_CHAPTER XIII_ +LAVAL RETURNS TO CANADA 181 + +_CHAPTER XIV_ +RESIGNATION OF MGR. DE LAVAL 195 + +_CHAPTER XV_ +MGR. DE LAVAL COMES FOR THE LAST TIME TO +CANADA 211 + +_CHAPTER XVI_ +MASSACRE OF LACHINE 223 + +_CHAPTER XVII_ +THE LABOURS OF OLD AGE 235 + +_CHAPTER XVIII_ +LAST DAYS OF MGR. DE LAVAL 249 + +_CHAPTER XIX_ +DEATH OF MGR. DE LAVAL 261 + +INDEX 271 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH +IN CANADA + + +If, standing upon the threshold of the twentieth century, we cast a look +behind us to note the road traversed, the victories gained by the great +army of Christ, we discover everywhere marvels of abnegation and +sacrifice; everywhere we see rising before us the dazzling figures of +apostles, of doctors of the Church and of martyrs who arouse our +admiration and command our respect. There is no epoch, no generation, +even, which has not given to the Church its phalanx of heroes, its quota +of deeds of devotion, whether they have become illustrious or have +remained unknown. + +Born barely three centuries ago, the Christianity of New France has +enriched history with pages no less glorious than those in which are +enshrined the lofty deeds of her elders. To the list, already long, of +workers for the gospel she has added the names of the Recollets and of +the Jesuits, of the Sulpicians and of the Oblate Fathers, who crossed +the seas to plant the faith among the hordes of barbarians who inhabited +the immense regions to-day known as the Dominion of Canada. + +And what daring was necessary, in the early days of the colony, to +plunge into the vast forests of North America! Incessant toil, +sacrifice, pain and death in its most terrible forms were the price that +was gladly paid in the service of God by men who turned their backs upon +the comforts of civilized France to carry the faith into the unknown +wilderness. + +Think of what Canada was at the beginning of the seventeenth century! +Instead of these fertile provinces, covered to-day by luxuriant +harvests, man's gaze met everywhere only impenetrable forests in which +the woodsman's axe had not yet permitted the plough to cleave and +fertilize the soil; instead of our rich and populous cities, of our +innumerable villages daintily perched on the brinks of streams, or +rising here and there in the midst of verdant plains, the eye perceived +only puny wigwams isolated and lost upon the banks of the great river, +or perhaps a few agglomerations of smoky huts, such as Hochelaga or +Stadacone; instead of our iron rails, penetrating in all directions, +instead of our peaceful fields over which trains hasten at marvellous +speed from ocean to ocean, there were but narrow trails winding through +a jungle of primeval trees, behind which hid in turn the Iroquois, the +Huron or the Algonquin, awaiting the propitious moment to let fly the +fatal arrow; instead of the numerous vessels bearing over the waves of +the St. Lawrence, at a distance of more than six hundred leagues from +the sea, the products of the five continents; instead of yonder +floating palaces, thronged with travellers from the four corners of the +earth, then only an occasional bark canoe came gliding slyly along by +the reeds of the shore, scarcely stopping except to permit its crew to +kindle a fire, to make prisoners or to scalp some enemy. + +A heroic courage was necessary to undertake to carry the faith to these +savage tribes. It was condemning one's self to lead a life like theirs, +of ineffable hardships, dangers and privations, now in a bark canoe and +paddle in hand, now on foot and bearing upon one's shoulders the things +necessary for the holy sacrament; in the least case it was braving +hunger and thirst, exposing one's self to the rigours of an excessive +cold, with which European nations were not yet familiar; it often meant +hastening to meet the most horrible tortures. In spite of all this, +however, Father Le Caron did not hesitate to penetrate as far as the +country of the Hurons, while Fathers Sagard and Viel were sowing the +first seeds of Christianity in the St. Lawrence valley. The devotion of +the Recollets, to the family of whom belonged these first missionaries +of Canada, was but ill-rewarded, for, after the treaty of St. +Germain-en-Laye, which restored Canada to France, the king refused them +permission to return to a region which they had watered with the sweat +of their brows and fertilized with their blood. + +The humble children of St. Francis had already evangelized the Huron +tribes as far as the Georgian Bay, when the Company of the Cent-Associes +was founded by Richelieu. The obligation which the great cardinal +imposed upon them of providing for the maintenance of the propagators of +the gospel was to assure the future existence of the missions. The +merit, however, which lay in the creation of a society which did so much +for the furtherance of Roman Catholicism in North America is not due +exclusively to the great cardinal, for Samuel de Champlain can claim a +large share of it. "The welfare of a soul," said this pious founder of +Quebec, "is more than the conquest of an empire, and kings should think +of extending their rule in infidel countries only to assure therein the +reign of Jesus Christ." + +Think of the suffering endured, in order to save a soul, by men who for +this sublime purpose renounced all that constitutes the charm of life! +Not only did the Jesuits, in the early days of the colony, brave +horrible dangers with invincible steadfastness, but they even consented +to imitate the savages, to live their life, to learn their difficult +idioms. Let us listen to this magnificent testimony of the Protestant +historian Bancroft:-- + +"The horrors of a Canadian life in the wilderness were resisted by an +invincible, passive courage, and a deep, internal tranquillity. Away +from the amenities of life, away from the opportunities of vain-glory, +they became dead to the world, and possessed their souls in unalterable +peace. The few who lived to grow old, though bowed by the toils of a +long mission, still kindled with the fervour of apostolic zeal. The +history of their labours is connected with the origin of every +celebrated town in the annals of French Canada; not a cape was turned +nor a river entered but a Jesuit led the way." + +Must we now recall the edifying deaths of the sons of Loyola, who +brought the glad tidings of the gospel to the Hurons?--Father Jogues, +who returned from the banks of the Niagara with a broken shoulder and +mutilated hands, and went back, with sublime persistence, to his +barbarous persecutors, to pluck from their midst the palm of martyrdom; +Father Daniel, wounded by a spear while he was absolving the dying in +the village of St. Joseph; Father Brebeuf, refusing to escape with the +women and children of the hamlet of St. Louis, and expiring, together +with Father Gabriel Lalemant, in the most frightful tortures that Satan +could suggest to the imagination of a savage; Father Charles Garnier +pierced with three bullets, and giving up the ghost while blessing his +converts; Father de Noue dying on his knees in the snow! + +These missions had succumbed in 1648 and 1649 under the attacks of the +Iroquois. The venerable founder of St. Sulpice, M. Olier, had foreseen +this misfortune; he had always doubted the success of missions so +extended and so widely scattered without a centre of support +sufficiently strong to resist a systematic and concerted attack of all +their enemies at once. Without disapproving the despatch of these flying +columns of missionaries which visited tribe after tribe (perhaps the +only possible method in a country governed by pagan chiefs), he believed +that another system of preaching the gospel would produce, perhaps with +less danger, a more durable effect in the regions protected by the flag +of France. Taking up again the thought of the Benedictine monks, who +have succeeded so well in other countries, M. Olier and the other +founders of Montreal wished to establish a centre of fervent piety which +should accomplish still more by example than by preaching. The +development and progress of religious work must increase with the +material importance of this centre of proselytism. In consequence, +success would be slow, less brilliant, but surer than that ordinarily +obtained by separate missions. This was, at least, the hope of our +fathers, and we of Quebec would seem unjust towards Providence and +towards them if, beholding the present condition of the two seminaries +of this city, of our Catholic colleges, of our institutions of every +kind, and of our religious orders, we did not recognize that their +thought was wise, and their enterprise one of prudence and blessed by +God. + +Up to 1658 New France belonged to the jurisdiction of the Bishops of St. +Malo and of Rouen. At the time of the second voyage of Cartier, in +1535, his whole crew, with their officers at their head, confessed and +received communion from the hands of the Bishop of St. Malo. This +jurisdiction lasted until the appointment of the first Bishop of New +France. The creation of a diocese came in due time; the need of an +ecclesiastical superior, of a character capable of imposing his +authority made itself felt more and more. Disorders of all kinds crept +into the colony, and our fathers felt the necessity of a firm and +vigorous arm to remedy this alarming state of affairs. The love of +lucre, of gain easily acquired by the sale of spirituous liquors to the +savages, brought with it evils against which the missionaries +endeavoured to react. + +Francois de Laval-Montmorency, who was called in his youth the Abbe de +Montigny, was, on the recommendation of the Jesuits, appointed apostolic +vicar by Pope Alexander VII, who conferred upon him the title of Bishop +of Petraea _in partibus_. The Church in Canada was then directly +connected with the Holy See, and the sovereign pontiff abandoned to the +king of France the right of appointment and presentation of bishops +having the authority of apostolic vicars. + +The difficulties which arose between Mgr. de Laval and the Abbe de +Queylus, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, were regrettable, but, thanks +to the truly apostolic zeal and the purity of intention of these two men +of God, these difficulties were not long in giving place to a noble +rivalry for good, fostered by a perfect harmony. The Abbe de Queylus had +come to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the company of St. +Sulpice, and to establish there a seminary on the model of that in +Paris. This creation, with that of the hospital established by Mlle. +Mance, gave a great impetus to the young city of Montreal. Moreover, +religion was so truly the motive of the foundation of the colony by M. +Olier and his associates, that the latter had placed the Island of +Montreal under the protection of the Holy Virgin. The priests of St. +Sulpice, who had become the lords of the island, had already given an +earnest of their labours; they too aspired to venerate martyrs chosen +from their ranks, and in the same year MM. Lemaitre and Vignal perished +at the hands of the wild Iroquois. + +Meanwhile, under the paternal direction of Mgr. de Laval, and the +thoroughly Christian administration of governors like Champlain, de +Montmagny, d'Ailleboust, or of leaders like Maisonneuve and Major +Closse, Heaven was pleased to spread its blessings upon the rising +colony; a number of savages asked and received baptism, and the fervour +of the colonists endured. The men were not the only ones to spread the +good word; holy maidens worked on their part for the glory of God, +whether in the hospitals of Quebec and Montreal, or in the institution +of the Ursulines in the heart of the city of Champlain, or, finally, in +the modest school founded at Ville-Marie by Sister Marguerite +Bourgeoys. It is true that the blood of the Indians and of their +missionaries had been shed in floods, that the Huron missions had been +exterminated, and that, moreover, two camps of Algonquins had been +destroyed and swept away; but nations as well as individuals may promise +themselves the greater progress in the spiritual life according as they +commence it with a more abundant and a richer record; and the greatest +treasure of a nation is the blood of the martyrs who have founded it. +Moreover, the fugitive Hurons went to convert their enemies, and even +from the funeral pyres of the priests was to spring the spark of faith +for all these peoples. Two hamlets were founded for the converted +Iroquois, those of the Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga) and of La Montagne +at Montreal, and fervent neophytes gathered there. + +Certain historians have regretted that the first savages encountered by +the French in North America should have been Hurons; an alliance made +with the Iroquois, they say, would have been a hundred times more +profitable for civilization and for France. What do we know about it? +Man imagines and arranges his plans, but above these arrangements hovers +Providence--fools say, chance--whose foreseeing hand sets all in order +for the accomplishment of His impenetrable design. Yet, however firmly +convinced the historian may be that the eye of Providence never sleeps, +that the Divine Hand is never still, he must be sober in his +observations; he must yield neither to his fancy nor to his imagination; +but neither must he banish God from history, for then everything in it +would become incomprehensible and inexplicable, absurd and barren. It +was this same God who guides events at His will that inspired and +sustained the devoted missionaries in their efforts against the +revenue-farmers in the matter of the sale of intoxicating liquors to the +savages. The struggle which they maintained, supported by the venerable +Bishop of Petraea, is wholly to their honour; it was a question of saving +even against their will the unfortunate children of the woods who were +addicted to the fatal passion of intoxication. Unhappily, the Governors +d'Avaugour and de Mezy, in supporting the greed of the traders, were +perhaps right from the political point of view, but certainly wrong from +a philanthropic and Christian standpoint. + +The colony continuing to prosper, and the growing need of a national +clergy becoming more and more felt, Mgr. de Laval founded in 1663 a +seminary at Quebec. The king decided that the tithes raised from the +colonists should be collected by the seminary, which was to provide for +the maintenance of the priests and for divine service in the established +parishes. The Sovereign Council fixed the tithe at a twenty-sixth. + +The missionaries continued, none the less, to spread the light of the +gospel and Christian civilization. It seems that the field of their +labour had never been too vast for their desire. Ever onward! was their +motto. While Fathers Garreau and Mesnard found death among the +Algonquins on the coasts of Lake Superior, the Sulpicians Dollier and +Gallinee were planting the cross on the shores of Lake Erie; Father +Claude Allouez was preaching the gospel beyond Lake Superior; Fathers +Dablon, Marquette, and Druilletes were establishing the mission of Sault +Ste. Marie; Father Albanel was proceeding to explore Hudson Bay; Father +Marquette, acting with Joliet, was following the course of the +Mississippi as far as Arkansas; finally, later on, Father Arnaud +accompanied La Verendrye as far as the Rocky Mountains. + +The establishment of the Catholic religion in Canada had now witnessed +its darkest days; its history becomes intimately interwoven with that of +the country. Up to the English conquest, the clergy and the different +religious congregations, as faithful to France as to the Holy See, +encouraged the Canadians in their struggles against the invaders. +Accordingly, at the time of the invasion of the colony by Phipps, the +Americans of Boston declared that they would spare neither monks nor +missionaries if they succeeded in seizing Quebec; they bore a particular +grudge against the priests of the seminary, to whom they ascribed the +ravages committed shortly before in New England by the Abenaquis. They +were punished for their boasting; forty seminarists assembled at St. +Joachim, the country house of the seminary, joined the volunteers who +fought at Beauport, and contributed so much to the victory that +Frontenac, to recompense their bravery, presented them with a cannon +captured by themselves. + +The Church of Rome had been able to continue in peace its mission in +Canada from the departure of Mgr. de Laval, in 1684, to the conquest of +the country by the English. The worthy Bishop of Petraea, created Bishop +of Quebec in 1674, was succeeded by Mgr. de St. Vallier, then by Mgr. de +Mornay, who did not come to Canada, by Mgr. de Dosquet, Mgr. Pourroy de +l'Aube-Riviere, and Mgr. de Pontbriant, who died the very year in which +General de Levis made of his flags on St. Helen's Island a sacred pyre. + +In 1760 the Protestant religion was about to penetrate into Canada in +the train of the victorious armies of Great Britain, having been +proscribed in the colony from the time of Champlain. With conquerors of +a different religion, the role of the Catholic clergy became much more +arduous and delicate; this will be readily admitted when we recall that +Mgr. Briand was informally apprised at the time of his appointment that +the government of England would appear to be ignorant of his +consecration and induction by the Bishop of Rome. But the clergy managed +to keep itself on a level with its task. A systematic opposition on its +part to the new masters of the country could only have drawn upon the +whole population a bitter oppression, and we would not behold to-day the +prosperity of these nine ecclesiastical provinces of Canada, with their +twenty-four dioceses, these numerous parishes which vie with each other +in the advancement of souls, these innumerable religious houses which +everywhere are spreading education or charity. The Act of Quebec in 1774 +delivered our fathers from the unjust fetters fastened on their freedom +by the oath required under the Supremacy Act; but it is to the prudence +of Mgr. Plessis in particular that Catholics owe the religious liberty +which they now enjoy. + +To-day, when passions are calmed, when we possess a full and complete +liberty of conscience, to-day when the different religious denominations +live side by side in mutual respect and tolerance of each other's +convictions, let us give thanks to the spiritual guides who by their +wisdom and moderation, but also by their energetic resistance when it +was necessary, knew how to preserve for us our language and our +religion. Let us always respect the worthy prelates who, like those who +direct us to-day, edify us by their tact, their knowledge and their +virtues. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANCOIS DE LAVAL + + +Certain great men pass through the world like meteors; their brilliance, +lightning-like at their first appearance, continues to cast a dazzling +gleam across the centuries: such were Alexander the Great, Mozart, +Shakespeare and Napoleon. Others, on the contrary, do not instantly +command the admiration of the masses; it is necessary, in order that +their transcendent merit should appear, either that the veil which +covered their actions should be gradually lifted, or that, some fine +day, and often after their death, the results of their work should shine +forth suddenly to the eyes of men and prove their genius: such were +Socrates, Themistocles, Jacquard, Copernicus, and Christopher Columbus. + +The illustrious ecclesiastic who has given his name to our +French-Canadian university, respected as he was by his contemporaries, +has been esteemed at his proper value only by posterity. The reason is +easy to understand: a colony still in its infancy is subject to many +fluctuations before all the wheels of government move smoothly, and Mgr. +de Laval, obliged to face ever renewed conflicts of authority, had +necessarily either to abandon what he considered it his duty to +support, or create malcontents. If sometimes he carried persistence to +the verge of obstinacy, he must be judged in relation to the period in +which he lived: governors like Frontenac were only too anxious to +imitate their absolute master, whose guiding maxim was, "I am the +state!" Moreover, where are the men of true worth who have not found +upon their path the poisoned fruits of hatred? The so-called praise that +is sometimes applied to a man, when we say of him, "he has not a single +enemy," seems to us, on the contrary, a certificate of insignificance +and obscurity. The figure of this great servant of God is one of those +which shed the most glory on the history of Canada; the age of Louis +XIV, so marvellous in the number of great men which it gave to France, +lavished them also upon her daughter of the new continent--Brebeuf and +Lalemant, de Maisonneuve, Dollard, Laval, Talon, de la Salle, Frontenac, +d'Iberville, de Maricourt, de Sainte-Helene, and many others. + +"Noble as a Montmorency" says a well-known adage. The founder of that +illustrious line, Bouchard, Lord of Montmorency, figures as early as 950 +A.D. among the great vassals of the kingdom of France. The +heads of this house bore formerly the titles of First Christian Barons +and of First Barons of France; it became allied to several royal houses, +and gave to the elder daughter of the Church several cardinals, six +constables, twelve marshals, four admirals, and a great number of +distinguished generals and statesmen. Sprung from this family, whose +origin is lost in the night of time, Francois de Laval-Montmorency was +born at Montigny-sur-Avre, in the department of Eure-et-Loir, on April +30th, 1623. This charming village, which still exists, was part of the +important diocese of Chartres. Through his father, Hugues de Laval, +Seigneur of Montigny, Montbeaudry, Alaincourt and Revercourt, the future +Bishop of Quebec traced his descent from Count Guy de Laval, younger son +of the constable Mathieu de Montmorency, and through his mother, +Michelle de Pericard, he belonged to a family of hereditary officers of +the Crown, which was well-known in Normandy, and gave to the Church a +goodly number of prelates. + +Like St. Louis, one of the protectors of his ancestors, the young +Francois was indebted to his mother for lessons and examples of piety +and of charity which he never forgot. Virtue, moreover, was as natural +to the Lavals as bravery on the field of battle, and whether it were in +the retinue of Clovis, when the First Barons received the regenerating +water of baptism, or on the immortal plain of Bouvines; whether it were +by the side of Blanche of Castile, attacked by the rebellious nobles, or +in the terrible holocaust of Crecy; whether it were in the _fight of the +giants_ at Marignan, or after Pavia during the captivity of the +_roi-gentilhomme_; everywhere where country and religion appealed to +their defenders one was sure of hearing shouted in the foremost ranks +the motto of the Montmorencys: _"Dieu ayde au premier baron chretien!"_ + +Young Laval received at the baptismal font the name of the heroic +missionary to the Indies, Francois-Xavier. To this saint and to the +founder of the Franciscans, Francois d'Assise, he devoted throughout his +life an ardent worship. Of his youth we hardly know anything except the +misfortunes which happened to his family. He was only fourteen years old +when, in 1636, he suffered the loss of his father, and one of his near +kinsmen, Henri de Montmorency, grand marshal of France, and governor of +Languedoc, beheaded by the order of Richelieu. The bravery displayed by +this valiant warrior in battle unfortunately did not redeem the fault +which he had committed in rebelling against the established power, +against his lawful master, Louis XIII, and in neglecting thus the +traditions handed down to him by his family through more than seven +centuries of glory. + +Some historians reproach Richelieu with cruelty, but in that troublous +age when, hardly free from the wars of religion, men rushed carelessly +on into the rebellions of the duc d'Orleans and the duc de Soissons, +into the conspiracies of Chalais, of Cinq-Mars and de Thou, soon +followed by the war of La Fronde, it was not by an indulgence synonymous +with weakness that it was possible to strengthen the royal power. Who +knows if it was not this energy of the great cardinal which inspired the +young Francois, at an age when sentiment is so deeply impressed upon the +soul, with those ideas of firmness which distinguished him later on? + +The future Bishop of Quebec was then a scholar in the college of La +Fleche, directed by the Jesuits, for his pious parents held nothing +dearer than the education of their children in the fear of God and love +of the good. They had had six children; the two first had perished in +the flower of their youth on fields of battle; Francois, who was now the +eldest, inherited the name and patrimony of Montigny, which he gave up +later on to his brother Jean-Louis, which explains why he was called for +some time Abbe de Montigny, and resumed later the generic name of the +family of Laval; the fifth son, Henri de Laval, joined the Benedictine +monks and became prior of La Croix-Saint-Leuffroy. Finally the only +sister of Mgr. Laval, Anne Charlotte, became Mother Superior of the +religious community of the Daughters of the Holy Sacrament. + +Francois edified the comrades of his early youth by his ardent piety, +and his tender respect for the house of God; his masters, too, clever as +they were in the art of guiding young men and of distinguishing those +who were to shine later on, were not slow in recognizing his splendid +qualities, the clear-sightedness and breadth of his intelligence, and +his wonderful memory. As a reward for his good conduct he was admitted +to the privileged ranks of those who comprised the Congregation of the +Holy Virgin. We know what good these admirable societies, founded by the +sons of Loyola, have accomplished and still accomplish daily in Catholic +schools the world over. Societies which vie with each other in piety and +encouragement of virtue, they inspire young people with the love of +prayer, the habits of regularity and of holy practices. + +The congregation of the college of La Fleche had then the good fortune +of being directed by Father Bagot, one of those superior priests always +so numerous in the Company of Jesus. At one time confessor to King Louis +XIII, Father Bagot was a profound philosopher and an eminent theologian. +It was under his clever direction that the mind of Francois de Laval was +formed, and we shall witness later the germination of the seed which the +learned Jesuit sowed in the soul of his beloved scholar. + +At this period great families devoted to God from early youth the +younger members who showed inclination for the religious life. Francois +was only nine years old when he received the tonsure, and fifteen when +he was appointed canon of the cathedral of Evreux. Without the revenues +which he drew from his prebend, he would not have been able to continue +his literary studies; the death of his father, in fact, had left his +family in a rather precarious condition of fortune. He was to remain to +the end of his career the pupil of his preferred masters, for it was +under them that, having at the age of nineteen left the institution +where he had brilliantly completed his classical education, he studied +philosophy and theology at the College de Clermont at Paris. + +He was plunged in these noble studies, when two terrible blows fell upon +him; he learned of the successive deaths of his two eldest brothers, who +had fallen gloriously, one at Freiburg, the other at Noerdlingen. He +became thus the head of the family, and as if the temptations which this +title offered him were not sufficient, bringing him as it did, together +with a great name a brilliant future, his mother came, supported by the +Bishop of Evreux, his cousin, to beg him to abandon the ecclesiastical +career and to marry, in order to maintain the honour of his house. Many +others would have succumbed, but what were temporal advantages to a man +who had long aspired to the glory of going to preach the Divine Word in +far-off missions? He remained inflexible; all that his mother could +obtain from him was his consent to devote to her for some time his clear +judgment and intellect in setting in order the affairs of his family. A +few months sufficed for success in this task. In order to place an +impassable abyss between himself and the world, he made a full and +complete renunciation in favour of his brother Jean-Louis of his rights +of primogeniture and all his titles to the seigniory of Montigny and +Montbeaudry. The world is ever prone to admire a chivalrous action, and +to look askance at deeds which appear to savour of fanaticism. To Laval +this renunciation of worldly wealth and honour appeared in the simple +light of duty. His Master's words were inspiration enough: "Wist ye not +that I must be about my Father's business?" + +Returning to the College de Clermont, he now thought of nothing but of +preparing to receive worthily the holy orders. It was on September 23rd, +1647, at Paris, that he saw dawn for him the beautiful day of the first +mass, whose memory perfumes the whole life of the priest. We may guess +with what fervour he must have ascended the steps of the holy altar; if +up to that moment he had merely loved his God, he must on that day have +dedicated to Jesus all the powers of his being, all the tenderness of +his soul, and his every heart-beat. + +Mgr. de Pericard, Bishop of Evreux, was not present at the ordination of +his cousin; death had taken him away, but before expiring, besides +expressing his regret to the new priest for having tried at the time, +thinking to further the aims of God, to dissuade him from the +ecclesiastical life, he gave him a last proof of his affection by +appointing him archdeacon of his cathedral. The duties of the +archdeaconry of Evreux, comprising, as it did, nearly one hundred and +sixty parishes, were particularly heavy, yet the young priest fulfilled +them for seven years, and M. de la Colombiere explains to us how he +acquitted himself of them: "The regularity of his visits, the fervour of +his enthusiasm, the improvement and the good order which he established +in the parishes, the relief of the poor, his interest in all sorts of +charity, none of which escaped his notice: all this showed well that +without being a bishop he had the ability and merit of one, and that +there was no service which the Church might not expect from so great a +subject." + +But our future Bishop of New France aspired to more glorious fields. One +of those zealous apostles who were evangelizing India at this period, +Father Alexander of Rhodes, asked from the sovereign pontiff the +appointment for Asia of three French bishops, and submitted to the Holy +See the names of MM. Pallu, Picquet and Laval. There was no question of +hesitation. All three set out immediately for Rome. They remained there +fifteen months; the opposition of the Portuguese court caused the +failure of this plan, and Francois de Laval returned to France. He had +resigned the office of archdeacon the year before, 1653, in favour of a +man of tried virtue, who had been, nevertheless, a prey to calumny and +persecution, the Abbe Henri-Marie Boudon; thus freed from all +responsibility, Laval could satisfy his desire of preparing himself by +prayer for the designs which God might have for him. + +In his desire of attaining the greatest possible perfection, he betook +himself to Caen, to the religious retreat of M. de Bernieres. St. +Vincent de Paul, who had trained M. Olier, was desirous also that his +pupil, before going to find a field for his apostolic zeal among the +people of Auvergne, should prepare himself by earnest meditation in +retirement at St. Lazare. "Silence and introspection seemed to St. +Vincent," says M. de Lanjuere, the author of the life of M. Olier, "the +first conditions of success, preceding any serious enterprise. He had +not learned this from Pythagoras or the Greek philosophers, who were, +indeed, so careful to prescribe for their disciples a long period of +meditation before initiation into their systems, nor even from the +experience of all superior men, who, in order to ripen a great plan or +to evolve a great thought, have always felt the need of isolation in the +nobler acceptance of the word; but he had this maxim from the very +example of the Saviour, who, before the temptation and before the +transfiguration, withdrew from the world in order to contemplate, and +who prayed in Gethsemane before His death on the cross, and who often +led His disciples into solitude to rest, and to listen to His most +precious communications." + +In this little town of Caen, in a house called the Hermitage, lived Jean +de Bernieres of Louvigny, together with some of his friends. They had +gathered together for the purpose of aiding each other in mutual +sanctification; they practised prayer, and lived in the exercise of the +highest piety and charity. Francois de Laval passed three years in this +Hermitage, and his wisdom was already so highly appreciated, that during +the period of his stay he was entrusted with two important missions, +whose successful issue attracted attention to him and led naturally to +his appointment to the bishopric of Canada. + +As early as 1647 the king foresaw the coming creation of a bishopric in +New France, for he constituted the Upper Council "of the Governor of +Quebec, the Governor of Montreal and the Superior of the Jesuits, _until +there should be a bishop_." A few years later, in 1656, the Company of +Montreal obtained from M. Olier, the pious founder of the Seminary of +St. Sulpice, the services of four of his priests for the colony, under +the direction of one of them, M. de Queylus, Abbe de Loc-Dieu, whose +brilliant qualities, as well as the noble use which he made of his great +fortune, marked him out naturally as the probable choice of his +associates for the episcopacy. But the Jesuits, in possession of all the +missions of New France, had their word to say, especially since the +mitre had been offered by the queen regent, Anne of Austria, to one of +their number, Father Lejeune, who had not, however, been able to accept, +their rules forbidding it. They had then proposed to the court of France +and the court of Rome the name of Francois de Laval; but believing that +the colony was not ready for the erection of a see, they expressed the +opinion that the sending of an apostolic vicar with the functions and +powers of a bishop _in partibus_ would suffice. Moreover, if the person +sent should not succeed, he could at any time be recalled, which could +not be done in the case of a bishop. Alexander VII had given his consent +to this new plan, and Mgr. de Laval was consecrated by the nuncio of the +Pope at Paris, on Sunday, December 8th, 1658, in the church of St. +Germain-des-Pres. After having taken, with the assent of the sovereign +pontiff, the oath of fidelity to the king, the new Bishop of Petraea said +farewell to his pious mother (who died in that same year) and embarked +at La Rochelle in the month of April, 1659. The only property he +retained was an income of a thousand francs assured to him by the +Queen-Mother; but he was setting out to conquer treasures very different +from those coveted by the Spanish adventurers who sailed to Mexico and +Peru. He arrived on June 16th at Quebec, with letters from the king +which enjoined upon all the recognition of Mgr. de Laval of Petraea as +being authorized to exercise episcopal functions in the colony without +prejudice to the rights of the Archbishop of Rouen. + +Unfortunately, men's minds were not very certain then as to the title +and qualities of an apostolic vicar. They asked themselves if he were +not a simple delegate whose authority did not conflict with the +jurisdiction of the two grand vicars of the Jesuits and the Sulpicians. +The communities, at first divided on this point, submitted on the +receipt of new letters from the king, which commanded the recognition of +the sole authority of the Bishop of Petraea. The two grand vicars obeyed, +and M. de Queylus came to Quebec, where he preached the sermon on St. +Augustine's Day (August 28th), and satisfied the claim to authority of +the apostolic vicar. + +But a new complication arose: the _St. Andre_, which had arrived on +September 7th, brought to the Abbe de Queylus a new appointment as grand +vicar from the Archbishop of Rouen, which contained his protests at +court against the apostolic vicar, and letters from the king which +seemed to confirm them. Doubt as to the authenticity of the powers of +Mgr. de Laval might thus, at least, seem permissible; no act of the Abbe +de Queylus, however, indicates that it was openly manifested, and the +very next month the abbe returned to France. + +We may understand, however, that Mgr. de Laval, in the midst of such +difficulties, felt the need of early asserting his authority. He +promulgated an order enjoining upon all the secular ecclesiastics of the +country the disavowal of all foreign jurisdictions and the recognition +of his alone, and commanded them to sign this regulation in evidence of +their submission. All signed it, including the devoted priests of St. +Sulpice at Montreal. + +Two years later, nevertheless, the Abbe de Queylus returned with bulls +from the Congregation of the Daterie at Rome. These bulls placed him in +possession of the parish of Montreal. In spite of the formal forbiddance +of the Bishop of Petraea, he undertook, strong in what he judged to be +his rights, to betake himself to Montreal. The prelate on his side +believed that it was his duty to take severe steps, and he suspended the +Abbe de Queylus. On instructions which were given him by the king, +Governor d'Avaugour transmitted to the Abbe de Queylus an order to +return to France. The court of Rome finally settled the question by +giving the entire jurisdiction of Canada to Mgr. de Laval. The affair +thus ended, the Abbe de Queylus returned to the colony in 1668. The +population of Ville-Marie received with deep joy this benefactor, to +whose generosity it owed so much, and on his side the worthy Bishop of +Petraea proved that if he had believed it his duty to defend his own +authority when menaced, he had too noble a heart to preserve a petty +rancour. He appointed the worthy Abbe de Queylus his grand vicar at +Montreal. + +When for the first time Mgr. de Laval set foot on the soil of America, +the people, assembled to pay respect to their first pastor, were struck +by his address, which was both affable and majestic, by his manners, as +easy as they were distinguished, but especially by that charm which +emanates from every one whose heart has remained ever pure. A lofty brow +indicated an intellect above the ordinary; the clean-cut long nose was +the inheritance of the Montmorencys; his eye was keen and bright; his +eyebrows strongly arched; his thin lips and prominent chin showed a +tenacious will; his hair was scanty; finally, according to the custom of +that period, a moustache and chin beard added to the strength and energy +of his features. From the moment of his arrival the prelate produced the +best impression. "I cannot," said Governor d'Argenson, "I cannot highly +enough esteem the zeal and piety of Mgr. of Petraea. He is a true man of +prayer, and I make no doubt that his labours will bear goodly fruits in +this country." Boucher, governor of Three Rivers, wrote thus: "We have a +bishop whose zeal and virtue are beyond anything that I can say." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SOVEREIGN COUNCIL + + +The pious bishop who is the subject of this study was not long in +proving that his virtues were not too highly esteemed. An ancient +vessel, the _St. Andre_, brought from France two hundred and six +persons, among whom were Mlle. Mance, the foundress of the Montreal +hospital, Sister Bourgeoys, and two Sulpicians, MM. Vignal and Lemaitre. +Now this ship had long served as a sailors' hospital, and it had been +sent back to sea without the necessary quarantine. Hardly had its +passengers lost sight of the coasts of France when the plague broke out +among them, and with such intensity that all were more or less attacked +by it; Mlle. Mance, in particular, was almost immediately reduced to the +point of death. Always very delicate, and exhausted by a preceding +voyage, she did not seem destined to resist this latest attack. +Moreover, all aid was lacking, even the rations of fresh water ran +short, and from a fear of contagion, which will be readily understood, +but which was none the less disastrous, the captain at first forbade the +Sisters of Charity who were on board to minister to the sick. This +precaution cost seven or eight of these unfortunate people their lives. +At least M. Vignal and M. Lemaitre, though both suffering themselves, +were able to offer to the dying the consolations of their holy office. +M. Lemaitre, more vigorous than his colleague, and possessed of an +admirable energy and devotion, was not satisfied merely with encouraging +and ministering to the unfortunate in their last moments, but even +watched over their remains at the risk of his own life; he buried them +piously, wound them in their shrouds, and said over them the final +prayers as they were lowered into the sea. Two Huguenots, touched by his +devotion, died in the Roman Catholic faith. The Sisters were finally +permitted to exercise their charitable office. Although ill, they as +well as Sister Bourgeoys, displayed a heroic energy, and raised the +morale of all the unfortunate passengers. + +To this sickness were added other sufferings incident to such a voyage, +and frightful storms did not cease to attack the ship until its entry +into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Several times they believed themselves on +the point of foundering, and the two priests gave absolution to all. The +tempest carried these unhappy people so far from their route that they +did not arrive at Quebec until September 7th, exhausted by disease, +famine and trials of all sorts. Father Dequen, of the Society of Jesus, +showed in this matter an example of the most admirable charity. He +brought to the sick refreshments and every manner of aid, and lavished +upon all the offices of his holy ministry. As a result of his +self-devotion, he was attacked by the scourge and died in the exercise +of charity. Several more, after being conveyed to the hospital, +succumbed to the disease, and the whole country was infected. Mgr. of +Petraea was admirable in his devotion; he hardly left the hospital at +all, and constituted himself the nurse of all these unfortunates, making +their beds and giving them the most attentive care. "He is continually +at the hospital," wrote Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "in order to +help the sick and to make their beds. We do what we can to prevent him +and to shield his health, but no eloquence can dissuade him from these +acts of self-abasement." + +In the spring of the year 1662, Mgr. de Laval rented for his own use an +old house situated on the site of the present parochial residence at +Quebec, and it was there that, with the three other priests who then +composed his episcopal court, he edified all the colonists by the +simplicity of a cenobitic life. He had been at first the guest of the +Jesuit Fathers, was later sheltered by the Sisters of the Hotel-Dieu, +and subsequently lodged with the Ursulines. At this period it was indeed +incumbent upon him to adapt himself to circumstances; nor did these +modest conditions displease the former pupil of M. de Bernieres, since, +as Latour bears witness, "he always complained that people did too much +for him; he showed a distaste for all that was too daintily prepared, +and affected, on the contrary, a sort of avidity for coarser fare." +Mother Mary of the Incarnation wrote: "He lives like a holy man and an +apostle; his life is so exemplary that he commands the admiration of the +country. He gives everything away and lives like a pauper, and one may +well say that he has the very spirit of poverty. He practises this +poverty in his house, in his manner of living, and in the matter of +furniture and servants; for he has but one gardener, whom he lends to +poor people when they have need of him, and a valet who formerly served +M. de Bernieres." + +But if the reverend prelate was modest and simple in his personal +tastes, he became inflexible when he thought it his duty to maintain the +rights of the Church. And he watched over these rights with the more +circumspection since he was the first bishop installed in the colony, +and was unwilling to allow abuses to be planted there, which later it +would be very difficult, not to say impossible, to uproot. Hence the +continual friction between him and the governor-general, d'Argenson, on +questions of precedence and etiquette. Some of these disputes would seem +to us childish to-day if even such a writer as Parkman did not put us on +our guard against a premature judgment.[1] "The disputes in question," +writes Parkman, "though of a nature to provoke a smile on irreverent +lips, were by no means so puerile as they appear. It is difficult in a +modern democratic society to conceive the substantial importance of the +signs and symbols of dignity and authority, at a time and among a people +where they were adjusted with the most scrupulous precision, and +accepted by all classes as exponents of relative degrees in the social +and political scale. Whether the bishop or the governor should sit in +the higher seat at table thus became a political question, for it +defined to the popular understanding the position of Church and State in +their relations to government." + +In his zeal for making his episcopal authority respected, could not the +prelate, however, have made some concessions to the temporal power? It +is allowable to think so, when his panegyrist, the Abbe Gosselin, +acknowledges it in these terms: "Did he sometimes show too much ardour +in the settlement of a question or in the assertion of his rights? It is +possible. As the Abbe Ferland rightly observes, 'no virtue is perfect +upon earth.' But he was too pious and too disinterested for us to +suspect for a moment the purity of his intentions." In certain passages +in his journal Father Lalemant seems to be of the same opinion. All men +are fallible; even the greatest saints have erred. In this connection +the remark of St. Bernardin of Siena presents itself naturally to the +religious mind: "Each time," says he, "that God grants to a creature a +marked and particular favour, and when divine grace summons him to a +special task and to some sublime position, it is a rule of Providence +to furnish that creature with all the means necessary to fulfil the +mission which is entrusted to him, and to bring it to a happy +conclusion. Providence prepares his birth, directs his education, +produces the environment in which he is to live; even his faults +Providence will use in the accomplishment of its purposes." + +Difficulties of another sort fixed between the spiritual and the +temporal chiefs of the colony a still deeper gulf; they arose from the +trade in brandy with the savages. It had been formerly forbidden by the +Sovereign Council, and this measure, urged by the clergy and the +missionaries, put a stop to crimes and disorders. However, for the +purpose of gain, certain men infringed this wise prohibition, and Mgr. +de Laval, aware of the extensive harm caused by the fatal passion of the +Indians for intoxicating liquors, hurled excommunication against all who +should carry on the traffic in brandy with the savages. "It would be +very difficult," writes M. de Latour, "to realize to what an excess +these barbarians are carried by drunkenness. There is no species of +madness, of crime or inhumanity to which they do not descend. The +savage, for a glass of brandy, will give even his clothes, his cabin, +his wife, his children; a squaw when made drunk--and this is often done +purposely--will abandon herself to the first comer. They will tear each +other to pieces. If one enters a cabin whose inmates have just drunk +brandy, one will behold with astonishment and horror the father cutting +the throat of his son, the son threatening his father; the husband and +wife, the best of friends, inflicting murderous blows upon each other, +biting each other, tearing out each other's eyes, noses and ears; they +are no longer recognizable, they are madmen; there is perhaps in the +world no more vivid picture of hell. There are often some among them who +seek drunkenness in order to avenge themselves upon their enemies, and +commit with impunity all sorts of crimes under the pretext of this fine +excuse, which passes with them for a complete justification, that at +these times they are not free and not in their senses." Drunken savages +are brutes, it is true, but were not the whites who fostered this fatal +passion of intoxication more guilty still than the wretches whom they +ignominiously urged on to vice? Let us see what the same writer says of +these corrupters. "If it is difficult," says he, "to explain the +excesses of the savage, it is also difficult to understand the extent of +the greed, the hypocrisy and the rascality of those who supply them with +these drinks. The facility for making immense profits which is afforded +them by the ignorance and the passions of these people, and the +certainty of impunity, are things which they cannot resist; the +attraction of gain acts upon them as drunkenness does upon their +victims. How many crimes arise from the same source? There is no mother +who does not fear for her daughter, no husband who does not dread for +his wife, a libertine armed with a bottle of brandy; they rob and +pillage these wretches, who, stupefied by intoxication when they are not +maddened by it, can neither refuse nor defend themselves. There is no +barrier which is not forced, no weakness which is not exploited, in +these remote regions where, without either witnesses or masters, only +the voice of brutal passion is listened to, every crime of which is +inspired by a glass of brandy. The French are worse in this respect than +the savages." + +Governor d'Avaugour supported energetically the measures taken by Mgr. +de Laval; unfortunately a regrettable incident destroyed the harmony +between their two authorities. Inspired by his good heart, the superior +of the Jesuits, Father Lalemant, interceded with the governor in favour +of a woman imprisoned for having infringed the prohibition of the sale +of brandy to the Indians. "If she is not to be punished," brusquely +replied d'Avaugour, "no one shall be punished henceforth!" And, as he +made it a point of honour not to withdraw this unfortunate utterance, +the traders profited by it. From that time license was no longer +bridled; the savages got drunk, the traders were enriched, and the +colony was in jeopardy. Sure of being supported by the governor, the +merchants listened to neither bishop nor missionaries. Grieved at seeing +his prayers as powerless as his commands, Mgr. de Laval decided to +carry his complaint to the foot of the throne, and he set sail for +France in the autumn of 1662. "Statesmen who place the freedom of +commerce above morality of action," says Jacques de Beaudoncourt, "still +consider that the bishop was wrong, and see in this matter a fine +opportunity to inveigh against the encroachments of the clergy; but +whoever has at heart the cause of human dignity will not hesitate to +take the side of the missionaries who sought to preserve the savages +from the vices which have brought about their ruin and their +disappearance. The Montagnais race, which is still the most important in +Canada, has been preserved by Catholicism from the vices and the misery +which brought about so rapidly the extirpation of the savages." + +Mgr. de Laval succeeded beyond his hopes; cordially received by King +Louis XIV, he obtained the recall of Governor d'Avaugour. But this +purpose was not the only one which he had made the goal of his ambition; +he had in view another, much more important for the welfare of the +colony. Fourteen years before, the Iroquois had exterminated the Hurons, +and since this period the colonists had not enjoyed a single hour of +calm; the devotion of Dollard and of his sixteen heroic comrades had +narrowly saved them from a horrible danger. The worthy prelate obtained +from the king a sufficiently large assignment of troops to deliver the +colony at last from its most dangerous enemies. "We expect next year," +he wrote to the sovereign pontiff, "twelve hundred soldiers, with whom, +by God's help, we shall try to overcome the fierce Iroquois. The Marquis +de Tracy will come to Canada in order to see for himself the measures +which are necessary to make of New France a strong and prosperous +colony." + +M. Dubois d'Avaugour was recalled, and yet he rendered before his +departure a distinguished service to the colony. "The St. Lawrence," he +wrote in a memorial to the monarch, "is the key to a country which may +become the greatest state in the world. There should be sent to this +colony three thousand soldiers, to be discharged after three years of +service; they could make Quebec an impregnable fortress, subdue the +Iroquois, build redoubtable forts on the banks of the Hudson, where the +Dutch have only a wretched wooden hut, and in short, open for New France +a road to the sea by this river." It was mainly this report which +induced the sovereign to take back Canada from the hands of the Company +of the Cent-Associes, who were incapable of colonizing it, and to +reintegrate it in the royal domain. + +Must we think with M. de la Colombiere,[2] with M. de Latour and with +Cardinal Taschereau, that the Sovereign Council was the work of Mgr. de +Laval? We have some justification in believing it when we remember that +the king arrived at this important decision while the energetic Laval +was present at his court. However it may be, on April 24th, 1663, the +Company of New France abandoned the colony to the royal government, +which immediately created in Canada three courts of justice and above +them the Sovereign Council as a court of appeal. + +The Bishop of Petraea sailed in 1663 for North America with the new +governor, M. de Mezy, who owed to him his appointment. His other +fellow-passengers were M. Gaudais-Dupont, who came to take possession of +the country in the name of the king, two priests, MM. Maizerets and +Hugues Pommier, Father Rafeix, of the Society of Jesus, and three +ecclesiastics. The passage was stormy and lasted four months. To-day, +when we leave Havre and disembark a week later at New York, after having +enjoyed all the refinements of luxury and comfort invented by an +advanced but materialistic civilization, we can with difficulty imagine +the discomforts, hardships and privations of four long months on a +stormy sea. Scurvy, that fatal consequence of famine and exhaustion, +soon broke out among the passengers, and many died of it. The bishop, +himself stricken by the disease, did not cease, nevertheless, to lavish +his care upon the unfortunates who were attacked by the infection; he +even attended them at the hospital after they had landed. + +The country was still at this time under the stress of the emotion +caused by the terrible earthquake of 1663. Father Lalemant has left us a +striking description of this cataclysm, marked by the naive exaggeration +of the period: "It was February 5th, 1663, about half-past five in the +evening, when a great roar was heard at the same time throughout the +extent of Canada. This noise, which gave the impression that fire had +broken out in all the houses, made every one rush out of doors in order +to flee from such a sudden conflagration. But instead of seeing smoke +and flame, the people were much surprised to behold walls tottering, and +all the stones moving as if they had become detached; the roofs seemed +to bend downward on one side, then to lean over on the other; the bells +rang of their own accord; joists, rafters and boards cracked, the earth +quivered and made the stakes of the palisades dance in a manner which +would appear incredible if we had not seen it in various places. + +"Then every one rushes outside, animals take to flight, children cry +through the streets, men and women, seized with terror, know not where +to take refuge, thinking at every moment that they must be either +overwhelmed in the ruins of the houses or buried in some abyss about to +open under their feet; some, falling to their knees in the snow, cry for +mercy; others pass the rest of the night in prayer, because the +earthquake still continues with a certain undulation, almost like that +of ships at sea, and such that some feel from these shocks the same +sickness that they endure upon the water. + +"The disorder was much greater in the forest. It seemed that there was a +battle between the trees, which were hurled together, and not only their +branches but even their trunks seemed to leave their places to leap upon +each other with a noise and a confusion which made our savages say that +the whole forest was drunk. + +"There seemed to be the same combat between the mountains, of which some +were uprooted and hurled upon the others, leaving great chasms in the +places whence they came, and now burying the trees, with which they were +covered, deep in the earth up to their tops, now thrusting them in, with +branches downward, taking the place of the roots, so that they left only +a forest of upturned trunks. + +"While this general destruction was going on on land, sheets of ice five +or six feet thick were broken and shattered to pieces, and split in many +places, whence arose thick vapour or streams of mud and sand which +ascended high into the air; our springs either flowed no longer or ran +with sulphurous waters; the rivers were either lost from sight or became +polluted, the waters of some becoming yellow, those of others red, and +the great St. Lawrence appeared quite livid up to the vicinity of +Tadousac, a most astonishing prodigy, and one capable of surprising +those who know the extent of this great river below the Island of +Orleans, and what matter must be necessary to whiten it. + +"We behold new lakes where there never were any; certain mountains +engulfed are no longer seen; several rapids have been smoothed out; not +a few rivers no longer appear; the earth is cleft in many places, and +has opened abysses which seem to have no bottom. In short, there has +been produced such a confusion of woods upturned and buried, that we see +now stretches of country of more than a thousand acres wholly denuded, +and as if they were freshly ploughed, where a little before there had +been but forests. + +"Moreover, three circumstances made this earthquake most remarkable. The +first is the time of its duration, since it lasted into the month of +August, that is to say, more than six months. It is true that the shocks +were not always so rude; in certain places, for example, towards the +mountains at the back of us, the noise and the commotion were long +continued; at others, as in the direction of Tadousac, there was a +quaking as a rule two or three times a day, accompanied by a great +straining, and we noticed that in the higher places the disturbance was +less than in the flat districts. + +"The second circumstance concerns the extent of this earthquake, which +we believe to have been universal throughout New France; for we learn +that it was felt from Ile Perce and Gaspe, which are at the mouth of our +river, to beyond Montreal, as likewise in New England, in Acadia and +other very remote places; so that, knowing that the earthquake occurred +throughout an extent of two hundred leagues in length by one hundred in +breadth, we have twenty thousand square leagues of land which felt the +earthquake on the same day and at the same moment. + +"The third circumstance concerns God's particular protection of our +homes, for we see near us great abysses and a prodigious extent of +country wholly ruined, without our having lost a child or even a hair of +our heads. We see ourselves surrounded by confusion and ruins, and yet +we have had only a few chimneys demolished, while the mountains around +us have been overturned." + +From the point of view of conversions and returns to God the results +were marvellous. "One can scarcely believe," says Mother Mary of the +Incarnation, "the great number of conversions that God has brought +about, both among infidels who have embraced the faith, and on the part +of Christians who have abandoned their evil life. At the same time as +God has shaken the mountains and the marble rocks of these regions, it +would seem that He has taken pleasure in shaking consciences. Days of +carnival have been changed into days of penitence and sadness; public +prayers, processions and pilgrimages have been continual; fasts on bread +and water very frequent; the general confessions more sincere than they +would have been in the extremity of sickness. A single ecclesiastic, +who directs the parish of Chateau-Richer, has assured us that he has +procured more than eight hundred general confessions, and I leave you to +think what the reverend Fathers must have accomplished who were day and +night in the confessional. I do not think that in the whole country +there is a single inhabitant who has not made a general confession. +There have been inveterate sinners, who, to set their consciences at +rest, have repeated their confession more than three times. We have seen +admirable reconciliations, enemies falling on their knees before each +other to ask each other's forgiveness, in so much sorrow that it was +easy to see that these changes were the results of grace and of the +mercy of God rather than of His justice." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Old Regime in Canada_, p. 110. + +[2] Joseph Sere de la Colombiere, vicar-general and archdeacon of +Quebec, pronounced Mgr. de Laval's funeral oration. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEMINARY + + +No sooner had he returned, than the Bishop of Petraea devoted all the +strength of his intellect to the execution of a plan which he had long +meditated, namely, the foundation of a seminary. In order to explain +what he understood by this word we cannot do better than to quote his +own ordinance relating to this matter: "There shall be educated and +trained such young clerics as may appear fit for the service of God, and +they shall be taught for this purpose the proper manner of administering +the sacraments, the methods of apostolic catechism and preaching, moral +theology, the ceremonies of the Church, the Gregorian chant, and other +things belonging to the duties of a good ecclesiastic; and besides, in +order that there may be formed in the said seminary and among its clergy +a chapter composed of ecclesiastics belonging thereto and chosen from +among us and the bishops of the said country, our successors, when the +king shall have seen fit to found the seminary, or from those whom the +said seminary may be able of itself to furnish to this institution +through the blessing of God. We desire it to be a perpetual school of +virtue, and a place of training whence we may derive pious and capable +recruits, in order to send them on all occasions, and whenever there may +be need, into the parishes and other places in the said country, in +order to exercise therein priestly and other duties to which they may +have been destined, and to withdraw them from the same parishes and +duties when it may be judged fitting, reserving to ourselves always, and +to the bishops, our successors in the said country, as well as to the +said seminary, by our orders and those of the said lords bishops, the +power of recalling all the ecclesiastics who may have gone forth as +delegates into the parishes and other places, whenever it may be deemed +necessary, without their having title or right of particular attachment +to a parish, it being our desire, on the contrary, that they should be +rightfully removable, and subject to dismissal and displacement at the +will of the bishops and of the said seminary, by the orders of the same, +in accordance with the sacred practice of the early ages of the Church, +which is followed and preserved still at the present day in many +dioceses of this kingdom." + +Although this foregoing period is somewhat lengthy and a little obscure, +so weighty with meaning is it, we have been anxious to quote it, first, +because it is an official document, and because it came from the very +pen of him whose life we are studying; and, secondly, because it shows +that at this period serious reading, such as Cicero, Quintilian, and the +Fathers of the Church, formed the mental pabulum of the people. In our +days the beauty of a sentence is less sought after than its clearness +and conciseness. + +It may be well to add here the Abbe Gosselin's explanation of this +_mandement_: "Three principal works are due to this document as the +glorious inheritance of the seminary of Quebec. In the first place we +have the natural work of any seminary, the training of ecclesiastics and +the preparation of the clergy for priestly virtues. In the next place we +have the creation of the chapter, which the Bishop of Petraea always +considered important in a well organized diocese; it was his desire to +find the elements of this chapter in his seminary, when the king should +have provided for its endowment, or when the seminary itself could bear +the expense. Finally, there is that which in the mind of Mgr. de Laval +was the supreme work of the seminary, its vital task: the seminary was +to be not only a perpetual school of virtue, but also a place of supply +on which he might draw for the persons needed in the administration of +his diocese, and to which he might send them back when he should think +best. All livings are connected with the seminary, but they are all +transferable. The prelate here puts clearly and categorically the +question of the transfer of livings. In his measures there is neither +hesitation nor circumlocution. He does not seek to deceive the sovereign +to whom he is about to submit his regulation. For him, in the present +condition of New France, there can be no question of fixed livings; the +priests must be by right removable, and subject to recall at the will of +the bishop; and, as is fitting in a prelate worthy of the primitive +Church, he always lays stress in his commands on the _holy practice of +the early centuries_. The question was clearly put. It was as clearly +understood by the sovereign, who approved some days later of the +regulation of Mgr. de Laval." + +It was in the month of April, 1663, that the worthy prelate had obtained +the royal approval of the establishment of his seminary; it was on +October 10th of the same year that he had it registered by the Sovereign +Council. + +A great difficulty arose: the missionaries, besides the help that they +had obtained from the Company of the Cent-Associes, derived their +resources from Europe; but how was the new secular clergy to be +supported, totally lacking as it was in endowment and revenue? Mgr. de +Laval resolved to employ the means adopted long ago by Charlemagne to +assure the maintenance of the Frankish clergy: that of tithes or dues +paid by the husbandman from his harvest. Accordingly he obtained from +the king an ordinance according to which tithes, fixed at the amount of +the thirteenth part of the harvests, should be collected from the +colonists by the seminary; the latter was to use them for the +maintenance of the priests, and for divine service in the established +parishes. The burden was, perhaps, somewhat heavy. Mgr. de Laval, who, +inspired by the spirit of poverty, had renounced his patrimony and lived +solely upon a pension of a thousand francs which the queen paid him from +her private exchequer, felt that he had a certain right to impose his +disinterestedness upon others, but the colonists, sure of the support of +the governor, M. de Mezy, complained. + +The good understanding between the governor-general and the bishop had +been maintained up to the end of January, 1664. Full of respect for the +character and the virtue of his friend, M. de Mezy had energetically +supported the ordinances of the Sovereign Council against the brandy +traffic; he had likewise favoured the registration of the law of tithes, +but the opposition which he met in the matter of an increase in his +salary impelled him to arbitrary action. Of his own authority he +displaced three councillors, and out of petty rancour allowed strong +liquors to be sold to the savages. The open struggle between the bishop +and himself produced the most unfavourable impression in the colony. The +king decided that the matter must be brought to a head. M. de Courcelles +was appointed governor, and, jointly with a viceroy, the Marquis de +Tracy, and with the Intendant Talon, was entrusted with the +investigation of the administration of M. de Mezy. They arrived a few +months after the death of de Mezy, whom this untimely end saved perhaps +from a well-deserved condemnation. He had become reconciled in his +dying hour to his old and venerable friend, and the judges confined +themselves to the erasure of the documents which recalled his +administration. + +The worthy Bishop of Petraea had not lost for a moment the confidence of +the sovereign, as is proved by many letters which he received from the +king and his prime minister, Colbert. "I send you by command of His +Majesty," writes Colbert, "the sum of six thousand francs, to be +disposed of as you may deem best to supply your needs and those of your +Church. We cannot ascribe too great a value to a virtue like yours, +which is ever equally maintained, which charitably extends its help +wherever it is necessary, which makes you indefatigable in the functions +of your episcopacy, notwithstanding the feebleness of your health and +the frequent indispositions by which you are attacked, and which thus +makes you share with the least of your ecclesiastics the task of +administering the sacraments in places most remote from the principal +settlements. I shall add nothing to this statement, which is entirely +sincere, for fear of wounding your natural modesty, etc...." The prince +himself is no less flattering: "My Lord Bishop of Petraea," writes Louis +the Great, "I expected no less of your zeal for the exaltation of the +faith, and of your affection for the furtherance of my service than the +conduct observed by you in your important and holy mission. Its main +reward is reserved by Heaven, which alone can recompense you in +proportion to your merit, but you may rest assured that such rewards as +depend on me will not be wanting at the fitting time. I subscribe, +moreover, to my Lord Colbert's communications to you in my name." + +Peace and harmony were re-established, and with them the hope of seeing +finally disappear the constant menace of Iroquois forays. The +magnificent regiment of Carignan, composed of six hundred men, reassured +the colonists while it daunted their savage enemies. Thus three of the +Five Nations hastened to sue for peace, and they obtained it. In order +to protect the frontiers of the colony, M. de Tracy caused three forts +to be erected on the Richelieu River, one at Sorel, another at Chambly, +a third still more remote, that of Ste. Therese; then at the head of six +hundred soldiers, six hundred militia and a hundred Indians, he marched +towards the hamlets of the Mohawks. The result of this expedition was, +unhappily, as fruitless as that of the later campaigns undertaken +against the Indians by MM. de Denonville and de Frontenac. After a +difficult march they come into touch with the savages; but these all +flee into the woods, and they find only their huts stocked with immense +supplies of corn for the winter, and a great number of pigs. At least, +if they cannot reach the barbarians themselves, they can inflict upon +them a terrible punishment; they set fire to the cabins and the corn, +the pigs are slaughtered, and thus a large number of their wild enemies +die of hunger during the winter. The viceroy was wise enough to accept +the surrender of many Indians, and the peace which he concluded afforded +the colony eighteen years of tranquillity. + +The question of the apportionment of the tithes was settled in the +following year, 1667. The viceroy, acting with MM. de Courcelles and +Talon, decided that the tithe should be reduced to a twenty-sixth, by +reason of the poverty of the inhabitants, and that newly-cleared lands +should pay nothing for the first five years. Mgr. de Laval, ever ready +to accept just and sensible measures, agreed to this decision. The +revenues thus obtained were, none the less, insufficient, since the king +subsequently gave eight or nine thousand francs to complete the +endowment of the priests, whose annual salary was fixed at five hundred +and seventy-four francs. In 1707 the sum granted by the French court was +reduced to four thousand francs. If we remember that the French farmers +contributed the thirteenth part of their harvest, that is to say, double +the quantity of the Canadian tithe, for the support of their pastors, +shall we deem excessive this modest tax raised from the colonists for +men who devoted to them their time, their health, even their hours of +rest, in order to procure for their parishioners the aid of religion? Is +it not regrettable that too many among the colonists, who were yet such +good Christians in the observance of religious practices, should have +opposed an obstinate resistance to so righteous a demand? Can it be +that, by a special dispensation of Heaven, the priests and vicars of +Canada are not liable to the same material needs as ordinary mortals, +and are they not obliged to pay in good current coin for their food, +their medicines and their clothes? + +The first seminary, built of stone,[3] rose in 1661 on the site of the +present vicarage of the cathedral of Quebec; it cost eight thousand five +hundred francs, two thousand of which were given by Mgr. de Laval. The +first priest of Quebec and first superior of the seminary, M. Henri de +Bernieres, was able to occupy it in the autumn of the following year, +and the Bishop of Petraea abode there from the time of his return from +France on September 15th, 1663, until the burning of this house on +November 15th, 1701. The first directors of the seminary were, besides +M. de Bernieres, MM. de Lauson-Charny, son of the former +governor-general, Jean Dudouyt, Thomas Morel, Ange de Maizerets and +Hugues Pommier. Except the first, who was a Burgundian, they were all +born in the two provinces of Brittany and Normandy, the cradles of the +majority of our ancestors. + +The founder of the seminary had wished the livings to be transferable; +later the government decided to the contrary, and the edict of 1679 +decreed that the tithes should be payable only to the permanent +priests; nevertheless the majority of them remained of their own free +will attached to the seminary. They had learned there to practise a +complete abnegation, and to give to the faithful the example of a united +and fervent clerical family. "Our goods were held in common with those +of the bishop," wrote M. de Maizerets, "I have never seen any +distinction made among us between poor and rich, or the birth and rank +of any one questioned, since we all consider each other as brothers." + +The pious bishop himself set an example of disinterestedness; all that +he had, namely an income of two thousand five hundred francs, which the +Jesuits paid him as the tithes of the grain harvested upon their +property, and a revenue of a thousand francs which he had from his +friends in France, went into the seminary. MM. de Bernieres, de +Maizerets and Dudouyt vied in the imitation of their model, and they +likewise abandoned to the holy house their goods and their pensions. The +prelate confined himself, like the others, from humility even more than +from economy on behalf of the community, to the greatest simplicity in +dress as well as in his environment. Aiming at the highest degree of +possible perfection, he was satisfied with the coarsest fare, and +incessantly added voluntary privations to the sacrifices demanded of him +by his difficult duties. Does not this apostolic poverty recall the +seminary established by the pious founder of St. Sulpice, who wrote: +"Each had at dinner a bowl of soup and a small portion of butcher's +meat, without dessert, and in the evening likewise a little roast +mutton"? + +Mortification diminished in no wise the activity of the prelate; +learning that the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, that nursery of +apostles, had just been definitely established (1663), he considered it +his duty to establish his own more firmly by affiliating it with that of +the French capital. "I have learned with joy," wrote he, "of the +establishment of your Seminary of Foreign Missions, and that the gales +and tempests by which it has been tossed since the beginning have but +served to render it firmer and more unassailable. I cannot sufficiently +praise your zeal, which, unable to confine itself to the limits and +frontiers of France, seeks to spread throughout the world, and to pass +beyond the seas into the most remote regions; considering which, I have +thought I could not compass a greater good for our young Church, nor one +more to the glory of God and the welfare of the peoples whom God has +entrusted to our guidance, than by contributing to the establishment of +one of your branches in Quebec, the place of our residence, where you +will be like the light set upon the candlestick, to illumine all these +regions by your holy doctrine and the example of your virtue. Since you +are the torch of foreign countries, it is only reasonable that there +should be no quarter of the globe uninfluenced by your charity and +zeal. I hope that our Church will be one of the first to possess this +good fortune, the more since it has already a part of what you hold most +dear. Come then, and be welcome; we shall receive you with joy. You will +find a lodging prepared and a fund sufficient to set up a small +establishment, which I hope will continue to grow...." The act of union +was signed in 1665, and was renewed ten years later with the royal +assent. + +Thanks to the generosity of Mgr. de Laval and of the first directors of +the seminary, building and acquisition of land was begun. There was +erected in 1668 a large wooden dwelling, which was in some sort an +extension of the episcopal and parochial residence. It was destroyed in +1701, with the vicarage, in the conflagration which overwhelmed the +whole seminary. Subsequently, there was purchased a site of sixteen +acres adjoining the parochial church, upon which was erected the house +of Madame Couillard. This house, in which lodged in 1668 the first +pupils of the smaller seminary, was replaced in 1678 by a stone edifice, +large enough to shelter all the pupils of both the seminaries. The +seigniory of Beaupre was also acquired, which with remarkable foresight +the bishop exchanged for the Ile Jesus. "It was prudent," remarks the +Abbe Gosselin, "not to have all the property in the same place; when the +seasons are bad in one part of the country they may be prosperous +elsewhere; and having thus sources of revenue in different places, one +is more likely never to find them entirely lacking." + +The smaller seminary dates only from the year 1668. Up to this time the +large seminary alone existed; of the five ecclesiastics who were its +inmates in 1663, Louis Joliet abandoned the priestly career. It was he +who, impelled by his adventurous instincts, sought out, together with +Father Marquette, the mouth of the Mississippi. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] The house was first the presbytery. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MGR. DE LAVAL AND THE SAVAGES + + +Now, what were the results accomplished by the efforts of the +missionaries at this period of our history? When in their latest hour +they saw about them, as was very frequently the case, only the wild +children of the desert uttering cries of ferocious joy, had they at +least the consolation of discerning faithful disciples of Christ +concealed among their executioners? Alas! we must admit that North +America saw no renewal of the days when St. Peter converted on one +occasion, at his first preaching, three thousand persons, and when St. +Paul brought to Jesus by His word thousands of Gentiles. Were the +missionaries of the New World, then, less zealous, less disinterested, +less eloquent than the apostles of the early days of the Church? Let us +listen to Mgr. Bourgard: "A few only among them, like the Brazilian +apostle, Father Anthony Vieyra, died a natural death and found a grave +in earth consecrated by the Church. Many, like Father Marquette, who +reconnoitred the whole course of the Mississippi, succumbed to the +burden of fatigue in the midst of the desert, and were buried under the +turf by their sorrowful comrades. He had with him several Frenchmen, +Fathers Badin, Deseille and Petit; the two latter left their venerable +remains among the wastes. Others met death at the bedside of the +plague-stricken, and were martyrs to their charity, like Fathers Turgis +and Dablon. An incalculable number died in the desert, alone, deprived +of all aid, unknown to the whole world, and their bodies became the +sustenance of birds of prey. Several obtained the glorious crown of +martyrdom; such are the venerable Fathers Jogues, Corpo, Souel, +Chabanel, Ribourde, Brebeuf, Lalemant, etc. Now they fell under the +blows of raging Indians; now they were traitorously assassinated; again, +they were impaled." In what, then, must we seek for the cause of the +futility of these efforts? All those who know the savages will +understand it; it is in the fickle character of these children of the +woods, a character more unstable and volatile than that of infants. God +alone knows what restless anxiety the conversions which they succeeded +in bringing about caused to the missionaries and the pious Bishop of +Petraea. Yet every day Mgr. de Laval ardently prayed, not only for the +flock confided to his care but also for the souls which he had come from +so far to seek to save from heathenism. If one of these devout men of +God had succeeded at the price of a thousand dangers, of a thousand +attempts, in proving to an Indian the insanity, the folly of his belief +in the juggleries of a sorcerer, he must watch with jealous care lest +his convert should lapse from grace either through the sarcasms of the +other redskins, or through the attractions of some cannibal festival, or +by the temptation to satisfy an ancient grudge, or through the fear of +losing a coveted influence, or even through the apprehension of the +vengeance of the heathen. Did he think himself justified in expecting to +see his efforts crowned with success? Suddenly he would learn that the +poor neophyte had been led astray by the sight of a bottle of brandy, +and that he had to begin again from the beginning. + +No greater success was attained in many efforts which were exerted to +give a European stamp to the character of the aborigines, than in divers +attempts to train in civilized habits young Indians brought up in the +seminaries. And we know that if success in this direction had been +possible it would certainly have been obtained by educators like the +Jesuit Fathers. "With the French admitted to the small seminary," says +the Abbe Ferland, "six young Indians were received; on the advice of the +king they were all to be brought up together. This union, which was +thought likely to prove useful to all, was not helpful to the savages, +and became harmful to the young Frenchmen. After a few trials it was +understood that it was impossible to adapt to the regular habits +necessary for success in a course of study these young scholars who had +been reared in complete freedom. Comradeship with Algonquin and Huron +children, who were incapable of limiting themselves to the observance +of a college rule, tended to give more force and persistence to the +independent ideas which were natural in the young French-Canadians, who +received from their fathers the love of liberty and the taste for an +adventurous life." + +But we must not infer, therefore, that the missionaries found no +consolation in their troublous task. If sometimes the savage blood +revealed itself in the neophytes in sudden insurrections, we must admit +that the majority of the converts devoted themselves to the practice of +virtues with an energy which often rose to heroism, and that already +there began to appear among them that holy fraternity which the gospel +everywhere brings to birth. The memoirs of the Jesuits furnish numerous +evidences of this. We shall cite only the following: "A band of Hurons +had come down to the Mission of St. Joseph. The Christians, suffering a +great dearth of provisions, asked each other, 'Can we feed all those +people?' As they said this, behold, a number of the Indians, +disembarking from their little boats, go straight to the chapel, fall +upon their knees and say their prayers. An Algonquin who had gone to +salute the Holy Sacrament, having perceived them, came to apprise his +captain that these Hurons were praying to God. 'Is it true?' said he. +'Come! come! we must no longer debate whether we shall give them food or +not; they are our brothers, since they believe as well as we.'" + +The conversion which caused the most joy to Mgr. de Laval was that of +Garakontie, the noted chief of the Iroquois confederation. Accordingly +he wished to baptize him himself in the cathedral of Quebec, and the +governor, M. de Courcelles, consented to serve as godfather to the new +follower of Christ. Up to this time the missions to the Five Nations had +been ephemeral; by the first one Father Jogues had only been able to +fertilize with his blood this barbarous soil; the second, established at +Gannentaha, escaped the general massacre in 1658 only by a genuine +miracle. This mission was commanded by Captain Dupuis, and comprised +fifty-five Frenchmen. Five Jesuit Fathers were of the number, among them +Fathers Chaumonot and Dablon. Everything up to that time had gone +wonderfully well in the new establishment; the missionaries knew the +Iroquois language so well, and so well applied the rules of savage +eloquence, that they impressed all the surrounding tribes; accordingly +they were full of trust and dreamed of a rapid extension of the Catholic +faith in these territories. An Iroquois chief dispelled their illusion +by revealing to them the plans of their enemies; they were already +watched, and preparations were on foot to cut off their retreat. In this +peril the colonists took counsel, and hastily constructed in the +granaries of their quarters a few boats, some canoes and a large barge, +destined to transport the provisions and the fugitives. They had to +hasten, because the attack against their establishment might take place +at any moment, and they must profit by the breaking up of the ice, which +was impending. But how could they transport this little flotilla to the +river which flowed into Lake Ontario twenty miles away without giving +the alarm and being massacred at the first step? They adopted a singular +stratagem derived from the customs of these people, and one in which the +fugitives succeeded perfectly. "A young Frenchman adopted by an Indian," +relates Jacques de Beaudoncourt, "pretended to have a dream by which he +was warned to make a festival, 'to eat everything,' if he did not wish +to die presently. 'You are my son,' replied the Iroquois chief, 'I do +not want you to die; prepare the feast and we shall eat everything.' No +one was absent; some of the French who were invited made music to charm +the guests. They ate so much, according to the rules of Indian civility, +that they said to their host, 'Take pity on us, and let us go and rest.' +'You want me to die, then?' 'Oh, no!' And they betook themselves to +eating again as best they could. During this time the other Frenchmen +were carrying to the river the boats and provisions. When all was ready +the young man said: 'I take pity on you, stop eating, I shall not die. I +am going to have music played to lull you to sleep.' And sleep was not +long in coming, and the French, slipping hastily away from the banquet +hall, rejoined their comrades. They had left the dogs and the fowls +behind, in order the better to deceive the savages; a heavy snow, +falling at the moment of their departure, had concealed all traces of +their passage, and the banqueters imagined that a powerful Manitou had +carried away the fugitives, who would not fail to come back and avenge +themselves. After thirteen days of toilsome navigation, the French +arrived in Montreal, having lost only three men from drowning during the +passage. It had been thought that they were all massacred, for the plans +of the Iroquois had become known in the colony; this escape brought the +greatest honour to Captain Dupuis, who had successfully carried it out." + +M. d'Argenson, then governor, did not approve of the retreat of the +captain; this advanced bulwark protected the whole colony, and he +thought that the French should have held out to the last man. This +selfish opinion was disavowed by the great majority; the real courage of +a leader does not consist in having all his comrades massacred to no +purpose, but in saving by his calm intrepidity the largest possible +number of soldiers for his country. + +The Iroquois were tricked but not disarmed. Beside themselves with rage +at the thought that so many victims about to be sacrificed to their +hatred had escaped their blows, and desiring to end once for all the +feud with their enemies, the Onondagas, they persuaded the other nations +to join them in a rush upon Quebec. They succeeded easily, and twelve +hundred savage warriors assembled at Cleft Rock, on the outskirts of +Montreal, and exposed the colony to the most terrible danger which it +had yet experienced. + +This was indeed a great peril; the dwellings above Quebec were without +defence, and separated so far from each other that they stretched out +nearly two leagues. But providentially the plan of these terrible foes +was made known to the inhabitants of the town through an Iroquois +prisoner. Immediately the most feverish activity was exerted in +preparations for defence; the country houses and those of the Lower Town +were abandoned, and the inhabitants took refuge in the palace, in the +fort, with the Ursulines, or with the Jesuits; redoubts were raised, +loop-holes bored and patrols established. At Ville-Marie no fewer +precautions were taken; the governor surrounded a mill which he had +erected in 1658, by a palisade, a ditch, and four bastions well +entrenched. It stood on a height of the St. Louis Hill, and, called at +first the Mill on the Hill, it became later the citadel of Montreal. +Anxiety still prevailed everywhere, but God, who knows how to raise up, +in the very moment of despair, the instruments which He uses in His +infinite wisdom to protect the countries dear to His heart, that same +God who gave to France the heroic Joan of Arc, produced for Canada an +unexpected defender. Dollard and sixteen brave Montrealers were to offer +themselves as victims to save the colony. Their devotion, which +surpasses all that history shows of splendid daring, proves the +exaltation of the souls of those early colonists. + +One morning in the month of July, 1660, Dollard, accompanied by sixteen +valiant comrades, presented himself at the altar of the church in +Montreal; these Christian heroes came to ask the God of the strong to +bless the resolve which they had taken to go and sacrifice themselves +for their brothers. Immediately after mass, tearing themselves from the +embraces of their relatives, they set out, and after a long and toilsome +march arrived at the foot of the Long Rapid, on the left bank of the +Ottawa; the exact point where they stopped is probably Greece's Point, +five or six miles above Carillon, for they knew that the Iroquois +returning from the hunt must pass this place. They installed themselves +within a wretched palisade, where they were joined almost at once by two +Indian chiefs who, having challenged each other's courage, sought an +occasion to surpass one another in valour. They were Anahotaha, at the +head of forty Hurons, and Metiomegue, accompanied by four Algonquins. +They had not long to wait; two canoes bore the Iroquois crews within +musket shot; those who escaped the terrible volley which received them +and killed the majority of them, hastened to warn the band of three +hundred other Iroquois from whom they had become detached. The Indians, +relying on an easy victory, hastened up, but they hurled themselves in +vain upon the French, who, sheltered by their weak palisade, crowned +its stakes with the heads of their enemies as these were beaten down. +Exasperated by this unexpected check, the Iroquois broke up the canoes +of their adversaries, and, with the help of these fragments, which they +set on fire, attempted to burn the little fortress; but a well sustained +fire prevented the rashest from approaching. Their pride yielding to +their thirst for vengeance, these three hundred men found themselves too +few before such intrepid enemies, and they sent for aid to a band of +five hundred of their people, who were camped on the Richelieu Islands. +These hastened to the attack, and eight hundred men rushed upon a band +of heroes strengthened by the sentiment of duty, the love of country and +faith in a happy future. Futile efforts! The bullets made terrible havoc +in their ranks, and they recoiled again, carrying with them only the +assurance that their numbers had not paralyzed the courage of the +French. + +But the aspect of things was about to change, owing to the cowardice of +the Hurons. Water failed the besieged tortured by thirst; they made +sorties from time to time to procure some, and could bring back in their +small and insufficient vessels only a few drops, obtained at the +greatest peril. The Iroquois, aware of this fact, profited by it in +order to offer life and pardon to the Indians who would go over to their +side. No more was necessary to persuade the Hurons, and suddenly thirty +of them followed La Mouche, the nephew of the Huron chief, and leaped +over the palisades. The brave Anahotaha fired a pistol shot at his +nephew, but missed him. The Algonquins remained faithful, and died +bravely at their post. The Iroquois learned through these deserters the +real number of those who were resisting them so boldly; they then took +an oath to die to the last man rather than renounce victory, rather than +cast thus an everlasting opprobrium on their nation. The bravest made a +sort of shield with fagots tied together, and, placing themselves in +front of their comrades, hurled themselves upon the palisades, +attempting to tear them up. The supreme moment of the struggle has come; +Dollard is aware of it. While his brothers in arms make frightful gaps +in the ranks of the savages by well-directed shots, he loads with grape +shot a musket which is to explode as it falls, and hurls it with all his +might. Unhappily, the branch of a tree stays the passage of the terrible +engine of destruction, which falls back upon the French and makes a +bloody gap among them. "Surrender!" cries La Mouche to Anahotaha. "I +have given my word to the French, I shall die with them," replies the +bold chief. Already some stakes were torn up, and the Iroquois were +about to rush like an avalanche through this breach, when a new Horatius +Cocles, as brave as the Roman, made his body a shield for his brothers, +and soon the axe which he held in his hand dripped with blood. He fell, +and was at once replaced. The French succumbed one by one; they were +seen brandishing their weapons up to the moment of their last breath, +and, riddled with wounds, they resisted to the last sigh. Drunk with +vengeance, the wild conquerors turned over the bodies to find some still +palpitating, that they might bind them to a stake of torture; three were +in their mortal agony, but they died before being cast on the pyre. A +single one was saved for the stake; he heroically resisted the +refinements of the most barbarous cruelty; he showed no weakness, and +did not cease to pray for his executioners. Everything in this glorious +deed of arms must compel the admiration of the most remote posterity. + +The wretched Hurons suffered the fate which they had deserved; they were +burned in the different villages. Five escaped, and it was by their +reports that men learned the details of an exploit which saved the +colony. The Iroquois, in fact, considering what a handful of brave men +had accomplished, took it for granted that a frontal attack on such men +could only result in failure; they changed their tactics, and had +recourse anew to their warfare of surprises and ambuscades, with the +purpose of gradually destroying the little colony. + +The dangers which might be risked by attacking so fierce a nation were, +as may be seen, by no means imaginary. Many would have retreated, and +awaited a favourable occasion to try and plant for the third time the +cross in the Iroquois village. The sons of Loyola did not hesitate; +encouraged by Mgr. de Laval, they retraced their steps to the Five +Nations. This time Heaven condescended to reward in a large measure +their persistent efforts, and the harvest was abundant. In a short time +the number of churches among these people had increased to ten. + +The famous chief, Garakontie, whose conversion to Christianity caused so +much joy to the pious Bishop of Petraea and to all the Christians of +Canada, was endowed with a rare intelligence, and all who approached him +recognized in him a mind as keen as it was profound. Not only did he +keep faithfully the promises which he had made on receiving baptism, but +the gratitude which he continued to feel towards the bishop and the +missionaries made him remain until his death the devoted friend of the +French. "He is an incomparable man," wrote Father Millet one day. "He is +the soul of all the good that is done here; he supports the faith by his +influence; he maintains peace by his authority; he declares himself so +clearly for France that we may justly call him the protector of the +Crown in this country." Feeling life escaping, he wished to give what +the savages call their "farewell feast," a touching custom, especially +when Christianity comes to sanctify it. His last words were for the +venerable prelate, to whom he had vowed a deep attachment and respect. +"The guests having retired," wrote Father Lamberville, "he called me to +him. 'So we must part at last,' said he to me; 'I am willing, since I +hope to go to Heaven.' He then begged me to tell my beads with him, +which I did, together with several Christians, and then he called me and +said to me: 'I am dying.' Then he gave up the ghost very peacefully." + +The labour demanded at this period by pastoral visits in a diocese so +extended may readily be imagined. Besides the towns of Quebec, Montreal +and Three Rivers, in which was centralized the general activity, there +were then several Christian villages, those of Lorette, Ste. Foy, +Sillery, the village of La Montagne at Montreal, of the Sault St. Louis, +and of the Prairie de la Madeleine. Far from avoiding these trips, Mgr. +de Laval took pleasure in visiting all the cabins of the savages, one +after another, spreading the good Word, consoling the afflicted, and +himself administering the sacraments of the Church to those who wished +to receive them. + +Father Dablon gives us in these terms the narrative of the visit of the +bishop to the Prairie de la Madeleine in 1676. "This man," says he, +speaking of the prelate, "this man, great by birth and still greater by +his virtues, which have been quite recently the admiration of all +France, and which on his last voyage to Europe justly acquired for him +the esteem and the approval of the king; this great man, making the +rounds of his diocese, was conveyed in a little bark canoe by two +peasants, exposed to all the inclemencies of the climate, without other +retinue than a single ecclesiastic, and without carrying anything but a +wooden cross and the ornaments absolutely necessary to a _bishop of +gold_, according to the expression of authors in speaking of the first +prelates of Christianity." + + [The expedition of Dollard is related in detail by Dollier de + Casson, and by Mother Mary of the Incarnation in her letters. The + Abbe de Belmont gives a further account of the episode in his + history. The _Jesuit Relations_ place the scene of the affair at + the Chaudiere Falls. The sceptically-minded are referred to + Kingsford's _History of Canada_, vol. I., p. 261, where a less + romantic view of the affair is taken.]--Editors' Note on the + Dollard Episode. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY + + +To the great joy of Mgr. de Laval the colony was about to develop +suddenly, thanks to the establishment in the fertile plains of New +France of the time-expired soldiers of the regiment of Carignan. The +importance of the peopling of his diocese had always been capital in the +eyes of the bishop, and we have seen him at work obtaining from the +court new consignments of colonists. Accordingly, in the year 1663, +three hundred persons had embarked at La Rochelle for Canada. +Unfortunately, the majority of these passengers were quite young people, +clerks or students, in quest of adventure, who had never worked with +their hands. The consequences of this deplorable emigration were +disastrous; more than sixty of these poor children died during the +voyage. The king was startled at such negligence, and the three hundred +colonists who embarked the following year, in small detachments, arrived +in excellent condition. Moreover, they had made the voyage without +expense, but had in return hired to work for three years with the +farmers, for an annual wage which was to be fixed by the authorities. +"It will seem to you perhaps strange," wrote M. de Villeray, to the +minister Colbert, "to see that we make workmen coming to us from France +undergo a sort of apprenticeship, by distribution among the inhabitants; +yet there is nothing more necessary, first, because the men brought to +us are not accustomed to the tilling of the soil; secondly, a man who is +not accustomed to work, unless he is urged, has difficulty in adapting +himself to it; thirdly, the tasks of this country are very different +from those of France, and experience shows us that a man who has +wintered three years in the country, and who then hires out at service, +receives double the wages of one just arriving from the Old Country. +These are reasons of our own which possibly would not be admitted in +France by those who do not understand them." + +The Sovereign Council recommended, moreover, that there should be sent +only men from the north of France, "because," it asserted, "the Normans, +Percherons, Picards, and people from the neighbourhood of Paris are +docile, laborious, industrious, and have much more religion. Now, it is +important in the establishment of a country to sow good seed." While we +accept in the proper spirit this eulogy of our ancestors, who came +mostly from these provinces, how inevitably it suggests a comparison +with the spirit of scepticism and irreverence which now infects, +transitorily, let us hope, these regions of Northern France. + +Never before had the harbour of Quebec seen so much animation as in the +year 1665. The solicitor-general, Bourdon, had set foot on the banks of +the St. Lawrence in early spring; he escorted a number of girls chosen +by order of the queen. Towards the middle of August two ships arrived +bearing four companies of the regiment of Carignan, and the following +month three other vessels brought, together with eight other companies, +Governor de Courcelles and Commissioner Talon. Finally, on October 2nd, +one hundred and thirty robust colonists and eighty-two maidens, +carefully chosen, came to settle in the colony. + +If we remember that there were only at this time seventy houses in +Quebec, we may say without exaggeration that the number of persons who +came from France in this year, 1665, exceeded that of the whole white +population already resident in Canada. But it was desirable to keep this +population in its entirety, and Commissioner Talon, well seconded by +Mgr. de Laval, tenaciously pursued this purpose. The soldiers of +Carignan, all brave, and pious too, for the most part, were highly +desirable colonists. "What we seek most," wrote Mother Mary of the +Incarnation, "is the glory of God and the welfare of souls. That is what +we are working for, as well as to assure the prevalence of devotion in +the army, giving the men to understand that we are waging here a holy +war. There are as many as five hundred of them who have taken the +scapulary of the Holy Virgin, and many others who recite the chaplet of +the Holy Family every day." + +Talon met with a rather strong opposition to his immigration plans in +the person of the great Colbert, who was afraid of seeing the Mother +Country depopulated in favour of her new daughter Canada. His +perseverance finally won the day, and more than four hundred soldiers +settled in the colony. Each common soldier received a hundred francs, +each sergeant a hundred and fifty francs. Besides, forty thousand francs +were used in raising in France the additional number of fifty girls and +a hundred and fifty men, which, increased by two hundred and thirty-five +colonists, sent by the company in 1667, fulfilled the desires of the +Bishop of Petraea. + +The country would soon have been self-supporting if similar energy had +been continuously employed in its development. It is a miracle that a +handful of emigrants, cast almost without resources upon the northern +shore of America, should have been able to maintain themselves so long, +in spite of continual alarms, in spite of the deprivation of all +comfort, and in spite of the rigour of the climate. With wonderful +courage and patience they conquered a vast territory, peopled it, +cultivated its soil, and defended it by prodigies of valour against the +forays of the Indians. + +The colony, happily, was to keep its bishop, the worthy Governor de +Courcelles, and the best administrator it ever had, the Commissioner +Talon. But it was to lose a lofty intellect: the Marquis de Tracy, his +mission ended to the satisfaction of all, set sail again for France. +From the moment of his arrival in Canada the latter had inspired the +greatest confidence. "These three gentlemen," say the annals of the +hospital, speaking of the viceroy, of M. de Courcelles and M. Talon, +"were endowed with all desirable qualities. They added to an attractive +exterior much wit, gentleness and prudence, and were admirably adapted +to instil a high idea of the royal majesty and power; they sought all +means proper for moulding the country and laboured at this task with +great application. This colony, under their wise leadership, expanded +wonderfully, and according to all appearances gave hope of becoming most +flourishing." Mgr. de Laval held the Marquis de Tracy in high esteem. +"He is a man powerful in word and deed," he wrote to Pope Alexander VII, +"a practising Christian, and the right arm of religion." The viceroy did +not fear, indeed, to show that one may be at once an excellent Christian +and a brave officer, whether he accompanied the Bishop of Petraea on the +pilgrimage to good Ste. Anne, or whether he honoured himself in the +religious processions by carrying a corner of the dais with the +governor, the intendant and the agent of the West India Company. He was +seen also at the laying of the foundation stone of the church of the +Jesuits, at the transfer of the relics of the holy martyrs Flavian and +Felicitas, at the consecration of the cathedral of Quebec and at that of +the chief altar of the church of the Ursulines, in fact, everywhere +where he might set before the faithful the good example of piety and of +the respect due to religion. + +The eighteen years of peace with the Iroquois, obtained by the +expedition of the Marquis de Tracy, allowed the intendant to encourage +the development of the St. Maurice mines, to send the traveller Nicolas +Perrot to visit all the tribes of the north and west, in order to +establish or cement with them relations of trade or friendship, and to +entrust Father Marquette and M. Joliet with the mission of exploring the +course of the Mississippi. The two travellers carried their exploration +as far as the junction of this river with the Arkansas, but their +provisions failing them, they had to retrace their steps. + +This state of peace came near being disturbed by the gross cupidity of +some wretched soldiers. In the spring of 1669 three soldiers of the +garrison of Ville-Marie, intoxicated and assassinated an Iroquois chief +who was bringing back from his hunting some magnificent furs. M. de +Courcelles betook himself at once to Montreal, but, during the process +of this trial, it was learned that several months before three other +Frenchmen had killed six Mohegan Indians with the same purpose of +plunder. The excitement aroused by these two murders was such that a +general uprising of the savage nations was feared; already they had +banded together for vengeance, and only the energy of the governor saved +the colony from the horrors of another war. In the presence of all the +Indians then quartered at Ville-Marie, he had the three assassins of the +Iroquois chief brought before him, and caused them to be shot. He +pledged himself at the same time to do like justice to the murderers of +the Mohegans, as soon as they should be discovered. He caused, moreover, +to be restored to the widow of the chief all the furs which had been +stolen from him, and indemnified the two tribes, and thus by his +firmness induced the restless nations to remain at peace. His vigilance +did not stop at this. The Iroquois and the Ottawas being on the point of +recommencing their feud, he warned them that he would not allow them to +disturb the general order and tranquillity. He commanded them to send to +him delegates to present the question of their mutual grievances. +Receiving an arrogant reply from the Iroquois, who thought their country +inaccessible to the French, he himself set out from Montreal on June +2nd, 1671, with fifty-six soldiers, in a specially constructed boat and +thirteen bark canoes. He reached the entrance to Lake Ontario, and so +daunted the Iroquois by his audacity that the Ottawas sued for peace. +Profiting by the alarm with which he had just inspired them, M. de +Courcelles gave orders to the principal chiefs to go and await him at +Cataraqui, there to treat with him on an important matter. They obeyed, +and the governor declared to them his plan of constructing at this very +place a fort where they might more easily arrange their exchanges. Not +suspecting that the French had any other purpose than that of protecting +themselves against inroads, they approved this plan; and so Fort +Cataraqui, to-day the city of Kingston, was erected by Count de +Frontenac, and called after this governor, who was to succeed M. de +Courcelles. + +Their transitory apprehensions did not interrupt the construction of the +two churches of Quebec and Montreal, for they were built almost at the +same time; the first was dedicated on July 11th, 1666, the second, begun +in 1672, was finished only in 1678. The church of the old city of +Champlain was of stone, in the form of a Roman cross; its length was one +hundred feet, its width thirty-eight. It contained, besides the +principal altar, a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, another to Ste. Anne, +and the chapel of the Holy Scapulary. Thrice enlarged, it gave place in +1755 to the present cathedral, for which the foundations of the older +church were used. When the prelate arrived in 1659, the holy offices +were already celebrated there, but the bishop hastened to end the work +which it still required. "There is here," he wrote to the Common Father +of the faithful, "a cathedral made of stone; it is large and splendid. +The divine service is celebrated in it according to the ceremony of +bishops; our priests, our seminarists, as well as ten or twelve +choir-boys, are regularly present there. On great festivals, the mass, +vespers and evensong are sung to music, with orchestral accompaniment, +and our organs mingle their harmonious voices with those of the +chanters. There are in the sacristy some very fine ornaments, eight +silver chandeliers, and all the chalices, pyxes, vases and censers are +either gilt or pure silver." + +The Sulpicians as well as the Jesuits have always professed a peculiar +devotion to the Virgin Mary. It was the pious founder of St. Sulpice, M. +Olier, who suggested to the Company of Notre-Dame the idea of +consecrating to Mary the establishment of the Island of Montreal in +order that she might defend it as her property, and increase it as her +domain. They gladly yielded to this desire, and even adopted as the seal +of the company the figure of Our Lady; in addition they confirmed the +name of Ville-Marie, so happily given to this chosen soil. + +It was the Jesuits who placed the church of Quebec under the patronage +of the Immaculate Conception, and gave it as second patron St. Louis, +King of France. This double choice could not but be agreeable to the +pious Bishop of Petraea. Learning, moreover, that the members of the +Society of Jesus renewed each year in Canada their vow to fast on the +eve of the festival of the Immaculate Conception, and to add to this +mortification several pious practices, with the view of obtaining from +Heaven the conversion of the savages, he approved this devotion, and +ordered that in future it should likewise be observed in his seminary. +He sanctioned other works of piety inspired or established by the Jesuit +Fathers; the _novena_, which has remained so popular with the +French-Canadians, at St. Francois-Xavier, the Brotherhoods of the Holy +Rosary and of the Scapulary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He encouraged, +above all, devotion to the Holy Family, and prescribed wise regulations +for this worship. The Pope deigned to enrich by numerous indulgences the +brotherhoods to which it gave birth, and in recent years Leo XIII +instituted throughout the Church the celebration of the Festival of the +Holy Family. "The worship of the Holy Family," the illustrious pontiff +proclaims in a recent bull, "was established in America, in the region +of Canada, where it became most flourishing, thanks chiefly to the +solicitude and activity of the venerable servant of God, Francois de +Montmorency Laval, first Bishop of Quebec, and of God's worthy +handmaiden, Marguerite Bourgeoys." According to Cardinal Taschereau, it +was Father Pijard who established the first Brotherhood of the Holy +Family in 1650 in the Island of Montreal, but the real promoter of this +cult was another Father of the Company of Jesus, Father Chaumonot, whom +Mgr. de Laval brought specially to Quebec to set at the head of the +brotherhood which he had decided to found. + +It was the custom, in these periods of fervent faith, to place +buildings, cities and even countries under the aegis of a great saint, +and Louis XIII had done himself the honour of dedicating France to the +Virgin Mary. People did not then blush to practise and profess their +beliefs, nor to proclaim them aloud. On the proposal of the Recollets in +a general assembly, St. Joseph was chosen as the first patron saint of +Canada; later, St. Francois-Xavier was adopted as the second special +protector of the colony. + +Montreal, which in the early days of its existence maintained with its +rival of Cape Diamond a strife of emulation in the path of good as well +as in that of progress, could no longer do without a religious edifice +worthy of its already considerable importance. Mgr. de Laval was at this +time on a round of pastoral visits, for, in spite of the fatigue +attaching to such a journey, at a time when there was not yet even a +carriage-road between the two towns, and when, braving contrary winds, +storms and the snares of the Iroquois, one had to ascend the St. +Lawrence in a bark canoe, the worthy prelate made at least eight visits +to Montreal during the period of his administration. In a general +assembly of May 12th, 1669, presided over by him, it was decided to +establish the church on ground which had belonged to Jean de +Saint-Pere, but since this site had not the elevation on which the +Sulpicians desired to see the new temple erected, the work was suspended +for two years more. The ecclesiastics of the seminary offered on this +very height (for M. Dollier had given to the main street the name of +Notre-Dame, which was that of the future church) some lots bought by +them from Nicolas Gode and from Mme. Jacques Lemoyne, and situated +behind their house; they offered besides in the name of M. de +Bretonvilliers the sum of a thousand _livres tournois_ for three years, +to begin the work. These offers were accepted in an assembly of all the +inhabitants, on June 10th, 1672; Francois Bailly, master mason, directed +the building, and on the thirtieth of the same month, before the deeply +moved and pious population, there were laid, immediately after high +mass, the first five stones. There had been chosen the name of the +Purification, because this day was the anniversary of that on which MM. +Olier and de la Dauversiere had caught the first glimpses of their +vocation to work at the establishment of Ville-Marie, and because this +festival had always remained in high honour among the Montrealers. The +foundation was laid by M. de Courcelles, governor-general; the second +stone had been reserved for M. Talon, but, as he could not accept the +invitation, his place was taken by M. Philippe de Carion, representative +of M. de la Motte Saint-Paul. The remaining stones were laid by M. +Perrot, governor of the island, by M. Dollier de Casson, representing M. +de Bretonvilliers, and by Mlle. Mance, foundress of the Montreal +hospital. The sight of this ceremony was one of the last joys of this +good woman; she died on June 18th of the following year. + +Meanwhile, all desired to contribute to the continuation of the work; +some offered money, others materials, still others their labour. In +their ardour the priests of the seminary had the old fort, which was +falling into ruins, demolished in order to use the wood and stone for +the new building. As lords of the island, they seemed to have the +incontestable right to dispose of an edifice which was their private +property. But M. de Bretonvilliers, to whom they referred the matter, +took them to task for their haste, and according to his instructions the +work of demolition was stopped, not to be resumed until ten years later. +The colonists had an ardent desire to see their church finished, but +they were poor, and, though a collection had brought in, in 1676, the +sum of two thousand seven hundred francs, the work dragged along for two +years more, and was finished only in 1678. "The church had," says M. +Morin, "the form of a Roman cross, with the lower sides ending in a +circular apse; its portal, built of hewn stone, was composed of two +designs, one Tuscan, the other Doric; the latter was surmounted by a +triangular pediment. This beautiful entrance, erected in 1722, according +to the plans of Chaussegros de Lery, royal engineer, was flanked on the +right side by a square tower crowned by a campanile, from the summit of +which rose a beautiful cross with _fleur-de-lis_ twenty-four feet high. +This church was built in the axis of Notre-Dame Street, and a portion of +it on the Place d'Armes; it measured, in the clear, one hundred and +forty feet long, and ninety-six feet wide, and the tower one hundred and +forty-four feet high. It was razed in 1830, and the tower demolished in +1843." + +Montreal continued to progress, and therefore to build. The Sulpicians, +finding themselves cramped in their old abode, began in 1684 the +construction of a new seigniorial and chapter house, of one hundred and +seventy-eight feet frontage by eighty-four feet deep. These vast +buildings, whose main facade faces on Notre-Dame Street, in front of the +Place d'Armes, still exist. They deserve the attention of the tourist, +if only by reason of their antiquity, and on account of the old clock +which surmounts them, for though it is the most ancient of all in North +America, this clock still marks the hours with average exactness. Behind +these old walls extends a magnificent garden. + +The spectacle presented by Ville-Marie at this time was most edifying. +This great village was the school of martyrdom, and all aspired thereto, +from the most humble artisan and the meanest soldier to the brigadier, +the commandant, the governor, the priests and the nuns, and they found +in this aspiration, this faith and this hope, a strength and happiness +known only to the chosen. From the bosom of this city had sprung the +seventeen heroes who gave to the world, at the foot of the Long Sault, a +magnificent example of what the spirit of Christian sacrifice can do; to +a population which gave of its own free will its time and its labour to +the building of a temple for the Lord, God had assigned a leader, who +took upon his shoulders a heavy wooden cross, and bore it for the +distance of a league up the steep flanks of Mount Royal, to plant it +solemnly upon the summit; within the walls of the seminary lived men +like M. Souart, physician of hearts and bodies, or like MM. Lemaitre and +Vignal, who were destined to martyrdom; in the halls of the hospital +Mlle. Mance vied with Sisters de Bresoles, Maillet and de Mace, in +attending to the most repugnant infirmities or healing the most tedious +maladies; last but not least, Sister Bourgeoys and her pious comrades, +Sisters Aimee Chatel, Catherine Crolo, and Marie Raisin, who formed the +nucleus of the Congregation, devoted themselves with unremitting zeal to +the arduous task of instruction. + +Another favour was about to be vouchsafed to Canada in the birth of +Mlle. Leber. M. de Maisonneuve and Mlle. Mance were her godparents, and +the latter gave her her baptismal name. Jeanne Leber reproduced all the +virtues of her godmother, and gave to Canada an example worthy of the +primitive Church, and such as finds small favour in the practical world +of to-day. She lived a recluse for twenty years with the Sisters of the +Congregation, and practised, till death relieved her, mortifications +most terrifying to the physical nature. + +At Quebec, the barometer of piety, if I may be excused so bold a +metaphor, held at the same level as that of Montreal, and he would be +greatly deceived who, having read only the history of the early years of +the latter city, should despair of finding in the centre of edification +founded by Champlain, men worthy to rank with Queylus and Lemaitre, with +Souart and Vignal, with Closse and Maisonneuve, and women who might vie +with Marguerite Bourgeoys, with Jeanne Mance or with Jeanne Leber. To +the piety of the Sulpicians of the colony planted at the foot of Mount +Royal corresponded the fervour both of the priests who lived under the +same roof as Mgr. de Laval, and of the sons of Loyola, who awaited in +their house at Quebec their chance of martyrdom; the edifying examples +given by the military chiefs of Montreal were equalled by those set by +governors like de Mezy and de Courcelles; finally the virtues bordering +on perfection of women like Mlle. Leber and the foundresses of the +hospital and the Congregation found their equivalents in those of the +pious Bishop of Petraea, of Mme. de la Peltrie and those of Mothers Mary +of the Incarnation and Andree Duplessis de Sainte-Helene. + +The Church will one day, perhaps, set upon her altars Mother Mary of +the Incarnation, the first superior of the Ursulines at Quebec. The +Theresa of New France, as she has been called, was endowed with a calm +courage, an incredible patience, and a superior intellect, especially in +spiritual matters; we find the proof of this in her letters and +meditations which her son published in France. "At the head," says the +Abbe Ferland, "of a community of weak women, devoid of resources, she +managed to inspire her companions with the strength of soul and the +trust in God which animated herself. In spite of the unteachableness and +the fickleness of the Algonquin maidens, the troublesome curiosity of +their parents, the thousand trials of a new and poor establishment, +Mother Incarnation preserved an evenness of temper which inspired her +comrades in toil with courage. Did some sudden misfortune appear, she +arose with all the greatness of a Christian of the primitive Church to +meet it with steadfastness. If her son spoke to her of the ill-treatment +to which she was exposed on the part of the Iroquois, at a time when the +affairs of the French seemed desperate, she replied calmly: 'Have no +anxiety for me. I do not speak as to martyrdom, for your affection for +me would incline you to desire it for me, but I mean as to other +outrages. I see no reason for apprehension; all that I hear does not +dismay me.' When she was cast out upon the snow, together with her +sisters, in the middle of a winter's night, by reason of a +conflagration which devoured her convent, her first act was to prevail +upon her companions to kneel with her to thank God for having preserved +their lives, though He despoiled them of all that they possessed in the +world. Her strong and noble soul seemed to rise naturally above the +misfortunes which assailed the growing colony. Trusting fully to God +through the most violent storms, she continued to busy herself calmly +with her work, as if nothing in the world had been able to move her. At +a moment when many feared that the French would be forced to leave the +country, Mother of the Incarnation, in spite of her advanced age, began +to study the language of the Hurons in order to make herself useful to +the young girls of this tribe. Ever tranquil, she did not allow herself +to be carried away by enthusiasm or stayed by fear. 'We imagine +sometimes,' she wrote to her former superior at Tours, 'that a certain +passing inclination is a vocation; no, events show the contrary. In our +momentary enthusiasms we think more of ourselves than of the object we +face, and so we see that when this enthusiasm is once past, our +tendencies and inclinations remain on the ordinary plane of life.' Built +on such a foundation, her piety was solid, sincere and truly +enlightened. In perusing her writings, we are astonished at finding in +them a clearness of thought, a correctness of style, and a firmness of +judgment which give us a lofty idea of this really superior woman. +Clever in handling the brush as well as the pen, capable of directing +the work of building as well as domestic labour, she combined, according +to the opinion of her contemporaries, all the qualities of the strong +woman of whom the Holy Scriptures give us so fine a portrait. She was +entrusted with all the business of the convent. She wrote a prodigious +number of letters, she learned the two mother tongues of the country, +the Algonquin and the Huron, and composed for the use of her sisters, a +sacred history in Algonquin, a catechism in Huron, an Iroquois catechism +and dictionary, and a dictionary, catechism and collection of prayers in +the Algonquin language." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SMALLER SEMINARY + + +The smaller seminary, founded by the Bishop of Petraea in 1668, for +youths destined to the ecclesiastical life, justified the expectations +of its founder, and witnessed an ever increasing influx of students. On +the day of its inauguration, October 9th, there were only as yet eight +French pupils and six Huron children. For lack of teachers the young +neophytes, placed under the guidance of directors connected with the +seminary, attended during the first years the classes of the Jesuit +Fathers. Their special costume was a blue cloak, confined by a belt. At +this period the College of the Jesuits contained already some sixty +resident scholars, and what proves to us that serious studies were here +pursued is that several scholars are quoted in the memoirs as having +successfully defended in the presence of the highest authorities of the +colony theses on physics and philosophy. + +If the first bishop of New France had confined himself to creating one +large seminary, it is certain that his chosen work, which was the +preparation for the Church of a nursery of scholars and priests, the +apostles of the future, would not have been complete. + +For many young people, indeed, who lead a worldly existence, and find +themselves all at once transferred to the serious, religious life of the +seminary, the surprise, and sometimes the discomfort, may be great. One +must adapt oneself to this atmosphere of prayer, meditation and study. +The rules of prayer are certainly not beyond the limits of an ordinary +mind, but the practice is more difficult than the theory. Not without +effort can a youthful imagination, a mind ardent and consumed by its own +fervour, relinquish all the memories of family and social occupations, +in order to withdraw into silence, inward peace, and the mortification +of the senses. To the devoutly-minded our worldly life may well seem +petty in comparison with the more spiritual existence, and in the +religious life, for the priest especially, lies the sole source and the +indispensable condition of happiness. But one must learn to be thus +happy by humility, study and prayer, as one learns to be a soldier by +obedience, discipline and exercise, and in nothing did Laval more reveal +his discernment than in the recognition of the fact that the transition +from one life to the other must be effected only after careful +instruction and wisely-guided deliberation. + +The aim of the smaller seminary is to guide, by insensible gradations +towards the great duties and the great responsibilities of the +priesthood, young men upon whom the spirit of God seems to have rested. +There were in Israel schools of prophets; this does not mean that their +training ended in the diploma of a seer or an oracle, but that this +novitiate was favourable to the action of God upon their souls, and +inclined them thereto. A smaller seminary possesses also the hope of the +harvest. It is there that the minds of the students, by exercises +proportionate to their age, become adapted unconstrainedly to pious +reading, to the meditation and the grave studies in whose cycle the life +of the priest must pass. + +We shall not be surprised if the prelate's followers recognized in the +works of faith which sprang up in his footsteps and progressed on all +hands at Ville-Marie and at Quebec shining evidences of the protection +of Mary to whose tutelage they had dedicated their establishments. This +protection indeed has never been withheld, since to-day the fame of the +university which sprang from the seminary, as a fruit develops from a +bud, has crossed the seas. Father Monsabre, the eloquent preacher of +Notre-Dame in Paris, speaking of the union of science and faith, +exclaimed: "There exists, in the field of the New World, an institution +which has religiously preserved this holy alliance and the traditions of +the older universities, the Laval University of Quebec." + +Mgr. de Laval, while busying himself with the training of his clergy, +watched over the instruction of youth. He protected his schools and his +dioceses; at Quebec the Jesuits, and later the seminary, maintained even +elementary schools. If we must believe the Abbe de Latour and other +writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the children of the +early colonists, skilful in manual labour, showed, nevertheless, great +indolence of mind. "In general," writes Latour, "Canadian children have +intelligence, memory and facility, and they make rapid progress, but the +fickleness of their character, a dominant taste for liberty, and their +hereditary and natural inclination for physical exercise do not permit +them to apply themselves with sufficient perseverance and assiduity to +become learned men; satisfied with a certain measure of knowledge +sufficient for the ordinary purposes of their occupations (and this is, +indeed, usually possessed), we see no people deeply learned in any +branch of science. We must further admit that there are few resources, +few books, and little emulation. No doubt the resources will be +multiplied, and clever persons will appear in proportion as the colony +increases." Always eager to develop all that might serve for the +propagation of the faith or the progress of the colony, the devoted +prelate eagerly fostered this natural aptitude of the Canadians for the +arts and trades, and he established at St. Joachim a boarding-school for +country children; this offered, besides a solid primary education, +lessons in agriculture and some training for different trades. + +Mgr. de Laval gave many other proofs of his enlightened charity for the +poor and the waifs of fortune; he approved and encouraged among other +works the Brotherhood of Saint Anne at Quebec. This association of +prayer and spiritual aid had been established but three years before his +arrival; it was directed by a chaplain and two directors, the latter +elected annually by secret ballot. He had wished to offer in 1660 a more +striking proof of his devotion to the Mother of the Holy Virgin, and had +caused to be built on the shore of Beaupre the first sanctuary of Saint +Anne. This temple arose not far from a chapel begun two years before, +under the care of the Abbe de Queylus. The origin of this place of +devotion, it appears, was a great peril to which certain Breton sailors +were exposed: assailed by a tempest in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about +the beginning of the seventeenth century, they made a vow to erect, if +they escaped death, a chapel to good Saint Anne on the spot where they +should land. Heaven heard their prayers, and they kept their word. The +chapel erected by Mgr. de Laval was a very modest one, but the zealous +missionary of Beaupre, the Abbe Morel, then chaplain, was the witness of +many acts of ardent faith and sincere piety; the Bishop of Petraea +himself made several pilgrimages to the place. "We confess," says he, +"that nothing has aided us more efficaciously to support the burden of +the pastoral charge of this growing church than the special devotion +which all the inhabitants of this country dedicate to Saint Anne, a +devotion which, we affirm it with certainty, distinguishes them from +all other peoples." The poor little chapel, built of uprights, gave +place in 1675 to a stone church erected by the efforts of M. Filion, +proctor of the seminary, and it was noted for an admirable picture given +by the viceroy, de Tracy, who did not disdain to make his pilgrimage +like the rest, and to set thus an example which the great ones of the +earth should more frequently give. This church lasted only a few years; +Mgr. de Laval was still living when a third temple was built upon its +site. This was enlarged in 1787, and gave place only in 1878 to the +magnificent cathedral which we admire to-day. The faith which raised +this sanctuary to consecrate it to Saint Anne did not die with its pious +founder; it is still lively in our hearts, since in 1898 a hundred and +twenty thousand pilgrims went to pray before the relic of Saint Anne, +the precious gift of Mgr. de Laval. + +In our days, hardly has the sun melted the thick mantle of snow which +covers during six months the Canadian soil, hardly has the majestic St. +Lawrence carried its last blocks of ice down to the ocean, when caravans +of pious pilgrims from all quarters of the country wend their way +towards the sanctuary raised upon the shores of Beaupre. Whole families +fill the cars; the boats of the Richelieu Company stop to receive +passengers at all the charming villages strewn along the banks of the +river, and the cathedral which raises in the air its slender spires on +either side of the immense statue of Saint Anne does not suffice to +contain the ever renewed throng of the faithful. + +Even in the time of Mgr. de Laval, pilgrimages to Saint Anne's were +frequent, and it was not only French people but also savages who +addressed to the Mother of the Virgin Mary fervent, and often very +artless, prayers. The harvest became, in fact, more abundant in the +missions, and + + "Les pretres ne pouvaient suffire aux sacrifices."[4] + +From the banks of the Saguenay at Tadousac, or from the shore of Hudson +Bay, where Father Albanel was evangelizing the Indians, to the recesses +of the Iroquois country, a Black Robe taught from interval to interval +in a humble chapel the truths of the Christian religion. "We may say," +wrote Father Dablon in 1671, "that the torch of the faith now illumines +the four quarters of this New World. More than seven hundred baptisms +have this year consecrated all our forests; more than twenty different +missions incessantly occupy our Fathers among more than twenty diverse +nations; and the chapels erected in the districts most remote from here +are almost every day filled with these poor barbarians, and in some of +them there have been consummated sometimes ten, twenty, and even thirty +baptisms on a single occasion." And, ever faithful to the established +power, the missionaries taught their neophytes not only religion, but +also the respect due to the king. Let us hearken to Father Allouez +speaking to the mission of Sault Ste. Marie: "Cast your eyes," says he, +"upon the cross raised so high above your heads. It was upon that cross +that Jesus Christ, the son of God, become a man by reason of His love +for men, consented to be bound and to die, in order to satisfy His +Eternal Father for our sins. He is the master of our life, the master of +Heaven, earth and hell. It is He of whom I speak to you without ceasing, +and whose name and word I have borne into all these countries. But +behold at the same time this other stake, on which are hung the arms of +the great captain of France, whom we call the king. This great leader +lives beyond the seas; he is the captain of the greatest captains, and +has not his peer in the world. All the captains that you have ever seen, +and of whom you have heard speak, are only children beside him. He is +like a great tree; the rest are only little plants crushed under men's +footsteps as they walk. You know Onontio, the famous chieftain of +Quebec; you know that he is the terror of the Iroquois, his mere name +makes them tremble since he has desolated their country and burned their +villages. Well, there are beyond the seas ten thousand Onontios like +him. They are only the soldiers of this great captain, our great king, +of whom I speak to you." + +Mgr. de Laval ardently desired, then, the arrival of new workers for the +gospel, and in the year 1668, the very year of the foundation of the +seminary, his desire was fulfilled, as if Providence wished to reward +His servant at once. Missionaries from France came to the aid of the +priests of the Quebec seminary, and Sulpicians, such as MM. de Queylus, +d'Urfe, Dallet and Brehan de Gallinee, arrived at Montreal; MM. Francois +de Salignac-Fenelon and Claude Trouve had already landed the year +before. "I have during the last month," wrote the prelate, "commissioned +two most good and virtuous apostles to go to an Iroquois community which +has been for some years established quite near us on the northern side +of the great Lake Ontario. One is M. de Fenelon, whose name is +well-known in Paris, and the other M. Trouve. We have not yet been able +to learn the result of their mission, but we have every reason to hope +for its complete success." + +While he was enjoining upon these two missionaries, on their departure +for the mission on which he was sending them, that they should always +remain in good relations with the Jesuit Fathers, he gave them some +advice worthy of the most eminent doctors of the Church:-- + +"A knowledge of the language," he says, "is necessary in order to +influence the savages. It is, nevertheless, one of the smallest parts of +the equipment of a good missionary, just as in France to speak French +well is not what makes a successful preacher. The talents which make +good missionaries are: + +"1. To be filled with the spirit of God; this spirit must animate our +words and our hearts: _Ex abundantia cordis os loquitur_. + +"2. To have great prudence in the choice and arrangement of the things +which are necessary either to enlighten the understanding or to bend the +will; all that does not tend in this direction is labour lost. + +"3. To be very assiduous, in order not to lose opportunities of +procuring the salvation of souls, and supplying the neglect which is +often manifest in neophytes; for, since the devil on his part _circuit +tanquam leo rugiens, quaerens quem devoret_, so we must be vigilant +against his efforts, with care, gentleness and love. + +"4. To have nothing in our life and in our manners which may appear to +belie what we say, or which may estrange the minds and hearts of those +whom we wish to win to God. + +"5. We must make ourselves beloved by our gentleness, patience and +charity, and win men's minds and hearts to incline them to God. Often a +bitter word, an impatient act or a frowning countenance destroys in a +moment what has taken a long time to produce. + +"6. The spirit of God demands a peaceful and pious heart, not a restless +and dissipated one; one should have a joyous and modest countenance; one +should avoid jesting and immoderate laughter, and in general all that is +contrary to a holy and joyful modesty: _Modestia vestra nota sit +omnibus hominibus_." + +The new Sulpicians had been most favourably received by Mgr. de Laval, +and the more so since almost all of them belonged to great families and +had renounced, like himself, ease and honour, to devote themselves to +the rude apostleship of the Canadian missions. + +The difficulties between the bishop and the Abbe de Queylus had +disappeared, and had left no trace of bitterness in the souls of these +two servants of God. M. de Queylus gave good proof of this subsequently; +he gave six thousand francs to the hospital of Quebec, of which one +thousand were to endow facilities for the treatment of the poor, and +five thousand for the maintenance of a choir-nun. His generosity, +moreover, was proverbial: "I cannot find a man more grateful for the +favour that you have done him than M. de Queylus," wrote the intendant, +Talon, to the minister, Colbert. "He is going to arrange his affairs in +France, divide with his brothers, and collect his worldly goods to use +them in Canada, at least so he has assured me. If he has need of your +protection, he is striving to make himself worthy of it, and I know that +he is most zealous for the welfare of this colony. I believe that a +little show of benevolence on your part would redouble this zeal, of +which I have good evidence, for what you desire the most, the education +of the native children, which he furthers with all his might." + +The abbe found the seminary in conditions very different from those +prevailing at the time of his departure. In 1663, the members of the +Company of Notre-Dame of Montreal had made over to the Sulpicians the +whole Island of Montreal and the seigniory of St. Sulpice. Their purpose +was to assure the future of the three works which they had not ceased, +since the birth of their association, to seek to establish: a seminary +for the education of priests in the colony, an institution of education +for young girls, and a hospital for the care of the sick. + +To learn the happy results due to the eloquence of MM. Trouve and de +Fenelon engaged in the evangelization of the tribes encamped to the +north of Lake Ontario, or to that of MM. Dollier de Casson and Gallinee +preaching on the shores of Lake Erie, one must read the memoirs of the +Jesuit Fathers. We must bear in mind that many facts, which might appear +to redound too much to the glory of the missionaries, the modesty of +these men refused to give to the public. We shall give an example. One +day when M. de Fenelon had come down to Quebec, in the summer of 1669, +to give account of his efforts to his bishop, Mgr. de Laval begged the +missionary to write a short abstract of his labours for the memoirs. +"Monseigneur," replied humbly the modest Sulpician, "the greatest favour +that you can do us is not to allow us to be mentioned." Will he, at +least, like the traveller who, exhausted by fatigue and privation, +reaches finally the promised land, repose in Capuan delights? Mother +Mary of the Incarnation informs us on this point: "M. l'abbe de +Fenelon," says she, "having wintered with the Iroquois, has paid us a +visit. I asked him how he had been able to subsist, having had only +sagamite[5] as sole provision, and pure water to drink. He replied that +he was so accustomed to it that he made no distinction between this food +and any other, and that he was about to set out on his return to pass +the winter again there with M. de Trouve, having left him only to go and +get the wherewithal to pay the Indians who feed them. The zeal of these +great servants of God is admirable." + +The activity and the devotion of the Jesuits and of the Sulpicians might +thus make up for lack of numbers, and Mgr. de Laval judged that they +were amply sufficient for the task of the holy ministry. But the +intendant, Talon, feared lest the Society of Jesus should become +omnipotent in the colony; adopting from policy the famous device of +Catherine de Medici, _divide to rule_, he hoped that an order of +mendicant friars would counterbalance the influence of the sons of +Loyola, and he brought with him from France, in 1670, Father Allard, +Superior of the Recollets in the Province of St. Denis, and four other +brothers of the same order. We must confess that, if a new order of +monks was to be established in Canada, it was preferable in all justice +to apply to that of St. Francis rather than to any others, for had it +not traced the first evangelical furrows in the new field and left +glorious memories in the colony? + +Mgr. de Laval received from the king in 1671 the following letter: + + "My Lord Bishop of Petraea: + + "Having considered that the re-establishment of the monks of the + Order of St. Francis on the lands which they formerly possessed in + Canada might be of great avail for the spiritual consolation of my + subjects and for the relief of your ecclesiastics in the said + country, I send you this letter to tell you that my intention is + that you should give to the Rev. Father Allard, the superior, and + to the four monks whom he brings with him, the power of + administering the sacraments to all those who may have need of them + and who may have recourse to these reverend Fathers, and that, + moreover, you should aid them with your authority in order that + they may resume possession of all which belongs to them in the said + country, to all of which I am persuaded you will willingly + subscribe, by reason of the knowledge which you have of the relief + which my subjects will receive...." + +The prelate had not been consulted; moreover, the intervention of the +newcomers did not seem to him opportune. But he was obstinate and +unapproachable only when he believed his conscience involved; he +received the Recollets with great benevolence and rendered them all the +service possible. "He gave them abundant aid," says Latour, "and +furnished them for more than a year with food and lodging. Although the +Order had come in spite of him, he gave them at the outset four +missions: Three Rivers, Ile Perce, St. John's River and Fort Frontenac. +These good Fathers were surprised; they did not cease to praise the +charity of the bishop, and confessed frankly that, having only come to +oppose his clergy, they could not understand why they were so kindly +treated." + +After all, the breadth of character of these brave heroes of evangelic +poverty could not but please the Canadian people; ever gay and pleasant, +and of even temper, they traversed the country to beg a meagre pittance. +Everywhere received with joy, they were given a place at the common +table; they were looked upon as friends, and the people related to them +their joys and afflictions. Hardly was a robe of drugget descried upon +the horizon when the children rushed forward, surrounded the good +Father, and led him by the hand to the family fireside. The Recollets +had always a good word for this one, a consolatory speech for that one, +and on occasion, brought up as they had been, for the most part under a +modest thatched roof, knew how to lend a hand at the plough, or suggest +a good counsel if the flock were attacked by some sickness. On their +departure, the benediction having been given to all, there was a +vigorous handshaking, and already their hosts were discounting the +pleasure of a future visit. + +On their arrival the Recollet Fathers lodged not far from the Ursuline +Convent, till the moment when, their former monastery on the St. Charles +River being repaired, they were able to install themselves there. Some +years later they built a simple refuge on land granted them in the Upper +Town. Finally, having become almoners of the Chateau St. Louis, where +the governor resided, they built their monastery opposite the castle, +back to back with the magnificent church which bore the name of St. +Anthony of Padua. They reconquered the popularity which they had enjoyed +in the early days of the colony, and the bishop entrusted to their +devotion numerous parishes and four missions. Unfortunately, they +allowed themselves to be so influenced by M. de Frontenac, in spite of +repeated warnings from Mgr. de Laval, that they espoused the cause of +the governor in the disputes between the latter and the intendant, +Duchesneau. Their gratitude towards M. de Frontenac, who always +protected them, is easily explained, but it is no less true that they +should have respected above all the authority of the prelate who alone +had to answer before God for the religious administration of his +diocese. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Racine's _Athalie_. + +[5] A sort of porridge of water and pounded maize. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONY + + +This year, 1668, would have brought only consolations to Mgr. de Laval, +if, unhappily, M. de Talon had not inflicted a painful blow upon the +heart of the prelate: the commissioner obtained from the Sovereign +Council a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of intoxicating drinks +both to the savages and to the French, and only those who became +intoxicated might be sentenced to a slight penalty. This was opening the +way for the greatest abuses, and no later than the following year Mother +Mary of the Incarnation wrote: "What does the most harm here is the +traffic in wine and brandy. We preach against those who give these +liquors to the savages; and yet many reconcile their consciences to the +permission of this thing. They go into the woods and carry drinks to the +savages in order to get their furs for nothing when they are drunk. +Immorality, theft and murder ensue.... We had not yet seen the French +commit such crimes, and we can attribute the cause of them only to the +pernicious traffic in brandy." + +Commissioner Talon was, however, the cleverest administrator that the +colony had possessed, and the title of the "Canadian Colbert" which +Bibaud confers upon him is well deserved. Mother Incarnation summed up +his merits well in the following terms: "M. Talon is leaving us," said +she, "and returning to France, to the great regret of everybody and to +the loss of all Canada, for since he has been here in the capacity of +commissioner the country has progressed and its business prospered more +than they had done since the French occupation." Talon worked with all +his might in developing the resources of the colony, by exploiting the +mines, by encouraging the fisheries, agriculture, the exportation of +timber, and general commerce, and especially by inducing, through the +gift of a few acres of ground, the majority of the soldiers of the +regiment of Carignan to remain in the country. He entered every house to +enquire of possible complaints; he took the first census, and laid out +three villages near Quebec. His plans for the future were vaster still: +he recommended the king to buy or conquer the districts of Orange and +Manhattan; moreover, according to Abbe Ferland, he dreamed of connecting +Canada with the Antilles in commerce. With this purpose he had had a +ship built at Quebec, and had bought another in order to begin at once. +This very first year he sent to the markets of Martinique and Santo +Domingo fresh and dry cod, salted salmon, eels, pease, seal and porpoise +oil, clapboards and planks. He had different kinds of wood cut in order +to try them, and he exported masts to La Rochelle, which he hoped to see +used in the shipyards of the Royal Navy. He proposed to Colbert the +establishment of a brewery, in order to utilize the barley and the +wheat, which in a few years would be so abundant that the farmer could +not sell them. This was, besides, a means of preventing drunkenness, and +of retaining in the country the sum of one hundred thousand francs, +which went out each year for the purchase of wines and brandies. M. +Talon presented at the same time to the minister the observations which +he had made on the French population of the country. "The people," said +Talon, "are a mosaic, and though composed of colonists from different +provinces of France whose temperaments do not always sympathize, they +seem to me harmonious enough. There are," he added, "among these +colonists people in easy circumstances, indigent people and people +between these two extremes." + +But he thought only of the material development of the colony; upon +others, he thought, were incumbent the responsibility for and defence of +spiritual interests. He was mistaken, for, although he had not in his +power the direction of souls, his duties as a simple soldier of the army +of Christ imposed upon him none the less the obligation of avoiding all +that might contribute to the loss of even a single soul. The disorders +which were the inevitable result of a free traffic in intoxicating +liquors, finally assumed such proportions that the council, without +going as far as the absolute prohibition of the sale of brandy to the +Indians, restricted, nevertheless, this deplorable traffic; it forbade +under the most severe penalties the carrying of firewater into the woods +to the savages, but it continued to tolerate the sale of intoxicating +liquors in the French settlements. It seems that Cavelier de la Salle +himself, in his store at Lachine where he dealt with the Indians, did +not scruple to sell them this fatal poison. + +From 1668 to 1670, during the two years that Commissioner Talon had to +spend in France, both for reasons of health and on account of family +business, he did not cease to work actively at the court for his beloved +Canada. M. de Bouteroue, who took his place during his absence, managed +to prejudice the minds of the colonists in his favour by his exquisite +urbanity and the polish of his manners. + +It will not be out of place, we think, to give here some details of the +state of the country and its resources at this period. Since the first +companies in charge of Canada were formed principally of merchants of +Rouen, of La Rochelle and of St. Malo, it is not astonishing that the +first colonists should have come largely from Normandy and Perche. It +was only about 1660 that fine and vigorous offspring increased a +population which up to that time was renewed only through immigration; +in the early days, in fact, the colonists lost all their children, but +they found in this only a new reason for hope in the future. "Since God +takes the first fruits," said they, "He will save us the rest." The wise +and far-seeing mind of Cardinal Richelieu had understood that +agricultural development was the first condition of success for a young +colony, and his efforts in this direction had been admirably seconded +both by Commissioner Talon and Mgr. de Laval at Quebec, and by the +Company of Montreal, which had not hesitated at any sacrifice in order +to establish at Ville-Marie a healthy and industrious population. If the +reader doubts this, let him read the letters of Talon, of Mother Mary of +the Incarnation, of Fathers Le Clercq and Charlevoix, of M. Aubert and +many others. "Great care had been exercised," says Charlevoix, "in the +selection of candidates who had presented themselves for the +colonization of New France.... As to the girls who were sent out to be +married to the new inhabitants, care was always taken to enquire of +their conduct before they embarked, and their subsequent behaviour was a +proof of the success of this system. During the following years the same +care was exercised, and we soon saw in this part of America a generation +of true Christians growing up, among whom prevailed the simplicity of +the first centuries of the Church, and whose posterity has not yet lost +sight of the great examples set by their ancestors.... In justice to the +colony of New France we must admit that the source of almost all the +families which still survive there to-day is pure and free from those +stains which opulence can hardly efface; this is because the first +settlers were either artisans always occupied in useful labour, or +persons of good family who came there with the sole intention of living +there more tranquilly and preserving their religion in greater security. +I fear the less contradiction upon this head since I have lived with +some of these first colonists, all people still more respectable by +reason of their honesty, their frankness and the firm piety which they +profess than by their white hair and the memory of the services which +they rendered to the colony." + +M. Aubert says, on his part: "The French of Canada are well built, +nimble and vigorous, enjoying perfect health, capable of enduring all +sorts of fatigue, and warlike; which is the reason why, during the last +war, French-Canadians received a fourth more pay than the French of +Europe. All these advantageous physical qualities of the +French-Canadians arise from the fact that they have been born in a good +climate, and nourished by good and abundant food, that they are at +liberty to engage from childhood in fishing, hunting, and journeying in +canoes, in which there is much exercise. As to bravery, even if it were +not born with them as Frenchmen, the manner of warfare of the Iroquois +and other savages of this continent, who burn alive almost all their +prisoners with incredible cruelty, caused the French to face ordinary +death in battle as a boon rather than be taken alive; so that they +fight desperately and with great indifference to life." The consequence +of this judicious method of peopling a colony was that, the trunk of the +tree being healthy and vigorous, the branches were so likewise. "It was +astonishing," wrote Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "to see the great +number of beautiful and well-made children, without any corporeal +deformity unless through accident. A poor man will have eight or more +children, who in the winter go barefooted and bareheaded, with a little +shirt upon their back, and who live only on eels and bread, and +nevertheless are plump and large." + +Property was feudal, as in France, and this constitution was maintained +even after the conquest of the country by the English. Vast stretches of +land were granted to those who seemed, thanks to their state of fortune, +fit to form centres of population, and these seigneurs granted in their +turn parts of these lands to the immigrants for a rent of from one to +three cents per acre, according to the value of the land, besides a +tribute in grain and poultry. The indirect taxation consisted of the +obligation of maintaining the necessary roads, one day's compulsory +labour per year, convertible into a payment of forty cents, the right of +_mouture_, consisting of a pound of flour on every fourteen from the +common mill, finally the payment of a twelfth in case of transfer and +sale (stamp and registration). This seigniorial tenure was burdensome, +we must admit, though it was less crushing than that which weighed upon +husbandry in France before the Revolution. The farmers of Canada uttered +a long sigh of relief when it was abolished by the legislature in 1867. + +The habits of this population were remarkably simple; the costume of +some of our present out-of-door clubs gives an accurate idea of the +dress of that time, which was the same for all: the garment of wool, the +cloak, the belt of arrow pattern, and the woollen cap, called tuque, +formed the national costume. And not only did the colonists dress +without the slightest affectation, but they even made their clothes +themselves. "The growing of hemp," says the Abbe Ferland, "was +encouraged, and succeeded wonderfully. They used the nettle to make +strong cloths; looms set up in each house in the village furnished +drugget, bolting cloth, serge and ordinary cloth. The leathers of the +country sufficed for a great portion of the needs of the population. +Accordingly, after enumerating the advances in agriculture and industry, +Talon announced to Colbert with just satisfaction, that he could clothe +himself from head to foot in Canadian products, and that in a short time +the colony, if it were well administered, would draw from Old France +only a few objects of prime need." + +The interior of the dwellings was not less simple, and we find still in +our country districts a goodly number of these old French houses; they +had only one single room, in which the whole family ate, lived and +slept, and received the light through three windows. At the back of the +room was the bed of the parents, supported by the wall, in another +corner a couch, used as a seat during the day and as a bed for the +children during the night, for the top was lifted off as one lifts the +cover of a box. Built into the wall, generally at the right of the +entrance, was the stone chimney, whose top projected a little above the +roof; the stewpan, in which the food was cooked, was hung in the +fireplace from a hook. Near the hearth a staircase, or rather a ladder, +led to the loft, which was lighted by two windows cut in the sides, and +which held the grain. Finally a table, a few chairs or benches completed +these primitive furnishings, though we must not forget to mention the +old gun hung above the bed to be within reach of the hand in case of a +night surprise from the dreaded Iroquois. + +In peaceful times, too, the musket had its service, for at this period +every Canadian was born a disciple of St. Hubert. We must confess that +this great saint did not refuse his protection in this country, where, +with a single shot, a hunter killed, in 1663, a hundred and thirty wild +pigeons. These birds were so tame that one might kill them with an oar +on the bank of the river, and so numerous that the colonists, after +having gathered and salted enough for their winter's provision, +abandoned the rest to the dogs and pigs. How many hunters of our day +would have displayed their skill in these fortunate times! This +abundance of pigeons at a period when our ancestors were not favoured in +the matter of food as we are to-day, recalls at once to our memory the +quail that Providence sent to the Jews in the desert; and it is a fact +worthy of mention that as soon as our forefathers could dispense with +this superabundance of game, the wild pigeons disappeared so totally and +suddenly that the most experienced hunters cannot explain this sudden +disappearance. There were found also about Ville-Marie many partridge +and duck, and since the colonists could not go out after game in the +woods, where they would have been exposed to the ambuscades of the +Iroquois, the friendly Indians brought to market the bear, the elk, the +deer, the buffalo, the caribou, the beaver and the muskrat. On fast days +the Canadians did not lack for fish; eels were sold at five francs a +hundred, and in June, 1649, more than three hundred sturgeons were +caught at Montreal within a fortnight. The shad, the pike, the wall-eyed +pike, the carp, the brill, the maskinonge were plentiful, and there was +besides, more particularly at Quebec, good herring and salmon fishing, +while at Malbaie (Murray Bay) codfish, and at Three Rivers white fish +were abundant. + +At first, food, clothing and property were all paid for by exchange of +goods. Men bartered, for example, a lot of ground for two cows and a +pair of stockings; a more considerable piece of land was to be had for +two oxen, a cow and a little money. "Poverty," says Bossuet, speaking +of other nations, "was not an evil; on the contrary, they looked upon it +as a means of keeping their liberty more intact, there being nothing +freer or more independent than a man who knows how to live on little, +and who, without expecting anything from the protection or the largess +of others, relies for his livelihood only on his industry and labour." +Voltaire has said with equal justice: "It is not the scarcity of money, +but that of men and talent, which makes an empire weak." + +On the arrival of the royal troops coin became less rare. "Money is now +common," wrote Mother Incarnation, "these gentlemen having brought much +of it. They pay cash for all they buy, both food and other necessaries." +Money was worth a fourth more than in France, thus fifteen cents were +worth twenty. As a natural consequence, two currencies were established +in New France, and the _livre tournois_ (French franc) was distinguished +from the franc of the country. The Indians were dealt with by exchanges, +and one might see them traversing the streets of Quebec, Montreal or +Three Rivers, offering from house to house rich furs, which they +bartered for blankets, powder, lead, but above all, for that accursed +firewater which caused such havoc among them, and such interminable +disputes between the civil and the religious power. Intoxicating liquors +were the source of many disorders, and we cannot too much regret that +this stain rested upon the glory of New France. Yet such a society, +situated in what was undeniably a difficult position, could not be +expected to escape every imperfection. + +The activity and the intelligence of Mgr. de Laval made themselves felt +in every beneficent and progressive work. He could not remain +indifferent to the education of his flock; we find him as zealous for +the progress of primary education as for the development of his two +seminaries or his school at St. Joachim. Primary instruction was given +first by the good Recollets at Quebec, at Tadousac and at Three Rivers. +The Jesuits replaced them, and were able, thanks to the munificence of +the son of the Marquis de Gamache, to add a college to their elementary +school at Quebec. At Ville-Marie the Sulpicians, with never-failing +abnegation, not content with the toil of their ministry, lent themselves +to the arduous task of teaching; the venerable superior himself, M. +Souart, took the modest title of headmaster. From a healthy bud issues a +fine fruit: just as the smaller seminary of Quebec gave birth to the +Laval University, so from the school of M. Souart sprang in 1733 the +College of Montreal, transferred forty years later to the Chateau +Vaudreuil, on Jacques Cartier Square; then to College Street, now St. +Paul Street. The college rises to-day on an admirable site on the slope +of the mountain; the main seminary, which adjoins it, seems to dominate +the city stretched at its feet, as the two sister sciences taught +there, theology and philosophy, dominate by their importance the other +branches of human knowledge. + +M. de Fenelon, who was already devoted to the conversion of the savages +in the famous mission of Montreal mountain, gave the rest of his time to +the training of the young Iroquois; he gathered them in a school erected +by his efforts near Pointe Claire, on the Dorval Islands, which he had +received from M. de Frontenac. Later on the Brothers Charron established +a house at Montreal with a double purpose of charity: to care for the +poor and the sick, and to train men in order to send them to open +schools in the country district. This institution, in spite of the +enthusiasm of its founders, did not succeed, and became extinct about +the middle of the eighteenth century. Finally, in 1838, Canada greeted +with joy the arrival of the sons of the blessed Jean Baptiste de la +Salle, the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, so well known throughout +the world for their modesty and success in teaching. + +The girls of the colony were no less well looked after than the boys; at +Quebec, the Ursuline nuns, established in that city by Madame de la +Peltrie, trained them for the future irreproachable mothers of families. +The attempts made to Gallicize the young savages met with no success in +the case of the boys, but were better rewarded by the young Indian +girls. "We have Gallicized," writes Mother Mary of the Incarnation, "a +number of Indian girls, both Hurons and Algonquins, whom we subsequently +married to Frenchmen, who get along with them very well. There is one +among them who reads and writes to perfection, both in her native Huron +tongue and in French; no one can discern or believe that she was born a +savage. The commissioner was so delighted at this that he induced her to +write for him something in the two languages, in order to take it to +France and show it as an extraordinary production." Further on she adds, +"It is a very difficult thing, not to say impossible, to Gallicize or +civilize them. We have more experience in this than any one else, and we +have observed that of a hundred who have passed through our hands we +have hardly civilized one. We find in them docility and intelligence, +but when we least expect it, they climb over our fence and go off to run +the woods with their parents, where they find more pleasure than in all +the comforts of our French houses." + +At Montreal it was the venerable Marguerite Bourgeoys who began to teach +in a poor hovel the rudiments of the French tongue. This humble school +was transformed a little more than two centuries later into one of the +most vast and imposing edifices of the city of Montreal. Fire destroyed +it in 1893, but we must hope that this majestic monument of Ville-Marie +will soon rise again from its ruins to become the centre of operations +of the numerous educational institutions of the Congregation of +Notre-Dame which cover our country. M. l'abbe Verreau, the much +regretted principal of the Jacques Cartier Normal School, appreciates in +these terms the services rendered to education by Mother Bourgeoys, a +woman eminent from all points of view: "The Congregation of Notre-Dame," +says he, "is a truly national institution, whose ramifications extend +beyond the limits of Canada. Marguerite Bourgeoys took in hand the +education of the women of the people, the basis of society. She taught +young women to become what they ought to be, especially at this period, +women full of moral force, of modesty, of courage in the face of the +dangers in the midst of which they lived. If the French-Canadians have +preserved a certain character of politeness and urbanity, which +strangers are not slow in admitting, they owe it in a great measure to +the work of Marguerite Bourgeoys." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BECOMES BISHOP OF QUEBEC + + +The creation of a bishopric in Canada was becoming necessary, and all +was ready for the erection of a separate see. Mgr. de Laval had thought +of everything: the two seminaries with the resources indispensable for +their maintenance, cathedral, parishes or missions regularly +established, institutions of education or charity, numerous schools, a +zealous and devoted clergy, respected both by the government of the +colony and by that of the mother country. What more could be desired? He +had many struggles to endure in order to obtain this creation, but +patience and perseverance never failed him, and like the drop of water +which, falling incessantly upon the pavement, finally wears away the +stone, his reasonable and ever repeated demands eventually overcame the +obstinacy of the king. Not, however, until 1674 was he definitely +appointed Bishop of Quebec, and could enjoy without opposition a title +which had belonged to him so long in reality; this was, as it were, the +final consecration of his life and the crowning of his efforts. Upon the +news of this the joy of the people and of the clergy rose to its height: +the future of the Canadian Church was assured, and she would inscribe +in her annals a name dear to all and soon to be glorified. + +Shall we, then, suppose that this pontiff was indeed ambitious, who, +coming in early youth to wield his pastoral crozier upon the banks of +the St. Lawrence, did not fear the responsibility of so lofty a task? +The assumption would be quite unjustified. Rather let us think of him as +meditating on this text of St. Paul: "_Oportet episcopum +irreprehensibilem esse_," the bishop must be irreproachable in his +house, his relations, his speech and even his silence. His past career +guaranteed his possession of that admixture of strength and gentleness, +of authority and condescension in which lies the great art of governing +men. Moreover, one thing reassured him, his knowledge that the crown of +a bishop is often a crown of thorns. When the apostle St. Paul outlined +for his disciple the main features of the episcopal character, he spoke +not alone for the immediate successors of the apostles, but for all +those who in the succession of ages should be honoured by the same +dignity. No doubt the difficulties would be often less, persecution +might even cease entirely, but trial would continue always, because it +is the condition of the Church as well as that of individuals. The +prelate himself explains to us the very serious reasons which led him to +insist on obtaining the title of Bishop of Quebec. He writes in these +terms to the Propaganda: "I have never till now sought the episcopacy, +and I have accepted it in spite of myself, convinced of my weakness. +But, having borne its burden, I shall consider it a boon to be relieved +of it, though I do not refuse to sacrifice myself for the Church of +Jesus Christ and for the welfare of souls. I have, however, learned by +long experience how unguarded is the position of an apostolic vicar +against those who are entrusted with political affairs, I mean the +officers of the court, perpetual rivals and despisers of the +ecclesiastical power, who have nothing more common to object than that +the authority of the apostolic vicar is doubtful and should be +restricted within certain limits. This is why, after having maturely +considered everything, I have resolved to resign this function and to +return no more to New France unless a see be erected there, and unless I +be provided and furnished with bulls constituting me its occupant. Such +is the purpose of my journey to France and the object of my desires." + +As early as the year 1662, at the time of his first journey to France, +the Bishop of Petraea had obtained from Louis XIV the assurance that this +prince would petition the sovereign pontiff for the erection of the see +of Quebec; moreover, the monarch had at the same time assigned to the +future bishopric the revenues of the abbey of Maubec. The king kept his +word, for on June 28th, 1664, he addressed to the common Father of the +faithful the following letter: "The choice made by your Holiness of the +person of the Sieur de Laval, Bishop of Petraea, to go in the capacity +of apostolic vicar to exercise episcopal functions in Canada has been +attended by many advantages to this growing Church. We have reason to +expect still greater results if it please your Holiness to permit him to +continue there the same functions in the capacity of bishop of the +place, by establishing for this purpose an episcopal see in Quebec; and +we hope that your Holiness will be the more inclined to this since we +have already provided for the maintenance of the bishop and his canons +by consenting to the perpetual union of the abbey of Maubec with the +future bishopric. This is why we beg you to grant to the Bishop of +Petraea the title of Bishop of Quebec upon our nomination and prayer, +with power to exercise in this capacity the episcopal functions in all +Canada." + +However, the appointment was not consummated; the Propaganda, indeed, +decided in a rescript of December 15th, 1666, that it was necessary to +make of Quebec a see, whose occupant should be appointed by the king; +the Consistorial Congregation of Rome promulgated a new decree with the +same purpose on October 9th, 1670, and yet Mgr. de Laval still remained +Bishop of Petraea. This was because the eternal question of jurisdiction +as between the civil and religious powers, the question which did so +much harm to Catholicism in France, in England, in Italy, and especially +in Germany, was again being revived. The King of France demanded that +the new diocese should be dependent upon the Metropolitan of Rouen, +while the pontifical government, of which its providential role requires +always a breadth of view, and, so to speak, a foreknowledge of events +impossible to any nation, desired the new diocese to be an immediate +dependency of the Holy See. "We must confess here," says the Abbe +Ferland, "that the sight of the sovereign pontiff reached much farther +into the future than that of the great king. Louis XIV was concerned +with the kingdom of France; Clement X thought of the interests of the +whole Catholic world. The little French colony was growing; separated +from the mother country by the ocean, it might be wrested from France by +England, which was already so powerful in America; what, then, would +become of the Church of Quebec if it had been wont to lean upon that of +Rouen and to depend upon it? It was better to establish at once +immediate relations between the Bishop of Quebec and the supreme head of +the Catholic Church; it was better to establish bonds which could be +broken neither by time nor force, and Quebec might thus become one day +the metropolis of the dioceses which should spring from its bosom." + +The opposition to the views of Mgr. de Laval did not come, however, so +much from the king as from Mgr. de Harlay, Archbishop of Rouen, who had +never consented to the detachment of Canada from his jurisdiction. +Events turned out fortunately for the apostolic vicar, since the +Archbishop of Rouen was called to the important see of Paris on the +death of the Archbishop of Paris, Hardouin de Perefixe de Beaumont, in +the very year in which Mgr. de Laval embarked for France, accompanied by +his grand vicar, M. de Lauson-Charny. The task now became much easier, +and Laval had no difficulty in inducing the king to urge the erection of +the diocese at Quebec, and to abandon his claims to making the new +diocese dependent on the archbishopric of Rouen. + +Before leaving Canada the Bishop of Quebec had entrusted the +administration of the apostolic vicariate to M. de Bernieres, and, in +case of the latter's death, to M. Dudouyt. He embarked in the autumn of +1671. + +To the keen regret of the population of Ville-Marie, which owed him so +much, M. de Queylus, Abbe de Loc-Dieu and superior of the Seminary of +Montreal for the last three years, went to France at the same time as +his ecclesiastical superior. "M. l'abbe de Queylus," wrote Commissioner +Talon to the Minister Colbert, "is making an urgent application for the +settlement and increase of the colony of Montreal. He carries his zeal +farther, for he is going to take charge of the Indian children who fall +into the hands of the Iroquois, in order to have them educated, the boys +in his seminary, and the girls by persons of the same sex, who form at +Montreal a sort of congregation to teach young girls the petty +handicrafts, in addition to reading and writing." M. de Queylus had used +his great fortune in all sorts of good works in the colony, but he was +not the only Sulpician whose hand was always ready and willing. Before +dying, M. Olier had begged his successors to continue the work at +Ville-Marie, "because," said he, "it is the will of God," and the +priests of St. Sulpice received this injunction as one of the most +sacred codicils of the will of their Father. However onerous the +continuation of this plan was for the company, the latter sacrificed to +it without hesitation its resources, its efforts and its members with +the most complete abnegation.[6] Thus when, on March 9th, 1663, the +Company of Montreal believed itself no longer capable of meeting its +obligations, and begged St. Sulpice to take them up, the seminary +subordinated all considerations of self-interest and human prudence to +this view. To this MM. de Bretonvilliers, de Queylus and du Bois devoted +their fortunes, and to this work of the conversion of the savages +priests distinguished in birth and riches gave up their whole lives and +property. M. de Belmont discharged the hundred and twenty thousand +francs of debts of the Company of Montreal, gave as much more to the +establishment of divers works, and left more than two hundred thousand +francs of his patrimony to support them after his death. How many +others did likewise! During more than fifty years Paris sent to this +mission only priests able to pay their board, that they might have the +right to share in this evangelization. This disinterestedness, unheard +of in the history of the most unselfish congregations, saved, sustained +and finally developed this settlement, to which Roman Catholics point +to-day with pride. The Seminary of Paris contributed to it a sum equal +to twice the value of the island, and during the first sixty years more +than nine hundred thousand francs, as one may see by the archives of the +Department of Marine at Paris. These sums to-day would represent a large +fortune. + +Finally the prayers of Mgr. de Laval were heard; Pope Clement X signed +on October 1st, 1674, the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec, +which was to extend over all the French possessions in North America. +The sovereign pontiff incorporated with the new bishopric for its +maintenance the abbey of Maubec, given by the King of France already in +1662, and in exchange for the renunciation by this prince of his right +of presentation to the abbey of Maubec, granted him the right of +nomination to the bishopric of Quebec. To his first gift the king had +added a second, that of the abbey of Lestrees. Situated in Normandy and +in the archdeaconry of Evreux, this abbey was one of the oldest of the +order of Citeaux. + +Up to this time the venerable bishop had had many difficulties to +surmount; he was about to meet some of another sort, those of the +administration of vast properties. The abbey of Maubec, occupied by +monks of the order of St. Benedict, was situated in one of the fairest +provinces of France, Le Perry, and was dependent upon the archdiocese of +Bourges. Famous vineyards, verdant meadows, well cultivated fields, rich +farms, forests full of game and ponds full of fish made this abbey an +admirable domain; unfortunately, the expenses of maintaining or +repairing the buildings, the dues payable to the government, the +allowances secured to the monks, and above all, the waste and theft +which must necessarily victimize proprietors separated from their +tenants by the whole breadth of an ocean, must absorb a great part of +the revenues. Letters of the steward of this property to the Bishop of +Quebec are instructive in this matter. "M. Porcheron is still the same," +writes the steward, M. Matberon, "and bears me a grudge because I desire +to safeguard your interests. I am incessantly carrying on the work of +needful repairs in all the places dependent on Maubec, chiefly those +necessary to the ponds, in order that M. Porcheron may have no damages +against you. This is much against his will, for he is constantly seeking +an excuse for litigation. He swears that he does not want your farm any +longer, but as for me, I believe that this is not his feeling, and that +he would wish the farm out of the question, for he is too fond of +hunting and his pleasure to quit it.... He does his utmost to remove me +from your service, insinuating many things against me which are not +true; but this does not lessen my zeal in serving you." + +Mgr. de Laval, who did not hesitate at any exertion when it was a +question of the interests of his Church, did not fail to go and visit +his two abbeys. He set out, happy in the prospect of being able to +admire these magnificent properties whose rich revenues would permit him +to do so much good in his diocese; but he was painfully affected at the +sight of the buildings in ruins, sad relics of the wars of religion. In +order to free himself as much as possible from cares which would have +encroached too much upon his precious time and his pastoral duties, +Laval caused a manager to be appointed by the Royal Council for the +abbey of Lestrees, and rented it for a fixed sum to M. Berthelot. He +also made with the latter a very advantageous transaction by exchanging +with him the Island of Orleans for the Ile Jesus; M. Berthelot was to +give him besides a sum of twenty-five thousand francs, which was +employed in building the seminary. Later the king made the Island of +Orleans a county. It became the county of St. Lawrence. + +Mgr. de Laval was too well endowed with qualities of the heart, as well +as with those of the mind, not to have preserved a deep affection for +his family; he did not fail to go and see them twice during his stay in +France. Unhappily, his brother, Jean-Louis, to whom he had yielded all +his rights as eldest son, and his titles to the hereditary lordship of +Montigny and Montbeaudry, caused only grief to his family and to his +wife, Francoise de Chevestre. As lavish as he was violent and +hot-tempered, he reduced by his excesses his numerous family (for he had +had ten children), to such poverty that the Bishop of Quebec had to come +to his aid; besides the assistance which he sent them, the prelate +bought him a house. He extended his protection also to his nephews, and +his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to him about them as follows: "The +eldest is developing a little; he is in the army with the king, and his +father has given him a good start. I have obtained from my petitions +from Paris a place as monk in the Congregation of the Cross for his +second son, whom I shall try to have reared in the knowledge and fear of +God. I believe that the youngest, who has been sent to you, will have +come to the right place; he is of good promise. My brother desires +greatly that you may have the goodness to give Fanchon the advantage of +an education before sending him back. It is a great charity to these +poor children to give them a little training. You will be a father to +them in this matter." One never applied in vain to the heart of the good +bishop. Two of his nephews owed him their education at the seminary of +Quebec; one of them, Fanchon (Charles-Francois-Guy), after a brilliant +course in theology at Paris, became vicar-general to the Swan of +Cambrai, the illustrious Fenelon, and was later raised to the bishopric +of Ypres. + +Meanwhile, four years had elapsed since Mgr. de Laval had left the soil +of Canada, and he did not cease to receive letters which begged him +respectfully to return to his diocese. "Nothing is lacking to animate us +but the presence of our lord bishop," wrote, one day, Father Dablon. +"His absence keeps this country, as it were, in mourning, and makes us +languish in the too long separation from a person so necessary to these +growing churches. He was the soul of them, and the zeal which he showed +on every occasion for the welfare of our Indians drew upon us favours of +Heaven most powerful for the success of our missions; and since, however +distant he be in the body, his heart is ever with us, we experience the +effects of it in the continuity of the blessings with which God favours +the labours of our missionaries." Accordingly, he did not lose a moment +after receiving the decrees appointing him Bishop of Quebec. On May +19th, 1675, he renewed the union of his seminary with that of the +Foreign Missions in Paris. "This union," says the Abbe Ferland, "a union +which he had effected for the first time in 1665 as apostolic bishop of +New France, was of great importance to his diocese. He found, indeed, in +this institution, good recruits, who were sent to him when needed, and +faithful correspondents, whom he could address with confidence, and who +had sufficient influence at court to gain a hearing for their +representations in favour of the Church in Canada." On May 29th of the +same year he set sail for Canada; he was accompanied by a priest, a +native of the city of Orleans, M. Glandelet, who was one of the most +distinguished priests of the seminary. + +To understand with what joy he was received by his parishioners on his +arrival, it is enough to read what his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to +him the following year: "I cannot express to you the satisfaction and +inward joy which I have received in my soul on reading a report sent +from Canada of the manner in which your clergy and all your people have +received you, and that our Lord inspires them all with just and true +sentiments to recognize you as their father and pastor. They testify to +having received through your beloved person as it were a new life. I ask +our Lord every day at His holy altars to preserve you some years more +for the sanctification of these poor people and our own." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] _Vie de M. Olier_, par De Lanjuere. As I wrote this life some years +ago with the collaboration of a gentleman whom death has taken from us, +I believe myself entitled to reproduce here and there in the present +life of Mgr. de Laval extracts from this book. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FRONTENAC IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR + + +During the early days of the absence of its first pastor, the Church of +Canada had enjoyed only days of prosperity; skilfully directed by MM. de +Bernieres and de Dudouyt, who scrupulously followed the line of conduct +laid down for them by Mgr. de Laval before his departure, it was +pursuing its destiny peacefully. But this calm, forerunner of the storm, +could not last; it was the destiny of the Church, as it had been the lot +of nations, to be tossed incessantly by the violent winds of trial and +persecution. The difficulties which arose soon reached the acute stage, +and all the firmness and tact of the Bishop of Quebec were needed to +meet them. The departure of Laval for France in the autumn of 1671 had +been closely followed by that of Governor de Courcelles and that of +Commissioner Talon. The latter was not replaced until three years later, +so that the new governor, Count de Frontenac, who arrived in the autumn +of 1672, had no one at his side in the Sovereign Council to oppose his +views. This was allowing too free play to the natural despotism of his +character. Louis de Buade, Count de Palluau and de Frontenac, +lieutenant-general of the king's armies, had previously served in +Holland under the illustrious Maurice, Prince of Orange, then in France, +Italy and Germany, and his merit had gained for him the reputation of a +great captain. The illustrious Turenne entrusted to him the command of +the reinforcements sent to Candia when that island was besieged by the +Turks. He had a keen mind, trained by serious study; haughty towards the +powerful of this world, he was affable to ordinary people, and thus made +for himself numerous enemies, while remaining very popular. Father +Charlevoix has drawn an excellent portrait of him: "His heart was +greater than his birth, his wit lively, penetrating, sound, fertile and +highly cultivated: but he was biased by the most unjust prejudices, and +capable of carrying them very far. He wished to rule alone, and there +was nothing he would not do to remove those whom he was afraid of +finding in his way. His worth and ability were equal; no one knew better +how to assume over the people whom he governed and with whom he had to +deal, that ascendency so necessary to keep them in the paths of duty and +respect. He won when he wished it the friendship of the French and their +allies, and never has general treated his enemies with more dignity and +nobility. His views for the aggrandizement of the colony were large and +true, but his prejudices sometimes prevented the execution of plans +which depended on him.... He justified, in one of the most critical +circumstances of his life, the opinion that his ambition and the desire +of preserving his authority had more power over him than his zeal for +the public good. The fact is that there is no virtue which does not +belie itself when one has allowed a dominant passion to gain the upper +hand. The Count de Frontenac might have been a great prince if Heaven +had placed him on the throne, but he had dangerous faults for a subject +who is not well persuaded that his glory consists in sacrificing +everything to the service of his sovereign and the public utility." + +It was under the administration of Frontenac that the Compagnie des +Indes Occidentales, which had accepted in 1663 a portion of the +obligations and privileges of the Company of the Cent-Associes, +renounced its rights over New France. Immediately after his arrival he +began the construction of Fort Cataraqui; if we are to believe some +historians, motives of personal interest guided him in the execution of +this enterprise; he thought only, it seems, of founding considerable +posts for the fur trade, favouring those traders who would consent to +give him a share in their profits. The work was urged on with energy. La +Salle obtained from the king, thanks to the support of Frontenac, +letters patent of nobility, together with the ownership and jurisdiction +of the new fort. + +With the approval of the governor, Commissioner Talon's plan of having +the course of the Mississippi explored was executed by two bold men: +Louis Joliet, citizen of Quebec, already known for previous voyages and +for his deep knowledge of the Indian tongues, and the devoted +missionary, Father Marquette. Without other provisions than Indian corn +and dried meat they set out in two bark canoes from Michilimackinac on +May 17th, 1673; only five Frenchmen accompanied them. They reached the +Mississippi, after having passed the Baie des Puants and the rivers +Outagami and Wisconsin, and ascended the stream for more than sixty +leagues. They were cordially received by the tribe of the Illinois, +which was encamped not far from the river, and Father Marquette promised +to return and visit them. The two travellers reached the Arkansas River +and learned that the sea was not far distant, but fearing they might +fall into the hands of hostile Spaniards, they decided to retrace their +steps, and reached the Baie des Puants about the end of September. + +The following year Father Marquette wished to keep his promise given to +the Illinois. His health is weakened by the trials of a long mission, +but what matters this to him? There are souls to save. He preaches the +truths of religion to the poor savages gathered in attentive silence; +but his strength diminishes, and he regretfully resumes the road to +Michilimackinac. He did not have time to reach it, but died near the +mouth of a river which long bore his name. His two comrades dug a grave +for the remains of the missionary and raised a cross near the tomb. Two +years later these sacred bones were transferred with the greatest +respect to St. Ignace de Michilimackinac by the savage tribe of the +Kiskakons, whom Father Marquette had christianized. + +With such an adventurous character as he possessed, Cavelier de la Salle +could not learn of the exploration of the course of the Upper +Mississippi without burning with the desire to complete the discovery +and to descend the river to its mouth. Robert Rene Cavelier de la Salle +was born at Rouen about the year 1644. He belonged to an excellent +family, and was well educated. From his earliest years he was +passionately fond of stories of travel, and the older he grew the more +cramped he felt in the civilization of Europe; like the mettled mustang +of the vast prairies of America, he longed for the immensity of unknown +plains, for the imposing majesty of forests which the foot of man had +not yet trod. Maturity and reason gave a more definite aim to these +aspirations; at the age of twenty-four he came to New France to try his +fortune. He entered into relations with different Indian tribes, and the +extent of his commerce led him to establish a trading-post opposite the +Sault St. Louis. This site, as we shall see, received soon after the +name of Lachine. Though settled at this spot, La Salle did not cease to +meditate on the plan fixed in his brain of discovering a passage to +China and the Indies, and upon learning the news that MM. Dollier de +Casson and Gallinee were going to christianize the wild tribes of +south-western Canada, he hastened to rejoin the two devoted +missionaries. They set out in the summer of 1669, with twenty-two +Frenchmen. Arriving at Niagara, La Salle suddenly changed his mind, and +abandoned his travelling companions, under the pretext of illness. No +more was needed for the Frenchman, _ne malin_,[7] to fix upon the +seigniory of the future discoverer of the mouth of the Mississippi the +name of Lachine; M. Dollier de Casson is suspected of being the author +of this gentle irony. + +Eight years later the explorations of Joliet and Father Marquette +revived his instincts as a discoverer; he betook himself to France in +1677 and easily obtained authority to pursue, at his own expense, the +discovery already begun. Back in Canada the following year, La Salle +thoroughly prepared for this expedition, accumulating provisions at Fort +Niagara, and visiting the Indian tribes. In 1679, accompanied by the +Chevalier de Tonti, he set out at the head of a small troop, and passed +through Michilimackinac, then through the Baie des Puants. From there he +reached the Miami River, where he erected a small fort, ascended the +Illinois, and, reaching a camp of the Illinois Indians, made an alliance +with this tribe, obtaining from them permission to erect upon their soil +a fort which he called Crevecoeur. He left M. de Tonti there with a few +men and two Recollet missionaries, Fathers de la Ribourde and Membre, +and set out again with all haste for Fort Frontenac, for he was very +anxious regarding the condition of his own affairs. He had reason to be. +"His creditors," says the Abbe Ferland, "had had his goods seized after +his departure from Fort Frontenac; his brigantine _Le Griffon_ had been +lost, with furs valued at thirty thousand francs; his employees had +appropriated his goods; a ship which was bringing him from France a +cargo valued at twenty-two thousand francs had been wrecked on the +Islands of St. Pierre; some canoes laden with merchandise had been +dashed to pieces on the journey between Montreal and Frontenac; the men +whom he had brought from France had fled to New York, taking a portion +of his goods, and already a conspiracy was on foot to disaffect the +Canadians in his service. In one word, according to him, the whole of +Canada had conspired against his enterprise, and the Count de Frontenac +was the only one who consented to support him in the midst of his +misfortunes." His remarkable energy and activity remedied this host of +evils, and he set out again for Fort Crevecoeur. To cap the climax of +his misfortunes, he found it abandoned; being attacked by the Iroquois, +whom the English had aroused against them, Tonti and his comrades had +been forced to hasty flight. De la Salle found them again at +Michilimackinac, but he had the sorrow of learning of the loss of +Father de la Ribourde, whom the Illinois had massacred. Tonti and his +companions, in their flight, had been obliged to abandon an unsafe +canoe, which had carried them half-way, and to continue their journey on +foot. Such a series of misfortunes would have discouraged any other than +La Salle; on the contrary, he made Tonti and Father Membre retrace their +steps. Arriving with them at the Miami fort, he reinforced his little +troop by twenty-three Frenchmen and eighteen Indians, and reached Fort +Crevecoeur. On February 6th, 1682, he reached the mouth of the Illinois, +and then descended the Mississippi. Towards the end of this same month +the bold explorers stopped at the juncture of the Ohio with the Father +of Rivers, and erected there Fort Prudhomme. On what is Fame dependent? +A poor and unknown man, a modest collaborator with La Salle, had the +honour of giving his name to this little fort because he had been lost +in the neighbourhood and had reached camp nine days later. + +Providence was finally about to reward so much bravery and perseverance. +The sailor who from the yards of Christopher Columbus's caravel, uttered +the triumphant cry of "Land! land!" did not cause more joy to the +illustrious Genoese navigator than La Salle received from the sight of +the sea so ardently sought. On April 9th La Salle and his comrades could +at length admire the immense blue sheet of the Gulf of Mexico. Like +Christopher Columbus, who made it his first duty on touching the soil of +the New World to fall upon his knees to return thanks to Heaven, La +Salle's first business was to raise a cross upon the shore. Father +Membre intoned the Te Deum. They then raised the arms of the King of +France, in whose name La Salle took possession of the Mississippi, and +of all the territories watered by the tributaries of the great river. + +Their trials were not over: the risks to be run in traversing so many +regions inhabited by barbarians were as great and as numerous after +success as before. La Salle was, moreover, delayed for forty days by a +serious illness, but God in His goodness did not wish to deprive the +valiant discoverers of the fruits of their efforts, and all arrived safe +and sound at the place whence they had started. After having passed a +year in establishing trading-posts among the Illinois, La Salle +appointed M. de Tonti his representative for the time being, and betook +himself to France with the intention of giving an account of his journey +to the most Christian monarch. His enemies had already forestalled him +at the court; we have to seek the real cause of this hatred in the +jealousy of traders who feared to find in the future colonists of the +western and southern country competitors in their traffic. But far from +listening to them, the son of Colbert, Seignelay, then minister of +commerce, highly praised the valiant explorer, and sent, in 1684, four +ships with two hundred and eighty colonists to people Louisiana, this +new gem in the crown of France. But La Salle has not yet finally drained +the cup of disappointment, for few men have been so overwhelmed as he by +the persistence of ill-fortune. It was not enough that the leader of the +expedition should be incapable, the colonists must needs be of a +continual evil character, the soldiers undisciplined, the workmen +unskilful, the pilot ignorant. They pass the mouth of the Mississippi, +near which they should have disembarked, and arrive in Texas; the +commander refuses to send the ship about, and La Salle makes up his mind +to land where they are. Through the neglect of the pilot, the vessel +which was carrying the provisions is cast ashore, then a gale arises +which swallows up the tools, the merchandise and the ammunition. The +Indians, like birds of prey, hasten up to pillage, and massacre two +volunteers. The colonists in exasperation revolt, and stupidly blame La +Salle. He saves them, nevertheless, by his energy, and makes them raise +a fort with the wreck of the ships. They pass two years there in a +famine of everything; twice La Salle tries to find, at the cost of a +thousand sufferings, a way of rescue, and twice he fails. Finally, when +there remain no more than thirty men, he chooses the ten most resolute, +and tries to reach Canada on foot. He did not reach it: on May 20th, +1687, he was murdered by one of his comrades. "Such was the end of this +daring adventurer," says Bancroft.[8] "For force of will, and vast +conceptions; for various knowledge and quick adaptation of his genius to +untried circumstances; for a sublime magnanimity that resigned itself to +the will of Heaven and yet triumphed over affliction by energy of +purpose and unfaltering hope, he had no superior among his +countrymen.... He will be remembered in the great central valley of the +West." + +It was with deep feelings of joy that Mgr. de Laval, still in France at +this period, had read the detailed report of the voyage of discovery +made by Joliet and Father Marquette. But the news which he received from +Canada was not always so comforting; he felt especially deeply the loss +of two great benefactresses of Canada, Madame de la Peltrie and Mother +Incarnation. The former had used her entire fortune in founding the +Convent of the Ursulines at Quebec. Heaven had lavished its gifts upon +her; endowed with brilliant qualities, and adding riches to beauty, she +was happy in possessing these advantages only because they allowed her +to offer them to the Most High, who had given them to her. She devoted +herself to the Christian education of young girls, and passed in Canada +the last thirty-two years of her life. The Abbe Casgrain draws the +following portrait of her: "Her whole person presented a type of +attractiveness and gentleness. Her face, a beautiful oval, was +remarkable for the harmony of its lines and the perfection of its +contour. A slightly aquiline nose, a clear cut and always smiling mouth, +a limpid look veiled by long lashes which the habit of meditation kept +half lowered, stamped her features with an exquisite sweetness. Though +her frail and delicate figure did not exceed medium height, and though +everything about her breathed modesty and humility, her gait was +nevertheless full of dignity and nobility; one recognized, in seeing +her, the descendant of those great and powerful lords, of those perfect +knights whose valiant swords had sustained throne and altar. Through the +most charming simplicity there were ever manifest the grand manner of +the seventeenth century and that perfect distinction which is +traditional among the families of France. But this majestic _ensemble_ +was tempered by an air of introspection and unction which gave her +conversation an infinite charm, and it gained her the esteem and +affection of all those who had had the good fortune to know her." She +died on November 18th, 1671, only a few days after the departure for +France of the apostolic vicar. + +[Illustration: The Ursuline Convent, Quebec + +Drawn on the spot by Richard Short, 1761] + +Her pious friend, Mother Mary of the Incarnation, first Mother Superior +of the Ursulines of Quebec, soon followed her to the tomb. She expired +on April 30th, 1672. In her numerous writings on the beginnings of the +colony, the modesty of Mother Mary of the Incarnation has kept us in the +dark concerning several important services rendered by her to New +France, and many touching details of her life would not have reached us +if her companion, Madame de la Peltrie, had not made them known to us. +In Mother Incarnation, who merited the glorious title of the Theresa of +New France, were found all the Christian virtues, but more particularly +piety, patience and confidence in Providence. God was ever present and +visible in her heart, acting everywhere and in everything. We see, among +many other instances that might be quoted, a fine example of her +enthusiasm for Heaven when, cast out of her convent in the heart of the +winter by a conflagration which consumed everything, she knelt upon the +snow with her Sisters, and thanked God for not having taken from them, +together with their properties, their lives, which might be useful to +others. + +If Madame de la Peltrie and Mother Mary of the Incarnation occupy a +large place in the history of Canada, it is because the institution of +the Ursulines, which they founded and directed at Quebec, exercised the +happiest influence on the formation of the Christian families in our +country. "It was," says the Abbe Ferland, "an inestimable advantage for +the country to receive from the schools maintained by the nuns, mothers +of families reared in piety, familiar with their religious duties, and +capable of training the hearts and minds of the new generation." It was +thanks to the efforts of Madame de la Peltrie, and to the lessons of +Mother Incarnation and her first co-workers, that those patriarchal +families whose type still persists in our time, were formed in the early +days of the colony. The same services were rendered by Sister Bourgeoys +to the government of Montreal. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] Allusion to a verse of the poet Boileau. + +[8] _History of the United States_, Vol. II., page 821. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A TROUBLED ADMINISTRATION + + +A thorough study of history and the analysis of the causes and effects +of great historical events prove to us that frequently men endowed with +the noblest qualities have rendered only slight services to their +country, because, blinded by the consciousness of their own worth, and +the certainty which they have of desiring to work only for the good of +their country, they have disdained too much the advice of wise +counsillors. With eyes fixed upon their established purpose, they +trample under foot every obstacle; and every man who differs from their +opinion is but a traitor or an imbecile: hence their lack of moderation, +tact and prudence, and their excess of obstinacy and violence. To select +one example among a thousand, what marvellous results would have been +attained by an _entente cordiale_ between two men like Dupleix and La +Bourdonnais. + +Count de Frontenac was certainly a great man: he made Canada prosperous +in peace, glorious in war, but he made also the great mistake of aiming +at absolutism, and of allowing himself to be guided throughout his +administration by unjustified prejudices against the Jesuits and the +religious orders. Only the Sovereign Council, the bishop and the royal +commissioner could have opposed his omnipotence. Now the office of +commissioner remained vacant for three years, the bishop stayed in +France till 1675, and his grand vicar, who was to represent him in the +highest assembly of the colony, was never invited to take his seat +there. As to the council, the governor took care to constitute it of men +who were entirely devoted to him, and he thus made himself the arbiter +of justice. The council, of which Peuvret de Mesnu was secretary, was at +this time composed of MM. Le Gardeur de Tilly, Damours, de la Tesserie, +Dupont, de Mouchy, and a substitute for the attorney-general. + +The first difficulty which Frontenac met was brought about by a cause +rather insignificant in itself, but rendered so dangerous by the +obstinacy of those who were concerned in it that it caused a deep +commotion throughout the whole country. Thus a foreign body, sometimes a +wretched little splinter buried in the flesh, may, if we allow the wound +to be poisoned, produce the greatest disorders in the human system. We +cannot read without admiration of the acts of bravery and daring +frequently accomplished by the _coureurs de bois_. We experience a +sentiment of pride when we glance through the accounts which depict for +us the endurance and physical vigour with which these athletes became +endowed by dint of continual struggles with man and beast and with the +very elements in a climate that was as glacial in winter as it was +torrid in summer. We are happy to think that these brave and strong men +belong to our race. But in the time of Frontenac the ecclesiastical and +civil authorities were averse to seeing the colony lose thus the most +vigorous part of its population. While admitting that the _coureurs de +bois_ became stout fellows in consequence of their hard experience, just +as the fishermen of the French shore now become robust sailors after a +few seasons of fishing on the Newfoundland Banks, the parallel is not +complete, because the latter remain throughout their lives a valuable +reserve for the French fleets, while the former were in great part lost +to the colony, at a period when safety lay in numbers. If they escaped +the manifold dangers which they ran every day in dealing with the +savages in the heart of the forest, if they disdained to link themselves +by the bond of marriage to a squaw and to settle among the redskins, the +_coureurs de bois_ were none the less drones among their compatriots; +they did not make up their minds to establish themselves in places where +they might have become excellent farmers, until through age and +infirmity they were rather a burden than a support to others. + +To counteract this scourge the king published in 1673, a decree which, +under penalty of death, forbade Frenchmen to remain more than +twenty-four hours in the woods without permission from the governor. +Some Montreal officers, engaged in trade, violated this prohibition; the +Count de Frontenac at once sent M. Bizard, lieutenant of his guards, +with an order to arrest them. The governor of Montreal, M. Perrot, who +connived with them, publicly insulted the officer entrusted with the +orders of the governor-general. Indignant at such insolence, M. de +Frontenac had M. Perrot arrested at once, imprisoned in the Chateau St. +Louis and judged by the Sovereign Council. Connected with M. Perrot by +the bonds of friendship, the Abbe de Fenelon profited by the occasion to +allude, in the sermon which he delivered in the parochial church of +Montreal on Easter Sunday, to the excessive labour which M. de Frontenac +had exacted from the inhabitants of Ville-Marie for the erection of Fort +Cataraqui. According to La Salle, who heard the sermon, the Abbe de +Fenelon said: "He who is invested with authority should not disturb the +people who depend on him; on the contrary, it is his duty to consider +them as his children and to treat them as would a father.... He must not +disturb the commerce of the country by ill-treating those who do not +give him a share of the profits they may make in it; he must content +himself with gaining by honest means; he must not trample on the people, +nor vex them by excessive demands which serve his interests alone. He +must not have favourites who praise him on all occasions, or oppress, +under far-fetched pretexts, persons who serve the same princes, when +they oppose his enterprises.... He has respect for priests and ministers +of the Church." + +Count de Frontenac felt himself directly aimed at; he was the more +inclined to anger, since, the year before, he had had reasons for +complaint of the sermon of a Jesuit Father. Let us allow the governor +himself to relate this incident: "I had need," he wrote to Colbert, "to +remember your orders on the occasion of a sermon preached by a Jesuit +Father this winter (1672) purposely and without need, at which he had a +week before invited everybody to be present. He gave expression in this +sermon to seditious proposals against the authority of the king, which +scandalized many, by dilating upon the restrictions made by the bishop +of the traffic in brandy.... I was several times tempted to leave the +church and to interrupt the sermon; but I eventually contented myself, +after it was over, with seeking out the grand vicar and the superior of +the Jesuits and telling them that I was much surprised at what I had +just heard, and that I asked justice of them.... They greatly blamed the +preacher, whose words they disavowed, attributing them, according to +their custom, to an excess of zeal, and offered me many excuses, with +which I condescended to seem satisfied, telling them, nevertheless, that +I would not accept such again, and that, if the occasion ever arose, I +would put the preacher where he would learn how he ought to speak...." + +On the news of the words which were pronounced in the pulpit at +Ville-Marie, M. de Frontenac summoned M. de Fenelon to send him a +verified copy of his sermon, and on the refusal of the abbe, he cited +him before the council. M. de Fenelon appeared, but objected to the +jurisdiction of the court, declaring that he owed an account of his +actions to the ecclesiastical authority alone. Now the official +authority of the diocese was vested in the worthy M. de Bernieres, the +representative of Mgr. de Laval. The latter is summoned in his turn +before the council, where the Count de Frontenac, who will not recognize +either the authority of this official or that of the apostolic vicar, +objects to M. de Bernieres occupying the seat of the absent Bishop of +Petraea. In order not to compromise his right thus contested, M. de +Bernieres replies to the questions of the council "standing and without +taking any seat." The trial thus begun dragged along till autumn, to be +then referred to the court of France. The superior of St. Sulpice, M. de +Bretonvilliers, who had succeeded the venerable M. Olier, did not +approve of the conduct of the Abbe Fenelon, for he wrote later to the +Sulpicians of Montreal: "I exhort you to profit by the example of M. de +Fenelon. Concerning himself too much with secular affairs and with what +did not affect him, he has ruined his own cause and compromised the +friends whom he wished to serve. In matters of this sort it is always +best to remain neutral." + +Frontenac was about to be blamed in his turn. The governor had obtained +from the council a decree ordering the king's attorney to be present +at the rendering of accounts by the purveyor of the Quebec Seminary, and +another decree of March 4th, 1675, declaring that not only, as had been +customary since 1668, the judges should have precedence over the +churchwardens in public ceremonies, but also that the latter should +follow all the officers of justice; at Quebec these officers should have +their bench immediately behind that of the council, and in the rest of +the country, behind that of the local governors and the seigneurs. This +latter decree was posted everywhere. A missionary, M. Thomas Morel, was +accused of having prevented its publication at Levis, and was arrested +at once and imprisoned in the Chateau St. Louis with the clerk of the +ecclesiastical court, Romain Becquet, who had refused to deliver to the +council the registers of this ecclesiastical tribune. He was kept there +a month. MM. de Bernieres and Dudouyt protested, declaring that M. Morel +was amenable only to the diocesan authority. We see in such an incident +some of the reasons which induced Laval to insist upon the immediate +constitution of a regular diocese. Summoned to produce forthwith the +authority for their pretended ecclesiastical jurisdiction, "they +produced a copy of the royal declaration, dated March 27th, 1659, based +on the bulls of the Bishop of Petraea, and other documents, establishing +incontestably the legal authority of the apostolic vicar." The council +had to yield; it restored his freedom to M. Morel, and postponed until +later its decision as to the validity of the claims of the +ecclesiastical court. + +This was a check to the ambitions of the Count de Frontenac. The +following letter from Louis XIV dealt a still more cruel blow to his +absolutism: "In order to punish M. Perrot for having resisted your +authority," the prince wrote to him, "I have had him put into the +Bastille for some time; so that when he returns to your country, not +only will this punishment render him more circumspect in his duty, but +it will serve as an example to restrain others. But if I must inform you +of my sentiments, after having thus satisfied my authority which was +violated in your person, I will tell you that without absolute need you +ought not to have these orders executed throughout the extent of a local +jurisdiction like Montreal without communicating with its governor.... I +have blamed the action of the Abbe de Fenelon, and have commanded him to +return no more to Canada; but I must tell you that it was difficult to +enter a criminal procedure against him, or to compel the priests of St. +Sulpice to bear witness against him. He should have been delivered over +to his bishop or to the grand vicar to suffer the ecclesiastical +penalties, or should have been arrested and sent back to France by the +first ship. I have been told besides," added the monarch, "that you +would not permit ecclesiastics and others to attend to their missions +and other duties, or even leave their residence without a passport from +Montreal to Quebec; that you often summoned them for very slight causes; +that you intercepted their letters and did not allow them liberty to +write. If the whole or part of these things be true, you must mend your +ways." On his part Colbert enjoined upon the governor a little more +calmness and gentleness. "His Majesty," wrote the minister, "has ordered +me to explain to you, privately, that it is absolutely necessary for the +good of your service to moderate your conduct, and not to single out +with too great severity faults committed either against his service or +against the respect due to your person or character." Colbert rightly +felt that fault-finding letters were not sufficient to keep within +bounds a temperament as fiery as that of the governor of Canada; on the +other hand, a man of Frontenac's worth was too valuable to the colony to +think of dispensing with his services. The wisest course was to renew +the Sovereign Council, and in order to withdraw its members from the too +preponderant influence of the governor, to put their nomination in the +hands of the king. + +By the royal edict of June 5th, 1675, the council was reconstituted. It +was composed of seven members appointed by the Crown; the +governor-general occupied the first place, the bishop, or in his +absence, the grand vicar, the second, and the commissioner the third. +As the latter presided in the absence of the governor, and as the king +was anxious that "he should have the same functions and the same +privileges as the first presidents of the courts of France," as moreover +the honour devolved upon him of collecting the opinions or votes and of +pronouncing the decrees, it was in reality the commissioner who might be +considered as actual president. It is, therefore, easy to understand the +continual disputes which arose upon the question of the title of +President of the Council between Frontenac and the Commissioner Jacques +Duchesneau. The latter, at first "_President des tresoriers de la +generalite de Tours_," had been appointed _intendant_ of New France by a +commission which bears the same date as the royal edict reviving the +Sovereign Council. While thinking of the material good of the colony, +the Most Christian King took care not to neglect its spiritual +interests; he undertook to provide for the maintenance of the parish +priests and other ecclesiastics wherever necessary, and to meet in case +of need the expenses of the divine service. In addition he expressed his +will "that there should always be in the council one ecclesiastical +member," and later he added a clerical councillor to the members already +installed. There were summoned to the council MM. de Villeray, de Tilly, +Damours, Dupont, Louis Rene de Lotbiniere, de Peyras, and Denys de +Vitre. M. Denis Joseph Ruette d'Auteuil was appointed +solicitor-general; his functions consisted in speaking in the name of +the king, and in making, in the name of the prince or of the public, the +necessary statements. The former clerk, M. Peuvret de Mesnu, was +retained in his functions. + +The quarrels thus generated between the governor and the commissioner on +the question of the title of president grew so embittered that discord +did not cease to prevail between the two men on even the most +insignificant questions. Forcibly involved in these dissensions, the +Sovereign Council itself was divided into two hostile camps, and letters +of complaint and denunciation rained upon the desk of the minister in +France: on the one hand the governor was accused of receiving presents +from the savages before permitting them to trade at Montreal, and was +reproached for sending beavers to New England; on the other hand, it was +hinted that the commissioner was interested in the business of the +principal merchants of the colony. Scrupulously honest, but of a +somewhat stern temperament, Duchesneau could not bend to the imperious +character of Frontenac, who in his exasperation readily allowed himself +to be impelled to arbitrary acts; thus he kept the councillor Damours in +prison for two months for a slight cause, and banished from Quebec three +other councillors, MM. de Villeray, de Tilly and d'Auteuil. The climax +was reached, and in spite of the services rendered to the country by +these two administrators, the king decided to recall them both in 1682. +Count de Frontenac was replaced as governor by M. Lefebvre de la Barre, +and M. Duchesneau by M. de Meulles. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THIRD VOYAGE TO FRANCE + + +Disembarking in the year 1675 on that soil where as apostolic vicar he +had already accomplished so much good, giving his episcopal benediction +to that Christian throng who came to sing the Te Deum to thank God for +the happy return of their first pastor, casting his eyes upon that manly +and imposing figure of one of the most illustrious lieutenants of the +great king, the Count de Frontenac, what could be the thoughts of Mgr. +de Laval? He could not deceive himself: the letters received from Canada +proved to him too clearly that the friction between the civil powers and +religious authorities would be continued under a governor of +uncompromising and imperious character. With what fervour must he have +asked of Heaven the tact, the prudence and the patience so necessary in +such delicate circumstances! + +Two questions, especially, divided the governor and the bishop: that of +the permanence of livings, and the everlasting matter of the sale of +brandy to the savages, a question which, like the phoenix, was +continually reborn from its ashes. "The prelate," says the Abbe +Gosselin, "desired to establish parishes wherever they were necessary, +and procure for them good and zealous missionaries, and, as far as +possible, priests residing in each district, but removable and attached +to the seminary, which received the tithes and furnished them with all +they had need of. But Frontenac found that this system left the priests +too dependent on the bishop, and that the clergy thus closely connected +with the bishop and the seminary, was too formidable and too powerful a +body. It was with the purpose of weakening it and of rendering it, by +the aid which it would require, more dependent on the civil authority, +that he undertook that campaign for permanent livings which ended in the +overthrow of Mgr. de Laval's system." + +Colbert, in fact, was too strongly prejudiced against the clergy of +Canada by the reports of Talon and Frontenac. These three men were +wholly devoted to the interests of France as well as to those of the +colony, but they judged things only from a purely human point of view. +"I see," Colbert wrote in 1677 to Commissioner Duchesneau, "that the +Count de Frontenac is of the opinion that the trade with the savages in +drinks, called in that country intoxicating, does not cause the great +and terrible evils to which Mgr. de Quebec takes exception, and even +that it is necessary for commerce; and I see that you are of an opinion +contrary to this. In this matter, before taking sides with the bishop, +you should enquire very exactly as to the number of murders, +assassinations, cases of arson, and other excesses caused by brandy ... +and send me the proof of this. If these deeds had been continual, His +Majesty would have issued a most severe and vigorous prohibition to all +his subjects against engaging in this traffic. But, in the absence of +this proof, and seeing, moreover, the contrary in the evidence and +reports of those that have been longest in this country, it is not just, +and the general policy of a state opposes in this the feelings of a +bishop who, to prevent the abuses that a small number of private +individuals may make of a thing good in itself, wishes to abolish trade +in an article which greatly serves to attract commerce, and the savages +themselves, to the orthodox Christians." Thus M. Dudouyt could not but +fail in his mission, and he wrote to Mgr. de Laval that Colbert, while +recognizing very frankly the devotion of the bishop and the +missionaries, believed that they exaggerated the fatal results of the +traffic. The zealous collaborator of the Bishop of Quebec at the same +time urged the prelate to suspend the spiritual penalties till then +imposed upon the traders, in order to deprive the minister of every +motive of bitterness against the clergy. + +The bishop admitted the wisdom of this counsel, which he followed, and +meanwhile the king, alarmed by a report from Commissioner Duchesneau, +who shared the view of the missionaries, desired to investigate and come +to a final decision on the question. He therefore ordered the Count de +Frontenac to choose in the colony twenty-four competent persons, and to +commission them to examine the drawbacks to the sale of intoxicating +liquors. Unfortunately, the persons chosen for this enquiry were engaged +in trade with the savages; their conclusions must necessarily be +prejudiced. They declared that "very few disorders arose from the +traffic in brandy, among the natives of the country; that, moreover, the +Dutch, by distributing intoxicating drinks to the Iroquois, attracted by +this means the trade in beaver skins to Orange and Manhattan. It was, +therefore, absolutely necessary to allow the brandy trade in order to +bring the savages into the French colony and to prevent them from taking +their furs to foreigners." + +We cannot help being surprised at such a judgment when we read over the +memoirs of the time, which all agree in deploring the sad results of +this traffic. The most crying injustice, the most revolting immorality, +the ruin of families, settlements devastated by drunkenness, agriculture +abandoned, the robust portion of the population ruining its health in +profitless expeditions: such were some of the most horrible fruits of +alcohol. And what do we find as a compensation for so many evils? A few +dozen rascals enriched, returning to squander in France a fortune +shamefully acquired. And let it not be objected that, if the Indians had +not been able to purchase the wherewithal to satisfy their terrible +passion for strong drink, they would have carried their furs to the +English or the Dutch, for it was proven that the offer of Governor +Andros, to forbid the sale of brandy to the savages in New England on +condition that the French would act likewise in New France, was formally +rejected. "To-day when the passions of the time have long been silent," +says the Abbe Ferland, "it is impossible not to admire the energy +displayed by the noble bishop, imploring the pity of the monarch for the +savages of New France with all the courage shown by Las Casas, when he +pleaded the cause of the aborigines of Spanish America. Disdaining the +hypocritical outcries of those men who prostituted the name of commerce +to cover their speculations and their rapine, he exposed himself to +scorn and persecution in order to save the remnant of those indigenous +American tribes, to protect his flock from the moral contagion which +threatened to weigh upon it, and to lead into the right path the young +men who were going to ruin among the savage tribes." + +The worthy bishop desired to prevent the laxity of the sale of brandy +that might result from the declaration of the Committee of Twenty-four, +and in the autumn of 1678 he set out again for France. To avoid a +journey so fatiguing, he might easily have found excuses in the rest +needed after a difficult pastoral expedition which he had just +concluded, in the labours of his seminary which demanded his presence, +and especially in the bad state of his health; but is not the first +duty of a leader always to stand in the breach, and to give to all the +example of self-sacrifice? A report from his hand on the disorders +caused by the traffic in strong liquors would perhaps have obtained a +fortunate result, but thinking that his presence at the court would be +still more efficacious, he set out. He managed to find in his charity +and the goodness of his heart such eloquent words to depict the evils +wrought upon the Church in Canada by the scourge of intoxication, that +Louis XIV was moved, and commissioned his confessor, Father La Chaise, +to examine the question conjointly with the Archbishop of Paris. +According to their advice, the king expressly forbade the French to +carry intoxicating liquors to the savages in their dwellings or in the +woods, and he wrote to Frontenac to charge him to see that the edict was +respected. On his part, Laval consented to maintain the _cas reserve_ +only against those who might infringe the royal prohibition. The Bishop +of Quebec had hoped for more; for nothing could prevent the Indians from +coming to buy the terrible poison from the French, and moreover, +discovery of the infractions of the law would be, if not impossible, at +least most difficult. Nevertheless, it was an advantage obtained over +the dealers and their protectors, who aimed at nothing less than an +unrestricted traffic in brandy. A dyke was set up against the +devastations of the scourge; the worthy bishop might hope to maintain +it energetically by his vigilance and that of his coadjutors. +Unfortunately, he could not succeed entirely, and little by little the +disorders became so multiplied that M. de Denonville considered brandy +as one of the greatest evils of Canada, and that the venerable superior +of St. Sulpice de Montreal, M. Dollier de Casson, wrote in 1691: "I have +been twenty-six years in this country, and I have seen our numerous and +flourishing Algonquin missions all destroyed by drunkenness." +Accordingly, it became necessary later to fall back upon the former +rigorous regulations against the sale of intoxicating liquors to the +Indians. + +Before his departure for France the Bishop of Quebec had given the +devoted priests of St. Sulpice a mark of his affection: he constituted +the parish of Notre-Dame de Montreal according to the canons of the +Church, and joined it in perpetuity to the Seminary of Ville-Marie, "to +be administered, under the plenary authority of the Bishops of Quebec, +by such ecclesiastics as might be chosen by the superior of the said +seminary. The priests of St. Sulpice having by their efforts and their +labours produced during so many years in New France, and especially in +the Island of Montreal, very great fruits for the glory of God and the +advantage of this growing Church, we have given them, as being most +irreproachable in faith, doctrine, piety and conduct, in perpetuity, and +do give them, by virtue of these presents, the livings of the Island of +Montreal, in order that they may be perfectly cultivated as up to now +they have been, as best they might be by their preachings and examples." +In fact, misunderstandings like that which had occurred on the arrival +of de Queylus were no longer to be feared; since the authority to which +Laval could lay claim had been duly established and proved, the +Sulpicians had submitted and accepted his jurisdiction. They had for a +longer period preserved their independence as temporal lords, and the +governor of Ville-Marie, de Maisonneuve, jealous of preserving intact +the rights of those whom he represented, even dared one day to refuse +the keys of the fort to the governor-general, M. d'Argenson. Poor de +Maisonneuve paid for this excessive zeal by the loss of his position, +for d'Argenson never forgave him. + +The parish of Notre-Dame was united with the Seminary of Montreal on +October 30th, 1678, one year after the issuing of the letters patent +which recognized the civil existence of St. Sulpice de Montreal. Mgr. de +Laval at the same time united with the parish of Notre-Dame the chapel +of Bonsecours. On the banks of the St. Lawrence, not far from the church +of Notre-Dame, rises a chapel of modest appearance. It is Notre-Dame de +Bonsecours. It has seen many generations kneeling on its square, and has +not ceased to protect with its shadow the Catholic quarter of Montreal. +The buildings about it rose successively, only to give way themselves +to other monuments. Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is still respected; the +piety of Catholics defends it against all attacks of time or progress, +and the little church raises proudly in the air that slight wooden +steeple that more than once has turned aside the avenging bolt of the +Most High. Sister Bourgeoys had begun it in 1657; to obtain the funds +necessary for its completion she betook herself to Paris. She obtained +one hundred francs from M. Mace, a priest of St. Sulpice. One of the +associates of the Company of Montreal, M. de Fancamp, received for her +from two of his fellow-partners, MM. Denis and Lepretre, a statuette of +the Virgin made of the miraculous wood of Montagu, and he himself, to +participate in this gift, gave her a shrine of the most wonderful +richness to contain the precious statue. On her return to Canada, +Marguerite Bourgeoys caused to be erected near the house of the Sisters +a wooden lean-to in the form of a chapel, which became the provisional +sanctuary of the statuette. Two years later, on June 29th, the laying of +the foundation stone of the chapel took place. The work was urged with +enthusiasm, and encouraged by the pious impatience of Sister Bourgeoys. +The generosity of the faithful vied in enthusiasm, and gifts flowed in. +M. de Maisonneuve offered a cannon, of which M. Souart had a bell made +at his expense. Two thousand francs, furnished by the piety of the +inhabitants, and one hundred louis from Sister Bourgeoys and her nuns, +aided the foundress to complete the realization of a wish long +cherished in her heart; the new chapel became an inseparable annex of +the parish of Ville-Marie. + +These most precious advantages were recognized on November 6th, 1678, by +Mgr. de Laval, who preserved throughout his life the most tender +devotion to the Mother of God. On the other hand, the prelate imposed +upon the parish priest the obligation of having the Holy Mass celebrated +there on the Day of the Visitation, and of going there in procession on +the Day of the Assumption. Is it necessary to mention with what zeal, +with what devotion the Canadians brought to Mary in this new temple +their homage and their prayers? Let us listen to the enthusiastic +narrative of Sister Morin, a nun of St. Joseph: "The Holy Mass is said +there every day, and even several times a day, to satisfy the devotion +and the trust of the people, which are great towards Notre-Dame de +Bonsecours. Processions wend their way thither on occasions of public +need or calamity, with much success. It is the regular promenade of the +devout persons of the town, who make a pilgrimage there every evening, +and there are few good Catholics who, from all the places in Canada, do +not make vows of offerings to this chapel in all the dangers in which +they find themselves." + +The church of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours was twice remodelled; built at +first of oak on stone foundations, it was rebuilt of stone and consumed +in 1754 in a conflagration which destroyed a part of the town. In 1772 +the chapel was rebuilt as it exists now, one hundred and two feet long +by forty-six wide. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LAVAL RETURNS TO CANADA + + +Mgr. de Laval was still in France when the edict of May, 1679, appeared, +decreeing on the suggestion of Frontenac, that the tithe should be paid +only to "each of the parish priests within the extent of his parish +where he is established in perpetuity in the stead of the removable +priest who previously administered it." The ideas of the Count de +Frontenac were thus victorious, and the king retracted his first +decision. He had in his original decree establishing the Seminary of +Quebec, granted the bishop and his successors "the right of recalling +and displacing the priests by them delegated to the parishes to exercise +therein parochial functions." Laval on his return to Canada conformed +without murmur to the king's decision; he worked, together with the +governor and commissioner, at drawing up the plan of the parishes to be +established, and sent his vicar-general to install the priests who were +appointed to the different livings. He desired to inspire his whole +clergy with the disinterestedness which he had always evinced, for not +only did he recommend his priests "to content themselves with the +simplest living, and with the bare necessaries of their support," but +besides, agreeing with the governor and the commissioner, he estimated +that an annual sum of five hundred livres merely, that is to say, about +three hundred dollars of our present money, was sufficient for the +lodging and maintenance of a priest. This was more than modest, and yet, +without a very considerable extension, there was no parish capable of +supplying the needs of its priest. There was indeed, it is true, an +article of the edict specifying that in case of the tithe being +insufficient, the necessary supplement should be fixed by the council +and furnished by the seigneur of the place and by the inhabitants; but +this manner of aiding the priests who were reduced to a bare competence +was not practical, as was soon evident. Another article gave the title +of patron to any seigneur who should erect a religious edifice; this +article was just as fantastic, "for," wrote Commissioner Duchesneau, +"there is no private person in this country who is in a position to +build churches of any kind." + +The king, always well disposed towards the clergy of Canada, came to +their aid again in this matter. He granted them an annual income of +eight thousand francs, to be raised from his "_Western Dominions_," that +is to say, from the sum derived in Canada from the _droit du quart_ and +the farm of Tadousac; from these funds, which were distributed by the +seminary until 1692, and after this date by the bishop alone, two +thousand francs were to be set aside for priests prevented by illness or +old age from fulfilling the duties of the holy ministry, and twelve +hundred francs were to be employed in the erection of parochial +churches. This aid came aptly, but was not sufficient, as Commissioner +de Beauharnois himself admits. And yet the deplorable state in which the +treasury of France then was, on account of the enormous expenses +indulged in by Louis XIV, and especially in consequence of the wars +which he waged against Europe, obliged him to diminish this allowance. +In 1707 it was reduced by half. + +It was feared for a time by the Sulpicians that the edict of 1679 might +injure the rights which they had acquired from the union with their +seminary of the parishes established on the Island of Montreal, and they +therefore hastened to request from the king the civil confirmation of +this canonical union. "There is," they said in their request, "a sort of +need that the parishes of the Island of Montreal and of the surrounding +parts should be connected with a community able to furnish them with +priests, who could not otherwise be found in the country, to administer +the said livings; these priests would not expose themselves to a sea +voyage and to leaving their family comforts to go and sacrifice +themselves in a wild country, if they did not hope that in their +infirmity or old age they would be free to withdraw from the laborious +administration of the parishes, and that they would find a refuge in +which to end their days in tranquillity in a community which, on its +part, would not pledge itself in such a way as to afford them the hope +of this refuge, and to furnish other priests in their place, if it had +not the free control of the said parishes and power to distribute among +them the ecclesiastics belonging to its body whom it might judge capable +of this, and withdraw or exchange them when fitting." The request of the +Sulpicians was granted by the king. + +It was not until 1680 that the Bishop of Quebec could return to Canada. +The all-important questions of the permanence of livings and of the +traffic in brandy were not the only ones which kept him in France; +another difficulty, that of the dependence of his diocese, demanded of +his devotion a great many efforts at the court. The circumstances were +difficult. France was plunged at this period in the famous dispute +between the government and the court of Rome over the question of the +right of _regale_, a dispute which nearly brought about a schism. The +Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. de Harlay, who had laboured so much when he +was Bishop of Rouen to keep New France under the jurisdiction of the +diocese of Normandy, used his influence to make Canada dependent on the +archbishopric of Paris. The death of this prelate put an end to this +claim, and the French colony in North America continued its direct +connection with the Holy See. + +Mgr. de Laval strove also to obtain from the Holy Father the canonical +union of the abbeys of Maubec and of Lestrees with his bishopric; if he +had obtained it, he could have erected his chapter at once, assuring by +the revenues of these monasteries a sufficient maintenance for his +canons. The opposition of the religious orders on which these abbeys +depended defeated his plan, but in compensation he obtained from the +generosity of the king a grant of land on which his successor, +Saint-Vallier, afterwards erected the church of Notre-Dame des +Victoires. The venerable prelate might well ask favours for his diocese +when he himself set an example of the greatest generosity. By a deed, +dated at Paris, he gave to his seminary all that he possessed: Ile +Jesus, the seigniories of Beaupre and Petite Nation, a property at +Chateau Richer, finally books, furniture, funds, and all that might +belong to him at the moment of his death. + +Laval returned to Canada at a time when the relations with the savage +tribes were becoming so strained as to threaten an impending rupture. So +far had matters gone that Colonel Thomas Dongan, governor of New York, +had urged the Iroquois to dig up the hatchet, and he was only too +willingly obeyed. Unfortunately, the two governing heads of the colony +were replaced just at that moment. Governor de Frontenac and +Commissioner Duchesneau were recalled in 1682, and supplanted by de la +Barre and de Meulles. The latter were far from equalling their +predecessors. M. de Lefebvre de la Barre was a clever sailor but a +deplorable administrator; as for the commissioner, M. de Meulles, his +incapacity did not lessen his extreme conceit. + +On his arrival at Quebec, Laval learned with deep grief that a terrible +conflagration had, a few weeks before, consumed almost the whole of the +Lower Town. The houses, and even the stores being then built of wood, +everything was devoured by the flames. A single dwelling escaped the +disaster, that of a rich private person, M. Aubert de la Chesnaie, in +whose house mass was said every Sunday and feast-day for the citizens of +the Lower Town who could not go to the parish service. To bear witness +of his gratitude to Heaven, M. de la Chesnaie came to the aid of a good +number of his fellow-citizens, and helped them with his money to rebuild +their houses. This fire injured the merchants of Montreal almost as much +as those of Quebec, and the _Histoire de l'Hotel-Dieu_ relates that +"more riches were lost on that sad night than all Canada now possesses." + +The king had the greatest desire for the future reign of harmony in the +colony; accordingly he enjoined upon M. de Meulles to use every effort +to agree with the governor-general: "If the latter should fail in his +duty to the sovereign, the commissioner should content himself with a +remonstrance and allow him to act further without disturbing him, but as +soon as possible afterwards should render an account to the king's +council of what might be prejudicial to the good of the state." Mgr. de +Laval, to whom the prince had written in the same tenor, replied at +once: "The honour which your Majesty has done me in writing to me that +M. de Meulles has orders to preserve here a perfect understanding with +me in all things, and to give me all the aid in his power, is so evident +a mark of the affection which your Majesty cherishes for this new Church +and for the bishop who governs it, that I feel obliged to assure your +Majesty of my most humble gratitude. As I do not doubt that this new +commissioner whom you have chosen will fulfil with pleasure your +commands, I may also assure your Majesty that on my part I shall +correspond with him in the fulfilment of my duty, and that I shall all +my life consider it my greatest joy to enter into the intentions of your +Majesty for the general good of this country, which constitutes a part +of your dominions." Concord thus advised could not displease a pastor +who loved nothing so much as union and harmony among all who held the +reins of power, a pastor who had succeeded in making his Church a family +so united that it was quoted once as a model in one of the pulpits of +Paris. If he sometimes strove against the powerful of this earth, it was +when it was a question of combating injustice or some abuse prejudicial +to the welfare of his flock. "Although by his superior intelligence," +says Latour, "by his experience, his labours, his virtues, his birth +and his dignity, he was an oracle whose views the whole clergy +respected, no one ever more distrusted himself, or asked with more +humility, or followed with more docility the counsel of his inferiors +and disciples.... He was less a superior than a colleague, who sought +the right with them and sought it only for its own sake. Accordingly, +never was prelate better obeyed or better seconded than Mgr. de Laval, +because, far from having that professional jealousy which desires to do +everything itself, which dreads merit and enjoys only despotism, never +did prelate evince more appreciative confidence in his inferiors, or +seek more earnestly to give zeal and talent their dues, or have less +desire to command, or did, in fact, command less." The new governor +brought from France strong prejudices against the bishop; he lost them +very quickly, and he wrote to the minister, the Marquis de Seignelay: +"We have greatly laboured, the bishop and I, in the establishment of the +parishes of this country. I send you the arrangement which we have +arrived at concerning them. We owe it to the bishop, who is extremely +well affected to the country, and in whom we must trust." The minister +wrote to the prelate and expressed to him his entire satisfaction in his +course. + +The vigilant bishop had not yet entirely recovered from the fatigue of +his journey when he decided, in spite of the infirmities which were +beginning to overwhelm him, and which were to remain the constant +companions of his latest years, to visit all the parishes and the +religious communities of his immense diocese. He had already traversed +them in the winter time in his former pastoral visits, shod with +snowshoes, braving the fogs, the snow and the bitterest weather. In the +suffocating heat of summer, travel in a bark canoe was scarcely less +fatiguing to a man of almost sixty years, worn out by the hard ministry +of a quarter of a century. However, he decided on a summer journey, and +set out on June 1st, 1681, accompanied by M. de Maizerets, one of his +grand vicars. He visited successively Lotbiniere, Batiscan, Champlain, +Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Trois Rivieres, Chambly, Sorel, St. Ours, +Contrecoeur, Vercheres, Boucherville, Repentigny, Lachesnaie, and +arrived on June 19th at Montreal. The marks of respectful affection +lavished upon him by the population compel him to receive continual +visits; but he has come especially for his beloved religious +communities, and he honours them all with his presence, the Seminary of +St. Sulpice as well as the Congregation of Notre-Dame and the hospital. +These labours are not sufficient for his apostolic zeal; he betakes +himself to the house of the Jesuit Fathers at Laprairie, then to their +Indian Mission at the Sault St. Louis, finally to the parish of St. +Francois de Sales, in the Ile Jesus. Descending the St. Lawrence River, +he sojourns successively at Longueuil, at Varennes, at Lavaltrie, at +Nicolet, at Becancourt, at Gentilly, at Ste. Anne de la Perade, at +Deschambault. He returns to Quebec; his devoted fellow-workers in the +seminary urge him to rest, but he will think of rest only when his +mission is fully ended. He sets out again, and Ile aux Oies, +Cap-Saint-Ignace, St. Thomas, St. Michel, Beaumont, St. Joseph de Levis +have in turn the happiness of receiving their pastor. The undertaking +was too great for the bishop's strength, and he suffered the results +which could not but follow upon such a strain. The registers of the +Sovereign Council prove to us that only a week after his return he had +to take to his bed, and for two months could not occupy his seat among +the other councillors. "His Lordship fell ill of a dangerous malady," +says a memoir of that time. "For the space of a fortnight his death was +expected, but God granted us the favour of bringing him to +convalescence, and eventually to his former health." + +M. de la Barre, on his arrival, desired to inform himself exactly of the +condition of the colony. In a great assembly held at Quebec, on October +10th, 1682, he gathered all the men who occupied positions of +consideration in the colony. Besides the governor, the bishop and the +commissioner, there were noticed among others M. Dollier de Casson, the +superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, several Jesuit +Fathers, MM. de Varennes, governor of Three Rivers, d'Ailleboust, de +Brussy and Le Moyne. The information which M. de la Barre obtained from +the assembly was far from reassuring; incessantly stirred up by Governor +Dongan's genius for intrigue, the Iroquois were preparing to descend +upon the little colony. If they had not already begun hostilities, it +was because they wished first to massacre the tribes allied with the +French; already the Hurons, the Algonquins, the Conestogas, the +Delawares and a portion of the Illinois had fallen under their blows. It +was necessary to save from extermination the Ottawa and Illinois tribes. +Now, one might indeed raise a thousand robust men, accustomed to savage +warfare, but, if they were used for an expedition, who would cultivate +in their absence the lands of these brave men? A prompt reinforcement +from the mother country became urgent, and M. de la Barre hastened to +demand it. + +The war had already begun. The Iroquois had seized two canoes, the +property of La Salle, near Niagara; they had likewise attacked and +plundered fourteen Frenchmen _en route_ to the Illinois with merchandise +valued at sixteen thousand francs. It was known, besides, that the +Cayugas and the Senecas were preparing to attack the French settlements +the following summer. In spite of all, the expected help did not arrive. +One realizes the anguish to which the population must have been a prey +when one reads the following letter from the Bishop of Quebec: "Sire, +the Marquis de Seignelay will inform your Majesty of the war which the +Iroquois have declared against your subjects of New France, and will +explain the need of sending aid sufficient to destroy, if possible, this +enemy, who has opposed for so many years the establishment of this +colony.... Since it has pleased your Majesty to choose me for the +government of this growing Church, I feel obliged, more than any one, to +make its needs manifest to you. The paternal care which you have always +had for us leaves me no room to doubt that you will give the necessary +orders for the most prompt aid possible, without which this poor country +would be exposed to a danger nigh unto ruin." + +The expected reinforcements finally arrived; on November 9th, 1684, the +whole population of Quebec, assembled at the harbour, received with joy +three companies of soldiers, composed of fifty-two men each. The Bishop +of Quebec did not fail to express to the king his personal obligation +and the gratitude of all: "The troops which your Majesty has sent to +defend us against the Iroquois," he wrote to the king, "and the lands +which you have granted us for the subsidiary church of the Lower Town, +and the funds which you have allotted both to rebuild the cathedral +spire and to aid in the maintenance of the priests, these are favours +which oblige me to thank your Majesty, and make me hope that you will +deign to continue your royal bounties to our Church and the whole +colony." + +M. de la Barre was thus finally able to set out on his expedition +against the Iroquois. At the head of one hundred and thirty soldiers, +seven hundred militia and two hundred and sixty Indians, he marched to +Lake Ontario, where the Iroquois, intimidated, sent him a deputation. +The ambassadors, who expected to see a brilliant army full of ardour, +were astonished to find themselves in the presence of pale and emaciated +soldiers, worn out more by sickness and privations of every kind than by +fatigue. The governor, in fact, had lost ten or twelve days at Montreal; +on the way the provisions had become spoiled and insufficient, hence the +name of Famine Creek given to the place where he entered with his +troops, above the Oswego River. At this sight the temper of the +delegates changed, and their proposals showed it; they spoke with +arrogance, and almost demanded peace; they undertook to indemnify the +French merchants plundered by them on condition that the army should +decamp on the morrow. Such weakness could not attract to M. de la Barre +the affection of the colonists; the king relieved him from his +functions, and appointed as his successor the Marquis de Denonville, a +colonel of dragoons, whose valour seemed to promise the colony better +days. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +RESIGNATION OF MGR. DE LAVAL + + +The long and conscientious pastoral visit which he had just ended had +proved to the indefatigable prelate that it would be extremely difficult +to establish his parishes solidly. Instead of grouping themselves +together, which would have given them the advantages of union both +against the attacks of savages and for the circumstances of life in +which man has need of the aid of his fellows, the colonists had built +their dwellings at random, according to the inspiration of the moment, +and sometimes at long distances from each other; thus there existed, as +late as 1678, only twenty-five fixed livings, and it promised to be very +difficult to found new ones. To give a pastor the direction of +parishioners established within an enormous radius of his parish house, +was to condemn his ministry in advance to inefficacy. To prove it, the +Abbe Gosselin cites a striking example. Of the two missionaries who +shared the southern shore, the one, M. Morel, ministered to the country +between Berthier and Riviere du Loup; the other, M. Volant de +Saint-Claude, from Berthier to Riviere du Chene, and each of them had +only about sixty families scattered here and there. And how was one to +expect that these poor farmers could maintain their pastor and build a +church? Almost everywhere the chapels were of wood or clapboards, and +thatched; not more than eight or nine centres of population could boast +of possessing a stone church; many hamlets still lacked a chapel and +imitated the Lower Town of Quebec, whose inhabitants attended service in +a private house. As to priests' houses, they were a luxury that few +villages could afford: the priest had to content himself with being +sheltered by a respectable colonist. + +During the few weeks when illness confined him to his bed, Laval had +leisure to reflect on the difficulties of his task. He understood that +his age and the infirmities which the Lord laid upon him would no longer +permit him to bring to so arduous a work the necessary energy. "His +humility," says Sister Juchereau, "persuaded him that another in his +place would do more good than he, although he really did a great deal, +because he sought only the glory of God and the welfare of his flock." +In consequence, he decided to go and carry in person his resignation to +the king. But before embarking for France, with his accustomed prudence +he set his affairs in order. He had one plan, especially, at heart, that +of establishing according to the rules of the Church the chapter which +had already existed _de facto_ for a long while. Canons are necessary to +a bishopric; their duties are not merely decorative, for they assist the +bishop in his episcopal office, form his natural council, replace him +on certain occasions, govern the diocese from the death of its head +until the deceased is replaced, and finally officiate in turn before the +altars of the cathedral in order that prayer shall incessantly ascend +from the diocese towards the Most High. The only obstacle to this +creation until now had been the lack of resources, for the canonical +union with the abbeys of Maubec and Lestrees was not yet an accomplished +fact. Mgr. de Laval resolved to appeal to the unselfishness of the +priests of the seminary, and he succeeded: they consented to fulfil +without extra salary the duties of canons. + +By an ordinance of November 6th, 1684, the Bishop of Quebec established +a chapter composed of twelve canons and four chaplains. The former, +among whom were five priests born in the colony, were M. Henri de +Bernieres, priest of Quebec, who remained dean until his death in 1700; +MM. Louis Ange de Maizerets, archdeacon, Charles Glandelet, theologist, +Dudouyt, grand cantor, and Jean Gauthier de Brulon, confessor. The +ceremony of installation took place with the greatest pomp, amid the +boom of artillery and the joyful sound of bells and music; governor, +intendant, councillors, officers and soldiers, inhabitants of the city +and the environments, everybody wished to be present. It remained to +give a constitution to the new chapter. Mgr. de Laval had already busied +himself with this for several months, and corresponded on this subject +with M. Cheron, a clever lawyer of Paris. Accordingly, the constitution +which he submitted for the infant chapter on the very morrow of the +ceremony was admired unreservedly and adopted without discussion. +Twenty-four hours afterwards he set sail accompanied by the good wishes +of his priests, who, with anxious heart and tears in their eyes, +followed him with straining gaze until the vessel disappeared below the +horizon. Before his departure, he had, like a father who in his last +hour divides his goods among his children, given his seminary a new +proof of his attachment: he left it a sum of eight thousand francs for +the building of the chapel. + +It would seem that sad presentiments assailed him at this moment, for he +said in the deed of gift: "I declare that my last will is to be buried +in this chapel; and if our Lord disposes of my life during this voyage I +desire that my body be brought here for burial. I also desire this +chapel to be open to the public." Fortunately, he was mistaken, it was +not the intention of the Lord to remove him so soon from the affections +of his people. For twenty years more the revered prelate was to spread +about him good works and good examples, and Providence reserved for him +the happiness of dying in the midst of his flock. + +His generosity did not confine itself to this grant. He could not leave +his diocese, which he was not sure of seeing again, without giving a +token of remembrance to that school of St. Joachim, which he had +founded and which he loved so well; he gave the seminary eight thousand +francs for the support of the priest entrusted with the direction of the +school at the same time as with the ministry of the parish, and another +sum of four thousand francs to build the village church. + +A young Canadian priest, M. Guyon, son of a farmer of the Beaupre shore, +had the good fortune of accompanying the bishop on the voyage. It would +have been very imprudent to leave the venerable prelate alone, worn out +as he was by troublesome fits of vertigo whenever he indulged too long +in work; besides, he was attacked by a disease of the heart, whose +onslaughts sometimes incapacitated him. + +It would be misjudging the foresight of Mgr. de Laval to think that +before embarking for the mother country he had not sought out a priest +worthy to replace him. He appealed to two men whose judgment and +circumspection he esteemed, M. Dudouyt and Father Le Valois of the +Society of Jesus. He asked them to recommend a true servant of God, +virtuous and zealous above all. Father Le Valois indicated the Abbe Jean +Baptiste de la Croix de Saint-Vallier, the king's almoner, whose zeal +for the welfare of souls, whose charity, great piety, modesty and method +made him the admiration of all. The influence which his position and the +powerful relations of his family must gain for the Church in Canada +were an additional argument in his favour; the superior of St. Sulpice, +M. Tronson, who was also consulted, praised highly the talents and the +qualities of the young priest. "My Lord has shown great virtue in his +resignation," writes M. Dudouyt. "I know no occasion on which he has +shown so strongly his love for his Church; for he has done everything +that could be desired to procure a person capable of preserving and +perfecting the good work which he has begun here." If the Abbe de +Saint-Vallier had not been a man after God's own heart, he would not +have accepted a duty so honourable but so difficult. He was not unaware +of the difficulties which he would have to surmount, for Mgr. de Laval +explained them to him himself with the greatest frankness; and, what was +a still greater sacrifice, the king's almoner was to leave the most +brilliant court in the world for a very remote country, still in process +of organization. Nevertheless he accepted, and Laval had the +satisfaction of knowing that he was committing his charge into the hands +of a worthy successor. + +It was now only a question of obtaining the consent of the king before +petitioning the sovereign pontiff for the canonical establishment of the +new episcopal authority. It was not without difficulty that it was +obtained, for the prince could not decide to accept the resignation of a +prelate who seemed to him indispensable to the interests of New France. +He finally understood that the decision of Mgr. de Laval was +irrevocable; as a mark of confidence and esteem he allowed him to choose +his successor. + +At this period the misunderstanding created between the common father of +the faithful and his most Christian Majesty by the claims of the latter +in the matter of the right of _regale_[9] kept the Church in a false +position, to the grief of all good Catholics. Pope Innocent XI waited +with persistent and calm firmness until Louis XIV should become again +the elder son of the Church; until then France could not exist for him, +and more than thirty episcopal sees remained without occupants in the +country of Saint Louis and of Joan of Arc. It was not, then, to be hoped +that the appointment by the king of the Abbe de Saint-Vallier as second +bishop of Quebec could be immediately sanctioned by the sovereign +pontiff. It was decided that Mgr. de Laval, to whom the king granted an +annuity for life of two thousand francs from the revenues of the +bishopric of Aire, should remain titular bishop until the consecration +of his successor, and that M. de Saint-Vallier, appointed provisionally +grand vicar of the prelate, should set out immediately for New France, +where he would assume the government of the diocese. The Abbe de +Saint-Vallier had not yet departed before he gave evidence of his +munificence, and proved to the faithful of his future bishopric that he +would be to them as generous a father as he whom he was about to +replace. By deed of May 10th, 1685, he presented to the Seminary of +Quebec a sum of forty-two thousand francs, to be used for the +maintenance of missionaries; he bequeathed to it at the same time all +the furniture, books, etc., which he should possess at his death. +Laval's purpose was to remain for the present in France, where he would +busy himself actively for the interests of Canada, but his fixed resolve +was to go and end his days on that soil of New France which he loved so +well. It was in 1688, only a few months after the official appointment +of Saint-Vallier to the bishopric of Quebec, and his consecration on +January 25th of the same year, that Laval returned to Canada. + +M. de Saint-Vallier embarked at La Rochelle in the beginning of June, +1685, on the royal vessel which was carrying to Canada the new +governor-general, M. de Denonville. The king having permitted him to +take with him a score of persons, he made a most judicious choice: nine +ecclesiastics, several school-masters and a few good workmen destined +for the labours of the seminary, accompanied him. The voyage was long +and very fatiguing. The passengers were, however, less tried than those +of two other ships which followed them, on one of which more than five +hundred soldiers had been crowded together. As might have been +expected, sickness was not long in breaking out among them; more than +one hundred and fifty of these unfortunates died, and their bodies were +cast into the sea. + +Immediately after his arrival the grand vicar visited all the religious +establishments of the town, and he observed everywhere so much harmony +and good spirit that he could not pass it over in silence. Speaking with +admiration of the seminary, he said: "Every one in it devoted himself to +spiritual meditation, with such blessed results that from the youngest +cleric to the highest ecclesiastics in holy orders each one brought of +his own accord all his personal possessions to be used in common. It +seemed to me then that I saw revived in the Church of Canada something +of that spirit of unworldliness which constituted one of the principal +beauties of the budding Church of Jerusalem in the time of the +apostles." The examples of brotherly unity and self-effacement which he +admired so much in others he also set himself: he placed in the library +of the seminary a magnificent collection of books which he had brought +with him, and deposited in the coffers of the house several thousand +francs in money, his personal property. Braving the rigours of the +season, he set out in the winter of 1685 and visited the shore of +Beaupre, the Island of Orleans, and then the north shore as far as +Montreal. In the spring he took another direction, and inspected all +the missions of Gaspesia and Acadia. He was so well satisfied with the +condition of his diocese that he wrote to Mgr. de Laval: "All that I +regret is that there is no more good for me to do in this Church." + +In the spring of this same year, 1686, a valiant little troop was making +a more warlike pastoral visit. To seventy robust Canadians, commanded by +d'Iberville, de Sainte-Helene and de Maricourt, all sons of Charles Le +Moyne, the governor had added thirty good soldiers under the orders of +MM. de Troyes, Duchesnil and Catalogne, to take part in an expedition +for the capture of Hudson Bay from the English. Setting out on +snowshoes, dragging their provisions and equipment on toboggans, then +advancing, sometimes on foot, sometimes in bark canoes, they penetrated +by the Ottawa River and Temiskaming and Abitibi Lakes as far as James +Bay. They did not brave so many dangers and trials without being +resolved to conquer or die; accordingly, in spite of its twelve cannon, +Fort Monsipi was quickly carried. The two forts, Rupert and Ste. Anne, +suffered the same fate, and the only one that remained to the English, +that named Fort Nelson, was preserved to them solely because its remote +situation saved it. The head of the expedition, M. de Troyes, on his +return to Quebec, rendered an account of his successes to M. de +Denonville and to a new commissioner, M. de Champigny, who had just +replaced M. de Meulles. + +The bishop's infirmities left him scarcely any respite. "My health," he +wrote to his successor, "is exceedingly good considering the bad use I +make of it. It seems, however, that the wound which I had in my foot +during five or six months at Quebec has been for the last three weeks +threatening to re-open. The holy will of God be done!" And he added, in +his firm resolution to pass his last days in Canada: "In any case, I +feel that I have sufficient strength and health to return this year to +the only place which now can give me peace and rest. _In pace in idipsum +dormiam et requiescam._ Meanwhile, as we must have no other aim than the +good pleasure of our Lord, whatever desire He gives me for this rest and +peace, He grants me at the same time the favour of making Him a +sacrifice of it in submitting myself to the opinion that you have +expressed, that I should stay this year in France, to be present at your +return next autumn." The bad state of his health did not prevent him +from devoting his every moment to Canadian interests. He went into the +most infinitesimal details of the administration of his diocese, so +great was his solicitude for his work. "We must hasten this year, if +possible," he wrote, "to labour at the re-establishment of the church of +Ste. Anne du Petit-Cap, to which the whole country has such an +attachment. We must work also to push forward the clearing of the lands +of St. Joachim, in order that we may have the proper rotation crops on +each farm, and that the farms may suffice for the needs of the +seminary." In another letter he concerns himself with the sum of three +thousand francs granted by the king each year for the marriage portion +of a certain number of poor young girls marrying in Canada. "We should," +says he, "distribute these moneys in parcels, fifty francs, or ten +crowns, to the numerous poor families scattered along the shores, in +which there is a large number of children." He practises this wise +economy constantly when it is a question, not of his personal property, +but of the funds of his seminary. He finds that his successor, whom the +ten years which he had passed at court as king's almoner could not have +trained in parsimony, allows himself to be carried away, by his zeal and +his desire to do good, to a somewhat excessive expense. With what tact +and delicacy he indulges in a discreet reproach! "_Magna est fides +tua_," he writes to him, "and much greater than mine. We see that all +our priests have responded to it with the same confidence and entire +submission with which they have believed it their duty to meet your +sentiments, in which they have my approval. My particular admiration has +been aroused by seeing in all your letters and in all the impulses of +your heart so great a reliance on the lovable Providence of God that not +only has it permitted you not to have the least doubt that it would +abundantly provide the wherewithal for the support of all the works +which it has suggested to you, but that upon this basis, which is the +firm truth, you have had the courage to proceed to the execution of +them. It is true that my heart has long yearned for what you have +accomplished; but I have never had sufficient confidence or reliance to +undertake it. I always awaited the means _quae pater posuit in sua +potestate_. I hope that, since the Most Holy Family of our Lord has +suggested all these works to you, they will give you means and ways to +maintain what is so much to the glory of God and the welfare of souls. +But, according to all appearances, great difficulties will be found, +which will only serve to increase this confidence and trust in God." And +he ends with this prudent advice: "Whatever confidence God desires us to +have in His providence, it is certain that He demands from us the +observance of rules of prudence, not human and political, but Christian +and just." + +He concerns himself even with the servants, and it is singular to note +that his mind, so apt to undertake and execute vast plans, possesses +none the less an astonishing sagacity and accuracy of observation in +petty details. One Valet, entrusted with the purveyance, had obtained +permission to wear the cassock. "Unless he be much changed in his +humour," writes Mgr. de Laval, "it would be well to send him back to +France; and I may even opine that, whatever change might appear in him, +he would be unfitted to administer a living, the basis of his character +being very rustic, gross, and displeasing, and unsuitable for +ecclesiastical functions, in which one is constantly obliged to converse +and deal with one's neighbours, both children and adults. Having given +him the cassock and having admitted him to the refectory, I hardly see +any other means of getting rid of him than to send him back to France." + +In his correspondence with Saint-Vallier, Laval gives an account of the +various steps which he was taking at court to maintain the integrity of +the diocese of Quebec. This was, for a short time, at stake. The +Recollets, who had followed La Salle in his expeditions, were trying +with some chance of success to have the valley of the Mississippi and +Louisiana made an apostolic vicariate independent of Canada. Laval +finally gained his cause; the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Quebec +over all the countries of North America which belonged to France was +maintained, and later the Seminary of Quebec sent missionaries to +Louisiana and to the Mississippi. + +But the most important questions, which formed the principal subject +both of his preoccupations and of his letters, are that of the +establishment of the Recollets in the Upper Town of Quebec, that of a +plan for a permanent mission at Baie St. Paul, and above all, that of +the tithes and the support of the priests. This last question brought +about between him and Mgr. de Saint-Vallier a most complete conflict of +views. Yet the differences of opinion between the two servants of God +never prevented them from esteeming each other highly. The following +letter does as much honour to him who wrote it as to him to whom such +homage is rendered: "The noble house of Laval from which he sprang," +writes Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, "the right of primogeniture which he +renounced on entering upon the ecclesiastical career; the exemplary life +which he led in France before there was any thought of raising him to +the episcopacy; the assiduity with which he governed so long the Church +in Canada; the constancy and firmness which he showed in surmounting all +the obstacles which opposed on divers occasions the rectitude of his +intentions and the welfare of his dear flock; the care which he took of +the French colony and his efforts for the conversion of the savages; the +expeditions which he undertook several times in the interests of both; +the zeal which impelled him to return to France to seek a successor; his +disinterestedness and the humility which he manifested in offering and +in giving so willingly his frank resignation; finally, all the great +virtues which I see him practise every day in the seminary where I +sojourn with him, would well deserve here a most hearty eulogy, but his +modesty imposes silence upon me, and the veneration in which he is held +wherever he is known is praise more worthy than I could give him...." + +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier left Quebec for France on November 18th, 1686, +only a few days after a fire which consumed the Convent of the +Ursulines; the poor nuns, who had not been able to snatch anything from +the flames, had to accept, until the re-construction of their convent, +the generous shelter offered them by the hospitable ladies of the +Hotel-Dieu. Mgr. de Saint-Vallier did not disembark at the port of La +Rochelle until forty-five days after his departure, for this voyage was +one continuous storm. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] A right, belonging formerly to the kings of France, of enjoying the +revenues of vacant bishoprics. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MGR. DE LAVAL COMES FOR THE LAST TIME +TO CANADA + + +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier received the most kindly welcome from the king: he +availed himself of it to request some aid on behalf of the priests of +the seminary whom age and infirmity condemned to retirement. He obtained +it, and received, besides, fifteen thousand francs for the building of +an episcopal palace. He decided, in fact, to withdraw from the seminary, +in order to preserve complete independence in the exercise of his high +duties. Laval learned with sorrow of this decision; he, who had always +clung to the idea of union with his seminary and of having but one +common fund with this house, beheld his successor adopt an opposite line +of conduct. Another cause of division rose between the two prelates; the +too great generosity of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier had brought the seminary +into financial embarrassment. The Marquis de Seignelay, then minister, +thought it wiser under such circumstances to postpone till later the +return of Mgr. de Laval to Canada. The venerable bishop, whatever it +must have cost him, adhered to this decision with a wholly Christian +resignation. "You will know by the enclosed letters," he writes to the +priests of the Seminary of Quebec, "what compels me to stay in France. I +had no sooner received my sentence than our Lord granted me the favour +of inspiring me to go before the most Holy Sacrament and make a +sacrifice of all my desires and of that which is the dearest to me in +the world. I began by making the _amende honorable_ to the justice of +God, who deigned to extend to me the mercy of recognizing that it was in +just punishment of my sins and lack of faith that His providence +deprived me of the blessing of returning to a place where I had so +greatly offended; and I told Him, I think with a cheerful heart and a +spirit of humility, what the high priest Eli said when Samuel declared +to him from God what was to happen to him: '_Dominus est: quod bonum est +in oculis suis faciat_.' But since the will of our Lord does not reject +a contrite and humble heart, and since He both abases and exalts, He +gave me to know that the greatest favour He could grant me was to give +me a share in the trials which He deigned to bear in His life and death +for love of us; in thanksgiving for which I said a Te Deum with a heart +filled with joy and consolation in my soul: for, as to the lower nature, +it is left in the bitterness which it must bear. It is a hurt and a +wound which will be difficult to heal and which apparently will last +until my death, unless it please Divine Providence, which disposes of +men's hearts as it pleases, to bring about some change in the condition +of affairs. This will be when it pleases God, and as it may please Him, +without His creatures being able to oppose it." + +In Canada the return of the revered Mgr. de Laval was impatiently +expected, and the governor, M. de Denonville, himself wrote that "in the +present state of public affairs it was necessary that the former bishop +should return, in order to influence men's minds, over which he had a +great ascendency by reason of his character and his reputation for +sanctity." Some persons wrongfully attributed to the influence of +Saint-Vallier the order which detained the worthy bishop in France; on +the contrary, Saint-Vallier had said one day to the minister, "It would +be very hard for a bishop who has founded this church and who desires to +go and die in its midst, to see himself detained in France. If Mgr. de +Laval should stay here the blame would be cast upon his successor, +against whom for this reason many people would be ill disposed." + +M. de Denonville desired the more eagerly the return of this prelate so +beloved in New France, since difficulties were arising on every hand. +Convinced that peace with the Iroquois could not last, he began by +amassing provisions and ammunition at Fort Cataraqui, without heeding +the protests of Colonel Dongan, the most vigilant and most experienced +enemy of French domination in America; then he busied himself with +fortifying Montreal. He visited the place, appointed as its governor +the Chevalier de Callieres, a former captain in the regiment of +Navarre, and in the spring of 1687 employed six hundred men under the +direction of M. du Luth, royal engineer, in the erection of a palisade. +These wooden defences, as was to be expected, were not durable and +demanded repairs every year. The year 1686, which had begun with the +conquest of the southern portion of Hudson Bay, was spent almost +entirely in preparations for war and negotiations for peace; the +Iroquois, nevertheless, continued their inroads. Finally M. de +Denonville, having received during the following spring eight hundred +poor recruits under the command of Vaudreuil, was ready for his +expedition. Part of these reinforcements were at once sent to Montreal, +where M. de Callieres was gathering a body of troops on St. Helen's +Island: eight hundred and thirty-two regulars, one thousand Canadians, +and three hundred Indian allies, all burning with the desire of +distinguishing themselves, awaited now only the signal for departure. + +"With this superiority of forces," says one author, "Denonville +conceived, however, the unfortunate idea of beginning hostilities by an +act which dishonoured the French name among the savages, that name +which, in spite of their great irritation, they had always feared and +respected." With the purpose of striking terror into the Iroquois he +caused to be seized the chiefs whom the Five Nations had sent as +delegates to Cataraqui at the request of Father de Lamberville, and +sent them to France to serve on board the royal galleys. This violation +of the law of nations aroused the fury of the Iroquois, and two +missionaries, Father Lamberville and Millet, though entirely innocent of +this crime, escaped torture only with difficulty. The king disapproved +wholly of this treason, and returned the prisoners to Canada; others +who, at Fort Frontenac, had been taken by M. de Champigny in as +treacherous a manner, were likewise restored to liberty. + +The army, divided into four bodies, set out on June 11th, 1687, in four +hundred boats. It was joined at Sand River, on the shore of Lake +Ontario, by six hundred men from Detroit, and advanced inland. After +having passed through two very dangerous defiles, the French were +suddenly attacked by eight hundred of the enemy ambushed in the bed of a +stream. At first surprised, they promptly recovered from their +confusion, and put the savages to flight. Some sixty Iroquois were +wounded in this encounter, and forty-five whom they left dead on the +field of battle were eaten by the Ottawas, according to the horrible +custom of these cannibals. They entered then into the territory of the +Tsonnontouans, which was found deserted; everything had been reduced to +ashes, except an immense quantity of maize, to which they set fire; they +killed also a prodigious number of swine, but they did not meet with a +single Indian. + +Instead of pursuing the execution of these reprisals by marching +against the other nations, M. de Denonville proceeded to Niagara, where +he built a fort. The garrison of a hundred men which he left there +succumbed in its entirety to a mysterious epidemic, probably caused by +the poor quality of the provisions. Thus the campaign did not produce +results proportionate to the preparations which had been made; it +humbled the Iroquois, but by this very fact it excited their rage and +desire for vengeance; so true is it that half-measures are more +dangerous than complete inaction. They were, besides, cleverly goaded on +by Governor Dongan. Towards the end of the summer they ravaged the whole +western part of the colony, and carried their audacity to the point of +burning houses and killing several persons on the Island of Montreal. + +M. de Denonville understood that he could not carry out a second +expedition; disease had caused great havoc among the population and the +soldiers, and he could no longer count on the Hurons of Michilimackinac, +who kept up secret relations with the Iroquois. He was willing to +conclude peace, and consented to demolish Fort Niagara and to bring back +the Iroquois chiefs who had been sent to France to row in the galleys. +The conditions were already accepted on both sides, when the +negotiations were suddenly interrupted by the duplicity of Kondiaronk, +surnamed the Rat, chief of the Michilimackinac Hurons. This man, the +most cunning and crafty of Indians, a race which has nothing to learn +in point of astuteness from the shrewdest diplomat, had offered his +services against the Iroquois to the governor, who had accepted them. +Enkindled with the desire of distinguishing himself by some brilliant +deed, he arrives with a troop of Hurons at Fort Frontenac, where he +learns that a treaty is about to be concluded between the French and the +Iroquois. Enraged at not having even been consulted in this matter, +fearing to see the interests of his nation sacrificed, he lies in wait +with his troop at Famine Creek, falls upon the delegates, and, killing a +number of them, makes the rest prisoners. On the statement of the latter +that they were going on an embassy to Ville-Marie, he feigns surprise, +and is astonished that the French governor-general should have sent him +to attack men who were going to treat with him. He then sets them at +liberty, keeping a single one of them, whom he hastens to deliver to M. +de Durantaye, governor of Michilimackinac; the latter, ignorant of the +negotiations with the Iroquois, has the prisoner shot in spite of the +protestations of the wretched man, who the Rat pretends is mad. The plan +of the Huron chief has succeeded; it remains now only to reap the fruits +of it. He frees an old Iroquois who has long been detained in captivity +and sends him to announce to his compatriots that the French are seeking +in the negotiations a cowardly means of ridding themselves of their +foes. This news exasperated the Five Nations; henceforth peace was +impossible, and the Iroquois went to join the English, with whom, on the +pretext of the dethronement of James II, war was again about to break +out. M. de Callieres, governor of Montreal, set out for France to lay +before the king a plan for the conquest of New York; the monarch adopted +it, but, not daring to trust its execution to M. de Denonville, he +recalled him in order to entrust it to Count de Frontenac, now again +appointed governor. + +We can easily conceive that in the danger thus threatening the colony M. +de Denonville should have taken pains to surround himself with all the +men whose aid might be valuable to him. "You will have this year," wrote +M. de Brisacier to M. Glandelet, "the joy of seeing again our two +prelates. You will find the first more holy and more than ever dead to +himself; and the second will appear to you all that you can desire him +to be for the particular consolation of the seminary and the good of New +France." On the request of the governor-general, in fact, Mgr. de Laval +saw the obstacle disappear which had opposed his departure, and he +hastened to take advantage of it. He set out in the spring of 1688, at +that period of the year when vegetation begins to display on all sides +its festoons of verdure and flowers, and transforms Normandy and +Touraine, that garden of France, into genuine groves; the calm of the +air, the perfumed breezes of the south, the arrival of the southern +birds with their rich and varied plumage, all contribute to make these +days the fairest and sweetest of the year; but, in his desire to reach +as soon as possible the country where his presence was deemed necessary, +the venerable prelate did not wait for the spring sun to dry the roads +soaked by the rains of winter; accordingly, in spite of his infirmities, +he was obliged to travel to La Rochelle on horseback. However, he could +not embark on the ship _Le Soleil d'Afrique_ until about the middle of +April. + +His duties as Bishop of Quebec had ended on January 25th preceding, the +day of the episcopal consecration of M. de Saint-Vallier. It would seem +that Providence desired that the priestly career of the prelate and his +last co-workers should end at the same time. Three priests of the +Seminary of Quebec went to receive in heaven almost at the same period +the reward of their apostolic labours. M. Thomas Morel died on September +23rd, 1687; M. Jean Guyon on January 10th, 1688; and M. Dudouyt on the +fifteenth of the same month. This last loss, especially, caused deep +grief to Mgr. de Laval. He desired that the heart of the devoted +missionary should rest in that soil of New France for which it had +always beat, and he brought it with him. The ceremony of the burial at +Quebec of the heart of M. Dudouyt was extremely touching; the whole +population was present. Up to his latest day this priest had taken the +greatest interest in Canada, and the letter which he wrote to the +seminary a few days before his death breathes the most ardent charity; +it particularly enjoined upon all patience and submission to authority. + +The last official document signed by Mgr. de Laval as titulary bishop +was an addition to the statutes and rules which he had previously drawn +up for the Chapter of the city of Champlain. He wrote at the same time: +"It remains for me now, sirs and dearly beloved brethren, only to thank +you for the good affection that you preserve towards me, and to assure +you that it will not be my fault if I do not go at the earliest moment +to rejoin you in the growing Church which I have ever cherished as the +portion and heritage which it has pleased our Lord to preserve for me +during nearly thirty years. I supplicate His infinite goodness that he +into whose hands He has caused it to pass by my resignation may repair +all my faults." + +The prelate landed on June 3rd. "The whole population," says the Abbe +Ferland, "was heartened and rejoiced by the return of Mgr. de Laval, who +came back to Canada to end his days among his former flock. His virtues, +his long and arduous labours in New France, his sincere love for the +children of the country, had endeared him to the Canadians; they felt +their trust in Providence renewed on beholding again him who, with them, +at their head, had passed through many years of trial and suffering." He +hardly took time to rest, but set out at once for Montreal, where he was +anxious to deliver in person to the Sulpicians the document of +spiritual and devotional union which had been quite recently signed at +Paris by the Seminary of St. Sulpice and by that of the Foreign +Missions. Returning to Quebec, he had the pleasure of receiving his +successor on the arrival of the latter, who disembarked on July 31st, +1688. + +The reception of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier was as cordial as that offered +two months before to his predecessor. "As early as four o'clock in the +morning," we read in the annals of the Ursulines, "the whole population +was alert to hasten preparations. Some arranged the avenue along which +the new bishop was to pass, others raised here and there the standard of +the lilies of France. In the course of the morning Mgr. de Laval, +accompanied by several priests, betook himself to the vessel to salute +his successor whom the laws of the old French etiquette kept on board +his ship until he had replied to all the compliments prepared for him. +Finally, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the whole clergy, the civil +and military authorities, and the people having assembled on the quay, +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier made his appearance, addressed first by M. de +Bernieres in the name of the clergy. He was next greeted by the mayor, +in the name of the whole town, then the procession began to move, with +military music at its head, and the new bishop was conducted to the +cathedral between two files of musketeers, who did not fail to salute +him and to fire volleys along the route." "The thanksgiving hymn which +re-echoed under the vaults of the holy temple found an echo in all +hearts," we read in another account; "and the least happy was not that +of the worthy prelate who thus inaugurated his long and laborious +episcopal career." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MASSACRE OF LACHINE + + +The virtue of Mgr. de Laval lacked the supreme consecration of +misfortune. A wearied but triumphant soldier, the venerable shepherd of +souls, coming back to dwell in the bishopric of Quebec, the witness of +his first apostolic labours, gave himself into the hands of his Master +to disappear and die. "Lord," he said with Simeon, "now lettest thou thy +servant depart in peace according to thy word." But many griefs still +remained to test his resignation to the Divine Will, and the most +shocking disaster mentioned in our annals was to sadden his last days. +The year 1688 had passed peacefully enough for the colony, but it was +only the calm which is the forerunner of the storm. The Five Nations +employed their time in secret organization; the French, lulled in this +deceptive security, particularly by news which had come from M. de +Valrennes, in command of Fort Frontenac, to whom the Iroquois had +declared that they were coming down to Montreal to make peace, had left +the forts to return to their dwellings and to busy themselves with the +work of the fields. Moreover, the Chevalier de Vaudreuil, who commanded +at Montreal in the absence of M. de Callieres, who had gone to France, +carried his lack of foresight to the extent of permitting the officers +stationed in the country to leave their posts. It is astonishing to note +such imprudent neglect on the part of men who must have known the savage +nature. Rancour is the most deeply-rooted defect in the Indian, and it +was madness to think that the Iroquois could have forgotten so soon the +insult inflicted on their arms by the expedition of M. de Denonville, or +the breach made in their independence by the abduction of their chiefs +sent to France as convicts. The warning of their approaching incursion +had meanwhile reached Quebec through a savage named Ataviata; +unfortunately, the Jesuit Fathers had no confidence in this Indian; they +assured the governor-general that Ataviata was a worthless fellow, and +M. de Denonville made the mistake of listening too readily to these +prejudices and of not at least redoubling his precautions. + +It was on the night between August 4th and 5th, 1689; all was quiet on +the Island of Montreal. At the end of the evening's conversation, that +necessary complement of every well-filled day, the men had hung their +pipes, the faithful comrades of their labour, to a rafter of the +ceiling; the women had put away their knitting or pushed aside in a +corner their indefatigable spinning-wheel, and all had hastened to seek +in sleep new strength for the labour of the morrow. Outside, the +elements were unchained, the rain and hail were raging. As daring as +the Normans when they braved on frail vessels the fury of the seas, the +Iroquois, to the number of fifteen hundred, profited by the storm to +traverse Lake St. Louis in their bark canoes, and landed silently on the +shore at Lachine. They took care not to approach the forts; the darkness +was so thick that the soldiers discovered nothing unusual and did not +fire the cannon as was the custom on the approach of the enemy. Long +before daybreak the savages, divided into a number of squads, had +surrounded the houses within a radius of several miles. Suddenly a +piercing signal is given by the chiefs, and at once a horrible clamour +rends the air; the terrifying war-cry of the Iroquois has roused the +sleepers and raised the hair on the heads of the bravest. The colonists +leap from their couches, but they have no time to seize their weapons; +demons who seem to be vomited forth by hell have already broken in the +doors and windows. The dwellings which the Iroquois cannot penetrate are +delivered over to the flames, but the unhappy ones who issue from them +in confusion to escape the tortures of the fire are about to be +abandoned to still more horrible torments. The pen refuses to describe +the horrors of this night, and the imagination of Dante can hardly in +his "Inferno" give us an idea of it. The butchers killed the cattle, +burned the houses, impaled women, compelled fathers to cast their +children into the flames, spitted other little ones still alive and +compelled their mothers to roast them. Everything was burned and +pillaged except the forts, which were not attacked; two hundred persons +of all ages and of both sexes perished under torture, and about fifty, +carried away to the villages, were bound to the stake and burned by a +slow fire. Nevertheless the great majority of the inhabitants were able +to escape, thanks to the strong liquors kept in some of the houses, with +which the savages made ample acquaintance. Some of the colonists took +refuge in the forts, others were pursued into the woods. + +Meanwhile the alarm had spread in Ville-Marie. M. de Denonville, who was +there, gives to the Chevalier de Vaudreuil the order to occupy Fort +Roland with his troops and a hundred volunteers. De Vaudreuil hastens +thither, accompanied by de Subercase and other officers; they are all +eager to measure their strength with the enemy, but the order of +Denonville is strict, they must remain on the defensive and run no risk. +By dint of insistence, Subercase obtained permission to make a sortie +with a hundred volunteers; at the moment when he was about to set out he +had to yield the command to M. de Saint-Jean, who was higher in rank. +The little troop went and entrenched itself among the debris of a burned +house and exchanged an ineffectual fire with the savages ambushed in a +clump of trees. They soon perceived a party of French and friendly +Indians who, coming from Fort Remy, were proceeding towards them in +great danger of being surrounded by the Iroquois, who were already +sobered. The volunteers wished to rush out to meet this reinforcement, +but their commander, adhering to his instructions, which forbade him to +push on farther, restrained them. What might have been foreseen +happened: the detachment from Fort Remy was exterminated. Five of its +officers were taken and carried off towards the Iroquois villages, but +succeeded in escaping on the way, except M. de la Rabeyre, who was bound +to the stake and perished in torture. + +On reading these details one cannot understand the inactivity of the +French: it would seem that the authorities had lost their heads. We +cannot otherwise explain the lack of foresight of the officers absent +from their posts, the pusillanimous orders of the governor to M. de +Vaudreuil, his imprudence in sending too weak a troop through the +dangerous places, the lack of initiative on the part of M. de +Saint-Jean, finally, the absolute lack of energy and audacity, the +complete absence of that ardour which is inherent in the French +character. + +After this disaster the troops returned to the forts, and the +surrounding district, abandoned thus to the fury of the barbarians, was +ravaged in all directions. The Iroquois, proud of the terror which they +inspired, threatened the city itself; we note by the records of Montreal +that on August 25th there were buried two soldiers killed by the +savages, and that on September 7th following, Jean Beaudry suffered the +same fate. Finding nothing more to pillage or to burn, they passed to +the opposite shore, and plundered the village of Lachesnaie. They +massacred a portion of the population, which was composed of seventy-two +persons, and carried off the rest. They did not withdraw until the +autumn, dragging after them two hundred captives, including fifty +prisoners taken at Lachine. + +This terrible event, which had taken place at no great distance from +them, and the news of which re-echoed in their midst, struck the +inhabitants of Quebec with grief and terror. Mgr. de Laval was cruelly +affected by it, but, accustomed to adore in everything the designs of +God, he seized the occasion to invoke Him with more fervour; he +immediately ordered in his seminary public prayers to implore the mercy +of the Most High. M. de Frontenac, who was about to begin his second +administration, learned the sinister news on his arrival at Quebec on +October 15th. He set out immediately for Montreal, which he reached on +the twenty-seventh of the same month. He visited the environments, and +found only ruins and ashes where formerly rose luxurious dwellings. + +War had just been rekindled between France and Great Britain. The +governor had not men enough for vast operations, accordingly he prepared +to organize a guerilla warfare. While the Abenaquis, those faithful +allies, destroyed the settlements of the English in Acadia and killed +nearly two hundred persons there, Count de Frontenac sent in the winter +of 1689-90, three detachments against New England; all three were +composed of only a handful of men, but these warriors were well +seasoned. In the rigorous cold of winter, traversing innumerable miles +on their snowshoes, sinking sometimes into the icy water, sleeping in +the snow, carrying their supplies on their backs, they surprised the +forts which they went to attack, where one would never have believed +that men could execute so rash an enterprise. Thus the three detachments +were alike successful, and the forts of Corlaer in the state of New +York, of Salmon Falls in New Hampshire, and of Casco on the seaboard, +were razed. + +The English avenged these reverses by capturing Port Royal. Encouraged +by this success, they sent Phipps at the head of a large troop to seize +Quebec, while Winthrop attacked Montreal with three thousand men, a +large number of whom were Indians. Frontenac hastened to Quebec with M. +de Callieres, governor of Montreal, the militia and the regular troops. +Already the fortifications had been protected against surprise by new +and well-arranged entrenchments. The hostile fleet appeared on October +16th, 1690, and Phipps sent an officer to summon the governor to +surrender the place. The envoy, drawing out his watch, declared with +arrogance to the Count de Frontenac that he would give him an hour to +decide. "I will answer you by the mouth of my cannon," replied the +representative of Louis XIV. The cannon replied so well that at the +first shot the admiral's flag fell into the water; the Canadians, +braving the balls and bullets which rained about them, swam out to get +it, and this trophy remained hanging in the cathedral of Quebec until +the conquest. The _Histoire de l'Hotel-Dieu de Quebec_ depicts for us +very simply the courage and piety of the inhabitants during this siege. +"The most admirable thing, and one which surely drew the blessing of +Heaven upon Quebec was that during the whole siege no public devotion +was interrupted. The city is arranged so that the roads which lead to +the churches are seen from the harbour; thus several times a day were +beheld processions of men and women going to answer the summons of the +bells. The English noticed them; they called M. de Grandeville (a brave +Canadian, and clerk of the farm of Tadousac, whom they had made +prisoner) and asked him what it was. He answered them simply: 'It is +mass, vespers, and the benediction.' By this assurance the citizens of +Quebec disconcerted them; they were astonished that women dared to go +out; they judged by this that we were very easy in our minds, though +this was far from being the case." + +It is not surprising that the colonists should have fought valiantly +when their bishops and clergy set the example of devotion, when the +Jesuits remained constantly among the defenders to encourage and assist +on occasion the militia and the soldiers, when Mgr. de Laval, though +withdrawn from the conduct of religious affairs, without even the right +of sitting in the Sovereign Council, animated the population by his +patriotic exhortations. To prove to the inhabitants that the cause which +they defended by struggling for their homes was just and holy, at the +same time as to place the cathedral under the protection of Heaven, he +suggested the idea of hanging on the spire of the cathedral a picture of +the Holy Family. This picture was not touched by the balls and bullets, +and was restored after the siege to the Ursulines, to whom it belonged. + +All the attempts of the English failed; in a fierce combat at Beauport +they were repulsed. There perished the brave Le Moyne de Sainte-Helene; +there, too, forty pupils of the seminary established at St. Joachim by +Mgr. de Laval distinguished themselves by their bravery and contributed +to the victory. Already Phipps had lost six hundred men. He decided to +retreat. To cap the climax of misfortune, his fleet met in the lower +part of the river with a horrible storm; several of his ships were +driven by the winds as far as the Antilles, and the rest arrived only +with great difficulty at Boston. Winthrop's army, disorganized by +disease and discord, had already scattered. + +A famine which followed the siege tried the whole colony, and Laval had +to suffer by it as well as the seminary, for neither had hesitated +before the sacrifices necessary for the general weal. "All the furs and +furniture of the Lower Town were in the seminary," wrote the prelate; "a +number of families had taken refuge there, even that of the intendant. +This house could not refuse in such need all the sacrifices of charity +which were possible, at the expense of a great portion of the provisions +which were kept there. The soldiers and others have taken and consumed +at least one hundred cords of wood and more than fifteen hundred planks. +In brief, in cattle and other damages the loss to the seminary will +amount to a round thousand crowns. But we must on occasions of this sort +be patient, and do all the good we can without regard to future need." + +The English were about to suffer still other reverses. In 1691 Major +Schuyler, with a small army composed in part of savages, came and +surprised below the fort of the Prairie de la Madeleine a camp of +between seven and eight hundred soldiers, whose leader, M. de +Saint-Cirque, was slain; but the French, recovering, forced the major to +retreat, and M. de Valrennes, who hastened up from Chambly with a body +of inhabitants and Indians, put the enemy to flight after a fierce +struggle. The English failed also in Newfoundland; they were unable to +carry Fort Plaisance, which was defended by M. de Brouillan; but he who +was to do them most harm was the famous Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, son +of Charles Le Moyne. Born in Montreal in 1661, he subsequently entered +the French navy. In the year 1696 he was ordered to drive the enemy out +of Newfoundland; he seized the capital, St. John's, which he burned, +and, marvellous to relate, with only a hundred and twenty-five men he +subdued the whole island, slew nearly two hundred of the English, and +took six or seven hundred prisoners. The following year he set out with +five ships to take possession of Hudson Bay. One day his vessel found +itself alone before Fort Nelson, facing three large ships of the enemy; +to the amazement of the English, instead of surrendering, d'Iberville +rushes upon them. In a fierce fight lasting four hours, he sinks the +strongest, compels the second to surrender, while the third flees under +full sail. Fort Bourbon surrendered almost at once, and Hudson Bay was +captured. + +After the peace d'Iberville explored the mouths of the Mississippi, +erected several forts, founded the city of Mobile, and became the first +governor of Louisiana. When the war began again, the king gave him a +fleet of sixteen vessels to oppose the English in the Indies. He died of +an attack of fever in 1706. + +During this time, the Iroquois were as dangerous to the French by their +inroads and devastations as the Abenaquis were to the English colonies; +accordingly Frontenac wished to subdue them. In the summer of 1696, +braving the fatigue and privations so hard to bear for a man of his age, +Frontenac set out from Ile Perrot with more than two thousand men, and +landed at the mouth of the Oswego River. He found at Onondaga only the +smoking remains of the village to which the savages had themselves set +fire, and the corpses of two Frenchmen who had died in torture. He +marched next against the Oneidas; all had fled at his approach, and he +had to be satisfied with laying waste their country. There remained +three of the Five Nations to punish, but winter was coming on and +Frontenac did not wish to proceed further into the midst of invisible +enemies, so he returned to Quebec. + +The following year it was learned that the Treaty of Ryswick had just +been concluded between France and England. France kept Hudson Bay, but +Louis XIV pledged himself to recognize William III as King of England. +The Count de Frontenac had not the good fortune of crowning his +brilliant career by a treaty with the savages; he died on November 28th, +1698, at the age of seventy-eight years. In reaching this age without +exceeding it, he presented a new point of resemblance to his model, +Louis the Great, according to whom he always endeavoured to shape his +conduct, and who was destined to die at the age of seventy-seven. + + [Note.--The incident of the flag mentioned above on page 230 is + treated at greater length in Dr. Le Sueur's _Frontenac_, pp. 295-8, + in the "Makers of Canada" series. He takes a somewhat different + view of the event.--Ed.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE LABOURS OF OLD AGE + + +The peace lasted only four years. M. de Callieres, who succeeded Count +de Frontenac, was able, thanks to his prudence and the devotion of the +missionaries, to gather at Montreal more than twelve hundred Indian +chiefs or warriors, and to conclude peace with almost all the tribes. +Chief Kondiaronk had become a faithful friend of the French; it was to +his good-will and influence that they were indebted for the friendship +of a large number of Indian tribes. He died at Montreal during these +peaceful festivities and was buried with pomp. + +The war was about to break out anew, in 1701, with Great Britain and the +other nations of Europe, because Louis XIV had accepted for his grandson +and successor the throne of Spain. M. de Callieres died at this +juncture; his successor, Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, +brought the greatest energy to the support in Canada of a struggle which +was to end in the dismemberment of the colony. God permitted Mgr. de +Laval to die before the Treaty of Utrecht, whose conditions would have +torn the patriotic heart of the venerable prelate. + +Other reasons for sorrow he did not lack, especially when Mgr. de +Saint-Vallier succeeded, on his visit to the king in 1691, in obtaining +a reversal of the policy marked out for the seminary by the first bishop +of the colony; this establishment would be in the future only a seminary +like any other, and would have no other mission than that of the +training of priests. By a decree of the council of February 2nd, 1692, +the number of the directors of the seminary was reduced to five, who +were to concern themselves principally with the training of young men +who might have a vocation for the ecclesiastical life; they might also +devote themselves to missions, with the consent of the bishop. No +ecclesiastic had the right of becoming an associate of the seminary +without the permission of the bishop, within whose province it was to +employ the former associates for the service of his diocese with the +consent of the superiors. The last part of the decree provided that the +four thousand francs given by the king for the diocese of Quebec should +be distributed in equal portions, one for the seminary and the two +others for the priests and the church buildings. As to the permanence of +priests, the decree issued by the king for the whole kingdom was to be +adhered to in Canada. In the course of the same year Mgr. de +Saint-Vallier obtained, moreover, from the sovereign the authority to +open at Quebec in Notre-Dame des Anges, the former convent of the +Recollets, a general hospital for the poor, which was entrusted to the +nuns of the Hotel-Dieu. The poor who might be admitted to it would be +employed at work proportionate to their strength, and more particularly +in the tilling of the farms belonging to the establishment. If we +remember that Mgr. de Laval had consecrated twenty years of his life to +giving his seminary, by a perfect union between its members and his +whole clergy, a formidable power in the colony, a power which in his +opinion could be used only for the good of the Church and in the public +interest, and that he now saw his efforts annihilated forever, we cannot +help admiring the resignation with which he managed to accept this +destruction of his dearest work. And not only did he bow before the +impenetrable designs of Providence, but he even used his efforts to +pacify those around him whose excitable temperaments might have brought +about conflicts with the authorities. The Abbe Gosselin quotes in this +connection the following example: "A priest, M. de Francheville, thought +he had cause for complaint at the behaviour of his bishop towards him, +and wrote him a letter in no measured terms, but he had the good sense +to submit it previously to Mgr. de Laval, whom he regarded as his +father. The aged bishop expunged from this letter all that might wound +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, and it was sent with the corrections which he +desired." The venerable prelate did not content himself with avoiding +all that might cause difficulties to his successor; he gave him his +whole aid in any circumstances, and in particular in the foundation of +a convent of Ursulines at Three Rivers, and when the general hospital +was threatened in its very existence. "Was it not a spectacle worthy of +the admiration of men and angels," exclaims the Abbe Fornel in his +funeral oration on Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, "to see the first Bishop of +Quebec and his successor vieing one with the other in a noble rivalry +and in a struggle of religious fervour for the victory in exercises of +piety? Have they not both been seen harmonizing and reconciling together +the duties of seminarists and canons; of canons by their assiduity in +the recitation of the breviary, and of seminarists in condescending to +the lowest duties, such as sweeping and serving in the kitchen?" The +patience and trust in God of Mgr. de Laval were rewarded by the +following letter which he received from Father La Chaise, confessor to +King Louis XIV: "I have received with much respect and gratitude two +letters with which you have honoured me. I have blessed God that He has +preserved you for His glory and the good of the Church in Canada in a +period of deadly mortality; and I pray every day that He may preserve +you some years more for His service and the consolation of your old +friends and servants. I hope that you will maintain towards them to the +end your good favour and interest, and that those who would wish to make +them lose these may be unable to alter them. You will easily judge how +greatly I desire that our Fathers may merit the continuation of your +kindness, and may preserve a perfect union with the priests of your +seminary, by the sacrifice which I desire they should make to the +latter, in consideration of you, of the post of Tamarois, in spite of +all the reasons and the facility for preserving it to them...." + +The mortality to which the reverend father alludes was the result of an +epidemic which carried off, in 1700, a great number of persons. Old men +in particular were stricken, and M. de Bernieres among others fell a +victim to the scourge. It is very probable that this affliction was +nothing less than the notorious influenza which, in these later years, +has cut down so many valuable lives throughout the world. The following +years were still more terrible for the town; smallpox carried off +one-fourth of the population of Quebec. If we add to these trials the +disaster of the two conflagrations which consumed the seminary, we shall +have the measure of the troubles which at this period overwhelmed the +city of Champlain. The seminary, begun in 1678, had just been barely +completed. It was a vast edifice of stone, of grandiose appearance; a +sun dial was set above a majestic door of two leaves, the approach to +which was a fine stairway of cut stone. "The building," wrote Frontenac +in 1679, "is very large and has four storeys, the walls are seven feet +thick, the cellars and pantries are vaulted, the lower windows have +embrasures, and the roof is of slate brought from France." On November +15th, 1701, the priests of the seminary had taken their pupils to St. +Michel, near Sillery, to a country house which belonged to them. About +one in the afternoon fire broke out in the seminary buildings. The +inhabitants hastened up from all directions to the spot and attempted +with the greatest energy to stay the progress of the flames. Idle +efforts! The larger and the smaller seminary, the priests' house, the +chapel barely completed, were all consumed, with the exception of some +furniture and a little plate and tapestry. The cathedral was saved, +thanks to the efforts of the state engineer, M. Levasseur de Nere, who +succeeded in cutting off the communication of the sacred temple with the +buildings in flames. Mgr. de Laval, confined then to a bed of pain, +avoided death by escaping half-clad; he accepted for a few days, +together with the priests of the seminary, the generous hospitality +offered them by the Jesuit Fathers. In order not to be too long a burden +to their hosts, they caused to be prepared for their lodgment the +episcopal palace which had been begun by Mgr. de Saint-Vallier. They +removed there on December 4th following. The scholars had been divided +between the episcopal palace and the house of the Jesuits. "The +prelate," says Sister Juchereau, "bore this affliction with perfect +submission to the will of God, without uttering any complaint. It must +have been, however, the more grievous to him since it was he who had +planned and erected the seminary, since he was its father and founder, +and since he saw ruined in one day the fruit of his labour of many +years." Thanks to the generosity of the king, who granted aid to the +extent of four thousand francs, it was possible to begin rebuilding at +once. But the trials of the priests were not yet over. "On the first day +of October, 1705," relate the annals of the Ursulines, "the priests of +the seminary were afflicted by a second fire through the fault of a +carpenter who was preparing some boards in one end of the new building. +While smoking he let fall in a room full of shavings some sparks from +his pipe. The fire being kindled, it consumed in less than an hour all +the upper storeys. Only those which were vaulted were preserved. The +priests estimate that they have lost more in this second fire than in +the first. They are lodged below, waiting till Providence furnishes them +with the means to restore their building. The Jesuit Fathers have acted +this time with the same charity and cordiality as on the former +occasion. Mgr. L'Ancien[10] and M. Petit have lived nearly two months in +their infirmary. This rest has been very profitable to Monseigneur, for +he has come forth from it quite rejuvenated. May the Lord grant that he +be preserved a long time yet for the glory of God and the good of +Canada!" + +When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to raise it from its ruins, a great +grief seized upon him at the sight of the roofs destroyed, the broken +doors, the shattered ramparts of the city of David. In the middle of +the night he made the circuit of these ruins, and on the morrow he +sought the magistrates and said to them: "You see the distress that we +are in? Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem." The same +feelings no doubt oppressed the soul of the octogenarian prelate when he +saw the walls cracked and blackened, the heaps of ruins, sole remnants +of his beloved house. But like Nehemiah he had the support of a great +King, and the confidence of succeeding. He set to work at once, and +found in the generosity of his flock the means to raise the seminary +from its ruins. While he found provisional lodgings for his seminarists, +he himself took up quarters in a part of the seminary which had been +spared by the flames; he arranged, adjoining his room, a little oratory +where he kept the Holy Sacrament, and celebrated mass. There he passed +his last days and gave up his fair soul to God. + +Mgr. de Saint-Vallier had not like his predecessor the sorrow of seeing +fire consume his seminary; he had set out in 1700 for France, and the +differences which existed between the two prelates led the monarch to +retain Mgr. de Saint-Vallier near him. In 1705 the Bishop of Quebec +obtained permission to return to his diocese. But for three years +hostilities had already existed between France and England. The bishop +embarked with several monks on the _Seine_, a vessel of the Royal Navy. +This ship carried a rich cargo valued at nearly a million francs, and +was to escort several merchant ships to their destination at Quebec. The +convoy fell in, on July 26th, with an English fleet which gave chase to +it; the merchant ships fled at full sail, abandoning the _Seine_ to its +fate. The commander, M. de Meaupou, displayed the greatest valour, but +his vessel, having a leeward position, was at a disadvantage; besides, +he had committed the imprudence of so loading the deck with merchandise +that several cannon could not be used. In spite of her heroic defence, +the _Seine_ was captured by boarding, the commander and the officers +were taken prisoners, and Mgr. de Saint-Vallier remained in captivity in +England till 1710. + +The purpose of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier's journey to Europe in 1700 had +been his desire to have ratified at Rome by the Holy See the canonical +union of his abbeys, and the union of the parish of Quebec with the +seminary. On setting out he had entrusted the administration of the +diocese to MM. Maizerets and Glandelet; as to ordinations, to the +administration of the sacrament of confirmation, and to the consecration +of the holy oils, Mgr. de Laval would be always there, ready to lavish +his zeal and the treasures of his charity. This long absence of the +chief of the diocese could not but impose new labours on Mgr. de Laval. +Never did he refuse a sacrifice or a duty, and he saw in this an +opportunity to increase the sum of good which he intended soon to lay +at the foot of the throne of the Most High. He was seventy-nine years of +age when, in spite of the havoc then wrought by the smallpox throughout +the country, he went as far as Montreal, there to administer the +sacrament of confirmation. Two years before his death, he officiated +pontifically on Easter Day in the cathedral of Quebec. "On the festival +of Sainte Magdalene," say the annals of the general hospital, "we have +had the consolation of seeing Mgr. de Laval officiate pontifically +morning and evening.... He was accompanied by numerous clergy both from +the seminary and from neighbouring missions.... We regarded this favour +as a mark of the affection cherished by this holy prelate for our +establishment, for he was never wont to officiate outside the cathedral, +and even there but rarely on account of his great age. He was then more +than eighty years old. The presence of a person so venerable by reason +of his character, his virtues, and his great age much enhanced this +festival. He gave the nuns a special proof of his good-will in the visit +which he deigned to make them in the common hall." The predilection +which the pious pontiff constantly preserved for the work of the +seminary no whit lessened the protection which he generously granted to +all the projects of education in the colony; the daughters of Mother +Mary of the Incarnation as well as the assistants of Mother Marguerite +Bourgeoys had claims upon his affection. He fostered with all his power +the establishment of the Sisters of the Congregation, both at Three +Rivers and at Quebec. His numerous works left him but little respite, +and this he spent at his school of St. Joachim in the refreshment of +quiet and rest. Like all holy men he loved youth, and took pleasure in +teaching and directing it. Accordingly, during these years when, in +spite of the sixteen _lustra_ which had passed over his venerable head, +he had to take upon himself during the long absence of his successor the +interim duties of the diocese, at least as far as the exclusively +episcopal functions were concerned, he learned to understand and +appreciate at their true value the sacrifices of the Charron Brothers, +whose work was unfortunately to remain fruitless. + +In 1688 three pious laymen, MM. Jean Francois Charron, Pierre Le Ber, +and Jean Fredin had established in Montreal a house with a double +purpose of charity: to care for the poor and the sick, and to train men +and send them to open schools in the country districts. Their plan was +approved by the king, sanctioned by the bishop of the diocese, +encouraged by the seigneurs of the island, and welcomed by all the +citizens with gratitude. In spite of these symptoms of future prosperity +the work languished, and the members of the community were separated and +scattered one after the other. M. Charron did not lose courage. In 1692 +he devoted his large fortune to the foundation of a hospital and a +school, and received numerous gifts from charitable persons. Six +hospitallers of the order of St. Joseph of the Cross, commonly called +Freres Charron, took the gown in 1701, and pronounced their vows in +1704, but the following year they ceased to receive novices. The +minister, M. de Pontchartrain, thought "the care of the sick is a task +better adapted to women than to men, notwithstanding the spirit of +charity which may animate the latter," and he forbade the wearing of the +costume adopted by the hospitallers. Francois Charron, seeing his work +nullified, yielded to the inevitable, and confined himself to the +training of teachers for country parishes. The existence of this +establishment, abandoned by the mother country to its own strength, was +to become more and more precarious and feeble. Almost all the +hospitallers left the institution to re-enter the world; the care of the +sick was entrusted to the Sisters. Francois Charron made a journey to +France in order to obtain the union for the purposes of the hospital of +the Brothers of St. Joseph with the Society of St. Sulpice, but he +failed in his efforts. He obtained, nevertheless, from the regent an +annual subvention of three thousand francs for the training of +school-masters (1718). He busied himself at once with finding fitting +recruits, and collected eight. The elder sister of our excellent normal +schools of the present day seemed then established on solid foundations, +but it was not to be so. Brother Charron died on the return voyage, and +his institution, though seconded by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, after +establishing Brothers in several villages in the environs of Montreal, +received from the court a blow from which it did not recover: the regent +forbade the masters to assume a uniform dress and to pledge themselves +by simple vows. The number of the hospitallers decreased from year to +year, and in 1731 the royal government withdrew from them the annual +subvention which supported them, however poorly. Finally their +institution, after vainly attempting to unite with the Brothers of the +Christian Doctrine, ceased to exist in 1745. + +Mgr. de Laval so greatly admired the devotion of these worthy men that +he exclaimed one day: "Let me die in the house of these Brothers; it is +a work plainly inspired by God. I shall die content if only in dying I +may contribute something to the shaping or maintenance of this +establishment." Again he wrote: "The good M. Charron gave us last year +one of their Brothers, who rendered great service to the Mississippi +Mission, and he has furnished us another this year. These acquisitions +will spare the missionaries much labour.... I beg you to show full +gratitude to this worthy servant of God, who is as affectionately +inclined to the missions and missionaries as if he belonged to our body. +We have even the plan, as well as he, of forming later a community of +their Brothers to aid the missions and accompany the missionaries on +their journeys. He goes to France and as far as Paris to find and bring +back with him some good recruits to aid him in forming a community. +Render him all the services you can, as if it were to missionaries +themselves. He is a true servant of God." Such testimony is the fairest +title to glory for an institution. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] A respectfully familiar sobriquet given to Mgr. de Laval. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LAST YEARS OF MGR. DE LAVAL + + +Illness had obliged Mgr. de Laval to hand in his resignation. He wrote, +in fact, at this period of his life to M. de Denonville: "I have been +for the last two years subject to attacks of vertigo accompanied by +heart troubles which are very frequent and increase markedly. I have had +one quite recently, on the Monday of the Passion, which seized me at +three o'clock in the morning, and I could not raise my head from my +bed." His infirmities, which he bore to the end with admirable +resignation, especially affected his limbs, which he was obliged to +bandage tightly every morning, and which could scarcely bear the weight +of his body. To disperse the unwholesome humours, his arm had been +cauterized; to cut, carve and hack the poor flesh of humanity formed, as +we know, the basis of the scientific and medical equipment of the +period. These sufferings, which he brought as a sacrifice to our Divine +Master, were not sufficient for him; he continued in spite of them to +wear upon his body a coarse hair shirt. He had to serve him only one of +those Brothers who devoted their labour to the seminary in exchange for +their living and a place at table. This modest servant, named Houssart, +had replaced a certain Lemaire, of whom the prelate draws a very +interesting portrait in one of his letters: "We must economize," he +wrote to the priests of the seminary, "and have only watchful and +industrious domestics. We must look after them, else they deteriorate in +the seminary. You have the example of the baker, Louis Lemaire, an +idler, a gossip, a tattler, a man who, instead of walking behind the +coach, would not go unless Monseigneur paid for a carriage for him to +follow him to La Rochelle, and lent him his dressing-gown to protect him +from the cold. Formerly he worked well at heavy labour at Cap Tourmente; +idleness has ruined him in the seminary. As soon as he had reached my +room, he behaved like a man worn out, always complaining, coming to help +me to bed only when the fancy took him; always extremely vain, thinking +he was not dressed according to his position, although he was clad, as +you know, more like a nobleman than a peasant, which he was, for I had +taken him as a beggar and almost naked at La Rochelle.... As soon as he +entered my room he sat down, and rather than be obliged to pretend to +see him, I turned my seat so as not to see him.... We should have left +that man at heavy work, which had in some sort conquered his folly and +pride, and it is possible that he might have been saved. But he has been +entirely ruined in the seminary...." This humorous description proves to +us well that even in the good old days not all domestics were perfect. + +The affectionate and respectful care given by Houssart to his master +was such as is not bought with money. Most devoted to the prelate, he +has left us a very edifying relation of the life of the venerable +bishop, with some touching details. He wrote after his death: "Having +had the honour of being continually attached to the service of his +Lordship during the last twenty years of his holy life, and his Lordship +having had during all that time a great charity towards me and great +confidence in my care, you cannot doubt that I contracted a great +sympathy, interest and particular attachment for his Lordship." In +another letter he speaks to us of the submission of the venerable bishop +to the commands of the Church. "He did his best," he writes, +"notwithstanding his great age and continual infirmities, to observe all +days of abstinence and fasting, both those which are commanded by Holy +Church and those which are observed from reasons of devotion in the +seminary, and if his Lordship sometimes yielded in this matter to the +command of the physicians and the entreaties of the superiors of the +seminary, who deemed that he ought not to fast, it was a great +mortification for him, and it was only out of especial charity to his +dear seminary and the whole of Canada that he yielded somewhat to nature +in order not to die so soon...." + +Never, in spite of his infirmities, would the prelate fail to be present +on Sunday at the cathedral services. When it was impossible for him to +go on foot, he had himself carried. His only outings towards the end of +his life consisted in his visits to the cathedral or in short walks +along the paths of his garden. Whenever his health permitted, he loved +to be present at the funerals of those who died in the town; those +consolations which he deigned to give to the afflicted families bear +witness to the goodness of his heart. "It was something admirable," says +Houssart, "to see, firstly, his assiduity in being present at the burial +of all who died in Quebec, and his promptness in offering the holy +sacrifice of the mass for the repose of their souls, as soon as he had +learned of their decease; secondly, his devotion in receiving and +preserving the blessed palms, in kissing his crucifix, the image of the +Holy Virgin, which he carried always upon him, and placed at nights +under his pillow, his badge of servitude and his scapulary which he +carried also upon him; thirdly, his respect and veneration for the +relics of the saints, the pleasure which he took in reading every day in +the _Lives of the Saints_, and in conversing of their heroic deeds; +fourthly, the holy and constant use which he made of holy water, taking +it wherever he might be in the course of the day and every time he awoke +in the night, coming very often from his garden to his room expressly to +take it, carrying it upon him in a little silver vessel, which he had +had made purposely, when he went to the country. His Lordship had so +great a desire that every one should take it that he exercised +particular care in seeing every day whether the vessels of the church +were supplied with it, to fill them when they were empty; and during the +winter, for fear that the vessels should freeze too hard and the people +could not take any as they entered and left the church, he used to bring +them himself every evening and place them by our stove, and take them +back at four o'clock in the morning when he went to open the doors." + +With a touching humility the pious old man scrupulously conformed to the +rules of the seminary and to the orders of the superior of the house. +Only a few days before his death, he experienced such pain that Brother +Houssart declared his intention of going and asking from the superior of +the seminary a dispensation for the sick man from being present at the +services. At once the patient became silent; in spite of his tortures +not a complaint escaped his lips. It was Holy Wednesday: it was +impossible to be absent on that day from religious ceremonies. We do not +know which to admire most in such an attitude, whether the piety of the +prelate or his submission to the superior of the seminary, since he +would have been resigned if he had been forbidden to go to church, or, +finally, his energy in stifling the groans which suffering wrenched from +his physical nature. Few saints carried mortification and renunciation +of terrestrial good as far as he. "He is certainly the most austere man +in the world and the most indifferent to worldly advantage," wrote +Mother Mary of the Incarnation. "He gives away everything and lives like +a pauper; and we may truly say that he has the very spirit of poverty. +It is not he who will make friends for worldly advancement and to +increase his revenue; he is dead to all that.... He practises this +poverty in his house, in his living, in his furniture, in his servants, +for he has only one gardener, whom he lends to the poor when they need +one, and one valet...." This picture falls short of the truth. For forty +years he arose at two o'clock in the morning, summer and winter: in his +last years illness could only wrest from him one hour more of repose, +and he arose then at three o'clock. As soon as he was dressed, he +remained at prayer till four and then went to church. He opened the +doors himself, and rang the bells for mass, which he said, half an hour +later, especially for the poor workmen, who began their day by this +pious exercise. + +His thanksgiving after the holy sacrifice lasted till seven o'clock, and +yet, even in the greatest cold of the severe Canadian winter, he had +nothing to warm his frozen limbs but the brazier which he had used to +celebrate the mass. A good part of his day, and often of the night, when +his sufferings deprived him of sleep, was also devoted to prayer or +spiritual reading, and nothing was more edifying than to see the pious +octogenarian telling his beads or reciting his breviary while walking +slowly through the paths of his garden. He was the first up and the last +to retire, and whatever had been his occupations during the day, never +did he lie down without having scrupulously observed all the spiritual +offices, readings or reciting of beads. It was not, however, that his +food gave him a superabundance of physical vigour, for the Trappists did +not eat more frugally than he. A soup, which he purposely spoiled by +diluting it amply with hot water, a little meat and a crust of very dry +bread composed his ordinary fare, and dessert, even on feast days, was +absolutely banished from his table. "For his ordinary drink," says +Brother Houssart, "he took only hot water slightly flavoured with wine; +and every one knows that his Lordship never took either cordial or +dainty wines, or any mixture of sweets of any sort whatever, whether to +drink or to eat, except that in his last years I succeeded in making him +take every evening after his broth, which was his whole supper, a piece +of biscuit as large as one's thumb, in a little wine, to aid him to +sleep. I may say without exaggeration that his whole life was one +continual fast, for he took no breakfast, and every evening only a +slight collation.... He used his whole substance in alms and pious +works; and when he needed anything, such as clothes, linen, etc., he +asked it from the seminary like the humblest of his ecclesiastics. He +was most modest in matters of dress, and I had great difficulty in +preventing him from wearing his clothes when they were old, dirty and +mended. During twenty years he had but two winter cassocks, which he +left behind him on his death, the one still quite good, the other all +threadbare and mended. To be brief, there was no one in the seminary +poorer in dress...." Mgr. de Laval set an example of the principal +virtues which distinguish the saints; so he could not fail in that which +our Lord incessantly recommends to His disciples, charity! He no longer +possessed anything of his own, since he had at the outset abandoned his +patrimony to his brother, and since later on he had given to the +seminary everything in his possession. But charity makes one ingenious: +by depriving himself of what was strictly necessary, could he not yet +come to the aid of his brothers in Jesus Christ? "Never was prelate," +says his eulogist, M. de la Colombiere, "more hostile to grandeur and +exaltation.... In scorning grandeur, he triumphed over himself by a +poverty worthy of the anchorites of the first centuries, whose rules he +faithfully observed to the end of his days. Grace had so thoroughly +absorbed in the heart of the prelate the place of the tendencies of our +corrupt nature that he seemed to have been born with an aversion to +riches, pleasures and honours.... If you have noticed his dress, his +furniture and his table, you must be aware that he was a foe to pomp and +splendour. There is no village priest in France who is not better +nourished, better clad and better lodged than was the Bishop of Quebec. +Far from having an equipage suitable to his rank and dignity he had not +even a horse of his own. And when, towards the end of his days, his +great age and his infirmities did not allow him to walk, if he wished to +go out he had to borrow a carriage. Why this economy? In order to have a +storehouse full of garments, shoes and blankets, which he distributed +gratuitously, with paternal kindness and prudence. This was a business +which he never ceased to ply, in which he trusted only to himself, and +with which he concerned himself up to his death." + +The charity of the prelate was boundless. Not only at the hospital of +Quebec did he visit the poor and console them, but he even rendered them +services the most repugnant to nature. "He has been seen," says M. de la +Colombiere, "on a ship where he behaved like St. Francois-Xavier, where, +ministering to the sailors and the passengers, he breathed the bad air +and the infection which they exhaled; he has been seen to abandon in +their favour all his refreshments, and to give them even his bed, sheets +and blankets. To administer the sacraments to them he did not fear to +expose his life and the lives of the persons who were most dear to him." +When he thus attended the sick who were attacked by contagious fever, he +did his duty, even more than his duty; but when he went, without +absolute need, and shared in the repugnant cares which the most devoted +servants of Christ in the hospitals undertake only after struggles and +heroic victory over revolted nature he rose to sublimity. It was because +he saw in the poor the suffering members of the Saviour; to love the +poor man, it is not enough to wish him well, we must respect him, and we +cannot respect him as much as any child of God deserves without seeing +in him the image of Jesus Christ himself. No one acquires love for God +without being soon wholly enkindled by it; thus it was no longer +sufficient for Mgr. de Laval to instruct and console the poor and the +sick, he served them also in the most abject duties, going as far as to +wash with his own hands their sores and ulcers. A madman, the world will +say; why not content one's self with attending those people without +indulging in the luxury of heroism so repugnant? This would have +sufficed indeed to relieve nature, but would it have taught those +incurable and desperate cases that they were the first friends of Jesus +Christ, that the Church looked upon them as its jewels, and that their +fate from the point of view of eternity was enviable to all? It would +have relieved without consoling and raising the poor man to the height +which belongs to him in Christian society. Official assistance, with the +best intentions in the world, the most ingenious organization and the +most perfect working, can, however, never be charity in the perfectly +Christian sense of this word. If it could allay all needs and heal all +sores it would still have accomplished only half of the task: relieving +the body without reaching the soul. And man does not live by bread +alone. He who has been disinherited of the boons of fortune, family and +health, he who is incurable and who despairs of human joys needs +something else besides the most comfortable hospital room that can be +imagined; he needs the words which fell from the lips of God: "Blessed +are the poor, blessed are they that suffer, blessed are they that +mourn." He needs a pitying heart, a tender witness to indigence nobly +borne, a respectful friend of his misfortune, still more than that, a +worshipper of Jesus hidden in the persons of the poor, the orphan and +the sick. They have become rare in the world, these real friends of the +poor; the more assistance has become organized, the more charity seems +to have lost its true nature; and perhaps we might find in this state of +things a radical explanation for those implacable social antagonisms, +those covetous desires, those revolts followed by endless repression, +which bring about revolutions, and by them all manner of tyranny. Let us +first respect the poor, let us love them, let us sincerely admire their +condition as one ennobled by God, if we wish them to become reconciled +with Him, and reconciled with the world. When the rich man is a +Christian, generous and respectful of the poor, when he practises the +virtues which most belong to his social position, the poor man is very +near to conforming to those virtues which Providence makes his more +immediate duty, humility, obedience, resignation to the will of God and +trust in Him and in those who rule in His name. The solution of the +great social problem lies, as it seems to us, in the spiritual love of +the poor. Outside of this, there is only the heathen slave below, and +tyranny above with all its terrors. That is what religious enthusiasm +foresaw in centuries less well organized but more religious than ours. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +DEATH OF MGR. DE LAVAL + + +The end of a great career was now approaching. In the summer of 1707, a +long and painful illness nearly carried Mgr. de Laval away, but he +recovered, and convalescence was followed by manifest improvement. This +soul which, like the lamp of the sanctuary, was consumed in the +tabernacle of the Most High, revived suddenly at the moment of emitting +its last gleams, then suddenly died out in final brilliance. The +improvement in the condition of the venerable prelate was ephemeral; the +illness which had brought him to the threshold of the tomb proved fatal +some weeks later. He died in the midst of his labours, happy in proving +by the very origin of the disease which brought about his death, his +great love for the Saviour. It was, in fact, in prolonging on Good +Friday his pious stations in his chilly church (for our ancestors did +not heat their churches, even in seasons of rigorous cold), that he +received in his heel the frost-bite of which he died. Such is the name +the writers of the time give to this sore; in our days, when science has +defined certain maladies formerly misunderstood, it is permissible to +suppose that this so-called frost-bite was nothing else than diabetic +gangrene. No illusion could be cherished, and the venerable old man, +who had not, so to speak, passed a moment of his existence without +thinking of death, needed to adapt himself to the idea less than any one +else. In order to have nothing more to do than to prepare for his last +hour he hastened to settle a question which concerned his seminary: he +reduced definitely to eight the number of pensions which he had +established in it in 1680. This done, it remained for him now only to +suffer and die. The ulcer increased incessantly and the continual pains +which he felt became atrocious when it was dressed. His intolerable +sufferings drew from him, nevertheless, not cries and complaints, but +outpourings of love for God. Like Saint Vincent de Paul, whom the +tortures of his last malady could not compel to utter other words than +these: "Ah, my Saviour! my good Saviour!" Mgr. de Laval gave vent to +these words only: "O, my God! have pity on me! O God of Mercy!" and this +cry, the summary of his whole life: "Let Thy holy will be done!" One of +the last thoughts of the dying man was to express the sentiment of his +whole life, humility. Some one begged him to imitate the majority of the +saints, who, on their death-bed, uttered a few pious words for the +edification of their spiritual children. "They were saints," he replied, +"and I am a sinner." A speech worthy of Saint Vincent de Paul, who, +about to appear before God, replied to the person who requested his +blessing, "It is not for me, unworthy wretch that I am, to bless you." +The fervour with which he received the last sacraments aroused the +admiration of all the witnesses of this supreme hour. They almost +expected to see this holy soul take flight for its celestial mansion. As +soon as the prayers for the dying had been pronounced, he asked to have +the chaplets of the Holy Family recited, and during the recitation of +this prayer he gave up his soul to his Creator. It was then half-past +seven in the morning, and the sixth day of the month consecrated to the +Holy Virgin, whom he had so loved (May, 1708). + +It was with a quiver of grief which was felt in all hearts throughout +the colony that men learned the fatal news. The banks of the great river +repeated this great woe to the valleys; the sad certainty that the +father of all had disappeared forever sowed desolation in the homes of +the rich as well as in the thatched huts of the poor. A cry of pain, a +deep sob arose from the bosom of Canada which would not be consoled, +because its incomparable bishop was no more! Etienne de Citeaux said to +his monks after the death of his holy predecessor: "Alberic is dead to +our eyes, but he is not so to the eyes of God, and dead though he appear +to us, he lives for us in the presence of the Lord; for it is peculiar +to the saints that when they go to God through death, they bear their +friends with them in their hearts to preserve them there forever." This +is our dearest desire; the friends of the venerable prelate were and +still are to-day his own Canadians: may he remain to the end of the +ages our protector and intercessor with God! + +There were attributed to Mgr. de Laval, according to Latour and Brother +Houssart, and a witness who would have more weight, M. de Glandelet, a +priest of the seminary of Quebec, whose account was unhappily lost, a +great number of miraculous cures. Our purpose is not to narrate them; we +have desired to repeat only the wonders of his life in order to offer a +pattern and encouragement to all who walk in his steps, and in order to +pay the debt of gratitude which we owe to the principal founder of the +Catholic Church in our country. + +The body of Mgr. de Laval lay in state for three days in the chapel of +the seminary, and there was an immense concourse of the people about his +mortuary bed, rather to invoke him than to pray for his soul. His +countenance remained so beautiful that one would have thought him +asleep; that imposing brow so often venerated in the ceremonies of the +Church preserved all its majesty. But alas! that aristocratic hand, +which had blessed so many generations, was no longer to raise the +pastoral ring over the brows of bowing worshippers; that eloquent mouth +which had for half a century preached the gospel was to open no more; +those eyes with look so humble but so straightforward were closed +forever! "He is regretted by all as if death had carried him off in the +flower of his age," says a chronicle of the time, "it is because virtue +does not grow old." The obsequies of the prelate were celebrated with a +pomp still unfamiliar in the colony; the body, clad in the pontifical +ornaments, was carried on the shoulders of priests through the different +religious edifices of Quebec before being interred. All the churches of +the country celebrated solemn services for the repose of the soul of the +first Bishop of New France. Placed in a leaden coffin, the revered +remains were sepulchred in the vaults of the cathedral, but the heart of +Mgr. de Laval was piously kept in the chapel of the seminary, and later, +in 1752, was transported into the new chapel of this house. The funeral +orations were pronounced, which recalled with eloquence and talent the +services rendered by the venerable deceased to the Church, to France and +to Canada. One was delivered by M. de la Colombiere, archdeacon and +grand vicar of the diocese of Quebec; the other by M. de Belmont, grand +vicar and superior of St. Sulpice at Montreal. + +Those who had the good fortune to be present in the month of May, 1878, +at the disinterment of the remains of the revered pontiff and at their +removal to the chapel of the seminary where, according to his +intentions, they repose to-day, will recall still with emotion the pomp +which was displayed on this solemn occasion, and the fervent joy which +was manifested among all classes of society. An imposing procession +conveyed them, as at the time of the seminary obsequies, to the +Ursulines; from the convent of the Ursulines to the Jesuit Fathers', +next to the Congregation of St. Patrick, to the Hotel-Dieu, and finally +to the cathedral, where a solemn service was sung in the presence of the +apostolic legate, Mgr. Conroy. The Bishop of Sherbrooke, M. Antoine +Racine, pronounced the eulogy of the first prelate of the colony. + +The remains of Mgr. de Laval rested then in peace under the choir of the +chapel of the seminary behind the principal altar. On December 16th, +1901, the vault was opened by order of the commission entrusted by the +Holy See with the conduct of the apostolic investigation into the +virtues and miracles _in specie_ of the founder of the Church in Canada. +The revered remains, which were found in a perfect state of +preservation, were replaced in three coffins, one of glass, the second +of oak, and the third of lead, and lowered into the vault. The opening +was closed by a brick wall, well cemented, concealed between two iron +gates. There they rest until, if it please God to hear the prayers of +the Catholic population of our country, they may be placed upon the +altars. This examination of the remains of the venerable prelate was the +last act in his apostolic ordeal, for we are aware with what precaution +the Church surrounds herself and with what prudence she scrutinizes the +most minute details before giving a decision in the matter of +canonization. The documents in the case of Mgr. de Laval have been sent +to the secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites at Rome; and from +there will come to us, let us hope, the great news of the canonization +of the first Bishop of New France. + +Sleep your sleep, revered prelate, worthy son of crusaders and noble +successor of the apostles. Long and laborious was your task, and you +have well merited your repose beneath the flagstones of your seminary. +Long will the sons of future generations go there to spell out your +name,--the name of an admirable pastor, and, as the Church will tell us +doubtless before long, of a saint. + + + + +INDEX + + +A + +Ailleboust, M. d', governor of New France, 8 + +Albanel, Father, missionary to the Indians at Hudson Bay, 11, 103 + +Alexander VII, Pope, appoints Laval apostolic vicar with the title of + Bishop of Petraea _in partibus_, 7, 26; + petitioned by the king to erect an episcopal see in Quebec, 131; + wants the new diocese to be an immediate dependency of the Holy See, 133 + +Alexander of Rhodes, Father, 23 + +Algonquin Indians, 2, 9, 11 + +Allard, Father, Superior of the Recollets in the province of + St. Denis, 109, 110 + +Allouez, Father Claude, 11; + addresses the mission at Sault Ste. Marie, 104 + +Anahotaha, Huron chief, joins Dollard, 69, 71 + +Andros, Sir Edmund, governor of New England, 173 + +Argenson, Governor d', 29; + his continual friction with Laval, 34; + disapproves of the retreat of Captain Dupuis from the mission of + Gannentaha, 67 + +Arnaud, Father, accompanies La Verendrye as far as the Rocky Mountains, 11 + +Assise, Francois d', founder of the Franciscans, 18 + +Aubert, M., on the French-Canadians, 118, 119 + +Auteuil, Denis Joseph Ruette d', solicitor-general of the Sovereign + Council, 167 + +Avaugour, Governor d', withdraws his opposition to the liquor trade and + is recalled, 38-40; + his last report, 40; + references, 10, 28 + + +B + +Bagot, Father, head of the college of La Fleche, 20 + +Bailly, Francois, directs the building of the Notre-Dame Church, 88 + +Bancroft, George, historian, quoted, 4, 5, 152, 153 + +Beaudoncourt, Jacques de, quoted, 39; + describes the escape of the Gannentaha mission from the massacre of + 1658, 66, 67 + +Beaumont, Hardouin de Perefixe de, Archbishop of Paris, 134 + +Belmont, M. de, his charitable works, 135, 136; + preaches Laval's funeral oration, 265 + +Bernieres, Henri de, first superior of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56; + entrusted with Laval's duties during his absence, 134, 143, 162; + appointed dean of the chapter established by Laval, 197; + his death, 239 + +Bernieres, Jean de, his religious retreat at Caen, 24, 25; + referred to, 33, 34 + +Berthelot, M., rents the abbey of Lestrees from Laval, 138; + exchanges Ile Jesus for the Island of Orleans, 138 + +Bishop of Petraea, see _Laval-Montmorency_ + +Bouchard, founder of the house of Montmorency, 16 + +Boucher, governor of Three Rivers, 29 + +Boudon, Abbe Henri-Marie, archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, 23 + +Bourdon, solicitor-general, 79 + +Bourgard, Mgr., quoted, 61 + +Bourgeoys, Sister Marguerite, founds a school in Montreal which grows + into the Ville-Marie Convent, 9, 126; + on board the plague-stricken _St. Andre_, 31, 32; + as a teacher, 91, 92, 156; + through her efforts the church of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is + erected, 177, 178 + +Bouteroue, M. de, commissioner during Talon's absence, 116 + +Brebeuf, Father, his persecution and death, 5, 16, 62 + +Bretonvilliers, M. de, superior of St. Sulpice, 88, 89, 135, 162 + +Briand, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Bizard, Lieutenant, dispatched by Frontenac to arrest the law-breakers + and insulted by Perrot, 160 + +Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, the, 125 + +Brulon, Jean Gauthier de, confessor of the chapter established + by Laval, 197 + + +C + +Caen, the town of, 24 + +Callieres, Chevalier de, governor of Montreal, 214; + lays before the king a plan to conquer New York, 218; + at Quebec when attacked by Phipps, 229; + makes peace with the Indians, 235; + his death, 235 + +Canons, the duties of, 196, 197 + +Carignan Regiment, the, 53, 77, 79, 114 + +Carion, M. Philippe de, 88 + +Cataraqui, Fort (Kingston), built by Frontenac and later called after + him, 84, 145; + conceded to La Salle, 145 + +Cathedral of Quebec, the, 84, 85 + +Champigny, M. de, commissioner, replaces Meulles, 204, 215 + +Champlain, Samuel de, governor of New France and founder + of Quebec, 4, 8, 12 + +Charlevoix, Pierre Francois Xavier de, on colonization, 117, 118; + his portrait of Frontenac, 144, 145 + +Charron Brothers, the, make an unsuccessful attempt to establish a + charitable house in Montreal, 125, 245-8 + +Chateau St. Louis, 112, 160, 163 + +Chaumonot, Father, 65; + the head of the Brotherhood of the Holy Family, 86, 87 + +Chevestre, Francoise de, wife of Jean-Louis de Laval, 139 + +Clement X, Pope, 133; + signs the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec, 136 + +Closse, Major, 8, 92 + +Colbert, Louis XIV's prime minister, 52; + a letter from Villeray to, 77, 78; + opposes Talon's immigration plans, 80; + receives a letter from Talon, 107; + Talon's proposals to, 115; + a dispatch from Frontenac to, 161; + reproves Frontenac's overbearing conduct, 165; + asks for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, 170, 171 + +College de Clermont, 21, 22 + +College of Montreal, the, 124, 125 + +Colombiere, M. de la, quoted, 23, 256, 257 + +Company of Montreal, the, 25; + its financial obligations taken up by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 135 + +Company of Notre-Dame of Montreal, 85, 108, 127, 189 + +Company of the Cent-Associes, founded by Richelieu, 4; + incapable of colonizing New France, abandons it to the royal + government, 40, 41; + assists the missionaries, 50; + a portion of its obligations undertaken by the West India Company, 145 + +Consistorial Congregation of Rome, the, 132 + +Couillard, Madame, the house of, 58 + +Courcelles, M. de, appointed governor in de Mezy's place, 51; + acts as godfather to Garakontie, Indian chief, 65; + an instance of his firmness, 82, 83; + meets the Indian chiefs at Cataraqui, and gains their approval of + building a fort there, 84; + succeeded by Frontenac, 84; + lays the corner-stone of the Notre-Dame Church in Montreal, 88; + returns to France, 143 + +_Coureurs de bois_, the, 158, 159 + +Crevecoeur, Fort, 148, 149 + + +D + +Dablon, Father, 11, 62, 65; + describes Laval's visit to the Prairie de la Madeleine, 74, 75; + quoted, 103, 140 + +Damours, M., member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166; + imprisoned by Frontenac, 167 + +Daniel, Father, his death, 5 + +Denonville, Marquis de, succeeds de la Barre, 193, 202, 204; + urges Laval's return to Canada, 213; + his expedition against the Iroquois, 214-16; + seizes Indian chiefs to serve on the king's galleys, 214, 215; + builds a fort at Niagara, 216; + recalled, 218 + +Dequen, Father, 32, 33 + +Dollard, makes a brave stand against the Iroquois, 39, 68-72, 75 (note) + +Dollier de Casson, superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 11; + at the laying of the first stone of the Church of Notre-Dame, 89; + preaching on the shores of Lake Erie, 108; + joined by La Salle, 148; + speaks of the liquor traffic, 175; + at Quebec, 190 + +Dongan, Colonel Thomas, governor of New York, urges the Iroquois to + strife, 185, 191, 213, 216 + +Dosquet, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Druilletes, Father, 11 + +Duchesneau, intendant, his disputes with Frontenac upon the question of + President of the Council, 166, 167; + recalled, 168, 185; + asked by Colbert for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, 170, 171; + instructed by the king to avoid discord with La Barre, 186, 187 + +Dudouyt, Jean, director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56, 134, 143, 163; + his mission to France in relation to the liquor traffic, 171; + grand cantor of the chapter established by Laval, 197; + his death, 219; + burial of his heart in Quebec, 219 + +Dupont, M., member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166 + +Dupuis, Captain, commander of the mission at Gannentaha, 65; + how he saved the mission from the general massacre of 1658, 65-7 + + +E + +Earthquake of 1663, 42-5; + its results, 45, 46 + + +F + +Famine Creek, 193, 217 + +Fenelon, Abbe de, see _Salignac-Fenelon_ + +Ferland, Abbe, quoted, 35; + on the education of the Indians, 63, 64; + his tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, 93-5; + on Talon's ambitions, 114; + quoted, 130; + his opinion of the erection of an episcopal see at Quebec, 133; + on the union of the Quebec Seminary with that of the Foreign Missions + in Paris, 140; + on La Salle's misfortunes, 149; + quoted, 155; + praises Laval's stand against the liquor traffic, 173; + on Laval's return to Canada, 220 + +Five Nations, the, sue for peace, 53; + missions to, 65; + references, 217, 223, 234 + +French-Canadians, their physical and moral qualities, 118, 119; + habits and dress, 120; + houses, 120, 121; + as hunters, 121, 122 + +Frontenac, Fort, 84, 215, 217, 223 + +Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count de, governor of Canada, 16; + builds Fort Cataraqui, 84, 145; + succeeds Courcelles, 84, 143; + his disputes with Duchesneau, 112, 166, 167; + early career, 144; + Charlevoix's portrait of, 144, 145; + orders Perrot's arrest, 160; + his quarrel with the Abbe de Fenelon, 160-5; + reproved by the king for his absolutism, 164, 165; + his recall, 168, 185; + succeeds in having permanent livings established, 181; + again appointed governor, 218, 228; + carries on a guerilla warfare with the Iroquois, 228, 229; + defends Quebec against Phipps, 129-31; + attacks the Iroquois, 233, 234; + his death, 234 + + +G + +Gallinee, Brehan de, Sulpician priest, 11, 105, 108, 148 + +Gannentaha, the mission at, 65; + how it escaped the general massacre of 1658, 65-7 + +Garakontie, Iroquois chief, his conversion, 65; + his death, 73, 74 + +Garnier, Father Charles, his death, 5 + +Garreau, Father, 11 + +Gaudais-Dupont, M., 41 + +Glandelet, Charles, 141, 197, 218; + in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, 243 + +Gosselin, Abbe, quoted, 35; + his explanation of Laval's _mandement_, 49, 50; + quoted, 58, 59; + on the question of permanent livings, 169, 170 + + +H + +Harlay, Mgr. de, Archbishop of Rouen, opposes Laval's petition for an + episcopal see at Quebec, 133; + called to the see of Paris, 134; + his death, 184 + +Hermitage, the, a religious retreat, 24, 25 + +Hotel-Dieu Hospital (Montreal), established by Mlle. Mance, 8 + +Hotel-Dieu, Sisters of the, 33, 210, 236 + +Houssart, Laval's servant, 250, 251, 252, 253, 255, 264 + +Hudson Bay, explored by Father Albanel, 11, 103; + English forts on, captured by Troyes, 204, 214; + Iberville's expedition to, 233 + +Hurons, the, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 39; + forty of them join Dollard, 69; + but betray him, 70, 71; + they suffer a well-deserved fate, 72 + + +I + +Iberville, Le Moyne d', takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson + Bay, 204, 233; + attacks the English settlements in Newfoundland, 233; + explores the mouths of the Mississippi, founds the city of Mobile, and + becomes the first governor of Louisiana, 233; + his death, 233 + +Ile Jesus, 58, 185, 189 + +Illinois Indians, 148 + +Innocent XI, Pope, 201 + +Iroquois, the, 2; + their attacks on the missions, 5; + persecute the missionaries, 8; + conclude a treaty of peace with de Tracy which lasts eighteen + years, 54, 82; + their contemplated attack on the mission of Gannentaha, 65; + make an attack upon Quebec, 67-72; + threaten to re-open their feud with the Ottawas, 83; + urged to war by Dongan, 185, 191; + massacre the tribes allied to the French, 191; + descend upon the colony, 191, 192; + La Barre's expedition against, 193; + Denonville's expedition against, 214; + several seized to serve on the king's galleys, 214, 215; + their massacre of Lachine, 224-7 + + +J + +Jesuits, the, their entry into New France, 1; + their self-sacrificing labours, 4; + in possession of all the missions of New France, 25; + as educators, 63; + their devotion to the Virgin Mary, 85; + religious zeal, 109; + provide instruction for the colonists, 124; + at the defence of Quebec, 230; + shelter the seminarists after the fire, 240, 241 + +Joliet, Louis, with Marquette, explores the upper part of the + Mississippi, 11, 59, 82, 146, 153 + +Jogues, Father, his persecution and death, 5, 62, 65 + +Juchereau, Sister, quoted, 240, 241 + + +K + +Kingston, see _Cataraqui_ + +Kondiaronk (the Rat), Indian chief, his duplicity upsets peace + negotiations with the Iroquois, 216-18; + his death, 235 + + +L + +La Barre, Lefebvre de, replaces Frontenac as governor, 168, 185; + holds an assembly at Quebec to inquire into the affairs + of the colony, 190; + demands reinforcements, 191; + his useless expedition against the Iroquois, 193; + his recall, 193 + +La Chaise, Father, confessor to Louis XIV, 174, 238 + +La Chesnaie, M. Aubert de, 186 + +Lachesnaie, village, massacred by the Iroquois, 228 + +Lachine, 116, 147, 148; + the massacre of, 225-7 + +La Fleche, the college of, 19, 20 + +Lalemant, Father Gabriel, his persecution and death, 5, 62; + his account of the great earthquake, 42-5; + references, 16, 35, 38 + +Lamberville, Father, describes the death of Garakontie, + Indian chief, 74, 215 + +La Montagne, the mission of, at Montreal, 9, 74, 125 + +La Mouche, Huron Indian, deserts Dollard, 71 + +Lanjuere, M. de, quoted, 24, 135 + +La Rochelle, 26, 77, 114, 116, 202, 219 + +La Salle, Cavelier de, 16, 116; + Fort Cataraqui conceded to, 145; + his birth, 147; + comes to New France, 147; + establishes a trading-post at Lachine, 147, 148; + starts on his expedition to the Mississippi, 148; + returns to look after his affairs at Fort Frontenac, 149; + back to Crevecoeur and finds it deserted, 149; + descends the Mississippi, 150; + raises a cross on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico and takes possession + in the name of the King of France, 151; + spends a year in establishing trading-posts among the Illinois, 151; + visits France, 151; + his misfortunes, 152; + is murdered by one of his servants, 152; + Bancroft's appreciation of, 152, 153; + his version of the Abbe de Fenelon's sermon, 160, 161 + +Latour, Abbe de, quoted, 33; + on the liquor question, 36-8; + _re_ the Sovereign Council, 40; + describes the characteristics of the young colonists, 100; + on Laval, 187, 188, 264 + +Lauson-Charny, M. de, director of the Quebec Seminary, 55, 134 + +Laval, Anne Charlotte de, only sister of Bishop Laval, 19 + +Laval, Fanchon (Charles-Francois-Guy), nephew of the bishop, 140 + +Laval, Henri de, brother of Bishop Laval, 19, 21, 139, 141 + +Laval, Hugues de, Seigneur of Montigny, etc., father of Bishop Laval, 17; + his death, 18 + +Laval, Jean-Louis de, receives the bishop's inheritance, 19, 21, 22, 139 + +Laval-Montmorency, Francois de, first Bishop of Quebec, his birth and + ancestors, 17; + death of his father, 18; + his education, 19-21; + death of his two brothers, 21; + his mother begs him, on becoming the head of the family, to abandon his + ecclesiastical career, 21; + renounces his inheritance in favour of his brother Jean-Louis, 21, 22; + his ordination, 22; + appointed archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, 22; + spends fifteen months in Rome, 23; + three years in the religious retreat of M. de Bernieres, 24, 25; + embarks for New France with the title of Bishop of Petraea + _in partibus_, 26; + disputes his authority with the Abbe de Queylus, 27, 28; + given the entire jurisdiction of Canada, 28; + his personality and appearance, 28, 29; + his devotion to the plague-stricken, 33; + private life, 33, 34; + friction with d'Argenson on questions of precedence, 34; + opposes the liquor trade with the savages, 36-9; + carries an appeal to the throne against the liquor traffic, 39; + returns to Canada, 41; + his efforts to establish a seminary at Quebec, 47-50; + obtains an ordinance from the king granting the seminary permission to + collect tithes, 50; + receives letters from Colbert and the king, 52, 53; + takes up his abode in the seminary, 55; + his pastoral visits, 74, 75, 87; + founds the smaller seminary in 1668, 97-9; + his efforts to educate the colonists, 97-100, 124; + builds the first sanctuary of Sainte Anne, 101; + his ardent desire for more missionaries is granted, 104, 105; + his advice to the missionaries, 105-7; + receives a letter from the king _re_ the Recollet priests, 110; + created Bishop of Quebec (1674), 129; + his reasons for demanding the title of Bishop of Quebec, 130, 131; + visits the abbeys of Maubec and Lestrees, 138; + leases the abbey of Lestrees to M. Berthelot, 138; + exchanges the Island of Orleans for Ile Jesus, 138; + visits his family, 139; + renews the union of his seminary with that of the Foreign Missions, 140; + returns to Canada after four years absence, 141; + ordered by the king to investigate the evils of the liquor + traffic, 171, 172; + leaves again for France (1678), 173; + acquires from the king a slight restriction over the liquor traffic, 174; + confers a favour on the priests of St. Sulpice, 175, 176; + returns to Canada (1680), 184, 186; + wills all that he possesses to his seminary, 185; + makes a pastoral visit of his diocese, 189; + his ill-health, 190; + writes to the king for reinforcements, 191, 192; + decides to carry his resignation in person to the king, 196; + establishes a chapter, 197, 198; + sails for France, 198; + to remain titular bishop until the consecration of his successor, 201; + returns to Canada, 202, 220; + ill-health, 205; + reproves Saint-Vallier's extravagance, 206; + an appreciation of, by Saint-Vallier, 209; + a letter from Father La Chaise to, 238, 239; + officiates during Saint-Vallier's absence, 244; + his last illness, 249-53, 261, 262; + his death, 263; + and burial, 264-6 + +Laval University, 15, 99, 124 + +Leber, Mlle. Jeanne, 91, 92 + +Le Caron, Father, Recollet missionary, 3 + +Lejeune, Father, 25 + +Lemaitre, Father, put to death by the Iroquois, 8; + ministers to the plague-stricken on board the _St. Andre_, 31, 32 + +_Le Soleil d'Afrique_, 219 + +Lestrees, the abbey of, 136, 138, 185 + +Liquor traffic, the, forbidden by the Sovereign Council, 36; + opposed by Laval, 36-9; + the Sovereign Council gives unrestricted sway to, 113; + again restricted by the council, 115, 116; + a much discussed question, 169-75 + +Lorette, the village of, 74 + +Lotbiniere, Louis Rene de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166 + +Louis XIV of France, recalls d'Avaugour, and sends more troops + to Canada, 39; + writes to Laval, 52, 53; + petitions the Pope for the erection of an episcopal see + in Quebec, 131, 132; + demands that the new diocese shall be dependent upon the metropolitan + of Rouen, 132, 133; + granted the right of nomination to the bishopric of Quebec, 136; + his decree of 1673, 159, 160; + reproves Frontenac for his absolutism, 164, 165; + orders Frontenac to investigate the evils of the liquor + traffic, 171, 172; + forbids intoxicating liquors being carried to the savages in their + dwellings or in the woods, 174; + contributes to the maintenance of the priests in Canada, 182, 183; + his efforts to keep the Canadian officials in harmony, 186, 187; + sends reinforcements, 192; + grants Laval an annuity for life, 201; + at war again, 235 + + +M + +Maisonneuve, M. de, governor of Montreal, 8, 16, 92, 176 + +Maizerets, M. Ange de, comes to Canada, 41; + director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56; + accompanies Laval on a tour of his diocese, 189; + archdeacon of the chapter established by Laval, 197; + in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, 243 + +Mance, Mlle., establishes the Hotel-Dieu Hospital in Montreal, 8; + on board the plague-stricken _St. Andre_, 31; + at the laying of the first stone of the church of Notre-Dame, 89; + her death, 89; + her religious zeal, 91, 92 + +Maricourt, Le Moyne de, 16; + takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204 + +Marquette, Father, with Joliet explores the upper part of the + Mississippi, 11, 59, 82, 146, 153; + his death, 146, 147 + +Maubec, the abbey of, 131; + incorporated with the diocese of Quebec, 136; + a description of, 137 + +Membre, Father, descends the Mississippi with La Salle, 149, 150, 151 + +Mesnu, Peuvret de, secretary of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166 + +Metiomegue, Algonquin chief, joins Dollard, 69 + +Meulles, M. de, replaces Duchesneau as commissioner, 168, 185; + replaced by Champigny, 204 + +Mezy, Governor de, 10; + succeeds d'Avaugour, 41; + disagrees with the bishop, 51; + his death, 51, 52 + +Michilimackinac, 146, 149, 216 + +Millet, Father, pays a tribute to Garakontie, 73, 215 + +Mississippi River, explored by Marquette and Joliet as far as the + Arkansas River, 11, 59, 82, 146; + La Salle descends to its mouth, 150, 151 + +Monsipi, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204 + +Montigny, Abbe de, one of Laval's early titles, 7, 19 + +Montigny-sur-Avre, Laval's birthplace, 17 + +Montmagny, M. de, governor of New France, 8 + +Montmorency, Henri de, near kinsman of Laval, 18; + beheaded by the order of Richelieu, 18 + +Montreal, the Island of, 8, 86; + made over to the Sulpicians, 108, 175; + the parishes of, united with the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 175, 176, 183 + +Montreal, the mission of La Montagne at, 9, 74; + its first Roman Catholic church, 87-90; + its religious zeal, 90-2; + see also _Ville-Marie_ + +Morel, Thomas, director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 101; + his arrest, 163; + set at liberty, 164; + his death, 219 + +Morin, M., quoted, 89, 90 + +Mornay, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Mother Mary of the Incarnation, on Laval's devotion to the sick, 33; + on his private life, 34, 254; + on the results of the great earthquake, 45, 46; + on the work of the Sisters, 79, 80; + her religious zeal and fine qualities, 92, 93; + Abbe Ferland's appreciation of, 93-5; + speaks of the work of Abbe Fenelon and Father Trouve, 109; + on the liquor traffic, 113; + sums up Talon's merits, 114; + speaks of the colonists' children, 119; + on civilizing the Indians, 125, 126; + an appreciation of, by Abbe Verreau, 127; + her death, 154; + her noble character, 155 + +Mouchy, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, 158 + + +N + +Nelson, Fort (Hudson Bay), held by the English against de Troyes' + expedition, 204; + captured by Iberville, 233 + +Newfoundland, English settlements attacked by Iberville, 232 + +Notre-Dame Church (Montreal), 87-90, 176 + +Notre-Dame de Bonsecours, chapel (Montreal), 176-9 + +Notre-Dame de Montreal, the parish of, 175, 176 + +Notre-Dame des Victoires, church of, 185 + +Noue, Father de, his death, 5 + + +O + +Oblate Fathers, their entry into New France, 1 + +Olier, M., founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 5, 6, 25; + places the Island of Montreal under the protection of the + Holy Virgin, 8, 85; + his death, 135; + succeeded by Bretonvilliers, 162 + +Onondagas, the, 67 + +Ottawa Indians, threaten to re-open their feud with the Iroquois, 83, 215 + + +P + +Pallu, M., 23 + +Parkman, Francis, quoted, 34, 35 + +Pericard, Mgr. de, Bishop of Evreux, 21; + his death, 22 + +Pericard, Michelle de, mother of Bishop Laval, 17; + her death, 26 + +Peltrie, Madame de la, 92; + establishes the Ursuline Convent in Quebec, 125; + a description of, by Abbe Casgrain, 153, 154; + her death, 154 + +Permanence of livings, a much discussed question, 169, 181, 184, 236 + +Perrot, Francois Marie, governor of Montreal, 89; + his anger at Bizard, 160; + arrested by Frontenac, 160, 164 + +Perrot, Nicholas, explorer, 82 + +Peyras, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166 + +Phipps, Sir William, attacks Quebec, 11, 229-31 + +Picquet, M., 23 + +Plessis, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 13 + +Pommier, Hugues, comes to Canada, 41; + director of the Quebec seminary, 55 + +Pontbriant, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Pourroy de l'Aube-Riviere, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 12 + +Prairie de la Madeleine, 74, 232 + +Propaganda, the, 130, 131 + +Prudhomme, Fort, erected by La Salle, 150 + + +Q + +Quebec, attacked by Phipps, 11, 229-31; + the bishops of, 12; + attacked by the Iroquois, 67-72; + arrival of colonists (1665), 78, 79; + the cathedral of, 84, 85; + its religious fervour, 92; + the Lower Town consumed by fire, 186; + overwhelmed by disease and fire, 239 + +Quebec Act, the, 13 + +Queylus, Abbe de, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, 7; + comes to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the Sulpicians, + and to establish a seminary, 8; + disputes Laval's authority, 27; + goes to France, 27; + returns with bulls placing him in possession of the parish + of Montreal, 28; + suspended from office by Bishop Laval and recalled to France, 28; + returns to the colony and is appointed grand vicar at Montreal, 28; + his religious zeal, 92; + his generosity, 107; + returns to France, 134; + his work praised by Talon, 134 + + +R + +Rafeix, Father, comes to Canada, 41 + +Recollets, the, their entry into New France, 1; + refused permission to return to Canada after the Treaty of St. + Germain-en-Laye, 3, 110; + propose St. Joseph as the patron saint of Canada, 87; + their popularity, 111, 112; + build a monastery in Quebec, 112; + espouse Frontenac's cause in his disputes with Duchesneau, 112; + provide instruction for the colonists, 124; + their establishment in Quebec, 208 + +_Regale_, the question of the right of, 184, 201 + +Ribourde, Father de la, 149; + killed by the Iroquois, 149, 150 + +Richelieu, Cardinal, founds the Company of the Cent-Associes, 4; + orders Henri de Montmorency to be beheaded, 18; + referred to, 117 + +Rupert, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204 + + +S + +Sagard, Father, Recollet missionary, 3 + +Sainte Anne, the Brotherhood of, 101 + +Sainte Anne, the first sanctuary of, built by Laval, 101; + gives place to a stone church erected through the efforts + of M. Filion, 102; + a third temple built upon its site, 102; + the present cathedral built (1878), 102; + the pilgrimages to, 102, 103 + +Sainte-Helene, Andree Duplessis de, 92 + +Sainte-Helene, Le Moyne de, 16; + takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204; + his death at the siege of Quebec, 231 + +Saint-Vallier, Abbe Jean Baptiste de la Croix de, king's almoner, 199; + appointed provisionally grand vicar of Laval, 201; + leaves a legacy to the seminary of Quebec, 202; + embarks for Canada, 202; + makes a tour of his diocese, 203, 204; + his extravagance, 206; + pays a tribute to Laval, 209; + leaves for France, 210; + obtains a grant for a Bishop's Palace, 211; + his official appointment and consecration as Bishop of Quebec, 202, 219; + returns to Canada, 221; + opens a hospital in Notre-Dame des Anges, 236; + in France from 1700 to 1705, when returning to Canada is captured by + an English vessel and kept in captivity till 1710, 242, 243; + the object of his visit to France, 243 + +_St. Andre_, the, 27; + the plague breaks out on board, 31, 32 + +Ste. Anne, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204 + +St. Bernardino of Siena, quoted, 35, 36 + +St. Francois-Xavier, adopted as the second special protector of + the colony, 87 + +St. Ignace de Michilimackinac, La Salle's burying-place, 147 + +St. Joachim, the seminary of Quebec has a country house at, 12; + the boarding-school at, established by Laval, 100, 124, 245; + receives a remembrance from Laval, 199 + +St. Joseph, the first patron saint of Canada, 87 + +St. Malo, the Bishop of, 6, 7 + +St. Sulpice de Montreal, see _Seminary of St. Sulpice_ + +St. Sulpice, the priests of, see _Sulpicians_ + +Salignac-Fenelon, Abbe Francois de, goes to the north shore of Lake + Ontario to establish a mission, 105, 108; + teaches the Iroquois, 125; + his sermon preached against Frontenac, 160, 161; + his quarrel with Frontenac, 160-5; + forbidden to return to Canada, 164 + +Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga), the mission of, 9, 74, 147, 189 + +Sault Ste. Marie, the mission of, 11; + addressed by Father Allouez, 104 + +Seignelay, Marquis de, Colbert's son, sends four shiploads of colonists + to people Louisiana, 151, 152; + postpones Laval's return to Canada, 211 + +Seigniorial tenure, 119, 120 + +Seminary, the, at Quebec, founded by Laval (1663), 10; + the priests of, assist in defending Quebec against Phipps, 11, 12; + Laval's ordinance relating to, 47, 48; + its establishment receives the royal approval, 50; + obtains permission to collect tithes from the colonists, 50; + its first superior and directors, 55; + affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, 57, 58; + a smaller seminary built (1668), 58, 59, 97-9; + the whole destroyed by fire (1701), 58, 240, 241; + its union with the Seminary of Foreign Missions renewed, 140; + receives a legacy from Saint-Vallier, 202; + sends missionaries to Louisiana, 208; + in financial difficulties, 211 + +Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, affiliated with the Quebec + Seminary, 57, 58; + contributes to the support of the mission at Ville-Marie, 136; + its union with the Quebec Seminary renewed, 140; + a union with the Seminary of St. Sulpice formed, 221 + +Seminary of Montreal, see _Ville-Marie Convent_ + +Seminary of St. Sulpice, the, founded by M. Olier, 5, 6, 25; + enlarged, 90; + its ancient clock, 90; + takes up the financial obligations of the Company of Montreal, 135; + joined to the parish of Notre-Dame de Montreal, 175, 176, 183; + visited by Laval, 189; + affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions, 221 + +_Seine_, the, captured by the English with Saint-Vallier on board, 242, 243 + +Souart, M., 91, 92, 124 + +Sovereign Council, the, fixes the tithe at a twenty-sixth, 10; + forbids the liquor trade with the savages, 36; + registers the royal approval of the establishment of the + Quebec Seminary, 50; + recommends that emigrants be sent only from the north of France, 78; + passes a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of liquor, 113; + finds it necessary to restrict the liquor trade, 115, 116; + its members, 158; + judges Perrot, 160; + its re-construction, 165-7; + a division in its ranks, 167; + passes a decree affecting the policy of the Quebec Seminary, 236 + +Sulpicians, their entry into New France, 1; + become the lords of the Island of Montreal, 8, 108; + their devotion to the Virgin Mary, 85; + at Ville-Marie, 92; + more priests arrive, 105, 106; + their religious zeal, 109; + provide instruction for the colonists, 124; + granted the livings of the Island of Montreal, 175, 176; + request the king's confirmation of the union of their seminary with + the parishes on the Island of Montreal, 183, 184 + + +T + +Talon, intendant, appointed to investigate the administration + of de Mezy, 51; + his immigration plans opposed by Colbert, 80; + writes to Colbert in praise of the Abbe de Queylus, 107; + brings out five Recollet priests, 109; + obtains from the Sovereign Council a decree permitting the unrestricted + sale of liquor, 113; + develops the resources of the country, 114, 115; + returns to France for two years, 116; + praises Abbe de Queylus' work, 134, 135; + retires from office, 143 + +Taschereau, Cardinal, 40, 86 + +Tesserie, M. de la, member of the Sovereign Council, 158 + +Tilly, Le Gardeur de, member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166, 167 + +Tithes, the levying of, on the colonists, 10, 50, 51, 54; + payable only to the permanent priests, 55; + the edict of 1679, 181; + Laval and Saint-Vallier disagree upon the question of, 208, 209 + +Tonti, Chevalier de, accompanies La Salle as far as Fort Crevecoeur, 148; + attacked by the Iroquois and flees to Michilimackinac, 149; + again joins La Salle and descends the Mississippi with him, 150; + appointed La Salle's representative, 151 + +Tracy, Marquis de, viceroy, appointed to investigate the administration + of de Mezy, 51; + builds three forts on the Richelieu River, 53; + destroys the hamlets of the Mohawks and concludes a treaty of peace + with the Iroquois which lasts eighteen years, 53, 54, 82; + reduces the tithe to a twenty-sixth, 54; + returns to France, 81; + his fine qualities, 81, 82; + presents a valuable picture to the church at Sainte Anne, 102 + +Treaty of Ryswick, 234 + +Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, 3, 110 + +Treaty of Utrecht, 235 + +Trouve, Claude, goes to the north shore of Lake Ontario to establish + a mission, 105, 108 + +Troyes, Chevalier de, leads an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204 + +Turgis, Father, 62 + + +U + +Ursuline Convent (Quebec), established by Madame de la Peltrie, 112, 155; + consumed by fire, 210 + +Ursuline Sisters, 33, 125, 154, 231 + + +V + +Valrennes, M. de, commands Fort Frontenac, 223, 232 + +Vaudreuil, Chevalier de, 214; + in command at Montreal, 223; + opposing the Iroquois at massacre of Lachine, 226, 227; + succeeds Callieres as governor of Montreal, 235 + +Verreau, Abbe, pays a tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, 127 + +Viel, Father, Recollet missionary, 3 + +Vignal, Father, ministers to the plague-stricken on board + the _St. Andre_, 31, 32; + referred to, 8, 91, 92 + +Ville-Marie (Montreal), the school at, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, 9; + the Abbe de Queylus returns to, 28; + takes precautions against the Iroquois, 68; + the school of martyrdom, 90, 91; + fortified by Denonville, 213, 214; + governed by Vaudreuil in Callieres' absence, 223; + besieged by Winthrop, 229; + references, 82, 83, 85, 122, 124, 135, 162, 178, 217 + +Ville-Marie Convent, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, 126, 127, 175, 176 + +Villeray, M. de, writes to Colbert, 77, 78; + member of the Sovereign Council, 166, 167 + +Vitre, Denys de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166 + + +W + +West India Company, 81 + +Winthrop, Fitz-John, attacks Montreal, 229, 231 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval +by A. 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