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diff --git a/old/53000-0.txt b/old/53000-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d98c086..0000000 --- a/old/53000-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11761 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of France and England in North America, Part -IV: The Old Regime In Canada, by Francis Parkman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: France and England in North America, Part IV: The Old Regime In Canada - -Author: Francis Parkman - -Illustrator: Various - -Release Date: September 7, 2016 [EBook #53000] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN N. AMERICA *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - -FRANCE AND ENGLAND in NORTH AMERICA - -FOURTH PART - -THE OLD REGIME IN CANADA - -TWENTY-SIXTH EDITION - -BY FRANCIS PARKMAN - -BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY - -1874 - - -[Illustration: 0003] - - -[Illustration: 0007] - - -[Illustration: 0009] - - - -GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS, D.D. - -My dear Dr. Ellis: - -When, in my youth, I proposed to write a series of books on the French -in America, you encouraged the attempt, and your helpful kindness has -followed it from that day to this. Pray accept the dedication of this -volume in token of the grateful regard of - -Very faithfully yours, - -FRANCIS PARKMAN. - - - - -PREFACE. - -“The physiognomy of a government,” says De Tocqueville, “can best -be judged in its colonies, for there its characteristic traits usually -appear larger and more distinct. When I wish to judge of the spirit and -the faults of the administration of Louis XIV., I must go to Canada. Its -deformity is there seen as through a microscope.” - -The monarchical administration of France, at the height of its power -and at the moment of its supreme triumph, stretched an arm across the -Atlantic and grasped the North American continent. This volume attempts -to show by what methods it strove to make good its hold, why it achieved -a certain kind of success, and why it failed at last. The political -system which has fallen, and the antagonistic system which has -prevailed, seem, at first sight, to offer nothing but contrasts; yet out -of the tomb of Canadian absolutism come voices not without suggestion -even to us. Extremes meet, and Autocracy and Democracy often touch -hands, at least in their vices. - -The means of knowing the Canada of the past are ample. The pen was -always busy in this outpost of the old monarchy. The king and the -minister demanded to know every thing; and officials of high and low -degree, soldiers and civilians, friends and foes, poured letters, -despatches, and memorials, on both sides of every question, into the -lap of government. These masses of paper have in the main survived the -perils of revolutions and the incendiary torch of the Commune. Add -to them the voluminous records of the Superior Council of Quebec, and -numerous other documents preserved in the civil and ecclesiastical -depositories of Canada. - -The governments of New York and of Canada have caused a large part of -the papers in the French archives, relating to their early history, to -be copied and brought to America, and valuable contributions of material -from the same quarter have been made by the State of Massachusetts and -by private Canadian investigators. Nevertheless, a great deal has still -remained in France, uncopied and unexplored. In the course of several -visits to that country, I have availed myself of these supplementary -papers, as well as of those which had before been copied, sparing -neither time nor pains to explore every part of the field. With the help -of a system of classified notes, I have collated the evidence of the -various writers, and set down without reserve all the results of the -examination, whether favorable or unfavorable. Some of them are of a -character which I regret, since they cannot be agreeable to persons for -whom I have a very cordial regard. The conclusions drawn from the facts -may be matter of opinion, but it will be remembered that the facts -themselves can be overthrown only by overthrowing the evidence on which -they rest, or bringing forward counter evidence of equal or greater -strength; and neither task will be found an easy one. * - -I have received most valuable aid in my inquiries from the great -knowledge and experience of M. Pierre Margry, Chief of the Archives of -the Marine and Colonies at Paris. I beg also warmly to acknowledge the -kind offices of Abbé Henri Raymond Casgrain and Grand Vicar Cazeau, of -Quebec, together with those of James LeMoine, Esq., M. Eugène -Taché, Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, and other eminent Canadians, and Henry -Harrisse, Esq. - -The few extracts from original documents, which are printed in the -appendix, may serve as samples of the material out of which the work has -been constructed. In some instances their testimony - - * Those who wish to see the subject from a point of view - opposite to mine cannot do better than consult the work of - the Jesuit Charlevoix, with the excellent annotation of Mr. - Shea. (History and General Description of New France, by the - Rev. P. F. X. de Charlevoix, S.J., translated with notes by - John Gilmary Shea. 6 vols. New York: 1866-1872.) - -might be multiplied twenty-fold. When the place of deposit of the -documents cited in the margin is not otherwise indicated, they will, in -nearly all cases, be found in the Archives of the Marine and Colonies. - -In the present book we examine the political and social machine; in the -next volume of the series we shall see this machine in action. - -Boston, July 1, 1874. - - - - -DETAILED CONTENTS - - -I. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION. - - -CHAPT I. 1653-1658. - -THE JESUITS AT ONONDAGA. - -The Iroquois War.--Father Poncet.--His Adventures.--Jesuit Boldness.--Le -Moyne’s Mission.--Chaumonot and Dablon.--Iroquois Ferocity.--The -Mohawk Kidnappers.--Critical Position.--The Colony of Onondaga.--Speech -of Chaumonot.--Omens of Destruction.--Device of the Jesuits.--The -Medicine Feast.--The Escape. - - -CHAPT II. 1642-1661. - -THE HOLT WARS OF MONTREAL. - -Duversière.--Mance and Bourgeoys.--Miracle.--A Pious -Defaulter.--Jesuit and Sulpitian.--Montreal in 1659.--The Hospital -Nuns.--The Nuns and the Iroquois.--More Miracles--The Murdered -Priests.--Brigeac and Closse.--Soldiers of the Holy Family. - - -CHAPT III. 1660, 1661. - -THE HEROES OF THE LONG SAUT. - -Suffering and Terror.--François Hertel.--The Captive Wolf.--The -threatened Invasion.--Daulac des Ormeaux.--The Adventurers at the Long -Saut.--The Attack.--A Desperate Defence.--A Final Assault.--The Fort -taken. - - -CHAPT IV. 1657-1668. - -THE DISPUTED BISHOPRIC. - -Domestic Strife.--Jesuit and Sulpitian.--Abbé Queylus.--François de -Laval.--The Zealots of Caen.--Gallican and Ultramontane.--The Rival -Claimants.--Storm at Quebec.--Laval Triumphant. - - -CHAPT V. 1659, 1660. - -LAVAL AND ARGENSON. - -François de Laval.--His Position and Character.--Arrival of -Argenson.--The Quarrel. - - -CHAPT VI. 1658-1663. - -LAVAL AND AVAUGOUR. - -Reception of Argenson.--His Difficulties.--His Recall.--Dubois -d’Avaugour.--The Brandy Quarrel.--Distress of Laval.--Portents.--The -Earthquake. - - -CHAPT VII. 1661-1661. - -LAVAL AND DUMESNIL. - -Péronne Dumesnil.--The Old Council.--Alleged Murder.--The New -Council.--Bourdon and Villeray.--Strong Measures.--Escape of -Dumesnil.--Views of Colbert. - - -CHAPT VIII. 1657-1665. - -LAVAL AND MÉZY. - -The Bishop’s Choice.--A Military Zealot.--Hopeful Beginnings.--Signs -of Storm.--The Quarrel.--Distress of Mézy.--He Refuses to Yield.--His -Defeat and Death. - - -CHAPT IX. 1662-1680. - -LAVAL AND THE SEMINARY. - -Laval’s Visit to Court.--The Seminary.--Zeal of the Bishop.--His -Eulogists.--Church and State.--Attitude of Laval. - - - -II. THE COLONY AND THE KING. - - -CHAPT X. 1661-1665. - -ROYAL INTERVENTION. - -Fontainebleau.--Louis XIV.--Colbert.--The Company of the West.--Evil -Omens.--Action of the King.--Tracy, Courcelle, and Talon.--The Regiment -of Carignan-Salières.--Tracy at Quebec.--Miracles.--A Holy War. - - -CHAPT XI. 1666, 1667. - -THE MOHAWKS CHASTISED. - -Courcelle’s March.--His Failure and Return.--Courcelle and the -Jesuits.--Mohawk Treachery.--Tracy’s Expedition.--Burning of -the Mohawk Towns.--French and English.--Dollier de Casson at St. -Anne.--Peace.--The Jesuits and the Iroquois. - - -CHAPT XII. 1665-1672. - -PATERNAL GOVERNMENT. - -Talon.--Restriction and Monopoly.--Views of Colbert.--Political -Galvanism.--A Father of the People. - - -CHAPT XIII. 1661-1673. - -MARRIAGE AND POPULATION. - -Shipment of Emigrants.--Soldier Settlers.--Importation of -Wives.--Wedlock.--Summary Methods.--The Mothers of Canada.--Bounties on -Marriage.--Celibacy Punished.--Bounties on Children.--Results. - - -CHAPT XIV. 1665-1672. - -THE NEW HOME. - -Military Frontier.--The Canadian Settler.--Seignior and -Vassal.--Example of Talon.--Plan of Settlement.--Aspect of -Canada.--Quebec.--The River Settlements.--Montreal.--The Pioneers. - - -CHAPT XV. 1663-1763. - -CANADIAN FEUDALISM. - -Transplantation of Feudalism.--Precautions.--Faith and Homage. ---The Seignior.--The Censitaire.--Royal Intervention.--The -Gentilhomme.--Canadian Noblesse. - - -CHAPT XVI. 1663-1763. - -THE RULERS OF CANADA. - -Nature of the Government.--The Governor.--The Council.--Courts and -Judges.--The Intendant.--His Grievances.--Strong Government.--Sedition -and Blasphemy.--Royal Bounty.--Defects and Abuses. - - -CHAPT XVII. 1663-1763. - -TRADE AND INDUSTRY. - -Trade in Fetters.--The Huguenot Merchants.--Royal Patronage.--The -Fisheries.--Cries for Help.--Agriculture.--Manufactures.--Arts of -Ornament.--Finance.--Card Money.--Repudiation.--Imposts.--The -Beaver Trade.--The Fair at Montreal.--Contraband Trade.--A Fatal -System.--Trouble and Change.--The Coureurs de Bois.-The Forest.--Letter -of Carheil. - - -CHAPT XVIII. 1663-1702. - -THE MISSIONS. THE BRANDY QUESTION. - -The Jesuits and the Iroquois.--Mission -Villages.--Michillimackinac.--Father Carheil.--Temperance.--Brandy -and the Indians.--Strong Measures.--Disputes.--License and -Prohibition.--Views of the King.--Trade and the Jesuits. - - -CHAPT XIX. 1663-1763. - -PRIESTS AND PEOPLE. - -Church and State.--The Bishop and the King.--The King ana the -Cure's.--The New Bishop.--The Canadian Curé.--Ecclesiastical -Rule.--Saint-Vallier and Denonville.--Clerical Rigor.--Jesuit and -Sulpitian.--Courcelle and Châtelain.--The Recollets.--Heresy -and Witchcraft.--Canadian Nuns.--Jeanne Le Ber.--Education.--The -Seminary.--Saint Joachim.--Miracles of Saint Anne.--Canadian Schools. - - -CHAPT XX. 1640-1763. - -MORALS AND MANNERS - -Social Influence of the Troops.--A Petty Tyrant.--Brawls.--Violence -and Outlawry.--State of the Population.--Views of -Denonville.--Brandy.--Beggary.--The Past and the Present.--Inns.--State -of Quebec.--Fires.--The Country Parishes.--Slavery.--Views of La -Hontan.--Of Hocquart.--Of Bougainville--Of Kalm.--Of Charlevoix. - - -CHAPT XXI. 1663-1763. - -CANADIAN ABSOLUTISM. - -Formation of Canadian Character.--The Rival Colonies.--England -and France.--New England.--Characteristics of Race.--Military -Qualities.--The Church.--The English Conquest. - - - - -I. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION. - - - - -CHAPTER I. 1653-1658. THE JESUITS AT ONONDAGA. - - -_The Iroquois War.--Father Poncet.-->His Adventures.--Jesuit -Boldness.--Le Moyne’s Mission.--Chaumonot and Dablon.--Iroquois -Ferocity.--The Mohawk Kidnappers.--Critical Position.--The Colony of -Onondaga.--Speech op Chaumonot.--Omens of Destruction.--Device of the -Jesuits.--The Medicine Feast.--The Escape._ - - -|In the summer of 1653, all Canada turned to fasting and penance, -processions, vows, and supplications. The saints and the Virgin were -beset with unceasing prayer. The wretched little colony was like some -puny garrison, starving and sick, compassed with inveterate foes, -supplies cut off, and succor hopeless. - -At Montreal, the advance guard of the settlements, a sort of Castle -Dangerous, held by about fifty Frenchmen, and said by a pious writer of -the day to exist only by a continuous miracle, some two hundred Iroquois -fell upon twenty-six Frenchmen. The Christians were outmatched, eight to -one; but, says the chronicle, the Queen of Heaven was on their side, -and the Son of Mary refuses nothing to his holy mother. * Through her -intercession, the Iroquois shot so wildly that at their first fire every -bullet missed its mark, and they met with a bloody defeat. The palisaded -settlement of Three Rivers, though in a position less exposed than that -of Montreal, was in no less jeopardy. A noted war-chief of the Mohawk -Iroquois had been captured here the year before, and put to death; and -his tribe swarmed out, like a nest of angry hornets, to revenge him. Not -content with defeating and killing the commandant, Du Plessis Bochart, -they encamped during winter in the neighboring forest, watching for -an opportunity to surprise the place. Hunger drove them off, but they -returned in spring, infesting every field and pathway; till, at length, -some six hundred of their warriors landed in secret and lay hidden in -the depths of the woods, silently biding their time. Having failed, -however, in an artifice designed to lure the French out of their -defences, they showed themselves on all sides, plundering, burning, and -destroying, up to the palisades of the fort. ** - -Of the three settlements which, with their feeble dependencies, then -comprised the whole of Canada, Quebec was least exposed to Indian -attacks, being partially covered by Montreal and Three Rivers. -Nevertheless, there was no safety this year, even - - * Le Mercier, Relation, 1653, 3. - - ** So bent were they on taking the place, that they brought - their families, in order to make a permanent settlement.-- - Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre du 6 Sept., 1653. - -under the cannon of Fort St. Louis. At Cap Rouge, a few miles above, the -Jesuit Poncet saw a poor woman who had a patch of corn beside her cabin, -but could find nobody to harvest it. The father went to seek aid, met -one Mathurin. Franchetot, whom he persuaded to undertake the charitable -task, and was returning with him, when they both fell into an ambuscade -of Iroquois, who seized them and dragged them off. Thirty-two men -embarked in canoes at Quebec to follow the retreating savages and rescue -the prisoners. Pushing rapidly up the St. Lawrence, they approached -Three Rivers, found it beset by the Mohawks, and bravely threw -themselves into it, to the great joy of its defenders and discouragement -of the assailants. - -Meanwhile, the intercession of the Virgin wrought new marvels at -Montreal, and a bright ray of hope beamed forth from the darkness and -the storm to cheer the hearts of her votaries. It was on the 26th of -June that sixty of the Onondaga Iroquois appeared in sight of the fort, -shouting from a distance that they came on an errand of peace, and -asking safe-conduct for some of their number. Guns, scalping-knives, -tomahawks, were all laid aside; and, with a confidence truly -astonishing, a deputation of chiefs, naked and defenceless, came into -the midst of those whom they had betrayed so often. The French had a -mind to seize them, and pay them in kind for past treachery; but they -refrained, seeing in this wondrous change of heart the manifest hand -of Heaven. Nevertheless, it can be explained without a miracle. The -Iroquois, or, at least, the western nations of their league, had just -become involved in war with their neighbors the Eries, * and “one war -at a time” was the sage maxim of their policy. - -All was smiles and blandishment in the fort at Montreal; presents were -exchanged, and the deputies departed, bearing home golden reports of -the French. An Oneida deputation soon followed; but the enraged Mohawks -still infested Montreal and beleaguered Three Rivers, till one of their -principal chiefs and four of their best warriors were captured by a -party of Christian Hurons. Then, seeing themselves abandoned by the -other nations of the league and left to wage the war alone, they, too, -made overtures of peace. - -A grand council was held at Quebec. Speeches were made, and wampum-belts -exchanged. The Iroquois left some of their chief men as pledges of -sincerity, and two young soldiers offered themselves as reciprocal -pledges on the part of the French. The war was over; at least Canada had -found a moment to take breath for the next struggle. The fur trade was -restored again, with promise of plenty; for the beaver, profiting by the -quarrels of their human foes, had of late greatly multiplied. It was a -change from death to life; for Canada lived on the beaver, and, robbed -of this, - - * See Jesuits in North America, 438. The Iroquois, it will - be remembered, consisted of five “nations,” or tribes,--the - Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. For an - account of them, see the work just cited, Introduction. - -her only sustenance, had been dying slowly since the strife began. * - -“Yesterday,” writes Father Le Mercier, “all was dejection and -gloom; to-day, all is smiles and gayety. On Wednesday, massacre, -burning, and pillage; on Thursday, gifts and visits, as among friends. -If the Iroquois have their hidden designs, so, too, has God. - -“On the day of the Visitation of the Holy Virgin, the chief, -Aontarisati, ** so regretted by the Iroquois, was taken prisoner by our -Indians, instructed by our fathers, and baptized; and, on the same day, -being put to death, he ascended to heaven. I doubt not that he thanked -the Virgin for his misfortune and the blessing that followed, and that -he prayed to God for his countrymen. - -“The people of Montreal made a solemn vow to celebrate publicly the -_fête_ of this mother of all blessings; whereupon the Iroquois came to -ask for peace. - -“It was on the day of the Assumption of this Queen of angels and of -men that the Hurons took at Montreal that other famous Iroquois chief, -whose capture caused the Mohawks to seek our alliance. - -“On the day when the Church honors the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, -the Iroquois granted Father - - * According to Le Mercier, beaver to the value of from - 200,000 to 300,000 livres was yearly brought down to the - colony before the destruction of the Hurons (1649-50). Three - years later, not one beaver skin was brought to Montreal - during a twelvemonth, and Three Rivers and Quebec had barely - enough to pay for keeping the fortifications in repair. - - ** The chief whose death had so enraged the Mohawks. - -Poncet his life; and he, or rather the Holy Virgin and the holy angels, -labored so well in the work of peace, that on St. Michael’s Day it was -resolved in a council of the elders that the father should be conducted -to Quebec, and a lasting treaty made with the French.” * - -Happy as was this consummation, Father Poncet’s path to it had been a -thorny one. He has left us his own rueful story, written in obedience -to the command of his superior. He and his companion in misery had been -hurried through the forests, from Cap Rouge on the St. Lawrence to the -Indian towns on the Mohawk. He tells us how he slept among dank weeds, -dropping with the cold dew; how frightful colics assailed him as he -waded waist-deep through a mountain stream; how one of his feet was -blistered and one of his legs benumbed; how an Indian snatched away his -reliquary and lost the precious contents. “I had,” he says, “a -picture of Saint Ignatius with our Lord bearing the cross, and another -of Our Lady of Pity surrounded by the five wounds of her Son. They were -my joy and my consolation; but I hid them in a bush, lest the Indians -should laugh at them.” He kept, however, a little image of the crown -of thorns, in which he found great comfort, as well as in communion with -his patron saints, Saint Raphael, Saint Martha, and Saint Joseph. On one -occasion he asked these celestial friends for something to soothe his -thirst, and for a bowl of broth to revive his strength. Scarcely had he -framed the petition when an Indian gave - - * Relation, 1653, 18. - -him some wild plums; and in the evening, as he lay fainting on the -ground, another brought him the coveted broth. Weary and forlorn, he -reached at last the lower Mohawk town, where, after being stripped, -and, with his companion, forced to run the gauntlet, he was placed on a -scaffold of bark, surrounded by a crowd of grinning and mocking savages. -As it began to rain, they took him into one of their lodges, and amused -themselves by making him dance, sing, and perform various fantastic -tricks for their amusement. He seems to have done his best to please -them; “but,” adds the chronicler, “I will say in passing, that as -he did not succeed to their liking in these buffooneries (_singeries_), -they would have put him to death, if a young Huron prisoner had not -offered himself to sing, dance, and make wry faces in place of the -father, who had never learned the trade.” - -Having sufficiently amused themselves, they left him for a time in -peace; when an old one-eyed Indian approached, took his hands, examined -them, selected the left forefinger, and calling a child four or five -years old, gave him a knife, and told him to cut it off, which the imp -proceeded to do, his victim meanwhile singing the _Vexilla Regis_. -After this preliminary, they would have burned him, like Franchetot, his -unfortunate companion, had not a squaw happily adopted him in place, as -he says, of a deceased brother. He was installed at once in the lodge of -his new relatives, where, bereft of every rag of Christian clothing, -and attired in leggins, moccasins, and a greasy shirt, the astonished -father saw himself transformed into an Iroquois. But his deliverance was -at hand. A special agreement providing for it had formed a part of -the treaty concluded at Quebec; and he now learned that he was to -be restored to his countrymen. After a march of almost intolerable -hardship, he saw himself once more among Christians; Heaven, as he -modestly thinks, having found him unworthy of martyrdom. - -“At last,” he writes, “we reached Montreal on the 21st of October, -the nine weeks of my captivity being accomplished, in honor of Saint -Michael and all the holy angels. On the 6th of November the Iroquois who -conducted me made their presents to confirm the peace; and thus, on a -Sunday evening, eighty-and-one days after my capture,--that is to say, -nine times nine days,--this great business of the peace was happily -concluded, the holy angels showing by this number nine, which is -specially dedicated to them, the part they bore in this holy work.” -* This incessant supernaturalism is the key to the early history of New -France. - -Peace was made; but would peace endure? There was little chance of -it, and this for several reasons. First, the native fickleness of -the Iroquois, who, astute and politic to a surprising degree, were in -certain respects, like all savages, mere grown-up children. Next, their -total want of control over their fierce and capricious young warriors, -any one of whom could break the peace with - - * Poncet in Relation, 1653,17. On Poncet’s captivity see - also Moral Pratique des Jésuites, vol. xxxiv. (4to) chap. - xii. - -impunity whenever he saw fit; and, above all, the strong probability -that the Iroquois had made peace in order, under cover of it, to butcher -or kidnap the unhappy remnant of the Hurons who were living, under -French protection, on the island of Orleans, immediately below Quebec. I -have already told the story of the destruction of this people and of the -Jesuit missions established among them. * The conquerors were eager to -complete their bloody triumph by seizing upon the refugees of Orleans, -killing the elders, and strengthening their own tribes by the adoption -of the women, children, and youths. The Mohawks and the Onondagas were -competitors for the prize. Each coveted the Huron colony, and each was -jealous lest his rival should pounce upon it first. - -When the Mohawks brought home Poncet, they covertly gave wampum-belts to -the Huron chiefs, and invited them to remove to their villages. It was -the wolf’s invitation to the lamb. The Hurons, aghast with terror, -went secretly to the Jesuits, and told them that demons had whispered -in their ears an invitation to destruction. So helpless were both -the Hurons and their French supporters, that they saw no recourse but -dissimulation. The Hurons promised to go, and only sought excuses to -gain time. - -The Onondagas had a deeper plan. Their towns were already full of Huron -captives, former converts of the Jesuits, cherishing their memory and -constantly repeating their praises. Hence their - - * Jesuits in North America. - -tyrants conceived the idea that by planting at Onondaga a colony of -Frenchmen under the direction of these beloved fathers, the Hurons of -Orleans, disarmed of suspicion, might readily be led to join them. -Other motives, as we shall see, tended to the same end, and the Onondaga -deputies begged, or rather demanded, that a colony of Frenchmen should -be sent among them. - -Here was a dilemma. Was not this, like the Mohawk invitation to the -Hurons, an invitation to butchery? On the other hand, to refuse would -probably kindle the war afresh. The Jesuits had long nursed a project -bold to temerity. Their great Huron mission was ruined; but might not -another be built up among the authors of this ruin, and the Iroquois -themselves, tamed by the power of the Faith, be annexed to the kingdoms -of Heaven and of France? Thus would peace be restored to Canada, a -barrier of fire opposed to the Dutch and English heretics, and the power -of the Jesuits vastly increased. Yet the time was hardly ripe for such -an attempt. Before thrusting a head into the tiger’s jaws, it would -be well to try the effect of thrusting in a hand. They resolved to -compromise with the danger, and before risking a colony at Onondaga -to send thither an envoy who could soothe the Indians, confirm them in -pacific designs, and pave the way for more decisive steps. The choice -fell on Father Simon Le Moyne. - -The errand was mainly a political one; and this sagacious and able -priest, versed in Indian languages and customs, was well suited to do -it. - -“On the second day of the month of July, the festival of the -Visitation of the Most Holy Virgin, ever favorable to our enterprises, -Father Simon Le Moyne set out from Quebec for the country of the -Onondaga Iroquois.” In these words does Father Le Mercier chronicle -the departure of his brother Jesuit. Scarcely was he gone when a band -of Mohawks, under a redoubtable half-breed known as the Flemish Bastard, -arrived at Quebec; and, when they heard that the envoy was to go to the -Onondagas without visiting their tribe, they took the imagined slight -in high dudgeon, displaying such jealousy and ire that a letter was sent -after Le Moyne, directing him to proceed to the Mohawk towns before his -return. But he was already beyond reach, and the angry Mohawks were left -to digest their wrath. - -At Montreal, Le Moyne took a canoe, a young Frenchman, and two or three -Indians, and began the tumultuous journey of the Upper St. Lawrence. -Nature, or habit, had taught him to love the wilderness life. He and -his companions had struggled all day against the surges of La Chine, -and were bivouacked at evening by the Lake of St. Louis, when a cloud -of mosquitoes fell upon them, followed by a shower of warm rain. The -father, stretched under a tree, seems clearly to have enjoyed himself. -“It is a pleasure,” he writes, “the sweetest and most innocent -imaginable, to have no other shelter than trees planted by Nature since -the creation of the world.” Sometimes, during their journey, this -primitive tent proved insufficient, and they would build a bark hut -or find a partial shelter under their inverted canoe. Now they glided -smoothly over the sunny bosom of the calm and smiling river, and -now strained every nerve to fight their slow way against the rapids, -dragging their canoe upward in the shallow water by the shore, as one -leads an unwilling horse by the bridle, or shouldering it and bearing -it through the forest to the smoother current above. Game abounded; and -they saw great herds of elk quietly defiling between the water and -the woods, with little heed of men, who in that perilous region found -employment enough in hunting one another. - -At the entrance of Lake Ontario they met a party of Iroquois fishermen, -who proved friendly, and guided them on their way. Ascending the -Onondaga, they neared their destination; and now all misgivings as to -their reception at the Iroquois capital were dispelled. The inhabitants -came to meet them, bringing roasting ears of the young maize and bread -made of its pulp, than which they knew no luxury more exquisite. Their -faces beamed welcome. Le Moyne was astonished. “I never," he says, -“saw the like among Indians before.” They were flattered by his -visit, and, for the moment, were glad to see him. They hoped for great -advantages from the residence of Frenchmen among them; and, having the -Erie war on their hands, they wished for peace with Canada. “One would -call me brother,” writes Le Moyne; “another, uncle; another, cousin. -I never had so many relations.” - -He was overjoyed to find that many of the Huron converts, who had long -been captives at Onondaga, had not forgotten the teachings of their -Jesuit instructors. Such influence as they had with their conquerors -was sure to be exerted in behalf of the French. Deputies of the Senecas, -Cayugas, and Oneidas at length arrived, and, on the 10th of August, -the criers passed through the town, summoning all to hear the words of -Onontio. The naked dignitaries, sitting, squatting, or lying at full -length, thronged the smoky hall of council The father knelt and prayed -in a loud voice, invoking the aid of Heaven, cursing the demons who are -spirits of discord, and calling on the tutelar angels of the country to -open the ears of his listeners. Then he opened his packet of presents -and began his speech. “I was full two hours," he says, “in making -it, speaking in the tone of a chief, and walking to and fro, after their -fashion, like an actor on a theatre.” Not only did he imitate the -prolonged accents of the Iroquois orators, but he adopted and improved -their figures of speech, and addressed them in turn by their respective -tribes, bands, and families, calling their men of note by name, as if he -had been born among them. They were delighted; and their ejaculations -of approval--_hoh-hoh-hoh_--came thick and fast at every pause of his -harangue. Especially were they pleased with the eighth, ninth, tenth, -and eleventh presents, whereby the reverend speaker gave to the four -upper nations of the league four hatchets to strike their new enemies, -the Eries; while by another present he metaphorically daubed their -faces with the war-paint. However it may have suited the character of -a Christian priest to hound on these savage hordes to a war of -extermination which they had themselves provoked, it is certain that, as -a politician, Le Moyne did wisely; since in the war with the Eries lay -the best hope of peace for the French. - -The reply of the Indian orator was friendly to overflowing. He prayed -his French brethren to choose a spot on the lake of Onondaga, where they -might dwell in the country of the Iroquois, as they dwelt already in -their hearts. Le Moyne promised, and made two presents to confirm the -pledge. Then, his mission fulfilled, he set out on his return, attended -by a troop of Indians. As he approached the lake, his escort showed him -a large spring of water, possessed, as they told him, by a bad spirit. -Le Moyne tasted it, then boiled a little of it, and produced a quantity -of excellent salt. He had discovered the famous salt-springs of -Onondaga. Fishing and hunting, the party pursued their way till, at noon -of the 7th of September, Le Moyne reached Montreal. * - -When he reached Quebec, his tidings cheered for a while the anxious -hearts of its tenants; but an unwonted incident soon told them how -hollow was the ground beneath their feet. Le Moyne, accompanied by two -Onondagas and several Hurons and Algonquins, was returning to Montreal, -when he and his companions were set upon by a war-party - - * Journal du Père Le Moine, Relation, 1654, chaps, vi. vii. - -of Mohawks. The Hurons and Algonquins were killed. One of the Onondagas -shared their fate, and the other, with Le Moyne himself, was seized and -bound fast. The captive Onondaga, however, was so loud in his threats -and denunciations, that the Mohawks released both him and the Jesuit. * -Here was a foreshadowing of civil war, Mohawk against Onondaga, Iroquois -against Iroquois. The quarrel was patched up, but fresh provocations -were imminent. - -The Mohawks took no part in the Erie war, and hence their hands were -free to fight the French and the tribes allied with them. Reckless of -their promises, they began a series of butcheries, fell upon the French -at Isle aux Oies, killed a lay brother of the Jesuits at Sillery, and -attacked Montreal. Here, being roughly handled, they came for a time -to their senses, and offered terms, promising to spare the French, -but declaring that they would still wage war against the Hurons and -Algonquins. These were allies whom the French were pledged to protect; -but so helpless was the colony, that the insolent and humiliating -proffer was accepted, and another peace ensued, as hollow as the last. -The indefatigable Le Moyne was sent to the Mohawk towns to confirm it, -“so far,” says the chronicle, “as it is possible to confirm a -peace made by infidels backed by heretics.” ** The Mohawks received -him with great rejoicing; yet his - - * Compare Relation, 1654, 33, and Lettre de Marie de - l’Incarnation, 18 Octobre, 1654. - - ** Copie de Deux Lettres envoyées de la Nouvelle France au - Père Procureur des Missions de la Compagnie de Jésus. - -life was not safe for a moment. A warrior, feigning madness, raved -through the town with uplifted hatchet, howling for his blood; but the -saints watched over him and balked the machinations of hell. He came off -alive and returned to Montreal, spent with famine and fatigue. - -Meanwhile a deputation of eighteen Onondaga chiefs arrived at Quebec. -There was a grand council. The Onondagas demanded a colony of Frenchmen -to dwell among them. Lauson, the governor, dared neither to consent nor -to refuse. A middle course was chosen, and two Jesuits, Chaumonot -and Dablon, were sent, like Le Moyne, partly to gain time, partly to -reconnoitre, and partly to confirm the Onondagas in such good intentions -as they might entertain. Chaumonot was a veteran of the Huron mission, -who, miraculously as he himself supposed, had acquired a great fluency -in the Huron tongue, which is closely allied to that of the Iroquois. -Dablon, a newcomer, spoke, as yet, no Indian. - -Their voyage up the St. Lawrence was enlivened by an extraordinary -bear-hunt, and by the antics of one of their Indian attendants, who, -having dreamed that he had swallowed a frog, roused the whole camp by -the gymnastics with which he tried to rid himself of the intruder. -On approaching Onondaga, they were met by a chief who sang a song -of welcome, a part of which he seasoned with touches of humor, -apostrophizing the fish in the river Onondaga, naming each sort, great -or small, and calling on them in turn to come into the nets of the -Frenchmen and sacrifice life cheerfully for their behoof. Hereupon there -was much laughter among the Indian auditors. An unwonted cleanliness -reigned in the town; the streets had been cleared of refuse, and the -arched roofs of the long houses of bark were covered with red-skinned -children staring at the entry of the “black robes.” Crowds followed -behind, and all was jubilation. The dignitaries of the tribe met them on -the way, and greeted them with a speech of welcome. A feast of bear’s -meat awaited them; but, unhappily, it was Friday, and the fathers were -forced to abstain. - -“On Monday, the 15th of November, at nine in the morning, after having -secretly sent to Paradise a dying infant by the waters of baptism, all -the elders and the people having assembled, we opened the council by -public prayer.” Thus writes Father Dablon. His colleague, Chaumonot, -a Frenchman bred in Italy, now rose, with a long belt of wampum in his -hand, and proceeded to make so effective a display of his rhetorical -gifts that the Indians were lost in admiration, and their orators put -to the blush by his improvements on their own metaphors. “If he had -spoken all day,” said the de lighted auditors, “we should not have -had enough of it.” “The Dutch,” added others, “have neither -brains nor tongues; they never tell us about Paradise and Hell; on the -contrary, they lead us into bad ways.” - -On the next day the chiefs returned their answer. The council opened -with a song or chant, which was divided into six parts, and which, -according to Dablon, was exceedingly well sung. The burden of the fifth -part was as follows:-- - -“Farewell war; farewell tomahawk; we have been fools till now; -henceforth we will be brothers; yes, we will be brothers.” - -Then came four presents, the third of which enraptured the fathers. -It was a belt of seven thousand beads of wampum. “But this,” says -Dablon, “was as nothing to the words that accompanied it.” “It is -the gift of the faith,” said the orator; “it is to tell you that -we are believers; it is to beg you not to tire of instructing us; have -patience, seeing that we are so dull in learning prayer; push it into -our heads and our hearts.” Then he led Chaumonot into the midst of the -assembly, clasped him in his arms, tied the belt about his waist, and -protested, with a suspicious redundancy of words, that as he clasped the -father, so would he clasp the faith. - -What had wrought this sudden change of heart? The eagerness of the -Onondagas that the French should settle among them, had, no doubt, a -large share in it. For the rest, the two Jesuits saw abundant signs of -the fierce, uncertain nature of those with whom they were dealing. Erie -prisoners were brought in and tortured before their eyes, one of them -being a young stoic of about ten years, who endured his fate without -a single outcry. Huron women and children, taken in war and adopted by -their captors, were killed on the slightest provocation, and sometimes -from mere caprice. - -For several days the whole town was in an uproar with the crazy follies -of the “dream feast,” * and one of the Fathers nearly lost his life -in this Indian Bedlam. - -One point was clear; the French must make a settlement at Onondaga, -and that speedily, or, despite their professions of brotherhood, the -Onondagas would make war. Their attitude became menacing; from urgency -they passed to threats; and the two priests felt that the critical -posture of affairs must at once be reported at Quebec. But here a -difficulty arose. It was the beaver-hunting season; and, eager as were -the Indians for a French colony, not one of them would offer to conduct -the Jesuits to Quebec in order to fetch one. It was not until nine -masses had been said to Saint John the Baptist, that a number of Indians -consented to forego their hunting, and escort Father Dablon home. ** -Chaumonot remained at Onondaga, to watch his dangerous hosts and soothe -their rising jealousies. - -It was the 2d of March when Dablon began his journey. His constitution -must have been of iron, or he would have succumbed to the appalling -hardships of the way. It was neither winter nor spring. The lakes and -streams were not yet open, but the half-thawed ice gave way beneath the -foot. One of the Indians fell through and was drowned. Swamp and forest -were clogged with sodden snow, - - * See Jesuits in North America, 67. - - ** De Quen, Relation, 1656, 35. Chaumonot, in his - Autobiography, ascribes the miracle to the intercession of - the deceased Brébeuf. - -and ceaseless rains drenched them as they toiled on, knee-deep in slush. -Happily, the St. Lawrence was open. They found an old wooden canoe by -the shore, embarked, and reached Montreal after a journey of four weeks. - -Dablon descended to Quebec. There was long and anxious counsel in the -chambers of Fort St. Louis. The Jesuits had information that, if the -demands of the Onondagas were rejected, they would join the Mohawks to -destroy Canada. But why were they so eager for a colony of Frenchmen? -Did they want them as hostages, that they might attack the Hurons and -Algonquins without risk of French interference; or would they massacre -them, and then, like tigers mad with the taste of blood, turn upon the -helpless settlements of the St. Lawrence? An abyss yawned on either -hand. Lauson, the governor, was in an agony of indecision, but at length -declared for the lesser and remoter peril, and gave his voice for the -colony. The Jesuits were of the same mind, though it was they, and not -he, who must bear the brunt of danger. “The blood of the martyrs is -the seed of the Church,” said one of them, “and, if we die by the -fires of the Iroquois, we shall have won eternal life by snatching souls -from the fires of Hell.” - -Preparation was begun at once. The expense fell on the Jesuits, and the -outfit is said to have cost them seven thousand livres,--a heavy sum -for Canada at that day. A pious gentleman, Zachary Du Puys, major of -the fort of Quebec, joined the expedition with ten soldiers; and between -thirty and forty other Frenchmen also enrolled themselves, impelled by -devotion or destitution. Four Jesuits, Le Mercier, the superior, with -Dablon, Menard, and Frémin, besides two lay brothers of the order, -formed, as it were, the pivot of the enterprise. The governor made -them the grant of a hundred square leagues of land in the heart of the -Iroquois country,--a preposterous act, which, had the Iroquois known it, -would have rekindled the war; but Lauson had a mania for landgrants, -and was himself the proprietor of vast domains which he could have -occupied only at the cost of his scalp. - -Embarked in two large boats and followed by twelve canoes filled with -Hurons, Onondagas, and a few Senecas lately arrived, they set out on -the 17th of May “to attack the demons,” as Le Mercier writes, “in -their very stronghold.” With shouts, tears, and benedictions, priests, -soldiers, and inhabitants waved farewell from the strand. They passed -the bare steeps of Cape Diamond and the mission-house nestled beneath -the heights of Sillery, and vanished from the anxious eyes that watched -the last gleam of their receding oars. * - -Meanwhile three hundred Mohawk warriors had taken the warpath, bent -on killing or kidnapping the Hurons of Orleans. When they heard of the -departure of the colonists for Onondaga, their rage was unbounded; for -not only were they full of jealousy towards their Onondaga confederates, -but they had hitherto derived great profit from the - - * Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettres, 1656. Le Mercier, - Relation, 1657 chap. iv. Chaulmer, Nouveau Monde, II. 265, - 322, 319. - -control which their local position gave them over the traffic between -this tribe and the Dutch of the Hudson, upon whom the Onondagas, in -common with all the upper Iroquois, had been dependent for their guns, -hatchets, scalping-knives, beads, blankets, and brandy. These supplies -would now be furnished by the French, and the Mohawk speculators saw -their occupation gone. Nevertheless, they had just made peace with the -French, and, for the moment, were not quite in the mood to break it. To -wreak their spite, they took a middle course, crouched in ambush among -the bushes at Point St. Croix, ten or twelve leagues above Quebec, -allowed the boats bearing the French to pass unmolested, and fired a -volley at the canoes in the rear, filled with Onondagas, Senecas, and -Hurons. Then they fell upon them with a yell, and, after wounding a lay -brother of the Jesuits who was among them, flogged and bound such of -the Indians as they could seize. The astonished Onondagas protested and -threatened; whereupon the Mohawks feigned great surprise, declared that -they had mistaken them for Hurons, called them brothers, and suffered -the whole party to escape without further injury. * - -The three hundred maurauders now paddled their large canoes of elm-bark -stealthily down the current, passed Quebec undiscovered in the dark -night of the 19th of May, landed in early morning on the island of -Orleans, and ambushed - - * Compare Marie de l'Incarnation, Lettre 14 Aout, 1656, Le - Jeune. Relation, 1657, 9. - -themselves to surprise the Hurons as they came to labor in their -cornfields. They were tolerably successful, killed six, and captured -more than eighty, the rest taking refuge in their fort, where the -Mohawks dared not attack them. - -At noon, the French on the rock of Quebec saw forty canoes approaching -from the island of Orleans, and defiling, with insolent parade, in front -of the town, all crowded with the Mohawks and their prisoners, among -whom were a great number of Huron girls. Their captors, as they passed, -forced them to sing and dance. The Hurons were the allies, or rather the -wards of the French, who were in every way pledged to protect them. Yet -the cannon of Fort St. Louis were silent, and the crowd stood gaping in -bewilderment and fright. Had an attack been made, nothing but a complete -success and the capture of many prisoners to serve as hostages could -have prevented the enraged Mohawks from taking their revenge on the -Onondaga colonists. The emergency demanded a prompt and clear-sighted -soldier. The governor, Lauson, was a gray-haired civilian, who, however -enterprising as a speculator in wild lands, was in no way matched to the -desperate crisis of the hour. Some of the Mohawks landed above and below -the town, and plundered the houses from which the scared inhabitants had -fled. Not a soldier stirred and not a gun was fired. The French, bullied -by a horde of naked savages, became an object of contempt to their own -allies. - -The Mohawks carried their prisoners home, burned six of them, and -adopted or rather enslaved the rest. * - -Meanwhile the Onondaga colonists pursued their perilous way. At Montreal -they exchanged their heavy boats for canoes, and resumed their journey -with a flotilla of twenty of these sylvan vessels. A few days after, the -Indians of the party had the satisfaction of pillaging a small band of -Mohawk hunters, in vicarious reprisal for their own wrongs. On the 26th -of June, as they neared Lake Ontario, they heard a loud and lamentable -voice from the edge of the forest; whereupon, having beaten their drum -to show that they were Frenchmen, they beheld a spectral figure, lean -and covered with scars, which proved to be a pious Huron, one Joachim -Ondakout, captured by the Mohawks in their descent on the island of -Orleans, five or six weeks before. They had carried him to their village -and begun to torture him; after which they tied him fast and lay down -to sleep, thinking to resume their pleasure on the morrow. His cuts and -burns being only on the surface, he had the good fortune to free himself -from his bonds, and, naked as he was, to escape to the woods. He -held his course northwestward, through regions even now a wilderness, -gathered wild strawberries to sustain life, and, in fifteen days, -reached the St. Lawrence, nearly dead with exhaustion. The Frenchmen -gave him food and a canoe, and the living skeleton paddled with a light -heart for Quebec. - -The colonists themselves soon began to suffer - - * See Perrot Mœurs des Sauvages, 106. - -from hunger. Their fishing failed on Lake Ontario and they were forced -to content themselves with cranberries of the last year, gathered in -the meadows. Of their Indians, all but five deserted them. The Father -Superior fell ill, and when they reached the mouth of the Oswego many of -the starving Frenchmen had completely lost heart. Weary and faint, they -dragged their canoes up the rapids, when suddenly they were cheered -by the sight of a stranger canoe swiftly descending the current. The -Onondagas, aware of their approach, had sent it to meet them, laden with -Indian corn and fresh salmon. Two more canoes followed, freighted like -the first; and now all was abundance till they reached their journey’s -end, the Lake of Onondaga. It lay before them in the July sun, a -glittering mirror, framed in forest verdure. - -They knew that Çhaumonot with a crowd of Indians was awaiting them at -a spot on the margin of the water, which he and Dablon had chosen as -the site of their settlement. Landing on the strand, they fired, to give -notice of their approach, five small cannon which they had brought in -their canoes. Waves, woods, and hills resounded with the thunder of -their miniature artillery. Then reembarking, they advanced in order, -four canoes abreast, towards the destined spot. In front floated their -banner of white silk, embroidered in large letters with the name of -Jesus. Here were Du Puys and his soldiers, with the picturesque uniforms -and quaint weapons of their time; Le Mercier and his Jesuits in robes -of black; hunters and bush-rangers; Indians painted and feathered for -a festal day. As they neared the place where a spring bubbling from the -hillside is still known as the “Jesuits’ Well,” they saw the edge -of the forest dark with the muster of savages whose yells of welcome -answered the salvo of their guns. Happily for them, a flood of summer -rain saved them from the harangues of the Onondaga orators, and forced -white men and red alike to seek such shelter as they could find. Their -hosts, with hospitable intent, would fain have sung and danced all -night; but the Frenchmen pleaded fatigue, and the courteous savages, -squatting around their tents, chanted in monotonous tones to lull them -to sleep. In the morning they woke refreshed, sang _Te Deum_, reared an -altar, and, with a solemn mass, took possession of the country in the -name of Jesus. * - -Three things, which they saw or heard of in their new home, excited -their astonishment. The first was the vast flight of wild pigeons which -in spring darkened the air around the Lake of Onondaga; the second was -the salt springs of Salina; the third was the rattlesnakes, which Le -Mercier describes with excellent precision, adding that, as he learns -from the Indians, their tails are good for toothache and their flesh for -fever. These reptiles, for reasons best known to themselves, haunted -the neighborhood of the salt-springs, but did not intrude their presence -into the abode of the French. - -On the 17th of July, Le Mercier and Chamnonot, - - * Le Mercier, Relation, 1657, 14. - -escorted by a file of soldiers, set out for Onondaga, scarcely five -leagues distant. They followed the Indian trail, under the leafy arches -of the woods, by hill and hollow, still swamp and gurgling brook, till -through the opening foliage they saw the Iroquois capital, compassed -with cornfields and girt with its rugged palisade. As the Jesuits, like -black spectres, issued from the shadows of the forest, followed by the -plumed soldiers with shouldered arquebuses, the red-skinned population -swarmed out like bees, and they defiled to the town through gazing and -admiring throngs. All conspired to welcome them. Feast followed feast -throughout the afternoon, till, what with harangues and songs, bear’s -meat, beaver-tails, and venison, beans, corn, and grease, they were -wellnigh killed with kindness. “If, after this, they murder us,” -writes Le Mercier, “it will be from fickleness, not premeditated -treachery.” But the Jesuits, it seems, had not sounded the depths of -Iroquois dissimulation. * - -There was one exception to the real or pretended joy. Some Mohawks were -in the town, and their orator was insolent and sarcastic; but the ready -tongue of Chaumonot turned the laugh against him and put him to shame. - -Here burned the council fire of the Iroquois, and at this very time the -deputies of the five tribes were assembling. The session opened on the -24th. - - * The Jesuits were afterwards told by Hurons, captive among - the Mohawks and the Onondagas, that, from the first, it was - intended to massacre the French as soon as their presence - had attracted the remnant of the Hurons of Orleans into the - power of the Onondagas. Lettre du P Ragueneau au R. P. - Provincial, 31 Août, 1658. - -In the great council house, on the earthen floor and the broad platforms -beneath the smoke-begrimed concave of the bark roof, stood, sat, or -squatted, the wisdom and valor of the confederacy; Mohawks, Oneidas, -Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas; sachems, counsellors, orators, warriors -fresh from Erie victories; tall, stalwart figures, limbed like Grecian -statues. - -The pressing business of the council over, it was Chaumonot’s turn to -speak. But, first, all the Frenchmen, kneeling in a row, with clasped -hands sang the _Veni Creator_, amid the silent admiration of the -auditors. Then Chaumonot rose, with an immense wampum-belt in his hand. - -“It is not trade that brings us here. Do you think that your beaver -skins can pay us for all our toils and dangers? Keep them, if you like; -or, if any fall into our hands, we shall use them only for your service. -We seek not the things that perish. It is for the Faith that we have -left our homes to live in your hovels of bark, and eat food which the -beasts of our country would scarcely touch. We are the messengers whom -God has sent to tell you that his Son became a man for the love of you; -that this man, the Son of God, is the prince and master of men; that he -has prepared in heaven eternal joys for those who obey him, and kindled -the fires of hell for those who will not receive his word. If you reject -it, whoever you are,--Onondaga, Seneca, Mohawk, Cayuga, or Oneida,--know -that Jesus Christ, who inspires my heart and my voice, will plunge -you one day into hell. Avert this ruin; be not the authors of your own -destruction; accept the truth; listen to the voice of the Omnipotent.” - -Such, in brief, was the pith of the father’s exhortation. As he spoke -Indian like a native, and as his voice and gestures answered to his -words, we may believe what Le Mercier tells us, that his hearers -listened with mingled wonder, admiration, and terror. The work was well -begun. The Jesuits struck while the iron was hot, built a small chapel -for the mass, installed themselves in the town, and preached and -catechised from morning till night. - -The Frenchmen at the lake were not idle. The chosen site of their -settlement was the crown of a hill commanding a broad view of waters and -forests. The axemen fell to their work, and a ghastly wound soon gaped -in the green bosom of the woodland. Here, among the stumps and prostrate -trees of the unsightly clearing, the blacksmith built his forge, saw and -hammer plied their trade; palisades were shaped and beams squared, in -spite of heat, mosquitoes, and fever. At one time twenty men were ill, -and lay gasping under a wretched shed of bark; but they all recovered, -and the work went on till at length a capacious house, large enough to -hold the whole colony, rose above the ruin of the forest. A palisade was -set around it, and the Mission of Saint Mary of Gannentaa * was begun. - -France and the Faith were intrenched on the Lake of Onondaga. How long -would they remain - - * Gannentaa or Ganuntaah is still the Iroquois name for - Lake Onondaga. According to Morgan, it means “Material for - Council Fire.” - -there? The future alone could tell. The mission, it must not be -forgotten, had a double scope, half ecclesiastical, half political. The -Jesuits had essayed a fearful task,--to convert the Iroquois to God and -to the king, thwart the Dutch heretics of the Hudson, save souls from -hell, avert ruin from Canada, and thus raise their order to a place of -honor and influence both hard earned and well earned. The mission at -Lake Onondaga was but a base of operations. Long before they were lodged -and fortified here, Chaumonot and Ménard set out for the Cayugas, -whence the former proceeded to the Senecas, the most numerous, and -powerful of the five confederate nations; and in the following spring -another mission was begun among the Oneidas. Their reception was -not unfriendly; but such was the reticence and dissimulation of these -inscrutable savages, that it was impossible to foretell results. The -women proved, as might be expected, far more impressible than the men; -and in them the fathers placed great hope; since in this, the most -savage people of the continent, women held a degree of political -influence never perhaps equalled in any civilized nation. * - - * Women, among the Iroquois, had a council of their own, - which, according to Lafitau, who knew this people well, had - the initiative in discussion, subjects presented by them - being settled in the council of chiefs and elders. In this - latter council the women had an orator, often of their own - sex, to represent them. The matrons had a leading voice in - determining the succession of chiefs. There were also female - chiefs, one of whom, with her attendants, came to Quebec - with an embassy in 1655 (Marie de l’Incarnation). In the - torture of prisoners, great deference was paid to the - judgment of the women, who, says Champlain, were thought - more skilful and subtle than the men. - - The learned Lafitau, whose book appeared in 1724, dwells at - length on the resemblance of the Iroquois to the ancient - Lycians, among whom, according to Grecian writers, women - were in the ascendant. “Gynecocracy, or the rule of women,” - continues Lafitau, “which was the foundation of the Lycian - government, was probably common in early times to nearly all - the barbarous people of Greece” Mœurs des Sauvages, I. 460. - -But while infants were baptized and squaws converted, the crosses of the -mission were many and great. The devil bestirred himself with more than -his ordinary activity; “for,” as one of the fathers writes, “when -in sundry nations of the earth men are rising up in strife against us -(the Jesuits), then how much more the demons, on whom we continually -wage war!” It was these infernal sprites, as the priests believed, who -engendered suspicions and calumnies in the dark and superstitious minds -of the Iroquois, and prompted them in dreams to destroy the apostles of -the faith. Whether the foe was of earth or hell, the Jesuits were like -those who tread the lava-crust that palpitates with the throes of -the coming eruption, while the molten death beneath their feet glares -white-hot through a thousand crevices. Yet, with a sublime enthusiasm -and a glorious constancy, they toiled and they hoped, though the skies -around were black with portent. - -In the year in which the colony at Onondaga was begun, the Mohawks -murdered the Jesuit Garreau, on his way up the Ottawa. In the following -spring, a hundred Mohawk warriors came to Quebec, to carry more of the -Hurons into slavery, though the remnant of that unhappy people, since -the catastrophe of the last year, had sought safety in a palisaded camp -within the limits of the French town, and immediately under the ramparts -of Fort St. Louis. Here, one might think, they would have been safe; -but Charny, son and successor of Lauson, seems to have been even more -imbecile than his father, and listened meekly to the threats of the -insolent strangers who told him that unless he abandoned the Hurons to -their mercy, both they and the French should feel the weight of Mohawk -tomahawks. They demanded further, that the French should give them boats -to carry their prisoners; but, as there were none at hand, this last -humiliation was spared. The Mohawks were forced to make canoes, in which -they carried off as many as possible of their victims. - -When the Onondagas learned this last exploit of their rivals, their -jealousy knew no bounds, and a troop of them descended to Quebec to -claim their share in the human plunder. Deserted by the French, the -despairing Hurons abandoned themselves to their fate, and about fifty of -those whom the Mohawks had left obeyed the behest of their tyrants -and embarked for Onondaga. They reached Montreal in July, and thence -proceeded towards their destination in company with the Onondaga -warriors. The Jesuit Ragueneau, bound also for Onondaga, joined them. -Five leagues above Montreal, the warriors left him behind; but he -found an old canoe on the bank, in which, after abandoning most of his -baggage, he contrived to follow with two or three Frenchmen who were -with him. There was a rumor that a hundred Mohawk warriors were lying in -wait among the Thousand Islands, to plunder the Onondagas of their Huron -prisoners. It proved a false report. A speedier catastrophe awaited -these unfortunates. - -Towards evening on the 3d of August, after the party had landed to -encamp, an Onondaga chief made advances to a Christian Huron girl, as -he had already done at every encampment since leaving Montreal. Being -repulsed for the fourth time, he split her head with his tomahawk. -It was the beginning of a massacre. The Onondagas rose upon their -prisoners, killed seven men, all Christians, before the eyes of the -horrified Jesuit, and plundered the rest of all they had. When Ragueneau -protested, they told him with insolent mockery that they were acting by -direction of the governor and the superior of the Jesuits, The priest -himself was secretly warned that he was to be killed during the night; -and he was surprised in the morning to find himself alive. * On reaching -Onondaga, some of the Christian captives were burned, including several -women and their infant children. ** - -The confederacy was a hornet’s nest, buzzing with preparation, and -fast pouring out its wrathful swarms. The indomitable Le Moyne had gone -again to the Mohawks, whence he wrote that two hundred of them had taken -the war-path against the Algonquins of Canada; and, a little later, that -all were gone but women, children, and old men. A great - - * Lettre de Ragueneau au R. P. Provincial, 9 Août, 1657 - (Rel., 1657). - - ** Ibid., 21 Août, 1658 (Rel., 1658). - -war-party of twelve hundred Iroquois from all the five cantons was to -advance into Canada in the direction of the Ottawa. The settlements on -the St. Lawrence were infested with prowling warriors, who killed the -Indian allies of the French, and plundered the French themselves, whom -they treated with an insufferable insolence; for they felt themselves -masters of the situation, and knew that the Onondaga colony was in their -power. Near Montreal they killed three Frenchmen. “They approach like -foxes,” writes a Jesuit, “attack like lions, and disappear like -birds.” Charny, fortunately, had resigned the government in despair, -in order to turn priest, and the brave soldier Aillebout had taken -his place. He caused twelve of the Iroquois to be seized and held as -hostages. This seemed to increase their fury. An embassy came to Quebec -and demanded the release of the hostages, but were met with a sharp -reproof and a flat refusal. - -At the mission on Lake Onondaga the crisis was drawing near. The -unbridled young warriors, whose capricious lawlessness often set at -naught the monitions of their crafty elders, killed wantonly at various -times thirteen Christian Hurons, captives at Onondaga. Ominous reports -reached the ears of the colonists. They heard of a secret council at -which their death was decreed. Again, they heard that they were to be -surprised and captured, that the Iroquois in force were then to descend -upon Canada, lay waste the outlying settlements, and torture them, the -colonists, in sight of their countrymen, by which they hoped to extort -what terms they pleased. At length, a dying Onondaga, recently converted -and baptized, confirmed the rumors, and revealed the whole plot. - -It was to take effect before the spring opened; but the hostages in -the hands of Aillebout embarrassed the conspirators and caused delay. -Messengers were sent in haste to call in the priests from the detached -missions, and all the colonists, fifty-three in number, were soon -gathered at their fortified house on the lake. Their situation was -frightful. Fate hung over them by a hair, and escape seemed hopeless. Of -Du Puys’s ten soldiers, nine wished to desert, but the attempt would -have been fatal. A throng of Onondaga warriors were day and night on the -watch, bivouacked around the house. Some of them had built their huts of -bark before the gate, and here, with calm, impassive faces, they lounged -and smoked their pipes; or, wrapped in their blankets, strolled about -the yards and outhouses, attentive to all that passed. Their behavior -was very friendly. The Jesuits, themselves adepts in dissimulation, -were amazed at the depth of their duplicity; for the conviction had been -forced upon them that some of the chiefs had nursed their treachery from -the first. In this extremity Du Puys and the Jesuits showed an admirable -coolness, and among them devised a plan of escape, critical and full of -doubt, but not devoid of hope. - -First, they must provide means of transportation; next, they must -contrive to use them undis covered. They had eight canoes, all of which -combined would not hold half their company. Over the mission-house was a -large loft or garret, and here the carpenters were secretly set at work -to construct two large and light flat-boats, each capable of carrying -fifteen men. The task was soon finished. The most difficult part of -their plan remained. - -There was a beastly superstition prevalent among the Hurons, the -Iroquois, and other tribes. It consisted of a “medicine” or mystic -feast, in which it was essential that the guests should devour every -thing set before them, however inordinate in quantity, unless absolved -from duty by the person in whose behalf the solemnity was ordained; -he, on his part, taking no share in the banquet. So grave was the -obligation, and so strenuously did the guests fulfil it, that even their -ostrich digestion was sometimes ruined past redemption by the excess -of this benevolent gluttony. These _festins à manger tout_ had been -frequently denounced as diabolical by the Jesuits, during their mission -among the Hurons; but now, with a pliancy of conscience as excusable in -this case as in any other, they resolved to set aside their scruples, -although, judged from their point of view, they were exceedingly well -founded. - -Among the French was a young man who had been adopted by an Iroquois -chief, and who spoke the language fluently. He now told his Indian -father that it had been revealed to him in a dream that he would soon -die unless the spirits were appeased by one of these magic feasts. -Dreams were the oracles of the Iroquois, and woe to those who slighted -them. A day was named for the sacred festivity. The fathers killed their -hogs to meet, the occasion, and, that nothing might be wanting, -they ransacked their stores for all that might give piquancy to the -entertainment. It took place in the evening of the 20th of March, -apparently in a large enclosure outside the palisade surrounding the -mission-house. Here, while blazing fires or glaring pine-knots shed -their glow on the wild assemblage, Frenchmen and Iroquois joined in -the dance, or vied with each other in games of agility and skill. The -politic fathers offered prizes to the winners, and the Indians entered -with zest into the sport, the better, perhaps, to hide their treachery -and hoodwink their intended victims; for they little suspected that a -subtlety, deeper this time than their own, was at work to countermine -them. Here, too, were the French musicians; and drum, trumpet, and -cymbal lent their clangor to the din of shouts and laughter. Thus the -evening wore on, till at length the serious labors of the feast began. -The kettles were brought in, and their steaming contents ladled into -the wooden bowls which each provident guest had brought with him. Seated -gravely in a ring, they fell to their work. It was a point of high -conscience not to flinch from duty on these solemn occasions; and though -they might burn the young man to-morrow, they would gorge themselves -like vultures in his behoof to-day. - -Meantime, while the musicians strained their lungs and their arms to -drown all other sounds, a band of anxious Frenchmen, in the darkness -of the cloudy night, with cautious tread and bated breath, carried the -boats from the rear of the mission-house down to the border of the lake. -It was near eleven o’clock. The miserable guests were choking with -repletion. They prayed the young Frenchman to dispense them from further -surfeit. “Will you suffer me to die?” he asked, in piteous tones. -They bent to their task again, but Nature soon reached her utmost -limit; and they sat helpless as a conventicle of gorged turkey-buzzards, -without the power possessed by those unseemly birds to rid themselves -of the burden. “That will do,” said the young man; “you have eaten -enough; my life is saved. Now you can sleep till we come in the morning -to waken you for prayers.” * And one of his companions played soft -airs on a violin to lull them to repose. Soon all were asleep, or in -a lethargy akin to sleep. The few remaining Frenchmen now silently -withdrew and cautiously descended to the shore, where their comrades, -already embarked, lay on their oars anxiously awaiting them. Snow was -falling fast as they pushed out upon the murky waters. The ice of the -winter had broken up, but recent frosts had glazed the surface with a -thin crust. The two boats led the way, and the canoes followed in their -wake, while men in the bows of the foremost boat broke the ice with -clubs as they advanced. They reached - - * Lettre de Marie de l'Incarnation a son fils, 4 Octobre, - 1658. - -the outlet and rowed swiftly down the dark current of the Oswego. -When day broke, Lake Onondaga was far behind, and around them was the -leafless, lifeless forest. - -When the Indians woke in the morning, dull and stupefied from their -nightmare slumbers, they were astonished at the silence that reigned -in the mission-house. They looked through the palisade. Nothing was -stirring but a bevy of hens clucking and scratching in the snow, and -one or two dogs imprisoned in the house and barking to be set free The -Indians waited for some time, then climbed the palisade, burst in the -doors, and found the house empty. Their amazement was unbounded. How, -without canoes, could the French have escaped by water? and how else -could they escape? The snow which had fallen during the night completely -hid their footsteps. A superstitious awe seized the Iroquois. They -thought that the “black-robes” and their flock had flown off through -the air. - -Meanwhile the fugitives pushed their flight with the energy of terror, -passed in safety the rapids of the Oswego, crossed Lake Ontario, and -descended the St. Lawrence with the loss of three men drowned in the -rapids. On the 3d of April they reached Montreal, and on the 23d arrived -at Quebec. They had saved their lives; but the mission of Onondaga was a -miserable failure. * - - * On the Onondaga mission, the authorities are Marie de - l'incarnation, - - Lettres Historiques, and Relations des Jésuites, 1657 and - 1658, where the story is told at length, accompanied with - several interesting letters and journals. Chaumonok in his - Autobiographie, speaks only of the - - Seneca mission, and refers to the Relations for the rest. - Dollier de Casson, in his Histoire du Montréal, mentions - the arrival of the fugitives at that place, the sight of - which, he adds complacently, cured them of their fright. The - Journal des Supérieurs des Jésuites chronicles with its - usual brevity the ruin of the mission and the return of the - party to Quebec. - - The Jesuits, in their account, say nothing of the - superstitious character of the feast. It is Marie de - l’Incarnation who lets out the secret. The Jesuit - Charlevoix, much to his credit, repeats the story without - reserve. - - The Sulpitian ’Allet, in a memoir printed in the Morale - Pratique des Jésuites, says that the French placed effigies - of soldiers, made of straw, in the fort, to deceive the - Indians. He adds that the Jesuits found very little sympathy - at Quebec. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -1642-1661. - -THE HOLY WARS OF MONTREAL. - -_Dauversière.--Mance and Bourgeoys.--Miracle.--A Pious Defaulter.-- -Jesuit and Sulpitian.--Montreal in 1659.--The Hospital Nuns.--The Nuns -and the Iroquois.--More Miracles.--The Murdered Priests.--Brigeac and -Closse.--Soldiers of the Holy Family._ - - -|On the 2d of July, 1659, the ship “St. André” lay in the harbor of -Rochelle, crowded with passengers for Canada. She had served two years -as a hospital for marines, and was infected with a contagious fever. -Including the crew, some two hundred persons were on board, more -than half of whom were bound for Montreal. Most of these were sturdy -laborers, artisans, peasants, and soldiers, together with a troop of -young women, their present or future partners; a portion of the company -set down on the old record as “sixty virtuous men and thirty-two -pious girls.” There were two priests also, Vignal and Le Maître, both -destined to a speedy death at the hands of the Iroquois. But the most -conspicuous among these passengers for Montreal were two groups of women -in the habit of nuns, under the direction of Marguerite Bourgeoys and -Jeanne Mance. Marguerite Bourgeoys, whose kind, womanly face bespoke her -fitness for the task, was foundress of the school for female children at -Montreal; her companion, a tall, austere figure, worn with suffering and -care, was directress of the hospital. Both had returned to France for -aid, and were now on their way back, each with three recruits, three -being the mystic number, as a type of the Holy Family, to whose worship -they were especially devoted. - -Amid the bustle of departure, the shouts of sailors, the rattling of -cordage, the flapping of sails, the tears and the embracings, an elderly -man, with heavy plebeian features, sallow with disease, and in a sober, -half-clerical dress, approached Mademoiselle Mance and her three -nuns, and, turning his eyes to heaven, spread his hands over them -in benediction. It was Le Boyer de la Dauversière, founder of the -sisterhood of St. Joseph, to which the three nuns belonged. “Now, O -Lord,” he exclaimed, with the look of one whose mission on earth is -fulfilled, “permit thou thy servant to depart in peace!” - -Sister Maillet, who had charge of the meagre treasury of the community, -thought that something more than a blessing was due from him; and -asked where she should apply for payment of the interest of the twenty -thousand livres which Mademoiselle Mance had placed in his hands for -investment. Dauversière changed countenance, and replied, with a -troubled voice: “My daughter, God will provide for you. Place your -trust in - -Him.” * He was bankrupt, and had used the money of the sisterhood to -pay a debt of his own, leaving the nuns penniless. - -I have related in another place ** how an association of devotees, -inspired, as they supposed, from heaven, had undertaken to found a -religious colony at Montreal in honor of the Holy Family. The essentials -of the proposed establishment were to be a seminary of priests dedicated -to the Virgin, a hospital to Saint Joseph, and a school to the Infant -Jesus; while a settlement was to be formed around them simply for -their defence and maintenance. This pious purpose had in part been -accomplished. - -It was seventeen years since Mademoiselle Mance had begun her labors in -honor of Saint Joseph. Marguerite Bourgeoys had entered upon hers more -recently; yet even then the attempt was premature, for she found no -white children to teach. In time, however, this want was supplied, -and she opened her school in a stable, which answered to the stable of -Bethlehem, lodging with her pupils in the loft, and instructing them in -Roman Catholic Christianity, with such rudiments of mundane knowledge as -she and her advisers thought fit to impart. - -Mademoiselle Mance found no lack of hospital work, for blood and blows -were rife at Montreal, where the woods were full of Iroquois, and not a -moment was without its peril. Though years - - * Faillon, Vie de M’lle Mance, I. 172. This volume is - illustrated with a portrait of Dauversière. - - ** The Jesuits in North America. - -began to tell upon her, she toiled patiently at her dreary task, till, -in the winter of 1657, she fell on the ice of the St. Lawrence, broke -her right arm, and dislocated the wrist. Bouchard, the surgeon of -Montreal, set the broken bones, but did not discover the dislocation. -The arm in consequence became totally useless, and her health wasted -away under incessant and violent pain. Maisonneuve, the civil and -military chief of the settlement, advised her to go to France for -assistance in the work to which she was no longer equal; and Marguerite -Bourgeoys, whose pupils, white and red, had greatly multiplied, resolved -to go with her for a similar object. They set out in September, 1658, -landed at Rochelle, and went thence to Paris. Here they repaired to the -seminary of St. Sulpice; for the priests of this community were joined -with them in the work at Montreal, of which they were afterwards to -become the feudal proprietors. - -Now ensued a wonderful event, if we may trust the evidence of sundry -devout persons. Olier, the founder of St. Sulpice, had lately died, and -the two pilgrims would fain pay their homage to his heart, which the -priests of his community kept as a precious relic, enclosed in a leaden -box. The box was brought, when the thought inspired Mademoiselle Mance -to try its miraculous efficacy and invoke the intercession of the -departed founder. She did so, touching her disabled arm gently with the -leaden casket. Instantly a grateful warmth pervaded the shrivelled limb, -and from that hour its use was restored. It is true that the Jesuits -ventured to doubt the Sulpitian miracle, and even to ridicule it; but -the Sulpitians will show to this day the attestation of Mademoiselle -Mance herself, written with the fingers once paralyzed and powerless. -* Nevertheless, the cure was not so thorough as to permit her again to -take charge of her patients. - -Her next care was to visit Madame de Bullion, a devout lady of great -wealth, who was usually designated at Montreal as “the unknown -benefactress,” because, though her charities were the mainstay of the -feeble colony, and though the source from which they proceeded was well -known, she affected, in the interest of humility, the greatest secrecy, -and required those who profited by her gifts to pretend ignorance whence -they came. Overflowing with zeal for the pious enterprise, she received -her visitor with enthusiasm, lent an open ear to her recital, responded -graciously to her appeal for aid, and paid over to her the sum, -munificent at that day, of twenty-two thousand francs. Thus far -successful, Mademoiselle Mance repaired to the town of La Flèche to -visit Le Royer de la Dauversière. - -It was this wretched fanatic who, through visions and revelations, -had first conceived the plan of a hospital in honor of Saint Joseph at -Montreal. ** He had found in Mademoiselle Mance a zealous and efficient -pioneer; but the execution of his scheme required a community of -hospital nuns, and - - * For an account of this miracle, written in perfect good - faith and supported by various attestations, see Faillon, - Vie de M’lle Mance, chap. iv. - - ** See The Jesuits in North America. - -therefore he had labored for the last eighteen years to form one at La -Flèche, meaning to despatch its members in due time to Canada. The time -at length was come. Three of the nuns were chosen, Sisters Brésoles, -Mace, and Maillet, and sent under the escort of certain pious -gentlemen to Rochelle, Their exit from La Flèche was not without -its difficulties. Dauversière was in ill odor, not only from the -multiplicity of his debts, but because, in his character of agent of the -association of Montreal, he had at various times sent thither those whom -his biographer describes as "the most virtuous girls to be found at La -Flèche,” intoxicating them with religious excitement, and shipping -them for the New World against the will of their parents. It was noised -through the town that he had kidnapped and sold them; and now the report -spread abroad that he was about to crown his iniquity by luring away -three young nuns. A mob gathered at the convent gate, and the escort -were forced to draw their swords to open a way for the terrified -sisters. - -Of the twenty-two thousand francs which she had received, Mademoiselle -Mance kept two thousand for immediate needs, and confided the rest to -the hands of Dauversière, who, hard pressed by his creditors, used it -to pay one of his debts; and then, to his horror, found himself unable -to replace it. Racked by the gout and tormented by remorse, he betook -himself to his bed in a state of body and mind truly pitiable. One -of the miracles, so frequent in the early annals of Montreal, was -vouchsafed in answer to his prayer, and he was enabled to journey to -Rochelle and bid farewell to his nuns. It was but a brief respite; he -returned home to become the prey of a host of maladies, and to die at -last a lingering and painful death. - -While Mademoiselle Mance was gaining recruits in La Flèche, Marguerite -Bourgeoys was no less successful in her native town of Troyes, and she -rejoined her companions at Rochelle, accompanied by Sisters Châtel, -Crolo, and Raisin, her destined assistants in the school at Montreal. -Meanwhile, the Sulpitians and others interested in the pious enterprise, -had spared no effort to gather men to strengthen the colony, and young -women to serve as their wives; and all were now mustered at Rochelle, -waiting for embarkation. Their waiting was a long one. Laval, bishop -at Quebec, was allied to the Jesuits, and looked on the colonists of -Montreal with more than coldness. Sulpitian writers say that his agents -used every effort to discourage them, and that certain persons at -Rochelle told the master of the ship in which the emigrants were to sail -that they were not to be trusted to pay their passage-money. Hereupon -ensued a delay of more than two months before means could be found to -quiet the scruples of the prudent commander. At length the anchor was -weighed, and the dreary voyage begun. - -The woe-begone company, crowded in the filthy and infected ship, were -tossed for two months more on the relentless sea, buffeted by repeated -storms, and wasted by a contagious fever, which attacked nearly all of -them and reduced Mademoiselle Mance to extremity. Eight or ten died and -were dropped overboard, after a prayer from the two priests. At length -land hove in sight; the piny odors of the forest regaled their languid -senses as they sailed up the broad estuary of the St. Lawrence and -anchored under the rock of Quebec. - -High aloft, on the brink of the cliff, they saw the _fleur-de-lis_ -waving above the fort of St. Louis, and, beyond, the cross on the tower -of the cathedral traced against the sky; the houses of the merchants -on the strand below, and boats and canoes drawn up along the bank. The -bishop and the Jesuits greeted them as coworkers in a holy cause, with -an unction not wholly sincere. Though a unit against heresy, the pious -founders of New France were far from unity among themselves. To the -thinking of the Jesuits, Montreal was a government within a government, -a wheel within a wheel. This rival Sulpitian settlement was, in their -eyes, an element of disorganization adverse to the disciplined harmony -of the Canadian Church, which they would fain have seen, with its focus -at Quebec, radiating light unrefracted to the uttermost parts of the -colony. That is to say, they wished to control it unchecked, through -their ally, the bishop. - -The emigrants, then, were received with a studious courtesy, which -veiled but thinly a stiff and persistent opposition. The bishop and -the Jesuits were especially anxious to prevent the La Flèche nuns from -establishing themselves at Montreal, where they would form a separate -community, under Sulpitian influence; and, in place of the newly arrived -sisters, they wished to substitute nuns from the Hôtel Dieu of Quebec, -who would be under their own control. That which most strikes the -non-Catholic reader throughout this affair is the constant reticence and -dissimulation practised, not only between Jesuits and Montrealists, but -among the Montrealists themselves. Their self-devotion, great as it was, -was fairly matched by their disingenuousness. * - -All difficulties being overcome, the Montrealists embarked in boats and -ascended the St. Lawrence, leaving Quebec infected with the contagion -they had brought. The journey now made in a single night cost them -fifteen days of hardship and danger. At length they reached their new -home. The little settlement lay before them, still gasping betwixt life -and death, in a puny, precarious infancy. Some forty small, compact -houses were ranged parallel to the river, chiefly along the fine of -what is now St. Paul’s Street. On the left there was a fort, and on a -rising ground at the right a massive windmill of stone, enclosed with -a wall or palisade pierced for musketry, and answering the purpose of -a redoubt or block-house. ** Fields, studded with charred and blackened -stumps, - - * See, for example, chapter iv. of Faillon’s Life of - Mademoiselle Mance. The evidence is unanswerable, the writer - being the partisan and admirer of most of those whose pieuse - tromperie, to use the expression of Dollier de Casson, he - describes in apparent unconsciousness that any body will see - reason to cavil at it. - - ** Lettre du Vicomte d’Argenson, Gouverneur du Canada, 4 - Août, 1659, MS - -between which crops were growing, stretched away to the edges of the -bordering forest; and the green, shaggy back of the mountain towered -over all. - -There were at this time a hundred and sixty men at Montreal, about fifty -of whom had families, or at least wives. They greeted the newcomers -with a welcome which, this time, was as sincere as it was warm, and -bestirred themselves with alacrity to provide them with shelter for the -winter. As for the three nuns from La Flèche, a chamber was hastily -made for them over two low rooms which had served as Mademoiselle -Mance’s hospital. This chamber was twenty-five feet square, with four -cells for the nuns, and a closet for stores and clothing, which for the -present was empty, as they had landed in such destitution that they were -forced to sell all their scanty equipment to gain the bare necessaries -of existence. Little could be hoped from the colonists, who were -scarcely less destitute than they. Such was their poverty,--thanks to -Dauversiere’s breach of trust,--that when their clothes were worn out, -they were unable to replace them, and were forced to patch them with -such material as came to hand. Maisonneuve, the governor, and the pious -Madame d’Aillebout, being once on a visit to the hospital, amused -themselves with trying to guess of what stuff the habits of the nuns had -originally been made, and were unable to agree on the point in -question. * - - * Annales des Hospitalières de Villemarie, par la Sœur - Morin, a contemporary record, from which Faillon gives long - extracts. - -Their chamber, which they occupied for many years, being hastily built -of illseasoned planks, let in the piercing cold of the Canadian winter -through countless cracks and chinks; and the driving snow sifted through -in such quantities that they were sometimes obliged, the morning after -a storm, to remove it with shovels. Their food would freeze on the table -before them, and their coarse brown bread had to be thawed on the hearth -before they could cut it. These women had been nurtured in ease, if not -in luxury. One of them, Judith de Brésoles, had in her youth, by advice -of her confessor, run away from parents who were devoted to her, and -immured herself in a convent, leaving them in agonies of doubt as to her -fate. She now acted as superior of the little community. One of her nuns -records of her that she had a fervent devotion for the Infant Jesus; -and that, along with many more spiritual graces, he inspired her with so -transcendent a skill in cookery, that “with a small piece of lean pork -and a few herbs she could make soup of a marvellous relish.” * Sister -Macé was charged with the care of the pigs and hens, to whose wants she -attended in person, though she, too, had been delicately bred. In course -of time, the sisterhood was increased by additions from without; though -more than twenty girls who entered the hospital as novices recoiled from -the hardship, and took husbands in the colony. Among - - * “C’était par son recours à l’Enfant Jésus qu’elle - trouvait tous ces secrets et d’autres semblables,” writes in - our own day the excellent annalist, Faillon. - -a few who took the vows, Sister Jumeau should not pass unnoticed. Such -was her humility, that, though of a good family and unable to divest -herself of the marks of good breeding, she pretended to be the daughter -of a poor peasant, and persisted in repeating the pious falsehood till -the merchant Le Ber told her flatly that he did not believe her. - -The sisters had great need of a man to do the heavy work of the house -and garden, but found no means of hiring one, when an incident, in which -they saw a special providence, excellently supplied the want. There was -a poor colonist named Jouaneaux to whom a piece of land had been given -at some distance from the settlement. Had he built a cabin upon it, his -scalp would soon have paid the forfeit; but, being bold and hardy, -he devised a plan by which he might hope to sleep in safety without -abandoning the farm which was his only possession. Among the stumps of -his clearing there was one hollow with age. Under this he dug a sort -of cave, the entrance of which was a small hole carefully hidden by -brushwood. The hollow stump was easily converted into a chimney; and by -creeping into his burrow at night, or when he saw signs of danger, he -escaped for some time the notice of the Iroquois. But, though he could -dispense with a house, he needed a barn for his hay and corn; and -while he was building one, he fell from the ridge of the roof and was -seriously hurt. He was carried to the Hôtel Dieu, where the nuns -showed him every attention, until, after a long confinement, he at last -recovered. Being of a grateful nature and enthusiastically devout, he -was so touched by the kindness of his benefactors, and so moved by the -spectacle of their piety, that he conceived the wish of devoting his -life to their service. To this end a contract was drawn up, by which he -pledged himself to work for them as long as strength remained; and they, -on their part, agreed to maintain him in sickness or old age. - -This stout-hearted retainer proved invaluable; though, had a guard of -soldiers been added, it would have been no more than the case demanded. -Montreal was not palisaded, and at first the hospital was as much -exposed as the rest. The Iroquois would skulk at night among the houses, -like wolves in a camp of sleeping travellers on the prairies; though the -human foe was, of the two, incomparably the bolder, fiercer, and more -bloodthirsty. More than once one of these prowling savages was known to -have crouched all night in a rank growth of wild mustard in the garden -of the nuns, vainly hoping that one of them would come out within reach -of his tomahawk. During summer, a month rarely passed without a fight, -sometimes within sight of their windows. A burst of yells from the -ambushed marksmen, followed by a clatter of musketry, would announce the -opening of the fray, and promise the nuns an addition to their list of -patients. On these occasions they bore themselves according to their -several natures. Sister Morin, who had joined their number three years -after their arrival, relates that Sister Brésoles and she used to run -to the belfry and ring the tocsin to call the inhabitants together. -“From our high station,” she writes, “we could sometimes see the -combat, which terrified us extremely, so that we came down again as soon -as we could, trembling with fright, and thinking that our last hour was -come. When the tocsin sounded, my Sister Maillet would become faint with -excess of fear; and my Sister Macé, as long as the alarm continued, -would remain speechless, in a state pitiable to see. They would both get -into a corner of the rood-loft, before the Holy Sacrament, so as to be -prepared for death; or else go into their cells. As soon as I heard that -the Iroquois were gone, I went to tell them, which comforted them and -seemed to restore them to life. My Sister Brésoles was stronger and -more courageous; her terror, which she could not help, did not prevent -her from attending the sick and receiving the dead and wounded who were -brought in.” - -The priests of St. Sulpice, who had assumed the entire spiritual charge -of the settlement, and who were soon to assume its entire temporal -charge also, had for some years no other lodging than a room at the -hospital, adjoining those of the patients. They caused the building -to be fortified with palisades, and the houses of some of the chief -inhabitants were placed near it, for mutual defence. They also built -two fortified houses, called Ste. Marie and St. Gabriel, at the two -extremities of the settlement, and lodged in them a considerable -number of armed men, whom they employed in clearing and cultivating the -surrounding lands, the property of their community. All other outlying -houses were also pierced with loopholes, and fortified as well as the -slender means of their owners would permit. The laborers always carried -their guns to the field, and often had need to use them. A few incidents -will show the state of Montreal and the character of its tenants. - -In the autumn of 1657 there was a truce with the Iroquois, under cover -of which three or four of them came to the settlement. Nicolas Godé and -Jean Saint-Père were on the roof of their house, laying thatch; when -one of the visitors aimed his arquebuse at Saint-Père, and brought him -to the ground like a wild turkey from a tree. Now ensued a prodigy; -for the assassins, having cut off his head and carried it home to their -village, were amazed to hear it speak to them in good Iroquois, scold -them for their perfidy, and threaten them with the vengeance of Heaven; -and they continued to hear its voice of admonition even after scalping -it and throwing away the skull. * This story, circulated at Montreal on -the alleged authority of the Indians themselves, found believers among -the most intelligent men of the colony. - -Another miracle, which occurred several years later, deserves to be -recorded. Le Maître, one of the two priests who had sailed from France -with Mademoiselle Mance and her nuns, being one day at the fortified -house of St. Gabriel, went out with the laborers, in order to watch -while they were at their work. In view of a possible enemy, he had -girded himself with an earthly sword; but seeing no sign of danger, he -presently took out his breviary, and, while reciting his office with -eyes bent on the page, walked into an ambuscade of Iroquois, who rose -before him with a yell. - -He shouted to the laborers, and, drawing his sword, faced the whole -savage crew, in order, probably, to give the men time to snatch their -guns. Afraid to approach, the Iroquois fired and killed him; then rushed -upon the working party, who escaped into the house, after losing several -of their number. The victors cut off the head of the heroic priest, and -tied it in a white handkerchief which they took from a pocket of his -cassock. It is said that on reaching their villages they were astonished -to find the handkerchief without the slightest stain of blood, but -stamped indelibly with the features of its late owner, so plainly marked -that none who had known him could fail to recognize them. * This not -very original miracle, though it found eager credence at Montreal, was -received coolly, like other Montreal miracles, at Quebec; and Sulpitian -writers complain that the bishop, in a long letter which he wrote to the -Pope, made no mention of it whatever. - -Le Maître, on the voyage to Canada, had been accompanied by another -priest, Guillaume de Vignal, who met a fate more deplorable than that of -his companion, though unattended by any - - * This story is told by Sister Morin, Marguerite Bourgeoys, - and Dollier de Casson, on the authority of one Lavigne, then - a prisoner among the Iroquois, who declared that he had seen - the handkerchief the hands of the returning warriors. - -recorded miracle. Le Maître had been killed in August. In the October -following, Vignal went with thirteen men, in a flatboat and several -canoes, to Isle à la Pierre, nearly opposite Montreal, to get stone for -the seminary which the priests had recently begun to build. With him was -a pious and valiant gentleman named Claude de Brigeac, who, though but -thirty years of age, had come as a soldier to Montreal, in the hope of -dying in defence of the true church, and thus reaping the reward of a -martyr. Vignal and three or four men had scarcely landed when they were -set upon by a large band of Iroquois who lay among the bushes waiting to -receive them. The rest of the party, who were still in their boats, with -a cowardice rare at Montreal, thought only of saving themselves. Claude -de Brigeac alone leaped ashore and ran to aid his comrades. Vignal was -soon mortally wounded. Brigeac shot the chief dead with his arquebuse, -and then, pistol in hand, held the whole troop for an instant at bay; -but his arm was shattered by a gunshot, and he was seized, along with -Vignal, René Cuillérier, and Jacques Dufresne. Crossing to the main -shore, immediately opposite Montreal, the Iroquois made, after their -custom, a small fort of logs and branches, in which they ensconced -themselves, and then began to dress the wounds of their prisoners. -Seeing that Vignal was unable to make the journey to their villages, -they killed him, divided his flesh, and roasted it for food. - -Brigeac and his fellows in misfortune spent a woful night in this den -of wolves; and in the morning their captors, having breakfasted on the -remains of Vignal, took up their homeward march, dragging the Frenchmen -with them. On reaching Oneida, Brigeac was tortured to death with the -customary atrocities. Cuillérier, who was present, declared that they -could wring from him no cry of pain, but that throughout he ceased not -to pray for their conversion. The witness himself expected the same -fate, but an old squaw happily adopted him, and thus saved his life. He -eventually escaped to Albany, and returned to Canada by the circuitous -but comparatively safe route of New York and Boston. - -In the following winter, Montreal suffered an irreparable loss in the -death of the brave Major Closse, a man whose intrepid coolness was never -known to fail in the direst emergency. Going to the aid of a party of -laborers attacked by the Iroquois, he was met by a crowd of savages, -eager to kill or capture him. His servant ran off. He snapped a pistol -at the foremost assailant, but it missed fire. His remaining pistol -served him no better, and he was instantly shot down “He died,” -writes Dollier de Casson, “like a brave soldier of Christ and the -king.” Some of his friends once remonstrating with him on the temerity -with which he exposed his life, he replied, “Messieurs, I came here -only to die in the service of God; and if I thought I could not die -here, I would leave this country to fight the Turks, that I might not be -deprived of such a glory.” * - -The fortified house of Ste. Marie, belonging to the priests of St. -Sulpice, was the scene of several hot and bloody fights. Here, too, -occurred the following nocturnal adventure. A man named Lavigne, who had -lately returned from captivity among the Iroquois, chancing to rise at -night and look out of the window, saw by the bright moon--fight a number -of naked warriors stealthily gliding round a corner and crouching near -the door, in order to kill the first Frenchman who should go out in -the morning. He silently woke his comrades; and, having the rest of the -night for consultation, they arranged their plan so well, that some of -them, sallying from the rear of the house, came cautiously round upon -the Iroquois, placed them between two fires, and captured them all. - -The summer of 1661 was marked by a series of calamities scarcely -paralleled even in the annals of this disastrous epoch. Early in -February, thirteen colonists were surprised and captured; next came -a fight between a large band of laborers and two hundred and sixty -Iroquois; in the following month, ten more Frenchmen were killed or -taken; and thenceforth, till winter closed, the settlement had scarcely -a breathing space. “These hobgoblins,” writes the author of the -_Relation_ of this year, “sometimes appeared at the edge of the woods, -assailing us with abuse; sometimes they glided stealthily into the midst -of the fields, to surprise the men at work; sometimes they approached -the houses, harassing us without ceasing, and, like importunate harpies -or birds of prey, swooping down on us whenever they could take us -unawares.” - -Speaking of the disasters of this year, the soldier-priest, Dollier de -Casson, writes: “God, who afflicts the body only for the good of the -soul, made a marvellous use of these calamities and terrors to hold the -people firm in their duty towards Heaven. Vice was then almost unknown -here, and in the midst of war religion flourished on all sides in a -manner very different from what we now see in time of peace.” - -The war was, in fact, a war of religion. The small redoubts of logs, -scattered about the skirts of the settlement to serve as points of -defence in case of attack, bore the names of saints, to whose care -they were commended. There was one placed under a higher protection and -called the _Redoubt of the Infant Jesus_. Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the -pious and valiant governor of Montreal, to whom its successful defence -is largely due, resolved, in view of the increasing fury and persistency -of the Iroquois attacks, to form among the inhabitants a military -fraternity, to be called “Soldiers of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, -and Joseph;” and to this end he issued a proclamation, of which the -following is the characteristic beginning:-- - -“We, Paul de Chomedey, governor of the island of Montreal and lands -thereon dependent, on information given us from divers quarters that the -Iroquois have formed the design of seizing upon this settlement by -surprise or force, have thought it our duty, seeing that this island is -the property of the Holy Virgin, * to invite and exhort those zealous -for her service to unite together by squads, each of seven persons; and -after choosing a corporal by a plurality of voices, to report themselves -to us for enrolment in our garrison, and, in this capacity, to obey our -orders, to the end that the country may be saved.” - -Twenty squads, numbering in all one hundred and forty men, whose names, -appended to the proclamation, may still be seen on the ancient records -of Montreal, answered the appeal and enrolled themselves in the holy -cause. - -The whole settlement was in a state of religious exaltation. As the -Iroquois were regarded as actual myrmidons of Satan in his malign -warfare against Mary and her divine Son, those who died in fighting them -were held to merit the reward of martyrs, assured of a seat in paradise. - -And now it remains to record one of the most heroic feats of arms ever -achieved on this continent. That it may be rated as it merits, it will -be well to glance for a moment at the condition of Canada, under the -portentous cloud of war which constantly overshadowed it. ** - - * This is no figure of speech. The Associates of Montreal, - after receiving a grant of the island from Jean de Lauson, - placed it under the protection of the Virgin, and formally - declared her to be the proprietor of it from that day forth - for ever. - - ** In all that relates to Montreal, I cannot be - sufficiently grateful to the Abbé Faillon, the - indefatigable, patient, conscientious chronicler of its - early history; an ardent and prejudiced Sulpitian, a priest - who three centuries ago would have passed for credulous, - and, withal, a kind-hearted and estimable man. His numerous - books on his favorite theme, with the vast and heterogeneous - mass of facts which they embody, are invaluable, provided - their partisan character be well kept in mind. His recent - death leaves his principal work unfinished. His Histoire de - la Colonie Française en Canada--it might more fitly be - called Histoire du Montréal--is unhappily little more than - half complete. - - - - -CHAPTER III. 1660, 1661. THE HEROES OF THE LONG SAUT. - - -_Suffering and Terror.--Francois Hertel.--The Captive Wolf--The -threatened Invasion.--Daulac des Ormeaux.--The Adventurers at the Long -Saut.--The Attack.--A Desperate Defence.--A Final Assault.--The Fort -taken._ - - -|Canada had writhed for twenty years, with little respite, under the -scourge of Iroquois war. During a great part of this dark period the -entire French population was less than three thousand. What, then, saved -them from destruction? In the first place, the settlements were grouped -around three fortified posts, Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal, which -in time of danger gave asylum to the fugitive inhabitants. Again, their -assailants were continually distracted by other wars, and never, except -at a few spasmodic intervals, were fully in earnest to destroy the -French colony. Canada was indispensable to them. The four upper nations -of the league soon became dependent on her for supplies; and all the -nations alike appear, at a very early period, to have conceived the -policy on which they afterwards distinctly acted, of balancing the rival -settlements of the Hudson and the St. Lawrence, the one against the -other. They would torture, but not kill. It was but rarely that, in fits -of fury, they struck their hatchets at the brain; and thus the bleeding -and gasping colony fingered on in torment. - -The seneschal of New France, son of the governor Lauson, was surprised -and killed on the island of Orleans, along with seven companions. About -the same time, the same fate befell the son of Godefroy, one of the -chief inhabitants of Quebec. Outside the fortifications there was no -safety for a moment. A universal terror seized the people. A comet -appeared above Quebec, and they saw in it a herald of destruction. -Their excited imaginations turned natural phenomena into portents and -prodigies. A blazing canoe sailed across the sky; confused cries and -lamentations were heard in the air; and a voice of thunder sounded from -mid-heaven. * The Jesuits despaired for their scattered and persecuted -flocks. “Everywhere,” writes their superior, “we see infants to -be saved for heaven, sick and dying to be baptized, adults to be -instructed, but everywhere we see the Iroquois. They haunt us like -persecuting goblins. They kill our newmade Christians in our arms. If -they meet us on the river, they kill us. If they find us in the huts -of our Indians, they burn us and them together.” ** And he appeals -urgently for troops to destroy them, as a holy work inspired by God, and -needful for his service. - -Canada was still a mission, and the influence of - - * Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre, Sept., 1661. - - ** Relation, 1660 (anonymous), 3. - -the church was paramount and pervading. At Quebec, as at Montreal, the -war with the Iroquois was regarded as a war with the hosts of Satan. -Of the settlers’ cabins scattered along the shores above and below -Quebec, many were provided with small iron cannon, made probably by -blacksmiths in the colony; but they had also other protectors. In each -was an image of the Virgin or some patron saint, and every morning -the pious settler knelt before the shrine to beg the protection of a -celestial hand in his perilous labors of the forest or the farm. - -When, in the summer of 1658, the young Vicomte d’Argenson came to -assume the thankless task of governing the colony, the Iroquois war was -at its height. On the day after his arrival, he was washing his hands -before seating himself at dinner in the hall of the Chateau St. Louis, -when cries of alarm were heard, and he was told that the Iroquois were -close at hand. In fact, they were so near that their war-whoops and -the screams of their victims could plainly be heard. Argenson left his -guests, and, with such a following as he could muster at the moment, -hastened to the rescue; but the assailants were too nimble for him. The -forests, which grew at that time around Quebec, favored them both in -attack and in retreat. After a year or two of experience, he wrote -urgently to the court for troops. He adds that, what with the demands of -the harvest, and the unmilitary character of many of the settlers, -the colony could not furnish more than a hundred men for offensive -operations. A vigorous aggressive war, he insists, is absolutely -necessary, and this not only to save the colony, but to save the only -true faith; “for,” to borrow his own words, “it is this colony -alone which has the honor to be in the communion of the Holy Church. -Everywhere else reigns the doctrine of England or Holland, to which I -can give no other name, because there are as many creeds as there are -subjects who embrace them. They do not care in the least whether the -Iroquois and the other savages of this country have or have not a -knowledge of the true God, or else they are so malicious as to inject -the venom of their errors into souls incapable of distinguishing the -truth of the gospel from the falsehoods of heresy; and hence it is plain -that religion has its sole support in the French colony, and that, if -this colony is in danger, religion is equally in danger.” * - -Among the most interesting memorials of the time are two letters, -written by François Hertel, a youth of eighteen, captured at Three -Rivers, and carried to the Mohawk towns in the summer of 1661. He -belonged to one of the best families of Canada, and was the favorite -child of his mother, to whom the second of the two letters is addressed. -The first is to the Jesuit Le Moyne, who had gone to Onondaga, in July -of that year, to effect the release of French prisoners in accordance -with the terms of a truce. ** Both letters were written on birch bark:-- - - * Papiers d’Argenson; Mémoire sur le sujet de la guerre des - Iroquois, 1659 (1660?). MS. - - ** Journal des Jésuites, 300. - -My Reverend Father:--The very day when you left Three Rivers I was -captured, at about three in the afternoon, by four Iroquois of the -Mohawk tribe. I would not have been taken alive, if, to my sorrow, I had -not feared that I was not in a fit state to die. If you came here, my -Father, I could have the happiness of confessing to you; and I do not -think they would do you any harm; and I think that I could return home -with you. I pray you to pity my poor mother, who is in great trouble. -You know, my Father, how fond she is of me. I have heard from a -Frenchman, who was taken at Three Rivers on the 1st of August, that she -is well, and comforts herself with the hope that I shall see you. There -are three of us Frenchmen alive here. I commend myself to your good -prayers, and particularly to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I pray you, -my Father, to say a mass for me. I pray you give my dutiful love to my -poor mother, and console her, if it pleases you. - -My Father, I beg your blessing on the hand that writes to you, which has -one of the fingers burned in the bowl of an Indian pipe, to satisfy the -Majesty of God which I have offended. The thumb of the other hand is cut -off; but do not tell my mother of it. - -My Father, I pray you to honor me with a word from your hand in reply, -and tell me if you shall come here before winter. - -Your most humble and most obedient servant, - -François Hertel. - -The following is the letter to his mother, sent probably, with the -other, to the charge of Le Moyne:-- - -My most dear and honored Mother:--I know very well that my capture must -have distressed you very much I ask you to forgive my disobedience. -It is my sins that have placed me where I am. I owe my life to your -prayers, and those of M. de Saint-Quentin, and of my sisters. I hope to -see you again before winter. I pray you to tell the good brethren of -Notre Dame to pray to God and the Holy Virgin for me, my dear mother, -and for you and all my sisters. - -Your poor - -Fanchon - -This, no doubt, was the name by which she had called him familiarly when -a child. And who was this “Fanchon,” this devout and tender son of a -fond mother? New England can answer to her cost. When, twenty-nine years -later, a band of French and Indians issued from the forest and fell upon -the fort and settlement of Salmon Falls, it was François Hertel who -led the attack; and when the retiring victors were hard pressed by an -overwhelming force, it was he who, sword in hand, held the pursuers in -check at the bridge of Wooster River, and covered the retreat of his -men. He was ennobled for his services, and died at the age of eighty, -the founder of one of the most distinguished families of Canada. * To -the New England of old he was the abhorred chief of Popish malignants -and murdering savages. The New England of to-day will be more just to -the brave defender of his country and his faith. - -In May, 1660, a party of French Algonquins captured a Wolf, or Mohegan, -Indian, naturalized among the Iroquois, brought him to Quebec, and -burned him there with their usual atrocity of torture. A modern Catholic -writer says that the Jesuits could not save him; but this is not so. -Their influence over the consciences of the colonists - - * His letters of nobility, dated 1716, will be found in - Daniel's Histoire des Grandes Familles Françaises du Canada, - 404. - -was at that time unbounded, and their direct political power was very -great. A protest on their part, and that of the newly arrived bishop, -who was in their interest, could not have failed of effect. The truth -was, they did not care to prevent the torture of prisoners of war, not -solely out of that spirit of compliance with the savage humor of Indian -allies which stains so often the pages of French American history, but -also, and perhaps chiefly, from motives purely religious. Torture, in -their eyes, seems to have been a blessing in disguise. They thought it -good for the soul, and in case of obduracy the surest way of salvation. -“We have very rarely indeed,” writes one of them, “seen the -burning of an Iroquois without feeling sure that he was on the path -to Paradise; and we never knew one of them to be surely on the path to -Paradise without seeing him pass through this fiery punishment.” * -So they let the Wolf burn; but first, having instructed him after their -fashion, they baptized him, and his savage soul flew to heaven out of -the fire. "Is it not,” pursues the same writer, “a marvel to see -a wolf changed at one stroke into a lamb, and enter into the fold of -Christ, which he came to ravage?” - -Before he died he requited their spiritual cares with a startling -secret. He told them that eight hundred Iroquois warriors were encamped -below Montreal; that four hundred more, who had wintered on the Ottawa, -were on the point of joining them; and that the united force would swoop -upon - - * Relation, 1660, 31. - -Quebec, kill the governor, lay waste the town, and then attack Three -Rivers and Montreal. * This time, at least, the Iroquois were in deadly -earnest. Quebec was wild with terror. The Ursulines and the nuns of the -Hôtel Dieu took refuge in the strong and extensive building which the -Jesuits had just finished, opposite the Parish Church. Its walls and -palisades made it easy of defence; and in its yards and court were -lodged the terrified Hurons, as well as the fugitive inhabitants of the -neighboring settlements. Others found asylum in the fort, and others in -the convent of the Ursulines, which, in place of nuns, was occupied by -twenty-four soldiers, who fortified it with redoubts, and barricaded the -doors and windows. Similar measures of defence were taken at the Hôtel -Dieu, and the streets of the Lower Town were strongly barricaded. -Everybody was in arms, and the _Qui vive_ of the sentries and patrols -resounded all night. ** - -Several days passed, and no Iroquois appeared. The refugees took heart, -and began to return to their deserted farms and dwellings. Among -the rest was a family consisting of an old woman, her daughter, her -son-in-law, and four small children, living near St. Anne, some twenty -miles below Quebec. On reaching home the old woman and the man went to -their work in the fields, while the mother and children remained in the -house. - - * Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre, 26 Juin, 1660. - - ** On this alarm at Quebec compare Marie de l’Incarnation, - 25 Juin, 1660; Relation, 1660, 5; Juchereau, Histoire de - l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, 126 and Journal des Jésuites 282. - -Here they were pounced upon and captured by eight renegade Hurons, -Iroquois by adoption, who placed them in their large canoe, and paddled -up the river with their prize. It was Saturday, a day dedicated to the -Virgin; and the captive mother prayed to her for aid, “feeling,” -writes a Jesuit, “a full conviction that, in passing before Quebec -on a Saturday, she would be delivered by the power of this Queen of -Heaven.” In fact, as the marauders and their captives glided in the -darkness of night by Point Levi, under the shadow of the shore, they -were greeted with a volley of musketry from the bushes, and a band of -French and Algonquins dashed into the water to seize them. Five of the -eight were taken, and the rest shot or drowned. The governor had heard -of the descent at St. Anne, and despatched a party to lie in ambush -for the authors of it. The Jesuits, it is needless to say, saw a -miracle in the result. The Virgin had answered the prayer of her votary. -“Though it is true,” observes the father who records the marvel, -“that, in the volley, she received a mortal wound.” The same shot -struck the infant in her arms. The prisoners were taken to Quebec, where -four of them were tortured with even more ferocity than had been shown -in the case of the unfortunate Wolf. * Being questioned, they confirmed -his story, - - * The torturers were Christian Algonquins, converts of the - Jesuits. Chaumonot, who was present to give spiritual aid to - the sufferers, describes the scene with horrible minuteness. - “I could not,” he says, “deliver them from their torments.” - Perhaps not: but it is certain that the Jesuits as a body, - with or without the bishop, could have prevented the - atrocity, had they seen fit. They sometimes taught their - converts to pray for their enemies. It would have been well - had they taught them not to torture them. I can recall but - one instance in which they did so. The prayers for enemies - were always for a spiritual, not a temporal good. The - fathers held the body in slight account and cared little - what happened to it. - -and expressed great surprise that the Iroquois had not come, adding that -they must have stopped to attack Montreal or Three Rivers. Again all -was terror, and again days passed and no enemy appeared. Had the dying -converts, so charitably despatched to heaven through fire, sought an -unhallowed consolation in scaring the abettors of their torture with a -lie? Not at all. Bating a slight exaggeration, they had told the truth. -Where, then, were the Iroquois? As one small point of steel disarms the -lightning of its terrors, so did the heroism of a few intrepid youths -divert this storm of war and save Canada from a possible ruin. - -In the preceding April, before the designs of the Iroquois were known, -a young officer named Daulac, commandant of the garrison of Montreal, -asked leave of Maisonneuve, the governor, to lead a party of volunteers -against the enemy. His plan was bold to desperation. It was known that -Iroquois warriors in great numbers had wintered among the forests of the -Ottawa. Daulac proposed to waylay them on their descent of the river, -and fight them without regard to disparity of force. The settlers of -Montreal had hitherto acted solely on the defensive, for their numbers -had been too small for aggressive war. Of late their strength had -been somewhat increased, and Maisonneuve, judging that a display of -enterprise and boldness might act as a check on the audacity of the -enemy, at length gave his consent. - -Adam Daulac, or Dollard, Sieur des Ormeaux, was a young man of good -family, who had come to the colony three years before, at the age of -twenty-two. He had held some military command in France, though in what -rank does not appear. It was said that he had been involved in some -affair which made him anxious to wipe out the memory of the past by a -noteworthy exploit; and he had been busy for some time among the -young men of Montreal, inviting them to join him in the enterprise he -meditated. Sixteen of them caught his spirit, struck hands with him, and -pledged their word. They bound themselves by oath to accept no quarter; -and, having gained Maisonneuve’s consent, they made their wills, -confessed, and received the sacraments. As they knelt for the last time -before the altar in the chapel of the Hôtel Dieu, that sturdy little -population of pious Indian-fighters gazed on them with enthusiasm, not -unmixed with an envy which had in it nothing ignoble. Some of the chief -men of Montreal, with the brave Charles Le Moyne at their head, begged -them to wait till the spring sowing was over, that they might join them; -but Daulac refused. He was jealous of the glory and the danger, and -he wished to command, which he could not have done had Le Moyne been -present. - -The spirit of the enterprise was purely mediaeval. The enthusiasm of -honor, the enthusiasm of adventure, and the enthusiasm of faith, were -its motive forces. Danlac was a knight of the early crusades among the -forests and savages of the New World. Yet the incidents of this exotic -heroism are definite and clear as a tale of yesterday. The names, ages, -and occupations of the seventeen young men may still be read on the -ancient register of the parish of Montreal; and the notarial acts of -that year, preserved in the records of the city, contain minute accounts -of such property as each of them possessed. The three eldest were of -twenty-eight, thirty, and thirty-one years respectively. The age of -the rest varied from twenty-one to twenty-seven. They were of various -callings,--soldiers, armorers, locksmiths, lime-burners, or settlers -without trades. The greater number had come to the colony as part of the -reinforcement brought by Maisonneuve in 1653. - -After a solemn farewell they embarked in several canoes well supplied -with arms and ammunition. They were very indifferent canoe-men; and it -is said that they lost a week in vain attempts to pass the swift current -of St. Anne, at the head of the island of Montreal. At length they were -more successful, and entering the mouth of the Ottawa, crossed the Lake -of Two Mountains, and slowly advanced against the current. - -Meanwhile, forty warriors of that remnant of the Hurons who, in spite -of Iroquois persecutions, still lingered at Quebec, had set out on a -war-party, led by the brave and wily Etienne Annahotaha, their most -noted chief. They stopped by the way at Three Rivers, where they found a -band of Christian - -Algonquins under a chief named Mituvemeg An'nahotaha challenged him to -a trial of courage, and it was agreed that they should meet at Montreal, -where they were likely to find a speedy opportunity of putting their -mettle to the test. Thither, accordingly, they repaired, the Algonquin -with three followers, and the Huron with thirty-nine. - -It was not long before they learned the departure of Daulac and his -companions. “For,” observes the honest Dollier de Casson, “the -principal fault of our Frenchmen is to talk too much.” The wish seized -them to share the adventure, and to that end the Huron chief asked the -governor for a letter to Daulac, to serve as credentials. Maisonneuve -hesitated. His faith in Huron valor was not great, and he feared the -proposed alliance. Nevertheless, he at length yielded so far as to give -Annahotaha a letter in which Daulac was told to accept or reject the -proffered reinforcement as he should see fit. The Hurons and Algonquins -now embarked and paddled in pursuit of the seventeen Frenchmen. - -They meanwhile had passed with difficulty the swift current at Carillon, -and about the first of May reached the foot of the more formidable rapid -called the Long Saut, where a tumult of waters, foaming among ledges -and boulders, barred the onward way. It was needless to go farther. The -Iroquois were sure to pass the Saut, and could be fought here as well as -elsewhere. Just below the rapid, where the forests sloped gently to -the shore, among the bushes and stumps of the rough clearing made -in constructing it, stood a palisade fort, the work of an Algonquin -war-party in the past autumn. It was a mere enclosure of trunks of small -trees planted in a circle, and was already ruinous. Such as it was, -the Frenchmen took possession of it. Their first care, one would think, -should have been to repair and strengthen it; but this they seem not to -have done: possibly, in the exaltation of their minds, they scorned -such precaution. They made their fires, and slung their kettles on the -neighboring shore; and here they were soon joined by the Hurons and -Algonquins. Daulac, it seems, made no objection to their company, and -they all bivouacked together. Morning and noon and night they prayed in -three different tongues; and when at sunset the long reach of forests on -the farther shore basked peacefully in the level rays, the rapids joined -their hoarse music to the notes of their evening hymn. - -In a day or two their scouts came in with tidings that two Iroquois -canoes were coming down the Saut. Daulac had time to set his men in -ambush among the bushes at a point where he thought the strangers -likely to land. He judged aright. The canoes, bearing five Iroquois, -approached, and were met by a volley fired with such precipitation that -one or more of them escaped the shot, fled into the forest, and told -their mischance to their main body, two hundred in number, on the river -above. A fleet of canoes suddenly appeared, bounding down the rapids, -filled with warriors eager for revenge. The allies had barely time to -escape to their fort, leaving their kettles still slung over the -fires. The Iroquois made a hasty and desultory attack, and were quickly -repulsed. They next opened a parley, hoping, no doubt, to gain some -advantage by surprise. Failing in this, they set themselves, after their -custom on such occasions, to building a rude fort of their own in the -neighboring forest. - -This gave the French a breathing-time, and they used it for -strengthening their defences. Being provided with tools, they planted a -row of stakes within their palisade, to form a double fence, and filled -the intervening space with earth and stones to the height of a man, -leaving some twenty loopholes, at each of which three marksmen were -stationed. Their work was still unfinished when the Iroquois were upon -them again. They had broken to pieces the birch canoes of the French -and their allies, and, kindling the bark, rushed up to pile it blazing -against the palisade; but so brisk and steady a fire met them that they -recoiled and at last gave way. They came on again, and again were -driven back, leaving many of their number on the ground, among them -the principal chief of the Senecas. Some of the French dashed out, and, -covered by the fire of their comrades, hacked off his head, and stuck it -on the palisade, while the Iroquois howled in a frenzy of helpless rage. -They tried another attack, and were beaten off a third time. - -This dashed their spirits, and they sent a canoe to call to their aid -five hundred of their warriors who were mustered near the mouth of the -Richelieu. These were the allies whom, but for this untoward check, -they were on their way to join for a com bined attack on Quebec, Three -Rivers, and Montreal. It was maddening to see their grand project -thwarted by a few French and Indians ensconced in a paltry redoubt, -scarcely better than a cattlepen; but they were forced to digest the -affront as best they might. - -Meanwhile, crouched behind trees and logs, they beset the fort, -harassing its defenders day and night with a spattering fire and a -constant menace of attack. Thus five days passed. Hunger, thirst, and -want of sleep wrought fatally on the strength of the French and their -allies, who, pent up together in their narrow prison, fought and prayed -by turns. Deprived as they were of water, they could not swallow the -crushed Indian corn, or “hominy,” which was their only food. Some of -them, under cover of a brisk fire, ran down to the river and filled -such small vessels as they had; but this pittance only tantalized their -thirst. They dug a hole in the fort, and were rewarded at last by a -little muddy water oozing through the clay. - -Among the assailants were a number of Hurons, adopted by the Iroquois -and fighting on their side. These renegades now shouted to their -countrymen in the fort, telling them that a fresh army was close -at hand; that they would soon be attacked by seven or eight hundred -warriors; and that their only hope was in joining the Iroquois, who -would receive them as friends. Annahotaha’s followers, half dead with -thirst and famine, listened to their seducers, took the bait, and, one, -two, or three at a time, climbed the palisade and ran over to the enemy, -amid the hootings and execrations of those whom they deserted. Their -chief stood firm; and when he saw his nephew, La Mouche, join the other -fugitives, he fired his pistol at him in a rage. The four Algonquins, -who had no mercy to hope for, stood fast, with the courage of despair. - -On the fifth day an uproar of unearthly yells from seven hundred -savage throats, mingled with a clattering salute of musketry, told the -Frenchmen that the expected reinforcement had come; and soon, in the -forest and on the clearing, a crowd of warriors mustered for the attack. -Knowing from the Huron deserters the weakness of their enemy, they had -no doubt of an easy victory. They advanced cautiously, as was usual with -the Iroquois before their blood was up, screeching, leaping from side -to side, and firing as they came on; but the French were at their posts, -and every loophole darted its tongue of fire. Besides muskets, they had -heavy musketoons of large calibre, which, scattering scraps of lead and -iron among the throng of savages, often maimed several of them at one -discharge. The Iroquois, astonished at the persistent vigor of the -defence, fell back discomfited. The fire of the French, who were -themselves completely under cover, had told upon them with deadly -effect. Three days more wore away in a series of futile attacks, made -with little concert or vigor; and during all this time Daulac and his -men, reeling with exhaustion, fought and prayed as before, sure of a -martyr’s reward. - -The uncertain, vacillating temper common to all Indians now began -to declare itself. Some of the Iroquois were for going home. Others -revolted at the thought, and declared that it would be an eternal -disgrace to lose so many men at the hands of so paltry an enemy, and -yet fail to take revenge. It was resolved to make a general assault, and -volunteers were called for to lead the attack. After the custom on such -occasions, bundles of small sticks were thrown upon the ground, and -those picked them up who dared, thus accepting the gage of battle, and -enrolling themselves in the forlorn hope. No precaution was neglected. -Large and heavy shields four or five feet high were made by lashing -together three split logs with the aid of crossbars. Covering -themselves with these mantelets, the chosen band advanced, followed by -the motley throng of warriors. In spite of a brisk fire, they reached -the palisade, and, crouching below the range of shot, hewed furiously -with their hatchets to cut their way through. The rest followed close, -and swarmed like angry hornets around the little fort, hacking and -tearing to get in. - -Daulac had crammed a large musketoon with powder, and plugged up the -muzzle. Lighting the fuse inserted in it, he tried to throw it over the -barrier, to burst like a grenade among the crowd of savages without; but -it struck the ragged top of one of the palisades, fell back among the -Frenchmen and exploded, killing and wounding several of them, and -nearly blinding others. In the confusion that followed, the Iroquois -got possession of the loopholes, and, thrusting in their guns, fired on -those within. In a moment more they had torn a breach in the palisade; -but, nerved with the energy of desperation, Daulac and his followers -sprang to defend it. Another breach was made, and then another. Daulac -was struck dead, but the survivors kept up the fight. With a sword or -a hatchet in one hand and a knife in the other, they threw themselves -against the throng of enemies, striking and stabbing with the fury of -madmen; till the Iroquois, despairing of taking them alive, fired volley -after volley and shot them down. All was over, and a burst of triumphant -yells proclaimed the dear-bought victory. - -Searching the pile of corpses, the victors found four Frenchmen still -breathing. Three had scarcely a spark of life, and, as no time was to be -lost, they burned them on the spot. The fourth, less fortunate, seemed -likely to survive, and they reserved him for future torments. As for -the Huron deserters, their cowardice profited them little. The Iroquois, -regardless of their promises, fell upon them, burned some at once, -and carried the rest to their villages for a similar fate. Five of the -number had the good fortune to escape, and it was from them, aided by -admissions made long afterwards by the Iroquois themselves, that the -French of Canada derived all their knowledge of this glorious -disaster. * - - * When the fugitive Hurons reached Montreal, they were - unwilling to confess their desertion of the French, and - declared that they and some others of their people, to the - number of fourteen, had stood by them to the last. This was - the story told by one of them to the Jesuit Chaumonot, and - by him communicated in a letter to his friends at Quebec The - substance of this letter is given by Marie de l’Incarnation, - in her letter to her son of June 25, 1660. The Jesuit - Relation of this year gives another long account of the - affair, also derived from the Huron deserters, who this time - only pretended that ten of their number remained with the - French. They afterwards admitted that all had deserted but - Annaliotaha, as appears from the account drawn up by Dollier - de Casson, in his Histoire du Montréal. Another - contemporary, Belmont, who heard the story from an Iroquois, - makes the same statement. All these writers, though two of - them were not friendly to Montreal, agree that Daulac and - his followers saved Canada from a disastrous invasion. The - governor, Argenson, in a letter written on the fourth of - July following, and in his Mémoire sur le sujet de la guerre - des Iroquois, expresses the same conviction. Before me is an - extract, copied from the Petit Registre de la Cure de - Montréal, giving the names and ages of Daulac’s men. The - Abbé Faillon took extraordinary pains to collect all the - evidence touching this affair. See his Histoire de la - Colonie Française, II. chap. xv. Charlevoix, very little to - his credit, passes it over in silence, not being partial to - Montreal. - -To the colony it proved a salvation. The Iroquois had had fighting -enough. If seventeen Frenchmen, four Algonquins, and one Huron, behind -a picket fence, could hold seven hundred warriors at bay so long, what -might they expect from many such, fighting behind walls of stone? For -that year they thought no more of capturing Quebec and Montreal, but -went home dejected and amazed, to howl over their losses, and nurse -their dashed courage for a day of vengeance. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. 1657-1668. THE DISPUTED BISHOPRIC. - - -_Domestic Strife.--Jesuit and Sulpitian.--Abbé Queylus.--Francois de -Laval.--The Zealots of Caen.--Gallican and Ultramontane.--The Rival -Claimants.--Storm at Quebec--Laval Triumphant._ - - -|Canada, gasping under the Iroquois tomahawk, might, one would suppose, -have thought her cup of tribulation full, and, sated with inevitable -woe, have sought consolation from the wrath without in a holy calm -within. Not so, however; for while the heathen raged at the door, -discord rioted at the hearthstone. Her domestic quarrels were wonderful -in number, diversity, and bitterness. There was the standing quarrel of -Montreal and Quebec, the quarrels of priests with each other, of priests -with the governor, and of the governor with the intendant, besides -ceaseless wranglings of rival traders and rival peculators. - -Some of these disputes were local and of no special significance; while -others are very interesting, because, on a remote and obscure theatre, -they represent, sometimes in striking forms, the contending passions and -principles of a most important epoch of history. To begin with one which -even to this day has left a root of bitterness behind it. - -The association of pious enthusiasts who had founded Montreal * was -reduced in 1657 to a remnant of five or six persons, whose ebbing zeal -and overtaxed purses were no longer equal to the devout but arduous -enterprise. They begged the priests of the Seminary of St. Sulpice -to take it off their hands. The priests consented; and, though the -conveyance of the island of Montreal to these its new proprietors did -not take effect till some years later, four of the Sulpitian fathers, -Queylus, Souart, Galinée, and Allet, came out to the colony and took -it in charge. Thus far Canada had had no bishop, and the Sulpitians now -aspired to give it one from their own brotherhood. Many years before, -when the Recollets had a foothold in the colony, they too, or at least -some of them, had cherished the hope of giving Canada a bishop of -their own. ** As for the Jesuits, who for nearly thirty years had of -themselves constituted the Canadian church, they had been content thus -far to dispense with a bishop; for, having no rivals in the field, they -had felt no need of episcopal support. - -The Sulpitians put forward Queylus as their candidate for the new -bishopric. The assembly of French clergy approved, and Cardinal Mazarin - - * See Jesuits in North America, chap. xv. - - ** Mémoire qui faiet pour l’affaire des P.P. Recollects de - la province de St Denys ditte de Paris touchant le droigt - qu’ils ont depuis l’an 1615, d’aller en Quanada soubs - l’authorité de Sa Maiesté, etc. 1637. - -himself seemed to sanction, the nomination. The Jesuits saw that their -time of action was come. It was they who had borne the heat and burden -of the day, the toils, privations, and martyrdoms, while as yet -the Sulpitians had done nothing and endured nothing. If any body -of ecclesiastics was to have the nomination of a bishop, it clearly -belonged to them, the Jesuits. Their might, too, matched their right. -They were strong at court; Mazarin withdrew his assent, and the Jesuits -were invited to name a bishop to their liking. - -Meanwhile the Sulpitians, despairing of the bishopric, had sought their -solace elsewhere. Ships bound for Canada had usually sailed from ports -within the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Rouen, and the departing -missionaries had received their ecclesiastical powers from him, till he -had learned to regard Canada as an outlying section of his diocese. Not -unwilling to assert his claims, he now made Queylus his vicar-general -for all Canada, thus clothing him with episcopal powers, and placing him -over the heads of the Jesuits. Queylus, in effect, though not in name, -a bishop, left his companion Souart in the spiritual charge of Montreal, -came down to Quebec, announced his new dignity, and assumed the curacy -of the parish. The Jesuits received him at first with their usual -urbanity, an exercise of selfcontrol rendered more easy by their -knowledge that one more potent than Queylus would soon arrive to -supplant him. * - - * A detailed account of the experiences of Queylus at - Quebec, immediately after his arrival, as related by - himself, will be found in a memoir by the Sulpitian Allet, - in Morale Pratique des Jésuites, XXXIV. chap, xii. In - chapter ten of the same volume the writer says that he - visited Queylus at Mont St. Valérien, after his return from - Canada. “II me prit à part; nous nous promenâmes assez - longtemps dans le jardin et il m’ouvrit son cœur sur la - conduite des Je'suites dans le Canada et partout ailleurs - Messieurs de St. Sulpice savent bien ce qu’il m’en a pu - dire, et je suis assuré qu’ils ne diront pas que je l’ai du - prendre pour des mensonges." - -The vicar of the Archbishop of Rouen was a man of many virtues, devoted -to good works, as he understood them; rich, for the Sulpitians were -under no vow of poverty; generous in almsgiving, busy, indefatigable, -overflowing with zeal, vivacious in temperament and excitable in temper, -impatient of opposition, and, as it seems, incapable, like his destined -rival, of seeing any way of doing good but his own. Though the Jesuits -were outwardly courteous, their partisans would not listen to the new -curé’s sermons, or listened only to find fault, and germs of discord -grew vigorously in the parish of Quebec. Prudence was not among the -virtues of Queylus. He launched two sermons against the Jesuits, in -which he likened himself to Christ and them to the Pharisees. “Who,” -he supposed them to say, “is this Jesus, so beloved of the people, -who comes to cast discredit on us, who for thirty or forty years -have governed church and state here, with none to dispute us?” * He -denounced such of his hearers as came to pick flaws in his discourse, -and told them it would be better for their souls if they lay in bed at -home, sick of a “good quartan fever.” His ire was greatly kindled -by a letter of the Jesuit Pijart, which fell into his hands through a -female adherent, the pious - - * Journal des Jésuites, Oct., 1657. - -Madame d’Aillebout, and in which that father declared that he, -Queylus, was waging war on him and his brethren more savagely than -the Iroquois. * “He was as crazy at sight of a Jesuit,” writes an -adverse biographer, “as a mad dog at sight of water.” ** He cooled, -however, on being shown certain papers which proved that his position -was neither so strong nor so secure as he had supposed; and the -governor, Argenson, at length persuaded him to retire to Montreal. *** - -The queen mother, Anne of Austria, always inclined to the Jesuits, had -invited Father Le Jeune, who was then in France, to make choice of a -bishop for Canada. It was not an easy task. No Jesuit was eligible, for -the sage policy of Loyola had excluded members of the order from the -bishopric. The signs of the times portended trouble for the Canadian -church, and there was need of a bishop who would assert her claims and -fight her battles. Such a man could not be made an instrument of the -Jesuits; therefore there was double need that he should be one with -them in sympathy and purpose. They made a sagacious choice. Le -Jeune presented to the queen mother the name of François Xavier de -Laval-Montmorency, Abbé de Montigny. - -Laval, for by this name he was thenceforth known, belonged to one of the -proudest families of Europe, and, churchman as he was, there is - - * Journal des Jésuites, Oct., 1657. - - ** Viger, Notice Historique sur l’Abbé de Queylus. - - *** Papiers d’Argenson. - -much in his career to remind us that in his veins ran the blood of -the stern Constable of France, Anne de Montmorency. Nevertheless, -his thoughts from childhood had turned towards the church, or, as -his biographers will have it, all his aspirations were heavenward. He -received the tonsure at the age of nine. The Jesuit Bagot confirmed and -moulded his youthful predilections; and, at a later period, he was one -of a band of young zealots, formed under the auspices of Bernières de -Louvigni, royal treasurer at Caen, who, though a layman, was reputed -almost a saint. It was Bernières who had borne the chief part in the -pious fraud of the pretended marriage through which Madame de la Peltrie -escaped from her father’s roof to become foundress of the Ursulines -of Quebec. * He had since renounced the world, and dwelt at Caen, in a -house attached to an Ursuline convent, and known as the Hermitage. Here -he lived like a monk, in the midst of a community of young priests and -devotees, who looked to him as their spiritual director, and whom he -trained in the maxims and practices of the most extravagant, or, as his -admirers say, the most sublime ultramontane piety. ** - -The conflict between the Jesuits and the Jansenists was then at its -height. The Jansenist doctrines of election and salvation by grace, -which sapped the power of the priesthood and impugned the authority of -the Pope himself in his capacity of holder of the keys of heaven, were -to the Jesuits - - * See Jesuits in North America, chap. xiv. - - ** La Tour, Vie de Laval, gives his maxims at length. - -an abomination; while the rigid morals of the Jansenists stood in -stern contrast to the pliancy of Jesuit casuistry. Bernières and his -disciples were zealous, not to say fanatical, partisans of the Jesuits. -There is a long account of the “Hermitage" and its inmates from the -pen of the famous Jansenist, Nicole; an opponent, it is true, but one -whose qualities of mind and character give weight to his testimony. * - -“In this famous Hermitage,” says Nicole, “the late Sieur de -Bernières brought up a number of young men, to whom he taught a sort of -sublime and transcendental devotion called _passive prayer_, because -in it the mind does not act at all, but merely receives the divine -operation; and this devotion is the source of all those visions and -revelations in which the Hermitage is so prolific.” In short, he and -his disciples were mystics of the most exalted type. Nicole pursues: -“After having thus subtilized their minds, and almost sublimed them -into vapor, he rendered them capable of detecting Jansenists under any -disguise, insomuch that some of his followers said that they knew -them by the scent, as dogs know their game; but the aforesaid Sieur de -Bernières denied that they had so subtile a sense of smell, and said -that the mark by which he detected Jansenists was their disapproval of -his teachings or their opposition to the Jesuits.” - -The zealous band at the Hermitage was aided in - - * Mémoire pour faire connoistre l'esprit et la conduite de - la Compagnie établie en la ville de Caen, appéllée - l'Hermitage (Bibliothèque Nationnale Imprimés Partie - Réservée). Written in 1660. - -its efforts to extirpate error by a sort of external association in the -city of Caen, consisting of merchants, priests, officers, petty nobles, -and others, all inspired and guided by Bernières. They met every week -at the Hermitage, or at the houses of each other. Similar associations -existed in other cities of France, besides a fraternity in the Rue St. -Dominique at Paris, which was formed by the Jesuit Bagot, and seems to -have been the parent, in a certain sense, of the others. They all acted -together when any important object was in view. - -Bernières and his disciples felt that God had chosen them not only to -watch over doctrine and discipline in convents and in families, but -also to supply the prevalent deficiency of zeal in bishops and other -dignitaries of the church. They kept, too, a constant eye on the humbler -clergy, and whenever a new preacher appeared in Caen, two of their -number were deputed to hear his sermon and report upon it. If he chanced -to let fall a word concerning the grace of God, they denounced him for -Jansenistic heresy. Such commotion was once raised in Caen by charges -of sedition and Jansenism, brought by the Hermitage against priests and -laymen hitherto without attaint, that the Bishop of Bayeux thought it -necessary to interpose; but even he was forced to pause, daunted by -the insinuations of Bernières that he was in secret sympathy with the -obnoxious doctrines. - -Thus the Hermitage and its affiliated societies constituted themselves a -sort of inquisition in the interest of the Jesuits; “for what,” -asks Nicole “might not be expected from persons of weak minds and -atrabilious dispositions, dried up by constant fasts, vigils, and other -austerities, besides meditations of three or four hours a day, and told -continually that the church is in imminent danger of ruin through the -machinations of the Jansenists, who are represented to them as persons -who wish to break up the foundations of the Christian faith and -subvert the mystery of the Incarnation; who believe neither in -transubstantiation, the invocation of saints, nor indulgences; who wish -to abolish the sacrifice of the Mass and the sacrament of Penitence, -oppose the worship of the Holy Virgin, deny freewill and substitute -predestination in its place, and, in fine, conspire to overthrow the -authority of the Supreme Pontiff.” - -Among other anecdotes, Nicole tells the following: One of the young -zealots of the Hermitage took it into his head that all Caen was full of -Jansenists, and that the curés of the place were in league with them. -He inoculated four others with this notion, and they resolved to warn -the people of their danger. They accordingly made the tour of the -streets, without hats or collars, and with coats unbuttoned, though it -was a cold winter day, stopping every moment to proclaim in a loud voice -that all the curés, excepting two, whom they named, were abettors of -the Jansenists. A mob was soon following at their heels, and there was -great excitement. The magistrates chanced to be in session, and, hearing -of the disturbance, they sent constables to arrest the authors of it. -Being brought to the bar of justice and questioned by the judge, they -answered that they were doing the work of God, and were ready to die -in the cause; that Caen was full of Jansenists, and that the curés had -declared in their favor, inasmuch as they denied any knowledge of their -existence. Four of the five were locked up for a few days, tried, and -sentenced to a fine of a hundred livres, with a promise of further -punishment should they again disturb the peace. * - -The fifth, being pronounced out of his wits by the physicians, was sent -home to his mother, at a village near Argentan, where two or three of -his fellow zealots presently joined him. Among them, they persuaded his -mother, who had hitherto been, devoted to household cares, to exchange -them for a life of mystical devotion. “These three or four persons,” -says Nicole, “attracted others as imbecile as themselves.” Among -these recruits were a number of women, and several priests. After -various acts of fanaticism, “two or three days before last -Pentecost,” proceeds the narrator, “they all set out, men and women, -for Argentan. The priests had drawn the skirts of their cassocks over -their heads, and tied them about their necks with twisted straw. Some -of the women had their heads bare, and their hair streaming loose over -their shoulders. They picked up filth on the road, and rubbed their -faces with it, and the most zealous ate it, saying that it was necessary -to mortify the taste. Some - - * Nicole is not the only authority for this story. It is - also told by a very different writer. See Notice Historique - de l'Abbaye de Ste. Claire d’Arqentan, 124, - -held stones in their hands, which they knocked together to draw the -attention of the passersby. They had a leader, whom they were bound to -obey; and when this leader saw any mudhole particularly deep and dirty, -he commanded some of the party to roll themselves in it, which they did -forthwith. * - -“After this fashion, they entered the town of Argentan, and marched, -two by two, through all the streets, crying with a loud voice that the -Faith was perishing, and that whoever wished to save it must quit the -country and go with them to Canada, whither they were soon to repair. -It is said that they still hold this purpose, and that their leaders -declare it revealed to them that they will find a vessel ready at the -first port to which Providence directs them. The reason why they choose -Canada for an asylum is, that Monsieur de Montigny (Laval), Bishop of -Petræa, who lived at the Hermitage a long time, where he was instructed -in mystical theology by Monsieur de Bernières, exercises episcopal -functions there; and that the Jesuits, who are their oracles, reign in -that country.” - -This adventure, like the other, ended in a collision with the police. -“The priests,” adds Nicole, “were arrested, and are now waiting -trial, and the rest were treated as mad, and sent back with shame and -confusion to the places whence they had come.” - - * These proceedings were probably intended to produce the - result which was the constant object of the mystics of the - Hermitage; namely, the “annihilation of self,” with a view - to a perfect union with God. To become despised of men was - an important, if not an essential, step in this mystical - suicide. - -Though these pranks took place after Laval had left the Hermitage, they -serve to characterize the school in which he was formed; or, more justly -speaking, to show its most extravagant side. That others did not -share the views of the celebrated Jansenist, may be gathered from the -following passage of the funeral oration pronounced over the body of -Laval half a century later:-- - -“The humble abbé was next transported into the terrestrial paradise -of Monsieur de Bernières. It is thus that I call, as it is fitting to -call it, that famous Hermitage of Caen, where the seraphic author of -the ‘Christian Interior’ (_Bernières_) transformed into angels all -those who had the happiness to be the companions of his solitude and -of his spiritual exercises. It was there that, during four years, the -fervent abbé drank the living and abounding waters of grace which have -since flowed so benignly over this land of Canada. In this celestial -abode his ordinary occupations were prayer, mortification, instruction -of the poor, and spiritual readings or conferences; his recreations were -to labor in the hospitals, wait upon the sick and poor, make their beds, -dress their wounds, and aid them in their most repulsive needs.” * - -In truth, Laval’s zeal was boundless, and the exploits of -self-humiliation recorded of him were unspeakably revolting. ** -Bernières himself regarded - - * Eloge funèbre de Messire François Xavier de Laval- - Montmorency, par Messire de la Colombière, Vicaire Général. - - ** See La Tour, Vie de Laval, Liv. I. Some of them were - closely akin to that of the fanatics mentioned above, who - ate “immondices d’animaux” to mortify the taste. - -him as a light by which to guide his own steps in ways of holiness. He -made journeys on foot about the country, disguised, penniless, begging -from door to door, and courting scorn and opprobrium, “in order,” -says his biographer, “that he might suffer for the love of God.” -Yet, though living at this time in a state of habitual religious -exaltation, he was by nature no mere dreamer; and in whatever heights -his spirit might wander, his feet were always planted on the solid -earth. His flaming zeal had for its servants a hard, practical nature, -perfectly fitted for the battle of life, a narrow intellect, a stiff -and persistent will, and, as his enemies thought, the love of domination -native to his blood. - -Two great parties divided the Catholics of France,--the Gallican or -national party, and the ultramontane or papal party. The first, resting -on the Scriptural injunction to give tribute to Cæsar, held that to the -king, the Lord’s anointed, belonged the temporal, and to the church -the spiritual power. It held also that the laws and customs of the -church of France could not be broken at the bidding of the Pope. * -The ultramontane party, on the other hand, maintained that the Pope, -Christ’s vicegerent on earth, was supreme over earthly rulers, and -should of right hold jurisdiction over the clergy of all Christendom, -with powers of appointment and removal. Hence they claimed for him the -right of nominating bishops in - - * See the famous Quatre Articles of 1682, in which the - liberties of the Gallican Church are asserted. - -France. This had anciently been exercised by assemblies of the French -clergy, but in the reign of Francis I. the king and the Pope had -combined to wrest it from them by the Concordat of Bologna. Under this -compact, which was still in force, the Pope appointed French bishops on -the nomination of the king, a plan which displeased the Gallicans, and -did not satisfy the ultramontanes. - -The Jesuits, then as now, were the most forcible exponents of -ultramontane principles. The church to rule the world; the Pope to rule -the church; the Jesuits to rule the Pope: such was and is the simple -programme of the Order of Jesus, and to it they have held fast, except -on a few rare occasions of misunderstanding with the Vicegerent of -Christ. * In the question of papal supremacy, as in most things else, -Laval was of one mind with them. - -Those versed in such histories will not be surprised to learn that, -when he received the royal nomination, humility would not permit him -to accept it; nor that, being urged, he at length bowed in resignation, -still protesting his unworthiness. Nevertheless, the royal nomination -did not take effect. The ultramontanes outflanked both the king and -the Gallicans, and by adroit strategy made the new prelate completely a -creature of the papacy. Instead of appointing him Bishop of Quebec, -in accordance with the royal initiative, the Pope made him his vicar -apostolic for Canada, - - * For example, not long after this time, the Jesuits, - having a dispute with Innocent XI., threw themselves into - the party of opposition. - -thus evading the king’s nomination, and affirming that Canada, a -country of infidel savages, was excluded from the concordat, and under -his (the Pope’s) jurisdiction pure and simple. The Gallicans were -enraged. The Archbishop of Rouen vainly opposed, and the parliaments -of Rouen and of Paris vainly protested. The papal party prevailed. -The king, or rather Mazarin, gave his consent, subject to certain -conditions, the chief of which was an oath of allegiance; and Laval, -grand vicar apostolic, decorated with the title of Bishop of Petræa, -sailed for his wilderness diocese in the spring of 1659. * He was but -thirty-six years of age, but even when a boy he could scarcely have -seemed young. - -Queylus, for a time, seemed to accept the situation, and tacitly admit -the claim of Laval as his ecclesiastical superior; but, stimulated by -a letter from the Archbishop of Rouen, he soon threw himself into an -attitude of opposition, ** in which the popularity which his generosity -to the poor had won for him gave him an advantage very annoying to his -adversary. The quarrel, it will be seen, was three-sided,--Gallican -against ultramontane, Sulpitian against Jesuit, Montreal against -Quebec. To Montreal the recalcitrant abbé, after a brief visit to -Quebec, had again retired; but even here, girt with his Sulpitian -brethren and compassed with - - * Compare La Tour, Vie de Laval, with the long statement in - Faillon, Colonie Française, II. 315-335. Faillon gives - various documents in full, including the royal letter of - nomination and those in which the King gives a reluctant - consent to the appointment of the vicar apostolic. - - ** Journal des Jésuites, Sept., 1657. - -partisans, the arm of the vicar apostolic was long enough to reach him. - -By temperament and conviction Laval hated a divided authority, and the -very shadow of a schism was an abomination in his sight. The young -king, who, though abundantly jealous of his royal power, was forced -to conciliate the papal party, had sent instructions to Argenson, -the governor, to support Laval, and prevent divisions in the Canadian -church. * These instructions served as the pretext of a procedure -sufficiently summary. A squad of soldiers, commanded, it is said, by the -governor himself, went up to Montreal, brought the indignant Queylus -to Quebec, and shipped him thence for France. ** By these means, writes -Father Lalemant, order reigned for a season in the church. - -It was but for a season. Queylus was not a man to bide his defeat -in tranquillity, nor were his brother Sulpitians disposed to silent -acquiescence. Laval, on his part, was not a man of half measures. He had -an agent in France, and partisans strong at court. Fearing, to borrow -the words of a Catholic writer, that the return of Queylus to Canada -would prove “injurious to the glory of God,” he bestirred himself -to prevent it. The young king, then at Aix, on his famous journey to -the frontiers of Spain to marry the Infanta, was induced to write -to Queylus, ordering him to remain in France. *** Queylus, however, -repaired to Rome; but even - - * Lettre du Roi à d’Argenson, 14 Mai, 1659. - - ** Belmont, Histoire du Canada, a.d. 1659. Memoir by Abbé - d’Allet, in Morale Pratique des Jésuites, XXXIV. 725. - - *** Lettre du Roi a Queylus, 27 Feb., 1660. - -against this movement provision had been made: accusations of Jansenism -had gone before him, and he met a cold welcome. Nevertheless, as he had -powerful friends near the Pope, he succeeded in removing these adverse -impressions, and even in obtaining certain bulls relating to the -establishment, of the parish of Montreal, and favorable to the -Sulpitians. - -Provided with these, he set at nought the king’s letter, embarked -under an assumed name, and sailed to Quebec, where he made his -appearance on the 3d of August, 1661, * to the extreme wrath of Laval. - -A ferment ensued. Laval’s partisans charged the Sulpitians with -Jansenism and opposition to the will of the Pope. A preacher more -zealous than the rest denounced them as priests of Antichrist; and as to -the bulls in their favor, it was affirmed that Queylus had obtained them -by fraud from the Holy Father. Laval at once issued a mandate forbidding -him to proceed to Montreal till ships should arrive with instructions -from the King. ** At the same time he demanded of the governor that he -should interpose the civil power to prevent Queylus from leaving Quebec. -*** As Argenson, who wished to act as peacemaker between the belligerent -fathers, did not at once take the sharp measures required of him, Laval -renewed his demand on the next day, calling on him, in the name of God -and the king, to compel Queylus to yield the obedience - - * Journal des Jésuites, Août, 1661. - - ** Lettre de Laval à Queylus, 4 Août, 1661. - - ***Lettre de Laval a d’Argenson, Ibid. - -due to him, the vicar apostolic. * At the same time he sent another to -the offending abbé, threatening to suspend him from priestly functions -if he persisted in his rebellion. ** - -The incorrigible Queylus, who seems to have lived for some months in a -simmer of continual indignation, set at nought the vicar apostolic as he -had set at nought the king, took a boat that very night, and set out -for Montreal under cover of darkness. Great was the ire of Laval when -he heard the news in the morning. He despatched a letter after him, -declaring him suspended _ipso facto_, if he did not instantly return -and make his submission. *** This letter, like the rest, failed of the -desired effect; but the governor, who had received a second mandate from -the king to support Laval and prevent a schism, **** now reluctantly -interposed the secular arm, and Queylus was again compelled to return to -France. (v) - -His expulsion was a Sulpitian defeat. Laval, always zealous for unity -and centralization, had some time before taken steps to repress what -he regarded as a tendency to independence at Montreal. In the preceding -year he had written to the Pope: “There are some secular priests -(_Sulpitians_) at Montreal, whom the Abbé de Queylus brought out with -him in 1657, and I have named for the - - * Lettre de Laval a d’Argenson, 5 Août, 1661. - - ** Lettre de Laval a Queylus, Ibid. - - **** Ibid, 6 Août, 1661. - - **** Lettre du Roi à d’Argenson, 13 Mai, 1660. - - (v) For the governor’s attitude in this affair, consult the - Papiers d'Argentan, containing his despatches. - -functions of curé the one among them whom I thought the least -disobedient.” The bulls which Queylus had obtained from Rome related -to this very curacy, and greatly disturbed the mind of the vicar -apostolic. He accordingly wrote again to the Pope: “I pray your -Holiness to let me know your will concerning the jurisdiction of the -Archbishop of Rouen. M. l’Abbé de Queylus, who has come out this year -as vicar of this archbishop, has tried to deceive us by surreptitious -letters, and has obeyed neither our prayers nor our repeated commands to -desist. But he has received orders from the king to return immediately -to France, to render an account of his disobedience, and he has been -compelled by the governor to conform to the will of his Majesty. What I -now fear is that, on his return to France, by using every kind of means, -employing new artifices, and falsely representing our affairs, he may -obtain from the court of Rome powers which may disturb the peace of our -church; for the priests whom he brought with him from France, and who -five at Montreal, are animated with the same spirit of disobedience -and division; and I fear, with good reason, that all belonging to the -seminary of St. Sulpice, who may come hereafter to join them, will be -of the same disposition. If what is said is true, that by means of -fraudulent letters the right of patronage of the pretended parish of -Montreal has been granted to the superior of this seminary, and the -right of appointment to the Archbishop of Rouen, then is altar reared -against altar in our church of Canada; for the clergy of Montreal -will always stand in opposition to me, the vicar apostolic, and to my -successors.” * - -These dismal forebodings were never realized The Holy See annulled -the obnoxious bulls; the Archbishop of Rouen renounced his claims, and -Queylus found his position untenable. Seven years later, when Laval was -on a visit to France, a reconciliation was brought about between them. -The former vicar of the Archbishop of Rouen made his submission to the -vicar of the Pope, and returned to Canada as a missionary. Laval’s -triumph was complete, to the joy of the Jesuits, silent, if not idle, -spectators of the tedious and complex quarrel. - - * Lettre de Laval au Pape, 22 Oct., 1661. Printed by - Faillon, from the original in the archives of the - Propaganda. - - - - -CHAPTER V. 1659, 1660. LAVAL AND ARGENSON. - - -_François de Laval.--His Position and Character.--Arrival of -Argenson.--The Quarrel._ - - -|We are touching delicate ground. To many excellent Catholics of our own -day Laval is an object of veneration. The Catholic university of Quebec -glories in bearing his name, and certain modern ecclesiastical -writers rarely mention him in terms less reverent than “the -virtuous prelate,” or “the holy prelate.” Nor are some of his -contemporaries less emphatic in eulogy. Mother Juchereau de Saint-Denis, -Superior of the Hôtel Dieu, wrote immediately after his death: “He -began in his tenderest years the study of perfection, and we have reason -to think that he reached it, since every virtue which Saint Paul demands -in a bishop was seen and admired in him;” and on his first arrival -in Canada, Mother Marie de l’Incarnation, Superior of the Ursulines, -wrote to her son that the choice of such a prelate was not of man, but -of God. “will not,” she adds, “say that he is a saint, but I -may say with truth that he lives like a saint and an apostle.” And -she describes his austerity of life; how he had but two servants, a -gardener--whom he lent on occasion to his needy neighbors--and a valet; -how he lived in a small hired house, saying that he would not have one -of his own if he could build it for only five sous; and how, in his -table, furniture, and bed, he showed the spirit of poverty, even, as she -thinks, to excess. His servant, a lay brother named Houssart, testified, -after his death, that he slept on a hard bed, and would not suffer it to -be changed even when it became full of fleas; and, what is more to the -purpose, that he gave fifteen hundred or two thousand francs to the -poor every year. * Houssart also gives the following specimen of his -austerities: “I have seen him keep cooked meat five, six, seven, or -eight days in the heat of summer, and when it was all mouldy and wormy -he washed it in warm water and ate it, and told me that it was very -good.” The old servant was so impressed by these and other proofs of -his master’s sanctity, that “I determined,” he says, “to keep -every thing I could that had belonged to his holy person, and after his -death to soak bits of linen in his blood when his body was opened, and -take a few bones and cartilages from his breast, cut off his hair, and -keep his clothes, and such things, to serve as most precious relics.” -These pious cares were not in vain, for the relics proved greatly in -demand. - - * Lettre du Frère Houssart, ancien serviteur de Mg'r de - Laval a M. Tremblay, 1 Sept., 1708. This letter is printed, - though with one or two important omissions, in the Abeille, - Vol. I. (Quebec, 1848.) - -Several portraits of Laval are extant. A drooping nose of portentous -size; a well-formed forehead; a brow strongly arched; a bright, clear -eye; scanty hair, half hidden by a black skullcap; thin lips, compressed -and rigid, betraying a spirit not easy to move or convince; features of -that indescribable cast which marks the priestly type: such is Laval, as -he looks grimly down on us from the dingy canvas of two centuries ago. - -He is one of those concerning whom Protestants and Catholics, at least -ultramontane Catholics, will never agree in judgment. The task of -eulogizing him may safely be left to those of his own way of thinking. -It is for us to regard him from the standpoint of secular history. And, -first, let us credit him with sincerity. He believed firmly that the -princes and rulers of this world ought to be subject to guidance and -control at the hands of the Pope, the vicar of Christ on earth. But -he himself was the Pope’s vicar, and, so far as the bounds of Canada -extended, the Holy Father had clothed him with his own authority. The -glory of God demanded that this authority should suffer no abatement, -and he, Laval, would be guilty before Heaven if he did not uphold the -supremacy of the church over the powers both of earth and of hell. - -Of the faults which he owed to nature, the principal seems to have been -an arbitrary and domineering temper. He was one of those who by nature -lean always to the side of authority; and in the English Revolution -he would inevitably have stood for the Stuarts; or, in the American -Revolution, for the Crown. But being above all things a Catholic and a -priest, he was drawn by a constitutional necessity to the ultramontane -party, or the party of centralization. He fought lustily, in his way, -against the natural man; and humility was the virtue to the culture -of which he gave his chief attention, but soil and climate were not -favorable. His life was one long assertion of the authority of the -church, and this authority was lodged in himself. In his stubborn fight -for ecclesiastical ascendancy, he was aided by the impulses of a nature -that loved to rule, and could not endure to yield. His principles -and his instinct of domination were acting in perfect unison, and -his conscience was the handmaid of his fault. Austerities and -mortifications, playing at beggar, sleeping in beds full of fleas, or -performing prodigies of gratuitous dirtiness in hospitals, however -fatal to self-respect, could avail little against influences working -so powerfully and so insidiously to stimulate the most subtle of human -vices. The history of the Roman church is full of Lavals. - -The Jesuits, adepts in human nature, had made a sagacious choice when -they put forward this conscientious, zealous, dogged, and pugnacious -priest to fight their battles. Nor were they ill pleased that, for the -present, he was not Bishop of Canada, but only vicar apostolic; for, -such being the case, they could have him recalled if, on trial, they did -not like him, while an unacceptable bishop would be an evil past remedy. - -Canada was entering; a state of transition. Hitherto ecclesiastical -influence had been all in all. The Jesuits, by far the most educated and -able body of men in the colony, had controlled it, not alone in things -spiritual, but virtually in things temporal also; and the governor -may be said to have been little else than a chief of police, under -the direction of the missionaries. The early governors were themselves -deeply imbued with the missionary spirit. Champlain was earnest above -all things for converting the Indians; Montmagny was half-monk, for he -was a Knight of Malta; Aillebout was so insanely pious, that he lived -with his wife like monk and nun. A change was at hand. From a mission -and a trading station, Canada was soon to become, in the true sense, a -colony; and civil government had begun to assert itself on the banks -of the St. Lawrence. The epoch of the martyrs and apostles was passing -away, and the man of the sword and the man of the gown--the soldier and -the legist--were threatening to supplant the paternal sway of priests; -or, as Laval might have said, the hosts of this world were beleaguering -the sanctuary, and he was called of Heaven to defend it. His true -antagonist, though three thousand miles away, was the great minister -Colbert, as purely a statesman as the vicar apostolic was purely a -priest. Laval, no doubt, could see behind the statesman’s back another -adversary, the devil. - -Argenson was governor when the crozier and the sword began to clash, -which is merely another way of saying that he was governor when Laval -arrived. He seems to have been a man of education, moderation, and -sense, and lie was also an earnest Catholic; but if Laval had his duties -to God, so had Argenson his duties to the king, of whose authority -he was the representative and guardian. If the first collisions seem -trivial, they were no less the symptoms of a grave antagonism. Argenson -could have purchased peace only by becoming an agent of the church. - -The vicar apostolic, or, as he was usually styled, the bishop, being, it -may be remembered, titular Bishop of Petræa in Arabia, presently fell -into a quarrel with the governor touching the relative position of their -seats in church,--a point which, by the way, was a subject of contention -for many years, and under several successive governors. This time -the case was referred to the ex-governor, Aillebout, and a temporary -settlement took place. * A few weeks after, on the fête of Saint -Francis Xavier, when the Jesuits were accustomed to ask the dignitaries -of the colony to dine in their refectory after mass, a fresh difficulty -arose,--Should the governor or the bishop have the higher seat at table? -The question defied solution; so the fathers invited neither of them. ** - -Again, on Christmas, at the midnight mass, the deacon offered incense -to the bishop, and then, in obedience to an order from him, sent a -subordinate to offer it to the governor, instead of offering it himself. -Laval further insisted that the priests of the choir should receive -incense before the governor - - * Lalemant, in Journal des Jesuites, Sept., 1659. - - ** Ibid., Dec., 1659. - -received it. Argenson resisted, and a bitter quarrel ensued. * - -The late governor, Aillebout, had been churchwarden _ex officio_; ** and -in this pious community the office was esteemed as an addition to his -honors. Argenson had thus far held the same position; but Laval declared -that he should hold it no longer. Argenson, to whom the bishop had not -spoken on the subject, came soon after to a meeting of the wardens, -and, being challenged, denied Laval’s right to dismiss him. A dispute -ensued, in which the bishop, according to his Jesuit friends, used -language not very respectful to the representative of royalty. *** - -On occasion of the “solemn catechism,” the bishop insisted that -the children should salute him before saluting the governor. Argenson -hearing of this, declined to come. A compromise was contrived. It was -agreed that when the rival dignitaries entered, the children should -be busied in some manual exercise which should prevent their saluting -either. Nevertheless, two boys, “enticed and set on by their -parents,” saluted the governor first, to the great indignation of -Laval. They were whipped on the next day for breach of orders. **** - -Next there was a sharp quarrel about a sentence pronounced by Laval -against a heretic, to which the governor, good Catholic as he was, took - - * Lalemant, in Journal des Jésuites, Dec., 1659; Lettre - d’Argenson MM. de la Compagnie de St. Sulpice. - - ** Livre des Délibérations de la Fabrique de Québec. - - *** Journal des Jésuites, Nov., 1660 - - **** Ibid., Feb., 1661. - -exception. * Palm Sunday came, and there could be no procession and no -distribution of branches, because the governor and the bishop could not -agree on points of precedence. ** On the day of the Fête Dieu, however, -there was a grand procession, which stopped from time to time at -temporary altars, or _reposoirs_, placed at intervals along its course. -One of these was in the fort, where the soldiers were drawn, up, waiting -the arrival of the procession. Laval demanded that they should take off -their hats. Argenson assented, and the soldiers stood uncovered. Laval -now insisted that they should kneel. The governor replied that it was -their duty as soldiers to stand; whereupon the bishop refused to stop at -the altar, and ordered the procession to move on. *** - -The above incidents are set down in the private journal of the superior -of the Jesuits, which was not meant for the public eye. The bishop, -it will be seen, was, by the showing of his friends, in most cases the -aggressor. The disputes in question, 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 - - * Journal des Jésuites, Feb., 1661. - - ** Ibid., Avril, 1661. - - *** Ibid., Juin, 1661. - -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 - -Hence it is not surprising to find a memorial, drawn up apparently by -Argenson, and addressed to the council of state, asking for instructions -when and how a governor--lieutenant-general for the king--ought to -receive incense, holy water, and consecrated bread; whether the said -bread should be offered him with sound of drum and fife; what should -be the position of his seat at church; and what place he should hold in -various religious ceremonies; whether in feasts, assemblies, ceremonies, -and councils of _a purely civil character_, he or the bishop was to hold -the first place; and, finally, if the bishop could excommunicate the -inhabitants or others for acts of a civil and political character, when -the said acts were pronounced lawful by the governor. - -The reply to the memorial denies to the bishop the power of -excommunication in civil matters, assigns to him the second place in -meetings and ceremonies of a civil character, and is very reticent as to -the rest. * - -Argenson had a brother, a counsellor of state, and a fast friend of the -Jesuits. Laval was in correspondence with him, and, apparently sure of -sympathy, wrote to him touching his relations with the governor. “Your -brother,” he begins, - - * Advis et Résolutions demandés sur la Nouvelle France. - -“received me on my arrival with extraordinary kindness;” but he -proceeds to say that, perceiving with sorrow that he entertained a -groundless distrust of those good servants of God, the Jesuit fathers, -he, the bishop, thought it his duty to give him in private a candid -warning which ought to have done good, but which, to his surprise, the -governor had taken amiss, and had conceived, in consequence, a prejudice -against his monitor. * - -Argenson, on his part, writes to the same brother, at about the same -time. “The Bishop of Petræa is so stiff in opinion, and so often -transported by his zeal beyond the rights of his position, that he makes -no difficulty in encroaching on the functions of others; and this with -so much heat that he will listen to nobody. A few days ago he carried -off a servant girl of one of the inhabitants here, and placed her by -his own authority in the Ursuline convent, on the sole pretext that -he wanted to have her instructed, thus depriving her master of her -services, though he had been at great expense in bringing her from -France. This inhabitant is M. Denis, who, not knowing who had carried -her off, came to me with a petition to get her out of the convent. I -kept the petition three days without answering it, to prevent the affair -from being noised abroad. The Reverend Father Lalemant, with whom -I communicated on the subject, and who greatly blamed the Bishop of -Petræa, did all in his power to have the girl given up quietly, but - - * Lettre de Laval à M. d’Argenson, frère du Gouverneur, 20 - Oct, 1659. - -without the least success, so that I was forced to answer the petition, -and permit M. Denis to take his servant wherever he should find her; -and, if I had not used means to bring about an accommodation, and if M. -Denis, on the refusal which was made him to give her up, had brought the -matter into court, I should have been compelled to take measures which -would have caused great scandal, and all from the self-will of the -Bishop of Petræa, who says that _a bishop can do what he likes_, and -threatens nothing but excommunication.” * - -In another letter he speaks in the same strain of this redundancy of -zeal on the part of the bishop, which often, he says, takes the shape of -obstinacy and encroachment on the rights of others. “It is greatly to -be wished,” he observes, “that the Bishop of Petræa would give -his confidence to the Reverend Father Lalemant instead of Father -Ragueneau;” ** and he praises Lalemant as a person of excellent sense. -“It would be well,” he adds, “if the rest of their community were -of the same mind; for in that case they would not mix themselves up with -various matters in the way they do, and would leave the government to -those to whom God has given it in charge.”*** - -One of Laval’s modern admirers, the worthy Abbé Ferland, after -confessing that his zeal may now and then have savored of excess, adds -in his defence, that a vigorous hand was needed to - - * “--Qui dict quun Evesque peult ce qu’il veult et ne - menace que dexcommunication.” Lettre d’Argenson a son - Frère, 1659. - - ** Lettre d’Argenson à son Frère, 21 Oct., 1659. - - *** Ibid., 7 July, 1660. - -compel the infant colony to enter “the good path;” meaning, of -course, the straitest path of Roman Catholic orthodoxy. We may hereafter -see more of this stringent system of colonial education, its success, -and the results that followed. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. 1658-1663. LAVAL AND AVAUGOUR. - - -_Reception of Argenson.--His Difficulties.--His Recall.--Dubois -d’Avaugour.--The Brandt Quarrel.--Distress of Laval.--Portents.--The -Earthquake._ - - -|When Argenson arrived to assume the government, a curious greeting had -awaited him. The Jesuits asked him to dine; vespers followed the -repast; and then they conducted him into a hall, where the boys of their -school--disguised, one as the Genius of New France, one as the Genius of -the Forest, and others as Indians of various friendly tribes--made him -speeches by turn, in prose and verse. First, Pierre du Quet, who played -the Genius of New France, presented his Indian retinue to the governor, -in a complimentary harangue. Then four other boys, personating French -colonists, made him four flattering addresses, in French verse. Charles -Denis, dressed as a Huron, followed, bewailing the ruin of his people, -and appealing to Argenson for aid. Jean François Bourdon, in the -character of an Algonquin, next advanced on the platform, boasted his -courage, and declared that he was ashamed to cry like the Huron. The -Genius of the Forest now appeared, with a retinue of wild Indians from -the interior, who, being unable to speak French, addressed the governor -in their native tongues, which the Genius proceeded to interpret. -Two other boys, in the character of prisoners just escaped from the -Iroquois, then came forward, imploring aid in piteous accents; and, in -conclusion, the whole troop of Indians, from far and near, laid their -bows and arrows at the feet of Argenson, and hailed him as their -chief. * - -Besides these mock Indians, a crowd of genuine savages had gathered -at Quebec to greet the new “Ononthio.” On the next day--at his own -cost, as he writes to a friend--he gave them a feast, consisting of -“seven large kettles full of Indian corn, peas, prunes, sturgeons, -eels, and fat, which they devoured, having first sung me a song, after -their fashion.” ** - -These festivities over, he entered on the serious business of his -government, and soon learned that his path was a thorny one. He could -find, he says, but a hundred men to resist the twenty-four hundred -warriors of the Iroquois; *** and he begs the proprietary company which -he represented to send him a hundred more, who could serve as soldiers -or laborers, according to the occasion. - - * La Reception de Monseigneur le Vicomte d’Argenson par - toutes les nations du pais de Canada a son entrée au - gouvernement de la Nouvelle France; a Quebecq au College de - la Compagnie de Jésus, le 28 de Juillet de l’année 1658. The - speeches, in French and Indian, are here given verbatim, - with the names of all the boys who took part in the - ceremony. - - ** Papiers d’Argenson. Kebec, 5 Sept., 1658. - - *** Mémoire sur le subject (sic) de la Guerre des Iroquois, - 1659. - -The company turned a deal ear to his appeals. They had lost money in -Canada, and were grievously out of humor with it. In their view, the -first duty of a governor was to collect their debts, which, for more -reasons than one, was no easy task. While they did nothing to aid -the colony in its distress, they beset Argenson with demands for the -thousand pounds of beaver-skins, which the inhabitants had agreed to -send them every year, in return for the privilege of the fur trade, a -privilege which the Iroquois war made for the present worthless. -The perplexed governor vents his feelings in sarcasm. “They (_the -company_) take no pains to learn the truth; and, when they hear of -settlers carried off and burned by the Iroquois, they will think it -a punishment for not settling old debts, and paying over the -beaver-skins.” * “I wish,” he adds, “they would send somebody to -look after their affairs here. I would gladly give him the same lodging -and entertainment as my own.” - -Another matter gave him great annoyance. This was the virtual -independence of Montreal; and here, if nowhere else, he and the bishop -were of the same mind. On one occasion he made a visit to the place in -question, where he expected to be received as governor-general; but the -local governor, Maisonneuve, declined, or at least postponed, to take -his orders and give him the keys of the fort. Argenson accordingly -speaks of Montreal as “a place which makes so much noise, but which is - - * Papiers d’Argenson, 21 Oct., 1659. - -of such small account.” * He adds that, besides wanting to be -independent, the Montrealists want to monopolize the fur trade, which -would cause civil war; and that the king ought to interpose to correct -their obstinacy. - -In another letter he complains of Aillebout, who had preceded him in the -government, though himself a Montrealist. Argenson says that, on going -out to fight the Iroquois, he left Aillebout at Quebec, to act as his -lieutenant; that, instead of doing so, he had assumed to govern in -his own right; that he had taken possession of his absent superior’s -furniture, drawn his pay, and in other respects behaved as if he -never expected to see him again. “When I returned,” continues the -governor, “I made him director in the council, without pay, as there -was none to give him. It was this, I think, that made him remove to -Montreal, for which I do not care, provided the glory of our Master -suffer no prejudice thereby.” ** - -These extracts may, perhaps, give an unjust impression of Argenson, who, -from the general tenor of his letters, appears to have been a temperate -and reasonable person. His patience and his nervous system seem, -however, to have been taxed to the utmost. His pay could not support -him. “The costs of living here are horrible,” he writes. “I have -only two thousand crowns a year for all my expenses, and I have already -been forced to - - * Papiers d’Argenson, 4 Août, 1659. - - ** Ibid. Double de la lettre escripte par le Vaisseau du - Gaigneur, parti la 6 Septembre (1658). - -run into debt to the company to an equal amount.” * Part of his scanty -income was derived from a fishery of eels, on which sundry persons had -encroached, to his great detriment. ** “I see no reason,” he adds, -“for staying here any longer. When I came to this country, I hoped to -enjoy a little repose, but I am doubly deprived of it; on one hand by -enemies without, and incessant petty disputes within; and, on the other, -by the difficulty I find in subsisting. The profits of the fur trade -have been so reduced that all the inhabitants are in the greatest -poverty. They are all insolvent, and cannot pay the merchants their -advances.” - -His disgust at length reached a crisis. “I am resolved to stay here -no longer, but to go home next year. My horror of dissension, and the -manifest certainty of becoming involved in disputes with certain persons -with whom I am unwilling to quarrel, oblige me to anticipate these -troubles, and seek some way of living in peace. These excessive -fatigues are far too much for my strength. I am writing to Monsieur the -President, and to the gentlemen of the Company of New France, to choose -some other man for this government.” *** And again, “if you take -any interest in this country, see that the person chosen to command here -has, besides the true piety necessary to a Christian in every condition -of life, great firmness of character and strong bodily health. I assure -you that without these - - * Ibid. Lettre a M de Morangi, 5 Sept., 1658. - - ** Délibérations de la Compagnie de la Nouvelle France. - - *** Papiers d'Arqenson. Lettre à son Frère, 1659. - -qualities he cannot succeed. Besides, it is absolutely necessary that -he should be a man of property and of some rank, so that he will not -be despised for humble birth, or suspected of coming here to make his -fortune; for in that case he can do no good whatever.” * - -His constant friction with the head of the church distressed the -pious governor, and made his recall doubly a relief. According to a -contemporary writer, Laval was the means of delivering him from the -burden of government, having written to the President Lamoignon to urge -his removal. ** Be this as it may, it is certain that the bishop was not -sorry to be rid of him. - -The Baron Dubois d’Avaugour arrived to take his place. He was an old -soldier of forty years service, *** blunt, imperative, and sometimes -obstinate to perverseness; but full of energy, and of a probity which -even his enemies confessed. “He served a long time in Germany while -you were there,” writes the minister Colbert to the Marquis de Tracy, -“and you must have known his talents, as well as his _bizarre_ -and somewhat impracticable temper.” On landing, he would have no -reception, being, as Father Lalemant observes, “an enemy of all -ceremony.” He went, however, to see the Jesuits, and “took a morsel -of food in our refectory.” **** Laval was prepared to receive - - * Ibid. Lettre (à son Frère?), 4 Nov., 1660. The originals - of Argenson’s letters were destroyed in the burning of the - library of the Louvre by the Commune. - - ** Lachenaye, Mémoire sur le Canada. - - *** Avaugour, Mémoire, 4 Août, 1663. - - **** Lalemant, Journal des Jésuites, Sept., 1661. - -him with all solemnity at the church; but the governor would not go. -He soon set out on a tour of observation as far as Montreal, whence he -returned delighted with the country, and immediately wrote to Colbert -in high praise of it, observing that the St. Lawrence was the most -beautiful river he had ever seen. * - -It was clear from the first that, while he had a prepossession against -the bishop, he wished to be on good terms with the Jesuits. He began by -placing some of them on the council; but they and Laval were too closely -united; and if Avaugour thought to separate them, he signally failed. A -few months only had elapsed when we find it noted in Father Lalemant’s -private journal that the governor had dissolved the council and -appointed a new one, and that other “changes and troubles” had -befallen The inevitable quarrel had broken out; it was a complex one, -but the chief occasion of dispute was fortunate for the ecclesiastics, -since it placed them, to a certain degree, morally in the right. - -The question at issue was not new. It had agitated the colony for years, -and had been the spring of some of Argenson’s many troubles. Nor -did it cease with Avaugour, for we shall trace its course hereafter, -tumultuous as a tornado. It was simply the temperance question; not -as regards the colonists, though here, too, there was great room for -reform, but as regards the Indians. - -Their inordinate passion for brandy had long been the source of -excessive disorders. They drank - - * Lettre d’Avaugour au Ministre, 1661. - -expressly to get drunk, and when drunk they were like wild beasts. -Crime and violence of all sorts ensued; the priests saw their teachings -despised and their flocks ruined. On the other hand, the sale of -brandy was a chief source of profit, direct or indirect, to all those -interested in the fur trade, including the principal persons of the -colony. In Argenson’s time, Laval launched an excommunication against -those engaged in the abhorred traffic; for nothing less than total -prohibition would content the clerical party, and besides the spiritual -penalty, they demanded the punishment of death against the contumacious -offender. Death, in fact, was decreed. Such was the posture of affairs -when Avaugour arrived; and, willing as he was to conciliate the Jesuits, -he permitted the decree to take effect, although, it seems, with great -repugnance. A few weeks after his arrival, two men were shot and one -whipped, for selling brandy to Indians. * An extreme though partially -suppressed excitement shook the entire settlement, for most of the -colonists were, in one degree or another, implicated in the offence thus -punished. An explosion soon followed; and the occasion of it was the -humanity or good-nature of the Jesuit Lalemant. - -A woman had been condemned to imprisonment for the same cause, and -Lalemant, moved by compassion, came to the governor to intercede for -her. Avaugour could no longer contain himself, and answered the reverend -petitioner with characteristic - - * Journal des Jésuites, Oct., 1661. - -bluntness. “You and your brethren were the first to cry out against -the trade, and now you want to save the traders from punishment. I will -no longer be the sport of your contradictions. Since it is not a crime -for this woman, it shall not be a crime for anybody.” * And in this -posture he stood fast, with an inflexible stubbornness. - -Henceforth there was full license to liquor dealers. A violent reaction -ensued against the past restriction, and brandy flowed freely among -French and Indians alike. The ungodly drank to spite the priests and -revenge themselves for the “constraint of consciences,” of -which they loudly complained. The utmost confusion followed, and the -principles on which the pious colony was built seemed upheaved from -the foundation. Laval was distracted with grief and anger. He outpoured -himself from the pulpit in threats of divine wrath, and launched fresh -excommunications against the offenders; but such was the popular fury, -that he was forced to yield and revoke them. ** - -Disorder grew from bad to worse. “Men gave no heed to bishop, -preacher, or confessor,” writes Father Charlevoix. “The French have -despised the remonstrances of our prelate, because they are supported by -the civil power,’ says the superior of the Ursulines. “He is almost -dead with grief, and pines away before our eyes.” - -Laval could bear it no longer, but sailed for - - * La Tour, Vie de Laval, Liv. V. - - ** Journal des Jésuites, Feb., 1662. The sentence of - excommunication is printed in the Appendix to the Esquisse - de la Vie de Laval. It bears date February 24. It was on - this very day that he was forced to revoke it. - -France, to lay his complaints before the court, and urge the removal of -Avaugour. He had, besides, two other important objects, as will appear -hereafter. His absence brought no improvement. Summer and autumn passed, -and the commotion did not abate. Winter was drawing to a close, when, -at length, outraged Heaven interposed an awful warning to the guilty -colony. - -Scarcely had the bishop left his flock when the skies grew portentous -with signs of the chastisement to come. “We beheld,” gravely writes -Father Lalemant, “blazing serpents which flew through the air, borne -on wings of fire. We beheld above Quebec a great globe of flame, which -lighted up the night, and threw out sparks on all sides. This same -meteor appeared above Montreal, where it seemed to issue from the -bosom of the moon, with a noise as loud as cannon or thunder, and after -sailing three leagues through the air it disappeared behind the mountain -whereof this island bears the name.” * - -Still greater marvels followed. First, a Christian Algonquin squaw, -described as “innocent, simple, and sincere,” being seated erect in -bed, wide awake, by the side of her husband, in the night between -the fourth and fifth of February, distinctly heard a voice saying, -“Strange things will happen to-day; the earth will quake!” In great -alarm she whispered the prodigy to her husband, who told her that she -lied. This silenced her for a time; but when, the next morning, she went -into the forest - - * Lalemant. Relation, 1663, 2. - -with her hatchet to cut a faggot of wood, the same dread voice resounded -through the solitude, and sent her back in terror to her hut. * - -These things were as nothing compared with the marvel that befell a nun -of the hospital, Mother Catherine de Saint-Augustin, who died five years -later, in the odor of sanctity. On the night of the fourth of February, -1663, she beheld in the spirit four furious demons at the four corners -of Quebec, shaking it with a violence which plainly showed their purpose -of reducing it to ruins; “and this they would have done,” says -the story, “if a personage of admirable beauty and ravishing majesty -[_Christ_], whom she saw in the midst of them, and who, from time to -time, gave rein to their fury, had not restrained them when they were -on the point of accomplishing their wicked design.” She also heard the -conversation of these demons, to the effect that people were now well -frightened, and many would be converted; but this would not last -long, and they, the demons, would have them in time, “Let us keep on -shaking,” they cried, encouraging each other, “and do our best to -upset every thing.” ** - -Now, to pass from visions to facts: “At half-past five o’clock on -the morning of the fifth,” writes Father Lalemant, “a great roaring -sound was heard at the same time through the whole extent - - * Lalemant, Relation, 1663, 6. - - ** Ragueneau, Vie de Catherine de St. Augustin, Liv. IV. - chap. i. The same story is told by Juchereau, Lalemant, and - Marie de l'Incarnation, to whom Charlevoix erroneously - ascribes the vision, as does also the Abbe La Tour. - -of Canada. This sound, which produced an effect as if the houses were -on fire, brought everybody out of doors; but instead of seeing smoke and -flame, they were amazed to behold the walls shaking, and all the stones -moving as if they would drop from their places. The houses seemed -to bend first to one side and then to the other. Bells sounded of -themselves; beams, joists, and planks cracked; the ground heaved, making -the pickets of the palisades dance in a way that would have seemed -incredible had we not seen it in divers places. - -“Everybody was in the streets; animals ran wildly about; children -cried; men and women, seized with fright, knew not where to take refuge, -expecting every moment to be buried under the ruins of the houses, or -swallowed up in some abyss opening under their feet. Some, on their -knees in the snow, cried for mercy, and others passed the night in -prayer; for the earthquake continued without ceasing, with a motion much -like that of a ship at sea, insomuch that sundry persons felt the same -qualms of stomach which they would feel on the water. In the forests the -commotion was far greater. The trees struck one against the other as if -there were a battle between them; and you would have said that not only -their branches, but even their trunks started out of their places and -leaped on each other with such noise and confusion that the Indians -said that the whole forest was drunk.” Mary of the Incarnation gives -a similar account, as does also Frances Juchereau de Saint-Ignace; and -these contemporary records are sustained to some extent by the evidence -of geology. * A remarkable effect was produced on the St. Lawrence, -which was so charged with mud and clay that for many weeks the water was -unfit to drink. Considerable hills and large tracts of forest slid from -their places, some into the river, and some into adjacent valleys. A -number of men in a boat near Tadoussac stared aghast at a large hill -covered with trees, which sank into the water before their eyes; streams -were turned from their courses; waterfalls were levelled; springs -were dried up in some places, while in others new springs appeared. -Nevertheless, the accounts that have come down to us seem a little -exaggerated, and sometimes ludicrously so; as when, for example, Mother -Mary of the Incarnation tells us of a man who ran all night to escape -from a fissure in the earth which opened behind him and chased him as he -fled. - -It is perhaps needless to say that “spectres and phantoms of fire, -bearing torches in their hands,” took part in the convulsion. “The -fiery figure of a man vomiting flames” also appeared in the air, with -many other apparitions too numerous to mention. It is recorded that -three young men were on their way through the forest to sell brandy to -the Indians, when one of them, a little in advance of the rest, was met -by a hideous spectre which nearly - - * Professor Sterry Hunt, whose intimate knowledge of - Canadian geology is well known, tells me that the shores of - the St. Lawrence are to a great extent formed of beds of - gravel and clay resting on inclined strata of rock, so that - earth-slides would be the necessary result of any convulsion - like that of 1663. He adds that the evidence that such - slides have taken place on a great scale is very distinct at - various points along the river, especially at Les - Eboulemcns. Professor Sterry Hunt, whose intimate knowledge of - Canadian geology is well known, tells me that the shores of - the St. Lawrence are to a great extent formed of beds of - gravel and clay resting on inclined strata of rock, so that - earth-slides would be the necessary result of any convulsion - like that of 1663. He adds that the evidence that such - slides have taken place on a great scale is very distinct at - various points along the river, especially at Les - Eboulemcns on the north shore. - -killed him with fright. He had scarcely strength enough to rejoin his -companions, who, seeing his terror, began to laugh at him. One of them, -however, presently came to his senses, and said: “This is no -laughing matter; we are going to sell liquor to the Indians against -the prohibitions of the church, and perhaps God means to punish our -disobedience.” On this they all turned back. That night they had -scarcely lain down to sleep when the earthquake roused them, and they -ran out of their hut just in time to escape being swallowed up along -with it. * - -With every allowance, it is clear that the convulsion must have been a -severe one, and it is remarkable that in all Canada not a life was lost. -The writers of the day see in this a proof that God meant to reclaim the -guilty and not destroy them. At Quebec there was for the time an intense -revival of religion. The end of the world was thought to be at hand, -and everybody made ready for the last judgment. Repentant throngs beset -confessionals and altars; enemies were reconciled; fasts, prayers, and -penances filled the whole season of Lent. Yet, as we shall see, the -devil could still find wherewith to console himself. - -It was midsummer before the shocks wholly ceased and the earth resumed -her wonted calm. An extreme drought was followed by floods of rain, and -then Nature began her sure work of - - * Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre du 20 Aout, 1663. It - appears from Morton, Josselyn, and other writers, that the - earthquake extended to New England and New Netherlands, - producing similar effects on the imagination of the people. - -reparation. It was about this time that the thorn which had plagued the -church was at length plucked out. Avaugour was summoned home. - -He took his recall with magnanimity, and on his way wrote at Gaspé a -memorial to Colbert, in which he commends New France to the attention -of the king. “The St. Lawrence,” he says, “is the entrance to -what may be made the greatest state in the world;” and, in his purely -military way, he recounts the means of realizing this grand possibility. -Three thousand soldiers should be sent to the colony, to be discharged -and turned into settlers after three years of service. During these -three years they may make Quebec an impregnable fortress, subdue the -Iroquois, build a strong fort on the river where the Dutch have a -miserable wooden redoubt, called Fort Orange [_Albany_], and finally -open a way by that river to the sea. Thus the heretics will be driven -out, and the king will be master of America, at a total cost of about -four hundred thousand francs yearly for ten years. He closes his -memorial by a short allusion to the charges against him, and to his -forty years of faithful service; and concludes, speaking of the authors -of his recall, Laval and the Jesuits: - -“By reason of the respect I owe their cloth, I will rest content, -monseigneur, with assuring you that I have not only served the king -with fidelity, but also, by the grace of God, with very good success, -considering the means at my disposal.” * He had, in truth, borne -himself as a brave and experienced - - * Avaugour, Mémoire, Gaspé 4 Août 1663. - -soldier; and he soon after died a soldier’s death, while defending the -fortress of Zrin, in Croatia, against the Turks. * - - * Lettre de Colbert au Marquis de Tracy, 1664. Mémoire du - Boy, pout servir d’instruction au Sieur Talon - - - - -CHAPTER VII. 1661-1664. LAVAL AND DUMESNIL - - -_Péronne Dumesnil.--The Old Council.--Alleged Murder.--The New -Council.--Bourdon And Villeray.--Strong Measures.--Escape Of -Duhesnil.--Views Of Colbert._ - - -|Though the proposals of Avaugour’s memorial were not adopted, it -seems to have produced a strong impression at court. For this impression -the minds of the king and his minister had already been prepared. Two -years before, the inhabitants of Canada had sent one of their number, -Pierre Boucher, to represent their many grievances and ask for aid. -* Boucher had had an audience of the young king, who listened with -interest to his statements; and when in the following year he returned -to Quebec, he was accompanied by an officer named Dumont, who had under -his command a hundred soldiers for the colony, and was commissioned to -report its condition and resources. The movement - - * To promote the objects of his mission, Boucher wrote a - little book, Histoire Véritable et Naturelle des Mœurs et - Productions du Pays de la Nouvelle France. He dedicates it - to Colbert. - - ** A long journal of Dumont is printed anonymously in the - Relation of 1663. - -seemed to betoken that the government was wakening at last from its long -inaction. - -Meanwhile the Company of New France, feudal lord of Canada, had also -shown signs of returning life. Its whole history had been one of mishap, -followed by discouragement and apathy; and it is difficult to say -whether its ownership of Canada had been more hurtful to itself or to -the colony. At the eleventh hour it sent out an agent invested with -powers of controller-general, intendant, and supreme judge, to inquire -into the state of its affairs. This agent, Péronne Dumesnil, arrived -early in the autumn of 1660, and set himself with great vigor to -his work. He was an advocate of the Parliament of Paris, an active, -aggressive, and tenacious person, of a temper well fitted to rip up an -old abuse or probe a delinquency to the bottom. His proceedings quickly -raised a storm at Quebec. - -It may be remembered that, many years before, the company had ceded -its monopoly of the fur trade to the inhabitants of the colony, in -consideration of that annual payment in beaver-skins which had been so -tardily and so rarely made. The direction of the trade had at that time -been placed in the hands of a council composed of the governor, the -superior of the Jesuits, and several other members. Various changes had -since taken place, and the trade was now controlled by another council, -established without the consent of the company, * and composed of the -principal persons in the colony. The members of this council, with -certain - - * Registres du Conseil du Roy; Réponse a la requeste - présentée au Roy. - -prominent merchants in league with them, engrossed all the trade, so -that the inhabitants at large profited nothing by the right which the -company had ceded; * and as the councillors controlled not only the -trade but all the financial affairs of Canada, while the remoteness of -their scene of operations made it difficult to supervise them, they were -able, with little risk, to pursue their own profit, to the detriment -both of the company and the colony. They and their allies formed a petty -trading oligarchy, as pernicious to the prosperity of Canada as the -Iroquois war itself. - -The company, always anxious for its beaver-skins, made several attempts -to control the proceedings of the councillors and call them to account, -but with little success, till the vigorous Dumesnil undertook the task, -when, to their wrath and consternation, they and their friends found -themselves attacked by wholesale accusations of fraud and embezzlement. -That these charges were exaggerated there can be little doubt; that they -were unfounded is incredible, in view of the effect they produced. - -The councillors refused to acknowledge Dumesnil’s powers as -controller, intendant, and judge, and declared his proceedings null. He -retorted by charging them with usurpation. The excitement increased, and -Dumesnil’s life was threatened. - -He had two sons in the colony. One of them, Péronne de Mazé, was -secretary to Avaugour, then on his way up the St. Lawrence to assume the - - * Arrêt du Conseil d’Etat, 7 Mars, 1657. Also Papiers - d’Argenson, and Extrait des Registres du Conseil d’Etat, 15 - Mars, 1656. - -government. The other, Péronne des Touches, was with his father at -Quebec. Towards the end of August this young man was attacked in the -street in broad daylight, and received a kick which proved fatal. He -was carried to his father’s house, where he died on the twenty-ninth. -Dumesnil charges four persons, all of whom were among those into whose -affairs he had been prying, with having taken part in the outrage; but -it is very uncertain who was the immediate cause of Des Touches’s -death. Dumesnil, himself the supreme judicial officer of the colony, -made complaint to the judge in ordinary of the company; but he says -that justice was refused, the complaint suppressed by authority, his -allegations torn in pieces, and the whole affair hushed. * - -At the time of the murder, Dumesnil was confined to his house by -illness. An attempt was made to rouse the mob against him, by reports -that he had come to the colony for the purpose of laying taxes; but he -sent for some of the excited inhabitants, and succeeded in convincing -them that he was their champion rather than their enemy. Some Indians in -the neighborhood were also instigated to kill him, and he was forced to -conciliate them by presents. - - * Dumesnil, Mémoire. Under date August 31 the Journal des - Jésuite makes this brief and guarded mention of the affair: - “Le fils de Mons. du Mesnil... fut enterré le mesme jour, - tué d’un coup de pié par N.” Who is meant by N. it is - difficult to say. The register of the parish church records - the burial as follows:-- - - L’an 1661. Le 30 Aoust a esté enterré au Cemetiere de - Quebec Michel peronne dit Sr. des Touches fils de Mr. du - Mesnil décédé le Jour precedent a sa Maison. - -He soon renewed his attacks, and in his quality of intendant called on -the councillors and their allies to render their accounts, and settle -the long arrears of debt due to the company. They set his demands at -naught. The war continued month after month. It is more than likely -that when in the spring of 1662 Avaugour dissolved and reconstructed -the council, his action had reference to these disputes; and it is clear -that when in the following August Laval sailed for France, one of his -objects was to restore the tranquillity which Dumesnil’s proceedings -had disturbed. There was great need; for, what with these proceedings -and the quarrel about brandy, Quebec was a little hell of discord, the -earthquake not having as yet frightened it into propriety. - -The bishop’s success at court was triumphant. Not only did he procure -the removal of Avaugour, but he was invited to choose a new governor -to replace him. * This was not all; for he succeeded in effecting a -complete change in the government of the colony. The Company of New -France was called upon to resign its claims; ** and, by a royal edict of -April, 1663, all power, legislative, judicial, and executive, was vested -in a council composed of the governor whom Laval had chosen, of Laval -himself, and of five councillors, an attorney-general, and a secretary, -to be chosen by Laval and the governor jointly. *** Bearing with them -blank - - * La Tour, Vie de Laval, Liv. V. - - ** See the deliberations and acts to this end in Edits et - Ordonnances concernant le Canada, 1. 30-32. - - *** Edit de Création du Conseil Supérieur de Quebec. - -commissions to be filled with the names of the new functionaries, Laval -and his governor sailed for Quebec, where they landed on the fifteenth -of September. With them came one Gaudais-Dupont, a royal commissioner -instructed to inquire into the state of the colony. - -No sooner had they arrived than Laval and Mézy, the new governor, -proceeded to construct the new council. Mézy knew nobody in the -colony, and was, at this time, completely under Laval’s influence. -The nominations, therefore, were virtually made by the bishop alone, in -whose hands, and not in those of the governor, the blank commissions -had been placed. * Thus for the moment he had complete control of the -government; that is to say, the church was mistress of the civil power. - -Laval formed his council as follows: Jean Bourdon for attorney-general; -Rouer de Villeray, Juchereau de la Berté, Ruette d’Auteuil, Le -Gardeur de Tilly, and Matthieu Damours for councillors; and Peuvret -de Mesnu for secretary. The royal commissioner, Gaudais, also took a -prominent place at the board. ** This functionary was on the point of -marrying his niece to a son of Robert Giffard, - - * Commission actroyée au Sieur Gaudais. Mémoire pour servir - d’instruction au Sieur Gaudais. A sequel to these - instructions, marked secret, shows that, notwithstanding - Laval’s extraordinary success in attaining his objects, he - and the Jesuits were somewhat distrusted. Gaudais is - directed to make, with great discretion and caution, careful - inquiry into the bishop’s conduct, and with equal secrecy to - ascertain why the Jesuits had asked for Avaugour’s recall. - - ** As substitute for the intendant, an officer who had been - appointed but who had not arrived. - -who had a strong interest in suppressing Dumesnil’s accusations. * -Dumesnil had laid his statements before the commissioner, who quickly -rejected them, and took part with the accused. - -Of those appointed to the new council, their enemy Dumesnil says -that they were "incapable persons,” and their associate Gaudais, -in defending them against worse charges, declares that they were -“unlettered, of little experience, and nearly all unable to deal with -affairs of importance.” This was, perhaps, unavoidable; for, except -among the ecclesiastics, education was then scarcely known in Canada. -But if Laval may be excused for putting incompetent men in office, -nothing can excuse him for making men charged with gross public offences -the prosecutors and judges in their own cause; and his course in doing -so gives color to the assertion of Dumesnil, that he made up the council -expressly to shield the accused and smother the accusation. ** - -The two persons under the heaviest charges received the two most -important appointments: Bourdon, attorney-general, and Villeray, keeper -of - - * Dumesnil here makes one of the few mistakes I have been - able to detect in his long memorials. He says that the name - of the niece of Gaudais was Marie Nau. It was, in fact, - Michelle-Therese Nau, who married Joseph, son of Robert - Giffard, on the 22d of October, 1663. Dumesnil had forgotten - the bride’s first name. The elder Giffard was surety for - Repentigny, whom Dumesnil charged with liabilities to the - company, amounting to 644,700 livres. Giffard was also - father-in-law of Juchereau de la Ferte, one of the accused. - - ** Dumesnil goes further than this, for he plainly - intimates that the removing from power of the company, to - whom the accused were responsible, and the placing in power - of a council formed of the accused themselves, was a device - contrived from the first by Laval and the Jesuits, to get - their friends out of trouble. - -the seals. La Ferté was also one of the accused. * Of Villeray, the -governor Argenson had written in 1059: “Some of his qualities are -good enough, but confidence cannot be placed in him, on account of his -instability.” ** In the same year, he had been ordered to France, -“to purge himself of sundry crimes wherewith he stands charged.” -*** He was not yet free of suspicion, having returned to Canada under -an order to make up and render his accounts, which he had not yet done. -Dumesnil says that he first came to the colony in 1651, as valet of the -governor Lauson, who had taken him from the jail at Rochelle, where he -was imprisoned for a debt of seventy-one francs, “as appears by the -record of the jail of date July eleventh in that year.” From this -modest beginning he became in time the richest man in Canada. **** He -was strong in orthodoxy, and an ardent supporter of the bishop and the -Jesuits. He is alternately praised and blamed, according to the partisan -leanings of the writer. - - * Bourdon is charged with not having accounted for an - immense quantity of beaver-skins which had passed through - his hands during twelve years or more, and which are valued - at more than 300,000 livres. Other charges are made against - him in connection with large sums borrowed in Lauson’s time - on account of the colony. In a memorial addressed to the - king in council, Dumesnil says that, in 1662, Bourdon, - according to his own accounts, had in his hands 37,516 - livres belonging to the company, which he still retained. - Villeray’s liabilities arose out of the unsettled accounts - of his father-in-law, Charles Sevestre, and are set down at - more than 600,000 livres. La Ferté’s are of a smaller - amount. Others of the council were indirectly involved in - the charges. - - ** Lettre d’Argenson, 20 Nov., 1659. - - *** Edit du Roy, 13 Mai, 1659. - - **** Lettre de Colbert a Frontenac, 17 Mai, 1674. - -Bourdon, though of humble origin, was, perhaps, the most intelligent -man in the council. He was chiefly known as an engineer, but he had also -been a baker, a painter, a syndic of the inhabitants, chief gunner at -the fort, and collector of customs for the company. Whether guilty of -embezzlement or not, he was a zealous devotee, and would probably have -died for his creed. Like Villeray, he was one of Laval’s stanchest -supporters, while the rest of the council were also sound in doctrine -and sure in allegiance. - -In virtue of their new dignity, the accused now claimed exemption from -accountability; but this was not all. The abandonment of Canada by -the company, in leaving Dumesnil without support, and depriving him -of official character, had made his charges far less dangerous. -Nevertheless, it was thought best to suppress them altogether, and the -first act of the new government was to this end. - -On the twentieth of September, the second day after the establishment -of the council, Bourdon, in his character of attorney-general, rose and -demanded that the papers of Jean Péronne Dumesnil should be seized -and sequestered. The council consented, and, to Complete the scandal, -Villeray was commissioned to make the seizure in the presence of -Bourdon. To color the proceeding, it was alleged that Dumesnil had -obtained certain papers unlawfully from the _greffe_ or record office. -“As he was thought,” says Gaudais, “to be a violent man." - -Bourdon and Villeray took with them ten soldiers, well armed, together -with a locksmith and the secretary of the council. Thus prepared for -every contingency, they set out on their errand, and appeared suddenly -at Dumesnil's house between seven and eight o’clock in the evening. -“The aforesaid Sieur Dumesnil,” further says Gaudais, “did not -refute the opinion entertained of his violence; for he made a great -noise, shouted _robbers!_ and tried to rouse the neighborhood, -outrageously abusing the aforesaid Sieur de Villeray and the -attorney-general, in great contempt of the authority of the council, -which he even refused to recognize.” - -They tried to silence him by threats, but without effect; upon which -they seized him and held him fast in a chair; “me,” writes the -wrathful Dumesnil, “who had lately been their judge.” The soldiers -stood over him and stopped his mouth while the others broke open and -ransacked his cabinet, drawers, and chest, from which they took all his -papers, refusing to give him an inventory, or to permit any witness to -enter the house. Some of these papers were private; among the rest were, -he says, the charges and specifications, nearly finished, for the -trial of Bourdon and Villeray, together with the proofs of their -“peculations, extortions, and malversations.” The papers were -enclosed under seal, and deposited in a neighboring house, whence they -were afterwards removed to the council-chamber, and Dumesnil never saw -them again. It may well be believed that this, the inaugural act of the -new council, was not allowed to appear on its records. * - -On the twenty-first, Villeray made a formal report of the seizure to -his colleagues; upon which, “by reason of the insults, violences, and -irreverences therein set forth against the aforesaid Sieur de Villeray, -commissioner, as also against the authority of the council,” it was -ordered that the offending Dumesnil should be put under arrest; but -Gaudais, as he declares, prevented the order from being carried into -effect. - -Dumesnil, who says that during the scene at his house he had expected to -be murdered like his son, now, though unsupported and alone, returned to -the attack, demanded his papers, and was so loud in threats of complaint -to the king that the council were seriously alarmed. They again decreed -his arrest and imprisonment; but resolved to keep the decree secret till -the morning of the day when the last of the returning ships was to -sail for France. In this ship Dumesnil had taken his passage, and they -proposed to arrest him unexpectedly on the point of embarkation, that he -might have no time to prepare and despatch a memorial to the court. Thus -a full year must elapse before his complaints could reach the minister, -and seven or eight months more before a reply could be returned to -Canada. During this long delay the affair would have time to cool. -Dumesnil received a secret warning of - - * The above is drawn from the two memorials of Gaudais and - of Dimesnil. They do not contradict each other as, to the - essential facts. - -this plan, and accordingly went on board another vessel, which was to -sail immediately. The council caused the six cannon of the battery in -the Lower Town to be pointed at her, and threatened to sink her if she -left the harbor; but she disregarded them, and proceeded on her way. - -On reaching France, Dumesnil contrived to draw the attention of the -minister Colbert to his accusations, and to the treatment they had -brought upon him. On this Colbert demanded of Gaudais, who had also -returned in one of the autumn ships, why he had not reported these -matters to him. Gaudais made a lame attempt to explain his silence, gave -his statement of the seizure of the papers, answered in vague terms some -of Dumesnil’s charges against the Canadian financiers, and said that -he had nothing to do with the rest. In the following spring Colbert -wrote as follows to his relative Terron, intendant of marine:-- - -“I do not know what report M. Gaudais has made to you, but family -interests and the connections which he has at Quebec should cause him -to be a little distrusted. On his arrival in that country, having -constituted himself chief of the council, he despoiled an agent of -the Company of Canada of all his papers, in a manner very violent and -extraordinary, and this proceeding leaves no doubt whatever that these -papers contained matters the knowledge of which it was wished absolutely -to suppress. I think it will be very proper that you should be informed -of the statements made by this agent, in order that, through him, an -exact knowledge may be acquired of every thing that has taken place in -the management of affairs.” * - -Whether Terron pursued the inquiry does not appear. Meanwhile new -quarrels had arisen at Quebec, and the questions of the past were -obscured in the dust of fresh commotions. Nothing is more noticeable in -the whole history of Canada, after it came under the direct control of -the Crown, than the helpless manner in which this absolute government -was forced to overlook and ignore the disobedience and rascality of its -functionaries in this distant transatlantic dependency. - -As regards Dumesnil’s charges, the truth seems to be, that the -financial managers of the colony, being ignorant and unpractised, had -kept imperfect and confused accounts, which they themselves could not -always unravel; and that some, if not all of them, had made illicit -profits under cover of this confusion. That their stealings approached -the enormous sum at which Dinesnil places them is not to be believed. -But, even on the grossly improbable assumption of their entire -innocence, there can be no apology for the means, subversive of -all justice, by which Laval enabled his partisans and supporters to -extricate themselves from embarrassment.---- - - * Lettre de Colbert a Terron, Rochelle, 8 Fev., 1664. “Il a - spolié un agent de la Compagnie de Canada de tous ses - papiers d’une manière fort violente et extraordinaire, et ce - procédé ne laisse point à douter que dans ces papiers il n’y - eût des choses dont on a voulu absolument supprimer la - connaissance.” Colbert seems to have received an exaggerated - impression of the part borne by Gaudais in the seizure of - the papers. - -NOTE.--Dumesnil’s principal memorial, preserved in the archives of -the Marine and Colonies, is entitled Mémoire concernant les Affaires du -Canada, qui montre et fait voir que sous prétexte de la Gloire de Dieu, -d’Instruction des Sauvages, de servir le Roy et de faire la nouvelle -Colonie, il a été pris et diverti trois millions de livres ou environ. -It forms in the copy before me thirty-eight pages of manuscript, and -bears no address; but seems meant for Colbert, or the council of state. -There is a second memorial, which is little else than an abridgment of -the first. A third, bearing the address Au Roy et a nos Seigneurs du -Conseil (d’Etat), and signed Peronne Dumesnil, is a petition for the -payment of 10,132 livres due to him by the company for his services in -Canada, “ou il a perdu son fils assassiné par les comptables du dit -pays, qui n’ont voulu rendre compte au dit suppliant, Intendant, et -ont pillé sa maison, ses meubles et papiers le 20 du mois de Septembre -dernier, dont il y a acte.” - -Gaudais, in compliance with the demands of Colbert, gives his statement -in a long memorial, Le Sieur Gaudais Dupont à Monseigneur de Colbert, -1664. - -Dumesnil, in his principal memorial, gives a list of the alleged -defaulters, with the special charges against each, and the amounts for -which he reckons them liable. The accusations cover a period of ten or -twelve years, and sometimes more. Some of them are curiously suggestive -of more recent “rings.” Thus Jean Gloria makes a charge of -thirty-one hundred livres (francs) for fireworks to celebrate the -king’s marriage, when the actual cost is said to have been about forty -livres. Others are alleged to have embezzled the funds of the company, -under cover of pretended payments to imaginary creditors; and Argenson -himself is said to have eked out his miserable salary by drawing on the -company for the pay of soldiers who did not exist. - -The records of the Council preserve a guarded silence about this affair. -I find, however, under date 20 Sept., 1663, “Pouvoir â M. de Villeray -de faire recherche dans la maison d’un nommé du Mesnil des papiers -appartenants au Conseil concernant Sa Majesté;” and under date 18 -March, 1664, “Ordre pour l’ouverture du coffre contenant les papiers -de Dumesnil,” and also an “Ordre pour mettre l’Inventaire des -biens du Sr. Dumesnil entre les mains du Sr. Fillion.” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. 1657-1665. LAVAL AND MÉZY. - - -_The Bishop’s Choice.--A Military Zealot.--Hopeful Beginnings.--Signs -of Storm.--The Quarrel.--Distress of Mézy.--He Refuses to Yield.--His -Defeat and Death._ - - -|We have seen that Laval, when at court, had been invited to choose a -governor to his liking. He soon made his selection. There was a pious -officer, Saffray de Mézy, major of the town and citadel of Caen, whom -he had well known during his long stay with Bernières at the Hermitage. -Mézy was the principal member of the company of devotees formed at Caen -under the influence of Bernières and his disciples. In his youth he had -been headstrong and dissolute. Worse still, he had been, it is said, -a Huguenot; but both in life and doctrine his conversion had been -complete, and the fervid mysticism of Bernières acting on his vehement -nature had transformed him into a red-hot zealot. Towards the hermits -and their chief he showed a docility in strange contrast with his past -history, and followed their inspirations with an ardor which sometimes -overleaped its mark. - -Thus a Jacobin monk, a doctor of divinity, once came to preach at the -church of St. Paul at Caen; on which, according to their custom, the -brotherhood of the Hermitage sent two persons to make report concerning -his orthodoxy. Mézy and another military zealot, “who,” says the -narrator, “hardly know how to read, and assuredly do not know their -catechism,” were deputed to hear his first sermon; wherein this -Jacobin, having spoken of the necessity of the grace of Jesus Christ in -order to the doing of good deeds, these two wiseacres thought that he -was preaching Jansenism; and thereupon, after the sermon, the Sieur -de Mézy went to the proctor of the ecclesiastical court and denounced -him. * - -His zeal, though but moderately tempered with knowledge, sometimes -proved more useful than on this occasion. The Jacobin convent at Caen -was divided against itself. Some of the monks had embraced the doctrines -taught by Bernières, while the rest held dogmas which he declared to be -contrary to those of the Jesuits, and therefore heterodox. A prior was -to be elected, and, with the help of Bernières, his partisans gained -the victory, choosing one Father Louis, through whom the Hermitage -gained a complete control in the convent. But the adverse party -presently resisted, and complained to the provincial of their order, who -came to Caen to close the dispute by deposing Father Louis. Hearing of -his approach, Bernières asked - - * Nicole, Mémoire pour faire connoistre l’espnt et la - conduite de la Compagnie appellée l'Hermitage. - -aid from his military disciple, and De Mézy sent him a squad of -soldiers, who guarded the convent doors and barred out the provincial. * - -Among the merits of Mézy, his humility and charity were especially -admired; and the people of Caen had more than once seen the town major -staggering across the street with a beggar mounted on his back, whom he -was bearing dryshod through the mud in the exercise of those virtues. -** In this he imitated his master Bernières, of whom similar acts are -recorded. *** However dramatic in manifestation, his devotion was not -only sincere but intense. Laval imagined that he knew him well. Above -all others, Mézy was the man of his choice; and so eagerly did he plead -for him, that the king himself paid certain debts which the pious major -had contracted, and thus left him free to sail for Canada. - -His deportment on the voyage was edifying, and the first days of his -accession were passed in harmony. He permitted Laval to form the new -council, and supplied the soldiers for the seizure of Dumesnil’s -papers. A question arose concerning Montreal, a subject on which -the governors and the bishop rarely differed in opinion. The present -instance was no exception to the rule. Mézy removed Maisonneuve, the -local governor, and immediately replaced him; the effect being, that -whereas - - * ibid. - - ** Juchereau, Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu, 149. - - *** See the laudatory notice of Bernières de Louvigny in - the Nouvelle Biographie Universelle. - -he had before derived his authority from the seigniors of the island, -he now derived it from the governor-general. It was a movement in the -interest, of centralized power, and as such was cordially approved by -Laval - -The first indication to the bishop and the Jesuits that the new governor -was not likely to prove in their hands as clay in the hands of the -potter, is said to have been given on occasion of an interview with an -embassy of Iroquois chiefs, to whom Mézy, aware of their duplicity, -spoke with a decision and haughtiness that awed the savages and -astonished the ecclesiastics. - -He seems to have been one of those natures that run with an engrossing -vehemence along any channel into which they may have been turned. At the -Hermitage he was all devotee; but climate and conditions had changed, -and he or his symptoms changed with them. He found himself raised -suddenly to a post of command, or one which was meant to be such. The -town major of Caen was set to rule over a region far larger than France. -The royal authority was trusted to his keeping, and his honor and duty -forbade him to break the trust. But when he found that those who had -procured for him his new dignities had done so that he might be an -instrument of their will, his ancient pride started again into life, and -his headstrong temper broke out like a long-smothered fire. Laval stood -aghast at the transformation. His lamb had turned wolf. - -What especially stirred the governor’s dudgeon was the conduct of -Bourdon, Villeray, and Auteuil, those faithful allies whom Laval had -placed on the council, and who, as Mézy soon found, were wholly in -the bishop’s interest. On the 13th of February he sent his friend -Angoville, major of the fort, to Laval, with a written declaration -to the effect that he had ordered them to absent themselves from the -council, because, having been appointed “on the persuasion of the -aforesaid Bishop of Petræa, who knew them to be wholly his creatures, -they wish to make themselves masters in the aforesaid council, and have -acted in divers ways against the interests of the king and the public -for the promotion of personal and private ends, and have formed and -fomented cabals, contrary to their duty and their oath of fidelity to -his aforesaid Majesty.” * He further declares that advantage had -been taken of the facility of his disposition and his ignorance of the -country to surprise him into assenting to their nomination; and he asks -the bishop to acquiesce in their expulsion, and join him in calling an -assembly of the people to choose others in their place. Laval refused; -on which Mézy caused his declaration to be placarded about Quebec and -proclaimed by sound of drum. - -The proposal of a public election, contrary as it was to the spirit -of the government, opposed to the edict establishing the council, and -utterly odious to the young autocrat who ruled over France, gave - - * Ordre de M. de Mézy de faire sommation a l’Evêque de - Petrée, 13 Fev., 1664. Notification du dit Ordre, mène date. - (Registre du Conseil Supérieur.) - -Laval a great advantage. “I reply,” he wrote, “to the request -which Monsieur the Governor makes me to consent to the interdiction of -the persons named in his declaration, and proceed to the choice of other -councillors or officers by an assembly of the people, that neither my -conscience nor my honor, nor the respect and obedience which I owe to -the will and commands of the king, nor my fidelity and affection to his -service, will by any means permit me to do so.” * - -Mézy was dealing with an adversary armed with redoubtable weapons. -It was intimated to him that the sacraments would be refused, and the -churches closed against him. This threw him into an agony of doubt and -perturbation; for the emotional religion which had become a part of his -nature, though overborne by gusts of passionate irritation, was still -full of life within him. Tossing between the old feeling and the new, -he took a course which reveals the trouble and confusion of his mind. -He threw himself for counsel and comfort on the Jesuits, though he -knew them to be one with Laval against him, and though, under cover of -denouncing sin in general, they had lashed him sharply in their sermons. -There is something pathetic in the appeal he makes them. For the glory -of God and the service of the king, he had come, he says, on Laval’s -solicitation, to seek salvation in Canada; and being under obligation to -the bishop, who had recommended him to the king, he felt bound to show -proofs of his gratitude on every occasion. - - * Réponse de l'Evêque de Petrée, 16 Fev., 1664. - -Yet neither gratitude to a benefactor nor the respect due to his -character and person should be permitted to interfere with duty to the -king, “since neither conscience nor honor permit us to neglect the -requirements of our office and betray the interests of his Majesty, -after receiving orders from his lips, and making oath of fidelity -between his hands.” He proceeds to say that, having discovered -practices of which he felt obliged to prevent the continuance, he had -made a declaration expelling the offenders from office; that the bishop -and all the ecclesiastics had taken this declaration as an offence; -that, regardless of the king’s service, they had denounced him as -a calumniator, an unjust judge, without gratitude, and perverted in -conscience; and that one of the chief among them had come to warn him -that the sacraments would be refused and the churches closed against -him. “This,” writes the unhappy governor, “has agitated our soul -with scruples; and we have none from whom to seek light save those who -are our declared opponents, pronouncing judgment on us without knowledge -of cause. Yet as our salvation and the duty we owe the king are -the things most important to us on earth, and as we hold them to be -inseparable the one from the other: and as nothing is so certain as -death, and nothing so uncertain as the hour thereof; and as there is -no time to inform his Majesty of what is passing and to receive his -commands; and as our soul, though conscious of innocence, is always in -fear,--we feel obliged, despite their opposition, to have recourse -to the reverend father casuists of the House of Jesus, to tell us in -conscience what we can do for the fulfilment of our duty at once to God -and to the king.” * - -The Jesuits gave him little comfort. Lalemant, their superior, replied -by advising him to follow the directions of his confessor, a Jesuit, so -far as the question concerned spiritual matters, adding that in temporal -matters he had no advice to give. ** The distinction was illusory. The -quarrel turned wholly on temporal matters, but it was a quarrel with -a bishop. To separate in such a case the spiritual obligation from the -temporal was beyond the skill of Mézy, nor would the confessor have -helped him. - -Perplexed and troubled as he was, he would not reinstate Bourdon and -the two councillors. The people began to clamor at the interruption of -justice, for which they blamed Laval, whom a recent imposition of tithes -had made unpopular. Mézy thereupon issued a proclamation, in which, -after mentioning his opponents as the most subtle and artful persons -in Canada, he declares that, in consequence of petitions sent him from -Quebec and the neighboring settlements, he had called the people to the -council chamber, and by their advice had appointed the Sieur de Chartier -as attorney-general in place of Bourdon.*** - -Bourdon replied by a violent appeal from the - - * Mézy aux PP. Jésuites, Fait au Château de Quebec ce - dernier jour de Février, 1664. - - ** Lettre du P. H. Lalemant a Mr. le Gouverneur. - - *** Declaration du Sieur de Mézy, 10 Mars, 1664. - -governor to the remaining members of the council, * on which Mézy -declared him excluded from all public functions whatever, till the -king’s pleasure should be known. ** Thus church and state still -frowned on each other, and new disputes soon arose to widen the breach -between them. On the first establishment of the council, an order had -been passed for the election of a mayor and two aldermen (_échevins_) -for Quebec, which it was proposed to erect into a city, though it had -only seventy houses and less than a thousand inhabitants. Repentigny -was chosen mayor, and Madry and Charron aldermen; but the choice was not -agreeable to the bishop, and the three functionaries declined to act, -influence having probably been brought to bear on them to that end. -The council now resolved that a mayor was needless, and the people were -permitted to choose a syndic in his stead. These municipal elections -were always so controlled by the authorities that the element of liberty -which they seemed to represent was little but a mockery. On the present -occasion, after an unaccountable delay of ten months, twenty-two persons -cast their votes in presence of the council, and the choice fell on -Charron. The real question was whether the new syndic should belong to -the governor or to the bishop. Charron leaned to the governor’s party. -The ecclesiastics insisted that the people were dissatisfied, and a new -election was ordered, but the voters did not come. The governor now - - * Bourdon au Conseil, 13 Mars, 1664. - - ** Ordre du Gouverneur, 13 Mars, 1664. - -sent messages to such of the inhabitants as he knew to be in his -interest, who gathered in the council chamber, voted under his eye, -and again chose a syndic agreeable to him. Laval’s party protested in -vain. * - -The councillors held office for a year, and the year had now expired. -The governor and the bishop, it will be remembered, had a joint power -of appointment; but agreement between them was impossible. Laval was -for replacing his partisans, Bourdon, Villeray, Auteuil, and La Ferté. -Mézy refused; and on the eighteenth of September he reconstructed the -council by his sole authority, retaining of the old councillors only -Amours and Tilly, and replacing the rest by Denis, La Tesserie, and -Péronne de Maze, the surviving son of Dumesnil. - -Again Laval protested; but Mézy proclaimed his choice by sound of drum, -and caused placards to be posted, full, according to Father Lalemant, -of abuse against the bishop. On this he was excluded from confession -and absolution. He complained loudly; “but our reply was,” says the -father, “that God knew every thing.” ** - -This unanswerable but somewhat irrelevant response failed to satisfy -him, and it was possibly on this occasion that an incident occurred -which is recounted by the bishop’s eulogist, La Tour. He says that -Mézy, with some unknown design, appeared before the church at the head -of a band of soldiers, while Laval was saying mass. The service over, -the bishop presented himself at the door, on which, to - - * Registre du Conseil Supérieur. - - ** Journal des Jésuites, Oct., 1664. - -the governor's confusion, all the soldiers respectfully saluted -him. * The story may have some foundation, but it is not supported by -contemporary evidence. - -On the Sunday after Mézy’s _coup d’etat_, the pulpits resounded -with denunciations. The people listened, doubtless, with becoming -respect; but their sympathies were with the governor; and he, on his -part, had made appeals to them at more than one crisis of the quarrel. -He now fell into another indiscretion. He banished Bourdon and Villeray, -and ordered them home to France. - -They carried with them the instruments of their revenge, the accusations -of Laval and the Jesuits against the author of their woes. Of these -accusations one alone would have sufficed. Mézy had appealed to the -people. It is true that he did so from no love of popular liberty, but -simply do make head against an opponent; yet the act alone was enough, -and he received a peremptory recall. Again Laval had triumphed. He had -made one governor and unmade two, if not three. The modest Levite, as -one of his biographers calls him in his earlier days, had become the -foremost power in Canada. - -Laval had a threefold strength at court; his high birth, his reputed -sanctity, and the support of the Jesuits. This was not all, for the -permanency of his position in the colony gave him another advantage. The -governors were named for three - - * La Tour, Vie de Laval, Liv. VII. It is charitable to - ascribe this writer’s many errors to carelessness. - -years, and could be recalled at any time; but the vicar apostolic owed -his appointment to the Pope, and the Pope alone could revoke it. Thus he -was beyond reach of the royal authority, and the court was in a certain -sense obliged to conciliate him. As for Mézy, a man of no rank or -influence, he could expect no mercy. Yet, though irritable and violent, -he seems to have tried conscientiously to reconcile conflicting -duties, or what he regarded as such. The governors and intendants, his -successors, received, during many years, secret instructions from the -court to watch Laval, and cautiously prevent him from assuming powers -which did not belong to him. It is likely that similar instructions had -been given to Mézy, * and that the attempt to fulfil them had aided to -embroil him with one who was probably the last man on earth with whom he -would willingly have quarrelled. - -An inquiry was ordered into his conduct; but a voice more potent than -the voice of the king had called him to another tribunal. A disease, the -result perhaps of mental agitation, seized upon him and soon brought him -to extremity. As he lay gasping between life and death, fear and horror -took possession of his soul. Hell yawned before his fevered vision, -peopled with phantoms which long and lonely meditations, after the -discipline of Loyola, made real and palpable to his thought. He smelt -the fumes of infernal brimstone, and - - * The royal commissioner, Gaudais, who came to Canada with - Mézy, had, as before mentioned, orders to inquire with great - secrecy into th« conduct of Laval. The intendant, Talon, who - followed immediately after, had similar instructions. - -heard the bowlings of the damned. He saw the frown of the angry Judge, -and the fiery swords of avenging angels, hurling wretches like himself, -writhing in anguish and despair, into the gulf of unutterable woe. He -listened to the ghostly counsellors who besieged his bed, bowed his head -in penitence, made his peace with the church, asked pardon of Laval, -confessed to him, and received absolution at his hands; and his late -adversaries, now benign and bland, soothed him with promises of pardon, -and hopes of eternal bliss. - -Before he died, he wrote to the Marquis de Tracy, newly appointed -viceroy, a letter which indicates that even in his penitence he could -not feel himself wholly in the wrong. * He also left a will in which the -pathetic and the quaint are curiously mingled. After praying his patron, -Saint Augustine, with Saint John, Saint Peter, and all the other saints, -to intercede for the pardon of his sins, he directs that his body shall -be buried in the cemetery of the poor at the hospital, as being unworthy -of more honored sepulture. He then makes various legacies of piety and -charity. Other bequests follow, one of which is to his friend Major -Angoville, to whom he leaves two hundred francs, his coat of English -cloth, his camlet mantle, a pair of new shoes, eight shirts with -sleeve buttons, his sword and belt, and a new blanket for the major’s -servant. Felix Aubert is to have fifty francs, with a gray jacket, a -small coat of gray serge, “which,” says the testator, “has been -worn for a while,” and a - - * Lettre de Mézy au Marquis de Tracy, 26 Avril 1665. - -pair of long white stockings. And in a codicil he farther leaves to -Angoville his best black coat, in order that he may wear mourning for -him. * - -His earthly troubles closed on the night of the sixth of May. He went to -his rest among the paupers; and the priests, serenely triumphant, sang -requiems over his grave. - -NOTE:--Mézy sent home charges against the bishop and the Jesuits which -seem to have existed in Charlevoix’s time, but for which, as well as -for those made by Laval, I have sought in vain. - -The substance of these mutual accusations is given thus by the minister -Colbert, in a memorial addressed to the Marquis de Tracy, in 1665: -“Les Jésuites l’accusent d’avarice et de violences; et lui -qu’ils voulaient entreprendre sur l’autorité qui lui a été -commise par le Roy, en sorte que n’ayant que de leurs créatures dans -le Conseil Souverain, toutes les résolutions s’y prenaient selon -leurs sentiments.” - -The papers cited are drawn partly from the Registres du Conseil -Supérieur, still preserved at Quebec, and partly from the Archives of -the Marine and Colonies. Laval’s admirer, the abbé La Tour, in his -eagerness to justify the bishop, says that the quarrel arose from a -dispute about precedence between Mézy and the intendant, and from the -ill-humor of the governor because the intendant shared the profits of -his office. The truth is, that there was no intendant in Canada during -the term of Mezy’s government. One Robert had been appointed to -the office, but he never came to the colony. The commissioner Gaudais, -during the two or three months of his stay at Quebec, took the -intendant’s place at the council-board; but harmony between Laval and -Mézy was unbroken till after his departure. Other writers say that the -dispute arose from the old question about brandy. Towards the end of -the quarrel there was some disorder from this source, but even then the -brandy question was subordinate to other subjects of strife. - - * Testament du Sieur de Mézy. This will, as well as the - letter, is engrossed in the registers of the council. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. 1662-1680. LAVAL AND THE SEMINARY. - - -_LaVal’s Visit to Court.--The Seminary.--Zeal oF the Bishop.--His -Eulogists.--Church and State.--Attitude of Laval._ - - -|That memorable journey of Laval to court, which caused the dissolution -of the Company of New France, the establishment of the Supreme Council, -the recall of Avaugour, and the appointment of Mézy, had yet other -objects and other results. Laval, vicar apostolic and titular bishop of -Petræa, wished to become in title, as in fact, bishop of Quebec. Thus -he would gain an increase of dignity and authority, necessary, as he -thought, in his conflicts with the civil power; “for,” he wrote to -the cardinals of the Propaganda, “I have learned from long experience -how little security my character of vicar apostolic gives me against -those charged with political affairs: I mean the officers of the Crown, -perpetual rivals and contemners of the authority of the church.” * - - * For a long extract from this letter, copied from the - original in the archives of the Propaganda at Rome, see - Faillon, Colonie Française, III. 432 - -This reason was for the Pope and the cardinals. It may well be believed -that he held a different language to the king. To him he urged that the -bishopric was needed to enforce order, suppress sin, and crush -heresy. Both Louis XIV. and the queen mother favored his wishes; * but -difficulties arose and interminable disputes ensued on the question, -whether the proposed bishopric should depend immediately on the Pope -or on the Archbishop of Rouen. It was a revival of the old quarrel of -Gallican and ultramontane. Laval, weary of hope deferred, at length -declared that he would leave the colony if he could not be its bishop in -title; and in 1674, after eleven years of delay, the king yielded to the -Pope’s demands, and the vicar apostolic became first bishop of Quebec. - -If Laval had to wait for his mitre, he found no delay and no difficulty -in attaining another object no less dear to him. He wished to provide -priests for Canada, drawn from the Canadian population, fed with sound -and wholesome doctrine, reared under his eye, and moulded by his hand. -To this end he proposed to establish a seminary at Quebec. The plan -found favor with the pious king, and a decree signed by his hand -sanctioned and confirmed it. The new seminary was to be a corporation -of priests under a superior chosen by the bishop; and, besides its -functions of instruction, it was vested with distinct and extraordinary -powers. Laval, - - * Anne d'Autriche a Laval, 23 Avril, 1662; Louis XIV. au - Pape, 28 Jan., 1664; Louis XIV. au Duc de Créquy, - Ambassadeur à Rome, 28 June, 1664. - -an organizer and a disciplinarian by nature and training, would fain -subject the priests of his diocese to a control as complete as that of -monks in a convent. In France, the curé or parish priest was, with rare -exceptions, a fixture in his parish, whence he could be removed only for -grave reasons, and through prescribed forms of procedure. Hence he was -to a certain degree independent of the bishop. Laval, on the contrary, -demanded that the Canadian curé should be removable at his will, and -thus placed in the position of a missionary, to come and go at the order -of his superior. In fact, the Canadian parishes were for a long time so -widely scattered, so feeble in population, and so miserably poor, that, -besides the disciplinary advantages of this plan, its adoption was at -first almost a matter of necessity. It added greatly to the power of -the church; and, as the colony increased, the king and the minister -conceived an increasing distrust of it. Instructions for the -“fixation” of the curés were repeatedly sent to the colony, and -the bishop, while professing to obey, repeatedly evaded them. Various -fluctuations and changes took place; but Laval had built on strong -foundations, and at this day the system of removable curés prevails in -most of the Canadian parishes. * - -Thus he formed his clergy into a family with - - * On the establishment of the seminary. Mandement de - l’Evêque de Petrée, pour l’Etablissement du Séminaire de - Québec; Approbation du Roy (Edits et Ordonnances, I. 33, - 35); La Tour, Vie de Laval, Liv. VI.; Esquisse de la Vie de - Laval, Appendix. Various papers bearing on the subject are - printed in the Canadian Abeille, from originals in the - archives of the seminary. - -himself at its head. His seminary, the mother who had reared them, was -further charged to maintain them, nurse them in sickness, and support -them in old age. Under her maternal roof the tired priest found repose -among his brethren; and thither every year he repaired from the charge -of his flock in the wilderness, to freshen his devotion and animate his -zeal by a season of meditation and prayer. - -The difficult task remained to provide the necessary funds. Laval -imposed a tithe of one-thirteenth on all products of the soil, or, -as afterwards settled, on grains alone. This tithe was paid to the -seminary, and by the seminary to the priests. The people, unused to such -a burden, clamored and resisted; and Mézy, in his disputes with the -bishop, had taken advantage of their discontent. It became necessary -to reduce the tithe to a twenty-sixth, which, as there was little or -no money among the inhabitants, was paid in kind. Nevertheless, the -scattered and impoverished settlers grudged even this contribution to -the support of a priest whom many of them rarely saw; and the collection -of it became a matter of the greatest difficulty and uncertainty. How -the king came to the rescue, we shall hereafter see. - -Besides the great seminary where young men were trained for the -priesthood, there was the lesser seminary where boys were educated in -the hope that they would one day take orders. This school began in 1668, -with eight French and six Indian pupils, in the old house of Madame - -Couillard; but so far as the Indians were concerned it was a failure. -Sooner or later they all ran wild in the woods, carrying with them as -fruits of their studies a sufficiency of prayers, offices, and chants -learned by rote, along with a feeble smattering of Latin and rhetoric, -which they soon dropped by the way. There was also a sort of farm-school -attached to the seminary, for the training of a humbler class of pupils. -It was established at the parish of St. Joachim, below Quebec, where -the children of artisans and peasants were taught farming and various -mechanical arts, and thoroughly grounded in the doctrine and discipline -of the church. * The Great and Lesser Seminary still subsist, and form -one of the most important Roman Catholic institutions on this continent. -To them has recently been added the Laval University, resting on the -same foundation, and supported by the same funds. - -Whence were these funds derived? Laval, in order to imitate the poverty -of the apostles, had divested himself of his property before he came to -Canada; otherwise there is little doubt that in the fulness of his -zeal he would have devoted it to his favorite object. But if he had no -property he had influence, and his family had both influence and wealth. -He acquired vast grants of land in the best parts of Canada. Some of -these he sold or exchanged; others he retained till the year - - *Annales du Petit Séminaire de Quebec, see Abeille, Vol. I.; - Notice Historique sur le Petit Séminaire de Quebec, Ibid., - Vol. II.; Notice Historique sur la Paroisse de St. Joachim, - Ibid., Vol. I. The Abeille is a journal published by the - seminary. - -1680, when he gave them, with nearly all else that he then possessed, to -his seminary at Quebec. The lands with which he thus endowed it included -the seigniories of the Petite Nation, the island of Jesus, and Beaupré. -The last is of great extent, and at the present day of immense value. -Beginning a few miles below Quebec, it borders the St. Lawrence for a -distance of sixteen leagues, and is six leagues in depth, measured -from the river. From these sources the seminary still draws an abundant -revenue, though its seigniorial rights were commuted on the recent -extinction of the feudal tenure in Canada. - -Well did Laval deserve that his name should live in that of the -university which a century and a half after his death owed its existence -to his bounty. This father of the Canadian church, who has left so deep -an impress on one of the communities which form the vast population of -North America, belonged to a type of character to which an even justice -is rarely done. With the exception of the Canadian Garneau, a liberal -Catholic, those who have treated of him, have seen him through a medium -intensely Romanist, coloring, hiding, and exaggerating by turns both his -actions and the traits of his character. Tried by the Romanist standard, -his merits were great; though the extraordinary influence which he -exercised in the affairs of the colony were, as already observed, by -no means due to his spiritual graces alone. To a saint sprung from -the _haute noblesse_, Earth and Heaven were alike propitious. When the -vicar general Colombière pronounced his funeral eulogy in the sounding -periods of Bossuet, he did not fail to exhibit him on the ancestral -pedestal where his virtues would shine with redoubled lustre. “The -exploits of the heroes of the House of Montmorency,” exclaims the -reverend orator, “form one of the fairest chapters in the annals of -Old France; the heroic acts of charity, humility, and faith, achieved by -a Montmorency, form one of the fairest in the annals of New France. The -combats, victories, and conquests of the Montmorency in Europe -would fill whole volumes; and so, too, would the triumphs won by a -Montmorency, in America, over sin, passion, and the devil.” Then he -crowns the high-born prelate with a halo of fourfold saintship. “It -was with good reason that Providence permitted him to be called Francis: -for the virtues of all the saints of that name were combined in him; the -zeal of Saint Francis Xavier, the charity of Saint Francis of Sales, -the poverty of Saint Francis of Assissi, the self-mortification of Saint -Francis Borgia; but poverty was the mistress of his heart, and he loved -her with incontrollable transports.” - -The stories which Colombière proceeds to tell of Laval’s asceticism -are confirmed by other evidence, and are, no doubt, true. Nor is there -any reasonable doubt that, had the bishop stood in the place of Brebeuf -or Charles Lalemant, he would have suffered torture and death like them. -But it was his lot to strive, not against infidel savages, but against -countrymen and Catholics, who had no disposition to burn him, and would -rather have done him reverence than wrong. - -To comprehend his actions and motives, it is necessary to know his ideas -in regard to the relations of church and state. They were those of the -extreme ultramontanes, which a recent Jesuit preacher has expressed with -tolerable distinctness. In a sermon uttered in the Church of Notre Dame, -at Montreal, on the first of November, 1872, he thus announced them. -“The supremacy and infallibility of the Pope; the independence and -liberty of the church; _the subordination and submission of the state to -the church_; in case of conflict between them, the church to decide, the -state to submit: for whoever follows and defends these principles, -life and a blessing; for whoever rejects and combats them, death and a -curse.” * - -These were the principles which Laval and the Jesuits strove to make -good. Christ was to rule in Canada through his deputy the bishop, and -God’s law was to triumph over the laws of man. As in the halcyon days -of Champlain and Montmagny, the governor was to be the right hand of the -church, to wield the earthly sword at her bidding, and the council was -to be the agent of her high behests. - -France was drifting toward the triumph of the _parti dévot_, the -sinister reign of petticoat and cassock, the era of Maintenon and -Tellier, and the - - * This sermon was preached by Father Braun, S. J., on - occasion of the “Golden Wedding,” or fiftieth anniversary, - of Bishop Bourget of Montreal. A large body of the Canadian - clergy were present, some of whom thought his expressions - too emphatic. A translation by another Jesuit is published - in the “Montreal Weekly Herald” of Nov. 2, 1872; and the - above extract is copied _verbatim_. - -fatal atrocities of the dragonnades. Yet the advancing tide of priestly -domination did not flow smoothly. The unparalleled prestige which -surrounded the throne of the young king, joined to his quarrels with the -Pope and divisions in the church itself, disturbed, though they could -not check its progress. In Canada it was otherwise. The colony had been -ruled by priests from the beginning, and it only remained to continue in -her future the law of her past. She was the fold of Christ; the wolf -of civil government was among the flock, and Laval and the Jesuits, -watchful shepherds, were doing their best to chain and muzzle him. - -According to Argenson, Laval had said, “A bishop can do what he -likes;” and his action answered reasonably well to his words. He -thought himself above human law. In vindicating the assumed rights of -the church, he invaded the rights of others, and used means from which -a healthy conscience would have shrunk. All his thoughts and sympathies -had run from childhood in ecclesiastical channels, and he cared for -nothing outside the church. Prayer, meditation, and asceticism had -leavened and moulded him. During four years he had been steeped in the -mysticism of the Hermitage, which had for its aim the annihilation of -self, and through self-annihilation the absorption into God. * He -had passed from a life of visions to a life of action. Earnest to -fanaticism, he saw but one great object, the glory of God on earth. He -was penetrated by the poisonous casuistry of the Jesuits, - - * See the maxims of Bernieres published by La Tour. - -based on the assumption that all means are permitted when the end is the -service of God; and as Laval, in his own opinion, was always doing the -service of God, while his opponents were always doing that of the devil, -he enjoyed, in the use of means, a latitude of which we have seen him -avail himself. - - - - -II. THE COLONY AND THE KING. - - - - -CHAPTER X. 1661-1665. ROYAL INTERVENTION. - - -_Fontainebleau.--Louis XIV.--Colbert.--The Company of the West.--Evil -Omens.--Action op the King.--Tracy, Coürcelle, And Talon.--The Regiment -Of Carignan-Sallères.--Tracy at Quebec.--Miracles.--A Holy War._ - - -|Leave Canada behind; cross the sea, and stand, on an evening in June, -by the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau. Beyond the broad gardens, -above the long ranges of moonlit trees, rise the walls and pinnacles of -the vast chateau; a shrine of history, the gorgeous monument of lines of -vanished kings, haunted with memories of Capet, Valois, and Bourbon. - -There was little thought of the past at Fontainebleau in June, 1661. The -present was too dazzling and too intoxicating; the future, too radiant -with hope and promise. It was the morning of a new reign; the sun of -Louis XIV. was rising in splendor, and the rank and beauty of France -were gathered to pay it homage. A youthful court, a youthful king; -a pomp and magnificence such as Europe had never seen; a delirium -of ambition, pleasure, and love,--wrought in many a young heart an -enchantment destined to be cruelly broken. Even old courtiers felt the -fascination of the scene, and tell us of the music at evening by the -borders of the lake; of the gay groups that strolled under the shadowing -trees, floated in gilded barges on the still water, or moved slowly -in open carriages around its borders. Here was Anne of Austria, the -king’s mother, and Marie Thérèse, his tender and jealous queen; his -brother, the Duke of Orleans, with his bride of sixteen, Henriette of -England; and his favorite, that vicious butterfly of the court, the -Count de Guiche. Here, too, were the humbled chiefs of the civil war, -Beaufort and Condé, obsequious before their triumphant master. Louis -XIV., the centre of all eyes, in the flush of health and vigor, and the -pride of new-fledged royalty, stood, as he still stands on the canvas -of Philippe de Champagne, attired in a splendor which would have been -effeminate but for the stately port of the youth who wore it. * - -Fortune had been strangely bountiful to him. The nations of Europe, -exhausted by wars and dissensions, looked upon him with respect and -fear. Among weak and weary neighbors, he alone was strong. The death -of Mazarin had released him from tutelage; feudalism in the person of -Condé - - * On the visit of the court at Fontainebleau in the summer - of 1661, see Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, Mémoires de - Madame de La Fayette, Mémoires de l’Abbé de Choisy, and - Walckenaer, Mémoires sur Madame de Sevigné. - -was abject before him; he had reduced his parliaments to submission; -and, in the arrest of the ambitious prodigal Fouquet, he was preparing a -crashing blow to the financial corruption which had devoured France. - -Nature had formed him to act the part of king. Even his critics and -enemies praise the grace and majesty of his presence, and he impressed -his courtiers with an admiration which seems to have been to an -astonishing degree genuine. He carried airs of royalty even into his -pleasures; and, while his example corrupted all France, he proceeded to -the apartments of Montespan or Fontanges with the majestic gravity of -Olympian Jove. He was a devout observer of the forms of religion; and, -as the buoyancy of youth passed away, his zeal was stimulated by a -profound fear of the devil. Mazarin had reared him in ignorance; but his -faculties were excellent in their way, and, in a private station, -would have made him an efficient man of business. The vivacity of -his passions, and his inordinate love of pleasure, were joined to a -persistent will and a rare power of labor. The vigorous mediocrity of -his understanding delighted in grappling with details. His astonished -courtiers saw him take on himself the burden of administration, and work -at it without relenting for more than half a century. Great as was his -energy, his pride was far greater. As king by divine right, he felt -himself raised immeasurably above the highest of his subjects; but, -while vindicating with unparalleled haughtiness his claims to supreme -authority, he was, at the outset, filled with a sense of the duties of -his high place, and fired by an ambition to make his reign beneficent to -France as well as glorious to himself. - -Above all rulers of modern times, he was the embodiment of the -monarchical idea. The famous words ascribed to him, “I am the -state,” were probably never uttered; but they perfectly express his -spirit. “It is God’s will,” he wrote in 1666, “that whoever is -born a subject should not reason, but obey;” * and those around him -were of his mind. “The state is in the king,” said Bossuet, the -great mouthpiece of monarchy; “the will of the people is merged in -his will. Oh kings, put forth your power boldly, for it is divine and -salutary to human kind.” ** - -For a few brief years, his reign was indeed salutary to France. His -judgment of men, when not obscured by his pride and his passion for -flattery, was good; and he had at his service the generals and statesmen -formed in the freer and bolder epoch that had ended with his accession. -Among them was Jean Baptiste Colbert, formerly the intendant of -Mazarin’s household, a man whose energies matched his talents, and who -had preserved his rectitude in the midst of corruption. It was a hard -task that Colbert imposed on his proud and violent nature to serve the -imperious king, morbidly jealous of his authority, and resolved to - - * Œuvres de Louis XIV., II. 283. - - ** Bossuet, Politique tirée de l’Ecriture sainte, 70. - (1843). - -accept no initiative but his own. He must counsel while seeming to -receive counsel, and lead while seeming to follow. The new minister bent -himself to the task, and the nation reaped the profit. A vast system -of reform was set in action amid the outcries of nobles, financiers, -churchmen, and all who profited by abuses. The methods of this reform -were trenchant and sometimes violent, and its principles were not always -in accord with those of modern economic science; but the good that -resulted was incalculable. The burdens of the laboring classes were -lightened, the public revenues increased, and the wholesale plunder of -the public money arrested with a strong hand. Laws were reformed and -codified; feudal tyranny, which still subsisted in many quarters, -was repressed; agriculture and productive industry of all kinds were -encouraged, roads and canals opened; trade stimulated, a commercial -marine created, and a powerful navy formed as if by magic. * - -It is in his commercial, industrial, and colonial policy that the -profound defects of the great minister’s system are most apparent. -It was a system of authority, monopoly, and exclusion, in which the -government, and not the individual, acted always the foremost part. -Upright, incorruptible, ardent for the public good, inflexible, -arrogant, and domineering, he sought to drive France into paths of -prosperity, and create colonies by the - - * On Colbert, see Clement, Histoire de Colbert. Clément, - Lettres et Mémoires de Colbert; Chéruel, Administration - monarchique en France, II chap, vi Henri Martin, Histoire de - France, XIII., etc. - -energy of an imperial will. He feared, and with reason, that the want of -enterprise and capital among the merchants would prevent the broad and -immediate results at which he aimed; and, to secure these results, -he established a series of great trading corporations, in which the -principles of privilege and exclusion were pushed to their utmost -limits. Prominent among them was the Company of the West. The king -signed the edict creating it on the 24th of May, 1664. Any person in -the kingdom or out of it might become a partner by subscribing, within -a certain time, not less than three thousand francs. France was a mere -patch on the map, compared to the vast domains of the new association. -Western Africa from Cape Verd to the Cape of Good Hope, South America -between the Amazon and the Orinoco, Cayenne, the Antilles, and all New -France, from Hudson’s Bay to Virginia and Florida were bestowed on it -for ever, to be held of the Crown on the simple condition of faith -and homage. As, according to the edict, the glory of God was the chief -object in view, the company was required to supply its possessions with -a sufficient number of priests, and diligently to exclude all teachers -of false doctrine. It was empowered to build forts and warships, cast -cannon, wage war, make peace, establish courts, appoint judges, and -otherwise to act as sovereign within its own domains. A monopoly of -trade was granted it for forty years. * Sugar from the Antilles, and -furs from Canada, were the chief source of expected profit; and Africa -was to supply the slaves to raise the sugar. Scarcely was the grand -machine set in motion, when its directors betrayed a narrowness and -blindness of policy which boded the enterprise no good. Canada was a -chief sufferer. Once more, bound hand and foot, she was handed over to -a selfish league of merchants; monopoly in trade, monopoly in religion, -monopoly in government. Nobody but the company had a right to bring -her the necessaries of life; and nobody but the company had a right to -exercise the traffic which alone could give her the means of paying -for these necessaries. Moreover, the supplies which it brought were -insufficient, and the prices which it demanded were exorbitant. It was -throttling its wretched victim. The Canadian merchants remonstrated. -** It was clear that, if the colony was to live, the system must be -changed; and a change was accordingly ordered. The company gave up its -monopoly of the fur trade, but reserved the right to levy a duty of -one-fourth of the beaver-skins, and one-tenth of the moose-skins: and it -also reserved the entire trade of Tadoussac; that is to say, the trade -of all the tribes between the lower St. Lawrence and Hudson’s Bay. -It retained besides the exclusive right of transporting furs in its own -ships, thus controlling the commerce of Canada, and discouraging, or -rather extinguishing, the enterprise of Canadian merchants. On its part, -it was required to pay governors, judges, and all the colonial officials -out of the duties which it levied. **** - -Yet the king had the prosperity of Canada at heart; and he proceeded to -show his interest in her after a manner hardly consistent with his late -action in handing her over to a mercenary guardian. In fact, he acted as -if she had still remained under his paternal care. He had just conferred -the right of naming a governor and intendant upon the new company; but -he now assumed it himself, the company, with a just sense of its own -unfitness, readily consenting to this suspension of one of its most -important privileges. Daniel de Rémy, Sieur de Courcelle, was -appointed governor, and Jean Baptiste Talon intendant. (v) The nature of -this duplicate government will appear hereafter. But, before appointing -rulers for Canada, the king had appointed a representative of the Crown -for all his American domains. The Maréchal d’Estrades had for some -time held the title of viceroy for America; and, as he could not fulfil -the duties of that office, being at the time ambassador in Holland, -the Marquis de Tracy was sent in his place, with the title of -lieutenant-general.---- - - * Arrêt du Conseil du Roy qui accorde a la Compagnie le - quart des castors, le dixième des orignaux et la traite de - Tadoussac: Instruction a Monseigneur de Tracy et a Messieurs - le Gouverneur et L'Intendant. - - This company prospered as little as the rest of Colbert’s - trading companies. Within ten years it lost 3,523,000 - livres, besides blighting the colonies placed under its - control. Recherches sur les Finances, cited by Clement, - Histoire de Colbert. - - ** Commission de Lieutenant Général en Canada, etc., pour - M. de Courcelle, 23 Mais, 1665; Commission d’intendant de la - Justice, Police, et Finances en Canada, etc., pour M. Talon, - 23 Mars, 1665. - - *** Commission de Lieutenant Général de l’Amérique - Méridionale et Septentrionale pour M. Prou Conseil du Roy - qui accorde a la Compagnie le quart des castors, le dixième - des orignaux et la traite de Tadoussac: Instruction a - Monseigneur de Tracy et a Messieurs le Gouverneur et - L'Intendant. - - This company prospered as little as the rest of Colbert’s - trading companies. Within ten years it lost 3,523,000 - livres, besides blighting the colonies placed under its - control. Recherches sur les Finances, cited by Clement, - Histoire de Colbert. - - **** Commission de Lieutenant Général en Canada, etc., pour - M. de Courcelle, 23 Mais, 1665; Commission d’intendant de la - Justice, Police, et Finances en Canada, etc., pour M. Talon, - 23 Mars, 1665. - - (v) Commission de Lieutenant Général de l’Amérique - Méridionale et Septentrionale pour M. Prouville de Tracy, 19 - Nov., 1663. - -Canada at this time was an object of very considerable attention at -court, and especially in what was known as the _parti dévot_. The -_Relations_ of the Jesuits, appealing equally to the spirit of religion -and the spirit of romantic adventure, had, for more than a quarter of a -century, been the favorite reading of the devout, and the visit of -Laval at court had greatly stimulated the interest they had kindled. -The letters of Argenson, and especially of Avaugour, had shown the -vast political possibilities of the young colony, and opened a vista of -future glories alike for church and for king. - -So, when Tracy set sail he found no lack of followers. A throng of young -nobles embarked with him, eager to explore the marvels and mysteries -of the western world. The king gave him two hundred soldiers of the -regiment of Carignan-Salières, and promised that a thousand more should -follow. After spending more than a year in the West Indies, where, as -Mother Mary of the Incarnation expresses it, “he performed marvels -and reduced everybody to obedience,” he at length sailed up the St. -Lawrence, and, on the thirtieth of June, 1665, anchored in the basin -of Quebec. The broad, white standard, blazoned with the arms of France, -proclaimed the representative of royalty; and Point Levi and Cape -Diamond and the distant Cape Tourmente roared back the sound of the -saluting cannon. All Quebec was on the ramparts or at the landing-place, -and all eyes were strained at the two vessels as they slowly emptied -their crowded decks into the boats alongside. The boats at length drew -near, and the lieutenant-general and his suite landed on the quay with a -pomp such as Quebec had never seen before. - -Tracy was a veteran of sixty-two, portly and tall, “one of the largest -men I ever saw,” writes Mother Mary; but he was sallow with disease, -for fever had seized him, and it had fared ill with him on the long -voyage. The Chevalier de Chaumont walked at his side, and young nobles -surrounded him, gorgeous in lace and ribbons and majestic in leonine -wigs. Twenty-four guards in the king’s livery led the way, followed by -four pages and six valets; * and thus, while the Frenchmen shouted and -the Indians stared, the august procession threaded the streets of the -Lower Town, and climbed the steep pathway that scaled the cliffs above. -Breathing hard, they reached the top, passed on the left the dilapidated -walls of the fort and the shed of mingled wood and masonry which then -bore the name of the Castle of St. Louis; passed on the right the old -house of Couillard and the site of Laval’s new seminary, and soon -reached the square betwixt the Jesuit college and the cathedral. The -bells were ringing in a phrensy of welcome. Laval in pontificals, -surrounded by priests and Jesuits, stood waiting to receive the deputy -of the king; and, as he greeted Tracy and offered him the holy water, -he looked with anxious curiosity to see what manner of man he was. The -signs were auspicious. The deportment of the lieutenant-general - - * Juchereau says that this was his constant attendance when - he went abroad. - -left nothing to desire. A _prie-dieu_ had been placed for him. He -declined it. They offered him a cushion, but he would not have it; and, -fevered as he was, he knelt on the bare pavement with a devotion that -edified every beholder. _Te Deum_ was sung, and a day of rejoicing -followed. - -There was good cause. Canada, it was plain, was not to be wholly -abandoned to a trading company. Louis XIV. was resolved that a new -France should be added to the old. Soldiers, settlers, horses, sheep, -cattle, young women for wives, were all sent out in abundance by his -paternal benignity. Before the season was over, about two thousand -persons had landed at Quebec at the royal charge. “At length,” -writes Mother Juchereau, “our joy was completed by the arrival of two -vessels with Monsieur de Courcelle, our governor; Monsieur Talon, our -intendant, and the last companies of the regiment of Carignan.” -More state and splendor more young nobles, more guards and valets: for -Courcelle, too, says the same chronicler, “had a superb train; and -Monsieur Talon, who naturally loves glory, forgot nothing which could do -honor to the king.” Thus a sunbeam from the court fell for a moment on -the rock of Quebec. Yet all was not sunshine; for the voyage had been -a tedious one, and disease had broken out in the ships. That which bore -Talon had been a hundred and seventeen days at sea, * and others were -hardly more fortunate. The hospital was crowded with the sick; so, too, -were the church and the neighboring houses; - - * Talon au ministre, 4 Oct., 1665. - -and the nuns were so spent with their labors that seven of them were -brought to the point of death. The priests were busied in converting -the Huguenots, a number of whom were detected among the soldiers and -emigrants. One of them proved refractory, declaring with oaths that he -would never renounce his faith. Falling dangerously ill, he was carried -to the hospital, where Mother Catherine de Saint-Augustin bethought her -of a plan of conversion. She ground to powder a small piece of a bone -of Father Brebeuf, the Jesuit martyr, and secretly mixed the sacred dust -with the patient’s gruel; whereupon, says Mother Juchereau, “this -intractable man forthwith became gentle as an angel, begged to be -instructed, embraced the faith, and abjured his errors publicly with an -admirable fervor.” * - -Two or three years before, the church of Quebec had received as a gift -from the Pope, the bodies or bones of two saints; Saint Flavian -and Saint Félicité. They were enclosed in four large coffers or -reliquaries, and a grand procession was now ordered in their honor. -Tracy, Courcelle, Talon, and the agent of the company, bore the canopy -of the Host. Then came the four coffers on four decorated litters, -carried by the principal ecclesiastics. Laval followed in pontificals. -Forty-seven priests, and a long file of officers, nobles, soldiers, and -inhabitants, followed the precious relics amid the sound of music and -the roar of cannon. ** - - * Le Mercier tells the same story in the Relation of 1665. - - ** Compare Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre, 16 Oct., 1660, - with La Tour Vie de Laval, chap. x. - -“It is a ravishing thing,” says Mother Mary, “to see how marvellously -exact is Monsieur de Tracy, at all these holy ceremonies, where he is -always the first to come, for he would not lose a single moment of them. -He has been seen in church for six hours together, without once going -out.” But while the lieutenant-general thus edified the colony, -he betrayed no lack of qualities equally needful in his position. In -Canada, as in the West Indies, he showed both vigor and conduct. First -of all, he had been ordered to subdue or destroy the Iroquois, and the -regiment of Carignan-Salières was the weapon placed in his hands for -this end, Four companies of this corps had arrived early in the season, -four more came with Tracy, more yet with Salières, their colonel, and -now the number was complete. As with slouched hat and plume, bandoleer, -and shouldered firelock, these bronzed veterans of the Turkish wars -marched at the tap of drum through the narrow street, or mounted the -rugged way that led up to the fort, the inhabitants gazed with a sense -of profound relief. Tame Indians from the neighboring missions, wild -Indians from the woods, stared in silent wonder at their new defenders. -Their numbers, their discipline, their uniform, and their martial -bearing, filled the savage beholders with admiration. - -Carignan-Salières was the first regiment of regular troops ever sent to -America by the French government. It was raised in Savoy by the Prince -of Carignan in 1644, but was soon employed in the service of France; -where, in 1652, it took a conspicuous part, on the side of the king, in -the battle with Condé and the Fronde at the Porte St. Antoine. After -the peace of the Pyrenees, the Prince of Carignan, unable to support -the regiment, gave it to the king, and it was, for the first time, -incorporated into the French armies. In 1664, it distinguished itself, -as part of the allied force of France, in the Austrian war against -the Turks. In the next year it was ordered to America, along with the -fragment of a regiment formed of Germans, the whole being placed under -the command of Colonel de Salières. Hence its double name. * - -Fifteen heretics were discovered in its ranks, and quickly converted. -** Then the new crusade was preached; the crusade against the Iroquois, -enemies of God and tools of the devil. The soldiers and the people were -filled with a zeal half warlike and half religious. “They are made to -understand,” writes Mother Mary, “that this is a holy war, all -for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. The fathers are doing -wonders in inspiring them with true sentiments of piety and - - * For a long notice of the regiment of Carignan-Salières - (Lorraine), see Susane, Ancienne Infanterie Française V 236. - The portion of it which returned to France from Canada - formed a nucleus for the reconstruction of the regiment, - which, under the name of the regiment of Lorraine, did not - cease to exist as a separate organization till 1794. When it - came to Canada it consisted, says Susane, of about a - thousand men, besides about two hundred of the other - regiment incorporated with it. Compare Mémoire du Roy pour - servir d’instruction au Sieur Talon, which corresponds very - nearly with Susane’s statement. - - ** Besides these, there was Berthier, a captain, “Voilà” - writes Talon to the king, “le 16me converti; ainsi votre - Majesté moissonne déjà à pleines mains de la gloire pour - Dieu, et pour elle bien de la renommée dans toute l’étendue - de la Chrétienté” Lettre au 7 Oct., 1665. - -devotion. Fully five hundred soldiers have taken the scapulary of the -Holy Virgin. It is we (_the Ursulines_), who make them; it is a real -pleasure to do such work;” and she proceeds to relate a “_beau -miracle_” by which God made known his satisfaction at the fervor of -his military servants. - -The secular motives for the war were in themselves strong enough; for -the growth of the colony absolutely demanded the cessation of Iroquois -raids, and the French had begun to learn the lesson that, in the case -of hostile Indians, no good can come of attempts to conciliate, unless -respect is first imposed by a sufficient castigation. It is true that -the writers of the time paint Iroquois hostilities in their worst -colors. In the innumerable letters which Mother Mary of the Incarnation -sent home every autumn, by the returning ships, she spared no means to -gain the sympathy and aid of the devout; and, with similar motives, the -Jesuits in their printed _Relations_, took care to extenuate nothing of -the miseries which the pious colony endured. Avaugour, too, in urging -the sending out of a strong force to fortify and hold the country, had -advised that, in order to furnish a pretext and disarm the jealousy of -the English and Dutch, exaggerated accounts should be given of danger -from the side of the savage confederates. Yet, with every allowance, -these dangers and sufferings were sufficiently great. - -The three upper nations of the Iroquois were comparatively pacific; -but the two lower nations, the Mohawks and Oneidas, were persistently -hostile; making inroads into the colony by way of Lake Champlain and -the Richelieu, murdering and scalping, and then vanishing like ghosts. -Tracy’s first step was to send a strong detachment to the Richelieu to -build a picket fort below the rapids of Chambly, which take their -name from that of the officer in command. An officer named Sorel soon -afterwards built a second fort on the site of the abandoned palisade -work built by Montmagny, at the mouth of the river, where the town of -Sorel now stands; and Salières, colonel of the regiment, added a third -fort, two or three leagues above Chambly. * These forts could not wholly -bar the passage against the nimble and wily warriors who might pass them -in the night, shouldering their canoes through the woods. A blow, direct -and hard, was needed, and Tracy prepared to strike it. - -Late in the season an embassy from the three upper nations--the -Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas--arrived at Quebec, led by Garacontié, -a famous chief whom the Jesuits had won over, and who proved ever after -a staunch friend of the French. They brought back the brave Charles Le -Moyne of Montreal, whom they had captured some three months before, -and now restored as a peace-offering, taking credit to themselves that -“not even one of his nails had been torn out, nor any part of his body -burnt.” ** Garacontié made a - - * See the map in the Relation of 1665. The accompanying - text of the Relation is incorrect. - - ** Explanation of the eleven Presents of the Iroquois - Ambassadors. N. Y Colonial Docs.. IX. 37 - -peace speech, which, as rendered by the Jesuits, was an admirable -specimen of Iroquois eloquence; but, while joining hands with him and -his companions, the French still urged on their preparations to chastise -the contumacious Mohawks. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. 1666, 1667. THE MOHAWKS CHASTISED. - - -_Courcelle’s March.--His Failure and Return.--Courcelle and the -Jesuits.--Mohawk Treachery.--Tracy’s Expedition.--Burning of -the Mohawk Towns.--French and English.--Dollier de Casson at St. -Anne.--Peace.--The Jesuits and the Iroquois._ - - -|The governor, Courcelle, says Father Le Meircier, “breathed nothing -but war,” and was bent on immediate action. He was for the present -subordinate to Tracy, who, however, forebore to cool his ardor, and -allowed him to proceed. The result was an enterprise bold to rashness. -Courcelle, with about five hundred men, prepared to march in the depth -of a Canadian winter to the Mohawk towns, a distance estimated at three -hundred leagues. Those who knew the country, vainly urged the risks and -difficulties of the attempt. The adventurous governor held fast to his -purpose, and only waited till the St. Lawrence should be well frozen. -Early in January, it was a solid floor; and on the ninth the march -began. Officers and men stopped at Sillery, and knelt in the little -mission chapel before the shrine of Saint Michael, to ask the protection -and aid of the warlike archangel; then they resumed their course, and, -with their snowshoes tied at their backs, walked with difficulty and -toil over the bare and slippery ice. A keen wind swept the river, and -the fierce cold gnawed them to the bone. Ears, noses, fingers, hands, -and knees were frozen; some fell in torpor, and were dragged on by their -comrades to the shivering bivouac. When, after a march of ninety miles, -they reached Three Rivers, a considerable number were disabled, and had -to be left behind; but others joined them from the garrison, and they -set out again. Ascending the Richelieu, and passing the new forts at -Sorel and Chambly, they reached at the end of the month the third fort, -called Ste. Thérèse. On the thirtieth they left it, and continued -their march up the frozen stream. About two hundred of them were -Canadians, and of these seventy were old Indian-fighters from Montreal, -versed in woodcraft, seasoned to the climate, and trained among dangers -and alarms. Courcelle quickly learned their value, and his “Blue -Coats,” as he called them, were always placed in the van. * Here, -wrapped in their coarse blue capotes, with blankets and provisions -strapped at their backs, they strode along on snowshoes, which recent -storms had made indispensable. The regulars followed as they could. -They were not yet the tough and experienced woodsmen that they and their -descendants afterwards became; and their snow - - * Doll du Montréal, a.d. 1665, 1666. - -shoes embarrassed them, burdened as they were with the heavy loads which -all carried alike, from Courcelle to the lowest private. - -Lake Champlain lay glaring in the winter sun, a sheet of spotless snow; -and the wavy ridges of the Adirondack? bordered the dazzling landscape -with the cold gray of their denuded forests. The long procession of -weary men crept slowly on under the lee of the shore; and when night -came they bivouacked by squads among the trees, dug away the snow with -their snowshoes, piled it in a bank around them, built their fire in -the middle, and crouched about it on beds of spruce or hemlock; * while, -as they lay close packed for mutual warmth, the winter sky arched them -like a vault of burnished steel, sparkling with the cold diamond lustre -of its myriads of stars. This arctic serenity of the elements was -varied at times by heavy snow-storms; and, before they reached their -journey’s end, the earth and the ice were buried to the unusual depth -of four feet. From Lake Champlain they passed to Lake George, ** and -the frigid glories of its snow-wrapped mountains; thence crossed to the -Hudson, and groped their way through the woods in search of the Mohawk -towns. They soon went astray; for thirty Algonquins, whom they had taken -as guides, had found - - * One of the men, telling the story of their sufferings to - Daniel Gookin, of Massachusetts, indicated this as their - mode of encamping. See Mass. Hist. Coll., first series, I. - 161. - - ** Carte des grands lacs, Ontario et autres... et des pays - traversez par MM. de Tracy et Courcelle our aller attaquer - les agniés (Mohawks), 1666. - -the means of a grand debauch at Fort Ste. Thérèse, drunk themselves -into helplessness, and lingered behind. Thus Courcelle and his men -mistook the path, and, marching by way of Saratoga Lake and Long Lake, -* found themselves, on Saturday the twentieth of February, close to the -little Dutch hamlet of Corlaer or Schenectady. Here the chief man in -authority told them that most of the Mohawks and Oneidas had gone to war -with another tribe. They, however, caught a few stragglers, and had a -smart skirmish with a party of warriors, losing an officer and several -men. Half frozen and half starved, they encamped in the neighboring -woods, where, on Sunday, three envoys appeared from Albany, to demand -why they had invaded the territories of his Royal Highness the Duke -of York. It was now that they learned for the first time that the New -Netherlands had passed into English hands, a change which boded no good -to Canada. The envoys seemed to take their explanations in good part, -made them a present of wine and provisions, and allowed them to buy -further supplies from the Dutch of Schenectady. They even invited them -to enter the village, but Courcelle declined, partly because the place -could not hold them all, and partly because he feared that his men, once -seated in a chimney-corner, could never be induced to leave it. - -Their position was cheerless enough; for the vast beds of snow around -them were soaking slowly under a sullen rain, and there was danger - - * Carte... des pays traversez par MM. de Tracy et - Courcelle, etc. - -that the lakes might thaw and cut off their retreat. “Ye Mohaukes,” -says the old English report of the affair, “were all gone to their -Castles with resolution to fight it out against the french, who, being -refresht and supplyed with the aforesaid provisions, made a shew of -marching towards the Mohaukes Castles, but with faces about, and great -sylence and dilligence, return’d towards Cannada.” “Surely,” -observes the narrator, “so bould and hardy an attempt hath not hapned -in any age.” * The end hardly answered to the beginning. The retreat, -which began on Sunday night, was rather precipitate. The Mohawks hovered -about their rear, and took a few prisoners; but famine and cold proved -more deadly foes, and sixty men perished before they reached the shelter -of Fort Ste. Thérèse. On the eighth of March, Courcelle came to the -neighboring fort of St. Louis or Chambly. Here he found the Jesuit -Albanel acting as chaplain; and, being in great ill humor, he charged -him with causing the failure of the expedition by detaining the -Algonquin guides. This singular notion took such possession of him, -that, when a few days after he met the Jesuit Frémin at Three Rivers, -he embraced him ironically, saying, at the same time, “My father, I am -the unluckiest gentleman in the world; and you, and the rest of you, are -the cause of it.” ** The pious Tracy, and the prudent - - * A Relation of the Governr. of Cannada, his March with 600 - Volunteire into if Territoryes of His Roy all Highnesse the - Duke of Yorke in America. See Doc. Hist. N. Y. I. 71. - - ** Journal des Jésuites, Mars, 1666. . - -Talon, tried to disarm his suspicions, and with such success that -he gave up an intention he had entertained of discarding his Jesuit -confessor, and forgot or forgave the imagined wrong. - -Unfortunate as this expedition was, it produced a strong effect on the -Iroquois by convincing them that their forest homes were no safe asylum -from French attacks. In May, the Senecas sent an embassy of peace; and -the other nations, including the Mohawks, soon followed. Tracy, on his -part, sent the Jesuit Bêchefer to learn on the spot the real temper of -the savages, and ascertain whether peace could safely be made with them. -The Jesuit was scarcely gone when news came that a party of officers -hunting near the outlet of Lake Champlain had been set upon by the -Mohawks, and that seven of them had been captured or killed. Among the -captured was Leroles, a cousin of Tracy, and among the killed was a -young gentleman named Chasy, his nephew. - -On this the Jesuit envoy was recalled; twenty-four Iroquois deputies -were seized and imprisoned; and Sorel, captain in the regiment of -Carignan, was sent with three hundred men to chastise the perfidious -Mohawks. If, as it seems, he was expected to attack their fortified -towns or “castles,” as the English call them, his force was too -small. This time, however, there was no fighting. At two days from his -journey’s end, Sorel met the famous chief called the Flemish Bastard, -bringing back Leroles and his fellow-captives, and charged, as he -alleged, to offer full satisfaction for the murder of Chasy. - -Sorel believed him, retraced his course, and with the Bastard in his -train returned to Quebec. - -Quebec was full of Iroquois deputies, all bent on peace or pretending -to be so. On the last day of August, there was a grand council in -the garden of the Jesuits. Some days later, Tracy invited the Flemish -Bastard and a Mohawk chief named Agariata to his table, when allusion -was made to the murder of Chasy. On this the Mohawk, stretching out his -arm, exclaimed in a braggart tone, “This is the hand that split -the head of that young man.” The indignation of the company may -be imagined. Tracy told his insolent guest that he should never kill -anybody else; and he was led out and hanged in presence of the Bastard. -* There was no more talk of peace. Tracy prepared to march in person -against the Mohawks with all the force of Canada. - -On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, “for whose glory,” says -the chronicler, “this expedition is undertaken,” Tracy and Courcelle -left Quebec with thirteen hundred men. They crossed Lake Champlain, -and launched their boats again on the waters of St. Sacrament, now Lake -George. It was the first of the warlike pageants that have made that -fair scene historic. October had begun, and the romantic wilds breathed -the buoyant life of the most inspiring of American seasons, when - - * This story rests chiefly on the authority of Nicolas - Perrot, Mœurs des Saurages, 113. La Potherie also tells it, - with the addition of the chief’s name. Colden follows him. - The Journal des Jésuites mentions that the chief who led the - murderers of Chasy arrived at Quebec on the sixth of - September. Marie de l’Incarnation mentions the hanging of an - Iroquois at Quebec, late in the autumn, for violating the - peace. - -the blue-jay screams from the woods; the wild duck splashes along the -lake; and the echoes of distant mountains prolong the quavering cry of -the loon; when weather-stained rocks are plumed with the fiery crimson -of the sumac, the claret hues of young oaks, the amber and scarlet of -the maple, and the sober purple of the ash; or when gleams of sunlight, -shot aslant through the rents of cool autumnal clouds, chase fitfully -along the glowing sides of painted mountains. Amid this gorgeous -euthanasia of the dying season, the three hundred boats and canoes -trailed in long procession up the lake, threaded the labyrinth of the -Narrows, that sylvan fairyland of tufted islets and quiet waters, and -landed at length where Fort William Henry was afterwards built. * - -About a hundred miles of forests, swamps, rivers, and mountains, still -lay between them and the Mohawk towns. There seems to have been an -Indian path; for this was the ordinary route of the Mohawk and Oneida -war-parties: but the path was narrow, broken, full of gullies and -pitfalls, crossed by streams, and in one place interrupted by a lake -which they passed on rafts. A hundred and ten “Blue Coats,” of -Montreal, led the way, under Charles Le Moyne. Repentigny commanded the -levies from Quebec. In all there were six hundred Canadians; six hundred -regulars; and a hundred Indians from the missions, who ranged the woods -in front, flank, and rear, like hounds on the scent. Red or white, -Canadians or regulars, all were full - - * Carte... des pays traversez par MM. de Tracy et Courcelle, - etc. - -of zeal. “It seems to them," writes Mother Mary, “that they are -going to lay siege to Paradise, and win it and enter in, because they -are fighting for religion and the faith.” * Their ardor was rudely -tried. Officers as well as men carried loads at their backs, whence -ensued a large blister on the shoulders of the Chevalier de Chaumont, -in no way used to such burdens. Tracy, old, heavy, and infirm, was -inopportunely seized with the gout. A Swiss soldier tried to carry him -on his shoulders across a rapid stream; but midway his strength failed, -and he was barely able to deposit his ponderous load on a rock. A Huron -came to his aid, and bore Tracy safely to the farther bank. Courcelle -was attacked with cramps, and had to be carried for a time like his -commander. Provisions gave out, and men and officers grew faint with -hunger. The Montreal soldiers had for chaplain a sturdy priest, Doilier -de Casson, as large as Tracy and far stronger; for the incredible story -is told of him that, when in good condition, he could hold two men -seated on his extended hands. ** Now, however, he was equal to no such -exploit, being not only deprived of food, but also of sleep, by the -necessity of listening at night to the confessions of his pious flock; -and his shoes, too, had failed him, nothing remaining but the upper -leather, which gave him little comfort among the sharp stones. He bore -up manfully, being by nature brave and - - * Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre du 16 Oct., 1666. - - ** Grandet, Notice manuscrite sur Dollier de Casson, extract - given by J. Vigor in appendix to Histoire du Montréal - (Montreal, 1868). - -light-hearted; and, when a servant of the Jesuits fell into the water, -he threw off his cassock and leaped after him. His strength gave -out, and the man was drowned; but a grateful Jesuit led him aside and -requited his efforts with a morsel of bread. * A wood of chestnut-trees -full of nuts at length stayed the hunger of the famished troops. - -It was Saint Theresa’s day when they approached the lower Mohawk town. -A storm of wind and rain set in; but, anxious to surprise the enemy, -they pushed on all night amid the moan and roar of the forest; over -slippery logs, tangled roots, and oozy mosses; under dripping boughs and -through saturated bushes. This time there was no want of good guides; -and when in the morning they issued from the forest, they saw, amid its -cornfields, the palisades of the Indian stronghold. They had two small -pieces of cannon brought from the lake by relays of men, but they did -not stop to use them. Their twenty drums beat the charge, and they -advanced to seize the place by _coup-de-main_. Lucidly for them, a panic -had seized the Indians. Not that they were taken by surprise, for they -had discovered the approaching French, and, two days before, had sent -away their women and children in preparation for a desperate fight; but -the din of the drums, which they took for so many devils in the French -service; and the armed men advancing from the rocks and thickets in -files that seemed interminable,--so wrought on the scared imagination of -the warriors that they fled in terror to their next - - * Dollier de Casson, Histoire du Montréal, a.d 1665, 1666. - -town, a short distance above. Tracy lost no time, but hastened in -pursuit. A few Mohawks were seen on the hills, yelling and firing -too far for effect. Repentigny, at the risk of his scalp, climbed a -neighboring height, and looked down on the little army, which seemed so -numerous as it passed beneath, “that,” writes the superior of the -Ursulines, “he told me that he thought the good angels must have -joined with it; whereat he stood amazed.” - -The second town or fort was taken as easily as the first; so, too, were -the third and the fourth. The Indians yelled, and fled without killing -a man; and still the troops pursued, following the broad trail which -led from town to town along the valley of the Mohawk. It was late in the -afternoon when the fourth town was entered, * and Tracy thought that his -work was done; but an Algonquin squaw who had followed her husband to -the war, and who had once been a prisoner among the Mohawks, told him -that there was still another above. The sun was near its setting, and -the men were tired with their pitiless marching; but again the order was -given to advance. The eager squaw showed the way, holding a pistol in -one hand and leading Courcelle with the other; and they soon came in -sight of Andaraqué, the largest and strongest of the Mohawk forts. The -drums beat with fury, and the troops prepared to attack, but there were -none to oppose them. The scouts sent forward, reported - - * Marie de l'Incarnation says that there were four towns in - all I follow the Acte de prise de possession, made on the - spot. Five are here mentioned. - -that the warriors had fled. The last of the savage strongholds was in -the hands of the French. - -“God has done for us,” says Mother Mary, “what he did in ancient -days for his chosen people, striking terror into our enemies, insomuch -that we were victors without a blow. Certain it is that there is miracle -in all this; for, if the Iroquois had stood fast, they would have given -us a great deal of trouble and caused our army great loss, seeing how -they were fortified and armed, and how haughty and bold they are.” - -The French were astonished as they looked about them. These Iroquois -forts were very different from those that Jogues had seen here twenty -years before, or from that which in earlier times set Champlain and his -Hurons at defiance. The Mohawks had had counsel and aid from their Dutch -friends, and adapted their savage defences to the rules of European art. -Andaraqué was a quadrangle formed of a triple palisade, twenty feet -high, and flanked by four bastions. Large vessels of bark filled with -water were placed on the platform of the palisade for defence against -fire. The dwellings which these fortifications enclosed were in many -cases built of wood, though the form and arrangement of the primitive -bark lodge of the Iroquois seems to have been preserved. Some of the -wooden houses were a hundred and twenty feet long, with fires for -eight or nine families. Here and in subterranean _caches_ was stored -a prodigious quantity of Indian-corn and other provisions; and all the -dwellings were supplied with carpenters’ tools, domestic utensils, and -many other appliances of comfort. - -The only living things in Andaraqué, when the French entered, were two -old women, a small boy, and a decrepit old man, who, being frightened by -the noise of the drums, had hidden himself under a canoe. From them the -victors learned that the Mohawks, retreating from the other towns, had -gathered here, resolved to fight to the last; but at sight of the troops -their courage failed, and the chief was first to run, crying out, “Let -us save ourselves, brothers; the whole world is coming against us.” - -A cross was planted, and at its side the royal arms. The troops were -drawn up in battle array, when Jean Baptiste du Bois, an officer deputed -by Tracy, advancing sword in hand to the front, proclaimed in a loud -voice that he took possession in the name of the king of all the country -of the Mohawks; and the troops shouted three times, _Vive le Roi_. * - -That night a mighty bonfire illumined the Mohawk forests; and the scared -savages from their hiding-places among the rocks saw their palisades, -their dwellings, their stores of food, and all their possessions, turned -to cinders and ashes. The two old squaws captured in the town, threw -themselves in despair into the flames of their blazing homes. When -morning came, there was nothing left of Andaraqué but smouldering -embers, rolling their pale smoke against the painted background of the - - * Acte de priss de possession, 17 Oct., 1666. - -October woods. _Te Deum_ was sung and mass said; and then the victors -began their backward march, burning, as they went, all the remaining -forts, with all their hoarded stores of corn, except such as they needed -for themselves. If they had failed to destroy their enemies in battle, -they hoped that winter and famine would do the work of shot and steel. - -While there was distress among the Mohawks, there was trouble among -their English neighbors, who claimed as their own the country which -Tracy had invaded. The English authorities were the more disquieted, -because they feared that the lately conquered Dutch might join hands -with the French against them. When Nicolls, governor of New York, heard -of Tracy’s advance, he wrote to the governors of the New England -colonies, begging them to join him against the French invaders, and -urging that, if Tracy’s force were destroyed or captured, the conquest -of Canada would be an easy task. There was war at the time between the -two crowns; and the British court had already entertained this project -of conquest, and sent orders to its colonies to that effect. But the New -England governors, ill prepared for war, and fearing that their Indian -neighbors, who were enemies of the Mohawks, might take part with the -French, hesitated to act, and the affair ended in a correspondence, -civil if not sincere, between Nicolls and Tracy. * The treaty of Breda, -in the following year, secured peace for a time between the rival -colonies. - - * See the correspondence in N. Y. Col. Docs. III. 118-156. - Compare Hutchinson Collection, 407, and Mass. Hist. Coll. - XVIII. 102. - -The return of Tracy was less fortunate than his advance. The rivers, -swollen by autumn rains, were difficult to pass; and in crossing -Lake Champlain two canoes were overset in a storm, and eight men were -drowned. From St. Anne, a new fort built early in the summer on Isle La -Motte, near the northern end of the lake, he sent news of his success to -Quebec, where there was great rejoicing and a solemn thanksgiving. Signs -and prodigies had not been wanting to attest the interest of the upper -and nether powers in the crusade against the myrmidons of hell. At one -of the forts on the Richelieu, “the soldiers,” says Mother Mary, -“were near dying of fright. They saw a great fiery cavern in the -sky, and from this cavern came plaintive voices mixed with frightful -howlings. Perhaps it was the demons, enraged because we had depopulated -a country where they had been masters so long, and had said mass and -sung the praises of God in a place where there had never before been any -thing but foulness and abomination.” - -Tracy had at first meant to abandon Fort St. Anne; but he changed his -mind after returning to Quebec. Meanwhile the season had grown so late -that there was no time to send proper supplies to the garrison. Winter -closed, and the place was not only ill provisioned, but was left without -a priest. Tracy wrote to the superior of the Sulpitians at Montreal -to send one without delay; but the request was more easily made than -fulfilled, for he forgot to order an escort, and the way was long and -dangerous. The stout-hearted Dollier de Casson was told, however, -to hold himself ready to go at the first opportunity. His recent -campaigning had left him in no condition for braving fresh hardships, -for he was nearly disabled by a swelling on one of his knees. By way of -cure he resolved to try a severe bleeding, and the Sangrado of Montreal -did his work so thoroughly that his patient fainted under his hands. -As he returned to consciousness, he became aware that two soldiers had -entered the room. They told him that they were going in the morning to -Chambly, which was on the way to St. Anne; and they invited him to go -with them. “Wait till the day after to-morrow,” replied the priest, -“and I will try.” The delay was obtained; and, on the day fixed, the -party set out by the forest path to Chambly, a distance of about four -leagues. When they reached it, Dollier de Casson was nearly spent, -but he concealed his plight from the commanding officer, and begged an -escort to St. Anne, some twenty leagues farther. As the officer would -not give him one, he threatened to go alone, on which ten men and an -ensign were at last ordered to conduct him. Thus attended, he resumed -his journey after a day’s rest. One of the soldiers fell through the -ice, and none of his comrades dared help him. Dollier de Casson, making -the sign of the cross, went to his aid, and, more successful than on the -former occasion, caught him and pulled him out. The snow was deep; and -the priest, having arrived in the preceding summer, had never before -worn snowshoes, while a sack of clothing, and his portable chapel which -he carried at his back, joined to the pain of his knee and the effects -of his late bleeding, made the march a purgatory. - -He was sorely needed at Fort St. Anne. There was pestilence in the -garrison. Two men had just died without absolution, while more were at -the point of death, and praying for a priest. Thus it happened that when -the sentinel descried far off, on the ice of Lake Champlain, a squad of -soldiers approaching, and among them a black cassock, every officer -and man not sick, or on duty, came out with one accord to meet the -new-comer. They overwhelmed him with welcome and with thanks. One took -his sack, another his portable chapel, and they led him in triumph to -the fort. First he made a short prayer, then went his rounds among the -sick, and then came to refresh himself with the officers. Here was La -Motte de la Lucière, the commandant; La Durantaye, a name destined -to be famous in Canadian annals; and a number of young subalterns. -The scene was no strange one to Dollier de Casson, for he had been -an officer of cavalry in his time, and fought under Turenne; * a good -soldier, without doubt, at the mess table or in the field, and none the -worse a priest that he had once followed the wars. He was of a lively -humor, given to jests and mirth; as pleasant a father as ever said -_Benedicite_. The soldier and - - * Grandet, Notice manuscrite sur Dollier de Casson, - extracts from copy in possession of the late Jacques Viger. - -the gentleman still lived under the cassock of the priest. He was -greatly respected and beloved; and his influence as a peace-maker, which -he often had occasion to exercise, is said to have been remarkable. When -the time demanded it, he could use arguments more cogent than those of -moral suasion. Once, in a camp of Algonquins, when, as he was kneeling -in prayer, an insolent savage came to interrupt him, the father, without -rising, knocked the intruder flat by a blow of his fist, and the other -Indians, far from being displeased, were filled with admiration at the -exploit. * - -His cheery temper now stood him in good stead; for there was dreary work -before him, and he was not the man to flinch from it. The garrison of -St. Anne had nothing to live on but salt pork and half-spoiled flour. -Their hogshead of vinegar had sprung a leak, and the contents had all -oozed out. They had rejoiced in the supposed possession of a reasonable -stock of brandy; but they soon discovered that the sailors, on the -voyage from France, had emptied the casks and filled them again with -saltwater. The scurvy broke out with fury. In a short time, forty out -of the sixty men became victims of the loathsome malady. Day or night, -Doilier de Casson and Forestier, the equally devoted young surgeon, had -no rest. The surgeon’s strength failed, and the priest was himself -slightly attacked with the disease. Eleven men - - * Grandet, Notice manuscrite sur Dollier de Casson, cited - by Faillon, Colonie Française, III. 395, 396 - -died; and others languished for want of help, for their comrades shrank -from entering the infected dens where they lay. In their extremity -some of them devised an ingenious expedient. Though they had nothing to -bequeath, they made wills in which they left imaginary sums of money -to those who had befriended them, and thenceforth they found no lack of -nursing. - -In the intervals of his labors, Dollier de Casson would run to and fro -for warmth and exercise on a certain track of beaten snow, between two -of the bastions, reciting his breviary as he went, so that those who saw -him might have thought him out of his wits. One day La Motte called out -to him as he was thus engaged, “Eh, Monsieur le curé, if the Iroquois -should come, you must defend that bastion. My men are all deserting me, -and going over to you and the doctor.” To which the father replied, -“Get me some litters with wheels, and I will bring them out to man my -bastion. They are brave enough now; no fear of their running away.” -With banter like this, they sought to beguile their miseries; and thus -the winter wore on at Fort St. Anne. * - -Early in spring they saw a troop of Iroquois approaching, and prepared -as well as they could to make fight; but the strangers proved to be - - * The above curious incidents are told by Dollier de - Casson, in his Histoire du Montréal, preserved in manuscript - in the Mazarin Library at Paris. He gives no hint that the - person in question was himself, but speaks of him as un - ecclésiastique. His identity is, however, made certain by - internal evidence, by a passage in the Notice of Grandet, - and by other contemporary allusions. - -ambassadors of peace. The destruction of the Mohawk towns had produced -a deep effect, not on that nation alone, but also on the other four -members of the league. They were disposed to confirm the promises of -peace which they had already made; and Tracy had spurred their good -intentions by sending them a message that, unless they quickly presented -themselves at Quebec, he would hang all the chiefs whom he had kept -prisoners after discovering their treachery in the preceding summer. The -threat had its effect: deputies of the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and -Senecas presently arrived in a temper of befitting humility. The Mohawks -were at first afraid to come: but in April they sent the Flemish Bastard -with overtures of peace; and in July, a large deputation of their chiefs -appeared at Quebec. They and the rest left some of their families -as hostages, and promised that, if any of their people should kill a -Frenchman, they would give them up to be hanged. * - -They begged, too, for blacksmiths, surgeons, and Jesuits to live among -them. The presence of the Jesuits in their towns was in many ways -an advantage to them; while to the colony it was of the greatest -importance. Not only was conversion to the church justly regarded as the -best means of attaching the Indians to the French, and alienating them -from the English; but the Jesuits living in the midst of them could -influence even those whom they could not convert, soothe rising -jealousies, - - * Lettre du Père Jean Pierron, de la Compagnie de Jésus, - escripte de la Motte (Fort Ste. Anne) sur le lac Champlain, - le 12me d’aoust. 1667 - -counteract English intrigues, and keep the rulers of the colony informed -of all that was passing in the Iroquois towns. Thus, half Christian -missionaries, half political agents, the Jesuits prepared to resume the -hazardous mission of the Iroquois. Frémin and Pierron were ordered to -the Mohawks, Bruyas to the Oneidas, and three others were named for the -remaining three nations of the league. The troops had made the peace; -the Jesuits were the rivets to hold it fast; and peace endured without -absolute rupture for nearly twenty years. Of all the French expeditions -against the Iroquois, that of Tracy was the most productive of good. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. 1665-1672. PATERNAL GOVERNMENT. - - -_Talon.--Restriction and Monopoly.--Views of Colbert.--Political -Galvanism.--A Father of the People._ - - -|Tracy’s work was done, and he left Canada with the glittering -_noblesse_ in his train. Courcelle and Talon remained to rule alone; and -now the great experiment was begun. Paternal royalty would try its hand -at building up a colony, and Talon was its chosen agent. His appearance -did him no justice. The regular contour of his oval face, about which -fell to his shoulders a cataract of curls, natural or supposititious; -the smooth lines of his well-formed features, brows delicately arched, -and a mouth more suggestive of feminine sensibility than of masculine -force,--would certainly have misled the disciple of Lavater. * Yet there -was no want of manhood in him. He was most happily chosen for the task -placed in his hands, and from first to last approved himself a vigorous -executive officer. He was a true disciple of Colbert, formed in his -school and animated by his spirit. - - * His portrait is at the Hôtel Dieu of Quebec. An engraving - from it will be found in the third volume of Shea’s - Charlevoix. - -Being on the spot, he was better able than his master to judge the -working of the new order of things. With regard to the company, he -writes that it will profit by impoverishing the colony; that its -monopolies dishearten the people and paralyze enterprise; that it is -thwarting the intentions of the king, who wishes trade to be encouraged; -and that, if its exclusive privileges are maintained, Canada in ten -years will be less populous than now. * But Colbert clung to his plan, -though he wrote in reply that to satisfy the colonists he had persuaded -the company to forego the monopolies for a year. ** As this proved -insufficient, the company was at length forced to give up permanently -its right of exclusive trade, still exacting its share of beaver and -moose skins. This was its chief source of profit; it begrudged every sou -deducted from it for charges of government, and the king was constantly -obliged to do at his own cost that which the company should have done. -In one point it showed a ceaseless activity; and this was the levying of -duties, in which it was never known to fail. - -Trade, even after its exercise was permitted, was continually vexed by -the hand of authority. One of Tracy’s first measures had been to issue -a decree reducing the price of wheat one half. The council took up the -work of regulation, and fixed the price of all imported goods in three -several tariffs,--one for Quebec, one for Three Rivers, and - - * Talon a Colbert, 4 Oct., 1665. - - ** Colbert a Talon, 5 Avril, 1666. - -one for Montreal. * It may well be believed that there was in Canada -little capital and little enterprise. Industrially and commercially, the -colony was almost dead. Talon set himself to galvanize it; and, if -one man could have supplied the intelligence and energy of a whole -community, the results would have been triumphant. - -He had received elaborate instructions, and they indicate an ardent wish -for the prosperity of Canada. Colbert had written to him that the -true means to strengthen the colony was to “cause justice to reign, -establish a good police, protect the inhabitants, discipline them -against enemies, and procure for them peace, repose, and plenty.” -** “And as,” the minister further says, “the king regards his -Canadian subjects, from the highest to the lowest, almost as his own -children, and wishes them to enjoy equally with the people of France -the mildness and happiness of his reign, the Sieur Talon will study to -solace them in all things and encourage them to trade and industry. And, -seeing that nothing can better promote this end than entering into the -details of their households and of all their little affairs, it will -not be amiss that he visit all their settlements one after the other -in order to learn their true condition, provide as much as possible for -their wants, and, performing the duty of a good head of a family, put -them in the way of making some profit.” The intendant was also told to -encourage fathers to inspire their children with - - * Tariff of Prices, in N. Y. Colonial Docs. IX. 36 - - ** Colbert a Talon, 6 Avril, 1666. - -piety, together with “profound love and respect for the royal person -of his Majesty.” * - -Talon entered on his work with admirable zeal. Sometimes he used -authority, sometimes persuasion, sometimes promises of reward. -Sometimes, again, he tried the force of example. Thus he built a ship to -show the people how to do it, and rouse them to imitation. ** Three or -four years later, the experiment was repeated. This time it was at the -cost of the king, who applied the sum of forty thousand livres *** to -the double purpose of promoting the art of ship-building, and saving -the colonists from vagrant habits by giving them employment. Talon wrote -that three hundred and fifty men had been supplied that summer with work -at the charge of government. **** - -He despatched two engineers to search for coal, lead, iron, copper, -and other minerals. Important discoveries of iron were made; but three -generations were destined to pass before the mines were successfully -worked. (v) The copper of Lake Superior raised the intendants hopes for -a time, but he was soon forced to the conclusion that it was too remote -to be of practical value. He labored vigorously to develop arts and -manufactures; made a barrel of tar, and sent it to the king as a -specimen; caused some of the colonists to make cloth - - * Instruction au Sieur Talon, 27 Mars, 1665. - - ** Talon a Colbert, Oct., 1667; Colbert a Talon, 20 Fev., - 1668. - - *** Dépêche de Colbert, 11 Fev., 1671. - - **** Talon a Colbert, 2 Nov., 1671. - - (v) Charlevoix speaks of these mines as having been - forgotten for seventy years, and rediscovered in his time. - After passing. through various hands, they were finally - worked on the king’s account. - -of the wool of the sheep which the king had sent out; encouraged others -to establish a tannery, and also a factory of hats and of shoes. The -Sieur Follin was induced by the grant of a monopoly to begin the making -of soap and potash. * The people were ordered to grow hemp, ** and urged -to gather the nettles of the country as material for cordage; and the -Ursulines were supplied with flax and wool, in order that they might -teach girls to weave and spin. - -Talon was especially anxious to establish trade between Canada and the -West Indies; and, to make a beginning, he freighted the vessel he -had built with salted cod, salmon, eels, pease, fish-oil, staves, and -planks, and sent her thither to exchange her cargo for sugar, which -she was in turn to exchange in France for goods suited for the Canadian -market. *** Another favorite object with him was the fishery of seals -and white porpoises for the sake of their oil; and some of the chief -merchants were urged to undertake it, as well as the establishment of -stationary cod-fisheries along the Lower St. Lawrence. But, with every -encouragement, many years passed before this valuable industry was -placed on a firm basis. - -Talon saw with concern the huge consumption of wine and brandy among -the settlers, costing them, as he wrote to Colbert, a hundred thousand -livres a year; and, to keep this money in the - - * Registre du Conseil Souverain. - - ** Marie de l’Incarnation, Choix des Lettres de 871. - - *** Le Mercier, Rel. 1667, 3; Dépêches de Talon - -colony, he declared his intention of building a brewery. The minister -approved the plan, not only on economic grounds, but because “the vice -of drunkenness would thereafter cause no more scandal by reason of the -cold nature of beer, the vapors whereof rarely deprive men of the use -of judgment.” * The brewery was accordingly built, to the great -satisfaction of the poorer colonists. - -Nor did the active intendant fail to acquit himself of the duty of -domiciliary visits, enjoined upon him by the royal instructions; a -point on which he was of one mind with his superiors, for he writes that -“those charged in this country with his Majesty’s affairs are -under a strict obligation to enter into the detail of families.” ** -Accordingly we learn from Mother Juchereau, that "he studied with the -affection of a father how to succor the poor and cause the colony to -grow; entered into the minutest particulars; visited the houses of the -inhabitants, and caused them to visit him; learned what crops each one -was raising; taught those who had wheat to sell it at a profit, helped -those who had none, and encouraged everybody.” And Dollier de Casson -represents him as visiting in turn every house at Montreal, and giving -aid from the king to such as needed it. *** Horses, cattle, sheep, -and other domestic animals, were sent out at the royal charge in -considerable numbers, and - - * Colbert à Talon, 20 Fev., 1668. - - ** Mémoire de 1667. - - *** Histoire du Montréal, a.d. 1666, 1667. - -distributed gratuitously, with an order that none of the young should -be killed till the country was sufficiently stocked. Large quantities -of goods were also sent from the same high quarter. Some of these were -distributed as gifts, and the rest bartered for corn to supply the -troops. As the intendant perceived that the farmers lost much time in -coming from their distant clearings to buy necessaries at Quebec, he -caused his agents to furnish them with the king’s goods at their -own houses, to the great annoyance of the merchants of Quebec, who -complained that their accustomed trade was thus forestalled. * - -These were not the only cares which occupied the mind of Talon. He tried -to open a road across the country to Acadia, an almost impossible task, -in which he and his successors completely failed. Under his auspices, -Albanel penetrated to Hudson’s Bay, and Saint Lusson took possession -in the king’s name of the country of the Upper Lakes. It was Talon, -in short, who prepared the way for the remarkable series of explorations -described in another work. ** Again and again he urged upon Colbert -and the king a measure from which, had it taken effect, momentous -consequences must have sprung. This was the purchase or seizure of New -York, involving the isolation of New England, the subjection of the -Iroquois, and the undisputed control of half the continent. - - * Talon a Colbert, 10 Nov., 1670. - - ** Discovery of the Great West - -Great as were his opportunities of abusing his trust, it does not appear -that he took advantage of them. He held lands and houses in Canada, -* owned the brewery which he had established, and embarked in various -enterprises of productive industry; but, so far as I can discover, he is -nowhere accused of making illicit gains, and there is reason to believe -that he acquitted himself of his charge with entire fidelity. ** His -health failed in 1668, and for this and other causes he asked for his -recall. Colbert granted it with strong expressions of regret; and when, -two years later, he resumed the intendancy, the colony seems to have -welcomed his return. - - * In 1682, the Intendant Meules, in a despatch to the - minister, makes a statement of Talon’s property in Quebec. - The chief items are the brewery and a house of some value on - the descent of Mountain Street. He owned, also, the valuable - seigniory, afterwards barony, Des Islets, in the immediate - neighborhood. - - ** Some imputations against him, not of much weight, are, - however, made in a memorial of Aubert de la Chesnaye, a - merchant of Quebec - - - - -CHAPTER XIII 1661-1673. MARRIAGE AND POPULATION. - - -_Shipment of Emigrants.--Soldier Settlers.--Importation of -Wives.--Wedlock.--Summary Methods.--The Mothers of Canada.--Bounties on -Marriage.--Celibacy Punished.--Bounties on Children.--Results._ - - -|The peopling of Canada was due in the main to the king. Before the -accession of Louis XIV. the entire population, priests, nuns, traders, -and settlers, did not exceed twenty-five hundred; * but scarcely had -he reached his majority when the shipment of men to the colony was -systematically begun. Even in Argenson’s time, loads of emigrants sent -out by the Crown were landed every year at Quebec. The Sulpitians of -Montreal also brought over colonists to people their seigniorial estate; -the same was true on a small scale of one or two other proprietors, and -once at least the company sent a considerable number: yet the government -was the chief agent of emigration. Colbert did the work, and the king -paid for it. - -In 1661, Laval wrote to the cardinals of the Propaganda, that during the -past two years the - - * Le Clerc, Etablissement de la Foy, II 4 - -king had spent two hundred thousand livres on the colony; that, since -1659, he had sent out three hundred men a year; and that he had promised -to send an equal number every summer during ten years. * These men were -sent by squads in merchant-ships, each one of which was required to -carry a certain number. In many instances, emigrants were bound on their -arrival to enter into the service of colonists already established. In -this case the employer paid them wages, and after a term of three years -they became settlers themselves. ** - -The destined emigrants were collected by agents in the provinces, -conducted to Dieppe or Rochelle, and thence embarked. At first men were -sent from Rochelle itself, and its neighborhood; but Laval remonstrated, -declaring that he wanted none from that ancient stronghold of heresy. -*** The people of Rochelle, indeed, found no favor in Canada. Another -writer describes them as “persons of little conscience, and almost no -religion,” adding that the Normans, Percherons, Picards, and peasants -of the neighborhood of Paris, are docile, industrious, and far more -pious. “It is important,” he concludes, “in beginning a new -colony, to sow good seed.” **** It was, accordingly, from the -north-western provinces that most of the emigrants - - * Lettre de Laval envoyée à Rome. 21 Oct., 1661 (extract in - Faillon from Archives of the Propaganda). - - ** Marie de l’Incarnation, 18 Août, 1664. These engagés - were some times also brought over by private persons. - - *** Colbert a Laval, 18 Mars, 1664. - - **** Mémoire de 1664 (anonymous) - -were drawn. * They seem in the main to have been a decent peasantry, -though writers who, from their position, should have been well informed, -have denounced them in unmeasured terms. ** Some of them could read and -write, and some brought with them a little money. - -Talon was constantly begging for more men, till Louis XIV. at length -took alarm. Colbert replied to the over-zealous intendant, that the -king did not think it expedient to depopulate France, in order to people -Canada; that he wanted men for his armies; and that the colony must rely -chiefly on increase from within. Still the shipments did not cease; and, -even while tempering the ardor of his agent, the king gave another - - * See a paper by Garneau in Le National of Quebec, 28 - October, 1856, embodying the results of research among the - papers of the early notaries of Quebec. The chief emigration - was from Paris, Normandy, Poitou, Pays d’Aunis, Brittany, - and Picardy. Nearly all those from Paris were sent by the - king from houses of charity. - - ** “Une foule d'aventuriers, ramasses au hazard en France, - presque tous de la lie du peuple, la plupart obérés de - dettes ou chargés de crimes.” etc. La Tour, Vie de Laval, - Liv. IV. “Le vice a obligé la plupart de chercher ce pays - comme un asile pour se mettre à couvert de leurs crimes,” - Meules, Dépêché de 1682. Meules was intendant in that year. - Marie de l’Incarnation, after speaking of the emigrants as - of a very mixed character, says that it would have been far - better to send a few who were good Christians, rather than - so many who give so much trouble. Lettre du--Oct., 1669. - - Le Clerc, on the other hand, is emphatic in praise, calling - the early colonists, “très honnêtes gens, avant de la - probité, de la droiture, et de la religion.... L’on a - examiné et choisi les habitants, et renvoyé en France les - personnes vicieuses.” If, he adds, any such were left “ils - effacaient glorieusement par leur pénitence les taches de - leur première condition.” Charlevoix is almost as strong in - praise as La Tour in censure. Both of them wrote in the next - century. We shall have means hereafter of judging between - these conflicting statements. - -proof how much he had the growth of Canada at heart. * - -The regiment of Carignan-Salières had been ordered home, with the -exception of four companies kept in garrison, ** and a considerable -number discharged in order to become settlers. Of those who returned, -six companies were, a year or two later, sent back, discharged in -their turn, and converted into colonists. Neither men nor officers were -positively constrained to remain in Canada; but the officers were told -that if they wished to please his Majesty this was the way to do so; and -both they and the men were stimulated by promises and rewards. Fifteen -hundred livres were given to La Motte, because he had married in the -country and meant to remain there. Six thousand livres were assigned to -other officers, because they had followed, or were about to follow, La -Motte’s example; and twelve thousand were set apart to be distributed -to the soldiers under similar conditions. *** Each soldier who consented -to remain and settle was promised a grant of land and a hundred livres -in money; or, if he preferred it, fifty livres with provisions for a -year. This military colonization had a strong and lasting influence on -the character of the Canadian people. - - * The king had sent out more emigrants than he had - promised, to judge from the census reports during the years - 1666, 1667, and 1668. The total population for those years - is 3418, 4312, and 5870, respectively. A small part of this - growth may be set down to emigration not under government - auspices, and a large part to natural increase, which was - enormous at this time, from causes which will soon appear. - - ** Colbert a Talon, 20 Fev., 1668. - - *** Ibid. - -But if the colony was to grow from within, the new settlers must have -wives. For some years past, the Sulpitians had sent out young women for -the supply of Montreal; and the king, on a larger scale, continued the -benevolent work. Girls for the colony were taken from the hospitals of -Paris and of Lyons, which were not so much hospitals for the sick as -houses of refuge for the poor. Mother Mary writes in 1665 that a hundred -had come that summer, and were nearly all provided with husbands, and -that two hundred more were to come next year. The case was urgent, for -the demand was great. Complaints, however, were soon heard that women -from cities made indifferent partners; and peasant girls, healthy, -strong, and accustomed to field work, were demanded in their place. -Peasant girls were therefore sent, but this was not all. Officers as -well as men wanted wives; and Talon asked for a consignment of young -ladies. His request was promptly answered. In 1667, he writes: “They -send us eighty-four girls from Dieppe and twenty-five from Rochelle; -among them are fifteen or twenty of pretty good birth; several of -them are really _demoiselles_, and tolerably well brought up.” They -complained of neglect and hardship during the voyage. “I shall do what -I can to soothe their discontent,” adds the intendant; “for if they -write to their correspondents at home how ill they have been treated it -would be an obstacle to your plan of sending us next year a number of -select young ladies.” * - - * “Des demoiselles bien choisies.” Talon a Colbert, 27 Oct. - 1667. - -Three years later we find him asking for three or four more in behalf of -certain bachelor officers. The response surpassed his utmost wishes; -and he wrote again: “It is not expedient to send more _demoiselles_. I -have had this year fifteen of them, instead of the four I asked -for.” * - -As regards peasant girls, the supply rarely equalled the demand. Count -Frontenac, Courcelle’s successor, complained of the scarcity: “If -a hundred and fifty girls and as many servants,” he says, “had -been sent out this year, they would all have found husbands and masters -within a month.” ** - -The character of these candidates for matrimony has not escaped the -pen of slander. The caustic La Hontan, writing fifteen or twenty years -after, draws the following sketch of the mothers of Canada: “After the -regiment of Carignan was disbanded, ships were sent out freighted with -girls of indifferent virtue, under the direction of a few pious old -duennas, who divided them into three classes. These vestals were, so -to speak, piled one on the other in three different halls, where the -bridegrooms chose their brides as a butcher chooses his sheep out of the -midst of the - - * Talon 'a Colbert, 2 Nov., 1671. - - ** Frontenac a Colbert, 2 Nov., 1672. This year only eleven - girls had been sent. The scarcity was due to the - indiscretion of Talon, who had written to the minister that, - as many of the old settlers had daughters just becoming - marriageable, it would be well, in order that they might - find husbands, to send no more girls from France at present. - - The next year, 1673, the king writes that, though he is - involved in a great war, which needs all his resources, he - has nevertheless sent sixty more girls. - -flock. There was wherewith to content the most fantastical in these -three harems; for here were to be seen the tall and the short, the blond -and the brown, the plump and the lean; everybody, in short, found a shoe -to fit him. At the end of a fortnight not one was left. I am told that -the plumpest were taken first, because it was thought that, being less -active, they were more likely to keep at home, and that they could -resist the winter cold better. Those who wanted a wife applied to the -directresses, to whom they were obliged to make known their possessions -and means of livelihood before taking from one of the three classes the -girl whom they found most to their liking. The marriage was concluded -forthwith, with the help of a priest and a notary, and the next day the -governor-general caused the couple to be presented with an ox, a cow, a -pair of swine, a pair of fowls, two barrels of salted meat, and eleven -crowns in money.” * - -As regards the character of the girls, there can be no doubt that this -amusing sketch is, in the main, maliciously untrue. Since the colony -began, it had been the practice to send back to France women of the -class alluded to by La Hontan, as soon as they became notorious. ** -Those who were - - * La Hontan, Nouveaux Voyages, I. 11 (1709). In some of the - other editions, the same account is given in different - words, equally lively and scandalous. - - ** This is the statement of Boucher, a good authority. A - case of the sort in 1658 is mentioned in the correspondence - of Argenson. Boucher says further, that an assurance of good - character was required from the relations or friends of the - girl who wished to embark. This refers to a period anterior - to 1663, when Boucher wrote his book. Colbert evidently - cared for no qualification except the capacity of maternity. - -not taken from institutions of charity usually belonged to the families -of peasants overburdened with children, and glad to find the chance -of establishing them. * How some of them were obtained appears from a -letter of Colbert to Harlay, Archbishop of Rouen. “As, in the parishes -about Rouen,” he writes, “fifty or sixty girls might be found who -would be very glad to go to Canada to be married, I beg you to employ -your credit and authority with the curés of thirty or forty of these -parishes, to try to find in each of them one or two girls disposed to go -voluntarily for the sake of a settlement in life.” ** - -Mistakes nevertheless occurred. “Along with the honest people,” -complains Mother Mary, “comes a great deal of _canaille_ of both -sexes, who cause a great deal of scandal.” *** After some of the young -women had been married at Quebec, it was found that they had husbands at -home. The priests - - * Témoignage de la Mère du Plessis de Sainte-Helène - (extract in Faillon). - - ** Colbert a l’Archevêque de Rouen, 27 Fev., 1670. - - That they were not always destitute may be gathered from a - passage in one of Talon’s letters. “Entre les filles qu’on - fait passer ici il y en a qui ont de légitimes et - considérables prétentions aux successions de leurs parents, - même entre celles qui sont tirées de l’Hôpital Général.” The - General Hospital of Paris had recently been established - (1656) as a house of refuge for the “Bohemians,” or vagrants - of Paris. The royal edict creating it says that “les pauvres - mendiants et invalides des deux sexes y seraient enfermés - pour estre employés aux manufactures et aultres travaux - selon leur pouvoir.” They were gathered by force in the - streets by a body of special police, called “Archers de - l’Hôpital.” They resisted at first, and serious riots - ensued. In 1662, the General Hospital of Paris contained - 6262 paupers. See Clement, Histoire de Colbert, 113. Mother - de Sainte-Helène says that the girls sent from this asylum - had been there from childhood in charge of nuns. - - *** “Beaucoup de canaille de l’un et l’autre sexe qui - causent beaucoup de scandale.” Lettre du--Oct., 1669. - -became cautious in tying the matrimonial knot, and Colbert thereupon -ordered that each girl should provide herself with a certificate from -the cure or magistrate of her parish to the effect that she was free to -marry. Nor was the practical intendant unmindful of other precautions -to smooth the path to the desired goal. “The girls destined for this -country,” he writes, “besides being strong and healthy, ought to -be entirely free from any natural blemish or any thing personally -repulsive.” * - -Thus qualified canonically and physically, the annual consignment of -young women was shipped to Quebec, in charge of a matron employed and -paid by the king. Her task was not an easy one, for the troop under -her care was apt to consist of what Mother Mary in a moment of unwonted -levity calls “mixed goods.” ** On one occasion the office was -undertaken by the pious widow of Jean Bourdon. Her flock of a hundred -and fifty girls, says Mother Mary, “gave her no little trouble on the -voyage; for they are of all sorts, and some of them are very rude and -hard to manage.” Madame Bourdon was not daunted. She not only saw her -charge distributed and married, but she continued to receive and care -for the subsequent ship-loads as they arrived summer after summer. She -was - - * Talon a Colbert, 10 Nov., 1670. - - ** “Une marchandise mêlée.” Lettre du--1668. In that year, - 1668, the king spent 40,000 livres in the shipment of men - and girls. In 1669, a hundred and fifty girls were sent; in - 1670, a hundred and sixty-five; and Talon asks for a hundred - and fifty or two hundred more to supply the soldiers who had - got ready their houses and clearings, and were now prepared - to marry. The total number of girls sent from 1665 to 1673, - inclusive, was about a thousand. - -indeed chief among the pious duennas of whom La Hontan irreverently -speaks. Marguerite Bourgeoys did the same good offices for the young -women sent to Montreal. Here the “king’s girls," as they were -called, were all lodged together in a house to which the suitors -repaired to make their selection. “I was obliged to live there -myself,” writes the excellent nun, “because families were to be -formed;” * that is to say, because it was she who superintended these -extemporized unions. Meanwhile she taught the girls their catechism, -and, more fortunate than Madame Bourdon, inspired them with a confidence -and affection which they retained long after. - -At Quebec, where the matrimonial market was on a larger scale, a -more ample bazaar was needed. That the girls were assorted into three -classes, each penned up for selection in a separate hall, is a statement -probable enough in itself, but resting on no better authority than that -of La Hontan. Be this as it may, they were submitted together to the -inspection of the suitor; and the awkward young peasant or the rugged -soldier of Carignan was required to choose a bride without delay from -among the anxious candidates. They, on their part, were permitted to -reject any applicant who displeased them, and the first question, we are -told, which most of them asked was whether the suitor had a house and a -farm. - -Great as was the call for wives, it was thought prudent to stimulate it. -The new settler was at once - - * Extract in Faillon, Colonie Française, III. 214. - -enticed and driven into wedlock. Bounties were offered on early -marriages. Twenty livres were given to each youth who married before the -age of twenty, and to each girl who married before the age of sixteen. -* This, which was called the “king’s gift,” was exclusive of the -dowry given by him to every girl brought over by his orders. The dowry -varied greatly in form and value; but, according to Mother Mary, it was -sometimes a house with provisions for eight months. More often it was -fifty livres in household supplies, besides a barrel or two of salted -meat. The royal solicitude extended also to the children of colonists -already established. “I pray you,” writes Colbert to Talon, -“to commend it to the consideration of the whole people, that their -prosperity, their subsistence, and all that is dear to them, depend on -a general resolution, never to be departed from, to marry youths at -eighteen or nineteen years and girls at fourteen or fifteen; since -abundance can never come to them except through the abundance of men.” -** This counsel was followed by appropriate action. Any father of a -family who, without showing good cause, neglected to marry his children -when they had reached the ages of twenty and sixteen was fined; *** and -each father thus delinquent was required to present himself every six -months to the local authorities to declare what - - * Arrêt du Conseil d’Etat du Roy (see Edits et Ordonnances, - I. 67). - - ** Colbert a Talon, 20 Fev., 1668. - - *** Arrêts du Conseil d’Etat, 1669 (cited by Faillon); - Arrêt du Conseil d Etat, 1670 (see Edits et Ordonnances, I. - 67); Ordonnance du Roy, 5 Avril, 1669. See Clément, - Instructions, etc., de Colbert, III. 2me Partie, 657. - -reason, if any, he had for such delay. * Orders were issued, a little -before the arrival of the yearly ships from France, that all single men -should marry within a fortnight after the landing of the prospective -brides. No mercy was shown to the obdurate bachelor. Talon issued an -order forbidding unmarried men to hunt, fish, trade with the Indians, or -go into the woods under any pretence whatsoever. ** In short, they were -made as miserable as possible. Colbert goes further. He writes to the -intendant, “those who may seem to have absolutely renounced marriage -should be made to bear additional burdens, and be excluded from all -honors: it would be well even to add some marks of infamy.” *** The -success of these measures was complete. “No sooner,” says Mother -Mary, “have the vessels arrived than the young men go to get wives; -and, by reason of the great number they are married by thirties at a -time.” Throughout the length and breadth of Canada, Hymen, - - * Registre du Conseil Souverain. - - ** Talon au Ministre, 10 Oct., 1670. Colbert highly - approves this order. Faillon found a case of its enforcement - among the ancient records of Montreal. In December, 1670, - François Le Noir, an inhabitant of La Chine, was summoned - before the judge, because, though a single man, he had - traded with Indians at his own house. He confessed the fact, - but protested that he would marry within three weeks after - the arrival of the vessels from France, or, failing to do - so, that he would give a hundred and fifty livres to the - church of Montreal, and an equal sum to the hospital. - - On this condition he was allowed to trade, but was still - forbidden to go into the woods. The next year he kept his - word, and married Marie Magdeleine Charbonnier, late of - Paris. - - The prohibition to go into the woods was probably intended - to prevent the bachelor from finding a temporary Indian - substitute for a French wife. - - *** “Il serait à propos de leur augmenter les charges, de - les priver de tous honneurs, même d’y ajouter quelque marque - d’infamie.” Lettre du 20 Fev., 1668. - -if not Cupid, was whipped into a frenzy of activity. Dollier de Casson -tells us of a widow who was married afresh before her late husband was -buried. * - -Nor was the fatherly care of the king confined to the humbler classes -of his colonists. He wished to form a Canadian _noblesse_, to which end -early marriages were thought needful among officers and others of the -better sort. The progress of such marriages was carefully watched and -reported by the intendant. We have seen the reward bestowed upon La -Motte for taking to himself a wife, and the money set apart for the -brother officers who imitated him. In his despatch of October, 1667, the -intendant announces that two captains are already married to two -damsels of the country; that a lieutenant has espoused a daughter of the -governor of Three Rivers; and that “four ensigns are in treaty with -their mistresses, and are already half engaged.” ** The paternal care -of government, one would think, could scarcely go further. - -It did, however, go further. Bounties were offered on children. The -king, in council, passed a decree “that in future all inhabitants of -the said country of Canada who shall have living children to the number -of ten, born in lawful wedlock, not - - * Histoire du Montréal, A.B. 1671, 1672. - - ** “Quatre enseignes sont en pourparler avec leurs - maîtresses et sent déjà à demi engagés.” Dépêche du 27 Oct., - 1667. The lieutenant was René Gaultier de Varennes, who on - the 26th September, 1667, married Marie Boucher, daughter of - the governor of Three Rivers, aged twelve years. One of the - children of this marriage was Varennes de la Vérendrye, - discoverer of the Rocky Mountains. - -being priests, monks, or nuns, shall each be paid out of the moneys sent -by his Majesty to the said country a pension of three hundred livres -a year, and those who shall have twelve children, a pension of four -hundred livres; and that, to this effect, they shall be required to -declare the number of their children every year in the months of June -or July to the intendant of justice, police, and finance, established in -the said country, who, having verified the same, shall order the payment -of said pensions, one-half in cash, and the other half at the end of -each year.” * This was applicable to all. Colbert had before offered -a reward, intended specially for the better class, of twelve hundred -livres to those who had fifteen children, and eight hundred to those who -had ten. - -These wise encouragements, as the worthy Faillon calls them, were -crowned with the desired result. A despatch of Talon in 1670 informs the -minister that most of the young women sent out last summer are pregnant -already, and in 1671 he announces that from six hundred to seven hundred -children have been born in the colony during the year; a prodigious -number in view of the small population. The climate was supposed to be -particularly favorable to the health of women, which - - * Edits et Ordonnances, I. 67. It was thought at this time - that the Indians, mingled with the French, might become a - valuable part of the population. The reproductive qualities - of Indian women, therefore, became an object of Talon’s - attention, and he reports that they impair their fertility - by nursing their children longer than is necessary; “but,” - he adds, “this obstacle to the speedy building up of the - colony can be overcome by a police regulation.” Mémoire sur - l’Etat Présent du Canada, 1667, - -is somewhat surprising in view of recent American experience. “The -first reflection I have to make,” says Dollier de Casson, “is on -the advantage that women have in this place (_Montreal_) over men, for -though the cold is very wholesome to both sexes, it is incomparably more -so to the female, who is almost immortal here.” Her fecundity matched -her longevity, and was the admiration of Talon and his successors, -accustomed as they were to the scanty families of France. - -Why with this great natural increase joined to an immigration which, -though greatly diminishing, did not entirely cease, was there not a -corresponding increase in the population of the colony? Why, more than -half a century after the king took Canada in charge, did the census show -a total of less than twenty-five thousand souls? The reasons will appear -hereafter. - -It is a peculiarity of Canadian immigration, at this its most -flourishing epoch, that it was mainly an immigration of single men -and single women. The cases in which entire families came over were -comparatively few. * The new settler was found - - * The principal emigration of families seems to have been - in 1669 when, at the urgency of Talon, then in France, a - considerable number were sent out. In the earlier period the - emigration of families was, relatively, much greater. Thus, - in 1634, the physician Giffard brought over seven to people - his seigniory of Beauport. Before 1663, when the king took - the colony in hand, the emigrants were for the most part - apprenticed laborers. - - The zeal with which the king entered into the work of - stocking his colony is shown by numberless passages in his - letters, and those of his minister. “The end and the rule of - all your conduct,” says Colbert to the intendant Bouteroue, - “should be the increase of the colony; and on this point you - should never be satisfied, but labor without ceasing to find - every imaginable expedient for preserving the inhabitants, - attracting new ones, and multiplying them by marriage.” - Instruction pour M. Bouteroue, 1668. - -by the king; sent over by the king; and supplied by the king with a -wife, a farm, and sometimes with a house. Well did Louis XIV. earn the -title of Father of New France. But the royal zeal was spasmodic. The -king was diverted to other cares, and soon after the outbreak of the -Dutch war in 1672 the regular despatch of emigrants to Canada wellnigh -ceased; though the practice of disbanding soldiers in the colony, -giving them lands, and turning them into settlers, was continued in some -degree, even to the last. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. 1665-1672. THE NEW HOME. - - -_Military Frontier.--The Canadian Settler.--Seignior and -Vassal.--Example of Talon.--Plan of Settlement.--Aspect of -Canada.--Quebec.--The River Settlements.--Montreal.--The Pioneers._ - - -|We have seen the settler landed and married; let us follow him to -his new home. At the end of Talon’s administration, the head of the -colony, that is to say the island of Montreal and the borders of the -Richelieu, was the seat of a peculiar colonization, the chief object of -which was to protect the rest of Canada against Iroquois incursions. The -lands along the Richelieu, from its mouth to a point above Chambly, -were divided in large seigniorial grants among several officers of the -regiment of Carignan, who in their turn granted out the land to the -soldiers, reserving a sufficient portion as their own. The officer thus -became a kind of feudal chief, and the whole settlement a permanent -military cantonment admirably suited to the object in view. The -disbanded soldier was practically a soldier still, but he was also a -farmer and a landholder. - -Talon had recommended this plan as being in accordance with the example -of the Romans. “The practice of that politic and martial people,” he -wrote, “may, in my opinion, be wisely adopted in a country a thousand -leagues distant from its monarch. And as the peace and harmony of -peoples depend above all things on their fidelity to their sovereign, -our first kings, better statesmen than is commonly supposed, introduced -into newly conquered countries men of war, of approved trust, in order -at once to hold the inhabitants to their duty within, and repel the -enemy from without.” * - -The troops were accordingly discharged, and settled not alone on the -Richelieu, but also along the St. Lawrence, between Lake St. Peter and -Montreal, as well as at some other points. The Sulpitians, feudal owners -of Montreal, adopted a similar policy, and surrounded their island with -a border of fiefs large and small, granted partly to officers and partly -to humbler settlers, bold, hardy, and practised in bush-fighting. Thus -a line of sentinels was posted around their entire shore, ready to give -the alarm whenever an enemy appeared. About Quebec the settlements, -covered as they were by those above, were for the most part of a more -pacific character. - -To return to the Richelieu. The towns and villages which have since -grown upon its banks and along the adjacent shores of the St. Lawrence -owe their names to these officers of Carignan, ancient lords of the -soil: Sorel, Chambly, Saint Ours, - - * Projets de Réglemens, 1667 (see Edits et Ordonnances, II. - 29). - -Contrecœur, Yarennes, Verchères. Yet let it not be supposed that -villages sprang up at once. The military seignior, valiant and poor -as Walter the Penniless, was in no condition to work such magic. His -personal possessions usually consisted of little but his sword and the -money which the king had paid him for marrying a wife. A domain varying -from half a league to six leagues in front on the river, and from half -a league to two leagues in depth, had been freely given him. When he -had distributed a part of it in allotments to the soldiers, a variety -of tasks awaited him: to clear and cultivate his land; to build his -seigniorial mansion, often a log hut; to build a fort; to build a -chapel; and to build a mill. To do all this at once was impossible. -Chambly, the chief proprietor on the Richelieu, was better able than the -others to meet the exigency. He built himself a good house, where, with -cattle and sheep furnished by the king, he lived in reasonable comfort. -* The king’s fort, close at hand, spared him and his tenants the -necessity of building one for themselves, and furnished, no doubt, a -mill, a chapel, and a chaplain. His brother officers, Sorel excepted, -were less fortunate. They and their tenants were forced to provide -defence as well as shelter. Their houses were all built together, and -surrounded by a palisade, so as to form a little fortified village. The -ever-active benevolence of the king had aided them in the task, for the -soldiers were still maintained by him - - * Frontenac au Ministre, 2 Nov., 1672. Marie de - l’Incarnation speaks of these officers on the Richelieu as - très honnêtes gens. - -while clearing the lands and building the houses destined to be their -own; nor was it till this work was done that the provident government -despatched them to Quebec with orders to bring back wives. The settler, -thus lodged and wedded, was required on his part to aid in clearing -lands for those who should come after him. * - -It was chiefly in the more exposed parts of the colony, that the houses -were gathered together in palisaded villages, thus forcing the settler -to walk or paddle some distance to his farm. He naturally preferred to -build when he could on the front of his farm itself, near the river, -which supplied the place of a road. As the grants of land were very -narrow, his house was not far from that of his next neighbor, and thus -a line of dwellings was ranged along the shore, forming what in local -language was called a _côte_, a use of the word peculiar to Canada, -where it still prevails. - -The impoverished seignior rarely built a chapel. Most of the early -Canadian churches were built with funds furnished by the seminaries of -Quebec or of Montreal, aided by contributions of material and labor -from the parishioners. ** Meanwhile mass was said in some house of the -neighborhood by - - * “Sa Majesté semble prétendre faire la dépense entière pour - former le commencement des habitations par l’abattis du - bois, la culture et semence de deux arpens de terre, - l’avance de quelques farines aux familles venantes,” etc., - etc. Projets de Réglemens, 1667. This applied to civil and - military settlers alike. The established settler was allowed - four years to clear two arpents of land for a newcomer. The - soldiers were maintained by the king during a year, while - preparing their farms and houses. Talon asks that two years - more be given them. Talon au Roy. 10 Nov., 1670 - - ** La Tour, Vie de Laval, chap. x. - -a missionary priest, paddling his canoe from village to village, or from -_côte_ to _côte_. - -The mill was an object of the last importance. It was built of stone and -pierced with loopholes, to serve as a blockhouse in case of attack. The -great mill at Montreal was one of the chief defences of the place. -It was at once the duty and the right of the seignior to supply his -tenants, or rather vassals, with this essential requisite, and they on -their part were required to grind their grain at his mill, leaving the -fourteenth part in payment. But for many years there was not a seigniory -in Canada, where this fraction would pay the wages of a miller and, -except the ecclesiastical corporations, there were few seigniors who -could pay the cost of building. The first settlers were usually forced -to grind for themselves after the tedious fashion of the Indians. - -Talon, in his capacity of counsellor, friend, and father to all Canada, -arranged the new settlements near Quebec in the manner which he judged -best, and which he meant to serve as an example to the rest of the -colony. It was his aim to concentrate population around this point, -so that, should an enemy appear, the sound of a cannon-shot from the -Chateau St. Louis might summon a numerous body of defenders to this the -common point of rendezvous. * He bought a tract of land near Quebec, -laid it out, and settled it as a model seigniory, hoping, as he says, -to kindle a spirit of emulation among the new-made seigniors to whom he - - * Projets de Réglemens, 1667. - -had granted lands from the king. He also laid out at the royal cost -three villages in the immediate neighborhood, planning them with great -care, and peopling them partly with families newly arrived, partly with -soldiers, and partly with old settlers, in order that the newcomers -might take lessons from the experience of these veterans. That each -village might be complete in itself, he furnished it as well as he could -with the needful carpenter, mason, blacksmith, and shoemaker. These -inland villages, called respectively Bourg Royal, Bourg la Reine, and -Bourg Talon, did not prove very thrifty. * Wherever the settlers were -allowed to choose for themselves, they ranged their dwellings along the -watercourses. With the exception of Talon’s villages, one could -have seen nearly every house in Canada, by paddling a canoe up the St. -Lawrence and the Richelieu. The settlements formed long thin lines -on the edges of the rivers; a convenient arrangement, but one very -unfavorable to defence, to ecclesiastical control, and to strong -government. The king soon discovered this; and repeated orders were sent -to concentrate the inhabitants and form Canada into villages, instead -of _côtes_. To do so would have involved a general revocation of grants -and abandonment of houses and clearings, a measure too arbitrary and too -wasteful, even for Louis XIV., and one extremely difficult to enforce. -Canada persisted in attenuating herself, and the royal will was foiled. - - * In 1672, the king, as a mark of honor, attached these - villages to Talon’s seigniory. Documents on Seigniorial - Tenure. - -As you ascended the St. Lawrence, the first harboring place of -civilization was Tadoussao, at the mouth of the Saguenay, where the -company had its trading station, where its agents ruled supreme, and -where, in early summer, all was alive with canoes and wigwams, and -troops of Montagnais savages, bringing their furs to market. Leave -Tadoussac behind, and, embarked in a sailboat or a canoe, follow the -northern coast. Far on the left, twenty miles away, the southern shore -lies pale and dim, and mountain ranges wave their faint outline along -the sky. You pass the beetling rocks of Mai Bay, a solitude but for the -bark hut of some wandering Indian beneath the cliff; the Eboulements -with their wild romantic gorge, and foaming waterfalls; and the Bay of -St. Paul with its broad valley and its woody mountains, rich with hidden -stores of iron. Vast piles of savage verdure border the mighty stream, -till at length the mountain of Cape Tourmente upheaves its huge bulk -from the bosom of the water, shadowed by lowering clouds, and dark with -forests. Just beyond, begin the settlements of Laval’s vast seigniory -of Beaupré, which had not been forgotten in the distribution of -emigrants, and which, in 1667, contained more inhabitants than Quebec -itself. * The ribbon of rich meadow land that borders that beautiful -shore, was yellow with wheat - - * The census of 1667 gives to Quebec only 448 souls; Côte - de Beaupré, 656; Beauport, 123; Island of Orleans, 529; - other settlements included under the government of Quebec, - 1,011; Côte de Lauzon (south shore), 113; Trois Rivières and - its dependencies, 666; Montreal, 766. Both Beaupré and Isle - d’Orleans belonged at this time to the bishop. - -in harvest time, and on the woody slopes behind, the frequent clearings -and the solid little dwellings of logs continued for a long distance -to relieve the sameness of the forest. After passing the cataract af -Montmorenci, there was another settlement, much smaller, at Beauport, -the seigniory of the exphysician Giffard, one of the earliest -proprietors in Canada. The neighboring shores of the island of Orleans -were also edged with houses and clearings. The promontory of Quebec now -towered full in sight, crowned with church, fort, chateau, convents, and -seminary. There was little else on the rock. Priests, nuns, government -officials, and soldiers, were the denizens of the Upper Town; while -commerce and the trades were cabined along the strand beneath. * From -the gallery of the chateau, you might toss a pebble far down on their -shingled roofs. In the midst of them was the magazine of the company, -with its two round towers and two projecting wings. It was here that all -the beaver-skins of the colony were collected, assorted, and shipped -for France. The so-called chateau St. Louis was an indifferent wooden -structure planted on a site truly superb; above the Lower Town, above -the river, above the ships, gazing abroad on a majestic panorama of -waters, forests, and mountains. ** Behind it was the area of the fort, -of which it formed one side. The - - * According to Juchereau, there were seventy houses at - Quebec about the time of Tracy’s arrival. - - ** In 1660, an exact inventory was taken of the contents of - the fort and chateau; a beggarly account of rubbish. The - chateau was then a long low building roofed with shingles. - -governor lived in the chateau, and soldiers were on guard night and day -in the fort. At some little distance was the convent of the Ursulines, -ugly but substantial, * where Mother Mary of the Incarnation ruled her -pupils and her nuns; and a little further on, towards the right, was -the Hôtel Dieu. Between them were the massive buildings of the Jesuits, -then as now facing the principal square. At one side was their church, -newly finished; and opposite, across the square, stood and still -stands the great church of Notre Dame. Behind the church was -Laval’s seminary, with the extensive enclosures belonging to it. The -_sénéchaussée_ or court-house, the tavern of one Jacques Boisdon on -the square near the church, and a few houses along the line of what is -now St. Louis Street, comprised nearly all the civil part of the Upper -Town. The ecclesiastical buildings were of stone, and the church of -Notre Dame and the Jesuit College were marvels of size and solidity in -view of the poverty and weakness of the colony. ** - -Proceeding upward along the north shore of the St. Lawrence, one found -a cluster of houses at Cap Rouge, and, further on, the frequent rude -beginnings of a seigniory. The settlements thickened on - - * There is an engraving of it in Abbé Casgrain’s - interesting Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation. It was burned in - 1686. - - ** The first stone of Notre Dame de Quebec was laid in - September, 1647, and the first mass was said in it on the - 24th of December, 1650. The side walls still remain as part - of the present structure. The Jesuit college was also begun - in 1647. The walls and roof were finished in 1649. The - church connected with it, since destroyed, was begun in - 1666. Journal des Jésuites. - -approaching Three Rivers, a fur-trading hamlet enclosed with a square -palisade. Above this place, a line of incipient seigniories bordered the -river, most of them granted to officers: Laubia, a captain; Labadie, a -sergeant; Moras, an ensign; Berthier, a captain; Raudin, an ensign; La -Valterie, a lieutenant. * Under their auspices, settlers, military and -civilian, were ranging themselves along the shore, and ugly gaps in -the forest thickly set with stumps bore witness to their toils. These -settlements rapidly extended, till in a few years a chain of houses and -clearings reached with little interruption from Quebec to Montreal. -Such was the fruit of Tracy’s chastisement of the Mohawks, and the -influx of immigrants that followed. - -As you approached Montreal, the fortified mill built by the Sulpitians -at Point aux Trembles towered above the woods; and soon after the newly -built chapel of the Infant Jesus. More settlements followed, till at -length the great fortified mill of Montreal rose in sight; then the long -row of compact wooden houses, the Hôtel Dieu, and the rough masonry of -the seminary of St. Sulpice. Beyond the town, the clearings continued -at intervals till you reached Lake St. Louis, where young Cavelier de la -Salle had laid out his seigniory of La Chine, and abandoned it to begin -his hard career of western exploration. Above the island of Montreal, - - * Documents on the Seigniorial Tenure; Abstracts of Titles. - Most of these grants, like those on the Richelieu, were made - by Talon in 1672; but the land had, in many cases, been - occupied and cleared in anticipation of the title. - -the wilderness was broken only by a solitary trading station on the -neighboring Isle Perot. - -Now cross Lake St. Louis, shoot the rapids of La Chine, and follow -the southern shore downward. Here the seigniories of Longueuil, -Boucherville, Yarennes, Verchères, and Contrecoeur were already begun. -From the fort of Sorel one could visit the military seigniories along -the Richelieu or descend towards Quebec, passing on the way those of -Lussaudière, Becancour, Lobinière, and others still in a shapeless -infancy. Even far below Quebec, at St. Anne de la Pocatière, River -Ouelle, and other points, cabins and clearings greeted the eye of the -passing canoeman. - -For a year or two, the settler’s initiation was a rough one; but when -he had a few acres under tillage he could support himself and his family -on the produce, aided by hunting, if he knew how to use a gun, and by -the bountiful profusion of eels which the St. Lawrence never failed to -yield in their season, and which, smoked or salted, supplied his larder -for months. In winter he hewed timber, sawed planks, or split shingles -for the market of Quebec, obtaining in return such necessaries as he -required. With thrift and hard work he was sure of comfort at last; but -the former habits of the military settlers and of many of the others -were not favorable to a routine of dogged industry. The sameness and -solitude of their new life often became insufferable; nor, married -as they had been, was the domestic hearth likely to supply much -consolation. Yet, thrifty or not, they multiplied apace. - -“A poor man,” says Mother Mary, “will have eight children and -more, who run about in winter with bare heads and bare feet, and a -little jacket on their backs, live on nothing but bread and eels, and -on that grow fat and stout.” With such treatment the weaker sort died; -but the strong survived, and out of this rugged nursing sprang the hardy -Canadian race of bush-rangers and bush-fighters. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. 1663-1763. CANADIAN FEUDALISM. - - -_Transplantation Of Feudalism.--Precautions.--Faith And Hope ---Age.--The Seignior.--The Censitaire.--Royal Intervention.--The -Gentilhomme.--Canadian Noblesse._ - - -|Canadian society was beginning to form itself, and at its base was the -feudal tenure. European feudalism was the indigenous and natural growth -of political and social conditions which preceded it. Canadian feudalism -was an offshoot of the feudalism of France, modified by the lapse of -centuries, and further modified by the royal will. - -In France, as in the rest of Europe, the system had lost its vitality. -The warrior-nobles who placed Hugh Capet on the throne, and began the -feudal monarchy, formed an aristocratic republic, and the king was one -of their number, whom they chose to be their chief. But, through the -struggles and vicissitudes of many succeeding reigns, royalty had waxed -and oligarchy had waned. The fact had changed and the theory had changed -with it. The king, once powerless among a host of turbulent nobles, was -now a king indeed. Once a chief, because his equals had made him so, he -was now the anointed of the Lord. This triumph of royalty had culminated -in Louis XIV. The stormy energies and bold individualism of the old -feudal nobles had ceased to exist. They who had held his predecessors in -awe had become his obsequious servants. He no longer feared his nobles; -he prized them as gorgeous decorations of his court, and satellites of -his royal person. - -It was Richelieu who first planted feudalism in Canada. * The king would -preserve it there, because with its teeth drawn he was fond of it, and -because, as the feudal tenure prevailed in Old France, it was natural -that it should prevail also in the New. But he continued as Richelieu -had begun, and moulded it to the form that pleased him. Nothing was -left which could threaten his absolute and undivided authority over the -colony. In France, a multitude of privileges and prescriptions still -clung, despite its fall, about the ancient ruling class. Few of these -were allowed to cross the Atlantic, while the old, lingering abuses, -which had made the system odious, were at the same time lopped away. -Thus retrenched, Canadian feudalism was made to serve a double end; -to produce a faint and harmless reflection of French aristocracy, and -simply and practically to supply agencies for distributing land among -the settlers. - -The nature of the precautions which it was held to require appear in the -plan of administration which Talon and Tracy laid before the minister. - - * By the charter of the Company of the Hundred Associates, - 1627. - -They urge that, in view of the distance from France, special care -ought to be taken to prevent changes and revolutions, aristocratic or -otherwise, in the colony, whereby in time sovereign jurisdictions might -grow up, as formerly occurred in various parts of France. * And, in -respect to grants already made, an inquiry was ordered, to ascertain -“if seigniors in distributing lands to their vassals have exacted any -conditions injurious to the rights of the Crown and the subjection due -solely to the king.” In the same view the seignior was denied any -voice whatever in the direction of government; and it is scarcely -necessary to say that the essential feature of feudalism in the day of -its vitality, the requirement of military service by the lord from the -vassal, was utterly unknown in Canada. The royal governor called out the -militia whenever he saw fit, and set over it what officers he pleased. - -The seignior was usually the immediate vassal of the Crown, from which -he had received his land gratuitously. In a few cases, he made grants -to other seigniors inferior in the feudal scale, and they, his vassals, -granted in turn to their vassals, the _habitants_ or cultivators of the -soil. ** Sometimes - - * Projet de Réglement fait par MM. de Tracy et Talon pour - la justice et la distribution des terres du Canada, Jan. 24, - 1667. - - ** Most of the seigniories of Canada were simple fiefs; but - there were some exceptions. In 1671, the king, as a mark of - honor to Talon, erected his seigniory Des Islets into a - barony; and it was soon afterwards made an earldom, comté. - In 1676, the seigniory of St. Laurent, on the island of - Orleans, once the property of Laval, and then belonging to - François Berthelot, councillor of the king, was erected into - an earldom. In 1681, the seigniory of Portneuf, belonging to - Réné Robineau, chevalier, was made a barony. In 1700, three - seigniories on the south side of the St. Lawrence were - united into the barony of Lcngueuil. See Papers on the - Feudal Tenure in Canada, Abstract of Titles. - -the _habitant_ held directly of the Crown, in which case there was no -step between the highest and lowest degrees of the feudal scale. The -seignior held by the tenure of faith and homage, the _habitant_ by the -inferior tenure _en censive_. Faith and homage were rendered to the -Crown or other feudal superior whenever the seigniory changed hands, -or, in the case of seigniories held by corporations, after long stated -intervals. The following is an example, drawn from the early days of the -colony, of the performance of this ceremony by the owner of a fief to -the seignior who had granted it to him. It is that of Jean Guion, vassal -of Giffard, seignior of Beauport. The act recounts how, in presence of a -notary, Guion presented himself at the principal door of the manor-house -of Beauport; how, having knocked, one Boullé, farmer of Giffard, -opened the door, and in reply to Guion’s question if the seignior was -at home, replied that he was not, but that he, Boullé, was empowered -to receive acknowledgments of faith and homage from the vassals in his -name. “After the which reply,” proceeds the act, the said Guion, -being at the principal door, placed himself on his knees on the ground, -with head bare, and without sword or spurs, and said three times these -words: “Monsieur de Beauport, Monsieur de Beauport, Monsieur de -Beauport, I bring you the faith and homage which I am bound to bring you -on account of my fief Du Buisson, which I hold as a man of faith of your -seigniory of Beauport, declaring that I offer to pay my seigniorial and -feudal dues in their season, and demanding of you to accept me in faith -and homage as aforesaid.” * - -The following instance is the more common one of a seignior holding -directly of the Crown. It is widely separated from the first in point -of time, having occurred a year after the army of Wolfe entered Quebec. -Philippe Noël had lately died, and Jean Noël, his son, inherited his -seigniory of Tilly and Bonsecours. To make the title good, faith and -homage must be renewed. Jean Noël was under the bitter necessity of -rendering this duty to General Murray, governor for the king of Great -Britain. The form is the same as in the case of Guion, more than a -century before. Noël repairs to the Government House at Quebec, and -knocks at the door. A servant opens it. Noël asks if the governor -is there. The servant replies that he is. Murray, informed of the -visitor’s object, comes to the door, and Noël then and there, -“without sword or spurs, with bare head, and one knee on the -ground,” repeats the acknowledgment of faith and homage for his -seigniory. He was compelled, however, to add a detested innovation, the -oath of fidelity to his Britannic Majesty, coupled with a pledge to keep -his vassals in obedience to the new sovereign. ** - -The seignior was a proprietor holding that relation to the feudal -superior which, in its pristine - - * Ferland, Notes sur les Registres de Notre Dame de Québec, - 65. This was a fief en roture, as distinguished from a fief - noble, to which judicial powers and other privileges were - attached. - - ** See the act in Observations de Sir L. H. Lafontaine, - Bart., sur la Tenure Seignetiriale, 217, note. - -character, has been truly described as servile in form, proud and -bold in spirit. But in Canada this bold spirit was very far from -being strengthened by the changes which the policy of the Crown had -introduced into the system. The reservation of mines and minerals, oaks -for the royal navy, roadways, and a site, if needed, for royal forts and -magazines, had in it nothing extraordinary. The great difference between -the position of the Canadian seignior and that of the vassal proprietor -of the Middle Ages lay in the extent and nature of the control which the -Crown and its officers held over him. A decree of the king, an edict -of the council, or an ordinance of the intendant, might at any moment -change old conditions, impose new ones, interfere between the lord of -the manor and his grantees, and modify or annul his bargains, past or -present. He was never sure whether or not the government would let him -alone; and against its most arbitrary intervention he had no remedy. - -One condition was imposed on him which may be said to form the -distinctive feature of Canadian feudalism; that of clearing his land -within a limited time on pain of forfeiting it. The object was the -excellent one of preventing the lands of the colony from lying waste. -As the seignior was often the penniless owner of a domain three or four -leagues wide and proportionably deep, he could not clear it all himself, -and was therefore under the necessity of placing the greater part in the -hands of those who could. But he was forbidden to sell any part of it -which he had not cleared. He must grant it without price, on condition -of a small perpetual rent; and this brings us to the cultivator of the -soil, the _censitaire_, the broad base of the feudal pyramid. * - -The tenure _en censive_ by which the _censitaire_ held of the seignior -consisted in the obligation to make annual payments in money, produce, -or both. In Canada these payments, known as _cens et rente_, were -strangely diverse in amount and kind; but, in all the early period -of the colony, they were almost ludicrously small. A common charge at -Montreal was half a sou and half a pint of wheat for each arpent. The -rate usually fluctuated in the early times between half a sou and two -sous, so that a farm of a hundred and sixty arpents would pay from four -to sixteen francs, of which a part would be in money and the rest -in live capons, wheat, eggs, or all three together, in pursuance of -contracts as amusing in their precision as they are bewildering in their -variety. Live capons, - - * The greater part of the grants made by the old Company of - New France were resumed by the Crown for neglect to occupy - and improve the land, which was granted out anew under the - administration of Talon. The most remarkable of these - forfeited grants is that of the vast domain of La Citière, - large enough for a kingdom. Lauson, afterwards governor, had - obtained it from the company, but had failed to improve it. - Two or three sub-grants which he had made from it were held - valid; the rest was reunited to the royal domain. On - repeated occasions at later dates, negligent seigniors were - threatened with the loss of half or the whole of their land, - and various cases are recorded in which the threat took - effect. In 1741, an ordinance of the governor and intendant - reunited to the royal domain seventeen seigniories at one - stroke; but the former owners were told that if within a - year they cleared and settled a reasonable part of the - forfeited estates, the titles should be restored to them. - Edits et Ordonnances, II. 555. In the case of the habitant - or censitaire forfeitures for neglect to improve the land - and live on it are very numerous. - -estimated at twenty sous each, though sometimes not worth ten, form -a conspicuous feature in these agreements, so that on payday the -seignior’s barnyard presented an animated scene. Later in the history -of the colony grants were at somewhat higher rates. Payment was commonly -made on St. Martin’s day, when there was a general muster of tenants -at the seigniorial mansion, with a prodigious consumption of tobacco and -a corresponding retail of neighborhood gossip, joined to the outcries -of the captive fowls bundled together for delivery, with legs tied, but -throats at full liberty. - -A more considerable but a very uncertain source of income to the -seignior were the _lods et ventes_, or mutation fines. The land of the -_censitaire_ passed freely to his heirs; but if he sold it, a twelfth -part of the purchase-money must be paid to the seignior. The seignior, -on his part, was equally liable to pay a mutation fine to his feudal -superior if he sold his seigniory; and for him the amount was larger, -being a _quint_, or a fifth of the price received, of which, however, -the greater part was deducted for immediate payment. This heavy charge, -constituting, as it did, a tax on all improvements, was a principal -cause of the abolition of the feudal tenure in 1854. - -The obligation of clearing his land and living on it was laid on -seignior and _censitaire_ alike; but the latter was under a variety of -other obligations to the former, partly imposed by custom and partly -established by agreement when the grant was made. To grind his grain at -the seignior’s mill, bake his bread in the seignior’s oven, work for -him one or more days in the year, and give him one fish in every eleven, -for the privilege of fishing in the river before his farm; these were -the most annoying of the conditions to which the _censitaire_ was -liable. Few of them were enforced with much regularity. That of -baking in the seignior’s oven was rarely carried into effect, though -occasionally used for purposes of extortion. It is here that the -royal government appears in its true character, so far as concerns its -relations with Canada, that of a well-meaning despotism. It continually -intervened between _censitaire_ and seignior, on the principle -that “as his Majesty gives the land for nothing, he can make what -conditions he pleases, and change them when he pleases.” * These -interventions were usually favorable to the _censitaire_. On one -occasion an intendant reported to the minister, that in his opinion all -rents ought to be reduced to one sou and one live capon for every arpent -of front, equal in most cases to forty superficial arpents. ** Every -thing, he remarks, ought to be brought down to the level of the first -grants “made in days of innocence,” a happy period which he does not -attempt to define. The minister replies that the diversity of the -rent is, in fact, vexatious, and that, for his part, he is disposed -to abolish it altogether. *** Neither he nor the intendant gives the -slightest hint of any compensation - - * This doctrine is laid down in a letter of the Marquis de - Beauharnois, governor, to the minister, 1734. - - ** Lettre de Raudot, père, au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1707. - - *** Lettre de Ponchartrain à Raudot, père, 13 Juin, 1708. - -to the seignior. Though these radical measures were not executed, many -changes were decreed from time to time in the relations between seignior -and _censitaire_, sometimes as a simple act of sovereign power, and -sometimes on the ground that the grants had been made with conditions -not recognized by the _Coutume de Paris_. This was the code of law -assigned to Canada; but most of the contracts between seignior and -_censitaire_ had been agreed upon in good faith by men who knew as much -of the _Coutume de Paris_ as of the Capitularies of Charlemagne, and -their conditions had remained in force unchallenged for generations. -These interventions of government sometimes contradicted each other, -and often proved a dead letter. They are more or less active through the -whole period of the French rule. - -The seignior had judicial powers, which, however, were carefully curbed -and controlled. His jurisdiction, when exercised at all, extended in -most cases only to trivial causes. He very rarely had a prison, and -seems never to have abused it. The dignity of a seigniorial gallows with -_high justice_ or jurisdiction over heinous offences was granted only in -three or four instances. * - -Four arpents in front by forty in depth were the ordinary dimensions of -a grant _en censive_. These ribbons of land, nearly a mile and a half -long, with one end on the river and the other on - - * Baronies and comtés were empowered to set up gallows and - pillories, to which the arms of the owner were affixed. See, - for example, the edict creating the Barony des Islets. - -the uplands behind, usually combined the advantages of meadows for -cultivation, and forests for timber and firewood. So long as the -_censitaire_ brought in on St. Martin’s day his yearly capons and his -yearly handful of copper, his title against the seignior was perfect. -There are farms in Canada which have passed from father to son for two -hundred years. The condition of the cultivator was incomparably better -than that of the French peasant, crushed by taxes, and oppressed by -feudal burdens far heavier than those of Canada. In fact, the Canadian -settler scorned the name of peasant, and then, as now, was always called -the _habitant_. The government held him in wardship, watched over him, -interfered with him, but did not oppress him or allow others to oppress -him. Canada was not governed to the profit of a class, and if the king -wished to create a Canadian _noblesse_ he took care that it should not -bear hard on the country. * - -Under a genuine feudalism, the ownership of land conferred nobility; but -all this was changed. The king and not the soil was now the parent -of honor. France swarmed with landless nobles, while _roturier_ -land-holders grew daily more numerous. In Canada half the seigniories -were in _roturier_ or plebeian hands, and in course of time some of them - - * On the seigniorial tenure, I have examined the whole of - the mass of papers printed at the time when the question of - its abolition was under discussion. A great deal of legal - research and learning was then devoted to the subject. The - argument of Mr. Dunkin in behalf of the seigniors, and the - observations of Judge Lafontaine, are especially - instructive, as is also the collected correspondence of the - governors and intendants with the central government on - matters relating to the seigniorial system. - -came into possession of persons on very humble degrees of the social -scale. A seigniory could be bought and sold, and a trader or a thrifty -_habitant_ might, and often did become the buyer. * If the Canadian -noble was always a seignior, it is far from being true that the Canadian -seignior was always a noble. - -In France, it will be remembered, nobility did not in itself imply a -title. Besides its titled leaders, it had its rank and file, numerous -enough to form a considerable army. Under the later Bourbons, the -penniless young nobles were, in fact, enrolled into regiments, -turbulent, difficult to control, obeying officers of high rank, but -scorning all others, and conspicuous by a fiery and impetuous valor -which on more than one occasion turned the tide of victory. The -_gentilhomme_, or untitled noble, had a distinctive character of his -own, gallant, punctilious, vain; skilled in social and sometimes in -literary and artistic accomplishments, but usually ignorant of most -things except the handling of his rapier. Yet there were striking -exceptions; and to say of him, as has been said, that “he knew nothing -but how to get himself killed,” is hardly just to a body which has -produced some of the best writers and thinkers of France. - -Sometimes the origin of his nobility was lost in - - * In 1712, the engineer Catalogne made a very long and - elaborate report on the condition of Canada, with a full - account of all the seigniorial estates. Of ninety-one - seigniories, fiefs, and baronies, described by him, ten - belonged to merchants, twelve to husbandmen, and two to - masters of small river craft. The rest belonged to religious - corporations, members of the council, judges, officials of - the Crown, widows, and discharged officers or their sons. - -the mists of time; sometimes he owed it to a patent from the king. In -either case, the line of demarcation between him and the classes below -him was perfectly distinct; and in this lies an essential difference -between the French _noblesse_ and the English gentry, a class not -separated from others by a definite barrier. The French _noblesse_, -unlike the English gentry, constituted a caste. - -The _gentilhomme_ had no vocation for emigrating. He liked the army and -he liked the court. If he could not be of it, it was something to live -in its shadow. The life of a backwoods settler had no charm for him. -He was not used to labor; and he could not trade, at least in retail, -without becoming liable to forfeit his nobility. When Talon came to -Canada, there were but four noble families in the colony. * Young nobles -in abundance came out with Tracy; but they went home with him. Where, -then, should be found the material of a Canadian _noblesse?_ First, -in the regiment of Carignan, of which most of the officers were -_gentilshommes_; secondly, in the issue of patents of nobility to a -few of the more prominent colonists. Tracy asked for four such patents; -Talon asked for five more; ** and such requests were repeated at -intervals by succeeding governors and intendants, in behalf of those who -had gained their favor by merit or otherwise. Money smoothed the path. - - * Talon, Mémoire sur l'Etat présent du Canada, 1667. The - families of Repentigny, Tilly, Poterie, and Aillebout appear - to be meant. - - ** Tracy’s request was in behalf of Bourdon, Boucher, - Auteuil, and Juchereau. Talon’s was in behalf of Godefroy, - Le Moyne, Denis, Amiot, and Couillard to advancement, so far - had _noblesse_ already fallen from its old estate. - -Thus Jacques Le Ber, the merchant, who had long kept a shop at Montreal, -got himself made a gentleman for six thousand livres. * - -All Canada soon became infatuated with _noblesse_; and country and -town, merchant and seignior, vied with each other for the quality of -_gentilhomme_. If they could not get it, they often pretended to have -it, and aped its ways with the zeal of Monsieur Jourdain himself. -“Everybody here,” writes the intendant Meules, “calls himself -_Esquire_, and ends with thinking himself a gentleman.” Successive -intendants repeat this complaint. The case was worst with _roturiers_ -who had acquired seigniories. Thus Noel Langlois was a good carpenter -till he became owner of a seigniory, on which he grew lazy and affected -to play the gentleman. The real _gentilshommes_, as well as the -spurious, had their full share of official stricture. The governor -Denonville speaks of them thus: “Several of them have come out this -year with their wives, who are very much cast down; but they play the -fine lady, nevertheless. I had much rather see good peasants; it would -be a pleasure to me to give aid to such, knowing, as I should, that -within two years their families would have the means of living at ease; -for it is certain that a peasant who can and will work is well off in -this country, while our nobles with nothing to do can never be any thing -but beggars. Still they ought not to be - - * Faillon, Vie de Mademoiselle Le Ber, 325. - -driven off or abandoned. The question is how to maintain them.” * - -The intendant Duchesneau writes to the same effect: “Many of our -_gentilshommes_, officers, and other owners of seigniories, lead what -in France is called the life of a country gentleman, and spend most of -their time in hunting and fishing. As their requirements in food and -clothing are greater than those of the simple _habitants_, and as they -do not devote themselves to improving their land, they mix themselves -up in trade, run in debt on all hands, incite their young _habitants_ to -range the woods, and send their own children there to trade for furs -in the Indian villages and in the depths of the forest, in spite of the -prohibition of his Majesty. Yet, with all this, they are in miserable -poverty.” ** Their condition, indeed, was often deplorable. “It is -pitiful,” says the intendant Champigny, “to see their children, of -which they have great numbers, passing all summer with nothing on them -but a shirt, and their wives and daughters working in the fields.” -*** In another letter he asks aid from the king for Repentigny with his -thirteen children, and for Tilly with his fifteen. “We must give them -some corn at once,” he says, “or they will starve.” **** These -were two of the original four noble families of Canada. The family -of Aillebout, another of the four, is described as equally destitute. -“Pride and sloth,” says the same intendant, - - * Lettre de Denonville au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1686. - - ** Lettre de Duchesneau au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1679. - - *** Lettre de Champigny au Ministre, 26 Août, 1687. - - **** Ibid., 6 Nov., 1687. - -“are the great faults of the people of Canada, and especially of -the nobles and those who pretend to be such. I pray you grant no more -letters of nobility, unless you want to multiply beggars.” * The -governor Denonville is still more emphatic: “Above all things, -monseigneur, permit me to say that the nobles of this new country are -every thing that is most beggarly, and that to increase their number -is to increase the number of do-nothings. A new country requires -hard workers, who will handle the axe and mattock. The sons of our -councillors are no more industrious than the nobles; and their only -resource is to take to the woods, trade a little with the Indians, and, -for the most part, fall into the disorders of which I have had the honor -to inform you. I shall use all possible means to induce them to engage -in regular commerce; but as our nobles and councillors are all very poor -and weighed down with debt, they could not get credit for a single -crown piece.” ** “Two days ago,” he writes in another letter, -“Monsieur de Saint-Ours, a gentleman of Dauphiny, came to me to ask -leave to go back to France in search of bread. He says that he will put -his ten children into the charge of any who will give them a living, -and that he himself will go into the army again. His wife and he are -in despair; and yet they do what they can. I have seen two of his girls -reaping grain and holding the plough. Other families are - - * Mémoire instructif sur le Canada, joint a la lettre de M. - de Champigny du 10 May, 1691. - - ** Lettre de Denonville au Ministre, 13 Nov., 1685. - -in the same condition. They come to me with tears in their eyes. All our -married officers are beggars; and I entreat you to send them aid. There -is need that the king should provide support for their children, or else -they will be tempted to go over to the English.” * Again he writes -that the sons of the councillor D’Amours have been arrested as -_coureurs de bois_, or outlaws in the bush; and that if the minister -does not do something to help them, there is danger that all the sons of -the _noblesse_, real or pretended, will turn bandits, since they have no -other means of living. - -The king, dispenser of charity for all Canada, came promptly to the -rescue. He granted an alms of a hundred crowns to each family, coupled -with a warning to the recipients of his bounty that “their misery -proceeds from their ambition to live as persons of quality and without -labor.” ** At the same time, the minister announced that no more -letters of nobility would be granted in Canada; adding, “to relieve -the country of some of the children of those who are really noble, I -send you (_the governor_) six commissions of _Gardes de la Marine_, and -recommend you to take care not to give them to any who are not actually -_gentilshommes_." The _Garde de la Marine_ answered to the midshipman -of the English or American service. As the six commissions could bring -little relief to the crowd of needy youths, it was further ordained - - * Lettre de Denonville au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1686. - (Condensed in the translation.) - - ** Abstract of Denonville’s Letters, and of the Minister’s - Answers, in N. Y. Colonial Docs., IX. 317, 318. - -that sons of nobles or persons living as such should be enrolled -into companies at eight sous a day for those who should best conduct -themselves, and six sous a day for the others. Nobles in Canada were -also permitted to trade, even at retail, without derogating from their -rank. * - -They had already assumed this right, without waiting for the royal -license; but thus far it had profited them little. The _gentilhomme_ was -not a good shopkeeper, nor, as a rule, was the shop-keeper’s vocation -very lucrative in Canada. The domestic trade of the colony was small; -and all trade was exposed to such vicissitudes from the intervention -of intendants, ministers, and councils, that at one time it was almost -banished. At best, it was carried on under conditions auspicious to a -favored few and withering to the rest. Even when most willing to work, -the position of the _gentilhomme_ was a painful one. Unless he could -gain a post under the Crown, which was rarely the case, he was as -complete a political cipher as the meanest _habitant_. His rents were -practically nothing, and he had no capital to improve his seigniorial -estate. By a peasant’s work he could gain a peasant’s living, and -this was all. The prospect was not inspiring. His long initiation of -misery was the natural result of his position and surroundings; and -it is no matter of wonder that he threw himself into the only field of -action which in time of peace was open to him. It was trade, but trade -seasoned by adventure and - - * Lettre de Meules au Ministre, 1685. - -ennobled by danger; defiant of edict and ordinance, outlawed, conducted -in arms among forests and savages,--in short, it was the Western -fur trade. The tyro was likely to fail in it at first, but time and -experience formed him to the work. On the Great Lakes, in the wastes -of the Northwest, on the Mississippi and the plains beyond, we find -the roving _gentilhomme_, chief of a gang of bushrangers, often his own -_habitants_; sometimes proscribed by the government, sometimes leagued -in contraband traffic with its highest officials, a hardy vidette -of civilization, tracing unknown streams, piercing unknown forests, -trading, fighting, negotiating, and building forts. Again we find him on -the shores of Acadia or Maine, surrounded by Indian retainers, a menace -and a terror to the neighboring English colonist. Saint-Castin, Du Lhut, -La Durantaye, La Salle, La Motte-Cadillac, Iberville, Bienville, La -Vérendrye, are names that stand conspicuous on the page of half-savage -romance that refreshes the hard and practical annals of American -colonization. But a more substantial debt is due to their memory. It -was they, and such as they, who discovered the Ohio, explored the -Mississippi to its mouth, discovered the Rocky Mountains, and founded -Detroit, St. Louis, and New Orleans. - -Even in his earliest day, the _gentilhomme_ was not always in the evil -plight where we have found him. There were a few exceptions to the -general misery, and the chief among them is that of the Le Moynes of -Montreal. Charles Le Moyne, son of an innkeeper of Dieppe and founder -of a family the most truly eminent in Canada, was a man of sterling -qualities who had been long enough in the colony to learn how to -live there. * Others learned the same lesson at a later day, adapted -themselves to soil and situation, took root, grew, and became more -Canadian than French. As population increased, their seigniories began -to yield appreciable returns, and their reserved domains became worth -cultivating. A future dawned upon them; they saw in hope their names, -their seigniorial estates, their manor-houses, their tenantry, passing -to their children and their children’s children. The beggared noble -of the early time became a sturdy country gentleman; poor, but not -wretched; ignorant of books, except possibly a few scraps of rusty Latin -picked up in a Jesuit school; hardy as the hardiest woodsman, yet never -forgetting his quality of _gentilhomme_; scrupulously wearing its badge, -the sword, and copying as well as he could the fashions of the court, -which glowed on his vision across the sea in all the effulgence of -Versailles, and beamed with reflected ray from the chateau of Quebec. He -was at home among his tenants, at home among the Indians, and never more -at home than when, a gun in his hand and a crucifix on his breast, he -took the war-path with a - - * Berthelot, proprietor of the comté of St. Laurent, and - Robineau, of the barony of Portneuf, may also be mentioned - as exceptionally prosperous. Of the younger Charles Le - Moyne, afterwards Baron de Longueuil, - - Frontenac the governor says, “son fort et sa maison nous - donnent une idée des chateaux de France fortifiez.” His fort - was of Stone and flanked with four towers. It was nearly - opposite Montreal, on the south shore. - -crew of painted savages and Frenchmen almost as wild, and pounced like -a lynx from the forest on some lonely farm or outlying hamlet of New -England. How New England hated him, let her records tell. The reddest -blood streaks on her old annals mark the track of the Canadian -_gentil-homme_. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. 1663-1763. THE RULERS OF CANADA. - - -_Nature Of The Government.--The Governor.--The Council, Courts and -Judges.--The Intendant.--His Grievances.--Strong Government.--Sedition -and Blasphemy.--Royal Bounty.--Defects and Abuses._ - - -|The government of Canada was formed in its chief features after the -government of a French province. Throughout France the past and the -present stood side by side. The kingdom had a double administration; or -rather, the shadow of the old administration and the substance of the -new. The government of provinces had long been held by the high nobles, -often kindred to the Crown; and hence, in former times, great perils had -arisen, amounting during the civil wars to the danger of dismemberment. -The high nobles were still governors of provinces; but here, as -elsewhere, they had ceased to be dangerous. Titles, honors, and -ceremonial they had in abundance; but they were deprived of real power. -Close beside them was the royal intendant, an obscure figure, lost -amid the vainglories of the feudal sunset, but in the name of the king -holding the reins of government; a check and a spy on his gorgeous -colleague. He was the king’s agent: of modest birth, springing from -the legal class; owing his present to the king, and dependent on him for -his future; learned in the law and trained to administration. It was -by such instruments that the powerful centralization of the monarchy -enforced itself throughout the kingdom, and, penetrating beneath the -crust of old prescriptions, supplanted without seeming to supplant them. -The courtier noble looked down in the pride of rank on the busy man in -black at his side; but this man in black, with the troop of officials -at his beck, controlled finance, the royal courts, public works, and all -the administrative business of the province. - -The governor-general and the intendant of Canada answered to those of a -French province. The governor, excepting in the earliest period of -the colony, was a military noble; in most cases bearing a title and -sometimes of high rank. The intendant, as in France, was usually drawn -from the _gens de robe_, or legal class. * The mutual relations of the -two officers were modified by the circumstances about them. The -governor was superior in rank to the intendant; he commanded the troops, -conducted relations with foreign colonies and Indian tribes, and took -precedence on all occasions of ceremony. Unlike a provincial - - * The governor was styled in his commission, Gouverneur et - Lieutenant-Général en Canada, Acadie, Isle de Terreneuve, et - autres pays de la France Septentrionale; and the intendant, - Intendant de la Justice, Police, et Finances in Canada, - Acadie, Terreneuve, et autres pays de la France - Septentrionale - -governor in France, he had great and substantial power, The king and -the minister, his sole masters, were a thousand leagues distant, and he -controlled the whole military force. If he abused his position, there -was no remedy but in appeal to the court, which alone could hold him -in check. There were local governors at Montreal and Three Rivers; but -their power was carefully curbed, and they were forbidden to fine or -imprison any person without authority from Quebec. * - -The intendant was virtually a spy on the governor-general, of whose -proceedings and of every thing else that took place he was required to -make report. Every year he wrote to the minister of state, one, two, -three, or four letters, often forty or fifty pages long, filled with -the secrets of the colony, political and personal, great and small, set -forth with a minuteness often interesting, often instructive, and often -excessively tedious. ** The governor, too, wrote letters of pitiless -length; and each of the colleagues was jealous of the letters of the -other. In truth, their relations to each other were so critical, and -perfect harmony so rare, that they might almost be described as natural -enemies. The court, it is certain, did not desire their perfect accord; -nor, on the other hand, did it wish them to quarrel: it aimed to keep -them on such terms - - * The Sulpitian seigniors of Montreal claimed the right of - appointing their own local governor. This was denied by the - court, and the excellent Sulpitian governor, Maisonneuve, - was removed by De Tracy, to die in patient obscurity at - Paris. Some concessions were afterwards made in favor of the - Sulpitian claims. - - ** I have carefully read about two thousand pages of these - letters. - -that, without deranging the machinery of administration, each should be -a check on the other. * - -The governor, the intendant, and the supreme council or court, were -absolute masters of Canada under the pleasure of the king. Legislative, -judicial, and executive power, all centred in them. We have seen already -the very unpromising beginnings of the supreme council. It had consisted -at first of the governor, the bishop, and five councillors chosen by -them. The intendant was soon added to form the ruling triumvirate; but -the appointment of the councillors, the occasion of so many quarrels, -was afterwards exercised by the king himself. ** Even the name of the -council underwent a change in the interest of his autocracy, and he -commanded that it should no longer be called the _Supreme_, but only -the _Superior_ Council. The same change had just been imposed on all the -high tribunals of France. *** Under the shadow of the _fleur-de-lis_, -the king alone was to be supreme. - -In 1675, the number of councillors was increased to seven, and in 1703 -it was again increased to twelve; but the character of the council or -court - - * The governor and intendant made frequent appeals to the - court to settle questions arising between them. Several of - these appeals are preserved. The king wrote replies on the - margin of the paper, but they were usually too curt and - general to satisfy either party. - - ** Déclaration du Roi du 16me Juin, 1703. Appointments were - made by the king many years earlier. As they were always - made on the recommendation of the governor and intendant, - the practical effect of the change was merely to exclude the - bishop from a share in them. The West India Company made the - nominations during the ten years of its ascendancy. - - *** Cheruel, Administration Monarchique en France, II. 100. - -remained the same. It issued decrees for the civil, commercial, and -financial government of the colony, and gave judgment in civil and -criminal causes according to the royal ordinances and the _Coutume de -Paris_. It exercised also the function of registration borrowed from the -parliament of Paris. That body, it will be remembered, had no analogy -whatever with the English parliament. Its ordinary functions were not -legislative, but judicial; and it was composed of judges hereditary -under certain conditions. Nevertheless, it had long acted as a check on -the royal power through its right of registration. No royal edict had -the force of law till entered upon its books, and this custom had so -deep a root in the monarchical constitution of France, that even Louis -XIV., in the flush of his power, did not attempt to abolish it. He -did better; he ordered his decrees to be registered, and the humbled -parliament submissively obeyed. In like manner all edicts, ordinances, -or declarations relating to Canada were entered on the registers of -the superior council at Quebec. The order of registration was commonly -affixed to the edict or other mandate, and nobody dreamed of disobeying -it. * - -The council or court had its attorney-general, who heard complaints and -brought them before the tribunal if he thought necessary; its secretary, -who kept its registers, and its _huissiers_ or attendant officers. It -sat once a week; and, though - - * Many general edicts relating to the whole kingdom are - also registered on the books of the council, but the - practice in this respect was by no means uniform. - -it was the highest court of appeal, it exercised at first original -jurisdiction in very trivial cases. * It was empowered to establish -subordinate courts or judges throughout the colony. Besides these there -was a judge appointed by the king for each of the three districts into -which Canada was divided, those of Quebec, Three Rivers, and -Montreal. To each of the three royal judges were joined a clerk and -an attorney-general under the supervision and control of the -attorney-general of the superior court, to which tribunal appeal -lay from all the subordinate jurisdictions. The jurisdiction of the -seigniors within their own limits has already been mentioned. They -were entitled by the terms of their grants to the exercise of “high, -middle, and low justice;” but most of them were practically restricted -to the last of the three, that is, to petty disputes between the -_habitans_, involving not more than sixty sous, or offences for which -the fine did not exceed ten sous. ** Thus limited, their judgments were -often useful in saving time, trouble, and money to the disputants. The -corporate seigniors of Montreal long continued to hold a feudal court in -form, with attorney-general, clerk, and _huissier_; but very few other -seigniors were in a condition to imitate them. Added to all these -tribunals was the bishop’s court at Quebec to try causes held to be -within the province of the church. - - * See the Registres du Conseil Supérieur, preserved at - Quebec. Between 1663 and 1673 are a multitude of judgments - on matters great and small; from murder, rape, and - infanticide, down to petty nuisances, misbehavior of - servants, and disputes about the price of a sow. - - ** Doutre et Lareau, Histoire du Droit Canadien, 135. - -The office of judge in Canada was no sinecure. The people were of a -litigious disposition, partly from their Norman blood, partly perhaps -from the idleness of the long and tedious winter, which gave full -leisure for gossip and quarrel, and partly from the very imperfect -manner in which titles had been drawn and the boundaries of grants -marked out, whence ensued disputes without end between neighbor and -neighbor. - -“I will not say,” writes the satirical La Hontan, "that Justice is -more chaste and disinterested here than in France; but, at least, if -she is sold, she is sold cheaper. We do not pass through the clutches -of advocates, the talons of attorneys, and the claws of clerks. These -vermin do not infest Canada yet. Everybody pleads his own cause. -Our Themis is prompt, and she does not bristle with fees, costs, and -charges. The judges have only four hundred francs a year, a great -temptation to look for law in the bottom of the suitor’s purse. Four -hundred francs! Not enough to buy a cap and gown, so these gentry never -wear them.” * - -Thus far La Hontan. Now let us hear the king; himself. “The greatest -disorder which has hitherto existed in Canada,” writes Louis XIV. to -the intendant Meules, “has come from the small degree of liberty which -the officers of justice have had in the discharge of their duties, by -reason of the violence to which they have been subjected, and the part -they have been obliged to take in the - - * La Hontan, I. 21 (ed. 1705). In some editions, the above - is expressed in different language. - -continual quarrels between the governor and the intendant; insomuch that -justice having been administered by cabal and animosity, the inhabitants -have hitherto been far from the tranquillity and repose which cannot -be found in a place where everybody is compelled to take side with one -party or another.” * - -Nevertheless, on ordinary local questions between the habitants, justice -seems to have been administered on the whole fairly; and judges of all -grades often interposed in their personal capacity to bring parties to -an agreement without a trial. From head to foot, the government kept its -attitude of paternity. - -Beyond and above all the regular tribunals, beyond and above the council -itself, was the independent jurisdiction lodged in the person of the -king’s man, the intendant. His commission empowered him, if he saw -fit, to call any cause whatever before himself for judgment; and -he judged exclusively the cases which concerned the king, and those -involving the relations of seignior and vassal. ** He appointed -subordinate judges, from whom there was appeal to him; but from his -decisions, as well as from those of the superior council, there was no -appeal but to the king in his council of state. - -On any Monday morning one would have found the superior council in -session in the antechamber - - * Instruction du Roy pour le Sieur de Meules, 1682. - - ** See the commissions of various intendants, in Edits et - Ordonnances - -of the governor’s apartment, at the Chateau St. Louis. The members sat -at a round table. At the head was the governor, with the bishop on his -right, and the intendant on his left. The councillors sat in the order -of their appointment, and the attorney-general also had his place at the -board. As La Hontan says, they were not in judicial robes, but in their -ordinary dress, and all but the bishop wore swords.1 The want of the -cap and gown greatly disturbed the intendant Meules, and he begs the -minister to consider how important it is that the councillors, in order -to inspire respect, should appear in public in long black robes, which -on occasions of ceremony they should exchange for robes of red. He -thinks that the principal persons of the colony would thus be induced -to train up their children to so enviable a dignity; “and,” he -concludes, “as none of the councillors can afford to buy red robes, -I hope that the king will vouchsafe to send out nine such. As for the -black robes, they can furnish those themselves.” ** The king did not -respond, and the nine robes never arrived. - -The official dignity of the council was sometimes exposed to trials -against which even red gowns might have proved an insufficient -protection. The same intendant urges that the tribunal ought to be -provided immediately with a house of its own. - -"It is not decent,” he says, “that it should sit in the governor’s -antechamber any longer. His guards and valets make such a noise, that we - - * Compare La Poterie, I. 260, and La Tour, Vie de Laval, - Liv. VII. - - ** Meules au Ministre, 28 Sept. 1685. - -cannot hear each other speak. I have continually to tell them to keep -quiet, which causes them to make a thousand jokes at the councillors as -they pass in and out.” * As the governor and the council were often on -ill terms, the official head of the colony could not always be trusted -to keep his attendants on their good behavior. The minister listened to -the complaint of Meules, and adopted his suggestion that the government -should buy the old brewery of Talon, a large structure of mingled timber -and masonry on the banks of the St. Charles. It was at an easy distance -from the chateau; passing the Hôtel Dieu and descending the rock, one -reached it by a walk of a few minutes. It was accordingly repaired, -partly rebuilt, and fitted up to serve the double purpose of a lodging -for the intendant and a court-house. Henceforth the transformed brewery -was known as the Palace of the Intendant, or the Palace of Justice; -and here the council and inferior courts long continued to hold their -sessions. - -Some of these inferior courts appear to have needed a lodging quite as -much as the council. The watchful Meules informs the minister that the -royal judge for the district of Quebec was accustomed in winter, with -a view to saving fuel, to hear causes and pronounce judgment by his own -fireside, in the midst of his children, whose gambols disturbed the even -distribution of justice. ** - -The superior council was not a very harmonious - - * Meules au Ministre, 12 Nov., 1681. - - ** Ibid. - -body. As its three chiefs, the man of the sword, the man of the church, -and the man of the law, were often at variance, the councillors attached -themselves to one party or the other, and hot disputes sometimes ensued. -The intendant, though but third in rank, presided at the sessions, took -votes, pronounced judgment, signed papers, and called special meetings. -This matter of the presidency was for some time a source of contention -between him and the governor, till the question was set at rest by a -decree of the king. - -The intendants in their reports to the minister do not paint the council -in flattering colors. One of them complains that the councillors, being -busy with their farms, neglect their official duties. Another says -that they are all more or less in trade. A third calls them uneducated -persons of slight account, allied to the chief families and chief -merchants in Canada, in whose interest they make laws; and he adds that, -as a year and a half or even two years usually elapse before the answer -to a complaint is received from France, they take advantage of this -long interval to the injury of the king’s service. * These and other -similar charges betray the continual friction between the several -branches of the government. - -The councillors were rarely changed, and they usually held office for -life. In a few cases the king granted to the son of a councillor yet -living the right of succeeding his father when the charge - - * Meules au Ministre 12 Nov, 1684. - -should become vacant. * It was a post of honor and not of profit, at -least of direct profit. The salaries were very small, and coupled with a -prohibition to receive fees. - -Judging solely by the terms of his commission, the intendant was the -ruling power in the colony. He controlled all expenditure of public -money, and not only presided at the council but was clothed in his own -person with independent legislative as well as judicial power. He was -authorized to issue ordinances having the force of law whenever he -thought necessary, and, in the words of his commission, “to order -every thing as he shall see just and proper.” ** He was directed to be -present at councils of war, though war was the special province of -his colleague, and to protect soldiers and all others from official -extortion and abuse; that is, to protect them from the governor. Yet -there were practical difficulties in the way of his apparent power. The -king, his master, was far away; but official jealousy was busy around -him, and his patience was sometimes put to the proof. Thus the royal -judge of Quebec had fallen into irregularities. “I can do nothing -with him,” writes the intendant; “he keeps on good terms with the -governor and council and sets me at naught.” The governor had, as he -thought, treated him amiss. “You have told me,” he writes to the - - * A son of Amours was named in his father’s lifetime to - succeed him, as was also a son of the attorney-general - Auteuil. There are several other cases. A son of Tilly, to - whom the right of succeeding his father had been granted, - asks leave to sell it to the merchant La Chesnaye. - - ** Commissions of Bouteroue, Duchesneau, Meules, etc. - -minister, “to bear every thing from him and report to you;” and he -proceeds to recount his grievances Again, "the attorney-general is bold -to insolence, and needs to be repressed. The king’s interposition is -necessary.” He modestly adds that the intendant is the only man in -Canada whom his Majesty can trust, and that he ought to have more -power. * - -These were far from being his only troubles. The enormous powers -with which his commission clothed him were sometimes retrenched by -contradictory instructions from the king; ** for this government, not of -laws but of arbitrary will, is marked by frequent inconsistencies. When -he quarrelled with the governor, and the governor chanced to have strong -friends at court, his position became truly pitiable. He was berated as -an imperious master berates an offending servant. “Your last letter -is full of nothing but complaints.” “You have exceeded your -authority.” “Study to know yourself and to understand clearly the -difference there is between a governor and an intendant.” “Since -you fail to comprehend the difference between you and the officer -who represents the king’s person, you are in danger of being often -condemned, or rather of being recalled, for his Majesty cannot endure so -many petty complaints, founded on nothing but a certain _quasi_ equality -between the governor and you, which you assume, but which - - * Meules au Ministre, 12 Nov., 1684. - - ** Thus, Meules is flatly forbidden to compel litigants to - bring causes before him (Instruction pour le Sieur de - Meules, 1682), and this prohibition is nearly of the same - date with the commission in which the power to do so is - expressly given him. - -does not exist.” “Meddle with nothing beyond your functions.” -“Take good care to tell me nothing but the truth.” “You ask too -many favors for your adherents.” “You must not spend more than you -have authority to spend, or it will be taken out of your pay.” In -short, there are several letters from the minister Colbert to his -colonial man-of-all-work, which, from beginning to end, are one -continued scold. * - -The luckless intendant was liable to be held to account for the action -of natural laws. “If the population does not increase in proportion -to the pains I take,” writes the king to Duchesneau, “you are to lay -the blame on yourself for not having executed my principal order (_to -promote marriages_) and for having failed in the principal object for -which I sent you to Canada.” ** - -A great number of ordinances of intendants are preserved. They were -usually read to the people at the doors of churches after mass, or -sometimes by the curé from his pulpit. They relate to a great variety -of subjects,--regulation of inns and markets, poaching, preservation -of game, sale of brandy, rent of pews, stray hogs, mad dogs, tithes, -matrimonial quarrels, fast driving, wards and guardians, weights and -measures, nuisances, value of coinage, trespass on lands, building -churches, observance of Sunday, preservation of timber, seignior and -vassal, settlement of boundaries, and many - - * The above examples are all taken from the letters of - Colbert to the intendant Duchesneau. It is an extreme case, - but other intendants are occasionally treated with scarcely - more ceremony. - - ** Le Roi à Duchesneau, 11 Juin, 1680. - -other matters. If a curé with some of his parishioners reported that -his church or his house needed repair or rebuilding, the intendant -issued an ordinance requiring all the inhabitants of the parish, -“both those who have consented and those who have not consented,” to -contribute materials and labor, on pain of fine or other penalty. * The -militia captain of the _cote_ was to direct the work and see that each -parishioner did his due part, which was determined by the extent of -his farm; so, too, if the _grand voyer_, an officer charged with the -superintendence of highways, reported that a new road was wanted or that -an old one needed mending, an ordinance of the intendant set the whole -neighborhood at work upon it, directed, as in the other case, by the -captain of militia. If children were left fatherless, the intendant -ordered the curé of the parish to assemble their relations or friends -for the choice of a guardian. If a _censitaire_ did not clear his land -and live on it, the intendant took it from him and gave it back to the -seignior. ** - -Chimney-sweeping having been neglected at Quebec, the intendant commands -all householders promptly to do their duty in this respect, and at the -same time fixes the pay of the sweep at six sous a chimney. Another -order forbids quarrelling in church. Another assigns pews in due order -of precedence to the seignior, the captain of militia, and the wardens. -The intendant Raudot, who seems - - * See, among many examples, the ordinance of 24th December, - 1716. Edits et Ordonnances, II. 443. - - ** Compare the numerous ordinances printed in the second - and third volumes of Edits et Ordonnances. - -to have been inspired even more than the others with the spirit of -paternal intervention, issued a mandate to the effect that, whereas -the people of Montreal raise too many horses, which prevents them -from raising cattle and sheep, “being therein ignorant of their true -interest.... Now, therefore, we command that each inhabitant of the -_côtes_ of this government shall hereafter own no more than two horses -or mares and one foal; the same to take effect after the sowing-season -of the ensuing year, 1710, giving them time to rid themselves of their -horses in excess of said number, after which they will be required to -kill any of such excess that may remain in their possession.” * Many -other ordinances, if not equally preposterous, are equally stringent; -such, for example, as that of the intendant Bigot, in which, with a view -of promoting agriculture, and protecting the morals of the farmers by -saving them from the temptations of cities, he proclaims to them: “We -prohibit and forbid you to remove to this town (_Quebec_) under any -pretext whatever, without our permission in writing, on pain of -being expelled and sent back to your farms, your furniture and goods -confiscated, and a fine of fifty livres laid on you for the benefit of -the hospitals. And, furthermore, we forbid all inhabitants of the city -to let houses or rooms to persons coming from the country, on pain of -a fine of a hundred livres, also applicable to the hospitals.” ** -At about the same time a royal edict, designed to prevent the undue -subdivision of farms, forbade the country - - * Edits et Ordonnances, II. 273. - - ** Ibid., II. 399. - -people, except such as were authorized to live in villages, to build a -house or barn on any piece of land less than one and a half arpents wide -and thirty arpents long; * while a subsequent ordinance of the -intendant commands the immediate demolition of certain houses built in -contravention of the edict. ** - -The spirit of absolutism is everywhere apparent. “It is of very great -consequence,” writes the intendant Meules, “that the people should -not be left at liberty to speak their minds.” *** - -Hence public meetings were jealously restricted. Even those held by -parishioners under the eye of the curé to estimate the cost of a new -church seem to have required a special license from the intendant. -During a number of years a meeting of the principal inhabitants of -Quebec was called in spring and autumn by the council to discuss the -price and quality of bread, the supply of firewood, and other similar -matters. The council commissioned two of its members to preside at these -meetings, and on hearing their report took what action it thought best. -Thus, after the meeting held in February, 1686, it issued a decree, in -which, after a long and formal preamble, it solemnly ordained, “that -besides white-bread and light brown-bread, all bakers shall hereafter -make dark brown-bread whenever the same shall be required.” **** Such -assemblies, so controlled, could scarcely, one would think, wound - - * Edits et Ordonnances, I. 585. - - ** Ibid., II. 400. - - *** “Il ne laisse pas d’être de très grande conséquence de - ne pas laisser la liberté au peuple de dire son sentiment.” - --Meules au Ministre, 1685. - - **** Edits et Ordonnances, II. 112. - -the tenderest susceptibilities of authority; yet there was evident -distrust of them, and after a few years this modest shred of -self-government is seen no more. The syndic, too, that functionary whom -the people of the towns were at first allowed to choose, under the eye -of the authorities, was conjured out of existence by a word from the -king. Seignior, _censitaire_, and citizen were prostrate alike in flat -subjection to the royal will. They were not free even to go home to -France. No inhabitant of Canada, man or woman, could do so without -leave; and several intendants express their belief that without this -precaution there would soon be a falling off in the population. - -In 1671 the council issued a curious decree. One Paul Dupuy had been -heard to say that there is nothing like righting one’s self, and that -when the English cut off the head of Charles I. they did a good thing, -with other discourse to the like effect The council declared him guilty -of speaking ill of royalty in the person of the king of England, and -uttering words tending to sedition. He was condemned to be dragged from -prison by the public executioner, and led in his shirt, with a rope -about his neck, and a torch in his hand, to the gate of the Chateau St. -Louis, there to beg pardon of the king; thence to the pillory of the -Lower Town to be branded with a fleur-de-lis on the cheek, and set in -the stocks for half an hour; then to be led back to prison, and put in -irons “till the information against him shall be completed.” * - - * Jugements et Délibérations du Conseil Supérieur. - -If irreverence to royalty was thus rigorously chastised, irreverence -to God was threatened with still sharper penalties. Louis XIV., ever -haunted with the fear of the devil, sought protection against him by -his famous edict against swearing, duly registered on the books of the -council at Quebec. “It is our will and pleasure,” says this -pious mandate, “that all persons convicted of profane swearing or -blaspheming the name of God, the most Holy Virgin, his mother, or the -saints, be condemned for the first offence to a pecuniary fine according -to their possessions and the greatness and enormity of the oath and -blasphemy; and if those thus punished repeat the said oaths, then for -the second, third, and fourth time they shall be condemned to a double, -triple, and quadruple fine; and for the fifth time, they shall be set in -the pillory on Sunday or other festival days, there to remain from -eight in the morning till one in the afternoon, exposed to all sorts of -opprobrium and abuse, and be condemned besides to a heavy fine; and for -the sixth time, they shall be led to the pillory, and there have the -upper lip cut with a hot iron; and for the seventh time, they shall -be led to the pillory and have the lower lip cut; and if, by reason -of obstinacy and inveterate bad habit, they continue after all these -punishments to utter the said oaths and blasphemies, it is our will and -command that they have the tongue completely cut out, so that thereafter -they cannot utter them again.” * All those who should hear anybody - - * Edit du Roy contre les Jureurs et Blasphémateurs, du 30me - Juillet, 1666 See Edits et Ordonnances, I. 62. - -swear were further required to report the fact to the nearest judge -within twenty-four hours, on pain of fine. - -This is far from being the only instance in which the temporal power -lends aid to the spiritual. Among other cases, the following is worth -mentioning: Louis Gaboury, an inhabitant of the island of Orleans, -charged with eating meat in Lent without asking leave of the priest, -was condemned by the local judge to be tied three hours to a stake in -public, and then led to the door of the chapel, there on his knees, -with head bare and hands clasped, to ask pardon of God and the king. The -culprit appealed to the council, which revoked the sentence and imposed -only a fine. * - -The due subordination of households had its share of attention. Servants -who deserted their masters were to be set in the pillory for the first -offence, and whipped and branded for the second; while any person -harboring them was to pay a fine of twenty francs. ** On the other hand, -nobody was allowed to employ a servant without a license. *** - -In case of heinous charges, torture of the accused was permitted under -the French law; and it was sometimes practised in Canada. Condemned -murderers and felons were occasionally tortured before being strangled; -and the dead body, enclosed in a kind of iron cage, was left hanging for -months at the top of Cape Diamond, a terror to children and a warning to -evil-doers. Yet, on the whole, - - * Doutre et Lareau, Histoire du Droit Canadien, 163. - - ** Réglement de Police, 1676. - - *** Edits et Ordonnances, II. 53. - -Canadian justice, tried by the standard of the time, was neither -vindictive nor cruel. - -In reading the voluminous correspondence of governors and intendants, -the minister and the king, nothing is more apparent than the interest -with which, in the early part of his reign, Louis XIV. regarded his -colony. One of the faults of his rule is the excess of his benevolence; -for not only did he give money to support parish priests, build -churches, and aid the seminary, the Ursulines, the missions, and the -hospitals; but he established a fund destined, among other objects, to -relieve indigent persons, subsidized nearly every branch of trade and -industry, and in other instances _did for the colonists what they would -far better have learned to do for themselves_. - -Meanwhile the officers of government were far from suffering from an -excess of royal beneficence. La Hontan says that the local governor of -Three Rivers would die of hunger if, besides his pay, he did not gain -something by trade with the Indians; and that Perrot, local governor -of Montreal, with one thousand crowns of salary, traded to such purpose -that in a few years he made fifty thousand crowns. This trade, it may -be observed, was in violation of the royal edicts. The pay of the -governor-general varied from time to time. When La Poterie wrote it was -twelve thousand francs a year, besides three thousand which he received -in his capacity of local governor of Quebec. * This would hardly - - * In 1674, the governor-general received 20,718 francs, out - of which he was to pay 8,718 to his guard of twenty men and - officers. Ordonnance du Roy, 1675. Yet in 1677, in the Etat - de la Dépense que le Roy veut et ordonne estre faite, etc., - the total pay of the governor-general is set down at 3,000 - francs, and so also in 1681, 1682, and 1687. The local - governor of Montreal was to have 1,800 francs, and the - governor of Three Rivers 1,200. It is clear, however, that - this Etat de dépense is not complete, as there is no - provision for the intendant. The first councillor received - 500 francs, and the rest 300 francs each, equal in Canadian - money to 400. An ordinance of 1676 gives the intendant - 12,000 francs. It is tolerably clear that the provision of - 3,000 francs for the governor-general was meant only to - apply to his capacity of local governor of Quebec. - -tempt a Frenchman of rank to expatriate himself; and yet some, at least, -of the governors came out to the colony for the express purpose of -mending their fortunes; indeed, the higher nobility could scarcely, in -time of peace, have other motives for going there. The court and the -army were their element, and to be elsewhere was banishment. We shall -see hereafter by what means they sought compensation for their exile -in Canadian forests. Loud complaints sometimes found their way to -Versailles. A memorial addressed to the regent duke of Orleans, -immediately after the king’s death, declares that the ministers of -state, who have been the real managers of the colony, have made their -creatures and relations governors and intendants, and set them free from -all responsibility. High colonial officers, pursues the writer, come -home rich, while the colony languishes almost to perishing. * As for -lesser offices, they were multiplied to satisfy needy retainers, till -lean and starving Canada was covered with official leeches, sucking, in -famished desperation, at her bloodless veins. - -The whole system of administration centred in - - * Mémoire addressé au Régent 1716 - -the king, who, to borrow the formula of his edicts, “in the fulness of -our power and our certain knowledge,” was supposed to direct the whole -machine, from its highest functions to its pettiest intervention -in private affairs. That this theory, like all extreme theories of -government, was an illusion, is no fault of Louis XIV. Hard-working -monarch as he was, he spared no pains to guide his distant colony in the -paths of prosperity. The prolix letters of governors and intendants were -carefully studied; and many of the replies, signed by the royal hand, -enter into details of surprising minuteness. That the king himself -wrote these letters is incredible; but in the early part of his reign -he certainly directed and controlled them. At a later time, when more -absorbing interests engrossed him, he could no longer study in person -the long-winded despatches of his Canadian officers. They were usually -addressed to the minister of state, who caused abstracts to be made from -them, for the king’s use, and perhaps for his own. * The minister or -the minister’s secretary could suppress or color as he or those who -influenced him saw fit. - -In the latter half of his too long reign, when cares, calamities, and -humiliations were thickening around the king, another influence was -added to make the theoretical supremacy of his royal will more than ever -a mockery. That prince of annalists, Saint-Simon, has painted Louis XIV. -ruling his realm from the bedchamber of Madame de - - * Many of these abstracts are still preserved in the - Archives of the Marine and Colonies. - -Maintenons seated with his minister at a small table beside the fire, -the king in an armchair, the minister on a stool with his bag of papers -on a second stool near him. In another armchair, at another table, -on the other side of the fire, sat the sedate favorite, busy to all -appearance with a book or a piece of tapestry, but listening to every -thing that passed. “She rarely spoke,” says Saint-Simon, “except -when the king asked her opinion, which he often did; and then she -answered with great deliberation and gravity. She never or very rarely -showed a partiality for any measure, still less for any person; but she -had an understanding with the minister, who never dared do otherwise -than she wished. Whenever any favor or appointment was in question, -the business was settled between them beforehand. She would send to the -minister that she wanted to speak to him, and he did not dare bring the -matter on the carpet till he had received her orders.” Saint-Simon -next recounts the subtle methods by which Maintenon and the minister, -her tool, beguiled the king to do their will, while never doubting that -he was doing his own. “He thought,” concludes the annalist, “that -it was he alone who disposed of all appointments; while in reality he -disposed of very few indeed, except on the rare occasions when he had -taken a fancy to somebody, or when somebody whom he wanted to favor had -spoken to him in behalf of somebody else.” * - - * Mémoires du Duc de Saint-Simon, XIII. 38, 39 (Cheruel, - 1857). Saint-Simon, notwithstanding the independence of his - character, held a high position at court; and his acute and - careful observation, joined to his familiar acquaintance - with ministers and other functionaries, both in and out of - office, gives a rare value to his matchless portraitures. - -Add to all this the rarity of communication with the distant colony. The -ships from France arrived at Quebec in July, August, or September, and -returned in November. The machine of Canadian government, wound up once -a year, was expected to run unaided at least a twelvemonth. Indeed, it -was often left to itself for two years, such was sometimes the tardiness -of the overburdened government in answering the despatches of its -colonial agents. It is no matter of surprise that a writer well versed -in its affairs calls Canada the “country of abuses.” * - - * Etat présent du Canada, 1768. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. 1663-1763. TRADE AND INDUSTRY. - - -_Trade in Fetters.--The Hüguenot Merchants.--Royal Patronage.--The -Fisheries.--Cries for Help.--Agriculture.--Manufactures.--Arts of -Ornament.--Finance.--Card Money.--Repudiation.--Imposts.--The -Beaver Trade.--The Fair at Montreal.--Contraband Trade.--A -Fatal System.--Trouble and Change.--The Coureurs de Bois.--The -Forest.--Letter of Carheil._ - - -|We have seen the head of the colony, its guiding intellect and will: -it remains to observe its organs of nutrition. Whatever they might have -been under a different treatment, they were perverted and enfeebled by -the regimen to which they were subjected. - -The spirit of restriction and monopoly had ruled from the beginning. The -old governor Lauson, seignior for a while of a great part of the colony, -held that Montreal had no right to trade directly with France, but must -draw all her supplies from Quebec; * and this preposterous claim was -revived in the time of Mézy. The successive companies to whose hands -the colony was consigned had a baneful effect on individual enterprise. -In 1674, - - * Faillon, Colonie Française, II. 244. - -the charter of the West India Company was revoked, and trade was -declared open to all subjects of the king; yet commerce was still -condemned to wear the ball and chain. New restrictions were imposed, -meant for good, but resulting in evil. Merchants not resident in the -colony were forbidden all trade, direct or indirect, with the Indians. -* They were also forbidden to sell any goods at retail except in August, -September, and October; ** to trade anywhere in Canada above Quebec; and -to sell clothing or domestic articles ready made. This last restriction -was designed to develop colonial industry. No person, resident or not, -could trade with the English colonies, or go thither without a special -passport, and rigid examination by the military authorities. *** Foreign -trade of any kind was stiffly prohibited. In 1719, after a new company -had engrossed the beaver trade, its agents were empowered to enter all -houses in Canada, whether ecclesiastical or secular, and search them for -foreign goods, which when found were publicly burned. **** In the next -year, the royal council ordered that vessels engaged in foreign trade -should be captured by force of arms, like pirates, and confiscated -along with their cargoes; (v) while anybody having an article of foreign -manufacture in his possession was subjected to a heavy fine. (v*) - -Attempts were made to fix the exact amount of profit which merchants -from France should be - - * Réglement de Police, 1676, Art. xl. - - ** Edits et Ord., II. 100. - - *** Ibid., I. 489. - - **** Ibid.. I. 402. - - (v) Ibid., I. 425. - - (v*) Ibid., I. 505. - -allowed to make in the colony. One of the first acts of the superior -council was to order them to bring their invoices immediately before -that body, which thereupon affixed prices to each article. The merchant -who sold and the purchaser who bought above this tariff were alike -condemned to heavy penalties; and so, too, was the merchant who chose to -keep his goods rather than sell them at the price ordained. * Resident -merchants, on the other hand, were favored to the utmost. They could -sell at what price they saw fit; and, according to La Hontan, they made -great profit by the sale of laces, ribbons, watches, jewels, and similar -superfluities to the poor but extravagant colonists. - -A considerable number of the non-resident merchants were Huguenots, for -most of the importations were from the old Huguenot city of Rochelle. -No favor was shown them; they were held under rigid restraint, and -forbidden to exercise their religion, or to remain in the colony during -winter without special license. ** This sometimes bore very hard upon -them. The governor Denonville, an ardent Catholic, states the case of -one Bernon, who had done great service to the colony, and whom La Hontan -mentions as the principal French merchant in the Canadian trade. “It -is a pity,” says Denonville, “that he cannot be converted. As he is -a Huguenot, the bishop wants me to order him home this autumn, which I -have done, though he - - * Edits et Ord., II. 17, 19. - - ** Réglement de Police, 1676. Art. xxxvii. - -carries on a large business, and a great deal of money remains due to -him here.” * - -For a long time the ships from France went home empty, except a favored -few which carried furs, or occasionally a load of dried pease or of -timber. Payment was made in money when there was any in Canada, or in -bills of exchange. The colony, drawing every thing from France, and -returning little besides beaver skins, remained under a load of -debt. French merchants were discouraged, and shipments from France -languished. As for the trade with the West Indies, which Talon had tried -by precept and example to build up, the intendant reports in 1680 that -it had nearly ceased; though six years later it grew again to the modest -proportions of three vessels loaded with wheat. ** - -_The besetting evil of trade and industry in Canada was the habit they -contracted, and were encouraged to contract, of depending on the direct -aid of government._ Not a new enterprise was set on foot without a -petition to the king to lend a helping hand. Sometimes the petition was -sent through the governor, sometimes through the intendant; and it was -rarely refused. Denonville writes that the merchants of Quebec, by a -combined effort, had sent a vessel of sixty tons to France with colonial -produce; and he asks that the royal commissaries at Rochefort be -instructed to buy the whole cargo, in order to encourage so - - * Denonville au Ministre, 1685. - - ** Ibid., 1686. The year before, about 18,000 minots of - grain were sent hither. In 1736, the shipments reached - 80,000 minots. - -deserving an enterprise. One Hazeur set up a sawmill, at Mai Bay. -Finding a large stock of planks and timber on his hands, he begs -the king to send two vessels to carry them to France; and the king -accordingly did so. A similar request was made in behalf of another -sawmill at St. Paul’s Bay. Denonville announces that one Riverin -wishes to embark in the whale and cod fishery, and that though strong -in zeal he is weak in resources. The minister replies, that he is to be -encouraged, and that his Majesty will favorably consider his enterprise. -* Various gifts were soon after made him. He now took to himself a -partner, the Sieur Chalons; whereupon the governor writes to ask -the minister’s protection for them. “The Basques,” he says, -“formerly carried on this fishery, but some monopoly or other put a -stop to it.” The remedy he proposes is homoeopathic. He asks another -monopoly for the two partners. Louis Joliet, the discoverer of the -Mississippi, made a fishing station on the island of Anticosti; and he -begs help from the king, on the ground that his fishery will furnish a -good and useful employment to young men. The Sieur Vitry wished to begin -a fishery of white porpoises, and he begs the king - - * The interest felt by the king in these matters is shown - in a letter signed by his hand in which he enters with - considerable detail into the plans of Riverin. Le Roy à - Denonville et Champigny, 1 Mai, 1689. He afterwards ordered - boats, harpooners, and cordage to be sent him, for which he - was to pay at his convenience. Four years later, he - complains that, though Riverin had been often helped, his - fisheries were of slight account. “Let him take care,” - pursues the king, “that he does not use his enterprises as a - pretext to obtain favors.”. Mémoire du Roy a Frontenac et - Champigny, 1693 - -to give him two thousand pounds of cod-line and two thousand pounds of -one and two inch rope. His request was granted, on which he asked for -five hundred livres. The money was given him, and the next year he asked -to have the gift renewed. * - -The king was very anxious to develop the fisheries of the colony. “His -Majesty,” writes the minister, “wishes you to induce the inhabitants -to unite with the merchants for this object, and to incite them by all -sorts of means to overcome their natural laziness, since there is no -other way of saving them from the misery in which they now are.” ** -“I wish,” says the zealous Denonville, “that fisheries could be -well established to give employment to our young men, and prevent them -from running wild in the woods;” and he adds mournfully, “they (_the -fisheries_) are enriching Boston at our expense.” “They are our true -mines,” urges the intendant Meules; “but the English of Boston have -got possession of those of Acadia, which belong to us; and we ought to -prevent it.” It was not prevented; and the Canadian - - * All the above examples are drawn from the correspondence - of the governor and intendant with the minister, between - 1680 and 1699, together with a memorial of Hazeur and - another of Riverin, addressed to the minister. - - Vitry’s porpoise-fishing appears to have ended in failure. - In 1707 the intendant Raudot granted the porpoise fishery of - the seigniory of Riviere Ouelle to six of the _habitans_. - This fishery is carried on here successfully at the present - day. A very interesting account of it was published in the - Opinion Publique, 1873, by my friend Abbé Casgrain, whose - family residence is the seigniorial mansion of Riviere - Ouelle. - - ** Mémoire pour Denonville et Champigny, 8 Mars, 1688. - -fisheries, like other branches of Canadian industry, remained in a state -of almost hopeless languor. * - -The government applied various stimulants. One of these, proposed by the -intendant Duchesneau, is characteristic. He advises the formation of -a company which should have the exclusive right of exporting fish; but -which on its part should be required to take, at a fixed price, all that -the inhabitants should bring them. This notable plan did not find favor -with the king. ** It was practised, however, in the case of beaver -skins, and also in that of woodashes. The farmers of the revenue were -required to take this last commodity at a fixed price, on their own -risk, and in any quantity offered. They remonstrated, saying that it was -unsalable; adding that, if the inhabitants would but take the trouble to -turn it into potash, it might be possible to find a market for it. The -king released them entirely, coupling his order to that effect with a -eulogy of free trade. *** - -In all departments of industry, the appeals for help are endless. -Governors and intendants are so many sturdy beggars for the languishing -colony. - - * The Canadian fisheries must not be confounded with the - French fisheries of Newfoundland, which were prosperous, but - were carried on wholly from French ports. - - In a memorial addressed by the partners Chalons and Riverin - to the minister Seignelay, they say: “Baston (Boston) et - toute sa colonie nous donne un exemple qui fait honte à - nostre nation, puisqu’elle s’augmente tous les jours par - cette pesche (de la morue) qu’elle fait la plus grande - partie sur nos costes pendant que les François ne s’occupent - à rien.” Meules urges that the king should undertake the - fishing business himself since his subjects cannot or will - not. - - ** Ministre a Duchesneau, 15 Mai, 1678 - - *** Le Roy a Duchesneau, 11 Juin, 1680. - -“Send us money to build storehouses, to which the _habitants_ -can bring their produce and receive goods from the government in -exchange.” “Send us a teacher to make sailors of our young men: -it is a pity the colony should remain in such a state for want of -instruction for youth.” * “We want a surgeon: there is none in -Canada who can set a bone.” ** “Send us some tilers, brick-makers, -and potters.” *** “Send us iron-workers to work our mines.” -**** “It is to be wished that his Majesty would send us all sorts of -artisans, especially potters and glass-workers.” (v) “Our Canadians -need aid and instruction in their fisheries; they need pilots.” (v*) - -In 1688, the intendant reported that Canada was entirely without either -pilots or sailors; and, as late as 1712, the engineer Catalogne informed -the government that, though the St. Lawrence was dangerous, a pilot was -rarely to be had. “There ought to be trade with the West Indies and -other places,” urges another writer. “Everybody says it is best, -but nobody will undertake it. Our merchants are too poor, or else are -engrossed by the fur trade.” (v**) - -The languor of commerce made agriculture languish. “It is of no use -now,” writes Meules, - - * Mémoire a Monseigneur le Marquis de Seignday, présenté - par les Sieurs Chalons et Riverin, 1686. - - ** Champigny au Ministre, 1688. - - *** Ibid. - - **** Denonville au Ministre, 1686. - - (v) Mémoire de Catalogue, 1712. - - (v*) Denonville au Ministre, 1686. - - (v**) Mémoire de Chalons et Riverin présenté au Marquis de - Seignelay. - -in 1682, “to raise any crops except what each family wants for -itself.” In vain the government sent out seeds for distribution. In -vain intendants lectured the farmers, and lavished well-meant advice. -Tillage remained careless and slovenly. “If,” says the all-observing -Catalogne, “the soil were not better cultivated in Europe than here, -three-fourths of the people would starve.” He complains that the -festivals of the church are so numerous that not ninety working days are -left during the whole working season. The people, he says, ought to be -compelled to build granaries to store their crops, instead of selling -them in autumn for almost nothing, and every habitant should be required -to keep two or three sheep. The intendant Champigny calls for seed of -hemp and flax, and promises to visit the farms, and show the people the -lands best suited for their culture. He thinks that favors should be -granted to those who raise hemp and flax as well as to those who marry. -Denonville is of opinion that each _habitant_ should be compelled to -raise a little hemp every year, and that the king should then buy it -of him at a high price. * It will be well, he says, to make use of -severity, while, at the same time, holding out a hope of gain; and he -begs that weavers be sent out to teach the women and girls, who spend -the winter in idleness, how to weave and spin. Weaving and spinning, -however, as well as the culture of hemp and flax, were neglected till -1705, when the loss of a ship laden with goods for the colony - - * Denonville au Ministre, 13 Nov.. 1685 - -gave the spur to home industry; and Madame de Repentigny set the example -of making a kind of coarse blanket of nettle and linden bark. * - -The jealousy of colonial manufactures shown by England appears but -rarely in the relations of France with Canada. According to its light, -the French government usually did its best to stimulate Canadian -industry, with what results we have just seen. There was afterwards some -improvement. In 1714, the intendant Bégon reported that coarse fabrics -of wool and linen were made; that the sisters of the congregation wore -cloth for their own habits as good as the same stuffs in France; that -black cloth was made for priests, and blue cloth for the pupils of -the colleges. The inhabitants, he says, have been taught these arts by -necessity. They were naturally adroit at handiwork of all kinds; and -during the last half century of the French rule, when the population -had settled into comparative stability, many of the mechanic arts were -practised with success, notwithstanding the assertion of the Abbé La -Tour that every thing but bread and meat had still to be brought from -France. This change may be said to date from the peace of Utrecht, or a -few years before it. At that time, one Duplessis had a new vessel on -the stocks. Catalogne, who states the fact, calls it the beginning -of ship-building in Canada, evidently ignorant that Talon had made a -fruitless beginning more than forty years before. - -Of the arts of ornament not much could have - - * Beauharnois et Raudot au Ministre, 1705. - -been expected; but, strangely enough, they were in somewhat better -condition than the useful arts. The nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu made -artificial flowers for altars and shrines, under the direction of -Mother-Juchereau; * and the boys of the seminary were taught to make -carvings in wood for the decoration of churches. ** Pierre, son of the -merchant Le Ber, had a turn for painting, and made religious pictures, -described as very indifferent. *** His sister Jeanne, an enthusiastic -devotee, made embroideries for vestments and altars, and her work was -much admired. - -The colonial finances were not prosperous. In the absence of coin, -beaver-skins long served as currency. In 1669, the council declared -wheat a legal tender, at four francs the _minot_ or three French -bushels; **** and, five years later, all creditors were ordered to -receive moose-skins in payment at the market rate. (v) Coin would not -remain in the colony. If the company or the king sent any thither, it -went back in the returning ships. The government devised a remedy. A -coinage was ordered for Canada one-fourth less in value than that of -France. Thus the Canadian livre or franc was worth, in reality, fifteen -sous instead of twenty. (v*) This shallow expedient produced only a -nominal rise of prices, and coin fled the colony as before. - - * Juchereau, Hist, de l'Hôtel-Dieu, 244. - - ** Abeille, II., 13. - - *** Faillon, Vie de Mlle. Le Ber, 331. - - **** Edits et Ord., II. 47. - - (v) Ibid., II. 55. - - (v*) This device was of very early date. See Boucher, Hist. - Véritable chap, xiv - -Trade was carried on for a time by means of negotiable notes, payable -in furs, goods, or farm produce. In 1685, the intendant Meules issued -a card currency. He had no money to pay the soldiers, “and not -knowing,” he informs the minister, “to what saint to make my vows, -the idea occurred to me of putting in circulation notes made of cards, -each cut into four pieces; and I have issued an ordinance commanding -the inhabitants to receive them in payment.” * The cards were common -playing cards, and each piece was stamped with a _fleur-de-lis_ and a -crown, and signed by the governor, the intendant, and the clerk of the -treasury at Quebec. ** The example of Meules found ready imitation. -Governors and intendants made card money whenever they saw fit; and, -being worthless everywhere but in Canada, it showed no disposition to -escape the colony. It was declared convertible not into coin, but into -bills of exchange; and this conversion could only take place at brief -specified periods. “The currency used in Canada,” says a writer in -the last years of the French rule, “has no value as a representative -of money. It is the sign of a sign.” *** It was card representing -paper, and this paper was very often dishonored. In 1714, the amount of -card rubbish had risen to two million livres. Confidence was lost, and -trade was half dead. The minister Ponchartrain came to the rescue, and -promised to - - * Meules au Ministre, 24 Sept., 1685. - - ** Mémoire addressé au Régent, 1715. - - *** Considérations sur l’Etat du Canada, 1758. - -redeem it at half its nominal value. The holders preferred to lose half -rather than the whole, and accepted the terms. A few of the cards were -redeemed at the rate named; then the government broke faith, and payment -ceased. “This afflicting news,” says a writer of the time, “was -brought out by the vessel which sailed from France last July.” - -In 1717, the government made another proposal, and the cards were -converted into bills of exchange. At the same time a new issue was made, -which it was declared should be the last. * This issue was promptly -redeemed, but twelve years later another followed it. In the interval, -a certain quantity of coin circulated in the colony; but it underwent -fluctuations through the intervention of government; and, within eight -years, at least four edicts were issued affecting its value. ** Then -came more promises to pay, till, in the last bitter years of its -existence, the colony floundered in drifts of worthless paper. - -One characteristic grievance was added to the countless woes of Canadian -commerce. The government was so jealous of popular meetings of all -kinds, that for a long time it forbade merchants to meet together -for discussing their affairs; and, it was not till 1717 that the -establishment of a _bourse_ or exchange was permitted at Quebec and -Montreal. *** - -In respect of taxation, Canada, as compared with - - * Edits et Ord., I. 370. - - ** Ibid., 400, 432, 436, 484. - - *** Doutre et Lareau, Hist, du Droit Canadien, 254. - -France, had no reason to complain. If the king permitted governors and -intendants to make card money, he permitted nobody to impose taxes -but himself. The Canadians paid no direct civil tax, except in a few -instances where temporary and local assessments were ordered for special -objects. It was the fur trade on which the chief burden fell. One-fourth -of the beaver-skins, and one-tenth of the moose-hides, belonged to the -king; and wine, brandy, and tobacco contributed a duty of ten per cent. -During a long course of years, these were the only imposts. The king, -also, retained the exclusive right of the fur trade at Tadoussac. A vast -tract of wilderness extending from St. Paul’s Bay to a point eighty -leagues down the St. Lawrence, and stretching indefinitely northward -towards Hudson’s Bay, formed a sort of royal preserve, whence every -settler was rigidly excluded. The farmers of the revenue had their -trading-houses at Tadoussac, whither the northern tribes, until war, -pestilence, and brandy consumed them, brought every summer a large -quantity of furs. - -When, in 1674, the West India Company, to whom these imposts had been -granted, was extinguished, the king resumed possession of them. The -various duties, along with the trade of Tadoussac, were now farmed out -to one Oudiette and his associates, who paid the Crown three hundred and -fifty thousand livres for their privilege. * - - * The annual return to the king from the ferme du Canada - was, for some years, 119,000 francs (livres). Out of this - were paid from 35,000 to 40,000 francs a year for “ordinary - charges.” The governor, intendant, and all troops except the - small garrisons of Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, were - paid from other sources. There was a time when the balance - must have been in the king’s favor; but profit soon changed - to loss, owing partly to wars, partly to the confusion into - which the beaver trade soon fell. “His Majesty,” writes the - minister to the governor in 1698, “may soon grow tired of a - colony which, far from yielding him any profit, costs him - immense sums every year.” - -We come now to a trade far more important than all the rest together, -one which absorbed the enterprise of the colony, drained the life-sap -from other branches of commerce, and, even more than a vicious system -of government, kept them in a state of chronic debility,--the hardy, -adventurous, lawless, fascinating fur trade. In the eighteenth century, -Canada exported a moderate quantity of timber, wheat, the herb called -ginseng, and a few other commodities; but from first to last she lived -chiefly on beaver-skins. The government tried without ceasing to control -and regulate this traffic; but it never succeeded. It aimed, above all -things, to bring the trade home to the colonists, to prevent them from -going to the Indians, and induce the Indians to come to them. To -this end a great annual fair was established by order of the king at -Montreal. Thither every summer a host of savages came down from the -lakes in their bark canoes. A place was assigned them at a little -distance from the town. They landed, drew up their canoes in a line on -the bank, took out their packs of beaver-skins, set up their wigwams, -slung their kettles, and encamped for the night. On the next day, there -was a grand council on the common, between St. Paul Street and the -river. Speeches of compliment were made amid a solemn smoking of pipes. -The governor-general was usually present, seated in an armchair, while -the visitors formed a ring about him, ranged in the order of their -tribes. On the next day the trade began in the same place. Merchants -of high and low degree brought up their goods from Quebec, and every -inhabitant of Montreal, of any substance, sought a share in the profit. -Their booths were set along the palisades, of the town, and each had an -interpreter, to whom he usually promised a certain portion of his gains. -The scene abounded in those contrasts--not always edifying, but always -picturesque--which mark the whole course of French Canadian history. -Here was a throng of Indians armed with bows and arrows, warclubs, or -the cheap guns of the trade; some of them completely naked except -for the feathers on their heads and the paint on their faces; French -bush-rangers tricked out with savage finery; merchants and _habitants_ -in their coarse and plain attire, and the grave priests of St. Sulpice -robed in black. Order and sobriety were their watchwords, but the wild -gathering was beyond their control. The prohibition to sell brandy could -rarely be enforced; and the fair ended at times in a pandemonium of -drunken frenzy. The rapacity of trade, and the license of savages and -_coureurs de bois_, had completely transformed the pious settlement. - -A similar fair was established at Three Rivers, for the Algonquin tribes -north of that place. These yearly markets did not fully answer the -desired object. There was a constant tendency among the inhabitants of -Canada to form settlements above Montreal, in order to intercept the -Indians on their way down, drench them with brandy, and get their furs -from them at low rates in advance of the fair. Such settlements were -forbidden, but not prevented. The audacious “squatter” defied -edict and ordinance and the fury of drunken savages, and boldly planted -himself in the path of the descending trade.-Nor is this a matter of -surprise; for he was usually the secret agent of some high colonial -officer, an intendant, the local governor, or the governor-general, who -often used his power to enforce the law against others, and to violate -it himself. - -This was not all; for the more youthful and vigorous part of the male -population soon began to escape into the woods, and trade with the -Indians far beyond the limits of the remotest settlements. Here, too, -many of them were in league with the authorities, who denounced the -abuse while secretly favoring the portion of it in which they themselves -were interested. The home government, unable to prevent the evil, tried -to regulate it. Licenses were issued for the forest trade. * Their -number was limited to twenty-five, and the privileges which they -conferred varied at different periods. In La Hontan’s time, each -license authorized the departure of two canoes loaded with goods. One -canoe only was afterwards allowed, bearing three men with about four -hundred pounds of freight. The licenses were sometimes sold for the -profit of government, but many were given to widows of - - * Ordres du Roy au sujet de la Traite du Canada, 1681. - -officers and other needy persons, to the hospitals, or to favorites and -retainers of the governor. Those who could not themselves use them sold -them to merchants or _voyageurs_, at a price varying from a thousand to -eighteen hundred francs. They were valid for a year and a half; and each -canoeman had a share in the profits, which, if no accident happened, -were very large. The license system was several times suppressed and -renewed again; but, like the fair at Montreal, it failed completely to -answer its purpose, and restrain the young men of Canada from a general -exodus into the wilderness. * - -The most characteristic features of the Canadian fur trade still remain -to be seen. Oudiette and his associates were not only charged with -collecting the revenue, but were also vested with an exclusive right of -transporting all the beaver-skins of the colony to France. On their -part they were compelled to receive all beaver-skins brought to their -magazines; and, after deducting the fourth belonging to the king, to pay -for the rest at a fixed price. This price was graduated to the different -qualities of the fur; but the average cost to the collectors was a -little more than three francs a pound. The inhabitants could barter -their furs with merchants; but the merchants must bring them all to the -magazines of Oudiette, who paid in receipts convertible into bills of -exchange. He soon found himself burdened with such a mass - - * Before me is one of these licenses, signed by the - governor Denonville. A condition of carrying no brandy is - appended to it. - -of beaver-skins, that the market was completely glutted. The French -hatters refused to take them all; and for the part which they consented -to take, they paid chiefly in hats, which Oudiette was not allowed to -sell in France, but only in the French West Indies, where few people -wanted them. An unlucky fashion of small hats diminished the consumption -of fur and increased his embarrassments, as did also a practice common -among the hatters of mixing rabbit fur with the beaver. In his extremity -he bethought him of setting up a hat factory for himself under the name -of a certain licensed hatter, thinking thereby to alarm his customers -into buying his stock. * The other hatters rose in wrath and petitioned -the minister. The new factory was suppressed, and Oudiette soon became -bankrupt. Another company of farmers of the revenue took his place -with similar results. The action of the law of supply and demand was -completely arrested by the peremptory edict which, with a view to -the prosperity of the colony and the profit of the king, required the -company to take every beaver-skin offered. - -All Canada, thinking itself sure of its price, rushed into the beaver -trade, and the accumulation of unsalable furs became more and -more suffocating. The farmers of the revenue could not meet their -engagements. Their bills of exchange were unpaid, and Canada was -filled with distress and consternation. In 1700, a change of system was -ordered. The monopoly of exporting beaver - - * Mémoire touchant le Commerce du Canada, 1687. - -was placed in the hands of a company formed of the chief inhabitants of -Canada. Some of them hesitated to take the risk; but the government was -not to be trifled with, and the minister, Ponchartrain, wrote in terms -so peremptory, and so menacing to the recusants, that, in the words of -a writer of the time, he “shut everybody’s mouth.” About a hundred -and fifty merchants accordingly subscribed to the stock of the new -company, and immediately petitioned the king for a ship and a loan of -seven hundred thousand francs. They were required to take off the hands -of the farmers of the revenue an accumulation of more than six hundred -thousand pounds of beaver, for which, however, they were to pay but half -its usual price. The market of France absolutely refused it, and -the directors of the new company saw no better course than to burn -three-fourths of the troublesome and perishable commodity; nor was this -the first resort to this strange expedient. One cannot repress a feeling -of indignation at the fate of the interesting and unfortunate animals -uselessly sacrificed to a false economic system. In order to rid -themselves of what remained, the directors begged the king to issue a -decree, requiring all hatters to put at least three ounces of genuine -beaver-fur into each hat. - -All was in vain. The affairs of the company fell into a confusion which -was aggravated by the bad faith of some of its chief members. In 1707, -it was succeeded by another company, to whose magazines every _habitant_ -or merchant was ordered to bring every beaver-skin in his possession -within forty-eight hours; and the company, like its predecessors, was -required to receive it, and pay for it in written promises. Again the -market was overwhelmed with a surfeit of beaver. Again the bills of -exchange were unpaid, and all was confusion and distress. Among the -memorials and petitions to which this state of things gave birth, there -is one conspicuous by the presence of good sense and the absence -of self-interest. The writer proposes that there should be no more -monopoly, but that everybody should be free to buy beaver-skins and send -them to France, subject only to a moderate duty of entry. The proposal -was not accepted. In 1721, the monopoly of exporting beaver-skins was -given to the new West India Company; but this time it was provided -that the government should direct from time to time, according to the -capacities of the market, the quantity of furs which the company should -be forced to receive. * - -Out of the beaver trade rose a huge evil, baneful to the growth and the -morals of Canada. All that was most active and vigorous in the colony -took to the woods, and escaped from the control of intendants, councils, -and priests, to the savage freedom - - * On the fur trade the documents consulted are very - numerous. The following are the most important: Mémoire sur - ce qui concerne le Commerce du Castor et ses dépendances, - 1715; Mémoire concernant le Commerce le Traite entre les - François et les Sauvages, 1691; Mémoire sur le Canada - addressé au Régent, 1715; Mémoire sur les Affaires de Canada - dans leur Estât présent, 1696; Mémoire des Négotiants de la - Rochelle qui font Commerce en Canada sur la Proposition de - ne plus recevoir les Castors et d'engager les Habitants a la - Culture des Terres et Pesche de la Molue, 1696; Mémoire du - Sr. Riverin sur la Traite et la Ferme du Castor, 1696; - Mémoire touchant le Commerce du Canada, 1687, etc. - -of the wilderness. Not only were the possible profits great; but, in -the pursuit of them, there was a fascinating element of adventure and -danger. The bush-rangers or _coureurs de bois_ were to the king an -object of horror. They defeated his plans for the increase of the -population, and shocked his native instinct of discipline and order. -Edict after edict was directed against them; and more than once the -colony presented the extraordinary spectacle of the greater part of its -young men turned into forest outlaws. But severity was dangerous. The -offenders might be driven over to the English, or converted into a -lawless banditti, renegades of civilization and the faith. Therefore, -clemency alternated with rigor, and declarations of amnesty with edicts -of proscription. Neither threats nor blandishments were of much avail. -We hear of seigniories abandoned; farms turning again into forests; -wives and children left in destitution. The exodus of the _coureurs de -bois_ would take, at times, the character of an organized movement. The -famous Du Lhut is said to have made a general combination of the young -men of Canada to follow him into the woods. Their plan was to be absent -four years, in order that the edicts against them might have time to -relent. The intendant Duchesneau reported that eight hundred men out of -a population of less than ten thousand souls had vanished from sight in -the immensity of a boundless wilderness. Whereupon the king ordered that -any person going into the woods without a license should be whipped and -branded for the first offence, and sent lor life to the galleys for the -second. * The order was more easily given than enforced. “I must not -conceal from you, monseigneur,” again writes Duchesneau, “that the -disobedience of the _coureurs de bois_ has reached such a point that -everybody boldly contravenes the king’s interdictions; that there -is no longer any concealment; and that parties are collected with -astonishing insolence to go and trade in the Indian country. I have done -all in my power to prevent this evil, which may cause the ruin of -the colony. I have enacted ordinances against the _coureurs de bois_; -against the merchants who furnish them with goods; against the gentlemen -and others who harbor them, and even against those who have any -knowledge of them, and will not inform the local judges. All has been in -vain; inasmuch as some of the most considerable families are interested -with them, and the governor lets them go on and even shares their -profits.” ** “You are aware, monseigneur,” writes Denonville, some -years later, “that the _coureurs de bois_ are a great evil, but you -are not aware how great this evil is. It deprives the country of -its effective men; makes them indocile, debauched, and incapable of -discipline, and turns them into pretended nobles, wearing the sword and -decked out with lace, both they and their relations, who all affect to -be gentlemen and ladies. As for cultivating the soil, they will not hear -of it. - - * Le Roy a Frontenac, 30 Avril, 1681. On another occasion, - it was ordered that any person thus offending should suffer - death. - - ** N. Y. Colonial Docs., IX. 131. - -This, along with the scattered condition of the settlements, causes -their children to be as unruly as Indians, being brought up in the same -manner. Not that there are not some very good people here, but they are -in a minority.” * In another despatch he enlarges on their vagabond -and lawless ways, their indifference to marriage, and the mischief -caused by their example; describes how, on their return from the woods, -they swagger like lords, spend all their gains in dress and drunken -revelry, and despise the peasants, whose daughters they will not deign -to marry, though they are peasants themselves. - -It was a curious scene when a party of _coureurs de bois_ returned from -their rovings. Montreal was their harboring place, and they conducted -themselves much like the crew of a man-of-war paid off after a long -voyage. As long as their beaver-skins lasted, they set no bounds to -their riot. Every house in the place, we are told, was turned into a -drinking shop. The newcomers were bedizened with a strange mixture -of French and Indian finery; while some of them, with instincts more -thoroughly savage, stalked about the streets as naked as a Pottawattamie -or a Sioux. The clamor of tongues was prodigious, and gambling and -drinking filled the day and the night. When at last they were sober -again, they sought absolution for their sins; nor could the priests -venture to bear too hard on their unruly penitents, - - * Denonville, Mémoire sur l’Estât des Affaires de le - Nouvelle France. - -lest they should break wholly with the church and dispense thenceforth -with her sacraments. - -Under such leaders as Du Lhut, the _coureurs de bois_ built forts of -palisades at various points throughout the West and Northwest. They -had a post of this sort at Detroit some time before its permanent -settlement, as well as others on Lake Superior and in the valley of the -Mississippi. They occupied them as long as it suited their purposes, and -then abandoned them to the next comer. Michillimackinac was, however, -their chief resort; and thence they would set out, two or three -together, to roam for hundreds of miles through the endless meshwork of -interlocking lakes and rivers which seams the northern wilderness. - -No wonder that a year or two of bush-ranging spoiled them for -civilization. Though not a very valuable member of society, and though -a thorn in the side of princes and rulers, the _coureur de bois_ had his -uses, at least from an artistic point of view; and his strange figure, -sometimes brutally savage, but oftener marked with the lines of a -dare-devil courage, and a reckless, thoughtless gayety, will always be -joined to the memories of that grand world of woods which the -nineteenth century is fast civilizing out of existence. At least, he is -picturesque, and with his red-skin companion serves to animate forest -scenery. Perhaps he could sometimes feel, without knowing that he felt -them, the charms of the savage nature that had adopted him. Rude as he -was, her voice may not always have been meaningless for one who knew her -haunts so well; deep recesses where, veiled in foliage, some wild shy -rivulet steals with timid music through breathless caves of verdure; -gulfs where feathered crags rise like castle walls, where the noonday -sun pierces with keen rays athwart the torrent, and the mossed arms -of fallen pines cast wavering shadows on the illumined foam; pools of -liquid crystal turned emerald in the reflected green of impending -woods; rocks on whose rugged front the gleam of sunlit waters dances in -quivering light; ancient trees hurled headlong by the storm to dam the -raging stream with their forlorn and savage ruin; or the stern depths -of immemorial forests, dim and silent as a cavern, columned with -innumerable trunks, each like an Atlas upholding its world of leaves, -and sweating perpetual moisture down its dark and channelled rind; some -strong in youth, some grisly with decrepit age, nightmares of strange -distortion, gnarled and knotted with wens and goitres; roots intertwined -beneath like serpents petrified in an agony of contorted strife; green -and glistening mosses carpeting the rough ground, mantling the rocks, -turning pulpy stumps to mounds of verdure, and swathing fallen trunks -as bent in the impotence of rottenness, they lie outstretched over -knoll and hollow, like mouldering reptiles of the primeval world, while -around, and on and through them, springs the young growth that battens -on their decay,--the forest devouring its own dead. Or, to turn from its -funereal shade to the light and life of the open woodland, the sheen of -sparkling lakes, and mountains basking in the glory of the summer noon, -flecked by the shadows of passing clouds that sail on snowy wings across -the transparent azure. - -Yet it would be false coloring to paint the half-savage _coureur de -bois_ as a romantic lover of nature. He liked the woods because they -emancipated him from restraint. He liked the lounging ease of the -campfire, and the license of Indian villages. His life has a dark and -ugly side, which is nowhere drawn more strongly than in a letter written -by the Jesuit Carheil to the intendant Champigny. It was at a time -when some of the outlying forest posts, originally either missions -or transient stations of _coureurs de bois_, had received regular -garrisons. Carheil writes from Michillimackinac, and describes the -state of things around him like one whom long familiarity with them had -stripped of every illusion. - -But here, for the present, we pause; for the father touches on other -matters than the _coureurs de bois_, and we reserve him and his letter -for the next chapter. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. 1663-1702. THE MISSIONS. THE BRANDY QUESTION. - - -_The Jesuits and the Iroquois.--Mission Villages.--Michillimackinac. ---Father Carheil.--Temperance.--Brandy and the Indians.--Strong -Measures.--Disputes.--License and Prohibition.--Views of the -King.--Trade and the Jesuits._ - - -|For a year or two after De Tracy had chastised the Mohawks, and humbled -the other Iroquois nations, all was rose color on the side of that -dreaded confederacy. The Jesuits, defiant as usual of hardship and -death, had begun their ruined missions anew. Bruyas took the Mission -of the Martyrs among the Mohawks; Milet, that of Saint Francis Xavier, -among the Oneidas; Lamberville, that of Saint John the Baptist among the -Onondagas; Carheil, that of Saint Joseph among the Cayugas; and Raffeix -and Julien Gamier shared between them the three missions of the Senecas. -The Iroquois, after their punishment, were in a frame of mind so -hopeful, that the fathers imagined for a moment that they were all on -the point of accepting the faith. This was a consummation earnestly to -be wished, not only from a religious, but also from a political point of -view. The complete conversion of the Iroquois meant their estrangement -from the heretic English and Dutch, and their firm alliance with the -French. It meant safety for Canada, and it ensured for her the fur trade -of the interior freed from English rivalry. Hence the importance of -these missions, and hence their double character. While the Jesuit -toiled to convert his savage hosts, he watched them at the same time -with the eye of a shrewd political agent; reported at Quebec the result -of his observations, and by every means in his power sought to alienate -them from England, and attach them to France. - -Their simple conversion, by placing them wholly under his influence, -would have outweighed in political value all other agencies combined; -but the flattering hopes of the earlier years soon vanished. Some petty -successes against other tribes so elated the Iroquois, that they ceased -to care for French alliance or French priests. Then a few petty reverses -would dash their spirits, and dispose them again to listen to Jesuit -counsels. Every success of a war-party was a loss to the faith, and -every reverse was a gain. Meanwhile a more repulsive or a more critical -existence than that of a Jesuit father in an Iroquois town is scarcely -conceivable. The torture of prisoners turned into a horrible festivity -for the whole tribe; foul and crazy orgies in which, as the priest -thought, the powers of darkness took a special delight; drunken riots, -the work of Dutch brandy, when he was forced to seek refuge from death -in his chapel, a sanctuary which superstitious fear withheld the Indians -from violating; these, and a thousand disgusts and miseries, filled the -record of his days, and he bore them all in patience. Not only were the -early Canadian Jesuits men of an intense religious zeal, but they were -also men who lived not for themselves but for their order. Their faults -were many and great, but the grandeur of their self-devotion towers -conspicuous over all. - -At Caughnawaga, near Montreal, may still be seen the remnants of a -mission of converted Iroquois, whom the Jesuits induced to leave the -temptations of their native towns and settle here, under the wing of the -church. They served as a bulwark against the English, and sometimes -did good service in time of war. At Sillery, near Quebec, a band of -Abenaquis, escaping from the neighborhood of the English towards the -close of Philip’s War, formed another mission of similar character. -The Sulpitians had a third at the foot of the mountain of Montreal, -where two massive stone towers of the fortified Indian town are standing -to this day. All these converted savages, as well as those of Lorette -and other missions far and near, were used as allies in war, and -launched in scalping parties against the border settlements of New -England. - -Not only the Sulpitians, but also the seminary priests of Quebec, the -Recollets, and even the Capuchins, had missions more or less important, -and more or less permanent; but the Jesuits stood always in the van of -religious and political propagandism; and all the forest tribes -felt their influence, from Acadia and Maine to the plains beyond the -Mississippi. Next in importance to their Iroquois missions were those -among the Algonquins of the northern lakes. Here was the grand domain of -the beaver trade; and the chief woes of the missionary sprang not from -the Indians, but from his own countrymen. Beaver-skins had produced an -effect akin to that of gold in our own day, and the deepest recesses of -the wilderness were invaded by eager seekers after gain. The focus of -the evil was at Father Marquette’s old mission of Michillimackinac. - -First, year after year came a riotous invasion of _coureurs de bois_, -and then a garrison followed to crown the mischief. Discipline was very -weak at these advanced posts, and, to eke out their pay, the soldiers -were allowed to trade; brandy, whether permitted or interdicted, being -the chief article of barter. Father Etienne Carheil was driven almost -to despair; and he wrote to the intendant, his fast friend and former -pupil, the long letter already mentioned. “Our missions,” he says, -“are reduced to such extremity that we can no longer maintain them -against the infinity of disorder, brutality, violence, injustice, -impiety, impurity, insolence, scorn, and insult, which the deplorable -and infamous traffic in brandy has spread universally among the Indians -of these parts.... In the despair in which we are plunged, nothing -remains for us but to abandon them to the brandy sellers as a domain of -drunkenness and debauchery.” - -He complains bitterly of the officers in command of the fort, who, he -says, far from repressing disorders, encourage them by their example, -and are even worse than their subordinates, “insomuch that all our -Indian villages are so many taverns for drunkenness and Sodoms for -iniquity, which we shall be forced to leave to the just wrath and -vengeance of God.” He insists that the garrisons are entirely useless, -as they have only four occupations: first, to keep open liquor shops -for crowds of drunken Indians; secondly, to roam from place to place, -carrying goods and brandy under the orders of the commandant, who shares -their profits; thirdly, to gamble day and night; fourthly, to “turn -the fort into a place which I am ashamed to call by its right name;” -and he describes, with a curious amplitude of detail, the swarms -of Indian girls who are hired to make it their resort. “Such, -monseigneur, are the only employments of the soldiers maintained here so -many years. If this can be called doing the king service, I admit that -such service is done for him here now, and has always been done for him -here; but I never saw any other done in my life.” He further declares -that the commandants oppose and malign the missionaries, while of the -presents which the king sends up the country for distribution to the -Indians, they, the Indians, get nothing but a little tobacco, and the -officer keeps the rest for himself. * - - * Of the officers in command at Michillimackinac while - Carheil was there, he partially excepts La Durantaye from - his strictures, but bears very hard on La Motte-Cadillac, - who hated the Jesuits and was hated by them in turn. La - Motte, on his part, writes that “the missionaries wish to be - masters wherever they are, and cannot tolerate anybody above - themselves.” N. Y. Colonial Docs., IX. 587. For much more - emphatic expressions of his views concerning them, see two - letters from him, translated in Sheldon’s Early History of - Michigan. - -From the misconduct of officers and soldiers, he passes to that of the -_coureurs de bois_ and licensed traders; and here he is equally severe. -He dilates on the evils which result from permitting the colonists to -go to the Indians instead of requiring the Indians to come to the -settlements. “It serves only to rob the country of all its young -men, weaken families, deprive wives of their husbands, sisters of -their brothers, and parents of their children; expose the voyagers to -a hundred dangers of body and soul; involve them in a multitude of -expenses, some necessary, some useless, and some criminal; accustom them -to do no work, and at last disgust them with it for ever; make them live -in constant idleness, unlit them completely for any trade, and render -them useless to themselves, their families, and the public. But it is -less as regards the body than as regards the soul, that this traffic of -the French among the savages is infinitely hurtful. It carries them far -away from churches, separates them from priests and nuns, and severs -them from all instruction, all exercise of religion, and all spiritual -aid. It sends them into places wild and almost inaccessible, through -a thousand perils by land and water, to carry on by base, abject, -and shameful means a trade which would much better be carried on at -Montreal.” - -But in the complete transfer of the trade to Montreal, he sees -insuperable difficulties, and he proceeds to suggest, as the last -and best resort, that garrisons and officers should be withdrawn, and -licenses abolished; that discreet and virtuous persons should be chosen -to take charge of all the trade of the upper country; that these persons -should be in perfect sympathy and correspondence with the Jesuits; and -that the trade should be carried on at the missions of the Jesuits and -in their presence. * - -This letter brings us again face to face with the brandy question, of -which we have seen something already in the quarrel between Avaugour -and the bishop. In the summer of 1648, there was held at the mission -of Sillery a temperance meeting; the first in all probability on this -continent. The drum beat after mass, and the Indians gathered at the -summons. Then an Algonquin chief, a zealous convert of the Jesuits, -proclaimed to the crowd a late edict of the governor imposing penalties -for drunkenness, and, in his own name and that of the other chiefs, -exhorted them to abstinence, declaring that all drunkards should be -handed over to the French for punishment. Father Jerome Lalemant -looked on delighted. “It was,” he says, “the finest public act -of jurisdiction exercised among the Indians since I have been in -this country. From the beginning of the world they have all thought -themselves as great lords, the one as the other, and never before -submitted to their chiefs any further than they chose to do so.” * - - * Lettre du Pere Etienne Carheil de la Compagnie de Jésus à - l'Intendant Champigny, Michillimackinac, 30 Août, 1702 - (Archives Nationales) Lalemant, Rel, 1648, p. 43. - -There was great need of reform; for a demon of drunkenness seemed to -possess these unhappy tribes. Nevertheless, with all their rage for -brandy, they sometimes showed in regard to it a self-control quite -admirable in its way. When at a fair, a council, or a friendly visit, -their entertainers regaled them with rations of the coveted liquor, so -prudently measured out that they could not be the worse for it, they -would unite their several portions in a common stock, which they would -then divide among a few of their number, thus enabling them to attain -that complete intoxication which, in their view, was the true end of -all drinking. The objects of this singular benevolence were expected to -requite it in kind on some future occasion. - -A drunken Indian with weapons within reach, was very dangerous, and -all prudent persons kept out of his way. This greatly pleased him; for, -seeing everybody run before him, he fancied himself a great chief, -and howled and swung his tomahawk with redoubled fury. If, as often -happened, he maimed or murdered some wretch not nimble enough to escape, -his countrymen absolved him from all guilt, and blamed only the brandy. -Hence, if an Indian wished to take a safe revenge on some personal -enemy, he would pretend to be drunk; and, not only murders but other -crimes were often committed by false claimants to the bacchanalian -privilege. - -In the eyes of the missionaries, brandy was a fiend with all crimes -and miseries in his train; and, in fact, nothing earthly could better -deserve the epithet infernal than an Indian town in the height of a -drunken debauch. The orgies never ceased till the bottom of the -barrel was reached. Then came repentance, despair, wailing, and bitter -invective against the white men, the cause of all the woe. In the name -of the public good, of humanity, and above all of religion, the bishop -and the Jesuits denounced the fatal traffic. - -Their case was a strong one; but so was the case of their opponents. -There was real and imminent danger that the thirsty savages, if refused -brandy by the French, would seek it from the Dutch and English of New -York. It was the most potent lure and the most killing bait. Wherever it -was found, thither the Indians and their beaver-skins were sure to go, -and the interests of the fur trade, vital to the colony, were bound -up with it. Nor was this all, for the merchants and the civil powers -insisted that religion and the saving of souls were bound up with it no -less; since, to repel the Indians from the Catholic French, and attract -them to the heretic English, was to turn them from ways of grace to -ways of perdition. * The argument, no doubt, was dashed largely with -hypocrisy in those who used it; but it was one which the priests were -greatly perplexed to answer. - -In former days, when Canada was not yet transformed from a mission to a -colony, the Jesuits entered with a high hand on the work of reform. - - * “Ce commerce est absolument nécessaire pour attirer les - sauvages dans les colonies françoises, et par ce moyen leur - donner les premières teintures de la foy.” Mémoire de - Colbert, joint à sa lettre à Duchesneau du 24 Mai, 1678. - -It fared hard with the culprit caught in the act of selling brandy to -Indians. They led him, after the sermon, to the door of the church; -where, kneeling on the pavement, partially stript and bearing in his -hand the penitential torch, he underwent a vigorous flagellation, laid -on by Father Le Mercier himself, after the fashion formerly practised in -the case of refractory school-boys. * Bishop Laval not only discharged -against the offenders volleys of wholesale excommunication, but he made -of the offence a “reserved case;” that is, a case in which the power -of granting absolution was reserved to himself alone. This produced -great commotion, and a violent conflict between religious scruples and -a passion for gain. The bishop and the Jesuits stood inflexible; while -their opponents added bitterness to the quarrel by charging them with -permitting certain favored persons to sell brandy, unpunished, and even -covertly selling it themselves. ** - - * Mémoire de Dumesnil, 1671. - - ** Lettre de Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye, 24 Oct., 1693. - After speaking of the excessive rigor of the bishop, he - adds: “L’on dit, et il est vrai, que dans ces temps si - fâcheux, sous prétexte de pauvreté dans les familles, - certaines gens avoient permission d’en traiter, je crois - toujours avec la réserve de ne pas enivrer.” Dumesnil, - Mémoire de 1671, says that Laval excommunicated all brandy- - sellers, “à l’exception, néanmoins, de quelques particuliers - qu’il voulait favoriser.” He says further that the bishop - and the Jesuit Ragueneau had a clerk whom they employed at - 500 francs a year to trade with the Indians, paying them in - liquors for their furs; and that for a time the - ecclesiastics had this trade to themselves, their severities - having deterred most others from venturing into it. La - Salle, Mémoire de 1678, declares that, “Ils (les Jésuites) - refusent l’absolution a ceux qui ne veulent pas promettre de - n’en plus vendre, et s’ils meurent en cet état, ils les - privent de la sépulture ecclésiastique: au contraire, ils so - permettent à eux mesmes sans aucune difficulté ce mesme - trafic, quoyque toute sorte de trafic soit interdite à tous - les ecclésiastiques par les ordonnances du Roy et par une - bulle expresse du Pape.” I give these assertions as I find - them, and for what they are worth. - -Appeal was made to the king, who, with his Jesuit confessor, guardian -of his conscience on one side, and Colbert, guardian of his worldly -interests on the other, stood in some perplexity. The case was referred -to the fathers of the Sorbonne, and they, after solemn discussion, -pronounced the selling of brandy to Indians a mortal sin. * It was -next referred to an assembly of the chief merchants and inhabitants of -Canada, held under the eye of the governor, intendant, and council, in -the Chateau St. Louis. Each was directed to state his views in writing. -The great majority were for unrestricted trade in brandy; a few were for -a limited and guarded trade; and two or three declared for prohibition. -** Decrees of prohibition were passed from time to time, but they were -unavailing. They were revoked, renewed, and revoked again. They were, in -fact, worse than useless; for their chief effect was to turn traders -and _coureurs de bois_ into troops of audacious contrabandists. Attempts -were made to limit the brandy trade to the settlements, and exclude it -from the forest country, where its regulation was impossible; but these -attempts, like the others, were of little avail. It is worthy of notice -that, when brandy was forbidden everywhere else, it was permitted in the -trade of Tadoussac, carried on for the profit of government. *** - - * Délibération de la Sorbonne sur la Traite des Boissons, 8 - Mars, 1676. - - ** Procès-verbal de l’Assemblée tenue au Château de St. - Louis de Québec, le 26 Oct., 1676, et jours suivants. - - *** Lettre de Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye, 24 Oct., 1693. - In the course of the quarrel a severe law passed by the - General Court of Massachusetts against the sale of liquors - to Indians was several times urged as an example to be - imitated. A copy of it was sent to the minister, and is - still preserved in the Archives of the Marine and Colonies. - -In spite of the Sorbonne, in spite of Père La Chaise, and of the -Archbishop of Paris, whom he also consulted, the king was never at heart -a prohibitionist. * His Canadian revenue was drawn from the fur -trade; and the singular argument of the partisans of brandy, that its -attractions were needed to keep the Indians from contact with heresy, -served admirably to salve his conscience. Bigot as he was, he distrusted -the Bishop of Quebec, the great champion of the anti-liquor movement. -His own letters, as well as those of his minister, prove that he saw or -thought that he saw motives for the crusade very different from those -inscribed on its banners. He wrote to Saint-Vallier, Laval’s successor -in the bishopric, that the brandy trade was very useful to the kingdom -of France; that it should be regulated, but not prevented; that the -consciences of his subjects must not be disturbed by denunciations of -it as a sin; and that “it is well that you (_the bishop_) should -take care that the zeal of the ecclesiastics is not excited by personal -interests and passions.” ** Perhaps he alludes to the spirit of -encroachment and domination which he and his minister in secret -instructions to their officers often impute to the bishop and the -clergy, or perhaps he may have in mind other accusations which had -reached him - - * See, among other evidence, Mémoire sur la Traite des - Boissons, 1678. - - ** Le Roy à Saint-Vallier, 7 Avril, 1691 - -from time to time during many years, and of which the following from the -pen of the most noted of Canadian governors will serve as an example. -Count Frontenac declares that the Jesuits greatly exaggerate the -disorders caused by brandy, and that they easily convince persons -“who do not know the interested motives which have led them to harp -continually on this string for more than forty years.... They have long -wished to have the fur trade entirely to themselves, and to keep out -of sight the trade which they have always carried on in the woods, and -which they are carrying on there now.” * - -_Trade of the Jesuits._--As I have observed in a former volume, the -charge against the Jesuits of trading in beaver-skins dates from -the beginning of the colony. In the private journal of Father Jerome -Lalemant, their superior, occurs the following curious passage, under -date of November, 1645: “Pour la traite des castors. Le 15 de Nov. -le bruit estant qu’on s’en alloit icy publier la defense qui auoit -esté publiée aux Trois Riuieres que pas vu n’eut à traiter avec les -sauvages, le P. Vimont demanda à Mons. des Chastelets commis general -si nous serions de pire condition soubs eux que soubs Messieurs de la -Compagnie. La conclusion fut que non et que cela iroit pour nous à -U ordinaire, mais que nous le fissions doucement.” Journal des -Jésuites. Two years after, on the request of Lalemant, the governor -Montmagny, and his destined successor Aillebout, gave the Jesuits a -certificate to the effect that “les pères de la compagnie de Jésus -sont innocents de la calomnie qui leur a été imputée, et ce qu’ils -en ont fiait a été pour le bien de la communauté et pour un bon -sujet.” This leaves it to be inferred that they actually -traded, though with good intentions. In 1664, in reply to similar -“calumnies,” the Jesuits made by proxy a declaration before the -council, stating, “que les dits Révérends Pères Jésuites -n’ont fait jamais aucune profession de vendre et n’ont jamais -rien vendu, mais seulement que les marchandises qu’ils donnent aux -particuliers ne sont que pour avoir leurs - - * Frontenac au Ministre, 29 Oct., 1676. - -nécessités.” This is an admission in a thin disguise. The word -nécessités is of very elastic interpretation. In a memoir of Talon, -1667, he mentions, “la traite de pelleteries qu’on assure qu’ils -(les Jésuites) font aux Outaouacks et au Cap de la Madeleine; ce que je -ne sais pas de science certaine.” - -That which Talon did not know with certainty is made reasonably clear -for us by a line in the private journal of Father Le Mercier, who writes -under date of 17 August, 1665, “Le Père Frémin remonte supérieur -au Cap de la Magdeleine, ou le temporel est en bon estât. Comme il -est delivre de tout soin d'aucune traite, il doit s’appliquer à -l’instruction tant des Montagnets que des Algonquins.” Father -Charles Albanel was charged, under Frémin, with the affairs of the -mission, including doubtless the temporal interests, to the prosperity -of which Father Le Merciei alludes, and the cares of trade from which -Father Frémin was delivered. Cavelier de la Salle declared in 1678, -“Le père Arbanelle (Albanel) jésuite a traité au Cap (de la -Madeleine) pour 700 pistoles de peaux d’orignaux et de castors; luy -mesme me l’a dit en 1667. Il vend le pain, le vin, le bled, le lard, -et il tient magazin au Cap aussi bien que le frère Joseph à Québec. -Ce frère gagne 500 pour 100 sur tous les peuples. Ils (les Jésuites) -ont bâti leur collège en partie de leur traite et en partie de -l’emprunt.” La Salle further says that Frémin, being reported to -have made enormous profits, “ce père répondit au gouverneur (qui -lui en avait fait des plaintes) par un billet que luy a conservé, que -c’estoit une calomnie que ce grand gain prétendu; puisque tout ce qui -se passoit par ses mains ne pouvoit produire par an que quatre mille -de revenant bon, tous frais faits, sans comprendre les gages des -domestiques.” La Salle gives also many other particulars, especially -relating to Michillimackinac, where, as he says, the Jesuits had a large -stock of beaver-skins. According to Peronne Dumesnil, Mémoire de 1671, -the Jesuits had at that time more than 20,000 francs a year, partly -from trade and partly from charitable contributions of their friends in -France. - -The king repeatedly forbade the Jesuits and other ecclesiastics in -Canada to carry on trade. On one occasion he threatened strong measures -should they continue to disobey him. Le Roi à Frontenac, 28 Avril, -1677. In the same year the minister wrote to the intendant Duchesneau: -“Vous ne sauriez apporter trop de precautions pour abolir entièrement -la coustume que les Ecclesiastiques séculiers et réguliers avaient -pris de traitter ou de faire traitter leurs valets,” 18 Avril, 1677. - -The Jesuits entered also into other branches of trade and industry with -a vigor and address which the inhabitants of Canada might have emulated -with advantage. They were successful fishers of eels. In 1646, their -eel-pots at Sillery are said to have yielded no less than forty thousand -eels, some of which they sold at the modest price of thirty sous a -hundred. Ferland, Notes sur les Registres de N. D. de Québec, 82. The -members of the order were exempted from payment of duties, and in 1674 -they were specially empowered to construct mills, including sugar-mills, -and beep slaves, apprentices, and hired servants. Droit Canadien, 180. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. 1663-1763. PRIESTS AND PEOPLE. - - -_Church and State.--The Bishop and the King.--The King and the -Cures.--The New Bishop.--The Canadian Cure.--Ecclesiastical -Rule.--Saint-Vallier and Denonville.--Clerical Rigor.--Jesuit and -Sulpitian.--Courcelle and Châtelain.--The Recollets.--Heresy -and Witchcraft.--Canadian Nuns.--Jeanne Le Ber.--Education.--The -Seminary.--Saint Joachim.--Miracles op Saint Anne.--Canadian Schools._ - - -|When Laval and the Jesuits procured the recall of Mézy, they achieved -a seeming triumph; yet it was but a defeat in disguise. While ordering -home the obnoxious governor, the king and Colbert made a practical -assertion of their power too strong to be resisted. A vice-regal -officer, a governor, an intendant, and a regiment of soldiers, were -silent but convincing proofs that the mission days of Canada were over, -and the dream of a theocracy dispelled for ever. The ecclesiastics read -the signs of the times, and for a while seemed to accept the situation. - -The king on his part, in vindicating the civil power, had shown a -studious regard to the sensibilities of the bishop and his allies. The -lieutenant-general Tracy, a zealous devotee, and the intendant Talon, -who at least professed to be one, were not men to offend the clerical -party needlessly. In the choice of Courcelle, the governor, a little -less caution had been shown. His chief business was to fight the -Iroquois, for which he was well fitted, but he presently showed signs of -a willingness to fight the Jesuits also. The colonists liked him for his -lively and impulsive speech; but the priests were of a different mind, -and so, too, was his colleague Talon, a prudent person who studied -the amenities of life and knew how to pursue his ends with temper -and moderation. On the subject of the clergy he and the governor -substantially agreed, but the ebullitions of the one and the smooth -discretion of the other were mutually repugnant to both. Talon -complained of his colleague’s impetuosity; and Colbert directed him -to use his best efforts to keep Courcelle within bounds and prevent him -from publicly finding fault with the bishop and the Jesuits.* Next we -find the minister writing to Courcelle himself to soothe his ruffled -temper, and enjoining him to act discreetly, “because,” said -Colbert, “as the colony grows the king’s authority will grow with -it, and the authority of the priests will be brought back in time within -lawful bounds.” ** - -Meanwhile, Talon had been ordered to observe carefully the conduct -of the bishop and the Jesuits, “who,” says the minister, “have -hitherto nominated governors for the king, and used every - - * Colbert a Talon, 20 Fev., 1668. - - ** Colbert a Courcelle, 19 Mai, 1669 - -means to procure the recall of those chosen without their participation; -* filled offices with their adherents, and tolerated no secular priests -except those of one mind with them.” ** Talon, therefore, under the -veil of a reverent courtesy, sharply watched them. They paid courtesy -with courtesy, and the intendant wrote home to his master that he saw -nothing amiss in them. He quickly changed his mind. “I should have had -less trouble and more praise,” he writes in the next year, “if I had -been willing to leave the power of the church ¦where I found it.” *** -“It is easy,” he says again, - -“to incur the ill-will of the Jesuits if one does not accept all their -opinions and abandon one’s self to their direction even in temporal -matters; for their encroachments extend to affairs of police, which -concern only the civil magistrate;” and he recommends that one or two -of them be sent home as disturbers of the peace. **** They, on their -part, changed attitude towards both him and the governor. One of them, -Father Bardy, less discreet than the rest, is said to have preached a -sermon against them at Quebec, in which he likened them to a pair of -toadstools springing up in a night, adding that a good remedy would soon -be found, and that Courcelle would have to run home like other governors -before him. (v) - -Tracy escaped clerical attacks. He was - - * Instruction au Sieur Talon. - - ** Mémoire pour M. de Tracy. - - *** Talon au Ministre, 13 Nov., 1666. - - **** Talon, Mémoire de 1667. - - (v) La Salle, Mémoire de 1678 This sermon was preached on - the 12th of March, 1667. - -extremely careful not to provoke them; and one of his first acts was -to restore to the council the bishop’s adherents, whom Mézy had -expelled. * And if, on the one hand, he was too pious to quarrel with -the bishop, so, on the other, the bishop was too prudent to invite -collision with a man of his rank and influence. - -After all, the dispute between the civil and ecclesiastical powers was -not fundamental. Each had need of the other. Both rested on authority, -and they differed only as to the boundary lines of their respective -shares in it. Yet the dispute of boundaries was a serious one, and it -remained a source of bitterness for many years. The king, though rigidly -Catholic, was not yet sunk in the slough of bigotry into which Maintenon -and the Jesuits succeeded at last in plunging him. He had conceived a -distrust of Laval, and his jealousy of his royal authority disposed him -to listen to the anti-clerical counsels of his minister. How needful -they both thought it to prune the exuberant growth of clerical power, -and how cautiously they set themselves to do so, their letters attest -again and again. “The bishop,” writes Colbert, “assumes a -domination far beyond that of other bishops throughout the Christian -world, and particularly in the kingdom of France.” ** “It is the -will of his Majesty that you confine him and the Jesuits within just -bounds, and let none of them - - * A curious account of his relations with Laval is given in - a letter of La Motte-Cadillac, 28 September, 1694. - - ** Colbert a Duchesneau, 1 Mai, 1677. - -overstep these bounds in any manner whatsoever. Consider this as a -matter of the greatest importance, and one to which you cannot give too -much attention.” * “But,” the prudent minister elsewhere writes, -“it is of the greatest consequence that the bishop and the Jesuits do -not perceive that the intendant blames their conduct.” ** - -It was to the same intendant that Colbert wrote, “it is necessary to -diminish as much as possible the excessive number of priests, monks, -and nuns, in Canada.” Yet in the very next year, and on the advice of -Talon, he himself sent four more to the colony. His motive was plain. He -meant that they should serve as a counterpoise to the Jesuits. *** They -were mendicant friars, belonging to the branch of the Franciscans known -as the Recollets; and they were supposed to be free from the ambition -for the aggrandizement of their order which was imputed, and with -reason, to the Jesuits. Whether the Recollets were free from it or not, -no danger was to be feared from them; for Laval and the Jesuits were -sure to oppose them, and they would need the support of the government -too much to set themselves in opposition to it. “The more Recollets we -have,” says Talon, “the better will the too firmly rooted authority -of the others be balanced.” **** - -While Louis XIV. tried to confine the priests to - - * Colbert a Duchesneau, 28 Avril, 1677. - - ** Instruction pour M. Bouteroue, 1668. - - *** Mémoire succinct des principaux points des intentions - du Roy sur le pays de Canada, 18 Mai, 1669. - - **** Talon au Ministre, 10 Oct., 1670. - -their ecclesiastical functions, he was at the same time, whether from -religion, policy, or both combined, very liberal to the Canadian church, -of which, indeed, he was the mainstay. In the yearly estimate of -“ordinary charges” of the colony, the church holds the most -prominent place; and the appropriations for religious purposes often -exceed all the rest together. Thus, in 1667, out of a total of 36,360 -francs, 28,000 are assigned to church uses. * The amount fluctuated, but -was always relatively large. The Canadian curés were paid in great -part by the king, who for many years gave eight thousand francs annually -towards their support. Such was the poverty of the country that, though -in 1685 there were only twenty-five curés, ** each costing about five -hundred francs a year, the tithes utterly failed to meet the expense. -As late as 1700, the intendant declared that Canada without the king’s -help could not maintain more than eight or nine curés. Louis XIV. -winced under these steady demands, and reminded the bishop that more -than four thousand curés in France lived on less than two hundred -francs a year. *** “You say,” he wrote to the intendant, “that it -is impossible for a Canadian curé to live on five hundred francs. Then -you - - * Of this, 6,000 francs were given to the Jesuits, 6,000 to - the Ursulines, 9,000 to the cathedral, 4,000 to the - seminary, and 3,000 to the Hôtel-Dieu. Etat de dépense, - etc., 1677. The rest went to pay civil officers and - garrisons. In 1682, the amount for church uses was only - 12,000 francs. In 1687 it was 13,500. In 1689, it rose to - 34,000, including Acadia. - - ** Increased soon after to thirty-six by Saint-Vallier, - Laval’s successor. - - *** Mémoire a Duchesneau, 15 Mai, 1678; Le Roy a - Duchesneau, 11 Juin, 1680. - -must do the impossible to accomplish my intentions, which are always -that the curés should live on the tithes alone.” * Yet the head of -the church still begged for money, and the king still paid it. “We -are in the midst of a costly war,” wrote the minister to the bishop, -“yet in consequence of your urgency the gifts to ecclesiastics will -be continued as before.” ** And they did continue. More than half a -century later, the king was still making them, and during the last -years of the colony he gave twenty thousand francs annually to support -Canadian curés. *** - -The maintenance of curés was but a part of his bounty. He endowed the -bishopric with the revenues of two French abbeys, to which he afterwards -added a third. The vast tracts of land which Laval had acquired were -freed from feudal burdens, and emigrants were sent to them by the -government in such numbers that, in 1667, the bishop’s seigniory -of Beaupré and Orleans contained more than a fourth of the entire -population of Canada. **** He had emerged from his condition of -apostolic poverty to find himself the richest landowner in the colony. - -If by favors like these the king expected to lead the ecclesiastics into -compliance with his - - * Le Roy a Duchesneau, 30 Avril, 1681. - - ** Le Ministre a l’Evêque, 8 Mai, 1694. - - *** Bougainville, Mémoire, 1757. - - **** Entire population, 4,312; Beaupré and Orleans, 1,185. - Recensement de 1667. Laval, it will be remembered, - afterwards gave his lands to the seminary of Quebec. He - previously exchanged the island of Orleans with the Sieur - Berthelot for the island of Jesus. Berthelot gave him a - large sum of money in addition. - -wishes, he was doomed to disappointment. The system of movable curés, -by which the bishop like a military chief could compel each member of -his clerical army to come and go at his bidding, was from the first -repugnant to Louis XIV. On the other hand, the bishop clung to it with -his usual tenacity. Colbert denounced it as contrary to the laws of the -kingdom. * “His Majesty has reason to believe,” he writes, “that -the chief source of the difficulty which the bishop makes on this point -is his wish to preserve a greater authority over the curés.” ** -The inflexible prelate, whose heart was bound up in the system he had -established, opposed evasion and delay to each expression of the royal -will; and even a royal edict failed to produce the desired effect. In -the height of the dispute, Laval went to court, and, on the ground of -failing health, asked for a successor in the bishopric. The king readily -granted his prayer. The successor was appointed; but when Laval prepared -to embark again for Canada, he was given to understand that he was to -remain in France. In vain he promised to make no trouble; *** and it was -not till after an absence of four years that he was permitted to return, -no longer as its chief, to his beloved Canadian church. **** - - * Le Ministre a Duchesneau, 15 Mai, 1678. - - ** Instruction a M. de Meules, 1682. - - *** Laval au Père la Chaise, 1687. This forms part of a - curious correspondence printed in the Foyer Canadien for - 1866, from originals in the Archevêché of Quebec. - - **** From a mémoire of 18 Feb., 1685 (Archives de - Versailles) it is plain that the court, in giving a - successor to Laval, thought that it had ended the vexed - question of movable curés. - -Meanwhile Saint-Vallier, the new bishop, had raised a new tempest. He -attacked that organization of the seminary of Quebec by which Laval had -endeavored to unite the secular priests of Canada into an attached and -obedient family, with the bishop as its head and the seminary as its -home, a plan of which the system of movable curés was an essential -part. The Canadian priests, devoted to Laval, met the innovations -of Saint-Vallier with an opposition which seemed only to confirm his -purpose. Laval, old and worn with toil and asceticism, was driven almost -to despair. The seminary of Quebec was the cherished work of his life, -and, to his thinking, the citadel of the Canadian church; and now he -beheld it battered and breached before his eyes. His successor, in fact, -was trying to place the church of Canada on the footing of the church -of France. The conflict lasted for years, with the rancor that marks the -quarrels of non-combatants of both sexes. “He” (_Saint-Vallier_), -says one of his opponents, “has made himself contemptible to almost -everybody, and particularly odious to the priests born in Canada; -for there is between them and him a mutual antipathy difficult to -overcome.” * He is described by the same writer as a person “without -reflection and judgment, extreme in all things, secret and artful, -passionate when opposed, and a flatterer when he wishes to gain his -point.” This amiable critic adds that Saint-Vallier believes a - - * The above is from an anonymous paper, written apparently - in 1695 and entitled Mémoire pour le Canada. - -bishop to be inspired, in virtue of his office, with a wisdom that needs -no human aid, and that whatever thought comes to him in prayer is a -divine inspiration to be carried into effect at all costs and in spite -of all opposition. - -The new bishop, notwithstanding the tempest he had raised, did not fully -accomplish that establishment of the curés in their respective parishes -which the king and the minister so much desired. The Canadian curé was -more a missionary than a parish priest; and nature as well as Bishop -Laval threw difficulties in the way of settling him quietly over his -charge. - -On the Lower St. Lawrence, where it widens to an estuary, six leagues -across, a ship from France, the last of the season, holds her way for -Quebec, laden with stores and clothing, household utensils, goods for -Indian trade, the newest court fashions, wine, brandy, tobacco, and the -king’s orders from Versailles. Swelling her patched and dingy sails, -she glides through the wildness and the solitude where there is nothing -but her to remind you of the great troubled world behind and the little -troubled world before. On the far verge of the ocean-like river, clouds -and mountains mingle in dim confusion; fresh gusts from the north dash -waves against the ledges, sweep through the quivering spires of stiff -and stunted fir-trees, and ruffle the feathers of the crow, perched on -the dead bough after his feast of mussels among the seaweed. You are -not so solitary as you think. A small birch canoe rounds the point of -rocks, and it bears two men; one in an old black cassock, and the -other in a buckskin coat; both working hard at the paddle to keep their -slender craft off the shingle and the breakers. The man in the cassock -is Father Morel, aged forty-eight, the oldest country curé in Canada, -most of his brethren being in the vigor of youth as they had need to be. -His parochial charge embraces. a string of incipient parishes extending -along the south shore from Riviere du Loup to Rivière du Sud, a -distance reckoned at twenty-seven leagues, and his parishioners number -in all three hundred and twenty-eight souls. He has administered -spiritual consolation to the one inhabitant of Kamouraska; visited the -eight families of La Bouteillerie and the five families of La Combe; and -now he is on his way to the seigniory of St. Denis with its two houses -and eleven souls. * - -The father lands where a shattered eel-pot high and dry on the pebbles -betrays the neighborhood of man. His servant shoulders his portable -chapel, and follows him through the belt of firs, and the taller woods -beyond, till the sunlight of a desolate clearing shines upon them. -Charred trunks and limbs encumber the ground; dead trees, branchless, -barkless, pierced by the woodpeckers, in part black with fire, in part -bleached by sun and frost, tower ghastly and weird above the labyrinth -of forest ruins, through which the priest and his - - * These particulars are from the Plan général de l’estât - présent des missions du Canada, fait en l’année, 1683. It is - a list and description of the parishes with the names and - ages of the cures, and other details. See Abeille, I. This - paper was drawn up by order of Laval. - -follower wind their way, the cat-bird mewing, and the blue-jay screaming -as they pass. Now the goldenrod and the aster, harbingers of autumn, -fringe with purple and yellow the edge of the older clearing, where -wheat and maize, the settler’s meagre harvest, are growing among the -stumps. - -Wild-looking women, with sunburnt faces and neglected hair, run from -their work to meet the curé; a man or two follow with soberer steps and -less exuberant zeal; while half-savage children, the _coureurs de bois_ -of the future, bareheaded, barefooted, and half-clad, come to wonder and -stare. To set up his altar in a room of the rugged log cabin, say mass, -hear confessions, impose penance, grant absolution, repeat the office -of the dead over a grave made weeks before, baptize, perhaps, the last -infant; marry, possibly, some pair who may or may not have waited for -his coming; catechize as well as time and circumstance would allow the -shy but turbulent brood of some former wedlock: such was the work of the -parish priest in the remoter districts. It was seldom that his charge -was quite so scattered, and so far extended as that of Father Morel; but -there were fifteen or twenty others whose labors were like in kind, and -in some cases no less arduous. All summer they paddled their canoes from -settlement to settlement; and in winter they toiled on snowshoes over -the drifts; while the servant carried the portable chapel on his back, -or dragged it on a sledge. Once, at least, in the year, the curé paid -his visit to Quebec, where, under the maternal roof of the seminary -he made his retreat of meditation and prayer, and then returned to -his work. He rarely had a house of his own, but boarded in that of the -seignior or one of the _habitants_. Many parishes or aggregations of -parishes had no other church than a room fitted up for the purpose in -the house of some pious settler. In the larger settlements, there were -churches and chapels of wood, thatched with straw, often ruinous, poor -to the last degree, without ornaments, and sometimes without the sacred -vessels necessary for the service. * In 1683, there were but seven stone -churches in all the colony. The population was so thin and scattered -that many of the settlers heard mass only three or four times a -year, and some of them not so often. The sick frequently died without -absolution, and infants without baptism. - -The splendid self-devotion of the early Jesuit missions has its record; -so, too, have the unseemly bickerings of bishops and governors: but the -patient toils of the missionary curé rest in the obscurity where the -best of human virtues are buried from age to age. What we find set down -concerning him is, that Louis XIV. was unable to see why he should not -live on two hundred francs a year as well as a village curé by the -banks of the Garonne. The king did not know that his cassock and all his -clothing cost him twice as much and lasted half as long; that he must -have a canoe and a man to paddle it; and that when on his - - * Saint-Vallier, Estat présent de l’Eglise et de la Colonie - Française, 22ed. 18nt-Vallier, Estat présent de l’Eglise - et de la Colonie Française, 22 (ed. 1856). - -annual visit the seminary paid him five or six hundred francs, partly -in clothes, partly in stores, and partly in money, the end of the year -found him as poor as before except only in his conscience. - -The Canadian priests held the manners of the colony under a rule as -rigid as that of the Puritan churches of New England, but with the -difference that in Canada a large part of the population was restive -under their control, while some of the civil authorities, often with the -governor at their head, supported the opposition. This was due, partly -to an excess of clerical severity, and partly to the continued friction -between the secular and ecclesiastical powers. It sometimes happened, -however, that a new governor arrived, so pious that the clerical party -felt that they could rely on him. Of these rare instances the principal -is that of Denonville, who, with a wife as pious as himself, and a young -daughter, landed at Quebec, in 1685. On this, Bishop Saint-Vallier, -anxious to turn his good dispositions to the best account, addressed to -him a series of suggestions or rather directions for the guidance of his -conduct, with a view to the spiritual profit of those over whom he was -appointed to rule. The document was put on file, and the following -are some of the points in it. It is divided into five different heads: -“Touching feasts,” “touching balls and dances,” “touching -comedies and other declamations,” “touching dress,” “touching -irreverence in church.” The governor and madame his wife are desired -to accept no invitations to suppers, that is to say late dinners, as -tending to nocturnal hours and dangerous pastimes; and they are further -enjoined to express dissatisfaction, and refuse to come again, should -any entertainment offered them be too sumptuous. “Although,” -continues the bishop under the second head of his address, “balls -and dances are not sinful in their nature, nevertheless they are so -dangerous by reason of the circumstances that attend them, and the evil -results that almost inevitably follow, that, in the opinion of Saint -Francis of Sales, it should be said of them as physicians say of -mushrooms, that at best they are good for nothing;” and, after -enlarging on their perils, he declares it to be of great importance to -the glory of God and the sanctification of the colony, that the governor -and his wife neither give such entertainments nor countenance them by -their presence. “Nevertheless,” adds the mentor, “since the youth -and vivacity of mademoiselle their daughter requires some diversion, it -is permitted to relent somewhat, and indulge her in a little moderate -and proper dancing, provided that it be solely with persons of her own -sex, and in the presence of madame her mother; but by no means in the -presence of men or youths, since it is this mingling of sexes which -causes the disorders that spring from balls and dances.” Private -theatricals in any form are next interdicted to the young lady. The -bishop then passes to the subject of her dress, and exposes the abuses -against which she is to be guarded. “The luxury of dress,” he says, -“appears in the rich and dazzling fabrics wherein the women and girls -of Canada attire themselves, and which are far beyond their condition -and their means; in the excess of ornaments which they put on; in -the extraordinary head-dresses which they affect, their heads being -uncovered and full of strange trinkets; and in the immodest curls so -expressly forbidden in the epistles of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, as -well as by all the fathers and doctors of the church, and which God has -often severely punished, as may be seen by the example of the unhappy -Pretextata, a lady of high quality, who, as we learn from Saint Jerome, -who knew her, had her hands withered, and died suddenly five months -after, and was precipitated into hell, as God had threatened her by an -angel; because, by order of her husband, she had curled the hair of her -niece, and attired her after a worldly fashion.” * - -Whether the Marquis and Marchioness Denonville profited by so apt and -terrible a warning, or whether their patience and good-nature survived -the episcopal onslaught, does not appear on record. The subject of -feminine apparel received great attention, both from Saint-Vallier and -his - - * “Témoin entr’autres l’exemple de la malheureuse - Prétextate, dame de grande condition, laquelle au rapport de - S. Jérôme, dont elle étoit connue, eut les mains desséchées - et cinq mois après mourut subitement et fut précipitée en - enfer, ainsi que Dieu l’en avoit menacée par un Ange pour - avoir par le commandement de son mari frisé et habillé - mondainement sa nièce.” Divers points a représenter a Mr. le - Gouverneur et à Madame la Gouvernante, signé Jean, évesque - de Québec. (Registre de l’Evêché de Québec.) The bishop on - another occasion holds up the sad fate of Pretextata as a - warning to Canadian mothers; but in the present case he - slightly changes the incidents to make the story more - applicable to the governor and his wife. - -predecessor, each of whom issued a number of pastoral mandates -concerning it. Their severest denunciations were aimed at low-necked -dresses, which they regarded as favorite devices of the enemy for the -snaring of souls; and they also used strong language against certain -knots of ribbons called _fontanges,_ with which the belles of Quebec -adorned them heads. Laval launches strenuous invectives against “the -luxury and vanity of women and girls, who, forgetting the promises of -their baptism, decorate themselves with the pomp of Satan, whom they -have so solemnly renounced; and, in their wish to please the eyes of -men, make themselves the instruments and the captives of the fiend.” * - -In the journal of the superior of the Jesuits we find, under date of -February 4, 1667, a record of the first ball in Canada, along with -the pious wish, “God grant that nothing further come of it.” -Nevertheless more balls were not long in following; and, worse yet, -sundry comedies were enacted under no less distinguished patronage than -that of Frontenac, the governor. Laval denounced them vigorously, the -Jesuit Dablon attacked them in a violent sermon; and such excitement -followed that the affair was brought before the royal council, which -declined to interfere. ** This flurry, - - * Mandement contre le luxe et la vanité des femmes et des - filles, 1682. (Registres de l'Evêché de Québec.) A still - more vigorous denunciation is contained in Ordonnance contre - les vices de luxe et d’impureté, 1690. This was followed in - the next year by a stringent list of rules called Réglement - pour la conduite des fidèles de ce diocèse. - - ** Arrêts du 24 et 28 juin par lesquels cette affaire (des - comédies) est renvoyésn& Sa Majesté, 1681. (?) (Registre du - Conseil Souverain.) - -however, was nothing to the storm raised ten or twelve years later -by other dramatic aggressions, an account of which will appear in the -sequel of this volume. - -The morals of families were watched with unrelenting vigilance. -Frontenac writes in a mood unusually temperate, “they (_the priests_) -are full of virtue and piety, and if their zeal were less vehement and -more moderate they would perhaps succeed better in their efforts for the -conversion of souls; but they often use means so extraordinary, and in -France so unusual, that they repel most people instead of persuading -them. I sometimes tell them my views frankly and as gently as I can, -as I know the murmurs that their conduct excites, and often receive -complaints of the constraint under which they place consciences. This is -above all the case with the ecclesiastics at Montreal, where there is a -curé from Franche Comté who wants to establish a sort of inquisition -worse than that of Spain, and all out of an excess of zeal.” * - -It was this curé, no doubt, of whom La Hontan complains. That -unsanctified young officer was quartered at Montreal, in the house of -one of the inhabitants. “During a part of the winter I was hunting -with the Algonquins; the rest of it I spent here very disagreeably. One -can neither go on a pleasure party, nor play a game of cards, nor visit -the ladies, without the curé knowing it and preaching about it publicly -from his pulpit. The priests excommunicate - - * Frontenac au Ministre, 20 Oct., 1691. - -masqueraders, and even go in search of them to pull off their masks and -overwhelm them with abuse. They watch more closely over the women and -girls than their husbands and fathers. They prohibit and burn all books -but books of devotion. I cannot think of this tyranny without cursing -the indiscreet zeal of the curé of this town. He came to the house -where I lived, and, finding some books on my table, presently pounced -on the romance of Petronius, which I valued more than my life because it -was not mutilated. He tore out almost all the leaves, so that if my -host had not restrained me when I came in and saw the miserable wreck, -I should have run after this rampant shepherd and torn out every hair of -his beard.” * - -La Motte-Cadillac, the founder of Detroit, seems to have had equal -difficulty in keeping his temper. “Neither men of honor nor men of -parts are endured in Canada; nobody can live here but simpletons and -slaves of the ecclesiastical domination. The count (_Frontenac_) -would not have so many troublesome affairs on his hands if he had not -abolished a Jericho in the shape of a house built by messieurs of -the seminary of Montreal, to shut up, as they said, girls who caused -scandal; if he had allowed them to take officers and soldiers to go into -houses at midnight and carry off women from their husbands and whip them -till the blood flowed because they had been at a ball or worn a mask; if -he had said nothing against the curés - - * La Hontan, I. 60 (ed. 1709). Other editions contain the - same story to different words. - -who went the rounds with the soldiers and compelled women and girls to -shut themselves up in their houses at nine o’clock of summer evenings; -if he had forbidden the wearing of lace, and made no objection to -the refusal of the communion to women of quality because they wore a -_fontange_; if he had not opposed excommunications flung about without -sense or reason; if, I say, the count had been of this way of thinking -he would have stood as a nonpareil, and have been put very soon on the -list of saints, for saint-making is cheap in this country.” * - -While the Sulpitians were thus rigorous at Montreal, the bishop and his -Jesuit allies were scarcely less so at Quebec. There was little goodwill -between them and the Sulpitians, and some of the sharpest charges -against the followers of Loyola are brought by their brother priests -at Montreal. The Sulpitian Allet writes: “The Jesuits hold such -domination over the people of this country that they go into the houses -and see every thing that passes there. They then tell what they have -learned to each other at their meetings, and on this information they -govern their policy. The Jesuit, Father Ragueneau, used to go every day -down to the Lower Town, where the merchants live, to find out all that -was going on in their families; and he often made people get up from -table to confess to him.” Allet goes on to say that Father Châtelain -also went continually to the Lower Town with the same object, and that -some - - * La Motte-Cadillac à-, 28 Sept., 1694. - -of the inhabitants complained of him to Courcelle, the governor. One -day Courcelle saw the Jesuit, who was old and somewhat infirm, slowly -walking by the Château, cane in hand, on his usual errand, on which he -sent a sergeant after him to request that he would not go so often -to the Lower Town, as the people were annoyed by the frequency of -his visits. The father replied in wrath, “Go and tell Monsieur de -Courcelle that I have been there ever since he was governor, and that I -shall go there after he has ceased to be governor;” and he kept on -his way as before. Courcelle reported his answer to the superior, Le -Mercier, and demanded to have him sent home as a punishment; but the -superior effected a compromise. On the following Thursday, after mass -in the cathedral, he invited Courcelle into the sacristy, where Father -Châtelain was awaiting them; and here, at Le Mercier’s order, the old -priest begged pardon of the offended governor on his knees. * - -The Jesuits derived great power from the confessional; and, if their -accusers are to be believed, they employed unusual means to make it -effective. Cavelier de la Salle says: “They will confess nobody till -he tells his name, and no servant till he tells the name of his master. -When a crime is confessed, they insist on knowing the name of the -accomplice, as well as all the circumstances, with - - * Mémoire d’Allet. The author was at one time secretary to - Abbé Quélus. The paper is printed in the Morale pratique des - Jésuites. The above is one of many curious statements which - it contains. - -the greatest particularity. Father Châtelain especially never fails to -do this. They enter as it were by force into the secrets of families, -and thus make themselves formidable; for what cannot be done by a clever -man devoted to his work, who knows all the secrets of every family; -above all when he permits himself to tell them when it is for his -interest to do so?” * - -The association of women and girls known as the Congregation of the -Holy Family, which was formed under Jesuit auspices, and which met every -Thursday with closed doors in the cathedral, is said to have been very -useful to the fathers in their social investigations. ** The members are -affirmed to have been under a vow to tell each other every good or evil -deed they knew of every person of their acquaintance; so that this pious -gossip became a copious source of information to those in a position -to draw upon it. In Talon’s time the Congregation of the Holy Family -caused such commotion in Quebec that he asked the council to appoint a -commission to inquire into its proceedings. He was touching dangerous -ground. The affair was presently hushed, and the application cancelled -on the register of the council. *** - -The Jesuits had long exercised solely the function of confessors in the -colony, and a number of - - * La Salle, Mémoire, 1678. - - ** See Discovery of the Great West, 105. - - *** Représentation faite au conseil au sujet de certaines - assemblées de femmes ou filles sous le nom de la Sainte - Famille, 1667. (Registre du Conseil Souverain.) The paper is - cancelled by lines drawn over it; and the following minute, - duly attested, is appended to it: “Rayé du consentement de - M. Talon” - -curious anecdotes are on record showing the reluctance with which they -admitted the secular priests, and above all the Recollets, to share in -it. The Recollets, of whom a considerable number had arrived from time -to time, were on excellent terms with the civil powers, and were popular -with the colonists; but with the bishop and the Jesuits they were not -in favor, and one or two sharp collisions took place. The bishop was -naturally annoyed when, while he was trying to persuade the king that a -curé needed at least six hundred francs a year, these mendicant friars -came forward with an offer to serve the parishes for nothing; nor was -he, it is likely, better pleased when, having asked the hospital nuns -eight hundred francs annually for two masses a day in their chapel, the -Recollets underbid him, and offered to say the masses for three hundred. -* They, on their part, complain bitterly of the bishop, who, they say, -would gladly have ordered them out of the colony, but being unable to -do this, tried to shut them up in their convent, and prevent them -from officiating as priests among the people. “We have as little -liberty,” says the Recollet writer, “as if we were in a country -of heretics.” He adds that the inhabitants ask earnestly for the -ministrations of the friars, but that the bishop replies with invectives -and calumnies against the order, and that - - * “Mon dit sieur l’evesque leur fait payer (aux - hospitalières) 800L. par an pour deux messes qu’il leur fait - dire par ses Séminaristes que lei Récollets leurs voisins - leur offrent pour 300L.” La Barre au Ministre, 1682. - -when the Recollets absolve a penitent he often annuls the absolution. * - -In one respect this Canadian church militant achieved a complete -success. Heresy was scoured out of the colony. When Maintenon and her -ghostly prompters overcame the better nature of the king, and wrought -on his bigotry and his vanity to launch him into the dragonnades; when -violence and lust bore the crucifix into thousands of Huguenot homes, -and the land reeked with nameless infamies; when churches rang with _Te -Deums_, and the heart of France withered in anguish; when, in short, -this hideous triumph of the faith was won, the royal tool of priestly -ferocity sent orders that heresy should be treated in Canada as it -had been treated in France. ** The orders were needless. The pious -Denonville replies, “Praised be God, there is not a heretic here.” -He adds that a few abjured last year, and that he should be very glad -if the king would make them a present. The Jesuits, he further says, -go every day on board the ships in the harbor to look after the -new converts from France. *** Now and then at a later day a real or -suspected Jansenist found his way to Canada, and sometimes an _esprit -fort_, like - - * Mémoire instructif contenant la conduite des PP. - Récollets de Paris en leurs missions de Canada, 1684. This - paper, of which only a fragment is preserved, was written in - connection with a dispute of the Recolléts with the bishop - who opposed their attempt to establish a church in Quebec. - - ** Mémoire du Roy a Denonville, 31 Mai, 1686. The king here - orders the imprisonment of heretics who refuse to abjure, or - the quartering of soldiers on them. What this meant the - history of the dragonnades will show. - -*** Denonville au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1686. - -La Hontan, came over with the troops; but on the whole a community -more free from positive heterodoxy perhaps never existed on earth. -This exemption cost no bloodshed. What it did cost we may better judge -hereafter. - -If Canada escaped the dragonnades, so also she escaped another -infliction from which a neighboring colony suffered deplorably. Her -peace was never much troubled by witches. They were held to exist, it is -true; but they wrought no panic. Mother Mary of the Incarnation reports -on one occasion the discovery of a magician in the person of a converted -Huguenot miller who, being refused in marriage by a girl of Quebec, -bewitched her, and filled the house where she lived with demons, which -the bishop tried in vain to exorcise. The miller was thrown into prison, -and the girl sent to the Hôtel-Dieu, where not a demon dared enter. The -infernal crew took their revenge by creating a severe influenza among -the citizens. * - -If there are no Canadian names on the calendar of saints, it is not -because in byways and obscure places Canada had not virtues worthy -of canonization. Not alone her male martyrs and female devotees, whose -merits have found a chronicle and a recognition; not the fantastic -devotion of Madame d’Aillebout, who, lest she should not suffer -enough, took to herself a vicious and refractory servant girl, as an -exercise of patience; and not certainly the mediaeval pietism of Jeanne -Le Ber, the - - * Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre de--Sept., 1661. - -venerated recluse of Montreal. There are others quite as worthy of -honor, whose names have died from memory. It is difficult to conceive a -self-abnegation more complete than that of the hospital nuns of Quebec -and Montreal. In the almost total absence of trained and skilled -physicians, the burden of the sick and wounded fell upon them. Of the -two communities, that of Montreal was the more wretchedly destitute, -while that of Quebec was exposed, perhaps, to greater dangers. Nearly -every ship from France brought some form of infection, and all infection -found its way to the Hôtel-Dieu of Quebec. The nuns died, but they -never complained. Removed from the arena of ecclesiastical strife, too -busy for the morbidness of the cloister, too much absorbed in practical -benevolence to become the prey of illusions, they and their sister -community were models of that benign and tender charity of which the -Roman Catholic Church is so rich in examples. Nor should the Ursulines -and the nuns of the Congregation be forgotten among those who, in -another field of labor, have toiled patiently according to their light. - -Mademoiselle Jeanne Le Ber belonged to none of these sisterhoods. She -was the favorite daughter of the chief merchant of Montreal, the same -who, with the help of his money, got himself ennobled. She seems to have -been a girl of a fine and sensitive nature; ardent, affectionate, and -extremely susceptible to religious impressions. Religion at last gained -absolute sway over her. Nothing could appease her longings or content -the demands of her excited conscience but an entire consecration of -herself to heaven. Constituted as she was, the resolution must have cost -her an agony of mental conflict. Her story is a strange, and, as many -will think, a very sad one. She renounced her suitors, and wished to -renounce her inheritance; but her spiritual directors, too farsighted -to permit such a sacrifice, persuaded her to hold fast to her claims, -and content herself with what they called “poverty of heart.” Her -mother died, and her father, left with a family of young children, -greatly needed her help; but she refused to leave her chamber where she -had immured herself. Here she remained ten years, seeing nobody but her -confessor and the girl who brought her food. Once only she emerged, and -this was when her brother lay dead in the adjacent room, killed in a -fight with the English. She suddenly appeared before her astonished -sisters, stood for a moment in silent prayer by the body, and -then vanished without uttering a word. “Such,” says her modern -biographer, “was the sublimity of her virtue and the grandeur of her -soul.” Not content with this domestic seclusion, she caused a cell to -be made behind the altar in the newly built church of the Congregation, -and here we will permit ourselves to cast a stolen glance at her through -the narrow opening through which food was passed in to her. Her bed, a -pile of straw which she never moved, lest it should become too soft, was -so placed that her head could touch the partition, that alone separated -it from the Host on the altar. Here she lay wrapped in a garment of -coarse gray serge, worn, tattered, and unwashed. An old blanket, a -stool, a spinning-wheel, a belt and shirt of haircloth, a scourge, and -a pair of shoes made by herself of the husks of Indian-corn, appear to -have formed the sum of her furniture and her wardrobe. Her employments -were spinning and working embroidery for churches. She remained in this -voluntary prison about twenty years; and the nun who brought her food -testifies that she never omitted a mortification or a prayer, though -commonly in a state of profound depression, and what her biographer -calls “complete spiritual aridity.” - -When her mother died, she had refused to see, her; and, long after, -no prayer of her dying father could draw her from her cell. “In the -person of this modest virgin,” writes her reverend eulogist, “we -see, with astonishment, the love of God triumphant over earthly -affection for parents, and a complete victory of faith over reason and -of grace over nature.” - -In 1711, Canada was threatened with an attack by the English; and she -gave the nuns of the Congregation an image of the Virgin on which she -had written a prayer to protect their granary from the invaders. Other -persons, anxious for a similar protection,, sent her images to write -upon; but she declined the request. One of the disappointed applicants -then stole the inscribed image from the granary of the Congregation, -intending to place it on his own when the danger drew near. The English, -however, did not come, their fleet having suffered a ruinous shipwreck -ascribed to the prayers of Jeanne Le Ber. “It was,” writes the -Sulpitian Belmont, “the greatest miracle that ever happened since the -days of Moses.” Nor was this the only miracle of which she was -the occasion. She herself declared that once when she had broken -her spinning-wheel, an angel came and mended it for her. Angels also -assisted in her embroidery, “no doubt,” says Mother Juchereau, -“taking great pleasure in the society of this angelic creature.” -In the church where she had secluded herself, an image of the Virgin -continued after her death to heal the lame and cure the sick. * - -Though she rarely permitted herself to speak, yet some oracular -utterance of the sainted recluse would now and then escape to the outer -world. One of these was to the effect that teaching poor girls to read, -unless they wanted to be nuns, was robbing them of their time. Nor -was she far wrong, for in Canada there was very little to read except -formulas of devotion and lives of saints. The dangerous innovation of -a printing-press had not invaded the colony, ** and the first Canadian -newspaper dates from the British conquest. - -All education was controlled by priests or nuns. The ablest teachers in -Canada were the Jesuits. Their college of Quebec was three years older -than - - * Faillon, L’Héroine chrétienne du Canada, ou Vie de Mlle. - Le Ber. This is a most elaborate and eulogistic life of the - recluse. A shorter account of her will be found in - Juchereau, Hôtel-Dieu. She died in 1714, at the age of - fifty-two. - - ** A printing-press was afterwards brought to Canada, but - was soon sent back again. - -Harvard. We hear at an early date of public disputations by the pupils, -after the pattern of those tournaments of barren logic which preceded -the reign of inductive reason in Europe, and of which the archetype -is to be found in the scholastic duels of the Sorbonne. The boys -were sometimes permitted to act certain approved dramatic pieces of a -religious character, like the _Sage Visionnaire_. On one occasion they -were allowed to play the Cid of Corneille, which, though remarkable as -a literary work, contained nothing threatening to orthodoxy. They -were taught a little Latin, a little rhetoric, and a little logic; but -against all that might rouse the faculties to independent action, the -Canadian schools prudently closed their doors. There was then no rival -population, of a different origin and a different faith, to compel -competition in the race of intelligence and knowledge. The church stood -sole mistress of the field. Under the old régime the real object of -education in Canada was a religious and, in far less degree, a political -one. The true purpose of the schools was: first, to make priests; and, -secondly, to make obedient servants of the church and the king. All the -rest was extraneous and of slight account. In regard to this matter, -the king and the bishop were of one mind. “As I have been informed,” -Louis XIV writes to Laval, “of your continued care to hold the people -in their duty towards God and towards me by the good education you give -or cause to be given to the young, I write this letter to express my -satisfaction with conduct so salutary, and to exhort you to persevere in -it.” * - -The bishop did not fail to persevere. The school for boys attached -to his seminary became the most important educational institution -in Canada. It was regulated by thirty-four rules, “in honor of the -thirty-four years which Jesus lived on earth.” The qualities commended -to the boys as those which they should labor diligently to acquire were, -“humility, obedience, purity, meekness, modesty, simplicity, chastity, -charity, and an ardent love of Jesus and his Holy Mother.” ** Here is -a goodly roll of Christian virtues. What is chiefly noticeable in it is, -that truth is allowed no place. That manly but unaccommodating virtue -was not, it seems, thought important in forming the mind of youth. -Humility and obedience lead the list, for in unquestioning submission to -the spiritual director lay the guaranty of all other merits. - -We have seen already that, besides this seminary for boys, Laval -established another for educating the humbler colonists. It was a sort -of farm-school, though besides farming various mechanical trades were -also taught in it. It was well adapted to the wants of a great majority -of Canadians, whose tendencies were any thing but bookish; but here, -as elsewhere, the real object was religious. It enabled the church to -extend her influence over classes which the ordinary schools could not -reach. Besides manual training, the pupils were taught to - - * Le Roy a Laval, 9 Avril, 1667 (extract in Faillon). - - ** Ancien règlement du Petit Séminaire de Québec, see - Abeille VIII., no. 32. - -read and write; and for a time a certain number of them received some -instruction in Latin. When, in 1686, Saint-Vallier visited the school, -he found in all thirty-one boys under the charge of two priests; but the -number was afterwards greatly reduced, and the place served, as it still -serves, chiefly as a retreat during vacations for the priests and pupils -of the seminary of Quebec. A spot better suited for such a purpose -cannot be conceived. - -From the vast meadows of the parish of St. Joachim, that here border the -St. Lawrence, there rises like an island a low flat hill, hedged round -with forests like the tonsured head of a monk. It was here that Laval -planted his school. Across the meadows, a mile or more distant, towers -the mountain promontory of Cape Tourmente. You may climb its woody -steeps, and from the top, waist-deep in blueberry-bushes, survey, from -Kamouraska to Quebec, the grand Canadian world outstretched below; or -mount the neighboring heights of St. Anne, where, athwart the gaunt arms -of ancient pines, the river lies shimmering in summer haze, the cottages -of the _habitants_ are strung like beads of a rosary along the meadows -of Beaupré, the shores of Orleans bask in warm light, and far on the -horizon the rock of Quebec rests like a faint gray cloud; or traverse -the forest till the roar of the torrent guides you to the rocky solitude -where it holds its savage revels. High on the cliffs above, young -birch-trees stand smiling in the morning sun; while in the abyss beneath -the snowy waters plunge from depth to depth, and, half way down, the -slender hare-bell hangs from its mossy nook, quivering in the steady -thunder of the cataract. Game on the river; trout in lakes, brooks, and -pools; wild fruits and flowers on meadows and mountains,--a thousand -resources of honest and wholesome recreation here wait the student -emancipated from books, but not parted for a moment from the pious -influence that hangs about the old walls embosomed in the woods of St. -Joachim. Around on plains and hills stand the dwellings of a -peaceful peasantry, as different from the restless population of the -neighboring states as the denizens of some Norman or Breton village. - -Above all, do not fail to make your pilgrimage to the shrine of St. -Anne. You may see her chapel four or five miles away, nestled under the -heights of the Petit Cap. Here, when Aillebout was governor, he began -with his own hands the pious work, and a habitant of Beaupré, Louis -Guimont, sorely afflicted with rheumatism, came grinning with pain to -lay three stones in the foundation, in honor probably of Saint Anne, -Saint Joachim, and their daughter, the Virgin. Instantly he was cured. -It was but the beginning of a long course of miracles continued more -than two centuries, and continuing still. Their fame spread far and -wide. The devotion to Saint Anne became a distinguishing feature of -Canadian Catholicity, till at the present day at least thirteen parishes -bear her name. But of all her shrines none can match the fame of St. -Anne du Petit Cap. Crowds flocked thither on the week of her festival, -and marvellous cures were wrought unceasingly, as the sticks and -crutches hanging on the walls and columns still attest. Sometimes the -whole shore was covered with the wigwams of Indian converts who had -paddled their birch canoes from the farthest wilds of Canada. The more -fervent among them would crawl on their knees from the shore to the -altar. And, in our own day, every summer a far greater concourse of -pilgrims, not in paint and feathers, but in cloth and millinery, and not -in canoes, but in steamboats, bring their offerings and their vows to -the “Bonne Sainte Anne.” * - -To return to Laval’s industrial school. Judging from repeated -complaints of governors and intendants of the dearth of skilled -workmen, the priests in charge of it were more successful in making -good Catholics than in making good masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and -weavers; and the number of pupils, even if well trained, was at no time -sufficient to meet the wants of the colony; ** for, though the Canadians -showed an aptitude for - - * For an interesting account of the shrine at the Petit - Cap, see Casgrain, Le Pélérinage de la Bonne Sainte Anne, a - little manual of devotion printed at Quebec. I chanced to - visit the old chapel in 1871, during a meeting of the parish - to consider the question of reconstructing it, as it was in - a ruinous state. Passing that way again two years after, I - found the old chapel still standing, and a new one, much - larger, half finished - - ** Most of them were moreover retained, after leaving the - school, by the seminary, as servants, farmers, or vassals. - La Tour, Vie de Laval, Liv. VI - -mechanical trades, they preferred above all things the savage liberty of -the backwoods. - -The education of girls was in the hands of the Ursulines and the nuns -of the Congregation, of whom the former, besides careful instruction -in religious duties, taught their pupils “all that a girl ought to -know.” * This meant exceedingly little besides the manual arts suited -to their sex; and, in the case of the nuns of the Congregation, who -taught girls of the poorer class, it meant still less. It was on nuns -as well as on priests that the charge fell, not only of spiritual and -mental, but also of industrial, training. Thus we find the king giving -to a sisterhood of Montreal a thousand francs to buy wool, and a -thousand more for teaching girls to knit. ** The king also maintained -a teacher of navigation and surveying at Quebec on the modest salary of -four hundred francs. - -During the eighteenth century, some improvement is perceptible in the -mental status of the population. As it became more numerous and more -stable, it also became less ignorant; and the Canadian _habitant_, -towards the end of the French rule, was probably better taught, so far -as concerned religion, than the mass of French peasants. Yet secular -instruction was still extremely meagre, even in the _noblesse_. “In -spite of this defective education,” says the famous navigator, -Bougainville, who knew the colony well in its last years, “the - - * A lire, à écrire, les prières, les mœurs chrétiennes, et - tout ce qu'une fille doit savoir. Marie de l'Incarnation, - Lettre du 9 Août, 1668. - - ** Denonville au Ministre, 13 Nov., 1686. - -Canadians are naturally intelligent. They do not know how to write, but -they speak with ease and with an accent as good as the Parisian.” * He -means, of course, the better class. “Even the children of officers -and gentlemen,” says another writer, “scarcely know how to read -and write; they are ignorant of the first elements of geography and -history.” ** And evidence like this might be extended. - -When France was heaving with the throes that prepared the Revolution; -when new hopes, new dreams, new thoughts,--good and evil, false and -true,--tossed the troubled waters of French society, Canada caught -something of its social corruption, but not the faintest impulsion of -its roused mental life. The torrent surged on its way; while, in the -deep nook beside it, the sticks and dry leaves floated their usual -round, and the unruffled pool slept in the placidity of intellectual -torpor. *** - - * Bougainville, Mémoire de 1757 (see Margry, Relations - inédites). - - ** Mémoire de 1736; Detail de toute la Colonie (published - by Hist. Soc. of Quebec). - - *** Several Frenchmen of a certain intellectual eminence - made their abode in Canada from time to time. The chief - among them are the Jesuit Lafitau, author of Mœurs des - Sauvages Américains; the Jesuit Charlevoix, traveller and - historian; the physician Sarrazin; and the Marquis de la - Galisonnière, the most enlightened of the French governors - of Canada. Sarrazin, a naturalist as well as a physician, - has left his name to the botanical genus Sarracenia, of - which the curious American species, S. purpurea, the - “pitcher-plant,” was described by him. His position in the - colony was singular and characteristic. He got little or no - pay from his patients; and, though at one time the only - genuine physician in Canada (Callieres et Beauharnois au - Ministre, 3 Nov., 1702), he was dependent on the king for - support. In 1699, we find him thanking his Majesty for 300 - francs a year, and asking at the same time for more, as he - has nothing else to live on. ( Callères et Champigny au - Ministre, 20 Oct., 1699.) Two years later the governor - writes that, as he serves almost everybody without fees, he - ought to have another 300 francs. (Ibid., 5 Oct., 1701.) The - additional 300 francs was given him; but, finding it - insufficient, he wanted to leave the colony. “He is too - useful,” writes the governor again: “we cannot let him go.” - His yearly pittance of 600 francs, French money, was at one - time reenforced by his salary as member of the Superior - Council. He died at Quebec in 1734. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. 1640-1763. MORALS AND MANNERS. - - -_Social Influence of the Troops.--A Petty Tyrant.--Brawls.--Violence -and Outlawry.--State of the Population.--Views of -Denonville.--Brandy.--Beggary.--The Past and the Present.--Inns.--State -of Quebec.--Fires.--The Country Parishes.--Slavery.--Views of La -Hontan.--Of Hocquart.--Of Bougainville.--Of Kalm.--Of Charlevoix._ - - -|The mission period of Canada, or the period anterior to the year 1663, -when the king took the colony in charge, has a character of its own. -The whole population did not exceed that of a large French village. Its -extreme poverty, the constant danger that surrounded it, and, above all, -the contagious zeal of the missionaries, saved it from many vices, and -inspired it with an extraordinary religious fervor. Without doubt an -ideal picture has been drawn of this early epoch. Trade as well as -propagandism was the business of the colony, and the colonists were -far from being all in a state of grace; yet it is certain that zeal was -higher, devotion more constant, and popular morals more pure, than at -any later period of the French rule. - -The intervention of the king wrought a change. The annual shipments of -emigrants made by him were, in the most favorable view, of a very mixed -character, and the portion which Mother Mary calls _canaille_ was but -too conspicuous. Along with them came a regiment of soldiers fresh from -the license of camps and the excitements of Turkish wars, accustomed to -obey their officers and to obey nothing else, and more ready to wear the -scapulary of the Virgin in campaigns against the Mohawks than to square -their lives by the rules of Christian ethics. “Our good king,” -writes Sister Morin, of Montreal, “has sent troops to defend us from -the Iroquois, and the soldiers and officers have ruined the Lord’s -vineyard, and planted wickedness and sin and crime in our soil of -Canada.” * Few, indeed, among the officers followed the example of one -of their number, Paul Dupuy, who, in his settlement of Isle aux Oies, -below Quebec, lived, it is said, like a saint, and on Sundays and fête -days exhorted his servants and _habitans_ with such unction that their -eyes filled with tears. ** Nor, let us hope, were there many imitators -of Major La Fredière, who, with a company of the regiment, was sent to -garrison Montreal, where he ruled with absolute sway over settlers and -soldiers alike. His countenance naturally repulsive was made more so by -the loss of an eye; yet he was irrepressible in gallantry, and women and -girls fled in terror from the military Polyphemus. The men, too, feared -and hated him, not without reason. One morning a settler named Demers -was hoeing his field, when - - * Annales de l'Hôtel-Dieu St Joseph, cited by Faillon. - - ** Juchereau, Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, 511 - -he saw a sportsman gun in hand striding through his half-grown wheat. -“Steady there, steady," he shouted in a tone of remonstrance; but the -sportsman gave no heed. “Why do you spoil a poor man’s wheat?” -cried the outraged cultivator. “If I knew who you were, I would go -and complain of you.” “Whom would you complain to?” demanded the -sportsman, who then proceeded to walk back into the middle of the wheat, -and called out to Demers, “You are a rascal, and I’ll thrash you.” -“Look at home for rascals,” retorted Demers, “and keep your -thrashing for your dogs.” The sportsman came towards him in a rage to -execute his threat. Demers picked up his gun, which, after the custom of -the time, he had brought to the field with him, and, advancing to meet -his adversary, recognized La Fredière, the commandant. On this he ran -off. La Fredière sent soldiers to arrest him, threw him into prison, -put him in irons, and the next day mounted him on the wooden horse, with -a weight of sixty pounds tied to each foot. He repeated the torture a -day or two after, and then let his victim go, saying, “If I could have -caught you when I was in your wheat, I would have beaten you well.” - -The commandant next turned his quarters into a dram-shop for Indians, -to whom he sold brandy in large quantities, but so diluted that his -customers, finding themselves partially defrauded of their right of -intoxication, complained grievously. About this time the intendant -Talon made one of his domiciliary visits to Montreal, and when, in -his character of father of the people, he inquired if they had any -complaints to make, every tongue was loud in accusation against La -Fredière. Talon caused full depositions to be made out from the -statements of Demers and other witnesses. Copies were deposited in the -hands of the notary, and it is from these that the above story is drawn. -The tyrant was removed, and ordered home to France. * - -Many other officers embarked in the profitable trade of selling brandy -to Indians, and several garrison posts became centres of disorder. -Others, of the regiment became notorious brawlers. A lieutenant of the -garrison of Montreal named Carion, and an ensign named Morel, had for -some reason conceived a violent grudge against another ensign named -Lormeau. On Pentecost day, just after vespers, Lormeau was walking by -the river with his wife. They had passed the common and the seminary -wall, and were in front of the house of the younger Charles Le Moyne, -when they saw Carion coming towards them. He stopped before Lormeau, -looked him full in the face, and exclaimed, “Coward.” “Coward -yourself,” returned Lormeau; “take yourself off.” Carion drew his -sword, and Lormeau followed his example. They exchanged a few passes; -then closed, and fell to the ground grappled together. Lormeau’s wig -fell off; and Carion, getting the uppermost, hammered his bare head with -the hilt of his sword. Lormeau’s - - * Information contre La Fredière. See Faillon, Colonie - Française, III. 886. The dialogue, as here given from the - depositions, is translated as closely as possible.See - Faillon, Colonie Française, III. - -wife, in a frenzy of terror, screamed _murder_. One of the neighbors, -Monsieur Belêtre, was at table with Charles Le Moyne and a Rochelle -merchant named Baston. He ran out with his two guests, and they tried to -separate the combatants, who still lay on the ground foaming like a pair -of enraged bull-dogs. All their efforts were useless. “Very well,” -said Le Moyne in disgust, “if you won’t let go, then kill each other -if you like.” A former military servant of Carion now ran up, and -began to brandish his sword in behalf of his late master. Carion’s -comrade, Morel, also arrived, and, regardless of the angry protest of -Le Moyne, stabbed repeatedly at Lormeau as he lay. Lormeau had received -two or three wounds in the hand and arm with which he parried the -thrusts, and was besides severely mauled by the sword-hilt of Carion, -when two Sulpitian priests, drawn by the noise, appeared on the scene. -One was Fremont, the curé; the other was Dollier de Casson. That -herculean father, whose past soldier life had made him at home in a -fray, and who cared nothing for drawn swords, set himself at once to -restore peace, upon which, whether from the strength of his arm, or the -mere effect of his presence, the two champions released their gripe -on each other’s throats, rose, sheathed their weapons, and left the -field. * - -Montreal, a frontier town at the head of the - - * Requête de Lormeau a M. d'Aillebout. Dépositions de MM. - de Longueuïl (Le Moyne), de Baston, de Belêtre, et autres. - Cited by Faillon, Colonie Française, III. 393. - -colony, was the natural resort of desperadoes, offering, as we have -seen, a singular contrast between the rigor of its clerical seigniors -and the riotous license of the lawless crew which infested it. Dollier -de Casson tells the story of an outlaw who broke prison ten or twelve -times, and whom no walls, locks, or fetters could hold. “A few months -ago,” he says, “he was caught again, and put into the keeping of six -or seven men, each with a good gun. They stacked their arms to play a -game of cards, which their prisoner saw fit to interrupt to play a game -of his own. He made a jump at the guns, took them under his arm like so -many feathers, aimed at these fellows with one of them, swearing that -he would kill the first who came near him, and so, falling back step by -step, at last bade them good-by, and carried off all their guns. Since -then he has not been caught, and is roaming the woods. Very likely he -will become chief of our banditti, and make great trouble in the country -when it pleases him to come back from the Dutch settlements, whither -they say he is gone along with another rascal, and a French woman so -depraved that she is said to have given or sold two of her children to -the Indians.” * - -When the governor, La Barre, visited Montreal, he found there some two -hundred reprobates gambling, drinking, and stealing. If hard pressed by -justice, they had only to cross the river and place themselves beyond -the seigniorial jurisdiction. The military settlements of the Richelieu - - * Dollier de Casson, Histoire de Montréal, 1671, 72 - -were in a condition somewhat similar, and La Barre complains of a -prevailing spirit of disobedience and lawlessness. * The most orderly -and thrifty part of Canada appears to have been at this time the _cote_ -of Beaupré, belonging to the seminary of Quebec. Here the settlers had -religious instruction from their curés, and industrial instruction -also if they wanted it. Domestic spinning and weaving were practised at -Beaupré sooner than in any other part of the colony. - -When it is remembered that a population which in La Barre’s time did -not exceed ten thousand, and which forty years later did not much exceed -twice that number, was scattered along both sides of a great river for -three hundred miles or more; that a large part of this population was in -isolated groups of two, three, five, ten, or twenty houses at the edge -of a savage wilderness; that between them there was little communication -except by canoes; that the settlers were disbanded soldiers, or -others whose fives had been equally adverse to habits of reflection -or self-control; that they rarely saw a priest, and that a government -omnipotent in name had not arms long enough to reach them,--we may -listen without surprise to the lamentations of order-loving officials -over the unruly condition of a great part of the colony. One accuses -the seigniors, who, he says, being often of low extraction, cannot keep -their vassals in order. ** Another dwells sorrowfully on the “terrible -dispersion” of - - * La Barre au Ministre, 4 Nov., 1683. - - ** Catalogne, Mémoire addressé au Ministre, 1712 - -the settlements where the inhabitants "live in a savage independence.” -But it is better that each should speak for himself, and among the rest -let us hear the pious Denonville. - -“This, monseigneur, seems to me the place for rendering you an account -of the disorders which prevail not only in the woods, but also in the -settlements. They arise from the idleness of young persons, and the -great liberty which fathers, mothers, and guardians have for a long time -given them, or allowed them to assume, of going into the forest under -pretence of hunting or trading. This has come to such a pass, that, from -the moment a boy can carry a gun, the father cannot restrain him and -dares not offend him. You can judge the mischief that follows. -These disorders are always greatest in the families of those who are -_gentilshommes_, or who through laziness or vanity pass themselves off -as such. Having no resource but hunting, they must spend their lives in -the woods, where they have no curés to trouble them, and no fathers -or guardians to constrain them. I think, monseigneur, that martial law -would suit their case better than any judicial sentence. - -“Monsieur de la Barre suppressed a certain order of knighthood which -had sprung up here, but he did not abolish the usages belonging to -it. It was thought a fine thing and a good joke to go about naked and -tricked out like Indians, not only on carnival days, but on all other -days of feasting and debauchery. These practices tend to encourage -the disposition of our young men to live like sav ages, frequent their -company, and be for ever unruly and lawless like them. I; cannot tell -you, monseigneur, how attractive this Indian life is to all our youth. -It consists in doing nothing, caring for nothing, following every -inclination, and getting out of the way of all correction.” He goes on -to say that the mission villages governed by the Jesuits and Sulpitians -are models of good order, and that drunkards are never seen there except -when they come from the neighboring French settlements; but that -the other Indians who roam at large about the colony, do prodigious -mischief, because the children of the seigniors not only copy their way -of life, but also run off with their women into the woods. * - -“Nothing,” he continues, “can be finer or better conceived than -the regulations framed for the government of this country; but nothing, -I assure you, is so ill observed as regards both the fur trade and the -general discipline of the colony. One great evil is the infinite number -of drinking-shops, which makes it almost impossible to remedy the -disorders resulting from them. All the rascals and idlers of the country -are attracted into this business of tavern-keeping. They never dream of -tilling the soil; but, on the contrary, they deter the other inhabitants -from it, and end with ruining - - * Raudot, who was intendant early in the eighteenth - century, is a little less gloomy in his coloring, but says - that Canadian children were without discipline or education, - had no respect for parents or cure's, and owned no - superiors. This, he thinks, is owing to “la folle tendresse - des parents qui les empêche de les corriger et de leur - former le caractère qu’ils ont dur et féroce.” - -them. I know seigniories where there are but twenty houses, and moire -than half of them dram shops. At Three Rivers there are twenty-five -houses, and liquor may be had at eighteen or twenty of them. Villemarie -(_Montreal_) and Quebec are on the same footing.” - -The governor next dwells on the necessity of finding occupation -for children and youths, a matter which he regards as of the last -importance. "It is sad to see the ignorance of the population at a -distance from the abodes of the curés, who are put to the greatest -trouble to remedy the evil by travelling from place to place through the -parishes in their charge.” * - -La Barre, Champigny, and Duchesneau write in a similar strain. Bishop -Saint-Vallier, in an epistolary journal which he printed of a tour -through the colony made on his first arrival, gives a favorable account -of the disposition of the people, especially as regards religion. He -afterwards changed his views. An abstract made from his letters for the -use of the king states that he "represents, like M. Denonville, that the -Canadian youth are for the most part wholly demoralized.” ** - -"The bishop was very sorry,” says a correspondent of the minister at -Quebec, "to have so much exaggerated in the letter he printed at Paris -the morality of the people here.” *** He preached a sermon on the -sins of the inhabitants and issued a pastoral mandate, in which he says, -"Before we - - * Denonville au Ministre, 13 Nov. 1685. - - ** N. Y. Colonial Documents, IX. 278. - - *** Ibid., IX. 388. - -knew our flock we thought that the English and the Iroquois were the -only wolves we had to fear; but God having opened our eyes to the -disorders of this diocese, and made us feel more than ever the weight -of our charge, we are forced to confess that our most dangerous foes are -drunkenness, luxury, impurity, and slander.” * - -Drunkenness was at this time the most destructive vice in the colony. -One writer declares that most of the Canadians drink so much brandy in -the morning, that they are unfit for work all day. ** Another says that -a canoe-man when he is tired will lift a keg of brandy to his lips and -drink the raw liquor from the bung-hole, after which, having spoiled -his appetite, he goes to bed supperless; and that, what with drink -and hardship, he is an old man at forty. Nevertheless the race did -not deteriorate. The prevalence of early marriages, and the birth of -numerous offspring before the vigor of the father had been wasted, -ensured the strength and hardihood which characterized the Canadians. -As Denonville describes them so they long remained. “The Canadians -are tall, well-made, and well set on their legs (_bienplantés sur leurs -jambes_), robust, vigorous, and accustomed in time of need to live -on little. They have intelligence and vivacity, but are wayward, -light-minded, and inclined to debauchery.” - -As the population increased, as the rage for - - * Ordonnance contre les vices de l’ivrognerie, luxe, et - impureté, 31 Oct., 1690. - - ** N Y. Colonial Documents. IX. 398. - -bush-ranging began to abate, and, above all, as the curés multiplied, -a change took place for the better. More churches were built, the charge -of each priest was reduced within reasonable bounds, and a greater -proportion of the inhabitants remained on their farms. They were better -watched, controlled, and taught, by the church. The ecclesiastical -power, wherever it had a hold, was exercised, as we have seen, with -an undue rigor, yet it was the chief guardian of good morals; and the -colony grew more orderly and more temperate as the church gathered more -and more of its wild and wandering flock fairly within its fold. In -this, however, its success was but relative. It is true that in 1715 a -well-informed writer says that the people were “perfectly instructed -in religion;” * but at that time the statement was only partially -true. - -During the seventeenth century, and some time after its close, Canada -swarmed with beggars, a singular feature in a new country where a good -farm could be had for the asking. In countries intensely Roman Catholic -begging is not regarded as an unmixed evil, being supposed to promote -two cardinal virtues,--charity in the giver and humility in the -receiver. The Canadian officials nevertheless tried to restrain it. -Vagabonds of both sexes were ordered to leave Quebec, and nobody was -allowed to beg without a certificate of poverty from the curé or the -local judge. ** These orders were not - - * Mémoire addressé au Regent. - - ** Réglement de Police, 1676. - -always observed. Bishop Saint-Vallier writes that he is overwhelmed -by beggars, * and the intendant echoes his complaint. Almshouses -were established at Montreal, Three Rivers, and Quebec; ** and when -Saint-Vallier founded the General Hospital, its chief purpose was to -serve, not as a hospital in the ordinary sense of the word, but as a -house of refuge, after the plan of the General Hospital of Paris. *** -Appeal, as usual, was made to the king. Denonville asks his aid for two -destitute families, and says that many others need it. Louis XIV. did -not fail to respond, and from time to time he sent considerable sums for -the relief of the Canadian poor. **** - -Denonville says, “The principal reason of the poverty of this country -is the idleness and bad conduct of most of the people. The greater part -of the women, including all the _demoiselles_, are very lazy.” (v) -Meules proposes as a remedy that the king should establish a general -workshop in the colony, and pay the workmen himself during the first -five or six years. (v*) “The persons here,” he says, “who have -wished to make a figure are nearly all so overwhelmed with debt that -they may be - - * N. Y. Colonial Documents, IX. 279. - - ** Edits et Ordonnances, II. 119. - - *** On the General Hospital of Quebec, see Juchereau, 355. - In 1692, the minister writes to Frontenac and Champigny that - they should consider well whether this house of refuge will - not “augmenter la fainéantise parmi les habitans,” by giving - them a sure support in poverty. - - **** As late as 1701, six thousand livres were granted - Callieres au Ministre, 4 Nov., 1701. - - (v) Denonville et Champigny au Ministre, 6 Nov,, 1687. - - (v*) Meules au Ministre, 12 Nov., 1682. - -considered as in the last necessity.” * He adds that many of -the people go half-naked even in winter. “The merchants of this -country,” says the intendant Duchesneau, “are all plunged in -poverty, except five or six at the most; it is the same with the -artisans, except a small number, because the vanity of the women and -the debauchery of the men consume all their gains. As for such of the -laboring class as apply themselves steadily to cultivating the soil, -they not only live very well, but are incomparably better off than the -better sort of peasants in France.” ** - -All the writers lament the extravagant habits of the people; and even -La Hontan joins hands with the priests in wishing that the supply of -ribbons, laces, brocades, jewelry, and the like, might be cut off: by -act of law. Mother Juchereau tells us that, when the English invasion -was impending, the belles of Canada were scared for a while into modesty -in order to gain the favor of heaven; but, as may be imagined, the -effect was short, and Father La Tour declares that in his time all the -fashions except _rouge_ came over regularly in the annual ships. - -The manners of the mission period, on the other hand, were extremely -simple. The old governor, Lauzon, lived on pease and bacon like a -laborer, and kept no man-servant. He was regarded, it is true, as a -miser, and held in slight account. *** Magdeleine Boucher, sister of the -governor of Three Rivers, - - * Meules, Mémoire touchant le Canada et l’Acadie, 1684. - - ** Duchesneau au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1679. - - *** Mémoire d’Aubert de la Chesnaye, 1676 - -brought her husband two hundred francs in money, four sheets, two -table-cloths, six napkins of linen and hemp, a mattress, a blanket, two -dishes, six spoons and six tin plates, a pot and a kettle, a table and -two benches, a kneading-trough, a chest with lock and key, a cow, and a -pair of hogs. * But the Bouchers were a family of distinction, and the -bride’s dowry answered to her station. By another marriage contract, -at about the same time, the parents of the bride, being of humble -degree, bind themselves to present the bridegroom with a barrel of -bacon, deliverable on the arrival of the ships from France. ** - -Some curious traits of this early day appear in the license of Jean -Boisdon as innkeeper. He is required to establish himself on the great -square of Quebec, close to the church, so that the parishioners may -conveniently warm and refresh themselves between the services; but he is -forbidden to entertain anybody during high mass, sermon, catechism, or -vespers. *** Matters soon changed; Jean Boisdon lost his monopoly, and -inns sprang up on all hands. They did not want for patrons, and we find -some of their proprietors mentioned as among the few thriving men in -Canada. Talon tried to regulate them, and, among other rules, ordained -that no innkeeper should furnish food or drink to any hired laborer -whatever, or to any - - * Contrat de marriage, cited by Ferland, Notes, 73. - - ** Contrat de marriage, cited by Benjamin Suite in Revue - Canadienne, IX. 111. - - *** Acte officielle, 1648, cited by Ferland. Cours - d’Histoire du Canada, I. 865. - -person residing in the place where his inn was situated. An innkeeper of -Montreal was fined for allowing the syndic of the town to dine under his -roof. * - -One gets glimpses of the pristine state of Quebec through the early -police regulations. Each inhabitant was required to make a gutter along -the middle of the street before his house, and also to remove refuse and -throw it into the river. All dogs, without exception, were ordered home -at nine o’clock. On Tuesdays and Fridays there was a market in the -public square, whither the neighboring _habitants_, male and female, -brought their produce for sale, as they still continue to do. Smoking -in the street was forbidden, as a precaution against fire; householders -were required to provide themselves with ladders, and when the fire -alarm was rung all able-bodied persons were obliged to run to the scene -of danger with buckets or kettles full of water. ** This did not prevent -the Lower Town from burning to the ground in 1682. It was soon rebuilt, -but a repetition of the catastrophe seemed very likely. “This -place,” says Denonville, “is in a fearful state as regards fire; -for the houses are crowded together out of all reason, and so surrounded -with piles of cord-wood that it is pitiful to see.” *** Add to this -the stores of hay for the cows kept by many of the inhabitants for the -benefit of their swarming progeny. - - * Faillon, Colonie Française, III. 405. - - ** Réglement de Police, 1672. Ibid., 1676. - - *** Denonville au Ministre, 20 Août, 1686 - -The houses were at this time low, compact buildings, with gables of -masonry, as required by law; but many had wooden fronts, and all had -roofs covered with cedar shingles. The anxious governor begs that, as -the town has not a _sou_ of revenue, his Majesty will be pleased to make -it the gift of two hundred crowns’ worth of leather fire-buckets. -* Six or seven years after, certain citizens were authorized by the -council to import from France, at their own cost, “a pump after the -Dutch fashion, for throwing water on houses in case of fire.” ** How -a fire was managed at Quebec appears from a letter of the engineer, -Yasseur, describing the burning of Laval’s seminary in 1701. Vasseur -was then at Quebec, directing the new fortifications. On a Monday in -November, all the pupils of the seminary and most of the priests went, -according to their weekly custom, to recreate themselves at a house and -garden at St. Michel, a short distance from town. The few priests who -remained went after dinner to say vespers at the church. Only one, -Father Petit, was left in the seminary, and he presently repaired to the -great hall to rekindle the fire in the stove and warm the place -against the return of his brethren. His success surpassed his wishes. A -firebrand snapped out in his absence and set the pine floor in a blaze. -Father Boucher, curé of Point Levi, chanced to come in, and was half -choked by the smoke. He cried _fire!_ the servants - - * Denonville au Ministre, 20 Août, 1685. - - ** Réglement de 1691, extract in Ferland. - -ran for water; but the flames soon mastered them; they screamed -the alarm, and the bells began to ring. Vasseur was dining with the -intendant at his palace by the St. Charles, when he heard a frightened -voice crying out, “Monsieur, you are wanted; you are wanted.” He -sprang from table, saw the smoke rolling in volumes from the top of -the rock, ran up the steep ascent, reached the seminary, and found an -excited crowd making a prodigious outcry. He shouted for carpenters. -Four men came to him, and he set them at work with such tools as they -had to tear away planks and beams, and prevent the fire from spreading -to the adjacent parts of the building; but, when he went to find others -to help them, they ran off. He set new men in their place, and these -too ran off the moment his back was turned. A cry was raised that the -building was to be blown up, on which the crowd scattered for their -lives. Vasseur now gave up the seminary for lost, and thought only of -cutting off the fire from the rear of the church, which was not far -distant. In this he succeeded, by tearing down an intervening wing or -gallery. The walls of the burning building were of massive stone, and by -seven o’clock the fire had spent itself. We hear nothing of the Dutch -pump, nor does it appear that the soldiers of the garrison made any -effort to keep order. Under cover of the confusion, property was stolen -from the seminary to the amount of about two thousand livres, which is -remarkable, considering the religious character of the building, and -the supposed piety of the people. “There were more than three hundred -persons at the fire," says Yasseur; “but thirty picked men would have -been worth more than the whole of them.” * - -August, September, and October were the busy months at Quebec. Then the -ships from France discharged their lading, the shops and warehouses of -the Lower Town were filled with goods, and the _habitants_ came to town -to make their purchases. When the frosts began, the vessels sailed away, -the harbor was deserted, the streets were silent again, and like ants or -squirrels the people set at work to lay in their winter stores. Fathers -of families packed their cellars with beets, carrots, potatoes, and -cabbages; and, at the end of autumn, with meat, fowls, game, fish, and -eels, all frozen to stony hardness. Most of the shops closed, and the -long season of leisure and amusement began. New Year’s day brought -visits and mutual gifts. Thence till Lent dinner parties were frequent, -sometimes familiar and sometimes ceremonious. The governor’s little -court at the chateau was a standing example to all the aspiring spirits -of Quebec, and forms and orders of precedence were in some houses -punctiliously observed. There were dinners to the military and civic -dignitaries and their wives, and others, quite distinct, to prominent -citizens. The wives and daughters of the burghers of Quebec are said to -have been superior in manners to women of the corresponding - - * Vasseur au Ministre, 2-4 Nov., 1701. Like Denonville - before him, he urges the need of fire-buckets. - -class in France. “They have wit,” says La Potherie, “delicacy, -good voices, and a great fondness for dancing. They are discreet, and -not much given to flirting; but when they undertake to catch a lover it -is not easy for him to escape the bands of Hymen.” * - -So much for the town. In the country parishes, there was the same -autumnal stowing away of frozen vegetables, meat, fish, and eels, and -unfortunately the same surfeit of leisure through five months of the -year. During the seventeenth century, many of the people were so -poor that women were forced to keep at home from sheer want of winter -clothing. Nothing, however, could prevent their running from house to -house to exchange gossip with the neighbors, who all knew each other, -and, having nothing else to do, discussed each other’s affairs with -an industry which often bred bitter quarrels. At a later period, a more -general introduction of family weaving and spinning served at once to -furnish clothing and to promote domestic peace. - -The most important persons in a parish were the curé, the seignior, and -the militia captain. The seignior had his bench of honor in the church. -Immediately behind it was the bench of the militia captain, whose -duty it was to drill the able-bodied men of the neighborhood, direct -road-making and other public works, and serve as deputy to the -intendant, whose ordinances he was required to enforce. Next in honor -came the local judge any there was, and the church-wardens. - - * La Potherie. I. 279. - -The existence of slavery in Canada dates from the end of the seventeenth -century. In 1688, the attorney-general made a visit to Paris, and urged -upon the king the expediency of importing negroes from the West Indies -as a remedy for the scarcity and dearness of labor. The king consented, -but advised caution, on the ground that the rigor of the climate would -make the venture a critical one. * A number of slaves were brought -into the colony; but the system never flourished, the climate and other -circumstances being hostile to it. Many of the colonists, especially at -Detroit and other outlying posts, owned slaves of a remote Indian tribe, -the Pawnees. The fact is remarkable, since it would be difficult to find -another of the wild tribes of the continent capable of subjection to -domestic servitude. The Pawnee slaves were captives taken in war -and sold at low prices to the Canadians. Their market value was much -impaired by their propensity to run off. - -It is curious to observe the views of the Canadians taken at different -times by different writers. La Hontan says, “They are vigorous, -enterprising, and indefatigable, and need nothing but education. They -are presumptuous and full of self-conceit, regard themselves as -above all the nations of the earth, and, unfortunately, have not the -veneration for their parents that they ought to have. The women are -generally pretty; few of them are - - * Instruction au Sr. de Frontenac, 1689. On Canadian - slavery, see a long paper, l'Esclavage en Canada, published - by the Historical Society of Montreal. - -brunettes; many of them are discreet, and a good number are lazy. They -are fond to the last degree of dress and show, and each tries to outdo -the rest in the art of catching a husband.” * - -Fifty years later, the intendant Hocquart writes, “The Canadians are -fond of distinctions and attentions, plume themselves on their courage, -and are extremely sensitive to slights or the smallest corrections. They -are self-interested, vindictive, prone to drunkenness, use a great deal -of brandy, and pass for not being at all truthful. This portrait is true -of many of them, particularly the country people: those of the towns are -less vicious. They are all attached to religion, and criminals are rare. -They are volatile, and think too well of themselves, which prevents -their succeeding as they might in farming and trade. They have not the -rude and rustic air of our French peasants. If they are put on their -honor and governed with justice, they are tractable enough; but their -natural disposition is indocile.” * - -The navigator Bougainville, in the last years of the French rule, -describes the Canadian _habitant_ as essentially superior to the French -peasant, and adds, “He is loud, boastful, mendacious, obliging, civil, -and honest; indefatigable in hunting, travelling, and bush-ranging, but -lazy in tilling the soil.” *** - -The Swedish botanist, Kalm, an excellent observer, was in Canada a few -years before Bougainville, - - * La Hontan, II. 81 (ed. 1709). - - ** Mémoire de 1736. - - *** Mémoire de 1757, printed in Margry, Relations Inédites. - -and sketches from life the following traits of Canadian manners. The -language is chat of the old English translation. “The men here (_at -Montreal_) are extremely civil, and take their hats off to every person -indifferently whom they meet in the streets. The women in general are -handsome; they are well bred and virtuous, with an innocent and becoming -freedom. They dress out very fine on Sundays, and though on the other -days they do not take much pains with the other parts of their dress, -yet they are very fond of adorning their heads, the hair of which is -always curled and powdered and ornamented with glittering bodkins and -aigrettes. They are not averse to taking part in all the business of -housekeeping, and I have with pleasure seen the daughters of the better -sort of people, and of the governor (_of Montreal_) himself, not too -finely dressed, and going into kitchens and cellars to look that every -thing be done as it ought. What I have mentioned above of their dressing -their heads too assiduously is the case with all the ladies throughout -Canada. Their hair is always curled even when they are at home in a -dirty jacket, and short coarse petticoat that does not reach to the -middle of their legs. On those days when they pay or receive visits they -dress so gayly that one is almost induced to think their parents possess -the greatest honors in the state. They are no less attentive to have the -newest fashions, and they laugh at each other when they are not dressed -to each other’s fancy. One of the first questions they propose to a -stranger is, whether he is married; the next, how he likes the ladies of -the country, and whether he thinks them handsomer than those of his -own country; and the third, whether he will take one home with him. The -behavior of the ladies seemed to me somewhat too free at Quebec, and -of a more becoming modesty at Montreal. Those of Quebec are not very -industrious. The young ladies, especially those of a higher rank, get -up at seven and dress till nine, drinking their coffee at the same time. -When they are dressed, they place themselves near a window that opens -into the street, take up some needlework and sew a stitch now and then, -but turn their eyes into the street most of the time. When a young -fellow comes in, whether they are acquainted with him or not, they -immediately lay aside their work, sit down by him, and begin to chat, -laugh, joke, and invent _double-entendres_, and this is reckoned being -very witty. In this manner they frequently pass the whole day, leaving -their mothers to do the business of the house. They are likewise -cheerful and content, and nobody can say that they want either wit or -charms. Their fault is that they think too well of themselves. However, -the daughters of people of all ranks without exception go to market and -carry home what they have bought. The girls at Montreal are very much -displeased that those at Quebec get husbands sooner than they. The -reason of this is that many young gentlemen who come over from France -with the ships are captivated by the ladies at Quebec and marry them; -but, as these gentlemen seldom go up to Montreal, the girls there are -not often so happy as those of the former place." * - -Long before Kalm’s visit, the Jesuit Charlevoix, a traveller and a -man of the world, wrote thus of Quebec in a letter to the Duchesse de -Lesdiguières: “There is a select little society here which wants -nothing to make it agreeable. In the _salons_ of the wives of the -governor and of the intendant, one finds circles as brilliant as in -other countries.” These circles were formed partly of the principal -inhabitants, but chiefly of military officers and government officials, -with their families. Charlevoix continues, “Everybody does his part -to make the time pass pleasantly, with games and parties of pleasure; -drives and canoe excursions in summer, sleighing and skating in winter. -There is a great deal of hunting and shooting, for many Canadian -gentlemen are almost destitute of any other means of living at their -ease. The news of the day amounts to very little indeed, as the country -furnishes scarcely any, while that from Europe comes all at once. -Science and the fine arts have their turn, and conversation does not -fail. The Canadians breathe from their birth an air of liberty, which -makes them very pleasant in the intercourse of life, and our language is -nowhere more purely spoken. One finds here no rich persons whatever, and -this is a great pity; for the Canadians like to get the credit of their -money, and scarcely anybody - - * Kalm, Travels into North America, translated into English - by John Reinold Forster (London, 1771), 56, 282, etc. - -amuses himself with hoarding it. They say it is very different with our -neighbors the English, and one who knew the two colonies only by the way -of living, acting, and speaking of the colonists would not hesitate to -judge ours the more flourishing. In New England and the other British -colonies, there reigns an opulence by which the people seem not to know -how to profit; while in New France poverty is hidden under an air of -ease which appears entirely natural. The English colonist keeps as much -and spends as little as possible: the French colonist enjoys what he has -got, and often makes a display of what he has not got. The one labors -for his heirs: the other leaves them to get on as they can, like -himself. I could push the comparison farther; but I must close here: -the king’s ship is about to sail, and the merchant vessels are getting -ready to follow. In three days perhaps, not one will be left in the -harbor.” * And now we, too, will leave Canada. Winter draws near, and -the first patch of snow lies gleaming on the distant mountain of Cape -Tourmente. The sun has set in chill autumnal beauty, and the sharp -spires of fir-trees on the heights of Sillery stand stiff and black -against the pure cold amber of the fading west. The ship sails in the -morning; and, before the old towers of Rochelle rise in sight, there -will be time to smoke many a pipe, and ponder what we have seen on the -banks of the St Lawrence. - - * Charlevoix. Journal Historique 80 (ed. 1744). - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. 1663-1763. CANADIAN ABSOLUTISM. - - -_Formation op Canadian Character.--The Rival Colonies.--England -and France.--New England.--Characteristics op Race.--Military -Qualities.--The Church.--The English Conquest._ - - -|Not institutions alone, but geographical position, climate, and many -other conditions unite to form the educational influences that, acting -through successive generations, shape the character of nations and -communities. - -It is easy to see the nature of the education, past and present, which -wrought on the Canadians and made them what they were. An ignorant -population, sprung from a brave and active race, but trained to -subjection and dependence through centuries of feudal and monarchical -despotism, was planted in the wilderness by the hand of authority, -and told to grow and flourish. Artificial stimulants were applied, but -freedom was withheld. Perpetual intervention of government, regulations, -restrictions, encouragements sometimes more mischievous than -restrictions, a constant uncertainty what the authorities would do -next, the fate of each man resting less with himself than with another, -volition enfeebled, self-reliance paralyzed,--the condition, in -short, of a child held always under the rule of a father, in the main -well-meaning and kind, sometimes generous, sometimes neglectful, often -capricious, and rarely very wise,--such were the influences under which -Canada grew up. If she had prospered, it would have been sheer miracle. -A man, to be a man, must feel that he holds his fate, in some good -measure, in his own hands. - -But this was not all. Against absolute authority there was a counter -influence, rudely and wildly antagonistic. Canada was at the very portal -of the great interior wilderness. The St. Lawrence and the Lakes -were the highway to that domain of savage freedom; and thither the -disfranchised, half-starved seignior, and the discouraged _habitant_ -who could find no market for his produce, naturally enough betook -themselves. Their lesson of savagery was well learned, and for many a -year a boundless license and a stiff-handed authority battled for -the control of Canada. Nor, to the last, were church and state fairly -masters of the field. The French rule was drawing towards its close when -the intendant complained that though twenty-eight companies of regular -troops were quartered in the colony, there were not soldiers enough -to keep the people in order. * One cannot but remember that in a -neighboring colony, far more populous, perfect order prevailed, with no -other - - * Mémoire de 1736 (printed by the Historical Society of - Quebec). - -guardians than a few constables chosen by the people themselves. - -Whence arose this difference, and other differences equally striking, -between the rival colonies? It is easy to ascribe them to a difference -of political and religious institutions; but the explanation does -not cover the ground. The institutions of New England were utterly -inapplicable to the population of New France, and the attempt to apply -them would have wrought nothing but mischief. There are no political -panaceas, except in the imagination of political quacks. To each -degree and each variety of public development there are corresponding -institutions, best answering the public needs; and what is meat to one -is poison to another. Freedom is for those who are fit for it. The rest -will lose it, or turn it to corruption. Church and state were right -in exercising authority over a people which had not learned the first -rudiments of self-government. Their fault was not that they exercised -authority, but that they exercised too much of it, and, instead of -weaning the child to go alone, kept him in perpetual leading-strings, -making him, if possible, more and more dependent, and less and less fit -for freedom. - -In the building up of colonies, England succeeded and France failed. -The cause lies chiefly in the vast advantage drawn by England from the -historical training of her people in habits of reflection, forecast, -industry, and self-reliance,--a training which enabled them to adopt and -maintain an invigorating system of self-rule, totally inapplicable to -their rivals. - -The New England colonists were far less fugitives from oppression than -voluntary exiles seeking the realization of an idea. They were neither -peasants nor soldiers, but a substantial Puritan yeomanry, led by -Puritan gentlemen and divines in thorough sympathy with them. They were -neither sent out by the king, governed by him, nor helped by him. They -grew up in utter neglect, and continued neglect was the only boon they -asked. Till their increasing strength roused the jealousy of the -Crown, they were virtually independent; a republic, but by no means a -democracy. They chose their governor and all their rulers from among -themselves, made their own government and paid for it, supported their -own clergy, defended themselves, and educated themselves. Under the hard -and repellent surface of New England society lay the true foundations of -a stable freedom,--conscience, reflection, faith, patience, and public -spirit. The cement of common interests, hopes, and duties compacted the -whole people like a rock of conglomerate; while the people of New France -remained in a state of political segregation, like a basket of pebbles -held together by the enclosure that surrounds them. - -It may be that the difference of historical antecedents would alone -explain the difference of character between the rival colonies; but -there are deeper causes, the influence of which went far to determine -the antecedents themselves. The Germanic race, and especially the -Anglo-Saxon branch of it, is peculiarly masculine, and, therefore, -peculiarly fitted for self-government. It submits its action habitually -to the guidance of reason, and has the judicial faculty of seeing both -sides of a question. The French Celt is cast in a different mould. -He sees the end distinctly, and reasons about it with an admirable -clearness; but his own impulses and passions continually turn him away -from it. Opposition excites him; he is impatient of delay, is impelled -always to extremes, and does not readily sacrifice a present inclination -to an ultimate good. He delights in abstractions and generalizations, -cuts loose from unpleasing facts, and roams through an ocean of desires -and theories. - -While New England prospered and Canada did not prosper, the French -system had at least one great advantage. It favored military efficiency. -The Canadian population sprang in great part from soldiers, and was -to the last systematically reinforced by disbanded soldiers. Its chief -occupation was a continual training for forest war; it had little or -nothing to lose, and little to do but fight and range the woods. This -was not all. The Canadian government was essentially military. At its -head was a soldier nobleman, often an old and able commander, and those -beneath him caught his spirit and emulated his example. In spite of its -political nothingness, in spite of poverty and hardship, and in spite -even of trade, the upper stratum of Canadian society was animated by -the pride and fire of that gallant _noblesse_ which held war as its only -worthy calling, and prized honor more than life. As for the _habitant_, -the forest, lake, and river were his true school; and here, at least, he -was an apt scholar. A skilful woodsman, a bold and adroit canoe-man, -a willing fighter in time of need, often serving without pay, and -receiving from government only his provisions and his canoe, he was -more than ready at any time for any hardy enterprise; and in the -forest warfare of skirmish and surprise there were few to match him. An -absolute government used him at will, and experienced leaders guided his -rugged valor to the best account. - -The New England man was precisely the same material with that of which -Cromwell formed his invincible “Ironsides;” but he had very little -forest experience. His geographical position cut him off completely from -the great wilderness of the interior. The sea was his field of action. -Without the aid of government, and in spite of its restrictions, -he built up a prosperous commerce, and enriched himself by distant -fisheries, neglected by the rivals before whose doors they lay. He knew -every ocean from Greenland to Cape Horn, and the whales of the north -and of the south had no more dangerous foe. But he was too busy to fight -without good cause, and when he turned his hand to soldiering it was -only to meet some pressing need of the hour. The New England troops in -the early wars were bands of raw fishermen and farmers, led by civilians -decorated with military titles, and subject to the slow and uncertain -action of legislative bodies. The officers had not learned to command, -nor the men to obey. The remarkable exploit of the capture of Louisburg, -the strongest fortress in America, was the result of mere audacity and -hardihood, backed by the rarest good luck. - -One great fact stands out conspicuous in Canadian history,--the Church -of Rome. More even than the royal power she shaped the character and the -destinies of the colony. She was its nurse and almost its mother; and, -wayward and headstrong as it was, it never broke the ties of faith that -held it to her. It was these ties which, in the absence of political -franchises, formed under the old regime the only vital coherence in -the population. The royal government was transient; the church was -permanent. The English conquest shattered the whole apparatus of -civil administration at a blow, but it left her untouched. Governors, -intendants, councils, and commandants, all were gone; the principal -seigniors fled the colony; and a people who had never learned to control -themselves or help themselves were suddenly left to their own devices. -Confusion, if not anarchy, would have followed but for the parish -priests, who in a character of double paternity, half spiritual and -half temporal, became more than ever the guardians of order throughout -Canada. - -This English conquest was the grand crisis of Canadian history. It was -the beginning of a new life. With England came Protestantism, and the -Canadian church grew purer and better in the presence of an adverse -faith. Material growth, an increased mental activity, an education real -though fenced and guarded, a warm and genuine patriotism, all date from -the peace of 1763. England imposed by the sword on reluctant Canada the -boon of rational and ordered liberty. Through centuries of striving she -had advanced from stage to stage of progress, deliberate and calm, never -breaking with her past, but making each fresh gain the base of a new -success, enlarging popular liberties while bating nothing of that height -and force of individual development which is the brain and heart of -civilization; and now, through a hard-earned victory, she taught the -conquered colony to share the blessings she had won. A happier calamity -never befell a people than the conquest of Canada by the British arms. - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of France and England in North America, -Part IV: The Old Regime In Canada, by Francis Parkman - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN N. 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