LOUIS DE BUADE, COMTE DE FRONTENAC
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau, was
born in 1620. He was the son of Henri de Buade, a noble
at the court of Louis XIII. His mother, Anne de Phelippeaux,
came from a stock which in the early Bourbon period
furnished France with many officials of high rank, notably
Louis de Phelippeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain. His father
belonged to a family of southern France whose estates
lay originally in Guienne. It was a fortunate incident
in the annals of this family that when Antoine de Bourbon
became governor of Guienne (1555) Geoffroy de Buade
entered his service. Thenceforth the Buades were attached
by close ties to the kings of Navarre. Frontenac's
grandfather, Antoine de Buade, figures frequently in the
Memoirs of Agrippa d'Aubigne as aide-de-camp to Henry
IV; Henri de Buade, Frontenac's father, was a playmate
and close friend of Louis XIII; [Footnote: As an
illustration of their intimacy, there is a story that
one day when Henry IV was indisposed he had these two
boys on his bed, and amused himself by making them fight
with each other.] and Frontenac himself was a godson and
a namesake of the king.
While fortune thus smiled upon the cradle of Louis de
Buade, some important favours were denied. Though nobly
born, Frontenac did not spring from a line which had been
of national importance for centuries, like that of
Montmorency or Chatillon. Nor did he inherit large estates.
The chief advantage which the Buades possessed came from
their personal relations with the royal family. Their
property in Guienne was not great, and neither Geoffroy,
Antoine, nor Henri had possessed commanding abilities.
Nor was Frontenac the boyhood friend of his king as his
father had been, for Louis XIV was not born till 1638.
Frontenac's rank was good enough to give him a chance at
the French court. For the rest, his worldly prosperity
would depend on his own efforts.
Inevitably he became a soldier. He entered the army at
fifteen. It was one of the greatest moments in French
history. Richelieu was prime minister, and the long strife
between France and the House of Hapsburg had just begun
to turn definitely in favour of France. Against the
Hapsburgs, with their two thrones of Spain and Austria,
[Footnote: Charles V held all his Spanish, Burgundian,
and Austrian inheritance in his own hand from 1519 to
1521. In 1521 he granted the Austrian possessions to his
brother Ferdinand. Thenceforth Spain and Austria were
never reunited, but their association in politics continued
to be intimate until the close of the seventeenth century.]
stood the Great Cardinal, ready to use the crisis of the
Thirty Years' War for the benefit of his nation--even
though this meant a league with heretics. At the moment
when Frontenac first drew the sword France (in nominal
support of her German allies) was striving to conquer
Alsace. The victory which brought the French to the Rhine
was won through the capture of Breisach, at the close of
1638. Then in swift succession followed those astounding
victories of Conde and Turenne which destroyed the military
pre-eminence of Spain, took the French to the gates of
Munich, and wrung from the emperor the Peace of Westphalia
(1648).
During the thirteen years which followed Frontenac's
first glimpse of war it was a glorious thing to be a
French soldier. The events of such an era could not fail
to leave their mark upon a high-spirited and valorous
youth. Frontenac was predestined by family tradition to
a career of arms; but it was his own impetuosity that
drove him into war before the normal age. He first served
under Prince Frederick Henry of Orange, who was then at
the height of his reputation. After several campaigns in
the Low Countries his regiment was transferred to the
confines of Spain and France. There, in the year of
Richelieu's death (1642), he fought at the siege of
Perpignan. That he distinguished himself may be seen from
his promotion, at twenty-three, to the rank of colonel.
In the same year (1643) Louis XIV came to the throne;
and Conde, by smiting the Spaniards at Rocroi, won for
France the fame of having the best troops in Europe.
It was not the good fortune of Frontenac to serve under
either Conde or Turenne during those campaigns, so
triumphant for France, which marked the close of the
Thirty Years' War. From Perpignan he was ordered to
northern Italy, where in the course of three years he
performed the exploits which made him a brigadier-general
at twenty-six. Though repeatedly wounded, he survived
twelve years of constant fighting with no more serious
casualty than a broken arm which he carried away from
the siege of Orbitello. By the time peace was signed at
Munster he had become a soldier well proved in the most
desperate war which had been fought since Europe accepted
Christianity.
To the great action of the Thirty Years' War there soon
succeeded the domestic commotion of the Fronde. Richelieu,
despite his high qualities as a statesman, had been a
poor financier; and Cardinal Mazarin, his successor, was
forced to cope with a discontent which sprang in part
from the misery of the masses and in part from the ambition
of the nobles. As Louis XIV was still an infant when his
father died, the burden of government fell in name upon
the queen-mother, Anne of Austria, but in reality upon
Mazarin. Not even the most disaffected dared to rebel
against the young king in the sense of disputing his
right to reign. But in 1648 the extreme youth of Louis
XIV made it easy for discontented nobles, supported by
the Parlement of Paris, to rebel against an unpopular
minister.
The year 1648, which witnessed the Peace of Westphalia
and the outbreak of the Fronde, was rendered memorable
to Frontenac by his marriage. It was a runaway match,
which began an extraordinary alliance between two very
extraordinary people. The bride, Anne de la Grange-Trianon,
was a daughter of the Sieur de Neuville, a gentleman
whose house in Paris was not far from that of Frontenac's
parents. At the time of the elopement she was only sixteen,
while Frontenac had reached the ripe age of twenty-eight.
Both were high-spirited and impetuous. We know also that
Frontenac was hot-tempered. For a short time they lived
together and there was a son. But before the wars of the
Fronde had closed they drifted apart, from motives which
were personal rather than political.
Madame de Frontenac then became a maid of honour to the
Duchesse de Montpensier, daughter of Gaston d'Orleans
[Footnote: Gaston d'Orleans was the younger brother of
Louis XIII, and heir-presumptive until the birth of Louis
XIV in 1638. His vanity and his complicity in plots to
overthrow Richelieu are equally famous.] and first cousin
to Louis XIV. This princess, known as La Grande
Mademoiselle, plunged into the politics of the Fronde
with a vigour which involved her whole household--Madame
de Frontenac included--and wrote Memoirs in which her
adventures are recorded at full length, to the pungent
criticism of her foes and the enthusiastic glorification
of herself. Madame de Frontenac was in attendance upon
La Grande Mademoiselle during the period of her most
spectacular exploits and shared all the excitement which
culminated with the famous entry of Orleans in 1652.
Madame de Frontenac was beautiful, and to beauty she
added the charm of wit. With these endowments she made
her way despite her slender means--and to be well-born
but poor was a severe hardship in the reign of Louis XIV.
Her portrait at Versailles reflects the striking personality
and the intelligence which won for her the title La
Divine. Throughout an active life she never lacked powerful
friends, and Saint-Simon bears witness to the place she
held in the highest and most exclusive circle of court
society.
Frontenac and his wife lived together only during the
short period 1648-52. But intercourse was not wholly
severed by the fact of domestic separation. It is clear
from the Memoirs of the Duchesse de Montpensier that
Frontenac visited his wife at Saint-Fargeau, the country
seat to which the duchess had been exiled for her part
in the wars of the Fronde. Such evidence as there is
seems to show that Madame de Frontenac considered herself
deeply wronged by her husband and was unwilling to accept
his overtures. From Mademoiselle de Montpensier we hear
little after 1657, the year of her quarrel with Madame
de Frontenac. The maid of honour was accused of disloyalty,
tears flowed, the duchess remained obdurate, and, in
short, Madame de Frontenac was dismissed.
The most sprightly stories of the Frontenacs occur in
these Memoirs of La Grande Mademoiselle. Unfortunately
the Duchesse de Montpensier was so self-centred that her
witness is not dispassionate. She disliked Frontenac,
without concealment. As seen by her, he was vain and
boastful, even in matters which concerned his kitchen
and his plate. His delight in new clothes was childish.
He compelled guests to speak admiringly of his horses,
in contradiction of their manifest appearance. Worst of
all, he tried to stir up trouble between the duchess and
her own people.
Though Frontenac and his wife were unable to live together,
they did not become completely estranged. It may be that
the death of their son--who seems to have been killed in
battle--drew them together once more, at least in spirit.
It may be that with the Atlantic between them they
appreciated each other's virtues more justly. It may have
been loyalty to the family tradition. Whatever the cause,
they maintained an active correspondence during Frontenac's
years in Canada, and at court Madame de Frontenac was
her husband's chief defence against numerous enemies.
When he died it was found that he had left her his
property. But she never set foot in Canada.
Frontenac was forty-one when Louis XIV dismissed Fouquet
and took Colbert for his chief adviser. At Versailles
everything depended on royal favour, and forty-one is an
important age. What would the young king do for Frontenac?
What were his gifts and qualifications?
It is plain that Frontenac's career, so vigorously begun
during the Thirty Years' War, had not developed in a like
degree during the period (1648-61) from the outbreak of
the Fronde to the death of Mazarin. There was no doubt
as to his capacity. Saint-Simon calls him 'a man of
excellent parts, living much in society.' And again, when
speaking of Madame de Frontenac, he says: 'Like her
husband she had little property and abundant wit.' The
bane of Frontenac's life at this time was his extravagance.
He lived like a millionaire till his money was gone. Not
far from Blois he had the estate of Isle Savary--a,
property quite suited to his station had he been prudent.
But his plans for developing it, with gardens, fountains,
and ponds, were wholly beyond his resources. At Versailles,
also, he sought to keep pace with men whose ancestral
wealth enabled them to do the things which he longed to
do, but which fortune had placed beyond his reach. Hence,
notwithstanding his buoyancy and talent, Frontenac had
gained a reputation for wastefulness which did not
recommend him, in 1661, to the prudent Colbert. Nor was
he fitted by character or training for administrative
duty. His qualifications were such as are of use at a
post of danger.
His time came in 1669. At the beginning of that year he
was singled out by Turenne for a feat of daring which
placed him before the eyes of all Europe. A contest was
about to close which for twenty-five years had been waged
with a stubbornness rarely equalled. This was the struggle
of the Venetians with the Turks for the possession of
Crete. [Footnote: This was not the first time that
Frontenac had fought against the Turks. Under La Feuillade
and Coligny he had taken part in Montecuculli's campaign
in 1664 against the Turks in Hungary, and was present at
the great victory of St Gothard on the Raab. The regiment
of Carignan-Salieres was also engaged on this occasion.
In the next year it came to Canada, and Lorin thinks that
the association of Frontenac with the Carignan regiment
in this campaign may have been among the causes of his
nomination to the post of governor.] To Venice defeat
meant the end of her glory as an imperial power. The
Republic had lavished treasure upon this war as never
before--a sum equivalent in modern money to fifteen
hundred million dollars. Even when compelled to borrow
at seven per cent, Venice kept up the fight and opened
the ranks of her nobility to all who would pay sixty
thousand ducats. Nor was the valour of the Venetians who
defended Crete less noble than the determination of their
government. Every man who loved the city of St Mark felt
that her fate was at stake before the walls of Candia.
Year by year the resources of the Venetians had grown
less and their plight more desperate. In 1668 they had
received some assistance from French volunteers under
the Duc de la Feuillade. This was followed by an application
to Turenne for a general who would command their own
troops in conjunction with Morosini. It was a forlorn
hope if ever there was one; and Turenne selected Frontenac.
Co-operating with him were six thousand French troops
under the Duc de Navailles, who nominally served the
Pope, for Louis XIV wished to avoid direct war against
the Sultan. All that can be said of Frontenac's part in
the adventure is that he valiantly attempted the impossible.
Crete was doomed long before he saw its shores. The best
that the Venetians and the French could do was to fight
for favourable terms of surrender. These they gained. In
September 1669 the Venetians evacuated the city of Candia,
taking with them their cannon, all their munitions of
war, and all their movable property.
The Cretan expedition not only confirmed but enhanced
the standing which Frontenac had won in his youth. And
within three years from the date of his return he received
the king's command to succeed the governor Courcelles at
Quebec.
Gossip busied itself a good deal over the immediate causes
of Frontenac's appointment to the government of Canada.
The post was hardly a proconsular prize. At first sight
one would not think that a small colony destitute of
social gaiety could have possessed attractions to a man
of Frontenac's rank and training. The salary amounted to
but eight thousand livres a year. The climate was rigorous,
and little glory could come from fighting the Iroquois.
The question arose, did Frontenac desire the appointment
or was he sent into polite exile?
There was a story that he had once been a lover of Madame
de Montespan, who in 1672 found his presence near the
court an inconvenience. Others said that Madame de
Frontenac had eagerly sought for him the appointment on
the other side of the world. A third theory was that,
owing to his financial straits, the government gave him
something to keep body and soul together in a land where
there were no great temptations to spend money.
Motives are often mixed; and behind the nomination there
may have been various reasons. But whatever weight we
allow to gossip, it is not necessary to fall back on any
of these hypotheses to account for Frontenac's appointment
or for his willingness to accept. While there was no
immediate likelihood of a war involving France and England,
[Footnote: By the Treaty of Dover (May 20, 1670) Charles
II received a pension from France and promised to aid
Louis XIV in war with Holland.] and consequent trouble
from the English colonies in America, New France required
protection from the Iroquois. And, as a soldier, Frontenac
had acquitted himself with honour. Nor was the post
thought to be insignificant. Madame de Sevigne's son-in-law,
the Comte de Grignan, was an unsuccessful candidate for
it in competition with Frontenac. For some years both
the king and Colbert had been giving real attention to
the affairs of Canada. The Far West was opening up; and
since 1665 the population of the colony had more than
doubled. To Frontenac the governorship of Canada meant
promotion. It was an office of trust and responsibility,
with the opportunity to extend the king's power throughout
the region beyond the Great Lakes. And if the salary was
small, the governor could enlarge it by private trading.
Whatever his motives, or the motives of those who sent
him, it was a good day for Frontenac when he was sent to
Canada. In France the future held out the prospect of
little but a humiliating scramble for sinecures. In Canada
he could do constructive work for his king and country.
Those who cross the sea change their skies but not their
character. Frontenac bore with him to Quebec the sentiments
and the habits which befitted a French noble of the sword.
[Footnote: Frontenac's enemies never wearied of dwelling
upon his uncontrollable rage. A most interesting discussion
of this subject will be found in Frontenac et Ses Amis
by M. Ernest Myrand (p. 172). For the bellicose qualities
of the French aristocracy see also La Noblesse Francaise
sous Richelieu by the Vicomte G. d'Avenel.] The more we
know about the life of his class in France, the better
we shall understand his actions as governor of Canada.
His irascibility, for example, seems almost mild when
compared with the outbreaks of many who shared with him
the traditions and breeding of a privileged order.
Frontenac had grown to manhood in the age of Richelieu,
a period when fierceness was a special badge of the
aristocracy. Thus duelling became so great a menace to
the public welfare that it was made punishable with death;
despite which it flourished to such an extent that one
nobleman, the Chevalier d'Andrieux, enjoyed the reputation
of having slain seventy-two antagonists.
Where duelling is a habitual and honourable exercise,
men do not take the trouble to restrain primitive passions.
Even in dealings with ladies of their own rank, French
nobles often stepped over the line where rudeness ends
and insult begins. When Malherbe boxed the ears of a
viscountess he did nothing which he was unwilling to talk
about. Ladies not less than lords treated their servants
like dirt, and justified such conduct by the statement
that the base-born deserve no consideration. There was,
indeed, no class--not even the clergy--which was exempt
from assault by wrathful nobles. In the course of an
altercation the Duc d'Epernon, after striking the Archbishop
of Bordeaux in the stomach several times with his fists
and his baton, exclaimed: 'If it were not for the respect
I bear your office, I would stretch you out on the
pavement!'
In such an atmosphere was Frontenac reared. He had the
manners and the instincts of a belligerent. But he also
possessed a soul which could rise above pettiness. And
the foes he loved best to smite were the enemies of the
king.