1636-1642.
VILLEMARIE DE MONTREAL.
Dauversiére and the Voice from Heaven • Abbé Olier • Their Schemes • The
Society of Notre-Dame de Montreal • Maisonneuve • Devout Ladies •
Mademoiselle Mance • Marguerite Bourgeoys • The Montrealists at Quebec •
Jealousy • Quarrels • Romance and Devotion • Embarkation • Foundation of
Montreal
We come now to an enterprise as singular in its character as it proved
important in its results.
At La Flèche, in Anjou, dwelt one Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière,
receiver of taxes. His portrait shows us a round, bourgeois face,
somewhat heavy perhaps, decorated with a slight moustache, and redeemed
by bright and earnest eyes. On his head he wears a black skull-cap; and
over his ample shoulders spreads a stiff white collar, of wide expanse
and studious plainness. Though he belonged to the noblesse, his look is
that of a grave burgher, of good renown and sage deportment. Dauversière
was, however, an enthusiastic devotee, of mystical tendencies, who
whipped himself with a scourge of small chains till his shoulders were
one wound, wore a belt with more than twelve hundred sharp points, and
invented for himself other torments, which filled his confessor with
admiration. [1] One day, while at his devotions, he heard an inward
voice commanding him to become the founder of a new Order of hospital
nuns; and he was further ordered to establish, on the island called
Montreal, in Canada, a hospital, or Hôtel-Dieu, to be conducted by these
nuns. But Montreal was a wilderness, and the hospital would have no
patients. Therefore, in order to supply them, the island must first be
colonized. Dauversière was greatly perplexed. On the one hand, the voice
of Heaven must be obeyed; on the other, he had a wife, six children, and
a very moderate fortune. [2]
[1] Fancamp in Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance. Introduction.
[2] Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, Introduction; Dollier de Casson, Hist.
de Montreal, MS.; Les Véritables Motifs des Messieurs et Dames de
Montreal, 25; Juchereau, 33.
Again: there was at Paris a young priest, about twenty-eight years of
age,--Jean Jacques Olier, afterwards widely known as founder of the
Seminary of St. Sulpice. Judged by his engraved portrait, his
countenance, though marked both with energy and intellect, was anything
but prepossessing. Every lineament proclaims the priest. Yet the Abbé
Olier has high titles to esteem. He signalized his piety, it is true, by
the most disgusting exploits of self-mortification; but, at the same
time, he was strenuous in his efforts to reform the people and the
clergy. So zealous was he for good morals, that he drew upon himself the
imputation of a leaning to the heresy of the Jansenists,--a suspicion
strengthened by his opposition to certain priests, who, to secure the
faithful in their allegiance, justified them in lives of licentiousness.
[3] Yet Olier's catholicity was past attaintment, and in his horror of
Jansenists he yielded to the Jesuits alone.
[3] Faillon, Vie de M. Olier, II. 188.
He was praying in the ancient church of St. Germain des Prés, when, like
Dauversière, he thought he heard a voice from Heaven, saying that he was
destined to be a light to the Gentiles. It is recorded as a mystic
coincidence attending this miracle, that the choir was at that very time
chanting the words, Lumen ad revelationem Gentium; [4] and it seems to
have occurred neither to Olier nor to his biographer, that, falling on
the ear of the rapt worshipper, they might have unconsciously suggested
the supposed revelation. But there was a further miracle. An inward
voice told Olier that he was to form a society of priests, and establish
them on the island called Montreal, in Canada, for the propagation of
the True Faith; and writers old and recent assert, that, while both he
and Dauversière were totally ignorant of Canadian geography, they
suddenly found themselves in possession, they knew not how, of the most
exact details concerning Montreal, its size, shape, situation, soil,
climate, and productions.
[4] Mémoires Autographes de M. Olier, cited by Faillon, in Histoire de
la Colonie Française, I. 384.
The annual volumes of the Jesuit Relations, issuing from the renowned
press of Cramoisy, were at this time spread broadcast throughout France;
and, in the circles of haute devotion, Canada and its missions were
everywhere the themes of enthusiastic discussion; while Champlain, in
his published works, had long before pointed out Montreal as the proper
site for a settlement. But we are entering a region of miracle, and it
is superfluous to look far for explanations. The illusion, in these
cases, is a part of the history.
Dauversière pondered the revelation he had received; and the more he
pondered, the more was he convinced that it came from God. He therefore
set out for Paris, to find some means of accomplishing the task assigned
him. Here, as he prayed before an image of the Virgin in the church of
Notre-Dame, he fell into an ecstasy, and beheld a vision. "I should be
false to the integrity of history," writes his biographer, "if I did not
relate it here." And he adds, that the reality of this celestial favor
is past doubting, inasmuch as Dauversière himself told it to his
daughters. Christ, the Virgin, and St. Joseph appeared before him. He
saw them distinctly. Then he heard Christ ask three times of his Virgin
Mother, Where can I find a faithful servant? On which, the Virgin,
taking him (Dauversière) by the hand, replied, See, Lord, here is that
faithful servant!--and Christ, with a benignant smile, received him into
his service, promising to bestow on him wisdom and strength to do his
work. [5] From Paris he went to the neighboring chateau of Meudon, which
overlooks the valley of the Seine, not far from St. Cloud. Entering the
gallery of the old castle, he saw a priest approaching him. It was
Olier. Now we are told that neither of these men had ever seen or heard
of the other; and yet, says the pious historian, "impelled by a kind of
inspiration, they knew each other at once, even to the depths of their
hearts; saluted each other by name, as we read of St. Paul, the Hermit,
and St. Anthony, and of St. Dominic and St. Francis; and ran to embrace
each other, like two friends who had met after a long separation." [6]
[5] Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, Introduction, xxviii. The Abbé Ferland,
in his Histoire du Canada, passes over the miracles in silence.
[6] Ibid., La Colonie Française, I. 390.
"Monsieur," exclaimed Olier, "I know your design, and I go to commend it
to God at the holy altar."
And he went at once to say mass in the chapel. Dauversière received the
communion at his hands; and then they walked for three hours in the
park, discussing their plans. They were of one mind, in respect both to
objects and means; and when they parted, Olier gave Dauversière a
hundred louis, saying, "This is to begin the work of God."
They proposed to found at Montreal three religious communities,--three
being the mystic number,--one of secular priests to direct the colonists
and convert the Indians, one of nuns to nurse the sick, and one of nuns
to teach the Faith to the children, white and red. To borrow their own
phrases, they would plant the banner of Christ in an abode of desolation
and a haunt of demons; and to this end a band of priests and women were
to invade the wilderness, and take post between the fangs of the
Iroquois. But first they must make a colony, and to do so must raise
money. Olier had pious and wealthy penitents; Dauversière had a friend,
the Baron de Fancamp, devout as himself and far richer. Anxious for his
soul, and satisfied that the enterprise was an inspiration of God, he
was eager to bear part in it. Olier soon found three others; and the six
together formed the germ of the Society of Notre-Dame de Montreal. Among
them they raised the sum of seventy-five thousand livres, equivalent to
about as many dollars at the present day. [7]
[7] Dollier de Casson, Histoire de Montreal, MS.; also Belmont, Histoire
du Canada, 2. Juchereau doubles the sum. Faillon agrees with Dollier.
On all that relates to the early annals of Montreal a flood of new light
has been thrown by the Abbé Faillon. As a priest of St. Sulpice, he had
ready access to the archives of the Seminaries of Montreal and Paris,
and to numerous other ecclesiastical depositories, which would have been
closed hopelessly against a layman and a heretic. It is impossible to
commend too highly the zeal, diligence, exactness, and extent of his
conscientious researches. His credulity is enormous, and he is
completely in sympathy with the supernaturalists of whom he writes: in
other words, he identifies himself with his theme, and is indeed a
fragment of the seventeenth century, still extant in the nineteenth. He
is minute to prolixity, and abounds in extracts and citations from the
ancient manuscripts which his labors have unearthed. In short, the Abbé
is a prodigy of patience and industry; and if he taxes the patience of
his readers, he also rewards it abundantly. Such of his original
authorities as have proved accessible are before me, including a
considerable number of manuscripts. Among these, that of Dollier de
Casson, Histoire de Montreal, as cited above, is the most important. The
copy in my possession was made from the original in the Mazarin Library.
Now to look for a moment at their plan. Their eulogists say, and with
perfect truth, that, from a worldly point of view, it was mere folly.
The partners mutually bound themselves to seek no return for the money
expended. Their profit was to be reaped in the skies: and, indeed, there
was none to be reaped on earth. The feeble settlement at Quebec was at
this time in danger of utter ruin; for the Iroquois, enraged at the
attacks made on them by Champlain, had begun a fearful course of
retaliation, and the very existence of the colony trembled in the
balance. But if Quebec was exposed to their ferocious inroads, Montreal
was incomparably more so. A settlement here would be a perilous
outpost,--a hand thrust into the jaws of the tiger. It would provoke
attack, and lie almost in the path of the war-parties. The associates
could gain nothing by the fur-trade; for they would not be allowed to
share in it. On the other hand, danger apart, the place was an excellent
one for a mission; for here met two great rivers: the St. Lawrence, with
its countless tributaries, flowed in from the west, while the Ottawa
descended from the north; and Montreal, embraced by their uniting
waters, was the key to a vast inland navigation. Thither the Indians
would naturally resort; and thence the missionaries could make their way
into the heart of a boundless heathendom. None of the ordinary motives
of colonization had part in this design. It owed its conception and its
birth to religious zeal alone.
The island of Montreal belonged to Lauson, former president of the great
company of the Hundred Associates; and, as we have seen, his son had a
monopoly of fishing in the St. Lawrence. Dauversière and Fancamp, after
much diplomacy, succeeded in persuading the elder Lauson to transfer his
title to them; and, as there was a defect in it, they also obtained a
grant of the island from the Hundred Associates, its original owners,
who, however, reserved to themselves its western extremity as a site for
a fort and storehouses. [8] At the same time, the younger Lauson granted
them a right of fishery within two leagues of the shores of the island,
for which they were to make a yearly acknowledgment of ten pounds of
fish. A confirmation of these grants was obtained from the King.
Dauversière and his companions were now seigneurs of Montreal. They were
empowered to appoint a governor, and to establish courts, from which
there was to be an appeal to the Supreme Court of Quebec, supposing such
to exist. They were excluded from the fur-trade, and forbidden to build
castles or forts other than such as were necessary for defence against
the Indians.
[8] Donation et Transport de la Concession de l'Isle de Montreal par M.
Jean de Lauzon aux Sieurs Chevrier de Fouancant (Fancamp) et le Royer de
la Doversière, MS.
Concession d'une Partie de l'Isle de Montreal accordée par la Compagnie
de la Nouvelle France aux Sieurs Chevrier et le Royer, MS.
Lettres de Ratification, MS.
Acte qui prouve que les Sieurs Chevrier de Fancamps et Royer de la
Dauversière n'ont stipulé qu'au nom de la Compagnie de Montreal, MS.
From copies of other documents before me, it appears that in 1659 the
reserved portion of the island was also ceded to the Company of
Montreal.
See also Edits, Ordonnances Royaux, etc., I. 20-26 (Quebec, 1854).
Their title assured, they matured their plan. First they would send out
forty men to take possession of Montreal, intrench themselves, and raise
crops. Then they would build a house for the priests, and two convents
for the nuns. Meanwhile, Olier was toiling at Vaugirard, on the
outskirts of Paris, to inaugurate the seminary of priests, and
Dauversière at La Flèche, to form the community of hospital nuns. How
the school nuns were provided for we shall see hereafter. The colony, it
will be observed, was for the convents, not the convents for the colony.
The Associates needed a soldier-governor to take charge of their forty
men; and, directed as they supposed by Providence, they found one wholly
to their mind. This was Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, a devout
and valiant gentleman, who in long service among the heretics of Holland
had kept his faith intact, and had held himself resolutely aloof from
the license that surrounded him. He loved his profession of arms, and
wished to consecrate his sword to the Church. Past all comparison, he is
the manliest figure that appears in this group of zealots. The piety of
the design, the miracles that inspired it, the adventure and the peril,
all combined to charm him; and he eagerly embraced the enterprise. His
father opposed his purpose; but he met him with a text of St. Mark,
"There is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father
for my sake, but he shall receive an hundred-fold." On this the elder
Maisonneuve, deceived by his own worldliness, imagined that the plan
covered some hidden speculation, from which enormous profits were
expected, and therefore withdrew his opposition. [9]
[9] Faillon, La Colonie Française, I. 409.
Their scheme was ripening fast, when both Olier and Dauversière were
assailed by one of those revulsions of spirit, to which saints of the
ecstatic school are naturally liable. Dauversière, in particular, was a
prey to the extremity of dejection, uncertainty, and misgiving. What had
he, a family man, to do with ventures beyond sea? Was it not his first
duty to support his wife and children? Could he not fulfil all his
obligations as a Christian by reclaiming the wicked and relieving the
poor at La Flèche? Plainly, he had doubts that his vocation was genuine.
If we could raise the curtain of his domestic life, perhaps we should
find him beset by wife and daughters, tearful and wrathful, inveighing
against his folly, and imploring him to provide a support for them
before squandering his money to plant a convent of nuns in a wilderness.
How long his fit of dejection lasted does not appear; but at length [10]
he set himself again to his appointed work. Olier, too, emerging from
the clouds and darkness, found faith once more, and again placed himself
at the head of the great enterprise. [11]
[10] Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, Introduction, xxxv.
[11] Faillon (Vie de M. Olier) devotes twenty-one pages to the history
of his fit of nervous depression.
There was imperative need of more money; and Dauversière, under
judicious guidance, was active in obtaining it. This miserable victim of
illusions had a squat, uncourtly figure, and was no proficient in the
graces either of manners or of speech: hence his success in commending
his objects to persons of rank and wealth is set down as one of the many
miracles which attended the birth of Montreal. But zeal and earnestness
are in themselves a power; and the ground had been well marked out and
ploughed for him in advance. That attractive, though intricate, subject
of study, the female mind, has always engaged the attention of priests,
more especially in countries where, as in France, women exert a strong
social and political influence. The art of kindling the flames of zeal,
and the more difficult art of directing and controlling them, have been
themes of reflection the most diligent and profound. Accordingly we find
that a large proportion of the money raised for this enterprise was
contributed by devout ladies. Many of them became members of the
Association of Montreal, which was eventually increased to about
forty-five persons, chosen for their devotion and their wealth.
Olier and his associates had resolved, though not from any collapse of
zeal, to postpone the establishment of the seminary and the college
until after a settlement should be formed. The hospital, however, might,
they thought, be begun at once; for blood and blows would be the assured
portion of the first settlers. At least, a discreet woman ought to
embark with the first colonists as their nurse and housekeeper. Scarcely
was the need recognized when it was supplied.
Mademoiselle Jeanne Mance was born of an honorable family of
Nogent-le-Roi, and in 1640 was thirty-four years of age. These Canadian
heroines began their religious experiences early. Of Marie de
l'Incarnation we read, that at the age of seven Christ appeared to her
in a vision; [12] and the biographer of Mademoiselle Mance assures us,
with admiring gravity, that, at the same tender age, she bound herself
to God by a vow of perpetual chastity. [13] This singular infant in due
time became a woman, of a delicate constitution, and manners graceful,
yet dignified. Though an earnest devotee, she felt no vocation for the
cloister; yet, while still "in the world," she led the life of a nun.
The Jesuit Relations, and the example of Madame de la Peltrie, of whom
she had heard, inoculated her with the Canadian enthusiasm, then so
prevalent; and, under the pretence of visiting relatives, she made a
journey to Paris, to take counsel of certain priests. Of one thing she
was assured: the Divine will called her to Canada, but to what end she
neither knew nor asked to know; for she abandoned herself as an atom to
be borne to unknown destinies on the breath of God. At Paris, Father St.
Jure, a Jesuit, assured her that her vocation to Canada was, past doubt,
a call from Heaven; while Father Rapin, a Récollet, spread abroad the
fame of her virtues, and introduced her to many ladies of rank, wealth,
and zeal. Then, well supplied with money for any pious work to which she
might be summoned, she journeyed to Rochelle, whence ships were to sail
for New France. Thus far she had been kept in ignorance of the plan with
regard to Montreal; but now Father La Place, a Jesuit, revealed it to
her. On the day after her arrival at Rochelle, as she entered the Church
of the Jesuits, she met Dauversière coming out. "Then," says her
biographer, "these two persons, who had never seen nor heard of each
other, were enlightened supernaturally, whereby their most hidden
thoughts were mutually made known, as had happened already with M. Olier
and this same M. de la Dauversière." [14] A long conversation ensued
between them; and the delights of this interview were never effaced from
the mind of Mademoiselle Mance. "She used to speak of it like a seraph,"
writes one of her nuns, "and far better than many a learned doctor could
have done." [15]
[12] Casgrain, Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, 78.
[13] Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, I. 3.
[14] Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, I. 18. Here again the Abbé Ferland,
with his usual good sense, tacitly rejects the supernaturalism.
[15] La Sœur Morin, Annales des Hospitalières de Villemarie, MS., cited
by Faillon.
She had found her destiny. The ocean, the wilderness, the solitude, the
Iroquois,--nothing daunted her. She would go to Montreal with
Maisonneuve and his forty men. Yet, when the vessel was about to sail, a
new and sharp misgiving seized her. How could she, a woman, not yet
bereft of youth or charms, live alone in the forest, among a troop of
soldiers? Her scruples were relieved by two of the men, who, at the last
moment, refused to embark without their wives,--and by a young woman,
who, impelled by enthusiasm, escaped from her friends, and took passage,
in spite of them, in one of the vessels.
All was ready; the ships set sail; but Olier, Dauversière, and Fancamp
remained at home, as did also the other Associates, with the exception
of Maisonneuve and Mademoiselle Mance. In the following February, an
impressive scene took place in the Church of Notre Dame, at Paris. The
Associates, at this time numbering about forty-five, [16] with Olier at
their head, assembled before the altar of the Virgin, and, by a solemn
ceremonial, consecrated Montreal to the Holy Family. Henceforth it was
to be called Villemarie de Montreal, [17]--a sacred town, reared to the
honor and under the patronage of Christ, St. Joseph, and the Virgin, to
be typified by three persons on earth, founders respectively of the
three destined communities,--Olier, Dauversière, and a maiden of Troyes,
Marguerite Bourgeoys: the seminary to be consecrated to Christ, the
Hôtel-Dieu to St. Joseph, and the college to the Virgin.
[16] Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS. Vimont says thirty five.
[17] Vimont, Relation, 1642, 37. Compare Le Clerc, Établissement de la
Foy, II. 49.
But we are anticipating a little; for it was several years as yet before
Marguerite Bourgeoys took an active part in the work of Montreal. She
was the daughter of a respectable tradesman, and was now twenty-two
years of age. Her portrait has come down to us; and her face is a mirror
of frankness, loyalty, and womanly tenderness. Her qualities were those
of good sense, conscientiousness, and a warm heart. She had known no
miracles, ecstasies, or trances; and though afterwards, when her
religious susceptibilities had reached a fuller development, a few such
are recorded of her, yet even the Abbé Faillon, with the best
intentions, can credit her with but a meagre allowance of these
celestial favors. Though in the midst of visionaries, she distrusted the
supernatural, and avowed her belief, that, in His government of the
world, God does not often set aside its ordinary laws. Her religion was
of the affections, and was manifested in an absorbing devotion to duty.
She had felt no vocation to the cloister, but had taken the vow of
chastity, and was attached, as an externe, to the Sisters of the
Congregation of Troyes, who were fevered with eagerness to go to Canada.
Marguerite, however, was content to wait until there was a prospect that
she could do good by going; and it was not till the year 1653, that,
renouncing an inheritance, and giving all she had to the poor, she
embarked for the savage scene of her labors. To this day, in crowded
school-rooms of Montreal and Quebec, fit monuments of her unobtrusive
virtue, her successors instruct the children of the poor, and embalm the
pleasant memory of Marguerite Bourgeoys. In the martial figure of
Maisonneuve, and the fair form of this gentle nun, we find the true
heroes of Montreal. [18]
[18] For Marguerite Bourgeoys, see her life by Faillon.
Maisonneuve, with his forty men and four women, reached Quebec too late
to ascend to Montreal that season. They encountered distrust, jealousy,
and opposition. The agents of the Company of the Hundred Associates
looked on them askance; and the Governor of Quebec, Montmagny, saw a
rival governor in Maisonneuve. Every means was used to persuade the
adventurers to abandon their project, and settle at Quebec. Montmagny
called a council of the principal persons of his colony, who gave it as
their opinion that the new-comers had better exchange Montreal for the
Island of Orleans, where they would be in a position to give and receive
succor; while, by persisting in their first design, they would expose
themselves to destruction, and be of use to nobody. [19] Maisonneuve,
who was present, expressed his surprise that they should assume to
direct his affairs. "I have not come here," he said, "to deliberate, but
to act. It is my duty and my honor to found a colony at Montreal; and I
would go, if every tree were an Iroquois!" [20]
[19] Juchereau, 32; Faillon, Colonie Française, I. 423.
[20] La Tour, Mémoire de Laval, Liv. VIII; Belmont, Histoire du Canada,
3.
At Quebec there was little ability and no inclination to shelter the new
colonists for the winter; and they would have fared ill, but for the
generosity of M. Puiseaux, who lived not far distant, at a place called
St. Michel. This devout and most hospitable person made room for them
all in his rough, but capacious dwelling. Their neighbors were the
hospital nuns, then living at the mission of Sillery, in a substantial,
but comfortless house of stone; where, amidst destitution, sickness, and
irrepressible disgust at the filth of the savages whom they had in
charge, they were laboring day and night with devoted assiduity. Among
the minor ills which beset them were the eccentricities of one of their
lay sisters, crazed with religious enthusiasm, who had the care of their
poultry and domestic animals, of which she was accustomed to inquire,
one by one, if they loved God; when, not receiving an immediate answer
in the affirmative, she would instantly put them to death, telling them
that their impiety deserved no better fate. [21]
[21] Juchereau, 45. A great mortification to these excellent nuns was
the impossibility of keeping their white dresses clean among their
Indian patients, so that they were forced to dye them with butternut
juice. They were the Hospitalières who had come over in 1639.
At St. Michel, Maisonneuve employed his men in building boats to ascend
to Montreal, and in various other labors for the behoof of the future
colony. Thus the winter wore away; but, as celestial minds are not
exempt from ire, Montmagny and Maisonneuve fell into a quarrel. The
twenty-fifth of January was Maisonneuve's fête day; and, as he was
greatly beloved by his followers, they resolved to celebrate the
occasion. Accordingly, an hour and a half before daylight, they made a
general discharge of their muskets and cannon. The sound reached Quebec,
two or three miles distant, startling the Governor from his morning
slumbers; and his indignation was redoubled when he heard it again at
night: for Maisonneuve, pleased at the attachment of his men, had
feasted them and warmed their hearts with a distribution of wine.
Montmagny, jealous of his authority, resented these demonstrations as an
infraction of it, affirming that they had no right to fire their pieces
without his consent; and, arresting the principal offender, one Jean
Gory, he put him in irons. On being released, a few days after, his
companions welcomed him with great rejoicing, and Maisonneuve gave them
all a feast. He himself came in during the festivity, drank the health
of the company, shook hands with the late prisoner, placed him at the
head of the table, and addressed him as follows:--
"Jean Gory, you have been put in irons for me: you had the pain, and I
the affront. For that, I add ten crowns to your wages." Then, turning to
the others: "My boys," he said, "though Jean Gory has been misused, you
must not lose heart for that, but drink, all of you, to the health of
the man in irons. When we are once at Montreal, we shall be our own
masters, and can fire our cannon when we please." [22]
[22] Documents Divers, MSS., now or lately in possession of G. B.
Faribault, Esq.; Ferland, Notes sur les Registres de N. D. de Québec,
25; Faillon, La Colonie Française, I. 433.
Montmagny was wroth when this was reported to him; and, on the ground
that what had passed was "contrary to the service of the King and the
authority of the Governor," he summoned Gory and six others before him,
and put them separately under oath. Their evidence failed to establish a
case against their commander; but thenceforth there was great coldness
between the powers of Quebec and Montreal.
Early in May, Maisonneuve and his followers embarked. They had gained an
unexpected recruit during the winter, in the person of Madame de la
Peltrie. The piety, the novelty, and the romance of their enterprise,
all had their charms for the fair enthusiast; and an irresistible
impulse--imputed by a slandering historian to the levity of her sex
[23]--urged her to share their fortunes. Her zeal was more admired by
the Montrealists whom she joined than by the Ursulines whom she
abandoned. She carried off all the furniture she had lent them, and left
them in the utmost destitution. [24] Nor did she remain quiet after
reaching Montreal, but was presently seized with a longing to visit the
Hurons, and preach the Faith in person to those benighted heathen. It
needed all the eloquence of a Jesuit, lately returned from that most
arduous mission, to convince her that the attempt would be as useless as
rash. [25]
[23] La Tour, Mémoire de Laval, Liv. VIII.
[24] Charlevoix, Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, 279; Casgrain, Vie de
Marie de l'Incarnation, 333.
[25] St. Thomas, Life of Madame de la Peltrie, 98.
It was the eighth of May when Maisonneuve and his followers embarked at
St. Michel; and as the boats, deep-laden with men, arms, and stores,
moved slowly on their way, the forest, with leaves just opening in the
warmth of spring, lay on their right hand and on their left, in a
flattering semblance of tranquillity and peace. But behind woody islets,
in tangled thickets and damp ravines, and in the shade and stillness of
the columned woods, lurked everywhere a danger and a terror.
What shall we say of these adventurers of Montreal,--of these who
bestowed their wealth, and, far more, of these who sacrificed their
peace and risked their lives, on an enterprise at once so romantic and
so devout? Surrounded as they were with illusions, false lights, and
false shadows,--breathing an atmosphere of miracle,--compassed about
with angels and devils,--urged with stimulants most powerful, though
unreal,--their minds drugged, as it were, to preternatural
excitement,--it is very difficult to judge of them. High merit, without
doubt, there was in some of their number; but one may beg to be spared
the attempt to measure or define it. To estimate a virtue involved in
conditions so anomalous demands, perhaps, a judgment more than human.
The Roman Church, sunk in disease and corruption when the Reformation
began, was roused by that fierce trumpet-blast to purge and brace
herself anew. Unable to advance, she drew back to the fresher and
comparatively purer life of the past; and the fervors of mediæval
Christianity were renewed in the sixteenth century. In many of its
aspects, this enterprise of Montreal belonged to the time of the first
Crusades. The spirit of Godfrey de Bouillon lived again in Chomedey de
Maisonneuve; and in Marguerite Bourgeoys was realized that fair ideal of
Christian womanhood, a flower of Earth expanding in the rays of Heaven,
which soothed with gentle influence the wildness of a barbarous age.
On the seventeenth of May, 1642, Maisonneuve's little flotilla--a
pinnace, a flat-bottomed craft moved by sails, and two row-boats
[26]--approached Montreal; and all on board raised in unison a hymn of
praise. Montmagny was with them, to deliver the island, in behalf of the
Company of the Hundred Associates, to Maisonneuve, representative of the
Associates of Montreal. [27] And here, too, was Father Vimont, Superior
of the missions; for the Jesuits had been prudently invited to accept
the spiritual charge of the young colony. On the following day, they
glided along the green and solitary shores now thronged with the life of
a busy city, and landed on the spot which Champlain, thirty-one years
before, had chosen as the fit site of a settlement. [28] It was a tongue
or triangle of land, formed by the junction of a rivulet with the St.
Lawrence, and known afterwards as Point Callière. The rivulet was
bordered by a meadow, and beyond rose the forest with its vanguard of
scattered trees. Early spring flowers were blooming in the young grass,
and birds of varied plumage flitted among the boughs. [29]
[26] Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.
[27] Le Clerc, II. 50, 51.
[28] "Pioneers of France," 333. It was the Place Royale of Champlain.
[29] Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.
Maisonneuve sprang ashore, and fell on his knees. His followers imitated
his example; and all joined their voices in enthusiastic songs of
thanksgiving. Tents, baggage, arms, and stores were landed. An altar was
raised on a pleasant spot near at hand; and Mademoiselle Mance, with
Madame de la Peltrie, aided by her servant, Charlotte Barré, decorated
it with a taste which was the admiration of the beholders. [30] Now all
the company gathered before the shrine. Here stood Vimont, in the rich
vestments of his office. Here were the two ladies, with their servant;
Montmagny, no very willing spectator; and Maisonneuve, a warlike figure,
erect and tall, his men clustering around him,--soldiers, sailors,
artisans, and laborers,--all alike soldiers at need. They kneeled in
reverent silence as the Host was raised aloft; and when the rite was
over, the priest turned and addressed them:--
[30] Morin, Annales, MS., cited by Faillon, La Colonie Française, I.
440; also Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.
"You are a grain of mustard-seed, that shall rise and grow till its
branches overshadow the earth. You are few, but your work is the work of
God. His smile is on you, and your children shall fill the Land." [31]
[31] Dollier de Casson, MS., as above. Vimont, in the Relation of 1642,
p. 37, briefly mentions the ceremony.
The afternoon waned; the sun sank behind the western forest, and
twilight came on. Fireflies were twinkling over the darkened meadow.
They caught them, tied them with threads into shining festoons, and hung
them before the altar, where the Host remained exposed. Then they
pitched their tents, lighted their bivouac fires, stationed their
guards, and lay down to rest. Such was the birth-night of Montreal. [32]
[32] The Associates of Montreal published, in 1643, a thick pamphlet in
quarto, entitled Les Véritables Motifs de Messieurs et Dames de la
Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal, pour la Conversion des Sauvages de la
Nouvelle France. It was written as an answer to aspersions cast upon
them, apparently by persons attached to the great Company of New France
known as the "Hundred Associates," and affords a curious exposition of
the spirit of their enterprise. It is excessively rare; but copies of
the essential portions are before me. The following is a characteristic
extract:--
"Vous dites que l'entreprise de Montréal est d'une dépense infinie, plus
convenable à un roi qu'à quelques particuliers, trop faibles pour la
soutenir; & vous alléguez encore les périls de la navigation & les
naufrages qui peuvent la ruiner. Vous avez mieux rencontré que vous ne
pensiez, en disant que c'est une œuvre de roi, puisque le Roi des rois
s'en mêle, lui à qui obéissent la mer & les vents. Nous ne craignons
donc pas les naufrages; il n'en suscitera que lorsque nous en aurons
besoin, & qu'il sera plus expédient pour sa gloire, que nous cherchons
uniquement. Comment avez-vous pu mettre dans votre esprit qu'appuyés de
nos propres forces, nous eussions présumé de penser à un si glorieux
dessein? Si Dieu n'est point dans l'affaire de Montréal, si c'est une
invention humaine, ne vous en mettez point en peine, elle ne durera
guère. Ce que vous prédisez arrivera, & quelque chose de pire encore;
mais si Dieu l'a ainsi voulu, qui êtes-vous pour lui contredire? C'était
la reflexion que le docteur Gamaliel faisait aux Juifs, en faveur des
Apôtres; pour vous, qui ne pouvez ni croire, ni faire, laissez les
autres en liberté de faire ce qu'ils croient que Dieu demande d'eux.
Vous assurez qu'il ne se fait plus de miracles; mais qui vous l'a dit?
où cela est-il écrit? Jésus-Christ assure, au contraire, que ceux qui
auront autant de Foi qu'un grain de senevé, feront, en son nom, des
miracles plus grands que ceux qu'il a faits lui-même. Depuis quand
êtes-vous les directeurs des operations divines, pour les réduire à
certains temps & dans la conduite ordinaire? Tant de saints mouvements,
d'inspirations & de vues intérieures, qu'il lui plaît de donner à
quelques âmes dont il se sert pour l'avancement de cette œuvre, sont des
marques de son bon plaisir. Jusqu'-ici, il a pourvu au nécessaire; nous
ne voulons point d'abondance, & nous espérons que sa Providence
continuera."
Is this true history, or a romance of Christian chivalry? It is both.