BECOMES BISHOP OF QUEBEC
The creation of a bishopric in Canada was becoming necessary, and all
was ready for the erection of a separate see. Mgr. de Laval had thought
of everything: the two seminaries with the resources indispensable for
their maintenance, cathedral, parishes or missions regularly
established, institutions of education or charity, numerous schools, a
zealous and devoted clergy, respected both by the government of the
colony and by that of the mother country. What more could be desired? He
had many struggles to endure in order to obtain this creation, but
patience and perseverance never failed him, and like the drop of water
which, falling incessantly upon the pavement, finally wears away the
stone, his reasonable and ever repeated demands eventually overcame the
obstinacy of the king. Not, however, until 1674 was he definitely
appointed Bishop of Quebec, and could enjoy without opposition a title
which had belonged to him so long in reality; this was, as it were, the
final consecration of his life and the crowning of his efforts. Upon the
news of this the joy of the people and of the clergy rose to its height:
the future of the Canadian Church was assured, and she would inscribe
in her annals a name dear to all and soon to be glorified.
Shall we, then, suppose that this pontiff was indeed ambitious, who,
coming in early youth to wield his pastoral crozier upon the banks of
the St. Lawrence, did not fear the responsibility of so lofty a task?
The assumption would be quite unjustified. Rather let us think of him as
meditating on this text of St. Paul: "_Oportet episcopum
irreprehensibilem esse_," the bishop must be irreproachable in his
house, his relations, his speech and even his silence. His past career
guaranteed his possession of that admixture of strength and gentleness,
of authority and condescension in which lies the great art of governing
men. Moreover, one thing reassured him, his knowledge that the crown of
a bishop is often a crown of thorns. When the apostle St. Paul outlined
for his disciple the main features of the episcopal character, he spoke
not alone for the immediate successors of the apostles, but for all
those who in the succession of ages should be honoured by the same
dignity. No doubt the difficulties would be often less, persecution
might even cease entirely, but trial would continue always, because it
is the condition of the Church as well as that of individuals. The
prelate himself explains to us the very serious reasons which led him to
insist on obtaining the title of Bishop of Quebec. He writes in these
terms to the Propaganda: "I have never till now sought the episcopacy,
and I have accepted it in spite of myself, convinced of my weakness.
But, having borne its burden, I shall consider it a boon to be relieved
of it, though I do not refuse to sacrifice myself for the Church of
Jesus Christ and for the welfare of souls. I have, however, learned by
long experience how unguarded is the position of an apostolic vicar
against those who are entrusted with political affairs, I mean the
officers of the court, perpetual rivals and despisers of the
ecclesiastical power, who have nothing more common to object than that
the authority of the apostolic vicar is doubtful and should be
restricted within certain limits. This is why, after having maturely
considered everything, I have resolved to resign this function and to
return no more to New France unless a see be erected there, and unless I
be provided and furnished with bulls constituting me its occupant. Such
is the purpose of my journey to France and the object of my desires."
As early as the year 1662, at the time of his first journey to France,
the Bishop of Petræa had obtained from Louis XIV the assurance that this
prince would petition the sovereign pontiff for the erection of the see
of Quebec; moreover, the monarch had at the same time assigned to the
future bishopric the revenues of the abbey of Maubec. The king kept his
word, for on June 28th, 1664, he addressed to the common Father of the
faithful the following letter: "The choice made by your Holiness of the
person of the Sieur de Laval, Bishop of Petræa, to go in the capacity
of apostolic vicar to exercise episcopal functions in Canada has been
attended by many advantages to this growing Church. We have reason to
expect still greater results if it please your Holiness to permit him to
continue there the same functions in the capacity of bishop of the
place, by establishing for this purpose an episcopal see in Quebec; and
we hope that your Holiness will be the more inclined to this since we
have already provided for the maintenance of the bishop and his canons
by consenting to the perpetual union of the abbey of Maubec with the
future bishopric. This is why we beg you to grant to the Bishop of
Petræa the title of Bishop of Quebec upon our nomination and prayer,
with power to exercise in this capacity the episcopal functions in all
Canada."
However, the appointment was not consummated; the Propaganda, indeed,
decided in a rescript of December 15th, 1666, that it was necessary to
make of Quebec a see, whose occupant should be appointed by the king;
the Consistorial Congregation of Rome promulgated a new decree with the
same purpose on October 9th, 1670, and yet Mgr. de Laval still remained
Bishop of Petræa. This was because the eternal question of jurisdiction
as between the civil and religious powers, the question which did so
much harm to Catholicism in France, in England, in Italy, and especially
in Germany, was again being revived. The King of France demanded that
the new diocese should be dependent upon the Metropolitan of Rouen,
while the pontifical government, of which its providential rôle requires
always a breadth of view, and, so to speak, a foreknowledge of events
impossible to any nation, desired the new diocese to be an immediate
dependency of the Holy See. "We must confess here," says the Abbé
Ferland, "that the sight of the sovereign pontiff reached much farther
into the future than that of the great king. Louis XIV was concerned
with the kingdom of France; Clement X thought of the interests of the
whole Catholic world. The little French colony was growing; separated
from the mother country by the ocean, it might be wrested from France by
England, which was already so powerful in America; what, then, would
become of the Church of Quebec if it had been wont to lean upon that of
Rouen and to depend upon it? It was better to establish at once
immediate relations between the Bishop of Quebec and the supreme head of
the Catholic Church; it was better to establish bonds which could be
broken neither by time nor force, and Quebec might thus become one day
the metropolis of the dioceses which should spring from its bosom."
The opposition to the views of Mgr. de Laval did not come, however, so
much from the king as from Mgr. de Harlay, Archbishop of Rouen, who had
never consented to the detachment of Canada from his jurisdiction.
Events turned out fortunately for the apostolic vicar, since the
Archbishop of Rouen was called to the important see of Paris on the
death of the Archbishop of Paris, Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont, in
the very year in which Mgr. de Laval embarked for France, accompanied by
his grand vicar, M. de Lauson-Charny. The task now became much easier,
and Laval had no difficulty in inducing the king to urge the erection of
the diocese at Quebec, and to abandon his claims to making the new
diocese dependent on the archbishopric of Rouen.
Before leaving Canada the Bishop of Quebec had entrusted the
administration of the apostolic vicariate to M. de Bernières, and, in
case of the latter's death, to M. Dudouyt. He embarked in the autumn of
1671.
To the keen regret of the population of Ville-Marie, which owed him so
much, M. de Queylus, Abbé de Loc-Dieu and superior of the Seminary of
Montreal for the last three years, went to France at the same time as
his ecclesiastical superior. "M. l'abbé de Queylus," wrote Commissioner
Talon to the Minister Colbert, "is making an urgent application for the
settlement and increase of the colony of Montreal. He carries his zeal
farther, for he is going to take charge of the Indian children who fall
into the hands of the Iroquois, in order to have them educated, the boys
in his seminary, and the girls by persons of the same sex, who form at
Montreal a sort of congregation to teach young girls the petty
handicrafts, in addition to reading and writing." M. de Queylus had used
his great fortune in all sorts of good works in the colony, but he was
not the only Sulpician whose hand was always ready and willing. Before
dying, M. Olier had begged his successors to continue the work at
Ville-Marie, "because," said he, "it is the will of God," and the
priests of St. Sulpice received this injunction as one of the most
sacred codicils of the will of their Father. However onerous the
continuation of this plan was for the company, the latter sacrificed to
it without hesitation its resources, its efforts and its members with
the most complete abnegation.[6] Thus when, on March 9th, 1663, the
Company of Montreal believed itself no longer capable of meeting its
obligations, and begged St. Sulpice to take them up, the seminary
subordinated all considerations of self-interest and human prudence to
this view. To this MM. de Bretonvilliers, de Queylus and du Bois devoted
their fortunes, and to this work of the conversion of the savages
priests distinguished in birth and riches gave up their whole lives and
property. M. de Belmont discharged the hundred and twenty thousand
francs of debts of the Company of Montreal, gave as much more to the
establishment of divers works, and left more than two hundred thousand
francs of his patrimony to support them after his death. How many
others did likewise! During more than fifty years Paris sent to this
mission only priests able to pay their board, that they might have the
right to share in this evangelization. This disinterestedness, unheard
of in the history of the most unselfish congregations, saved, sustained
and finally developed this settlement, to which Roman Catholics point
to-day with pride. The Seminary of Paris contributed to it a sum equal
to twice the value of the island, and during the first sixty years more
than nine hundred thousand francs, as one may see by the archives of the
Department of Marine at Paris. These sums to-day would represent a large
fortune.
Finally the prayers of Mgr. de Laval were heard; Pope Clement X signed
on October 1st, 1674, the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec,
which was to extend over all the French possessions in North America.
The sovereign pontiff incorporated with the new bishopric for its
maintenance the abbey of Maubec, given by the King of France already in
1662, and in exchange for the renunciation by this prince of his right
of presentation to the abbey of Maubec, granted him the right of
nomination to the bishopric of Quebec. To his first gift the king had
added a second, that of the abbey of Lestrées. Situated in Normandy and
in the archdeaconry of Evreux, this abbey was one of the oldest of the
order of Citeaux.
Up to this time the venerable bishop had had many difficulties to
surmount; he was about to meet some of another sort, those of the
administration of vast properties. The abbey of Maubec, occupied by
monks of the order of St. Benedict, was situated in one of the fairest
provinces of France, Le Perry, and was dependent upon the archdiocese of
Bourges. Famous vineyards, verdant meadows, well cultivated fields, rich
farms, forests full of game and ponds full of fish made this abbey an
admirable domain; unfortunately, the expenses of maintaining or
repairing the buildings, the dues payable to the government, the
allowances secured to the monks, and above all, the waste and theft
which must necessarily victimize proprietors separated from their
tenants by the whole breadth of an ocean, must absorb a great part of
the revenues. Letters of the steward of this property to the Bishop of
Quebec are instructive in this matter. "M. Porcheron is still the same,"
writes the steward, M. Matberon, "and bears me a grudge because I desire
to safeguard your interests. I am incessantly carrying on the work of
needful repairs in all the places dependent on Maubec, chiefly those
necessary to the ponds, in order that M. Porcheron may have no damages
against you. This is much against his will, for he is constantly seeking
an excuse for litigation. He swears that he does not want your farm any
longer, but as for me, I believe that this is not his feeling, and that
he would wish the farm out of the question, for he is too fond of
hunting and his pleasure to quit it.... He does his utmost to remove me
from your service, insinuating many things against me which are not
true; but this does not lessen my zeal in serving you."
Mgr. de Laval, who did not hesitate at any exertion when it was a
question of the interests of his Church, did not fail to go and visit
his two abbeys. He set out, happy in the prospect of being able to
admire these magnificent properties whose rich revenues would permit him
to do so much good in his diocese; but he was painfully affected at the
sight of the buildings in ruins, sad relics of the wars of religion. In
order to free himself as much as possible from cares which would have
encroached too much upon his precious time and his pastoral duties,
Laval caused a manager to be appointed by the Royal Council for the
abbey of Lestrées, and rented it for a fixed sum to M. Berthelot. He
also made with the latter a very advantageous transaction by exchanging
with him the Island of Orleans for the Ile Jésus; M. Berthelot was to
give him besides a sum of twenty-five thousand francs, which was
employed in building the seminary. Later the king made the Island of
Orleans a county. It became the county of St. Lawrence.
Mgr. de Laval was too well endowed with qualities of the heart, as well
as with those of the mind, not to have preserved a deep affection for
his family; he did not fail to go and see them twice during his stay in
France. Unhappily, his brother, Jean-Louis, to whom he had yielded all
his rights as eldest son, and his titles to the hereditary lordship of
Montigny and Montbeaudry, caused only grief to his family and to his
wife, Françoise de Chevestre. As lavish as he was violent and
hot-tempered, he reduced by his excesses his numerous family (for he had
had ten children), to such poverty that the Bishop of Quebec had to come
to his aid; besides the assistance which he sent them, the prelate
bought him a house. He extended his protection also to his nephews, and
his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to him about them as follows: "The
eldest is developing a little; he is in the army with the king, and his
father has given him a good start. I have obtained from my petitions
from Paris a place as monk in the Congregation of the Cross for his
second son, whom I shall try to have reared in the knowledge and fear of
God. I believe that the youngest, who has been sent to you, will have
come to the right place; he is of good promise. My brother desires
greatly that you may have the goodness to give Fanchon the advantage of
an education before sending him back. It is a great charity to these
poor children to give them a little training. You will be a father to
them in this matter." One never applied in vain to the heart of the good
bishop. Two of his nephews owed him their education at the seminary of
Quebec; one of them, Fanchon (Charles-François-Guy), after a brilliant
course in theology at Paris, became vicar-general to the Swan of
Cambrai, the illustrious Fénelon, and was later raised to the bishopric
of Ypres.
Meanwhile, four years had elapsed since Mgr. de Laval had left the soil
of Canada, and he did not cease to receive letters which begged him
respectfully to return to his diocese. "Nothing is lacking to animate us
but the presence of our lord bishop," wrote, one day, Father Dablon.
"His absence keeps this country, as it were, in mourning, and makes us
languish in the too long separation from a person so necessary to these
growing churches. He was the soul of them, and the zeal which he showed
on every occasion for the welfare of our Indians drew upon us favours of
Heaven most powerful for the success of our missions; and since, however
distant he be in the body, his heart is ever with us, we experience the
effects of it in the continuity of the blessings with which God favours
the labours of our missionaries." Accordingly, he did not lose a moment
after receiving the decrees appointing him Bishop of Quebec. On May
19th, 1675, he renewed the union of his seminary with that of the
Foreign Missions in Paris. "This union," says the Abbé Ferland, "a union
which he had effected for the first time in 1665 as apostolic bishop of
New France, was of great importance to his diocese. He found, indeed, in
this institution, good recruits, who were sent to him when needed, and
faithful correspondents, whom he could address with confidence, and who
had sufficient influence at court to gain a hearing for their
representations in favour of the Church in Canada." On May 29th of the
same year he set sail for Canada; he was accompanied by a priest, a
native of the city of Orleans, M. Glandelet, who was one of the most
distinguished priests of the seminary.
To understand with what joy he was received by his parishioners on his
arrival, it is enough to read what his brother, Henri de Laval, wrote to
him the following year: "I cannot express to you the satisfaction and
inward joy which I have received in my soul on reading a report sent
from Canada of the manner in which your clergy and all your people have
received you, and that our Lord inspires them all with just and true
sentiments to recognize you as their father and pastor. They testify to
having received through your beloved person as it were a new life. I ask
our Lord every day at His holy altars to preserve you some years more
for the sanctification of these poor people and our own."
FOOTNOTES:
[6] _Vie de M. Olier_, par De Lanjuère. As I wrote this life some years
ago with the collaboration of a gentleman whom death has taken from us,
I believe myself entitled to reproduce here and there in the present
life of Mgr. de Laval extracts from this book.