LAVAL RETURNS TO CANADA
Mgr. de Laval was still in France when the edict of May, 1679, appeared,
decreeing on the suggestion of Frontenac, that the tithe should be paid
only to "each of the parish priests within the extent of his parish
where he is established in perpetuity in the stead of the removable
priest who previously administered it." The ideas of the Count de
Frontenac were thus victorious, and the king retracted his first
decision. He had in his original decree establishing the Seminary of
Quebec, granted the bishop and his successors "the right of recalling
and displacing the priests by them delegated to the parishes to exercise
therein parochial functions." Laval on his return to Canada conformed
without murmur to the king's decision; he worked, together with the
governor and commissioner, at drawing up the plan of the parishes to be
established, and sent his vicar-general to install the priests who were
appointed to the different livings. He desired to inspire his whole
clergy with the disinterestedness which he had always evinced, for not
only did he recommend his priests "to content themselves with the
simplest living, and with the bare necessaries of their support," but
besides, agreeing with the governor and the commissioner, he estimated
that an annual sum of five hundred livres merely, that is to say, about
three hundred dollars of our present money, was sufficient for the
lodging and maintenance of a priest. This was more than modest, and yet,
without a very considerable extension, there was no parish capable of
supplying the needs of its priest. There was indeed, it is true, an
article of the edict specifying that in case of the tithe being
insufficient, the necessary supplement should be fixed by the council
and furnished by the seigneur of the place and by the inhabitants; but
this manner of aiding the priests who were reduced to a bare competence
was not practical, as was soon evident. Another article gave the title
of patron to any seigneur who should erect a religious edifice; this
article was just as fantastic, "for," wrote Commissioner Duchesneau,
"there is no private person in this country who is in a position to
build churches of any kind."
The king, always well disposed towards the clergy of Canada, came to
their aid again in this matter. He granted them an annual income of
eight thousand francs, to be raised from his "_Western Dominions_," that
is to say, from the sum derived in Canada from the _droit du quart_ and
the farm of Tadousac; from these funds, which were distributed by the
seminary until 1692, and after this date by the bishop alone, two
thousand francs were to be set aside for priests prevented by illness or
old age from fulfilling the duties of the holy ministry, and twelve
hundred francs were to be employed in the erection of parochial
churches. This aid came aptly, but was not sufficient, as Commissioner
de Beauharnois himself admits. And yet the deplorable state in which the
treasury of France then was, on account of the enormous expenses
indulged in by Louis XIV, and especially in consequence of the wars
which he waged against Europe, obliged him to diminish this allowance.
In 1707 it was reduced by half.
It was feared for a time by the Sulpicians that the edict of 1679 might
injure the rights which they had acquired from the union with their
seminary of the parishes established on the Island of Montreal, and they
therefore hastened to request from the king the civil confirmation of
this canonical union. "There is," they said in their request, "a sort of
need that the parishes of the Island of Montreal and of the surrounding
parts should be connected with a community able to furnish them with
priests, who could not otherwise be found in the country, to administer
the said livings; these priests would not expose themselves to a sea
voyage and to leaving their family comforts to go and sacrifice
themselves in a wild country, if they did not hope that in their
infirmity or old age they would be free to withdraw from the laborious
administration of the parishes, and that they would find a refuge in
which to end their days in tranquillity in a community which, on its
part, would not pledge itself in such a way as to afford them the hope
of this refuge, and to furnish other priests in their place, if it had
not the free control of the said parishes and power to distribute among
them the ecclesiastics belonging to its body whom it might judge capable
of this, and withdraw or exchange them when fitting." The request of the
Sulpicians was granted by the king.
It was not until 1680 that the Bishop of Quebec could return to Canada.
The all-important questions of the permanence of livings and of the
traffic in brandy were not the only ones which kept him in France;
another difficulty, that of the dependence of his diocese, demanded of
his devotion a great many efforts at the court. The circumstances were
difficult. France was plunged at this period in the famous dispute
between the government and the court of Rome over the question of the
right of _régale_, a dispute which nearly brought about a schism. The
Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. de Harlay, who had laboured so much when he
was Bishop of Rouen to keep New France under the jurisdiction of the
diocese of Normandy, used his influence to make Canada dependent on the
archbishopric of Paris. The death of this prelate put an end to this
claim, and the French colony in North America continued its direct
connection with the Holy See.
Mgr. de Laval strove also to obtain from the Holy Father the canonical
union of the abbeys of Maubec and of Lestrées with his bishopric; if he
had obtained it, he could have erected his chapter at once, assuring by
the revenues of these monasteries a sufficient maintenance for his
canons. The opposition of the religious orders on which these abbeys
depended defeated his plan, but in compensation he obtained from the
generosity of the king a grant of land on which his successor,
Saint-Vallier, afterwards erected the church of Notre-Dame des
Victoires. The venerable prelate might well ask favours for his diocese
when he himself set an example of the greatest generosity. By a deed,
dated at Paris, he gave to his seminary all that he possessed: Ile
Jésus, the seigniories of Beaupré and Petite Nation, a property at
Château Richer, finally books, furniture, funds, and all that might
belong to him at the moment of his death.
Laval returned to Canada at a time when the relations with the savage
tribes were becoming so strained as to threaten an impending rupture. So
far had matters gone that Colonel Thomas Dongan, governor of New York,
had urged the Iroquois to dig up the hatchet, and he was only too
willingly obeyed. Unfortunately, the two governing heads of the colony
were replaced just at that moment. Governor de Frontenac and
Commissioner Duchesneau were recalled in 1682, and supplanted by de la
Barre and de Meulles. The latter were far from equalling their
predecessors. M. de Lefebvre de la Barre was a clever sailor but a
deplorable administrator; as for the commissioner, M. de Meulles, his
incapacity did not lessen his extreme conceit.
On his arrival at Quebec, Laval learned with deep grief that a terrible
conflagration had, a few weeks before, consumed almost the whole of the
Lower Town. The houses, and even the stores being then built of wood,
everything was devoured by the flames. A single dwelling escaped the
disaster, that of a rich private person, M. Aubert de la Chesnaie, in
whose house mass was said every Sunday and feast-day for the citizens of
the Lower Town who could not go to the parish service. To bear witness
of his gratitude to Heaven, M. de la Chesnaie came to the aid of a good
number of his fellow-citizens, and helped them with his money to rebuild
their houses. This fire injured the merchants of Montreal almost as much
as those of Quebec, and the _Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu_ relates that
"more riches were lost on that sad night than all Canada now possesses."
The king had the greatest desire for the future reign of harmony in the
colony; accordingly he enjoined upon M. de Meulles to use every effort
to agree with the governor-general: "If the latter should fail in his
duty to the sovereign, the commissioner should content himself with a
remonstrance and allow him to act further without disturbing him, but as
soon as possible afterwards should render an account to the king's
council of what might be prejudicial to the good of the state." Mgr. de
Laval, to whom the prince had written in the same tenor, replied at
once: "The honour which your Majesty has done me in writing to me that
M. de Meulles has orders to preserve here a perfect understanding with
me in all things, and to give me all the aid in his power, is so evident
a mark of the affection which your Majesty cherishes for this new Church
and for the bishop who governs it, that I feel obliged to assure your
Majesty of my most humble gratitude. As I do not doubt that this new
commissioner whom you have chosen will fulfil with pleasure your
commands, I may also assure your Majesty that on my part I shall
correspond with him in the fulfilment of my duty, and that I shall all
my life consider it my greatest joy to enter into the intentions of your
Majesty for the general good of this country, which constitutes a part
of your dominions." Concord thus advised could not displease a pastor
who loved nothing so much as union and harmony among all who held the
reins of power, a pastor who had succeeded in making his Church a family
so united that it was quoted once as a model in one of the pulpits of
Paris. If he sometimes strove against the powerful of this earth, it was
when it was a question of combating injustice or some abuse prejudicial
to the welfare of his flock. "Although by his superior intelligence,"
says Latour, "by his experience, his labours, his virtues, his birth
and his dignity, he was an oracle whose views the whole clergy
respected, no one ever more distrusted himself, or asked with more
humility, or followed with more docility the counsel of his inferiors
and disciples.... He was less a superior than a colleague, who sought
the right with them and sought it only for its own sake. Accordingly,
never was prelate better obeyed or better seconded than Mgr. de Laval,
because, far from having that professional jealousy which desires to do
everything itself, which dreads merit and enjoys only despotism, never
did prelate evince more appreciative confidence in his inferiors, or
seek more earnestly to give zeal and talent their dues, or have less
desire to command, or did, in fact, command less." The new governor
brought from France strong prejudices against the bishop; he lost them
very quickly, and he wrote to the minister, the Marquis de Seignelay:
"We have greatly laboured, the bishop and I, in the establishment of the
parishes of this country. I send you the arrangement which we have
arrived at concerning them. We owe it to the bishop, who is extremely
well affected to the country, and in whom we must trust." The minister
wrote to the prelate and expressed to him his entire satisfaction in his
course.
The vigilant bishop had not yet entirely recovered from the fatigue of
his journey when he decided, in spite of the infirmities which were
beginning to overwhelm him, and which were to remain the constant
companions of his latest years, to visit all the parishes and the
religious communities of his immense diocese. He had already traversed
them in the winter time in his former pastoral visits, shod with
snowshoes, braving the fogs, the snow and the bitterest weather. In the
suffocating heat of summer, travel in a bark canoe was scarcely less
fatiguing to a man of almost sixty years, worn out by the hard ministry
of a quarter of a century. However, he decided on a summer journey, and
set out on June 1st, 1681, accompanied by M. de Maizerets, one of his
grand vicars. He visited successively Lotbinière, Batiscan, Champlain,
Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Trois Rivières, Chambly, Sorel, St. Ours,
Contrecoeur, Verchères, Boucherville, Repentigny, Lachesnaie, and
arrived on June 19th at Montreal. The marks of respectful affection
lavished upon him by the population compel him to receive continual
visits; but he has come especially for his beloved religious
communities, and he honours them all with his presence, the Seminary of
St. Sulpice as well as the Congregation of Notre-Dame and the hospital.
These labours are not sufficient for his apostolic zeal; he betakes
himself to the house of the Jesuit Fathers at Laprairie, then to their
Indian Mission at the Sault St. Louis, finally to the parish of St.
François de Sales, in the Ile Jésus. Descending the St. Lawrence River,
he sojourns successively at Longueuil, at Varennes, at Lavaltrie, at
Nicolet, at Bécancourt, at Gentilly, at Ste. Anne de la Pérade, at
Deschambault. He returns to Quebec; his devoted fellow-workers in the
seminary urge him to rest, but he will think of rest only when his
mission is fully ended. He sets out again, and Ile aux Oies,
Cap-Saint-Ignace, St. Thomas, St. Michel, Beaumont, St. Joseph de Lévis
have in turn the happiness of receiving their pastor. The undertaking
was too great for the bishop's strength, and he suffered the results
which could not but follow upon such a strain. The registers of the
Sovereign Council prove to us that only a week after his return he had
to take to his bed, and for two months could not occupy his seat among
the other councillors. "His Lordship fell ill of a dangerous malady,"
says a memoir of that time. "For the space of a fortnight his death was
expected, but God granted us the favour of bringing him to
convalescence, and eventually to his former health."
M. de la Barre, on his arrival, desired to inform himself exactly of the
condition of the colony. In a great assembly held at Quebec, on October
10th, 1682, he gathered all the men who occupied positions of
consideration in the colony. Besides the governor, the bishop and the
commissioner, there were noticed among others M. Dollier de Casson, the
superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, several Jesuit
Fathers, MM. de Varennes, governor of Three Rivers, d'Ailleboust, de
Brussy and Le Moyne. The information which M. de la Barre obtained from
the assembly was far from reassuring; incessantly stirred up by Governor
Dongan's genius for intrigue, the Iroquois were preparing to descend
upon the little colony. If they had not already begun hostilities, it
was because they wished first to massacre the tribes allied with the
French; already the Hurons, the Algonquins, the Conestogas, the
Delawares and a portion of the Illinois had fallen under their blows. It
was necessary to save from extermination the Ottawa and Illinois tribes.
Now, one might indeed raise a thousand robust men, accustomed to savage
warfare, but, if they were used for an expedition, who would cultivate
in their absence the lands of these brave men? A prompt reinforcement
from the mother country became urgent, and M. de la Barre hastened to
demand it.
The war had already begun. The Iroquois had seized two canoes, the
property of La Salle, near Niagara; they had likewise attacked and
plundered fourteen Frenchmen _en route_ to the Illinois with merchandise
valued at sixteen thousand francs. It was known, besides, that the
Cayugas and the Senecas were preparing to attack the French settlements
the following summer. In spite of all, the expected help did not arrive.
One realizes the anguish to which the population must have been a prey
when one reads the following letter from the Bishop of Quebec: "Sire,
the Marquis de Seignelay will inform your Majesty of the war which the
Iroquois have declared against your subjects of New France, and will
explain the need of sending aid sufficient to destroy, if possible, this
enemy, who has opposed for so many years the establishment of this
colony.... Since it has pleased your Majesty to choose me for the
government of this growing Church, I feel obliged, more than any one, to
make its needs manifest to you. The paternal care which you have always
had for us leaves me no room to doubt that you will give the necessary
orders for the most prompt aid possible, without which this poor country
would be exposed to a danger nigh unto ruin."
The expected reinforcements finally arrived; on November 9th, 1684, the
whole population of Quebec, assembled at the harbour, received with joy
three companies of soldiers, composed of fifty-two men each. The Bishop
of Quebec did not fail to express to the king his personal obligation
and the gratitude of all: "The troops which your Majesty has sent to
defend us against the Iroquois," he wrote to the king, "and the lands
which you have granted us for the subsidiary church of the Lower Town,
and the funds which you have allotted both to rebuild the cathedral
spire and to aid in the maintenance of the priests, these are favours
which oblige me to thank your Majesty, and make me hope that you will
deign to continue your royal bounties to our Church and the whole
colony."
M. de la Barre was thus finally able to set out on his expedition
against the Iroquois. At the head of one hundred and thirty soldiers,
seven hundred militia and two hundred and sixty Indians, he marched to
Lake Ontario, where the Iroquois, intimidated, sent him a deputation.
The ambassadors, who expected to see a brilliant army full of ardour,
were astonished to find themselves in the presence of pale and emaciated
soldiers, worn out more by sickness and privations of every kind than by
fatigue. The governor, in fact, had lost ten or twelve days at Montreal;
on the way the provisions had become spoiled and insufficient, hence the
name of Famine Creek given to the place where he entered with his
troops, above the Oswego River. At this sight the temper of the
delegates changed, and their proposals showed it; they spoke with
arrogance, and almost demanded peace; they undertook to indemnify the
French merchants plundered by them on condition that the army should
decamp on the morrow. Such weakness could not attract to M. de la Barre
the affection of the colonists; the king relieved him from his
functions, and appointed as his successor the Marquis de Denonville, a
colonel of dragoons, whose valour seemed to promise the colony better
days.