THE LABOURS OF OLD AGE
The peace lasted only four years. M. de Callières, who succeeded Count
de Frontenac, was able, thanks to his prudence and the devotion of the
missionaries, to gather at Montreal more than twelve hundred Indian
chiefs or warriors, and to conclude peace with almost all the tribes.
Chief Kondiaronk had become a faithful friend of the French; it was to
his good-will and influence that they were indebted for the friendship
of a large number of Indian tribes. He died at Montreal during these
peaceful festivities and was buried with pomp.
The war was about to break out anew, in 1701, with Great Britain and the
other nations of Europe, because Louis XIV had accepted for his grandson
and successor the throne of Spain. M. de Callières died at this
juncture; his successor, Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil,
brought the greatest energy to the support in Canada of a struggle which
was to end in the dismemberment of the colony. God permitted Mgr. de
Laval to die before the Treaty of Utrecht, whose conditions would have
torn the patriotic heart of the venerable prelate.
Other reasons for sorrow he did not lack, especially when Mgr. de
Saint-Vallier succeeded, on his visit to the king in 1691, in obtaining
a reversal of the policy marked out for the seminary by the first bishop
of the colony; this establishment would be in the future only a seminary
like any other, and would have no other mission than that of the
training of priests. By a decree of the council of February 2nd, 1692,
the number of the directors of the seminary was reduced to five, who
were to concern themselves principally with the training of young men
who might have a vocation for the ecclesiastical life; they might also
devote themselves to missions, with the consent of the bishop. No
ecclesiastic had the right of becoming an associate of the seminary
without the permission of the bishop, within whose province it was to
employ the former associates for the service of his diocese with the
consent of the superiors. The last part of the decree provided that the
four thousand francs given by the king for the diocese of Quebec should
be distributed in equal portions, one for the seminary and the two
others for the priests and the church buildings. As to the permanence of
priests, the decree issued by the king for the whole kingdom was to be
adhered to in Canada. In the course of the same year Mgr. de
Saint-Vallier obtained, moreover, from the sovereign the authority to
open at Quebec in Notre-Dame des Anges, the former convent of the
Récollets, a general hospital for the poor, which was entrusted to the
nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu. The poor who might be admitted to it would be
employed at work proportionate to their strength, and more particularly
in the tilling of the farms belonging to the establishment. If we
remember that Mgr. de Laval had consecrated twenty years of his life to
giving his seminary, by a perfect union between its members and his
whole clergy, a formidable power in the colony, a power which in his
opinion could be used only for the good of the Church and in the public
interest, and that he now saw his efforts annihilated forever, we cannot
help admiring the resignation with which he managed to accept this
destruction of his dearest work. And not only did he bow before the
impenetrable designs of Providence, but he even used his efforts to
pacify those around him whose excitable temperaments might have brought
about conflicts with the authorities. The Abbé Gosselin quotes in this
connection the following example: "A priest, M. de Francheville, thought
he had cause for complaint at the behaviour of his bishop towards him,
and wrote him a letter in no measured terms, but he had the good sense
to submit it previously to Mgr. de Laval, whom he regarded as his
father. The aged bishop expunged from this letter all that might wound
Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, and it was sent with the corrections which he
desired." The venerable prelate did not content himself with avoiding
all that might cause difficulties to his successor; he gave him his
whole aid in any circumstances, and in particular in the foundation of
a convent of Ursulines at Three Rivers, and when the general hospital
was threatened in its very existence. "Was it not a spectacle worthy of
the admiration of men and angels," exclaims the Abbé Fornel in his
funeral oration on Mgr. de Saint-Vallier, "to see the first Bishop of
Quebec and his successor vieing one with the other in a noble rivalry
and in a struggle of religious fervour for the victory in exercises of
piety? Have they not both been seen harmonizing and reconciling together
the duties of seminarists and canons; of canons by their assiduity in
the recitation of the breviary, and of seminarists in condescending to
the lowest duties, such as sweeping and serving in the kitchen?" The
patience and trust in God of Mgr. de Laval were rewarded by the
following letter which he received from Father La Chaise, confessor to
King Louis XIV: "I have received with much respect and gratitude two
letters with which you have honoured me. I have blessed God that He has
preserved you for His glory and the good of the Church in Canada in a
period of deadly mortality; and I pray every day that He may preserve
you some years more for His service and the consolation of your old
friends and servants. I hope that you will maintain towards them to the
end your good favour and interest, and that those who would wish to make
them lose these may be unable to alter them. You will easily judge how
greatly I desire that our Fathers may merit the continuation of your
kindness, and may preserve a perfect union with the priests of your
seminary, by the sacrifice which I desire they should make to the
latter, in consideration of you, of the post of Tamarois, in spite of
all the reasons and the facility for preserving it to them...."
The mortality to which the reverend father alludes was the result of an
epidemic which carried off, in 1700, a great number of persons. Old men
in particular were stricken, and M. de Bernières among others fell a
victim to the scourge. It is very probable that this affliction was
nothing less than the notorious influenza which, in these later years,
has cut down so many valuable lives throughout the world. The following
years were still more terrible for the town; smallpox carried off
one-fourth of the population of Quebec. If we add to these trials the
disaster of the two conflagrations which consumed the seminary, we shall
have the measure of the troubles which at this period overwhelmed the
city of Champlain. The seminary, begun in 1678, had just been barely
completed. It was a vast edifice of stone, of grandiose appearance; a
sun dial was set above a majestic door of two leaves, the approach to
which was a fine stairway of cut stone. "The building," wrote Frontenac
in 1679, "is very large and has four storeys, the walls are seven feet
thick, the cellars and pantries are vaulted, the lower windows have
embrasures, and the roof is of slate brought from France." On November
15th, 1701, the priests of the seminary had taken their pupils to St.
Michel, near Sillery, to a country house which belonged to them. About
one in the afternoon fire broke out in the seminary buildings. The
inhabitants hastened up from all directions to the spot and attempted
with the greatest energy to stay the progress of the flames. Idle
efforts! The larger and the smaller seminary, the priests' house, the
chapel barely completed, were all consumed, with the exception of some
furniture and a little plate and tapestry. The cathedral was saved,
thanks to the efforts of the state engineer, M. Levasseur de Néré, who
succeeded in cutting off the communication of the sacred temple with the
buildings in flames. Mgr. de Laval, confined then to a bed of pain,
avoided death by escaping half-clad; he accepted for a few days,
together with the priests of the seminary, the generous hospitality
offered them by the Jesuit Fathers. In order not to be too long a burden
to their hosts, they caused to be prepared for their lodgment the
episcopal palace which had been begun by Mgr. de Saint-Vallier. They
removed there on December 4th following. The scholars had been divided
between the episcopal palace and the house of the Jesuits. "The
prelate," says Sister Juchereau, "bore this affliction with perfect
submission to the will of God, without uttering any complaint. It must
have been, however, the more grievous to him since it was he who had
planned and erected the seminary, since he was its father and founder,
and since he saw ruined in one day the fruit of his labour of many
years." Thanks to the generosity of the king, who granted aid to the
extent of four thousand francs, it was possible to begin rebuilding at
once. But the trials of the priests were not yet over. "On the first day
of October, 1705," relate the annals of the Ursulines, "the priests of
the seminary were afflicted by a second fire through the fault of a
carpenter who was preparing some boards in one end of the new building.
While smoking he let fall in a room full of shavings some sparks from
his pipe. The fire being kindled, it consumed in less than an hour all
the upper storeys. Only those which were vaulted were preserved. The
priests estimate that they have lost more in this second fire than in
the first. They are lodged below, waiting till Providence furnishes them
with the means to restore their building. The Jesuit Fathers have acted
this time with the same charity and cordiality as on the former
occasion. Mgr. L'Ancien[10] and M. Petit have lived nearly two months in
their infirmary. This rest has been very profitable to Monseigneur, for
he has come forth from it quite rejuvenated. May the Lord grant that he
be preserved a long time yet for the glory of God and the good of
Canada!"
When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to raise it from its ruins, a great
grief seized upon him at the sight of the roofs destroyed, the broken
doors, the shattered ramparts of the city of David. In the middle of
the night he made the circuit of these ruins, and on the morrow he
sought the magistrates and said to them: "You see the distress that we
are in? Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem." The same
feelings no doubt oppressed the soul of the octogenarian prelate when he
saw the walls cracked and blackened, the heaps of ruins, sole remnants
of his beloved house. But like Nehemiah he had the support of a great
King, and the confidence of succeeding. He set to work at once, and
found in the generosity of his flock the means to raise the seminary
from its ruins. While he found provisional lodgings for his seminarists,
he himself took up quarters in a part of the seminary which had been
spared by the flames; he arranged, adjoining his room, a little oratory
where he kept the Holy Sacrament, and celebrated mass. There he passed
his last days and gave up his fair soul to God.
Mgr. de Saint-Vallier had not like his predecessor the sorrow of seeing
fire consume his seminary; he had set out in 1700 for France, and the
differences which existed between the two prelates led the monarch to
retain Mgr. de Saint-Vallier near him. In 1705 the Bishop of Quebec
obtained permission to return to his diocese. But for three years
hostilities had already existed between France and England. The bishop
embarked with several monks on the _Seine_, a vessel of the Royal Navy.
This ship carried a rich cargo valued at nearly a million francs, and
was to escort several merchant ships to their destination at Quebec. The
convoy fell in, on July 26th, with an English fleet which gave chase to
it; the merchant ships fled at full sail, abandoning the _Seine_ to its
fate. The commander, M. de Meaupou, displayed the greatest valour, but
his vessel, having a leeward position, was at a disadvantage; besides,
he had committed the imprudence of so loading the deck with merchandise
that several cannon could not be used. In spite of her heroic defence,
the _Seine_ was captured by boarding, the commander and the officers
were taken prisoners, and Mgr. de Saint-Vallier remained in captivity in
England till 1710.
The purpose of Mgr. de Saint-Vallier's journey to Europe in 1700 had
been his desire to have ratified at Rome by the Holy See the canonical
union of his abbeys, and the union of the parish of Quebec with the
seminary. On setting out he had entrusted the administration of the
diocese to MM. Maizerets and Glandelet; as to ordinations, to the
administration of the sacrament of confirmation, and to the consecration
of the holy oils, Mgr. de Laval would be always there, ready to lavish
his zeal and the treasures of his charity. This long absence of the
chief of the diocese could not but impose new labours on Mgr. de Laval.
Never did he refuse a sacrifice or a duty, and he saw in this an
opportunity to increase the sum of good which he intended soon to lay
at the foot of the throne of the Most High. He was seventy-nine years of
age when, in spite of the havoc then wrought by the smallpox throughout
the country, he went as far as Montreal, there to administer the
sacrament of confirmation. Two years before his death, he officiated
pontifically on Easter Day in the cathedral of Quebec. "On the festival
of Sainte Magdalene," say the annals of the general hospital, "we have
had the consolation of seeing Mgr. de Laval officiate pontifically
morning and evening.... He was accompanied by numerous clergy both from
the seminary and from neighbouring missions.... We regarded this favour
as a mark of the affection cherished by this holy prelate for our
establishment, for he was never wont to officiate outside the cathedral,
and even there but rarely on account of his great age. He was then more
than eighty years old. The presence of a person so venerable by reason
of his character, his virtues, and his great age much enhanced this
festival. He gave the nuns a special proof of his good-will in the visit
which he deigned to make them in the common hall." The predilection
which the pious pontiff constantly preserved for the work of the
seminary no whit lessened the protection which he generously granted to
all the projects of education in the colony; the daughters of Mother
Mary of the Incarnation as well as the assistants of Mother Marguerite
Bourgeoys had claims upon his affection. He fostered with all his power
the establishment of the Sisters of the Congregation, both at Three
Rivers and at Quebec. His numerous works left him but little respite,
and this he spent at his school of St. Joachim in the refreshment of
quiet and rest. Like all holy men he loved youth, and took pleasure in
teaching and directing it. Accordingly, during these years when, in
spite of the sixteen _lustra_ which had passed over his venerable head,
he had to take upon himself during the long absence of his successor the
interim duties of the diocese, at least as far as the exclusively
episcopal functions were concerned, he learned to understand and
appreciate at their true value the sacrifices of the Charron Brothers,
whose work was unfortunately to remain fruitless.
In 1688 three pious laymen, MM. Jean François Charron, Pierre Le Ber,
and Jean Fredin had established in Montreal a house with a double
purpose of charity: to care for the poor and the sick, and to train men
and send them to open schools in the country districts. Their plan was
approved by the king, sanctioned by the bishop of the diocese,
encouraged by the seigneurs of the island, and welcomed by all the
citizens with gratitude. In spite of these symptoms of future prosperity
the work languished, and the members of the community were separated and
scattered one after the other. M. Charron did not lose courage. In 1692
he devoted his large fortune to the foundation of a hospital and a
school, and received numerous gifts from charitable persons. Six
hospitallers of the order of St. Joseph of the Cross, commonly called
Frères Charron, took the gown in 1701, and pronounced their vows in
1704, but the following year they ceased to receive novices. The
minister, M. de Pontchartrain, thought "the care of the sick is a task
better adapted to women than to men, notwithstanding the spirit of
charity which may animate the latter," and he forbade the wearing of the
costume adopted by the hospitallers. François Charron, seeing his work
nullified, yielded to the inevitable, and confined himself to the
training of teachers for country parishes. The existence of this
establishment, abandoned by the mother country to its own strength, was
to become more and more precarious and feeble. Almost all the
hospitallers left the institution to re-enter the world; the care of the
sick was entrusted to the Sisters. François Charron made a journey to
France in order to obtain the union for the purposes of the hospital of
the Brothers of St. Joseph with the Society of St. Sulpice, but he
failed in his efforts. He obtained, nevertheless, from the regent an
annual subvention of three thousand francs for the training of
school-masters (1718). He busied himself at once with finding fitting
recruits, and collected eight. The elder sister of our excellent normal
schools of the present day seemed then established on solid foundations,
but it was not to be so. Brother Charron died on the return voyage, and
his institution, though seconded by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, after
establishing Brothers in several villages in the environs of Montreal,
received from the court a blow from which it did not recover: the regent
forbade the masters to assume a uniform dress and to pledge themselves
by simple vows. The number of the hospitallers decreased from year to
year, and in 1731 the royal government withdrew from them the annual
subvention which supported them, however poorly. Finally their
institution, after vainly attempting to unite with the Brothers of the
Christian Doctrine, ceased to exist in 1745.
Mgr. de Laval so greatly admired the devotion of these worthy men that
he exclaimed one day: "Let me die in the house of these Brothers; it is
a work plainly inspired by God. I shall die content if only in dying I
may contribute something to the shaping or maintenance of this
establishment." Again he wrote: "The good M. Charron gave us last year
one of their Brothers, who rendered great service to the Mississippi
Mission, and he has furnished us another this year. These acquisitions
will spare the missionaries much labour.... I beg you to show full
gratitude to this worthy servant of God, who is as affectionately
inclined to the missions and missionaries as if he belonged to our body.
We have even the plan, as well as he, of forming later a community of
their Brothers to aid the missions and accompany the missionaries on
their journeys. He goes to France and as far as Paris to find and bring
back with him some good recruits to aid him in forming a community.
Render him all the services you can, as if it were to missionaries
themselves. He is a true servant of God." Such testimony is the fairest
title to glory for an institution.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] A respectfully familiar sobriquet given to Mgr. de Laval.