Having noticed the principal features of the origin and progress of the
English colonies--the powerful and dangerous neighbors of the French
settlements in the New World--it is now time to return to the course of
Canadian history subsequent to the death of the illustrious founder of
Quebec.
Monsieur de Montmagny succeeded Champlain as governor, and entered with
zeal into his plans, but difficulties accumulated on all sides. Men and
money were wanting, trade languished, and the Associated Company in
France were daily becoming more indifferent to the success of the
colony. Some few merchants and inhabitants of the outposts, indeed,
were enriched by the profitable dealings of the fur-trade, but their
suddenly-acquired wealth excited the jealousy rather than increased the
general prosperity of the settlers. The work of religious institutions
was alone pursued with vigor and success in those times of failure and
discouragement. At Sillery, one league from Quebec, an establishment was
founded for the instruction of the savages and the diffusion of
Christian light. (1637.) The Hotel Dieu owed its existence to the
Duchesse d'Aiguillon two years afterward, and the Convent of the
Ursulines was founded by the pious and high-born Madame de la
Peltrie.[374]
The partial success and subsequent failure of Champlain and his Indian
allies in their encounters with the Iroquois had emboldened these brave
and politic savages. They now captured several canoes belonging to the
Hurons, laden with furs, which that friendly people were conveying to
Quebec. Montmagny's military force was too small to allow of his
avenging this insult; he, however, zealously promoted an enterprise to
build a fort and effect a settlement on the island of Montreal, which he
fondly hoped would curb the audacity of his savage foes. The Associated
Company would render no aid whatever to this important plan, but the
religious zeal of the Abbe Olivier overcame all difficulties. He
obtained a grant of Montreal from the king, and dispatched the Sieur de
Maisonneuve and others to take possession. On the 17th of May, 1641, the
place destined for the settlement was consecrated by the superior of the
Jesuits.[375]
At the same time the governor erected a fort at the entrance of the
River Richelieu, then called the Iroquois. The workmen employed at this
labor were constantly exposed to the harassing warfare of the Indians,
but at length completely repulsed them. A garrison, such as could be
spared from the scanty militia of the colony, was placed in the little
stronghold for its defense. Although the minds of the fierce Iroquois
were fixed upon the utter destruction of the French, and in their
confident boastings they declared that they could drive the white men
into the sea, they indicated from time to time a desire for peace.
Montmagny was compelled by weakness and the difficulties of his
situation, to accept overtures which he could not but dread as insidious
and treacherous, and he assumed an air of confidence which he by no
means felt. His native allies were also eagerly anxious for the
blessings of peace, and, through their means, an opportunity for opening
negotiations soon offered. The governor and the friendly native chiefs
met the deputies of the Iroquois nation at Three Rivers to arrange the
terms of the proposed treaty. (1645.) After various orations, songs,
dances, and exchanges of presents, peace was concluded to the
satisfaction of both parties; and for the time at least, with apparent
good faith, for the following winter the French and their new allies
joined together in the chase, and mixed fearlessly in friendly
intercourse.
M. de Montmagny was superseded as governor of Canada by M. d'Ailleboust
in the year 1647. He had proved himself a man of judgment, courage, and
virtue, and had gained the love of the settlers and Indians, as well as
the approval of the court. But, in consequence of the governor of the
American islands having recently refused to surrender office to a person
appointed by the king, it was decreed that no one should hold the
government of a colony for more than three years. M. d'Ailleboust was a
man of ability and worth, and, having held the command at Three Rivers
for some time, was also experienced in colonial affairs, but he received
no more support from home than his predecessor; and, despite his best
efforts, New France continued to languish under his rule.
The colony, however, was now free from the scourge of savage hostility.
The Indians turned their subtle craft and terrible energy to the chase
instead of war. From the far-distant hunting-grounds of the St. Maurice
and of the gloomy Saguenay, they crowded to Three Rivers and Tadoussac
with the spoils of the forest animals. At those settlements the trade
went briskly on, and many of the natives became domesticated among their
white neighbors. The worthy priests were not slow to take advantage of
this favorable opportunity; many of the hunters from the north, who were
attracted to the French villages by the fur trade, were told the great
tidings of redemption; and usually, when they returned the following
year, they were accompanied by others, who desired, with them, to
receive the rites of baptism.[376]
The most numerous and pious of the proselytes were of the Huron tribe,
an indolent and unwarlike race, against whom the bold and powerful
Iroquois held deadly feud, which the existing peace only kept in
abeyance till opportunity might arise for effective action. The little
settlement of St. Joseph was the place where first an Indian
congregation assembled for Christian worship; the Father Antoine Daniel
was the pastor; the flock were of the Huron tribe. Faith in treaties and
long-continued tranquillity had lulled this unhappy people into a fatal
security, and all cautions were forgotten,[377] when, on the morning of
the 4th of July, 1648, while the missionary was performing service,
there suddenly arose a cry of terror that the Iroquois were at hand.
None but old men, women, and children were in the village at the time;
of this the crafty enemy were aware; they had crept silently through the
woods, and lain in ambush till morning gave them light for the foul
massacre. Not one of the inhabitants escaped, and last of all, the good
priest was likewise slain.
During this year the first communication passed between the French and
British North American colonies. An envoy arrived at Quebec from New
England, bearing proposals for a lasting peace with Canada, not to be
interrupted even by the wars of the mother countries. M. d'Ailleboust
gladly entertained the wise proposition, and sent a deputy to Boston
with full powers to treat, providing only that the English would consent
to aid him against the Iroquois. But the cautious Puritans would not
compromise themselves by this stipulation. They were sufficiently remote
from the fierce and formidable savages of the Five Nations to be free
from present apprehension, and to their steady and industrious habits
the plow was more suitable than the sword. The negotiation, therefore,
totally failed, which was probably of little consequence, for it is
difficult to perceive how these remote and feeble colonies could have
preserved a neutrality in the contentions of England and France, which
was impossible even to powerful states.
After a treacherous calm of some six months' duration, the unhappy
Hurons again relapsed into a fatal security; the terrible lessons of the
past were forgotten in the apparent tranquillity of the present. Watch
and ward were relaxed, and again they lay at the mercy of their ruthless
enemies. When least expected, 1000 Iroquois warriors started up from the
thick coverts of a neighboring forest, and fell fiercely upon the
defenseless Hurons, burned two of their villages, exterminated the
inhabitants, and put two French missionaries to death with horrible
tortures. Then the remnant of the defeated tribe despaired; the alliance
of the French had only embittered the hostility of their enemies without
affording protection; therefore they arose and deserted their villages
and hunting grounds, wandering away, some into the northern forests,
others as suppliants among neighboring nations.
The greater body of the Hurons, however, attached themselves to the
fortunes of the missionaries, and under them formed a settlement on the
island of St. Joseph, but they neglected to cultivate the land. As the
autumn advanced, the resources of the chase became exhausted, and the
horrors of famine commenced. They were shortly reduced to the most
dreadful extremities of suffering; every direst expedient that
starvation could prompt and despair execute was resorted to for a few
days' prolonging of life. Then came the scourge of contagious fever,
sweeping numbers away with desolating fury. While these terrible
calamities raged among the Hurons, the Iroquois seized the opportunity
of again invading them. The village of St. John, containing nearly 3000
souls, was the first point of attack. The feeble inhabitants offered no
resistance, and, with their missionary, were totally destroyed. Most of
the remnant of this unhappy tribe then took the resolution of presenting
themselves to their conquerors, and were received into the Iroquois
nation. The few who still remained wandering in the forests were hunted
down like wolves, and soon exterminated.
The terror of the Iroquois name now spread rapidly along the shores of
the great lakes and rivers of the north. The fertile banks of the
Ottawa, once the dwelling-place of numerous and powerful tribes, became
suddenly deserted, and no one could tell whither the inhabitants had
fled.
About this time was introduced among the Montagnez, and the other tribes
of the Saguenay country, an evil more destructive than even the tomahawk
of the Iroquois--the "accursed fire-water;" despite the most earnest
efforts of the governor, the fur traders at Tadoussac supplied the
Indians with this fatal luxury. In a short time, intoxication and its
dreadful consequences became so frequent, that the native chiefs prayed
the governor to imprison all drunkards. At Three Rivers, however, the
wise precautions of the authorities preserved the infant settlement from
this monstrous calamity.
In the year 1650 M. d'Ailleboust was worthily succeeded by M. de Lauson,
one of the principals of the Associated Company. The new governor found
affairs in a very discouraging condition, the colony rapidly declining,
and the Iroquois, flushed by their sanguinary triumphs, more audacious
than ever. These fierce savages intruded fearlessly among the French
settlements, despising forts and intrenchments, and insulting the
inhabitants with impunity. The island of Montreal suffered so much from
their incursions, that M. de Maisonneuve, the governor, was obliged to
repair to France to seek succors, for which he had vainly applied by
letter. He returned in the year 1653 with a timely re-enforcement of 100
men.
Although the Iroquois had now overcome or destroyed all their native
enemies, and proved their strength even against the Europeans, some of
their tribes were more than ever disposed to a union with the white men.
The Onnontagues dispatched an embassy to Quebec to request that the
governor would send a colony of Frenchmen among them. He readily acceded
to the proposition, and fifty men were chosen for the establishment,
with the Sieur Dupuys for their commander. Four missionaries were
appointed to found the first Iroquois church; and to supply temporal
wants, provisions for a year, and sufficient seed to sow the lands about
to be appropriated, were sent with the expedition. This design excited
the jealousy of the other Iroquois tribes; the Agniers even tried to
intercept the colonists with a force of 400 warriors; they, however,
only succeeded in pillaging a few of the canoes that had fallen behind.
The same war party soon after made an onslaught upon ninety Hurons,
working on the Isle of Orleans under French protection, slew six, and
carried off the rest into captivity. As they passed before Quebec they
made their unhappy prisoners sing aloud, insultingly attracting the
attention of the garrison. The marauders were not pursued; they dragged
the prisoners to their villages, burned the chiefs, and condemned the
rest to a cruel bondage. M. de Lauson can hardly be excused for thus
suffering his allies to be torn from under his protection without an
effort to save them from their merciless enemies. These unfortunates had
been converted to Christianity, which increased the rage and ferocity of
the captors against them. One brave chief, whose tortures had been
prolonged for three days as a worshiper of the God of the white men,
bore himself faithfully to the last, and died with the Saviour's blessed
name upon his quivering lip.
In the mean time the expedition to the country of the Onnontagues
suffered great privations, and only escaped starvation by the generosity
of the natives. Their spiritual mission was, however, at first eminently
successful, the whole nation seeming disposed to adopt the Christian
faith. But the allied tribes having carried their insolence to an
intolerable degree, and massacred three Frenchmen near Montreal, the
commandant at Quebec seized all the Iroquois within his reach, and
demanded redress. The answer of the haughty savages was, to prepare for
war. Dupuys and his little colony were now in a most perilous position:
there was no hope of aid from Quebec, and but little chance of being
able to escape from among their dangerous neighbors. They labored
diligently and secretly to construct a sufficient number of canoes to
carry them away in case some happy opportunity might arise, and found
means to warn the people of Quebec of the coming danger. By great
industry and skill the canoes were completed, and stored with the
necessary provisions; through an ingenious stratagem, the French escaped
in safety, while the savages slept soundly after one of their solemn
feasts. In fifteen days the fugitives arrived at Montreal, where they
found alarm on every countenance. The Iroquois swarmed over the island,
and committed great disorders, although still professing a treacherous
peace. The savages soon, however, threw off the mask, and broke into
open war.
On the 11th of July, 1658, the Viscompte d'Argenson landed at Quebec as
governor. The next morning the cry "to arms" echoed through the town.
The Iroquois had made a sudden onslaught upon some Algonquins under the
very guns of the fortress, and massacred them without mercy. Two hundred
men were instantly dispatched to avenge this insult, but they could not
overtake the wily marauders. In the same year, however, a party of the
Agniers met with a severe check in a treacherous attempt to surprise
Three Rivers. The lesson was not lost, and the colony for some time
enjoyed a much-needed repose. The missionaries seized this interval of
tranquillity to recommence their sacred labors: they penetrated into
many remote districts where Europeans had never before reached, and
discovered several routes to the dreary shores of Hudson's Bay. In the
year 1659, the exemplary Francois de Laval, abbe de Montigny, arrived at
Quebec to preside over the Canadian Church as the first American
bishop.[378]
The temporal affairs of the colony were falling into a lamentable
condition; no supplies arrived from France, and the local production was
far from sufficient. Terror of the Indians kept the settlers almost
blockaded in the forts, and cultivation was necessarily neglected. It
was proposed by many that all the settlements should be abandoned, and
that they should again seek the peaceful shores of their native country.
Many individuals were massacred by the savages, and two armed parties,
one of thirty and the other of twenty-six men, were totally destroyed.
But some of the Indians, too, began to weary of this murderous war, and
to long again for Christian instruction and peaceful commerce. The new
governor was at first little inclined to negotiate with his fierce and
capricious enemies; but, influenced by the miserable state of the
colony, which even a brief truce might improve, he at length agreed to
an exchange of prisoners and a peace.
In 1662 the King of France was at last induced to hearken to the prayers
of his Canadian subjects. M. de Monts[379] was sent out to inquire into
the condition of the country, and 400 troops added to the strength of
the garrison. But these encouraging circumstances were more than
neutralized on account of the permission then granted by the new
governor, Baron d'Avaugour, for the sale of ardent spirits.[380] The
disorder soon rose to a lamentable height, and the clergy in vain
opposed their utmost influence to its pernicious progress. At length the
worthy bishop hastened to France, and represented to the king the
dreadful evil that afflicted the colony. His remonstrances were
effectual; he succeeded in obtaining such powers as he deemed necessary
to stop the ruinous commerce.
The year 1663 was rendered memorable by a tremendous earthquake, spoken
of in a preceding chapter. In the same year the Associated Company
remitted to the crown all their rights over New France, which the king
again transferred to the West India Company.[381] Courts of law were
for the first time established, and many families of valuable settlers
found their way to the colony. Up to this period extreme simplicity and
honesty seems to have prevailed in the little community, and it was not
till then that a Council of State was appointed by the crown to
co-operate with the governor in the conduct of affairs.[382] The king
sent out the Sieur Gaudais to inquire into the state of his
newly-acquired dependency, and to investigate certain complaints
preferred against the Baron d'Avaugour, who had himself prayed to be
recalled. The sieur performed his invidious task to the satisfaction of
all parties: he made valuable reports as to the general character of the
colonial clergy, of the advantages and disadvantages of the local
administration of government, and imputed no fault to the Baron
d'Avaugour, but a somewhat too rigid and stern adherence to the letter
of the law, and the severity of justice. The baron then joyfully
returned to France, but soon afterward fell in the defense of the fort
of Serin against the Turks, while, with the permission of the French
king, serving the emperor.
M. de Mesy succeeded as governor, upon the recommendation of the Bishop
of Canada, whose complaints on the subject of the sale of spirituous
liquors had been the principal cause of the Baron d'Avaugour's recall.
The new appointment proved far from satisfactory to those by whose
influence it was made. M. de Mesy at once raised up a host of enemies by
his haughty and despotic bearing. He thwarted the Jesuits to the utmost
extent of his power; the council supported them, alleging that their
influence over the native race was essential to the well-being of the
colony. Various representations of these matters were made to the court
of France, and the final result was, that the governor was recalled.
Alexandre de Prouville, marquis de Tracy, was next appointed viceroy in
America by the king, with ample powers to establish, destroy, or alter
the institutions of the Canadian colony. Daniel de Remi, seigneur de
Courcelles, the new governor, and M. Talon, the intendant, were
conjoined with the viceroy in a commission to examine into the charges
against M. de Mesy. (1665.) M. de Tracy was the first to arrive at
Quebec; he bore with him the welcome re-enforcement of some companies of
the veteran regiment of Carignan-Salieres.[383] He sent a portion of
this force at once against the Iroquois, accompanied by the allied
savages. The country was speedily cleared of every enemy, and the
harvest gathered in security. The remaining part of the regiment arrived
soon after, with the viceroy's colleagues; a large number of families,
artisans, and laborers; the first horses that had ever been sent to New
France; cattle, sheep; and, in short, a far more complete colony than
that which they came to aid.
Being now established in security, and confident in strength, the
viceroy led a sufficient force to the mouth of Richelieu River, where he
erected three forts[384] to overawe the turbulent Iroquois.[385] These
works were rapidly and skillfully executed, and for a time answered
their purpose; but the wily savages soon perceived that there were other
routes by which they could enter the settlements. In the mean time M.
Talon remained at Quebec, collecting much valuable information
concerning the country and its native inhabitants. He was spared,
however, the task of inquiring into the conduct of M. de Mesy, for that
gentleman died before the news of his recall reached Canada.
Toward the end of December, 1665, three tribes of the Iroquois nation
dispatched envoys to the viceroy at Quebec with proposals for peace and
for an exchange of prisoners. The terms were readily complied with. M.
de Tracy received the Indians with politic kindness and attention, and
sent them back with valuable presents. But the formidable tribes of the
Agniers and Onneyouths still kept sullenly apart from the French
alliance; it was, therefore, determined to give them a severe lesson for
their former insolence and treachery, and make them feel the supremacy
of France. M. de Courcelles and M. de Sorel were sent with two corps to
humble the haughty savages. The hostile Indians, alarmed at the
preparations for their destruction, now sent deputies to Quebec to avert
the threatening storm, although some of their war parties still infested
the settlements, and had lately put to death three French officers,
among them M. de Chasy, the viceroy's nephew. One of the Indian deputies
boasted at M. de Tracy's table that he had slain the French officers
with his own hands. He was immediately seized and strangled, and the
negotiations broken off.
The two French expeditions found the hostile country altogether
deserted, and returned without effecting any thing, having suffered
great fatigue and hardship. M. de Tracy then took the field in person,
at the head of 1200 French and 600 friendly Indians, with two pieces of
cannon. As he was setting out on the march, chiefs again came from the
Agniers and Onneyouths to pray for peace; but he would hear of no
accommodation, and even imprisoned the deputies. The French army marched
on the 14th of September, 1666; provisions soon failed in the solitary
desert through which they had to pass; in their greatest necessity,
however, they entered a wood abounding in chestnut-trees, whose fruit
supplied them with sustenance till they gained the first village of the
enemy. The warriors had abandoned the old men, women, and children, and
ample stores of food, and retired through the forest. The French found
the Indian cabans larger and better than any they had seen elsewhere,
and in ingeniously contrived magazines, sunk under the ground,
sufficient grain was discovered to supply the whole colony for two
years. The invaders burned and utterly destroyed all the villages, and
carried away, as captives, all the inhabitants that remained, but they
could not succeed in overtaking the warriors to force them to action.
They then retraced their steps, strengthening the settlements on the
River St. Lawrence as they passed. When M. de Tracy reached Quebec, he
caused some of the prisoners to be put to death as a warning, and
dismissed the remainder. Having established the authority of the West
India Company instead of that of "The Hundred Associates," he returned
to France the following spring.
The humiliation of the Iroquois restored profound peace to New France.
Then the wisdom and energy of M. Talon were directed to the development
of the resources of the country. Scientific men were sent to examine the
mineral resources of several districts where promising indications had
been observed. The clearing of land proceeded rapidly, and invariably
discovered a rich and productive soil. The population increased in
numbers, and enjoyed abundant plenty: all were in a condition to live in
comfort. According to the perhaps partial authority of the Jesuit
missionaries, the progress in morality and attention to religious
observances kept pace with the temporal prosperity of this happy colony.
Although M. de Courcelles showed little activity in conducting the
internal government of the colony, which was principally directed by M.
Talon, he was highly energetic and vigorous in his relations with the
Indians. Having learned that the Iroquois were intriguing with the
Ottawas to direct their fur trade to the English colonies, thus probably
to ruin the commerce of New France, he resolved to visit the Iroquois,
and impress them with an idea of his power. For this purpose he took the
route of the deep and rapid St. Lawrence, making his way in bateaux for
130 miles above Montreal. His health, however, suffered so much in this
difficult expedition that he was obliged to demand his recall.
On his return to Quebec he found that several atrocious murders and
robberies had been committed upon Iroquois and Mahingan Indians by
Frenchmen, which filled the savages with indignation, and roused them
to a fury of revenge. They attacked and burned a house in open day, and
a woman perished in the flames. Numbers of the two injured nations and
their savage allies hovered round Montreal, awaiting an opportunity for
vengeance. M. de Courcelles, with his wonted vigor in emergencies,
hastened to the threatened settlement, and called upon the Indian chiefs
to hold parley. They assembled, and hearkened with attention while he
enumerated the advantages that both parties derived from the existing
peace. He then caused those among the murderers who had been convicted
of the crime to be led out and executed on the spot. The Indians were at
once appeased by this prompt administration of justice, and even
lamented over the malefactors' wretched fate; they were also fully
indemnified for the stolen property. The assembly then broke up with
mutual satisfaction.
But soon again, the repose of the country was threatened by the Iroquois
and Ottawas, who had begun to make incursions upon each other. M. de
Courcelles promptly interfered to quell this growing animosity,
declaring that he would punish with the greatest severity either party
that would not submit to reasonable conditions. He required them to send
deputies to state their wrongs, and the grounds of dispute, and took
upon himself to do justice to both parties. He was obeyed: the chiefs of
the contending tribes repaired to Quebec, and by the firmness and
judgment of the governor, the breach was healed, and peace secured.
At this time a scourge more terrible than even savage war visited the
red race of Canada. The small-pox first appeared among the northern
tribe of the Attikamegues, and swept them totally away: many of their
neighbors shared the same fate. Tadoussac, where 1200 Indians usually
assembled to barter their rich furs at the end of the hunting season,
was deserted. Three Rivers, once crowded with the friendly Algonquins,
was now never visited by a red man, and a few years after the frightful
plague first appeared, the settlement of Sillery, near Quebec, was
attacked; 1500 savages took the fatal contagion, and not one survived.
The Hurons, who had been always most intimately associated with the
French, suffered least among the native nations from the malady. In 1670
Father Chaumonat assembled the remnant of this once powerful tribe in
the neighborhood of Quebec, and established them in the village of
Lorette,[386] where a mixed race of their descendants remains to this
day.
Even the presence of the dreadful infliction of the small-pox and the
fear of French power could not long restrain the savage impulse for war.
The most distant tribe of the Iroquois became engaged in a sanguinary
quarrel with a neighboring nation, and took a number of prisoners. The
governor immediately sent to warn these turbulent savages that if they
did not desist from war, and return their prisoners, he would destroy
their villages as he had those of the Agniers. This peremptory message
raised the indignation of the Iroquois, they at first proudly disclaimed
the right of the French to dictate to the free people of the forest, and
vowed that they would perish rather than bow down to the strangers'
will; but, finally, the wisdom of the old men prevailed in the council:
they knew that they were not prepared to meet the power of the
Europeans; it was therefore decided that they should send a portion of
their prisoners to the governor. He either believed, or pretended to
believe, that they had fully complied with his demands, deeming it
prudent not to drive the Indians to extremities.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 374: Among the Ursulines who accompanied Madame de la Peltrie
to Quebec was Marie de l'Incarnation, "the Theresa of France," and Marie
de St. Joseph. The sanctity of these remarkable women and the miracles
they performed are the favorite theme of the Jesuit historians of
Canada. Several lives of the former have been published, one of them by
Charlevoix. A quarto volume of her letters was also published (a Paris,
chez Louis Billaine, 1681): they are highly extolled as "worthy of her
high reputation for sanctity, ability, and practical good sense in the
business of life." They record many historical facts which occurred
during the thirty-two years that she passed in Canada, where she arrived
in 1640. When the Ursulines and the "Filles Hospitalieres" landed at
Quebec, they were received with enthusiasm. "It was held as a festival
day; all work was forbidden; and the shops were shut. The governor
received these heroines upon the shore at the head of the troops, who
were under arms, the guns firing a salute. After the first greeting he
led them to the church, accompanied by the acclamations of the people;
here the Te Deum was chanted."--Charlevoix.
"The venerable ash tree still lives beneath which Mary of the
Incarnation, so famed for chastened piety, genius, and good judgment,
toiled, though in vain, for the culture of Huron children."--Bancroft's
_History of the United States_. vol. iii., p. 127.]
[Footnote 375: "Cette ville a ete nominee Ville Marie par ses
fondateurs, mais ce nom n'a pu passer dans l'usage ordinaire; il n'a
lieu que dans les actes publics, et parmi les seigneurs, qui en sont
fort jaloux."--Charlevoix. When the foundations of the city of Montreal
were first laid, the name given to it was Ville Marie. Bouchette, vol.
i., p. 215; La Hontan, vol. xiii., p. 266.
Charlevoix gives the following account of the formation and progress of
the remarkable settlement at Montreal: "Quelques personnes puissantes,
et plus recommandable encore par leur piete et par leur zele pour la
religion, formerent donc une societe, qui se proposa de faire en grand a
Montreal, ce qu'on avoit fait en petit a Sillery. Il devoit y avoir dans
cette isle une bourgade Francoise, bien fortifiee, et a l'abri de toute
insulte. Les pauvres y devoient etre recus, et mis en etat de subsister
de leur travail. On projetta de faire occuper tout le reste de l'isle
par des sauvages, de quelque nation qu'ils fussent, pourvu qu'ils
fissent profession du Christianisme, ou qu'ils voulussent se faire
instuire de nos mysteres, et l'on etoit d'autant plus persuade qu'ils y
viendraient en grand nombre qu' outre un asile assure contre les
poursuites de leurs ennemis, ils pouvoient se promettre des secours
toujours prompts dans leurs maladies, et contre la disette. On se
proposoit meme de les policer avec le tems, et de les accoutumer a ne
plus vivre que du travail de leurs mains. Le nombre de ceux qui
entroient dans cette association fut de trente-cinq; des cette annee
1640, en vertu de la concession que le roi lui fit de l'isle, elle en
fit prendre possession a la fin d'une messe solennelle, qui fut celebree
sous une tente. Le quinzieme d'Octobre l'annee suivante, M. de
Maisonneuve fut declare gouverneur de l'isle. Le dix-septieme de May
suivant, le lieu destine a l'habitation Francoise fut beni par le
Superieur des Jesuites, qui y celebra les saints mysteres, dedia a la
mere de Dieu une petite chapelle, qu'on avoit batie, et il y laissa le
St. Sacrement. Cette ceremonie avoit ete precede d'une autre, trois mois
auparavant, c'est a dire vers la fin de Fevrier: tous les Associes
s'etant rendus un Jeudi matin a Notre Dame de Paris, ceux qui etoient
pretres, y dirent la messe, les autres communierent a l'autel de la
Vierge et tous supplierent la reine des anges de prendre l'isle de
Montreal sous sa protection. Enfin le quinze d'Aout, la fete de
l'Assomption de la mere de Dieu fut solemnisee dans cette isle avec un
concours extraordinaire de Francois et de sauvages. On ne negligea rien
dans cette occasion pour interesser le ciel en faveur d'un etablissement
si utile, et pour donner aux infideles une haute idee de la religion
Chretienne."--Charlevoix, tom. i., p. 345.
In the year 1644 Charlevoix says, "L'isle de Montreal se peuploit
insensiblement, et la piete de ces nouveaux colons disposoit peu a peu
les sauvages qui les approchoient a se soumettre au jong de la foi." In
1657, however, it was considered that "les premiers possesseurs de
l'isle n'avoient pas pousse l'etablissement autant qu'on avoit d'abord
espere." and it was therefore ceded to the Seminary of St. Sulpice in
Paris. From that time the establishment made a rapid progress, M. de
Maisonneuve still continuing its governor, after it had changed masters.
He was a man of ability and piety: under his auspices the order of
"Filles de la Congregation" was established at Montreal by Margaret
Bourgeois, who had accompanied the first settlers on the island from
France. For the details of this admirable institution see Charlevoix,
tom. ii., p. 94. He speaks of it with justice as one of the brightest
ornaments of New France.
"Jusqu' en l'annee 1692, la justice particuliere de Montreal appartenoit
a Messieurs du Seminaire de St. Sulpice, en qualite de seigneurs. Ils en
donnerent alors leur demission au roi, a condition que l'exercice leur
en resteroit dans l'enclos de leur seminaire, et dans leur ferme de St.
Gabriel, avec la propriete perpetuelle et incommutable du Greffe de la
justice royale, qui seroit etablie dans l'isle, et la nomination du
premier juge."--Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 140.]
[Footnote 376: The kindness of the missionaries has been one of the
causes that has perpetuated a kindly feeling toward the French. Among
the American Indians, "a person, even in times of hostility, speaking
French will find security from the attachment of the people to every
thing that is French."--Imlay, p. 8.
"To do justice to truth, the French missionaries in general have
invariably distinguished themselves every where by an exemplary life,
befitting their profession. Their religious sincerity, their apostolic
charity, their insinuating kindness, their heroic patience, their
remoteness from austerity and fanaticism, fix in these countries
memorable epochs in the annals of Christianity; and while the memory of
a Del Vilde, a Vodilla, &c., will be held in everlasting execration by
all truly Christian hearts, that of a Daniel, a Brebeuf, &c., will never
lose any of that veneration which the history of discoveries and
missions has so justly conferred upon them. Hence that predilection
which the savages manifest for the French, a predilection which they
naturally find in the recesses of their souls, cherished by the
traditions which their fathers have left in favor of the first apostles
of Canada, then called New France."--Beltrami's _Travels_, 1823. The
authority of this passage, Chateaubriand observes, is the stronger, as
the writer is severe in his condemnation of the modern Jesuit.]
[Footnote 377: "Ce n'etoit pas la faute de leurs missionnaires, s'ils
s'endormaient de la sorte; mais ces religieux ne pouvant gagner sur
leurs neophytes qu'ils prissent pour leur surete les precautions que la
prudence exigeoit, redoublerent leurs soins pour achever de les
sanctifier, et pour les preparer a tout ce qui pourroit arriver. Ils les
trouverent sur cet article d'une docilite parfaite; ils n'eurent aucune
peine a les faire entrer dans les sentimens les plus convenables a la
triste situation ou ils se reduisaient eux-memes par une indolence, et
un aveuglement, qu'on ne pouvoit comprendre et qui n'a peut-etre point
d'exemple dans l'histoire. Ce qui consoloit les pasteurs, c'est qu'ils
les voyoient dans l'occasion braver la mort avec un courage, qui les
animoit eux-memes a mourir en heros Chretiens."--Charlevoix.]
[Footnote 378: The Abbe de Montigny was titular Bishop of Petraea, and
had received from the pope a brief as vicar apostolic. The Church of
Quebec was not erected into a bishop's see until 1670, when its bishop
was no longer called titular Bishop of Petraea, but Bishop of Quebec. "Ce
qui avoit fait trainer la cause si fort en longueur, c'est qu'il y eut
de grandes contestations sur la dependance immediate du Saint Siege,
dont le pape ne voulut point se relacher. Cela n'empeche pourtant pas
que l'Eveche de Quebec ne soit en quelque facon uni au clerge de France,
en la maniere de celui du Puy, lequel releve aussi immediatement de
Rome."--Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 189; _Petits Droits_, &c., tom. ii., p.
492.
"When the bishopric of Quebec was erected, Louis XIV. endowed it with
the revenue of two abbacies, those of Benevent and L'Estrio. About
thirty years ago, the then bishop, finding it difficult, considering the
distance, to recover the revenues of them, by consent of Louis XV.,
resigned the same to the clergy of France, to be united to a particular
revenue of theirs, styled the economats, applied to the augmentation of
small livings, in consideration of which, the bishop of this see has
ever since received yearly 8000 livres out of the said revenues. A few
years before the late bishop's death, the clergy of France granted him,
for _his_ life only, a further pension of 2000 livres; the bishop had no
estate whatever, except his palace at Quebec, destroyed by our
artillery, a garden, and the ground-rent of two or three houses
adjoining it, and built on some part of the lands."--Governor Murray's
_Report on the Ancient Government and Actual State of the Province of
Quebec in_ 1762.]
[Footnote 379: Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 120.]
[Footnote 380: "Jusques-la, les gouverneurs generaux avoient assez tenue
la main a faire executer les ordres qu'ils avoient eux-memes donnes, de
ne point vendre d'eau de vie aux sauvages; et le baron d'Avaugour avoit
decerne des peines tres severes contre ceux qui contreviendroient a ses
ordonnances sur ce point capital. Il arriva qu'une femme de Quebec fut
surprise en y contrevenant, et, sur le champ, conduite en prison. Le P.
Lallemant, a la priere de ses amis, crut pouvoir sans consequence
interceder pour elle. Il alla trouver le general, qui le recut tres mal,
et qui sans faire reflexion qu'il n'y a point d'inconsequence dans les
ministres d'un Dieu qui a donne sa vie pour detruire le peche et sauver
le pecheur, a agir avec zele pour reprimer le vice, et a demander grace
pour le criminel, lui repondit brusquement, que puisque la traite de
l'eau de vie n'etoit pas une faute punissable pour cette femme, elle ne
le seroit desormais pour personne.... il ne consulta que sa mauvaise
humeur et sa droiture mal entendue; et ce qu'il y eut de pis, c'est
qu'il se fit un point d'honneur de ne point retracter l'indiscrete
parole qui lui etoit echappee. Le peuple en fut bientot instruit et le
desordre devint extreme."--Charlevoix. tom. ii., p. 121.]
[Footnote 381: Petit, vol. i., p. 24. _Colony Records._ There are no
books of record in the secretary's office before this period. The old
records were either carried to France, or destroyed at the fire, when
the intendant's palace was burned down in 1725.
"The company, 'des Cents Associes,' formed in 1628, though one of the
most powerful, according to Charlevoix, that had ever existed, with
respect to the number, the rank, and the accorded privileges of its
members, had allowed the colony to fall into a deplorable state of
weakness. In 1662, when it relinquished its rights to Louis XIV., the
original number of 100 had diminished to 45."--Charlevoix, ii., p. 149.
The East India Company was erected by the great Colbert in 1664. This
company, having fallen into decay, was united with the West Indian
Company, which was founded by law in 1718, and survived the ruin of its
projector.]
[Footnote 382: "Jusques-la il n'y avoit point eu proprement de cour de
justice en Canada; les gouverneurs generaux jugeant les affaires d'une
maniere assez souveraine; on ne s'avisoit point d'appeller de leurs
sentences; mais ils ne rendoient ordinairement des arrets, qu'apres
avoir inutilement tentes les voies de l'arbitrage, et l'on convient que
leurs decisions etoient toujours, dictees par le bon sens, et selon les
regles de la loi naturelle, qui est au-dessus de toutes les autres.
D'ailleurs les Creoles du Canada, quoique de race Normande, pour la
plupart n'avoient seulement l'esprit processif, et aimoient mieux pour
l'ordinaire ceder quelque chose de leur bon droit, que de perdre le tems
a plaider. Il sembloit meme que tous les biens fussent communes dans
cette colonie, du moins on fut assez long tems sans rien fermee sous la
clef, et il etoit inoui qu'on s'en abusat. Il est bien etrange et bien
humiliant pour l'homme que les precautions qu'un prince sage prit pour
eviter la chicane et faire regner la justice, aient presque ete l'epoque
de la naissance de l'une, et de l'affoiblissement de l'autre.... La
justice est rendue selon les ordonnances du royaume et la coutume de
Paris. Au mois de Juin, 1679, le roi autorisa par un edit quelques
reglemens du conseil de Quebec, et c'est ce qu'on appelle dans le pays
la reduction du Code ... par un autre edit en 1685 le conseil fut
autorise a juger les causes criminelles au nombre de cinq juges ...
c'est sur le modele du conseil superieur a Quebec, qu'on a depuis etabli
ceux de la Martinique, de St. Domingue, et de Louisiane. Tous ses
conseils sont d'epee."--Charlevoix, vol. ii., p. 140.]
[Footnote 383: "The regiment de Carignan-Salieres was just arrived from
Hungary, where it had distinguished itself greatly in the war against
the Turks."--Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 150.]
[Footnote 384: "M. de Sorel, a captain in the Regiment De Carignan, was
employed on the erection of the first fort, on the same site as the fort
De Richelieu, built by M. de Montmagny, now quite in ruins. De Sorel
gave his own name to the fort, and in time the river Richelieu, or
Iroquois, acquired it also.
"The second fort was called St. Louis; but, as M. de Chambly, captain in
the same regiment, had superintended the erection, and afterward
acquired the land on which it was situated, the whole district, and the
stone fort, which has been erected since upon the ruins of the former
one, have acquired and retained the name of Chambly. This was a very
important fortress, as it protected the colony on the side of New York,
and the lower Iroquois.
"The third fort was built under the direction of M. de Salieres, the
colonel of the regiment De Carignan. He named it St. Theresa, because it
was finished on that saint's day."--Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 152.]
[Footnote 385: "Every omen was now favorable, except the conquest of New
Netherlands (New York) by the English in 1664. That conquest eventually
made the Five Nations (Iroquois) a dependance on the English nation; and
if for twenty-five years England and France sued for their friendship
with unequal success, yet afterward, in the grand division of parties
throughout the world, the Bourbons found in them implacable
opponents."--Bancroft's _History of the United States_, vol. ii., p.
149.]
[Footnote 386: "La chapelle a Lorette est batie sur le modele et avec
toutes les dimensions de la Santa Case d'Italie, d'ou l'on a envoye a
nos neophytes une image de la vierge, semblable a celle, que l'on voit
dans ce celebre sanctuaire. On ne pouvoit guere choisir pour placer
cette mission, un lieu plus sauvage."--Charlevoix.]