TALON AND THE CLERGY
In the instructions which Talon had received from Louis
XIV on his departure from France in 1665 it was stated
that Mgr de Laval and the Jesuits exercised too strong
an authority and that the superiority of the civil power
should be cautiously asserted. The intendant was quite
ready to follow these directions. He had been reared in
the principles of the old parliamentarian school and was
thoroughly imbued with Gallican ideas. But at the same
time he was a sincere believer and faithful in the
performance of his religious duties. It is not surprising,
therefore, that he should be found ever earnest in his
endeavours to promote the extension of Christianity and
ready to protect the missionaries, as well as the charitable
and educational institutions, in their work. Neither is
it surprising that he should sometimes seem jealous of
ecclesiastical influence in matters where Church and
State were both concerned.
The following incident will show to what lengths he was
prepared to go when he thought that there was an
encroachment of the spiritual on the civil power. The
winter of 1667 was very gay at Quebec. Peace had been
secured, confidence in the future of the colony was
restored, and there manifested itself a general disposition
to indulge in social festivities. Indeed the first ball
ever given in Canada took place in February of this year
at M. Chartier de Lotbiniere's house, as is recorded in
the Journal des Jesuites. Now there was at this time in
Quebec a religious association for women called the
Association of the Holy Family. Laval himself had framed
their rules, one of which directed the members to abstain
from frivolous entertainments and to lead a pious and
edifying life amidst the distractions and dissipations
of the world. Seeing that many members of the association
had departed from the rules by taking part in these
pleasures, Laval threatened to suspend their meetings.
Naturally a strong impression was made on the public
mind. Talon resented what he deemed an undue interference.
He laid a complaint against the bishop's action before
the Sovereign Council and asked that two of their number
be directed to report on the social entertainments held
during the last carnival, in order to show that nothing
improper had taken place. When the report was made, it
declared that nothing deserving of condemnation had
occurred in these festivities, and that there was no
occasion to censure them. Evidently, if there was
encroachment upon this occasion, it was encroachment of
the civil on the spiritual power. The special rules of
a pious association in no way affected the safety of the
state or public order. If a number of ladies wished to
join its ranks and accept its discipline in order to
follow the path of Christian perfection and lead a more
exemplary life in the world, they should be free to do
so, and their directors should be free to remonstrate
with them if they were not faithful to their pledge. In
this incident the intendant was not at his best. He seems
to have sought an occasion of checking the bishop's
authority, and the occasion was not well chosen. It is
likely that M. de Tracy, still in the colony at the time,
intervened in the interests of peace, for the entry in
regard to Talon's complaint was erased from the register
of the Sovereign Council.
In a state paper by Talon for Colbert's information, in
1669, the intendant's Gallican views reveal themselves
fully. He complains of the excessive zeal of the bishop
and clergy which led them to interfere in matters of
police, thus trespassing upon the province of the civil
magistrate. He went on to say that too strict a moral
discipline of confessors and spiritual directors put a
constraint on consciences, and that, in order to
counterbalance the excessive claims to obedience of the
clergy then in charge, other priests should be sent to
Canada with full powers for administration of the
sacraments. It is more than probable that in writing
these lines Talon was thinking of the vexed question of
the liquor traffic, always a source of strife between
the civil and the spiritual authorities.
Talon and his colleagues, Tracy and Courcelle, had to
deal with the question of tithes. In 1663 tithes had been
fixed by royal edict at one-thirteenth of all that is
produced from the soil either naturally or by man's
labour. This edict was prompted by the erection of the
Quebec Seminary by Laval, and established in Canada the
tithes system for the benefit of the new clerical
institution, to which was entrusted the spiritual care
of the colonists. The latter, who previously had paid
nothing for the maintenance of the clergy, protested
against the charge, notwithstanding that it was in
conformity with the common practice of Christian nations.
Laval, taking into consideration the poverty of the colony
at the time, freely granted delays and exemptions, so
that in 1667 the question was still practically in
abeyance. In that year the bishop presented to Tracy a
petition for the publication of a decree in respect to
the tithes. The lieutenant-general, the governor, and
the intendant gave the matter their attention, and after
discussion an ordinance was passed for payment of tithes,
consisting of the twenty-sixth part of all that the soil
grows, naturally or by man's labour, for the benefit of
the priests who ministered to the spiritual wants of the
people. There was a proviso stating that the words 'by
man's labour' did not include manufactures or fisheries,
but only the products of the soil when cultivated and
fertilized by human industry. The assessment of
one-twenty-sixth was to be levied for a term of twenty
years only, after which the tithes were to be fixed
according to the needs of the time and the state of the
country. Later on, in 1679, a royal edict made perpetual
the rate of one-twenty-sixth. For years the practice
prevailed of levying tithes only on grain. But in 1705
two parish priests maintained that they should be levied
also on hemp, flax, tobacco, pumpkins, hay--on all that
is grown on cultivated land. A heated discussion in the
Sovereign Council took place, led by the attorney-general
Auteuil. The two priests contended that the ordinance of
Tracy, Courcelle, and Talon did not limit the tithes to
grain; it stated that they should be levied on all that
the soil grows naturally or by man's labour. Unfortunately
they had only a copy of the ordinance of 1667 to file in
support of their contention. The attorney-general maintained
that the original ordinance of 1663 limited the tithes
to grain, and that the constant practice was a confirmation
and an evidence of the rule. But, strange to say, he
could not put the original ordinance on record. It had
been lost. However, the practice was held to decide the
case, and the priests' contention was not sustained. From
that time the question was settled, definitely and for
ever; the tithes were levied only on grain, as they are
still levied in the province of Quebec, on all lands
owned by Catholics. But it is interesting to know as a
matter of history that the two litigant priests were
right. Had the original ordinance been before the council,
it would have been found to enact the levying of tithes
not on grain alone but on 'all that the soil grows
naturally or by man's labour.' An authentic copy of this
ordinance was discovered in our day, nearly two centuries
after the lawsuit of 1705, and it bears out the plea of
the two priests.
Another feature of Talon's relations with the clergy and
religious communities--and a pleasant one this time--was
his strong interest in the francisation (Frenchification)
of the Indians. It was Colbert's wish that efforts be
made to bring the Algonquins, Hurons, and other Indians
more closely within the fold of European civilization--to
make them alter their manners, learn the French tongue,
and become less Indian and more European in their way of
life. Talon was of the same mind and lost no opportunity
of impressing the idea on those who could best do the
work. Laval had already been active in the same direction,
and had founded the Quebec Seminary partly with this end
in view. The great bishop thought that one of the best
means of civilizing the Indians would be to bring up
Indian and French children together. So he withdrew from
the Jesuits' College a number of pupils whom he had
previously placed there and established them, with a few
young Indians, in a house bought for the purpose. Such
were the beginnings of the Quebec Seminary, opened on
October 9, 1663. The first class consisted of eight French
and six Indian children. The seminary trained them in
the practice of piety and morality. For ordinary instruction
they went to the Jesuits. The Jesuits' College had been
founded in 1635 and was of great service to the colony.
It was pronounced by Laval in 1661 almost equal in
educational advantages and standing to the Jesuits'
establishments in France; and according to a trustworthy
author it 'was a reproduction on a small scale of the
French colleges: classes in letters and arts, literary
and theatrical entertainments, were found there.' Some
of the public performances given at the Jesuits' College
were memorable, such as the reception to the Vicomte
d'Argenson when he entered upon the government of New
France, and the philosophical debate of July 2, 1666,
which was graced with the presence of Tracy, Courcelle,
and Talon. Two promising youths, Louis Jolliet and Pierre
de Francheville, won universal praise on that occasion;
and Talon himself, who had been accustomed in France to
such scholastic exercises, took part in it very pertinently,
to the great delight of all present.
To return to the francisation of Indians: the Ursulines
were also enlisted in the cause. Since their arrival in
Canada in 1639 it had been for them a labour of love. In
the convent and school founded by Mother Marie de
l'Incarnation and Madame de la Peltrie, both French and
Indian girls received instruction in various subjects.
Seven nuns attended daily to the classes. The Indian
girls had special classes and teachers, but they were
lodged and boarded along with the French children. Some
of these Indian pupils of the Ursulines afterwards married
Frenchmen and became excellent wives and mothers. Special
mention. is made of one of the girls as being able to
read and write both French and Huron remarkably well.
From her speech it was hard to believe that she was born
an Indian. Talon was so delighted with this instance of
successful francisation that he asked her to write
something in Huron and French that he might send it to
France. This, however, was but an exceptional case. Mother
Mary declared in one of her letters that it was very
difficult, if not impossible, to civilize the Indian
girls.
During this period the Ursulines had on an average from
twenty to thirty resident pupils. The French girls were
supposed to pay one hundred and twenty livres. Indian
girls paid nothing. The Ursuline sisters and Mother Mary,
their head, did a noble work for Canada; the same must
be said of the venerable Mother Marguerite Bourgeoys and
the ladies of the Congregation of Notre-Dame founded in
1659 at Montreal. At first this school was open to both
boys and girls. But in 1668 M. Souart, a Sulpician, took
the boys under his care, and thenceforth the education
of the male portion of the youth of Ville-Marie was in
the hands of the priests of Saint-Sulpice. At this time
the Sulpicians of Montreal were receiving welcome accessions
to their number; the Abbes Trouve and de Fenelon arrived
in 1667, and the Abbes Queylus, d'Allet, de Galinee, and
d'Urfe in 1668. In the latter year Fenelon and Trouve
were authorized by Laval to establish a new missionary
station. for a tribe of Cayugas as far west as the bay
of Quinte on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The progress
of mission work was now most encouraging. Peace prevailed
and the Iroquois country was open to the heralds of the
Gospel. Fathers Fremin and Pierron were living among the
Mohawks; Father Bruyas with the Oneidas. In 1668 Father
Fremin was sent to the Senecas, Father Milet to the
Onondagas, and Father de Carheil to the Cayugas. The
bloody Iroquois, who had tortured and slain so many
missionaries, were now asking for preachers of the
Christian faith, and receiving them with due honour. It
is true that the hard task of conversion remained, and
that Indian vices and superstitions were not easily
overcome. But at least the savages were ready to listen
to Christian teaching. Some of them had courage enough
to reform their lives. Children and women were baptized.
Many received when dying the sacraments of the Church.
Moreover, the sublime courage and self-devotion of the
missionaries inspired the Indian mind with a profound
respect for Christianity and added very greatly to the
influence and prestige of the French name among the
tribes.
On the whole the situation in Canada at the end of 1668,
three years after Talon's arrival, was most satisfactory.
Peace and security were restored; hope had replaced
despondency; colonization, agriculture, and trade were
making progress; population was increasing yearly. In
this short space of time New France had been saved from
destruction and was now full of new vigour. Every one in
the colony knew that the great intendant had been the
soul of the revival, the leader in all this progress. It
may therefore be easily imagined what was the state of
popular feeling when the news came that Talon was to
leave Canada. He had twice asked for his recall. The
climate was severe, his health was not good, and family
matters called for his presence in France; moreover, he
was worried by his difficulties with the governor and
the spiritual authorities. Louis XIV gave him leave to
return to France and appointed Claude de Bouteroue in
his stead.
Talon left Quebec in November 1668. Expressions of deep
regret were heard on all sides. Mother Marie de
l'Incarnation wrote: 'M. Talon is leaving us and goes
back to France. It is a great loss to Canada and a great
sorrow for all. For, during his term here as intendant,
this country has developed more and progressed more than
it had done before from the time of the first settlement
by the French.' The annalist of the Hotel-Dieu was not
less sympathetic, but there was hope in her utterance:
'M. Talon,' she said, 'left for France this year. He
comforted us in our grief by leading us to expect his
return.' Perhaps these last words show that Talon even
then intended to come back to Canada if such should be
the wish of the king and his minister.