TALON'S EVENTFUL JOURNEY
Talon returned to France in an auspicious hour. It was
perhaps the happiest and brightest period of the reign
of Louis XIV. France had emerged victorious from two
campaigns, and the king had just signed a treaty which
added to his realm a part of the province of Flanders.
The kingdom enjoyed peace, and its prosperity had never
been so great. Thanks to Colbert, the exchequer was full.
In all departments the French government was displaying
intelligent activity. Trade and commerce, agriculture
and manufacture, were encouraged and protected. With
ample means at their disposal and perfect freedom of
action, Louis XIV and Colbert could not but be in a
favourable mood to receive Talon's reports and proposals.
Talon acted as if he were still the intendant of New
France; and though for the time being he was not, he was
surely the most powerful agent or advocate that the colony
could have. The king and his minister readily acquiesced
in his schemes for strengthening the Canadian colony. It
was decided to dispatch six companies of soldiers to
reinforce the four already there, and ultimately, upon
being disbanded, to aid in settling the country. Many
hundred labourers and unmarried women and a new stock of
domestic animals were also to be sent. Colbert had never
been so much in earnest concerning New France. He attended
personally to details, gave orders for the levy of troops
and for the shipping of the men and supplies, and urged
on the officials in charge so that everything should be
ready early in the spring. To M. de Courcelle he wrote
these welcome tidings:
His Majesty has appropriated over 200,000 livres to
do what he deems necessary for the colony. One hundred
and fifty girls are going thither to be married; six
companies complete with fifty good men in each and
thirty officers or noblemen, who wish to settle there,
and more than two hundred other persons are also going.
Such an effort shows how greatly interested in Canada
His Majesty feels, and to what extent he will appreciate
all that may be done to help its progress.
That the minister was not actuated merely by a passing
mood, but by a set purpose, may be seen from a passage
of a letter to Terron, the intendant at Rochefort: 'I am
very glad,' Colbert wrote, 'that you have not gone beyond
the funds appropriated for the passage of the men and
girls to Canada. You know how important it is to keep
within the limits, especially in an outlay which will
have to be repeated every year.'
In the meantime Talon was pleading the cause of Canada
in another direction. Always intent on freeing New France
from the commercial monopoly of the West India Company,
he renewed his assault against that corporation, and at
last he was successful. This signal victory showed plainly
his great influence with the minister. Colbert conveyed
the gratifying information to Courcelle:
His Majesty has granted freedom of trade to Canada,
so that the colony may hereafter receive more easily
the provisions and supplies needed. It will now be
necessary to inform the colonists that they must
provide cargoes agreeable to the French, who will
supply them with necessities, and so make a profitable
exchange of goods. For there is now a great supply
of furs in this kingdom, and if there were no other
goods available as a return cargo perhaps the French
ships would not go there.
The spring of 1669 was memorable for Canada. Nearly all
that Talon asked for New France was granted. But one
thing which he did not ask was desired by Louis and
Colbert. It is probable that Talon intended to go back
to Canada, but he did not expect or wish to return
immediately. Yet this was what the king and the minister
deemed advisable and even essential. It was very well to
send troops, labourers, women, settlers, and supplies;
but, in order that all should yield their maximum of
efficiency, it was necessary that the business affairs
of the colony should again be placed in the hands of the
intendant, who had already worked wonders by his sagacity
and skilful management. There was no man who knew so well
the weak and strong points, the requirements and
possibilities of Canada. True, only a few months had
elapsed since the king had given him permission to leave
Canada, and had appointed in his stead another intendant
who, naturally enough, would expect to be in charge for
at least two years. But, on the other hand, the king's
service and the public good demanded his reappointment.
Talon had to acquiesce. He had reached Paris at the end
of December. Three months later he was again intendant
of New France, and on April Louis XIV wrote to the
intendant Bouteroue at Quebec informing him of Talon's
reinstatement. To leave France so soon must have been
for Talon a great sacrifice, but it was a high compliment
that Louis and Colbert were paying to his talents and
administrative abilities. On May 10, 1669, the king signed
his new commission, and on the 17th he received his
instructions, a document much shorter than the one framed
for his direction in 1665. No minute advice was needed
this time, for Talon was himself the best authority on
all matters relating to Canada.
Talon sailed from La Rochelle on July 15. He was accompanied
by Captain Francois Marie Perrot, one of the six commanders
of the companies sent to Canada; by Fathers Romuald
Papillion, Hilarion Guesnin, Cesaire Herveau, and Brother
Cosme Graveran. Perrot was married to the niece of the
intendant. The friars belonged to the Franciscan order
and to the particular branch of it known under the name
of Recollets. It had been thought good to reintroduce
into Canada the religious society whose priests had been
the first to preach the Gospel there. The intendant's
former voyage from France to Canada had lasted one hundred
and seventeen days, so that, allowing for all probable
delays, he might expect to reach Quebec by the end of
October at the latest. But it was decreed that he was
not to see New France this year. His ship was assailed
by a series of storms and hurricanes and driven far from
her right course. After three months of exertion and
suffering the captain was obliged to make for the port
of Lisbon. There the ship was revictualled; but, having
sailed again, she struck upon a rocky shoal at a distance
of three leagues from Lisbon and was totally wrecked.
Talon and his companions were fortunately saved, and
found themselves back in France at the beginning of the
year 1670.
In the meantime what was going on in Canada? Talon's
successor, M. de Bouteroue, was upright and intelligent,
but without Talon's masterly gifts and activity. He
attended principally to the administration of justice.
At the judicial sittings of the Sovereign Council he was
almost always present; he himself heard many cases, and
often acted as judge-advocate. On his advice the council
gave out an ordinance fixing the price of wheat. There
had been complaints that sometimes creditors refused to
accept wheat in payment, or accepted it only at a price
unreasonably low. So it was enacted that for three months
after the promulgation of the decree debtors should be
at liberty to pay their creditors in wheat of good quality
at the price of four livres per bushel.
The evil consequences of the previous action of the
council in freeing the brandy traffic were already
manifest. The scourge of the coureurs de bois, later to
prove so damaging to the colony, was beginning to be
felt. A new ordinance now prohibited the practice of
going into the woods with liquor to meet the Indians and
trade with them. This ordinance also enjoined sobriety
upon the Indians and held them responsible for the
drunkenness of their squaws, while the French were
forbidden to drink with them. Hunting in the forest was
only allowed by leave of the commandant of the district
or the nearest judge, to whose inspection all luggage
and goods for trade must be submitted. Brandy might be
taken on these expeditions, but no more than one pot per
man for eight days. The penalty for violating any of
these provisions of the law was confiscation, with a fine
of fifty livres for a first offence and corporal punishment
for a second. Thus, but in vain, did the leaders of New
France attempt to stay the progress of Indian debauchery.
During the summer of 1669 a renewal of the war between
the French and the Iroquois was threatened. Three French
soldiers had killed six Oneidas, after making them drunk
for the purpose of stealing their furs; three other
soldiers had treacherously murdered a Seneca chief for
the same purpose. The Outaouais also, who were in alliance
with the French, attacked a party of Iroquois, killing
and capturing many. Incensed at these acts of hostility,
the Iroquois threatened to unbury the tomahawk. Courcelle
at once set himself to the task of averting the danger.
He went to Montreal, where many hundred Indians had
gathered for the annual fair, to which they always came
in great numbers for the purpose of exchanging their furs
for goods. He convened a large meeting and made an address
of great vigour and cleverness, his speech being accompanied
by appropriate gifts. He then proceeded to carry out the
sentence of the law upon the murderers of the Seneca
chief, who were shot on the spot in the presence of the
assembly. The Iroquois were placated; three men killed
for the death of one convinced them that French justice
was neither slow nor faltering. In the meantime the
Outaouais had brought back three of their prisoners and
pledged themselves for the surrender of twelve others.
in this way war was averted and peace maintained.
The first ships coming from France that summer brought
letters from Colbert to Courcelle and Bouteroue intimating
that Talon was returning to resume his charge. Bouteroue
was probably surprised to learn that he was to be superseded
so soon, and the governor may have been disappointed to
hear of the early arrival of a man whose authority and
prestige made him somewhat uneasy. But in the colony the
rejoicing was general. Mother Marie de l'Incarnation
wrote: 'We expect daily M. Talon whom the king sends back
to settle everything according to His Majesty's views.
He brings with him five hundred men. ...If God favours
his journey and brings him happily to port he will find
new means of increasing the country's wealth.' Several
weeks elapsed, and Talon's ship did not appear. Some
anxiety was felt. Mother Marie wrote again: 'M. Talon
has not arrived; in his ship alone there were five hundred
men. We are greatly concerned at the delay. They may have
landed again in France, or have been lost in the storms
which have proved to be so dreadful.' The autumn of 1669
had been a stormy season. Fearful hurricanes swept over
Quebec. The lower town was flooded to an incredible
height, many buildings were destroyed, and the havoc
amounted to 100,000 livres. All this was painfully
disquieting. To quote Mother Marie again: 'If M. Talon
has been wrecked, it will be an irretrievable loss to
the colony, for, the king having given him a free hand,
he could undertake great things without minding the
outlay.' In the meantime M. Patoulet, Talon's secretary,
who had left France on another ship and had reached Quebec
safely, wrote to Colbert: 'If he is dead, His Majesty
will have lost a good subject, yourself, Monseigneur, a
faithful servant, Canada an affectionate father, and
myself a good master.'
Fortunately, as we have already seen, Talon was not lost.
At the very time when these letters were written he was
on his way back to France, where he spent the winter hard
at work with Colbert--preparing for the dispatch of
settlers and soldiers in the spring. The minister displayed
the same zeal as the year before. He appropriated ample
funds, gave urgent orders, and seemed to make the Canadian
reinforcements his personal affair. Talon sailed from La
Rochelle about the middle of May 1670. He was accompanied
by Perrot again, and also by six Recollets, four fathers
and two brothers. After three months at sea he was nearly
shipwrecked once more, this time near Tadoussac, almost
at the end of his journey. On August 18, after an absence
from Canada of one year and nine months, he landed once
more at Quebec.