1667-1672.
FRANCE TAKES POSSESSION OF THE WEST.
TALON.--ST. LUSSON.--PERROT.--THE CEREMONY AT SAUT STE. MARIE.--
THE SPEECH OF ALLOUEZ.--COUNT FRONTENAC.
Jean Talon, Intendant of Canada, was a man of no common stamp. Able,
vigorous, and patriotic,--he was the worthy lieutenant and disciple of the
great minister Colbert, the ill-requited founder of the prosperity of
Louis XIV. He cherished high hopes for the future of New France, and
labored strenuously to realize them. He urged upon the king a scheme
which, could it have been accomplished, would have wrought strange changes
on the American continent. This was, to gain possession of New York, by
treaty or conquest; [Footnote: _Lettre de Talon à Colbert_, 27 _Oct_.
1667. Twenty years after, the plan was again suggested by the Governor,
Denonville.] thus giving to Canada a southern access to the ocean, open at
all seasons, separating New England from Virginia, and controlling the
Iroquois, the most formidable enemy of the French colony. Louis XIV. held
the king of England in his pay; and, had the proposal been urged, the
result could not have been foretold. The scheme failed, and Talon prepared
to use his present advantages to the utmost. While laboring strenuously to
develop the industrial resources of the colony, he addressed himself to
discovering and occupying the interior of the continent; controlling the
rivers, which were its only highways; and securing it for France against
every other nation. On the east, England was to be hemmed within a narrow
strip of seaboard; while, on the south, Talon aimed at securing a port on
the Gulf of Mexico, to hold the Spaniards in check, and dispute with them
the possession of the vast regions which they claimed as their own. But
the interior of the continent was still an unknown world. It behooved him
to explore it; and to that end he availed himself of Jesuits, officers,
fur-traders, and enterprising schemers like La Salle. His efforts at
discovery seem to have been conducted with a singular economy of the
king's purse. La Salle paid all the expenses of his first expedition made
under Talon's auspices; and apparently of the second also, though the
Intendant announces it in his despatches as an expedition sent out by
himself. [Footnote: At all events, La Salle was in great need of money
about the time of his second journey. On the sixth of August, 1671, he had
received on credit, "dans son grand besoin et nécessité," from Branssat,
fiscal attorney of the Seminary, merchandise to the amount of four hundred
and fifty livres; and, on the eighteenth of December of the following
year, he gave his promise to pay the same sum, in money or furs, in the
August following. Faillon found the papers in the ancient records of
Montreal.] When, in 1670, he ordered Daumont de St. Lusson to search for
copper-mines on Lake Superior, and, at the same time, to take formal
possession of the whole interior for the king; it was arranged that he
should pay the costs of the journey by trading with the Indians.
[Footnote: In his despatch of 2d Nov. 1671, Talon writes to the king that
"St. Lusson's expedition will cost nothing, as he has received beaver
enough from the Indians to pay him."]
St. Lusson set out with a small party of men, and Nicolas Perrot as his
interpreter. Among Canadian _voyageurs_ few names are so conspicuous as
that of Perrot; not because there were not others who matched him in
achievement, but because he could write, and left behind him a tolerable
account of what he had seen. [Footnote: _Moeurs, Coustumes, et Relligion
des Sauvages de l'Amérique Septentrionale_. This work of Perrot, hitherto
unpublished, appeared in 1864, under the editorship of Father Tailhan,
S.J. A great part of it is incorporated in La Potherie.] He was at this
time twenty-six years old, and had formerly been an _engagé_ of the
Jesuits. He was a man of enterprise, courage, and address; the last being
especially shown in his dealings with Indians, over whom he had great
influence. He spoke Algonquin fluently, and was favorably known to many
tribes of that family. St. Lusson wintered at the Manatoulin Islands;
while Perrot--having first sent messages to the tribes of the north,
inviting them to meet the deputy of the Governor at the Saut Ste. Marie in
the following spring--proceeded to Green Bay, to urge the same invitation
upon the tribes of that quarter. They knew him well, and greeted him with
clamors of welcome. The Miamis, it is said, received him with a sham
battle, which was designed to do him honor, but by which nerves more
susceptible would have been severely shaken. [Footnote: See La Potherie,
ii. 125. Perrot himself does not mention it. Charlevoix erroneously places
this interview at Chicago. Perrot's narrative shows that he did not go
farther than the tribes of Green Bay; and the Miamis were then, as we have
seen, on the upper part of Fox River.] They entertained him also with a
grand game of _la crosse_, the Indian ball-play. Perrot gives a marvellous
account of the authority and state of the Miami chief; who, he says, was
attended day and night by a guard of warriors,--an assertion which would
be incredible were it not sustained by the account of the same chief given
by the Jesuit Dablon. Of the tribes of the Bay, the greater part promised
to send delegates to the Saut; but the Pottawattamies dissuaded the Miami
potentate from attempting so long a journey, lest the fatigue incident to
it might injure his health; and he therefore deputed them to represent him
and his tribesmen at the great meeting. Their principal chiefs, with those
of the Sacs, Winnebagoes, and Menomonies, embarked, and paddled for the
place of rendezvous; where they and Perrot arrived on the fifth of May.
[Footnote: Perrot, _Mémoires_, 127.]
St. Lusson was here with his men, fifteen in number, among whom was Louis
Joliet; [Footnote: _Procès Verbal de la Prise de Possession, etc._, 14
_Juin_, 1671. The names are attached to this instrument.] and Indians were
fast thronging in from their wintering grounds; attracted, as usual, by
the fishery of the rapids, or moved by the messages sent by Perrot,--
Crees, Monsonis, Amikoués, Nipissings, and many more. When fourteen
tribes, or their representatives, had arrived, St. Lusson prepared to
execute the commission with which he was charged.
At the foot of the rapids was the village of the Sauteurs, above the
village was a hill, and hard by stood the fort of the Jesuits. On the
morning of the fourteenth of June, St. Lusson led his followers to the top
of the hill, all fully equipped and under arms. Here, too, in the
vestments of their priestly office, were four Jesuits,--Claude Dablon,
Superior of the Missions of the Lakes, Gabriel Druilletes, Claude Allouez,
and Louis André. [Footnote: Marquette is said to have been present; but
the official act, just cited, proves the contrary. He was still at St.
Esprit.] All around, the great throng of Indians stood, or crouched, or
reclined at length, with eyes and ears intent. A large cross of wood had
been made ready. Dablon, in solemn form, pronounced his blessing on it;
and then it was reared and planted in the ground, while the Frenchmen,
uncovered, sang the _Vexilla Regis_. Then a post of cedar was planted
beside it, with a metal plate attached, engraven with the royal arms;
while St. Lusson's followers sang the _Exaudiat_ and one of the Jesuits
uttered a prayer for the king. St. Lusson now advanced, and, holding his
sword in one hand, and raising with the other a sod of earth, proclaimed
in a loud voice,--
"In the name of the Most High, Mighty, and Redoubted Monarch, Louis,
Fourteenth of that name, Most Christian King of France and of Navarre, I
take possession of this place, Sainte Marie du Saut, as also of Lakes
Huron and Superior, the Island of Manatoulin, and all countries, rivers,
lakes, and streams contiguous and adjacent thereunto; both those which
have been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in all
their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of the North
and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea: declaring to the
nations thereof that from this time forth they are vassals of his Majesty,
bound to obey his laws and follow his customs: promising them on his part
all succor and protection against the incursions and invasions of their
enemies: declaring to all other potentates, princes, sovereigns, states
and republics,--to them and their subjects,--that they cannot and are not
to seize or settle upon any parts of the aforesaid countries, save only
under the good pleasure of His Most Christian Majesty, and of him who will
govern in his behalf; and this on pain of incurring his resentment and the
efforts of his arms. _Vive le Roi_." [Footnote: _Procès Verbal de la Prise
de Possession_.]
The Frenchmen fired their guns and shouted "_Vive le Roi_," and the yelps
of the astonished Indians mingled with the din.
What now remains of the sovereignty thus pompously proclaimed? Now and
then, the accents of France on the lips of some straggling boatman or
vagabond half-breed;--this, and nothing more.
When the uproar was over, Father Allouez addressed the Indians in a solemn
harangue; and these were his words: "It is a good work, my brothers, an
important work, a great work, that brings us together in council to-day.
Look up at the cross which rises so high above your heads. It was there
that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, after making himself a man for the love
of men, was nailed and died, to satisfy his Eternal Father for our sins.
He is the master of our lives; the ruler of Heaven, Earth, and Hell. It is
he of whom I am continually speaking to you, and whose name and word I
have borne through all your country. But look at this post to which are
fixed the arms of the great chief of France, whom we call King. He lives
across the sea. He is the chief of the greatest chiefs, and has no equal
on earth. All the chiefs whom you have ever seen are but children beside
him. He is like a great tree, and they are but the little herbs that one
walks over and tramples under foot. You know Onontio, [Footnote: The
Indian name of the Governor of Canada.] that famous chief at Quebec; you
know and you have seen that he is the terror of the Iroquois, and that his
very name makes them tremble, since he has laid their country waste and
burned their towns with fire. Across the sea there are ten thousand
Onontios like him, who are but the warriors of our great King, of whom I
have told you. When he says, 'I am going to war,' everybody obeys his
orders; and each of these ten thousand chiefs raises a troop of a hundred
warriors, some on sea and some on land. Some embark in great ships, such
as you have seen at Quebec. Your canoes carry only four or five men, or at
the most, ten or twelve; but our ships carry four or five hundred, and
sometimes a thousand. Others go to war by land, and in such numbers that
if they stood in a double file they would reach from here to
Mississaquenk, which is more than twenty leagues off. When our King
attacks his enemies, he is more terrible than the thunder: the earth
trembles; the air and the sea are all on fire with the blaze of his
cannon: he is seen in the midst of his warriors, covered over with the
blood of his enemies, whom he kills in such numbers, that he does not
reckon them by the scalps, but by the streams of blood which he causes to
flow. He takes so many prisoners that he holds them in no account, but
lets them go where they will, to show that he is not afraid of them. But
now nobody dares make war on him. All the nations beyond the sea have
submitted to him and begged humbly for peace. Men come from every quarter
of the earth to listen to him and admire him. All that is done in the
world is decided by him alone.
"But what shall I say of his riches? You think yourselves rich when you
have ten or twelve sacks of corn, a few hatchets, beads, kettles, and
other things of that sort. He has cities of his own, more than there are
of men in all this country for five hundred leagues around. In each city
there are store-houses where there are hatchets enough to cut down, all
your forests, kettles enough to cook all your moose, and beads enough to
fill all your lodges. His house is longer than from here to the top of the
Saut,--that is to say, more than half a league,--and higher than your
tallest trees; and it holds more families than the largest of your towns."
[Footnote: A close translation of Dablon's report of the speech. See
_Relation_, 1671, 27.] The Father added more in a similar strain; but the
peroration of his harangue is not on record.
Whatever impression this curious effort of Jesuit rhetoric may have
produced upon the hearers, it did not prevent them from stripping the
royal arms from the post to which they were nailed, as soon as St. Lusson
and his men had left the Saut; probably, not because they understood the
import of the symbol, but because they feared it as a charm. St. Lusson
proceeded to Lake Superior; where, however, he accomplished nothing,
except, perhaps, a traffic with the Indians on his own account; and he
soon after returned to Quebec. Talon was resolved to find the Mississippi,
the most interesting object of search, and seemingly the most attainable,
in the wild and vague domain which he had just claimed for the king. The
Indians had described it; the Jesuits were eager to discover it; and La
Salle, if he had not reached it, had explored two several avenues by which
it might be approached. Talon looked about him for a fit agent of the
enterprise, and made choice of Louis Joliet, who had returned from Lake
Superior. [Footnote: _Lettre de Frontenac au Ministre_, 2 _Nov_. 1672, MS.
In the Brodhead Collection, by a copyist's error, the name of the
Chevalier de Grandfontaine is substituted for that of Talon.] But the
Intendant was not to see the fulfilment of his design. His busy and useful
career in Canada was drawing to an end. A misunderstanding had arisen
between him and the Governor, Courcelles. Both were able and public-
spirited; but the relations between the two chiefs of the colony were of a
nature necessarily so critical, that a conflict of authority was scarcely
to be avoided. The Governor presided at the council, and held the military
command; the Intendant directed affairs of justice, finance, and commerce.
Each thought his functions encroached upon, and both asked for recall.
[Footnote: Courcelles returned home on the plea of ill health. Talon
remained a little longer; but soon asked leave to return to France, seeing
that he should fare worse with the new governor than with the old.]
Another governor succeeded; one who was to stamp his mark, broad, bold,
and ineffaceable, on the most memorable page of French-American History.
In the Church of Notre Dame, at Quebec, on a day in the early autumn of
1672, the priests were singing _Te Deum_ for the safe arrival of him whom
they were soon to wish beyond the sea again, or beneath it. Here you would
have seen the new governor surrounded by officers, and by the chief
inhabitants, anxious to pay their court; a tall man in the pompous garb of
a military noble of that gorgeous reign, well advanced in middle life, but
whose high keen features, full of intellect and fire, bespoke his prompt
undaunted nature,--Louis de Buade, Count of Palluau and Frontenac. He
belonged to the high nobility, had held important commands, and, if the
song-writers of his time speak true, had anticipated the king in the
favors of Madame de Montespan. [Footnote: See Brunet, in notes to
_Correspondance de la Duchesse d'Orléans_; Paulin, in notes to the
_Historiettes de Tallement des Reaux_; and Margry, in _Journal Général de
I'Instruction Publique_.] His wife, who could not endure him--and the
aversion seems to have been mutual--was a noted beauty of the court, and
held great influence in its brilliant and corrupt society. [Footnote: St.
Simon and Mademoiselle de Montpensier give very curious accounts of Madame
de Frontenac, who is also mentioned in the _Lettres de Madame de Sevigné_.
Her portrait will be found at Versailles.] Frontenac was full of faults;
but it is not through these that his memory has survived him. He was
domineering, arbitrary, intolerant of opposition, irascible, vehement in
prejudice, often wayward, perverse, and jealous: a persecutor of those who
crossed him; yet capable, by fits, of moderation, and a magnanimous
lenity; and gifted with a rare charm--not always exerted--to win the
attachment of men: versed in books, polished in courts and salons; without
fear, incapable of repose, keen and broad of sight, clear in judgment,
prompt in decision, fruitful in resources, unshaken when others despaired;
a sure breeder of storms in time of peace, but in time of calamity and
danger a tower of strength. His early career in America was beset with ire
and enmity; but admiration and gratitude hailed him at its close: for it
was he who saved the colony and led it triumphant from an abyss of ruin.
[Footnote: In the Library of the Seminary of Quebec is preserved the
funeral oration pronounced over the body of Frontenac by Olivier Goyer, a
Récollet friar. It is a blind and wholesale panegyric, but it is
interlined with notes and comments at great length, by some other
ecclesiastic, a bitter enemy of the Governor. He is vindictive and
acrimonious beyond measure; but, between the two, a good deal of truth is
struck out. Charlevoix's estimate of Frontenac is admirably candid, when
it is remembered that he writes of an enemy of his Order. The career of
Frontenac, his letters, and those of his enemies,--of which many are
preserved,--are, however, his best interpretation.]