1640-1641
MONTREAL
THE COMPANY OF NOTRE DAME DE MONTREAL[36]
PREVIOUS COLONIZATION REVIEWED--MONTREAL CEDED TO SIEUR
DE CHAUSSEE IN 1636 AND LATER TO DE LAUSON--THE DESIGN OF
THE SETTLEMENT OF MONTREAL ENTERS THE MIND OF M. DE LA
DAUVERSIERE--THE FIRST ASSOCIATES OF THE COMPANY OF NOTRE
DAME DE MONTREAL--THE CESSION OF THE ISLAND OF MONTREAL TO
THEM IN 1640--THE RELIGIOUS NATURE OF THE NEW COLONIZING
COMPANY--TRADING FACILITIES CRIPPLED--POLITICAL DEPENDENCE ON
QUEBEC SAFEGUARDED--M. OLIER FOUNDS THE CONGREGATION OF ST.
SULPICE IN PARIS IN VIEW OF THE MONTREAL MISSION--PREPARATIONS FOR
THE FOUNDATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FULLY ORGANIZED SETTLEMENT
OF "VILLA MARIE"--PAUL DE CHOMEDEY DE MAISONNEUVE CHOSEN AS LOCAL
GOVERNOR--THE CALL OF JEANNE MANCE TO FOUND THE HOTEL-DIEU--THE
EXPEDITION STARTS--MAISONNEUVE ARRIVES AT QUEBEC--THE FIRST CLASH
OF THE GOVERNORS--MONTMAGNY OFFERS THE ISLE OF ORLEANS FOR THE NEW
SETTLEMENT--MAISONNEUVE IS FIRM FOR THE ISLAND OF MONTREAL--THE
FIRST FORMAL POSSESSION OF MONTREAL AT PLACE ROYALE--WINTER AT ST.
MICHEL AND STE. FOY--FRICTION BETWEEN THE RIVAL GOVERNORS.
The survey of the colonization of New France up to 1641 shows that it
had been singularly unfruitful. The government of France had never
been more than lukewarm after Cartier's voyages. He had given a poor
account of the climate of the country, and the loss of a quarter of his
crew from scurvy must have confirmed it. Roberval sent on a government
expedition, lost fifty of his company and thereafter the private
companies all had their disasters from famine and disease to record,
beginning with that of Chauvin's, who, having left sixteen men at
Tadoussac for the winter, found eleven there on his return.
Were it not for the insatiable desire for commercial gain, through fur
monopolies, Canada would have been utterly deserted. There were no
industries developed to attract colonists. There had been no gold mines
or other treasures exploited to create rushes into a new and harsh
country, such as that of the Yukon of late years.
Agriculture, under difficult circumstances, and unsupported by
government, or by the companies pledged to encourage it, had also
failed. At the end of little more than one hundred years after Jacques
Cartier's visit to the St. Lawrence there were only 200 Frenchmen
near its waters. Of these about a hundred were fur traders, and their
employees, at once furriers and soldiers; and the rest for the greater
part were the religious, of three institutions, and their dependents.
As a further anti-colonizing influence, there was to be reckoned
with, the love of the French for their own land. The traveler and
historian, Lescarbot, himself a Frenchman and a good colonist, speaking
of colonizing had said: "If we fail, we must attribute it partly to
ourselves who are located in too goodly a land to wish to leave it, and
need be in no fear of finding a subsistence therein."
The same sentiment had prevailed up to 1641. But there had been
one element alone, which can justly claim to have had some lasting
influence and success in the colonizing movement, and that had been
the spirit of religious adventure fostered by Champlain, which made
the small garrison of Quebec into a small, but not insignificant or
undignified, centre of colonization.
We are to see this same desire to bear the light of Christianity and
civilization, as the prime moving force of the new movement to settle
in Canada, animating the founders of the new Company of Montreal, which
is now to appear.
Hence it is necessary to read into the story of the foundation of
Montreal that of the heroism of virtue and of high purpose, of
spiritual and physical endurance.
We have followed the history of Montreal from its discovery by Jacques
Cartier in 1535, to the coming of Champlain in 1603, and his choice in
1611 of La Place Royale as the site of a future settlement, ratified by
him and others for a period of many years. Still the site of the port
at the Grand Sault had never become more than an annual trading port
towards which it was the aim of the traders to push, at the opening of
navigation, to meet the natives at this most convenient spot at the end
of the Ottawa Valley.
It was reserved for the new Company of Montreal, by the powers given
it by their charter granted on December 17, 1640, to put this long
cherished idea of a permanent settlement into realization.
The various steps leading to this must now be traced. We have seen that
the Company of New France, that of the Hundred Associates or Partners,
was in possession of the country from 1627. Among other powers the
Associates had the privilege of making certain concessions, but it was
not until the death of Champlain, anticipated as we have seen during
the two months' illness and more before it occurred on Christmas day,
1635, that the privilege seems to have been used under the following
circumstances.
[Illustration: THE FOUNDATION OF MONTREAL. THE FIRST ASSOCIATES OF THE
COMPANY OF MONTREAL.
(A bas relief from the Maisonneuve Monument by Philippe Hébert)]
We have seen that Champlain had clearly meditated a settlement
at Montreal and no doubt meant to make it his own headquarters.
Circumstances had not allowed him to pursue his design. His important
position at Quebec since had left him little leisure for that in
the troublous times following. Still it is curious to note that his
fortifications placed on Ile Ronde in 1611 seemed to have given him a
lien on the site of Montreal, for we hear of no private person being
granted it till after his death in December, 1635. It is only on the
15th of January, following, that such a transaction is announced at the
annual meeting of the Hundred Associates in Paris, held in the house of
M. Jean de Lauson, the intendant of the Company.
In the edict of the establishment of this Company, in order to
facilitate the exercise of his functions, the king had ordered, that
as the whole of the members could not be expected to participate in
the active administration of its affairs, a dozen of them could be
elected directors with sole and full power under the presidency of the
intendant to buy, sell and distribute the lands.
In order to limit the powers of this executive, the eleventh article
of the edict declared that no concession of land exceeding two hundred
arpents could be valid, without the signature of twenty of the
Associates made in the presence of the intendant of the Company.
M. Lauson had been named intendant since 1627, being at that time
Councillor of State and President of the Great Council. At the annual
meeting of the Associates, on January 15, 1636, some most important
concessions were granted which affect Montreal. M. Jacques Gérard,
Chevalier, Sieur de la Chaussée, made application in due form for the
Island of Montreal. Sieur Simon le Maitre made application for the
seigneury, afterwards called de Lauson, and another, Jacques Castillon,
for that part of the Isles of Orleans called hereafter the Seigneurie
de Charny, after the name of one of de Lauson's sons. These concessions
were granted and signed by de Lauson as the intendant. Shortly
afterward when de Lauson relinquished the post of intendant, these
three, who were his friends, and had lent their names for his purpose,
transferred the properties to him. Indeed in the act of April 30, 1638,
by which M. de Chaussée ceded the "Ile de Montréal" he expressly says
that he had accepted it only to give de Lauson pleasure and to lend his
name. At the same meeting several other concessions were put through in
behalf of the eldest son of de Lauson, viz.: with the reserve of the
islands of Montreal and Orleans, all the other islands formed by the
River St. Lawrence, and the exclusive right of fishing and navigation
of the whole extent of this river. Finally, as if these islands,
without number, were not sufficient, the same eldest son received more
than sixty leagues of land facing the River St. Lawrence, beginning
from the River St. Francis, on Lake St. Pierre, and reaching up the
river to above Sault St. Louis. This concession, known hereafter under
the name of La Citière, comprised, according to the deed of possession
July 29, 1636, a part of the territory now belonging to the United
States--the whole little lot making what would have been a European
kingdom. Certainly M. de Lauson was feathering his nest and that of his
children before giving up the intendancy. There was the obligation,
however, which the Company placed on the above persons that they should
send men to the relief of the colony. This was evidently looked upon
as a legal formality, of no serious moment. Similar clauses had been
inserted in so many New France company charters already and this could
be equally disregarded, as it was. However, this illegal omission of
duty was made use of, later, as we shall see, when these concessions
were annulled and revoked by the Company of One Hundred Associates by
their ordinance of December 17, 1640.
The design of the settlement of the Island of Montreal, however, was
soon to enter into the mind of a pious, enthusiastic, and some would
say, visionary person, M. Jérome le Royer Sieur de la Dauversière, a
"receveur général des finances" at La Flèche in Anjou.
[Illustration: JEROME LE ROYER DE LA DAUVERSIERE
Founder of the La Flèche Hospitalières to serve the Hôtel Dieu at
Montreal.]
The Abbé Faillon relates the conception of this design as occurring to
the devout M. de la Dauversière when present at mass with his wife and
children on February 2, the feast of the Purification, 1635 or 1636,
when, after having received holy communion, he became convinced that
it was his duty to establish an order of lady Hospitalières, to take
St. Joseph as their patron; to establish in Montreal a Hôtel-Dieu to
be directed by these nuns; that the Holy Family should be particularly
honoured in this island; that the effect of this inspiration was a
revelation to him, as he had never conceived the project before, even
remotely; and, moreover, his knowledge of Montreal had hitherto been as
vague as that of Canada.
But Dollier de Casson, who was afterwards the parish priest of
Montreal, an old-time soldier, a learned and pious, but practical man,
although a great believer in Providence, gives a less mystical account
in his history of Montreal written from 1672 to 1673.
There he relates the origin of the design of the establishment of
Montreal as due to the reading of one of the "Jesuit Relations," which
had fallen into de la Dauversière's hands. There the writer spoke
strongly of the Island of Montreal as being the most suitable place in
the country for the purpose of establishing a mission and receiving the
savages. In reading this, M. de la Dauversière was at once much touched.
He became enthusiastic and already saw the vision of a French colony
settled at Montreal christianizing the natives. Montreal seems to
have so obsessed his mind that he was never tired of speaking of it,
depicting its position, the geography of its location, its beauty, its
fertility, its size, with such minuteness and vividness, that all who
heard him felt that he had been directly inspired with this knowledge,
for little was known of Montreal owing to the wars which had left so
little opportunity for exploring it well, that it was with difficulty
that even a rough idea of it could be furnished. De la Dauversière saw
himself called to give himself up to the conversion of the savages; but
still doubtful as to whether this idea was from God or not, he betook
himself to his Jesuit friend and confessor, Father Chauveau, rector of
the college at La Flèche.
"Have no doubt, Monsieur," was the reply. "Engage in it in good
earnest."
There was then at La Flèche under the roof of M. de la Dauversière, a
gentleman of ample means who had come to live with him "as in a school
of piety so as to learn to serve our Lord better," This was M. Pierre
Chevrier, Baron de Fancamp, who afterwards forsook the world and joined
the new order of secular priests under the name of the "Seminary of St.
Sulpice."
According to Dollier de Casson, M. Fancamp had also read with similar
emotion the same account which had influenced his friend. On his return
from the "Jesuits" M. de la Dauversière immediately related the reply
he had received and forthwith M. le Baron offered to associate himself
with him in his design and they both resolved to go to Paris together
to form some charitable body which should be ready to contribute to the
enterprise. A dramatic meeting took place there.[37]
"M. de la Dauversière," so says Dollier de Casson, "betook himself to a
mansion whither our lord conducted M. Olier." This is the celebrated M.
Olier who was afterwards the founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice in
Paris and, indirectly, that of Montreal.
[Illustration: M. JEAN-JACQUES OLIER
Founder of Saint Sulpice in Paris and Montreal.]
Dollier de Casson continues: "These two servants of Jesus Christ
meeting in this mansion, were on a sudden enlightened by a heavenly and
altogether extraordinary gleam. They forthwith saluted one another and
embraced. They knew one another to the very depths of their souls, like
St. Francis and St. Dominic, without speaking, without anyone having
said a word to either of them, and without having previously seen one
another. After these tender embraces M. Olier said to M. Dauversière:
"I know your design. I am going to recommend it to God at the holy
altar."
This said, he left them and went to say holy mass, which M. Dauversière
heard, with a devotion altogether difficult to express when the
mind is not aglow with the same fire that consumed these great men.
Thanksgiving over, M. Olier gave M. de la Dauversière one hundred
pistoles, saying to him: "Take this then to commence the work of God!"
Thus the first interview ended.
Dollier de Casson leaves his readers to imagine with what joy and
eagerness this news is received by the "dear Baron le Fancamp." This
M. Fancamp afterwards became a priest and joined Dollier de Casson at
Montreal and no doubt he had told the first historian of Ville Marie
his story himself _per longum et latum_. Three new associates, friends
of M. Olier, were induced to finance the new venture, of whom the first
was the Baron de Renty, a man of admirable qualities, pious and filled
with apostolic zeal. These six, forming the nucleus of the Société de
Notre Dame de Montréal, determined to fit out an expedition to embark
in the spring of 1641.
But as yet they had no claim on the Island of Montreal. As we have
learned, this had been ceded to M. de la Chaussée in 1636 and
transferred to M. de Lauson in 1638, who had become the intendant of
Dauphigny where he was now residing. With daring boldness M. de la
Dauversière and M. de Fancamp, journeyed to Vienne in Dauphigny to
arrange terms with him for the cession of the island to them. De Lauson
had not colonized it, or carried out any of the conditions requiring
its being tilled, but he was not easily disposed to relinquish what was
a valuable possession for the advancement of his family, the more so as
he learned that his interests were jeopardized by the new company. He
therefore refused to discuss the question.
A second attempt and visit were made, this time with success, for M. de
la Dauversière had secured in the meantime the powerful co-operation of
Father Charles Lalemant, who had been the first Jesuit superior of the
Canadian missions, having been sent out in 1621.
Lalemant knew Canada well and had great influence with the Company of
the Hundred Associates. He had been superior of the church of Notre
Dame de Recouvrance in Quebec, as well as Champlain's confessor, and
had had naturally many official relations with M. de Lauson in his
capacity as intendant of the company. As he was held in great esteem by
M. de Lauson, Father Lalemant, who since his return from Canada two
years before was now the procurator of the missions of the society, was
a powerful advocate for the cession.
Accordingly the cession was granted by deed dated Vienne, August 7,
1640, to Pierre Chevrier, écuyer, Sieur de Fancamp, and Jérome de
Royer, Sieur de la Dauversière. This declares "that M. Jean de Lauson
cedes, has given and transferred, purely and simply the Island of
Montreal, situated on the River St. Lawrence, above Lake St. Peter,
entirely as it was given by the gentlemen of the Company of New France
to M. de la Chaussée for them and theirs to enjoy, having regard to the
same duties and conditions expressed in the act of the fifteenth of
January, 1636."
A second contract was signed, the same afternoon, by which "M. de
Lauson as much in his own name as the legitimate administrator for
Francis de Lauson, écuyer, Sieur de Lyrée, his son, yields to them the
right of navigation and passage on all the extent of the River St.
Lawrence as well as the right of fishing in this river, within ten
leagues around the Island of Montreal and that in consideration of the
great number of men which they are to cause to pass into this island to
people the colony and to aid to till the lands adjoining those of the
said Sieur de Lyrée, with the duty of giving him each year six pounds
of fish, as a token of simple acknowledgment."
In December following the general assembly of the Company of the
Hundred Associates or the "Société de Nouvelle France" was held in
Paris in the house of M. Bordier, secretary of His Majesty's council
and a former director of the Company.
The whole project of the establishment of the new company for Montreal
was discussed and its conclusions drawn up in a deed of concession,
to M. de Fancamp and M. de la Dauversière, dated December 17, 1640.
It annulled and revoked all the concessions granted by the act of
the Company dated January 15, 1636, to M. de Chaussée as well as the
concessions and transferences made thereafter of the same "pretended
rights," the whole being null and revoked through failure of the
execution of the conditions imposed within the time ordered. In the
perusal of this act we can see the relations of the two companies.
That of the Associates of Montreal is clearly regarded as a purely
religious body anxious to aid the parent body in its very great desire
to establish a strong colony in New France to instruct the savage
peoples of that place in the knowledge of God and to draw them to
civilized life. Thus they are very ready to grant them lands to aid in
this praiseworthy enterprise, to wit: etc., which are clearly defined.
In granting this they restricted the concession originally made to M.
de Chaussée of the _whole_ island by reserving to themselves the head
of the island by a line drawn from the Rivière des Prairies up to Lake
St. Louis to the distance of about four leagues from the mountain. In
compensation they granted what afterwards became known as la Seigneurie
de St. Sulpice.
"Moreover, an extent of land two leagues wide along the River St.
Lawrence by six leagues deep in the aforesaid lands, to be taken on the
north side of the same bank where the Assumption River empties into the
said St. Lawrence River, and to begin at a post which will be planted
on that same bank at a distance of two leagues from the mouth of the
same Assumption River, the rest of the said two leagues of frontage to
be taken in a direction running towards the said St. Lawrence River;
whatever lies between the Rivière des Prairies and Assumption River
and between Assumption River and the above mentioned fort, being
reserved to the said company proposing to set up thereon later as forts
and habitations."--Edits et Ord., Quebec, p. 21.
The object of the above restriction is clear. The Company of New France
was primarily a trading concern and it wished to secure its rights to
the north of Montreal as a trading centre for which it was so well
adapted by nature, as it was the natural goal of all the Indian peltry
from beyond the Sault. It reserved rights therefore to build forts and
habitations there.
It next outlined the political and municipal position of the future
colony in respect to the Company. The Sieurs Chevrier (de Fancamp), de
la Dauversière and their successors were obliged, to show their faith
and homage, to take to the fort St. Louis at Quebec in New France,
or other place afterwards designated by the Company, at each change
of possessor, as payment, a piece of gold of the weight of one ounce
stamped with the seal of the Company of New France; to present besides
other signs of acknowledgments of feudal tenure; even to furnish their
aveux et dénombrement,[38] the whole in conformity with the custom of
Paris,--a land tenure system which prevailed for so long afterward in
Canada.
In the matter of Justice, dependence was to be placed on the Sovereign
Court which was to be established at Quebec or otherwise, to which
appeal could be made from the local judges appointed by the Montreal
Company.
Montreal was, thus, crippled beforehand, in its trade extension. The
fur trade with the Indians was only allowed as far as the need and use
of private persons were concerned. All peltry, over and above this,
was to be handed over to the agents of the Company of New France at a
price fixed by it, on the pain of confiscation. Montreal's pretensions
to future independence were guarded against, by it being forbidden to
build any fortress or citadel, this privilege being reserved to the
Company should it afterward desire land for these forts and for the
settlement and housings of the officers and men around them. In case
the Company desired a fort on the mountain, it required five arpents
around it, etc. Nevertheless the seigneurs of Montreal might retrench
or fortify themselves as much as necessary to protect themselves
against the incursions of the savages.
Further limitations were placed on the sources of future population. No
grants of land were to be given to those already settled in New France,
at Quebec, Three Rivers or elsewhere, but only to those who came
expressly to people the lands. In order to insure this, the Seigneurs
Chevrier and le Royer were to send a number of men by the next shipment
made by the Company.
Finally after the clause annulling the gift of de Lauson as stated
above, the document gives order to M. de Montmagny, the governor, to
put the said seigneurs in possession of the lands.
Throughout this document there is no mention of the "Company of
Montreal." The deed is made out to the two named and to their
successors, but it was evidently understood that these were acting for
others with no other pretension than belonging to a number of
associates of the "Company of Montreal."[39]
Let us return to M. Olier. At the time we are speaking of, this young
priest, a man of less than twenty-eight years of age, was a missionary
for the country people. He had returned from these to Paris to take
a decision on a most important subject, which was, whether or not he
should accept the episcopal see of a pious prelate who had been urging
its acceptance by him for over eighteen months.
On the feast of the Purification, February 2, 1636, with this need for
decision on his mind, M. Olier having retired to the abbey church of
St. Germaies-Prés to seek in prayer the solution to his perplexity,
believed that he had received a supernatural light.
"Having prayed for some time," he relates in after years, "at morning
prayer I heard these words, 'you need to consume yourself in me, so
that I may work my whole will in you; and I wish that you may be a
light to illumine the Gentiles; _lumen ad revelationem Gentium_.'"
This appeared to him a clear call to refuse the offer of the
episcopate, which was not among the Gentiles.
At this same time his spiritual director, Père de Coudreu, the general
of the Oratorians, and the holy St. Vincent de Paul, were also thinking
out Olier's decision for him. On this same day, then, Père de Coudreu's
decision that he ought to renounce the episcopacy coming to Olier, he
believed that it was his mission to remain a simple priest, and go at
once to Canada to be allied to the Gentiles there. With difficulty he
is restrained by his director. He is all aglow with zeal, he prays
God, as his autobiographical memoirs tell, "to send me to Montreal in
Canada, where they should build the first chapel, under the title of
the Ever-Blessed Virgin and a Christian town under the name of Ville
Marie, which is a work of marvelous importance."
Olier retired towards the end of 1641, to the Village of Vaugiraud,
where he surrounded himself with some young ecclesiastics who placed
themselves under his direction.[40] Thus he founded the Seminary of
St. Sulpice, the early fruits of which were directed towards Canada.
Thus we shall see, that through his sons, he became the _lumen ad
revelationem_ of his prayers. M. Olier is therefore to be considered
one of the founders of Canada as he is already one of the first three
associates who are to form the new company of Notre Dame de Montréal.
M. Fancamp must shortly have been introduced to Olier, for we learn
that conjointly with M. Olier he sent out to Quebec in 1640, twenty
tons of provisions and tools, begging the Jesuit superior of the
mission to hold them in reserve for the reinforcement they proposed to
send to Montreal the year following before commencing the projected
establishment.
It can but be said that the concession of the Great Company was liberal
and well meaning. Indeed the same day of the concession, December 17,
1640, it engaged itself to transport on its own vessels at its own
expense, thirty men chosen by the Messieurs de Montréal as well as
thirty tons of provisions destined for their sustenance; also to write
to M. de Montmagny to give them two sites, one at the port of Quebec
and the other at Three Rivers, where they might house their provisions
in safety.
Great preparations were now the order of the day. Exhaustive plans
were prepared for the gradual development of the Colony of Montreal,
year by year ahead. Rarely has any settlement ever been thought out
so completely. It had the experience of the Colony of Quebec to fall
back upon. Quebec had its three organized institutions, its clergy
residence, its hospital and its school for the young savages. Ville
Marie should have its similar ones. In the place of the Jesuits it
should have a community of resident secular priests. This was not to
oust the Jesuits, who consented to this from the beginning, as they
wished to follow their vocation to evangelize the country far and
wide, the constitution of their order not designing them to be parish
priests. In the meantime they undertook to look after the spiritual
needs of the young settlement from their headquarters at Quebec. The
plan for the personnel to take charge of the other institutions had not
yet matured.
Documents, in the archives of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, at Paris,
relating to this period, show the fervour of those now planning "by the
goodness of God to see in a short time a new church arise which shall
imitate the purity and the charity of the primitive church."
The Associates, being in the necessity of sending out their first
consignment of men according to their agreement, it became necessary to
choose a governor, dignified, brave and wise, and a good Christian, a
man to command against the attacks of the fierce Iroquois and to build
up the civil life of the community. How the choice fell upon Paul de
Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, a gentleman of Champagne, must now be
told. Here we follow Dollier de Casson and contemporary chroniclers.
Paul de Chomedey, though still young, being commonly thought to be
within his fortieth year, had followed the career of arms since his
thirteenth year, and had given the first proofs of his courage in the
war against the Dutch. Amid the dissipations of a soldier's life,
Colonel de Maisonneuve had retained his probity and purity unsullied.
He loved his profession, but he often desired to exercise it in some
far-off country, where the gaieties and distractions in which he now
found himself a solitary man should not be forced upon him, so that he
might serve God more easily, and remain faithful to his high purposes.
Thus he was in the world but not of it. De Chomedey had a sister to
whom he was devoted, a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame at
Troyes, that ancient birthplace of warriors, poets and saints, on the
Seine. This good woman, they say, desired to partake of the romantic
and apostolic life of the Ursulines Hospitalières at Quebec, as related
by the Jesuits in their letters then being printed and circulated in
France. Doubtless by her whole-souled enthusiasm she had already
turned her brother's thoughts in the same direction of self-sacrifice.
In the dispositions, happening while visiting the house of a friend,
to put his hand by chance upon a copy of these "Relations," in turning
over the leaves he came across the name of Father Lalemant, the former
superior of the Canadian missions, whom he knew to be now in Paris. The
thought came to him that perhaps he might find congenial occupation in
Canada. Thereupon visiting the good Jesuit, he opened his heart to him.
About this same time M. de la Dauversière called upon Father Lalemant
and told him of the difficulty of the Associates in finding a suitable
leader for their enterprise.
"I know," said Lalemant, "a gentleman of Champagne who perhaps will
suit your purpose," and he advocated the qualities of his recent
visitor. He told M. de la Dauversière of the address of Maisonneuve's
hôtel. Desirous of becoming acquainted with Maisonneuve, M. Dauversière
took up his abode there also, and sought an early opportunity of
becoming casually acquainted with him at table. In order to sound him,
he placed before the guests his embarrassment in the choice of a leader
of his expedition. M. de Maisonneuve apparently did not manifest more
interest than his fellow guests at table, but on rising he took M. de
la Dauversière aside and invited him to his apartment. When alone,
Maisonneuve told him frankly of his interest in the conversation at
table. He explained in addition to his own experience in arms, that
he had a yearly income of 2,000 _livres_. "I have no view of personal
interest. I can live on my revenue, which is sufficient for me,
and I would glad-heartedly employ my purse and my life in this new
enterprise, with no other ambition but that of serving God and the
King, in my profession." If his services were agreeable to the Company
he would gladly command the expedition himself, and was ready to start
at once.
It is needless to say that such a man was a God-send to the six
associates who had only 25,000 écus, according to Dollier de Casson,
but 50,000, according to Mother Jucherau in her history of the
Hôtel-Dieu of Quebec. Preparations were made for departure. The
King, in confirming the cession of Montreal, had given power to name
its governors and to have artillery and other munitions of war. M.
Maisonneuve was appointed governor and he was charged, together with
M. de Fancamp, to prepare the equipment of provisions and implements,
etc., and to find only unmarried men, strong and able, to till the
ground, or to work at different trades, and to bear arms against the
Iroquois. M. de Maisonneuve had some difficulty in persuading his
father to give his consent to his departure. Paul was the only son, and
the only hope of his noble and ancient family, and could he wreck his
career? Paul assured him that on the contrary his reputation lay before
him in the new country. At last the father gave his willing consent.
[Illustration: PAUL DE CHOMEDEY DE MAISONNEUVE]
To Troyes Paul de Chomedey then journeyed to bid adieux to his sister,
Madame de Chuly, and to Soeur Louise de Marie, his other sister, at
the convent. There he had to refuse the offer of four of the nuns to
accompany him, to emulate at Montreal the example of the Ursulines of
Quebec. But judging the time not yet ripe for such an institution at
Ville Marie, he gave a promise that when it should be more peopled he
would employ them. His sister wrote on a statue, which they gave him
to take away as a pledge of their mutual engagement, this inscription
in letters of gold
"Sainte mère de Dieu, pure vierge au coeur loyal,
Gardez-nous une place en votre Montréal."
The spring had come; the expedition was ready to depart from Rochelle,
but the mother of the future colony was wanting. These hardy men needed
the solicitude and refining influence of a woman in their midst.
The call of Jeanne Mance to fill this rôle is full of romance. This
devoted lady was then about thirty-three years of age, having been
born towards the year 1606 at Nogent-le-Roi, about four leagues from
Langres, of one of the most honourable families of the district. She
was a modest girl, of great virtue, who from an early age had taken a
vow of perpetual chastity, but although she never entered the religious
life, she always nevertheless remained an unmarried lay woman. Towards
the middle of April of 1640 she had heard for the first time of the
devotedness of Madame de la Peltrie, who had just taken the Ursulines
to Quebec, and of the generosity of the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, who had
founded the house for the "Hospitalières." Though of frail health,
yet she had a daring spirit that dominated her soul so that a strong
attraction for a like sacrifice came to her. She, too, would offer
her services for Canada. Seeking advice she was told to seek Father
Lalemant in Paris. Thither she went from Langres on May 30th. She saw
Father Lalemant, but the future of the foundation of Montreal was then
uncertain, and he was then going to Dauphigny with M. Dauversière to
see M. de Lauson, as related. He could give no decided advice.
[Illustration: JEANNE MANCE
Administratrix of the first hospital in Montreal.]
Jeanne now consulted Father de St. Jure, the rector of the novitiate
of the Society of Jesus in Paris. He confirmed her in her vocation,
and she now acquainted her reluctant relatives with her firm intention
of going to the mission field of Canada. That winter, in Paris, she
visited Père Rapin, provincial of the Recollects, who entering into her
designs, introduced her to Madame de Bullion, a rich and charitable
lady, the widow of Claude de Bullion, the superintendent of finance
and keeper of the seals under Louis XIII. He was a rich man, very
worldly, clever and courageous, but he had a good heart and had endowed
a hospital for the Franciscan Cordeliers, and in which he had died on
the night of December 22-23, 1640, leaving behind him four sons and one
daughter.
When Jeanne Mance called upon the surviving widow, a few weeks later,
there was laid the foundations of a life-long friendship. At Jeanne's
fourth visit, Madame de Bullion asked her if she could undertake the
charge of a hospital which she had herself resolved to found in New
France, when opportunity occurred.
The remembrance of her frail health now made Jeanne recoil before such
a responsibility. Still, though she feared that she could not be of
much service in this regard, she left herself in the hands of God.
Nothing more was then settled. Jeanne was still determined to reach
the vessels soon about to start for New France, and on calling on
Madame de Bullion to take leave before departing to embark this good
lady gave her a purse of 1200 _livres_ to help her in her good work,
with a pledge of more to come, when Jeanne should have arrived at her
destination and had written an account of the state of affairs, as
she found them, regarding the foundation of a hospital. For many years
Madame de Bullion's name remained a secret to the colonists. Jeanne
Mance was even instructed to write to her, under cover of the name of
Père Rapin.
Neither Jeanne nor her benefactress then knew of the venture of
Montreal. This she did not learn till visiting the Jesuit La Place
at Rochelle, where she met the Baron de Fancamp who told her of its
details. The following day, Jeanne Mance met M. de la Dauversière,
whose enthusiasm made her resolve to accept his offer and that of the
Associates, to join the Montreal expedition. While they were waiting
to sail she begged M. de la Dauversière to put the plan of the new
venture into writing and to give her copies so that she might send one
with a letter in her own handwriting to Madame la Princesse de Condé,
to Madame la Chancelière, and, above all, to Madame de Bullion. These
parcels M. de la Dauversière took with him back to Paris, with fruitful
result.
All was now ready, and one of the ships had set sail. The carpenter,
upon whom they relied so much, had deserted, but on putting the vessel
back, luckily another was found on shore willing to go.
Jeanne Mance was now on her vessel.[41] Her only anxiety was that she
should be the only woman at the new settlement of Montreal, among a
good-hearted but rough body of men. Shortly before this a circumstance
occurred at Dieppe, whence the other ships of the expedition were
embarking, which gave her great joy. Two of the workmen engaged were
found to be married men, and on their refusing to go without their
wives, their condition had been accepted. In addition a young and
virtuous girl of Dieppe, seized with a sudden desire to join the
expedition, had forced her way on to the ship, against all opposition.
She too was accepted for Montreal, and Mademoiselle Mance not only
would have companions but she would find in the young girl a faithful
assistant to nurse the sick at Ville Marie.
The expedition was divided into three ships. On one was M. de
Maisonneuve with about twenty-five, including a priest, M. Antoine
Fauls, destined for the Ursulines at Quebec. On the second was Jeanne
Mance and a dozen men for Montreal with the Jesuit, Father La Place.
The third ship had sailed ahead from Dieppe with the three women spoken
of and ten men. These were the first to arrive at Quebec and they set
to work to build a store at the water's edge, at the spot directed by
M. de Montmagny, the governor. The vessel bearing Jeanne Mance reached
Quebec on August 8, 1641; that of M. de Maisonneuve did not arrive till
August 20th. After having sailed for eight days together, the vessels
were separated by the wind, for the rest of the voyage.
Great as was the joy at receiving Mademoiselle Mance at the garrison,
the delay of M. de Maisonneuve, while causing his friends uneasiness
and apprehension, gave many of the Great Company's agents at Quebec an
opportunity of further criticising the "foolhardy enterprise" (la folle
entreprise) of _Les Messieurs de Montréal_, so inauspiciously begun.
At last Maisonneuve's vessel arrived, sadly leaking and battered by
the winds which had made him thrice put back to France, causing him to
lose on the occasions three or four of his men, one of them, a most
needed man for the settlement, his surgeon. Arriving, however, at
Tadoussac, the undaunted Maisonneuve met M. de Courpon, the admiral of
the fleet of the Company of New France, one of his intimate friends.
M. de Courpon offered his own surgeon and this man straightway gaily
accepting, put his belongings on board. Against all expectation
Maisonneuve's vessel sailed into Quebec on August 20th.[42]
On arriving at Quebec, Maisonneuve must have found himself the centre
of anxious thoughts and criticisms. Jeanne Mance would have told him of
this. He would soon gauge public opinion on his official visits.
It would have been the governor of Quebec that Maisonneuve visited
first. To Governor Montmagny, the position of Maisonneuve was, at
least, strange. Quebec was designed to be the seat of government as
the act of December 17, 1640, had clearly marked out. Montreal was to
derive her power from it. Yet Maisonneuve came with the governor's
commission for Montreal and power from the King himself, to have
artillery, munitions of war and soldiers, and a right to appoint
officers of the future colony on a basis of home rule. Both men must
have scented a future clash at Montreal. Yet hostility must not be
read too quickly into Montmagny's action. He was a gentleman and a
broadminded man although he was one of those who thought the expedition
"a foolish enterprise." Dollier de Casson has recorded the result of
this interview. Montmagny's words were:
"You know that the war with the Iroquois has recommenced, and that they
declared it last month at Lake St. Peter, in a fashion that makes them
appear more active than ever against us. You cannot then, reasonably,
think of settling in a place so far removed from Quebec as Montreal.
You must change your resolution; if you wish it, you will be given the
Island of Orleans, instead. Besides, the season would be too advanced
for you to be able to settle at Montreal before the winter, even had
you thought of so doing."
M. Maisonneuve's reply was dignified and calm.
"What you say sir, would be good, if they had sent me to Canada to
deliberate on the choice of a suitable post, but the Company which
sends me, having determined that I shall go to Montreal, my honour is
at stake, and you will not take it ill that I proceed thither to start
a colony. But owing to the season being so far advanced, you will take
it kindly if I am satisfied to go with the more active young men, to
reconnoitre this post before winter, so as to see in what place I can
encamp next spring with all my party."
Maisonneuve's next visit would have been to the clergy represented
by Father Vimont, superior of the Jesuits. Strong in influence with
the Company, his views are worth recording. For this we must fall
back on the "Relations." The Jesuits in France had promoted the new
settlement of Montreal. In the past the writers of the "Relations"
had foreseen the need of utilizing the position at the Sault for a
permanent centre for religious activities, and this meant a settled
garrison to withstand the inroads of the fury and impetuosity of the
Iroquois. Yet of late, the perilous position of the tottering garrison
of Quebec had been so patent that they felt that concentration was the
policy of the hour. As a result of the interview Father Vimont wrote
this year to France: "We have received pleasure at the sight of the
gentlemen of Montreal because their design, if it is successful, is
entirely to the Glory of our God. M. de Maisonneuve, who commands these
men, has arrived so late that he will have wisdom enough, not to ascend
higher than Quebec for this year; but God grant that the Iroquois close
not the way, when there is question of advancing further.... Some
one will say," he continues, "this enterprise is full of expense and
difficulties; these gentlemen will find mountains where they expect to
find valleys. I will not say to these gentlemen that they will find the
roads strewn with roses; the cross, suffering, and great outlays are
the foundation stones of the house of God.... But patience will put the
last touch to this great work."
We may imagine de Maisonneuve's conversation with this serious
sympathizer would have been on these lines and his courage would not
have been diminished.
In spite of de Maisonneuve's firm resolution, Montmagny still hoped
to win him over. He called a meeting of the principal inhabitants
to consider the position. It was a question of concentration or
disintegration--the Island of Orleans under the shadow of Quebec; or
Montreal, 180 miles away in advance of civilization, at the mercy
of the hostile Iroquois? It was a serious question for "la colonie
française."
When the meeting assembled, and before anything had been decided, de
Maisonneuve spoke like a man of courage and one accustomed to the
profession of a soldier. He explained that he had not come to settle
in the Island of Orleans, but to lay the foundation of a town on the
Island of Montreal, and that even should this project be more perilous
than they had told him it was, he would carry it on, should it cost him
his life. "I am not come to deliberate," he concluded, "but to act.
Were all the trees on the Island of Montreal to be changed into so
many Iroquois it is a point of duty and honour for me to go there and
establish a colony."
The meeting broke up without any further deliberation. The clear and
courageous expression of the governor of Montreal had won the day.
Dollier de Casson tells us that Montmagny was gained over by this
straight-forward speech. He was a Chevalier of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem, a soldier and a gentleman. He put no further opposition, but
was anxious to put the governor of Montreal in possession of his post
according to the instructions from his Company.
On October 10th, he, himself, with Father Vimont and others, left
Quebec, and arrived with de Maisonneuve at Montreal, on October 14th.
The customary formalities of taking possession were concluded on
October 15th. The site chosen was that we know as La Place Royale.
On his way down to Quebec, de Maisonneuve stayed a day with a venerable
old man, M. Pierre de Puiseaux, Sieur de Montrenault, who had built a
house at a post called Ste. Foy. This house, as well as that of St.
Michel, at which Madame de la Peltrie was living, he generously offered
to Maisonneuve, together with all his farm stock and furniture, for
the use of the expedition. This unexpected gift Maisonneuve accepted
only conditionally on its acceptance being ratified by the Company
of Montreal. The offer of St. Michel,[43] which was then considered
the bijou house of Canada, was most opportune for M. de Maisonneuve,
besides having quarters for the winter time for Mademoiselle Jeanne
Mance, Madame de la Peltrie, who had associated herself with the
Montreal project, and himself, might with M. de Puiseaux superintend
the necessary preparations for the voyage, while at Ste. Foy, at which
he had left the surgeon and the carpenters, the oaks were being cut
down, and barks were being constructed large enough to carry the party
and all their effects to Montreal.
Meanwhile, the care of the stores for all the Montreal party, during
this winter of 1641-2, was under the skillful management of Jeanne
Mance, who endeared herself to all. Moreover the colonists learned to
know one another and their future governor, who went among them day by
day, encouraged them. It seemed already Montreal. Soon de Maisonneuve's
feast day, the Conversion of St. Paul, coming round on January 25th,
Paul de Chomedey gave his men a little feast in honour of the occasion.
The men fired salutes from the artillery they had brought.
Nearby, in Quebec, the noise of the cannon was heard. Its governor,
touchy for his official prerogatives, interpreted this as an
infringement of his dignity, and he caused Jean Gorry, who had fired
the cannon, to be seized and imprisoned. On the first day of February
Jean Gorry being now released, Maisonneuve gave a feast and paid
particular honour to the unfortunate Jean. The governor of Montreal
knew that Montmagny had exceeded his power, but it was not then the
time to provoke an open quarrel.
Montmagny heard of this second exploit and summoned several of
Maisonneuve's men, who had been present at the feast, to testify on
oath what had happened. The affair blew over, and the governors resumed
pleasant relations, probably because Montmagny found that he was in
the wrong and had read a petty challenge in the harmless salute which
was quite permissible under the commission, given by the king to the
governor of Montreal, for his men to bear arms. Still this incident is
significant and worth recording, in view of the friction and jealousy
to arise between the future governors of the rival cities of Quebec and
Montreal.
FOOTNOTES:
[36] Ville Marie is the name of the town appearing in all the official
documents till 1705, when for the first time that of Montreal appears.
Montreal, in the form of the "Island of Montreal," had, however, been
used long before. The document containing the transition from Ville
Marie to Montreal has been recently brought to public attention by Mr.
E. Z. Massicotte, city archivist.
[37] It was in one of the galleries of the "Château de Meudon" where
the two unexpectedly met. Dauversière, it is thought, had gone there
to the keeper of the seals who was then at the palace. The second
conference after Thanksgiving was in the park grounds of the château
and lasted three hours. (Cf. Faillon.)
[38] Consisted in an avowal of the grant of the seigneury from
the Crown and the census of the seigneury with the names of the
concessionaires, the amount of the lands granted them and under
cultivation, together with the number of heads of cattle, etc.
[39] In fact both of these swore to this explicitly before the notaries
of the King, Pourcelle and Chaussiere, on March 25, 1644. (Edits et
Ord., Quebec I, pp. 26-27.) On March 21, 1650, there was also signed an
act by the Associates which gave to the last survivor, excluding all
heirs, the forts, habitations, etc., conceded to the members of the
Company of Montreal. (Edits et Ord., p. 27.)
[40] "La Compagnie de Prêtres de St. Sulpice" was founded at Vaugirard,
near Paris, in January, 1642, by M. Jean Jacques Olier de Verneuil, who
was born in Paris on September 20, 1608, and died April 2, 1657. The
establishment of the seminary at St. Sulpice, in Paris, was commenced
on August 15, 1642. It was erected into a community on October 23,
1645, and was confirmed by letters patent by Cardinal Chighi, legate a
latere for France.
[41] For Jeanne Mance's future assistants de la Dauversière had
established, in 1639, a young community of "Filles Hospitalières" at
La Flèche, although it had been in existence elsewhere since 1636, who
were to prepare themselves for the Hôtel-Dieu of Ville Marie. The order
at La Flèche was erected on October 25, 1643, by Mgr. Claude de Rueil,
bishop of Angers, and approved by Pope Alexander VII by a brief of
January 19, 1666. The Sisters for Montreal did not arrive till 1659.
[42] Dollier de Casson, de Belmont and de la Tour put the date for
August 20th, Sister Morin for October, Montgolfier for September. The
"Relations" say that the season was "very advanced."
[43] St. Michel is the site of the present "Spencer Wood."