The above fairly, we think, represents the substance of the plea made by the supporters of the liquor traffic. Such indeed were the arguments used by the traders, finally accepted by Talon, developed in after years by Frontenac, approved by Colbert on many occasions; such was the political and commercial wisdom of those who thought mainly of the material progress of New France. To those arguments Laval, the clergy, and many enlightened persons interested in the public welfare had a double answer. First, there was at stake a question of principle important enough to be the sole ground of a decision. Was it right, for the sake of a material benefit, to outrage natural and Christian morality? Was it morally lawful, for the purpose of loading with furs the Quebec stores and the Rochelle ships, to instil into the Indian veins the accursed poison which inflamed them to theft, rape, incest, murder, suicide—all the frightful frenzy of bestial passion. As it was practised, the liquor traffic could have no other result. A powerful consensus of evidence established this truth above all discussion. For the Indians brandy was then, as it is now, a murderous poison. It is for this reason that at the present day the government of Canada prohibits absolutely the sale of intoxicating liquor in the territories where the wretched remnants of the aborigines are gathered. The strictness of the modern laws is a striking vindication of Laval and those who stood by him.

Moreover the prohibition of the brandy traffic was not as detrimental to the material development of the colony as was contended. It was possible to trade with the Outaouais, the Algonquins, the Iroquois, without the allurement of brandy. The Indians themselves acknowledged that strong liquor ruined them. The Abbe Dollier de Casson, superior of the Montreal Sulpicians, was perfectly right when he made the following statement:

We should have had all the Iroquois, if they had not seen that there is as much disorder here as in their country, and that we are even worse than the heretics. The Indian drunkard does not resist the drinking craze when brandy is at hand. But afterwards, when he sees himself naked and disarmed, his nose gnawed, his body maimed and bruised, he becomes mad with rage against those who caused him to fall into such a state.

Some years later the governor Denonville answered those who enlarged on the danger of throwing the Indians on the friendship of the Dutch and English if they were refused brandy. 'Those who maintain,' he said, 'that if we refuse liquor to the Indians they will go to the English, are not trustworthy, for the Indians are not anxious to drink when they do not see the liquor; and the most sensible of them wish that brandy had never existed, because they ruin themselves in giving away their furs and even their clothes for drink: Denonville's opinion was the more justified in that at one time the New England authorities proposed to the French a joint prohibition of the sale of brandy to Indians, and actually passed an ordinance to that effect.

There were many other articles besides brandy that were needed by the Indians, and for which they were obliged to exchange their furs. But even had the prohibition caused a decrease in the fur trade, would the evil have been so great? Fewer colonists would have been diverted from agriculture. As it was, the exodus from the settlements of bushrangers in search of furs was a source of weakness, and the flower of Canadian youth disappeared every year in the wilderness. Had this drain of national vitality been avoided, the settlement of Canada would have been more rapid. Even from the material point of view it can be maintained that the opponents of the brandy traffic understood better than its supporters the true interests of New France.

For a long while this important question divided and agitated the Canadian people. The religious authorities, knowing the evil and crimes that resulted from the sale of intoxicating liquor to the Indians, made strenuous efforts to secure the most severe restriction if not the prohibition of the deadly traffic. They spoke in the name of public morality and national honour, of humanity and divine love. The civil authorities, more interested in the financial and political advantages than in the question of principle, favoured toleration and even authorization of the trade. Hence the conflicts and misunderstandings which have enlivened, or rather saddened, the pages of Canadian history.

It is to be regretted that the intendant Talon sided with the supporters of free traffic in brandy. We have said that at first he wavered. The rulings of the Sovereign Council in 1667 seem to show it. But his earnest desire for the prosperity of the colony—the development of her trade, the increase of her population, the improvement of her finances—his ambition for the economic progress of New France, misled him and perverted his judgment. This is the only excuse that can be offered for the greatest error of his life. For he must be held responsible for the ordinance passed by the Sovereign Council on November 10, 1668. This ordinance, after setting forth that in order to protect the Indians against the curse of drunkenness it was better to have recourse to freedom than to leave them a prey to the wily devices of unscrupulous men, enacted that thereafter, with the king's permission, all the residents of New France might sell and deliver intoxicating liquor to the Indians willing to trade with them. The gate was opened. It was in vain that the ordinance went on to forbid the Indians to get drunk under a penalty of two beavers and exposure in the pillory. A fearful punishment indeed!

Talon's good faith was undeniable. On this occasion he doubtless thought that he was still serving the cause of public welfare. But, without questioning his intentions, we cannot but admit that his life's record contains pages more admirable than this one.



CHAPTER VI

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.



CHAPTER VII

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.



CHAPTER VIII

RENEWED EFFORTS AND PROGRESS

When Talon arrived at Quebec, New France had again just escaped an Indian war. A party of Iroquois hunting near the country of the Outaouais met two men of their nation who had been prisoners of the Outaouais and had succeeded in escaping. These informed their fellow-tribesmen that the Outaouais village was undefended, almost every warrior being absent. The Iroquois then attacked the village, destroyed it, and brought with them as prisoners about one hundred women and children. The Outaouais warriors, when apprised of the raid, started in pursuit, but did not succeed in overtaking the raiders. However, receiving a reinforcement of another party of allied Indians, they invaded the Senecas' territory. These hostilities aroused the temper of the Iroquois, and a general Indian war threatened, into which the French would unavoidably be drawn. At that moment Garakonthie, the Iroquois chief who had always been friendly to the French, advised the Five Nations to send an embassy to the governor of Canada asking him to compose these differences. The Five Nations agreed, and Iroquois and Outaouais delegates, many hundreds in number, came to Quebec. A great council was held lasting three days, and Courcelle succeeded in bringing about an understanding between the rival tribes. After the meetings Garakonthie asked to be baptized, and Laval himself performed the ceremony.

It was but a few days after these events that Talon arrived, and, notwithstanding the improvement in the situation, he does not seem to have deemed peace perfectly secure, for he wrote to the king that it would be advisable to send two hundred more soldiers. He added that the Iroquois caused great injury to the trade of the colony by hunting the beaver in the territories of the tribes allied with the French, and selling the skins to Dutch and English traders. In another letter Talon set forth that these traders drew from the Iroquois 1,000,000 livres' worth of the best beaver, and he suggested the construction of a small ship of the galley type to cruise on Lake Ontario, and that two posts manned by one hundred picked soldiers should be established, one on the north, the other on the south shore of that lake. These measures would ensure safe communication between the colony and the Outaouais country, keep the Iroquois aloof, and favour the opening of new roads to the south. It was a broad and bold scheme. But could it be executed over the head of M. de Courcelle? Talon had foreseen this objection and had begged that the governor should be instructed to give support and assistance. But once more the intendant was going beyond his authority. Such an undertaking was clearly within the governor's province. Talon was told that he should lay his scheme before M. de Courcelle, so that the governor might attend to its execution.

This incident sheds light upon the relations that existed between Courcelle and Talon. The former was valiant, energetic, and intelligent; but he felt that he was outshone by the latter's promptness, celerity in design, superior activity, wider and keener penetration, and he could not conceal his displeasure.

After the great councils held at Quebec, the Senecas again assumed a somewhat disquieting attitude. The governor, they said, had been too hard on them. He had threatened to chastise them in their own country if they did not bring back their prisoners. Perhaps his arm was not long enough to strike so far. Evidently they had forgotten the expedition against the Mohawks five years ago. They were convinced that distance and natural impediments, such as rapids and torrents, protected them from invasion in their remote country south of Lake Ontario. Courcelle resolved to shake their confidence. Early in the spring he went to Montreal and ordered the construction of a flat-boat. In this he set out from Lachine (June 3, 1671) with Perrot, governor of Montreal, Captain de Laubia, Varennes, Le Moyne, La Valliere, Normanville, Abbe Dollier de Casson, and about fifty good men. Thirteen canoes accompanied the flat-boat. After considerable exertion, the governor and his party passed the rapids and continued up the St Lawrence; nine days later they entered Lake Ontario, to the amazement of a party of Iroquois whom they met there. The governor gave these Indians a message for the Senecas and the other nations, stating that he wished to keep the peace, but that, if necessary, he could come and devastate their country. The demonstration had the desired effect and there was no further talk of war.

It will be inferred from Talon's proposals and schemes already mentioned that his thoughts were now occupied with the external affairs of the colony. This indeed was to be the characteristic feature of his second administration. When in Canada before he had concentrated his attention chiefly upon judicial and political organization, and had directed his efforts to promote colonization, agriculture, industry, and trade—in a word, the internal economy of New France. But now, without neglecting any part of his duty, he seemed desirous of widening his sphere of action by the extension of French influence to the north, south, and west. On October 10, 1670, he wrote to the king: 'Since my arrival, I have sent resolute men to explore farther than has ever been done in Canada, some to the west and north-west, others to the south-west and south. They will all on their return write accounts of their expeditions and frame their reports according to the instructions I have given them. Everywhere they will take possession of the country, erect posts bearing the king's arms, and draw up memoranda of these proceedings to serve as title-deeds.'

Of these explorers one of the most noted was Cavelier de la Salle. He had been born in 1643. After pursuing his studies in a Jesuit college he came to Canada in 1666 and obtained from the Sulpicians a grant of land near Montreal, named by him Saint-Sulpice, but ultimately known under the name of Lachine. In 1669 Courcelle gave him letters patent for an exploring journey towards the Ohio and the Meschacebe, or Mississippi. By way of these rivers he hoped to reach the Vermilion Sea, or Gulf of California, and thus open a new road to China via the Pacific ocean. At the same time the Abbes Dollier and de Galinee, Sulpicians, had prepared for a remote mission to the Outaouais. It was thought advisable to combine the two expeditions. Thus it happened that La Salle and the Sulpicians left Montreal in 1669 and journeyed together as far as the western end of Lake Ontario. There they parted. The Sulpicians wintered on the shores of Lake Erie, and next spring passed the strait between Lakes Erie and Huron, reached the Sault Sainte-Marie, and then returned to Montreal by French river, Lake Nipissing, and the Ottawa river. Their journey lasted from July 4, 1669, to June 18, 1670. In the meantime La Salle had reached the Ohio and had followed it to the falls at Louisville. He also returned in the summer of 1670. The itinerary of his next expedition, undertaken in the same year, is not very well known. According to an account of doubtful authority, he went through Lakes Erie and Huron, entered Lake Michigan, reached the Illinois river, and even the Mississippi. But a careful study of contemporaneous documents and evidence leads to the conclusion that the Mississippi must be omitted from this itinerary. In our opinion La Salle did not reach that river in 1671, as has been asserted; he probably went as far as the Illinois country.

Another of Talon's resolute explorers was Simon Francois Daumont de Saint-Lusson. Accompanied by Nicolas Perrot, the well-known interpreter, he left Quebec in September 1670, and wintered with an Outaouais tribe near Lake Superior. Perrot sent word to the neighbouring nations that they should meet next spring at Sault Sainte-Marie a delegate of the great French Ononthio. [Footnote: This was the name given by the Indians to the king of France; the governor was called by them Ononthio, which means 'great mountain,' because that was the translation of Montmagny—mons magnus in Latin—the name of Champlain's first successor. From M. de Montmagny the name had passed to the other governors, and the king had become the 'great Ononthio.'] On June 14 representatives of fourteen nations were gathered at the Sault. The Jesuit fathers Dablon, Dreuillettes, Allouez, and Andre were present. A great council was held on a height. Saint-Lusson had a cross erected with a post bearing the king's arms. The Vexilla Regis and the Exaudiat were sung. The intendant's delegates took possession of the country in the name of their monarch. There was firing of guns and shouts of 'Vive le roi!' Then Father Allouez and Saint-Lusson made speeches suitable to the occasion and the audience. At night the blaze of an immense bonfire illuminated with its fitful light the dark trees and foaming rapids. The singing of the Te Deum crowned that memorable day.

The intendant was pleased with the result of Saint-Lusson's expedition. He wrote to the king: 'There is every reason to believe that from the point reached by this explorer to the Vermilion Sea is a distance of not more than three hundred leagues. The Western Sea [the Pacific ocean] does not seem more distant. According to calculation based on the Indians' reports and on the charts, there should not be more than fifteen hundred leagues of navigation to reach Tartary, China, and Japan.'

Talon showed his high appreciation of Saint-Lusson's services by immediately giving him another mission—this time to Acadia, for the purpose of finding and reporting as to the best road to that colony. In 1670 Grandfontaine had taken possession of Acadia, which had been restored to France by the treaty of Breda. He had received from Sir Richard Walker the keys of Fort Pentagouet, at the mouth of the Penobscot river, and had sent Joybert de Soulanges to hoist the French flag over Jemsek and Port Royal. It was therefore incumbent on the intendant to see to the opening of a road between Quebec and Pentagouet. His letters and those of Colbert written in 1671 are full of this project. A fund of thirty thousand livres was appropriated for the purpose. The intendant's plan was to erect about twenty houses well provided with stores along the proposed route at intervals of sixty leagues. He also had in mind the establishment of settlements along the rivers Penobscot and Kennebec, to form a barrier between New France and New England. With the object of establishing trade relations between Canada and Acadia, he sent to the French Bay (Bay of Fundy) a barge loaded with clothes and supplies, and was extremely pleased to receive in return a cargo of six thousand pounds of salt meat. In 1671, for Colbert's information, he drew up a census of Acadia. [Footnote: The figures were—Port Royal, 359; Poboncoup, 11; Cap Negre, 3; Pentagouet, 6 and 25 soldiers; Mouskadabouet, 13; Saint-Pierre, 7. Total 399, or, including the soldiers, 424. There were 429 cultivated acres, 866 head of cattle, 407 sheep and 36 goats.] But, as we shall see, the great intendant was not to remain in Canada long enough to bring his Acadian undertaking to full fruition.

Let us follow him in another direction. He had tried to extend the sphere of French influence towards the west and south, and was doing his best to strengthen Canada on the New England border by promoting the development of Acadia. His next attempt was to bring the northern tribes into the French alliance and to open to the colony the trade of the wide area extending from Lake St John to Lake Mistassini and thence to Hudson Bay. For an expedition to Hudson Bay he chose Father Albanel, a Jesuit, and M. de Saint-Simon. They left Quebec for Tadoussac in August 1671, and ascended the Saguenay to Lake St John where they wintered. In June 1672 they continued their journey, reaching Lake Mistassini on the 18th of the same month and James Bay on the 28th. After formally taking possession of the country in the name of France, they returned by the same route to Quebec, where on July 23 they laid their report before the intendant.

One of the last but not the least of the explorations made under Talon's auspices was that which he entrusted to Louis Jolliet, and which resulted in the discovery of the upper Mississippi. Jolliet left Montreal in the autumn of 1672 and wintered at Michilimackinac, where he joined Father Marquette. Next spring they set out together, and by way of Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Fox river, and the Wisconsin they reached the giant river, the mighty Mississippi, which they followed down as far as latitude 33 degrees. Thus was discovered the highway through the interior of the continent to the Gulf of Mexico. One result of the discovery was the birth of Louisiana a few years later.

Talon's patriotic enthusiasm was justified when he wrote to Louis XIV: 'I am no courtier and it is not to please the king or without reason that I say this portion of the French monarchy is going to become something great. What I see now enables me to make such a prediction. The foreign colonies established on the adjoining shores of the ocean are already uneasy at what His Majesty has done here during the last seven years.' This confidence was probably not shared by the king and his minister, for, in a letter to Frontenac some time later, Colbert remonstrated against long journeys to the upper St Lawrence and outlying settlements, and expressed his disapproval of discoveries far away in the interior of the continent where the French could never settle or remain. Undoubtedly it was wise to advise concentration, and Talon himself would not have differed on that score from the minister. He was too sagacious not to see that Canada with a small population should abstain from remote establishments. His policy of exploration and discovery did not aim at the immediate foundation of new colonies, but was only directed towards increasing the prestige of the French name, developing trade, and thus preparing the way for the future greatness of Canada. It was a far-sighted policy, not seeking impossible achievements for to-day, but gaining a foot-hold for those of to-morrow. That the political fabric of France in America was doomed to fall in no way dims the fame of the great intendant. Under his powerful direction New France, through her missionaries, explorers, and traders, stamped her mark over three-quarters of the territory then known as North America. Her moral, political, and commercial influence was felt beyond her boundaries—west, north, and south. She had hoisted the cross and the fleurs-de-lis from the sunny banks of the Arkansas to the icy shores of Hudson Bay, and from the surges of the Atlantic to the remotest limits of the Great Lakes. Her unceasing activity and daring enterprise, supplementing inferior numbers and wealth, gave her an undisputed superiority over the industrious English colonies confined to their narrow strip between the Alleghanies and the sea; and her name inspired awe and respect in a hundred Indian tribes.

What was Courcelle's attitude towards the extraordinary activity displayed by Talon? Evidently the intendant often acted the part of the governor; and the real governor, out-shone, could not conceal his ill-humour, and tried to assert his authority. There were several clashes between the two high officials. The governor frequently lost his temper, while Talon complained of Courcelle's jealousy and harshness. It must be admitted that the great intendant, in his fervid zeal for the public good and his passion for action, was not always careful or tactful in his behaviour to the governor.



CHAPTER IX

TALON'S ADMINISTRATION ENDS

In the survey of Talon's first term of office mention was made of the many enterprises he set on foot for the internal progress of the colony. One of these was shipbuilding. During his second term a stronger impulse was given to this industry. One of the intendant's first official acts after his arrival in 1670 was to issue a decree for the conservation of the forests suitable for shipbuilding purposes—to prohibit the felling of oak, elm, beech, and cherry trees until the skilled carpenters sent by the king should have inspected them and made their choice. It is interesting, too, to find that in all grants of land Talon inserted a clause reserving these trees. Shipbuilding in Canada was to be encouraged and promoted. Had not Colbert given forty thousand livres for the purpose? A shipyard was set up on the banks of the St Charles river. Many ships were built there; at first only small ones, but the industry gradually developed. In 1672 a ship of over four hundred tons was launched, and preparations had been made for another of eight hundred tons. Seven years earlier only nineteen out of 2378 vessels in the French mercantile marine had exceeded four hundred tons. The infant shipyard at Quebec was doing well.

Agriculture and industry were flourishing in New France. Hemp was being grown successfully, and a larger quantity of wool was made available by increasing flocks of sheep. The intendant insisted that women and girls should be taught to spin. He distributed looms to encourage the practice of weaving, and after a time the colony had home-made carpets and table-covers of drugget, and serges and buntings. The great number of cattle ensured an abundance of raw hides. Accordingly the intendant established a tannery, and this in turn led to the preparation of leather and the making of shoes; so that in 1671 Talon could write to the king: 'I am now clothed from foot to head with home-made articles.' Tobacco was grown to some extent, but Colbert did not wish to encourage its cultivation by the Canadian farmers. The minister was better pleased when the intendant wrote concerning potash and tar. A Sieur Nicolas Follin undertook to make potash out of wood ashes, and was granted a privilege with a bounty of ten sous per ton and free entry into France for his product. The potash proved excellent. In the meantime an expert on tar named Arnould Alix came from France and found that the Canadian trees were eminently fit for the production of that article, so necessary in shipbuilding; indeed at this time Colbert was doing his best to manufacture it in France so that the shipyards of the kingdom might use French tar instead of the foreign product. The news that it could be made in Canada was very welcome to the minister.

The intendant continued his search for mines, but without substantial results. There had been much talk of iron ore at Baie Saint-Paul and also in the region of Three Rivers. The Sieur de la Potardiere was sent to examine these ores; but, although his report was favourable and Colbert seemed highly interested and began to speak of casting cannon on the shores of the Saint-Maurice, for some reason nothing was done, and sixty years were to elapse before the establishment of the Saint-Maurice forges.

In another chapter we saw that Talon was always ready to help the religious institutions and that he was very friendly towards the Hotel-Dieu at Quebec. This hospital had become too small for the requirements of the growing population. At his own expense the intendant had a substantial wing erected, superintending the work himself and at the same time securing for the institution an abundant supply of water. The Ursulines also received ample evidence of his goodwill and friendship. He was greatly pleased with their Seminaire Sauvage (Indian seminary), where they displayed an unceasing zeal for the instruction and civilization of the little red-skinned girls. The Jesuit Relation of 1671 mentions the baptism of an Indian girl with her mother. Talon wished to be godfather and asked Madame d'Ailleboust to act as godmother. Laval officiated. In 1671 the Ursulines had fifty Indian girls in their Seminaire Sauvage, and in Montreal the Sulpicians and the Sisters of the Congregation, as already narrated, were devoting themselves to the Indian children. In this good work the intendant was greatly interested. He rejoiced in educational progress, as is shown by the following from one of his letters to the king:

The Canadian youth are improving their knowledge. They take to schools for sciences, arts, handicrafts, and especially navigation; and if the movement is sustained there is every reason to hope that this country will produce mariners, fishermen, seamen, and skilled workmen; for the youth here are naturally inclined to these pursuits. The Sieur de Saint-Martin (a lay brother at the Jesuits), who knows enough mathematics, is going to give lessons at my request.

New France at this time was prosperous and happy. 'Peace reigns within as well as without the colony,' wrote Talon at the end of the year 1671. There was work and activity on all sides. New settlements were opened, new families were founded, new industries were born. No wonder that Talon, when he reflected on what had been achieved in seven years, should have written: 'This portion of the French monarchy is going to become something great.'

Unfortunately his activities and service in Canada were nearing their end. His health was breaking down. Louis XIV had promised that he should be relieved from his arduous task in two years. Talon reminded his royal master of this promise, and on May 17, 1672, the king was pleased to give him permission to come home. Courcelle had asked for his own recall; his request was also granted and the Comte de Frontenac was named in his stead. No intendant was appointed to fill Talon's place. At the beginning of September 1672, while Talon had still two months to serve, Frontenac arrived in Quebec to take up his duties as the sole executive head of the colony. [Footnote: Another volume of this Series, The Fighting Governor, tells of what happened in New France in Frontenac's time.]

One of Talon's last official acts was the allotment, under authority of a decree of the King's Council of State, of a large number of seigneuries—a matter of the highest importance for the development of the colony. He set himself to the task with his usual activity and earnestness. From October 10 to November 8 he authorized about sixty seigneurial concessions to officers and others desirous of forming settlements. In one day alone (November 3) he made thirty-one grants. The autumn of 1672, during which all these seigneuries were created, should be remembered in the history of New France. Before Talon, it is true, seigneurial grants had been made in Canada, but only intermittently and without any preconceived plan or well-defined object. Now it was quite different. The grants made by Talon, and the way in which they were made, show clearly the execution of a well thought-out scheme. If Talon was not the founder he was the organizer of the seigneurial institution in Canada. The object was twofold—to protect and to colonize the country. By his concessions to Sorel, Chambly, Varennes, Saint-Ours, Contrecoeur—all officers of the Carignan regiment—he created so many little military colonies whose population would be composed chiefly of disbanded soldiers. These, being warriors as well as farmers, would be a strong barrier against possible Iroquois incursions. His second object, to stimulate colonization in general, was anticipated by a provision—inserted in each grant—that the seigneurs should live on their domains, and that their tenants should do the same; this would mean the planting of many new settlements on both shores of the St Lawrence. It was a sound policy. For over a century the seigneurial system was to Canada a source of strength and progress. [Footnote: This view is fully sustained by Prof. W. B. Munro of Harvard University, who has made an exhaustive study of the subject. The reader is referred to the narrative of The Seigneurs of Old Canada in the present Series, written by him.] Its organization was the crowning work of the intendant Talon in New France.

Talon's task was over. He had happily fulfilled his mission. He had set government and justice upon a foundation which was to last until the fall of the old regime. He had given a mighty impulse to agriculture, colonization, trade, industry, naval construction. He had encouraged educational and charitable institutions, created new centres of population, strengthened the frontiers of Canada, and, with admirable forethought, had prepared the way for the future extension and growth of the colony. He has had his critics. The word paternalism has been used to describe the system carried out by him and by Colbert. He has been accused of having too willingly substituted governmental action for individual activity. But, taking into consideration the time and circumstances, such criticism is not justified. When Talon came to Canada, the colony was dying. A policy of ensuring protection, of liberal and continuous subvention, of intelligent state initiative, was a necessity of the hour. Everywhere ground had to be broken, and the government alone could do it. The policy of Colbert and Talon saved the colony.

The great intendant left Canada in November 1672. It was a mournful day for New France. In recognition of his services the king had made a barony of his estate, 'des Islets,' and had created him Baron des Islets. Later on he became Comte d'Orsainville. He had previously been appointed Captain of the Mariemont Castle.

Talon never came back to Canada. Louis XIV and Colbert received him with expressions of the greatest satisfaction. After a time he became premier valet de la garde-robe du roi (first valet of the king's wardrobe), and finally he attained the coveted office of secretary of the king's cabinet. He died on November 24, 1694, at the age of about sixty-nine years, twenty-two years after his departure from Canada.

Jean Talon is one of the great names in Canadian history—the name of one of the makers of Canada.



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The author's larger work, 'Jean Talon, Intendant de la Nouvelle France', is the principal source of information for the foregoing narrative. Consult also Parkman, 'The Old Regime in Canada'; Colby, 'Canadian Types of the Old Regime'; Kingsford, 'The History of Canada', vol. i.; the chapters, 'The Colony in its Political Relations' and 'The Colony in its Economic Relations,' by Adam Shortt and Thomas Chapais, in 'Canada and its Provinces', vol. ii.



END