 |
The charity of the prelate was boundless. Not only at the hospital of Quebec did he visit the poor and console them, but he even rendered them services the most repugnant to nature. "He has been seen," says M. de la Colombiere, "on a ship where he behaved like St. Francois-Xavier, where, ministering to the sailors and the passengers, he breathed the bad air and the infection which they exhaled; he has been seen to abandon in their favour all his refreshments, and to give them even his bed, sheets and blankets. To administer the sacraments to them he did not fear to expose his life and the lives of the persons who were most dear to him." When he thus attended the sick who were attacked by contagious fever, he did his duty, even more than his duty; but when he went, without absolute need, and shared in the repugnant cares which the most devoted servants of Christ in the hospitals undertake only after struggles and heroic victory over revolted nature he rose to sublimity. It was because he saw in the poor the suffering members of the Saviour; to love the poor man, it is not enough to wish him well, we must respect him, and we cannot respect him as much as any child of God deserves without seeing in him the image of Jesus Christ himself. No one acquires love for God without being soon wholly enkindled by it; thus it was no longer sufficient for Mgr. de Laval to instruct and console the poor and the sick, he served them also in the most abject duties, going as far as to wash with his own hands their sores and ulcers. A madman, the world will say; why not content one's self with attending those people without indulging in the luxury of heroism so repugnant? This would have sufficed indeed to relieve nature, but would it have taught those incurable and desperate cases that they were the first friends of Jesus Christ, that the Church looked upon them as its jewels, and that their fate from the point of view of eternity was enviable to all? It would have relieved without consoling and raising the poor man to the height which belongs to him in Christian society. Official assistance, with the best intentions in the world, the most ingenious organization and the most perfect working, can, however, never be charity in the perfectly Christian sense of this word. If it could allay all needs and heal all sores it would still have accomplished only half of the task: relieving the body without reaching the soul. And man does not live by bread alone. He who has been disinherited of the boons of fortune, family and health, he who is incurable and who despairs of human joys needs something else besides the most comfortable hospital room that can be imagined; he needs the words which fell from the lips of God: "Blessed are the poor, blessed are they that suffer, blessed are they that mourn." He needs a pitying heart, a tender witness to indigence nobly borne, a respectful friend of his misfortune, still more than that, a worshipper of Jesus hidden in the persons of the poor, the orphan and the sick. They have become rare in the world, these real friends of the poor; the more assistance has become organized, the more charity seems to have lost its true nature; and perhaps we might find in this state of things a radical explanation for those implacable social antagonisms, those covetous desires, those revolts followed by endless repression, which bring about revolutions, and by them all manner of tyranny. Let us first respect the poor, let us love them, let us sincerely admire their condition as one ennobled by God, if we wish them to become reconciled with Him, and reconciled with the world. When the rich man is a Christian, generous and respectful of the poor, when he practises the virtues which most belong to his social position, the poor man is very near to conforming to those virtues which Providence makes his more immediate duty, humility, obedience, resignation to the will of God and trust in Him and in those who rule in His name. The solution of the great social problem lies, as it seems to us, in the spiritual love of the poor. Outside of this, there is only the heathen slave below, and tyranny above with all its terrors. That is what religious enthusiasm foresaw in centuries less well organized but more religious than ours.
CHAPTER XIX
DEATH OF MGR. DE LAVAL
The end of a great career was now approaching. In the summer of 1707, a long and painful illness nearly carried Mgr. de Laval away, but he recovered, and convalescence was followed by manifest improvement. This soul which, like the lamp of the sanctuary, was consumed in the tabernacle of the Most High, revived suddenly at the moment of emitting its last gleams, then suddenly died out in final brilliance. The improvement in the condition of the venerable prelate was ephemeral; the illness which had brought him to the threshold of the tomb proved fatal some weeks later. He died in the midst of his labours, happy in proving by the very origin of the disease which brought about his death, his great love for the Saviour. It was, in fact, in prolonging on Good Friday his pious stations in his chilly church (for our ancestors did not heat their churches, even in seasons of rigorous cold), that he received in his heel the frost-bite of which he died. Such is the name the writers of the time give to this sore; in our days, when science has defined certain maladies formerly misunderstood, it is permissible to suppose that this so-called frost-bite was nothing else than diabetic gangrene. No illusion could be cherished, and the venerable old man, who had not, so to speak, passed a moment of his existence without thinking of death, needed to adapt himself to the idea less than any one else. In order to have nothing more to do than to prepare for his last hour he hastened to settle a question which concerned his seminary: he reduced definitely to eight the number of pensions which he had established in it in 1680. This done, it remained for him now only to suffer and die. The ulcer increased incessantly and the continual pains which he felt became atrocious when it was dressed. His intolerable sufferings drew from him, nevertheless, not cries and complaints, but outpourings of love for God. Like Saint Vincent de Paul, whom the tortures of his last malady could not compel to utter other words than these: "Ah, my Saviour! my good Saviour!" Mgr. de Laval gave vent to these words only: "O, my God! have pity on me! O God of Mercy!" and this cry, the summary of his whole life: "Let Thy holy will be done!" One of the last thoughts of the dying man was to express the sentiment of his whole life, humility. Some one begged him to imitate the majority of the saints, who, on their death-bed, uttered a few pious words for the edification of their spiritual children. "They were saints," he replied, "and I am a sinner." A speech worthy of Saint Vincent de Paul, who, about to appear before God, replied to the person who requested his blessing, "It is not for me, unworthy wretch that I am, to bless you." The fervour with which he received the last sacraments aroused the admiration of all the witnesses of this supreme hour. They almost expected to see this holy soul take flight for its celestial mansion. As soon as the prayers for the dying had been pronounced, he asked to have the chaplets of the Holy Family recited, and during the recitation of this prayer he gave up his soul to his Creator. It was then half-past seven in the morning, and the sixth day of the month consecrated to the Holy Virgin, whom he had so loved (May, 1708).
It was with a quiver of grief which was felt in all hearts throughout the colony that men learned the fatal news. The banks of the great river repeated this great woe to the valleys; the sad certainty that the father of all had disappeared forever sowed desolation in the homes of the rich as well as in the thatched huts of the poor. A cry of pain, a deep sob arose from the bosom of Canada which would not be consoled, because its incomparable bishop was no more! Etienne de Citeaux said to his monks after the death of his holy predecessor: "Alberic is dead to our eyes, but he is not so to the eyes of God, and dead though he appear to us, he lives for us in the presence of the Lord; for it is peculiar to the saints that when they go to God through death, they bear their friends with them in their hearts to preserve them there forever." This is our dearest desire; the friends of the venerable prelate were and still are to-day his own Canadians: may he remain to the end of the ages our protector and intercessor with God!
There were attributed to Mgr. de Laval, according to Latour and Brother Houssart, and a witness who would have more weight, M. de Glandelet, a priest of the seminary of Quebec, whose account was unhappily lost, a great number of miraculous cures. Our purpose is not to narrate them; we have desired to repeat only the wonders of his life in order to offer a pattern and encouragement to all who walk in his steps, and in order to pay the debt of gratitude which we owe to the principal founder of the Catholic Church in our country.
The body of Mgr. de Laval lay in state for three days in the chapel of the seminary, and there was an immense concourse of the people about his mortuary bed, rather to invoke him than to pray for his soul. His countenance remained so beautiful that one would have thought him asleep; that imposing brow so often venerated in the ceremonies of the Church preserved all its majesty. But alas! that aristocratic hand, which had blessed so many generations, was no longer to raise the pastoral ring over the brows of bowing worshippers; that eloquent mouth which had for half a century preached the gospel was to open no more; those eyes with look so humble but so straightforward were closed forever! "He is regretted by all as if death had carried him off in the flower of his age," says a chronicle of the time, "it is because virtue does not grow old." The obsequies of the prelate were celebrated with a pomp still unfamiliar in the colony; the body, clad in the pontifical ornaments, was carried on the shoulders of priests through the different religious edifices of Quebec before being interred. All the churches of the country celebrated solemn services for the repose of the soul of the first Bishop of New France. Placed in a leaden coffin, the revered remains were sepulchred in the vaults of the cathedral, but the heart of Mgr. de Laval was piously kept in the chapel of the seminary, and later, in 1752, was transported into the new chapel of this house. The funeral orations were pronounced, which recalled with eloquence and talent the services rendered by the venerable deceased to the Church, to France and to Canada. One was delivered by M. de la Colombiere, archdeacon and grand vicar of the diocese of Quebec; the other by M. de Belmont, grand vicar and superior of St. Sulpice at Montreal.
Those who had the good fortune to be present in the month of May, 1878, at the disinterment of the remains of the revered pontiff and at their removal to the chapel of the seminary where, according to his intentions, they repose to-day, will recall still with emotion the pomp which was displayed on this solemn occasion, and the fervent joy which was manifested among all classes of society. An imposing procession conveyed them, as at the time of the seminary obsequies, to the Ursulines; from the convent of the Ursulines to the Jesuit Fathers', next to the Congregation of St. Patrick, to the Hotel-Dieu, and finally to the cathedral, where a solemn service was sung in the presence of the apostolic legate, Mgr. Conroy. The Bishop of Sherbrooke, M. Antoine Racine, pronounced the eulogy of the first prelate of the colony.
The remains of Mgr. de Laval rested then in peace under the choir of the chapel of the seminary behind the principal altar. On December 16th, 1901, the vault was opened by order of the commission entrusted by the Holy See with the conduct of the apostolic investigation into the virtues and miracles in specie of the founder of the Church in Canada. The revered remains, which were found in a perfect state of preservation, were replaced in three coffins, one of glass, the second of oak, and the third of lead, and lowered into the vault. The opening was closed by a brick wall, well cemented, concealed between two iron gates. There they rest until, if it please God to hear the prayers of the Catholic population of our country, they may be placed upon the altars. This examination of the remains of the venerable prelate was the last act in his apostolic ordeal, for we are aware with what precaution the Church surrounds herself and with what prudence she scrutinizes the most minute details before giving a decision in the matter of canonization. The documents in the case of Mgr. de Laval have been sent to the secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites at Rome; and from there will come to us, let us hope, the great news of the canonization of the first Bishop of New France.
Sleep your sleep, revered prelate, worthy son of crusaders and noble successor of the apostles. Long and laborious was your task, and you have well merited your repose beneath the flagstones of your seminary. Long will the sons of future generations go there to spell out your name,—the name of an admirable pastor, and, as the Church will tell us doubtless before long, of a saint.
INDEX
A
Ailleboust, M. d', governor of New France, 8
Albanel, Father, missionary to the Indians at Hudson Bay, 11, 103
Alexander VII, Pope, appoints Laval apostolic vicar with the title of Bishop of Petraea in partibus, 7, 26; petitioned by the king to erect an episcopal see in Quebec, 131; wants the new diocese to be an immediate dependency of the Holy See, 133
Alexander of Rhodes, Father, 23
Algonquin Indians, 2, 9, 11
Allard, Father, Superior of the Recollets in the province of St. Denis, 109, 110
Allouez, Father Claude, 11; addresses the mission at Sault Ste. Marie, 104
Anahotaha, Huron chief, joins Dollard, 69, 71
Andros, Sir Edmund, governor of New England, 173
Argenson, Governor d', 29; his continual friction with Laval, 34; disapproves of the retreat of Captain Dupuis from the mission of Gannentaha, 67
Arnaud, Father, accompanies La Verendrye as far as the Rocky Mountains, 11
Assise, Francois d', founder of the Franciscans, 18
Aubert, M., on the French-Canadians, 118, 119
Auteuil, Denis Joseph Ruette d', solicitor-general of the Sovereign Council, 167
Avaugour, Governor d', withdraws his opposition to the liquor trade and is recalled, 38-40; his last report, 40; references, 10, 28
B
Bagot, Father, head of the college of La Fleche, 20
Bailly, Francois, directs the building of the Notre-Dame Church, 88
Bancroft, George, historian, quoted, 4, 5, 152, 153
Beaudoncourt, Jacques de, quoted, 39; describes the escape of the Gannentaha mission from the massacre of 1658, 66, 67
Beaumont, Hardouin de Perefixe de, Archbishop of Paris, 134
Belmont, M. de, his charitable works, 135, 136; preaches Laval's funeral oration, 265
Bernieres, Henri de, first superior of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56; entrusted with Laval's duties during his absence, 134, 143, 162; appointed dean of the chapter established by Laval, 197; his death, 239
Bernieres, Jean de, his religious retreat at Caen, 24, 25; referred to, 33, 34
Berthelot, M., rents the abbey of Lestrees from Laval, 138; exchanges Ile Jesus for the Island of Orleans, 138
Bishop of Petraea, see Laval-Montmorency
Bouchard, founder of the house of Montmorency, 16
Boucher, governor of Three Rivers, 29
Boudon, Abbe Henri-Marie, archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, 23
Bourdon, solicitor-general, 79
Bourgard, Mgr., quoted, 61
Bourgeoys, Sister Marguerite, founds a school in Montreal which grows into the Ville-Marie Convent, 9, 126; on board the plague-stricken St. Andre, 31, 32; as a teacher, 91, 92, 156; through her efforts the church of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is erected, 177, 178
Bouteroue, M. de, commissioner during Talon's absence, 116
Brebeuf, Father, his persecution and death, 5, 16, 62
Bretonvilliers, M. de, superior of St. Sulpice, 88, 89, 135, 162
Briand, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 12
Bizard, Lieutenant, dispatched by Frontenac to arrest the law-breakers and insulted by Perrot, 160
Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, the, 125
Brulon, Jean Gauthier de, confessor of the chapter established by Laval, 197
C
Caen, the town of, 24
Callieres, Chevalier de, governor of Montreal, 214; lays before the king a plan to conquer New York, 218; at Quebec when attacked by Phipps, 229; makes peace with the Indians, 235; his death, 235
Canons, the duties of, 196, 197
Carignan Regiment, the, 53, 77, 79, 114
Carion, M. Philippe de, 88
Cataraqui, Fort (Kingston), built by Frontenac and later called after him, 84, 145; conceded to La Salle, 145
Cathedral of Quebec, the, 84, 85
Champigny, M. de, commissioner, replaces Meulles, 204, 215
Champlain, Samuel de, governor of New France and founder of Quebec, 4, 8, 12
Charlevoix, Pierre Francois Xavier de, on colonization, 117, 118; his portrait of Frontenac, 144, 145
Charron Brothers, the, make an unsuccessful attempt to establish a charitable house in Montreal, 125, 245-8
Chateau St. Louis, 112, 160, 163
Chaumonot, Father, 65; the head of the Brotherhood of the Holy Family, 86, 87
Chevestre, Francoise de, wife of Jean-Louis de Laval, 139
Clement X, Pope, 133; signs the bulls establishing the diocese of Quebec, 136
Closse, Major, 8, 92
Colbert, Louis XIV's prime minister, 52; a letter from Villeray to, 77, 78; opposes Talon's immigration plans, 80; receives a letter from Talon, 107; Talon's proposals to, 115; a dispatch from Frontenac to, 161; reproves Frontenac's overbearing conduct, 165; asks for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, 170, 171
College de Clermont, 21, 22
College of Montreal, the, 124, 125
Colombiere, M. de la, quoted, 23, 256, 257
Company of Montreal, the, 25; its financial obligations taken up by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 135
Company of Notre-Dame of Montreal, 85, 108, 127, 189
Company of the Cent-Associes, founded by Richelieu, 4; incapable of colonizing New France, abandons it to the royal government, 40, 41; assists the missionaries, 50; a portion of its obligations undertaken by the West India Company, 145
Consistorial Congregation of Rome, the, 132
Couillard, Madame, the house of, 58
Courcelles, M. de, appointed governor in de Mezy's place, 51; acts as godfather to Garakontie, Indian chief, 65; an instance of his firmness, 82, 83; meets the Indian chiefs at Cataraqui, and gains their approval of building a fort there, 84; succeeded by Frontenac, 84; lays the corner-stone of the Notre-Dame Church in Montreal, 88; returns to France, 143
Coureurs de bois, the, 158, 159
Crevecoeur, Fort, 148, 149
D
Dablon, Father, 11, 62, 65; describes Laval's visit to the Prairie de la Madeleine, 74, 75; quoted, 103, 140
Damours, M., member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166; imprisoned by Frontenac, 167
Daniel, Father, his death, 5
Denonville, Marquis de, succeeds de la Barre, 193, 202, 204; urges Laval's return to Canada, 213; his expedition against the Iroquois, 214-16; seizes Indian chiefs to serve on the king's galleys, 214, 215; builds a fort at Niagara, 216; recalled, 218
Dequen, Father, 32, 33
Dollard, makes a brave stand against the Iroquois, 39, 68-72, 75 (note)
Dollier de Casson, superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 11; at the laying of the first stone of the Church of Notre-Dame, 89; preaching on the shores of Lake Erie, 108; joined by La Salle, 148; speaks of the liquor traffic, 175; at Quebec, 190
Dongan, Colonel Thomas, governor of New York, urges the Iroquois to strife, 185, 191, 213, 216
Dosquet, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12
Druilletes, Father, 11
Duchesneau, intendant, his disputes with Frontenac upon the question of President of the Council, 166, 167; recalled, 168, 185; asked by Colbert for proof of the evils of the liquor traffic, 170, 171; instructed by the king to avoid discord with La Barre, 186, 187
Dudouyt, Jean, director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56, 134, 143, 163; his mission to France in relation to the liquor traffic, 171; grand cantor of the chapter established by Laval, 197; his death, 219; burial of his heart in Quebec, 219
Dupont, M., member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166
Dupuis, Captain, commander of the mission at Gannentaha, 65; how he saved the mission from the general massacre of 1658, 65-7
E
Earthquake of 1663, 42-5; its results, 45, 46
F
Famine Creek, 193, 217
Fenelon, Abbe de, see Salignac-Fenelon
Ferland, Abbe, quoted, 35; on the education of the Indians, 63, 64; his tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, 93-5; on Talon's ambitions, 114; quoted, 130; his opinion of the erection of an episcopal see at Quebec, 133; on the union of the Quebec Seminary with that of the Foreign Missions in Paris, 140; on La Salle's misfortunes, 149; quoted, 155; praises Laval's stand against the liquor traffic, 173; on Laval's return to Canada, 220
Five Nations, the, sue for peace, 53; missions to, 65; references, 217, 223, 234
French-Canadians, their physical and moral qualities, 118, 119; habits and dress, 120; houses, 120, 121; as hunters, 121, 122
Frontenac, Fort, 84, 215, 217, 223
Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count de, governor of Canada, 16; builds Fort Cataraqui, 84, 145; succeeds Courcelles, 84, 143; his disputes with Duchesneau, 112, 166, 167; early career, 144; Charlevoix's portrait of, 144, 145; orders Perrot's arrest, 160; his quarrel with the Abbe de Fenelon, 160-5; reproved by the king for his absolutism, 164, 165; his recall, 168, 185; succeeds in having permanent livings established, 181; again appointed governor, 218, 228; carries on a guerilla warfare with the Iroquois, 228, 229; defends Quebec against Phipps, 129-31; attacks the Iroquois, 233, 234; his death, 234
G
Gallinee, Brehan de, Sulpician priest, 11, 105, 108, 148
Gannentaha, the mission at, 65; how it escaped the general massacre of 1658, 65-7
Garakontie, Iroquois chief, his conversion, 65; his death, 73, 74
Garnier, Father Charles, his death, 5
Garreau, Father, 11
Gaudais-Dupont, M., 41
Glandelet, Charles, 141, 197, 218; in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, 243
Gosselin, Abbe, quoted, 35; his explanation of Laval's mandement, 49, 50; quoted, 58, 59; on the question of permanent livings, 169, 170
H
Harlay, Mgr. de, Archbishop of Rouen, opposes Laval's petition for an episcopal see at Quebec, 133; called to the see of Paris, 134; his death, 184
Hermitage, the, a religious retreat, 24, 25
Hotel-Dieu Hospital (Montreal), established by Mlle. Mance, 8
Hotel-Dieu, Sisters of the, 33, 210, 236
Houssart, Laval's servant, 250, 251, 252, 253, 255, 264
Hudson Bay, explored by Father Albanel, 11, 103; English forts on, captured by Troyes, 204, 214; Iberville's expedition to, 233
Hurons, the, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 39; forty of them join Dollard, 69; but betray him, 70, 71; they suffer a well-deserved fate, 72
I
Iberville, Le Moyne d', takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204, 233; attacks the English settlements in Newfoundland, 233; explores the mouths of the Mississippi, founds the city of Mobile, and becomes the first governor of Louisiana, 233; his death, 233
Ile Jesus, 58, 185, 189
Illinois Indians, 148
Innocent XI, Pope, 201
Iroquois, the, 2; their attacks on the missions, 5; persecute the missionaries, 8; conclude a treaty of peace with de Tracy which lasts eighteen years, 54, 82; their contemplated attack on the mission of Gannentaha, 65; make an attack upon Quebec, 67-72; threaten to re-open their feud with the Ottawas, 83; urged to war by Dongan, 185, 191; massacre the tribes allied to the French, 191; descend upon the colony, 191, 192; La Barre's expedition against, 193; Denonville's expedition against, 214; several seized to serve on the king's galleys, 214, 215; their massacre of Lachine, 224-7
J
Jesuits, the, their entry into New France, 1; their self-sacrificing labours, 4; in possession of all the missions of New France, 25; as educators, 63; their devotion to the Virgin Mary, 85; religious zeal, 109; provide instruction for the colonists, 124; at the defence of Quebec, 230; shelter the seminarists after the fire, 240, 241
Joliet, Louis, with Marquette, explores the upper part of the Mississippi, 11, 59, 82, 146, 153
Jogues, Father, his persecution and death, 5, 62, 65
Juchereau, Sister, quoted, 240, 241
K
Kingston, see Cataraqui
Kondiaronk (the Rat), Indian chief, his duplicity upsets peace negotiations with the Iroquois, 216-18; his death, 235
L
La Barre, Lefebvre de, replaces Frontenac as governor, 168, 185; holds an assembly at Quebec to inquire into the affairs of the colony, 190; demands reinforcements, 191; his useless expedition against the Iroquois, 193; his recall, 193
La Chaise, Father, confessor to Louis XIV, 174, 238
La Chesnaie, M. Aubert de, 186
Lachesnaie, village, massacred by the Iroquois, 228
Lachine, 116, 147, 148; the massacre of, 225-7
La Fleche, the college of, 19, 20
Lalemant, Father Gabriel, his persecution and death, 5, 62; his account of the great earthquake, 42-5; references, 16, 35, 38
Lamberville, Father, describes the death of Garakontie, Indian chief, 74, 215
La Montagne, the mission of, at Montreal, 9, 74, 125
La Mouche, Huron Indian, deserts Dollard, 71
Lanjuere, M. de, quoted, 24, 135
La Rochelle, 26, 77, 114, 116, 202, 219
La Salle, Cavelier de, 16, 116; Fort Cataraqui conceded to, 145; his birth, 147; comes to New France, 147; establishes a trading-post at Lachine, 147, 148; starts on his expedition to the Mississippi, 148; returns to look after his affairs at Fort Frontenac, 149; back to Crevecoeur and finds it deserted, 149; descends the Mississippi, 150; raises a cross on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico and takes possession in the name of the King of France, 151; spends a year in establishing trading-posts among the Illinois, 151; visits France, 151; his misfortunes, 152; is murdered by one of his servants, 152; Bancroft's appreciation of, 152, 153; his version of the Abbe de Fenelon's sermon, 160, 161
Latour, Abbe de, quoted, 33; on the liquor question, 36-8; re the Sovereign Council, 40; describes the characteristics of the young colonists, 100; on Laval, 187, 188, 264
Lauson-Charny, M. de, director of the Quebec Seminary, 55, 134
Laval, Anne Charlotte de, only sister of Bishop Laval, 19
Laval, Fanchon (Charles-Francois-Guy), nephew of the bishop, 140
Laval, Henri de, brother of Bishop Laval, 19, 21, 139, 141
Laval, Hugues de, Seigneur of Montigny, etc., father of Bishop Laval, 17; his death, 18
Laval, Jean-Louis de, receives the bishop's inheritance, 19, 21, 22, 139
Laval-Montmorency, Francois de, first Bishop of Quebec, his birth and ancestors, 17; death of his father, 18; his education, 19-21; death of his two brothers, 21; his mother begs him, on becoming the head of the family, to abandon his ecclesiastical career, 21; renounces his inheritance in favour of his brother Jean-Louis, 21, 22; his ordination, 22; appointed archdeacon of the Cathedral of Evreux, 22; spends fifteen months in Rome, 23; three years in the religious retreat of M. de Bernieres, 24, 25; embarks for New France with the title of Bishop of Petraea in partibus, 26; disputes his authority with the Abbe de Queylus, 27, 28; given the entire jurisdiction of Canada, 28; his personality and appearance, 28, 29; his devotion to the plague-stricken, 33; private life, 33, 34; friction with d'Argenson on questions of precedence, 34; opposes the liquor trade with the savages, 36-9; carries an appeal to the throne against the liquor traffic, 39; returns to Canada, 41; his efforts to establish a seminary at Quebec, 47-50; obtains an ordinance from the king granting the seminary permission to collect tithes, 50; receives letters from Colbert and the king, 52, 53; takes up his abode in the seminary, 55; his pastoral visits, 74, 75, 87; founds the smaller seminary in 1668, 97-9; his efforts to educate the colonists, 97-100, 124; builds the first sanctuary of Sainte Anne, 101; his ardent desire for more missionaries is granted, 104, 105; his advice to the missionaries, 105-7; receives a letter from the king re the Recollet priests, 110; created Bishop of Quebec (1674), 129; his reasons for demanding the title of Bishop of Quebec, 130, 131; visits the abbeys of Maubec and Lestrees, 138; leases the abbey of Lestrees to M. Berthelot, 138; exchanges the Island of Orleans for Ile Jesus, 138; visits his family, 139; renews the union of his seminary with that of the Foreign Missions, 140; returns to Canada after four years absence, 141; ordered by the king to investigate the evils of the liquor traffic, 171, 172; leaves again for France (1678), 173; acquires from the king a slight restriction over the liquor traffic, 174; confers a favour on the priests of St. Sulpice, 175, 176; returns to Canada (1680), 184, 186; wills all that he possesses to his seminary, 185; makes a pastoral visit of his diocese, 189; his ill-health, 190; writes to the king for reinforcements, 191, 192; decides to carry his resignation in person to the king, 196; establishes a chapter, 197, 198; sails for France, 198; to remain titular bishop until the consecration of his successor, 201; returns to Canada, 202, 220; ill-health, 205; reproves Saint-Vallier's extravagance, 206; an appreciation of, by Saint-Vallier, 209; a letter from Father La Chaise to, 238, 239; officiates during Saint-Vallier's absence, 244; his last illness, 249-53, 261, 262; his death, 263; and burial, 264-6
Laval University, 15, 99, 124
Leber, Mlle. Jeanne, 91, 92
Le Caron, Father, Recollet missionary, 3
Lejeune, Father, 25
Lemaitre, Father, put to death by the Iroquois, 8; ministers to the plague-stricken on board the St. Andre, 31, 32
Le Soleil d'Afrique, 219
Lestrees, the abbey of, 136, 138, 185
Liquor traffic, the, forbidden by the Sovereign Council, 36; opposed by Laval, 36-9; the Sovereign Council gives unrestricted sway to, 113; again restricted by the council, 115, 116; a much discussed question, 169-75
Lorette, the village of, 74
Lotbiniere, Louis Rene de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166
Louis XIV of France, recalls d'Avaugour, and sends more troops to Canada, 39; writes to Laval, 52, 53; petitions the Pope for the erection of an episcopal see in Quebec, 131, 132; demands that the new diocese shall be dependent upon the metropolitan of Rouen, 132, 133; granted the right of nomination to the bishopric of Quebec, 136; his decree of 1673, 159, 160; reproves Frontenac for his absolutism, 164, 165; orders Frontenac to investigate the evils of the liquor traffic, 171, 172; forbids intoxicating liquors being carried to the savages in their dwellings or in the woods, 174; contributes to the maintenance of the priests in Canada, 182, 183; his efforts to keep the Canadian officials in harmony, 186, 187; sends reinforcements, 192; grants Laval an annuity for life, 201; at war again, 235
M
Maisonneuve, M. de, governor of Montreal, 8, 16, 92, 176
Maizerets, M. Ange de, comes to Canada, 41; director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 56; accompanies Laval on a tour of his diocese, 189; archdeacon of the chapter established by Laval, 197; in charge of the diocese during Saint-Vallier's absence, 243
Mance, Mlle., establishes the Hotel-Dieu Hospital in Montreal, 8; on board the plague-stricken St. Andre, 31; at the laying of the first stone of the church of Notre-Dame, 89; her death, 89; her religious zeal, 91, 92
Maricourt, Le Moyne de, 16; takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204
Marquette, Father, with Joliet explores the upper part of the Mississippi, 11, 59, 82, 146, 153; his death, 146, 147
Maubec, the abbey of, 131; incorporated with the diocese of Quebec, 136; a description of, 137
Membre, Father, descends the Mississippi with La Salle, 149, 150, 151
Mesnu, Peuvret de, secretary of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166
Metiomegue, Algonquin chief, joins Dollard, 69
Meulles, M. de, replaces Duchesneau as commissioner, 168, 185; replaced by Champigny, 204
Mezy, Governor de, 10; succeeds d'Avaugour, 41; disagrees with the bishop, 51; his death, 51, 52
Michilimackinac, 146, 149, 216
Millet, Father, pays a tribute to Garakontie, 73, 215
Mississippi River, explored by Marquette and Joliet as far as the Arkansas River, 11, 59, 82, 146; La Salle descends to its mouth, 150, 151
Monsipi, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204
Montigny, Abbe de, one of Laval's early titles, 7, 19
Montigny-sur-Avre, Laval's birthplace, 17
Montmagny, M. de, governor of New France, 8
Montmorency, Henri de, near kinsman of Laval, 18; beheaded by the order of Richelieu, 18
Montreal, the Island of, 8, 86; made over to the Sulpicians, 108, 175; the parishes of, united with the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 175, 176, 183
Montreal, the mission of La Montagne at, 9, 74; its first Roman Catholic church, 87-90; its religious zeal, 90-2; see also Ville-Marie
Morel, Thomas, director of the Quebec seminary, 55, 101; his arrest, 163; set at liberty, 164; his death, 219
Morin, M., quoted, 89, 90
Mornay, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12
Mother Mary of the Incarnation, on Laval's devotion to the sick, 33; on his private life, 34, 254; on the results of the great earthquake, 45, 46; on the work of the Sisters, 79, 80; her religious zeal and fine qualities, 92, 93; Abbe Ferland's appreciation of, 93-5; speaks of the work of Abbe Fenelon and Father Trouve, 109; on the liquor traffic, 113; sums up Talon's merits, 114; speaks of the colonists' children, 119; on civilizing the Indians, 125, 126; an appreciation of, by Abbe Verreau, 127; her death, 154; her noble character, 155
Mouchy, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, 158
N
Nelson, Fort (Hudson Bay), held by the English against de Troyes' expedition, 204; captured by Iberville, 233
Newfoundland, English settlements attacked by Iberville, 232
Notre-Dame Church (Montreal), 87-90, 176
Notre-Dame de Bonsecours, chapel (Montreal), 176-9
Notre-Dame de Montreal, the parish of, 175, 176
Notre-Dame des Victoires, church of, 185
Noue, Father de, his death, 5
O
Oblate Fathers, their entry into New France, 1
Olier, M., founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, 5, 6, 25; places the Island of Montreal under the protection of the Holy Virgin, 8, 85; his death, 135; succeeded by Bretonvilliers, 162
Onondagas, the, 67
Ottawa Indians, threaten to re-open their feud with the Iroquois, 83, 215
P
Pallu, M., 23
Parkman, Francis, quoted, 34, 35
Pericard, Mgr. de, Bishop of Evreux, 21; his death, 22
Pericard, Michelle de, mother of Bishop Laval, 17; her death, 26
Peltrie, Madame de la, 92; establishes the Ursuline Convent in Quebec, 125; a description of, by Abbe Casgrain, 153, 154; her death, 154
Permanence of livings, a much discussed question, 169, 181, 184, 236
Perrot, Francois Marie, governor of Montreal, 89; his anger at Bizard, 160; arrested by Frontenac, 160, 164
Perrot, Nicholas, explorer, 82
Peyras, M. de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166
Phipps, Sir William, attacks Quebec, 11, 229-31
Picquet, M., 23
Plessis, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 13
Pommier, Hugues, comes to Canada, 41; director of the Quebec seminary, 55
Pontbriant, Mgr. de, Bishop of Quebec, 12
Pourroy de l'Aube-Riviere, Mgr., Bishop of Quebec, 12
Prairie de la Madeleine, 74, 232
Propaganda, the, 130, 131
Prudhomme, Fort, erected by La Salle, 150
Q
Quebec, attacked by Phipps, 11, 229-31; the bishops of, 12; attacked by the Iroquois, 67-72; arrival of colonists (1665), 78, 79; the cathedral of, 84, 85; its religious fervour, 92; the Lower Town consumed by fire, 186; overwhelmed by disease and fire, 239
Quebec Act, the, 13
Queylus, Abbe de, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, 7; comes to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the Sulpicians, and to establish a seminary, 8; disputes Laval's authority, 27; goes to France, 27; returns with bulls placing him in possession of the parish of Montreal, 28; suspended from office by Bishop Laval and recalled to France, 28; returns to the colony and is appointed grand vicar at Montreal, 28; his religious zeal, 92; his generosity, 107; returns to France, 134; his work praised by Talon, 134
R
Rafeix, Father, comes to Canada, 41
Recollets, the, their entry into New France, 1; refused permission to return to Canada after the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, 3, 110; propose St. Joseph as the patron saint of Canada, 87; their popularity, 111, 112; build a monastery in Quebec, 112; espouse Frontenac's cause in his disputes with Duchesneau, 112; provide instruction for the colonists, 124; their establishment in Quebec, 208
Regale, the question of the right of, 184, 201
Ribourde, Father de la, 149; killed by the Iroquois, 149, 150
Richelieu, Cardinal, founds the Company of the Cent-Associes, 4; orders Henri de Montmorency to be beheaded, 18; referred to, 117
Rupert, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204
S
Sagard, Father, Recollet missionary, 3
Sainte Anne, the Brotherhood of, 101
Sainte Anne, the first sanctuary of, built by Laval, 101; gives place to a stone church erected through the efforts of M. Filion, 102; a third temple built upon its site, 102; the present cathedral built (1878), 102; the pilgrimages to, 102, 103
Sainte-Helene, Andree Duplessis de, 92
Sainte-Helene, Le Moyne de, 16; takes part in an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204; his death at the siege of Quebec, 231
Saint-Vallier, Abbe Jean Baptiste de la Croix de, king's almoner, 199; appointed provisionally grand vicar of Laval, 201; leaves a legacy to the seminary of Quebec, 202; embarks for Canada, 202; makes a tour of his diocese, 203, 204; his extravagance, 206; pays a tribute to Laval, 209; leaves for France, 210; obtains a grant for a Bishop's Palace, 211; his official appointment and consecration as Bishop of Quebec, 202, 219; returns to Canada, 221; opens a hospital in Notre-Dame des Anges, 236; in France from 1700 to 1705, when returning to Canada is captured by an English vessel and kept in captivity till 1710, 242, 243; the object of his visit to France, 243
St. Andre, the, 27; the plague breaks out on board, 31, 32
Ste. Anne, Fort (Hudson Bay), captured by the French, 204
St. Bernardino of Siena, quoted, 35, 36
St. Francois-Xavier, adopted as the second special protector of the colony, 87
St. Ignace de Michilimackinac, La Salle's burying-place, 147
St. Joachim, the seminary of Quebec has a country house at, 12; the boarding-school at, established by Laval, 100, 124, 245; receives a remembrance from Laval, 199
St. Joseph, the first patron saint of Canada, 87
St. Malo, the Bishop of, 6, 7
St. Sulpice de Montreal, see Seminary of St. Sulpice
St. Sulpice, the priests of, see Sulpicians
Salignac-Fenelon, Abbe Francois de, goes to the north shore of Lake Ontario to establish a mission, 105, 108; teaches the Iroquois, 125; his sermon preached against Frontenac, 160, 161; his quarrel with Frontenac, 160-5; forbidden to return to Canada, 164
Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga), the mission of, 9, 74, 147, 189
Sault Ste. Marie, the mission of, 11; addressed by Father Allouez, 104
Seignelay, Marquis de, Colbert's son, sends four shiploads of colonists to people Louisiana, 151, 152; postpones Laval's return to Canada, 211
Seigniorial tenure, 119, 120
Seminary, the, at Quebec, founded by Laval (1663), 10; the priests of, assist in defending Quebec against Phipps, 11, 12; Laval's ordinance relating to, 47, 48; its establishment receives the royal approval, 50; obtains permission to collect tithes from the colonists, 50; its first superior and directors, 55; affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, 57, 58; a smaller seminary built (1668), 58, 59, 97-9; the whole destroyed by fire (1701), 58, 240, 241; its union with the Seminary of Foreign Missions renewed, 140; receives a legacy from Saint-Vallier, 202; sends missionaries to Louisiana, 208; in financial difficulties, 211
Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris, affiliated with the Quebec Seminary, 57, 58; contributes to the support of the mission at Ville-Marie, 136; its union with the Quebec Seminary renewed, 140; a union with the Seminary of St. Sulpice formed, 221
Seminary of Montreal, see Ville-Marie Convent
Seminary of St. Sulpice, the, founded by M. Olier, 5, 6, 25; enlarged, 90; its ancient clock, 90; takes up the financial obligations of the Company of Montreal, 135; joined to the parish of Notre-Dame de Montreal, 175, 176, 183; visited by Laval, 189; affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions, 221
Seine, the, captured by the English with Saint-Vallier on board, 242, 243
Souart, M., 91, 92, 124
Sovereign Council, the, fixes the tithe at a twenty-sixth, 10; forbids the liquor trade with the savages, 36; registers the royal approval of the establishment of the Quebec Seminary, 50; recommends that emigrants be sent only from the north of France, 78; passes a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of liquor, 113; finds it necessary to restrict the liquor trade, 115, 116; its members, 158; judges Perrot, 160; its re-construction, 165-7; a division in its ranks, 167; passes a decree affecting the policy of the Quebec Seminary, 236
Sulpicians, their entry into New France, 1; become the lords of the Island of Montreal, 8, 108; their devotion to the Virgin Mary, 85; at Ville-Marie, 92; more priests arrive, 105, 106; their religious zeal, 109; provide instruction for the colonists, 124; granted the livings of the Island of Montreal, 175, 176; request the king's confirmation of the union of their seminary with the parishes on the Island of Montreal, 183, 184
T
Talon, intendant, appointed to investigate the administration of de Mezy, 51; his immigration plans opposed by Colbert, 80; writes to Colbert in praise of the Abbe de Queylus, 107; brings out five Recollet priests, 109; obtains from the Sovereign Council a decree permitting the unrestricted sale of liquor, 113; develops the resources of the country, 114, 115; returns to France for two years, 116; praises Abbe de Queylus' work, 134, 135; retires from office, 143
Taschereau, Cardinal, 40, 86
Tesserie, M. de la, member of the Sovereign Council, 158
Tilly, Le Gardeur de, member of the Sovereign Council, 158, 166, 167
Tithes, the levying of, on the colonists, 10, 50, 51, 54; payable only to the permanent priests, 55; the edict of 1679, 181; Laval and Saint-Vallier disagree upon the question of, 208, 209
Tonti, Chevalier de, accompanies La Salle as far as Fort Crevecoeur, 148; attacked by the Iroquois and flees to Michilimackinac, 149; again joins La Salle and descends the Mississippi with him, 150; appointed La Salle's representative, 151
Tracy, Marquis de, viceroy, appointed to investigate the administration of de Mezy, 51; builds three forts on the Richelieu River, 53; destroys the hamlets of the Mohawks and concludes a treaty of peace with the Iroquois which lasts eighteen years, 53, 54, 82; reduces the tithe to a twenty-sixth, 54; returns to France, 81; his fine qualities, 81, 82; presents a valuable picture to the church at Sainte Anne, 102
Treaty of Ryswick, 234
Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, 3, 110
Treaty of Utrecht, 235
Trouve, Claude, goes to the north shore of Lake Ontario to establish a mission, 105, 108
Troyes, Chevalier de, leads an expedition to capture Hudson Bay, 204
Turgis, Father, 62
U
Ursuline Convent (Quebec), established by Madame de la Peltrie, 112, 155; consumed by fire, 210
Ursuline Sisters, 33, 125, 154, 231
V
Valrennes, M. de, commands Fort Frontenac, 223, 232
Vaudreuil, Chevalier de, 214; in command at Montreal, 223; opposing the Iroquois at massacre of Lachine, 226, 227; succeeds Callieres as governor of Montreal, 235
Verreau, Abbe, pays a tribute to Mother Mary of the Incarnation, 127
Viel, Father, Recollet missionary, 3
Vignal, Father, ministers to the plague-stricken on board the St. Andre, 31, 32; referred to, 8, 91, 92
Ville-Marie (Montreal), the school at, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, 9; the Abbe de Queylus returns to, 28; takes precautions against the Iroquois, 68; the school of martyrdom, 90, 91; fortified by Denonville, 213, 214; governed by Vaudreuil in Callieres' absence, 223; besieged by Winthrop, 229; references, 82, 83, 85, 122, 124, 135, 162, 178, 217
Ville-Marie Convent, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, 126, 127, 175, 176
Villeray, M. de, writes to Colbert, 77, 78; member of the Sovereign Council, 166, 167
Vitre, Denys de, member of the Sovereign Council, 166
W
West India Company, 81
Winthrop, Fitz-John, attacks Montreal, 229, 231
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