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We come now to an enterprise as singular in its character as it
proved important in its results.
At La Flèche, in Anjou, dwelt one Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière,
receiver of taxes. His portrait shows us a round, "bourgeois" face,
somewhat heavy perhaps, decorated with a slight moustache, and
redeemed by bright and earnest eyes. On his head he wears a black
skull-cap; and over his ample shoulders spreads a stiff white
collar, of wide expanse and studious plainness. Though he belonged
to the "noblesse", his look is that of a grave burgher, of good
renown and sage deportment. Dauversière was, however, an
enthusiastic devotee, of mystical tendencies, who whipped himself
with a scourge of small chains till his shoulders were one wound,
wore a belt with more than twelve hundred sharp points, and invented
for himself other torments, which filled his confessor with
admiration. [Fancamp in Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, Introduction.]
One day, while at his devotions, he heard an inward voice commanding
him to become the founder of a new Order of hospital nuns; and he
was further ordered to establish, on the island called Montreal, in
Canada, a hospital, or Hôtel-Dieu, to be conducted by these nuns.
But Montreal was a wilderness, and the hospital would have no
patients. Therefore, in order to supply them, the island must first
be colonized. Dauversière was greatly perplexed. On the one hand,
the voice of Heaven must be obeyed; on the other, he had a wife, six
children, and a very moderate fortune. [Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance,
Introduction; Dollier de Casson, Hist. de Montreal, MS.; Les
Véritables Motifs des Messieurs et Dames de Montreal, 25; Juchereau,
33.]
Again: there was at Paris a young priest, about twenty-eight years
of age,--Jean Jacques Olier, afterwards widely known as founder of
the Seminary of St. Sulpice. Judged by his engraved portrait, his
countenance, though marked both with energy and intellect, was
anything but prepossessing. Every lineament proclaims the priest.
Yet the Abbé Olier has high titles to esteem. He signalized his
piety, it is true, by the most disgusting exploits of
self-mortification; but, at the same time, he was strenuous in his
efforts to reform the people and the clergy. So zealous was he for
good morals, that he drew upon himself the imputation of a leaning
to the heresy of the Jansenists,--a suspicion strengthened by his
opposition to certain priests, who, to secure the faithful in their
allegiance, justified them in lives of licentiousness. [Faillon, Vie
de M. Olier, II. 188.] Yet Olier's catholicity was past attaintment,
and in his horror of Jansenists he yielded to the Jesuits alone.
He was praying in the ancient church of St. Germain des Prés, when,
like Dauversière, he thought he heard a voice from Heaven, saying
that he was destined to be a light to the Gentiles. It is recorded
as a mystic coincidence attending this miracle, that the choir was
at that very time chanting the words, Lumen ad revelationem
Gentium;1 and it seems to have
occurred neither to Olier nor to his biographer, that, falling on
the ear of the rapt worshipper, they might have unconsciously
suggested the supposed revelation. But there was a further miracle.
An inward voice told Olier that he was to form a society of priests,
and establish them on the island called Montreal, in Canada, for the
propagation of the True Faith; and writers old and recent assert,
that, while both he and Dauversière were totally ignorant of
Canadian geography, they suddenly found themselves in possession,
they knew not how, of the most exact details concerning Montreal,
its size, shape, situation, soil, climate, and productions.
The annual volumes of the Jesuit Relations, issuing from the
renowned press of Cramoisy, were at this time spread broadcast
throughout France; and, in the circles of haute devotion,
Canada and its missions were everywhere the themes of enthusiastic
discussion; while Champlain, in his published works, had long before
pointed out Montreal as the proper site for a settlement. But we are
entering a region of miracle, and it is superfluous to look far for
explanations. The illusion, in these cases, is a part of the
history.
Dauversière pondered the revelation he had received; and the more he
pondered, the more was he convinced that it came from God. He
therefore set out for Paris, to find some means of accomplishing the
task assigned him. Here, as he prayed before an image of the Virgin
in the church of Notre-Dame, he fell into an ecstasy, and beheld a
vision. "I should he false to the integrity of history," writes his
biographer, "if I did not relate it here." And he adds, that the
reality of this celestial favor is past doubting, inasmuch as
Dauversière himself told it to his daughters. Christ, the Virgin,
and St. Joseph appeared before him. He saw them distinctly. Then he
heard Christ ask three times of his Virgin Mother, Where can I find
a faithful servant? On which, the Virgin, taking him (Dauversière)
by the hand, replied, See, Lord, here is that faithful servant!--and
Christ, with a benignant smile, received him into his service,
promising to bestow on him wisdom and strength to do his work. [Faillon,
Vie de Mlle Mance, Introduction, xxviii. The Abbé Ferland, in his
Histoire du Canada, passes over the miracles in silence.] From Paris
he went to the neighboring chateau of Meudon, which overlooks the
valley of the Seine, not far from St. Cloud. Entering the gallery of
the old castle, he saw a priest approaching him. It was Olier. Now
we are told that neither of these men had ever seen or heard of the
other; and yet, says the pious historian, "impelled by a kind of
inspiration, they knew each other at once, even to the depths of
their hearts; saluted each other by name, as we read of St. Paul,
the Hermit, and St. Anthony, and of St. Dominic and St. Francis; and
ran to embrace each other, like two friends who had met after a long
separation." [Ibid., La Colonie Française, I. 390.]
"Monsieur," exclaimed Olier, "I know your design, and I go to
commend it to God at the holy altar."
And he went at once to say mass in the chapel. Dauversière received
the communion at his hands; and then they walked for three hours in
the park, discussing their plans. They were of one mind, in respect
both to objects and means; and when they parted, Olier gave
Dauversière a hundred louis, saying, "This is to begin the work of
God."
They proposed to found at Montreal three religious
communities,--three being the mystic number,--one of secular priests
to direct the colonists and convert the Indians, one of nuns to
nurse the sick, and one of nuns to teach the Faith to the children,
white and red. To borrow their own phrases, they would plant the
banner of Christ in an abode of desolation and a haunt of demons;
and to this end a band of priests and women were to invade the
wilderness, and take post between the fangs of the Iroquois. But
first they must make a colony, and to do so must raise money. Olier
had pious and wealthy penitents; Dauversière had a friend, the Baron
de Fancamp, devout as himself and far richer. Anxious for his soul,
and satisfied that the enterprise was an inspiration of God, he was
eager to bear part in it. Olier soon found three others; and the six
together formed the germ of the Society of Notre Dame de Montreal.
Among them they raised the sum of seventy-five thousand livres,
equivalent to about as many dollars at the present day.
[Dollier de Casson, Histoire de Montreal, MS.; also
Belmont, Histoire du Canada, 2. Juchereau doubles the
sum. Faillon agrees with Dollier.
On all that relates to the early annals of Montreal a
flood of new light has been thrown by the Abbé Faillon.
As a priest of St. Sulpice, he had ready access to the
archives of the Seminaries of Montreal and Paris, and to
numerous other ecclesiastical depositories, which would
have been closed hopelessly against a layman and a
heretic. It is impossible to commend too highly the
zeal, diligence, exactness, and extent of his
conscientious researches. His credulity is enormous, and
he is completely in sympathy with the supernaturalists
of whom he writes: in other words, he identifies himself
with his theme, and is indeed a fragment of the
seventeenth century, still extant in the nineteenth. He
is minute to prolixity, and abounds in extracts and
citations from the ancient manuscripts which his labors
have unearthed. In short, the Abbé is a prodigy of
patience and industry; and if he taxes the patience of
his readers, he also rewards it abundantly. Such of his
original authorities as have proved accessible are
before me, including a considerable number of
manuscripts. Among these, that of Dollier de Casson,
Histoire de Montreal, as cited above, is the most
important. The copy in my possession was made from the
original in the Mazarin Library.] |
Now to look for a moment at their plan. Their eulogists say, and
with perfect truth, that, from a worldly point of view, it was mere
folly. The partners mutually bound themselves to seek no return for
the money expended. Their profit was to be reaped in the skies: and,
indeed, there was none to be reaped on earth. The feeble settlement
at Quebec was at this time in danger of utter ruin; for the
Iroquois, enraged at the attacks made on them by Champlain, had
begun a fearful course of retaliation, and the very existence of the
colony trembled in the balance. But if Quebec was exposed to their
ferocious inroads, Montreal was incomparably more so. A settlement
here would be a perilous outpost,--a hand thrust into the jaws of
the tiger. It would provoke attack, and lie almost in the path of
the war-parties. The associates could gain nothing by the fur-trade;
for they would not be allowed to share in it. On the other hand,
danger apart, the place was an excellent one for a mission; for here
met two great rivers: the St. Lawrence, with its countless
tributaries, flowed in from the west, while the Ottawa descended
from the north; and Montreal, embraced by their uniting waters, was
the key to a vast inland navigation. Thither the Indians would
naturally resort; and thence the missionaries could make their way
into the heart of a boundless heathendom. None of the ordinary
motives of colonization had part in this design. It owed its
conception and its birth to religious zeal alone.
The island of Montreal belonged to Lauson, former president of the
great company of the Hundred Associates; and, as we have seen, his
son had a monopoly of fishing in the St. Lawrence. Dauversière and
Fancamp, after much diplomacy, succeeded in persuading the elder
Lauson to transfer his title to them; and, as there was a defect in
it, they also obtained a grant of the island from the Hundred
Associates, its original owners, who, however, reserved to
themselves its western extremity as a site for a fort and
storehouses.2 At the same time, the younger Lauson
granted them a right of fishery within two leagues of the shores of
the island, for which they were to make a yearly acknowledgment of
ten pounds of fish. A confirmation of these grants was obtained from
the King. Dauversière and his companions were now seigneurs
of Montreal. They were empowered to appoint a governor, and to
establish courts, from which there was to be an appeal to the
Supreme Court of Quebec, supposing such to exist. They were excluded
from the fur-trade, and forbidden to build castles or forts other
than such as were necessary for defense against the Indians.
Their title assured, they matured their plan. First they would send
out forty men to take possession of Montreal, intrench themselves,
and raise crops. Then they would build a house for the priests, and
two convents for the nuns. Meanwhile, Olier was toiling at Vaugirard,
on the outskirts of Paris, to inaugurate the seminary of priests,
and Dauversière at La Flèche, to form the community of hospital
nuns. How the school nuns were provided for we shall see hereafter.
The colony, it will be observed, was for the convents, not the
convents for the colony.
The Associates needed a soldier-governor to take charge of their
forty men; and, directed as they supposed by Providence, they found
one wholly to their mind. This was Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de
Maisonneuve, a devout and valiant gentleman, who in long service
among the heretics of Holland had kept his faith intact, and had
held himself resolutely aloof from the license that surrounded him.
He loved his profession of arms, and wished to consecrate his sword
to the Church. Past all comparison, he is the manliest figure that
appears in this group of zealots. The piety of the design, the
miracles that inspired it, the adventure and the peril, all combined
to charm him; and he eagerly embraced the enterprise. His father
opposed his purpose; but he met him with a text of St. Mark, "There
is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father for
my sake, but he shall receive an hundred-fold." On this the elder
Maisonneuve, deceived by his own worldliness, imagined that the plan
covered some hidden speculation, from which enormous profits were
expected, and therefore withdrew his opposition. [Faillon, La
Colonie Française, I. 409.]
Their scheme was ripening fast, when both Olier and Dauversière were
assailed by one of those revulsions of spirit, to which saints of
the ecstatic school are naturally liable. Dauversière, in
particular, was a prey to the extremity of dejection, uncertainty,
and misgiving. What had he, a family man, to do with ventures beyond
sea? Was it not his first duty to support his wife and children?
Could he not fulfill all his obligations as a Christian by
reclaiming the wicked and relieving the poor at La Flèche? Plainly,
he had doubts that his vocation was genuine. If we could raise the
curtain of his domestic life, perhaps we should find him beset by
wife and daughters, tearful and wrathful, inveighing against his
folly, and imploring him to provide a support for them before
squandering his money to plant a convent of nuns in a wilderness.
How long his fit of dejection lasted does not appear; but at length3
he set himself again to his appointed work. Olier, too, emerging
from the clouds and darkness, found faith once more, and again
placed himself at the head of the great enterprise.4
There was imperative need of more money; and Dauversière, under
judicious guidance, was active in obtaining it. This miserable
victim of illusions had a squat, uncourtly figure, and was no
proficient in the graces either of manners or of speech: hence his
success in commending his objects to persons of rank and wealth is
set down as one of the many miracles which attended the birth of
Montreal. But zeal and earnestness are in themselves a power; and
the ground had been well marked out and ploughed for him in advance.
That attractive, though intricate, subject of study, the female
mind, has always engaged the attention of priests, more especially
in countries where, as in France, women exert a strong social and
political influence. The art of kindling the flames of zeal, and the
more difficult art of directing and controlling them, have been
themes of reflection the most diligent and profound. Accordingly we
find that a large proportion of the money raised for this enterprise
was contributed by devout ladies. Many of them became members of the
Association of Montreal, which was eventually increased to about
forty-five persons, chosen for their devotion and their wealth.
Olier and his associates had resolved, though not from any collapse
of zeal, to postpone the establishment of the seminary and the
college until after a settlement should be formed. The hospital,
however, might, they thought, be begun at once; for blood and blows
would be the assured portion of the first settlers. At least, a
discreet woman ought to embark with the first colonists as their
nurse and housekeeper. Scarcely was the need recognized when it was
supplied.
Mademoiselle Jeanne Mance was born of an honorable family of
Nogent-le-Roi, and in 1640 was thirty-four years of age. These
Canadian heroines began their religious experiences early. Of Marie
de l'Incarnation we read, that at the age of seven Christ appeared
to her in a vision; [Casgrain, Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, 78.]
and the biographer of Mademoiselle Mance assures us, with admiring
gravity, that, at the same tender age, she bound herself to God by a
vow of perpetual chastity. [Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, I. 3.] This
singular infant in due time became a woman, of a delicate
constitution, and manners graceful, yet dignified. Though an earnest
devotee, she felt no vocation for the cloister; yet, while still "in
the world," she led the life of a nun. The Jesuit Relations, and the
example of Madame de la Peltrie, of whom she had heard, inoculated
her with the Canadian enthusiasm, then so prevalent; and, under the
pretence of visiting relatives, she made a journey to Paris, to take
counsel of certain priests. Of one thing she was assured: the Divine
will called her to Canada, but to what end she neither knew nor
asked to know; for she abandoned herself as an atom to be borne to
unknown destinies on the breath of God. At Paris, Father St. Jure, a
Jesuit, assured her that her vocation to Canada was, past doubt, a
call from Heaven; while Father Rapin, a Récollet, spread abroad the
fame of her virtues, and introduced her to many ladies of rank,
wealth, and zeal. Then, well supplied with money for any pious work
to which she might be summoned, she journeyed to Rochelle, whence
ships were to sail for New France. Thus far she had been kept in
ignorance of the plan with regard to Montreal; but now Father La
Place, a Jesuit, revealed it to her. On the day after her arrival at
Rochelle, as she entered the Church of the Jesuits, she met
Dauversière coming out. "Then," says her biographer, "these two
persons, who had never seen nor heard of each other, were
enlightened supernaturally, whereby their most hidden thoughts were
mutually made known, as had happened already with M. Olier and this
same M. de la Dauversière." [Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, I. 18. Here
again the Abbé Ferland, with his usual good sense, tacitly rejects
the supernaturalism.] A long conversation ensued between them; and
the delights of this interview were never effaced from the mind of
Mademoiselle Mance. "She used to speak of it like a seraph," writes
one of her nuns, "and far better than many a learned doctor could
have done." [La Sœur Morin, Annales des Hospitalières de Villemarie,
MS., cited by Faillon.]
She had found her destiny. The ocean, the wilderness, the solitude,
the Iroquois,--nothing daunted her. She would go to Montreal with
Maisonneuve and his forty men. Yet, when the vessel was about to
sail, a new and sharp misgiving seized her. How could she, a woman,
not yet bereft of youth or charms, live alone in the forest, among a
troop of soldiers? Her scruples were relieved by two of the men,
who, at the last moment, refused to embark without their wives,--and
by a young woman, who, impelled by enthusiasm, escaped from her
friends, and took passage, in spite of them, in one of the vessels.
All was ready; the ships set sail; but Olier, Dauversière, and
Fancamp remained at home, as did also the other Associates, with the
exception of Maisonneuve and Mademoiselle Mance. In the following
February, an impressive scene took place in the Church of Notre
Dame, at Paris. The Associates, at this time numbering about
forty-five, [Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS. Vimont says
thirty-five.] with Olier at their head, assembled before the altar
of the Virgin, and, by a solemn ceremonial, consecrated Montreal to
the Holy Family. Henceforth it was to be called Villemarie de
Montreal, [Vimont Relation, 1642, 37. Compare Le Clerc,
Établissement de la Foy, II. 49.]--a sacred town, reared to the
honor and under the patronage of Christ, St. Joseph, and the Virgin,
to be typified by three persons on earth, founders respectively of
the three destined communities,--Olier, Dauversière, and a maiden of
Troyes, Marguerite Bourgeoys: the seminary to be consecrated to
Christ, the Hôtel-Dieu to St. Joseph, and the college to the Virgin.
But we are anticipating a little; for it was several years as yet
before Marguerite Bourgeoys took an active part in the work of
Montreal. She was the daughter of a respectable tradesman, and was
now twenty-two years of age. Her portrait has come down to us; and
her face is a mirror of frankness, loyalty, and womanly tenderness.
Her qualities were those of good sense, conscientiousness, and a
warm heart. She had known no miracles, ecstasies, or trances; and
though afterwards, when her religious susceptibilities had reached a
fuller development, a few such are recorded of her, yet even the
Abbé Faillon, with the best intentions, can credit her with but a
meager allowance of these celestial favors. Though in the midst of
visionaries, she distrusted the supernatural, and avowed her belief,
that, in His government of the world, God does not often set aside
its ordinary laws. Her religion was of the affections, and was
manifested in an absorbing devotion to duty. She had felt no
vocation to the cloister, but had taken the vow of chastity, and was
attached, as an externe, to the Sisters of the Congregation of
Troyes, who were fevered with eagerness to go to Canada. Marguerite,
however, was content to wait until there was a prospect that she
could do good by going; and it was not till the year 1653, that
renouncing an inheritance, and giving all she had to the poor, she
embarked for the savage scene of her labors. To this day, in crowded
school-rooms of Montreal and Quebec, fit monuments of her
unobtrusive virtue, her successors instruct the children of the
poor, and embalm the pleasant memory of Marguerite Bourgeoys. In the
martial figure of Maisonneuve, and the fair form of this gentle nun,
we find the true heroes of Montreal. [For Marguerite Bourgeoys, see
her life by Faillon.]
Maisonneuve, with his forty men and four women, reached Quebec too
late to ascend to Montreal that season. They encountered distrust,
jealousy, and opposition. The agents of the Company of the Hundred
Associates looked on them askance; and the Governor of Quebec,
Montmagny, saw a rival governor in Maisonneuve. Every means was used
to persuade the adventurers to abandon their project, and settle at
Quebec. Montmagny called a council of the principal persons of his
colony, who gave it as their opinion that the new-comers had better
exchange Montreal for the Island of Orleans, where they would be in
a position to give and receive succor; while, by persisting in their
first design, they would expose themselves to destruction, and be of
use to nobody. [Juchereau, 32; Faillon, Colonie Française, I. 423.]
Maisonneuve, who was present, expressed his surprise that they
should assume to direct his affairs. "I have not come here," he
said, "to deliberate, but to act. It is my duty and my honor to
found a colony at Montreal; and I would go, if every tree were an
Iroquois!" [La Tour, Mémoire de Laval, Liv. VIII; Belmont, Histoire
du Canada, 3.]
At Quebec there was little ability and no inclination to shelter the
new colonists for the winter; and they would have fared ill, but for
the generosity of M. Puiseaux, who lived not far distant, at a place
called St. Michel. This devout and most hospitable person made room
for them all in his rough, but capacious dwelling. Their neighbors
were the hospital nuns, then living at the mission of Sillery, in a
substantial, but comfortless house of stone; where, amidst
destitution, sickness, and irrepressible disgust at the filth of the
savages whom they had in charge, they were laboring day and night
with devoted assiduity. Among the minor ills which beset them were
the eccentricities of one of their lay sisters, crazed with
religious enthusiasm, who had the care of their poultry and domestic
animals, of which she was accustomed to inquire, one by one, if they
loved God; when, not receiving an immediate answer in the
affirmative, she would instantly put them to death, telling them
that their impiety deserved no better fate. [Juchereau, 45. A great
mortification to these excellent nuns was the impossibility of
keeping their white dresses clean among their Indian patients, so
that they were forced to dye them with butternut juice. They were
the Hospitalières who had come over in 1639.]
At St. Michel, Maisonneuve employed his men in building boats to
ascend to Montreal, and in various other labors for the behoof of
the future colony. Thus the winter wore away; but, as celestial
minds are not exempt from ire, Montmagny and Maisonneuve fell into a
quarrel. The twenty-fifth of January was Maisonneuve's fête
day; and, as he was greatly beloved by his followers, they resolved
to celebrate the occasion. Accordingly, an hour and a half before
daylight, they made a general discharge of their muskets and cannon.
The sound reached Quebec, two or three miles distant, startling the
Governor from his morning slumbers; and his indignation was
redoubled when he heard it again at night: for Maisonneuve, pleased
at the attachment of his men, had feasted them and warmed their
hearts with a distribution of wine. Montmagny, jealous of his
authority, resented these demonstrations as an infraction of it,
affirming that they had no right to fire their pieces without his
consent; and, arresting the principal offender, one Jean Gory, he
put him in irons. On being released, a few days after, his
companions welcomed him with great rejoicing, and Maisonneuve gave
them all a feast. He himself came in during the festivity, drank the
health of the company, shook hands with the late prisoner, placed
him at the head of the table, and addressed him as follows:--
| ["Jean Gory, you have been put in irons for me: you
had the pain, and I the affront. For that, I add ten
crowns to your wages." Then, turning to the others: "My
boys," he said, "though Jean Gory has been misused, you
must not lose heart for that, but drink, all of you, to
the health of the man in irons. When we are once at
Montreal, we shall be our own masters, and can fire our
cannon when we please." [Documents Divers, MSS., now or
lately in possession of G. B. Faribault, Esq.; Ferland,
Notes sur les Registres de N. D. de Québec, 25; Faillon,
La Colonie Française, I. 433.] |
Montmagny was wroth when this was reported to him; and, on the
ground that what had passed was "contrary to the service of the King
and the authority of the Governor," he summoned Gory and six others
before him, and put them separately under oath. Their evidence
failed to establish a case against their commander; but thenceforth
there was great coldness between the powers of Quebec and Montreal.
Early in May, Maisonneuve and his followers embarked. They had
gained an unexpected recruit during the winter, in the person of
Madame de la Peltrie. The piety, the novelty, and the romance of
their enterprise, all had their charms for the fair enthusiast; and
an irresistible impulse--imputed by a slandering historian to the
levity of her sex [La Tour, Mémoire de Laval, Liv. VIII.]--urged her
to share their fortunes. Her zeal was more admired by the
Montrealists whom she joined than by the Ursulines whom she
abandoned. She carried off all the furniture she had lent them, and
left them in the utmost destitution. [Charlevoix, Vie de Marie de
l'Incarnation, 279; Casgrain, Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation, 333.]
Nor did she remain quiet after reaching Montreal, but was presently
seized with a longing to visit the Hurons, and preach the Faith in
person to those benighted heathen. It needed all the eloquence of a
Jesuit, lately returned from that most arduous mission, to convince
her that the attempt would be as useless as rash. [St. Thomas, Life
of Madame de la Peltrie, 98.]
It was the eighth of May when Maisonneuve and his followers embarked
at St. Michel; and as the boats, deep-laden with men, arms, and
stores, moved slowly on their way, the forest, with leaves just
opening in the warmth of spring, lay on their right hand and on
their left, in a flattering semblance of tranquility and peace. But
behind woody islets, in tangled thickets and damp ravines, and in
the shade and stillness of the columned woods, lurked everywhere a
danger and a terror.
What shall we say of these adventurers of Montreal,--of these who
bestowed their wealth, and, far more, of these who sacrificed their
peace and risked their lives, on an enterprise at once so romantic
and so devout? Surrounded as they were with illusions, false lights,
and false shadows,--breathing an atmosphere of miracle,--compassed
about with angels and devils,--urged with stimulants most powerful,
though unreal,--their minds drugged, as it were, to preternatural
excitement,--it is very difficult to judge of them. High merit,
without doubt, there was in some of their number; but one may beg to
be spared the attempt to measure or define it. To estimate a virtue
involved in conditions so anomalous demands, perhaps, a judgment
more than human.
The Roman Church, sunk in disease and corruption when the
Reformation began, was roused by that fierce trumpet-blast to purge
and brace herself anew. Unable to advance, she drew back to the
fresher and comparatively purer life of the past; and the fervors of
mediaeval Christianity were renewed in the sixteenth century. In
many of its aspects, this enterprise of Montreal belonged to the
time of the first Crusades. The spirit of Godfrey de Bouillon lived
again in Chomedey de Maisonneuve; and in Marguerite Bourgeoys was
realized that fair ideal of Christian womanhood, a flower of Earth
expanding in the rays of Heaven, which soothed with gentle influence
the wildness of a barbarous age.
On the seventeenth of May, 1642, Maisonneuve's little flotilla--a
pinnace, a flat-bottomed craft moved by sails, and two row-boats [Dollier
de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.]--approached Montreal; and all on board
raised in unison a hymn of praise. Montmagny was with them, to
deliver the island, in behalf of the Company of the Hundred
Associates, to Maisonneuve, representative of the Associates of
Montreal. [Le Clerc, II. 50, 51.] And here, too, was Father Vimont,
Superior of the missions; for the Jesuits had been prudently invited
to accept the spiritual charge of the young colony. On the following
day, they glided along the green and solitary shores now thronged
with the life of a busy city, and landed on the spot which
Champlain, thirty-one years before, had chosen as the fit site of a
settlement. ["Pioneers of France," 333. It was the Place Royale of
Champlain.] It was a tongue or triangle of land, formed by the
junction of a rivulet with the St. Lawrence, and known afterwards as
Point Callière. The rivulet was bordered by a meadow, and beyond
rose the forest with its vanguard of scattered trees. Early spring
flowers were blooming in the young grass, and birds of varied
plumage flitted among the boughs. [Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42,
MS.]
Maisonneuve sprang ashore, and fell on his knees. His followers
imitated his example; and all joined their voices in enthusiastic
songs of thanksgiving. Tents, baggage, arms, and stores were landed.
An altar was raised on a pleasant spot near at hand; and
Mademoiselle Mance, with Madame de la Peltrie, aided by her servant,
Charlotte Barré, decorated it with a taste which was the admiration
of the beholders. [Morin, Annales, MS., cited by Faillon, La Colonie
Française, I. 440; also Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.] Now
all the company gathered before the shrine. Here stood Vimont, in
the rich vestments of his office. Here were the two ladies, with
their servant; Montmagny, no very willing spectator; and Maisonneuve,
a warlike figure, erect and tall, his men clustering around
him,--soldiers, sailors, artisans, and laborers,--all alike soldiers
at need. They kneeled in reverent silence as the Host was raised
aloft; and when the rite was over, the priest turned and addressed
them:--
"You are a grain of mustard-seed, that shall rise and grow till its
branches overshadow the earth. You are few, but your work is the
work of God. His smile is on you, and your children shall fill the
Land." [Dollier de Casson, MS., as above. Vimont, in the Relation of
1642, p. 87, briefly mentions the ceremony.]
The afternoon waned; the sun sank behind the western forest, and
twilight came on. Fireflies were twinkling over the darkened meadow.
They caught them, tied them with threads into shining festoons, and
hung them before the altar, where the Host remained exposed. Then
they pitched their tents, lighted their bivouac fires, stationed
their guards, and lay down to rest. Such was the birth-night of
Montreal.
[The Associates of Montreal published, in 1643, a thick pamphlet in
quarto, entitled Les Véritables Motifs de Messieurs et Dames de la
Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal, pour la Conversion des Sauvages
de la Nouvelle France. It was written as an answer to aspersions
cast upon them, apparently by persons attached to the great Company
of New France known as the "Hundred Associates," and affords a
curious exposition of the spirit of their enterprise. It is
excessively rare; but copies of the essential portions are before
me. The following is a characteristic extract:--
| ["Vous dites que l'entreprise de Montréal est d'une
dépense infinie, plus convenable à un roi qu'a quelques
particuliers, trop faibles pour la soutenir; & vous
alléguez encore les périls de la navigation & les
naufrages qui peuvent la ruiner. Vous avez mieux
rencontré que vous ne pensiez, en disant que c'est une
œuvre de roi, puisque le Roi des rois s'en mêle, lui à
qui obéissent la mer & les vents. Nous ne craignons donc
pas les naufrages; il n'en suscitera que lorsque nous en
aurons besoin, & qu'il sera plus expédient pour sa
gloire, que nous cherchons uniquement. Comment avez-vous
pu mettre dans votre esprit qu'appuyés de nos propres
forces, nous eussions présumé de penser à un si glorieux
dessein? Si Dieu n'est point dans l'affaire de Montréal,
si c'est une invention humaine, ne vous en mettez point
en peine, elle ne durera guère. Ce que vous prédisez
arrivera, & quelque chose de pire encore; mais si Dieu
l'a ainsi voulu, qui êtes-vous pour lui contredire?
C'était la reflexion que le docteur Gamaliel faisait aux
Juifs, en faveur des Apôtres; pour vous, qui ne pouvez
ni croire, ni faire, laissez les autres en liberté de
faire ce qu'ils croient que Dieu demande d'eux. Vous
assurez qu'il ne se fait plus de miracles; mais qui vous
l'a dit? où cela est-il écrit? Jésus-Christ assure, au
contraire, que ceux qui auront autant de Foi qu'un grain
de senevé, feront, en son nom, des miracles plus grands
que ceux qu'il a faits lui-même. Depuis quand êtes-vous
les directeurs des operations divines, pour les réduire
à certains temps & dans la conduite ordinaire? Tant de
saints mouvements, d'inspirations & de vues intérieures,
qu'il lui plait de donner à quelques âmes dont il se
sert pour l'avancement de cette œuvre, sont des marques
de son bon plaisir. Jusqu'-ici, il a pourvu au
nécessaire; nous ne voulons point d'abondance, & nous
espérons que sa Providence continuera."] |
Is this true history, or a romance of Christian chivalry? It is
both.
1 Mémoires Autographes de M. Olier, cited by
Faillon, in Histoire de la Colonie Française, I. 384.
2 Donation et Transport de la Concession de
l'Isle de Montreal par M. Jean de Lauzon aux Sieurs Chevrier de
Fouancant (Fancamp) et le Royer de la Doversière, MS.
Concession d'une Partie de l'Isle de Montreal accordée par la
Compagnie de la Nouvelle France aux Sieurs Chevrier et le Royer, MS.
Lettres de Ratification, MS.
Acte qui prouve que les Sieurs Chevrier de Fancamps et Royer de la
Dauversière n'ont stipulé qu'au nom de la Compagnie de Montreal, MS.
From copies of other documents before me, it appears that in 1659
the reserved portion of the island was also ceded to the Company of
Montreal.
See also Edits, Ordonnances Royaux, etc., I. 20-26 (Quebec, 1854).
3 Faillon, Vie de Mlle Mance, Introduction, xxxv.
4 Faillon (Vie de M. Olier) devotes twenty-one pages
to the history of his fit of nervous depression.
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