Chapter I: Preface

“The physiognomy of a government,” says De Tocqueville, “can best be judged in its colonies, for there its characteristic traits usually appear larger and more distinct. When I wish to judge of the spirit and the faults of the administration of Louis XIV., I must go to Canada. Its deformity is there seen as through a microscope.”

The monarchical administration of France, at the height of its power and at the moment of its supreme triumph, stretched an arm across the Atlantic and grasped the North American continent. This volume attempts to show by what methods it strove to make good its hold, why it achieved a certain kind of success, and why it failed at last. The political system which has fallen, and the antagonistic system which has prevailed, seem, at first sight, to offer nothing but contrasts; yet out of the tomb of Canadian absolutism come voices not without suggestion even to us. Extremes meet, and Autocracy and Democracy often touch hands, at least in their vices.

The means of knowing the Canada of the past are ample. The pen was always busy in this outpost of the old monarchy. The king and the minister demanded to know every thing; and officials of high and low degree, soldiers and civilians, friends and foes, poured letters, despatches, and memorials, on both sides of every question, into the lap of government. These masses of paper have in the main survived the perils of revolutions and the incendiary torch of the Commune. Add to them the voluminous records of the Superior Council of Quebec, and numerous other documents preserved in the civil and ecclesiastical depositories of Canada.

The governments of New York and of Canada have caused a large part of the papers in the French archives, relating to their early history, to be copied and brought to America, and valuable contributions of material from the same quarter have been made by the State of Massachusetts and by private Canadian investigators. Nevertheless, a great deal has still remained in France, uncopied and unexplored. In the course of several visits to that country, I have availed myself of these supplementary papers, as well as of those which had before been copied, sparing neither time nor pains to explore every part of the field. With the help of a system of classified notes, I have collated the evidence of the various writers, and set down without reserve all the results of the examination, whether favorable or unfavorable. Some of them are of a character which I regret, since they cannot be agreeable to persons for whom I have a very cordial regard. The conclusions drawn from the facts may be matter of opinion, but it will be remembered that the facts themselves can be overthrown only by overthrowing the evidence on which they rest, or bringing forward counter evidence of equal or greater strength; and neither task will be found an easy one. *

I have received most valuable aid in my inquiries from the great knowledge and experience of M. Pierre Margry, Chief of the Archives of the Marine and Colonies at Paris. I beg also warmly to acknowledge the kind offices of Abbé Henri Raymond Casgrain and Grand Vicar Cazeau, of Quebec, together with those of James LeMoine, Esq., M. Eugène Taché, Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, and other eminent Canadians, and Henry Harrisse, Esq.

The few extracts from original documents, which are printed in the appendix, may serve as samples of the material out of which the work has been constructed. In some instances their testimony

* Those who wish to see the subject from a point of view
opposite to mine cannot do better than consult the work of
the Jesuit Charlevoix, with the excellent annotation of Mr.
Shea. (History and General Description of New France, by the
Rev. P. F. X. de Charlevoix, S.J., translated with notes by
John Gilmary Shea. 6 vols. New York: 1866-1872.)

might be multiplied twenty-fold. When the place of deposit of the documents cited in the margin is not otherwise indicated, they will, in nearly all cases, be found in the Archives of the Marine and Colonies.

In the present book we examine the political and social machine; in the next volume of the series we shall see this machine in action.

Boston, July 1, 1874.

DETAILED CONTENTS

I. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION.

CHAPT I. 1653-1658.

THE JESUITS AT ONONDAGA.

The Iroquois War.--Father Poncet.--His Adventures.--Jesuit Boldness.--Le Moyne’s Mission.--Chaumonot and Dablon.--Iroquois Ferocity.--The Mohawk Kidnappers.--Critical Position.--The Colony of Onondaga.--Speech of Chaumonot.--Omens of Destruction.--Device of the Jesuits.--The Medicine Feast.--The Escape.

CHAPT II. 1642-1661.

THE HOLT WARS OF MONTREAL.

Duversière.--Mance and Bourgeoys.--Miracle.--A Pious Defaulter.--Jesuit and Sulpitian.--Montreal in 1659.--The Hospital Nuns.--The Nuns and the Iroquois.--More Miracles--The Murdered Priests.--Brigeac and Closse.--Soldiers of the Holy Family.

CHAPT III. 1660, 1661.

THE HEROES OF THE LONG SAUT.

Suffering and Terror.--François Hertel.--The Captive Wolf.--The threatened Invasion.--Daulac des Ormeaux.--The Adventurers at the Long Saut.--The Attack.--A Desperate Defence.--A Final Assault.--The Fort taken.

CHAPT IV. 1657-1668.

THE DISPUTED BISHOPRIC.

Domestic Strife.--Jesuit and Sulpitian.--Abbé Queylus.--François de Laval.--The Zealots of Caen.--Gallican and Ultramontane.--The Rival Claimants.--Storm at Quebec.--Laval Triumphant.

CHAPT V. 1659, 1660.

LAVAL AND ARGENSON.

François de Laval.--His Position and Character.--Arrival of Argenson.--The Quarrel.

CHAPT VI. 1658-1663.

LAVAL AND AVAUGOUR.

Reception of Argenson.--His Difficulties.--His Recall.--Dubois d’Avaugour.--The Brandy Quarrel.--Distress of Laval.--Portents.--The Earthquake.

CHAPT VII. 1661-1661.

LAVAL AND DUMESNIL.

Péronne Dumesnil.--The Old Council.--Alleged Murder.--The New Council.--Bourdon and Villeray.--Strong Measures.--Escape of Dumesnil.--Views of Colbert.

CHAPT VIII. 1657-1665.

LAVAL AND MÉZY.

The Bishop’s Choice.--A Military Zealot.--Hopeful Beginnings.--Signs of Storm.--The Quarrel.--Distress of Mézy.--He Refuses to Yield.--His Defeat and Death.

CHAPT IX. 1662-1680.

LAVAL AND THE SEMINARY.

Laval’s Visit to Court.--The Seminary.--Zeal of the Bishop.--His Eulogists.--Church and State.--Attitude of Laval.

II. THE COLONY AND THE KING.

CHAPT X. 1661-1665.

ROYAL INTERVENTION.

Fontainebleau.--Louis XIV.--Colbert.--The Company of the West.--Evil Omens.--Action of the King.--Tracy, Courcelle, and Talon.--The Regiment of Carignan-Salières.--Tracy at Quebec.--Miracles.--A Holy War.

CHAPT XI. 1666, 1667.

THE MOHAWKS CHASTISED.

Courcelle’s March.--His Failure and Return.--Courcelle and the Jesuits.--Mohawk Treachery.--Tracy’s Expedition.--Burning of the Mohawk Towns.--French and English.--Dollier de Casson at St. Anne.--Peace.--The Jesuits and the Iroquois.

CHAPT XII. 1665-1672.

PATERNAL GOVERNMENT.

Talon.--Restriction and Monopoly.--Views of Colbert.--Political Galvanism.--A Father of the People.

CHAPT XIII. 1661-1673.

MARRIAGE AND POPULATION.

Shipment of Emigrants.--Soldier Settlers.--Importation of Wives.--Wedlock.--Summary Methods.--The Mothers of Canada.--Bounties on Marriage.--Celibacy Punished.--Bounties on Children.--Results.

CHAPT XIV. 1665-1672.

THE NEW HOME.

Military Frontier.--The Canadian Settler.--Seignior and Vassal.--Example of Talon.--Plan of Settlement.--Aspect of Canada.--Quebec.--The River Settlements.--Montreal.--The Pioneers.

CHAPT XV. 1663-1763.

CANADIAN FEUDALISM.

Transplantation of Feudalism.--Precautions.--Faith and Homage. --The Seignior.--The Censitaire.--Royal Intervention.--The Gentilhomme.--Canadian Noblesse.

CHAPT XVI. 1663-1763.

THE RULERS OF CANADA.

Nature of the Government.--The Governor.--The Council.--Courts and Judges.--The Intendant.--His Grievances.--Strong Government.--Sedition and Blasphemy.--Royal Bounty.--Defects and Abuses.

CHAPT XVII. 1663-1763.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY.

Trade in Fetters.--The Huguenot Merchants.--Royal Patronage.--The Fisheries.--Cries for Help.--Agriculture.--Manufactures.--Arts of Ornament.--Finance.--Card Money.--Repudiation.--Imposts.--The Beaver Trade.--The Fair at Montreal.--Contraband Trade.--A Fatal System.--Trouble and Change.--The Coureurs de Bois.-The Forest.--Letter of Carheil.

CHAPT XVIII. 1663-1702.

THE MISSIONS. THE BRANDY QUESTION.

The Jesuits and the Iroquois.--Mission Villages.--Michillimackinac.--Father Carheil.--Temperance.--Brandy and the Indians.--Strong Measures.--Disputes.--License and Prohibition.--Views of the King.--Trade and the Jesuits.

CHAPT XIX. 1663-1763.

PRIESTS AND PEOPLE.

Church and State.--The Bishop and the King.--The King ana the Cure's.--The New Bishop.--The Canadian Curé.--Ecclesiastical Rule.--Saint-Vallier and Denonville.--Clerical Rigor.--Jesuit and Sulpitian.--Courcelle and Châtelain.--The Recollets.--Heresy and Witchcraft.--Canadian Nuns.--Jeanne Le Ber.--Education.--The Seminary.--Saint Joachim.--Miracles of Saint Anne.--Canadian Schools.

CHAPT XX. 1640-1763.

MORALS AND MANNERS

Social Influence of the Troops.--A Petty Tyrant.--Brawls.--Violence and Outlawry.--State of the Population.--Views of Denonville.--Brandy.--Beggary.--The Past and the Present.--Inns.--State of Quebec.--Fires.--The Country Parishes.--Slavery.--Views of La Hontan.--Of Hocquart.--Of Bougainville--Of Kalm.--Of Charlevoix.

CHAPT XXI. 1663-1763.

CANADIAN ABSOLUTISM.

Formation of Canadian Character.--The Rival Colonies.--England and France.--New England.--Characteristics of Race.--Military Qualities.--The Church.--The English Conquest.

I. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION.