The Great Intendant Part 3

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 cla.s.s 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 p.r.o.nounced 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: cla.s.ses 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 cla.s.ses. The Indian girls had special cla.s.ses 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 n.o.ble 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 sh.o.r.e 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 superst.i.tions 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 s.p.a.ce 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 s.h.i.+pping 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 n.o.blemen, 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 pa.s.sing mood, but by a set purpose, may be seen from a pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.sage 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 a.s.sault 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 doc.u.ment 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 Roch.e.l.le 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 s.h.i.+p was a.s.sailed 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 s.h.i.+p 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 princ.i.p.ally 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 a.s.sembly. 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 G.o.d 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 s.h.i.+p did not appear. Some anxiety was felt. Mother Marie wrote again: 'M. Talon has not arrived; in his s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+p 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 Roch.e.l.le 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 s.h.i.+pwrecked 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 emba.s.sy 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 s.h.i.+p 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 sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.sistance. 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 a.s.sumed a somewhat disquieting att.i.tude. 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 Ca.s.son, and about fifty good men. Thirteen canoes accompanied the flat-boat. After considerable exertion, the governor and his party pa.s.sed 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 t.i.tle-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 sh.o.r.es of Lake Erie, and next spring pa.s.sed the strait between Lakes Erie and Huron, reached the Sault Sainte-Marie, and then returned to Montreal by French river, Lake Nip.i.s.sing, 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 doc.u.ments 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 a.s.serted; 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 pa.s.sed 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 j.a.pan.'

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 Pen.o.bscot river, and had sent Joybert de Soulanges to hoist the French flag over Jemsek and Port Royal. It was therefore inc.u.mbent 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 Pen.o.bscot and Kennebec, to form a barrier between New France and New England. With the object of establis.h.i.+ng 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 Mista.s.sini 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 Mista.s.sini 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 lat.i.tude 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 sh.o.r.es 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 sh.o.r.es 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 att.i.tude 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 a.s.sert 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 pa.s.sion for action, was not always careful or tactful in his behaviour to the governor.