Modern History: BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE Univerfal History. The HISTORY of AMERICA. 1 CANADA, [Continued.] N the year 1668, fo great was the attention of the court Profpercus of France to the profperity of Canada, that the affairs of fate of I that colony had a moft promifing afpect. Gentlemen Canada. of ancient families aud fmall fortunes in Old France tranfported themselves to the New, where they had lands and lordships affigned them; and, with a very moderate fhare of industry, they were foon enabled to live like men of quality. The foldiers of the regiment of Carignan Salieres were now become planters and colonists, and every officer amongst them was a great landholder; a policy that cannot be fufficiently admired in the court of France, as every man thereby had an interest and a property in what he fought for. New troops were fent over, which ftill added not only to the ftrength, but the tranquillity of the colony; and the habits of industry, application, and labour, became now to be fashionable. Happily for their neighbours, the fubjects of Great Britain, thofe habits were forced, and of no long continuance. The moment the French planter found means to fubfift himself with a little outward fhew and fplendour, all toil and application was laid afide; which always gave the English an important fuperiority in the folid poffeffions of life. The tranquillity, however, which the colony enjoyed MOD. HIST. VOL. XL. B was was a proof of its profperity; fo that, towards the end of this year, even the Tfonnonthouans applied to M. Courcelles for a miffionary to inftruct them, and he fent them father Fremin. The Agniers, who had hitherto appeared the most determined. enemies of the miffionaries, and who had fo often embrued their hands in their blood, became now reconciled to their doctrines; and vaft numbers of converts were made about the falls of St. Lewis, and the mountain; but the Onneyouths and Goyogouins were lefs tractable. By this time, the Iroquois, remaining in perfect peace, the Algonquins, whom they had diflodged and driven away, returned to their former habitations, all of them converts to chriftianity, or rather to popery, though Charlevoix ingenuously confeffes, that most of those converfions were the effect of intereft and convenience only, and feldom fincere. About this time, father Nicholas, who was labouring with Allouez at Chagouamigon, conducted to Quebec favages who are known by the name of Pierced-nofes, from their practice of piercing their nofes, and hanging beads and plates to them. After difpofing of their merchandizes they returned to Chagouamigon. Differences ABOUT the year 1668, or 1669, a mifunderstanding grew between up between Courcelles the governor-general, and Talon, the Courcelles intendant general of New France. Both of them were men and Talon. of great and acknowledged ablities. Talon understood the Quebec interefts of the colony, and had done it great fervices; but being an accomplished courtier, he espoused on all occafions the interefts of the jefuits, whom Courcelles difliked. The latter had fine parts, and would have been a most excellent governor, had he been a little more active; or, if he could have fuffered Talon to have fupplied his place. Talon faw this weakness, and often ventured to difpatch bufinefs without confulting the governor general, fo that they lived uneafily together, and Talon going over to France was fucceeded by M. Bouteroue. This minifter brought along with him. a letter from M. Colbert to Courcelles, which politely gave him to understand that he ought to live upon better terms than he did with the bishop of Petrée and the jefuits, and that M. Bouteroue was preferred to the intendency of the province, chiefly on account of the great regard he had for that order. FOR fome years paft a negotiation had been on foot bemade a tween the courts of France and Rome about erecting Quebec bishoprick. into a bifhopric. As there was at this time but a very indifferent understanding between the two courts, his holiness CHARLEVOIX, Vol. II. p. 187. made made great difficulties on account of the independency, which a bishop of Quebec might affect in fo diftant a country. At laft, all difficulties were got over; his moft christian majefty, to make fuitable provifion for the new bishopric, gave to it, and the chapter of the cathedral, the rents of the abbey of Maubec, which was afterwards encreafed with those of the abbey of Benevent. So miferably poor, however, was the new bishop of Quebec, and fo griping the papal court, that the bulls of his creation lay for four years at Rome for want of money to defray the expence of paffing them. About this time, Maisonneuve, who had fo long and fo worthily governed Montreal, refigned his poft, and M. Bretonvilliers, as fuperior general of the feminary of St. Sulpice, named M. Perret to fucceed him. The latter, who had married a niece of Talon, thought it beneath his character to act under a commiffion from a private fubject, and, therefore, had intereft enough to obtain commiffion from the king, which, however, exprefly mentioned that it was granted upon the nomination of M. Bretonvilliers. NOTWITHSTANDING the natural inactivity of Courcelles, Conduct yet he was extremely alert in every thing relating to the in- of Cour tereft of New France, especially with regard to the favages. celles. Understanding that the Iroquois, who lay towards the lake Ontario, had fent prefents to the Outaouais to engage them to bring their furs to them that they might difpofe of them to the English of New York, he refolved to check them. For that purpose he embarked with a body of troops on the river St. Laurence, and notwithstanding the great number of falls and rapids he met with between Montreal and lake Ontario, he fhewed the favages that it would always be in the power of the French to invade them by boats; which had all the effect he could have wifhed for, by their breaking off their commerce with the Outaouais, and the other northern favages. This voyage, however, did fo much prejudice to his health, that he foon after defired to be recalled. The remaining term of his government was chiefly taken up in replacing the French fettlements of Acadia and Newfoundland, which had been ceded to the crown of France, by the treaty of Breda. In the year 1670, M. Talon, who had retired from the intendency of New France, only that he might refume it with greater advantages, returned to Canada. That able minifter, notwithstanding all his attachment to the jefuits, was convinced that their miniftry was prejudicial to the temporal affairs of the colony; and, during his abfence in France, he had obtained the re-establishment of the fathers recollects, who the reader may remember, were the firft miffionaries in Cara B 2 da, 1670. Irregula French foldiers. da, before the conqueft of Quebec by the English, and whose fucceffors were extremely defirous of refuming their functions in that colony. Talon's views in this re-establishment was to moderate the influence and power of the jefuits over the natives, whom they abfolutely governed, not only by the fway they had over their confciences, but by debarring them from, or indulging them in, the ufe of fpirituous liquors. He obtained at the fame time a recruit of five hundred families from his moft chriftian majefty for peopling Canada; but after setting fail with part of them, the hip they were in was wrecked and many of them loft. Talon, however, foon raised fresh recruits both of recollects and inhabitants, with whom he arrived at Quebec, where he found that the fame ftorm, which had wrecked his fhip had done damage to the amount of 100,000 francs. TALON's zeal for peopling Canada, though founded on rities of the right maxims of policy, was not without its inconveniences; for his colonists imported, into the country, vices, till then unknown to the inhabitants. Three French foldiers meeting with an Iroquois chief, who had with him a valuable cargo of furs, firft made him drunk and then murdered him; but notwithstanding all the precautions they took, they were dif covered and thrown into prifon. While their process was preparing, fix Mahingan Indians, who were poffeffed of furs to the amount of 1000 crowns, after being made drunk, were murdered and robbed by three other French foldiers, who fold the furs as their own property, and had fo little precaution, that they did not even bury the dead bodies, which were discovered by their countrymen. The latter, imagining the Iroquois were the perpetrators of the murders, flew to arms, and demanded fatisfaction; but one of the French foldiers, quarrelling with his confederates, discovered the truth, and then both the Mahingans and Iroquois united in a war against the French. Four of the Mahingans burnt the house of a French lady with herself in it; and the Iroquois were equally exafperated by the impeaching murderer accufing his two confederates of defigning to poifon all the favages they met with. Matters, however, were but juft coming to extremities, when Courcelles arrived at Montreal, and, in the prefence both of the Mahingans and Iroquois who were there, put to death the French foldiers, who had murdered the Iroquois chief, promifing that the affaffins of the three Mahingans fhould meet with the fame fate, as foon as they could be difcovered. This example of speedy juftice charmed the favages, and difarmed them of their wrath; and, upon Courcelles promifing to make good all the damages that had been done, |