Canada -- History -- 1763-1867; Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France)
After Champlain's lamented death a new Governor, Charles de
Montmagny, a pious soldier and knight of Malta, was sent out to
Canada. On his landing {57} at the foot of Cape Diamond a striking
scene took place. Amidst a crowd of black-robed Jesuits and soldiers
in brilliant uniforms and the officials and people in their gayest
apparel, Montmagny knelt down at the foot of a cross marking
Champlain's grave and cried out, "Behold the first cross that I have
seen in this country. Let us worship the crucified Saviour in his
image." The procession straightway climbed the hill to the church,
chanted the Te Deum, and prayed for King Louis. Montmagny was a
devout believer in the Jesuits, who ruled with great severity. If a
French colonist failed to attend church regularly, he was sent off to
prison. They cared nothing for the good things of this world; their
only desire was for the salvation of souls. It mattered nothing to
them whether the Company of the Hundred Associates made money out of
the buying and selling of furs or not. The great ambition of the
Jesuits was to make Christians out of the Canadian savages, however
remote, and as the Iroquois absolutely refused to be converted, and
hated the Jesuits, the priests did not hesitate to join hands with
the Hurons and Algonquins to destroy them. So there began to rage a
terrible war. The Iroquois, who if not more numerous, were braver
and fiercer than the Hurons, swore by the great Manitou never to bury
the war-hatchet as long as a single Huron was left alive above the
ground. Assault followed assault, the Iroquois braves coming close
to the walls of Quebec and burning and torturing their prisoners
under the very eyes of the horrified "black robes." On their part
the priests, besides being pious, were {58} very brave men and cared
nothing for danger. They would push fearlessly past the Iroquois
concealed in ambush and carry the gospel amongst the most distant
tribes. After a time their letters home describing their adventures
made a great stir in France, and a number of wealthy and influential
people came forward to help them in their great work. It was at this
time that the famous colleges and convents and hospitals of Quebec
were founded. The Marquis de Gamache founded a Jesuit college;
another priest-nobleman, Noel de Sillery, built a home for Indian
converts; the Duchess of Aiguillon, a niece of Cardinal Richelieu,
provided the money for the Hotel Dieu, or God's Hospital. Then there
was a wealthy young widow, Madame de la Peltrie, who, having no
children of her own, decided to devote her life and fortune to
establish a seminary for young girls in Canada. In the summer of
1639 she arrived in Quebec in company with Marie Guyard, a silk
manufacturer's daughter who had taken vows as a nun and became "Mary
of the Incarnation," the Mother Superior of the Ursuline Convent.
All of these as soon as they had landed fell down and kissed the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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