France and England in North America, Part III: The Discovery of the Great West (1870)Parkman, Francis
History
France and England in North America, Part III: The Discovery of the Great West (1870)
Parkman, Francis
Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France)
The following is the writer's account of La Salle: "All those among my
friends who have seen him find in him a man of great intelligence and
sense. He rarely speaks of any subject except when questioned about it,
and his words are very few and very precise. He distinguishes perfectly
between that which he knows with certainty and that which he knows with
some mingling of doubt. When he does not know, he does not hesitate to
avow it, and though I have heard him say the same thing more than five or
six times, when persons were present who had not heard it before, he
always said it in the same manner. In short, I never heard anybody speak
whose words carried with them more marks of truth." [Footnote: "Tous ceux
de mes amis qui l'ont vu luy trouve beaucoup d'esprit et un tres grand
sens; il ne parle gueres que des choses sur lesquelles on l'interroge; il
les dit en tres-peu de mots et tres-bien circonstancies; il distingue
parfaitement ce qu'il scait avec certitude, de ce qu'il scait avec quelque
melange de doute. Il avoue sans aucune facon ne pas savoir ce qu'il ne
scait pas, et quoyque je lui aye ouy dire plus de cinq ou six fois les
mesme choses a l'occasion de quelques personnes qui ne les avaient point
encore entendues, je les luy ay toujours ouy dire de la mesme maniere. En
un mot je n'ay jamais ouy parler personne dont les paroles portassent plus
de marques de verite."]
After mentioning that he is thirty-three or thirty-four years old, and
that he has been twelve years in America, the memoir declares that he made
the following statements,--that the Jesuits are masters at Quebec; that
the Bishop is their creature, and does nothing but in concert with them;
[Footnote: "Il y a une autre chose qui me deplait, qui est l'entiere
dependence dans laquelle les Pretres du Seminaire de Quebec et le Grand
Vicaire de l'Eveque sont pour les Peres Jesuites, car il ne fait pas la
moindre chose sans leur ordre; ce qui fait qu'indirectement ils sont les
maitres de ce qui regarde le spirituel, qui, comme vous savez, est une
grande machine pour remuer tout le reste."--_Lettre de Frontenac a
Colbert_, 2 Nov. 1672.] that he is not well inclined towards the
Recollets, [Footnote: "Ces religieux (les Recollets) sont fort proteges
partout par le comte de Frontenac, gouverneur du pays, et a cause de cela
assez maltraites par l'evesque, parceque la doctrine de l'evesque et des
Jesuites est que les affaires de la Religion chrestienne n'iront point
bien dans ce pays-la que quand le gouverneur sera creature des Jesuites,
ou que l'evesque sera gouverneur."--_Memoire sur Mr. de la Salle_.] who
have little credit, but who are protected by Frontenac; that in Canada the
Jesuits think everybody an enemy to religion who is an enemy to them;
that, though they refused absolution to all who sold brandy to the
Indians, they sold it themselves, and that he, La Salle, had himself
detected them in it; [Footnote: "Ils (les Jesuites) refusent l'absolution a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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