[50] This spot, named Pointe à Callières, "ad confluxium magni et
parvi fluminis," was at the junction of the River St. Peter and the
St. Lawrence opposite Ile Normandin, and took its name from the house
of the governor, then Chevalier Hector de Callières, built there in
1668. It is now occupied by the custom house (1914). The plans of the
Château Callières are preserved in the plans of Montreal, 1723, by M.
de Catalogne, and in those of 1761 by M. P. Labrosse. This remained a
cemetery till 1654, when, owing to the inundations, the burials were
transferred to a plot occupied in part today by that Place d'Armes,
which, being in the neighbourhood of the hospital, was called in the
act of burial of 1654 the "new hospital cemetery." The bodies were
not removed, out of respect, till 1793, when the land had been ceded
by the seigneurs to Louis Guy, notary, by an act passed before Joseph
Papineau, November 22, 1749. The Hôtel-Dieu ground was used as the
cemetery for twenty-five years.
[51] Dollier de Casson tells this story, which he had from
eye-witnesses; de Maisonneuve was a very generous and unselfish man.
[52] The more so, as the publication of the "véritables motifs,"
issued by the Associates of the Company of Montreal in defense
of the settlement in clearly stating its aims and justifying the
singlemindedness of its promoters, had gained it many friends, among
whom were many in high places.
[53] The Jesuits had charge of the mission from April 28, 1643, and
continued it up to August 12, 1657. The Sulpicians then took it over,
their first act recorded in the first registers of births, marriages
and sepultures being on August 28, 1657.
[54] One value of the "Motifs" for modern day readers is that it gives
the foundation of Montreal the note of inspiration which is a mark not
claimed by many other cities.
CHAPTER VII
1644-1651
PROGRESS AND WAR
THE COMPANY OF MONTREAL CONFIRMED BY LOUIS XIV--MAISONNEUVE
REAPPOINTED GOVERNOR--A SYNDIC ELECTED; THE FIRST STEP
IN REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT--THE BUILDING OF THE
HOTEL-DIEU--MILITARY HISTORY--PILOT, THE WATCHDOG OF THE
FORT--THE EXPLOIT OF PLACE D'ARMES--FEAR OF IROQUOIS--LABARRE'S
REINFORCEMENT--AGRICULTURE BEGINS--MONTREAL'S FREE TRADE
MOVEMENT--THE FIRST IROQUOIS WAR IS OVER--MAISONNEUVE
GOES TO FRANCE--THE PROMOTION IN PARIS OF A BISHOPRIC FOR
MONTREAL--CHARLES LE MOYNE--THE FORTIFICATIONS OF THE FORT--WAR
AGAIN--THE SALARIES OF THE GOVERNOR OF QUEBEC, THREE RIVERS AND
MONTREAL--THE CAMP VOLANT--FINANCIAL GLOOM IN MONTREAL--MUTUAL
BENEFIT ASSOCIATION--A PICTURE OF MONTREAL--A TAX PERILOUS, SUDDEN
AND FREQUENT--THE HOTEL-DIEU A FORTRESS FOR FOUR YEARS--THE
ABANDONMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT THREATENED--MAISONNEUVE GOES TO
FRANCE FOR SUCCOUR--THE SKELETON SOLDIERS--MONTREAL A FORLORN HOPE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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