A word should now be said of the government of the country. By a decree of the king in 1647 it had been arranged that the government of the country should be left in the matter of police, commerce and war in the hands of three, viz., the governor general, the superior of the Jesuits and the governor of Montreal. The governor of Quebec was given a salary of 25,000 _livres_, with the privilege of having sent to him each year, without expense, seventy tons of freight by the vessels of the fleet on the condition that he should provide the fort with arms and ammunitions. He was to have, besides, his own private lieutenant, another at Three Rivers, and finally sixty-six garrison men who should be maintained at the expense of the stores. It was further settled that the governor general should journey into the country as he should judge fit. As to the local governor of Montreal his salary should be 10,000 _livres_, with thirty tons of freight, and he was to support a garrison of thirty men. Finally 5,000 _livres_ were granted annually to the superior of the Jesuits for their missions. These privileges of the royal decision did not give pleasure to many in the colony. M. de Maisonneuve seems to have opposed them in France. It was alleged that M. de Montmagny, in the frequent absence from Quebec, of the superior of the Jesuits on missions, and that of the governor of Montreal, was practically sole ruler; that he was drawing too large a salary and was not fulfilling the conditions imposed upon him in safeguarding the other outposts of the colony. Thus there was dissatisfaction among the colonists, and M. Charles d'Ailleboust with M. des Chastelets went to France to procure amendments. M. de Montmagny was about to be recalled. His rule was considered inefficient. A mémoire by M. de la Chesnaye says that there was a secret cabal intriguing against the governor, composed of a few of the chief families, who went to France to enrich themselves, and got one of their own named as governor general. This alludes to de Maisonneuve, des Chastelets and d'Ailleboust. The former is known to have refused a nomination to the post and des Chastelets and d'Ailleboust, among other things, asked for a reduction of the salary of the governor general from 25,000 _livres_ to 10,000. On the 5th of March, 1648, these amendments passed. In addition the governing council of Canada was now to be composed of the governor general, the superior of the Jesuits, and MM. de Chavigny, Godefroy of Quebec, and Giffard, to which body the local governors of Three Rivers and Montreal should be added when they should happen to be in Quebec. [Illustration: