The situation was greatly cleared when, seven weeks after the arrival
of Laval, de Queylus went down from Montreal, reaching Quebec on
September 7th, and gave his submission and ceased to be grand vicaire.
At first he was uncertain whether his own powers as independent head of
the church in Montreal still held good, but the letters patent of the
king, dated March 27, 1659, received by d'Argenson, left no doubt on
the point.
Thus submission was made all the easier because de Queylus did not know
of the determination of the archbishop of Rouen to maintain him in his
function in Montreal. Indeed new letters patent, with a letter from the
king, dated May 11, 1659, were now on the way, confirming him in his
position without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the vicar apostolic.
On May 14, 1659, the king, repenting of his letter to Mgr. de Harlay,
sent two _lettres de cachet_, one to Laval and the other to Governor
d'Argenson, derogating the appointment of May 11th.
The king's letter to d'Argenson contained this: "The letter that I have
accorded to the archbishop of Rouen, it is my intention that neither
he nor the grands vicaires shall avail themselves of, until by the
authority of the church it has been declared if this archbishop is in
the right in his pretension that new France is in his diocese."
All these letters arrived by the St. André on September 8th, with the
reinforcement brought back by Marguerite Bourgeoys and Jeanne Mance.
After the conflicting nature of their contents were mastered the
position of de Queylus remained as after his submission.
Queylus returned to Montreal and later came back to Quebec, from which
he departed on October 2d on the St. André on its return voyage.
The causes of his departure are shrouded in silence, and in guarded
words d'Argenson writes: "I do not send you the reasons in writing for
fear lest the letter shall fall into other hands."
Dollier de Casson says: "After the arrival of the reinforcement and
of the Hospitalières at Ville Marie we witnessed the return of M. de
Queylus to France, which afflicted this place very much," adding as a
commentary: "Thus in this life are its sweets mixed with bitterness."
Laval in his letter to the Propaganda laconically says: "In Galliam
ipse transfretavit" (he sailed over to France).
This would look as if the voyage was of a voluntary nature. It was
otherwise. Laval feared the opposition of de Queylus; he looked upon
him as a rival, a disturber of the peace by his continued presence
in the country, and had written to France shortly after his arrival,
asking a _lettre de cachet_ for his removal. M. de Queylus was a
powerful personality and had the support of an active minority. Already
on his return to Montreal in the previous year the two other secular
priests, chaplains of the convent, at Quebec, had left Canada on this
account, and sixty persons had accompanied him on his journey back to
Montreal on that occasion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account