Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and presentLe Moine, J. M. (James MacPherson), Sir
History
Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present
Le Moine, J. M. (James MacPherson), Sir
Québec (Québec) -- Description and travel; Québec (Québec) -- Suburbs
"But to return to the interments in the Jesuits' Chapel. The next
which took place was that of Father de Quen, who died on the 8th
October, 1659, of contagious fever brought into the colony by vessels
from beyond the seas. It was he, who, in 1647, discovered Lake St.
John, and, in 1653, celebrated the Mass at the Hôtel Dieu, when the
Sister Marie de L'Incarnation embraced the religious profession.
Father de Quen was buried on the morning of the 9th _praesente
corpore, dictae duae missae privatae, in summo altari, dum diceretur
officium_. He was 59 years of age. The _Journal des Jésuites_
does not say that he was interred in the chapel, but it is easy to
infer the fact from the _two private_ masses said in presence of
the body, and also because the entry of his burial does not appear in
the parish register. Moreover, it is also the opinion of Rev. Messrs.
Laverdière and Casgrain, as published in the _Journal des Jésuites_.
On the 15th November, 1665, arrived at Quebec, coming from the
Richelieu River, a vessel bringing the body of Father François du
Peron, who died on the 10th at Fort St. Louis (Chambly). The body was
exposed in the Chapel of the Congregation, and 'on the 16th, after the
service at which the Marquis de Tracy assisted, it was interred in the
vault of the chapel towards the confessional on the side of the
street,' and Father le Mercier, who wrote the foregoing, adds that
'there remains room only for another body.'
"From the preceding, it appears that three interments took place in
the Jesuits' Chapel (the only ones mentioned in the _Journal des
Jésuites_), and it is probable that the place remaining for only
one more body was never filled. The remains of three bodies having
been found, it seems to me therefore reasonable to conclude that they
are those of Brother Liégeois and Fathers de Quen and du Peron. It is
true only two skulls have been recovered, but it must be remembered
that Brother Liégeois had his head chopped off and left upon the spot,
as remarks the text, so that it is easy to conjecture that the
Iroquois dragged his body further off, when it was found in a headless
condition and thus buried. With respect to the site of the chapel, the
text already cited relative to Father du Peron indicates sufficiently
that it was alongside the street; and a reference to the map of Quebec
in 1660 shows in fact the street skirting the Jesuits' property as it
does to-day. Further, the excavations which, at the request of Père
Sachez, Dr. Larue and others, Hon. Mr. Joly, with a good will which
cannot be too highly praised, has ordered to be made, have already
laid bare the foundations of a well outlined building upon the very
site where tradition locates the chapel and where the bones have been
found.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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