The Rise of Canada, from Barbarism to Wealth and Civilisation. Volume 1Roger, Charles
History
The Rise of Canada, from Barbarism to Wealth and Civilisation. Volume 1
Roger, Charles
Canada -- History
carried off a settlement, Mother Church was to produce other
settlements. A new governor was named--Montmagny. Business, however,
began to languish. The Indians became exceedingly troublesome. And the
Iroquois had subdued the Algonquins, and had nearly vanquished the
Hurons. To defend the settlement from these fierce warriors, Montmagny
built a fort at Sorel, at the mouth of the Richelieu, down which river
the savage enemy usually came. The construction of the fort had the
desired effect. Peace with the Indians soon followed, and the colony
became happy and contented. The effect of Jesuitical tact and judgment
soon began to exhibit itself. An Ursuline Nunnery and a Seminary were
established at Quebec, through the instrumentality of the Duchess
d'Aiguillon. The religious order of St. Sulpice, at the head of which
was the Abbe Olivier, proposed to the King of France to establish a new
colony and a seminary at Mont Royal, bearing the name of the order and
composed of its members. The proposal was entertained, and the Island
of Montreal conceded to the religionists for their support. The Sieur
Maisonneuve--a name admirably chosen--was placed at the head of the
faithful emigrants, and invested with its government. The third regular
governor of Canada was M. d'Aillebout. He succeeded Montmagny, whose
term of office had expired. On the death of Champlain, no Governor of
Canada was to hold the reins of government longer than three years.
D'Aillebout was an exceedingly able man. He was firm, and, on the
whole, just. He was left entirely to himself in the management of
affairs, and he left the conversion of the Indians to peace and
Christianity, to the missionaries, who labored well and earnestly,
establishing the Hurons, and even the Iroquois, in villages. The
latter, who were never to be trusted, only feigned semi-civilization,
and unexpectedly renewing the war, they fell upon their old enemies,
the Hurons, with diabolical fury. In the Indian village of Sillery,
while a missionary was celebrating mass in the Catholic Church, and
none but old men, women, and children were present, a terrible and foul
massacre occurred. The Iroquois rushed into the chapel with tomahawk
and scalping knife, murdering all the congregation, nor stayed their
hands until upwards of four hundred families, being every soul in the
village, were slain. About this time our friends south of the line 45 deg.,
first began to dream of the annexation of Canada. An envoy from New
England visited Quebec, and proposed to the French governor the
establishment of a peace between the two colonies of New France and New
England, which was not to be broken even should the parent states go to
war. Governor Montmagny consented, on condition that the Iroquois were
to be put down. He was so willing that he sent an envoy to Boston to
ratify a treaty. But the New Englanders would not quarrel with the
Iroquois, and no treaty was effected. A more hopeful international
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account