One hour later there were more than twenty writers at work, and before twenty-four hours, more than three hundred letters were carried to all the priests, giving them the reasons why we should try, by all fair means, to put an end to the shameful simoniacal trade in masses which was going on between Canada and France.
The week was scarcely ended, when letters came from nearly all the curates and vicars to the bishop, respectfully requesting him to withdraw his name from “The Society of the Three Masses.” Only fifty refused to comply with our request.
Our victory was more complete than we had expected. But the bishop of Quebec, hoping to regain his lost ground, immediately wrote to the bishop of Montreal, my Lord Telemesse, to come to his help and show us the enormity of the crime we had committed, in rebelling against the will of our ecclesiastical superiors.
A few days later, to my great dismay, I received a short and very cold note from the bishop’s secretary, telling me that their lordships, the bishops of Montreal and Quebec, wanted to see me at the palace, without delay. I had never seen the bishop of Montreal, and my surprise and disappointment were great in finding myself in the presence of a man, my idea of whom was of gigantic proportions, when in reality he was very small. But I felt exceedingly well pleased by the admirable mixture of firmness, intelligence and honesty of his whole demeanor. His eyes were piercing as the eagle’s; but when fixed on me, I saw in them the marks of a noble and honest heart.
The motions of his head were rapid, his sentences short, and he seemed to know only one line—the straight one—when approaching a subject or dealing with a man. He had the merited reputation of being one of the most learned and eloquent men of Canada. The bishop of Quebec had remained on his sofa and left the bishop of Montreal to receive me. I fell at his feet and asked his blessing, which he gave me in the most cordial way. Then, putting his hand upon my shoulder, he said in a Quaker style: “Is it possible that thou art Chiniquy—that young priest who makes so much noise? How can such a small man make so much noise?”
There being a smile on his countenance as he uttered these words, I saw at once that there was no anger or bad feeling in his heart. I replied: “My lord, do you not know that the most precious pearls and perfumes are put up in the smallest vases?”
The bishop saw that this was a compliment to his address; he smilingly replied: “Well, well, if thou art a noisy priest, thou art not a fool. But tell me, why dost thou want to destroy our ‘Three Mass Society’ and establish that new one on its ruins, in spite of thy superiors?”
“My lord, my answer will be as respectful, short and plain as possible. I have left the ‘Three Mass Society’ because it was my right to do it, without anybody’s permission. I hope our venerable Canadian bishops do not wish to be served by slaves!”
“I do not say,” replied the bishop, “that thou wert bound in conscience to remain in the ‘Three Mass Society;’ but, can I know why thou hast left such a respectable association, at the head of which thou seest thy bishops and the most venerable priests in Canada?”
“I will again be plain in my answer, my lord. If your lordship wants to go to hell with your venerable priests by spiriting away twenty cents from every one of our honest and pious penitents for masses which you get said for five, by bad priests in Paris, I will not follow you. Moreover, if your lordship wants to be thrown into the river by the furious people, when they know how long and how cunningly we have cheated them with our simoniacal trade in masses, I do not want to follow you into the cold stream.”