But soon again, the repose of the country was threatened by the Iroquois and Ottawas, who had begun to make incursions upon each other. M. de Courcelles promptly interfered to quell this growing animosity, declaring that he would punish with the greatest severity either party that would not submit to reasonable conditions. He required them to send deputies to state their wrongs, and the grounds of dispute, and took upon himself to do justice to both parties. He was obeyed: the chiefs of the contending tribes repaired to Quebec, and by the firmness and judgment of the governor, the breach was healed, and peace secured.
At this time a scourge more terrible than even savage war visited the red race of Canada. The small-pox first appeared among the northern tribe of the Attikamegues, and swept them totally away: many of their neighbors shared the same fate. Tadoussac, where 1200 Indians usually assembled to barter their rich furs at the end of the hunting season, was deserted. Three Rivers, once crowded with the friendly Algonquins, was now never visited by a red man, and a few years after the frightful plague first appeared, the settlement of Sillery, near Quebec, was attacked; 1500 savages took the fatal contagion, and not one survived. The Hurons, who had been always most intimately associated with the French, suffered least among the native nations from the malady. In 1670 Father Chaumonat assembled the remnant of this once powerful tribe in the neighborhood of Quebec, and established them in the village of Lorette,[386] where a mixed race of their descendants remains to this day.
Even the presence of the dreadful infliction of the small-pox and the fear of French power could not long restrain the savage impulse for war. The most distant tribe of the Iroquois became engaged in a sanguinary quarrel with a neighboring nation, and took a number of prisoners. The governor immediately sent to warn these turbulent savages that if they did not desist from war, and return their prisoners, he would destroy their villages as he had those of the Agniers. This peremptory message raised the indignation of the Iroquois, they at first proudly disclaimed the right of the French to dictate to the free people of the forest, and vowed that they would perish rather than bow down to the strangers' will; but, finally, the wisdom of the old men prevailed in the council: they knew that they were not prepared to meet the power of the Europeans; it was therefore decided that they should send a portion of their prisoners to the governor. He either believed, or pretended to believe, that they had fully complied with his demands, deeming it prudent not to drive the Indians to extremities.
FOOTNOTES:
[374] Among the Ursulines who accompanied Madame de la Peltrie to Quebec was Marie de l'Incarnation, "the Theresa of France," and Marie de St. Joseph. The sanctity of these remarkable women and the miracles they performed are the favorite theme of the Jesuit historians of Canada. Several lives of the former have been published, one of them by Charlevoix. A quarto volume of her letters was also published (à Paris, chez Louis Billaine, 1681): they are highly extolled as "worthy of her high reputation for sanctity, ability, and practical good sense in the business of life." They record many historical facts which occurred during the thirty-two years that she passed in Canada, where she arrived in 1640. When the Ursulines and the "Filles Hospitalières" landed at Quebec, they were received with enthusiasm. "It was held as a festival day; all work was forbidden; and the shops were shut. The governor received these heroines upon the shore at the head of the troops, who were under arms, the guns firing a salute. After the first greeting he led them to the church, accompanied by the acclamations of the people; here the Te Deum was chanted."—Charlevoix.
"The venerable ash tree still lives beneath which Mary of the Incarnation, so famed for chastened piety, genius, and good judgment, toiled, though in vain, for the culture of Huron children."—Bancroft's History of the United States. vol. iii., p. 127.
[375] "Cette ville a été nominée Ville Marie par ses fondateurs, mais ce nom n'a pu passer dans l'usage ordinaire; il n'a lieu que dans les actes publics, et parmi les seigneurs, qui en sont fort jaloux."—Charlevoix. When the foundations of the city of Montreal were first laid, the name given to it was Ville Marie. Bouchette, vol. i., p. 215; La Hontan, vol. xiii., p. 266.
Charlevoix gives the following account of the formation and progress of the remarkable settlement at Montreal: "Quelques personnes puissantes, et plus recommandable encore par leur piété et par leur zèle pour la religion, formèrent donc une société, qui se proposa de faire en grand à Montréal, ce qu'on avoit fait en petit à Sillery. Il devoit y avoir dans cette isle une bourgade Françoise, bien fortifiée, et à l'abri de toute insulte. Les pauvres y devoient être reçus, et mis en état de subsister de leur travail. On projetta de faire occuper tout le reste de l'isle par des sauvages, de quelque nation qu'ils fussent, pourvû qu'ils fissent profession du Christianisme, ou qu'ils voulussent se faire instuire de nos mystères, et l'on étoit d'autant plus persuadé qu'ils y viendraient en grand nombre qu' outre un asile assuré contre les poursuites de leurs ennemis, ils pouvoient se promettre des secours toujours prompts dans leurs maladies, et contre la disette. On se proposoit même de les policer avec le tems, et de les accoûtumer à ne plus vivre que du travail de leurs mains. Le nombre de ceux qui entroient dans cette association fut de trente-cinq; des cette année 1640, en vertu de la concession que le roi lui fit de l'isle, elle en fit prendre possession à la fin d'une messe solennelle, qui fut célébrée sous une tente. Le quinzième d'Octobre l'année suivante, M. de Maisonneuve fut déclaré gouverneur de l'isle. Le dix-septième de May suivant, le lieu destiné à l'habitation Françoise fut béni par le Supérieur des Jésuites, qui y célébra les saints mystères, dédia à la mère de Dieu une petite chapelle, qu'on avoit bâtie, et il y laissa le St. Sacrement. Cette cérémonie avoit été précédé d'une autre, trois mois auparavant, c'est à dire vers la fin de Février: tous les Associés s'etant rendus un Jeudi matin à Nôtre Dame de Paris, ceux qui étoient prêtres, y dirent la messe, les autres communièrent à l'autel de la Vierge et tous supplièrent la reine des anges de prendre l'isle de Montréal sous sa protection. Enfin le quinze d'Août, la fête de l'Assomption de la mère de Dieu fut solemnisée dans cette isle avec un concours extraordinaire de François et de sauvages. On ne négligea rien dans cette occasion pour intéresser le ciel en faveur d'un établissement si utile, et pour donner aux infidèles une haute idée de la religion Chrétienne."—Charlevoix, tom. i., p. 345.
In the year 1644 Charlevoix says, "L'isle de Montréal se peuploit insensiblement, et la piété de ces nouveaux colons disposoit peu à peu les sauvages qui les approchoient à se soûmettre au jong de la foi." In 1657, however, it was considered that "les premiers possesseurs de l'isle n'avoient pas poussé l'établissement autant qu'on avoit d'abord espéré." and it was therefore ceded to the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris. From that time the establishment made a rapid progress, M. de Maisonneuve still continuing its governor, after it had changed masters. He was a man of ability and piety: under his auspices the order of "Filles de la Congrégation" was established at Montreal by Margaret Bourgeois, who had accompanied the first settlers on the island from France. For the details of this admirable institution see Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 94. He speaks of it with justice as one of the brightest ornaments of New France.
"Jusqu' en l'année 1692, la justice particulière de Montréal appartenoit à Messieurs du Séminaire de St. Sulpice, en qualité de seigneurs. Ils en donnèrent alors leur démission au roi, à condition que l'exercice leur en resteroit dans l'enclos de leur séminaire, et dans leur ferme de St. Gabriel, avec la propriété perpétuelle et incommutable du Greffe de la justice royale, qui seroit établie dans l'isle, et la nomination du premier juge."—Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 140.