When Frontenac sailed for the colony he was a matured man of the world, and fifty-two years of age. “Had nature disposed him to melancholy,” says Parkman, “there was much in his position to awaken it. A man of courts and camps, born and bred in the focus of a most gorgeous civilization, he was banished to the ends of the earth, among savage hordes and half-reclaimed forests, to exchange the splendors of St. Germain and the dawning glories of Versailles for a stern gray rock, haunted by sombre priests, rugged merchants and traders, blanketed Indians, and the wild bushrangers. But Frontenac was a man of action. He wasted no time in vain regrets, and set himself to his work with the elastic vigor of youth. His first impressions had been very favorable. When, as he sailed up the St. Lawrence, the basin of Quebec opened before him, his imagination kindled with the grandeur of the scene. ‘I never,’ he wrote, ‘saw anything more superb than the position of this town. It could not be better situated as the future capital of a great empire.’” Such was the striking condition of Quebec when Frontenac sailed into the port to assume the functions of his office. The King, his powerful minister Colbert, the Intendant Talon, and the Governor himself regarded the colony as a great prize, and one destined for a future which should in no small degree reflect the glory and grandeur of the old monarchy. Vast sums of money had been expended in colonizing and defending it. Some of the best soldiers of the kingdom and many desirable immigrants, inured to toil and hard work, were sent by Louis to build up the new country and to develop its resources. Frontenac, imbued with the same spirit as his sovereign, proceeded to bring his enormous territory to a state of order. He convened a council at Quebec, and administered an oath of allegiance to the leading men in his dominions. He sought to inaugurate a monarchical form of government. He created, with much pomp and show, three estates of his realm,—the clergy, nobles, and commons. The former was composed of the Jesuits and the Seminary priests. To three or four gentilshommes then living in Quebec he added some officers belonging to his troops; and these comprised the order of nobility. The commons consisted of the merchants and citizens. The magistracy and members of council were formed into a distinct body, though their place properly belonged to the third estate. This great convocation took place on the 23d of October, 1672, and the ceremonies were conducted in the church of the Jesuits, which had been decorated for the purpose by the Fathers themselves.
FROM LA POTHERIE.
[This view appears in the 1722 edition, i. 232; 1753 ed. ii. 232. It is also in Shea’s Le Clercq, ii. 313. Harrisse (no. 240) notes a view on the margin of a map in 1689.
Faillon, in his Histoire de la Colonie Française (iii. 373), speaks of two early plans of Quebec which are preserved, one of 1660, the other of 1664. They resemble each other, except that the last represents a projected line of fortifications across the peninsula; and in engraving the latter, Faillon’s engraver has given the plate the date of 1660, instead of 1664: Plan du Haut et Bas Québec comme il est en l’an 1660. The Catalogue of the Library of Parliament, 1858, p. 1614, shows copies of plans of these dates copied from originals in the Paris Archives. Cf. Harrisse, nos. 192-195, and no. 199 for a manuscript map of 1670, La ville haute et basse de Quebeck, also preserved in the same Archives; while the Catalogue (p. 1614) of the Canadian Parliament gives three of 1670, copies from originals at Paris.
Harrisse also notes (no. 220) as in the French Archives a Carte du Fort St. Louis de Québec, dated 1683; (no. 221) a Plan de la basse ville de Québec (1683),—both by Franquelin: (no. 224) a Plan de la Ville et Chasteau de Québec, fait en 1685, ... par le Sr. de Villeneuve; and (no. 230) a Carte des Environs de Québec ... en 1685 et 1686, par le Sr. de Villeneuve. Cf. also the Catalogue of the Library of Parliament, pp. 1615, 1616.
Plans growing out of Phips’s attack in 1690 are mentioned elsewhere. Of subsequent plans, Harrisse (no. 249) cites a Plan de la Ville de Québec, 1693, as being in the French Archives, and others (nos. 252-254, 369) of 1694, 1695, and 1699. The Catalogue of the Library of Parliament also gives manuscript plans of 1693, 1698, 1700, and 1710. Cf. J. M. Le Moine, Histoire des Fortifications et des Rues de Québec, 1875 (pamphlet).—Ed.]
Frontenac, who spoke and wrote well, made a speech to the citizens, indicating the policy which he meant to pursue, and scattering advice to the throng before him with a liberal hand. The three estates which he had founded listened to an exhortation of some length. The priests were urged to continue their labors in connection with the conversion of the Indians, whom they were advised to train and civilize while they converted. The nobles were praised for their culture and valiant conduct, and urged to be assiduous in the improvement of the colony. To the commons he recommended faithfulness in the discharge of their duties to the King and to himself. After solemnly taking the oath, the assembly dissolved. The Count next established municipal government in Quebec, on a model which obtained in several cities of France. He ordered the election of three citizens as aldermen, the senior of whom should rank as mayor. This body was to take the place of the syndic, and it was provided that one of the number should retire from office every year. The electors would then fill the vacancy with some one of their choice, though the Governor reserved the right to confirm or reject the successful candidate. He then, with the assistance of some of the chief people about him, framed a series of regulations for the government of the capital, and notified the inhabitants that a meeting would be held twice a year, where public questions would be discussed. Frontenac’s reforms were exceedingly distasteful to the King, and the minister very clearly conveyed his Majesty’s views on the subject, in a despatch written on the 13th of June, 1673. Talon, who knew the temper of the Court in such matters, had wisely abstained from taking an active part in the Governor’s scheme, and feigned illness as the cause for his non-attendance at the convention. Colbert wrote: “The assembling and division of all the inhabitants into three orders or estates, which you have done, for the purpose of having them take the oath of fidelity, may have been productive of good just then. But it is well for you to observe that you are always to follow, in the government and management of that country, the forms in force here; and as our kings have considered it for a long time advantageous to their service not to assemble the States-General of their kingdom, with a view perhaps to abolish insensibly that ancient form, you likewise ought very rarely, or (to speak more correctly) never, give that form to the corporate body of the inhabitants of that country; and it will be necessary even in the course of a little time, and when the colony will be still stronger than it now is, insensibly to suppress the syndic, who presents petitions in the name of all the inhabitants, it being proper that each should speak for himself, and that no one should speak for the whole.” Louis’ policy was unmistakable. He assumed to be the autocrat of his dominions, and anything which might be construed into an attempt to weaken the principles of his policy met with a stern rebuke. Frontenac’s colonial system might have benefited New France: it was capable of being wisely administered, and rich developments might have ensued; but the King would not have it, and the Governor was forced to withdraw his plan.