[93] Etienne Pézard de la Touche never acted as governor of Montreal owing to the rigorous protestations raised by the Seigneurs of the island. M. de la Touche seems to have arrived in Canada in 1661 and by the 10th of October of that year he is to be found acting as lieutenant of the garrison of Three Rivers, in which locality he remained till 1664, when he became a captain. On June 20th he married Madeleine Mulois de la Borde and M. de Maisonneuve as governor assisted at the ceremony. On the same day or the next by a curious irony of fate there is found the nomination of the newly married captain, dated from Quebec, as Maisonneuve's successor. When the news became known at Montreal it was looked upon by the governor general de Mésy as an arrogation of the powers of the Seigneurs of Montreal, and an attempt on the part of the recently created Sovereign Council to test its jurisdiction over Montreal. The triumph of the seigneurs was evident, for on July 23d following, de Maisonneuve was accorded by the sovereign council his emoluments for the upkeep of the garrison for the current year, and on July 28th is found as governor granting a new concession of land, a practice he continued till May, 1665. On the other hand, on July 23d, de la Touche is recorded as in charge of the accounts of the garrison of Three Rivers. On August 8th M. de Mésy apparently by way of a consolation accorded him the seigneury of Batiscan and of Cap de la Madeleine, and the new seigneur busied himself in his new position. Meanwhile de Maisonneuve's days were numbered. (Cf. Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal, 1914, No. 2, article by E. Z. Massicotte.)
CHAPTER XVI
1665
THE RECALL OF DE MAISONNEUVE
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL DE COURCELLES AND THE INTENDANT TALON ARRIVE—THE DUAL REIGN INHARMONIOUS—SIEUR DE TRACY, LIEUTENANT GENERAL OF THE KING FOR NORTH AMERICA, ARRIVES—THE CARIGNAN-SALLIERES REGIMENT—CAPTURE OF CHARLES LE MOYNE BY IROQUOIS—BUILDING OF OUTLYING FORTS—PREPARATIONS FOR WAR—THE DISMISSAL OF MAISONNEUVE—AN UNRECOGNIZED MAN—HIS MONUMENT—MAISONNEUVE IN PARIS—A TRUE CANADIAN.
The strained relations at Quebec and Montreal were soon to be relieved for a time by the death of de Mézy, who died on the night of May 5-6, 1665, thus being saved the painful investigations into his government which were ordered by Louis XIV, and were to be conducted by the new governor, M. de Courcelles, and the intendant, Jean Baptiste Talon. They, having received their letters of appointment on March 23d, were now on their way with a secret commission to look into the administration of the spiritual and temporal power of New France. M. de Courcelles was given power over all the local governors of Canada, and the Sovereign Council, to settle differences between its members, and to have command over all His Majesty's subjects, ecclesiastics, nobles, soldiers and others of whatever dignity or condition, but this under the supervision of M. Alexandre de Pourville, Sieur de Tracy, who was shortly expected to be in Canada. This latter had been appointed on November 19, 1663, the lieutenant general of the king for l'Amérique Méridionale et Septentrionale, and was to proceed to Canada as soon as possible.
As for Talon, the Colbert of New France, and the first intendant in Canada, he was given unlimited authority in police, civil, judiciary and financial matters, independently of M. de Courcelles.