The Great Intendant

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It was but a few days after these events that Talon
arrived, and, notwithstanding the improvement in the
situation, he does not seem to have deemed peace perfectly
secure, for he wrote to the king that it would be advisable
to send two hundred more soldiers. He added that the
Iroquois caused great injury to the trade of the colony
by hunting the beaver in the territories of the tribes
allied with the French, and selling the skins to Dutch
and English traders. In another letter Talon set forth
that these traders drew from the Iroquois 1,000,000
livres' worth of the best beaver, and he suggested the
construction of a small ship of the galley type to cruise
on Lake Ontario, and that two posts manned by one hundred
picked soldiers should be established, one on the north,
the other on the south shore of that lake. These measures
would ensure safe communication between the colony and
the Outaouais country, keep the Iroquois aloof, and favour
the opening of new roads to the south. It was a broad
and bold scheme. But could it be executed over the head
of M. de Courcelle? Talon had foreseen this objection
and had begged that the governor should be instructed to
give support and assistance. But once more the intendant
was going beyond his authority. Such an undertaking was
clearly within the governor's province. Talon was told
that he should lay his scheme before M. de Courcelle, so
that the governor might attend to its execution.

This incident sheds light upon the relations that existed
between Courcelle and Talon. The former was valiant,
energetic, and intelligent; but he felt that he was
outshone by the latter's promptness, celerity in design,
superior activity, wider and keener penetration, and he
could not conceal his displeasure.

After the great councils held at Quebec, the Senecas
again assumed a somewhat disquieting attitude. The
governor, they said, had been too hard on them. He had
threatened to chastise them in their own country if they
did not bring back their prisoners. Perhaps his arm was
not long enough to strike so far. Evidently they had
forgotten the expedition against the Mohawks five years
ago. They were convinced that distance and natural
impediments, such as rapids and torrents, protected them
from invasion in their remote country south of Lake
Ontario. Courcelle resolved to shake their confidence.
Early in the spring he went to Montreal and ordered the
construction of a flat-boat. In this he set out from
Lachine (June 3, 1671) with Perrot, governor of Montreal,
Captain de Laubia, Varennes, Le Moyne, La Valliere,
Normanville, Abbe Dollier de Casson, and about fifty good
men. Thirteen canoes accompanied the flat-boat. After
considerable exertion, the governor and his party passed
the rapids and continued up the St Lawrence; nine days
later they entered Lake Ontario, to the amazement of a
party of Iroquois whom they met there. The governor gave
these Indians a message for the Senecas and the other
nations, stating that he wished to keep the peace, but
that, if necessary, he could come and devastate their
country. The demonstration had the desired effect and
there was no further talk of war.

It will be inferred from Talon's proposals and schemes
already mentioned that his thoughts were now occupied
with the external affairs of the colony. This indeed was
to be the characteristic feature of his second
administration. When in Canada before he had concentrated
his attention chiefly upon judicial and political
organization, and had directed his efforts to promote
colonization, agriculture, industry, and trade--in a
word, the internal economy of New France. But now, without
neglecting any part of his duty, he seemed desirous of
widening his sphere of action by the extension of French
influence to the north, south, and west. On October 10,
1670, he wrote to the king: 'Since my arrival, I have
sent resolute men to explore farther than has ever been
done in Canada, some to the west and north-west, others
to the south-west and south. They will all on their return
write accounts of their expeditions and frame their
reports according to the instructions I have given them.
Everywhere they will take possession of the country,
erect posts bearing the king's arms, and draw up memoranda
of these proceedings to serve as title-deeds.'

Of these explorers one of the most noted was Cavelier de
la Salle. He had been born in 1643. After pursuing his
studies in a Jesuit college he came to Canada in 1666
and obtained from the Sulpicians a grant of land near
Montreal, named by him Saint-Sulpice, but ultimately
known under the name of Lachine. In 1669 Courcelle gave
him letters patent for an exploring journey towards the
Ohio and the Meschacebe, or Mississippi. By way of these
rivers he hoped to reach the Vermilion Sea, or Gulf of
California, and thus open a new road to China via the
Pacific ocean. At the same time the Abbes Dollier and de
Galinee, Sulpicians, had prepared for a remote mission
to the Outaouais. It was thought advisable to combine
the two expeditions. Thus it happened that La Salle and
the Sulpicians left Montreal in 1669 and journeyed together
as far as the western end of Lake Ontario. There they
parted. The Sulpicians wintered on the shores of Lake
Erie, and next spring passed the strait between Lakes
Erie and Huron, reached the Sault Sainte-Marie, and then
returned to Montreal by French river, Lake Nipissing,
and the Ottawa river. Their journey lasted from July 4,
1669, to June 18, 1670. In the meantime La Salle had
reached the Ohio and had followed it to the falls at
Louisville. He also returned in the summer of 1670. The
itinerary of his next expedition, undertaken in the same
year, is not very well known. According to an account of
doubtful authority, he went through Lakes Erie and Huron,
entered Lake Michigan, reached the Illinois river, and
even the Mississippi. But a careful study of contemporaneous
documents and evidence leads to the conclusion that the
Mississippi must be omitted from this itinerary. In our
opinion La Salle did not reach that river in 1671, as
has been asserted; he probably went as far as the Illinois
country.

Another of Talon's resolute explorers was Simon Francois
Daumont de Saint-Lusson. Accompanied by Nicolas Perrot,
the well-known interpreter, he left Quebec in September
1670, and wintered with an Outaouais tribe near Lake
Superior. Perrot sent word to the neighbouring nations
that they should meet next spring at Sault Sainte-Marie
a delegate of the great French Ononthio. [Footnote: This
was the name given by the Indians to the king of France;
the governor was called by them Ononthio, which means
'great mountain,' because that was the translation of
Montmagny--mons magnus in Latin--the name of Champlain's
first successor. From M. de Montmagny the name had passed
to the other governors, and the king had become the 'great
Ononthio.'] On June 14 representatives of fourteen nations
were gathered at the Sault. The Jesuit fathers Dablon,
Dreuillettes, Allouez, and Andre were present. A great
council was held on a height. Saint-Lusson had a cross
erected with a post bearing the king's arms. The Vexilla
Regis and the Exaudiat were sung. The intendant's delegates
took possession of the country in the name of their
monarch. There was firing of guns and shouts of 'Vive le
roi!' Then Father Allouez and Saint-Lusson made speeches
suitable to the occasion and the audience. At night the
blaze of an immense bonfire illuminated with its fitful
light the dark trees and foaming rapids. The singing of
the Te Deum crowned that memorable day.

The intendant was pleased with the result of Saint-Lusson's
expedition. He wrote to the king: 'There is every reason
to believe that from the point reached by this explorer
to the Vermilion Sea is a distance of not more than three
hundred leagues. The Western Sea [the Pacific ocean] does
not seem more distant. According to calculation based on
the Indians' reports and on the charts, there should not
be more than fifteen hundred leagues of navigation to
reach Tartary, China, and Japan.'

Talon showed his high appreciation of Saint-Lusson's
services by immediately giving him another mission--this
time to Acadia, for the purpose of finding and reporting
as to the best road to that colony. In 1670 Grandfontaine
had taken possession of Acadia, which had been restored
to France by the treaty of Breda. He had received from
Sir Richard Walker the keys of Fort Pentagouet, at the
mouth of the Penobscot river, and had sent Joybert de
Soulanges to hoist the French flag over Jemsek and Port
Royal. It was therefore incumbent on the intendant to
see to the opening of a road between Quebec and Pentagouet.
His letters and those of Colbert written in 1671 are full
of this project. A fund of thirty thousand livres was
appropriated for the purpose. The intendant's plan was
to erect about twenty houses well provided with stores
along the proposed route at intervals of sixty leagues.
He also had in mind the establishment of settlements
along the rivers Penobscot and Kennebec, to form a barrier
between New France and New England. With the object of
establishing trade relations between Canada and Acadia,
he sent to the French Bay (Bay of Fundy) a barge loaded
with clothes and supplies, and was extremely pleased to
receive in return a cargo of six thousand pounds of salt
meat. In 1671, for Colbert's information, he drew up a
census of Acadia. [Footnote: The figures were--Port
Royal, 359; Poboncoup, 11; Cap Negre, 3; Pentagouet, 6
and 25 soldiers; Mouskadabouet, 13; Saint-Pierre, 7.
Total 399, or, including the soldiers, 424. There were
429 cultivated acres, 866 head of cattle, 407 sheep and
36 goats.] But, as we shall see, the great intendant was
not to remain in Canada long enough to bring his Acadian
undertaking to full fruition.

Let us follow him in another direction. He had tried to
extend the sphere of French influence towards the west
and south, and was doing his best to strengthen Canada
on the New England border by promoting the development
of Acadia. His next attempt was to bring the northern
tribes into the French alliance and to open to the colony
the trade of the wide area extending from Lake St John
to Lake Mistassini and thence to Hudson Bay. For an
expedition to Hudson Bay he chose Father Albanel, a
Jesuit, and M. de Saint-Simon. They left Quebec for
Tadoussac in August 1671, and ascended the Saguenay to
Lake St John where they wintered. In June 1672 they
continued their journey, reaching Lake Mistassini on the
18th of the same month and James Bay on the 28th. After
formally taking possession of the country in the name of
France, they returned by the same route to Quebec, where
on July 23 they laid their report before the intendant.

One of the last but not the least of the explorations
made under Talon's auspices was that which he entrusted
to Louis Jolliet, and which resulted in the discovery of
the upper Mississippi. Jolliet left Montreal in the autumn
of 1672 and wintered at Michilimackinac, where he joined
Father Marquette. Next spring they set out together, and
by way of Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Fox river, and the
Wisconsin they reached the giant river, the mighty
Mississippi, which they followed down as far as latitude
33 degrees. Thus was discovered the highway through the
interior of the continent to the Gulf of Mexico. One
result of the discovery was the birth of Louisiana a few
years later.

Talon's patriotic enthusiasm was justified when he wrote
to Louis XIV: 'I am no courtier and it is not to please
the king or without reason that I say this portion of
the French monarchy is going to become something great.
What I see now enables me to make such a prediction. The
foreign colonies established on the adjoining shores of
the ocean are already uneasy at what His Majesty has done
here during the last seven years.' This confidence was
probably not shared by the king and his minister, for,
in a letter to Frontenac some time later, Colbert
remonstrated against long journeys to the upper St Lawrence
and outlying settlements, and expressed his disapproval
of discoveries far away in the interior of the continent
where the French could never settle or remain. Undoubtedly
it was wise to advise concentration, and Talon himself
would not have differed on that score from the minister.
He was too sagacious not to see that Canada with a small
population should abstain from remote establishments.
His policy of exploration and discovery did not aim at
the immediate foundation of new colonies, but was only
directed towards increasing the prestige of the French
name, developing trade, and thus preparing the way for
the future greatness of Canada. It was a far-sighted
policy, not seeking impossible achievements for to-day,
but gaining a foot-hold for those of to-morrow. That the
political fabric of France in America was doomed to fall
in no way dims the fame of the great intendant. Under
his powerful direction New France, through her missionaries,
explorers, and traders, stamped her mark over three-quarters
of the territory then known as North America. Her moral,
political, and commercial influence was felt beyond her
boundaries--west, north, and south. She had hoisted the
cross and the fleurs-de-lis from the sunny banks of the
Arkansas to the icy shores of Hudson Bay, and from the
surges of the Atlantic to the remotest limits of the
Great Lakes. Her unceasing activity and daring enterprise,
supplementing inferior numbers and wealth, gave her an
undisputed superiority over the industrious English
colonies confined to their narrow strip between the
Alleghanies and the sea; and her name inspired awe and
respect in a hundred Indian tribes.

What was Courcelle's attitude towards the extraordinary
activity displayed by Talon? Evidently the intendant
often acted the part of the governor; and the real
governor, out-shone, could not conceal his ill-humour,
and tried to assert his authority. There were several
clashes between the two high officials. The governor
frequently lost his temper, while Talon complained of
Courcelle's jealousy and harshness. It must be admitted
that the great intendant, in his fervid zeal for the
public good and his passion for action, was not always
careful or tactful in his behaviour to the governor.

CHAPTER IX

TALON'S ADMINISTRATION ENDS

In the survey of Talon's first term of office mention
was made of the many enterprises he set on foot for the
internal progress of the colony. One of these was
shipbuilding. During his second term a stronger impulse
was given to this industry. One of the intendant's first
official acts after his arrival in 1670 was to issue a
decree for the conservation of the forests suitable for
shipbuilding purposes--to prohibit the felling of oak,
elm, beech, and cherry trees until the skilled carpenters
sent by the king should have inspected them and made
their choice. It is interesting, too, to find that in
all grants of land Talon inserted a clause reserving
these trees. Shipbuilding in Canada was to be encouraged
and promoted. Had not Colbert given forty thousand livres
for the purpose? A shipyard was set up on the banks of
the St Charles river. Many ships were built there; at
first only small ones, but the industry gradually developed.
In 1672 a ship of over four hundred tons was launched,
and preparations had been made for another of eight
hundred tons. Seven years earlier only nineteen out of
2378 vessels in the French mercantile marine had exceeded
four hundred tons. The infant shipyard at Quebec was
doing well.

Agriculture and industry were flourishing in New France.
Hemp was being grown successfully, and a larger quantity
of wool was made available by increasing flocks of sheep.
The intendant insisted that women and girls should be
taught to spin. He distributed looms to encourage the
practice of weaving, and after a time the colony had
home-made carpets and table-covers of drugget, and serges
and buntings. The great number of cattle ensured an
abundance of raw hides. Accordingly the intendant
established a tannery, and this in turn led to the
preparation of leather and the making of shoes; so that
in 1671 Talon could write to the king: 'I am now clothed
from foot to head with home-made articles.' Tobacco was
grown to some extent, but Colbert did not wish to encourage
its cultivation by the Canadian farmers. The minister
was better pleased when the intendant wrote concerning
potash and tar. A Sieur Nicolas Follin undertook to make
potash out of wood ashes, and was granted a privilege
with a bounty of ten sous per ton and free entry into
France for his product. The potash proved excellent. In
the meantime an expert on tar named Arnould Alix came
from France and found that the Canadian trees were
eminently fit for the production of that article, so
necessary in shipbuilding; indeed at this time Colbert
was doing his best to manufacture it in France so that
the shipyards of the kingdom might use French tar instead
of the foreign product. The news that it could be made
in Canada was very welcome to the minister.

The intendant continued his search for mines, but without
substantial results. There had been much talk of iron
ore at Baie Saint-Paul and also in the region of Three
Rivers. The Sieur de la Potardiere was sent to examine
these ores; but, although his report was favourable and
Colbert seemed highly interested and began to speak of
casting cannon on the shores of the Saint-Maurice, for
some reason nothing was done, and sixty years were to
elapse before the establishment of the Saint-Maurice
forges.

In another chapter we saw that Talon was always ready to
help the religious institutions and that he was very
friendly towards the Hotel-Dieu at Quebec. This hospital
had become too small for the requirements of the growing
population. At his own expense the intendant had a
substantial wing erected, superintending the work himself
and at the same time securing for the institution an
abundant supply of water. The Ursulines also received
ample evidence of his goodwill and friendship. He was
greatly pleased with their Seminaire Sauvage (Indian
seminary), where they displayed an unceasing zeal for
the instruction and civilization of the little red-skinned
girls. The Jesuit Relation of 1671 mentions the baptism
of an Indian girl with her mother. Talon wished to be
godfather and asked Madame d'Ailleboust to act as godmother.
Laval officiated. In 1671 the Ursulines had fifty Indian
girls in their Seminaire Sauvage, and in Montreal the
Sulpicians and the Sisters of the Congregation, as already
narrated, were devoting themselves to the Indian children.
In this good work the intendant was greatly interested.
He rejoiced in educational progress, as is shown by the
following from one of his letters to the king:

The Canadian youth are improving their knowledge. They
take to schools for sciences, arts, handicrafts, and
especially navigation; and if the movement is sustained
there is every reason to hope that this country will
produce mariners, fishermen, seamen, and skilled
workmen; for the youth here are naturally inclined to
these pursuits. The Sieur de Saint-Martin (a lay
brother at the Jesuits), who knows enough mathematics,
is going to give lessons at my request.

New France at this time was prosperous and happy. 'Peace
reigns within as well as without the colony,' wrote Talon
at the end of the year 1671. There was work and activity
on all sides. New settlements were opened, new families
were founded, new industries were born. No wonder that
Talon, when he reflected on what had been achieved in
seven years, should have written: 'This portion of the
French monarchy is going to become something great.'

Unfortunately his activities and service in Canada were
nearing their end. His health was breaking down. Louis
XIV had promised that he should be relieved from his
arduous task in two years. Talon reminded his royal master
of this promise, and on May 17, 1672, the king was pleased
to give him permission to come home. Courcelle had asked
for his own recall; his request was also granted and the
Comte de Frontenac was named in his stead. No intendant
was appointed to fill Talon's place. At the beginning of
September 1672, while Talon had still two months to serve,
Frontenac arrived in Quebec to take up his duties as the
sole executive head of the colony. [Footnote: Another
volume of this Series, The Fighting Governor, tells of
what happened in New France in Frontenac's time.]

One of Talon's last official acts was the allotment,
under authority of a decree of the King's Council of
State, of a large number of seigneuries--a matter of the
highest importance for the development of the colony. He
set himself to the task with his usual activity and
earnestness. From October 10 to November 8 he authorized
about sixty seigneurial concessions to officers and others
desirous of forming settlements. In one day alone (November
3) he made thirty-one grants. The autumn of 1672, during
which all these seigneuries were created, should be
remembered in the history of New France. Before Talon,
it is true, seigneurial grants had been made in Canada,
but only intermittently and without any preconceived plan
or well-defined object. Now it was quite different. The
grants made by Talon, and the way in which they were
made, show clearly the execution of a well thought-out
scheme. If Talon was not the founder he was the organizer
of the seigneurial institution in Canada. The object was
twofold--to protect and to colonize the country. By his
concessions to Sorel, Chambly, Varennes, Saint-Ours,
Contrecoeur--all officers of the Carignan regiment--he
created so many little military colonies whose population
would be composed chiefly of disbanded soldiers. These,
being warriors as well as farmers, would be a strong
barrier against possible Iroquois incursions. His second
object, to stimulate colonization in general, was
anticipated by a provision--inserted in each grant--that
the seigneurs should live on their domains, and that
their tenants should do the same; this would mean the
planting of many new settlements on both shores of the
St Lawrence. It was a sound policy. For over a century
the seigneurial system was to Canada a source of strength
and progress. [Footnote: This view is fully sustained
by Prof. W. B. Munro of Harvard University, who has made
an exhaustive study of the subject. The reader is referred
to the narrative of The Seigneurs of Old Canada in the
present Series, written by him.] Its organization was
the crowning work of the intendant Talon in New France.

Talon's task was over. He had happily fulfilled his
mission. He had set government and justice upon a foundation
which was to last until the fall of the old regime. He
had given a mighty impulse to agriculture, colonization,
trade, industry, naval construction. He had encouraged
educational and charitable institutions, created new
centres of population, strengthened the frontiers of
Canada, and, with admirable forethought, had prepared
the way for the future extension and growth of the colony.
He has had his critics. The word paternalism has been
used to describe the system carried out by him and by
Colbert. He has been accused of having too willingly
substituted governmental action for individual activity.
But, taking into consideration the time and circumstances,
such criticism is not justified. When Talon came to
Canada, the colony was dying. A policy of ensuring
protection, of liberal and continuous subvention, of
intelligent state initiative, was a necessity of the
hour. Everywhere ground had to be broken, and the government
alone could do it. The policy of Colbert and Talon saved
the colony.

The great intendant left Canada in November 1672. It was
a mournful day for New France. In recognition of his
services the king had made a barony of his estate, 'des
Islets,' and had created him Baron des Islets. Later on
he became Comte d'Orsainville. He had previously been
appointed Captain of the Mariemont Castle.

Talon never came back to Canada. Louis XIV and Colbert
received him with expressions of the greatest satisfaction.
After a time he became premier valet de la garde-robe du
roi (first valet of the king's wardrobe), and finally he
attained the coveted office of secretary of the king's
cabinet. He died on November 24, 1694, at the age of
about sixty-nine years, twenty-two years after his
departure from Canada.

Jean Talon is one of the great names in Canadian
history--the name of one of the makers of Canada.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The author's larger work, 'Jean Talon, Intendant de la
Nouvelle France', is the principal source of information
for the foregoing narrative. Consult also Parkman, 'The
Old Regime in Canada'; Colby, 'Canadian Types of the Old
Regime'; Kingsford, 'The History of Canada', vol. i.;
the chapters, 'The Colony in its Political Relations'
and 'The Colony in its Economic Relations,' by Adam Shortt
and Thomas Chapais, in 'Canada and its Provinces', vol. ii.

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