Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV | Page 9

of making public
protestation of devotion to a prince, the terror of whose irresistible arms
was matched only by the charms of his person and the benignity of his
rule. "The Holy Scriptures," he said, "command us to obey our
sovereign, and teach us that no pretext or reason can dispense us from
this obedience." And, in a glowing eulogy on Louis XIV., he went on
to show that obedience to him was not only a duty, but an inestimable
privilege. He dwelt with admiration on the recent victories in Holland,
and held forth the hope that a speedy and glorious peace would leave
his Majesty free to turn his thoughts to the colony which already owed
so much to his fostering care. "The true means," pursued Frontenac, "of
gaining his favor and his support, is for us to unite with one heart in
laboring for the progress of Canada." Then he addressed, in turn, the

clergy, the nobles, the magistrates, and the citizens. He exhorted the
priests to continue with zeal their labors for the conversion of the
Indians, and to make them subjects not only of Christ, but also of the
king; in short, to tame and civilize them, a portion of their duties in
which he plainly gave them to understand that they had not hitherto
acquitted themselves to his satisfaction. Next, he appealed to the nobles,
commended their gallantry, and called upon them to be as assiduous in
the culture and improvement of the colony as they were valiant in its
defence. The magistrates, the merchants, and the colonists in general
were each addressed in an appropriate exhortation. "I can assure you,
messieurs," he concluded, "that if you faithfully discharge your several
duties, each in his station, his Majesty will extend to us all the help and
all the favor that we can desire. It is needless, then, to urge you to act as
I have counselled, since it is for your own interest to do so. As for me,
it only remains to protest before you that I shall esteem myself happy in
consecrating all my efforts, and, if need be, my life itself, to extending
the empire of Jesus Christ throughout all this land, and the supremacy
of our king over all the nations that dwell in it." He administered the
oath, and the assembly dissolved. He now applied himself to another
work: that of giving a municipal government to Quebec, after the
model of some of the cities of France. In place of the syndic, an official
supposed to represent the interests of the citizens, he ordered the public
election of three aldermen, of whom the senior should act as mayor.
One of the number was to go out of office every year, his place being
filled by a new election; and the governor, as representing the king,
reserved the right of confirmation or rejection. He then, in concert with
the chief inhabitants, proceeded to frame a body of regulations for the
government of a town destined, as he again and again declares, to
become the capital of a mighty empire; and he farther ordained that the
people should hold a meeting every six months to discuss questions
involving the welfare of the colony. The boldness of these measures
will scarcely be appreciated at the present day. The intendant Talon
declined, on pretence of a slight illness, to be present at the meeting of
the estates. He knew too well the temper of the king, whose constant
policy it was to destroy or paralyze every institution or custom that
stood in the way of his autocracy. The despatches in which Frontenac
announced to his masters what he had done received in due time their

answer. The minister Colbert wrote: "Your assembling of the
inhabitants to take the oath of fidelity, and your division of them into
three estates, may have had a good effect for the moment; but it is well
for you to observe that you are always to follow, in the government of
Canada, the forms in use here; and since our kings have long regarded
it as good for their service not to convoke the states-general of the
kingdom, in order, perhaps, to abolish insensibly this ancient usage,
you, on your part, should very rarely, or, to speak more correctly, never,
give a corporate form to the inhabitants of Canada. You should even, as
the colony strengthens, suppress gradually the office of the syndic, who
presents petitions in the name of the inhabitants; for it is well that each
should speak for himself, and no one for all." [Footnote: _Frontenac au
Roi_, 2 _Nov._, 1672; _Ibid._, 13 _Nov._, 1673; _Harangue du Comte
de Frontenac en l'Assemblée à Quebec_; _Prestations de Serment_, 23
_Oct._, 1672; _Réglement de Police fait par Monsieur le Comte