The Great Intendant | Page 4

chroniclers; Nicolas Marsollet, Louis Couillard de l'Espinay, Charles Roger de Colombiers, Francois Bissot, Charles Amiot, Le Gardeur de Repentigny, Dupont de Neuville, Pierre Denis de la Ronde, all men of high standing. The chief merchants were Charles Basire, Jacques Loyer de Latour, Claude Charron, Jean Maheut, Eustache Lambert, Bertrand Chesnay de la Garenne, Guillaume Feniou. Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye, the stalwart Quebec trader of the day, was then in France.
In the neighbourhood of Quebec were a few settlements. According to the census of the following year there were 452 persons on the Island of Orleans, 533 at the Cote Beaupre, 185 at Beauport, 140 at Sillery, and 112 at Charlesbourg and Notre-Dame-des-Anges on the St Charles river.
Three Rivers was a small port with a population of 455, including that of the adjoining settlements. The governor in charge of the local administration was Pierre Boucher, already mentioned as a delegate to France in 1661. The Jesuits had a residence there and a chapel which was the only place of public worship, for the colonists had not as yet the means to erect a parish church. In the vicinity there were the beginnings of settlement at Cap-de-la- Magdeleine, Batiscan, and Champlain. Among the important families of Three Rivers were those of Godefroy, Hertel, Le Neuf, Crevier, Boucher, Poulin, Volant, Lemaitre, Rivard, and Ameau. Michel Le Neuf du Herisson was juge royal, and Severin Ameau was notary and registrar of the court.
Montreal or Ville-Marie was scarcely more important than Three Rivers. The population of the whole district numbered only 625. A fort built by Maisonneuve and Ailleboust at Pointe-a-Callieres; the house of the Sulpicians at the foot of the present Saint-Sulpice Street; the Hotel-Dieu on the other side of that street; the convent of the Congregation sisters facing the Hotel-Dieu; a few houses scattered along the road called 'de la Commune,' now Saint-Paul Street; and on the rising ground towards the Place d'Armes of later years a few more dwellings--these constituted the Montreal of primitive days. On the top of the hill called 'Coteau Saint-Louis' was erected an intrenched mill--'Moulin du Coteau'--which could be used as a redoubt to protect the inhabitants. The Sulpicians' house, the Hotel-Dieu, the convent of the Congregation, and the houses of the Place d'Armes and of 'la Commune' were connected with the fort by footpaths. Before 1672 there were no streets laid out. The only place of public worship was the Hotel-Dieu chapel, fifty feet in length by thirty in width. The superior of the Sulpicians was Abbe Souart. Mother Mace was superioress of the Hotel-Dieu, but the mainstay of the institution was the well-known Mademoiselle Mance, who, by the aid of Madame de Bullion's benefactions, had founded it in 1643. The illustrious Sister Marguerite Bourgeoys was at the head of the Congregation, which owed its existence to her pious zeal and devotion to the education of the young. Among the 'Montrealistes' of note the following should be specially mentioned: Zacharie Dupuy, major of the island; Charles d'Ailleboust, seigneurial judge; J. B. Migeon de Bransac, fiscal attorney; Louis Artus Sailly, who had been for some time juge royal; Benigne Basset, at once registrar of the seigneurial court, notary, and surveyor; Charles Le Moyne, king's treasurer, interpreter, soldier, settler, who was later to be ennobled and receive the title of Baron de Longueuil; Etienne Bouchard, surgeon; Pierre Picote de Belestre, a valiant militia officer; Claude de Robutel, Sieur de Saint-Andre; Jacques Leber, a merchant who controlled almost the whole trade of Ville-Marie.
Altogether the white population of Canada, including the settlers and labourers arriving during the summer of 1665, numbered only 3215. Yet the colony had been in existence for fifty-seven years! It was certainly time for a new effort on the part of the mother country to infuse life into her feeble offspring. This was a task calling for the earnest care and the most energetic activity of Tracy, Courcelle, and Talon.
One of the first matters to receive their attention was the reorganization of the Canadian administration. We have seen that in 1663 the Sovereign Council had been created, to consist of the high officials of the colony and five councillors. At this time, September 1665, the five councillors were Mathieu Damours, Le Gardeur de Tilly, and three others who had been irregularly appointed by Mezy, the preceding governor, to take the places of three councillors whom he had arbitrarily dismissed--Rouer de Villeray, Juchereau de la Ferte, and Ruette d'Auteuil. The same governor had also dismissed Jean Bourdon, the attorney-general, and had replaced him by Chartier de Lotbiniere. These summary dismissals and appointments had arisen out of a quarrel between the governor and the bishop, in which the former appears to have been influenced by petty motives. At any rate Mezy had been recalled by the king; and