The Great Intendant | Page 4

former governor; Madame Couillard, widow
of Guillaume Couillard and daughter of Louis Hebert, the first tiller of
the soil; Madame de Repentigny, widow of 'Admiral' de Repentigny, to
use the grandiloquent expression of old 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