The Great Intendant | Page 5

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 Tracy, Courcelle, and Talon had been
instructed to try him for improper conduct in office. But before their
arrival at Quebec, Mezy had obeyed the summons of another King than
the king of France. He had been taken ill in the spring of the year and
had died on May 6. Mezy being dead, it was wisely thought
unnecessary to recall unhappy memories of his errors and misdeeds.
Sufficient would be done if the grievances due to his rashness were
redressed. Accordingly the dismissed officials were reinstated, and on
September 23, 1665, a solemn sitting of the Sovereign Council was
held, at which Tracy, Courcelle, Laval, and Talon were present,
together with the Sieur Le Barroys, general agent of the West India
Company, and the Sieurs de Villeray, de la Ferte, d'Auteuil, de Tilly,
Damours--all the councillors in office before Mezy's dismissals--Jean
Bourdon, the attorney-general, and J. B. Peuvret, secretary of the
council. The letters patent of Courcelle and Talon as well as the
commission and credentials of the Sieur Le Barroys were duly read and
registered; the letters patent of the Marquis de Tracy had been
registered previously. With these formalities the new administration of
Canada was inaugurated.
The next proceeding of the rulers of New France was to prepare for a
decisive blow against the daring Iroquois. Tracy and the soldiers, as we
have seen, had arrived in June and three forts were in course of
building on the Richelieu river, or 'riviere des Iroquois,' so called

because for a long period it had been the most direct highway leading
from the villages of these bloody warriors to the heart of the colony.
During the summer and autumn of 1665 the Carignan soldiers were
kept busy with the construction of these necessary defensive works.
The first fort was erected at the mouth of the river, under the direction
of Captain de Sorel; the second fifty miles higher, under Captain de
Chambly; and the third about nine miles farther up, under Colonel de
Salieres. The first two retained the names of the officers in charge of
their construction, and the third received the name of Sainte-Therese
because it was finished on the day dedicated to that saint. During the
following year two other forts were built--St John, a few miles distant
from Sainte-Therese, and Sainte-Anne, on an island at the head of Lake
Champlain. Both Tracy and Courcelle went to inspect the work
personally and encourage the garrisons.
In the meantime Talon was in no way idle. He had to organize the
means of conveying provisions, ammunition, tools, and supplies of
every description for the maintenance of the troops and the furtherance
of the work. Under his supervision a flotilla of over fifty boats plied
between Quebec and the river Richelieu. It was also his business to take
care of the incoming soldiers and labourers and to see that those who
had contracted disease during their journey across the ocean received
proper nursing and medical attendance.
From the moment of his arrival he had lost no opportunity of acquiring
information on the situation in the colony. There is a curious anecdote
that illustrates the manner in which he sometimes contrived to gain
knowledge by concealing his identity. On the very day of his landing
he went alone to the Hotel-Dieu, and asking for the superioress,
introduced himself as the valet de chambre of the intendant, pretending
to be sent by his master to assure the good ladies of the hospital of M.
Talon's kindly disposition and desire to bestow on them every favour in
his gift. One of the sisters present at the interview--Mere de la Nativite,
a very bright and clever woman--was struck by the extreme distinction
of manner and speech of the so-called valet, and, with a meaning
glance at the superioress, told the visitor that unless she was mistaken
he was more than he pretended to be. On his asking what could convey

to her that impression, she replied that by his bearing and language she
could not but feel that the intendant himself was honouring the
Hotel-Dieu with a visit. Talon could do no less than confess that she
was right, showing at the same time that he appreciated the delicate
compliment thus paid to him. From that day he was a devoted and most
generous friend to the Hotel-Dieu of Quebec.
One of the first problems with which the intendant had to deal in
discharging the duties of his office was the dualism of administrative
authority. It has been mentioned that Colbert had founded a new
trading company, known