|
|
In 1681, the agent general exploded with rage. On 9 January, swearing and cursing “several times,” he tore up, stamped on, and threw into the fire two ordinances of Duchesneau handed to him by a court officer, declaring that he would do the same thing to the intendant if he got his hands on him. In March, accompanied by one of the governor’s guards, he passed Duchesneau’s son, aged 16 or 17, and Vaultier his servant, in the street. Insults flared up on both sides. Frontenac, informed of this, demanded redress; the intendant sent his son and Vaultier to him. Far from offering his excuses, the young Duchesneau provoked Boisseau. Frontenac, in a fury, rushed at the youth, struck him a number of times with his cane, and tore his clothes. Duchesneau finally escaped, and managed to get to the law courts; his father, lest the governor should carry off the young man by force, barricaded the building and armed his servants. If the intendant is to be believed, the young seigneur none the less spent a month in the prisons of the fort, together with Vaultier. Finally, in August, “behaving in an unheard of way, swearing horribly against God and like a lion,” Boisseau manhandled “extraordinarily” René Favre, whom he punched and kicked, seizing him by the throat and threatening to strangle him.
|
|
|
Avec acharnement, pendant toute l’année 1680, Boisseau poursuivit ses ennemis, en particulier Aubert de La Chesnaye qu’il visait à travers Lalande et Jolliet. En mars, il accusa ces derniers de trafic illégal avec les Anglais de la baie d’Hudson, réclamant contre eux une amende de 2 000#, la confiscation de leur bateau et la saisie des marchandises. Duchesneau tenta de parer le coup ; finalement, il dut sévir, réduisant néanmoins la peine exigée par l’agent général. Or – c’est bien le plus incroyable – le crime avait été inventé de toutes pièces, comme Delanglez l’a démontré. Pour satisfaire sa vengeance, Boisseau ne reculait donc pas devant la calomnie. Vingt fois, du 22 mars au 15 octobre, seul ou flanqué de témoins, il se présenta devant l’un ou l’autre des notaires de Québec pour signer des déclarations visant à perdre ses adversaires : La Chesnaye, Lalande, Jolliet et, sans doute, Duchesneau, sans oublier Philippe Gaultier de Comporté, Jacques Le Ber* et Charles Le Moyne.
|