|
|
At the very period when the Ursulines and Hospitallers were starting upon a venture that was to assume a permanent form, another religious foundation was appearing that was to have an amazing future: Ville‑Marie (Montreal). Since at least 1611, an establishment had been planned at the Sault-Saint-Louis (Lachine Rapids), not only to serve as a stage in the opening up of the continent, but also (since the rapids necessarily impeded navigation) to constitute a permanent meeting-place for French and native fur-traders. The settlement’s meagre resources, the Iroquois forays that were always so easy at a point so far inland, the opposition of the inhabitants of Quebec, who foresaw correctly that an establishment at the rapids would eventually corner the entire fur trade – all these rendered the project unattainable. It was an official from La Flèche, the tax-collector Jérôme Le Royer de La Dauversière, who in 1631 conceived the notion of establishing at Montreal a sort of mystical city. This project, unrealistic at first sight both because of its nature and because of the obstacles to be overcome, was characterized at each step by religious manifestations, and it came to fruition. The Société de Notre‑Dame de Montréal founded Ville‑Marie in 1642, in order to “labour there solely to bring about the glory of God and the salvation of the Indians.” In 1657, the Sulpicians came to assume the spiritual direction, and in 1668 the teaching, of the “little schools”; the following year, Marguerite Bourgeoys organized a congregation of women, who applied themselves to the education of girls. In 1659 Jeanne Mance, who since 1642 had been providing hospital service there, brought in some Hospitallers to open the Hôtel‑Dieu. Thus, as at Quebec, the essential needs of the Montreal community, education and hospital care, were provided for by the good works of the Church. But above all, thanks to the action of a group of mystics, a post was being created, the most remote post of the Laurentian colony, and it was rapidly to become as important as the capital itself.
|