Tracy’s work was done, and he left Canada with the glittering noblesse in his train. Courcelle and Talon remained to rule alone; and now the great experiment was begun. Paternal royalty3 would try its hand at building up a colony, and Talon was its chosen agent. His appearance did him no justice. The regular contour of his oval face, about which fell to his shoulders a cataract4 of curls, natural or supposititious; the smooth lines of his well-formed features, brows delicately arched, and a mouth more suggestive of feminine sensibility than of masculine force,—would certainly have misled the disciple6 of Lavater. * Yet there was no want of manhood in him. He was most happily chosen for the task placed in his hands, and from first to last approved himself a vigorous executive officer. He was a true disciple of Colbert, formed in his school and animated7 by his spirit.
from it will be found in the third volume of Shea’s
Charlevoix.
Being on the spot, he was better able than his master to judge the working of the new order of things. With regard to the company, he writes that it will profit by impoverishing9 the colony; that its monopolies dishearten the people and paralyze enterprise; that it is thwarting10 the intentions of the king, who wishes trade to be encouraged; and that, if its exclusive privileges are maintained, Canada in ten years will be less populous11 than now. * But Colbert clung to his plan, though he wrote in reply that to satisfy the colonists12 he had persuaded the company to forego the monopolies for a year. ** As this proved insufficient13, the company was at length forced to give up permanently14 its right of exclusive trade, still exacting15 its share of beaver16 and moose skins. This was its chief source of profit; it begrudged17 every sou deducted18 from it for charges of government, and the king was constantly obliged to do at his own cost that which the company should have done. In one point it showed a ceaseless activity; and this was the levying19 of duties, in which it was never known to fail.
Trade, even after its exercise was permitted, was continually vexed20 by the hand of authority. One of Tracy’s first measures had been to issue a decree reducing the price of wheat one half. The council took up the work of regulation, and fixed21 the price of all imported goods in three several tariffs,—one for Quebec, one for Three Rivers, and
* Talon a Colbert, 4 Oct., 1665.
** Colbert a Talon, 5 Avril, 1666.
one for Montreal. * It may well be believed that there was in Canada little capital and little enterprise. Industrially and commercially, the colony was almost dead. Talon set himself to galvanize it; and, if one man could have supplied the intelligence and energy of a whole community, the results would have been triumphant22.
He had received elaborate instructions, and they indicate an ardent23 wish for the prosperity of Canada. Colbert had written to him that the true means to strengthen the colony was to “cause justice to reign24, establish a good police, protect the inhabitants, discipline them against enemies, and procure25 for them peace, repose26, and plenty.” ** “And as,” the minister further says, “the king regards his Canadian subjects, from the highest to the lowest, almost as his own children, and wishes them to enjoy equally with the people of France the mildness and happiness of his reign, the Sieur Talon will study to solace27 them in all things and encourage them to trade and industry. And, seeing that nothing can better promote this end than entering into the details of their households and of all their little affairs, it will not be amiss that he visit all their settlements one after the other in order to learn their true condition, provide as much as possible for their wants, and, performing the duty of a good head of a family, put them in the way of making some profit.” The intendant was also told to encourage fathers to inspire their children with
* Tariff of Prices, in N. Y. Colonial Docs. IX. 36
** Colbert a Talon, 6 Avril, 1666.
Talon entered on his work with admirable zeal30. Sometimes he used authority, sometimes persuasion31, sometimes promises of reward. Sometimes, again, he tried the force of example. Thus he built a ship to show the people how to do it, and rouse them to imitation. ** Three or four years later, the experiment was repeated. This time it was at the cost of the king, who applied32 the sum of forty thousand livres *** to the double purpose of promoting the art of ship-building, and saving the colonists from vagrant33 habits by giving them employment. Talon wrote that three hundred and fifty men had been supplied that summer with work at the charge of government. ****
He despatched two engineers to search for coal, lead, iron, copper35, and other minerals. Important discoveries of iron were made; but three generations were destined36 to pass before the mines were successfully worked. (v) The copper of Lake Superior raised the intendants hopes for a time, but he was soon forced to the conclusion that it was too remote to be of practical value. He labored37 vigorously to develop arts and manufactures; made a barrel of tar5, and sent it to the king as a specimen38; caused some of the colonists to make cloth
* Instruction au Sieur Talon, 27 Mars, 1665.
** Talon a Colbert, Oct., 1667; Colbert a Talon, 20 Fev.,
1668.
*** Dépêche de Colbert, 11 Fev., 1671.
**** Talon a Colbert, 2 Nov., 1671.
(v) Charlevoix speaks of these mines as having been
forgotten for seventy years, and rediscovered in his time.
After passing. through various hands, they were finally
worked on the king’s account.
of the wool of the sheep which the king had sent out; encouraged others to establish a tannery, and also a factory of hats and of shoes. The Sieur Follin was induced by the grant of a monopoly to begin the making of soap and potash. * The people were ordered to grow hemp39, ** and urged to gather the nettles40 of the country as material for cordage; and the Ursulines were supplied with flax and wool, in order that they might teach girls to weave and spin.
Talon was especially anxious to establish trade between Canada and the West Indies; and, to make a beginning, he freighted the vessel41 he had built with salted cod42, salmon43, eels44, pease, fish-oil, staves, and planks45, and sent her thither46 to exchange her cargo47 for sugar, which she was in turn to exchange in France for goods suited for the Canadian market. *** Another favorite object with him was the fishery of seals and white porpoises48 for the sake of their oil; and some of the chief merchants were urged to undertake it, as well as the establishment of stationary49 cod-fisheries along the Lower St. Lawrence. But, with every encouragement, many years passed before this valuable industry was placed on a firm basis.
Talon saw with concern the huge consumption of wine and brandy among the settlers, costing them, as he wrote to Colbert, a hundred thousand livres a year; and, to keep this money in the
* Registre du Conseil Souverain.
** Marie de l’Incarnation, Choix des Lettres de 871.
*** Le Mercier, Rel. 1667, 3; Dépêches de Talon
colony, he declared his intention of building a brewery50. The minister approved the plan, not only on economic grounds, but because “the vice51 of drunkenness would thereafter cause no more scandal by reason of the cold nature of beer, the vapors52 whereof rarely deprive men of the use of judgment53.” * The brewery was accordingly built, to the great satisfaction of the poorer colonists.
Nor did the active intendant fail to acquit54 himself of the duty of domiciliary visits, enjoined55 upon him by the royal instructions; a point on which he was of one mind with his superiors, for he writes that “those charged in this country with his Majesty’s affairs are under a strict obligation to enter into the detail of families.” ** Accordingly we learn from Mother Juchereau, that "he studied with the affection of a father how to succor56 the poor and cause the colony to grow; entered into the minutest particulars; visited the houses of the inhabitants, and caused them to visit him; learned what crops each one was raising; taught those who had wheat to sell it at a profit, helped those who had none, and encouraged everybody.” And Dollier de Casson represents him as visiting in turn every house at Montreal, and giving aid from the king to such as needed it. *** Horses, cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals, were sent out at the royal charge in considerable numbers, and
* Colbert à Talon, 20 Fev., 1668.
** Mémoire de 1667.
*** Histoire du Montréal, a.d. 1666, 1667.
distributed gratuitously57, with an order that none of the young should be killed till the country was sufficiently58 stocked. Large quantities of goods were also sent from the same high quarter. Some of these were distributed as gifts, and the rest bartered59 for corn to supply the troops. As the intendant perceived that the farmers lost much time in coming from their distant clearings to buy necessaries at Quebec, he caused his agents to furnish them with the king’s goods at their own houses, to the great annoyance60 of the merchants of Quebec, who complained that their accustomed trade was thus forestalled61. *
These were not the only cares which occupied the mind of Talon. He tried to open a road across the country to Acadia, an almost impossible task, in which he and his successors completely failed. Under his auspices62, Albanel penetrated63 to Hudson’s Bay, and Saint Lusson took possession in the king’s name of the country of the Upper Lakes. It was Talon, in short, who prepared the way for the remarkable64 series of explorations described in another work. ** Again and again he urged upon Colbert and the king a measure from which, had it taken effect, momentous65 consequences must have sprung. This was the purchase or seizure66 of New York, involving the isolation67 of New England, the subjection of the Iroquois, and the undisputed control of half the continent.
* Talon a Colbert, 10 Nov., 1670.
** Discovery of the Great West
Great as were his opportunities of abusing his trust, it does not appear that he took advantage of them. He held lands and houses in Canada, * owned the brewery which he had established, and embarked68 in various enterprises of productive industry; but, so far as I can discover, he is nowhere accused of making illicit69 gains, and there is reason to believe that he acquitted70 himself of his charge with entire fidelity71. ** His health failed in 1668, and for this and other causes he asked for his recall. Colbert granted it with strong expressions of regret; and when, two years later, he resumed the intendancy, the colony seems to have welcomed his return.
minister, makes a statement of Talon’s property in Quebec.
The chief items are the brewery and a house of some value on
the descent of Mountain Street. He owned, also, the valuable
neighborhood.
** Some imputations against him, not of much weight, are,
however, made in a memorial of Aubert de la Chesnaye, a
merchant of Quebec
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1
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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talon
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| n.爪；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物 | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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8
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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9
impoverishing
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| v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的现在分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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thwarting
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| 阻挠( thwart的现在分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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11
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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13
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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14
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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17
begrudged
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| 嫉妒( begrudge的过去式和过去分词 )； 勉强做； 不乐意地付出； 吝惜 | |
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18
deducted
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| v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
levying
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| 征（兵）( levy的现在分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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20
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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21
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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22
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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23
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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24
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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25
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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26
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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27
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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28
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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29
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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30
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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31
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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32
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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33
vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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34
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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35
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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36
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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37
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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38
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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39
hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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40
nettles
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| n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 ) | |
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41
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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42
cod
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| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
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43
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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44
eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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45
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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46
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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47
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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48
porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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49
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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50
brewery
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| n.啤酒厂 | |
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51
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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52
vapors
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| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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53
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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54
acquit
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| vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
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55
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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57
gratuitously
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| 平白 | |
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58
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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59
bartered
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| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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61
forestalled
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| v.先发制人，预先阻止( forestall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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63
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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64
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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65
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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66
seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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67
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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68
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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illicit
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| adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的 | |
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70
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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71
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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