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vexations to which the unhappy Acadians were sub-
jected by unworthy English governors will not be re-
counted here. History has branded their memory
with infamy, especially that of Lawrence, who with
calculating violence embarked (1755) the Acadians
on English vessels and scattered them throughout
the American colonies. This act of barbarism, which
has caused his name to be execrated by all men,
furnished Longfellow with the inspiration for his
touching poem. "Evangeline". Canada in the mean-
time enjoyed comparative peace. There was a pre-
sentiment, however, that England would soon make
a final effort to conquer the country. Instead of
sending colonists and troops the French Government
persisted in constructing at great expense fortifica-
tions at Louisburg and at Quebec.
After making rich donations to the religious estab- lishments of Quebec (estimated at 600,000 livres, about $120,000), Bishop Saint- Vallier died in 1727. His successor was Bishop Duplessis-Mornay, whom in- firmities prevented from coming to Canada. Bishop Dosquet, his coadjutor and administrator from 1729, succeeded him in 1733, and laboured earnestly for ed- ucation and forthe increase of religious communities. The education of girls was in the hands of the Ursulines, who had one boarding-school at Quebec and another at Three Rivers, and of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, of Montreal, who had fourteen houses. Primary instruction for boys was conducted by male teachers. Prematurely exhausted by the rigour of the climate, Bishop Dosquet resigned his office and left Canada. His successor, Bishop Lauberiviere, died on his arrival at Quebec, a victim of his devotion to the sick soldiers on the voyage from France. With Bishop Pontbriand (1741-1760) we reach the end of the French rule. He restored the cathedral of Quebec then falling into decay, went to the assist- ance of the Ursulines of Three Rivers and the Hotel- Dieu of Quebec on the occasion of disastrous fires, administered his diocese wisely, and was a model for his clergy in wisdom and virtue.
At Montreal the Sulpicians still pursued their be- neficent work. To their superior, M. de Belmont (1701- 32) must be ascribed the construction of the Fort of the Mountain and of the old seminary which is still in existence, and the opening of the Lachine canal. M. Normant du Faradon, his successor (1732-59), saved the General Hospital from ruin, and entrusted it to the "Grey Nuns", whose founder he may be called, together with the Venerable Mere d'Youville. The Abbe' Francois Picquet, honoured by the city of Ogdensburg as its founder (1749), was also a Sulpi- cian. The well-known events which hastened the fall of the colony are a part of general history. After the capture of Quebec by Wolfe (1759), Bishop Pontbriand took refuge with the Sulpicians at Mon- treal, where he died before that city fell into the hands of the English. On 10 February, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ceding Canada to England, closing for the Church in Canada the period of estab- lishment and settlement, and opening the period of conflict and development.
II. Period of British Rule (1763 ).— At the
time of the Treaty of Paris (see Quebec) the Catholic population of Canada, all of French descent, s.,. < l\ numbered 70,000. Abandoned by their civil rulers and representatives, who had returned to France, they o\vd to their clergy the preservation of their Faith and in great measure the recovery of their political and civil rights. While the clauses of the Treaty of Paris were still under discussion a memo- rial had been laid before the French ambassador in London concerning the religious affairs of Canada. This demanded, among other things, security for the See and Chapter of Quebec. The intentions of the British Government were quite different. It pro- posed to substitute the Anglican hierarchy for the
Catholic, and English Protestantism for Catholicism,
and it flattered itself that it could easily overcome the
scruples of a handful of. French colonists. With this
end in view it spared priests and laity no vexation.
The government policy was especially active against
the young, who were to be educated in schools of a
marked Anglican tone. The Canadians, who had
good cause for anxiety, sent a deputation to King
George III, to demand the maintenance of their ec-
clesiastical organization and to complain of violations
of the Treaty of Paris, which assured them religious
liberty.
In the meantime the Chapter of Quebec proceeded to elect M. de Montgolfier, superior of the Sulpicians of Montreal, bishop. The English authorities refused consent to his consecration. Oliver Briand, vicar- general to Bishop Pontbriand, was then consecrated with only the tacit consent of the Government, which always refused him the title of Bishop, which it re- served for the head of the Anglican hierarchy; instead of bishop they used the term Superintendent (Surin- tendant) of Catholic Worship. The communities of men, Recollects, Jesuits, and Sulpicians, were forbid- den to take novices in Canada, or to receive members from abroad. They were marked out for extinction, and the State declared itself heir to their property. The English confiscated the goods of the Recollects and Jesuits in 1774, and granted the religious modest pensions. The Sulpicians fared better. In 1793, of the thirty Sulpicians living; in 1759 there remained only two septuagenarians, whose last moments were being eagerly looked for, when the British Govern- ment relaxed its rigour in favour of the victims of the French Revolution, and opened Canada as a place of refuge for persecuted French priests.
While Catholic interests on the banks of the St. Law- rence were thus menaced by the new English masters there was brewing an event, big with consequences, that counselled more moderation. The British Amer- ican colonies were threatening revolt. England real- ized that she must conciliate the Canadians at any cost , and by the Quebec Act of 1 774 she granted them many liberties hitherto withheld or suppressed. (See Quebec.) This was due chiefly to Governor Guy C'arleton (1769-96), who was wise, judicious, and tol- erant, very sympathetic toward Catholicism, and much loved by Bishop Briand and his flock. The Ameri- cans were unable to induce the French Canadians to take part in the American Revolution, and Mont- gomery's invasion (1775) was checked at Quebec. Led by Bishop Briand, the champions of loyalty were the Catholic priests, whom Great Britain had hitherto regarded with suspicion. Bishop Briand resigned in 1784. By this time Catholics numbered 130.000. The Maritime Provinces — Xew Brunswick. Nova Scotia, and even the He Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) — were being peopled by Scotch and Irish Catholics (see Burke, Edmund). Bishop d'l sglis succeeded Bishop Briand, who, to forestall a vacancy hastened to secure a successor in the person of Fran- cois Hubert (17S8). The diocese now contained 160 priests, among them the Abbes Desjardins, Sigogne, Calonne, and Picquart. who gathered again the scat- tered remnants of the Acadians, a race supposed to be practically extinct. There is an interesting memorial of Bishop Hubert to the Holy See (1794), in which he notes the fidelity of the Catholics to their religion, and dwells upon the necessity of creating new sees. The opposition of the British "Government continued inexorable, so that it was necessary to wait for more propitious circumstances. This opposition was all the more unjustifiable, becoming evident, as it did, shortly after the Constitutional Act of 1791. This was the famous act which granted Canada a con- stitutional government, and divided the country into two provinces, Upper ami Lower Canada, each hav- ing a governor, an assembly, and a legislative council
