lAYAL
46
L4YAL
from Innocent X the appointment of three vioara
ApK)stolic for the East, Laval was chdsen for the Ton-
quin mission. The Portuguese Court opposed the plan,
and from 1655 to 1658 the future bisnop lived at the
" Hermitage " of Caen, in the practice of piety and good
works, emulating the example of the prominent fig-
ures of that period of religious revival, Oher, Vincent
of Paul, Bourdoise. Eudes, and others, several of whom
were his intimate friends. This solitude was a fitting
preamble to his apostolic career. Appointed Vicar
Apostolic of 'Sew France, with the title of Bishop (rf
Petrsea, Laval was consecrated on 8 Dec., 1658. by the
papal nuncio Piccolomini in the abbatial churcn of St-
Germain-des-Pr^s, Paris. He landed on 16 June,
1659, at Quebec, which then counted hardly 500 in-
habitants, the whole French population of Canada not
exceeding 2200 souls.
Laval's first relation to the pope (1660) breathes ad- miration for the natural grandeur of the country, courage and hope for the future, and praise for the seal of the Jesuits From the outset he had to assert his authority, which was contested by the Archbishop of Rouen, from whose province came most of the col- onists, and whose pretensions were favoured by the court. Laval claimed j urisdiction directly from Rome. This conflict, which caused trouble and uncertainty, was ended when the See of Quebec was definitively erected by Clement X into a regular diocese depending solely on Rome (1674). But the hardest struggle, the trial of a life-time, was against the liquor-traffic with the Indians. The problem, on whose solution depended the civilization and salvation of the aborigines and the welfare of New France, was rendered more arduous by the intense passion of the savage for firewater and the lawless greed of the white trader. Laval, after ex- hausting persuasive measures and consulting the Sor- bonne theologians, forbade the traffic under pain of excommunication. The civil authorities pleaded in the interest of commerce, the eternal obstacle to tem- perance. First d'Avaugour relaxed the severity of prohibition, but, through Laval's influence at court, was recalled. De M^sy, who owed his appointment to the bishop, first favoured, but then violently opposed his authority, finally dying repentant in his arms. His successors, envious of clerical authority and ovei^ partial to commercial interests, obtained from the king a mitigated legislafion. Thus, the Intendant Talon and Frontenac, notwithstanding their states- manship and bravery, were imbued with Gallicanism and too zealous for-their personal benefit. The vice- roy de Tracy, however, seconded the bishop's action.
At this period the Diocese of Quebec comprised all North America, exclusive of New England, the At- lantic sea-board, and the Spanish colonies to the West, a territory now divided into about a hundred dioceses. Laval's zeal embraced all whom he could reach by his representatives or by his personal visitations. In sea- son and out of season, he made long and perilous jour- neys by land and water to minister to his flock. His fatherly kindness sustained the far-oflf missionary. " His heart is always with us ". writes the Jesuit Dab- Ion. He was a protector ana guide to the religious houses of Quebec and Montreal. He was deeply at- tached to the Jesuits, his former teachers, and recalled to Canada in 1670 the Franciscan R6collets, who had first brought thither the Go.spel. By the solemn bap- tism of Garakonti6, the Iroquois chief, an efficacious promoter of the true Faith was secured among his Barbarous fellow-countrymen, who received the black- robed Jesuit and gave many neophytes. Laval's fore- sight made him foster the most cherished devotions of the Church: belief in the Immaculate Conception, the titular of his cathedral, and the cult of the Iloly Family, which flourished on Canadian soil (Encyclical of Leo XIII). He was a devout client of St. Anne, whose shrine at Beaupr^ was rebuilt in 1673. As a patron of education Laval occupiee a foremost rank.
At that early period, with a handful of colonists and
scanty resources, he organixed a complete system of
instruction: primary, technical, and classical. His
seminary (16i63) and little seminary (1668) trained
candidates for the priesthood.
An industrial school, foimded at St-Joachim (1678), provided the colonjr with skilled farmers and crafts- men. To these institutions, and particularly to the seminary, destined to become the university which bears his name, he gave all his possessions, including the seigniory of Beauprd and Isle J^us. In view of the future he built the seminary on a relatively large scale, which excited the envy and criticism of Fronte- nac. No regular parishes having been yet established, the clergy were attached to the seminary, and thence radiatedr everywhere for parochial or* mission work, even as far as the Illinois. The tithes, after much dis- cussion and opposition, had finally been limited to the twenty-sixth bushel of grain harvested, an enactment still legally in force in the Province of Quebec. These tithes were paid to the seminary, which, in return, pro- vided labourers for Christ's vineyard.
Laval's patriotism was remarkable. The creation of the Sovereign Council in lieu of the Company of New France was greatly due to his uifluence, and con- duced to the proper administration of justice, to the progress of colonization, and the defence of the coun- try against the ever-increasing ferocity and audacity of the Iroquois. He later concurred in obtaining the regiment of Carignan for the last-named object (1665). Exhausted by thirty years of a laborious apostolate, and convinced that a younger bishop would work more efficaciousljr for God's glory and the good of souls, he resigned in 1 688. His successor, Abb4 de St-Vallier, a virtuous and generous prelate, did not share all his Mews regarding the administration. Laval might have enjoyed a well-earned retreat in France, whither he had sailed for the fourth time. He preferred returning to the scene of his labours, where many opportunities occurred of displajnng his zeal during the many years of St-Vallier's absence, five of which were spent in cap- tivity in England. During that period, the seminary was twice burned (1701 and 1705) to Laval's intense sorrow, and rebuilt through his energy and gener- osity. The end was near. The last three years he spent in greater retirement and humility, and died in tne odour of sanctity.
His reputation for holiness, though somewhat dimmed after the Conquest, revived during the nine- teenth century, and, the cause of his canonization hav- ing been introduced (1890), he now enjoys the title of Venerable. Laval has been accused of attachment to his own authority and disregard for the rights of civil authority, a reproach that savours somewhat of the Gallican spirit of the rulers of the time, and of the his- torians who endorsed their prejudices. The truth is that he had to protect his flocK from the greed and self- ishness of worldly potentates for whom material in- terests were often paramount; to defend the immu- nities of the Church apiinst a domineering Frontenac, who pretended to arraign clerics before his tribunal, and oblige missionaries to secure a passport for each change of residence, and refused the bisliop the rank due to his dimity and sanctioned by the king, in the council of which the prelate was the chief founder, the soul and hfe. In an age when churchmen like Ma«- arin and Richelieu virtually ruled the State, Laval's authority, always exercised for the country's weal, was prooably not exorbitant. He was loyal to thf Crown when superior rights were not contradicted, and received nought but praise from the Grand Ma- narque. The charge of ambition and arbitrariness is equally groundless. In the Sovereign Council, Laval showea prudence, wisdom, justice, moderation. His influence was always beneficent. Although firm and inflexible in the accomplishment of duty, he was rea^y to consult and follow competent advice. He was of
