SECTION THIRD, Continued. THE COLONY AND THE KING. CHAPTER XV. 1665-1672. PATERNAL GOVERNMENT. TALON.-RESTRICTION AND MONOPOLY.-VIEWS OF COLBERT.POLITICAL GALVANISM. — A FATHER OF THE PEOPLE. 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 royalty 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 cataract 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 disciple 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 animated by his spirit. 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 impoverishing the colony; that its monopolies dishearten the people and paralyze enterprise; that it is thwarting 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 populous than now. But Colbert clung to his plan, though he wrote in reply that to satisfy the colonists he had persuaded the company to forego the monopolies for a year. As this proved insufficient, the company was at length forced to give up permanently its right of exclusive trade, still exacting its share of beaver and moose skins. This was its chief source of profit; it begrudged every sou deducted 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 activ 3 1 His portrait is at the Hôtel Dieu of Quebec. An engraving from it will be found in the third volume of Shea's Charlevoix. 2 Talon à Colbert, 4 Oct., 1665. 8 Colbert à Talon, 5 Avril, 1666. |