Mont Royal.

[Illustration: Portrait of Maisonneuve.]

On the 17th May, Maisonneuve and his companions landed on the little
triangle of land, the Place Royale of Champlain, formed by the junction
of a stream with the St. Lawrence. They fell immediately on their
knees and gave their thanks to the {136} Most High. After singing some
hymns, they raised an altar which was decorated by Madame de la Peltrie
and Mdlle. Mance, and celebrated the first great mass on the island.
Father Vimont, as he performed this holy rite of his Church, addressed
the new colonists with words which foreshadowed the success of the
Roman Catholic Church in the greatest Canadian city, which was first
named Ville-Marie.

A picket enclosure, mounted with cannon, protected the humble buildings
erected for the use of the first settlers on what is now the
Custom-house Square. The little stream--not much more than a rivulet
except in spring--which for many years rippled between green, mossy
banks, now struggles beneath the paved street.

An obelisk of gray Canadian granite now stands on this historic ground.
Madame de la Peltrie did not remain more than two years in Ville-Marie,
but returned to the convent at Quebec which she had left in a moment of
caprice. Mdlle. Mance, who was Madame de Bullion's friend, remained at
the head of the Hotel Dieu. The Sulpicians eventually obtained control
of the spiritual welfare, and in fact of the whole island, though from
necessity and policy the Jesuits were at first in charge. It was not
until 1653 that one of the most admirable figures in the religious and
educational history of Canada, Margaret Bourgeoys, a maiden of Troyes,
came to Ville-Marie, and established the parent house in Canada of the
Congregation de Notre-Dame, whose schools have extended in the progress
of centuries from Sydney, on the island of Cape Breton, to the Pacific
coast.

{137}

Yet during these years, while convents and hospitals were founded,
while brave gentlemen and cultured women gave up their lives to their
country and their faith, while the bells were ever calling their
congregations to mass and vespers, the country was defended by a mere
handful of inhabitants, huddled together at Quebec, at Three Rivers,
and at the little settlement of Ville-Marie. The canoes of the
Iroquois were constantly passing on the lakes and rivers of Canada,
from Georgian Bay to the Richelieu, and bands of those terrible foes of
the French and t