we remember that there were only at this time seventy houses in
Quebec, we may say without exaggeration that the number of persons who
came from France in this year, 1665, exceeded that of the whole white
population already resident in Canada. But it was desirable to keep this
population in its entirety, and Commissioner Talon, well seconded by
Mgr. de Laval, tenaciously pursued this purpose. The soldiers of
Carignan, all brave, and pious too, for the most part, were highly
desirable colonists. "What we seek most," wrote Mother Mary of the
Incarnation, "is the glory of God and the welfare of souls. That is what
we are working for, as well as to assure the prevalence of devotion in
the army, giving the men to understand that we are waging here a holy
war. There are as many as five hundred of them who have taken the
scapulary of the Holy Virgin, and many others who recite the chaplet of
the Holy Family every day."

Talon met with a rather strong opposition to his immigration plans in
the person of the great Colbert, who was afraid of seeing the Mother
Country depopulated in favour of her new daughter Canada. His
perseverance finally won the day, and more than four hundred soldiers
settled in the colony. Each common soldier received a hundred francs,
each sergeant a hundred and fifty francs. Besides, forty thousand francs
were used in raising in France the additional number of fifty girls and
a hundred and fifty men, which, increased by two hundred and thirty-five
colonists, sent by the company in 1667, fulfilled the desires of the
Bishop of Petraea.

The country would soon have been self-supporting if similar energy had
been continuously employed in its development. It is a miracle that a
handful of emigrants, cast almost without resources upon the northern
shore of America, should have been able to maintain themselves so long,
in spite of continual alarms, in spite of the deprivation of all
comfort, and in spite of the rigour of the climate. With wonderful
courage and patience they conquered a vast territory, peopled it,
cultivated its soil, and defended it by prodigies of valour against the
forays of the Indians.

The colony, happily, was to keep its bishop, the worthy Governor de
Courcelles, and the best administrator it ever had, the Commissioner
Talon. But it was to lose a lofty intellect: the Marquis de Tracy, his
mission ended to the satisfaction of all, set sail again for France.
From the moment of his arrival