m esse_," the bishop must be irreproachable in his
house, his relations, his speech and even his silence. His past career
guaranteed his possession of that admixture of strength and gentleness,
of authority and condescension in which lies the great art of governing
men. Moreover, one thing reassured him, his knowledge that the crown of
a bishop is often a crown of thorns. When the apostle St. Paul outlined
for his disciple the main features of the episcopal character, he spoke
not alone for the immediate successors of the apostles, but for all
those who in the succession of ages should be honoured by the same
dignity. No doubt the difficulties would be often less, persecution
might even cease entirely, but trial would continue always, because it
is the condition of the Church as well as that of individuals. The
prelate himself explains to us the very serious reasons which led him to
insist on obtaining the title of Bishop of Quebec. He writes in these
terms to the Propaganda: "I have never till now sought the episcopacy,
and I have accepted it in spite of myself, convinced of my weakness.
But, having borne its burden, I shall consider it a boon to be relieved
of it, though I do not refuse to sacrifice myself for the Church of
Jesus Christ and for the welfare of souls. I have, however, learned by
long experience how unguarded is the position of an apostolic vicar
against those who are entrusted with political affairs, I mean the
officers of the court, perpetual rivals and despisers of the
ecclesiastical power, who have nothing more common to object than that
the authority of the apostolic vicar is doubtful and should be
restricted within certain limits. This is why, after having maturely
considered everything, I have resolved to resign this function and to
return no more to New France unless a see be erected there, and unless I
be provided and furnished with bulls constituting me its occupant. Such
is the purpose of my journey to France and the object of my desires."
As early as the year 1662, at the time of his first journey to France,
the Bishop of Petraea had obtained from Louis XIV the assurance that this
prince would petition the sovereign pontiff for the erection of the see
of Quebec; moreover, the monarch had at the same time assigned to the
future bishopric the revenues of the abbey of Maubec. The king kept his
word, for on June 28th, 1664, he addressed to the common Father of the
faithful the following letter: "
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