y the
prosperity of these nine ecclesiastical provinces of Canada, with their
twenty-four dioceses, these numerous parishes which vie with each other
in the advancement of souls, these innumerable religious houses which
everywhere are spreading education or charity. The Act of Quebec in 1774
delivered our fathers from the unjust fetters fastened on their freedom
by the oath required under the Supremacy Act; but it is to the prudence
of Mgr. Plessis in particular that Catholics owe the religious liberty
which they now enjoy.

To-day, when passions are calmed, when we possess a full and complete
liberty of conscience, to-day when the different religious denominations
live side by side in mutual respect and tolerance of each other's
convictions, let us give thanks to the spiritual guides who by their
wisdom and moderation, but also by their energetic resistance when it
was necessary, knew how to preserve for us our language and our
religion. Let us always respect the worthy prelates who, like those who
direct us to-day, edify us by their tact, their knowledge and their
virtues.

CHAPTER II

THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANCOIS DE LAVAL

Certain great men pass through the world like meteors; their brilliance,
lightning-like at their first appearance, continues to cast a dazzling
gleam across the centuries: such were Alexander the Great, Mozart,
Shakespeare and Napoleon. Others, on the contrary, do not instantly
command the admiration of the masses; it is necessary, in order that
their transcendent merit should appear, either that the veil which
covered their actions should be gradually lifted, or that, some fine
day, and often after their death, the results of their work should shine
forth suddenly to the eyes of men and prove their genius: such were
Socrates, Themistocles, Jacquard, Copernicus, and Christopher Columbus.

The illustrious ecclesiastic who has given his name to our
French-Canadian university, respected as he was by his contemporaries,
has been esteemed at his proper value only by posterity. The reason is
easy to understand: a colony still in its infancy is subject to many
fluctuations before all the wheels of government move smoothly, and Mgr.
de Laval, obliged to face ever renewed conflicts of authority, had
necessarily either to abandon what he considered it his duty to
support, or create malcontents. If sometimes he carried persistence to
the verge of obstinacy, he must be judged in relation to the pe