may have been
among the causes of his nomination to the post of governor.

[5] By the Treaty of Dover (May 20, 1670) Charles II received a pension
from France and promised to aid Louis XIV in war with Holland.

[6] Frontenac's enemies never wearied of dwelling upon his
uncontrollable rage. A most interesting discussion of this subject
will be found in _Frontenac et Ses Amis_ by M. Ernest Myrand (p. 172).
For the bellicose qualities of the French aristocracy see also _La
Noblesse Francaise sous Richelieu_ by the Vicomte G. d'Avenel.

{33}

CHAPTER III

FRONTENAC'S FIRST YEARS IN CANADA

Frontenac received his commission on April 6, 1672, and reached Quebec
at the beginning of September. The king, sympathetic towards his
needs, had authorized two special grants of money: six thousand livres
for equipment, and nine thousand to provide a bodyguard of twenty
horsemen. Gratified by these marks of royal favour and conscious that
he had been assigned to an important post, Frontenac was in hopeful
mood when he first saw the banks of the St Lawrence. His letters show
that he found the country much less barbarous than he had expected; and
he threw himself into his new duties with the courage which is born of
optimism. A natural fortress like Quebec could not fail to awaken the
enthusiasm of a soldier. The settlement itself was small, but
Frontenac reported that its situation could not be more favourable,
even if this spot were to become the capital of a great empire. It
was, indeed, {34} a scene to kindle the imagination. Sloping down to
the river-bank, the farms of Beauport and Beaupre filled the
foreground. Behind them swept the forest, then in its full autumnal
glory.

Awaiting Frontenac at Quebec were Courcelles, the late governor, and
Talon the intendant. Both were to return to France by the last ships
of that year; but in the meantime Frontenac was enabled to confer with
them on the state of the colony and to acquaint himself with their
views on many important subjects. Courcelles had proved a stalwart
warrior against the Iroquois, while Talon possessed an unrivalled
knowledge of Canada's wants and possibilities. Laval, the bishop, was
in France, not to return to the colony till 1675.

The new governor's first acts went to show that with the king's dignity
he associated his own. The governor and lieutenant-general of a vast
oversea dominion could not degrade his office by living like a
shopkeep