ics. A Catholic was not eligible for a public office, and
the learned professions were closed to them, neither could a Catholic
act as a tutor or as an executor to a will. Prejudice was carried still
further, and even the books treating of their faith were suppressed,
while relics or religious pictures were forbidden. These were only a few
of the persecutions to which they were subject.

As far back as 1621 Champlain had requested the king to forbid
Protestant emigration to Canada, but his petition was not granted,
because the company was composed of mixed creeds. The company formed by
Richelieu, however, was solely Catholic, and there were no difficulties
on this score. The result of this policy was soon manifest. There were
no more dissensions on board the vessels as to places of worship, and
the Catholics were, as a consequence, enabled to observe their religious
duties without fear of annoyance. The beneficent influence of this
policy extended to the settlement, where the people lived in peace, and
were not subject to the petty quarrels which arose through a difference
in creed.

In the Relation of 1637 we find evidence of this: "Now it seems to me
that I can say with truth that the soil of New France is watered by so
many heavenly blessings, that souls nourished in virtue find here their
true element, and are, consequently, healthier than elsewhere. As for
those whose vices have rendered them diseased, they not only do not grow
worse, but very often, coming to breathe a salubrious air, and far
removed from opportunities for sin, changing climate they change their
lives, and a thousand times bless the sweet providence of God, which has
made them find the door to felicity where others fear only misery.

"In a word, God has been worshipped in His houses, preaching has been
well received, both at Kebec and at the Three Rivers, where Father
Buteux usually instructed our French people; each of our brethren has
been occupied in hearing many confessions, both ordinary and general;
very few holidays and Sundays during the winter have passed in which we
have not seen and received persons at the table of our Lord. And certain
ones, who for three, four and five years had not confessed in old
France, now, in the new, approach this so salutary sacrament oftener
than once a month; prayers are offered kneeling and in public, not only
at the fort, but also in families and little companies scattered here
and there. As we have take