L’Eglise canadienne sous le régime militaire, 1759–1764. I. Les Problèmes by Marcel Trudel (review)

REVIEWS OF BOOKS 9.45 Moffatwas evidentlya solid,typicalproductof his period,class,and country, whoworkedconscientiously at hisjob. He had a reputation asa goodreporter,but was capableof makingmistakes. In Washington in September, 1939,he gaveadvicebasedon thepeculiar beliefthat Canada, likeAustralia andNewZealand, hadaccepted theUnitedKingdom's declarationof war ascommitting her,andwhenCanada wasomittedfromthe U.S. neutrality proclamation hewrote,"I regretthedecision asI thinkit isbadlaw as well as bad policy."(He learnedbetterlater.) He seems to havemisunderstood Mr. Kingon onepointaboutthe Ogdensburg conversations, for hisaccount appears toindicate thatCanada proposed to accord to theUnited States bases on her soilon 99-yearleases, similarto thoseconceded by Britain in Newfoundland and elsewhere. This reviewer feels certain that the PrimeMinister neverintended to convey suchan impression. And Moffat's judgments ofmen were notalways beyond cavil. Heputonpaper--admittedly afteronlysixmonths in Ottawa--a longestimate of Mackenzie Kingwhich contains some penetrating observations, but alsocontains theremark,"I doubt if anycountry hasa leader withsuch powers andsuch aninnate modesty. It approaches humility." Manypeople withintimate personal knowledge of Mr. Kingdisagree. Finally, it ishardtorefrain fromquoting thelastportion ofKing's account oftheOgdensburg discussions, asreported by Moffat. "ThePresident having growneloquentabout the Canadian-American [undefended?] frontier,was startled to haveMr. Kingdeclare thatwe were'creating a frontier' by our passport andvisarequirements. He explained the situation at some length, andfoundthePresident knewverylittleaboutit. He saidhe hadbeentold, he thought by theStateDepartment, thatCanada desired the system asit wouldprevent menof militaryagefromleaving the Dominion .... "Here surely isa symbolic glimpse of a basic andpermanent problem in CanadianAmerican relations. C. P. ST.•CV.Y ArmyHeadquarters, Ottawa L'Eglisecanadienne sous le rdgime militaire,1759-1764.I. Les Probl•mes. By MARCV. L TRtmV. L. Ottawaand Washington. Les Etudesde l'Institut d'Histoire de l'Am•riquefran•aise. 1956.Pp. xxxvi,862, illus.$4.50. T•m rdgirnemilitairestill has a fascination for French-Canadian historians; theconquest isstillthemost significant event in theirhistory. Interpretations of thisperiod havevaried--Garneau's 'la plusinsupportable tyrannic" was flatlycontradicted by Groulx--but all interpretations havebeenaffected by the obvious connection between the fate of the French Canadians in those years andtheposition of theFrench-Canadian minority in Canada today. Such histories are g notlikelytobedull,althou h theyarelikelytobepartisan. M. Trudel has concentrated on the fate of the Roman Catholic church in Canada in thisperiod. Thebook isbased oncareful andthorough research in public archives, episcopal archives, andthe archives of religious institutionsand even of parishes. The authoris thereforeable to reachsome definite conclusions about such disputed questions asthedamage tochurches andpresbyterits during the war,the activities of the clergyduringthe hostilities, andthenumber andfateof theclergy during thisperiod. The infomarion is summarized in tables andmaps.Not onlyhasM. Trudel 246 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW managed to makehisinventories surprisingly complete, but he hasalsobeen carefulto pointout thelimitations of hissources and to warnthe readerof the necessary qualifications. Thecentral problem of thechurch in thisperiod wasto adaptitselfto the control of NewFrance by foreign andProtestant conquerors, andmorethan half of this volumeis directlyconcerned with this adaptation. The most disturbingquestionwas, of course,the episcopal succession. The author traces in detailthe relations between the clericalauthorities andthe military governors, andthe negotiations in Quebec, London, Paris,andRome,before the finalacceptance of BriandasBishop of Quebec. Brianddoesnot emerge asthe astutechurchman and politicalrealistdescribed by Gosselm or Burr. Insteadwe are shown"la soumission servilede Brianden facedu Murray" (p. 241), a subservience whichwas not affectedby Murray'sinterference with ecclesiastical discipline orwiththeappointment of cur•s,aninterference unknownduringthe Frenchr•gime. GovernorMurray is held responsible for delaying theappointment of a bishop fortwoyears because of hisoppositionto Montgolfier afterthe Britishgovernment had agreedto closeits eyes to hisappointment, andaftertheVaticanhadaccepted hiscandidacy in spite of its obiection to the methodof election.M. Trudel has marshalled his evidence convincingly--so convincingly, indeed,that the readerfeelsthat Murrayis beingpersecuted. The caseagainstGeneralGage,who seems to havebeenequally determined tosupervise Montgolfier's activities in Montreal, isnotdeveloped sofullynorstated soemphatically. Possibly evenM. Trndel cannot achieve the scientific detachment to whichhe aspires. Thisisthefirstof twovolumes onthehistory of thechurch in themilitary r•gime.The second volume is to be a detailed studyof the religious orders and the charitableand religiousinstitutions. The detailedresearch, the organization of the material andthe carefulpresentation of the evidence in the first volume ensure that these two volumes will become the standard authority onthesubiect. It is to behopedthatM. Trudelwill soon complete hisproiected general history of the period. BLAIR NEATBY University ofBritish Columbia London Correspondence InwardfromEdenColvile1849-1852. Editedby E. E. Ric•, assisted by A.M. JOHNSON. With an Introduction by W. L. MORTON...