1672-1675

TOWN-PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE

THE FOUNDATION OF THE PARISH CHURCH AND BON SECOURS CHAPEL

THE FIRST STREET SURVEY—"LOW" TOWN AND "UPPER" TOWN—THE ORIGIN OF THE NAMES OF THE STREETS—COMPLAINTS AGAINST CITIZENS STILL CULTIVATING THE STREETS—ORDERS TO BEGIN BUILDING—THE NEW PARISH CHURCH—THE FOUNDATION STONES AND PLAQUES—THE DEMOLITION OF THE FORT FORBIDDEN—THE CHURCH OF BON SECOURS—THE POWDER MAGAZINE IN ITS GARRET—A PICTURE OF MONTREAL.

In 1672, peace prospects being bright, town planning received its first conscious impetus. Hitherto "Low Town," the neighbourhood of the fort and principally the portion near the HÔtel-Dieu and Maisonneuve's house, now the manor of the Seigneurs of the Seminary, with the small collection of houses around the fortified redoubts at Ste. Marie and St. Gabriel, had housed the slender population, fearful of attack. The advent of the troops enabled them to think of opening up higher land, and of forming a future "Upper Town," on which some had already taken concessions. There it was intended to build a parish church; for at present the chapel of the HÔtel-Dieu served the purpose.

Accordingly, following the procÈs verbal, of March 12, 1672, we find Dollier de Casson, representing the Seigneurs, accompanied among others by BÉnigne Basset, at once town clerk and town surveyor, tracing the first streets, [109] starting from the site of the land reserved for the projected parish church of Notre-Dame, and making out the limits of the concessions granted. Notre-Dame Street was first marked out, starting from a well opened by a former syndic, Gabriel le Sel dit Duclos, and extending eastward to the mill redoubt on the elevated portion of ground called afterwards "Citadel hill." [110] Notre-Dame Street, then the greatest street of the city, was thirty feet broad. BÉnigne Basset placed a post at intervals on either side of this road, affixing the leaden stamp of the seminary to each. St. Joseph Street, now known as St. Sulpice, having been already named and used as a trail and in some sort a street, had a breadth of eighteen feet assigned it, and the property lines marked out. A similar breadth was given to St. Peter Street, in honour of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, the patron saint of M. Pierre Chevrier, Baron de Fanchamp, one of the first founders of the Company of Montreal.

St. Peter Street ran down to the common and the street skirting this common was named St. Paul Street, after the patron saint of Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve. This was now formally traced, because the line of houses already built on the north side of this common had been constructed along it.

A fourth street was named St. James, the patron saint of M. Jacques Olier. This was north beyond Notre-Dame, beginning with Calvary Street and terminating with St. Charles Street, of which we shall speak later. A fifth street, eighteen feet broad, was that of St. Francis Xavier, parallel to St. Peter. It was called by Dollier de Casson St. Francis, after his own name, Francis, in honour of St. Francis d'Assissi. Later on, Xavier was added in deference to St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies. Calvary Street, at the extremity of St. James Street, was given a breadth of twenty-four feet; it went north towards the mountain. Another street of twenty-four feet, going in the same direction from Notre-Dame Street, was called St. Lambert, in honour of the brave Lambert Closse. These streets were broader than the rest, for they were meant for carriage service. [111]

A ninth street, eighteen feet broad, parallel to that of St. Joseph, and abutting on St. James Street, de Casson called St. Gabriel, after the patron saint of Gabriel de Queylus and Gabriel Souart.

Finally the tenth street, parallel to the latter and also abutting St. James Street, was named St. Charles, after Charles Le Moyne, Sieur de Longueuil. The city plan being made, it was necessary to carry it out. Some of the streets afterwards formally laid out, had already been marked out by pathways that had grown up. Thus, that running from the fort to the HÔtel-Dieu, became St. Paul Street; that to St. Jean-Baptiste Street, opened in 1684, was started as early as 1655. St. Dizier Street, opened in 1691, was traced as a path in 1664. Another pathway was traced from the fort to Bon Secours Chapel in 1657. The original Place d'Armes, opposite the fort, was opened in 1650. [112]

Those who had taken land adjoining these streets were, by their contract, obliged to build houses, this same year. But some of the proprietors of lands crossed by these traced roads seemed to have neglected the landmarks placed by Dollier de Casson and went on cultivating and sowing as before. This was resented by those anxious to build, as it blocked the way to the hauling of their building materials. Accordingly in March and June of 1673 there are records of an assembly of inhabitants, including Mademoiselle Jeanne Mance and M. d'Ailleboust, addressing a request to M. Dollier de Casson that as he had himself mapped out the boundaries of the streets, apportioning to each its line, length, breadth, angles, and its name for the building and decoration of the town, he should take means to prevent individuals tilling and sowing any of these streets. To this just demand, Dollier acceded, and he forbade any further cultivation of the roadways, leaving each one free to enclose his lot with stakes or quick-thorn hedges. The offending parties submitted, especially so as they saw that the roads crossing their properties increased their value—an elementary principle of city planning. [113]

By 1675, some had neglected to enclose their ground, and in consequence of the complaint of those that had done so, the seigneurs put up a notice, dated January 12, 1675, warning the tardy ones that if they did not bring the necessary building materials immediately after the following spring seeding, "to rear their buildings, destined for the ornamentation and decoration of their town and to facilitate trade both with the inhabitants and the strangers, the seigneurs would reclaim these concessions, redistribute them, on demand, to others presenting themselves."

One of the delays leading to the erection of houses on the streets, of the upper town section, traced in 1671 was the interruption of the building of the new parish church determined on, on the occasion of a pastoral visit of Mgr. Laval, when at an assembly of the inhabitants, held on May 12, 1669, it was settled that operations should begin on June 8th under the direction of BÉnigne Basset at a monthly honorarium of thirty livres. But though stones were brought to commence the work at once, two years elapsed before the site could be agreed upon. That which had been chosen, once the property of Jean Saint-PÈre, was considered as being too low down. Two years later, the naming of Notre-Dame Street indicated the resolution arrived at by the seminary to build the church of Notre-Dame higher up, at the head of St. Joseph Street and facing Notre-Dame Street. At a meeting held on June 6, 1672, the proposition to build on such land bought by the seminary from Nicholas GodÉ and the wife of Jacques Le Moyne, was accepted.

Besides, a promise of the grant of the land, the sum of a 1,000 livres tournois for three years was offered in the name of M. de Bretonvilliers, the superior of the Sulpicians in Paris. On June 19th, at a new assembly, it was agreed upon to engage FranÇois Bailli, a master mason, to take charge of the construction and to receive one Écu for every day's work and thirty livres a month while the operations lasted. If there had hitherto been delay, the next steps were very swift.

Next day, on June 20th, the land transfer was made, the contour of the new church traced, and on June 21st the foundations were laid. On June 29th, the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, after vespers, a procession formed from the HÔtel-Dieu Chapel at the foot of St. Joseph Street, to the head of the street, and Dollier de Casson, as superior of the seminary, planted the cross, with a great gathering of people witnessing the ceremony.

Next day, June 30th, after high mass the same gathering repaired thither again in procession. The first five stones were placed, each bearing the following inscription on a leaden plate:

"D. O. M.
et
Beatae Mariae Virginis sub titulo Purificationis." [114]

These five stones were each accompanied by the arms of the persons placing them. The first was placed in the middle of the rondpoint by the governor general of Canada, Daniel RÉmy, Seigneur de Courcelles, being one of his last public acts before being succeeded by Comte Frontenac in the September following. The second bore the arms of Jean Talon, intendant, inscribed in advance, for being unable to be present he was represented in the ceremony by Phillipe de Carion, lieutenant of M. de La Motte—Saint Paul's regiment. The third was placed by the governor of Montreal, Chevalier FranÇois Marie Perrot, Seigneur of St. GeneviÈve. [115]

The fourth was placed by Dollier de Casson in the name of M. Bretonvilliers, superior general of the congregation of St. Sulpice in Paris. The last was fittingly placed by Jeanne Mance, the administratrix of the HÔtel-Dieu, who had seen Montreal grow from its earliest infancy and had been so long the mother of the colony. [116]

There was great desire to have the church soon completed. Divers persons imposed voluntary assessments on themselves, some in money, others in materials and labour.

The priests of the seminary resolved to demolish the ancient fort, now being allowed to fall into ruins, so as to employ the wood of the buildings and the stone bastions of the enclosure, in the church construction. Indeed in their eagerness they started the demolition before waiting to receive M. de Bretonvilliers' consent from France. Eventually he disapproved, fearing that it was premature, for if the Iroquois renewed their attacks they would repent their action. The officers of the king also forbade them to proceed further, and thus the final demolition of the battered old fort of de Maisonneuve and his harassed and beleaguered veterans, did not take place till ten years later, in 1682 or 1683.

In 1676 a meeting was held, on January 26th, to raise funds for the completion of the church, and it was determined to hold a canvass in the island, which resulted in a collection of 2,070 livres; and finally, although M. Souart had engaged himself to furnish the necessary wood, all this assistance was insufficient, and the church building, dragging on for two years, was not finished till 1678. The church was in the form of a Latin cross, with "bas cÔtÉs," terminated by a circular apse; its front entrance at the south end, built of cut stone, was composed of two orders, Indian and Doric, the last being surmounted by a triangular pediment. The beautiful entrance, erected after the plans of the king's engineer, Chaussegros de LÉry, in 1722, was flanked on the right by a square tower with a square belfry tower, surmounted by a fleur-de-lys cross twenty-four feet high. The church was built directly in the middle of Notre-Dame Street and projected into Place d'Armes Square, measuring 140 feet long, 96 broad, while the tower was 144 feet high. This first church of Notre-Dame was of rough stone pointed with mortar. [117]

The erection of the parish church now being on its way permitted funds for the long deferred church of Bon Secours, also to be gathered. The miraculous statute brought from France was meanwhile housed in the little wooden chapel raised in 1657 by Marguerite Bourgeoys before leaving for France and there it remained till the new stone building was commenced. It was not, however, till June 29th, the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, in the year 1675, that M. Souart placed the first stone in the name of M. de Fanchamp, bearing a medal of the Blessed Virgin and a leaden tablet bearing the inscription:

D. O. M.
Beatae Mariae Virginis
et sub titulo Assumptionis [118]

The bell was cast from the metal of a broken cannon used against the Iroquois and given some time previously by M. de Maisonneuve. It weighed a little less than 100 livres and the casting was paid for by M. Souart. [119]

The site chosen was still thought to be far from the town, but near enough for easy pilgrimages. In order to secure its perpetuity the sisters requested the bishop to make it an inseparable annex to the parish church, to be served by the parish clergy. To this the bishop of Quebec [120] acceded in the mandement of November 6, 1678. In addition he imposed upon the curÉ the duty of having mass celebrated there each Feast of the Visitation, the principal feast of the new order, and of going thither in procession every Assumption Day. These conditions still obtain. A Sulpician of Notre Dame Church today is known as the Chaplain of Notre Dame de Bon Secours, the first being M. FrÉmont.

As the chapel was at some distance from the chief buildings, its garret was used for the storage of powder for the safety of Ville Marie, there being no other magazine. M. de Denonville, governor general, writing on November 13, 1685, to the minister said: "At Montreal I have found the powder in the top of a chapel towards which the people have great devotion. The bishop has strongly urged me to take it away, but this I have not been able to do since I have found no other place where to put it without danger of fire." The church was burned down in 1754. [121]

To give the reader a comprehensive view of the outlook for Montreal at this period (1674-76) we may quote from Parkman's "Old RÉgime," where he imagines a journey up the river to inspect the lines of communication by the formation of settlements and villages resting under the newly established feudal system:

"As you approached Montreal, the fortified mill built by the Sulpicians at Pointe aux Trembles towered above the woods; and soon after the newly built chapel of the Infant Jesus more settlements followed, till at length the great fortified mill of Montreal rose in sight, then the long row of compact wooden houses, the HÔtel-Dieu and the rough masonry of the Seminary of St. Sulpice. Beyond the town the clearings continued at intervals till you reached Lake St. Louis, where young Cavelier de La Salle had laid out his seigniory of Lachine and abandoned it to begin his hard career of western exploration. Above the Island of Montreal the wilderness was broken only by a solitary trading station on the neighbouring Ile PÉrot."—Parkman, "Old RÉgime," p. 241.