1636-40.] VISIONS.— PRODIGIES. 191 



at this time spread broadcast throughout France ; 

 and, in the circles of haute devotion^ Canada and 

 its missions were everywhere the themes of enthu- 

 siastic discussion ; while Champlain, in his pub- 

 lished works, had long before pointed out Montreal 

 as the proper site for a settlement. But we are 

 entering a region of miracle, and it is superfluous 

 to look far for explanations. The illusion, in these 

 cases, is a part of the history. 



Dauversiere pondered the revelation he had re- 

 ceived ; and the more he pondered, the more was 

 he convinced that it came from God. He there- 

 fore set out for Paris, to find some means of ac 

 complishing the task assigned him. Here, as he 

 prayed before an image of the Virgin in the church 

 of Notre-Dame, he fell into an ecstasy, and beheld 

 a vision. " I should be false to the integrity of 

 history," writes his biographer, " if I did not relate 

 it here." And he adds, that the reality of this 

 celestial favor is past doubting, inasmuch as Dau- 

 versiere himself told it to his daughters. Christ, 

 the Virgin, and St. Joseph appeared before him. 

 He saw them distinctly. Then he heard Christ 

 ask three times of his Virgin Mother, Where can 

 I find a faithful servant? On which, the Virgin, 

 taking him (Dauversiere) by the hand, replied, See^ 

 Lord^ here is that faithful servant ! — and Christy 

 wnth a benignant smile, received him into his ser- 

 vice, promising to bestow on him wisdom and 

 strength to do his work.^ From Paris he went to 



1 Faillon, Vie de iif « Mance, Introduction, xxviii. The Abbe Fer- 

 land, in his Histoire du Canada, passes over the miracles in silence. 



