1693, 1694.] SOCIETY AT THE CHATEAU. 323 



Frontenac himself, and thought that, as the deputy 

 of Christ, it was his duty to exercise it to the ut- 

 most. The governor watched him with a jealous 

 eye, well aware that, though the pretensions of the 

 Church to supremacy over the civil power had suf- 

 fered a check, Saint- Vallier would revive them the 

 moment he thought he could do so with success. 

 I have shown elsewhere the severity of the ecclesi- 

 astical rule at Quebec, where the zealous pastors 

 watched their flock with unrelenting!: vigilance, and 

 associations of pious women helped them in the 

 work. ] This naturally produced revolt, and tended 

 to divide the town into two parties, the worldly 

 and the devout. The love of pleasure was not 

 extinguished, and various influences helped to keep 

 it alive. Perhaps none of these was so potent as 

 the presence in winter of a considerable number of 

 officers from France, whose piety was often less 

 conspicuous than their love of enjoyment. At the 

 Chateau St. Louis a circle of young men, more or 

 less brilliant and accomplished, surrounded the 

 governor, and formed a centre of social attraction. 

 Frontenac was not without religion, and he held it 

 becoming a man of his station not to fail in its 

 observances ; but he would not have a Jesuit con- 

 fessor, and placed his conscience in the keeping 

 of the Eecollet friars, who were not politically 

 aggressive, and who had been sent to Canada ex- 

 pressly as a foil to the rival order. They found 

 no favor in the eyes of the bishop and his adherents, 

 and the governor found none for the support he 

 lent them. 



1 Old Regime, chap. xix. 



