330 AN INTERLUDE. [1694. 



at the prie-dieu, with the position of which he had 

 already found fault as being too honorable for a 

 subordinate governor. He now rose, approached 

 the object of his disapproval, and said, " Monsieur, 

 you are taking a place which belongs only to Mon- 

 sieur de Frontenac." Callieres replied that the 

 place was that which properly belonged to him. 

 The bishop rejoined that, if he did not leave it, he 

 himself would leave the church. " You can do as 

 you please," said Callieres ; and the prelate with- 

 drew abruptly through the sacristy, refusing any 

 farther part in the ceremony. 1 When the services 

 were over, he ordered the friars to remove the 

 obnoxious prie-dieu. They obeyed ; but an officer 

 of Callieres replaced it, and, unwilling to offend 

 him, they allowed it to remain. On this, the 

 bishop laid their church under an interdict; that 

 is, he closed it against the celebration of all the 

 rites of religion. 2 He then issued a pastoral man- 

 date, in which he charged Father Joseph Denys, 

 their superior, with offences which he " dared not 

 name for fear of making the paper blush." 3 His 

 tongue was less bashful than his pen ; and he gave 

 out publicly that the father superior had acted as 

 go-between in an intrigue of his sister with the 



1 Proces-verbal du Pere Hyacinthe Perrault, Commissaire Provincial des 

 Re'collets {Archives Nationales) ; Me'moire touckant le Demesle entre M. 

 VEvesque de Quebec et le Chevalier de Callieres (Ibid.). 



2 Mandement ordonnant de fermer VEglise des Rccollets, 13 Mai, 1694. 



3 "Le Superieur du dit Couvent estant lie avec le Gouverneur de la 

 dite ville par des interests que tout le monde scait et qu'on n'oseroit ex- 

 primer de peur de faire rougir le papier." Extrait du Mandement de 

 VEvesque de Quebec (Archives Nationales). He had before charged 

 Mareuil with language " capable de faire rougir le ciel." 



