— 333 — 



Tracy was a veteran of sixty-two, portly and tall, 

 " one of the largest men I ever saw," writes Mother 

 Mary ; but he was sallow with disease, for fever had 

 seized him, and it had fared ill with him on the long 

 voyage. The Chevalier de Chaumont walked at his 

 side, and young nobles surrounded him, gorgeous in 

 lace and ribbons, and majestic in leonine wigs. Twenty- 

 four guards in the King's livery led the way, followed 

 by four pages and six valets (1) and thus, while the 

 Frenchmen shouted and the Indians stared, the august 

 procession threaded the streets of the Lower Town, and 

 climbed the steep pathway that scaled the cliffs above. 

 Breathing hard, they reached the top, passed on the 

 left the dilapidated walls of the fort and the shed of 

 mingled wood and masonry which then bore the name 

 of the Castle of St. Louis ; passed on the right the old 

 house of Couillard and the site of Laval's new seminary, 

 and soon reached the square betwixt the Jesuits col- 

 lege and the Cathedral. 



The bells were ringing in a phrensy of welcome. 

 Laval in pontificals, surrounded by priests and Jesuits, 

 stood waiting to receive the deputy of the King, and as 

 he greeted Tracy and offered him the holy water, he 

 looked with anxious curiosity to see what manner of 

 man he was. The signs were auspicious. The deport- 

 ment of the lieutenant-general left nothing to desire. 

 A prie-Dieu had been placed for him. He declined it. 

 They offered him a cushion, but he would not have it, 

 and fevered as he was, he knelt on the bare pavement 

 with a devotion that edified every beholder. Te Deum 

 was sung and a day of rejoicing followed." (2) 



In our day, we can recall but one pageant at all 

 equal : the roar of cannon, &c, attending the advent of 

 the great Earl of Durham, but there were noticeable 



(1) " His constant attendance when he went abroad," says 

 Mere Juchereau. 



(2) The Old Regime in Canada, p. 177-9. 



