Mgr. de Laval received from the king in 1671 the following letter:

"My Lord Bishop of Petræa:

"Having considered that the re-establishment of the monks of the
Order of St. Francis on the lands which they formerly possessed in
Canada might be of great avail for the spiritual consolation of my
subjects and for the relief of your ecclesiastics in the said
country, I send you this letter to tell you that my intention is
that you should give to the Rev. Father Allard, the superior, and
to the four monks whom he brings with him, the power of
administering the sacraments to all those who may have need of them
and who may have recourse to these reverend Fathers, and that,
moreover, you should aid them with your authority in order that
they may resume possession of all which belongs to them in the said
country, to all of which I am persuaded you will willingly
subscribe, by reason of the knowledge which you have of the relief
which my subjects will receive...."

The prelate had not been consulted; moreover, the intervention of the
newcomers did not seem to him opportune. But he was obstinate and
unapproachable only when he believed his conscience involved; he
received the Récollets with great benevolence and rendered them all the
service possible. "He gave them abundant aid," says Latour, "and
furnished them for more than a year with food and lodging. Although the
Order had come in spite of him, he gave them at the outset four
missions: Three Rivers, Ile Percé, St. John's River and Fort Frontenac.
These good Fathers were surprised; they did not cease to praise the
charity of the bishop, and confessed frankly that, having only come to