1535, his whole crew, with their officers at their head, confessed and
received communion from the hands of the Bishop of St. Malo. This
jurisdiction lasted until the appointment of the first Bishop of New
France. The creation of a diocese came in due time; the need of an
ecclesiastical superior, of a character capable of imposing his
authority made itself felt more and more. Disorders of all kinds crept
into the colony, and our fathers felt the necessity of a firm and
vigorous arm to remedy this alarming state of affairs. The love of
lucre, of gain easily acquired by the sale of spirituous liquors to the
savages, brought with it evils against which the missionaries
endeavoured to react.

François de Laval-Montmorency, who was called in his youth the Abbé de
Montigny, was, on the recommendation of the Jesuits, appointed apostolic
vicar by Pope Alexander VII, who conferred upon him the title of Bishop
of Petræa _in partibus_. The Church in Canada was then directly
connected with the Holy See, and the sovereign pontiff abandoned to the
king of France the right of appointment and presentation of bishops
having the authority of apostolic vicars.

The difficulties which arose between Mgr. de Laval and the Abbé de
Queylus, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, were regrettable, but, thanks
to the truly apostolic zeal and the purity of intention of these two men
of God, these difficulties were not long in giving place to a noble
rivalry for good, fostered by a perfect harmony. The Abbé de Queylus had
come to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the company of St.
Sulpice, and to establish there a seminary on the model of that in
Paris. This creation, with that of the hospital established by Mlle.
Mance, gave a great impetus to the young city of Montreal. Moreover,
religion was so truly the motive of the foundation of the colony by M.