splendor as circumstances would permit. Then Frontenac, with the ease
of a man of the world and the loftiness of a _grand seigneur_,
delivered himself of the harangue he had prepared. He wrote
exceedingly well; he is said also to have excelled as an orator;
certainly he was never averse to the tones of his own eloquence. His
speech was addressed to a double audience: the throng that filled the
church, and the king and the minister three thousand miles away. He
told his hearers that he had called the assembly, not because he
doubted their loyalty, but in order to afford them the delight of
making public protestation of devotion to a prince, the terror of
whose irresistible arms was matched only by the charms of his person
and the benignity of his rule. "The Holy Scriptures," he said,
"command us to obey our sovereign, and teach us that no pretext or
reason can dispense us from this obedience." And, in a glowing eulogy
on Louis XIV., he went on to show that obedience to him was not only a
duty, but an inestimable privilege. He dwelt with admiration on the
recent victories in Holland, and held forth the hope that a speedy and
glorious peace would leave his Majesty free to turn his thoughts to
the colony which already owed so much to his fostering care. "The true
means," pursued Frontenac, "of gaining his favor and his support, is
for us to unite with one heart in laboring for the progress of
Canada." Then he addressed, in turn, the clergy, the nobles, the
magistrates, and the citizens. He exhorted the priests to continue
with zeal their labors for the conversion of the Indians, and to make
them subjects not only of Christ, but also of the king; in short, to
tame and civilize them, a portion of their duties in which he plainly
gave them to understand that they had not hitherto acquitted
themselves to his satisfaction. Next, he appealed to the nobles,
commended their gallantry, and called upon them to be as assiduous in
the culture and improvement of the colony as they were valiant in its