A picture of Montreal of this year is preserved for us in the state papers under date of March 4, 1659, by the new governor-general, the young Vicomte d'Argenson, who had arrived less than a year ago in Canada and who now came in the spring of 1659 to visit Montreal.
[Illustration: PIERRE DE VOYER D'ARGENSON]
He was a man of upright conduct, virtuous life and full of devotion for the development of the colony. He came with great ideas of his prerogatives as governor-general in relation to the subordinate position of a local governor such as obtained in other provinces of the kingdom of France. But he had to be made aware of the special privileges granted to Maisonneuve as the representative of the Company of Montreal.
Arriving at Montreal, he expected honours paid to him such as a governor-general would receive in France, when on entering a fortress he would have the keys given to him with other like signs of submission.
The governor of Montreal received him with politeness, but without absolutely refusing the keys, put difficulties in the way lest he should seem to acknowledge his inferior position to the representative of the Company of One Hundred Associates. The case required diplomacy and adroitness, and Maisonneuve acted tactfully. As for receiving the "mot d'ordre" he only accepted this on the third day and then he sent his major for it.
D'Argenson realized the situation which the independent Maisonneuve had created, and doubtless it is in consequence of these painful impressions that he penned the following pessimistic description of the settlement.
After complaining of his reception he adds: "I must talk with you about Montreal, a place which makes a deal of noise and is of little consequence. I speak from knowledge; I have been there this spring, and I can assure you that if I were a painter I should soon finish my picture of it.
"Montreal is an island, difficult enough to land at, even in a chaloupe, by reason of the great currents of the St. Lawrence river. These meet each other at its landing place, and particularly at a half league below. There is a fort where the chaloupes lay by, and which is falling into ruins. A redoubt has been commenced and a mill has been erected on a little eminence very advantageously situated for the defence of the settlement. There are about forty houses, nearly all facing one another, and in this they are well placed, since they in part defend one another. There are fifty heads of families and one hundred and sixty men in all. Finally, there are only two hundred arpents of land tilled, belonging to the Gentlemen of the Company, of which a half is appropriated to the hospital, so that no more than a hundred remains to them; and the enjoyment of these is not entirely theirs, these arpents having been cultivated by private individuals, to whom have been given the fruits of their labour until these Gentlemen of the Company of Montreal shall have furnished the equivalent of their work on the concessions belonging to the habitants."