Page 147 - Transcriptions d'actes notariés - Tome 20 - 1682-1686

Court it did no! exist. Since preachiug was one of the most important
funclions rlf the clergy, he declarcrl, ihe law was not eonstrued to limit
its liberty and its application. The priests of Charlevoix were fulfilling
their pries11 dutien when from the pnlpit they declared liberalism an
eviI whieh f! atholies could nat iall into. That Tremblay was aszociated
with nhat they were eondemning was no fanIt of theirs. Roulhier
aceordingly rejected the petition and declared Langevin elected. (17)
The LiberaIfi sensing that their very existence depended upon a
clarification of the issue of inJluence indue appealed to the Supreme
Court. There in February 1877, the decisirin of the Ultramontane judge
nas reversed and Justice Taschereau, the brother of the Archbishop of
Quebec, declared that the sermons of the clergy had to be considered
as "actes d'inflnence indue de la pire e+pèce." Thc Court felt that
"un système général d'intimidation a été pouesf, et l'on ne pcut eonsjdërer
que les éleeteurs ont eu le libre exereiee de leur franchisc."~lR' Tbus
Langevin was found not to have been elected.
This was a severe blow to the Ultrsmnntsnes. Yet Tarte limiied
hiç remarks to dechring that the Supreme Court, heing a Liberai creation
and staffed with Liberals, wonld obviousl y prononnce itself in f avour
of the Lilieral candidate. Not content with findjn~ political irnplieations
iu the decision, Tarte hinted that ilie Archbishop of Quebec and the
priests surrounding him niight have erercised pressure on Justiee
Taschereau. The Archbiehop pullicly censured him, whicb prornpted
Bishop Lailérhe to eall Tarte: "Le plus courageux défen~eur de la
verite."lluj However, Tarte reeanted and in a leiter to the Arehbishop
apolopizedo derlarin~ hirnself an Ultramontaue whose first dutv was to
proclaim ~iibmjssion to religious authority. I2O) His private apologies
were repeated putilicly in ail editorial in whieh he conieçsed that in Lis
defense of religious priueiples he had committed errors which he would
now mcnd "en iaisaut mieux" and placed "ail serviee de 1'Eglise ma
hcinne volonté et mon travail" should these be of any use."''
The deei3ioii of the Supreme Court necessitated a new eleciiun.
The issiies involved were the sa~e in the previous one, and though
as
there was taik of protectiou, the railway projeet and general erilieis!ii
of Liberal policies, essentially the eIection revolved around the relaiion
of religion to polities and the role of the elergy in the politieal life uf
the provit~ce.~~~~ even wired Langevin: "Traitez plus Ia questioii
Tarte
de I'iniluence indue, e'est importaiit et il n'y a pas de daiiger de se
cornpromettre."'~3~ The Archbishop of Qiiebec forbade his priests to

(17) &%n Honnenr le luge Rouihier, Jrigemenr - Contesialion dc 1'Elrciion de
I'Hon. Hwior Langwin (Quebec, 1876).
(IR) Jugenieut of tIir 5uprrmr Cour1 quoted in H. RumiLiy, Mg' LaJlick el on
Temps (hlontwal, 1938). p. 113.
Episcopal Archives Rimouski, ME' Laflèche ro hlgr Langevil;, Aptil 13,
1877. ..
(20) Lelier io Archbishup Tasrhereau publj~hd in Le Lmrodien, April 5, 187'.
(21) Le Canadien, April 6, 1877.
(22) lbid., Mmch 25, 1877,
(23) Archivcs de la Prociiiie rlr Qucbec, Chnpais colleclion, Tarte 10 Lan~evin,
hlarcli 6, 1877.