Page 151 - Transcriptions d'actes notariés - Tome 20 - 1682-1686

que les rectiminations violentes, les représailles inj ustes, que notre
action pourrait soulever chez nos frères separEs sont dangereuses pour
nohe société et doivent être é~it&es.''(~+)
Ho~verer. Tarte could not disregard the damage which the uiiconcil-
iatory ultramontane position caufied. Hc saw that tlie people of the
proviiice liad slowly become aware of a conllict and a divisioii lierweeu
I he liisliops. Neivspapers qiio ted conflietiiig argnments, politician3
questioned the orthodoxy of episcopal and elerical pronouncements and
eourts of justice appraised the moral impact of sermons. By 1U.3 al1
religious and political nia tiers tiad hecome inextricably involved. The
establishment of a universiiy iii >Iontreal, ttie division of a dioeese, the
sale oi a railway, tlie dis~iiisial ui a Lieutenant-Governor tirougtit iiii a
political and religious ivsr. Clerir:al intervention in polit ics had beeome
a fiource of bitter conflict ss parishioncrs waIked riut of c~i~tches,c'~'
pricsts wcre lieaten(40~ and hi~holis criticized on hu~tings and in news-
papers. Jieanwliile politiral intervention in ecclesiastical affaira
endangered the security and autononiy of the Churcti, accentuating and
publicizing the division among the Frcncli Canadian episcopacy.
Tartc saw his provinet. divided tiy interna1 connicts "qui ruineut
ses forces vives7? aiid made siahle povernnient almoat inipo*sible.c4"
The divisions between hisholis, priests, incii t ut ions and politieal leaders
suddenly appeared to him as a source of scendsl, a waste of strength
and energy. He was read~. therefore, to put an end to al1 tliese qiiarrels
and when, in Febriiar~ 13U3. the Ionx awaitcd end appsrently dcbniiive
papal pronouncement on the qnwtion of the nniversiiy was promul~ated
he was prepared to accept jt.143 Unfortunately for tlie peace of the
province he was one of tlie few who did, as tlie majority of the Ultra-
montane presg and politicjans dcnounced it on the grounds that Rome
had been misinfornied. Tarte iii Le Canadien confronted them with
the fallacy of their positioii.
He liad alwavc insistd that the first dutv of an Ultramontane was
obedieiwe to the ;iders OF Rome. Timc and' time again he had acted,
as he said, as if "nion étoile polaire, c'est Rome: ma boussole, e'est le
Saint Siège."'4" On March 20, 1CE3 lie delivered to the UItramontanes
wha La Pairie eallcd "nn eoup d'assommoir." Witli great preeision he
revealed: "Ronia locnta est." The coriclnsion was inevitable: "causa
fitiita at." The task of al1 was noiv to obey: "notre devoir est tout tracé;

(3s) ILid. ChapIriu io hlPr Lanéche, A ri1 26, 1881.
(39 1 Puhlic Arc hivrs or Ontario, Mscfrnzie Papcrs, Cauchon io Mackenzie,
Jsnuary l?, 1876.
For eiramplc: cleciion of Bonaventure in Januq 1877.
(4'1 Le Cmtilen, January 4, Ii3ô3.
(421 By this pronouncement it wai ordered to ceage aU attacb agaimt Laval
L1nivetsilY. codrmed Lai-ai's right to establish foundatioas outside of
Qnebec Ciiy and aoked for the cooperation of aiL Indirectly. it solved the
qnestion of influence indue, since the Univeeily waa being at~ackd because
O( il. Hdwever tliere were furtber appeals to the Holy Sec and the question
aa* noi FinaIlv resolved till 1#9. (See Rumilly, Loflèche, p. 189).
'43' Le Cunudicn, Marc11 9, 1883.