Before we narrate the outcome of the visit to France of Jeanne Mance and Marguerite Bourgeoys, who returned on September 7th to Quebec, and also the events leading up to the coming of Laval on June 16th, we shall still keep the setting of Montreal as the background of our story.
So far we have considered Maisonneuve as a military governor. He was also a judge. This was a special privilege superadded to his commission as a "gouverneur particulier," which office, _per se_, did not include the administration of justice. Several of his judgments being extant, a study of them reveals a picture of the social life of Montreal hitherto unconsidered.
The journal of the Jesuits relates that towards September, 1648, a drummer had been condemned to death at Montreal for a detestable crime not specified, but as the clergy were secretly opposed to the execution of the sentence, it was arranged that he should be sent to Quebec to use his right of appeal. There the sentence was commuted to service in the galleys or, in exchange for his liberty, he should exercise the duty of public executioner, which latter condition was accepted. Heretofore there is no record of any condemnation to death.
Sometimes the cases coming before Maisonneuve were of a purely domestic nature. On July 3, 1658, two women having quarrelled, each laid a complaint against the other of bad language. The wrong appearing to be on both sides, Maisonneuve gave each twenty-four hours, for their anger to evaporate, and to declare before Basset, the greffier, and two witnesses, that they had spoken in pure anger. If either of them refused she should pay fifty _livres_ to the parish church and besides be forcibly constrained to acknowledge her fault. Both wisely took the cheaper course, as the acts of Basset prove.[80]
De Maisonneuve's skill had been shown in a judgment of July 13, 1656. A brave soldier, Saint Jacques, one Sunday morning when coming out of church after mass, had been attacked with a stick at the hands of an irate woman. He gallantly did not retaliate but contented himself with taking the case before the governor. The good lady was present, confident in the justice of her cause, for she accused the soldier of having got his deserts by her trouncing for having uttered a calumny against her honour. On cross-examination it appears that she heard the calumny, through another soldier, who related it to her as coming from the lips of Saint Jacques. This witness being called, he now owned that he had told the calumny to the woman but he had invented the story himself out of frivolousness, and that Saint Jacques was guiltless. This malicious meddler was ordered by Maisonneuve to pay a fine of twenty _livres_ to the church, as his offence had been against God, and fifty to the woman for her wounded honour. She, in turn, for having struck an innocent man was condemned to pay twenty _livres_ to the church for the offence against God, and to pay back to the wounded victim of her misplaced energy, the fifty _livres_ received from the meddler.