prices were exceedingly high. Such a state of things was
detrimental to the colony. The council begged that, if
Colbert were not disposed to grant freedom of trade, he
would favourably consider the scheme for a trading company
composed of Canadians, which had been submitted to him
the year before. We shall see, later on, what came of
this agitation against the West India Company.

The good understanding between the intendant and the
Sovereign Council was absolute. The council had shown
unequivocal confidence in Talon's ability and respect
for his person and authority. A few days before the
Marquis de Tracy had left the colony the council had
ordered that all petitions to enter lawsuits should be
presented to the intendant, who should assign them to
the council or to the lieutenant civil and criminal, or
try them himself, at his discretion. This was treating
Talon as the supreme magistrate and acknowledging him as
the dispenser of justice. M. de Courcelle, who was
beginning to feel some uneasiness at Talon's great
authority and prestige, refused to sign the proceedings
of that day, inscribing these lines in the council's
register: 'This decree being against the governor's
authority and the public good, I did not wish to sign
it.' At the beginning of the following year Talon, whose
attention perhaps had not been called to Courcelle's
written protest, requested the adoption of a similar
decree; and the council did not hesitate to confirm its
previous decision, notwithstanding the governor's former
opposition, which he reiterated in the same terms.