My son is already an orator. Just listen to him! He insists on being heard. He’s already showing character. A real Duplessis.”
Berthe swaddles her infant.
She thinks of her neighbours who have just lost a newborn. The health of an infant is so fragile. The remedies against contagious diseases are not very effective. The christening must take place soon as possible. If something should happen to the little boy, at least he will not end up in Limbo.
The city of Trois-Rivières is Bishop Laflèche’s kingdom, especially when he preaches fire and brimstone from the pulpit: the sky is bleu1, hell is rouge2. Formerly a missionary in the Canadian West, the prelate with the flashy reputation has returned to Quebec to preach ultramontanism, a movement that advocates the supremacy of Church over State. His most fervent political mouthpiece is Nérée Duplessis who, in the spirit of reciprocity, benefits from Bishop Laflèche’s influence over his parishioners. He is reelected virtually without opposition in his home riding.
The two make quite the pair.
So it is only natural that Bishop Laflèche should bless the son of the honourable member for Saint-Maurice. When his godmother holds the wriggling newborn above the baptismal font, the prelate, lost in prayer, administers the sacrament: Vade retro, Satana. Then, with a solemn gesture, he makes the sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead. “I baptize thee, Joseph Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
Nérée and Berthe feel at peace. Their child is now a son of the Catholic religion.
Nothing can cloud their happiness.
In Trois-Rivières, the Duplessis family enjoys the prestige of being comfortably off. Son of the Conservative member, Maurice lacks for nothing. In winter, he cavorts on the skating rink. He plays hockey sporting a brand-new sweater and skates. In summer, he runs to the baseball field in knickerbockers, with the proper leather glove on his hand. On Sundays, the whole family occupies the front pew in their parish church.
The years pass in peaceful serenity, but a dark shadow hovers in the background. There are days when Nérée is haunted by the unthinkable. Could he one day lose the election? With Honoré Mercier in power, the member for Saint-Maurice pulls out all the stops against the despised enemy. He attacks ferociously, like Caton the Ancient against Carthage:
“They’re all rotten, the Rouges! And this Mercier, what a scoundrel! He has so much money that he built himself a mansion out in the country while our poor farmers are starving.”
The departure of the head of the Liberal Party gives new impetus to the Duplessis family for whom politics is the mainstay of their existence. Maurice, constantly overhearing his father’s propaganda, picks up his words: “They’re all rotten, those Rouges!” This makes his parents laugh. Eventually, might he not also represent the riding? A future premier, perhaps?
In 1897, Nérée fights yet another electoral campaign like a soldier in the line of fire. Maurice loves accompanying him. Sometimes, he even improvises short harangues in support of his father. One day, he slips into the crowd gathered around the podium not far from the church and the small restaurant where they sell penny candy.
“Go and pass around these pamphlets to those who seem less interested, and also to the women. They don’t vote but they can influence their husbands,” Nérée tells his son before climbing up onto the podium. He is determined to point out the broad lines of his platform while reviling liberalism, branding it a social plague.
But his adversaries are tough. Some of them have even stormed the square. Maurice can’t believe it. They are heckling his father and shouting hostile slogans: “You’re a traitor, Nérée. The Bleus are scoundrels, rogues!”
What is the meaning of these words? Since John A. Macdonald agreed to the hanging of Louis Riel, the Conservative Party bears the blame for this emblematic death. Luckily for the Duplessis family, the Saint-Maurice riding is Conservative through and through. In May 1897, Nérée is re-elected member of the Quebec legislature but this time he has to sit in the Opposition. Liberal Felix-Gabriel Marchand has won fifty-one seats against twenty-three Conservatives.
Maurice is the only boy in a family of five children. Mischievous, spoiled by his sisters Etiennette, Marguerite, Gabrielle, and Jeanne, he knows they will always forgive him his pranks. One day at mealtime, his father, losing patience, orders him abruptly:
“Maurice, stop being so silly at the table!”
Instead of stopping, the young boy gets up and answers back:
“There! Now I can go on… I’m no longer at the table.”
Maurice is very amusing. He knows how to win people. His mother makes a fuss over him. His sisters lavish affection on him. Nérée says of his eight-year-old son that he is a troublemaker, like his ancestors. “He’ll go far. He’s not afraid of discipline.” When it’s time to think about his education, his parents choose one of the best schools for this lively and resourceful boy. It is autumn of 1898. Maurice Duplessis is enrolled as a student at College Notre-Dame, Montreal.
Montreal seems to be at the other end of the world. The first few weeks are very difficult for the young boarder – the long corridors, the dark dormitory, the classrooms with their blackboards. From the window of the refectory, the boy tries to glimpse the blue of the sky poking through the trees. The school, run by the Brothers of the Holy Cross congregation, is located in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, a rather remote spot but recently accessible by tramway. The landscape, with Mount Royal right across from the college, reminds him of the Mauricie region.
Maurice Duplessis is an obedient pupil who works hard to obtain good marks. His notebooks are filled with expressions of praise, stamps, and stars; his report cards are satisfactory. He looks like a model pupil dressed in a blue blazer with brass buttons, short pants, and a white shirt with a hard collar. In June, when the prizes are handed out, he doesn’t mind if he is not first in all subjects. What is important is his parents’ presence in the hall. And knowing that he will spend the summer in Trois-Rivières. At last, he will be able to play baseball with Paul, Robert, and Jean, his little neighbours from Hart Street whom he hasn’t seen for ten months.
At Collége Notre-Dame, there is someone who performs miracles!
Maurice comes home full of stories about his life in Montreal. His mother listens to him. He tells her that one day, as he was walking down the corridor, he noticed a strange little man with a threadbare cassock.
“Everyone calls him the ‘greasy brother’ because he helps cure wounds with oil. But I call him by his real name: Brother André. And he’s a friend.”
Brother André is very devout, humble. He reminds Maurice of people he knows in Trois-Rivières. He has the same humility and generosity of spirit. Brother André is the college doorman. Often he is tired after his long day. To help him, Maurice offers to fetch the pupils and bring them to the common room. From then on, they become close. The child admires the Brother who speaks of St. Joseph like a friend.
“You know, Mother, Brother André says that one day he will have an oratory built on Mount Royal in honour of his patron saint, Joseph. Many people laugh at him but I don’t. I’m sure he’ll succeed.”
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