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2 6 n: B. Munro expected nor regarded as desirable.' This system of using one offi- cial as a clieck or spy upon his colleagues is abundantly characteristic of the general spirit of the period of French dominion in Canada. During the earlier part of the period it was the custom of the intendant to send home by the returning ships, in the autumn of each year, reports on the general condition of aiYairs in New France. These papers dealt with almost every phase of colonial life and were frequently of formidable length. Single despatches not infrequently covered thirty or forty closely-written folio pages, and it sometimes happened that an intendant would send three or four reports by the same vessel. These numerous " Memoires sur I'fitat present du Canada ", as they were called, form an invaluable source of data for the study of French colonization in North America. The minister or his subordinates went carefully through them, and, in case of the more lengthy ones, made abstracts for the personal perusal of the king. His Majesty then made marginal comments, which formed the basis of despatches sent by the minister to the intendant in the following spring. These marginal notes testify not only to the deep personal interest which Louis NIV. took in even the minor aflfairs of his colony beyond the seas, but also to the industry and patience of the Grand Monarch.^ As the colony grew in population and interests the policy of send- ing reports once a year was abandoned, and shorter communications on special topics were sent by the intendant whenever opportunity afiforded. About once a year, or perhaps less frequently, he supple- mented these special despatches by a comprehensive " Memoire " on colonial afifairs in general ; and very frequently he united with the governor in a joint report. After the death of Louis XIV. the com- munications of the colonial officials appear not to have received the same careful attention as formerly ; but the successive intendants con- tinued their despatches of pitiless length, filling them with details of colonial progress amidst difficulties which they in no wise minimized, with suggestions, criticisms, requests, and, not infrequently, with rather curious laudations of their own personal services. Often in- teresting, but more often thoroughly tiresome, these despatches con- 1 Cf. "Instructions au Sieur Talon", March 27, 1665. A copy of this docu- ment may be found in the Parkman Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society. 2 When the French left Canada in 1759 they took with them the confidential archives. These were deposited in the Ministere de la Marine. At the present time this enormous mass of manuscript documents, comprising substantially all the instructions, despatches, abstracts, etc., is preserved in the Archives of the Minister of Colonies, Pavilion de Flore, in the south wing of the Louvre in Paris. A considerable portion of the whole has been transcribed by the Canadian Archives Branch at Ottawa, and constitutes the collection known as the Correspondance Generale.