French-Canadian Decisions. Poor Brother Ethelbert found that he had the wrong cub by the ear. "The Brothers of St. Viateur " did not escape as easily as Les Petits Freres; the Brothers had a school at Terrebonne (as well as other places). Osa Courtemanche was sent there by his father to complete his commercial course. On the 27th of April, 1 89 1, the Brothers made Osa leave his class and go and plant trees and work in their garden; in the afternoon they sent him with a lad called Ouiment, under the care of Brother Lacasse across the river, to get more trees. The skiff was loaded with shrubs, and the three embarked to return. When in midstream the boat upset; Lacasse saved Ouiment, and in fruitless endeavors to save Osa, he and his pupil were both drowned. Courtemanche senior, sued the Order for $500 damages for loss of his son. The Su perior Court dismissed the action, maintain ing the Brothers' defense that such employ ment of pupils was customary and allowable, and that the drowning had been the result of unavoidable accident without fault or neg ligence on their part. The majority, how ever, of the Court of Queen's Bench reversed this decision, holding that Brother Lacasse had shown rashness in crossing the Mille Isle River where and when he did; that al though he had sacrificed his own life in try ing to save the boys, he had been guilty of imprudence, and that as he was under con trol of the Order, the Order was responsible for his imprudence, and so the Court or dered the Brothers of St. Viateur to pay the bereaved father $500 for his loss. In 189 1 Brother Bidegarde sued Les Reve rends Peres Oblats de I'immaculce conception de Maire. The reason of his doing so was this, he had run up a board bill and a doc tor's bill, and he wanted the Oblats Fathers, to which Order he himself belonged, to pay the same and to allow him the further sum of $780 per annum. His story (as given by him in the pleadings) is interesting. Here it is : he became a lay brother of the
393
Order in 1879 and for ten years he did mis sionary work at Lake Temiscamingue (a place as near Hudson's Bay as Quebeckers can well get); through work and privations his health gave way and he was sent down to the home of the Order at Lachine. He had spinal disease and he gradually grew worse, as (according to his story) his super iors neglected him and would not let him consult his doctor; the remedies he got for himself were stolen; the Brothers made fun of his physician and chaffed him about being sick. One day Father Boisrain offered him his blessing instead of medicine, boasting of its efficiency and telling of miraculous cures affected by it. Out of deference and polite- ' ness Bidegarde consented to receive the bene diction; his opinion, however, at the time of the action was that the Reverend Father's blessing — which had as yet not received the honors of the codex and is unknown in theraputics — had no more effect upon his poor spine than a mustard plaster on a wooden leg. He grew worse, and at last Father Boisrain, disgusted with the nonsuccess of blessings, stopped them, sent the faith-lacking brother to the home at St. Saveur, Quebec. Here dyspepsia and ner vous prostration joined the spinal complaint in racking his body. The physician ordered him rest and he was allowed to go to his own family. In a few weeks, however, his Superior ordered him to return at once to the Oblats' home under pain of sin. He did so and again began to follow the rigorous rules of the Order. Worse and worse grew his health; doctors' certificates were laughed at. Bidegarde asked to be allowed to go to his family; being refused, he went, and then wrote to the Superior for a pecuniary allowance. The reply was that as he had left without permission the Order was not responsible for his expenses while out in the world, and asking him to come back. The sick man claimed that as he had taken the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience his Order was bound to
