Je me souviens
Encyclopedia
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, a province of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The motto means "I remember".
Origins
In 1883, Eugène-Étienne TachéEugène-Étienne Taché
Eugène-Étienne Taché was a French Canadian surveyor, civil engineer, illustrator and architect. He devised Quebec's provincial coat-of-arms and motto Je me souviens....
, Assistant Commissioner for Crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
s in Quebec and architect of the provincial Parliament building
Parliament Building (Quebec)
The Parliament Building is an eight-floor building and home to the Parliament of Quebec in Quebec City. The building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché and was built from 1877 to 1886. With the frontal tower, the building stands at 52 metres or 171 feet in height...
had the motto carved in stone below the coat of arms of Quebec
Coat of arms of Quebec
The coat of arms of Quebec was adopted by order-in-council of the Quebec government on 9 December 1939, replacing the arms assigned by royal warrant of Queen Victoria on 26 May 1868.The shield is divided into three horizontal fields:...
which appears above the Parliament Building's main entrance door. The motto then came into official use, even though the coat of arms was not adopted until 1939.
Meaning
Taché appears not to have left an explanation of the motto's intended meaning. He did however write a letter to Siméon Lesage, showing what he intended to accomplish with the statues on the building's façade and describing what they were intended to remind people of.All around the Parliament building, are 24 statues of historical figures. They originally included founders (Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big...
, Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
and de Maisonneuve
Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve
Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve was a French military officer and the founder of Montreal.- Early career :...
), clerics (de Laval
François de Laval
This article is in part a sermon and generally comes close to hagiography.Blessed François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec and was one of the most influential men of his day. He was appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. He was a member...
, de Brébeuf
Jean de Brébeuf
Jean de Brébeuf was a Jesuit missionary, martyred in Canada on March 16, 1649.-Early years:Brébeuf was born in Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy, France. He was the uncle of the fur trader Georges de Brébeuf. He studied near home at Caen. He became a Jesuit in 1617, joining the Order...
, Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
and Olier
Jean-Jacques Olier
-Early life:At Lyon, where his father had become administrator of justice, he made a thorough classical course under the Jesuits ; he was encouraged to become a priest by St. Francis de Sales, who predicted his sanctity and great services to the Ccatholic Church. He studied philosophy at the...
), military men ( de Frontenac
Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...
, Wolfe
James Wolfe
Major General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada...
, de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War .Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service...
and de Levis
Francis de Gaston, Chevalier de Levis
François de Gaston, Chevalier de Lévis , born in Ajac, Aude, was a French noble and a Marshal of France. He served with distinction in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession, and served as a capable second in command to Louis-Joseph de Montcalm in the defense of New...
), Amerindians, French governors (D'Argenson
Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, Vicomte de Mouzay
Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, Vicomte de Mouzay was the French governor of New France from 1658 to 1661. He was a son of the diplomat René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson.-External links:*...
, de Tracy, de Callières
Louis-Hector de Callières
Louis-Hector de Callières was the thirteenth Governor of New France, born at Cherbourg, France, in 1646.He was the son of Jacques de Callières and Madeleine Potier de Courey. He ranked as captain in the regiment of Navarre. He came to Canada in 1684, and was appointed Governor of Montreal at the...
, de Montmagny
Charles de Montmagny
Charles Jacques Huault de Montmagny was governor of New France from 1636 to 1648. He succeeded Champlain, who was Lieutenant General of New France, although treated de facto as if he were governor...
, d'Aillesbout
Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge
Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge was the French governor of New France from 1648 to 1651 and acting governor from 1657 to 1658.- Biography :...
, de Vaudreuil
Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal
Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal was a Canadian-born French colonial governor in North America...
) and, in the words of Tâché, "some English governors the most sympathetic to our nationality" (Murray, Dorchester
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB , known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Irish-British soldier and administrator...
, Prevost
George Prevost
Sir George Prévost, 1st Baronet was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the eldest son of Swiss French Augustine Prévost, he joined the British Army as a youth and became a captain in 1784. Prévost served in the West Indies during the French Revolutionary...
and Bagot
Charles Bagot
Sir Charles Bagot, GCB was an English diplomat and colonial administrator who served as Governor General of the Province of Canada 1841-1843)....
) and Lord Elgin
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
Sir James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT, GCB, PC , was a British colonial administrator and diplomat...
, who was given a special place for he was seen as an important player in obtaining "responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
". Taché purposely left blank spaces to allow future generations to add their own statues.
His contemporaries, however, did not have any trouble interpreting its meaning. The first interpretations that can be cited are those of historian Thomas Chapais
Thomas Chapais
Sir Joseph Amable Thomas Chapais was a French Canadian author, editor, historian, journalist, professor, and politician....
and civil servant Ernest Gagnon
Ernest Gagnon
Ernest Gagnon was a Canadian folklorist, composer, and organist. He is best known for compiling a large amount of French Canadian folk music which he published as Chansons populaires du Canada in 1865-1867...
.
Thomas Chapais, during a speech given for the occasion of the unveiling of a bronze statue honouring de Lévis, on June 24, 1895, said: "…the province of Quebec has a motto of which she is proud and which she likes enough to carve it on her monuments and palaces. This motto has only three words: "Je me souviens"; but these three words, in their simple economy of expression, are worth more than the most eloquent speeches. Yes, we remember. We remember the past and its lessons, the past and its misfortunes, the past and its glories."
In 1896, Ernest Gagnon wrote: "[the motto] admirably sums up the raison d'être of Champlain and Maisonneuve's Canada as a distinct province in the confederation."
In 1919, seven years after Taché's death, the historian Pierre-Georges Roy underlined the symbolic character of the three-word motto: "which says so eloquently in three words, the past as well as the present and the future of the only French province of the confederation." This sentence will be cited or paraphrased several times afterwards.
Various scholars have attempted to discover the source of Taché's words. The ethnologist Conrad Laforte
Conrad Laforte
Conrad Laforte was a Québécois ethnologist and librarian. Born in Kénogami, he studied in Chicoutimi, the Université Laval, and finally the Université de Montréal. He created the Catalogue de la Chanson Folklorique Francaise which contains 80,000 entries.In 1982 he was elected to membership in the...
has suggested that they might derive from the song Un Canadien errant, or possibly Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's poem Lueur au couchant Writer André Duval
André Duval
André Duval is a French-Canadian author and historian. He is a regular contributor to Revue Sainte Anne, a Catholic magazine.-Non-fiction:* Québec romantique * La capitale * Québec-Boston...
thought the answer was simpler and closer at hand: In the hall of the Parliament building in which the motto is carved above the door, are the arms of the Marquess of Lorne whose motto was Ne obliviscaris ("Do Not Forget"). Consequently, Duval believed "the motto of Quebec to be at the same time the translation of the Marquess of Lorne's motto and the answer of a French-Canadian subject of Her Majesty to the said motto."
Research published in English before 1978 led to the same conclusions regarding the motto's origin, the number of words it has and its interpretation. A 1934 biographical notice about Taché reads:
"M. Taché is also the author of the beautiful poetic and patriotic motto which accompanies the official coat of arms of the Province of Quebec — “Je me souviens” — the full significance of which cannot perhaps be readily expressed in English words but which may be paraphrased as conveying the meaning “We do not forget, and will never forget, our ancient lineage, traditions and memories of all the past”."
Encyclopedias and quotation dictionaries, including those of Wallace, Hamilton, Colombo or Hamilton and Shields, all provide the same information as the French-language sources.
In 1955, the historian Mason Wade added his opinion by writing: "When the French Canadian says “Je me souviens”, he not only remembers the days of New France but also the fact that he belongs to a conquered people."
Controversy and "The second motto"
La belle province
La belle province may refer to:*"La belle province" , a nickname for Quebec*La Belle Province , a fast-food chain based in Quebec...
on Quebec's licence plates
Vehicle registration plate
A vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...
. According to the historian Gaston Deschênes, this event marks the start of a new period of attempts to reinterpret the meaning of the motto in the mainstream media of Canada.
On February 4, 1978, Robert Goyette signed an article entitled "Car owners argue over motto" in The Montreal Star. This article attracted the attention of a reader, Hélène Pâquet, a granddaughter of Taché who replied on February 15 in an open letter entitled "Je me souviens. It reads in part:
The lily and the rose were referring to the floral emblem
Floral emblem
In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by...
s respectively of the kingdoms of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The idea that the motto had a lesser known second part spread widely. This new piece of information had a long life in the media before it was investigated by Deschênes in 1992.
When Deschênes contacted Hélène Pâquet in 1992, she was unable to specify the origin of text she was quoted in her letter. Her statements were not conformable to those of her father, Lieutenant-Colonel Étienne-Théodore Pâquet Jr., who on March 3, 1939, wrote in a letter to John Samuel Bourque
John Samuel Bourque
John Samuel Bourque was a Quebec politician, Cabinet Minister, military member and businessman. He was the Member of Legislative Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Sherbrooke for 25 years....
, Tâché's son-in-law, and Minister of Public Works, that "the one who synthesized in three words the history and traditions of our race deserves to be recognized" as much as Routhier
Adolphe-Basile Routhier
Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier was a Canadian judge, author, and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics of the original French version of the Canadian national anthem O Canada. He was born in Saint-Placide, Quebec to Charles Routhier and Angélique Lafleur.Routhier studied law at Université Laval and graduated...
and Lavallée
Calixa Lavallée
Calixa Lavallée, , born Calixte Lavallée, was a French-Canadian-American musician and Union officer during the American Civil War who composed the music for O Canada, which officially became the national anthem of Canada in 1980.-Biography:Calixa Lavallée was born at Verchères, a suburb of...
who composed the "O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
".
The origin of the second part is today known to be a second motto, created by the same Eugène-Étienne Taché, many years after the first one, and originally destined to be used on a monument honouring the Canadian nation, but which was never built. The monument was to be a statue of a young and graceful adolescent girl, an allegoric figure of the Canadian nation, bearing the motto: "Née dans les lis, je grandis dans les roses / Born in the lilies, I grow in the roses". While the project was never realized, the idea was "recycled" in a commemorative medal for the 300th anniversary of the foundation of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, created by Taché, on which is written "Née sous les lis, Dieu aidant, l’œuvre de Champlain a grandi sous les roses" ("Born under the lilies, God helping, Champlain's work has grown under the roses").
Other uses
Je me souviens is also the motto of the Royal 22e RégimentRoyal 22e Régiment
The Royal 22nd Regiment is an infantry regiment and the most famous francophone organization of the Canadian Forces. The regiment comprises three Regular Force battalions, two Primary Reserve battalions, and a band, making it the largest regiment in the Canadian Army...
, a Francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
(Forces Canadiennes).
Je me souviens is also used during Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth...
ceremonies, the French rendition of lest we forget
Lest We Forget
Lest We Forget is a phrase in the poem "Recessional," by Rudyard Kipling.It may also refer to:* Ode of Remembrance, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand-Cinema:* Léonce Perret film, 1918* Lest We Forget, a British film directed by John Baxter...
.
Je me souviens currently appears on the license plates of vehicles registered in Quebec.
See also
- Je me souviensJe me souviens (film)Je me souviens is a 2002 documentary film about antisemitism and pro-Nazi sympathies in Quebec during the 1930s through post World War II made by Montreal filmmaker Eric Richard Scott. The title of the film is French for I remember, and is the official motto of Quebec.-Background:Eric Scott's...
, documentary film - List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols