Such was the first charter of James to the colony of Virginia. We will not now pause to consider it minutely either for praise or for blame. With some provisions that seem to be judicious, and which afterward proved themselves to be salutary, it embraces the most destructive elements of despotism and dissension. The settlers were deprived of the meanest privilege of self-government, and were subjected to the control of a council wholly independent of their own action, and of laws proceeding directly or indirectly from the King himself. The Parliament of England would have been a much safer depositary of legislative power for the colonists than the creatures of a monarch who held doctrines worthy of the Sultan of Turkey or the Czar of the Russian empire.

But all parties seemed well satisfied with this charter, and neither the King nor the adventurers had before their minds the grand results that were now giving birth. The patentees diligently urged forward preparations for the voyage, and James employed his leisure hours in preparing the instructions and code of laws contemplated by the charter. His wondrous wisdom rejoiced in the task of acting the modern Solon, and penning statutes which were to govern the people yet unborn; and neither his advisers nor the colonists seemed to have reflected upon the enormous exercise of prerogative herein displayed. The adventurers did not cease to be Englishmen in becoming settlers of a foreign clime, and the charter had expressly guaranteed to them "all liberties, franchises, and immunities" enjoyed by native-born subjects of the realm. Even acts of full Parliament bind not the colonies unless they be expressly included, and an English writer of subsequent times has not hesitated to pronounce this conduct of the royal law-maker in itself illegal (November 20th). But James proceeded with much eagerness to a task grateful alike to his vanity and his principles of government.

By these articles of instruction, the King first establishes the general council, to remain in England, for the superintendence of the colonies. It consisted originally of thirteen, but was afterward increased to nearly forty, and a distinction was made in reference to the London and Plymouth companies. In this body we note many names which were afterward well known both in the interests of America and the mother-land.

Sir William Wade, lieutenant of the Tower of London; Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Oliver Cromwell, Sir Herbert Croft, Sir Edwin Sandys, and others formed a power to whom were intrusted many of the rights of the intended settlement. They were authorized, at the pleasure and in the name of his majesty, to give directions for the good government of the settlers in Virginia, and to appoint the first members of the councils to be resident in the colonies.

These resident councils thus appointed, or the major part of them, were required to choose from their own body a member, not being a minister of God's Word, who was to be president, and to continue in office for a single year. They were authorized to fill vacancies in their own body, and, for sufficient cause, to remove the president and elect another in his stead; but the authority to "increase, alter, or change" these provincial councils was reserved as a final right to the King.

The Church of England was at once established, and the local powers were to require that the true word and service of God, according to her teachings, should be preached, planted, and used, not only among the settlers, but, as far as possible, among the sons of the forest.

The crimes of the rebellion, tumults, conspiracy, mutiny, and sedition, as well as murder, incest, rape, and adultery, were to be punished with death, without benefit of clergy. To manslaughter, clergy was allowed. These crimes were to be tried by jury, but the president and council were to preside at the trial—to pass sentence of death—to permit no reprieve without their order, and no absolute pardon without the sanction of the King, under the great seal of England.

But with the exception of these capital felonies, the president and council were authorized to hear and determine all crimes and misdemeanors, and all civil cases, without the intervention of a jury. These judicial proceedings were to be summary and verbal, and the judgment only was to be briefly registered in a book kept for the purpose.

For five years succeeding the landing of the settlers, all the results of their labor were to be held in common, and were to be stored in suitable magazines. The president and the council were to elect a "cape merchant" to superintend these public houses of deposit, and two clerks to note all that went into or came out from them, and every colonist was to be supplied from the magazines by the direction and appointment of these officers or of the council.

The adventurers of the first colony were to choose from their number one or more companies, each to consist of at least three persons, to reside in or near London, and these were to superintend the general course of trade between the mother-country and her distant daughter, and direct it into such channels as would be most advantageous to both.

No person was to be admitted to reside in the colonies but such as would take oath of obedience to the King, in the ample form provided for by a statute passed early in the reign of James, and any rash offenders who should attempt to withdraw from allegiance to his majesty was to be imprisoned until reformation, or else sent to England, there to receive "condign punishment."

The president and councils, or the major part of them, were empowered, from time to time, to make, ordain, and constitute laws, ordinances, and officers for the better government of the colony, provided that none of these laws affected life or limb in the settlers. Their enactments were also required to be, in substance, consonant to the jurisprudence of England, and the King or the council in the mother-country was invested with absolute power at any time to rescind and make void the acts of the provincial councils.

As the colonists should increase in population and influence the King reserves to himself the right to legislate for them; but condescends to restrict his law-making energies to such action as might be "consonant to the law of England or the equity thereof."

And to show his tender feelings toward the aborigines, whose lands he was so deliberately appropriating to the use of his subjects, his majesty requires that they shall be treated with all kindness and charity and that all proper means should be used to bring them to "the knowledge of God and the obedience of the King, his heirs and successors, under such severe pains and punishments as should be inflicted by the respective presidents and councils of the several colonies."

On these kindly ordinances the philosophic reader will not fail to observe the impress of the man. The stern penalty of death visited the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy, which aimed a blow at sovereign power, and even the popular tumult, which kings have so much cause to dread, was stilled by the same bloody monitor; yet arson and burglary were left to the discretion of the councils. Adultery was punished with death—a penalty never inflicted even in England, except during a time of puritanic zeal, which offered God a service without knowledge. In the eye of divine purity the offender, by this crime, may be the vilest of the vile, but if the Redeemer of the world refused to denounce the punishment of death against one taken in the act, it devolved not on this Scottish Draco to render it a capital crime. The whole legislative power is vested in the council, without any reference to the interests or the rights of the people whom they were to govern, and the King retains absolute control over the present and future laws of the colony, thus rendering their great distance from his face the best protection they could have against his tyranny. The trial by jury was required for capital felonies and manslaughter; but all inferior offences and every civil interest, however overwhelming in importance to the colonist, were to be summarily decided upon by the provincial councils. In the same space it would have been difficult to compress more absurd concession and of ruinous restraint. The clause requiring all things to be held in common was destructive of the most powerful stimulus that urges man to labor; the semblance of mercy which forbade war upon the savages often held the hand of the settler when raised in self-defence; and the church establishment, forced by the arm of the law upon reckless adventurers, made religion a hated bondage and the tithe-gatherer more odious than the author of evil.

But notwithstanding the defects and deformities of a charter which, in modern times, would have been indignantly rejected as an invasion of the rights of man, the London Company eagerly prepared for their proposed scheme of settlement. Sir Thomas Smith was elected treasurer—a gentleman who had amassed great wealth by merchandise, who was one of the assignees under Raleigh's patent, and was soon afterward made governor of the East India Company. Much has been said against him; but he was a man of public spirit and expanded views, and urged forward the enterprise with his influence and his contributions. The means of the company were at first very limited; three ships only were prepared, the largest of which was of not more than one hundred tons burden, and Christopher Newport was selected for the command. He was a navigator of some renown, principally derived from a voyage of destruction against the Spaniards in 1592; but he was a vain and affected character, little calculated for decisive and manly action. Instructions were prepared, but the King, with his accustomed profundity of folly, directed that they should be sealed in a box, and not opened until the voyagers arrived upon the coasts of Virginia. In the vessels there embarked, beyond the regular crews, one hundred five persons, to form the settlement. And it does not seem extravagant to assert that Virginia has felt, through all her subsequent history, the influence of these first settlers in giving a peculiar bias to her population. Besides the six gentlemen intended for the council, and Mr. Robert Hunt, a minister of the gospel, we find the names of more than fifty cavaliers, who are carefully reckoned in the shipping list as "gentlemen," and who were better fitted for the adventures of the drawing-room than for the rude scenes of the American forest. Disappointed in hope and reduced in fortune, these restless wanderers sought the New World with desire for exciting adventure and speedy wealth. Among them was George Percy, a member of a noble family and brother to the Earl of Northumberland. In this singular band we note but eleven professed laborers, four carpenters, one blacksmith, one bricklayer, and one mason: but we are not surprised to find a barber to aid in making the toilet of the "gentlemen," a tailor to decorate their persons, and a drummer to contribute to their martial aspirations!

Thus prepared with the elements of a refined colony, Newport set sail from Blackwall, December 19, 1606. Adverse winds kept him long upon the coast of England, and with disappointment came discord and murmuring among the voyagers. The preacher suffered with weakening disease, but his soothing counsels alone preserved peace among this wild company. Instead of following Gosnold's former voyage immediately across the Atlantic, they sailed by the Canaries and West Indies; and while in full route, the dissensions among the great men raged so furiously that Captain John Smith was seized and committed to close confinement on the false charge that he intended to murder the council and make himself King of Virginia. Arriving at length near the coast of America, their false reckoning kept them in suspense so alarming that Ratcliffe, commander of one of the barks, was anxious to bear away again for England.

But heaven, by its storms, contributed more to the settlements of Virginia than men by their infatuated counsels (1607). A furious tempest drove them all night under bare poles, and on April 26th they saw before them the broad inlet into the Bay of Chesapeake. The cape to the south they honored with the name of Henry, from the Prince of Wales, a noble youth, whose character gave the fairest promise of a career of high-souled action, whose love to Raleigh was only succeeded by his father's hatred, and whose early death gave England cause for unaffected mourning. The northern headland was called Charles, from the King's second son, who afterward succeeded to his throne.

As they passed the first cape a desire for recreation possessed them—and thirty, without arms, went on shore; but they were soon attacked by five savages, and two of the English were dangerously hurt. This inhospitable treatment promised but little for future peace. The sealed box was now opened, and it was found that Bartholomew Gosnold, John Smith, Edward Maria Wingfield, Christopher Newport, John Ratcliffe, John Martin, and George Kendall were named as members of the Provincial Council.

Sailing leisurely up the beautiful expanse of water to which the Indians had given a name that Europeans have never violated, the voyagers were charmed with the prospect before them. The season was mild, and nature had fully assumed that emerald robe of spring. On either side the distant land presented a scene of tranquil verdure, upon which the eye might rejoice to repose. The noble bay received into its bosom the waters of many broad streams, which descended from the highlands faintly visible in the dim horizon. Green islands saluted them at times as they advanced and invited their approach by their peaceful loveliness.

At length they reached the mouth of the magnificent river, that tempted them too strongly to be resisted. This was the "Powhatan" of the Indians; and no true lover of Virginia can cease to deplore the change which robbed this graceful stream of a title pregnant with all the associations of Indian valor and of the departed glory of their empire, and bestowed a name that can only recall a royal pedant and a timid despot!

Seventeen days were employed in searching for a spot suited to a settlement (May 13th). At length they selected a peninsula, on the north side of the river, about forty miles from its mouth, and immediately commenced the well-known city of Jamestown.

A commendable industry seems at first to have prevailed. The council contrived a fort, the settlers felled the trees, pitched their tents, prepared gardens, made nets for the fish which abounded in the river, and already began to provide clapboards to freight the ships on their return to England.

But these fair promises of good were destined to a speedy betrayal. Already discord prevailed in their counsels, and a flagrant act of injustice had been committed, which soon recoiled upon the heads of its authors. We have heretofore mentioned the name of John Smith among the persons nominated for the council, and have spoken of the violent imprisonment to which he was subjected during the outward voyage. Jealousy of his merit and commanding talents did not stop at this point. He was excluded from his place in the council, and an entry was made in their records detailing the alleged reason for this act.

John Smith is the hero of the romantic destinies that attended the early life of Virginia; and the historian who would attempt to tell of her fortunes and yet neglect his story would be recreant to his trust. Nations have generally owed their brightest days of power or of happiness to the genius of a single person—directing their energies, subduing their follies, enlightening their seasons of early ignorance. Assyria has had her Semiramis, China her Confucius, Arabia her Mahomet, England her Alfred; and were we required to point to the man to whom America is principally indebted for the care of her infant years, we would not hesitate to name the heroic spirit who now appears before us.

His talent for command excited the mean jealousy of inferior souls, only that his merit might appear brighter by contrast. If we have aught to urge against him, it is that he met the treachery of the Indians with a severe spirit, but too much akin to that of the Spaniards in the South. Yet we cannot reproach him with undeserved cruelty or with deliberate falsehood, and the stern demands of his circumstances often rendered inevitable acts which would otherwise have been ungrateful to his soul.

When the council was constituted, Edward Maria Wingfield was elected president—a man who always proved an inveterate enemy to Smith, and who speedily attracted the hatred even of his accomplices by his rapacity, his cowardice, and his selfish extravagance. Smith demanded a trial, but the council feared to trust their wretched charge to an impartial jury, and pretended, in mercy to him, to keep him under suspension. But their own incompetence soon brought his talents into demand. He accompanied Newport upon an exploring voyage up the river, and ascended to the residence of King Powhatan, a few miles below the falls, and not far from the spot now occupied by the city of Richmond. The royal seat consisted of twelve small houses, pleasantly placed on the north bank of the river, and immediately in front of three verdant islets. His Indian majesty received them with becoming hospitality, though his profound dissimulation corresponded but too well with the treacherous designs of his followers. He had long ruled with sovereign sway among the most powerful tribes of Virginia, who had been successively subdued by his arms, and he now regarded with distrust the event of men whom his experience taught him to fear and his injuries to detest.

On their return to Jamestown they found that, during their absence, the Indians had made an attack upon the settlement, had slain one boy, and wounded seventeen men. The coward spirit of Wingfield had caused this disaster. Fearful of mutiny he refused to permit the fort to be palisaded or guns to be mounted within. The assault of the savages might have been more fatal, but happily a gun from the ships carried a crossbar-shot among the boughs of a tree above them, and, shaking them down upon their heads, produced great consternation. The frightened wretches fled in dismay from an attack too mysterious to be solved, yet too terrible to be withstood.

After this disaster the fears of Wingfield were overruled—the fort was defended by palisades, and armed with heavy ordnance, the men were exercised, and every precaution was used to guard against a sudden attack or a treacherous ambuscade.

Smith had indignantly rejected every offer held out to him by the artifices of the council. He now again demanded a trial in a manner that could not be resisted. The examination took place and resulted in his full acquittal. So evident was the injustice of the president that he was adjudged to pay to the accused two hundred pounds, which sum the generous Smith immediately devoted to the store of the colony. Thus elevated to his merited place in the council, he immediately devised and commenced active schemes for the welfare of the settlers, and on June 15th Newport left the colony, and set forth on his voyage of return to England.

Left to their own resources, the colonists began to look with gloomy apprehension upon the prospect before them. While the ships remained, they enjoyed sea-stores, which to them were real luxuries, but now they had little whereupon to feast, except a miserable compound of wheat and barley boiled with water, and even to the larger portion of this the worms successfully laid claim. Crabs and oysters were sought with indolent greediness, and this unwholesome fare, with the increasing heats of the season, produced sickness, which preyed rapidly on their strength. The rank vegetation of the country pleased the eye, but it was fatal to the health. In ten days hardly ten settlers were able to stand. Before the month of September fifty of their number were committed to the grave, and among them we mark, with sorrow, the name of Bartholomew Gosnold. The gallant seaman might have passed many years upon the stormy coasts of the continent, but he sank among the first victims who risked their lives for colonization.

To this scene of distress and appalling mortality the president Wingfield lived in sumptuous indifference. His gluttony appropriated to itself the best provisions the colony could afford—"oatmeal, sacke, oyle, aqua vitae, beefe, egges, or whatnot"—and, in this intemperate feasting, it seemed as though his valueless life were only spared that he might endure the disgrace he so richly merited. Seeing the forlorn condition of the settlement he attempted to seize the pinnace, which had been left for their use by Newport, and make his escape to England. These outrages so wrought upon the council that they instantly deposed him, expelled his accomplice, Kendall, and elected Ratcliffe to the presidency. Thus their body, consisting originally of seven, was reduced to three. Newport had sailed, Gosnold was dead, Wingfield and Kendall were in disgraced seclusion. Martin, Ratcliffe, and Smith alone remained. They seem to have felt no desire to exercise their right of filling their vacant ranks. The first had a nominal superiority, but the genius of the last made him the very soul of the settlement.

It is related by the best authority that in this dark crisis, when their counsels were distracted, their hopes nearly extinguished, their bodies enfeebled from famine and disease, the savages around them voluntarily brought in such quantities of venison, corn, and wholesome fruits that health and cheerfulness were at once restored. Their condition now brought them in almost daily contact with the aborigines.

Ratcliffe and Martin were alike incompetent, and Smith assumed the guidance of affairs. Finding their provisions again nearly exhausted, he went with a party down the river to Kecoughtan to obtain supplies from the natives. Savage irony was all they received; a handful of corn and a piece of bread were offered in exchange for swords and muskets. The Indians came against them in numbers, frightfully dressed, and bearing their okee in the form of a monstrous idol, stuffed with moss, and hung with chains and copper. But they were received with a volley of pistol-shot. The omnipotent okee fell to the earth, and with him several of his worshippers. The rest fled to the woods, and, finding resistance vain, they brought quantities of corn, venison, turkeys, and wild-fowl, and received in exchange beads, copper, hatchets, and their discomfited deity.

During the absence of the ruling mind, Wingfield and Kendall seduced a few sailors and made another attempt to carry off the bark to England. At the critical moment Smith returned, and, instantly directing the cannon of the fort against them, commanded submission. A skirmish ensued, and the seditious Kendall lost his life. A similar effort to the settlement was soon made by Captain Gabriel Archer and the imbecile President Ratcliffe, and again the decision of Smith arrested them and forced them to their duty. He was ever prompt, and hesitated not at any measures required to govern his turbulent compeers.

And now the winter came on, and with it immense numbers of swans, geese, and ducks, which covered the rivers and afforded delightful food to the settlers. They daily feasted upon them, and enjoyed in abundance the peas, pumpkins, persimmons, and other vegetable treasures which the season matured. But Smith could not be contented with a life of inactivity, however plentifully supplied. The council had ungratefully charged him with negligence, in not searching for the head of the Chickahominy, and his own adventurous spirit urged him to renewed enterprise.

He prepared his boat for a voyage, and, in a season of uncommon rigor, he set forth upon an expedition destined to add greatly to the fame of his already wonderful career.

The Chickahominy falls into the James not many miles above the site of Jamestown. It flows through a very fertile region, and upon its banks were native settlements well supplied with the stores of savage labor.

Up this stream Smith urged his boat with great perseverence, cutting through trunks of trees and matted underwood which opposed his progress. At length, finding the obstacles to increase, he left the boat in a broad bay, where Indian arrows could not reach her, and, strictly forbidding the crew to leave her, he pressed on, with two Englishmen and two Indians, eager to penetrate with their canoe the swamps beyond them. Hardly had he disappeared before the disobedient seamen left the boat and sought amusement upon the shore. Opecancanough, an Indian chief of great subtlety and courage, was near with a lurking band of savages, and, instantly seizing his advantage, he made prisoner George Cassen, one of this party, and obtained from him full information as to the movements of Captain Smith. The cowardice of Cassen did not save him. The savages put him to death with cruel tortures, and then pursued their more dreaded foe.

Smith had now penetrated twenty miles into the marshes; and, leaving the two Englishmen in the canoe, he went forward with an Indian guide. The savages found the two men sunk in stupid slumber by the side of the canoe, and shot them to death with arrows ere they could escape. But they had now to encounter a superior being. Two hundred savages, approaching with fatal intent, caused no dismay in the heart of Smith. Binding the Indian guide firmly to his arm, he used him as a shield to preserve him from the arrows of the enemy, and with his musket he brought two of them dead to the ground. He would perhaps have reached the canoe—the savages fell back appalled by his courage—but while in full retreat he sunk to the middle in a swamp from which his utmost efforts could not extricate him. Excessive cold froze his limbs and deprived him of strength, yet the Indians dared not approach him until he threw away his arms and made signals of submission. Then they drew him out, and, chafing his benumbed body, speedily restored him to activity. His self-possession was never lost for a moment. Discovering that Opecancanough was the chief, he presented to him a small magnetic dial, and made the simple savages wonder at the play of the needle beneath the glass surface.

On this excursion he was made prisoner, and he himself assures us was saved by the Indian maiden Pocahontas. After a captivity of seven weeks he returned to Jamestown, with increased knowledge of savage life and manners. He treated his Indian guides with great kindness and gave them two heavy guns and a millstone for the monarch. But the present was too heavy for his strength, and when one of the cannons was discharged among the boughs of a tree, and crashing of wood and ice was heard, the timid natives declined any further interference with agents so formidable.

The absence of Smith had caused disorder and insubordination in the colony. The pinnace had again been seized, and again he was obliged to level the guns of the fort against her and compel submission. He was now personally assailed by a charge replete with stupid malignity. Some, who believed themselves skilled in the Levitical law, accused him of being the cause of the death of Emry and Robinson, the two unfortunate men whom the Indians had slain, and, with this pretext, they clamored for capital punishment. To their insane charge Smith replied by taking the accusers into custody, and by the first vessel he sent them for trial to England. By his courage, his address, and his firmness he now wielded great influence with the Indians, and proved the salvation of the settlement.



FOUNDING OF QUEBEC

CHAMPLAIN ESTABLISHES FRENCH POWER IN CANADA

A.D. 1608

H. H. MILES

From the period of Cartier's and Roberval's expeditions nearly fifty years elapsed before France renewed her efforts to colonize the New World. About the year 1598 the lucrative fur trade began to be encouraged by Henry IV, of France, who in the brief respite from religious wars was turning his attention to colonization and commerce. In 1603 Samuel de Champlain, a French naval officer of high character and chivalrous instincts, made his first voyage to Canada in company with M. Pontegrave, a merchant of St. Malo, and together they pushed their way up the St. Lawrence as far as the rapids above Montreal, which Champlain named Lachine (a la Chine), for he thought he had at last found a waterway to China. In 1608 he proceeded to found at Stadacona (Quebec) a fixed trading-post of the Merchant Company, in whose service he had again come to the country. Champlain brought with him among the colonists a number of artisans, who, on the magnificent headland of Quebec, erected a fort which was to become the refuge of the sadly menaced little European colony, and was long the centre of French influence and dominion in the New World.

The rivalries of various commercial companies and the conflicting colonial policy of France seriously retarded settlement and were a great vexation to Champlain. Moreover, his quarrels with the powerful Iroquois Indians, as here related by Dr. Miles, secretary of the Quebec Council of Instruction, long prevented the southward extension of French power in America.

In 1627 Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister to Louis XIII, cancelled the old trading-charters, and established the Company of One Hundred Associates, with power to trade throughout New France from Florida to Hudson Bay. By the terms of the charter the "Hundred Associates" were given the sole right to engage in the fur trade, with control over the shore and inland fishing and of all commerce with the French settlements in the country. In return for this monopoly the company agreed to carry out mechanics and tradesmen to the colony, to settle within a specified period some six thousand colonists, and to make provision for the support of a certain number of Catholic clergy. The French King, at the same time, made Champlain governor, so that he finished his life in the service of the colony he had founded.

Samuel de Chaplain, who must be regarded as the real founder of the Canadian colony, was already a noted man when invited by De Chates (or De Chastes), commandant of Dieppe, to take part in the enterprise for colonizing New France. He had served in the French marine at the Antilles, and also in the South of France against the Spaniards, and De Chates had met him at court. He was a man of noble and virtuous disposition, chivalrous, and inspired with a deep sense of religion, and at that time about thirty-six years of age. It will also be seen that Champlain was gifted with qualities which endeared him both to his own followers and to the native Indians of Canada. He was of good address—always able, when he desired it, to render himself acceptable to the highest personages in France, so as to secure a willing attention to his representations. Such was the man who, under the auspices of De Chates and of M. de Monts, first made his appearance in New France, in whose early annals he figured conspicuously upward of thirty years.

In 1603 Champlain, in conjunction with Pontegrave, made his first voyage to the St. Lawrence. At Tadoussac they left their ships and ascended the river in boats to the then farthest attainable point—the Sault St. Louis, now known as the Rapids, above the city of Montreal. The features of the country, so far as they could be examined from the river, were carefully observed. The Indian towns of Carrier's time, Stadacona and Hochelaga, were no longer in existence; but Champlain regarded with attention the scenery around their sites. Hochelaga is not even mentioned by him, although, acting as Carrier had done nearly seventy years before, he ascended Mount Royal in order to obtain a good view. Returning to Tadoussac, where their three small vessels had been left, Champlain and Pontegrave, toward autumn, set sail for France.

De Chates had died during their absence, and the company formed by him was already almost broken up. Champlain, however, prepared a narrative, and a map to illustrate what he had seen, and submitted these for the information of Henry (IV of France), who expressed his willingness to countenance the resumption of plans for settling the country.

Almost immediately afterward the company was reorganized by M. de Monts. He also was a Huguenot, patriotic, of great abilities and experience, and possessing much influence at court, without which he could not have surmounted impediments that were purposely raised against his designs from the first. The King, unmoved by the objections to De Monts, appointed him lieutenant-general of the North American territory between 40 deg. and 46 deg. north latitude, with instructions to establish colonists, cultivate the soil, search for mines of gold and silver, build forts and towns, and with power to confer grants of land, as well as the exclusive right of trading with the natives in furs and all kinds of merchandise. Although a Protestant, while De Monts and his friends were to enjoy the free exercise of their religion, he was bound by the charter to provide for the conversion of the natives, and their training, exclusively, in the principles and worship of the Church of Rome.

The King was the more willing to grant a charter on these terms, because De Monts and his company were to bear all the costs that might be incurred in their enterprise. Preparations were then made for the despatch of an expedition on a larger scale than any that had yet left France for America.

Early in the spring of 1604 De Monts set sail with four vessels, well manned, and equipped with all means requisite both for carrying on the fur trade and for starting a colony at any place that might be judged suitable. He had under him Champlain and Pontegrave, also a French nobleman named Poutrincourt, who was going out to settle with his family in America, and the subsequently celebrated historian Lescarbot. Two of the ships were specially intended for the fur traffic, and in the first instance to scour the coasts and inlets for the purpose of driving away or capturing all persons found illegally trading with the natives. The other two ships had on board the intending colonists; among whom were soldiers and workpeople, priests, ministers, and some gentleman volunteers. This expedition did not steer for Canada, but for that part of New France then called Acadia (Nova Scotia), De Monts being under the impression that he should there find localities more favorable for settlement than by ascending the St. Lawrence. But it carried with it those whom Lescarbot justly styled "the hope of Canada"; for besides De Monts, there were Champlain and Pontegrave, and probably many of inferior grade, whose participation in this attempt to found an Acadian colony must have greatly assisted in rendering their future services more valuable elsewhere.

The effort at colonization in Acadia may be said to have been sustained under many vicissitudes during about nine years until the year 1613; but long before this the attention and services of Champlain and Pontegrave were withdrawn. De Monts lost his charter in 1606, about which time Champlain having, in conjunction with Pontegrave, made a number of maritime excursions from Port Royal, and some geographical discoveries, during the previous two years, became urgent for the renewal of attempts up the river St. Lawrence, which he never ceased to represent as offering a more favorable field for enterprise than the shores of Acadia. In 1607, therefore, De Monts procured the restoration of his charter for the space of one year; and, following Champlain's suggestions, turned his attention to Canada. Two vessels were fitted out and despatched in April, 1608. Arriving at Tadoussac in June, Champlain left his colleague there to traffic with the natives, while he continued his route up the river, until he came to the place where Cartier and his companions had wintered in 1535.

Champlain landed, and having ascended some distance from the mouth of the St. Charles toward the promontory now called Cape Diamond, judged the situation favorable for permanent settlement. Artisans, provisions, merchandise, arms, and tools were brought on shore, and a commencement made in the work of constructing wooden buildings and defences. At the same time preparations were made for cultivating the ground and for testing the productiveness of the soil by sowing various seeds brought from France. In these operations, begun on July 3, 1608, Champlain had in view the establishment of a fixed trading-station for the advantage of the company he represented, as well as the more immediate purpose of providing for the security and accommodation of his people during the ensuing winter. But on the site of these rude works the city of Quebec grew up in after-times. Champlain is, therefore, entitled to be regarded as its founder, and the date last mentioned as that of its foundation.

During the autumn the works were continued, Champlain himself superintending them with indefatigable activity. Pontegrave returned to France with the results of the season's traffic at Tadoussac.

Champlain's experience, previously acquired at Port Royal, doubtless was of service in giving effect to his forethought and energy as regards preparations for the winter; for it is recorded that the thirty persons composing his party were comfortably protected from the ordinary rigors of the climate.

On the return of spring Champlain's activity of disposition did not suffer him to await the coming of Pontegrave from France. He set out at once up the St. Lawrence. Meeting parties of Indians belonging to Algonquin and Huron tribes, he entered into friendly communication with them. Between these tribes and the Iroquois, or Five Nations, a state of warfare subsisted. Champlain, on his part, desired to secure the friendship of those natives who were to be the more immediate neighbors of the French on the St. Lawrence, while the Algonquins and Hurons were equally solicitous about forming an alliance with the Europeans for the sake of aid against their enemies. An understanding was soon established. The Indians engaged to visit the French trading-posts with abundance of furs for the purposes of traffic, and promised to assist Champlain with facilities for exploring their country westward. On the other hand, Champlain undertook to help them in their conflicts with the Iroquois. In pursuance of this agreement the French, under Champlain, first intervened in Indian warfare. Returning to Quebec, Champlain procured reenforcements and supplies for his establishment from Pontegrave, who had by this time arrived at Tadoussac from France. Before the end of May he set out again on his way up the river to join his Indian allies, and to accompany them into the country of their enemies, the Iroquois.

During the twenty-seven years following the foundation of Quebec, the history of the colony consists almost exclusively of the personal history of Champlain, its founder, upon whose own memoirs we are dependent chiefly for authentic information. They present details of romantic incidents, of courage, fortitude, and virtue, of sagacity, and of indefatigable industry, of self-denial and patience, which will always entitle him to a high rank among the celebrated in the annals of mankind.

In pursuance of the alliance he had entered into with the aborigines of Canada, as well as for the purpose of extending his discoveries, he engaged in three different warlike expeditions into the country of the Iroquois, viz., in the years 1609, 1611, and 1615.

In his first expedition he passed with a body of Algonquins and Montagnais up the river Richelieu, which then, and subsequently, was the principal route followed by the Iroquois when making incursions into Canada. He discovered that this river formed the outlet of the waters of a beautiful lake, which he was the first of Europeans to behold, and which he called "Lake Champlain," after his own name. He was now in parts frequented by the Iroquois. According to Champlain's description it was a region abounding in game, fish, beavers, bears, and other wild animals.

Not far from the site upon which, long afterward, Fort Ticonderoga was constructed, the invaders fell in with a body of two hundred Iroquois, who were easily beaten and put to flight, chiefly owing to the chivalrous valor of Champlain, and the terror inspired by fire-arms used by him and his two attendant Frenchmen.

Here Champlain witnessed for the first time the cruelties and horrors attendant upon Indian warfare; and he appears to have exerted his utmost influence vainly in endeavoring to save the wounded and captive Iroquois from being tortured. To his indignant remonstrances the conquerors turned a deaf ear, alleging that they were only inflicting upon their enemies the sufferings which their own people had often endured at their hands, and which were reserved for themselves should they ever fall into the power of the Iroquois. After this the allies made their way back to the St. Lawrence, when the Hurons and Algonquins returned to their settlements toward the Ottawa region, while Champlain and the Montagnais descended the river to Quebec.

The battle with the Iroquois took place on July 30, 1609, so that upward of two and a half months had been occupied in the campaign. In September following Champlain set sail for France, accompanied by Pontegrave. Before he left Quebec he made all the arrangements in his power for the safety of those left to winter there. A trustworthy commander was appointed; and in order to prevent the necessity of outdoor labor during the time of severe cold, a supply of fuel was provided in the autumn; for it was supposed that exposure and hard work combined were among the causes of the terrible malady which had afflicted Champlain's people in the winter of 1608.

On his arrival in France he reported his adventures and the condition of New France to the King, by whom he was treated with the utmost consideration and kindness. Nevertheless, owing to opposition and clamor, it was found impossible to bring about the renewal of the charter, which had expired.

In spite of this, De Monts succeeded in procuring the means of fitting out two vessels in the spring of 1610, in which Champlain and Pontegrave set sail from Harfleur about the middle of April, and arrived at Tadoussac on May 26th. At Quebec Champlain found his people in good health and undiminished numbers, the winter having been passed through without the endurance of any particular hardship. His Indian allies, also, the Hurons, Algonquins, and Montagnais, were eagerly waiting for him to rejoin them in another attack upon the Iroquois.

In the middle of June Champlain, with a few Frenchmen, left Quebec and proceeded up the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the river Richelieu. Near to this, on ascending that river, and employing the services of scouts, it was found that a body of Iroquois had established themselves in a post fortified by means of great trees which had been felled, so that their branches, interlaced with each other, presented a strong wall of defence. The Algonquins and Montagnais immediately commenced an attack; when, although assisted by the French, with their arquebuses, it was for a long time found impossible to force an entrance into the position. In the end, however, the Iroquois fled, leaving fifteen of their number prisoners. The conquerors had three killed and about fifty wounded, among whom was Champlain himself. Again was he compelled to witness the perpetration of the most revolting cruelties upon the unfortunate Iroquois captured by his allies, whom he could not restrain, although now regarded by them with feelings amounting to veneration.

Champlain was now in a position to do something toward forwarding his own plans through the good-will and assistance of the Hurons and Algonquins. To extend the knowledge of the country westward, and to find out a passage through the continent to China, were to him as much objects of desire as they had been to Cartier before him. The Indian chiefs promised to furnish all the facilities he required; and they placed in his care a young Huron, whom he afterward took to Paris. At the same time a young Frenchman was intrusted to a chief named Iroquet, for the purpose of learning the Algonquin language, and of visiting the lakes, rivers, and mines which were stated to exist in the interior of the country. When these arrangements had been made Champlain and his allies parted. On arriving at Quebec he learned the sad intelligence of the death of his powerful friend and patron, King Henry IV, who had been assassinated three months before in the streets of Paris. Although the season was not far advanced he immediately took his departure for France, accompanied by Pontegrave.

In the spring of 1611 Champlain returned to Canada.[1] During the winter, although it was now impossible to recover the exclusive privileges which had formerly been accorded to his company, he and Pontegrave had again succeeded in procuring the means of equipping several vessels. De Monts still enjoyed the title of "lieutenant-general of New France," but was greatly crippled in his resources and influence in consequence of the King's death, and the large expenses attendant on previous undertakings in connection with the establishments in Acadia, at Tadoussac, and Quebec. But the most discouraging circumstance, which now cut off all hope of redeeming his losses, was the virtual throwing open of the peltry trade in the St. Lawrence, of which the traders belonging to French maritime ports availed themselves in considerable numbers; for when Champlain and Pontegrave arrived out at Tadoussac, toward the end of May, they found traders already there doing business with the savages, and that others had preceded them in the river above, as far as the rapids near Hochelaga. Champlain hastened to the latter place, with the determination of establishing there a trading-station for the benefit of the company. Temporary structures were begun near the site of the future city of Montreal; ground was cleared, and seeds sown, in order to test the fruitfulness of the soil. He proposed to erect a fort on an island, called by him St. Helen's, after the name of his wife.

[1] About the end of 1610 or early in 1611 Champlain, in Paris, espoused a very youthful lady, named Helene Boulle, daughter of the King's private secretary. She was a Huguenot, though subsequently converted by her husband. She visited Canada in 1620, and remained about four years.

Champlain went to France before winter, and was there detained nearly two years by the affairs of the company. Although his zeal and his hopes of founding a colony never flagged, even De Monts retired from participation in further undertakings, owing to the uncertainties attendant upon the peltry traffic, and the losses incurred. It appears that Champlain deemed it indispensably necessary for the colony, and for the trading company with which it might be connected, to possess, as chief, some personage in France who had influence and rank at court; therefore, on the retirement of De Monts, the Count de Soissons was applied to, and afterward the Prince Henri de Conde. Conde being created viceroy of New France, Champlain was appointed his lieutenant.[2] Much time was then occupied in negotiations, with the object of effecting a compromise with the merchants and traders of Dieppe, St. Malo, Rochelle, and Rouen. In the end some kind of arrangement was made, securing for the wants of the colony at Quebec a certain portion of the results of the fur traffic to be paid by traders; but it seems that no perfectly satisfactory arrangement was practicable at that time, owing to the state of affairs at the court of France, which would not renew the former exclusive privileges.

[2] This nomination of Champlain as lieutenant of the Viceroy of New France was dated October 15, 1612; hence, in lists of official functionaries of Canada, this date is frequently put as that on which the rule of governors commenced, Champlain being set down as the first.

Early in May, 1613, Champlain arrived at Quebec. The people whom he had left there in 1611 had passed the two preceding winters without any notable occurrence and free from suffering or disease. After a short delay he proceeded up the river to Sault St. Louis, at the foot of the Rapids, where he expected to find many of his former Indian friends assembled in readiness for traffic. In fact, his mind was now intent upon a long journey of exploration westward, in company with some returning chiefs. But this season few Indians came, which Champlain attributed to misconduct on the part of the traders the previous year while he was absent in France. Taking with him two canoes, manned by four Frenchmen and an Indian guide, he contrived to pass the Rapids and to surmount all the other difficulties of a first passage up the river Ottawa, until he arrived at Ile Allumettes, where resided a friendly chief named Tessouat, who received him with cordial hospitality, and celebrated his unexpected visit by giving a grand entertainment. Champlain requested canoes and people to conduct him and his attendants on the way to Lake Nipissing, whence, according to information of Nicolas du Vignau, who had passed the previous winter with Tessouat, there was a practicable route to the North Sea, from which, it was believed, the coveted passage to China would be found. Champlain's hopes rose with this information, but before he could act upon it Du Vignau was proved to be an impostor. Champlain, therefore, with reluctance, sorrowfully commenced his journey homeward to Quebec, whence, toward the latter part of August, he again sailed for France, in order to promote the interests of the colony, so much dependent on the course of events in the mother-country.

In April, 1615, Champlain sailed from Harfleur with several vessels having on board supplies for the colony—artisans and laborers, together with four persons of the religious order of Franciscans, called Recollets. The latter took out with them the appliances and ornaments that might be required for the use of portable chapels and places of worship in the wilderness, and which had been provided at the cost of religious persons in France.

Immediately on his arrival in Canada, about the beginning of June, he took steps for establishing regular religious services at the three principal trading-posts—Quebec, Three Rivers, and Tadoussac—at the first of which places a sort of council was held, consisting of himself, the four Recollets, and "the most intelligent persons in the colony." The arrangements agreed upon comprised, in addition to dispositions of a permanent nature at the three principal localities named above, the sending forward one of the Recollets, Joseph le Caron, into the distant regions occupied by the Huron tribes, which up to this time had not been visited by any European.[3] Thus, under Champlain's auspices, were the first foundations laid for establishing in Canada the faith and services of the Church of Rome; and especially, in the first instance, for commencing the "missions to the Indians," which have survived the vicissitudes of more than two centuries, and subsist to this day in forms and localities regulated by the progress of civilization on this continent.

[3] Henceforward the history of the colony, as well as that of the gradual extension of discovery westward, is inseparably associated with the proceedings of the religious missionaries, who were the real pioneers of French influence among the tribes of the interior.

During the winter of 1618 the colony was reduced to the verge of extinction through the defection of its fickle allies, the Indians. The station at Three Rivers had become to them a great place of resort; and while many hundreds of savages were assembled there a quarrel occurred at Quebec between some Indians and colonists, the particulars of which have not been very clearly transmitted. But the result was similar to that which had been experienced in the time of Jacques Cartier, for the Indians became discontented and hostile, manifesting a disposition to take advantage of the helplessness of the handful of Europeans established in their midst. Two Frenchmen were murdered, and this outrage was followed by a conspiracy, which was entered into by the Indians at Three Rivers, with the object of consummating the destruction of the entire colony. The Recollet brother Duplessis discovered the plot, and, while the French at Quebec remained closely shut up in their fort, contrived to disconcert it. In the end the savages, who seem to have had originally no very serious cause of offence, proposed a reconciliation, which was acceded to by the French, on condition that the case of the murderers should be decided on Champlain's return, and that in the mean time hostages should be given.

Champlain's absence continued for the space of about three years, as he did not return to Quebec until July, 1620. By this time the course of events had taken a favorable turn. The Viceroy Conde regained his liberty, and, in consideration of a sum of money, surrendered his viceroyalty in favor of the Duke of Montmorency, a godson of the late King. Montmorency confirmed Champlain in his post of lieutenant-general, and the King himself, Louis XIII, favored him with royal letters expressing his recognition of the appointment and of his services. Thus fortified, and charged by the new viceroy to return to Quebec and improve the defences of the colony, Champlain induced a number of persons to embark with him for the purpose of settling in the country. He himself arranged all his private affairs and took out with him his wife and several relations.

The return of Champlain, accompanied by Madame Champlain, then only twenty-two years of age, was celebrated at Quebec with all the manifestations of rejoicing and of respect that it was possible for the people to evince. It was an epoch in the history of the colony. The Indian savages were especially delighted with the amiable demeanor and the beauty of Madame Champlain,[4] who at once set about learning their language, and in many ways testified her concern in their welfare. She soon became able to instruct their children, using their native tongue, in the principles of the Catholic religion; for, though formerly a Huguenot, she was now a devout adherent of the church to which her husband belonged. Champlain found the edifices at Quebec in a dilapidated condition, so that his first care was to effect repairs on the magazine, the old fort, and other buildings, as well as to provide temporary quarters for his family. Steps were also taken for commencing a structure extensive enough to afford protection to all the inhabitants and the interests of the company, in case of serious attack from any enemy, and so situated as to command the harbor. The site chosen was that now known as "Durham Terrace," where, subsequently, when Champlain's design was practically carried out, the famous Fort St. Louis stood—the residence and official head-quarters of many governors of Canada.

[4] According to the custom of the ladies of that time, Madame Champlain wore a small mirror suspended from her girdle. The untutored natives who approached her were astonished at perceiving themselves reflected from the glass, and circulated among themselves the innocent conceit that she cherished in her heart the recollection of each one of them.

Champlain might have now enjoyed a period of comparative repose but for two causes of anxiety which soon pressed themselves upon his attention. The first of these was his knowledge of the cruel state of war subsisting between the Iroquois and the natives of Canada. In 1620 the former made incursions in considerable force, and, although few or none of them at that time approached Quebec, they pressed hard upon the Algonquins higher up the river, and lay in wait for his former allies, the Hurons, whom they slaughtered without mercy as they descended with the products of the chase for the purpose of trading with the French at Three Rivers, Quebec, and Tadoussac. The injury to French interests, apart from the necessity for being always on the alert to defend themselves in case of attack from these barbarians, may be imagined. Champlain, as the only recourse open to him, made appeals to the company and to the court of France for succor.

In the course of 1622 and the following year several additional priests and brothers of the order of Recollets came out to Canada, among whom was Gabriel Sagard, the historian, who, along with Le Caron, departed as missionaries into the Huron settlements beyond Lake Simcoe. These two priests rendered most valuable services to the colony in becoming the influential promoters of peace with the Iroquois in 1624. They had labored to confirm in the minds of the Huron people a disposition to come to terms with their fierce adversaries, between whom and themselves unceasing hostilities had been waged ever since the period of Champlain's third and unsuccessful expedition against the cantons. The war had proved harassing to all the parties concerned—the French, the Iroquois, the Hurons, the Algonquins, and minor tribes—and all were more or less inclined to accede to proposals for a general cessation of strife. Caron and Sagard accompanied a flotilla of sixty Huron canoes down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence to Three Rivers, at which place, in the presence of Champlain, it was intended to agree upon and ratify a general treaty. On the way to this rendezvous they were joined by twenty-five canoes bearing the Iroquois deputies and thirteen of the Algonquins. The preliminaries having been arranged, happily without the occurrence of quarrels so likely to take place in such a concourse of individuals belonging to different nations, the ceremonies and customary distribution of presents were followed by a mutual interchange of stipulations, rendered intelligible to all by means of interpreters. The final result was a treaty of peace, to which the chief contracting parties were the French, the Hurons, the Algonquins, and the Iroquois, who agreed thenceforward to remain on peaceable terms with each other. The peace thus established was not of long duration.

In the mean time the improvements projected by Champlain in 1620 were steadily prosecuted. Very extensive repairs and additions to former structures, and a number of new ones, were completed or in progress. The De Caens and the Governor, notwithstanding the difference of their religious views, continued throughout to discharge their respective functions in a manner that denoted mutual respect and personal friendship. Yet, from whatever cause, the number of inhabitants, exclusive of a few factors or agents at the trading-posts, and the Frenchmen who from choice had taken up their abodes among the Indian tribes, remained less than sixty. In fact, every person who bestowed a transient thought upon Canada placed a very low estimate upon it as a country fit for settlement, excepting Champlain himself, whose faith in the future of his colony seems never to have wavered.

In August, 1624, Champlain made arrangements for revisiting France, where fresh dissensions had arisen in regard to the company's rights and privileges. His chief purpose was to again urge at home an appeal for a more generous support in behalf of his undertakings. The Recollets, also, having found themselves utterly unequal to the occupation of their immense and constantly increasing field of missionary work, had determined to appeal for aid to some of the religious communities of France, and, with this view, deputed Sagard and a priest to sail for Europe in the suite of the Governor.

Before his departure Champlain nominated the younger De Caen commandant at Quebec during his absence, and gave instructions that the works in progress should be prosecuted with the utmost vigor, especially the completion of the Fort St. Louis.

These preparations being made, he set sail on August 15, 1624, accompanied by his wife and the two Recollet deputies.

Champlain, having accomplished all that seemed at that time attainable in France, returned to Quebec in the summer of 1626, accompanied by the priest Le Caron, and his brother-in-law, Boulle, as his lieutenant.

He found the works scarcely advanced beyond the condition in which he had left them two years before. His people also were in a somewhat enfeebled condition. They had been ill-supplied with necessaries the preceding season, owing to the neglect of the company to furnish what was requisite for their comfort and plentiful support during the winter of 1625.

Notwithstanding the exertions which had been made by Champlain to prevent a recurrence of the former sufferings of the colony owing to the neglect of the company, he and his people were doomed to struggle on precisely as heretofore. Scarcely any land had been cleared, so that it was impossible by means of agriculture alone to provide against famine in the winter. Nevertheless, the requisite supplies were furnished by the company's agents in the most niggardly manner. Its neglect became worse and worse, until, in the winter of 1626, there was an actual dearth of provisions at Quebec. In the spring of 1627 De Caen's vessels brought out, as usual, a certain supply of necessaries. But when the summer had passed away, and autumn came, although the season of traffic had been very profitable, the ships departed, leaving the establishments in the colony very insufficiently provisioned. The colony contained but one farmer—Louis Hebert[5]—who could maintain himself and those dependent on him by the cultivation of the ground. But about fifty persons had to endure the rigors of the winter of 1627 on short allowance; and such became their plight that even Champlain's patience and powers of endurance were severely exercised. When at length the arrival of spring afforded some sources of relief, derived from hunting and fishing, Champlain and his unfortunate colonists at Quebec were amazed to find that De Caen's ships came not as usual with succors. With infinite anxiety they contrived to subsist until the month of July, when it became known that the river below the Island of Orleans was in possession of the English, at that time enemies to France. In fact, on July 10, 1628, Champlain received a summons from Sir David Kirke, then at Tadoussac, with several ships under his command, to surrender the fort and station of Quebec. Notwithstanding his weakness, which would have prevented him from offering any effectual resistance had Kirke followed up his summons by an attack upon the place, Champlain responded with dignity and firmness, declaring that he would defend his post. Kirke, therefore, for the present, deferred his hostile intentions upon Quebec, and contented himself with adopting measures to intercept supplies and succor from France.

[5] He died in the course of this season. Champlain, in his memoirs, mentions him with approbation and respect.

Cut off from communication with France, Champlain exhorted his now isolated band of priests, colonists, and laborers to follow his own example of patience and courage. A single small ship, with very scanty supplies, succeeded in making its passage good through the English vessels to Quebec, with intelligence that at least ten months must elapse before adequate succor from France could be expected to reach the harbor. To cope with the present emergency, and to prevent absolute starvation, measures were taken to crop all the cleared ground in the neighborhood. At the same time recourse was had to hunting and fishing for the purpose of collecting food for the ensuing winter, and Champlain's brother-in-law, Eustache Boulle, was despatched with a small vessel and twelve men down to Gaspe, in the hope of falling in with French fishing-vessels and procuring intelligence and assistance. Some steps were also taken for obtaining aid from the Abnaquis. These responded favorably, promising to furnish maintenance sufficient for about three-fifths of Champlain's people until succor should arrive. The other Indians, however, the Montagnais and Algonquins, took advantage of the emergency, and manifested, both in demeanor and hostile acts, their enmity to the French.

Having contrived to sustain a precarious existence up to the middle of July, 1629, the French witnessed, instead of the expected fleet from France, the English, under Louis and Thomas Kirke, brothers of Sir David, who remained at Tadoussac, making their appearance off Point Levi. Provisions were very scarce, as well as ammunition and all other means of defence; and there seemed to be no prospect of immediate succor. He had with him only sixteen persons who could in any sense be styled combatants. An officer landed, bringing with him very liberal terms, upon which Champlain and his followers might honorably surrender a post which, in their circumstances, was utterly untenable. Champlain and Pontegrave, who was present, acceded, and the conditions having been ratified by Sir David Kirke at Tadoussac, the English, without resistance, took possession of the fort, magazine, and habitations of Quebec. Before actually yielding up his post, the high-minded Champlain went on board the vessel of Captain Louis Kirke, and stipulated for the security of the place of worship and quarters of the Jesuits and Recollets, as well as for the protection of the property of the widow Hebert and her son-in-law, Couillard. On July 24, 1629, Champlain and the priests, together with all who chose to depart, embarked on board the vessel of Thomas Kirke, and after some delay at Tadoussac, were carried to England, and thence suffered to pass into France.[6]

[6] When Champlain, accompanied by Pontegrave, went on board Louis Kirke's vessel, on the 20th, he demanded to be shown the commission from the King of England in virtue of which the seizure of the country was made. The two, as being persons whose reputation had spread throughout Europe, were received with profound respect; and after Champlain's request relative to the commission had been complied with, it was stipulated that the inhabitants should leave with their arms and baggage, and be supplied with provisions and means of transport to France. About four days were needed to procure the sanction of the admiral, David Kirke, at Tadoussac, and then Champlain, with a heavy heart, attended by his followers, embarked in the English ship. He says in his memoirs—"Since the surrender every day seems to me a month." On the way down the St. Lawrence, Emery de Caen was met, above Tadoussac, in a vessel with supplies for Quebec. Kirke is said to have desired Champlain to use his influence with De Caen to induce him to surrender without resistance, which, however, the noble-minded man declined. Bazilli was reported to be in the gulf with a French fleet, but nevertheless De Caen felt obliged to surrender, as the Kirkes had two ships to oppose his one. De Caen told Champlain that he believed peace was already signed between the two crowns.

Thus ended, for the time, Champlain's effort to found and establish a colony at Quebec—an attempt persevered in during twenty years, in spite of discouragement and obstacles which would have conquered the zeal of any man of that age excepting Champlain, who alone, even now, when taken prisoner and carried out of the country, did not despair of ultimate success.[7]

[7] A few, by Champlain's advice, accepted the offers of the English to remain under their protection in the possession of their habitations and clearings. They were to enjoy the same privileges as the English themselves. A number of the French traders also remained, but betook themselves to the west and into the Huron country, where they lived with the Indians until the country was restored to France, about three years subsequently. Louis Kirke was left in command at Quebec.

Cardinal Richelieu, the prime minister of Louis XIII, founded the society called the "Company of the One Hundred Associates." It was established, not merely to put an end to the various obstacles and evils under which the colony languished, but also to place its future upon a strong and durable basis. Its organization was completed in the year 1627, and the first expedition under its auspices was entered upon in 1628, but proved an entire failure, owing to the English having then the control of the St. Lawrence, and capturing or destroying the vessels sent out under M. de Roguemont. Then occurred, as we have described, the surrender of Quebec and the other stations, and their occupation by the English under the Kirkes. The existence of the new company, and its government of the affairs of the colony can scarcely be said to have commenced, practically, until the year 1632, when New France was, by treaty with England, restored to the French authorities.

Pursuant to arrangements, Emery de Caen, furnished with instructions from the Government of France, and with an order signed by the King of England, superseded Thomas Kirke at Quebec on July 13,1632. On landing with the priests who were sent out on board De Caen's vessels, it was found that much injury had been done in the place. Fire, violence, and wilful neglect had been instrumental in destroying nearly all the buildings, including those of the Jesuits and Recollets. It was also found that the old friends of the French—the Montagnais and other Indians—had been much corrupted by the traders with whom they had held intercourse during the three preceding years. The fort itself remained uninjured, and afforded shelter to all while the work of reconstructing habitations and a place of worship was carried on.

In the mean time Champlain made preparations in France for carrying out colonists, merchandise, ammunition, and provisions. The company furnished him with three vessels, well equipped, and armed with cannon. With these, having on board about two hundred persons, he arrived at Quebec on May 23, 1633, and landed amid manifestations of great joy on the part of the French inhabitants, more especially of those who had remained in the country after his forced departure.

From the moment of his return to Canada until his decease, Champlain occupied himself diligently in providing for the material progress of the colony, and at the same time cooeperated heartily in all measures for securing its religious welfare, and for converting the savages. While occupied with various duties appertaining to his position, about October 10, 1635, Champlain was laid prostrate by a stroke of paralysis. In his last illness, he was attended by his friend and spiritual adviser, Charles Lalemant, the author of the Relation of 1626, and, during the previous ten years, a most efficient coadjutor in his work. At length, on Christmas Day, 1635, the pious and amiable founder of Quebec breathed his last, bequeathing his blessing to his bereaved people, together with the memory of his virtues and of his great services.



CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY

EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME

A.D. 1558-1608

JOHN RUDD, LL.D.

Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals following give volume and page.

Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of famous persons, will be found in the Index Volume, with volume and page references showing where the several events are fully treated.

A.D.

1558. Calais, the last English possession in France, taken by De Guise. See "ENGLAND LOSES HER LAST FRENCH TERRITORY," X, 1.

Death of Bloody Queen Mary; accession of Elizabeth in England. See "REIGN OF ELIZABETH," X, 8.

Marriage of the Dauphin, Francis, with Mary Stuart, Queen of the Scots.

Battle of Gravelines; victory of the Spaniards, under Egmont, over the French.

1559. A new act of supremacy passed in England, firmly establishing Protestantism.

Treaty of peace (Cateau-Cambrecis) between England, France, and Spain.

Iconoclastic outbreaks in Scotland, due to the teachings of John Knox. See "JOHN KNOX HEADS THE SCOTTISH REFORMERS," X, 21.

Institution of the papal Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

1560. Conspiracy of Amboise, by the Huguenots, for the overthrow of the Guises, in France; death of Francis II, Charles IX succeeds; Catherine de' Medici controls the government as regent. Arrest of Conde.

Queen Elizabeth of England and the Scottish Reformers conclude a pact of alliance. Death of the Regent, Mary of Guise; Mary Stuart and her husband, Francis II, arrange the treaty of Edinburgh with Elizabeth and the Reformers. Passing by the Scotch Parliament of the Statutes of Reformation.

1561. Queen Mary Stuart returns to Scotland. See "MARY STUART: HER REIGN AND EXECUTION," X, 51.

Rebellion of Shane O'Neil in Ireland.

Edict against the Reformers, now called Huguenots; Conde and Coligny prepare to take up arms.

1562. Submission and pardon of Shane O'Neil.

Edict of St. Germain; it grants toleration to the Huguenots; massacre of Huguenots at Vassy and other cities; defeat of the Huguenot army under Conde and Coligny.

Attempted settlement of the Huguenots on the coast of South Carolina.

1563. Assassination of the Duc de Guise at the siege of Orleans.

Publication of the Thirty-nine Articles in England.[1]

[1] See 1552.

Publication by the Calvinists of the Heidelberg Catechism.

Beginning of the construction of the Escurial, Spain, by Philip II.

1564. Death of Ferdinand I; Maximilian II succeeds in the German empire, the archduchy of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia.

Settlement of a Huguenot colony on the St. John's River, Florida. See "FOUNDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE," X, 70.

Birth of Shakespeare.

1565. Marriage of Queen Mary Stuart with Darnley. See "MARY STUART: HER REIGN AND EXECUTION," X, 51.

Brilliant defence of Malta by La Valette against the Turks, led by Mustapha Pacha.

Massacre of the Huguenots in Florida. See "FOUNDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE," X, 70.

1566. A petition of rights presented to the Regent by nobles of the Netherlands. See "REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS AGAINST SPAIN," X, 81.

Moscow sacked by the Crim Tartars.

Murder of Rizzio by Darnley. See "MARY STUART: HER REIGN AND EXECUTION," X, 51.

1567. Defeat and assassination of Shane O'Neil.

Renewal of the civil-religious war in France; Battle of St. Denis.

Murder of Darnley; Mary marries Bothwell; she is imprisoned and compelled to resign the crown. See "MARY STUART: HER REIGN AND EXECUTION," X, 51.

Organization of the "Council of Blood" by the Duke of Alva, on his arrival in the Netherlands as Spanish governor.

Founding of the Royal Exchange, London.

1568. Peace of Longjumeau with the Huguenots; assembling of Protestant leaders at La Rochelle.

Thousands of the better classes of the Netherlands take refuge in England from the persecutions of the Spaniards.

Execution of Egmont and Horn at Brussels; arms taken against the Spaniards by Louis of Nassau and William of Orange, his brother.

1569. Insurrection of Roman Catholics in England.

Battle of Jarnac; defeat of the Huguenots; Conde taken and shot; Coligny defeated at Moncontour.

Under the sovereignty of the Medici is created the grand duchy of Tuscany out of the Florentine dominions.

1570. Murra, Regent of Scotland, assassinated; the English invade that country; Earl Lennox made regent.

Revolt of the Moors in Spain crushed by John of Austria.

1571. Battle of Lepanto; the Holy League, consisting of Spain, Venice, and the Pope, wins a great victory over the Turks. See "BATTLE OF LEPANTO," X, 100.

Dumbarton, the main stronghold of the adherents of Mary Stuart, falls into the possession of the Earl of Lennox.

The Thirty-nine Articles are made binding on the clergy of the Church of England.

1572. Trial, condemnation, and execution of the Duke of Norfolk for conspiracy, in England.

Marriage of Margaret of Valois, sister of Charles IX, with Henry of Navarre; Massacre of St. Bartholomew. See "MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW," X, 119.

Rising of the Dutch against their Spanish oppressors; recognition of the authority of William of Orange.

1573. Successful defence of La Rochelle; the treaty of La Rochelle grants toleration to the Huguenots.

Haarlem reduced by the Spaniards; they besiege Leyden. See "HEROIC AGE OF THE NETHERLANDS," X, 145.

Building of Manila which is made the seat of the Spanish viceroy in the Philippines.

1574. Coronation of Henry, Duke of Anjou, as King of Poland; he becomes King of France on the death of his brother, Charles IX; he abandons Poland.

1575. Queen Elizabeth of England is offered the sovereignty of the Netherlands.

Foundation of the University of Leyden, in commemoration of the siege and relief of that city.

Stephen Bathori, Prince of Transylvania, elected king of Portugal.

1576. Devastation of Italy by the plague; Titian, the painter, is one of the victims.

First voyage of Frobisher in search of a northwest passage. See "SEARCH FOR THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE BY FROBISHER," X, 156.

Organization by Henry, Duke of Guise, of the Catholic League against the Huguenots.

Appointment of Don John of Austria as governor of the Netherlands, by his half-brother, Philip II of Spain.

"BUILDING OF THE FIRST THEATRE IN ENGLAND." See X, 163.

1577. Peace of Bergerac, the sixth one between Henry III and the Huguenots.

Many of Titian's finest works destroyed in a great fire at Venice.

Sailing of Sir Francis Drake on his circumnavigation of the globe.

1578. Treaty of alliance concluded between England and the Netherlands.

Invasion of Morocco by King Sebastian of Portugal; he is defeated and slain at Alcazar-Quivir.

Battle of Gembloux; great victory of Don John; on his death the Duke of Parma succeeds as Spanish governor of the Netherlands.

Attempt of the Norwegians to interrupt the English commerce with Archangel; Queen Elizabeth asserts the right freely to navigate all seas.

1579. Union of Utrecht; foundation of the Dutch Republic.

A force of Spaniards invade Ireland.

Confinement of Tasso as a lunatic by the Duke of Ferrara.

1580. Persecution by the Protestants of Jesuits and seminary priests in England.

Outlawry of William of Orange, by Philip II of Spain, inviting his assassination.

Seizure of Portugal by Philip II.

1581. Conquest of Siberia by the Cossacks. See "COSSACK CONQUEST OF SIBERIA," x, 181.

Declaration of independence formally issued by the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands.

Founding of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

1582. Reformation of the calendar by Gregory XIII. October 5th of this year is made October 15th.

1583. Gilbert takes possession of Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth. See "FIRST COLONY OF ENGLAND BEYOND SEAS," x, 198.

Failing in his treacherous attempt on Antwerp the Duke of Anjou retires into France, covered with disgrace.

1584. Assassination of William, Prince of Orange, at the instigation of Philip II of Spain. See "ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM OF ORANGE," x, 202.

Alliance between Philip II and the Catholic League.

Queen Elizabeth dismisses the Spanish ambassador Mendoza.

Having embraced Protestantism the Archbishop of Cologne is expelled his territories.

Visit of Sir Walter Raleigh's men to South Carolina; the name Virginia given to the district. See "NAMING OF VIRGINIA: FIRST DESCRIPTION OF THE INDIANS," x, 211.

1585. Renewal of the war against the Huguenots, the "War of the Three Henrys."

Capture of Antwerp by Parma; an English army sent to aid the Dutch.

Attack on the Spanish settlements in the West Indies by a powerful English fleet under Drake and Frobisher.

Ambassadors from Japan received at Rome by Pope Gregory XIII.

Coaches first used in England.

1586. An unsuccessful settlement made by Raleigh's men on Roanoke Island.

Trial and condemnation of Mary Stuart. See "MARY STUART: HER REIGN AND EXECUTION," X, 51.

Conspiracy of Babbington against Queen Elizabeth.

Drake returns with an immense booty; he takes back the Virginian colonists; they introduce potatoes and tobacco into England.

1587. Henry of Navarre defeats the army of Henry III at Coutras.

Sigismund Vasa elected King of Poland.

Expedition of Drake against the Spanish harbors. See "DRAKE CAPTURES CARTAGENA," X, 230.

Cabal of "the Sixteen" in Paris.

1588. Publication of the first English newspaper, by Lord Burghley, The English Mercury. It announced the defeat of the Invincible Armada. See "DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA," X, 251.

Revolt against Henry III in Paris; "Day of the Barricades."

1589. End of the Valois line in France; inauguration of the Bourbon dynasty.

Invention of the stocking-knitting frame by Lee, of Cambridge, England.

1590. Battle of Ivry; Henry IV defeats the Catholic League; he lays siege to Paris, which is relieved by the Duke of Parma.

Establishment of the first paper-mill in England.

Publication of three books of Spenser's Faerie Queene, the Arcadia of Sidney, and part of Marlowe's Tamburlane.

1591. Elizabeth sends an army to assist Henry IV in France; it besieges Rouen; it is relieved by Parma.

1592. Introduction of the sale of books at the fair of Leipsic.

Building of the Theatre Francais at Paris.

Abolishment of Episcopacy and establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland.

1593. "HENRY OF NAVARRE ACCEPTS CATHOLICISM." See X, 276.

Severe enactments against the recusants in England.

Conformation to Catholicism by Henry IV; Pope Clement VIII refuses to absolve him. The Parliament of Paris declares against foreign interference and female succession.

Publication of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis.

1594. Jesuits expelled Paris.

Coronation of Henry IV at Chartres; Paris opens its gates to him.

1595. Declaration of war against Spain by Henry IV.

1596. Crushing defeat of the Austrians by the Turks in Hungary.

Writing of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare.

Capture of Cadiz by Essex and Howard.

1597. Rebellion in Ireland of Tyrone.

Abolition of the Hanseatic League's privileges in England.

1598. Toleration granted to the Huguenots.

Treaty of Vervins, securing peace between France and Spain.

Founding of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, England.

Shakespeare performs in his own plays at the new Globe theatre, London.

1599. Essex sent to Ireland to crush the rebellion there; he treats with the rebel leader.

Attempt of Sigismund Vasa to establish Catholicism in Sweden; he loses the crown.

1600. Establishment of the English East India Company.

Invasion and occupation of Savoy by the French; marriage of Henry IV with Marie de' Medici.

Giordano Bruno burned in Rome as an obstinate heretic.

1601. Suppression of the rebellion in Ireland; complete tranquillity restored by Mountjoy, Elizabeth's general.

Commencement of the siege of Ostend by Archduke Albert of Austria.

Enactment of the earliest "poor law in England."

1602. Beheading of the Due de Biron for conspiring against King Henry IV.

Failure of the Duke of Savoy in an attempt to seize Geneva.

Attempted settlement of Bartholomew Gosnold on the coast of Massachusetts.

1603. Death of Queen Elizabeth; James VI of Scotland succeeds as James I, King of Great Britain.

"DOWNFALL OF IRISH LIBERTY." See X, 299.

Committal to the Tower of Sir Walter Raleigh, on a charge of conspiring to place Arabella Stuart on the English throne.

Publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet. See "CULMINATION OF DRAMATIC LITERATURE IN 'HAMLET,'" X, 287.

A French colony founded at Port Royal, Acadia; now Nova Scotia.

1604. Conference at Hampton Court between English prelates and Puritans, James I presiding.

Ostend surrenders to the Spanish general, Spinola.

1605. Detection of the Gunpowder Plot. See "THE GUNPOWDER PLOT," X, 310.

Publication of Bacon's Advancement of Learning.

Cervantes' Don Quixote, Part I, published. See "CERVANTES' 'DON QUIXOTE' REFORMS LITERATURE," X, 325.

Death of the Russian Czar, Boris Godunoff; Fedor, his son, is dethroned; his successor being the first Pseudo-Demetrius. This impostor pretended to be Demetrius, a son of Ivan IV, who was put to death by Boris Godunoff in 1591.

Battle of Bassorah; defeat of the Turks by Abbas the Great, of Persia.

1606. A patent granted to the London and Plymouth companies for the purpose of American colonization.

Dethronement of the first Pseudo-Demetrius; he is slain; Shinski succeeds as Basil V.

Discovery of Australia by the Portuguese. See "EARLIEST POSITIVE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA," X, 340.

1607. Naval victory of the Hollanders over the Spaniards off Cape St. Vincent.

Foundation of Jamestown, Virginia. See "SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA," X, 350.

1608. Ireland secures an improved government from James I; the forfeited lands in Ulster are offered to Protestant settlers.

Foundation of Quebec by the French. See "FOUNDING OF QUEBEC," X, 366.

Formation of the Evangelical Union by the Protestant German states.

END OF VOLUME X