dred and thirty-five years before the battle of the Plains of Abraham.

No blame can be attached to Champlain for this act, as famine pressed so closely on the colonists, that they were reduced to an allowance of five ounces of bread per day for each person. Kirkt's generosity to the settlers, who were his own countrymen, induced most of them to remain. Those who wished to go were allowed to depart with their arms, clothes and baggage, and, though the request to convey them home to France could not be complied. with, they were provided with a commodious passage by the way of England.

Champlain, with two little native girls, whom he had carefully educated, arrived at Dover, in England, on the 27th of October. He proceeded thence to London, for the purpose of conferring with the French ambassador. He soon afterward returned to France, where, his counsels prevailing at the court of Louis XIII, he was, upon the return of peace, again invested with the government of Canada.

CHAPTER III.

HISTORY OF NEW FRANCE, FROM THE WAR WITH THE ENGLISH IN 1629, TO THAT OF 1689-THE FRENCH AND THE IROQUOIS - COLONIAL HISTORY - THE GOVERNMENT OF FRONTENAC-DEFEAT OF THE ENGLISH.

THE English held possession of Canada for three years, but, attaching little or no value to the territory, they readily restored it to France at the Peace of St. Germain en Lage, which was concluded on the 19th of March, 1632. The great and good pioneer, Samuel Champlain, had the pleasure of reëntering his beloved country once more with a squadron, containing all necessary supplies. He resumed the government of the colony which he had so long fostered, and continued to administer all its affairs with singular prudence, resolution and courage.

Champlain continued to prosper the colony till 1635, when, full of honors and rich in public esteem and respect, he died, after an occasional residence in Quebec of nearly thirty years. His obsequies were performed with all the pomp the little colony could command, and his remains were followed to the grave with real sorrow by the clergy, the civil and military authorities, and the inhabitants of every class, each feeling deeply the loss of a tried friend.

The death of Champlain was the most grievous misfortune with which Canada had yet been visited. During the greater part of his active life the chief object of his heart was to become the founder of the colony which he felt confident would attain to a summit of extraordinary power and importance, and to civilize and convert its native inhabitants. So great was his zeal for religion that it was a common saying with him, "The salvation of one soul was of more value than the conquest of an empire."

It was at just about the period of his death that the religious

establishments, now so numerous, were commenced in Canada. Though they did little for the immediate improvement of the colony, yet they formed the foundation on which arose those morals and habits which still characterize the French Canadians, and which, in some instances, merit admiration. The first mover in this work of benevolence was the Marquis de Gamche, whose fervor had led him to join the order of Jesuits. He conceived the design of forming a college at Quebec, and was enabled by his friends to offer six thousand gold crowns for this purpose. His proposal was readily accepted and carried into effect. An institution for instructing the Indians was also established at Sillery, a few miles from Quebec. The Hotel Dieu, or House of God, was founded two years afterwards by a party of Ursuline nuns, who came out under the auspices of the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. Madame de Peltrie, also, a young widow of rank, engaged several sisters of the Ursulines at Tours, in France, whom she brought out, at her own expense, to Quebec, where they founded the Convent of St. Ursula.

The state of the Indian nations rendered the situation of M. de Montmagny, the governor, who succeeded Champlain in 1635, peculiarly critical. Owing to the weakness of the French, the Iroquois had advanced by rapid steps to great importance. They had completely humbled the power of the Algonquins, and closely pressed the Hurons, scarcely allowing their canoes to pass up and down the St. Lawrence. The governor was obliged to carry on a defensive warfare, and erected a fort at the Richelieu, by which river the Iroquois chiefly made their descents

At length these fierce people made proposals for a solid peace, which were received with great cordiality. The governor met their deputies at Three Rivers, where the Iroquois produced seventeen belts, which they had arranged along a cord fastened between two stakes. Their orator then came along and addressed Montmagny by the title of Oninthio, which signifies Great Mountain; and, though it was in reference to his name, they continued ever after to apply this term to the French governors, sometimes adding the respectful appellation of Father.

The orator declared their wish "to forget their songs of war,

and to resume the voice of cheerfulness." He then proceeded to explain the meaning of the belts. They expressed the calming of the spirit of war, the opening of the paths, the mutual visits to be paid, the feasts to be given, the restitution of the captives, and other friendly proceedings. In conformity to Indian etiquette, the governor delayed his answer for two days, and then bestowed as many presents as he had received belts, and, through an interpreter, expressed the most pacific sentiments. Piscaret, a great chief, then said, "Behold a stone, which I place on the sepulchre of those who were killed in the war, that no one may attempt to move their bones, and that every desire of avenging their death may be laid aside." Three discharges of cannon were considered as sealing the treaty. This engagement was for some time faithfully observed, and the Iroquois, the Algonquins and the Hurons forgot their deadly feuds, and mingled in the chase as if they had been one nation. M. de Montmagny appears to have commanded the general respect of the natives, but, owing to a change in the policy of the court, he was unexpectedly removed.

Montmagny was succeeded by M. d'Aillebout, who brought with him a reinforcement of one hundred men. The benevolent Margaret Bourgeois, too, at this time founded the institution of the Daughters of the Congregation at Montreal, which is at present one of the first female seminaries in the colony.

While the French settlements were thus advancing in Canada, those of England, on the eastern shore of America, were making an equally rapid progress. A union among them seemed so desirable to the new governor that he proposed to the New England colonies a close alliance between them and the French; one object of which was an engagement to assist each other, when necessary, in making war with the Five Nations. However desirous the English colonies might have been on other accounts to form such an alliance, the condition with respect to the Indians was not acceptable to them, and the negotiation was broken off. Of what effects this union, if it had taken place, would have been productive, it is impossible now to conjecture. There is no doubt but that the failure of the proposition must have had an important bearing upon the events which followed; first, in the continued rivalry of

the two nations, and afterwards in the wars between them, which did not end until the whole of Canada was subjected to Great Britain.

At this period the missionaries began to combine with their · religious efforts political objects, and employed all their influence in furthering the French power. Amongst other movements, they induced a number of Iroquois to leave their own country, and settle within the boundaries of the colony, but they do not appear to have succeeded in civilizing them. They found the Hurons, however, far more tractable and docile. It is said that nearly three thousand of them were baptized at one time. A considerable change soon appeared in this wild region, and the christianized Indians were united in the villages of Sillery, St. Joseph and St. Mary.

During the administration of M. d'Aillebout, the Iroquois renewed the war in all its fury, and these peaceable settlers found that their enemies could advance like foxes and attack like lions. While the missionary was celebrating the most solemn rites of his church, in the village of Sillery, the war cry was suddenly raised, and an indiscriminate massacre took place amongst the four hundred families residing there. Soon after, a band of the same people, amounting to a thousand, made an attack upon the mission of St. Ignace, and carried off or killed all the inhabitants except three. St. Louis was next attacked, and made a brave resistance, which enabled many of the women and children to escape. The missionaries could have saved themselves, but, attaching a high importance to the administration of the last sacrament to the dying, they sacrificed their lives to the performance of this sacred rite.

Deep and universal dismay now spread over the whole Huron tribe. Their land, lately so peaceable, was become a land of horror and blood, and a sepulchre for the dead. At length, the Iroquois began to make overtures of peace, to which it was found the missionaries had powerfully contributed. At first, these excellent men had been regarded with extreme antipathy, but many of them, after suffering protracted torture and partial mutilation, had been spared and adopted into the Indian families. Their meek deport