If we study the history of the mercantile companies from the years 1608 to 1627, we find on the one hand, a body of men absorbed by one idea, that of growing rich, and on the other hand, a man, anxious, it is true, to look after the material interests of the merchants and of the people, but hand in hand with this the desire to extend the dominion of his sovereign.  Here was a vast country, capable of producing great wealth, and struggling for its possession was a body of avaricious men, while valiantly guarding its infancy, we find a single champion, the heroic Champlain.  Champlain watched over the new settlement with the tender solicitude of a parent carefully protecting his offspring from danger, and ready to sacrifice his life to save it from disaster.  In small vessels of sixty or eighty tons, Champlain had repeatedly exposed his life to danger in crossing the ocean.  His health had also been exposed during the days and nights spent in the open forests, or when passing on the dangerous rivers in his efforts to explore new territory.  He was also constantly at the mercy of the Indians, whose treachery was proverbial.  Under all these dangers and through all these conditions, Champlain’s conduct was exemplary.  He was charitable as a missionary towards these poor children of the woods.  When threatened with hunger or malady, he relieved their wants and took care of the young children, some of whom he adopted.  Others again he placed in French families, hoping that sooner or later they would be baptized into the fold of Christ’s flock.  In his intercourse with the chiefs, Champlain took occasion to explain to them the rudiments of the Christian faith, hoping thereby to pave the way for the work of the missionaries.  Whenever he found any children that seemed more intelligent than usual, he sent them to France, where they could be instructed, and either enter a convent or take service in some good family.  And who can tell whether some of these children did not afterwards become missionaries to their own country?

Champlain’s prudence in his dealings with the savages was not less remarkable than his charity.  This conduct gave him an influence over the Indians that no other Frenchman was able to obtain.  The Indian tribes regarded Champlain as a father, but their love was mingled with a reverential fear, and every word and action was of deep significance to them.  They had faith in Champlain, which after all was not unusual, for he had never deceived them.  Though they were barbarous and uncouth, and generally untruthful, they could distinguish the false from the true from the lips of a Frenchman.  Being given to dissimulation themselves, they could appreciate sincerity in others.