“Champlain died at Quebec, generally and justly regretted.  M. de Champlain was, beyond contradiction, a man of merit, and may be well called, The Father of New France.  He had good sense, much penetration, very upright views, and no man was ever more skilled in adopting a course in the most complicated affairs.  What all admired most in him was his constancy in following up his enterprises, his firmness in the greatest dangers, a courage proof against the most unforeseen reverses and disappointments, ardent and disinterested patriotism, a heart tender and compassionate for the unhappy, and more attentive to the interests of his friends than his own, a high sense of honour and great probity.  His memoirs show that he was not ignorant of anything that one of his profession should know, and we find in him a faithful and sincere historian, an attentively observant traveller, a judicious writer, a good mathematician and an able mariner.

“But what crowns all these good qualities is the fact that in his life, as well as in his writings, he shows himself always a truly Christian man, zealous for the service of God, full of candour and religion.  He was accustomed to say what we read in his memoirs, ’That the salvation of a single soul was worth more than the conquest of an empire, and that kings should seek to extend their domain in heathen countries only to subject them to Christ.’  He thus spoke especially to silence those who, unduly prejudiced against Canada, asked what France would gain by settling it.  Our kings, it is known, always spoke like Champlain on this point; and the conversion of the Indians was the chief motive which, more than once, prevented their abandoning a colony, the progress of which was so long retarded by our impatience, our inconstancy, and the blind cupidity of a few individuals.  To give it a more solid foundation, it only required more respect for the suggestions of M. de Champlain, and more seasonable belief on the part of those who placed him in his position.  The plan which he proposed was but too well justified by the failure of opposite maxims and conduct.”

In 1880, the Reverend E.F.  Slafter,[30] a Protestant minister, gave to the American nation an appreciative description of the virtues of Champlain, from which we quote the following passage:  “In completing this memoir the reader can hardly fail to be impressed, not to say disappointed, by the fact that results apparently insignificant should thus far have followed a life of able, honest, unselfish, heroic labour.  The colony was still small in numbers, the acres subdued and brought into cultivation were few, and the aggregate yearly products were meagre.  But it is to be observed that the productiveness of capital and labour and talent, two hundred and seventy years ago, cannot well be compared with the standards of to-day.  Moreover, the results of Champlain’s career are insignificant rather in appearance than in reality.  The work which he did was in laying foundations, while