men of standing, with enough capital and influence to organize an
expedition. In respect, however, of personality and circumstance there
were differences. By reason of advanced age De Chastes had been unable
to accompany his ships, whereas De Monts was in his prime and had
already made a voyage to the St Lawrence. Moreover, De Monts was a
Huguenot. A generation later no Huguenot could have expected to receive
a monopoly of the fur trade and a royal commission authorizing him to
establish settlements, but Henry IV, who had once been a Protestant,
could hardly treat his old co-religionists as Richelieu afterwards
treated them. The heresy of its founder was a source of weakness to
the first French colony in Acadia, yet through a Calvinist it came into
being.

Like De Chastes, De Monts had associates who joined with him to supply
the necessary funds, though in 1604. the investment was greater than on
any previous occasion, and a larger number were admitted to the benefits
of the monopoly. Not only did St Malo and Rouen secure recognition, but
La Rochelle and St Jean de Luz were given a chance to participate. De
Monts' company had a capital of 90,000 livres, divided in shares--of
which two-fifths were allotted to St Malo, two-fifths to La Rochelle
and St Jean de Luz conjointly, and the remainder to Rouen. The personal
investment of De Monts was somewhat more than a tenth of the total, as
he took a majority of the stock which fell to Rouen. Apart from Sully's
unfriendliness, the chief initial difficulty arose over religion. The
Parlement of Normandy refused to register De Monts' commission on the
ground that the conversion of the heathen could not fitly be left to
a heretic. This remonstrance was only withdrawn after the king had
undertaken to place the religious instruction of the Indians in the
charge of priests--a promise which did not prevent the Protestant
colonists from having their own pastor. The monopoly contained wider
privileges than before, including both Acadia and the St Lawrence. At
the same time, the obligation to colonize became more exacting, since
the minimum number of new settlers per annum was raised from fifty to a
hundred.

Champlain's own statement regarding the motive of De Monts' expedition
is that it lay in the desire 'to find a northerly route to China, in
order to facilitate commerce with the Orientals.' After reciting a
list of explorations which began with John Cabot and had continued at
inter