ather de Quen has succeeded him with the same inclination for ceremony.
I frankly confess that my heart melted the first time I assisted in this
divine service, at the sight of our Frenchmen so greatly rejoicing to
hear sung aloud and publicly the praises of the great God in the midst
of a barbarous people, at the sight of little children speaking the
Christian language in another world.... Monsieur Gand's zeal in
exercising all his energies to cause our French to love these solemn and
public devotions, seems to me very praiseworthy. But the regulations of
Monsieur our governor, his very remarkable example, and the piety of the
more prominent people, hold all in the line of duty."

When Champlain was on his deathbed he was aware that his promise had
been fulfilled. Notre Dame de la Recouvrance was then a nice church, and
it was due to his labours. By his last will he bequeathed to this church
all his personal chattels, and three thousand livres in stock of the
Company of New France, and nine hundred livres which he had invested in
a private company founded by some associates, together with a sum of
four hundred livres from his private purse. It was the whole fortune of
the first governor of New France. This will was afterwards contested
and annulled, and the church was only allowed to receive the sum of nine
hundred livres, which had been realized from the sale of his personal
property. This sum was devoted to the purchase of a pyx, a silver gilt
chalice, and a basin and cruets.

Several gifts were made for the decoration of the church of Notre Dame
de la Recouvrance. Duplessis-Bochart presented two pictures, one
representing the Blessed Virgin, and the other the Holy Family. De
Castillon, seignior of the Island of Orleans, offered four small
pictures, one of St. Ignace de Loyola, of St. Francois Xavier, of St.
Stanislas de Kostka, and of St. Louis de Gonzagne, and also a large
engraving of Notre Dame. Champlain had also placed on one of the walls a
painting which had been rescued from the shipwreck during Father
Noyrot's voyage.

During the year after Champlain's death, the Jesuits consecrated the
church of Notre Dame de la Recouvrance under the name of the Immaculate
Conception, which from that date was the special patron of the parochial
church of Quebec.

The inauguration of this patronage afforded an opportunity for public
rejoicing. On December 7th, 1636, a flag was hoisted on the fort and the
cannon were fire