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
real