Although the evident aim of the brotherhood is to paralyze intellectual life in others, nothing is left undone to give vitality to their own. The Jesuit regards his society as the soul or citadel of Catholic theocracy, and sacrifices to it every social tie, his free will, and his life: fired with its gigantic ambition and its pride, they become his faith and morals; his constant idea is the hope of his order's universal sway; in darkness and secrecy, with patience and invincible perseverance, he works on at the labor of centuries, devoted to the one great purpose, the fulfillment of which his dilating eye sees through the vista of unborn generations. Yet this wonderful organization holds the eternal passion of its deep heart riveted upon an object ever unattainable; for the Jesuit seeks not to rear the supremacy of his Church upon the firm foundations of virtue, truth, and reason; his earnest toil is wasted on the shifting quicksands of ignorance and superstition; the loftier the building, the more complete and extensive must be the ruin. Nevertheless, through failure and success alike, his faith's somber fire burns unceasingly upon the inward altar of his soul. The merchants of Canada were chiefly of French, the retail dealers of native birth. From the nature of the colonial system, trade conferred neither wealth nor respect, except to the favored few enjoying monopolies. Every one in business was deeply involved by the depreciated bills of exchange upon the home government, and their only hope of ultimate payment rested upon the maintenance of the connection with the parent state. The trading classes may therefore be counted as generally hostile to the British power, but their importance was very small; like all the French race, they were more inclined to small trading transactions than those on a larger scale, and preferred enterprise to industry. It has been seen that one of the leading objects in the establishment of the colony was the trade in fur, especially that of the beaver; but the very abundance of this commodity ultimately proved of great detriment: the long and frequent journeys for the purpose of obtaining it gave the Canadians idle and wandering habits, which they could not shake off even when the low value of the now over-plentiful fur rendered their enterprises almost unprofitable.