The Makers of Canada: ChamplainDionne, N.-E. (Narcisse-Eutrope)
History
The Makers of Canada: Champlain
Dionne, N.-E. (Narcisse-Eutrope)
Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); Champlain, Samuel de, 1574-1635
Eustache Boulle, the brother of Helene de St. Augustin, became a
convert to Catholicism through the intervention of his sister, and
entered the Minim order. He was sent to Italy, where he lived for six
years. During his sojourn there his sister sent to him one thousand
livres a year, and at her death she bequeathed to him the sum of six
thousand livres, and all her chattels, together with a pension of four
hundred livres for life.
All those who have carefully studied the life of Champlain, have been
impressed by the many brilliant qualities which he possessed. Some have
praised his energy, his courage, his loyalty, his disinterestedness, and
his probity. Others have admired the charity which he exhibited towards
his neighbours, his zeal, his practical faith, his exalted views and his
perseverance. The fact is, that in Champlain all these qualities were
united to a prominent degree.
The contemporaries of Champlain did not perhaps appreciate his merits,
or his heroic efforts as a founder. This is not altogether singular, for
even in the physical world one cannot rightly estimate the altitude of a
mountain by remaining close to its base, but at a distance a just
appreciation of its proportions may be obtained.
If the contemporaries of Champlain failed to render him justice,
posterity has made amends, and Time, the sole arbitrator of fame, has
placed the founder of Quebec upon a pedestal of glory which will become
more brilliant as the centuries roll on. Nearly three centuries had
elapsed since the heroic Saintongeais first set foot on the soil of
Canada, when, at the close of the nineteenth century, a spectacle was
witnessed in the city of his foundation which proved that the name of
Champlain was graven on the hearts of all Canadians. The ceremonies
attending the inauguration of the splendid monument which now adorns
Quebec, have become a matter of history, and seldom could such a scene
be repeated again. France and England, the two great nations from which
Canadians have descended, each paid homage to the illustrious founder;
nor can we forget the noble tribute which was paid by the latest English
governor, representing Her Majesty Queen Victoria, to the first French
governor, representing His Majesty the King of France and of Navarre.
It is seldom that the deeds of the great men of past ages have been more
fittingly remembered. Champlain, as we have previously remarked,
possessed in an eminent degree all the qualities necessary for a
founder, and his character is therefore exceptional, for over and above
all the heroism he displayed, all his perseverance, his devotion to his
country, we behold the working of a Christian mind, and the desire to
propagate the faith of his fathers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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