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 labor. 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 labor 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 reality. The work which he did was in laying foundations, while the superstructure was to be reared in other years and by other hands. The palace or temple, by its lofty and majestic proportions, attracts the eye and gratifies the taste; but its unseen foundations, with their nicely adjusted arches, without which the superstructure would crumble to atoms, are not less the result of the profound knowledge and practical wisdom of the architect. The explorations made by Champlain early and late, the organization and planting of his colonies, the resistance of avaricious corporations, the holding of numerous savage tribes in friendly alliance, the daily administration of the affairs of the colony, of the savages, and of the corporation in France, to the eminent satisfaction of all generous and noble-minded patrons, and this for a period of more than thirty years, are proofs of an extraordinary combination of mental and moral qualities. Without impulsiveness, his warm and tender sympathies imparted to him an unusual power and influence over other men. He was wise, modest, and judicious in council, prompt, vigorous, and practical in administration, simple and frugal in his mode of life, persistent and unyielding in the execution of his plans, brave and valiant in danger, unselfish, honest, and conscientious in the discharge of duty. These qualities, rare in combination, were always conspicuous in Champlain, and justly entitle him to the respect and admiration of mankind. ENDNOTES: 117. _Vide Creuxius, Historia Canadensis_, pp 183, 184.