extremity, by the want of every article of food, clothing, imple ments and ammunition, and exposed to the incessant attacks of the Iroquois, Sir David Kirk, commanding an English squadron, appeared again before Quebec. The deplorable situation of the colony, and the very honorable terms of capitulation proposed by him, induced Champlain to surrender the fortress of Quebec, with all Canada, to the crown of England. Kirk's generosity to the colonists induced most of them to remain; but, in 1632, three years afterwards, Canada, with Acadia, was restored, by the treaty of St. Germains, to France. The following year, Champlain, who was most justly appointed governor, sailed with a squadron, carrying all necessary supplies, to Canada, where he found, on his arrival, most of his former colonists. The affairs of New France now assumed a more prosperous aspect; and means were adapted for maintaining all possible harmony among the inhabitants, and preventing, as far as practicable, those religious disturbances which had previously convulsed the colony. The company was taught, by former experience, that their indiscriminate acceptance of all who presented themselves as adventurers ready to embark for New France, constituted the leading cause of disorderly conduct and unsteady habits among the colonists; and it was therefore determined that in future none but men and women of unexceptionable character should be sent to New France. In 1635, the Marquis de Gamoche, who had, some years before, joined the society of the Jesuits, commanded the establishment of that order at Quebec; and we must acknowledge that this institution was, for the time, very useful in maintaining order, and preserving or inculcating morality, among the colonists. The death of Champlain, who was drowned this year in the lake which bears his name, was a grievous misfortune to Canada. In establishing and maintaining the colony, he surmounted difficulties that few men would have had courage to encounter, and under which thousands of men, with minds even above the common standard, would have succumbed. The soundness of his judgment, which led him to conclude that a region possessing such advantages as Canada, must, in the common course of events, become a great empire, stimulated and supported him in prose cuting, with undaunted perseverance, the vast undertaking in which he engaged. During the greater part of his active life, the sole object of his heart was to become the founder of a colony, which, he felt confident, would eventually attain to a summit of extraordinary power and grandeur. His anticipations have, since that period, been realized beyond those cf most men who CANADA. 269 have spent their lives, like him, in great undertakings. After his death, however, although the governor, M. de Montmagny, entered into the views of his predecessor, yet, as he lacked the experience, the scientific and professional abilities, and probably the confidence of the inhabitants, which his predecessor had enjoyed, the improvements of the society slackened, and the fur trade alone seems to have been followed with any spirit. The ardent spirit of enthusiasm which went forth during that age, to accomplish the conversion of the aborigines of America, led to the establishment of religious institutions in Canada; and although these establishments did little for the immediate improvement of the colony, yet, as points of possession, occupied by persons whose avocations were professedly holy and useful, they formed the foundation on which arose the superstructure of those morals and habits that still, and will long, characterize the GalloCanadians. The conduct of the nuns was, however, highly reprobated in the following century. The company of New France, who fulfilled none of the stipulations of their charter, and who also found means to prevent the complaints of the inhabitants being heard, by the ministers of the crown, did nothing towards settling or cultivating the country; and the forts which they erected at Richelieu and other places, were merely posts of defence, or store-houses for carrying on the fur trade. The habits of those employed in the service of the company, were also described as generally licentious, with characters stamped with infamy. From among those men arose the race of vagabonds, known since that period by the name of Coureurs du Bois. Under such management, Canada languished for several years, while the Iroquois, with more experience in war, continued to harass the colony with unabated ferocity. The settlement at Montreal, which was very much exposed to the ravages of the Iroquois, suffered severely, and its extinction was only prevented by the arrival of M. D'Aillebout, in 1647, from France, with a reinforcement of one hundred men. In 1658, the Marquis d'Argenson arrived in Canada with the commission of governor-general; and in the following summer Laval, Abbe de Montigny, and titular Bishop of Petrie, landed at Quebec, with a brief from the pope constituting him apostolic vicar. Curacies were at the same time established in Canada. The condition of the colony, at this period, appears to have been truly wretched. Its defence and support were completely neglected by the company of New France, the associates of which, reduced to forty in number, at last gave up even the fur trade, for the seigneurial acknowledgement of one thousand beaver skins. The Iroquois, who had spread terrible destruction among their old enemies, the Hurons and Algonquins, seemed also determined at this time to exterminate the French, and several hundreds of their warriors kept Quebec in a state little short of actual blockade, while another band massacred a great number of the settlers at Montreal. The governor, who complained of ill health, requested his recall, and, in 1661, he was relieved by the Baron D'Avargour, an officer of great integrity and resolution, but considered too inflexible for the situation he held. His decisive measures appear, however, to have saved Canada; the defenceless state of which, and the natural beauty and importance of the country, he stated in such forcible language to the king, who was previously ignorant of its value or condition, that he immediately ordered four hundred troops, with all necessary supplies, to Canada, accompanied by a special commission. Their arrival gave life and confidence to the colonists, who were then, for the first time, enabled to cultivate the soil with any security. A tremendous earthquake, which seems to have agitated the whole of Canada and a vast extent of the adjacent countries in 1663, is described by the French writers of that time, as accompanied by the most alarming phenomena, rendered more than usually terrific by the continuation of the shocks for nearly six months. About the same time, on the 5th of February, a loud rumbling noise, seemingly occasioned by the detonation of the atmosphere, was heard throughout the whole of these regions. The terrified inhabitants, having never heard of an earthquake in the country, at first conceived their houses to be on fire, and immediately flew out of doors, when their astonishment was increased by the violent agitation of the earth and everything on its surface. The walls shook, the bells of the churches rang, and the doors flew open and closed again of themselves. The forest trees were seen all in violent motion, some thrown up by the roots, then with their tops bending nearly to the ground, first to one side, then to the other, or laid prostrate on the surface, from which again they were thrown up into the air. The ice, which covered the lakes and rivers, in many places some feet thick, was broken open, and frequently thrown, with rocks and mud from the bottom, up into the air. Clouds of dust obscured the sky. The waters were impregnated with sulphur, exhibiting yellow or reddish colors. From Tadousac to Quebec, about one hundred and thirty miles, the St. Lawrence appeared white and thickly impregnated with sulphureous matter. The convulsion of elements produced the most awful and incessant sounds, roaring at one time like the sea, then reverber CANADA. 271 ating like the rolling of thunder, and again as if mountains were bursting, and the rocks which composed them cracking and rolling over each other. The darkness was rendered still nore awful by the frequent flashes of lightning, or by the lamentations of the women, the cries of the children, and the howling of dogs and other animals. Walrusses and porpoises were said to have been seen as far up the St. Lawrence as Three Rivers, where they never appeared before, as if equally terrified with the inhabitants of the land; the former howling in the piteous manner peculiar to them. The first shock continued without intermission, for about half an hour; this was followed by a second, equally violent. Thirty shocks were numbered during the night, and the whole country continued to be violently agitated at intervals until the end of July. The company of New France, who had all along mismanaged the affairs of Canada, and who even lost the vast profits of its trade by neglecting, from ill-timed avarice, to provide for the exigencies of the colony, at length surrendered their charter to the king, the powers and immunities of which were transferred, in 1664, to the company of the West Indies. CHAPTER XXVIII. Tranquillity of the colony.-Mortality among the savages.-Voyages of Joliet Marquette.-Discovery of the Ohio, the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. Voyages of La Salla, Tonti and Hennipen.-English expedition against Querer.. -Ravages of the Iroquois.-Administration of De Vandreu.-An Engush army poisoned by the savages.-General state of Canada.-Indian massacres — Wolfe's expedition.-Capture of Quebec.-Submission of the whole provinc to the British. FROM the year 1668, we find the affairs of Canada so far prosperous, that little apprehension was entertained as to the colony being established on a permanent foundation, although the ferocity of the savages left no grounds for expecting a cessation of hostilities for any definite period. The fur trade, however, was in a great measure intercepted by a fatal calamity, previously unknown to the inhabitants of the western world. The small pox, more terrible to the savages than all the fire-arms of Europe, made its appearance this year among the tribes north of the St. Lawrence; and its ravages carried off more than half their number. This contagion and the use of ardent spirits have probably since that time destroyed a greater portion of the aborigines of North Amer |