In the following year, a signal service was rendered to the colony by a worthy priest named Duplessys: he had been engaged for some time at Three Rivers in the instruction of the savages, and had happily so far gained their esteem, that some of his pupils informed him of a conspiracy among all the neighboring Indian tribes for the utter destruction of the French; eight hundred chiefs and warriors had assembled to arrange the plan of action. Duplessys contrived, with consummate ability, to gain over some of the principal Indians to make advances toward a reconciliation with the white men, and, by degrees, succeeded in arranging a treaty, and in causing two chiefs to be given up as hostages for its observance.
For several years Champlain was constantly obliged to visit France for the purpose of urging on the tardily provided aids for the colony. The court would not interest itself in the affairs of New France since a company had undertaken their conduct, and the merchants, always limited in their views to mere commercial objects, cared but little for the fate of the settlers so long as their warehouses were stored with the valuable furs brought by the Indian hunters. These difficulties would doubtless have smothered the infant nation in its cradle, had it not been for the untiring zeal and constancy of its great founder. At every step he met with new trials from the indifference, caprice, or contradiction of his associates, but, with his eye steadily fixed upon the future, he devoted his fortune and the energies of his life to the cause, and rose superior to every obstacle.
In 1620, the Prince of Condé sold the vice-royalty of New France to his brother-in-law, the Marshal de Montmorenci, for eleven thousand crowns. The marshal wisely continued Champlain as lieutenant governor, and intrusted the management of colonial affairs in France to M. Dolu, a gentleman of known zeal and probity. Champlain being hopeful that these changes would favorably affect Canada, resolved now to establish his family permanently in that country. Taking them with him, he sailed from France in the above-named year, and arrived at Quebec in the end of May. In passing by Tadoussac, he found that some adventurers of Rochelle had opened a trade with the savages, in violation of the company's privileges, and had given the fatal example of furnishing the hunters with fire-arms in exchange for their peltries.
A great danger menaced the colony in the year 1621. The Iroquois sent three large parties of warriors to attack the French settlements. This savage tribe feared that if the white men obtained a footing in the country, their alliance with the Hurons and Algonquins, of which the effects had already been felt, might render them too powerful. The first division marched upon Sault St. Louis, where a few Frenchmen were established. Happily, there was warning of their approach; the defenders, aided by some Indian allies, repulsed them with much loss, and took several prisoners. The Iroquois had, however, seized Father Guillaume Poulain, one of the Recollets, in their retreat; they tied him to a stake, and were about to burn him alive, when they were persuaded to exchange the good priest for one of their own chiefs, who had fallen into the hands of the French. Another party of these fierce marauders dropped down the river to Quebec in a fleet of thirty canoes, and suddenly invested the Convent of the Recollets, where a small fort had been erected; they did not venture to attack this little stronghold, but fell upon some Huron villages near at hand, and massacred the helpless inhabitants with frightful cruelty; they then retreated as suddenly as they had come. Alarmed by this ferocious attack, which weakness and the want of sufficient supplies prevented him from avenging, Champlain sent Father Georges le Brebeuf as an agent, to represent to the king the deplorable condition of the colony, from the criminal neglect of the company. The appeal was successful; the company was suppressed, and the exclusive privilege transferred to Guillaume and Emeric de Caen, uncle and nephew.
The king himself wrote to his worthy subject Champlain, expressing high approval of his eminent services, and exhorting him to continue in the same career. This high commendation served much to strengthen his hands in the exercise of his difficult authority. He was embarrassed by constant disputes between the servants of the suppressed company, and those who acted for the De Caens; religious differences also served to embitter these dissensions, as the new authorities were zealous Huguenots.
This year Champlain discovered that his ancient allies, the Hurons, purposed to detach themselves from his friendship, and unite with the Iroquois for his destruction. To avert this danger, he sent among them Father Joseph la Caron and two other priests, who appear to have succeeded in their mission of reconciliation. The year after, he erected a stone fort[108] at Quebec for the defense of the settlement, which then only numbered fifty souls of all ages and sexes. As soon as the defenses were finished, Champlain departed for France with his family, to press for aid from the government for the distressed colony.
On his arrival, he found that Henri de Levi, duke de Ventadour, had purchased the vice-royalty of New France from the Marshal de Montmorenci, his uncle, with the view of promoting the spiritual welfare of Canada, and the general conversion of the heathen Indians to the Christian faith. He had himself long retired from the strife and troubles of the world, and entered into holy orders. Being altogether under the influence of the Jesuits, he considered them as the means given by heaven for the accomplishment of his views. The pious and exemplary Father Lallemant, with four other priests and laymen of the Order of Jesus, undertook the mission, and sailed for Canada in 1625. They were received without jealousy by their predecessors of the Recollets, and admitted under their roof on their first arrival.[109] The following year three other Jesuit fathers reached Quebec in a little vessel provided by themselves; many artisans accompanied them. By the aid of this re-enforcement, the new settlement soon assumed the appearance of a town.
The Huguenot De Caens used their powerful influence to foment the religious disputes now raging in the infant settlement;[110] they were also far more interested in the profitable pursuit of the fur trade than in promoting the progress of colonization; for these reasons, the Cardinal de Richelieu judged that their rule was injurious to the prosperity of the country; he revoked their privileges, and caused the formation of a numerous company of wealthy and upright men; to this he transferred the charge of the colony. This body was chartered under the name of "The Company of One Hundred Associates:"[111] their capital was 100,000 crowns; their privileges as follows: To be proprietors of Canada; to govern in peace and war; to enjoy the whole trade for fifteen years (except the cod and whale fishery), and the fur trade in perpetuity; untaxed imports and exports. The king gave them two ships of 300 tons burden each, and raised twelve of the principal members to the rank of nobility. The company, on their part, undertook to introduce 200 or 300 settlers during the year 1628, and 16,000 more before 1643, providing them with all necessaries for three years, and settling them afterward on a sufficient extent of cleared land for their future support. The articles of this agreement were signed by the Cardinal de Richelieu on the 19th of April, 1627, and subsequently approved by the king.
At this time the Indians were a constant terror to the settlers in Canada: several Frenchmen had been assassinated by the ruthless savages, and their countrymen were too feeble in numbers to demand the punishment of the murderers. Conscious of their strength, the natives became daily more insolent; no white man could venture beyond the settlement without incurring great danger. Building languished, and much of the cleared land remained uncultivated. Such was the disastrous state of the colony.
The commencement of the company's government was marked by heavy misfortune. The first vessels sent by them to America fell into the hands of the English, at the sudden breaking out of hostilities. In 1628, Sir David Kertk, a French Calvinist refugee in the British service, reached Tadoussac with a squadron, burned the fur houses of the free traders, and did other damage; thence he sent to Quebec, summoning Champlain to surrender. The brave governor consulted with Pontgravé and the inhabitants; they came to the resolution of attempting a defense, although reduced to great extremities, and sent Kertk such a spirited answer that he, ignorant of their weakness, did not advance upon the town. He, however, captured a convoy under the charge of De Roquemont, with several families on