The settlement made little progress for many years. A company of merchants held the monopoly of its fur-trade, by which alone it lived. It was half trading-factory, half mission. Its permanent inmates4 did not exceed fifty or sixty persons,—fur-traders, friars, and two or three wretched families, who had no inducement and little wish to labor5. The fort is facetiously6 represented as having two old women for garrison7, and a brace8 of hens for sentinels. All was discord9 and disorder10. Champlain was the nominal11 commander; but the actual authority was with the merchants, who held, excepting the friars, nearly every one in their pay. Each was jealous of the other, but all were united in a common jealousy12 of Champlain. From a short-sighted view of self-interest, they sought to check the colonization13 which they were pledged to promote. The few families whom they brought over were forbidden to trade with the Indians, and compelled to sell the fruits of their labor to the agents of the company at a low, fixed14 price, receiving goods in return at an inordinate15 valuation. Some of the merchants were of Rouen, some of St. Malo; some were Catholics, some were Huguenots. Hence unceasing bickerings. All exercise of the Reformed Religion, on land or water, was prohibited within the limits of New France; but the Huguenots set the prohibition16 at nought17, roaring their heretical psalmody with such vigor18 from their ships in the river, that the unhallowed strains polluted the ears of the Indians on shore. The merchants of Rochelle, who had refused to join the company, carried on a bold, illicit19 traffic along the borders of the St. Lawrence, eluding20 pursuit, or, if hard pressed, showing fight; and this was a source of perpetual irritation21 to the incensed22 monopolists.
Champlain, in his singularly trying position, displayed a mingled23 zeal24 and fortitude25. He went every year to France, laboring26 for the interests of the colony. To throw open the trade to all competitors was a measure beyond the wisdom of the times; and he aimed only so to bind27 and regulate the monopoly as to make it subserve the generous purpose to which he had given himself. He had succeeded in binding28 the company of merchants with new and more stringent29 engagements; and, in the vain belief that these might not be wholly broken, he began to conceive fresh hopes for the colony. In this faith he embarked30 with his wife for Quebec in the spring of 1620; and, as the boat drew near the landing, the cannon31 welcomed her to the rock of her banishment32. The buildings were falling to ruin; rain entered on all sides; the court-yard, says Champlain, was as squalid and dilapidated as a grange pillaged33 by soldiers. Madame de Champlain was still very young. If the Ursuline tradition is to be trusted, the Indians, amazed at her beauty and touched by her gentleness, would have worshipped her as a divinity. Her husband had married her at the age of twelve; when, to his horror, he presently discovered that she was infected with the heresies34 of her father, a disguised Huguenot. He addressed himself at once to her conversion35, and his pious36 efforts were something more than successful. During the four years which she passed in Canada, her zeal, it is true, was chiefly exercised in admonishing37 Indian squaws and catechising their children; but, on her return to France, nothing would content her but to become a nun38. Champlain refused; but, as she was childless, he at length consented to a virtual, though not formal, separation. After his death she gained her wish, became an Ursuline nun, founded a convent of that order at Meaux, and died with a reputation almost saintly.
A stranger visiting the fort of Quebec would have been astonished at its air of conventual decorum. Black Jesuits and scarfed officers mingled at Champlain's table. There was little conversation, but, in its place, histories and the lives of saints were read aloud, as in a monastic refectory. Prayers, masses, and confessions39 followed each other with an edifying40 regularity41, and the bell of the adjacent chapel42, built by Champlain, rang morning, noon, and night. Godless soldiers caught the infection, and whipped themselves in penance43 for their sins. Debauched artisans outdid each other in the fury of their contrition44. Quebec was become a Mission. Indians gathered thither45 as of old, not from the baneful46 lure47 of brandy, for the traffic in it was no longer tolerated, but from the less pernicious attractions of gifts, kind words, and politic48 blandishments. To the vital principle of propagandism the commercial and the military character were subordinated; or, to speak more justly, trade, policy, and military power leaned on the missions as their main support, the grand instrument of their extension. The missions were to explore the interior; the missions were to win over the savage49 hordes50 at once to Heaven and to France.
Years passed. The mission of the Hurons was established, and here the indomitable Brébeuf, with a band worthy51 of him, toiled52 amid miseries53 and perils54 as fearful as ever shook the constancy of man; while Champlain at Quebec, in a life uneventful, yet harassing55 and laborious56, was busied in the round of cares which his post involved.
Christmas day, 1635, was a dark day in the annals of New France. In a chamber57 of the fort, breathless and cold, lay the hardy58 frame which war, the wilderness59, and the sea had buffeted60 so long in vain. After two months and a half of illness, Champlain, at the age of sixty-eight, was dead. His last cares were for his colony and the succor61 of its suffering families. Jesuits, officers, soldiers, traders, and the few settlers of Quebec followed his remains62 to the church; Le Jeune pronounced his eulogy63, and the feeble community built a tomb to his honor.
The colony could ill spare him. For twenty-seven years he had labored64 hard and ceaselessly for its welfare, sacrificing fortune, repose65, and domestic peace to a cause embraced with enthusiasm and pursued with intrepid66 persistency67. His character belonged partly to the past, partly to the present. The preux chevalier, the crusader, the romance-loving explorer, the curious, knowledge-seeking traveller, the practical navigator, all claimed their share in him. His views, though far beyond those of the mean spirits around him, belonged to his age and his creed68. He was less statesman than soldier. He leaned to the most direct and boldest policy, and one of his last acts was to petition Richelieu for men and munitions69 for repressing that standing70 menace to the colony, the Iroquois. His dauntless courage was matched by an unwearied patience, a patience proved by life-long vexations, and not wholly subdued71 even by the saintly follies72 of his wife. He is charged with credulity, from which few of his age were free, and which in all ages has been the foible of earnest and generous natures, too ardent73 to criticise74, and too honorable to doubt the honor of others. Perhaps in his later years the heretic might like him more had the Jesuit liked him less. The adventurous75 explorer of Lake Huron, the bold invader76 of the Iroquois, befits but indifferently the monastic sobrieties of the fort of Quebec and his sombre environment of priests. Yet Champlain was no formalist, nor was his an empty zeal. A soldier from his youth, in an age of unbridled license77, his life had answered to his maxims78; and when a generation had passed after his visit to the Hurons, their elders remembered with astonishment79 the continence of the great French war-chief.
His books mark the man,—all for his theme and his purpose, nothing for himself. Crude in style, full of the superficial errors of carelessness and haste, rarely diffuse80, often brief to a fault, they bear on every page the palpable impress of truth.
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1 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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2 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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3 dwellings | |
n.住处,处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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4 inmates | |
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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5 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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6 facetiously | |
adv.爱开玩笑地;滑稽地,爱开玩笑地 | |
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7 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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8 brace | |
n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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9 discord | |
n.不和,意见不合,争论,(音乐)不和谐 | |
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10 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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11 nominal | |
adj.名义上的;(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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12 jealousy | |
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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13 colonization | |
殖民地的开拓,殖民,殖民地化; 移殖 | |
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14 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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15 inordinate | |
adj.无节制的;过度的 | |
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16 prohibition | |
n.禁止;禁令,禁律 | |
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17 nought | |
n./adj.无,零 | |
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18 vigor | |
n.活力,精力,元气 | |
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19 illicit | |
adj.非法的,禁止的,不正当的 | |
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20 eluding | |
v.(尤指机敏地)避开( elude的现在分词 );逃避;躲避;使达不到 | |
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21 irritation | |
n.激怒,恼怒,生气 | |
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22 incensed | |
盛怒的 | |
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23 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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24 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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25 fortitude | |
n.坚忍不拔;刚毅 | |
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26 laboring | |
n.劳动,操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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27 bind | |
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬 | |
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28 binding | |
有约束力的,有效的,应遵守的 | |
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29 stringent | |
adj.严厉的;令人信服的;银根紧的 | |
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30 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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31 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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32 banishment | |
n.放逐,驱逐 | |
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33 pillaged | |
v.抢劫,掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 heresies | |
n.异端邪说,异教( heresy的名词复数 ) | |
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35 conversion | |
n.转化,转换,转变 | |
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36 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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37 admonishing | |
v.劝告( admonish的现在分词 );训诫;(温和地)责备;轻责 | |
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38 nun | |
n.修女,尼姑 | |
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39 confessions | |
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔 | |
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40 edifying | |
adj.有教训意味的,教训性的,有益的v.开导,启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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41 regularity | |
n.规律性,规则性;匀称,整齐 | |
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42 chapel | |
n.小教堂,殡仪馆 | |
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43 penance | |
n.(赎罪的)惩罪 | |
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44 contrition | |
n.悔罪,痛悔 | |
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45 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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46 baneful | |
adj.有害的 | |
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47 lure | |
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
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48 politic | |
adj.有智虑的;精明的;v.从政 | |
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49 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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50 hordes | |
n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 );部落 | |
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51 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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52 toiled | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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53 miseries | |
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人 | |
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54 perils | |
极大危险( peril的名词复数 ); 危险的事(或环境) | |
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55 harassing | |
v.侵扰,骚扰( harass的现在分词 );不断攻击(敌人) | |
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56 laborious | |
adj.吃力的,努力的,不流畅 | |
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57 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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58 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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59 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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60 buffeted | |
反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 ); 连续猛击; 打来打去; 推来搡去 | |
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61 succor | |
n.援助,帮助;v.给予帮助 | |
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62 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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63 eulogy | |
n.颂词;颂扬 | |
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64 labored | |
adj.吃力的,谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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65 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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66 intrepid | |
adj.无畏的,刚毅的 | |
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67 persistency | |
n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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68 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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69 munitions | |
n.军火,弹药;v.供应…军需品 | |
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70 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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71 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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72 follies | |
罪恶,时事讽刺剧; 愚蠢,蠢笨,愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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73 ardent | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的 | |
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74 criticise | |
v.批评,评论;非难 | |
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75 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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76 invader | |
n.侵略者,侵犯者,入侵者 | |
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77 license | |
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许 | |
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78 maxims | |
n.格言,座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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79 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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80 diffuse | |
v.扩散;传播;adj.冗长的;四散的,弥漫的 | |
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