The Founder of New France: A Chronicle of Champlain

C >> Charles W. Colby >> The Founder of New France: A Chronicle of Champlain

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Excluding the brief notices of life at St Croix, Port
Royal, and Quebec, Champlain's Voyages present a story
of discovery by sea and discovery by land. In other words,
the four years of Acadian adventure relate to discoveries
made along the seaboard, while the remaining narratives,
including the Des Sauvages of 1604, relate to the basin
of the St Lawrence. Mariner though he was by early
training, Champlain achieved his chief success as an
explorer by land, in the region of the Great Lakes. Bad
fortune prevented him from pursuing his course past
Martha's Vineyard to the mouth of the Hudson and Chesapeake
Bay. It was no small achievement to accomplish what he
did on the coast of Norumbega, but his most distinctive
discoveries were those which he made in the wilderness,
leading up to his fine experience of 1615-16 among the
Hurons.

To single out Champlain's chief literary triumph, it was
he who introduced the Algonquin, the Huron, and the
Iroquois to the delighted attention of France. Ever since
the days of Cartier the French had known that savages
inhabited the banks of the St Lawrence, but Champlain is
the pioneer in that great body of literature on the North
American Indian, which thenceforth continued without
interruption in France to the Rene and Atala of
Chateaubriand. Above all other subjects, the Indians are
Champlain's chief theme.

To some extent the account of Indian life which is given
in the Voyages suffers by comparison with the Relations
of the Jesuits. The Fathers, by reason of their long
residence among the Indians, undoubtedly came to possess
a more intimate knowledge of their character and customs
than it was possible for Champlain to acquire during the
time he spent among them. On the other hand, the Jesuits
were so preoccupied with the progress of the mission that
they tended to view the life of the savages too exclusively
from one angle. Furthermore, the volume of their description
is so great as to overwhelm all readers who are not
specially interested in the mission or the details of
Indian custom. Champlain wrote with sufficient knowledge
to bring out salient traits in high relief, while his
descriptive passages are sufficiently terse to come within
the range of those who are not specialists. When we
remember the perpetual interest which, for more than
three hundred years, Europe has felt in the North American
Indian, the Voyages of Champlain are seen in their true
perspective. For he, with fresh eyes, saw the red man in
his wigwam, at his council, and on the war-path; watched
his stoic courage under torture and his inhuman cruelty
in the hour of vengeance. Tales of the wilderness, the
canoe, the portage, and the ambush have never ceased to
fascinate the imagination of Europe. Champlain's narrative
may be plain and unadorned, but, with such a groundwork,
the imagination of every reader could supply details at
will.

In all essential respects Champlain seems to have been
a good observer and an accurate chronicler. It is true
that his writings are not free from error involving facts
of distance, altitude, and chronology. But such slips as
have crept into his text do not constitute a serious
blemish or tend to impugn the good faith of his statements
on matters where there is no other source of information.
Everything considered, his substantial accuracy is much
more striking than his partial inaccuracy. In fact, no
one of his high character and disinterested zeal could
write with any other purpose than to describe truly what
he had seen and done. The seal of probity is set upon
Champlain's writings no less than upon the record of his
dealings with his employers and the king. Unselfish as
to money or fame, he sought to create New France.

In national progress much depends on the auspices under
which the nation was founded and the tradition which it
represents. Thus England, and all the English world, has
an imperishable tradition in the deeds and character of
Alfred the Great; thus Canada has had from the outset of
the present stage in her development a great possession
in the equal self-sacrifice of Montcalm and Wolfe. On
the other hand, the nation is doomed to suffer which
bases its traditions of greatness upon such acts as the
seizure of Silesia by Frederick or Bismarck's manipulation
of the Ems telegram.

For Canada Champlain is not alone a heroic explorer of
the seventeenth century, but the founder of Quebec; and
it is a rich part of our heritage that he founded New
France in the spirit of unselfishness, of loyalty, and
of faith.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Original Text

The best edition of Champlain's own works, in the
original text, is that of Laverdiere--'OEuvres de
Champlain, pabliees sous le Patronage de l'Universite
Laval. Par l'Abbe C.-H. Laverdiere, M.A. Seconde
Edition. 6 tomes, 4to. Quebec: Imprime au Seminaire par
Geo. E. Desbarats, 1870.'

The list of Champlain's writings includes:

1. The 'Bref Discours,' describing his trip to the West
Indies.

2. The 'Des Sauvages,' describing his first voyage to
the St Lawrence.

3. The 'Voyages' of 1613, covering the years 1604-13
inclusive.

4. The 'Voyages' of 1619, covering the years 1615-18
inclusive.

5. The 'Voyages' of 1632, which represent a re-editing
of the early voyages from 1603 forward, and continue
the narrative from 1618 to 1629.

6. A general treatise on the duties of the mariner.

English Translations

1. The 'Bref Discours,' in a translation by Alice Wilmere,
was published by the Hakluyt Society in 1859.

2. The Des Sauvages (1604) was translated in 'Purchas
His Pilgrimes' (1625).

3. The 'Voyages' of 1604-18 inclusive were translated by
C. P. Otis for the Prince Society of Boston, in three
volumes, 1878-82, with the Rev. E. F. Slafter as
editor. This is a fine work, but not easily accessible
in its original form. Fortunately, Professor Otis's
translation has been reprinted, with an introduction
and notes by Professor W. L. Grant, in the 'Original
Narratives of Early American History' (Scribners,
1907). The passages quoted in the present volume are
taken from Otis's translation, with occasional changes.

4. The 'Voyages' of 1604-16 inclusive have also been well
translated by Annie Nettleton Bourne, with an
introduction and notes by Professor E. G. Bourne
(A. S. Barnes and Co., 1906). This translation follows
the edition of 1632, and also gives the translation
of 'Des Souvages' which appears in Purchas.

General Literature

The career of Champlain is treated in many historical
works, of which the following are a few: Parkman, 'Pioneers
of France in the New World'; Dionne, 'Samuel de Champlain'
(in the Makers of Canada' series); Biggar, 'Early Trading
Companies of New France'; Slafter, 'Champlain' (in Winsor's
'Narrative and Critical History of America,' vol. iv,
part i, chap. iii); Salone, 'La Colonisation de la Nouvelle
France'; Sulte, 'Histoire des Canadiens-Francais'; Ferland,
'Cours d'Histoire du Canada'; Garneau, 'Histoire du
Canada,' fifth edition edited by the author's grandson,
Hector Garneau.

Portrait

Unfortunately, there is no authentic portrait of Champlain.
That ascribed to Moncornet is undoubtedly spurious, as
has been proved by V. H. Paltsits in 'Acadiensis,' vol. iv,
pp. 306-11.

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