ore
value than the conquest of an empire."

The year 1620 was a red letter day in the history of the Colony, when,
from a little vessel moored at the foot of the cliff, he led on shore at
Quebec his young bride, who with her three maids had come to the western
wilderness, the first gentlewoman to land on Canadian shores. He
conducted her to where is now the corner of Notre Dame and Sous-le-Fort
streets, to the rude "_habitation_" he had prepared for her reception,
which was poorly furnished and unhomelike in comparison to the one which
she had left over the sea. But history tells of no word of complaint nor
disappointment coming from the gentle lips; but, as the youthful
_chateleine_ sat by her hearth, it shed a light among the huts of the
settlers and dusky lodges of the natives, as her example of patience and
duty performed by the first refined, civilized fireside in the land
does to the thousands who have succeeded her. After almost three
hundred years, the "charms of her person, her elegance and kindliness of
manner" are still remembered. The chronicler tells us that the
"Governor's lady wore in her daily rambles, amongst the wigwams, an
article of feminine attire, not unusual in those days, a small mirror at
her girdle." It appealed irresistibly to the simple natures around her,
that "a beauteous being should love them so much as to carry their
images reflected close to her heart."

"The graceful figure of the first lady of Canada, gliding noiselessly
along by the murmuring waters of the St. Lawrence, showering everywhere
smiles and kindness, a help-mate to her noble lord, and a pattern of
purity and refinement, was indeed a vision of female loveliness" which
time cannot obliterate nor forgetfulness dim. The domestic life of the
colony dates from about the time of her arrival, the first regular
register of marriage being entered in the following year; two months
after the first nuptial ceremony was performed in New England. The
first christening took place in the same year, 1621, the ordinance being
administered to the infant son of Abraham Martin, _dit L'Ecossais_,
pilot of the river St. Lawrence. This old pilot, named in the journal of
the Jesuits as _Maitre_ Abraham, has bequeathed his name to the famous
Plains, on which was decided the destiny of New France.

It was indeed a sorry day for the settlement when the inhabitants, on
the 16th of August, 1624, saw the white sails of Champlain's vessel
disappear beh