ed by gifts. Then the same captain made a third speech, which
was followed by Champlain's reply--a harangue well adapted to the
occasion. But the climax was reached in the concluding orations of two
more Huron chiefs. 'They vied with each other in trying to honour
Sieur de Champlain and the French, and in testifying their affection
for us. One of them said that when the French were absent the earth
was no longer the earth, the river was {132} no longer the river, the
sky was no longer the sky; but upon the return of Sieur de Champlain
everything was as before: the earth was again the earth, the river was
again the river, and the sky was again the sky.'

Thus welcomed by the savages, Champlain resumed his arduous task. He
was establishing Quebec anew and under conditions quite unlike those
which had existed in 1608. The most notable difference was that the
Jesuits were now at hand to aid in the upbuilding of Canada. The
Quebec of De Monts and De Caen had been a trading-post, despite the
efforts of the Recollets and Jesuits to render it the headquarters of a
mission. Undoubtedly there existed from the outset a desire to convert
the Indians, but as a source of strength to the colony this disposition
effected little until the return of the Jesuits in 1632.

With the re-establishment of the Jesuit mission the last days of
Champlain are inseparably allied. A severe experience had proved that
the colonizing zeal of the crown was fitful and uncertain. Private
initiative was needed to supplement the official programme, and of such
initiative the supply seemed scanty. The fur traders notoriously
shirked their obligations to enlarge the colony, {133} and after 1632
the Huguenots, who had a distinct motive for emigrating, were forbidden
by Richelieu to settle in Canada. There remained the enthusiasm of the
Jesuits and the piety of those in France who supplied the funds for
their work among the Montagnais, the Hurons, and the Iroquois. As the
strongest order in the Roman Catholic Church, the Jesuits possessed
resources which enabled them to maintain an active establishment in
Canada. Through them Quebec became religious, and their influence
permeated the whole colony as its population increased and the zone of
occupation grew wider. Le Jeune, Lalemant, Brebeuf, and Jogues are
among the outstanding names of the restored New France.

During the last two years of his life Champlain lived patriarchally at
Quebec, admini