CANADA 



1120 



CANADA 



the Saint Lawrence River, and sailed up it 

 as far as Hochelaga, an Indian village on the 

 present site of Montreal. In connection with 

 Cartier's third voyage an attempt was made 

 to found a permanent settlement about ten 

 miles up the river from Hochelaga, but after 

 a terrible winter the colony was abandoned. 



For more than half a century France there- 

 after neglected America. The failure of the 

 colony, the cold winters and the barren coast 

 discouraged the hardiest of adventurers. More 

 than that, France was suffering from civil war, 

 and brave men were needed to fight at home. 

 Not until the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury did the French again turn to the work 

 of exploring and settling this new land which 

 they claimed. 



Coming of Fur-trader, Missionary and Col- 

 onist. Although the French as a nation paid 

 no attention to this unexplored land across the 

 seas, fishermen from France, as well as from 

 Spain, Portugal and England, continued to visit 

 the Grand Banks. On one occasion there were 

 150 French ships off the Banks, and it was a rare 

 day when at least one ship did not sail from 

 France bound for the fishing-grounds. Grad- 

 ually the men of the sea recognized the profits 

 to be made on land. Some of them built huts 

 near the shore and began to exchange knives, 

 hatchets, liquor and trinkets of all kinds for 

 the furs which the Indians had secured. 



The work of exploration was renewed in 1603 

 by Samuel de Champlain, the "Father of New 

 France," and in the next year he took part in 

 founding the settlement of Acadia (which see). 

 A company was organized to colonize the land 

 now included in New Brunswick and Nova 

 Scotia; it was given a monopoly of the fur 

 trade, but one of the conditions attached to 

 the monopoly was that the natives should be 

 converted to Christianity. Acadia led an un- 

 certain existence for a century and a half. 

 It was alternately held by the French and 

 English, and more than once it was all but 

 wiped out. 



The first permanent settlement was made 

 at Quebec in 1608 by Champlain (see CHAM- 

 PLAIN, SAMUEL DE). Until his death in 1635 

 he labored in every possible way to make the 

 colony a success. He encouraged exploration of 

 the interior, stimulated the fur trade, sent 

 missionaries to the Indians, took part in In- 

 dian wars and at the same time encouraged 

 settlement. The pioneer work of the pious 

 Franciscan friars (Recollets) and the Jesuits 

 who followed them inspired a wealthy French 



nobleman to found a new colony, primarily to 

 provide a home for a new order of nurses. In 

 1642 Sieur de Maisonneuve, who had been sent 

 to found the colony, ascended the Saint Law- 

 rence River to the island on which Montreal 

 now stands. The new colony barely managed 

 to exist. 



In 1627 the Company of New France, gen- 

 erally called the Company of the Hundred 

 Associates, was given a monoply of the fur 

 trade throughout the French possessions. Far 

 from fulfilling its contract to add 4,000 colo- 

 nists within fifteen years, the company occa- 

 sionally discouraged settlement. But until 

 1663 New France remained under the control 

 of the company. In that year Louis XIV dis- 

 solved the company, and made New France a 

 royal colony. He chartered a new company, 

 the Company of the West, to enjoy a monop- 

 oly of trade; it was no more successful than its 

 predecessor, and its charter was annulled in 

 1674. 



Worse than the failure of France to give 

 proper support to the colony were the troubles 

 within the colony itself. The Iroquois were 

 frequently on the warpath and made life mis- 

 erable for the colonists. There was also much 

 quarreling among the traders, among the 

 priests, and finally between the bishop and the 

 governor. Monseigneur de Laval, the first 

 bishop of Canada, was strong enough to secure 

 the dismissal of two governors with whom he 

 had quarreled, but the later governors were 

 little inclined to take advice from the priests. 



New France under Royal Government. For 

 a short time the new royal government prom- 

 ised a great future for New France. The 

 colony had been on the verge of disaster, but 

 it was now flourishing. In 1665 two thousand 

 colonists arrived, with horses and sheep. Three 

 able officials arrived in the same year Sieur 

 de Courcelle, the governor; Jean Baptiste 

 Talon, the intendant, or treasurer ; and Marquis 

 de Tracy, a general. De Tracy's first attacks 

 on the Iroquois failed, but as he had been sent 

 out to destroy or subdue them, he tried again, 

 this time with success. The Iroquois sued for 

 peace, and for twenty years the colonists were 

 free from Indian attacks. Many of the soldiers 

 who served under de Tracy settled in Canada, 

 and annual shipments of colonists continued to 

 arrive. Courcelle was recalled in 1672, and 

 was succeeded by Frontenac, the greatest gov- 

 ernor since Champlain. Frontenac ruled with 

 a firm hand, he held the Iroquois in check, 

 but he frequently quarreled with the intendant 





