The Makers of Canada: Champlain

by N.-E. Dionne

According to the marriage settlement, Champlain was obliged to leave to his wife, if she were still living, all his possessions. By his last will, however, he left all his property to the church. Champlain had no desire to injure his wife by this act; on the contrary, he knew that her piety was great, and that she would probably applaud the course he had taken, which was owing to his extraordinary devotion to Notre Dame de la Recouvrance, the church which he had built and loved. Madame Champlain, in fact, made no opposition, and the will was confirmed on July 11th, 1637. The will, however, was contested by Marie Camaret, a first cousin of Champlain, and wife of Jacques Hersault, comptroller of customs at La Rochelle, and a famous trial was the result. The will was contested on two grounds: (1.) That the will was contrary to the marriage settlement, and therefore ought to be annulled; (2.) That the will was made by foreign hands, as it was difficult to suppose that Champlain had chosen the Virgin Mary as his heir.

These were the contentions of Master Boileau. The attorney-general Bignon easily refuted the second allegation by proving that Madame Champlain had recognized the signature of her husband, and had stated that the expression and style were his. The terms of this bequest to the Virgin were quite natural to a man of Champlain's character, "When we know," said the attorney, "that he frequently made use of Christian expressions in his general conversation."

Although the authenticity of the will was proved, the attorney-general argued that it ought to be set aside in face of the deed of settlement. The court upheld this view, and the property of Champlain, with the exception of the sum of nine hundred livres, derived from the sale of his chattels, returned to his natural heirs.

This trial and other affairs prevented Madame Champlain from carrying out her resolution, and it was not until November 7th, 1645, that she entered the monastery of St. Ursula at Paris. She first entered the institution as a benefactress, and soon after became a novice under the name of Hélène de St. Augustin. There seems to have been some difficulties with regard to her profession as a nun, and she therefore resolved to found an Ursuline monastery at Meaux. Bishop Séguier granted the necessary permission to found the monastery, and also for her to take with her three nuns and a lay sister. Hélène de St. Augustin left Paris for Meaux on March 17th, 1648, and made her profession five months after. As a preparation for this solemn act, she made a public confession in the presence of the community. She also recited her faults, kneeling, and wearing a cord about her neck, and bearing a lighted taper in her hands. Mère Hélène de St. Augustin lived only six years in her convent at Meaux, and died on December 20th, 1654, at the age of fifty years, leaving the memory of a saintly life.

Eustache Boullé, the brother of Hélène de St. Augustin, became a convert to Catholicism through the intervention of his sister, and entered the Minim order. He was sent to Italy, where he lived for six years. During his sojourn there his sister sent to him one thousand livres a year, and at her death she bequeathed to him the sum of six thousand livres, and all her chattels, together with a pension of four hundred livres for life.

All those who have carefully studied the life of Champlain, have been impressed by the many brilliant qualities which he possessed. Some have praised his energy, his courage, his loyalty, his disinterestedness, and his probity. Others have admired the charity which he exhibited towards his neighbours, his zeal, his practical faith, his exalted views and his perseverance. The fact is, that in Champlain all these qualities were united to a prominent degree.

The contemporaries of Champlain did not perhaps appreciate his merits, or his heroic efforts as a founder. This is not altogether singular, for even in the physical world one cannot rightly estimate the altitude of a mountain by remaining close to its base, but at a distance a just appreciation of its proportions may be obtained.

If the contemporaries of Champlain failed to render him justice, posterity has made amends, and Time, the sole arbitrator of fame, has placed the founder of Quebec upon a pedestal of glory which will become more brilliant as the centuries roll on. Nearly three centuries had elapsed since the heroic Saintongeais first set foot on the soil of Canada, when, at the close of the nineteenth century, a spectacle was witnessed in the city of his foundation which proved that the name of Champlain was graven on the hearts of all Canadians. The ceremonies attending the inauguration of the splendid monument which now adorns Quebec, have become a matter of history, and seldom could such a scene be repeated again. France and England, the two great nations from which Canadians have descended, each paid homage to the illustrious founder; nor can we forget the noble tribute which was paid by the latest English governor, representing Her Majesty Queen Victoria, to the first French governor, representing His Majesty the King of France and of Navarre.

It is seldom that the deeds of the great men of past ages have been more fittingly remembered. Champlain, as we have previously remarked, possessed in an eminent degree all the qualities necessary for a founder, and his character is therefore exceptional, for over and above all the heroism he displayed, all his perseverance, his devotion to his country, we behold the working of a Christian mind, and the desire to propagate the faith of his fathers.

What would have been the result of the missions without his aid? It was Champlain who caused the standard of our faith to be planted on the shores of Canada. It was he who brought the missionaries to the new settlement, and maintained them at Quebec, at Tadousac, and in the Huron country. It was Champlain, too, who founded the parochial church of Quebec, and afterwards endowed it.