The map of 1632 is only at best an outline, drafted on a very small scale, and without any exact measurements or actual surveys. It pictures general features, and in connection with the journal may be of great service.
Champlain"s distances, as given in his journal, are estimates made under circ.u.mstances in which accuracy was scarcely possible. He was journeying along the border of lakes and over the face of the country, in company with some hundreds of wild savages, hunting and fishing by the way, marching in an irregular and desultory manner, and his statements of distances are wisely accompanied by very wide margins, and are of little service, taken alone, in fixing the site of an Indian town. But when natural features, not subject to change, are described, we can easily comprehend the meaning of the text.
The engraving of the fort may or may not have been sketched by Champlain on the spot: parts of it may have been and doubtless were supplied by memory, and it is decisive authority, not in its minor, but in its general features.
With these observations, we are prepared to examine the evidence that points to the site of the Iroquois fort.
When the expedition, emerging from Quinte Bay, arrived at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the point where the lake ends and the River St.
Lawrence begins, they crossed over the lake, pa.s.sing large and beautiful islands. Some of these islands will be found laid down on the map of 1632. They then proceeded, a distance, according to their estimation, of about fourteen leagues, to the southern side of Lake Ontario, where they landed and concealed their canoes. The distance to the southern side of the lake is too indefinitely stated, even if we knew at what precise point the measurement began, to enable us to fix the exact place of the landing.
They marched along the sandy sh.o.r.e about four leagues, and then struck inland. If we turn to the map of 1632, on which a line is drawn to rudely represent their course, we shall see that on striking inland they proceeded along the banks of a small river to which several small lakes or ponds are tributary. Little Salmon River being fed by numerous small ponds or lakes may well be the stream figured by Champlain. The text says they discovered an excellent country along the lake before they struck inland, with fine forest-trees, especially the chestnut, with abundance of vines. For several miles along Lake Ontario on the north-east of Little Salmon River the country answers to this description.--_Vide MS. Letters of the Rev. James Cross, D.D., LL.D._, and of S. D. Smith, Esq._, of Mexico, N.Y.
The text says they, continued their course about twenty-five or thirty leagues. This again is indefinite, allowing a margin of twelve or fifteen miles; but the text also says they crossed a river flowing from a lake in which were certain beautiful islands, and moreover that the river so crossed discharged into Lake Ontario. The lake here referred to must be the Oneida, since that is the only one in the region which contains any islands whatever, and therefore the river they crossed must be the Oneida River, flowing from the lake of the same name into Lake Ontario.
Soon after they crossed Oneida River, they met a band of savages who were going fishing, whom they made prisoners. This occurred, the text informs us, when they were about four leagues from the fort They were now somewhere south of Oneida Lake If we consult the map of 1632, we shall find represented on it an expanse of water from which a stream is represented as flowing into Lake Ontario, and which is clearly Oneida Lake, and south of this lake a stream is represented as flowing from the east in a northwesterly direction and entering this lake towards its western extremity, which must be Chittenango Creek or one of its branches. A fort or enclosed village is also figured on the map, of such huge dimensions that it subtends the angle formed by the creek and the lake, and appears to rest upon both. It is plain, however, from the text that the fort does not rest upon Oneida Lake; we may infer therefore that it rested upon the creek figured on the map, which from its course, as we have already seen, is clearly intended to represent Chittenango Creek or one of its branches. A note explanatory of the map informs us that this is the village where Champlain went to war against the "Antouhonorons," that is to say, the Iroquois. The text informs us that the fort was on a pond, which furnished a perpetual supply of water. We therefore look for the site of the ancient fort on some small body of water connected with Chittenango Creek.
If we examine Champlain"s engraved representation of the fort, we shall see that it is situated on a peninsula, that one side rests on a pond, and that two streams pa.s.s it, one on the right and one on the left, and that one side only has an un.o.bstructed land-approach. These channels of water coursing along the sides are such marked characteristics of the fort as represented by Champlain, that they must be regarded as important features in the identification of its ancient site.
On Nichols"s Pond, near the northeastern limit of the township of Fenner in Madison County, N.Y., the site of an Indian fort was some years since discovered, identified as such by broken bits of pottery and stone implements, such as are usually found in localities of this sort. It is situated on a peculiarly formed peninsula, its northern side resting on Nichols"s Pond, while a small stream flowing into the pond forms its western boundary, and an outlet of the pond about thirty-two rods east of the inlet, running in a south-easterly direction, forms the eastern limit of the fort. The outlet of this pond, deflecting to the east and then sweeping round to the north, at length finds its way in a winding course into Cowashalon Creek, thence into the Chittenango, through which it flows into Oneida Lake, at a point north-west of Nichols"s Pond.
If we compare the geographical situation of Champlain"s fort as figured on his map of 1632, particularly with reference to Oneida Lake, we shall observe a remarkable correspondence between it and the site of the Indian fort at Nichols"s Pond. Both are on the south of Oneida Lake, and both are on streams which flow into that lake by running in a north-westerly direction. Moreover, the site of the old fort at Nichols"s Pond is situated on a peninsula like that of Champlain; and not only so, but it is on a peninsula formed by a pond on one side, and by two streams of water on two other opposite sides; thus fulfilling in a remarkable degree the conditions contained in Champlain"s drawing of the fort.
If the reader has carefully examined and compared the evidences referred to in this note, he will have seen that all the distinguishing circ.u.mstances contained in the text of Champlain"s journal, on the map of 1632, and in his drawing of the fort, converge to and point out this spot on Nichols"s Pond, as the probable site of the palisaded Iroquois town attacked by Champlain in 1615.
We are indebted to General John S. Clark, of Auburn, N.Y., for pointing out and identifying the peninsula at Nichols"s Pond as the site of the Iroquois fort.--_Vide Shea"s Notes on Champlain"s Expedition into Western New York in 1615, and the Recent Identification of the Fort_, by General John S Clark, _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, Philadelphia, Vol. II. pp. 103-108; also _A Lost Point in History_, by L. W. Ledyard, _Cazenovia Republican_, Vol. XXV. No 47; _Champlain"s Invasion of Onondaga_, by the Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, _Baldwinsville Gazette_, for June 27, 1879.
We are indebted to Orsamus H. Marshall, Esq., of Buffalo, N.Y., for proving the site of the Iroquois fort to be in the neighborhood of Oneida Lake, and not at a point farther west as claimed by several authors.--_Vide Proceedings of the New York Historical Society_ for 1849, p. 96; _Magazine of American History_, New York, Vol. I. pp.
1-13, Vol. II. pp. 470-483.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAMPLAIN"S RETURN FROM THE HURON COUNTRY AND VOYAGE TO FRANCE.--THE CONTRACTED VIEWS OF THE COMPANY OF MERCHANTS.--THE PRINCE DE CONDe SELLS THE VICEROYALTY TO THE DUKE DE MONTMORENCY.--CHAMPLAIN WITH HIS WIFE RETURNS TO QUEBEC, WHERE HE REMAINS FOUR YEARS.--HAVING REPAIRED THE BUILDINGS AND ERECTED THE FORTRESS OF ST. LOUIS, CHAMPLAIN RETURNS TO FRANCE.--THE VICEROYALTY TRANSFERRED TO HENRY DE LEVI, AND THE COMPANY OF THE HUNDRED a.s.sOCIATES ORGANIZED.
About the 20th of May, Champlain, accompanied by the missionary, Le Caron, escorted by a delegation of savages, set out from the Huron capital, in the present county of Simcoe, on their return to Quebec. Pursuing the same circuitous route by which they had come, they were forty days in reaching the Falls of St. Louis, near Montreal, where they found Pont Grave, just arrived from France, who, with the rest, was much rejoiced at seeing Champlain, since a rumor had gone abroad that he had perished among the savages.
The party arrived at Quebec on the 11th of July. A public service of thanksgiving was celebrated by the Recollect Fathers for their safe return.
The Huron chief, D"Arontal, with whom Champlain had pa.s.sed the winter and who had accompanied him to Quebec, was greatly entertained and delighted with the establishment of the French, the buildings and other accessories of European life, so different from his own, and earnestly requested Champlain to make a settlement at Montreal, that his whole tribe might come and reside near them, safe under their protection against their Iroquois enemies.
Champlain did not remain at Quebec more than ten days, during which he planned and put in execution the enlargement of their houses and fort, increasing their capacity by at least one third. This he found necessary to do for the greater convenience of the little colony, as well as for the occasional entertainment of strangers. He left for France on the 20th day of July, in company with the Recollect Fathers, Joseph le Caron and Denis Jamay, the commissary of the mission, taking with them specimens of French grain which had been produced near Quebec, to testify to the excellent quality of the soil. They arrived at Honfleur in France on the 10th of September, 1616.
The exploration in the distant Indian territories which we have just described in the preceding pages was the last made by Champlain. He had plans for the survey of other regions yet unexplored, but the favorable opportunity did not occur. Henceforth he directed his attention more exclusively than he had hitherto done to the enlargement and strengthening of his colonial plantation, without such success, we regret to say, as his zeal, devotion, and labors fitly deserved. The obstacles that lay in his way were insurmountable. The establishment or factory, we can hardly call it a plantation, at Quebec, was the creature of a company of merchants.
They had invested considerable sums in shipping, buildings, and in the employment of men, in order to carry on a trade in furs and peltry with the Indians, and they naturally desired remunerative returns. This was the limit of their purpose in making the investment. The corporators saw nothing in their organization but a commercial enterprise yielding immediate results. They were inspired by no generosity, no loyalty, or patriotism that could draw from them a farthing to increase the wealth, power, or aggrandizement of France. Under these circ.u.mstances, Champlain struggled on for years against a current which he could barely direct, but by no means control.
Champlain made voyages to New France both in 1617 and in 1618. In the latter year, among the Indians who came to Quebec for the purpose of trade, appeared etienne Brule, the interpreter, who it will be remembered had been despatched in 1615, when Champlain was among the Hurons, to the Entouhonorons at Carantouan, to induce them to join in the attack of the Iroquois in central New York. During the three years that had intervened, nothing had been heard from him. Brule related the story of his extraordinary adventures, which Champlain has preserved, and which may be found in the report of the voyage of 1618, in Volume III. of this work.
[84]
At Quebec, he met numerous bands of Indians from remote regions, whom he had visited in former years, and who, in fulfilment of their promises, had come to barter their peltry for such commodities as suited their need or fancy, and to renew and strengthen their friendship with the French. By these repeated interviews, and the cordial reception and generous entertainment which he always gave them, the Indians dwelling on the upper waters of the Ottawa, along the borders of Lake Huron, or on the Georgian Bay, formed a strong personal attachment to Champlain, and yearly brought down their fleets of canoes heavily freighted with the valuable furs which they had diligently secured during the preceding winter. His personal influence with them, a power which he exercised with great delicacy, wisdom, and fidelity, contributed largely to the revenues annually obtained by the a.s.sociated merchants.
But Champlain desired more than this. He was not satisfied to be the agent and chief manager of a company organized merely for the purpose of trade.
He was anxious to elevate the meagre factory at Quebec into the dignity and national importance of a colonial plantation. For this purpose he had tested the soil by numerous experiments, and had, from time to time, forwarded to France specimens of ripened grain to bear testimony to its productive quality. He even laid the subject before the Council of State, and they gave it their cordial approbation. By these means giving emphasis to his personal appeals, he succeeded at length in extorting from the company a promise to enlarge the establishment to eighty persons, with suitable equipments, farming implements, all kinds of feeds and domestic animals, including cattle and sheep. But when the time came, this promise was not fulfilled. Differences, bickerings, and feuds sprang up in the company. Some wanted one thing, and some wanted another. Even religion cast in an apple of discord. The Catholics wished to extend the faith of their church into the wilds of Canada, while the Huguenots desired to prevent it, or at least not to promote it by their own contributions. The company, inspired by avarice and a desire to restrict the establishment to a mere trading post, raised an issue to discredit Champlain. It was gravely proposed that he should devote himself exclusively to exploration, and that the government and trade should henceforth be under the direction and control of Pont Grave. But Champlain was not a man to be ejected from an official position by those who had neither the authority to give it to him or the power to take it away. Pont Grave was his intimate, long-tried, and trusted friend; and, while he regarded him with filial respect and affection, he could not yield, even to him, the rights and honors which had been accorded to him as a recognition, if not a reward, for many years of faithful service, which he had rendered under circ.u.mstances of personal hardship and danger. The king addressed a letter to the company, in which he directed them to aid Champlain as much as possible in making explorations, in settling the country, and cultivating the soil, while with their agents in the traffic of peltry there should be no interference. But the spirit of avarice could not be subdued by the mandate of the king. The a.s.sociated merchants were still, obstinate. Champlain had intended to take his family to Canada that year, but he declined to make the voyage under any implication of a divided authority. The vessel in which he was to sail departed without him, and Pont Grave spent the winter in charge of the company"s affairs at Quebec.
Champlain, in the mean time, took such active measures as seemed necessary to establish his authority as lieutenant of the viceroy, or governor of New France. He appeared before the Council of State at Tours, and after an elaborate argument and thorough discussion of the whole subject, obtained a decree ordering that he should have the command at Quebec and at all other settlements in New France, and that the company should abstain from any interference with him in the discharge of the duties of his office.
The Prince de Conde having recently been liberated from an imprisonment of three years, governed by his natural avarice, was not unwilling to part with his viceroyalty, and early in 1620 transferred it, for the consideration of eleven thousand crowns, or about five hundred and fifty pounds sterling, to his brother-in-law, the Duke de Montmorency, [85] at that time high-admiral of France. The new viceroy appointed Champlain his lieutenant, who immediately prepared to leave for Quebec. But when he arrived at Honfleur, the company, displeased at the recent change, again brought forward the old question of the authority which the lieutenant was to exercise in New France. The time for discussion had, however, pa.s.sed. No further words were now to be wasted. The viceroy sent them a peremptory order to desist from further interferences, or otherwise their ships, already equipped for their yearly trade, would not be permitted to leave port. This message from the high-admiral of France came with authority and had the desired effect.
Early in May, 1620, Champlain sailed from Honfleur, accompanied by his wife and several Recollect friars, and, after a voyage of two months, arrived at Tadoussac, where he was cordially greeted by his brother-in-law, Eustache Boulle, who was very much astonished at the arrival of his sister, and particularly that she was brave enough to encounter the dangers of the ocean and take up her abode in a wilderness at once barren of both the comforts and refinements of European life.
On the 11th of July, Champlain left Tadoussac for Quebec, where he found the whole establishment, after an absence of two years, in a condition of painful neglect and disorder. He was cordially received, and becoming ceremonies were observed to celebrate his arrival. A sermon composed for the occasion was delivered by one of the Recollect Fathers, the commission of the king and that of the viceroy appointing him to the sole command of the colony were publicly read, cannon were discharged, and the little populace, from loyal hearts, loudly vociferated _Vive le Roy!_
The attention of the lieutenant was at first directed to restoration and repairs. The roof of the buildings no longer kept out the rain, nor the walls the piercing fury of the winds. The gardens were in a state of ruinous neglect, and the fields poorly and scantily cultivated. But the zeal, energy, and industry of Champlain soon put every thing in repair, and gave to the little settlement the aspect of neatness and thrift. When this was accomplished, he laid the foundations of a fortress, which he called the _Fort Saint Louis_, situated on the crest of the rocky elevation in the rear of the settlement, about a hundred and seventy-two feet above the surface of the river, a position which commanded the whole breadth of the St. Lawrence at that narrow point.
This work, so necessary for the protection and safety of the colony, involving as it did some expense, was by no means satisfactory to the Company of a.s.sociates. [86] Their general fault-finding and chronic discontent led the Duke de Montmorency to adopt heroic measures to silence their complaints. In the spring of 1621, he summarily dissolved the a.s.sociation of merchants, which he denominated the "Company of Rouen and St. Malo," and established another in its place. He continued Champlain in the office of lieutenant, but committed all matters relating to trade to William de Caen, a merchant of high standing, and to emeric de Caen the nephew of the former, a good naval captain. This new and hasty reorganization, arbitrary if not illegal, however important it might seem to the prosperity and success of the colony, laid upon Champlain new responsibilities and duties at once delicate and difficult to discharge.
Though in form suppressed, the company did not yield either its existence or its rights. Both the old and the new company were, by their agents, early in New France, clamoring for their respective interests. De Caen, in behalf of the new, insisted that the lieutenant ought to prohibit all trade with the Indians by the old company, and, moreover, that he ought to seize their property and hold it as security for their unpaid obligations.
Champlain, having no written authority for such a proceeding, and De Caen, declining to produce any, did not approve the measure and declined to act.
The threats of De Caen that he would take the matter into his own hands, and seize the vessel of the old company commanded by Pont Grave and then in port, were so violent that Champlain thought it prudent to place a body of armed men in his little fort still unfinished, until the fury of the altercation should subside. [87] This decisive measure, and time, the natural emollient of irritated tempers, soon restored peace to the contending parties, and each was allowed to carry on its trade unmolested by the other. The prudence of Champlain"s conduct was fully justified, and the two companies, by mutual consent, were, the next year, consolidated into one.
Champlain remained at Quebec four years before again returning to France.
His time was divided between many local enterprises of great importance.
His special attention was given to advancing the work on the unfinished fort, in order to provide against incursions of the hostile Iroquois, [88]
who at one time approached the very walls of Quebec, and attacked unsuccessfully the guarded house of the Recollects on the St. Charles. [89]
He undertook the reconstruction of the buildings of the settlement from their foundations. The main structure was enlarged to a hundred and eight feet [90] in length, with two wings of sixty feet each, having small towers at the four corners. In front and on the borders of the river a platform was erected, on which were placed cannon, while the whole was surrounded by a ditch spanned by drawbridges.
Having placed every thing at Quebec in as good order as his limited means would permit, and given orders for the completion of the works which he had commenced, leaving emeric de Caen in command, Champlain determined to return to France with his wife, who, though devoted to a religious life, we may well suppose was not unwilling to exchange the rough, monotonous, and dreary mode of living at Quebec for the more congenial refinements to which she had always been accustomed in her father"s family near the court of Louis XIII. He accordingly sailed on the 15th of August, and arrived at Dieppe on the 1st of October, 1624. He hastened to St. Germain, and reported to the king and the viceroy what had occurred and what had been done during the four years of his absence.
The interests of the two companies had not been adjusted and they were still in conflict. The Duke de Montmorency about this time negotiated a sale of his viceroyalty to his nephew, Henry de Levi, Duke de Ventadour.
This n.o.bleman, of a deeply religious cast of mind, had taken holy orders, and his chief purpose in obtaining the viceroyalty was to encourage the planting of Catholic missions in New France. As his spiritual directors were Jesuits, he naturally committed the work to them. Three fathers and two lay brothers of this order were sent to Canada in 1625, and others subsequently joined them. Whatever were the fruits of their labors, many of them perished in their heroic undertaking, manfully suffering the exquisite pains of mutilation and torture.
Champlain was reappointed lieutenant, but remained in France two years, fully occupied with public and private duties, and in frequent consultations with the viceroy as to the best method of advancing the future interests of the colony. On the 15th of April, 1626, with Eustache Boulle, his brother-in-law, who had been named his a.s.sistant or lieutenant, he again sailed for Quebec, where he arrived on the 5th of July. He found the colonists in excellent health, but nevertheless approaching the borders of starvation, having nearly exhausted their provisions. The work that he had laid out to be done on the buildings had been entirely neglected. One important reason for this neglect, was the necessary employment of a large number of the most efficient laborers, for the chief part of the summer in obtaining forage for their cattle in winter, collecting it at a distance of twenty-five or thirty miles from the settlement. To obviate this inconvenience, Champlain took an early opportunity to erect a farm-house near the natural meadows at Cape Tourmente, where the cattle could be kept with little attendance, appointing at the same time an overseer for the men, and making a weekly visit to this establishment for personal inspection and oversight.
The fort, which had been erected on the crest of the rocky height in the rear of the dwelling, was obviously too small for the protection of the whole colony in case of an attack by hostile savages. He consequently took it down and erected another on the same spot, with earthworks on the land side, where alone, with difficulty, it could be approached. He also made extensive repairs upon the storehouse and dwelling.
During the winter of 1626-27, the friendly Indians, the Montagnais, Algonquins, and others gave Champlain much anxiety by unadvisedly entering into an alliance, into which they were enticed by bribes, with a tribe dwelling near the Dutch, in the present State of New York, to a.s.sist them against their old enemies, the Iroquois, with whom, however, they had for some time been at peace. Champlain justly looked upon this foolish undertaking as hazardous not only to the prosperity of these friendly tribes, but to their very existence. He accordingly sent his brother-in-law to Three Rivers, the rendezvous of the savage warriors, to convince them of their error and avert their purpose. Boulle succeeded in obtaining a delay until all the tribes should be a.s.sembled and until the trading vessels should arrive from France. When emeric de Caen was ready to go to Three Rivers, Champlain urged upon him the great importance of suppressing this impending conflict with the Iroquois. The efforts of De Caen were, however, ineffectual. He forthwith wrote to Champlain that his presence was necessary to arrest these hostile proceedings. On his arrival, a grand council was a.s.sembled, and Champlain succeeded, after a full statement of all the evils that must evidently follow, in reversing their decision, and messengers were sent to heal the breach. Some weeks afterward news came that the emba.s.sadors were inhumanly ma.s.sacred.
Crimes of a serious nature were not unfrequently committed against the French by Indians belonging to tribes, with which they were at profound peace. On one occasion two men, who were conducting cattle by land from Cape Tourmente to Quebec, were a.s.sa.s.sinated in a cowardly manner. Champlain demanded of the chiefs that they should deliver to him the perpetrators of the crime. They expressed genuine sorrow for what had taken place, but were unable to obtain the criminals. At length, after consulting with the missionary, Le Caron, they offered to present to Champlain three young girls as pledges of their good faith, that he might educate them in the religion and manners of the French. The gift was accepted by Champlain, and these savage maidens became exceedingly attached to their foster-father, as we shall see in the sequel.
The end of the year 1627 found the colony, as usual, in a depressed state.
As a colony, it had never prospered. The average number composing it had not exceeded about fifty persons. At this time it may have been somewhat more, but did not reach a hundred. A single family only appears to have subsisted by the cultivation of the soil. [91] The rest were sustained by supplies sent from France. From the beginning disputes and contentions had prevailed in the corporation. Endless bickerings sprung up between the Huguenots and Catholics, each sensitive and jealous of their rights. [92]
All expenditures were the subject of censorious criticism. The necessary repairs of the fort, the enlargement and improvement of the buildings from time to time, were too often resisted as unnecessary and extravagant. The company, as a mere trading a.s.sociation, was doubtless successful. Large quant.i.ties of peltry were annually brought by the Indians for traffic to the Falls of St. Louis, Three Rivers, Quebec, and Tadoussac. The average number of beaver-skins annually purchased and transported to France was probably not far from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand, and in a most favorable year it mounted up to twenty-two thousand. [93] The large dividends that they were able to make, intimated by Champlain to be not far from forty per centum yearly, were, of course, highly satisfactory to the company. They desired not to impair this characteristic of their enterprise. They had, therefore, a prime motive for not wishing to lay out a single unnecessary franc on the establishment. Their policy was to keep the expenses at the minimum and the net income at the maximum. Under these circ.u.mstances, nearly twenty years had elapsed since the founding of Quebec, and it still possessed only the character of a trading post, and not that of a colonial plantation. This progress was satisfactory neither to Champlain, to the viceroy, nor the council of state. In the view of these several interested parties, the time had come for a radical change in the organization of the company. Cardinal de Richelieu had risen by his extraordinary ability as a statesman, a short time anterior to this, into supreme authority, and had a.s.sumed the office of grand master and chief of the navigation and commerce of France. His sagacious and comprehensive mind saw clearly the intimate and interdependent relations between these two great national interests and the enlargement and prosperity of the French colonies in America. He lost no time in organizing measures which should bring them into the closest harmony. The company of merchants whose finances had been so skilfully managed by the Caens was by him at once dissolved. A new one was formed, denominated _La Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France_, consisting of a hundred or more members, and commonly known as the Company of the Hundred a.s.sociates. It was under the control and management of Richelieu himself. Its members were largely gentlemen in official positions about the court, in Paris, Rouen, and other cities of France. Among them were the Marquis Deffiat, superintendent of finances, Claude de Roquemont, the Commander de Razilly, Captain Charles Daniel, Sebastien Cramoisy, the distinguished Paris printer, Louis Houel, the controller of the salt works in Brouage, Champlain, and others well known in public circles.
The new company had many characteristics which seemed to a.s.sure the solid growth and enlargement of the colony. Its authority extended over the whole domain of New France and Florida. It provided in its organization for an actual capital of three hundred thousand livres. It entered into an obligation to send to Canada in 1628 from two to three hundred artisans of all trades, and within the s.p.a.ce of fifteen years to transport four thousand colonists to New France. The colonists were to be wholly supported by the company for three years, and at the expiration of that period were to be a.s.signed as much land as they needed for cultivation. The settlers were to be native-born Frenchmen, exclusively of the Catholic faith, and no foreigner or Huguenot was to be permitted to enter the country. [94] The charter accorded to the company the exclusive control of trade and all goods manufactured in New France were to be free of imposts on exportation.
Besides these, it secured to the corporators other and various exclusive privileges of a semifeudal character, supposed, however, to contribute to the prosperity and growth of the colony.
The organization of the company, having received the formal approbation of Richelieu on the 29th of April, 1627, was ratified by the Council of State on the 6th of May, 1628.
ENDNOTES: