Champlain's body was interred in the vaults of a little Recollet church in
the Lower Town. This church was subsequently burned to the ground, and its
very site was not certainly known until recent times. In the year 1867 some
workmen were employed in laying water-pipes beneath the flight of stairs
called "Breakneck Steps," leading from Mountain Hill to Little Champlain
street. Under a grating at the foot of the steps they discovered the vaults
of the old Recollet church, with the remains of the Father of New France
enclosed. Independently of his energy, perseverance, and fortitude as an
explorer, Samuel de Champlain was a man of considerable mark, and earned
for himself an imperishable name in Canadian history. He wrote several
important works which, in spite of many defects, bear the stamp of no
ordinary mind. His engaging in war with the Iroquois was a fatal error, but
it arose from the peculiar position in which he found himself placed at the
outset of his western career, and it is difficult to see how anything short
of actual experience could have made his error manifest.
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