The purity of his
life was proverbial, and was the theme of comment among his survivors for
years after his death. He foresaw that his adopted country was destined for
a glorious future. "The flourishing cities and towns of this Dominion,"
says one of has eulogists, "are enduring monuments to his foresight; and
the waters of the beautiful lake that bears his name chant the most fitting
requiem to his memory as they break in perpetual murmurings on their
shores."
This sketch would be incomplete without some reference to the mysterious
astrolabe which is alleged to have been found in the month of August,
1867, and which is supposed by some to have been lost by Champlain on the
occasion of his first voyage up the Ottawa in 1613, as recounted in the
preceding pages. The facts of the case may be compressed into few words,
although they have given rise to many learned disquisitions which, up to
the present time, have been barren of any useful result.
In the month of August, 1867, some men were engaged in cultivating a piece
of ground on the rear half of lot number twelve, in the second range of the
township of Ross, in the county of Renfrew, Ontario, while turning up the
soil, as it is said, they came upon a queer looking instrument, which upon
examination proved to be an astrolabe an instrument used in former times to
mark the position of the stars, and to assist in computing latitudes, but
long since gone out of use.
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