Full text of "French Canada and the St. Lawrence [microform] : historic, picturesque and descriptive"

See other formats

CIHM
Microfiche
Series
(l\Aonographs)

ICIMH

Collection de
microfiches
(monographies)

Canadian Inatltuta for Hhtorlcal Mieroraproduetiona / Inatltirt Canadian da rnksroraproduettena Matorlqua

s^v>:..., . "■^:.-

.■i.!--':-'*-'- -^-'i-y ■},%.%/. " . ..^;

TfChiucal «nd B«Mio«rapliic Nam / Nom MtfuMquM tt >iblio|ri»hi<Mii

Tlw Insiiiuu hM dtumittMl to cbMin itw iMni eritin«l
copy awuUtttc tor tilnnni). F«aiyr« of ihit copy wAich
nuy IM bibltogr^plittelly uniqiM. which OMy <ilt«r Miy
of iho im«g»* HI ih« fwproduciion, or which may
■igMltCMillv ch«rt(M Um y»iMl m«lh4Ml of lilmirtB, ar«
chodwd balew.

Colmirad cowi/
Coywfty w d« coMl«yf

Conn OiNMiind/
CowMfluft MdOnUIMflM

Cowrt rMlofad Mid/or liiniHMlM*/
CM««f tim r«lMirM •l/e«i p«UiC4il««

lift* miuinfl/
L« titt* at «oyMtf1uf ■ man^iM

□ CalMWtd nw^
CafHt iMif a|ilii<)im « cautoM

QColeynd ink (■.«. atlw Ihan Mut or black)/
Enora d« wutavr (■.<. >ut» v Mom e« noira)

L'Imuiul a nicrolilma la maillayr aaaiii«lai>a wi'il
lui a aia poHiMa da M ptocunr. Lai daiaili da cat
aaai««laKa 4111 tont pa«»-*ira iinquai du pouit da •«
bikliotrirtlisiia. qui pauaam maditiar una Unaca
rap>aduitt. au qui paunnt aaifK una moditicatMn
dam la mathoda nsraula da lilwm lonl iod^uat

I I Pi|M dawna*/

□ ffU raatarad and^r lamauud/
Pataa failauraat at/du Mlliaulaai

0S:

0CokHir«d plaut and/or illusualiom/
PItfichas at/ou iMusiraueni on coultur

□ Bound with eth«r maurul/
n«lM avM d'uiusi documwiB

I "H Tiahi tMiMhnfl m«y mum th^dowi or dttiortion

alone miariof marflin/

L* raliuft Mrraa paut cauwf da romttf a ou da la

ditunion la loofl da la marga uitariaura

Blank taam addad dwina raitaratian may appaar
witkin ika ttxt. Wkanaaar powiMa, Hmm haia
haan oinina^ from filming/
II f Paul qua earlainat papn Mancbal aiouiaai
Ion d'una catuuration appafaiuant dan< la uxH,
mais, lonqua cala ttaii pouiMa. cat pa(tf n'oni

□ Quality of print aariat/
Oualiia iniiala da riaipranien

□ Coniinuoui pagination/
I

Include! indaala*)/
Cemprand un (daa) indan

Titia on haadar takan (ram:/
La titn da rauMta pioaiant;

□ TitIa page of iwaa/
Pa(i da liira da to liwaimi

I I Caption of iiaua/

Titfa 4i dapan da to linaiion

GanoriqiM IparioriiQun) 4» U livrwtoii

Additional Gommanu;/

Pdg«» wholly obacurad by cliauaa hava boon rafllnad to anaura Urn baat
psitibla fnaga.

Thit iiam it filmad ai tlw laduetion ratio diackad balaw/
Ca documani att f ilnw au taua da radunion indiqw
1OX lax I8X

T7f

12X

1CX

24X

28X

Th* oopv filmed har* ha* bMn raproduead
to tha ganarotity of:

Library of tht NmIoimI
ArchKm of Cwuda

Tha lma«aa appaaring hara ara Mm baat qualtty
poaalbia eonaidaring tha condition and laglbillty
of tha original copy and In kaaf ;ng »vith tha
filming eontfaet apocifieatlona.

Original eopioa in printad ftptr aovafa aia fHmad
baginning with tha front covar and anding on
tha laat paga with a printad or iiluatratad Impraa-
tion, or ttM baeii oovar whan apprepriata. AH
othar original copiaa ara fiimad baginning on tha
f ■>« paga with a printad or Iiluatratad impraa-
■ien. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad
or Hhntratad Impraaiien.

Tha laat raeordod frar.-.* on oach mierotieha
ahall contain tha symbol — » (moaning "CON-
TiNUeO"). or tho symbol ▼ (moaning "ENO"),
whiehowar appliaa.

. . te.. may bo fiimad at

diffarant raduction ratios. Thoaa too larga to ba
antlrahf ineludad in ona anpoaura ara fiimad
baginning In tha upper loft hond eomar. iaft to
right and top te bottom, as many framaa as
raquicad. The following diagrams lilustrata tha
method:

L'eiompiaire flim4 fut reproduli grlee i la
g«n4ruait« da:

Lt bibliothtqin d« ArctiivM
nnionilM du CMnda

Ua Images suivantas ont tti raproduites avse la
plus grand soin. compta tenu de la condition at
da ta nattet« de luemplaira film*, et en
eenformM avac lee conditions du eontrat da
fHmaga.

Lee eiofflplalraa origineux dont la eouverture an
pepier eet lmprim«e sont fllm«s en eommencent
par le premier plot et en terminant solt par la
*jmi*re pege qui comporte une emprelnta
d impreeaion ou d'liiuatretion. salt par la laeond
ptot. aaler le eaa. Tous lea autres asemplaires
originaux sent fiim»« en eemmen$ent per la
promiiro paga qui comporte une empreinte
dlmpreeeien ou d'iHustretion et en terminent per
la damitre page qui comporte une telle

Un dee aymboles sulvents spparattra sur la
demMre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: la symbole ^ signifle "A SUIVRE", la
symbole V signifle "FIN".

iM cartas, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent itra
film4a t dee taux de rMuction difftrents.
Lorsque le document eat trop grend pour ttre
reproduit en un soul dich*. 11 est film* i pertir
de I'angia suptrieur geucha, da gauche t droita,
et de haut en bas, en prenent le nombre
d'imegea ndcasseire. Im diagrammes sulvents
iliustrent la m«thoda.

rafiiiiiiwii iiiiiii Ill mwi

wmmK^^KSw^Mcw^Mvt c>4..<iaei^BE3itqB^a^wt!Pe^ "^m.m'jb(hk-

••aocory msouition tut cH«tr

(ANSI and ISO TEST CHABT No. 2|

■ 2^
13.

13-6

23
2.2

1.1 ?."'l

2.0

1.8

^I^H^

^ APPLIED IN/HGE In

i^SI <65J Eotl 14am StrMt

S"^ Rochwur. Neo Yori< 14609 US*

^S {?1S) 482 - 0300 - Phon,

^E (^'6} 2Be - 5989 - Fa,

FRENCH CANADA

AND THE ST. LAWRENCE

,;'ts*j;'-i.j;

One of Montre.P= Modern Palace, of Ice

.■"'*■&

■'I'lllk--.

FRENCH CANADA

AND THE ST. LAWRENCE

HISTORIC, PICTURESQUE
AND DESCRIPTIVE

J. CASTELL HOPKINS, FSS

la« SI01.V or THE DOIOMON, •• EIC.

I L I. U S r K A |- E D

TORONTO
BELL & COCKBURN

fflf^p

I--:' ■ .!»:

l€-iM- ^1

PREFACE

■y

Quebec 18 picturesque in its history, in its natural
setting and environment, in the evolution and
character of its people, in its politics and religion
and daily life. As French Canada, it has left a
powerful impress upon the history and life of the
continent-a more pronounced one than is generally
understand. As a part of British Canada it has
always been important in its influence and interesting
m its action.

This volume is an attempt to bring together the
past and the present in the history and environment
of an attractive people. It is not a record of party
contests or of the rise and fall of politicians; nor
■8 It a detailed description of events which may be
found dealt with in histories of varied character
and pomts of view. It is not a guide-book to the
places and scenery of Quebec, as to which several
compact and useful little volumes have been pre-
pared and published. These things have their
places, of course, with a value and interest all their
own.

(8)

PREFACE

The author has endeavored, however, to portray
the conditions of the past in their association with
the places of the present, rather than to provi4jB
an exact and consecutive record or a geographical
study. He has also tried to analyze the under-
currents of sentiment and action which have made
French Canada so interesting and which will prob-
ably keep it as an important and attractive element
in the life of this continent and the history of the
British Empire.

CONTENTS

I. Th. Frinch PATaw« to a Conhmnt . . "u
II. Tb« Making or tbi French Canadian 29

T J' I" ''"'"""' *^*''*'>"'« A» Nation Bcild.m 48

IV. FooTPMNTs or THE Fbench Pioneers 58

V. Quebec-The Cradle or New France. . 87

VI. Montcalm, WoLrE and the Plains or Abba-

hau

yil. MoNTREAL-THESBATOrANANaENTFAITH..' 121

VIII. The Jescitb-Pioneers or the Cbom in

^*»'*'>* j^3

IX. The Heroic Aoe or Canada .... . ig2

X. Acadia— Thb Land or Evanoeune 184

XI. The SEI.3NEFHU-AN Old-world Abistocbact

IN America ^^

XII. LirE, Cdstoms and Envibonmbnt or the

Habitant ^^

XIII. Chubches AND Shbines or Fbench Canada.' .' 2M
Ji.iv. Reuqiocs EvoLcmoN or the Fbench Cava-

""N 277

XV. Reuoioos Traditions, Folk- Lobe and Bal-

LADB

v^Tr" f""*"" *"» I'*™«AN8 or Literature' .' 3M
Yv,., ^'"™" Landmarks in French Canada . . 342
JtVIII. Educational Interests and Ideals in Que-

BEC

XIX. P1CTUBE8QUB Phbsonalities or French

IND^"* 386

425

(7)

w^ j*y^*.

V-'

ILLUSTRATIONS
Capes Et.bnitv and Thimty, SAauBNAy !!

MONTMOMNCI KALLa, (JuEBCr ... ' ' ' Ig

Chicoutimi, Saokenat Riv«b J

Chobch o. Not-. Dam. d„ Victo.bcs. (Ju.b.c ' " ,a

RiVltRI DU LOUF

Ch;t«au Kkontenac and C.TAD.L,' Quebec .' ' ' ' im
Scene on the Saooenat H,veb, Quebec ' ' 120

CaiTEAD DE RAMtlAV, MoNTBEAL . tZ

OUATCBOUAN FaLU, LaKE 8t. JoHN ' ' ' ' IM

Scene on the St. Lawbence in W.nteh ' itb

Thatched Babn, Cap 1 L'A.ole, Quebe,- ,9°

JRENCB Canadian Kishebiien . . ™„

ChXteao St. Locis, Quebec ^

Habitant Woman Weaving Homespun CioTH 232

Habitant Woman Sp.nn.no, Cap a L'AiaLE, Quebec '. 266

Chubch op Ste. Anne de BeaupbI 272

Scene ON THE MetabetchouanRiveb.n Quebec' ' 304

Bhead Oven, Cap a L'A.glb, Quebec 323

Little Cbamplain Stbeet, Quebec C.ty '344

8NOW8HOE Scene near Montreal . 'tan

T.MBEB Coves at Quebec 3""

Toboooan Sl.de near Montreal . .qq

(9)

CHAPTER I
Th. F«.«eH Pathway to a Contin.kt

in the «,i, oU va ^nfwe Sr^/'"" '"^"*'"« '°°*''
•nore fir™,y than thTy TneThTrn't^'^ ""''
sought the nifwt .muJj-j ^' ""'' "lehberately

do^i„io„'"'a„riu£r c^coSa'tr r "^^

none greater than that of New JVa ' . ^! ^°""''
grew around and beyond QueZc ^"h th" s, T'^
rence at its fep* r„..' ^ T'" ^'''> the St. Law-

Koberval.ti the ^Z'^t.^.r'"' '""' ^^
trapper,, «,ldier, and prTest ^nhl ''°^**!"" *°"
men and Peasant^^VhrtrVe, Hh "'r'\
the great river in the sixtrnth i^ *'" "'

centuries, saw no surh .„„„ "'' seventeenth

today wik r,,r tn, rsfg^rand*" ''""'""^''
ments of civilisation and commerce ^hHrr'"

w«ea,„atureh?;prtu::dli'""''^--'=''-

by dtTfrt,';Tiri:rv^ -""^ «"--»«^

wail of the wolT or r ' '"'" """^ *° *'«« the
there were th^ yTja^t rnd'""' °' '""^ "'^•'«^'
«- storms an/ ^'i^^ srw^^ 'lo--' S;
(11)

BiM irTiiiim"iir-¥ j&si^Jismimmm

FRENCH CANADA

river faced by men fresh from the sunny slopes of
France; there were the marvelous and gloomy
portals of the Saguenay, the varied scenery at the
mouths of other great rivers as they poured from
unknown inland reservoirs into the St. Lawrence;
there ivas the exquisite beauty of the summer and
autumn seasons when the shores revealed some-
thing of nature's wooded charm and beauty and
the river itself showed graces all its own, crowned
by a solemnity and mystery which must have
proved an inspiration of courage and strength to
the early adventurer or explorer.

Gradually, as , exploration and adventure, war
and settlement, trade and mission effort, impressed
themselves upon this land of mountain, forest and
wilderness which lay on either side of the St. Law-
rence, knowledge of its geographical and physical
features came in limited form to the rulers and
pioneers at Quebec and Montreal. It is, however
doubtful if they ever knew, with any exactness,'
the details which are possessed today. They would
have deemed it impossible that the five great inland
seas of which they caught glimpses or the shores of
which they partially explored in birch.^bark canoes,
could have a total area of 94,660 square miles;
that the vast waterway up which, in part, their
tiny ships first sailed could traverse, from the
western end of Lake Superior to tht Gulf as it
widened into the ocean, a distance of 2,384 miles;
that the lesser rivers opening into the greater one
could drain various lakes immense in themselves

THE PATHWAY TO A CONTINENT 13

realue that the immense system of waterways

skirted only by parties of wanderin,, C" T
unde^tand that a'J. these vasTboZ VSe^we ^

atl":' """ '''""y P-*^ °f o- river rilr."
a httle many-named stream which fell into Lake
Supenor; to see into the dim future and find the
St. Lawrence proving to a „.eater Canada what

been .ndeed, to possess the qualities of a nrophit
CchTanar 1 ''\^ '''^^-'^^^ "^ ChristS;

the ctt:r InXiTflrcornlt"^ S ^°^"
' '- wi^en French dominion rratraUAmer

FRENCH CANADA

and clasped hands with the Acadians, when marks
of ownership and possession were planted down
the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys to t*- ^ Gulf of
Mexico and the French of Quebec w brought
into touch with the French pioneers ot l,ouisiana.
But that was New France glorified and, for a
moment, almost attaining the heights of Richelieu's
imperial dream and Fronten;.<;'s hope. Usually, in
these periods of early struggle it included Quebec
and Acadia and the main portion of the Ontario
of today with an ill-defined and changing region
which stretched for some distance into what are
now the Centi'al American States — a territory
sometimes held and sometimes lost, but as to which
hope was not abandoned until the final victory of
the English on the Heights of Abraham.

The French Canada of the past century, the
country which had grown out of its fluctuating
conditions of pioneer settlement and warfare into
one of settled boundaries and fewer external diffi-
culties, was a region of 350,000 square miles and
so remained until 1912, when the vast Ungava
territory was added to it. It was bounded on, the
north by Hudson's Bay, only accessible through a
wilderness which has remained more or less unknown
up to the present time, and by Ungava, of which
much the same may be said; on the west by Upper
Canada or Ontario; on the east and south by the
River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Province of
New Brunswick and the States of New York, Ver-
mont, Now Hampshire and Maine — touching on

THE PATHWAY TO A CONTINENT 1.5

the extreme northeast the Labrador territory of
Newfouadland. For 550 miles along the J
and north s.de of the river, up to the nfouth of The
Saguenay, the country is mountainous, bold and
rugged ,n outline with many rivers, ani a scener J
moro picturesque than beautiful; for 200 S
from the mouth of the Saguena; up to the St
Ma..-ce River and toward Lake Ontario there is
on we north shore, an alternation of mouTtain
Seirtfbell'f ^^-^ ^'^^''*'°- -'J -duS
riSes Sh T"''^ *»'' "'^ agricultural
wWch skirt th.. %"^" '^' ''^'«''*« ""'J '""'«
upwards resemble in appearance the Laurentian
range to the north, but are further away f"m Z
nver and leave room in modern days for deirhtful

tzz::jr '"' ^"^^^^ -' ^ ''--^"

mto restless rapids; as ,t sweeps past cliffs crowned

FRENCH CANADA

with verdure or great natural ridges capped with
dense forests; as these break frequently to reveal
fertile valleys and a rolling country, or rise into
rugged and yet exquisitely picturesque embodi-
ments of nature such as the heights of Quebec;
there comes the thought that here, indeed, is a
fitting entrance to a great country, an adequate
environment for the history of a romantic people,
a natural stage-setting for great events and gallant

deeds.

Though greater than any other Canadian river,
the St. Lawrence was, and is, a natural type and
embodiment of them all. Sweeping in its volume
of water, sometimes wild and impetuous, never
slow or sluggish, on its way to the sea; ever changing
in its currents and rapids and waterfalls, its lakes
and incoming river branches: passing through
varied scenery yet always preserving in its course
a degree of dignity which approaches majesty;
it reveals a combination of volume and vastness,
beauty and somberness which make it in more
senses than one the father of waters on this conti-
nent—"the great river without an end," as an
Indian once described it to Cartier.

The gulf into which the river broadens is more
or less a land-locked sea, deep and free from reef
or shoal, running 500 miles from north to south
and 243 from east to west. In its center lies the
once lonely and barren Isle of Anticosti; not far
from Gasp6 Bay, two miles out at sea, lies La
Roche Perc«, a gigantic pile of stone with perpen-

Perci vaUge and Rock, Shores of the Gulf of
SK. Lawrence

THE PATHWAY TO A CONTINENT 17

dieular wallg forminK, in certain conditiona of the
weather, a marvelous combination of colors out-
ined against the blue sky and emerald sea. In
this rock there is now an opening broken by the
unceasing dash of the waves; according to Denys
there were at one time three great arches, and
seventy years before his time Champlain stated
that there was only one but that one big enough
or a ship to sail through; in still earlier days
Indian legends describe its connection with the
shore.

Let us at this stage look lightly at some of the
geoi^aphical and associated conditions as we pass
slowly up the St. Lawrence from its mouth, and
try to see what manner of region this is which has
witnessed so much of romance and has brought
together and kept together the new and the old-
the Europe of three centuries ago and the America
t!^^- ,^?'" ^"'^ '""^ '*» '"^•"ories of a naval

sunk w? •> "'''' *"" ^'"^™"° '">'P« -«^

sunk, we pass along a shore devoted with undying

allegiance to codfish and possessing at Mount Ste

Anne one of the finest scenic views in eastern Canada'

furthest pomt of Quebec on the south shore of the '

frn-ff r'^°Ti^,?' "* abundant salmon and
fruitful mland fields. Here Cartier once landed
took possession of vast unknown regions for the
King of France and erected a cross thirty feet high
which flew the fleur-de-lis, also, as a mark of owner-
ship; near here, Admiral Kirke defeated a large

FRENCH CANADA

French fleet. Th»n

i^'ering r.«,p.rt oVr^.^"'* """P^ with it.

»nd lofty clirVerCat^J"''" "' '-kT'wS
•»d French naval fighf'^:,^''""*. another En^^

aJ«o, runa into the St w "^ P'"'"' "d near ifew

fa«ou. for it, trout annf" '''" Matane rS

'*ve'it«>If etretchrtSv'fi""""' '""■'" "-e^i;'
"orthem Bhoree. '^''*^-''^« «"eB aero™ tf U,

^nence, one goes im *i, .

r°ven around it of *h.^ , *''"''' "enturies havl

•^ .WeaJc, inaccessible "^ """^ °' ^^ows ^hi^
"""ring rock, a li ti' ut P^'P^^dicuiar waJl« ^f

^ttf ;/'"----^^^^^^^^ ''' °*^^«''«

-the latter a fashionAhu ^°"P ^^d Cacouna

nn'es wide are *i,^ ■ . "^^^' ^^hh here i. bV
" if* Eboulements with I.l. * ""'' mountain

•"""•'*-*-:' res t*^

THE PATHWAY TO A CONTINENT :9

origin where rock, and mountains Hi-em to roll into
one another and commingle in the wildest fantasies
of nature's strangest mood.

from Thr^'f ^"P/""""""'-. towering 2,000 feet

^If ■ .! "" '"^«*' ■""• °"«"' '»''«""1 pile- of
pamte juttmg out into the river, with the Isle of
OrUans green .nd beautiful in the sunlight, with
the St. Lawrence jewel-bright and showing glimpses
o the wh.te curtain of Montmorenci Falls i"^'
distance with the naked, somber height o? he
Laurentides to the north. Everywhere inrf^lH
aU.ng the north shore, from far do^^'t hT'latado;
coast up to Cap Tourmente, there is this wall „
mountams, like a sea of rolling rocks, cleft heTe and

nay Everywhere, also, are footprints of the eariv

c'amLT'h """n ""Tl!' 'anded,%here ChamZn
camped, here De Hoberval is supposed to have
disappeared forever between the wWeTalle of the
Saguenay, there Pont-Grav<S or Chauvin left t ace!
of adventurous exploits.

roct^wh"'^" *''?«, '"o™ "P the sentinel on the
rock which overiooks all the pares of r,in ,Hi
hhtory and still stands as the' most pietist"
and impressive city of the new worid. Here o^

height* of I^vis; on the other are the grand out-
lines of Cape Diamond, crowned with the rampartl
of Quebec and now embodying age and poweT as
the graces of the Chateau Frontenac represent
modem luxury and business. In the neighborhrd

FRENCH CANADA

de Beauprt; ."lei^i"!""",'*"""' <" St.. Anne

Europe; ruin, of flS. h",'''"'"" °' ""^'""'•J
memoric, of history and m iti«"'"* !°'^-^''>«
tragedy and crime ^ '' '"'"' ""' '""ghter,

Pawing from Quebec im «i. ^
the mouth of the Cha^i,"^ l ''"" *° *^°""««'.

Benedict Arnold mirched Jr^«'^ *''"""^'' ''''''"•
to the hoped-for captu e I? olT""' r'^'^''"''
aux-Trembles, further on tL^ ! f" ^^ ^^'"^
encounter between 'p~n **""" *»«'' P'ace «everal
Rive„ Btand, 7"he mou^r,' ^««•''• Three
which ri,e., With *tt 0«aialdV*-«*'""'*"-'
>n a ma«e of lakoa o„j ""awa and the Saguenay

the north. In the Ivt'"""' '^J'"''''''^'' "^ "'''^^o
running baclc to 1618 and inT!f- *°"" ""^mories

-nd romantic tradi'l'No??'",'^'^'^*-^
St. Lawrence widen, into Lake sT pT '"'"' *''«
"hove it the Richelieu Lu«i J'' ^f*"' ""d ju.t
greater stream, and at th.^^ 1 "''*^"' «*» the
in 1642 a fort wa^ bSt bv m'°^ ' »?"" ^°'«' ''''«'"'
Montreal, with^its mn^'^ '''' *^°utmagny.

^7Pie. reat's at 'th?m"eXre"':?Th "' ^''^
the old. It combines in itsflfth! ' ""'" ""d

tones rival interests of churTh 7''"* "'"' ■»•"«-
customs and n>ethl o M Mr r°'T*'^' *•■«
races, the streets and narrow n * ^'* """^ *''*'""'
-H the great .nanciaX^ugElJ^-

THE PATHWAY TO A CONTINENT 21

Of the pr«jent. It itandi at a point where all the
commercial and businow kloalg of Engligh Canada
meet and pre* upon the tradition*, practieea and
pohcy of French Canada; it prcHcrvoH itself by
combining the«e varied interest, and maintaining
a center of wealth, commerce and transportation
while, 8o far as its French population is concerned
remaining devoted to racial instincts and loyal to
one religious faith.
From this commercial metropolis of Canada.

viow of other mountains on the American side,
the St. Lawrence-crossed here by the Victoria
Bridge, which was long thought to be an eighth
wonder of the world-forms itself into rapids which
must have caused tribulations and sorrow and many
portages m pioneer days an.l whi^h -re uow relieved
by canals and chiefly utilized for the benefit of
tourists. Here are the beautiful Cascade Rapids
with waves flashing high over rocky masses; the
Cedars where close in shore the green foliage sweeps
down to meet the turbulent waters; the Long
Sault, which IS the most strenuous and inspiring
of all; the Galoups, where the water first awakens
to the situation and begins to writhe and foam in
an anger which grows with the rocks it feeds upon.

battlefield of Chateauguay where De Salaberry
and his French Canadians defeated an American
army; „ear Morrisburg, farther up the river, lies
Chryslers Farm, the scene of another victory of

m ■ ^k£K

FRENCH CANADA

a^irS r^iZr^^'''^ -«"'a- Soon
rest the famous ThouLtirr V'"''^ ^^ere
-in reality I 800 of ?h "''^^ '''^■^<= ''i«t°'y
enters the ProSe of *tr~''"''. ''^™ *he river

!*« ho„,e in Lr^onts xr ir T^^ *°

■n the vast water expans^J of th! f "^'°*"^
continent. pansions of the center of the

Menders of sZ^'^'Xi^ I^^^^ "' ""^'^^ ^-^
the historic rivers of Euro Jir f ""'^ '^'*''
country with traditions an/ ^^rai'^ " ''"'"
which are attractive to thp v? / ■°'' '"'"nories
the student and important L ^ •"'l."^*''^'^^"''* *»
The Ottawa runs ZoUkl St ? "* °' ^'"''«^*-
many widened waters of the St rr""" °' *''«
the northwest and mixes its dLt ,^'*'^"'"''«-from
the pine and ^r-cZZsllt^^^^'''''' ''™"'' ''°'»
lighter blue of the grea er S/ ^T' ^'*'' **>«
of the French r^^mfif w "T: . /•"' "'"^ '^''^^
fur trade and the site of thTT/ '^ ^^^^ °^ *»>«

Where Ottawa rtheo„t„—r''''''''' "^ ^^'^'i--
Quebec side now join and m '"^' ""'' »"" °» *<>«
center of PopulatiTard CinfJt T ''"^°^'">*
the Algonquins had many a hn A """"'^ ""'^
At this point another aTd LtL\ -^"counter.

Falls pour over a <rreat n'l f "'"'"" ChaudiSre
Picturesque bllkground £%t'°''\'"'^ "'^""^ -
the river rolls on between th' -^'f "*^' ^''"^
Wentianhil,s,ini;VrtCS-r-

1 ' Jfc:fi*-rj4

THE PATHWAY T'> A CONTINENT

wide reaches conta .lin? varied Mets. Today its
chief traffic is lumbe ciirried iu g eat fleets of roomy
barges; in the olden aays it was known for the
many French boatmen along its course, who in-
spired the famous Canadian boating song of Thomas
Moore:

Faintly as tolls the evening chime,
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time.
Soon, as the woods on the shore look dim,
We'll sing at St. Anne's our parting hymn.
Row, brothers, row! the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near and the daylight's -/ast.

For some distance the Ottawa is the boundary line
of the two provinces; into it runs a wild and turbu-
lent river called the Gatineau, which drains a great
extent of country and possesses near its mouth
seven miles of fiercely rushing rapids; La Lifivre,
a little farther down, is a much smaller branch, yet
it has a course of several hundred miles. On the
Ottawa itself the next points are the well-known
Chateau of Montebello and town of L'Orignal,
with the beautiful mountain-girt Lake Comandeau
in the distance running into the Ottawa through the
River Kinonge. The historic Pass of the Long
Sault, the lake of Two Mountains, the village of
Rigaud, known for its place in Rebellion records,
and Oka, famous for its modern Indians and an
old-time Trappist monastery, follow, and then the
river splits into three mouths and loses itself in the
Father of Canadian Waters.

I il

FRENCH CANADA

The Richelieu and tho «. p
St. Lawrence on the south ^/'"'"''^ '"a into the
t^a'- Along the Cer ^'^r '" ^«"<"- Mo„!
;n name and in fact, such 2 v " ''^ ^'«*°"''
Chambly, Co„trec«u and vLlr"""' ""'^ ^°''
of the days when the Zth oflh ''~''"''°"''^"'
Iroquois gateway and The r ' "^^^ '""^ *'"-'

went guarded the aonrn .^""^"an-Saili^res regi-
Montreai. Through thfwn" *.° ''"'^ ^«"<' «'
Eastern Townships-ote the' r'' ^'* """""tainous
0 English-spealciSg set" er Ith !* '"'' ""^^^^^i""
'fe to the people and eh„L tol "°, "^"« ''»">'
'akes abound-McmDhmmn ^f ""'• Beautiful

Massawippi and maly' nothTr"' ''''f'' ^'°'-^'
tarn scenery is there, such 1 the h"-".!'^''"' «°""-
Yamaska, Mannoir and Bo" f n^'"' °' S^'«".
" -hole succession of clfC rif "' *'"°"«''out
«od and beautiful scenes Jakes "V' ''«'"" ^*'t"«

he>ghtsand valleys-all seem mi ^ "''"'"' """""'ain
tive whole. ^^^^ ^^d "P in one attrac

Along the north shore of the St r
Montreal to Three RiyeVand ;^ T""''' ^'""^
1^ a country of settled Tver"^, *''",;'*• ^^aurice,
■st.cs marked by many smaU f ^'" ^^' ''^'''^'*''-
bearing the saintly nomenl T ""'' ^"'"g™

wterests American tourS I"? ^'^'"^ '° S'^""--
French Canada and m ^ed ', '" T '^''''^'" °f
narrow fields which a^t . '° ''^ t^" '"ng,
''c.bitante. Above the roaLpT*""^*'" °' *h«
the country alone the '""f f 't °' ^"^ ^uque

Maurice was suppLd oniyTferyt " ''' '*■
J a lew years ago to be

THE PATHV\ AY TO A CONTINENT 25

a Wilderness of little value-the home of lumber-
men nd.ans and trappers. As in the Lake 8 .

iheltTZ ^" ^P^'.'T''-'^ P'^'^'dise far north of
the St. Lawrence and drained by the somber, silent
Saguenay) the rapid development of recent year
has found m all this country much of value in naCa
res urces m fer^lity and in commercial possibilUie
(M the ^t. Maurice are the Shawinigan Falls
»o remarkable for their beauty even in this count y

water^T'tlr ''' f'''' °' "°'°" ^ '^^ ^^ftLg
tTon^'f th *''^P;''"'"^' ^^riations and complica-
t ons of the road traversed by the boiling, foaming
funous r,ver as it conquers the obstacleslk its way
At and around Lake St. John there is a vast countr^
covered with primeval forests-trackless tangej
woods wh.ch hold myriads of dainty lak s hTdden
m their midst and shelter varied forms of bird and
animal life. Here roam the majestic rnoose and
the proud caribou, here are stately solitudes and
npphng waters, here are lofty mountains and all
the charm of a magnificent unbroken forest Into
this glo„o.s wilderness the railway had to come!
but the scenery along its course is still characteristic

11 z^'zif '"" '™'» *- much :S-

of turbulent, saucy-looking, uncertain waters-
peaceful and polished on the surface at one moment
stormy and savage at the next. moment,

Around and below the City of Quebec there is
one of the most beautiful and characteristic por
t.ons of French Canada. Ste. Anne de Beauprt

FRENCH CANADA

deserves many pages of description and will cer-

country breathes peace and contentment- the
i « ory of past warfare and sanguinary Indlk con!
fl.ct seems mappropriate to such a region the
hahtant hves a life which looks like a Teaf ' from
rural Normandy in some forgotten century MucT
more m,ght be said of many places and of mSd

but this chapter is only a summarized picture of
conditions Chicoutimi, the seat of a city at the
mouth of the river of .the same name, where it pou«
•ts waters mto the Saguenay from Lake KenogaT
after a precipitous course of seven falls and a Tn'
tmuous series of rapids, might be mentioned. Mrh

Sbec \T of° t^ '"""'"' '''' °' °"^-« "^^^
the t T ''^"°"' ""'*"^'' '«'''S Which dot

-breaktTn Th" "" T" '°T ^'"^ ^P°*« "^ ^-'^««

JZr ; ^"'' ^''tr^ '''"' '"»°y other towns o;
villages along the shores of the St. Lawrence are
picturesque and clad with a mantle of W Z^ o'

face of things. Sherbrooke, in the Eastern Town-
ships countrj- Lennoxville, Farnham and other

the St. Francis was a waterway from New England
to Quebec, while the deep chasm of the CoatLok
winds in and out of a richly prosperous region.

ii .

Il## A

THE PATHWAY TO A CONTINENT 27

Geologically this country of the French Canadian
IS of intense interest. It reaches back into the most
ancient period of the world's evolution; it was a
later product of titanic changes and movements of
the earth's surface. The grinding, crushing flow
of great masses of ice from the Arctic regions had
potent force in creating the vast basin of the St.
Lawrence; upheavals of a volcanic character are
obvious around Montreal, are clearly marked in the
Lake St. John region, are found in the Laurentian
ranges; evidence of earthquakes comes to us from
within historic ages. Of the mountains in the
Eastern Townships country, where the elemental
struggles of geological antiquity must have been
violent beyond description, Jesuit records at St.
Francis describe an earthquake of September 5,
1732, so powerful as to destroy a neighboring Indian
village. The better-known disturbance of 1663
along the lower St. Lawrence lasted for months
and resulted in continuous landslides and a series
of convulsions. The St. Lawrence was said to have
run white as milk for a long distance because of the
hills and vast masses of sand which were thrown
into it, ranges of hills disappeared altogether, the
forests, according to an Indian description, became
as though they were drunk, vast fissures opened
in the ground, and the courses of streams were
changed. The whole of the Mount Royal region
and valley shows clear evidences of volcanic action.
These latter disturbances were, however, only
episodes in geologic ages of formation; there are

FRENCH CANADA

Laurentian and otheT Tn T"^^^^ ^"'^ »' the

'•ontinent will stand as *!' "'• f*"'' P"' "^ the
mighty world-moveLrts r? t ^"" "'°™
ment for the history of tL t„h '°°'''" ""^■''•on.
«fu^gles of the French cL !. ""' '^'^ *'■" «"'y
«o emn witnesses of the civZf" T"^'' """^ "«
taken possession of this Int 1°^ ''^''^ '"'« «><"-
hop- in its own Ltn/Slir "^" """
build upon and refine and., if- i' ^'""'« ''"y to
«toreh„u,e for its ow^ J^n '*' ""*"^'« «P'«"^'-d
went of its people ^ '^ '^°''' '"'* *he advance-

CHAPTER II
The Making of the French Canadian

wnHH?' ^'f^'V'™" the older countricB of the
world have been hoard to say in parts of Quebeo

and^tteTuteHf '"•"J '^^*'' «»"" farmhouses
ana attenuated farms, that it was all rather uninter
estmg but as much as could be expected in a reg on

ruth had been known to them-even though they

sages, had left their imprint through two thousand
years of history-much that was romantic attrac
t..e, inspiring, might have been seen or fdt As"
a matter of fact, the existence of savage life of Jd

apTef 'of 'S"r T"''"''"^' °^ -^* »''°-'y
creltL • '^f i"'"*' """^ K'-^ate' waterways
created in early Quebec elements of romance and

ouirl r'"?- 'r "^"*"™« ContinentrEurS
could not entirely grasp and which without indi-

'' oi::r;r,\"'-* f" ^^^ I-ople of Englanl-s

sceptered is e have always seemed more or less

ncomprehensible. To the historic rr.ord of such

sSi, 7 '""'^"""^ '"<' f°-- of rugged
strength and picturesque memory, of barbarous

(26)

FRENCH CANADA

me^aL""?. "'"'""/'"" «"'- "' «"i'"y achieve-

form of thp T i- T*'°""*' ^'^'^ tl^^ solitary
and more civ zed race on^ n( ty.- Preceamg

When Cartier in 1535 and Champlain in 1608
firs came ante contact with different tribes !?
atti uh'' llZ ""f-*-''tely a.,umed a hostile
att.tude-the former in carrying away Donnacoaa

MAKING OF - HE FRENCH CANADIAN 31

on a voyage from which he never returned, the
atter .„ espousmR the cause of the Hurons againnt
he Iroquo«. They could not see into the future
they could not well estimate the nature of th^e
«avage forces of the wilderness, they could not
comprehend a native character which all httory
has faded to satisfactorily decipher. Through the

Tn th. 1 / "", """" •"""« •^°™ to "« imbedded

m he literature of a hostile and conquering race
as the very embodiment of cruelty and savagery
Vet that mysterious figure was in many respecTs
a noble one to which nature had given a vlst Ind
varied environment. Cold and hard in character
passmnate and revengeful in temper, ignorant a^d
supersffous in belief, keen and Sui;!.'^ thought
the „d,an was never, in the days prior to his period
of decadence under external influence, guilty of the
efl^mmate and n :,ncr vices which have de'^^troyed
peoples such as the Koman and the Moor

Love of liberty in its wilder forms and contemnt
or all arbitrary rule or personal control he cSd

nar of l^^ '"T"™ °^ "^^'"^ ^«« « "atSral
part of his surroundings of war and treachery

subsrviL'^^r""'."' ^'^ opportunities aZd
subservient to the passions of pride and crueltv
were perhaps misfortunes more than they w re
faults. Compared with the ereater VnZiT
the gentler faith, the more cultrd'sur'rrS:'
the kindlier home-life of the white man, his chancer

FRENCH CANADA

were very slight and his sins not so luri.l as their
flaminB background might imply. The curious
federal system of the Iroquois, and the characters
of Pontiac, Tecumaeh and Thaycndenagea indicate
l»8 mdividual capabilities under favorable circum-
Htances. The Indian was, in brief, the product of
nature, the outcome of wilderness conditions, the
result of long and continuous struggle with the
forces of extreme heat and cold and of contact with
the wild, free vagaries of a wandering forest life
The Iroquois, with whom Champlain first came
face to face m *he inauguration of a drama which
had a contment l:r. its stage and a century for its
enactment were at once the best and the worst of
all the Indian nations. Their pride was intense
and overmastering, their lust of conquest was
mdividually as otrcng as that of Alexander or
wapoleon, their savage passions and cruelties were
vented m an indescribable degree upon their enemies
let m courage, constancy and concentrated cnerKv
It would be difficult to find their equal as a people
and where they inflicted pain they were equally
ready to endure it. As Mohawks, Oneidas, Onon-
dagas, Cayugas, Senecas and afterwards the Tus-
caroras, they stretched in what was practically a
loose federation of nations across the wide lake
region and into what was destined to become the
State of New York and the Provinces of Ontario
and Quebec. In their day of greatest power the
Iroquois warr.ors never numbered more than four
thousand men, though they became a thought of

Capes Eternity and Trinity, Saguenay

lii^

MAKING OF THE FRENCH CANADIAN 33

ttrSt*°T '" '^' '"^' ''°'° '^' '<"""« waters of
tho !?,.„ u ,'"^."^" to the Atlantic shores To
~g oftaTa? *''^ '^^'''"^ -'^ -- -'S

«etW what tn jTat trrpecTed "It"!^
and f!r^ ^T °" ""''"''"'' "'^^ who could fiKht

FRENCH CANADA

fnendly, that peace came to the habitant.

.^fj/f^j-'r, --rrs IS-

of the world; shared in privations and danger

e^1oreT^h:Stratti?Th *° •^'^-^ »
of the Mi^issippi, the't.^;':;iTf'rfatl

oitr,fhTi::^^Sar'*^^^-^-"-

New tantr^t? '°°'"''°* '"^^ ^ t^"' - ""'
undTr [h 7" '^ ^"^^ ^'^" P'^-'^d almost entirely
under the control of this Order of Jesus. Its m^

MAKING OF THE FRENCH CANADIAN 35

sionaries, in fact, gathered at Quebec from all over
the continent to welcome a large number of addi-
tional -lests whom the victory of Admiral Kirke
m 1629 prevented from reaching their destination
feo far as Canada was concerned these missionary
pnests were the pioneers of religion, the pathfinders
of territorial power. Over all the vast countries
from the confines of Hudson's Bay to the heart
of the Mississippi Valley they carried with alternate
failure and success the banner of the Cross. To
them no self-sacrifice was too great, no suffering
too pamful, no hardship too severe, if but one savage
child were baptized into the faith, or the passions
of a solitary Indian modified by the influence of
persuasion and the power of Christian hope. Many
a gloomy forest of the middle of the seventeenth
century echoed with the prayers of wandering
pnests and often blazed with the martyr-fires of
their execution by the merciless Iroquois or vacillat-
mg Huron. Often, too, those lonely aisles of
nature's primeval church witnessed scenes of tor-
ture such as the pen must fail to adequately describe
and even imagination to fully understand. Daniel
Br^beuf, Lallemant, Gamier, Garreux, Buteaux!
Chabanel, thus wrote their names across the pages
of eariy Canadian history in letters illumined by
the light of a great sacrifice.

In the two French Canadian cities of the future
stately buildings of sto.e grew up emblematic of
the ambitious policy of this and other religious
Orders; while early in the history of New France

FRENCH CANADA

Ma«u;r,^. R I'Incarnation, Mile. Mance and

were interchangeable terms in the early historv of
Quebec, a„d though changes afterwards came and
the rulmg fcroe and material wealth of thrOrder
tt ZdTt:"'""^ ' ''' ■'°P-- remained upon

ti„nV»V'''„'^'V"'''' ''"''"'f' *° ^''i''h this considera-
tion naturally bnngs us in thought and pen it has

influence m the making of French Canadian chfr

in the .nf„nt ^"8"«°°*^ ^°"«ht place and power
m the mfant colony to the latest days of Bantist
m.ss>ons from Ontario, Protestantism\rs, S a

MAKING OF THE FRENCH CANADIAN 37

few exceptions, found no permanent footing in the
life of the French people. Around them it has
ebbed and flowed. Montreal has been and always
will be a center of the opposing faith to which, in
its varied forms, the English-speaking commercial
and financial interests of the Province adhere;
the Eastern Townships, once settled by English
peopl.' and loyalists from the United States, are
rapidly falling into line with the rest of the Catholic
and French population of rural Quebec; the Church
has been and remains first in the home and the
school, first in the lives and customs of the habitant.
Politics may at times appear to create a diver-
gence of feeling and one Party may not always be
as tender in its treatment of the Church or as
-espectful to tradition and obedient to ecclesiastical
opinio^ as the other. But ',hcse are more or less
surface indications of external influences which have
been and must be powerful; below thci. ' a deep-
seated, though not always clearly expressed, devo-
tion to the faith which has been so woven into the
hearts and history and lives of the people. From
the Church have come the instruction and ideals
which reach back to the earlier days of settlement;
from it came the educational institutions such as
Laval and the classical colleges, which have steadily
maintained the highest standards of learning and
culture; from it have risen the leaders of religious
thought and ecclesiastical statecraft and political
action from the days of Laval to those of Taschereau,
from the times of Papineau to those of Cartier or

FRENCH CANADA

Launer. Amonggt the people a church building

village, the pansh cur6 became and remains to this
day m rural villages the most important local per-
sonage; each local school was kept under religious
control and guided upon the basic principle that
relipon was is and must be the vital element in
the life of the child, with secular matters following
in a necessanly secondary place.

What was the influence upon French Canadian

D^frin.^ \ J l^' "''^^''^ '° North America?
e^ded bv ?m/'"" °' intermittent conflict,
ended by the battle on the Heights of Quebec
the flag of England and the flag'of FranceTad

of the binr "*r'*' ''''"'"'^•" ^' ^"^ « P-^rt
Of the birth-pains of a continent in national char-

actenst.cs conditions and constitutions; and it
was, therefore all important in the making of history
as a great whole. But it would be easy to oveZ
estmiate the effect upon French Canadfan evolu-
tion in particular. The victory of Wolfe may have

f«™'th '/"*^ f'"''' ^'^''' •* did remove
from the New England colonies the menace of an
ambitmus neighbor and the possibility of a great
French empire in America. It did not greatly

P^ .?i; fi'' *'"' P"'"'"" °f **>« French settler
except that he was no longer a unit in the aggressive
and patriotic designs of a Champlain or a Fr^tenac
a Richelieu or a Colbert. '

It is questionable, indeed, if a great victory won

MAKING OF THE FRENCH CANADIAN 39

by Montcalm instead of by Wolfe, and the estab-
lishment of a new or stronger French state — backed
by France with zeal and with a wiser local, state-
craft than that of Bigot — could have preserved the
permanent independence of New France. The

» world trend of English-speaking population and

the aversion of the French at home to emigration
;i would have still remained as the great factors in

;! Continental evolution and would, finally, have

I given the dominance in North America to the

nation or race which has there produced in a cen-
tury nearly 100,000,000 of people as compared
with 3,000,000 of the French race. If, when United
States independence came, the republic had found
i itself checked in its expansion by a French state

'; of attenuated population to the north, or in the

heart of the continent, supported only by a France
enfeebled through the world-wide ambitions of
Napoleon and hampered in expansion by the home-
loving instincts of its people, the result could hardly
have been doubtful and would Lave meant, finally,
the swamping of French nationality in America.

As it was, the French Canadian conflicts of a
century had been as often with the English colonists
on the Atlantic as with England herself; the wars
between the white races were frequently over-
shadowed by the horrors of Indian struggle; the
France of the soldiers' loyalty and the hdlntants'
faith was, as they afterwards realized, a very neglect-
ful France; the Peace of 1763 threw a British mantle
of power over the whole continent and brought

FRENCH CANADA

rest to the much harassed settler in French Canada
When that rest was disturbed by the American
Revolution the French Canadian found himself
in a situation where Iv> possessed the same rights
of language, laws and religion as he had during
the French rfgime, with an added element of greater
liberty and a period in which he had enjoyed assured
peace.

The Quebec Act of 1774 was, of course, a potent
influence in this process of mental growth or newly
evo ved point of view. This act of the British
Parliament had fixed the boundaries of the Province
made provision for its civil government, vested
authority in a governor with a council of seventeen
members, established the English criminal law
while in civil rights and property preserving the
old French laws, recognized the Roman Catholic
religion with its preceding rights and immunities,
preserved all the religious Orders in their rights
and pnvileges with the exception of the Jesuits.
Such a measure, followed by that of 1791, which
separated Lower or French Canada from Upper or
English Canada and gave each a constitution with
a governor and executive council, a legislative
council and assembly, was enough to impress any
people with belief in the fairness of the British
authorities. There were troubles and complica-
tions, of course, but this policy, helped by the open
antagonism of New England to the Quebec Act
with Its maintenance of Catholicism in Quebec
proved an efficient counter-balance to natural

MAKING OF THE FRENCH CANADIAN 41

memories of the long warfare between French and
English. Added to this was a growing feeling that
peace was preferable to war and that when peace
brought with it the rights and liberties for which
war had been so often invoked, it was wise to con-
serve the conditions under which this result had
developed. Hence it was that aversion to war
grew and deepened in the nature of the habitant.

This fact or process of thought explains, in some
degree at least, his refusal to accept the influence
of Lafayette, the wiles of D'Estaing, or the appeals
of Washington, and to plunge into the American
revolutionary war. Twenty years later the habitant
was growing in his love for what was now his native
soil, and in 1812, therefore, a part of the popula-
tion was more than passive; it was active. But
this activity was not because of any innate military
spirit in the people; had it been so the fiery elo-
quence of Papineau in 1836-37 would have fired
the heather indeed. This second American war
simply increased the French Canadian love for his
native country; the several invasions by United
States troops brought the war into the homes and
hamlets of the people; the struggle gave the French
peasantry an enemy to discuss and denounce and
deal with, other than their British traditional foe;
and no matter how generous England might have
been since 1763, this was in itself a most important
matter. The Church took active steps and, just
as in 1775 Bishop Briand of Quebec had issued a
Mandemcnt denouncing the "pernicious designs"

FRENCH CANADA

of the Americans, so in 1812 Bishop Plessis urged
his people to "fear God and honor the King," to
encourage loyalty and to stand by their allegiance.
The awakening of the people to a fuller and more
just appreciation of the benefits which had accrued
to them from British rule was the chief indirect
mfluen c of this war. It also checked a growth
of republicanism which would have been natural
in view of events in France and which afterwards
found some active expression in the troubles of
1837; it prevented the influences of United States
contiguity and of that geography which a distin-
guished writer in after days claimed as ordained
by God to bring together the peoples of this conti-
nent, from having any effective result; it for a time
brought togt ;ier Canadians of French and Knglish
extraction in defence of their hearths and homes
and laid a foundation, invisible yet powerful for
a realization of that splendid vision of Nicholson
Sewell, Pownall, William Smith and others— a
permanent federal union of British America for the
purposes of common interest, defence, trade and
government.

The next great factor in French Canadian evolu-
tion was the problem of self-government. The
whole confused medley of recrimination, protest,
violent language, charge and counter-charge, dead-
lock between legislatures and governors, rebellious
action and fiery controversy, which made up the
history of 1800-1840, was the effervescence of an
excitable people struggling for constitutional powers

MAKIXC! OI- THK FREXCII CANADIAN 43

which they did not dearly understand; which no
other dependent people in the world had as yet
enjoyed and which were quite outside the ken of
the most experienced statecraft; which the people
of the United Kingdom themselves did not yet
fully possess. Out of evil, however, came good;
out of the conflict between those in power and those
who wanted power, plus larger liberties, grew
knowledge as to how to use liberty when it did come.
During the first part of the eighteenth century
the French population, in the main, was a rural and
agricultural one, essentially poor, obviously irre-
sponsible in a political sense, absolutely dependent
for protection upon British troops, money and con-
nection. The commerce of the Province was in
the hands of the English settlers, the money of the
Province was, in the main, possessed by English
financial interests, the most important city of the
Province, Montreal, was rich and dominant by
virtue of English capital and enterprise. A part
of the public revenues still came from England,
the greater portion of the remainder came from
taxation of the English minority. The English
were accustomed to governing and they naturally
did so under the changing conditions of the local
constitutional system; the French were inexperi-
enced and, when placed by agitation and then by
election in control of a tentative legislative system,
they naturally concluded that their main mission
in public life was to overcome the dominance of the
English. Hence a contest of forty years' duration.

FRENCH CANADA

It waa not usually a dlaloyal controveray or one
of estrangement from England aa a aovercign power;
It wa» a local and racial rivalry which waa bound
to find expresaion and which, in its final solution,
reflected honor upon both sides— upon the domi-
nating English classes for giving way without
exercising the real military nnd financial powerH
which they possessed, and upon the great Catholic
majority of French Canadians for having so well
learned the difficult les8,.n of self-government and
for afterwards using, so moderately and so wisely,
the powers of executive and legislative authority
which they obtained. The period of constitutional
stress and struggle which followed 1800 included
the rise and fall of Papineau with his fiery cross
of rebellion and gospe' of a liberty which reuched
the extreme of license; the rebellion itself, with
its fitful folly and final collapse and its earnest,
honest adherents who, in death, arc heroes still
and are enshrined in memorial and recjrd as martyrs
to the cause of human liberty; the union with Upper
Canada in 1841 and twenty-five years of succeeding
evolution which brought inevitable racial complica-
tions in its train.

It was a period which finally formed the French
Canadian character and formulated the place of
its people upon this continent. There was just
enough of bloodshed and passion to produce a local
patriotism without destroying wider national growth
or checking individual progress; there was just
enough of struggle and ill-feeling between races

MAKING OF THE FRENCH CANADIAN 48

Mf' rcligioM to strengthen and deepen the French
love for their posseiwions and ideulii without cre-
ating a luting bitterneiw in the race or against
it; there wai- just enough of keen political con-
flict to impresg upon the French Canadian mind
the value and responsibility of self-government
and the greatness of the boon so readily given
by Great Britain when her people once beame
convinced that the trouble was not imperial but
racial and local. To obtain similar gifts of freedom
within and immunity from danger without— as
French leaders of education and experience came
to realiie— other nations or states have had to go
through centuries of war and struggle and turmoil
and evolution. During this period was developed
also a vague, almost intangible, yet very reol,
aspiration for a Quebec which should be all French
in its local characteristics and racial dominance;
today it seems not unlikely that, outside of Montreal,
this ambition will be ultimately realized.

One other influence of an intangible yet very real
character was that of the Seigneurs and Seigneurial
system. By the middle of the nineteenth century
the question ond the situation had become a mere
football of the politicians and the abolition of the
system, when it was once brought into open antago-
nism to democracy, was inevitable. It did not alto-
gether deserve that fate; its influence and the
individual lives of the Seigneurs had very often
been of real service to a people who required an
element of culture and hereditary wealth o round

FRENCH CANADA

out the result of their pioneer labors. The feudal
customs may at times have been ubused, the habi-
tan<» may have had occasional cause for serious
complaint, but on the other hand, the lives and
homes of the rural population absolutely required
he strong hand of a local leader and educated m^n
for the purposes of defence and organization, and
m early days the hand of the over-lord was some-

SeS' '* "" '" '"^" "^" *"« --y
Without the Seigneurs the light-hearted, irre-
sponsible peasantry would have fared ill at many
stages « their early history; the literary light
of French Canada would have been hampered or
checked instead of scintillating with a brightness
which has passed upon the pages of history; much
of the charm of old-world manners and the culture
of an olden time would have been absent from the

hL° /^l! ' ^^^ P"'"'"' °^ ^^^ P"'^''^ would
have lost the presence and public services of many
interesting figures and the life of the Province been
devoid of such famiUes as those of Taschereau and
De Lotbimire, Baby and Casgrain, Boucher Le
Moyiie, De Salaberry and many more. In IsM
the institution disappeared in the United Parlia-
ment of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canadt

H?. n?t. p Tl P'''*"™^'!"* elements in the
hfe^oMhe French Canadians more or less went

Such, in brief summary, were the major influences
m the making of French Canada. Minor ones

MAKING OF THE FRENCH CANADIAN 47

there were in plenty, such as the Hudson's Bay
Company with its picturesque element of hunters
and trappers; the court life of olden Quebec with
its sometimes gorgeous and sometimes somber and
sometimes trivial conditions, its rivalries of Church
and State, its high ambitions and low intrigues, its
imitation of the graces and vices of distant Paris;
the influence of poetry and song upon the character
of a people dwelling at first in a rugged wilderness
and afterwards in an isolated statt; the preserva-
tion of old-time s ems of farming and living in the
midst of newer aud more enterprising populations.
All these and many other thi .gs had a place in the
evolution of French Canadian character, but it was
a lesser place and one which was not fundamental in
Its nature.

CHAPTER III
The French Canadians as Nation Builders

The French race in Canada, as a separate people,
represents much that is interesting, much that is
unique in origin and evolution, much that is oic-
turesque in character and environment. Beginning
early in the seventeenth century with tiny pioneer
settlements on the St. Lawrence — which at the
time of Wolfe's victory in 1759 had grown to a
population of only 69,000 — the French people had
maintained for mere than a hundred years an
unequal, eventful struggle with the slow, steady,
ever-advancing force of English settlers on the
Atlantic, with the power of Britain on the sea, and
with the ever-present menace and almost unceasing
hostility of the Iroquois. They had to endure or
overcome the inertia or feebleness of French admin-
istrations in distant Paris; the fitful and passing
regard of Kings who knew little of and cared less
for the vast region their loyal subjects sought to
preserve or conquer for the Crown; the corrup-
tion and indifference of local administrators.

Yet these few and afterward scattered people,

from their historic, original vantage point on the

ramparts of Quebec, stamped a record of great

achievement across the map of America. They

(48)

' i

Montmorenci Falls, Quebec

NATION BUILDERS

swept down the center of the continent and left
memorials of their possession scattered throughout
the Ohio and Missouri and Mississippi valleys of
the United States and in the still spoken mother
tongue of Louisiana. They stormed the northern
fortresses of cold and wilderness and savage life
and made the story of exploits on lake and river
m primeval forest and lonely wastes, their own'
In later days they have faced the dominating
characteristics of English-speaking Canada and
the pressure to the south of great masses of a still
more alien people; while at the same time they have
preserved their language, held to their faith and
conserved their own national identity.

To understand fully, or to indicate even faintlv
the causes which have embedded in this continent
of teeming millions, amid our great commercialized
wealth-loving masses of English-speaking people
a bit of mediaeval Europe and preserved it through
centuries of strife and turmoil and change, some-
thing more than the ordinary records of history
must be reviewed. What is meant will not be
found m the pages of political annals, in the story
of the nse and fall of public men, in the interminable
difficulties and natural divergencies of party life
m a land of restricted or of enlarged liberties To
comprehend the position of French Canada to
grasp the real picturesqueness and romance of its
position, to realize the nature of its people, the
by-paths of history should be studied and they will
not be found-except occasionaUy-in the passing

FRENCH CANADA

vww Of toumts, m the feelings of English Canadians

iith'"°°°'^* ^'"' ^"'"<''' '"»''' conditiornot
a together congenial, or in the pages of controversial

able and obvious racial complications.

to ».♦,""' i' "'"""y ^"'"^'^''^ "« t° the past-

°f^l of"^a:J°^^''"*^^^.'''■ *'"' P^-h^pnest
w tuu of It, and frank regarding it, but his view-

Which he regards as the father and mother »ml
brother and sister of his people; the F"encTcanadkn

Xcreir"'"*'^ ^"'•"' "^ Frenchmen fro^i^laS
who clearly can know little of the workings of the

peasant mind or of undercurrents of thought in »
people who are French and yet separated from France
by centuries of time, thousands of miles and ever-
^o^ng divergencies of life. There has been some-
thing exceptional and unusual in the French Can!
^an's condition and process of development-taflu:
ences there were which have been already brieflv
«umman.ed. Religion, it is true, moulded hfm

n a marked manner. But neither reM^on nor
language nor both combined, have held thrSpanrh
communities of South America in close touch" h
the pa«t nor preserved amongst them the institu-
tions laws and loyalty of another century. The
Scotchman, who is described as "twistin.r m!
creeds with an iron twist" and who of iSlis^

rr2a°.V'r " *'* "°^* ^°'»--* -^ assert ve
m racial type, has settled amongst French Canadia^

NATION BUILDERS

and in many cases lost in a few generation, his
anguage and his religion and his race-even at
times findmg his name corrupted.

Yet the French Canadian goes down into New
England up into the Canadian West, across the
western border into Dakota or Minnesota, over
the provincial line into Kastem or Northern Ontario
and settles m little communities where he preserves
the customs and traditions and language and
religious law of his race to an amazing extent A
million of these sturdy people are to be found in
the United States today and nearly half a million
in the provinces other than Quebec. Nor does the
second or third generation under these circum-
stances become, as might be expected, merged and
lost m the Anglo-Saxon atmosphere of their environ-
ment. They may become good Canadians in a
broad sense or good Americans in a national sense,
but they still remain French for causes which no
superficial judgment will ever comprehend and in
a nationality which, in certain obvious respects
IS distinct from that of France. '

In this latter fact rests the germ of much inter-
esting speculation. Had the French Canadians
remained m close touch with France the Church
inight have lost its influence as in the mother-land-
the people might have become republicanized as'
was the case there, and then gradually moulded
along the lines of American institutions; the social
life and thought of the masses and the classes would
have been controlled by the looser forms and varied

FRENCH CANADA

eveP-pre.cnt factor in L expanln ^7 ■'^"' ""
But other conditions prevaHed Ibln'."'"'""'*-
by France caused reaction «„Hh '^''*'"l°°'°«'>t
Eneland- Pn»H k "'"'*""? «"«> dependence upon

Quebec. Thedeparture'^ofaoranyofthTrffi "'

t.t:t:j^ -z^-- ^"/ttter

fitted to meet tt^TflL J'TTi' ''«^'"oP'°e"t
8el^government b;itlan^"°heCh"" ^^""^ """
and became estab,' hedfti C^^^TZ'''''""''
m a sense whici, it failed tn m. * • -^ '^P'*'

bounding acUvlties of' ' /"'' "'""" """'dst the

to the Anglo-Saxon Th"""' '? •'"'°' «'^«° °^"

preserved uniteTLth in ''""""° ""^ ^"* P''"'"
vu unuea faith m one great Church and

NATION BUILDERS 53

vrithout the dividing influence, which inevitably
come from the religious freedom of Prote8tanti»m
Th„ Church was itself apart from the inherited
d.fficult.eg of centuries in Continental Europe; it
.tood for race as well as for faith and remained a
Uvmg factor m the iae of the people. The language
was preserved by British law, cultivated by racial

ZtjT^^'^u'^ '*'*°"' "»'' ecclesiastical
mfluence, helped by partisan complications in the
rest of Canada. Bnt.sh constitutional institutions,

Fr?n°A"°r ' "i ''' ,■? """""'""K the essentials of
French Canadian life by bringing the non-essentialn
nto harmony with people elsewhere in Canada and

and legislation, perhaps of civil war, which might
have eventually submerged the Province and its
racial type.

To the trinity of elements-religion, laws and
anguage-which are generally and vaguely supposed
to have preserved the French type in Canada, must,
therefore, be added another. It was the influence
of free institution, in Quebec, and in the rest of
Canada, which by a gradual process of negation
at times and construction at other times enabled
this trimty of elements to adjust itself to an
opposing and dangerous environment and to, at
the same time, modify that environment at points
where conflict would have been perilous in the
last degree. The eariy stage of self-government
prevented a discontent which in 1812 would have
thrown the French people into the arms of the

FHENCH CANADA

American republic and eventually ttrlpped them
of their special privilege.; the knowledge that
Britain had gone far in the direction of freedom,
and would go further, prevented the rebellion of
1837 from being more than a pacing tmeule which
did not develop permanent hostility between French
and Ensiligh Canadian* as a serious civil war would
have done; the union of 18 I with Upper Canada,
while still conserving their language and laws and
faith, brought a wider development of self-govern-
ment, though one which had special complications
of Its own; the Confederation of 1867 set a seal
upon real deadlock or difficulty between the races
established still more cleariy and effectively the
rights of the French Canadian, broadened his
sphere of possible expansion, and promoted tolera-
tion m the English people while it helped a judicious
moderation in the French.

Self-government within certain limits was, there-
fore, the keynote of a condition which might never
otherwise have endured, and liberty was a British
birthright acquired for French Canada by Wolfe
upon the Heights of Abraham, preserved for it by
Wellington upon the field of Waterioo, conserved
for It by Brock and De Salaberry on Canadian battle-
grounds. Without it French Canada might have
worshipped and fallen at the shrine of French
military glory, imitated the weaknesses of French
social life, shared in the collapse of French religious
vitality. Without it, and British power combined
as another alternative, French Canada might have

NATION BUILOEIU

fall-:! ]V>\weT

I lie jr ation c i,

•■*iw_' 1.. hinJ :./ 1

'111 "J. .--lijU of

fallen under the dominance of the United Stat™
by preuuro of republican develn xnts, or at a
later stage by the force of econ .i uusiderntion*.

This view does not minimi ■■
of the Church in its possible f' -.I ,
tions named, but it deals >'i;ii
force which, as already t'atra
with the Church in pre tving;
racial solidarity— lang-ng. , laws ni .pjigion— by
the smoothing down of ospenj^j, ,,.; ^ht prevent-
ing of a serious issue with the etronror r:.;.,il tvpe
of the continent. Not that tcif ; ■ -mmti.t, in
itself was intended to produce this result or was
expected to do so. In the earlier days it was indeed
looked upon with suspicion as possibly leading to
the very opposite conclusion— a flooding of the
dykes and ramparts of the Chuiuu by the forces
of a democracy which had so far shown itself chiefly
in the French Revolution or in English religioui
independence and, in another century, was to evolve
the loose social system of the United States and the
political socialism of Europe.

As a national or racial unit French Canada has
taken its part in the making and keeping of the
Canadian Dominion. It was, to summarize briefly,
a loyal element in the American wars of 1776 and
1812, a restless, dissatisfied, uncertain, but in the
end, and in the main, a passive force during the
so-called Rebellion of 1837. It was a people reach-
ing out for the light of constitutional government
and groping in the darkness of experiment, ignor-

FRENCH CANADA

ance and prejudice for the knowledge of how to
use hberties which were not very cfearj deLd
or understood during the years from 1837'tof86o1
It was a force for national unity in the davs of
constructive statecraft which follo'wed the crea ion
of Confederation m 1867; it has, in later years

a~f1nt: '"'^T"' '^^*"'»'-^'' Canadii:^™'
In ° °*'T P"^' '" ""'^ '°^« f°^ t'''^ Canadian
tZ7IT :^^" ,*•>'»* ^°i' includes in the mind o"
the habitant httle more than the boundaries o
h:s Province With it all has been preserved an]
mtens,fied the thought of Champlain on the Rock

w tJThri '}' "'": °' ^-"t-- - his strugS
with the Indians, the work of Montcalm in his

of fhl mod' *'' "°T^ '"' ''"« King, the spir
French 1 "T^^ ^°' preservation of the

French language, the sentiment of the priest and
pohtican of the habitant, of the merchant, of the
poet or the writer of today-France is here!

But It IS a France isolated from the flag of the

Republic and apart from weaknesses of the looser

social system of the mother-land. It is a France

of the past, of tradition and history; a France

replete with romance and religion an^ patriotbm

This sentimental feeling is accompanied by onHf

passive loyalty to Great Britain, of a friendHness

which IS satisfied and even gratified at the Sg

relationship with the British Empire. At any

great crisis the French race in Canada would loyaUy

upport the flag under which they have been reared

but It would be done from a sense of duty, of oW g^

NATION BUILDERS

tion, of individual and racial advantage, rather
than from any such sentimental feeling as the
French Canadians have for their own mother-land
of the past. Even this measure of imperial loyalty
however, is marvelous and it is due to two special'
elements in the history of French Canada— the
liberality with which Great Britain guaranteed and
preserved to its people their peculiar institutions,
and the generosity with which she conceded to them
the benefits of gradual self-government.

CHAPTER IV

FOOTPBINTS OF THE FbENCH PiONEBBS

The period when France commenced to take a
fitful yet vital interest in American exploration
was one of intense maritime activity, of commercial
enterpnse which included also the taking of great
and unknown nsks, of dreams on the part of states-
men and active curiosity amongst intelligent and
educated classes, of a stirring up in all the ele-
ments of adventure amongst the masses of the
people Spain through the genius and courage
of Coumbus England by means of the Cabofa,
Italy through Amerigo Vespucci, Portugal through
Corti-Real France through Verrazanno, and then
Cart, and Champlain, plunged into the search
^r new worlds or a new route to ancient lands.
Dunng this period of conflict and rivalry on sea
and land, of golden galleons in southern seas and
the deeds of Drake and Hawkins and Frobisher
and many another in more northern waters, the
pages of history reveal a prolonged struggle by
merchants to carry commerce into great new
countries which were slowly being opened up; they
teem with the courageous, yet cruel deeds of buc-
caneers and pirates and gold seekers; they deal
with events which made the Spanish Main, the
(38)

FOOTPRINTS OF FUENCH PIONEERS 59

West Indian shores and seas, the South American
coasts, replete with elements of romance.

While English saUors were disputing the wealth
and supremacy of the New World with the mighty
whips of Spain and, at the same time, skirting the
snores of the continent in a thousand places, plant-
ing the Enghsh flag at many points and carrying
It mto the farthest north and south, France waa
entenng the portals of the St. Lawrence and making
good her hold upon an immense region of the
mtenor. Jacques Car+ier, between 1534 and 1642
discovered and studied the shores of the St'
Lawrence and named many places with the names

f A' }^°'[f f """=^- ^'*'* «'''*'<" °° ti-e shores
« k! ^u^?^ f • I"'^«'«=«. the port of Blanc
Sablon, the Isle de Bouays, the Isles de Margaulx
Bnon Island and Bale des Chaleurs, are some of
the designations which have lived. It was on his
second voyage (1535) that Cartier called the waters
around the present Ste. Genevieve Island the Baye
baint Laurens— the name which gradually grew
into that of the whole vast body of water which he
proceeded to partially explore.

The Island of Anticosti Cartier called L'Assomp-
tion in honor of the festival of that day, and indeed
all through the explorations of the early French
navigators the names of saints and other remi-
mscences of devotion to the Church of their fathers
are continually in evidence. The Indians, accord-
ing to Dr. S. E. Dawson-a careful authority-
appear to have previously called the river

FRENCH CANADA

Hochelaga, and the site of Quebec, Canada To
them .t n.u8t be remembered, these vLt wate«
meant much. In their birch-bark canoes thev
paddled everywhere with ease, and cameTnd went
with almost mvisible swiftness, throuKh vasTrprf
wh.ch could not otherwise have S uTlZZ
months of time; on these various rivers they^h^
for food and attacked, or evaded, their foes Tb
the explorers the St. Lawrence and iU \re^t
benches provided a scenery and sur ^.nd^

ment. The waters teemed with myriad fish 3

G:^:Mr """ r "^""- werHeentS
Gulf and lower reaches of the St. Lawrence The
forests on the shore were green and rich wUh pTL
and maple and ash; in the autumn they hum iZ
bnlhant rainbow hues of beauty. Here anfth^™
meadows were discovered in blossom and flowt-
shadowed perhaps by rugged hill or mountdn sThp
Everywhere were salmon or other fishTn thp.i ?'
lows; wild pigeons and gulls wingin^Sough /he tt
pengums or great auks, wild ducks, |ui emots
puffins, margaulx, and many other b rds on t^j
countless islands and along the shores In Zn^r
of course, this was all reversed hnf J^t .J

Vendor which still remained ujque ^'"^ " "^'^
Through these islands and along the 8hor»,
through reefs and shoals and in places whpr«*t'
most experienced modem nilot 1 ■ ^^^

with ths oM t i """"'"i P"Ot goes cautiously

tT sa 1 bv i"V f ' "°.^ '"^^y«' Cartier seemed
to sail by instmct-without accident or serious

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 61

difficulty. At Saguenay the precipitous mountains
Carti^^ '"''' O"' "f a deep dark river and struck
fnf f- u °"'''^ ''°8"'*' '>*'=''"=« of the great
without the need of earth. Here he seems, as
was the case later on at Hochelaga, to have
accepted local Indian names. To Isle^a«-CouXs
irer-^ the name which still lives; a spacious
green isle, rich m wild vines and fruitful soil, and
now known as the Isle d'Orl^ans, he termed the
Isle de Bacchus. At this point the footprints of
the pioneer became an actual fact and to him came
countless savages in their noiseless canoes seeking
assurances of friendship or enmity, wondering af
the marvelous ship with wings which flew over the
surface of the water, ready to give an admiration
and respect which might easily have been retained
and which might have made easy the coming
century of alien settlement. ^

From the point on the north shore where, at
the mouth of the St. Charles River, Cartier reked
for a few days (September, 1535) he could see all
the wonderful panorama of nature provided by
the promontory of Cape Diamond, by the sweep
and curve of the great river at its base, by the blue
hills of the Laurentides in the distance, untouched
by the creations of civilization, unmarred by the
growth of cities and towns. At the point of junc-
lon of the St. Charles and a small stream called
the Lairet Cartier erected a fort upon the remains
of which, today, stands a monument to the explorer.

FRENCH CANADA

totr^ifHo!! ^"^" "'^ '""''°'°'«' »* *"« Indian
town of Hochelaga-now the site of Dorchester
Street and the St. James Cathedral of MontreiS
From here he ascended the elevation which he

Sl^tTd''""'^' •""" '°°''"' ""* "Pon a scene
Which eft a deep impression upon his mind and

which included the Ottawa River in the dlta^ce
mairLT 7*? *'>!,^'"'« of Two Mountile

he Lake St t' ^'i '"''"""'' broadening 'into
the Lake St. Louis of modern times, the roarine

Sfiv" tet*"^ '"''' "l^ "^ water'rushes do^n'
raniTs 7«/ ''''? """'"' *'^« '«'° Laurentian

to tr« ..'""'^' r"^ ''"*'"''^«'* '-'"« ""d plains
to the south covered with forests which flamed into
color under the early frosts.

fo/ a Ihtn ^"*'" '""''^''^ ^'« ^y"' <=o«"mission
for a third voyage to the new lands, and was de-
scribed in this document as "the discoverer o^ tht
countnes of Canada and Hochelaga," sJd to Je
a portion of Asia on its western Me." A sudden

tuaTcrr"'-,''^ '^°"*' ''"^«-'' -'•"--

tua^ly Cartier sailed under commission from La
Boque, Sieur de Roberval, acting as the FunJ*
Lieutenant-General. It was in August, 1541 that
he again reached Stadacona, the Inian ^
nestling at the foot of Cape Diamond, and H wL
at Cap Rouge,, afterwards the scene of a great
imber industry and now covered with the summer
residences of Quebec City, that he fortified Ws
camp for a winter of suffering, disease and death.
It was here that he found traces of iron and gold

FOOTPHINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 03
and "stones like diamonds," and it was from th.

B^^r/ t "^ '^""''^ ^«'« Viscount de

Sff ' "" r^""' "° '''•"^*> <=■'»« the name
of the famous shrme of the future. In September
Hochelaga was again visited, but, i„ the man the
ootpnnts of Cartier during the ensuing S 11
records of endurance, Indian hostility, mSunes

oi 1542 flith a large expedition and met Cartier
retunnng home. The arrogant and inexperien ed
nobleman went on his way up the river^nd erected
forts and buildings on a considerable scale ut^n
the site which Cartier had abandoned No remits
exist to^ay, little is known of the ens^g ~r
and le» of an alleged expedition into "the frSe

to France and there is no proof that he ever made
that somber tnp up the Saguenay where he wa^

^.ch has been woven so much of romance and

Chill blew the wind in Lu face
As, still on his treasure chase.
He entered that gloomy place
Whose mountains in stony pride
StUl soulless, merciless, sheer.
Their adamant sides uprear; '
Naked and brown and drear.
High o'er the murky tide.

Of "^litsr It? s 7rr- '- .^"^ '•^^^-^

ue was but a simple seaman,

, ii

'if

FRENCH CANADA

without rank, or brilliance, or outstanding quali-
ties. Instinct and natural skill seemed to guide
him in his seamanship; a certain primitive faith
marked bis actions and proved his inspiration.
Bretagne, in his day, was far removed from the
intellectual stir of the period and even from the
national life of France. Despite all this he has
left a wiser, better reputation than Columbus;
his statecraft in dealing with the Indians was
marked by only one fault, while that of Columbus
in dealing with the Caribs inaugurated a disastrous
system of forced labor which ran up a heavy score
for future generations to settle. Cartier founded
no great city and administered no great country,
yet the landmarks of his presence loom large in
French Canada.

Following him came an era of fitful action and
hastily passing personalities. The region described
by Cartier in letters and careful maps which, how-
ever, have perished somewhere in the centuries,
soon came to be called New France. Trade seems
to have been carried on between the old and new
land."", but no settlements were made. In the Gulf
and adjoining waters and up as far as Tadoussac,
enterprising fishermen were numerous— notably the
Spanish Basques with Bretons and Normans from
France. Into this situation came also the English
under Frobisher, Drake and Sir Humphrey Gilbert,
and, in 1598, occurred the melancholy colonizing
effort of the Marquis de la Roche, under mandate
of Henri IV, which ended in the bones of most of

Chicoutii.ji, Saguenay River

'■^f

MKiocon r

nSOlUTION TiST CHAn

(ANSI and ISO TIST CM*«T No. 2)

1 '•'

: la la 12.2

£ 1;° 11112.0

Sufi

11^

lli^

i^iy^i^

^ APPLIED IIVHGE Inc

S^ t6» Eotl Main Straat

^S Roch«(t«r, Nam York 14609 USA

^ (716) 482 - 0300 - Phofi*

ag (716) 2B8 - 5909 - Fax

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 65

his companions strewing the bleak shores of Sable
Island. Amongst other adventurous spirits of this
time was Fran9is Grav^, Sieur du Pont; who took
an interest in the fur trade which centered at
Tadousac, and, with Pierre Chauvin pnd others,
made futile efforts in the beginning of the seven-
teenth century to found a settlement there. In
1603, however, an expedition was sent out under
Samuel de Champlain, of Brouage, the practical
father of Canada. With him was Pont-Grav«.
The footprints of Champlain are everj-where in
Canada. He was at once cautious and brave, a
statesman and a soldier, a loyalist to both King and
Church, a typical Frenchman of the age in all the
finer national characteristics of his people. In him
centered the earlier romance and around him has
been woven much of the patriotism of French
Canada. With a combined experience of sea and
shore, the inspiration given all his followers in war
by Henri IV, and with the added possession of high
personal qualities, he made an ideal pioneer leader.
One can imagine this determined and fearless
explorer ascending the silent spaces of the great
river and exploring in canoes the lesser waters
running into it; standing on the beethng rock
where he was to erect his future fort and house and
lay the foundation of a great French state within
a British empire of whose still greater scope he
could not even dream; journeying with a few
friendly Indians through the wilds of the interior,
portaging around or perilously crossing swift rapids

FRENCH CANADA

and great waterfalls, traversing vast forests and
encountering great inland seas; standing upon the
wooded heights of Mount Royal and gazing up
and over the sweeping river which led to such
vast, unknown regions and which held within its
bosom such potentialities of war, and commerce,
and shipping, and development. One can even
picture this representative of the military civiliza-
tion of Europe as, clad in steel breast-plate and
plumed casque, with sword at his side and match-
lock ready to hand, he passed through the mighty
wildemess-ever listening for the war-whoop of
the savage and ever on the alert for some new and
undefined danger.

On his first voyage Champlain vinted the meet-
ing place of traders and Indians at Tadoussac,
with Its environment of granite nills and great
mamelons of sand, and then passed up the
Saguenay to a point a little beyond the modern
Chicoutim,. So far as is known his passage
through the mighty precipices of rock which we
call Capes Trinity and Eternity, into the walled
chasm half filled with water which is styled the
Saguenay River, was the first visit of a white man to
this wonderful region. It is not diflicult to imagine
this intrepid Frenchman in his tiny ship, with a
superstitious and naturally terror-struck crew
traversing m ever-growing silence and somber fear
mile after mile of this stupendous cleft in the
Laurentian plateau which some earthquake or
upheaval of prehistoric times had constructed

A-C M'

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 67

The unknown is often terrible, and in this case
they would see on eithir side an almost unbroken
line of lofty, naked cliffs, they could look down and
around into waters so deep as to become black as
pitch, with only purple glints in the sunlight, and so
vast as to be capable of holding all the fleets of the
world though with hardly a place for anchorage;
they could almost feel the silence of dark solitudes
which neither bird nor insect cared to share; they
could not help but be profoundly impressed with
what one writer has termed a River of Death and
another described as making Lethe or the Styx
look like purling brooks.

This first experience was a fitting one for such
a man as Champlain. In the years that followed
his footprints were stamped all over the center of
the continent. He saw the beautiful falls below
Stadacona— from which all Indian settlement had
then passed— and named them after Admiral de
Montmorenci; he passed over and named the
broad waters of Lake St. Peter; he visited Mount
Royal and stood on the site of the future com-
mercial metropolis; he explored the lower St.
Lawrence and visited Gasp4 and Peic^. His second
voyage was financially aided by the Huguenot,
Pierre du Guast, Comte de Monts, who was com-
missioned as Lieutenant-Governor for the King
and in 1604 accompanied Champlain to Cmada.
With them were Biencourt de Poutrincourt ajd one
hundred and twenty colonists, and following in
another ship was Pont-Grav« with additional sup-

FKENCH CANADA

phes. Along the coast of the Nova Scotia of to-
day Champlain passed and named many places
A settlement was established at Ste. Croix Island
and, finally, made at Port Royal under the author-
ity of De Monts. Meantime Champlain had been
traversmg the coasl north and south and at one
time actually stood on Plymouth Rock, where fif-
teen years later the Pilgrims were to land as the
first of that stream of population which was to one
day check the sweep of French ambition and empire
To Port Royal in 1600 came further settlers with
Marc Lecarbot, a bright and clever lawyer, and a
writer who has left us the most reliable description
of pioneer French conditions.

In his further explorations Champlain, frequently
accompanied by Poutrincourt, searched the shores
of the Bay of Fundy, visited the Halifax harbor
of the distant future, studied witi enthusiasm the
Acadia of his time. At Port Royal he and his
gallant associates had founded the <irst permanent
settlement of Europeans, excepting the far distant
Spanish posts in Southern America. They had
instructed the local Indians in religion and won
their hearts; with proper support from home
following upon Champlain's further work in the
interior and at Quebec, France might, at this early
stage in American history, have established its
position and held its vast possessions against the
influences of the future.

After a period of three years' absence Champlain
returned to St. Malo and prepared another expedi-

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS

tion. On June 3d he was again at Tadoussac
and a little later he was busy clearing the ground
and building a post or "Abitation," where now
stands the Church of Notre Dame dea Victoires
in the Lower Town of Quebec. A little later he
started up the river with a few Frenchmen and a
number of Indians. His footprints on luis journey
are numerous. He stood on the site of Three
Rivers, called the Rividre du Loup of today by the
name of Ste. Suzanne, styled the St. Francis River
of the future the Riviere du Pont, named the
Yamaska as the Riviere de Genncs. He dis-
covered the Richelieu and called it the Riviere
des Iroquois; with two Frenchmen and a
number of Indians he started in birch canoes
to explore its waters to their source. To the
modern traveler who passes in a steamer up this
great stream, who evades rapids by going through
a canal and who sees smiling farms and villages
on either side, it is difficult to realize the situa-
tion as the three Frenchmen were paddled by their
somewhat doubtful allies over unknown waters
>vith primeval forests standing on either side in
dense and continuous masses of dark green foliage;
with the knowledge also that hostile bands of
Iroquois might be gathering in the woods to cut off
the little party on its return. They persisted,
however, and the intrepid explorer gave his own
name to the great lake which they finally reached
and which afterwards proved the scene of several
battles, which was long a key to French Canada

FRENCH C .NADA

'' rl

on the souvh which English 8oldie™ and American
colonists 80 often sought to utilize ^""e"**"

As with Cartier, the site of Montreal had ^reat
attractions for Champlain, and in 1611 he examTncd
the ocahty with care and appears to have propS

the Custom House m the center of the modern city.

escaped deah m some of its turbulent waters
He stood on the site of the future Canadian caoitll ^
saw something of the Gatineau and its innumerabU
waterfalls; discovered the beauties of the Falls of

tri'ed o d'7 "'"'? ." ^""''^'''''"« civilitatfon' ha
tried to destroy with factories and mills- and
passed up th, Ottawa as far as AllumrtJe Island

nation "% n" *'' "T" "' '""^ ^'"''■f Algonquin
na ion. Following this journey Champlain, in

afterwards became the Province of Ontario Up
the Ottawa again he went, up the Mattawa to its

and k'"'''/" ^"^ ^■P'^^'"^ ^' P-'^^-d by portaie
and then down the French River to Georgian Bav'
It was a laborious and diiHcuIt work of exXaUon
and was ended by a visit to th. Hurons at a po "nt
near the site of the present town of MidLd ?„
Simcoe County. He, of course, discovered Lake

R^rto^RicetT '^'''^^'''''^ "" thrSnaS
to Ih. n ^'"^J^^^" ""d followed the River Trent
to the Bay of Quinte, issuing thence into the waters

Trent Whh T. *'^ ''t'' '""^ "^^^^^ *°-
irenton. With the possible exception of Etienno

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 71

Bruld, Champlain was thus the first white man to
Bcc Lake Ontario. On his return he spent some
time at the point where Orillia now rests.

This ended the explorer's wonderful work He
had studied the coasts of what are now the
Provmces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
with thoroughness; he had traversed the Saguenay
and St Maurice and Ottawa, the Mattawa nnd
French Rivers; he knew the eastern shores of
Lake Huron and understood the vastness of that
body of water as he did of Lake Ontario; he had
penetrated the northern part of New York State
and hunted in the country between Kingston and
Ottawa; he had traversed on foot much of Central
and Western Ontario and knew fairly well the
topography of a doisen modern Ontario counties.
His analysis of soil and natural productions, his
descripti. n of varied Indian tribes, his maps and
eartograpuic studies are all able and wonderfully
exact. As a builder of cities his selection of Quebec
was an achievement; his hope of Montreal an
inspiration. As a soldier he won the respect of the
Indians and whenever he fought them was success-
lul. As a statesman he seems to have held the
confidence of Court and Church and Colonists-
a difl^cult feat in those days; as a man he was the
central figure of French Canada's origin. Over
much of the Canada of today his footprints are
visible to the student, and while he did not excel
in naming permanently the great waters he dis-
covered or the places upon which he stood in the

FRENCH CANADA

birth<lny of our hUtory. he did leave an imprea.
of personality and action which time cannot eradi-
cate or events disturb.

Meanwhile, the spirit and efforts of Champlain
were stirrmg up the adventurous feeling and
ambitions of h,s country , en in every direction.
Ihey found special attractions in the work of
Canadian exploration. There was enough danger
to attract men of spirit; there were spaces so vast
and possibilities so varied as to excite the least
curious mind; there were chances of wealth in furs
and there were constant stories of gold and silver
ant. precious stones. The immense size, numbers
and varieties of the bodies of water in the interior
of the continent and the myriad deep undulations
along Its ocean shores made travel easier than
in waterless countries, while the presence of Indians
added not only the spice of peril but also the ele-
ment of service. The Indians also brought into
play the religious spirit of the Jesuits and R^collets
and to the labors of the priests were due manv
important discoveries. With them, or in advance of
them at times, were the fur traders who acted from
love of adventure or gain, or officiated as interpreters
between the pioneer priests and the Indians, but did
not as a rule, care anything for geography or science
or the records which constitute so important a part
of discovery or exploration. The missionaries, on
the other hand, recorded their data and posterity
has, therefore, a double reason for gratitude to the
flevoted men who were pioneers for their nation

.CWchofNot„Da,^ede.

Vicloires, Quebec

i ■fljiiilillT • >

(

I-

Vf^HmV^HV^htn HHFUHflliifliiBP

•r*iniri»n^m"KaMBi*

' I

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 73

An illustration of the fur-trading and commercial
pioneer was Etienne Brul«, who caught the fever
of travel from Champlain, a spirit of wildness from
the Indians and added a quality of licentiousness
all his own. He lived much amongst the savages
and seems to have been the first white man to stand
upon the site of Toronto. He explored central
Pennsylvania and went down the Susquehanna to
Chesapeake Bay, discovered the waters of Sault
bte. Mane and was the first white man to paddle
along the shores of Lake Superior. Of the four
R^collet friars whom Champlain brought from
France in 1615 Father Le Caron was the first
missionary to the Hurons and Father d'Olbeau to
the Montagnais. With Father Sagard and other
ater arrivals they added much to the slowly accumu-
lating volume of knowledge. In 1625 the Jesuits
arrived and their Relations cover a long period and
record a vast amount of travel and study as well as
of noble missionary effort. Down to the Rapids
in the rear of Montreal came the R^coUet Father
Nicholiis Viel to meet one of the Jesuit Fathers,
and tie Huron Indians who were paddling him
down tne river threw him to his death in its waters.
Hence the first Christian martyrdom in Canada
and the Sault au R^coUet of today.

In the succeeding year Father D'Aillon pene-
trated to and dwelt amongst the Neutral Indians
on ^lagara River. He seems to have heard of
Niagara Falls, but there is no record of his having
ever seen them nor, indeed, is there any evidence

FRENCH CANADA

Of Other missionaries or explorers reportine at th!.
.me more tl>an vague rumors of a Sty wal

^ust£,r^,:ris--iS?

. The dark primeval forests on eithrhlnH f?'

rr.r,r"r„rsrs?*rr

St. Anthony and appears to have stood nnnn*i,
B.te of Minneapolis. Other Ss^ho left foot"
prints of exploration across and down thp ITJ 1
in this period were Fathers A^t^i oHX*
and DruUlettes, with the saintly Marquette wh A

and -^ion/r.rruSyi7Sr

The Royal banners forward go

The Cross shines forth with mystic flow.

F,!'r'\i°'"'* ""^ " °''"^« Canadian who, with
Father Marquette, appears to have been the Trst
to discover the source and nature of the wate™
of the Mississippi. An explorer and tradlr by

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 73

nature he was also a mathematician and hydroR-
rapher and his footprints extend from the Mis-
sissippi to Hudson's Bay on the north and to Labra-
dor on the east. In 1673 the trader and the priest,
under commission from Frontenac, traversed the
shores of Lake Michigan, turned into Fox River
and passed to its head waters, thence journeyed to
an olbow of the Wisconsin and at a place now called
Frame du Chien glided into the broad waters
of the Mississippi, which [Jolliet christened La

?W fl f";t ''^*l'' ^''°°*»'''''« family name.
They floated down the river, seeing bands of bison
and flocks of wild turkeys, meeting ever new bodies
of Indians, passing the mouth of the Missouri and

!v!fh 1 ="" ""'' **""" ""*""'"<* "**•>«' »!>«•» meet
wth the Spamards and perhaps lose all the fruits
of their discoveries. They ascended the Illinois
and Chicago rivers and reached within four miles
of the site of the western metropolis. They crossed
the portage connecting the two great water systems
of the continent and, late in September, reached
the Fox River after a voyage of 2,800 miles.

CateH!r'H *'^°«^T''" '" **" P'""" °f ««°« Robert
Caveher de la Salle completed the labors of these

two men. Proud, persevering and self-reliant ne

was a figure worthy of the great arena in which

he was to move. He joined his brother, Abb4

Jean de la Salle, at Montreal in 1667 and two

years later accepted a commission from De Cour-

celles the French Governor. The object of his

expedition was to discover the Ohio of the Senecas

FRENCH CANADA

and, despite the obscurity of the facts available

B^vor of today. I„ 1679, after varied vicissltudel!
La Salle, accompanied by Henri de Tonty in a

£,ne, the St. Clair River and thence journeyed to
Michilimackinac and Lake Michigan. After many
adventures he and a portion of his parly reached
a place now known as South Bend, Indiana. Sup-
rJ.es faded here and the return was effected under

find it Ta^rd t"' '"t """I ""'"^ ''"''«'"'>«- ^ouW
find It hard to create. In his next expedition La
Salle seems to have touched the site of Toronto

Georrian r' ''"^'' ''^ ""^ °' ^""^^ ^imcoe and
Georpaa Bay. He reached the Mississippi again,

I682T H ° "fr^ *° '**"«• Eventually,?™
1682, he descended the great river to its mouth
and issued out upon the Gulf of Mexico, where
on Apnl 8, he erected a pillar upon the shore bearing
the arms of Louis XIV, and formally took posses-
sum of^a vast unknown region in tZ nameThL

This problem of the continent's waterways
a. wdl as those of the center and the north had
thus been solved by a Frenchman, and from the
cold cliffs of the Saguenay to the tropical wate„

water in the worid-over which was to some day
pass an almost incalculable volume of commerce-
had become, for a time, part of the New France of
Frontenac and his brilliant dreams. Sill

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 77

mackinac was at this time a name replete with
memories of French pioneers and included some-
what varied and confusing localities. It covered
the mythology-laden isle of Algonquin reverence
in the middle of the strait between Lakes Michigan
and Huron, the points of land on the north and
south of the strait, the mission place of Father
Marquette at St. Ignace on the north mainland,
the fur-trade center into which this also developed
and from which La Motte Cadillac went in 1701
to found Detroit a later French fort on the south
shore and still Irter an English fort on the island.
St. Ignace was the center of much adventurous
exploration, mission effort and fur-trading-familiar
to Fathers Allouez and Hennepin and many another
brave priest of the wilderness, to Jolliet. Radisson
La Salle, Du L'hut and many more.

Another leader of this period was the explorer
whose name is enshrined in that of Duluth— "the
zemth city of the unsalted seas" as an enthusiastic
American once termed it. His variously spelled
name appears to have been Daniel de Greysolon,
Sieur du L'hut; he was of noble family and high
socia connections in France, but from preference
and love of the wild free life of the forests and
prairies he devoted himself to Canadian explora-
tion. In 1678 he left Montreal to study the almost
unknown Northwest, and passed along the shores
of Lake Superior, across the Mississippi and down
T .^ *''«/"'«ams to a Sioux village where he
planted the flag of France. He held a great Council

FRENCH CANADA

end of Lake Supenor, and thereafter, for yeare
hved m and thoroughly explored all this great
repon-much of which no white man had V.er

lid t !h H '^ l^"^ f ^°'* ^""'"»' '•<' t^veled
tT„ w !i '°"*'' *"'' °°'*''' "°"°d *•>« Lake of
the Woods country and into the basin of the

fl'rrv ,. ?" b"^^ ^'"''«°'' •>« ''»d ''°°ther post
"mrh f'"?K ' '''"'* ''"'* *'"' ^'<""« ""d covered
Thr™ A , •''*'.* ""^°" "P *° Hudson's Bay.
Through h.s friendship with the Indians, Du L'hut
on more than one occasion was able to brini assist-
ance to his Governors at Quebec, and in moTe^
at Montrea^ w,th a high reputation for bravery,
chivalry and capacity. ^'

fromTh''''' V""".^'""""*' ""''*' 'P^"*' commission
from Champlam, discovered, in 1634, the Strait of

Si'°""'^"'°/"/°'* ^"^'^ **"°"8'> 't '"to the Lake
Michigan of today. First amongst white men he
traversed the bea itiful strait with its clustering

his people he saw the great "Freshwater Sea" whkh
was .eheved to be one more portion of a mighty
waterway leading to China and the glowing East
So vast were these waters that the silence and lone-
imess met by the explorer's solitary canoe w^ So
ess than is encountered in later days of enormous
traffic and great steamers. Paddling along the
western shore of Lake Michir»n the Frenchman

FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH PIONEERS 79

came to what is now Green Bay and the Menominee
Kxver, and not long afterwards to the mouth of Fox
River where he was met by about four thousand
Indians One can imagine the picturesque scene of
splendid lake and river, wild forest and wilder red
men, the explorer robed in embroidered Chinese dam-
ask and discharging, as he advanced to the meet-
ing, a pistol from either hand. He was to the savages
a Manitou, or god, wielding thunder and lightning
and to him, therefore, a warm welcome was given
Many such scenes occurred in the experience of the
eariy pioneers. The explorer then passed up the Fox
River, through Lake Winnibago, and up the river
beyond to the portage of the Wisconsin. He seems
to have stood upon the water-parting of the Mis-
sissippi and the St. Lawrence basins.

Of explorers in the Northwest during this
eventful time Pierre Esprit Radisson has left an
impression which, like that of JoUiet or La Salle
would fill volumes if fully described. His expe-
nences and adventures equal the most thrilling
of romances. His family came to Three Rivers
from France, in 1651. He, himself, lived much
amongst and knew much of the Indians and at first
proved a useful interpreter for the Jesuits. With
his brother-in-law, M^dard Chouart, he explored
Wisconsin and neighboring regions and appears
to have been the first white man to traverse Lake
Superior beyond the Sault Ste. Marie. Radisson
saw much of the Mississippi, explored some of
its lesser branches and studied its head waters

FRENCH CANADA

traversed the southern Hhores of Lake Michigan
wandered over what ig now the State of Minnesota,'
traded and talked and lived with the Indians and
started, in 1662, from La Pointe on Lake Superior
to KO to Hudson's Bay. He and Chouart coasted
Its shores for some distance and returned by way of
Moose Uiver and, probably, the head waters of
the Saguenay. The rest of the career of these
men was one of adventure, perhaps, more than
exploration or discovery, but was none the less
remarkable in its waj-. Radisson appears to have
been the real discoverer of what has been vaguely
termed the Northwest— a phrase applicable to a
great region in the United States and an equally
important later center of attraction in Canada.

A later poincer of the West was Gaultier de Va-
rennes de la VtSrcidrye, a gallant French Canadian
soldier who was bom at Three Rivers and essayed,
time and again, to discover the fabled Western Sea
which was supposed to lie between America and
Japan. He had fought in New England and New-
foundland, been wounded at Malplaquet in Europe,
and experienced many vicissitudes of fortune when,
accompanied by fifty grissled adventurers, he first
started from Montreal on June 8, 1731, to trade,
to explore, to discover, to fight or to do anything
that might be necessary in the wild wastes of the
North and West. Up the Ottawa and through
the Great Lakes to NIpegon the party proceeded
and thence to Michilimackinac, where De la V^ren-
drye was joined by his nephew Sieur de la Jemmeraie

rir?"

* :.

^§ fiifjS'-

j,,iW^^*a'

F(M)TPRINT8 OF FRENCH IMONEEHH 81

anil by Fathi-r MrHsaigcr the JeHuit. Tlic two days'
journey from the Straits to KominUtiquia took the
party in their frail canoes a month; thence the
explorers proceeded to the Lake of the Woods or,
as it was then called, Lake of the Isles. There
they discovered the Winnipeg Hiver and later on
the lake of the same name.

Thence, up the Red River went the intrepid party
until, at its junction with the Assiniboinc, De la
Virendrye met a party of Crees (1738) on the spot
where Winnipeg now stands and looked out upon
an illimitable ocean of rolling prairie. He, with his
three sons— Jean had been killed by the Sioux not
long before— stood upon the site of a great modern
city, studied the Assiniboinc Valley, erected Fort
Rouge on the banks of the river and for the first
time the bugle call of the French sounded across
the prairies of Manitoba. Up the Souris River,
through the plains to the southwest, along ravines
where grazed hundreds of thousands of buffalo, and
accompanied by six hundred Indians, De la V^rendrye
then proceeded to the Upper Missouri and again
took possession of fresh territory for the French
King. Meanwhile, Pierre, Francois and Louis de
la V^rendrye, his sons, reached the banks of the
Saskatchewan and erected a fort there and one on
Lake Manitoba. Some years later, on New Year's
Day, 1734, Pierre and Fran9ois de la V^rendrye
were the first white men to sight from land the lofty
peaks of the Rocky Mountains. The gallant father
and his sons had set out to discover the Western

FRENCH CANADA

Sea and they had found a sea of prairie* and a Hea
of mountains; they had traversed parts of two great
and hitherto unlcnown rivers— the Missouri and
the Saslcatchewan; they had planted plates with
the royal arms of France in a new and vastly rich
portion of the American continent.

In 1669 the Sulpicians, Dollier de Casson and
Br«hant de Galinfe, explored the north shore of
Lake Erie, in March, 1670, encountered Marquette
and Dablon at Sault 8te. Marie and returned by
way of Lake Nipissing and the Ottawa. Galin^e's
narrative of the expedition was sent to the King.
Another picturesque pair of explorers was Nicholas
Perrot and Daumont de St. Lusson. The former
was a master of Indian tongues, a useful interpreter
to De Denonville and De Vaudreuil, a widely-
traveled explorer, and the discoverer of lead mines
on what was afterwards the Des Moines River in
Iowa. In 1665 he first encountered St. Lusson at
Sault Ste. Marie. Six years later (June 14th), in
one of the most picturesque scenes of French life
in America, St. Lusson, who had been despatched by
the Intendant Talon to take possession of the North-
west in the name of the King, did so on the heights
overiooking Sault Ste. Marie amid much barbaric
pageantry intermixed with civilized state and
ceremony. Representatives were present from a
dosen Indian tribes which roamed the prairies and
lake-lands for hundreds of miles, and they affixed
their names, or rather marks, to a document claiming
for Louis XIV all of the known continent from the

F00TPKINT8 OF FRENCH PIONEERS 83

Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic aee of tlie north and
to the far-off Labrador coaat. An immense wooden
CroM was erected and a cedar mast placed beside it
with the King's escutcheon affixed.

Following Marquette and Jolliet and La Salle the
thoughts of French Canada toward the close of
the seventeenth century had been mainly directed
to the Mississippi Valley— despite the many and
varied efforts to the far north and west. In 1699
Nicholas Perrot had forts at the mouth of the V.U
consin and on Lake Pepin. A little later Fathers
Montigny, St. Co8m«, Davion and Thaumer de la
Source established missions as far south as Baton
Rouge; in 1700 Father Gravier reached the Gulf of
Mexico with a similar purpose in view, while Father
Le Sueur ascended the Minnesota and stood upon
the site of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In 1699-1702
expeditions under Le Moyne d'Iberville and Le
Moyne de Bienville of Montreal founded Biloxi
and Mobile on the Gulf of Mexico with a view to
guarding for Old and New France the portals of the
Mississippi. At the same time Henri de Tonty,
noted for his association with La Salle, abandoned
his Fort St. Louis on the Illinob and established
another of the same name at MobUe, while French
ports were also established on the site of Detroit
and at Miami, Outanon and Vincennes in the
Illinois region. In later years and around Lake
Chatauqua, the source of the Alleghany River,
Forts La Bteuf, Presqu'isle and Venango were
built. Fort Duquesne was a famous place in the

FREWCH CANADA

EnglUh-French wan. Up the Riohelieu River
which wri for long year, the high road between
French Canada and the English colonies under the
name of Riviire aux Iroquois, the route was studded
with forts of both nations and the soil of its shores
is stamped with much of adventurous and romantic
story.

There were many other French priests or mis-
sionaries, explorers or adventurers, traversing these
wonderful wildemcssea. Hudson's Bay, discovered
from the sea entrance by Henry Hudson in 1610,
was a source of great attraction to many. Radisson
and 'Jhouart no doubt reached iu shore from land
before Father Albanel, who, however, is generally
credited with having been tue first to do so, and
they are said to have suggested the formation of
the Hudson's Bay Company to the English at a time
of personal resentment against D'Avaugour, the
Governor at Quebec. In 1672 Father Albanel,
following the unsuccessful expedition of Fathers
DrulUettes and Dablon in 1661, sighted its gloomy
shores, found the English fiag already there and is
said to have torn it down. From Three Rivers in
1651 Father Buteux had, meanwhile, ascended and
explored the River St. Maurice, which Cartier
Pont-Grav« and Champlain had all examined in
lesser degree and with reference, chiefly, to the
importance of Three Rivers as a fur-t -.ding center
Father Buteux left a clear description of Shawini-
gan Falls amongst his limited geographical records
and was murdered by the Iroquois while returning

FOOTPRINTS OF FHENfH PIONEERW Hr,

to the mouth of the river. Tho Upp*.r Sagucnay
region was the home of prolonged mimicnary work
by Fathers du Quen and dc Crepieul, who at Ta-
dousac and Lake St. John, devoted more time to
the Bouls of the heathen than to the geography of
the region where later, under English rule, their
missions were forgotten and the country for u long
time regarded as boing a hopeless wilderness.

At other points also the omniscient Jesuit was pur-
suing his adventurous way. Mission stations in the
middle of the seventeenth century were established
at the mouths of the chief rivers running into the
St. Lawrence. Some have been already mentioned
Father B.-iilloquet ascended the Papinactoix on the
. north shore of the St. Lawrence and Father Nouvel
explored the Manitoupgan. On the sou' I shore
Father Druillettes passed by wa- of t'le Chaudi^re
River, opposite Quebec, and the Kennebec, to the
Atlantic seaboard; the missions to the Etchemins
of New Brunswick were carried on from Rivi*re
du Loup, opposite Tadousac, and by way of a
portage to Lake Temiscouta and the Madawaska
into the River St. John region. Restigouche and
Nipisiquit on the Baie des Chaleurs, and Richibucto
and Miraniichi on the Gulf coast of New Bruns-
wick, were mission centers and the bases of various
missionarj journeys. The far Labrador coast was
the source of varied effort and Father Nicholas in
1673 opened a mission at Seven Islands.

It will thus be seen that from the far north to
the furthest south of a great continent, the French-

88 FRENCH CANADA

men made their mark and left memorials of voyage
and journey, exploration and settlement, adventure
and peril, religious effort and self-sacrifice, upon all
the wonderful water stretches of the interior and
upon the shores of two of the greatest rivers of
the worid. They impressed upon the continent
a splendid national imprint and the record of a
great ambition which however often it might
flicker or fail amidst the distractions and varied
responsibilities of court life in Paris or Quebec,
never wavered in the hearts of heroic missionaries
and courageous pioneers. In the end the hope that
New Prance would dominate a vast continent
failed, but it was not the fault of the earlier repre-
sentatives of the nation or the Church, in the heart
of the wilderness, that such was the case. If failure
did come in this great aim, success was all the more
conspicuous in the record of individual achieve-
ment and individual example which these men of
a bygone age have left to their people. It indeed
forms a part of traditions and history which take
no second place, in certain forms of comparison,
even to a hundred years or more in the history of
their greater motherland.

CHAPTER V

Quebec— The Cbadi.b op New France

Upon the Rock of Quebec, at one time or an-
other in two centuries of struggle, there have stood
the rulers and the ruled, the impetuous and pic-
turesque French adventurers and the inscrutable,
self-sacrificing, obedient priests, the gallant repre-
sentatives of a line of French kings and the corrupt
administrators of colonial wealth, the reckless and
the wise, the chivalrous and the mean, the states-
men and the soldier— i.i. the moving panorama of
men who looked out over a wide continent upon
the wild struggles of a scattered and proud race
of savages, upon the rivalries and warfare of two
great European powers in a world still fresh from
centuries of solitude, upon the birth-pains of two
new nations in process of creation. To the reader
or traveler who thinks today of Dufferin Terrace
only, who considers the scenery as very beautiful
and then passes hurriedly on to see and share in
the more attractive and bounding life of greater
cities, there is nothing much to be said about Quebec.
History is, in a certain real sense, what one makes
It. Parkman and Green and Macaulay put the
puppets of the past in their proper place and made
the real influences of life, the actual, breathing
(87)

III

FRENCH CANADA

people and controlling principles of tv period
move across their pages. It was the ,wer of
.mag.nat.on which did it and, despite any errors
n deta.l or .n the minor facts of their records t
sth.s power and this only which enabled them to
reconstruct h.story and ma!,, facts and events

of tl^/'''*r to Quebec, or even a life-long resident
of that cradle of h.story, should possess the faculty
of .mag.nat.on the facts of four centuries are easy
to unders and and the romance of his surroundings
become clear; .f he has not that faculty let him
consult the pages of some writer who has. Nea"
the Quebec of the future on the banks of the St
Charles Jacques Cartier and his sailor comrades in
1535-36 passed a season of severe privations and
were the only white men living upon the whole
cont.nent of North America. Here, on njy J
1536, Cartier erected a cross thirty-five feet high
beanng a sh.eld with the fleur-de-lys and the in-
scnpt.on m Latin: "Francis I, By the Grace of
God, K.ng 0 France." On the St. Lawrence and
above the s.te of Quebec, Cartier passed another

T /A" n'u' '''"^ ''""* ''' Cap Rouge a smaTfo t

wh,ch De Roberval occupied in the succeeding y ar

At the foot of the Rock of Quebec Champlain

£ h "ak ^'' '.?"'' *^ "•'"^ ^'<^ °f 1^-°-.
future. If Napoleon as he stood with folded arms
and inscrutable face viewing the Sphinx of Egypt
and conjur.ng up an eastern empire which might

QUEBEC gg

compensate him for European disappointments of
the nioment is an attractive figure of the world^
h^tory U should not be very difficult to surrouM

Cres o'f ^art "^ nf^"* '"*^'^«* *>>« '-«''
t.?ares of Cartier and Champlain as, in long-sepa-

rivers of untold areas of fertile soil, of miirhtv

mountains and rolling prairies '^^

In founding this seat of future empire in oriran!,

Zft T '" ^r'''"""^ '«"' exploradoJof To:
results he could have no real conception Cham
Plam selected the site of Quebec as b Jng " so nTt
defens,ble from a military point of view a ° ^
fitted as a port for purposes of the fur trade and
shippmg mterests. At the foot of tho nliff -j .
a forest of birch trees, he buuf hl^el a 1^-1
th spot where the Church of Notre Dame7es
V.cto,res now stands. It was in reality threfsepa
rate houses, joined together, with a courtyard
a orehouse, watch-tower and an esplanade in fS'
Zetf\ "^.V^"""" ^'"^ P'^'i^^des and a ditch

" AbTtatio:- Ch 'f • Z '^' ''^"P- ^-- this
Abitation Champlam directed the alliance with
the Algonquins and Hurons and that firtt hoS
movement against the Iroquois which eems to
have controlled the history of New vLT^
century and a half and which m ;, fnXI W
been a pnmary cause for the situL'tion in 'wUch

FRENCH CANADA

Wolfe encountered on the Heights of Abraham the
gmall army of a 60,000 population instead of the
armed settlers and soldiers of a strong young nation.
It was his one mistake, though the motives no
doubt were those of a statesman. To advance
the commercial and trading interests of his country
an alliance with strong Indian tribes could not but
be useful; to draw some line of demarcation across
the center of the continent and along the Atlantic
settlements of the impetuous and pushing English
pioneers must have seemed desirable; to have
natives help in exploring the vast interior was
obviously important. He could not in the brief
time at his disposal understand the dominating
qualities of the Iroquois or realize that before long
they would sweep these other tribes before them
hfce chaff before a wind.

Up to 1612 Champlain's residence was the home
of a limited local authority and the center for mili-
tary expeditions and inland fur trade In that
year the free trading rights of the Basques and
Malouins were restricted to the river below Quebec
and Champlain was given large additional powers.
Population came but slowly and was not greatly
encouraged. Champlain described the number in
• ,L^ , ''' '°«1"<1'°8 women and children; and
m 1629 when Admiral Kirke captured the place for
England-and held it for three years-the popu-
lation was about the same. Meantime the "Abita-
tion had seen some important changes. Though
the Hundred Associates, or U Compagnie de Can-

QUEBEC

«ia which Champlain represented after 1627 and

an ardent CathoL.''tc2r£TalZV "1'
fittar:TatlT' fi'T^ '" '''' '"'' '^i^-^^^.
While SIX Jesuits came in 1625 and soon constructed
rmaTeM'lr '"'"''f'^ ^°«- " wrp^tpo" ed
T^^ZT^TZS:^ ^''*''°""' --^ ^» *^e -in

th?Fort^ Champlain commenced the erection of
the Fort or Castle of St. Louis on the brow of the

fefnTr r « ''^ *^^'t''«-" (tl^e comer of dS
t7Z, Z Z^""' ^^^ P'"^°* post-office), and this
irc^of S r*' " "^ r^^^'- --^-d th
Mai cession of the country to Great Britain
From this new seat of authority Champlak ^
representing in turn the companyf the v^erov ' ^

sm'rtTf '^' *'^ -air/ofVe'RjcS 2^
Jesmts m the missionary work of the time- from
We he guided and modified the jealouZs of Z
l^ant colony which at his death in 1635 stiuLm
bered only a hundred souls; from here he waterd
and assisted the fur traders in their dangloustS
attractive and lucrative occupation; from here he
planned and carried on expeditio;s which eave
vast terntories to the Crown of France aldTmmenle

from here he departed on constant missions to Paris'

FRENCH CANADA

in the vain effort to hold in one stable policy of
trade and settlement and acquisition, the conflicting
interests of Court and Church and the selfish rivalries
and intrigues of men and women working for evil
ends; from here he led French soldiers to fight
side by side with the Hurons against the Iroquois.
Here, also, Champlain's beautiful young wife sup-
ported him with her sympathy and helped the
settlers with unselfish labors for their welfare.

This Fort and Chateau of St. Louis saw: many
a scene of interest in succeeding years. As the
settlement grew in numbers and importance— Quebec
was always more influential than the size of its
population would have warranted in a European
or Asiatic town— the Chateau became the center
of a varied and changing history and the home
of men with many-sided qualities and performances.
De Montmagny was a successor worthy of Cham-
plain, though perhaps only Frontenao and Mont-
calm in a long line of royal appointments could be
said to reach his standard of ability and devotion
Deeply religious, Ferland (the French Canadian
historian) describes him as kneeling upon his ar-
rival at Quebec, with all his suite, at the foot of
a Cross on the roadside and invoking the protec-
tion and guidance of the Almighty in his future
work. He rebuilt Fort St. Louis in stone, drew
plans of streets for the future city and welcomed
the construction by the Jesuits of a College on the
site of the present City Hall.

During this period the Chateau was not a very

QUEBEC gg

gay or bright place. The last days of De Cbnn,
P lam and the twelve years of De Montmagny tv-"
wL diS °' ?""'' '=°"'™' - which socety
V' acious or sparkling. Mont.pal ..i.^
ounded at this time under influL teli^Jj^
religious, and life, both there and at th^cl^*

observance. Then ensued the heroic period in

de.th °'^ °^ ^'''"'^ ^'"•"da and a Jro onged
death-grapple with the Iroquois I?„ll^^ ■.
came D-Ailleboust de CoulonTas GovSoTLn
de Lauzon, Vicomte D'Argenson, Baron D'AvIu

pohcy and determination, proud of his Churl
.t. authority and it. missi' a' Discord L'^S

tSr I J """' " °""'''^'- °' *'^«"'=h -cobles and
their ladies, more settlers of varied classes mnr„

tlr^n^'^l' •"*"''^'' *•>«■' sa^rs irtl; Go"
the iltle ' "'•p.!?"^'''" P-^ded the streets of
the little capital side by side with black-robed
Jesuits or gaily attired habitants.

as thl Kin^ '" !" '^^^^2 ""d ^^ Tracy

subdue the Iroquois; with the Jesuits moving

FRENCH CANADA

freely amongst the Indians and pawing up and
down the contment and around the great lakes in
contmuous succession; with French influence felt

Irr/!i*K*''i' °' ^""'^ *° t'"' lU^oi". and
accentuated by the presence and settlement of the

Inf^H^'/^ ^''T'"'-^""'*'*^; '^*'> Talon as
Intendant, wise, far^eeing and patient-acting the

r^,- // ?'"*.° """^ ''""King the colony into
en^r/ °/ P/"''"''*"'" ""d ProBperity-New France
entered at this time upon its golden age, and was
further aided and kept in this position by the
Bemces of Comte de irrontenac in 1672-82 and

If the walls of the old Chateau of St. Louis could
live and speak their tales of council during ti.is
period the result would hold high place in the
pages of romantic history. De Frontenac, in par-

n Ca'n' J t Vu" ^T""" ^'"«'« ^epres^ntatfves
m Canada after Champlain, was essentially a pic-
turesque figure. Noble by birth, dignified and yet
vivacious, free m his mental poise to the point of
autocracy, a brave soldier and excellent miUtary

of an extended administrafcon. During it he cowed

thPn, T.T ^^^ •"" "^'""'y '^^^ ""d placated
them with his personal courtesy and bearing, while
encouraging explorations which made New France
a force from the far north to the southern seas
Incidentally he had the defects of his quahtTes Td
disagreed with the Intendant Duchesnay while his
proud disposition ill brooked the equally proud and

QUEBEC

King's lieutcnan°ge„e,flTn a''"'' ""^^'^ "" ''«'
high military repStS '"/"""'^ ""d with a
by a brilliant staTandbv. ^ "''•'ompanied
anxious to share in the w„l T,'' °' y"""* ""Wes
natural grandeur of th« '^'^' *° ««« the

place in'^the advelt JT""^; ^f *° ''-'' ■»
He had, also, 200 s^ldCanH *'l' ^"•'«™«'«-

additional r;gulL orth« , '°'°*^ ^^ '•'^
Sailifires. GoreZs in ,. !*"°^°* Carignan-

"d flowing ^rhV°a7rsta?r' '" "°'-
on June 30th by Bishon H. t 'T^T* «'^^*'^
robes, surrounded by priel anT'^° ^'' ''"'''y
and gentlemen. DoL ud^ u t °®"''''' °®"«'«
flooring of stone-HiT ? ^" ''"^« "^ the bare
knelt fhe bnllLnT^^ " f T "''^''"^ ""^^ion-
receive the bt^g 7Zc£l f '""^ «"°« *°
representative in America ^W ^'■'"" '*' '''«''^«*
scenes in those davroTn'.l^ T o^^"^ """"y «"=b
A greater and more 1 ^ '^''"'*"' '''"^ State.
city and colony dS ^LT"'"* 'f "^""^ '» *be
wa«.ea«Bap4te"Ti:Z^;-t,f-^^

FRENCH CANADA

8ble figures of the whole French jMriod. Though
not of noble birth or title, he was King's Councillor
of State and Privy Councillor, Intendant of Justice,
Police and Finance of New France, of the Island
of Newfoundland, Acadia and other countries in
what the state documents quaintly describe as
"North France." He was an able lieutenant to
Frontenac, the first to build ships in the colony,
the first to open up trade with the West Indies, the
first to build a brewery in North America, the
first ruler who developed cod-fisheries along the
St. Lawrence. He encouraged agriculture and
manufactures, strove earnestly to keep the great
West for the French flag, and worked to that end
with Frontenac despite the commands of Louis
XIV to concentrate the slim forces of France in
America and to hold securely what they had in
hand rather than expand loosely over a con-
tinent.

Meanwhile, population had been growing and
social conditions changing. This golden age of
Quebec was naturally influenced by the ambitions
of Louis XIV and his talented minister, Colbert,
as well as affected by the brilliant group of French-
men in local control. The King spent money freely
to colonize this great country and in doing soproved
himself a statesman more truly than in some of
his larger and more famous lines of European policy.
From Normandy and Pictou in the main, and also
from Brittany, Picardy and Paris itself, came ship-
loads of emigrants— 1,200 girls being sent out be-

{'HI

Riviere du loup

QlliBK;.

tween 1665-70 a« -.v.r.lin? gifts to the .settlers

somewhat the half monastic, half military aspect

2th its TLr""" °' ^"^^^" "^ '* grew' tSy
with Its Ursuhne convent, founded in 1639 bv
M^re Mane de I'lncamation, its Hotel D^u Z
Chateau and fort, its Jesuit college and hu'rch
.ts Lava Seminary and Court House and prS
homes, >ts one tavern which stood oa the He Ih !
S .*^«"'' «' -hat is now St. Lou^s Street'
Here m Upper Town lived the priests officers

was the traH Tf^'- ^^'°- *'"« Promontory

was the tradmg part of what was at once a fortress

Low °^^°'' f"'' " P''"'^^' settlement. In S
Lower Town Jived the workmen and sett e^
and traders of various kind, and from here th^

Ss thet .' ^,f '" """^ *™PP«^« ''"d voya-
geurs, the men who followed in the wake of or accom

pan.ed priests and explorers over the vast expanses

of a continent; here gathered along the shores

spoils for bargaimng and trade or, perhaos in

ways and means of defeating their foes; here
when the occasional ship came in, there gathered
he whole settlement while the King's representa-
t.ve, accompanied by Intendant and Bishop went
aboard to welcome the arrivals and hear n;w?o

FRENCH CANADA

sometimes great import to the welfare of the town
and perchance to the future of a continent.

B^TonL I'^V""" '"'°'"^ administration of
Ue Frontenac the fort on the Rock of Quebec
^w an unhappy period of Indian warfare und

when thel!"" '""^ !'" ^'"^'^'^ "' ^'--vill
wlien the colony was plunged from a high nosition

and almost despair. De Frontenac was sent to

much of the prestige of French Canada before death
came to h:m in 1698 and ended a career wS

many devoted friends and placed the Fort ofT
I^ms, durmg his administration, a. high above any
other center of government upon the continent as
It was m a natural sense above the splendid rle
and scenery which it overlooked. Following F on
S th™' ' '?.•"""" "' ^'"^''^ ""Wes bringing

tTe evS o^ V t''"' °^ '^' «°°'' ""'^ something o?
the evil of French court life-Chevalier de Calli^res

vandreml, Charles Marquis de Beauharnois, the
Marquis de la Jonqui^re, the Marquis de Duqiesne
de MemienviUe, the Marquis de Vaudreuil-CavaZT
It was an age of brilliant uniforms, bright Cos-
tumes, wigs of flowing and picturesque locks So -
diers were on guard day and night, officers clanked
the. swords at dance and carl-games and varS
amusements, priests in somber black, or ecclesias
ties m rich robes of state, came and went With"

.1>W:

QUEBEC gg

cwirtL'tLr :r'^"^'' *'°°^"-*- -^^ the
Of the Kin«.~ rti:s^re';KaV'^ """-^

cr-rhXr''^^-^^^^^ -- ^;^!

the beauty, grace amri"-'' ?!,*'^ '«««'«»* ^om
tainebleau ^r VeLXt f"!''' ".''"™ "^ ^°"-
the historian said of in;,- I ^^■'^''' Charlevoix
Quebec with H current in"",'f"''' "' ^^^0 that
a very interest ng™/"!"*'"" "' '■"«« ^^^
military officers and nob es with^TV'T^";''' "'
suited to the adventurou tlte of th" "^^ ^'"
occasional Indian struggles we,, fi/t.!?/T''' """^
mg characteristics of men blrn and K ". '^' ^«'>*-
tions of European warfare A/fh. !!''' •", ''°°'''-
't: "The English know bettef how t"'" P"*
wealth, but we alone „r^ . *° accumulate

agreeable way oSplZgIt' ''"'"''' '^'^'^ *•"« --*

ipptdrvauS:s:,'^:/,;^-/« ^f^-- ^''"-

in the R6ccMet chaDel T^ T '"'^ ""^ ''""cd
qui^re also died in oL J ^"'"^"'^ '^^ '"^ J"""
same old church-the rl ' T ''""«'» '" the
wards transfer ed to 7kTZ r ^" ''^'"« ^"-
Church. De M^sv «l J ^ ? "^ ""^ Seminary
its founder Chamlifand t ^°/^' '''*^' "« ^id
Acting at times durwTK ''''''"''"'' Montcalm.

administrator or Seniir"™' ^'"''-"''^ -
picturesque figures-C I^d f r"'' ^^^« "t^er
Le Moyne, Ba^n de W - ''"^^' ^''"'•'''

de la Gallissonni^re The faJn "h' *'^ ^"""^^
ine last named endeavored,

100

FRENCH CANADA

unsuccessfully, to plant 10,000 French colonists
along the line of the Alleghanies in order to check
the advance of the English, and in 1750 sent
Celeron de Bienville to mark the boundaries of
*rench and English possessions down through the
heart of the United States of today. Metal plates
bearing the arms of France were affixed to trees
at certain intervals, and at the foot of each tree
was buried another plate-inscribed with a procla-
mation of ownership. This line was drawn all
around the valley of the Ohio up to the Alleghanies.
With La Jonqui^re in control (1749-52) began the
corruption which was to eat into the vitals of New
France, defeat the ambition and genius of Mont-
calm and help to transfer the northern part of the
continent to the dominance of the British Crown

Of society and Ufe in Quebec during the closing
years of French rule, Franjois Bigot, Intendant of
the King, was a conspicuous and malevolent figure
Somewhat commonplace in appearance, brave
enough, in a physical sense, skillful in the un-
scrupulous accumulation of money, fond of pleas-
ure in its more degrading forms as well as of the
lighter, brighter social life of the times, he came
to New France (Louisbourg) in 1739 after a career
of lucrative character in Paris. Six years after-
wards he returned to France with charges of mis-
appropriating public moneys hanging over his
head. In 1748, however, he secured the post of
Intendant at Quebec and there developed a system
of speculation and what we would call "graft"

QUEBEC

101

Which WM monumental in character, picturesque
m .te avish expenditure upon his "palace," his
entertainments, his pleasures; dreary and cr^el in
ts squeezing f taxes out of the p7ople; elabo a °
m Its svnndhng of soldiers and the government

food withheld from the starving masses and in it
crippling of Montcalm's military efforts

After' thT' ^"^^ T r"""""^ ^"'"K *° *•>« "ime.
After the conquest he was tried in Paris (1763)
found gjiUty and condemned to be taken to the
principal gate of the Tuileries by the public execu!
t.oner ma tumbril with a rope about hi neck
and bearing in his hand a lighted torch of yXt
wax two pounds in weight. On his chest and on
h s back were to be placed placards with this in"

Th ef " Md th ^T .^'^-rt-tor-Perfidious
h„, i * And there, kneeling, bareheaded and with
bare feet dad only in his shirt, "he shall decTare
ma loud and intelligible voic; that during h
administration of New France, in peace and in
ZL" « ^«7 8U.Ity of frauds, extortions and
lilLm-n- ^%'"«P'''''l'le harm was done.
All the mil ions of francs which were restored to
the French treasury by himself and his accomplice!
Cadet and P^an, could not give back to France Hs

EtfaSr ■ ^" "'^^^ --'^' **^ -* ^^

With the coming of Montcalm in 1756 had
commenced the Seven Years' War, in which England
and Prussia stood against France and Austria and

102

FRENCH CANADA

Russia, and various lesser states, while fierce battles
were fought in America, in India and on the sea
At Louisbourg and Quebec, as on the plains of
Hindustan, England was victorious. The weak
character of Louis XVI and the growing abuses
of government m France affected conditions at the
Jiuropean seat of French power as did the cor-
ruption and weakness of Bigot at the seat of author-
ity in America. Failure was not the fault of the
military leaders in New France. With Montcalm
were the Marquis de Uvis, the Comte de Bougain-
ville, General de Bouriamaque aid others worthy
of the great question of national power which was
at issue. Corruption was the present cause with,
back of that an a primary reason, the lack of popula- '
tion and financial resources. The result of the
centunes-old duel between France and England in
Amenca was at last settled on the Plains of Abra-
ham and in 1763 Quebec ceased to be the capital
of a vague, vast, intangible New France and became
for a time one of the outposts of British military
power. Through all these years it had been a
center of hfe and strife, of hope and fear, of religion
and war. It had passed through the tremendous
difliculties of pioneer settlement; it had survived
t^e prolonged agony of Iroquois days; it had passed
through the siege and capture by Admiral
Kirke m 1629, through the siege by Sir William
Phips m 1690; it had endured the attack of 1759
and that of De Uvis in the succeeding year; it
faced the desperate effort of Montgomery and

ra M''

QUEBEC J03

™t.on- ..,1 „ .bi.„ ot iJSZll,Mh?T

try with r«n rI . ^*''* lumbering indus-

of the'^t. Chli;° h seaUnT R \* ^^ ""'"*''

104

FRENCH CANADA

present home of a most important boot and shoe

1 Se', m""*"1"1''*' °' *'"' modern cit^
m! • I /i! J^"'*""^"*' *''« Wolfe-Montcalm M^
morial. the Champlain Monument and a MemoS
of Queen Victoria. Outside of the city are wt

St. Charles and Lairet, of Murray and r)» t^ •

nificance. With what history and life sufferin;

gatesi^Pre's'l^K "'"' ~-. wS'th2"2
gatcs-Prescott, Hope, St. John and the like
reple e, what castigation will the unknoi^ nat^:
of those responsible for their entire r^ovaT-
changes were no doubt necessary-receive fTJiK
ever growing number of those who TvrmeZri?!:
of the past; who base their patriotism in some
measure upon the visible tokens of "hat Z
who feel a curious fascination in seeing things'
dfferent to the newness and swiftness and cha^.::
of modern construction and modern taste. *

The commercial age has come upon the citv
S reet cars and trade dislike narrow gates and thev
had to go; modern buildings require space and ^

Chateau

F^mo^ac and Ctadel, Quebec

iii

QUEBEC

105

river an/St hi J" 7"^/'"'" °' -""^
beautiful valleys nml ni * ""^ ''■'"^" »«"'

ferin Terrace one of th^ «'""?"" ^'"'"'^■»- »"'-
world, and U,e n, . r""* P™'»«'"«1<"' '" the

world.; rrit"ro.'e!i:''L::Tir;ru?^ °', *^?

he ancient chateaux and loveL , r^d fiT ^

ground and erected th, ^°"" ^d'^^rt cleared the
the cliff in ZZdtJlL^'^S'' 'T """"
Hall stands where the Jesui CoH^ ' *•" ^"^

famous offic s JL L it/"'" !f ^"*'»'' ^"^^^ had

106

FRENCH CANADA

R. H. the Duke of Kent lived in 1791-93 tZ\u
luKtns oi an olden dav. Thp ri..,,„i, * »t .

Lr .rrva? oTr ;r ir r j

t e eh h_the plural style waflu Je"d t'^SU

Walke tj"r''*'i"r '^ ^''">'-' Hovendei
the nfll . abandoned-fitood in early days

xecu o°nT uTed fu" '""^ ^''""«' *'>'' ^-^oW '»
da s from Tel *° ''? «'^^*«d. The church itself

inZeSlS The'firf'f r^^^"^ ''^
^ojat^^ehead/the^et^^ltrp^^^^^^
the^Cul-de-Sac and was destroyed at the siege of

Champlain Street extends from the base of Cape

QUEBEC 107

Dmmond where it touches the market place
stiU noted for its Saturday sale of productVbv
Mnis. to the city limits and includes the one-
time business center of the town, the old Guard
House and the remains of the anci;nt inner harbor

from"o K ""^ *'"' Charlesbourg Road, norSr
from Quebec, are to be seen the remains of wh!t
IS popularly called Chateau Bigot. Tradition ha,

taks of love and cruelty fitting to the life of In-
tendant Bigot, but the facts appear to be that
■t was built by Intendant Bdgon (1712-26) who

Ze' ;,' 1!*"'^* ™''" '" both 'character Ind
fame Elsewhere ir. the city there are varied
quamt and tortuous streets peeping out of mod n
thoroughfares and reminding the casual visitor thlt
Europe once held a vivid place in the making of
American history. Nooks and squares and road-
ways houses and churches have, in a sudden and
surprising way, tales to tell of the stirring past

future. Some of them were taught in that splen-
did demonstration of national unity and inter-
national friendship which marked, L 1908 the
four-hundredth anniversary of Champlain's memor!
able action in fou,"ding a settlement on the Rock
of Quebec which would forward French power J
the New World and advance Christianity among t

CHAPTER VI

Montcalm, Wo... ,,„ ,„, j.,^,^^ ^^
Abbaham

a^e everywhere L he City oJ O T*°'^ "' '^'''''''*'
ture teems with studies of tl^"'!' ^*' "*'''•''-
of the leaders- it» „!* ^ .• ^ *''*"* ^nd stories
French, isTnfliencecf bvth""' "'!!*''*' ^"«'-h "
death, by the" oint mi^ ^ '1'°'''' "^^ ^''^ double

Casgram, Doughty WnnH i ^' Haddington,
historian haye vied SnS.lT'' """"^ """t^er
descriptions. Eyerywhl/e J^ "*" """'^^^^ ""d
the great event. WoUetLZr"' """^ '°^'"^ °^
until 1832, when I nrH i i *"''' "'"« »°t honored

erected a 4Te tottlTo^'lf ""t ^°^^---
Mde the city-where ^Tr , 'P°t-iust out-
the monument o^ti wS """'"'' ""'' -»■-«
gamson of Quebec in l^Q ""^ '''"^'^ ^y t^e
the Stc. Foy Road "tlnd t^?5 Zt T'"' ^'-«
bronze bearing an inscnnt.nn i k* ""'"""n "^ «uted
captains of the wlr-th * n °"°' "' ^""^ "^^^^

Battle of Ste. For " AuVr^''^'''"''"-' '" *"«
par la Sod«« St Jean pL * ^' '''' ^^eO-Krig^
• ''^*° BaptLste de Quebec 1860 "
(108)

MONTCALM AND WOLFE

109

name of Murray? on tie sTe F "T ^"*'''° *»>«
name of Uvis above th»-^ '"^^ "PP*"" t^e
The Wolfe-MontcZ MeS" ^^ ?''. ^"'°--
entrance to the Go^erS pI'm' *"'' "* *''°
"nder the admini.trro„ of Lord n"^''''' "''=*^'^
«ith an afterwards f«m fo™ Dalhousie 1827)
Charlton FUheT: ">«cription pen. 4 by

Valom. gave them a common death,

History a common fame
And posterity a common monument.

with greater forces a„TS'„^,,: Z/V*™*"^'^
was holding the eates „t tT ° '"^ «"^.

middle west the Kch hlS'lT"'' ""' '» ^''^
Lake country and nf n!^ had lost control of the

the Indians "w£ oi TZS:'!."''^''. '""°"'^*
fallen, and at the heart nf!.°"''''°"''8 '"^d
and Montreal Bkntt ^!''^'''»8' i" Quebec

the vitals of powe'r Fran"''*""' r ^''""« '"*<>
Europe and could riv„ r*?, '^'^ ^""^ P'«««ed in
domiLnt upon the seaT.r''' E"8">»d was

French Can^In^w r Vtti l'?'r T '"''^
with 3,000 000 Fn^; K , • °*' death-grapple

might ofEnZd'"' ''°'°°"*^ ''-k«<l by The
aa^VZ;^^,^:^^^ were somewhat
- -««ion, in position.*^ ^^s" jtZ'V'^MZ'

FRENCH CANADA

racy and member of „T •, ! ^""^""^ ""^too-

that "wa^r i/the tomb o tt M f ^''* ''*''*^'"«"*
Wolfe, though the s"„ o/«n ^°°*'""'"'-" '''""««
a family of any IZ°!, °^'"'- """''^ °°t boast

was aecLomeTto r fo Tclr " '"'"*•'»""
the field; Wolfe showed t "l adTan^' "'" "^ °'
monial or on social occasion and mI7 *'.'" "'''■
mistakes that the Dukl^fNer ?>'"''' '"""""
in the presence of the K ng ha^S " °""' ^"'^
was "a mad fool." ■• If L if jT ^ f. "'"^ «''°^™'

Wolfe was uglv s,.ffpr.H ^. mhented position;

itdrb^eTr;r-^%-"-~^^

Both were brave tlskitoffi? '™'" ^"^''''^•
soldiers. Both had alpp»^ • ""' «*P«rienced

American aoH '^ ''°'' ^'«"''' ^''^"ries on

The actual battle was a brief one Th»
was about where the w„if ,, ^°® ^^^^

today, though itTnc uded m Monument stands
than of what is ZpulartZ' *'" r"""" "^^
Abraham-called aftorAK . " "' **•" ^'"»« °f
Pilot who intaiyXs twnT ""r'"' " Q^''-
the land. The operation, 7 J " '"'«* P^^''"' "f
xne operations leading up to the conflict,

MONTCALM AND WOLFE

111

Z^'onlvIrT' " ''''''' "«" °f '""d and river
included o„?oVr; ^tT' °" ^"^ ^'«""'' ^'l"

of French mS" h„ T'. '"'' """*"*'''» «"PPort

tain allies and ve" y^'?;'!"! ""^ -"« "-er-
leader, some French mar^i / ""*'*""" °' ^^'"
in the Richelieu durin?r "'" ^''''" "'''>°««1
were abouru oi 2 *'''' j'^^^' A'*°eether there

mander-n ch ef T T " ^°"*'='"" ''« «»'»-
more numert \haf horoT W 7' '"' *''°"«''
in their qualifications and varL^^'ll"^^^ ""-^d

the regu-ars and colonial loS^did "fir"'
work well together- whil» "*" ^^"* »°t always
commander wis th« . ♦ "' *''"'" ""^ their

undisciplined rnity^thTS adl" w"^^' '''
the Govemor-De VaudremT f '"""?*'-''*i°° of
every direction, also w^ the Hi '" '"

immense difficutfs created bvh'*'""'''"""' '^'^
Bigot and his satellites '^ *'"' """"P*'"" «'

Wolfe was more fortunate. The British fleet

,:|I

113

FRENCH CANADA

anchored m or sailing up and down the great
nver m front of tlie Hock of Quebec, had 9 000
trained troops aboard, though of these only 5,000
took part m the ultimate struggle. This latter
portion of the army included the Fifteenth Reiri-
ment, now the East Yorkshires; the Twenty-
eighth, now the First Gloucesters; the Thirty-
Mth, an Insh regiment now called the First Royal
Sussex; the Forty-third, afterwards famous in the
Pemnsula campaign; thp Forty-seventh or First
Loyal North Lancashires; the Forty-eighth or
I'lrst Northamptonshires; the Seventy-eighth Fra-
sers now the Second Seaforth Highlanders, and
the Louisbourg Grenadiers. The fleet itself was
a powerful part of the British navy and included
su men-of-war, nine frigates and sixty transports.
It neutralized to a considerable degree Montcalm's
possession of the strategical spot in the struggle

On the 26th of June, 1759, the fleet anchored
off the Isle d Orleans and on the following day the
troops were camping on the upper portion of the
island. French engineers had already commenced
fortifying the Beauport shore, opposite, from the
River St. Charles to the Falls of Montmorenci.
Montcalm had come up from Montreal to direct
the French campaign, and on his arrival had at
once pressed forward this work of strengthening
the defences at the mouth of the St. Charles and
along the shore below the city, while batteries and
barricades were set up in the Lower Town of Quebec
and guns placed wherever possible. Fire-ships

MONTCALM A.VD MOLFE

dr/JutSn. " "'■?^"' '"^*-- of I'o Vau-
c'ost a mm!orC;:n7'"°^''''"*''''''»- They
When let loose 'jZ^^^Z^'^l^^^^^l '"''^
pation of Pointe I^vf.. ^ "* British occu-

bombardment of Q^ebec''°reee:^' k" •'°"*'""°-
of troops at Montmorene' A l^^rn f ?[ " ''*"'''"«
out serious action and tLn « \. '''"°^"'' ^ith-
Montmorenci in whkh th« R 5\' '°°^ P''"=« "'
checked; the LoweTTown .A ^"'"n\'"*^'""'« ^as
by shells from L^ ^"i ''"«* '""^ '^''^ •'"">«d
British position afthe Fall ^'P"""''^' ^d the
a detachment went uo it ""'' "^^"^'^^^ while
Of Quebee and iared^ ^y--: ''' "^'^ «'c,e

and*dXr a";t 5^ ""4 ^^^^ ^-"^^'-t
''onfide to his brigadTers tT f '".^ ''^ '^''^ »»»
Murray and CarleTon ""re a^l T ",'' ^°'""'*°»'
resource, but he conceived ht enf """"^^ ""•!
hazardous for any but r ," ^^^P''^« to be too
for some days been ul-rT"'.""""*'""- »« bad
and beyond'^^ap Bou^to I °M """^ ""''^ ""ove
the French commander ^°^'""^'^''' Bougainville,

and who could rSoihi^g^ofTh^r'^''""^ '""'^
which included camnin^ an I u ! """^"ments-
up the river in shZaSt "o/^'^^ ""^ ^^'-<^
however, instead of actuluv ..n ^^^^'"•'er 12th,
the troops under Caretoi r^ 'L'"*" '^' '^'^^
and the ships passed on ?„mT!'' '" **"« •'"ats
ville on land'toTrdt plteTu^Tr" ""m ^•'"«'''"-
twenty miles from Quebec M ^'t'?j'''«^-about
8 ^^''*''- Meanwhile the L^vis

).Uh

114

FRENCH CANADA

batteries commenced a severe cannonade of Quebec
and Admiral Saunders threatened a descent at
Beauport. Carleton carried his men in boats
down the river, unseen by the French, and landed
on the opposite or outh shore, to be ready should
Wolfe succeed in climbing the Heights.

There is no need to describe the battle in detail
At the Cove, now called after him, and situated
about two miles above Quebec, Wolfe succeeded
in landmg and in climbing the steep cliff despite
unknown dangers in men and guns, the difficulties
of scahng heights in utter darkness, the responsibility
for the hves of thousands dependent upon absolute
silence and upon the result being a surprise to the
enemy. Wolfe had, indeed, almost given up hope
of finding a place in this long line of towering crags
where his men could make even an attempted
ascent. Finally, by chance, he had noticed with
his glass a slight marking amid the bushes and
trees of the cliff which might indicate a pathway
and on closer examination it was found to be the
dry, almost precipitous course of a little stream
called the Foulon. It was at least an opportunity
and at this point De Vaudreuil came in again as
being, with Bigot, the twin evil spirit of New France's
last days.

Just above the lofty cliffs there were known to
be troops on guard despite the fact that Montcalm
deemed them inaccessible. The latter, however
felt the curious movements of the British troops
to be dangerous and twice had despatched his

MONTCALM AND WOLFE

with hi» superior authority nnrf h i ^°^*™<"'.

soned troops others of .iLut, P'""" °' "»«-

«"«picion of either cZpt'ln*''''"'^""''^'
enemy, or cowardi,.. n^7^^ trafficltmg with the

The r^'sult Zt 'h? 'a;brkto,? f 7'^°"'-
the Rubicon of his hooes h»H W° '« had passed
less troops at the top ^Ih^ .•^"'"''"f "* *'"' ""«"
3.000 men-aftemards.nV J "'"' ''*°°'' '''"'
Plains of Abraham ""' *° ^-OOO-upon the

wS etrtrx:^:L%i^te^°!:f\""- --

the formation was sat a o ; .Td ..'l'' r""'''''
was passinir im AnH a .' ^ *he Genera

withholding of'fi",:'„Jr"'f''f """'"ess and the

enemy. Mean^h rSonTlt S """ °' *""
haste from the St. Charies Jh™ h ""' "^ '»

watching the mancTv^es of^t T '"^'""'y

to find the British r„r ^^^^^^ ««et, only

proach to the cHv Sa-r''"'" °' '''' ^-"'"^t ''•^
guns below and on eve^Xrh. "''""^ *° '""^
of 9,000 might be fare tlf *'^*.''"'''« '"an of a total

An immediat attack by Z::;*','" """* ''«'«--•
and at ten o'clock hp In .'"'"^ ""^ necessary

men to meet tte BrH sh T h "!f f °"* ^''^
with his 2,000 men mi.M T'' B°"eainville

116

FRENCH CANADA

The conflict waa short, .harp, decisive. The
troops of Montcalm advanced to the charge Sh
the French Canadians throwing themselves to^e

t?"re T "'^ ^'"''^""'"'"'t'' afte' the first order
to fire Temporary delay and disorder followed

Tth^ ^/T'*"' ""* ''*''"« "^customed toTws
method but the advauce then continued untU
wuhm for^y paces of the enemy when Wolfe gave

French Imes with fearful effect-followed by a
wo"<£ wSHell '° "f ■">-• As he uttered ^th^
t?tt,T / l.'"*""^ "'"""^^'^ ""d ^'"' carried
to the rear to d.e. Montcalm, meanwhile, was
tnnng to ' .lly his men from that close-ranged ;oney
of shot but m the effort was himself fatallylound d

On the Bntish side Monckton and Carleton were
wounded while General Townshend (yea« after!

r"?;ldT' " ""T"'^^ "-•"""'l command td
reformed his men who were pursiing the French
to the gates of Quebec. He was just in tfme to
repulse De Bougainville who had arrived to" a e
to save his cause, too late to affect the result- Jter
wasting precious hours in storming a stone house
occupied by the British at SiUery As ^th De
Grouchy at Waterioo, a little moTe haste, TrskS
or luck, might have changed the fate of ai empi 1
MeanwhHe Wolfe was dying in the arms of hTs
officers. He had himself directed the charge in

MOXTCALM AND WOLFE

117

Wolfe at once gave orders for the St rh„,i T ..
to be seized and the retreat cut off ^urntf o^ h*?'

^eS?r^~=^ist
:o^£Volrro^^--^^^^^^

there toM Tat he had f°r' '''"^'^ ^"'««°°' ""d
much the bette?" wi th ""^ " ''"^ *° '■"«• "8°
live to see the F Ti, '""P""'"- "^ «ha" not
uve to see the English masters of Quebec " H»
then dictated a letter to n» v j '■*'t,''- «e

118

FRENCH CANADA

other than thonn nf ,..„■ .•■ , "" '"*" no «ounda
air from Br tirartiiLrT" tl "'"'""^ *'''°"«'' ^^e

excavation torn outT .h„ fl •^T" '" ■"»

Britiah bombshell sth Utr "' "", "*' "
end of the man who h»H h »PP"ently ,ad

Pru: I. . . "°*" commanders dead aith

'r o/r:!;; '':rreb"^ *';^ «;•<» a^;;;:;

defenders nttlJi T- ^ ''*" '***'f shattered, itn

" "■"« ™ttle had been about 600- that nf ♦!,„
French about 800 l?i„« j , ' °^ *"*

MONTCALM AND WOUE I19

closely bv thr FrLI . *''* "'y- preyed

flOOOn, ■ J. ^ commander, who had about

»,000 men, mcluding a number of Indians pl 1

""z TCI- r?" »«*• .s

After a ueZioro fi!r'""'''"'*"'''°"« P°"«°"-
and retreats hTLd f * !' '»'"'»"^'««. advances
lo«s of S i:„'"'l ° '^/."™ *° t''" eity with a

being at WoIfeCVeH ' Z u ""*"" °' *•>« ''""'e
now stands T., I 1' "'''"' *•>« Q"«bee Gaol

involved wnere Do L6vis was

120

FRENCH CANADA

batteries against the already enfeebled garrison and
walls With a lesult dependent upon the first arrival

the probable fall of the fortress; a British frigate-
wh.ch amved on May 9th with two others on the
15th-wouId and did mean the saving of the city.
Ihe siege was raised on the 17th and De L«via
retired to Montreal. British forces under Murray
Haldimand and Amherst converged upon that
center where, on September 8th, De Vaudreuil

Zr t*"!! f^ "'"' "'*'' '* **■« p°-ti- of

was th„ f } '^'"'"'"- "" ^''^' P^S^ '" history
was thus closed; a new one was turned over which
involved much that was interesting and important
but could not possibly equal the picturesque
strikmg and romantic characteristics of New f-an'^e
fighting for life in a new world during a century
and a half of struggle. '

f <l

11 n

Stene on the S«uenay R,

»er. Quebec

CHAPTER VII

MONTBEAL-TH, Seat of AN Anc.nt

Faith

alone due to the fai-f th t ^t^action is not

very old and narrow or 1""' f '''' ^*'«^*« "«
pointed out a build^^ whn T-l ^""^ ""'^ *''«'« «
archHecturetndSe hirtnri ""'• ^""^ "»'' «»"«'
in it now center thee 'no "?T"f°°'' °' »'«<=«"««
greatest transpV^trfntrr' ^T'" "H' '''
have their place, of course, al have thelrr '^""^
looking ecelesiasti<-al o„^ j . "'^''y severe-
handsome chu^h f the soLnTn 'r' ^'^'«"'«' *•>«
soUd character thin the flfmsv f ^'^ °' " '»°"'
of modern fancy thlohu T' f"*'^*''' structures
water which appear at irri °' '"*''""' ^''^ """1
from the top of Mount ZvT ''°'"*' "'"' ''^'<'^'
of the finest^anotrs S r^Th ^" ""^

aiirs'-itrrfr ff-^ *--?*: -

therefore of oiher agL w^ft* f *>?« *-- and
interesting because if! T 1' ^°"*real is primarily
its races Ld i ^^11,' \-*""^ associations!
the present and mefge The cTvH T *'" ""^^ ^"^
under Louis XIV, wi^fttt ^S^w l^Ta
(121;

122

FRENCH CANADA

commercial age and under a dispensation of democ-
"flcy.

.iZpr*^''' ^"* ^'"'^ navigators and explorers

cunosny and beauty. The Indian town of Hoche-
laga-wherc Sherbrooke and Metcalfe Streets afte--
wards stood-was surrounded by waving fields of
maize and nee and great forests of oak and maple;
the view from the mountain which faced Cartie;

threshold of an unknown world was rarely beautiful
and picturesque. Great masses of primeval forest
flaming in golden autumn colors mixed with red
and changing green; the distant silvery rush of
waters in the rapids to the west; the vast plain to
the south broken only by the sweep of the St
Lawrence and the Ottawa and the peaks of nameless
mountains; the quiet, even flow of that part of the
great nver which he had just traversed; these were
some of the things which greeted Cartier and after-
wards Champlain-though in the later case all trace
of Indian settlement was gone and nature was alone
beaJrt '*' ''"***'' strength, its graceful

Champlain was especially charmed with the scene
and e:q>lored the region upon several occasions.
Upon hia first visit he thought the opening in the
waters was, at last, the route to China; hence
the Lachine of a later date. The Island of Montreal
he examined carefully with a view to settlement

MONTREAL jjS

-me wandering band 0/ SL" It^T L^
however escape the keen observation of the JesuH

King in my profession of arms." The obi^

1642, that the landing took place at thrp.
^yale of Champlain'and tha'tlhelou^ding"':?
Ville Mane de Montreal was inaugurated De
Ma^onneuve was accompanied by De'^Montmagny!

124

FRENCH CANADA

Governor of New France; and Father Vimont.
Superior of the Jesuit* at Quebec; while Mdlle
Mance had a new companion in Madame de la
Peltne from Quebec, who possessed a soul of sinular
sacnncial devotion.

Religion and the Church were conspicuous from
the first. As De Maisonneuve sprang ashore he fell
on his knees in prayer; his followers did the same and
an altar was then raised and decorated by Mdlle
Mance and her companion. One more picturesque
scene of sacrifice and zeal was added to the history
of French Canada. With the splendid background
of forest and water there stood Father Vimont in
the rich vestments of his office; De Montagny, cold
and stem and not very hopeful of results; De
Maisonneuve, a tall, erect, warlike, enthusiastic
figure; the two devout gentlewomen with their
servant, and the clustering group of followers.
Around them was the balmy air of spring, but in
the whispering trees and amid the myriad sounds of
ammal life there fluttered the spirit of Iroquois
hostility, the silent breathings of a savage hate
which was to give the colony many years of terror
and suffering and individual death. The Uttle
gathering knelt in reverent prayer as the Host was
raised aloft, and the priest addressed them- "You
arc a grain of musta-' seed that shall rise and grow
till Its branches overshadow the earth. You are
few, but your work is the work of God. His smile
IS on you and your children shall fill the land "
Thus commenced the Canadian city of churches

MONTREAL

125

and commerce. The proud, duty-loving pe«oniUity
of De Maisonneuve was one well fitted to be the
central figure of such an event, and hi. words-used
when the dangers and difficulties of his task had
been pomted out to him at Quebec-may well be
.nscnbed in the hearts of the Canadian l^Z ot
today without hmitation of race or creed: "Gentle-
men, .f all the trees of the Island of Montreal were
changed into Iroquois I am bound by honor and duty
to go. Difficulties surrounded every stage of the
ear y settlement. The Governor proved right in his
fear of not being able to protect it from the seat
of authonty at distant Quebec, and the colonists
had to at once devote themselves to strengthening
their crude defences against the ever-menacing

n^r^ f'J''' ^"'"' '"*" *•>« ""'^ Governor!
DAilleboust de Coulonge, brought them a new
band of settlers and helped in the construction of
better fortifications, while the new King, Louis XIV
sent a present of cannon. De Maisonneuve made
an Ideal governor in this troublous period-calm
courageous and cautious. So careful was he of
his men and their safety, so averse was he to the
reckless raids they would Uke to have made upon
the surrounding and underestimated foe, that thev
were for a time inclined to attribute cowardice to a
chief who was, personally, brave to the point of
contempt.

On March 30, 1644, he gave his followere a lesson
and, gravely warning them to be as valiant as their
own words, he marched out of the fort at the head

126

FRENCH CANADA

o thirty meu. At about the .pot where the present
Place d Arme» .s seen they were faced by two hundred
Iroquow, and after a ta«to of fighting bo hot and «,
mercies aj. to rtrike terror into their «,uU, the
troope fina ly ran for shelter and safety. Their
eader was left to retreat alono and did so. holding
the enemy off with his pistol and aided by their

fort the chief of the Indians closed in and the pistol

eoliers and Indians, De Maissonneuve succeeded
m discharging his other pistol and the chief fell,
shot through the head. The Indians were so taken
aback that the gallant Frenchman had a moment
m which to gam safety. There were no further
murmurs about the commander and his caution!
Meanwhile, though De Maisonneuve was the Royal
Governor of Montreal and the lands depending

.'T' \? '^'"'* ^""^ ^'^ -""de of the entir?
Island of Montreal to the Seminary of St. Sulpice-
an Order founded about the same time in Paris by

youthful French priest. By this Order it was after-

™f lJ°°'"^'t*'' **" ^"""'""y °f St. Sulpice in
V le Mane or Montreal. To the Virgin Mary the
Sulpicians consecrated the Island of Montreal in
order that she might defend it as her property and
increase it as her domain; the eariy name of Ville
Mane confirmed this religious invocation; the
Company which they controlled had the figure of
Our Lady" as its official seal.

MONTREAL 127

_ Great care was token m to the Ant immiaranti,
m respect to character, habita and physique Qentt
men o good family came to tl!e Element «S
Tesvard de Montigny, Jacques Le Bcr and C^harles
Le Moy^e bmit houses; the members of the SomiLry

^th ihe l^,'"- 7"''.'''««t«'d Seigneurs of the Island
wi h the quamt designation of the Gentlemen of 8t
8ulp.cc; a fortifie.l mill was built by the latter at

Tnd arh'"""".!" """■'^ '''''' - Win.lmSl pL"
and another on the site of what is now Dalhousie
Square Family after family came from Fran e and

mcrased, the very large infant death-rate of the
earher years decreased and the population grew
apace Meanwhile and for twen'ty-five /earl
M. de Mmsonneuve labored unceasingly for hi.
^ttlement and its people. Time, money, al the

h^ re^rneH h" "'"i """r'' '° '* "-"^ '" '««5 -he"
he returned home to Paris the Town Major was

from New France found him living in povertv and
forgotten by the world, b„t thinking anxTously of
his hfe-work in the lar-away land ""°"«'y of

Durmg these years the right-hand man of De
Maisonneuve in secular matters had been CharS

JCen/hT"' T'^7 "' '^' '"°»' distinguished o
French Canadian families, though not himself an
aristocrat by birth Pnint «♦ nu 1 """""' »"
after him .Li. ■ ' <-'""''es was named

after him and he was given the Seigneury of Lon-
gueuil which he settled, fortified and developed whi
fighting for the colony, sharing in the fur trade and

ISS

WENCH CANADA

Square H.«' ""t *""* °' ">« ^uatom Hou"
■square. Here wore born hia utili m,^.. <

•OM-Le Moyne d'Ibervill« .L i «" ''""°'"
WUe. The rn„er^etrerl^?r„\t"•
yean. Other eminent names of this DerioH— m.„
who helped to make and keep MontrlalTto ""d
Its conditions and sufferings in the period of InT
Btruggle-were Robert Cav^ier de lT s.M„ ♦( '"
explorer, whose home in lOa^wLt'S ' J^^

"rMtiu^htdq^^r--'-^^^^^^

On the west half of the Bons^Scours Market stood
for many years the Palace of the Intendant^
was a headquarters of Bigot, Cadet, Varin a„i the

Slr^T''""'"''- '* ^'^ «'- the'hTme o
better men, and for a time, after the Cession wZ

occupied by Sir John Johnson, the famous UyaUrt

M^ld stone building, still standing (accorZg

M w. D Lighthall, an authority on Montreal'.

h story and traditions) on the coLr of S^e

wh"h'BTot''/r'' «°^^™'"-* warehouse":
Which Bigot and his associates carried on manv
of their frauds and which, like the similar buHdingin

MONTREAL

139

a hou. which wa,?het:„. ;;'-r,"":7",P,^
famous Le Moynes-De V,, „.. V ,

ofst^A„t„ine»„dst.A...,,; ',,,., i'',^ ;::"-'

the Monongahela," am; his l„,.,;.; '.v ,i „ °'
the French officer who .,1 so ,.1 „ ''"

dock's defeat in that Lnl^Z^/ ; , " ';""? «""»-
Carter Square^Here St. Puu/ ■L.e/'" 't^T
was the house built and occur! Du I ,m l^!,'

ast French govcrnor-the Marquis de Vaudrenil
hved .„ tbe splendor which chTloterized th^eT
Here came Montcalm and De Uvis in tvL I 1

stanH. tu. ""orms. Un St. Sacrament Street
stands the house once occunicH hi, ♦!, »* .

ment, village and town had to face the constant fear

130

FRENCH CANADA

SauoTs"' 'u'f' '"^^""'"ent, reality of war with the
Iroquois. It hung over the whole life of the people

hcartedness in many cases and the inborn, inbred
rehpous feeling of the community in oth^ cages'
enabled them to often rise above it. It s a ^0,^
of war today and peace tomorrow; of surprises
and raids and massacres; of capture , tortu"es"nd
fnghtfu, death. The fighting was des'ultory thougj
fierce and Its history is more or less a recital of
mdividual incident, of personal heroism, of gaJ^ant
endurance of sufferings. Mixed up ^ith ft wL

sich T nT °'/''°*'' P"^^*^ •''"' -"-Bionari^
Euror fZ ''" ^'^°"' ^ ""^^'^y officer in
Europe under Turenne, who came to Montreal in

i Srt r f It' ^""''"'""' ^"P'o'^'i ^'^'^ Galin^e
a portion of the Great Lakes, acted frequently as
a m sionary amongst the Indians at daily risk of
nis We, and became eventually Superior of the
Seminary and Vicar-General of Montreal.
One of the eariy heroes of this prolonged Indian
ruggle was Raphael Lambert Closse, Town Major

save o?he™ n ''" '°'^'^'''^'' ^'''"^ ^« "f" *»
save others. On one occasion, in October, 1652

in a^'LTlI *"^"*y-f° V^ ''^ ««" were surr;unded
t K ! i"""^' °" *''" """fin^^ °f the town, by
lheFZi"t"^'"'f'- ■ ^'^^''"tly the ammunition of
the French began to give out and this meant death,
or capture and torture and death combined. In
this predicament the commander selected a man

MONTREAL

131

named Baston celebrated for his running powers

volley ' Zl^'t 'T *]■« "r "°^^"''' •>' '- "^
iZTu ?? ^^^ defenders, managed to aet

through the enemy and run to the fort, whenS

SLT Trf ^*'' " '''' '»«" '">'' *-o iiht field!

were of" o^ti "'' *'^ '""^- «"<"' ^»-d-ts
were of continuous occurrence, and DoUier de Cas-

1 H^/vf' ''^J^^'' '"''" *•">*' "^ ^''ort time beVore
into the 'fitM^^^'r"^ «' ^««2. when he rushed oi

were £ if tt t^u*" '"^^ ^""^ ^"'""'^t^ ^h"
were being attacked by an Iroquois br d he had

Baid to some friends who warned bin, thlt deS

would result from his efforts: "I but came here

arms. It was this spirit of the Crusader that
makes this period glorious and this mar: and otS
like him heroes of history. Like De Maisonneuvr

excerthe°nf '""^ '°'/"^' °' "'"«*■ ^ p"""
Sf '^ *"' "^ ^^'"^ "*''«" '"'•J «'«=rifioing
In the spring of 1655, after sweeping over the
lsle-aux-0.es in the St. Lawrence near Quelle

the Iroquois moved on to Montreal and endeavored

hands. Charies Le Moyie arrived from Quebec
just m time to avert the danger by a stratagem

thl Tnnf '' r'^' °^ "^'t"'" P"«°"«" held by
the Ind mils. Four of them were little giris sur^
vivors of the recent Island massacre. Mdlfe Manee

132

FRENCH CANADA

took charge of the latter at the Hotel Dieu and one
Of them m after years married Closse, the Totto
Major while another became the wife of Sieur de
Boisbnant.

Of the events of this time the most striking and
the best known was the heroic action of Adam Dol-
lard des Ormeaux and his sixteen companions who
dehberately sacrificed themselves in an effort to
hold in check a new and sweeping onslaught of the
iroq'aois. The movement of the latter was a wide
and far-reaching one with the determined object
of finally driving the hated French into the sea
Quebec was so weak at the time (1660) that hearts
there were wrung with fear. Three Rivers was
practically defenseless and Montreal stood in the
vanguard of probable attack with slight fortifica-
tions, which did not cover the settlement as a
whole, and with few troops. Under these circum-
stances Dollard, a young officer lately from France
volunteered to lead others who might offer and to
endf- -or at some advance post to hold the enemv
m check fo' at least a time. It was a daring and
seemingly hopeless task, but on April 18th the little
band heard their last mass and received their last
communion at the chapel of the Hotel Dieu and
departed amid the earnest prayers of the nuns
and, indeed, of the whole population.

In the beginning of May the party found them-
seves withm a ruined fort, a building at a place
called Greece's Point, at the foot of the Long Sault
on the Ottawa Rivei-. Here they were joined by

MOirTREAL

133

two small bands of Indian allies, and here they were
shortly afterwards attacked by a large force of the
Iroquois. Day after day, night after night, the
httle garnson fought and prayed for a week against
constantly increasing masses of the enemy. Event-
ually all the friendly Indians, except an old chief
named Anahotaha and four Algonquins, deserted
and the end was in sight. No man of the French
survivors wavered, however, and the defence became
so desperate that even the Iroquois recoiled and only
the arrival of five hundred more braves braced taem
to the final attack on May 21st. In it so many
Indians were killed at close quarters that the savages
actually lost sight, for a time, of the desire to capture
♦he defenders for purposes of torture. When it
was all over they could only find one body with
ife enough in it to serve their purpose. Though
ost by DoUard and his companions, so far as their
hves were concerned, the victory was really won.
bo dismayed were the Iroquois by the gallantry
the persistent heroism of the defence, by the feeling
that If a few men could fight hke this what would
not a large number do in places such as Montreal,
that they gave up their object of exterminating the
wnite men m one sweeping onslaught, and the httle
colony at Ville Marie was saved once more. Inci-
dents such as this are more than picturesque or
stnkmg. Leonidas at Thermopyls Uves in the
history of Greece and of the worid; no less a place
IS mented by DoUard des Ormeaux and his com-
pamons:

134

FRENCH CANADA

What Jhough beside the foaming flood untombed their ashes

The world becomes the monument of men who bravely die.

The fighting which followed was, however, merci-
lesa in its desultory way; the savages were every-
where, and no man knen as he worked or ate or
slept, outside of the defenses or fortifications, at
what moment he and the members of his family
might be killed, or captured and tortured and
scalped. It was late in October, 1661, that M
Vignal, treasurer of the Seminary-whose predecessor
had lost his life not long before-obtained permis-
sion from the Governor to cross to what is now called
Moffatts Island, with his workmen and a guard
for the purpose of obtaining construction material'
Amongst the latter were Ren4 Cuillerier and Claude
de Brigiac, secretary to De Maisonneuve. As they
were landing a force of Iroquois surprised the party
and the attack was so sudden that in the ensuing
hght four were captured. One of these was killed
at once; another's fate is unrecorded; Cuillerier
was saved at the demand of a woman whose husband
he had killed and who made a slave of him; poor
De Bngiac was tortured to death with indescribable
suffering.

The Massacre of Lachine occurred on the night
of August 4, 1869, in a little settlement on the
upper end of Montreal Island, about eight miles
from the present city and on a site once owned and
settled by La Salle. Noiselessly, under cover of storm
and darkness, some fifteen hundred Iroquois stole

MONTREAL

13S

into the village and surrounded each house. Then
with the awful war-whoop of the savage, doors and
windows were broken in and the sleepers slain or
captured in their beds. Fortunate, however,
heaven-blessed in fact, was the man, woman or
child who was killed instantly in the first heat of
the assault. Others were dragged forth, old or
young, child or woman, tied to stakes and tortured
with indescribable tortures in the light of their
blazing homes. Some who survived were carried
away prisoners to further sufferings before the merci-
ful release of death, while to his eternal disgrace,
De Denonville, one of the weaker Governors of
New France, who happened to be at Montreal,
refused to allow any of his troops to go to the
rescue. Such were the struggles through which
the Ville Marie of New France passed; such were
the men who founded the great city of the future.
There was also war in other directions. The
conflicts with the English colonies were distant, of
course, and intermittent in character, but at times
the war came home directly to the settlers of Mon-
treal— it seems to have been usually called Ville
Marie in early days— as well as indirectly through
the Indians. Early in February, 1690, for instance,

a party composed of two hundred and ten men

Indians and French— left Montreal with a view to
attacking Orange, now Albany, in New York State.
Most of the notable young Frenchmen of the place
were in the party, including Testard de Montigny,
Jean Lo Bcr, Le Moync d'Ibervillc, De Maricourt, Le

130

FRENCH CANADA

fluence. The surDrie. ''""''"*«d »» English i„.
was made at „ghrr„d ♦."'.r'^*"' *"« """"k
times and the ? fodty bred ^ ^^ ""^'"'^ "' *he
savage warfare Ct of th« T?""* '''"'««' ''■xl
to the sword Vollt *''^ '"'"'''itants were put

.allant,. Zt ,? C: d'^ Ste'^Sr' -^^^
defence of Quebec n.r»lr,.f *i, I ^^'*°^ "» the
William Phips l„Tr " ^"«'"'» ""der Sir
figures were cUt tVrr d^ sT T"*^^''
for a time commanded th„ p Z ®*- ^""'' '^''o

sealed by De Vaudrenil in *t Abraham and

to the BritisroXTemtrrS^r^r*'^
Amherst, Murrav H.m;.„ I ' <^^<"°erals

tlie place of t^rbrillfant™^^^^^ and C„,eton took

the dejected soldie" 5^^! ::o n ""k' ^/"''^''^
four thousand, were sent bal* t numbered about

era in the hist^yTf Mon S a^s IZZ' ^"^ ^ "'^'^
was mauBurated n.,„ "^ °' America

City of t'heTat^°TisToreTtifcrr ^
-ter. also, of a brilliant socTl t^^t^

^i>««a,i^ypsa,;i^,^y,M*,t,^

i^j^^m,^

Ill

MONTREAL

187

2 th fi '^T;*' *•>« influene. of modern oommeroe
and the financial dominance of the English in latter
yea«. .t i. still a French and a Catholic city mI^
^^T^ "'^breathe a»ociation with th^^t S

A,^!" '^" "^^"'^ *'«' Heroic Age of cS
and of those years when, at times, theW.^ of ^^Jn
the bravest soldien, ran like water in their vein^

There, on U Place Royale, is not only the site
of the landing of Champlain and Maisonneuve bul
the site of the first public square where I^„,h
executions took place and wWch Tm7t>

the Port T^TT"""'" ^''''' °f t°d»y. "tood
the Fort de Ville Marie, succeeded in 1686 bv th,
home of M. de Calli^res, and near b^ irthe'^fiM
Manor House of Montreal and resUen^e of £
Maisonneuve. The Place d'Armes, where now

tlntv '*r*"%°' '** '°"°''«'' -« the ceLr oT
the aty s earher hfe and facing it stands today the
Notre Dame parish church, the chief reUriouI
structure of the French people in Canada. Ad2^^

n 1657' ^h""* °'l««'°-'''y of St- Sulpice, r c ed
in 1657; through the site of the Bank of Montreal
building there once passed the stone-bastioned will
of ancient Montreal-Extending from Dalh"ul
Square to Commissioners Street and thence back to
the Square. They were commenced in 1721 by
Chaussegros de l^ry and demolished n 1817

S'a S ■ ri" *'^ "''^ ^'^ - ""'y days a swamp
C^^il t ' '"'""°« *''""'8*' "■ On Jacques

Cartier Square was the original Place des J^sukes!

•"^•oeowr nsoiuTioN tbt omit

(ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

1^1^ II

1.8
6

APPLIED IIVMGF u

1 653 Eotl Mom Strwt
(718) 288-iM9-Fo.

138

FRENCH CANADA

and adjoining it wag the monastery where Pdre
Charlevoix, the historian of New France, lived for
many years. Here, also, four Iroquois prisoners
were tortured to death in 1696 as a stem reprisal
on the part of De Frontenao for continued Indian
atrocities and as a warning for the future.

Between Notre Dame Street and the Harbor
IS the oldest part; of Montreal-St. Amable Street,
for instance, is fully a century old and most antique
in Its structure. In this neighborhood is the Chateau
de Ram^zay, built in 1705 by Claude de Ram^zay
eleventh Governor of Montreal, and afterward^
occupied by various British governors up to the time
of Lord Metcalfe. Under De Ram^zay it was a
place of great hospitality and entertainment- it
was long afterwards the headquart;er8 of the Conti-
nental Army under Montgomery, of the American
Commissioners in 1776 (Benjamin Franklin, Carroll
of CarroUton and Samuel Chase); of Benedict
Arnold for several weeks. It was the home of the
hrst Canadian printing press brought over by
Franklin and operated by Fleury Mesplet. It is
now the home of the Numismatic and Antiquarian
Society and the premises constitute an excellent
memorial of the old-time thick-walled, defensive
structure prepared for emergencies and constructed
when large wine cellars and immense fireplaces
were the vogue. Dalhousie Square is the site of
what was called the Citadel, erected in 1685; where
the Fire Station now stands there lived the first
British governor of Montreal— Thomas Gage

MONTREAL

139

who afterwards kept New York for the Crowa
throughout the Revolution. All these and many
more memorials of a picturesque past are a part of
the hfe of French Canada; they should be an
inspiration to the youth of all its future. As a
Montreal poet well puts it:

Sprung of the Saint and Chevalier
And with the scarlet tunic wed,
Mount Royal's crown upon thy head,
And past thy footstaU broad and clear
St. Lawrence sweeping to the sea;
Reign on, majestic Ville-Marie.

Of the English rSgime in Montreal much might be
said. Its first portion at least was picturesque.
Upon Bons^cours Market there stood for many
years the home of Sir John Johnson, British Indian
Commissioner and son of Sir William Johnson-
here also, lived General Ralph Burton, second
British governor of Montreal. On St. Gabriel
Street were the famous Northwest Fur Companv's
stores, and in them centered enough adventure,
discovery, and stormy incident and trade to fill
volumes; Wther, at times, came Sir Alexander
Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, Alexander Henry, J J
Astor Washington Irving, McTavish, FrancWre
and al the strong, sturdy, rough and capable men
who followed the French pioneer period with another
of mde discovery and sweeping ccomplishment.
In Montreal centered, as a matte . fact, the great
fur trade of the eighteenth century, and Alexander

;.,ia6"-

140

FREN'CH CANADA

Henry lived on St. Urbain Street, Mackenzie on

Simpson Street, and Simon Fraser not far away

while Simon McTavish built a great house on

Mount Royal (owned as a property in recent years

by James B. Allan), and on the slope above Victoria

Square lived Joseph Frobisher, one of the founders

of the Company. The American wars left, also,

tneir impression upon Montreal. In 1775 the city

surrendered to Montgomery, the commander of the

Continentals, and during the winter of 1776 remained

m possession of the Americans. General Mont-

gomery, Benedict Arnold, Benjamin Franldin, Ethan

Allen, were figures familiar to the history of that

'*!?''f.,'°«^°°*'"'*'- ^" 1"^ Sir Guy Carieton
Mia the British troops re-occupied Montreal, and
Dorchester Street stands today as f lasting memorial
of the man who as General Carieton and Lord
Dorchester did so much for his country's flag in
America.

From days of war and fur trading the modem
city grew into an age when transportation was the
great factor and element in a new national life
which Montreal helped to create and helped to
maintain. John Molson, in 1809, launched the first
of Canadian steamboats— the second on the conti-
nent. From Montreal, half a century later, came
the inception and operation of the Grand Trunk
Railway; in Montreal originated the Canadian
Pacific project and in that city has since centered
the great wealth created by its success and employed
in part, so wisely and well by Lord Strathcona,'

MONTEKAL

Lord Mount Stephen, Sir William Van Home

miJatr^in-M'r'r^ ■'"•* "''- ^^^^^

7^e bIw * *^?"'' '"'^'"'^ *•>« operations
Jaml M r.? •*'"'i """""' '^''"^ ^^^ personality of
James McG.ll « cherished in the institution o
learnmg wh.ch he founded and which has had so
great a sphere of usefulness.
In more recent years the spirit of commercialism

hL h T> ^% ^^''^ ^''^ •="'"« *° '^^ <='vili.ed world
h^ had Us effect in Montreal as it has everywhere
upon th,s continent. The corruption of bS
under French rule has been succeeded by the
corrupfon of the notorious " Twenty-Three "unie

TeJ of the t r.' "'^ «°"^™'"«"* '"'« »»* "'way
been of the best, here as elsewhere. But Montreal

NeTworH "V' *?*"* '''''*"^««'l- centerof th
New World and combines in itself much of the good

rush oTthT/'''^ r'*""^' ^P-^' -<! -S
Z» ^^/^.P^^^ent- Just as the Victoria Bridge
once an additional wonder of the world, conneXl'
the far-separated shores of the mighty river at its
d^r so the spirit of the past and preLt hi been
fused m the umon and friendship of two great race"
and proven in the general harmony whf^^ exTstT

Jevo ttd rth h "*" °'I''"- '' '^ -"*- °f ^^
devoted to the shnnes and scepter of a great Church

has not been wholly realized, but therfhas evolved

by ties of blood and sacrifice, bound to the present
by deeds o good and strong influence wielded or a
high morahty. Romantic trade and adventure

H r

142

FRENCH CANADA

have gone, but are replaced by the pulsations of
commerce m a great new nation which uses this
seat of Maisonneuve's religious enthusiasm as the
outport c trade for half a continent:

Child of the hope of noble hearts,

Brought into being through sacrifice
Of men and women who played their parts

And counted not their lives in price,
She haa ffown in strength Kke a Northern Queen

Neath her crown of ligbt and her robe of snow.

£°*""^ in her beauty fair between

The Hoyal Mount anu the river below.

CHAPTER VIII

Thi Jmuits— Pionbebs of the Cbos8 in
Canada

The footprints of the Jesuits are almost everywhere
in that part of the Continent once called New France
Up to Hudson's Bay or down the Mississippi; in
the Land of Evangeline or amid the forests of
Ontario; wherever a savage could be taught the
sacred meaning of the Cross or new lands studied
and described for the benefit of the great Mother
Order m Europe; there the restless, devoted
fearless priest of the Order of Jesus was to be found'
i^oimd and through the wilderness now known as
the Nipissing and Muskoka regions of Ontario-
even yet wild and uninviting in many parts— on the
shores of Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay, there
centered in the settlements of the Huron Indians
the greatest of the Jesuit missions. Here occurred
events and incidents which constitute some of the
finest pages of heroism in all history; here are foot-
prints which no traveler can overtook and which no
Canadian can forget.

The mission and work of the Jesuits in New France
was not the isolated, accidental embodiment of
individual enthusiasm: it was part of a wonderfully
orgamzed, directed, and controUed movement then

144

FRENCH CANADA

going on in all parts of Christendom. Its picturesau.

rtr and' r;"'"' '"""!■'" -'^--SvZ

velous J°h «°'''^«°<;e..Per«istent effort and mar-

mytnicai to the masses of Europe. Amonmt th»

That this dominating, invincible spirit brourtt
power and sometimes arrogance is not to b" wondefed
at; that the mdifference to Ufe which charZetS

^^^^h'^B^^H^^^. %BirMy^ M.I\'¥yi' Jr^

THE JESUITS Tj.

~hSmati " of heSTnot "'"* ""'^ *"-''
that the «imnli„T . *^* ""y Mtraordinary;

rhurnh • r- ** *''*y "^^ achieve for their

putea. They strengthened the Church in V„r^L
against the onrush of the Prnt»l? ! ""^

they DresentBH „,'*"«, ^"^otestant movement;

.,3fi f !! *'■■'■"* °f enthusiasm and self
sacnfice to the worM m>,;„i, "

lor morality and punty of life. It may be thZt

Ter^Ulitt:^ in a woHd-wide Zl^lX
or versatiDty m the choice and use of means fn l

of thl ' L" "? •'°"^* *'«'* ^'^cn the Voltairk^
of the eighteenth century swent ov^r p, ""

«ed by the onrush Ji t^^LZL^^Z'
vw loii was ine Urder of Jesus, Whpn th^

tZ\T:> *: '"Zr '""^ '''^ combined "cafa!
clysm .nd to strengthen itself in the nineteenth

FRENCH CANADA

Z^y*^ ' '•■'^ '" '^y°°'' that of the previous

faith w,th the detached, often isolated paVnottm
of the guenllas of some great cause. They wanted

hoped to found a new French nation, apart inTts
dommatmg Christian zeal from all ^ther natbn
and to malce the wandering and fighting Ind.ans
a hvmg example .o the worid of savagefy turned
to gentleness, of warfare turned to peace of bar
banty turned to Christianity by the Jtenin;
mfluence of the Cross softemng

istfcstfTe oT^'^T" ""'"' '''"' *>-« «»"'"<=ter-
rh^^l T t, ''" ^^'"^^ '" *''« """"inK of Fathers

Br^beuf to Quebec, on June 19, 1625, set the seal

hst„r , "^u'T' """^ " f^'"'* ^'•'rifiee upon The
history of the American continent. Their first
act on reaching shore was to kneel and thank God

wL Inder"°"j "' "'^'"^ »<"^ given them. I?
was mdeed, a desperate service. The Huron

n JTe'fiT t° """ !?^ '"* °''^«'=*« "f thel soIiSude
and the first converts to their missionary zeal, lived
H IS true, m homes of a better character than the
supposedly typical Indian wigwam and were tie
m^t easily influenced of all The tri^s,Tthey
beheved to some degree in a Supreme Bei;g^„S

THE JESUITS

147

enemies the Iroquois, their rivals T„ 41 •"'

were Iceener in character quicker in ♦/'T''"'""'
clever i„ warfare. They were ll*^*L,'"°"'
religious influence; still /urtherTway from" '°"'''^,*°
ness of the Christian faith I^tT^K- ,-**°*'^

oped inferno of barbarism w J 1 V ' """^ '^*^*'-
the great evil of w»r ^- "^^^ °" introduced

ChrisUan nii TnH ""■" ^'""^'^ "PP""'^"?

situation S^auTed vT^rhorribT *''^''-'

was one of the most notable aua Is life a ntuA.-
everythinit that ♦« „ _ j * study m

pictulquitcUii aTd''m"r:;^,rr^'B:r" ^

a^o^rSeVrt^Her /" l^^^^^^^^

succeeding autumn .n^ a prehmmary, passed the
™mg autumn and winter of 1625-26 with a

148

FRENCH CANADA

rovmg band of the MontagnaU-shHring their
hard«h.p«, learning something of the intense cold
of a Canadian winter, suffering the penalties of
hith, vermin and smoke which marked the savage
camps, realwmg much of what real loneliness meant
m the midst of savages wandering through a vast
wilderness. In July, 1626, with Father, de No"e

Father de la Roche Daillon, a Franciscan, he started

for the great Lake of the Huron.. During the

ourney, De Br^beuf touched even the stoicism of

he accompanying Indian* by the endurance of

abor and immunity from fatigue which his large

frame and great physical strength enabled him to

E..ow-through seven hundred miles of wilderness,

which incluaed unknown swamps, and rushing

nvers, and precipitous rocks, and dark forests.

Finally he settled upon the tribe he proposed to

TdTed ' 7'' r'l' "' '""'""^* *"«'" '<" '^oy.^.
studied their habits and characters, nursed thei^
«ok and wounded, learned their language, of which
he prepared a dictionary and grammar. For the
balance of his hfe he renewed every morning a solemn
promise to bear patiently all insults and inS^
and sufferings "for the greater glory of God."
Ihis, indeed, was the principle and motto of all his
colleagues-^f the many brave souls who in succeed-
ing years descended upon the wilderness and sacri-
ficed tnemselves for their cause. Paul Raiteneau
fterre Chastelain, Charles Gamier, J^r6m?Lall^
mont, Isaac Jogues, Simon le Moyne, Gabriel

THE JESUITS

149

Ullemont. Pierro Pijart, Charlcn Raymbault.
Franco,, du Peron. Claude Dablon, Claudo Allou,

Francis Bre«.ani, Antoine Daniel, Nool Chabanrl
Jacques Morin Adrian Daran, Adrian GnTon'
were amongst them.
The experiences of De Br^beuf with the savaeca

vZu '°Th'' "^^,T *'•" "P*"""™ °f »" these
priests They m.gLt not suffer death, some even
escaped torture, but they were dealing with men who
were brave to the point of indifference regarding
pain, who were swayed by easily aroused pas^ionl
and superstitions, who were unrestrained in treat-
ment of a supposed enemy, or hurtful personality,

the tnbes which De Br^beuf and his associates

which the w. ch Hoctors at once charged against
the missionaries It was no use protesting or
objecting, and the priests walked in daily, hourly
B^L, l\"','i''^:'^'"" *° ^^ "«-' Father de

SS' r ^"" t ^ ^•''""' Chaatelain,

0,llL ° u"f '" ^'"""'- S""^""' °f the Order at
Quebec, which was a model of Christian resignation:
With all sincerity I can say that not one amongst
us has any fear of death. Nevertheless we all feel
keenly for the unfortunate savages who have
dehberately closed against themselves the door of
grace and instruction. No matter how they may

180

FRENCH CANADA

deal with us we will try, with God's wace to «.„ *
our sufferings natientlv " t^ ^ ' """^P*

site of PenhanShen OnU^r-J^'l '''' P^^^"*
cated J ,„e eo^se to^rV'Su S;^ ^^^« ''^'''■

3«.naHes Of beiVLZl^^^^^^^^

"ley seemed to be themse ves immunp vJv.

f«.re ttf' ^*r ^"-^ ''-^^^ --d

his W"'\*° Ji'at tV".*' ■"'^ ""'"' ''"-'">
nation by Br^eu anH rh" *""'*" ^''^ ^«"t"'

•"■.".St ?Tr^ "™ ^ --" "' "■'"

THE JESUITS 15J

later Fathers Pijart and Gar^er-the laftert.r^
an agoniz ne death in ir«;r f ^"^ latter suffered

through hif £fkb L- ' ';:d":" J"^""'^-'^""**

wilds of Muskoka. v^th u °"'*'°" « the

«ome other is ^„ f " ^'^''* «'«''*«' t"^"" »
unflinching heroes labo/n *'^^°*y-^°" ^ears these
kindred Wbes unti at 1 T""'' *''" «"^°°« ""d
sv^eep of the IroSi over thi ."*??•.*'* '"""^"^^"^'^
flood upon a tinyZZe ll""^^''''''^'^'^'''''^^
Hurons had beconTe rh^i * • . '"*'^"' «" *•>«
weaned from soreotSw™,*''^^ """" "-"
wildness of life, some of ^1^/ '' """^ "^ *>>«

which were PoXral?s^^^rT'th'""*^'•
rivals. While the W,„« ° *"*"■ 8reat

of peace and cWlildo" Id :f "f" « *••« "^^
gone a long wly i^ ^7^°*^ ^^'^ ^"-l ^y 1648
had been absortIL eJ ''■^«"'*'°°-the Iroquois
rival tribes and ma:.dne^? "" T'' ''^^^^^^^R "^her
to the powerS Fr „ch Z T ' "°"*' •'"^"
come over the Hnrnl u ''''^"S^ '^'>'«h had

prayer repeltd^^r^ ''LlCf '""^ ^'"^

rKSn;^:-'^p'f-opr:
£^a^;^5li%^^^-h?S

-eeandus...^:?i:-S--S£-ar

152

FRENCH CANADA

it was a Btgnal triumph for the Jesuit Fathers, but
it was not war, and without the heart to fight, and
fight fiercely, there could, in those days, be no safety
for life or home.

In the summer of 1648 the St. Joseph village
and missirn— on the site of the modem town of
Barrie— was surprised by a large war-party of
Iroquois. They burst upon the unhappy people
like a thunderbolt, set fire to the buildings and
burned the women and children and old men—
the warriors were abroad op a hunting expedition—
in the chapel. Father Daniel, who was in charge,
baptized and exhorted and blessed his people as
the flames mounted around them, and then going to
the door, stood while the Iroquois poured shot and
arrows into his body and he fell at last rent with
wounds but praying as he passed away. The
warning was, unfortunately, not taken and the
charred remains of St. Joseph marked only the first
of a series of similar massacres. Early in March,
1649, a thousand Iroquois on the warpath captured
St. Ignatius, tomahawked and scalped its inhabitants,
smeared their own faces with blood of the victims
and then stormed the neighboring village of St.
Louis. The two priests, Br^beuf and Lallemant,
were captured and tortured to death with atrocious
cruelty.

The former, a man of great stature and strength,
lived for hours in untold suffering; the latter,
delicate and slight in constitution, endured more
than could have been deemed possible and lived

THE JESUITS

153

twice as long as his companion. De Br^beuf's
sufferings were typical of the martyrdoms of that
period. The Iroquois' idea was to torture in such
a way as to prolong pain and create fresh forms of
suffering without causing death. They tore the
flesh in strips from his body; plucked out his finger
nails and scorched the wounds with fiery brands;
they hung a red-hot collar of hatchets around his
neck, tore away his lips and cut out his tongue;
they poured boiling water on his head in imitation
of baptism, scalped him and, finally, still alive, drank
blood from his side so as to partake of his courage.
Tearing out his heart, they devoured it with the same
object. So, also, died the heroic Lallemant, who was
slowly roasted to death— both praying with their
last breath for the salvation of their torturers.

This was practically the end of the Huron Mission,
as the tribe itself broke up and sought refuge in
small detachments with other Indian nations;
some fleeing to the wa'Is of Quebec and being
guarded there by the guns of the fort. The Fathers
gathered such remnants together as were possible,
abandoned Ste. Marie with all its sweet and bitter
memories and selected an island on Lake Huron
for a new settlement which they designated Isle
St. Joseph— called today, Christian Island. Here
they erected a military fort. Meanwhile the
Iroquois had burst upon the Petun Mission of St.
Mathias and massacred Father Garnier and the
inhabitants. Father Chabanel met a similar fate
not far away, wh"- on his road to the island by

154

FRENCH CANADA

order of his Buperior. Ultimately the island fort
with starvation facing its inmates, had to be aban-
doned, and shortlj afterwards little groups of Hurons
and priests were struggling through hundreds of
miles of wilderness and every species of hardship
and suffering toward some place of safety.

Before leaving this melancholy, and yet glorious,
chapter m the religious history of Canada a word
must be said of the services and death of Father
Isaac Jogues. He had served with Father Raym-
bault amongst the Petuns o^ the Sault Ste. Marie
region, and in 1642 was captured on the western
rim of Lake St. Peter by a band of Iroquois. Carried
to a Mohawk town, he and two companions suffered
agonies of torture. He was compelled to run the
gauntlet of fierce blows from a long line of savages
who then applied fire to his wounds and mangled
and tortured his poor body in various .vays. One
method was to suspend him by the arms with bark
ropes from two posts raised in the center of the
cabin. Day after day he was tortured and harried
with insult and brutality; finally he was allowed to
escape more dead than alive, but even then hesitating
whether he should leave these people to their savage
devices. He finally reached the Jesuit College
of Rennes, France, in a condition which made him
almost unrecognizable. In view of his mutilations
the Pope granted a special dispensation as to the
services of the Church and iu 1646 he was again
amongst the Mohawks on a government mission.
The war party amongst them demanded his death and

THE JESUITS

155

finally won. This time his tortures were ended. Even
reater suCferings were meted out to Father Joseph
Bressani, a scholarly young priest who dedicated him-
self m 1642 to the Huron Mission. Captured, in the
Mjne way, by Mohawks he was carried up the
Richelieu and on to the Upper Hudson, where for
a month he suffered such prolonged and slow and
awful tortures as one hesitates to transcribe from the
Jesuit Relahona in which the narrative is imbedded
How he hved, it is impossible to understand in these
days of smooth and easy living and horror of pain
or physical privation. EvetLually ransomed by the
Dutch, he reached Europe, but returned again
to his work. He lived to write a History of the
Missions and died as a missionary in Italian villages.
With the passing of the Hurons came the still
more desperate effort amongst the Iroquois, led by
Joseph Marie Chaumonot. He was a nephew of
a pnest at Chatillon, France, a devotee from the
shnne of Loretto, a man of intense enthusiasm
zeal and piety, an expert in Indian languages and
forms of speech, a master o.' simple yet powerful
oratory. Accomptinied by Fathers Fremin, Le
Mercier, Menard and Dablon, he reached the Iro-
quois country in 1655 and his address on one occa-
sion la the great Council House of the Onondagas
an appeal for the vital truths of Christianity, is
said to have been a masterpiece. A little later
Fathers Ragueneau and Du Peron joined the
Mission and for a while the priests met with gratify-
ing success. Then suspicions of treachery became

156

FRENCH CANADA

certainty and by a clever stratagem the missionaries
all got together and escaped on the verge of a whole-
sale slaughter. In later years others took up the
cross in the Iroquois country, Father Albanel preached
on the shores of Hudson's Bay, Father Allouez
led the Mission at Sault Ste. Marie. Everywhere
north, south, east and west, the footprints of the
Jesuits in early Canadian and American history
were clear and distinct. They passed up and down
all the great waterways of the continent. Chaumo-
not, Br^beuf, Jogues, Raymbault, Le Caron Du
Quen, Marquette, Allouez, Messaiger, Hennepin and
others were first, or else a close second, in the dis-
covery of vast lakes and rivers and continental
landmarks. There were few parts of the great
new continent in those days where a Jesuit did not
pioneer the way with his crucifix or traverse the
paths of danger as companion to the lay explorer
Where the one carried and planttd the flag of France
the other held aloft the cross of his Church.

Yet of all that they did the epic of the Huron
Mission remains the most lasting L,smorial of the
Order of Jesus in America. Gamier, Chabanel
Darnel, Jogues, Br^beuf, Lallemant were dead-
martyrs of a vivid faith, a devoted spirit, a great
Order and Church. Others there were who had
suffered as much, perhaps, as these, though just
escaping the final crown of martyrdom. Their
chapels were in ruins, their adherents scattered to
the winds of heaven, their numbers were depleted
until less than twenty remained in New France

THE JESUITS

107

But the memory of their heroism, their conviction,
thi .- unstmted zeal, their devotion, remained as a
basis for religious life, as a bulwark of the Church,
as a vital factor in the future life of the Province
of Quebec— greater in its population, though not
in extent, than the New France which the Jesuits
had hoped to aid in establishing.

As they were preceded by the Franciscans for a
brief period, so they were replaced to some extent
in after years by the Sulpicians— a body of great
force, influence and lasting power in French Canada.
Even m these later years, however, and up to the
time of the expulsion from Quebec which became
inevitable when the British came into control,
the Jesuits were still a powerful element in the
life of the colony. The Jesuit College in Quebec
was, up to 1763, the chief seat of learning in New
France so far as general education and the training
of priests was concerned. The Order also became
wealthy, owners of fiefs and seigneuries, of land in
the heart of Quebec and Montreal. It became
influential in the homes, and when Father Chaumo-
not, m 1663, established in Montreal the Society
of the Holy Family he helped an association which
IS vanously described but which in any case wielded
great influence. Parkman charges the organization
in Montreal with undue interference in home affairs
with petty tyranny in matters of moral discipline,
with undue prohibitions in respect of books, dressi
society, dancing and various customs and habits
of the day. Dean Harris, a modem Catholic

''i ^„

158

FRENCH CANADA

writer, describeg the Society, on the other hand as
exercising a saving influence in the family, sanctifying
homes, encouraging domestic purity and fostering
filial devotion.

In the public affairs of New France the Jesuit Order
had exercised a considerable influence. There was
no difficulty with Protestantism such as there was
m Europe; speaking generally, there were no Prot-
estants. It was an intolerant age and in Quebec,
as elsewhere, the laws were stern and were rigidly
enforced whenever it happened that the Governor
and Intendant and priests .worked together. In
days when looseness of life and morals and religious
thought were eating into every department of French
life at home, of French government and French
society, this was not in itself an evil, though it may
and must have been an inconvenience. Such trouble
of the kind as did develop in Quebec or Montreal,
from time to time, was the result of an influx
of new immigrants and an occasional laxness in
enforcing laws. Some writers of the time criticize
the regulations regarding social and individual life
hquor and drinking conditions, the relations of the
sexes in general, as arbitrary, as evidences of priestly
intolerance, and so on. Perhaps they were, but it
must not be overiooked that life in those days was a
very stern thing; that these scattered populations
were hvii ; on the verge of a savage volcano which
burst into eruption at intervals and which was
liable to break out at any moment; that war was
always possible with the Knglish colonies even when

THE JESUITS

ise

not prewnt; that when looseness of life and govern-
ment did develop, Colonial disaster ensued. The
conditions of 1789 are a sufficient illustration of
this latter fact.

In diplomacy the Jesuits wielded much influence
and were of substantial value to the Government of

lZl"""'T'^^J^' ^'"«-'° *•"= ^'''« "f America
W T.T^" °' ?"'°P*- Charlevoix, the historian,
has stated that the presence of a priest among the
Indians was often of more value than a garrison of
soldiers. It ,8 of course, obvious that a converted
Indian would be a friend of France and that the
alliance of the Chnstian Hurons, if properly guided
and con rolled, might have been enormously valuable,
lake aU powerful organizations, with determined
views and vigorous principles, the Order of Jesus did
not always get on with other branches of the Church
in Quebec; *eal and obedience were under perfect
control within their own body, but intense enthusiasm
in one orgamwtion does not always run well in
harness with individuals and institutions without

lameTnd"""*''*" ^''""^ *" "* ^°^^^^ ^°' *•>«
i ^w'iu* .'**'* important product of Jesuit labor

Written by individual missionaries to the head of
the Order in the form of reports and published first

! iV^^IV" "°''" '°°°*'"'y ^°''""««' ^^"y embodied
m li e-Iike natural form the unselfish devotion and
absolute aloofness from woridly affairs and interests
of these soldiers of the Cross. Modesty and self-

160

FRENCH CANADA

sacrifice were the characterirtic* of their letters-
information of the greatest posgible historic value
w one lasting result. They were penned under
every condition of hardship and difficulty-on the
field or bare ground, in the smoke-laden air of dark
huts, with maimed and broken fingers, in conditions
of extreme cold or extreme heat, with death in the
air and torture imminent or recently suffered. They
are amongst the most extraordinary literary do*,u-
ments of all time and constitute a mine of knowledge
as to early conditions on this continent which is of
untold value.

As to the rest, the Jesuit Order was suppressed
m France m 1762 and also in Louisiacia and Quebec
They were suppressed by the Pope in 1773, but
afterwards restored to their religious position by
asuccessor at Rome in 1814. After the cession of
New France to Great Britain the Order was not
aUowed to replace its members by novices and its
property was taken over and devoted to educational
purposes. They ceased for a time to be a factor in
Canadian affairs, except as an inspiration to the
people of their own Church who realised the early
history of the Order in North America; or as an
incentive to the fear felt by Protestants as to Roman
Catholic power and progress in the light of what
they believed to be the record of the Order in other
countries. When the Jesuits commenced to come
to Canada again is not quite clear; that they did so
about 1839 and became influential in Quebec eccle-
siastical affairs is known. There is a strong Jesuit

I'lbi ^...«-""-r..*

n4>

uca(i<..ii.il
» Isolor ill
n to thp

Oncstchouan Falls. Lake St. John

-'"II? Jl-SUII.

THE JESUITS 181

c?nt!™ 11^^''"! "'"i'^'''' "" J"'"!* educational
centers elsewhere in the Dominion. A wave of
pohhcal excitement and much religious conZLv
was created in Canada by the policy of .he Merder

veto til 1 , !• ^"■"■°'on Government refused to

folow.d *" ?*'°" ""l™"^*' ""P'"'^'""* discusdon
followed-unpleasant because when political and
sectanan feelings are aroused at one and the same
time, all history and all religion can be tested to
serve the purpose of one party or the other

One conclusion is positive, however, and can be
stated here positively. So far as Canada is con!
cerned, the history, the record, the lives of the
Jesmts ,nd.vidually can only be an oMect of respec
and admiration. Their characterisv.cs stand out
w^th vividness, their actions and sacrifices were
those of heroes, their continued efforts constilute
a page m history which any country-even our
TXT "" '-'''"' - ^^^^'^^ ^ZroZ

CHAPTER IX
The Heboic Age of Canada

North Amenca was the constant and seemindv
un«vo.dable feature of settlement and pro^^ w£
marked by mnumerable incidents of hrroTsm

rtheM"'"''T '°''*^""*^ °^ -^ vivid h~:

To the Indians who occupied the vast regions into
which French soldiers and sailors and prieste a„d

Cavahers preachers and peasants settled, warfare
was a pastime, a positive pleasure, a life-oc upa on
J^l ^""^l"* "^-g^t the-n^elves and decimated the
Ind^n ^ r'''"^ °''^°'"' ^^^" '" historic ages the
Injan 'nbes seen by Cartier at Stadacona and
Hochelaga passed away and the Hurons, EriT

men the white men came, their arrogance in deal-
ing with savages who were equally arrogant and
who possessed whatever ownership there wVaJ

ralier'^^Th^VT"* /'f °" ''"'' '"^'^^^^^^
disaster. The nvalry of the two chief civilized

nations concerned, in Europe and America, SeJ

this result, and amid the gloomy aisles of endS

breadth, amid a myriad lakes and rivers, bodies of
(162)

THE HEROIC AGE OF CANADA 163

the horrors or honors of the conflict. ^

" centi / of peace and commerce— w«b tl.»

stoorflt /r ^"^'^ *•■« ^^"""et Gate, which
stood at the corner of the Notre Dame and McGill
streets of today, General Amherst took posseSn
for the British in 1760; on September sS lTl2
General Hull and 375 American oflicere and men'
P^ed as prisoner f war from BSrcaXrof
Sn ; , J'>"^°"8^ the Quebec Gate (on Dalhousie
Squ^e) there passed Ethan Allen as a pJsoner"
war in 1775, and near it was the old-time wooden
blockhouse or citadel. The first fort actuIu^'S
m Canada was Cartier's structure (1541) at Can
Rouge, near Quebec, which he called Fort Charles

a^TeCefln'^orS'^^r^

^ort Of Port Hoyal TifS^^J^t^

164

FRENCH CANADA

(Nova Scotia) and Fort Louis, or Lome: on, near
Cape Sable, N. S., followed in 1615. Seventy-nine
years after Cartier's action near Quebec Champlain
started his Fort of St. Louis on Cape Diamond,
where Dufferin Terrace now enables the peaceful
traveler to see one of the most beautiful views in
the world. De la Tour, the hero of Acadia, built a
fort at the mouth of the St. John River in 1627.
Champlain erected a fortified station on the St.
Maurice; the Hundred Associates constructed Forts
Sorel, Champlain, Ste. Th6»dse and La Motte alcng
the Richelieu; Frontenac erected a palisaded fcrti-
fication at Cataraqui near the Kingston of today—
where rest in a peaceful cemetery the remains of
Canada's greatest statesman— and it is known to
history as Fort Frontenac; Louisbourg, on Cape
Breton, at the gateway of the St. Lawrence, was
commenced in 1720 and cost the huge sum (in thope
days) of ten million dollars before it was completed.
As a natural corollary of the French claims to the
watershed of St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes and
to thai of the Mississippi and its tributaries, many
forts were constructed in those regions— notably
Fort Rouille, built in 1749 upon the site of the
future City of Toronto; Pontchartrain, long after-
wards replaced by the modern city of Detroit;
Duquesne, called after the French marquis and
governor of that name, and now a center of wealth
and industries known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
There were others, such as Le Bceuf, Venango, San-
dusky, Prud'homme, Vincennes, FrM&ic or Crown

THE HEROIC AGE OF CANADA 165

Point, Niagara, St. Joseph (near Lake Michigan),
Michrhmaclanac, Green Bay, Crfiv^eceur, Presqu'I
isle, Miami, Outanon, Chambly, Necessity, Ticon-
deroga or Carillon, Anne, Monsipi, St. Louis in the
lUinois country, and some at the mouths of the
Wabash, the Ohio and the Missouri. This vast
semicircle of fortifications, flying the flag of
France, v-s intended to hem in, to crib, cabin
and confine the boundless energies of the English
settlers. The great rivals of the French were
hardly less active. Halifax was founded in
1749 as an Atlantic arsenal and fortification:
Fort Lawrence frowned at Fort Beaus^jour on
Chipiecto Bay; Fort Frederick covered the ruins

/w'^r^'J" '^°"' ^""^^ Edward, George,
and Wilham Henry watched La Motte, St. Jean
and Ste. Th^rdse in the Champlain region; Fort
Oswego stood on guard against Fort Frontenac and
so on over a great area of disputed territory and
clashing interests.

The forts built by Radisson and the De la V^ren-
drye in the West included Bourbon on Hayes River
and Bourbon and Poskoyac on the Saskatchewan,
Dauphin near Lake Manitoba, King Charies on
James Bay, La Jonquidre where Calgary now
stands in its modern wealth and western pride
Maurepas on Lake Winnipeg, De la Reine on the
Assiniboine, Rouge on the site of modern Winnipeg
and St. Pierre on the Minnesota side of Rainy Lake'
They marked the French advance in that great
region, stamped its history with definite points of

riT

lee

FRENCH CANADA

adventure, stnking story and deadly Indian struggle
1. m""!?^^*""'*'' ""'' '°'"'*^''' *•>"' '"in« t^ay

STin . n "^ ff ""'"^•'* '" ^''^^^ y«"« of »ew
lite in a new world.

n»,?T5!?°"*.''" *'''' wonderful continental wilder-

lofty chffs nestling amongst the trees on the shores

Wh^ ?' *'T'"°'^ ^"*"°8 "*8s, or green-clad

isthmuses planted on the bpnks of lakes and rivers
and spread over the prairies of the far West, watch-

ih?r.wr* P'";*T' P"''"' "' P°'°*' °° pathways
through the vast forests, were forts, forts, forts!
There were probably not less than a hundred of
them descending in the scale of stren^h from the
proud example of French engineering skill at Louis-
bourg to the simple palisade structures of the far
intenor. They guarded settlements against Indian
raids, or the sudden attack of small detachments of
the white enemy; they protected traders and wel-
comed fur-buyers, hunters, trappers and voyageurs;
they were centers of communication, of discovery
of rescue from Indians and of such production as
there was in those pioneer days

Around and about these fortifications circle tales
of suffering and heroism such as history loves to
preserve; some of them shared in all the French and
English and Indian wars; others were built, like
the Jesuit forts in the Huron country, solely for

bi^ifh w°"* '""^'^' '^' ^^°'>"°'«'- =o>ne were
built by Western explorers and at times were the

THE HEHOIC AGE OF CANADA 167

iJii-niresque. ihe armor-clad fieurp nf oi,-™ i •

of French soldiers wW. fleu".^^^^^^^^^

them, meeting here and thpr» t^ u ''"'« "^^^

JTTt-

168

FRENCH CANADA

France against the English Colonieg. Relation,
with the Indians turned upon many things; one of
the chief was the astuteness with which individual
leaders took advantage of French and English
rivalries and played one nation or its representatives
off against the other. In the last quarter of the
seventeenth century, when the worst period in its
history, the lowest ebb in the fortunes of French
Canada developed, this was notably the case The
English colonists on the Atlantic were then ten-fold
the numbers of the French; the fur traders and
trappers of the two peoples were everywhere rivals
and the English were, quite naturallv, endeavoring
m various ways to divert the profitable traffic in
peltries from Montreal and Quebec to Albany and
New York. '

The first scene of what has been called "The
agony of Canada" centered at Fort Frontenac,
whence De la Barre, as Governor of New France,
after seeing the Illinois allies of the French attacked
by the Iroquois and permitting this to be followed
up by the plunder of French traders, started to
make separate treaties with three of the Iroquois
nations-who had no intention of keeping them,
finally he got together a force of 1,000 militiamen
and Indians with the object of invading the Seneca
country, but wasted time at Fort Frontenac and
near Oswego until terms of peace were actually
dictated to him by the confederate Iroquois tribes.
Shortly afterwards (1684) he was superseded by De
DenonviUe, who at once passed from Quebec to Fort

THE HEROIC AGE OF CANADA 169

Frontenac, strengthened the place, and prepared
to maintain it with a garrison of five hundred men,
to guard the fur trade and check the British
Three years later, by an act of treachery, he
succeeded in getting fifty of the Iroquois chiefs to
a conference at the same fort and seized and shipped
them to France to work in the Royal galleys. To
the lasting credit of the Indians the missionaries,
who had been unwilling and unintentional instru-
ments of this action, were allowed to leave the
Iroquois country unharmed. Shortly afterwards
Denonville defeated the Senecas at the mouth of
the Genesee River, ravaged their country and
destroyed their villages; Fort Niagara was rebuilt
and garrisoned, while palisaded forts were planted
on the sites of Toronto, Detroit, Sault St. Marie,
Llichihmackinac and down the Illinois River.

It was then— within a decade of the end of the
seventeenth century— that the Five Nations of the
Iroquois burst like a storm-cloud upon the French
settlements. They attacked and destroyed the
fort at the entrance to Niagara River and spread
themselves like a pestilence along the frontiers of
French colonization. The country was ravaged for
a thousand miles, probably a thousand French
colomsts were victims of the tomahawk or scalping
kmfe, an army of Iroquois warriors assembled at
Lake St. Francis and there tried to dictate terms of
peace. The Massacre of Lachine was the culmi-
nating act of this period. Following it Montreal
Island, outside of the feeble walls of ViUe Marie

170

FRENCH CANADA

WM for two months in possewion of the Iroquoia
and no hfe w„ safe for a moment, while peril wa.
the daily and nightly portion of the people of that
«o lated po. To Three Rivers, and Quebec, and
I Mane the power of New France was for a time
confined. Fort Frontonac had been abandoned and
When De Frontenac returned as governor in 1690
he found the country of his pride and hope prostrate
at the feet of the enemy, shaken by fear and in
imminent peril, menaced by an alliance of all the
northern and western tribes with the Iroquois and
the English. He had to act and he did so in a way
characteristic of the man and of the times. Three
bodies of French and Indians marched from Quebec,
Three Rivers and Montreal and in the depth of
winter attacked, surprised and captured Schenectady,
N. Y., Salmon Falls, N. H., and Casco in New
England. Little mercy was shown and these places
were practically destroyed.

Th' effect of this quick and definite action upon
the gi ueral situation was electrical. It restored the
waning prestige of the French, strengthened the
spmt of the people and reopened the channels of
the fur trade. On the other hand the brutality
displayed m the capture of the villages embittered
the spirit of New England and New York to a
degree which nothing could efface except the final
destruction of French power. Sir William Phips and
an Enghsh Colonial expedition against Acadia at once
succeeded in capturing Port Royal; the same officer
was put in charge of a naval attack upon Quebec-

THE HEROIC AGE OF CANADA

171

a land force was launched from New York againat
Montreal; the Iroq\;'i« ravaged and burned and
slaughtered wherever an opportunity offered.

A picturesque incident of this period occurred
when Phips reached Queuec on October 16th with
thirty-two ships, plenty of cannon and 2,000 men.
He at once sent a messenger to De Frontenac, who
received him in the Throne Room of the Chateau
clad in gorgeous uniform, with stately and impres-
sive bearing, and surrounded by such an array of
military and official splendor, in costume and appear-
ance, as the simple New Englander had probably
never seen before. The letter presented to the
Lieutenant-General of Louis the Great was a
haughty demand to surrender within an hour, to
which the Comte de Frontenac declined any but a
verbal and immediate reply: "The only answer I
will give will be from the mouths of my cannon and
musketry." Meanwhile the weak defences of the
place had been strengthened, De Calli^res had come
down post-haste from Ville Marie with 800 men, the
batteries were ready for action, and the Beauport
and Beaupr^ shores, below the city, were guarded
by French Canadian sharpshooters. An effort, pro-
longed for three days, was made by Phips' second
in command, with 1,300 men and some field-pieces,
to land at the St. Charles River near Quebec, but
was defeated, while the well-directed guns of the
fortress played havoc with the fleet. Phips then
withdrew and sailed back to Boston.
Outstanding amo'-gst the raids, massacres and

172

FRENCH CANADA

■

varied confllota of the D«xt few yeart is the inci-
dent of which Marie Madeleine Jarret de Ver-
oh«rea was the heroine. Daughter of the Seigneur
de Verchiree and living on the banlcs of the St.
Lawrence some miles below Montreal, in a fortified
and palisaded manor house, she was, in 1692, but
fourteen years of age and, from all that can be
ascertained, a child of marlced beauty and unusual
couroge. Around the house had grown up the
dwellings of laborers and dependents who sought its
protection whenever danger threatened. At the
time when the incident in question occurred it was
eariy autumn, the great forests were ablaze with
color, the indentations and bays of the river were
alive with the flutterings of wild game and water-
fowl. There had been no Indian outbrealc for some
months, the Sieur and Madame de Verchires had
gone to Quebec to present their annual feclty to the
Sovereign's representative for their fief and sei-
gneurial righte, the garrison and even many of the
laborers were away shooting in the woods and along
the banks of the river.

Hence when Mdlle. de Verchires, wandering by the
nver on a beautiful afternoon, suddenly heard shots
and the blood-curdling Iroquois war-whoop, looked
hastily around and saw a number of savages emerging
from the woods not far away, her peril was very
great. She made a wild dash for the house, calling,
'To arms! To arms!" as she ran, with one young
brave, in advance of the others, almost upon her.
Just as she reached the heavy door of the house

THE HEROIC AQE OF CANADA

173

which was, fortunately, open for her, the savage
reached out and caught her, not by the flying hair
a« was their usual custom, but by a covering to her
shoulders. With a swift gesture she unfastened it
in front and as she flew in and barred and Imlted
the door the discomfited Indian fell back with only
the garment in his hand. Inside all was confusion
and for protection there was only an old man of
eighty, her two youthful brothers and two soldiem.
Mdlle. de Verchires took instant command, fired off
the small swivel gun in the court-yard with her own
hands to warn the scattered garrison, had the de-
fences strengthened in every direction and though
she could not save the unfortunate harvesters in the
fields from slaughter, she did hold the fort during
two long days of siege. One soldier was .ola otf
to take care of the women and children in the block-
ho'jse; Madeleine, the old man and the two boys,
each fully armed, took charge of the four bastions
or redoubts at the corners, and through the storm
which came up, through darkness and daylight, for
forty-eight hours they stood at their posts with the
lurking, alert enemy in every direction — thinking
naturally that the place was well defended. Then
came relief and the name of the child who saved the
Manor House of Verchires and its occupants passed
into history. She, herself, married Thomas de la
Naudi^re, a French officer and Seigneur, and, after
his death, De la Parade, another officer of good
birth. In her later years she was given a govern-
ment pension for life.

174

FRENCH CANADA

A French Canadian hero of this period was Le
Moyned Iberville. Bom in Montreal or Ville
Mane, he spent a lifetime in exploration and in
f Shting for his flag. It is a question whether any
Canadian, before or since, has had such a career of
strenuous adventure, gallant struggle and, from the
standpoint of France, useful performance. In his
forty-five years of Hfe he crowded such activity
as seems almost marvelous. He entered the French
navy m 1686 and took part with De Troyes in cap-
turing from the EngUsh the Hudson's Bay forts
of Moose Factory, Rupert and Albany; in 1689 he
was agam on the Bay and captured a British ship
witi, a cargo of guns which he brought to Quebec; in
1690 he was a leader in the raid from Montreal on
Schenectady, N. Y., and thence, in the far north, he
captured Fort Severn; four years later he was again
in the Bay and this time he took Fort Nelson from
the British and practically brought the whole vast
northern region, for the moment, under French
control; in 1696 he was sailing the Atlantic coast,
captured Pemaquid on the coast of Acadia, which
had already been destroyed by the Indians and
rebmlt by the New Englanders as Fort William
Henry; at the same time he took possession of St
Johns and the coast of Newfoundland; in the
following year he again sought the Hudson's Bay,
defeated a larger British fleet than his own and
recaptured Fort Nelson; in 1698 he sailed from
France with an expedition which sought and found
the far-southern mouths of the Mississippi; he spent

THE HEROIC AGl

1' CAXAIA

175

the balance of his life in building up French power
in what became the colony of Louisiana. His
name is and should be a household word in the City
of Montreal and the annals of his race in Canada

Around Fort Chambly, on the Richelieu, twelve
miles below St. John's, centered in all these years
much of conflict and interesting history. No more
attractive ruins exist today than those of the old
Fort which was first erected of wood in 1665 ajd
reconstructed and built of stone in 1711 by soldiers
and residents from Montreal under plans drawn by
M. de Ury. It was constructed, and so remains,
in a large square, with four bastions, and must in
early days have been very strong and imposing.
The name it now bears was given it by Captain
Jacques de -Chambly of the Carignan-Salli^res
Kegiment (afterwards Governor of Acadia and Mar-
timque and Seigneur of Chambly), though at times
It was also called St. Louis. Here, the oft-times
slight and inadequate garrison, and surrounding
settlers of the Chambly Seigneury, faced the silent
sweep of the Iroquois upon French settlements in
many a night of terror and darkness, or waited for
their war parties, as they passed, in fearful expecta-
tion; here, in after years, i.t guarded the highway of
New England expeditions into New France and, with
a Cham of posts built for purposes of defence, it
played an important part during the first half of
the eighteenth century; here, until August, 1760
Its garrison held the French flag flying even while
French power was crumbling to pieces over half a

176

FRENCH CANADA

continent; here, in 1775, the Amtrican flag flew
for a brief period and here, in the War of 1812 as
many as 6,000 British troops were Itcpt to guard
a vital strategic point; here, up to the early seventies,
imperial troops were kept and the British bugle-
call heard where for so long a period French soldiers
had held their cheerful sway.

Not very far from this fortification, and about
twelve miles below where the Richelieu pours out
of Lake Champlain, is Isle-aux-Noix. It is a small
island and the ruins left upon it are slight and appar-
ently insignificant. Yet here was, for a time the
strategic point in the protection of Montreal from
the onward sweep of the English in 1,59, when, after
the fall of Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) and Fort
Fr^d^nc (Crown Point), Bourlamaque threw his
army on to this island and held it in defiance of the
British advance. Fortifications were erected and
after the fall of Quebec, De L4vis, himself, assisted
by the French Canadian De Lotbini^re, directed
the work of added fortifications. De Bougainville
succeeded to the command, but the island was
evacuated in the following year. In 1775 General
Schuyler, of the Continental forces, took possession
and rebuilt the fortifications; from here Ethan Allen
undertook, with 200 rangers, to capture Montreal
and had, instead, to spend an enforced period in
England; from here General Montgomery marched
to attack Quebec and here, during the Revolutionary
period, various negotiations took place while the
contending armies passed through or briefly occupied

• ■fl'.l

-rief ,>^niKl nnd here, in tk- W.,

- ''OM BriUsh 'rm\» wrre k,

tnifegin point: here. Mp.u> the ....

■M troops w«e kept «„<i ,j,e b,'

' rt «*Pre fur so lo.,^ „ ,„.,,i,„| p,^ .

^let'rtf the

'''•tp(i aii.i.

•■IS, iuiii«<jj/, jtssis^^

_ Lotbijii^rfe, iJircrt'-f

' n; command, f.i:T f ,. ■ i , ,
„■;■ "r"*-'" *-^^ fp&win,« VM- p "1

S'.'iHiyif^. of ih, Couti„«„L^i f,., . ''"■:'"' ■

ana h..i, uir'^i'jrr^n'^r"^ ""^*^^^'
o aUacK yueb«e ,„d We. rfunng * ' '"'

- ' '■■>■'■':!<• ' ,.,,: .:.... .. .,.,.■," ,

■ ' ■■■•'■'!•■ ■-"•Oiipir.!

Scene on the St. tawrence in Winter

ii*

t^^i

THE HEROIC AGE OF CANADA

177

Its shores; here in f-e War of 1812 were erected
several British forts, of which Lennox still survives,
with blockhouses and other defences; near here in
1813, three American ships were captured and from
here went the expedition to capture Plattsburg
and later on troops to help at the memorable fight
of Lacolle's Mills not far away. British troops
occupied It until the Seventies, and it is interesting
to note that, in all these earlier years of warfare,
while IsIe-aux-Noix was safe Montreal was safe;
when it was lost Montreal was also lost.

Memorials of these times of stress and warfare
exist everywhere throughout Quebec, though it is
doubtful if many visitors know of, or hear of, them.
From Montreal, for instance, there extended for
some miles a chain of outposts or fortified palisaded
buildings to St. Anne's and including Forts St ■
Gabriel, Verdun, CuilWrier, Lachine, R^my, Holland,
Gentilly, Pointe Claire and Senneville or Boisbriant.'
The first-named was an excellent embodiment of
these days of danger and its remains have been
resuscitated in pictorial form from ruins which existed
on Montmorenci Street as late as 1890. It was a
long, low, solid house built of stone with protecting
walls two and three feet thick and twelve feet high
with heavy stone gateway buttresses calculated,
on the whole, to stand any attack except that of
artillery. A stone storehouse stood near the house
and on the borders of the Lachine Canal. The
foit was first erected of wood as far back as 1659.
Many other places in Quebec, towns of modern

;l I'

178

KRENCH CANADA

days, with modem life and industrial activities
everywhere evident, have similar survivals of
historic days. Sorel, for instance, at the mouth of
the Richelieu, with its turbulent memories of the
past, was established by De Montmagny in 1642
as a fortification intended to stand in the vanguard
of Indian trade or Indian war, as the case might be.
Called after Pierre de Sorel, he, in 1665, erected
stronger and more elaborate fortifications, and it
was for a century a stopping place between Quebec
and Montreal for governors and soldiers and mis-
sionaries and priests. Here, in 1787, came gay
Prince William Henry, afterwards William IV, and
so popular was he that for a time the place was locally
called after him. It was refortified in 1778 by
Haldimand to meet a possible American invasion and
near it were settled many of the Loyalists of 1783.
Three Rivers, at the mouth of the St. Maurice,
was an even more important military post and is
now a larger and more imposing city of peace.
It was founded in 1633, before the days of Ville
Marie; Jesuit missionaries came in the succeeding
year and afterwards the R^coIIets, while in 1634
Laviolette built a substantial fort; throughout the
seventeenth century it was a center of the fur trade,
a resting place, or starting place, for explorers and
voyageurs and a central point for expeditions against
the Iroquois and the English and a pivotal place in
attack and defence; for long it was a separate
governorship and a center of the French life of the
country, with such early notables as La Salle, Du

THE HEROIC AGE OF CANADA 179

L-hut and Frontenao .nj a -.hole series of leaders in
FVen h actmty and adventure; it was used as a
ITI '*"■/'»"'"'"'" """'^'y supplies in 1776 and

seat of Haldimand's government for a time and from
here he rescued and relieved many of the Loyalists
of the Amencan Revolution.

TifnL"" **"'■ ^''""'^ ^""^^ ''°'^«^'". Carillon or
Ticonderoga .s probably the best known tc the

nearly so o d or historic as many others. Built
by De Lotb,m^re in 1756, on a promontory at ?he
southern end of Lake Champlain, it is now il United
States temtory. It was the advanced post of the
French m their last days of power and the scene
of a famous victory by Montcalm in 1758; it was
captured by Amherst in the succeeding year; to
1775 was taken by the ...nericans, and two ^a^

spinted and memorable scenes in the dying days
of New France was the attack by Abercrombte uwn
Montcalm at Carillon. It was a vital period"^"
the prolonged contest, and although the caused

Quebec, they were not generally understood. Louis-

t^fZ' r " .V"'' ^"^ ''"" *"''«" "y A-^herst slortly
before CanlU,n was invested, but about this time!

,., ; ° *^^ "^''"=«' "^^^ tbe French. Mont-
calm 8 victories at Oswego and Fort William Heim.
had come at a perio,-- when high taxes, const^

180

FRENCH CANADA

Indian forays, frequent militia levies, and the not
always pleasant presence of British troops had
added to local rivalries and jealousies and ham-
pered English colonial operations.

In these last stages of the struggle no one place
or portion of the continent can be said to have
been the headquarters of the soldiers on either side.
From one point to another, through immense prime-
val forests and wilderness stretches, across streams
and rivers of unknown depth and current, along
miry pathways and over; wild morasses, troops were
on the march continuo..-,Iy. As the war centered,
temporarily, on Fort Cavi'.! jn or Ticonderoga, Mont-
calm found himself, in the middle of June, 1758,
with about 4,000 men face to face with Abercrombie
and his 15,000. The situation appeared desperate
and, indeed, hopeless, thuugii the French commander
held a splendid position. The Fort, from a rocky
height, overlooked the head of Lake Champlain.
Behind it ran a rough valley and beyond that a
ridge fortified with high breastworks and palisades
built of tree trunks, with sharpened branches point-
ing outwards, and a sloping descent in front thickly
set with stakes and felled trees.

Second to Montcalm was De L4vis, an able o£5cer;
second to Abercrombie, who, himself, had little
ability, was Lord Howe, a young officer of radiant
character and great popularity in the army. After
prolonged preparations by Abercrombie and patient
waiting by Montcalm, who at this critical juncture
dared not make a false or venturesome move, the

THE HEROIC ACiK OF CANADA

181

British General on July Stli Bturtcd from Fort
George to capture Carillon. His forces and artillery
required 900 bateaux, 136 wlialcboats and numerous
heavy floats for transportation, and at the Narrows
of the lake was over six miles in length. With
the beauty of a summer day and surrounding scenes
of woodland splendor, with lofty hills and rolling
waters, with the varied accessories of music and
striking uniform and flying banners, the sight must
have been a memorable pageant even for the youth-
time of the New World. On the 6th the force dis-
embarked and in a succeeding skirmish with Cana-
dian sharpshooters Howe was killed— the greatest
loss short of defeat which the British troops could
have had. Montcalm received the charge of the
enemy on July 8th at the fortified ridge already
described. Without artillery and during a long,
fearful day of desperate charge and fierce attack
Abercrombie hurled his men against the tremendous
defences of the French. It was a useless though
splendid sacrifice and at nightfall he withdrew,
leaving 2,000 British dead behind and with the
famous Black Watch, in particular, almost deci-
mated. Of this regiment twenty-four officers were
killed or wounded. By the French the victory
was regarded as a miracle and in honor of the gal-
lantry of their defence against tremendous odds the
greatly inspirited Montcalm erected on the spot an
immense wooden cross bearing these lines:

Soldier and Chief and ramparts' strength are naught;
Behold the conquering Cross! 'Tis God the triumph wrought.

183

FRENCH CANADA

Following thla conflict, however md «hll. *i„
crombie with hi« troopn i«v tr^hl.n • I' ^^''^
««;» Heno., BradH^Tt aL ht Kk"'*,'^"-
militia had captured Fort Pr„„. f '^ '°'°"'"'

ton) and all iuZu . J^wntenac (near Kings-

"ad fallen, and in its uT7 1 ^^^"^^'g also
«triking car.r. '"nI^' alt^" UnHlv "".'
commenced in 1720 it „ ■ '^'^ and

tban Quebec,°th;"l;rpX'Xrr ""'^
in America. Twentv fit;. "*""'' P"""

it. construction iTmlrmilir" """"""^ '"
Built at the end nf . f^ millions m its cost.

Atlantic fL the coaTo^ 'c'" T'""' "'*° *'"'
there was behind it» TV n^^ ^'^*°n '''and,
chiefly mora!s lroL\ T"' «"'""'' '^'■'c" '-as
ful batterir protected TT^ '"'""' ''^ P°--
the harbor stc^d llh!; "''"'" '" ^''^ ■»<>""> of
wa« first reduSn ms u T"'^"' "^"""y- I*
with their CoTonil? J„„n- "^ ^."T'"" ""'* W""""
from a great fleet it wT„""'' ''"'' '•""'^^'^ «"°»

'tr r 7°'^' -'^ Bosrwe^rSs''''''''' '^

twelve warlii Sm/" *'"' "'**-'""»» were
of the fortress ^rel 9 ht^ '^°'' '" ^''^ ''""cries

THE HEHOIC AGE OF CANADA 183

unable to »top, the .teady advance of the BritUb
troop, to the wallH of the fortre,.. On June 26 h

ihl K '""*"■ , ^'"' "^'■nt wounded Ix)uiH XIV to
he heart and encouraged to a triumphant degr^
the men who were to win the final »tages of he wa7
The m.ghty fortifSeation, were demolished aTte^
months of labor and today only va7tTne« of .»lh
works ,i.„., ,„,„^, y^.^^ y -t t Tand echt"
■ng to the sou..d« of pastoral nature. Yet no ,»^
on the continent is more worth visiting anSno^e
bears more mteresting historical memorfes

Those times of war have passed awny, th. war-
pamt and feathers of the Indian have vanished
orever, the cassock and the breviary T now
emblems of pence and brotherly love; theTrucTfix
s no longer carried aloft in primeval forests
the blue and white and gold of the French uni'
forms have disappeared, the fleur-de-i; s now"

wmie the wings of peace are said to have enfoldJ
forever the Great Lakes and the water-str t t'
of the continent. Yet those scenes and evenl
and the vast vistas of history and study which thev
open up cannot but be of interest to thl li£
mind-to the intelligent British or French toS
;n particular to the patriotic Canadian " American
m general. Memorials of those stormy andXenu"

■ wel merir" T"' "" "^"^ '"^^ continent the,
well merit modern attention and c-'or, ^r.A

devotion to some, at least, of thrfderLrdtd"

CHAPTER X

Acadu-The Land of Evanoelinb

The Canadian provinces of Nova Snotia o„j
New Bn.a«wick, tl>e Wands of C B eton Ld

er^f SeT'' 1!" ^.^°^"°" °^ *■>« StafeTf MaTne
east of the Kennebeo River, constituted the Acadia
or La Cadie, of the early French explorers of the
earliest French settlement in Americf, of o^e hul
dred and fifty years filled with the sorrow and suffer
mg, the struggle and success, the darkne^rand bST:
ness of pioneer life. Four years earlier than the
foundation of Quebec, Champlain and D Mont
started, on a small island in the St. Croix River

va^^S TaTdsh"'"''.'". *'"' ^"'""^"^ year Tnd a^;
vaned hardships, had to be transferred to Port
Royal-not far from the site of a later place of the
same name, now known as Annapolis Royal.
There, on the north shore of the Annapolis River

and the first village commenced in all the vast reirion
which was to later on fly the flag of France Z2

thelT/,^"' r '""^ P"""*-"" f<"e«t. around
them and throughout the Acadia of succeeding
centuries were beautiful rivers and brooks and ■
streams exquisite valleys and scenery of the milder
type, shores washed by seas which swarmed 2th
(184)

ACADIA

185

fish, soil which ripened readily into production and
the growth of flowers and fruit. The Indian life
of the woods was, fortunately, not of the fierce
type so characteristic of the forests and lakes of
the far interior and the upper St. Lawrence, but
It was at times wild enough. And, at the beginning.

If they had been imaginative the thought of what
ay beyond and behind them in the recesses of a
seemingly endless wilderness would have been, in
itse f, a tremendous burden. As Longfellow put it
centuries afterwards:

Sr^J^'™''*' u' ""• ""•' ™'™« ^''d and prophetic-
Stand ,ke harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bo^m,

oe'r """'' '''^""' "■» ='"'-™-'' ""ghSg

^"''ftesT'' '° ""'""'^ di^^^olate answers the waU of the

The site of Port Royal was a beautiful one and in
llrr" f.*'^^^ hopes and of their first settl^
ment Its sunshine and softness of air, its sentinels
of rock serving as a shelter .gainst storms from sea
£ Td ''"V"'"-'''"« ^l^" -'--ts from storms'

rL7\r "^^ """^' '* ^•""° "^ ^«^y haven of
rest to the mexperienced. light-hearted, optimistic
Frenchmen. With the two leaders we;e ^Jean de
Biencourt, Baron de Poutrincourt, a wealthy and

( I

186

1,1

FRENCH CANADA

Ifl

S,K S°" "• T"' "" »•"» '™d. Sh

reacned in shadowy outline from Paris in T^„j
and back again to this tipy settle.rron th^^e^

ana reaping. De Monts went to Paris tn tr^ »„5

Sr td?^ °' -'"'"'T ■'"'^ ^"'d^^eXSo a
ngnts he had been granted. The winter of Ifin«ji7

was the famous occasion of ChamZn's " OrTr o5

a Good T.me," when the fifteen leading men of the

ahlrfl"^r."°'=°"^'^'"°'"«^^^^^^^^
Zr j/i? ^ ''°"" "> 8°°d fellowship and good

f^rhtrtirdtrnir'Wtftr^^

groupof t,e.enj;:n:r.rhf^^^^^^^
berton bearmg the burden of a hundred yea« ^f

ettatn'T"'""'"^^ "' *"*«" leader^hipf a?d a
reputation of sincere friendship for the whites.

This jolly and prosperous season, however was

the calm be ore the storm, and in the spring-tLe

gure Vf'Se Ton/- ""t" '"''""«' »"* *^' ^""^"a

settlers but tf. * T^ ""'" '^^"""'^^ ""^ ^e^h
settlers, but the intolligence that his enemies had

ACADIA

187

triumphed and 'is charter been revoked. There
was nothing for it but to pluck up the deepening
roots of settlement and return to the motherland,
and this Poutrincourt did with a sore heart and a
steadfast determination to return again. He took
up the mantle of interest and labor which De Monts
now dropped and, while Champlain proceeded to
write his own name large in the history of the New
France which he hoped to establish on the banks of
the St. Lawrence, Poutrincourt continued faithful
to Port Royal. In 1610 he returned with new settlers
and a zealous priest— Father la FWche— who soon
succpfided in converting the friendly Memberton
and influencing his entire tribe.

In the following year the death of Henri IV of
France brought upon the European scene the stormy
personality of Marie de Medicis and introduced to
the smaller Acadian arena the black-robed and
ambitious figure of the Jesuit who was at this time
dominant in Paris and destined to become a
dominating figure over the greater part of North
America. The large interests of the Huguenots
of St. Malo in the settlement and in the Royal
charter passed from the control of De Poutrincourt,
who was only able to hold his little territory around
Port Royal, and wide powers were placed in the hands
of Madame de Guercheville, a .ady of the French
Court famed for both beauty and virtue and a
strong supporter of the Order of Jesus. Father la
Fl^che was soon aided by Fathers Biard and Mass^
and their labors carried the banner of their faith far

m I

188

FRENCH CANADA

jf,^t\TT'^^ *''* ^""^^^^ °f ^^' Atlantic coast,
in 1613 Madame de Guercheville sent out a fresh
expedition with men and stores and accompanied
by two more Jesuits-Fathers Quentin and Du Thet

fTrthl H '""'" '"*"^'l St- Laurent was made
turther down the coast.

At this iK)int and in connection with the elabo-
rate and widely-extended, though necessarily vague,
charters of the French King, there commencedThe
hostile and histonc antagonism of the English
colomsts to the claims and ambitions and power of
New France. Argall, a military leader from Vir-
gima, sailed in the same year into the harbor of
this new settlement and uprooted it. He followed
this success by a raid upon Port Royal, which he
found defenceless-Biencourt, the gallant son of
the adventurous Poutrincourt-being engaged in an
expedition against the Indians. The place was
pillaged and burned to the ground and even the

triumph to Virginia and the unhappy French
CO omsts struggled through the ensuing ^nter by
means of wild roots and the help of half-starved and
friendly Indians. Poutrincourt, shortly after this

t^n K ^ •!! ^°^f^''^ "^"^^^ '" ^^'""'e «°d his son,
who had evidently mherited his ability and energy
was givea the rank of Vice-Admiral and remained
m Acadia to hunt, fish, shoot, trade and guard the
remnants of his cherished settlement. Ultimately
though the facts are obscure, he appears to have
rebuilt Port Royal and in this as ^U aa in his

ACADIA

189

generally adventurous life was seconded by a young
Frenchman of good family— Charles de la Tour—
who was destined to take an important part in the
Btern game of war and colonization which followed.
Meanwhile, as one result of Argall's raid, Great
Britain began to press the claims upon the soil of
North America which Cabot's discoveries seemed
to give. By right of settlement the greater part of
the Atlantic coast from Acadia downward was
already British; by right of discovery and, despite
a record of colonization and exploration which
crowned French energy and enterprise with honor,
claim was also laid to the whole of what was then
called New France— including Acadia. In times of
war ^ ween France and England this claim con-
tinu ,0 be aggressively presented by British
invao.on or British expeditions; in times of nominal
peace it was too often urged by Colonial invasion
and New England raids, followed or preceded
French expeditions of a similarly lawless character.
In 1614, King James I granted to a Plymouth
Association all the lands lying between the forty-
fifth and forty-eighth parallels and called the region
New England. Sir WilUam Alexander, afterwards
Eari of Steriing and Viscount Canada, a man of
letters and a patriotic Scotchman, resolved that
there should also be a New Scotland. From the
English King he obtained, in 1621, a grant of Aca-
dia under the general name of Nova Scotia and
began operations at Port Royal— which seems for the
moment to have been abandoned by the French.

190

FRENCH CANADA

Port Royal continued to be the Acadian center of
the struggle When Admiral Kirke arrived on the
expedition (1629) which terminated in the tem!
porary capture of Quebec, he bore down upon this
ittle place and from it declared the whole country
to be under the rule and government of Sir William
Alexander and his company. Meanwhile, Charles
de la Tour held a strong position some distance
away at Fort St. Louis, now known as Port La
Tour near Cape Sable. Here, in the same year,
he shut himself up and defied the English, though
his father, Claude de la Tour, had been iaptured
on his way with supplies and armament and been
earned to England, where this survivor of the Hugue-
not aristocracy of France, with well-known influence
and resources in Acadia, was considered a great prize
He was made much of in England, feted everv-
where married to a lady of the Court, made a
Kmght-Baronet of Nova Scotia, granted forty-five
hmidred square miles of territory on the Atlantic
coast, and won over to espouse the cause of Eng-
land and to promise the support of his son-who
was included in the titles and grants.

He had, however, undertaken too much and
when in 1630, he arrived at Fort St. Louis with
Bntish shipa and colonists and the assurance of
British support to his plans, he was repulsed by
his son as well as in the assault which followed upon
the fort, and was compelled to withdraw to Port
Royal with his settlers and the wife who had been
led to expect a triumphant entry into new and great

ACADIA

191

possessions for the Crown of England. Claude de
la Tour now found himself unable to return to
England because of his failure and exiled from
France because of his treason. His son protected
him and built him a house and thence he fades from
the canvas of history. Charles de la Tour had, in
the meantime, won high credit in France for his
conduct and in 1631 became the King's lieutenant-
general in Acadia with sufficient men and arms and
supplies to surround the position with something
more than an empty halo.

Then followed the despatch of Isaac de Razily, a
relation of Richelieu, with a aefinite mission to drive
the Scotch out of Acadia; and with him were
Nicholas Denys, destined to succeed L'Escarbot as
a picturesque scribe, and D'Aunay Charnisay, a
Frenchman of good position, ability and intense
ambition. Various minor struggles with New Eng-
land ensued in which success generally rested with
the French and in which both De la Tour and
Charnisay distinguished themselves. De Razily
died in 1636 and left his power in the divided hands
of two antagonistic and ambitious men. The
ensuing events read Uke a romance. De la Tour
retired to a new fort which he had built at the
mouth of the St. John River and for five years ruled
from there over much of the New Brunswick of the
future. Charnisay remained at Port Royal, which
he had rebuilt on the south shore of Annapolis
Basin and greatly strengthened, and there he
maintained authority in what is now Nova Scotia.

1C3

FRENCH CANADA

Each was jealous of the other's power and plans,
but while De la Tour rested in proud contempt
within the walls of his fortress, surrounded by his
family and relatives, his soldiers, Indians and
steadily successful fur raders, Chamisay sought the
seat of power and undermined his rival's reputation
at the Court of France. In 1641 he was successful.
De la Tour was stripped of his position and posses-
sions and ordered to France under arrest. It was a
desperate case. To go was to meet ruin at the hands
of a Cardinal who naljurally disliked the Huguenots;
to stay was to court ruin as a rebel. In the latter
case, however, De la Tour knew his friends would
stand by him and his followers fight for him; while
chance might at any time reverse the conditions
prevalent at Paris. He, therefore, stayed and his
defiance resulted in a strife which filled the forests
and coasts of Acadia with all the evils of civil war
for a number of years.

It was the war of a hero, and the fitting wife of a
hero, with a man whose character has been revealed
by the light of passing years and of history as infa-
mous in its indifference to honor and integrity. The
real qualities of De la Tour were open to the world,
and had won the respect of all who knew him. As
so often happens in the history of countries, he was
the one man who, at this crisis, might have made
Acadia a great and prosperous French state and he
was the one man who was denied the opportunity.
His ambitions were those of a patriot combined
with much of the prescience of a statesman. Those

^^1

■■' '■'■{' ■.-.' £■', ''iS £ .I'llltel

Kill I

Thatched Barn, Cap a L'A%le

it.ili33r.;U!

'ma;-, s-.,^'

::l El

LI I

ACADIA

of Chaniisay were the self-aeeking principles of a
trader cohibined with the unscrupulous personal
designs of a Philippe EgaliW. The conflict began
by Charnisay attacking Fort La Tour, at the mouth
of the St. John, in the spring of 1643, and being
repulsed with considerable loss. It continued
through his close investment of the place with, also,
the arrival of reinforcements from France; and
was marked by the escape of De la Tour and his
wife to Boston through the close lines of the enemy
and by their return in triumph with five ships full
of strong and willing men from Massachusetts —
during a brief period of peace between Britain and
France and between their Colonies. It ended, for
the moment, in the chagrin and amazement of
Charnisay and his hasty flight to Port Royal.

The result should have been a permanent one,
with Port Royal taken and Charnisay captured.
But the New Englanders had to be considered and
De la Tour found that they were amply content
with the booty in furs which they had gained and
the terms which they had forced him to yield.
Perhaps, too, their thrifty patriotism saw possibilities
of injury to France and benefit to themselves in not
too suddenly ending the war of the rivals. De la
Tour, therefore, set himself to strengthen his defences
and consolidate his resources, while his brave wife —
whose conduct through the hardships of the siege,
the escape, and the journey to Boston had already
been heroic — started for France to obtain assistance
from her Huguenot friends in Rochellc. Chami; •,

104

FRENCH CANADA

meanwhile, had left lor Paris where he arranged to
have his rival's wife arrested on a charge of treason.
She escaped him, however, reached England in
safety and after twelve weary months of peril and
ad-'enture arrived home at Fort La Tour.

She had brought some help back with her and her
husband went to Boston to get further aid with the
intention of this time finishing his foe. Chamisay
heard of his departure and (1645) with cruisers and
troops at once invested the fortress. Thn gallant
wife did everything to supply her husband's place
and, possibly, more than filled it. Supplies ran
sho.°t and traitors were discovered. Instead of
being hung they were mistakenly driven with
contempt from the fort and intelligence thus afforded
Chamisay as to the state of the garrison. Fire
was opened by his battleships, but it was replied
to with a force and good-will which destroyed one
of his ships and drove back his men with heavy
loss.

For two months the heroic garrison and gallant
lady defied his blockade and laughed, apparently,
at the assault which he threatened but was afraid
to deliver. De la Tour, meanwhile, had returned
from Boston and lay cruising as near as possible
to the scene of the siege, but his single ship was no
match for the fleet of his enemy. One night, in
the month of April, Chamisay plucked up courage
to once more defy the chances of battle and during
three days the struggle lasted with every rampart
attacked at once and every weak spot apparently

wmmmi

mtmm

ACADIA

105

known to the enemy. At last a, Swife mercenary
turned traitor and threw open the gates. Chamisay
entered and there followed one of the blackest and
meanest deeds in the history of the northern part
of the continent. Afraid of this woman, afraid of
beiug again repulsed by her leadership in the
struggle yet to come, Chamisay asked for a truce
Hnd offered honorable terms. With a woman's
natural desire to save her brave followers, Madame
de la Tour consented and the terms of capitulation
were duly drawn up. Then, with the fortress in
his hands and the Cb °iaine at his mercy, this
man tore up the documout, repudiated his obliga-
tions and his honor, and, placing a b'^lter around the
neck of the brave woman who had beaten him in
fair fight, forced her to watch the death struggles
of her soldiers as one by one they were hung upon the
ramparts. Carried to Port Royal by the conqueror,
the heroine of Acadia died of a broken heart at the
end of three long and weairy weeks spent, no doubt,
in brooding thought over a broken home and
butchered followers and a husband who, through this
succession of misfortunes, was now a wanderer on
the face of the earth. As Miss Marjorie Fickthall
has beautifully described it:

Did God weep for the heart that broke there,

Cbamieay?
Only the lips of the dead men spoke there.
And she who dared them, she who led them,
Drank her death in the death he fed them
Cold in clay.

186 FRENCH CANADA

She in the flowers of God upstanding,

Chamisay.
Sees the Hosts of the Heights disbanding,
Spear on spear of a iilied splendor
Hears them hail her, hears the tender

Words they say.

Chamisay flourished to the full of his expecta-
tions during the next few years. Supreme in Acadia,
confident of his favor at Court, fair of word and
arrangement with New England, reaping riches from
the fur trade, successful iif crushing his only remain-
ing rival— Nicholas Denys, who had been his friend
and schoolmate but had become rich and strong in
Cape Breton Island— this extraordinary character
seemed well content with his fortune and fate
Then suddenly, in 1650, as if in mockery of his
position and prospects, he fv=ll into the little river
at Port Royal and was drowned like a rat. De la
Tour, meanwhile, had been treated with the respect
he deserved in parts of New England and Europe
where he had spent five years of a wandering life
and was now able to go to France, refute the false-
hoods of his enemy, and receive every reparation
which the King could give. He was made Governor
of Acadia, the fur-trade monopoly was placed in
his hands and, to ensure the permanance of his
fortune he cut another knot of difficulty by marrying
Charnisay's widow and takine the children of his
former enemy into his hands and under his protec-
tion.

This remarkable story then took another turn on

ACADIA

197

the wheel of fate. England was in the stern and
successful hands of Cromwell and a large expedition
which had been sent to capture the Dutch settlements
on the Hudson was thrown suddenly upon Acadia.
De la Tour was overpowered and Acadia overrun.
Boston and New England were at the back of the
new move. Cromwell, who seems to have under-
stood the great issues at stake in apparently petty
struggles, refused to intervene, or to restore Acadia
to France, and De la Tour was seemingly crushed
once more. But he was not the man to meet such
a fate without effort. Going to England, he saw
Cromwell, impressed him by his arguments and his
personality and obtained a grant of the whole region
known as Acadia to a co.npany which included
De la Tour and Sir Thomas Temple. The latter
was made Governor, the former soon sold out his
great interests in the grant and, weary of tempting
fate, retired to the comfortable obscurity of private
life.

Until 1667, when Charles 11 gave back Acadia
to France in the Treaty of Breda, the land rested
in reasonable quietude. From that time until the
finger of fate placed its seal upon the country in
1710 and made Acadia finally British it had many
governors and amongst them were several names
familiar to the history of Quebec, such as Robineau
de Menneval, Robineau de Villebon, Denys de
Bonaventure and Daniel de Subercase. The most
striking figure in these last years of French rule was
that of the Baron de Saint Castin — hunter and wood-

198

FRENCH CANADA

ranger fighter m a lawless fashion on behalf of law
and order warden of the marches upon the Peno^
Bcot, fnend of the Indians and guardian of AcadLn
BO.I agamst New England raids With h s Ind a"
w.fe, with wealth gained in the fur trade and wUh
mauenee at Port Royal maintained through Us power
over the Indians, Saint Castin presented a most p^c
turesque personality and one full of materiaHor the
romancist n these later days of historical ficto".

Meanwhile the Province and Port Royal shared
m he ups and downs of^Colonial rivalr/and w„
The fort was captured by Sir William Phips and U^

?or wnium" T' ^Tr" •'^ *'^« -"^--^

*ort VVilham Henry at Pemaquid: surrounded
rom t„,e to time by the devastation o'f InZ figlt-
slt CrtL'f Z *'! °*^^^- I" *hese conflict
inm2TjJ.nu "* ''""'' triumphed, while
of Fr!L^r T' '':^'^'^"«' the dashing darling
of French-Canadian history, sailed into the Bay of
Fundy, fought the British fleet in a drawn b^tle
and captured the fort at Pemaquid. In 7? 10 the
clnt. N^h'^ " •" ^^^"-"^ --^^ -- when'

^OuLT ""^ *° "«"" ''"''■"P* the capture
^Quebec, overpowered the litf. garrison of Port
Royal and overran the Province. The war-scarred
fortress was re-named Annapolis Royal in honor of

d.d the r best for the Lilies of France, the strugrie

had failed, i-,„gland was in a strong enough position

ACADIA

199

in Europe to dictate terms and, by the Treaty of
rtreclit in 1713, to retain Acadia with the exception
of uie islands now Icnown as Cape Breton and Prince
Edward. In 1744 an effort was made by the French
to re-capture Annapolis Royal, as Port Royal was
now called, but it was defeated.

The grass-grown ramparts of this historic fort
may still be seen amidst surroundings which are both
beautiful and romantic. Annapolis Royal stands
on the south shore of Annapolis Basin with its sap-
phire waters and turquoise sky, its picturesque and
peaceful scenery belying the record of the past,
The well preserved and ancient fortifications cover
thirty acret, of land with old cannon and buildings
which speak volumes as to the centuries of struggle
that are gone and a bronze statue of De Monts look-
ing down and back over three hundred years of his-
tory. Back of the modem town is the river which
winds its way seventy miles into the interior through
one of the most beautiful and fruitful regions of
the continent — the famous Annapolis Valley with its
sea of apple blossoms in June, its blaze of scarlet
and golden fruit in September, its ever-exquisite
scenery and sweetly-scented air. It is diflScult in
this atmosphere of peace and contentment and quiet
prosperity to think of the war-drum and flaunting
flags and roaring cannon, but to do so is interesting
and the result mspiring. Passing from this historic
spot, one comes naturally to the Bay of Fundy with
its famous tidal phenomena, its shores which hold
still more famous memories of Acadian life and ex-

200

FRENCH CANADA

pulsion, its mighty promontory of Blomidon with
the stormy ocean in front and the lovely vales of
Evangeline's story and Grand Prd annals behind it:

This 18 that black bastion, based in surge.

Pregnant with agate and with amethyst.
Whose foot the tides of storied Minas scourge.

Whose top austere withdraws into its mist.
This is that ancient cape of tears and storms

Whose towering front inviolable frowns
O'er vales Evangeline and love keep warm,

Whose fame thy song,'0 tender singer, crowns.

After the conquest began the evolution of the
romantic yet sorrowful Acadian question. The
people of French extraction, during the years of
peace which followed, increased largely in numbers
and certainly did not decrease in their sentimental
loyalty towards France. Their mother-country
was steadily strengthening its position in the Gulf
of St. Lawrence with a view to the future re-conquest
of Acadia and the vast fortifications of Louisbourg
were designed by Vauban and built at great expense
on the Island of Cape Breton. That place became
the headquarters of French power and pretentions
on the Atlantic, the home of French privateers, and
the Mecca of Acadian hopes. It supplied the
Acadians with a market for their products, kept
them in touch with French sympathies and aspira-
tions and plots, and prevented their peaceful accept-
ance of British rule.
Through all these picturesque incidents and the

ACADIA

201

prolonged struggles of large interests, rival per-
sonalities and great outside Powers, Acadia had been
growing slowly in population. The early settlers
who came with Razilly in 1632 and with Charnisay
and Grand-Fontaine, at later dates, were from
Rochelle, Saintonge and Poitou on the west coast
of France; at the first census of 1671 there had been
only 441 inhabitants all told and most of these
were in Port Royal. For a hundred years this was,
indeed, the chief settlement of Acadia, but, at the
time of the expulsion of the Acadians, Minas and
Chignecto had become more populous and there
wore about 15,000 French people in the Colony.
Latterly many disbanded French soldiers had also
settled in different parts of the territory and were
grafted upon the original Acadian stoclc. Most
of the early settlers were farmers and in the valleys
and fields of Nova Scotia, particularly, they found
conditions — except for a little harsher winter — not
dissimilar to those of the marsh and dyke land of
the part of France from which they came. They
were unlike most American pioneers in not caring
to fell trees, or clear the forest, or create farms by
the usual processes of early life in French or English
America. They stayed by the sea-shore, erected
large dikes, and reaped fruitful crops.

They were a frugal people, industrious in a quiet
way, peaceful also in their characteristics, not
educated in the ordinary sense of the word, devoted
to their Church and obedient to the priests, moral
in their lives. Around them Longfellow has cast

202

FRENCH CANADA

not in this ILtet'iS^ 1 1" -^tT- Jt*."

but not reairsuMuedthtTu ''•'"' """""^"^
and small in numS« 1 1? "^ ^^ *°° ""^^
from the "nZ^rd JlTotThJ^'T"''*''''^

and the -:s:t ti^^ .^:feUi:K"^^^

affection or whateC ° w u ' "''^"'°°' ««»-

new conditio^; the hea^^nd^ ^''"".f. ""'^*'
hopes were all with thtT ^ "y^Potbies and

unnatural. '^"^ ""'""^fnces was >ot

For a part of the period between 1710 and 17-;s

ACADIA

303

to New England, to the presence of its troops and
to the aggressive assertion of its authority over the
whole Atlantic coast. Meantime New France
indirectly, insidiously and constantly asserted its
claims and expressed its hopes; the loss of Louis-
bourg was followed by the erection of Fort Beaus^-
jour on the north side of the Missequash River
(afterwards the boundary between Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick) and by the maintenance of
Fort Gaspereauon Bale Verte; the Micmac Indians
stood by the French in the main and were a further
encouragement to the Acadians under the leader-
ship of Father La Loutre, a powerful priest of much-
discussed and contradictory character.

On the other hand Colonel Lawrence, the British
Governor, found himself deaUng with a most dif-
ficult problem. There was in those days little to
give a conquered people in the way of constitu-
tional liberty and self-government; such a thine
was unheard of and not thought of in any quarter
There was always possible a new war in Europe or
fresh complications in America and the rivalry of
France and England was very real and very bitter-
the Acadians were restless and dissatisfied and might
easily become more so with probable Indian support
m case of an uprising; as time passed on French
claims from Quebec became more active and French
support to Acadian sentiment more obvious- New
England dislike of the Roman Catholic side of
Acadian hfe and of existing treaty rights was con-
stantly expressed; Halifax, after its foundation by

204

FRENCH CANADA

Comwalh. m 1749, became very quickly a power in
the Provinces and an influence with the Governor
whjch was naturally along the lines of develop
a powerful Bnt.sh Province; while the English
troops available were not enough in number to hold

ZZZ' '''' ^''' *" •"' «''^'^'' 'y ^ ^-««

Colonel Lawrence in his official letter to the
governors of the other English Colonies explained

1785 after Fort Beaus^joilr had been besieged and
captured by 2,000 troops from New England !nd
Fort Gaspereau also taken. He declared that

rennL"'"^'*.""^ ^"^ ^'^ «iv«n. « 'act reiterated
requests made for the Acadians to take the oath of
allegiance m return for the retention of their lands
and possessions; that this was unanimously refused
even >n face of the threatened alternative of expul-
sion, that If the people would take this attitude at
a time when there was a large British fleet on the
w^mT. " '*:•!! '""'^ '°'"^ '" *»>« P'°^i°«e. what
small British papulation was left unprotected by the
fleet and unguarded by the New England troops
who would have to return home. What followed

h to y although in its degree of suffering and
humihation and danger to individuals, it hardly
compares with the later and infinitely larger com^

thtuLTsS:" °' '"^'^'^^^ - "^'^^-" ^-"

i*^, .,M='-^~^.i .:#:•. i;.«# ' '*

£,

ACADIA

The total number removod wag about 6,000, of
whom 2,242 went from Minas, 1,100 from Pisiquid,
1,664 from Annapolis and 1,100 from Chigneoto!
The arrangements were made with sternness and
secrecy, the operations were carried out in the
summer season with, it would seem, a minimum of
hardship and within a few months the unfortunate
Acadians were dispersed amongst theEnglish Colonies
to the south. Every effort appears to have been
made to keep families together and to preserve the
precious lares and pcnates of the households.
Much hardship, however, was unavoidable and
many stories of individual suffering were afterwards
told; the beautiful village of Grand Pri was given
to the flames, though destined to be rebuilt in after
years, to be the home of a very few returned
Acadians and to be the birthplace and home of
Canada's Prime Minister of 1913. In succeeding
years, after the fall of Quebec and New France,
many of these people drifted back to their old
homes or to new ones built on the ruins of the old
or, in the main, to tho shores of St. Mary's Bay on
the west coa.st of Nova Scotia. Today their
descendants constitute over 150,000 of the best
most peaceful, most loyal-hearted inhabitants of a
Province of British Canada while their story lives in
literature and romance and history. The gentle
attractive, courteous character of the Acadians, the
lovely little cottages of the people, the happy
valleys and villages in which they dwelt have been
immortalized by Longfellow in an alien language

206

FRENCH CANADA

eMtwMd. '^^ ^"* "•''^""™ •«"«<*«>d to th.

"'TuX'^" "■ — • r "-'- •« ««^ without
m«^^.t h„<u o, th. ,„„„ fc^ ,^ ^^ ^^ ^_

«.hut^,« th. turbulent tide.; but .t .t.t«, ««„ .„ ,^.
"^m'ido"^.-'"'""'^ '"• - »" --« ..t wm o'„ tb.

chMtnut ' *'"' '""»•■ o' o«k and of

^"''^X'^" " ^""'"••'^ ""«' » "» «i«» of th.
'^'pXt'C "• "^" '""' "•""-'^-ow. „d ..b...
Ov«-Jb.b««».nt below. p„teeted «d .b«..d tb. door-
The„.^ti,. t,a„,„i, .„^ „, .^^^ ^^^_^ ^^^^ ^^^

'"*:l:t.^'*«' ■""'' •"" «""«' "» -„ on tb.

-.;... -p<»r:'n:;;'tb---i-ruitt sisi:

Mingled their sound with the whir of »!,. i. ■

•onge 0/ the maidena. *' *''••'» "'' **>*

ACADIA

907

SolMBiUy down th« (trnt oMno the puiih "-i«.t, ud the

ehildnn
P»UKd in their pUy to ki« the hand !..- , ,rtrrt tr „|„...

than).
Rarwend wslkcd he kmonic them; wi n, r ,, . , , ,n'. mM

nuidena,
HWiliim hi* slow approach with wor-*- r.( uiT, ,:(i.iniitu . ■horn-.
Theo came the laborers home froi" iho ti.l,' .-nl mr-icly

the lun aank
Down to hia reat, and twUigti piuvaiM. ., ,,. r ,,ni the

belfry
BoWy the Angelua sounded, and over the -oof- .f the .Man
Columna of pale blue amoke, Uke olouda of i. , ■ • jicen,;.n«
Boae from a hundred heartba, the hoaua of ueaoa and oon-

t«ntb.ent.

i I

CHAPTER XI

The SEI0NEUB8-AN Old-World Abibtocracy
IN America

Wrapped up in the schemes of Richelieu, included
m the pohcy of Louis XIV, was the establishment
around the French King's representative in America
of a landed aristocracy which would be a new buckler
to the throne m a new world. Many considerations

thought that the New France of the future would

develop along the lines of Ufe in Old France; that

the Governor or Viceroy should have for his court

the social customs and institutions of Paris and the

environment of a brilliant aristocracy which is so

essential to Monarchy; that the aristocracy thus

created or gradually evolved would, in a wav

similar to that of the feudal system in Europe,

supply a local military force from amongst the

tenants or cennlaires sufficient to be a substantial

help in mamtaining or extending royal authority;

that the system would naturally fit in with the social

conditions and class distinctions of the Old France

from which noble and officer, peasant and soldier,

would have come; that the Crown, the aristocracj^

and the Church would work together in some

measure, of harmony-perhaps all the stronger

(208)

French Canadian Fishermen

THE SEIGNEURS

209

because of distance from inherited jealousies and
difficulties at home.

The theory was a natural one, the practice did
work out with some degree of success for a time and,
had there been a continuous and organized French
policy in the way of emigration and support to the
authorities at Quebec, it might have been much
more successful. The method first adopted was to
give an unlimited grant of land in New France
to the Company of One Hundred Associates upon
terms which still left the King as actual proprietor.
The chief of the conditions exacted was the distribu-
tion of the land to those "who shall inhabit the
country"— the Seigneurs who were vassals of the
Company, the cermtaires who were vassals of the
Seigneurs. The Company remained vassals to the
King and were to render fealty and homage. Under
these conditions Robert Giffard, in 1634, became the
first Seigneur in Canada with, ultimately, four
leagues of the north shore of the St. Lawrence,
below Quebec, as his Seigneury of Beauport. Chef-
fault, the agent of the Company of New France at
Quebec, was soon after granted the Seigneury of
Beaupre, Jacques de Castillon, another shareholder
of the Company, was given the Island of Orleans,
the Duchess d'Aiguillon received the Seigneury of
Grondines and thirty acres within the banlieu of
Quebec which, however, she ceded to the Hotel
Dieu. Jean De Lauzon, afterwards Governor,
received as Seigneur a large tract on the south shore
of the St. Lawrence.

310

FRENCH CANADA

The sixty Seigneurs created between this date
and 1663, when the Company's rights were resumed
by the Crown, had to pay homage yearly to the
King's representative in the Chateau St. Louis,
and to present the Company with a piece of gold
and the whole or part of one year's rental — according
to the Coutumi de Paris. The grants were generally
two or three leagues square and had various special
clauses from time to time) but the chief items were
the preservation of oak trees on the property; the
pledge not to carry on fur trade; the disclosure to
the Crown of any mines discovered on the lands;
the settling and clearing of the Seigneuries; the
reservation to the Crown or Company of any ground
which might be needed for forts; the reservation
of necessary land for roads.

As to the censitaire, or vassal, or tenant of the
Seigneur, he had to do yearly homage and pay a
rental of one or two sous per acre and half a busbd
of oats; he had also to grind his com at the Seigneur's
mill with about one-fourteenth of the yield payable
for the service. He had to work for the Seigneur
during certain days in each year, to give him one
fish in every eleven caught, to pay in addition to the
nominal rental a small yearly tribute for each acre
held, such as a goose or pair of fowls. The Seigneur
had the additional privilege of levying the lods et
ventea or a tax of one-twelfth the amount of every
sale of property or real estate made by a tenant, and
it was this which, in after years, constituted the
chief popular objection to the system. As time

THE SEIGNEURS

311

went on there were modifications in law and practice,
but nothing was ever done under tite French rigime
to give unconditional ownership of the land to either
Seigneurs or cenntairet. The system as a whole
failed chiefly in the point of immigration; it did not
promote settlement as Richelieu and Louis XIV
both hoped it would do. It did, however, create
what the great Cardinal expected it would— a
distinctive French community or series of com-
munities with a gradation of dignities and interests,
of distinctions and duties, which bound together
the social body and the Church in a unity that
not even the eventual legal separation could destroy.
Of the first Seigneurial grants such of the French
nobiUty as had come out to the Colony and de-
sired to take up land were the natural recipients.
Amongst these were the Marquis de Vaudreuil,
whose Seigneury is now represented by the County
of that name, and who was, also. Seigneur of St.
Hyacinthe; the Sieur Boucher de Grosbois, who
was ennobled by Louis XIV and given the Sei-
gneuries of Boucherville, Montarville and Soulanges-
the Marquis de Beauhamois, who held the Sei-
gneury of that name; Claude de Ram^zay, who held
several Seigneuries in France and those of Man-
noir and Ram^zay in New France; the Baror. de
Longueuil, who was ennobled in France and given
the Seigneury of Longueuil near Montreal. The
Church was also recipient of various properties
The Jesuits were Seigneurs of Sillery, Batiscan
Notre Dame des Anges and four other properties

212

FRENCH CANADA

in the District of Quebec, they held two Seigneuriei
in the District of Three Rivers, and that of L«
Prairie near Montreal; the Sulpicians were Sei-
gneurs of the whole Island of Montreal and of the
Lake of Two Mountains; the Ursuline Nuns held
the Seigneury of Three Rivers itself.

The military forces, the officers of France and
New France, were numerous recipients of grants.
Jacques de Chambly was Seigneur of the region
around the fort bearing his name, and others of this
character or origin included Sorel, Verchires, Ber-
thier, Granville, Contr^coeur, Varennes, Rougemont,
La Valtrie, La Parade and De la Naudidre. When
the Carignan-Salli^res Regiment disbanded to a
considerable extent (1668) after a distinguished
record as wardens of the marches, or guardians of
the country bordering on Montreal, many of the
officers and men remained in Canada and the former
were given Seigneuries. Amongst other early or
original grants were the Seigneury of Portneuf to
Sieur de la Poterie, and that of Foucault to M.
Foucault. Well-known Seigneurs and families
were those of De Hepentigny, De Normanville, De
Chavigny, De St. Ours, Dc Vitr«, De Comports,
De Crevier, De la Cardonni^re, D"Artigny, De
Lanaudi^re, Louis Jolliet.

These and other names werr amongst the most
distinguished in the history and achievements of
New Fiance. Of the Seigneurs, individually, were
many who did their duty to King and country on
the battlefield while to many, perhaps, the social

THE SEIGNEURS

218

Mde of life at Quebec— after the first year* of
pioneer privation and limitation— had a special
and natural charm. Some of those mentioned did
a little m regard to colonizing their lands; others
did nothing. Of one hundred Seigneurios in exist-
ence in 1681 only sixty were mentioned in the census
of that year as having any cultivation or settlement
and the total area of land cultivated was only
24,827 arpents with a revenue averaging 1138 a
year for each Seigneur. It is, therefore, apparent
that in the early stages of the system the returns
from rental were very small and that the holders
of these large areas of land were dependent upon
other sources for their incomes— the army or navy,
or official position, or estates in France.

Some of the original Seigneurs had their land
grants cancelled for this neglect; others, such as
Le Moyne de Longueuil, Robineau de B^cancour,
Chartier de Lotbini^re, Juchereau de Maure, Fleury
d'Eschambault, Tarien de LanaudiSre, Couillard
de Beaumont, Morel de la Durantaye, Deschamps
de la Bonteillerie, Berthier de Villemure and Le
Gardeur de Tilly, were careful to clear some
portion of their domain. Cavelier de la Salle in
his Seigneury of Cataraconi placed a few set-
tlers; the notable sons of Le Moyne de Longueuil
helped to colonize his Seigneury; Hertel de La-
fremSre, Godefroy de Lintot, Leneuf de la Poterie,
spent their time in commerce; others lived on half-
pay, held judicial or official positions, or lived a
life of exploration, adventure, and war.

FRENCH CANADA

A« time pawed on and into the eighteenth century,
however, conditions changed. Settlers arrived in
larger numbers and filled the ranks of the eentitaira
and the coffers of some, at least, of the Seigneurs;
a few of the latter had built houses or chatiuux
on their estates and lived a life as near that of a
French aristocrat as pioneer conditions would per-
mit. It was at this time, also, that another process
evolved and the sons of prosperous habiiantt oc-
casionally purchased Seifrii-urial rights from the
holders of original grants or their descendants, and
assumed a position to which they were not bom
or bred. In the ranks of the Seigneurage, there-
fore, were the rich and the poor, the nobleman
and, in a limited number of cases, the peasant.
Some of the gentlemen who held these positions were
really little more than farmers on a small scale—
with long descent and designations, well-known
names and intense pride. Poverty, however, held
them in its grip; lack of surrounding settlers and
workers hampered revenues and prevented pro-
duction; they added little to the advancement of
the country in a material sense, though they helped
to keep alive the traditions of loyalty, courtesy and
honor.

There are not many rrdstmg memorials of the life
and times of the Seigneurs. Manor Houses are
scattered here and there throughout Quebec; forti-
fied windmills and other indications of bygone
construction and customs are occasionally visible
in rural villages; Seigneurial pews in old-time

THE SEIGNEURS

ais

churches remind the visitor of days when the Lord
of the Seigneury drove to church in state followed
by his eennlairet with no one daring to drive in
front or beside him. A first and most conspicuous
mansion of this feudal period was the Chateau de
Longucuil, opposite Montreal, the home of the eariy
Barons of that name and described in the ennoblinit
patent of LouIh XI V as " a fort flanked by four strone
lowers, all in stone and masonry, with a guard-
house several large buildings and a very handsome
church, all of masonry, enclosed in said Fort."
Ihe dimensions were about 210 by 170 feet and it
was erected about 1690. In 1792 the buildings were
burned down and the Manor House rebuilt on St
Helen s Island.

Over the ruins and out of the walls of the latter
home of the Le Moynes there has since been erected
the Parish Church of Longueuil. It is not hard
to imagine the war-like scenes in that old chateau,
the softer social festivities, the drinking bouts of a
time which was wild and free in that respect, the
clanking of spurs and swords and tramp of armed
men, the soft step of the black-robed priest, the
gliding through the halls of graceful ladies clad in
the beautiful garments of an olden time, even the
distant war-whoop of the Iroquois. The presence
of the sons alone, in the case of a reunion during
the days of the first Baron, would have been enough
to create a memorable scone-De Ste. lUline, the
hero of many a fight, who fell during Phips' siege
of Quebec; D'Ibervillc, who led French forces L

•••"ocofY nsounioN mi chait

(ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

I.I

121

lit ta
itt

■io

Mam
120

/■IPPLIED IM/1GE h

^ 1S5J Ent Uoin Strtat

Pj<Jf^«'. Nmt V«rk 14609 USA
C7ie) 4«2 - 0300 - Ptw«
(716) 2U-M8g~F<|),

216

FRENCH CANADA

takmg of Fort Bourbon; S, 7V"'^^ "* ^^e

«alm is said to have ha^ h^ h ^""^ '^""'"»« Mont-
-n 1759 and here, eertainJv ^u """*•"■« ^"^ « «me
W« of Quebec iorZ^l' J^' '°'''-' '^^d military

Around it game was ml" rr ^'^ ^"" P'''^
-cords of 1648 stat^at Tz'oo"?' '*"'' "-*'"»
«hot there in that year Th! V*''™'^''" '^"^
through Robert Giffard's /''\f ^■^"^"ry parsed

'»totheJuehereauandthenth"t''u ^^ »""«««
and for two hundred years tt "''"'^ay families

Canada the institution as iJf'T*'''' '» French
--der and more extensive anZ T"""^ *° *>« « >
St- Denys, Seigneur I? p^ "^ ^'<"""as de
himself in 1690 afthe siege of S?r' '"««"«"«hed
a patent of nobility; hisTo^ H^^ f ^""^ ''^ Pven
Louisiana, and t/o merbers Z''^'^''' '"^'^e i"

Kuay. The chateau was h„r T! *** Chateau-

^hit6«u St,:t«ui^, Q^^^^

I I: '

:/^.

iX:--.5ifiMt .M J

C^. .M^^

-^'^ :

THE SEIGNEURS

217

mony under which a cemiiaire named Guion on

Sed ;.'"*"• '"f "* *'"' ''°-°f '^'^ chateau and
recited these words: "Lord of Beauport, Lord "f

ftr h\^°"* °' ^"""P^'*' I render you the
fealty and homage due to you on account of my land

title deed avowing my readiness to acquit the Sei-
^eurmland feudal rents whenever they lall be due "
Of other known manor houses that of De Salaberry
was bu.lt m 1738, not very far from Beauport U
was very small and unpretentious though of solid
construction with much quaint ornaLnlaSl'
nere H R. H. the Duke of Kent was a freauent

Til "; rt":' ^'''^''"" '' S-'laberry and'here
the hero of Chateauguay was born. The De Lot-
bim^re Manor at Vaudreuil was built by M de
Lotbini^re about 1764 and stood till very recent
years where the hotel of that name now stands In
the olden days ,t was near a small river on a slight
elevation and was officially described in 1815 as
"a mile and a half from the Church"
im^l BellefeuiUe Manor House dates from about
1786 and originally belonged to the Seigneury of

hTin th' "''"'' *''^ "^ Bellefeuilles obtaLd
half ,„ the year mentioned. It represents an old
type of house with rubble walls, steep gables and a
ga lery reaching out over the road. There are vari-
ous manor houses scattered through the Province
of a more modern kind, such as Berthier, of Cuthbert
Se gneurial days, and Dautray, near Berthier
belonging to the same family; Uculle, of th oM

218

FRENCH CANADA

De Beaujeu Seigneury, sold to an Englishman named
Hoyle and built in 1826, Montebello on tl OUawlf
purchased n 1812 by the father of L. J. PapS
together with the Seigneury originally grant St^
B.shop de Laval; Pointe Platon, the home of the
late Su. Henr. Joly de Lotbiniire, who latterly ren!
resented the family to whom the Seigneury o"^^ Z
name was originally granted in 1672.

«h^,! ^k""^' f-,,'*"'^'' ^'""^ Q"**"'"' on the north
Bhore, there st.ll stands what is called the Manor

?Z: °^*''!' J»"'t«-who once owned the loc^
S.W M i"'m-- ^"'"''^''^ *° *'«' antiquarian,
.s perhaps the oldest house remaining in Canada.
Its walls are three feet thick and within them must
have rested-from time to time-most of the Tariy
martyrs of the Faith in New France. Here, in 1646,
De Montmagny held a grand council with the Indi«.

oh± ^r^y ,'^"^ """^ '"^ » solidly-bum
church, a hospital and a convent. Belmont is an

on the Ste. Foy Road about three miles from Quebec.
The present structure only dates from 1800, but it

1 vedtlT^ *'/ 'l^^f *'^ °" ^■""•^ ^ ^Wch
lived the Intendant Talon and it was in turn ac-
quired by Chief Justice William Gregory, General
James Murray, Governor of Quebec,*thT Ca d^S

S "'^°. t" '•'''' *"' ^^''^•""y °f Lauzon, the
Irvines and others. Not far away stood Hoi and

IS bu.lt. It dated from 1740 and was erected by

THE SEIGNEURS ' jjq

Jean TacW, who married Mile, dc MwKan irr«nH
daughter of the Seigneur Louis JoUiet he^cSr'
of the sources of the Mississippi M TAP^J „

lonl^*^ f-T ^"^•^O' "« the '"ins of wha" ht
Jong been called the Chateau Bigot, or Beaumano^
The gloomy old walls have been th; theme oTmuTh
tradition and many stories, but modem res^Ir^h

walls, deep cellars and vaulted underground apart-

irirfi '° '"""'°* "^«°'' -^ -* *^«

wefe'^urfl^' ^°"'' f".*'"' ^"''""^ °* Montreal, there

Regiment, who, however, sold it to Jacques LeBer
a wealthy resident of Ville Marie. It wLattacted
by the Iroquois on several occasions and rebuUt

thicT:red'*°?;± T- '''"' °"^ ^''°-' -"ht
BtvU t,^ fortifications, was maintained in a
style o feudal splendor by the family of iTBer de
Semievxlle up to the changes of 1759 and afterwards
passed into the hands of the De Montig^y famS

days. The Manor House of Saint Jean VnU r„i
near Quebec was built upon thfruirof tt"^ ^'
burned by the British tr^s 2^753°!;^ tt Set

iS: .*" m

330

FRENCH CANADA

gneunr there held by the famous novelist, P. A. de

i^'m/^n o"* *"'"'''' *° A"*""* ''« '» Chenaye

OuiJ, *^™"'' ^''''"''' *''''*y^« '»"«' below

Quebec, are some crumbling ruins of the Manoir
once erected and lived in by Pierre de pC

^Zr'u" ''""''l'^- ^'••' "'^ Manoir of Del:
chambault was until recently, and perhaps now to

rts first Seigneurs were important personages in the
early days of British rule.

The life of the morfe prosperous and powerful
or important, Seigneurs-the real repres^ratVves
of feudalmm, and members of the aristocracy wWch
It was hoped to establish permanently in New

Brillmnt were the scenes at the old Chateau St
Loms, m which they shared and in which many
were conspicuous figures. They were scenes replete
^th vivid contrasts, bright with varied colors, dark
with gnm possibilities, or actual facts, of war and
massacre, interesting with an ever-changing series
o stones relating to Indian life, exploratioL and

fur7rar'fii;"f*'°ri ^*' '^' excitements of the
fur trade, filled with events in the opening of a vast
continent. Society in the fi«t century of C
trance, whatever its privations and limitations,
could never have been dull; in the second centurji
there was more comfort and luxury but quite ^
much peril and excitement and change. In the
great hall of the Chateau St. Louis, with its lofty
carved ceiling, its polished pillars and panels of

,jrr^ -saRi

THE SEIONEURfl 33,

wainscoating, it. historical pictun. anu delio...
arab^que.. the Seigneur, had ?o attend at Wol

lilie. ofP,L ^u . *^ Stamped with the golden
Knl? ^""'"'' »•«"' horaose an,l oath ^f allerianee

h gh po..t.on, though unfortunately he did no?
always realue that he also had high responsSitfe^

were much the same m city and country. G..ie»v
was an essential quality of the French gen«;man^"d
h^ wife hospitality was of the openrhandTd ch^r

Fr^n'o. K^ """^^ '""^ greater chateaux of OM
France before the Revolution. The lonJ^ l„i

stone-built structures had more room tian 'm 2

be supposed; their thick walls, as illustrated in fJe

st.ll existmg Chateau de Ram^zay, produced an

irom cold, the huge fire-places and ovens and solid
coohng utensils were constantly in v " In £?

wills of a°Z ""''," '"'""' "-- -'h"n the

7h7lnL "*^^ enclosure, stood the stone mill for

the Aato' grain with also a fortified windmi 1.

As to customs, the Seigneur and his family break-

nner ""i' ° "'°'"' °° '""'' ^"^^^ ^'"^ '"'d coffee-

nC r ."""^ '"'' ^"PP" '' =«^«° - the eve-'
mng. Decanters were much in evidence; brandy
and cordials were frequently drunk. The ideboard

fi '

223

FRENCH CANADA

waB laden with quantities of anceatral diver and
china. A feature of dinner at certain aeasona wai
a huge paaty served on a great tray covered with
a naplcin— one described by De Oasp^ contained a
turkey, two chickens, two partridges, two pigeons,
portions of two rabbits, slices of fat pork, two hbms
seasoned with onions, and the whole flavored with
the finest of spices. A curious custom at meals
was that of the guests carrying their own knives;
the things provided by the host being a napkin,
plate, silver goblet, forjc and spoon. The furniture
of the house, generally, was that of the higher-class
mansions of France— though its style at any given
time or pluce might be somewhat antiquated.
Cards were a favorite amusement, with sleighing
and skating and snow-shoeing in winter; hunting
and fishing and shooting were the sports in summer
with driving in carioles or caliches. Dancing was
at times frowned upon by the Church, though at
other times it was permitted with strict limitations.
The Seigneurs and officers and officials and, of course,
the ladies liked to dress well; conversation at social
functions was gay and witty.

The entertainments at the Chateau St. Louis or
the Intendant's Palace at Quebec, in the neighboring
Chateaux towards Montmorenci and Beauport or
along the Ste. Foy Road, at Longueuil or in the
Chateau de Ramdzay, Montreal, must have been
both brilliant and interesting. It is not hard to
picture such a salon as that of Mde. de Ram^zay,
for instance, in days when her husband was Governor

THE SEIONEURS 223

Of the lightnw. snd brightncM of the court wit
. f..r .hare of the military „„.| official if" whT h

Pan»«o memorable, were tranHpl«„ted hero to the

»uen a> the Compte««e do Frontenac, refused to a,-
oompany their husbands to New France, the major-

h, n ■" P^'' 'r"' *''" •'•"'"» »' "'"' presence to
the pioneer life of the New World

How atrange it mu«t have seemed to a wandering
-avage who, in time, of peace, might seeThe iLht!

tT^fn^h^ ' °' '^"""^^ *'"' '^''y •'""'ohes of fores?
trees in the summer time, and illuminating, within

SiHiS-^^C^'errthT?' f °' .''''"*-*
other centuHerZ rerSe^irtrSnict
an que furniture of a dining-room or the crowded
walls and stately furnishings of a drawinrrim
her re , utters of daintf wom:„ aL SsTn

iLd nat h rV"'"''''' •" **"> '•'8'' •>««'«. "'"paint
M.d patches, the tresses d la Pompadour of he period
there were men dressed in the flowing locks and the
gorgeous colors aud garb of a time wheVpontaini lu
or the TuJene. led the social world. To ee the
Btately and yet lowly bows of men and women
to watch the courtesies and manners of an agToi
chivalry, to listen, perhaps, for a moment" on one
of these outposts of savagery, in a vast w Iderne"

FRENCH CANADA

and amid lonely forests, to the accents of cultured
Paris, must have been an unique experience.

O, fair young land of La Nouvelle France,
With thy halo of olden-time romance,
Back like a half-forgotten dream
Come the bygone days of thi old rtfime.

Such in brief and hasty outline was the evolution
and character of this interesting institution — akin
to the Dutch aristocracy of New York or the English
aristocracy of Maryland, though with points of
difference eo marked as to show little affinity in com-
parison to the divergence. The class development
of life in New France was deliberate, constitutional
and constructive; the object was clear and in many
respects wise when the character of the French
people is taken into account; the forms and fashions
and ceremonies were suited to the society of the
period and to the customs of the men who had to
govern in these far-away regions. The system,
also, was fully organized by legal enactments and
the CoiUumi de Paris controlled regulations in
the main. Military service was not a condition
technically, but, practically, the working out of the
plan constituted the Seigneur and his tenants as
parts of the militia — the former, or members of his
family, being the officers. The Church was associ-
ated with the system through the parishes h?ing
usually coterminous with the Seigneuries. The
Seigneurs were often called to the Supreme Council
and they could administer justice at pleasure, though

II i

THE SEIGNEURS 226

gentlen^an and an alto" Jt ^t "^

of Des Wets was erected Intn ' Se.gneury

became afterwards Cnlf Tr? " ^^'""y ^"^ •>«

number of noble f«m:i: ^ * certam

established i„°S;Frnt^ ^brLeT'^ T!,'
several branches Anrf a . "^ f^ Gardeurs had

Courcelle, My d flSvaisX n "~''*'"°"«"^'

It^irSavr' '''' "''''" " *'«'"-'lous change.

e.egXo%aertL"„br „r; '°™' *^ *'«
trigues and counteSbtrigut o^thaT*' *''. '°-

matter; the trouble rlmoT * '^"'* '» **>e

^^ , trouble came from outside officials ap-

226

FRENCH CANADA

pointed by the French authorities without due care
or knowledge. New France was sound in the rural
districts, but the canker of corruption, which at
times affects aristocracies and democracies alike,
had eaten mto life of every kind, and debilitated
character as well as conduct, at the seat of govern-
ment. With the Cession many of the Seigneurial
names disappear from Canadian history and the
owners of large Seigneuries, such as those of Lon-
gueuil, Lauzon, Ten'ebonne, Foucoult, La Prairie,
Le Chenaye, Beloeil, etc., left to live in France.

Naturally loyal to monarchical institutions and
hating vigorously the growing republicanism of the
people to the south, the remaining Seigneurs seem
to have taken the change of allegiance in a good-
humored way when once the century-long war was
settled. They had fought to the best of their
ability against England; with the issue decided
they accepted the situation with typical cheerfulness
and Mnj froid. In 1776 and 1812 they were, as
a rule, loyal to the new order of things and helpful
in many ways to the British rulers; and in this they
were hand in hand with the priests. They settled
on their properties and prospered with the gradual
growth of the country. Many changes of family
and ownership naturally took place, but in 1842
there were French Canadian Seigneiu^ of Varennes,
St. George, Ste. Th&6se and de Blainville, Lasalle,
St. Eustacne, Verch^res, De La Gauchetidre, St.
Charles, Soulanges, St. Mm6, St. Paul, St. Ours,
Terrebonne, St. Hillaire et de Rouville and St.

THE SEIGNEURS 227

Hyacinthe Old families such as Baby, Dumont
DeUry, JoUiet, Duchesnay, Hertel, mZ„
Papmeau were still represented and there wryet
some of the spint surviving of the old lines:

Happy is he who in a country life '
S*un8 more perplexing toil and jairing life,
Who Uves upon the natal soil he loves
And sits beneath his old ancestral groves.

DlJ.y°'n "^"'*' !T'^""' " '^'"^ '^1^^ »«'d taken
place. During the years following the Cession
sundry old French Seigneuries had' been ^Z
to or purchased by, various British officers and
gentlemen, from time to time. Hector T. Cramah*
(a Swiss by birth). Sir T. Mills, Maj^r sZtt
Holland, Captains Naime and Fraser, H W Rv
land and many more were amongst them; so' that
by the imddle of the nineteenth century many of
the old Seigneuries of New France were hardly
^ogmzable under such mimes as Yule of Chambly,
Ellis of Beauhamois, Christie of LacoUe, De Bleurv
of Repentigny Johnson of Argentueuil, Hamilton

fin«?\ ^^' !f'^u'''° "^ ^'^"''- Then came the
fiaal change and abolition of the institution brought
about by one who was himself a Seigneur.

The holders of the Seigneuries no longer held or
exercised any power outside of certain legal claims
upon their tenants which the latter had come to
consider burdensome; they neglected very often
their duty aa to the saie and grant of lands and
promotion of settlement; the day labor enforced

228

FRENCH CANADA

upon the nngitaire or habitant upon certain occasions
was greatly disliked; their assumed rights of pre-
emption, and their taxes upon transfers of land,
checked conveyance and were very unpopular.
These, however, were only surface reasons for the
abolition of the Seigncurial Tenure system which
was brought about in the United Legislature of
Upper and Lower Canada in 1854 by the Hon.
L. T. Drummond. Back of the movement and of
the expressed discontent was the feeling which is
so easily aroused in democracies that the land
occupied by the habitant or peasant should be his
land and that the immemorial rights of the landlord
were, or are, tyrannous and unjust. It is probable
that this sentiment would never have come to a
head if (1) the Seigneurs themselves had not so
greatly changed, if (2) the politics of the Province
had not been so closely associated with the democ-
racy of Upper Canada or Ontario.

As to the first point many of the Seigneurs were
now of the dominant English race and associated
in the public mind of the habitants with their strug-
gles for self-government and the bitter memories
of 1830-40. They could not, even when personally
popular, be any actual strength to the system itself
and the carrying out of any feudal practices in their
connection would naturally le-^k the sympathetic
feeling which lay behind the relations of the old-
time French Lord of the Manor and his censitaires.
Where the Seimeur, in other localities, had himself
risen from the habitant class the objection would

THE SEIGNEURS

229

be diffarent but equally obvious. It is rarely
indeed, that a man likes one of his equals in labo^
and position to rise above him and to expect from
him the courtesies and duties willingly accorded to
the gentleman with traditions of class and personal
distinction. A further difficulty was the division
of the Seigneuries amongst different personages and
the consequent weakening of family wealth and
associations As to the political aspect it is abund-
antly clear that no aristocratic institution in Quebec
or elsewhere on this continent, couid expect to live
after it had once ceased to be popular with the
people concerned. The grievances were not great
m this case and those that did exist were grossly
exaggerated; but the system and the Seigneurs had
lost touch with the people and the end was certain
It was hastened by the help of the Ontario democracy
m a common Legislature— a democracy which would
in those days have also deprived the Church of
* rench Canada of many privileges if it had possessed
the power.

With the passing of the Seigneurial system there
closed a page of history which possesses great
interest to the lover of the picturesque or to the
imaginative mind and intellect. It was an experi-
ment which might have lasted had New France
lived and become purified of its corruptions-a con-
dition always remediable when strong men come
to the front and one which Montcalm, himself,
would have overcome had he been given a free
hand from France. Even under British rule, had

230

FRENCH CANADA

the Seigneurs remained French, held their properties
intact, done their full duty to the people, and lived
in close association with their own race, the insti-
tution might have lasted indefinitely. Given these
conditions, no democracy, however near and politic-
ally insistent, could have destroyed the fabric which
Richelieu created and Louis the Great had aided;
which lends a charm to many pages of French
annals in America; , which produced many able
men and, in a most substantial but indirect way,
established culture and courtesy as strong char-
acteristics of the educated French Canadian of
today.

CHAPTER XII

Lira, Customs and Envibonmbnt op this
Habitant

To the people of the United States and even to
m„y of the people of Canada the Aa6^W o!
Quebec .8 something picturesque and peculiar
something one speaks of as a problem, somett ng
extraneous to the continent in which he dweHs
There m no doubt about the French Canrdtn
being a picturesque figure in this commerciarru h"
mg. money-getting age; as to the rest it is a po nt
of view, a matter perchance of prejudice, or even
o Ignorance In truth the habitari is v^ry much

tion and its best interests, very much a pioneer in
the histoiy of the continent. His viUages a e

to those V° '^' "^'^ •'*"""'«« '"^^y «- <«fferen
to those found anywhere else in America; his life
and customs are of interest because he has preserved

the peop e, of whatever race or language have
more or less departed from traditions^aT'di
something which is labeled progress

Everywhere throughout modern Quebec-perhaos
the phrase is a contradiction in terms-are Ses
nestling at the foot of some slight elevatbn or
(231)

232

FRENCH CANADA

tjny rivulet bea Jag theZLTr '^f '"'"'« '»"«'
clustered around the ^1]^ J ".^'"°°"» """t;
built along the sides nff ." P"'*'' church, or

country-ro'ad wUh ti7»« -i-ding -d beaut'if J

cultivable land behi^- • * ""^ ""'« siips of

"horesofan^yriadS; rr"*^ "'"'" "P°" the
°>ay be, with quaint therT^'r"" "« t'"" <"^
quota of interest to SS X V "*l '"''''°« ""-'
/laton/. Th'ere, every^hete 7 ^'°'' °' *>>«
v'l^ge is the church Yutht f ^''^'' *" *<>«
■ and hope of the people tL "f**"" "^ t''* We

»d funerals and re£!« /Tl"^ *''^"' '^«<lding«
tbeir traditions and Sts f'^*'"' ^''^ "<"»« ^
place near which in . . "'' associations, the
«e the re^at^ranSr'^^^l-^^-us'uJlt
Primeval ages of CanadTH^r*, '"'"'' '■°*° ^'•e
one of them, marked by a W m 1' '"'*'"""'' «
ample inscription: "JeanB«nr! J*"^ "°^' « the
21 Janvier, 1809, agf^Q Tn^ ,' "T"""^' ''^"^•^
father, great-graidJather Tv h '^'''"''' «">»"-
graveyard to carry the visitor h I' •"' *'''' ««»«
days when Ontario wLT^L '^ '° """e to the
village. New Organs a Pr '"^'•'™««. New York a

Ar-^und the church WS ' T* '" '""^ 'o^^*-
or. perhaps, a newer TnS °'''' '""'' "^o^e walls
structure, nestles The ^LTV^^^ '"°<'«"'

• .^...'IWi":.-iP

it M^FM MW . ■"^■'"taaii •

wabitant'^oman

Weaving Home:

spun Cloth

V 111 ittel

*- a-.

■**iM''-y,.i

i^^^wmrA

lRf':l|

THE HABITANT 333

blind, of «,me vivid .h.de-hue. to ,uit the owner',
tutea. There are the home* of the vill««. ZZ.

th.T(.^t r " *'" ^°'^' »' the doctor tTough

234

FRENCH CANADA

to know about their families, he feasts with them at
baptisms, betrothals and weddings, he looks after
them m times of want or trouble, he helps their
young people with sage advice which may not be
always followed but which is none the less useful,
he watches over those who leave the home and'
then transfers his care to some other and perhaps
far-away parish priest.

A word may be said as to the general situation
m this respect apart from association of the Church
with the racial elenient in the habitant mind and
traditions. There is no doubt that the warmth and
color, the ceremonial and the forms of Roman
Catholicism appeal to him. If profound belief in
the supernatural means superstition, there can be no
question that the French Canadian is superstitious.
He peoples the earth and air, the rivers and the
forests with stories of a ghostly nature and religious
character. The saints arc very real to him, and his
Calvaires and wayside crosses embody ideas of
genuine devotion, which, however, do not affect
his light-hearted view of life and Treedom from
serious thought. Why should he worry when an
all-powerful Church can take care of his future if
he lives the right life and regrets any sins he may
happen to commit? When he celebrates the F«te
of St. Jean Baptiste he does it with all his soul,
and not even in countries close to the Papal Throne
can processions more picturesque be seen than
Montreal and Quebec will produce on such occasions.
Cars with figures emblematic of saints and of great

THE HABITANT

235

events in the life of the Church precede long lines
of cheerful habitantt doing their duty, paying their
homage, to the patron saint of New France So with
the Ffite de Dieu, when the Host is carried through
crowded streets with thousands of devout believers
on bended knees, and ecclesiastics and priests in
brilliant or black robes, as the case may be, -.on-
tnbutmg their quota to the stately character of
the procession. Everywhere in Quebec, in French
parishes outside of Quebec, as in all Catholic com-
mumtics, the First Communion of the children is a
picturesque and pretty incident. Crowds of little
girls and boys— the former in white frocks and caps
and gloves and veils— march through the streets
and up the aisles of their churches, with the proud
parents looking on and all feeling i. to be a most
important moment in the lives of the little ones.

Around the habitant in every direction are names
of villages, churches, parishes, counties, even munic-
ipal divisions, bearing the association of some saint
of his Church. There are neariy fifty villages or
towns called after Ste. Anne alone— of which Str
Anne de Beaupr^, de la Pocati^re, de la Parade,
de Bellevue may be mentioned. Every place or
settlement has, however, a patron saint, and it is
obviously easy for some commonplace or unpopular
name to drop out of use and the name of the local
samt substituted or perhaps combined, as in St.
Andr«-de-Restigouche. This latter action is quite
a common one, and many small places are burdened
with long hyphenated names, while others, it may be

236

FRENCH CANADA

said in passing, have a most incongruous sound as
Ste. Lucie-de-DisraeU or St. Jean-Baptiste-de-Sher-
brooke.

The homes of the habitant vary a little, of course
m detail, but in broad general outline they have
retained the characteristics of two centunes ago
There was a period when local conditions of war
and penl and tiny settlements— branching out from
a center like Quebec or Montreal, or creeping close
up to the fortified residence of a Seigneur— made
some differences in the habits and customs of the
peasants or censitaires, but it was not a radical or
permanent divergence from their old homes in an
old France which has now passed away. The
essentials they preserved and crystallized in the
forests and pioneer wilderness of the New France
which their rulers and soldiers were trying to estab-
lish. The leaders of those days have passed away
and the., dreams have gone with them into the
clouds, but the simple habitants, of whom they
thought httle except as useful fighters and farmers
have preserved in the heart of an alien continent
the home, family and religious life of rural France
m the days of Louis le Grand.

Usually, the houses have three rooms on the
ground floor with a loft reached in old days by a
ladder and more recently by a curving stairway;
or, perhaps, the more modem and prosperous home
may have two or three rooms on the ground floor
and two or three on the upper. The outside door
opens into the living-room and kitchen of which

THE HABITANT

237

m pioneer times the bare ground would be covered
with sawdust as a floor but in the past century
or so by wooden floors of scrupulous cleanness.
Ihe great fireplace of the past still exists as a rule
with Its lar; kettle of soup hanging upon an iron
crane and simmering over the fire of logs, but with
It very often there is now a modern stove; outside
m the older villages may be seen the oven in which
the habitant cooked his food and, at times, still
<lo«» so. These curious ovens of the past were
built of wicker work and plastered inside and out
with a thick coating of clay or mortar; they were
raised four feet from the ground and covered over
with a roof of boards. In the better houses the
imng-room and kitchen are sometimes separated
and the floor of the former is covered by home-
made rag carpets or small rugs of vivid hues. Around
the walls are. highly colored pictures of St. Ignatius
of Loyola, of the musical St. Cecilia, of the youthful
and beautiful St. Catherine of Hungary and, per-
chance, of the late Pio Nona or, in fewer instances,
of the reigning Pontiff or the British King High
on the wall, in some place of honor, hangs a crucifix
nearby perhaps are images of a guardian saint and
others, or of the Virgin Mary, and not far away
hangs the chapelet or beads of the housewife--
perhaps one brought from Rome by a son of the
house who was once a Pontifical zouave and obtained
for It the blessing of the Pope in person.

In a corner or niche of the wall there is, perhaps
a statuette of the great Napoleon or, in sea-board

238

FRENCH CANADA

parishes, of a sailor; sometimes there is a plaster
cast of a parrot or some domestic fowl; at other
times there is a wax figure of some special family
interest — the face or hand or even the finger, kept
in a glass case, of some departed loved one. On a
table there may be a cherished family album— a
rather modem product however — with pictures in
strict gradation of the Pope and the local Cur^, and of
any member of the family who may- have taken
Holy Orders; the^, possibly, the Governor General
of the day or some notable of local attraction, and
after that the family circle. There stands also the
bottle of holy water brought from the church on
the Holy Saturday before Easter, and elsewhere is
sure to be seen the old eight-day clock reaching to
the ceiling and having a bell whose clear metallic
tinkle is said to be an art lost to modem clock-
making.

Somewhere on the wall there may hang the long
shot-gun used by the habitant for ducks and wild
geese and for the occasional bear or caribou when
he goes upon some special and notable trip. In
much of the Province game abounds — wild fowl
in the woods and along the rivers and streams and
on the borders of countless lakes; fish everywhere
and of many species; moose and caribou and red
deer in Pontiac, on the shores of Lake Temisca-
mingue, in the forests of the Lake St. John and
Lake Edward country, in Temiscouta and the
Lake Megantic region, up through the Ottawa
River country where for months a canoe can carry

THE HABITANT 239

OueW r^i Laurentides, a few hours from

Quebec City, are hundreds of lakes and various
riven, teemmg with fish and such is the c^e for ou
hundred m.les up the St. Maurice. Around Quebec
also are to be found immense game reserves, and the
lucky k-AUant of Beauport or St. Anne, oi of any
village ,01 a hundred miles below Queb;c has not
only an excellent soil to cultivate the exquisite
air and scenery associated with th^ sweep of the

game'^n ^fi "' T^'^ '"* quantitie^of wild
game and o fish and fowl of every kind. The
modem hahtant, like the old-time settler and
voyageur and hunter, loves the sport of the woods

ffi^ life of the Hunter! He meets on the hill

I^H ?1T .r'', '''^"«^' "" ''"«''* ""d "o 'till
And feels a< the clouds of the morning unroU

The sUence, the splendor, ennoble his soul,
^fh ^*J "•.«"<»>■""■« to stalk like a ghost
Enshrouded with mow in which nature is fS.

To return to the home of the habitant. The
housewife of today may still be seen sitting in a

nfcbtht" *"™"* *'^ ^"'""'"^ "■•-' -^'mak!
mg clothes, or rugs, or counterpanes, of wonderful
strength and durability and comeliness, luieS
daughter perhaps is seated on a box 7 tru^
actively engaged at her loom and humming a soj

eUs of home-made linen in a day's work. The

240

FRENCH CANADA

dress of the housewife is simple — a mantelet of
calico, a blue skirt of homespun, a neat white cap
called the caline. The picturesque dress of the
kcAitant himself used to consist of a long-skirted
cloth frock or coat tied around the waist by a red
worsted scarf with crude trousers and, in winter,
moccasins and the bonnet rouge — a sort of loose,
warm, red nightcap. Time has modified this garb
somewhat, though it is still to be seen aid both men
and women, upon festive occasions, revel in colors.

The old-time food of the people has not greatly
changed. Fat pork is still the staple diet, pea soup,
puddings or sausages made of blood and the entrails
of hogs are great favorites, vegetables and fish
constitute the diet during Lent. The habitant is
fond of thick, sour milk. Thanks to the efforts of
the Church, he is, generally speaking, sober and
t-imperate, but in the old days there was a good deal
of drinking indulged in by hahUanta as well as by
Seigneurs, and the travelers of a hundred years
ago describe this condition freely, though perhaps
unfairly, because they would see, in the main, only
the indulgence of special occasions at the market
places or in the larger communities.

The houses are usually to be found at or near the
end of a long, narrow strip of land leading down
to a river, a roadway, a lake or some place of special
interest or value in the life or work of the habitant.
Originally this was useful for purposes of defence,
as the houses were then brought close together into
a little village or community into which a church

THE HABITANT 241

with these strips of farmin "• ^^^ t^'^dency

become more a^d m "r*f °' *"^"« '"»'* " *°

village AM.'/a„rwm ciear^I." '"«^ "*^ ^''^
hundred dollars a veL T ^^-^^ ^ """P'^ of
or farm l-^dlLt/J'^J^Zn ''''^ "'* °' «"'l™
In his house of our or fitT "' ^T" """P^^-
two families-a Znl 1/?°°" ^''"^ "« *'"«"'
to. wife and children '"°« "* ^'"^^ '^tb

-StTl?* Z±t?r *^" *° «"- --i

The more there are tSenrV'''"*^-^^^ "l^'d^n.

are the parenL 1, ." f f.""^ """'^ ^''t'^fi^d

the Privrtio.^ taeStTbl ° " *'"'^°' P°^«^y °'

with many mou;hstt,.\loui:''' '^ ''°''
matter you mav mrh ' u '^^ ""'"""^ ^''O"* 'he

numerorthe fTmirth' ^'/"''^ *'"'* ^''^ ""O'e
willing worJrLmeT rrm' Vr^ °^ '
encourages this view of liZ JT^' ''^ *^''""''
domesticity of the Tverlil 7 ;^"*'"'' *•>« '"^t^ral
kindly relations btwie'lhemlf ''"^ '*' ^''^
and the mutual obi Itl A t?''"'' °' "^ ^'''"^'y
religion estabUsh H as ^^f^ft r' ''^°''""* "^
The Government even ZZITT '° Q^^bec.
time a free erant J?" ,«'"=0"rage8 it and at one

of a specmedTumbe ^o/c^d '"'"^t ^^^'^ ^»*'^-
the race do not7eem t b« u ?' '»°*'"«" "^

responsibilities, and a few vT ^^T'* ''^ "><=''
~TiCrr-r " <» f'w years ago* Sir Lomer

«|!

242

FRENCH CANADA

Gouin, Premier of Quebec, paid them a tribute
wliich is not too highly colored: "Despite the cares
and responsibilities of muternity, there are few more
active, more helpful and more light-hearted com-
panions than the habitant wife and mother. How
attractive she is those of you who have traveled in
the Province of Quebec do not need to Ije told.
How good she is time would fail me to tell. Usually
of robust constitution, strong in the religious faith
that sustains hei; firm in her sense of duty; domes-
tic, frugal and industrious; a devoted wife and
indulgent mother, she appears to be a combination
of all the virtues."

It may be regretted that the women are allowed
at times to do field or garden work, but it certainly
makes the girls strong and healthy — though it may
not improve the prettiness which they usually have
as children. There is, however, plenty to do in the
home and no doubt the condition rights itself.
Socks and mitts are made by the mother or her
girls; mats and rugs and white or colored rag-
carpets are still the product of looms in many a
home; coarse linen table-covers, curtains and bed-
spreads are made from flax which has been soaked
and beaten into fibrous matter fitted for the spin-
ning wheel. Straw hats, glove&, candles and even
soap are madti by the women. The wedding dot of
the girl is often made by the accumulated results
of years of such patient and pleasant labor. Some-
times the men work at home aud they are very
handy — making in the more remote villages prac-

THE HABITANT

W *"''^''""' *'"'* '" '"'"^''' '" »' """"d the

k„?i r^"™ *«'*'"''*"«' methods the habitant
knows h tie and cares less. His personal prideh^
el -sa^,s acfon, his kind of happy coneeitThim
self are clearly marked characteristics. Why shouTd
he learn from those who have never had what he
cons-ders his advantages, his privileges? He d^!
hked and practically abolished the use of the wo^
cenntane because, whatever his relations to £

a vassal he chose the word halntant because it
meant that he was the free inhabitant of S^ew
country; he revelled in and still greatly en ovs^hT

ness, the thmgs that only a rural existence where
spaces are vast, rivers and lakes numerous Jand and
forests reasonably clear of civilization, ckn afford
Se Z «°.'"'>^"*«'d, inborn, inbred belief that hi
hfe and rehgion are the greatest, the oldest and the

from the land of Napoleon and from a people who
whatever their faults of recent years, were once he
considers, the greatest nation in the worid Why
herefore, should he change the customs of S

ahn ,f f"%'^'"'^°''' f'«'l"«"«y declines to bother
about fertilizing or rotation of crops

The habitant raises horses whenever possible and
httle farm keep him and his family; sometioies

244

FRENCH CANADA

they enable him to educate a son for the proud
poeition of a priest or, perhaps, of an avocat. He is
very proud of bis land, and of his little property,
and is devoted to the soil of Canada in a upirit
which no other class of people on the American
continent can share or perhaps even understand.
In many cases farms are still held by families in
direct line and descent from the cenntairet to whom
they were first granted in the early days of New
France. A Committee at Quebec in 1908, under
instructions from the Government, investigated a
number of cases and awarded medals to 270 families
which claimed that they still lived in family home-
steads built or acquired by their ancestors from two
hundred to *wo hundred and fifty years before.
Hence, in part, the fact that from the days
of the Seigneurs to the present time the habi-
tarU't manners have been and are courteotu;
an independent, open-air life has developed an
appreciation of the fact that courage and courtesy go
tot her as do internal servility and external rude-
ness. He has faith in his God, faith in himself,
faith in his past and his future. Who shall blame
him if that faith now and then takes the form of
the Scotchman's "unco gude" opinion of himself and
leads him to fight clear of modern change and
so-called improvement even when it promises to
give him a few more potatoes to the acre, a few
more turnips in his cellar, a little more produce for
the market. He has contentment enough to be
indifferent to the statement and philosophy enough

THE HABITANT

345

'? f^l** '*: ^^ * "'■"" °' '""» the cen.u» figure
of 1901 and 1911 show that farm building, In th^
I'rovmceincrea.ed from I102,000,000tol218 000 000
or ovor 100 per cent; while the value of farm' im-
plemente roae from 127,000,000 to 154,000,000

The most common cnticiHm by a ea«ual visitor to
Quebec is probably one dealing with this question
of the somewhat archaic methods of agriculture. '
It would possibly interest such a person if he were
able to delve more deeply into matters and see how
really mtelhgent and quick, how versatile in many
ways, the haintant is. He often manufactures his
own wagon and harness; in days when the sheep
industry was prosperous he or his wife made their
homespun clothes; he often makes his own boots
and, amongst the chief industries of the Province-
replacing the humble, wandering shoemakers and
cobblers of early days who worked on a bench out-
side the Mni-s door-are the large factories
employing the young French Canadian at perhaps
twenty dollars a week to make boots and shoes.
He IS naturally clever as a craftsman. Thouah
modern industry and commerce are making a dif-
ference the haintant can still make many articles
of home consumption; in days not yet altogether
fT' TZ ""'* e^a-'dsons and great-grandsons
foIWed the same craft. In carpentry he excels
and as a cabinetmaker he was always a clever
copyist-undertaking even Chippendale furniture,
excelling in ceiling and wall woodwork, in carving
statues and m wood sculpture generally.

346

FRENCH CANADA

In hii winter workshop, which it often the family
living-room, many a habilant malcea things in a
casual way which an Ontario worlcman would con-
sider amasing. He creates bitHkeU out of pieces of
white ash, makes wooden horses from bits of spruce,
manufactures quite a good kind of chair from birch
wood, with rush or thong bottoms, builds comer
cupboards of excellent style, even makes four-poster
bedsteads for his family. At one time the habitatU
was good at iron work, and even now in Quebec
there are to be found occasional brass, metal, and
silver workers. The bookbinders of that city do
beautiful work in both design and hand-tooling
and it is hardly an accident that the young French
Canadian is so much in demand in the factories of
New England.

The habitant and his family love amusement,
gaiety and the simple pleasures of rural life, in
communities where everybody knows everybody
and has done so through many generations. Even
here, however, there are gradations, and subtle
differences exist as between the habitant't daughter,
for instance, and the mechanic's son. They may be
overcome if the former is gracious and the latter
prosperous, but they are none the less existent.
Men, women and children alike love good stories,
are fond of singing and dancing, are fluent talkers
with a real love for their own voices, and revel in
the music given by a violin, which is often made at
home but which suffices for such dancing as may be
permitted by the Curi under very strict surveillance.

THE HABITANT

The men and boy» imoke conatantly, too much
indeed, and they learn very young-the tobacco
being grown m the home garden. Reading i. not
conaidcred an amuacment and religiou. books are
the only onea really common to halnlant houK,-
holds.

OccBuions for social festivity are many; distance
IS immaterial, as a horse and sleigh, or some other
vehicle, are the property of every habitant A
drive of twenty-five miles over snow-deep roads or
throufch summer scenes is thought nothing of to
share a hospitable feast, to pay a h'-^ ±y visit to
attend a religious festival or a holiday celebration.
Winter was and is the great social season of the
hahilant,. Between Christmas an-t Ash Wednesday
they pay frequent "surprise' vimts in la ge parties
to each other's homes and feast gaily upon bound-
less supplies of cooked meats and pies prepared for
the occasion. What dancing and music, songs and
.aughter, chatter and story-telling, kissing games
a^d flinations, these merry-makings evoke! In
the old days of New France, and even of Quebec up
to modem times, in some localities, the great frolics
of the year were in connection with the making of
maple syrup at the close of Lent and the celebration
of May Day. Immense cauldrons of sap were hung
on poles over fires and around these young men and
maidens, old men and young children gathered and
sang or danced to welcome the coming of happy
spring, to speed the going of the cold, yet cheerful
winter. '

248

FRENCH CANADA

The May Day celebration was largely associated
with the old Seigneurial system and was a part of
the joyous social life in which the lord of the manor
shared as of right. The May pole, a tall fir tree
stripped of Its bark, was usually erected in the
beigneur's farm-yard and thither went every one in
the neighborhood who could walk or drive- blank
musket shots were fired at the tree trunk until it
was black with powder; then the doors of the
manor house were thrown open and the haUtants
feasted at tables groaning with game and meats, pies
and cakes, white whiskey and tobacco; quaint
stories and homely wit and jokes sped the day; the
beigneur passing from table to table talking and jok-
ing with his guests. Amongst other old customs now
falling into desuetude was the IgnoUe or celebration of
the renewal of the year; the Conies or bees for the
domg of some special work in which the aid of a
number of neighbors is sought; the ipluchettes or
corn-shucking and the hrayages or fiax-beatings
These were usually accompanied by dances and
festivities. The f«te of La Grosse Gerbe was perhaps
the chief of these celebrations when a large sheaf of
gram surrounded by smaller ones were gaily decked
and young and old danced around them. New Year's
Day is still a great occasioa and Christmas is
celebrated by everyone in a spirit of gaiety which
IS most attractive and with that religious spirit
which IS a part of most French Canadian festivals
To quote Lord Dufferin's translation of a Chanson
popular amongst the habitants: '

THE J >.?■ I'ANT 249

Let dead YulM lend-their brigL. reflections:
Let fond friends blend-their recoUectiona-
Let Love revive— joy's ashen embers-
For Love is Life— since Love remembers.

The courtesy of the hMtant is one of the things
which stamp the French Canadians as a peopk
apart from the rest of the continent; as, individ-
ually a product of some other age and clime and
condition. Like the better-class portion of the
population he inherits something of the traditional
charm of French customs in the days of long ago-
something of the politeness which is even yet more'
natural to a Frenchman than it is to any other
nationality. It is not at ah due to servility, it is
not an acceptance of inferiority, it is not even a
recognition of greater wealth-though the average
h^tantu quite keen in the making of money.
The politeness of manner so far as it is instinctive
comes from a racial type.; so far as it is acquired it
oomes from the teachings of the Church The
young man who touches his hat and says "Mon-
sieur or "Madame," when addressed, has the
habit of respectful speech drilled into him in church
and school. Little of the crude looseness in speech
of our continental democracy has yet penetrated the
French villages of Quebec; when it has done so
through some repatriated workman from an Ontario
factory or a New England town it meets the fact
that natural as well as acquired taste makes the
ocal habitant somewhat oblivious, in this respect
to his comrade's "progress."

f !

2S0

FRENCH CANADA

Besides this he has a certain feeling of self-pride
and equality which, in itself, prevents him from
being ashamed of civility. It is a feeling akin to
that of the property brought up English or Canadian
or American youth who says "Sir" to his father or
his elders without question and without the least
ilislike. Complaints arc heard at times from Eng-
lish-speaking sources that the courtesy of children
is growing less in these later days and that the
democratic air of, the continent, coupled with polit-
ical denunciations of Imperialism and British
"schemes" of closer union, are aJFecting old-time
conditions— <-apecially in the case of English-speaking
Canadians visiting rural centers. Thet,' may be
something in the contention, but the situation is
not serious j et.

The habitant's voice has not retained the softness
of sunny France; it is somewhat shrill and shares
in the continental characteristics of enunciation.
He is fond of using words which are not quite
innocent in their origin but which are merely
exclamations, mild expletives, or points of emphasis
under existing corruptions. "Sacristi," "Palsam-
bleu," "Ventre bleu," "Corbleu," "Sacr^ bleu" are
a few instances. The laws arc very stringent, and
always have been in French Canada, against profan-
ity of any kind and, needless to say, it is severely
dealt with by the Church. Even slang is dis-
couraged and though here and there inevitable
EngUsh words have crept into what might be called
the commerical use of the French language, the

•nili IIAUITANT

251

tongue of the habitant is usually remarkably pure.
Not long ago Archljishop Brucli(!si proclaimed the
absence of patois from the French Canadian forms
of speech and it is claimed that the language really
approaches more nearly to the standard of some
centuries ago than does the ordinary speecli of the
modern Frenchman. The Archbishop himself, and
the educated French Canadians of today, in gen-
eral, speak the French of the old school. The
habitant has, however, some of the peculiarities of
speech which characterized his Norman ancestors
centuries ago and they have been crystallized, like
some of the old-time customs and habits, in the
midst of the American continent; even the archi-
tecture of the steep-roofed cottages with their
dormer windows, deep and large chimmeys, and old-
fashioned rafters, is Norman in its style.

Of miscellaneous characteristics peculiar to the
French Canadian it may be said that he dislikes
gardening and lea.-« it largely to the women and
children; that he marries young, with twenty years
for the man and seventeen for the girl as popular
ages to begin the interesting process of courtship;
that the habitant and his women folk are alike
thrifty, careful, economical, saving of money, and
m this respect take after the peasantry of France;
that they are clean in appearance and apparently
so in person, with homes which are quite remark-
able in that respect; that the newspapers are more
carefully and cleanly edited than in English Canada
or the United States, with clear precedence given to

262

FRENCH CANADA

church events and local interests over the latest
murder or awful crime; that the people appear to
be exceedingly healthy despite the habit of keeping
doors and windows sealed during the keen winters
of the country; that as to sickness the most serious
trouble is in the matter of smallpox, due to prejudice
against vaccination, and in that of infant mortality
at Montreal due to laxncss in looking after sanitary
conditions and to lack of cleanliness in the milk
supply. ,

Picturesque details of ordinary life in French
Canada include the thatched roofs of bams and
outhouses in the older villages; the curved roofs,
with projecting eaves, of many of the houses; the
quaint and crowded markets of the cities and towns
where the habitants, their wives and members of
their families on a Saturday morning throughout
the summer, bring in and display for sale carts full
of domestic produce— vegetables, butter, meat,
home-made sausages and puddings, fruit, basket-
ware, etc.; the frequent appearance in the streets
of Quebec of priests and nuns in their cassocks or
prescribed garb and of the boys or young men of
the Seminary in the long blue coats and green sashes
of their institution, and the similar conditions
prevalent in Montreal; the sight frequently wit-
nessed in rural regions of two or three oxen abreast
drawing a load of wood or of farm products to
market, or the quaint spectacle of a man carrying
water in pails which are balanced without apparent
trouble from a pole held across the shoulders.

THE HABITANT

253

A word must be said here as to the old-time
relations of the Seigneur and cenntaire out of which
evolved Bome at least of the special characteristics
of the French Canadian. In the first place, the
obligations of the habitant, as he gradually came
to be called, were not very heavy. The yearly
total of the Cena et rentes was only a few dollars
m our money for his small holdings of land with,
too, the option of paying in produce or game if he
preferred— a live capon or a measure of grain for
an acre of land. Rent day, instead of being a
monthly season of weariness to the flesh as it is to
the workman in our modern civilization, was a
pleasure, a yeariy and festal occasion, when the
tenants gathered at the manor house on New Year's
Day and were regally feasted by the Seigneur
Even when the Seigneurs were poor and did manual
labor on their own farms— so long as their birth
was good-it did not affect their position of social
superiority. This the Church aided by giving the
Seigneur a special place in the sacred building and
precedence at religious functions; where the Seigneur
lived on his estate he and his wife were often the
source of much patriarchal aid and kindly sympathy
for the habitant; when he lived at Quebec and
only came occasionally on a visit to his estate, he
was still the one great man of the habitant's
acquaintance.

Some of the powers which the Seigneurs possessed
in French days they did not exercise; others were
evoked after the Conquest and utilized by men

254

FRENCH CANADA

who wanted more than a rental of one cent an
acre for land which they no longer held as vassal-)
of the King and had naturally come to regard as
their own. The habitants particularly objected to
the Corvfe, or about six days' labor upon the high-
ways, which was exacted yearly and which some-
times was switched to the building of manor houses
and similar work. They also objected to the in-
creased rentals under conditions which involved
cash and not produce; to the lods et ventea, or tax
Oi one-twelfth ^i the price of any land sold by the
habitant, which did not amount to lauch in the
old days but became very important in times of
progress and growing population; to the droit de
banaliU under which the habitant had to use the
Seigneur's oven and his mill. The former condi-
tion was ineffective and the latter became burden-
some when the right eventually stood in the way
of establishing independent grist and saw mills
and even factories of certain kinds. Much of
this, however, was the product of a new and com-
mercialized system; the old-time Seigneurs and
habitants seem to have had the very best of kindly
relations. It was this previous period in pioneer
conditions, surrounded as it was by religious sanc-
tion, which seems to have left the strongest imprint
—perhaps an indirect and not always understood
one— upon the habitant mind.

In passing from this subject it may be added
that the tremendous influence of the Church in
forming the habitant's thought, and leading his

THE HABITANT 2«P

fot}^^. r^^'J^'" *?''"''' "P°° ■" this chapter.

oT"buI n„r° '"'ir'' ''""'"' «'P"''*'' -"-dera-
tion, but not even the most rapid and indifferent

hav. InH !■?''.!:' '^"'' '"""' affiliations thoy
have made the habitant, in the main, what he is
an mdu8tnou«, contented, temperate, ehcerfu '
devout and patriotic man, sure of hs Chur.1,

fid?/ h'^T^ ^"'^ "^ '^--'f' b"t quite con
fidently doubtful of matters outside of these lines
of thought. Narrow he may be in some respect;

tiozL P^™""' '""«'=«• Yet these faults or condT
tions are and may well be, forgotten when his
whole-sou ed love of the soil, his'chccrfur happy

of TtZt is bri hM' f ^ ■^""^'""^ '^pp--*'-

«,. 1 A A ."*''* ""'' P'""^""* «nd joyful in life

«™ ■htirr""''- "^ *° ^''^ -»'- --

One in whom persuasion and belief
Have ripened into faith and faith become
A passionate intuition.

CHAPTER XIII
Chubchm and Sh«ine8 op French Canada
dia^!-?""'''"*]?"*' '"" ""'y ""^ f°' French Cana-

pres« and in the Legislature, in iUeZZ'orJ'^

villairea rr U™ ">nuence. The long-drawn-out
villages or low yet steep-roofed cottages make tZ

.....«..« „"Ls-^-„.-:™i .set

(256)

ll t

▼TIW

msM^km

Hab„„nj W;.aun bpu.u;,,^, t ,., . L A:^U:, Qurl.

CHURCHES AND SHRINES

257

-^Mn,.,«.„ .«, .rr:.,-:r,:,r;:r;

wooden church IT the ' „ 7't" f"'"'' " ""'" «'''
Quebec CiS where rude '"'"""-I'""'"'- "oar
crude orj^aitlir i^f ^ciTXtt T 't

and Quebec ItTnnf *''^f '"'t""'^ '« Montreal
the ma« of i'l "° r'''"^ ^l^^ architecture, „r

■ » not the IS ex^ndeH* '"'''"""'"«' '»

of the church Le^ J isTt "'""'!'' '•'''"«''
•""ociations surrounding it or theT • *''' '''''°'"'
which it bears to th.t ■• "'"'"'"» sanctity

Tb. .i,u "u "2, JS*?!: "•">»•'•»"•*.„»

258

FRENCH CANADA

comer of the present St. Sulpice and St. Paul
streets, rjid almost directly on the site of its successor
which was built in 1672 across the Notre Dame Street
of today. This great church is not beautiful in
its external architecture, but it is impressive in
appearance and has a distinct French trend in its
style. The towers are 227 feet high, the chime of
bells which ring out on festival occasions are each
of thfe.-n sweet and strong in tone and one of them is
said to be the largest on the continent. When they
all ring together a sweetness is heard "mingling and
blending in the aii like a rich embroidery of all sorts
of melodious sounds." Upon this structure the
neighboring Seminary of St. Sulpice has lavished
the wealth which came to that immensely rich insti-
tution as Seigneurs of Montreal and the cost of the
church is roughly estimated at «6,000,000. The
interior shows a temple worthy of an ancient faith
and a great Church. Shrouded usually in a rich
gloom, permeated occasionally by shafts of light
which weave golden halos over the figures of saints
or pictures of a costly and sacred character; solemn
with a silence which is almost felt as the doors close
behind the visitor or the worshipper; the general
effect is most impress've.

In detail there is a multitude of objects-
notable or attractive, valuable or ancient, beautiful
or sacred, or with a combination of all these qualities.
There are exquisite stained-glass windows; there is
a beautiful wood-carving of the Entombment of
Christ and a marble statue of the Virgin given by

CHURCHES AND SHRINES 259

Pope Pius IX; there is a bronze figure of St Peter
wh.cl> .s a copy of that at Rome. Unde one a£
the c1 ° T ?^ '""^^ °f «*• ^''^ "rough tm
of the Madonna copied from one supposed to havn
been p, t,d by St. Lulce. The grand Ttar" v"y
nch .n art.st;c carving and ornamentation repreZl
ng the Sacnfice of Christ, and at one side of it is
the small, but brilliant chapel of "Our Lady"
which .s remarkable for the harmony of its lines and
proportions, for the mass of gilding carvinr „nH
sculpture with which it is decocted fo^pands in
mosaic original paintings by Canadi;n artlts and
a reproduction of one of R„,,.el's celebrated friezes
Near the foot of Mount Royal, upon the site

vilage of Hochelaga. stands St. James' Cathedral
It IS a reduced copy of St. Peter's at Rome andTts
dome towers above all othei. in the city, being
with Us cross, forty feet higher than the towers of

religious but brilhant in white and gold, and no
more picturesque sight can be imagined than a
ceremonial occasion when the ArchWshop n L-
dinal and purple, the priests in gorgeous canonical
robes of scariet and gold, the acolytes in whTte are

frot Hanir't-'" "" '''*'^*'^ ^^ ^y '^ ^horu
from Handel echoing up to the vaulted roof and
amongst the fluted pillars of the church. Care-
u ly preserved in this connection and only used on
ceremonial occasions are certain vestments and

260

FRENCH CANADA

altar cloths of peculiarly beautiful texture, style
and handiwork. They were made by Jean Le Ber
of Ville Marie, in nineteen years of cloistered and
rigorous seclusion, and have been described as solid
masses of delicate silken work on a ground of Bne
silver threads with a color and luster which two
hundred years of time have not impaired in the
least. Beautiful as is the richly-piled velvet from
the looms of Lyons, its modern robes are said not
to compare with these made by the pious maiden of
Montreal in jjears long gone by.

Of the older churches in French Canada, Notre
Dame de Bons^cours, in Montreal, holds a prom-
inent place. On its site stood the little church
founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys in 1673 and of
which the foundations were used in 1771 for the
present structure. It is Norman in its style of
construction and is notable as having been saved
from sale some years ago by Protestant agitation in
order to preserve one of the most picturesque and
historically interesting spots in the city. There is
a statue of the Virgin in heroic size which was given
by a noble of Brittany; there are pictures which
were amongst the first works of art brought to the
country; there is a most dainty chap.-l above the
roof of the church, with tiny colored windows, which
was designed after one described as a miraculous
structure, at Loretto, on the Adriatic. The Jesuit
or G^su Church, in connection with the College of
that Order on Bleury Street, has a beautiful interior,
Its frescoes are very pretty and its fine paintings

CHURCHES AND SHRINES

261

notable; m the eastern part of Montreal amongst
the purely French population is Our Lady of
Lourdes Ch_ ch-a building of Venetian type with
a statue of the Virgin over the altar in which she
appears standing on a cloud with these words under-
neath: "A woman clothed with the Sun and the
Moon under her feet." From an unseen source
oomes a bright light throwing a kind of exquisite
radiance around the figure. The decorations of
the church are in gold and colors, with arabesques
and fifteenth-century detail work. Underneath
the buildmg IS a shrine fitted up like the famous
Orotto near Lourdes, France, and lit by dim
colored lights which give a curiously weird effect'
The Westminster Abbey of the French race in
Canada is to be seen at Quebec in the Basilica or
Notre Dame de la Paix-the latter name dating
back from a certain peace made with the Iroquois
m 1644. The structure was built in the succeeding
year, when it took the place of Notre Dame de la
R^couvrance erected by Champlain in 1633 as the
■first parish church of the ancient city. From the
time when M. de Montmagny, the Governor, and
father Lallemant, the eminent Superior of the
Jesuits, superintended the laying of the comer-stone
up to the present time, and through all the event-
ful ups and downs of French Canadian history, this
church has held its place. It was damaged by fire
and shot and shell in 1759 and afterwards restored-
^ received a clock with three chimes from the
British Governor, Lord Dorchester, in 1775; it was

262

FRENCH CANADA

the scene of special services and ceremonial events
of much splendor over a long scries of years; it has
probably received as guests, at one time or another
every Governor of Canada-French or British,
Cathol.c or Protestant; in its sanctuary lie the
remams of nearly every Bishop of Quebec-a series
of smgularly able ecclesiastics; it has buried within
» Z '^^ ^''"'''"'''■y- the official curds and canons
of New France in Quebec, representatives of the
Jesuit missionaries and pioneers and of the RdcoUets
with many hundreds of the leading men and chief
families in th« annals of Quebec. The church
contains many rich paintings, its pulpit and side
chapels are particularly beautiful, its memorials of
religious Me and incident arc of deepest interest to
the pious Catholic.

Around the Convent and Church of the Ursulines
m Quebec gathers much in history that is attractive
and interesting and important. Founded in 1641
by Madame de la Peltrie, a woman of extraordinary
character and qualities whose career prior to com-
ing out to New France reads, in Parkman's pages,
like a vivid romance; it was presided over by Marie
de 1 Incarnation, another woman of fervid feelings
intense religious conviction, the victim of an
unhappy marriage, the subject of intense joy in
her new vocation. These two women contributed
to Canadian history records of saintly character
and of devotion and built up in their Ursuline
Convent an institution of fruitful service to the
infant colony and one of much influence in the

CHURCHES AND SHRINES

263

molding of French Cnnadinn character. The leav
mg of cultured homes and all the comforts of life
m sunny France to cross the stormy Atlantic; the
long journey m tiny vessels with rough seamen and
only a few priests and two or three other nuns as
companions; the devotion of their lives in a cold
severe, stone building, planted on the very verge of
savagery, U> the training and care of the young
presents one of many illumined pages of sacrifice S
the story of the Church in New France
inT«L*^"T''"* """^ <l''«troyed by fire in 1650 and
m 1686-the present building dating from the latter

iZ'iJn """l °' *'"' Ursulines, in association
with the Convent, is the third that has been erected
and .s modern in construction though splendid in
itr .portions and appearance. The convent and
H,nf ""^V"^'?' paintings by L„ Brun, Cortona,
mm and Prud'hon, rare engravings and important
books, with rich collections of religious souv. -s-
the annals or records of the Community, its papers'
itle-deeds and Royal letters, its pateni signed bJ
Louis XV; a massive silver crucifix given by
Madame de la Peltrie and a reliquary containing!
It IS said, a rehc of the true Cross, with altar cloths
made out of sdk damask, and curtains which once
belonged to Louis XVL In a chapel is a votive
lamp presented by Marie de Repentigny in 1717 and
kept alight through the centuries since then-oven
when shot and shell in the time of the great siege
were shrieking over the heads of the devoted nuns
and tearing the walls and corridors; beneath the

! j_

264

FHKNClt CANADA

pavomont of the church lie the remains of Mont-
calm and other notnl)l..« whonr memorials speak
for them here as does the history of their country
elsewhere.

The little, unpretentious Church of Notre Dame
dos VictoircH stands upon the site of ChamplainV
house as it nestled at the foot of tlie rock behind
which L.y so prolonged a struggle between the
forces of civilitation and savagery, between, ulti-
mately, the power of France and England. It
commemorates in its name two French celebnitions
over the KngliVh; its walls remain almost intact
from the storms of the 17fiO siege; it*, floors cover
the remains of four French Oovernors, and painted
panels at the back of the building depict, in artistic
coloring and design, the historic facts associated
with the structure. Of other churches in Quebec,
that of St. lloch contains the heart of Mgr. Plessis,'
Bishop of the Diocese, and famous for his loyalty
to the British throne in 1812; the Convent of the
SoBurs Pranciscaines Missionaires de Marie carries
out an interesting Catholic custom of this Order,
in all its hundred churches, and keeps the Blessed
Sacrament exposed day and night; upon the site
of the present Place d'Armes where, in part, the
Court House now stands, the R.«collct8 built a
church (1693) which Charlevoix described as worthv
of Versailles and which saw much of Quebec's
ecclesiastical history in the stormy century which
followed.
The Convent of the Rgcollets was turned by

CHUKCHKH AND HIIIUNEH

26S

Hwhop (1,. Ht. V,.li.T into a (U-ni-ral HoHpital and
Hinn. 1002 lia« Ixm tli.- unooaning refuge of tho
homH.w, the p,«,r on.l tlio Hick, of the woun<li..l
Hol.liiT of whnt<-v<-r nation or faith, of all who
■"•.•(led HU(u.or. In ItH ehaprl th.Tc i„ a chalicn
with altar cructn, vtc, which were 8cnt out to the
founder l.y Madame de Maintenon. The Hotel
Diou of Quebec, Ih th<- ol.leHt momwtic OHtahlinhment
in trench (;ana<la and dateH from 1037, though tho
exiHting l)uil(ling wan not finiMhcd until twenty-one
yearH later. The HospitalMSrcH Nun8 have charge
of Its Hick and the medical BcrvieeB arc in the hands
of I-Bval profcHHorH. It poHHeHHCH Home great paint-
ingH Huch OH The Crucifixion, by Van Dyke; Mary
m the Temple, by Lc Brun; and Violation, by
KubcnH, which won prcHentcd by the DuchcHH
<rAiguillon. It has rorc tajwHtricH ami valuable
portraitH of the Jesuit martyrs; its archives con-
tain letters from St. Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de
Paul, Talon, Montcalm, Vaudreuil, Maisonneuvc
and many others.

In the Kast-ond of Montreal there is a long
succession of convents and Roman Catholic insti-
tutions. Priests ami friars and cowled monks pass
along the streets; nuns robed in black or gray, or '
in buff, walk sedately and silently ufmn their mis-
sions; students in Church caps and uniforms, with
sasheH of green or blue, parade in large numbers;
pilgrimages to and from such shrines as Ste. Anne
de Beaupr^ or Ste. Anne de Varennes pass on theii
way to the boats. Here, as in Quebec and else-

266

FRENCH CANADA

where in French Canada, the churches are packed
with devout worshippers at Christmas, in Holy
Week, on Palm Sunday and All Saints. Near the
head of Park Avenue stands the Hotel Dieu do
Ville Marie of Montrea. an immense structure
founded in 1664 by Jeanne Mance with money
supplied by Madame de Bouillon of Paris and
maintained by a strict and secluded order of what
are popularly called Black Nuns— many of them
vowed to cloistered lives and never leaving the
walls of the institution. Mile. Mance was one of
those enthusiastic women who helped to make the
history of this period memorable. The Hospital
which she first took in hand was on St. Paul Street,
surrounded by palisades and garrisoned as strongly
as possible in defence against the Iroquois. At
that time the Indians prowled constantly around
the infant settlement and their silence was some-
times as deadly as their piercing war-whoop. There,
with three other devoted women, she first took up
her work and then carried it on until death came in
1673. The present building only dates back to
1861.

The Hospital of the Grey Nuns is vast and severe
m outline, dates as a building on Grey Street from
1871 and contains over five hundred sisters and one
hundred novices. Historically it was founded in 1737
by Mme. de Youville; practically it has, through
branches and in its own work, a vital and immense
mfluence today in the life of Montreal. Here in the
mother institution the helpless through age or in-

CHrHCHEH AND NIIUINEH

207

funcy,tlir.)UKli inrurnl.lc aiMciiHc or infirmity, are cared
for and foundling chililron rccfi vod from all over Can-
ada ami the United Htaten. In the hranch institutions
orphan girls ond aged persons, servant girls out of
work, women without a night refuge, blind ehildren,
etc. are cared for. In Western Canada many
establishments arc maintained by the Grey Nuns.
The Misters of the Congregation de Notre Dame
constitute a great teaching Order with many con-
vent-schools throughout Quebec and elsewhere. In
Montreal is the mother-house of the community which
has altogether more than twelve hundred sisters. It
was started and founded by Marguerite Bourgeoyg
(1663), one of the real founders of Montreal, a fitting
companion to Maisonneuve in piety, bravery and
devotion. Unlike Mmc. de la Peltrie, Mile. Mance,
or Mire Marie de I'lncarnation, she was of the people
and the daughter of a tradeiman; unlike them she
never reached the lofty heights of the supernatural
m her personal experiences; like them, however',
her religion appears to have been one of an absorbing
and practical devotion to Christian duty.

Klsewhere in French Canada the religious memo-
rials of the Church arc many. At Tadousac is the
old Jesuit chapel erected in 1746 on the site of a
church dating from 1615; at St. Anne's, on the west-
em end of the Island of Montreal, is an old and
sacred building which saw much of the heroes of
the fur-trading days and was the last church which
explorers and voyageurs visited to receive the Sacra-
ment before plunging into the wilderness; at Mount

3A8

FRENCH CANADA

Rlgau.1, on th« banlcR of the Ottawa, where DollarH
•loR OrmcBux and hu men ilieil for their country
I" « nhrine nilorned with vnriouii ImnKei., nml ap'
proarhnl liy a rorky ron<l liaviiiR fourteen HintionH
of the CnwH Imilt from iiniiit Ktonei.; every when-
tlirouRliout (Juel.ee nr,' tin- w«yni,|c eroNHen whieh
mean no mneh to the devout Cntholie ami are no
intereHtinn to the tourint. What are ealie<l ( 'nivaireH
are unually abi.ut ten feet in lieiRht ami often ineluile
not only fh.e ero«< l.uf the erown of tliorn», tin- liam-
mer and nnils, the exeeutioner'n ladder, and other
mementm-s of tlii> ureal Saerifiee. Not only do tin-
habilandi wdute the Croiw as they paMH, l.yn lifting
of the hat, hut they eome with their familieH during
the summer months and make these shrines into
open-air altars. One further evidenee of the
Church's work ami place can only be mentione.1 at
this i)oint— that of K.lueation— and the splemlid
seminaries, universities and eolleges which are de-
vote»l to the training of prieMs and teachers and the
youth of the land.

The Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal is, how-
ever, so associated with the religious life of the
community, as well as with its education, that no
reference to the Church in Quelwc is complete with-
out its inclusion. Quaint and unobtrusive, somber
and silent in its life, replete with all the significance
of Rome's conduct of Church affairs through three
hundred years of Canadian history, it stands as a
gloomy, massive reminder of days gone by. Within
Its walls the priests of St. Sulpice control one of the

i-'J"^' ("i

i-ifS

CIHIHCIIKM ,\NI) HIIUI.NKH 2(M»

largo-t rovrmir. on tho r„ntin,.nl nn.l nrn m«.tr™
of mii.li liind .m th.. Mnn.! ,.f M..ntrnal. Kor tiro
m-nturi... tlu. .•„hl,|,..Ht»n.H „f i,„ ,«,„rtynr,l have
«ch.«.,l to,. ,r..«d „f pilRrim- «,„l ,„.nit..„u and
IM.MMTH, while, tho n..i«.|,.w. Ht..p „f th.. pri..Rt hiw
....n.. .i|ul K„n.. from th,. tim,.H „f Ir,K,„.,iH horror
to U... .InyH of ,.omm,.r,:inh«,..l lih,.rty. In th,. thirlt
wnllH of th., Hominnry ,tr.. (h.. hH,p-h.,h.H for muHkotry
whi..h r«n..n.l th,, tw,.„ti,.th ....nt.iry to.iriHt that,
h..r.. w«« a tim,. on K.ih ,„ntin,.nt wh,n r,.HKi..n ha,l
to l.„ Hupport,..! hy phyniral forn,. a« w,.|| ,«, k,.nt
aliv,. I)y rontiniiouN H..|f-«ftcrifi,....

F,mn.lo,l l,y a young r-riciit, th« AhM ()li„, ,u, a
r..«ult of thoHc Divine communing, which app<.are,l
to com,, HO often to th„ faithful an,l .l.vout houIh
of that porio,!, the object of the Sulpician Or.ler wan
nn,l i» to train the youth of the country, ho far an
available, for the prienthod an.l to teach secular
Nubjec^H to othern in combination with reliiriou*
mHtruction. In 1067 the Holi.l ntructure of twlay
wuH ercele.1 an a branch of the ..ntablinhment in
farm. Their holdingH of land at the time of the
tcHHion appear to have totaled 250,000 acres-
what the value of thcHe lands is now or just what are
the relations between the Mother House in Paris
and the Order in Montreal it is hard to say The
priests are still largely French in origin; there is an
tZ^^"""" '*''°"* ""^ '"""tution as there was
1 I Tt" '*' T*""''""" '''"'""'' ««i«neur8 of the
Island of Montreal, of Two Mountains, and of St
.^ulpice; upon its pinnacles are still carved the

a7()

FKKNCir CANAHA

lloHr-,l,..|y,. In ,1.0 liviH „f it, ,,rir«t« thrrr hiw
nlwB.vi. npponn.<l i<nilKMli.',| thr .■nrlirr VhrlKtlnn
|.r.i.,.„l,^ .,f H..lf-,l.„i„| „,„1 „„„.|, „f wlint UiHl,„|.
.1.' l-i»v„l ,,.,,.,. .l.-H.ril«Ml wlirn l„. wn.to tlmt Ihry
wi-n. ".rr..immH.nl,l,. i,, fnith, dootrini., ploty and
condiirt.

Of nil tlio Cluinh liiHlitiilionH of (Jiirl)..,-, liowcvor

tho mo«t intorrKling ,., thorn, outMJ.Ir of it« pnio »'

tho ( l.ur.-h of Wto. Ann,. ,lr H,.«,.;,r« will, itn miracu-

Imw cln.m«, it» Httrnotiv.- liinlory luxl it,. ..xfrnor-

•linary r..,or.l. Tlio p„ri.l, i,«,.;f jjo-h l,„ck to 1667.

whon tho only o(l«-n, oxinting in »ll tho v««t Mrotchcl

of Now iTimoo woro lh.»«. of Tn,l...mnr, QuoIh-c,

Montr,.,,!, I hroo Hivorn, „n,| Chnt,.,,,, Uiohor!

Trmhtion ,s„yH th„l in or nlH,ut Uirx) Momo Ilrrtcm

marinorH won. wro.-ko,l on tho con«t un.l, whil,.

prnymK for th,.ir liv,.«, vowo,! thnt If thoy woro

Mvo,l thoy wonia ,.n.ot „ o1„„h.1 .„, tl„. nhoro in honor

of Sto Ann,.-moth,.r of tho Virgin M„ry nnd patron-

c^ of tho,r own lurnl of Brittuny. A «mnll woodon

chapol I, ^ui to hnvo lu-on or,.ot..,i, though history

'" "IT^ *° *•"* '"''• ''"' '' ''«•« »PP<-»r that ,ail„™
on the St. 3-nwronco had special veneration for tho
spot and special prayers to their good Ste. Anne
Missionary priest* were certainly at lleaupr*? as
early as 1(145 ami there is nothing inherently improb-
able in the tradition as to the existence of the little
church. In lOr,? M. d'Ailleboust, Oovornor of Now
l;ran,-e, hud tho corner-stone of a now church on the
site of tho present public square; in 1661 it was
destroyed by floo<l8 and a new building erected where

III

r!iirRnHi.»4 ani» hhrivkh 27,

« mnmoriHl f.M.„(„i„ „„«, „,„„,,,. i„ ,„-„

'•''";•• '„«""• ;■"••■' •" "■•• Hi... nf .1.,. ,.„,„,„, .V,,., .

..ri«IC.„.„..|,wl.i..lMHl.„il...n,„wali: w, H

w.KKlw„rk »n.l ,.r,m,„,.„tH, „„,1 „,i« MniHur,. I„h.,.,I
f..r w„ ....„t„r„.H; .1,.. ,,r,^.,„ u.^irn, ,. „,,)..,„|i,|

wiin built in IH7(1. 'iu'Mi,

'•l.ar„..t,.r of (hin „hri„,. h..,.,„ ,„ hnv l.,.,. v.'ry
-nrly. »,„|,op ,|,. |,„val wnl «.v.Tal ti,n,.H „, n,.„„.
pr« «H « pilKnn. nn.l wrot,. in KMiT that "nothin.
ImH a,,lr,l UH ,„,.„. p„*..rfully i„ H.,Ht«i„i„K tl», wH^I "
of th,H chur,.|. than th.- H,H.«i„| ,l,.vo.i„„ tl.at ?(,„
mhu MtantM of tluM ..ountry l„.„r to .Str. Ann.. "
1» th.. H.,cr.....linK y..ar an ncconnt of iniraci™
wrought at thi- rliurdi whh r.iil.liHh...! I,y thf locnl
"..KHUmary pri,.Ht, with tho approval of th.. Hinhop,
«n< in It th.< U«v. Kttth..r MorH Ht„t,.,l that h. ha.l
in tho pa«t Hix y,.„r« witnoHm.,! thrn.. ,niraH..H an.l
alHO th« many „th,-r ,.u«.m of h,m.H«I Hpiritnal «,«.•,•
accorclod by (io,l to Hinn.TH. M«rc M«ri„ do I'ln.ar-
nat,o„, ,n a httcr ut thin timr, «p„k. of the blind
roccivinB BiBht, the- paralytic „.„,|o to walk, and the
«ck o„abl«| to roKttin th.-ir health. The pilKrimagcB
of those days were small in number; it was naturally
a matter of individual vIhIIh only. Time, however
brought population to the country and to the
contment; the fame of the shrine gradually grew
a« cl,d the mass of crutches piled up against the
mtenor walls of the structure and in special recep-
tacles; the number of the pilgrims increa. ' k

372

FRENCH CANADA

modem days until in 1880 they were 36,000; in
1890, 105,000; in 1900, 135,000; and in 1910, 188,-
266. Meantime, the mother shrine of Ste. Anne at
Apt in France had contributed some of its famous
relijs to the Canadian daughter— indirectly in
several cases— and these included a bone from the
hand of Stc. Anne given by the Bishop of Carcas-
sonne, a bone from the Saint's wrist obtained by
Cardinal Taschereau from Pope Leo XIII, a piece
of rock from the wall of Ste. Anne's home in
Jerusalem.

The shrine itself, within the Baailica, is a most
artistic production seven feet high and made of
beaten brass, polished and gilded, with four columns
supporting statues of Ste. Anne, St. Joachim,
St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin. The reliquary,
containing the bone from the Saint's wrist, is made
of massive gold ornamented with precious stones
and is only placed in the shrine during the week
following Ste. Anne's day— July 26th to August 2d—
when many thousands of pilgrims crowd the edifice.
The communion rail of the church is sixty-six feet
long and is important for its unique and valuable
panel work carved on the five different kinds of
rich marble with which it is constructed. The
statue of Ste. Anne herself is ten feet high, the ped-
estal being of Carrara marble and the monolith of
Mexican onyx — almost transparent in appearance
and crowned with a diadem of gold and precious
stones presented in 1887 by Cardinal Taschereau
in the name of Pope Leo XIII.

1 , ^,-;. *!..■

-A. ,x- '--■■

•■'^f*^-

rj..

:iV8.uii1il in iSSO ihcy wore Uti.ii ' ,
'•»; in 19OO,.r«;0O(!: aud in JMO. m.

'tJi'. ;!..■- <)...n,i

i'VL'iai fn'<'

! 'inrl f.f Si.

■ .'rmt'., a I ■

■ *H!nal 'i . •
■-<)■ roi:k from itw w;,:

^irtatU; j.r.ffiii.-tioi) n:-, .
; f:ttenjjrast<, ixiljshcU n.,,) ,;,

■^tf. Aline ai
'? its famous
:<1irpe!ly i.ii
lie fnini thi'

Vnne's borne m

^rtiii-'fltfay-nriily 2tith (.■■ Auttu,-!
. tboa,^anda of pilgrims crowd the (. ',
The timimuujon rail of th» church is sixty-six", t
ions and is important for its unifjun p '
iiK'I work ejirved on the five diffcn
■rb marble with «hicli it i» tw^trut- • i .;■■
=<tati!P {rf'Sle.. Aiino het!«eHis t«>n f,-et high, tin t^ifd'
•sta! Iwing of ■Oirrara marlile ami tlic monolilli i>f
I'xiciin onjTt— aLmtwt traasparonf. in apppiiraiu •
'■n.wri.'.l with a rfiadem of goid a.id piv . .
"t(>d in ias7. by rardinal Tow 1 • .
ckAiWof Sfe'-.Ariie de Beaupre '

CHURCHES AND SHRINES

273

Of the historical or scmi-sacroil relics connected
with the church is the first Canadian wooden statue
of Ste. Anne, dating from 1661 and brought from
'"'anoe; a collection box dating from 1663, noted
for the sexton's statement that when the Marquis
de Tracy and his staff performed a pilgrimage to
the church on one occasion they dropped seventy
francs into it— a big sum in those days when wages
were only one franc a day; a Mass vestment of
silk, gold and silver, made and given by Anne of
Austria, wife of Louis XIII; a silver ciborium used
m Communion for two centuries of pilgrims; n
chiselled and embossed silver portrait of the Comte
de Paris presented in memory of his pilgrimage to
the shrine in October, 1890; a solid gold seal which
belonged to President Santa Anna of Mexico and a
chalice made of gold and precious stones presented
by pilgrims to the church; together with an infinite
variety of gifts of various values from individual
pilgrims. There are many paintings in the church
of different ages and quality, and on the hill at one
Bide of the edifice is the Scala Santa— a representa-
tion of the marble stairs which Christ ascended in
order to appear before Pilate— and up these stairs
pilgrims in thousands ascend on their hands and
knees. Surrounding them are representations of
the various incidents in the last days of the Saviour.
Just behind the church with all its wealth of tradi-
tions, and lore of miracles, and beauty of interior,
and richness in relics, lies the Monfl<,tery of the
Redemptorist Fathers who are the custodians of

274

FRENCH CANADA

the Bhnne; the Convent of the Franciscan Sigters;
the Convent of tha Redemptoristine Nuns. Such
18 this famous shrine and church, set in one of the
most beautiful, historical and fertile spots on the
continent, and surrounded with such vistas of lovely
scenery, such freshness of ambient air, such volumes
of rolling water, as may well cause the visitor to
feel that nature has combined with tradition and
religion to make the place attractive:

The waters of the grand St. Lawrence glide
In calm majeatio motion on their way

Paat Bonn, Saint, Anne a8 if the gentle tide
Its Bilent, humble homage thus would pay

Before the ancient Shrine, as on its breast

It bears the pilgrims to this place of rest.

What may be said in comment upon such a place
upon claims so highly pressed, upon results so
variously represented! Non-CathoUc visitors to
8te Anne de Beaupr«, as to Our Lady of Lourdes
m France, go to see, to admire, to wonder and
perhaps to scoff; they leave with opinions which
are affected naturally by their individual training
modes of thought, points of view and personal
prejudices. Pilgrims go to do honor to a saint
whom they revere and in whose miraculous inter-
vention in human affairs they thoroughlv beUeve;
or else they reach the spot in a frame of mind which
hopes against hope for the cure of some desperate
ailment or condition, which cultivates a faith that
the Bible ha« declared will move mountains, which

CHURCHES AND SHRINES 275

reaches very often a gtate of mind abstracted
entirely from the world and resembling somewhat
the exaltation of the martyr in his sufferings or of
the saintly women who first came to the wilds of
Canada to nurse the sick or nurture the minds of
the young.

Cures have undoubtedly been effected, wonder-
ful cures in appearance and often in permanence.
Ihe Catholic will say and believe that they are
caused by faith and miraculous action; he does not
believe, as does the average Protestant, that miracles
ceased with Christ and his Apostles or, as does the
higher cntic, that even the Biblical miracles are
allegones or fables. He sees no reason why Divine
intervention should have ceased with the Crucifix-
ion and he is perfectly satisfied to accept the dictum
of his Church in the matter of any specific mirac-
ulous p«wer which may appear to have been
exercised since that time. On the other hand, the
mtestant enters the church with no hereditary or
religious sympathy with ite claims. He has a
tendency to argue that because money now pours
into Its coffers after two hundred years of gradual
development in faith and knowledge amongst Ro-
man Catholics, therefore the primary object of the
pneats is mercenary. He sees the devout in prayer
he sees the abandoned crutches, he may even see
the cures effected, yet he doubts the result.
Despite the teachings of Scripture, despite the fact
that Christianity m based upon the miraculous
.•md environed in its birth by miracles which his

270

I'RENCH CANADA

own ( hurchos toaeh as truth, he finds it hard, in
this age of popular agnosticism and accepted criti-
cism, to beheve in spiritual manifestations.

To the observer who has no prejudices in the
matter who would be glad if po»ible to believe
that there is a higher power for good acting upon
the word even though it should act at times
through the mediation of sainted men or women of
the past or even the present; who cannot see why
there is anything more inherently impossible in
answers to prayers at this or any other shrine than
he was taught to believe there was in answer to the
prayers he learned at his mother's knee; there is
little at Ste. Anne de Beaupr* to cause anything
but feelings of respect. To eyes unaccustomed to
tnese things there may be something at times of
crudeness in the figures, of excessive glitter in the
ornamentation of a startling appearance in repre-
sentations of the Crucifixion, yet if the onlooker has
imagination sufficient to see such things through
the refining spectacles of faith-to say nothing of
the brightness of a pilgrim's hope-the subject has
quite another aspect. There is, besides, much of
real splendor in the scene, much of exquisite art and
beauty, natural grace and solemnity in the e-vriron-
ment. The well-balanced visitor can hardly leave
such a p ace as Ste. Anne, or such a scene as the
annual pilgrimage, without a profound hope that the
implicit faith which he sees and feels around him
may have some actual realization other than that
which IS looked for chiefly in the worid to come.

CHAPTER XIV

Religious Evolution op tub French
Canadian

New France wag born and bred in the fold of
the Roman Catholic Church; its greatest pioneer
achievements were those of the Jesuit missionaries;
its early political controversies turned upon the
relations of Governor and Bishop; its great
requirement of immigration was guided, controlled
and at times checked by the policy of the Church;
its proudest achievements in exploration and war,
in government and politics, were blessed by the
one religious organization. The Church was the
mainspring of popular enthusiasms, the basis of a
limited public instruction, the fountain-head of
knowledge or experience, the embodiment of a
people's faith, the natural leader of the race under
the further dispensation of British rule. Historically
speaking, the Church in this connection accom-
plished three cleariy defined objects— it made and
kept New France a completely Catholic community;
It preserved the Province of Quebec as a French
and Catholic country; it kept the 3,000,000 French
Canadians, who have grown out of the 60,000
surrounding the fleur-de-lys in 1759, as members of
its own organization. Whether for good or ill,

278

FRENCH CANADA

whether it is to bo admired, or dislilted, or feared,
each of these acoompllghments was a great one and
far-reaching in effect.

There were certain epochs in the development of
this powerful position. The Rdcollcts, or Francis-
can Order, came first to New France in 1618 and
rcmamed until the temporary English conquest of
1629 rmoved them from the country; they include.1
only Fathers Jamay, Dolbeau, Le Caron, Sagard
and Viel. In 1625, and again seven years after-
wards, the Jesuits came and the record of their
missionary labors has been already dealt with- it
was an epic of unselfish heroism. The Jesuit College
at Quebec was founded in 1635 and flourished until
the Order Was suppressed in 1763; its influence in
the molding of social and moral regulations and in
the formation of religious character in New France
can hardly be over-estimated. The establishment
of the Episcopacy came in 1658 with Mgr. de Laval-
Montmorency as the Vicar-Apostolic and after-
wards Bishop. He was one of those men who loom
large m the pages of history through dealing with
great things in a great way. His environment was
certainly vMt enough and his diocese, as created in
1674, included the greater part of what was then
known as North America; he repeatedly traversed
immense distances amid privations, dangers and
difficulties almost inconceivable today. He was
amidst the missionaries in Acadia at one moment,
then m the valley of Lake Champlain, anon upon
the shores of one or other of the Great Lakes;

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION

279

then at home amidst the troubles of his own wttlc-
ment. He obtained the .reation of a Hoveniim
Counc.1 for New France of which he was the soul
and heart; ho fought great governors such as
trontrnnc in a prolonged effort to prevent the
sale of liquor to Indians or settlers; he established
the (Teat and Minor Seminary of Quebec in 1063
and 1(108, respectively, .3 carry on training for the
priesthood in the infant colony.

His successor, Mgr. do St. Vallier, was a man of
<loiumatmg, aggressive character, who left his
mark upon all the disputes and disorders and dif-
ficulties of the time-not always one of peace and
concord and conciliation. L'AbbcS Fomel, in his
funeral oration, described him as a Bishop who
was great by his piety, greater still by his leal
and greatest by his charity." The latter quality
ran to 600,000 livrcs-an immense sum in those
days. Mgr. Dosquet succeeded and then came
Mgr de Pontbriand (1741-60), the last Bishop of
the French r(gime, in a period which included the
darkest days of the colony-a time of famine
pestilence, war, conquest. Mgr, Jean Olivier Briand'
who followed, was, an,! had to ue, a diplomat as well
as a Bishop. It was a time when conqueror and
conquered, soldier and kabilant, Briton and French-
man, had to be held together up to a point where he
would be in a position to protect and advance the
interests of his own people. Treaties had to be
mterpreted, regulations made or defined, the natural

280

HIKNCH CANADA

antagonisms of a Protestant power and a Roman
Catholic jH-opIo 8ub<lucd. He succeeded sn well
that his Piistoral letters of 1774-75 were strong
mandate" to loyalty undir the new conditions.

Mgr. J. O. Plessis was the eleventh Bishop of
(Jueliee, and the first Archbishop, and was Irarn in
Montreal. Through him the Church in Canada
obtained a higher rivil statu*, the recognition by
the nritish Govrrnment of his position as Bishop
of Quel>ec, and an official al.jwanee from that
Protestant Government of £1,000 a yearl He
founded severil colleges, extended the authority
of the Church by appointing auxiliary Bishops of
Montreal and the Northwest, and died in 182,'i.
Of him Lord Dalhousie wrote officially to the Colo-
nial Office: "The Church has lost in him a vener-
able prelate; hi» people a faithful and indefatigable
guardian of its spiritual interests; the King a most
true and loyal subject." These were the great
historic names in the French Canadian Church;
other personages of eminent qualities came and
went until Archbishop Taschereau was created
a Cardinal in 1886; the Episcopate spread over a
great area and from Montreal to Winnipeg, from
Victoria to Halifax, the Roman Catholic Church in
Canada became a powerful force in many com-
munities. Especially was this the case in Montreal
where Bishops, or Archbishops, Lartigue, Bourget,
Fabre and Bruchfei have, in succession, wielded
ecclesiastical authority since 1836.

For a hundred years of the Episcopate in New

HKMdIOIS KVOLimoN

381

Franco the niH>io|M rulrd in ncrorilnncf with the
canonii of the Church nml in oonfoi .iiity with
Royal ortlinanic'H. They did not nlwiivH rciognin!
vicc-ri'gul rightH, tlicy often rcwntcd ■ ■ < Icvcrnor'ii
action or opixwrd Ww poH'T, they iir vd par' /» ■<
at idcuHiirc, controlled churches, , i,, , , tcric ji" '
collcKCH, i»HUcd rcKulntionn rcuni I'm,; <||^'. ; uc und
mornU which iifTcctcd clcrny ud ! my ali'..\ and
mipcrviHcd th.' MchooU. Mu. I; of t'l's f,ov,.r >-;s
lout at the ( Vwion; mont of it ■. is Rrii.l , ,|iv rcn..in'fl
sfterwnrdH in tliat piirt of New !■ rntice i J . ■! Qpiclicc-
flsewherc it whh partly mergccl in ti,( r ivnlr' i ;jf
an Kngli«h-»p<'aking environment. H'h, ti<iwcvcr,
the French race and the Catholic reli^.,, , w,o, in
thprfo latter caBcH, comliined together and a pari§h
erected— whether in Manitoha, or Nova Scotia,
in Dakota or New lOngland— the Church retained
much of its influence, though it If-t, of counte,
the endorsation and authority of the civil power
which it still retuinH in (Juelwc.

The region once vaguely called New France
must now have within its borders al»;nt 10,000,000
Roman Catholics of various races and tongues
together with immense wealth, numerous Dioceses
and wide influence. Its wealth cannot be accurately
estimated; in Quebec the figures are approximately
available. In 1800 official statistics transmitted
by Lieutenant-Governor Sir H. S. Milnes to the
Imperial Government showed that prior to the
conr;uest 2,096,754 acres of land-grants had been
made to the Church— 203,.524 acres to the Urjulinea

■( I

282

FRENCH CANADA

of Quebec and Three Rivers, 693.324 acres to the
Bishop and the Seminary of Quebec, 250,101 acres
to the Sulpicians and 891,945 acres to the Jesuite,
mth other scattering amounts. The value of such
of this land as was held-most of it, except the Jesuit
grants, was retained and put to some of the purposes
of the Church-must in these modem days be
enormous; the tithes which are legal taxation and
collectible under law, for specific purposes, in Quebec
must make a very large yearly total; the gifts to
the Church from time to time are large and always
have been-either in things of beauty, or of service,
or in money.

If an outside estimate in 1854 as to the total
wealth of the Church in Quebec being $20,000 000
was even moderately close to the mark, the present-
day total must be five or six times as great. As
the revenues and work of the Church grew, its insti-
tutions, religious orders, charities and communities
grew also. Something has been said of the Sulpi-
cians and the Jesuits. The former used their wealth
in unobtrusive systems of instruction. The latter
since they re-appeared in Canada, have estabUshed
several colleges with hundreds of priests, scholastics,
and nowces, and dozens of chapels; with many
Indian and other missions, and missionaries traveUng
along the north shores of Lake Superior and in the
West. Then there are various French Orders with
in these latter days of suppression and difliculty
m France, a steadily-growing membership in Quebec
and Canada generally-the Oblate Fathers or Order

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION

283

of Immaculate Mary, the Catechists of St. Viateur
the Congregation of St. Croix, the Brothers of the
Sacred Heart, the Fr^res Maristes or Little Brothers
of Mary, the Order of Franciscan Fathers. Fifteen
yean ago there were in all Canada 30,000 male
students being educated by Catholic religious orders
and 50,000 female students by the various Sister-
hoods with 7,534 nuns in the Dominion' and 466
establishments under their control. A very large
majority of these students and institutions were
m Quebec and the numbers in all these connections
are very much greater at the present time In
Quebec there were last year 3,200 female re .gious
teachers, or nuns, in the schools with 340,000
pupils.

A recent observer has declared that the Church
organization throughout Quebec is "as Perfect
as the wit of thousands of devoted men, having
no other object than its interests, can make it."
There can be no doubt of the accuracy of this state-
ment and to it are owing the three conditions of
development already outlined. This organization
was not effected immediately or without struggle
In the days when De Frontenac and Bishop de Laval
disputed about questions of precedency and the
solution of the liquor-selling evil; when Bishop
de St. Valher and the Governor, the Seminary the
Cathedral Chapter, the Sulpicians, the Jesuits and
even the Religious Communities of Women were
more or less at variance; when society of a mili-
tary type in Quebec and Montreal resented the

'«

284

FRENCH CANADA

Strict religious regulations which aimed to make
the practice of morals conform with precepts; it
was then that the harmony and obedience, the
perfect mechanism, the strong organization of
another century, were gradually created.

In the seventeenth century the Jesuits, and then
Mgr. de Laval plus the Jesuits, were in control of
the Church and, despite obstacles and lapses, of
soc iv. Every detail of daily life was watched
and when<!ver possible controlled; svery tendency
to looseness in morals or social custom was checked-
crime was punished with the excessive severity
which characterized all civilized countries in those
days; the superstitions rife in New England, in
Old England, and in Germany, as to witchcraft
and pumshable there with such frightful penalties
were held in check by the Church and neither this
offence nor those of blasphemy and heresy were
put under the civil power or very severely dealt
with. During the Governorships of Champlain
and De ?''ntmagny, or of D'Argenson, D'Avau-
gour and M^zy, society was not only kept in check
by the Church but in subjugation. The three
latter Governors were in conflict with the Bishop
over different matters of administration and were
therefore, particulariy ready to meet his wishes in
affairs of a religious, or moral, or social nature
So much was this the case that public balls were
tabooed and dancing or amusements, bringing the
sexes into close proximity, discouraged. Theatrical
performances, such as the times developed, were

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION

2G5

however, permitted and even used by the Jesuits
to instruct the Indians and amuse the people.
Later, under the administrations of De la Jonquiire
aLd Duquesne and the second Vaudreuil, different
conditions were uppermost and then the end of
the French rfgime came. The Bishop's denuncia-
tion of conditions prevalent in 1759 under the social
leadership of Bigot were so vigorous that even
Montcalm is said to have advised caution.

For some reason there was, at times, a more
rigid or severe code of discipline in Montreal than
in Quebec. The Gentlcir.en of St. Sulpice were
very strict regarding their flocks and during many
years forbade dancing and gambling, masquerade
parties and gayly colored or decollete dresses.
Socief.' there, as in Quebec and in all parts of the
world, was more or less influenced by periods of
military power and the coming of the Carignan-
SalhSres Regiment had the effect of notably in-
creasing the gay tone of social intercourse— even
though the war-whoop of the Iroquois might at
any moment be heard in the land. To offset such
conditions Father Lallemant, the Jesuit Superior
created in Quebec the Brotherhood of the Holy
Family and obtained for it the approbation of Pope
Alexander VII. It found immediate and strong
support in Montreal. The women members were
urged to ask themselves on all occasions: "How
would the Holy Virgin have acted under these cir-
cumstances?" and 10 abstain from frivolities in
which they thought the Mother of Christ would

286

FRENCH CANADA

be unwilling to share. Of this organization the
Bishop was the head and, in 1667, a reproval of
certain members for going to a ball given by M.
Chartier de LotbinUre caused a prolonged differ-
ence between the Bishop and the Intendant Talon.
The action of this organization and its priestly di-
rectors in Montreal also aroused sundry criticisms from
writera and visitors which have come down to us.

While this rigorous rule of the Church, or of the
Jesuits and Sulpicians, over personal conduct and
in the regulation of private life seems strange to -
a Protestant qivilization or community of the
twentieth century, there was much to be said for
It in New France. It strengthened the moral fiber
and maintained the physical well-being of a people
who needed every element of strength in their
continuous struggle with the forces of savagery
and nature; it countered the indirect and subtle
influence of a Voltairism which was then eating
into the upper circles of French life as well as a
republicanism, and a wider socialism, which were
preparing the way for the frightful excesses of the
Revolution. Neither extreme of French society,
nor of the terrible religious controversies of the
century, reached Canada; the Revolution with
all Its horrors passed over the heads and outside
the hearts of the people of New France; the Re-
public and the career of Napoleon only touched
them on the side of their vivid glories and reflected
splendor.
It may be safely said, therefore, that the Church

P-9M

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION 287

Showed excellent statecraft in much of thi« period
even .f, a times and after the event, it would seem
that conciliation might have been better than contro-
versy. The men and conditions, Kings and Gov-
ernors, and the Church of that century, have to be
considered with their surroundings^d not wij^
the enviromnent of the present day. Frontenao
and Bishop de Laval were both high-minded. Me
and patno ,c men, but on certain points the^ did
not see a ike. Looking back now, for instance
upon the liquor traffic question and all the horr^le

Z^Tr "'.''^^^f^ Indian race alternately
degraded and mflamed by the use of alcohol, it is
hard not to sympathize with the Bishop in his rigid
attitude or to say that he was not right in figh"^
the local cml authority and in ultimately getting
the Royal support for his action *

.JJ'\^°TT ^'^''^ ^^^ *•'** ^''^ ««'« of brandy
attracted the Indians to the French and brought
them under refinmg, humanizing and Christian

SHT.; ^'^ *'** "^^" temperately "^^n
enabled them to resist the great cold to which thev
were e^d; (3) that in withdrawing them Mom
the protection of the Dutch or English, it protected
them from heresy; (4) that in any event the r^
hgious authorities of Toulouse and the Sorbomit
wei. ^vided as to the rights or wrongs of the matter
It was beyond debate, this vigorous attitude of
tne Church toward questions involving public
l«ity of mor^s, coupled with the strenuous^ sef!
denying, sacrificial, personal Uves of the priest-

FRENCH CANADA

hood, the hierarchy, and the sisterhoods, which
first laid deeply the roots of the Church in New
France. Upon that basis was built up a steadily
improving organization of parish life and priestly
influence; out of these two things, and the important
public policy involved in the hand-picking of immi-
grants and the exclusion of non-Catholics, came
the fact that when New France, with 60,000 people
in what was to be the province of Quebec, faced
absorption by the greatest Protestant power in
the world, it did so with a united religious front
and a determination to preserve against all obstacles
or aggressive attack the institutions and influence
of the Roman Catholic Church.

To preserve this position was a more difficult
and vital task than either the Pope's representative
or the Viceroy of an English King could have
imagined. Religious toleration or equality was not
yet the accepted policy of any great nation — not
even of Britain. Much water had to run onder
the bridge before Ireland obtained what the defeated
people of New France hoped for; the pledges «f
the Treaty of Paris and the Capitulation of M<<n-
treal were general and vague and depended largely
upon interpretation; the British Government would
have been more or less than human if it had been
without suspicion of such projects as the appoint-
ment of a Frenchman as Bishop of Quebec or of
cur^s and priests from France; the people of
Quebec could hardly have believed it possible
that their present conquerors would eventually

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION

280

give them a freedom of administration, laws, church

government and self-control, greater than they

ofi-rance "*'* °^ obtaining from the Court

Hence, for a time, the difficulties ,nd real state-

bII t,^T5^'- ^°"'^'^'^'' «»d Haldimand, of
BshopBnand, Bishop Plessis and th^. ecclesiastical
authorities at Rome. When the early clouds of
suspicion and natural doubt had dispersed and the
prehmmary difficulties of a British and Protestant
government in dealing with a French and Catholic
people had been adjusted, it was found that the
Roman Catholic Church was given absolute free-
dom of self-government and practically complete
control over the religious life of its In people
Whatever the civil troubles of succeeding Veaxs.
or the hot-headed utterances and actions of Rebel-
lion days, or the political controversies of another
epoch, this condition does not seem to have been
ever seriously controverted, or to have been the
subject of discussion. Hence, in part, the loyalty
of the hierarchy ,n the War of 1812; hence also
the ever-increasing influence of the Church amongst
its own people. *^

rih r'^^ ^*T^^ """^ "'""'y fo' a Roman
Catholic Btthop of Quebec, who should be formally
recognised by the British Government, the Church
had stood for the recognition of Catholic suprem-
acy withm French Canada. It was a difficult thing
r u *?^,S"'"'' authorities, representing an Estab-
hshed Church of England antagonistic to the Church

290

FHENCH CANADA

of Rome, to place a Roman Catholic Bishop in

Quebec upon equality with, and in practice superior

to, the Bishop of its own Church in that Province.

Eventually it was done and the fact bound the

French people more closely to their Church than

might otherwise have been possible. From that

time up to the present the Church has kept itself

steadily in touch with the race; religion and

patriotism of a local and racial character have

developed hand in hand; as the country grew and

its responsibilities enlarged this patriotism also

took a wider range, though perhaps naturally, not

in the form and shape which those outside of the

Church, and the race, might have desired. The

difficulty faced in that century by the Catholics

of England was the arousing of a certain form of

local patriotism against the control of the Church

by an outside authority; in Quebec the influence

of that outside authority was made an intimate

part of the patriotism of a race.

Internal difficulties were unavoidable. Differ-
ences have occurred between the Church and legis-
lators either at Quebec or Ottawa; differences
between powerful institutions and the Church
authorities such as those connected with Laval
University; differences even between Ultramontane
Bishops or priests and the more moderate school;
differences between the Church in its relation to the
State and the aggressive ideals of modern Liberalism;
differences with the civil power over burial and
marriage in such instances as the Guibord case

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION 291

d[ffic.!ir'' ""'*"* "^•^'* ""'"''«*• Most of these
difficulties were met eventually by appeals to Rome
and the solidity of the religious feeling of the peopTe!
their sense of allegiance to the Church, was Tn „
the submission which followed to the decision
rendered. In most cases, also, the pol cy ofT
Bishops was sustained and their influence ^th the
people correspondingly strengthened. The Papal
authonties do not seem to have been subjecMn
this respect to the weakness which destroyed the
VresHge of the Colonial Office in British CdonTe
during the first half of the nineteenth century when
mstructions were given today and rescinded t<^
morrow, a Governor sent out with a definite policv
m one year and the Governor and policy changed
m the next year or perhaps the policy altered with-
out even consulting the Governor!

It is to the skilful commingliiig of these elements
o^ religious authority, racial ties, and moral suprem-
acy-backed by a succession of devoted, kindly
high-hving priests-that the Church has been able
to carry its polity and policy beyond the bounds
of Quebec into the distant regions and diverge
communities where at least a million French Cana-
dians have gone in the last twenty-five years. The
parish system has gone with the people, the parUh
curd has earned his administrations and intimate
l^owledge of his people into the new environment
he Church control of education has accompanied
the pansh system. Hence it is that in New England
manufacturing centers, in Eastern Ontario counties

292

FRENCH CANADA

in the districti of New Ontario where mines and
woods and fishing and shooting attract the habitant,
in the villages of Dakota or amid the growing pros-
perity of Manitoba, in the fruitful lands of Saskatche-
wan or in the cattle ranges of Alberta, the Church still
stays with its people, still exercises iU authority,
still aids its people in their work or, perhaps, gently
directs them bock to their old homes by the St.
Lawrence. Incidentally, the Church organisation
has in recent years gone further in a paternal
direction, and there is no reason to doubt, as con-
ditions have arisen which -nake the English-speaking
settlers or farmers of the one-time English region
called the Eastern Townships of Quebec abandon
or sell their properties, the Church has stepped in
and helped the Catholic habitanta or farmers to
obtain possession. In New Ontario and Eastern
Ontario, and elsewhere, similar developments are
taking place from time to time.

Passing from general conditions and development
to local conditions in Quebec, a word must be said
as to the administration of Church ^airs in that
Province. The first point that occurs to the out-
side observer is the paternal, intimate, family
character of the relationship between the Church
and the people. It dates, no doubt, from the time
when tiny settlement" an.! isolated communities
depended upon the occasional missionary priest for
what was to them the essential elements of religion.
The black-robed figure bringing vessels for the
celebration of the Mass, th<! giving of Communion,

RELIOIOUS EVOLUTION

293

the baptwm of infantg, or perchance the final sacra-
ments to the dying, was a venerated and valued
personahty. As time went on and the scattered
settlements grew into a diocese, the parochial visit
of the Bishop was one of the great events of, per-
haps, a two or three-year period. With him came
the authority of the Pope, in him rested the
supreme decision of the Church in matters religious
and moral, around him was such pomp or ceremo-
nial as conditions permitted. The people knelt as
his procession passed, they went at once to the
church and received benediction, confirmations and
commumon and religious instruction followed, every-
thing was inspected and grievances adjusted, com-
plaints were listened to and peace brought to all
the interests concerned— even the most trivial.

Meanwhile, after the parish had been formed, the
cur« was always there— unlike the Protestant
mimster who may be in charge of his people today
and a thousand miles away in a week. Probably
for a lifetime, so long, at any rate, as his strength
permitted, the priest was with thnn— helping in
their ambitions, whether parochial or personal
aiding in their trials, and sharing in their simple
pleasures. The building of a church, the main-
tenance of French Canadian love for genealogy
through the bare records of the church registers,
the keeping, in olden days, of the habitant's sav-
ings, the blessing given at his birth, his marriage
and his death, the providing even of innocent
amusements and recreations, the directing of his

««K»OC0fy «B01UTI0N IBT CHAIT

(ANSI ond ISO TEST CHAUT No. 2)

lis

■tt I

12.

12.0
1.8

W^l^li^

/APPLIED IM/CjE he

1653 Cait Uoin Strtct

Rochailar. him Yorli T4C09 USA

(716) 462 - 0300 - Phon«

(716) 2M~5989-Fa.

294

FRENCH PANADA

social hfe-all these and many more things formed
and still form, in the main, the work of the parish
pnest Naturally very much of this parish life
turned upon the church building and the first
essential was, and is, the construction of one suited
to the wealth, or otherwise, of the parish and to the
wishes of its people.

In this respe.o there has been a certain accept-
ance by the Church authorities of democratic
mstincts. As in very many rural districts every-
one belongs to the Church there is less difficulty in
carrying out a set plan than might be expected A
majority of the rate-payers intimate by petition to
the Bishop what is desired-a church, a curb's
residence or a school. If after ten days' public
notice there is no objection submitted the decision
to build IS announced by a board of commissioners
and the parochial rate-payers meet and vote the
necessary money. Trustees are then appointed to
collect the unds and the assessment becomes a
first and legal charge upon the land. The procedure
IS usually clear, precise and business-like. Boiled
down, of course, the whole matter means that the
cur6 gets whatever he wants, but he gets it through
the expressed will of his people.

The cur^, himself, has an independent income
froru tithes-one twenty-sixth of all the cereals
produced by his parishioners-and this runs from
»600 a year to double that amount. Though
Provincial law enforces this contribution, it is very
rare, mdeed, for a curd to resort to legal methods

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION

295

for collection. Of course, his income is affected by
agricultural changes; if, for instance, the halntant
takes to dairy produce, which the cur« often
encourages him to do, there is no tithe coming from
that source. He receives a portion of the offerings
in connection with masses and a part of the fees for
wedding ceremonies or for baptisms. But these
matters do not seem to trouble the cur6 as they do
Protestant clergymen— probably because he has no
family to maintain. He goes his way quietly, one
m feeling and aim with his people, respectfully
saluted by everyone as he passes, a source of appeal
for every charitable need, the help of everybody in
the way of advice and comfort— apart altogether
from the confessional and its intimate confidences.
It is now the great ambition of the habitant to
have one member of his large family in Holy Orders
This desire was, and is, naturally encouraged by
the Church and the old couple who are present
at the ceremonial induction of a son into the priest-
hood, are given a place of honor, are accorded the
congratulations of the parish, and feel that a great
ambition of their lives has been realized. This
condition relieved the Church of a serious problem
which existed in eariy days when the population
was small. The British Government was then in
deadly and vital conflict with France and naturallv
frowned upon the importation of priests from t
country while Irish priests could not speak the \ .-
guage. The French Revolution, however, brought
many priests of the emigri class to Quebec and

tW:

ji^Sv. .. "''If ""

"'»i^ JuL *

296

FRENCH CANADA

these, of course, were quite satisfactorj' to Britain.
Then there gradually developed the situation of
today and there is now no difficulty in the matter;
moreover many French priests are flocking into the
country as a result of political changes in France.
As to public matters the Church in rural districts
wields much authority. A churchwarden is yearly
elected in each parish by majority vote and exer-
cises considerable influence; the Municipal Council
which looks after the highways, liquor licenses,
etc., has several members— not all— elected yearly;
the School Bokrd also has its Commissioners chosen
annually. Voting is open and upon matters asso-
ciated with morals the Church, of course, uses its
influence with effect. A large number of parishes—
the rural parish, municipality and school district
are usually coterminous— have no licensed drink-
ing places. Of all minor positions that of church-
warden is most valued and most sought after.
Elections to Parliament and the Legislature involve
wider problems which will be considered elsewhere.
As to the Church outside of Quebec, its modem
position is well illustrated by St. Boniface in Mani-
toba; from which during neariy a century strenuous
and successful missionary effort was spread as far
as the Pacific Coast. Almost a suburb of Winnipeg,
prosperous in condition, French Canadian in popu-
lation. Catholic in faith, it has large and imposing
religious buildings and institutions; an Archbishop,
m Mgr. Langevin, who more or less dominates the'
situation in Western Canada so far as it ia effected

■=^Utikii."'\!'M-""tiiiif £r

RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION

297

by the votes and views of his people ; and an influence
in respect to Separate Schools aad bi-lingual educa-
tion which is not confined to Manitoba. The first
church on the site of the present handsome Cathedral
was built hi 1818 through the efforts of Bishop
(then Fether) Provencher on land obtained for
him by Lord Selkirk. In 1820 a new Cathedral
church replaced this and about 1840 the existing
structure was completed. It was of this pioneer
church that Whittier sang in "The Red River
Voyageur":

The voyageur smilea as he listens
To the sound that grows apace;

Well he knows the vesper ringing
Of the bells of St. Boniface.

Bells of the Roman Mission
That call from their turrets twain,

To the boatmen on the River,
To the hunter on the plain!

Such is a brief picture of the Roman Catholic
Church— especially as it appears in Quebec. Its
present-day power is very great; just how much so
it is difficult to say. Clerical control and censor-
ship of theaters and newspapers and books is ad-
mitted. Of dealings with theaters the Th«4tre des
Nouveau^fe in Montreal is an illustration and of
journals the fate of Us Dibats, Le Combat, L'Aciion,
Le Canada Revue and, within the past year, Le Pays
is abundant evidence. Books and similar publica-
tions are more difficult to deal with, but it is probable

298

FRENCH CANADA

that many a work of questionable character has i„

OuT ''k*" ^''"'? *° '^' 8'°'"'' "* Montreal ir
Bait? because of f , Church's posrtion-those o
Balzac and de Musse. are cases in point. Its atti-
tude towards education and its power in that con-
nection need no comment here. The Church in its
relation to politics is a wide and attractive subj
probably its influence is greatest when least Jn o
discussed It has enemies at home and abroad
2- within the fold and without, able foUoS
who are by no means devoted adhe.snts. It has
priests who are as ready today as their predecessors
were three centuries ago, to sacrifice their lives for
the faith; it has enthusiasms restrained and un-
restrained within its ranks as great a., any shown
If a rr ^ \has immense wealth and the prestige
of a record which has been, in Canada, one of
statesmanship amongst those who had charge of
ts interests as an organization, blameless lives
Uved by those who ruled its destinie-, before the
people, kindliness of heart and seir^acrifice in
action amongst those who held the humbler parish

tmned, coup ed with close racial and religious
afB.at.ons wh.ch yet do not dangerously antagonize
other races in the country as a whole, thereTno

ZlrTiTX''^:'- ""'"'' •=''" "°dermine t"
power of the Church in French Canada.

CHAPTER XV

Rbugious Traditions, Folk-Lobe and
Ballads

The period in whicli French Canada evolved
its faith and traditions and habits of thought was
an age of intense reverence for things spiritual, of
the fullest belief in supernatural intervention, of
the deepest confidence in prayer and the answer to
prayer. On the other hand, it was, also, an age
of growing scepticism amongst the learned and
so-called scientific minds, a period when the intel-
lectual predominance of Voltaire, Rousseau and their
school was, in France, especially manifest; a time
when Protestantism, or tb» gospel of dissent from
Roman Catholicism, was widespread and growing.
It so happened that New France became a product
of the former line of development and the whole
thought of its peasants, the folk-lore of its people,
their traditions and fancies, became more or less
permeated with religious incident.

Hence the fact that when prayers were said in
some great public matter and destiny proved to be
on the side of the French there was not the least
question as to the direct intervention of Providence.
For instance, when, in 1711, prayers were said in
church and home, by priest and peasant alike,
(299)

»t,*.''

. . ,a^ij>i.j

fjL.*

■«

800

FRENCH CANADA

for a rescue from Hovenden Walker's great fleet—
a rescue which seemed impossible because of weak
defences and inadequate soldiery at Quebec— the
wreck of the English ships in the St. Lawrence, the
loss of a thousand men, and the consequent return
home of the fleet were considered to be a positive
and obvious result of miraculous intervention.
The event was celebrated in the special dedication
of two churches and in public ceremonies and thanks-
givings. Hence it was that, in the spirit of the old-
time Puritan as well as of the Catholic enthusiast,
when a Jesuit priest in the hands of savages prayed
that the cup might pass from him and some event
did occur to save him, it was accepted and so recorded
in the Jesuit Relations as a direct, spiritual, and
supernatural intervention.

Belief in the answer to prayer was an inherent
quality of faith and religion in the wilds of New
France and, as time went on, it naturally permeated
the life of the habitant, the homes and haunts of
the people, the teachings of the Church's religious
orders. It was not belief in a mere answer through
the ordinary operations of nature, which appears
to be the average faith of today in many Christian
circles, but it was an expectation of direct and
supernatural action by Divine or saintly power.
As an illustration. Father Chaumonot may be
quoted when he tells of an Indian warrior rushing
at him like a madman, drawing his bow, and aiming
an arrow at the priest. "I looked at him fixedly,"
writes the Jesuit, "and commended myself in full

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 301

confidence to St. Michael and, without doubt, the
great Archangel saved us; for almost immediately
the fury of the warrior was appeased and the rest
of our enemies began to listen to the explanation we
gave them of our visit to their country."

To these priests visions came frequently, as they
had come in far-away France to many of the self-
sacrificing founders of institutions or missions in
New France. They were visions of the Cros, on
high in the heavens, leading onward to some great
spiritual success or warning the coming martyr of
his final sacrifice for Christ and the cause. Divine
power and saintly support were constantly with
these missionaries. The ordinary cures of sickness
or the workings of nature might be good, might
even be effective, but they relied still more on
prayer and supernatural action. The efficacy of
relics of departed saints was a vital tiement of their
faith as it is of the habitant's belief today. Signs
and voices from the other world were frequent;
those from Hell assuming the form of demons dis-
guised as bears, wolves, or wildcats; angels fre-
quently appeared and comforted them while Father
de Br^beuf in 1640 saw a great Cross in the skies
approaching from the Iroquois country.

Of definite miracles alleged to have occurred and
which have been handed down from generation to
generation, there are many. For instance, P6re
Le Maistre, one of the devoted seminary priests
of early days, was (August 29, 1661) with some
harvesters in the fielrs outside of Montreal when the

302

FRENCH CANADA

Iroquoi8 sprang upon him from ambwh. He had
only time to call out to hb men to run when tSe
savag .. cut off hi. head and carried it away in a

penod the features remained imprinted on the hand-
kerchief which looked, on the upper side, "like a
very fine white wax which bore the face o the ser!
vant of God " So terrified were the Ind an^ tl;
hey gave the handkerchief to the English whHe
the Indian (Hoondoroen) who committed the aSJ
cnme was converted and died year, afterward a
the Semmary of St. Sulpice.

Parkman teJls another story of Jean St. Pdre, a
notary, who, after his head was cut off (1667) bv
he Iroquois talked to them through the skull and
condemned them for their action. The foundation
of Montrea was preceded by a miraculous mee Z
between Oher and De la Dauversiftre; to Jeanne
Mance m ar-away France came a vision in which the
shores of the .sUnd and the site of the Ville Marie

O li ?'s dea"th n "'r'^ ^''°'™- ^*- *»>« AbbI
of StSntn ^':^'"\^'" kept by the Seminary
of St. Sulpice at Pans in a leaden box and, on one
occasion, Mile. Mance being in France on a X

never healed, resolved to try the miraculous efficacy
of the rehc According to Parkman its touch upon
her arm restored the instant use of the limb so that
she could even write with that hand. Similar ind-
dents and tales of miraculous action might be greatl
enlarged upon; what has been said is sufficient

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 303

to indicate the deep religious basis of the habilant's
life and customs; a point accentuated by tlie crossed
and crucifixes found on every roadway and by tlio
place which the Church holds in almost every rural
home. Typical of this feeling are the story and song
of Cadieux, the brave woodsman, voyageur and
interpreter of early Indian days. It is hcaid every
where and his tomb on the banks of the Ottawa, near
Portage du Fort, tells the tale of an escape from
Iroquois raiders only to wander insanely and alone m
the woods until exhaustion and starvation came and
he made a narrow grave, laid himself in it, spread
green branches over his body and died. His lament
or message is sung in part as follows:

Oh nightingale! go toll my mistreM truo.
My little ones, I leave them my adieux,
That I have kept my love and honour free
And they henceforth must hope no more of me.

Here, then, it is the world abandons mc—
But I have help, Saviour of Man, in Thee.
Most Holy Virgin, do not from me fly I
Within your arms, oh suffer me to die!

Passing from these elements lying at the root of
the peasants' character in Quebec, it may be «a)d
that none the less, or perhaps all the more, is J^un
Baptiste a jolly, care-free, happy fellow. He accepts
whole-heartedly the dreams and visions and miracles
of the past, the supernatural manifestations of the
present, t' piritual things which he is taught as to
the future. But he does not take them too seriously,

304

FRENCH CANADA

or rather he often puU hii religion in one comp»rt-
ment of bis life and hu not very reprehenaiblo
amusemenU or pleasures in another; in many
cases he combines the two as in his Christmas f«tes,
the Paquei or Easter holidays, U Touiiaint or All
Saints' Day and other festivals. His poetry, his
songs, his stories and his 6ddle reign supreme on
these occasions with much of his old-world racial
instinct and character coming uppermost for the
moment:

The Frenchmui, ewy, debouaire aud brUk,
Give him hii 1>«, hia fiddle, and hu friak,
la alaraya happy, reign whoever may.
And laughs the genae of mia'ry far away.

Things comprising the folk-lore of a people— the
traditions, fancies, stories and proverbs, the quaint
•customs, ballads and songs of a race— are always
interesting and in recent years have become increas-
mgly important to the adequate study of popular
conditions and public development. The French
Canadian folk-lore is not as deeply mystical as that
of the German nor does it revel in mythological
conditions such as those loved by the ancient Greek.
It has an element of lightness in it balanced by a
sadness bom of religious expression; it does to some
extent people the air and the earth and the water
with gnomes and goblins though they take, more
especially, the form of ghosts and apparitions; while,
as already stated, supernatural intervention is fre^
quent and is accepted as a matter of course.

i'ltgimg^, ,.,|fv V, «' - . . . .t^~}::>AMi"^'':^' .M^M

meiit of hk )if(: (laa

Iii!< nut very re}"
or p!i.,-i.'!Trci in ;»iiot;ier; ■

■ 'lis C;«rJ9lmaa f&u;-i,

-' ■! T</u3!i<iiit( ijr AH

'-■- His; ]<wtrv, hwi.

"""'■'^■'" '■' ■ ' ■ i"pi(j;n sujin'mp on

iheas (KjOttsi-jiw wHii much ot iiis ol(i-irorW ' riw;iaf
instinct an.f cimraitt'r ■■otiting^ upperin^st f./r tho
isomvat;

iMnimemcnts

the Pnq"

S«ims' '^»a.

;r=giy ,aipt,rii,„t ti, tile arfpquatp study of popiii...
i^inditiow ajid public deveiopim-nt.' Th« Frenr
CaoadiHn Xolk-l(i«' i.>j not aa defiply. mystical &x tbv
of tlw (Jcrtitan ntir does it revrJ in' mythoiogii-
■onditioni such mi those kivwl by the aneieat. Grt-ik

It h*i art efemvnt. of I
sadimsti born of r^ ;igi.>'
extent p«opie tJie air
with gnomes nail k<-
iHpfici-iiy, tile- form o! i.

" it tJalanc- ' '■
n: it dolls ' '
ith »nd tiu- ,, .!»
I tiiey take, m.^r-
ippfiritiiin'; whi':

'Seene onttbeiMtiabetclioaau fftwerin-^ebec

■■

., . ■•^■;-.f^?-

■Vrn'-Kw.

•» >■

•^ {1 !Mr, M . ji'"'!'WSv'' 1

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 305

Many of the customs, beliefs and superstitions
lingering amongst the habitants and fishermen had
their origin in Old France; many others have
arisen from historic association with the Indians
For instance, amongst those dwelling on the shores
of the lower St. Lawrence many think that a tune
played on some musical instrument or sung in the
evening when the air is calm causes the Marionettes,
or Northern Lights, to dance freely and beautifully
m the sky. If, however, any luckless wight should
become fascinated by the dancing movements of
these golden threads of light and should attempt to
join in the mazes of the dance he will be found next
day stiff and stark on the shore! The French Cana-
dian half-breeds in the Northwest believe, or did
believe at one time, that it is possible to attract
these Northern Lights, or Aurora BoreaUs, in the
same way as they would the spirits of the air by
whistling for them, while they also believe that' the
lights can be frightened away by firing a gun
The belief apparently had its origin amoagst the
Crees and the Algonquins— the former styling the
phenomena "the Spirits' Dance."

Will-o'-the-wisps, or jeux-folUts, have all sorts of
traditions attached to them; many habitants con-
sidering them sorcerers, or malignant spirits, others
looking upon them as the transitory spirits of those
who have been condemned to eternal punishment.
J. C. Tach«, in his Forestiers et Voyageurs, tells the
story of a deep hole at the lower end of the Isle-
aux-Comeilles, in the St. Lawrence, which remains

306

FRENCH CANADA

full of water at low tide and over which there floats
a strange light that suddenly disappears, mystifies
the beholder, returns again, and sometimes lures
the unwary to death. Similarly, in a certain part
of the Bale des Chaleurs, there is said to exist a
strange light or fire which, after burning for a time,
disappears in a display of innumerable colored
sparks. Some old Acadiana along those shores
believe that the lights first appeared after the removal
of their people by the English and that they are
flames tormenting those who were responsible for
that action: >

Who has not heard ot the phantom light
That over the moaning waves at night
Dances and drifts in endless play?
Close to the shore, then far away,
Fierce as the flame in sunset skies,
Cold as the winter light ihat lies
On the Baie des Chaleurs.

A legend is recorded of the same region by M.
Faucher de Saint Maurice. At the very end of the
Bay there is seen, at times, a luminous point flitting
to and fro; in the belief of the local fishermen this
maiks a spot where some mariners named Roussi
perished in a storm; the tradition adds that the
light conveys to passers-by a desire for prayers on
behalf of the souls of those lost. A similar belief
exists on the north and south shores of the St. Law-
rence, in the vicinity of the Isle d'Orl^ans, where
the habitants think that wandering lights, or will-

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 307

o'-the-wisps, are evil spirits luring unfortunate
victims to death. De Gasp^, in Lea Andens Cana-
diem, makes one of his characters tell the story of
his own father's experience who, usually, "like an
honest man, loved his drop," but was on this par-
ticular occasion quite sober. He was on his way
home at a late hour when, suddenly, "it seemed to
him as if the Isle d'OrMans was on fire. He stared
with all his might and saw at last that the flames
were dancing up and down the shore as if all the
will-o'-the-wisps, all the damned souls of Canada,
were gathered there to hold the witches' sabbath.
Then he saw a curious sight; you would ha . a said
they were a kind of men, a queer breed altogether.
They had a head big as a peck measure topped off
with a pointed cap a yard long; then they had arms,
legs, feet and hands armed with long claws, but no
body to speak of." After further description Jules'
father quotes the following lines as being simg by
the goblins for his personal benefit:

Come, my frisky Traveller'a Guide,
Devil's minion, true and tried,
Ck)me, my suc'King-pig, my Simple
Brother Wart and Brother Pimple!
Here's a fat and juicy Frenchman
To be pickled, to be fried.

In French Canadian tales and legends the loup-
garou of France survives, but with additions born
of the wilderness and of Indian superstitions. The
Rev. Armand Parent, of Oka, describes a belief

■t-ri^:A

308

FRENCH CANADA

amongst the hdbitarUs that if a person neglects
partaking of the Sacrament for seven years he will
turn into a lougaroux, a sort of shapeless animal
without head or limbs and will so remain until some
good friend kills this creature when the man once
more appears. De Gasp^ is authority for the story
that a habitant says ouvrei or, open the door, instead
of entrez or, come in, because once upon a time a
young woman used the word entrez in response to
a knock and the devil entered and took possession
of her. Now and then one finds the belief that the
spirit of evil appears in the form of an immense
black cat darting fire from his eyes and making a
terrible noise.

There are many similar fancies found here and
there and not necessarily general, or widespread,
because they are mentioned. La main de gloire,
the dried hand of a man who has been hanged, will,
it is thought, enable anyone who carries it to go
anywliere he may wish to. Le chandelle magigue
is a candle composed of the fat of such a hand
melted into a taper and enabling the hold-'r to dis-
cover treasure at the spot where the lighted candle
may go out. A story is told of a habitant (many
similar ones pass current) who, passing the body
of a dead criminal hanging in a cage, out of bravado
invited him to supper that evening; greatly to the
astonishment of himself and his friends the dead
man duly appeared, carrying his cage. The intruder
would only leave upon the promise of his unapprecia-
tive host that he would, the next night at 12 o'clock,

mmrj^^iw gpym-i^j^^jp^^w^MasfciwiMM

TRADITIOXS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 309

dance at the foot of the gibbet to which the cage
had been hung. Accompanied by his friends, recit-
ing their chapelef . the village cur^ and a newly
baptized infant, the man appeared at the hour
promised and was let off with reproaches for not
coming alone and an expressed hope that the
incident migiit prove a sa'utary lesson.

Of traditions or stories based upon the supernatu-
ral, that of Rose Latulippe is one of the best known
She was a handsome girl, very gay and coquettish,
fond of flirtation and passionately fond of dancing
On the festive occasion of Shrove Tuesday she went
with her betrothed to a dance when, about eleven
o clock, a vehicle stopped at the door of the house
and those who looked out of the window saw, before
anything else, a wonderful black horse with fire in
his eyes and fire in his motions. The newcomer
who got out of the vehicle, was a stranger clad in a
splendid racoon-fur coat, and under it a suit of
black velvet richly braided. He asked permission
to keep on his fur cap and gloves, took a drink of
brandy and then, inviting pretty Rose for a
dance, stayed with her to the end of the evening
despite the anger of her lover and a warning from
an old dame in a neighboring room, that every time
in her prayers she used the names of Jesus or Mary
the stranger turned and glared at her. When twelve
o'clock came— the hour to cease dancing so as not
to infringe upon Ash Wednesday— the stranger
asked for one more dance and, when it was over,
tried to persuade Rose to accept a necklace of

310

FRENCH CANADA

pearb in place of the gla« beads around her neck
to which were attached a tiny cross. Mrs. J. W F
Harrison tells the end of the legend in the following
verses: ^

"You are mine," .ay, the .tranger. " From to-night.

Dance, dance, little Roee, a word in your ear

You are dancing with Lucifer, what doat fear?"

The Cur^l the OunSI He takea it all in

From Roae in her peril of horrible ain

To Mother Marmette and the aged Seigneur,

The whispering girls and the daied voyageur

And, breathing a hurried and silent prayer

And making the rign of the Cross in the air

And .aying aloud, "The Church hath power

To save her children in such an hour,"

He taketh the maiden by both her hands,

WhUst Lucifer dark and discomfited stands.

Snorting and stamping in fiendish ire.

He gains his steed with the eyes of Bre,

Who gives one loud and terrible neigh '

And then in the darkness thunders away.

It is a natural ending, under such circumstances
for the terror-stricken and repentant girl to enter
a convent and become a nun. There is a similar
tradition m Germany, where, however, the ghost
of the fair maid awaits the time when some Chris-
tian shall dance with it and remove the spell. An-
other Mardi Gras legend is that of an ancient and
pious settlement on the St. Lawrence, where, on a
certain Shrove Tuesday, a stranger riding on a fast,
coal-black trotter proposed to the habitants that
they should take possession of a deserted manor

K •'m.%^'f^MM^mmwmLma^ziwwr''«'mmitw§j^imLmi\>

THADITIONS, FOLK-LOKE AND BALLADS 311

in the neighborhood, borrow a fiddle which he would
play, and invite the village maidens to a dance.
The jollification commenced with the smoking of
plenty of strong French Canadian tobacco, the
dnnkmg of Sangrce— a sort of mulled wine— and
fontmued with intermittent dancing until midnight
when, according to all church rules and local pre-
cedents, the party should have broken up. But
the fiddler would have none of such rules, wilder and
still wilder dances were played and indulged in until
the lights grew dim and the dancers had disappeared
with nothing visible but the red tuques on their
heads— which were madly leaping up and down above
the ground and their buried bodies!

The religious environment of these legends may be
noted, as it is very general in French Canada. Sir
J. M. he Moine tells the story of a light being seen
at midnight in a little church on Isle Dupas, near
Montreal, with an apparently phantom priest stand-
ing motionless at the altar. Finally a parishioner,
braver than the others, volunteered to stay one
night in the church. Presently, the priest appeared
in his soutane, went through the preparations for
celebrating Mass, retired and assumed his sacerdotal
garb and then returned, bearing the chalice. Mass
was then said, the habitant helping in the service,
repeating the responses and escorting the priest to
the SacHstU, where he turned and said: "For three
years I have come here every night to say a Mass I
once said too hastily. I was condemned to do so
every night until I should find here a person to serve

-:* ..uliiii'a^:':;

313

FRENCH CANADA

o. the same ..ll^lt' "^^^f^, 8J«'!* •«» on the rivef
in the Ro«, UtuliZt"'°^*'"'Wea, illustrated

tain lands havingTsenTj.^i^'C ' T' ^
Bell, owner of the Fo«.. "!^*!" ""n. Matthew

Three Rivers/the laUeflr ^'"^'"^' ^°"'« °'
one day "S n^.r *"^ "" ' moment of anaer

justly ipropriatinV'""'"* ''"'^''°* »*'"«" ^om u "
to the DT^?"'*sI*rtKW. 1 bequeath it all

same statement Sth'^^f '"'"'' ^P*''*"^ *•">
who had wronged hTwouidnoT*™*'"? *'"'* *''««'
they had taken rZT^ '"'"J' '" P*'"'"' "'hat

in the neightrhood-:°l S "/ ^""^ °^ ""»»"
Four men werese^carrl « «''°'"y '""'lents.

it must be the Tvil JSm f " '"1° *'"' ^'"^'~
A man stalked the hS e^!:^^" ^°'?"° *° "elll
in his hands-it mu t t^ IHZ T ?"■ " P'P*'
-countsi At mid-^ght a peat fi™ l'""'''''^ ''"
noticeable on the hill whtif ^^i u ^"^'^^ ^"^V
to Satan and weird fi^X S '^rj?'"'"''''*'""^
were seen while howls of m1!^ TJ , "'"''"ng chains
were heard followrd bvT^K '""*''*" ""-J '«««
All kinds of other«t • '''f P''«'n°"s utterances.

Tf *.?' ^"* *••- '^'^ siffict wr*" *''^"'-'-''
built two%Xrts°o ai""\:S«*- ^«ne.
H-er, there is thr;:dirnTharaXer':-:

rm^

*.*«

tf«

II if:

Tadou.acBay.E„,^c»,omeF,„ous
&>a^ionav River

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 313

to the meeting which was called to deal with its
construction and forcibly opposed the placing of a
cross upon the steeple as being too expensive.
He was a swarthy fellow, recently from Paris, and
had ridden to the meeting on a coal-black, fiery
Norman roadster, very restless and held by a spiked
double bridle. Finally, when the cross was omitted
the stranger offered to cart all the stone required
in building at his own expense, and as construction
proceeded it was noted that the horse did not seem
to mind how huge or how heavy were the boulders
he drew to the place of operations. One day the
beadle of the future church led the horse to a well
and though it was known that its bridle was never
taken off he proceeded to do so, when, behold!
the horse disappeared in a cloud of blue flame and
sulphurous smoke. The exquisite satire of using
the devil to build a church is obvious and indicates
the keen sense of humor which the habitant undoubt-
edly possesses.

All the way down the St. Lawrence, out into the
Bay, and even along the shores of the Acadia of old
are to be heard superstitious stories, incidents of
ghostly character which date from the long ago.
Near IsIe-aux-Coudres is a small island called Seal
Rocks and on it, according to tradition, a young man
named Chatigny was abandoned to starvation by
a jealous comrade. Since then the place is sup-
posed to be haunted by spirits whose cries and moans,
however, may b.? accounted for by the cries of
young seals and x,he groanings of the winds. The

iii<

314

FRKNCH CANADA

weird and melancholy tale told by AbW H R
Casgram, in his volume nf r.,. j- t *•

belief t^aTie'^e^a^rLtT'' "" '"'^^''"
world than adults and lell "d LVXr'*"*'

Of suffermg, urgmg on the tormentors Verv
general amongst the hakitant, is the tlof a^an
tast.c and fearsome boat, akin perhaps to the Black
Huntsman of other lands, which is called the cK

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS SIS

GaUrie; and goes flying through the air with the
speed of an arrow; which is manned by a dozen
red-coated figures, "paddling like damnation," as
a rural story-teller once told Frechette the poet;
and which has the Devil in the stern, leading in
chorus with a song and a vo'"3 which strike terror
to the heart of the hearer. xJrummond depicts it
thus:

But I know on de way Canoe she go, dat de crowd must be

dead man.
Was come from the Grande Rivi6re du Nord, come from

Saskatchewan.
Come too from all de place is lie on de Hodson Bay Contrce.
An' de ting I was see me dat New Year night is le phantome

Chasw Gal'rie

The country around Tadousac is replete with
legends and the place itself furnished W. H. H.
Murray with the Indian story upon which he based
his sensational Doom of the Mamelons. It was from
here that the news of the death of Father de la
Brosse, a devoted missionary who passed away in
1782, was wafted by supernatural means to Father
Compain in the IsIe-aux-Coudres, out in the St.
Lawrence — the bells on the Island being tolled by
mysterious hands at the very hour of his death.
There are traditions of a mansion built at Charlotte-
town, P. E. I. — then known as Isle St. Jean — over
the graves where lay the remains of French soldiers
killed when in charge of local forts. The story is
that the new occupants could not sleep at night for

316

FRENCH C/»NADA

the cellar and trying to find out the cause *

r„™ K ?."""' *'''"«'' "« t°W of Louis Olivier

into thrst T. , ^"''^''"' "^"^ '"noinK

the Mal-Ba.e region come habitant stories of horsed
E Jhiirtr"'""^ "* D-«'-town Porta^"-

the Magdalen group, rests the legend told by Moore:

To Deadiaan's Isle in the eye of the blast,
To Deadman', We she speeds her fast.
By skeleton ehapes her sails are furled
And the hand that steers is „ot of this world.

The Stories told by the habitants are masterpieces
of e-aggerat.on and mixtures of the supernatural

tvLnf^f"'' ''' P^''"*''"*' »d *^' relfgious A
type of the exaggerated tale is told by W. P Green

ough, an American dweller in Arcady4therwt"

rural Quebec-for some seasons. It is supposeTt^

be narrated by Nazaire, a guide and hunterSom

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 317

Mr. Grccnough employed. There was once upon a
time a very famous hunter named Dalbec of Stc.
Anne. He was on his way home when he saw a
fox on the other side of a little round lake. Just
as he raised his gun to fire six ducks came flying
out from the bushes near him. He was not sure
at first which he would try to shoot — the fox or the
ducks— but ,1 'dcd final'" to try for both. " Placing
the barrel of hiH long gt i. between two trees, he bent
it into a quarter of a circle, fired at the ducks, killed
them all, killed the fox also, and the bullet came back
and broke the leg of the dog that was standing by
him." Dalbec was a real personage and a great
story-teller ae well as a mighty hunter. A favorite
amusement with him was to get another hunter and
rival in his art, gather a crowd of habitants around
them after Vespers on Sunday, and then compete
with each other by the hour in telling the most
amazing yarns with mutual interjection of approving
remarks or exclamations.

One more story of the kind that would thus be
tossed to and fro may be given. Dalbec had ex-
pended his ammunition and was returning home one
day when he saw a flock of wild ducks swimming
about among some timbers. He waded out in the
water, got hold of one duck after another by the legs
and fastened them to his belt till he had a dozen or
so when, suddenly, he found himself raised in the
air and carried off up the St. Lawrence with a strong
gale blowing and helping him on his journey. "Just
as he passed the church at Ste. Anne he heard the

318

FRENCH CANADA

first bell of the Mass sound and he wished he had
stayed at home instead of going shooting. At the
rate he was going he had not much time to think
but presently he realized that something must b^'

onT^f f: Tl'" ""r" "»'' '^"'^^ *h« neck o^
one of the ducks. That let him down a little-
then he twisted the neck of another. So he kept

ZZi' "'?. '* ""^ '"^'"'^ «»' "e found himse'
t^T .T *^e ground in front of the church at
Sorel and heard the second bell of the Mass. He hrd

h':r°aSr-^""*^-'^^ """-"•' ^-^^^-^-i-

Some of these stories take hours to tell- some
occupy two evenings in narration. They ar'e Xn
fairy tales ^U a youthful prince and a beautS
pnncess as the central figures. A curious mixture

.snot thTl T-^f' *'' ''"*«°"'"" "»'' *•>« ^"bulous
IS not the least interesting phase of these fairy stories
For instance, Petit Jean, the deliverer of a princeL

What the h(dntant loves to eat-boiled pork sau-
sages, etc^, while the liquors accompanyi„g?he,;iands
r„tf "^T/""* '^' •'*«* "'-l Jam^ca rum In
another and finer part of the building will be a table
furmshed with all these things and also black pud!
dmgs, wines and French brandies; in the stables are
horses, carriages and "a beautiful little bugg^ "
There is a traditional giant and Petit Jean shoots
his nose off and sticks it on again with a piece o
sticking p aster! And so the story goes on from
one ridiculous or amusing incident to another

THADIT10N8, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 319

Coining to the folk-lore of the people as expressed
in songs, ballads, or Chansons Canadiennes, nothing
can be said without consulting Ernest Gagnon's
volume of collections in that respect. He embodies
in his pages the condition which means so much
to the life of a people— the fjngs they sing. To
hear the French Canadian habitant singing in the
woods his favorite sentimental ballad framed after
the style of three or four hundred years ago; to
note the lusty and cheerful way in which he chaunts
the romaunt of which there are said to be very many
more than the hundred or so described by M.
Gagnon; to hear and to see him is to understand
the difference between the habitant and his Ontario
or American neighbor or his fellow-subject in the
fields of the distant England. Imagine an English-
speaking farmer or laborer returning from his day's
work, through the fields of the farm, or the streets
of a village, caroling at the top of h -oice some
song or lilting rhyme of old Englanu, of bonny
Scotland, or even of the distressful Isle! The
favorite of them all with the French Canadian is
A La Claire Fontaine of which a couple of verses
and the chorus follow:

I'll

Unto the crystal fountain
For pleasure did I stray;

So fair I found the waters
My limbs in them I lay.

Sing, nightingale, keep singing,
Thou bast a heart so gay,

•* FRENCH CANADA

Thou hut a hevt n merry
While mine ii aorrow'g prey.

For I have loat my Mistrew

Whom I did true obey,
All for a bunch of roeee,

Whereof I uaid her nay.

long ia it I have loved thee,

Thee ghall I lovo alway,

My deareet;

,Long ii it I have loved thee,

Thee ahaU I love alway.

The little boy imbibes these Chamom as hfi Hn..

oy tne side of a stream, or in some shady nook
wher« the words and the music fit into the scene
2h.Hrr' T ''"«'"« *"««*''" the tunes Tre

^"r when thev """'"' '""""-''^^ ""= ♦''^ «--
sums When they seem most delightful. a verv

K'trinTe? " *'^ °"^ °^ "^ ^"°--'^*^ -^-ke S

The cruel ball has found its quest.
His golden bill sinks on his breast;

-T M

TRADITIONS, FOLK-LORE AND BALLADS 32)

Hii golden bill ginkg on hia breiwl,
Hu plumes go floating Eut and Wp«t.

F»r, far they're borne to distant land*,
Till gathered by fair maidens' handii;

Till gathered by fair maidonn' hands
And form at laat a soldier's b«l.

And form at last a soldier's bed,

En rotdatU ma boule.
Sweet refuge for the wanderer's head,

Bn roulant ma bouU.

The words of these Ckansons, it may be added
afford httle idea of the melody and charm which
they have under natural conditions. Just a few
lines may be quoted here, at random, from Mai-
brouck—a. most popular and widely sung melody—
in concluding u rambling study of things that Ue
below the surface so far as ordinary history or
travelers' experiences are concerned, yet which are
really vital to any knowledge of a people's position
the records of a race, or the real Ufe of the often
voiceless masses:

Malbrouck has gone a-fighting,
Mironlon, mironton, mirontaine,

Malbrouck has gone a-fighting
But when will he return?

Monsieur Malbrouck is dead, alasl
And buried too, for aye;

nWNCH CANADA

And itt the ournen of hii tomb
They plutnl row-iiikrie.

And from their topii the nifhtin(*l«
Rinp out her ovol free,

Hkz

CHAPTER XVI

PlONBBRH AND PaTRICIANH Or LlTBRATURB

It is nn cnity stop from the balladi of a people—
the inatinctivc, irrRRponiiible exprenion of their
thoiightR ami fnncira and fcelinga— to the literature
which still further embodies or describes their
history, their opinions, their development. The
one is really of the other; to write the songs of a
nation, even in these commercial days, means
much in evolving or cementing the patriotism of
its people. The literature of French Canada is
and has been a living, breathing entity, a factor in
its creation and preservation, an element in the very
lives of the people. It would not be difficult in any
important collection of Canadian books to find
several hundred volumes of history, poetry, belUi-
lettret, romance, travel, written by men and women
whose names are practically unknown to the public
outside of Quebec; who have spoken for and to a
narrow audience growing in a century and a half
from less than a hundred thousand to three millions;
who have been hampered rather than helped by the
vastness of their surroundings and by the richness
of material opportunity on every hand.

Canada, even French Canada with all its superior
brightness and lightness of thought, its facility of
(323)

834

FKKNCII CANADA

•peeoh and inherited poetry of lentiment, iU old-
world tradition* of literature, art and drama, haa
been influenced by the inevitable difficultiei and
requiremonti of pioneer <lByB, the otill greater
mntorial drmnnclH of the present. The peasant
or habitant miglit have developed more Ringers of
national thought in the form of poetry, more crea-
tors of national fiction, but ho was immersed at
first in the dangers of early settlement days, then
in the struggles for political change, then in those
great modern interests — the development of the
land and the entry into factory and city life. The
Heigneurial syxtem promised much and a class which
could produce a whole family of Le Moynes, which
could present to its people a heroine such as Mile,
de Verchdrcs, which could evolve such families as
the Duchesnays, the De Lotbiniircs, the St. Ours,
the Bouchers, the De Salaberrys and many more,
might well have developed a great literature. It
did not, however, have a fair chance, its opportunities
were limited and confined, its development was
never very complete as a class. The days of New
France were, upon the whole, days of war; when
peace came the change of allegionce, the reversal
of patriotism, the transfer of so many families to
France, the change from a government of autocracy
and paternalism to one of modified and then slowly
increasing liberty, were not conditions fitted for a
creative literature. It was a time of transition
when French Canadian patriotism was naturally
unsettled and ill-defined. The people were neither

I'lONEElW OF LITEHATUKE

32fi

British nor French nor Canadian; thpir inatitutiona
and idcala and patriotiam wnrc all in the inrltinR-pot.
In th« war-timp, and fint iitriiRRlJnK (x^riod of
French nationality in (,'anadu, tli<-ri' wim little writ-
ing of ony kind except in the form of official reporta
and deapatchea to PariM from t<ov<'mor», Intcndanta
and Biahopa or in that Hplendid aeriea of Icttcre by
Jeauita to the head of their Order which now con-
stitute seventy volumea of hintory and literature.
The IcBdcra of New Franco were very often cultivated
in their toatPH and would, in any caac, have helped
literature to flouriah had there been men, or time,
or openings for such a purauit. Frontcnac wan
fond of literature and all that it means; his wife,
who, however, never ciimc to Cnnada, wa« a friend
of Mme. de Scvign6 and other lights of France in that
period; Mgr. dc la OaliNsonniirc was a lavanl who
made hia mark in other fielda than government
and politics and war; M. Dupuy, one of the Intend-
ants, brought cut a large library to Quebec; M.
Boucher, Seigneur, founder of a family, Governor
of liiree Rivers, a soldier and a fighter, wrote a
volume on natural history; Champlain himself
was a man of science, an able writer, a real student
of geography, navigation and nature; Jolliet,
Nicollet, De la Vdrendryc, were all educated men
who based their explorations and described the
results upon scientific lines; M. Talon, when Intend-
ant, had investigations carried on over a wide range
of country as to conditions and resources and it was
done by men nf science imported for the purpose;

II, ki

irn

t%^^

^ ^m

326

FRENCH CANADA

the Marquw de Beauhamois as Governor and M
Hocquart as Intendant, were fond of circulating and
discussing the French literature of the period

T^^.T '^'"'° "* *•"" ^'"'*«''" St. Louis and
circulated ;n manuscript for want of a printing
press but, m the main, are lost to us; the songs o?
^„H ™= ^"'^^Jed everywhere, with the soldiera
and fur traders and explorers and voyageurs and
helped undoubtedly to create and establish the merry
spmt of the modem habitant. ^

All this 'did not, however, constitute a native
hterature, though it proved and voiced intellectual
activity just as did much of the private correspond-
Z\^ *•>"* f n°d of which we get glimpses now
and then. There were, however, the writings of the
Church-somethmg confidential, in a sense vet
seen by many in France and amongst the cultured
ar les of Rome The letters of the Jesuit Fathers
were hterature m the finest sense; descriptions of
actua^ events and incidents, products of intense
suffering, of exalted feelings or, sometimes, of a
poetic fire aiid force straight from the forge of
natures mighty hammer. P^res Charievoix and
Lafitau were students in ethnology and botany as
well as recorders of current history; Father- M»,
quette and DoUier de Casson were write™ as w"l
as militant priests and explorers. This Uterature
was of course, confined to the men of monasteries,
to the missionanes in the field, to the ecclesiastics
who were founding and developing schools of
religious learning; to the Seminary and Jesuit

^iL-

PIONEERS OF LITERATURE

College of Quebec or the Sulpician Seminary ot
Montreal. It was essentially religious in its ele-
ments; it naturally did not touch the lighter and
fanciful side of the French character; it lives in
history, yet was hardly creative of a national litera-
ture in the fullest and widest sense.

It was, therefore, natural when the French
Canadians settled down in 1800-1840, or there-
abouts, to find themselves in a patriotic, political
and national way and to use the printing press —
which had been first utilized in the French publica-
tion of prayer-books and, in 1776, of a work (Sailed
L' Adoration Perpetuelle — that the issue of pamphlets
should be the initial development. The people
had to deal with new and peculiar problems and
relationships; they could not know what was going
to be the outcome of existing conditions. A passive
acquiescence in British rule, a sort of vague feeling
that Great Britain had been generous, teachings
by the Church of loyalty to existing conditions
were not enough, in themselves, to form a basis
for mental alertness or literary effort. The books
in the Colony at this time were fairly numerous;
it is estimated that in 1765 there were 60,000 of
them, but they were held in private libraries and
in the hands of cultured families who understood
public affairs and discussed matters in the spirit
of a Parisian Salon.

Two events, however, made a native literature
possible and evoked the popular spirit out of which
such ix development comes. One was the publica-

rr^

328

FRENCH CANADA

t'on and intended to describe fh ^''""^ S"^"'""
constuutional system of Eal h' °'"'"''*'''" °^ the
'^as a revelation to tlie ot, «°^«nment. It

°f it came an immenle ^1 ^"^"^ Politicians and out
vers^al n>atter. TlTe Tecond' "' '"'^^''"^"t <=ontro
« Quebec of Le Ca« ^^ SoeT* "t^ *''^ ''^^^^S
ne'vspaper with a full nil; ^ *' " ^'^''''h weekly
«over„„en. for its init 1^^ "' "°"^"*"f- '
continuous controversy as Z TT"^' ^''"^ and
brightness > and wit Z Z "^''^ characteristic
^t'cles as a feature FromthTf'"'"^"* «*--y
decades, there poured o7 l^Vl'^""'' '^^ ^^^eral
Canada a series nf ? °® Pi'css of Fren^l,

-hieh dealt with myrirdTh ""^^ 7" """'icaS
French and EnglisrrSiot'"''.f P''^*^ ^''^far"
government and poIiticJSi" the province, self-'
a number of transient IrS ^""'"""^ started
h^toncal nature and writer^ °^ ^ '"^'^'^ «nd
there and in Quebec whl. '""*' to the front

"> ^rench Canadall °N T" "*' ^*'" «''«™h°<i
f- X. Garneau, M A pf' ?"' *'"' Mondelets
B«rthelct, Cau hon the n "''°"' "''*'"'"™ I'ab e'
P-nt, Raphael Uta^eT/r' ^r^' ^«--
Panbault and others ' °^"n-^'ajoie, G. B

^.jmk

Brwd Oven. Cap , fXig,,

T; M

i' ■

PIONEERS OF LITERATUKE

329

latter end of the eighteenth century, but the younger
spirits of 1830-40 listened to the voice of the charmer
when it came through the brilliant writings of
Lamartine, Victor Hugo and others. They were
held in check by religious or Church influences,
but a certain French vogue did touch the literary
efforts of this period. Quesnel, Mermet and Bibaud
produced poetry of a didactic and pastoral char-
acter; Real Angers, J. G. Barthe, J. E. Turcotte,
Cr^mazie and Garnnau came to the front with
verse which rioted in wrath against existing condi-
tions or limitations, revelled in a patriotism which
wanted change and reform, and delighted at times
in the expression of French ideas and radical ideals.
Bibaud, Ferland, Faillon and Gameau embodied
many of their ideals in historical works which, in
turn, had a powerful influence upon public opinion
— an effect enhanced by the re-appearance of Le
Canadien for a short time in 1821 after a temporary
submergence and again, more permanently, in 1831.
Of these pioneers and leaders in literature Octava
Cr^mazie and F. X. Gameau were probably the
patricians. The former was rich in rhetoric, strong
in passionate appeal, instinct with the public senti-
ment and environment of hb time Whether in his
Le Drapeau de Carillon, and many other poems, he
did what an English Canadian writer has recently
described as necessary for permanence in verse —
keeping "essential human nature in harmony with
universal art" — is a question which can be left to
a still further posterity. There is no doubt that

380

FRENCH CANADA

Crtmazie embodied in permanent form much of
the fleetmg thought and fancy and pa«,ion of his
hour; ,n domg so he was like Kipling in later day

Anln rr^l' '° '^'" ""'"*' """^ ^"> their ideab
Apart from the writing of a RecesHonal or a Crcsina
the Bar what more could he have desired?

Of Frangois Xavier Garneau much might be
said here and much has been written elsewhere^

people and interpreted their feelings not only i^
powerful ver,e but in his HisUnre du Canada~M

L T^ 1 "'Tr^' '"""^'- A« " ""•"'equence he
8 a great au hority in Quebec regarding the con!
tentious annals of a bitterly controversial period-
FrZ^r '"T'^'"'^^' «"*«"* the representarive o

ot Enghsh and French in that Province and of
Great Britain and French Canada; hU statue
unveiled by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, graces the PaS
ment grounds of the Ancient Capital while hh,
praise echoes through the words of French Ubrarians
joumahsts and authors. No student of French
Canada can afford to neglect his pages and, perhaps,
the opimon of one who is himself resjicted by
everyone interested in the annals of Quebec-

S'"°'".?iS'*'~'?''^ ^'" "^ """^'''l « this con-
nection: "He ,s less passionate or partial than
hi^onans who have dealt with the subject befte
.; I '."f**""^ ^^ °^^«'" hides the good doines
of the British people upon this continent." T
Garneau s poetry, Sir J. M. Le Moine has said that

PIONEERS OF UTERArURE

331

much of it reminds one of B^ranger and that it wag
marked by enduring loftiness of idea and aobleness
of sentiment.

Meantime there had been some development in
the realm of fiction. Eugene L'Eeuyer, P. J. O.
Chauveau, P. A. de Gasp«, Patrice Lacombe,
Joseph Doutre, Napoleon Bourossa, J. Talon
L^sperance, and Antoine G4rin-Lajoie wrote novels
dealing with French Canadian life and characteristics.
G^rin-Lajoie in his Jean Rivard is described as
carrying the palm for roman de moeura in the Province
of Quebec. Chauveau was of the best type of
literary man produced by French Canada. Cul-
tured in taste, kindly and broad-minded in character,
moderate in opinion, a politician and educationalist
as well as an author, he stands out distinctly as
one of the patricians of Canadian literature in its
highest sense. None of the volumes of these writers,
or others touching the realm of ficti> u, however,
were really historical in character. Despite a soil
redolent of forest life, of Indian customs, of the
venturesome deeds and unrecorded heroism pertain-
ing to the pioneer life of the past, they do not seem
to have been so inspired.

One can so well imagine heroes of a great historical
novel, moving through its pages amid all the pictur-
esque splendor of early French Canadian sur-
roundings, with all the brilliant garb and bright
conversation, the daily and hourly peril to their
lives, the vivid background of mighty forests-
sullen and gloomy in their depths or illumined by

OM FRENCH CANADA

autumn wind* into vast seas of golden color or
flaming red. To look around and dream of the great
continental wilderness which these tiny groups of
men and women had undertaken to subdue; to
thmk of the vast lakes or rivers stretching for
thousands of miles in a primeval silence only broken
by the stormy dash or peaceful ripple of their own
waters; to picture the plumed casques and knightly
armor of Europe, or the priestly robes and even
the ecclesiastical vestments of a mighty Church
m the shadow of savage camp-fires; to see men of
courtly training, priests of medisBvai .volish, women
of the cloister or of cultured homes, i-.r.ag a pioneer
life on the very shores of a sea of savagery; to
carry the mind back into all this wonderful environ-
ment is to surely experience surprise that French
Canadian literature is not, as a whole, steeped in
the atmosphere which Sir Gilbert Parker, William
Kirby and other English writers have so well por-
trayed. Joseph Marmette did, in his FraiKoia
de BienvilU, touch this fascinating theme and took
the times of Frontenac and the 1690 Siege of Quebec
as the environment of his story. De Gasp^ in his
romance, Les Ancien Canadient, produced a work
of interest for its description of conditions in early
days, as did G^rin-Lajoie in his novel dealing with
La Tour and Nova Scotia life, but they were not of
the school of historical fiction which Walter Scott
originally made famous and which a host of modem
followers have made attractive to the uttermost
degree.

PIONEERfl OF LITERATURE

383

It was in poetry that French Canadians really
excelled amid the fighting scenes of political and
racial conflict and afterwards when full constitu-
tional liberties were accorded and the people had
burst the bonds of bureaucracy. The poetry of
the two periods was different just as the two chief
patriotic gongs of French Canada were widely
divergent. Sir Georgo Etiennc Cartier in youthful
days of a rash, impetuous patriotism, which led him
to share in the Rebellion of 1837, wrote in 1834
0 Canada! Man pays, Mes Amours. It was for
long a popular air, but has been superseded by an
0 Canada.' from the pen of Sir Adolphe Basile
Routhier— lawyer and judge, author and historian,
poet and orator— which has found popularity outside
and beyond its native province and original language.
Joseph Le Noir and Pamphile Le May were two
poets of different periods who represented some of
the best qualities in French Canadian verse.

It remained, however, for Louis Honors
Frechette to bring the highest honors to French
Canadian literature, to make its qualities widely
known abroad, to win recognition from France in
the laureateship of the Academic Frangaise, and
from Great Britain in a Companionship of St.
Michael and St. George. M. Frechette was in his
day, and not very long ago, the acknowledged
doyen of French Canadian literature. As Cr^mazie
was a follower of B^ranger so he was a passionate
admirer of Victor Hugo. He was a champion of
sentimental relations with France and at one time

334

FRENCH CANADA

wa« doubtful of Canada being able to hold it«lf
away from the United 8t«t«.; he wa. an adhe fnt
of the modem «K;hooI of liberal thought and m

Canada; a behever, at the same time, in the gener^
advantage, of Britiah rule in Canada and of the

tt^ "'"'""'' '" ">« """t conspicuou. of all

on French literature has been very great, conserva-

rhe!.°th "r*" ?' '"^"""^ ««-'»<'»» °^« vL
W J , "^"^'"'''♦y; '^membership, "the Forty
Immortals," mcluded in recent years auch nam«
M the Due de Broglie, Emile Olivier, Sully-Pru-
tie Cf; ^""^TiHal^vy, Copp^e, Sardou, Qa^t
t^.^J " ' °°"'*'*' Theuriet, Hanotaux and

Jt^^'^' ^^' *''" Academy's laurel crown,
fTS 7 T"""' ''"'"'"^""''' '^'^ Kiven to M
and U» Ot^ux de Neige. On October 13th
following, he was banqueted in Quebec by a repre^
aentative gathering, with Mr. Justice TasehTrZ

1"? V'^^'-J'''' '""«' ^««^«««' " speech typTcal
of cultured PVench Canadian oratory iT whch he
referred to the French Academy as "the Lat
intej^ret^r and infallible judge of the difBcXes
the beauties and the genius of the French language "'
tToS ^"tr^l 'Sacred France, Mother of CivTzk-
tion and "Fairy Paris, Capital of the Muses "
In his address the French Poet Laureate was n^er

J ^u.^

PIONEERS OF MTERATIRE 33fi

more eloquent and revealed the poetic feeling, of
ei^l.!!!!!. ''r,:' Old Quebec: "When my Z „f
e«le shook m the wind, from off the great Western
Lake, or slept on the boi^ery shore of Louisianian
ih. » "; T ?^ t^v"'"'" «kiff was rocked in

on the blue wave, of the Loire; when I had before
me the wild majesty of Niagara, the immensity of
the ocean, or when filled with admiration I paused
to ga.e upon the stupendous monuments of the
K. I, . A' ."^^ thoughts ever instinctively flew
the wlrid'? "'i'^^'r °f Champlain, unparalleled in
the world for the picturesque splendor of its site

2n ''"'.PT J^ ^^'"^ "° '*'"' ''«"'"' ff"™ the very
.tone, of the fortress than it lingers upon every pa^

youthful day. of struggle, to the poverty which wa.
then « Canada the inevitable accompaniment of

n th« ?7 ^"fT^^ *° ^' """^ *° """"y ""Other
m the he of Quebec and of all Canada were
Macaulay';. beautiful lines describing an infant
over whom the Faery Queen was suppld to calt a
mantle of literary life and literary joys:

"Ye., dwUng; let them go," .o ran the .train:

And aU the biuy elve. to whose domain
Belong, the nether .pherf , the aeeting hour.

WUhout one enviou. .igh, one anxiou. scheme,
The nether sphere, the fleeting hour awign.

Mine 1. the world of thought, the world of dream,
Mme all the past and all the future mine

*«» FRENCH CANAUA

Of the fair brotherhood who share my grace,
I from thy natal day pronounce thee freej'

And if for aome I IfHjp a nobler place,
I keep for none a happier than for thee."

There are many more French Canadian names
which deserve a place in any future pantheon of
fame. Between 1820 and the close of the century
there were two hundred writers who had each done
something worthy of note in prose or verse. Some
families, such as fhose of Barthe, Provencher,
Gelmas, Doutre, Fr^yhette, Boucher, Garneau and
Gagnon, ha4 each produced two or three writers;
some of the more prominent authors, such as L h'
Frechette, Sir J. M. Le Moine, P. J. 0. Chauveau
N. E. Duinne, F. G. Marchand, had produced
excellent work in English as well as in French-
pnestly students of the Church were conspicu-
ous in historical studies, as might have been ex-
pected, and Abb6 H. A. Verreau, Abb« H. R
Casgrain, Abb^.'Cyprien Tanguay, Abb6 L. B. Bois,
Abb« C. Guay, Mgr. Henri T«tu, Abb^ G. Dugas
Abb4 A. H. Gosselin, Abb^ J. Camille Roy, published
volumes of marked value. Benjamin Suite, in his
eight-volumed Histoire dea Canadiena-Francais, pro-
duced a most important work and has written
besides, an immense number of books on variou^
phases and developments of Quebec annals. The
last quarter of the century, however, developed
more hterary effort in French Canada than the
whole of the preceding century. Hon. Thomas
Chapais, A. D. De Celles, Arthur Buies, L. O

PIONEERS OF LITERATURE

337

David L. P. Turootte, J. Edmund Roy and Ernest
Myrand may be mentioned in prose and Mme.
Dandurand, N. Legendre and J. L. Archambault
m poetry.

Literature has been aided in French Canada during
the past hundred years by Literary Societies. There
was a French one in Quebec as far back as 1809-
the Literary and Historical Society of that city,'
which was founded in 1824 and is still in existence,
was helpful to both races; the Institut Canadien
of Quebec and Montreal and the Indilut Canadien-
Fransais of Ottawa were central points for the
study of racial interests. A multitude of literary
journals, reviews and magazines were also started
in the Province and conducted for a brief period
before collapse came; but they usually lived long
enough to imbed in their pages, to preserve for future
study or perhaps publication in some other and
later form, valuable contributions to current Utera-
ture.

An impetus was given in more recent years to a
wider knowledge of French Canadian literature by
the organization of the Royal Society of Canada in
1882. Whatever the faults and weakness of that
body It has at least brought the two races together
m this particular connection; made each famUiar
with the names and attributes and wo-k of lead-
ing exponents in the public thought and literary
taste of the other race; taught the English and the
French Canadian to respect the labors and point
of view of the other. The names of its French

888 FRENCH CANADA

Pre8idents— P. J. 0. Chauveau, Mgr. T. E. Hamel,
L'AbM H. R. Casgrain, Sir J. M. Le Moine, Hon!
F. G. Marchand, L. H. Frechette, C. M. G., Benja-
min Suite, J. Edmond Roy— alone afford an excel-
lent picture of culture and literary capacity. Of the
twenty-eight members in the French section in 1912,
and apart from those already mentioned in a specific
connection, there were Paul De Cazes, Errol Bou-
chette, Ernest Gagnon, Lion G«rin, N. Beauchemin,
L'AbM Am«d6e Gosselin, Sir F. Langelier, Hon.
R. Lemieux, P. B. Mignault, Albert Lozeau and
P. G. Roy, I who had distinguished themselves in
different branches of literary effort.

Canadian literature, whether French or English
has passed out of the pioneer stage and is slowly
but surely escaping from a later condition where
prosperity and either prose or poetry, as a pursuit,
were utterly incompatible companions— when the
creation of farms and homes, of private fortunes,
of industrial and financial institutions, were the
dominant accomplishments of the hour. They
are so yet, on the surface of affairs, and to the
passing visitor or tourist, but if the latter investi-
gates more closely he will find that, in French
Canada, at least, literature is now greatly encour-
aged; that men engaged in that pursuit are aided
by government, supported by the influence of
politicians, given civil service positions, considered
as men of no mean honor in their own country.
Some French Canadian newspapers or journals are
an additional encouragement to literature through

PIONEERS OF LITERATURE

339

their development of a literary style and the cultiva-
tion of good writing. VAction Sociale, an ecclegi-
Mtieal organ of Quebec, and 'e Devoir of Montreal,
the special and personal product of Henri Bourassa's
clever pen and political force, may be mentioned in
this respect.

The evolution of a wider national patriotism has
also helped. The kabitant, the merchant, the
workman in factory and city, or the politician, has
larger ideas now than he used to have when his
country was not only a dependency of France but
one autocratically administered, or than he had
when it became a British dependency without com-
plete British institutions. Moreover, in regard to
.'ranee, religious influences and conditions cut him
off for a century from most of its literary life— with
the exception of its songs and ballads; while in a
later penod he was cut off from English Uterature
by his own language. Now he has a great Dominion
to think of, vast in size, in resources, in possibilities,
and who can greatly blame the imaginative mind
which now and then transcends space, and time
and probability and traces in glowing prose or
patnotic verse a future in which New France has
renewed its vitality, vivified its clipped wings
and once more holds half a continent in feel These
are the dreams by which literature is created. They
are, however, not frequent in Quebec; the ordinary
evolution and expansion of his province is enough for
the wnter or journalist of today.
Moreover the Church, in literature as in politics.

840

FRENCH CANADA

education or philosophy, has been a steadying force
and the stream of bright young men who have
come from its colleges and schools were, with cer-
tain bnlliant exceptions, an influence for the quieter
by-ways of literary efFort-except when they took
to the stormy but pleasing paths of political journal-
ism. A Zola or a Flaubert in French Canada is
mconceivable: a Voltaire or a Rousseau is difficult
to imagine, although some weak imitations have
occasionally flamed up and then flickered out- a
Daudet or a Cherbuliez is not so impossible now
that literary, relations with France are close and
friendly and when the spirit of the people is stirring
with the pulse of a vigorous Canadian nationality
It must not be inferred from what is said here that
the Roman Catholic Church in Canada has dis-
oouraged literature. The contrary is the case along
certain lines; if there has been a check given any-
where It has only been given to the extremes which
this great pursuit or occupation may sometimes
touch.

Such, in brief review, is the literature of French
Canada. It has not yet reached the altitude of its
motheriand any more than has that of English
Canada; it has not quite risen to the height of its
eventful history and brilliant racial traditions in
America. On the other hand, it has produced a
poetry that is in soue respects the best which
this continent has seen and is not inferior, in a gen-
eral way, to that of English Canada or the United
States; it has developed a certain form of culture

PIONEERS OF LITERATURE 341

Which has reacted upon its journalism and language
S Z^'^' '* '"«,«''"Wted qualities of lightneL
and deftness of touch, simplicity and at times rich-
ness of style which are French in the main yet local
to the soil in certain details. Certainly, in its
fanciful traditions, solid realities, religious anna
nu^itapy memories, folk-lore and environment, it^

Si, /T^ ''^'''- *° ^^' "motion anrt

rImnK .r'°* °1 " ""°« "*""*"'«• As Wilfrid
\^&mpbell somewhere says:

You ask me where I get these thoughts,

These dreams melodious, mystical,
I read them in God's book of lore.

Wide-open, splendid by my door.

I read them )se curicis runes

Those tra, jes of love and strife.
That chart of memory-haunted dunes

That demon, angel-book, that man calls Life.

CHAPTER XVII
BBrnsH Undmakks in Fbench Canada

of the war here ThI 7 . *''* *"<*''^'» ^'ose

Plete and d/tea from ,823- iH *7'. 'I'T *» —
William Wood a^ Jfh '•♦ ' '*"*'"' "^ Colonel

atruet.on is massive and thorough a? 'JJ^^'

(342)

BRITISH LANDMARKS

343

expected and underground passages are said, unof-
ficially, to communicate with certain localities out-
side the fortifications. These were, as a whole
built with formidable facings and protections for
battenes, there are deep ditches, thick walls, secret
doors and great bastions on the edge of the rocky
crags which face and overhang the river. The whole
takes the place of the wooden works of the French
which in their day, however, and with their splendid
strategic position, answered the purpose of their
builders and guardians to a considerable extent.
Canadian soldiers in British unUorm now guard the
ramparts, British military airs echo over the rippling
waters of the great river at the foot of the cliffs
the Umon Jack floats over the mighty waUs, which
moss grown as they may be, still rank amongst the
world 8 great fortresses.

The present fortifications have not stood a siege
nor have they shared in the great events of Cana-
<^an history, but there is no doubt that the fact of
their existence and known strength has been a
consideration to possibly hostile neighbors, in the
days now gone by, when trouble existed along our
borders. What the strength and value of the can-
nons, or of the defences, may now be against modem
cannon and modern ships is for military authorities
to say— to a layman the Citadel looks most delight-
fully strong. Within the ramparts is a tiny cannon
which the soldier accompanying visitors delights
to exhibit— especially to Americans. Every one is
told the same story, but it sometimes receives

I ?

344

PHENCH CANADA

^expected additioM t

U-ited State, the ^ard « °°t *'"^t ^".m the

"»oriptio„ show,: '^S oT"''*"'' •» «deed the

American vicS:;\':-^-fed to hi«^^^^^^^^
"b^/r. ^^^ ^'l],.n^:^?7,. - cannon'^:'

but If the hill had been on' k P''^'^ '''e «'Jdier
^•^ we would have car^Sl tW ^'^ '" *'"' "annon

Another landmark aTo,K°**°°-"

the spot on the walls omeRn IT, * "«'»"«en t, "
^We Major-General Rot J M ^^°^ ^^^ ramparts
«'»« one of those occSf *^°"'8°'nery fell/ jj'
"esses or failures seeTto "u^""" '""'"' <^^^^ suc-
«°n>ents in the arriv^ o?f! '° ''*'- '^''en a tZ
disposition of 8tWWn° >T' " ^''' y^ds fa fhl

be'ng appealed to by wl^'nl ^""""' P«0P'e Were
their motherland and tW h"'"^! emmissaries from
passive and neutral in th«^f"'^'' Presently to h^
decide their own^ua^e f ^J'^ S' 3*° !«* the ^^
° -" -^^'ow Quebec t; bVcfrS: S^:t^

:.«. -.'i.

344

'1 Critlr.;!

Litae Champlam Street, Quebec dity

-J- .*'•■

«cri.

#nrTsE»

a _ _ l=i

1 *

BRITISH LANDMARKS

346

band them beoaufw of the opposition of surrounding
French Cansdiana.

Montgomery finally invaded Canada, captured
Chambly and St. John's, Sorel and Three Rivers,
and then Montreul and in November General
Benedict Arnold, with another army reached
Quebec, after a perilous, difficult and memorable
march through the wilderness, and was there joined
by Montgomery. On December 31st the American
troops converged in an attack upon the fortress and
Montgomery— who, curiously enough, had fought
under Wolfe at Louisbourg as Carieton, now the
defender of the city, had done on the HeighU of
Abraham — decided that a surprise was essential
to success. He approached the ramparts from
Wolfe's Cove, by a narrow path under Cape Dia-
mond, to the barricade of Prfts-de-Ville, where a
small battery had been erected manned by a few
French Canadians, English militiamen and British
sailors. The Americans expected to surprise the
poet; they were, however, surprised themselves by
an unexpected volley which killed Montgomery and
his aides. Retreat followed and elsewhere, also,
the attack was unsuccessful, Carleton's barricade
at Sault-au-Matelot, in the Lower Town, being
stubbornly defended against the assault of Arnold
and his forces. The latter was wounded and one
hundred of his troops killed or wounded and others
captured. Montgomery's remains were afterwards
carried into the city and buried quietly and, in 1818,
removed by a relative to New York. Upon the

346

FRENCH CANADA

Steep face of the great cliff there is today a large
unpretentious plate with the simple inscription:
Montgomery fell here December Slst, 1776."
There are in Quebec romantic and less formidable
memoriaU of this period. In the autumn of 1782
a Bntish warship, The AlbemarU, lay at anchor in
front of the town while many beautiful days glided
qmetly away and the coloring of the forests gleamed
m the golden and scarlet of the season. In command
of the ship was the man who in later years was
to crush the power of France upon the high seas and
pve to his country the phrase which will ring on
through all the centuries of British history: "England
this day expects every man to' do his duty." A
young man, only twenty-four years of age, in com-
mand of an important ship, with all the worid before
him, with perhaps a brilliant future, Horatio Nelson
was sure of a welcome in hospitable Quebec. In
the society of the day was Mary Simpson, a beauty
and a toast of the town, living at Bandon Lodge in
Grand All^e— upon the site of which Hon. Mr.
Shehyn's house was afterwards built. Here was told
the old, old story of the sailor and the giri; here
Nelson passed through a brief romance only to
awake one day and find his ship ordered to India
at a few hours' notice. Farewells were said without
any definite understanding, but, on the verge of
saUing, the young captain left his ship to return
and ask Miss Simpson to be his wife. So much
appears to be certain; as to the rest authorities
differ, though a balance of opinion seems to be that

BRITISH LANDMARKS

347

fellow-oflSeen, fearing for his future success, carried
him back to the ship by force. Miss Simpson after-
wards married Major Matthews, Lord Dorchester's
secretary; Nelson made, long afterwards, an un-
happy marriage which was followed by his famous
infatuation for Lady Hamilton. In a short
twenty-three years from that time of autumnal
splendor, and of a romantic interlude, on the Heights
of Quebec, Nelson died a Viscount and Admiral
of Great Britain, a man of many victories and a
hero of his race.

Memorials are everywhere, in and ar 'nd Quebec,
of H. R. H. the Duke of Kent, son of iUng George
III and father of Queen Victoria. While there * n
was Colonel-in-command of the Seventh Royal
Fusiliers from 1791 to 1794; in 1797-99 he was
Commander-in-chief of the British forces in North
America with headquarters at Halifax, where he
built a pretty house on the shores of Bedford Basin.
In Quebec City, on St. Louis Street, there still stands
a plain, solid-looking residence called Kent House,
where the Royal Duke lived at times and enter-
tained lavishly the society of his day— the Hales,
the Caldwells, the De Salaberrys, etc. At the old-
fashioned picturesque place called Haldimand Hotise
near Montmorenci — now a summer hotel— he lived
the greater part of the time. It was a beautiful
site for a residence, one of the most beautiful in all
that region of lovely vistas and historical scenes.
Here he also entertained his guests and from here
hunted big game or led shooting parties into the coun-

348

FRENCH CANADA

try around. The romance of his sojourn in Quebec
and at Halifax consists in his relations with Madame
de St. Laurent, the beautiful widow of Baron de
Fortisson, a Colonel in the French Army. Sir J. M
Le Moine and other writers state that there was a
morganatic marriage; Quebec and Halifax society
certainly accepted her as his wife. Years afterwards,
m 1818, the Duke was married at Brussels to the
Princess Victoria Mary Louisa, sister of Prince
Leopold, afterward King of the Belgians.

Of British memorials, in general, there are many
in Quebec-Center though it is of the prestige of
New France and the presence of the French race
Next to the Citadel the most important is the site
of Dufiferin Terrace and the Chateau Frontenac
It 18 a sort of holy ground of British as weU as French
history. Haldimand Castle, built there in 1784
by Sir Frederick Haldimand as a wing of the old
Chateau of St. Louis, held, in later years, the Laval
Normal School. In this famous building Prince
William Henry, afterwards King William IV, spent
some time in 1788. Here lived in succession Lord
Dorchester, the British "Saviour of Canada," upon
two occasions; Sir Alured Clarke, afterwards a
field marshal of Great Britain, and SirR. S Milnes-
General Sir George Prevost, who nearly played the
part in 1812 for Canada which Sir WUliam Howe
did m earUer years for British power in the United
States; Sir Gordon Dnimmond, Sir J. C. Sher-
brooke and the unfortunate Duke of Richmond, who
died from the bite of a fox; Sir Peregrine Maitland,

BRITISH LANDMARKS

349

the Earl of Dalhousie who has placed a considerable
mark upon Canadian history, Lord Aylmer and the
Earl of Gosford. The Earl of Durham found Haldi-
mand Castle too small for his entertainments in
1838 at a time when his squadron of men-of-war was
in the harbor and the Coldstream Guards were
actrog as a ceremonial escort while all Quebec was
agog with excitement and social functions. He was
given the old Parliament Buildings as a residence
and festivities were the order of the day.

Haldimand House echoed, also, with the foot-
steps of stern old Sir John Colbome in Rebellion days
and here Lord Sydenham planned the union of Upper
and Lower Canada; here, also. Lord Metcalfe,
Sir Charles Bagot and the Earl of Cathcart lived
for a part of each year as Governors of a United
Canada. Here, in 1789, Lord Dorchester had wel-
comed as a visitor young Lord Edward Fitzgerald
who, nine years afterwards, died in an Irish prison
as an Irish rebel; here, in 1812, the British Governor
dealt with Generals Winder, Chandler and Win-
chester who had been brought to Quebec as American
prisoners of war together with Winfield Scott,
captured at Queenston Heights, and afterwards the
chief figure in the United States war with Mexico;
here, on September 4, 1819, were exposed in state
the remains of the Duke of Richmond and Lennox
before their burial in the Anglican cathedral and
here his daughter, Lady Sarah Maitland, performed
the social duties for her husband while he was admin-
istrator; here, in 1824, came Hon. E. G. Stanley,

350

FRKNCH CANADA

afterward Earl of Derby and a British Prime Minis-
ter, as a visitor; liere, in 1825, came H. R. H. the
Dulce of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenaeh and during three-
quarters of a century, the representative men and
visitors of British Canadian history. Upon the site
of this castle of olden days as well as of the still
older Chateau of St. Louis, there has been built
the beautiful hotel which a great railway, the Cana-
dian Pacific, called after a military hero of New
France, but which may also stand as a memorial
of the new British era of peace, transportation and
commerce. '

With the passing of Haldimand Castle as a seat
of government, Spencer Wood came into historical
publicity. It is a picturesque, old-fashioned house,
buried in trees, on the south side of the St. Louis
Road, about two miles from the old city wall, and
was built in 1780 by General H. W^. Powell. In
1808-10 Sir J. H. Craig occupied it as a summer
residence and in 1815-33 it was owned by Hon.
H. M. Perceval, M.L.C., who caUed it after his
relative, the British Premier— Rt. Hon. Spencer
Perceval. In 1849 it was purchased from Henry
Atkinson by the Government of Canada as a resi-
dence for the able, genial and kindly Earl r'. Elgin,
who was then doing splendid service as Governor-
General and who made it the home of a boundless
hospitality. Sir Edmund Head, Lord Monck,
Lord Lisgar and Lord Dufferin all lived within its
walls— though the t.iiilding itself was partially
burned in 1861.

BRITISH LANDMARKS

351

Here, in 1860, had stayed H. R. H. the Prince of
Wales, afterwards King Edward VII, here, also,
visited the Duki ,f Edinburgh, Prince Arthur-
again long afterwards as Dulce of Connaught and
Governor-General— Princess Louise, Marchioness of
Lome, and Prince Leopold, afterwards Duke of
Albany; here, also, had come as visitors many
famous men of other than royal rank-the Dukes
of Newcastle, Buckingham, Argyll, Athol and
Sutherland, Generals Grant and Sherman, and all
the many men of note who, during the latter half
of the nineteenth century, came to see Canada or
Canadians. Since 1867 Spencer Wood has been the
official home of the Lieutenant-Governors of Quebec
— Belleau, Caron, Letellier, Robitaille, Masson,
Angers, Chapleau, Jett^, Pelletier, Langelier—
and the seat of cultured hospitality for a mixed
English and French society which is not as fre-
quently seen together as might be desired. Near
Spencer Wood, and once a part of its grounds, is the
Spencer Grange property so well known, with its
quaint, old-fashioned delightful country house, as
the residence since 1860 of the late Sir J M Le
Moyne— Prince of French Canadian gentlemen,
hUerateurs and antiquaries. Of the scene in which
center these two landmarks of the days of British rule
It has been weU said by Adam Kidd, the EngUsh poet:

Through the green groves and deep receding bowers
^ved Spencer Wood, how often have I strayed,

Ot mused away the calm unbroken hours,
Beneath some broad oak's cool refreshing shade.

862

FRENCH CANADA

The bliuhing arbors of thow clawic dsya
Through which the breathing of the slender reed,

First aoftly echoed with Arcadia's praise,

Might well be pictured in this sheltered mead.

And blest were those who found a happy home
In thy loved shades without one throb of care —

No murmurs heard, save from the distant foam
That rolled in columns o'er the great Chaudi&i«.

Other memorials of this period may be mentioned.
That prettjyr park-like garden hanging suspended
on the flank of the cliff, and a little lower than
Dufferin Terrace, is now called Frontenac Park.
It has been the scene of most varied events. Here,
in 1616, there was a vegetable garden for the R^coUet
Convent, then a farm for Louis Hubert, in part it
became a cemetery— the first in Quebec; here, from
1688 and for years afterwards, was the house of Mgr.
de Saint Vallier and then a new structure occupied
by the Marquis de Beauharnois and the Intendant
B^gon; here lived for many years Mgr. de Pont-
briand and in a deserted chapel near the Bishop's
house there gathered, on November 13, 1775, a
meeting of citizens who wanted to yield the fortress
to the Amnican troops. This inauspicious beginning
under British rule was followed by the erection of
a building which was occupied from 1792 to 1832 by
the Parliament of Lower Canada.

Here for forty years a strife was maintained which
was often bitter, frequently patriotic, always elo-
quent; here Papineau, BWard, Panet, Neilson,

BRITISH LANDMARKS

353

Lafontaine and Morin wen- lieartl in that sorics of
speeches which helped to educate French Canadians
m self-government, though, at times, causing great
trouble to Governors, government and governed,
to the British people and the French population,
alike. Here, in the Upper House, or Legislative
Council, were heard the calm and conciliating
speeches, the patriotic, far-seeing advice of Bishop
Plessis. Here came British Governors who were
angry, who were statesmanlike, who were concilia-
tory, to deal with difficult questions and far-reaching
demands. In 1833 a new and handsome edifice
was erected and used from 1838 to 1852 as a City
Hall in a period when sessions of the Legislature
were not held in Quebec; destroyed by fire in 1854
there is not even a ruin left now to show the seat
and home of all those stormy incidents and events
which preceded the rebellious fiasco of 1837-38.
A word must be said as to the Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity, standing as the representative of the
Church of England in an historic city which, as a
whole, does not recognise its religious claims or
ecclesiastical authority. Built in 1800-4 upon the
site of the IWcollet Church and Convent it is a
substantial stone edifice surrounded by splendid
trees with a beautifully arched and tesselated
ceiling and massive supporting pillars. Within it
are many marble monuments, brass plates and
memorial windows marking the historical events
and characters of British rule in Quebec. The
communion plate was a gift from King George III,
:3

FRENCH CANADA

and the Governor Gencrors official pew, with the
royal arms at the front, is in the north gallery.
Here, in 1893, was celebrated the centenary of the
diocese and in the Cathedral have been held many
Important ceremonials, including the last church
parade on Canadian soil of the Canadian troops who,
in 1899 and 1900, left for Imperial service in South
Africa.

One thing must be mentioned before leaving
Quebec, though it is not, strictly speaking, a matter
of the British fiffime. Over the doorway of the new
Post Office building, which was erected in 1872,
appears a basso-relievo, a solid block of stone, taken
from the doorway of the massive stone structure
which used to occupy the site and which was the
home of a rich French merchant — Nicolas Jacquin
Philebert — in and following 1736. A quatrain of
verses are engraved upon the stone in golden letters
over the sculptured figure of a dog, lying down and
gnawing a bone. What the words and symbol
meant has been the subject of unlimited speculation
since first Captain Kirke of Wolfe's army, recorded,
in 1759, that his investigations had been fruitless.
Legends galore have gathered around this "Golden
Dog." Auguste Soulard wrote a romance based
upon it in 1839, Sir J. M. Le Moine and Sir A. B.
Routhier have written about it at length; Jacques
Viger, a learned scholar, studied and d- Jt with it;
William Kirby, an Ontario writer, made himself
famous by a novel based upon it and called Le
Chien d'Or. All legends agree in associating with

BRITISH LANDMARKS

355

the tradition and the inscription the names of
Philebert, of Le Gardeur de Repentigny, a young
Seigneur and soldier, of Bigot the Intendant, of
Ang^lique des Meloises— the Mme. P^an of unsavory
social history, Cadet and other historical characters;
but the facts are still in doubt and the mystery will
probably never be cleared up. A literal translation
of the famous words is as follows:

I am a dog gnawing a bone,

While gnawing it I take my rest.

A time wiU come, not yet arrived.

When I will bite those who have bitten me.

To Montreal the British Hgime meant much.
It was not a political or government headquarters
like Quebec except during the brief period of
American possession when Montgomery ruled a
large part of the Province from the old Chateau de
Ram^zay and Benjamin Franklin used his astute
intelligence in preparing addresses and leaflets for
circulation amongst the French in which he had to
explain away the statement of the Continental
Congress in 1774 that the Quebec Act established
in French Canada a religion which had "dispersed
impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder and rebellion
through every part of the world!" The first great
phase of Montreal's development following the
Cession was during the period in which British
explorers, land-holders in the great West, hunters
or fur traders for the Hudson's Bay Company,
the lords of the lakes and forests of the North and

3fi6

FRENCH CANADA

I: i!

West made thut city their headquarters. The
famous Beaver Club waa, for forty years following
1785, the scene of sumptuous fortnightly banquets
during the winter months whirh were enlivened with
toasts and songs and the bringing together of
distinguished visitors and most of the wealth and
commercial intelligence of the city. Here came
the Earl of Selkirk on his way to found the City of
Winnipeg, in a work which these magnates were
afterwards to bitterly oppose, and here upon one
occasion came Sir John Franklin, Around the table
there sat from time to time, Sir Alexander Mackensie,
James McGill, the Frobishers, McTavish, McGili-
vary, De Rocheblave and many more.

In Rebellion days Montreal was a headquarters
for Sir John Colbornc and his forces and, later, for
the pacificatory efforts of Lord Durham. Here,
in Montreal, were prepared the Ninety-two Resolu-
tions upon which the more rash spirits based their
militant activities and which included denunciation
of the inclusion of Judges in the Legislative Council
and of the participation of appointed Legislative
Councillors in elections; of the hostility shown by
the Council, which was largely English in composi-
tion, to the Lower House; of the accumulation of
public office in the hands of the Administration's
favorites and the otherwise inadequate distribution
of such offices; of the distribution of public lands
to friends of the Government and the too frequent
checking in the Council of bills passed by the
Assembly. Much was said of the need for popular

BRlTISrr LANDMARKS

:j'i7

liberty and a rcspoiwiblc ministry. It wan after
the actual violence of the conflict wiw over that
Lord Durham reported to the Home Government:
"I expected to find a contest between a government
and a people: I found two nations warring in tlie
bosom of a single state; I found a .'ruggle not of
principles but of races and I perceived that it would
be idle to attempt any amelioration of laws or
institutions until we could first succeed in terminat-
ing the deadly animosity that now separates the
inhabitants of Lower Canada into the hostile divi-
sions of French and Knglish." The attaining of
this condition was one of the invisible but most
imposing landmarks of British rule in French
Canada; even though the process evoked a perio<l
of English-speaking dissatisfaction which culminated
in the riots of 1849, the stoning of Lord Elgin,
and the burning of the Parliament Buildings in
Montreal.

Another landmark of, however, a shifting nature
was the construction of the Eastern Township
settlements out of an English-speaking iminigration
from the United States which developed at the
Revolution and proceede<l into the early years of
the nineteenth century. After Waterloo, and the
adoption of a sliort-sighted land policy in Queljec,
most of the settlers from the States went into
Ontario. Of the eleven counties between the head-
waters of the Chaudiire and the Richelieu, lying
between Montreal and Quebec, with Vermont and
New Hampshire to the south and east, thus par-

3fi8

FRENCH CANADA

tially Mttled by Loyali«t», British loldien, and

American pioneers, the names tell the early story

Brome, Compton, Drummond and Arthabaska.
Megantic, Miwiiasquoi, Hiehmond and Wolfe, Shef-
ford, Sherhrooke and Stanstead. The scenery of
this region is varied and beautiful, the soil fertile
and agriculture prosperous, the industries progres-
sive. She-'-rooke, called after the Governor I'eneral
of that na' .e, is the chief center and a notable city
in many \/ays. In recent years a great and vital
change has, however, occurred and the racial suprem-
acy of the English in this historic portion of the
Province appears to be passing away. French
Canadian farmers are taking possession of lands
vacated by English or Scotch, and this process in
steadily increasing from year to year. The end
seems to be obvious and, if so, there will be one
British landmark which was djC destined to be a
permanent one.

In 1849 a movement for annexation to the United
States found place and life amongst the merchants
and financial interests of Montreal— a city then
sorely stricken by the repeal of the British Com
Laws and the preferential system of duties. A
manifesto declaring annexation necessary and im-
perative was signed by men so, afterwards, famous
•n Canadian life as the late Sir A. T. Gait, High
Commissioner in London, Sir J. J. 0. Abbott,
Premier of the Dominion, and Sir A. A. Dorion,
Chief Justice of Quebec. The movement, however,'
was as ephemeral as it was hasty and ill-advised!

BRITIHH LANDMAHKM

3S0

Four yews after thb incident there waa launched
at Montreal the project of a railway which shoul''
connect all parta of the united Provincca of Vyij
and Lower Canada, and in the succeeding .on
Btruction of the Grand Trunk, which gave Mr.iti, :u
its first impetus as a great railway center wer.
intereated such local loaders as Hon. Jonn lio.p
Sir Francis Hinekd, Hon. Peter McGill and 1 njnui;'
Holmes. The Barings, Glyns, Sir S. Moi , , IVn.
and other British financial interests were al.^J i..-
volved and much history made and written before
the enterprise was completed. In 1860 (May i.".
the Prince of Wales inaugurated the famous Victoria
Bridge across the St. Lawenoe, built in connection
with this railway. It cost $7,000,000 and at the
tme woa the greatest structure ot the kind in the
worid while, since then, it has been greatly improveii
and strengthened. The Allan Line w'aj another
great Montreal enterprise and was followed by
mtny steamship lines connecting Canada in general,
and Montreal, in particular, with vtried countriea
and important trading interests.

To the magnates of Montreal in a financial sense-
Donald Smith, afterwards Ix)rd Strathcona, George
Stephen, afterwards Lord Mount Stephen, B. B.
Angus, now president of the Bank of Montreal,
Donald Mclntyre and others— were due the con-
struction of the Canadian Pacific Railway which
today has its headquarters there with a splendid
railway station and its Place Viger Hotel. Today, •
with its »260,000,000 of capital, its equipment and

36U

FRENCH CANADA

railway costing 1382,000,000, its 16,900 miles of
Sc^wS^T"^"! ."^ [*'°^'^ passengers and
at Quebec and great hostelries in Winnipeg, Van-
couver and Victoria; its employment ^75,^
I»nl''?v^T'"°° °^ 11.000.000 acres of western

T ^* .^i**"'*' '" ^^^ ''"'•'l- Of all its varied
ntez^sts Montreal has been and is the center ani
m ite history there lives one of the greatest land-
marks of British rule in Canada. Tf the Brd
Boom where ^.r Thomas Shaughnessy now rules
and where Sir William Van Home preceded him,"
could speak, what tales of financial daring, financia

foWed? " ""' '''"°°''' "°"~«^ '^^'^ ^^-
Of memorials which can be seen and inspected,
the harbor improvements originally designed under
Lord Sydenham's administration seventy years ago
^ad mcludmg walls, wharves, elevators, raTlZ
ZTTT'\°L''^f'^ description, are conspicuous;
Mount Royal Park with its superb views of land
and city and water is delightful; the Champ de
Mare once the parad.- ground of British troops,
and the monument to Nelson erected in Jacques
Cartier Square (1808) by the merchants of Montreal
are interesting; the colossal statue of Queen Victoria
in Victoria Square, sculptured by Marshall Wood
IS notable. Amongst Protestant churches, which
m Quebec or Montreal, are naturally the product
of the British period, Christ Church Cathedral is

■-- ^X).'.i»0 ton. of frdgiu, its, fh«s,.a„ },,
" \'i.'-( ami gr.'ttt fefw.<f.trtM it. '-V'ir,,,,,,

'•ouv.T ai.ti ^'ioturis; . - ' ■"

men wici ixwsessiifnt ,,:

mterwte Af„„(r,.a, „„, ,>^,„ ,..j „ ,^^;^. ,
'« >te h'Mory thore lives nnc „f ,.te „„ v,;.

■'Vesi/jrrt

f>",

V,'\

iJiUtf

iiuarp'! (SOS
'Stil;,

i«

HA*:-,:
ft.:. .

-if to.

-irt Sr

'1 Victoria

.-,„, ; 1^ IV, !

BRITISH LANDMARKS

361

noteworthy as having been erected in honor of the
first resident Anglican Bishop, Dr. Fulford. Of
financial institutions the first and greatest and
most historically important is the Bank of Montreal,
which has for so many years controlled or vitally
influenced the financial interests of the city, the
Province and, at times, of Canada. The site of its
imposing yet unpretentious building on St. James
Street has been for nearly a century a center of
Canadian affairs and Canadian progress— although
the building itself has gone through various trans-
formations. Hardly less important, though so
different in its functions and development, is McGill
University, which for more than half a century has
been a vigorous, effective, molding force in the
English life of the Province and, indeed, of all
Canada.

Passing from the visible or material landmarks
of British rule there is one in Quebec which no
traveler or student can wisely omit to understand
yet which is quite invisible and intangible. To
some extent it is represented by the comparatively
new buildings which impose themselves upon the
visitor in Quebec City as being the ParUament
House of French Canada. The real point, however,
is what that structure stands for. It represents a
constitutional system of government which has
only recently developed in France itself after
revolutions and wars, popular starvation and misery,
national degradation and humiliation had worked
themselves out in a century of change, of crumbling

8«3

FRENCH CANADA

dynasties, of loosening morals, of decaying faith
It represents a liberty and free form of government
such as no colony of France, no dependency of
Germany, none of the possessions of powers other
than Great Bntajn possess today. It represents
the Bntish right of a one-time alien and hostile
people to rule themselves in the confident belief
that sucl. rule means a combination of liberty with
loyalty. It means faith on the part of the great
Empire, in which French Canada is an important
lactor, and ai>preciation on the side of the French
Canadians. It spells opportunity for the cheerful
and contented people of that Province to go on and
prosper m peace under a flag which brings much
to them and receives nothing in return except a
loyalty which is obvious and which may be found
in any possible day of danger, much more real and
effective than appears on the surface. In the words
of Dr. J. M. Harper, of Quebec-poet, essayist,
eduoationahst-the people of his Province may well
join:

My native land, a debt of song I pay,

A debt of love that lieth on my soul,
When memory drawa the veU of by-gone days

And olden music greets the lifting seroU,
A tribute to thy freedom's faith I bring.
The piety that Ments thy glebe I sing

CHAPTER XVIII

Educational Intebbsts and Idkalb in
Quebec

To the superficial, hasty, or passing observer, to
the man who mentally flits over the surface of things
either in his own country or elsewhere, to the
person who, perhaps, has certain prejudices which he
wants to prove, the education of the French Canadian
may not appear complete, or thorough. Of course,
in this as in other matters of public concern a critic
under such conditions will be very apt to indicate
his own real ignorance in the premises. Then so
much depends upon the point of view! One person
considers that education turns, as it were, upon the
top of a pyramid and regards the University as the
end and aim of all things; another wants the child
trained solely for skilled manual labor or to become
an expert in technical science; still another believes
in the three "R's" as the root of all learning and all
happiness. The school of thought most largely
represented in Quebec believes that religion is and
must b.1 the first essential to which all others may be
added.

There is something picturesque about the latter
view in these utilitarian and commercial days;
something which carries one back to times when
(363)

304

FRENCH CANADA

men and women were willing to suffer and die for
their faith and when religion and not trade appeared
tlie vital issue of all the ages. Certainly it has been
a conspicuous one in French Canada and its associa-
tion with education is obvious from a first glance
at the somber buildings dedicated to the training
of men and women for religious duties, for the
education of youth of both sexes in religion plus
culture for the education of children in schools
where black-robed priests and women in the garb
of nuns are everywhere in evidence. The earliest
institutions of education in New France were the
Jesuit College in Quebec and the Seminary of St
bulpice m Montreal, which were devoted to the train-
ing of men for the priesthood, or in cultivating
fitness for the instruction of others, and which have
been elsewhere described; in 1639 came the Ursuline
Convent at Quebec and in 1863 the Congregation
de Notre Dame at Montreal.

It must not be supposed that because the Jesuit
and Sulpician priests and missionaries were primarily
teachers of religion that they did not teach other
things. Father Le Jeune, in 1632, wrote home after
his arrival in the wilderness: "I have become a
teacher in Canada. A few days ago I had as pupils
a httle Indian and a little negro whom I was teaching
to read. After passing so many years of my life
as a classical teacher I am at last back at the A-B-C
but with so much contentment and satisfaction that
1 would not exchange my two scholars for the finest
audience in France." As a matter of fact the priests

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 366

and the nuns were the teachers of every branch of
education in the pioneer days of Quebec and they
had the great advantage of being themselves, as
a rule, cultured in their training and past lives.
It was a very different class of teacher from that
which the pioneers of Upper Canada had to submit
to; old soldiers being the unavoidable favorites for
many years in the wilds of what is now Ontario.
In 1656 the Sulpicians established the first primary
school at Montreal and, in 1668, the Petit Siminaire
was established in Quebec as a preparatory school
while Bishop de Laval also organized at St. Joachim,
near Quebec, a school which had the double object
of teaching the useful arts and training teachers.
Louis Jolliet, the famous explorer, and afterwards
a Seigneur of New France, was a pupil of the Jesuits
and in 1646 maintained a thesis in philosophy before
Intendant Talon.

When the R^coUets returned to the Colony in
1670 they devoted themselves largely to teaching.
Then the Ursulines established a branch of their
, order at Three Rivers while the Sisters of the
Congr^Cation established a school for teachers at
Montreal. Like the St. Joachim institution it was
a sort of pioneer Normal School. These institutions
were all intended for Indian as well as French
children, though there was great difliculty in getting
the former to attend— their parents being filled
with the natural suspicions engendered by the wild
vagaries of a wild life. In those early days it is
probable that the population of New France, as a

366

FRENCH CANADA

whole, were the beet educated in the world. There
was no clan sunk in brutal and abrolute ignorance
as there was in Europe or as there is today in the
slums of great cities in either America or Europe;
old parish registers in Montreal and Quebec indicate
that nearly every one could write while the home
education, backed as it was by the constant aid and
efforts of cultured priests and nligieutes, was much
more efficient and effective than it is in modem
days. Writers such as Charievoix and Kalm, who
studied the country in the last half century of the
French rigime, unite in eulogistic references to the
culture and refinement of the upper classes, the
purity of the spoken language amongst all classes,
the absence of rusticity or boorishness amongst
the habitanU, the pleasing manners and good humor
of the people, the presence of Church schools in all
the villages.

During nearly a century, following the change of
government and allegiance in New France, education
cannot be said to have maintained its former general
diffusion or exceUence. War and poUtics, changes
and then political conflicts, the dispersion of the '
Jesuits, and the natural desire of the British and
Protestant rulers to promote a different system of
icstruction, together with a period of ci ;ri, inssensions
and actual strife, hampered the Church which had
previously been the custodian of the entire system
of instruction. The Roman Catholic authorities did
what they could. The Ursulines at Quebec and
Three Rivers, the boarding school of the General

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 367

BoRpital Nuns and the Petit S^minaire at Quebec,
the Sulpieians and the Sisters of the Congregation
at Montreal maintained their activities and, in 1773,
the Sulpieians also established St. Raphael's College.
According to the Hon. P. Boucher de la Bru4re, Chief
Superintendent of Education for many years, this
latter institution and the Petit S^minairc at Quebec,
educated and trained the generation of men who
"under the constitution of 1791 were to carry on
the struggle to obtain from England those constitu-
tional liberties which she herself enjoyed."*

It was found after much legislation, after many
efforts to establish free or public schools in the
Province, after varied instances of racial and religious
friction which increased as both the French and
English population grew in numbers— especially
the former— that the Catholic and French people
would not accept Protestant teachers or patroniie a
mixed instruction which was freed from the religious
element. Primary instruction therefore continued
in a parlous condition so far as definite organization
was concerned, but with the continuous labors of
priests and nuns and cur^s in parochial and Catholic
circles. Lord Durham, in his famous Report of
1838, paid a remarkable tribute in this connection:
"The Catholic priesthood of this province has to a
very remarkable degree conciliated the good will of
persons of all creeds and I know of no parochial
clergy in the worid whose practice of all the Christian

•CoimAi: itn Elutclopi^u, o/ the Cmnlru Wx volumra) rli.,.| hv
J. CamU Hopkioa.

««c»ocofr nMuiTioN tbt omit

(ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

1.0

I.I

|2J

12.0

^PPLED ITVHGE Inc

1633 EMt hlain StrMt

fochMtw, Naw York 1*609 USA

(716) *M - 0300 - Phon«

(716) 288-5989- Fo«

368

FRENCH CANADA

virtues and zealous discharge of all their clerical
duties is more universally admitted and has been
productive of more beneficial consequences. . . .
In the general absence of any permanent institutions
of civil government, the Catholic Church has pre-
sented almost the only semblance of stability and
organization and has furnished the only effectual
support for civilization and order."

The Cnurch established at Nicolet in 1804 the
first of what have since been popularly termed the
Classical Colleges. Others followed at St. Hya-
cinthe, Ste. JThfir^se, Ste. Anne de la Pocatidre,
L'Assomption, Three Rivers, Jolliet, St. Laurent,
Sherbrooke, Rimouski, Chicoutimi, Rigaud, Ste.
Marie de Monnoir and Valleyfield. As conditions
improved in the Province it was found that these
colleges were most useful centers of culture and
education in the widest sense. Not only did they
partially prepare young men for the priesthood,
but they instructed others in the preliminaries
of the liberal professions, trained them in taste and
manners and morals, and gradually attained a very
high rank in the cultivation of all that is meant in
the word culture — something that is not always
or necessarily involved in the wide curriculum,
varied studies, and practical training of modern
English-speaking colleges or universities on this
continent.

On September 24, 1854, there was inaugurated at
Quebec, under Royal Charter, an institution which
has had immense influence upon the training and

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 3G9

the Laval University. Years afterwards, in 1876 a
branch was established at Montreal, wi h? To I
normal sehoo attached to the institution at Quebec

Quebec S^minaire whose Superior is de jure rector
of the University and whose directors and certain
professors constitute its council. The Iposto,:

ArcZ ^ Ir^'^l ^"""^'"''"y ''"d Visitor is the
Archbishop of Quebec with large and definite powers

of rhTp °' "' *^ """'^ '^^ '^ *^« Cardinal Prefect

f/om Ififir'T*^"- ^^' ^''"'"^'^«' i*««'f. dates
from 1663 and accommodates many priests and
divinity students who live in the grea' b^ing^
which mclude Le Petit S^minaire or Boys' SchoS

a^d to total at the present time about eight hundred.

irchbthr'T , ""'"'"f ''^''^- ^''^ ^^^^^ »d the
rh.r! 7! ^^'^"" "'"' *•■« ^'^"''''' a°d Seminary
Chapel, all stand together on the crest of the Heights
are many souvenirs of the history of New France as
weU as of New Quebec, of the old r.^W Tnd th
new. The revenues of the Seminary are known to
be very large and are derived from old-time grants
ofcSar ''' °"'*' "'*'''"' '^"^""^ investments
The buildings are most interesting and old-
fashioned. There are no elevators and the igh
narrow winding stone staircases have to be asr Jed
on foot. The massive walls of the older structures

370

FRENCH CANADA

arc, in many cases, fourteen feet thick and in their
two centuries and more of existence have passed
unscathed through the fires of 1701 and 1705, the
sieges of several occasions, and the shot and shell of
1759. Here Bishop de Laval used to live at times
and here can be found, or at least felt, the footprints
of this really great ecclesiastic. The Library of the
Seminary and of Laval is a most important and
imposing collection of volumes (about 200,000)
Kept in a fireproof building and regarded as probably
the best of the kind in Canada. Many rare, inter-
esting and extremely valuable books in every kind
of print, or manuscript, or parchment form, are to
be seen. Throughout these buildings or institutions
politeness and courtesy are universal; it is seen at
once that manners and the cultivated side of life
are carefully looked after.

The institutions are all, of course, closely asso-
ciated in government and work, but Laval has
faculties in Law and Medicine and Arts as well as
Theology; lectures are both public and private and
oral examinations take' place weekly in the subjects
studied; there are degrees in Arts, Letters and
Sciences as well as Law and Medicine. The Univer-
sity has, at one time or another, conferred honorary
degrees upon His Majesty the King when Duke of
Cornwall and York, upon King Edward VII when
Prince of Wales, upon Lord Dufferin, the Marquis
of Lome, the Duke of Norfolk and other notables.
A congress dealing with secondary education was
held in its halls last year (1912) with eighteen a£Bli-

III

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 371

ated colleges represented-a fact which affords some
faint indication of the influence its teaching must
have had upon the thought of the Province
A most important and attractive feature of Laval's

irLf n T''"^'"'"'^ »" "^ociation with 1
artistically beautiful must have a refining and eLat!
ing mfluence upon character-is its spleLw Sv

Frat" r- pi^r "' *''*•» '''''« ««»* out to New
Sis whJr h'"' i'-J'^^lins, Vicar-General o"

Fren;>, n 7'^- '" ^"''''* ^°' " *™« during the
French Revolution. He had collected them bv
purchase or gift, from closed and desecrated chu'hes
or monasteries. The gallery includes works by some

French and English schools-Albert Cuyp, Thomas
Gainsborough, Francois Boucher, Sir Thomas lTw
rence Sir Joshua Reynolds, Peter Paul RuLr

Wt^ct;^ ^*'; 'T''''^' °"' ^- ^-, etude
Vernet, Charles Le Brun, Salvator Rosa, AllcKri
da Correggio, Philippe de Champagne, I^cola"
Poussm, Anthony Vandyke, Diego Velasquez
Teniers the elder. The collection is an educTon
m Itself a ong certain lines-naturally the ^ "t
majority of the pictures deal with sacred subS
and matters of religious or Church import 'fiut
they are the products of brushes which, in many
cases made Europe beautiful with their frUcoeTand
pamtmgs and made the churches of that conUnent
famous for all time. Out of Laval, from such sur
roundings and with such an obvious tone of reliJo„
of culture, of the esthetic, there has come, sincere

"'■y^^Mi

:X:F'

a:;,**':. 'Ji;

372

FRENCH CANADA

middle of the eighteentii century, a stream of pro-
fessional men who have influenced and molded the
whole tone and character of thought in modern
Quebec. Very few French Canadians, who have
risen to prominence in law or politics, who become
judges or ministers of the Crown at Quebec or
Ottawa, have not graduated from Laval.

Laval University, Montreal, is a branch of this
institution and, since 1889, independent in its losal
government though still receiving its degrees through
the parent establishment. It has faculties of Theol-
ogy, Law, Medicine and Art, with several affiliated
schools — the Polytechnic, the School of Compara-
tive Medicine and Veterinary Science, the School
of Dental Surgery, the Laval School of Higher In-
struction for Girls, the Institute of Marist Brothers
and the Institute of the Brothers of Christian
Instruction. French is used in its courses and
subordinate schools except in the Faculty of Theology
where Latin is used aiid which is under the direc-
tion of the Seminary of St. Sulpice. The Archbishop
of Montreal is Vice-Chancellor and ex-officio Chair-
man of the Administrative Board which holds the
property and directs the finances of the University;
the Vice-Rector is chosen by the Bishops of the
Province of Montreal. The Chancellor and Rector
are the ecclesiastics holding those positions at
Quebec.

Turning to primary education, it may be said that
a system gradually developed under which, in 1859,
a Council of Public Instruction, composed of eleven

•I'"fel!€f4. J^flfe.-

EDUCATIONAL INTERKSTS AND IDEALS 373

Catholics and four Protestants, controlled the schools
of the Province. In 1875 this was modified so that
Cathohc and Protestant Committees of this Counci'
were established with independent and separate
powers and control over the schools of their respec-
tive religions. With inevitable, and very rare e.xcep-
tions, this system has prove.l satisfactory to the

French and Catholic majority of French Canada
has shown quite exceptional toleration and modera-
tion in dealing with this difficult question The
division of funds has been generous, rather than just
and the question raised in English-speaking Canada
as to the minority's right to separate schools there
IS rarely discussed in French Canada. When M
Mercier gave his famous grant of $400,000 to the
Jesuits he also handed over 860,000 to the Protestant
Schools Committee for its use-the storm which
followed in Ontario being due, in part, to popu-
lar prejudices regarding the Order of Jesus and in
part to an apparent recognition in the preamble
to the Jesuits Estates Act of the Pope's interven-
tion m, and approval of, Canadian Provincial legis-
lation. '^

The Church control of the modem system of edu-
cation lu Quebec is now, after an historical interlude
and of course with the exception of the Protestant
separate schools, close and complete. The Catholic
Committee includes all the Bishops and Archbishops
of Quebec with a selected number of representative
( athohc laymen; its methods of administration, its

374

FRENCH CANADA

regulations, coursen of study, examinations, business
management, and construction of scIiooIb, etc. are
almost identical witli those of the Protestant Com-
mittee; the great distinction and difference being
where religion enters into the situation. The Catho-
lic schools are grafted on to the parish organiMtions
—each of the latter being, as a rule, incorporated as
u municipality and also as a school district. The
cur«, or priest administering a Catholic church, is
given the exclusive right of selecting books dealing
with religion an.l morals for the use of pupils. At
the Catholic Normal Schools one of the leading
subjects taught is religious instruction and, in the
diplomas awarded, sacred history is included.
The teaching orders of women are freely utilized
in these schools and to the fact of their drawing little
or no remuneration is due the very small average
salaries paid to teachers in Quebec. ■

The education of girls is, in all countries, one of
the most vital problems of today and it is claimed
with apparently excellent reasons, that their instruc-
tion at the hands of thousands of devout and devoted
women in French Canada constitutes one of the
best and most beneficial elements in the Catholic
system. They instruct their pupils in not only the
ordinary course of studies but in domestic economy
knitting, sewing and embroidery and, it is claimed
refine their manners while cultivating amongst them
good morals and Christian knowledge. It is prob-
able that at least one-half of the girls in the Catholic
schools of Quebec receive a thorough training in

t ■ ''■■»;*

''>#»'ii.4i ^^ Jm^WM'^

EDUCATIONAI, INTERE8TH AND IDEAIJ. 37fi

thvn^ important »ul.j,.ctH. Th.- numbor of female
M.«.ou, toachor- i„ lOU wa« 3,194 in the .nodel
chool« and academi™, while the „un« teaching in
elementary Hchools totaled 542. Under such con-
.h ions ,t goes without saying that the history,

st:g"ht tr" "' *"" ^'•"^'' "^ "'- *-«^'

Much the same con ment as above may be made
upon the male religious or.lers and their instruc-
tion to boys. The Christian Brothers, and oth. rs
have been placed in charge of important commercia

Th reir, «T ' ", '^^r'" ^'*'' ''*«^"-"* '-""«•
Kchoois and academies and colleges and 112 priests
ea^nng in the elementary schools-a total of over
■.,0W male and female religious teachers out of 14 500
teachers who instruct 344,000 Catholic pupils
To the cost of all the schools ,he municipalities
.■ontribute $5,750,000 and the Provincial Govern'
nient a little over 11,000,000-the great bulk of
this money coming, of course, from Catholic parishes
and going into Catholic schools. There are difficul-
ties in the evolution of the system and some faults
which are obvious. School commissioners who can-
not readorwrite areoccasionallyfound.thoughin any
ca^ they arc usually good managers in financial
matters; on the other hand, lack of education can
be found on school boards in many a rural municipal-
ly outside of Quebec. Some of the time devoted
to religious exercises and instruction in the primary
schools must necssarily bo taken from secular

376

FRENCH CANADA

subjects; on the other hand convcntg and religious
schools afford an excellent education for many
children at infinitely smaller cost. than it could be
obtamed for in any other province or state of
America.

The great trouble is, of course, economic-
the large majority of children, especially boys
eavmg school at too early an age. What they have
learned they are apt to forget-though this is a
condition not confined to French Canadians. The
atmosphere around the French habitant or workman
IS not conducive to thought or literary effort. He
IS too comfortable, too coatented, too happy, if
you like, to worry over newspapers and books and
the life of other people and societies and nations
m which he can never live or share. Even a girl
brought up in the convent seems to be glad, after a
few years of domestic life, to hand over pen and ink
and literary communings to a daughter who is
perhaps going through the same routine of education
that she has left forever. A keen observer estimates
that in one French parish, which he knew minutely
there averaged in recent years a daily paper to
eleven families and a weekly to about every fifteen
families. Books are still more rare and are very
limited in scope and character— especially in the
rural parts of Quebec.

Such are the general conditions of education in
French Canada. In summarized form it may be
said that the overwhelming French and Catholic
population and the limited English and Protestant

i.*;.

'"'^^-^''^Qu.b,,

1*3 Ji,m: ■£

■SH?*^

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 377

people have the same general system and forms
of instruction, with complete self-control in respect
to text-books and religious teaching. While, how-
ever, the Protestant element devotes itself with
restricted means and success — outside of McGill
University — to a secular education of the type
known in the ordinary public schools of Ontario,
the Catholics devote all the resources and energies
and skilled practice of a great Church organization
to the thorough grounding of the children, the
youth, and the young men or women of French
Canada, i religion as understood from a Roman
Catholic standpoint. With that point of view and
general policy there is necessarily bound up the
racial situation and the preservation of the French
language.

There will apparently be no compromise in this
respect — the Church and the language must stand
together. It does not, of course, follow that the
Church or its leaders believe either would necessarily
fall if they stood apart; it simply means that many
elements of strength lie in their unity and certain
obvious elements of danger in their severance. At
the French Language Congresn of 1912 the Church
and the Race combined to uphold this principle
and policy. There were present representatives
of three million French Canadians who were also
Catholics, while Archbishops and Bishops were
honorary presidents, and much applauded speakers,
with Monseigneur Roy as chairman. Language
was described, in mottoes, as the soul of a people

Iff

378

FRENCH CANADA

and as a sacred privilege, wliile Archbishop Langevin

of Winnipeg declared that: "If we have remained

French it is because we have remained Catholic

It IS by guarding our religion that we guard our

race." M. Etienne Lamy, the distinguished French

author and visitor, described Canada as "the land

of constancy that has strengthened the wisdom of

Its laws and its customs on the Catholic faith-"

Abb^ Groulx, of Valleyfield College, urged CanadiaL

to keep their distinctive spirit, with the virtues

of their faith and the value of their tongue." Sir

Joseph Dubuci declared that "the French language

IS, with the Catholic religion and the love of our

country, the most sacred heritage that we have

received."

The problem is an obvious one. So long as the
Church and the State are one in faith and language
just so long will they be apart from the temptations of
a wide liberty which often degenerates, throughout
this continent, into unrestrained license; and apart
also from the looseness of modem literature, of the
Higher Criticism and of the infinite variations in
modem religious thought outside of their Church
The literature of the religious life of the French
Canadian is in French, his teachers and preachers
use French, his laws in civil and religious matters
are from the French code of two centuries ago, his
habits and customs are French of an old-time
period, his traaltions, songs, history, and patriotism
are all wrapped up in the language of his fathers—
which his children are still learning to lisp at their

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 379

mother's knee. It all serves to differentiate him
from the vast, overwhelming Anglo-Saxon life of
the continent, to keep him in closer touch with his
Church, to make him more submissive to its teach-
ings and, in this age of a democracy which is almost
uncontrollable in even matters of religion and social
relations, to keep him more easily amenable to the
moral code and moral precepts.

Is this situation a desirable one or is it not? Can
a writer or observer deal with such a problem
outside of and apart from religious feelings or racial
prejudices? There is one thing which seems clear
and that is that the question of this French-speaking
people imbedded in the heart of an English-speaking
continent cannot be considered apart from religion
or from the Church which holds an entire people
at its altars. The first thought that occurs to one
is the vital and basic problem of whether some
particular religious faith, accepted by a whole
people and followed with such measure of devotion
as human frailty will permit, is not better than a
condition in which the same people after having
that particular religion undermined, or shaken at
its roots, turns in part to other churches or denomi-
nations, in part to practical infidelity, in still larger
part, perhaps, to general indifference regarding all
religion. Back of this thought is, of course, the
fundamental conception of religion to which all
Christendom adheres in theory — that religion is
the most important thing in life and should control
or influence all its interests, '^he Roman Catholic

880

FRENCH CANADA

Church claims to carry out this theory in practice;
aJl he varied divisions of Protestantism differ i,^
the r apphcation of the theory, though most of them
exclude government and education from its purview
French Canada is still Catholic in its almost
universal acceptance of the Church-even the
Irish part of the small English minority adheres
argely to that faith. The obvious and natu a
mtention of Catholicism is to retain that allegiance
to strengthen the weak links in the chain of loyalty
to put religipus backbone into those who might
otherwise be feeble in their faith, by keeping a sZng
hand upon both education and the pre^ and in
making he former the key-note to the religion of
the people. At a French Congress in Three Rivers
dunng his present year (1913) George H. Baril
of Laval University, Montreal, defined the leading
principles of the Congress as follows: "First and
foremost is absolute and unquestioning submission
to the Church and to its right of control in moral
and religious education; then there is the assertion

W ^r .u"'^ *° """'"^ °^" *he child, and

astly there is the exclusion of Governments from

!d I^H^^r ?[ «'*"<"'*'°"" "The Church," he
a Ided, 'ha^ the sacred right to direct the education
of Its youth and to see that none of the books of
nstruction are allowed to contain anything in the
least injurious to the doctrines of the Catholic
Church; It .8 the business of the State to give
protection and financial assistance but not to take
charge of National education."

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEAIJ* 381

Such a view is of course in absolute antagonism
to tiic average Protestant view of English-speaking
people in Canada as a whole, or in the United States.
Yet it really appears to be the logical and natural
one, from the Homim Catholic Church's standpoint,
if It desires to hold its poople in French Canada, or
elsewhere, as a unit in ti;ith and as a great force
within one organization. Ot course this carries with
it a high responsibility in the practical exclusion
from French Canada of all knowledge as to the high
principles, and lofty thoughts, and splendid ideals,
which have distinguished so many branches of the
Protestant faith in so many countries and centuries
of the world's history.

Meanwhile, the difficulties of modem life grow
apace and even if the child of French Canada is
not quite as much alive and alert in certain lines of
education as hio Ontario compatriot and his American
competitor, it is, after all, a question of comparative
values. Ability to hold his own with others in the
material development and labors of after life i«
the excellent aim placed before the public school
child in English Canada with, however, manners,
morals and religion as conditions which must be
left to the home and the churches. The obvious
weakness of this system is that in the present age
prayer and religion are being more and more elimi-
nated from the home by stress of life and work while
the churches and Sunday-schools are in touch with
only a portion of the people or their children. On
the other hand ability to meet what are believed

38a

FRENCH CANADA

to be the requirements and essentiala of life in thia
world and the next— obedience to the Church
religious observance and duties, morals and manner^
—are the Brst condition of the Roman Catholic
schools of French Canada, with business afTairs,
and capacity, and material interests, holding a
secondary place.

The two systems are fundamentally antagonistic
and the results divergent. The Catholic believes
that a man should be made a complete Christian
along his lines of faith and that he wUl then be the
best citizen; the Protestant, as a rule, is willing to
construct the citizen first and develop the Christian
afterwards or else to try and evolve the two lines of
thought together. Which of these systems is the
best will and must be a matter of opinion dependent
largely upon whether religion or {iractical utility
IS regarded as the first essential. The pity of it,
to au outside observer in the case of Quebec, would
seem to lie in the apparent difficulty of combining
the two. Yet even in this question of practical
utility there are two considerations. The life and
surroundings of the rural French Canadian are so
totally different from those of other Canadians
or of Americans, as to at once bring up the question
of whether a change is desirable. There is usually
but one answer to that question, and it an affirma-
tive, from those who are not French Canadians; from
those who are of that race, taken as a whole the
answer IS diametrically opposite. Is the final test
of hfe, happiness and contentment, or is it ambition,

.*'■%:

S^'^'l.^J

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 383

restloM change, nnd money? Here again is a funda-
mental divergence and the French Canadian may
be taken, with inevitable exceptions, to embody
the one view while the American people, with also
many and important exceptions, and a large class
of Canadians, may be taken to represent the other
view.

It must not be understood, however, that opinion
m Quebec is or ever has been unanimous on these
points. The majorty is very large in favor of
present educational conditions, but there is also
a small and aggressive minority. Of late years
It has been led by Godefroi Langlois, M.L A of
Montreal, and his paper U Pays. He wants a
Department of Public Instruction similar to that
of Ontario and other provinces which shall, pre-
sumably—though he does not quite say so— take
the control of education from the hierarchy and give
it to the politicians; he demands free and compulsory
education and uniformity in school books. Under
such a system it is obvious that the parish cur«
could not dictate the books on religion and morals
to his school; nor could special time be taken from
secular studies to prepare a child for its first Com-
munion; nor would the Church and its great edu-
cational institutions hold the same predominating
place in the system.

How far in such a case the change of masters,
the transfer of the schools from the Church to the
Legislature, would equalize conditions as between
the Quebec and the Ontario boy, for instance.

S84

FHBNCH CANADA

would then become a matter of race and here a«ain

comparJLX W GoT hL ^t^T^. X'
point of view in tk- T • , expressed hig

children inacribed in the schoof or 19 ' , cSS
the population; and Ontario 469 000 ^r is

ZLZitr *'" "^""''^ -hoKterdaieeT^
yuebec was 77 per cent; Ontario, 69 per cent- Kbw

zu'rirt^rmarrs^tf ^^"?'"

which had long a«o adop[rtrs,r^%':°;:,"-
thi ''^ » «'°'^'«'' average attendance at f^^
than Quebec itself. The Church's re^ly te M
l^lo», m the present year, was toTnti^dit; Ws

Beueve their own idpjila /.* «j i- """." '"ey
of Ufe, methodsTf wo^\2 STorwha't f'l"
tutes prog^ss to be right, who sha^ say Thel nay in

S^^^pZ-{riif^«

picturesque side and if a hundred years f°m^

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND IDEALS 385

'it'

CHAPTER XIX

PiCTURMQUB PkMONALITIBH OF FBrwcii

Canada

There is something picturesque, unusual, attrac-
tive, about French Canadian leaders to the people
of the rest of Canada. They are, of course, much
better known than in the old days with which this
volume chiefly deals, but well-known personally,
or not, the type and characteristics are now pretty
well defined in the public mind. The knowledge of
two languages, a mental asso ilition with two groat
literatures, the inherited and instructed courtesy of
manner, a certain measure of culture derived from
the classical colleges of their province and from
Laval through which neariy all of them pass, a
certain accent in speech which is pleasant rather
than otherwise, and a fluency of utterance which is
a constant amaxement to men of one language—
these and other racial divergencies or conditions are
easily appreciated if not exactly understood. The
earlier figures in French Canada's history have been
summarised and dealt with in these pages— Cartier,
Champlain, Do Laval, De Frontenac, Montcalm,'
Papineau— but it may be interesting in concluding
this discursive study of a most interesting people to
glance at some of their leaders in modern times, to
(386)

PICTUREsqirE PERSONALITIES 387

;iturtnt.'t"tf "* ''■»'-''-•'-. '» -'efi- the
I'lvuiai point! in ttii'ir nnrccra.

Colonel C. M. do Halnbcrrv wu nn. o» .1.

k1 by S?n '"'"''■ / "^ "-man^ndSei-
Kncur by hirth, m on agr nnd provinci, where Do,iti„n
me„„t something; a Holdier l.y instinct pro"! "n
and love of arm,; an officer of the British A™?
With eleven years' service in the West Imii,..?^'
■mo When those islands were 1{^1^Z;1^
•truRgles and storms of war- nn .;j 1
General do Hottenhurg inre'wlhl;txi:2ion
•nd organizer in Uwer Canada of the QueC Vol"
.geu«; ho eame into the War of 1812 wth every
capac. y for success and camo out of it wfth «
repuf.t,on which will grow with the centuri™ Ld
with the Canadian patriotism which is ba^d u^n

Chateauguay or Brock at Quecnston Heights
ai* T ?°.* *'"' Campaign of 1813 when in
September of that year, the United States GeLa"
Wilkinson with 8,000 troops, a proclamaUon nf
promised protection to all Fr'enchS^S^^ns who
would remain quietly at home, left Sacket^l Hartr
to descend the St. Lawrence, to capture Montre^

l.ake Champlain, had entered the province with
7,000 men by that old-time military ^ut^ in o2r
to join orces with Wilkinson, and had adCanceTL
far as the forests surrounding the mouth of th^
Chateauguay. Here he was met (October 2Sth) by

«■■ rRENCH CANADA

Colonel de Salaberry in command of 300 French
Canadian Fcnciblc. and Volti,eur. and a few
,^ '^*''' "''"' *'"' """"Pected reinforcement
of 800 more French Canadian, under Colonel
McDonrll, of Ogdenaburg fame.

The French Canadians formed in the wooda in
two line., De Salaberry leading the first, upon which
Hampton advanced with his large force. The first
mc was gra<lually driven back in the darkness of
the n,ght with its leader, however, remaining
Mubbornly m the face of the enemy and beside him
u bugler boy sounding the advanco even in retreat
..s these troops foil back upon the second line the
American force heard a perfect pandemonium of
Hound; many bugler, placed at great distances
from each other sounded the advance; Indians
numbering about fifty and also scattered throu-h
the woods at regular intervals, made the night
hideous with war-whwps and yells. The American
CO umns broke and fled and the honors of this
extraordinary victory remained with the 900 French
Canadians who had driven back 7,000 invaders and
prevented their junction with Wilkinson, who, him-
^If, was defeated at Chrystler's Farm on November
iiu. and the American invasion of French Canada
terminated. De Salabeny received a Companion-
ship of the Bath, a gold medal awarded by the King
m honor of the victory and the thanks of the
1 rovincial Legislature. He passed away in 1829
unusually respected and with a reputation which
had grown with the ye«rs. An English Canadian

WCTUREBQUE PEBaONALiriE8 380

And^wh,™.,, th. «.h. w««l «„^, „„ .».. „^„^,^^_^

Did h, d.ow th. a.ry y.l„, th»t b«.p«k. iho blood ul K,a„„.

From the y.ari of struggle which followed this
penod .„ F.ench Canada there came the figure of a

C^adl r "' ""T"' '""' '""'~''' »' thought in
Canada now consider worthy of esteem-Sir Lo.us
Hypohte Lafontaine. The soul of honor „^."

French Canadian and dignified in bearing, with

r^'^lH^T''""!" '"•'•' ""•» ™P^rturbable manner
he passed through the political storms of 1830-M
wthout a stam upon his reputation, lived simply
and wtthout ostentation, and died comparatZy
poor m 1864 as Chief Justice of Lower Canada and
a Baronet of the United Kingdon^. His "utlnS
ing achievement was leadership of the moderate

Robert Taldwin and the moderate Liberals of
Upper Canada or Ontario. He had been an oriirinal
associate of Papineau and supported the Ninety-

after the Rebellion, he was opposed to the union
of the Provinces m 1841 as endangering the French
(^anadian interests.

lAlif. 'l;i

390

FRENCH CANADA

With the changes that came after that event
however, and influenced, no doubt, by his asso^
ciation with Baldwin and others of that character,
M. Lafontaine gradually changed his views, grew
away from the violent section of his own party
opposed the views of L'InstUul Canadien and
LAveniT, estranged much support of that brilliant
kind from his leadership while he acquired the solid
confidence of substantial men. The Lafontaine-
Baidwin Administration of the Canadas in 1848-51
did much to broaden French Canadian ideas, to
cement and promote friendly feeling between the
races, to pave the way for a future and greater
union. Its legislation included a thorough reform
of the municipal system of the provinces and of the
election, education and assessment laws, the estab-
lishment of provincial credit abroad, assumption of
control over the post office and establishment of
cheap and uniform rates of postage, reform and
remodelling of the courts, the granting of a general
amnesty for the events of 1837-38, the abolition of
pnmogemture in Upper Canada and the inau-ura-
tion of railway legislation-a three years' record
which the most successful and famous of Canadian
governments in the next sixty years did not excel.
M. Lafontaine was not conciliatory in manner he
was not a tribune of the people, he was apt to be
dogmatic and inflexible, but he could concentrate his
arguments and think and reason concisely, he could
construct in policy and he had unbounded courage
to do what he thought was wise or necessary. He

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 391

left a high reputation and a great name, yet in the
latter and greater part of his career he was in almost
everythmg— personally and politically— the antith-
esis of Papineau whom he for a time had followed
and then succeeded in the leadership of his race.

Sir fitienne Pascal Tach6 was as different in his
pomt of view from Lafontaine as two men of the
same race and religion could possibly be. By
profession he was a physician, by taste a soldier, by
the call of the public a politician and administrator,
by conviction a sincere believer in monarchy and
Bntish connection for French Canada, by instinct
a Conservative. He served in the militia, fought at
Chateauguay and wore its medal with great pride
was for a time Deputy-Adjutant-General of Militia
m Lower Canada and long afterwards aide-de-camp
to Her Majesty the Queen and Honorary Colonel
in the British Army. A member of the Legislative
Assembly of United Canada and afterwards of the
Legislative Council, he joined the Lafontaine-Bald-
win Government and then drifted into alliance with
Sir Allan MacNab, chief of the Upper Canada Con-
servatives and a Tory of the Tories. In 1855-57
as head of the Tach^-Macdonald Administration'
he was Premier of the Canadas. Knighted in 1858
he accompanied the Prince of Wales in his tour of
Canada two years later.

It was Sir E. P. Tach« who declared in the Leg-
islature that "ti-,e last gun that will be fired for
British supremacy in North America will be fired by

302

FRENCH CANADA

a French Canadian," and this was said in davs
when h.s compatriots were not yet quite cLr of the
feelings and passions of the RebeUion; it was he
who assumed the burden of much laU ZTerl
practical retirement from politics, when the Trent
affair occurred and the Commission appointed to

r'^f T '"It"^'"* "^ '""^ ^*=**« and orgail!

.on of the mihtia was created; it was he Iho in
1864 gave up the political retirement of years and
again with John A. Macdonald, turned the

deaXck 'd fi' T '"^''f ^^•'^'"'=«« ''^ » ««-ht
and „nnl "^'^f ='/».'="»' ""d religious difficulties
rendered tC" 'f.'''°^.^'^ t^e United States
rtical H ^nl!""^ ''"""^ """^ ^^' *'■»«« most
Iv 1 i ■fl^'" Chairman of the Quebec Conference
lelt ''"^''~f y ""d -«" the foundatiorL Ta
great conlederation and planted deep the fruitful
roots of a future nation. At a time when nlrtv
feeding ran high-almost to the breaking poinSe
away t"irf of Ml parties and section^'and passed
away in 1865 amidst genuine regret. He did not
r /T ^''^Confederation for which, latte ly he
abored, but his works live after him and he Ms a
lofty ^and lasting niche in the pantheon of F^nch

To have been a youthful leader in the movement
which centered around VAvenir was a naSX

taine Tach« and the union of the Canadas; but to
the young man who was destined to die as Sir

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES

393

Antoine Aim6 Dorion, Chief Justice of Lower
Canada, it provided many difficulties for his after
public career and produced tendencies of mind
which remained with him to the end. He was a
Radical in early days and the leader of a restless,
reckless yet brilliant school of thought which sought
change as the great essentini, in 1849 he signed a
manifesto in favor of Annexation to the United
States; he did not like the Legislative union of the
Canadas in 1841 and feared many and varied evils
to his race from that historic combination; he
opposed Confederation for specific reasons— because
it created an appointive Upper House or Senate,
because it unnecessarily pledged Canadian resources
to the construction of an Intercolonial Railway,
because he preferred a federated union of the two
Canadas alone, because it was foolish to assume
military or defence organization in face of the
Northern United States which had in five years
called into the field 2,300,000 men, because the
wisest policy was for Canada to "keep quiet and
give no cause for war!"

M. Dorion had succeeded Lafontaine as leader
of the Rouges, or French Canadian Liberals, and his
opinions, even then, were "advanced" in many
ways; he bitteriy opposed the selection of Ottawa
as the seat of government and would not accept
the Queen's official and invited selection; he repre-
sented Lower Canada in the Macdonald-Dorion
Administration of 1864. A man of thorough and
cultured education, of courtly and polished bearing,

394

FRENCH CANADA

of spotless moral reputation and nf .-.k i i

Z °.^1.%V VI?''" *'"'*' "" •>« "PeaL in English
face-^ h. u"".'"' Englishman with a foS

ScC^ris^tz^i^t^
=eii^rt^-~;-.4

^.o/fssst^f^^^tr--
st^t ^r '■ ^" -^'^^^^-n:!tii:: i^z z

supportPr of amiexation was knighted by Ws Queen

ion of his early fear« had become an important
national entity and the hope of milUons Zeol
in hjs maturer days. peopie

Sir George Etienne Cartier was the exact opposite

and perhaps the burning influence of Papineau'a
eloquence led him into the troubles oi mr 11
jomed the Sons of Liberty, fought at St n™
against the British troops, Ik tot ! uLt^i StlZ

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES

396

and, with sixteen others, passed under sentence of
death if he should return without official sanction.
Eventually he did come back and the rebel of 1837,
under more favorable circumstances and greater
liberties, became a Premier of the United Provinces,
a Minister of the Crown in a greater Dominion, and'
was created a Baronet by the Sovereign whose
allegiance ht ' .d once fpudiated. It was a great
career, yet Csrtier wa- m no ordinary sense an
orator, he lacked the splendid or imposing bearing
of his rival leaders, he was quick and nervous in
manner and speech and without the special quali-
ties that please a French audience or hold an Eng-
lish one. He did, however, possess tremendous
energy, marked force and aggressiveness, great
capacity for organization and some outstanding
qualities which commended him to that prince of
politicians, Sir John Macdonald.

With his entry into the Legislature in 1848 there
had come a complete change in Mr. Cartier's point of
view. Unlike his great opponent (Dorion), he did
not in succeeding years cling to early ideals through
all the thickening clouds of political difficulty or
the lightning-like flashes of public fancy which
marked the period. His ten years of patient study,
careful legal work, cumulative experience in his
Montreal practice, appear to have turned the rest-
less revolutionary into a consistent and energetic
Conservative. When he entered Parliament it was
as a believer in monarchy, in government framed
after and based on that of England, in a system of

FHENCH CANADA

with two brief kWvri. Government and,

ConfederatribeS^'is^p' " "^"^ "»«'
tlie Canadas. dSt th,-/^' ^ u"""" ^^^^' »'

r„rbKr ittiroftrs^'^".' ,r -""

busy in a 8VHt»m„ti !• ^^'Sneurial tenure,

<"j' in a systematic, cont nuous effort i,^ K„*t

about which a book Sght be'^uten Th '''r«°'^
tions, the humiliation of ZpIha T*:"""-
scandal and his death in England mmJ"''Z7

aTtrlr^TncSeiroT'th""""^'^ ''^ ^''"'^^

jwch^a^^-fssrs^r^::
-htSsrr^i-si-^

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES

397

and energy, in parliamentary strategy, in freshness
and vigor of intellect, in ardor and ability of
political combtt. He was impetuous, dominating,
confident of character; he was rough in speech,
harsh and sometimes unduly caustic and bitter in
style, without eloquence, or joftness, or persua-
siveness, yet at times making his words seem like
the blows of a hammer on the anvil; he often de-
scribed himself as "an Englishman speaking French"
and he certainly wielded unequalled power for long
years in his own province; he was the friend and
confidant of Sir John Macdonald, which meant much
in the politics of that period.

A picturesque figure of modem French Canada,
remarkable as a journalist and a politician, keen of
tongue, brilliant of language, oratory, style, yet
never a successful or weighty leader, Joseph Edouard
Cauchon was something of a phenomr , certainly
a most interesting personality. As euivor-in-chief
of Le Canadien, in 1841, when twenty-four years of
age, he showed unbounded energy and almost
boundless indiscretion; brought about the suppres-
sion of his paper which he re-issued as the Journal
de Qu/ibec; wrote himself, within two years, into the
Legislature and there represented Montmorency —
in the old Legislature and the new Dominion
Parliament— for twenty-eight years. His first signal
effort in the House was in response to an attack
by M. Papineau when the young member electri-
fied his colleagues in a reply which showed most

*"» FRENCH CANADA

brilliant debating qualities. This was a se««n ;„
French Canada of inevitable .torrwhentho^
of the great economic changes in Enidand otT.
«.c.al and political movemente in See "f Se
wars and revolutionary outbreaks inThe'.^*^
Europe, stirred up some old memories of^oc^
stnfe created new forms of friction, anrhelped to
form the bases of new party affiliations. ^
uunng these adjustments Cauchon sunnort-^

the r„i ' *• '^*" *•"** •"^*«'l «t° support of

MacJNab-Tach^ Government in 1855, but resimed

miZ"" Z'' ^*'"^' *•■" Oavem^ent agK
1861-62, was Mayor of Quebec in 1865. He favored
Comederafon as preliminary to an inevitable S

looo aeoate Shall we forever remain colonistn?
Does the histor, of the world afford exaZles 'f
eternal subjection? Everything tells us that the day

United sf ^°"»"''P''*'°° o' of annexation to the
Umted States is approaching." There wa« in ihl
days no discussion of the thifd or m7d"m "t rnSe
of closer umon with the Empire. Cauchon's suZr^

1 t?vTffeT° * °";"^ •"'^"*'°" °' confedTrS
was very effective and valuable-all the more so
perhaps, because he had disapproved the °dea a
dozen years before. He was a curious Jomalv
m public life. Influential through an ag^eS
sarcastic eloquence a power of vituperat^Hld
flow of words which carried everything before

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 399

them, he yet made enemies with such case and
certamty as to minimize the influence of his arim-
ments. Dislilced by his more powerful opponents,
he was feared, and hated also, by those who wer^
weak. In the end his unpopularity hampered his
activities and position in the Dominion Parliament
while a certain scandal relating to ownership of
the Beauport Asylum which was supported by Quebec
Government funds, while its owner sat in Parlia-
ment, seriously hurt him for a time.

He was for some years Speaker of the Senate
became a member of the Mackenzie Government in
1875, and proved himself an able administrator
deserving of the confidence of his Premier while
astomshmg his own numerous enemies. He passed
out of public life after a term in the governorship
of Mamtoba, ani died in 1885. M. Cauchon was a
clear, cultivated, clever pubUc writer, a man of
tremeudous industry and perseverance, but with a
sort of unrestrained despotism of thought and speech-
he was at times a powerful ally, at times a dangerous'
and too candid friend, always an unpleasant oppo-
nent. He had been a Liberal and a Conservative
and a Liberal again; he was opposed to Confedera-
tion and then one of its most powerful supporters,
he represented his constituency as long as he chose
to do so and nothing could shake its constancy.
He missed being a great man, but he was always a
picturesque and interesting personality with a
viewpoint rather well defined in those old-time
verses:

*°0 FRENCH CANADA

Tender-havM •tniko « nettle,
And it itinfi you for your p*in<:

Orup it u a mu of mettle,
And it loft u lilk remaini.

Til the iame with eommon nature*,

U»e the<o kindly they rebel;
But b« rough aa nutmeg gratere.

And the roguea obey your will.

What may be said here of Honort Mercier? He
had every political experience, in shadow and in
8un.hme. ,^ failure and in success, that a French
Camtdian could hope for, or regret,' within the con-
fines of his own province and the hearts of his own
people He had a personality which was essentially
attractive almost lo-able, an oratorical power
that in his time was only equalled by Chapleau
and Laurier, a political career in which he won the
overwhelming support of his people, lost it again
through pohtical misadventure, or as his opponents
tZf rr°°'''«'*'- ''°" back in defeat and dea°h
^L, M t <f •* "^™ *^''y ^'"''rined in the
pohtical heart of Quebec Liberalism and embodied

GovernmtnT °'°°"'°'°* ""'^'^ ^^ '^' ^'°^'"<''*'

hi»^lvr? """'^ "°'°'°* ^'^'"'^ Canadians he showed
hs ability very young. Napoleon Legendre, him-

K,- .'T'"''*'' "^ " '^*«'' t«"8 the story of a
pubhc debate by students of St. Mary's College
Montreal in 1861. Four young men, who all afte^
wards attained positions of prominence, took part

-^.

)wed
lim-
of a
ege,
fter-

part

' ■■'"""' -lilr ■ ■ ■

-'uVinciAi

Toboggan Slide near Montreal

'WmJk -t-'-.^^im: '*

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 401

and young M.rcier, as chairman, summed up the
cLscus«.on It seems to have been a revelation o
oratorical force. He commenced, gravely, slowlv
audibly and olearlv "rr„^„ ii s'owiy,

„>„„* • i l" ™"y- (gradually more warmth
crept uto his voice and his sonorous words, metlmc-
aJly clear m their tone, flew like arrow! stratht
to their mark i„ every corner of that large h^l
Everyone listened with surprise mingled wUh
pleasure. When Mercier concluded he had achieved
a great and well-earned success." At twentyS
he was editing a paper which he had to give up be!
ttro? ♦."' d^*«™i-d opposition to the confedera-
tion of the provinces movement; for some years
he practiced his profession of the law; in ml

t^trboth tt" V f*""^"^* "'''' °"*«'^« < -
w^th both the chief parties which should take in

hand such questions as the preservation of the

Separate Schools in New Brunswick which had just

come up, and in the next year found himself in the

JCT "^^''Tf* "* *'^^ '1^' °f thirty-two
There he continued his campaign as to New Bruns-
wick school affairs.

After being out of politics for some years he
entered the Provincial Legislature in 1879 and
joined the Joly Government; in 1883 he was Liberal

made a speech on Education which illustrated the
many-sided nature of the man: "Ignorance is

ra;r/'edu7'°" '^ "^'"*''= i^norarTea
. avery, education naeans liberty. It is the mother's
duty ., nurse the child which she has brought into

402

FRENCH CANADA

the world; it is the father's duty to provide it with

SLh^t ' /v' '"*^.°' '""''^ '« *° educate t
And what IS this populace which it is our duty to
instruct? What but the people, the real people of
our land Those who work, the laborers7nd the
artisans, the foster-fathers of the human race, those
who construct, those who sow, but who, alasi do

wde the doors of the temple which spreads its

that f? l^t ^IV"' ""''' ""'• '«* "« »>-ke sure
that that light shall penetrate into even the hum
blest of humble homes."

Then came the Northwest Rebellion, its sup-
pression and the capture, trial, condem;ation and
Into tr^vlr °^ '^' '"^'^ leader-Louis Riel

ton to t?;^"'"" ''"""' ^- M-'='«^' '^'-^ from
top to toe m the armor of racial indignation at the
treatment thus meted out to a French Canad Ln
who was said to be only guilty of a po£l offence-
one no worse than that of Papineau and Car L
TanHv 7,^°"^°-'' by an alleged but disproved
^uf^\J^^ Orangemen of Ontario were respon-
sible for this "crime against humanity," the Govern-

existence.. The people rose to meet his eloquent
and burning words; it was a new Papineau seek-
ing justice and punishment for a Government of
wrong-doers who had insulted the pride of a great

IS said to have made mnety-three speeches-vehe-

Ainin

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 403

ment, imploring, argumentative, forcible, appealing
doquent He emerged with a majority, became
Pnme Mimster and m 1887 turned his now doubly-
shotted guns against the Dominion Government
in a campaign where he joined forces with M
Laurier. Against this combination was the eloquence
of Chapleau, the organizing force of Langevin
^T f T' P°P"'''"*y and prestiye of Sir John
Macdonald. Mercier failed, in the main, but he
reduced the Government's support in Quebec

His succeeding four years' administration is
one of the most curious periods in Quebec history
Ihere was great lavishness of expenditure and
there was, no doubt, some of the corruption in
provincial politics which the Conservatives charged
Yet up to nearly the close of the period Mercier
presented a brilliant, conspicuous and attractive
hgure and a personahty which bore down criticism
and dominated the situation, i^^ had won the
approval of the Church by his Jesuits Estates Act
and other legislation, he received honors from Rome
which mcluded the title of Count and the Grand
Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, he
was decorated by France with the Legion of Honor
and received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from
Laval. In brilliant robes and uniform he appeared
upon the public platform and with his fine presence
his sonorous, powerful voice, his flashing black eyes'
his attractive personality, seemed to hold a position
which nothing short of an earthquake could disturb
He had also initiated useful legislation-evening

404

FRENCH CANADA

schoo 8, the grant of one l.undred acres of land to the
parents o twelve living children, the giving of prizes
or agncultural merit; he had an active policy a to
railways and manufactories and helped to sett e
the Laval University problem as it affected the
Montreal mstitution. Then came the bo t from

that hH "/" ''•'"""'■"• '^''' '' -- ''-'ouS
hat the Lieutenant-Governor, Hon. A. R. Angers

(a Conservative before accepting office), had dl!

missed his ministers for what he considered proven
corruptK>n. M. de Boucherville (Con^rvatWe)
who had once been dismissed by a Libera"! '
accepted the Premiership and in the succXg
elections was sustained. '-(-eeamg

billtvTr''^ \ ^""'' ^""^ *° ^PP"^'"" the responsi-

men[ Ir I^ h V'"",^'""'' ^''''"«^ "" Public senti-
ment or to define the measure of M. Mercier's

Zrt'h "■?"• '* '^ ^*-" "^ P""*"-' -''""and
though the picturesque personality of this particular
leader never again filled the Premier's chair he
retained much of his personal popularity, and ime
cleared his skirts of much that was charged l^Z.
him. History is already dealing gently with Z
hough the Conservative leaders L Quebec a short
t.me since, would not attend the unvSng <^ hL
statue. He possessed some of the faults and famnJs
of his race; he accentuated many of its greaZ

cZh^ aT^}"^ "" ''*"^' °f Independence for
Canada and looked upon it as the inevitable future
of the Dominion; he stood by his Church and his

PICTUllESQUE PEKSONALITIES 405

race along lines which he believed to be beneficial
with a vigor and capacity which can not but be
admired. As to the rest, only the impartial judgment
of a distant posterity can decide— though even then
anything like agreement would seem to be unlikely.

.Sir Joseph Adolphe Chapleau was a man who took
the usual strenuous interest of the educated young
French Canadian in politics but, unlike the majority
of them, he seems to have always been Conservative
m thought and speech and policy. Handsome
even striking in appearance, eloquent, with softly-
modulated voice, ringing out at times like a silver
bell, with flowing and rounded periods of speech
and easy yet impressive gestures, with a habit of
throwing back his head and passing a hand through
his splendid mass of hair, he compelled public
attention and attracted political popularity even in
days when Cartier, Cauchon and Laurier were coming
to, or were already in, the front. His career did not
run along unusual lines except perhaps in the degree
of Its success. He graduated from the Classical
Colleges with a high reputation and eariy became a
conspicuous legal figure in Montreal; defended
Lepine at Winnipeg in 1874 against the charge of
murdering Scott in the first Kiel insurrection with a
forensic force and skill which attracted attention-
entered the Legislature in 1867 and the Provincial
Government in 1873; resigned a year later and was
in the De Boucherville Ministry of 1876-78; became
the leader of the Conservatives, or Bleu opposition

J i

406

FBEN-H CANADA

decade. ^ '""^ * succeeding

he stood face to ae" t 2; £n .' r^"!..'"" "^^"

tremendous agitafon overThTRiM ^'"""^
Quebec. The lattJr h?i Question in

the people that '^ IcutlnTC' '''""''''^•^

opponents at Ottawa into extinction It ♦.
juncture Mercier offered to Inv >,,„ , **"*

this popular movement. These offers w '"

flatterine to mp Ti, " ^^'^ ^ery

»tenng to me. The prospects they opened before

PICTUHE8QUK PERSONALITIES

407

me were very attractive. I saw myself accepted
as the recognized defender of my race, honored
and applauded by all my compatriots, interpreter
of their sentiments and of their aspirations." There
was, however, another and compelling influence
summed up in the idea of duty to Canada and his
people. "I saw as a logical consequence of this
movement isolation, antagonism of race, reprisals
losses and disasters. I felt that there was more
courage in braving the current than in following it."
An elaborate study of the issue followed, with the
reasons for the Government's action.

The public, whether French or English, likes
courage and M. Chapleau was returned by his own
constituents while the Dominion Government was
sustained in its ensuing appeal to the people in
1887. From 1892 to 1897, when he died. Sir Adolphe
Chapleau was Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, a
position he filled with dignity. It is an open secret
that, pending the elections of 1896, when the Tupper
Government and Conservative power at Ottawa
were trembling in the balance; when M. Laurier
was drawing the French Canadians to him by a
tact and cleverness rarely displayed in Canadian
politics; when the Manitoba Separate School issue
was supreme in the public view and all kinds of
collateral issues of importance were at stake; every
effort was made and pressure exercised to persuade
Chapleau to re-enter politics and support his old
party friends at the polls. Had he done so and the
eloquence which he still possessed been pitted once

408

FRENCH CANADA

more against that of Laurier it i, hard to «.y what

memories. His nprnf.#!„_ "J"™" are stui living
national unit^'aViLi e tl'Lrhr' " "'

his fn„* t 'acwng— m later years ill-health doeeed
nis lootsteps and oprhnna if k„j ... "»«*<*

than is known. "" '"''" '"fl"^'"'*

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES

409

able Prince of his Church in Canada, Elz(5ar Alex-
andre Taschereau, Cardinal Archbishop of Quebec.
Born of a Seigncurial family, trained in the academic
shades of the Quebec Seminary, traveling in Europe
at sixteen and a visitor and student in Rome at
seventeen, he was ordained a priest four years later
in the Seminary of his home city. For nearly thirty
years Mgr. Taschereau remained devoted to hia
work at the Seminary— teaching rhetoric, philosophy,
dogmas, ethics, or canon law. Every position of
honor and responsibility came to him that this;
great institution could give; he helped to found
Laval University with a view to extending the scope
and character of the Seminary's work; he lived in
it and for it with such rare exceptions as in 1847
when he went to Grosse Isle to minister to the
stricken Irish immigrants. It was a testing time for
character. The malignant fever which had ' ■ veloped
at this point of detention made the island ere long
a mass of loathsome, perilous pestilence. Father
Taschereau volunteered to assist the local priest
in charge and to minister to the wants of the sick
who were, in the main, Roman Catholics. His
quiet heroism and unostentatious labors at this
point of danger endeared him to the people. In
1854 he paid a visit to Rome as the representative
of the Second Provincial Council of his Church in
Quebec and spent two years there in study, receiving
•eventually the degree of Doctor of Cauon Law from
the Roman Seminary.

His great efforts, however, were for his own insti-

j'i

410

FRENCH CANADA

or of the Petit S<<„S S Ul"?! f "'°'"''
or Rector of Laval anH «!» • ■ . *"* Seminary
devoted in eve"; hought'and Th"?" 1° '"''' '"""^
Transatlantic jouS imi ' '*' '"'«'«'"»•
compilation of meS n^ ', «°"«''P<'ndencr,
letter, and mandereT ^j!"!^^ '"''^"'' P""**'"''
Pould do to advannf ' •'^"y*'>'"« that one man

Ta«chereau did unt° is/, ""t" "" '^•'"''"' Mgr.
time Vicar-clrai If tie At".'""" ''«'"« ^°'»
he became its "CLl 'p He'didT^^ ^"^'"^■
responsibility but he did „„f k , . ' ''^''''^ the
his pupils of the Petit^^ "^ '^' '^""««- To
their L^.£ZTtT::TV''° "T *° °'^"
a beautiful garden which I ". .^°™^''> I owned
common with tr^tv Jriendl n?f^ "'f """^^ '"
where could drag me fro™ 'f. u''"""''** °' «'««-

loved to promenadeTt^Srefufwet"'^^ '"•'*•• '
opening of the nascenfr^s tlf' *° '^"t"'' *''«
season caused to expand tw*l ^"''' scholastic

alternating withTf;at/urd"'^;"^^°^
by little, made to ripen^nto si.1 ,°'. "''*>'' ««'«
yea,« of incessant laC v siS^^ '™*-" ^'"««
ince and visits in v^ ^'ftattons withm his Prov-

questions Tn c^^h goTe^r ^I"™* °' ""'"''"•"'*«'*
educational process eveTrohv' ?"•'"'''''"""'" '"'O'
the highest honn'tTe giKrhVch^'r' ''""'
away from the central seat of i?I! ""''' *° °°«

in elevation to the Cardlnllate '°""' """^ *° ••'-

One of the most picturesque and brilliant scenes

'•■ 'V/

'lA M

PICTLHESQIE PERSONALITIES

411

m the life of modern Quebec was the welcome
accorded His Eminence, the first Canadian Cardinal,
when he returned from his inBtallation at Rome as
one of the Princes of his Church. Imposing cere-
monies, a great gathering of gorgeously-robed
ecclesiastics from all over the continent, crowded
and decorated streets with flags and banners every-
where, brilliant illuminations at night, processions
of great ceremonial pomp and splendor, tributes of
music, poetry and oratory, a grand banquet in con-
clusion. Here the new Cardinal described a dream
in which St. Jean Baptiste, the patron Saint of Que-
bec, appears to Mgr. de Laval on shipboard and
tells the first Bishop of Quebec as to the mighty
future of the land he is about to enter: "Behold!
behold those rocks crested by our impregnable
citadel; then behold the city which shall receive
your ashes two centuries hence. Contemplate its
many abodes of virtue and science. Do you see
those massive buildings? They are your Seminary
and the University which shall proudly bear your
name. List to the accents of universal rejoicing
that echo throughout the length and breadth of
Janada on the accession of your fifteenth successor
to the Cardinalate! This country, today so insig-
nificant, inhabited only by a handful of Canadians,
shall then extend from ocean to ocean, its boundleps
territories belted by rails of steel reverberating to
the thunder of palatial vehicles swept along at
lightning speed by fire and steam. Without enjoy-
ing complete independence Canada shall possess

419

»nENCH CANADA

,%]

favored child on ChomLr,^*,^™'' °' °'"' °' "-
welfare ^the SvlTchS "*' '"" °^" *""

'if-larSofr'! ^^""."^ *"« Cardinal-,
and dignifie'STd^V SJ^' -"'""'o- 'abor, quiet
the development of or" , " *'''"" "ffice-with

"howed that"hr«il!„? '""'' controversies whi-h

-thoda of denunSn."' ZZZ ?' ^^^^
the relations of Church and Sflf 1^ '""" '^»''
with the problems of iij.tv " ?r""°"*''^
extreme liberty of though? !^' , """''•'"^y and
intemperance, Lmorahtv^- "f""" *'"' «^"'' "'
strife and disputeT^ hfn triT"", " ""^""""^
public issues such Ji , Church; trcatinu of

United ^i2:tZ\ZZ:T''"''''"' *° *'"«
free-masonry and other • "'"''* '"""ties,

the Church disapproved T'"'""""* "^ '^'■'^h
Dominion or ProS'l f Politicians as to

Church interest;;"::: ndS cfJ'f- "'''"°" *°
he believed to endan Jr ♦k • ,. ''^"'S'ons which
privileges of relSon din" ""^'^ °^ ''"""'y or the
attack^ the cEh ' inde "?'"« J''""'^"^*^ who
a.~.« which menaced mora,ro '?«""' ''"'°™-

- -rd the v^ta^^^te-lTtC^i^^^^^^^^^^

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 413

hi* Church row them. It was a great career and
behind it a fine personality; the power wielded wag
peri nt in much of its effect and vital in many
lines oi import to the life of the modern French
people in Canada.

The most picturesque living personality in the
Dominion is that of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He posses-
ses so many of the finest characteristics of his race,
h<! is so deeply and yet affectionately regarded by
his party, he has so few personal enemies and yet
is so closely and intimately associated with every
partisan issue in the history of Canada for twenty,
five years past, that it is almost impossible to present
a description of the man, or the leader, which could
be generally acceptable— without its being either
eulogistic and vapid or dishonest and worthless. Yet
an attempt may be made to at least classify his
characteristics and his achievements. Louis Fr^
chette, who was one of the Liberal leader's many
devoted friends amongst the brilliant literary men
and journalists of several decades in Quebec, once
told a story of having in 1865 paid a visit to the
editorial office of Union Nationale in Montreal to
see Mdd^ric Lanctot, one of the fiery, clever, enthu-
siastic opponents of Confederation who was then
practicing law, publishing a journal of rhetorical
and heated politics, and making his office a center for
many similar and kindred spirits.

In the far-end corner of the room M. Frechette,
as he entered, saw a young man seated at his desk

414

FRENCfH CANADA

with rapid writing rnd fn / T "^ ''°""«'«"t
serious way which n«t„Zi ..'"' ''"""entrated,
F^chette was aSut toZZ wh f "" ''"'"'*'°"'
young man rose and came W^ '* """ "^^'^ ^^^
the room. LancWt saTd °T!'^ '" °"^"' *° '«"ve

yers. A f4re^:;J:,^^Sf '-8 fi^m of law-
young lawyer-he wal th.n * ''°''' °'" ''^o the
age-left the robman^Llnl*?"*^"'"'^ y^"" "^
With characteristrc Fren^n^^^fr^J^f !^« -^^^or
for you! Did you notice it? ^hy sir LI " ^""'
«> orator, a philosopher, a juris!' T " '^*'

merate all his talentsf bu marrm^l^T".* '""■
coming man. Don't iorgetSfTcef" '^' '' '" »
wL"ffr;S-r-t^-vicefol-

young man forged hi«w * '"^'^'^ *" **"«
1871, into the^cClTn^^r^ ilt fhTf *-«• «
Government in 1877 i„. 1' , *"* Dominion
^.beral party Tf cf/a'd 1 1 ^7 ST^.°^ *^«
ship of Canada in 1896 nt fv ^*° ^''^ Premier-
Great Britain in 1897 At Ss n'"^? ''°"'«'" "^
that the young and risil i '^™°* '* """y »»« «>id
Frechette was rather ^H* 7^"' '''^'="»'«<1 hy M.
i» 1867 and'^Sg thf n^c^i" '?r"« ^""t^"'
village of the Easte™ To^^ ^- ' °/ ^"^ '» '^ "ttle
as ArthabaskaX Jt^ ""•f.'"''"*' '«'°wn
Which might ea^ly haS e„l """"^f^ complications

-th the exeitabfe'^:^trrnreoir7t:

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES

415

period in Montreal; it certainly provided him with
his seat in the Legislature where, on November 10,
1871, he made a speech which was so fluent, culti-
vated, charming, polished in language and elevated
in character ^a to attract immediate attention.
He declared the trouble of the day, the cause of the
existing depression, to be that production was not
equal to consumption, urged his people to learn
English as well as French, advocated an industrial
immigration into the province of master mechanics
and small capitalists, demanded reform of the
electoral. and educational laws. In the House of
Commons— April 15, 1874— his first speech dei'.'".ng
with the Fort Garry RebelUon of Louis Riel also
made a pronounced impression and a friendly
critic who heard it has left a description of "his
sonorous and vibrating voice, the wealth and variety
of intonation, the chaste simplicity of gesture, the
natural ease and grace of attitude."

In a famous speech on Political Liberalism, Mr.
Laurier, in 1877, enunciated certain ideals which
practically created a new Liberalism in French
Canada, paved the way for the removal of Church
hostility which had been aroused by various events
in the previous twenty years, and made a splendid
basis for racial conciliation and friendship— jowever
the precepts might be lived up to in practice. The
policy of the party was defined as the protection of
those free and Uberal institutions which had come
to his people, their defence and propagation, the
development of the country's latent resources through

416

FRENCH CANADA

and under those institutions. Then he concluded
by referring to the death of Montcalm and his fol-
lowers on the Plains of Abraham, and to the picture
of persecution, humiliation and despair which they
might well have drawn for the future. "If Heaven
had lifted the veil from their dying eyes and enabled
them for a moment, before they were closed forever,
to pierce what was hidden from their sight; if they
could have seen their children free and happy
marchmg proudly in all spheres of society; if they
could have seen, in the old Cathedral, the seat of
honor of French governors occupied by a French
governor; if they could have seen the church steeples
nsing in every valley from the shores of Gasp4 to
the prairies of the Red River; if they could have
seen this old flag (the tri-color), which recaUs their
victones, carried triumphantly in all our public
ceremonies; in fine, if they could have seen our free
institutions, is it not permissible to think that their
last breath would have been exhaled in a murmur
of gratitude to Heaven, and that they would have
died consoled."

The succeeding career of Sir Wilfrid Laurier was
fiUed with scenes of picturesque character and of
compUcated public and party nature, of strenuous
controversial issue, of imperial splendor or national
importance. Picture him on the Champs de Mars
Montreal (November 20, 1885), standing beside
M. Mercier and before a sea of faces alight with the
passionate feeling of his race, declaring that the
Government of Sir John Macdonald in allowing

PICTUEESQUE PERSONALITIES

417

Riel to be hung bad "committed an act of inhumanity
and cruelty unworthy of a civiliz'"' nation." Picture
bim in Tory Toronto facing a great audience during
the elections of 1887 and proclaiming similar senti-
ments with eloquent tongue and with a courage which
deserved and received its mead of public admiration.
Picture him in the bitterness of disappointment
over the elections of 1891, and in profound pessi-
mism of spirit as to the future of a country he believed
to be guided by a loyalty to Britain which was only
the covering for party corruption, telling a Boston
audience that "the time will come in the very nature
of things when separation (from Great Britain)
will take place." Picture him years afterwards,
in 1897, as Prime Minister of Canada, fresh from a
great victory, with buoyant spirits and characteristic
French cheerfulness, loaded with British honors
to supplement those of his own country, telling
audiences in Great Britain that the time was coming
when she could call Canada to her Councils. Picture
the same leader burdened with cares of office and
multiplying responsibilities of a racial, party and
national character, controlling and guiding the action
of great Imperial Conferences and modifying con-
clusions along the lines of caution. Picture him
fighting for Reciprocity with the United States in
1890 and 1891, and again in 1911, with vigor and
determination — ever standing like a rock in 'avor
of close friendship and intimate relations with the
great Republic — and going down to defeat upon a
trade issue which was expected to be a political

418

FRENCH CANADA

defence which anolw ^^itZ'ltZ '' ^''^
■n character and fundament crdiroL'^'^ "'""«''

o^ 'i^TehaSSer^ ^^^^^ --°-
-ttled. Through thrS"wn«d*'r "°* ^^'
serenely taken his course LT ul^^ ^'""*'' '"a"
sidered right or CngT th.- '*''*' ^« ^ =°n-
in the policy natrin« ™"*' ^«e or unwise

and wo^d T; 'hi bo °' h"'t*"f = '° '■'^ *houTh"
he has won the ™?,' ^ ''"f " ^^^^ dignity,
for the best chSri tTerotth:"' \'"" «*°<^
represented. As a Vr^r^T , ^™'** '"^ee he
and acting for an EnSlT"/'^"''"*^' «P«'''^»8.
many years and hd^ f^a p rof^H^ ^ ''"""«
own province in the hollow LV^ °^ *''** ""o^' ^is
opportunities for achJvemeL wV l"' '^ '""'^ «^«»*
enhanced by his oC^^^'! i/'"t ""'' ^"^^^^^
conditions involved «e^'^°°:';f /"S^t''^' these
sibility in the deeisifrl'^I ' ^ '""'' ^^^P"""
which his party acted Hi, u """* °' "Pon

wider range th^nth^- of ^^.Xt"- '"'- taken a
"nan. In dealing with aLn Canadian public

ism, racial unftj ^Id tLr" °' ^«^*^* ^^'^eral-
Jesuit's Estates quest! ^Ton l" """V""^ *''«
wn>, an eulogy of Mr run f '"° '"" I'nperial-
British policf i^ t^ T^i*'''*°T °^ Q"*^" Victoria,
Ireland, literlt^e or J[rir'"''u°\^°"'« ^^^ ^r
equally cultureran" inS^i^^ "-^ """"^^ '««'>

of^hidealstingedwittrSrCeXS:

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 419

As to the rest, he has described French Canada, in
words wh,ch he would probably like history to apply
to himself as being "Faithful to the nation ?h^

llblrty" ' *""' *° '''' °'*"°" ^^''^ «-« -

hJ^^Z '^°"\°*''" ^'''"'^ ^'''"'"'«° ^^» should
be dealt with here His name is not a household
word m Canada, though well known; it is not that
of a great pohtician, orator or statesman, but of a
simple, duty-loving, earnest soldier-Sir E P C

.^Z"^- /° '!!'"''" ^' *^P'^^« " ^■*"''«°° wiiich
IS important and ,m. al in its very essence. A

n^H f T ""V*:? ^°«^'-' '^' " «°» °f -^ judge
noted for his abiliiy and French patriotism, he
entered the British Army (Royal Engineers) in IsSS
at the age of twenty-one and rose in another
twenty-one years to the rank of Colonel. He has
served in England on work in which all rising

°^IZ J\'°, *''"'""' """'''"^ ^' has been
Director of Railways in the far-off Soudan and
President of the Egyptian Railway Board; he served
through the South African war as Director of Rail-
ways—a post whose importance can hardly be exae-
gerated or its difficulties adequately treated here- he
was for two years afterwards Commissioner of Rail-
ways m the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies-
he h^ smce then held high command in England'
served as High Commissioner of Northern Nigeri^
and then as Governor of the Protectorate; for some
years he has been Governor and Commander-in-

4S0

FRENCH CANADA

dry-docks, etc TiS f h^ • . °^ ^""twctors for

aIo„« line'. of'^:^uZ'ZZVl^L''''-'^,
construction. iJntish naval

wfa.S'ofsfi?^"^-^^^^^^

with little buH^, c ' Litv"'""""" '" '^°«''^'' ""»
to aid hin, he rt ZS' tlT ^^^t K ""•'^

r6.rordTr/tr^-»S-

received various id^*;'^",."' '^' ^°"'''"' ""^
great civil servant sucil" t" '"""''^'' "« "
has filled and was rZ7efZ LordTLr^'T '"
«elf as an officer of brilliant aSy It rL/"'
that sketches beginning with n« « i k ^"'"*

end with Girouard-Tf nni J Pu ^^'"•'''rry should
the two. The former fo^^^h^ *'"' ""'"*''«* ''«*''«en
;or Canada ^^I^^Z'S ro.T:t ^cTf"

bravely and wett Z", T,™*'^' *'>°''«'' ^e filled it
J auu weu, tlie latter could wnrt „nj c i.^

all over the Continent of Africa X „!. ^^*

from a Canadian Militarv ColW. kT f''<^"''*'»8

the Transvaal forXZ a "d'^tl ''''''.**' «"'''^"«

times, win for his wife th! H m '"' '° ''"«''*^'

General for the^ll tJ^'v f *%°^ *''^ ^8«*
oniisn Iransvaal m London. The

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 421

former saw the beginnings of the new life of French
Canada under British rule; the latter, a century
afterwards, sees and embodies in himsel/, the evolZ
m of a wide Dominion drawn from the unity of
two great races. ^

Much more might be written of the picturesque
figures who have abounded in French CaSs
public hfe during the past half-century. One can
see the modest, moderatr>, honorable, unselfish
personality of A. N. Morin as he movek over the
stormy waters which rose up out of the Rebel! on
era and D. B. Viger, the bosom friend of Papin lu"
the leader m responsible government advocacy and
afterwards member of a Government under W
Metcalfe which did not carry out the ideas invoS
in that movement. There were Sir Narcisse
Fortunat Belleau, one-time Mayor of Que^c
Speaker of the Legislative Council of the Canadas
upon whom knighthood fell like manna from the
heavensfor the official presentation of an Address
to the Prmce of Wales in 1860 and who was Wme

changed the union mto a Dominion of Canada-be-
came both Brown and Macdonald could work under
ZTJ. f "xt t^ B°"«herville, descendant of a
Seigneur of New France, Conservative by birth and
mclination and policy. Premier of his Province and a

Foujl Tn- ^°'.*''"'' ^'^P^'^o^^; Telesphore
Fourmer, brilliant journalist and Radical, clever
lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice for Camida

\ii

489

FRENCH CANADA

Seigneur -/^I^t wSLroT:^'';^""'''""^
Lieutenant-Governnr !n , ""™' °' the Crown and

T. A. R. LaSe 'ftS^^I*?" ''•"'""''''''

f„i»f "* '''"°''^' ''^-- hiif Lrs^

impetuous and arHnnt :.. * ""'"Ker and Kadical,
Liberal Memt" of '"'^'"P*"'""'"*. eventually a
Justice; J. 5 rlrtf^ T' ■""• Minister of
^<une, PoliticSaStirt? Si"'"'" °' ^^
-ter of Public Works for ,t™ 1!^" W la"""
—a restless, eairpr o,r.i,-*- """""^ °'r ". Launcr
who drove Sir HL T»n'' """""^ P""""""*
C^--^-Coi^r^i--^^^^^

ti v?by rnlK'a'n? """*" ''• ^'"«''^°' Co-orva-

dian Legislature and nl*^""'''""^ t^e Cana-
fatherofConfederatil. k'°° ^"""""ent, a

Governn>entl ot S toTI^W °' *^ ^'"=''°'«^<1
charges made bv Liltr.i j ' ' '^''*"" '° 18»2 of

^~m*the Ati:S,";,ttrett"^*R\^^^^^^^^^^^^
Adolphe P. Caron TII,,-„ t I' . " *^"'°'»> Sir
de St' Just, S'd^lnTail^--' i- I-teUier
may conclude with a W *® references

present day, sucr^ L/J y^^r"^'^''" °^ *»>«
of much eloquence rndforcff 'i!'"''"'"' * ^^'^^
attainments 'as a'arty i X and '"^'k "^^ ''■«''
been afraid to euE BriZi, \T ''^° ^^ »»»

PICTURESQUE PERSONALITIES 423

veiled v,ew«, i„ his sudden appearances Ldtj^

rsu;io7""*'"' J'^''''" '"''^ manneris^?'^
ms support of one party or the other :

Let fortune frown and foe. incre.*,
And life's long batUe know no peaci.
Oive me to wear upon my breaet
Ite object of my early quest
Undimmed, unbroken and unchang'd
The taluiman I sought and gain'd
The jewel, Independence!

Such, in these passing chapters, are the outetand

actenstics, picturesque conditions, underlyine sent!
ments of the people of French Canldr,^ th!v
struggled in the seventeenth century from tt'r
vantage pomt upon the Rocic, and then Z ram'

FRENCH CANADA

fn ♦^ T"'"' ""'*'' ■«"• '""th ""d ea.t and wit
m the effort to build ud a .fill <„^.. • '

all Its essentials, scattered thr ^ghLwJZntJ
various provinces nf tK= r> . .* settlements m

I rac iv" "St'i: ir""'*'"" •" '*« "-* '"

«j ivT . . '®™'"y »n Its increase of DonnUtin.,

§^^^i^M;m'

tfmjmmm&f*m.'

^#5^*^;^^

INDEX

AtMNronby. GtBenl, 180. i

AcadI* (Nov> KoolU), 14, U, 170,

17«, lM-a>7.
Act ol 1701,40.
Albiuul, F»ll»r, U.
\lexftfider, Hir WulUm, 180.
AUMKmlna, 33, 70, »».
Alleo, ettutn, 78.
AUmui. F>th«, 74, 77.
AUumette liljind, 70.
Amluriit, Lord Jeffrey, Oenei el, 130,

183, 17l>.
A»M, Fetber, 74.
Anuiiolie Royel. 108.
Annnution to U. 8.. 388.
ADUcoetl, leb oI, 18, W.
Arluuwae River, 78.
Arnold, Beiedlet, 30. lOI. 13S, 345.
Afeioiboloa RlTer, 81.

Iteby,48,

lUle dee Cbaleure, 80.

Bdlbiquet, Fether. 88.

Beleun Lake, 70,

Berre, de U, 188. . ,

BuUie* (eee Notre Cum de U

PeU).
Beton Rou«e, 83.
Beye, Saint Leurene, 80.
Benuhamoie. Cbarfee, MerquJs de,

OS, 311.
Benuieu, Daniel de, 130.
Beaupi4. Vlacount de, 83,
Beavfr Club, 396.
Beioeil, Heltbu of, 34.
Bic. 36. „

Bienville, C41eron de, 100. . __
Biiol, Franeole, 30, 100, lOO, HI,

114, in, 141, 310, 388,
BOoii, 83.
Blano Sabloo. 80.
Uoueber, 48.

Bouchenriile, 34, , „

Bouiainviile Comte de, 103, 113.

lie, 118, 178.
Itourgooye, Marguerite. 36, 380.
Bouriiuiutque, General de, 103, 178.
Bradatvoet, General, 183.
Brtbeuf. Father Jean de, 3S, 74, 117.

162. 301.
Breaaani, Father Joeepb, 185.
Brest Harbor, 80,

Brion leland, M. _ „
Briliah Caaeion. SS, IH, JM,
Brorli. 94

Brul^. Ktienne, 70, 73.
Buade, U HivUre, 78.
Buteaui, Father, U, 84,

Caeouiut, 18.

Cadlllae, U MotU, 77. '

Caen, da, 38.

CaUWrea, da, 171.

Cap Rouge. 83, 88, 101, IIS, MS,

Cap Tounaenta, 10.

Cape Chatte, Naval Battle ol, IS.

Capa Diamond, 10, 81, 83, «3, 107,

Cape Eternity, 88.

Cape Trinity, e«. _

Cariinan-iliaiUres Saglmant, 34. 04,

087178, 313, 3SS.
Carletoo. Oeoeml Sir Quy, 113-118,

140, 170, 348,
Caroo, Father La, 78. . ._ „
Cartiar, Jaequefc 11, 18, 17, 10. 80,

37, BsTM, 80, 81, 83, 83, 88,

Cartiar, 'Sir d«>rge Ctianna, 304.

gSSStWtfV, 48,314.
Caano. boUiar de, S3, ISO.
Calalogne. 0«d«qn da. 1»._,
Cauehon. Jaaq>h Edouard, 307.

gacs-i."-

Cenaitairea, SOS.

Chabanal. Father, 31, 183.

Chambly, Captain Jaoques da. 178.

Champlain. Samuet de. 11, 17. 10,
sTsS, 38, 98. 68, 83, 88, 67,
88 eg, 70, 71. 73. 73, SS, SO,
00, 01, 00, 133, 167. 336.

Chaplaau', BUJoeenh Adolphe. 408.
Charlevoil. P«re. 138. __

Chamieay, D'Aunay, 101-106
Chateau Ftontenac. 10, 106. 348.
Chateauguay, Battle M, 31. 387.
Chateau St. Louia. 230.
CfaaudKre. river. 30.
— falla, 33, 70.
Chaumonot. Father Joaeph Marie,

74. 186, 157. 300.
Chauvin, Pierre, 10, 66.

(an

428

INDEX

Chicago juvmTm.-
Chicouttai, M, M
Chou»rt, Mti^n

Crfnuuif, Ootave, la).

Djvion, P,Her, 83.

r>etroit, 77, jm

r- river, la.

D«^. Ad.„, de. 0™.„.. „,

J^oyMooDa, 30.

|SrdV^.r7^"'■

*ort Carillon, iftn isi
Fort Ch«„bli,'|?;J?|- 3,5

Fort Prootenac, 164 182
FortificatoM of pi» v
_ 163-184 """'''

K g^^U" Ide. 83.
fort Roiup,, 8, ■«•

Fox River. 75, 79 ' '™-

F5;UiS*°B;n" ',"" "WooU'l.)

Canada,

OikSj!"^"' *^''°"" ■<• l*. 09.

o«"g«. u, 17, ei.
—■ B«y. 18.

~ g«P«. 18.

Onm Bay, 79

Oraner, PathBr 83

°"^7.^""5-6o...d,»,..„

How,. Rlchani, eS' iS*
Hudaon'a Bay 14 ai «-

174. ^' "■ ^' 35. 75, 84.
I — ■ Ctnnpany, m gt

HuniM, 81, 89, 143.
Jiwiuol., 22. 31 32 16S

I '"■" <! OrtSan.. 19, 28, „,. „j
J>Sjr'34™3?H,^-v'»^'

I •'"'■"on.SirJohn.&lTjo""-

INDEX

429

JotUct, Louia, 74, 77.
JoaquUra, M«rquii de U,
100.

■■— JiuiUqui* Riv«r, 78, 81.
Kamourftciu, 26.
Kenneboo River, 85.
Kent, Dukfl of, 347.
KinoDce River, 23.
Kirke, Admirml Sir Williun, 17. 35
90, 100.

Laehine, MaiMcre ol, 134. 169.

L>fayo(te, AUrquia de, 41. 52.

LafoDUine, Sir Louis Hypolite. 389.

Luret River, 61.

l^Jtt Brome, 24.

Lake CharopUin. 13, 69.

Lake Chataugua, 83.

Lak« Comandeau, 23.

Lake ^ilrie. 15, 34. 74, 76.

Lake HuroD, 15, 71.

Lakr, Kenogami, 26.

Lake Mamwipi^ 24.

Lf Ju Megantio, 24.

J^e Mnmphramagos, 24.

Lake Miohiun, 76, 76, 78. 80.

Lake Nipiiung, 70.

Lake of the wooda, 81.

Lake Ontario, 15, 22, 70, 71.

Lake Pepin, 83.

Lake St. Francti, 21.

Lake St. John, 13. 25. 27, 85.

Lake St. Louia, 22.

Lake St. Peter, 20, 67.

Lake ffimooe, 70. 76.

Lake Superior, 12. 13, 15, 73, 7D

Lake Temiscouta. 85.

I<ake Timiakaming. 13.

Lake Winnebaio, 70.

La LUrre Riv£r, 23.

LaUomant, Father Cbadea. 35, 123,

146, 261.
— , J4r6ine. 148.
— , Oabrid, 148.
La I^Me, Father, 123.
U RoobeUe, 123.
La Roche Peroi, 16. 67.
— , BatUe of, 17.

La Salle, AbM Jean de. 75, 76. 77.
— , Robert Cavelier de. 128, 134,

178, 213.
I.A Tuque. Folia of, 24.
Idiurentiaa Mountaina, IS, 22, 27.
Lftureatidee, 19. 61, 239.
Laurier. Sir Wilfrid, 38, 405, 407.

406, 413-419.
Laval. Univeraity of, 37. Iftt. 369.
— , Bi^op de. 93. 06. Sfl.'i. 370.
LaTat-Montmorenry, Mgr. de. 270.

Le Moyne, Charlea, 46, 99, 127, 131,

— de BiaDTille, 83, 128, 216.

— de Chateauguay, 216.

— d'Iberville, 83, 128. 135. 174.

198, 215.

— de Loogueuil, 225.

— do Mancourt, 129. 216.

— de Ste. H41«ne. 130. 215.

— do Sevigny, 216.
— , Simon, 148.
LmnozviUe, 26. .
L'Eacarbot, 186.
Lea Eboulementa, 18.
I^ Sueur. Father, 83.
LAvia. Pointe, 113.

— , Marquia de, 102, ' 117. 110.

129, 176, 180.
I/IncamatioD, Marie dv, M, 97. 202
I^ngfellow, Henry W., 201.
Long Sault, 21, 23.
Longueuil. Baron de, 99, 211.
— , Chateau do. 21£.
L'Orignal. 23.
Lotbin^re. Cbartier de, 46. 129. 176

179, 213, 217.
Louiabourg, 100, 164. 179. 182, 200
Louisiana, 14, 40, 174.

.Vladairaaka River, 85.
Maiasoneuve, Paul de Chomedy

Sieur de, 12.3, 127, 131, 13*, 137.
Mance, Mile. Jeanne, 36, 123. 132

266. 302. '

Manicouagan River, 85.
Manitoba, 81.
Mannoir, 24.

Msrc^uette. Father, 74, 77.
Martm. Abraham. 110.
Matane River, 18.
— , town of. 26.
Mattawa River, 70. 71.
Mennen^-ille, Marquia de Duqoene

Menominee River, 79.
Meroi?r. Honortf, 400.
Meaaaiger. Father, 81.
MAsy. de, 99,
Miami, S3.

Michilimackinao, 76, 165.
— , Strait of. 78.]
Minneaota, 80.
Afiramiohi, 85.
Miaaiaaagi River, 13.
MiBaiaaippi. Valley. 14, 35, 40.
— River, 34, 74. 76. 70.
Miaaouri, valley, 40,
— , river, 75.
Mobile, 83.
Mohawks, 32.
Moocktoo, Oeneral. ' 16,

430'

INDEX

""tXl'iJi,'*^

Mont<

Montidy, hthar, gs.
— , TMud it. I3J.
MonUii.giiy, M. lb, M, 1S3. J61

iRm' '"^ '^- '»■».■ 87.

— , Adniinl do. 67.

MontrMLl. 13, 20. 34 ar n? ^9 an

Moou.*, l4«.

Moore, Thomu, 23,

MooM Riv«r, 80.

MonUiwt, 21.

Mount HoyJ, 21, 27, M, 121 2I»

Mount St.. Ann., n. ' '' ■""•

-"SK'lS,"!!*^ '*• "'• '"'• 2»-

S^' HoMfo, 3M,

N.pi«on Bivw, IJ.

How Bnmmriok, Prarinw tl, 14 71

Nfw»oandUuid, IS, 174 ' '• ''■

Najur. RiTCT, IS, M

rifffl* 3*. 73, 74.

NioluUa, F«tk«r. 85.

Nw2Si.T*£" *"»•"■»»»•

NortkwM FuV Compuy 139
gonhw« IUl„lli™,r4M
Notre Oun.. Chureh of, 2S7

°^f*°" ^ ■• ^. Ch\«h of,
"'"rf'm' * *'°°*~'' Con-puny

^SSfeS5SS.5i.",ku«.

NoOTol, FnthB., M. • "*•
Nom Sootih as, 71.

Ohio Bi»or, 75, 78.

J01l«u.F.th.r,73.

OnSdu, 32.
Onomjacu, ii2.
^tuon, S3.
g«gio^Pmvincrf,l4,2S.

-.X'^.'S."'"-"-^™'"

— . proTinM of, 7ft

I OtoMb.. Bi,„, 70.

I °»'I*lyo«Loqrd»,Chupd.of.s«i.

PnjrfnMtoli RItw, 85.
Fsmnetu, 41, 44, 403
Puknuui, 30, 262, SQ2
g««» ol 1763, 38, M

Plup.^Si,WiUi.n,,ij,i02,,38,,„

P(p»n RivOT, 13.
Pijmrt, Father, ISO.
HonoCT. French, 14.

fr^Sl7j2S;,-^i?,„. 1,

Pontiac, 32.

Port Royal. 68, 163, 170. 183

wTiS' ^'^°«»" «*«. 67. 163.
Pndrie du CUmi, 7B.
Protottantum, 36.
ProtMtaat Chunh, 256.

Quebw) Act, 40.

Quebee, city, ii. ia |a ,» ,„

-iSAf "• "■ »■ 231-366.
9™". Father du, 86.
V^to, Bay of, 70.

"•^^"•thor Piorre E-prft, 77.

^^rilli?'' ^"^ ■''■ <»• 138. 211

8«5»ll«»«. 72. 91. 264 278

Bod BivCT. 81 ■ • "'■

Sfotiffourhe, 86.

RiM Lake, 70.

EicMtou, Cardinal. 14, 34, 36, 38,

S.S,SJlJo','g'«'»»'"-
H|d._Lo^.402,406.

Riniouaki. 26.
glw St. John. 86.
givijre de Oenn™. 69,
Kiiljre dee IniquoU. 69.
Kivrtre du Jotb, 18, 69
BlvUre du Pont, 09.

INDEX

431

Hobert Bent Onlln d> b Salle,

Boche, Muqi^ de la, 64.

E)wd. FathM, 73.
SagUHioy, 61, 6J. .

— ^JW^^' *3' ". 18. 19. 20. 00.

St. Anthui' , Falls ot, 74

Ht. Chariei River, 61, 112
Ht. Clair River, 16, 76
8t. CouQ«. Father, 83.

Ste. Croix Uand, 6S.
3to. QeQevieve Is>and, 69
^te. H616ne, iaUnd of, 123
St«. Suianoe River, 69
St. Fraocu, river. 13, 24, 60
— , town of, 27.

St. inutee, 77.
St. Ma^'e ]

D», aiMif ■ Bjver. Ifl.

St. LawreDM. Gulf of. 14. 27, 60.

ot. lAwrenoe River. 11. 12 13 H

St. IxHiif River, 16.

St. LuHon, Daumont de. 82.

St. Maurice River, 13, 16. 20, 24. 71.

St- ^^". SSpin^y of. 126, 130,
137. 258, 268. 286. 364.

— , Gentlemen of. 127, 226.

fl«l«^rTy. CojlwMl C M. de, 21. 46,
*>•. *J7, 38/.

SaAatebewan River, 81.

Sai'lt au R«coU9t, 73.

Saolt Ste. Marie. 73, 79. 82

Saunders, Admiral. 114. 118.

Seigneurs. 46, 127, 308-230.

Beneoas, 32.

ShawiniJBan Falla. 36, 84.

Bhnbrooke, 26.

Society of the Holy Family. 157

Sorel. 30, 178. 318; 3467^

— , Kerrs de. 178.

fourpe. Father Thaumer de la. 83.

Souris River. 81.

Stadaetma, 62, 67.

Sulpidans, 126. 130. 167. 211

Susquduuina River, 73.

Taeh«. Sir EUenne Paacal. 301
TRdousac. 18, 64, 65, 66, 69, 86, 267.

Talon, Jean Baptiite, 95. 218. 335.

Tuchrreau, 37. 46, 409.

Tecumseh. 32.

TbayendeDacea, 33.

Thousand IsUufls. 23

Three Rivere. 30, 79. 84, 178. 345.

Tonty, Henri de, 76, 83

Toronto, 73, 76, 104

Tour. Claude de la, 190

— , Charles de la. 190. 192

— . Madame Chariea de la, 190-196.

Townahend, General, 116, 119

Tracy, Marquis de, 95.

Trappists, 23.

Trent River, 70.

Trenton, 70.

TuBcsroras, 32.

LTwenty-Three," The. 141.

Two Mountams, hike of. 23.

Ungava, 14.

Upper Canada, 14, M.

Ursulme Nuns, 212

^"1b"2a2.'aSL" "^ Church rf

Varennes, 24.

VaudreL.. Cavamial, Marquis a. M

^•"^ n^"iii ^.'"'•Ppe. Marquis *de 93!

VercMrea, Seigneur de, 34. 172

— , Marie de, 172.

Verendrye, Gaultier de la. 80, 81,

— . Francois da la, 81.
— , lx>uiBdola, 81,
—, Pierre d3 la. 81, 128.
Verrasaono, 68.
Victoria Bridge. 21, 121, 369.
Virf. Father Nicholas, 73.
ViUe Mane de Montreal, 24 133
136, 135. ' *

Vimont, Father, 124.

War of 1776 41.56.
War of ISli, 41. 53. 66. 176. 380
Winnipeg, nver. 78, 81.
— . city of, 81.
Wisconsin River. 74. 75. S3
Wolfe, General James, 38. 39. 48 64
90, 108-120. 346. ' '

— Cove, 114. 345.

— Monument. 110.

— Redoubt. 119.
Wolf-Montcalm Memorial, 109.

Yamaska River. 24, 69.

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "French Canada and the St. Lawrence [microform] : historic, picturesque and descriptive"

See other formats