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H

MAPLE LEAVES:

A BUDGET OF

LEGENDARY, HISTORICAL. CRITICAL,

AND SPORTIISG INTELLIGENCE.

By J. M. LeMOINE, Esq.,

Ahthor ok " L'ORmTHOLOGiE Du CANADA ; " " Les Pecheries D0 Canada ; " " Etude

gUR LE8 Explorations Arctiques de McClttre, de McClintock, kt de Kane,"

ETC. J Member of the Literary and Historical Society op Canada.

^

^

(Copyright Secured.)

QUEBEC:

PRINTED, FOR THK AUTHOR, BY HUNTER, ROSE k CO.

1863.

2G1C02

of the Province of Canada. i-KMo.NE, in the office of the Registrar

I

TABLE TO CHAPTERS.

isand
istrar

Page

I. The Grave of Cadieux 1

II. Chateau Bigot — The Hermitage 8

III. Crumbg of Comfort for Lawyers K»

IV. A Sketch of Spencer Wood 24

V. The Golden Dog— Le Chien Dor ; 20

VI. Canadian Names and Surnames 33

VII. The Legend of Holland Tree 41

VIII. A Chapter on Canadian Noblesse 4r)

IX. The Loss of the '• Auguste '' — French Refugees fi 4

X. On some peculiar Feudal Institutions G2

XI. La Corriveau — The Iron Cage 68

XII. An Episode of the War of the Conquest Tf)

XIII. De Breboeuf & Laleraant — Lake Simcoe 8r>

XIV. Fin and Feuther in Canoda 90

XV. Accliinitization of Birds and Animals I(iO

XVI. A Parting Word 104

A

OUf

int

to
ths
of
bul

Fr(

fist

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to

W}

wa

of

tail

TO MY ENGLISH READERS.

A

YOUTHFUL poet, L. 11. Fri'chcttc, assumes in the preface of
his charming little volume, "• Mes Loisirs," that every book
ought to have something of a preface, were it only a note of
interrogation — ?

Witliout admitting or denying this proposition, I have a word
to say to my readers (if I have any), not precisely to tell them
that the modest Maple Wreath, I now lay before them, is worthy
of their approbation, — as it must stand or fall on it own merits, —
but merely to ask on one point a little forbearance.

Just let some of them imagine they have to write a book in
French. Would not the bare idea make them feel as nervous as a
fish out of water? Such is the feeling which comes over me in indit-
ing one in English. This littc volume may, perhaps, add another
to the many proofs that no man can write well two languages.
What remains to be done ? Nothing, I fear, except to mend my
ways and my English, should I ever repeat the attempt. A portion
of the historical, legendary and sporting intelligence herein con-
tained is scattered through many old books and memoirs, not of

TO MY ENOLTSn READERS.

mny acco<*s to tho generality of rcaclorf<. In collcctino; it in ( ne
small builf:;ot, neither ponderous in form nor in substance, have
I succeeded to furnish a manual of light reading for touri.>ts,
sportsmen and others''' Time alone will tell. This bantling has
taken up, pleasantly enough, many a leisure hour during long
winter evenings, when my " llou.-jchold (lods " were wrapt in
balmy sleep, and when no sound invaded my study but tho
whistling of the northern blast through my old oaks and snow-
clad pines.

To say it cost me neither trouble nor research, would be untrue.
Dealing becomingly with some feudal t(>[)ies, I found very difficult,
notwithstanding tlio pains I look, to handle them gingerly.
I have thrown in several light anecdotes to enliven the subject.
It has, likewise, frequently been my lot to speak of ti\e living
and the dead, also of current events: severely at times ; un-
justly, I hope, never. Witiiout ignoring the merits of other
nations and other countries, I never shrank from standing up fnr
my own, and ] hope never will. Without forgetting the claims

of ancestry ; to whom we ow(5 civil and religious freedom,
and their exponent, representative institutions (even though our
government be but a pale copy of a good original) one
thing will frci^uently shew itself in these pages — that is, —
the love of country. In the words of Scotia's bard :

" Breathes there a mun with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This ia my own. my native hind ? "

Or else in those of our OAvn national poet :*

" Sol Canadieii, terre cherie !
Par des braves tu fus peupl^ ;

♦ Isidore Bodard. This gifted Quebecer was a brother of tho hite Hon. Mr. Justice
Eliiear Bedard. Ho represented in I'luliameut, the County of Sagucnay, and died in
Paris, in 1833.

TO MY ENOLIsn READERS.

Ill chorclinlent loin de luiir patrie,
Uno terre do libortd,

Qu'elles sont belles noscampagneg !
En Canada qu'on vlt content I ,
Salut, O I sublimes rnontugnea,
Bords' dii supcrbo St. Laurent.
Habitant de cotto contrce,
Que nature sait embellir
Tu peux marcher to to lev<Se,
Ton pays doit t'enorgucillir.

Si d'Albion la main ch^rie
Cesse un jour do to prott^'gcr
Soutiens-toi fcule, o ma patrie I
Mdpriso un sccours utniiigcr.
Noa pere3 .sortia dela Franco
El.iient 1' 'el te des gucrrieff'',
Et leurs eufants, de leur v.iiH;inco
N'e tiettriront \r.\9 liv-j i!u::i»rs."

irii

Spknoir Wood (jkanuu,

20th AuijttHt, 1S03.

E p. 71 A T A .

Page 14 — Read " by-word" instead of " bye-word."

" 28— Instead of "about Governor Hiacks," read "absent Governor IL"
" 36 — The note — leave out " Quebec." — " Backwoodsmen " instead of " back-
woodmen."
" 50 — Read " Capitaine de vaissoau " instead of " vesseau."
" 52— Read "1725 " instead of " 1755."
65 — Read "thirty -six millions."
61 — Read "quotations" instead of "quations."
66 — Instead of "Counts and barons dancing La Salammbo," read "countesses,

Ac, dressed i la Salammbo."
66 — The note — Read instead of " he formed part," " the chcvallier Lacorne formed
part of the distinguished Canadians who offered their services to Major
Prjston."

it

MAPLE LEAVES.

€lt ©fabc of dnVmL

CHAPTER L

" Utawa's tide I thU trembling moon

Shall see U3 float over thy surges soon.

Saint of this green isle I hear our prayers,

Oh! grant us cool heavens and favouring airs.

Blow, breezes, blo\f, the stream runs fast,

The Rapids are near, and the daylight's past."

Moore.

EVERY country has its legends, its wild stories of love or revenge ;
its traditional accounts of heroes ; of battles won or lost j of brave
men saved from certain death by some unaccountable superhuman
agency; of wicked ones summarily punished. Poets, chroniclers, and
historians mould these memories into more or les-s attractive form,
throw light or shade 'on the picture, surround it with the halo of their
genius, or leave it a dreary record of the past. It wco strange, indeed,
if our own inland seas, our wild lakes, our romantic forests — which for
more than one century resounded with the tread or echoed the warhoop
of the innumerable Indian tribes bent on exterminating one another,
and equally hostile to the white man — should be an exception to the
general rule. There is an ample harvest awaiting the future Walter
Scotts, the Washington Irvings, or the Coopers, which Canada may pro-
duce ; and towering amongst contemporary writers, we do know two whom
elegance of style and intimate acquaintance with the historical and
legendary lore of Canada, seem tc designate as eminently qualified to
collect the traditions of former days, to breathe in them the spirit of
life : these men are the author of "Charles Oue'in," and the writer of
Les Forestiers et Voyageurs.

s

THB e^RAVB OF CADIBUX.

It is one of those ancient traditions, carefully collected, and diyested
of many of its marvellous episodes, we shall now try and lay before the
reader.

Amongst the numerous stories or songs which old Voyageum and
Northwesters were in the habit of relating or singing a few years ago^
after the toil of the day was over, and wh|n the aroma of the weed rose
in circles round the camp-fire, few had a wider range of celebrity than
one generally known as the " ComplaintC de Cadieux;" it portrayed in
simple but vivid language the singular fate of an educated and roving
Frenchman, of the name of Cadieux, on the banks of the Ottawa River,
cloKo to Porfaije du Fort. But I fancy I hear an inquisitive lady friend
ask : '* Who was Cadieux ? What brought him out to Canada ? Was it
to escape a Icffrc de cachet, or was it a blase, Court roue, or a disap-
pointed lover, seeking oblivion or concealment in the fastnesses of a
Canadian forest, like the old Hermit of the Island of St. Barnab6 ?"
Lady fair, I cannot say ; I can only translate for you the history of the
solitary tomb, which you can visit any day you like, near Portage dv.
Fort, as Dr. Tach6 has related it.

Evidently, Cadieux must have united to bravery, and a romantic

mind, a poetical genius : he finds his place amongst that resolute band

of intelligent pioneers, the Marsollets, the Coutures, the Nicolets, etc.,

who were sometimes employed by government, sometimes by the

missionaries, to interpret the various Indian dialects. Dr. Tachd, to

whom we are indebted for the narrative of Cadieux in his Forcstiers

ft Voi/ageurs, tells us that he himself had frequently, in the course of

his extended travels in the back-woods of Canada, heard detached

stanzas of this mysterious wail of sufiering and death, but until recently,

the singular tradition, as embodied in poetry, had, as a whole, constantly

eluded his grasp. Nor was he alone in his efforts to rescue it from

oblivion ; an old and indefatigable searcher of the past, the venerable

Abb6 Ferlaud, had diligently set to work, making enquiry in every

quarter, writing even to the Red River settlement for information. To

the pleasing writer of Les Forrest iers et Voi/ageurs, was reserved the

satisfaction of graphically recording the old tradition. Audubon

himself, when he discovered the magnificent eagle to which he gave

the name of the Bird of Washington, did not experience keener pleasure

than Dr. Tach6 on receiving from the lips of his old Indian guide,

Morache, the whole complainte or song of Cadieux.

quiij
woi
Cac

THE QRAVE OF CADIEUX.

" In ascending," says he, *' the great River Ottawa, one has to stop at
the rock of the high mountain, situate in the middle of the jyortatje of
the seven chutes, at the foot of the island of the Grand Cahimit .- it is
there that lies Cadicux's tomb, surrounded to this day by a wooden rail-
ing. Each time the Company's canoes pass the little rock, an old
voyageur relates to his younger companions the fnte of the brave
interpreter.

" Cadieux was a roving interpreter, who had married a young Algon-
quin girl : he generally spent the summer hunting, and in vvintor he
would purchase furs for the traders. After a winter thus passed by
Cadieux at the portage, where he and the other families litid their
wigwams, it had been decided in May to wait for other Indian tribes
who had furs for sale, and then all were to come down to Montreal.
Profound peace existed in the settlement, when one day a young Indian,
who had been roaming about, close to the rapids lower down than the
portage, rushed back out of breath and shouted amongst the affrighted
occupants of the huts : Nattaoud ! Nattaou6 I ! The Iroquois I the
Iroquois ! !

*' There was in reality at that moment, lower than the rapids of the Seven
Falls, a party of Iroquois warricrs, waiting to pounce upon the canoes,
who generally descended at that season loaded with skins : one only
chance of escape remained, that was to attempt to bring the canoes
through the rapids — a hopeless project, it had ever been considered.
This was not all : it would be necessary to station some parties in the
woods in order, by firing, to draw off the attention of the Iroquois from
the desperate attempt which would be made to go through the rapids
and prevent pursuit. Cadieux, being the ablest and most resolute of
the tribe, chooea a young Algonquin warrior to accompany him in this
perilous service : it was settled that once the interpreter and hi-
comrade should have succeeded to inveigle the Ii jquois in the woods.
they would try a circuitous route, and attempt to join their own friends
who were to send after them, should they be too long absent.

" Preparations being made for a start, it was settled that Cadieux and
the Algonquin warrior, well armed, would go towards the Iroquois
encampment; and that the sign for the canoes to break cover and
start on their fearful race, would be the firing f^f their guns. Soon the
report of a fire-arm was heard in the distance ; it was followed by three

THE GRAVE OP CADIEUX.

or four others in quick succession j on went the frail birch canoes, amidst
the foam and rocks, flying like sea birds, over the boiling caldron ; it
was a race for dear life, the extraordinary and superhuman skill of
the red skins alone, under Providence, saving them from death in a
*'housand shapes."

'• * I saw nothing during our passage over the rapids,' said Cadieux's
wife, a pious woman, ' but the form of a tall lady in white hovering
over the canoes and showing us the way.' They had invoked Ste.
Anne, the patron saint of the mariner.

" The canoes escaped and safely arrived at the Lake of Two Moun-
tains j but Oadieux and his devoted follower — what had become of
them ? This was ascertained some time after by the party sent to their
rescue, and from the Iroquois iheuiselves.

"Cadieux had quietly watched for the Iroquois at the portage, placing
himself about an acre from his colleague, allowing the 7;oquois scouts
to penetrate to the centre of the portage, he waited for the death yell
of one of them, shot by his helpmate, and then fired with unerring
aim : the war whoop resounds, and the Iroquois fancying that they
are Attacked by a large party of the enemy, separate and charge in dif-
ferent directions. It is supposed that the young Algonquin fell here
in attempting to join Cadieux, as was agreed on. For three days
the blood-thirsty aborigines scoured the woods to find out traces of the
encampment, never thinking for a moment that the enemy had been
fool-hardy enough to attempt descending through the rapids. For three
days and nigiits they searched for Cadieux, and theje were sleepless
nights for the white man ! Foiled in their object, they retraced their
steps and returned to their cauoes. Several days had elapsed, and
as no tidings ot Cadieux came, a party was formed and sent to scour
the woods ; traces of the Iroquois were unmistakeable, and indications
also of the presence of Cadieux in the vicinity. At the l^ortage des JSept
Chutes, they noticed a small hut of branches which, apparently, had
been abandoned ; they passed it without much search and continued
their route, thinking that perhaps Cadieux might have been compelled
to ascend the Ottawa and take refuge with the Indians of the island.
Two days later — it was the thirteenth day after the skirmish — they
noticed, with surprise, on their return, on repassing what had previously
appeared to them an abandoneid hut, a small cross. It stood at the hea,d

THE GRAVE OF OADIEUX.

of a fresh grave, on the surface j in it, was deposited the corpse, still
fresh, of Cadieux, half covered with green branches. His hands were
clasped over his chest on which rested a large sheet of birch bark.
The general opinion was, on reading the writing scribbled on the bark,
and from other circumstances, that exhaustion, hunger, and anxiety had
produced on the unfortunate interpreter that kind of mental excitement
or hallucination which the French Canadians call la folic des bois, one
of its peculiarities being the propensity its victims have in the woods
of walking, unintentionally, in a circle and without making any pro-
gress. Cadieux had, doubtless, lived on wild fruit, never daring to
light a fire, for fear of betraying his place of concealment to his msrei-
less foes. He had grown weaker and weaker daily ; when the relief
party had passed the hut two days previously, ho had recognized them
as friends, but the sudden joy at the prospect of a speedy deliver-
ance was so great that it made him speechless and inanimate ; that
when they passed him, seeing the last hope vanish, and feeling his
strength fail, he had scribbled his adieux to the living and then pre-
pared his last resting place ; this done, and the cross erected, he laid
himself down to sleep the long slumber of death, covering his body as
best he could m ith spruce boughs. Cadieux was a voyageur, a poet, and
a warrior. What he had written on the bark was his dirge, his funeral
chaunt. Before lying himself down to rest, he, whose imag^ination
revelled in nature's grand scenery, and who could write songs for voya-
geurs, feeling a return of the sacred fire, embodied in verse his own
dirge.

" This chaunt, by its simplicity, is very attractive ; it is much in the
style of the old Norman ballads imported in the colony by the first
settlers. The dying bard addresses himself to the objects which sur-
round him, telling them of his regret for quitting life ; then, physical
pain wrings from him a groan of anguish which is followed by a sor-
rowful thought at the loss of those nearest and dearest to his heart. He
then next expresses his apprehension on witnessing smoke rise from his
hut not far distant — then tells of the intense joy he experienced on
recognizing the ieatures of friends in the party sent out to rescue him —
of his utter inability to shout out where he is — and of the pang which
their final departure cost him. Cadieux next sees a wolf and a raven
prowling round his emaciated frame; the ardor of the hunter and of th«

I .K

e

THE ORAVK OF CADIBUX.

backwoodsmaa fires his eye for a second, he threatens to shoot one ;
to the other he cries avaunt I go and feast on the bodies of the Iroquois
I have slain near by. He next chnrgo i the song sparrow (the Rossig-
nol) to convey his adioux to his wife and his ' well-beloved children/
then winds up by an invocation to the Virgin Mary. The piece of bark
on which Cadicux's ^cath song was written was brought to the post of
the Lake of Two Mountains. The voi/wiciirR have set it to a plaintive
melody, well suited to a lay intended to portray the arduous life of a
hunter and Indian warrior. It runs thus : —

" Petit rochcr de la Haute niontagne,
Je viens finir ici cette campagne !
Ah! doux 6chos, entoodez mcs soupirs;
En languissant je vais bientot mourir.

Petits oiseaux, vos douccs harmonies,
Quand vous chantez, me rattachent ^ la vie :
Ah ! si j'avais des ailes commc vous,
Je s'rais heureux avant qu'il tut deux jours !

Seul en ces bois, que j'ai eu de soucis!
Pensant toujours h mcs si chers amis;
Je demandais : II61as ! sont-ils noy6s ?
Les Iroquois les auraient-ils tuos ?

Un de ces jours que ni'6tant ^loign6,

En revenant jc vis une fumde ;

Je me suis dit : Ah ! grand Dieu, qu'est ceci ?

Les Iroquois m'ont-ils pris mon logis ?

Je me suis mis un peu a rembassade,
Afin de voir si c'^tait embuscade ;
Alors je vis trois visages frangais,
M'ont mis le coeur d'une trop grande joie !

Mes genoux plient, ma faible voix s'arrete ;

Je tombe H^las ! h, partir ils s'appretent ;

Je reste seul Pas un qui me console,

Quand la mort vient par un si grand ddsole 1

TRI ORATI OF OADIEUZ.

Un loup hurlant vient pr^s de ma cabane,
Voir 81 mon feu n'avait plus de boucane ;
Je lui ai dit : Retire-toi d'ici ;
Car, par ma foi, je pcrcerai tou habit !

Un noir corbeau, volant h, ravcnture,
Vient se percher tout pr^s de ma toiture ;
Je lui ai dit : Mangeur de chaire humainc,
Vft-t'en chercher autre viande que micnne ;

Va-t'en 12i-bas, dans ces bois et marais,
Tu trouveras plusieurs corps Iroquois :
Tu trouveras des chair?, aussi dcs os ;
Va-t'en plus loin, laisse-moi en repos !

Rossignolct, va dire k ma maitresse,*
A mes enfants qu'un adieu je leur laisse,
Que j'ai gard6 mon amour et ma foi,
Et d^sormais faut renoncer h moi !

C'est done ici que le mond' m'abandonne,
Mais j'ai secours en vous, Sauveur des hommei!
Tr^s-Sainte Vierge, ah ! m'abandonnez pas,
Permettei-moi d'mourir entre vos bras ! ' "

( r

* This word, iu old Canadian songs, is used fur wife or betrothed.

(«)

% Wmi U C|ato-^i|(jt.

4tb Juvt, 18C3.

CHAPTER n.

" Selma, tbj halls are desolate 1"

Oitian.

" BascoQced 'mid trees this chateau stood—

'Mid flowers each aisle and porch;

At eye soft music charmed the ear —

High blazed the festive torch.

But, ah 1 a sad and mournful tale
Was her's who so enjoyed
The transient bliss of th^se fair ahadeg—
By youth and love decoyed.

Her lord was true— yet he was false,

False — false — as sin and hell —

To former plights and vows he gave

To one that loved him well."

The Hermitage.

FROM time immemorial an antique and massive ruin, standing in
solitary loneliness, in the centreof a clearing at the foot of the Charles-
bourg mountain, some five miles from Quebec, has been visited by the
young and the curious. The lofty mountain to the north-west of it is
called La Montague des Ormes, and the Charlesbourg peasantry
designate the ruin as La Maison de la Montague. The English of
Quebec have christened it The Hermitage, whilst to the French portion
of the population it is known as Chateau-Bigot, or Beaumanoir ; and
truly, were it not on account of the associations which surround the
time worn pile, few indeed would take the trouble to go and look at the
dreary object.

The land on which it stands was formerly included in the Fief de la
Trinity, granted between 1640 and 1650 to Bishop Denis. This
seigniory was subsequently sold to Monselgneur de Laval, a descendant
of the Montmorency's, who founded in 1663 the Seminary of Quebec,
and one of the most illustrious prelates in New France : the portion
towards the mountain was dismembered. When the Intendant Talon

A VISIT TO CHATEAU-BIGOT.

larles-
)y the
if it is
santry
isli of

)rtioii
and
Id the

it the

\de la
This

idant

[ebeC;

[rtion
?alon

formed his "Baronie Des Islets,* he annexed to it certain lands v)f the
Fief (Ida 7Vm/^f, amongst Others that part on which now stand the
remains of the old chateau, of which he sim nis to have been the builder,
but which he suhsequi-ntly sold. Bigot, having acquired it long alter,
enlarged and improved it very much. He was a luxurious French
gentleman who, some hundred years ago, held the exalted post of
Intcndunt or AdministratiT under the Frcncli Crown, in Canada.f In

* May, 1076, L)Ui3 ilio XlV und C -Ibort >;r.iiUed to Muiisiuur le Ci'iuto Talon,
Intciiduut, tljo Sci};niory Jes Ilcts, " tojjotber wiib tLose neigbboring villagea lo us
beluu;,MU<;, iliu liibt ciiUud liuurg Koyul, tbu sui-oad Dourg lu iiuiuo, tho third, Buurg
Talon, subsuqueiiily cban^jed into tbo iiarony of Ordiiinvillo."

f ll.iwkiu'b Hicturu of C^iubL'o will give ui uu idoii of tbu aploudour in whi^'b tlio
Intend ml livud in bis town resilience :

" Immodiatcy throu;,'b Palaeo <iato, turning towards tbo loft, and in front of the
Oidinaneo building and sloreboudos, ouco stood un editico of groat extent, surrounded
by a .-ipacious garden looUiug towards tbo River St. Charios, and us to ita iaiorior
douoraiions, lar more splendid than tbo Casllo ol 8t. Lewi.s. It was ihu I'alaco of tho
Inttntlant, so called, boeauHO the sittings of tbo Sovereign Couneil were heid ihoro,
after tbu establi.<binent oi tbo Royal Govorniuent in Now Franco. A auiall dixiriot
adjoining is still euUed Lc /'<tlaii l>y tbo (.Id inhabitants, and the uaiue of thu gate,
and of the well-pioportioned dlreet which loads to it, aro derived from ibo saino uiigia.

" The Iiitjulaiit's Palace was described by La Fotborio, tu IGDS, asfousiating of oiguiy
toisei, or four hund-ed and eighty foot of buildings, so that it appeared a liUlo town iu
itself. The King's stores were kept thcro. Its situation does not at tho present liiuo
appear advantngonus, but tho aspect of the River St. Charles was widely dillereut iu
those days. Tho property in tho neighborhood belonged to tho <ioverumeut, or to tL«
Jesuits; largo meadows and flowery pastures adorned tho banks of tho River, aud
roacbed the base of the rock ; and as late as the time of Charlevoix, in i72U, that
quarter of thu city is spoken of as being tho most beautiful. The entrance was into a
court, through a largo gateway, tho ruins of which, in St. Vallier J^treet, still remain.

" Tho buildings formed nearly a square ; in front of the river were spacious gardens,
and on tho sides the King'.s store-houses. Beyond the Palace, towards tho west, were
the pleasing grounds of tho •Jesuits, and of tho General Hospital. This building, like
most if the public establishments of Quebec, wont through the ordeal ol fire, and was
afterwards rebuilt with greater attention to comfort aud embellishment, la Septem-
ber, 1712, M. Begon arrived as Intendaut, with a splendid equipage, rich furniture,
plate and a[iparel, betirting his rank, lie was accompanied by his wife, u youug lady
lately marriei, whose valuable jewels were tbo general admiration. A fire, wuich it
Was found inap)S.siblo to extinguish, broke out in the night of the oth January, 17iJ,
and buruo 1 so rapidly, that the Intendant and his lady, wita difficulty escaped la their
robbs (ie chinibiei. Tho loss of tho Intendant was stated at forty thousand crowus.
Tuj Palace wis aftjrw.irds rebuilt in a splendid stylo by M. Begon, at the King's
expense. The following is its description, given by Charlevoix, in 1720. a faw years
afterwards. ' Tue fntendant's aouse is calUd the Palace, because the Superior Council
assembles in it. This is a larg^ pavilion, the two extremities of which project some
feet ; and to which you ascend by a double flight of stairs. The garden trout which
faces the little river, which is very nearly on a level with it, is much more agreeable
than that by which you enter. Tho King's magazine faces the court on tho right side,
and behind tba: is the prison. Tho gate by which you enter is hid by tho mountain
on which the Upper Town stands, and which on this side affords no prospect, except
that of a steep rock.*

" Tho Intondaut's Palace was neglected as a place of ofQcial residence after the con-
quest in 17JD. In 177J, it was occupied by a detachment of tho American iuvadmg
army, and iL'stroyed by the fire of the garrison. The only remains at present are a
private house .,the gateway alluded to above, and several stores belonging to Govern-
ment, formed by repairing soma of the old French buildings. The waole is now
known by tho namo of tho King's woodyard. " Since this has been written, extensive
wharves have been consirueted by the Corporation of Quebec. The reader ia also
reminded not to confound the lQt.!udant B6goa with his successor, Bigot.

10

A VT6lt to CRATBAIT-BIOOT.

thnsc days the forests which skirted the city wore abundantly stocked
with game: deer of several varieties, bears, foxes, perhaps even that
noble and lordly animal, uow extinct in Lower Canada, the Canadian
stag, or Wapiti, roamed in herds over the Laurentian chain of mountains
and were shot within a few miles of the Ch3>teau St. Louis. This may
have boon one of the chief reasons why the French Lucullus erected the
old ca.stlc, which to this day bears his name — a resting place for himself
and friends after the chase. The profound seclusion of the spot, combined
with iis beautiful scenery, would have rendered it attractive during the
summer months, even without the sweet repose it had in store for a tired
huLtcr. Tradition ascribes to it other purposes, and amusements less
permissible than those of the chase. A trapiical occurrence enshrines
the old building with a tinge of mystery, which only awaits the pen of a
novelist to weave out of it a thrilling romance.

Francois J5igot, thirteenth and last Intendant of the Kings of France
in Canada, was born in the province of Guienne, and descended of a
family di.stinguished by professional eminence at the French bar. He
had previously tilled the post of Intendant in Louisianna, and also at
Louisbourg. The disaffection and revolt which his rapacity caused
in that city, were mainly instrumental in producing its downfall and
surrender to the English commander, Pepperell, in 1744. Living at a
time when tainted morals and official corruption flourished at court, he
seems to have taken his standard of morality from the mother country :
his malversations in office, his gigantic frauds on the treasury, his colos-
sal speculations in provisions and commissariat supplies furnished by
the French government to the colonists during a famine ; his dissolute
conduct and final downfall, are fruitful themes wherefrom the historian
can draw wholesome lessons for his generation. Whether his Charles-
bourg (then called Bourg Royal) castle was used as the receptacle of
some of his most valuable booty, or whether it was a kind of Lilliputian
Pare au CVrfs, such as his royal master had, tradition does not say.
It would appear, however, that it was built and kept up by the plunder
wrung from sorrowing colonists, and that the large profits he made by
pairings from the scanty pittance the French government allowed the
starviog residents, were here lavished in gambling, riot and luxury.

In May, 1757, the population of Quebec was reduced to subsist on
four ounces of bread per diem, one lb. of beef, horse-flesh or cod

A VTSTT TO C?HATBAn-BTO0T.

11

FiRH ; and in April of the foilowin;? yonr, this ruisorablo nllowaiico was
reduced to one-half. " At this time," rcmarlcH our historian, Mr. (lar-
ncau, ** famished men wore seen sinkinj; to the earth in the streets
from exhaustion."

Such were the times durinpr which * Louis the XV. 's minion would
retire to his Sardanapalion retreat, to revel at leisure <»ii the lifohlood
of the Canadian people, whose welfare he had sworn to w;iteh over I
Such w<!re the doings in the colony in the diiys ot La I'ompadour
The results of this misrule were soon apparent : the Jirifixh Hoti tjiiiethf
ayidjirmff/ pffirrd hfs pav: on the covrta/ mon^rl. The loss of ('anada
was viewed in France with indifference, and to use the terms of one of
Her Majesty'H ministers, when its t'ate and p(i,<sihle loss were canvassed
one century later in the British Parliament, " without apprehension or
regret." Voltaire gave his friends a banquet at Kerney, in commemorati(jn
of the event ; the court favorite congratulated majesty, that since he had
got rid of these *' fifteen hundred leagues of frozen country," he had now
a chance of sleeping in peace ; the minister Ohoiscul urged Louis the
XV. to sign the final treaty of 1763, saying thcvt Canada would bo vn
embarraa to the English, and that if they were wise they would have
nothing to do with it. In the meantime the red cross of St. George was
waiving over the battlements on which the lily-spangled banner of
Louis XV. f had proudly sat with but one interruption for one hundred
and fifty-years, and the infamous Bigot was provisionally consigned to a
dungeon in the Bastille — subsequently tried and exiled to Bordeaux ;
his property was confiscated, whilst his confederates and abettors, such
as Varin, Brdard, Maurin, Corpron, Martel, E^stebe and others, were
also tried and punished with fine, imprisonment and confiscation : one
Penisseault, a government clerk (a butcher's son by birth), who had

♦ Those wore times in which royalty did not shino forth in a peouliarly l.iiirht
effulgence. On one side of the English Channel loomed out the hiindsomo but elltniinut.^
figure of the French Sultan. Louis XV., revelling undisturbed in the scented
bowers ot hif harem, the Pare nux Cer/a, La Pompadour and La Dnburry manaLMUK
state matters; on the other, a Brunswickcr, one who, we are told, "ha.l neither
dignity, learning, morals, nor witr-who tainted a great society by a bad exiinu.io • who

on

30D

writhing in intolerable pam, she yet had a livid smile and a gentle word for her master.
You have read the wonderful history ol that death-bed? How she bade him marry
again, and the reply the old King blubbered out, ' Non, non.faurai den viditre»ie$.'
There never was such a ghasUy farce."— ( The Four George:)

t In 1020, whsn Queb«o surr«n4er«d tp I^trtk,

IS

A VISIT TO CHATEAtl-BICOT.

marriod in the colony, but whoso pretty wife acoorapxn'el the Chevalier
do Levis on his return to France, seems to have fared better than the rest.
Hut to revert to the cbitcnu wails, as I saw them on the 4th of.J uiie, 1 803
After a ramble with some friends through the woods, which gave
us an opportunity of providing ourselves with wild flowers to strew over
the tomb of "Fair Kosnnjond," such as the marsh niaryj^'old, cliiitonia
uvularia, the starflower, veronica, kalmia, trillium, and Cunadiua
violets, wo unexpectedly struck on the old ruin. One of the lirst thirif;8
which attracted notice was the singularly corroding efToct the easterly
wind has on stone and mortar in Canada : the east gable being indented
and much more eaten away than that exjtosed to the western blast. Of
the original structure nothing is now standing but the two gables and
the division walls ; they arc all three of immense thiekncss, and certainly
no modern house is built in the mnniier this seems to have been ; it
must have had two stories high, with rooms in the attic and a deep
cellar: a communication existed from one cellar to the other through
the division wall There is also visible a very small door cut through the
oell.ir wall of the west gable; it leids to a vaulted apartment of some
eight feet square : the small mound of masonry which covered it might
have originally been effectually hidden from view by a plantation of
trees over it. What could this have been built for ? Was it intended
to secure some of the Intendant's plate or other portion of his ill-gotten
treasures ? Or else as the Abb6 Ferland suggests :* *' Was it to store the

*I am indubieii to iny old t'rind the Abh6 Ferliiti'l for tho tolluwing reinaik :
" I Visited Cbateaii-Bigot during tbo sumiuor of 18;U. It was in tbo state described by
Mr. t'apiiie'iu. In the interior, the walls wen^ still partly j/apered. It must imt be
forgotten that abitut tbo be^^inning of this century, a club of lii>ns-oic<iiitH used to meet
frequently in the Chateau." [Tbroo celebrated (dubs flourished hero long bef'ure the Stada-
oona au I St. James' Club wore thought of. The lirst was formed in tiuebec, alvuit tho
beginning of this century. It was uriginally called, says Lambert, the IJeef Steak Club,
whijh naaio it soon eh mged for that of tho Barons Club. It con-isted of Iwenty-ono
members, " who are chiefly tho principal merchants in tbo colony, aiol aro styled
barons. As iho mjmbjrs Irop off, their places are supplied by kaighls elect, whc» aro
Qdt installed as bamus until there is a suflicient number to pay f'..r the entertiiiniuent
which is given on that occasion." .1. Lainbort, during tho winter of I.S07, attended ona
of tho banquets of installation, which was given in the Uni m ll'dcl (now the iniMio
OiHces, facing tho Place d'Anues.) Tho Hon. Mr. Dunn, tho President of the Province,
and Admi .isirator, during tho absence of Sir Robert Miines, attended as the oldest
biron. Tho Chief Justice and all the principal idfieers of the government, civil and
militiry. wero pros mt. This enturt?i nm -nc cost '2)0 guineas Thj other club went
under tho appropriate name of ''Sooer Club" — lucua a non Incendo perhaps : it flourish-
ed about 1811 ; wj believe one of the By-laws enacted that tho mcmiters were expected,
to gjt tufht at least onjo a yjar, and be contcit with appenring sober, and use nilent
tplrii the rest of the tima. It seems to me mtre than likely that it was the Club of
Barons, and no*; the Sober Club, who caroused un ler the romantic walls of the Hermi-
tage. The thirl Club flourished at Montreal ; it look tho name of the Beaver Club,
|tnd was, X believe, compu»e4 of ^^^ I:iorthw(.ater».'\

A VISIT TO CHATEAU-BIOOT.

18

fruity old Port and sparkling Moselle of the club of tho brirons, who
held jovial meetings there about the beginning of this century?"
Was it \i\n mistresses' secret and subterranean Imwloir when the
[utendant's lady visited the chateau? Quicn sahrf Who can
unravel tho mystery ? It may have served for tho foundation of tho
tower which existed when Mr. Papincau visited and described the place
thirty two years ago. The heavy cedar rafters, more thau one hundred
years old, arc to this day sound : one has been biuken by the fall,
probably, of some heavy stones. There are several indentures in the
walls for fire-places, which are built with cut masonry; from the angle
of one a song !«pnrrow ilew out, uttering its anxious note. We searched
and discovered the bird's nest, with five spotted, dusky eggs in it; how
strange I iu ihe midst of ruin and decay, the sweet 'Hiblems of hope, love
and harmony ! What eared the child of song if herinnocuni oft'spring were
reared amidst these mouldering relics of the past, mnyhap a gui! y past?
She could teach them lo warble sweetly, even from the roof wi h
echoed the dying sigh of the Algonquin maid. Red alder trees grew
rank and vigorous amongst the disjointed masunry, which had crumbled
from the walls to the cellar ; no trace existed of the wooden staircase
mentioned by Mr. Papineau; the timber of the ro"^ had rotted away or
been used for camp-fires by those who frequent and tisti the elfish stream
which winds its way over a pebbly bottom towards Bcaupuif — well
stocked with small trout, v/hich seem to breed in great numbers in the
dam near the eh&teau.

Those who wish to visit the Hermitage, are strongly advised to
take the cart road which leads from the Charlesbourg church, turning up
near the house of a man named Charles Paquet. Pedestrians will
prefer the other route ; they can, in this case, leave their vehicle at
Mrs. Huot's boarding-house, — a little higher than the church of
Charle>bourg, — and then walk through the fields skirting, duiing
greater part of the road, the beautiful brook I have previously men-
tioned ; but by all means let them take a guiiJc with them. I shall
now translate and condense, from the interesting narrative of a visit
paid to the Hermitage in 1831, by Mr. Ara(idec Papineau and his
talented father, the Hon. L. J. Papineau, the legend which attaches
to it :

14

A VISIT TO CHATEAU-BIGOT.

THE LEGEND.
" We drove/' says Mr. Papincau, jun., " with our vehicle to the very
foot of the mountain, and there took a foot-path which led us through a
demise wood ; we encountered and crossed a rivulet, and then ascended a
pkteau cleared of wood, a most enchanting place ; behind us and on our
right was a thick forest ; on our left the eye rested on boundless green
fields, diversified"' with golden harvests and with the neat white cottagesf
of the peasantry ; in the distance was visible the broad and placid St.
Lawrence, at the foot of the citadel of Quebec, and also the shining
cupolas and tin roofs of the city houses ; in front of us a confused mass
of ruins, crenelated walls embedded in moss and rank grass, together
with a tower half destroyed, beams, and the mouldering remains of a
roof. After viewing the tout ensemble, we attentively examined each por-
tion in detail — every fragment was interesting to u"' we with difficulty
made our way over the wall, aneending the upper stories by a staircase
which creaked and trembled under our weight. With the assistance of
a lighted candle we penetrated into the damp and cavernous cellars,
carefully exploring every nook and corner, listening to the sound of our
footsteps, and occasionally startled by the rustling of bats which we
disturbed in their dismal retreat. I was young, and consequently very
impressionable. I had just left college ; these extraordinary sounds and
objects would at times make me feel very uneasy. I pressed close to my
father, and dared scarcely breathe ; the remembrance of this subterra-
nean exploration will not easily be forgotten. What were my sensations
when I saw a tombstone ! the reader can imagine. ' Here we are, at

* ir the unrivalled scenery and happy peasantry of the Quebec district gladdened
the heart of Mr. Papincau in 1831, how much more pleased he would be to witness tho
rapid strides in worldly w.alth of tho same peasantry since thit date. One of those
"neat white cottages," whose rrim appearance struck him thirty years ago, now shelters
under its roof the Rothsehild of Canadian /i>ilj!tttnt><, Monsieur Alexis DeroussoUc, who
has succeeded in accumulating some XoOO.OOO, invented — not in stock of bogus
banks— not in railroad sliares, nnr in b^nds of cities brought into Chancery, but in sub-
stantial seven and eight percent, fhiillein-xdc Fonih, in Montreal linnque dr. Peuples^nd
Banqne Nntionnle shares. M. Deroussello began life as a servant— ho is entirely un-
educated. Three hundred thousand pounds for a Lower Canada habitant > why this will
do. Scores of peasants, who sport their simple etnjfe du pays coats, are worth their
£15,000 ; but who knows ? who, perhaps, cares ? Is it not customary to make the habitant
a bye-word for abuse ? Pray how many dozen rich western farmers could old Derous-

eelle purchase ?

+ It is painful to watch tho successive inroads perpetrated by sportsmen and idlera
on the old Chateau. In 1S19, an old Quebecer, Mr. Wyse, visited it; doors, verandah,
windows and everything else was complete. He, too, lost his way in the woods, but
found it again without the help of an Indian beauty. It was then known as the haunted
house, supposed to contain a deal of French treasure, and called La Maiton du Bourg
Bojfcd.

I

(C

A VISIT TO CHATEAU-BIGOT.

15

bogutj
in sub-
uplef>r\(l
rely un-
this will
th their
habitiint
Deroua-

d iJlera
irandab,
ods, but
tiauDted
V Bourg

last!' exclaimed my father, and echo repeated his words. Carefully
did we view this monument ; presently wc detected the letter * C/
nearly obliterated by the action of time ; after remaining there a few
moments, to my unspeakable delight we made our exit from this
chamber of death, and, stepping over the ruins, we again alighted on
the green sward; evidently where we stood had formerly been a garden:
we could still make out the avenues, the walks and plots, over which
plum, lilac and apple trees grew wild.

" I had not yet uttered a word, but my curiosity getting the better of
my fear, I demanded an explanation of this mysterious tombstone. My
father beckoned me towards a shady old maple ; we both sat on the turf,
and he then spoke as follows : — You have, ao doubt, my son, heard of a
French Intendant, of the name of ]Jigot, who had charge of the public
funds in Canada somewhere about the year 175 — ; you have also read how
he squandered these moneys and how his Christian Majesty had him
sent to the Bastille when he returned to France, and had his property
confiscated. All this you know. I shall now tell you what, probably,
you do not know. This Intendant attempted to lead in Canada the
same dissolute life which the old nohksse led in France before the
French Revolution had levelled all cla.>^ses. He it was who built this
country seat, of which you now contemplate the ruins. Here he came
to seek relaxation from the cares of office ; here he prepared entertain-
ments to which the rank and fashion of Quebec, iuciuding its Governor
General, eagerly flocked : nothing was wanting to complete the 4clat of
this little Versailles. Hunting was a favorite pastime of our ancestors,
and Bigot was a mighty hunter. As active as a chamois, as daring as a
lion was this indefatigable Nimrod, in the pursuit of bears and moose.

" On one occasion, when tracking with some sporting friends an old
bear whom he had wounded, he was led over mountainous ridges and
ravines, very far from the castle. Nothing could restrajp him ; on he
went in advance of every one, until the bloody trail brou^;llt him on the
wounded animal, which he soon despatched.

"During the chase the sun had gradually sunk over the western hills;
the shades of evening were fast descending : how was the lord of the
manor to find his way back ? He was alone in a thick forest : in this
emergency his heart did not fail him, — ho hoped by the light of the
moon to be able to find his way to his stray companions. Wearily he

16

A \x.^I TO CHATEAU-BIGOT.

walked on, ascending once or twice a high tree, in order to see further
but all in vaiu : soon the unpleasant conviction dawned on him that like
others in similar cases, he had bena walking round a circle. Worn out
and exhausted with fatigue and hunger, he sat down to ponder on what
course he should adopt. The Queen of Night, at that moment shedding
her silvery rays around, only helped to show the hunter how hopeless
was his present position. Amidst these mournful reflections, his ear
was startled by the sound of footsteps close by: his spirits rose at the
prospect of help being at hand ; soon he perceived the outlines of a
moving white object. Was it a phantom which his disordered imagi-
nation had conjured up? Terrified, he seized his trusty gun and was
in the act of firing, when the apparition, rapidly advancing towards him,
assumed quite a human form : a light figure stood before him with eyes
as black as night, and raven tresses flowing to the night wind ; a spotless
garment enveloped in its ample folds this airy and graceful spectre.
Was it a sylph, the spirit of the wilderness ? Was it Diana, the god-
dess of the chase, favoring one of her most ardent votaries with a glimpse
of her form divine ? It was neither: it was an Algonquin beauty, one
of those ideal types whose white skin betray their hybrid origin — a
mixture of European blood with that of the aboriginal race. It was
Caroline, a child of love borne on the shores of tho great Ottawa river :
a French officer was her sire, and the powerful Algonquin tribe of the
Beaver claimed her inother.

" The Canadian Nimrod, struck at the sight of such extraordinary
beauty, asked her name, and after relating his adventure, he begged of
her to show him the way to the castle in the neighborhood, as she must
be familiar with every path of the forest. Such is the story told of the
first meeting between the Indian beauty and the Canadian Minister of
Finance and Feudal Judge in the year 175 —

'' The Intendcnt was a *marriGd man : his lady resided in the Capital
of Canada j she seldom accompanied her husband on his hunting excur-
sions, but soon it was whispered that something more than the pursuit
of wild animals attracted him to his country seat: an intrigue with a
beautiful creole was hinted at. These discreditable rumors came to the
ears of her ladyship : she made several visits to the castle in hopes of
verifying her worst fears : jealousy is a watchful sentinel.

* Error — he was a bachelor.

A VISIT TO CHA£B Uf^^t^OT.

17

arther
it like
rn out
1 what
jdding
)peles3
tiis ear

at the
es of a
ima<2;i-
od was
Is him,
th eyes
spotless
ipectre.
le god-
glimpse
ity, one
igin — a

It was
1 river :

of the

rdinary
gged of
le must
of the
ister of

I Capital
excur-

Ipursuit
with a
to the
)pes of

"The Tntcndant's dormitory was on the ground floor of the building:
it is supposed the Indian beauty occupied a secret apartment on the flat
above; that her boudoir was reached through a long and narrow passage*
ending with a secret staircase opening on the large room which over-
looked the garden.

" Let us now see what took place on this identical spot on the 2nd
July, 175-. It is night; the hall clock has just struck eleven; the
silvery murmur of the neighboring brook, gently wafted on the night
wind, is scarcely audible: the *song sparrow has nearly finished his even-
ing hymn, while the "^Swett Canada bird, from the top of an old pine,
merrily peels forth his shrill clarion ; silence the most profound pervades
the whole castle; every light is extinguished; the pale rays of the
moon slumber softly on the oak floor, reflected as they are through the
gothic windows ; every inmate is wrapped iu sleep, even fair Rosamond
who has just retired. Suddenly her door is violently opened ; a mtisked
person, with one bound, rushes to her bed-side, and without saying a
W( "d, plunges a dagger to the hilt in her heart : uttering a piercing
shriek, the victim falls heavily on the floor. The Intendant, hearing
the noise, hurries up stairs, when the unhappy girl has just time to tell
how she has been murdered, points to the fatal weapon, still in the
wound, and then fulls in his arms a lifeless corpse. The whole house-
hold are soon on foot; search is made for the murderer, but no clue is
discovered. Some of the inmates fancied they had seen the fii:ure of a
woman rush down the secret stair and disappear in the woods about the
time the murder took place. A variety of stories got iu circulation ;
some pretend to trace the crime to the Intendant's wife, whilst others
allege that the avenging mother of the creole is the assaesin; some again
said that Caroline's father had attempted to wipe off" the stain on the
honor of his tribe, by himself despatching his erring cliild. A profound
mystery to this day surrounds the whole transaction. Caroline was
buried in the cellar of the castle, and the letter ' C ' engraved on her
tombstone, which, my son, you have just soiui."

I now Aisit this spot several years after the period mentiuned in
this narrative. I search in Viiin for several of the leading characteristics
on which Mr. Papineiu descants so elorjuently: time, the great des-

» Melo3!>iza melodia.
Zoaotrichia aibiuollis.

m

1 iK'lil*

1PM

18

A TISIT TO CHATEAU-BIGOT.

I;V . 1

troyer, has obliterated mauy traces. Nothing meets my view but
mouldering walls, over which green moss and rank weeds cluster pro-
fusely. Unmistakable indications of a former garden there certainly
are, such as the outlines of walks over which French cherry, apple and
gooseberry trees grow in vild luxuriance. I take home from the ruins
a piece of bone -, this decayed piece of mortality may have formed
part of Caroline's big toe, for aught T ca'T establish to the contrary ;
Chateau-Bigot brings back to my mind other remembrances of the
past. I recollect reading that pending the panic consequent on the
surrender of Quebec iu 1759, the non-combatants of the city crowded
within its walls ; this time not to ruralize, but to seek concealment
until Mars had inscribed another victory on the British flag. 1 would
not be prepared to swear that later, when Arnold and Montgomery had
possession of the environs of Quebec, during the greater portion of the
winter of 1775-6, some of tliose prudent English merchants (Adam
Lymburncr at their head), who awaited at Charlcsbourg and Beauport
the is?ue of the contest, did not take a quiet drive to Chateau-Bigot,
were it only tu indulge in a philosophical disquisition on the mutability
of human events; nor must I forget tlic jolly pic-nics the barons held
there some sixty years ago.*

On quitting these silent halls, from whicli the light of other days
has departed, and from whence the voice of )evelry seems to have fled
for ever, I recrossed the little brook, already iceutioned, musing on the
past. The solitude which surrounds the dwelling and the tomb of the
dark-haired child of the wilderness, involuntarily brought to mind that
beautiful passage of ()ssian,f relating to the daughter of Reuthamir, the
'' white bosomed " Moina : — " I have seen the walls of Balclutha, but
they were desolate. The fire had resounded iu the halls : and the voice
ot the people is heard no more. The thistle shook there its lonely head j the
moss whistled to the wind. The fox looked out from the windows, the rank
grass of the wall waved round its head. Desolate is the dwelling of Moina,

silence is in the house Raise the song of mourning, 0 bards ! over

the land of strangers. They have but fallen ])efore us : for one day we
must fall."

* The Hon. Mr. Duun, Administrator of the Province in 1S07, was tho senior baron ;
Hons. Mathew Bell, John Stewart, Messrs. Muir, Irvine, McNaught, Grey Stewart,
Munro, Finlay, Lymburncr, Paynter ; these names were doubtless also to be fuucd
amongst the Canadian barons ; tho Hon. Cbas. De Lauaudiere, a general in ths Httii'
Sariau service, was the only French Canadian member.

f Book of Carthon.

(!•) •

drmbs of Comfort for fatogers.

CHAPTER 111.

AMONGST the innumerable feudtil burthens and medieval cobwebs
which time or legislation have successively swept away in European
communities, there wa?a seigniorial privilege which, to say the least, was
of rather doubtful propriety. It was one of those rights which one
wouM be more apt to look for under the heading o^ .Droits Jlonurijlques,
than under that of Di'oit Utiles. French writers designate it as Droit de
Jamba ffe, Frelihation, &c., and as I do not care to be too explicit in des-
cribing it, it will suffice to say that it had for its object, as many pretend,
to confer on the lord of the manor the t^ame right which some royal
lotharios in France claimed in those 'larriage contracts " ou le Roi a
sign(§." No data have yet been found whereby o establish that it
ever existed in the colon j'^ : the chances arc, that in such cnscs the
Canadian seigneur would liave fared a.-^ badly as those Picdmonteso
nobles, who, for a like attempt were, according to Giiyot,* summarily
hooted out of the kingdom. That this right — iiigh prerog'itivc, if you
prefer — which might have suited old Kiug Solomon, appears in
charters and grants, then.; can be no doubt : and although wo do not
see that the Seigniorial Tenure Commissioners paid much attention to it)
when they recently sifted i\ matter, taking in consideration tlie manner
in which existing rights h ve been dealt witr, wo may make ourselves
quite easy that, if it did exist, the 8800,000 provided in the })udget of
1862, to indemnify seigniorial rights will be properly applied and dis-
tributed .

This right, it has been pretended, is inserted in the land
patent of the representatives of a very illustrious Canadian house; I

* Guyot goes on to say that in times gone Vy, tlio cleri,y claimeil un indemnity
for commuting this feudal cuatom. Dcspcisses also nit'iiti<

in¥ a smtriil.ir case.

If we

accept their authority, how tbankl'ul we must fool to know that leudalism is dead and
buried for ever. What a scand.il it would bo through fho civilized world, it even the
bare possibility could exist that the Archbishop of Canterbury, tor instance, might claim
80 many " fat, capons "' at Michaelmas' for refusing to avail him.self of such a right !

20

CRUMBS OP COMFORT FOR LAWYERS.

!l!

Iff^: ■.l|

firmly believe, however, that never, even in his palmiest days, did this
seigneur thitik of availing himself of it. An(tmalous as the right may
appear, was it a whit less intolerable than several of the manifold exac-
tions which'*' free-born Britons quietly endurod at home, and abroad in
their colouies, where they imported their in5-titutions ? Take Massa-
chusetts and the other New England states, for instance; what would a
citizen of the model republic now say, were it attempted to resuscitate
the ancient order of things? What would be the feelings of a Nova
Scotian, were his legislators to revive the tenure under which were ori-
ginally gnintod the broad acres on whi'di he privies himself to-day ? On
the other hand, what a glorious field for law-suits, what gri.en pasturajic
for Chancery lawyers the interpretation of these old land charters would
open ! Why ! iC would be a perfect Caiifuruia for the gcnilcraeu of the
long robe.

I shall now submit in a condensed form, an extract from an
English royal charter; it is a most dainty tit-bit, which I can commend
to the admirers of legal yere. Every one has heard of Nova Scotia
knights ; indeed, if I am well informed, we have one at present within
the precincts of this city. Few are aware of the marvellous array of
rights and privileges contained in the charter creating them, granted in
1621 by James I. of England, and confirmed and re-enacted by Charles

* I can scarcly forbear a siuilo when I hear the word muutioued, from its being
conueetod with a very ludicrous recent incident : The enterprising proprietors of the
Jacques dirtier Salmon River, desirous of improving ihiiiv fmh prcHfsrce, had determined
to import from England an English game-keeper, to watch over it. John Crisp was
the lucky individual : but John was a hard hitter, a pugnacious soul, — the typo of
the sturdy race which the Norman duke had mercilessly crushed under his iron heel at
Hastings : ho camo in this country with the fccin^jS not of an equal, but of a conqueror,
an I concluded that as such, he would be exposed to the ill will and vengeance of the
discendants of Frenchmen ; ho 'lepicted to himself the peaceful habitant as a blood-
thirsty savage, the sworn -ineniy to his race. Mr. John Crisp was really a singular
compound — he vowed everything in Canada was vilhiinous — thai the country was
unbearable, that ho was likely to die soon, as he had not tasted a mug of English porter.
or drinkableale sim ohe left the Thames — (he latter insinuation was highly cens'irablo, in
several points and more specially disrespctlul towards one of his employers. The
absence of " London ■ tout" so depressed the spirit of Jidin, that he had lo resort to the
wne oj the coiintri/, 60. O.F. whisky to keep them up, but all in vain, he unstrung his
nerves and, under incipient d,..t..., lie would rise in the middle of the night and discharge
his fowling piece, at two gate posts near his dwelling, swearing horribly at them, and

calling them "I) d French Canadians." At last be became quite dangerous,

and his loyalty to the Quetn was one morning abruptly interrupted by one of his Eng-
lish masters, with tliehelp of som^ habitant clapping handeuS's on him, ami picketing him
for an hour before his tent, with a rope, '.'.ntil he could be removed. His imprecauons
then became sublime. '' To think," i.t v )uld exclaim, '' of a free-born Briton, picketed
before a ttut, with manaelea on his huuS, like a felon, in a Canadian wilderness." Colo-
nial habits did not suit I'^.r. Johu Crisp, and after a short tme, the Atlantic .*tcamer
re-conveycd him to the land of the free.

ph

CRUMBS OF COMFORT FOR LAWYERS.

21

I., in 1625, in favor of Sir William Alexander de Mcnstric, subsequently
made Earl of Sterlinc:. This precious document, written in Latin, covers
twenty-four quarto pages. After enumerating the titles of the carl's
Unds in Nova Scotia, &c., it descends into the most minute particulars
concerning the rights vested in him over his vassals and tenants in his
extensive domain, which comprised Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Capo
Breton, St. John, Newfoundland, and even the Gaspc!* district. This royal
grant divided Nova Scoti-. into one hundred and fifty fiefs or seigniories, and
conferred on the mighty chieftain (who, by the bye, was also a poet) the
power to knight any one who would become the purchaser of any of his
lots, which he valued each at two hundred pounds sterling. How
pleasant it must have been for the land speculator, on signing his deed
of Siilo, to have the magic words tingling in his ears : " Rise, Sir N.
Fortunatus," &c., or other words to the same effect. It has often been
my lot to hoar intelligent Britons commiserate most feelingly on the
intolerable hardships which French charters imposed on the beniyhted
French Canadians, but I have not yet had the good fortune to light on a
French land patent embodying a greater number of exactions, restrictions
and privileges in favor of the lord of the manor thfin the following
charter, sanctioned by two English monarchs : —

"We also grant the possession of houses, buildings erected and to
be erected, gardens, valleys, woo^ls, swamps, roads, cross roads, ponds,
streams, meadows, pasture lands, mills, the exclusive right to grind corn,
the shooting of birds and wild animals, the right to fish, the right to
turf and turf lands, coal and coal pits, rabbits and warrens, doves and
dove cotes, workshops, forges, heaths, wheat fields, forests, merchantable
timber, small trees, quarries, limestone, courts of justice and their depen-
dencies, the right to remit sentences, the right of receiving gifts in
marriages, the right to erect gallows and gibbets, the right of cul dc fosse,
the right of franche court, of sokman, of sak, of thole, of thane, of in-
fangthief, of outhangthief, of outwark, of wuvi, of week, of venysone, of
pit and gallous," &c., &c., &c. The Lord have mercy on the poor vassal
or ten:int who had to comply with all these exactions ! it must have been
doubtful to him whether his souf as well as his body did not belong to
the earl, his master.

So much for English charters. I shall now, in order to illustrate
one of the peculiar institutions of the country, and for the benefit of

22

CRUMBS OP COMPORT FOR LAWYERS.

non-legal readers, insert, as a sample, a donation entre vifsy in plain Eng-
lish, a Deed of Annuity, which I shall translate from a city paper, the
Coarrici' du Canada. This form of donation was formerly and is still used
by some country notaries. It is unnecessary to remark what a fruitful
source of litigation its contradictory stipulations must have furnished.

Before giving this legal gem, I shall, as a preliminary, relate in a
few wtrds what occurred to an English millionaire who had acquired a
largo tract of land in the country parts of Canada, and who wanted more.
Nothing was requisite to round off his estate but a small farm, owned by
a very ancient Canadian lady: sell, she would not; but she agreed to
dispossess herself if her rich neighbour would allow her au annuity of
about £50 ; this amount was not to be paid in money ; it was to be re-
presented by the ordinary conditions of a donation cnlre vi/s tho pre-
paring of which was left t) the village notary,'*' as is ui^ual in such cases.
When the French document was rav], John Bull could make neither
head nor tail of it, and instructed the notary to have a literal and exact
translation ma ie ; it was not quite Addisonian English, but it could be
understood; the ciiolevic Englishman restrained himself until the notary
public arrived at that stipulation in the deed, whereby the donee (the
Englishman) was required to '• bind himself to harness the donor's (the
old lady's) horse and drive her to the parish church," when, quietly
rising from his chair, iie collared the notary and kicked him out.

AN' OLD FRENCH DONATION.

" Amongst olhor things the donor reserves for his use, au immortal
horse, a cow which will never die, a ewe which renews herself forever,
at the will of the clonor; twenty minots of royal and merchantable
wheat, good measure, made into Hour, together with the bran, to be

* The vilhigo notary of former days was sometimes quite a character. One of
those worthies hud formerly '■ elected domicile" at St. Paul's Bay. His narae was

S le. lie belon,!,'cd lo the thirsty broth-.-rhood, and was a bit of a waj;. His

notaii.vl in.<;ru!i>ents liid rot always read intelligibly, owing to the fact that, when he was
a little ti'ji/t, his pen wouM wander beyond tlie paper, and he would continue to scribble
on the w 'od (d' the hif^h desk at which he sat with uiagistcrial dignity ; a portion of the
text woubl reaiiiin there, and ho wouM restore the missing wrds from memory, when
he had to deliver copies. Some of his poorclient.s were addicted to the low habit — in
tie eyes of [ rofessicnal uioi; — ofmrtrvhdinldutj (bargaining) about tlie fees thty intended
to pay him. There being no hel(), the notary would quietly put in his pocket the coin
of the realm, but A\\y insinuate that for sneh a miserable fee, nothing but a verj-
indilFvjreiit deed could bo ex[)eete(] — it mif/ht ho/, I i/ood, it iniyht wit. '• Why don't
you order a first class one," — he would say. " You know mv caafges ; cue dollar for
a first rate deed, warranted ; half a dollar fot a fair one, which may turn out well, and
for a third-class deed a quarter, but a third-class I cannot recommend — you cun
only expect to have for your money. It is a mere chance if it is good for anything."

CRUMBS OP COMFORT FOR LAWYERS.

28

)mo of
was
His
le was
ribble
of tho
when
it — in
tended
e coin
verj'
don't
ar for
1, and
u can
if."

« deposited in the garret of the donor and nowhere else ; a reasonable*
pig weighing 20(J lbs. without legs or heud, but with its fjit, and if any
should be wanting, it sliall be taken from another reasonable pig of the
donee, where the fat is the thickest and where there are no bones; also
15 lbs. of herbs salted, at proper season, and placed in a suitable cask;
also each year the young of tho cow and of the ewe, whether they
have any young or not. The horse, cow and ewe will bo renewed when
it is necessary, according to the wish and will of the donor, expressed or
not expressed. The donee will wait at all times on tlie donor, in sick-
ness and in health, whether the donor asks him to do so or not ; will go
and fetch the priest and the physician /// exfrcnii-i — wil! drive them
back, even should the donor die. Tiic horse will be harnessed
becomi.igly to a suitable vehicle with cushions and furs, in winter as
well as in .summer ; the donee will be bound to drive the donor to
church on Sundays ; tho donor .shall also have a quarter of beef, or cow
meat which the donee will kill himself, also a dead lamb, with its
dependencies, just as if it were alive. The donor also reserves a bed; but
when he dies, he leaves the enjoyment thereof to the donee who will be
bound to keep it neat and clean."

As I do not wish the reader to be carried away with the erroneous
idea that French Canadian notaries have the monopoly of bad grammar
and barbarous phraseology, T shall close this hasty bketch with a curious
but litteral quotation from a high P^nglish authority on the Law of Con-
tracts; it will serve to illustrate what extraordinary gibberi.ih the
learned ancestors of Englishmen used to convey their ideas in, and
exceeds in quaintness the clauses of a Donation enlrc i{/!s." "j'.Si jco vend
chivall que ad null oculus la null action cist, autcnneut lou il ad un
counterfeit, fau et bright eye!" This belni; interpreted, means:
"If I sell a horse that has lost an eve, no action li s against mo
for 80 doing; but if 1 sell him with a false and counterfeit eye, then an
action lieth."

* '•' Un cochon r.nisonnable." Very warm di-eussions u.-ed to cn-ii'; ln.Uvf.'cn donor
and donee; one in-siated on a fat pig; the otiier resolutely re.--isted tho intro iiii lion of
this clause, from the great expense and trouble to fatten thij grunter ; the notary would
then propose, by way of compromise, to insert a "reasonable piJ,^"

f Southerne vs. Ilowe, Addison on Contracts; Americ.in Edition, pa^e lil, tho note.

it would take me too long to show how, uuder these uppiuoutly iucougruous terms, a
great deal of sound laoocmg was conveyed.

(24)

fori Hlonclfs ^lesibtnce.

CHAPTER TV.

(From the Morning Chronicle.)

THE reconstruction of the gubernatorial mansion at Spencer Wood, on
the banks of the St. Lawrence, alfords us an opportunity for saying
gomi thing about a spot so celebrated for its natural beauty. We cannot
do better than publish the following interesting sketch, for which we
are indebted to J. M. LcMoiue, Esq., of Spencer Grange, the author of
the Ornithology of Canada : —

SPENCER WOOD.

*< Along those bat i.s full oft' has peal'd
The blow of tomhhuwk on ahield,
As braves rushod on to fight,
Aud bow and- blade and war-whoop fierce
Sent all their clamour dread to pierce

The stilly ear of night." u. k. k.

The tourist, desc:3nding the St. Lawrencr , is struck with the number
of beautiful villas, vhich ever and anon, nestling under groves of maple,
oak and pine, line the river heights from Cape llouge, the western ex-
tremity of the promontory, to Cape Diamond, the eastern end, which
Champlain selected for his capital in 160S — Quebec.

These country seats, without possessing the extent of English noble-
men's estates, are in many instances superior to them in point of scenery;
they cover, frequently, about one hundred acres, although some (such as
Holland Farm and Kilmarnock) have as many as two hundred acres
attached to them. In former days a gr.-md military road skirted the river
heights, where they are located. Several remains of intrenchments and
masonry testify to past strife and to the presence, in days of yore, of
the white and the red man, the former sometimes armed with the cross,
and bent on an errand of peace and good-fellowship ; the latter hunting

LORD MONCK'S RESIDENCB.

25

for skulls, and tracking relentlessly his fellow-man through forest wilds.
Tt is on record that one of the first missionaries of (Jaiiada met with his
death in this vicinity, in u most cruel mariner, at the hands of th*^
Indians he was christianizing. The Abb6 Ferland is of opinion that the
scalping scene took place on the very spot on which at present stands
Clermont, the Honorable Mr. Justice Caron's residence. Certain it is
that long ere the environs of Quebec had derived interest for having
been the battle field of European armies, their soil had been frequently
crimsoned with the blood of the aboriginal tribes, who used the St. Law-
rence and its banks as their great highway. We shall now quote from
a paper wc previously pr(!parcd on this subject.

Among the many lovely sites which dot the banks of the broad St.
Lawrence, one above all others has for years back been an unceasing
object of admiration to strangers, and a legitimate boast to all Quebec —
one might say, to all Canada.

A glorious old manor, comprising at one time a couple of hundred
acres, with its luxuriant and primitive growth of forest trees; its unri-
valled river scenery, its spacious, sloping, verdant lawn, fit for a ducal
residence ; its fairy garden plots ; its curious artificial devices of tropi-
cal plants, clustering under glass, amongst the green fdliagc of the
orange, the fig, and the pine-apple trees, bent down with golden fruit ;
its luscious sparkliag grapes ; its crystal fountains, whose sweot murmur
blended with the rustling of shady oaks, under the influence of strong
winds ; its serpentine shady avenues : such was at one time Spencer
Wood, for twenty-five years the elegant home of Henry Atkinson, Esq.,
and afterwards of the Earl of Elgin, whose exquisite entertainments
many can yet recall to memory. Spencer Wood is enclosed between two
small streams, the rui'sseaii St. Denis and the ruisseau ]3elle Jiorue, its
natural boundaries; these streams have considerably diminished since the
time when they were used, two hundred years ago, to propel two mills,
then situated in the neighborhood and mentioned in old titles. It was form-
erly called Powel Place, after General Powel; it was subsequently named
Spencer Wood, when the Spencer Percival family owned it: and had been,
after the conquest of the country, the residence of the governors.*

cross,

* Sir James Craig resided in summer at a country house about four or five miles
from Quebec, and went to town every morning to transact busiuess. Tliis rusidenco is
called Powel Place, and is delightfully situated in a neat plantation, on the border of
th9 bank which overlooks the St. Lawrence, not far from the spot where General Wolie

LORD MOITOK'S RESIDENCE.

These extensive grounds are beautifully diversified by hills and clumps
of old oak and maple, and aUhouj^h from the important nsf.rrr of Spencer
Grange, eomprising nearly tlie whole of the road front, when the rest was
Bold to ^'overnment in 1854, they can have but liltle value fo mall build-
ing lots, still for the specitic objects to which nature seems to have iutond-
ed them, they seem to stand unequalled in ('auada. It lies beautifully
exposed to the morning sun, with a southerly aspect, in which direction
it is bounded by perpendicular cliffs at whoso fei t the noble river sweeps
past in majestic grandeur. A great deal remains to be said about the
scenery of this spot: two of the most striking objects are two promonta-
ries or points of laud, one to the east, the other to the south-west of the
property. A pavillion stands on the south-west point, from which
many a tea-party was enjoyed in days of yore. Here a most glorious
panorama presents itself. It would, however, hv difficult to tell whether
the view obtained from this point is not surpassed in uiagnificence by
that which can be witnessed from the easterly point.

kSpenccr Wood is situate in the parish of 8t. Columba of Sillery, not
very far from the ancient Jesuit mission at Sillery, close to Pointc-a-
Puiseaux. It therefore possesses, in addition to beautiful scenery, his-
torical recollections connected with some of the greatest events of the
colony. Let us hear a grave historian and keen admirer of nature on
this subject : —

" A chart of Quebec, by Champlain, exhibits, about a league above
the youthful city, a point jutting out into the St. Lawrence, and which is
covered with Indian wigwams. Later on, this ])oint received the name
of Puiseaux, from the first owner of the Fief St. Michel, bounded by
it to the south-west. On this very point at present stands the hand-
some St. Columba church, surrounded by a village.*

" Opposite to it is the Lauzon shore, with its river Uruf/anfe'f (the
Etchemin), its shipyards, its numerous shipping, the terminus of the
Richmond Kailway, the villages and churches of Notre Dame de L6vi

landed, und ascended to the heights of Abraham. Sir James gave a .splendid puhlic
breakl'ast, «/ fresco, at this place, in 1807, to all the principal iuhabitaTit.s of Quebec ;
and the following day he allowed his servants, and their acquaintances, to partake of a
similar entertainment at his expense. — J. LamherVs Truveln, 1808, pn</e 310.

Contiguous to this property is the beautiful estate of the Hon. Mr. Percival, called
Spencer Wood, formerly known as Powel Place, and which used to be the country resi-
dence of the (Jovernor (Jeneral. — Bouchetle'a 2'ypography of Canada, 1815.
* Abbe Ferland's Notts on the Environs of Quebec, 1S55.
I From the noise it makes before easterly gales.

LORD MONCK'S RESIDENCK.

97

above
lich is
name
ed by
hand-

n, called
try resi-

st. Jcun Chrysofltomc, and Saint- Koniuald. To your rii^lit and to
the left, the St. Lawrence is visible for .-one twelve or fifteen iuile«,
covered with inward and outward bound ships. Towards the ett!*t, the
landseape is closed by Cap Tourimnite, twelvt; lea.Ljucs distant, and by
the cultivated heij^hts of the l\titr. Montai/nr, and of St Kcreol, exhibit-
ing in suceesHion the coast of lieaupre (Heauport, li'An^e (iardien.s
&c.), the green slopes of the Island of Orleans ; (Jape Diamond, crownod
with its citadel and having at its feet a forest of masts ; Abraham'^
Plains, the Coves and their humming, bu.sy noises; St. Michael (Jove-
forming a graceful curve from Wolfe's Cove to Pointe-a-Puiscaux.
Within this area thrilling events once took place, and round these
divers objects, historical souvenirs cluster, recalling some of the most
important occurrences in North America : the contest of two powerful
nations for the sovereignty of the New World ; an important episode of
the revolution which uave birth to the adjoining republic. Such were
some of the events of which these localities were the theatre. Each
square inc n of land, in fact, was measured by the footsteps of some of the
most remarkable men in the history of America: Jacques • Cartier,
Champlain, Frontenac, Laval, Phipps, d'lberville, Wolfe, Montcalm,
Arnold, Montgomery, have each of them, at some time or other, trod over
some part of this expanse

" Clo.se by, in St. Michael's Cove, M. de Mai.sonncuve and Mademoiselle
Manee passed their first Canadian winter with the colonists intended to
found Montreal. Turn your eyes towards the west, and although the
panorama is less extensive, still it awakens some glorious memories.
At Cap Rouge, Jacques Cartier established his quarters, close to the
river edge, the second winter he spent in Canada, and was succeeded in
that spot by Roberval, at the head of his ephemeral colony. Near the
entrance of the Chaudi^re river stood the tents of the Abnaquiois, the
Etchemins, and the Souriquois Indians, when they came from the
shores of New England to smoke the calumet of peace with their
brethren, the French. The river Chaudiere in those days was the
highway which]connected their country with Canada. Closer to Pointe-
a-Puiseaux is Sillery Cove, where the Jesuit Fathers were wont to
assemble and evangelize the Algonquin and Montagnais ftdians, who
were desirous of becoming Christians. It was from that spot that the
neophytes used to carry the faith to the depths of the forest : it was

28

LOED MONCK S RESIDENCE.

i' i.

here that those early apostles of Christianity congregated before starting
with thp gladsome tidings for the country of the Hurons, for the shores of
the Mississippi, or for the frozen regions of Hudson's Bay. From thence
went Father P. Druilietes. the bearor of the words of peace on behalf of
the Christians of Siilery, to the Abnaquiois of Kcnnelcki, and to the
Puritans of Boston. Near this same mission of Siilery, Fr^re Liegeois
was massacred by the Iroquois, whilst Father Poncet was carried away a
captive by these barbarous tribes.

" Monsieur de Siilery devoted large sums to erect the necessary edifices
for the mission, f*uch as a chapel, a missionary residence, an hospital, a
fort, houses for new conv«'rts, together with the habitations for the French-
The d'Auteuil family had their country seat on the hill back of Fointc-k-
Puiseaux ; and the vencrpble Madame de Monceau, mother-in-law of the
Attorney General Ruette d'Auteuil, was in the habit of residing there,
from time to time, in a house she had constructed near the chapel."

It would indeed be ii ^'leasant tusk to recall all the remarkable events
which occurred in thi.s neighborhood. One thing is certain : the cool
retreatu studding the shores of the St. Lawrence were equally sought
for by the wealthy in those days as they have been since by all those
who wish to breathe pure air and enjoy the scenery.

If all Canada were ransacked over, it is doubtful whether a single spot
could be selected, combining as a vice-regal residence in as high a
degree, natural beauty and comfort : the exterior of the structure, how-
ever, argues in the designer's bad ta^te, or a very impoverished
exchequer j it is built of commou red brick, with pine window sills ; the
fences are exceeded in architectural design only by those about Governor
Hincks, at Thoruhill,* which is opposite.

May our worthy Governor General, forgetting for a time the sweet
scenery of his own lordly mansion on the banks of the Dargle, of
Charleville, enjoy the cool shades of Spencer AVood, the representative
of British institutions amongst us, the honored ruler over two peoples
who, however different they may be in race and language, have learned
the secret of respecting each other's strength, and of uniting for the
common good into bonds of indissoluble brotherhood.

* N.B. — The Thornbill fence is an ancient motaic, in which spruce, cedar and

'tamarack are combined incurious proportions, or rather without proportion : limiratively

it roseinbles an Act of Parliament having many flaws in it, Homo wide enough lo admit

— if not a carriage and four — at least adult pigs and dogs of large dimenaions. (Since

this was written, matters are mending.)

(29)

fe Cjjien ^©r-Cfje mkw §09.

CHAPTER V.

(lar and

natively

lO admit

(Since

" Je Buis un chicn qui ronge I'os,
Eo le rongeant je prends mon repos,
Un jour viendra qui n'est pas venu,
Que je morderai qui m'aura mordu.
1736."

MY Quebec friend, when you take your daily " constitutional," on
Durham Terrace, contemplating with undisguised pride the un-
rivalled surrounding sccner}!, and at your feet, the famous harbour, in
Avliich a whole fleet of Great Easterns could ride at ease, or else, when
communing with your own thoughts, you stroll homewards from a brisk
walk in the neighborhood of the city, after viewing the smiling country
scats of successful citizens along the St. Louis road, until that imposing
pile, the new Jail, the Ladies' Home, and the Military Asylum, succes-
sively break on your view, has it ever occurred to you, in the presence
of these unmistakable and healthy signs of progress, to recall the past,
the rude primitive times ? and when passing by the magnificent
corporation lots on the Grande Allee — a spot destined co become the
Belgravia, the Fifth Avenue of the future metropolis of Confederated
British America, have you ever, while stepping over this portion of the
Plains of Abraham, reflected that from where you now stand,
perchance the old Scotch pilot of the St. Lawrence, Abraham 3Iartia,
or Maltre Ahraliaiii, as he was then styled — may also, two hundred
yc'Ts ago, while dreaming of Bruce aud Wallace, Lave stood surveying
with inward complacency his valuable " thirty-two acres "'" after wending

* Can no heir of the old sea dog make good his title to this nice little family estate,
on which the greatest portion of St. Louis and St. Joliu's Suburbs are built, down to
the Coteau Ste. Genevieve. To the late Rev. Mr, Maguiro and to the Abb6 Ferland
is due the discovery of the origin of the name of the Plains of Abraham, a mystery
which had puzzled many an antiquarian. Abraham Martin dit rEcossais, King's Pilot
on the St. Lawrence, owned the whole land from St. Louis road to Cote d'Abraham,
called after him, down to the Coteau Ste. Genevieve,- the east boundary was the street
in front of St. Mathew's cemetery, the west, Claire Fontaine-street, with that portion of
the Plains called after him. — {Ste Col. Beatton's Notes.)

30

THE GOLDEN DOG.

1. i

1 1 .1

■ f

1 1 ?i

! ,Ti

his way under secular oaks, and majestic pines to the brow of Cape
Diamond, to ascertain if any of his royal master's argosies were rounding
Point Levi ? You are no doubt aware, that in those days it was rather
a dan,2;erous experiment to stray unanned hey ond the view of the Chateau
St. Louis ; that at times every bush, every rock concealed an implacable
foe. Would you, think ye, have been swift enough of foot (although,
no doubt, a great pedestrian) to follow through tlie underbrush and
winding paths of the forest which then crowned the Plateau, the
lithe and fierce lro([Uois, stealthily dogging the footsteps of an unsus-
pecting colonist fresh from old France, until the grim warrior had
added his scalp to the clanking belt of human bones and hair which
girt his loins ? Well, reader, let us float down the stream of time one
whole century j let us view Champlain's city just a few years before
the red cross of Albion streamed over its battlements. Let us look
at Quebec when most <.'igantic plunder was going on in the colony.
I do not mean in 185-, when ]5ritish railway contractors were promis-
ing to the cormoi'ants of the London and Manchester Exchange 11 per
cent, dividends ; I mean 175-, during the fast career of the French
Intendant Biuot — a man to whom Ptoupell, Calvert, Sir Bean Paul
could have taught nothing in the art of "raising the wind.'' Gentle
reader, if you wiU accompany me towards the Quebec Post Office, I will
briefly tell you a tale of those times.

When you get half way between Holiwell & Alexander's news
depdt and the door of a jolly ex-Oommissioner of Crown Lands — a door,
by the by, immortalized by the pencil of our Canadian artist, Kreighoff,*
just cast your eye above what formerly was the chief entrance to the
City Post Office and notice a Golden Dog, in a crouching position,
rudely carved in relievo, with the following inscription underneath : —

" Je Svis Vn Chicn Qvi Kongo Lo,
en le rongeant jo prends mon Ropes,
Vn temps vicndra qvi n'ost pas venv,
Qvc jo mordcray qvi m'avra mordy.
1736."

Are you aware that these identical words retrace a deed of blood,
contain a record of vengeance long deferred but terrible: such, for

*"Pour I'amour de Dieu," and " Va au Diablo," are the inscriptions to these two
life-like pictures by Kreighoff, of the Indignant Beggar, which every one has seen.

THE GOLDEN DOG.

81

news
door.

instance, as a Corsican mother would glory in ? If you have access to the
Rev. Mr. Bourne's work, or to Col. Cockburn's Quebec and its EnvironSf
published some thirty years since, you will obtain a meagre account of the
tragedy enacted on this spot about one hundred and fourteen years ago.
As you are likely to derive but little interest or amusement from the scanty
deta \.s these writers furnish, I shall condense the elegant French sketch
written by a brother advocate, now no more (the late Auguste Soulard),
and shall incorporate in it the learned criticism which Mr. Soulard's
narrative elicited from Monsieur le Commandeur .Jac(jues Vigor ; he
also, alas ! is gone to his long home.

Nicolas Jacquin Philibcrt, a Quoboe merchant, was, in 1748, the
occupant, probably the proprietor, of the liuuse on which the Golden
Dog is now carved ; the date, 1736, is supposed to commemorate the
year in which the building was erected. Somehow or other he had
incurred the displeasure of the Intendant (Bigot), perhaps for refusing
to aid him in his peculations and extortions. The Intendant, in order
to annoy Philibert, had billeted troops on him, and ordered a French
lieutenant by the name of Pierre Lcgardcur, Siciir de Ptcpcntigny, to
quarter on the Quebec merchant. This incensed Mr. Philibcrt very
much, and, when the lieutenant attempted to enter the house with the
order, Philibcrt objected, saying he would have the order recalled, to
which De Ilepentigny replied, " Yon arc a fool.'^ A blow from a
walking-stick was the answer. The officer then drew his sword and
inflicted on his opponent a wound, of which he died on the 21st of
January, 1748. The deadly thrust Is supposed to have been given on
the very steps of the Chien d'Or building ; which steps were also, about
a century later, the occasion for extensive litigation when the Chien
S'Or belonged to a well-remembered millionaire, Jacob Pozer. De
Repentigny, in order to elude a criminal prosecution, escaped from
Quebec, and retired to Nova Scotia, then called Aeadie. where he applied
to Louis XV. for his pardon. Letters of reprieve and pardon were sent
out from Paris, and De Ilepentigny returned to (Quebec in 1749 with
these letters, in order to meet any opposition which tht; Wijlow
Philibeit might urge, when he should apply to the Superior Council of
the colony to have them registered. Madame J^hilibert having, as was
customary in those days, been indcmniiiod by pecuniary compensation
for the loss of her husband, did not oppose the registration of De

'■*

I,

82

THE GOLDEN DOG.

Repentigny's letters of indemnity. The French lieutenant remained in
the colony, and had been promoted to a captaincy in 1760 ; at that time
he was serving under the Chevalier de L6vis. Everything seemed
to presage to De Repentigny forgetfulness of the past, and a promising
future ; every one seemed to have forgotten Philibert's untimely end,
and how the family's respected chief had been cut off in the prime of
manhood, and its prospects blighted forever, by the dastardly act of one
of the Int»jndaDt's sycophants; all seemed to have forgotten these facta,
all save one person, and this was a young man who had just seen twenty-
three summers : his name was Pierre Nicolas Philibert.* Severe in his
demeanor, studious and reserved in his habits, young Philibert had
grown up to manhood, the chief support and consolation of his widowed
mother. At times, several had remarked on his austere but beautiful
face a sombre expression, which would immediately melt into a subdued
sadness, the real cause of which few seemed to suspect. Beloved, as he
certainly was, by all who knew him, it was a mournful day for the
forlorn widow when, followed by some friends, she escorted her eldest
son to the Lower Town wharf, on his way to old France to obtain a
commission in the army.

Ten months after his departure, Madame Philibert one morning re-
ceived a letter; it came from Europe. On breaking the seal, the first
words which met her eye were as follows : —

" My Dearest Mother, — We are avenged ; my father's murderer is
no more."

The two had met at Pondicherry, in the East Indies. DeRepenfigny
had fallen under a sword wound which young Philibert had inflicted on
him in a duel.

*Aq indefatigable searcher of old records furnishes the aJditional particulars about,
the Philibert family: — Marie Anne, born Ist September, 17;^4; Mario Magdeleine, born
2nd June, 1736 ; Pierre Nicholas, born 17th May, 1737 ; Pierre, born in 1738 ,• Nicholas,
born 10th Nov., 1740 ; Marguerite, born 30th October, 1742 — Sons and daughters of
Mr. and Madame Philibert. — Notes of le Commandeur Viger.

ai

(83)

Canabian |tam^s anJr Siirnmes*

CHAPTER VI.

A CONTRIBUTOR to Blackwood, under the heading " The Scot in
France," reviewing Mr. Francisque Michel's book, " Les Ecossais
en France," graphically delineates the honorable part played some cen-
turies back in the affairs of France, by Scotchmen. The learned critic,
amongst other things, successfully traces to their origin several modern
French names, and clearly demonstrates, after divesting them of the
transmogrifications of time and language, that many of these names for-
merly belonged to brawny, six feet Scotchmen, whom little Johnny Cra-
paud,out of spite, had christened on account of their aldermanic appetites
"wine bags"; in fact, the same distinguished class which we, moderns, on
the undoubted authority of Judge Barrington, would designate "Twelve
bottle men," — select individuals scarcely ever heard of in these degene-
rate teetotal times, and of which class. Marshal ie Saxe, Mdlle.
Lecouvreur's friend, was in the last century a pretty tajtr representative.
Might it not also be worth our while to examine into some of the ludicrous
changes to which, in our own country, some old names have been sub-
jected? Every one knew that Normandy and Brittany had tarnished
the chief portion of the earliest settlers of our soil; the exact proportion
in which this emigration took place cannot at present be a subject of
debate, now that we have in print the Abb6 Ferland's laborious researches.
We accordingly find, in the appendix to the first volume of his " Cours
d'Histoire du Canada," a list and address of all the French who settled
in Lower Canada, from the year 1615 to 1648. No one, perhaps, except
a searching student of the Abba's school, would have taken the trouble
to trace the pedigree of all the families in Canada; on this subject, it is
not too much to say, that the veteran historian is a living cyclopedia.
It is true, he had ample sources of information at command, having had
access to the " Register of Marriages, Births and Burials of the Roman
Catholic Cathedral at Quebec," and these took him, uninterruptedly, as

84

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.

far back as 1040, in which year they were destroyed by fire, and restored
from memory ; he could also consult the ample details of the several
census tables, compiled by order of the French government, yet in
manuscript in our public libraries.

It is really singular to notice what a large portion of settlers came
from Normandy to New France. Almost all the educated Frenchmen,
such as Messrs. Rameau, Ampere, De Puibusque, Aubry, Fenouilletand
others who have visited Canada, have been struck with the resemblance
between the customs, mynncrs and language of the French Canadian
peasantry of this day, and those of the peasantry of Brittany and
Normandy. All of them admitted that, as a general rule, our hihitanta
spoke better French than the same class in the country parts of
France. Of course, it is not pretended tliat even the educated in
this country could compare for the purity of their idiom with Parisians,
w' D alone claim the right to speak p?f/vj French. Parisian writers,
on this point, have promulgated canons which seem rather exclusive.
It is pretended, for instance, that the nicety of Parisian taste is such,
that even a Parisian writer who removes for four years from his native
city to the provinces, is liable to be detected when he writes. This is
going far, and naturally reminds one of the fish-woman of Athens,
who, by his accent, detected a new customer as belonging to the
suburbs of the city.

When Mr. Ilameau was in Quebec, I took occasion to ask him what
he thought of our best writers. "Sir," said he, "I will relate to you
what occurred to me in Paris last winter. I was acquainted with Cana-
dian literature before I came liere, and iu order to test the correctness
of my own opinion, I assembled some literary friends and told them that
I intended reading them a chapter out of two new books which they had
never seen before ; they assented ; this done, and replacing the books
in my book-case, I requested them to tell me candidly where they could
have been written. 'Why, iu Paris, where else'/' they replied; 'none
but Parisians could write such French.' " Wull, gentlemen," said I, "you
are much mistaken, these books were written on the baiiks of the St.
Lawrence, at Quebec. h]tienne Parent, and the Abb6 Ferland are the
authors." My friends could scarcely credit the fact. I take
pleasure in recording this incident, because such a circum-
stance does honor to the country. I also take particular pleasure in

i

istored
leveral
yet in

s came
chmen,
1 let and
ablance
Linadian
ny and
ahitantH
parts of
ated in
arisians,

writers,
SLolusive.

is such,

is native

This is

Athens,
to the

; ' none
I, "you
the St.
are the
I take
circum-

basure in

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.

35

noticing this honorable fact, because it effectually bears on a stupid
assertion not altogether uncommon, viz : That French Canadians speak
nothing but patois — whereas, if the trutli were known, it would
appear that our peasantry talk-'* better French than docs one half of the
rural population of France ; in fact, it is not rare to find the French
peasantry of one department scarcely able to understand the idiom of the
corresponding class in another department. Several causes might be
adduced in explaining this singular fc.iiure; the first settlers in Canada
had left France about the time when literature was at its zenith, and
when the language was singularly beautiful. Whatever success may
have been achieved in literature by modern France, no writer since the
great revolution, has surpassed Corneille, llacine, Boileau, Voltaire or
Sevignd, in each of their several departments j the language of the
peasantry in New France has remained what it was two hundred years
ago; it is not purer, but it is just as pure. If, on one hand the
French element in Canada has escaped the disorganizing influence of
the revolutionary era f of '89, on the other hand, it has received
the infusion of no new blood; the race is essentially conservative,
too much so, perhaps, according to men of the 10th century; still, as
the component part of a great nationality, who can complain of its
being too cohesive ; who, on looking across the line, and viewing

* In connection with tbis fact, it appears that the Frunch Canadians have alono
retained in their original purity the simple old Norman Pong.s which their ancestors
brought into the country; that these same popuhir l,>allads have become so altered in
France by time, that a reiiuest has been sent out to Canada to have them collected in
their original purity. An eloquent young professor of the Laval University (Dr. Laruj)
has turned his attention to the subject.

f Our Canadian ancestors had l':ng since realised the diCereuce which the coiu|uest
had made in their situation, when tlieir beloved and eloquent pastor, Bishop Plessis, in
1794, from the pulpit of the same French Cathedral wliich now faces the Ui)per Town Mar-
ket place in Quebec, publicly, and in the name of his liock. thanked Almighty God that
the colony was English, and therefore would be free fn.m the hm-rors enacted in tlie French
colonies of the day ; that there were no human buti'hers in Canada, to shiughter any
nobles, priests, women and children. — See the Funeral oration of Bishop Briand,
pronounced on the 27th June, 17'Ji. by Monsel;^ni:ur Plessis. — (C/iriDtic's /linfory of
Canada, vol. I, pp. 356-7.) Could he h.ive then foreseen what happened Louisiana later
on, ho might again have expressed his thaukfulliiets that Canada did not belong to
France — else it might have been included in the deed of sale and bargain executed
between Napoleon the Great and the occupant of tlie White House in 180 j. Verily,
colonists are ponsidered small fry by rulers of empires.

Our people were again in forcible terms reminded of the superiority of English over
French institutions, when civil and religious liberty is at stake. Who has forgotten Dr.
Cahill's eloquent appeal ! *' Three Bishops," said he, '' cantiot dine together in Paris
without the permission of the police ; no new place of worship can be opened without
the consent of government. Why wj.s the charitable society the iSV. Viiirciit dc Paid
broken up ? Why were Protestant chapels summarily closed by the Police and the
congregation dispersed? — Why is the press muziiled ? Yes, why '! Tliank your stars,"
said the talented lecturer, " that you live hero under the British flag !"

86

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.

democracy in full rout, and possibly a renewal of the horrors of '89, in
this land of the west, close [at hand ; who would not prefer at least one
million of staunch conservative people, who, under proper treatment,
would understand loyalty to their sovereign, as the Vcnd^ens did, to
a God-forsaken, atheistical, democratic* rabble, worshipping no other
deity than the almighty dollar ?

But this is wandering away from the subject which heads this sketch;
revenons a nos mouton<i.

There is, in this country, a spice of drollery about some transforma-
tions of names worthy of notice. These queer changes do not necessa-
rily imply abject ignorance in the class which adopts them. We may
have in this country backwoodsmen^j- excessively stupid and ignorant, but
where (except within the precincts of a lunatic asylum^ would you find
even a brat of a boy who would give the same reply which the free-born
Briton gave to Lord Ashley, one of the commissioners appointed to
enquire into the condition of the lower classes in England, " that all he
knew about God was, that he had often heard the workmen say, God
damn !" We say we thank Providence for this, for whatever other colo-
nial drawbacks we may labor under, and they may be numerous, we are
spared the spectacle of extreme social degradation side by side with fabu-
lous wealth. Now to the point. Did you ever, my dear reader, know from
whence the first Know-Nothing hailed ? Perhaps you will meet me with

* It would be unmanly to abuse a great nation who has pledged itself to solve the
grand Monroe problem, "America for the Americans," merely because the evil passions
of social strife place it for a time under a cloud. The Americans have, doubtless,
boundless resources, and in the energy of their people the elements of future greatness.
Unfortunately, their lying journalists have succeeded in making them appear a very
abject community. We who do not live amongst them, know them only by their scur-
rilous press.

f " Backwoodmen." A worthy but eccentric missionary, once enlivened a stirring
appeal he was making to the sympathy and purse of a Quebic church meeting with the
following anecdote, illustrative of the multitudinous hardships he bad experienced in the
course of his evangelizing duties in the backwoods of Canada. The holy man was very
long and slender in the legs. " It was once u.y fate," said he, " to put up for the night
in a log shanty, the dwelling of the headman in the mission ; the bed did seem very
short, but being a deal one, nailed to the floor, it had to remain where it was ; I only
became fully aware that either I was too long, or that it was too short for my humble self,
when after extinguishing my candle, I tried to extend my weary limbs ; my feet, I
found, struck the window, which was neariy smashed by the operation. In despair I
got up, and after cogitating a short time, I came to the conclusion that no other alter-
native existed but to remove the obstruction and open the window, through which,
when lying down, my feet protruded some eighteen inches. I felt it was not a peculiar-
ly dignified position for the pastor to be seen by the flock, but what could I do. I slept
soundly from fatigue, but awoke early, feeling a great weight on my feet ; on raising
my head to see what it was, I found, that the patriarch of the farm yard — a very large
turkey cock had made rooster? of my nether extremities." He of course carried his
point.

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.

3r

• '89, in

iast one

latment,

did, to

0 other

sketch J

isforma-
necessa-
Vc may
ant, but
jrou find
ree-born
•inted to
xt all he
lay, God
lier colo-
L we are
th f'abu-
ow from
me with

solve the

1 passions
ioubtlesa,
greatness,
ar a very
boir scur-

a stirring

with the
iced in the

was very
the night
seem very
IS ; I only
imble self,
my feet, I

despair I
ther alter-
gh which,
I peculiar-
I slept
Dn raising
very large
arried his

the common-plaso reply, cm bono? Is not Know-Nothingism dead and
buried? True, I reply ; so is the builder of the pyramids dead, (or at kast,
unless he can beat old Methusaleh, he ought to be,) aud still the enquiry
about the originator has been going on for some time, and is likely to con-
tinue, although for any practical purpose, the origin of the Pyramids or
of Know-Nothingism is of the .same moment. Well, I assert clearly and
raost emphatically, that the first Know-Nothing, nominally designated as
such, lived at Cacouna, some seventy years ago. Now for the proof.
About the end of the last century, an English vessel was stranded in the
fall of the year, at Bic ; the crew had lost everything, and as in those
days the country below Quebec was thinly populated, they had to travel
upwards on foot. Along the road they obtained their food by begging
it from the French Canadian peasantry, and of course, various questions
were put to them, as to who they were, where they came from, where
they were going to? This constant questioning became troublesome to
the honest tars, who knew naught of the language of Louis XIV. The
first effort they made wns to attempt to say that they could not
understand the question put, and in a very few days, the stereotyped
reply to all enquiries was " J'en sgais rien." " I don't know." One of
them was rather a good-looking fellow, and not being accustomed to
snow-shoes, he got the mal de raquette, and had to stay behind ; a
wealthy Canadian peasant took pity on him, and admitted him under
his hospitable roof. Jack was not long before falling- a victim to the
tenvior passion ; and Mdlle. Josephte, the daughter of the house, having
shewn him some kindness in his forlorn state, the gallant Briton could
do nothing less than lay his heart at her feet.

" Amour, tu perdis, Troie ! "

as old Lafontaine said in his fable of the cocks and hens ; but for Jack
the effect was diametrically opposite ; it was his salvation, the dawn of
a bright future. It was, however, love under difficulties in the begin-
ning. To the fair one's enquiries, the interminable reply was returned-
" J'en sgais rien." Mdlle. Josephte soon began to fancy that the words
sounded musically in her ears ; — she facetiously christened her Saxon
friend J^en sgais rien, and soon the cur6 of the parish was called on
to pronounce the magical " Conjungo vos " over madamoiselle and the
English sailor. The union of the Norman and the Saxon, which seven
hundred years before was a daily occurrence on the banks of Thames,

88

CANADIAN NAMES AND &URNAMB6.

was rc-celcbratcd on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and with the same
happy results, lu the course ol* time, hiU^lish Jack became the respected
pater familias ol' a patriarchial circle of small " Syaisriens," genuine
Jean Baptistcs in every thing, except that they were handsomer than
the rest of the children of the parish. An addition to the family name
soon took place, and to '• J'cu syais rien," was affixed the words (lit V
Anf/lais, (alids tin' KiKjlisliman.) It is a common practice amongst the
French Canadians to have this addition, for instance, J. li. Portugais
dit La Musique, Sansouci dit L'FiVeille, Picard des Trois Maisons. To
this day there is a largo progeny of '' Scais rien, dit 1* Anglais" in
the parish of Cacouna. Now, reader, if 1 have made out my case, I pray
for a verdict, for, verily this is the first mention ol a Know-Nothing I
find in history.

There is a very worthy N.P., on the Island of Orleans, a descendant
of an Englishman or Scotchman, whose name was Richard somebody,
but his heir has never been able to clear up the point j and still a family
name he must have, by hook or by crook ; so the Richard was made into
Dick, and Monsieur le Notairc Jean Dick is now known all over the
island, and executes deeds under that and no other name. I do not
believe that he understands or speaks P]nglish.

A locality near this city, the village on the St. Lewis Road, which the
Hon, Wm. Shepherd, formerly of Woodfield, laid out, has undergone
several strange appellations.

It was, of course, intended to be named Shephcrdville, and did at one
time bear that name, under which several know it still ; — a number of
French Canadians having settled there, considered that as there was no
saint in the calendar hailiug under the name of Saint Shepherd, it was
not right to give such a name to the Parish j however, on finding out that
the parish was not canonically erected by the bishop, they consented to
leave the original name, if it was only translated into French, and
Shepherd meaning Berger, \f\\y they would put up, — until a saint was
chosen, — with Bergerville : this was considered however, such a concession
to anglification, that the knowing ones suspected that had not the Hon.
William's ground rent agent interfered, holding over non-paying
malcontents the fear of sundry writs of ejectment, the Saxon name would
have been swept away and blotted out for ever. Matters were going on
smoothly until a number of Irish having also elected domicile in

B(

te
op
of

C£

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.

39

Bergcrville, were much shocked at the liberty the I"'rcnch Canadian
tenants had taken, in durinij; to re-christcu the settlement ; they were of
opinion that as a considerable portion of the resideut.s would not be out
of place in St. Giles, in London, it might be more suitable to call the
place IJcggarvillc,* and not Bergcrville; and just as party denominations
have been in England in time of yore, by-words for strife between the
houses of York and Lancaster, so it has been on the estate of the Morj.
William on the St. Louis lloiid, near Quebec !

In October last, Tom Everell, an octog<!narian (jlrcenwieh pilot died at
Cap llouge, near Quebec. Tom was well known all round ; he had many
years before married into a French Canadian family, and gradually lost
his family name of Everell ; he was called by the linhilnntu Tom, Ic p6re
Tom ; he left a large number of children ; they are all called Toms —
there is Norbert Tom, George Tom, lleuricttc Tom, Jean Bte. Tom,
but as a compensation to this loss of nationality in his offspring, a
glorious distinction was made for his eldest son, in which primogeniture
shines forth ; of the whole family, he alone is allowed to bear the family
patronomic as a christian name ; he is not called Tom or Thomas
Everell, but is recognised as Everell Tom.

In looking over English periodicals, T find that the transformation of
names is not merely confined to Scotchmen in France, or to Englishmen
in Canada, but also to Englishmen in their own country. Jjisten to this
extract of The CornJiill, with which I shall close : —

" Surnames are by no means fully established in some parts of England
In the colliery districts, particularly, hereditary designations seem to be
the exception rather than the rule. A correspondent of Knight's
Quarterli/ Magazine says, that clergymen in Staffordshire ' have been
known to send home a wedding party in despair, after a vain essay to
gain from the bride and bridegroom a sound by way of name.' Every
man in these colliery fields, it seems, bjars a personal sobriquet, des-
criptive of some peculiarity, but scarcely any person has a family name;
either known to himself or others. A story is told of an attorney's
clerk who was professionally employed to serve a process ou one of those

* Odd names seem fashionable in this village : there is one family composed of boys ;
several are very hard cases ; one of them, aged about 17, combines all the vices of the
rest ; he is singularly vicious, just a shade better than a highwayman ; he goes by the

name of Orand Pire B ; why? I never have been able to find out. I have come'

to the conclusion that it might be from his being supposed to unite the vices of three
generations !

40

CANADIAN NAMEf* AND SURNAMES.

oddly-iiamod porBons, whoso pupposod real naino wna entered in the infltru-
mcut with legal accuriicy. Tiw? elork, after a f»r(Mit deal of inquiry as to
the whereabouts ol' the party, wuh about to abandon the Hoarch us hopo-
lc8H, when a yoini;^' woman, who had witnessed his lalmrs, kindly volun-
teered to assist him. 'Oy sny, liulli/nf' eried she to the first person
they mot, 'does thee know a mon nMmed Adorn (ireen'i' The bull-head
was shaken in token of ignorance. They then eamc to another man.
^ Loy-a-lnil , do.st theoT l^oy-a-bed could not :inswer cither. Stumpy^
(a man with a wooden leg), (Jnws/citi, S/n'iit/iislian/cH, Cor/cn/r, and 7V</-
tail were successively consulted, but to no purpose. At length, however,
having had conversation with several IViends, the danisd'H eye suddenly
brightened, and sla|)ping one of her neighbois on the shoulder, she
exclaimed — 'Dash my wig! whoy he means moy foyther!' Then turn-
ing to the astonished clerk, she cried — * Vou slioul'n ax'd for (hff. Black-
bird!' So it appeared that the old miner's name, though he was a man
of substance, and had legal battles to light, was not known even to his
own daughter."*

♦ A very HliRht invcstiuiiMon has nlrtiiuly i>ro(hic(;cl ii li.Ht ol' i)ntronyiiiicH wliioh throw
all Diokous' ideal oiioh, grotesque ami clover as many are, into hopele.ss distance. In
proof wliereof, a corre.xpondont of the London Timm .staten tliat a friend of his made
the following eurious aelootion of Hurnanies from tlio wiiln in tlie I'rcrogalivo Court, is
Doctors' Couunon.i : — A.sse, IJiil), Belly, JJootH, Crii)|>Ie, fheene, Oockles, Dunee, l>am,
Drinkmilko, l)of, Flashman, Fi.tt, (linger. (Jonse, Measte, IkMirhoaii, lUingler, 13ugg,
Buggy, ISoncs, Clieeko, Clod, ('odtl, l)emon. Fiend, Fu;vko, Frogge, (IhoHt, Oready,
Hag, llumpo, Iloldwator, Ileadaeho. Jugs, .lelly, Idle, Kneobono, Kidney, Lieie, Lamu,
Lazy, Leakey, Maypole, Mule, Monkey, Milksop, Muild, Mug, IMiisike, I'ighead, Pot,
Poker, Poopy, Prigge, Pigge, I'lineli, Proverb, Quieklove, Quash, Railish, Unmpe, Raw
bone, RottongooHO, Hwotte, Shish, Sprat, Squibb, Sixnige, Stubborne. Swine, Shave,
Shrimps, Shirt, Skim, Squalsh, Silly. Shoe. Smelt, Skull, Spattoll, Shadow, Snaggs,
Spittle, Teate, Taylceoate, Villian, Vittels, Vile. Whale.

All nature seems to have been ransacked for the purpose of producing even the above
list, whiih is no doubt, only a small saini)lo of thai which sumo lurlher investigation
might have produced. Earth and water throw in their ridiculous contributions in tho
namea of Asso, Goose, Beast and Codd; and tho mysteries of tho unknown world are
represented by a Shadow and a (ilhost. And Demon, Fiend, ^md Ilagg, find also their
nominal representatives on this upper earth. Tho ideal is, however, by no means alone
drawn on, for we find, in a suspicious juxtaposition — Jugs, Punch, lloa iacho — This
combination, it must bo conceded, is ratioiial enough.

T

(41)

Cbe ^olhmb ^m.

rnwTVAi VII.

" Woddiiiiiii H|»nro thiit lr«"«."

IT htii^ ohvuhccu stated t,luit tlio chief plory of Quel»ce eonsisted in
l)oinK surioundod on all widoH by iiinj;nilicont country Heatw, whicli in
the Hunnner season, as it were,encirelo the brow of tluiold city like aehap-
Ict of flowiirs : those who, on a sunny •lune inornin;^, have wandered
throu«i;h the shady proves of Spencer Wood, VVoodfield, IMarchmont,
Heninore, Kilmarnock, and fifty other old places, rendered vocal by tho
voices of myriads of winpjed (dioristcrs and with the sparklinj^ waters of
the great river at their feet, arc not likely to gainsny this statement.

Anumgat those beautiful rural rctr ^ts few are better known than
Holland Farm, the family mansion of Surveyor (loncral Ilolhind, who
purchased it about the year 1780. Four years previously it had been
tho headfiuarters of (Jcncral Montgomery, who choose it as his resi-
dence during the siege of Quebec. This fine property, running back as
far as Mount llermon Cemetery, and extending from the St. Louia or
Grand A116c road, opposite Spencer Wood, down to the St. Foy road,
which it crosses, is bounded to the north by the ('i7nc <lu cap, or St.
Foy heights. For those who may be curious to know its original extent
to an eighth of an inch, I shall quote from Major Holland's title-deed
wherein it is stated to comprise " in supcificies, French measure, two
hundred and six arpents one perch seven feet eight inches and /our
fj'r/htha of <tn irtfA," from which description one would infer the major
had surveyed his domain with great minuteness, or that he must have
been considerably of a stickler for territorial rights. What would his
shades now think could they be made cognizant of the fact, that that
very chateau garden, which he possessed and bequeathed to his sons in
the year 1800, has been taken possession of for military purposes by the
Imperial authorities, and held to this day by them, without any compen-
sation, it is said, being tendered ? Major Samuel Holland had distin-
7

42

THE HOLLAND TREE.

4''

guished himself as an officer, under General Wolfe, on the Plains of
Abraham, — lived at Holland House* many years, as was customary in
those days, in affluence, and at last paid the common debt to nature.

The major after having provided for his wife, Mary Josephte Eolot,
bequeathed his property to Frederick Brehm, John Frederick,
Charlotte, Susan, and George Ilolland,'\ his children. In 1817,
Frederick Brehm Holland, who, at that time was an ordinance store-
keeper at Prince Edward Island, sold his share of the farm to the late
William Wilson, of the Customs department. Ten years later, John
Frederick and Charlotte Holland also disposed of their interest in this
land to Mr. Wilson, who subsequently having acquired the rights of
another heir, viz., in 1835, remained proprietor of Holland Farm until
1843, when the property by purchase passed over to Geo. 0. Stuart, Esq.,
of this city. Mr. Stuart built on it a handsome mansion, now known as
Holland House, which he subsequently sold to R. Cassells, Esq., then of
Quebec, and manager of the Bank of British North America: it is the
house recently leased Hy Col. Lysous.

Holland Farm has been gradually dismembered. The pretty cottage
opposite Spencer Wood, now owned by Major Campbell, is built on
Holland Farm. A successful gold digger by the name of Sinjohn
purchased last year a large tract of the farm fronting the St. Louis
raad, with Thornhill as its north-eastern, and Mr. Stuart's new road as
its south-western boundary. His neat cottage, shaded by the Thornhill
Grove,- a nice garden and lawn now indicate that he does not intend to
allow his Australian nuggets to rust in his coffers. A large portion of
the gold hunter's land is a level pasturage entirely denuded of shrubs
and forest trees. To a person looking from the vice-regal gate, at
Spencer Wood, in the direction of the south gable of Holland House,
exactly in a straight line, no obJ2ct intervenes, except a fir tree, which
detaches itself on the horizon, conspicuous from afar, over the plantation
which fronts the St. Foy ro-^d. That tree is the Holland Tree. Well !
what about the Holland Tree ? What ! you a Quebecer and not to

* The ( i-ij^inal Holland House stood a little behind the present mansion.

I The last will and codicil of S. Holland was executed before Chs. Voycr and
colleague, N.P., at Quebec, and bear date 14th and 25th December, 1800. The Chateau
St. Louis property is therein thus described : — " Un grand emplacement proche le
Chateau St. Louis, donn6 et acoord6 au dit Sieur Testatcur, cultiv6 actuellement en
jardin."

THE HOLLAND TREE.

48

Mains of
roary in
ture.
:e Eolot,
'ederickf
a 1817,
se store-
the late
sr, John
it in this
rights of
rm until
irt, Esq.,
nown as
, then of
it is the

J cottage
built on
Sinjohn
5t. Louis
road as
hornhill
ntend to
jrtion of

shrubs

gate, at

House,

, which

antation

Well!
i not to

oyer aud
Q Chateau

roche la
ement en

know about the Holland Tree, its duel, and the slumberers who have
reposed for so many years under its shade ! !

" Oh ! but I am not a Quebecer. So tell me about the Holland
Tree." Well walk down from the St. Louis road along Mr. Stuart's
new road and we shall see first how the rest of the " slumberers" has
been respected. Hear the words which filial affection dictated to
Frederick Brehm, John Frederick and Charlotte Holland, when on
the 14th July, 1827, they executed a deed in favor of Wm. Wilson,
conveying their interest in their father's estate :

" Provided always, and these presents as well as the foregoing deed
of sale and conveyance are so made and executed by the said Robert
Holland, acting as aforesaid (as attorney of the heirs Holland), upon
and subject to the express charge and condition, that is to say, that the
said William Wilson, his heirs and assigns shall for ever hold sacred and
inviolable the small circular space of ground on the said tract or piece
of land and premises, enclosed with a stone wall and wherein the
remains of the late Samuel Holland, Esquire, father of the said vendors,
and of his son the late Samuel Holland, jr., Esq., are interred, and shall
and will allow free ingress and egress at all times to the relatives and
friends of the family of the said Samuel Holland, for the purpose of
viewing the state and condition of the said space of ground, and making
or causing to be made such repairs to the wall enclosing the same or
otherwise providing for the protection of the said remains as they shall
see fit.*"

Not many years back, this '* small circular space" which Mr. Wilson
bound himself to hold sacred and inviolable, and which contained two
neat marble slabs writh the names of xMessrs. Holland, senior and junior,
and other members of the family engraved on them, was inclosed within
a substantial stone wall, to which access was had through an iron gate :
the walls were covered with inscriptions and with the initials of those who
had visited a spot, to which the fatal issue of a deadly encounter lent
all the interest of a romance. Nothing now is visible except the foun-
dation, which is still distinct ; the monument stones have disappeared ;

* This deed was passed at Quebec before W. Fisher Scott, N. P. It purports to
have been executed " in the Gaoler's Room," e>Ure ten deux gnichett, in the Commoa
Gaol of the District of Quebec. Some of those who signed it must have been in custody,
why or wherefore does not appear.

44

THB HOLLAND TRIE.

■'>]

il #

the wall has been razed to the ground, some modern Vandal,* some
descendant of the Ostrogoths (for amongst all civilized nations the repose
of the dead is sacred) has laid violent hands on them ! ! When Mr.
Wilson sold Holland farm in 1843, he made no stipulation about the
graves of the Hollands : he took no care that what he had agreed to
hold inviolable should continue to be so held. If his representatives are
amongst those who now seek for reparation of the injury inflicted by
this act, the loss of the " chateau" garden, will furnish to those who
believe in Alison's doctrines of retributive justice in this world,
a new exemplification of the principle.

The tragical occurrence connected with the Holland Tree is so
much out of the ordinary run of events, that it seems where like the
plot of a sensation novel — a dark tale redolent with love, jealousy and
revenge. Two men stood, some sixty years ago, in mortal combat, not
under the Holland Tree, as it has generally been believed, but somewhere
on the mountain behind Montreal : one of them a Holland, the other was
Major Ward of the 60th, the father of the Major Ward who, many
years after, fought a memorable duel in Montreal with Mr. Sweeney.
The cause of the bloody affray originated at a fancy ball in the St. Louis
Chateau. It is said that when Major Holland saw the lifeless corpse of
his son, and the fatal pistols, after first giving vent to parental grief, he
uttered the following words : — " My beloved son, when General Wolfe
presented me on the Plains of Abraham with those beautiful weapons,
little did I think that they would be used to bring you to a dishonored
grave." On that fatal day probably a dense wood hid the combatants
from public gaze. I cannot say more without perhaps saying too much,
and I must leave the young who are curious to question their grand-
fathers and their grandmothers about Holland Tree. T have said
enough, I hope, to induce the reader to repeat with me,

" Woodman spare that tree !"

* A truculent gardener, it is said, who had been left in charge, some years back,
aonrtrted the monumental slabs into grinding stones.

(45)

1,* some
le repose
hen Mr.
bout the
greed to
Ltives are
icted by
lose who
3 world,

•ee is so
like the
msy and
abat, not
mewhere
ther was
0, many
Sweeney.
5t. Louis
jorpse of
grief, he
al Wolfe
weapons,
honored
ubatants
)o much,
r grand-
ive said

isira back,

% Chapter on Canadian HoWIitj.

CHAPTER VIII.

'* The nnmcs and memories of great men are the dowry of a nation. They are the
salt of the oartb, in death as well as in life. What they did once, their descendants
have still and always a right to do after them." — Blackwood.

THESE are democratic times : men eminent for their intellect and world-
wide fame, — Brights and Cobdens, — citizens of the most aristo-
c ratic country, members of a highly intelligent community, boldly and
successfully set at defiance privilege, when propagating their favorite
dogm^a of the sovereignty of the people, it may therefore be hazardous
to readily expect from an enlightened and progressive Canadian public
the gratuitous recognition of title and privilege, as implied in a Cana-
dian nobility. Many considerations lead to this belief. The air we
breathe, the tone of our people, the habits and customs of all classes
here, although they may savour of monarchy, do not point out to this
our native land as a soil in which titled nobility could, for many years
to come, strike out deep roots or yield wholesome and palatable fruit.

Indeed, there are in our midst persons perverse enough to insinuate
that a certain august visitor engrafted on the old trunk of our
nationality sufficient titles to last us a whole century.

A young barrister, snatched too soon from fame and friends, thus
embodied in verse Canada's motto :

" Sur cette terre encor sauvage
Les vieux titres sont ioconnus ;
La noblesse egt dans le courage,
Dans les talents, dans les vertua."

F, R. A.vQERa,

True nobility must consist, for us, in courage, talent and virtue j such
we consider the genuine guinea's stamp; the rest is all plated ware, which
once tarnished by vile or unworthy sentiments, not all the blue blood of
all the Howards could rescue from contempt. No not even the pro-

46

A CHAPTER ON CANADIAN NOBILITY.

found peace enjoyed under the protection of a mighty and free power,
in these eventful times, when anarchy is inaugurating a reign of terror
on our borders : not even the gratitude towards a strong protector
oould make us willingly kneel to a title unrecommended by merit or
virtue.

We may feel diflferently on some points in both sections of the
Province ; we are not prepared to say whether the inhabitants of
Western Canada (those whom one of our governors is said to have,
facetiously, we presume, christened the superior race) are steadfast in
their attachment to monarchical principles ; we hope and trust they are,
although several — their enemies, no doubt — depict them as thorough
democrats : people dazzled by the glitter of Uncle Sam's dollars, whose
chink they can hear from their own thresholds, inducing them to mingle
with a nation identical with themselves in race, religion and language.
One thing, however, we do know, and that is, that no community of
feeling or interest can exist between our republican neighbors and the
majority of the inhabitants of Lower Canada, alien in race, religion and
language. Any alliance between the two must be founded on the
abasement and ruin of the weaker of the contracting parties.

On one point the Latin and the Teuton of Lower Canada do seem
to understand one another thoroughly, viz., in their estimate of monarch-
ical ideas. They respect the sovereign and honor his chief men, the
nobles — not the men of pleasure such as those with which Louis XV.
surrounded his throne and oppressed his subjects, but honorable men
such as Victoria and the English people are proud of; well represented
by that aristocracy of merit " specially charged to perpetuate traditions
of chivalry and honor;" whose door is open to the people, as the highest
recognition of popular merit; whose worth is testified to by the English
as well as the French ; who is eulogized in high terms by men of
commanding intellect, such as Montesquieu, Montalembert, Guizot,
Chateaubriand.* Merit is then the touch-stone which wrung from these
brilliant writers the unqualified praise they bestowed on the nobility of
old England.

* " The nobility of Groat Britain Is tho finest modern society since the Roman
Patriciate," has said the illustrious Chateaubriand. His vast researches, his presence
at the English court as French ambassador in 1822, had given him ample opportunity
of judging. Ihis estimate does not quite agree vrith that of the author of " Representa-
tive Men," Emerson : " Twenty thousand thieves landed at Hastings. These foundera
of the House of Lords were greedy and ferocious dragoons, sons of greedy and ferooioui

A CHAPTER ON CANADIAN NOBILITY.

m

ie power,
of terror
protector
merit or

of the
itants of
to have,
idfast in
;hey are,
horough
s, whose
) mingle
mguage.
unity of
and the
;ion and
on the

lo seem
onarch-
len^ the
is XV.
Ie men
esented
iditions
lighest

nglish
nen of

uizot,
a these
ility of

Roman
iresence
ortunitj
resenta-
bunders
Biooious

Let US see whether we can apply this test to one of the oldest and
most honored names in our own history — we mean that of the Baron de
Loogueil.

In former times, too, wc had bloody wars to wage ; merciless foes
existed on our frontiers j the soil then found generous and brave soldiers
to defend it : men who went forth each day with their lives in their
hands, ready to shed the last drop of blood for al^ they held dear,
their homes, their wives, their children. Has the stout race of other
days degenerated, grown callous to what its God, its honor, its country
may command in the hour of need ? Wc should hope not. We said
the Baron de Longueil.

Who was the Baron de Longueil ? With your permission, kind
reader, let us peruse together the royal patent erecting the seigniory of
Longueil into a barony ; it is to be found in the ilegister of the pro-
ceedings of the Superior Council of Quebec, letter B, page 131, and
runs thus : " Louis, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre,
to all present. Greeting : It being an attribute of our greatness and of
our justice to reward those whose courage and merit led them to per-
form great deeds, and taking into consideration the services which have
been rendered to us by the late Charles LeMoyne*; Esquire, Seigneur of
Longueil, who left ]<'rance in 1640 to reside in Canada, where his
valour and fidelity were so often conspicuous in the wars against the
Iroquois, that our governors and lieutenant governors in that country
employed him constantly in every military expedition, and in every
negotiation or treaty of peace, of all which duties he acquitted himself to
their entire satisfaction ; — that after him, Charles Le Moyne, Esquire, his
eldest son, desirous of imitating the example of his father, bore arms
from his youth, either in France, where he served as a lieutenant in the
Regiment de St. Laurent, or else as captain of a naval detachment in
Canada since 1687, where he had an arm shot oflf by the Iroquois when
fighting near Lachine, in which combat seven of his brothers were also

pirates. They were all alike ; they took everything they could carry. They burned,
harried, violated, tortured, and killed, until everything English was brought to the
verge of ruin. Such, however, is the illusion of antiquity and wealth, that decent and
dignified men now existing boast their descent from these petty thieves, who showed a
far juster conviction of their own merits, by assuming for their types the swine, goat,
jackal, leopard, wolf, and snake, which they severally resembled.

" It took many generations to trim, and comb, and perfume the first boat-load of
Norse pirates into royal highnesses and most noble knights of the garter; but every
sparkle of ornament dates back to the Norse boat." — Enylish Traitt.
* He was nephew to the celebrated Surgeon Adrien Duchesne.

49

A CHAPTER ON CANADIAN NOBILITY.

engaged ; — that Jacques Le Moync dc Ste. H6l6ne, his brother, for his
gallantry, was made a captain of a naval detachment, and afterwards fell
at the siege of Quebec, in 1690, leading on with his elder brother, Charles
Le Moyne, the Canadians against Phipps, where his brother was also
wounded ; that another brother, Pierre Le Moync d'Ibervillc, captain of
a sloop of war, served on land and '<n sea, and captured Fort Corlard in
Hudson's Bay, and still commands a frigate ; that Joseph Le IMoync de
Bienville was commissioned an ensign in the said naval detachment,
and was killed by the Iroquois in the attack on the place called
Repentigny ; that Louis Le Moyne de Chateaugay, when acting as
lieutenant to his brother, d'lberville, also fell in the taking of Fort
Bourbon, in the Hudson's Bay; that Paul Le Moyne dc Maricourt is'an
ensign in the navy, and captain of a company in the naval detachment'
acting in the capacity of ensign to his brother d'lberville ; that, in
carrying out our intentions for settling Canada, the said Charles
Le Moyne, the eldest son, has spent large sums in establishing inhabi-
tants on the domain and seigniory of Longueil, which comprises abou
two leagues in breadth on the St. Lawrence, and three leagues and a
half in depth, the whole held from us with haute, moi/enne ct basse jus-
tice, wherein he is now striving to establish three parishes, and
whereat, in order to protect the residents in times of war, he has had
erected at his own cost a fort supported by four strong towers
of stone and masonry, with a guard house, several large dwellings, a
fine church, bearing all the insignia of nobility ; a spacious farm yard,
in which there is a barn, a stable, a sheep pen, a dove cot, and other
buildings, all of which are within the area of the said fort ; next to
which stands a banal mill, a fine brewery of masonry, together with a
large retinue of servants, horses and equipages, the cost of which build-
ings amount to some 60,000 livres ; so much so that this seigniory is
one of the most valuable of the whole country, and the only one fortified
and built up in this way ; that this has powerfully contributed to protect
the inhabitants of the neighboring seigniories ; that this estate, on
account of the extensive land clearings and work done and to be done
on it, is of great value, on which thirty workmen are employed ; that
the said Charles Le Moyne is now in a position to hold a noble rank
on account of his virtue and merit : For which consideration we have
thought it due to our sense of justice to assign not only a title of honor

for his
irds fell
Charles
7SLS, also
ptuin of
rlard in
oync de
chinent ,
3 called
5ting as
of Fort
art is'an
.chment '
that, in
Charles
; inhabi-
ts abou
f>s and a
}asscjus-
les, and
has had
towers
illings, a
m yard,
d other
next to
with a
Ih build-
rniory is
Ifortitied
protect
state, on
I be done
|d ; that
)le rank
fe have
If honor

A CHAPTER ON CANADIAN NOBILITY.

49

to the estate and seigniory of Longueil, but also to confer on its owner
a proof of an honorable distinction which will pass to posterity, and
which may appear to the children of the said Charles Le Moync a
reason and inducement to follow in their father's footsteps : For these
causes, of our special grace, full power and royal authority, We have
created, erected, raised and decorated, and do create, erect, raise and
decorate, by the present patent, signed by our own hand, the said estate
and seigniory of Longueil, situate in our country of Canada, into the
name, title and dignity of a barony; the same to be peacefully and fully
enjoyed by the said Sieur Charles Le Moyno, his children and heirs, and
the descendants of the same, born in legitimate wedlock, held under our
crown, and subject to fealty (foi et liomtnwj". avec (Jenombrement)
according to the laws of our kingdom and the, custom of Paris in force
in Canada, together with the name, title and dignity of a baron ; — it is
our pleasure he shall designate and qualify himself baron in all deeds,
judgments, &c. ; that he shall enjoy the right of arms, heraldry, honors,
prerogatives, rank, precedence in time of war, in meetings of the nobility,
&c., like the other barons of our kingdon— chat the vassals, arrihre
vassaux, and others depending of the said seigniory of Longueil,
nohlement et en roture, shall acknowledge the said Charles Le Moyne,
his heirs, assigns, as barons, and pay them the ordinary feudal homage,
which said titles, &c., it is our pleasure, shall be inserted in proceedings
and sentences, had or rendered by courts of justice, without, however,
the said vassals being hold to perform any greater homage than they are

now liable to. ., This deed to be enregistered in Canada, and

the said Charles Le Moyne, his children and assigns, to be maintained
in full and peaceful enjoyment of the rights herein conferred,

" This done at Versailles, the 27th January, 1700, in the fiftieth year
of our reign.

" (Signed) Louis."

We have here in unmistakable terms a royal patent, conveying on the
Great Louis' loyal and brave Canadian subject and his heirs, rights,
titles, prerogatives, vast enough to make even the mouth of a Spanish
grandee water. It is a little less comprehensive than the text of the
parchment creating Nova Scotia knights, but that is all.

The claims of the Longueil family to the peaceable enjoyment of
their honor are set forth so lucidly in the following document, that we
8

50

A CnAPTER ON CANADIAN NOBILITY.

^ II

4

shall insert the maDUscript in full ] — it was written in Paris by an
educated English gentleman, M. Falconer.

" When I was in Canada, in 1842, a newspaper in Montreal contained some weekly
abuse of the Baron Grant de Longueil, on account of his assuming ttio title of Baron
do Longuoil. It appeared to mo to be somewhat remarkable that a paper which very
freely abused people for being republicans, and affected a wonderful reverence for mon-
archial institutions, should make the possession of monarchial honors, in a country
professedly governed by monarchial institutions, the ground of frequent personal abuse,
and was certainly a very inconsiderate line of conduct.

"But it was in fact the more blamoable, as the possession of that honor by Baron de
Longueil is connected with some historical events in which every Canadian ought to
feel a pride, as being part of the history of his country.

" I can of course only give a short note of the family of Longueil.

" In the early settlement of Canada, one of the most distinguished men in the service
of Government was Charles Le Moyne; ho was in the war with the Iroquois, and con-
tributed very materially to the pacification of the country and the defence of the fron-
tier. He had eleven sons and two daughters ; the names of the sons were —

" 1st. Sieur Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueil. He was Lieutenant du roi de
lavill et gouvrement de Montrial. He was killed at Saratoga, in a severe action.

" 2n ' Sieur Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-H^ldno, whose name was given to the
island opposite Montreal, which was, until lately, part of the property of the family
He fell at the siege of Quebec in 1690.

"3rd. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who was born at Montreal, in 1662, was the
third son. He made his first voyage to sea at fourteen years of age. In 1686, he was
in an expedition to Hudson's Bay, under Sieur de Troyes. I-i the same year the Mar-
quis de Denonville made him commander of a fort, established in this expedition, and
for bis conduct in this post he received the thanks of the Governor of Canada. In
1690, with his brother, De Sainte-II61Jne, he attacked some Iroquois villages, and pre-
vented the attack of some Indians on Lachine and La Chenaye. He was made captain
of a frigate in 1692 — his instructions being dated 11th April of the same year. In
1694 he made an attack on Fort Bourbon, where his brother, De Chateaugay, was killed
—but the fort was taken. On the 21st October, 1693, M. de Pontchaitrain wrote to
him a letter of commendati m. In 1696 he carried troops to Acadia. Ho visited France
in 1698. He left it with three vessels, in order to make n settlement in the Mis-
sissippi; he was the first person of European origin who entered the Mississippi from
the sea ; he ascended the river nearly one hundred leagues, established a garrison, and
returned to France in 1699 ; in consequence of this success, he was decorated with the
cross of the order of Saint Louis. In 1699 he was again sent to the Mississippi ; his
instructions were dated 22nd September of the same year, and directed him to mako a
survey of the country and endeavor to discover mines ; this voyage was successful,
and he returned to France in 1700, and was again sent to the Mississippi in 1701 , his
instructions being dated August 27th, of that year ; he returned to France in 1702, and
was made ' Capitaine de vesseau.' On .July 5th, 1706, he again sailed for the Missis-
sippi, charged with a most important command ; but in 1706, on July 9th, this most
distinguishsd discoverer and navigator died at Havannah. He was born at Montreal,
and obtained an immortal refutation in the two worlds.

A CHAPTER ON CANADIAN NOBILITY.

61

>y an

weekly
' Baron
ch very
)r mon-
pountry
,1 abuse,

laron de
}ught to

3 service
and con-
,he fron-

iu rot de
on.

!U to the
6 family

was

the

he was
the Mar-
tion, and
ad a. In
and pre-
captain
rear. In
as killed
wrote to
d France
the Mis-
jpi from
son, and
with the

ippi;

his

o make a
iccessful,
L701 , his
|l702, and
Missis-
Ithis most
[ontreal>

" 4tb. Paul Le Moyne do Mariooart, eapxtaine d'une eompaynie de la marine. He died
from exhaustion and fatigue in an expedition against the Iroquois.

" 6th. Joseph Lo Moyne de Scrigny, who served with his brother, D'Iberville, in
all his naval expeditions ; wo subsequently find him holding a lieutena it's commission in
the navy at Rochefort.

" 6th. Francois Lo Moyne de Bienville, officxer de la marine. The Iroquois surrounded
a house in which ho and forty others were located, and, setting fire to it, all except on*
perished in the flames.

" 7th. Louis Le Moyne de Chateaugay, officier de la marine. He was killed by the
English at Fort Bourbon — afterwards called Fort Nelson, by the English, in 1694.

" 8th. Gabriel Le Moyne d' Assigny — died of yellow fever* in St. Domingo, where
he had been left by his brother, D'Iberville, in 1701.

'' 9th. Antoino Le Moyne — died young.

" 10th. Jean Baptiste Le Moyne do Bienville, ' Knight of the Order of St.Louis,' whose
name is still remembered with honor among the people of New Orleans ; he was, with
his brother, a founder of that city, and Lieutenant du Roy d la Louitianne, in the Govern-
ment of the Colony.

" Ilth. Antoine Le Moyne do Chateaugay, second of the name, Capitaine d' une eom-
pagnie de la Marine d la Louitianne. He married Dame Marie Jeanne Emilie des
Fredailles.

"Such are the names of eleven sons ; ten of whom honorably, and with distinction,
served in the governmont of their country, receiving in the new colonies the honors
and rewards of the King, who made no distinction between the born Canadian and the
European.

" There were two daughters, sisters of the above ; the eldest married Sieur de Noyan, a
naval officer, and the second Sieur de la Chassagne.

''In a memorial of M. de Bienville, dated New Orleans, January 25th, 1723, after set-
ting forth his services, he describes himself as Chevalier of the order of St. Louis, and
Commander General of the Province of Louisianna; he states in it, that of eleven bro-
thers, only four were then surviving: Baron de Longueil, himself, Bienville, Sorigny,
and Chateaugay, and that they had all received the cross of Knights of St. Louis.

"The patent creating the Seigniory of Longueil into a barony is dated 19th May,
1699. It relates that the late Charles Le Moyne, Seigneur of Longueil, emigrated from
France to Canada in 1610, and had highly distinguished himself upon many occasions
— that his son, Charles Le Moyne, had borne arms from an early age, and that Jacques
Le Moyne do Santo H61dne, was killed by the English at the head of his company when
Quebec was attacked, on which occasion, the said Charles Le Moyne, leading on the
Canadians, was also wounded. It also names with honor D'Iberville, Do Bienville,
De Chateaugay, Do Maricourt. The patent then states that on account of the services
rendered by the family, Louis XIV. had ieterminad to give to tho Seigniory of Longueil,
as well as to the said Charles Le Moyne himself, a title of honor, in order that an honor-
able distinction should pass to posterity, and be an object of emulation to his children to
follow the example which had been set to them. It therefore creates and erect -i the
Seigniory of Longueil into a barony, to be enjoyed by the said Charles Le Moyne, his

^ Singularly enough, another Canadian William L. Le Moyne, Esq., of Quebec, my
brother, expired also in St. Domingo, of yellow fever, some 138 years after — viz., in 1837.

1i

A OAAPTEtt 02T CANADIAN NOBILITY.

children and anooensors, et ayani came, and that they ehoald enjoy the honors, rank
and precedence in the assembly of nobles, as are onjuyod by other barons of the liing-
dem of Franco.

" This patent is remarkable therefore for creating a territorial barony — that is, whoso-
erer possesses Longueil, whothor male or female, ia ontitlod to the title and distinotioa
of a baron of the kingdom of Franco. I had some doubts if it was so, but submitted
the case to a very eminent lawyer, at Paris, who assures mo that there can be no dis-
pute on the subject.

" There was another barouy erected iu Canada in 1671, in favor of M> Talon, the
Intendant of the Province: it was called 'tLa terre des Islets,' which I believe is at
this time owned by some religious community. However, I have pointed out above the
title which, under a monarchy, this family has to distinction in Canada.

" The cession of Canada by France to England made no change in the legal right to
hold honors, and a title to honors is as much a legal right as a title to an estate.

" No person by the accession was deprived of any legal right. At Malta, the old titles
of honor are respected, and the Queen recognizes them in the commissions issued in her
name in Malta. Whatever right French noblemen had iu Canada under the French
government continues at this time : in this instance the honor is greater than most
titled European families can boast of.

" It is not, however, as a family matter I regard it. I wish you to remark that it was
a Canadian who discovered the Mississippi from the sea, (La Salle having failed in this
though he reached the sea sailing down the Mississippi), and also that the first and
most celebrated Governor General of Louisianna was a French Canadian."

Here ends M. Falconer's ably written paper. We think we have
made out a fair case for an old Norman house, who originally descended
from the Count of Salagne, en Biscayey and who enlisted on the side
of Charles VII, in 1428. This count married Marguerite de la Tre-
mouillc; daughter of the Count des Guines, and Grand Chambellan de
France^ one of the oldest families of the Kingdom. We must now
leave to our readers to decide, and we are willing also to accept for
the house of Longueil * the motto—

",Sur cette terre encor sauvage
Les vieuz titres sent inconnus;
La noblesse est dans le courage,
Dans les talents, dans les vertus."

I Chateau Bigot stands within its limits.— see page 9.

* The Baron de Longueil was succeeded by his son Charles, born 18th October, 1657.
He served quite young in the army, when he distinguished himself, and died Governor
of Montreal, 17th of January, 1755 — he was the father of upwards of fifteen children.
The third Baron of Longueil was Charlea Jacques Lo Moyne, born at the Castle of Lon-
gueil, 26th July, 1724 — he commanded the troops at the battle of Monongahela, 9th
July, 1755. He was also made Chevalier de St. Louis and Governor of Montreal, and
died whilst serving under Baron Dieskau, aa the Marquis of Vaudrueil states in one of
his dispatches, the 8th September, 1755, at 31 years of age, the yiotim of Indian treach-
ery ont he border of Lake George. His widow was re-married by speoial license, at

M

th

d(

J(

hf

m

94

a

O;

se

th

M

at

ba

no

ma

Ga

A CHAPTER ON CANADIAN NOBILITT.

58

orB, rank
the king-

18, whoBO-
istinctioa
lubmittod
De no dia-

Palon, the
iove i» at
above the

A right to

ite.

• old tiUeB

nod in her

le French

ihan moat

Montreal, on the Uth September, 1770, to the Hon. William Grant, Receiver-General of
the Province of Canada — there was no iasuo frum this second marriage, and on the
death of the third baron the barony reverted to his only daughter, Marie Charlei
JoBephte Le Moyno do Longuoil, who assumed the title of baroness after the death of
her mother, who expired on the 26th February, 17H2, at the ago of 85 years. She waa
married in Quebec, on the 7th May, 17SI, to Captain David Alexander Grant, of the
94th, bythoUev. D. Francis do Monmouliu, chaplain to the forces. Capt. Grant wai
a nephew of tho Honorable; William Grant, bis son, tho Honorable Charles William
Grant, was fourth baron and a member of tho Legislutivo Council of Canada, and
seigneur of the barony of Longueil. IIo asQumed the title of Buron of Longuoil on
the death of his mother, which event occurred on the 17th February, 1841. Ho married
Miss N. Coffin, a daughter of Admiral Coffin, and died at his residence, Alwiug House,
at Kingston, 6th July, 1848, aged 68. His remainswere transferred for burial in bit
barony. Tho fifth baron who assumed tho title married in 1849, a southern lady, and
now resides at Alwing House, at Kingston. Tho house of Longuoil is connected by
marriage with the Babys, De Beajeus, La Moines, Do Montenacb, DelauaudiereB, De
Ga8p(>8, Delagorgendieres, and several other old families in Canada.

that it was
led in thia
I first and

L

e have
scended
the side

laTre-
ellan de
lUSt now
cept for

•

ber, 1667-
Governor
children,
e of Lon-
hela, 9th
real, and
in one of
n treaoh-
Bnse, at

.#

(64)

#n %mt kx^ peculiar ^eukl Institutions.

"Ll DROIT DE aBENOUILLAOB."

CHAPTER IX.

[Ladte$ art invited totkip over thit chapter, tohieh treatt of dry, legal technicalitiM.]

" Et la dit Sieur, en sa quality de gentilhomme, a d6oIar6 ne savoir signer."

•

IN this eminently progressive age of railroads, telegraphs and balloons,
when the subjugation of time and space so loudly proclaims the
royalty of genius, the sovereignty of mind over matter, few will dare to
revert, except for the sake of contrast, to those times which, with so
much self-complacency, we style the dark ages ; and still this is precisely
what we intend to do, less however to show that this condemnatory
expression is misapplied — in fact a misnomer, — less to disturb the verdict
of posterity and demand a new trial, than in the spirit of the old judge
who, during his leisure hours, reads over the notes of evidence on which
ho based his judgments on former trials. Like over him, an indistinct
sense of doubt occasionally creeps over us, which in the secret of our
hearts, now and again forces on our attention the following questions : —
Have we thoroughly sifted, in all its bearings, the subject on which we
^ve adjudicated ? Have those same middle ages brought before our
tnbunal, had a fair trial ? Have we not, perchance, given too much
weight to the crown witnesses, and not enough to those summoned for
the defence ? Has the defendant had an opportunity of bringing into
court all the documentary evidence available in such a momentous
inquiry ? In other words, when we lavish such wholesale abuse on our
ancestors, are we sure we fully understand, truly appreciate the hidden
motives which actuated their actions ? Are we certain some designing
men have not for a purpose traduced this eventful period of the world's
history, purposely vilified its institutions, knowingly libelled its actors ?
Fortunately it is not our province to answer satisfactorily and fully these

ON PICULUR FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS.

65

IS.

lioalittt.]

gner."

•

I br.lloons,
claims the
'III dare to
1, with so
s precisely
demnatory
the verdict
old judge
on which
indistinct
r?t of our
estions:—
which we
jefore our
too much
moned for
Dging into
Daomentous
luse on our
the hidden
designing
the world's
its actors?
fully these

grave inquiries. Wo will be quite content for the present with merely
raising a corner of the veil which stands between us and the past ; and,
reader, if perchance during the operation, your peering eye should de-
tect the nakedness of some of our forefathers' queer conceits, wo be-
seech you not to judge of them by the standard of to-dny, but rather
look on, like Shem and Japheth, /. c. with charity. Kcst assured, little
analogy can exist between the present time and the customs and manners
of a period, in which it was not considered out of place to lavish stores
of the most recondite learning in solving the unimportant problem " how
many spirits can stand on the point of a needle without jostling one
another ? " and in which another subject of deep research then, but which
will doubtless now appear of secondary moment to the general welfare of
mankind, was " what was the colour of the Virgin Mary's hair ? " Some
profound thinkers, by elaborate arguments, showed that it must have
been red ; our taste would have inclined for auburn.

We are led to the present inquiry by the perusal of a cleverly written
book, compiled by Louis Veuillot, ex-r6dacteur of the UniverSf a Paris
newspaper recently suppressed by the elect of thirty-two milliors of free
men, either because his people were not sufficiently advanced to have a
free press, or that a free press was a malum per se. We know of some of
his subjects in Canada who, in their writings, deny both these doctrines.

But — says the utilitarian — practically, what have we in Canada to do
with Louis Veuillot or his book ? Nothing, certainly, more than this :
it contains, over and above, a most interesting controversy waged by the
champion of the ultramontane party in France and the late Attorney
General and present President of the Cour de Cassation, Mr. Dupin, on
this occasion the mouth-piece of the French Liberal party — a new con-
firmation of an opinion frequently set forth here, viz.: that the FeiMal
tenure, in its mildest form only, was introduced into Canada, although
France, England and Germany for centuries groaned under its most
obnoxious features.

According to Veuillot those feudal barons, whom we depict to our-
selves so intent on oppressing and so ready for trivial offences to roast
and quarter their unfortunate serfs, were in very many cases the very
reverse of cruel; nay, some were humane and considerate to a degree.
He tells of some being quiet satisfied with the gift of a pig, a goose, a
sheep, for the right to pasture the whole flock on the domain of the

'i ♦.

56

OK PECULIAR FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS.

landlord ; sometimes their eccentric humors hetrayed them into stn>nge
fancies. He shows us a seigneur in France to whose manor the peasantry
drove each year, in a vehicle drawn by four horses, a lark ; in another
locality, an egg was substituted. We are also told that at Boulogne the
Benedictine monks of Saint Proculus exacted from those who had lease-
hold property under them; the steam of a boiled capon j the operation
was performed thus : on a fixed day in each year, the tenant drew near
the table of the seigneur, bearing the boiled chicken between two. dishes,
when the upper dish was removed to allow the fumes to escape ; this
done he would remove the dish and the chicken."' He had acquitted

* Wo find several instances of tenures equally singular in England: — "A farm at
Brookhousc, in Langsett, in the parish of Peniston, and county^ of York, pays yearly to
Oodfry Bosvillo, Esq., a snow ball in midsumnaer and a red rose at Christmas."

William de Albemarle holds the manor of Loston " by the service of finding for his
lord the king, two arrows and a loaf of oat bread, when he should hunt in the forest of
Dartmorc."

Solomon Attefold held land at Reperland and Atherton, in the county of Kent, upon
condition " that as often as our lord the king would cross the sea, the said Solomon
and heirs ought to go with him to bold his head on the sea if it was needful."

John Compes had the manor of Finchingfield given him by King Edward III., for
the service of turning the spit at his coronation."

GeoflTry Frumband held sixty acres of land in Wingfield, in the county of Suffolk,
by the service of paying to our lord the king two white doves yearly.

John de Roches holds the manor of Winterslew, in Wiltshire, by the service that
when the king should abide at Clarendon, he should go into the butlery of the king's
palace there, and draw out of what vessel he chooses, as much wine as should be need-
ful for making a pitcher of claret, which he should make at the king's expense ; and
that he should serve the king with a cup, and should have the vessel whence he took
the wice, with all the wine then in it, together with the cup whence the king should
drink the claret.

The town of Yarmouth is, by charter, bound to send the sheriffs of Norwich a
hundred herrings, which are to bo baked in twenty-four pies or paties, and delivered to
the lord of the manor of East Carlton, who is to convey them to the king.

At the coronation of James II., the lord of the manor of Heydon, in Essex, claimed
to hold the basin and ewer to the king by virtue of one moiety, and the towel by virtue
of the other moiety of the same manner, whenever the king washed before dinner, but
the claim was allowed only as to the towel.

Sir Walter Scott gives the following anecdote relative to James V. of Scotland : —
"ilkiother adventure, which had nearly cost James his life, is said to have taken place
at the village of Cramond, near Edinbui*gh, where he had rendered his addresses
acceptable to a pretty girl of the lower rank. Four or five persons, whether relations
or lovers of his mistress is uncertain, beset the disguised monarch, as he returned from
his rendezvous. Naturally gallant, and an admirable master of his weapon, the king
took post on the high and narrow bridge over the Almond river, and defended himself
bravely with his sword. A peasant, who was thrashing in a neighboring bam, came
out upon the noise, and whether moved by compassion or by natural gallantry, took
the weaker side, and laid about with his fiail ho effectually, as to disperse the assailants,
well thrashed, oven according to the letter. He then conducted the king into his barn,
where his guest requested a basin and towel, to remove the stains of the broil. This
being procured with difiieulty, Jamos employed himself in learning what was the sum-
mit of his deliverer's earthly wishes, and found that they were bounded by the desire
of possessing, in property, the farm of Bra(>hoad, upon which he laboured as a bondsman.
The lands chanced to belong to the crown, and James directed him to come to the
Palace of Holly-Rood, and enquire for the gudeman (t. e. farmer) of Ballangeich, a
name by which he was known in his excursions, and which answered to II Bondocani

ON PECULIAR FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS.

57

stn>nge
3asantry
another
)gne the
id lease-
peration
:ew near
>, dishes,
pe; this
cquitted

A farm at

i yearly to

I."

ing for his

,0 forest of

{!ent, upon
d Solomon

•d IIL, for

of Suffolk,

lervice that
I the king's
d be need-
lense ; and
ce he took
ng should

Torwich a
jlivered to

|z, claimed

by virtue

[inner, but

;otland : —

iken place

addresses

Ir relations

irned from

the king

3d himself

|arn, came

(ntry, took

issailants,

his barn,

Ml. This

the 8um-

Ithe desire

jondsman.

le to the

^ngeich, a

iondocani

his feudal service. Now we do not wish to speak ill of Benedictine or
any other monks, but we do state, without fear of contradiction,
even by M. Veuillot, that at that remote period there existed
many abb^s, whose appetite was not satisfied merely from inhaling
the steam of a boiled chicken. Some of these feudal land owners,
however, were right good fellows. It is recorded that before the
year 1450, the peasantry of Vaulx, in Normandy, residing within
five miles of the Abbey of the Holy Trinity of Caen, were annu-
ally treated, on the fete of the Holy Trinity, to a substantial repast within
the walls of the monastery. The carte de cuisine stood thus : " They
were first to wash their hands (not altogether a superfluous preliminary
for laboring men) ; then all sat down, a cloth was spread before them ;
to each was served out a small loaf of bread weighing from twenty to
twenty-two ounces, a square piece of pork six inches long, after which
came a slice of grilled ham (lard routi sur le grcit), a panikin of bread
and milk, and cidy and cervoesie ad libitum during a four hour's sitting.
With such royal cheer and such considerate masters, it is not at all sur.
pri&ing to hear a king of France — Louis X. — in 1315, after publishing
edicts to liberate his subjects from the feudal servitude, complain that
some of his people, being ill advised, preferred to remain as they were
to becoming free. A learned writer, Delisle, from these and other in-
stances, concludes that several of the customs which now appear to us
as the most obnoxious, were the very ones which in the feudal tiaics
were considered the lightest, as their performance was attended with no
trouble. And to this class belonged the famous Droit de Grenouillage,
the subject of Messrs. Dupin and Michelet's irreverent mirth. These
w. iters had perversly furbished up some old worm eaten charters on
whose authority they accused the landed aristocracy of the middle ages
with being in the habit of compelling their serfs to turn out on the
wedding night of the lord of the manor, to beat the frog ponds, in
order that his lordship's rest might not be disturbed by the noisy
croakings of the frogs j and what was wcrse in the eyes of Veuillut,

of Haroun Alraschid. Iloprcsentotl himself accordingly, and found with dti : astonish-
ment that ho had saved his monarch's life, and that ho was to bo gratified with a
crown-chartor of tho lands of Braehoad, under the service of presenting an ewor, basin,
and towl, for tho king to wash his hands, when ho shall happon to pass tho Biid;^e of
Cramond. In 1822, when George IV. came to Scotland, the descendant of this John
Howison of Braehoad, who still possesses the estate which was given to his ancestors,
appeared at a solemn festival, and offered his Majesty water from a silver ewer." This
gave rise to the old song " We'll gae nae mair a roving."

9

68

ON PECULIAR FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS.

certain jolly friars, such as the Abb^ de Luzeuil and the Abb6 de
Priim, stood also charged with having required the performance
of this sardanapalian service, not of course on their wedding night,
(for none but bad Abb6s married in those times), but whenever they
resided in their domains, as the following lines showed : —
" Pa ! PS. ! rainotte, PS, ! (silence, frogs, silence !)
♦' Voici monsieur I'abb^ que Dieu gS, (Near you rests monsieur I'abb^,
whom may heaven watch over)."

Not only were the peasants compelled to beat the frog ponds, but
during the operation, in order to keep themselves awake, they were ex-
pected to croak out (in a subdued voice, we should imagine) this cabal-
istic formula. The performance of the croaking service was confined to
those vassals whose land had on that condition been freed trom servitude.
A large portion of the volume before us is taken up in discussing this
custom, of which few instances can be found ; amongst others, the case
of a d!:owsy German emperor is adduced, who having to sojourn over
night in the village of Freinsenn, was threatened with being kept awake
by the concerts of frogs; fortunately for his Highness, the peasantry
mustered in time and compelled Aristophanes' noisy heroes to knock
under, on which the mighty emperor freed his considerate vassals.
Although it is said that at one time it was considered a special seigniorial
priviledge for a baronial benedict to sleep poundly on his wedding night,
nothing exists to show that this is the real cause why Mynheer Deutch-
man had so highly prized his uninterrupted nap ; the probability is that
he felt tired after travelling and wanted more than '' forty winks."*

* Pity it is, tho Droit de Grenouillage should be obsolete, especially in such a lo-
cality as Lake Beauport, where bull-frogs of fabulous size occasionally make tho night
hideous and sleepless with their booming^. The reader is reminded not to confound
these plethoric individuals with the ordinary piping frog, raua pipieuH, whose shrill
squeak ceases about the 21st of .June of each year, and who caused the cockney's mis-
take : " My dear parients," wrote young hopeful to his 13ow-bells relatives, the day
after his arrival in Canada, " Canada is a strange place : it is swarming with papists.
The gentKmen leave, on their rcsiden' e out of the city, a great deal of fine fir
and furniture wood «»c«t. There is one peculiarity which struck me : the Iiirds are not
numerous, but some have a singulaily loud song, and sing ail night. Of this class
is the Canadian nightingale, whose shrill note kept me from sleeping all last night.
I hope, however, to get accustomed to it in time. I am spending a day or two at a
place called Lake Beauport. Your dutiful son."

Speaking of the nightingale reminds :: e of another unjastifiaMii* joke, a roguish
bird fancier played on another cockney gentleman. This bird fancier's son had pur-
chased on the market a common snow bird, for one penny; in transferring it from one
cajfe to the other, ho accidentally pulled out its tail ; the bird was, however, exposed for
sale in bis window, and a verdant young Englishman, with more money than brains,
was attracted by fche comical figure it cut : — "What a very singular b rd," he said,
"was it born 80?" <nVhy, yes," said the bird seller, "of course it was." "What

^

ON PECULIAR FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS.

S$

\.hh6 de
brmance

eer they

ir rabb6,

nds, but
were ex-
lis cabal-
infined to
ie^vitude.
jsing this
, the case
urn over
jpt awake
peasantry
to knock
3 vassals,
eigclorial
ng night,
' Deutch-
ty is that

:8.

>>*

such a lo-
e the nijjht
confound

jrse slirill
tney's rnis-
!S, the day
th papists.

of fine lir
irds are not
f this class

last night,
or two at a

, a roguish
)n had pur-
t from one
xposed for
an brains,
i," he said,
"What

Mr. Veuillot thinks that this 'Droit de Grenouillage was not a whit
more humiliating than the obligation the ordinary seignior was under to
pour out drink for his superior, and his superior did not consider him-
self degraded for having to hold the shirt of his royal master when
dressing. Counts and barons stood protracted law suits to enforce their
rights to do homage to those above them, and these struggled as hard to
get rid of an homage too expensive for them to keep up. When the Count
of Cahors, who was also a bishop, approached his chief city, the Baron
of Cessac was wont to precede him to a certain spot, indicated in old
titles, where he was bound to meet him. Once arrived there, he would
dismount, and having saluted the prelate with his hat off, his right leg
bare and wearing a slipper, he would take the bishop's mule by the
bridle and thus lead it towards the cathedral, froir. thence to the episco-
pal palac:, where he would wait on the bishop during dinner time; this
performed he would retire, taking with him the bishop's mule and silver
plate. This ccremonj ook place as late as 1604, for the Bishop Etienne
de Poppian; it resulted in a law suit, which was adjudicated on by the
parliament of Toulouse. The complaint preferred by the Baron de
Cessac was that the silver plate used on this occasion was not suitable
to the status of the parties concerned, nor in accordance with the terms
of his charter. The court condemned the count to provide the baron
with a gilt set of silver plate, or else its legitimate value d dire d'experts,
due regard being had to the quality of the individuals and to the
grandeur of the occasion. The experts decided that the value of the
plate was 3,123 livres. Etienne de Poppian's successor, Pierre de Ha-
bert tried to enter the city in 1627 viihout notifying the Baron de

Cessac ; the latter summoned him t the bishop pleaded that he was not

i»

species do you call it, then ?" "I never saw the like of it before," replied the bird
fancier. " A stranger just told me it was a Jersey nightingale, a very rare bird."
''What will you take for it?" "I could not think of parting with it." A few days
passed, and the young man returned and begged as a favor to be allowed to purchns*
it. Finally, the bird fancier accepted seven and sixpence for it, a» a favor, A month
after, there was a tall row in the bird store, which nearly ended by a prosecution for
assault and battery. This I know to be a fact.

Strange birds may, however, puzzle more learned men than a cokney youth.
Every one remembers how a very learned professor of natural history was perplexed
one day by the trick a waggish pupil played on him. A bird unclassified in the Euro-
pean, American, or any other fauna, was pompously brought forward and presented to
the erudite doctor for examination. His brow got as dark as Erebus, and finally ho
made the b. Jiiliating confession, "he was nott plutaed tit toto." The mischbrious pupil
then gravely stated that he had only been trying to see "bow a woodcook would look
with a sprace partridge's head on it," when properly joined togethor by a good bird
staffer*

60

ON PBOULIAR FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS.

lir

liable ; that it was optional with the seignior to require the attendnaoe of
his vassal at any ceremony whatever ; that the attendance herein alluded
to was particularly humbling for the vassal, for which reason he had
dispensed him with it. The Baron de Gessac replied that it was a special
prerogative of his to be allowed to attend on the count on his entry in
his chief town, quoting various old Eoman customs and Latin texts in
support of his position. The bishop lost his suit in that court and in
the Court of Appeals, and by decree (arr^t) of the 16th July, 1630,
the baron was maintained in his cherished homage toward the count.
Mr. Veuillot having shown pretty conclusively that all feudal rights and
services were not necessarily oppressive and odious, discusses with his
usual eloquence another feudal custom, which, if well authenticated, is
undoubtedly one of the gravest charges against the morality of those
times. This custom is known to old French writers as the Droit de
Jamhage ; the apologist of the middle ages calls it simply Droit du
Seigneur ; he summons to his aid all his erudition, all his ingenuity,
to explain oflF the arrits and passages* invoked by Messrs. Dupin and
Michelet, with what degree of success the reader of his book can judge
for himself

The want of space cciapells us, albeit reluctantly, to adjourn this
inquiry into the institutio^is of times gone by. We may again revert to
it hereafter, but before concluding, we must, on the authority of Mr.
Veuillot, and we do so with pleasure, deny the correctness of a charge
frequently made respecting the penmanship of our ancestors, as embodied
in the words prefacing this sketch, and said to be fr md at the end of
several old deeds and charters : — " Le dit Sieur, en sa quality de gentil-
homme, a ddclar6 ::o savoir signer." A careful examination of many
thousand deeds and charters enabled him to assert the contrary most
positively. Here we are at the end of this communication without
having scarcely redeemed our promise "to raise a small corner of the
veil of the past," in order to lay before the reader the grounds for phi-
lisophical doubts as to the entire correctness of the verdict arrived at

by posterity respecting the feudal times.

———————— I

* The following is one of the chief quotations on which Mr. Dupin rests bis theory :

" J'ai vu. dit Boerius (decision 297), juger dans^la Cour de Bourges, devant le m^tro>

politain, un proces d'appel oii lo cur6 de la paroisso pr^tendait que de vieille date, il

avait 111 premiire connaieaance charnelle aveo la £ianc6e; laquelle coutume arait 6t6

annuU^e et changie an amende.

idnaoe of
1 alluded
Q he had
a special
entry in
1 texts in
rt and in
ly, 1630,
le count,
ights and
with his
icated, is
of those
Droit de
Droit du
ngenuity,
*upin and
3an judge

urn this
revert to
r of Mr.
a charge
embodied
le end of
le gentil-
of many
ary most
without
of the
3 for phi-
irrived at

lis theory :
it le m^tro-
Ue date, il
arait ^t$

ir

ON PECU LIAR FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS.

61

Since writing the foregoing, a friend has placed in our hands the pun-
gent and elaborate reply which Mr. Veuillot's book has elicited from a
French savant, under the heading, " Refutation du Livre de M. Veuillot
sur le Droit du Seicjneur. Par Jules Delpit."

In such a fiery controversy as the one raging between the two writers,
and on which we merely look as disinterested outsiderb, it would be pre-
sumptuous for us to decide who is right. Veuillot, as a pamphlet writer,
a publicist, and the organ of what is denominated tiie clerical party in
France, is undoubtedly a great name — a tower of strength to his party.
On the other hand, the confident tone, biting irony, and formidable
array of erudition, law quations, old charters, arrets, produced by his ad-
versary, challenge enquiry and investigation. Jules Delpit asserts posi-
tively that the Droit du Seigneur, in its worst acceptation, existed in
several European kingdoms, and quotes seventy-two instances. We are
quite satisfied, in appreciating this subject, which to us is of no actual
moment, to inscribe over both combatants — ^

" Adhuc sub judice lU et."

■*(

(62)

%\t loss of l|t " ^apste."

FRENCH REFUGEES.

CHAPTER X.

IT was on the 22nd February, 1762 ; night's silent shades bad long since
closed round the grist mill of St. Jean Port Joly, County of L'Islet;
the clock had just struck nine, when a tall man, in tattered garments,
walked in and begged for a night's rest. Captain D'Haberville, as he
was wont to do, when unoccupied, was seated in a corner of the room,
his head depressed, evidently a prey to sombre thoughts. It requires
considerable resolution to reconcile with poverty he, who was previously
cradled in ease and luxury, especially when a numerous family depends
on that man ; still greater courage is needed to bear up with fate when
misfortune cannot be traced to improvidence, expensive habits, prodi-
gality, bad conduct, but is simply the result of uncontrolable events.
The man whose folly causes his own downfall, whilst smarting under
remorse, if he is reflective, soon discovers the expediency of speedily
submitting to circumstances.

Captain D'Haberville felt no remorse; in the solitude of his heart, he
would occasionally repeat to himself : " I cannot think I deserved such
a heavy blow. 0 Heaven ! grant me strength ; give mejcourage, since
it has pleased you to smite me dovirn."

• The voice of the stranger had caused the captain a thrilling emotion.
Why ? he did not know. Pausing a second, he said :

'* My friend, you are welcome to stay here over night ; you will also
have your supper. My miller will provide you with a resting place in
the mill."

" Thanks/' replied the stranger, " but I am very exhausted ; pray,
give me a glass of spirits.'

>f

THB L0S9 OF THB <^AUOUSTE."

}ng since
L' Islet;
arments,
le, as he
he room,
requires
•eviously
depends
itc when
s, prodi-
events.
g under
speedily

leart, he
ed such
*e, since

smotion.

nil also
place in

; pray,

D'Haberville, feeling little inclined to divide with the unknown the
scanty supply of brandy he kept on the premises, in case of sickness
said he had none.

" If you only knew who I am, D'Haberville," listlessly rejoined the
stranger, " you would give me the last drop of brandy you have in your
house."

The captain felt indignant at being thus familiarly addressed by a
mere vagrant ; still there was something in the man's accent which !on-
vulsed him with emotion, and the indignant rebuke ready to escape, died
on his lips.

At this moment Blanche, his daughter, entering the room, with a
lighted candle, the whole family were struck with unutterable horror ;
motionless, there stood in their presence a veritable skeleton, in height
a giant, a hideous giant, whose bones seemed ready to burst through the
skin. An emaciated countenance ; bloodless veins, from whence vam-
pires seemed to have sucked the stream of life ; leaden pale eyes, like
those of Banquo's ghost, without speculation, such was what remained of
the Chevalier Lacorne De Saint Luc, one of the richest and most dis-
tinguished men in the colony, under French rule. One moment more
and Captain D'Haberville flew into his arms.

" What, you here, my dear De St. Luc ; why, the sight of my bitterest
foe would cause me less horror ! Speak, speak, I beseech you. Tell us
how our relatives, our dear friends have exchanged the deck of the
Auguste for the insatiable deep, whilst you, the sole survivor, are now
here to announce the harrowing tale."

The unbroken silence of De Saint Luc, his downcast, sorrowful coun-
tenance, revealed more than words could utter.

" Accursed, then, be the tyrant,"* roared out D'Habervillc, " accursed

* Not the least interesting part of Mr. DeGaspfi's work are the notes. " I have,"
says he, " attempted in this book to portray the misfortunes which the conquest
brought on the greater portion of the Canadian noblesse, whose descendants, now
forgotten, languish on the very soil which was once defended and soaked with the
blood of their ancestors. Let those who say they vrere deficient in ability or energy,
remember that their education and habits having been totally military, it wa.H not easy
to exchange them for new occupations.

" The old families who remained in Canada after the conquest, used to say that
General James Murray, through hatred of the French, had insistdd on their immediate
expulsion ; that he had them put on board of an old condemned vessel, and that
betore they sailed he was constantly repeating, with an oath, ' It is impossible to
distinguish the victors from the vanquished when you see these damned Frenchmen
pass, wearing their uniforms and swords.' Such was the tradition in my youth.
Happily, these times are far away and forgotten." — [P. A. DeG.]

THE 1.088 o; THE "ATTOCSIE.'

Ill

ill

it.

be the man who, through hatred of the French, has been the means of
wilfully consigning to a watery grave so many brave hearts, by com-
pelling them to depart in the jnost stormy season of the year, in an old,
unseaworthy vessel."

" Instead of venting curses on your enemies," said De Saint Luc, in a
harsh tone, " thank heaven that General Murray has granted you and
yours a reprieve of two years to dispose of your property and return to
France."

The chevalier then related all that had happened since the Auguste
had sailed from Quebec, on the I5th October; how, after a succession of
storms, shipwreck on the 15th November — finally consigned to the
depths of the ocean, all the passengers and the crew, except six sailors ;
how the seven survivors had to dig; graves for the unfortunate exiles —
on the shores of Cape Briton, where the ship was stranded, — in all om
hundred and fourteen corpses ; how, in the depth of winter, half clad
and starving, he had travelled some sixteen hundred miles on snow-
shoes, after successively tiring out several Indian guides.

The reader will have recognized in this extract a translation from a
passage of that charming volume Les Anciens Canadiens, recently
published by our respected townsman, P. A. DeGasp6, Esq., Seigneur
of St. Jean Port Joly : himself not a bad personification of the courteous,
well-bred, feudal dignitary of former times. The loss of the ship which
was conveying back to France the expatriated Canadians, and the
melancholy death of so many distinguished inhabitants, whom Governor
Murray, it is said, had compelled to sail in the Auguste, naturally created
considerable excitement amongst the friends and relatives of the victims,
and contributed powerfully to render the English governor odious to the
colonists. Amongst the victims were Madame de Meziere, — a erand aunt
of Mr. DeGasp6, and daughter of Baron de Longeuil, — who perished with
her child. Mr. DeGasp6 also furnishes a lively account of the interview
of the Chevalier de Lacorne with the governor of the colony, in the
ChS-teau St. Louis. f How Governor Murray was moved to pity by the

•)• Tho compilers of Hawkin's picture of QDcbec, the late gifted Andrew Steuart and
the late Dr. J. C. Fisher, thus graphically desck'ibe the Chateau St. Louis : — " Few
circumstances of discussion and enquiry are morv> interesting than the history and
fate of ancient buildings, especially if we direct our Mvention to the fortunes aud viois-
Bitudes of those who were connected with them. The temper, ^'onius and pursuits of
an historical era are frequently delineated in the features of remarkable edifices : nor
can any one contemplate them without experiencing curiosity concerning those who
first formed the plan, and afterwards created and tenanted the structure. These obser-
vations apply particularly to the subject of this chapter.

SI
SO
CO
ID

tui
in I

rol

THE LOSS OF THE "AUGUSTE.'*

65

means of
by com-
n an old,

Luo, in a
you and
return to

Augusts
ession of
1 to the
: sailors ;
exiles —
n all om
lalf clad
)n snow-

1 from a

recently

Seigneur

urteous,

3 which

ind the

rovernor

created

victims,

is to the

nd aunt

ted with

terview

in the

by the

uart and
" Few
tory and
ud vioia-
rsuits of
ces : nor
1086 who
se obser-

sight De Saint Luc's emaciated form presented. Flow he gradually
softened towards the portion of the old noblesse which remained in the
country, and eventually became the friend of the chevalier. This
interview of Do Saint Luc* and Captain D'llabcrvillc is not an imaginary

The history of tho ancient Castlo of St. Lowia, or Fort of Quebec, for above two cen-
turies tlio scut of ^ovornmont in tho province, affords subjects of groat and stining
interest during its several periofls. Tho hall of the old fort, during the weakness of
tho colony, was often a scene of terror and despair at the inroad of tho persevering
and ferocious Irocjuoia; who, having passed or overthrown all tho outposts, more than
onco throatonod tho fort itself, and massacred sonio friendly Indians within sight of
its walls. There, too, in intervals of peace, were laid those benevolent plans for tho
religious instruction and conversion of the savages, which at one time distinguished the
policy of tho ancient governors. At a later era, when, under tho protection of tho
French kings, tho province had ac<iuired tho rudiments of military strength and
power, tho Castle of St. Lewis was remarkable as having been tho sight whence tho
French governors exercised an immense sovereignty, extending from tho Gulf of St.
Lawrence, along tho shores of that noble river, its niagnilicent lakes, — and down (ho
course of the Mississippi, to its outlet at New Orleans. Tho banner which first streamed
from the battlements of Quebec, was displayed from a chain ol forts, which protected
tho settlements throughout this vast extent of country : keeping the English colonies in
constant alarm, and securing the fidelity of the Indian nations. During this period,
tho council chamber of the castle was tho scene of many a midnight vigil, — many a
long deliberation and deep-laid project, — to free tho continent from the intrusion of the
ancient rival of France, and assert throughout tho supremacy of the UaUic lily. At
another era, subsequout to the surrender of Quebec to tho British arms, and until the
recognition of tho indcpeudonco of the United States, the extent of empire, of the
government of which the Castle of Quebec was the principal seat, comprehended tho
whole American continent, north of Mexico ! It is astonishing to reflect for a moment,
to how small, and, as to size, comparatively insignificant an island in the Atlantic
ocean, this gigantic territory was once subject!

Hero also was rendered to tho representative of the French king, with all its ancient
forms, the foalty and homage of the noblesse, and military retainers, who held possea-
siona in tho province undor tho crown — a feudal ceremony, suited to early times, which
imposed a real and substantial obligation on those who performed it, not to be violated
without forfeiture and dishonor. Tho King of Greaj Britain having succeeded to the
rights of tho French crown, this ceremony is still (in i835) maintained. [Fealty and hom-
age is rendered at this day by tho seigniors to the governor, as tho representative of the
sovereign in tho following form: Uis Excellency being in full dross and seated in a
state chair, surrounded by his staff, and attended by the attorney seneral, tho seig nior,
in an evening dress and wearing a sword, is introduced into his presoHce by tho inspec-
tor general of the royal domain and clerk of the land roll, and having delivered up
his sword, and kneeling upon one knee before the governor, places his right hand
between his, and repeats the ancient oath of fidelity ; after which a solemn act is drawn
up in a register, kept for that purpose, which is signed by the governor and seignior,
and countersigned by tho proper officers.]

In England, it is also still performed by the peers at tho coronation of our kings, in
Westminster Abbey, although the ceremony is much curtailed of its former impressive
observances.

Tho Castle of St. Lewis was in early times rather a strong hold of defence, than an
embellished ornament of royalty. Seated on a tremendous precipice, —
On a rock whoso haughty brow
Frown'd o'er St. Lawrence foaming tide —
and looking defiance to tho utmost boldness of the assailant, nature lent her aid to the
security of tho position. Tho cliflf on which it stood rises nearly two hundred feet in
perpendicular height above tho river. The castle thus commanded on every side a
moat extensive prospect, and until tho occupation of the higher ground to tho south-
west, afterwards called Cape Diamond, must have been the principal object among the
buildings of the city.

* We follow in history and in old memoirs the subsequent career of the Chevalier de

10

66

THE LOSS OP THE "AUGUSTE.**

M

occurrence : it retraces what really did take place between Mr. De
Gasp^'s grandfather, Tgnace Aubert DeGas})6, at one time a captain in
the French navy, and the chevalier, as related to Mr. DeGasp^', some
fifty years ago, by his aunt, Madame Bailly do Messein, who was about
fifteen years of age when this occurred.

We are thus brought face to face with those fierce spirits of the
ancien riffime, who, like the ScwcUs, Smiths, Robinsons, and other
United Empire Loyalists, later on, had preferred renouncing fortune,
position, and friends, to accepting a foreign yoke. It would be curious
to follow up the destinies of the Canadian exiles : some returned to the
mother country to rot in the Bastilc ; others, such as the DeLerys,
culled laurels and titles in the wars of the Republic and of the first
Empire.* Possibly some of their grandchildren, now counts or barons
under the new re<jiine, may enjoy the distinguished honor of an entr<'*e
to the cercle imperial, together with the privilege of dancing " La Sal-
ammboy* under the approving eye and bewitching smile of the Granden
Dames de la Cour.

We are not, however, prepared to assert whether the departure ol
those proud aristocrats, tainted by the impure exhalations of the French
court of the day, and to whom Magna Oharta and the institutions of a
free people were unknown — we are not, we repeat, ready to say whether
their voluntary exile was not a blessing instead of a loss to the country
For the sake of the family honor, we hope and trust our ancestors were
all they are cracked up.

Let us thank that old hand which has seen seventy-eight summers
and which, its owner says, " must soon be colder even than Canada's
winters," for having assisted in thus raising the veil on times little
known, and graphically delineated the doings and sayings of the

Lacome, and find him serving under General Burgogno. There is a spirited letter still
extant of the Chevalier to the General, in which he tells him hard truths.

* He formed part of the distinguished Canadians who, on the 8th June, 1775, offered
their services to Mayor Preston, at Montreal, to retake and hold Fort St. John from
the Americans, and effectually did so on the 10th June, placing it into the hands of a
detachment of the 7th Reg. or Koyal Fusileers, under Capt. Kinder. They were the
Chevalier de Belestro, De Longueil, De Lotbiniere, Do llouville, De Bouchurville, De
Lacorne, De Lobrudre, De St. Ours, Pcrthuis, Ilcrvieux, Gamelin, De Montigny,
D'Eschambault and others. For this service General Carleton publicly thanked them.
In September of the same year, this party, with the assistance of a number of Quebec
and Three Rivers volunteers, viz : Messrs. De Montesson, Duchesnay, Do Rigouville, De
Salaberry, De Tonancour, Boaubien, Demusscau, Moquin, Lamraque, Faucher and
others, started for St. Johns, near Montreal, to relieve- the 7th and 26th regiments, then
in charge of the fort, and who expected a siege, but after being beleaguered, the fort
surrendered on 2nd November to General Montgomery. The Canadians and the two
regiments were carried away prisoners of war — Congress refusing to exchange the Cana-
dians, *' they being fo much attached to the Englieh government nnd too influential in

Q Mr. De
captain in
asp^, some
was about.

its of the
and other
g fortune,
be curious
led to the
DeLerys,
f the first
I or barons
' an entr<''e
" La Sal-
! Grandrs

mrture ol
le French
tions of a
y whether
e country-
stors were

summers

Canada's

Qics little

of the

d letter still

775, offered

John from

hands of a

!y were the

urvilk', De

Montigny,
nked them.
• of (juebec

oHville, De
ucher and
oaonts, then
ed, the fort
nd the two
e the Gana-
\/itiential in

THE LOSS OP THE "AUQUSTB.'

67

M arrays,'*' the Garlctons, the Haldimands, as well m those of tho Do
LanaudiiNrcs, the Lacorncs, the Babys, the Longueils, the Duniorcs, Ac. .
may it be spared some time longer, and furnish us with moro of those
life-like sketches of " Ancient Canadians.'*

their own voHntry." Two, Mo8srt<. Dcinonteason and Do Iligouvillo, died prisoners of
war; Do Lacorue, Perthuis and Beaiihien hud been killed during tho siege; De
Lotbinidro had an arm shot off; Do iSalaborry was twice wounded.

*l3 there not 8ome;inaccuracy in tho opinion conveyed of the conduct and character of
General Murray ? It is possible that, like many others, tho general may, on his arrival
in Canada, have boon misled in judging of tho French Canadians; but the state papers
he addressed to tho imperial authorities show what a favorable opinion he then
entertained of tho fidelity and honor of tho Ciinadian noblr»He,

Those national antipatliics, which fortunately are fast disappearing, formerly mani-
fested themselves, sometimes very ludicrously. In the stormy days of tho ninety-two
resolutions, when the ebxiuunt loader of tho Commons of Canada, Louis Joseph Papi-
neau, was nightly carried homo in triumph to his hotel on tho shoulders of an onthusiastio
crowd, there were also in parliament Marchildons and L — wills, men of original views,
but bettor acquainted with the plough or the anvil than with the amenities of social
intercourse, and ever ready to fancy themselves slighted. It is related that an M.P.P.
named Beaudoin, having received a card to a chateau ball, made it his business to
attend ; the evening was sultry, and ice-cream in corresponding demand. The rustic
legislator, whose palate had never come in contact with tho frigid delicacy, soon came
to the conclusion that what every ono asked for must bo very desirable. " Waiter,"
said he, ^'cmportez moi, comment appdez-voua ca, im-crcme f" " Yes sir," replied lacquey ;
and instunter, tho Canadian Solon was provided with an ample plate of ice-cream, from
which he transferred to his unsuspecting palate a largo spoonful. But, 0 horror ! bis
teeth immediately chattered from cold, as if he had a fit of ague — boiling over with
patriotic rage, he roared to tho frightened waiter, ** Pendard ! si c'eut tik pour un An-
glais, tu I'aurais fait chauffer !" ** You abominable rascal ! had you intended this for
an Englishman, you would have taken the chill off !" The company, from His Excel-
lency downwards, were convulsed with laughter.

(68)

Ularie losep^te Corribeau,—^ Caimiian f akge.

I

I I

^'

CHAPTEK XI.

THAT wc have had in Canada very great rascals, sonic of imported
stock, others of home growth, few who will take the trouble to scan tliis
department of our history will be disposed to deny. Colonial crime
has not yet, however, stalked forth in those fantastical forms, nor has it
attained that luxurance of dcvelopement, which it occasionally assumes
in the old world. Several types are still unrepresented. The religious
scoundrel, notwithstanding several fair attempts, h:is never yet been be-
comingly typified in Canada, nor has the philosophical executioner:
whereas, old England, in one of her knights, in the sanctimonious, sleek,
white gloved Sir Dean Paul, presents to our gaze the lite portrait of a
full fledged villain, one whoso pious donations were exceeded by his
frauds only, and civilized France, in her world renowned llobespierre,*
discoursing with the eloquence of Plato on the immortality of the soul,
during those short intervals not taken up in signing death warrants, fur-
nishes a finished picture of a monster of whose very existence we would
fain doubt. The colonial historian, whose duty hereaftei It may be to in-
scribe conspicuously on the role of infamy the names of such characters,
must be content to do like those sensible Grand Trunk shareholders,
who still expect eleven per cent, dividends : he must wait until the// come.
I hope he may have to wait as long.

Murders, more or les:^ cold-blooded ; robberies of every hue, our as-
size testify to. Bubbles, like the "South Sea^^ubble " of yore, entailing
ruin on myriads of victims, we also have had. An occasional case of
poisoning amongst the peasantry, has now and again startled provincial
ears, but a Brinvilliers we never* yet had, such at least as history depicts
the guilty friend of Sainte Croix. This fiend incarnate was beheaded

* Any one turning up Alison's History of Europe, will road with astonishmont some
of Robespierre's discourses ; you notice the most lofty, the most enabling sentiments
uttered by a man whose instincts were those of the hyena.

MABII J08EPHTE COBRIVEAD.

60

akge.

' imported
to scan ill is
•uial crime
nor lias it
y assumes
c rclij^icms
t been be-
Dcutioncr :
lous, slock,
rtrait of a
ed by his
)espierre,*
' the soul,
rants, fur-
wc would
y be to in-
haracters,
rcholders,
th'i/ vome.

ic, our as-
cntailing
al case of
provincial
ry depicts
beheaded

iinont sorao
suntiuionts

after poisoning her two brothers, her father and her sister ; her huftband
escaped by good luck more than good management. Madame DcSovign6
quaintly tells us how: "Commc ello voulait epouser Sainto Croix, cllo
cmpoisonnait fort souvent son mari ; main Saiute Croix qui no voulait,
point d'uno femme aussi m(5chnnte qu'elle, donnait du coirtrc-poison Ik
CO pauvro mari, do sorte (lu'ayant etc ballotte cinq ou six fois do cetto
sorto, tantot empoisonn(;, tantot desempuisonn^, il est demeureen vie."
Sainto Croix managed to save the life of the marquis each time in order
himself to escape marriage with such a monster as the marchionncss

was.

I intend now to rescue from the oblivion of the past, a hideous figure,
a being whose supposed fate stamped on the early times of British rule
in Canada, a brand of ferocity which they scarcely deserve. An authen-
tic document, discovered within a few years, throws a very desirable light
on a question much debated at one time, — I allude to the mode of ex-
ecution adopted by one of General Murray's court-martials in 1763, with
respect to Marie Josephte Corriveau. These court-martials were quite
odious enough to the people without it being necessary to impute to them
acts of which they were not guilty.

There are few in Quebec who do not recollect having heard of, or seen,
in 1850, when it was exhibited in this city, a rusty iron cage, very an-
tique in appearance It somewhat resembled in shape a human form,
having hollow iron arms, extended at right angles with the body, with
legs attached to it, and a sperical iron structure, to receive the head.
This cage came in the possession of the man who exhibited it after having
been clandestinely abstracted from the Pointc Levy grave yard. The
exhibitor realised a handsome amount, previous to disposing of his relic
to the prince of modern humbugs, in whose museum the " Point Levy
relic," a« it was styled, remained on view for a long time, where, next
to the woolly horse, the Aztecs, and other modern wonders, it attracted
considerable attention. Nothing was visible in the rusty old coop but a
piece of blanched bone. A mysterious tale of crime, however, invested
this frail remnant of mortality, with vivid interest. Tradition has sup-
plied several accessories to a fact, which recent historical researches have
placed beyond the region of doubt. Until lately this cage wjis supposed
to have been the instrument of torture and last abode before death, of a
Canadian Lafarge, who had murdered her two husbands in an cztraor-

t^

MABIE JOSEPHTE CORRIVEAU.

m

dinary way; in one instance adopting a process calculated to leave behind,
no traces of violence.

Shortly after the cession of Canada to England, namely, in 1763 — an
awful murder occured in the parish of St. Vallier, district of Montmagny ;
although a hundred years have rolled by, the memory of the deed, dis-
figured by local and fantastical legends, is still vividly impressed on the
minds of the peasantry.

In November, 1749, Marie Joscphte Corriveau, (an ominous name by
the by) was wedded to a farmer of St. Vallier. Eleven years after, on
the 27th April, 1760, the man died. A vague rumor gradually became
current that this woman had murdered her hubband by pouring molten
lead in his car, when he was asleep. No action, however, seems to have
been taken by the authorities, and three months after the death of her
first husband, on the 20th July, 1760, she married Louis Dodier, another
farmer of St. Vallier. It is said that after living with her secon.: hus-
band three years, Marie Josephte Corriveau seized on the opportunity,
when he was sound asleep, to slip a noose round his neck ; she then
quietly passed the end of the rope through a pine knot-hole in the frame-
work of her rude dwelling, and leisurely retiring outside, tried her best
to pioduce strangulation on her liege lord. The agonizing man struggled
hard, calling loudly for help, when the inhuman monster, having mad^j
fast the end of the rope outside the house, rushed in to feast her eyes on
the inanimate form of the man whom, shortly before, she had sworn ** to
love, respect and obey," but instead of confronting a hideous corpse, with
protruding eyes and stiflFened limbs, her astonished gaze rested on the
fig are of a man quietly seated on a chair, close to her bed. It was her
husband, who, having caught a glimpse of the rope under his bed, had
suspected treachery : he had therefore feigned sleep, and even allowed
the heartless wife to place the halter round his neck j when waiting,
until she had passed one end of it through a flaw in the house gable, and
retired outside, he inserted his pillow where his neck had been, gently
shaking it occasionally, and uttering now and then a stifled groan.
Madame Corriveau must have been wonderfully clever to have succeeded
in obtaining forgiveness from her husband, after such henious conduct,
or else the intended victim must have been next thing to an idiot to spare
her ; she, however, soon decided in ridding herself of a man whose
revelations might bring her to the gallows, and shortlv after, took ooca-

MARIB JOSEPHTE CORRIVEAU.

71

re behind,

l763--an
itmagny ;
ieed, dis-
^d on the

name by
after, on
y became
ig molten
s to have
th of her
', another
ion., hus-
ortunity,
she then
le frame-
her best
truggled
ug mado

eyes on
orn '* to
pse, with

on the
was her
3cd, had
allowed
waiting,
ibie, and
, gently
I groan,
cceeded
jonduet,
to spare

whose
ok occa-

sion of his being in a sound sleep to batter in his brains with a pitch-fork;
after which feat, she dragged the body to the stable, placed it behind a
horse, to induce the belief that her husband had died from the effects of
a kick from the animal. The treacherous wife was charged with the
murder, jointly with her father and with a woman named Sylvain. The
law was in those days administered by military tribunals — court-martials.
It was established at the trial that the horse was a quiet animal, and
proved that the wounds could never have been inflicted by a horse's
kick : she was co7iviqted. One fact yet remains unexplained, and that is,
the extraordinary influence which the murdress exercised on her father,
Joseph Corriveau, and which was such as to induce him to allow him-
self to be tried for a crime of which it docs not appear he was guilty.
The facts of the case are summarily related in a document recently dis-
covered at Murray Bay, amongst the papers of the Nairn family. This
document, no doubt, found its way at Murray Bay through some of the
oflicers who sat on the court-martial, and who belonged to* Fraser's*
Highlanders, who settled in numbers at Murray Bay, in 1782, and were
the immediate progenitors of genuine Jean Baptistcs — such as the War-
rens, the McLeans, the Harveys, the Blackburns, and several other
families, who of their Scotch ancestry have retained nothing save the
name. They are all Roman Catholics, and speak nothing but French
The document in question runs thus : —

Qlebec, WtJi April, 1763.

[GENERAL ORDER.]

"The court-martial, whereof Lieutenant-Colonel Morris was presi-
dent, having tried Joseph Corriveau and Marie Josephete Corriveau,
Canadians, for the murder of Louis Dodier, as also Itabelle Sylvain, a
Canadian, for perjury on the same trial, the governor doth ratify and
confirm the following sentence : — That Joseph Corriveau having been
found guilty of the charge brought against him, he is therefore adjudged
to be hung for the same.

" The court is likewise of opinion that Marie Joseplite Corriveau, his
daughter, and widow of the late Dodier, is guilty of knowing the .said

♦ Major John Nairn and Capt. Fraserof this corps were the ancestors of the lato John
Nairn, Esq., seigneur of Murray Bay, and of the late Hon. Malcolm Fru»ur, nl^osuigneur
of another portion of Murray Bay. They stood in high favor with Uenorul Jamca Mur-
ray, who preaentea «aoh with a tioignoury.

T2

MARIE JOSEPHTE CORRIYEAV.

I

f I i'

murder, and doth therefore adjudge her to receive sixty lashes, with a
cat-o'-nine tails on her hare back, at three different places, viz. : under the
gallows, upon the market-place at Quebec, and in the parish of St. Val-
lier, twenty lashes at each place, and to be branded in the left hand with
the letter M.

"The court doth also adjudge Isabelle Sylvain to receive sixty lashes
with a cat-o'-nine tails on her bare back, in the same manner and at the
same time and place as Marie Josephte Corrivcau, and to be branded in
the left hand with the letter P.

" The Court-martial, vv hereof Lieutenant-Colonel was president, is dis-
solved."

"The general court-martial having tried Marie Josephte Corrivcau,
for the murder of her husband, Dodier, the court finding her guilty, the
Governor (Murray) doth ratify and confirm the following sentence : —
That Marie Josephte Corrivcau do suffer death for the same, and her
body be hung in chains wherever the governor shall think fit.

(Signed,) " Thomas Mills,

" Town Major."

Until the discovery of the proceedings of the court-martial which
tried the Corriveaus, popular superstition, ever prone to distort and mag-
nify distant and mysterious events, had awarded to Marie Josephte
Corriveau's crimes a punishment of which a parallel exists in that
inflicted by Louis XI. on a cardinal and bishop named Baluc, who
having been detected in a trca;jonable intrigue, was confined for many
years in an iron cage, which, till lately, was shown in the castle of
Loches, Franco. — (See Hallam's Middle Ages, page 516 — the note.) —
and fully as horrible as the Massachusetts law courts had inflicted on
Margaret Jones,* and on Mrs. Ann Hibbens, the lady of a respectable
Boston citizen who were both put to death as witches, tlio first in 1045,
the second in 1G56.

* Hutchiason's History of Ma^'sachusetts Bay.

38, with a
under the
f St. Val-
land with

cty lashes
nd at the
randcd in

at, is dis-

MARIB JOSBPHTB CORRITEAU.

78

ornvcau,

uilty, the

tcnce : —

and her

[iLS,

Major."

il which
ind mag-
Fosephte
in that
uc, who
or many
as lie of
tiotc.) —
icted on
pcctabic
n 1G45,

It is bad enough to have to admit that the'red hand of slavery* has
braaded the early times of Canada with its plague spot, without having
to acknowledge that the tribunals of the country inflicted on a miserable
woman, however guilty, a punishment which would place her judges
mostly on a level with Iroquois savages. And it was geoerally thought
until recently that Marie Josephte Corriveau, in&tead of being hanged,
as it appears she was, on the " butfes d JVepveu' near Abraham's
hill, had been starved to death in an iron cage, fastened to a gibbet
erected close by the Temperance Monument at St. Joseph, Puint
Levy, where four roads intersect one another ; that in this iron cage
the victim was thrust, and that from the narrowness of this receptacle, she
had to stand erect in it ; that this instrument of torture hung by chains to
the gallows; that the groans of the famishing prisoner were heart-rend-
ing, but that each successive day, they became less audible, until nothing
was heard but the creaking of the chains to the night wind. There is
enough of the horrible about her fate, without admitting, contrary to the
text of the sentence rendered by the court-martial, that this fiendish
woman was placed in an iron cage to starve to death ; and still, if her
execution and the hanging up after death of the body were merely in-
tended to strike terror, why place it inside an iron cage, well rivitled
together ? f Certain it appears that the iron cage hung for several
months high in the air close to the spot where the Temperance Monu-
ment now stands. Whether it once contained a living being, or merely
a lifeless corpse, none perhaps will ever ascertain. The awful noises
caused by the creaking of the cage gave rise amongst the uneducated
peasantry to innumerable tales and ghost storie? ; at last, the terror be-
came so universal that some intrepid young men, after consulting, doubt-
less, with the cure of the parish, as to where the loathsome object should
be stowed away, determined to rid the place of the nuisance. One dark
winter night, the posts were cut down, and next morning no vestige
of La Corriveau could be seen ; nor any vestige of her was seen until
eighty-seven years after, when the grave-digger of the parish, in making
a grave, struck on the rusty cage containing a thigh bone only, and

* Tho Quebec Gazette of 1764 contaius an adverlidemont otlorinjj;, on buhalt of Mra.
Perault, an old resident, a slave for sale. There are also extant several royal deelara-
tions roojulating the condition of slaves in the colony, bearing date rctiiiectively th«
years 1721, 17-tJ and 1745. — (See Sir II. Lafoulaiuc's notes.)

f It was the custom for a long time in England to allow great oriminaU to hang in
cbaina, a/ier death, iu public roads and public places.

74

MARIE JOSEPHTE 00 RRIVEAU.

which, aflber puzzling the brains of all the antiquarians of Quebec, was at
last identified. The presence of the corpse of a " gallows bird" in con-
secrated ground was explained by the fact that in 1830, after the burning
of the church,'the cemetery had been enlarged by taking in an exten-
sive piece of adjoining land. It is this popular tradition which our old
friend, M. DeGasp6, has introduced with happy effect in his late work
" Les Anciens Canadiens."

)ec, was at
i" in con-
le burning
an exten-
Bh our old
late work

(75)

^n ^pisobt of t\t Mux of t^ €mnm%l

CHAPTER XII.

" We burned and destroyed upwards of fourteen hundred fine farm hoasas." — Journal
quoted by Smith.

" A priest with about four ncore of his parishioners have fortified ihemsolvea in a
house, a few miles to the eastward of our camp, on the north side of the river, where
they indiscreetly pretend to brave our troops. ...The priest who fortified himself on the
north side of the river, sent a written invitation to an officer who commanded in a house
in his neighborhood ' to honor him with his company to dinner, with an assurance that
he, and any officer of his detachment who would be kind enough to accompany him,
should return with the greatest safety ;' he added, 'that as the English officer fought
for his king and for glory, ho hoped he himself would be excused for fighting for hii
poor parishioners and defending his country.' ♦ « ♦

" The unfortunate priest is defeated ; a detachment of light troops laid an ambuscade
in the skirts of the wood near his fortified house, and as soon as the field-piece was
brought up and bngan to play, ho with bis men sallied out, when, falling into the
ambush, thirty of them with their leader were surrounded, killed and tcalped : the
reason of t'leir being treated with such cruelty, proceeded from the wretched parish-
ioner', having disguised themselves like Indians. In this rencontre we had five men
wounded. * « » *

" The parish of Richet, with the stately house lately occupied by the indiscreet prieit,
called Chateau Richer, are now in flames." — Knox't Journal, Vol. II.

THE heading of this paper indicate sufficiently that war, horrid war,
will be my theme Close on two thousand years ago, a literary Roman
branded the ultima ratio regum with the appropriate epithet " Bella,
aorrida, bella." The monster which heaven in its stern justice lets
occasionally loose to chastise the earth, has not abated one jot of its
ancient ferocity. Thirty-two millions of members of the human family,
between whose country and ours an imaginary boundary exists, are
within hail of our doors to attest that truth. See the charred walls of
their once happy homes on devastated plantations — sec the blanched
bones of fathers, sons, brothers, and lovers, uncoffined and unshrouded
promiscuously strewing the green sward in the Sunny South; whose
balmy zephirs, full of the wail of anguish and death, laden with the miasma
of putrifying corpses, are wafted towards our fertile fields : this, is war.
Did the grim phantom never stalk through our own land ? How
deep have we to dig before getting to the mouldering bones of those
whom he formerly smote in our midst ? Barely three generations :
this, takes us down to the conquest.

76

AN EPISODE OF THE CONQUEST.

C/,u'\da, like England, was conquered ; in one case an Anglo-Saxon
kij^dom was overrun by Norman invaders: in the other a Norman
colony was wrested by the descendants of Anglo-Saxons from its French
masters — both invasions left behind them a '^ Memory of sorrow." In
both countries the conquest was a boon, the means of extending public
liberty. In the first, the Saxon and Norman blended and formed a
composite nationality, stranger that each of its separate elements would
have constituted it: in the other, like causes may produce like results.
I said that we too, Canadians, had our "Memory of sorrow." Let us hear
a conscientious historian and an elegant writer : — " Are you," asks the
leiirned Abb6 Ferland, "desirous of studying antiquities, traditions and
old Canadian customs ? Go then and examine the ruins of Chateau
Richer and the remains of the house of the Sieur Carrd* : you will notice in
the Church of Ste. Anne, the offerings of the ^larquis of Tracy, of the
Chevallier d'lbervillef ex voios suspended to the walla shortly aftor the

* Carr6 w.i.s that fighting habitant, who, at the head of a cnmpany of young Cana-
dians, rushed up to Quebec, in 1690, to repel invasion. After the departure of Phips,
the French coiumander was so pleased with Carry's bravery, that ho made him a present
of two small cannon"! used in the seige.

f We find an intt.resting editorial notice of a visit to the Ste. Anne's Church, in the
Quebec Mercury, o'. 2.'}rd July, ISO.'J: —

"Steaming dov/n the channel north of Orleans, the first object of interest that strikes
the eye of the tourist after the beautiful and varied scenery of the parishes of L'Ango-
Gardien and Chateau- Richer, presenting every diversity of hill and dale, will, rocky
promontory, and advancing and receding mountain and forest views, is the pretty little
church of Ste. Anne, nestling under the brow of a steep hill, with its tall spire glistening
in the rays of the morning sun. Standing on a <r<^ntle undulation sweeping up from the
riv.r, the church of Ste. Anne, or La Bonne o'/«. Anne, ss it is more frequently called,
forms one (if the most attractive features in the landscape. Hither annually repair the
blind, the lame, the halt, the rheumatic, and those afflicted with every species of bodily
ailment, who come to invoke the interposition of the snint to make them whole. Crowds
of persons thus afflicted, with their friends or relatives, are then to be seen on the roads
with the above object, to pray, or return thanks. That cures, either partial or whole,
have been effected by these annual devout pilgrimages, there can be little doubt, as sev-
eral hav<; been attesited by eye witnesses. A number of crutches left behind by persons
cured, were formerly hung up in the church, but within late years they have been re-
moved to the sacristy. On entering, the eye is struck with ttie neatness of the interior
and the beauty of the decorations.

"The walls are adorned with strange paintings, of a primitive nature, with singular
explanations which we could with difficulty understand.

" One is a wreck scene, with Ste. Anno r'-prosented as descending from heaven to the aid
of a fleet during a storm, with the follorving curious inscription, which we copied verba-
tim et literatim : —

EX. VOTO. LE. NAVJRE. LE. St. Fr(iNCOIS. DE.
uKS. MATS. LE. 29bUE. 1732 : COMMANUE. I'AU.
PAR. M. LAMPRILLE. LE. JEVNE.

CANADA. DEMATTE. DETROVS.
PIKKRE. D'ASTARGIU. ARMK.

"Another painting on the '<vall immediately opposite represents the landing of emi-
grants sometime before the year 1717 ; another not far distant a squadron of throe war
Tcssele, bearing a tri-colored flag of red, white and green. Out of this last one, we
could extract no meaning, further than supposing it represented some notable instance
of the saint's providential intervention.

AN EPISODB OF THE CONQUEST.

77

iglo-Saxon
a Norman
Its French
low." In
ng public

formed a
ints would
kc results.
iCt us hear
" asks the
it ions and
i" Chateau
1 notice in
cy, of the

aft or the

nung Cana-
ro of Phips,
im a present

irch, in the

that strikes
of L'Anpo-
wil.l, rocky
pretty little
e jiflistening
ip from the
ntly called,
T repair the
!S of bodily
Ic. Crowds
n the roads
il or whole,
Libt. as sev-
by persons
vo been re-
ho interior

th singular

n to the aid
pied verba-

. DETROVS.
lit. ARMU.

ng of emi-

three war

ist one, we

le instance

middle of tho 17th century j you will meet with families there who still
own the lands conceded to their ancestors about tho year 1640 ; in tho
habitant of the Cote de Beaupre, you will recognise the Norman peasant
of the reign of Louis XIV., with his chronicles, his songs, his supersti-
tions, his customs.

" But since I now have you on this soil of this Cote dc Bcavpre, I shall
lay before you an episode of the war of 1759, of which the locality we
now occupy was the theatre. This narrative will serve to disprove tho
English chronicler (Knox) — whose name heads this communication. A
priest massacred by tho English, — a convent of nuns burned by them,
this is the only true portion of the English writer's record.

" Twenty years ago, at the foot of the cape on which the Ch&teau
Richer Church is built, the blackened and crumbling walls of this
convent could yet be seen : there they stooa, a silent but eloquent
monument of the horrors of a. war in which buildings sacred to religion
and to science, were ruthlessly destroyed by the hands of a civilised
nation. Rebuilt through the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Raillargeon,
when he had the spiritual charge of the Chateau Richer parish, this
edifice was in part restored to its original destination: it is now the
parish school.

" 'T was on the evening of the 23rd June, 1759, a number of women
and some old men were standing in groups in front of the church of
Chdteau Richer ; close by a bonfire, in honor of the patron saint of
Canada, St. Jean Baptiste, was slowly flickering out. Gaiety was the
order of the day ; several children, with live coals in their hands
which they agitated high in the air, were trying to imitate an Indian

" The environs are also very pleasing ; tho neat white houses or cottages, ever and anon
peering out from a dense covert of evergreen.-, Uiaplo or birch. Many pbiccs of no little
interest to tourists and others also abound in the neighborhood, such ;is tiiO iniis of St«.
Anne, the St. Fereol Fall, and tiie Seven Falls. From tho top of th'^ hill o'.erhunging
the village, the view is extensive, taking in tho whole northern nhora ot tho island,
with Gro.sse Isle looming up in tie distance.

"Yesterday morning being set apart by the Church for the annual celebration of the
Festival, over three hundred passengers, bound to the shrine, loft by tho ' Voyageur.'
A large i, umber also went down overland, and arrived a considerable time before the
steamer hove in sight. About half-past nine o'clock, all having disembarked, a solemn
high mass was sung, and a relic of Ste. Anne, encased in a crystal globe, was exposed
to the gaze of the devout during the ceremony. The interior of the church was densely
crowded, and many were forced to remain outside during the service. The scene was
very solemn and impressive, and the devotion of many of those who had congregated
from all quarters, in tho hope to being relieved of their bodily ills, was edifying in tho
extreme. The ceremony concluded towards noon, and the time between that and tho
hour fixed for tho departure of the boat was employed by some in devotion, and by
others in Tisiting tho spots of interest in the Tioinity."

78

AN EPISODE OP THE CONQUEST.

tl

!'. |l

ii

war dance, such as they had seen performed hy a band of Ottawas which
had visited the place a few days previously, at the invitation of the
governor of Canada, the great Onontio, as they called him. It was
evident the elder folks entered little in the innocent fun and frolic
which occupied the mind of the juveniles ; surrounding the cur6 of the
parish, the Rev. J. F. Duburon, who at this moment was standing on
the point of the cape on which the parochial church is erected, some
old people appeared in earnest conversation ; the respected pastor had
rested his telescope on the twig of one of the stunted cedar trees which
grow in the crevices of the cape, and was scanning the horizon in the
direction of the Traverse, just then lighted up by the last rays of the
setting sun, whilst his parishoners were surveying the majestic expanse
of water before them, the green beaches dotted over with kine, and the
uplands clothed in verdure, showing fair promise of a luxuriant harvest.
' Watch well, my friends, along the north shore capes, if you do not
see small white objects ! They seem to be like sails. Oh, if it only
were the relief for the colony, from France? what a rich joke we
would play upon tho English ! Look now at the cflFect of the sun on
the white sails !' At that moment a vessel, crossing from Cape Tour-
mente in tho direction of the channel, which was then used between
Pointe d'Argentenay and Madame Island, could be distinctly made out.
' Count them I ' hurriedly exclaimed the reverend gentleman ; * one
— two — three !'

" But the sun has gone down ; the shade of the lofty capes reaches as
low as the traverse, shutting out all objets from view.

" ' My poor country !' exclaims the priest, closing the spy-glass ; * my
poor country ; what is to become of you, if these are English ships ?
What with Sir William Johnson, and the New England militia towards
Lake Champlain, you stand a poor chance, now that an enemy shows
himself in the very heart of Canada.'

" ' Cheer up ! reverend sir,' retorted the village notary j * we have
at Quebec, Montcalm and a fine army to defend us; and have we not
also there one of our own people, a Canadian, the Marquis of Vaudreuil V

" ' My dear notary, let us place our hope in God ; we have but little
help to expect from men,' gloomily rejoined the minister of religion.

" * What V said the warlike N. P. ; ' do you forget how often
French soldiers and Canadian militia have repinlsed the New Eng-
landers V

ha
be
ou
ph
ras

th(

AN EPISODE OF THE CONQUEST.

79

'as whioh
)D of the
It was
,nd frolic
t6 of the
iding on
rcd, some
istor had
cs which
ID in the
ys of the
I expanse
, and the
harvest,
u do not
f it only
joke we
0 sun on
pe Tour-
between
ade out.
* one

aches as

t?8 ; * my
ships ?
towards
y shows

re have
we not
Ireuil ?'
ut little
ciou.

often
fy Eng-

" • I do not, I assure you, good friend ; but, then we were united, and
had no traitors amongst us ; — to-day, dissentions and jealousy exists
between the French regulars and the Canadian militia. We can trust
our leaders; but, my dear notary, rest assured that those who have
plundered our treasury will find means to effectually conceal their
rascality. If there is not treachery, there will certainly be lukewarm-
ness displayed, in the defence of the country. I warn you of the fact/

" At that moment the arrival of a messenger from Quebec interrupted
the conversation.

" * Here is a letter for you, reverend sir. I am also the bearer of
two other letters for the priests of the neighboring parishes.'

" * Thank you, my friend/ replied M. Duburon — adding, ' Have you
seen your brother since he has joined the regiment in Quebec ?'

" * Oh yes, sir, and I can tell you that he is not afraid to meet an
Englishman, even should he resemble Old Nick himself. The boys
are in good spirits there, and they say that if they meet any more of the
kilties, such as they met at Carillon, they will lead them a dance. My
brother, pointing towards the earthworks near the Falls of Mont-
morency, said: Look there; if the English presume to attack us, with
these works to protect us, we will give them the d — 1 to eat.'

'^ The curi having glanced over the letter, read out aloud the contents,
thus :

" ' Sir, — The English fleet is coming up the St. Lawrence. Agreeable
to the plan decided on by the governor general, you and your parish-
ioners will take to the woods, with whatever you can carry away of the
church property. You will use your influence over your people to make
them remain in their hiding-places so long as the English are in the
vicinity of Quebec. May the Almighty soon deliver us from such
unpleasant neighbors, &o.

«' -fE. M., Bishop of Quebec'

"'Just as I thought,' added M. Duburon; ' it is the English fleet
we have just seen lower down than the Traverse. With a fair wind,
to-morrow they will be in front of the city. To-morrow, we shall
start for the woods ; you,' addressing the village notary, * please notify
the inhabitants of this* fact, whilst I dispatch these letters to the priests
of Ste. Anne and >Bt. JCAchim.'

80

AN EPISOFB OF THB CONQUEST.

I

<'The Reverend Mr. Duburon, my readers will remark, docs not
seem to be of such u warlike diBposition as the historian Knox makes
him out. Neither does the .notary, Monsieur Crcspin, appear to have
been a more fighting character than his pastor. He hold from his
seigneur a kind of judicial office, and lived in state at the seigniorial
manor, which was culled the chdtcau.

" Monsieur Crespin was a man of peace : his motto was, Cedat armis
toga : and having made a bundle of his * minutes,' he placed his greJUe
under his arm, and, followed by Madame Crespin and Monsieur Crespin,
junior, his son and lawful lieir, ho sorrowfully directed his steps towards
the forest.

<' During a short period, a great uproar existed in all the parishes of the
CGte de Beaupri. Each parish had a place of concealment for its
inhabitants at the foot of the mountain. It was a general stampede
from the Falls of Montmorency as low down as Cape Tourmente. The
valuables too heavy for removal to the woods, were deposited on the
skirts of the woods ; the farm cattle were driven back to out-of-the-way
grazing-grounds ; women, children, and old men, after bidding a
sorrowful adieu to the homes of their youth, hurried to the interior
with what they valued most. Some old men who were removed in their
beds, were taken back in the fall in their coffins.

" Several births took place in the woods, and baptism administered. A
few years back a venerable old man died at Ste. Vnne, who was born on
the banks of Rivilre aux Chiens, under the shade of a walnut tree (un
noyer)j which he used to call his godfather ; in commemoration of the
fact, the word 'Noycr' was added to his family name, and his
descendants bear it to this day.

"Two months had run over, Wolfe's army was kept in check by
Montcalm, and could not advance on Quebec, Rendered impatient. by
this vigorous defence, which threatened to render abortive their
expensive expedition, the English vented their spleen in the rural
district by pillaging and burning the houses. It was easy to follow the
march of the invaders in the lower parts of the district* of Quebec,
by the blaze of the conflagraticns they had lit up. Generally,
the lives of prisoners were spared — they were even allowed to choose

♦ The dwellings at Rivifire Quelle, Ste. Anne, St. Roch, and St. Jean Port Joly, were
burnt and pillaged, — even to the banal mill of Three Salmons, the only means for the
inhabitants of grinding their com for a distance of thirty miles, WM oonsigned to th«
flames.

AN EPISODE OF THE CONQUEST.

81

docs not
)x makes
r to have
from his
}ignioriaI

'at armis

his grejffe

Crespin,

s towards

les of the
it for its
stampede
ite. The
d on the
if-the-way
)iddiDg a
e interior
d in their

jtered. A
a born on
t tree (un
on of the
and his

check by
atient by
ive their
the rural
•ollow the
■ Quebec,
generally,
to choose

t Joly, were

ans for the

ned to th*

between the alternative to perish of cold or of hunger duting the coming
winter. Until then, the Cote de licavpre had escaped the common
fate; the scouts sent from the mountain were gratified to find their
houses still uninjured. At last their turn came. The companies of the
Louisbourg Tircnadicrs, under Captain Montgomery, were instructed to
take possession of all the cuttle, and to burn all the houses from Cape
Tourmentc until Ange Gardicn.

"These troops followed the shore until they had got opposite the
Grande Ferme at St. Joachim, where they landed and began their awful
work. The Quebec Seminary owned- at this spot a magnificent farm :
close to it was the preshj/thfc and church of St. Joachim. Philippe
R6n6 de Portneuf, the priest of the parish of St, Joachim, was a mem-
ber of the ancient family of Becancour. Several of his ancestors, and
three of his brothers, had served with distinction in the army ; and he
himself was not the man to fly from his parish at tlie sight of the
English. Some forty of his parishioners, all handy with the gun, seeing
the Scotch soldiers busy burning the church and prenhi/tcre of St.
Joachim, and being led to believe that their own homes would soon
share the same fate, determined to defend their property. Well armed,
they ensconced themselves on the declcvity of a thickly-wooded hill,
which commanded the road the enemy had to follow. The brave cur6
considered it his duty, to stand by them in this emergency ; he therefore
remained to encourage them by his counsel, and administer spirit'^ ^1
rites. The Canadians fought well, but a superior force threatening to
surround them, they retired, leaving behind seve.i or eight of their
comrades killed or wounded. The High Ian der.s had dearly bought their
advantage, having lost several men by the bullets of the Canadian
chasseurs. Many years after, Mr. Fraser, who had been present at this
engagement, asked an old man named Gagnon, if he had not grieved for
the death of a brother of his who had then fallen ? ' No ;' was his stern
reply, ' for I avenged his death on the spot : I fired eight shots, and
each time took down one of your men.' Though seriously wounded,
Mr. de Portneuf followed his parishioners in their flight, J3ut, weakened
by loss of blood, he fell on a stone, which is yet pointed out, near the
mill: the enemy soou came up, and hacked him to pieces with their
sabres. This melancholy event took place on the 23rd of August. A
few days after, the priest of the next parish, the Reverend Mr. Parent,

his friend, gave Christian burial to Mr. de Portneuf 's remain, and to
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(716) 872-4503

11

82

AN EPISODE OF THE CONQUEST.

those of seven of his flock. His body lies inside of the church, but
outside of the railings and close to the seigniorial pew.

"The work of destruction having been completed at St. Joachim, the
English detachment, witli a similar errand on hand, marched upwards,
towards the Montmorency, on whose banks the bulk of the forces were
camped. After crossing the river Ste. Anne, the scouts noticed a group
of men at the spot where the cross road begins, which leads through the
woods to the back concession of St. Fcr^ol. Some soldiers were sent in
this direction, but fearing an ambush, they returned without striking a
blow. It was merely 2 small band of chasseurs of Saint Fer^iol armed
with fowling pieces, but impelled merely by curiosity to see what those
English looked like whom they were told were the enemies of God and of
France. The sight of his satanic majesty would not have been a greater
curiosity for these simple-minded peasants than that of Englishman was in
their exalted imaginations in these stormy days. During the few days of
march of the Scotch companies, the habitants of Ste. Anne and Chateau
Richer could, from their lofty hiding places, witness the conflagration
which consumed their houses and farm buildings. At Ste. Anne's,
the church and four houses only escaped the torch, and even then, if we
credit a local tradition, the church, which was fired three times, only
escaped through the especial protection of Sainte Anne ! In the whole
extent of Chateau Richer, a bakery alone was spared.

" When the British arrived at the village of this parish, they took
their lodgings partly in the convent and partly in the houses situate
near to the church, and busied themselves in carrying away the cattle
and in destroying the harvests which were not yet cut.

" In the meantime, the Chateau Richer people became tired of living
in the woods ; the nights got cool ; they were threatened with star/ation,
and many wished to find out how matters stood, on the shores of
the St. Lawrence. At the request of the Rev. Mr. Duburon, two lads,
Gravel and Drouin, undertook to go and explore for the rest. When
they got on the heights behind the church of the parish, they saw large
crowds of men ascending the Ange Gardien Hill. Red coats and
glistening steel sooa marked them as British troops. 'They are
on the move, they are off for Quebec,' exclaimed Drouin, after a few
moments of observation j * a good riddance ! Let us go back and tell our
people.' * Of course,' replied the other ; * but suppose we take a run to
the convent and see what is going on there.' In a trice they got

jhurch, but

)achim, the
d upwards,
forces were
led a group
hrough the
rere sent in
t striking a
y6o\ armed
what those
God and of
n a greater
iiuau was in
i'ew days of
id Chateau
inflagration
;c. Anne's,
then, if we
times, only
the whole

they took

ses situate

the cattle

d of living
tarnation,
shores of
two lads,
, When
saw large
coats and
They are
■ter a few
d tell our
i a run to
they got

AN EPISODE OF THE CONQUEST.

83

there : Drouin's hand has just seized the handle of the door, when it
was violently thrown open, and twenty Highlanders point their guns to-
wards them at the word * Surrender.' As if struck by an electric shock,
the young men bound off towards the hills, and a discharge of musketry
follows : a bullet grazes Drouin's hair and skin, whilst the Plighlanders
seem particularly anxious to catch Gravel, a very tall youth. But fear
adds wings, and soon they leave tlieir pursuers in the rear ; the noise of
shot fired after them in the leaves gets fiiinter and fainter, and after a
laborious race of three miles, they arrive quite exhausted and speechless
amongst their comrades.

* J}: * * *

"Quebec had surrendered. About the end of September the curi
of Chateau Richer had arrived from the mountain, leading his flock,
and set to work to erect huts on the spot where their homes had
previously stood. The young folks felt delighted at again seeing the
banks of the St. Lawrence ; the old men shed tears at having lived to see
the day when the English, were masters of the country ; the fathers of
families pondered sorrowfully over the waste and destruction which had
befallen their lands. Monsieur Crespin, N.P., was cogitating on the
legal difficulties which would surround him if he had to administer
justice in the English language; it was doubly trying to a man of
his years, after the trouble he had taken to master the French tongue.
Behind the crowd, on stretchers, were conveyed the two youths, Drouin
and G-ravel; they had not yet rallied from the effects of their race.

5|: * * * *

*' Sixteen years had passed over. Brought to the lowest ebb, by the
pillage* and destruction perpetrated by the British soldiery, the inhabi-

* The canny Scots who played such a conspicuous part in the War of tho Conquest, if
they did sulFer in their numbers, rather increased their " material guaranties."

"The following interesting anecdote is told of Fraser's Highlanders. It is related
from tho words of tho venerable Mr. Thompson, who was present at tho battle of
Montmorenci :

"General Murray, being in want of funds to carry on his government during the win-
ter, summoned all the officers and enquired if they had any money, and if their soldiers
had any money that they could lend to the Governor until the supplies arrived from
England in tho spring. Wo were told of tho wants of the governor, and the next day
we were paraded, every man, and told that wo f-hould receive our money back, with
interest, as soon as possible j and in order to prevent any mistake, every man received
his receipt for his amount, and for fear ho should lose it, the Adjutant wert along the
ranks, and entered in a book the name and sum opposite to every man ; and li/ the
Lord Harry ! when they camo to count it up, they found that our regiment alone,
Fraser's Highlanders, had mustered six thousand yuincaa ! It was not long after wo
had lent our money, that one morning a frigate was seen coming round Pointe L^vi
with supplies. We were soon afterwards mustered, and every man received bank his
money, with twelve montha interest, besides tho thanks of the general."' — Haiokin't
Picture of Quebec.

84

AN EPISODE OP THE CONQtJEST.

tants saw a brighter future in store for them ; some had even retrieved
their losses. Amongst the latter might he counted Gravel, who was
now a, pater familias, and whose loyalty had been rewarded by a lieuten-
ancy in the militia. One day, an English officer of rank called at his
house. lie was the bearer of an order to the militia officers to furnish
hiin with relays of horses to travel. As he spoke French fluently, the
lieutenant thought he Avould drive him himself. ' What ruins are those ?'
enquired the Englishman when he passed close to the convent. ' Why,
one could see them from St. Joachim, and even from Quebec'

" ' It was formerly a convent, sir ; it was destroyed in '59 when the
country was ceded. I have reason to know something about it. I can
tell you I felt tolerably nervous on that day.' He then related his and
Drouin's mission, their utter surprise, and how they were chased, also
the serious illness which it caused them.

"'Well, my friend,' said the English officer, 'I sec you and I are old
acquaintances. We have met before. I was the lieutenant in charge
of the company stationed in that convent, to prevent any attack on
our rear. I saw you come down the hill, and it occurred to me we might
get important information if we could catch one or the other of you two.
Before I could utter a word of French to you, you were off. We fired,
in hopes of frightening you and making you surrender. If you gave us
no information, we had a hearty laugh at your expense. I have just
arrived from England, and I felt curious to revisit this portion of the
country, which I once visited in a very different way. I am glad to
meet in you an acquaintance, at a time when I have to meet in the field
an older acquaintance still, in the person of my old friend General Mont-
gomery

> >>jf;

* Montgomery, whose loyalty to the King had been so conspicuous in burning th«
dwellings of the French Canadians at St. .Jean Port Joly and elsewhere, in 1759, fell
at the head of American soldiers, at Pres de Ville, in the Lower Town of Quebec, Slst
Dec, 1775.

A literary friend, to whom I was reading tbis chapter, and to whom I put the rather
embarassing question, "What nationality will finallj' prevail in Canada?" answered,
" It is hard to determine new what chan^jes lie unrevealed in the womb of time. Judg-
ing from the march of events since the conquest, seeing the enormous and unparalleled
strides taken by the French Canadians, who, without any emigration from France, and
in spite of all obstacles, have attained 800,000 from 80,000 they then were, some of whom
as merchants, Ac, have realized fortunes of £350,000, like Hon. Mr. Masson, and others,
farmers, some £300,000 : who have founded most flourishing banks, such as the Banque
du Peiiple, the Jacques Cartier Bank, at Montreal, the Banque Nationale, at Quebec.
Commercial companies, realizing safely their 40 per cent., like the Richelieu line of
steamers, purchasing Saxon homesteads in Quebec and out of Quebec ; in fact almost, to
use Mr. Rameau's expression, elbowing the sturdy English race out of Lower Canada.
I should," he observed, " fancy that these people, united as they are, can always hold
their own, provided thoy are loyal to England ,* on the other hand, we know what Sritiflh

(85)

Q retrieved
I, who was
J a lieuten-
illed at his
to furnish
uently, the
are those V
t. ' Why,

) when the
it. I can
:ed his and
hased, also

i I are old

b in charge

attack on

3 we might

>f you two.

We fired,

)u gave us

have just

iion of the

n glad to

the field

iral Mont-

)urniDg tho
n 1759, fell
Quebec, Slst

the rather
answered,
me. Judg-
nparalleled
ranee, and
ae of whom
and others,
the JJanque
at Quebec,
ieu line of
almost, to
ir Canada,
ways hold
batBritiah

^e ^nbotuf anb f iiltmiint.

THE SHORES OF LAKE SIMCOB.

CHAPTER XIII.

" It may be ir an earlier day
Some Indian strife disturb'd the scene,
And man's red blood, of man the prey,
Mix'd with thine azure waves serene.
It may be that with maddening yells
These wood-clad shores and isles have rung,
And chiefs, whose name no legend tells,
Dead in thy rocky depths were flung.

— Bishop Mountain's " Songs of the Wilderness."

fTlHE Indian missions,* which formerly existed in the neighborhood
-■- of Lake Simcoe, will be ever memorable, as furnishing to the his-
torian the materials for one of the most glorious pages of the early
history of the colony : indeed, it may be safely asserted, that nowhere
on this continent has human heroism shone with brighter lustre. The
reader is doubtless aware that many of our early missionaries have
sealed their faith with their blood. Foremost in this devoted band
stand out two men, distinguished alike by birth and by the extraordinary
amount of physical sufi'ering which preceded their death.

Let us place before the reader a truthful sketch of these two Christian
heroes, whose fate, as Canadians, as Christians, and as men, is equally
creditable to Canada, to Christianity and to manhood. Let us watch them
leaving behind the gaieties of Parisian life, the attributes of birth, the
advantages of science and mental culture, in order to dive through the
pathless forest in quest of the red man of the woods, — the bearers of a

energy, English capital, and perseverance can do. The Eiif^lisli are a conquering, ab-
sorbing, powerful race. If, however, they want to hold their place on the continent of
America, they will have to join their strength and destiuies to the other chief element
of the population — to British America, which is a little m ro ('"tensive in area than the
American Union, are reserved a bright tuture, if strongly knii tugethcr." I thought
there was a good deal of truth in all this.

* According to recent researches, the St. Ignace mission would have been in tho
township of Medonte; the St. Louis Mission in the township of Tiiy. Until recently,
there existed ruins of the St. Mary mission, on the banks of the River Wye. The pre-
sent village of Coldwater must be in the vicinity of these ancient Huron missions. All
these localities, according to Mr. Devine's map of 1859, must be included in the county
•f Simooe.

86

DE BREBOEUF AND LALEMANT.

joyous message, — with privation and suffering as a certainty before
them, and generally a horrible death as the crowning reward : perchance
the spectacle of self-sacrifice may still awaken an echo, even in an age in
which selfishness and mammon seem to rule supreme.

Gabriel Lalemant was born in Paris ; some of the members of his
family had attained eminence at the French bar; he himself, had dis-
charged for several years the duties of a professor of languages • of a
delicate frame, he had attained his thirty-ninth year when he landed in
Canada.

His colleague, Jean de Breboeuf, on the other hand was a person of
most commanding mien, endowed with colossal strength and untiring
endurance. Like the brave Dr. Kane in our own day, he was not long
before discovering that no truer way existed to secure the respect of the
savage hordes he had to deal with, than by impressing them with an
idea of physical superiority. With this object in view, he would not
hesitate when a portage occurred, to carjy, unassisted, the travelling
canoe heavily laden, accomplishing also, with ease, a variety of other
feats indicative of extraordinary muscular strength : the Hurons would
look with awe on the black robed giant. Himself a man of education and
literary taste, he was the uncle of the poet De Breboeuf, who versified in
French Lucian's poem of Pharsalia : it has also been stated that from
his family sprung the English house of Arundel.

In 1618, these two men undertook the spiritual charge of the five
missions or residencies in the Huron country, on Matchedache Bay,
near Lake Simcoe : these five settlements were but a few miles apart
from each other ; a deadly hatred at that time existed between the
Hurons and Iroquois. In the fall of 1648, a thousand Iroquois warriors,
well provided with fire-arms, procured chiefly at the Dutch settlements,
resolved to exterminate entirely the Hurons : they accordingly spent the
winter hunting in the woods, stealthily drawing nearer and nearer to
their foes; they thus advanced, unperceived, some three hundred miles.
On the 16th March, 164:9, they had arrived in the neighborhood of the
St. Ignace settlement, which they reconnoitred during the night time.
A deep ravine protected three sides of the residency, the fourth side
being surrounded with a palisade fifteen or sixteen feet high. At one
point alone the place was accessible, and there at the break of day the
attack commenced. Operations had proceeded so noiselessly, that the

DH BREBOEUP AND LALEMANT.

87

nty before
perchance

n an age in

bers of his
If, had dis-
lages • of a
3 landed in

a person of

id untiring

IS not long

pect of the

n with an

would not

travelling

J of other

ons would

ication and

versified in

that from

f the five

lehe Bay,

liles apart

tween the

3 warriors,

ttlements,

spent the

nearer to

red miles.

od of the

ght time.

urth side

At one

f day the

that the

place was in possession of the enemy before the garrison had time
properly to provide for its defence : this was owing to the few warriors
left in charge, the bulk having gone out on a distant hunt and war
expedition. The assailants lost but ten men : mostly all the inmates
wero scalped, these were the best off — horrible tortures awaited those
whose lives were spared. The attack having taken place at night, the
only survivors who escaped were three Hurons, who made their way
over the snow to the next residency in a state bordering on complete
nudity. The tidings they brought created the utmost consternation :
close oil their heels the blood thirsty Iroquois followed, hurrying on
before the enemy could prepare : they arrived at the next settlement —
the St. Louis residency — about sunrise : the women and children had
barely the time to quit, ere they surrounded it. Eighty stout Hurona
rushed to the palisades to conqu^'r or die. They actually succeeded in
repelling two attacks and in killing thirty Iroquois, but overpowering
numbers prevailed. With axes the besiegers cut down the stakes or
palisades, rushed through the breach, when an indiscriminate slaughter
took place inside. Fire was then set to the fort, and the smoke and
flames soon warned the inhabitants of the third settlement, — the St.
Mary's residency, — distant but three miles, that the Iroquois were
butchering their comrades. Some few had fled from the St. Louis fort,
in which Lalemant and De Breboeuf were located : they were not the men
to fly from death. De Breboeuf 's herculean form might be seen close to
the breach, admonishing the fallen warriors how to die, and encouraging
them in their last moments. Both were seized and marched prisoners
to the St. Ignace settlement. Scouts were itn mediately sent out to
ascertain whether the St. Mary's settlenent could stand an assault, and
on their report a war council decided on attacking it the next day ;
amongst the inmates of this fort were some Europeans, who were
determined to sell dearly their lives. The Iroquois, then numbering
about two hundred, had to retreat for shelter into what remained of the
St. Louis settlement. Several engagements followed, and finally the
Iroquois remained in possession of the field of battle, having lost about
one hundred of their bravest men.

The Indians, who had got possession of Fort St. Ignace, hurried to
prepare the two missionaries to undergo the usual tortures reserved to
prisoners. De Breboeuf had previously stated, on his arrival in the

88

DB BREBOEUF AND LALEMiNT.

colony, that he expected to be soon put to death, nor was he long kept
in suspense before seeing his prophecy verified.

A large fire was lit, and an iron caldron placed over it ; the prisoners
were then stripped and tied to a post erected near each fire; they were
first beaten with sticks ; then a necklace was made of the war-axes heated
in the fire, and this was tied round their neck ; bark sashes were also tied
round them, on which rosin and pitch was smeared, and then set on fire.
In derision of the holy rites of Christian baptism, the savages then poured
boiling water on their heads. Amidst these horrible suiferings, Lalemant
would raise his eyes towards heaven, asking strength and courage to en-
dure them. De Breboeuf seemed like a rock, perfectly insensible to pain ;
occasionally he moved his lips in prayer; — this so incensed his execu-
tioners that they cut off his lips and nose, and thrust a red hot iron down
his throat. Firm and resigned, the Christian gijint, of a whole head taller
than his torturers, would look down on them ; even in his agony, he
seemed to command his executioners. The implacable savages then
untied Lalemant, much younger and more delicate than De Breboeuf; he
threw himself or fell immediately at the feet of his intrepid colleague
and prayed earnestly to the Almighty for help. He was then brought
back and tied to his post — covered over with birch bark, and soon became
a mass of living flames : the smell of blood awakening the ferocity of
these cannibals, they, without waiting till his flesh was baked, cut out
with their hunting knives large slices out of the fleshy part of his arms
and legs, and then amidst horrible yells, devoured greedily the reeking
repast; they then substituted burning coals for pupils in his eye sockets.
De Breboeuf 's sufferings lasted three hours; his heart was extracted after
death and eaten. Lalemant was less fortunate ; life was not extinct till
next day ; a savage more human than the rest put an end to his exist-
ence by cleaving open his skull with his tomahawk ; at the departure of
the Iroquois, the mutilated and charred remains of the two missionaries
were found, and Christian burial given to them on the 2lst March, 1649.

De Breboeuf's skull was taken to Quebec : his family sent out from
France a silver case, in which it was placed, and remained in the Jesuits'
College (now the Jesuits' Barrack, Upper Town Market place), until the
last of the order. Father Casot, who died in 1800, presented it a short
time before his death to the Religious Ladies of the Hotel Dieu Nun-
nerj; where it can be seen to this day. Amongst the numerous wit-

DE BREBOEUF AND LALEMANT.

89

e long kept

e prisoners
they were
axes heated
re also tied
set on firo.
:hen poured
s, Lalemant
irage to en-
ble to pain j
his execu-
t iron down
) head taller
i agony, he
,vages then
reboeuf ; he
d colleague
len brought
oon became
ferocity of
ed, cut out
of his arms
;he reeking
ye sockets,
acted after
extinct till
0 his exist-
eparture of
issionaries
irch, 1649.
t out from
he Jesuits*
, until the
it a sliort
)ieu Nun-
erous wit-

nesses of the Gospel put to death by the Indian tribes of Canada, none
fell more heroically than De Breboeuf and Lalemant; the forests of new
France had been selected at a very early period as a most appropriate
field for apostolic labours, and when the Karl of Elgin, in one of his de-
spatches to the home government called the early period of this colony,
the "heroic times of Canada," he did nothing more than sum up in one
happy expression a characteristic which recent researches are every
day corroborating.*

* Tho friends of archcological enquiry will doubtless hail with joy the work which Dr.
C. Tach6 promii-es tho public shortly, on tho wonderful diacfverics and relics he has
met with in the course of his explorations and searches in the territory formerly occupied
by the Huron Indians. This gentleman has presented to tho muoonm of the liaval
University a great number of skeletons and Indian curiosities. Ho has had the good
fortune to discover tho e.\act spots on which, two hundred and twenty-four years ago,
stood the Huron missions, near Lake Simcoe, in which the Iro(iuois massacres, herein
alluded to, took place ; ho has penetrated into tho very mounds and tombs wherein
rested tho bones of tho redskins, after receiving the family and tho national burial*
But wo must not anticipate.

13 <

(90)

Jfin m)i Jftatjjtr in Canaba**

CHAPTEH XIV.

" The shootings in Brendalbane and Atholc aro leased at the following rents : Blair
— Atholo, £:US[) , Fdrtingall, J:i,y;U ; Legierait, £674; Moulin, X670 ; Little Dun-
keld, £1,432 ; Dull, £984 ; Woom, £207 ; Konmore, £300 ; Killin, £984; Balquhid-
dcr, £785. Mahimijah DLoleep Singh has sublet the shootings of Auchlyno and Sine,
for which ho paid £750, and has taken the Moors of Grandtully, where ho will shoot
this season." — (Late English Papers.)

IN collcnting together some facts relating to the finned and feathered
game of Canada, wc thought we could not do better than preface this
short sketch with acurate data and figures, exhibiting what the killing
of a few deer, hares, grouse and pheasants annually costs some of the
sporting gentry of Britain ; indeed, we know of a recent instance,
in which three rich young sportsmen of the " land o' cakes" purchased
for £600, the right to shoot on some of the moors of Scotland, and
actually brought home tu-o braces of grouse, each j expensive sport, was
it not ?

What hecatombs of deer, what pyramids of wild turkey, what ham-
pers of snipe, quail, ducks and grouse, we would now ask, the renting
of a Scotch shooting range, such, for instance, as Blair Athole, viz.,
£3,485, would procure to a score of Canadian Nimrods ? Why, to use
a metaphor, which some may consider as savouring of Federal war tele-
grams, a ship a trifle smaller than the Great Eastern would be freighted
with the proceeds of such a gigantic battue !

When we read of Lord Dufierin's pic-nic to Iceland, in the yacht
Foam, to witness, among other things, an eruption of Mount Hecla ;
when we hear of an enterprising young Englishman having recently
sailed for Greenland to practice rifle-shooting on walrusses, we naturally
wonder why more of the venturesome spirits amongst our transatlantic
friends do not tea - themselves away, even for a few months, from Lon-
don fogs, to our distant and more favored climes. How is it that so few,
comparatively speaking, come to enjoy the bracing air and bright summer

rtmmmmrt

* From the London '' Canadian News."

DtB : Blair
littlo Dun-
Balquhid-
B and Sine,
will shoot

feathered
sfaee this
le killing
QC of the
instance,
mrchased
and, and
port, was

hat ham-
renting
lole, viz.,
ly, to use
war tele-
reighted

the yacht
t Heela j
recently
naturally
Qsatlantio
rom Lon-
at so few,
t summer

FIN AND FBATUER IN CANADA.

91

Hkics of Canada? With what zest the enterprising and eccentric nmongst
them could undertake a ramble with rod und gun in hand, over the
Laurenti^a chain of mouutiiins from Niagara to Labrador, choosing as
rallying points, whereat to compare notes and discuss politics, old port
and sandwiches, the summit of Capo Eternity, in the SagufMiay district,
the peak of Cape Tourment and the Cave of the Winds under the Niagara
Falls, after ransacking for fish and game the fifteen hundred intervening
leagues of coast ! We imagine that the atmosphere of those airy posi-
tions is as brisk as that of Ben-Mac-Dui or Cairn-gorum, and that tho
divers incidents of travel and sport therein combined, ought effectually
to dispel ennui and restore their spirits for, as tho author of Childe
Harold truly says :

" There is a pleasure in tho pathless wood,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes
By tho deep sea, aad music in its roar."

If this were insufficient to rouse them, a smart trudge to the shores
of the frozen ocean might be added ; our distinguished travellers would
shoot, on the route, ptarmigan, blue or sooty foxes, arctic hares, polar
bears and the musk ox, after camping on the shores of the Copper Mine
and the Great Slave Lake ; the party on its return might now and
again lunch at the Hudson Bay posts, in the absence of better fare, on
pemmioan, whale or walrus steaks — and who can say, whether combining
with amusement, the cause of humanity, they might not be fortunate
enough to elicit further tidings of the fate of Sir John Franklin's gal-
lant band ? This attractive programme, however, we merely display to
tempt the most enterprising among the English sporting world ; as for
us natives^ we find abundance of fish and game without venturing so
&r.

Volumes have been written to make known the inexhaustible mineral,
agricultural, industrial and commercial wealth of this colony, but little
efforts have yet been used to place on record the noble game, the inex-
haustible treasures of wholesome food which a kind Providence has
stored in the streams, in the rivers, in the forests of this magnificent
country, for the benefit, for the daily use, of the million as well as of the
millionnaire. Few — some, through interested motives, have suppressed
the fact— have published to the world, that Canada, without the stringent

92

FIN AND FEATnER IN CANADA.

f/<i.m<i faivs of Hnjjliind, without stcarccly any expense, but with the
lucre consent ul' the people und the Ibsterln}^ cure of the government,
can Ic made what it wan Ibrnierly — one of the nio.st favored localities
on the earth I'or game — yea, a veritable Canaan — a land of promise —
abounding with the ** milk and honey" of amuHcment for all those who
rejoice in the manly and exhilarating pleasures of the chase.

It is true that fur two centuries back the people have struggled hard
to extirpate* its fish and game, and that, had tlic advice of the sports-
men not been heard in time, every estuary in tlie province would have
been dep<)j»ula((Ml ; the forests, the fca shores, the whole country, instead
of harboring <(uantilies of luscious game, myriads of insect-devouring
birds, would soon have become a kin<l of howling wilderness. Much
harm has undoubtedly been done ; but the curing of the evil is fortu-
nately still within our reach. f Intending to notice elsewhere the glorious
results which have crowned the protective policy of successive admiuis
trations towards^ fish and game, we shall now confine ourselves merely
to mentioning, succinctly, the chief hunting grounds in the province.

Old writers, one and all, have spoken with astonishment, nay, with
rapture, of the abundance and varieties of the sea fowl and birds fre-
quenting the shores of the St. Lawrence, and we all know how thousands
of the aboriginal races for centuries subsisted exclusively on the pro-
duce of the chase, throughout the boundless forests of Canada 1|

* Ono of the greatest enormities perpetrated by the Indian, is the extinction in
eastern, and in the greater portion of wfstcrn Canada, of the wapito or Canadian stag,
the noblest of the 8i)ccies, which roamed tlirough our mountains — as large as a horse, with
round, sharp antiers five feet high. It is now abundant in the western prairies and the
eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, from the 56th or 57th parallel of north latitude to
Texas. In the Hudson liay territories, according to Sir John Richardson, its eastern
limit is a line drawn from the south end of Lake Winnipeg to the Saskatchewan, in the
103rd degree of longitude, thence till it strikes the Elk river in the 111th degree.

■(■ The increasing and successful oft'orts of the Quebec and Montreal Fish and Game
Protection Clubs must necessaril}' be a source of pleasure to the many patriotic sports-
men interested in the cause of its preservation. Amongst many zealous members,
one above others, in my epinion, deserves a passing word of encouragement, for his
untiring eflorts and energy — poachers, hucksters, pot-huniers, and every other species
of obstructive, have in vain tried to put him down — I mean F. W. Austin, Esq., for
several years Secretary to the Quebec Fish and 3ame Protection Club.

J With this object were written " La Pccherita du Cntiada."

I To iUustriite the enormous quantity of game in the north of Canada, and in the
Hudson Bay territory, I cannot do better than subjoin the following extract from a
valuable paper read before the Montreal Natural History Society, by Geo. Barnston,
Esq., of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1861. A long residence in that territory,
and a patient investigation of the game it contains, renders Mr. Barnstou's statement
particularly valuable.

PIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.

98

with the
vcrniucnt,
1 local iticH
promise —
thoHc who

rgled hard
the sports-
ould havo
ry, iiiHtead
devouring
^s. Much
1 i.s f'ortu-
lic glorious
c adniiuis
vcs merely
)rovincc.

nay, with
[ birds fre-

thousands

the pro-

extinction in
nadiau stag,
a horse, with
iries and the
h latitude to
, its eastern
ewan, in the
3gree.

1 and Qame
iotic eports-
is members,
lent, for his
ther species
in, Esq., for

and in the
tract from a

Barnston,
at territory,
's statement

The Jesuits, generally accurate in their statements, in describing, in
1602, the Uird Rocks, at the entrance of the gulf, say that a boat might
be easily loaded with eggs of the sea fowl, who build on these desolate
islands, and that so numerous are they, that human beings ascending
these rocks are in danger of being prostrated to the ground by the flap-
ping of the wings of these feathered denizens.

Wo subjoin two extracts from the Jiclafions iics Jfmitrs, in their own
quaint French/''

" It iH very difiicult," says ho, " to Conn anytliin)? like an accurate idea of the
Tarious Hpecies of goeso that havo just been pa-^sed in review, viz: the Canada
grey j^oose, llie lesser f;rey f»i)osc, tlio IJrant goose, the snow goose, and the white
froiilcd gdoso. Of the (juantity shot at parliculiir points wlit^ro they become an
article of provisioiH, we may arrive at a wido but still a bistter fstimatc. Seventeen to
twenty thousand geoso are sometimes killed by llic Albany Indians in the autumn or
fall of the year, and ten thousand or more in the spring, making a total for these coast

Crees alone of at le. ^t 30,000

Not speaking so certainly of other natives, 1 would place the Moose Indians as

killing at all seasons , 10,000

Rupert's Kiver natives 8,000

blastmain and to the north, including Esquimaux 6,000

The Severn coast I cannot compute as yielding less than 10,000

The York Factory and Churchill Indians, with £8((uimaux beyond, must dispose

of 10,000

Making a total of goose killed on the coast, of 74,000

As many geeso must die wounded, and others are got hold of by the foxes and
wolverines, we may safely allow the total loss to the flocks while running the fiery
gauntlet as equivalent to 80,000. I was at one time inclined to believe that two-thirds
of this number was, or might bo, tho proportion for the autumn hunt, but it is probably
nearer three-fourths, and we have thus 60,000 in round numbers brought down from the
newly-fledged flocks, as they pass southward along tho bay. I have lately l^en
informed by an old and experienced hunter, that ho believes that for every goose that
is killed, above twenty must leave the bay without scailh, as although there is some-
times destruction dire among some lots that approach the gun, and that feed in quar-
ters frequented by hunters, y'-t innumerable families of them alight on remote and
quiet feeding gnmnd, remain there unmolested, and take wing when the cold sets in,
with their numbers intact. I must allow the correctness of this remark, and the deduc-
tion to be drawn from it is, that 1,200,000 geese leave their breeding grounds by tho
Hudson's Bay lino of march for the genial south. Of the numbers to the westward
along the arctic coast, that wend their way to their winter quarters straight across the
continent, we can form but a very vague opinion, but computing it at two-thirds or
more of the quantity supposed to leave the eastern part of the arctic coast, we cannot
have less than two millions of goeso, composing tho numerous battalions which pass
OTor the continent between the Atlantic and tho Kocky Mountains, borne aloft generally
like the scud, and as swiftly hastened on, by the force of the boreal blast.

" I ought to observe that the Brant goose, Bemiclu lirenta, are not included in the
above estimate. They aro pretty numerous on the Atlantic coast, but arc quite neglected
by the Indians in general of Hudson's Bay."

* •' A I'entree do ce golfe (de St. Laurent) nous vtmes deux rochors, I'un rond, I'autre
buarre. Vous diriez quo Dieu les a plantes au milieu des eaux comme deux colombiers
pour servir do lieux de retraite aux oiseaux qui s'y retirent en si grando quantity,
qu'on marche dessus; et si Ton no so ticnt bien fermo ils s'elevent en si grando
quantity qu'ils renversent los personnes; on en rapporte des chaloupes ou dos petits

passant. .__
premiire est souvent remplie d'elans qui s'y recontreutj la second est peapUe ea

94

PIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.

Although egg-stealers* (a bad set, by the by, whose operations Audubon
properly stigmatises) have considerably thinned their numbers, Dr. Bry-
ant, who, in 1860, made an ornithological survey of these islands for the
Smithsonian Institution, found them still tenanted by large numbers of
gannets^ puffins, gillcmots, auks and kittiwakes. In the fall of the year
the shores of the St. Lawrence literally swarm with ducks, teal and other
sea fowl. We have ourselves counted thcusatds busy gobbling up the
shell-fish, barnaclea and sea weed which cling to +he shelving rocks
round Plateau and Bonaventure islands, at Gaspd. Wo have watched
the gannet, the herring-gull, the cormorant, hoveri i%" in clouds over
Perc6 Rock, on whose verdant summit they build and find an asylum
secure from their great destroyer, man, whilst their discordant voices
are heard above the roar of the surf, miles away. We have seen their
young shot for food by hundreds in the month of August.

It is not an uncommon thing in the fall of the year lor the Gasp4
fishermen to kill as many as twenty ducks in one shot, in the air holes
among the ice, down which the hungry birds crowd to feed. Where is
the Canadian sportsman who would not give the world for a week on the
Mille Vaches shoals in September ? Where is the fowler who has not
heard of the sport which Jupiter river, on Anticosti, aflFords, over
and above the chance of putting an occasio il bullet through a bear
attracted to the sea shore for his morning meal if kelp and seaweed, in
the absence of green oats and young mutton, his .vorite provender ? It
would be unfair, however, to lead sportsmen t believe that one has to
go Rs far as Anticosti to get a crack at " Bruin/' vhen there are instances
on record of snipe shooters killing bears on the teaches close to Quebec.
We will mention one receni occurrence. A spurting member of the
Quebec bar,f whom the summer vacation had seduced away from the
Pandects and Blackstone, to the swampy Chateau Richer flats, was bag-
ging as usual, a few dozen birds before breakfast. On firing his first
shot, he heard a rustling in some tall rushes, and out stepped leisurely a
— snipe ? no, a bear. Sympathy for a fellow sportsman ought to have
saved Bruin's life. Not so ; his presence on the swamp was construed

son temps d'une multitude d'oies, do canards, d'outardes, dont I'ile que eat plate et
chargie d'herbe comme une prairie en parait totite converte. Lea lieux circonvoiaiita
retentiaaent inceaaamment dca cria do cea oiaeanx."

* As recently aa four years back Capt. Fortin, of tbo coasting service, pounced on
four Yankee schooners in the very act of robbing the Bird Kocks of their eggs.

f Biohard Pentlaud, Esquire.

FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.

95

ns Audubon
jrs, Dr. B'*y-
andfi for the
numbers of
1 of the year
al and other
►ling up the
ilving rocks
Lve watched
clouds over
. an asylum
L'dant voices
Q seen their

r the Gasp^
he air holes
, Where is
week on the
vho has not
^ords; over
augh a bear
seaweed, in
ender ? It
i one has to
re instances
to Quebec,
iber of the
ay from the
ts, was bag-
ing his first
I leisurely a
ght to have
s construed

e eat plate et
circonvoi8t7t8

3, pounced on
eggs.

by the disciple of St. Hubert into a clear case of trespass. Nothing
could be more inconvenient, one will admit, than for a bear to take pos-
session of the feeding grounds of teal and snipe. Qu^a Vait-il faire
dans cette galhre ? A heavy charge at close quarters, and Bruin's spirit
was wafted to where all good bears go.

What clouds of sand-pipers, curlews and plover September brings
forth from their breeding places, in the barren wilds of Labrador, the
secluded lakes and islands of the north, up to the frozen ocean ! Look,
friend, look at that dense vapor that hovers over that long sand bar, La
Bathire avx Aloiiettes on the North Shore of the Saint Lawrence. —
From afar, you might take it for a squall of hail or rain ; but wait a
minute until the sun's rays light up the picture.. Now, see the snowy
breast of myriads of chubby little northern strangerc^ the ring plovers ;
look out for them as they settle, by thousands, on the sand ; now is your
time. Enfilade their serried ranks, fire low j bang! One shot suffices,
you have one hundred victims ; to fire again would only cause unneces-
sary carnage. Father Point, lower down than Rimouski, during strong
easterly winds, afibrds capital stock : Canada geese, Brent geese and ducks
are perpetually hovering over the extreme end of the point : the fowler
carefully concealed, pours a deadly volley into the flock, and his faithful
Newfoundland dog springs in the surf and fetches out the dead birds. — -
You can either continue to heat the shore or cross over with us to Seal
Rocks, in the Traverse, a delightful small game preserve, so bountifully
stocked with ducks, teal and plover, that a club of chasseurs of St. Jean
Port Joly have leased it from government ; a rare thing in Canada for
natives to pay for the privilege to shoot game ; it is so plentiful
everywhere. We are now at Crane Island ; Quantkm mutata ah illd !
Night shooting has efi'ectually scared the ducks from their resting places.
Of swans. Lord Gosford seems to have got the last. As to cranes, two
only have been seen of late years. This wary stilted stranger, Gruem
advenam, as Horace calls it, can only be an accidental visitor, as its range
is considerably more to the west. How often have wc seen its solitary
figure looming up at low tide, far beyond the range of a gun ? Where
is the time when a Crane Island chasseur thought he had had a poor
season if he had bagged less than one hundred outardes (Canada geese),
together with a few dozen snow-geese : wild in the extreme, yea, as
hard to catch as southern generals, are those noisy swamp-feeders, who

m

FIN AND FEATHBB IN CANADA.

!.'{

spend the summer months^ winging every alternate day their wedgelike
flight from the St. Joachim beaches, to the Crane Island fiats, where
they congregate at low water mark, some 3,000 feeding beyond a rifle's
range. We know of a hunting ground not one hundred miles from
Quebec, in which the protection of game is strikingly exemplified. None
but the proprietors have access to this preserve, in which outardes and
ducks assemble in astonishing multitudes. Recently two men shot fifty
wild geese there in two days. Tho place is a source of revenue to its
owners, and those birds, which are not sent to market, are salted and
preserved for the farm servants' daily use.

It would be impossible for us, in this short sketch, to name all the
localities where game is to be had in Canada. The two shores of the
St. Lawrence, from Gasp6 to the upper lakes, and the greater number
of the tributaries of the great river, especially in the Ottawa district,
are our chief shooting grounds — some seven or eight hundred leagues —
plenty of elbow-room, as you may see. The Chateau Richer swamp, in
spite of the indiscriminate slaughter of birds, still furnishes some 3,000
or 4j000 snipe per season. The Bijou marsh, formerly an excellent
hunting ground, under the St. Foy heights, is pretty well destroyed at
present for game purposes. What a splendid game preserve the Bijou
would become in the hands of a sporting millionnaire ! Woodcock are
still numerous at Cote-^-Bonhomme, near Charlesbourg, at La Baie du
Febvre, Les Salines, and in fifty other places. Wild pigeon shooting,
especially in western Canada, yields an abundant harvest. The passen-
ger pigeon still resorts to the Niagara district in such quantities that
Audubon's graphic description of the fiights of wild pigeons in Kentucky
ceases to appear overdrawn. Until 1854, there existed in the woods
back of Chateauguay, at a place called the Five Points, a pigeon roost;
the devastation caused by this countless host in the wheat fields became
very great, but in presence of the incessant attacks of man, a general
pigeon stampede took place — the roost is now deserted.

Grouse shooting, which in Canada commences on the 20th August,
affords also some amusement. Grouse and partridge are shot and snared
in Oanada, the * Hon. Grantley F. Berkley to the contrai^ notwith-

* We find in the London TimeH of the 18th September, 1863, in a letter subscribed
Qrantley P. Berkely, waZuaJic (?) information respecting the Canadian partridge, and
the mode of capturing it : — "The Americans," says this learned Nimrod, "are pro-
foundly ignorant of the way to shoot winged game in any quantities, or to take them

PIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.

97

wedgelike
ats, where
ad a rifle's
uiles from
ied. None
ardes and
1 shot fifty
jnue to its
salted and

me all the

)res of the

ir number

'^a district,

leagues —

swamp, in

)me 3,000

excellent

stroyed at

the Bijou

deock are

Bale du

shooting,

le passen-

ities that

Kentucky

he woods

on roost;

s became

general

August,

id snared

notwith-

subscribed
ridge; and
"are pro-
take them

standing — not poisoned with stri/chnine. A great falling ofi" is- certainly
now observable in the number of birds, in consequence of the wanton
slaying of the old ones in the breeding season ; but dive into the in-
terior about forty miles, at the time when the maple tree is decked with
tints of unsurpassing loveliness, and then let us hear from you. We
remember, one balmy September morning, beating for grouse iu the
wooded slopes of the Chateau Richer mountain, just at the hour when
the rising sun was pouring forth floods of golden light. Never before
had we seen our hardwood trees more gorgeously decorated. The bright
red, deep green, and the orange-colored leaves sparkling with dew-drops,
and bathed in autumnal sunshine, recalled to our niind Tasso's descrip-
tion of Armida's enchanted forest. We could compare it to nothing else
but to a huge flower garden in full bloom. Our reverie was briskly
interrupted by the wMrrmff sound of the grouse, flushed from its cover
by our dog.

Grouse is not the only game which you meet in the woods during a
September ramble ; perhaps you may be lucky enough to have a shot at
the king of birds, the golden eagle, or his pilfering compeer the bald
eagle, soaring high above your head amongst the crags. Do not be
alarmed if, in crossing a mountain gorge, the hoarse croak of the raven
should catch your ear. And if, perchance, camped for the night on the •
mountain brow in a deserted sugar-hut, you hear the horrible hooting of
th« great horned owl, fear nothing; it is 7iot the evil one : wait until the
nocturnal marauder lights on the large tree next to your resting place,
and, by the light of the moon, your Manton will soon add to your museum,
if you have such a fancy, one of the noblest and fiercest birds of the
Canadian fauna.

If there should be anything of the Jules Gerard or the Gordon Cum-
ming in your composition, and you have a hankering for larger game,
without being ablo to go to the liocky Mountaius, go and ask that
peasant in the market place the particulars of the raid which bears have
recently made in his oat-field, after decimating his flock. Go in quest
of the sheep-slayer; your guide will take you whgre bruin and her cubs

alive, and it ia not unlikely Hicy have u'lopti-d stryehniue as a method of death.'' He,
further on, explains why they poison the birds they intend for food, viz., for " the l-^"?
of the almighty dollar, which makes men not over nieo in the means they cako
to get it." Mr. Grantloy F. B.'s peculiar insanity is becoming chronic. — In Canada
yre should try the cold wat«r cure,

14

98

PIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.

a a'

hold their nightly revels. Take care not to miss your intended victim ;
if you do, or only wound her, she won't miss you.

When you are tired of shooting bears, Canada geese, ducks, snipe, wood-
cock, pigeon and grouse, take the train for the western prairies and plains,
and eight or ten days will bring you to where countless herds of buflfalo
browse; a subject upon which the Prince of Wales, our governor general,
Lord Monck, Lord Mulgrave, and the other governors of British pro-
vinces, from their recent visit, are now in a position to speak ex cathedrd.
You can occasionally vary your sport by looking after wild turkeys and
prairie hens, reserving deer and caribou hunting for the winter season,
but when you get there, with Mr. Russell's fate before your eyes, do not
desecrate the Sabbath. Before we part, let me give you a solemn piece of
advice. By the mighty shades of Hawker, by the ramrod of the great
Saint Hubert, I adjure you not to waste powder and shot in the neigh-
borhood of large cities ! Spring shooting and pot-hunters have for the
most part extirpated the game in such localities. Go to Sorel, Des-
chambault, Mille Vaches, Lancaster, Long Point on Lake Erie, for
ducks ; to Chateau Richer, Grondines, St. Pierre les Becquets, for
snipe ; beat Cote h> Bonhomme, the whole range of heights from Char-
lesbourg to the Jacques Cartier river, for woodcock ; but if you wish
for sport in earnest, go to western Canada, to the St. Clair marshes,*

.* Wo read in the Toronto Leader, of November, 1860 : — " Captain Strachan and Mr.
Kennedy returned last evening from a fortnight's sheeting in the St. Clair marshes,
where they had excellent sport, bagging, to the two guns, two swans, three snipe, five
wild geeso, and 570 ducks, — black, mallard and grey ducks — weight 1,860 lbs."

*' Cols. Rhodes and Bell, of this city, returned to town recently, from a hunting
excursion in the woods north of Quebec. During their trip they met with a run of
good sport, having killed ten caribous, four lynxes, a porcupine, and a large number of
white partridges, hares, Ac. Such an amount of game brought down by two guns must
be considered a decidedly good hattue. We understand that one of the large caribous
has been obtained by several oflScers of the garrison for the purpose of being sent to
England." — Morning Chronicle, 29th December, 1802.

" Ten tons of prairie chickens and quail were shipped from Chicago to Now York
by one of tho Express companies recently." — Ibid, 6th January, 1863.

" Salmon Fishing. — Mr. Law's party returned from Godbout yesterday morning,
throe rods having killed 194 salmon, weighing 2196 lbs ; the average weight of each
being 11 lbs. and one-third." — Mercury, 7th August) 1863.

Messrs. Boswell and Kerr, the proprietors of the Jacques Cartier salmon stream, 27
miles from Quebec, have caught, with the fly, more than 200 fmo salmon in July, 1863,
The pools are fairly alivo. [We now have before us a tabulnr statement showing
the catch, each day, of three rods in the river Moisie, on the gulf coast, in 1862, viz :
318 salmon; average Aveight, 15 to 17 lbs.; and, also, a similar autlientic statement for
tho river Godbout for June and July, showing 287 fish ; weight, 3,116 lbs.]

The Essex Record says that " Bob Renardson" and two others have just returned
from a shooting expediti )n at Baptiste Creek, where they have been for the last seven
weeks. During that time they bagged sixteen hundred ducks, two bugle swans, one
weighing 35 and tho other 40 lbs., besides a quantity of smaller game. Most of the
ducks have now loft, owing to tho freezing of the marshes.

ed victim ;

lipe, wood-
md plains,
of buffalo
)r general,
ritisli pro-
I cathedrd.
irkeys and
ter season,
res, do not
in piece of
* the great
the neigh-
'^e for the
Orel, Des-

Eric, for
][uets, for
rom Char-

you wish
marshes,*

lan and Mr.
!iir marshes,
e snipe, five
lbs."

I a hunting
th a run of
a number of
1 guns must
•ge caribous
5ing sent to

0 Now York

y morning,
jbt of each

1 stream, 27
July, 1863.
nt showing
1 1862, viz :
aloment for

st returned
3 last seven
swans, one
»Iost of the

FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA. 99

Where you will find swans, geese, dueks, teal, snipe, even eagles ; in fact
all the game of Canada congregated. Rely for success on good do... a
good guide, a sure aim, and, our word for it, a plethoric game ba^ Vill
be your reward. °

The Montreal
Hon. Capt
ing excursion,

^-^^^^J:t^^^t^^^^ 1^-0 said enough to

contains game. ^ '"'"'*'" ^'^ ^''"^« '^"^^ ascertain for themselves whether or not Canada

<ll lll/liulinii. trinlfinlir ,^., .„*„*: <• .. ".

(100)

^ulimiiti^^di0ir.

CHAPTER XV.

ARIONGST the several subjects which of late years have seriously en-
gaged the attention of statesmen and economists in otner countries,
few have had the privilege more so than the question of increasing the
food for the sustenance of the people, by developing the natural resources
of the country. Various means have been used to arrive at this very
desirable result. The artificial propagation of fish, ever since the days
of Reniy and Gehin, has been and still continues to be in great favor;
this, joined to the protection of deep sea fisheries and to a carefully
organizeil system of public bounties, has produced in several of the
more enlightened communities in the old world, an ample harvest for
the rich man, as well as for perishing millions. Our own favored laud has
not been slow in following in the wake of the most illustrious nations, the
English, the French, &C.; we, too, have our organized system of bounties
for successful industry j* we have, at considerable cost, recently inaugur-
ated a comprehensive protective policy over the hundreds of fruitful salmon
rivers which intersect our thousand miles of sea coast. This branch of
science has been eloquently descanted on, ably expounded by intelligent
strangers, such as Dr. Henry, Chas. Lanman and others, who seemed
perfectly amazed at our ignoring the inexhaustible resources which our
lakes, our rivers, our majestic St. Lawrence contained in its limped
waters. The writings of these gentlemen soon called forth an echo from
our shores, and in a very short time we had '' the Salmon Fisheries of the
St. Lawrence," " Salmon Fishing in Canada," " Piscatorial Sketches,"
which would have gladdened the heart, of " Old Isaac/' and which
place beyond contradiction the fact that Canada is a kind of terrestrial
paradise for anglers. And if I abstain from placing before the public
the names of these useful writers, it is merely because their known

* I hav shown elsewhere how the system worked : it rests with others to apply the
remedy.

ACCLIMATIZATION.

101

■iously en-
countries,
casing the
I resources
; this very
e the days
•eat favor j
, carefully
ral of the
larvcst for
d laud has
ations, the
f bounties
y- inaugur-
ful salmon
branch of
ntelligent
10 seemed
vhich our
limped
echo from
ies of the
cetches,"
d which
errestrial
he public
ir known

I apply the

modesty dictates such a course to me ; although I must confess, it does
seem cruel to withhold the only recognition which the successful liter-
ary laborer can count on for his toil, in this new country, wherein no
golden harvest is in store for him. Pisciculture is doubtless, at present^
a recognized fact, a great, a wonderful science ; and unquestionably
those illiterate fishermen of the Vosges, Gchia and Remy, who restored
its long forgotten secret, fancying it was quite a new discovery, are
greater benefactors to the human race than he, who in Grecian story, ia
supposed to have stolen from heaven the divine fire. It were idle for
me to attempt adding anything on a subject at present thoroughly
known and appreciated. I wish merely to mention another matter
closely connected with the propagation and increase of the animal king-
dom by artificial means, quite as practicable, quite as valuable, to any
country ; I mean the acclimatization of foreign animals, the introduc-
tion in this country of valuable species hitherto considered indigenous
to other climates. If I am asked why I urge the idea at present, I shall
merely reply, that as the time draws near when the indefatigable mem-
bers of the " Fish and Game Protection Club" will be called on to pro-
pose wholesome amendments to the Fish and Game Laws now in force,
it may not be out of place for an humble advocate of the cause, to sug-
gest to them that possibly they might enlarge their scope of usefulness,
by enquiring whether Canada cannot respond to the appeal England and
France are making to us through the press and through their scientific
periodicals. Every one knows the immense undertakings of the Impe-
rial Acclimatization Society of Paris. It was presided over, until his
death, by a leading French naturalist, Isidore Geoffroy Saint Hilaire. It
is patronized by several of the most eminent French savants and by the
Emperor himself. Every month the proceedings are printed in a Sci-
entific Bulletin, sent to its corresponding members all over the globe.

A similar institution also exists in London. It is comparatively recent,
but its object is warmly advocated by the Times, and by several eminent
men. I shall now make known its programme.

The purposes of the society are : —

1st. The introduction, acclimatization and domestication of mammalia,
birds, fishes, insects and vegetables, whether useful or ornamental.

2nd. The perfection, propagation, and hybridisation of races already
domesticated.

ia2

AOOLIlfATIZATION.

m

I' A

8rd. The spread of indigenous and naturalized animals, &c., from
parts of the United Kingdom where they are already known, to other
localities where they are not known.

4th. The procuration, whether by purchase, gift, or exchange, of ani-
mals, &c., from British Colonies and foreign countries.

5th. The transmission of animals, &c., from England to her colonics
and foreign parts, in exchange for others sent from thence to the society.

6th. The holding of periodical meetings, and the publication of reports
and transactions for the purpose of spreading knowledge of acclimatiza-
tion, and of enquiry into the causes of failure.

As the Times correctly remarks, the doctrine of acclimatization, or
domestication of animals, is not new ; nor was it considered a chimaera
by our forefathers ; for, whence comes the horse, the sheep, the domes-
tic pig, the turkey, the potato, the pheasant ? Almost all our domestic
animals, and most of our useful vegetables, have been notoriously accli-
matized. Look at the efforts to introduce into England the Chinese
sheep, which multiplied very rapidly ; look at the endeavors to accli-
matize the guan, the curassow, and other valuable tropical poultry, in
English farm-yards ? Who has not been agreeably surprised to hear of
the striking success with which the Marquis of Breadalbane has
restored to Scotland those noble birds, the black game, which had
nearly become extinct ? It would appear that they are now breeding so
fast that fears are entertained that they may dwarf. The Bulletins of
the French society describe a beautiful species of duck, recently
introduced from Canada, in France; it is called the Labrador duck.
Mention is also made of an endless variety of animals and birds success-
fully domesticated. The Angora goat, acclimatized in Sicily, another
species of goat imported into France from Thibet, — dromedaries, sent
by the society to the Brazilian government, — merino sheep, reared in
France, — Cuban animals and birds, which might be with advantage intro-
duced in other countries, — the breeding of turtles, as objects of food, and
fifty other experiments, many of which, if of no practical bearing for us
in Canada, still evince the lively interest which European communities
take in this practical pursuit.

Why, therefore, should not our " Fish and Game Protection Club"
devote some moments to enquire what animals or birds the inhabitants
of the banks of the St. Lawrence could exchange with those who

ACCLIMATIZATION.

103

. &c., from
n, to other

ngo, of ani-

er colonics
;he society.
I of reports
cclimatiza-

tization, or
a cbimaera
ihe domes-
r domestic
usly accli-
le Chinese
I to accli-
(oultry, in
to hear of
bane has
rhich had
ceding so
jdletins of
recently
lor duck.
3 success-
, another
ries, sent
reared in
ige intro-
food, and
ig for us
munities

reside on the shores of the Thames or the Seine ? Does not every mail
bring out enquiries and orders for the finest specimens of our fauna ?
Suppose our friends of the county of Essex, or of Chatham, send us
down some of their magnificent wild turkeys, some of their red deer,
or occasionally a gigantic whapite or Canadian stag ; we might add, a
few beavers, ruflfed and spruce grouse, with a few couple of live
ptarmigan ; such gifts would grace any English or French park. Al-
though the naturalizing and making barn fowls of the Australian
black swan may not fill our pockets, there are several animals now
introduced into France, England, and Australia, the acquisition of which
might be very desirable. Cannot we, too, profit by the experience of
other countries ?

m Club"
labitants
)se who

(104)

% |;tritug Mml

m

CHAPTER XVI.

MANY have already visited — many intend to visit — the Hermitage.
It is us well for the latter to know that no time of the year can bo
selected with more advantage than the second week in September, when
the foliage of the hard wood trees assumes its autumnal brillianey — not
even Kreikoflf 's forest scenery, dazzling though it be, can equal in bright-
ness the leaves of a Canadian forest in September, during about a fort-
night.

Should this first instalment of Maple Leaves be acceptable to my
readers, they can count on a second at no distant period. Amongst the
notes and sketches still remaining in my portfolio, I notice many which
merely require some long winter evenings to be expanded into read-
able form. The history of the mysterious French officer, who, after
assuming holy orders, spent the remainder of his days on the Island St.
Barnabd, opposite Rimouski, and of which we find mention in *Emily
Montague's letters, written from Sillery in 1767, will doubtless be much
relished by romantic readers; and as my agents, Messrs. Holiwell &
Alexander, tell me that my book is obtaining many romantic readers, it
may be as well to inform them that a literary friend has just become
possessed of a manuscript memoir of the old hermit of the Island St.
Barnab^. I think I am safe in promising them the first reliable in-
telligence in English of this saintly individual. The pirate of Anticosti,
Gamache, also claims attention; and I think I can furnish a sketch
of the parliamentary career of the Honorable Louis Jos. Papineau ; a
chapter on Indian customs, the war-whoop, burials, &c. One of the most
attractive historical legends will be the melancholy fate of Fran5oise
Brunon, the converted daughter of an Iroquois chief; an abridged
account of Indian ferocity at Detroit, as depicted by the Ahh6 Casgrain ;
the story about Mdlle. Granville's brother, the Gosse Island captive ;
the historical legend of Massacre Island, at Bic; and u variety of stirring
events, founded on history, in connection with local traditions, together
with sporting intelligence.

« Vol. i., page 161.

II.

OPIIVIOI^N OF THE rRKAII.

rmitage.
r cau be
jr, when
icy — not
1 bright-
it a fort-

e to my

ngst the

y which

to read-

10, after

iland St.

*Emily

)C much

iwell &

aders, it

become

and St.

able in-

aticosti,

sketch

leau; a

he most

an§oise

bridged

sgrain ;

aptive ;

stirring

ogether

" L'ORNITlIOLOaiE DU CANADA."

(SECONn F.niTION.)

{From Quebec Morning Clronlde, 11th Mat/, 1801.)
We hare much pleasure in ftcUnowlcdging the receipt of a copy of Mr. Le
Moine's popular work on Natural History, written in French. Of the scientific
part of the theme, time and ob3crvation will bo the best test ; we are not suffici-
ently versed in the mysteries of the feathered tribe to express an opinion. Of
the literary attainments of the writer, there seems but one opinion, and that is a
favorable one. We must admire the courage of any native who takes to book-
making, in this now country. We shall quote from one of the several favorable
reviews of the volume, which have appeared in the French portion of the press.
" Le Canadien," speaking of " L'Ornithologio du Canada," says : — " Little remaing
to be said, of this work, after what has already appeared in the public journals.
The manner of imparting information seems lucid, pleasing, and attractive to the
youth of the country. The descriptions of birds are sufficiently scientific and ac-
curate, without being fastidiously so. It is easy to recognize the song, plumage,
and habits of each denizen of the forest. One notices the climates it prefers, the
locality it inhabits, and all the marvels of the spring and fall migration. Life-
like sketches, interesting anecdotes, rivet the attention of the reader to the joyful
or melancholy career of the hero. The perusal of the whole work leaves
behind a lively wish that the writer may at some future period under-
take a complete study of the Fauna of Canada in all its departments.—
This of course must depend on the encouragement which the first essay
will receire. With the public, it will rest to hasten the realization of this
idea. This treatise having been undertaken at the writer's expense, it is
to be hoped he will at least find in it the means of meeting the publisher's bill,—
zeal for science and the honor of the country being the only incentives in this
matter. The English names of birds have been invariably introduced ; this will
make the work of easy reference for English readers, and will also recommend it
to those who wish to study French, in an instructive and amusing little book.
Public institutions, with that liberal spirit which distinguishes them, have libe-
rally patronized this first attempt to popularise a beautiful study." We commend
* Les Oiseaux du Canada' to all classes, without forgetting even pleasure-seekers»
tourists, and all those who have revelled in ihe crystal waves of Murray Bay,
Cacouna, Gaspc, &c. ; this latter class will find most pleasant memories in the
last chapter written A la Audubon, and depicting the habits of the herring-guU.
Let us conclude by Bftyiag " Success to native talent."

16

OPINIONS OF THE P^ilSB.

The foUowinp; ii the most flattering testimonial yet received by the author ot
" The Birds of Oaaada." Professor Baird is, we believe, looked upon as th»
highest authority on the subject of the work, that can be found on this continent.
This book should occupy a place in every library and be in the hands of every
tourist.

No. 1182. Smithsonian Institution,

Washington, D.O., May 30, 1861.

DiAR Sir, — I have much pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of the second
part of the Ornithologie du Canada. I have looked over it, with much interest,
and consider it a very desirable addition to the popular Ornithology of North
America.

I would be glad to have you furnish copies for some leading Ornilhologists,
such as Dr. Hartlaub, of Bremen, Germany ; Slater, of London ; Dr. Bryant, of
Boston ; Mr. Oassin, of Philadelphia ; and the Library of the Philadelphia Aca-
demy and the Smithsonian Institute.

Very truly yours,

J. M. LiMoiNi, Esq. S. K. Baiho,

Spencer Grange, near Quebec.

« LES PECHERIES DU CANADA."

(From the Morning Chronicle.)
" We have received an extremely interesting and well printed little volume,
bearing the title of " Les Pdcheries du Canada, par J. M. Le Moine." This gen-
tleman is well and favorably known to our readers as the author of the " Natural
History of the Birds o<' Canada :" of " A Sketch of the discoveries of McOlure,
Kane and McGlintock in the Polar Seas." and of other works. This little book
certainly will not detract from his popularity as an author, and speaks highly for
his patriotism. It is calculated to dispel from the minds of the French speaking
population of our country many of the prejudices which have been, through want
of information in their own language, entertained against the operation and the
administration of the fishery laws. It supplies the most interesting information
with regard to the new science of Pisciculture, and the wonderful results which
have followed from its cultivation in Europe ; it furnishes an accurate list of the
rivers in Canada which produce salmon and trout, and of the artificial flies which
are best adopted for taking them. It also affords the fullest information from
the deep sea fisheries, including the cod, the seal, the whale, the porpoise, the
herring and the oyster, giving a calculation of the value of the whole, which
ought, most undoubtedly, to attract the attention not only of capitalists and
political economists, but of all philanthropic and benevolent men, who would
wish to see our population furnished with a wholesome article of food which
nature has so abundantly provided, which is so necessary to a Catholic popur
lation, and which has until very lately been altogether neglected.

♦ .

OPINIONS OF THE FBE8B.

4»

author ot

OD as th*

continent.

of every

0, 1861.
the secoud
,h interest,
r of Nurtii

Ibologists,

Bryant, of

Iptiia Aca-

Baihd.

le volume.

This gen-

B " Natural

McCIure,
ittle boolc
highly for

speaking

ough want

on and the

nformatioik

iults which

list of the

flies which

Eition from

trpoise, the

lole, which

alists and

who would

food which

oik popur*

M

(From the Daily News.)

TUB riSHKRlBB OF CANADA.

"This is the title of a volume iu French, just issued from the press of the Ca-
nadien. Its author, Mr. J. M.LcMoine — already no Inconsiderublo contributor to
other departmonts 'f our literature — has herein supplied to our I"'rcnch speaking
population in iii§ aaual tstj'Ie, a largo amount of extremely interesting and valu-
able inlorraation.

" We beh , ' we are correct in stating that tliis ij the first work that has been
written in the I-'r. ' ' li language on tlie siibjoct of our fisheries, and for this reason,
if for no other, Mr. LeMoine's labors cannot bo too highly recominenil<'d.

"The fishery question, in all it^ different phases, we hope to see dlscinsed
during the present season, in connection with the Hill to be introduced at tlio in-
stance of the Montreal Trade, on the subject of fish and oil Inspection. This being
the case, the work under consideration appears mo3t opportnnoly, forming as it
docs, a convenient and reliable text book, for the use of those who have not studied
the subject, but who may desire to become acquainted with this immense, but
hitherto undeveloped, source of our natural wealth.

" The book is divided into two parts, namely : " The River or Salmon Fish-
erics," and the " Deep Sea Fisheries." Our author has accumulated a large number
of facts respecting the protection whicli the former requires, and has exhibited the
astonishing results recently obtained by means of artificial propagation, in Great
Britain and France. Respecting the deep sea fisheries, Mr. LeMoine has also
given copious details, drawing largely, but judiciously from Perley's and An-
drews' extremely valuable Reports, and from a series of lectures, by M. H. Warren,
formerly in business here, and who appears to have had extensive information
and experience on the subject of the deep sea Fisheries, on the amendments which
the law requires, such as a revision of the Bounty system. Foreign markets for
fisli, the Judicial reforms in the administration of justice for the Guspo District,
and a new organization for the Coast service. Mr. Le Moine writes forcibly and
well, and there is no doubt but many of his suggestions might be adopted with
advantage.

" The bounty system, as at present existing, is a complete farce, serving only
to swell the gains of a few wholesale fish dealers, or of the money shavers who
purchase the bounty certificates from the poor and needy fisherman, at enormous
discounts. We have called the bounty system a farce ; the coast service, as now
constituted, is little better. We do not attribute this to any lack of zeal or capa-
city on the part of those to whom the Government has intrusted the performance
of this duty, but to the limited means at their disposal. It is manifestly impos-
sible for Gapt. Fortin to cover and protect so large an extent of coast with one
steamer, and we are therefore disposed to regard favorably Mr. LeMoine's sugges-
tion of substituting three or.more small gunboats in lieu of the expensive steamer
now employed. These veBSels being of small tonnage would be of such light

*

m

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" Noua remercio
s'est d^ja acquis u

draft of water as would enable them to enter all the small harbours along the
coast. The compulsary ' ipection of fish and oil, is also strongly advocated
by the author."

(From the Quebec Mercury.)

"It is with pleasure that we render justice to the interesting work on our fish-
eries, by M. J. M. LeMoine of Quebec, and must confess that we, consider it pro-
vidential for Lower Canada, that a gentleman of his acknowledged abilities and
acquirements should have turned his attention in that direction,

" The Hon. M. Sicotte may very naturally feel proud at having merited the ap-
pellation of" Father of the Fisheries," a title that Mill (yet attach honour to his
name, as a just reward for having drawn public attention to a subject, which
must ultimately result in providing for the Province an inexhaustible source of
commercial prosperity, and of individual and national wealth, and we linvo uu
doubt that his countryman, M. LeMoine ! whose studies on natural history have
made his name a " household word" amongst us) may be able to render him
great assistance, in accomplishing the work he had, when formerly in office, un-
dertaken as one of great national utility.

(^From the Journal de Quebec.)
James LeMoine pour I'envoi de son livre. M. LeMoine
reputation litt^raire et scientifique par ses nombreux ecrits,
et disons ce qui est rare, qu'il possede I'avantage inappreciable d'exprimer sa
penade dans les deux langues les plus parlies de rancian et du nouveau moude,
I'anglais et le fran§ais. • ..

" Qui a done oubli6 le charmant historien des oiseaux du Canada? Aujour-
d'hui, il change d'dldment ; il laisse les plaines de I'air pour se plonger dans la
plaine liquide : et, cependant, personne ne le trouve Stranger dans cette region
nouvelle. C'est qu'il y a des oiseaux plongeurs comme il y a des poissons volants,
et que, sur les confins des deux regnes, I'ou pent se parler et se compreudre.

" Le livre de M. LeMoine a pour titre "Les Pecheries du Canada." II traite de
la pisciculture, de la mdthode moderne, de son application a nos rivieres, de la
pisciculture en France, des diflferentes manifiros de pecher la truite, le saumon,
de la pSche a I'eau profonde, de la peche de la morue, du veau-marin, de la ba-
leine et du marsouin, des ^tablissements de p&che, de I'inspection de I'huile et du
poisson, du trait6 de reciprocity avec les Etats-Unis, de la protection des bancs ou
fraie le hareng, des marches Strangers pour le poisson, de I'organisation des
pecheries et des bancs d hultres artificiels." . , , , . ,., i j •;'- . '

This last work is now run outj but vrilt be reprinted as soon as the subscrption list
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'8 aloDg the
advocated

m our fish-
ider it pro-
lilities and

ted the ap-
nour to his
ect, which
e source of
re liavo uo
story have
ender him
office, un-

A. LeMoine
■eux ecrits,
xprimer sa
;au monde,

? Aujour-
ger dans la
ette region
ins volants,
judre.
II traite de
ieres, de la
le saumon,
, de la ba-
huile et du
!S bancs ou
isatiou des

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