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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATES

Gift of
WILLIAM INGLIS MORSE

MAPLE
LEAVES

CANADIAN HISTORY— LITERATURE— SPORT

NEW SERIES

" Like a vh'gin goddess In a primeval world, Canada
still walks in unconscious beauty amiong her golden
woods and along the margin of her trackless streams,
catching but broken glances of her radiant majesty,
as mirrored on their surface, and scarcely dreams
as yet of the glorious future awaiting her in the
Olympus of nations. " — (Prom Lonn Duffbbin's
speach at Belfast, llth June, 1872.)

By J. M. LeMoine
AUTHOR OF "l'ALBUM DU TOURISTE."

QUEBEC
PRINTED BY AUGUSTIN COTE & 0°
1873

Registered in the office of the Minister of Agriculture, in conformity
with the law passed by the Parliament of Canada, in the year 1873,
i)y A. C6te & G»

TO HER EXCELLENCY

THE COUNTESS OF DUFFERIN

THESE SKETCHES "

ARE, BY PERMISSION, MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED

AUTHOR

Spenceb Gbanqe,
SUlery, 20th Sept., 1873.

INTRODUCTION

In offering to our patrons, a new series of Papers
on Canadian History, Literature and Sport, a few
explanatory remarks may not be out of place.
It was in 1863, that for the first time, appeared in
book form, the several Canadian sketches, previously
published in the Canadian Eeviews and Magazines,
under the emblematical name of Maple Leaves.
Their success led to the perpetration of a second
volume in 1864— descriptive of our battle fields. A.
third Series followed in 1865, depicting the environs
of Quebec.
Since the latter date, no other series was published.
It is now proposed to collect in the present volume,
some of the best sketches and detached Papers of the
author, contributed since 1865, to the various Cana
dian periodicals, and also to reprint with them four
or five of the most popular papers of the preceeding
Series, now out of print.

VI
It is unnecessary here to enlarge on the aim and
contents of the volume : the title of the work indi
cates that sufficiently.
Should the author succeed in amusing and instruct
ing the general reader — let it be ever so little — his
task is accomplished, ample his reward. The Author.
Spencer Grange, SiLLERT, 20th Sept., 1873.

FIBEEVIILE.
THE GID OF NE-SSr FRANCE.
We purpose sketchiag here briefly, a Canadian worthy,
who once filled the two hemispheres with the glory of his
name — the naval hero d'lberville ; LeMoine d'lberville who
triumphantly bore the banner of France, from Hudson Bay to
the Mexican Gulf, al the close of Ihe seventeenth century. At
the period in question, Quebec was the key to the extensive
transatlantic possessions of Louis the Great ; it was the fulc
rum which moved the vast military power that so effectually
liept in check the English Provinces beyond its border. On
the loftiest peak of Cape Diamond, floatejl a royal banner,
whose lord could trace his lineage beyond the crusades,
beyond Charlemagne, up to the fourth century. From the
stately council-chambers of the Chateau St. Louis, issued those
dreaded decrees which presaged war or peace frora the shores
of the St. Lawrence to the fertile valley of Ohio, or the green
banks of the Mississipi. The capital of the French King in
New France was indeed animportantcitym those days, filled
with a warlike race, which needed not conscription lo push its
squadrons across the border, whose martial ardor was dimned
neither byarclic cold nor by tropical heats. A most resolute
nobleman held his courtal the ChAtcau St. Louis — Count de
Frontenac. Never did the Gibraltar of America appear so
imposing as when the lion-hearted de Frontenac, in 1690,

2 d'^iberville.
warned off so summarily Sir William Phipps, who, in the name
of King William III, threatened, unless the place surrended
within an hour, to bombard it with his powerful fleet, which
lay moored in view of its battlements. The Count's reply
to the British Admiral has been preserved in history. (1) There
were, also, brave men amongst the garrison ready to make
good the warlike answer of their valiant commander.
Foremost amongst the defenders of Quebec vvas d'lberville,
one of deLongueil's (2) illustrious brothers. To Montreal is due
the honor of having given birth, in 1642, to this studry sea-
captain — one of eight brothers destined to shed lustre on the
French arms, by land and by sea, for more than half a century.
D'lberville may be counted the representative man of de
Frontenac's glorious adrainistration. More fortunate than
other Canadian worthies, whose raerit has been sedulously
ignored in the mother country, under French and under
English rule, d'Iberville's fame was proclaimed far and wide,
all over Europe ; national vanity prompting the French, if
they even did feel inclined to drop the colonist, to remember
the great sea-captain who, in so many instances, had humbled
the old foe. Our own historians have minutely described the
feats of d'lberville ; some, however, may say these accounts are
too flattering, and liable to be doubted. Let us then, borrow
the text of reliable foreign writers of the present day. Pierre
Margry, for many years and still in charge of the French
Archives de la Marine, in Paris, in his researches on the part
taken by the early travellers from Norraandy in discovering and
colonizing the valley of the Ohio and the Mississippi, sets forth
(1) " I do not, " said de Frontenac, " acknowledge King WiUiam • I well
know that the Prince of Orange is an usurper, who haa violated the most sacred
rights of blood and religion. I will answer your master by the mouth of my
cannon." To this Ph^s replied by sending a tremendous broadside into the
town. But de Frontenac did answer by the mouth of his cannon ; and his reply
was found so much to the point that, notwithstanding the advantage gained
under Major Walley's detachment, landed at Beauport, Phipps, on the llth Oc
tober, set sail at night for Boston, where he arrived on the 19th November
following, minus nine ships wrecked in a storm.
(2) On a recent visit to Montreal, the writer had the pleasure of seeing iu the
late Jaoijuea Vigor's Album, a good drawing of the ruins of Baron de Longueil'a
manor at Longueuil ; let us hope it will yet figure in the ANTIQUARIAN.

THE CID OF NEW FRANCE. 3
most ably the doings of d'lberville and his brothers. There
is also, amongst other books, a beautifully illustrated work,
« Les Navigateurs Francais par Leon Guerin, » in which an
ample sketch ofthe celebrated Montrealer is contained. As
this account, written in France, is new to most of our readers,
we will attempt to render it in English for their information.
« At the time, » says L. Guerin, cc when Louis de Buade,
Count de Frontenac, was administering so gloriously New
France, eight Canadian brothers, whose ancestors came from
Rouen, in Norraandy^ were vieing to excel one another in feats
on land and on the sea — equally at home on both elements —
ever ready, brave, active, venturesome, under the irapulse of
national honor. They rendered the country (France) services
the more honorable and meritorious that they fought far away
from the eye of the court, with little prospect of obtaining the
great rewards they raight merit, and which they did not obtain
in the proportion due to them.
cc These eight brothers, whora it would be proper to call
eight heroes, were d'lberville, de Sainte Helene, deMaricourt,
de Longueuil, de Serigny, de Chateauguay, and the two de
Bienville. The second, d'lberville, was one of the greatest
and raost skilful sea-captains France has ever had. Margry
calls hira cc une especc de Jean BartCanadien» , the historian,
Ferland, awards hira, the title of cc Le Cid du Canada.))
The company which had then recently been forraed in con
nection with Hudson's Bay having applied to King Louis XIV,
to be protected against the usurpation of the English of Fort
Bourbon, — called by them Fort Nelson, — a decree of the 20th
May, 1685, vested in it, the property of the river Ste. Therese ;
without delay an expedition^ commanded by the Marquis
d'Enonville, Governor General of New France in the absence
of Frontenac, was fitted out to repel the Enghsh during the
short but glorious peace of Nimeguen. D'lberville, Sainte
Helene, and Maricourt went the year following under the Che
valier de Troyes, a captain of infantry, serving at Quebec, and
chief of the expedition, to capture the Forts Monsipi, Rupert,
Kichichouami, which the English had built on the Bay. They
left Montreal by land in March, 1683, drawing their canoes

4 d'iberville.
and supplies' over the snow and swamps, the roads being
nearly impassable. They travelled thus until the 20th June,
enduring hardships and fatigue almost intolerable with a
courage and spirit of which Canadians only are able, and the
party, eighty-two strong, arrived at Monsipi, at the southern
extremity of Hudson Bay, at that part since called Jaraes' Bay.
Without losing a moment, preparations were made to attack
the Fort — a square redoubt surrounded by palisades sixteen or
seventeen feet high, and flanked by four bastions, on the top
of a mound, thirty yards frora the edge of the river. A guard
was left in charge of the canoes ; two raerely were drawn,
loaded with provisions, shovels, pics, gabions, and a battering-
ram. D'lberville and de Sainte Helene raade the assault on one
side, whilst the Chevalier de Troyes and Maricourt attacked
the other, and were battering in the main entrance of the Fort
with the ram. Followed by five or six men, they scaled the
palisade, opened a door which looked on the forest, and
reached, in order to destroy it, an outer door of a redoubt,
built in the centre of the Fort ; at the same time, the Chevalier
de Troyes rushed into the interior ofthe redoubt, whilst d'lber
ville and de Sainte Helene, and their followers kept up a brisk
fire on all the apertures. An Englishman having rashly replied,
dechning all offers of quarter, de Sainte Helene shot him dead
at the gun he was pointing towards the French. Soon the ram
was brought to bear against the door of the redoubt, butas the
door was still held up by one hinge, an Englishman frora the
interior closed it, leaving all in darkness. D'lberville might
have considered his case desperate, but, retaining his pre
sence of raind, he kept striking even in the darkness, and
hearing some one decending a stair-case, he fired at hira at
randora. In the meantime, the ram had re-coraraenced bat
tering in the door. It fell and allowed free ingress to the
French who hurried to the assistance of d'lberville. The
English, having scarcely had tirae to dress— (the attack was
atraidnight) — so sudden had been the assault, asked for
quarter. It was granted, and the Fort handed to the French.
cc The victorious party then, following the sea-shore, took
the direction of Fort Rupert, situated forty leagues further

THE CID OF NEW FRANCE. 5
on ; whilst a suitable boat, accompanied them, mounted
with two guns taken at Fort Monsipi. After five days
marching, the party arrived during the night of the 1st
of July, before Fort Rupert, of which de Sainte Helene raade
a reconnoissance, favored by night. The English had an
arraed vessel there to protect it. D'lberville and his brother
Maricourt, aided by nine men in two bark canoes, were entrusted
with the boarding service. The enemy being taken unaware,
the boarding party noiselessly and at leisure got on board, and
stumbled over the raan of the walch fast asleep in his haraac.
He received a blow just as he was preparing to alarm the crew ;
d'lberville, striking the deck as is customary when it is
intended to give the alarm to those on ship-board, split open
the head ofthe first man who attempted to venture on deck. The
next sailor shared the sarae fate, and they then attacked the
cabin with axes, until d'lberville considered that his party
was numerous enough to hold out against all comers. The
vessel once captured, he gave quarter. Amongst the prisoners
was the Governor of Hudson Bay. Whilst this sea-fight
was going on under the lead of Iberville, the Chevaher de
Troyes was beating in by force the door of the Fort, and en
tering in with drawn cutlass. Grenades were used, causing
dreadful havoc amongst the besieged. A redoubt, which had
been also built atMonsipi, in the centre of the Fort, after having
been battered with a ram, was on the eve of being blown up
with powder, when the enemy, seeing that no hope remained
sued for mercy. All the prisoners were then placed on board
of a sloop which was aground at some distance from the Fort ;
as it would have required more raen than could be spared
to garrison the place, the palisades were destroyed and the
Fort blown up. D'lberville and de Sainte Helene reraained
there, however, a few days. The english armed- ship was
sent to Monsipi, and was soon followed by the lugger, which
had been repaired. The Chevalier de Troye^ who had re
turned to Monsipi, was desirous to close the campaign by the
capture of Fort Kichichouami. None, however, knew exactly
the geographical position of this English Fort, and the roads
were impassable ; these obstacles were insufficient to stop

6 d'iberville.
the Canadians, It was necessary to carry the canoes when
the tide did not answer, or when ice or points of land, inter
fered. The party had been for a long time travelling in this
manner, without having the raeans of knowing whether they
would reach the object of their search, when the report of
eight guns suddenly broke on their ears. Kichichouami
must be close by, and some festivity going on there. On de
Sainte Helene, devolved the task of reconnoitring the position
of the Fort. D'lberville had had much trouble to penetrate
through the ice with the prize, containing the flags of the
English company. He entered the river without accident?
and, during the night, landed ten guns. After sorae useless
proposals to the governor of the place, the guns were placed
in position, and aimed at the very roora he occupied. A masked
battery on a wooden height, got up such a cannonade that
more than forty discharges took place in an hour and a quarter,
riddling the enemy's work Soon melancholy voices issued
from the subterranean passages, sueingforquarter. No English
man had shown himself to strike the flag, and soon after the
Fort capitulated, de Sainte Helene entered it. D'lberville
removed on board of his prize the governor and his suite to
the Island of Charleston, to wait for English ships, in conform
ity with the terms of the surrender. The remainder of the
English were sent to Monsipi. The 6th August following, the
Chevalier de Troyes returned to Montreal to enjoy his success ;
d'lberville, who had left his brother Maricourt in charge
at Hudson Bay, arrived at Montreal two raonths after.
cc War re-commenced in Europe, andspreadto America. D'l
berville was, by de Frontenac, re-appointed naval commander
in New France, and specially intrusted with guarding Hudson
Bay. Two English men-of-war had appeared before Fort
Kichichouami, whose name he had altered to that of Fort
Sainte Anne, and where he commanded in person. He cap
tured them, and conducted triumphantly the largest to Quebec,
Avhilst his Lieutenant, La Ferte, was making a prisoner of the
English Governor of Fort New Haven, who had been sent from
London by the Company to proclaim William III, who pre
tended he was sole proprietor of Hudson Bay. D'lberville

THE CID OF NEW FRANCE. 7
returned at the commencement of the following year, 1690,
in Ihe ship Sainte Anne, together with the ship Armes de la
Compagnie, Capt. Bonaventure Denis, with the view of expel
ling the English from Forts New Haven and Nelson, which
they still occupied. He anchored, on the 24th September,
close to the river Sainte Therese, and came ashore with ten
raen, intending to make a few prisoners and find out the state
of the Fort. A sentry saw him, and the English instantly
despatched a vessel of 36 guns to intercept the retreat of the
French, but without success. D'lberville got on board of his
boat, made his way in spite of pursuit to his vessel, and made
sail. The fall of the tide having caused the English vessel to
get aground on some rocks, the French commander, in order
to mislead the eneray, steered as if he intented to leave the
Bay ; but altering his course, he came to the Kouachaony
river, and there found a ship, the Saint Frangois, com
manded by Maricourt. The two brothers left for New Haven,
an English Fort, situated thirty leagues from Fort Nelson.
The English then found themselves under the necessity of
burning it down and breaking it up. D'lberville, however,
secured a quantity of provisions and furs, which he conveyed
to Fort Sainte Anne. He wintered there with his ship, the
Sainte Anne, whilst Maricourt, with the Saint Frangois,
sought winter-quarters at Rupert, after having relieved Fort
Monsipi. The ship Armes de la Compagnie was anchored
at Charleston Island. D'lberville was on his way to Quebec in
October, 1690, when his brother de Longueuil sent him word
at Coudres Island, in the St. Lawrence, that an English fleet
was laying siege to the capital of Canada. The forces being
unequal, he determined to sail for France, laden with English
spoils ; but previously to leaving, he despatched a boat to de
Frontenac to inform him of the success of his expedition to
the north. At this period, several of d'Iberville's brothers
were keeping up the honour of the family by valiantly defend
ing Canada. All New France was in a blaze. The English had
excited the Iroquois tribes to rise, as well as other Indian tribes
who had recently been allies of France. They were helping
Ihem to attack the west of Canada by Montreal, whilst a fleet

S b'iberville.
at Quebec, under (Sir) William Phipps, threatened the east
ern section. Fortunately, there had recently been re-appointed
Governor-General in New France, a chief gifted with all the
attributes of a great man, firmness which ensures command,^
with kindliness which inspires love. De Frontenac was great,
generous, magnificent hke a king. He was at Quebec, the
worthy representative of what Louis XIV was at Versailles.
A word, a glance of his eye, electrified the Canadians, always
ready to fight. He was the tove and delight of New France,,
the terror of the Iroquois, the father of tbe tribes who were
alhes of the French. His activity was only equalled by his
courage. After having pacified the country round Montreal, and
slain a considerable number of the Iroquois, he had sentthree^
detachments to attack the English of New York. De Sainte
Helene, in company with his relative, de Martigny, and leading;
a party of French and Indians, two hundred and ten in num
ber, alter a tramp of twenty-three days, through snow and
ice,— sometimes wading in water up to their knees, — had
arrived at Fort Corlard, which they captured, after slaying the
whole garrison. Martigny had been wounded twice during
this expedition. Another captain, named de Portneuf had'
compelled Fort Kaskebe to capitulate ; and a third, called
Hertel, after a march just as fatiguing as that of de Sainte-
Helene, had taken possession of Fort Sementals,. in Acadia.
At the same tirae, Frontenac had undertaken prodigious works
to fortify Quebec, which, though thickly peopled, had no for
tifications which it could depend on. lie had dispersed, with
out striking a blow, an array of English and Iroquois, wha
were advancing from Lake St. Sacrament, and had been
enabled to devote himself entirely to the defence of his capital.
The fortifications which de Frontenac had built began at his
palace (!) and then ascended towards the upper town which
they surrounded, and ended at the brink of a mountain at a
spot called Cape Diamond. The openings where there were no
gates were barricaded with timber and puncheons filled with
stones and surrounded with earth. The avenue from, the;
(1) Where the Queen's wood-yard now stands.

THE CID OF NEW FRANCE. 9
lower to the upper town was intersected by three entrench
ments, made with puncheons and bags of earth. Numerous
batteries had been raounted. The whole soon presented a
respectable systera of defenses. )>
We shall pass over the incidents of tbe glorious siege of
1690, related by us elsewhere (1). D'lberville was intrusted by
governraent with a small fleet, and hoisted his flag on the
Pelican. His mission was to harass the English wherever
he could raeet them. He obtained some important successes ;,
but the spot where fortune seeraed always to favor hira was
Hudson Bay, where the English had re-captured Fort Nelson.
He took a signal revenge by the capture of the place, in 1696^
for the death of his brother Chateauguay, killed in 1694 whilst
defending it. He also had the satisfaction of securing as a
prize the English frigate, the Hudson Bay. But his own-
vessel, the Pelican, was nearly in a sinking state. Having
manned his prize with a portion of the crew of the Pelican,
he was preparing to attack the enemy when, in a furious storm,
and notwithstanding his skill as a mariner, both vessels were
driven ashore. Nothing daunted, the brave commander;
having waited for the arrival of some other vessel of his fleet,
succeeded in capturing, a second lime, Fort Nelson, which
gave France, for several years, the possession of the northern
part of North Araerica.
Peace being signed at Ryswick, d'lberville took advantage
of it to press on his governraent to resume the project of dis
covering the mouth of the Mississipi. He sought as a compa
nion the brave Chateau Morand, worthy nephew of the great
Tourville. Both sailed from Rochfort in October," 1698, with
two ships. They anchored at St. Domingo ; and having left
that place on the 1st December, they carae in sight, on the
• 27th January, 1699, of Florida. They sailed as close to the
land as prudence would allow, and sent one of their officers
to hold parley with the inhabitants. That officer, on return
ing, stated that the ships were then opposite to a bay called
Pensacola, where three hundred Spanish had recently settled
(I) See Second seriea- of Maple Leaves.

10

D IBERVILLE.

in anticipation of French settlers. On the 31st January,
d'lberville, whose ship had outsailed the other to reconnoitre
the coast, anchored at the south-east of the eastern point of
the river Mobile, which runs parallel with the Mississipi. On
the 2nd February, he landed on an island close to it, and four
leagues round. It had then a harbor tolerably commodious,
which has since been obstructed by sand. D'lberville called
it Massacre Island, from having noticed towards the south
west point, a large quantity of human heads and bones. From
Massacre Island, whose narae was soon to be changed lo that
of Dauphin Island, the great mariner crossed over to the main
land, and having discovered the river Pascagoula, he left it, in
corapany with his young brother de Bienville, then an ensign,
and forty-eight men, in two long boats, carrying provisions
for twenty days, to find the Mississipi, of which the aborigines
had made raention to him under the name of the Malbouchia,
and the Spaniards, under that of the Palisade river. He entered
the mouth of the river on the 2nd March. In prosecuting his
discovery, d'lberville arrived at the village of the Bayagoulas,
composed of seven hundred huts, amongst which could be
distinguished the temple of these savages, filled with smoked
furs, offered to propitiate their fantastic gods. The French
discoverer ascended as high as the Oumas, where he began seri
ously to doubt whether it was the Mississipi. However a
letter, found by an Indian chief in a tree, handed to his
brother de Bienville, soon dispelled all doubts on this point.
It was dated April, 1683, and bore this address : — cc To mon
sieur de la Sale, Gouverneur de la Louisiane, de la part du
Chevalier de Tonti. » Tonti had, in his fruitless search of La
Sale, deposited this letter in the hollow of a tree. D'lberville
re-assured, then sojourned in the Bay of Biloxi, situated bet
ween the Mississipi and Mobile rivers ; built a fort there where
he left de Bienville as his lieutenant, and then returned to
France in January. On the Sth January, 1700, d'lberville
returned to Biloxi. In 1 706, he got together a small squadron
and attacked the English island of Nevis, and captured it. On
the 9th July, 1706, this successful sea-captain died at Havana,
whilst commanding the vessel Le Juste. The eldest of the

THE CID OF NEW FRANCE. H
brothers, de Bienville, had been killed in an attack on a fort.
Maricourt, an ensign, was burnt to death in a house with forty
French, in 1704, by the Iroquois. De Serigny and the second of
the de Bienville brothers, died whilst coraraanding vessels. De
Longueuil, the eldest brother, died in 1718, Governor of Mon
treal. In 1722, when the East India Company laid the found
ation of New Orleans, on the banks of the Mississipi, to be the
centre and capital of Louisiana, it was a son of de Chateau
guay who was second in command in this vast country which
had originated so many bright dreams. After serving at Mar
tinique, he was Governor of Guyanna. The Treaty of Utrecht,
in 1713, had deprived the French of Hudson Bay, Newfound
land, and Acadia. To compensate this loss, they immediately
set about to colonize Cape Breton, called He Royale, where
they founded Fort Dauphin, Port Toulouse, Nerika, and chiefly
Louisbourg, and her arsenal. De Chateauguay, junior, was
called, — from 1745 to 1747, when he died — to defend this
key to Canada, and did so successfully.
cc Thus, )) concludes Guerin, cc from the Gulf of St. Lawrence
to that of Mexico, from equinoctial France to New France,
continued to shine with undimmed splendour, probably the
most glorious family which ever existed in the French colo
nies.)) D'lberville had thus closed at Havana his brilliant career,
after gathering laurels at Quebec, on the frozen shores of
Hudson's Bay, on the coast of Acadia, in the Mississipi, at
New Orleans, and in the West Indies. Pierre Margry is then
justified in describing the illustrious Montrealer as cc Une
espece de Jean Bart Canadien. » Mr. Morgan has ably sum-
raed up d'Iberville's career in his work intituled cc Celebrated
Canadians. ))

DOLLAED DES OEMEAUX.
THE CANADIAN LEONIDAS.
1660.
The memories of brave deeds — of sacrifice of self for the
general good ; instances of extraordinary endurance for some
noble end, whilst they challenge the admiration of the
patriotic or the reflective man, afford wholesome teachings for
all. In placing them before the eye of an enlightened public,
no apology is needed.
The wave of time, for twenty-three centuries, has rolled
over the feat of the champions of Thermopylse : has the deed
lost aught of its fragrance ? My friend ! My fellow-toiler, all is
not hollow — a sham — a lie here below !
The lion-hearted crusader, Richard of England — the Suisse
patriot Tell — the Maid of Orleans, or she of Saragossa, will be
reraerabered with respect, nay with veneration, so long as brave
raen, so long as heroic woraen shall endure — beacons from
above hghting up this dismal vale of sorrow — heaven born,
lasting witnesses to some of the noblest instincts the Deity has
implanted in the huraan breast.
Elsewhere, we took pleasure to state, with a feehng not
unraingled with pride, that the early history of our own
country exhibited several of these traits, which men delight to
honor. Let us now unveil in a few words, the career of a
youthful Canadian hero, as yet but httle known to farae.
Fellow countrymen, keep fresh his meraory !
To our raind, the whole story of the chivalrous coraraander
of the Montreal garrison in 1 660, whose name prefixes this
sketch, reads more like one of those thrilling romances pecu
liar to the era of the crusades, than anything else we know of
in Canadian annals.

14 BOLLARD DES ORMEAXIX.
Though the records of beleaguered cities occasionally depict
cases of despairing but dauntless men rushing to certain death
to snatch trembling mothers, chaste wives — tender infants from
the edge of the sword, we seldom read of a youth coolly and
premeditatively — without the spur of imminent danger —
cheerfully resigning all which makes life attractive : position,
nay existence itself, sacrificing all to a mere sense of duty.
Nor are we called on here, to comlemplate a mere transient,
impulsive act of devotion suggested by extraordinary peril, or
the offspring of high wrought feeling. It is a rarer spectacle
which awaits us : it is the reflection of mature age in youth ;
the earnest young christian, who, ere he steps forth of his own
accord, towards that mysterious land of shadows, beyond the
grave, deliberatively settles all his sublunary affairs, solemnly
raakes his peace with his creator and his fellow-men, and then
quietly and with much afore thought, at the head of compa
nions as intrepid, as devoted as himself, binds hiraself and them
by a fearful vow, such as in his opinion, the welfare of his
country requires — cc not to take, nor grant, any quarter. )) All
this and more do we find in the act of the youthful coraraander of
the Montreal garrison in 1660 — Dollard des Ormeaux. Though
noted by Ferland, it is specially to the abbe Faillon (1), we are
indebted for acquainting us so minutely with the history of the
gallant youth, aged then twenty-five years, whose name still
clings to the street, he once inhabited (2). The elaborate His
toire de la Colonie Frangaise en Canada, or rather the history of
(1) Histoire de la Colonie Frangaise en Am4rique. Vol. II, P.
(2) " Does any one whose business does not call him daily along St. James
street, know where Dollard street is ? And of those who do know that it is bounded
atone end by the Witness office, and at the other by a saloon, how many know after
Whom it is called, if after any one at all ? Most people think it is a misprint for
Dollar. Such is fame. A dirty narrow lane, frequented by gaming newsboys
and an entry in the parish register of 1660 are all that remain to remind us f
Adam Dollard, sieur DesOrmeaux, better known as Daulao.
The early history of Montreal is as full of romance, of suffering, and of h
achievement as the most sensational could desire. These deeds are far K
authenticated, too, than the legends of the Draohenfels, or the tales of »., ^'"
"^ prowess of
the Crusaders. Only it is not the thing to weep or thrill over the achievement
a handful of emigrants who, two hundred years ago, were scalped andmassao
and burned alived within gunshot of St. Catharine street. We reserve such t '
butes for the woes of the creations of Miss Braddon or Mrs. Henry Wood. (Allid \

THE CANADIAN LEOWIDAS. 15
the celebrated order of Sulpiciens, in Canada, to which the learn
ed abbe belongs, is certainly a historical monument of which
Montreal may well be proud : the abbe Faillon has compiled
the details he furnishes about Dollard des Ormeatjx, from the
history of Montreal by Dollier de Casson ; Les lettres de la
Mere del' Incarnation; from the Relations des Jesuites and from
the Regislres des baptemes, mariages et sepultures, for 1660.
It is not then a romance which is here presented to the
reader, but a plain, unvarnished tale of christian heroism, of
which Montreal was once, the theatre.
In order to understand thoroughly, the precarious footing of
French Colonists at Montreal in 1660, it is necessary to farai-
liarize one self, with its his history, since its foundation in
1642, and for several years later on.
The annalist can note year after year the struggles, some
times the bloody defeats, oft' the merciless revenge suffered or
inflicted, by the pent-up, despairing colonists : the blood
thirsty Iroquois had vowed to exterminate the last of the pale
faces who came from beyond the sea ; they very nearly succeed
ed. A constant slate of warfare-^ambushes by day — raidnight
raids : such were the ever-recurring incidents which marked
the existence of the sparce population. At page 123 of the
second volume of the history, the Abbe tells how the alarraed
residents scaicely ever left the Fort unarmed, not.even on the
Sabbath, to attend to their devotions.
On Sunday, the 18th May, 1651, four colonists were sur
prised between the Fort and Pointe St. Charles, on their re
turn from the raorning service. Overwhelmed by the savages,
they took refuge in a rude redoubt, and commenced firing so
briskly on their pursuers that the crack of their muskets at
tracted the notice of the people of the Fort. Out ran a stout
hearted fellow, named Urbain Tessier dit Lavigne to their
relief ; and although sixty shots were aimed at him frora the
distance, he escaped them all. M. de Maisonneuve, tbe Gov
ernor, immediately sent reinforcements to the besieged, and
after a sharp skirmish, in which thirty savages bit the dust,
the rest retired to the shades of the forest. Some years pre
viously, directions had been issued that no man should leave

16 DOLLARD DES ORMEABX.
the Fort singly, and that those tilling the soil should return
each day in a body, well-armed, within its walls, at the sound
of the bell. Various were the artifices employed, says Dollier
de Casson, to abate the Iroquois nuisance. The Governor
soon saw that the days of his colonists were numbered, if
these savage beasts of prey were allowed to roam any longer
round the settlement. They must he got rid of. The inhabi
tant of Bengal beats the jungle for tigers and lions ; the
French colonists must beat up the thickets and woods round
Montreal for foes as merciless — the skulking Iroquois. Mastiffs
were brought out from the mother-country, and battues organ
ized. These sagacious animals were broken in to hunt for
the savages, and Father Lalemant tells of a remarkable mas
tiff slut, called cc Pilot, )) who, in 1647, used to lead to the
woods a htter of fierce pups, and took a ramble each raorning
in the under-brush, scouring carefully every bush round the
Fort ; if she noticed any of her whelps' shirking his work, she
would worry and bite him. It was wonderful, says the sarae
writer, to witness her return frora the hunt, baying fiercely
when she had discovered a marauding savage, to proclaira the
presence of danger. Nor could you have said of her, what
Coleridge wrote of Sir Leoline's dog :
 A toothless mastiff, which
From her kennel beneath the rock
Maketh answer to the clock
Four for the quarters, and twelve for the hour 1
Ever and aye, by shine and shower
Sixteen short howls, not over loud ;
History tells of the ardor of the Montreal Nimrods of that
day, to bag the big game, and how often they used to go to
Governor d'o Maisonneuve asking him beseechingly, « Shall we
then never be allowed to go and hunt our foes ? )) You read
next the animated description of one of these hunts, or fights •
a party, headed by the Governor himself, and by M. D'Aille-
boust, against fhe Iroquois. The unfortunate but spirited
colonists barely escaped annihilation in this skirmish, and it
did SQem at one time likely that the scalp of M. de Maison
neuve would shortly grace the belt of a famous chief, bent or

THE CANADIAN LEONIDAS. 17
capturing his fleet Excellency. However, when escape
appeared hopeless, brave de Maisonneuve drew a pistol on his
pursuer, and fired ; it flashed in the pan, and the colony was
nearly lost ; but, recovering himself, he drew another pistol,
and shot the red- skin dead ; and the colony was saved.
In those days the country round Montreal certainly swarmed
with this sort of game ; its Nimrods were just as spirited as
those of the present day,: the dogs, of sure scent, and the
quarry, wary and wild, amidst impenetrable forests. Times
are changed now ; elegant villas, fragrant conservatories,
landscape gardens, adorn the green slopes of the Royal Mount,
which once resounded to the war whoop or expiring groan of
the lithe savage. Peaceably inclined are the royal successors
of this warlike M. de Maisonneuve : on his hunting grounds
now stands the great metropolis of Canadian trade. They
were fiery hunters, the men of 1660, spreading with their
mastiffs araidst the thickets, perhaps to the joyful nutes of the
French horn, or carolling a hunting-song:
II passe, il passe, le clairon du Roi, mesdames.
These sturdy Nimrods, subjects of the Grand Monarque,
^are replaced by a milder race. Out of tbe same thickets, on
a fine September morning, two centuries later, you may have
seen equally spirited dogs issue with a band of gaily dressed
vand well-mounted sportsmen ; Messr.s. Davidson, Alloway,
Lorn McDougall, Thorne, Rimmer, Crawford et alii. But fear
them not ; you might with impunity confront them in full
Indian dress, and wearing as man plumes in your hat as the
proudest Iroquois chief ever bore. You are perfectly safe,
unless taken for a fox.
Sporting reader, forgive our digression. We have told you
of the scenes of blood with which our fathers were so familiar.
Their fiery disposition had grown with danger ; on the
authority of Abbe Faillon, we can say that even the sa\'-
ages were impressed with awe when dealing with theni ;
the Iroquois cadet was gravely told to beware of these
men whom they called «.desdiabks,i> nor to presume to
attack them, uhiess weU prepared for a fight.
2

18 DOLLARD DES ORMEAUX.
The savages were increasing each year in numbers ana
audacity. In the year 1658 and 1659,"they bad been cons
piring secretly. About a thousand of them had resolved, by
a coup de main, to strike terror at the same time at Montreal
and at Quebec, of which latter place M. d'Ailleboust, the
Governor was to be beheaded. Some inkhng of the dark
deeds in contemplation had spread amongst the helpless and
sparce population of the valley of the St. Lawrence. "Those
residing under the cannons of Fort St. Louis, at Quebec, were
safe ; but what hope was there for the unfortunate peasant
outside of Quebec? The dismay had become very great;
public prayers had been offered in the churches. Nor was
the excitement in the Montreal district at all less. Unless
Providence specially interposed, the colony was threatened
with utter ruin.
These reflections had occured to every colonist. None had
pondered over them raore earnestly than the young Com
mander of the Montreal garrison, Dollard des Ormeaux, called
by some historians Daulac. Though of French origin, he was
intimately acquainted with Indian warfare, and came to the
conclusion that a blow struck at the proper time might disor
ganize the machinations of the enemy, and gain delay until
the reinforcements arrived from France. He thought that an
ambush might be planed ; that a sraall party of good marks
men j. such as Montreal then could provide, in a very short
time might, by taking advantage of the ground, slay so many
of the enemy, that a precipitate flight would take place,
before the Montreal Indians could join their forces lo those of
the Quebec and Three Rivers settlements. The plan, though
it savored a little of desperation, when tbe number of com
batants on both sides were compared, had much to recommend
it. By the latter end of May, 1660, Dollard had succeeded in
working up the enthusiasm of the Montreal youth to the same
pitch as bis own. Sixteen promised to follow where their
commander would lead, provided tbe Governor of the colonv
M. de Maisonneuve, approved of the expedition. One, how
ever, reconsidered his determination, and did not go.' Th
remainder made their wills, received the last rites of th

THE CANADIAN LEONIDiS. 19
church, and took, in presence of fhe altar, a vow to fight until
death or victory crowned their career, without sueing for, or
granting, any quarter.
Several other colonists, such as Major Larabert Closse, Picote
de Belestre, Charles LeMoyne, also offered their services for
this important expedition. They, however, were of opinion
it might be delayed until the corn-fields were sowed ; but to
a raind constituted like Bollard's, delay was impossible, and
the miraculous escape from death of these three latter brave
and indispensable men showed, as the Abb6 Faillon remarks,
that the hand of Providence was there. Montreal could not
have afforded to lose such colonists. Had the spirited com
mander deferred the departure of the expedition, as he was
requested to do, the 500 Iroquois, who had ensconced them
selves at the islands of the River RicheHeu, would have had
time to be joined by the 500 savages who were coming down
the Ottawa, and the blow would have fallen on Three Rivers
and Quebec. The brave warriors launched their canoes on
the waters of the great river. They met the enemy sooner
than they expected, and seera to have closed with them at the
lie St. Paul, close to Montreal. The first encounter took place
on the 19lh April, 1660, the Europeans having the better of
the fight, but losing three of their party, viz., Nicholas Duval,
Blaise Juillet dit d'Avignon, and Mathurin Soulard, — the two
latter having been drowned in the attack. The savages took
to the woods, leaving behind an excellent canoe, which Dol
lard subsequently put to good use.
This brilliant hand-to-hand fight produced a good effect at
Montreal, and the recusant colonists who had left Dollard at
the beginning, returned to fight under him. They were
detained eight days at the end of the Island of Montreal, at a
rapid which they had to cross. They crossed, however, and
on the 1st May, they were at the foot of the Long Sault, on the
Ottawa, eight or ten leagues higher than the Isle of Montreal,
and lower down than the Sault de la Chaudiere. Dollard there
discovered a small fort, which the Algonquins, the fall preced
ing, had built with pickets. There they decided to raake a
stand. They were then reinforced by tour Algonquin and

20 DOLLARD DES ORMEAUX.
forty Huron Indians, the flower of the tribe, who had marched
up from Quebec during the winter, intending to attack the
Iroquois when returning from their hunting grounds. These
warriors had obtained a written authority from M. de Maison
neuve, Governor, to take part in the campaign, unwilling
though he was to grant it. Nor had they long to wait for the
returning Iroquois canoes. The French strengthened as
much as possible their pallisades, with earth and branches,
and valiantly repulsed the first assault. The Iroquois' ferocity
increase with each repulse. Their numbers allowed thera to
invest closely the rude fort, to burn the canoes of the French
and to prepare torches to burn the fort ; but, finding all
their plans frustrated, they sent a deputation to the 500 Iro
quois caraped on the Richelieu.
But there was, inside of the fort, an insidious enemy, more
to be feared than the blood-thirsty Iroquois. The water failed,
and thirst soon troubled the beleaguered Montrealers. By
dint of boring, they came to a small gush of rauddy water, in
sufficient to alley their thirst. They had, under the fire of
these insurgents, to go and fetch water frora the river close
by. The Iroquois, seeing their straits, look occasion to re
mind the Hurons of the uselessness of their defence, and that,
unless they surrendered, they would be so closely invested,
that they would die of thirst and hunger. These savages
decided to surrender in a body. All did, except their cou
rageous chief, Anahontaha, who, on seeing their deterraina-
tion, seized a pistol, and attemped to shoot his nephew, who
was araongst the fugitives. The fort contained in all, Ana
hontaha,. the four Algonquins and their chief, and the French.
Soon the four hundred Iroquois arrived from the Richelieu
encampment, and during three days a new attack was made
every hour, but unsuccessfully. The eneray then tried to fell
some large trees, in order that, by their fall, they might in
commode the dauntless garrison. Some prodigies of valor at
last induced the Iroquois to believe that the garrison must be
more numerous than they had been led to credit ; they delibe
rated whether it would not be better to raise the siege ; and
a detachment having come closer than usual to the redoubt,

THE CANADIAN LEONIDAS. 21
the garrison received thera with such a murderous fire, that
they were again completely routed. On the eighth day, the
Iroquois were meditating their departure ; but, on being as
sured that the fort only contained seventeen French and six
Indians, they thought that, should they, with their overwhel-
raing numbers, give up the contest, it would reflect eternal
sharae on Iheir character as warriors. They then resolved
to die to the last man, at the foot of the fort, or conquer.
Accordingly, in advancing, they took to cutting junks of
wood, which they carried in front of their bodies — a rude
species of helmet, ball-proof. The French muskets, well-
airaed, mowed thera down by the dozen ; but nurabers re
placed the fallen warriors, bent on escalading the redoubt ;
and Dollard saw that in a few minutes the sword and the axe
must be his last resort, before the close of an unequal con
test, the issue of which could not be much longer doubtful :
so, loading to the muzzle a large blunderbuss, and retaining in
his hand the fusee, he attempted to let this instrument of des
truction fall in the midst of the carnage, hoping that, by its
sudden explosion, it might terrify the enemy. As bad luck
would have it, the branch of a tree intervening, it fell inside
of the redoubt, and spread death araongst the exhausted gar
rison. The eneray, taking courage from this incident, charged
afresh. Dollard received his death-blow, but despair firing
the expiring effort of the remainder, all seemed deterrained
to sell dearly their lives ; and with the sword or axe, each
man flinging himself in the rael^e, struck unceasingly, until
he fell. The Iroquois, collecting their courage for a final
assault, rushed on, and, bursting open the door of the redoubt,
crowded in, when the few survivors, plying well and fatally
their hunting-knives, were raassacred to the last raan. Euro
peans, and their Indian allies, all behaved nobly.
The news of the carnage was taken to^ Montreal by some of
the Hurons who had surrendered in the beginning. The num
bers of dead Iroquois left on the battle-field, and the severe
lesson they thus received, made thera return hastily to their
own country.
Thus fought and perished seventeen of the bravest men of

22 DOLLARD DES ORMEAUX.
Montreal, in 1660, as the Abbe Faillon correctly remarks,
without that incentive to heroism, the hope of imraortalising one
self, which spurred on the Grecian or Roman warrior in his
career of glory. They could count on no poets, no historians, to
commemorate the brave deed ! The devotion ofthe Christian,
the spirit of the soldier, alone animated these French colonists,
it was by mere chance that their glorious end was made
known to their fellow-colonists.
The parish Register of the Roman Catholic Church of Ville-
Marie (Montreal), furnishes the names and ages of these
seventeen heroes, as follows ; —
Adara Dollard (sieur des Orraeaux), aged 25 years ; Jacques
Brassier, aged 25 years ; Jean Tavernier dit la Hochetiere,
aged 28 years ; Nicholas Tilleraot, aged 25 years ; Laurent
Hebert dit la Riviere, aged 27 years ; Alonie de Lestres, aged
31 years ; Nicolas Gosselin, aged 25 years ; RoberLJuree,
aged 24 years ; Jacques Boisseau dit Cognac, aged 23 years ;
Louis Martin, aged 21 years ; Christophe Auger dit Desjardin,
aged 26 years ; Etienne Robin dit Desforges, 27 years ; Jean
Valets, aged 27 years ; Rene Doussin, soldiers, aged 30 years ;
Jean Lecorate, aged 25 years ; Simon Grenet, aged 25 years ;
Francois Crusson dit Pilote, aged 24 years ; Anahontaha, Hu
ron chief ; Metiwemeg, Algonquin chief ; and then their fol
lowers, &c. : Nicholas Duval, Mathurin Soulard, and Blaise
Juillet, who died in the first skirmish near Montreal.

DE BEEBCEUr AND LALEMANT.
THK SHORES OF LAKE SIMCOE.
(1649.)
I sing the men who left their home.
Amidst barbarian hordes to roam,
Who land and ocean crossed, —
led by a load star, marked on high
By Faith's unseen, all-seeing eye —
To seek and save the lost ;
Whereer' the curse on Adam spread,
Te caU his offspring from the dead.
(MONTGOMEBT.)
The Indian missions, (1) which formerly existed in the
neighborhood of Lake Simcoe, will be ever memorable, as
furnishing to the historian the materials for one of the most
thrilling pages of the early history of the colony: indeed, it
may be safely asserted, that nowhere on this continent has
christian heroism shone with brighter lustre. The reader is
doubtless aware that many of our early raissionaries have
sealed their faith with their blood. Foremost in this devoted
band, stand out two men, distinguished alike by birthand by
the extraordinary amount of physical suffering 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 raen, is equally creditable to Canada, to Christianity and to
manhood. Let us watch them leaving behind t^he gaieties of
(1) According to recent researches, the St. Ignaee mission would have been in
the township of Medonte ; the St. Louis mission in the township of Tay. Until
recently, there existed ruins of the St. Mary mission, on the banks of the River
Wye. The present village of Coldwater must be in the vicinity of these ancient
Huron missions. All these localities, according to Mr. Devin's map of 1859, must
b« included in the county of Simcoe.
See Bressani, page 304, for several interesting details about Nicholas Vie! —
Jean De Breboeuf — Anne de Noue — Antoine Daniel — Chs. Gamier — Isaac Jo-
guee — E^n4 Menard — NoSl Chabanel — Gabriel Latemant.

24 DE BREBOEUF AND LALEMANT.
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 joyous-
message, — with privation and suffering as a certainty before
them, and generally a horrible death as the crowning reward :
perchance, the spectable of self-sacrifice may still awaken an
echo, even in an age in which selfishness and the almighty
dollar, seem to rule suprerae.
Gabriel Lalemant was born in Paris ; sorae of the raerabers
of his family had attained erainence at the French bar ; he
himself, had discharged for several years the duties of a pro
fessor 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 never hesitated
when a porfajre oc-cured, to carry, unassisted, the travelling
canoe heavily laden, accomplishing also, with ease, a variety
of other feats indicative of extraordinary muscular strength r
the Hurons would look with awe on the blackrobed 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 faraily
sprung the English house of Arundel.
In 1648, these two raen undertook the spiritual charge of
the five missions or residencies in the Huron country, on
Matcbedache Bay, near Lake Simcoe : these five settlements
were but a few miles apart from each other. A deadly hatred
at that time existed between tbe Hurons and Iroquois or five
nations. 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.

THE SHORES OF LAKE SIMCOE. 25
unperceived, some three hundred miles. On the 16lh March,
1649, they had arrived in the neighborhood of the St. Ignaee
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 coraraenced. Operations had
proceeded so noiselessly, that the place was in possession of
the eneray before the garrison had time properly lo provide
for its defence : this was owing to the few warriors left in
charge, the bulk having gone up on a distant hunt and war
expedition. The assailants lost hut ten raen: raostly all the
inmates were scalped, these were the best off ; horrible tor
tures 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 coraplete nudity. The
tidings they brought created the utmost consternation : close
on iheir heels tbe blood thirsty Mohawk 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 sur
rounded it. Eighty stout Hurons rushed to the palisades to
conquer or die. They actually succeeded in repelling two
attacks and in killing thirty of the foe, but overpowering num
bers prevailed. With axes the besiegers cut down the stakes
or palisades, rushed through the breach. An indiscri
minate 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 com
rades. Some few had fled from the St. Louis fort, in which
Laleraant and De Breboeuf were located : they were not the
men lo fly from death. De Brebojuf's herculean form might be
seen close to the breach, admonishing the fallen warriors how
to die, and encouraging them in their last raoraents. Both were
seized and raarched prisoners to the St. Ignaee settleraent.
Scouts were immediately sent out to ascertain whether the St.

26 DE BREBOEUF AND LALEMANT,
Mary's settlement could stand an assault. On their report
a war council decided on attacking it the next day ; amongst,
the inmates of this fort were some Europeans, who where
determined to sell dearly their lives. The Hurons then num
bering 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. Ignaee,
hurried to prepare the two missionaries to undergo the usual
tortures reserved to prisoners. De Breboeuf had previously
stated, on his arrival in the colony, that he expected to be soon
put to death, nor was he long kept in suspense ere he saw
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 slicks ; then a necklace
was raade of war-axes heated in the fire, and this was applied
round their neck. Bark thongs were also tied round thera, 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 hor
rible sufferings, Lalemant would raise his eyes towards heaven,
asking strength and courage to endure thera. De Breboeuf
seemed like a rock, perfectly insensible to pain ; occasionally
he moved his hps 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 Chrislian
giant, of a whole head taller than his torturers, would look
down on them ; even in his agony, he seeraed to comraand to
his executioners. The implacable savages then unbound Lale
mant, rauch younger and raore delicate than De Breboeuf ; he
threw hiraself or fell immediately, at tbe feet of his intrepid
colleague, praying earnestly to the Almighty for help. He
was then brought back and tied to his post, covered over with
birck bark, and soon became a mass of hving flame : the
isniell of blood awakening the ferocity of these cannibals, they

THE SHORES OF LAKE SIMCOE. 27
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 ; then, amidst horrible yells, they 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. Lale
mant was less fortunate ; life was not extinct till next day ; a
savage raore humane than the rest, put an end to his existence
by cleaving open his skull with his tomahawk ; at the departure
of the ennemy, the rautilated and charred remains of the two
missionaries were found, and christian burial given to them on
the 21st 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 it
remained in the Jesuits' College (now the Jesuits' Barrack,
Upper Town Market place), until the last of the order. Father
Jean Joseph Casot, ofSuiss descent, who died in 1800, presented
it a short time before his death, to the Religious Ladies of the
Hotel-Dieu Nunnery, where it can be seen to this day. Araongst
the nuraerous witnesses of the Gospel put to death by the
Indian tribes of Canada, none fell raore heroically than De
Breboeuf and Laleraant. (1)
(1) Vide, in Carver's Travels in America, in 1728, page 340, a remarkable
instance of cruelty.
See Bressani's Missions des Jesuites dans la Nouvelle France, from page 309
to page 319, for some curious and instructive data relative to the peregrinations
of those unlucky Hurons — once a powerful race amongst savages. After the
breaking up of the settlement hereinbefore described, on Lake Simcoe in 1649, we
find them, located under the very guns ofthe Chateau St. Louie, in 1658 ; knoched
about from post to pillow — tracked, persecuted and hunted by their impla
cable foes. In 1667, they founded four miles and a half from Quebec, the mission
of Notre-Dame de Foye, since corrupted into Village de Ste. Foi. On the 29th
December, 1693, they left the spot, for Ancienne Lorette, thus named from the Casa
Sancta of Loretto in Italy. Several years later on, they moved to the viUage called
Jeune Lorette, where their descendants still survive.

THE BELL OF SAINT-EEGIS.

FACT AND FICTION.
Let US tell of the peregrinations of the Bell- of St. Regis,
and see how some very airy fictions have becorae incorpo
rated with solid historical facts.
We shall not do our readers the injustice to suppose that
any one of them is not minutely conversant with all the parti
culars of the great Lachine raassacre, perpetrated by the
Iroquois (the allies of the New Englanders), on the 25th April,
1689, a few railes only frora the centre of the spot where now
stands the proud city of Mount Royal. The scalping, burning,
and diserabowelling of sorae 200 men, women, and children,
and the entire conflagration of their once happy homes, during
profound peace, and without a moment of warning, was cer
tainly a deed calculated to call down on the Indian tribes the
fiercest retribution, especially when it became known that these
hideous butcheiies where to have been repeated at Quebec and
at Three Rivers, to please their New England allies ; a con-
suramation which a merciful Providence alone averted. Ma
rauding excursions on both sides of the border were then, the
order of the day. One of the most remarkable expeditions of
these times was that of Rouville, undertaken shortly after the
Enghsh had ravaged, by fireandsword.thecountryofthe Abe-
naquis Indians. M. de Vaudreuil sent, during the winter of
1704, two hundred and fifty raen, under the command of Hertel
de Rouville, who, followed by his four brothers, bade fair to
replace his brave father, then too stricken in years to share
the dangers of such a service. The expedition ascended Lake
Champlain, and, by way of Onion river, soon struck Con
necticut river, which it followed over the ice until it reached
the habitation nearest to the Canadian border, Deerfield. This
place was surrounded by some outer works of defence, which
the snow covered, and Governor Dudley had placed there about

30 THE BELL OF ST. REGIS.
twenty soldiers to assist the inhabitants in defending them
selves. Rouville invested the place, unperceived, during the
night ofthe 29th February. Guards had been patrolling the
streets during that night, but had retired to rest towards
morning. Two hours before day-break, the French and their
Indian aUies, not hearing any stir, scaled the walls, and, des
cending into the settlement, surprised the inhabitants, rapped
in sleep. Little resistance was offered. Forty-seven persons
were slaughtered ; a large number of prisoners taken, and the
settlement given to the flames. A few raoraents after sunrise,
Rouville was retracing his steps towards the Canadian frontier,
taking with him one hundred and twelve prisoners. Pursuit
was organized against the spoilers, but without success. Rou
ville escaped, with the loss of three Frenchmen and some
savages, but he himself was wounded. The party was twenty-
five days returning ; their provisions were raerely the wild
animals they killed in the cha»e. The Rev. Mr. Williams,
Pastor of Deerfield, and his daughter, were amongst the pri
soners brought to Canada. Several of the young girls were
place in the Ursuline Convent at Quebec, and at Three Rivers.
Miss. Eunice Williams, daughter to the Pastor of Deerfield,
having subsequently married a christianized Iroquois, settled
at Sault St. Louis. (1) Such, the outline, fournished us by
historians, of this meraorable Canadian raid. But there are
some unwritten particulars of interest handed down to us, by
tradition, for instance : the peregrinations of the Bell of
St. Regis, or rather of Sault St. Louis. We find this incident
alluded to, in a correspondence, in the Erie Despatch, dated
« Massena Springs, 24th July, 1865 : » — « St. Regis contains
a sraall Catholic Church, on the Canadian side of the line,
built about the year 1700. When corapleted, the priest in
formed the Indians that a bell was highly important to their
worship, and they were ordered to collect fuuds sufficient to
purchase one. They obeyed,and the money was sent to France
for the purpose. The French and English were then at war
The beh was shipped, but the vessel that conveyed it, fell into
the hands of the English, and was taken to Salem in 1703.
(1) Ferland'3 History of Canada.

FACT AND FICTION. 3f
The bell was purchased for a small church at Deerfield, on the
Connecticut river, the pastor of which was the Rev. Mr.
Williaras. The priest of St. Regis heard of the destination of
his bell, and, as the Governor ot Canada was about to send an
expedition against the colonies of New England, he exhorted
the Indians to accorapany it, and get possession of the bell. »
The particulars of Ihe Rouville expedition are thengiven inthe
Erie Despatch. « The only house left standing at Deerfield was
that of Capt. Seldon, which the assailants themselves occu
pied after securing the prisoners. It was still standing near the
centre of the village, in 1850. The bell was conveyed through
the forest to Lake Champlain, to a spot were Burlington now
stands, and there they buried itwith the benedictions of Father
Nicholas, the priest of St. Regis, who accompanied them.
Thus far they had carried it by means of poles, upon their
shoulders. They hastened horae, and returned in early spring,
with horse and sledge, to convey the sacred bell to its desti
nation. The Indians of the village had never heard the sound
of a bell, and powerful was the impression on their minds,
when its deep tones, louder and louder, broke the silence of
the forest as it approached the village at evening, suspended
upon a cross-piece of timber, and rnng continually by the
delighted carriers. It was hung in a frame tower, separate
from the church, with soleran ceremonies. Some years after it
was reraoved to the tower of the church. The old bell was
cracked by some means, and last year it was sent to Troy,
N. Y., and the material re-cast into the new one which they
now have. »
To an inquiry, addressed by rae to the Rev. R. C. clergy
man of St. Regis aneni the bell, in order to reply to a ques
tion submitted by a member of the Historical Society of
Massachusetts (Mr. Davis), I have received the following
courteous answer : — « Saint-Regis, llth Nov., 1867.
«J. M. LeMoine, Esq., Quebec.
« Sir, — The history of the aforesaid bell is correct, with the
exception that it was brought back by the Indians of Sault St.

32 THE BELL OF ST. REGIS,
Louis, for which raission it was destined, and not to St. Regis.
Sault St. Louis is a village situate on the shore opposite to
Lachine. The version in favor of St. Regis was propagated in
the United States by a young lady who wrote a legend, in
verse, on this faraous bell. I have forgotten the narae of the
writer. The best proof that it could not be St. Regis is, that
St. Regis was founded in 1759 hy a Jesuit, with a party of
Indians from Sault St. Louis ; and that in 1704 it was but a
wilderness were the Indians came to hunt ; so that this bell
was conveyed to its place of destination, Sault St. Louis —
now known as Caughnawaga, which is a eorruplion forKakna-
waka, which means « The Rapids » — about 55 years before
the first settlements at St. Regis, « Yours truly, »
« (Signed) Frs. Marcoux, Ptre. »

The publication of these details brought to the front, a
Portland Antiquarian of note — Hon. Geo. N. Davis, who whilst
on a visit to Quebec in 1869, honored me with a call and sub
sequently investigated the story of the mysterious Bell ; the
result of his investigation, as communicated to the Historical
Society of Massachusetts, of which he was a members runs
thus : THE SAINT-REGIS BELL.
On the 29th of February, 1703 — 4, the town of Deerfield, in Massachusetts, was
sacked and burned by a party of two hundred French and one hundred and forty-
two Indians, unJer iMajor Hertel de Rouville, and one hundred and twelve men,
women, and children were carried into captivity, including the Rev. John Wil
liams, and his wife and children. A full account of this raid is given by Hoyt, in
his book on " Indian Wars, " published in Greenfield in 1824. In that book, as
I believe, appeared the first printed statement in relation to what has been since
commonly known as the story of the " Bell of St. Regis. " That story has since
'been the basis of many publications in poetry and prose, and has invariably been
led by my own inquiries as to its authenticity.
Hoyt, who is a perfectly honest and truthful historian, states that Buttice, a.
daughter of the Rev. John Williams, never returned from her captivity, but
married an Indian ; and he adds that " recently one ofthe great grandsons of Mr.
Williams, under the name of Eleazer Williams, has been educated by his friends
in New England, and is now employ^ed as a missionary to the Indians at Green
Bay, on Lake Michigan.' " Hoyt goes on to say as follows : —
" In a recent visit to Montreal and Quebec, Mr. Williams made some exertions
¦to secure documents relative to his ajncestors, particularly on his grandmother's

FACT AJSD FICTION. 33
side. ... He found a Bible, which was the property of his great grandfather, the
Rev. John WiUiams, in which is the date of purchase with his name ; also the
journal of Major Rouville, kept on the expedition against Deerfield in 1704, in
which he frequently mentions John Williams as ' an obstinate heretick. ' From
the journal, it appears that Rouville's French troops suffered extremely from a
want of provisions on the march to Deerfield, and were in a mutinous state when
they arrived before the place ; but were kept to their duty by the Indians, who,
from their greater facility in procuring game in the woods, and superior hardiness,
were faithful to the commander. Mr. Williams has also procured the journal of
the commanding officer on tho expedition against Schenectady, in 1690. These
journals were obtained at one of the principal convents, where copies weie re
quired to be deposited on the return of the commanders of parties, as well as
with the government. Mr. Williams states that when Deerfield was destroyed, the
Indians took a small church bell, which is now hanging in an Indian church in
St. Regis. It was conveyed on a sledge as far as Lake Champlain, and buried,
and was subsequently taken up, and conveyed to Canada. Mr. William's father
and other Indians at St. Regis, are well acquainted with the facts relating to the
bell, as well as the destruction of Deerfield. "
Hoyt adds in a note, " Communicated by Col. Elihu Hoyt, who recently con
versed with Mr. Williams. "
It will be observed that Hoyt, born in Deerfield, and always residing there,
does not suggest the existence of any tradition or record in Deefield, bearing upon
this subject ; nor does he appear to have seen the journals spoken qt by Eleazer
Williams. The evidence, traditional or documentary, existing in Deerfield in relation to
the matter, is fully and fairly stated in a letter dated Feb. 21, 1870, addressed to
me by Mr. George Sheldon, of Deerfield, who has devoted much time to the inves
tigation of the history of Deerfield, and whose statements are worthy of full credit.
He writes as follows : —
" This romantic legend, so often repeated, has at length come to be accepted
by most people as an historic fact. As a student of the early history of my native
town, the bell story has become to me a subject of intense interest. In the course
of my investigation, from a firm believer I became an utter sceptic, but at pre
sent am all out to sea. If there exists any satisfactory evidence anywhere, it
would seem it must be lodged in the old convents or churches in Canada. In ac
cordance with your desire, I will give some of the reasons for the lack of faith
which is in me. . . . While not one particle of evidence has been found (by me,
at least) to support the statement of Mr. Williams, on the other hand nothing
better than negative evidence has been found to disprove it ; but there is a good
deal of that. The town records, covering a period of twenty years before the
event, are complete, but give not the slightest hint that there was ever a bell in
town. Town and parish where then one. In the ' Redeemed Captive, ' a minute
narrative of the events of the assault, the march to Canada, and of the captivity,
and the repository of many refiections on the conditions of his church and people,
Mr. Williams gives us no hint that a bell ever summoned his flock to wership.
His son Stephen has left us another account of the same events, entering into par
ticulars, even more minutely than his father, and it seems almost impossible that
the bell from his father's church could have been conveyed by the party either on
poles or men's shoulders, or drawn upon a sledge, without so attracting hia
boyish notice as to leave some trace upon his journal ; but we get no hint from
him, though be was carried to St. Louis, and lived there long enough to learn the
language. 3

34 THE BELL OF ST. REGIS.
" Aaron Denio, who was born in Canada of parents captured by Rouville at
Deerfield in 1704, was a very prominent man, and lived to a good old age in the
town of Greenfield. Many stories are told of him to this day, but none of them
convey the faintest tone of a bell. Much is known and told of the Kellogg boys
and girls, who grew to be men and women amongst the Caughnawagas, and who
figure largely in the history of this part of the colony as officers and interpreters,
but not the faintest tinkle of the bell can we wring from them. There lives in this
town a bright, smart woman of eighty-eight years, with an astonishing memory,
who tells many stories of her grandmother, who was born less than thirty years
after the massacre, and whom she remembers perfectly ; but not the faintest
mu];mur of the bell is heard in them all.
" The church, at Deerfield, was square, with a four-sided roof, from the centre
of which sprung the centre belfry, which must have been fully exposed in every
direction j at a distance of about eight rods stood the house of Benoni Stebbins,
which was successfully defended to the last by a party of sharpshooters, and
several Indians and at least one Frenchman were killed by their fire. A party in
the belfry, it would seem, must be at their mercy. A service of such a peculiar
nature, iu the face of such imminent danger, could hardly have been accomplished
without leaving some mark on the traditions of the times, but none have been
discovered as yet. The field of inquiry, in this region, seems to be about ex
hausted ; and I earnestly hope that some interested antiquarian, qualified for the
work, will unearth those musty records, which are said to be deposited in convents
or churches in Canada, and set the matter at rest, one way or the other. "
In further illustration of the difficulties which the attacking party would have
found in carrying away an article so cumbrous as a bell, I annex a copy of a
petition, of which the original is to be seen in the Massachusetts Archives, with
the legislative order indorsed on the original paper.
To Ms Excellency the Governor together with the Son. Council and Mepresentatives
met in the Great and General Assembly at Boston, May 31, 1704.
The humble petition of Jonathan Wells and Ebenezer Wright in the behalfe of
the company who encountered the French and Indians at Deerfield, Feb. 29,
1704, sheweth :
1st. That we, understanding the extremity of the poor people at Deerfield,
made all possible haste to their reliefe, that we might deliver the remnant that
were left, and doe spoil on the enemy.
idly. That, beingjoyned with a small number of the inhabitants and garrison
souldiers, we forced the enemy outof town, leaving a great part of tkeir plunder
behinde them, and pursuing them about a mile and an halfe, did great execu
tion upon them. We saw at the time many dead bodies, and we and others did
afterwards see the manifest prints on the snow, where other dead bodies were
drawn to a hole in tbe river.
3dly. That the enemy being reinforced by a great number of fresh men, we
were overpowered, and necessitated to run to the fort ; and, in our flight, nine of
the company were slain, and some others wounded; and some of us lost our
upper garments which we had put off before in the pursuit.
ithly. That the action -was over, and the enemy withdrawn about fourscore rods
from the fort, before any of our neighbours came into the fort.
Wherefore we doe humbly supplicate the Hon. Assembly, that according to
their wonted justice and tbounty, ithey would consider the service we have done in
preserving many lives andmuch estate, and making a spoil on the enemy, the
hazzard that we run, the losses Te sustained, the afflicted condition of such as

FACT AND FICTION, 35
have lost near relations in this encounter, and bestow upon us some proportion
able recompence, that we and others may be incouraged upon such occasions to
be forward and active to repell the enemy, and rescue such as shall be in dis-
tresse, though with the utmost peril of our lives, and your petitioners shall
pray, &c. Jonathan Wells,
Ebenezer Weight,
In the name of the rest.
In the House of Representatives. Bead a first time, June 2, 1704.
Inthe House of Representatives, June 8, 1704.
In answer to the petition on the other side, —
Resolved, That the losses ofthe petitioners be made good, and paid out of the
publick Treasury to such as sustained them, according to their account herewith
exhibited, amounting to the sum of thirty-four pounds and seventeen shillings.
That the sum of five pounds be paids to each of the widows of those slain,
mentioned in the list annexed, being four in number.
And, although but one scalp of Indians slain by them is recovered, yet, for
their encouragement, that the sum of sixty pounds be allowed and paid to tha
petitioners, whose names are contained in the said list annexed as surviving, for
scalp-money, to be equally divided amongst them, together with all plunder
whereof they give account. James Converse, Speaker
Sent up for concurrence, June 9, 1704.
In Council.
Read and passed in concurrence. Isaac Addinqton, Secretary.
In following up this inquiry, it seemed important next to ascertain what evid
ence of the truth or falsehood of the story could be found at St. Regis. No long
investigation was needed there, as it appears that St. Regis did not exist in
1704, nor till some half century afterwards. Rev. F. Marcoux, now resident priest,
at St. Regis, fixes it in 1759. Rev. B. F. De Costa, in an article on the St. Regis
bell, in the " Galaxy " for January, 1870, fixes it in 1770. And Dr. F. B. Hough,
in his history of St. Lawrence and Franklin Countiee, states that the Indiana
from St. Louis settled there in 1760, and that their priest, Anthony Gordon, then
gave it the name of St. Regis. :
That these dates are not precisely correct, may be inferred from a letter which
is to be found in the Massachusetts Archives, which seems to be a translation
from an original letter by one T. R. Billiard. This letter, to which my attention
was first called by Mr. Sheldon, seems to fix the settlement of St. Regis as early
as 1754. To Monseigneur the Keeper of the Seals, Minister ofthe Marine.
MoNSEiONEUE, — The Iroquois Indians ofthe F-ills of St. Louis, near Montreal,
in Canada, are ofthe Iroquois Aghiers (Mohawks), who formerly left their coun
try to come and settle along the river St. Lawrence. Those of them that remained
in the place of their nativity presently came under the dominion of the English,
being in the neighborhood of Albany, while the others became the allies of the

36 THE BELL OF ST. REGIS.
French. As the people of tho two villages are relations, we have seen from timer
to time of those that were settled round Albany reunite with their brethren of
tho Fall of St. Louis. Mons. Duquesne, Governor- General of Canada, who per
ceived their inclinations, has always treated them with great kindness, and has-
privately engaged them to come and settle near him, knowing well, by expe
rience in the last war, that they were the only Indians to be feared on the side of
Fort St. Frederic and Lake Champlain.
A great number of them are determined in consequence of this, and it is im
possible the rest should stand out a great while. In the mean time,, the village of
the Fall of St. Louis being very numerous, is too much crowded ; and, moreover,
the quality of the land notpermitting them to push out further there because of
the marshy places that are throughout, several families of the Fall of St. Louis,-
with a great number of Iroquois Agniers, have desire to make a new settlement
in a place where the land was more fertile ; in the first place, for the convenience
of life ; and, next, to be out of the way of drunkenness, to which the nearness of
Mountroyal exposed them ; and the readiness of the French to sell tbem brandy,
notwithstanding the severe prohibitions of the Generals. Agreably to- this pro
jection, »they have made choice of a place in the King's territories, situated
towards ths south at the entrance of Lake St. Francis, half-way between the
mission of the Falls of St. Louis and that of the Presentatijn. As this' place ap
pears to have all the properties for making a solid and advantageous settlement
for the India-ns, I came here with them ; and it is actually th« mission which I
haye now the charge of, under the title of St. Regis. But as the Agniers desire
1^0 have the peaceable possession of said territory, I take the liberty to ask in their
name, —
1st, That they have granted to them the property of the territory lying south,
at the entrance of Lake St. Francis, between two rivers ; one to the north-east,
CAllod Nigentsiagoa ; the other south-west, called Nigentsiag^ j being in front
six leagues, comprising the two rivers, together with the islands that lie towards
the shore, for the said Indians to hold so long as their village shall there subsist,
upon condition that if the mission is dissolved, the said hands shall to the King.
2nd, That the Jesuites missionaries be authorized under the title of feoffees in
trust to make the partition of said land among the Indians, and- amicably decide
any controversies that may hereafter ensue relating to this matter ; and to ma
nifest that the said missionaries in no wise seek their own interest in this, they
desire it may be expressly prohibited both now and hereafter to make any grant
to the French, as likewise to reserve for themselves, the missionaries, in said
place any land for ploughing ; and then the distance of the French will take
ftway from the Indians the opportunity of copying their faults, and ruining them
selves with strong drink.
3rd, That you would please to favor the good dispositions of the Governor-
General by giving orders that they may have some assistance in this settlement,
advantageous, at the same time, to the interest of leligion and the good of the
colony. P. R. BitLUBD, Jeswite,
Missionary to the Iroquois of the Mission of St. Regis,
St. Regis, Deo. 7, 1754.
Under date of "St. Regis, Ist April, 1870, "' Rey. V. Marcoux favora mo with
information as follows : —
" I will farther add the tradition on the testimony of the most ancient inha
bitants of this place, of whom some are almost contemporary with the foundation

FACT AND FICTION-, 37
¦of fheir village in 1760, , . , that from 1760 down to 1835, there have been but
two bells in St. Regis ; one came from the Catholic Church of Fort Frontenac
(now King:^ton, Ontario), and was given to them, at their request, by one of tlie
first governors of Quebec, after the conquest ; the other was purchased at Albany
in 1802. These two bells, having been cracked, were carried to Troy, N.-Y., ih
18;S5, and re-cast into a single bell. This is tho tradition of St. Regis. "
It has more recently been stated, however, that the tradition, though untrue as
to St. Re^is, is in fact true of a bell which is hanging in St. Louis (now Caugh
nawaga), a place situated on the south side ofthe St. Lawrence, and about nine
miles above Montreal. In Hough's " History of St. La.wrence and Franklin
Counties, " published in 185^ the Statement is made as follows : —
" While on a visit to Caughnawaga in October, 1852, the author found in the
village a direct and consistent tradition of the bell, which is still used in their
church ; and among the records in the hands of the priest, a, mauusoript, in tho
French language, of which we shall give a translation. The bell is a small one,
and once possessed an inscription, which has been effaced. The legend purports
to have been found some fifteen years since in an old English publication, and is
regarded by the priest of the mission, Rev. Joseph Marcoux, who has for many
years resided th«re, as, in the main poi-nts, reliable. "
The Rev. Francis Marcoux, of St. Regis, has also expressed his full belief in
the existence and authenticity of the tradition as applied to the bell of St. Louis.
I am fully assured that the negative' evidence which I have produced is sufli-
cient to show that the tradition, if ever it existed, could have had no foundation
in trutli ; and I have as yet not discovered any precise and detailed evidence of
the existence of this story before the preparation of Hoyt's book, nearly fifty years
ago. The " legend, " of which i^r. Hough gives a translation, is calculated to cause
doubt rather than belief. It does not profess to be founded on tradition, but is
said to have been taken, some fifteen years before 1854, from au old English
book ; and Hoyt's book is the only one we know of, frora which its leading facts
could have been taken. This '* legend " describes the St. L^uis Indians, living
nine miles from the church bells of Montreal, as having never heard the sound of
a bell, and getting their first idea of its tones from the account of their priest, and
going out in procession to wreathe it with flowers, and overcome with rapture in
hearing it for the first time. It seems to be simply a magazine story, in which a
i'ew well-known historical facts are decked with the ornaments of fiction.
Strong circumstances of suspicion attach to the story as first published by Hoyt.
As published, it purported to come from Rev. Eleazer WiUiams, who, at the time
-ofthe publication, was a clergyman in good standing, whose statements of fact
¦would be likely to be received with implicit belief. There were, without doubt,
•certain defects and improbabilities in the story as he told it. He spoke of obtain
ing Rouville's journal, and another ofthe same kind, " from one of tbe principal
¦convents, were copies were required to be deposited on the return of the com
mander of parties. " I am informed by gentlemen accustomed to investigations
among Canadians records, (1) that they know af no convent where manuscripts of
that description were required to be deposited, or can now be found. He says that
De Rouville, in his journal, describes Rev. John Williams as an "obstinate
ieretick. " AlS De Rouville himself is described by Abbd Ferland (following
(1) One of these gentlemen is Mr.. J. M. Le Moine, of Quebec, who has given
•great attention to the early history of the Dominion, and to whose intelligent
dcindneas I am much indebted.

38 TBE BELL OF ST. REGIS.
Charlevoix) as a Huguenot, it is not probable that he would have used this par
ticular term of repnmeh. (1)
The additional fact that Williams fixed upon an impossible locale for the
resting-placo of the bell, raises a strong suspicion that he invented the whole
story. All that is known of Mr. Williams goes to confirm this suspicion. He could not
resist any temptation to mystify the public. At one time he came to » distin
guished antiquary, now living in New-York, and told, him that the priest's house
ih Caughnawaga had been left for some time untenanted, had been blown down by
a tempest, and that he had then discovered, in a recess thus revealed in a chim
ney, a number of Indian manuscripts, which he had taken away with him to-
Green Bay in Michigan. Inquiry was immediately instituted, and it was ascer
tained that the house had neither been left untenanted nor been blown down, and
that the whole story was fietiilous. In 185.3, very general attention was excited
by two articles published in " Putnam's Magazine, " asserting his claims to be
considered the son of Louis XVI. of France. In one of those papers appeared his
account of an interview with the Prinee de Joinville, in which the prinee waa
represented as making him large pecuniary offers if he would sign an instyument
releasing his claim to tbe throne of France. To this proposition, according to hi'»
own statement, he returned an indignant refusal. This statement, being brought
to the notice ofthe prinee, was publicly contradicted by him as " a work ofthe
imagination, " and " a speculation upon public credulity. "
Nothing, then, seems to me more likely than that Williams invented the alleged
tradition of the Deerfield or St. Regis bell j but, however originated, it seems
quite clear to me that the truth ofthe stoi-y is not sustained by the evidence now
known. (1) Since the above was written, however, I learn that a communication by Mr.
Faucher de St. Maurice has appeared in a Canadian, paper, in which it is claimed
that the De Rouvilles were, in fact. Catholics.

THE BAEON OF LONGUEIL.
" The names and memories of great men are the dowery of a nation. They are
the salt of the earth, in death as well as in life. What they did once, their des
cendants have still and always a right to do after them. " — Blackwood.
Facing Yille Mane, (1) on the spot on which now stands the
Longueii R. C, temple of Worship, there existed some two
hundred years ago^ a private individual's homestead to wit •
« a Fort supported by four strong towers of stone and mason
ry, with a guard house, several large dwellings, a fine church,
with a farm yard, a dovecot and a lurge retinue of servants,
horses and equipages all within tho area of such Fort. » This
is a show of affluence and strength rather unusual for a Cana
dian peasant of those rude limes.
It is not the dwelling and belongings of a peasant, but the
secure and magnificent abode of a Montreal grandee — one of
the bravest men of the period — one in fact, whose devotion to
his country, and prowess in war have caused to be styled by
old writers, the « Machareus of Montreal. »
Nor is the fame of this fighting colonist confined to Canada ;
the trumpet tongue of renown has proclaimed it on the
distant banks of the Seine ; an edict will go forth from the
Grandilfonarjue, transforming his loyal subject into a baron,
and his Fort and its massive stone towers, into a Baronial
Castle. Hence, the title of Baron of Longueii, conferred by
Louis XIV on Charles Le Moyne. Hence, the origin of the
curious ruins, which the famous antiquary Mr. Viger,
scanned more than once, and which the building of the
Longueii church has since obliterated.
The Canada of the past, had then its nobles ? Yea, but it
was a nobility of merit only.
A young barrister, snatched too soon from fame and friends^
thus embodied in verse, Canada's motto :
(1) Montreal's first name was Ville Marie.

40 THE BARON OF LONGUEIL.
" Sur cette terre encor sauvage
Les vieux litres sont inconnus ;
La noblesse est dans le courage,
Dans les talents, dans les vertus. "
F. R. Augers.
We are content to accept this motto.
True nobility shall consist, for us, in courage, talent and
virtue ; such, we consider the genuine guinea's stamp ; the
rest, is all plated ware, which once tarnished by um-
Avorlhy sentiments, not all the blue blood of all the Howards
shall rescue from contempt. No, not even the profound
peace and sense of security enjoyed for a cenlury under the
arm of a mighty and free po^^er, in these eventful times;
not even the gratitude towards a strong protector shall make
us willingly kneel to a title imrecommendedby merit or by vir
tue ; and slill Canada is essentially monarchical.
For a long tirae tocome, no community of feeling shall exist
between our republican neighbors and the majority of the
inhabitants of Lower Canada, alien in lace, religion and lan
guage.. Strong interest however, on our part and repeated
taunts from the mother country, may induce us the weaker
party lo cast our lot with the slroniier, our niighty neighbors.
On one point, the Lalin and the Teuton of Canada East do
seem to understand one another thoroughly, viz., in their esti
mate of monarchical ideas. They respect the sovereign, they
honor his chief men, the nobles — not men of pleasure such as
those with whom Louis XV, surrounded his throne and
oppressed his subjects, but honorable men such as Yictoria
and the English people are proud of; men 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 theEnglish as well as by the French ; who
are eulogized in lofty terms by men of commanding intellect,
suchasMontesquieu, Monlalemberl,Guizot, Chateaubriand (1).
(1) " The nobility of Great Britain is the finest modern society since the Ro
man Patriciate, " 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.

CANADIAN NOBILITY. 41
Merit is then the touch-stone whichon trial, wrung from these
briUiant writers the unqualified praise they bestowed on the
nobihty of old England.
Let us see whether we can apply this test to one of the
olde;£t and most honored names in our own history — we mean
that ofthe Baron de Longueii.
Informer times, too, we had bloody wars to wage ; merci
less foes existed on our frontiers ; the soil then found gene
rous 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 all they held dear : their homes, their
wives, their children. Has the stout race of other days dege
nerated, grown callous to what its God, its honor, its country
may command in the hour of need ? We should hope not. We
said the Baron de Longueii.
Who was the Baron de Longueii ? With your permission,
kind reader, let us peruse together the royal patent erecting
the seigniory of Longueii into a barony : it is to be found in
the Register of the proceedings of the Superior Council of
Quebec, letter B, page 131, and runs thus :
« Louis, by the Grace of God, Kingof France and Navarre, to
all present. Greeting : It being an attribute of our greatness andof
our justice to reward those whose courage and merit led them to
perform great deeds, and taking into consideration the services
which have been rendered lo usby the lale Charles LeMoyne, (1)
Esquire, Seigneur of Longueii, who left France in 1640 to
reside in Canada, where his valour and fidelity were so often
This estimate does not quite agree with that of the author of " Repre
sentative Men, " R.W. Emerson : " Twenty thousand thieves landed at Hastings.
These founders of the House of Lords were greedy and ferocious dragoons,
sons of greedy and ferocious 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 afar juster
conviction of their own merits, by assuming for their types, the swine, goat, j ackal^
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 spark of ornament dates back to the Norso boat. " — English Traits.
(1) He was nephew to the celebrated Surgeon Adrieu Duchesne.

42 THE BARON OF LONGUEIL.
conspicuous in the wars against the Iroquois, that our go
vernors and lieutenant-governors in that country em[)loyed
him constantly in every military expedition, and in every
negociation or treaty of peace, of all which duties he acquitted
himself to their entire satisfaction; — that after him, Charles
LeMoyne, 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 off by the
Iroquois when fighting near Lachine, in which combat seven
of his brothers were also engaged ; — that Jacques LeMoynede
Sle. Helene, his brother, for his gallHulry, was made a captain
of a naval detachment in a colonial corps, (1 ) 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 Moyne d'lberville, captain of a sloop of war, served
on land and on sea, and captured Fort Corlard in Hudson's
Bay, and still commands a frigate ; that Joseph Le Moyne de
Bienville, was commissioned an ensign in the said naval de
tachment, and was killed by the Iroquois in the attack on the
place called Repentigny ; that Louis Le Moyne de Chateau
guay, when acting as lieutenaut to his brother, d'lberville^
also fell in the taking of Fort Bourbon, in the Hudson's Bay ;
that Paul Le Moyne de Maricourt is an ensign in the navy, and
captain of a company in the naval detachmenl, acting in the
capacity of ensign to his brother d'lberville ; that, in carrying
out our intentions for settling Canada, the said Charies Le
Moyne, the eldest son, has spent large sums in estabhshing
inhabitants on the domain and seigniory of Longueii, which
comprises about two leagues in breadth ou the St. Lawrence,
and three leagues and a half in depth, the whole held from us
with haute, moyenne et basse justice, 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
(1) Troupes de la marine and troupes de la colonie, meant the same : the French
Minister of Marine had charge of both Departments.

CANADIAN NOBILITY. 43
cost, a fort supported by four strong towers of stone and ma
sonry, wilh 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 ofthe
said fort ; next to which stands a banal mill, a fine bi'ewery
of masonry, together with a large retinue of servants, horses
and equipages, the cost of which buildings amount t© 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 lo 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 considerations we have thought
it due to our sense of justice lo assign not only a title of honor
to Ihe estate and seigniory of Longueii, but olso 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 Moyne 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, raided
and decorated, and do create, erect, raise and decorate, by
the present patent, signed by our own hand, the said estate
and seigniory of Longueii, situate in our country of Canada,
into the name, title and dignity of a barony ; the same to be
p acefully and fully enjoyed by the said Sieur Charles Le
Moyne, his children and heirs, and the descendants of the
same, born in legitimate wedlock, held under our crown, and
subject to fealty {foi et hommage .avec denombremeni) according
to the laws of our kingdom and the custom of Paris in force in
Cnada, 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. ; tbat he shall enjoy the
right of arms, heraldry, honors, prerogatives, rank, preced
ence in time of war, in meetings ofthe nobility, &., hke the

44 THE BARON OF LONGUEIL,
Other barons of our kingdom— that the vassals, amereDassaua;,
and others depending of the said seigniory of Longueii, noble-
ment 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 held
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.
« Thus done at Versailles, the 27th January, 1700, in the
fiftieth year of our reign. « (Signed), Louis. »
We have here a royal patent; conveying in unmistakable
terms 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 Longueii family to the peaceable enjoy
ment of their honors are set forth so lucidly in the following
doowment, that we shall insert the manuscript in full ; — it
was written in Paris by an accomplished English gentleman,
M. Falconer.
« When I was in Canada, in 1842, a newspaper in Montreal, contained
some weekly abuse of the Baron Grant de Longueii, on account of his
assuming the title of Baron de Longueii. It appeared to me to be some
what remarkable that a paper which very freely abused people for being
republicans, and affected a wonderful reverence for monarchial institu
tions, 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 blameable, as the possession of that honor
by Baron de Longueii is connected with same historical events in which
«very Canadian ought to feel a pride, as being part of the history of his
country. 1 1 can of course only give a short note of the family of Longueii.
I In the early settlement of Canada, one of the most distinguished men
in the service of Government was Charles Le Moyne ; he was in the war

CANADIAN NOBILITY. 45
With the Iroquois, and contributed very materially to the pacification of
the country aud the defence of the frontier. He had eleven sons and two
daughters ; the names ofthe sons were —
list. Sieur Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueii. He wa.s Lieutenant
du roi de la ville el gouvernemeni de Montreal. He was killed at Saratoga,
in a severe action.
< 2n(i. Sieur Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Helene, born 16th April, 1&59,
borrowed his surname from the island opposite Montreal, which was, until
lately, part of the property of the family. He fell at the siege of Quebec, in
1690, aged 31 years and w^s hurried in the HoTEL-thEU at Quebec.
1 3rd. Pierre Le Moyne d'lberville, 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. In the same year the Marquis de Denonville made him com
mander of a fort, established in this expedition, and for his conduct in
this post he received the thanks of the Governor of Canada. In 1690, with
his brother, De Sainte-Helene, he attacked some Iroquois village, 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 llth April
of the same year. In 1694 he made an attack on Fort Bourbon, where his
brother, De Chateauguay, was killed — but the fort was taken. On the 21st
October, 1695, M. de Pontchartrain wrote to him a letter of commenda
tion. In 1696 he carried troops to Acadia. He visited France in 1698. He
left it with three vessels, in order to make a settlement in the Mississippi ;
he was the first person of European origin who entered the Mississippi
from the sea ; he ascended the river nearly one hundred leagues, esta
bUshed a garrison, and returned to France in 1699; in consequence of
this success, h^ was decorated with the cross ofthe order of Saint Louis.
In 1699 he was again sent to the Mississippi ; his instructions were dated
22nd Septempber ofthe same year, and directed him lo make 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 return
ed to France in 1702, and was made ' Capitaine de vaisseau. ' On July
Sth, 1706, he again sailed for the Mississippi, charged with a most impor
tant command ; but in 1706, on July 9th, this most distinguished dis
coverer and navigator died at Havannah He was born at Montreal, and
obtained an iipmortal reputation in the two worlds.
« 4. Paul Le Moyne de Marecourt, capitaine d'une compagnie de la
marine. He died from exhaustion and fatigue in an expedition against
the Iroquois (1).
(1) We read in Hawkin's picture of Quebec, page 139, that " Sir William
Phipp's flag was shot away by a French of^cer named Maricourt, and having
been picked up by some Canadians, was hang np as a trophy in the Cathedral
Church, where It probably remained until the capture in 1759. "
The picking up of it, led to an interesting swimming feet, performed in view of
the City of Quebec, most graphically described by our novelist Marmette, in his
novel, " Fbanoois db Bienvills-. "

46 THE BARON OF LONGUEIL.
I 5th. Joseph Le Moyne de Serigny, who served with his brother,
D'lberville, in all his na\;al expeditions ; we subsequently find him hold
ing a lieutenant's commission in the navy at Rochefort. (Died Governor
of Rochefort in 1734.)
1 6th. Frangois Le Moyne de Bienville, ofjicier de la marine. The Iro
quois surrounded a house in which he ami forty others were located, and,
setting fire to it, all except one perished in the flames, in 1691 ; died aged 25
yt-ars. t 7th. Louis Le Moyne de Chateauguay, o/Jicirr de la marine. He was
killed by the English in 1694, at Fort Bourboii — afterwards called by the
English Fort Nelson.
• Sth. Gabriel Le Moyne d'Assigny — died of yellow fever in St. Domin
go, where he had been left by his brother, D'lberville, 1701.
1 9lh. Antoine Le Moyne, died young.
I 10th. Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de 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 Roi a ta Louisiane, in the Government of the Colony. (Died
in Paris, in 1768, at the ripe age of 87 years.)
I llth. Antoine Le Moyne de Chateauguay, second of the name, Capi-
¦¦taine d'une compagnie de la Marine a la Louisiane. 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 government of their country, receiving in the
new colonics the honors and rewards of the King, who made no distinc
tion between the born Canadian and the European.
i.There were two daughters, sisters of the above ; the eldest married
Sieur de Noyan, a naval ofiicer, and the second, Sieur de la Chassagne.
i In a memorial of M. de Bienville, dated New Orleans, January 25th,
1723, after setting forth his services, he describes himself as Chevalier of
•the order of St. Louis, and Commander General of the Province of Louis-
ianna ; he states in it, that of eleven brothers, only four were then surviv
ing : Baron de Longueii, himself Bienville, Serigny and Chateauguay,
and that they had all received the cross of Knights of St. Louis.
I The patent creating the Seigniory of Longueii into a barony is dated
19th May, 1699. It relates that the late Charles Le Moyne, 'Seigneur of
Longueii, emigrated from France to Canada in 1640, and had highly dis
tinguished himself upon many occasions — that his son, Charles LeMoyne,
had borne arms from an early age, and that Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte
Helene, was killed by the English at the head of his company when Que
bec was attacked, by Sir William Phipps, (the ancestor of Constantine,
Henry Phipps, the late Viscount of Normanby), on which occasion, the
said Charles Le Moyne, leading on the Canadians, was also wounded. It
also names with honor D'lberville, De Bienville, De Chateauguay, De Ma
ricourt. The patent then states that on account of the services rendered
by the family, Louis XIV, had determined to give to the Seigniory of
Longueii, as well as to the said Charles Le Moyne himself, a title of honor,
in order that an honorable distinction should pass to posterity, and be an

CANADIAN NOBILITY. 47
object of emulation to his children to follo-w the example which had been
set to them. It therefore created and erected the Seigniory of Longueii
into a barony, to be enjoyed by the said Charles Le Moyne, his children
and successors, et ayant cause, and that they should enjoy the honorsi
rank and precedence in the assembly of nobles, as are enjoyed by other
barons of the kingdom of France.
• This patent is remarkable therefore for creating a territorial barony —
that is, whosoever possesses Longueii, either male or female, is entitled to '
the title and distinction of a baron of the kingdom of France. 1 had
some doubt if it was so, but submitted the case to a very eminent lawyer,
at Paris, who assured me that there can be no dispute on the subject.
1 There was another barony erected in Canada in 1671, in favor of Mr.
Talon, the Intendant ofthe Province : it was called ' La Terre des Islets, '
which I believe is at this time owned by some religious community. How
ever, I have pointed out above, the title which, under a monarchy, this
family has to distinction in Canada.
I 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.
I No person by the cession was deprived of any legal right. At Mal
ta, the titles of honor are respected, and the Queen recognizes them, in the
commissions issued in her. name in Malta. Whatever right French noble
men had in 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. Mississipi from the sea,
(La Salle having failed in this, though he reached the sea sailing down the
Mississipi), and also that the first and most celebrated Governor General
of Louisiana was a French Canadian. "
Here, ends' M. Falconer's ably written paper. We think he
has made out a case for qn old Norman house, who origin
ally descended from the Count of Salagne, en Biscaye, and
who enlisted on the side of Charles Yll, in 1428. This count
married Marguerite de la Tremouille, daughter of the Count
de Guines, and Grand Chambellan de France, one of the old
est famines of the Kingdom. Whether or not a fair case has
been made out, we must now leave to our readers to decide,
and we are wiUing also to accept for the house of Longueii (1)
the motto :
(1) The Baron de Longueii was succeeded by his son Charles, born 18th Octo
ber, 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 up
wards of fifteen children. The third Baron of Longueii was Charles Jacc[ues

48 THE BARON OF LONGUEIL.
" Sur cette terre encor sauvage
Les vieux titres sont inconnus ;
La noblesse est dans le courage,
Dans les talents, dans les vertus. "
Le Moyne, born at the Castle of Longueii, 26th July, 1724— he commanded tha
troops at the battle of Monongahela, 5th July, 1755. He was also made Cheva
lier de St. Louis and Governor of Montreal, and died whilst serving under Baron
Dieskau, as the Marquis of Vaudreuil states in one of his dispatches, the Sth
September, 1755, at 31 years of age, the victim of Indian treachery on the bor
ders of Lake George. His widow was re-married by special license, at Montreal,
on the llth September, 1770, to the Hon. William Grant, Receiver-General of
the Province of Canada ; there was no issue .from this second marriage, and on
the death of the third baron the barony reverted to his only daughter, Marie
Charles Josephte Le Moyne de Longueii, who assumed the title of bareness after
the death of her mother, who expired on the 25th February, 1782, at the age of
85 years. She was married in Quebec, on the 7th May, 1781, to Captain David
Alexander Grant, of the 94th, by the Rev. D. Francis de Monmoulin, chaplain to
the forces. Capt. Grant was a nephew ef the Honorable William Grant ; his son,
the Honorable Charles William Grant, was fourth baron, a member of the
Legislative Council of Canada, and seigneur of the barony of Longueii. He as
sumed the title of Baron of Longueii on the death of his mother, which event oc
cured on the 17th February, 1841. He married Miss N. Co£an,a daughter of Admiral
Sir Isaac Coffin, and died at his residence, Alwing House, at Kingston, Sth July,
1848, aged 68.' His remains were transferred for burial in his barony. The fifth
baron who assumed the title married in 1849, a southern lady, and now resides at
Alwing House, at Kingston. The house of Longueii is connected by marriage
with the Baby, De Beaujeu, Le Moines, De Montenach, DelanaudiSre, De
Gasp6, Delegorgendi^re, and several other old families in Canada.
" The race of Le Moyne de Longueii which had ceased to exist in Canada, stiU
survives in France, in the descendants of the two sons of the Governor of Roche
fort : Jean-Honor^ and Henri-Honor^ ; one of the grand sons, Am6d6 Honor^-
Ferdinand-Marie Le Mc^ne de Serigny, expired within the walls of his castle at
Luret in 1843. Two other grand sons of this hero still survive : Pierre-Augusta
Le Moyne, the Laird of a chateau in Perigord ; Joseph-Louls-Auguste, at La
Rochelle, an other member of this illustrious family, distinguished himself in tha
French expedition to Algiers in 1830. Charles Le Moyne de Longueii had two
daughters, Catherine Jeanne, who became the spouse of Pierre Payen, seigneur
de Noyan, capitaine dans le ddpartement de la Marine, and Marie-Anne who was
united iu wedlock on the 28th October, 1699 to M. Bouillet de la Chassagne,
Governor of Montreal, Chs. Le Moyne, appears to have been closely related to
Jean Le Moyne, the ancestor of the Le Moyne family of Quebec " (and of Chateau-
Richer.) (Jlistoire dee Ursulines de Quebec.')

THE HEEOINE OF YEECHERES.
"Whoever glances over the early annals of Canada, will be
struck with the romantic incidents which at every turn open
on the view : feats of endurance — of cool bravery ; christian
heroism, in its grandest phases ; acts of savage treachery, of
the darkest dye ; deeds cf blood and Indian revenge most
appalling ; adventurous escapes by forest, land, and flood,
•which would furnish material for fifty most fascinating ro
mances. No greater error ever was than that of believing that
few reliable records exist of the primitive times of Canada.
Had we not the diaries of Jacques Cartier ; the Routier of Jean
Alphonse deXaintonge; the Foj/ag'es of Champlain, Charlevoix,
Du Creux, Bressani, Sagard, Hennepin, LaPotherie, &c., we
still would have the Relations, and that admirable Journal of
the Jesuits^ written up, daybyday, for so manyyears, containing
such a minute record of every event which transpired in New
France. The Jesuits JowrnaZ and the Relations are likely to
reraain the fountain-head not only of early Canadian historj but
frequently of American History. One can readdy enter into the
meaning of one of our late Governors, the Earl of Elgin, who,
in one of his despatches to the Home Government, in speaking
of the early days of the colony, described them as « the heroic
times of Canada ; » the expression was as eloquent as it was
beautiful. There is but little doubt that our descendants will he
just as familiar with the beauties of Canadian history, as the
great bulk of the present generation are ignorant of them. The
gradual diffusion of knowledge ; the spirit of research and im
provement to which everything tends in the Dominion, mark
that period as not very far distant. D'lberville, Mile. De
Verch^res, Latour, Dollard des Ormeaux, Lambert Closse, may
yet, some day or other, under the magic wand of a Canadian
Scolt, be invested with a halo of glory as bright as that which
surrounds, in the eyes of Scotia's sons, a Flora Mclvor, a
Jeannie Deans, a Claverhouse, or a «Bonny Dundee. »
4

50 THE HEROINE OF VERCHERES.
However in order to fully understand the motives whicFif
prompted the acts of our respected French and English ances
tors, the reader must constantly have before him the hostile
doings and revolutions in the oW world. But more on this
theme hereafter.
Let us present to the readers view, one of the graceful fi
gures while marked one of the proudest epochs of Canadian
history, the era of Frontenac.
It will be remenbered that the Marquis of Tracy, in 1663^,
was escorted to Canada by one of the crack French corps of
the day — the regiment of Carignan. Four companies (some
600 men) were shortly after disbanded in New France : tbe
officers and privates were induced, by land grants and provi
sions, horses, and other marks of royal favour, to marry and
settle in the new world. One of the officers, M. de Ver-
cheres, obtained in 1672, on the St. Lawrence, where now
stands the parish of YerchereSy a land grant of one league in
depth, by one league in length. The following year, his do
main received the accession of He a la Prune and He Longue,
which he had connected by another grant of one league in
length. There, did the French officer build his dweUing, a kind
of fort, in accordance with the custom of the day, to protect
him against the attacks of the Iroquois. « These forts, » says
Charlevoix, «were merely extensive enclosures, surrounded
by palisades and redoubts. The church and the house of the
seigneur were within the enclosure, which was sufficiently
large to admit, on an emergency, the women, children, and
the farm cattle. One or two sentries mounted guard day and
night ; and with small field pieces, kept in check the skulking
enemy, warning the settlers to prepare, and hasten to the
rescue. These precautions were sufficient to prevent attack, »
— not in all cases, however, as we shall soon see.
Taking advantage of the absence of M. de Terch^res, the
Iroquois drew stealthily round the fort, and set to climbing
over the palisades ; on hearing which, Marie Magdeleine
de Terchferes, the youthful daughter of the laird seized a
gun and fired it off. Alarmed, the marauders slunk away ;
but finding they were not pursued, they soon returned and

THE HEROINE OF VERCHfeRES. 51
spent two days, hopelessly wandering round the fort with
out daring lo enter, as, ever and anon, a bullet would strike
some of them down, at each attempt they made to escalade
the wall. What increased their suprise, they could detect in
side no hving creature, except a woman ; but this female was
SQ intrepid, so active, so ubiquitous, that she seemed to be
everywhere at once. She never ceased to use her unerring
fire-arms until the enemy had entirely disappeared. The
dauntless defender of fort Yereh^res, wasM'lle de Yerch^res :
the brave deed was done in 1690.
Two years subsequently, the Iroquois, having returned in
larger force, had chosen the moment when the settlers were
engaged in the fields with their duties of husbandry, to pounce
on them, bind them with ropes, and secure them. M'lle Yer-
chferes, then aged nearly fourteen, was sauntering on the
banks of the river. Noticing one of the savages aiming at her,
she eluded his murderous intent by rushing towards the fort
at the top of her speed ; but, for swiftness of foot the savage
was a match for her, notwithstanding that terror added wings
to her flight, and with tomahawk upraised, he gradually closed
on her as they were nearing the fort. Another bound, however,
and she would be beyond his grip ; he sprang and caught the
kerchief which covered her throat seizing it from behind. Is
it then all up with our resolute child ? — quick as thought, and
while the exulting savage raises his hand to strike the fatal blow,
the young heroine tears asunder the knot, which retained her
garment, and bounding like a gazelle within the fort, closes it
instanter on her relentless pursuer, who retains as an only
trophy the French girl's kerchief.
To ARMS ! TO ARMS ! instantly resounds within the fort ; and
without paying any attentions to the groans of the women,
who see from the fort their husbands carried away prisoners,
she rushed to the bastion where stood the sentry, seizes a
musket and a soldier's hat, and causes a great clatter of guns
to be made, so as to make beheve that the place is well de
fended by soldiers. She next loads a small field piece, and
not having at hand a wad, uses a towel for that purpose, and
fires off the piece on the ennemy. This unexpected assault

52 THE HEROINE OF VERCHERES.
inspired terror to the Indians, who saw their warriors, one
after the other, struck down. Armed and disguised, and
having but one soldier with her, she never ceased firing. Pre
sently the alarm reached the neighbourhood of Montreal, when
an intrepid officer, the Chevalier de Crisasi, brother ofthe
Marquis de Crisasi, then Governor of Three Rivers, rushed to
Yercheres, at the head of a chosen band of men ; but the sa
vages had made good their retreat with their prisonners. After
a three days' pursuit, the Chevalier found them with their
captives securely entrenched in a wood on ,the borders of
Lake Champlain.
The French officer prepared for action, and af Ier a mostbloody
encounter the redskins were utterly routed — cuttopieces,except
those who escaped ; butthe prisoners were released. Thewholeof
New France resounded with the fame of M'lle Yercheres's cou
rage ; she was awarded the name of the « Heroine of Yer
cheres, » a title which posterity has ratified.
Another rare instance of courage on her part crowned her
exploits, and was also the means of [settling her in life. A
French commander, M. de Lanaudi^re de la Perade, was
pursuing the Iroquois in the neighbourhood, some historians
say, of the river RicheHeu, other say of the river St. Anne,
when there sprang unexpectedly out of the underbrush my
riads of these implacable enemies, who rushed onM.dela
Perade unawares. He was just on the point of falling a victim
in this ambuscade, when M'lle de Yercheres, seizing a musket
and heading some resolute men, rushed on the enemy, and
succeeded in rescuing the brave officer. She had indeed made
a conquest, or rather became the conquest of M. dela Perade,
whose life she had thus saved. Henceforward, the heroine
of Yercheres shall be known by the name of Madame de La-
naudiere de la Perade, her husband a wealthy SetV^neur. Some
years later, the farae of her daring acts reached the French
king, Louis XIY, who instructed the Marquis of Beauharnais
the Governor of Canada, to obtain from herself a written report
of her brave deeds. Her statement closes with most noble
sentiments, denoting not only a lofty soul, but expressed

THE HEROINE OF VERCHERES. 53
in such dignified and courteous language as effectually won
the admiration of the great monarch.
Madame de la Perade, nee Yercheres, died on the 7th of
August, 1737, at St. Anne de la Perade, near Montreal.
She is one of the ancestors of the present Seigneur de L'ln-
dustrie near Montreal, the Hon Gaspard deLanaudiere, whose
forefathers for two centuries, shone eitheir in the senate or on
the battle-fields of Canada.
Mdlle Yercheres' career exhibits another instance of the
sentiments which inspired the first settlers of Canadian soil,
and by her birth, by her life and death gives the lie direct to the
wholesale slanders, with which some travellers like Baron La-
hontan have attempted to vilify the pioneers of New-France.

MaJOEEOBEETSTOBO, w
IT27-1760L A REVIEW. Arma, Virumque.
'On lbe 3rd of July, -4, D., 1754, one hundred and sixteen
years ago, that is, in theeighlh year of Iheslrugglebetween the
Enghsh and French in the New Woil4, two hostages and itI-
soners of war might bave been seen sorrowfully marching
towards the gales of Fort Du Quesiie, where now stands the
thriving American city of Piltsburg. Not all the genius of
Colonel George Washington, leading on his « self-willed and
ungovernable » Yirginians, had sufficed to save the English
forces beleaguered in Fort Necessity. Terras of surrender were
proposed by Ihe French, ami readily accopt'd by the disheart
ened British. On that memorable 3rd of July, 1754, the
English garrison withdrew from the basin of the Ohio, and
then, in the eloquent language of Bancroft, «In the whole
valley ofthe Mississippi to its head springs in the Alleghanies,
no standard floated but that of France. » The.se were glorious
times, indeed, for the Bourboii lilies ; they were not to last
forever. Captain Jocob Yan Braam, a Dutchman, was one of the
hostages; Captain Robert Stobo, a Scotchman, a favorite of
Governor Dimviddie, of Yiiginia, and first captain of a Yir-
¦ginian regiment just raised, was the otber. To reviewing
succinctly the chequered career of the latter, as disclosed lo
us in the Memoirs before us, we shall lor the present confine
our task.
(1) Memoirs of Major Robert Stobo, of the Virginia Regiment — by a Con-
aemporaiy — 92 Pa^es — Pittsburgh, 1854.

56 MAJOR ROBERT STOBO.
Roberl Stobo was born at Glasgow, A. D., 1727. Hisfalher^
"William Stobo, was a citizen of note and a successful Glasgow
merchant. Of a dehcate constitilion, young Slobo, at an early
age, we are told by his biographer, betrayed a turn for arms,
« employing his play-hoiirs at school in drum-beating, muster
ing and exercising his comrades wilh great alertness, » — a not
unappropriate prelude to the warlike and hair-breadth adven
tures which awaited the dauntless captain on the green banks
of the Ohio, and those of the St. Lawrence at Quebec.
The mode of campaigning of this Yirginian officer was not
without ils attraction. He started wilh a retinue of « ten
servants, » whom he had fransformud into soldiers. « kept an
open table in the wilderness, which was plentifully supplied
wilh the game which the woods afforded, » such, no doubt,
as wild turkeys, prairie hens and grouse, wilh occasionylly
the tail of a beaver, or lid bits of red deer venison. He was
provided at « his first setting out with a whole butt ofMadeira
wine. »
With such a larder, such a cellar, who would not occa
sionally like to go campaigning as tbe captain of a Yirginian
regiment. " In the zeazon ofthe year ?'"
The force to which the famed George Washington had to
capitulate at the Great Meadows, not far from the Appalachian
Mountains, on the 3rd July, 1754, was a large parly of French-
Canadians and barbarians. As there are no French mentioned,
according to the Memoirs, we are free lo understand that the
French constituted the « barbarians. » The party, however,
was commanded by Coulon De Yilliers,a captain, in theFrench
King's Iroops. It was for the performance of the articles of
this capitulation that Yan Braam and Stobo, were delivered to
the French Commander as hostages. This reverse induced
Captain Stobo to present the lieutenant of his company with
his sword, as he had then no further use for it ; he begged he
would not spare it when opportunity offered to draw it in be
half of his country ; and which, notwithstanding that ^renlle-
man fell with the unfortunate General Braddock, was restored

A HOSTAGE OP FORT NECESSITY. 57
toils pristine owner long after he had escaped from Quebec,
when detained there as a prisoner, the biographer adds, «and
the Major (Stobo) now wears it with singular esteem. »
Whether it be of Damascus steel, or an Andrea Ferrara, (1)
the history of this famous blade, traced from 'the surrender of
Fort Necessity, through the sickening horrors of the Fort
William Henry. raassacre in 1757, back lo England, then at
Louisbourg, and, finally, during Wolfe's campaign at Quebec,
when it was, according toKnox, restored to ils lawful owner,^
ils history, we say, raight adorn a tale.
We have to view our hero, now a hostage of war, in a totally
diiferent light. The gay, generous, convivial Captain, sur
rounded with veterans and friends, dining on wild turkey, ve
nison, and Madeira, with possibly partridges and claret cup for
supper, is eclipsed m<oto; his biographer exhibitsinsteadagaunt
form « in a dungeon, lying on a bag of straw, with a morsel of
bread and a pan of cold water by his side, — the cold earthen
floor for his table. No cheerful friend to pledge him in a glass
or other guest carae there, except a mouse ran past his meagre
fare. » This « running-mouse « we take, however, to have
been introduced by Stobo's quaint biographer and friend as a
meretricious ornament. A a hungry rat » we would not object
to, as fitting to complete the tableau of dungeon horrors ; inan
eraergency, it raight be raade, failing other viands, to nibble
at the prisoner's nether extremities. Be this as it may, we
shall not quarrel with Stobo or his biographer, about that
« running mouse, » provided it is not allowed to run any
more. It is curious to watch next the process of reasoning by which
the biographer attempts to justify the manner in which his
hero — an hostage and a prisoner />aro/e(^ alo go and come as
hte pleased all about the country » — after spying out the
nakedness of the land, sets to coraraunicate intelligence to the
eneray, « deeming himself entirely absolved frora all obliga-
(1) Colonel John Sewell, late of the 49th, and who served under his old
Colonel, the gallant ^ock, at Queenstown, in 1812, has told us that he had seen
a number of English swords of the era of the conquest, which were all Andrea
Ferraras.

58 MAJOR ROBERT STOBO.
tions of honor. » We thus find him preparing « a plan of Fort
Du Quesne wilh all ils approaches, » which he succeeded in
having secretly conveyed to George Washington. The train of
reasoning lent bv the considerate biographer lo his prisoner,
would have gladdened lbe heart of an Escobar or a Torque-
mada. This plan and the letters, having fallen with General
Braddock's papers into the hands of the French, will hereafter
rise in judgmenl against the paiokd prisoner. « Soon, » the
writer observes, « the French removed their hostages from
one fort to another, through the whole chain of them, from
Fort Du Qnesne down to Quebec, which is distant about three
hundred leagues with the advantage to himself, that he had
liberty to go and come as he pleased, all about the country.
At first he was at a great loss from his not knowing the French
tongue, to acquire which was his first study, in which pursuit
he was generally assisted by the Indies, » who took great
pleasure in hearing hira again a child, and learning to pro
nounce his syllables. « His raanner was still open, free and
easy, which gained him ready access into all their company.))
It would appear even, that a reunion was considered
incomplete, without the handsome Captain, « in whose
appearance there was someliiing veiy engaging; he had a
dark brown coraplexion, a penetrating eye, an aquiline nose,
round face, a good cheerful countenance, a very genteel per
son, rather slender than robust, and graceful in his whole
deportment. » Amongst the delicate altenlions of his araiable
jailers, one notes the honor bestowed on hira, when installed
an Indian chief. The ceremony of installation was more
painful than picturesque. It was performed with some sharp
fish-bones, dipped in a liquid which leaves a blackness under
Ihe skin which never wears off, « applied on the leg above the
garter, in form soraething like a diadem. » We are unfortu
nately left in the dark as lo whether this handsorae Scot, in
order to display with advantage his insignia as a Knight of the
Garter, took lo wearing kilts or not. In order to carry outmore
effectually his plans, he set to studying French most earnestly.
But an untoward event threatened to cut short his adventu
rous career. The French Government having obtained posses-

A HOSTAGE OF FORT NECESSITY. 59
sion of the letters and plans, Stobo had secretly conveyed to
the eneray, issued a memorial, describing Stobo, as a spy in
Fort Du Quesne, who had coraraunicated valuable inforraation
to the British authorities. Upon this discovery, Stobo was com
mitted a close prisoner at Quebec, and hardly used, we are
told. His dungeon is most dismal and dark, but by degrees his
eyesight becarae so sharp he could discern a a running
mouse )) on the floor. It is to be hoped this is the last of these
running raice.
These credentials against hira were reraitled to Paris
by the very first opportunity, and the next year, a
commission was sent out to Yaudreuil, the Governor of
Canada, to try the prisoner for his life. Some time, in 1756, he
effected his escape from prison. A reward of 6,000 livres
having been offered for his re-capture, deadoralive, thousands
scoured the woods for him ; he was soon replaced in his
confinement — a raost disraal dungeon, from which on the 28th
November, he was dragged before the Marquis of Yaudreuil. As
president of the court-martial, the Marquis sentenced him to
death for violating the law of nations by breach of faith and
treasonable practices against the government which held him
as a ho.4age ; the Governor referred to France to have the sen
tence confirmed ; the hapless prisoner with his arras well
tightened down with cords, by way of consoHng hiraself, used
to say, that he hoped the day would corae when he could
twist off the noses of those who caused him such disgrace.
His motto however was : Fortuna favM fortibus ; so he had soon
contrived a plan of escape, which instead of landing him in
Yirginia, took him only to the Falls of Montmorency, where he
was re-arrested on the 3rd May, 1757, and reconveyed to
his prison. His new misfortune is bewailed by his biographer
in affecting language. The evil day however cannot last
forever. There were then in Quebec, — there are still, ladies
with marriageable daughters. Let us allow Stobo's words to
speak out :
« There dwelt, by lucky fate, in this strong capital, a lady
fair, of chaste renown, of manners sweet, and gentle soul. »
This lady fairthus addressed the proud Canadian Yiceroy :

60 MAJOR ROBERT STOBO.
— « Mighty Cousin, our good Canadian Court raost sure were
right when they conderaned this haughty prisoner to lose his
forfeited life to our Grant Monarch, (Louis XIY) whose great
benevolence gives peace to raankind, his mighty arms give
empire lo the world. ))
Now, dear reader, shall we confess it ? we have grave, very
grave doubts tbat the court charmers, in Bigot's frolicsome
days at Quebec, pleaded the cause of distressed cavaliers, in
such « hifalutin )) accents.
Be this as it raay, Stobo, then very weak and ill by close
confinement, was allowed to take up his quarters on the ram
parts with the « sweet hostess and her yet sweeter daughters. )>
Araongst the English prisoners of Quebec, there was a Lieu
tenant- Stevenson, of Roger's Rangers, and one Clark, a
Scotchman, from Leith, a ship-carpenter by trade, with his wife
and two sraall children ; he, to improve his prospects, had be
come a Roman Catholic. A plan of escape between them was
agreed on, and carried out on 1st May, 1759. Major Stobo
met the fugitives under a wind-mill, probably the old wind
mill on the grounds of the General Hospital Convent. Having
stolen a birch canoe, the party paddled it all night, and, after
incredible fatigue and danger, they passed Isle aux Coudres,
Kamouraska, and landed below this spot, shooting two Indians
in self-defence, whora Clark buried after having scalped thera,
saying to the Major : « Good sir, by your permission, these
same two scalps, when I come to New-York, will sell for
twenty-four good pounds : with this I'll be right merry, and
my wife right beau. » They then murdered the Indian's faith
ful dog, because he howled, and buried him with his masters.
It was shortly after this that they met the laird of the Kamou
raska Isles, le Chevalier de la Durantaye, who said that thebest
Canadian blood ran in his veins, and that he was of kin with
the mighty Due de Mirapoix. Had the mighty Duke, however,
at that moment seen his Canadian cousin steering the fouroared
boat, loaded wilh wheat, he raight have felt but a very quali
fied admiration for the majesty of his demeanor and his
nautical savoir faire. Stobo look possession of the Chevalier's
pinnace, and made the haughty laird, nolens volens, row him

A HOSTAGE OF FORT NECESSITY. 61
with the rest of the crew, telling him to row away, and that,
had the great Louis himself been in the boat at that moment,
it would be his fate to row a British subject thus. « At these
last mighty words, » says the Memoirs, « a stern resolution
sat upon his countenance, which the Canadian beheld and
with reluctance, temporized. )) After a series of adventures,
and dangers of every kind, the fugitives succeeded in captur
ing a French boat. Next, they surprised a French sloop, and,
after a most hazardous voyage, they finally, in their prize,
landed at Louisbourg to the general amazement. Stobo missed
the English fleet ; but took passage two days after, in a vessel
leaving for Quebec, where he safely arrived to tender his ser
vices to the immortal Wolfe, who gladly, availed himself of
them. According to the Memoirs, Stobo, used daily to set out
to reconnoitre with Wolfe ; in this patriotic duty, whilst
standing with Wolfe on the deck of a frigate, opposite the Falls
of Montmorency, some French shots were nigh carrying away
his decorated and gartered legs.
We next find the Major on the 21st July, 1759, (1) piloting
the expedition sent to Deschambault to seize, as prisoners, the
Quebec ladies who had taken refuge there during the bom
bardment — ((Mesdames DuchesnayandDecharnay ; Mile. Couil-
lard ; the Joly, Mailhiot and Magnan farailies, )) Next day in
the afternoon, les belles captives, who had been treated with
every species ^of respect, were put on shore and released at
Diamond Harbour. The English admiral, full of gallantry,
ordered the bombardment of the city to he suspended, in order
to afford the Quebec ladies time to seek places of safety.
Stobo next points out the spot, at Sillery, where Wolfe
landed, and soon after was sent with despatches, via the St.
Lawrence, to General Amherst ; but, during the trip, the
vessel was overhauled and taken by a French privateer, the
despatches having been previously consigned to the deep.
Stobo might have swung at the yard-arm in this new predica
ment, had his French valet divulged his identity with the spy
of Fort Du Quesne ; but fortune again stepped in to preserve
(1) SiiJburnal dvSidge de Quibee,17&9 yJiGt.Vanet : p. 15.

62 MAJOR ROBERT STOBO.
the adventurous Scot. There were already too many prisoners
on board of the French privateer. A day's provisions is allowed
the English vessel, which soon landed Stobo at Halifax, from
whence he joined General Amherst, ((many a league across the
country. )) c(He served under Araherst on his Lake Champlain
expedition, and there he finished the campaign; which ended,
he begs to go to Wi'liamsburgh, the then capital of Yirginia. ))
It seems singular that no command of any importance ap
pears to have been given to the brave Captain ; but, possibly,
the part played by the Major when under parole at Fort Du
Quesne, was weighed by the Iraperial authorities. There cer
tainly seems to be a dash of the Benedict Arnold in this trans
action. However, Slobo was publicly thanked by a Coramittee
of the Assembly of Yirginia, and was allowed his arrears of pay
for the time of his captivity. On the 30th April, 1756, he had
also been presented by the Assembly of Yirginia wilh £300,
in consideration of his services to the country and his sufferings
in his confinement as a hostage in Quebec. On the 19lh No
vember, 1759, he was presented with £1,000 as « a reward
for his zeal to his country and the recorapense for the great
hardships he has suffered during his confineraent in the
enemy's country. )) On the 18th February, 1760, Major Stobo
erabarked from New York for England on board the packet
with Colonel West and several other gentleraen. One would
imagine that he had exhausted the vicissitudes of fortune. Not
so. A French privateer boards them in the midst of the En
glish channel. The Major again consigns to the deep his
letters, all except one, which he forgot, in the pocket of his
coat, under the arm pit. This escaped the general catastrophe ;
and will again restore him to notoriety ; it is from General
A. Monckton to Mr. Pitt. The passengers ofthe packet were
assessed £2,500 to be allowed theii liberty, and Stobo had
to pay .£125 towards the relief fund. The despatch forgotten
in his coat, on delivery to the great Pitt, brought back a letter
from Pitt to Amherst. With this testimonial, Stobo sailed for
New York, 24th April, 1760, to rejoin the army engaged in
the invasion of Canada ; here end the Memoirs.
Though Stobo's conduct at Fort du Quesne and at Quebec

A HOSTAGE O'F FORT NECESSITY. 63
can never be defended nor palhated, all will agree that he
exhibited during his eventful career, most indomitable forti
tude, a boundless ingenuity, and great devotion to his country
— the whole crowned with final success.
((It has been suggested, )> say, the Memoirs ((that Major
Stobo was SmoUet's original for Captain Lisraahago, in the
adventures of Humphrey Clinker. It isknown by a letter from
David Hume to Smollet, that Stobo was a friend of tbe latter
author, and his remarkable adventures may have suggested
that character. If so ; the copy is a great exaggeration. ))
The Memoirs of Major Robert Stobo, printed at Pittsburgh
in 1854, were taken from the copy in the British Museum,
chiefly through the instrumentality of Mr. James McHenry, an
enterprising Liverpool merchant. Mr. James McHenry is a son
of Dr. McHenry, the Novehst and Poet, formerly of Pittsburgh.
Robert Stobo is a name which must find its place in our
annals. What a hero, for a Canadian Novel !

CADIEUX, THE OLD VOYAGEUE.

Utawa's tide I this trembling moon
Shall see us float over thy surges soon.
Saint of this green isle 1 hear our prayers.
Oh I grant us cool heavens and favouring airs.
Blow, breezes, blow, 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 ; of brave men saved frora certain death by some unac
countable superhuman agency ; of wicked ones suramarily
punished. Poets, chroniclers, and historians mould these me
mories into more or less attractive form, throw light or shade
on the picture, as suits them ; surround it with the halo of
genius, or leave it a dreary record of the past. It were strange,
indeed, if our own inland seas, (1) ourwild lakes, our romantic
forests — which for centuries resounded with the tread or
echoed the warwhoop 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 indeed an ample harvest awaiting the future Walter Scotts,
the Washington Irvings, or the Coopers, whom Canada may
produce. (1) Lake Superior according to U. S. Surveys is 357 miles in extreme length ;
greatest breat)!, 159 miles jmean depth, 1,000 feet; elevation above sea level, 62T
feet ; area, 10,665 miles.
Lake Michigan : extreme length, 860 miles ; extreme breath, 108 mites ; mean
depth, 900 feetj ;. elevation, 587 feet ; area, 6,676 miles.
Lake Hurpn : extreme length, 201 miles ; extreme breath, 159 miles ; mean
depth, 300 feet; elevation, 574 feet; area, 6,67£i miles.
Lake Erie : extreme length; 249 miles ; extreme i>reatfa, 81 miles ; mean deptb,
200;feet; el^etatlon 450 fpet ; area, 2,850 milesi
Lake Ontario : extreme length, ISO miles ; extreme breath, 66 miles ; meaa
depth, 600 feet; elevation 260 feet; area, 998 miles.
Total length of the five Lakes : 1,360 miles— total area, 28,863 miles.
5

66 CABIEUX, THE OLD VOYAGEDH.
We shall in this paper select for our theme, one of those
ancient traditions, carefully collated, and divested of many
of its marvellous episodes.
Araongst the numerous songs which old Voyageurs and
Northwesters were in the habit of singing a few years ago, after
the toil of the day was over, and when 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 (( Complainle de
Cadieux ; )) it portrayed in simple hut vivid language the sin
gular fate of an educated and roving Frenchman, of which
class the Baron de Saint Castin is the truest type ; Cadieux was
his narae ; the banks of the Ottawa River, close to Portage du
Fort, the theatre of his exploits and unhappy end. But I fancy
I hear an inquisive lady friend ask : (( Who was Cadieux ?
What brought him out to Canada ? Was it to escape a lettre de
cachet, or was he a blase Court roue, or a disappointed lover,
seeking oblivion or concealment in the fastness of a Cana
dian forest, like the old Hermit of the Island of St. Barnabe,
of whora you have given us so glowing an account?)), 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 du Fort, as Dr. Tache has related it.
Evidently, Cadieux raust have united to bravery, and to a ro
mantic mind, a poetical genius : he finds his place amongst
that resolute band of intelligent pioneers, the Marsollets, Mar-
gueries, Hertels ; the Coutures, the Nicolels, &c., who were
sometimes employed by government, soraetiraes by the mis
sionaries, to interpret the various Indian dialects. Dr. Tache,
to whom we are indebted fbr the narrative of Cadieux in his
Forestiers et Voyageurs, tells us that he himself had fre
quently, in the course of his travels in the back-woods of
Canada, heard detached stanzas of this mysterious wailof
suffering and death ; 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 obli
vion ; an indefatigable searcher of the past, the vene
rable Abb6 Feriand, had diligently setto work, making enquiry
in every quarter, writing even to the Red River settlements for

(CADIEUX, THE OLD VOYAGEUR. ' 67
information. To the pleasing author of Les Foreatiers et
Voyageurs, was reserved the satisfaction of graphically record
ing the old tradition. Audubon hiraself, when he discovered
the magnificent eagle to which he gave the name of IheBiRDOF
Washington, did not experience keener pleasure than Dr.
Tache on receiving frora the lips of his old Indian guide Mo-
rache, the whole complainte or song 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 portage of the seven falls at Ihe foot of the
island o{ ihe Grand Calumet : it is there that lies Cadieux's
tomb, surrounded to this day by a wooden railing. Each time
the Company's canoes pass the little rock; an old Voyageur
relates to his younger corapanions the fate of the brave inter
preter. <( Cadieut was a roving interpreter, who had married a
young Algonquin girl : he generally spent the sumraer hunt
ing, and in winter he purchased furs for the traders.
After a winter thus passed by Cadieux at the portage, where
he and the other families had their wigwams, it had been
decided in May, to wait for other Indian tribes who had furs
for sale, and then all weretocorae down to Montreal. Profound
peace existed in the settleraent, wl^en one day a young Indian,
who had been roaming alx)ut, close to the rapids lower down
than ihe portage, rushed back out of "breath and shouted like a
death knell amongst the affrighted occupants of the huts:
Nattaode ! Nattaou^ J 1 The Iroquois ' the Iroquois I !
« There was in reality at that moment, lower than the rapids
of the Seven Falls, a parly of Iroquois warriors, waiting to
pounce upon thecanoes, one which generally descendedat that
season loaded with skins. One chance only of escape remained :
to risk running the canoes through the rapids — a hopeless pro
ject, though it had ever been considered. Nor was this all ; it
would be necessary to station some parties in the woods ,in
order, by firing, to draw off the attention of the Iroquois (com
the desperate attempt which would be made to shoot through
the rapids and prevent pursuit. Cadieux, being the^^blest and
most resolute of the tribe, choose a young Algonquin warrior

68 cadieux, the old voyageub.
to second hira in this perilous service : it was settled that
once the interpreter and his comrade should have succeeded
to inveigle the Iroquois in the woods, they would, try a cir
cuitous route, and attempt to join their own friends who were
to send after them, should they be too long absent.
(( Preparations having beenmadefbraslart,itwas settled that
Cadieux and the Algonquin warrior, well armed, should ad
vance towards the Iroquois encampment, and that the sign for
the canoesto break cover and venture on their fearful race, would
be tbe firing of their guns. Soon the report of a fire-arra wa&
heard in the distance ; it was followed by three or four others
in quick succession ; on went the frail birch canoes, araidst
the foam and rocks, skimming like sea birds, over the boiling
caldron ; it was a race for dear life, the extraordinary and
superhuman skill of lbe red skins alone, under Providence,
saving them frora death in a thousand forms.
(( ' I saw nothing during our passage over the rapids, ' said
Cadieux's wife, a pious women,, ' but the form of a tall lady in
white hovering over the canoes and showing us the way. '
They had invoked Sainte Anne, the patron saint of the mariner.
(( The canoes escaped and safely arrived at the Lake of Two
Mountains ; but Cadieux and his devoted follower — what had
becorae of them ? This was ascertained some time after by
the parly sent to their rescue, and from the Iroquois them
selves. « Cadieux had quietly watched for the Iroquoisatthepor<aje,
placing himself about an acre from his colleague, allowing the
Iroquois scouts to penetrate to the centre of the portage,
he waited until he heard the death yell of one of them, shot hy
his helpmate, and then marking his victim fired with unerring
aim : the war whoop resounds, and the Iroquois fancying that
tliey are attacked by a large parly of warriors, separate and
charge in different directions. It is supposed that the young
Algonquin fell here in atletnpting to join Cadieux, as was
agreed on. For three days theblood-lhirsty aborigines scoured
the woods to find out traces ofthe encampment, never think
ing for a raoment that the enemy had been fool-hardy enough
to attempt descending through the rapids. For three days and

CAraEDX, the ol® voyageur. 6.9
tliree nights they searched for Cadieux — ; these were sleepless
nights for the white raan! Baffled, they retraced their steps
and returned to their canoes. Several days had elapsed, and
a-s no tidings of Cadieux came, a party was forraed and sent to
bis relief ; traces of the Iroquois were unmistakeable, and in
dications also of the presence ol Cadieux in the vicinity. At
the .Portage des Sept Chutes, they noticed a small hut of bran
ches which, apparently, had been abandoned; they passed
on, alter examining il and continued their route, th'nking that
perhaps Cadieux might have bi.'cn (impelled lo ascend the
Ottawa and take refuge wilh the Indians oif the island. Two
days later — it W4is the thirteenth alter the skiimish — they
noticed, with surprise, on their return, on repassing what had
previously appeared to them an abnndonnedhut, a sraall cross.
it stood, on ihe surface, al the head of a freshly made grave ;
in it, was deposited the corpse, slill fresh of Cadieux, half
covered wilh green branches. His hands were clasped over
Ills chest, on which re.-^ted a large sheet of birch bark. The
general opinion was, on reading the writing scribbled on the
bark, and from other atteiidaiil circumstances, that exhaus
tion, hunger, and anxiety bad produced on the unfortunate
interpreter that kind of mental aberation or hallucination
which the French Canadians cali, la folie des bois ^ one of ils
peculiarities, being the propensity ils victims have of walking
in the woods, unintentionally in a circle without making any
progress. Cadieux had, probably lived on wild fruit, never
daring to light a fire, for fear of betraying his place of con
cealment to his merciless foes. He had grown weaker daily ;
when the reJief party had passed the but two days previously,
he bad, il would seera, recognized lh.em as -friends, but the
sudden joy at the prospect of a speedy deliverance was so
.great that he fell to the earth 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 hving aiul
then prepared his last resting place ; this done, and the
oross erected, he laid himself do^^n to sleep the long
clumber covering his body as best he could wilh spruce
iMJUghs, Cadieux was a Voyageur, a jpoet, and a warrior.

70 cadieux, the old voyageok.
What be had written on the birch bark was his dirge, hfs
funereal chaiint. Before lying himself down lo rest, he, whose-
imagination had foi- so long, revelled in nature's grand scenery,
and \A ho could write sowiy.s /or ^ot^agTCTcrs, feeling a return of
the sacred fire, embodied in v(!rse his own dirge.
(( This lay, by ils simplicity, is very attractive; itismiichirr
the style of the old Norman ((Laments » imported in thecolony
by the first settlers, wilh a dash of forest life superadded. The
dying bard addresses himself to the (bjects which surround'
him, telling them, of bis regret for quilling life; then, phy
sical pain wrings from him a groan of anguish which is
followed by a sorrowful thought at the loss of those nearest
and dearest to his heart. Anon, he expresses his apprehension
on witnessing smoke rise near his hut not far distant — then,
tells of the intense joy he experienced on recognizing the
features of friends in the party sent wit lo rescue bim — of his
utter inability to shout oiil Avhere he is — and of the pang which
their final departure cost him. Cadieux nexl sees a wolf and.a
raven prowling round his emaciated frame ; the ardor of the
hunter and of the backwoodsman fires his eye for a second.
He threatens to shoot one ; to the otber, be cries avaunt ! go
and feast on the bodies of the Iroquois I have slain near by.
He then charges the song sparrow fLe Rossignol) to convey
his adieux to his wife and bis ' well-beloved children, ' finally
winds up by an invocation lo the Yirgin Mary The piece of
bark on which Cadieux's death-song was written was brought
by the relief party to the post of the Lake of Two Mountains,
The Voyageurs have set il lo a plaintive melody, well suited
fo a lay intended to portray the arduous life of a hunter and
Indian warrior. It runs thus : —

Petit rocher de la Haute moEtagne-,
Je viens finir iei cette campagne 1.
Ah I doux ^ch-os, entendez mes soupirs*;-
En languissant, je vais bientdt mourir.-
Petits oiseaux, vos douces harmonies,
Quand vous chantez, me rattachent ^ laVie :
Ah 1 si j'avais des ailes comme vous,
Je s'rais heureux avant qu'il fut deux jours I

CADIEUX, THE OLD VOYAGEUR. 71
Seul en oes bois, que j'ai eu de sonois I
Pensant toujours K mes si ohers amis ;
Je demandais : H^las 1 sont-ils noyiSs 7
Les Iroquois les auraient-ils tu^s ?
Un de ces jours que m'^tant ^loign^,
Bn revenant je vis une fum6e ;
Je me suis dit : " Ah 1 grand Dieu qu'est oeoi ?
Les Iroquois m'ont-ils pris mon logis ? "
Je me suis mis un peu i, I'embassade,
Aiin de voir si o'^tait embusoade ;
Alors je vis trois visages franjais,
M'ont mis le ooeur d'une trop grande joie 1
Mes genoux plient, ma faible voix s'arrfite ;
Jetombe  H^las 1 I, partir ils s'appprStent :
Je reste seul  Pas un qui me console,
Quand la mort vient par un si grand d(5sole !
Un loup hurlant vient prSs de ma cabane.
Voir si mon feu n'avait plus de boucane ;
Je lui ai dit : Retire -toi d'ioi ;
Car, par ma foi, je peroerai ton habit I
Un noir oorbeau, volant k I'aventure,
Tient se peroher tout prSs de ma toiture ;
Je lui ai dit : Mangeur de chaire humaine,
Va-t'eu chercher autre viande que mienne ;
Va-t'en li-bas, dans ces bois etmarais,
Tu trouveras plusieurs corps Iroquois :
Tu trouveras des chairs, aussi des os ;
Va-t'en plus loin, laisse-moi en repos 1
Rossignolet, va dire h. ma mattresse, (1)
A mes enfants qu'un adieu je leur laisse.
Que j'ai gard^ mon amour et ma foi,
Et d^sormais faut renoncer k moi 1
C'est done iei que le mond' m'abandonne,
Mais j'ai secours en vous, Sauveur des hommes I '
TrSs-Sainte Vierge, ah I m'abandonnez pas,
Permettez-moi d'mourir entre vos bras 1
(1) This word, in old Canadian songs, is used for wife or betrothed.

A SELECT TEA PARTY AT THE GENERAL HOSPITAL
CONYEIsT IN 1759.

Tea-drinking in moderation is conducive to health ; who
dare gain-say ? To sorae it is exhilarating — to others calm
ing in its effects. Nay, according to Waller — it opes to inspi
ration, the portals of the soul :
The mind's friend, lea, does our fancy aid,
Repress those vapours which our head invade.
It counteracts the effects of alcohol — prevents gout and (1)
calculus. What a blessing thou art, celestial beverage of the
celestials, taken at all limes : as Gay has it : —
At noon (the lady's matin hour)
I sip tea's delicious flower.
Nor is tea-drinking, as some incorrigible topers basely pre
tend, necessarily associated in one's raind with scandal —
vinegar-faced old crones — spinsters of an uncertain age.
Pretty Peg Woffington, mixing for Garrick and Dr. Johnson
a cup of the celestial beverage, does nol, in the least degree,
appear before the raind's eye as a (( scandal-raonger. )) (( I re
raeraber, )) says the old buffer, (( drinking tea with hira
(Garrick) long ago, when Peg Woffington raade it, and he
grurabled at her for raaking il too strong. ))
(( In 1660, )) writes old Pepys, (( I did send for a cup of tea
(a china drink) of which I had never drank before.)) Seven
years later, the herb had found ils way into his own house.
((Horae, and there find my wife raaking of tea, a drink for
her cold and defluxions. )) Good Mrs. Pepys serving up her
(1) That Excellent, and by all Physicians approved China Drink called by
the Chineans Toha, by other nations Tay alias Tee, is sold at the Sultaness Head,
Cophee House, in Sweeting'^ rents, by the Royal Exchange London.
(Mercurius Politicus, September 30th, 1658.)

74 A SELECT TEA PARTY
first (( dish » of Bohea— -there is a subject for a painter 1 But
let us hie from the busy banks of the Thames and attend one
of the first tea-parlies, of which we have a record, on the
banks of the St. Lawrence ; if we do not hear much about
tea, we shall at least raix with several of the elite of
the period. Follow Capt. John Knox, then, into the spa
cious refectory of tbe General Hospital Convent, on lbe llth
October, 1759. This is an eventful, very eventful year, for all
Canada — nay, for North America in general. The worthy
British officer, you know, holds an iraportant comraand,
in the victorious army — ; he has devoted two quartos
to chronicle his North Araerican campaigns ; in which, reader,
you will find details ample and true, of that moraentousera of
our history.
The General Hospital Conveni was founded as an hospital for
the sick, by Bishop St. Valier, in 1690. The grounds on which
this ancient pile is situate cover an extensive area on the shores
ofthe raeandering St. Charles, about two railesfrom tbe city of
Quebec, in a westerly direction. They belonged totheRecollet
Fathers, who exchanged Ihem for a lot, in tbe Upper Town,
of Quebec, in 1690 ; whereon they built a church and monas
tery : both these buildings were utterly destroyed by fire in
1796. Their site is now occupied by the Enghsh cathedral and
the Place d' Armes, or ring. The French king had, -previous to
1759, endowed this institution with a bounteous salary for the
support of physicians, surgeons, directors, clerks, stewards,
inspectors, as also officers of the troops labouring under any
infirmity. The raother abbess, that year, was Mere Sainte
Claude, the fiery and haughty sister of Chevalier de Ramsey,
during the siege, commander and governor of Quebec. Mere
Sainte Claude, though a hurable and devoted nun, could not
forget the noble blood which coursed in her veins. Her par
tiahty to the French, during their fallen fortunes, called forth
about that period the wrath of General Murray, the English
governor of the city. The testy general, in a fit of teraper, in
order to rebuke effectually her interference in mundane mat
ters, vowed he would confer on her the first vacant sergeant's
commission and put her on active duty, for which her stature.

AT THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CONVENT, 75
bearing and martial tastes, in his opinion, erainently fitted her.
Crowded wilh Ihesick and the dying (1) during the suraraer of
1759. The General Hospital was a great place of rendez-vous
for the high officials of Quebec — civil, military, and ecclesias
tical. It stood nearly in aline with the bridge of boats, over
the St. Charles, wilh which Montcalm communicated with the
city and wilh his camp and army, al Beauport.
There is something eminently touching, shall I say, dra
matic, in the simple words in which the nun, who wrote the
siege narrative, chronicles the arrival of the English guard,
during that (( night which greatly added to our fears, » when
these delicate, unprotected women (( prostrated themselves at
the foot of the altar to implore Divine mercy. ))
(( The consternation which prevailed was suddenly inter
rupted by loud and repeated knocks at our doors. Two young
nuns who were carrying broth to the sick, unavoidably hap
pened to be near when the door was opened. The palor and
fright which overcame them touched the officer; he prevented
the guard from entering ; he demanded the superiors and
desired them to assure us of protection : he said that part of
the English army would return and take possession of the
house, apprehending that our army (the French), which was
not distant, might return and attack them in their entrench
ments. » This was, no doubt, the Captain and guard which
Brigadier Townshend had posted there on the 14th of Sep
tember, 1759.
The General Hospital was also the theatre during the strug
gle, of Bishop Pontbriand's devoted and incessant ministra
tions to the sick and dying. The Bishop, with his chapter, had
retired early in the summer of 1759, to Charlesbourg, opposite
Quebec. We shall now allow gallant Captain John Knox to tell
(1) We were in the midst of the dead and the dying, who were brought to us
by hundreds, many of them our close connections ; it was necessary to smother
our grief to relieve tbem. Loaded with the inmates of three convents, and all the
inhabitants of the neighbouring suburbs, which the approach of the enemy
caused to fly in this direction, you may judge of our terror and confusion. The
enemy, master of the iield, and within a few paces of our house, exposed to the
fury of the soldiers, we had reason to dread the worst.
(^Narrative of the Siege ci/1769, by a Nun ofthe General Hospital, Quebec.)

76 A SELECT TEA PARTY
how matters went on at the General Hospital, on the 16lh
October, and how he enjoyed tbe select tea-party he attended
there. (( I was sent on a week's comraand, Ibis day. to the
convent of the Augustines, or General Hospital ; my orders
were ' to prevent soldiers and others frora plundering or ma
rauding in that neighbourhood ; to protect the house, withall
its inhabitanls, gardens, and enclosures from insult ; to
examine all persons that arrive from Ihe country ; to give im
mediate notice to the garrison, if any number of men should
appear in arras, either by detaching a sergeant, or firing three
distinct rauskets ; ' and if not instantly answered, must be re
peated, nor to suffer any luggage, horse or cart loaded lo
depart the hospital without a positive order or passport; lo
seize all fire-arras, ammunition, or whatever may be (iseful to
the eneray, which raay happen to be in the environs of the
guard, and finally fo grant permits to surgeons, mates or
domestics belonging to the convent, when they are necessi
tated to pass towards the town on their lawful occasions.)) (1)
1 lived there, at the French king's table, wilh an agreeable,
polite socielyof officers, directors and commissaries ; some of
the gentleraen were raarried, and Iheir ladies honoured us
wilh their corapany ; they were generally cheerful, except
when we discoursed upon the late revolution, and the affairs
of the campaign ; then they seemingly gave way to grief ut
tered by profound sighs, and followed by an 0 monDieu! The
officers soon perceived thai though I did not express myself
witb great facility in their language, I perfectly understood
them, and therefore they agreed to converse in Latin ; which,
though far from being consistent witb their boasted politesse,
did not alfect rae so as to be offended ; for I was raore upon
an equably wilh thera in that tongue, especially as they spoke
it wilh less fluency than their own. They generally concluded
with sorae rapturous sentences, delivered theatrically, such
as : Per mare, per terras, per lot discrimina rerum
Nos palriam fugimus, nos dulcia linquimus arva :
—at length, after racking my meraory for a distich, or a line
(1) Knox's Journal, Vol. II., p. 171.

AT THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CONVENT. 77
I
applicable lo the times, I interrupted them with this citation
from Virgile :
0 Melibse, Deus nobis luec otia fecit !
which so surprised them, that, having stared at each other
for some raoraents, one of thera approached me and
asked if I could speak Latin. Thus ended the Latin
speeches. We dined every day between eleven and twelve.
and afterwards were respectfully served wilh a cup of laced
coffee ; our dinners were generally indifferent, but our sup
pers (what they call grand repas, or best meal) were plentiful
and elegant. I was at a loss the first day, as every person was
obhged to use his own knife, and wine, there being only a
spoon and a four-pronged fork laid with each napkin and
plate ; however, in the evening my servant attended me wilh
some excellent port, a goblet, knife and fork ; the latter being
different from theirs, particularly the knives' being round, and
not sharp-pointed, together with the superior strength of ray
wine (which they by no raeans disliked) to their poor sour
stuff, afforded us a copious subject for agreeable conversation,
wilh variety of opinions aud remarks upon the different cus
toms of countries. Each person here produces an ordinary
clasped knife from his pocket which serves hira for every use ;
when they have dined or supped, they wipe and return
it : the one I had, before I was provided with my own, was
lent rae by the Frenchman who stood at my chair, and it gave
my meat a strong flavour of tobacco. * ¦ * * * The
hour for supper was between six and seven in the evening. As
we dined so early, I gave rayself no trouble about breakfast ;
but after being there two or three days, one of the nuns deli
vered me a polite billet from Madame St. Claude, the Mother-
abbess, requesting my company to partake of an English break
fast as she called it, to which the bearer added : « If you are
ready, sir, I will do myself the honour to show you the way. )>
I instantly followed my conductress to a spacious apartment,
where I found the lady with several ofthe sisters employed at
needle-work. A table was placed in the middle of the room,
on which stood two large silver coffee-pols, one quart and
one-pint mug, a plentiful loaf of bread, a plate of butter and a

78 A SELECT TEA PARTY.
knife ; on another plate, lay five or six slices of bread, not
less than an inch thick each and half the circumference of the
loaf, covered with a profusion of butter. Upon ray entering, I
paid my compliments to the eldest of the ladies (in which I
happened to be right, she being the Gouvernante) and then to
the others ; two chairs were iraraediately set to the table and
Madame St. Claude desiring I would take my place, we both
sat down. She then pointed lo the coffee-pots telling me one
contained tea, the other milk ; but, perceiving it was not to
my taste, for the tea was black as ink, she assured me there
was half a pint in the pot, and it had been well boiled with
the water. I told her that it was rather too good for me, and
that I should make a good repast of bread and railk. Hereupon
I was not a Utile incomraoded wilh apologies, and I reraeraber
she observes, ' that they are not accusloraed to such diet, for
that they never drink tea, except in cases of indisposition, to
work as an eraetic, when it is always boiled in water to render
it as strong as possible.' * * * * i fared exceedingly
well upon the other provision that was raade for me, and spent
nearly two hours most agreeably in (( the society of this an
cient lady and her virginal sisters. ))
All this at Quebec, on the 1 1th of October, 1759.

THE LOST or THE " AUGUSTE- "

FRENCH REFUGEES.

It was on the 22nd February, 1762 ; night's silent shades
had 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 raan, in tattered garments, walked in arid begged for a
night's rest. Captain d'Haberville, as he was wont todo, when
unoccupied, was sealed 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, prodigality, bad
conduct, but is simply the result of unconlrolable events. The
man whose folly causes his own downfall, whilst smarting
under remorse, if he is reflective, soon discovers the expe
diency 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 rae
strength ; give me courage, since it has pleased you to smite
me down. ))
The voice of the stranger had caused the captain a thBilhng
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 ex
hausted ; pray, give me a glass of spirits. »

80 THE LOST OP THE AUGUSTE.
D'Haberville, feeling little inclined to divide with the
unknown the scanty supply of brandy he kept on the pre
mises, in case of sickness, said he had none.
(( If you only knew who I am, d'Haberville, )) listlessly re
joined the stranger, (( you would give rae the last drop of
brandy you have in your house. ))
The captain felt indignant at being thus farailiarly addressed
by a raere vagrant ; still there was something in the man's
accent which convulsed 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 unut
terable horror ; motionless, there stood in their presence a
veritable skeleton, in height a giant, a hideous giant, whose
bones seeraed ready to biirst through the skin. An emaciated
countenance ; bloodless'veins, from whence vampires 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 distinguished raen in the colony, under
French rule. One moment more and Captain d'Haberville flew
into his arms.
(( What, you here, my dear De Saint Luc ; why, the sightof
my bitterest foe would cause me less horror I Speak, speak, I
beseech you. Tell us bow our relatives, our dear friends have
exchanged the deck of the Auguste for the insatiable deep,
whilst you, the sole survivor, are bow here to announce the
harrowing tale. »
The unbroken silence of De Saint Luc, his downcast, sor
rowful countenance, revealed more than words could utter.
(( Accursed, then, be the tyrant )) (1), roared out d'Haber-
(1) We give above a thrilling chapter ofthe " Canadians of old. "
Not the least interesting part of Mr. I>e(}asp^'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 descen
dants, now forgotten, languish on the very .soil which was once defended and
soaked with the blood of their ancestors. Let those who say they were defioientin
ability or energy, remember that their education and habits having been totally
military, it was not easy to exchange them for new oocupatioua.

FRENCH REFUGEES. 81
ville, )) accursed be the man who, through hatred of the
French, has been the means of wilfully consigningto a watery
grave so raany brave hearts, by compelling them to depart in
the most stormy season of the year, in an old, unseaworthy
vessel. ))
(( Instead of venting curses on your enemies, )) said de
Saint Luc, ina harsh tone, (( thank heaven, thatGeneral Murray
has granted you and yours, a reprieve of two years to dispose
of your property and to return to France. ))
The Chevalier then related all that had happened since the
Auguste had sailed from Quebec, on the 15th October ; how,
after a succession of storms, shipwreck, on the 15th Novem
ber, had finally consigned to the depths of the ocean, 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
one hundred and fourteen corpses ; how, in the depth of
winter, half clad and starving, he had travelled some sixteen
hundred miles on snowshoes, after successively tiring out
several Indian guides.
The reader will have recognized in this extract a translation
of a passage from that charming volume, les AnamsCanadj'ens,
published, in 1863, by our respected townsman, P. A. DeGaspe,
Esq., Seigneur of St. Jean Port Joly : himself, not a bad per
sonification 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, natu
rally created considerable excitement amongst the friends and
relatives of the victims, and contributed powerfully to render
" The old families who remained in Canada after the conquest, used to say
that General James Murray, through hatred of the French, had insisted on their
immediate expulsion j that he had them put on board of an old condemned
vessel, aud that before 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.) 6

82 THE LOST OF THE AUGUSTE.
the English governor, odious to the colonists. Amongst the
victims, were Madame de Meziere, — a grand aunt of Mr. De
Gaspe, and a daughter ofthe Baron de Longueii — ; she perished
with her child.
Mr. DeGaspe also furnishes a lively account ofthe interview
of the Chevalier de la Corne with the governor^of the colony,
in the Chateau St. Louis. (1) How Governor Murray was
(1) The compilers of Hawkin^s Picture of Quebec, the late gifted Andrew
Stuart and the late Dr. J. C. iPisher, thus graphically describe the Chateau St.
Louis : — " Few circuinstances of discussion and enquiry are more interesting
than the history and fate of ancient buildings, especially if we direct our atten
tion to the fortunes and vicissitudes of those who were connected with them. The
temper, genius and pursuits of an liistorical era are frequently delineated in the
features of remarkable edifices : nor can any one contemplate them without ex
periencing curiosity concerning those who first formed the plan, and afterwards
created and tenanted the structure. These observations apply particularly to the
subject of this chapter.
The history ofthe ancient Castle of St. Lewis, or Fort of Quebec, for above "two
centuries, the seat of government in the province, affords subjects of great and
stirring interest during its several periods. The hall of fhe old Fort, during the
weakness of the colony, was often a scene of terror and despair at the inroads of
the persevering and ferocious Iroquois ; who, having passed or overthrown all the
outposts, more than once threatened the fort itself, and massacred some friendly
Indians within sight of its walls. There, too, in intervals of peace, were laid
those benevolent plans for the religious instruction ' and conversion of the
savages, which at one time distinguished the policy of the ancient Governors. At
a later era, when, under the protection of the French Kings, the Province had
acquired the rudiments of military strength and power, the (Castle of St. Lewis
was remarkable as having been the site whence the French Governors exercised
an immense sovereignty, extending from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along the
shores of that noble river. Its magnificent lafees, — and down the course of the
Mississippi, to its outlet at New Orleans. The banner which first streamed from the
battlements of Quebec, was displayed from a chain of forts, which protected the
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, the council chariiber of the castle was the scene of many a midiiight
vigil, — many a long deliberation and deep-laid project, — to free the continent
from the intrusion of the ancient rival of France, and assert throughout, the su-
jiremaoy of the Gallic lily. At another era, subsequent to the surrender of
Quebec to the British arms, and until the recognition of the independanoe of the
United States, the extent of eimpire, of the govemment of which the Castle of
ijuebec was the principal seat, comprehended the whole American continent,
north of Mexico 1 It is astonishing to reflect for a moment, to how small, and', as
to size, comparatively insighlGeant an island in the Atlantis ocean, this gigantic
territory was once subject I
Here also was rendered to the representative ofthe French King, with aU its
ancient form's, the fealty and homage of the noblesse, and military retainers who
beld possessions in the province under the Crown — a feudal ceremony, suited to

FRENCH REFUGEES. 83
moved to pity by the sight De Saint Luc's emaciated form pre
sented. How 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 De Saint
Luc (1) and Captain d'Haberville is not an imaginary occur
rence : it retraces wtat really did lake place between Mr. De
Gasp<5's grandfather, Ignaee Aubert DeGaspe, al one time a
captain in the French navy, and the chevalier, as related to
Mr. DeGaspe, some fifty years ago, by his aunt, Madame Bailiy
de Messein, who was about fifteen years of age when this
occured. We are thus brought face to face with those fierce spirits of
\heancien regime, who, like the Sewells, Ogdens, Smiths,
Robinsons, Jarvisses, and other United Empire Loyalists,
later on, had preferred renouncing fortune, position, and
early times, which imposed a real and substantial obligation on those who per
formed it, not to be violated without forfeiture and dishonor. The King of Gre»t
Britain having Succeeded to the rights of the French otown, this ceremony is stijl
(in 1S34) maintained.
Fealty and homage is rendered at this day by the Seigniors to the Governor, as
the representative of the Sovereign in the following form : His Excellency being
in full dress and seated in a state chair, surrounded by his staff, and attended by
the Attorney General, the Seignior, in an evening dress and wearing a sword, is
introduced into his presence by the Inspector Goneralof 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 j after which a solemn act is drawn up in a register, kept
for that purpose, which is signed by the Governor and Seign ior, and countersigned
by the proper officers.
In England, it is also still performed by the Peers at the coronation of our
Kings, in Westminster Abbey, although the ceremony is much curtailed of its
former impressive observances.
The Castle of St. Lewis was in early times rather a strong hold of defence, thjin
an embellished ornament of royalty. Seated on a tremendous precipice, —
On a rock whose haughty brow
Frown'd o'er St. Lawrences foaming tide —
and loolting defiance to the utmost boldness of the assailant, nature lent her aid
to the security ofthe position. The cliff on which it stood rises nearly two hundred
feet in perpendicular height above the river. Tho Castle thus commanded on
every side a most extensive prospect, a.nd until the occupation of the highfsr
ground to the south-west, afterwards called Gape Diamond, must have been the
principal object among the buildings of the city.
(I) We follow in history and in old memoirs the subsequent careeroSthe Che
valier de la Come, and find him serving under General Burgoyne. There is a
spirited letter still extant of the Chevalier to the General, in which he tells him
hard truths, which will appear elsewhere.

g4 THE LOST OF THE AUGUSTE.
friends, to accepting a foreign yoke. It would be curious io
follow up the destinies of the Canadian exiles :• some, impli
cated in the Bigot frauds, returned to the mother country, to rot
in the Bastile ; others, such as the DeLerys, euUed laurels and
titles in the wars of the Republic and of the fi'rst Empire (1)
Possibly some of their grandchildren, HOW counts or barons
under the new regime, (1863) enjoy the distinguished honor of
anmfmlotbe cercle imperial, together wilh the privilege of
mingling liEn Salambo, » in the mazy waltz under the approving
eye and bewitching smile of the Grandes Dames de la Cour, whilst
others again remained in the colony and are now allied by
marriage to some of England's best blood- (2) .
(1) Some formedpartof the distinguished Canadians who, on the Sth June, 1775,
offered their services to Major 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 Royal Fnsileers, under Capt.
Kineer. They *ere the Chevalier de Belestre, de Longueii, de LotbiniSre, de
Rouville, do Boueherville, de la Corne, de Labrufere, de St.. Ours, Perthuis, Her-
vieux, 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, de Rigouville, de Salaberry, de Tonancour, Beaubien,
Demusseau, Moquin, Lamarque, Faucher and others, started for St. Johns, near
Montreal, to relieve a detachment of the 7th and 26th regiments, then in charge
of the fort, and who expected a siege, but after being beleaguered, the fort sur
rendered on 2nd November to General Montgomery. The Canadians and the
soldiers were carried away prisoners of war — Congress refusing to exchange the
Canadians, " they being too mitch attached to the English government and too in^
fuential in their own country. " Two, Messrs.- Demontesson and de Rigouville,
died prisoners of war; do la Corne, Perthuis and Beaubien, had been killed dur'
ing the siege ; de Lotbinieiye had an arm shot off ; de Salaberry was twice
wounded. " Amongst those who garrissoned Fort Ft. John, was t&e unfortusate but
brave Major Andr^, of the 26tli or Cameronian Reyimefnt. " The fort wag
beseiged by a strong American force, under the gallant General MSntgomery,
and during November of 1775, Preston dcfeJidcd himself vigorously, amid
severe snow storms,till he was compelled tocapitnlate, but upon hononrEsble terms, "
nearly 700 men surrendered J but they were allowed their baggage and effects,
the officers to retain their swords, the arms of the soldiers to be put in arm-chests
and restored to them when the troubles were over. AndrS, with all the other pri
soners, was sent up the Lakes by tbe way of Ticonderoga inland ; but he soon
after effected an exchange, though Major Preston would seem to have returned
home. He was subsequently hanged as a spy, by orders of Washington's Court
Marshal at Tappan, in the State of New York, on the 2nd Oct., 1780, when only
in his twenty-ninth year. " (Army and Navy, Review for Feby. 1864, p. 32.)
(2) " A Montreal, le 26 aottt 1863, demoiselle Marie-Charlotte Lennox, fille de
feu John Lennox, 4cuyer, major du premier bataillon du 60me regiment de So

¦FRENCH E«FOGEE-S. 85
We are not., however, prepared to assert whether the de
parture of these proud aristocrats, tainted by the impure ex-
bidalsons of Ihe French court of the day, to whora Magna
Charlg and the institutions of a free people were unknown —
we aie «ot, we repeal, ready to say whether their voluntary
exile was not a blessing instead of a loss, to the country. For
ihe sake of the family honor, we hope and trust our ancestors
vji}ve all they are craiited up. (1)
Let us thank llsal old hand which has seen seventy-eight
summers and which, ils 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 deli
neated the doings and sayingsof the Murrays, (2) the Carlelons,
Majesty, et de dame Marie-Ma.gu«rite la Corne de Chapt de Saint-Luc, son
4pouse. Cette demoiselle ^tait, eomrae I'Lndiquent ces noms, d'une origine ex-
"trgmement difitingui^e, tant du -ct3te paterniel par lequel elle se rattaehait ^ la
noblesse anglaise, que du e&-t6 de sa mSre qui descendait des meilleur&s families
¦de la noblesse oanadienne-franfai-sa.
Le Major Lennox, son pJie, ^tait«n effet fils de Lord Alexander Lennox et
Oomte Leniaox et de Marche^ et les families historiques de Boucher de Boucher-
¦ville, de LaperritSre, de Contreooeur,' de Laivaltrie, de Lanaudi6re, etc., ^taic-nt
les alli^es de M- la Corne de Chapt de Saint-Luc, I'anc^tre maternel de Mile.
Lennox. Devcnuo vcave, Madame Lennox, dont le souvenir n'est pas encore perdu
¦dans la bonne socii^td de Montrcai et de tout le Canada, ^pousa en secondes noces
feu M. lo Commandeur Jactjues Viger, premier Maire de Montreal, et si bien
connu dans la litt6ratui;e canadienne comme arch^ologue- "
II est extr^Qifatnerit p^nible pour nous d'avoir A enregister la perto de
-quelque rcjcton de cos nobles families qui ont jet6 tant de gloire sur notre pays,
et qui font aujourd'liai la richeSKe de notre histoire.
{Oonrrier du Canada, 23 aoOt 1863.)
(13 Mr. Sen-eeal, oneof tbec<vntributor« tothe 7?eu«e Cawat^ienn*', writes as follows
to -Mr. F. X. Garneau, of Quebec ; — las a letter which M. le Comte de M»nta-
lembert did me the hon<.r to write me on the subject of the Revue Canadienne,
the follciwing patsage occurs : " I was particularly struck with a work entitled
Une f!nnclHsi:m d'If{i.toirr;'hy Mr. Gnrncau. I shall willingly say with that
patriotic writtrr " let tiio Canadians bo faithful to themselvesi " and I shall add :
Lut tbem -eonfolc themseWes fc-r the separation, by the fortun« of war, from tbe
nuithar-coiinti_y,«illi Ihe rcBcctitn rtiiit this separation gave them rights and
Hbertio^ whifth l-'rance knL'w not huw to practice, to preserve, nor to regret. "
t_2) Id there not some inaecuracy in tho opinion here conveyed of the conduct
ftnd nli;iriiiUer of Bri^n.dier (Jenftral Murray"? It is possible that, like many others,
Hie (jenei'ai may, .un 'liis arrival in Canada, have been misled in judging of the
Frori'ih Canadians.-; 'but (lie State eaners lie a.diires6ed to the imperial authorities
m 176(1, shdw wliat a f.iviirable opinion he then entertained of the fidelity and
ihonor of tlio Canadian noblcfse.
Jilr. Do iii Corne 'himself ia his Journal states that on his arriving at Quebec

86 THE LOST or THE AUGUSTE.
the Haldimands, as well as those of the de Lanaudieres, the
la Cornes, the Babys, the Longueils, the Dunieres, &c., may
" Le General Murray nous yrefut avec touto la politesse imaginable ; il n'^pargna
rien pour nous rendre latravers^e agreable; nous flmes oomblc? de promesses et
d'effets de sa part  jo proposai au Gi^nC-ral Murray de louer un bMiment pour
mon propro compte, ce qu'il me refusa par un motif de gfindrosit^. "
These national antipathies, which fortunately aro fast disappearing, formerly
manifosted themselves, sometimes very ludicrously. In the stormy days of the
Ninety-two Resolutions, when tbe eloquent leader of the Commons of Cana'la*-
Louis Joseph Papineau, was nij^htly carried home in triumph to his hotel, on the-
shoulders of an enthusiastic crowd, there were also in parliament Marchildons
and Larwills, men of original views, but better acquainted with tbe plough or the
anvil than with the amenities of social intercourse, and ever ready to fancy them
selves slighted. It is related that an M P. P., named Beaudoin, having reeeivep
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 tbe frigid delicacy, soon came to the conclusion that
what every one asked for, must be very d'^sirablo. " Waiter, " said he, *' apportez
moi, comwent appclez-vous f«, ice-cnme '/ " " Yes sir, " replied lacquey ; and
instanter, the Canadian Solon was provided witb an ample plate of iee-cream,
from which he transferred to his unsuspecting palate a large spoonful. But, 0
horror 1 his teeth immediately chattered from cold, as if he had a fit of ague.
Boiling over with patriotic rage, he roared to the scared waiter, *' Pendard I
si c'eiit H^ pour un Anglais, tu Vaurais fuit chauffer / " ¦' You abominable-
rascal I had you intended this for an Englishman, you would have taken the-
chill off 1 " The company from His Excellency downwards, were convulsed
witb laughter.
Some of my readers may not he conversant witb tho origin of the picturesque
Frenah expression, respecting Eonstheff underdone. " Du bmuf qui beugle encore, "
the following may throw light on it. The ancestor of a respected Senator,
Mr. Ba'iclart, was one day dining at the Chateau St. Louis. His birth and educa
tion, were such tbat be could not behavo otherwise than Uke a polite Frenchman.
Whether His Excellency wished to enjoy a quiet joke, or whether he wanted to
treat his guest to the most juicy tid-bit on the dish, he had set aside for wiom-ieMr,
a slice of very rare beef — which he warmly recommended. " Mangex done; mangex
done, mon ami" said His Excellency, e-'esf exquis. "
Monsieur Badelart, who appears to have been but one dogree less polite than
tho politest man in Lower Canada, the late Judge A. N. .Morin, who on leaving the
bench one sunny day, is said to have bogged tbe pardon of the Chief Justice, his
collea','ue,/or having trodden on his shaddovi, replied. " Ovi, oui, milord," le bceuf
est exquis : c'est un plat de roi. II fait honneur au Canada, et h votre cuisinier "
and tlion bending towards his neighbor with a pained expression of countenance,
he groaned, then whispered in bis ear. Jl beugle encore !
The following humourous occurrence dates from that pastoral period
previous to tho insurrection of 1837-8. Let us hear Mr. H. Pabre ; " Thirty odd
years ago, when Parliament sat during tbe summer, tho Gulf members came un
to Quebec in schooners, and lodged in thorn all through the session. At about
tho same period, a traineau loaded with trunks and parcels arrived at the
Parliament House, one fine day, just previous to the opening of the session

FRENCH REFUGEES. 87
it be spared some lime longer, and furnish us with raore of
those life-like sketches of (( Ancient Canadians. »
(^Written in 1863.)
and from it descended a stout countryman and his wife, who carefully examined
the twenty-four windows of the buildings, and finally decided to rap at the door,
which was immediately opened by one of the messengers. The countryman there
upon presented his compliments, stated that he was the member elect for the county
ofBerthier; that he had come with his wife to take his seat; and that he had brought
his winter's provisions with him. He was consequently fully provided, but only
wanted a cooking stove, and hoped that there would be one in his room. The mes
senger immediately saw through the primitive simplicity of his visitor, and gra
dually " drew him " out. He ascertained that the member for Bertbier expected
to find a room already prepared for him in the Parliament House, in which he and
his wife could live throughout the winter, and subsist upon the provisions he had
brought from his native village. The messenger grinned, you may be certain, and
was finally forced to avow that there was no bed-rooms in the Parliament House
for members. " The member for Bertbier " thereupon gave his horse a smart
lash with the whip and indignantly and forever, turned his back upon the Legis
lative Halls of the Province. "
To which let us add : si non vero, e bene trovato.

" LE CHIEN D'OE- "

THE HISTORY OF AN OLD HOUSE.

Je suis un chien qui ronge I'os,
En le rongeant je prends mon repos,
Un jour vien(ft'a qui n'est pas venu,
Qae je mordrai qui m'aura mordu.
1736.
On the site, were now looms out so majestically the glitter
ing new Post Office, stood in 1871, an antiquated and massive
stone structure ; a capacious building of an unpretending,
nay an austere style of architecture, used since 1845 as the
city Post Office. It did not in the remotest degree remind you
of a palace, but seemed eminently adapted for a Haunted
House. The legendary ivy which had raantled round it from
its birth, wilh the lapse of time had overshadowed ils walls
with 'a raost luxuriant growth.
Structures, hoary wilh years, get to assume a grave, an
impressive aspect ; in their old walls, possibly raay nestle the
germ of more than one curious legend. Sorae of thera aro rich
in that peculiar attraction — the halo of raystery, the echo of a
forgotten past.
To their ruins, the shadowy dust of ages adheres; that dust,
when disturbed, reserables in some shape, the destiny of
things human. What detaches itself reverts to mystery, and
oblivion ; dissolves itself into impalpable air.
Undoubtedly, the house of the Golden Dog was one of the
most remarkable of the many historical houses of Quebec. The
dissimilarity ofthe periods it recalled ; the events which had
marked the now distant era of F>ench Dominion, as well as
the painful and dark raemories surviving, of (France) one of
our former mother-countries : all contributed to lend lo the

90 LE CHIEN d'oR.
house of the Golden Dog, a certain picturesque grace. lis very
site was historical. II stood on the northern portion of the
Grande Place or Esplanade du Fort, the southwestern part of
which now constitutes the Place d' Armes or Ring. The street
which it lined— Buade street — took its narae from Louis de
J?«a(/e, the sturdy old Count de Frontenac, who in 1690, in
habited the adjoining Castle St. Louis, far away from court
intrigues. Scandal had associated his narae, in youth with one
of the peerless beauties of the French Court, Madame de Mon-
tespan, and his old age, with desertion on behalf of his proud,
heartless and beautiful spouse, Anne de la Grange-Trianon ! (1 )
On the Grande Place, in 1658, the few doomed Hurons, who
had escaped the dreadful butchery of 1649, on Lake Simcoe,
had asked andobtained, leave lo encamp, sothatthegunsof the
Fort should protect them against the tomahawk of their raer-
ciless foes — Ihe Iroquois. Then carae a deed of blood of rauch
later date. The assassination of Philibert by de Repentigny ; it
carries us also back to the epoch when our fore-fathers flour
ished under tbe lily-spangled banner of the Bourbons. It
opened out vistas, as well suited to the pen of the novelist, as
they were pregnant of research for the antiquarian. The
roraance, as coraposed by Auguste Soulard, esquire, and pub
lished in the Repertoire National, was a graceful and fartciful
(1) Curious stories according to Saint Simon, Margry, &o., circulated in France,
respecting a liaison ofthe Count, when young with the Royal fav jrite, Madame de
Monies pan, when she -was known as Mdlle. de Mortemart. ie Frontenac was
sent out to Canada ; in exile, some said, as the French King did not like to have
near him, n successful rival in love. Louis XIV be it remembered, was not only
le Grand Monarque, hut a.t one time, was considered the handsomest man in
France. Was it surprising ho should be vain of his looks and 6 onneff/orfwnes /
The Countess de Frontenac, had refused to accompany her liege Lord, who braved
out his destiny in sombre grandeur, at the Chateau St. Louis, until death released
him in 1698. " His body was enterred in tho RecoUet Church near the Place
d'Armes ; on the 6th Sept., 1796, this building became the prey of fire and some
ofthe leaden oofBus of the great folks it contained, having boon melted by the flames,
in one, within a small leaden box, was found, the heart of the Count. According to
a tradition, says FrSre Louis, the proud Countess, refused to receive this heart,
which was sent to her in France, after her husband's death saying : that she did
not wish to own dead, a heart which when alive belonged to an other. It was
consequently sent back to Canada, aud placed in the Count's cof^n. {Abbi
Casgrain.)

THE HISTORY OF AN OLD HOUSE. 91
effusion (1) This wilty Barrister cut off so preraaturely in the
heyday of his success, especially as a litterateur, slill lives
agreeably in the memory of his confreres. There are few un
acquainted with his now/e<<e, whilst his critic, Mr. Jacques
Tiger, has exhibited remarkable acumen and a deep ac-
(1) We shall merely give tho conclusion :
Nicolas Jaoquin Philibert, was a Quebec merchant, somehow or other ho had
incurred the displeasure ofthe Intendant Bigot, perhaps for refusing to aid him
iQ his peculations and extortions. Tho Intendant, in order to annoy Philibert^
had billeted troops on hiin, and ordered a French lieutenant by name Pierre
Legardeur, Sieur de Repentigny, to quarter on the Quebec merchant. This
incensed M. Philibert very much, and when the lieutenant attempted to enter
the house with the order, Philibert objected, saying he would have tho order re-
eallcd, to which de Repentigny replied, " You are a fool. " A blow from a walk
ing stick, was the answer. The officer then drew his sword, and inflicted on his
opponent a wound, of which he died on the 21st January, 1748. Tbe deadly
thrust is supposed to have been given on the vei-y steps of the Chien d'Or build
ing, which he occupied. Da Repentigny, in order to elude a criminal prosecution,
escaped from Quebec, and retired to Nova Scotia, then called Acadie, where he
applied to Louis XV for his pardon. Letters of reprieve and pardqn were sent
out from Paris, and de Repentigny returned to Quebec in 1749 with these letters,
in order to meet any opposition which the widow Philibert might urge, when he
should apply to the Superior Council of the colony to have them registered. Mrs.
Philibert having been indemnified by pecuniary compensation for the loss of her
husband, did not oppose the registration of De Repentigny's letters of indemnity.
The French lieutenant remained in the colony, and had been promoted to a.
captaincy iu 1760, at the time when he Tias serving under the Chevalier de L^vis.
Everything seemed to presage to do Repentigny forgetfulness of tbe past, and a
promising future : every one seemed to have forgotten Philibert's untimely end,.
and how the family's respected Chief had been eut oft' in tbe prime of manhood,
and its ]-rospects blighted forever, by the dastardly act of one of the Intendant's
minions. AU seemed tu have fcrgctten these facts ; all, save one person, and this
was a young man who had just seen twenty-three summers; his name was
Pierre Nicholas Philibert. Severe in his demeanor, studious and reserved in his
habits, young Philibert had grown up to manhood, the chief support and conso
lation of his widowed mother. At times, several had remarked on his austere but
be lutiful face, a sombre ccpression, which would immediately melt into a sub
dued sadnes.s, 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. Whether ho
succeeded or not, docs not appear.
Ten months after his departure, Madame Philibert one morning received a
letter ; it came from Europe. On breaking the seal, the first words which mot her
eye were, as follows : —
" My Dearest Mother, — We are avenged ; my father's murderer is no moro. "
The two had mot at Pondicherry, in the East Indies. De Repentigny had fallen
under a sword wound which young Philibert had inflicted on him in a duel.

92 tE CHIEN D OR.
quaintance with dates : the only point worthy of remark, is
that the grave critic appears to have taken the novel for his
tory and critised if accordingly. (1)
As appears by the corner stone recently fonnd at the Chien
d'Or, il was Nicholas Jacquin Philibert who caused this house
to be erected, the 20lh August, 1 735. This corner stone i^ a
singular relic. Under the dale 1735 can be see the two capital
letters P and H ; the space between the letters is taken up wilh
a Greek or a St. Andrews cross, engraved in the stone and
colored in red.
On the stone was found a lead plate wilh the following
inscription : NICOLAS lAQVlN
DIT PUtLlBER
M'A POSE LE 2o AOVffT
1735.
There were traces of the impression of coins on the lead,
but these coins have not been found : either the masons en
gaged in the laying of the slone abstracted them, or some of
those later since, engaged in repairing or altering the building
may have done so. The lead plate, with lbe corner slone, are
now deposiied in the office of Mr. P. Gaiivreaii, Inspector of
Public Works, Parliament House. On the slone where Ihc
date — 1736 — stands, under Ihe inscription of the Golden Dog,
can be seen traces of letters, with a cement adhereing, imi
tating Ihegrey colour of the slone. II has been found impos
sible to reunite and reform the in'^cription, \\hich must
originally have been placed on this slone. According lo Mr. J,.
Yiger, the 21st of January, 1748, Nicholas Jnequin dit Phili
bert qnnrrelled wilh Pierre Legardeur, Sieur de Repentigny,
respecting a military order billelling him on Phirheri. Frmii
words came blows, and de Repentigny wounded hi^ adversary
mortally. ^1) There were also apparent traces of fire, on the walls when they were re
cently removed.

THE HISTORY OF AN OLD HOUSE. 03
In those fighting days of adventures and duels,, when deeds
of war, audacity or valour, raade or unmade men, the blood
of a fellow-creature was easily atoned for, especially if the
transgressor bore a noble name and' stood well at Court.
De Repentigny received the year following a pardon from
King Louis XV, and returned from Acadia, whither he had
'retired. Philibert before dying had forgiven his murderer.
The name of this same Pierre Legardeur, Sieur de Repentigny
occurs amongst those officers serving under Chevalier deLevi,
at the battle of St. Foye, on 28th April, 1760. In Hawkin'»
Historical Picture of Quebec, published in 1834, occurs a plau
sible explanation of the enigmatical verses inscribed on the
stone basso-relievo of the Chien d'Or. Mj. Begon, Intendant in
New France, formerly a merchant in Bordeaux, had arrived in
Quebec in 1712. Philibert quarrelled with him touching sorae
claims which he had preferred against Governraent, Failing tO'
make them good, Philibert caused the following words to be
engraved over the front of his residence, beneath the likeness
of a Dog Gnawing a Bone :
Je Svis Vn Chien Qvi Ronge Lo,
en le rongeant je prend mon Repos,
Vn terns viendra q.vi n'est pas venv,
qve je morderay qvi m'avra mordv.
1736.
The artist, says Mr. Huot, who carved this dog was not a
master in the art- We can safely pronounce him anything but
a Praxililes. Possibly he might have experienced surprise, had
il then been predicted to him that his work would descend to
posterily. The dog in the altitude of gnawing his bone, seems
to have much loo placid a eounlenance. Philibert more than
likely found the embleraalic chien much deficient in sullen
fierceness, when tbe sculptor had given him the finishing
touch. If we are to credit some vague traditions, it was Philibert's
widow, Marie Anne Guerin, the wifehe had wedded on the 2.3rd
Nov., 1733— who caused the sculptured stone and inscription
to be affixed to the front of the house.

y4 LE CHiEN DOR.
Some fanciful writers have gone slill further and have staled
that a son of Philibert had gone to Europe to fight a duel with
his father's murderer and that he had been killed by de
Repentigny. If any such duel took place, it could nothave been
prior to 1760, since at that date de Repentigny was slill in
New France.
It seems impossible to unearth the truth, from under these
old traditions. Here rests a store most ample of materials for
the novehst.
Time lends to legendary lore, a raost fragrant aroraa, spreads
flowers over tombs and gleams of poetry over common-place
things long since forgotten. Alexandre Dumas who weaved a
beautiful roraance about the Tower of iSfesIe, could have found
here the groundwork for an exciting tale, wherein that war
like period — the eighteenth century — with its dark deeds of
blood and revenge, would have stood outin bold relief. If, on
one hand, Philibert is a victim which moves us to pity ; on Ihe
otber,it seems incomprehensible that de Repentigny should'have
drawn his sword about such an insignificant quarrel. Was it
merely an ordinary instance of soldierlike brutality ? Was ita
deed of personal revenge, or else, was de Repentigny merely
tbe inslruraent, the sycophant ot a raighlier man ? What ever
we choose to suppose, that drop of blood, lights up with
sinister glare, the gloora of years which overshadows the old
structure. So much for roraance.
From 1775 to 1800, the Chien d'Or went under the name of
« Freemason's Hall. » In 1775, Widow Prentice, whose late
husband. Miles Prentice was of the Masonic craft, and a ser
geant in Wolfe's array, kept there a celebrated Coffee House,
frequented by the swells ofthe period. This is the sarae Miles
Prentice who, as Prevost Marshal, was charged with arresting
that dauntless agitator, the Huguenot DuCalvet, who patrioti
cally clairaed for his fellow subjects the whole of the privileges
of British subjects. Ducalvet was confined in a cell in the
Recollet Convent, then used as a prison for political offenders
— (IheRecoIletGonvent, burnt in 1796, stood partly where
the English Cathedral, bailt in 1804, now stands.) Miles
Prentice had either a daughter or a niece of wondrous beauty

THE HISTORY OF AN OLD HOUSE. 95
and in the bloom of youth. The immortal Nelson, then the
youthful Commander of the Albemarle, a frigate of 26 guns,
conveyed some merchantmen to Qui^bec in 1782, and was one
ofthe habitues of Prentice's Hotel. He was so smitten wilh the
Quebec « muffin, » that be offered her raarriage, and firm'ly
declared he would leave the service rather than be separated
from his charmer.
Read in Sonthey, (1) and LBmaryne's Biographies of the
Naval Hero, the lively concern experienced by his Quebec friend
A. Davidson, (some say Lymburner), when Nelson made
• known his rash resolve.
Had love prevailed, and marriage followed, wilh a retire
ment from the navy, would Nelson's destiny have been the
same ? Would he have imraortalised his name at Aboukirand
Trafalgar ? Would he have been known to succeeding ages as
the bulwark of England on the ocean ? Would Napoleon's
supremacy on land have extended to the sea ?^for the most
trivial incident makes or unmakes greatmen.
We read in the old numbers of the Quebec Gazette, and
later on, in 1790, in the Quebec i Berate/, (2) with what- zest
our patriotic fathers, the Volunteer and Mihtia officers of 1775,
used to celebrate each year the glorious anniversary of 31st
Dec, 1775, when a handful of British and French Canadians
with a few regulars repulsedArnold at Sault-au-Matelot street,
and Montgomery at Pres de Ville. They styled theraselves the
(1) Robert Sonthey thus describes this curious incident in the life of his hero :
" At Qufebec, Nelson beoame acquainted with Alexander Davidson, by ' whose
interference he was prevented from making what would be called an imprudent
man'iage. The Albemarle wa.s about to leave the station, her captain had taken
leave of friends, and was gone down the river to the place of anchorage, when
the next morning, as Davidson wag Walking onthe beaoh; td his surprise he saw
Nelson coming back in his boa*. Upon inquiring the cause of his re-appearance.
Nelson took his arm, td walk towards the town, and told him he found it utterly
¦ impossible to leave Qiiebeo without again seeing the wbman whose society had
contributed so much to his happiness' there, and offering her his hand. ' If
you do, said his friends, your utter ruin must follow. ' • Then, let it follow ' cried
Kelson, 'for I am resolved to do it ' — ' and I, ' replied Davidson, ' am resolved
you shall not. ' Nelson, however, uponthis occasion was less resolute than his
friend, and suffered himself to be led back to the boat. — (.Life of Lord Nelfon, by
Bob. Southey L. L. D.)
(2) Knox's Journal, vol. II, p. 149.

96 LE CHIEN d'ORi
Veterans' and held their annual dinner at the Merchants
Coffee House. We are inclined to believe Prentice's Hotel,
where Nelson and Montgomery had lounged, had also
amongst ils habitues, its fair share of veteran and military swells
of the period.
Our old friend Mr. DeGaspe used to tell of a most singular
suicide which took place in a roora on the first story of the
venerable Hall. A highly respectable and well-to-do raerchant
of Three Rivers of the name of Badeau, spending a few days in
the city, had put up at the Chien d'Or. Whether it was during
those gloomy November days — that season specially set aside
by Englishraen to cut their throats — we cannot say. One
morning the Trifluvian was fonnd stone dead, hung by the
neck to a large nail affixed to the wall ; —
And there he hung till he was dead.
As any nail in town,
For, though distress had cut him up ;
It could not out him down.
The ominous nail, when the building was recently pulled down,
was saved as a relic and is still in the possession of W. Sheppard,
esquire. Post Office Inspector. The true cause of his death re
mains to this day unexplained. Here, resided also at the
beginning of the cenlury, Henry Blackstone, Coroner of
Quebec, the talented son of that great english jurist. Sir Wil
liam Blackstone,
Subsequently, we find the old house occupied as an auction-
mart, nexl as a place of worship ; afterwards, rented for the
office of the Mercury newspaper and by the Quebec Provident
and Savings Bank. Dr. Marsden and Dr. Rees, both held sur
geries there. The Mechanic Institute, had their rooms in the
second flat, whilst the basement, was used as a Confectioner's
stand, by Henry Eaton, the son of the celebrated pedestrian.
It had forraed part of the Pozer estate, and the old mil
lionaire, George Pozer, having resolved not to comply
wilh the new municipal regulations and remove the stone
steps which encroached on the street, stood protracted lilitra-
tion on this point ; he spent six months, attending »he sittings of

THE HISTORY OP Xii OLD HOUSE. 97
Parliament, in Kingston, to seek Legislative redress ; there, he
caught the cold which eventually carried him off — but his
valued steps were doomed ; they were removed.
In 1853, Governraent purchased it, for £4,000 from Geo.
Alford, esquire, for a Post Office. Over the chief entrance.
as of yore, we still see the mysterious golden dog crunching
his bone, just over the bust of the founder of the city, Samuel
de Champlain, and the busy crowd flowing daily past, to or
from Mountain Hill, continues to gaze inquiringly at the
emblematical dog, just as Captain John Knox, (1) gazed and
wondered, at the inscription when, on the 18th September,
1759, de Ramsey's capitulation opened the city gates to British
valor. Who will solve the mystery ofthe Golden Dog ?
(1) Thursday last being the 31st of December, the Vetekans held their annual
dinner at the Merchant's Coffee House, all of whom that health would permit
were present, to the number of about 30. Songs, toasts, Ac, of course. Informa
tion likewise adds, the worthy veterans have established themselves as a
society ; the officers appointed, we learn, are four stewards and a secretary ; and
that they conolude in future to meet twice a year. — Quebec Herald, 4th January,
1790.

TIDBITS OF FEUDAL CUSTOMS AND RIGHTS-
(Frt««n »¦» ISeS.)

Amongst the innumerable feudal burthens and medieval
cobwebs which time or legislation have successively swept
away in European communities, there existed a lordly privi
lege satyrised by Sterne, and of rather doubtful propriety.
Traces of it were to be found, not only, in the realms of good
Kings Evenus and Malcolm, in Scotland, and in the Welsh
Chronicles, but also in France, Germany, England, Italy, Bel
gium, &c. It was one of those rights which one would be more
apt to look for under the heading of Droits Honorifiques, than
under that, of Z)m<s Utiles. French writers designate it as
Droit de Jambage, Prelibation, &c,, and as I do not care to be
too explicit in describing it, it will suffice to say that it had for
its object, as many pretend, to confer on the lord of the
manor the same rights which some royal Lotharios in France
claimed in those marriage contracts « oil le Roi a signe. » No
data have yet been found whereby to establish that it ever
existed in the colony : the chances are, that had its introduce
tion taken place, the Canadian Seigneur would have fared as
badly as those Pledmontese nobles, who, for a like attempt
were, according to Guyot, (1) summarily hooted out of the
kingdom. (2) That this right — high prerogative, if you prefer
— which might have suited old King Solomon, appears in
(1) ffnyot goes on to say that in times gone by, tho clergy claimed an indem
nity for commuting this feudal custom. Despeisses also mentions a singular case.
If w« accept their authority, how thankful we must feel to know that feudalism
is dead and buried for ever. What a scandal it would be through the civilized
world, if even the bare possibility could eiist that the Archbishop of Canterbury,
for instance, might claim so many " fat capons " at Michaelmas for refusing to
avail himself of such a right I
(2) See Bo^thius. Scotorvm BUtorice, G«orge Buc&nnan ; Rtrum Seotitorum
Butoria,

100 TID-BITS OF FEUDAL
charters and grants, there can be no doubt : and although we
do not see that the Seigniorial Tenure Commissioners paid
much attention to it, when they recently sifted the matter,
taking in consideration the manner in which existing rights
have been dealt with, we raay make ourselves quite easy that,
if it did exist, the $800,000 provided in the budget 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 firmly beheve, however, that never, even in his pal
miest days, did this Seigneur think of availing himself of il.
Anomalous as the right may appear, was it a whit less intoler
able than several of the manifold exactions which (1) free-born
(1) I can scarcly forbear a smile when I hear the word mentioned, from its
being connected with a vetj ludicrous recent incident. A sporting gentleman
owning the fishing limits of the Jacques Cartier river, in order to secure efficient
preservation of the inmates, imported an English game-keeper. The sturdy old
Saxon rejoiced in the name of John Crisp. Mr. Crisp wd.s indeed a character
he was a hard hitter, a pugnacious soul, — the type of the sturdy race which
the Norman duke had mercilessly crushed under his iron heel at Hastings : John
came in this country with the feelings not of an equal, but of a conqueror, and
concluded that as such, he would be exposed to the ill will and vengeance of the
discendants of Frenchmen ; he depicted to himself, the peaceful habitant, as a
blood-thirsty savage, the sworn enemy to his race. Distended with english preju
dices, nothing in Canada was as it ought to be. Even the ale was poisonous :
he vowed that without his usual supply (t London Stout, he would pine and die.
Squire Crisp had to be watched each week. Mr. Orisp. to use his expression
would "cook the goose Saturday and drink the gravy on Sunday" — which raeant
that he made himself very drunk at his Saturday dinner and carried the spree over
the Sunday. Hia disordered imagination gave way to dispondency and finally to
dilerium tremens. One thing however he took kindly to, that was the wtjte of the
country, 60, 0. P. Whiskey. One of his hallucinations, was that Canada being an
old Norman Colony, and the Norman race in the ascendant, a Saxon must neces
sarily be oppressed.
The absence of " London Stout " so depressed the spirit of John, that he had
to resort to the wine of the country, to keep them up, but all in vain ; he unstrung
his nerves and, under incipient d...t..., he once rose in the middle of the night
and discharged his fowling piece, at two gate posts near his dwelling, swearing
horribly at them, and calling them " D  d French Canadians. " At last he
became quite dangerous, and his loyalty to the Queen was one moming abruptly
interrupted by one of his English masters, with the help of some habitant clap
ping handcuffs on him, and picketing him for an hour before his tent, with a rope,
until he could be removed. His imprecations then beoame sublime. " To think, "
he would exclaim, " of a free-born Briton, picketed before a tent, with manacles

CUSTOMS AND BIGHTS. 101
Britons quietly endured at home, and abroad in their colonies,
where they imported their institutions ? Take Massachusetts
and the other New England states, for instances ; whatwould
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 originally granted the broad acres on
which he prides himself to-day ? On the other hand, what a
glorious field for law-suits, what green pasturage for Chancery
lawyers the revival of these old land charters would open !
Why ! it would be a perfect California for us, gentlemen ofthe
long robe.
I shall now submit in a condensed form, an extract from an
English royal charter ; it is a most dainty tid-bit, which I can
commend to the admirers of legal lore. Every one has heard
of Nova Scotia knights ; indeed, if I am well inforraed, we
have one at present (1863) within the precincts of this city,
(Sir J. D. H. Hay. 4) Few are aware of the marvellousarray ot
rights and privileges containiid in the charier creating Ihem,
granted in 1621 by James I. of Kn^land, and conlirmed and
re-enacted by Charles I., in 1625, in favor of Sir William
Alexander de Menutrie, subsequently raade Earl of Sterling.
This precious document, written in Latin, divers twenty-four
quarto piig^s. Afier ennmeratin:: Ihe lilies of the earl's larids
ill Nova Sciitiu, &c., it descends into the most minutes parti
culars concerning the rights vested in him over his vassulsand
tenants in his extensive domain, which comprised Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Cape Breton, SL John, Newfoundland,
and even the Gaspe district. This royaf grant divided Nova
Scotia into one hundred and fifty fiefs or seigniories, and con
ferred on the mighty chieftain (who, by the bye, was also a
on his arms, like a felon, in a Canadian wilderness. " Colonial habits did not suit
Mr. John Crisp, and after a short time, the Atlantic steamer re-conveyed him to
the land of the free.
(4) Sir James D. Hamilton Hay, for many years an attache of the Adjutant-
General's branch of the Militia Department, died 30th July in tha 73rd year of
his age. He will be succeeded in the baronetcy by his son, Mr. H. C. Hay, ofthe
Customs Department. {Ottawa Times, July, 1873.)

102 TID-BITS OP FEUDAL
poet) the power to knight any one who would become the pur
chaser 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 sale, to have the auspicious
words tingling in his ears : « Rise, Sir N. Fortunatus, » &c.,
or other words to the same effect. It has often been ray lot to
hear intelligent Britons commiserate most feelingly on the
intolerable hardships which French charters imposed on the
benighted French Canadians, but I have not yet had the good
fortune to light on a French land patent embodying a greater
ntiraber of exactions, restrictions and privileges in favor of
the lord of the manor than the following charter, sanctioned
by two English monarchs : —
« We also grant the possession of houses, buildings erected
and to be erected, gardens, valleys, woods, swamps, roads,
cross roads, ponds, streams, meadows, pasture lands, mills,
the exclusive right to grind corn, the shooting of birds and
M'ild animals, the right to fish, the right to turf and turf lands,
coal and coal pits, rabbits and warrens, doves and dove cots,
workshops, forges, heaths, wheat fields, forests, merchantable
timber, sraall trees, quarries, limestone, courts of justice and
their dependencies, the right to remit sentences, tbe right ot
receiving gifts in marriages, the right to erect gullows and
gibbets, the right of cul de fosse, lbe right ot franche court, of
sokman, of sak, of thole, of thane, of infanglhief, of outhang-
thief, (1) of oulwark, of wavi, of week, of venysone, of pit and
gallons, » &c., &c., &c. The Lord have mercy on the poor
vassal or tenant who had to comply with all these exactions !
it must have been doubtful to hira whether his soul as well as
his body did not belong to the earl, his omnipotent master.
So rauch for English charters. I shall now, in order to
illustrate one of the peculiar institutions of the country, and
for the benefit of non-legal readers, insert, as a sample a
donation entre vifs, in plain English, a deed of annuity, which
I shall translate from a city paper, the Courrier du Canada.
This form of donation was formerly and is still used by some
(1) This reminds one of the prerogatives of the Baron of Bradwardine.

CUSTOMS AND RIGHTS. 103
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 words what occurred to a wealthy Englishman who
had acquired a large tract of land in the country parts of
Canada, find who wanted more. Nothing was requisite to round
off his estate but a small farm, owned by a very ancient Cana
dian lady ; sell, she would not ; but she agreed to dispossess
herself if her rich neighbour would allow her an annuity of
about £50 ; this amount was not to be paid in money ; it
was to be represented by the ordinary conditions of a donaa'on
entre vifs, the preparing of which was left to the village notary,
(1) as is usual in such cases. When the French document was
read, John Bull could make neither head nor tail of it, and
instructed the notary to have a literal translation made ; it
was not quite Addisonian English, but it could be understood ;
the choleric Englishman restrained himself until the notary
(1) The Boston Post, notices a custom as existing in Canada, of which cer
tainly little is ever heard, if it does exist :
EONNINQ THE lONOLKE.
Canada is the refuge of French antiquities driven from their native land by a
relentless and radical civilization, among which, is the custom of " running tho
Ignolee, " which originated twenty-five hundred years ago. Though this cere
mony, which is druidieal, would hardly be expected to wear so well in a land that
professes to be Christian, it nevertheless was this year as sacredly observed
among the French Canadians of the rural districts as two hundred years ago. Only
a few years since it was allowed in Montreal, but the late influx of outside in
fluence has smothered it there. Freya, the wife of Odin, the Saxon Ood, made all
things swear not to harm Balder, the Sun, except the mistletoe, a plant so dimi
nutive that she didn't think it worth noticing. Lake, god of evil, found out his
weak point, however, and tearing up the mistletoe gave it to Oder, the blind god,
who with it fatally pierced Balder. That was the fable, and it was to prevent
Lake from slaying Balder that the Druids solemnly sought the oak trees and
gathered the mistletoe from their boughs with the joyous cry, " Au guil'an neuf 1 "
of which " La Ignolee " or " Quillannee is a corruption, meaning the mistletoe —
the New Year. A company of young men now meet and serenade every house
with a fanfaronade of tin horns and horse-fiddles. After greeting the host and
hostess, the singers and instrumentalists beg a piece of ham with tail attached,
called a " chignee, " threatening in the event of a refusal, to take the oldest child
of the family to the forest and roast it under the oak tree, where the dove and
cuokoo sing. Druidism was introduced into Oaul seven hundred years before the
birth of Christ, and its still vi^orons rites show that a heathen plant may Sonrish
in Christian soil.

1-04 TID-BITS OP FEUDAL
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, he col
lared the notary and kicked him out.
AN OLD FRENCH DONATION.
« Amongst other things, the donor reserves for his use, an
immortal horse, a cow which will never die, a ewe which
renews herself forever, at the will of the donor; twenty
minots of royal and merchantable wheat, good measure, made
into flour, together with the bran, to be deposited inthe garret
of the donor and nowhere else ; a reasonable (1) pig weighing
200 lbs., without legs or head, but with its fat, and if any
should be wanting, it shall 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 the
cow and of the ewe, whether they have any young or not. The
horse, cow and ewe will be renewed when it is necessary, ac
cording to the wish and will of the donor, expressed or not
expressed. The donee will wait at all times on the donor, in
sickness and in health, whether the donor asks hira to do so
or not ; will go and fetch the priest and the physician in
extremis — will drive them back, even should the donor die.
The horse will be harnessed becomingly 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 ;
the donor shall also have a quarter of beef, or cow meat which
the donee will kill himself, also a dead lamb, with its depend
encies, 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. » The
(1) " Un cochon raisonnable. " Very warm discussions used to ensue between
donor and donee ; one insisted on a fat pig ; the other resolutely resisted the in
troduction of this clause, from the great expense and trouble to fatten the grunter j
the notary would then propose, by way of compromise, to insert a " reasonable
pig. "

Customs and rights, 105
phraseology of French Donations has been modernized, we
subjoin an instance in point. (1)
(.1) FIERI FACIAS.
Circuit Court — District of Jolietfe.
District of Jolietto, to wit : 1 "DIBRRE VENNE, farmer of the parish of St.
No. 820. J -L Jacques, in the county of Montcalm, in tho dis
trict of Jolietto, Plaintiff; vs. BUSEBB BEAUCHAMP, farmer, ofthe parish of
St. Alexis, district aforesaid, Defendant, and Messrs. Uodin <fe Desrochers, plain
tiff's attorneys.
A farm situate and being in the parish of St. Alexis aforesaid, containing three
arpents and a half in front by twenty-two arpents in depth ; bounded in front by
the fief Bayeul, in rear by Plaoide Pinault, on one side by Solomon Chaput, and
on the other by the heirs of the late Louis Riopel — with a houso, barn and other
buildings thereon erected.
Said farm being subject to the clauses, conditions and charges hereinafter
mentioned, in favor of Dame Marie Anne Bourgeois, widow of the late Joseph
Beauchamp, in his life time, farmer of the parish of St. Alexis aforesaid, tho
annual and life rent, pension viag^re, each year, composed of what foUows : Ten
bushels of wheat, tho half of a fat pig, said half not to weigh less than ahundred
pounds, with the lard (jianne'), a lamb at her choice out of the purchaser's flock
every year, a cow at the choice of the said Dame Marie Anno Bourgoois, the first
that shall have calved, to be returned when she runs dry, and to be kept during
the winter and pastured by the purchaser, replaced by another in the event of her
death, sickness or illness such as to deprive the said Dame Marie Anne Bourgeois
of tho benefit of her ; a half bushel of good peas for soup ; four pounds of rice,
three pounds of tea, twelve pounds of candles to the said Dame Marie Anne
Bourgeois, a half pound ground pepper, a quarter of a pound of cinnamon and of
allspice, a half pound of soda, four pounds of spring wool, as long as the said Dame
Marie Anne Bourgeois, will be able to work the same herself, six ells of home
made linen, eight bushels of good sound potatoes fit to oat ; fifteen cords of cord-
wood, good and sound, whereof five cords must be of hard wood and ton cords of
soft wood, split and put into the said Dame Marie Anne Bourgeois house, as re
quired by her, three loads of dry wood for the oven, split into smalt pieces, a
horse harnessed and unharnessed, with suitable vehicles for the different seasons
of the year, with robes and cushions sufficient, and even to have her driven by a
prudent person when she may desire, and to go wherever she may feel inclined
and to take with her whomsoever she may wish to bring ;twenty-five pounds of
maple sugar, a gallon of good maple syrup, seven and a half pounds of butter,
six pounds of Canadian soap, three chickens, six dozen of eggs, three quarters
of a bushel (jninof) of salt ; a good cloak of suitable stuff, well lined, a printed
calico dress, a oobourg dress at hor choice, two pairs of calfskin boots, every
year, two pockot handkerchiefs a year, a bonnet en gros de Naples, two mantlets,
two aprons, two woollen neck handkerchiefs, one cotton neck handkerchief every
year, muslin caps (calinea de mallemoUe) every year, two cotton chemises.
The said articles to be of suitable quality and delivered to the said Dame
Marie Anne Bourgeois, as demanded and required by her, the said rent payable at
Michaelmas, of every year, and at the dead of the said Dame Marie Anne Bour
geois, the said rent shall be entirely eztinot and amortized ; and the arrears

106 TlD-BITS OF FEUDAI. CUSTOMS AND RIGHTS.
As I do not whish the reader to be carried away with the
erroneous idea of the French Canadian notaries have the mo
nopoly of bad grammar and barbarous phraseology, I shall
close this hasty sketch with a curious but litteral quotation
from a high English authority on the Law of Contracts ; it will
serve to illustrate what extraordinary gibberish the learned
ancestors of Englishmen used to convey their ideas in, and
exceeds in quaintness the clauses of a Donation entre vifs. (1)
« Si jeo vend chivall que ad null oculus, la null action gist,
auterraent lou il ad un counterfeit, fau et bright eye 1 » This
being interpreted, means : « If I sell a horse that has lost an
eye, no action lies against me for so doing ; but if I sell him
with a false and counterfeit eye, then an action lieth, »
thereof shall belong to the said purchaser without his being held to account
therefor to any person.
To be sold, subject as aforesaid, at the church door of the parish of St. Alexis,
district aforesaid, on WEDNESDAY, the TWENTIETH day of FEBRUARY, at
ELEVEN o'clock iu the forenoon. The said writ returnable on tJie twenty-fourth
day of February next. B. H. LBPROHON,
Sheriff's Office, Sheriff.
Joliette, 16th October, 1871.
{Quebec Official Gasette), 21st October, 1871.
(1) Southerne vs. Howe, Addison on Contracts ; American Edition, page 54,
the note.
It would take me too long to show how, under this apparently inoongruous
terms, a great deal of sound meaning was conveyed.

"LE DEOIT DE GEENOUILLAGE, "

AND OTHER RIGHTS.

{Written in 1863.)

" Et Ie dit Sieur, en sa quality de gentilhomme, a d^clar^ ne savoir signer. "
In noting the march of civilisation in this, our young country,
the patriot and the historian, amidst some causes of regret,
will find more than one subject of legitimate pride. Canada, it
cannotbe denied, in the race of progress, open to all nations has
in more cases than one, assumed a proud place, over sorae very
boastful communities of the Old and the proudest of the New
World. Long before 1829, at the time when an important por
tion of the subjects of Britain, as Roman Catholics, were
groaning under disabihties and penal statutes, an Irishman
in Canada might be a man and a citizen, though he had the
misfortune of being a R. C. The laws of Canada raade no
difference. Thus again, the Colony had peaceably obliterated as early
as 1 803, the foul stain of domestic slavery — ; it took sixty
years raore, for onrenbghtened neighbors amidst scene of blood
and fratricidal war to stamp out frora their free constitution
this plague spot.
Thus again, in 1832, a Canadian Parliament had decreed
that a Jew was a man and a citizen, not only as a financier but
civilly — this latter fact, all the hoary wisdom of Great Britain
had not until lately, been able to discover ; and a Jew was a
pariah in the Council Chamber of the nation — though he might
be a Lord Mayor of London.
The early French, and afterwards the early English, allowed
tis true, to grow on the treeof our nationahty, branches, which
wilh time assumed proportions altogether too vast and which

108 LE DROIT DE GRENOUILLAGE
cast a darksome shade all around : the Feudal Tenure and the
Clergy Reserves.
The good-sense of the people guided by wise political leaders
such as Lafontaine, Baldwin, Drummond, rid the country of
this incubus in 1854.
Let us not, however, be too sweepinginour condemnalionof
the Seigniorial Tenure. Though burthensome toa country fully
developed, some of its obhgations were highly beneficial to a
sparsely populated country— a poor coramunity such as that of
New France, at its birth. Who else, amongst the poor
peasantry, but the seigneur, the Laird, could have built the
banal raill for the parish?
This obligation was quite in favor of the cenntaire.
Some of these rights, which came in the country witb the
Gallic Lily were curious in their rise ; curious, in their fall.
We are led to fhe present inquiry by fhe perusal of a cle
verly written book, compiled by Louis Yeuillot, ex-rcdacteur
of the Univers, a Paris newspaper recently suppressed by
Napoleon III, the elect of thirty-two raillions of free men, either
because his people were not sufficiently advanced to have a
free press, or that a free press Vias a malum per se.
But says the utilitarian practically, what have we in
Canada lo do with Louis Yeuillot or bis book ? , Nothing, cer
tainly, more than Uiis : itconlainP, over aad above, a most
interesting controversy waged by the champion of the ultra
montane party in France and the lafe Attorney General and
present Pre; ident of tbe Cour de Cassation, Jlr. Dupin, on this
occasion, the .iio,it!i-piece of the French Liberal parly — a new
confirmalion of an opinion freqiiently set forth here, viz -. that
the Feudal Tenure, in ils mildest form only, was introduced into
Canada, although France, England and Germany for centuries
groaned under it, in ils most obnoxious features.
According lo Yeuillot those feudal barons, whom we depict
lo ourselves so intent on oppressing and so ready for trivial
offences, to roast and quarter their unfortunate serfs, were in
very raany cases the very reverse of cruel ; nay, sorae were
haraane and considerate to a degree. He tells of some being
quite satisfied with the gift of a pig, a goose, a sheep, for the

AND OTHER RIGHTS. 109
right to pasture the whole flock on the domain of the landlord ;
sometimes their eccentric humors betrayed Ihem into strange
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 raonks of
Saint Prcculus exacted from those who had lease-hold pro
perty under Ihem, the steam of a boiled capon ; the operation
was perforraed thus : on a fixed day in each year, the tenant
drew near the table of the seigneur, bearing theboiled chickap
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. (1) He had acquitted his feudal service.
(I) We find several instances of tenures equally singular in England: — " A
farm at Brookhouse, in Langsett, in the parish of Peniston, and county of York,
pays yearly to Godfrey Bosville, Esq., a snoi ¦ ball iu^midsummer and a rod rose
at Christmas. "
William de Albemarle holds the manner 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 Dartmore.
Solomon Attefield hold land at Reperlapd 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 hold his head on the sea if it was
needful. "
John Compos had tha manor of Finchingfield given him by King Edward III,
for the service of turning the spit at his coronation. "
Geoffry Frumband held sixty acres of land iu Wingflold, in the county of
Suffolk, by the service ot paying to our lord the king two white doves, yearly.
John de Roches holds the manor of Winterslow, in Wiltshire, by the service
that when the king should abide at Clarendon, he should go into tho buttery of
the King's Palace there, and draw out of what vessel he chooses, as much wine
as should be needful for making a pitcher of claret, which he should make at tho
king's expense ; and that he should serve tho king with a cup, and should have
the vessel whence he took the wine, with all the wine then in it, together with
the cup whence the king should driuk the claret.
The town of Yarmouth is, by charter, bound to send the sheriff of Norwiek a
hundred herrings, which are to be baked in twenty-four pies or paties, and deli
vered 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 :
" Another adventure, which had nearly cost James his life, is said to have
taken place at the village of Cramond, near Edinburgh, where he had rendered
his addresses aooeptablo to a pretty girl of the lower rank. Four or five persons.

110 LE DROIT DE GRENOUILLAGE
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. Yeuillot, that at that remote period there existed many
abbtis, 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. II is recorded that before the year 1450, the peasan
try of Yaulx, in Normandy, residing within five miles of the
Abbey of the Holy Trinity of Caen, were annually treated, on
the fete of the Holy Trinity, to a substantial repast within the
Malls of the monastery The carte de cuisine stood thus:
« They were first to wash their hands (not altogether a super-
lluous 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
carae a slice of grilled ham [une ribelelte de lart routy sur le
greil), a panikiu of bread and milk, and cider and cervoesie
ac?/t6t7Mm during a four hour's sitting. Wilh such royal cheer
and such considerate raaslers, it is not at all surprising lohear
whether relations or lovers of his mistress is uncertain, beset the disguised mo
narch, as he returned from his rendez-vous. 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 barn, come out upon the noise, and whether moved by
compassion or by natural gallantry, took the weaker side, and laid about with
his flail so effectually, as to disperse the assailants, well thrashed, even 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
difiioulty, James employed himself in learning what was the summit of the deli
verer's earthly wishes, and found that they wero bounded by the desire of posses
sing, in property, the farm of Braehead, 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 guedeman (i. e. farmer) of Ballangeioh,
a name by which he was known in his excursions, and which answered to 11
Bondo eani oHinToun AlnsaMld. He presented himself accordingly, and found
with duo astonishment that he had saved his monarch's life, and that ho was to
be gratified with a crown-charter of the lands of Braehead, under the service of
presenting an ewer, basin, and towel, for the king to wash his hands, when he
shall happen to pass the Bridge of Cramond. In 1822, when George IV came to
Scotland, the descendant of this John Howison of Braehead, who still possesses
the estate which was given to his ancestors, appeared at a solemn festival and
offered his Majesty water from a silver cwor. " This gave rise to the old' son"
" We'll gae nae mair a roving. " °

AND OTHER RIGHTS. Ill
a king of France — Louis X. — in 1315, after pubhshing edicts
to liberate his subjects from the feudal sei^vitude, complain
that sorae of his people, being ill advised, preferred to remain
as they were, to becoming free. A learned writer, Delisle, from
these and other instances, concludes that several ofthe customs
which now appear to us as the most obnoxious, were the very
ones which in the feudal times were considered the lightest,
astheir performance was attended wilh no trouble. And to
this class belonged the fnmous Droit de Grenouillage, the sub
ject of Messrs. Dui'in and Michelet's irreverent mirth. These
writers had perversely furbished up some old worm eaten
charters on whose authority they taxed the landed aristocracy
ofthe 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 thai his lordship's rest on such
an auspicious occasion, might not be disturbed by the noisy
croakings of the frogs ; and what was worse in the eyes of
Yeuillot, certain jolly friars, such as the Abb6 de Luxeuil and
the Abbe de Priim, stood also charged wilh having required
the performance of this sardanapalian service, not of course
on their wedding night, (for none but bad Abbes married in
those times), but whenever they resided in their domains, as
the following hues showed : —
« P^ I Pa ! rainolte, Pa 1 (silence, frogs, silence !)
« Yoici monsieur I'abbe que Dieu ga. (Near you rests, mon
sieur 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 expected to croak out (in a subdued voice, we should
imagine) this cabalistic formula. The performance of the
croaking service was confined to those vassals whose land had
on that condition been freed from 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 drowsy German eraperor 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 iu time and com-

112 LE DROIT DE GRENOUILLAGE
polled Aristophanes ; noisy heroes to knock under, on which
the mighty eraperor freed his considerate vassals. Although
il is said that at one time it was considered a special seigniorial
privilege for a baronial benedict to sleep soundly on his wed
ding night, nothing exists tO' show that this is the real cause
why Mynheer Deutchman bad so highly prized his uninter
rupted nap ; the probability is lliat he felt tired after travelling
and wanted more than a forty winks. » (1)
Mr. Yeuillot thinks that this Droit de Grenouillage was not
a whit more humiliating than the obligation the ordinary sei
gnior was under, tn poor out drink for his superior, and his
superior did not consider himself 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 tbese sir iggled 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 hira to a certain
spot, indicated in old titles, where he was bound to raeet
him. Once there, he would dismount, and having saluted
tbe prelate with his hat off, his right leg bare and wearing a
shpper, he would lake the bishop's mule by the bridle and
(1) Pity it is, the Droit de Grenouillage should be obsolets, especially in such
a locality as Lake Beauport, whers buU-fiogs of fabulous size occasionally make
the night sleepless with their boomings. The reader is reminded not to confound
these plethoric individuals with the oroinarj piping frog, rana pipiene, whose
shrill squeak ceases about the 21st of June of each year, and who caused the
cockney's mistake : " My dear parients, " wrote young hopeful to his relatives,
in Cockneydom, the day after his arrival in Qnebeo, " Canada is a strange place :
the country is swarming with papists. Gentleman leave, on their residences out
of the city, a great deal of fine fire and furniture wood uncut. There is one pecu
liarity which struck mo : the birds are not numerous, but some have a singularly
loud song, and sing all night. Of this class is the Canadian nightingale,°whose
shrill note kept me awake 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. Youj.
dutiful son. "
The most grotesque French patois, I ever heard was uttered on the GaspiS coast
where Jersymen most congregate : " Cliumnum, ves tu me bailler ete brioche
que vlh, " once was adressed to me by a dashing young fisherman, asking me for
the loan of a pocket knife— The veriest London clipper of hs, could not beat that
I thought—" I would like to know if a h and a ho and a har and a hes does not
spell orse. I am blowed what does."

AND' OTHER RIGHTS, 113
thus lead it towards the cathedral, from thence to the epis
copal palace, where he would wait on.thebishopduringdinner
time ; this performed he would retire, taking wilh hira the
bishop's mule and siteerp/aie. This cereraony took 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 sui table
to the status ofthe 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 plole, or else its legi
timate value d dire d'experts, due regard being had to the
quality of the individuals and to the grandeur of the occasion.
The eajperts decided that the value of the plate was 3,123
livres. Etienne de Poppian's successor, Pierre de Habert, tried
to enter the city in 1627 without notifying the Baron de
Cessac ; the latter summoned hira ; the bishop pleaded that
he was not liable ; that it was optional with the seignior to
require the presence of his vassal at any ceremony whatever ;
thalthe attendance herein alluded to, was particularly humbling
for the vassal, for which reason he had dispensed him with il.
The Baron de Cessac 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 Roman 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 [arret] of
the 16lh July, 1630, the baron was maintained in his cher
ished homage toward the count Mr. Yeuillot 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 Jambage ; the apologist of the middle ages
calls it simply JOmt rfw Setg'neMr ; he summons to his aid ail
his erudition, all his ingenuity, to explain off the arrets and
9

114 LE DROiT DE GRENOUILLAGE.
passages invoked by Messrs. Dupin and Michelet, with
what degree of success the reader of his book can judge for
himself. Want of space corapells us, albeit reluctantly, to adjourn
this inquiry into the institutions of times gone by. We may
again revert to it hereafter, but before concluding, we must,
on the authority of Mr. Yeuillot, 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 he found at the end of
several old deeds and charters : — « Le dit Sieur, en saquaht^
de gentilhomme, a declare ne savoir signer. » A careful
exaraination of raany thousand deeds and charters enabled
him to assert the contrary, raost positively.
Since writing the foregoing, a friend has placed in ourhands
the pungent and elaborate reply which Mr. Yeuillot's book
has elicited frora a French savant, under the heading, «. Refu
tation du Livre de M. Veuillot sur le Droit du Seigneur. Par
Jules Delpit» (1), a most wonderful repository of feudal lore.
In such a fiery controversy as the one raging between the
two writers, and on which we merely look as disinterested
outsiders, it would be presomptuous for us to decide who is
right. Yeuillot, as a pamphlet writer, a publicist, and the or
gan ot what is denominated the clerical party in France, is
undoubtedly a great narae — a tower of strength to his party.
On the other hand, the confident tone, biting irony, and formi
dable array of erudition, law quotations, old charters, arrets,
produced by his adversary, challenge enquiry and investiga
tion. Jules Delpit asserts positively that the Droit du Seigneur,
in its worst acceptation, existed in several European kingdoms,
quotes seventy-two instances. We are quite satisfied, in ap
proaching this subject, which to us, is of no actual moment, to
inscribe over both corabatants —
Non nostrum inter voa tantas componere litea.

(1) Jules Delpit, t'ls Said, is the nom deplume, under which the celebrated Mr.
Dupin, with the aid of a very learned brother, replies to Mr. Veuillot.

A EEPEESENTATIVE MAN.
1758.
M. Luc DE ChAPT DE LA CORNE SaINT-LuC.
If there be an era in the priraitive tiraes of Canada, in which
the martial spirit of its inhabitants shone forth more brightly
than at others, of a verity it is that war-like period which ira
raediately preceded the cession of the country by the French
Crown, known to our historians as the « Seven years' war. »
No where in the annals of the past, did the Canadian railitia
and volunteers exhibit greater endurance, — more perseverance,
— more stout and successful resistance on many a hard-foiight
battle field. Though after all, it must have mattered little
what the French coraraanders did achieve, having at their dis
posal merely a handful of regulars, aided by the new mihtia of
the country and their Indian allies. France also had in those
days its Goldwin Smiths : the colony was voted a bore ; and
niggardly reinforcements sent out when the whim of the rao
raent prompted — perhaps, not at all. Pitt had vowed to plant
the flag of England on the summit of Cape Diamond. A gigantic
army for those times, 50,000 men — including regulars, New
England militia and savages — were to invade Canada at three
points : the St. Lawrence, — the lakes, — the interior, under
the guidance of Wolfe, Amherst, Haviland, Johnston.
Ardent admirers of General Levi, the victor of Murray, have
ventured to assert that had this general, who had never suffer
ed defeat, been present at the first battle of the Plains of
Abraham, the fate of the colony would have been different ;
however great the military genius of the' hero of St. Foy may
have been, and none are more ready than ourselves to render
it due hommage, at best, he could in the face of the over
whelming forces sent raerely have retarded the fall. At the tirae
to which we allude (1758), with much larger armies inthe field,
a new system of warfare had, to a certain extent, superseded

116 A RIlPBESENTATIVE MAN.
the old desultory mode of attack ; the midnight raid and
murderous assault of former times — with Indian alhes as
guides and sharp-shooters — still continued for both comba
tants to be a military necessity in bush fighting ; but tbe large
armies of Europeans, to whom Ihe savages acted as pioneers
and auxiliaries, in a measure served as a check on the atro
cious and peculiar system of fighting of the latter, although a
meraorable exception to the rule occured in the Fort George
tragedy ; this outrage, however, was chiefly traceable to the
effects of the ardent spirits purloined by the redskins from the
Enghsh camp. Could we reasonably bold European com
manders — Enghsh as well as French — responsible for the
nameless horrors perpetrated on our soil by their Indian alhes,
one would be inclined to believe our European forefathers had
left their humanity at home to act the savage on our shores.
Take for instance the great Lachine massacre. On the 25th
April, 1689, during a profound peace, 1500 savages stealthily
surround, before day-break, the habitations at Lachine, nine
miles frora Montreal ; the unsuspecting inraates are soon
secured, slaughtered, in a few minutes a lurid conflagration
alone raarks the spot where once stood a srailing, happy
village ; men, women and children are sacrified indiscrimi-
nalely. Some are burnt ; others, disembowelled ; mothers
made to roast their live infants over the fire and lo turn the
spit ; everywhere, groans, tortures, despair. Two hundred
victims butchered in cold blood, all this accomplished in less
Ihan an hour, cells pousserent, dit Charlevoix, la fureur meme
a dos cxces dont on ne les avail pas cru capables. lis ouvraient
le sein des femraes enceintes, pour arracher le fruit qu'elles
iiortaient ; ils rairent des enfants tons vivants a la broche et
conlraignirent les meres de les lourner pour les faire rotir.
Ilsinventerent quanliles d'autres supplices inouiset deux cents
personnes de tout age el de toul sexe perirent ainsi en raoins
d'une heure dans les plus aflreux tourraents. »
These scenes, Charievoix relates, were repeated within
one league of the city ;' only when these infuriated demons
^^ ere satiated with huraan gore, did they retire with two
hundred prisoners whom they afterwards burnt. The island

M. i)E LA CORNE SAIN'T-LUC. 117
of Montreal remained in their possessionunti! the fall following.
Ill October, an Indian ally of the French, whom they had tor
tured and mutilated, escaped and apprised theFrench that the
Indians intended returning in the winter to have a repetition of
these sickening horrors atthetownof Three Rivers, after which
Quebec was to be visited on the same errand ; that, when they
would have extirpated the French settlers lo the last man,
they would meet in the following spring an English fleet at
Quebec, (no doubt Phipps' ships which did appear before
Quebec in October, 1690.) Providence frustrated their dire
designs. Of course, such doings were not confined to the allies
of the New-Englanders. The savages in leaguewith the French
carried fire and the sword amidst the peacefu' dwellers of Ihe
adjoiningEnglish provinces ; Schenectady ns well as Lachine
has its bloody records. Our early history teems with such in
cidents. Happily the extension ofthe colony in 1758, and Ihe
rapidly-increasingpowerofthe whites were calculated to render
these scenes less frequent.
Apart from the several European coraraanders who acquired
fame during the seven years' war, some of the settlers or
habitants (1) of Canada became famous in battle. It is one of
the most remarkable soldiers of that day we purpose sket
ching here — Mons. Luc de la Corne Saint-Luc, previously
introduced to our notice in Mr. De Gaspe's book, The Cana
dians of Old, and in the Maple Leaves, as one of the few sur
vivors in the shipwreck of the Auguste, in 1761, on its voyage
to France with the French refugees. The career of de la Corne
also comraends itself to our attention from its analogy to tbat
of other Canadians of later days : he fought as bravely under
the flag of St. George, when it became that of his country, as
he had done previously when the lily-spangled banner of the
French monarch waived over the horae of his youth. Being no
Utopian, la Corne cheerfully accepted the new regime under
which his hitherto distracted country was destined to enjoy
peace, liberty and progress. Being a raan of rank, talent and
(1) Habitants : here is a word whose meaning has been singularly perverted.
Habitant meant formerly the permanent settler, who came to habiter le pay, in
contradistinction to the military and civil functionaries who were transient. The
richest merchant might be a habitant : that is, a permanent resident.

118 A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.
courage-, high civil and railitary honors were soon within his
reach. We purpose in this paper viewing the Chevalier de
la Corne as a type of the Canadians of Old, the representative
man of that thrilling era of 1758 — Carillon and its glories —
when every Canadian peasant was a soldier, the stirring tiraes of
1 759 when octogenarians flocked to the loved standard of France
and boys begged to be allowed to shoulder the musket, when
the parishes were so drained of their able-bodied raen that
the duties of husbandry devolved entirely on the women and
children. History makes raention of two la Cornes. De la Corne
La Colorabi^re, who commanded in Acadia, and fought with
success against the English in 1756 ; he returned to France at
the time of the conquest and became the friend and com
panion of the famous naval coraraander, de Suffren, in his sea
voyages. The otber, the subject of this notice, la Corne de
Saint-Luc, « a Chevalier de Saint Louis, » was a raost influ
ential personage both araongst the Canadians and amongst the
Indian tribes, under French and under Enghsh rule ; one of
his first feats was the capture of Fort Clinton in 1747. He also,
at the head of the Canadians and Indians, distinguished him
self al the battle of Carillon (Ticonderoga), in 1758, where
Abercrombie was defeated by Montcalm and Levis ; la Corne
captured from the EngUsh general one hundred and fifty wag
gons of war stores. After serving through the hard-fought
engagements of the campaign, we find him subsequently at
the Battle of the Plains of Abraham ; we thence follow him to
Montreal, and see hira under General Levis at the head of his
old friends, the Canadians and tbe Indians; in April following
he was wounded at Murray's defeat on the St. Foye heights,
and took a prominent part in the last victory of the French in
Canada ; a battle which permitted them, on leaving the coun
try, to shake hands with their brave antagonists, the English.
(1) In 1761, he decided to return with his brother, his children
(1) How singular are the fortunes of war 1 Wolfe, Amherst, and several other
English officers, who, under the " butcher " Cumberland and under Ligonier had
been disastrously defeated by Marshal Saxe, at Fontenoy and Laufeldt, met on
the Plains of Abraham their old rivals, with Scotch Jacobites fighting' on both
sides. A few months later and the second battle of the Plains— a brilliant though
bootless victory — again asserted the martial qualities of the French legions.

M. DE LA CORNE SAlNT-LUC. 119
and nephews to France, and, having plenty of ready raoney
(some £6,000), he was on the eve of purchasing a vessel at
Quebec, in September of that year for that purpose, when the
generosity of General Murray made this unnecessary, and the
Auguste was fitted up at Government expense. In this ill-
starred ship, la Corne and one hundred and twenty of the chief
persons in the colony, including several ladies, officers and
soldiers, sailed on the 17th October, 1761. The chevalier has
left an interesting Journal kept by himself, of the appalling
disaster which befell the Auguste on the coast of Cape Breton,
where the ship was stranded on the 15th November, 1761.
This narrative (1), which has recently been published, is
affecting from its truthfulness and simplicity ; no boasting, no
flourishes of rhetoric in this short record of death and human
suffering. On reading of the seven survivors, — out of one
hundred and twenty-one souls, — slowly wending their way
over the fog and snow-clad sea shore of Isle Royale, occa
sionally one droppingdown benumbed, fatigued andexhausted,
to sleep the long sleep of death, one is reminded of another
gallant band who nearly a century later on, a few degrees
closer to the pole, could be seen equally forlorn ; they too
dropped down and died as they walked along the ice-clad
strand ; « some were buried and some were not, » as the old
Esquimaux woman staled lo McClintock's party — the latter
band was Sir JohnFrankhn's devoted but despairing followers.
We shall condense la Coriie's narrative of the shipwreck. The
ship struck on the 15th November ; la Corne and his six sur-
¦viving companions, including the captain, were washed ashore
in a boat, more dead than alive ; the 16lh was eraployed in
digging graves ; none of his children, none of the lailies had
been saved ; the young, the fair, the highborn strewing in
hideous confusion a rock-bound coast amidst fragments of the
wreck, — in all one hundred and fourteen corpses. Such were
the dismal objects which met the gaze of la Corne and of his
fellow-sufferers on the morning of the 16lh November. Amidst
the roar of the sea and of the tempest, the last rites were per-
(1) Journal du Naufrage de I'Auguate par M. Luo de la Come Saint-Luo en
1761— 06t6 et Cie., Quebec.

120 A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.
formed by the sorrowing parent , and on the 17th, with a
feeling common to all they hurried from a spot in which every
thing reminded them of death, « plurima mortis imago, » and
took to the woods, not knowing where they were ; on the 17th
a snow storra added to their raisery ; three of the party here
gave out through fatigue, but la Corne, who all along appears
as the leading spirit, urged them on, and with success ; on the
25th, his Journal mentions, as a godsend, the discovery of some
deserted huts ; — in them, they found two dead men ; on the
26th two more of the party gave out, and were reluctantly
left behind with some provisions. Twelve inches of snow had
fallen that day.
On the 3rd December, after a tedious tramp through the
forest, not knowing where they were, they struck on the sea
coast and discovered an old boat, unseaworthy ; the captain
of the Auguste set to work to caulk her, and raatters seeraed
hkely to assurae a more hopeful aspect, when a fresh snow
storm nearly caused the destruction of the whole party. «Oiir
provisions running short, » adds la Corne, « we had to hve on
wild berries and sea-weed. On the 4th, the storm having
abated, we found our boat imbeded in the snow, butwhen we
carae to launch her, our captain, who until then had held out,
declared he could go no further on account of the pains and
ulcers he labored under ; the three others raostly as bad, sided
with hira, and being alone, I was compelled, although suffer
ing rauch less, to remain with them, I did not like to desert
them, and we trusted to Providence, when two Indians made
their appearance. Our raen hailed them with loud cries and
lamentations ; in which I could catch the words ' have mercy
on us. ' I was then smoking, a quiet spectator of this sorrowful
scene. Our men mentioned my name, and the Indians greeted
rae warraly. I had on several occasions rendered service to
these tribes. I learned that we were ninety railes from Louis
bourg (Cap Breton). They told rae they were ready to conduct
me to St. Pierre. I had our men crossed over a river which
was there, and I left with the Indians, for their wig-wam about
three league^ distant. They gave me dried meat, and on the
5th, I returned lo my friends. »

M. DE LA CORNE SAINT-LUC. 121
Thence, we follow the hardy adventurer to Saint Pierre, to
Labrador Bay, and finally we find him, in spite of all remon-
trance, starting in a birch canoe, in that incleraent season,
with two young men whom he had terapted to this fool-hardy
enterprise, by offering them twenty-five louis d'or ; they
afterwards landed at Cheda-Bouctou, and after encountering
great privation, fatigue, and divers perilous adventures, he
arrived at Fort Cumberland, formerly Fort Beausejour, when
after a short rest he continued his journey on foot, having worn
out his strength and his snow shoes. The Temiscouata portage
brought him subsequently to the lower parishes, then to
Kamouraska ; and the night he spent at the Manor of Saint Jean-
Port-Joly is graphically described in tlie Canadians of Old. He
arrived at Quebec, on the 23rd February, laid an account of
his shipwreck before General Murray, and left for Montreal to
see General Gage. This iron-framed raan closes his Journal by
stating that the fatigues, dangers and starvation he was ex
posed to, were very great — that the circuitous road he followed
led him to beheve he must have walked at least 1650 railes in
the severest season in the year, and unprovided with any suc
cour. « I used to see my guides and companions, the Indians
and Acadians, giving out after eight days' marching, and often,
less. During all this time, I enjoyed excellent health, had no
dread of the consequences, and fortunately withstood this
excessive fatigue ; had I had guides as vigorous as myself, I
would have saved one hundred and thirty pounds which it
cost me, and I Avould have arrived earlier. » General Jeff.
Amherst, then at New- York, wrote to the chevalier a feeling
letter, dated 28th March, 1762, condohng with him on this
melancholy shipwreck.
We have no hesitation' in saying that this feat of human en
durance, this journeying during a Canadian winter through
forests, — over bays in a frail bark canoe and over a wilderness
of snow on snow shoes, close on seventeen hundred miles, is
almost without a parallel in modern times, and that we would be
very unwilling to accept it as true, were it less authentically
recorded. The loss of family and friends, as previously stated, seems
10

122 A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.'
to have changed entirely the future plans of the chevalier ; he
bid adieu to La Belle France, and made up his mind to live in
Canada, — a British subject. We fail for a few years to trace
cleariy what occupations were followedbythis singularly hardy
raan ; probably, wilh his compeers, the Rocheblave, De
Rouville, St. Ours, Deschambault, De Belestre, De Lotbini^re,
he took part in politics. At the arrival of General Burgoyne,
la Corne again, although close on seventy years of age, headed
the militia and the Indian tribes, which Sir Guy Carleton sent
to assist the newly arrived general. La Corne was present at
several engagements during the war of independence, and
probably would have rendered iraportant services to the En
glish general, but Burgcryne neither understood, nor took any
pains, to understand the character of his Indian allies. Matters
went on tolerably well, so long as the Enghsh commander met
with success, but with reverses, discontent got to such a pitch
in a short time, that the Indian tribes and the small number
of Canadians, soon absolutely refused to be led on by a general
about as fit to handle this arm of the service as Baron
Dieskeaii under French Rule, had shown himself twenty years
before. The disgraceful capitulation of the English array at
Saratoga to General Gates, was the crowning feat. In vain Bur
goyne (1), on his return to England, and from his seat in
Pariiamenl, supported by a host of powerful friends, tried to
explain off the shame he had brought on his brave army, by
accusing others ; his violent, artful charges called forth a
spirited letter from the Chevalier de la Corne, which appeared at
(1) John Burgoyne, an English general officer and dramatist, connected with
this country in the former capacity, was the natural son of Lord Bingley, and en
tered early in the army. In 1762 he commanded a force sont into Portugal for the
defence of that kingdom against the Spaniards. He also distinguished himself in
the first American war by the taking of Ticonderoga, but was at last obliged to
surrender with his army to General Gates at Saratoga. For this act he was much
censured and condemned by all the English: people. He was elected into tho En
glish Parliament for Preston, in Lancashire, but refusing to return to America
pursuant to his convention, was ignominiously dismissed the service. He en
deavored to exonerate himself, but without avail, in some pamphlets he published
in defence of his conduct. As an author, he is more distinguished for his three
dramas of the 3Iaid ofthe Oaks, Bon Ton, and The Heiress, all in the line of what
is usually called genteel comedy, they forming light and pleasing specimens.
(^Morgan's Celebrated Canadians.')

M. DE LA CORNE SAINT-LUC. 123
the time in the English papers ; it being, doubtless, new to
many English readers, a translation of this letter raay prove
acceptable : —
LE CHEVALIER DE SAINT.-LUC TO GENERAL BURGOYNE.
Quebec, 23rd October, 1778.
« Sir — I cannot say whether this letter will reach you ; if it
should, it is written to express my surprise at your lack of
meraory, concerning myself and also concerning ray compa-
nions-in-arms, the Canadians and the Indians.
«I am at a loss to guess your motive, unless it be to bury
my name, with your own, in obscurity — an achievement
beyond your power. I was known long before you had attained
the position which furnished you the opportunity of ruining
one of the finest armies which ray country ever saw.
« You say, sir, that I was unable to afford you any informa
tion. I am glad you should be the raeans of informing the
public that you never sought advice from me. Allow rae,
however, to tell you that I have served under general officers
who honored me with their confidence ; men worthy of the
position, — able to raaintain their dignity, — distinguished by
their abilities.
« You also charge me withhaving withdrawn frorathe army.
You will perrait me to inform you, sir, that those who, like
myself, left it, did not, more than you, dread the perils of
war. Fifty years' service will dispose of this charge. You, sir,
better than any, know who made me leave the army ; it was
yourself. « The 16th August, 1777, the day of the Bennington affair,
you sent me, through Major Campbell, an order to hold my
self in readiness to start on the morning of the 17th with the
Canadians and Indians, ahead of General Fraser's brigade, to
post ourselves at Stillwater. But that sarae day M. de Lanau-
di^re (1) informed you of the defeat of Lieut. -Col. Baura's
detachment, and of that of Lieut. -Col. Breyman, who had
(1) Luo de La Coifte was with Guy Carleton and de la NaudiSre in the ship
coming down to Quebec, in Nov. 1775, the GaspL—iSanguinet.)

124 A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.
advanced to support the latter. He apprised you that these two
detachments had lost at least seven hundred men. You ap
peared to put little faith in his statements, and you told me the
loss did not amount to one hundred and fifty men, although
the real figure, showed that the first report was exact. Counter
orders were then issued to the wholearmy which had intended
to march on that day, and the next day we were made to cross
North River, and, with General Fraser's brigade, to camp at
Battenkill. The Indians, startled by your grand manoeuvres, to
which they were not accustomed, had noticed that you had
sent no force either to collect the remnants of the corps dis
persed at Bennington (sorae of whom, to my knowledge,
returned to your camp five days after), or to succour the
wounded, of which a portion were dying. This conduct of
yours, sir, did not convey a very high idea of the care you
would take of those who might fight under you. The indiffer
ence you exhibited to the fate of the Indians concerned in the
Bennington encounter, to the extent of one hundred and
fifty, had disgusted them very rauch ; a good number of them
had fallen there, together with the irgreat chief, and out of the
sixty-one Canadians, forty-one only had escaped.
« Bear in raind, sir, so that you may not form an erroneous
opinion of this matter, what passed in council, when you re
presented our loss as trifling. I told you, on behalf of the
Indians, whose interpreter you had raade me, that they were
very deserving. They said raany things which it would have
been useless to repeat ; amongst others, that they wished to
speak their sentiments to you in plain terms. I warned you of
what would be the final result. Finally, sir, their discontent
becarae such that they left on the spot, although you refused
to allow them provisions, shoes and an interpreter.
Two days subsequently, you had seen your error ; Brigadier
Fraser had anticipated what would be the consequences of
your acts towards the Indians, You then sent for me, and I
had the honor to meet you in the tent of the brigadier, when
you asked me to return to Canada, the bearer of despatches to
General Carleton, to induce His Excellency to treat the Indians
kindly and send them back to you. I did so, a'hd I wouldhave

M. DE Lii CORNE SAINT-LUC. 125
rejoined the array, if the comraunication had not been cut off.
After that, of what use could I have been, I, whom you had
represented as good for nothing, and as one of the Indians who
had left the army. Ah I sir, having ceased to be a general, do
not at least cease to be a gentleman ! On the latter point, I am
your equal. You. bear the rank of a general, and I raay not be
your equal in talent, but I am your equal in birth, and claim to
be treated as a gentleman.
« Be that as it may, sir, notwithstanding ray advanced age
(67 years), I am ready to cross the sea to justify myself before
the King, my master, and before my country, of the unfounded
charges you have heaped on me, but I am quite indifferent as
lo what you, personally, may think of rae. »
A Legislative Councillor of Canada, in 1784, we find this
sturdy old soldier at the ripe age of 74, equally ready in camp
and in council, — manfully battling for the rights of his country
men to enjoy all the privileges of British subjects, and siding
against the old faraily corapact, — reraonstrating loudly but
respectfully, and holding forth in the resolutions he proposed,
in favor of the constitution of 1774. When the stern oldRoraan
died does not appear ; he seeras to have attained a very great
age. In a measure, are we not justified in saying of him what Cla
rendon wrote of Hampden, « that he was of an industry and a
vigilance not to be tired out or wearied by the most laborious,
and of parts not to imposed on by the most subtle and sharp, —
of a personal courage equal to his best parts. » ?

U. E. LOYALISTS.

« Outline OF A FEW CONSPICUOUS B. e. loyalists, who fled to nova
SCOTIA AND UPPER CANADA AFTER THE AMERICAN RE VOLUTION (1783),
WITH PERSONAL REMIN1S6ENCES OP EARLY SETTLERS. » — Parlia
mentary Manuscripts collected by Geo, Coventry, Esq,
[Reviewed in 1864.)
The foregoing is a subject about which, I am loth to say, the
bulk of the French Canadians, notwithstanding their know
ledge of Canadian history, know very little ; in fact, those
who have the courage to be candid, will promptly admit that
in their minds a haze of uncertainty has hovered for a long
time over the exact meaning of the word « U. E. Loyalist, i)
nor do they clearly understand what is raeant by « Nova
Scotia Knights. » They can readily tell you how many trips
Jacques Cartier or Champlain made to New France ; of the
thrashing General Levi gave General Murray on the Sle, Foye
heights, in 1760 ; ofthe harrowing tale of the shipwrecked
French refugees on Cape Breton in 1761 ; of the arbitrary
banishment of the Acadians ; but be cautious how you parade
before their eyes the mystic combination « U. E. Loyalists ; »
else, raany will fancy you are atterapting to enlist their syra-
pathy in favor of some new Masonic order, mayhap an Orange
lodge, or perchance sorae secret political organization, possibly
like the Knights of the Golden Circle, or the D. M. D. (1) With
all due deference to their historical lore, I see no cogent
reason why the 10,000 English refugees who, Mr. Coventry
tells us, « were the founders of the present prosperity of Upper
Canada, » should be more ignored in the annals of this, our
common country, than were the French refugees who returned
to the parent state a century back. At their removal, honors
(1) Defenders of the Monroe Doctrine.

128 U. E. LOYALISTS.
were lavished on both classes by their respective sovereigns,
and several of thera have left their mark in history.
Before proceeding further in this inquiry, let us award our
raced of praise to the enlightened statesraen who have been
instrumental in rescuing from oblivion the memories of the
brave and honorable raen who, at the close of the American
revolutionary struggle, raade the western portion of Canada
their home. To the late Hon. William Hamilton Merritt and
to the Hon. Jaraes Morris, the descendants of these worthies
owe a debt of gratitude for having procured the support and
sanction of the legislature to the raeasures they devised in
order to corapile the iraportant parliamentary papers and ma
nuscripts now styled « The Simcoe Papers and Manuscripts
relating to theU.E. Loyalists ; » and iff should venture to say
that what has been collected can only be considered as a first
instalment, it is not with the view of disparaging the labours of
Mr. Coventry, the gentlemen employed by Parliaraent lo trans
criber these doGuments. Far from that, I merely wish to record
ray opinio^, that corapared to the rich raines of historical facts
and data procured at government expense in France, in the Uni
ted States and elsewhere, relating chiefly to Lower Canada, the
Coventry Manuscripts appear but the forerunners of a compre
hensive compilation necessary for a full history of that pro
gressive western portion of the Canadas. Any one viewing what
material the Archives de la Guerre, the Archives de la Marine,
the Albany State Documents, the parish Registers of Lower
Canada, and the old census tables of France have furnished to
Mr. Faribault, Mr. Garneau, Mr. Bibaud, Mr. Tanguay and
others, for the history of Lower Canada, will confess that our
portion of the country has been dealt with most liberally. It is
not every day, be it remembered, that a Lower Canadian is
warranted in -saying that Lower Canada has in one respect had
a larger portion of tbe loaves and fishes than its sister pro
vince !
To prevent disappointment, let us, at the onset stale, forthe
benefit of the 20,000 descendants of the famous 10 000
« lounders of western prosperity, » that it is not in this short
sketch, penned by a French Canadian in a leisure hour that

BRITISH REFUGEES. 129
they are to look for the whole pedigree and domestic history of
their worthy grandfathers.
Should the nephews of U. E. Loyalists be as- kindly treated
by the governraent of the day, when Canada will be received as
a Sovereign State, in the great Republic, some time about the
year 1964, as their fathers were by the house of Hanover in
the last century, they will, indeed, be accounted a fortunate
race. Let us now hear Mr. Coventry, without adopting all his
conclusions :
« Upper Canada may be said to have been founded by
American Loyalists, who were driven from the,ircoun tryal the
Revolutionary War. The whole country was a wilderness, as
the French, who were the previous occupiers, had taken no
pains to clear or colonize it. (1) 'Tis true that at Detroit, where
they had a fort, they induced a few individuals to settle around,
and also on the Canadian shore, the descendants of whora re
main there to the present day. After the Britishflag triumphed,
they remained unmolested, as well as those who chose to re
main in the Lower Province.
« The great work, therefore, of subduing the forests and of
bringing the rich tracts of land under cultivation, was left to the
indomitable courage, energy, and perseverance of the settlers,
protected and encouraged by the raother country.
« The principal object of the line of division of Canada, as
established by Mr. Pitt's Act, was to place thera, as a body, by
themselves, and to allow them to be governed by laws more
congenial than those which were deeraed requisite for the
French, on the St. Lawrence.
« This decision arose frora the tenor of the Treaty of Capi
tulation at Montreal, which was on so liberal a scale that when
finally ratified at Fontainebleau, the French (the Canadians,
Mr. Coventry raeans) were to enjoy, unmolested, their own
(1) It is only necessary to refer to the chronicles of the past to ascertain
whether or .not the French took pains to colonize Few France. — J. M. L.
" It, says Warren, the French did not take particular pains to colonize Canada,
they did not however by legislative enactment declare the cultivation of the soil
a felony, as the English did in New -Found- Land. From M. H. Warren's Lecture
on the Fisheries, p. 8. 11

I'dO V. E. LOYALISTS.
religion, their own laws, their civil rights, to retire when they
pleased, and to dispose of their estates to British subjects.
« Of course they came under the general rules laid down by
the British Government and Governor ; nor were they entitled
to grants of land, which were so freely given to Loyalists and
soldiers who had so bravely fought under the British flag.
They continued lo pursue Iheir old-fashioned way of living,
and for raany years gave no political trouble.
« Pievious to Mr. Pitt's Act coraing into operation in 1791,
raany large grants of land were made, but the names of the
parties were not registered in the Crown Land Departraent, nor
were the locations known, as it frequently happened that such
grants were sold and not taken up until many years afterwards.
Consequently our information is very meagre relative to the
progress of the colony whilst under military rule.
« There were no official surveys of lands until 1792, when
about 20,000 acres were surveyed in York, Scarboro' and
Cramahe. Old settlers, frora the taking of Fort Niagara in
1759 to the above period, located where they pleased, with
the grant of « Land Warrants, » which held good in after years
by proof of possession and clearance.
« Some of the old settlers in the Niagara disti'ict have told
me thai the property they now hold has not been registered to
this day ; — they hold possessien by prescriptive right, having
been on their farms for upwards of eighty years.
« As our enquiry is confined to Upper Canada, we need not
enter upon the surveys of the Lower Province ; suffice it to
say, that after the Treaty of Fontainebleau, in 1763, the
Crown was desirous to establish the boundary of the Roman
Catholic grants. Consequently 5,000 acres were awarded to
the Seminary Domain, and the outskirts of the city of Quebec
parcelled out to the British settlers who remained with the
government. Up to tbe year 1780, about 80,000 acres were
surveyed by order of the British governors, part of which the
government retained, and the remainder was given to the
military. The rise and progress of a newly-settled country is
at all tiraes an interesting topic. Nothing affords so much en
tertaining inforraation lo young people as the adventures of

BRITISH REFUGEES. 131
Robinson Crusoe, the result of De Foe's fruitful imagination :
and the pleasing picture of Paul and Yirginia, by Bernadin de
St. Pierre, in the Mauritius, will be handed down to succeeding
generations ; the result, however, of such ulopean lives is of
no practical use to farailies in the present organized state of
society. « Settlers in a Canadian wilderness had to bear the burthen
and heat of the day ; had to exist by the sweat of their brow ;
to undergo wonderful privations and to pass through realities
which would scarcely be credited in a work of fiction. Still a
century has passed and proved the truth of the assertions of
Macaulay; tbat the British Colonies have becorae far, raighlier
and wealthier than the realms which Cortez and Pizarro had
added to tbe dominions of Charles the Fifth.
(( The history of the country, therefore, during the last
century, is eminently the history of physical, of moral and
intellectual improvement.
« The history ofthe settlers ; the progress of agriculture, of
horticulture, of the useful and ornamental ; the change in the
habits and manners of the people ; the exchange of the spin
ning wheel for iraported finery ; the daily luxury and coraforts
ofthe inhabitants, contrasted with the privations of their an
cestors, will all form subjects of interesting raoraent in fhe
results of our inquiries.
« The people having their daily duties to perform, with a
constant succession of work from sunrise lo sunset, were cut
off frora all intercourse with the world, and for raonths together
never saw a white man's footstep around their dwellings. A
solitary Indian occasionally crossed their grounds with whom
they traded for skins and deer. They might almost literallybe
said to have existed in a state of nature ; old associations were
their thoughts and the reflection that they were laying the
foundation of prosperity for their children. The Bible they
carried with them, formed their principal solace and consola
tion ; and their endeavors were blessed. The superstition so
characteristic of the aborigines seeraed to forra no part of
their existence. Their rainds were constantly occupied with
some useful work ; as the shades of evening drew around

132 U. E. LOYALISTS.
thera, they retired, and in such sound sleep that a monarch
would have envied. At that period, there was but one road
through the country ; a sort of military highway leading from
Toronto lo Montreal, and an Indian path leading to Penelan-
guishine, where a fort was erected and garrisoned by a few
soldiers. Between these two points, messages were sent back
wards and forwards with unerring certainty by Indian guides,
similar to David's and Solomon's running footmen.
« There was no raoney except that which Governraent dis
pensed for the pay of the troops.
« Those who were fortunate enough to have located in the
vicinity of an encampment, or a fort, were liberally paid for
their produce, and the cash was speedily put away in an old
stocking, or locked up for posterity to gloat the eye upon.
« Thieves were unknown, and crime of any description was
a rare occurrence.
« The Government was as liberal as the most fastidious could
desire. It gave them land, tools, materials for building,
the raeans of subsisting for two or three years, and to each ot
their children, as they becarae of age, two hundred acres of
land. Families at the present day speak wilh pride, pleasure
and thankfulness of the liberality of the British Government in
affording thera assistance in the wilderness ; they continued
staunch and loyal to their sovereign, ever ready in any eraer
gency to preserve untarnished the honor of the country.
' Thank God, I am a true Briton ' was instilled inlo their raind
from infancy. Intimately connected with the rise and progress
of Upper Canada, there is an important class of settlers who
demands our especial attention. I allude to the U.E. Loyalists.
« Those extraordinary raen underwent the severest trials^
and privations for their deterrained loyalty to the House of
Hanover. « No one can have the slightest conception of the raisery
that eivil war entails until after the perusal of Mr. Sabine's
History ; every refined cruelty of which the huraan mind is
susceptible was practised on those upholders of the cause of a
limited monarchy.
« Doubtless, retaliation was, in a measure, the order of the

BRITISH BUFUGEES. 133
day; so that scenes were daily witnessed as harrowing to a
plilanthropist as during the reign of terror in France, under
Robespierre and Danton!
« The lives that were sacrificed during the seven years'
struggle for independence, can never be ascertained ; so that,
rather than prolong the war, and to spare the further effusion
of blood, the Minister adopted tbe humane principle of com
pleting a treaty that was by no raeans satisfactory to the
greater portion of enlightened politicians.
« Those who are interested in the history of nations, should
by all raeans, obtain Mr. Sabine's useful and interesting work;
but as it is now scarce, I shall subjoin- a few notices of ex
traordinary characters who figure inthe revolutionary struggle,
who afterwards took refuge in Canada and Nova Scotia,
who acted as pioneers in clearing the wilderness, and by per
severance and industry reared families whose descendants
have since shone conspicious in the annals of the country. As
Upper Canada had few actual settlers previous to the termina
tion of Araerican hostilities, nor any accoraraodation for the
reception of refugees, we have to trace the streara of loyalists
who raade their escape to the shores of New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia, were they arrived in British ships by thousands,
and afterwards branched out in divers directions, as th' y ob
tained grants of land in various sections of the colony.
« Sorae few carae over by way of Niagara, under the aus
pices of Sir WiUiara Johnson, and afterwards under the adrai
nistration of General Siracoe. Their history is extremely inte
resting, shewing the wonderful vicissitudes of human life, and
may as beacons, help on those grumblers of the present day,
who have not the same manliness, fortitude and presence of
mind to meet the casualities incidental to the changes that at
times, take place under every forra of government.
« The loyalists officers, at the close of the war, retired on
half-pay. « This stipend they received during life, and they also re
ceived grants of land according to their rank.
« Many were appointed to responsible and lucrative civil
offices, and some even administered the Government of the

134 U, E. LOYALISTS.
colony in which they resided : General Siracoe, for instance,
who coraraanded the Queen's Rangers in the Revolutionary
war. Nothing in the history of those extraordinary men is so
remarkable as their longevity. Several lived to enjoy their pay
for upwards of half a century ; so comraon araong them
were the ages of eighty and eighty-five, ninety and even ninety-
five, that the saying became proverbial — 'Loyahst half-pay
officers never die. ' So courteous and liberal was the British
Government, that even after the death of those old officers,
many widows and orphans were recipients of various sums,
amounting to between i;20,000 and £30,000 per annum, (aye
and as much as £50,000.)
« We have previously remarked that those who are curious
to know the fate of frora 7,000 to 10,000 loyalists should con
sult Mr. Sabine's valuable work.
« In our selection we shall notice a few conspicuous fami
lies who fled from the States at a very early period of Upper
Canadian history. »
It is with those prefatory remarks that Mr. Coventry ushers
in the bright ga.laxy of loyal men whose allegiance to the House
of Hanover was so substantially (1) rewarded, whose orphans
and widows, received as rauch as ^650,000 per annura frora the
British Exchequer. Good olden tirae, Mr. Coventry ! Happy
age that was 1 Let us not, however, dwell on tbe sunny pic
ture too long, lest it should call forth an invidious coraparison
between the trealraent experienced by Governor Siracoe's and
Sir William Johnston's friends, and that raeted out to the pa
triotic reforraers of abuses, in 1838-9, in Eastern and in
Western Canada. They, too, were the sons of raen who had
stood up for Britain's flag in 1775 and 1812; but « let the dead
past bury its dead. » The U. E. Loyalists were brave, let us
honor thera ; they sacrificed their coraforts, their worldly
raeans, to the shrine of consistency, and consistency is a jewel ;
let us cherish their memory !
(1) The wealth and position of the colonists, who sacrificed their possessions
in the Republican States, to adhere to the monarchy, may be estimated by the
fact, that claims for the loss of property were allowed, by the Imperial Govern
ment, to 3,000 heads of families — the total of whose indemnity (apart from land
grants) reached to about ten millions eterling t {Adolphus Hist, of England, Vol.
Ill, p. 629.)

BRITISH REFUGEES. 135
But how shall we becoraingly recount the odyssey of their
sufferings in the wilds of Western Canada ? How shall we
depict their valor in war? Let Chrysler's Farra, let Lundy's
Lane, letQueenston Heights; (l)letthe battlefields ofl812-13-
14 unfold their honored banners.

The Coventry Manuscripts contain sketches of the following
U. E. Loyalists and early settlers of Upper Canada :
The Smiths, Gambles, Andersons, Jones, Lymans, Robin
sons, Baldwins, Sir Jaraes McCaulay, Hon. John Wilson, John
Strachan, Capt. Jaraes Dittrick, Roger Bates, Mrs. White,
Joseph Brant, Thoraas Horner, Hon. M. DeBoucherville, (2)
Hon. John Stewart, Hon. W. Morris, Mohawk Chief Martin,
Hon. Sarauel Crane, Nicholas Browse, Jacob DeWitt, Hon.
George Crookshank, Sir Joseph Brook, Hon. Jaraes Crooks,
George Brouse, M.P. P. ; Dr. Schoefield, Hon. John Molson,
Hon. John McDonald, Thomas Merritt, Jacob Bowman, Hon.
Henry Ruttan, Hon. John Elmsley, Chief Justice ; Hon. Peter
Russell, Adrainistrator ; Hon. Henry Allcock, Chief Justice ;
W. Weeks, M.P. P. ; John While, Attorney-General ; Mrs.
Secord, of Chippewa ; Col Clark, Port Dalhousie ; Hon. W.
Harailton Merritt ; Philemon Wright, the pioneer of the
OttaM'a ; Rev. John Stuart, Frontenac ; Tecumseh ; Mrs.
Clench, of Niagara ; Mrs. John Gibson, of Grantham ; John
Kilburn ; Jaraes Richardson, of Glover Hill ; also a statement
of the sufferings of the clergy at the American revolution. »
These papers seera particularly interesting.
Out of such a rich casket of historical geras, who will dare
to select ? Here is a hvely sketch of an Indian warrior, Te
cumseh — the genuine product of an American forest : as such
eminently fitted for the Maple Leaves. Here again are traits of
devotion and disinterestedness, scraps of family history, feats
of personal prowess, incidents of the battlefield ; how shall I
(1) Accounts of these battles will be found in ttie Third Series of " Maple
Leaves," published in 1864.
(2) Hon. Mr. DeBoucherville is a lineal descendant of the old Governor of
Three Rivers, and founder of the village of DeBouoherviUe.

136 U. E. LOYALISTS.
crowd them in the narrow Umits of this record of Canadian
worth and Canadian gallantry? Yes, how ? I acknowledge the
idea distresses rae rauch ; enough at any rate for to day. But
before closing, hsten to the quaint gossip of a very worthy and
ancient daraeof sorae seventy-nine summers, Mrs. White. (1)
« The Bay of Quinte was covered wilh ducks, of which we
could obtain any quantity from tbe Indians. As to fish, they
could be had by fishing wilh a scoup. I have often speared
large salmon with a pitch fork. » « Now and then provisions
ran very scanty ; we fared no better than Frenchmen, there
being plenty of bullfrogs .»
Good gracious ! to think that after all the U. E. Loy
alists were — veritable frog-eaters 1 « Eating bullfrogs a sump
tuous fare ! » Oh, Mrs. White 1 Mrs. White ! However,
there was just as excellent a reason for eating bullfrogs
in Upper Canada in 1788, as there was for eating horse
flesh (2) in Lower Canada some thirty years previously : there
was nothing else to eat. (3) Let us continue. «This, » says Mrs.
(1) Reminiscences of Mrs. White, of White's Mills, near Cobourg.
(2) Montcalm had had 1600 horses slaughtered for the inhabitants of Canada
in 1758.
(3) Dr. Canuiff, of Toronto, in an interesting work furnishes details, on the
settlement of Upper Oanada, fully corroborating what is here stated :
" Sometimes, says he, the grain was crushed with an axe upon a flat stone.
Many prepared a wooden mortar, by cutting a block of suitable length, about
four feet, out of the trunk of a large tree, oak or maple. Sometimes it was the
stump of a tree. In this, a cavity was formed, generally by heating a piece of
iron, and placing it upon the end. In some quarters, a cannon ball from the
garrison was used. By placing this, red hot, upon the wood, a hollow of sufficient
depth could be made. These mortars, sometimes called ' Hominy Blocks ' and
sometimes ' Plumping Mills, ' varied in size ; sometimes holding only a few
quarts, sometimes a bushel, or even more. The pestle or pounder, was made of
the hardest wood, six or eight feet long,' and eight inch* in diameter at the bot
tom end ; the top, sufficiently small to be spanned by the hand. The pestle was
sometimes called the stamper J and the stump or block, with the , pestle, was
called the stump-mortar. Generally, it was by the unaided hand thatthe grinding
was done ; but after a time, a sweep pole was arranged, similar to a well pole,
and a hard weighty substance being attached to the pole, much less strength was
required to crush the grain ; at the same time, a large quantity could be at once
done. The work was generally done by two men. The grain thus pounded was
generally Indian Corn, and occasionally wild rioe. To crush wheat required much
more labour, and a small mortar. The bran was separated from the flour by a
horse hair sieve, one of which generally served a whole community, as they were
possessed only by a few. This rude method continued for many yeais, especially

BRITISH REFUGEES. 137
White, « was the time of the famine, I think, in 1788 ; we were
obliged to dig up our seed potatoes, after planting them, to eat.
We never thought of these privations, but were always happy
in those township remote from the flouring mills. Frequently, an individual
would possess an old mortar that would be used by a whole neighborhood. Mr.
Diamond, of Belleville, a native of Fredericksburg, remembers, when a boy, to
have accompanied his father ' to mill. ' The mill was ono of these larger mortars,
which would contain a bushel of grain when being ground, but which would hold,
even measure, two bushels. The grain was crushed by a sweep with a weight
attached, of ten or twelve pounds.
" The year of the famine is spoken of sometimes as the ' scarce year, ' some
times as the * hungry year, * or the ' hard summer. ' The extreme distress seems
to iiave commenced in the year 1787. With some, it lasted a part of a year; with
others a year, and with others upwards of a year. The height of the distress was
during the spring and early summer of 1788. But plenty to all, did not come till
the summer of 1789. The writer has in his possession accounts of many instances
of extreme suffering, during the famine, and for years after, through the ten
townships. A few will here be given, as briefly as may be possible.
" One, who settled in the sixth township (who was subsequently a raember of
Parliament for twenty years), with wife and children, endured great suffering.
Their flour being exhausted, he sent money to Quebec for some more flour, but hia
money was sent back ; there was none to be had. The wife tried, as an experi
ment, to make bread outof some wheat bran, which was bought at a dollar a
bushel. She failed to make bread, but it was eaten as a stir-about. Upon this''
with Indian Cabbage, or ' Cale, ' ' a plant with a large leaf, ' also wild potatoes
or ground nuts, the family lived for many a week. In the spring they procured
some potatoes to plant, but the potato eye alone was planted, the other portion
being reserved for food. One of the daughters, in her extreme hunger, digged up
for days some of the potatoe rind and ate it. One day, her father caught her at it,
andseizedholdofher arm to punish her, for forgetting the requirements of the
future, but he found her arms so emaciated that his heart melted in pity for the
starving child. Others used to eat a plant called butter-nut, and another pig
weed. Children would steal out at night with stolen potatoes, and roast them at
the burning log heap, and consider them a great treat. One individual has left
the record that she used to allay the pangs of hunger by eating a little salt. But
the majority of the settlers had no salt ; and game and fish, when It could be
caught, was eaten without that condiment. Even at a later date, salt was a scarce
and dear article, as the following will show :— ' Si-dney, 20th November, 1792—
Received from Mr. John Ferguson, one barrel of salt, for which I am to pay nine
dollars. ' (Signed), John German. Often when fish or game was caught, it was
forthwith roasted without waiting to go home to have it dressed. As spring ad
vanced, and the buds of the trees began to swell, they wero gathered and eaten.
Boots were digged out of the ground ; the bark of certain trees was stripped off
and consumed as food. One family lived for a fortnight on beech leaves. Every
thing that was supposed to be capable of alleviating the pangs of hunger, whether
it yielded nutriment or not, was unhesitatingly used ; and in the fifth township
some were killed by eating poisonous roots. Beef bones were, in one neighbour
hood, not only boiled and boiled again, but actually carried from house to house,
to give a little taste io boiled bran, until there remained no taste in the boiling
water. In the fourth township, upon the sunny side of a hill, was an early field of
12

138 TJ. E. LOYALISTS.
-and cheerful. Nounsettledminds; no political strife about church
governraent, or squabhng municipal councils. We left every
thing to our faithful Governor (1). I have often heard my father
grain, and to this they came, from far and near, to eat the milk-like heads of
grain, so soon as they had sufficiently grown, which were boiled and eaten. The
daughter ofthe man who owned the field, gladly gave to all, still remains with us,
then she was in the freshness of her girlhood ; now, she is in the autumn of a
green old age, nearly a hundred. She remembers to have seen them cutting the
young succulent grain, to use her own words, ' as thick as stumps. ' This young
grain was a common dish, all along the Bay, until it beoame ripe. One family
lived several months solely on boiled oats. One day, a man came to the
door of a house in Adolphustown, with a bag, and a piece of ' calamink, ' to ex
change for flour. But the flour was low, and the future doubtful, and none could
be spared. The man turned away with tears of anguish rolling down his face.
The kind woman gave hima few pounds of flour ; he begged to be allowed to
add some bran lying on the floor, which was permitted, and he went his way.
(1) " Let us do justice to the memory of a really great man ; that first Go
vernor (Simcoe) was no mere soldier. While his military designs entitled him to
rank with Wolfe and Bj'ock, as the preserver of Canada to the Crown of Great
Britain, his large views of civil policy went far beyond all the men — civilians by
profession — who have been entrusted with the supreme direction of affairs in this
country. I was glad to see that at the great pioneer festival held at London a few
weeks ago, the name of General Simcoe was not forgotten, for it is a name that
must always remain inscribed on the corner stone of the history of Western
Canada. I do not know a more interesting or instructive picture of any Canadian
Governor, not even that which Peter Kalm gave, in 1745, of the renowned Marquis
de la GallissoniSre, than is given by the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liencourt, of
Lieut.-Governor Simcoe, in his travels in North America in the year 1795. The
French Duke found Upper Canada • a new country, or rather, ' he says, ' a coun
try about to be formed ; ' and the Govemor, • a man of independent fortune, '
whose only incitement to accept the office was the hope of thereby rendering a
great service to his native land. ' Governor Simooe, ' he says, ' was of opinion
that not only would Upper Canada be found quite able to sustain all her own in
habitants, but that she might become a granary to England ' — a statesmen's hope
which has been fully realized ! De la Rochefoucault describes an incident of his
rule, which came lender his own notice. * We met, * he says (speaking of an ex
cursion he made with the Governor beyond Niagara), * an American family, who,
with some oxen, cows and sheep, were coming to Canada.' ' We come, said they
to the Governor '• — whom they did not know — ' to see whether he will give us
land. ' ' Aye, aye, ' the Governor replied, ' you have tired ofthe Federal govern
ment ; you like no longer to have so many kings, you wish again for your old
father : * (it is thus the Governor calls the British monarch when he speaks with
Americans) ; ' you are perfectly right ; come along, we love such good royalists
as you are ; we will give you land. ' Such, sir, was the spirit of the founder of
Upper Canada — such was the beneficient policy which breathed into that soulless
wilderness, the breath of life : and lo 1 your country became a living spirit.
' Come along 1 we like such good royaBsts as you are ; we will give you land 1 '
This was the policy of Governor Simcoe, three-quarters of a century ago  a
policy which rebukes and puts to shame the narrow, Ulusory and vexatious quao-

BRITISH REFUGEES. 139
and my mother say that they had no cause of complaintin any
shape, and were always thankful to the Government for its
kind assistance in the hour of need. Of an evening, my father
would make shoes of deer skin for the children, andmy mother,
make home-spun dressess. We had no doctors, no lawyers, no
state clergy. We had prayers at home, and put our trust in
Providence. An old woman in the next clearance was chief
physician to the surrounding country, as it graduallysettled. A
tree fell one day and hurt mother's back very much ; we sent
for the old woman, who came, steeped sorae wheat, made lye
and applied it very hot in a flannel ; in a very short time she
wa%as well as ever. Flax was cultivated in those halcyon
days. One year we grew 700 cwt. ; we spun and wove it into
wearing apparel and table linen. It lasted a long time. A handy
fellow came along and made us our chamber looras, so that we
might work away. We had no occasion for iraported finery ;
— if we had, we could not have procured any. As the girls
grew up and settlers carae round, a wedding occasionally took
place. There was but one minister, a Presbyterian, named
Robert McDonald, a kind, warm-hearted man, who carae on
horseback through the woods from Kingston, and when he saw
smoke frora a house he straight made up to the residence,
where he was always welcome. He had a most powerful voice ;
when he became excited, he could be heard a mile off. All
who were inclined to marry, he spliced, with many a kind
word to the young folks — , « that they were sure to prosper by
industry and perseverance. » He married Mr. White and my
self. « When the other girls would srairk and look pleasant at
him, and think him a great benefactor, he would chuck thera
under the chin and say — , 't will soon be your turn. ' »
Further on Mrs. White speaks of stearaboats and railroads,
with much greater respect, however, than the late Mr. Mar-
childon, M.P.P.. and winds up this picture of a Canadian
Arcadia, by saying — « Give me the spinning wheel days, when
kery which obstructs the settlement of our remaining land at this moment, and
stands sentry for barbarism in the North-West. ¦• — Hon. T. B. McGee's Letter to
Dr. Parker, in 1863.

140 U. E. LOYALISTS.
girls were proud to wear a home-spun dress of their own spin
ning and weaving, not dreaming of high-heeled boots, thin
shoes, hoops and crinoline, and salt-cellar bonnets. »
We shall add : Grecian Bends — Saratoga waterfalls and
Chignons :

THE « U. E. » LOYALISTS.
" A Volunteer " writes {The Morning Chronicle') as follows, viz : —
" Among the many communications which have graced your joumal, and for
which we are indebted to the facile pen of our respected townsman, J. M. Le
Moine, there are few who possess so great an interest for us Anglo-Saxons, #)orn
on the soil, as the subject matter of Mr. LeMoine's letter of yesterday. Our
fathers, through good and through evil report, stood firm in their allegiance to
the British flag, and shed their blood in many a well-fought field. Is there no
history ofthe Provincial corjs, raised in the differentrevolted states, which fought
by the side of the British regulars ? Are there no returns on file in the War
Office, showing when and were these different corps were raised ; how they were
commanded and officered, and what battles they fought 7 What officers survived
the war, and chose Lower Canada as their home ? Have we no Napier, to write in
full the history of the IT. B. Loyalists. ?

EEASEE'S HIGHLANDEES
BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759.

The return to Quebec, on the 21st July, 1867, of the cele
brated 78lh — who were so lavish of their blood in securing
the supremacy of Britain in North America, during the war of
1759, must necessarily evoke frora the past raany meraories.
A short sketch of tbe career of the corps during those fighting
times, is likely, we believe, to possess interest not only for the
Regi. itself, but also for the public at large. The 78th, origi
nally formed in 1757 (1) was disbanded (1764) after the
(1) List of officers of Fraser's Highlanders, commissions dated, 5th January,
1767: Lieut.-Col. Commandant. — Honorable Simon Fraser, died Lieutenant-General
in 1782.
Majors. — James Clephane ; John Campbell, of Dunoon, afterwards Lieutenant-
Colonel Commanding the Campbell Highlanders in Germany. ^
Captains. — ^John MacPherson, brother of Clunie ,; John Campbell, of BaUi-
more ; Simon Fraser, of Inverlochy, killed on the Heights of Abraham in 1769 ;
Donald Macdonald, brother of Clanronald, killed at Sillery 1760 ; John Mac
donell, of Lochgarry, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel of the 76th, or Macdonald's
Regiment, died in 1789, Colonel ; Alexander Cameron, of Dungallon ; Thomas
Boss, of Oulrossie, killed on the Heights of Abraham ; Alexander Fraser, of
Culduthel ; Sir Henry Seton, of Abercorn, Baronet ; James Fraser, of Belladrum ;
Simon Fraser, Captain-Lieutenant, died a Lieutenant-General in 1812.
Lieutenants. — Alexander MacLeod, Hugh Cameron, Ronald Macdonald, of Kep-
poch ; Charles Macdonell, of Glengarry, killed at St. John's ; Roderick Mac-
neill, of Bara, killed oh the Heights of Abraham ; William Macdonell ; Archibald
Campbell, son of Glenlyon ; John Fraser, of Balnain ; Hector Macdonald,
brother to Boisdale, killed in 1759 ; Allan Stewart, son of Innernaheill ; John
Fraser ; Alexander Macdonell, son of Borrisdale, killed oh the Heights of Abra
ham ; Alexander Fraser, killed at Louisbourg ; Alexander Campbell, of Aross ;
John Douglass ; John Nairn ; Arthur Rose, of the family of Kilravoch ; Alexander
Fraser ; John Macdonell, of Leeks, died at Berwick, 1818 ; Cosmo Gordon, killed
at Sillery in 1760 ; David Baillie, killed at Louisbourg ; Charles Stewart, son of
Colonel John Boy Stewart ; Ewen Cameron, of the family of GJenevis ; Allan
Cameron ; John Cuthbert, killed at Louisbourg ; Simon Fraser, Archibald Mac-
alister, of the family of Loup ; James Murray, killed at Louisbourg ; Donald
Cameron, son of Fassafearn, died on half pay, 1817.
Ensigns : John Chisholm ; John Fraser, of Errogie ; Simon Fraser j James Mao-

142 eraser's HIGHLANDERS
capture of Quebec, several of its officers obtaining grants of
large tracts of country, Seigniories, owned to this day by
their descendants; — Agreatportion of the soldiers intermarryed
and settled permanently in the colony. The countless clan of
Fraser's all over the Province, retraces back to that source.
The Warrens, McNicolls, Nairns, Campbells, Macdonalds,
Harveys, MacLeans, Blackburns, MacNeils, Camerons, of
Murray Bay, Isle aux Coudres, Riviere du Loup, Montmagny,
have also to go back to Fraser's Highlanders for their progeni
tors. The, regiment was again raised in Scotland, to meet the
exigencies of the American rebellion, in 1778, by the restored
Earl of Seaforth, from his estates, in gratitude for the favors
conferred upon him by his Sovereign. About a thousand men
were then enlisted in Rosshire, from among the MacKenzies
and the Macraes, and the latter clansmen fornied so large a
portion of the corps that it becarae known, by their narae.
There is a singular story told respecting the enrolment of the
regiment, illustrative of the wild independence of these moun
taineers. It is called the « Affair of the wild Macraws. »
Want of space prevents ils insertion. This fine body of
raen were again disbanded, we are told, after the close of
Napoleon the I's, great continental wars. It had served with
distinction in many part of the worid, notably in India, in 1781.
Has it not also won imperishable laurels during the late India
mutiny, (1858) under the gallant Havelock at Cawnpore and
elsewhere ? Its colors hear glorious names. Let us, however,
restrict our review of the doings of the regiment to its feats on
Canadian soil. The following is collated frora the most rehable
historical sources, for the period in question :
« About ten years after the battle of CuUoden, which termi
nated the unlucky rising of 1745, Mr. Pitt, observing with a
liberal and statesmanlike eye, the spirit of loyalty towards
those who placed confidence in them, which was the distin-
kenzie ; Malcolm Fraser, afterwards Captain 84th Regiment, or Royal Emigrants ;
Donald Maoneill, Henry Munro ; Hugh Fraser, afterwards Captain 84th Regt. ;
Alexander Gregorson, Ardtomish ; James Henderson ; Robert Menzies ; John
Campbell. Chaplain, Reverend Robert MaoPersonj Adjutant, ' Hugh Fraser; Quater-
master, John Fraser ; Surgeon, John McLean.

BEFORE QUEBEC IM 1759. 143
guishing characteristic of the Highland clans, resolved to
employ them in the foreign service of Great Britain, under the
command of officers chosen from the most esteeraed Scotish
farailies. He knew the chiefs could be depended upon where
their faith was engaged ; and he was aware of the devotion
wilh which the clansraan followed the fortunes of his chief
tain. The experiment succeeded to the fullest extent ; Mr.
Pitt had the merit of drawing into the British service a
hardy and intrepid race of men who served the Crown with
fidelity — who fought with valor, and who conquered for En
gland in every part of the world. Following upthisenlightened
policy in 1757, the Honorable Simon Fraser, who had hiraself
been engaged in the rebellion, and whose father. Lord Lovat,
had been beheaded for high treason, on Tower Hill, was ap
pointed Lieutenant Colonel Coramandant of a Battalion, to be
raised upon the forfeited estates of his own family, then vested
in the Crown. Without estate, raoney, or influence, beyond
the hereditary attachment of his clan, the Master of Lovat
found himself in a few weeks at the head of eight hundred
men, entirely recruited by himself. His kinsmen, officers of
the regiment and the gentlemen of the country around, added
seven hundred more. The battalion was thus forraed of
thirteen companies of one hundred and five men each, num
bering in all one thousand four hundred and sixty men, includ-
iug sixty-five sergeants, and thirty pipers and druraraers — a
splendid body of men, who afterwards carried the military
reputation of the nation to the hightest pitch. In all their
movements they were attended by their chaplain, the Reverend
Robert MacPherson, who was called Tiy them CaipalMor, from
his large stature. They wore the full Highland dress, with
musket and broadsword. Many of the soldiers added, at their
own expense, the dirk, and the purse of Otter's skin. The
bonnet was raised or cocked on one side, with a slight bend
inclining down to the right ear, over which were suspended
two or more black feathers. Eagle's or Hawk's feathers were
worn by the officers. During six years in North America,
Fraser's Highlanders continued to wear the kilt both winter
and summer. They, in fact, refused to wear any other dress.

144 fraser's HIGHLANDPIS
and these men were more healthy than other regiments which
wore breeches and warm clothing. »
During the winter of 1759-60, a portion of Fraser's High
landers were quartered in the Ursuhnes Convent. Whether
the absence of breeches, on the brawney mountaineers was in
the eyes of the good ladies a breach, of decorum, or whether
chrislian charity impelled thera to clothe tbenaked — especially
during the January frosts, is hard to deterraine at the present
tirae : certain it is, that the Nuns generously begged of
Governor Murray, to be allowed to provide rairaent for the
barelegged sons of Caledonia.
It is a singular fact that Scotchmen were, during this war,
occupying high offices in (1) both armies. General Levi's aide-
de-camp was the Chevalier Johnstone. The French had also a
Scotch officer in charge of one of the Sillery outposts, of the
name of Douglass.
Fraser's Highlanders highly distinguished themselves at the
capture of Louisbourg, in 1758 ; at the battle of Montmorency,
31st July, 1759; and that, of St. Foye or Sillery, 28th April,
1760 ; a fitting tribute was rendered to their bravery on this
occasion by" the eloquent Mr. P. Chauveau, at the inauguration,
in 1855, of the statue of Bellona, sent out by Prince Napoleon
to crown the monuraent of the celebrated battle-field.
At the battle of the Plains, the loss of Fraser's Highlanders
araounted to three officers, one sergeant, and fourteen rank
and file, killed; ten officers, seven sergeants, and one hundred
and thirty-one rank and file, wounded. The disproportion in
the number of the killed to that of the wounded must be as
cribed to the irregular and unsteady fire of the enemy, which
was put a stop to, on the charge of the British. Of the conduct
of the Regiment on that eventful 13th Sept., an eye witness,
Malcolm Fraser, then a Lieutenant in this corps, has left an
excellent (2) narrative. From which we give the following
extracts : « After pursuing the French to the very gates ofthe
(1) Several of the Highlanders enlisted to fight the French in America, in
order to retaliate for the want of succour sent them by France, in 1745.
(2) Manuscripts published under the auspices of the Liteeaet akd Histo-
BiOAi, SooiETT of Quebec, in 1867-8.

BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759. 145
town, our Regiraent was ordered to form, fronting the town on
the ground whereon the French forraed first ; at this time, the
rest of the army came up in good order. General Murray
having then put himself at the head of our Regiment, ordered
thera to fall to the left and raarch through the bush of wood
towards the General Hospital, where they got a great gun or
two to play upon us frora the town, which, however, did no
daraage, but we had a few raen killed and officers wounded by
sorae skulking fellows, with small arms, frora the bushes and
behind the houses in the suburbs of St. Louis and St. John. »
We shall interrupt this quotation of Lieutenant Fraser's
journal, to insert some details, very recently furnished to
us, by our respected townsman, John Fraser, esquire, whose
meraory is still excellent, despite advancing years. « In my
youth, » says Mr. Fraser, « I boarded with a very aged raili-
tiaraan, who had fought at the battle of the Plains ; his name
was Joseph Trah in. In 1759, Trahan was aged eighteen years.
Frequently has this old gossip talked to me aboutthe incidents
of the fight. « I can well recollect, old Trahan used to say,
how Montcalm looked before the engagement. He was riding
a dark or black horse in front of our lines, bearing his sword
high in the air, in the attitude of encouraging the men to do
their duty. He wore a uniform with large sleeves, and the
one covering the arm he held in the air, had fallen back, dis
closing the white linen of his risband. When he was wounded,
a rumor spread that he was killed ; a panic ensued, and the
soldiers rushed promiscuously frora the Buttes a Nepveu (near
v/hereiheAsyleChampetre, — now Mr. Dinning'shouse— stands),
towards the Coteau Sainte Genevieve, thence towards the St.
Chailes, over the meadow (on which St. Roch has since been
built.) I can reraember the Scotch Highlanders flying wildly
after us, with streaming plaids, bonnets and large swords-
like so many infuriated demons, over the brow of the hill.
In their course, was a wood, in which we had some Indians
and sharpshooters, who bowled over the Sauvages d'Ecosse
in fine style. Their partly naked bodies fell on their face,
and their kilts in disorder left exposed a portion of their
thighs, at which our fugitives on passing by, would make
13

146 FR-ISER's HIGHLANDERS
lunges with their swords, cutting large slices out of the
fleshiest portion of their persons. I was amongst the fugi
tives and received in the calf ofthe leg a spent bullet, which
stretched me to the ground. I thought it was all over wilh
me ; but presently, I rose up, and continued to run towards
the General Hospital, in order to gain the Beauport carap over
the bridge of boats. On my way, I came lo a bake house, in
which the baker that day had baked an ovenfut of bread.
Some of the exhausted fugitives asked him for food, which he
refused, when inafitofrageatsuchbearllessness, one of thera
lopped off his head wilh his sword. The bloody head was
then deposiied on the top of the pile of bread. Hunger getting
the belter of me, I helped rayself to a loaf all sraeared with
gore, and with ray pocket-knife removing Ihecrust, I greedily
devoured the crumb. This was in the afternoon, and the sun
was dijscending in the West. »
Such are details furnished by old Trahan lo Mr. John Fraser,
Let us now resume the thread of Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser's
narrative where we left it off. « After marching a shoit way
through the bushes, Biigadier Murray thought proper to order
us to return again to the high road leading from Porte St.
Louis, to the Heights of Abraham, where the battle was fought,
and after marching till we got clear of the bushes, we were
ordered to turn to the right, and go along the edge of them
towards the hank, at the descent between us and the General
Hospital, under which we understood there was a body of the
eneray who, no sooner saw us, that they began firing on us
frora the bushes and from the bank ; we soon dislodged
thera frora the bushes, and from thence, kept firing for about a
quarter of au hour on those under cover of the bank ; but as
they exceeded us greatly in numbers, they killed and wounded
a great many of our men, killed two olficers, which obliged
us to retire a little, and forra again, when the 58th Regiment
wilh the 2nd Battalion of Royal Americans having corae up to
our assistance, all three making about five hundred men, ad
vanced against the enemy and drove them first down to the
great meadow between the Hospital and town, and afterwards,
ov^r the River Saint Charles. 11 was at this time and while in

BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759; 147
the bushes that our Regiment suffered most : Lieutenant Rode
rick McNeill of Bana, and Alexander McDonell, and John
McDonell, and John McPherson, volunteer, wilh many of our
men, were killed before we were reinforced ; and Captain
Thomas Ross having gone down wilh about one hundred men
of the 3rd Regiment to the meadow, after the enemy, when
they were out of reach, ordered me up to desire those on Ihe
height would wait till he would corae up and join them, which
I did, but before Mr. Ross could gel up, he unforlu ately was
mortally wounded in the body, by a cannon bill from the
hulks, in the mouth ofthe River Saint Charles, of which he died
in great torment, but with great resolution, in about two hours
after. « We had, of our Regiment Ihree officers killed and ten
wounded, one of whom Captain Simon Fraser, afterwards
died. Lieutenant Archibald Campbell was thought lo have
been mortally wounded, but to the surprise of most people,
recovered; Captain John McDonell, thro', both things ; Lieut.
Ronald McDonell, thro' the knee ; Lieutenant Alexander Camp
bell, thro' the leg ; Lieutenant Douglas, thro' the arm, who died
of this wound soon afterwards ; Ensign Gregerson, Ensign
McKenzie and Lieutenant Alexander Fraser, all slightly ; I
received a contusion in the right shoulder or rather breast,
before the action became general, which pained me a good
deal, but it did not disable me from my duty then or after
wards. « The detachment of our Regiment consisted, at our march
ing from Point Levi, of six hundred raen, besides coraraission-
ed and non comraissioned officers ; but of these, two officers
tnd about sixty men were left on board for want of boals, and
an officer and about thirty men left at the landing place : be
sides a few left sick on board, so that we had about five hun
dred men in the action. We suffered in men and officers
more than any three Regiments in the field. We were com
manded by Captain John Campbell ; the Colonel and Captain
McPherson having been unfortunately wounded on the 25lh
July, of which Ihey were not yet fully recovered.
« We remained encamped till the — October, when the aimy

148 Fraser's Highlanders
marched into town, which is to be our quarters for the win
ter ; raost of the houses are destroyed, apd we have but a
very dismal prospect for seven or eight months, as fresh pro
visions are very scarce, and every other thing exorbitantly
dear. »
The record of Fraser's Highlanders at the battle of St. Foye,
generally called in old manuscripts the battle of Sillery Wood,
is not without its interest, altho' the fight ended in a signal
reverse. The Scotch suffered fearfully in comparison with
their nurabers.
c(We had,)) again says Lieut. Malcolm Fraser, «about sixty
killed and twenty wounded, and of thirty-nine officers. Cap
tain Donald McDonald who commanded the volunteer company
of the array, and Lieutenant Cosrao Gordon who coraraanded
the light infantry company of our regiment, were both killed
in the field ; Lieutenant Ileclor McDonald and Ensign Malcolm
Fraser died of their wounds, all very rauch regretted by every
one who knew thera.
« We had twenty-three more officers wounded, of this nura
ber was Colonel Fraser, who commanded the left wing of the
array, and it was with great pleasure we observed his behaviour
during the action, when he gave his orders with great coolness
and deliberation. He was touched at two different tiraes ;
the first took hira in the right breast, but having his cartouche
box slung, it luckily struck against the .•-tar of it and did not
penetrate tho', otherways, it raust infallibly have done his busi
ness. The second, he got in the retreat, but striking against
the cue of his hair, he received no other damage than a stiff
ness in his neck for some days. Here I cannot help observing
that if any unlucky accident had befallen our Colonel, not on!y
his regiraent raust have suffered an irreparable loss, but I
think I can, without any partiality say, it would have been a
loss to his country. His behaviour this winter in particular
to bis regiment bas been such, as to make him not only
esteeraed by them but by the Garrison in general. Captain
Alexander Fraser of our regiraent, was wounded in the right
teraple, and thought very dangerously, the rest are mostly flesh
wounds. I received a musket ball in the right groin, which

BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759. 149
was thought dangerous for three or four days, as the ball was
supposed to be lodged, but whether it has wrought out in walk
ing into town, or did not penetrate far enough at first to lodge,
or is still in, I cannot say, but in twenty days I was entirely
cured, and the wound which was at firstbut small was entirely
closed up. ))
On that unlucky occasion, (28lh April, 1760,) the pic
turesque locality now occupied by the smiling country seats of
our successful merchants on the Ste. Foy road, wore a very
different aspect ; fields strewed wilh corpses — bloody pools
on all sides met the eye. The savages, coming out from the
bushes where they had been lurking during the combat, set to
their old work of scalping, if we are to credit Lieutenant Mal
colm Fraser's narrative :
« It appears, says he, the allowed the savages to scalp all
the killed and most part of the wounded, as we found a great
many scalps in the bushes.
« I have been since informed by Lieutenant McGregor, of
our regiment, who was left on Ihe field wounded, and narrow
ly escaped being killed, having received two stabs of a bayonet
from two French regulars, that he saw the savages murdering
the wounded and scalping them on all sides, and expected
every moment to share the sarae fate, but was saved by a
French officer, who luckily spoke a little English. »
Scalping was not, however, confined to the Indians ; thus on
referring to Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser's M. S. S., we find the
Briti-sh on the 23rd July, 1759, indulging in a little scalping at
St. Joachim. In this instance Lieutenant Richard Montgo
mery, then serving in the 17th regiment, in Western Canada,
is raade to bear through a mistake of our historians, the res
ponsibility of the acts of a barbarous namesake. Captain Alex
ander Montgomery, of the 43rd. « There were, says Malcolm
Fraser, several of the enemy killed and wounded and a few
prisoners taken, all of whora the barbarous Captain Montgo
mery, who coraraanded us, ordered to be butchered in a raost
inburaan and cruel raanner ; particularly two, who I sent pri
soners by a sergeant, after giving thera quarter, and engaging
that they should not be killed, were one shot, and the other

150 fraser's HIGHLANDERS
knocked down with a tomahawk (a little hatchet) and both
scalped in ray absence, by the rascally sergeant neglecting to
acquaint Montgomery that I wanted ihem saved, as he, Mont
gomery, pretended when I questioned him about it, but even
that, was no excuse for such an unparalleled piece of barbarity.
However, as the affair could not be remedied, I was obliged to
let it drop. After this skirmish, we set about burning the
houses with great success, >etting all in flames till we came to
the church of St. Anne's, where we put up for the night, and
were joined by Captain Ross, with about one hundred and
twenty men of his company. » Captain J. Knox, in his journal,
and o'hers, mention so raany cases of scalping amongst the
British, that it was apparently as much an institution amongst
Wolfe's soldiery as in the opposite carap.
With these deeds of blood and devastation on their escut
cheon, it is not alall surprising if during the war of the cession
of Canada, the French and Canadians should have forraed
such exagerated notions of the ferocity of Wolfe's soldiers ;
as for the Highlanders, they were popularly known as Les
Petites Jupes, on account of their kilts, which they wore all
winter ; they also were called Les Sauvayes d'Ecosse.
The following was one of the most scciedited opinions
amongst the Canadian peasantry in 1759 ; — «The Highlanders
neither would give nor take, quarter : they were so nirable,
thai no man could catch them, so nobody could escape them
— no one had a chance against their broad-swords — with the
ferocity natural to savages, they made no prisoners, and spared
neither man, woman, nor child. »
As previously stated, the Highlanders on b'ing disbanded,
settled largely in Canada and Nova Scotia, nor were these loyal
men recreant to the call of duty, when the invader threatened
their adopted country ; thus in 1775, they hurried under the
standard of one of their old officers, Lieut.-Col. McLean, and
formed a new regiment, the 84th, or Royal Emigrants. They
had in 1759, materially helped lo conquer Canada ; sixteen
years later, they and the Canadian militia most materially
helped to save it, for the Crown of England, and successfully
repelled Benedict Arnold and his coadjutor, Richard Montgo-

BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759. 151
mery, who, in 1759, had valiantly done battle for England, in
the 17lh Regiraent.
We have been allowed to clip a few pages from the diary of
an aged Qnebecer — Deputy Corarais'sary General Thompson,
whose respected father had served in the Highland Regiraent
until it was disbanded. Mr. Thorapson's journal bears every
impress of truth.
MEMOIRS REGARDING FRASEr'S HIGHLANDERS 78tH ROSS-SHIRE BUFFS.
Colonel Simon Fraser was authorised to raise a corps for
special service. They were recruited in the town of Tain,
Ross-shire, Scotland, in the short period of four days, and
they numbered upwards of fourleen hundred strong. My late
father joined as a volunteer In order to accorapany a particular
friend of his company. Lieutenant David Bailie, and who was
killed at the landing at Louisbourg ; these particulars, my
father used to relate as follows :
«Thebo:it in which our company was embarked, was towed
by a second boat under the coraraand of a naval officer. The
French batteries firing grape and rausket-balls from great guns.
Lieutenant Bailie sat opposite to me, in the stern sheets of the
boat ; observing that he leaned his head on the shoulder of
the man who sat next to him, I imagined that he did so in or
der to shelter hiraself frora the enemy's shot ; but he was
dead ! The shot carae so Ihick, that had it been any other des
cription of troops they must have gone to the bottom, but the
Highlanders stopped the shot-holes with their plaids, and thus
kept the boat frora filling. The shot coming so thick from the
French batteries, decided the naval officer to cut the painter
loose, and thus leave us as a mark for the French to fire at.
Numbers were killed at the landing. A red-hot shot came in
at the stern of our boat, and killed and wounded several. It
passed under my «hams,)) and scorched me to that degree
that it was near twelve months before I quite recovered from
its effects. It tore away the sAvord-hilt of the officer who wafe
seated on my left, and carried it into the thigh of the man who
was at the helm, and the shot itself stuck fast in the sternpost
of the boat. After the landing, the balls were collected, and

152 eraser's HIGHLANDERS
measure upwards of a quart. When formed into line of bat
tle, one of Fraser's Highlanders, Neil McLeod, seeing the
French outside of their fortifications, he threw down his fuzee,
and, drawing his broadsword, he left the ranks, in a direction
towards the French, when his Captain ordered him back.
What, said McLeod, am I to stand here, and see there those
rascals of French, and not try and bring away a prisoner ?»
He went forward, and was followed by the greater part of the
regiment. I overheard Colonel Carleton, Quarter-Master-Gene
ral, to say : « I expected nothing less of those Highlanders, they
are a set of rebels. » However, they all soon returned, each
having a French prisoner, whora he held by the « skmff » of
the neck, and sorae of the Grenadiers brought in two. It
afterwards appeared that the French raistook the Highlanders,
owing to their peculiar style of dress, for savages. They
coramitted the sarae act of insubordination on the Plains of
Abraham, the I3lh September, 1759. After the first discharge
on the part of the French, they chased them wilh their broad
swords up to Saint Louis and Saint John's Gates, and down the
bank, opposite the Hospital General ; one poor fellow had his
left check severed from his head, by the cut of a broadsword,
and it was hanging on his shoulder, suspended by the skin.
The wounded were carried down the bank at Wolfe's Cove,
erabarked in boats, and taken across the river, to Poinle Levis
Church, (Saint Joseph,) which was converted into a teraporary
hospital. To return lo Louisbourg ; it was entirely subdued, the for
tifications blown up, and the garrison dispersed. They were
raany woraen and their children who claimed the protection of
the British Array, their husbands being prisoners of war. A
Doctor Lejuste, of the French Army, with an Indian as guide,
left Louisbourg immediately after its capture, and traversed
the intervening forest, to Quebec. He, it was, who brought
the first news of the capture of Louisbourg.
He settled in Quebec, and was our family physician. He
had two sons and a daughter ; both the sons were priests, the
elder. Cure of Beauport. The daughter was married to Judge

BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759. 153
Bedard, of Three Rivers. » Thus much from my father's
journal. I will stale the following from my recollections :
Of the Regiment of Fraser's Highlanders, who remained in
Quebec, after the conquest, were only the following individuals
of which I have a knowledge:
Lieut. John Nairn, who obtained a grant of land at La Mal-
baie ; several of the men of the regiment engaged wilh him,
and raany of their descendants still retain their priraitive
names, but they all speak French. A son of Colonel Nairn
was Captain in the 49lh Regiment, and was killed at the battle
of Chrysler's Farm, llth November, 1813.
Lieutenant William Fraser, who obtained a grant of land,
at Murray Bay, on the opposite side of the River Murray. He
had two sons, William and John Malcolm ; at the decease of
William, who married Miss Mathilda Duberger, and not having
any family, the property passed into the hands of John Mal
colm, who is since dead. The seigniory is now in possession
of his two daughters, the eldest, the wife of Captain (now
Lieut.-Col.) J. Reeves, late of 79th Cameronian Highlanders;
the other, the wife of Major Heighara, of the 17th Foot.
There was a grant of a third Seigniory soon after the con
quest of Quebec, at La Beauce, and these three were the only
grants under the seigniorial tenure. I forgot the narae of this
officer. All subsequent grants of Crown Lands have been in
free and coraraon soccage.
Sergeant Hugh McKay, .who kept a store immediately out
side of Palace Gate, but which, wilh all those beneath the
rock, extending as far as Hope Gate, were purchased by the
military government, after the great fires of 1845, as being
too near the fortifications, and were demolished. He held the
first situation of Sergeant-at-Arras ofthe first House of Assera
bly. He had a family of twenty-two children, two only of
whem were boys, and both studied raedicine, and went to the
East Indies. One of the girls was married to Mr. John Bent
ley, organist of the Enghsh Cathedral ; one, to a Sergeant of
Artillery ; all the rest, died unmarried.
John McLeod, who kept an hotel opposite the Esplanade, at
that time the only house along that line. He had no family.
14

154 fraser's HIGHLANDERS
Sergeant James Sinclair, who settled on a farm immediately
on the north side of Scott's bri Ige, River Saint Charles. He
had a son and daughter. His daughter was raarried to Major
Hope of the 26th, or Cameronian Highlanders ; she who vvas
motber of « little Jemmie Hope, )) who received the first
rudiments of his education at Mr. John Fraser's school, in
Garden street. He left Quebec witb the regiment, and returned
lo Canada wilh the rank of Brigadier-General. In 1837, he
had command of the Montreal District. On his coming over to
Charably wilh his Aide-de Carap, to inspect the garrison, he
recognised rae.
Lieut. Colonel Denny, of the 71st Highlanders, having no
ticed that the General and myself were acquainted, I was
invited to dine at the Regiraental Mess, in order to raeet him,
the General. Mr. Sinclair's son enlisted in the Battalion of Royal
Canadian 'Volunleers, under command of Lieut. -Colonel De
Longueii, and was made ser-geant. Mr. Sinclair was commis
sioned in the then Bi itish Militia. He died in the house of Mr.
Sarason, butcher', (now the Livery Stables in Sainte Anne
street,) at an advanced age. At his funeral, the Rev. Dr.
Alexander Sparks officiated.
Lauchlin Smith — Who kept a store just outside of Palace
Gate, next to Hugh McKay. He accumulated wealth, and be
carae proprietor of the Seigniory of Sainte Anne, below Que
bec. He had two daughters, who were educated at Mr. John
Fraser's school. After Mr. Smith's decease, the girls raarried
Iwo French Canadians. I suppose the Seigniorie lo be stiU
in the hands of Iheir descendants.
John Ross — Who kept a store in the house nearest Palace
Gate, within. He becarae wealthy, and was a coramissioned
officer in the British Militia under Colonel Leraailre. He had
three sons : David was SoUicitor-General at Montreal ; John
was a lawyer also, and Prothonotary at Quebec , the third,
died young. Of three daughters, one was married to the Rev,
Alexander Sparks ; a second was raarried to Mr. Jaraes Mit
chell, raerchant, and the third to an Array Surgeon. Mr. Ross
died at a very advanced age. He is the ancestor of David A
Ross, Esq., Barrister, of this city.

BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759. 155
John Fraser — He received a severe sabre cut on Ihe fore
head in the battle of the Plains of Abraham, the 13lh Sep
tember, 1759, and from exhaustion, he had sat hiraself down
on the grass, leaning his back against the fence. A French
Military Surgeon, seeing that the French ti oops were giving
way, directed his steps towards the rear, where he raet John
Fraser, his wound bleedingprofusely. The doctor immediately
dressed his wound, and afterwards gave himself up to John
Fraser as a prisoner of war ; and at the same tirae delivering
up lo him all his arms, which consisted raerely of a i ocket
pistol, double barrelled, handsomely mounted in silver, and
having his initials on the butt, P. B., (Philippe Badelard.)
John Fraser and the doctor, ultimately became great friends,
and were near neighbors ; the former, being proprietor of that
house and premises off Garden street, where Mr. Harligan,
painter, now resides, and the latler, being owner of the house
next to that of Mr. Charles Panet (Doctor Badelard's grandson),
in Saint Louis street, and both lots adjoining each other in rear.
Here, Mr. John Fraser opened the first English school in Que
bec. The venerable Miss Napier, who taught their A B C's to
the majority ofthe Quebec young ladies, during half a century,
was one of old Mr. Fraser's pupils. But, to return to the history
of the Pistol, Mr. Fraser returned it to its proper owner. In
the years 1810-11, I became the tenant of Bernard Panet,
Doctor Badelard's grandson, Judge Panet having married the
Doctor's only daughter. Bernard and rayself were intimate
friends. He raade me a present of his grandfather's pistol,
the pistol in question. I had it in my possession 47 years,
when, on the 13th of September, 1859, the one hundredth
^anniversary of the capture of Quebec, I made a restilution of
it, to a descendant of the Doctor's, in the person of Mr. John
Panet, coroner of Quebec, and son of Bernard. Both Doctor
Badelard and Mr. John Fraser lived to a very advanced age,
and ever raaintained the strictest friendship for each other.
Doctor Badelard was a person of gentleraanly aspect ; he con
stantly wore a sword, as was customary with the bourgeoisie
de Paris.
Miles Prentice — He occupied for many years the house then

156 fraser's HIGHLANDERS
known as « Le Chien d'or, » as also Freeraason's Hall, as an
hotel, where he died. Mrs. Prentice continued the business
for some years, His son, Samuel Walter, obtained a corarais
sion in the array. A niece of Mrs. Prentice's, Frances Coo
per, was ray father's second wife and ray raother. Mrs. Pren
tice ultimately came lo reside in our family residence, Sainle-
Ursule street, where she died, in 1792.
Miles Prentice was the Provost Marshal mentioned by Du
Calvet, as being the person who in 1780 arrested this haughty,
clever and influential agitator, consigning him to the custody
of Father DuBerey, Superior of the Franciscan Friars, in Que
bec, in the cells of the Recollet College.
This old pile which stood on the site on which the English
Cathedral and Court House have since been erected, was consu
med by fire on the 6th September, 1796. The fire being in full
view from the windows of sergeant Fraser's school, in Garden
street, as the late G. B. Faribault, a school-boy of Fraser's, in
1 796, used to take pleasure to relate in after life ; right well
did he reraeraber the day, he used to say, as the boys in conse
quence of the turraoil, deraanded and obtained, a hohday. Mr. De
Gaspe, in his Memoirs, bas raost graphically depicted Ibis con
flagration which bad originated al Judge Monk's house in Saint
Lewis street, (now the officers' barracks) ; he, too, was an eye
witness. A most comely person was Mrs. Miles Prentice ;
her daughter, endowed with marvellous beauty. The brave
Nelson, very nigh fell a victira to her charras, in 1786, when
ihe Albemarle, sloop of war which he commanded, was in port.
So violently was the youthful hero smitten, wilh the divine
phiz of this Canadian Helen, that having resolved to marry
her, be had made up bis mind to say adieu lo the service, re
nounce his command, fortune, glory, nay, Westminster Abbey.
This infatuation was frustrated by raere chance ; his trusty
friend, Alex. Davidson (a Quebecer lawyer, we believe), in
terfered, says his biographer Sonthey, Another version attri
butes to old Lyraburner, a Saint Peter street magnate, the
credit of having saved the young coraraander for lbe bright
career Providence had in store for him. It appears it was
necessary lo use violence to tear the enamored son of Neptune

j^ BEFORE QUEBEC IN 1759. 157
from the blandishments of his fair enslaver. The officers and
crew of the Albemarle came on shore, instigated by Davidson or
Lymburner, and conveyed him on board, forcibly. A most
effectual way, it must be admitted, of enforcing English
parental advice on precocious hopefulls « inclined to marry in
the colony. »
Tbe land lady of the « Chien d'Or» also claims her corner
in the domain of Canadian history. Was it not her, who was
appealed to on the 2iid January, 1776, to identify the stiffened
and frozen corpse found that moi'ning, imbedded wilh those of
Macpherson, Cheeseman, h'lsaides, and others in a snow drift at
Pres-de-Yille? That corpse, good reader, was that of a brave
though misguided spirit ; it had during life for forty long
years been tbe earthly tenement of a being to whom kindli
ness of raanner, devotion to a cause and indomitable courage
have assigned a niche in the history of his adopted country.
It was the inanimate form of Brigadier Richard Montgoraery,
laid low by a shot fired by a French Canadian (Chabot,) and
aimed by Enghshmen, John Coffin and Captain Barnsfare.
Montgomery, a Lieutenant in the 17th Foot, in 1 759, had visited
Quebec, after its capture, though probably not during the siege,
and been a frequent visitor at the « Chien d'Or, » the rendez
vous of our jovial ancestors. Let us revert to Mr. Thompson's
statement. Saunders Simpson — He was Provost Marshal in Wolfe's
army, at the affairs of Louisbourg, Quebec and Montreal, and
cousin of my father's. He resided in tbat house the nearest
to Saint Louis Gale, outside, which has not undergone any
external alteration since I was a boy.
Volunteer James Thompson— -Yohmieered his services in
Fraser's Highlanders, in the view lo accompany a particular
friend of his, Lieutenant David Baillie, the facts being
already detailed, After the capitulation of Montreal, in 1760,
he received frora General Murray, the appointraent of Overseer
of railitary works, for the garrison of Quebec, which he held
until his decease, in 1830, a period of 69 years. It was in
his capacity of master mason, and his having been the last
survivor of Wolfe's army, in his 95lh year, that he was called

158 fraser's HIGHLANDERS
upon by the Earl of Dalhousie to lay the chief corner stone of
the Monument erected in the Government Garden, to the
memory of Wolfe and Montcalm. I witnessed the imposing
ceremony. My father, then in his 96lh year, expressed his desire to
again see the monuraent. I accompanied hira. After viewing
it for some time, he relumed to his residence in Ste. Ursule
street, much exhausted from the exertion, and the effects pro
duced on his mind by the scene he had just witnessed. He
died in his 98th year, and was buried wilh military honours,
during the command of L'eut. General Sir James Kempt. He
was twice married. Of the second raarriage, there were nine
children ; six attained to raaturity, and three died in infancy.
Myself, the oldest, as also three brothers and two sisters, all
obtained the rudiraenls of our education at the school of Mr.
John Fraser, already named. I joined the Coraraissariat in
1798, have attained to the rank of Deputy Commissary.
The appointment of Judge of the Superior Court, District of
Gaspe, was conferred upon my brother John, by the Earl of
Dalhousie, in 1828 ; he is now in his 80th year Brother Wil-
liara was an Assistant Commissary ^General. My youngest
brother, George, obtained a Commission in the Royal Artillery,
under the patronage of my father's good friend, His Royal
Highness Edward, Duke of Kent. Immediately on appoint
ment, he was ordered on the Walcheren expedition, under
command of His Royal Highness the Dnke of York. He died
in 1817.

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.

A Contributor to Blackwood for Nov. 1862, under the head
ing « The Scot in France, » reviewing Mr. Francisque Michel's
book, (cLesEcossais en France,)) graphically delineates the
honorable part played some centuries 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 deraonstrates, after divesting
them of the transmogrifications of time and language,
that many of these naraes forraerly belonged to brawny,
six feet Scotchmen, whom little Johnny Crapand, out of spite,
had christened on account of their aldermanic appetites and
the devastations by them perpetrated in the Vineyards of
sunny France « wine bags )) ; in fact, the same favored class
which we, moderns, on tbe undoubted authority of Judge Jonas
Barrington, would pronounce « Twelve bottle men,,B — select
individuals scarcely ever heard of in these degenerate teetotal
times, and of which class, Marechal de Saxe, Mdlle Lecou-
vreur's friend, was in the last century a pretty fair represent
ative. Might it not also be worth our while to examine into
sorae of the ludicrous changes to which, in our own country,
some old names have been subjected ?
Every one knew that iNormandy and Brittany had furnished
the chief portion of the earliest settlers of our soil ; the exact
proportion in which this emigration took place cannot at pre
sent be a subject of debate, now that we have in print the
Abbe Ferland's laborious researches. We accordingly find,
in the appendix to the first volume of his « Cours d'Histoire
du Canada, )> a hst and address of all the French who settled
in Lower Canada, from the year 1615 to 1648. No one, per
haps, excepl a searching student of the Abbe's school, would
have taken lbe trouble to trace the pedigree of all the families
in Canada ; on this subject, it is not too much to say, that tha
veteran historian is a living cyclopedia. It is true, he had

160 CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.
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 hira, uninter
ruptedly, as far back as 1640, in which year they were des
troyed by fire, and restored frora raeraory ; he could also con
sult the ample details of the several census tables, compiled
by order of the French governraent, yet, in manuscript in our
public hbraries.
It is really singular to notice what a large portion of settlers
carae from Normandy to New France. Almost all the educated
Frenchmen, such as Messrs. Rameau, Ampere, De Puibnsque,
Aubry, Fenouillet and others who have visited Canada, have
been struck wilh the reserablance between the custoras, raan
ners and language of the French Canadian peasantry of this
day, and those of the peasantry of Brittany and Normandy.
AU of them admitted that, as a general rule, our habitants
spoke better French than the same class in the country parts
of France. Of course, it is not pretended that even the edu
cated in this country could corapare for purity of accent with
Parisians, who alone claira the right to speak pure French.
Parisian writers, on this point, have proraulgated canons which
seem rather absolute. It is asserted, for instance, that the
nicety of the Parisian ear is such, that even a Parisian writer
who removes for four years from his native city to the pro
vinces, is liable to be detected when he writes. This is going
far, and reminds one of lbe huckster-woman of Athens, who,
by his accent, detected Theophrastes as not being Attic born,
though for twenty-five years, be had lived in Athens.
When Mr. Rameau was in Quebec, I took occasion to ask
him what he thought of our best writers. « Sir, )) said he, alet
me relate to you what occurred to me in Paris last winter. I
was acquainted with Canadian literature before I came here,
and in order to test the correctness of my own opinion, I as-
serabled some literary friends and told thera 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 can
didly where they could have been written. ' Why, in Paris

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES. 161
where else ? ' they replied ; ' none but Parisians could write
such French. ' t( WeU, gentlemen, » said I, « you are much
mistaken, these books were written on the banks of the Saint
Lawrence, at Quebec. Etienne Parent and the Abbti Feriand
are the writers. » My friends could scarxely credit rae. I feel
pleased in recording this incident, because such a circurastance
does honor to the countr-y. Il also affor-ds me particular pleasure
to notice this fact, because it bears effectually on a stupid asser
tion not altogether uncoramon, viz : That French Canadians
speak nothing but patois ; if the whole truth were known,
it would be manifest that our peasantry talk (1) better French
than does one half of the rural population of France ; in fact,
it is not rare lo find the French peasantry of one departraent
scarcely able to understand the idiora of the corresponding
class, in another department. Several causes raay be ad
duced explanatory of this singular feature ; the first settlers in
Canada had left France about the lime when literature was at
ils zenith, and when the language was singulariy beautiful.
Whatever success may have been achieved in literature by
modern France, no writer since the great revolution, has sur
passed Corneille, Racine, Boileau, Yollaire or Sevigne, in each
of their specific departments ; the language of the peasantry
in New France has remained what it was two hundred years
ago ; il may not be purer, but it is just as pure. If, on the
one hand the French element in Canada has escaped the dis
organizing influence of the revolutionary era (2) of '89, on
(1) In connection with this fact, it appears that the French Canadians have
alone, retained in their original purity, the simple old Norman songs which their
ancestors brought into the country ; that these same popular baUads have become
so altered in France by time, that a request has been sent out to Canada to have
them collected in their original purity. An eloquent professor of the Laval
University (Dr. Larue) has turned his attention to the subject. (Since this was
written. Dr. L. has faithfully redeemed his promise. — See Foyer Canadien for Nov.,
1863.) (2) Our Canadian ancestors had long since realised the difference which
english rule had made in their situation, when their beloved and eloquent pastor.
Bishop Plessis, in 1794, from the pulpit of the same French Cathedral, which now
faces the Upper Town Market place in Quebec, publicly, and in the name of his
flock, thanked Almighty God that the colony was English, and therefore would
be free from the horrors enacted in the French colonies of the day ; that there
were no human butchers in Canada, to slaughter nobles, priests, women and
15

162 CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.
the other hand, it has received the infusion of no new blood ;
tho race is essentially conservative, too much so, perhaps,
accordingto notions ofthe 19lh cenlury ; 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 demo
cracy wilh all its disso'ving elements, who would not prefer at
least one raiUion of staunch conservative people, who, under
proper treatment, would understand loyalty to their sovereign,
as the Vendeens did, to a God-forsaken people, worshipping
no other deity than the almighty dollar, as exhibited in their
Daily Press ?
But this is wandering away from the subject which heads
this sketch ; revenons a nos moutons.
There is, in this country, a spice of drollery about some
transformations of (1) names worthy of note. These queer
children. — (See the Funeral oration of Bishop Briand, pronounced on the 27th
June, 1794, by Monseigneur Plessis. — Christie's History of -Canada, vol. I, pp.
356-7.) Could he have then foreseen what happened Louisiana later on, he might
again have expressed his thankfulness, that Canada did not belong to Franco —
else it might have been included in the deed of sale and bargain executed
between Napoleon the Great, and the occupant of the White House in 1805.
Verily, colonists are considered 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 Revd. Dr. Cahill's eloquent appeal 1 " Three Bishops," said he, *' cannot
dine together in Paris without the permission of the police j no new place of wor
ship can be opened, without the consent of government. Why was the charitable
society, the St. Vincent de Paul, broken up ? Why were Protestant chapels sum
marily closed by the Police and the congregations dispersed ? — Why is the press
muzzled ? Yes, why ? Thank your stars, " said the talented lecturer, " that you
live here under the British flag I "
See Champfleury's letter to Dr. Larue, Foyer Canadien 1864, Appendix.
(1) I have exhibited in the Album d0 Toueiste, several names as originating
in some physical deformity, or else in sorae virtue or fault, of the owner.
" Lebel, Lejuste, Legros, Lebon, Ledoux, Letendre, Lamoureus, Jolicoeur,
Legrand, Ledroit, Lesage, Leclerc, Leborgne, Vadeboncoeur, Bontemps, Vieu-
temps, Bonoau, Bellehumeur, BoUeavance, Bellerive, Beaurivage, Bonneohose,
Beauregard, Beausoleil, Sanspiti^, Sansoucis, Sansfafon, Sanschagrin, Sans-
quartior, Labont^, Lavertu, Lajoie, Lajeunesse, Ladouoeur, Lalibert^, Lade-
bauche, Lavigueur, Laforce, Lachaine, Lapens^e, Lachance, L'heureux, Lamu-
sique. "
This latter cognomen will loom out grander still, with its adjunct — Portugais :
dit Lamusique.
Some French names have a martial ring : " Taille-fer, Tranohe-montagne " :
you think yourself back to the middle ages.

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES. 163
changes do not necessarily imply abject ignorance In the class
which adopts thera. We raay have in this country back-
woodsraen (1) excessively stupid and ignorant, but where
Several years ago, a young Italian on his arrival from Rome, settled in Quebec.
He was known as " Audiverti dit Remain. " The name seemed too long. The first
half was dropped, he was called Remain. A son having established himself in
Toronto, the English ear required than an " e " be added to his foreign name
and it became, and has continued to this day Romaine.
Colors, Flowers, Fruits, Woods, also furnished a fair allowance : Leblanc, Le
noir, Lebrun, Legris, Leroux ; Lafleur, Lespervenches, Larose, Laviolette, Jas
min, Laframboise, Lefraisier, (Fraser) ; Bois, Grosbois, Boisjoli, Boisvert, Bois-
brilliant ; Dupin, Dutremble, Dufresne, Duchesne.
Titles or dignities, are converted into family names : Leroy or Roy, I'uc or
Leduc, Marquis, Comte or Lecomte, Baron or Lebaron, Chevalier or Lechevalier,
Sen^chal, Eouyer or Lecuyer, Page or Lepage.
Owners of Castles will identify themselves with them : Chateaufort, Chateau-
vert, Chateaubriand, Chateauneuf, Chateaurouge.
Objects met daily, will furnish a large contingent : Larue, Lapierre, Lafon
taine, Latremouille, Lachapelle, L'oiseau, Lerossignol, Letourneau, Lelievre,
Lamontagne, Lavall^e, Larivi^ic, Lagrange.
Let us pass to the names of Provinces. Normandy, Provence, Gasoony, Brit
tany, Lorraine, Picardy, Anjou, Poitevin, the Basque country, will be represented
by very familiar names : Norman, Provencal, LeGascon, LeBreton, Lorain or
Laurin, Picard, Angevin, Poitevin, LeBasque.
The native of Tours, Lille, Blois and Lyons, responds to his name, when called
Tourangeau, Lillois, Deblois, Lyonnais. Sometimes the appellation will be gene
ralized : thus Abraham Martin, will have dit I'Ecossais ; Jean Saisrien, will have
his adjunct also, dit V Anglais.
Then there are sonorous names for Counties, borrowed from Indian dialects, re
calling the virgin forest : Pontiac, Ottawa, Hochelaga, Kamouraska, Ri-
mouski, Cacouna ; just like our wild euphonious names for individuals — Poca
hontas, Captain Smith's devoted friend : Tuscarora ; Mineha I ha I {Laughing
Waters.') Sometimes names are curiously transformed : thus Bois Brule is pawned off on
us as Bob Ridley. — Oh I Bob Ridley oh 1
Oh 1 Bob Ridley oh 1
In Cap Chat or Cap Chatte, would there be a Shaw in the case, a relative of
that dreadful attorney, immortalized on stone : —
" Here lies
John Shaw,
Attorney at law.
When he died.
The devil cried,
' Give us your paw
John Shaw,
Attorney at law. ' "
(1) " Backwoodmen. " A worthy but eccentric missionary, once enlivened a
stirring appeal he was making to the symnatliy and purse of a Quebec church

164 CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES
(except within lbe 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 commis
sioners appointed to enquire into the condition of tbe working
classes in England, (l),cc that all he knew about God "was, that
he had often heard tlie workmen say, God damn ! » We say we
thank Providence for this, for whatever other colonial draw
backs we may labor under, and they may be numerous, we
are spared the spectacle of extreme social degradation side
meeting with the following anecdote, illustrative ofthe multitudinous hardships,
he had experienced in the coarse of his evangelizing duties in tho backwoods of
Canada. His text was " Man wants but little here below, nor wants that little
long. " The holy man was very long and slender iu the legs. '* It was once
my fate, " said he, " to put up for the night in a log shanty, the dwelling of the
headman in the mission ; the bed did indeed seem short, but being a deal one,
nailed to the floor, it had to remain where it was j 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 nearly smashed by the operation. In despair, I got
up, and after cogitating a short time, I came to the conclusion that no other
alternative existed but to remove the obstruction by opening the window, through
which, when lying down, my feet protruded some eighteen inches. I felt it was not
a peculiarly clerical position for the pastor to be seen by the flock, but what else
could I do. I slept soundly from fatigue, but awoko early, feeling a great weight
on my feet j on raising my head to see what it was, I found, that the patriarch
cf the farm yard, a very large turkey oock, had made roosters of my nether ex
tremities, " He of course carried his point.
This reminds one of the Vermont parson, the Rev. Zeb. Twitchel, a
methodist preacher in Vermont, most noted, for shrewd aud laughable sayings.
In tbe pulpit he maintained a suitable gravity of manner aud expression, but out
of the -pulpit, he overflowed with fun. Occasionally he would, if emergency seemed
to require, introduce something queer in a sermon, for the sake of arousing the
flagging attention of his hearers. Seeing once that his audience were getting
sleepy, he paused in his discourse and discoursed as foUows : — " Brethren, you
havn't any idea of the sufferings of our missionaries in the new settlements, on ac
count of the mosquitoes, in some of these regions, being enormous. A great many
of them would weigh a pound, and they will get on logs and bark when the mis
sionaries are going past." By this time all ears and eyes where open, aaidhe proceed
ed to finish his discourse. The next day one of his hearers called him to account
for telling lies inthe pulpit. " There never was a mosquitoe that weighed a pound,"
he said. " But I didn't say one of them would weigh a pound, I said a great
many, and I think, a million of them would. " " But you said, they barked at the
missionaries. " ** No, no, brother, 1 said they would get on logs and bark. '*
(1) Tho recent census of Scotland reveals the humiliating fact that more than
one per cent of all the families in Scotland were found last year (1867) living in
single rooms, which had uot a window, and that thirty-five per cent of all tho
families, or more than one-third, were living in on© room.

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES. 165
by side with fabulous wealth. Now to the point. Did you ever,
my dear reader, know from whence the first Know-Nolhing
hailed ? Perhaps you will meet me with the common-place
reply, cui bono ? Is not Know-Nolhingism dead and buried ?
True, I reply ; so is the builder of the pyramids dead, (or at
least, unless he can beal old Methusaleh, he ought to be), and
slill the enquiry about the originator, has been going on for
a long time, and is likely to continue, although for any prac
tical purpose, the origin of the Pyraminds or of Know-
Nothingism is ofthe same moment. Well, I assert clearly and
most emphatically, that the first Know-Nothing, nominally de
signated as such, lived al Cacouna, some seventy years ago.
Now for the proof. About the end of the last century, an En
glish vessel was stranded in the fall of the year, at Bic ; the
crew had lost everything, and as in those days Ihe country
below Quebec was thinly populated, they had to travel upwards
on foot. Along the road they obtained their food by begging il
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 ? This constant ques
tioning became troublesome to the honest tars, who knew
naught of the language of Louis XIV. The first effort they
made was lo attempt lo say that they could nol underslantl
the question put, and in a very few days, the stereotyped
reply to all enquiries, was «J'en scaisrien.» n I don't know, n
One of them was rather a good-looking fellow, and not being
accustomed to snow-shoes, he got the mal der ague tte, and had
to stay behind ; a wealthy Canadian peasant look pity on him,
and admitted him under his hospitable roof. Jack was nol long
before falling a victim to the tender passion ; and Mdlle.
Josephte, the daughter of the house, having shewn him some
kindness in his forlorn state, the gallant Briton could do
nothing short of laying his heart at her feet.
" Amour, tu perdis Troie ! "
as old Lafontaine said is fable of the cocks and hens ; but for
Jack, the effect was diametrically opposite ; it was his salva
tion, the dawn of a bright future. It was, however, love under
difficulties in the beginning. To the fair one's enquiries, the

»

166 CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.
interminable reply was returned. « J'en s^ais rien. » Mdlle.
Josephte soon began to tancy that the words sounded musi
cally in her ears ; — she faceliously christened her Saxon
friend J'ensQais rien, and soon the cure ofthe parish was called
on, to pronounce the magical «Coiijungo vos)> over Mademoi
selle and the English sailor. The union of the Norman and
the Saxon, which seven hundred years before, was a daily
occurence on the banks of Thames, was re-celebraled on the
bank of the Si. Lawrence, and with the same happy results.
In Ihe course of time, English Jack became the respected
paterfamilias of a patriarchal circle of small ccScaisriens, »
genuine Jean Baptislesin every respect, except that they were
handsomer than the rest of the children of the parish. An
addition to the family name soon look place, and to «J'en scais
rien, » was affixed the words dit l' Anglais, [alias the English
man.) It is a common practice amongst the French Canadians
to have this addition, for instance : Talbot dit Gervais ; San-
souci dit L'Eveille ; Bluis dit Laframboise. To this day there
is a large progeny of wScaisrien dit 1' Anglais » in the parish
of Cacouna. Nov.', reader, if I have made out my case, I pray
for a verdict, for, verily, this is the first mention of 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 ; and slill a family name he niusl have, by hook
or by crook ; so the Richard was made into Dick, and Mon
sieur le Notaire Jean Dick, son of Joseph A mable Richard
Dick, is now known all over the island, and executes deeds
under that and no other name. I do not believe that he under
stands or speaks English .
A locality near this cily, the village on the Si. Lewis Road,
which the Hon. Wm. Shepherd, formerly of Woodfield, laid
out, has undergone several strange appellations.
It was, of course, intended lo be named Shepherdville ;
it did at one time bear that name, under which several
know is still ; a number of French Canadians having settled
there, considered that as there was no saint in the calendar

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES. 167
hailing under the name of Saint Shepherd, it was not right to
give such a name to the Parish ; however, on finding out that
the parish was not canonically erected by the bishop, they
consented to leave Ihe original name, if it were only translated
into French, and Shepherd meaning Berger, why 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 Ihe Hon. Wil
liam'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 numberof Irish, hav
ing also elected domicile in Bergerville, were much shocked
at the liberty the French Canadian tenants had taken, in
daring to re-christen the settlement; they were of opinion
that as a considerable portion of the residents would not be
out of place in St. Giles, in London,, it might be more suitable
to call the place Boggarville (1), and not Bergerville ; and just
as party denominations have been in England in time of yore,
by- words for strife between the rival houses of York and Lan
caster, so it has been on the estate of Ihe Hon. William, on
the Saint Louis Road, near Quebec !
In October last (1862), TomEverell, an octogenarian Green
wich pilot, died al Cape Rouge, near Quebec. Tom was well
known all around ; he had many years before, married into a
French Canadian family, andgrad ually lost his family name of
Evercll ; he was called by the peasantry « Tom, le pere Tom. »
He left several number of children ; they are all now called
Toms : Norbert Tom, George Tom, Henrictte Tom, Jean Bte.
Tom. As a compensation lo this loss of nationality in his
offspring, a glorious distinction was 'made for his eldest son,
in which primogeniture shines forth; ofthe whole family, he
alone, is allowed to bear the family palronomicas a christian
(1) Odd naraes seem fashionable in this village ; there is one family composed
of athletic boys ; some are very hard oases ; ono, when drunk, combines the
vices of all the rest; he is singularly vicious, just a shade better than a, high.
T^ayman ; he goes by the name of Grand Ph'e  ,* why ? I never have been able
to find out. Possibly ,it may be from his being supposed to unite the vices of
three generations 1

168 CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.
name; Norbert is nol called Tom or Thomas Everell, but is
recognised, as Everell Tom.
In looking over English periodicals, I find that the transfor
mation ot names is nol merely confined to Scotchmen in
France, or to Englishmen in Canndo, but also to Englishmen
in their own country. The Cornhill Magazine, mlh which I
shall close, thus holds forth : —
« 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 Quaterly Magazine says : that cler
gymen in Staffordshire have been known to send home a wed
ding party in despair, after a vain essay to gain from the bride
and bridegroom, a sound by way of name.' Every man in
these coIHery fields, it seems, bears a personal sobriquet,
descriptive 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 on one of those oddly-named persons,
whose supposed real name was entered in the instrument
with legal accuracy The clerk, after a great deal of inquiry
as to the whereabouts of the party, was about to abandon the
search as hopeless, when ayoun^ woman, who had witnessed
his labors, kindly volunteered to assist him. ' Oy say, Bullyed,'
cried she, to the firstperson they met, ' does thee know a mon
named Adom Green ? The bull-head was shaken in token of
ignorance. They then came to another man. ' Loy-a-bed,
dost thee?' Loy-a-bed could not answer either. Stumpy,
(a man with a wooden leg), Cowskin, Spindleshanks, Cockeye,
and Pigtail were successively consulted, but to no purpose.
At length, however, having had conversation with several
friends, the damsel's eye suddenly brightened, and slapping
one of her neighbors on the shoulder, she exclaimed — ' Dash
my wig! whoy, he means moy feytherl ' Then returning to the
asUmished clerk, she cried — ' You shoul'n ax'd for OdeBlack-
bird!' So it appeared that the old miner's name, though he

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES. 169
was a man of substance, and had legal battles lo fight, was
not known, even to his owndaughter.» (9)

(9) A very slight investigation has already produced a list of patronymics
which throw all Thackery 's ideal ones, grotesque and clever as many are, into hope
less distance. In proof whereof, a correspondent of the London Times states that
a friend of his made the following curious selection of surnames from the wills in
the Prerogative Court is Doctor's Commons : — Asse, Bub, Belly, Boots, Cripple,
Cheese, Cockless, Dunce, Dam, Drinkmilke, Def, Fleshman ; Fatt, Ginger, Goose,
Beaste, Bearhead, Bungler, Bugg, Buggy, Bones, Cheeke, Clod, Codd, Demon,
Fiend, Funeke, Frogge, Ghost, Gready, Hag, Humpe, Holdwater, Headache ; Jelly,
Idle, Kneebono, Kidney ; Licie, Lame, Lazy, Leakey ; Maypole, Mule, Monkey,
Milksip, Mudd, Mug, Phisike, Pighead, Pot, Poker, Poopy, Prigge, Pigg, Punch,
Proverb. Quicklove, Quash, Radish, Rumpe, Rawbone, Rottengoose, Swette,
Shish, Sprat, Squibb, Sponge, Stubborne, Swine, Shave, Shrimps, Shirt, Skim,
Squalsh, Silly, Shoe, Smelt, Skull, Spattell, Shadow, Snaggs, Spittle ; Teate,
Taylecoate ; Villian, Vittels, Vile ; Whale.
All nature seems to have been ransacked for the purpose of producing even the
abovelist, which is no doubt, only a small sampleof that which seme further inves
tigation might have produced. Earth and water throw in their ridiculous contri
butions in the names of Asse, Goose, Beast and Gold ; and the mysteries of the
unknown world are represented by a Shadow and a Ghost. And Demon, Fiend,
and Hagg, find also their nominal representatives on this upper earth. The ideal
is, however, by no means alone drawn on, for we find, in a suspicious juxtaposi
tion — Jugs, Punch, Headache — This combination, it must be conceded, is rational
enough. The Histoey of Canadian Geoseaphical Names.
{By John Reade.')
" Colonists have, moreover, in all times been accustomed to call their new
homes after the scenes where their early years were spent. Of this mode of no
menclature, we have numerous instances in the settlements made by the Greeks
and Romans, as well as in the colonies of England and other modern European
nations. The name, in such oases, was a tender bond of union with the mother
country, besides possessing a considerable historical value.
In many cases, a place took the name of its discoverer, as Hudson's Bay, Van
couver's Island; in others, it was called after some event or personage of which
the day and month of its discovery bore record; as the St Lawrence, first seen on
the 9th day of August ; the St. John's river, New Brunswick, discovered on the
24th of June ; or, it was named from the weather, or some other transitory cir
cumstance impressing the discoverers on first seeing it, as Cape of Storms, Bale
des Chaleurs ; or from some sovereign or other great personage directing the party
of exploration; or, in honor of some person of distinction wholly unconnected with
it — as Virginia, Baltimore, Queen Charlotte's Island, Rupert's Land. The na
tural configuration or the first object which attracted observation, or some «om-
modity evidently abundant, or some obviously marked characteristic, were also
frequently productive of names, as Bay Ronde, Cap Cod, Mosquito Bar, Mariposa
(California " Butterfly "), Pearl Island, Serpent's Mouth, Tierra del Peugo (land
of fire — volcanic), Blue Mountains, Isle of Desolation, Isle of Bacchus (the Isle
of Orleans, first so called from its vine productiveness), Puntas Arenas (Sandy
16

170 CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.
Point), Florida &c. Biblical, classical or fancy names have also been frequently
employed, as Salem, G-oshen, Utica, Syracuse, Amaranth, Avalon.
In nono of these cases, is there wanting an interest, if not a benefit, in arriving
at a knowledge of the circumstances which caused or the motives, which led to
tho adoption of a name. Wo neeii make no apology, therefore, for spending a
while in seeking the origin of some of our Canadian geographical or topographical
names, especially those which contain the record of our early history.
The names of places in Canada may be generally divided into three classes'
marking three stages in the history of thfe country — the aboriginal, the French
and the British. In treating of the subject, however, it will not be necessary to
adhere rigidly to this division, nor, indeed, would such a mode of treatment be
historically correct, as French names have been given under British rule, and
Indian names under the regime of both France and England.
Canada, for instance, was not used in its present signification till the year
1867 J neither was Ontario, nor Manitoba. If Canada be an aboriginal word and
mean, as some would have us believe ''a collection of huts " — perhaps the des
criptive name of Stadacona or old Hochelaga, — it leads us bacli to the very beg
inning of our history, to the earliest attempts at European colonization in this
part of the continent. There surely must have been some good reason for pre
ferring Quebec to such a grandly musical name as Stadacona. It is a pity that
neither the latter, nor Hochelaga was brought into honorable service when a new
designation was required for the old Province of Lower Canada. " Kepec " or
" Quebec " is said to mean a " strait" in the Algonquin dialect, and it may be
that Cartier choose to retain it as indicating the narrowing of the river opposite
Stadacona. It was between the Island of Orleans and the Beauport shore that
the great navigator had his first interview with the Chief Donnacona, who eame
with twelve canoes of eight men each to wish him welcome. The village of Sta
dacona covered the site of the suburbs of St. Koch's and in part, of St. John's,
and, perhaps, as the forts which forraed the nucleus of Quebec were some dis
tance from it, the latter name came to be adopted by the French settlers j and
when the city was formally founded in 1608, although Stadacona had then disap-'
peared, the rival name was so identified with the new-comers that it easily pre
vailed. However that be, it is certain that the name of Quebec has won its
share of renown. In the minds of strangers, it is the typical city of Oanada.
AVe still preserve the name of the Iroquois, and the nations of which they were
composed — the Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Onondagas, Senecas and Cayugas; also, of
the 0 ttawas, Chippewas aud Missassaugas, the Eries and the Hurons, the Min-
gans, Nipissings and tribes. In Manitoulin, we have enshrined the memory of
their primitive faith in the Great Spirit. In Gasp6 (Lands End's), Mackinaw
(Great Turtle), Ontario (Beautiful), Saskatchewan (Swift Current), and many
other names of rivers, lakes and localities are condensed their exact or figurative
descriptions of external nature. With the exception, however, ofthe names of
Brant (Tyendinaga), Tecumseth and Poniiac which are preserved, the Indians
names of places possess little known historical importance. To the philologist,
they present a large and interesting field for research and comparison.
The Indian name, " Baccalaos " (cod-fish) would seem to have been given to a
part, if not the whole, of the Island of Newfoundland, at the date of its discovery
by John Cabot. In a corrupted forra, it is still given to a small island (Bacalieu)
off the extremity of the peninsula between Conception and Trinity Bays. The
navigator above mentioned called the Island of Newfoundland " Prima Vista"
as being the land first seen by him.. Forthe same reason it was called New-

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES. 171
foundland, and it was also named St. John's, from having been discovered
on the 24th of June, the festival of John the Baptist. In a manuscript of
the time of Henri VII, in the British Museum, it is mentioned as the " New
Isle." There are traditions of settlements made by Icelanders or Norwegians iu
the tenth and following centuries, and by them it is said-.to have been designated
" HeUuland." Conception Bay received its present name from Gaspar Cortereal. Besides the
Cabots — John and Sebastian — the Cortereals and Verazzani, Jacques Cartier, Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, Martin Frobishor and Sir Francis Drake took a greater or less
interest in its early colonization. Cartier's presence is still recorded in the name
" Bonavista " (fine view), which his delight with the scenery induced him to give
to the portion of the island which bears that name. Sir Walter Raleigh also had
a share in the scheme of settlement, the management of which was undertaken
by his step-brother, Gilbert. He was obliged, through iUness, to return, after
the little squadron had set sail, and Gilbert was drowned off the Azores on the
homeward voyage. The city of St. John's records the eventful day when tho
coast of Newfoundland was first seen by John Cabot.
The name of the first French viceroy of Canada survives in a little village or
parish in the County of Chicoutimi. The Sieur de Roberval received his commis
sion as early as the year 1640. It was at St. John's, Newfoundland, that he and
Cartier met, while the latter was returning to France. In 1549, he and his brother
and their whole fleet were lost on their way to Canada.
If there were any danger of Canadians forgetting Champlain, they would still
be reminded of him in the county and lake which bear his name. The River
Richelieu, which carries the superfluous waters of Lake Champlain to the St.
Lawrence, w'as known to him as the river of the Iroquois. In the contests bet
ween the French and the savages, the country watered by this river was long the
chosen rendez-vous of both oombattants. M. de Montmagny, who succeeded
Champlain, after a brief interval, called it the Richelieu, after the distinguished
ecclesiastic and statesman of that name. It subsequently received the names
of Sorel and Chambly, from two officers of the Carignan Regiment, but these
names were afterwards given to forts, and that of Richelieu restored. The forts
in question were respectively Fort Richelieu and Fort St. Louis, now Sorel and
Chambly. The Chevalier Montmagny was (as far as the Indians aro concerned)
tho eponymous governor of Canada, for it was by an Indian translation of his
name, " Onontio " or " Great Mountain," that all his successors were designated
by the native tribes.
Iberville, a county in the province of Quebec, recalls the name of a distinguish
ed Montrealer, Pierre Leiloyne D'Ibervilla, a famous naval officer in the reign of
Louis XIV. He laid the foundation of a colony in Louisiana, and his brother
founded tho city of New Orleans. The county and town of Joliette preserve the
name of another distinguished Canadian, a Quebecquois, Louis Joliette, who was
chosen by Frontenac to accompany Father Marquette in his exploration of the
Mississippi. As a reward for his seryices, he received a grant of the island of
Antioosti, a metathesis for the Indian Natiscoti, and was made hydrographer it>
the king. The Duo de Montmorency has left his name in a county and in the
beautiful and celebrated river and falls near Quebec. He was the friend of Cham
plain; for opposition to the government of Richelieu, he was executed in 1632, at
the age of thirty-seven. Frontenac, Vaudreuil andBeauharnois, three ofthe most
able and energetic of the French Governors of Canada, are also honored iu the
names of Canadian counties, as are also Bishop Laval, Generals Montcalm and
De Levis, Cardinal Richelieu, Charlevoix and other celebrities of the old regime.

172 CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES.
In Carleton County and Carleton Place we celebrate Sir Guy Carleton, as in
Dorchester we commemorate the titular reward of his well-used talents. In
Cramahe, Northumberland Co., we honor his sometime successor, and General
Haldimaud, Governor Hamilton, Governor Hope, General Prescot, Sir G. Drum
mond, Sir J. 0. Sherbrooke, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Dalhousie, Sir
James Kempt, Lords Aylmer, Gosford, Durham and Sydenham are all, more or
less, localized in the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The glories of the heroic
Brock are suggested by Brookville. We have the history of Parliamentary repro-
sontation in Upper Canada in the name of Lake Simcoe ; for the first Parliament
of that Province was opened at Newark, or Niagara, by Lieut.-Governor John G.
Simcoe, on the 17th of September, 1792; in the counties of Elgin and Bruce and
the viUage of Kincardine ; in the latter we record the important administration
of Lord Elgin, forgetting, it is to be hoped, its bitter associations. Sir Charles
Bagot has a county named after him. Sir Edmund Head a township, and Sir
Francis Bond Head a village.
Halifax was so named in honor of Lord Halifax, who, at the time of its settle
ment by Lord Cornwallis, in 1749, was President of the Board of Trade and Plan
tations. Annapolis (formerly Port Royal) was so called by General Nicholson,
who took it from the French in the reign of Queen Anne. Cape Breton tells us
that its early settlers were chiefly from Brittanny. Louisbourg was called after
the French King, Louis XIV, in whose reign it was founded. Prince Edward's
Island was named after the Duke of Kent, father of the Queen Victoria, its for
mer name having been St. John's. A less successful change was that of Sorel
into 'WiUiam Henry, after the sailor prince AVilliam IV. The origin of Nova
Scotia is manifest. New Brunswick was so called in compliment to the new line
inaugurated by George I.
The name of the first Governor of New Brunswick is preserved in Carleton,
County of Kent, and Saumarez, Blissville and Blissfield, Harvey, Manners, and
Sutton, recall other gubernatorial names.
Indian names, of a language different from any found in Ontario or Quebec,
perhaps, Micmac, abound in the Maritime Provinces. Restigouche, which forms,
in part, the boundary between New-Brunswick and Quebec, is said to mean
" finger and thumb," a name given from the supposed resemblance of the river
and its tributaries to an open hand. In the beginning of its course (for 150 miles
or so) the St. John's is called the Wallooshtook, or " Long River." The Bay of
Fundy is a corruption of the French " Fond de la Baie " which is found on old
maps. The old name of Liverpool, N. S., was Rossignol; it was so called after a
French adventurer of that name, and has no association, as one might suppose,
with nightingale.
In Middlesex County, Ontario, we discover an obvious scheme of adopting a
consistent English nomenclature. We have London, Westminster, St. Pauls, the
Thames; but such a plan can hardly ever succeed. New settlers bring with
them new associations, and the old charm is broken.
In the County of Hastings, Ontario, we havo a repertory of history, litterature,
science and tradition, in Tudor, Elzevir, WoUaston, Herschel, F.aTady and Madoc,
while Limerick, Carlow, Mayo, Dungannon and Cashel have the full flavor of the
"Emerald Isle." Ameliasburg, Sophiasburg and Marysburg, all in the county
of Prince Edward, seem Uke a family group. Orangeville, Luther and Melano-
thon indicate the political or religious bias ofthe sponsors. Lutterworth recalls
¦VVickliffe. Blenheim, Trafalgar, St. Vincent, 'Waterloo and Sebastopool in On
tario, and Tewkesbury, Inkerman and Alma in Quebec, remind us of famous

CANADIAN NAMES AND SURNAMES. 173
victories. There is a solemn march of heroes and poets, philanthropists and
statesmen, discoverers and martyrs iu Milton, Keppel, Collingwood, 'Wellington,
Nelson, Albemarle, Hampden, Raleigh, Palmerston, Pitt, Raglan, Russell, Har
vey, Franklin, 'Wilberforce, Stephenson, Macaulay and Burleigh, all Upper Ca
nada names, and in Chatham, Arundel, Newton, Havelock, Canrobert, and others
in Quebec.
London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, New Bdimburg, New Glasgow,
Dundee, Dumfries, Derry, Bnniskillen, Southampton, Scarborough, and innumer
able other trans-atlantic names found throughout the Dominion, are convincing
proofs either of patriotic affection or want of originality. We sometimes see this
latter quality running wild in such extravagances as Flos, Vespra, Artemisia,
Euphrasia, Eutopia, Aurora, Asphodel.
Occasionally a name, such as " Indian," as applied to the American aborigines,
or Lachine (China), gives a key to the motives of early exploring entreprise.
Such names as Isle Verte, Isle-aux-Qrues, Ile-aux-Noix, Pointe-aux-Trembles,
are valuable as giving an opportunity of comparing the present condition of the
places to which they refer to what it was in the past.
In the names of streets, halls, institutes, and associations, their is ample scope
for historical enquiry. A good deal might be made of the street names of Mon
treal alone, quite enough to make a separate paper. The same may be said of
Quebec, Toronto, Halifax and the other ancient cities of the Dominion. Into this
part of the subject, however, we cannot enter now. It may suffice if we have in
dicated the way what is likely to prove an interesting and valuable field of his
torical research.
Probably but for the practice, early begun and still, to some extent, continued
in Lower Canada, of giving Saints' names to places, we should have preserved in
our local names much more of the history of the country. The Province of Quebec
is a perfect hagiology. The calendar and Acta Sanctorum seem to have been
ransacked by our devout predecessors, and not even the most obscure result of
cannonization has escaped this forced service. The origin of this custom is found
in the formation of parishes by the Church first established here, the authorities
of which, very naturally, put them under the protection of their saints, martyrs and
confessors. But even these names, apart from the opportunity which they afford
for the study of early and mediseval ecclesiastical biography, have also an
historical value, for they tell us ofthe character and aims of those who had most
to do with the early settlement of this Province.
'We must now bring this little sketch to a close. Its chief object has been to
show to what extent the teaching or study of history and geography may be com
bined in a very simple manner. This method of instruction is not unknown in
schools where ancient history and ancient geography are taught. It might be
made equally interesting with regard to the modern and especially in colonies
like our own, where tho names can be generally traced to their origin. A single
name, such as Judea, Athens, Cornwall, Montreal, Florida, might thus be made
the theme for an instructive lecture, which would also be valuable in more ways
than that of merely conveying information, by training the mind iu analytic and
inductive thought. {Prom New Dominion Monthly.')

THE GEAVE OF GAENEAU.
THE HISTORIAN.

Under the shade of lofty pines, close to the famed battle-fields
of the past, in view of his native city, now rests all that re
mains to us of a noble minded retiring man of letters. There
lies a true son of Canada, though the influence of his writings
was felt far beyond the limits of his country, From the muse
of history did he receive his inspirations, — by her, his name
will be inscribed in the temple of fame with those of Pres
cott, Bancroft, Parkman, Jared Sparks, Sargent, and other
kindred spirits of the land of the West. Like them, Garneau,
will continue to light up the path of hterature, teaching love
of country, marking out the path of duly to generations still
unborn. Our author was eminently fitted for the task of historian.
A lover of labour, painstaking to excess, born with a mind
remarkable for ils enquiring turn, of a breadth and liberality
of views rarely to be found, the historian of Canada was withal
so retiring that he uniformly refused templing offers made him
to take part in the politics of the country. We will pass over
Ihe early part of his career, marked like the rest of his life,
by concientiousness and the strictest integrity.
It was in 1840 that Mr. Garneau, after having contributed
several light poetical effusions lo the literature of Canada,
some of which grace the pages of Huston's Repertoire Natio
nal, began in earnest his great work. The three years he had
spent in England, France and Italy had afforded him unques
tionable facilities by searching the public archives— in Paris,
especially — to collect materials, new and reliable for the his
tory of the Colony. Later on, he went lo Albany to study the
contents of the valuable slate papers which Dr. O'Callaghan,
of Canadian celebrity, had been charged by the Stale of New

176 THE GRAVE OF GARNEAU,
York to compile, with the permission of King Louis Philippe,
in the French archives.
Several men of ability, since this country became an English
colony, have devoted themselves to write its history. The
first by order of date, was Wm. Smith, son of the celebrated
U. E. Loyalist, iind historian of the Province of New York.
His history, in two volumes, appeared in 1815. We may also
mention the narrative of Mr. Bibaud and Cours d'Histoire du
Canada of the late Abbe Ferland, the political history of Ro
bert Christie, and a most elaborate work now in process of
publication in Paris, Histoire de la Colonie Frangaise en Ame-
Hf/we by the Abbe Faillon, late of Montreal, alsoMcMullen's
History of Canada.
These writers are entitled to our gratitude for the lime,
research and capital expended by them in revealing to us the
primitive as Lord Elgin called thera, the heroic times of Canada ;
but to none of them has been awarded by a grateful country
the title of National Historian. This distinction was reserved
to the late Mr. Garneau, though there are many disputed points
treated by this distinguished man on which subsequent writers
will throw new light. One of the most honourable, the most
pleasing testimonials conveyed before his death to the late
historian is contained in the few following lines of a letter ad
dressed to him by Commander deBelveze, Capt. of the French
frigate Capricieuse, sent to Quebec by the French Emperor in
1855, to establish commercial intercourse with Canada : —
« It is mainly to your book, Sir, that I owe the honour of being
this day in Canada. ***** n forms the chief basis ofthe
official report I am preparing for the French Government on
the commercial resources of your fine country. » In thus
saying thatthe literary labours of Mr. Garneau obtained recog
nition not only in America, but also in Europe, we are merely
reminding the reader that several eminent French and Ameri
can historians, by the copious extracts they made from them
showed the value they set on the Canadian writer as a truth
ful narrator of events. Foremost, let us mention the Abbe

THE HISTORIAN. 177
Ferland (1), Bancroft (2), Parkman (3), Sargent (4), O'Callag
han (5), Rameau (6), Dussieux (7), and last, though nol least,
the learned and voluminous French historian Henri Martin (8),
whose noble sentiments we regret to have to forego through
want of space.
The singular veneration in which Mr. Garneau 's memory is
held, can only be an enigma to those who, unversed in the
language in which his works are written, or acquainted wilh
Ihem merely through the Iravestie and the truncated English
version recently published, cannot therefore understand the
hold which he had taken of the popular mind amongst French
Canadians. No Hues written by him will convey a better idea
of the spirit which animated him, than the concluding reflec
tions of the third volume of the Histoire du Canada, written
in 1849, and though subsequent events and especially the
Confederation of the British Provinces and the supremacy con
ferred thereby, on the French race, in the Province of Quebec,
may alter ils bearing with regard to the other races, Mr. Gar-
neau's sentiments deserve still lo be echoed amongst his fellow
countrymen. Mr. Garneau, a French-Canadian, does not of
course forget the proud race from which he sprung ; though
hailing from the Bourbons, he is unlike them ; he has learned
something, he has learned to appreciate the wisdom of the
English constitution ; he calls on his countrymen lo shape
their conduct on English precedents, English parliamentary
usages. Hark lo his stirring appeal ; listen to the sentences
of this believer in monarchy, at a time like the present when
the elect of the people, our leading statesmen, are striving to
perpetuate monarchical institutions amongst us.
«Our pen has written the history of some French emigrants
landed at the most northern part of North America, there to
build up the destinies of their offspring. Like leaves detached
from their parent tree, the winds have blown them to a new
(1) Cours d'Histoire du Oanada. (2) History of the United States. (3) His
tory of the conspiracy of Pontiac. (4) The History of an expedition against
Fort Duquesne in 1755, under Major-General Braddock. (5) History of New
Netherland. (6) La France aux Colonies. (7) Le Canada sous la domination
Frangaise. (8) Histoire de France. 17

178 THE GRAVE OF GARNEAU,
world, to be tossed about by a thousand storms ; the baneful
breath of barbarism, — the scourge of mercantile greed, — ^the
tempest caused by a crumbling monarchy — the storm of
foreign subjugation. Scarcely a few thousand souls, when
this last disaster befel them, they ought now not to be too
bitter, against their ancient mother country, since the loss of
this noble colony was one of the decisive causes ofthe (French)
revolution ; the world knows what dire vengeance, this
polished and proud nation sought at the hand of all those con
nected directly or indirectly wilh the Ministry who abandoned
Canada to its fate in the hour of danger.
« Notwithstanding Canada's past trials, a few hundred
French colonists, (we fear being guilty of exaggeration in saying
a few thousand), had reached, al the era of the conquest, to
the figure of 60,000, a population small in numbers for an
European Stale. To-day (in 1849), after ninety years, these
figui'es have reached 700,000, and the tree has branched out
of its own accord and without external help — strong in its faith
— strong in its nationality.
a During one hundred and fifty years this small community
has done battle against the New England colonies, thirty or
forty limes more numerous, without receding a step, and the
pages of this volume show what its conduct has been on the
battle field.
Though neither affluent nor rich, this people has proved that
it still retains something of the great nation who gave it birth.
Ever since the cession (1763), without listening to the captious
arguments of the would be sages, to the dicta of those writers
who obtain the ear of men in large cities, the nation has built
its politics on self-preservation, the only true basis of national
policy. She has concentrated herself in herself ; -she has ral
lied all her children round her, fearing to drop a usage, a
thought, nay, shall we even say a prejudice, venerable by age,
in spite of the scoffs of neighbours.
« The result has been that down to the present day the
nation has preserved its faith, ils language; nay, more, a foot
hold for England in Araerica in 1775 and 1812. This result,
though pernicious it may appear to the extension of the Ame-

THE HISTORIAN. 179
rican Republic, has not been accompanied with the sequence
it might have entailed. The banner of monarchy, floating on
Cape Diamond at Quebec, has compelled the young repubhc to
be grave, to act with prudence, to expand gradually, and not
to rush headlong like a fiery steed in the desert. The result,
we say, has been that the United Stales have become great —
a living example lo the whole world.
« The Canadians are to-day an agricultural people, living in
a severe cHmate. Theirs are not the elegant and luxurious
ways of the raen of Southern cliraes ; theirs is not that idiom
— the offspring of a light, inexhaustible nature, unknown in
the high latitudes of the globe. But they have in their charac
ter, earnestness and perseverance. They have shown it since
they are in America, and we are convinced that whoever will
read the history of this people, in a spirit of justice and good
faith, will confess it has shown itself worthy of the two great
nations lo whose destinies it has been or is still Hnked. Nor
could it have been otherwise without being recreant to its ori
gin. Hailing from Normandy, from Brittanny, from Touraine,
and from Poitou, the race descends from those who marched
behind WiUiam the Conqueror, and who striking subsequently
deep roots in England, helped to make of that small island one
of the greatest amongst nations. The race comes from that
France which heads European civiHzation since the fall of the
Roman Empire — that country who, in her bright or in her
dark days, is always respected ; who, under her Charlemagne,
as well as under her Napoleon, dared lo challenge in fight, co
alesced Europe ; but chiefly has the race sprung from that
"Vendee of Normandy, of Brittanny, of Anjou, whose un
bounded devotions lo the objects of her royal or religious
sympathy will ever command respect ; whose admirable cou
rage will ever wreath in glory the flag which it has raised
admidsl the French revolution,
« Let the French-Canadians be true to themselves; let them
be prudent and persevering ; let them turn a deaf ear to the
dazzling novelties of social or pohtical theories. They are not
strong enough lo venture alone and carve out for themselves
a new course. They can acquire fresh liberty sufficiently in

180
their sphere. For us, a portion of our strength comes from
our traditions : let us depart from them, but slowly, We will
find in the annals of the metropohs, in the history of England,
good examples to follow. If England should be great to. day,
she too has had to encounter awful storms, foreign conquest
to overcome, religious wars lo subdue, and a thousand other
troubles. Without pretending to a similar destiny, wisdom
and union amongst us will soften many trials, and, in awake
ning interest towards us, they will render our cause more holy
in the eyes of nations. »

ADDRESS OP THE HON. P. J. 0. CHAUVEAU.
IFrom the Quebec Gazette, Friday, September TIth, 1867.]
On Sunday afternoon, the 15th instant, the translation of
the remains of*the late Mr. Garneau, from the private vault, in
the Belmont Cemetery, Ste, Foye, near Quebec, where they
had been deposited last winter, to the recently finished tomb
provided for them by public subscription, look place, in con
formity with the public notice given by the acting President of
the Committee, J. M. LeMoine, Esquire. The concourse
of persons present must have exceeded 3,000, amongst
whom were many leading citizens, Judges, Barristers, and
others. The burial service was chaunted by the Rev. Messlre
Auclair, Cure of Quebec, and the ceremony was inaugurated
under the auspices of the Lieut.-Governor of Quebec, who
was present with his staff and with several members of "his
Cabinet. The religious portion of the ceremony being over,
the Premier, the Honorable P. J. 0. Chauveau, standing un
covered at the head of the tomb, gave utterance in French to
the following eloquent oration, on the career of his old and
true friend, the gifted historian of Canada. Everything seemed
favorable to the fulfilment of the peculiar duty devolving on
the honorable speaker. The beauty of the surrounding woods,
blazoning with the bright hues of September ; the pensive
quietness of the Sabbath, amidst the many quiet tombs ; the
historical memories clustered round this old battle-field of

THE HISTORIAN. 181
1760, SO graphically described in the works of both Mr. Gar
neau and Mr. Chauveau, and on which now stands the new
cemetery of Belmont ; the sweet, though mournful office, of a
man of letters delegated by his countrymen to honour, in a
departed friend, another man of letters— a good citizen— a
true patriot : every object combined to prepare the heart for
soft emotions. Mr. Chauveau's b^utiful discourse has been
rendered in elegant English by a young barrister of this
city, John O'Farrell, Esquire, for whom such a task was
in verity, a labour of love. (II was delivered in presence of
Sir N. F. Belleau, then recently named Lieutenant-Governor
for the Province of Quebec.)
« Your Excellenct and Gentlemen, — We are gathered
around the grave of a friend, a compatriot, a writer whom
any country might well be proud of,— a man, in fine, wholly
devoted lo our own beautiful Canada. In bidding a last farewell
to his remains, we are, it seems, but fulfilling a pious duty,
not to ourselves alone, but to the country al large.
« A beautiful and patriotic thought it was, the execution of
which even before you had attained the first dignity of our
new Province, it was your happy lot to preside over, — that of
nursing the fame of one, who, of all things, gave his foremost
thoughts, to the glory of his country.
« The name of Franf ois-Xavier Garneau is known wither
soever the name of Canada has reached ; his fame is
inseparable from the fame of our country : it, therefore,
would have been a very regretful event, if the man, who had
raised for our native land its most splendid monument, had no
urn on that soil whose beauties he, the poet, erstwhile sang,
and whose heroes, he, the historian, gave to fame.
« Whether as poet, traveller or historian, Fran^ois-Xavier
Garneau was alike a man of initiative courage, heroic perseve
rance, indomitable will, disinterestedness and saciifice of self.
One fixed idea, or better still, a great mission to be accom
plished had seized possession of his soul ; to that mission, he
gave up heart, mind, wealth, health, all in fine. That great
task, his work, was a national monument to be raised, com-

182 THE GRAVE OF GARNEAU,
pleted, retouched, and embellished when completed ; there,
in his eyes, his whole life centred.
« At that work. Gentlemen, he toiled beneath the midnight
lamp, without, however, encroaching on his other, morehumble,
labors. In him, were united, so to speak, two natures, the
one, given tohumble, yet grave and difficult occupations follow
ed for a Hvelihood, the other devoted to Fatherland, Letters,
the Muses and History ; and, as a rare incident even among
the rarest, these two natures were, in some sort, derived the
one from the other, and almost without extraneous aid. Pos
sessed of the most simple rudiments only of primary instruc
tion, he acquired, preserved and perfected, both that practical
knowledge required of the bank- clerk, the notary and the
municipal officer, and that literary and philosophic training,
which goes to make up the thinker and the writer. What greater
example can there be of the power of the will of man ? What
more beautiful lesson, what greater teaching can be bequeathed
to the youth of our country ? It was nol given to Mr. Garneau,
though he ardently desired it, to follow a collegiate course of
study, and yet, how many are there, who, even with that
powerful aid, have undertaken and accomplished a task the
like of his? Undoubtedly, his was a rare ability, a rare genius;
but, is there not reason to fear, that many intellects, as great
as his, sustained even by the great powers derived from a
regular education procured at will, have been lost to society
by that lisllessness, that cowardly subserviency to the vulgar
passions so frequent and so brimful of devastation around us?
« In that respect, the workyour Excellency has been pleased to
preside over, is not only a good deed; ills a beautiful example.
To youth, we would say: « Canada, like other countries,
« begins to appreciate works of intellect, and soon, let us
«hope, as our own historian in one of his eloquent pages
«has said : A time will come, when full justice shall be
« dealt out to those who m,ay have made sacrifices for the most
nbeautiful of the causes which can engross the attention of
« society. »
« Meanwhile, let us nol require each one to undertake so

THE HISTORIAN. 183
great a work ; let us merely say to all : «Do him but justice,
by reading and meditating on his admirable book.
« You will there be told of the birth and growth of that new
nation, which, step by step, advances towards her allotted
place at Ihe banquet of humanity. There you may witness
Cartier planting the lily-covered crojss, by the margin of the
river which flows, beyond there, at .our feel ; you will also
see there a horde of bleeding phantoms, those wandering
tribes, whose destiny il was lo yield their place lo us. There,
yoa may look on Champlain pitching his tent beneath those
trees, some of which but lately sheltered parts of that great
historic city we have just left behind us, — Laval casting in
these precincts that precious seed since ripened into so many
benefits for us, — Mary of the Incarnation and her companions
chaunting, amidst their youthful neophytes, their canticles
beneath the double and awe-inspiiing vault of a primitive
forest and a beautiful Canadian sky, — Maisonneuve and his
brave comrades founding, in the heart of the Iroquois country,
that prodigious colony of Montreal, — Mdlle Mance and Sister
Bourgeois penetrating wilh equal intrepidity into those inhos
pitable regions, — Frontenac, at length, inspiring the savage
hordes wilh terror, and repelling with undaunted courage the
fleet of Admiral Phipps. Then, you will see glide past you,
that long train of French gentlemen and peasants, who were
our sires, those hardy pioneers ever ready to exchange the hoe
and plough for the sword and gun, those gay and brave adven
turers, donning Indian garb and customs among the Indians,
gliding like them in their rapid skiffs, and vieing wilh them in
skill and courage ; those intrepid missionaries, those heroic
martyrs, those pious women, and also those heroines, those
Joans-of-Arc of our history, the de Yercheres and the Dru-
courts. You will hear the recital of all those great expeditions
of our forefathers ; Lasalle and Joliette discovering the Mis
sissipi ; Bienville, at the other extremity of this continent,
founding New Orleans ; Rouville and his followers sacking
New England ; Nicolet and La Veyranderie discovering the
vast regions of the West ; De Beaujeu falling with Braddock
on the battle-field of the Monongahela, just as it was reserved

184 THE GRA'VE OF GARNEAU,
for Wolfe and Montcalm to perish, at a later day, beneath our
ramparts ; Iberville, bearing aloft our victorious standard from
Mexico to Hudson's Bay ; — and you may well exclaim : « This
« whole continent has been but one vast theatre on which our
« sires' exploits have been performed ! » And then, — after
those lengthened struggles, those ever recurring wars, that long
series of trials of every kind, famines, epidemics, fires, mas
sacres, ill-administration, insufficient immigration, assistance
no sooner promised than refused, reverses born wilh patience,
but of an occurence too frequent for the honor of France and
the success of the colony, — the moraentous day shall come,
that day of the final agony, the last catastrophe, when New
France, exhausted in men, provisions and munitions, invaded
on every side, by sea and land, by armies and fleets, ever van
quished, ever re-appearing, shall extend her arms in vain for
a succouring hand from Old France ; then il is, that, soaring
with his subject, the Historian shall well recount to you the
last misfortunes and the last triumphs of that old white flag,
with the golden lilies, on the bank of the St. Lawrence. He
will relate to you the courageous efforts of the Acadians, strugg-
Hng to the very last hour, and finally dispersed over this con
tinent ; he will shew you Louisbourg, that Quebec of the Gulf,
resisting nobly against the superior forces of Wolfe, and even
tually succumbing, the victim of an error kindred with that
which caused the fall of our fortress ; then Montcalm con
quering so gloriously with an inferior force, first at Carillon,
and once again, but a few weeks only before the taking of
Quebec, upon those (all cliffs of Beauport, where Levis, Juche-
reau and Bourlamarque so well seconded his bravery. And,
finally, after that great battle, where the two heroes, the Briton
and the Gaul, fell together, when Quebec, battered by cannon,
shall be but one vast ruin, he will tell you, with legitimate
pride, of the last triumph of the French and of our ancestors,
that last victory won by the Chevalier de Levis over General
Murray, on the very ground we tread, that final tableau of the
conquest, and which he was the first to bring out in high re
lief and dedicate lo posterity.
« Bowing respectfully, as did our sires, to the decrees of

THE HISTORIAN. 185
Providence, he will once more resume with courage, almost
with serenity, the recital of another struggle, less bloody, but
not less interesting. He will exhibit lo you Murray and Car
leton following that noble advice of Yirgil, aParcere subjectis
et debellaresuperbos, » recognizing the merits of the vanquished
and protecting them against ignoble persecutors— England
often hailing between the counsels of partiality and those of
justice ; Dambourges and the Canadians saving Quebec in
1775 ; Salaberry driving Hampton back in 1814, at the close
of that long tyranny of Craig ; the fidehty of our countrymen
placed beyond suspicion ; that great Bishop, Plessis, teaching
the victors to respect the rights of religion, and saying to the
Civil Power : a Thus far shall thou go, and no farther ! »
finally, the constitutional liberties granted in 1791, slowly
developing themselves despite the efforts of an oligarchy. With
what tenderness, nol unmixed with veneration, has he nol
sculptured those grand figures of that parliamentary struggle :
DeLotbiniere, Panet;, Bedard, Taschereau, the two Papineaus,
the two Stuarts, Neilson, Vallieres, Viger, Bourdages, Lafon
taine, Morin, and those other defenders of our liberties ?
« Then coming to new catastrophes, al the close of another
rule, wilh what patriotic fervor has he nol related the sanguin
ary denouement of that resistance, at the close of which the
true British constitution was granted us^ though under circums
tances so replete with difficulty and even danger lo us? Hence
it iSj that, in reference lo the epoch in which we live, what
looks of anxiety and jealous fears for our nationality he cast
upon our future .'
«Thal magnificent work, in which, lo borrow from his
elegant biographer an expression that struck me, aa patriotic
shiver runs through its every page, y> soars, in its first volumes
more especially, almost to the level of the highest inspiration.
A fact easily explained : our History is worthy of an epos, and
our first Historian was a poet above all things.
«Yes, he was a poet ; and the poet il was who impelled the
traveller, created the Historian. The poet il was, who, dream
ing of other skies, of other shores than those he had admired
so much, felt smitten with the desire of travelling through
18

186 THE GRAVE OF GARNEAU,
America, and of seeing a portion of that old Europe which was
then so far away from us. A glance al the interesting narra
tive he has given us of his travels, suffices to assure one that
he viewed with a noble jealousy the glory of the two great
nations to which the inhabitants of Canada owe their existence,
and that, while he was not, unmindful of our past and of our
future, ho admired their monuments, and said within himself:
« If I may not, as has been done here, engrave on brass the
combats of our ancestors, still may I inscribe them on the
page of History ! » The literary and patriotic aspirations which
he already felt, becarae so many realities, in presence of the
great men, of the great deeds of the old world ; the love,
tempered with fear, that he fell for his country — that love,
mellowed by sadness, shrouded in dark misgivings, received a
fresh impulse from hearing Nemcewiecz sing the woes of
Poland, and O'Connell thund.T against the wrongs of Ireland.
« His work was not written, as many others have been, to
gratify a passing whim, or to build up a reputation ora fortune.
It was a great undertaking, the rehabilitation of a whole race,
in its own eyes, and in the eyes of other races. He sought,
above all, to obliterate the insulting terras of « conquered
race » and « vanquished people. » He aimed at shewing that,
considering the circumstances of the struggle, our defeat was
morally equivalent to a victory. Men of other races, destined
to inhabit with us this vast and magnificent country, shall one
day thank hira for having placed truth in the fullest light : for
having removed unjust prejudices, for having raade us their
equals in our eyes and in theirs, and for having, by thatraeans,
given one pledge the more for that harmony so essential to the
fulfilment of our common destiny.
« Bound in ties of friendship with able and patriotic writers,
who had preceded him, with untiring seekers, friendly to our
history and its antiquities, he planted wilh them the roots of
0!ir budding literature. Soon he found hiraself surrounded by
competitors, and even by rivals. To him, nevertheless, belongs
the merit of initiative, the crown of the first triumph.
« At the expense of ids vigils and of his health, of his rest,
of that wealth which he might have amassed so readily, he

THE HISTORIAN. 187
bequeathed to us very great things ; not the least of which are
our self-respect, our exalted love of country, and faith in our
destiny. Assuredly, we had given him but httle in return, had
our gratitude been limited to this monument, so simple and
withal so touching, though still so insufficient, and had not a
grander, a more beautiful, and imperishable monument been
raised to him in the memory of a whole people.
« We bewail the death of great men; but for thera, more than
for others, is it not well that this miserable life, with all its
reverses, its acts of injustice, and its, at least, apparent ca
prices, should one day have an end ? For, on that day, begins
the period of a great reparation.
« Their glory ascends on high ; higher and higher it rises,
like unto those marvellous edifices which the traveller sees
overtopping cities, as he leaves them, and loses sight of all
that surrounds them,
« Succeeding generations learn theirnames, and repeat them
wilh affection ; and, of all the turmoil, the ambitious views,
the, pretentions and the intrigues of society, the only thing that
remains is a few modest and calm reputations, as much thought
of after death as they were neglected during life.
« But such is human justice ; posterity has its caprices, its
forgetfulness, its unjust disdain. Al times, in the memory of
nations, as in that of individuals, an Egyptian darkness reigns.
Times breathes his mists on the vast ocean of ages, and rolls
along the surface the' dark and impenetrable fog of forget
fulness. ***************
« Alas ! Gentleraen, if a voice of higher authority, if a mi
nister of reUgion were now addressing you, he would tell you
of another immortaUty, as high above all human glory as
Heaven is above Earth 1
« We may not, it is true, diveinto the mysteries of that other
hfe ; but faith has taught us, that our voices may yet reach
there, that prayer does not ascend in vain to Heaven, borne
thither on the incense that has just mingled with the tears we
have shed over the grave of a friend, that the strong ties which
bind humanity in one are not severed by death. Thatadmirable

188 THE GRAVE OP GARNEAU,
trilogy of the Church miUtant, the Church suffering and the
Church triumphant, which, were it not a dogma, might yet
have been the most beautiful of philosophical conceptions, and
which, by linking in, one world wilh another, dispels dark
terror and sheds upon the dreadful transition the mUd light of
hope, kindled by faith and kept alive by charity.
« Our friend was good, retiring, upright, and devoted ; his,
was a christian death ; hence may we, with confidence, ad
dress to him, in that other and better country, our fond fare
well. « Adieu, ray friend, adieu, in the name, firstly, of our pro
tracted friendship, in memory ofthose dear gossipings wherein
you loved so much to dwell upon the future of our own dear
Canada ! Adieu and thanks ! Thanks for the fine sentiraents
you have caused to germinate within our souls, thanks forthe
good you have done our youth ; thanks for your great, your
sublime examples !
« Adieu, in the narae of that faraily to whora you bequeath
so beautiful a narae ; adieu, in the name of those you loved so
well !
« Adieu, in the name of your country. Enjoy in peace,
enjoy your two-fold immortality. In the midst of those great
destinies now expanding before her, Canada shaU not forget
you ; the rival races which surrounded you, shall learn from
your works to love our ancestors, and will claira a share of
our glorious inheritance.
« Rest, then 1 Happen what may to our country, our beloved
nationality shaU never deplore the want of defenders. Thus
much we promise you, in the name of this youth, this reflective
assembly grouped around your tomb. And then, Heaven is no
prison ! This homage, paid to your memory, reaches you ;
does it not ? Of those beautiful sentiments which you have
sown, you will behold the germination, the expansion and the
development. From the heights of immortality you shall soar,
beneficent spirit, above our nationality. For, thanks to holy
prayer, already have you been, or soon you wUl be, greeted
above there by your sire, that good old Canadian, who,

THE HISTORIAN. 189
with his hand, [1] shaking from age, yourself have told us,
pointed out to you the scene of the last exploits of our sires ; by
that father who gave you the example of courage and of indus
try ; by that mother so good to you, so discreet, so virtuous ;
by that Mother of all Catholics, that other mother of ours, her,
whose name was ever rising lo your lips during the trials of
your cruel malady ; by all those Canadian heroes whose deeds
you brought to light. You never knew any other than the holy
joys of home, the austere pleasures of study, the peaceful
triumphs of hterature ; your happiness and your glory should
be proportioned to your sacrifices.
« Here your remains shaU rest, beneath this tomb, on this
battle-field, which you made famous, and nigh unto that other
monument, which you had the joy of seeing raised to our
heroes araidst those great works of the Creator, which you
knew so weU how to appreciate. Those lofty pines around
shall, in honor of you, preserve their dark verdure, and
our winter birds (2), the subject of one of your poetic effusions,
¦wiU flock above your tomb and gracefully warble there.
Those wandering lights of our (3) northern sky, that have also
been noted in your song, shall group theraselves above you in
crowns of many colors. The remains of the heroes who sur
round you, shall mayhap start at the vicinity of yours ; the
last aborigines (4), whose plaintive waitings you reproduced,
shaU wander around this precinct ; you shall, no doubt, hear
strange sounds, and again you wdl say, as, in your harmonious
verses, you once said —
" Perfide illusion au pied de la colline,
C'est I'acier du faucheur ! "
This gathering, filled wilh religious emotion, shall pass
away ; silence shall reign here ; night shall fall ; but^ for
you, silence and night shall never be with our souls !
Farewell, once raore ! Farewell !
(1) In allusion to the naval engagement between the English and French
frigates, in May, 1760, opposite to St. Augustin, and witnessed by Mr. Gameau's
grandfather, a native of that parish. — (Ed. Q. G.)
(2) Les Oiseaux Bianca :
(3) L'Hiver; (4) L« Dernier Huron. {Foe these pieces, see Repertoire
ifationcU.')

CANADIAN HOMES.

We have many little Bdens,
Scattered up and down our dales ;
We've a hundred prrfjty liamlets.
Nestling in our fruitful vales j
Here the sunlight loves to linger,
And the summer winds to blow ;
Here the rosy spring in April
Leapeth, laughing from the snow.
(by ben brooks.)
In the detached papers which constitute the Maple Leaves,
it has been our aim, amongst other things, lo place before the
reader the early history of Canada, wilh its peculiar institu
tions in a light, readable form — ever and anon delineating
men and events under their representative aspect — as types
and exponents of epochs. Luc de la Corne St. Luc, redolent
of the memories of Carillon, was exhibited as the stalwart
defender of the soil — true to his country under the rule of the
Bourbons, not deserting it when foreign conquest inaugurated
a new regime; on the contrary, taking an active part in poli
tics^ and in war, under General Burgoyne in 1776. The youthful
and self-sacrificing Commander, Dollard des Ormeaux, shone
forth in his true colours in 1660 — a veritable Leonidas^-the
bulwark of Canada against Indian ferocity.
D'lberville, Ihe Cid of New France, becomingly typefied the
proud era when lion-hearted Frontenac, reigning in solitary
grandeur al the Chateau St. Louis, warned off summarily
Admiral Phipps and all such invaders. Breboeuf and Lalemant,
wending calmly their steps through trackless forests, to cull
the laurels of martyrdom on the fertile banks of Lake Simcoe,
fittingly portrayed that epoch of religious enthusiasm and
ascetic devotion which characterized the seventeenth century
in some of the French Colonies. Representative men to be
fotind everytvhete in our writings. Following on the same
course, we purpose here depicting the home surroundings and

192 CANADIAN HOMES.
aspirations of a progressive descendant of one of the oldest
feudal houses of Canada — one who traces back to the four
teenth century, as calculated to open out unexplored vistas in
the history of the Colony. POINTE PLATON.
One balmy afternoon in September, 1868, found me cosily
seated nexl to a friend, Fred. 0. * * * * * , on the
upper deck of the little steamer Etoile, enroute for Poinle
Platon, thirty-six miles higher up than Quebec. Rapidly indeed
did steara, wind and tide waft us past the nuraerous ships in
the harbour, amongst which loomed out several men-of-war ;
first, the French Corvette D'Estrees, next H. B. M. Paddle
Stea^mer Baracouta, coraraanded by courteous Captain Beavan,
(1) the screw gunboat PMome/, the majestic Consiance, Capt.
Bourgoyne (2) and last, the ponderous (Iron-clad) Royal Alfred,
Admiral Sir Rodney Mundy — « tritons araongst minnows. »
On we shot, under the overhanging crags of Cape Diamond,
close to the mossy heights of dear old SiUery, just then don
ning their gorgeous russet suit of autumn. Soon we reached the
entrance of the Cap Rouge river, taking in at one glance the Cap
Rouge Dock Company's solitary piers — and calling on meraory
to unveil the works of the pass — huts, forts, towers, earth
works, such as crowned Charlesbourg Royal in those by-gone
days when the intrepid St. Malo Mariner wintered there
in 1540-41. This name his feUow contryman, Roberval
changed eighteen raonths afterwards, in 1542, inlo France
Roy, in honour of his sovereign, Frances I. How graphically
are these same localities described in Cartier and Jean Al-
phonse's quaint narratives written raore than three centuries
ago ! One can recognize, to this day. Cap Rouge and SI. Au
gustin, by the luxuriant wild wines which cluster on the shores,
and the undulating green meadows and serpentine stream
« which windeth to the north, » without forgetting the forests
(1) Since dead.
(2) Cape Finisterre recently saw the sturdy commander of the ill fated turret
ship, Captaik, disappear with 600 brave men under the bilows of the Bay of
Biscay.

POINTE PLATON HOUSE. 193
of oaks and pines which line the lop of Cap Rouge, where
stands «Redclyffe, » the seat of Joseph B. Forsyth, Esq., and
founded by Henry Atkinson, Esq., about 1820.
In a few minutes, we are abreast of the little pointe at Saint
Augustin, where sank the ill stared steamer Montreal, on the
26th June, 1857, a seething mass of flames, consigning to a
watery grave some two hundred huraan beings, whose groans
of anguish and despair, before taking the fatal plunge, the
survivors will long remember. Nor must we forget as we steam
past, to salute Saint Augustin, the parish which gave birth to the
ancestors of the historian of Canada, F. X. Garneau. Further
up a few miles, Pointe aux Trembles nestles close to the river's
edge, reflecting its shining church spire far across the blue
waters of the St. Lawrence. Frora this identical spot in April,
1760, an exciting spectacle was witnessed by the grand father
of our historian, frora his cottage windows, — the unequal con
test of the French Frigate L'Alatante, commanded by Capt.
de Vauclain, against the English men-of-war sent to destroy
and sink the French ships.
Nexl, stands in bold relief al the entrance of the river
Jacques Cartier, the bluff, whereon had been erected in 1759,
a large, solid earthwork, or fort, now completely destroyed,
in which Levi's jaded squadrons, after their hurried flight from
the camp at Beauport, rested their wearied limbs, on the 14th
of September of that eventful year — dispirited but unsubdued
braves, longing to be led again against the traditional eupmy,
and scenting in the distance the splendid victory, which awaited
them on the Saint Foye heights, on the 28th April following. A
very few acres to the east of this Cape, and uncovering at each
tide, we noticed a well known land mark, la roche a Jacques
Cartier, on which Baqueville de la Potherie's boat was stranded
in 1698, and whereon according to him and to Charievoix,
Jacques Cartier himself came nigh finding a watery grave,
though other historians and Jacques Cartier's own narrative,
are silent as lo this latter circurastance.
On we sped on the bosom of the famed river, until the pic
turesque horse-shoe projecUon, Pointe Platon was in view :
loud sounds the steam whistle, and the Etoile hugs closely
19

194 CANADIAN HOMES.
the wharf. Three hundred and thirty-four years ago, from
this lime (1869) day for day, another craft carrying the desti
nies of New France, L'Emerillon, Jacques Cartier, Commander
of 40 tons burthen, was spreading her white wings to the
breeze, opposite this sarae point, then known as Achelacy. Cap
tain the Right Honourable Admiral Cartier, as a Cockney ex
quisite once persisted in styling him, tell us in his Diary (page
40) that he was here raet by a grand Seigneur du pays, who
by dint of « words, signs and ceremonies » strived lo inform
him that the river higher up was dangerous on account of rocks
and rapids.
II was our friend's good fortune and our own to be welcomed
also by a grand Seigneur du pays, who neither bywords, signs,
nor ceremonies, cautioned us against atterapting the rapids or
rocks of the Richelieu, (as our voyage of discovery, unlike
Jacques Cartier's, was not lo extend further) but on the con
trary raade us welcorae to his hospitable manor, and for the
night and ensuing day, there did we sojourn.
POINTE PLATON HOUSE.
The time was, when the Province of Quebec could count
many old manors, whose loop-holed and raassive stone walls
had been designed as much lo protect their inmates against
maraudering Indians, as they helped to furnish warm lodgings
during January frosts, or cool letreats pending July's tropical
heats. Of this class was the old manor house of Beauport (a
portion of which is sliU standing south of Col. Gugy's residence).
When recently sold, it was remarked that for two hundred
years, it had been in the occupation of the warlike race of the
Duchesnays. Cap Sante, Ste. Marie, Beauce, Montmagny,
have also their old seignioral halls, but they cannot without
repairs hold out very long against all-devouring time. Probably
the raost extensive structure of this kind was that of the Baron
of Longueii — at Longueii.
On reference lo history we find that it coraprised a dwelling,
arraed tower, bakery, brewery, &c. ; all these old piles were
located less with an eye lo tlie picturesque, than for the safety
of the seignior in times of war, and war was the order of the

POINTE PLATON HOUSE. 195
day in that remote period, and for the general convenience of
the censitaires in their intercourse with the Lord of the Manor.
Pointe Platon House does not belong to that age. It is a mo
dern structure : the site having been selected by the respected
father of its present occupant solely for its natural beauty :
some six hundred acres of corn fields, with here and there
groves of maple, oak and fir. Properly speaking, il lies
beyond the limits of the populous .seigniory of Lotbini^re,
owned by its occupant. Three cultivated plateaux descend
from the heights of land to the level of the St. Lawrence ; on
the centre one, stands Pointe Platon House — a commodious,
airy dwelling — in a H forra, looking towards the St. Lawrence.
II is surrounded by ample double verandahs, wilh raaple leaves
neatly carved or fretted in the wood work. In rear, and hid
by young firs, pine and raaple trees, stand the billiard-room,
out-houses, stables, grainaries in which are stored flax, hemp,
and tobacco ; the cultivation of which the proprietor has taken
much pains to introduce araongst the farmers — the specimens
of each exhibited lo us were of marvellous size. In front of
the house, isasloping lawn, intersected with flower-beds, and
crowned, directly in front of the dwelling, with a terraced flower
garden separated from the lawn by anembankraent, surround
ed by an evergreen hedge, with an inner zone of sweet briar.
A perfect warren of tame rabbits, some erect on their hind
legs are trying lo nibble with their pink lips, the buds of
the forest trees — others, sunning themselves on the lawn or
' gambolling under the bushes give a peculiarly animated ap
pearance to this portion of the domain ; adjoining, is the or
chard, fruit and vegetable garden ; also a new vinery, which
bids fair to furnish shortly ils annual tribute of ambrosial
fruit ; the whole skirted by a liny lake, fed by some unseen
perennial springs ; in the centre, a diminutive green islet offers
a refuge -lo yonder quacking squad of Aylesbury ducks, now
convoyed round the lake by a pair of snow white Bremen
geese. A wire fence shuts out from the « romping hopefuls))
of the chateau, all access to this sheet of water which finds its
outlet in the hUl skirting the garden. From the house veran
dah a most extensive landscape unfolds on aU sides. To the

196 CANADIAN HOMES.
east, the vast Bay of St. Croix, expaiids in a graceful curve, —
once a dreaded locality to raftsmen, in their downward course,
on the liraber cribs, in the dark days when steamers lent
thera not their aid. To the west, the Parish of Cap Sante' sel^
ties down to the water's edge ; nexl, you see Portneuf and its
spacious teraple of R. C. worship, the raassive pile overshad
owing the raany surrounding roofs — like a mother watching over
the welfare of her young. Six miles further lo the east, another
sprightly village, Pointe aux Trembles, shoots up ils glit
tering spire. In the full blaze of the selling sun, to the
west of the dwelling, sits a small rustic bower with a flag
staff, crowning a bluff or pointe, known as Pointe a Papineau,
it having been a favourite resort of the Nestor of our states
man, Hun. Louis Joseph Papineau, when formerly he made
his annual visit to Pointe Platon House, in the days of the
father of the present possessor.
In our thousand and one rambles over mountain and glen,
raany a gorgeous panorama has been unveiled to our dazzled
gaze, in this our sweet land of Canada.
Yes : oft have we been pleased
To roam at large among unpeopled glens
And Mountainous retirements, only trod
By devious footsteps : regions consecrate
To oldest time 1 and reckless of the storm
That keeps the raven quiet on her nest.
Some spots in their hidden beauty seemed exactly as if they
had just left the mould of omnipotence; fresh in their perennial
youth and majesty ; the hand of man had altered nor defiled
them. Others bore in every lineament the impress of human
ingenuity, cultivated taste, wealth and embellishment. The
first, in their solitary grandeur, we liked to view, like altars,
which the great being had erected for his especial glory ; which
we could approach occasionally, and with reverence. The others
embosomed in rustic loveliness, associated with human joys and
sorrows, pregnant with faraily memoriesj health producing
health restoring, appeared to us as the natural abodes of men,
far from the pestilential breath of the crowded city ; these
sanctuaries we never could lire of seeing. We felt the better

POINTE PLATON HOUSE. 197
from viewing them — from dwelling in their midst. Our visit to
Pointe Platon House was too much mingled with the latter
thoughts, for us lo be entirely silent on this score.
Thus, on a lovely September afternoon, a few hours before
sun set, we stood musing on the spot once rendered saCred by
the presence of our great Parliamentary Orator, Louis Joseph
Papineau ; at our feel, the wide, azure waters, ctxruleum mare,
laving softly the foot of lbe cape, glorified by the oblique rays
of the departing orb of day— many miles of molten gold. More
than three centuries ago, a white pennonned bark was haply
doubling at the same hour this same proraontory. What
then, were the thoughts — what the utterings of ils historic
crew ? Were they pondering in their rainds the mysterious
meaning of the salutation which had greeted them : A-ca-nada —
There is nothing, here ? Or were their youthful voices making
the welkin ring with amorous ditties in honour of their beloved
King and master, Francis the I, the royal lover of the beautiful
Diana of Poitiers ? We looked in vain, in our reverie, for the
Emerillon, of other days : aught could we see, except the black
hull of a Montreal deal bateau, whose lusty saUors wereshout-
ing like Stentors, as they purchased the anchor, to take ad
vantage of the rising tide :
C'est la Belle Fraufoise de Longu4 I
Towards the land, our eye followed the successive /jZateawic
which close in with the beach ; here and there, green meadows,
or fields shorn of their waving harvest ; to the east, the model
barn of the seigneur, which farmers from Ihe neighbouring
counties came lo look at, and wonder ; the last p/a(eau fringed
wilh lofty forest trees, as a back-ground to the scene. Presently
our eye caught sight of a horseman cantering in the direction
of the manor. It was the seigneur, whom his trusty black steed
Corbeau, was carrying homeward from his daily tour of inspec
tion of the farm, where extensive subsoil drainage was being
carried on . A few strides raore and the Laird is welcomed
home, by la Chatelaine and all the « young hopefuls. ))
Had aU the ancient Canadian seigneurs lavished as rauch
money on the promotion of agricuUure, for the benefit of the

198 CANADIAN HOMES.
censitaires, few indeed, would have been the serf^, hardy enough
to ask the interference of the Legislature against feudal bur
thens. The Laird of Lolbini^re, though young in years, has
already represented the county in the Canadian Commons, for
several Parliaments : a two-fold mandate has been intrusted
to him since Confederation. He is a meraber of the Local and
Dorainion Parliaments, Chairman of the Boord of Agriculture
for the Province of Quebec, &c. But enough has been said to
exhibit progress in agriculture, and socially, as it now stands
alLotbinifere and Pointe Platon ; nay, a great deal too much
has been uttered for the retiring tastes of its worthy Seigneur.
Henri Gustave Joly, by his mother, Julie de Lotbini^re, is a
lineal descendant of one of the proudest, wealthiest, and raost
distinguished Canadian houses, that of Chartier de Lotbini^re.
Let us open the voluminous (1) compilation ofthe Abb6 Daniel, a
French ecclesiastic, now residing in Montreal. « This
family, » says the learned Abbe, ((connected with the (French)
families of Chateaubriand, La Rochefoucauld, Polignac, Mont-
fort, De Yaudreuil, Des Meloises, Soulanges, Duchesnay, as
represented amongst us by the Harwood and Joly, is one of
the most ancient and most illustrious. »
Its head on the soil of Canada was Louis Theantre Chartier
de Lolbini^re, whose first French ancestor by name was
Phihppe Chartier. ((Receveur General desGomptes)) in 1374.
One of his sons became Bishop of Paris — Alain, the fourth
son, was the most illustrious of all. He was Secretary of State
to Louis YI, who granted hira titles of nobility. His extraor
dinary eloquence struck so forcibly Margaret of Scotland, the
Queen of Louis XI., that she pubhcly showed him tokens ofher
esteem  One of his sons, Clement, married a wealthy heiress
of Britanny in France, Mile, de Chateaubourg. To hira is traced
the name of Lotbini^re in his family. Having purchased an
estate in Maine, called Bini^res, which he wished to distin
guish from another which he owned in Dyonnais, called
Bignieres, he added the world Lot to the name, which was that
of a species of fish found in the ponds of the Chateau, and
(1) EuaiBE StNliOAL, Monteeal, leSI .—Histoire des Orandes Families Fran-
faiset du Canada.

POINTE PLATON fiOUSE. 199
made il Lotbini^re. A few years subsequently, this domain was
erected into a Barony. Clement de Lolbini&re died in 1560,
aged 104 years ; one of his daughters married Joseph de
Chateaubriand, an ancestor of the illustrious author of the
« Genie du Christianisme. )) He left three sons, of whom Alain,
who after entering the army and subsequently studying for the
bar, became the great grand-father of the founder of the Lol-
bini^re familyin Canada.
Passing over a portion of the family records, we find in
Canada, about 1650, Theantre de Lotbini^re. The date of the
concession of his seigniory is 3rd Nov., 1672. His abihty soon
brought him into notice, and, he, wasmade <iLieutenant-
Gmeral et Criminel de la Prevoste de Quebec. » It was in
1685, that his son R^ne Chartier de Lotbini^re obtained the
grant of the seigniory « sur la riviere du Chesne, )) at Lotbi-
nike, which is still in the possession of the family. This old
feudal nabob died al Quebec, 5th May, 1710, leaving lo his
son, Eustache Chartier de Lotbini^re, extensive territorial pos
sessions. We next find in order of date, as his successor, Mi
chel Eustache Gaspard de Lotbini^re, a distinguished officer
of Engineers, who was intrusted with the building of Fort
Carillon (Ticonderoga). He distinguished himself at the memo
rable battle of Carillon, where General Abercrombywith some
sixteen thousand men was repulsed by Montcalm at the head of
less than one-fourth of that number. His services procured him
a title of « Chevalier de St. Louis, » and he was made a Mar
quis. When these honours were pouring on him, he was the
possessor of somemosl valuable seigniories on Lake Champlain,
named Allainville. After the conquest, he acquired the seig
niories oT Rigaud, Vaudreuil and Lotbini^re, in the district of
Montreal. He was, however, unjustly dispossessed by the
American Government, of his seigniories on Lake Champlain,
and notwithstanding repeated demands, his claim has remain
ed in abeyance lo this day. He died in 1799.
Eustache Gaspard Michel Chartier de Lotbini6re inherited
from his father the estates of Vaudreuil, Rigaud and Lolbi-
niere, as likewise the title of Marquis, which, however, he
, , > never assumed. He took an active part in favour of the

200 CANADIAN HOMES
British in 1775, and in 1793, succeeded to Mr. Panet, in the
Canadian Commons, as Speaker of that House. He died in
his seigniory in 1821 ; — his lady, generally known as the
Marquise de Lotbi niere, expired in 1834, leaving to transmit
the old family name,^ which had seen thirteen generations, no
sons, but three daughters. The eldest married in 1825, the
Hon. Robert Unwin Harwood, a meraber of the Legislative
Council. The second, Ihe beautiful Charlotte de Lotbiniere,
became the spouse of, and married in 1821 William Bingham, the
wealthy son of Mr. Bingham, of Philadelphia, a senator,
whose daughter married Lord Ashburton. Mr. Bingham left
two sons, who died young, and three daughters. Mdlle. Louise,
the eldest, married Count Abner Brian de Bois Gilbert, a des
cendant of the faraous faraily of Brian de Bois Gilbert, the
renowned Templar imraortalized by Sir Walter, in Ivanhoe.
The second raarried Count de Douay; Mdlle. Georgiane, the
youngest, was unUed to Count Raoul d'Epresmenil. They all
three reside, in France.
The youngest daughter ofthe Marquise, Julie de Lotbiniere,
an aunt of the three young ladies just mentioned, married in
1830 a French gentleman, Gustave Joly, who died in France
in 1866. He was the father of Henri Gustave Joly, Ihe present
seignior of Lotbiniere, and member of Parliaraent for both
Houses, whilst his younger brother, Edmond, a British officer,
fell al the siege of Lucknow, in India.
We have not hesitated in entering inlo these genealogical
details, which may appear of secondary iraportance lo some
of our readers, but which must find their place in these sket
ches of Canadian Homes, as their subject, in this instance, is
intimately associated wilh the early history of Canada.
{Written in 1869.)

THE BIEDS OF CANADA- *
A POPULAR LECTURE FOR THE YOUNG  1866.
{Revised. )

Mr. President. My young friends : I shall to-night briefly
direct your attention to a study, which no doubt to the majority
of you here present has proved ever since your boyhood an
unfaiUng source of pleasure, and which, I have no hesitation in
saying, wUl afford increased gratification the more it is followed .
No season ofthe year appeared to me more propitious for bring
ing under your notice the feathered race, than the period of
the spring migration— those lovely April mornings, when
our gardens, our fields, our forests, resound with the soft
melody of hundreds of winged choristers. Natural history,
in all ils branches, has ever been reckoned a most attractive
subject ; it is, however, a study so comprehensive, that I find
myself to-night under the necessity to take up one department
alone : let it then be the most interesting.
We shall spend a social hour, and hold confab with the
friends of your youth and of mine — the Birds : nor need you
doubt me, when I tell you that il is not in the spirit of exact
science, nor with the pedantry of a professor, but rather with
the freedom of an old acquaintance, that I shall to-night intro
duce to you some of the denizens of the woods, some minstrels
of the grove — so correctly styled cc the accredited and authen
ticated poets of nature. » Do nol, then, expect a set discourse
on ornithology. Stray jottings — rambles amongst birds and
books — that is all lean promise you at present.
* The substance of this paper was delivered as a lecture, for the benefit of the
pupils of the Quebec High School and other public institutions, and for the
object of making known the contents of the Museum of the Literary and His
torical Society. The lecturer, known by his French work, " Les Oiseaux du
Canada, " also furnished several specimens from his own museum, at Spencer
Grange. The lecture applies to the birds of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
20

202 OUR early FRIENDS,
That branch of zoology which treats of birds is denominated
ornithology, from two Greek words — opviOo?, a bird, and
X070?, a discourse — a discourse on birds, the history of birds.
It is beyond a doubt, that this department of the animal king
dom attracted Ihe attention of raankind in the reraotest ages :
several birds, as you are aware, are indicated by name and
their peculiarities alluded lo, in Holy Writ. Mention is fre
quently made in the earliest and best of books, the Bible, of
the soaring eagle, the dismal raven, the liny sparrow, the
grave-looking owl, the migratory stork. The care taken of
the prophet Elijah by our sable and far-seeing friend the raven
you all remember reading of. This reminds me I am indebted
to my neighbor, Colonel Rh^^des, for this splendid specimen of
the raven, shot last winter whilst cariboo-hunting back of St.
Paul's Bay. Like the poet Montgomery's friend in captivity,
who rejoiced in the name of Ralp.
He is a raven grim, in black and blue.
As arch a knave as e'er you knew.
Of that incorrigible corn stealer, the Crow (1), I have little
to tell that you do not already know. Though the bulk of the
tribe migrate southward in October, sorae few — the invalides
and octogenarians perhaps — attempt occasionally to brave out
the winter, in Canada East. I can reraeraber a large barn, on
the pointe, at St. Thomas, county of Montmagny, in which the
proprietor, Mr. William Patton, an old friend of mine, now no
more — used to store a great deal of wheat. Through some
(1) Henry Ward Beecher says of crows : — " Aside from the special ques
tion of profit and loss, we have a warm side toward the crow; he is so much
like one of ourselves. He is lazy, and that is human ; he takes advantage
of those weaker than himself, and that is mankind; he is sly, and hides for to
morrow what he can't eat to-day, showing a real human providence ; he learns
tricks much faster than he does useful things, showing a true boy-nature j he
likes his own colour best, and loves to hear his voice, which are eminent traits of
humanity ; he will never work when he can get another to work for him, genuine
human trait ; he eats whatever he can get his claws upon, and is less mischievous
with a belly full than when hungry, and that is like man j he is at war with all
living things except his own kind, and with them he has nothing to do. No wonder,
then, that men despise crows j they are toomuch likemen. Take ofif their wings,
and put them in breeches, crows would make fair average men. Give men wings,
and reduce their smartness a little, aud many of them would be good enough to
be crows."

THE BIRDS. 203
flaws in the foundaUon, for several winters, a number of crows
used to enter and feed on the contents of the granary.
Farmers might forgive the crows — though I dont — were they
lo confine their depredations lo murdering young robins and
other insectivorous birds and robbing sparrows and thrushes of
their eggs, but what they do not forgive is the havoc these early
rising, watchful thieves comrait araidst their Indian corn and
wheat lields. Right well did our laraented friend D'Arcy
McGee, sing of that bird who told his beads :
" In penance for his past misdeeds.
Upon the top I see.
II
Telling his beads from night till morn
Sing alas and woe is me I
In penance for stealing the Abbot's corn.
High ou the hollow tree.
Sin is a load upon the breast.
And it nightly breaks the Raven's rest
High on the hollow tree.
Ill
The Raven pray'd the winter thro',
Sing alas and woe is me.
The haili it fell, the winds, they blew.
High on the hollow tree.
Until the spring came forth again.
And the Abbot's men to sow their grain
Around the Hollow tree.
IV
Alas, alas, for earthly vows.
Sing alas and woe is me
Whether they're made by men or crows.
High on the hollow tree.
The Kaven swoop'd upon the seed.
And met his death in the very deed
Beneath his hollow tree.
{The Penitent Raven — Canadian Ballads, 1858.)
The crow is to be found in every part of the globe ; a crow
and a Scotchman, you know, are ubiquitous. I have myself
made some amusing experiments on the hatred entertained by
crows, to owls. Few school boys there are, unacquainted wilh
the noisy proceedings, attending crow weddings or the mobbing

204 of an owl by irate crows. You can read in my Ornithologie du
Canada, an account of a trial made by rae at Spencer Grange,
in 1861, by raeans of a stuffed owl.
The Raven, whom you might be tempted to consider the
crow's big brother, is rauch more rare, raore solitary in his
haunts than Mr. Jack Corby. II occurs more frequently in the
Niagara District and Lower St. Lawrence, than round Quebec.
Its hoarse croak occasionally startles the echoes on the north
shore of the St. Lawrence ; possibly, this may account for its
vernacular name amongst the French Canadian peasantry
« Corbeau de Mer. »
The late John Nairn, seigneur of Murray Bay, used lo relate
the amusement he experienced on witnessing the alarm, caused
by sounds amid air, to a party of English gentleraen, who were
travelling by land with hira, when overtaken by the dusk of
evening, araidst the sublirae crags of La Passe des Monts, which
at a height of fifteen hundred feet, overshadow the mountain
path, in the Sagueriay district.
These hoarse, hollow noises or groans, were emitted by
ravens, hovering in the air, at a great height, unseen, close
to their nests located in these crags, and which sounded most un
earthly from below. Lower down than Murray Bay, at a spot
called La Baie des Rochers, on an inaccessible peak about one
hundred and fifty feet high, tbe ravens have a nest ; this rock
overhangs the St. Lawrence ; the foot of man never scanned
it. It is stated that these birds have buUt there for more than
two hundred years ; that the early missionaries of Canada had
noted the fact.
Alexander AVilson, the naturalist, says that where there are
many ravens there are lew crows and vice versa ; his sojourn on
the banks of Lakes Erie and Ontario furnished him many proofs
of the fact. Ravens are found in Norway, Greenland, at Kara-
chatka — even in Siberia. Lewis and Clarke noticed sorae on
the 17th December, 1804, during their memorable voyage —
whilst the leraperature was 45 below 0. White ravens have,
t'is said, been seen in Ireland ! ! The country also produces
Banshees ? an other rarely.
I wUl close these details about ravens with the anecdote of

THE BIRDS. 205
that Roman raven presented lo Augustus after the battle of
Actium : (( After this memorable battle, several ravens were
sent lo Augustus, each repeating the words ((Ave Caesar, Vic
tor, Imperator ; all hail lo you Csesar, victorious emperor. ))
Augustus purchased thera. A poor shoemaker, attra'ted by the
price offered, set to work to teach a raven; he had to repeal
these words, but as the bird made but slow progress, he was in
the habit of winding up his lesson with the words (( All my pains
wUl go for naught. » At last the raven managed lo repeal ihe
corapliraentary address intended for the prince, so that the
owner hastened to place hiraself on the passage of the eraperor,
and got him lo compliment Augustus inthe usual language,
but Augustus turned short and said, (d have enough of such
courtiers as you in my palace, r> when the bird added: (.a All
my pains will go for naught ; ^y this so araused the victorious
Cesar, that he paid even a higher price for the shoemaker's
raven. y>
The dove and the raven were both honoured with important
missions by that distinguished and most successful navigator
Capt. Noah. You know how much the ibis was pelled, nay
honoured, in Egypt : the white ibis was embalmed and made
a God of, after'death. The stork was sung by Herodotus, — the
swan by Virgil and by a host of other poets. Aristophanes,
some twenly-lhree hundred years ago, celebrated not only the
croaking of frogs, but also the melody of birds.
II was, however, reserved to one of the loftiest minds of
antiquity, Aristotle of Stagyra, lo furnish the world with the
earliest methodical information on zoology. This great man
was the first to observe andatlempl to explain the organization
of animated nature. His treatise, irepiCcoov IcTopta?, will ever
be regarded as one ofthe masterpieces of antiquity. The gene
ration of animals, their habits, their organs, the mechanism of
their functions, their resemblances and differences are therein
discussed with astonishing clearness and sagacity. Aristotle
may be reckoned as having estabUshed a solid basis for
Natural History ; and his principal divisions of the animal
kingdom are so well founded, that almost aU of them are still
substantiaUy admitted. In arranging facts, he carefully goes
back to causes from general results.

206 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
We next come to the Roman, Pliny the Elder, born A. D.
23, who died, as you may have read, in the year 79 of our
era, from the noxious fumes of Vesuvius during the eruption
which, it is said, destroyed Herculaneum. Having the charge
of a Roman fieet, he had, in attempting to succour sorae ofthe
unfortunate inhabitants, ventured too near the scene of the
calamity: he expired during the following night. I presume
some of you have perused the very interesting letter recording
the event, written by Pliny the Younger, the nephew and
adopted son of the Roman naturalist.
As a laborious, but not always reliable, compiler, you have
heard of Aldrovandus, born about 1535. I said not always
reliable : to illustrate this latter point, I shall now quote frora
the 1st vol. Canadian Naturalist, an extract purporting to
describe one of our most beautiful winter visitors, the Bohemian
Chatterer, or Waxwing : a specimen is also in the museum of
the Literary and Historical Society. I was fortunate enough to
snare three very fine birds of this species in January, 1864 —
often have others been seen since, round my house, al Spencer
Grange. I kept them all winter in my aviary ; they soon
became so bloated, so uncommonly portly, from good eating,
that they were struck down by apoplexy, and one after an
other, died. I need not tell you the sorrow such a catastrophe
brought to my faraily circle. (1)
« That the Boheraian Chatterer was known lo the ancients
there can be little doubt ; a great deal of obscurity pre
vails as to the naraes by which it was distinguished. Sorae
have taken it to be the Incendiaria avis of Pliny (bookx., c. 13),
the inauspicious bird, on account of which appearance, Rome
more than once underwent lustration, but more especially in
the consulship of L. Cassius and C. Marius, when the appari
tion of a great owl [Bubo) was added to the horrors of the year.
Others have supposed that il was the bird of the Hercynian
forest (bookx., c. 47), whose feathers shone in the night like
fire. Aldrovandus, who collected the opinions on this point,
has taken some pains to show that it could be neither the one,
(1) Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, I., p. 467.

THE BIRDS. 207
nor the other. The worthy Italian gravely assures his readers,
that its feathers do not shine in the night ; for he says he kept
one alive for three raonths, and observed it at all hours
{' quavisnoctis hord contemplalus sum'). It is by no means
improbable that this bird was the gnaphalos of Aristotle (Hist.
anim., book ix., c. 16.)
« The geographical range of the Bohemian Chatterer is ex
tensive, comprehending a great portion of the arctic world. It
appears generaUy in flocks, and a fatality was at one lime
beUeved to accompany their movements. Thus, Aldrovandus
observes that large flights of them appeared in February, 1530,
Mhen Charles V. was crowned al Bologna ; and again in 1551,
when they spread through the duchies of Modena, Piacenza,
and other Italian districts, carefully avoiding that of Ferrara,
which was afterwaids convulsed by an earthquake. In 1552,
according toGesner, they visited the banks ofthe Rhine, near
Mentz, in such myriads that they darkened the air. In 1571,
Iroops of thera were seen flying about the north of Italy, in the
month of December, when the Ferrarese earthquake, accord
ing lo Aldrovandus, took place, and the rivers overflowed
their banks.
(( Necker, in his memoir on the birds of Geneva, observes
Ihat from the beginning of this cenlury only two considerable
flights have been seen in that canton : one in January, 1807,
and the other in 1814, when they were very numerous, and.
having spent the winter there, took their depaiture in March.
In Ihe first of those years they were scattered over a consider
able part of Europe, and early in January were seen near
Edimburgh. Savi observes that they are not seen in Tuscany,
except in severe winters, and that the years 1806 and 1807
were remarkable for the number of thera which entered Pied
mont, especially the vaUeys of Lanzo and Suza. »
I could dilate al length on the history of this mys
terious stranger, who appears to have so startled antiquity.
Here is the ominous individual ; see how sUky his plumage !
mark the lovely wax-like tips of his wings ! this is no doubt
the portion which was supposed to shine at night. Be careful,
however, not to confound him with the Cedar or Cherry Bird

208 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
— our sumraer visitor : he reserables him much in plumage,
but is twice his size.
Nor should we omit the names of Redi, Swammerdam,
WUloughby_, John Ray, and especiaUy of Francis Bacon,
amongst the laborious tillers of the soil of Natural History.
Next lo Aristotle and Pliny, ranks the great botanist and
naturalist Linnaeus, who devoted a lifetime to reforming and
rearranging the history of all natural productions, and lived
to see his raethod triuraphanland almost universally received.
Nor was he a raere noraenclator ; his vast genius led him lo
take the most elevated views of nature. He penetrated with
a glance inlo causes which were the least obvious on the
surface. Order, precision, clearness, exactitude of descrip
tion and accurate knowledge of relations in delaU distinguish
his works. He il was who sent to America, to Quebec, the
eccentric Peter Kalm : every guide-book reminds you of the
amusing account Kalm wrote of Quebec and Montreal society
in 1749 ; what a fine fellow Count de la Gallissoniere, the
Governor General in those days, appeared to the Swedish tra
veller. How our respected grandmothers chatted, frolicked,
romped, dressed, danced ; — how well he related all he saw,
and somethings he did not see. We are led next to consider
the brilliant career of a French naturalist, an elegant writer
and profound philosopher. Count Buffon. Possessed of a vast
fortune, moving in the highest circles of a nation faraous for
its refineraent and learning, Buffon, during a half century,
from his cAafeau ofMontbard, promulgated his canons to the
scientific world : he tells us he spent forty years in his study,
perfecting and rounding the sentences of his immortal works ;
but, when bearing in mind the life-like sketches of birds writ
ten by Buffon's successors and contradictors, the writers of
the new school, such as Alexander Wdson, Audubon, Chas.
Buonaparte, Baird, one is inclined lo regret that the sedentary
philosopher should have spent so rauch time indoors describing
his favourites, instead of ransacking the forests, the fields, the
seashore, ** The murmuring streams, their banks and braes "
to see for himself, like Audubon and Wilson, how God's
creatures lived, loved, sang and died.

THE BIRDS. 209
No doubt, my young friends, you would like to have some
details of the career of the two celebrated naturalists just
mentioned, especially astheir farae is identified with the name
of America ; both, as you raay know, visited Quebec. Alexan
der Wilson, the author of American Ornithology, was born
in 1766, at Paisley, in Scotland. At the eariy age of thirteen,
he was indentured as a weaver to his brother-in-law, WiUiara
Duncan. His parents were peasants. A few years after we
find him acting as a pedlar : dealing in cambrics, cotton,
calico by day ; poetry and natural history, by night His rest
less mind, poetic terrperamenl and poverty induced him lo
seek fortune in a then new and attractive arena, the United
States, where he landed on the 14th July, 1794. In 1 795, he
again took to the pack, and next became a teacher shortly
after. In 1802, he accepted a situation as tutor in a semi
nary, near Philadelphia. There he became acquainted with
Mr. WUUam Bartram, the naturalist and botanist, who encou
raged him, and lent him the works of Catesby and Edwards
on Ornithology. Space prevents rae frora following the ardent
admirer of birds through his rural peregrinations. There is
an interesting episode in his life connected with the refusal of
President Jefferson to second the efforts of the aspiring natu
ralist. He died in 1813, aged 47, from the effects of a cold
caught whilst pursuing some rare bird, having had to swim a
river in order not to lose sight of il. Although progress has
been made in Araerican ornithology since the days ot Alexan
der Wilson, his treatise, as far as it goes, serves yet as a text
book to naturalists of every nation.
How can I becomingly sketch the adventurous existence of
the Prince of American naturalists, John James Audubon?
Who can do justice to the memory of this noble-minded son
science, whose great work, The Birds of America, is Ukely
.0 remain in succeeding ages — a permanent monument of the
highest order of genius, celebrating the wonders of nature, in
the denizens of the air and songsters of the grove ?
John James Audubon saw daylight for the first tirae, in
Louisiana, in 1782 : he was of French extraction, and was
seni lo Paris to complete his studies. It was there, he learned
21

210 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
the art of drawing frora the celebrated painter David. On his
return to America, at the age of eighteen, he lived wilh his
father, near Philadelphia, on a beautiful estate surrounded by
parks, lawns and gardens. He soon had to give himself up to
comraercial pursuits ; with that object in view, he started for
Kentucky. The whole of his books teem with the vivid des-
cripUons of his forest wanderings. In 1810, he raet, for
the first time, his great rival, Alexander Wilson. In 1811,
Audubon said good-bye to the cash-book and ledger, and, gun
and sketch-book in hand, he dived iuto the depths of the
American forests in quest of knowledge and materials to
achieve his great undertaking. In 1814, he was favoured with
an introduction to the celebrated prince of Canino, Charles Lu
cien Buonaparte, a close relative of the present (1866) French
Emperor and a;ithor of raost valuable treatises on American
Birds ; some of which you will find on our shelves. After visit
ing the States in aU directions, Audubon sailed for Paris, Lon
don and Edimburg. His drawings of American birds had al
ready attracted abroad, considi'rable attention. In England, he
soon became acquainted wilh several men of note in literature :
Professors Sedgwick, Whewell, Henslow, Dr. Thackeray, Dr.
Buckland, Dr. Kidd ; in Paris, Baron Cuvier, Swainson,
Geoffrey St. Hilaire, his son Isidore ; — D'Orbigny, Lesson,
and other savants shewed hira marked attention. The sove
reigns of England and France patronised the enthusiastic
disciple of Buffon, heading with their names the subscription
list to his great work. 1 wish, my young friends, I could gra
tify your desire, and follow step by step this wonderful man in
his ornithological rambles through the length and breath of
this green land : Ibis day, you might be ascending with him
one of the bayous of Florida, to watch the habits of the scar
let flamingo, and next month, scaning the prairies of Kentucky
to catch the Wild Turkey on her nest ; ihe season following
might find you loiUng up the rugged and barren uplands of
Labrador — a locaUty so desolate, so rocky, so inhospitable
that, to use the words of the late abb6 Ferland, (( there is not
enough of soU to bury decently the unfortunate traveller who
may perchance die there. y> Audubon visited Quebec in 1842,

THE BIRDS. 211
residing several weeks with a Mr. Marten, in St. Peter street,
an excellent taxidermist and a great admirer of the feathered
race,; on his departure, Audubon requested him to ac
cept, as a token of remembrance, a copy of his magnificent
work on the Birds of this Continent. There are yet several
amongst us who can recall to raind the dignified, courteous,
while-haired old gentleman, with black, piercing eyes, eminent
ly handsome in person — one of nature's true noblemen. Spen
cer Wood in those days belonged lo the lale Heiuy Atkinson,
a warm friend of the gifted naturalist Many the strolls did the
latter enjoy at Spencer Wood, hstening, under the umbrageous
pines and old red oaks, to the flute-like warble of the Veery
and metallic notes of the Hermit Thrush. His steps occasionaUy
wandered, I am proud to say, over that portion of the estate which
has since passed to rae ; the shady avenue consecrated by the
presence of this man of genius, is now known to my children
under the narae of ((Audubon Avenue. » These raemories,
which to some raay appear coramonplace, I recall with un
feigned pleasure ; and whilst there, and listening to the har
bingers of spring, or poring over Audubon's works, I am
reminded that there once breathed and stood the possessor of
one of the raost honoured naraes in natural science — a noble-
minded fellow-man — whose glory and whose farae are inse
parable from that of North America. Audubon spent more than
twenty years completing his superb drawings and compiling
the Biography of the Birds and Animals of America ; he sank
forest in 1852, aged seventy years, in the full blaze of his
glory. Nexl lo WUson and Audubon, in the field of Natural
History, I shaU point out to you a name widely respected in
America, and well received iu Europe — Professor S. K.
Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington ; he is spe-
ciaUy known lo us as the chief compiler of the celebrated 9th
vol. of the Reports of that Institution, which elaborate book
you have now before you ; he was ably seconded in this
laborious undertaking by Mr. Geo. Lawrence, of New York,
and Dr. John Cassin, of Philadelphia. Dr. Cassin is also the
author, amongst other publications, of a most gorgeously iUus-

212 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
trated work on some new Western birds, also forming part of
the library of this Society.
In Wilson's Ornithology, published in 1814, we find raen
tioned 284 species. Bonaparte, in 1838, had described 471.
Audubon, writing in 1844, brought up the Ust to 506. Baird's
Report, which appeared in 1858, enlarged the nuraber lo 738,
of which raore than 300 species are lo be found in Canada,
either as accidental visitors or sedentary species. The Smith
sonian report divides the birds into six orders, viz : —
I. Raptores  Birds of Prey.
II, Scansores  Climbing Birds.
III. Insessores  Perching ((
IV. Rasores  Dusting cc
V. Grallatores  Wading ((
VI. Natatores  Web-footed «
Each of these orders might comprise as follows :— Isl. order,
36 ; H. 18 ; HI. 120 ; IV. 15 ; V. 42 ; VI. 69. Canada, nol
embracing all the varieties of climate aud temperature which
the Araerican Union does, cannot be expected to unite all the
varieties of birds to be found in the United Stales. The
Canadian Fauna is nevertheless very beautiful and varied in
its features, including a nuraerous collection of birds of prey.
The web-footed order are well represented here. The Wood
pecker faraily coraprises some brilliantly habited individuals.
But the most numerous and varied in plumage, are the Perchers
or singing birds.' Alex. WUson spoke eloquently and truly,
when he said, (( The ornithology of the United States exhibits
a rich display of the most splendid colors ; from the green,
sUky, gold-bespang'.ed down of the minute humming bird,
scarce three inches in extent, to the black coppery wings of
the gloomy condor, of sixteen feet, who soraetiraes visits our
northern regions ; a numerous and powerfulband of songsters,
who, for sweetness, variety, and melody, are surpassed by
no country on earlh ; an everchanging scene of migration
from torrid to temperate, and from northern to southern re
gions, in quest of suitable season, food and climates, and such

THE BIRfiS. 213
an amazing diversity in habit, economy, form, disposition and
faculties, so uniformly hereditary in each species, and so com
pletely adequate to their peculiar wants and convenience, as
to overwhelm us wilh astonishment at the power, wisdom,
and beneficence of the Creator.
(( In proportion as we become acquainted with these parti
culars, our visists lo, and residence in the country, becorae
raore and raore agreeable. Formerly, on such occasions, we
found ourselves in soUtude, or, with respect to the feathered
tribes, as it were in a strange country, where the manners,
language, and face of all were either totally overlooked, or
utterly unknown to us ; now, we find ourselves araong inter
esting and well-known neighbours and acquaintances, and, in
the notes of every songster, recognize with satisfaction the
voice of an old friend and companion. A study thus tending
to multiply our enjoyments at so cheap a rate, and lo lead us,
by such pleasing gradations, to the contemplation and worship
ofthe Great First Cause, the Father and Preserver of aU, can
neither be idle nor useless, but is worthy of rational beings,
and doubtless, agreeable to the Deity. »
(The lecturer, by means of the diagram of a bird drawn on
a large board then explained the different portions : Primaries.
Secondaries, Tertiaries, Scapulars, Rhump feathers, Auriculars,
Tarsi, Tibia, Iris, Mirror, Total length, Alar extent, and a
variety of other technical terms.)
Linnaeus, in his Systema Natural, divides the class of birds
into six orders. Blumenbach makes nine orders ; Cuvier, —
six ; Vieillot, five ; Vigors, five ; Terarainck, in his Manuel
d' Ornithologie, sixteen ; Agassiz and Gould, in a recent work,
recognize only four orders. Classification is without doubt,
one of the most important portions of Ornithology. A new light
has dawned on this science, since the learned researches of
Dr. Thos, Brewer, of Boston, and other American and Euro
pean savants who have applied oology to the classification of
species ; thus, several rare hawks, in different plumage, have
been recognized by their eggs. The eggs of owls, instead of
behig elliptical, like those of the generality of birds, are spher
ical. Eggs are also identified by their markings,^ines, — spots,

214 OCR EAiaY FRIENDS,
stripes, — or by the absence of them, like the eggs of some of
the thrushes. Collecting wild birds' eggs has become quite a
trade. Scientific insUtutions in Europe have given as much as
^615 sfg. for a rare egg (1). Several Canadian institutions have
recently added lo their museums collections of bird's eggs :
the Literary and Historical Society, the Natural History Society
of Montreal, the Sulpician seminary of that city, the Laval
UniversUy, and the Normal Schools, in Quebec and Montreal.
The contributions of friends in this, as in the department of
birds, have induced rae to add a collection of eggs to my spe
cimens. Before we examine lbe contents of the collection laid before
us, let rae point out lo you one particular respecting the
birds of prey : the female in general is nearly one-third larger
than the male, and difference of age causes such changes in
the plumage, that considerable uncertainty still exists in iden
tifying the Rapaces.
The vastness of the subject now before us is such that I ara
corapelled lo confess how rashly I would have acted had I pro
mised you a discourse on the ornithology of Canada. It would
require, at least, a dozen of lectures lo place the topic before
you in a becoming raanner. 1 shall, therefore, content myself
with familiarising you wilh some of the specimens belonging
to our museum. Let us select a few out of each order.
Here is the King of Birds — a fair specimen of the Bald
Eagle. Oh 1 you proud, overbearing robber, on the watch at
noon-day for sorae industrious Osprey, hurrying to her raoun-
lain horae, with a Uvely trout in her beak; or else, quoth
Audubon, keeping with your mate a sharp look out for an un
suspecting swan, a fat goose, or a dainty canvass-back. Did
our shrewd, far-seeing neighbours, really intend to foreshadow
the career of the Republic founded by Washington and Frank
lin, when they chose as their national symbol such an over
bearing, grasping bully ?
The Bald Eagle is more abundant in Western than in Eastern
Canada. The shores of Buriington Bay and the FaUs of Niagara
are araongs hie favourite haunts. Itis there, he can be seen in his
(1) The egg of the Great Ank.

THE BIRDS. 215
nalivegrandeur, cii cling in vast spirals over the seething waters.
The Golden Eagle, another beautiful species (1), is very coraraon
round Quebec. Of his ferocity, spirit of rapine, and boldness,
you have heard : — of Utile chUdren mysteriously disappearing
frora their happy horaes, and of their bleached bones being
found years after in an eagle's eyrie, high on the loftiest ledge
of the neighbouring mountain. Science has awarded lo this
fine bird the cognomen of (( Aquila Canadcnsis,y> and vere
not that our Dominion professes to have honesty as its ba-i^is,
and were it nol for the sanguinary instincts of the Canadian
(1) Hark to MoGilvrat'b Desoeiftion.
" Having ascended to the summit of one of the lofty mountains in the Forest of
Harris in search of plants, I stood to admire the glorious scene that presented
itself, and enjoy the most intense of all delights — that of communion in the wil
derness with the God of the Universe. I was on a narrow ledge of rocks, covered
with the Silene aoaulis whose lovely pink blossoms were strewn around ; on one
side was a rocKy slope, the resort ofthe ptarmigan j on the other, a rugged preci
pice, in the crevices of which had sprung up luiuriant tufts of Rhodiola rosea.
Before me, in the west, was the craggy island of Scarp ; toward the south,
stretched the rugged coast-line of Harris, margened on the headlands with a line
of white-foam ; and, away to the dim horizon, spread out the vast expanse ofthe
Atlantic Ocean, with the lovely Isles of St. Kilda on its extreme verge. The sun,
descending in the clear sky, threw a glistening path of light over the waters,
and tinged the Ocean haze with purple. Suddenly there arose over the Atlantic a
mass of light, thin vapour, which approached with a gentle breeze, rolling and
spreading around and exhibiting the most beautiful changes of tint.
When I had gazed until the fading light reminded me that my home for the
night was four miles distant, I approached the edge of the precipice, and bent
over it, when, from the distance of a few yards beneath, a Golden Eagle launched
forth into tho air. The scene, already sublime, was by the flight of the eagle
rendered still more so, and, as I gazed upon the huge bird sailing steadily away
beneath my feet, while the now dense masses of eloud rolled majestically over
head, I exclaimed aloud " Beautiful I " The great God of heaven and earth,
myself, his perverse but adoring subject and the eagle, his beautiful but unen-
during creature, were all in the universe of my imagination. Scenes like these
might soften the obdurate, elevate the grovelling, convince the self-willed and
unbelieving, and blend with universal nature the spirits that had breathed the
chilling atmosphere of selfishness. Verily, it is good for one to ascend a lofty
mountain ; but he must go alone, and of if he be there in the solemn stillness of
midnight, as I have been, he will descend a better and a wiser man. Beautiful
truly it is, to see the eagle sweeping aloft the hill side, sailing from one moun
tain to an other, or soaring aloft in its circling flight until it seems to float in the
regions of the then white cirri, like the inhabitant of an other world looking down
upon our rebel earth, as if desirous to visit it, but afraid to come within its con
taminating influence, and not in its distant flight alone is the Golden Eagle a
beautiful object ; viewed at hand it cannot fail to inspire admiration, but then
you must see it seated on some pinnacle of its native rooks. " {Rapacious Birdt
of Great Britain, McGileray, Page 96.)

216 » OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
Eagle, one would mostly wish him to take the place of the
Beaver, the Rose, the Thistle and Ihe Shamrock, as the em
blem of our nascent empire. A pair of these noble iiirds pur
chased by me recently, were keptin capture at Spencer Grange,
when I sent the following lo the Quebec Mercury :
(( One by one, the cherished traditions of our rosy boyhood
vanish. Audubon, Buffon and Wilson had let us to beUeve
that the king of birds, the royal eagle, was a species of morose
baron, hving amidst inaccessible fastnesses, on innocent lamb
kins, leverets, and tender chickins; occasionally varying his
diet, by making a repast on some stray infant, carried away
holus bolus, whUst its negligent nurse, perchance, had beau
seeking, wandered round the corner. The fierce marauder sel
dom or ever visited Ihe haunts of man, except for mischief.
The loftiest mountain had its eagle — one only ; at most, a pair
— averaging in age one hundred years or so. To catch alive
eagle was a species ot impossibility ; in fact, if you saw one
alive, once during your lifetime, you might consider yourself
fortunate. « The Golden or Canadian Eagle, Aquila Canadensis, is a
beautiful variety. As stated, many of the dreams of our boy
hood, are disproved by the following fact. Eagles seem lo be
as common as barnyard fowls al Baie St. Paul, on the Lower
St. Lawrence : they are frequently shot, and within a week, a
pairwerelrapped under a crockery crate with a figure four trap
baited with a clucking hen and her chickens. Their appetite was
not proof against white meat. Hence theirfall. These marauders
had already paid a flying visit to Ihe farmyard and abstracted
a large goose, in spite of the heart rending cries of the guard
ian of the flock — a snow-wlute gand'T, more majestic in gait
than the Mayor of any of our opulent cities. The female eagle,
since her capture, laid an egg on her way up from St. Paul's
Bay : unfortunately this prized specimen for oologists was
ciushed and destroyed. These noble birds were presented lo
me ; and mayhap I shall have a treat denied to the greatest
naturalists — witnessing eagles breedingin captivity. I will take
care to advise the readers of the Mercury, ofthe birth of the
first chick, should such an auspicious event crown the connu
bial bliss of the royal couple. ))

THE BIRDS. 217
These eagles were kept thirteen months ; il afforded
me ample opportunity to study their habits in capti
vity. They did not however breed, but I made more than one
experiment, as to their capacity of enduring cold and hunger
which much astonished me. Ever patient, cheerful ; robust,
in excellent temper at aU times, they seemed indeed, unlike
any other meraber of the feathered tribe — Right weU is the eagle
called the «King of Birds.)) Fearing some accident might befall
my children who were frequently moving round their coop, I
ceeded them lo Capt. Rook ofthe 53rd Foot, who took them to
England ; since when, I learn, they have figured in the pages
of the Field Newspaper. ,
Shall we quit the Eagle tribe, without directing your notice
lo that majestic Eagle which Audubon discovered whilst as
cending the Mississippi in 1814 ; his attention having been
directed to it by the pilot of the boat — a Canadian. This
powerful bird, a specimen of which, he shot subsequently in
Kentucky, measured 43 inches by i 22 — that is, from tip to tip of
wing, ten feel, and three feel seven inches from the end of
the head to the extremity of the taU. But one specimen, as
yet, exists in the American collections — that, in the museum of
the Natural History Society of Philadelphia. It is weU to state
that this gigantic bird which Audubon honored with the name
of Bird of Washington, has much exercised naturalists ; some,
protesting that il was merely an overgrown individual of the
Golden Eagle, whilst others, asserted that the scutellcB on his
tarsi denoted a distinct species.
At least twenty varieties of the Hawk family visit our lati
tudes ; here, is the delicately spotted Goskawk, identical wilh
the European species : the breast is of a lovely ash colour,
with penciUed raarkings ; there is the Rough-legged Buz
zard ; next, the Marsh Hawk, whom I am sure, on viewing
this specimen, you all recognize as that unwelcome prowler
who made you miss by his swoop, such a shot, on the Chateau
Richer, Crane Island, Sorel, Deschambault or Ste. Clair mar
shes, at some period or other of your sporting career ; there is
another species with large expanse of jvying, — the Broad-
winged Hawk, nol so large as the Goshawk, and of plumage

218 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
less bright ; then comes the Sharp-shinned ; next, the Pigeon
Hawk ; lastly, the little Sparrow Hawk, with its elegant
cinnamon-coloured back and black bands on its tail. Admire
this keen sportsman, the great Duck Hawk — 5u//ef-headed
Hawk, as some style hira — who is none else than the Noble
Peregrine Falcon of the days of chivalry ; a tolerably common
bird in Canada West ; he can strike his quarry a raid air with
his breast bone, so as to cause immediate death. The Umifs
of my discourse prevent me from quoting, for your benefit,
the elegant and truthful descriptions of the Peregrine and his
fearless compeers, as sketched by Audubon. Shall we leave
this fierce band of day-robbers, and invesUgate the doings of
those forraidable raidnight raiders, the Owls ?
" T'is the middle of night by the castle clock.
And the owls have wakened the crowing cook :
Tu-whit I— Tu-whoo I
See how grave, how oraniscient they look, with their rolling,
shining, yellow eyes, their velvety pluraage and their warm fur-
leggings, impervious to cold the raost intense! There he sits, on
his perch, — the dignified patriarch ofthe whole tribe ; Ihe Great
Cinereous Owl. Look al him well ; he is not, mind you, an every
day visitor by any means — thelargestof the owls ; in size, he
even exceeds that white and fierce marauder, the Snowy
Owl — the Great Northern Hunter, as he is aptly styled. As
you know, he is frequently shot in the surrounding country
during the winter months. How often on a bright, cold
January day, have I noticed him skimming raagestically over
the vast ice fields, battures, as they are called which skirt the
Saint Lawrence, at St. Thoraas, county of Montmagny ! Nature
has wonderfuUy adapted these birds to the climates they in
habit. Th'^y hunt by day as well as by night, and, in the soft
moonlight, you can scarcely hear the muffled sound of their
winged paddles, when pursuing hares or other small animals. Of
the ferocity of the Snowy Owl, unquestionable proofs exists. The
attack of a Snowy Owl, rendered desperate through hunger,
on a Roman Catholic Missionary, is amusingly related in a
Journal of Travel, on the Labrador coast. The Reverend Padr^

THE BIRDS. 219
was SO astounded at the daring of the bird of Minerva, that
he sought his safety in flight. Of the Virginian, or Great
Horned Owl, there are, according lo Baird, five varieties —
Atlanticus, Magellanicus, Pacificus, Arcticus, Virginianus.
Atlanlicus and Virginianus alone visit Canada. This bird is
often caught in the steel traps baited for foxes ; the ferocious
attitude and indomitable courage he exhibits, when approa
ched by dog or man, is wonderful to behold ; he snaps his
powerful beak, rolls his bright eyes, and erects his feathers —
the very emblem of concentrated rage. I have not heard of
any successful effort to domesticate the Great Horned Owl.
The Barn Owl, highly valued in some countries as*a destroyer
of rats and mice, does not inhabit Canada. You reraeraber I
ara sure, the lines in the Fable of the Butterfly who went lo
consult her lawyer. Ivy barn was the Chambers of Councillor Owl,
And instantly thither he flies.
At study he found the learned fowl.
His face half hid by his hooded cowl.
He winked, and blinked and looked very wise.
I have now placed before you in a row, according to their
size, the Owls which visit us ; mark the gradation frora the
Great Cinereous, the size of a large Turkey, to the Uttle
Saw Whet, a sweetly pretty, tiny fellow, not rauch bigger
than a Snow Bunting. What an interesting group of wiseacres
they all seem ? Legislative or City Councillors in conclave !
You see in the Museum of our Society some fair represen
tatives of the web-fooled Order of Birds.
First araongst them, conspicuous for the brilliancy of his
pluraage, note the Wood or Suramer Duck, Anas Sponsa ;
sponsa means a bride, from the gay colours of the individual
probably. Here is the MaUard, the Dusky Duck, the Gadwall,
the American Widgeon, the Green-winged Teal, the Blue-
winged Teal, the Shoveller, the Canvass-back, the Redhead,
the Scaup, the Ruddy, the Pied, the Velvet, the Surf
Duck, the Scoter, the Eider, the King Eider, the Golden-
eye, the Hariequin, the Long-taUed, the Tufted, the Red-
breasted Merganser, the Hooded Merganser, and the

220 Gooseander. What a noble-looking fellow the great Diver
seeras, with his speckled robe of while and black ? But
araongst this splendid array of water-fowl, as I previously
said, the handsoraest is the Wood Duck, who buUds in
trees at Sorel, Lake Erie, and other places : he is, indeed,
of the whole tribe facile princeps. Those feathered, slim
gentry mounted on stilts, you recognize as pertaining to the
tribe of the Waders : the Bittern you all have seen ; many of
you raay not have viewed, the large Blue Heron, oft raistaken for
a Crane. Doubtless you number araongs your acquaintances
as well, the curious and handsome species called the Night
Heron frora ils nocturnal habits. It is a very coraely bird and
the long feathers on its head, will at once attracts your notice :
Wilson has as it were, photographed this bird. There are a few
heronries in Canada ; one exists on Nuns Island near Montreal.
Have you ever observed how those long feathers, which grow
out of the back of his head, fit in one another as in a
groove ?
For this pretty little species, called the Least Bittern, I am
indebted lo a Kingston friend.
You can read, in Charlevoix and Governor Boucher, that
two species of Cranes visit Canada — the White and the
Brown Crane : Linnaeus and Terarainck have christened one
of the species, Grus Canadensis ; and still the Crane is a West
ern species, and ought not to sojourn often in our Arctic latitudes
except when it raigrates from Florida to the Arctic wilds, for
the incubation of its eggs and rearing of its young. An Island,
once dear to sportsmen, thirty-six miles lower than Quebec,
bears the name of Crane Island. You have not fergotten the
mention Horace makes of the migrating Crane — Gruem ad-
venam. And shall I relate to you the nice story Herodotus tells
of the manner in which the death of Ibycus, the poet, was
avenged by a flock of Cranes ? You will theu understand why
the muse-loving Greeks had such a veneration for Cranes : —
« The lyric, Ibycus of Rhegium, went lo dispute at the
Olympic Games the prize of poetry : he came on foot, with no
other companion than his lyre, from which he occasionally
drew a few soul-stirring notes. At the close of his journey,

' THE BIRDS. 22!
musing, he lost his away in the forest. Two men rushed out
of a wood and struck him. The poet fell to the earlh, and cast
an expiring glance towards the setting sun. Al that awful mo
ment, he saw a flock of Cranes sailing past : ' Winged tra
vellers, ' said he, in an expiring breath, ' behold me ! — make
known the assassins of Ibycus 1 ' The brigands laughed at
these words, stripped their victim and disappeared.
(( The next day, the games began at Olympia : no Ibycus
appeared. The people murmured at the absence of the Bard;
— his rivals commenced lo sing. At that moment a man ar
rived in hot haste bearing a broken lyre, all bloody, and pro
nouncing the name of Ibycus. It was the bard's lyre, found
that morning close to the corpse of the poet. A loud and deep
waU was then heard in the amphitheatre : the people deplored
the premature end of the young favourite of the muses ; but
the multitude is as easily moved to sorrow as it is to forget ;
the games proceeded — the memory of Ibycus fading away.
Night was closing in and would soon interrupt the amusements
of the crowd, when a flock of Cranes flew over the arena ; their
loud notes attracted general attention : two of the crowd, in a
conspicuous spot, repeated to one another, in a jocular way.
' There go the Cranes of Ibycus ! ' This singular remark was
overheard by others : the sarcastic tone in which it was ut
tered, the repulsive appearance of the utterers, the sudden
and mysterious death of the poet, aU conspired to create sus
picion. The murderers were arrested — questioned separately
— confessed their crirae, and were then and there executed ;
so that the avenging mission confided by the dying poet to the
feathered strangers was faithfully and speedUy discharged. »

By long and conUnued efforts on behalf of sorae enlightened
friends of agriculture, the indiscriminate slaughter of insecti
vorous birds in the spring and summer has been effectually
stopped. You may nol be hung for killing or capturing in
Canada, a Robin or a Tomtit in the spring, but you raake
yourself liable thereby, lo ten days of jail.
I like the old English and French custom of opening the

222 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
game season by rejoicings and eclat. Why should not Saint
Hubert, the patron saint of sportsmen, have a day sacred to
him in America as well as in Europe ?
11 is gratifying to see that if our powerful and progressive
neighbours have so many things lobe proud of, there is one
Canadian institution which Ihey envy us ; that is, our Legis
lation for the protection of Fish and Game. Mr. Roosevelt
(son of Judge Roosevelt), in bis interesting book on tlie Salmon
rivers of Canada, c( The Game Fish of the North, y> testifies to
that fact repeatedly. Though as a sop lo Araerican amour
propre, he concludes by insinuating that il is aboutthe only sign
of progress to be found (( in those benighted regions known as
Ihe British Provinces, » as he humourously styles thera. We
will allow hira, unchallenged, to enjoy his illusions on this as
on other Canadian topics, for, as a clever writer has it, « Are
not illusions the best part of youth ? » and Mr. Roosevelt is
young. With all the protection the law could lend lo garae during
th« period of incubation, I dare not however, think it
possible lo restore to the shores of the SI. Lawrence the
myriads of ducks, geese, and swans, which are mentioned by
the old writers, such as the Jesuits, in their Relations, Governor
Boucher, in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, des Animaux,
et des Poissons du Canada, written at Three Rivers in 1663 —
forthe special information of the Grands Seigneurs ofthe Court
of Louis XIV., his friends. The account of the game raet by
the Jesuits on the Crane and Goose Island beaches in 1632 (5)
appears so marvellous as lo be mostly beyond belief. The very
be-iJi facing this city, near the Rifle range at Beauport, took
its iK'.rae, La Canardiere, from the legions of ducks, Canarrfs,
frequenting it. It is within ray recoUection that a Crane Island
Chasseur counted he had had but poor shooting if he had
bagged less than one hundred Outardes (Wild Geese) in a
season : now fifty are accounted a good bag.
You are aware that the most nuraerous order of birds by far
is that of the Passeres. It would require a great many lectures
(5) See Relations — P6re Le Jeune.

THE BIRDS. 223
to initiate you into their habits ad histor'y. Let me conse
quently direct your attention merely to those now before you,
wearing the gaudiest uniforms : there, you will remark the
brightest of Canadian birds, the Scarlet Tanager, or Summer
Red Bird ; how gracefully his black wings do fit on the sur
rounding red 1 Hot weather alone attracts him over the Cana
dian border from Ihe scented magnolia groves of Louisiana and
Florida. The peasant lad, meeting hira in our own green woods,
in ecstacy at such a display of splendour, hurries horae lo tell
his molher that he has at last seen (( Le Roi des Oiseaux, )> for
such is the glorious cognomen the Summer Red Bird during
his July visits, enjoys amongst the French Canadian peasantry.
What a stylish fellow, this Louisiana Piper seems, with his
bright purple mantle and red Phrygian Cap ! He does indeed
sport his purple robe, like atruePiiiiceof the Church of Rome.
Lord Baltimore's feathered friend tho Oriole assumed, so says
Wilson, fhe name of his Maryland patron — the French call him
le Baltimore : the Americans, the BaUimore Oriole — Why not
call the gaudy Cardinal — aMerodeornn Antonelli? The Cardinal
visits the southern districts of Ontario — I have had the good
fortune to capture a magnificent Cock Bird in my garden in
August 1870, and kept him more than two years. His song on
an April morning was delighful ; some violent storm must have
blown him across our border, as he was certainly extra-liraital
and for us Quebecers, a foreigner : not the less welcome for
all that.
That graceful individual with a cinnamon-coloured back and
wings, a white breast and long rounded tail feathers tipped
with white outwardly, is the Cuckoo ; his shrill note K-K-K-
Kow-ow-Kow-Kow-ow, is occasionaUy heard in hedges round the
city. Unlikejiis European congener, his habits as a parent are
unimpeachable ; you never catch him depositing eggs in other
birds' nests, — waifs at other individuals' doors ; this
shabby, unnatural practice may suit his Cockney Cousin, or
our Cow-pen bird ; but our elegant. Cuckoo is loo exceUent
a gentleman, too kind-hearted a fellow, to desert his offspring.
We have two Cuckoos in Canada — the YeUow-bUled and the
Black-bUled.

224 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
An Araerican writer thus describes hira : —
(( The cuckoo is one of the raost solitary birds of ourforesls,
and is strangely tarae and quiet, appearing equally untouched
byjoy or grief, fear or anger. Soraething remote seeras ever
weighing upon his raind. His note or call is as of one lost or
wandering, and to the farmer, is prophetic of rain. Amid the
general joy and the sweet assurance of spring, I love to hsten
to the strange clairvoyant call. Heard a quarter of a mile away,
from out the depths of the forest, there is something peculiarly
weird and monkish about it. Wordsworth's lines upon the
European species apply equaUy weU to ours : »
0 blithe new-comer 1 I have heard,
I hear thee and rejoice :
0 cuckoo 1 shall I call thee bird ?
Or but a wandering voice ?
While I am lying on the grass.
Thy loud note smites my ear 1
From hill to hill it seems to pass.
At once far off and near I

Thrice welcome, darling of the spring !
Even yet thou art to me
No bird, but an invisible thing,
A voice, a mystery.

Next to him, you notice a bird encased in a sleek, lustrous,
black uniform, with gold and crimson shoulder-straps, a veri
table rifleman amongst the feathered tribe ; that is the Red-
winged Starling : is he not a jaunty, mUitary-1 coking son of
song ? sporting epaulettes, he ought to stand well wilh the
ladies. Doubtless his name of Field Officer, is due to the ad
miration, by of some old dowager, of his gaudy uniform. There
sits Robin Redbreast ; you have read, ray young friends, ofthe
touching legend, explanatory of the blood red line, on the
breast of the English Robin : why, should it not be appUed to
our Canadian favorite, « the bird of the ruddy breast, towards
whora the children of every Canadian house yearn wilh na
tural love.))
(( It was on the day, when the Lord Jesus Christ felt his pain
upon the bitter cross of wood, that a sraall and tender bird,
which had hovered awhile around, drew nigh about the

THE BIRDS. 225
seventh hour, and nestled upon the wreath of Syrian thorns.
And when the gentle creature of the air beheld these cruel
spikes, the thirty and three which pierced that bleeding brow,
she was moved wUh grief and compassion, and the piety of
birds ; and she sought to turn aside, if but one of those thorns,
with her fluttering wings and Ufted feet ! It was in vain I She
did but rend her own soft breast, until blood flowed over her
feathers frora the wound ? Then said a voice frora araong the
angels ' Thou has done weU, sweet daughter of the boughs !
Yes, and I bring thee, tidings of reward. Henceforth, frora this
very hour, and because of this deed of thine, it shall be that
in raany a land thy race and kind shall bear upon their bosoms
the hue and banner of thy faithful blood ; and the children of
every house shall yearn with a natural love towards the birds
of the ruddy breast, and shall greettheir presence with a voice
of thanksgiving I ))
What strange anecdotes I could tell you about him, my
famiUar friend, who returns each spring lo nestle in a bushy
evergreen under ray Ubrary window, notwithstanding several
murderous raids made in the vicinity, at day break by Jack
Corby, or in the dead of night, by some maraudering grimal
kin, when, unfortunately for my feathered neighbour, the
trusty guardian of the grounds, my St. Bernard Wolf, is
wrapped in balmy sleep? You can fancy what a lively memory
birds retain of the spots in which protection has been ex
tended to them, when I tell you that for several years past,
I have protected the birds building on my property, and that
they have multiplied astonishingly and, each spring punctuaUy
returned. Thereare this year, upwards of forty nests of birds round me ;
one palm tree, next to my library window, contains the nests
of no less than two pairs of Chipping Buntings, that friendly
litUe fellow who comes on the very house-steps to pick up
crurabs. Close to it, stands a small soft raaple tree : a pair of
Black-cap Titraice have been industriously scooping a
hole out of the heart of the tree for ^ week. Frora the habits
of this bird, which, I presurae, is better known to you under
the narae of Chickadee, none do I prefer to see, building about
23

226 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
ray garden : the quantity of insects it destroys in catering for
its young, is really prodigious. About two acres from this
spot, another family of Chickadees seem intent on applying for
a location ticket. Wilson's Snow Bird breeds amongst the
grass, and is as careful about hiding the cradle of his children
as the Song Sparrow. Robins', Redstarts, and Yellow Birds'
nests are in course of construction all over the premises : the
angle of a structure used as a snow-slide, has been taken pos
session of, by a pair of Robins for two seasons in succession.
Allow me to introduce lo you a brave, indomitable fellow — the
King Bird (Tyrant fly-catcher) ; the peasantry call hira Tri-tri,
frora his rapid, querulous note ; schoolboys known him as the
Crow-beater. Observe the little orange tuft of feathers in the
centre of his top-knot. Next lo him you notice a bird with a
beak notched like a Falcon : lake ray word for il, that is a
sanguinary viUain. Naturalists call him (c The Shrike, )) or
Butcher Bird, from the remorseless raanner in which he deals
with small birds, whom he impales on thorns and tears to
pieces ; I wonder how he can rest at night after such enorm
ities. Fie, fie ! Mr. Shrike, you are a vile fellow I — as vile
nearly as a schoolboy who robs birds'-nests. Dare not, I pray,
show your face on ray premises I That grey, rough-coated
bird is a Canada Jay ; the lumberers and woodmen, who spy
him in winter rumraaging round their carap for scraps of pork,
call him Whiskey Jack : he is addicted lo pilfering ; so say
his enemies.
There, is a bird whom all of you recognize, the Kingfisher
— Belted Kingfisher, — on account of the rust-coloured badge
encircling his throat and breast. To heathen mythology he is
known as Ceryle Alcyone. Alcyone was the daughter of
iEolus: being a perfect model of conjugal fidelity, she was
rewarded, at her death, by being metamorphosed into a bird,
and the heathen god, her father, whom I shrewdly suspect to
have been in league with the clerk of the weather, arranged
matters so, that in midsummer, a succession of so many calms,
halcydoma, took place that our expert fish-catcher could buUd
her nest on Ihe heaving bosom of the ocean, and rear her
young uiidistuibed.

THE BIRDS. 227
" Perque dies placidos hiberno tempore septem,
Incub at Halcyone pendentibus ssquore nidie. "
Ovid, Met. lib. XI.
This was, lo say the least, a great privilege. Hence the
origin of halcyon days — days of peace and prolonged security.
I can guarantee this fact, on the faith of heathen mythology I
One of the most musical groups amongst our native birds is
the Thrushes : some six or seven varieties are now displayed
before you. First, the Robin, or Migratory Thrush ; next, the
Catbird, an excentric mimic, whom you can easily distinguish
from the rest by his ash colour and catlike note ; then, that
beautUul variety, the Golden crowned Thrush ; the Hermit
Thrush, which is attracted to the cool shades of darap woods,
where he can, undisturbed, go and bathe at sunrise and sunset
in some secluded, cool, purling stream, — how oft have I wat
ched him I One of the sweetest song birds of Western Canada is
the Brown Thrush, or Thrasher : here is a good specimen.
You wUl notice how rauch longer his tail is than that of the
Herrait Thrush or Golden-crowned Thrush. The Wood-Thrush,
I have not seen in our Province ; and I am inclined to believe
the sweet songster who, araongst the Canadian peasantry, is
known as « La Flute)) — the flute — frora ils raetaUic notes re
sembling the double-tongueing ofthe German flute, is Wilson's
Thrush, whUst its congener the HerraU Thrush, is known to the
French countrylad as ((Le Hautbois. )) The Thrush family in
Canada open for young naturalists, a wide field of enquiry.
That Uttle group of long-winged individuals, you of course
recognise as the Swallows, of which five species visit Canada.
The first, supposed lo be the real harbinger of spring and hot
weather, circles over our heads, with its crescent wings, for the
first time each year, about the 23rd of April. The Black Chimney
Swallow, or Swift, who dives perpendicularly down our
chimneys lo build its nest, forms part and parcel of every
Canadian rural horae. As we never see hira buUd elsewhere
than in chimneys, will Darwin teU us, where he did buUd
before the invention of chimneys ? You can add that to the
other hard problems with which your painstaking teachers
try your ingenuity- There is the Purple Maitin — a -larger

228 OUR EARLY FRIENDS,
species : each day, in June, when I pass down the Upper
Town market-place, and notice the garrulous crowd of Martens
twittering round the norihern eaves of the old JesuU Barracks,
I ask rayself whether they are all [he grand-children of those
Purple Martens whose ancestors, Alexander Wilson saw, in the
beginning of the century (1813), (( in great nurabers, at
Quebec ; )> (1) for the meraory of locality is great in Swallows
as weU as in other birds.
That broad- mouthed, long-winged, short-legged, dark bird
squatUng on the ground, with white badges on its wings, is
the Night Hawk, or Goat Sucker, Caprimulgus. You, no doubt,
are aware why he is so persistently caUed Goat Sucker by
naturalists ; it is because he never in his life sucked a Goat —
never dreamed of it. It is one of those outrageous fabrica
tions invented, by ignorance, to filch a poor bird of his good
name, and fame, and which took root only because il
was oft repeated. In the days of Olaus Magnus, Bishop of
(1) Another man of note, just dead, visited Quebec about 1824, the eccentric
naturalist, Charles' Waterton, the discoverer of the WoMraK poison, and author
of several works most amusingly and instructively written. Charles Waterton
humorously said that the principal blessings the House of Hanover had con
ferred on the English people were the suppression of Popery, the creation ofthe
national debt, and the introduction of the brown, or Hanoverian, rat. Do not be
surprised if the passage of his book, relating to Quebec, should contain some
thing eccentric also : — " They are making tremendous fortifications at Quebec.
It will be the Gibraltar of the new world. When one considers its distance from
Europe, and takes a view of its powerful and enterprising neighbour, Virgil's re
mark at once rushes into the mind, —
" Sic vos non vobis nidifieatia avea."
" I left Montreal with regret. I had the good fortune to be introduced to the
Professors of the College. These fathers are a very learned and worthy set of
gentlemen; and on my taking leave of them I felt a heaviness at heart, in re
flecting that I had no more time to cultivate their acquaintance. In all the way
from Buffalo to Quebec, I only met with one bug ; and I cannot even swear that
it belonged to the United States. In going down the St. Lawrence, in the steam
boat, I felt something crossing over my neck; and on laying hold of it with my
finger and thumb, it turned out to be a little half-grown, ill-conditioned bug.
Now, whether it were going from the American to the Canadian side, or from the
Canada to the American, and had taken the advantage of my shoulders to ferry
itself across, I could not tell. Be this as it may, I thought of my Uncle Toby
and the fly; and so, in lieu of placing it upon the deck, and then putting my
thumb-nail vertically upon it, I quietly chucked it amongst some baggage that
was clo_so by, and recommended it to get ashore by the first opportunity." — Water-
ton's Wanderings, p. 223.

THE BIRDS. 229
Upsal, in Sweden, few dared to doubt but Ihat SwaUows,
instead of going to Senegal and the Gold coast to spend Iheir
Christmas and Easter holidays, dived before winter into the
bosom of Lakes, and hybernaled under the ice tUl spring, with
no gayer companions than a few meditative trout or gudgeon.
This was another absurd theory, but which had many great
names to prop it up. The Revd. Gilbert White, in his History
ofSelborne, a nicer book than which you could not read, elo
quently demonstrated how impossible it was such a thing
could take place.
You recognize at one glance that little fairy — dipped in a
sunbeam, begemraed with opals, rubys, and hving sapphires —
the Ruby-throated Humraing Bird. One species only frequents
our climes, though it constitutes anumerous family in South
America and in the West Indies. How oft in the dewy morn
have you not noticed the Uttle sylph, ecstatic with delight,
hovering over the honeysuckle and bright geranium blossoms,
and inserting in their expanded corroUas his forked longue in
search of insects and honey. Need I dwell at length on all his
loveliness, his incomparable beauty, when you can refer to
the glowing descriptionswhich low great masters, Audubon and
Buffon, have left — Audubon's especially. In spite of his finished
elegance of diction, the sedentary philosopher, Buffon, raust
yield the palm to the naturalist who studied God's creatures
on the mountains, prairies, sea shores, plains, fields and forests
of our continent.
I now hold in my hand a most gorgeously-habited little
songster, who pays us an occasional visit in July. His azure
mantle has bestowed on hira the name of Indigo Bird. Buffon
calls him «Le Ministre,» probably because he was, like the
French Ministers of State, robed in blue : our own Cabinet
Ministers, as you know, on the recent visit of the Prince of
Wales, chose blue for their grande tenue officielle. Never shall
I forget one bright July morning walking in my garden, shortly
after sunrise. In the centre there stood an old apple tree,
bearing buds, pink and white, and green leaves ; close to il my
chUdren had grown a very large sunflower ; its corolla was
then lovingly expanding to the orb of day, whose rays streamed

230 OUR EA.RLY FRIENDS,
through the overhanging canopy of 'dew-spangled blossoms.
In the fork of the apple tree a pair of Robins had build their
clay-cemented nest, in which, protected by sofl hay, rested the
tokens of love, four emeralds of pure sea-green, whilst the
male Robin was carolling forth his morning hymn from the
loftiest branch of a neighbouring red oak. I was in the act of
advancing towards it and peering in the nest, when my eye was
arrested by the dazzling colours of an azure bird nestling
in the sunshine on the saffron leaves of the sunflower. The
brightness of the spectacle before me was such, its contrasts
so striking, that I paused in mule astonishment at so rauch
splendour. Was it a realm of dream-land spread out before
me — -a vision painted by a fairy ! It was, my young friends,
only the Indigo Bird of Canada, in his full nuptial plumage,
seen amidst the bright but every-day spectacle of a Canadian
landscape. What a charming musician, the Vireo or Red-eyed Fly
catcher, during his protracted stay from May to September ?
scarcely visible to the naked eye, araidst Ihe green boughs of a
lofty oak or elm, he warbles forth his love ditty from sunrise to
sunset? How eagerly I watched, this spring, for Ihe return
from the South of the Sweet, Sweet Canada bird, the white-
throated Sparrow — whose clear, shrill clarion resounds even
in the depth of night ! How is it, he did not accompany this
spring his congener, the Song Sparrow — the Rossignol — whose
simple but soft melody is so dear to a Canadian heart.
Have any of you ever noticed the Redstart darting, Uke an
arrow, after the smaU flies, then relighting on the twig, uttering
liiK shrill, increasing note, very similar to Ihat of that pretly
SI! uraer YeUow bird, also one of the fly-catchers, as you are
aware^a faraily most numerous, and if not generally gifted
with song, at least wearing a very bright livery. The Redstart,
the male bird, is easUy known by his glcssy black plumage ;
when he is flying, he discloses the under portions of his wings,
which appear of bright maize. The female is more an olive
hue, and does not resemble at all her mate : they breed all
round Quebec, and stop here about three months. It is need
less for me to furnish you with a very lenghly description iof

THE BIRDS.

231

the Blue Jay : you are all acquainted .vith his cerulean pluraage ;
his harsh not, especially before lain, is faniiliar to every
country school boy.
I must not, however, forget to point outlo you that gorgeously
dressed individual, wearing black and orange badges : that
is the Baltimore Oriole. He visits chiefly the Montreal district,
and Western Canada. Black and orange, did I say? why that
was the official livery of a great English landowner of Mary
land, in the days when democracy amongst our neighbours
was not. We have it on the authority of Catesby and Alexander
Wilson, high authorities, as you know, that this showy July
visitor took its name frora Lord Baltiraore, on whose estates
a great nuraber of Orioles were to be seen. It is satisfactory
lo find that, even in Democratic America, the English aristo
cracy is becomingly represented not only at the White House,
but also inthe corn fields and green woods of the great Re
public. The Baltimore Oriole is a tolerably good musician.
You can see how briUant are the colours of these Canada birds
now exhibited to you !
I think you wUl all agree with me, in saying that no country
can furnished a group of brighter ones than those now exposed
to view, and composed of Canadian birds only : — the Golden^
winged Woodpecker, or Rain Fowl ; Blue Jay ; Field Officer ;
Maryland YeUow Throat ; Wax Wing ; Indigo Bird ; Ccerulean
Warbler, Ruby-throated Humming Bird ; Scarlet Tanager ;
Baltimore Oriole ; Meadow Lark ; Pine Gros beak ; Cardinal
Grosbeak ; Rosebreasted Grosbeak and Towhe Bunting.
As for song, we may safely assert, with the same Alexander
Wilson (7) that the Fauna of America can compete with that
(7) " The opinion, says Wilson, which so generally prevails in England, that the
music of the groves and woods of America is far inferior to that of Europe, I, who
have a thousand times listened to both, cannot admit to be correct. We cannot,
with fairness, draw a comparison between the depth of the forest in America, and
the cultivated fields of Englands ; beea-use- it is a well-known f;)ct, that singing
birds seldom visit the former in any country. But let the latter place be compared
with the like situations in the Vnited States, and the superiority of song, I am
perfectly persuaded, would justly belong to the Western eontiiiont. The few of
our song birds that have visited Europe extort admiration from the best judges.
' The notes of the cardinal grosbeak, ' says Latham, ' are almost equal so those
of the nightingale. ' Yet these notes, clear and excellent as they are, are far

232 OUR EARLY FRIENDS, THE BIRDS.
of Europe : true, we have not the Skylark, nor the Blackbird ;
and our Robin, although very similar to the later in note and
habits, is still his inferior ; but we have the Wood Thrush,
with its double-tongued flute notes, Wilson's Thrush, the
Brown Thrush, the gingling, roystering Bobolink, the Cana
dian Goldfinch, whose warble reminds you of the Canary. Nor
are we far wrong in asserting that the far-famed European
Nightingale has met with a worthy rival in the American Mock
ing Birds, whose extraordinary mu.sical powers have been so
graphically delineated by the great Audubon.
My young friends, — I was thinking of introducing you inlo
the very sanctum of Natural History, and the advanced hour of
the evening compels me lo leave you merely at the threshold.
If it should so please you, we may, at sorae future day, resurae
the investigation of this subject. I thank you for your long and
constant attention. Aurevoir! J. M. LeMoine,
inferior to those of the wood thrush ; and even to those of the brown thrush, or
thrasher. Our inimitable mocking bird is also acknowledged, by themselves, to
be fully equal to the song ofthe nightingale in its whole compass. Yet these are
not one tenth of the number of our singing birds. Could these people be trans
ported to the borders of our woods and settlements, in the month of May, about
half an hour before sunrise, such a ravishing concert would greet their ear as they
haye no conception of. " — American Ornithology, vol. n., p. 275.

THE BIRDS OF CANADA.
ARRANGED BY J. M. LeMOINB,
According to classification and nomenclature of the Smithsonian Institution.
(The figures refer to those of the catalogue of North American birds published
by the Institution in 1858.)

ORDER I. — BIEDS OP PEET.

Turkey Buzzard,
Duck Hawk,
Pigeon Hawis,
Jer Falcon,
Sparrow Hawk,
Goshawk, Cooper's Hawk,
Sharp-shinned Hawk,
Swainson's Hawk,
Baird's Buzzard,
Brown, or Canada Hawk,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Western Bed -tail,
Red-Shouldered Hawk,
Broad-winged Hawk,
Sharp-winged Hawk,
Rough-legged Hawk,
Black Hawk,

Yellow-billed Cuokoo,
Black-billed Cuokoo.
Hairy Woodpecker,
Downy Woodpecker,
Three-toed Woodpecker,
Banded three-toed Woodpecker,

Ruby throated Humming Bird, 101.

1.

Marsh Hawk,

38.

5.

Golden Eagle ; Ring tailed Eagle, 39.

7.

Northern Sea Eagle,

40.

11.

Gray Sea Eagle,

42.

13.

Bald Eagle,

43.

14.

Fish Hawk,

44.

15.

Great Horned Owl,

48.

17.

Mottled Owl,

49.

18.

Long-eared Owl,

51.

19.

Short-eared Owl,

52,

21.

Great Gray Owl,

63.

23.

Barred Owl,

54.

24.

Sparrow Owl,

55.

25.

(1) Kirtland's Owl,

56.

27.

Saw-whet Owl,

57.

28.

Snowy Owl,

61.

30.

Hawk Owl,

62.

31.

OEDBR ir. — CLIMBERS

69.

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker,

85.

70.

Black Woodpecker,

90.

74.

Red-bellied Woodpecker,

91.

76.

Red-headed Woodpecker,

94.

82.

Yellow-shafted Flicker,

97.

ter, 83.

ORDER III. — PERCHERS.
d, 101.
Traill's Flycatcher,
140.
109.
Least Flycatcher,
141.
111.
Green-crested Flycatcher,
143.
112.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (?),
144.
114,
Wood Thrush,
148.
117.
Hermit Thrush,
149.
124.
IVilson's Thrush,
151.
136. Olive-backed Thrush
153.
137. 1 Robin,
165.
139. r
Varied Thrush,
166.
Chimney Swallow,
Chuok-Will's Widow,
Whip-poor-will,
Night Hawk,
Belted King-fisher,
King Bird ; Bee Bird,
Pewee,Olive-sided Flycatcher,
Wood Pewee,
(1) This rare Owl, lost sight offer fifty years in the fanna of the United States,
is mentioned by Professor Arch. Hall, of Montreal — there is one specimen in the
Museum of Natural History, of Montreal; Thomas Mollwraith, Esq., of Hamiltor>
owns one, and I hare had the good fortune to capture one alive, which is still
(1864) in my possession.
24
234

THE BIRDS OF CANADA.

(1) stone Chat,

LW.

Cat Bird,

254.

Blue Bird,

158.

Brown Thrush,

261.

Ruby-crowned Wren,

161.

Long- bille d JXarsh Wren,

268.

Golden crested Wren,

161.

House Wren,

270.

Cunur Golden Crest,

163.

Wood Wren,

272.

Tit-lark,

165.

Winter Wren,

273.

Long-billed Creeper,

167a.

American Creeper,

275.

Prothonotary Warbler,

169.

Bed-bellied Nuthatch,

279.

Maryland Yellow-throat,

170.

Black-cap Titmouse,

290.

Mourning Warbler,

172.

Hudsonian Titmouse,

296.

Connecticut Warbler,

174.

Sky Lark,

302.

Kentucky Warbler,

175.

Blue Grosbeak,

303.

Golden-winged Warbler,

181.

Pine Grosbeak,

304.

Nashville \\^arbler,

183.

Purple Finch,

305.

Golden-crowned Thrush,

186.

Yellow Bird,

313.

Water Thrush,

187.

Pine Finch,

317.

Black-throated Blue Warbler,

193.

Red Crossbill,

318.

Yellow-rump Warbler,

194.

White-winged Crossbill,

319.

Blackburnian AYarbler,

196.

Lesser Red Poll,

320.

Bay-breasted Warbler,

197.

Menly Red Poll (?),

321.

Pine-creeping Warbler,

198.

Snow Bunting,

325.

Chestnut-sided Warbler,

200.

Lapland Longspur,

326.

Blue Warbler,

201.

Grass Finchy,

337.

Black PoU Warbler,

202.

White-crowned Sparrow,

346.

Yellow Warbler,

20.3.

White-throated Sparrow,

349.

Black and Yellow Warbler,

204.

Black Snow Bird,

354.

Cape May Warbler,

206.

Tree Sparrow,

357.

Yellow Red Poll,

208.

Field Sparrow,

358.

Hooded Warbler,

211.

Chipping Sparrow,

359.

Small-headed Flycatcher,

212.

Song Sparrow,

363.

Green Black Cap Flycatcher,

213.

Swamp Sparrow,

369.

Canada Flycatcher,

214.

Pox-colored Sparrow,

374.

Redstart,

217.

Black-throated Buniing,

378.

Scarlet Tanager,

220.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak,

380.

Summer Red Bird,

221.

Indigo Bird,

387.

Barn Swallow,

225.

(3) Cardinal,

390.

Cliff Swallow,

226.

Boblink ; Reed Bird,

399.

White -bellied Swallow,

227.

Cow Bird,

400.

Bank Swallow,

229.

Red-winged Blackbird,

401.

Purple Martin,

231.

Meadow Lark,

406.

(2) Wax Wing,

232.

Orchard Oriole,

414.

Cedar Bird,

233.

Baltimore Oriole,

415.

Great Northern Shrike,

236.

Rusty Blackbird,

417.

White-rumped Shrike,

238.

Crow Blackbird,

421.

Red-eyed Flycatcher,

240.

American Raven,

423.

Yellow-green Vireo,

241.

Common Crow,

426.

Warbling Vireo,

246.

Magpie,

432.

Blue headed Flycatcher,

250.

Blue Jay,

434.

Yellow-throated Vireo,

252.

! Canada Jay,

443.

ORDER IV. — c

.ALLIXACEODS.

Wild Pigeon,

448.

Ruffed Grouse,

465.

Common Dove,

451.

Rock Grouse,

468.

Wild Turkey,

467.

American Ptarmigan,

470.

Spruce Partridge,

460.

Partridge ; Quail,

471.

Prairie Hen,

464.

(1) I insert the stonochat and the blue grosbeak on the authority of Mr.
William Couper, of this city, — who was presented with a specimen of each, shot
in Canada —Several warblers and Flycatchers found in Ontario, do not reach
Quebec. (2) Care ought to be taken not to confound this bird with its small summer
congener — the cherry or cedar bud — the wax -wing is altogether a winter visitor.
(3) A most brilliant specimen was trapped by me, in my garden, at Spencer
Grunge, August, 1869.

THE BIRDS OF CANADA.

235

ORDER V. — WADERS.

Sand-hill Crane (?), 479.
White Heron, 486.
Great Blue Heron. 487.
Leasf Bittern, 491.
Bittern ; Stake Driver, 492.
Green Heron, 493.
Night Heron, 495.
(1) Glossy Ibis, 500.
Golden Plover, 503.
Kill-deer, 504.
Wilson's Plover, 506.
Semipalmated Plover; Ring Plo
ver, 507.
Piping Plover, 508.
Blaok-beUied Plover, 510.
Turnstone, 515.
(2) American Avoset, 5i7.
Northern Phalarope, 520.
American Woodcock, 522.
English Snipe, 523.
Red-breasted Snipe, 524.
Gray-back ; Knot, 626.

American Swan,
Trumpeter Swan,
Snow Goose,
White-fronted Goose (?),
Brown-fronted Goose,
Canada Goose,
White-cheeked Goose,
Hutchin's Goose,
Brant,Mallard,Black Duck,
Sprig-tail ; Pin-tail,
Green-winged Teal,
Blue-winged Teal,
Read-breasted Teal,
Shoveller,Gadwall,
Baldpate,Summer Duck,
Greater Black-head,
Little Black-head,
Ring-necked Duck,
Red-head,Canvas-back,

Jack Snipe,
Least Sandpiper,
Sanderling,
Semipalmated Sandpiper,
Willet, Tell-tale ; Stone Snipe
Yellow Legs,
Solitary Sandpiper,
Spotted Sandpiper,
Field Plover,
Buff-breasted Sandpiper,
Marbled Godwit,
Hudson Godwit,
Long-billed Curlew,
Hudsonian Curlew,
Esquimaux Curlew,
Clapper Rail,
Virginia Rail,
Yellow Rail,
Coot,
Florida Gallinule,

ORDER VI. — PALMATED.

561 a
662. 563.565.566.567.568.569.570.576.
577.578.579. 581.
582. 583. 584.
585. 587.
588.
589. 590.
691. 592.

Golden Eye,
Barrow's Golden Eye,
Butter Ball,
Harlequin Duck,
South Southerly,
Labrador Duck,
Velvet Duck,
i Surf Duck,
Scoter,Eider Duck,
King Eider,
Ruddy Duck,
Black-masked Duck,
Sheldrake,Red-breasted Merganser,
Hooded Merganser,
Smew, (6) American Pelican,
Brown Pelican,
Gannet,
Common Cormorant,
Double-crested Cormorant
(1) Leach's Petrel (7),
Wilson's Petrel,

531.
532.
534.635.537.539.540.
541. 543.
645.546.547. 548.
549.
660.551.
553. 554.
557. 559.
560.

693. 594. 596.
596. 697.
600. 601.
602.
604.606.608. 609.
610.
611.612.613. 614.
615.
616. 617.
620.623.642.
644.

(1) A beautiful specimen of this rare bird was shot at Grondines, on the 28th
April, 1864, and contributed to my collection by P. J. Charlton, Esq., of Quebec,
to whom I am also indebted for a wood duck and a large blue heron.
(21 Three avosets were shot in the bay opposite Toronto, in October, 1863.
(5) Mr. Mollwraith, the well known naturalist of Hamilton, in a letter to me
under date 6th May, 1864, thus describes the recent appearance of a flock of
pelicans : —
J. M. LeMoine, Esq., Quebec, C. B. Hamilton, May 6th, 1864.
Dear Sir, — On the evening of Friday, the 15th April last, a flock of eight peli
cans was observed to alight on Burlington Bay, where they soon attracted atten
tion by their unusual shape and motion. They sit much lighter on the water
than swan or geese, and, on rising to fly, can do so with less exertion, while the
bill and pouch form distinguishing marks njt to be mistaken. By daylight on
Saturday morning the gunners were early astir, and finding the pelicans still

645.

Marsh Tem,

681.

647.

Caspian Tem,

682.

648.

Sooty Tem,

688.

649.

Wilson's Tern,

689.

650.

Arctic Tern,

690.

651.

Roseate Tern,

692.

653.

Least Tern,

694.

654.

Loon,

698.

657.

Red-throated Diver,

701.

658.

Red-necked Grebe,

702.

660.

Crested Grelu,

703.

661.

Homed Grebe,

706.

664.

Great Auk,

710.

667.

Razor-billed Auk,

711.

668.

Arctic Puffin,

715.

670.

Least Auk,

723.

672.

Black Guillemot,

726.

676.

Foolish Guillemot,

729.

679.

Murre,

730.

680.

Sea Dove, (1)

738.

236 THE BIRDS OP CANADA.
Mother Gary's Chicken,
Greater Shearwater,
Sooty Shearwater,
Mauk's Shearwater,
Dusky Shearwater,
Cinereous Petrel,
Pomarine Skua,
Arctic Skua,
Glaucous Winged Gull,
White-winged Gull.
Great Black-backed Gull,
Herring Gull,
Ring -billed Gull,
Laughing Gull,
Franklin's Rosy Gull,
Bonaparte's Gull,
Kittiwake Gull,
Ivory Gull,
Swallow-tailed Gull,
Fork-tailed Gull,
there, started in pursuit, the birds seemed unwilling to rise from the water, but
not at all disposed to admit of a close inspection, and so vigorously did they ply
their large and powerful paddles that though the wind was high and fair, it was
only after a chase of about two miles that the skiffs got sufficiently near to risk a
long shot, which crippled two of the number ; one was wing-broken and could not
rise, another, though evidently hit, kept sailing round still rising, till on making
a sudden turn against the wind to join his companions, the fractured pinion gave
way, and he fell from a great height into the water, where he was soon secured.
The remainder of the flock returned in the evening, and were seen for two or three
days afterwards evidently seeking their companions, but were extremely wary and
could not again be approached within gunshot. About fifteen years ago a small
flock spent a day or two about the bay, aud one was shot, which is all I have
heard of being observed here, though there is no doubt that like other migratory
birds which breed in the fur countries, they must pass this way every spring and
fall, the probable reason why we do not see them oitener is that when migrating
they fly at an immense height, and may perform the whole journey without stop
page. The individuals procured were both males in adult plumage ; one is now
stuffed and in my possession, the skin of the other has been sent to England.
On the 25th of April, while paddling along the bay shore, I observed some
strange looking birds sitting on a submerged stump about 100 yards from shore
opposite a point of woods which runs out into the bay; creeping on under shadow
of the trees, I found the group consisted of five cormorants, three large and
brownish in color, and two smaller and darker. I watched them for some time,
their motions were graceful in the extreme, as they sat pruning their plumage,
their long slender necks curving in every conceivable direction, while every now
and then one of the number would dart off into the water and presently return
with a fish, which was swallowed with no ceremony save turning the head down
wards. At length they seemed aware of my proximity, and that the distance
was diminishing. I was anxious to secure one of each kind, and just as they got
up made use of the means in my power to accomplish that object, but was only
partially successful, as the larger of the two, though evidently struck by the
shot, managed to get away, the other was a fine specimen, and agrees in every
particular with Professor Baird's description of the Florida cormorant, though I
would scarcely have expected to find that bird so far north. It may be that being
in company with the larger species which breeds in the north, they have been led
away from their usual haunts.
Regarding the glossy Ibis, I may mention that a pair of these birds were shot
here in 1867, and are now in my possession. I have a specimen of Kirtland's owl,
and have also obtained recently a fine specimen of the great cinereous owl.
(1) Nos. Ill, 163, 493, 508, 562, 568, 582, 610, 616, 623, 647, 649, 650, 651,
657, 667, 668, 679, 682, 688, 690, 692, 694, 703, 710, 729, are inserted on the au
thority of Dr. A. Ross, of Toronto. (See Birds of Canada, by Ross, Toronto, 1872.)

FIN AND FEATHEE IN CANADA- n;
1863.
" The shootings in Breadalbane and Athole are leased at the following rents ;
Blair— Athole, £3,486 ; Fortingall, £1,934 ; Legierait, £674 ; Moulin, £670 ;
Little Dunherld, £1,432 ; Dull, 984 ; Weem, ^207 ; Kenmore, :£300 ; Killin,
£984 ; Balquhidder, £785. Maharajah Dhuleep Singh has sublet the shootings
of Auchlyne and Suic, for which he paid ^760, and has taken the moors of
Grandtully, where he will shoot this season. " — (Late English Papers — 1863.)
Slwoting in the wilds of Canada, does nol much resemble
flushing pheasants or partridges or starting hares in the woody
old parks of Britain, or popping over black game in the perfu
med heather of a scotch moor.
Undoubtedly, one of the chief pleasures of the English
sportsman lies in beating up systeraatically, with his steady
well trained dogs, the game preserves, wether wood, stubble,
swamp or moor, each year when Septeraber brings about
its long looked for treat. In fact, to the English Nimrod, the
savoir faire of his pointer, his hound or setter, of noble descent
affords unmitigated pleasure ; in Canada, dogs, even the
most valuable, except in snipe, cock, grouse and duck shoot
ing, would be often useless — not unfrequenlly, a bore. Of the
many thousand deer shot in Canada frora 1793 to 1801, and
from an authentic Return (2) now before us, we find, that by
this Return the skins of the 169,811 deers, who found their
way across the Atlantic, probably not two were hunted with
dogs. In collecting together some facts relating lo the finned and
feathered game of Canada, we thought we could not do better
than preface this short sketch wilh accurate data and figures,
exhibiting what the killing of a few deer, hares, grouse and
(1) Reprinted from the London " Canadian News, " with corrections.
(2) The following statement of the " average number of peltries cleared at the
Custom House, Quebec, for England, for nine years, from 1793 to 1801 inclusive,
with a calculation of the duties paid thereon on their landing in England," wiU,
doubtless, be read with interest. It bears the evidence of having been compiled
many years ago ; and that the figures given below do not cover the whole of the
nine years, but are only an average for each year is further proved by the endor
sement of the amount of duty paid " annually."
It is almost startling to read of 169,811 deer skins being shipped each year ;

238 FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.
pheasants annually costs some of the sporting gentry of Bri
tain ; indeed, we know of a recent instance, in which three
rich young sportsmen of the « land o'cakes » purchased for
£600, the right lo shoot on some of the moors of Scotland,
and actually brought home two brace of grouse, each ; expen
sive sport, was it not ?
What hecatombs of deer, what pyramids of wild turkey,
what hampers of snipe, quail, ducks, grouse and praie hens,
we would now ask, the rental of a Scotch shooting range, such,
for instance, as Blair Alhole, viz., ^3,485, would procure^to a
score of Canadian Nimrods? Why, to use a raetaphor, which
some may consider as savouring of the Yankee war telegraras of
1863, a ship a trifle smaller than the Great Eastern, might be
freighted with the proceeds of such a gigantic battue I
When we read of Lord Dufferin's (1) pic-nic to Iceland, in
but some of the other figures given below are little less remarkable. Our readers
will remember that the rate and amount of duty are iu sterling money :
Number. Duty.
137,548 beaver skins  Id each  £ 573
38,638 martins  55s for 40 or Is 4Jd each  2656
18,349 otters  Is 5d each 
11,329 minks  16s 6d for 40 
5,483 fishers  Is 4Jd each 
10,141 foxes  4Jd each  ,
19,286 bears  5s 7d each 
169,811 deer  2d each 
144,439 raccoons  13! 9d for 100 
12,200 casco and oppossum cats lid per 100 
943 elks  4d each 
6,885 wolves  6s 4d each 
778 wolverines.  3s 6d each 
819 carcajoux  46 5d each 
219 badgers  7d each 
9,130 kitts  lis per 100 
1,978 seals  2d each 
2,835 squirrels and hares  lid per 120 
57,151 muskraU  13s 9d for 100 
2 buffaloes 
1 tiger  £16,071 IS 4
{Ottawa Times) — Moming Chronicle, 9th April, 1869.
(1) Singularly enough, this invitation extended by me ten years ago (when
this sketch was written) In the name of Canadian sportsman, the noble Earl
has lived to accept, though, in a sense and for an object very different. May he flou-

.£ 573

2

4

. 2656

7

3

, 1298

14

5

223

13

6

399

5

2

. 190

2

10

, 5303

13

0

, 1415

1

10

. 993

0

0

67

2

0

14

1

0

. 2189

6

0

. 136

3

0

, 143

6

6

6

7

9

50

4

3

16

9

8

1

1

10

392

11

3

0

2

9

tlN AND FEATHER IN CANADA. 239
the Foam, to witness, among other things, an eruption
of Mount Hecla ; when we hear of an enterprising young En
glishman 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
tear themselves away, even for a few months, from London
fogs, which according lo Sidney Smith, make one feel like «on
a fine day looking up a chiraney, on a dull one, looking down»
to recruit and breath our bracing air. How is it that so few,
comparatively speaking, corae to enjoy the scenery and bright
summer skies of Canada ?
« Our Laurentines, with their thousand streams and dark pine,
fir and beach woods have few rivals in the world for sylvan
beauty. The heights are sharp and bold ; the torrents are
foamy, and wreathed into curling waterfalls. You see below
tops of woods andforests that resemble bandlets of shrubbery
andgreat rivers that seem ribbons of silver. You notice around
you climbing heights, in all the sullenness of undisturbed na
ture — rich A\ith every tree that grows and echoing the shrill
sounds of myriads of wild birds. Interesting lo the tourist
and luver of the beauties of nature, it is doubly so lo the
sportsman and disciple of Isaac Walton, as the whole country
seeras to be Nature's rich preserve for garae of all sorts, and
the waters ofthe raany streams that empty inlo the St. Law
rence, teem wilh trout and salmon. »
With what zest the enterprising and eccentric Britons
could undertake a ramble wilh rod and gun in hand, over our
majestic chain of mountains from Niagara to Labrador,
choosing as rallying points, whereat to compare notes and
discuss politics, old port and sandwiches, the summit of Cape
Eternity, inthe Saguenay district, the peak of Cape Tourmenle,
and the Cave of the Winds under the great cataracle, after
ransacking for fish and game Ihe fifteen hundred intervening
miles of coast ! We fancy that the atraosphere ol those airy
rish and fill an ample bag on the Westem Prairies, or even the shores of Hudson's
Bay, should the shooting on the St. Claire Marshes or at Lancashire prove in
sufficient I may the shade of the Great St. Hubert, the patron of all Nimrods,
hover over, to protect bim against marsh feaver, ague and rhumatism ?

240 FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.
positions is as brisk as that of Ben-Mac-Dui or Cairn-gorum,
and that the divers incidents of travel and sport which would
be therein combined, ought effectually to dispel ennui and res
tore their spirits for, as the author of Childe Harold truly
says : " There is a pleasure in the pathless wood.
There is a rapture on the lonely shore.
There is society where none intrudes
By the deep sea, and music^in its roar."
If this were insufficient to rouse thera, a smart trudge to
the shores of the frozen ocean might be added ; our disting
uished 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 belter fare, on pera-
mican, 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 gallant band? This attractive pro-
grararae, however, we raerely display to terapt the raost
enterprising araong the Enghsh sporting world ; as for us
natives, we find abundance of fish and game without venturing
so far.
Yolumes have been written to make known the inexhaustible
mineral, agricultural, industrial and comraercial wealth of this
colony, but little efforts have yet been used lo place on record
the noble game, the inexhaustible 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 mil
lionaire. Few — some, through interested motives, have sup
pressed the fact — few have published to the world, that Canada,
without the stringent game laws of England, without scarcely
any expense, but with the raere consent of the people and the
fosteringcareof (he government, can be made nearly what it was
formerly — one of the most favored localities on the earth for
game — yea, a veritable Canaan— a land of promise — abound-

FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA. 241
ing with the «milk and honey » of araiiseraent for all those
who rejoice in the raanly and exhilarating pleasures of Ihe
chase. It is true that for two centuries back the people have struggled
hard to extirpate (1) its fish and garae, and that, had the
advice of the sportsmen nol been heard in tirae, every estuary
in the province would have been depleted ; the forests,
the sea shores, the whole country, instead of harboring quan
tities of luscious game, myriads of insect-devouring birds,
would soon have become a kind of howhng wilderness. Much
harra has undoubtedly been done ; but (he curing of the evil
is fortunately still within our reach (2). Having noticed else
where the glorious results which have crowned the protective
policy of successive administrations towards (3) fish and game,
we shall now confine ourselves merely to mentioning suc
cinctly the chief hunting grounds in the province.
Old writers, one and all, have spoken with astonishment,
nay, wilh rapture, of the abundance and varieties of the sea
fowl and birds frequenting the shores of the St. Lawrence,
and we all know how thousands of the aboriginal races for

(1) One of the greatest enormities perpetrated by the Indian, is the extinction
in eastern, and in the greater portion of western Canada, of the wapiti or Cana
dian stag, the noblest ef the species, which roamed through our mountains— as
large as a horse, with round, sharp antlers five feet high. It is now abundant in
the western prairies and the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, from the 66th
or 57th parallel of north latitude to Texas In the Hudson Bay territories, ac
cording to Sir John Richardson, its eastern limit is a line drawn from the south
end of Lake Winnepeg to the Saskatchewan, in the 103rd degree of longitude,
thence till it strikes the Elk river, in the 111th degree.
(2) The increasing and successful efforts ofthe Quebec and Montreal Fish and
Game Protection Clubs must necessarily be a source of pleasure to the many
patriotic sportsmen interested in the cause of its preservation. Amongst many
zealous members, one above others, in my opinion, deserves a passing word of
encouragement, for his untiring efforts and energy — poachers, hucksters, pot
hunters ; every 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
Game Protection Club. 1863. — (Alas, since these pages were written the angel of
health has deserted our active secretary — For his fireside, the calamity is great;
for the unprotected game, it is greater still. 1873.) <
(3) With this object was written my small volume: "Lee Pecheries du Ca
nada."
25

242 FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.
centuries subsisted exclusively on the produce of the chase,
Ihi'onghout the boundless forests of Canada (1).
The Jesuits, generally accurate in their stateraents, in des
cribing, in 1662, the Bird 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 nu
merous are they, that human beings ascending these rocks are
iu danger of being prostrated to the ground by the flapping of
the wings of these feathered denizens.

(1) To illustrate 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., ofthe Hudson's Bay Company, in 1861. A long residence in that
territory, and a patient investigation of the game it contains, renders Mr. Barn-
ton's statements particularly valuable.
" It is very difl&cult, " says he, " to form anything like an accurate idea ofthe
varieties of geese that have just been passed in review, viz: the Canada grey
goose, the lesser grey goose, the Brant goose, the snow goose, and the white
fronted goose. Of the quantity shot at particular points where they become an
article of provisions, we may arrive at a wide but still a better estimate. Seventeen
to twenty thousand geese are sometimes killed by the Albany Indians in the au
tumn or fall of the year, and ten thousand or more in the spring, making a total
for these coast Crees alone of at least  30,000
Not speaking so certainly of other natives, I would place the Moose
Indians as killing at all seasons  10,000
Rupert's Kiver natives  ,  8,000
Bastmain a,nd to the north, including Esquimaux  6,000
The Severn coast I cannot compute as yielding less than  10,000
The York Factory and Churchill India,ns, with Esquimaux beyond, must
dispose of  19,000
Making a total of geese killed on the coast, of  74,000
As many geese must die wounded, and others are got hold of by the foxes and
wolverines, we may safely allow the total loss to the floeks 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 be, the proportion for the autumn hunt,
but it is probably nearer three-fourths, and we have thus BO.flOO in round num
bers brought down from the newly-fledged flocks, as they pass southward along the
bay. I have lately been informed by an old and experienced hunter, that he
believes that for every goose that is killed, above twenty must leave the bay
without scaith, as although there is sometimes destruction dire a,mong some lots
that approach the gun, and that feed in quarters frequented by hunters, yet innu
merable families of them alight on remote and quiet feeding grounds, remain
there unmolested, and take wing when the cold sets in,wn.h their numbers intact.
I mu.«t allow the correctness of this remark, and the deduction to be drawn from
it is, that 1,200,000 geese leave their breeding grounds by the Hudson's Bay line
of march for the genial south. Of the numbers to the westward along the arctic

FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA' 243
We subjoin two extracts from the Relations des Jesuites, in
their own quaint French. (1)
Although egg-stealers (a bad set, by the by, whose opera-
lions Audubon properly stigmatises) haveconsiderably thinned
their nurabers. Dr. Bryant, who, in i860, made an ornithologi
cal survey of these islands, whora I had the pleasure of raeet
ing, found them slill tenanted by large numbers of gannels,
puffins, guillemots, 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 thousands
busy gobbling up the shell-fish, barnacles and sea weed which
chng lo the shelving rocks round Plateau and Bonaventure
islands, at Gaspe. We have watched the gannet, the herring-
gull, the cormorant, hovering in clouds over Perc^ Rock, on
whose verdant summit they build and find an asylum secure
frora their great destroyer, raan ; whilst their discordant voices
are heard above the roar of the surf, miles away. We have
seen Iheir young shot for food by hundreds in the month of
August. It is not an uncoramon thing in the fall of the year for the
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^ore of
the quantity supposed to leave the eastern part of the arctic coast, we cannot
have less than two millions of geese, composing the numerous battalions which
pass over the continent between the Atlantic and the Rocky Mountains, homo
aloft generally like the scud, and as swiftly hastened on, by the force of the
boreal blast.
" I ought to observe that the Brant geese, Bernicla Brenta, are not included in
the above estimate. They are pretty numerous on the Atlantic coast, but are quite
neglected by the Indians in general of Hudson's Bay. "
(1) " A I'entr^e de ce golfe (de St. Laurent) nous vlmes deux rochers, I'un
rond, I'autre quarr^. Vous diriez que Dieu les a plant^s au milieu des eaux
comme deux colombiers pour servir de lieux de retraite aux oiseaux qui s'y reti-
rent en si grande quantity, qu'on marche dessus ; et si I'on ne se tient bien ferme
ils s'^I^vent en si grande quantity qu'ils renversent les personnes ; on en rapporte
des chaloupes ou des petits bateaux tons pleins quand le temps permet qu'on les
aborde. Les Fran9ais les out nomm^s les lies aux Oiseaux. '' {Relation des
Jesuites. Le PSre Paul Le jeune.)
" L'Isle aux Coudres et I'Isle aux Oies m^ritent d'etre nomm^es en passant.
La premifere est souvent remplie d'61ans qui s'y rencontrent ; la seconde est peu-
pl^e en son temps d'une multitude d'oies, d'outardes, dont Vile qui est plate et
chargSe d'herbe comme une prairie en parait toute couvei'te. Les lieux circonvoisiTis
retentissent incessamment dee cris de ces oiseaux. "

244 PIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.
Gasp6 fishermen to kill as raany as twenty sea fowl, at one shot,
in the air holes araong the ice, down which the hungry birds
crowd lo feed. Where is the Canadian sportsman who would
not give the world for a week on the Mille Vaches shoals in
Septeraber ? Were is the fowler who has nol heard of the
sport which Jupiter river, on Anticosti, affords, over and
above the chance of putting an occasional bullet through one
of the many bears attracted to the sea shore for their morning
meal of kelp and seaweed, in the absence of green oats and
young mutton, their favorite provender? It would be unfair,
however, to lead sportsmen to believe that one has to go as
far as Anticosti to get a crack at « Bruin, » when there are
instances on record of snipe shooters killing bears on the
beaches close to Quebec. Let us mention one recent occur
rence. A sporting meraber of the Quebec bar (1), whom the
summer vacation had seduced away from the Pandects and
Blackstone, to the swampy Chateau Richer flats, was baggingas
usual, a few dozen snipe 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 pre
sence on the swamp was construed by lbe disciple of St. Hu
bert into a clear case ot trespass. Nothing could be more
iticonvenant, one will admit, than for a bear to take possession
of the feeding grounds of teal and snipe. Qu'allait-il faire
dans cette galere ? A heavy charge at close quarters, and
Bruin's spirit was wafted to where all good bears go.
What clouds of sand pipers, curlew and plover, September
brings forth frora their breeding places, in the bairen wilds of
Labrador, the secluded lakes and solitary islands of the
north, up lo Ihe frozen occean ! Look, friend, look at that
dense vapor hovering over that long sand bar. La Batture
aux Alouettes, a breast of Tadousac. From afar, you might
take it for a cloud 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 lillie norihern strangers, the ring plovers •
(1) Richard Peutland, Esquire.

FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA. 245
look out for them as they settle by thousands, on the sand ;
now is your time. Enfilade their serried ranks, fire low ;
bang ' One shot suffices, you have one hundred victims ; to
fire again would only cause unnecessary carnage. Father Point,
lower down than Rimouski, during strong easterly winds,
alTords capital sport. 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 into the surf
and fetches out the dead and wounded birds. You can either
continue to beat the shore or cross over wilh us lo Seal Rocks,
opposite 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 frora 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. Quantum mutata ab ilia I Night shooting has
effectually scared the ducks from their resting places. Of
swans, Lord Dalhousie seems to have had the last. As
to cranes, two only have been seen of late years. This
wary stilted stranger, Gruem advenam, can only be an acci
dental visitor, as its range is considerably more to the west.
How often have we seen ils solitary figure looming up at low
tide, far beyond the range of a gun ? Where is the lime 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 ? wary in the extreme,
are those noisy swarap-feeders, who during the suramer months,
wing every alternate day their wedgehke flight from the St.
Joachim beaches, lo the Crane Island flats, where they con
gregate at low water raark, sorae 3,000, feeding beyond a rifle's
range. We know of a hunting ground not one hundred railes
frora Quebec, in which the protection of garae is strikingly
exeraplified. None but the proprietors have access lothis pre
serve, in which outardes, wild geese, and ducks assemble in
astonishing multitudes. Recently two men shot fifty wild geese
there in two days. The place is a source of revenue to its

246 FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.
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 garae is to be had in Canada. The two
shores of the St. Lawrence, from Gaspe to the upper lakes,
and the larger number of the tributaries of the great river,
especially in the Ottawa district, are our chief shooting grounds
-^some seven or eighthundredleagues—plenly of elbow-room,
as you may see. The Chateau Richer swamp, in spile of the
indiscriminate slaughter of birds, slill furnishes some 3,000 or
4,000 snipe per season. The Bijou marsh, formerly an excel
lent hunting ground, under the St. Foy heights, is from cons
tant shooting, pretty well destroyed at present for garae pur
poses. What a splendid game preserve the Bijou would become
in the hands of a sporting millionaire I Woodcock are still nu
merous at C6te-a-Bonhorarae, near Charlesbourg, at La Baie
du Febvre, Les Salines, and jn fifty other places. Wild pigeon
shooting, especially in western Canada, yields an abundant
return. This bird slill resorts to the Niagara district in such
quantities that Audubon's graphic description of the flights of
wild pigeons in Kentucky ceases to appear overdrawn. Until
18.54, there existed in the woods back of Chateauguay, at a place
called the Five Points, a pigeon roost ; the devfistation caused
by this countless host in the wheat fields becarae very great,
but in presence of the incessant attacks of man, a general pi
geon stampede took place ; the roost is now deserted.
Grouse shooting, which in Canada coraraences on the 20lh
August, affords also sorae arausemenls. Grouse and partridge
are shot and snared in Canada, the [i ) Hon. Grantley F. Berkley
to the country notwithstanding — not poisoned with strychnine.
(1) We find in the London Times of the 18th September, 1863, in a letter
subscribed Grantley P. Berkely, valuable (?) information respecting the Canadian
partridge, and the mode of capturing it :— " The Americans, " says this learned
Nimrod, " are profoundly ignorant of the way to shoot winged game in any quan
tities, or to take them alive, and it is not unlikely they have adopted strychnine
tts a method of death. " He, further on, explains why they poison the birds thev
intend for food, viz., foJ " the love of the almighty dollar, which makes men not
over nice in the means they take to get it. " Mr. Grantley P. B.'s peculiar insa
nity Is becoming ohronio — In Canada we should try the cold water cure.

FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA. 247
A great falling off is certainly now observable in the number
of birds, in consequence of the wanlon slaying of the old ones
in the breeding season ; but dive into the interior about forty
miles, at the time when the raaple tree is decked wilh tints of
unsurpassing loveliness, and the let us hear from you. We re
raeraber, one balmy Septeraber raorning, beating for grouse in
the wooded slopes of the Chateau Richer mountain, just at the
hour when the rising sun was pouring forth floods df golden
light. Never before had we seen our hardwood trees more
gorgeously decorated. The bright red, green maroon, and the
orange-colored leaves sparkling wilh dew-drops, and bathed
in autumnal sunshine, recalled to our mind Tasso's descrip
tion of Armida's enchanted forest. It might have been appro
priately corapared to a huge flower-garden in full bloom. Our
reverie was briskly interrupted by the whirring sound of a
grouse, flushed frora ils cover by our dog.
Grouse is not the only game which you meet in the woods
during a September ramble ; perhaps you raay be lucky enough
to have a shot at the bird royal, the golden eagle, or his pilfering
compeer the bald eagle, soaring high above your head amongst
the crags. Do nol be alarmed if, in crossing a mountain gorge,
the hoarse croak of the raven shoulii catch your ear. And if,
perchance, caraped for the night on the mountain brow in a
deserted sugar-hut, you hear the horrible hooting of the great
horned owl, fear notliing ; it is not the evil one. Wait until Ihe
nocturnal marauder lights on the large tree nextloyourresting
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 Ihe Gordon
Cumniing in your coraposition, and you have a hankering for
larger garae, without being able to get to the Rocky Mountains,
go and ask thai Charle.-bourg peasant in the market place the
particulars of the raid which bears have recently made in bis
oat-field, after decimating bis flock. Go in quest of the sheep-
slayer ; your guide will take you where bruin and her ciibs
hold their nightly revels. Take care not lo miss your inleadtid
victim ; if you do, or only wound her, she won't miss you.

248 FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA.
When you are tired of shooting bears, Canada geese, ducks,
snipe, woodcock, 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 buffalo browse ; a subject
upon which the Prince of Wales, our late 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-cathedra. You can occasiona ly vary your sport by
looking after wild turkeys and prairie hens (1), reserving deer
and caribou hunting for the winter season, but when you
gel there, with Mr. Russell's (2) fate before your eyes, do not
deseciale the Sabbath. Before we pari, let me give you a so
lemn piece of advice. By the raighty shades ef Hawker, by the
ramrod of the great Saint Hubert, I adjure you nol lo waste
powder and shot in the neighborhoud of large cities ! Spring
shooting and pot-hunters have for the raost part extirpated the
game in such localities. Go to Sorel, Deschambault. Kamou
raska, Mille-Yaches, Lancaster, Long Point on Lake Erie, for
ducks ; to Chateau Richer,jGrondines, St. Pierre-les-Becquets,
for snipe ; beal C6te-a-Bonhorarae, the whole range of heights
frora Charlesbourg lo the Jacques Cartier river, for woodcock ;
but if you wish for sport in earnest, go to western Canada, to
the Saint Clair raarshes, (3) where you will find swans, geese,

(1) Pkairie Chickens were never known to be so abundant in Iowa as the
present season. In Buchanan aud Blackhawk counties they can be killed with
stones and clubs, and hunting them with guns is next to no sport at all. So plenty
are they that the farmers importune hunters to try their luck on their grounds,
and in some instances they have manifested a willingness to pay for the killing.
{Quebec Mercury, 22ud August, 1863.)
(2) My Diary— North and South, Page 202.
(3) We read in the Toronto Leader, of November, 1860 : — " Captain Strachan
and Mr. Kennedy returned last evening from a fortnight's shooting in the St.
Clair marshes, where they had excellent sport, bagging, to the two guns, two
swans, three snipe, five wild geese, and 570 ducks, — black, mallard and grey
ducks— weight 1,860 lbs. "
" Cols. Rhodes and Bell, of this city, retumed 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 num
ber of white partridges, hares, &o. Such an amount of game brought down by
two guns must be considered a decidedly good battue. We understand that one of

FIN AND FEATHER IN CANADA. 249
ducks, teal, snipe, even eagles ; in fact all the gameof Canada
congregated. Rely for success on good dogs, a trusty guide, a
sure aim, and, our word for it, a plethoric garae bag will be
your reward.
the large caribous has been obtained by several ofScers of the garrison for the
purpose of being sent to England. " — Quebec Morning Chronicle, 29th December,
1862. " Ten tons of prairie chickens and quail were shipped from Chicago to New
York by one ofthe Express companies recently. " — Ibid, 6th January, 1863.
" Salmon Fishino. — Mr. Law's party returned from Godbout yesterday morn
ing, three rods having killed 194 salmon, weighing 2196 lbs ; the average weight
of each, being 11 lbs. and one-third. ''—Mercury, 7th August, 1863.
We now have before us a tabular statement showing the catch, each day, of
three rods in the river Moisie, on tho gulf coast, in 1862, viz : 318 salmon; aver
age weight, 15 to 17 lbs.; and, also, a similar authentic statement for the 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 re
turned from a shooting expedition 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 the other 40 lbs., besides a quantity of smaller game*
Most of the dutks have now left, owing to the freezing of the marshes.
The Montreal Witness says : — " We learn that the Hon. Col. Annesley, M. P.,
the Hon. Capt. Blphistone and Mr. Morland, returned to Montreal after a two
days' shooting excursion, having bagged 232 head of duck and other game. "

26

THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEEES
1837.

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH,

There are unquestionably raany pages of our history — some
pregnant wilh especial interest— yet unwritten. Of the latter,
may he reckoned those, recording the great civil commotion
inaugurated by Louis Joseph Papineau, in Eastern Canada,
and by Wi liam Lyon Mackenzie, in the western section ofthe
Dominion. (1).
Despite the rancorous feelings engendered at the time, by
this social upheaving, the day rannot be far distant when the
raemories of Ibis fratricidal strife will have lost much of their
bitterness ; nay, such unlocked for, such momentous events,
have crowded on us, since that warlike period, that an uller
revulsion of feeling, in raany cases, has been the result.
The sundering of the colonial tie, for atterapting which, the
« Patriots » of 1837 were gibetted by the score, when not
exiled or plunged in dungeons, seems of late years to have
been considered by many Imperial statesmen, but a question
of time or expediency. In 1837, he who sat in stale in the
Chateau St. Lou s, in the name of Majesty, had very decided
views on the doctrine of colonial independence. His Majesty
William lY's Attorney-General, Charles Ogden, held it to
mean a hempen collar. Duquette, DeLorimier, Narbonne, Hin-
delang, and twenty others, found it so, lo their cost ; slill
(1) The New York Commercial Advertiser thus notices the arrival of the cele
brated agitator. " New York, March 10th, (1838), Lion of the Nokth. We are
enabled to state, positively, unequivocally and categorically, that the Cinein-
natus — the Robert Bruce, the Brutus-and-Cassius, the Hampden-and-Sidney, of
Canada, nay, the personification of Minekva and the Goddess of Liberty them
selves, is now in this city, in the illustrious person of William Lton Mackenzie !
He was at the Exchange reading-room yesterday, looking over the papers with no
more pretension than though he were a common man. "

252 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
barely a generation has passed when good Queen Yic, know
ingly raakes a belted knight of the raost prorainent charapion
of independence : Sir A. T. Gait : Tempora mutantur.
Wit;hout pretending to anything elaborate, let us collect from
the lips of a few surviving actors of this strange drama, some
lid-bits of inforraation and gossip anent the stirring volunteer
days of 37-38, prefacmgour sketch with some general remarks,
calculated to make ilmore intelligible toour enquiring nephews.
We can ourselves well reraeraber the lime, when to the exci
ted vision of a Quebecer of British descent, all thatwas vile, un
principled, Ireasonableand wicked might be summed up in the
one word, « Papineau, » Then, indeed, the eloquent leader of
the Canadian Commons, could, like the great agitator, O'Connell,
have boasted that he was « the best abused man » in the
country. A superlatively loyal French song of the period, after
enumerating the calamities of every hue, which could be
charged to the arch-agilalor, without forgetting cholera-morbus,
earthquakes and the potatoe rot, concluded each stanza with
the well reinembered words : « C'est la faute a Papineau. »
A dreaded monster was he, this sarae Louis Joseph, in the
eyes of superlatively loyal men, such, for instance, as Bob
Syraes, one of His Britannic Majesty's zealous justices of the
Peace, «in and for the district of Quebec, » in the year of 
fuss and alarm, 1837.
But peace lo Louis Joseph's ashes ! raay they continue lo
rest where some loving hands have placed thera on the 24th
Sept., 1871, at MonteBello, his own beautiful seat, on the
green banks of the Ottawa. Peace to his raeraory ! he is now
before a higher tribunal, to answer for his deeds in the flesh.
If one reflects how fully England bas since granted Ihe
demands asked for, by the misguided « Patriots » of 1837, as
set forth ill their « Declaration of Independence,)) viz:
« abolition of the seigniorial dues (though we must denounce
the mode by which il was to be brought about in 1837); secu
larization of the Clergy Reserves; abolition of imprisonraentfor
debt, excepl in exlrerae cases ; freedora of the Press ; trial by
Jury, in an extended forra ; the use of bolh languages in public
affairs ; the control of the Provincial Revenue and Tariff ;

A CHRISTMAS siiETCH. 2S3
abolition of sentence of death, except in cases of tnurder, » it
seeras strange, that it should have specially fallen to the lot of
French Canadians 10 fight to the death, for the possession of
reforras and ch-inges, raany of them so peculiarly British in
their ring, and to achieve which they incurred such a liberal
allowance of hanging and outlawry. Was the real issue ever
before the eyes of the British Canadian in 1837 ? We opine
not. »
To return to Bob Symes. Who then was this incomparable Ma
gistrate, this dauntless, ever watchful defender of Ihe Hano^
veriaii succession and citadel of Quebec ? Has he too been
knighted for services rendered in this fair portion of Yictoria's
realms ?
Rcho pauses for a reply. Bob, for under no other cognoraen
were his praises weekly sung in Mr. Aubin's witty Journal,
Le Fantasque, Bob was the pink of civic virtue — a perfect
pundit in constitutional law — the impersonificalion of loyalty.
Robert Synnes discoursed of treason while awake, to dream of
it, in the silent hours of night. Each Monday raorning, said
Mr. Anbin, Bob had at his fingers end the whole ramification
df sorae deep laid plot to murder His Majesty's lieges. He
denounced rebels the last thing before going lo bed ; it was his
first thought on waking. Bob would shake hands with his fellow-
citizens impressively, and tell them each morning to be thank
ful that so far they had not yet been shot, or piked, or hung ;
that wilh the helping hand of Ally. -General Ogden and the
Yolunteers, they might yet escape the devil aud Papineau, so
said Mr. Aubin. It was inspiriting lo witness the sight ; it
did one's heart good lo see bow brightly in every bosom
burned the sacred fire of patriotism. Far be il frora our raind,
however to impugn the motives which prompted Mr. Symes,
acts : on raore occasions than one, did he evince exquisite purely
in his judicial conduct, blended with a buldog courage, which
no danger could appal ; witness, the services he rendered at
the Grosse Isle quarantine, during the revolting horrors of ship
feaver, in 1847. Another trait yel, ere we dismiss this well re
membered, over zealous Justice. Bob had several points of re
semblance with the noted Judge Esgrove, of Scotch fame; both

^54 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
had refractory tailors to deal wilh, but John Teed, of Quebec,
was a « patriot, » whereas he, of Edimburgh, was a male
factor ; in this, the heroes of the bodkin widely differed.
Had Teed risen in arms, which he did not, and injured the
body or uniform of any of Her Majesty's Forces, Bob Symes
would more than likely have selected some impressive sen
timents, like the errained sage of Ediraburg is reported, by
Coburn, to have used on passing sentence on the Edimburg
Tailor, for having stabbed a British soldier, « and not only did
you murder him, but you did thrust, — or push, — or pierce, —
or project, — or propel Ihe le-lhal weapon through the belly
band of his breeches, which were His Majesty's. ))
The Canadian Radamanlhus could be qui e as impressive,
when he delivered his dreaded rulings, frora that Bench now
occupied by Mr. Justice Doucet. He had al times a picturesque
way of giving to the prisoner, the usual jobation. More than
one practitioner of the Police Court raay possibly yet reraember,
the case of the two saUors, who refused to join their ship
ready for sea, on the ground that she was not sea-worthy.
The salts had raost forbidding countenances ; to this Bob
Symes seeraed fully ahve. Throwing himself back in his seat,
ut mos, he uttered majestically, the following : « Go on board,
ray raen. Go on board, without fear, I tell you. You are evi
dently born to be hanged and never can be drowned. (1)
The Quebec and Three River districts, at the vo'ce of Iheir
leaders^ political, and religious, seceded al an early dale frora
(1) In a situation of eminent danger, from drowning, it was once my fate, to
witness the calm and self reliance ofthe dauntless Magistrate and to ponder in
my mind, whether it prooeded from stoutness of heart or from the belief, that
like the two seamen, he too " was not born to be drowned. "
It happened on the 15th March, 1861 ; the St. Lawrence had frozen over before
the city, in what appeared a solid sheet of glare ice. Hundreds were crossing over
to Levis i I, with the rest. All at once, we became painfully aware, that the whole
ice was on the move with the ebb, and that unless we reached the shore, a fair
chance of perishing amidst the thin ice lay before us.
To reach the Napoleon whirf, we had to cross, one by one, over a belt of ice,
whose wavy, yielding motion made one's hair stand on end. Bob Symes, said he
would go first. " I could not forbear recalling to my neighbor his previous saying,
adding. " Evidently, ho thinks he is not born to be drowned. " All of us escaped,
more or less, with a cold bath, except one poor fellow — David Eisset— who after
many struggles, sank, to rise no more.

A CHRISTMAS SKETClt. ^55
the armerf resistance, inaugurated without arms! (1) by the
Montreal district in the Richelieu valley.
In the counties of Champlain, Portneuf, Dorchester, meet
ings were held in November and December, 1837, expressive
of loyally, though advocating reforms by constitutional raeans;
there had, however, been « agitation meetings, » in Belle-
chasse ; at St. Thoraas ; at the St. Paul's Market, St. Roch's
Church door,|Glacis School House, in the cily of Quebec, — for
tunately of no real importance. In this, did the Quebec district
show ils good sense.
The frenzy of loyalty and martia! preparations, in the city
itself, had scarcely cool reason on its side. The wildest
rumours were freely circulated. The hatreds and national
jealousies of the period had ample scope. More than one alarm
ing canard originated amongst Ihe frequenters of a fashionable
segar store in St. John street, kept by one Peter Delcourt, or
in Schleup's hotel ; — presto, the Police was dispatched to
search for concealed arras, cannon, gunpowder. However,
these ebullitions sprang in raany cases from one of the purest
of sentiments : patriotism, civic virtue, as such deserving of
all praise. Though the French Canadians, as a people, were
true to one another, and refused lo enlist, there were several
offers of service, in the Quebec district, from that class ; of
which, Government declined to avail itself.
Political discontent was not confined lo one nationahty.
Amongst the most noted « Rebs » there were several, not
bearing French Canadian names. In the district of Montreal ;
Robert Nelson, Wolfred Nelson, E. B. O'Callaghan, T. S.
Brown, Hindeulang, Girod (2), Wm. Hay Scott, &c., Dr.
Newcomb. Aboutthe 1st November, inteUigence was received of the
arrest and rescue of political prisoners ; and news of the
shooting of Loyal Canadians, by the Insurgents, on Ihe Sth of
(1) We say without arms, advisedly. Some patriots in their ardor, tumed out
with, pitchforks. In one instance, a wooden cannon was sent forth, encircled with
strong iron hoops, says Christie ; marbles, were found in the pockets ofthe slain
patriots, to be used instead of leaden bullets.
(2) Amaury Girod, a Swiss, the General of the northern army, four days after
the affair at St. Eustache, blew his brains out with a pistol on the 18th December"
1837, at Pointe-aux-Trembles, below Montreal.

2S6 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
the same month. The excitement this caused was augmented
by an official report of the murder, on 2nd and 3rd Nov., of
Lieut. Weir, (1) 32nd Regt. and defeat of Col. GoreatSt. Denis,
by the insurgent leader Nelson. These deplorable events pro
duced immediate and energetic action, to organize a systera of
defence. On the 27th of November, 1837(2), Civil Secretary, S.
Walcott, by letter dated « St. Lewis Castle )> addressed on be
half of the Earl of Gosford, lo Hon. J. M. Fraser, Wm. Price,
J.B, Forsyth, W. H. Jeffery, G. H Parke, Jas. G.Ross, M. Ste
venson, Robert Shaw, and other men of note, who had at a
public meeting at the Quebec Exchange, offered their services, lo
serve as Yolunteers, in order to supply the absence of the re
gulars who were ordered to Montreal, graciously accepted their
offer. Volunteering, Drill and Parade duties were soon begun in
real earnest. Though the sinew of war, had lo be provided out
of raw mililia, there were a good raany though bils of fighting
stuff remaining, — Peninsular officers,^some of Genl, Brock's
veterans and regulars ; enough in fact, to leven the whole mass.
The Earl of Gosford had selected a most popular head : Ll.
Col. Honorable Jas. Hope, of the Coldstreara Guards, son of
Major General Hope, who was severely wounded and taken
prisoner at a sortie from Bayonne, at the close of the Peninsu
lar war; he subsequently became Earl of Hopetoun, to which
title his son succeeded. « A finer man or better soldier, I
never met, says Lt. Col. Wiley, »,then the active major of Bri
gade, of the Yolunteer Force. In 1839, a dinner was given
him, by his officers, which went off with great eclat ;. for
those were festive days too, those Yolunteer times of 1837-8-9.
Such was the good feeling between the regulars and the
citizen-soldiers, that when Brigade Major Wiley, appointed
adjudant to the 1st. Provincial Regt, had to raise men for
frontier service wilh its head quarters at Philipsburg, and
having succeeded out of the adijectamembra-o of the dis
banded Yolunteers, to procure in 48 hours 200 recruits, he
was kindly given by the officers of the Guards, the use of their
(1) Atty.-Gene*al Ogden, had Capt. Franfois Jalbort, indicted for the murder
of Lieut. Weir, at the Montreal assizes of Sept., 1839; the jury composed of 9 French
Canadians and 3 old countrymen acquitted him. :{See Christie's History, vol. V
pp. 16 and 291.)
(2) See Christie's History, vol. V, p. 455.

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH. 257
splendid drum and fife corps, to play hira and the men under
his command, to the steamer. Capt. (nowLl. Col.) John Sewell,
late of the 49lh (Genl. Brock's Regt,) was appointed with the
rank of Major, to lake command of the Yolunteer Regt. Infan
try. This active and intelligent officer, succeeded, so well in
imparting military knowledge to his corps, which had been
incorporated in a Batallion, that in the month of December
1837, Ihe Quebec Garrison being reduced to one company of
Royal Artillery, this Balalhon was placed in charge of Ihat
important post, the citadel of Quebec. Conspicuous amongst
the Yolunteers, was our old fellow townsmen Henry LeMesu-
rier, for many years one of the magnates of St. Peter street, and
married into a distinguished French Canadian family (lo Miss
Guerout). Mr. LeMesurier, by his standing, genial disposition
and military experience, was a valuable addition lo the force.
Born in Guernsey in 1791, he was son of Commissary General
Haviland LeMesurier; had entered the English army in 1811 ;
served under the Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular cam
paign ; was present at the battle of Salamanca, and, when
bearing the colors of the 47 Ih Regiraent, his right arra was
carried away by a round shot, when he joined Ihe Commissa
riat; served during the war in Canada in 1812, retired on
half pay in 1818, and died in 1861 a Lieut. -Colonel of Mihtia.
Our worthy old friend Major Temple, late of the loth, was,
in 1837, an active commander of the Queen's Own Infantry.
Other veterans had also offered their services, viz., Lieut. -
Colonel Charles Campbell, late of the 99th, (recently dead). In
1837, the Yolunteers were gazetted as follows :
QUEBEC LIGHT INFANTET.
Major John Sewell, commanding.
1st. Company: Captain, J. S. CampbeU; Lieut., Thorn. Froste; Ensign, Paul
Lepper.
2nd. Company : Captain A. Simpson ; Lieut., H. Sharpies ; Ensign, E. H. David
son.
3rd. Company, (rifles) : Captain, (Hon.) John Young ; Lieut., Hy. J. Noad ; En
sign, W. Paterson.
4th. Company: Captain, Jas. Gillespie; Lieut., W. K. Baird; Ensign, John
Martyn.
Sth. Company: Captain, Henry LeMesurier; Lieut., Andrew McGill; Ensign, Alec.
BeU. Adjutant ofthe five companies. Ensign (now Lt.-Col.) Thomas Wiley;
Surgeon, Geo. M. Douglas.
27

258 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
Uniform. — Com^Jany No. 1: White blanket frock coat, with blue band, blue shoul
der straps, blue cuffs, blue breeches, dark cap, fiat and fur band.
Vniloim.— Companies No. 2, Z,and 5, blue coat, buff breeches. No. 4, Com.]>any,
white blanket coat, green facings, blue breeches, blue cap and light band.
LOYAL QUEBEC ARTIFICERS OK FAUCH-A-BALLADQHS.
Captain, John C. Nixon; Lieut., James Thornton ; Ensign, Richard Freeman.
Uniform. — White blanket coat, red sash, green buttons, — green facings, and green
seams ; high cap with green top falling over, blue breeches, red stripe.
queen's OWN LIGHT INFANTET.
Major, Henry Temple; Lieut., Fred. Wyse ; Ensign, William Clarke.
Uniform. — White blanket coat loith band of blue, red facings, blue breeches, red
stripe, high cap, ENGINEER EIPLE OOEPS.
Major, George H. Vincent Whitmore (Lieut. Royal Engineers), commanding
the two companies and the Royal Artificers.
1st Company : 1st Captain, Henry M. Blaiklock ; 2nd Captain, Francis Wyatt ;
1st. Lieutenant, Charles Jas. Clarke ; 2nd Lieutenant, Fred. W. Blaiklock.
nd Company : 1st Captain, Frederick Hacker; 2nd Captain, John Phillips: 1st.
Lieutenant, George Brown; 2nd Lieutenant, Edward J. Fletcher; Adjudant
of the two companies and of the Royal Artificers, William Scott.
niform. — White blanket frock coat, red shoulder straps, collar and cuffs blue,
ap blue, with red band, breeches blue and red stripe.
EING'S END VOLUNTEEES.
Captain, William Peutland; Lieut., C. Pentland ; Ensign, Jas. Farley.
EOTAL QUEBEC VOLUNTEEE AETILLEEY.
1st Company : 1st Captain, AVilliam Burns Lindsay ; 2nd Captain, George Des-
barats, (acting paymaster) ; 1st. Lieut., ^l^ D. Dupont and H. H. Wickstead ;
2nd Lieutenant, McGregor Pink.
2nd Company : 1st Captain, Edward H. Bowen ; 2nd Captain, John Black ; 1st
Lieutenant, Simeon LeliSvre ; acting quarter-master, John Panet; 2nd Lieu
tenant, H. LeMesurier.
3rd Company : 1st Captain, W. K. McCord; 2nd Captain, Andrew Stuart; 1st
Lieutenant, Isaac R. Eckart; Acting Adjudant, A. J. Maxham ; 2nd Lieute
nant, E. J. G. Hooper; Paymaster, Capt. D. Dupont; Quarter-master, Jas.
Motz ; Surgeon, Jas. A. Sewell, M. D.
Uniform : Identical with that of Royal Artillery.
EOTAL QUEBEC VOLUNTEEES.
Coloriel James Baird (66th Regiment) commanding ; Major, William A. Hale.
1st Company - Capt., A. Campbell; Lieutenant, Charles C. Sheppard.
2nd Company : Captain, J. Dyde ; Lieutenant, W. A. Cuppage ; Ensign, Antoine
Vanfelson.
3rd Company; Captain, W. Power; Lieutenant, Joseph P. Bradley; Ensign*
Charles Alleyn.
4th Company : Captain, J. G. Irvine ; Lieutenant, E. S. Montizambert ; Ensign,
Colin Bruce.
Sth Company: Captain, T. W. Lloyd: Lieutenant, HenryJBall; Ensign, Thomas
A. Gary.

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH. 259
6th or (1) Highland Company, (Megantic) ; Captain, Arch. MoKillop ; Lieut.,
P. McKillop; Ensign ; John G. Clapham.
7th Company: Captain, J. P. O'Meara; Lieutenant, J. H. Kirby; Ensign, Ed.
G. Cannon.
Sth {^ompany, (Queen's Pets); Captain, William Rayside; Lieutenant, A. C.
Bucanan; Ensign, Walter Douglas; Paymaster, William Kemble; A.dju-
dant, Thomas Hamilton.
Uniform : Companies No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, blue loose coat, with red collar,
blue breeches, high fur cap with long ears.
Highland Company uniform : Rob Roy Tartan Trews, Scotch bonnet, dark frock
coat. The Sth Company of Queen's Pets wore long blue pea jackets, blue breeches ; a round
fur cap with long ears, and red woollen cravat ; their arms were : horae pistols, broad
cutlasses and a carronade, QUEBEC VOLUNTEEE OAVALRT.
Captain: David Burnet; Lieutenant (Judge), Rob. H. Gardner; Cornet, J.
Bell ; sixty troopers.
The writer of this skelch, though very young at the time,
can well recollect an episode of Ihe great insurreclion. It took
place at St. Thomcs, where resided, one of the most energetic
« sympathizers » of those days, Dr. (since Sir E. P. Tache,
aide-de-carap to the Queen). Evidently, in 1837, Dr. Tache
had not the slightest inkling that our beloved sovereign would
knight him and make of him, one of her aide-de-camp ; his
denuncial'ons of British rule, or more properly misrule, were
loud and deep. He and theCounty Member Letourneau, Capt. Telu
and other-, had been the chief originators of the enthusiastic
fete champetre, given to the great agitator, Papineau, solemn
ized with speeches, cannnon and cavalry at the Bois de Boulogne,
at St. Thomas, on Saint Jean Bapliste day, 1837. Though an
ardent patriot. Dr. Tache, the respected village physician, was
one of the warmest personal friends of an uncompromising old
Loyalist, a near and dear relative of mine, the late Daniel
McPherson, J. P., of St. Thomas. Each day the eloquent
doctor stepped over lo treat professionally or to enliven his octo
genarian friend, Mr. McPherson, wilh items of news. My youth
ful fancy had never yel witnessed the spectacle of the burning
eloquence and patriotic ardor wilh which Dr. Tache, narrated
Ihe heroic death of youngDr. Chenier, at St. Eustache, who he
said had died « corarae un heros digne de la Grece antique. ))
(1) This fine company, had been, we believe, mainly raised through the instru
mentality of the County member, J. G. Clapham.

260 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
One of the coraraanders of the Yolunteers, Caplain John
Sewell, had been commissioned to take slops to walch over Ihe
safety ofthe (1) 42nd Regt., brought from Halifax to Quoibec,
in the depth of winter ; the numbed Britishers were packed
two by two, wilh a driver in front, in little low sledges ; the
temperature was very severe. They halted al St. Thomas for
their dinner, and our house being considered a peculiary loyal
one, a bevy of stalwart sergeants, its inmates, anxious to gel as
close to the fire as possible, sat rae, youngster as I was, on
their knee, scaring me wilh their dreadful threats as to what
they would do to the «b  dy rebels. )) whilst sorae of their
officers in the parlor were bountifully provided with bread,
cheese and porter by the kind old Scotchman, their host.
Neither shall I forget how easy it would have been, had there
been any «Rebs» abroad, lo secrete themselves in the narrow,
woody defiles of Cap St. Ignaee, where there wasa savane Ihree
miles long, and shoot down the helpless and frost bitten soldiers,
who would have been struck by the bullets before seeinglheen-
emy. But there was no intention lorise; nothing existed beyond
a patriotic fervor, either in the breast of Dr. Tache or any one
else. The Doctor however was subjected, loamostunpleasantdo-
raiciliary visit, — a search for fire arms and a cannon? supposed
to be hidden underhis winter supply of potatoes, in thecellarof
his capacious dwelling. The police did find a pair of duelling pis
tols, — for in those days, the doctor was not a man to be withou't
this very indispensible article of a genlleman's wardrobe, — and
a sraall cannon ; but this a Mons. Megg )) (2) was only six in
ches in length and belonged, it was satisfactorily estabhshed,
(1) " This regiment had received a few hours' notice to start for Canada ; and, in
winter vehicles, proceeded to their destination, the flrst division crossing at Point
Levi on the 28th December. It was an interesting sight to witness the long string
of carioles as they came over the hill of the opposite side of tho River St. Law
rence ; and then the crossing over, amidst the floating ice, in wooden canoes, with
flags gaily flying at the stern — the landing at Quebec — the weary and weather-
beaten soldiers as (hey quietly fell into the ranks, aud answered to the roll-call
marching with military precision up Mountain hill to their quarters for a brief
rest, preparatory to proceeding to the seat of war." (J. V. Pierce.)
(2) The St. Thomas piece of ordnance had not, like its prototype of Edinbro'
in 1745, sung by Scott, the honor of removal by the Government to the Tower of
London, or Citadel of Quebec. This was probably owing to the circumstance that
it^did not " crack " like the Big Scotch gun. — " Seout mons megga crackasset. "

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH. 261
to the Dr's. juvenile son — the present worthy Assistant Com
missioner of Crown Lands. Alas 1 Bob Symes and you, loyal
Thomas Ainslie Young, you were at fault here !
A Rifleman of 1837 (J. Y. Pierce) thus describes the
Yolunteers :
« The regular troops stationed at this garrison consisted of a
few regiments ofthe hue, among whom the gallant 32nd. They
were imraediately ordered to proceed to that portion of Lower
Canada where hostihties had already coraraenced, leaving the
strong fortress of Quebec in charge and to the defence of a volun
teer force. The militia organization was, as might be expected
at that time, very incomplete and inefficient ; the roll on paper
certainly looked very formidable with a long array of co
lonels, majors, captain."!, lieutenants and ensigns, but their
knowledge of raiUtary discipline, tactics and drill, were
thoroughly iraperfect and useless. No training or rauster of
railitia had taken place for several years, raany of the men
having never handled a musket.
When it was decided lo withdraw the troops from the garri
son, the old country portion of the coraraunity were enrolled
inlo companies, and quite a martial spirit prevailed. The first
paid corps raised, consisted of laborers, mechanics and trades
men, chiefly Irish, and were called the

PORK-EATERS^

forming a regiraent of about 600 strong; able, resolute fellows,
who, on being equipped, al first presented a motley, awk
ward squad. After a period of thorough drilling by the non
commissioned officers of the regulars, and subjection to strict
military discipline, they became efficient, and, before raany
months elapsed, presented a very soldier-like appearance
going through their evolutions almost as well as the regulars,
and, had occasion required, would have proved a formidable
body for an enemy to encounter. Colonel Irvine had comraand
of this regiraent ; Colonel Hope, of the Grenadier Guards,
was the Commander-in-Chief of the garrison. A fine cavalry
corps of well-mounted and active young volunteers, under
Major Burnet, also served during this period.

262 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
The next corps was a unique body of men called the
queen's PETS,
comprising the seamen and seafaring men who happened to be in
the port ofQuebec, and wereenrolled under the coramand of Cap
tain Rayside, a veteran naval officer, vvell known as one of the
captains, ofthe Montreal and Quebec steamers, and afterwards
as harbor- master of the port. Their uniform consisted of blue
pea-jackets and Irowsers, equipped with pistols, cutlasses, and
a small carronade. Had they been called into action, either
for land or water warfare, theywoidd have proved adetermined,
brave and useful means of defence. Their services were fre
quently brought into requisition; hunting up concealed arras,
amunition and disaffected parties, accompanied by Robert
Symes, an active and zealous magistrate. The Queen's Pels
became, for a long time, quite a household word.
The next arm of defence was coraposed of

a fine set of raen, officered like the infantry by young
merchants and professional men, who, after being instructed
by the regulars, acquired great proficiency, particularly in the
art of gunnery, and handled the canon around the battlement
walls in a most creditable manner, forming an important
branch of the service for garrison duty.
CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS.
This corps was made up of Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 companies;
they were unpaid soldiers, furnishing their own uniforms — a
blanket frock-coat, wilh caps and leggins of the same material,
wilh red, blue, green and yellow facings. Each company was
distinguished by some peculiar cognoraen, one of which was
famous as the Faugh-a-Ballaghs. No 3 Rifles was con^dered
a crack corps of young merchants and clerks, of which the
writer (Mr. Pierce) was a full private. This corapany was officered
by Captain, now Hon. John Young ; Henry J. Noad, Lieutenant ;
and William Paterson, Ensign. They acquired great proficien
cy iu drill; especially that pertaining lo rifle movements and
skirmishing. The members of this company now living (alas !

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH. 263
how few I) still entertain a pleasant regard and happy remem
brance of their gentlemanly and efficient instructor, Mr., now
Colonel WUey. THE POT-BELLIES
were composed of Lower-town merchants of the elder class,
who turned out manfully on this occasion, and subjected them
selves to the drill and discipline of a soldier's hfe wilh becom
ing alacrity and good-will. It was cheering to witness their
portly figures as they marched up to the Citadel armory, and
received their accoutrements of black leather belts and car-
touch box, wilh 20 rounds of ball cartridge, and a flint lock
«Brown-bess. )) And oh ! the drilling ! « Mark time » — « Form
fours » — « Eyes right » — « Left » — « Front » — « Dress » —
such puffing and blowing excited many a good-humored joke
and smile as they moved about their heavy corporations at the
word of coraraand. The unpaid volunteers were under the
coramand of Colonel John Sewell.
GARRISON DUTIES.
To garrison the fortress of Quebec would require a force of
several thousand soldiers. Those who have visited the Citadel
and traversed the walls of ballleraenls, and entered through
the ponderous gates, can form some idea of Ihe vigilance re
quired to guard the several points around the cily. But the
present mode of warfare has completely changed the style of
fortifications of former days, the strong forts on the heights of
Point Levi, now (1869) nearly corapleted, being considered as
a more efficient means of defence.
THE GUARD ROOM
to the soldier is a place replete with many an interesting re
miniscence, and proves a most welcome resort lo the weary
sentry, after walking for hours his lonely round. Here il was
that we assembled to receive the orders of the day, and to be
told off to our several duties, some to the Citadel, some to the
gates, and other parts of the garrison. Those who have passed
to and fro as sentry in the Citadel in winter, when the thermo
meter marks 32 degrees below zero, can call to mind the soli-

264 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
tary hours before being reheved — the officer of the day cora
ing stealthily along — Ihe challenge : « Who goes there ? »
((Rounds.)) (( What rounds ? )) ((Grand rounds.)) ((Stand,
grand rounds and give the countersign. )) «Pass,grandrounds.»
« All right ! )) To relieve the raonotony of our duties, our cora
panions in arms would gather round and discuss the topics of
the day, or sorae subject would come up for interesting and
animated debate : song and storytelling continuing far into the
night, till, becoming weary, we turn in, on the soft side of the
planks of our bunks, and sink into a profound slumber, till
aroused by the beating of the reveille.
INCIDENTS.
Business was generally suspended, and rumors of various
kinds were rife concerning the Patriots, bolh in Upper and
Lower Canada, which kept all on the qui vive for the latest in
telligence. No lightningthen flashed the news over the telegraph
wires every minute, as if the events occuring thousands of
rades away were within sight and hearing distance ; no rail
way lo transport troops in a few hours lo the reraotest scene
of action.)) There was no lack of jollity (1) however.
Dinners were the order of the day. On the 21 st February, 1838,
the Quebec Gazette, describes a grand entertainment at Schluep's
Globe Hotel, St. Louis street. The officers of lbe Quebec
(1) St. Andrew's Dinnee — Nov. 1837.
The Quebec Gaaette of 1st. Dec, 1837, sets aside a corner of its fyle, amidst
the general " clang of arms and wars, and rumors of war, " which enlivened the
streets of old Quebec on the 1st Dec, 1837, to make mention of a jolly St.
Andrew's Dinner, under the Presidency of the eloquent late Andrew Stuart and
Hon. F. W. Primrose, Vice-President. " Among the songs which enlivened the
hilarity of the evening, after the regular toasts, was the following which was
sung by Mr. Campbell, Notary, (the late Archibald Campbell), and received
with universal applause, and encored. "
OEIGINAL SONG,
As sung by Archibald Campbell, Esq., at St. Andrew's Dinner.
AiB : " Scott wha Hoe, "
Men of Scotia's blood oriand. We scorn to wear a coward mask :
No longer let us idly stand. And when the yelL.w Gaul shall ask
Our " origin " while traitors brand Our claim, t'will be a welcome task
As " foreign " here. To bid him hear.

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH. 265
Light Infantry, presided by the Commander of the Corps,
Major (now Lt.-Col.) John Sewell : several distinguished guests
attended. On the 1st March, it was the turn of the Quebec Royal Volun
teers to meet convivially at the fashionable hotel of the day.
The Globe, St. Louis street. Major Wra. Hale presided. Loyal
toasts were drank lo the Queen ; Sir John Colborne— Col.
Wetherall and the heroes of St. Charles— the guests of the
evening— Cols. Baird of 66th— Col. Grierson 15th.— Capt.
McKillop— Major Ruxton 34th. Lt. Col. John Sewell, Major
Temple, Capt. (Hon.) John Young, Lt. A. J Maxham, Ensign Chs.
Alleyn, Capt. Thos. W. Lloyd, Lieut. E. S. Montizambert, Dr.
Jas. A. Sewell, Quarter Master Jas. Motz, H. II. Wickstead,
Capt. (Judge) Andrew Stuart, Ensign Rich. Freeman, Ensign
(Lt. Col.) Wiley and a few others still survive to tell of the jolly
tiraes, &c.
The fine band of the 66lh. Regt. attended.
" On the crest of Abram's heights. Then when the Gaul shall ask again,
" Victorious in a thousand fights. Who called us here across the Main ?
" The Scottish broad-sword won our Each Scot shall answer, bold and plain,
[rights " Wolfe sent me here I "
" Wi' fatal sweep. Be men like those the hero brought.
" By gallant hearts those rights were With their best blood the land was
[gain'd, [bought ;
"By gallant hearts shall be maitain'd. And fighting as your fathers fought.
E'en tho' our dearest blood be drain'd Keep it or die 1
" These rights to keep. "
The Quebec Coeling Club — 1838.
" The annual match between the married men and bachelors of the Quebec
Curling Club was played on the 1st of March, for " beef and greens, " when the
following was the result of the game :
Married men, 17; Bachelors, 31.
The following gentlemen were players :
Married men — .Messrs. R. H. Gairdner, William Patton, L. T. McPherson, Wil
liam Phillips and John Dyde. Bachelors — Messrs James Gillespie, John P.
Anderson, George Gillespie, James Burns and Thomas Hamilton.
The dinner of " beef and greens " with some other good things, took place on
Saturday last, at the Globe. Several guests were invited to partake of the hos
pitality of the Club, and the evening was spent in a very pleasant manner. "
{Quebec Gazette, 12th March, 1838.)
28

266 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
ESCAPE OF GENERAL THBLLER AND COL. DODGE FROM
THE CITADEL.
The sympathy of the people in the United States with the
Patriots was very extensive ; and no doubt, in many instances,
really sincere. Their own struggles for freedom and indepen
dence ever burning fresh in their minds, naturally leading them
to entertain perhaps, exaggerated notions and mistaken views
ofthe ((situation)) of their neighbors, caused some prominent
parties to aid and sympathize with the Patriots ; men, arms
and raoney were furnished, lo some extent : but want of con
cert, and the partial interference of the United States Iroops,
frustrated their designs and operations. Among those who
took an active part in assisting the patriots were General Thel-
ler and Col. Dodge, bolh professional men, who were taken
prisoners on the Detroit frontier, and brought down to Quebec,
and lodged in the Citadel, under sentence of transportation.
By some means, communication was kept up frequently during
their incarceration wilh French-Canadian and Irish Patriots in
the city. The Grenadier Guards occupied the citadel barracks,
and the friends of the prisoners having conveyed to thera some
bottles of beer or porter strongly drugged, the sentry was in
duced lo partake so freely that he fell into a profound sleep,
and they walked quietly out of the place of their confinement
to the bastion tower, on a dark tempestuous night. Culling off
the ropes of the flag-staff, they (wilh three others : Partridge,
Parker and Culver) let themselves down on the glacis below ;
but, owing to sorae mistake of preconcerted plans, they found
theraselves alone, without a guide or direction of any kind, in
a strange cily ; and after wandering about for some time, met
a French-Canadian on his way to work, by whom they were
taken to the suburbs of St. Roch for concealment. In the
mean lime the alarm had been given, and the guard ransacked
the city in every direction, the gates of the city being closed,
and every person scrutinized as they passed through the wicket ;
but the vigilance of the friends of the Yankees managed to
protect them from discovery. In the meantime, horses saddled
nd bridled were conveyed by Ihe ferry-boat to Point Levi,

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH. 2<J7
ready for their escape ; and after remaining for several days
in concealment at Quebec, they crossed over the river in a
small boat, and guided lo the place of rendez-vous, jumped
into the sadles, and riding with great speed, reached the United
Slates in safety. (Parker, Partridge and Culver were re-cap
tured.) AN ALARM.
By a preconcerted plan it was arranged that should any sus
picious demonstrations be raade by the Patriots during the
night-time, the sentinel on duty was to discharge his rausket,
two discharges of cannon would follow frora the Citadel,
and one from the artillery barracks at Palace-gate, being the
signal for the troops to meet at the rendez-vous in front of the
Parliament buildings.
Having retired to bed one night at ray own dwelling, with
my accoulreraents and (t Brown Bess » placed near ray bed
side, I was aroused at early dawn by the booming of cannon ;
and, baslily donning my uniforra, and taking my gun with fixed
bayonet, proceeded to the appointed rendez-vous, w'here the
volunteer troops were assembled ready for action. Scouts
having returned from a look-out, reported the cause of the
alarm. »
All, however, were nol, on that memorable night, like our
friend the rifleman J. Y. P., enjoying that (( sweet restorer,
balmy sleep, n when the ominous guns sounded. Some were
most merrily (( tripping the light fantastic toe, » araidst floods
of light and beauty, under the hospitable roof of  ,
enjoying wildly, «the ball ofthe season.))
" There was a sound of revelry by night.
And Canada's capital had gather'd then
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair woomen and brave men ;
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell.
Soft eyes look'd love to eyes which spake again.
And all went merry as a marriage bell ;
But hush I hark I a deep sound strikes like a rising knell ?
Did ye not hear it ? No; t'was but the wind
Or the car rattling o'er the stony stree* ;

268 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
On with the dance I let joy be unconfined ;
No sleep till morn when youth and pleasure meet.
To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet
But, hark ! — that heavy sound breaks in once more.
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before I
Arm ! arm 1 it is — it is — the cannon's opening roar.
It was nol quite (( the cannon's opening roar)) but the pre
concerted three shots the signal of a rising. The horizon
appeared all around in a blaze of light. The glare of the con
flagration seen frora afar, proved to be raerely the blaze of a
large fire, lit at dawn of day lo singe a large pig — killed the
day before — in the yard of the Hotel-Dieu, near Palace Gate.
The raorning was hazy, with a light snow falling, and the
sentinel had raistaken the reflection of the blaze for a signal of
general rising of the Patriots.
There were raore than one droll incident of this bloodless
carapaign. During the winter of 1838, a leading raerchant of St. Peter
street, Henry Atkinson, Esquire, when not at his beautiful resi"
dence at Spencer Wood, occasionally gave recherche dinners to
his raercanlile friends, in sorae very cosy rooms he owned,
adjoining his office in St. Jaraes street — occupied now by the
Inland Revenue Offices. Surrounded by many choice spirits, he
had nearly got through all the loyal toasts of the period, no heel
taps then; happening to look towards his wharf, he fancied he
saw a light, round the bright pine deals. Fearing incendiarism^
he rushed out noiselessly, in his dress coat, merely taking his
cap, but was promptly-seized, by a Yolunteer sentry, a brawny
Scotchraan who spoke with many b-r-r-rs, and thrust hira
uncereraoniously in his sentry box, despite his protestations of
loyalty. The night was cold and the Laird of Spencer Wood, besee-
ched his reraorseless custodian, to allow hira to go on parole,
to his office and get his great coat, else, he would certainly
((get his death of cold» but stern patriotism and love of disci-
phne prevailed. — Mr. Atkinson seeing his case hopeless, pulled
out a valuable gold Repeater and placing itin the hand of the grim
Yolunteer, said ((Keep this walch until I return, wont this do ? ))

A CHRISTMAS SKETCH. 269
(( No, said Ihe uncorruptible son of Mars. » Do yon want lo br-
r-ribe me? and in the sentry box he kept his prisoner, until
released. Every nationality came in for its share of notice on behalf
of the Loyal Yolunteers.
A well remembered old country raerchant, then a beardless
lad, recently landed from the land o'cakes, had been spending
the evening, at a friend's house, on the Remparts. On his
return he had to pass a sentry. Robert Symes had predicted
an undoubted rising on that night. Sentries were ordered to
challenge indiscriminately friend or foe. The youth, uncons
cious of the general alarm, was merrily tripping homeward,
when a stentorian voice rang in his ear (( Who goes there?))
(( A friend )) was the hurried reply. (( Give the countersign »
was the rejoinder ; the youth alarraed had scarcely tirae
to gasp (( I ara Wee Wulhe Ross, fra' Aberdeen, )> when Wee
Wullie, was cabined, cribbed and confined in the guard
house, until raorning, fully expecting in his alarm, to be raur-
dered, at each change of sentry : Canada was then such a
dreadful country.
On the night ofthe Holel Dieu scare, Mr. P — P — , a French
Canadian merchant, whose dwelling was close lo the House of
Parliament, the rendez-vous of the Yolunteers, in case of alarm,
heard the uproar. Fearing that in the general melee, likely
to ensue, his throat might be cut, should he be taken for
a Tory, he had only time lo rush to the Pariiamenl House in
light marching order as to unmentionables, but wearing a
portentous looking, Buffalo fur coat, with a double-barrelled
fowling-piece, minus the ramrod, protruding from beneath the
skirts ; a sentry had been placed near the door of the R. C.
Presbytere who hailing her Majesty s portly subject, called on
him in Enghsh (( Give the countersign, » while Monsieur res
ponded in most emphatic French (( Sacre countersign ; Je ne
le connais pas, je suis loyal. » When Her Majesty's volunteer
opening the porch door of the presbytere said : (( Walk in then,
in my sentry-box, » and Monsieur had lo do as he was bid,
though the sentry was a well-known lower town merchant and

270 THE QUEBEC VOLUNTEERS.
friend of his ; he was released, however, with whole bones, an
hour later.
Such were amidst undisguised alarm some of the humourous
incidents of our thrilling Yolunteer days of 1837-38. Such the
Christmas Sketch offered to the patrons of Maple Leaves, on
this joyful Eve, by their old acquaintance.
Spencer Grange,
Christmas Eve, 1872.

OUR NATIONALITY.
ITS COMPONENT PARTS.
[Written 18QQ.)

" We have strangely united together all the original elements of the Brit
ish race. We have the Celt, with his traditions of " good King Arthur " from
whom, through her ancient British ancestors Her Gracious Majesty may claim
descent ; we have the Saxon or Teutonic element, and in Quebec we have a race
that have come from Normandy and Brittany, the one the land of the Northerner
or Normans, and the other inhabited by a Celtic race, cherishing the ancient
British traditions of King Arthur and his twelve companions. The Norman
French of Quebec may well feel proud when they remember that they can claim
what no other portion of the Empire can assert — that they are govern by a mo
narch of their own race, who holds her sceptre as the heir of Rollo, the norman
sea-king who first led their ancestors forth from the forests of the North to the
plains of Normandy. " — •¦ The men of the North and their place in History, " A
Lecture by R. G. Haiiburton, F. S. A.
Tracing the origin of the various nationalities who inhabit
British America, — fixing the exactepoch, — describing the true
causes of their migration from their European homes to
Western soil, — determining the precise proportion in which
each element enters into the formation of the composite popu
lation of the Dominion, — this, indeed, would be a theme re
plete wilh interest ; on which, at some future periodj one
hopes to see the genius of some of our leading writers exercise
itself. Many eloquent pages would Ihis study, viewed in ils
multifarious phases, furnish for philosophical investigations.
Nor would it be foreign to enquire whether tbe various types
of the Caucasian race, to be found in the new world, are really
undergoing the extraordinary transformation which some
savants pretend. Geoffroi St. Hilaire, Edwards, Smith, Car
penter, certainly hold on these points opinions startling in the
extreme, and calculated, if founded, to make one feel at times
quite nervous and uncorafortable. M. A. Quatrefages, a member
ofthe Institut de France, in a remarkab'e book, edited in Paris

272 OUR NATIONALITY.
in 1861, L' Unite deT Espece Humaine, asserts thatthe air of this
continent produces in time strange modifications in the struc
ture of man. The huraan body, especially the neck, elongates
— the oleagenous tissues diminish ; the eye is moresunk in its
orbit, &c.. Smith and Carpenter are of opinion that the Euro
pean left lo himself on American soil, will in process of years,
change to the aboriginal savage, so that eventually the true
Yankee will become a full blooded Huron, a fierce Mohawk, or
a blubberloving Esquimaux, according to his habitat. Did we,
raen of the New Dorainion, by reason of our superior monar
chial institutions or better descent, cherish the fond delusion
Ihat we raight perchance escape this formidable though gra
dual, process of des'integration. Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, a
high Europeai! authority, rudely dispels it. Nay, his utterances
are so positive, that al the very tirae we indite these lines, an
occasional, a grave doubt, now and again, hovers over our
mind, lest we should already in our tastes, be something of a
Huron or a Mohawk. In our dark moods, we take to thinking
our great grand-chddren, or their children, may turn out scalp
hunters. As no hypothesis is too far fetched for a European
savant, cloubtless, ere long, we will be told that the exact
epoch, when, it can be proguosticated this metaraorphosis will
be complete, is settled on undispulable grounds. As Tom
Hood's (( Last man )) is expected to flourish in Ihe year 2001,
would it then be premature to fix Ihe year 1970 for the lime
when the progressive native of Ihe Empire Stale, which claims
to lead on all points — will take to carrying tomahawks, first as
a substitute for a black thorn or a revolver, and next as his
natural weapon of attack ? It raay not be unreasonable lo infer
Ihat, thirty years after, the next generation will think it dero
gatory to close up a social gathering without the war-dance ;
the European press will, about that tirae, probably, teem with
accounts of Yankee, pardon Indian, ferocityin New-York ; such
as white raen from beyond Ihe seas, being scalped for pre
suming to enter, without permission, the precincts of Man
hattan for purposes of barter. Still how much work yet to be
done by enterprising Jonathan, ere this comes to pass : the
conquest or annexation of England ; the dismemberment of

ITS COMPONENT PARTS. 273
France, of Italy, of Germany,, &c., not to mention a variety of
minor changes in the map of the globe ! I 1
Verily, our respect for savants, great though it be, does not
permit us to accept this new theory of races, except sous bene
fice d'inventaire. The old maxim is much more to our fancy.
Non animun, sed coelum mutant qui trans mare currunt.
Our brethren of (( Dear Old England, )) as our French Cana
dian lender, Sir George E. Cartier quaintly calls her, — can
breath in peace for a lime — a long one possibly, as this dire
ful consummation will likely be coeval with the conquest of
England and dispersion of the Britishers by the Maories, when
Macaulay's New Zealander will stand on Blackfriars bridge,
surveying complacently the ruins of London, and trying by
dint of a native interpreter to decipher Milton's Paradise Lost.
The next transformation raight be the conquest of Europe by
Cossacks, who will soon after cross over to wrest Araerica frora
the Mohawks of Manhattan ! ! !
But let us revert to the history ofthe races of the New Domi
nion, as we find thera at present and exaraine Iheir component
parts. This disquisition brought to a successful issue, would
involve deep research ; nor are we sure that all the historical
data required are readily accessible. Possibly, an abler hand
than ours may weave into one harraonioiis whole, the silky webs
now floating about, to raany unnoticed. May this soon be !
Until the task be completed, we may be allowed lo offer a few
desultory thoughts, which have occurred to us in the course of
our readings.
For the Province of Quebec, the chief fountains of such
ethnological knowledge appears to us to be : — 1st. The census
tables under French and English dominion. 2nd. The regis
ters of marriages, baptisms, and burials of the different
churches (and students of history must ever feel grateful to the
Notes already published on this subject by the late Abbe Fer
land, and by the Bishop of Rimouski, when Pastor of Beau
port). 3rd. The biographical dictionary of the farailies who
emigrated from 1600 to 1700, the fruit of the long and patient
researches of the Abbe Tanguay, made in Canada and in
29

274

OUR NATIONALITY.

F'rance ; a work now in press. Amongst many striking
features, one will be apparent to all, — the preponderance of
the military element in the population of Ihe colony. Yery
different, indeed, was the status of our early settlers, when
corapared to that of those who settled in other French colonies,
or in some of the English ones. Canada never had to build up
her fortunes on the success in after life of ex-convicts, ex-
garroters, or ex-ticket-of-leave-men. Hardy farraers, indus
trious raechanics, officers, soldiers, adventurous fishermen
landed in crowds on the shores of a country reported to contain
something more Ihan fertile fields ; yea mineral wealth in
exhauslless quanlities. The first nobles of the French realm
vied with one another in finding men and treasure to build up
this New France, whose future so flattered the vanity of their
great monarch. High-born women, such as the Duchesses de
Bouillon, D'Aiguillon, and Madame de La Pellrie, undertook to
provide virtuous young girls to go and seek their fortunes and
husbands in this favored land. II is astonishing to see with
what sollicitude the morals of these emigrants were watched
over before they left France, until they landed in Canada. In
some cases, the slightest indiscretion caused them lo be sent
back to were they came frora. This is a very different version,
let ithe remembered, lo thai circulated by Baron Lahonlan ;
it is nevertheless a true one. (1) Retired officers, many French
gentlemen of ancient lineage, but unable lo maintain their
families in the extravagant splendour which obtained al Court,
asked for grants of lands in Canada. The progeny of some of
those — our seigneurs — exist amongst us lo this day. At that
period, none but gentlemen could obtain commissions in the
French army ; it required Court influence to procure these ap-
poinlraents. (1) Father Le Jeune says, in the " Relation for 1636. " Maintenaut nous
voyons tons les ans aborder bon nombre de tr^s honorables personnes, qui se vien-
nent Jeter dans nos grands bois, comme dans le sein de la pais, pour vivre ioi
avec plus de pi^te, plus de franchise et plus de liberty."
The historian Ferland quotes, as a striking proof of the purity of morals in the
colony, the fact gleaned from the register of the R. C. Church, at Quebec, that
out of 674 children baptized at Quebec, from 1621 to 1661, one only appears to
have been illegitimate.

ITS COMPONENT PARTS. 275
Canada was singularly fortunate, both under French and
under English rule, in the class of settlers attracted to it.
Under the latter, political persecution deposited on its shores,
the cream of the population of other countries. The war of
Independence in the New England provinces brought over our
border crowds of the raost educated, influential and refined
raen ; their descendants exercice a powerful influence amongst
us to this day.
The historian Ferland has devoted the first fifteen pages of
the second volume of his excellent work to vindicate his coun
trymen from the aspersions which sorae ignorant writer^, such
as (1) Lebeau and (2) Lahonlan, had attempted to fasten on
them. The antecedents of the early settlers of St. Christo
pher, one of the West Indies, may have been doubtful ; but,
on reference to history, nothing of the kind can be imputed lo
New France (3). From 1621 to 1641, the emigration came
plentifully from Perche, Normandy, Beauce, He de France,
Saint Onge, Poitou and le Pays d'Aunis. The Huguenots were
not encouraged to settle, for fear of religious strife.
The Company of Rouen, and that of M. de Monts, which
had preceded it were under the control of merchants and
traders, who resided chiefly in Normandy. It is, then, not
surprising that they selected their employes al Rouen, at Dieppe,
at Cherbourg, at Fecamp and at Honfleur. These employes
becarae familiarized with Ihe country ; and when England re
turned it to France in 1632, and France appeared inclined to
keep it, they enticed over to Canada their friends and relatives,
who occasionally sailed for America wilh their whole families.
It was from Dieppe that Champlain, after his return frora Eng
land, where he had been carried a prisoner by the English,
sailed in 1633, with a party of officers, missionaries and colon
ists. These pioneers had doubtless been taken frora Normandy
and the Pays de Caux.
In 1634, arrived Robert Giffard, the first seigneur of Beau-
(1) Aventures et Voyages au Canada — 1727.
(2) Nouveaux voyages de M. le Baron Lahontan dans I'Am^rique Septentrio
nale. (3) Ferland's Cours d'Histoire du Canada, Vol. I, p. 274.

276 OUR NATIONALITY.
port, and a great sportsman, accompanied by his wife, children
and seven other large families. They were soon followed by
others from Perche, who took lands in the Cdte de Beaupre
(Beauport, Ange-Gardien, &c.)
Two important farailies landed from France in 1636 — named
Le Gardeur and Le Neuf. All the families who arrived before
1642 clustered round Quebec, except some few who removed
to Three Rivers, to take advantage of Ihe abundance of game
(fish and fur) in the neighborhood of Lake St. Peter.
The first lands cleared and conceded at Quebec, were the
Coteau. Ste. Genevieve (St. John's suburbs) the shores of the
river St Charles ; the seigneurie Notre Dame des Anges, west
of G. H. Parke's, on the Charlesbourg road ; the little village
of Fargy, at Beauport ; the fiefs St. Michel and Sillery, near
Quebec. Champlain had noticed, long before this date, the
beautiful, natural meadows of Cape Tourmenle, and had placed
herdsraen to look after the cattle in the pasturage. Some people
settled there in 1633 ; in 1636, Governor Montmagny and
Father Le Jeune found some French families there, which the
missionaries visited several tiraes every year. Father Le Jeune
— whom we raay call one of our raost devoted missionaries —
stales why the place is named Beaupre, (( car les prairies y son
belles et grandes et bien unies. y>
After 1640, the stream of French emigrants increased.
From 1641 to 1655, several inhabitants of Brittany came
over. The registers of the Quebec Cathedral show a number
of persons emigrating from Paris ; many girls taken frora the
royal charitable institutions. ((Several of thera,)) says Revd.
Mr. Ferland, (( were orphans, whose parents had died poor
whilst in the King's service ; some were the daughters of French
array officers ; one, for certain, was the child of a forraer
Governor of Nancy. )) About 1660, the children born in the
country began lo count in the population ; but emigration
continued, composed, as Mr. Rameau (1) observes, « of an
importation of French peasants, peaceable, laborious and well
(1) Ferland's Cours d'Histoire du Canada, Vol. II., p. 6, 7.

ITS COMPONENT PARTS. 277
trained under their feudal seigneurs » (1). In 1663, the famous
regiment of Carignan, coraraanded by Col. de Sallieres accom
panied the Marquis'of Tracy. A couple of centuries later, in
1838, we read of one of the Enghsh noblesse, the magnificent
Earl of Durham, obtaining from his royal mistress the distin
guished favor of bringing out, as a suitable escort, her house
hold troops, the Coldstream Guards ; but, beyond carrying
away in legitimate wedlock, some of our cily belles, we do not
find the population of Canada affected by their sojourn. Not so
with the Carignan regiment, four companies of which were
disbanded shortly after their arrival in Canada. This splendid
corps of warriors, wilh laurels fresh from European battlefields,
(2) seems to have been victiraized en masse, by the Quebec
fair. Every Josette had a railitary Joe; the officers raade fierce
love to the daughters of the seigneurs, of the Procureur du Roi,
ofthe conseillers du Conseil Superieur, i&c, &c. ; whilst their
gallant men vowed undying attachraent to the <( black-eyed
(1) " Les premiers Canadiens, semblent €tre en quelque fajon, la population
d'un canton fran; ais transplants en Am^rique ; le fonds dominant fut toujours
une importation de paysans francais, paisibles, laborieuz, r^guli^rement organi
ses sous leuis seigneurs, avec I'aide et I'encouragement du gouvemement. "
Les campagnes canadiennes ont toute la rusticity de nos paysans, moins la bru
tality de leur matSrialisme  (A. Rameau, — Revue Canadienne, p. 287 — 1873.)
It seems stranges tbat, in our day, one should still have to reply to such unmi
tigated nonsense as to the vigour of the French Canadians, as has been more
than once written of late years, by intelligent Europeans. The fecondity of the
race surpasses all bounds. If we had not the standing fact, that the French
Canadian race, from 65,000 at the time of the conquest, has developped itself into
nearly one million and a half, and that, by shear inherent vitality, as it has had
until 1870, scarcely any accession whatever from France by emigration, the convic
tion would be thrust on us more than once by incidents in the surrounding parishes.
A public journal in April last, called attention to the celebration of no less than
fourteen golden weddings at L'Assomption, at once ; a peasant round Quebec,
had his thirtieth child christened only a few days since, and twenty-six living
brothers and sisters following the procession. Families of twenty children are not
uncommon in the parishes. French element in Dominion by last census is 1,082,940.
The Tfitu of Montmagny, at a family gathering, recently sat down to table
eighteen grown up sons and daughters, to celebrate the golden wedding of their
respected parents. The Premier of the Province of Quebec, Honorable Gedeon
Guimet is the twenty-sixth child in his family. How does this look compared to
New York families— where barrenness seems to be the leading feature ? The duty
of peopling the Northern States, some say, now devolves on English. Irish, German
and French mothers.
(2) The battle of St. Gothard, in Hungary, &c.

278

OUR NATIONALITY.

Susans » of their own class. The natural result, a not uncom
mon one, was, that ere many seasons were over, the cure
and his mcatres were kept busy as could -be, christening the
nuraerous young Carignans, whora the next census would
claira. (1) The sons of Mars spread over the country : some
became the sires of most patriarchal families, and rose lo be
Governors-^wilness Baron Saint Castin, in Acadia ; others
obtained grants of seignories, and built forts at Ste. Therese,
at Chambly, at Sorel, — such, Col. de Sallieres, Captains de
Chambly and de Sorel. Capt. Du Gue married maderaoiselle
Moyen, of Goose Island, (county of Montmagny,) whose sea
girt home had been burned and relatives tortured by the Iro
quois in 1653 ; whilst others, either returned lo France, or
made love-matches or marriages de convenance with Canadian
heiresses, viz. : Capts. Saint Ours, De Bertbier, DeConlrecceur,
La Yaltrie, De Meloises, Tarieu De la Perade, De la Fouille,
Maximin, Lobiau, Petit, Rougemont, Traversy, De la Molte,
La Combe, De Yercheres, &c. Several of the domains owned
by these military swells are yet in the possession of their des
cendants. To traCe step by step the career of the issue of these
stalwart colonists, would take us much furlherthan the limits
of these historical jottings will permit, A compendious work,
of some six hundred pages, by Abbe Daniel, a French eccle-
(1) " The beneficial manner in which this infusion of superior blood, operated
on the education and domestic manners of the colonists, previously devoted to the
humblest occupations of trade, may be easily imagined. Liberal tastes were en
couraged, sentiments of honor and generosity pervaded the highest rank in society,
the influence of which was speedily felt through every class of the inhabitants.
*' Measures were adopted to infuse a more liberal spirit in the colony, to raise
the quality and character of the settlers, and to give a higher tone to society.
The King (Louis XIV) took a most judicious method to accomplish this. He
resolved to confer upon the Government a degree of comparative splendor, worthy
of the great nation of which it was a dependency. In 1664, he sent out to Quebec
the most brilliant emigration that had ever sailed from France for the New World.
It consisted of a Viceroy, a Governor- General, an Intendant and other necessary
officers ofthe civil Government, the regiment de Carignan, commanded by Colo
nel de Sallijres, and officered by sixty or seventy French gentlemen, most of whom
were connected with the noblesse. Many of these gentlemen settled in the Pro
vince, and, having obtained concessions of the waste lands, became the noblesse
ofthe colony, and were the ancestors ofthe best French families of the present
day." — Hawkins' Neio Historical Picture of Quebec.

ITS COMPONENT PARTS. 279
siastic of the Sulpician Seminary of Montreal, contains a mass
of material, on these farailies which, some day or other, raay
be wrought into shape. (1)
Fathers Le Clercq and Charlevoix testify in glowing terras to
the morality, frugality, bodily strenth, and courage of the first
settlers. «As lo bravery,)) adds M. Aubert, (2) ((even, if as French
men, it was not theirs by birthright, themodeof deahngwhich
in warfare they have lo employ towards the Iroquois and other
savages, who generally roast alive their prisoners, with incre
dible tortures, compels the French to look on death, in battle,
as preferable lo being captured alive ; Ihey, therefore, fight
like desperate men, and with very great indifference to life.))
That our French ancestors were brave, hardy, devoted lo
their adopted country, and moral in their conduct, history
abundantly proves ; that they considered theraselves of goodly
stock and ancient descent, seems beyond a doubt ; that their
proud monarch, Louis XIV., thought the same, abundantly
appears, by his own assertion, that (( New France contained
more of the best blood of Old France than alllhe other nuraer
ous French colonies of the day put together.))
No less strenuous efforts were then being made as well, in
the neighboring English colonies, to obtain colonists and colonis
ing material .'History tells how matters were managed, a little
south of Quebec. In 1620^ procuring a (( colonial )) wife in Yir
ginia, was attended with some cost. Ninety ((slips of woman
kind)) lo use the words of ((good M. Oldbuck,)) all ((young
and respectable)) delivered at Jamestown, were worth each
100 lbs. tobacco at 3s. perlbs.=to$60. Later on however,
first class articles being scarce, a ((young and respectable))
English lassie was quoted at 150 lbs. tabacco, — tobacco was
then the current coin in the colony. (3)
(1) Histoire des Principales Families Franfaises du Canada. Montreal : EusSbe
S«n«cal; 1868.
(2) M^moire par M. Aubert.
(3) Un des moyens adopt6s pour augmenter la population (de la Virginie) flit
d'y envoyer une cargaison de filles, jeunes et honn«tes, destinies i, ^pouser des
planteurs ; ellea furent d§barqu^es k Jamestown au nombre de quatre-vingt-dix.
La compagnie fixa le prix de chaoune h. cent livres de tabao ; or le tabao qui

280 OUR NATIONALITY. I
We regret that this portion of our subject should come to a
close without having an opportunity of referring to the census
tables kept under French rule in Canada, and which are now
to be found in the Parliamentary Library, at Ottawa.
The arbitrary and inhuman dispersion of the peaceable Aca
dians, by the English, in Cape Breton in 17.55, brought over
to Ihe colony number of refugees, whose descendants, to this
day, flourish in every corner of Canada: Allard's, Landry's, Cor
mier's, Dngas,LeBlanc's, Arseneaux, Boudreaull's.The Magda-
leine Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and some western
counties of this Province, found in them industrious, athletic
colonists, just as friendly to there English masters as might be
expected. One county ((Acadie, )) was called after them. Mr.
Dugas, a member of our Legislative Assembly, is of Acadian
descent. His fore-fathers were transported to Boston ; their
children were adopted by some austere Protestant family,
whose language and creed became their own : the third or
fourtli generation having emigrated lo Canada, the head married
an Irish R. C. wife : their descendants nre now R. C, their
language, French.
The proscribed race, from 30^000 souls at the time of its
dispersion, has grown lo about 110,000 disseminated all over
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Cape Breton, Prince Edward
Island, NewFoundland, Labrador. New Brunswick is however
its chief location, where il is of count, in the political arena.
In Ihe first portion of this sketch, it was stated thatthe mili
tary element occupied a prominent position in the component
parts of our nationality. Let us then, at one bound, overleap
a century, and see what is going on in 1764, when Lord
Lovatt's celebrated 78th Regiment, ((Eraser's Highlanders,))
were disbanded. These 78lh men spread over the length
and breadth of the land Some attracted, no doubt, by the
name, settled in (New Scotland), (1) Nova Scotia ; some re-
4tait la monnaie courante de la Virginie, valait trois chelins la livre; de aorte
qu'une femme vendue sur les lieux, codtait k I'acheteur une somme de quinze
louis. BientOtle nombre de filles ayant considerablement diminu^, il fallut aug
menter le prix et le porter i cent cinquante livres de tabac.
{Cours d'Histoire du Canada, Ferland Vol. 1, P. 193_
(1) It is stated that in Nova Scotia alone there are at present more than 9,000
Frasers.

ITS COMPONENT PARTS. 281
mained in the parishes round Quebec. The Fraser Clan alone,
wilh ils offshoots at Murray Bay, Fraserville, St. Marc,
St. Andre, St. Thomas, Beaumont, Quebec, Montreal, Nova
Scotia, &c., has attained lo such dimensions that an enter
prising descendant, the Hon. John Fraser de Berry, L. C,
thought seriously of reconstructing the clan last winter —
tartans, claymore, philibeg, kilts, and all, ^January frosts to
the contrary notwithstanding. Several of Wolfe's followers had
alsobecorae Canadian landholders, viz.. General Jaraes Murray,
the distinguished owner of Belmont, on the St. Foy Road,
Quebec, — which on his return to England, passed over by
purchase lo one of his officers, Col. Henry Caldwell, who be
carae the founder of a Canadian family of nolo, and was the
father of Sir John Caldwell. Another of Gen. Wolfe's officers,
Major Samuel Hohand, purchased an adjoining domain of sorae
Ihree hundred acres, which to this day is known as Holland's
Farra ; whilst another again. Major Moses Hazen, settled at St.
John's, near Montreal, and joined Brigadier-Gen. Montgomery
in his unsuccessful attempt lo conquer Canada in 1775. In
1762, we also find Meadow Bank (1) on the St. Louis Road,
near Quebec, owned by Hon. Hector Theophilus Cramahe,
afterwards Lieut.-Governor.
The idea pervading the minds of these distinguished men
seems lo have been, that those beautiful sites selected by them
would increase rapidly in value, by the introduction of British
rule in Canada, and become, in time, raines of wealth, or
happy homes for their children. But British rule, with British
freedora left out, did but little, either for Canadian soil or
Canadians, durin j; the dark period which began in 1759 and
closed in 1841. About this time. Lord Sydenham, a most
astute politician and ruler, with the view of anglifying the
French Canadians, united the Lower to the Upper Province
hoping by the preponderance of the English element in both
Provinces, to swamp and kill out that nationality which would
not die. The new constitution had a most seductive name,
(( Self-Government. )) II was readily accepted by Lafontaine
(1) The country seat of John Porter, Esq.
30

282 OUR NATIONALITY.
and Baldwin, as it contained by imphcation, wilh some evil,
a principle of life, equality to all races.
Emigration frora France raostly ceased frora 1759 to 1841,
One-half of the French faraihes of distinction, who could sell
their lands, left the colony in 1760-1-2 (1), rather than live
under British rule ; though several again returned to Canada
frora France about 1783 ; one of our respected French fami
lies, that of Col. Dambourges (2), for instance, emigrated to
this country after the conquest. The emigration however, was
in the main, British (until, we may say, the year 1810) — of
men of means often ; sometimes, of men of superior education.
The closing ofthe Baltic to english ships during Napoleon's
continental wars, by creating a demand for Canada's valuable
woods, opened up new fields of enterprise. Canadian oak and
pine becarae so sought after thatseveral english merchants es
tablished themselves at Quebec about 1810. Thus in that very
year, one week after the death of the noted Col. Henry Cald
well, assistant Quarter Master to General Wolfe, arrived at
Quebec, William Price, Esq., the respected Laird of Wolfe's
Field — better known from his extensive lumber eslabhshments
and mills in the Lower St. Lawrence and in the Saguenay
district, as The King of the Saguenay : several other large
Canadian timber firms trace to that period, their origin. To
the first Napoleon's continental blocade and closing of the
Baltic, we owe our iraraense lumber exportation business —
which for Quebec for half a century had become so vast as to
overshadow all other commercial or manufacturing enterprises.
Surrounded with water powers — with one of the finest ports in
the world, frequented annually by some fifteen hundred ocean
ships and steamers ; teeming with a operatives, as yet remu
nerated by low wages (3), Quebec has in herself, the
(1) Another migration to France, of the educated and wealthy class, took
place in 1763, on the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris, (10th February, 1763)
which ceeded Canada to England,
(2) Dambourges' heroic conduct in repelling with Capt. Nairn, the attack of
Arnold's soldiers, at Sault-au-Matelot street, Quebec, 31st Dec, 1775 — merited
for him more than empty compliments ; as brave as DeSalaberry, his heroism was
as in quited.
(3) What was true in 1869, is getting less so every day ; combinations to coerce

ITS COMPONENT PARTS. 283
means of becoming as great, as prosperous by her manufac
tures, as she can expect to be by the export of the wealth
of her forests— that is, whenever her Rip Yan Winkle capitalists
wake up and national dissensions sink to sleep.
A most noticeable element of prosperity and refinement,
was added to our population by the war of Independence, —
the United Empire Loyalists. Some 10,000 staunch adherents
to the House of Hanover, came across our border, or pene
trated by ship to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Though
Western Canada benefitted the most by the exodus from the
late British Provinces, Eastern Canada came in for her good
share. These brave men had sacrificed fortune and position to
consistency, and their aUegiance to King George ; and King
George, as a good and paternal sovereign, indemnified them
by pensions, land grants, honors, and emoluments, to the best
of the abihty of the English exchequer. Of such were the
Ogdens, Holts, Sewells, Smiths, Gambles, , Andersons, Jones,
Robinsons, Baldwins, Sir James McCauley, Hon. John Wilson,
John Strachan, Caplain Jaraes Dettrick, Roger Bates, Joseph
Brant, Hon. John Slewart, Hon. Sarauel Crane, Hon. George
Crookshank, Sir Joseph Brook, Hon. Jaraes Crooks, Dr.
Schofield, Hon. John McDonald, Thoraas Merritt, Hon. Henry
Ruttan, Hon. John Elmesley, Chief Justice ; Hon. Hector
Russell, Administrator ; Hon. Henry Allcock, Chief Justice ;
John White, Ally. -General ; Mrs. Secord ; Colonel Clark,
Hon. W. H. Merritt, and Philemon Wright ; all sons or des
cendants or connections of the glorious 10,000, who were
aptly enough, at one time, denominated by Upper Canadians,
« The Founders of Western prosperity. )) To follow them in
their after fortunes, and describe their brilliant careers, would
take us beyond the scope of this paper.
The French Revolution was the raeans of providing Western
Canada wilh a goodly allowance of noblesse devieillesouche (1).
capital, some with, some without Charts of Incorporation, are rapidly driving
away from our shores, some of our time honored sources of wealth, our shipping.
Is the statesman born, who will dare grapple with this formidable evil ?
(1) A curious fact has just been brought to light through the researches of a To
ronto antiquarian, leading to believe that later on, an unsuspected element of refi-

284 OUR NATIONALITY.
We next have lo note an appreciable increase to our popula
tion, by the interraarriages of the officers and men of the De
neiuent — no less than a fair sprinkling of the French noblease, had once its place,
in what at one time appeared as a city thoroughly British in its foundation.
In the December (1872) number of the Canadian Journal of Science, edited at
Toronto, there appeared a very interesting paper by the Revd. Dr. Scadding, on
Canadian local history. Under the heading " Toronto of Old, " page 451, we are
apprised of the settlement at York (Toronto), of a tolerably numerous colony of
French ofBcers, whom the prospect of the guillotine, sent over in quick haste, from
sunny France, to the shores of laperfde Albion. The uncleared lots in Canada award
ed by the British Government to this fragment of French noblesse, as they were styled
— several in number, on Yonge street, appear in an old map of 1798, bracketed
and marked " Frenoji Royalists," by order of his Honor the President, Peter
RusseU." The names of the grantees are Michel Saigeon; Fransois Reneaux ;
Julien le Bugle; Rene Aug., Comte de Chains ; Ambroise de Farcy; Quetton St.
George; Jean Louis, Vicomte de Chains; Augustin Bolton; Le Comte de Puisaye;
LeOhevalier de Marseuil; Pierre Letourneaux ; Jean Furon ; these well known
and in several cases, illustrious names take one back to Normandy and Brittanny.
Le Comte de Puisaye quoted in the Histoire des Girondins — by Lamartine, and
by Thiers, in the Histoire de la Revolution Frangaise, ended his days in England,
near London, in 1827. Quetton St. George is an ancestor of well known and
respected Toronto Wine -Importer. Doubtless, the great Edmund Burke had in
view this colony of French nobles when he alluded to the " considerable emigra
tion from France, who quitting that voluptuous climate and that seductive Cir-
cean liberty, have taken refuge in the frozen regions, and under the British
despotism of Canada." — "British despotism" is, of course, ironically said and
means, in reality, British constitutional freedom."
"The officers, says Dr. Scadding, styled Comte and Vicomte de Chains derived
their title from the veritable domain and castle of Chains, in Normandy, asso
ciated in the minds of all young readers of English history, with the death of
Richard, Coeur de Lion. Jean Louis de Chains, whose name appears on numbers
54 and 55 in Markham and on other lots was a Major General in the Royal Army
of Brittanny. At the balls given by the Governor and others at (Toronto)
York, the jewels of Madame la Comtesse created a great sensation, wholly sur
passing everything ofthe kind that had hitherto been seen by the ladies of upper
Canada. Ambroise de Farcy had also the rank of General. Augustin Boiton
was a Lieutenant-Colonel. The Comte de Puisaye * * #
figures conspicuously in the contemporary accounts of the Royalists struggle
against the Convention. He himself published, in London, in 1803, five octavo vo
lumes of memoirs, justificatory of his proceedings in that contest. Carlyle quaintly
tells of the Count's adventure in Brittanny on the 15th July, 1793, when, to escape
the Mountain National Forces "he was roused from his warm bed in the Castle
of Brecourt and had to gallop without boots." * * * " De
Lamartine describes how, prior to the repulse at Chateau Brecourt, M. de Puisaye
had passed a whole year concealed in a cavern in the midst of the forest of Brit
tany, where, by his manoeuvres and correspondence, he kindled the fire of revolt
against the Republic." — Dr. Scadding.)
At the present moment (June 1873), Canada is receiving instalment No, 2 of
French Refugees, fleeing before Prussian despotism, from the soft climate of Alsace
and Lorraine to " British constitutional freedom on the banks of the St. Lawrence.
stead of selecting muddy little York of 1798, dear to Governor Simcoe and

ITS COMPONENT PARTS. 285
Walteville and Meuron Swiss Regiments (1), disbanded in
Canada, after the war of 1812. The descendants ofthe De
Montenachs, Labrueres, Dufrcsnes, D'Orsonnens,Genands and
others, are araongst us lo this day.
To statists, such as our Auditor-General, and his able assis
tants, we shall leave the congenial task of fixing, wilh the cen
sus tables before them, the exact ratio of the foreign element,
settling of lale years in our midst ; prominent among which
raust of course appear the Celtic race, whose prolific nature
does nol seem to suffer in the least from its perennial griev
ances (2) ; and nexl the canny Scot, wilh whom in the great
race of wordly wealth few indeed can keep pace.
Sorae, however, of the best and fairest of our population,
and we say it with a feeling akin lo regret, we are liable lo
lose, and do lose, by causes beyond the control of legislators :
we allude lothat not inconsiderable portion which annually
carries to other chmes its youth, its freshness, its refinement
owing to that unaccountable and perverse hankering of British
officers to rob Canada of her biightest gems, — her fair daugh
ters. Does this necessarily prove that the beauty, manners,
and accomplishraents of the colonial lass are superior to those
of her English sister ; or, is Ihe Canadian Belle chiefly sought
for in marriage, as being a species of ((forbidden fruit, » laboed
by Belgravian mararaas, whose (( hopefuls )) are serving in
the colonies ? Quien sabe ?
The author of (( Hochelaga, )) Major Ehot Warburton thus
testified to this fact.
President Russel — the genial preserve of another colony of Refugees essentially
British, the U. E. Loyalists— they are installing their household gods amidst the
wooded vales and pastures green, trodden by the feet of a kindred race, near Quebec,
May their fortunes prosper more than those of the Yonge street nobility of 1798 1
(1) These regiments, we think, had been formed in England from French offi
cers and soldiers detained as prisoners of war, and who had been granted their
liberty, on agreeing to serve against all the enemies of England, except their own
country— France. On the breaking out of the war of 1812, they were sent out to
fight the armies of the United States.
(2) An ingenious barrister, John O'Farrell, Esq., in a humorous address,
read before the St. Patrick Society, in Montreal, 15th January, 1872, has called
attention to its presence on Canadian soil about 1758. Should his novel theory
hold water, one woflld be led to believe that Jean 5o^«isie is not a Johnny Cra
pand after all, but has a right to consider Brian Boru as one of his ancestors
and may, on the 24th June, associate the shamrock with the Maple Leaf.

286 our nationality.
« the officers of the army show themselves very sensible
lo the attractions of the daughters of Canada, great nurabers
marry in this country ; no less than four of one regiment have
been made happy at Quebec within a year of the present time.
The fair conquerors thus exercice a gentle retaliation on the
descendants of those who overcarae their fore fathers. Nearly
all the English Merchants also have raarried in this country ;
and, frora what I perceive, those who still reraain bachelors
are very likely soon to follow their exemples. » Hochelaga,
page 100.
Capt. R. L. Dashwood, of the XY Regt., in his simple but in
teresting sketch of Cimada sports, intituled : « Cleptoquorgan
or Life by the camp fire,)) thus alludes to this phase of
Colonial Life : (( The withdrawal of troops from Upper and
Lower Canada will cause an unprecedented fall in the ma
trimonial market of those (( sections. )) The loss of so many
bachelors in the shape of the officers of the army will be
seriously felt. Canada has proved raore fatal to celebacy
than any other country where troops are stationed, including
even England ***** The reason is, the propin
quity and opportunity that is afforded where people are congre
gated in a small pace, and where long absence from home often
(( makes Ihe heart grow fonder » of some one else. )) Page 211.
Having, as we hope, fulfilled the proraise raade at the incep
tion of this paper, of furnishing for abler pens a few hints
and suggestions, lo be hereafter enlarged on, we shall close the
subject with a tabular statement compiled especially for us, by
a youthful lady friend, with a penchant for ethnological studies,
— under the heading Military Marriages in Canada of late
years ; it helps lo prove some of our propositions, and shows
btatistically to what an alarraing extent the union sentiment,
to use an Araericanisra of the late war, prevailed in the
Canadas. Let us hope this wholesale iramolation of Colonels, Majors,
Captains and Subs on Ihe altar of hymen had nothing to do
wilh the removal of tho British Troops frora Quebec I ! !
Here goes Ibis precious document which we fear, is very
imperfect :

ITS COMPONENT PARTS.

287

BRITISH OFFICERS WHO HAVE RECENTLY MARRIED
IN CANADA.
{Prepared in I8e9—Revised in 1873.)

Rifle Brigade,
BarlofBrrol  Miss Gore.
7th Hussars.
Col. White  Miss DeMontenaok.
Major Campbell  " Duchesnay.
13(A Hussars.
Capt. Clarke  Miss Rose.
Capt. Joyce  " Austen.
Lieut. Miles  " Esten.
Dr. Milburn  " Allan.
Royal Artillery.
Col. Shakspear  Miss Panet.
" Pipon  " Ashworth.
" FitzGerald  " LeMoine.
" Clifford  " LeMesurier.
" Walker  Mrs. BaU.
" Haultain  Miss Gordon.
Capt. Noble  " CampbeH.
" De Winton.... " Rawson.
Dr. Duff  " SeweU.
Dr. Mcintosh  " Wood.
Capt Brackenbury.. " Campbell.
Lieut. Irwin  " Hamilton.
" A. W. White " Young.
" Appleby  " MacDonald.
" Sandiiands .. " Stevenson.
" Brown  " Kirpatrick.
Capt. Hotham  " Hale.
" Turner  " Gzowski.
" Sandham  " Maria Gzowski
Col, Mackay  " Wood.
Royal Engineers.
CoL Gallwey  Miss M'Dougall.
" Brown.  " Hunt.
" Ford  " Racey.
" White  " Gibson.
" Beatson  " Gordon.
" Murray  " Fisher.
Capt. Noble  " Lunn.
Capt. De Montmo
rency  " Motz.
Capt. Mahn  " Geddes.
" Burnaby  " Felton.
Lieut. Carlisle  " Phillips.
" Savage  " Joly-
" Turner  " Sprague.
Grenadier Guards.
Lord Abiiiger  Miss MacGruder.
Capt. Herbert  " LeMoine.
DrTGirdwood  " BlackweU.
Goldstream Guards.
Capt. Clayton  Miss Wood.
" Kirkland  " Paterson.
lat Royala.
Gapt. Davenport.. ..Miss Sewell.
<• McNicol  " Wood.

7(A Royal Fuaileera.
Capt. W. Pryce Brown.Miss Prior.
Lieut. Winter  " Sewell.
9th Regiment.
Capt. Straubenzee.Miss Cartwright.
" Terry  " Taylor.
15th Regiment.
Lieut.-Col. Nash.. .Miss Nanton.
Major Temple ... . " Sewell.
" Eden  " CaldweU.
16th Regiment.
Major Lucas  Miss McKenzie.

" Baker 

.. " Cunningham

Capt. Carter 

.. " LeMesurier.

" Lea 

.. " AUoway.

" Platt 

... " Howard.

Dr. Ferguson 

.. " Alloway.

** Courfiol

17(A

Regiment.

Capt. Heigham...

..Miss Fraser.

" Webber 

. . " Jeffery.

" Uttersou....

.. " Burstall.

" Parker 

... " Webster.

Lieut. Burnett ...

.. " Kreighoff.

" Lees 

.. " Motz.

" Torre 

..Mrs. Stevenson.

" Harris  Miss Motz.
" Presgrave.... " Day.
2Srd Royal Welsh Fusileera.
Capt. Hopton  Miss Vaughan.
Lieut. Benyon  " Allan.
" Rowley  " HoUis.
25th Borderers.
Capt. Smythe  Miss Perrault.
Dr. Gribben  " Allan.
Lieut. Lees  " Maxham.
26th Regiment.
CoL Crespigny  Miss Buchanan.
29th Regiment.
Col. Middleton  Miss Doucet.
Capt. Phipps........ " Geddes.
dOth Regiment.
Col. Atcherley .... Miss Howard.
Capt. Moorson  " McCutcheon.
" Birch  " Vass.
Dr. Paxton  " Murray.
" Hooper  " Dalkin.
Capt. Clarkson  " Coxwell.
" Glasscott  " Cayley.
" Nagle  "Ben.
Lieut. Flemming... " Sewell.
" Charlewood... " Poston.
S2nd Regiment.
Dr. M. Healey  Miss Smith.
Z9th Regiment.
I Capt. Dixon  Miss Antrobns.

288

OUR NATIONALITY.

Capt. Hawtayne ....Miss Healey.
" Tryon  " McLeod.
Lieut. Osborne Smith. Miss Smith.
" Hoare  Miss Scott.
ilth Regiment.
Lieut.-Col. Villiers.Miss Shanley.
Capt. Larken  " Savage.
" Berckley  " Dixon.
Dr. Jamieson  " Cartwright.
Lt. de J. Prevost... " Dow.
Ens. Dixon  " McMurray.
53rrf Regiment.
Capt. Brown  Miss Dewar.
Lieut. Hitchcock... " Ferguson.
5ith Regiment.
Capt. Lake  Miss Phillips.
" Thomson  " Boxer.
60Jft Rifles.
Capt. LeBreton  Miss George.
" Hamilton  " Willan.
" Travers  " Johnson.
" Anderson  " Starnes.
" Worseley  " Sicotte.
" Crosby  " Thompson.
Lieut. Mitchell Innes " Starnes.
66th Regiment.
Col. Dames  Miss Kemble.
Capt. Serocold  " Duval.
Capt. Torrens  " Price.
Lieut. Godby  " DesFoss^s.
Dr. Henry  " Geddes.
Lieut. Cunningham " Robertson.
68/A Regiment.
CoL Rhodes  Miss Dunn.
Capt. Dumford  " Sewell.
Capt. Barlow  " Boxer.
Lieut. Brown  " Stevenson.
69th Regiment.
Capt. Clarke 
" Thorpe  Miss Jeffery.
Lieut. Homes 
Lieut. Glendonwyn. Miss M. C. H. A
Chauveau. (1)
71«( Regiment.
Major Denny  Miss Richardson.
Capt. Scott  " Stayner.
" Ready  " Hincks.
" B. Antrobus, A. D. C. " Brohaut
73rd Regiment.
Lieut. FitzGerald. .Miss Hamilj^.
7itk Regiment. \^^
Capt. Austin  Miss Hall.
7&/A Highlanders.
Capt. Colin McKenzie. Miss Falkcnberg.
" Fraser  Miss Dupont.
79th Cameron Highlanders.
Col. Butt  Miss Sewell.

Major Ross  " Lindsay.
Capt. Cummings. ..Miss Coxworthy.
" Reeve  " Fraser.
89th Regiment.
Lieut. Isaacs  Miss Cartwright.
93rd Suthei'land Highlanders.
Lieut. Elliot  Miss Wood.
100th Regiment.
Capt. Herring  Miss L. Bell.
Lieut. Latouche  " Bouchette.
Rifile Brigade.
Capt. Glynn  Miss Dewar.
" Kingscote  " Stuart.
" Dalzel  " Harris.
" Swaine  " Reynolds.
Lieut. Swann  " Price.
" Dillon  " Stanton.
Dr. Hunt  " Jeffery.
" Walters  " Geddes.
Canadian Rifllea.
Col. Moffatt  Miss Buchanan.
" Walker  " Yule.
Major Bernard  " Kingsmill.
Capt. Gibson  " Gibb.
" Dunn  " Gibb.
" Clark  " Heward.
Royal Navy.
Sir J. Westphall ...Mrs Gore.
Commander Ashe. ..Miss Percy.
Capt. Orlebar  " Hale.
" Bayfield  " Wright.
Lieut. Story  " Murray.
Mr. Knight  " Poetter.

Commissariat Department.
Dep. - Com. Cox
worthy  Miss Goddard.
Dep.-Com. Webb.. " Bradshaw.
Com -Gen. Weir.... " Stayner.
Sir Randolph Routh '' Taschereau.
Dep. - Coin. - Gen.
Kouth  " HaU.
Dep. - Cora. - Gen.
Leonce Routh  " Pardey.
As.«ist.-Dep.-Com.- Gen. Price  " Watson.
Staff.
Col. Pritchard  Miss De Montenach.
Medical Staff.
Dr. Woodman  Miss Stevenson.
" Hacket  " Uniaoke.
" Henry  " Geddes.
" Blatherwiok.... " White.
Ordnance.
Major Holwell  Miss Gibson.
Lieut. Bligh  " Whale.

Note. — One glance will suffice to show how many names have been omitted in
the above.
(1) Bre six weeks were over, the cypress had replaced the orange blossoms on
this fair young brow. Mrs. Glendonwyn, wedded at Quebec, in October, died at
Bermuda, on the 17th Doc, 1871, aged 19. An exquisitely sculptured group
" Faith, Hope and Charity," by the London artist Marshall Wood, now comme
morates in Carara marble under the silent eaves of the Ursulines Chapel at
Quebec, the early demise of three of the Hon. P. J. 0. Chauveau's daughters
Alas for human happiness I

INDEX.

Page.
Introduction  I
D'liDerville— The Gid of New Franoe....'  1
Dollard deis Ormeaux — The Canadian teonidas  13
DeBrebcEuf& Lalemant  23
The Bell of Saint-Regis— Fact & Fiction  29
The Baron of Longueii  39
The Heroine of Yercheres  .'  49
Major Stobo  55
Cadieux, the Old Voyageur  65
A select Tea Party at Quebec in 1759  73
The lost of the i Auguste » — French Refugees  79
The History of an Old House— Le Chien d'Or  1  89
Tid-Bits of Feudal- Customs  99
c Lb Droit de Grenouillage i  ,.  107
Luo de la Corne Saint-Luo — A, representative Man  115
TheU. E. Loyalists— British Refugees  127
Fraser's Highlanders before Quebec, in 1759  ;  141
Canadian Names & Surnames  159
The Grave of Garneau, the Historian  l'?5
Canadian Homes  19'
Our Early Friends, the Birds  201
Synopsis of Canadian Birds  .^...  233
Fin& Feather  :  237
The Quebec Volunteers, 1837-38  251
Our Nationality, its component parts  271
List of Bristish O.'licers recently married in Canada  287

ERRATA.
Page 105 — instead of i at the dead i read : at the death.
« 216 — instead of c kept in capture > read : kept in captivity.
. 234— in the foot note, instead of « 1869 . read : 1870.
. 234— instead of t Grass Finchy 337 . read : Grass Finch 337.
. 235 — instead of < (1) Leach's Petrel > read : Leach's Petrel.
I 236 — instead of « Crested Grelu t read : Crested Grebe.
I 282 — instead of < a operatives i read : operatives.
Page 95, foot note « Knox's Journal, Vol. II, p. 149 i belongs to page
97. Foot note of page 97 to page 95.

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