THE CANADIANS OF OLD

In the form of a romance, an old Canadian, seventÿ-six years of age, has given us a series of highly interesting reminiscences of the manners, customs, habits of thought, legends, and superstitions of his countrymen, within the far-extending range of his own experience and rerollection. Born, as he says of himself, ‘only eight-andtweñty years after the conquest of La Nouvelle France, ” he has been, if not an actual eye-witness of many of the most important events in the history of Canada, at least within the immediate sphere of their inflrence. Taking the date of his birth to be 1788, he was four years old when the representative form of government was first ceded to his country by Mr. Pitt, the first House of Assembly, composed of fifty mem-

* The Canadians of Old. By Philippe Aubert de Gaspé. Translated by Georgiana M, Pennée, Quebec : Desbarrats.

bers, having been opened by Licutenant-Governor . Clarke in 1792. When he was nine years old, what has been called in Canadian history the ‘ Reign of Terror ” occurred, when the first free-spoken newspaper, published under the title of the Canadian, was put down for attacking the measures of the Government, the printer thrown into prison, and all his materials destroyed. From that time, he has seen the whole of the struggling action of the Canadian Parliament, together with the first and latest attempts of tae Americans to annex his country to the United States. The period through which M. de Gaspé has lived has been so eventful, and the public, occurrences of his carlier years were so brimful of romantic incidents, that he could hardly fail to be interesting while pouring out the budget of his recollections, even to listeners on this side of the Atlantic. Whatever the future of Canada, may be, her history forms a section of the history of the mother country. of which we may, upon the whole, be proud—few conquests of our arms having been less abused than that of Canaaa ; and, on this account, such information as M. de Gaspé conveys to us is welcome.

Our gossip opens his book with a description . of Quebec as it appeared in the year 1757, and he then introduces us to two youths who are taking leave of their fellow-students of the Jesuits’

Co‘lege, where they have been educated. The younger of the two is of French origin, the other

of Scottish birth, the orphan son ofa Highland :

laird who fell on the field of Culloden. Jules d'Haberville, the young Freuchman, is returning to his paternal roof, accompanied by Archy Locheïll, the young Scotchman, on a visit.

During the sleigh-journey the two youths amuse themselves with the liveliest of college ‘ chaff, ” the intervals of their talk being filled by references to popular superstition attaching toæ part of the road along which they are passing. This mode of telling a story is not new, but M. de Gaspé handles it neatly, and it serves well the purpose he has in view. On another part of their road, the travellers are made wit -esses of a thrilling spectacle, and one of them, the young Scotchman, a principal actor. An over-venturesome habitant, or farmer, trusting to the solidity of the ice of the South River, which he had safely crossed on the previous day, is in imminent peril of being carried helplessly down the rapids, when he is rescued by Archy Locheilll The scene is described with no small graphic power, and is as exciting as many a chapter in recent so-called ‘ sensation novels, ” besides affording a distinct and very interesting view of the social habits of the Canadian villagers of old. The follows a description of a ‘ Supper at a Canadian Sei-

* gnior’s,”” which we are almost tempted to transcribe, such a picture of solid comfortableness, as well as picturesque grace, docs it present. Equally pleasant is the description of a manorhouse, with the owner exercising his seignorial right of exempting his tenants from payment of their rents—that is to say, such of them as can

- concoct ingenious excuses :—

‘ € What, you rascal !? says the landlord, ‘ for the sake of a pitiful six months ? beast you want tæevade the seignorial rights, established by your sovereïgn as solidly as those mountains to the north which you are looking at are established on their rocky bases. Quos ego ‘I think,’ says the tenant, in a low voice, ‘heis talking wild Indian to frighten me ;” and aloud he added, ‘ You see that my filly would, in four ycars’ time, have been (according to those who are judges of horseflesh) the best trotter in this south coast, and would have been worth a hundred francs if she were worth a sou” ‘Be off to the devil} answers my uncle Raoul, ‘and tell Lisette to give you a glass of brandy to console you for the loss of your filly. These rogues, adds my uncle, ‘ drink more brandy than they pay rent ! ? ”

The description ofthe ceremonial of dedicating the May-pole is a most interesting passage, illustrative of the peaceful life of the old Canadians.

It is strikingly contrasted with scenes of battle. The conquest is effected. On the bloody fields of Abraham, the two friends, Jules and Archy, fight on opposite sides—Jules under General Montcalm, Archy under General Wolfe. There are some love-passages between Archy and Blanche, the sister of Jules, in which the young lady patrioticaly refuses to ally herself with one of her country’s conquerors, and remains to the end unshaken in her resolution, in spite of the . close bonds of friendship which unite the rest of her family to the young Scotchman. In a note, M. de Gaspé says :—‘ À Canadian young lady, whose name I will not mention, under similar circumstances refused the hand of a rich Scotch officer in General Wolfe’s army.” Among his notes, which are extremely copious, will be found a vast deal of curious and valuable information, verified in many instances by authentic documents, or from the report of actual witnesses.

The chapter entitled the ‘ Shipwreck of the Augustus ” isa striking supplement to the written history of the Canadian conquest :—

‘“ By recording the misfortunes of my own family,” says M, de Gaspé, “ I have tried to give some idea of the distress of the greater part of the Uanadian nobility who were ruined by the conquest, and whose reduced descendants vegetated on the same soil that their ancestors had

conquered and watered with their blood. Let those who accuse them of want of-talent and energy remember that, with their military education, it was difficult for them to devote themselves to ary other occupations than those they were already with.”

History generally fails to record the minor circumstances of the great events it recounts, and, buf for writers such as M. de Gaspé, the gs by which alone it can be judged would be ost.

‘ The terms in favour of the French resid.nts,”? &ays the writer of a History of Canada aow before us, ‘‘ were faithfully, and even liberally, fulfilled by our Government. All offices, however, were conferred on British subjects, who then consisted only of military men, with not quite five hundred petty traders, many of whom were ill-fitted for so important a situation... ‘Lhey showed a bigoted spirit, and'an offensive. contempts of the old inhabitants, including even their class of nobles. General Murray (the then Governor), notwithstanding, strenuously protected the latter, without regard to repeated complaints made against him to the Ministry at home ; and by his impartial conduct he gained their confidence in a degree which became conspicuous on occasion of the great revolt of the United Colonies.”

Audi alteram partem. M. de Gaspé gives a

vary different view of the feeling inspired by Governor Murray’s measures for the pacification of the country, one of which was the deportation of a large number of persons on board the Augustus, a vessel utterly unseaworthy, and the wreck of which causedthe destruction of nearly eyery soul embarked in her. An account of the circamstances of this frightfulevent was published in Montreal, in 1778, by almost the only survivor of the catastrophe. In M. de Gaspé’s volume, this gentleman, a M. de St. Luc, is made to tell the tragical story immediately after his escape from the wreck, and, says M. de Gaspé, ‘ After M. de St. Luc’s narrative, my aunt Bailly de Messein would say, we passed the rest of the night weeping and lamenting the loss of our relations and friends who had perished in the Augustus.” Itis as a pictureof Canadian society as it existed in the days of the author’s boyhood, however, that his book is most valuable and interesting. This picture he professes to paint without exaggeration, and we are inclined to trust him for the most part unhesitatingly.

— (London Review, 29 Oct. 1864, No. 226.)