THE CAMDIMS OF OLD

In the form of a romance, an old Canadian, .seventy-six years of âge, has given us a séries- of highly interesting réminiscences of the manners, customs, habits of thought, legends, and superstitions of his couotrynien, within the far-extending range of his own expérience and recollection. Boni, as he says of himself, " only eight-andtwenty 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 immédiate sphère of their influence. Taking the date of his birth to be 1788, hewas four years old when the représentative form of government was first ceded to his country by Mr. Pitt, the first House of Assembly, composed of fif fcy mem-

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

Québec : Desbarrats.

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bers, having been openeclby Lieutenant-Governor Clarke. in 1792. When *he was ni ne years old, what lias 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 d°wn for attacking the measures of the Government, the printer thrown into prison, and ail his materials destroyed. From that time, he lias seen the whole. of the struggling action of the Canadian Parliament, together with the first and latest attempts of the Americans to annex his country to the United StatdS. The period through which M. de Gaspé has lived has been so eventful, and the public occurrences of his earlier years were so brimful ©f roraantic incidents, that he could hardly fail to be interesting whiîe pouring out the budget of his recolleçtions, even to listeners on this side of the Atlantic. Whatever the future of Canada, may be, her history forins 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 Canada ; and, on this account, such information as M. de Gaspé conveys to us is welcome.

Our gossip opens his book with a description of Québec 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 7

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Co'lege, where they hâve 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 Frenchman, is returning to his paternal roof, accompanied by Archy Locheill, the young Scotchman, on a visit.

During the sleigb-journey the two youths amuse themselves with the Iiveliest of collège " chaff, " the intervais of their talk being filled by références to popular superstition attaching to a part of the road along which they are passing. This mode of telling a story is not new, butM.de Gaspé handies it neatly, and' it serves well the purpose he bas in viewr On another part of their road, the travellers are made witnesses of a . thrilling spectacle, and one of then\ the young Scotchman, a principal actor. An o ver- vent uresome habitant, or farmer, trusting to the solidity of the ice of the South River, which hehadsafeiy crossed on the previous day, is in imminent péril of being carried helplessly down therapids, when -he is rescued by Archy Locheill. The scène is described with no small graphie power, and is as exciting as many a chapter in récent socalled u sensation novels, " besides affording a distinct and rery interesting view of the social habits of the Canadian villagers of old. Théo followsa description of a " Supper at a Canadian Sei-

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