IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V // {/ ^j / C/a ^fe 1.0 I I.I 1.25 m 1^ 2.5 IIIM 1112.2 2.0 us Ji£ U lllil.6 ^^ '^. '^^ /J e. ei '3 > '^ ''m sp" r /^ c? / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STRi-ET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 %^\.^ # ] ^^-ul ■ - • 1 Ill UK VMiol' ^;dc tishing fcxjjediuon •: sci rip'/i to l/dc Thi^ U^':- jvi an Krver St T r-v.- # ^■>y^'^^^^y^^,tyy-:J-^ -^■*'.Wir^Tg"--'^I'; -X^^^K-ltHSlirt^ Madame Yvonne OUR acquaintance with Madame Yvonne was the result of a fishing expedition made a year or so ago to Lac Bouilly. This lovely but re- mote spot lies to the north of Murray Bay, a village on the shores of the River St. Law- rence. The Red Indian was supplanted in these regions by the Norman peasant, and though the Norman nowadays is an English subject, he has in no wise altered his character- 35 t 'if ' MADAME istics or scheme of life to please his conqueror. During the hot summer months fashionable Americans and Canadians come to this primitive village, but happily, so far neither colonial enterprise nor Yankee go-ahead- edness have been able to de- stroy the local colouring of this charming spot. The road we took from Mur- ray Bay skirted at first the right bank of the Murray River, a fine stream indulging itself in salmon pools, rapids, and other diversions. On either hand rose green banks and distant blue mountains, whilst a plen- tiful sprinkling of habitant cottages, wayside crosses and out-of-door ovens, gave touches of human interest to the scene. 36 YVONNE - Our vehicle was a buckboard, an ingenious contrivance of three planks, about one foot wide each and twelve feet long, bolted together and pivoting on the front axles. Our seats were covered from the sun's rays by a rude hood, and our charre- tier sat in front and affably chatted at intervals. Behind us was strapped on our fishing- tackle and gear, and the char- retier kept guard over my sketching arrangements, our modest supply of food, and our handbags. As we mounted the steep hills the scenery grew grander and wilder. Beautiful blue- peaked mountains revealed themselves in front, and for middle distance and foreground 37 X ! I i I\IADAME we had picturesque snake fences, wayside shrines and quaint French lomesteads. Beneath our feet lay a carpet of wild flowers such as few countries can boast. Golden rod, tobacco ]:)lant, thistles, Michaelmas dai- sies, phlox, dock and yarrow, fjrowing together in luxuri- ance over the road, so that three parallel its made by wheels and hoi.->^.; feet were the only recognisable sign of its being a road at all. By-and-by we reached the top of an im- mensely long hill, and a cry of surprise broke from our lips. At our feet lay Grand Lac, once upon a time teeming with fish, now, alas ! no longer a " happy hunting ground " for sportsmen. On and on we 38 I afcw« »T^^an <*ti «* B»si P i» qw ^ YVONNE drove, over terrible ruts, cordu- roy roads, ca/iots, and up and down such hills as no ordinary prosaic, well-trained English mind could conceive to be pos- sible. When these mountainous ascents were more than usually steep, our cJiarreticr put his horse into a galop, leaped lightly from his seat into the road, and ran up to the summit as quickly as did his sturdy buast. Petit Lac next came in sight, lying amidst wood- covered hills, with no sign of human habitation near, and after three hours and more of steady jog-trot, we reached our destination. Farmer Bouilly's house by the roadside. A young man came out and welcomed us with effusion. 39 >-::> M^ MADAME "Papa and Maman" he ex- plained, " were gone to Lac St. Jean, a three days' drive from hence, to see their eldest daugh- ter, who was very well married, and lived in that neighbour- hood, but he would fetch his sister Yvonne from her house over the way immediately if Monsieur and Madame would have the goodness to enter." The door of the house opened directly into the kitchen, which in all French-Canadian peasant homes is the common living- room of the household. This particular kitchen was spacious, and spanned with beams over- head, which time had mellowed in colouring into a rich reddish brown. Across the beams at intervals were narrow rods, 40 YVONNE fastened by iron hooks, and used for hanging flitches of bacon. Over the fireplace was a large black cross, and a pic- ture of the Holy Virgin and Child hung on one side, and a huge chromo-lithograph of Guido's " Ecce Homo " on the other. The open fireplace was temporarily closed by a fire- board, and the stove transported across the road, where a rude shed, open at every side, did duty during the hot summer months for a kitchen. A tin pail full of water hung by an iron chain from the ceiling, and a tin mug was hooked on con- veniently near. Two rocking- chairs, several ordinary wooden ones, an ancient and well-worn cradle, a table, a row of pegs, a 41 ! f J f M 1 I « MADAME large saucepan and some cook- ing utensils, a bcnitier and string of beads, completed the contents of the kitchen. In the corner of the room a staircase led to the loft above, and three doors opened into as many bed- rooms. I had scarcely finished my survey of the room when Sister " Yvonne " entered, and ex- tended a sunburnt and horny hand of welcome. She was fair and good-looking, with regular features and bright yellow hair, which she wore dragged back and knotted in a heavy coil on the nape of her neck. Her petticoat of grey homespun, loose cotton jacket and blue apron, were not unpicturesque. All the habitants of these re- 42 a YVONNE gions are peasant proprietors. Each farms his own acres, and, from the fact of never recognis- ing masters in others, and sel- dom seeing people of superior rank to themselves, these simple creatures understand absolutely no social distinction but that of riches and poverty. Madame Yvonne seated herself in the rocking-chair, slapped one of her children, shook the other, and having acquitted herself for the present of what she con- sidered her maternal duties, opened upon me a fire of cross- questions. " Voire man, Madame, est-ce- qiCil est ricJie ? " ''Pas die tout, Madame" said I. " // est fermler sans dotite ? " 43 MADAME " Non^ Madame ! il n^est pas femiier" ^^11 est marchand alors !" " No ! he is not a merchant." " Comment / ni fermier ! ni marchand! ni Pun ni V autre! How in the name of goodness is that possible ! ! " (Intense sur- prise and incredulity.) I explained that we hailed from a land called England, which lay across the water. The information seemed to convey very little to Madame Yvonne, save that His Holiness the Pope lived somewhere in that direc- tion. "What! Madame had never seen him ! how extraordi- nary ! " And she showed no more interest in the conversa- tion as far as foreign parts were concerned. 44 'T IJ* 7 YVONNE After a prolonged inspection of my person, Yvonne nodded her head sagaciously, and said, " Mats tout de ineme je crois que vous devez itre plus riche que moi ! J^en suls siire!" " Qu'est ce qui vous fait croire cela^ Madame?^' I asked. " Ce sont vos jolies bagues ! Mais je crois que je suis aussi bien mise que vous ! Voyez ! votre robe est en serge bleue et la mienne est en toile tissee de mes mains. Vous avez un chapeau en paille et j^en ai un de mime. Vous portez une chemisette et j^en porte une aussi. I made my hat myself, every bit," she continued, " as I daresay you did yours. Eh! what ! you can't make hats, and never learned how to plait 45 C \ I! 1 1 1;- MADAME straw ! how badly your mother brought you up, to be sure ! How many yards of stuff can you spin a year, and how many blankets and sheets and pillow- cases can you make ? and how much pork do you salt for the winter ? and do you make a// your husband's clothes as I do ? Comment none ? Tonnerre de Dieu ! Cest veritablement la v^rit^y Madame^ en verity je vous le dis ; but if you remain so ignorant, you will live to re- gret it, and your children will be ashamed of you." " MaiSy Madame I " I expos- tulated, " of course my ignorance is very sad, but happily I have no children to suffer from it." " No children ! none ! none ! " (The usual French - Canadian 46 ; j jji t j ' ^ i .M-iwt jn jwifwui Bsw YVONNE family, be it said, is reckoned by dozens.) " Ciel ! what a use- less and extraordinary woman ! Why, I have five children, and I am only twenty-four, younger than you ! and I make every- thing they wear except their boots, and those their father makes ; but they never wear them, of course, except to go to church, or in the winter out of doors. Tiens ! I will show you my winter's work ! " and she proceeded to disinter from a chest in her mother's room a huge bale of grey homespun, woollen counterpanes, coarse sheeting, and a quantity of wool. " Voild ! Madame ! that is something to be proud of; I waste no time, you see — I — and when I am not cleaning 47 rl m ..jj* f^ MADAME my house, I spin and weave and knit and sew, rear poultry for the market, and teach my children their religion. My husband is well satisfied with the bargain he has made, Ma- dame — cela va sans dire. He is a worthy creature, and I might have done worse." And so she rattled on, and as she talked I realized more and more that the "peculiar modification of molecules" known as myself, was decidedly at a discount compared to this paragon of peasant capability. Talk of thrift, here was its personifica- tion ! No need for shops or money, everything was home- made, even to shoes and hats ; all things Iiome-grown, even to tobacco and flax. Yvonne had 48 ^^^ YVONNE not yet exhausted the list of her accomplishments. She men- tioned incidentally that she wove her own carpets, and when I expressed astonish- ment she went into a lengthy description of how she trea- sured carefully everything in the nature of a worn-out gar- ment or rag, and tore such things into strips. "JS"/ puis^ Madame^ I dye them beautiful colours — red, blue, yellow, green — and I weave them together with strong twine, and they are durable and joli^ these carpets, I assure you." Even the dyes I found were home-made, which argued a certain knowledge of chemistry. I began in amaze- ment to wonder "how one small head could carry all she 49 (1 MADAME knew," and was only roused from my wonder by the sound of my husband's voice, inti- mating that a long drive in country air had been provoca- tive of hunger, and that a little food wr)uld not be amiss. Our hamper was unpacked forthwith, and I confided to the Epitome of practical know- ledge some speckled trout and fresh eggs to cook, whilst I laid the cloth, put out cold edibles, and made our picnic meal pretty by the addition of a nosegay of wild flowers. All being in readiness, I crossed the road to the extemporised kitchen to see how the cooking was getting on, and, to my surprise, found my Admirable Crichton standing with knitted 50 m jii YVONNE brows apparently deep in thought, while the trout and eggs lay on a clean cloth in her apron in the same state in which I gave them to her. "What is the matter, Ma- dame ? " said I a little crossly, "and why have you not begun to cook our food ? " I felt sympathy for the masculine mind undergoing the pangs of hunger. " The eggs, Madame ! Is it that Madame likes them cooked in cold or in hot water ? and the trout, how long does Ma- dame like them to doi'l — one or two hours ? People's tastes are so different you see " (with an assumption of great worldly knowledge), " and notts autres don't care for fish or eggs ; 51 ,<(i.Sj MADAME pork and bread are so much nicer." Evidently Madame's culinary knowledge was not on a par with her other housewifely at- tainments ; but she carried off her want of information in this branch by a fine bravado, and hinted that I had better do my own cooking, as I was more likely to be content with what I had done myself. Nothing loth, we fried our trout our- selves, boiled our eggs, made some toast, scorched our faces well over the wood fire, and apparently ga\^ much food for meditation lo Yvonne and her ofTsp ^Vhen the picnic ir«» r, my husband de- ^artei o ish Lac Bouilly in the ^ool evening-tide, and I set 52 § Nr* YVONNE up my easel in the kitchen and began to paint an interior. " Ah ! " said the wise Yvonne, " that is embroidery. Vous bro- dez d mervet'/Ze, Madame. I can embroider, too ; but I do mine with a needle, not a pencil, which is fnuch more difficult. I am sure I could do that kind of embroidery if I had the things to do it with. Is it your invention, your own idea, that work ? No ! How did you learn it? I suppose the nuns taught you ; and what does your box yonder cost? Holy Virgin ! cinq piastres ! Mon Dieu ! you must be rich — you ! very rich indeed to afford such extravagances. "/^ suis bien trop pauvre^ moiy for that sort of embroidery. Mais je crois 53 I ! MADAME que si f avals une aussi belle botte de couleurSy je ne doute pas que fen saurais faire autanty Presently the young man of the house (Etienne) entered, sat himself down in the rock- ing-chair near the door, pulled out a wooden pipe, hummed the air of " En roulant ma boule" and rocked himself to and fro as he watched me at work. Yvonne, at the advent of Etienne, pulled the table into the middle of the room, covered it with a coarse cloth (which she patted lovingly with her hands as she remarked, " We have a table-cloth, too, nous autres "), distributed plates like a pack of cards, put a bowl of sour milk and a brown loaf in 54 YVONNE the middle of the table, and banged her children one after another on chairs round the festive board. Then she called to her brother that his supper was " pra " {prei) and the " aw- siettes " on the table, and down she sat to her evening meal. Etienne, at the announcement of supper, rose lazily, yawned, stretched himself, and sauntered to the end of the kitchen. Here, undeterred by my pre- sence, he plunged his head into a basin of water and dried it on a roller-towel, produced a pocket - comb, and after well soaping his front locks, arranged them in the form popularly known as a " cow-lick." The effect of this was so satisfactory to his mind that he gazed with 55 ll '-li lii'S i^l MADAME the greatest complacency and admiration at his reflection in the cracked mirror. Yvonne, whose conceit in everything be- longing to her was unbounded, informed me that " ce jolt gar- qon was the object of intense admiration to all the girls in the country round ; but," she added, " il est bien trop jeune to think of marriage yet, pauvre enfant ! " Before she returned to her own cottage, Yvonne again ex- pressed regret that her limited means should prevent her from indulging in the strange and original embroidery I did. " Ma foi ! " said she, " the nuns at the Mal-Baie Convent la has would stare at such work, and the 56 YVONNE cur^y too. He says I am very intelligent, does the cur^ \ il a raison ! Je suis trh intelligente, mot ! I can do everything ex- cept your kind of embroidery, and I am sure that is not diffi- cult, or you, who cannot spin, or weave, or plait straw, or make Catalan^ or salt pork^ could not do it. Bon soir, Ma- dame ! sleep well. Mon Dieu ! petit JeaUy what mischief are you up to now ! " Whack ! whack ! and a roar from " petit Jean." " Cher petit chou ! " kiss- ing her baby vigorously, " you must go to bed, and say your prayers, and never forget le petit Jhu and la Sainte Vierge. You see I know how to bring up my family well, Madame ; 57 MADAME YVONNE the cur^ says so, and the cur^ always speaks truth. Good night ! " And so vanished Ma- dame Yvonne ! lii; 58 ; , ; ■ I 1 ) t I r M [T -^'«fw«r- m'^ms^m IJou >'v> t"Nip>'v*ri- li\7<-' : r t\ '■ -'r '• ' "^ ^■•" -VI j>:4*>. ! ,-r "^ ■I iinMiiWwMMrt— *■■ l i iiill ih- ii wnw iii " l i l | li i > H II ^ 1 11 vr. ^ Monsieur and Madame Doucet A French- Canadian Sketch ONE of the most important people in Murray Bay village was M. Doucet, general dealer and provision merchant. He was a tall, thin, wiry man, with a long, keen, ugly face, a complexion suggestive of Indian blood, and a curious swinging gait. M. Doucet bought up wholesale, fresh eggs and blue- berries, butter, cream, lamb, 59 '■I Kit) I MONSIEUR AND poultry and vegetables, and re- tailed them to his English cus- tomers. Every morning he called for orders, with a book and pencil in his hand, and de- termination written on his face. M. Doucet had no sense of social inferiority ; he knew him- self to be the richest man in Murray Bay, and he described himself as " Marchand" He thought his business as good as anybody's, and was prouder of his position than a Duke of his strawberry leaves. Accordingly, it was customary of M. Doucet to appear daily on one's veran- dah with an air of ease (almost of condescension), and to address one with a strange absence of ceremony. " Good - morning ! What 60 MADAME DOUCET would you like to-day ? I have beautiful lamb and a lovely pair of fat chickens, some veal, blue- berries, raspberries, and a variety of vegetables. Trout and smelts of course, and some beef just arrived by the Quebec boat." " I should like a shoulder of lamb, please, M. Doucet." " A shoulder ! Hum ! Well, you can't have one this morn- ing. Mrs. Lake has taken one shoulder, and Mrs. Farr the other. Madame Vaudrier has had to put up with a leg, and Mrs. Earnshaw with another leg, and — well, I have brought you the neck." " But, M. Doucet, I don't want the neck. Have you no more sheep or lambs ? " " No more ! Mon Dieu ! 6i 11 i JK : IB ^ m 1 I MONSIEUR AND Have I not enough to feed all Murray Bay ? No more ! Ma foi! Yes, plenty more; but I do not slaughter wastefully this hot weather ! I portion out so many sheep among so many clients before I leave home, and each gets shoulders and legs and saddles in her turn. You must not expect them always, madame. This morning is your turn for neck, and — here it is ! " pointing to his cart which stood at the door. It was character- istic of M. Doucet, that he would never on any provocation lapse into French except as an exple- tive. If I spoke to him in his own language, which I took a wicked delight in doing, he in- variably answered in English, and put on an air of not under- 62 I f '1 ' MADAMK DOUCET standing such deplorable French as mine. " Comment allez vous ce matin, M. Doucet?'^ " Urn ! What did you say ? Matting ? I don't sell any matting. You will find it at M. Warren's shop Id bas in the village. I am a merchant of food, not of dry goods, milady. What will you this morning ? Lamb, veal, poultry, fruit, every- thing have I," and so ended my attempts usually at making M. Doucet talk his native tongue. On Sundays M. Doucet wore broadcloth, and shook hands affably with his clients if he met them on the side-walk, com- menting airily on the weather, politics, and general topics of interest in Murray Bay village. 63 ! ' MONSIEUR AND He treated us people from England as harmless lunatics ; poor ignorant foreigners come to see and marvel at his won- derful country, and compare it enviously with our own out- landish little island. " I have heard," he said to me one day, " that your England is not much bigger than the pro- vince of Charlevoix ! " " Oh, come, M. Doucet," said I, "what next?" "Well, at any rate, it can't compare with our del Canada^ else why should the Queen's daughter have come to live here, and wept such scalding tears when she went back ! Mon Dieu ■ but it must be an un- civilized country ! The Judge's wife, who has been to England, 64 M I MADAME DOUCET says you have no caleches there, no buckboards, no blueberries, no buckwheat cakes, no Indian corn, no canvas-back ducks, and no snow shoes. What can the poor people eat ! and what must life be like in a country like that ! " M. Doucet had been twice married, his second venture being a woman very much younger than himself. Madame Doucet was handsome, in a florid expansive style, and ac- complished according to her lights, for she made wax flowers, bead pincushions, and paper roses. She had also learnt to paint on velvet at the convent, to concoct pine-cone frames, and to strum on the piano. Madame Doucet lived in a big 65 MONSIEUR AND white house on the top of a hill out of Murray Bay. She came into the village to shop, and in order to impress every one with her grandeur. On the occasions of her visits to Murray Bay, Madame Doucet wore very fine frocks, and a big gold chain and watch and earrings. At home she subsided into dirty peig- noirs and curl-papers. Madame Doucet quite accepted her posi- tion as great lady of the place, and looked upon us summer visitors, who paid for her gowns and gold chains, as interlopers. She bowed with an air of gra- cious condescension when we met, and regardea my rough serge and cotton blouse as eccentricities, not to say down- right follies. Why any one who 66 i MADAME DOUCET could afford to wear silks and satins should elect to appear in wool, was beyond her compre- hension. She shrugged her shoulders and threw up her eyes as she marvelled at the bizarre ways of English folk. " Dieu soit bent, I have better taste than they, M. Doucet," she cried, and M. Doucet quite agreed with her. Madame Doucet had been married about eight years, and during that time had contri- buted seven little Doucets to the population of Murray Bay. She viewed with stern disap- proval the comparatively limited families of the English-Cana- dians, and thought that some- thing must be rotten in the state of Denmark in conse- 67 WW ■ i 1 i. ) [ i \ \ : i 1 : ; i ^ I !-1 ! i t- :1 i m MONSIEUR AND quence. To her imagination, life, without the annual festivity of a christening, of her neigh- bours* visits of congratulation, and new baby robes, could hardly be worth living. So the numerous babies found them- selves welcome in the Maison Blanche, and thrived after their own fashion. Madame Doucet despised Catalan carpets, and patronized Kidderminster, though she had no idea that it was called by that name. She turned out the spinning wheel and rocking- chair, the distaff and loom of the first Madame Doucet, to give place in the sitting-room to four spidery stuffed chairs covered with crocheted antimacassars, a wheezy piano, and two erec- 68 I r H y i^ MADAME DOUCET tions of wax flowers. The un- varnished pine walls were, under her r^gime^ covered with a gaudy paper, and the flitches of bacon vanished from sight. M. Doucet admired the superior taste of spouse number two, but tried in vain to live up to it. The antimacassars worried him, and the paper walls were disturbing. Eventually he took refuge in the kitchen, and the "parlour" was reserved for christening parties and the curb's visits. Awe-stricken neighbours were received there occasionally, and they sat up very stiff" and straight, and tried to look at their ease ; but though they did not confess to the weakness, one and all were wishing themselves back in their own cabanes, 69 D ill ll-i ' i: Jl 11 -H ; ; " i '. V i ■• ' 1 ' MONSIEUR AND Even grandeur has its draw- backs, and by-and-by Madame Doucet began to realize that her lot was not without alloy. She dearly loved a gossip, and the discussion of her neighbours' misfortunes was keen enjoyment to her soul ; yet little by little her acquaintances came less often to the Maison Blanche on the hill. " Who could be com- fortable with dusty boots on that grand carpet?" quoth Madame Duval to her gossip Madame Panet. " And I feel so fright- ened of harming those fine chairs," said Madame Panet in return. Therefore at last the silk gowns and gold chains and kid gloves were left pretty much to themselves, and though 70 i-j^."t-;|.:V^^ MADAME DOUCET Madame Doucet appreciated the grandeur of her position, she began to reah'ze that even grandeur can be sh'ghtly dull. 71 V-f Canadian Society- Past and Present THE evolution of Canadian society, in its gradual de- velopment from a monastic and aristocratic origin to the hetero- geneous and cosmopolitan in- stitution of to-day, is curious enough. The elements of which it is composed are varied and conflicting. We find two prin- cipal races, living on the same soil, dwelling together in peace, but diametrically opposed in characteristics, in habits, in reli- gion, and in language. The 73 ) i • I i I CANADIAN SOCIETY French -Canadian has all the advantages which a prior pos- session of the soil can give him. He first gave names to its towns and counties, and framed laws for its government. The English-Canadian, strange- ly enough, derived surprisingly little benefit from his conquest, since full liberty, as regarded their religion, laws, and lan- guage, was granted tht con- quered. He found himself, indeed, in the extraordinary position of being obliged to conform to the laws of those he had subdued. To this day in Canada racial prejudices exist, and though dwelling in outward peace and unity, French and English society have amal- gamated very little. The upper 74 m ;;:■! PAST AND PRESENT class of French-Canadians are many of them descendants of the ancienne noblesse who formed the little Vice-Regal Courts about the French Governors, and obtained seigneuries under Royal Charters. They brought to the shores of New France, and their descendants still pre- serve, the grace of bearing, the pretty turn of speech, and the charm of manner which so often mark our Gallic neighbours. One needs little imagination to recognise a possible Madame Recaoiier in many of these stately French ladies, all of whom possess in some measure that peculiarly French gift, VaH de tenir salon. Like their sisters across the water, they are all convent-bred. Few have 75 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. {•/ V <• &< ^ i u< ^p C/a (/. 1.0 I.I ^- illM jiim !iii^ mil 2.0 1.8 US 1.25 1.4 1.6 ■a 6" ► V, m. o f^l <^, e-A 'm a VI ^' o ^l. /^ / Photographic Sciences Corporation # ^ iV ^> 'c^^^ \ \ % .V ^* ^.■'^: 6^ » % V % n> 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 M Q- & M ^^f; J . , , .p ■ ■».- i.ii iiwu9iii<>ijw j'jivnf^i«igHmOTVipMii Vide Quebec^ Past and Present. 87 CANADIAN SOCIETY under the old French Viceroys, the Comte de Frontenac, Mar- quis de Vaudreuil, Marquis de Tracey, M. de Denonville, and Marquis de Beauharnois, among others. With the change of Government in 1759, very little social revolution took place, Lady Dorchester held her bril- liant little Court as in French days at the old Chateau, and there the custom of rendering homage was continued under English rule. M. de Gasp^, in his hoo\'*flPft3 PAST AND PRESENT belle has abdicated and retired into the background of her own accord. There is too little of that joie de vivre which lasts with American women into ex- treme old age, and forms their most potent charm. The genus Hausfrau is to be found quite as much in the homes of Canada as in the Buch-Holz families of Berlin. Happily the good to be got out of this, and the logical sequence of so much domestic devotion, is that the " emanci- pated " woman, the political woman, and the professional woman, are as yet unknown in the Dominion. The beauty of a Canadian woman is American in its char- acter rather than English. You seldom see a figure modelled on 103 ; II », i! CANADIAN SOCIETY the lines of Juno, but delicate and lovely features are common, and the Canadian woman has matchless feet and hands. Her colouring is often striking and unusual, as, for instance, the combination of dark eyes with yellow hair, or grey eyQs with black lashes and eyebrows — combinations which owe their existence largely to the mixture of races. A Canadian woman, moreover, loses her freshness and beauty all too soon, and this fact is largely owing to the un- healthiness of Canadian houses, which, during the severe winters, are kept at an abnormally high temperature. The dry heat of the stoves indoors, and sudden transition to cold winds and frost outside, shrivel the skin 104 PAST AND PRESENT and deprive it of all moisture and freshness. The majority of English- Canadians are extremely Low Church, and candles and a cross on the altar are looked upon as sure signs of the neighbourhood of the Scarlet Woman. Where such a large proportion of the population is Roman Catholic, it follows as a matter of course that the professors of the Angli- can faith should be, as in Ire- land, aggressively Protestant. Party strife between Protestants and Roman Catholics runs high. How true is Lecky's axiom : " The chief cause of sectarian animosity is the incapacity of most men to conceive hostile systems in the light in which they appear to their adherents." 105 i' li'i II mm ['I I'l ' ! (tni I 'II CANADIAN SOCIETY Between the Church of England and Dissenters there is much amity and marked friendliness all over Canada. Sabbath ob- servance among English-Cana- dians is carried to such excess that a game of tennis or " Hal- ma" on Sunday is enough, if discovered, to ostracise socially its perpetrators. A servile re- spect and ridiculous obedience to the dictates of Mrs. Grundy is everywhere most marked. With much priggishness, how- ever, there is undoubtedly a high code of morals outside of political doings. Perhaps no country can show a more Puri- tan spirit in family life. The narrow-minded, illiberal tend- ency is to be deplored : one can- lo6 r" SBS PAST AND PRESENT not but admire the sturdy desire to live uprightly. " Around the man who seeks a noble end, Not angels, but divinities attend." 107 The Judge's Widow A Study in Human Nature MADAME LE GROS lived on "The Cape," Quebec, in a large cut-stone house, which faced the Govern- or's gardens. One section of the Quebec people described her as " that poor dear frivolous Madame Le Gros." Others, who were inclined to frivolity and amusement, called her " that dear delightful charming old lady." 109 if I I THE JUDGE'S She was the wife of a great local magnate and one learned in the law. The magnate was many years older than his wife, so that when she was a frisky dame of sixty or thereabouts, he was ncaring ninety, and had arrived at the state described by Shakespeare as : ^^ sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every- thing." In due course of time the magnate was gathered to his fathers, and his widow grieved for him very truly and warmly. Nevertheless, she was particular to see that her mourning was becoming, and that Plover & Pie sent home exactly the right allowance of crape suitable to an inconsolable widow. All the winter following the judge's no WIDOW death, Madame Le Gros re- ceived only intimate friends, and her historic card parties were discontinued. By way of recreation she drove up and down John Street every after- noon, muffled in her crape and wearing an expression ' > match her weeds ; nevcrthel*" s, her human joyous nature took a pleasure hardly known to her- self in the brightness of all about her. She noted the smartest tandems and the pret- tiest sleighs, whose fur robes were richest, and whose sleigh bells were best mounted. Mrs. May's new sealskin met with her warmest admiration, and pretty Dollie Duncan's snow- shoeing costume she voted chic and delightful. She wondered III I r ^ \ 1 \ '!.■ 1 ! 1 t r K ■ s L J^ ij r THE JUDGE'S whether Captain Sumner was really going to fall in love with Miss Hammond, and if Mdlle. de la Rue were trifling with that poor young subaltern's affec- tions. Then she turned her at- tention to the Cameron children, and kissed her hand to them all effusively. She even stopped her sleigh at Blank's, the confec- tioner's, and ordered " lollipops " for their benefit. Afterwards she looked in for Vespers at the French cathedral, and drove home well content. Whe' , however, Madame had dined, and found herself night after night tite-a-tetem her com- fortable drawing-room with her ancient and uninteresting com- panion, she began to wish that card parties and grief were not 112 iMMiMMilMMMlMII WIDOW incompatible. She scanned the Quebec Chronicle for news, and scolded Mademoiselle for her stupidity in having heard no gossip that day. She played a mild game of draughts, drank a glass of hot punch, fondled her pug, yawned, was intolerably bored, and went early to bed. The following autumn a few choice friends were admitted nightly for whist, and before the winter closed Madame's recep- tions were as crowded as ever — Madame meanwhile abating no sign of external grief, and wear- ing her crape of the prescribed depth. Madame Le Gros was a won- derfully well-preserved woman. Her enemies (and she had many) accounted for the fresh- 113 \ f-' I ij. i '1 ^i'' 'ii:' Midi I iipiii i nii THE JUDGE'S ness and smoothness of her skin by declaring that she slept with beefsteaks tied to her cheeks. Her nut-brown hair was de- clared to emanate from the bar- ber's shop, or to owe its colour- ing to his skill ; but slander erred in both instances, as it very often does. She had been a beauty in her youth, and she retained a large share of this gift in her age, but she was innocent of dye or " aids to beauty." I shall never forget my first acquaintance with Madame Le Gros. In my own home the Sunday card parties had been severely condemned, and the old lady alluded to as a sad instance of aged depravity. I had al- ways nourished a keen curiosity to see the inside of the Wicked ri4 WIDOW House, and, above all, longed to find myself face to face with the wicked person, and one day an unsuspicious friend took me there unknown to my mother. How my heart beat as I crept after her up the softly-carpeted staircase; and what a sensation of guilty pleasure thrilled me at the thought that I was perilling my soul in the House of Rim- mon. In my own mind, from piecing together casual remarks and dwelling upon them, I had conjured up in my imagination a being in whom horns and a tail were marked characteristics. The subject fascinated me be- yond description. It seemed to me valiant to imitate Christian and face Apollyon on his own ground, and I remembered well 115 I ! THE JUDGE'S how Christian had resisted the blandishments of Mrs. Light- Mind and Mrs. Love- the- Flesh. My astonishment and disap- pointment were great when I was introduced to an ordinary- looking, handsome old lady (who sat tatting at the window), and learnt that she was Ma- dame Le Gros. " Well, my dear," said Apol- lyon, " so you are little Margaret MacGregor ! How is your pretty mother ? Did she send a message to me ? No ? Never mind ! Perhaps we shall be on good terms in heaven all the same." "Oh, no! Madame," I said, shocked at such levity. " You won't go to heaven if you play cards and wear a wig. Mamma Ii6 I'f I it WIDOW says so." Madame laughed heartily. "In the first place I don't wear a wig," said she, " and you may tell your mother so, with my love ; and in the second place I never see any harm in cards, but a great deal of harm in speaking ill of my neighbours, and that you may tell your mother, too, my child." Then she praised my blue eyes and golden hair, and said I should keep up the reputation of my family for good looks, and I listened, not altogether displeased, but fearful lest I, like Hope and Christian, should become entangled in the meshes of Flatterer's net. Such re- marks as these were strongly reprobated in my own family. " Perhaps," I thought, with a 117 F If M- THE JUDGE'S thrill of excitement, " this was Madame Bubble, and if so, I must follow Standfast's example and resist her enticements mightily." " My eyes are green and my hair is mud-coloured. Mamma says so," said I stoutly. Madame Le Gros laughed again, and said something in French to my friend which I did not understand. "If it prefers to be called ugly, it shall be," she said, stroking my head. " And now go and play me a tune, my dear, something martial like the ' Marseillaise.' What did you say ? The piano out of tune, Mademoiselle. How can you talk such nonsense, when no one has played on it for over Ii8 WIDOW a year ! Very nice, indeed, my child ! Now you can come here and I will show you my famous screen. When I am dead and gone you can think of me and it together. Draw out the screen, please, Made- moiselle — so, with the light well on it, that we may see the pictures I " The piece of furniture alluded to was original enough, and it owed its embodiment to Ma- dame Le Gros' bizarre and unconventional mind. It was a white, wooden framework, in which were set numerous photo- graphs and an occasional letter and autograph. " Now, my love," said Ma- dame, " this is the history of Canadian society and politics 119 ! ! THE JUDGE'S for many a long day. Here you will find the Governors and their wives, commanders- in-chief, military and naval, great statesmen, judges, even two Royal Princes who have visited Quebec. You will per- ceive that all are signed and dated. Here is Mr. McGreevy, who was assassinated years ago, and Sir Etienne Cartier, and there is Lord Monck, and yonder a bishop. That is a famous general. Sir Garnet Wolseley, and this one here is a Canadian author, Fennings Taylor. I was promised a photograph of Her Gracious Majesty once, that would have made my screen complete, but the man who was going to send it from England died, 120 WIDOW unfortunately. Now sit and look at all these wonderful people whilst I talk to Mrs. Carr ; and, Mademoiselle, fetch the child some chocolates to discuss meanwhile. By this time, whether in- fluenced by Madame's charm or chocolates I cannot say, but I had altogether shifted my ground in the Pilgrim's Pro- gress. Instead of regarding Madame Le Gros as Apollyon, or even Mrs. Love-the-Flesh, I felt convinced that she was none other than Godly-Man, assailed by those demons. Pre- judice and Ill-will. I munched my chocolates, gazed as bidden at the screen, and fancied my- self on Mount Innocence. The room was low-ceilinged I2T THE JUDGE'S and eminently cosy in shape and arrangement. A fire burned in the grate, and deep arm-chairs covered with old - fashioned chintz were placed on either side of it. The walls were lined with low bookcases lat- ticed in brass wire, and on the top of the bookcases stood blue china plates, a fat Chinese figure — whose tongue kept bob- bing about alarmingly — and several gigantic Oriental vases. No books or magazines lay on the tables, for Madame Le Gros never read anything but the daily newspaper. She said she liked to originate ideas for her- self, not imbibe them cut and dried out of books. I had heard my mother allude to this idiosyncrasy, and I wondered 122 WIDOW whether report had erred again, as it had anent the wig. At all events, I determined to find out. " Madame," said I, " is it true that you don't like books and never read them ? " " Quite true, my dear, quite true. For once rumour has spoken gospel truth. It is reading too many books now- adays, take my word for it, that makes the majority of people exactly alike. All cut out after the same pattern — all their ideas running in paral- lel grooves ! They read * T6\6- maque ' and * Henri Quatre ' and ' Charles Douze,' Caesar and Ovid and Virgil (and I know not what besides), as girls and boys, and when they have con- 123 !fl^ in .11 I ; ;i 14 THE JUDGE'S sumed the prescribed amount of mental diet they are as stupid and gorged as a boa- constrictor. They have no in- dividuality of thought left, no originality — they can only as- similate. My education was neglected when I was young, and that is why I am not an utterly dull old woman." Distilled poison again drop- ped into my ears ! I trembled guiltily. What would my gover- ness say to such unorthodoxy ? " But, Madame, what books are these, then, and who reads them ? " " They are books on all sub- jects, my dear, and were the poor Judge's. He did not agree with me over that matter, which was just as well, as it 124 WIDOW gave rise to discussion, and prevented our married life from being dull. He was a wonder- ful reader, my love ; but I think he might have been a still greater man had he trusted his own brains where judgment were concerned, and not leant so entirely on these fusty old legal commentaries. How d'ye do ! How d'ye do ! " as she smiled and bowed from her window. In a stage aside : " I'm sure I don't know who you are ! Well, to be sure ! that new colonel's wife is al- ways driving about with — but fie upon me now, I'm talking scandal, and what will my father confessor say ? I don't mind innocent gossip, but scan- dal is quite a different thing. 125 THE JUDGE'S Must you be going, Mrs. Carr? Wait a bit ! Let me tell you how I punished that imper- tinent little upstart, Made- moisdle Labouchere. I met her at church last Sunday and she walked home with me afterwards, and aH the way she made rude and unkind speeches about her neighbours. When we found ourselves oppo- site my house, she looked up at my windows and said, * I don't like your curtains at all, Madame Le Gros ; they are anything but artistic ' (my beau- tiful new ones from England, indeed ! ) ; * they look terribly crude and glaring from the street.' So I replied with dignity : ' I am sorry, Madame, that you don't approve of the 126 p '^:^ WIDOW effect from ^///side, because as- suredly you will never be in a position to judge from the 2«side. I wish you good-morn- ing, Madame/ and I sailed into my house." With which specimen of Ma- dame Le Gros' repartee we took our departure. IM: 1f 127 * ■■ m 'M ^ IH ,.L ! r f, ! I ! lUBI I luai Ofir^ i> \i f] ii! shooting a Rapid " Story ? God bless you 1 I have none to tell, sir." WHEN I made up my mind to shoot the rapids of the Murray River in a bark canoe, my friends cried in a chorus, " Can you swim ? " The question was suggestive of difficulties, not to say dan- gers ; but a dash of the latter ingredient adds a charm to adventure, and, under the guid- ance of a practised Indian, I 120 I' ft' SHOOTING did not feel that there could be any ground for fear. Those among our Canadian friends who had shot rapids described the experience as thrilling and delightful. Who would not run the risk of a ducking for the sake of a new emotion in this effete century's end? Even the liveliest description falls short of actual experience. Here was a chance seldom to be got, and I felt that it would be foolish not to seize it. Meanwhile one was forced to run the gauntlet of remonstrances and advice, such as the following : Friend A. — " Of course, unless you can swim, it is simple madness to think of ventur- >} ing. Friend B. — " You 130 will get A ^APID wet through, even if the canoe doesn't upset. The water dashes all over you." Friend C. — " My cousin took cold from sitting in wet clothes when she shot the vapids last year, and all but died from congestion of the lungs." Friend D. — " Ten canoes went down the Murray Rapids last week, and five upset." % Friend E.~" Whatever hap- pens, don't attempt to swim ; you will cut yourself to pieces against the rocks. Trust to your Indian to save you." Friend F. — "When your canoe comes to grief, strike out for the nearest bank." A wise man has said, "In the multitude of counsellors there is safety." I have my doubts 131 J.; u »l , ! ! ill SHOOTING as to the wisdom of that dictum. At all events, after weighing the pros and cons care- fully, I determined to disregard every one's advice except my Indian's, and to pin my faith entirely on what he said, feeling sure that from long experience he was in a better position to advise than any one else. The rapids we proposed to shoot were those, as I have said before, of the Murray River, a tributary of the St. Lawrence. The point from which our party arranged to start was one some eight miles above Murray Bay village. Our canoes were birch bark of the usual Indian make — that is to say, 14 feet to 18 feet long, and about 2 feet broad, strengthened by cross 132 S f that 5, after IS care- sregard pt my y faith feeling erience tion to ex >sed to [ have ' River, wrence. r party e some ly Bay e birch nake — to i8 2 feet cross A RAPID battens, yet hght enough for a man to portage (or carry) them on the head. These canoes are generally made of one to two pieces of bark, stripped from the tree, and moulded into form by a gentle application of heat. Where the seams occur, they are made water-tight by a composition into which resin and gum largely enter, and this compo- sition no practised canoeman ever goes without. The bark is about the eighth of an inch thick, and, there being no thwarts in a canoe, the great- est caution is necessary in seat- ing yourself Having sent off our canoes early in the day in hay-carts, under the charge of our Indians, 133 W\\ ^w ) tl; f f SHOOTING to the Pont Rouji^c, we followed some hours later in caleches and buck-boards, which are the only sort of conveyances to be found in these primitive regions of French Canada. Our road lay along the bank of the Murray River, which abounds in rapids and lovely brown pools. The horizon in front of us was bounded by beautiful blue moun- tain ranges, and green fields and clumps of fir trees made a middle distance. Here and there were habitant cottages, t 'ep-roofed, red-tiled, old-world in colour and form. Snake fences divided the fields, and constantly we passed black way- side crosses, with here and there a terrible Calvary. At the doo' of their cottages sat 134 A RAPID peasant women spinning in the sun and nodding pleasantly to us as we passed. Children, guiltless of shoes or stockings, but otherwise well clad in homespun, played about the quaint outdoor ovens, and we came upon a venerable cun^ lecturing an impish-looking boy who had been brought up for admonition by his mother. The sound of the fiddle was often heard, for in Canada as in France : The Frenchman, easy, debonair, and brisk, Give him his lass, his fiddle and his frisk, Is always happy, reign wlioever may. And laughs the sense of mis'ry far away. Once we stopped to listen to 135 SHOOTING a French-Canadian chanson. It ran as follows : Monsieur Dufroi c'est un bon bour- geois, Mais il n'nous uonn' pas grand mon- naie ; On travail ben tout I'hiver ; Au printemps on se trouv' clair 1 Dans les chantiers, etc. Next an opposition fiddle struck up the tune of " Petit Jean," and a nmanly voice carolled forth : Quand j'^tais chez men p^re, Lil, li li lil, li li lil, lil lil li, Quand j'^tais chez mon pere, Gargon k marier ; Gar^on k marier-er-er, Gargon a marier. Je n'avais rien k faire, Lil, li li, etc., Je n'avais rien k faire Qu'une femme k chercher. (ter.) 136 A RAPID A present j'en ai-t-une, Lil, li li, etc., A present j'en ai-t-une Qui me fait enrager. (ter.) Elle m'envoi'-t-k I'ouvrage, Lil, li li, etc., Elle m'envoi'-t-k I'ouvrage Sans boir' ni'sans, manger, (ter.) Quand je reviens d' I'ouvrage, Lil, li li, etc., Quand je reviens d' I'ouvrage Tout mouilld, tout glace, (ter.) Je m'asseois sur la porte Comme un pauvre etranger. (ter.) Rentre, petit Jean, rentre, Lil, li li, etc., Rentre, petit Jean, rentre, Rentre te rechauflfer ! (ter.) Soupe, petit Jean, soupe, Lil, li li, etc., Soupe, petit Jean, soupe ! Pour moi j'ai bien soupd (ter.) li it J'ai mangd deux oies grasses, Lil, li li, etc., 107 '1 ,11 i ■;■'! m ! f SHOOTING J'ai mangd deux oies grasses, Et trois pigeons lardds. (ter.) Les OS sont sous la table, Lil, 11 11, etc., Les OS sont sous la table, Si tu veux les ronger. (ter.) P'tit Jean, baisse la tete, Lil, li li, etc., P'tit Jean, baisse la tete, Et se met H brailler. (ter.) etc. Poor very-much-married " Pe- tit Jean ! " We pitied his woes, and, as the song is charac- teristically French-Canadian, I have given it. Altogether the drive gave one a pretty, rural, innocent picture of life under conditions foreign to our own. An English person who has not visited the regions of the Lower St. Lawrence can form little idea of the condition of roads. The country, being vol- 138 " A RAPID canic in nature, is extremely hilly, and it abounds in irregu- larities of surface. Just out of Murray Bay village we passed a succession of huge green mounds, recalling to our minds the famous Monte Testaccio of Rome. There is no doubt that the Canadian mounds are vol- canic in origin, but the French- Canadian has his own theories on the subject. Our cocker in- formed us that they were burial mounds of warriors slaughtered in one of the great battles between Indian tribes of by- gone days. Over this moun- tainous country the roads are of necessity hilly, but the steep- ness can scarcely be imagined. The sturdy, sure-footed little French-Canadian horses, how- 139 ^ \t & ■111 SHOOTING ever, make light work of moun- taineering, and we went up hill after hill at a hard gallop, and came down at a pace which would have been the death of a nervous person. Meanwhile, at every black cross our cocker reverently lifted his hat, and betv/een whiles he wove pretty idylls as to the Edwins and Angelinas we passed loitering along the road. At last the Pont Rouge was reached, and here we found our five canoes. By way of encouragement, a young Canadian pointed out to me the very whirlpool in which a lady was so nearly drowned the week before. Then came a chorus of voices ber, five out of upset last week I " 140 : " Remem- ten canoes ■ A RAPID " Sit still, whatever you do ; the least movement upsets a canoe ! " " Do you mean to say you are going in that long serge coat ? Take it off at once, or it will wrap itself round your feet and drown you." Regretfully I parted with my comfortable coat, and stood prepared for drowning in a serge skirt and silk shirt over bathing clothes, no stays, petti- coats, or any superfluous gar- ments being admissible. A rubber sheet was laid in the bottom of the canoe, and on this T stepped gingerly, sitting down with my back to the In- dian, and wrapping the sheet round me. The first few strokes of the Indian's paddle were 141 G SHOOTING lulling and soothing in the ex- treme, and the water placid and glassy as a lake. Suddenly, with a rush, we found ourselves in the tumult of waters. Our little bark swayed from side to side. We could feel the bottom of the canoe yielding to the pressure of water underneath as the pace became fast and furi- ous ; we grazed boulders, the canoe grated on a rock, and, almost deafened by the roar of the waters, wet through, despite the sheet, triumphant and ex- cited, we floated into calm water. Having got through safely so far, the Indian steered our canoe head up stream, to watch the others behind us in their progress. One came to grief, whereat my Indian grin- 142 A RAPID ned and moralised as to the folly of any but Indians born and bred attempting to paddle their own canoes in such waters. Nevertheless, O most sapient brownskin, we were shown the way by a young Canadian second to none in skill and daring ! Soon we plunged again into the seething waters, and our former experience was repeated. What added to the excitement was that, owing to the narrow- ness of the channel, we were constantly heading on to a rock which showed its ugly head just above the water ; and at the instant it seemed as if we must touch and go to pieces. Then, as I began my Litany, giving up all for lost, the In- 143 I i SHOOTING dian, by a deft stroke of his paddle, changed our direction, and shot us into the only chan- nel deep enough to float us. Throughout our progress down the rapids, I found it expedient " not to speak to the man at the wheel." From the instant of starting he fixed his gaze some distance ahead, and never took it off the swirling waters. A canoeman has absolute need to concentrate his faculties on the work in hand, since he has at most only a few seconds in which to make up his mind how to meet a constant succes- sion of difficulties wherein a moment's hesitation might prove fatal. Several times we landed at portages to empty our canoes of the water we had shipped. 144 A RAPID Once, as we took breath, kind Mr. B cut fragrant pine branches, and made a soft cushion for my back, the nar- row batten against which I rested being anything but com- fortable. From fierce rapid into smooth water we glided con- tinually, breathless from excite- ment and delight. No one was drowned ; not a canoe upset. One only came to grief on a rock. We were prosaically, devoid of tragedy. The last rapid was shot as we neared Murray Bay village, and we emerged from the gloom of the dark, turbulent, narrow river (shadowed by its steep wooded banks) into a world of peace and brightness, where the set- ting sun was reflected in the M5 til '• ml 'Ifcfli l''\j ill I SHOOTING A RAPID waters of the bay, and not a ripple disturbed its glassy sur- face. In Sir Philip Sidney's words, it seemed indeed, — Sleep after Toyle, Port after stormie Sea, Ease after Warre ; and, delightful as the " toyle " and " warre " had been, we could, like Sir Philip Sidney, appreciate at its right value the " ease " which " doth greatly pleese." 146 ) 3t a suf- ley's )rmie we ney, : the :atly ■ I" 'ii ,| ill 1 i %r~4 If 1 i 'J; ^1 :iii Winter in Canada THE French-Canadian pea- sant boasts a song by- way of illustration to every epoch of his life. Be it love, marriage, domest^ happiness, or its reverse, the birth of child- ren or their deaths, spring, summer, autumn, winter, sport or reHgion, Jacques Bon-Homme finds a fitting chanson to cele- brate each event When the leaves fall, brown and withered, about his house, and the cold 147 !i - 11 .■! lii lis iil WINTER IN blasts give warning of the coming winter, our friend Jacques takes his measures ac- cordingly. He knows that his farming is over for the nonce, and with cheery philosophy prepares for his hibernal life — that of a lumberman in a back- woods shanty — and this is how he paints it : Void I'hiver arrive, Les rivieres sont geMes ; C'est le temps d'aller au bois Manger du lard et des pois. Dans les chantiers nous hivernerons ! Dans les chantiers nous hivernerons ! And inasmuch as winter in Canada means to the peasant a routine of life in direct con- trast to his summer one, so it brings with it a complete change to those of higher de- 148 CANADA gree. As the thermometer falls, the first signal for the struggle is given. Double windows are fitted everywhere, and often double doors. Draughts and icy winds are combated by means of rags stuffed in every window crevice, and paper pasted over them. At last the house is hermetically sealed, and ventilation is supplied only through the giiichet Next, the ugly but indispensable black stoves and pipes are put up (where the dwelling is not heated by hot air or water), and the supplies of wood for the winter, and of frozen turkeys and geese, and barrels of apples, are laid in. Lastly comes the first fall of snow, and with it the snow-shoes, the toboggans the 149 s WINTER IN sleighs, the skates, and the joys of a Canadian winter. Albeit the thermometer often registers twenty degrees below zero, cold in Canada is bear- able. The air is dry and still, the sun shines brilliantly, and snow, when it falls, comes down as dry as flour, and can be shaken off as easily. Skies are bright, and the atmosphere ex- hilarating, whilst the winter sports are unrivalled. Life out of doors is a perpetual carnival. Sleighs painted red, blue, and every colour, and rich with fur " robes/' dart over the frozen snow. There is something in- expressibly joyous in the music of the sleigh-bells, and to those who have never heard them no description but that of Edgar 150 CANADA Allan Poe's could convey their charm : Hear the sledges with the bells- Silver bells ! What a world of merriment their melody foretells ! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night ! While the stars that oversprinkle All the Heavens seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight. Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme. To the tintinabulation that so music- ally wells, From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— From the jingling and the tingling of the bells. The usual sleighs for driving hold only two, with a seat be- hind for the groom. Fur robes cover the knees, and a long skin hangs at the back of the sleigh by way of finish to the 151 w ll 111 m ■iii -■■■ r In ■tv ' M i .. WINTER IN turn-out. Sleigh bells are sometimes hung above the horse's collar in a high silvered erection ; oftener they hang from a scarlet cloth arrange- ment round the neck. From the fact of the sleighs accom- modating only t\vo people, and the correlative being that those two people are generally a man and a woman, the libel anent " Muffins " arose. I find the following good tale in Recollec- tions of Canada : — " It was altogether too bad, the trick they played on young D . He came out late in the season, about the end of December, by way of Portland. A nice, good-looking youngster, but as ignorant of Canada as any one can well be. So after 152 CANADA dinner, says D , * Now tell me, what about the Muffins ? ' * What,' said they, ' haven't you secured a Muffin yet?' 'No,' says D -, ' how could I, when I don't know a soul out here ! ' * Ah,' said they, * that's unfortu- nate ; but you're in luck after all. There's just one left, but she's about the nicest girl here. You must secure her at once.' *But who will introduce m2?' says D . ' Ah ! ' said they, 'you don't want any introduc- tion ; all you've got to do is to go after lunch to-morrow, ring at the bell, and ask for Miss H ; then introduce your- self, and say that you have come to ask her to be your Muffin for the season.* " D called next day, and 153 JP p^ 1^ ,!i I! At WINTER IN saw as he entered the room a particularly pretty, quiet, lady- like woman waiting to receive him. ' I only arrived a few days ago,' he said, * Miss H , and I have come with- out delay to ask if you will honour me by driving out with me for the remainder of the season, as I am assured that, fortunately for me, you are still not engaged as a Muffin.' Miss H gave one terrified look at him, under a first not un- natural impression that he was a lunatic, and then, with her hand on the bell, gave poor D — — such a look that the whole truth burst upon him. And all that season, wherever he appeared, a sound like the tinkling of a little bell and a 154 CANADA subdued cry of * Muflfins ' was heard. He never quite got over it as long as he remained in Canada." The winter amusements of Canada are many, and next to the joy of driving tandem in a sleigh comes that of toboggan- ing. A toboggan is usually about ten feet long and seven- teen to nineteen inches wide. It is made of the lightest wood, and is almost as thin as paper. At one end (the front) it is curled up, and battens of wood border each side and strengthen it across. The first lady who gets into it sits with her feet curled up inside the front ar- rangement, and all those who follow, except the last man, sit tailor fashion, carefully tucking 155 w.t i WliNTER IN in their skirts anrl coats from contact with the snow. The last man usually steers with one foot, throwing himself face downwards on the toboggan, but sometimes he prefers to guide with his hands. The .sensation of flying through the air at such a pace is thrilling, and the game is one requiring skill and nerve. Of course a steep incline, either natural or artificial, is a sine qud non in the sport. Sleighs (both for sliding and driving) are steel bound, and their construction is quite differ- ent to that of a toboggan. Sleighs for sliding (as for driv- ing) are raised from the ground on runners, and the former are much smaller than toboggans. 156 CANADA In Canadian idiom you "slide" with a sleigh, and " toboggan " with a toboggan. Where the snow is freshly fallen, sleighs for sliding are useless, as the surface must be hard and frozen for them, whereas a toboggan is the right thing. Tobogganing parties are favourite amuse- ments in Canada, and the fun and merriment of them is in- describably delightful. By moonlight the sport is ideal, especially where the tobo"-- ganers are in their salad days, and the long walks up the hills, two and two, give opportunity for many an intimate talk. Snow-shoeing is another and a delightful Canadian amusement, one only to be indulged in where there is fresh-fallen snow, 157 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 7 // <" Mi.. . V ^Ko ///// :/> 1.0 I.I 1.25 !.4 IIIIM IIIIM IB i^ I— '6 '';^ & /a o ^1 cf: (9 ^F / /^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 i I T ■ !!.: i WINTER IN but which exercises the limbs and brings a glow of healthy colour to the palest cheek. Snow-shoes are made of a light framework of ash or some other light wood, laced across with thongs of deer-hide. Their size is proportionate for man or woman, and in the former is sometimes two feet six inches long. The foot of the wearer is cased in soft doeskin moccasin, and fastened to the snow-shoe by leather straps, which pass round the back of the ankle, leaving the heel free, and merely securing the toes to the shoe. The art in using snow-shoes is that of lifting one foot well over the other, so that you can walk firmly and gracefully without waddling, as the width of the 158 CANADA snow-shoe would lead many people to suppose must be the case. A torchlight procession on snow-shoes is a most picturesque sight, and one which far sur- passes the moccoletti of Rome or t\iQ Jiaccoletti oi Florence. The gleaming snow, the picturesque blanket costumes of the snow- shoers, the gloomy dark pines lit up here and there by the torches, and the merry, happy faces, make a never-to-be-forgot- ten picture. I remember hearing in my childhood a story ct propos of snow-shoes, which, if not vero^ is at least ben trovato. A Cana- dian (so they said), who dearly loved his national sports, found himself once on a time in Edin- 159 I l> i i" :it 18 'li- WINTER IN burgh during a severe winter. At the first fall of snow out he sallied on snow-shoes for a moonlight tramp round the Castle Rock. The following morning marks were found in the snow of a mysterious na- ture. The wiseacres of the place took counsel together, and tried to solve the problem. At last they came to the conclusion that an animal hitherto un- known to zoology hrd, no one knew why, made the circuit of their city in the darkness ! Skating is perhaps a more general amusement than snow- shoeing ; but it is so universal a sport now-a-days, that I need not touch on it here. When tired of tobogganing, snow- shoeing and skating, a man can 160 ^m CANADA prove his hardihood by going into the woods after moose and cariboo. The Scotch sport of curling is much liked and adopted in Canada. Of late years the Ice Palace of Montreal and Carni- val have been popular. No doubt the idea of the Palace was borrowed originally from Russia, but its architecture is distinctly English. Imagine a machicolated castle, with towers, slits for the cross-bowmen, and all the other mediaeval para- phernalia entirely carried out in solid blocks of ice ! When the sun shines the glistening, glit- tering mass is inexpressibly and marvellously beautiful. Fancy, if you can, a building made of colossal Koh-i-nors ! walls l6i tttMM m WINTER IN of diamonds! an enchanted palace ! One of the chief glories of Canadian nature is the verglas^ or glazed frost. This is the consequence of a thaw, followed by rain and a sharp frost. You wake up one fine sunny morn- ing not to find yourself "fa- mous," but the world about you. Every tree is coated apparently with finest glass, and hung with glittering jewels. It is as if an enchanter's wand had trans- formed a commonplace world into fairyland. Wherever the sun touches the boughs of the trees colours sparkle in its rays, red, green, yellow, and white, like rubies, emeralds, topazes, and diamonds. One looks for Oberons and Titanias in such a 162 CANADA world, and work-a-day ordinary mortals seem out of place. The celebration of Christmas in Canada is confined to the English-speaking section of the community. French-Canadians (like their co-religionists in Italy and France) keep the New Year as Italians do the Capo (TAnno, and observe the same customs in the new country as their an- cestors did in France. The English-Canadian hangs up his stocking for Santa Claus to fill, or decks his Christmas tree. The French - Canadian keeps Noel as a purely religious anni- versary, and reserves all his merriment for the New Year. Many French customs have gradually crept into use by the English-Canadians, and among 163 7 I t ■: I' li' I WINTER IN them that of New Year visiting. \0n the /our deVAn Canadian ladies hold their drawing-rooms, and receive their faithful sub- jects as much as ever did Royal Lady. None but men go these rounds, and woe betide the luckless wight who fails to put in an appearance or offer the season's good wishes ! His name is relegated thenceforth to the black books of the house- hold, and his former place in the affections of that family knows him no more. Canadian houses are emi- nently comfortable if slightly Philistine. On these anniver- saries all within doors is warmth and brightness. Glowing fires send ruddy, cheerful light over pleasant rooms and pretty 164 visiting, inadian -rooms, Lil sub- Royal o these \e the to put fer the His ceforth house- lace in family emi- ilightly nniver- i^armth g fires it over pretty CANADA women. Tables are laden with good Christmas fare, and every- where hospitality is the order of the day. Outside, icicles make a fringe to the roofs, the snow lies piled high, often above the level of the windows, and the trees bear a coating of snow and ice. The crispness in the air, despite the cold, is de- lightful, and sleigh-bells jingle merrily to an accompaniment of crunching snow. Sometimes King Frost, in an amorous fit, kisses our ears too rudely for politeness. Now and then an avalanche of snow from a tin roof overhead perils one's life ; occasionally there is danger of upsetting in a ca/zo^, oftener still there is likelihood of being buried in a snowdrift, but, take 165 H k WINTER IN CANADA it all in all, Canada is a rare country. No wonder the patri- otic habitant sings : — i i ". . . En expirant, Oh I mon cher Canada ! Mon regard languisant Vers toi so portera." i Xi^ 166 An American Village EMERSON has likened the student of history to a man going into a warehouse to buy cloths or carpets. " He fancies," says the writer, " he has a new article. If we go to the factory we shall find that his new stuff still repeats the scrolls and rosettes which are found on the interior walls of the Pyra- mids of Thebes." In the history of the world we find Nature for ever repeating herself; human 167 AN AMEPTCAN genius for ever re-echoing. The Greek temple in process of time became the Christian basilica. The Roman galley was the re- mote ancestor of the turret-ship, and Cowper has taught us all the antecedents of the sofa. There is nothing new under the sun : " Every novel is a debtor to Homer " ; " Every carpenter who shaves with a fore-plane borrows the genius of a for- gotten invention." Naturally enough strong family likenesses exist between magpie English villages, and the picturesque timber-framed hamlets on the banks of the Rhine and Moselle. Nor can we wonder that the narrow, malodorous streets of an Italian town arched with buttresses, and hung with dirty 1 68 iM 1i VILLAGE picturesque rags, should claim affinity with Spanish and Greek towns. If anywhere in this hackneyed earth originality be found, it must be on a new continent, where man in short is not for ever trammelled by what has been ; where, thrown on his own resources, his latent creative powers are stimulated, and he does not blindly follow recog- nised schools of thouQ-ht. In a corner of Massachusetts (though a far remove from " cul- tured " Boston), lies a village as purely original as it is in the law of Nature to be. In detail, this village has the components of all villages, but in the com- position of a picture, not in its materials, lies the essence of 169 ' I "I I !S AN AMERICAN originality. In Lenox we find most of the ordinary attributes of English, German, French or Italian villages. Yet the group- ing, the posing, the expression, are without parallel on the older continent. Imagine a village abounding with lawns and shrubberies, with gardens and orchards, where never a wall or fence sets up a barrier between the rich man and the poor one. Turf of a velvet-like richness slopes to the road, and with truly democratic principles the inhabitants of Lenox allow the beauties of flower-beds and glowing masses of rhododen- drons to be enjoyed equally by those of high and low degree. The side walks are everywhere shaded by magnificent avenues 170 VILLAGE of elms, and between the planks and the road is a wide border of turf. On either side of the village street are cottages of "Queen Anne" or "Colonial" styles of architecture; and further afield lie statelier dwell- ings standing in their own parks. Where four roads meet stands the village inn, a two- storied semi - classic wooden building. Mine host, Mr. Curtis, is as much a feature of Lenox as its fenceless lawns. He greets the newcomer with a hearty hand-shake, and speeds the parting guest with the pre- sentation of a substantial bill. To "Curtis' Hotel" come all visitors to Lenox who cannot aspire to the possession of a "cottage," or "country seat." 171 ^ \i FT a 'I (S; ii! i W il AN AMERICAN They find comfortable, even aesthetic rooms, good attend- ance, and food that no one need despise. None of us poor mor- tals are indifferent to the charms of creature comfort. Even the great Luther wrote : — "Wer nicht liebt Wein, Weib und Gesang, Der bleibt ein Narr sein Leben lang " ; and the corollary is, that Curtis' Hotel is always as full as it can hold. The months for Lenox are September and October, and then all smart American society finds itself in the Berkshire hills. Fashionable Americans play at rural life much as Marie Antoinette did. They profess at Lenox to live in cottages, but 172 3 ^ VILLAGE the so-called " cottages " are re- velations of beauty and luxury. They wear "country clothes" which, in studied simph*city and elegance, cost Worth and Feh'x, no doubt, many harassed hours to compass. They drive and ride and dine and dance in company (segregation being a state of life not appreciated by the American fashionable rnind). At Lenox, too, they dispense those hospitalities for which Americans are rc.iowned throughout the world. But, be- fore I go further, a word as to the situation and surroundings of this unique village. Lenox stands on a hill, and is literally hemmed in by moun- tains. It is in a district which is well -wooded, well -watered, 173 H i'l II AN AMERICAN and which abounds in exquisite scenery. " A country," says a writer, " of valleys, lakes, and mountains, that is yet to be as celebrated as the lake district of England, or the hill country ot Palestine." The undulating lie of the land, the belt of blue hil!s, the lovely lake called Stockbridge Bowl, placed like a mirror to reflect its surround- ings, and the unusually fine timber, all conspire to make the scenery round Lenox unique in beauty. Outside the village, lie houses and small parks dignified by the name of " places." Some of these houses are surrounded by twenty-five to as much as one hundred acres of land. No shooting is to be had with these 174 Village properties, but in every other essential they are ideal country homes. The grounds are in- variably well timbered, and the arrangement of shrubbery and flower-bed shows to what a pitch of perfection landscape gardening can come. No ex- pense is spared in keeping up these bijou places. The leading people in Lenox do not belie American traditions. They have money to gratify every whim, and the last fad of the fashion- able decorator is sure to be seen in their houses. Nearly all the buildings in Lenox are of wood, and the " Old English " and " Colonial " styles are most in vogue. By the adjective "Colonial" (as applied to houses) is under- 175 Ill I !■! .11 ¥ AN AMERICAN stood a type of domestic archi- tecture peculiar to America, and a revival of that in fashion in Washington's time. Curious suggestions of Greek porticos and entablatures, of pillars and pilasters, combine with an ex- tremely homely, comfortable fashion of domestic architecture ; and the result is not unpleasing. Incongruity is rampant, and yet the effect interiorly is delightful. One's theories of the pure in art are hourly outraged, and one's prejudices as often undergo modification. As for the so- called " Queen Anne " houses of Lenox, never before were houses half so charming, so cosy, and so unexpected. Quaint chimneys and gables of the strictest and purest " Queen Anne " architec- 176 VILLAGE ture delight one's senses of the fit ; when the sight of a French tourelle tacked on, at one corner, and an American verandah, at the other, again outrage one's principles of the pure in art. Nevertheless, the society of this vast continent being cosmo- politan, it is only natural that its architecture should be the same. " Colonial " houses are nearly always "clap-boarded" outside, and painted a deep creamy yellow relieved by white. In- side, many of the drawing- rooms show shining white classic pilasters, supporting architraves, and friezes ornamented by mouldings or sculpture of " Louis Seize " garlands, tied at intervals by the historic nceud. 177 '\ I AxN AMERICAN White and yellow are the pre- vailing colours of these " par- lours," and taken in conjunction with parquet floors, and softly coloured rugs, and draperies, the effect is undoubtedly good. The entrance halls are square as a rule, and modelled often on Old English types. Lowell's house at Cambridge is a good specimen of old Colonial archi- tecture, and in it is much that calls to mind the Adams' style of decoration. The " Old State House " of Boston is another good illustration of the type, and certainly public buildings modelled on classic forms accord more with English ideas of the fitting in art than the domestic- classic. And the women," who live in 178 VILLAGE these homes of versatile archi- tecture, seem to us English wonderfully in harmony with their surroundings — charming, lovely, picturesque, and often full of surprises. Less conventional than John Bull's women-kind, more liberal-minded and open to conviction, of intense per- sonality, sometimes incongruous, if you will, but never bores, American women may (like Englishwomen) sometimes be vulgar ; they can be on occasions (like Englishwomen) snobbish ; they are never, like English- women, dull. No women can touch them for natural straight- forwardness of manner, and absence of self- consciousness. There is among the well-bred a charm which is indescribable, 179 II AN AMERICAN and which, rather than their physical beauty, constitutes their attractiveness. Moreover, the wives and daughters of Brother Jonathan are by no means of Thomson's way of thinking, and scorn the poetic but unpractical idea that — ". . . Loveliness Needs not the foreign aid of orna- ment." To be bien ganUe^ bien chauss^e, wear well-fitting, smart clothes, and appear arrayed in the der- nier cri du chic, is the ambition of every well-regulated American female mind. Are not Worth, Felix, and Rouff called in to aid them in the attainment of this end ? During the season at Lenox 1 80 their :s their ;r, the >rother ans of ig, and actical less >f orna- :lothes, le der- abition aerican Worth, in to lent of Lenox VILLAGE festivities are the order of the day. Do we not have morning receptions, concerts, luncheon- parties, afternoon lectures, kettle- drums, dinners, and dances; Lenox energies being even equal to a Virginian reel on the lawn at the unholy hour of 12 a.m. ! No people are so hospitable as Americans, and few can equal American hostesses in grace and charm in entertaining. They are less self-conscious and shy than Englishwomen, more genial and ready-witted. Their ab- sence of conventionality is also valuable to them, as it leads to original experiments in the way of entertainments which no Englishwoman, hampered by a fear of Mrs. Grundy, would dare to perpetrate. Happily the 181 !f^ AN AMERICAN American hostess has the cour- age of her convictions, and happily for her also, American guests love novelty. In festive, beautiful, hospitable Lenox the ball is kept merrily rolling, and the marvel is that these delicate, ethereal - looking, fragile crea- tures can " whirl, and follow the sun," from year's end to year's end. Whether a collapse comes sooner or later I cannot say, but a visit to Lenox in the height of its season, left one full of admiration for the indomitable energy of its fair inhabitants, full of intense appreciation of the marvellous sylvan beauty of its scenery, and not a little anxious that others should share an unique and delightful experi- 182 ! VILLAGE cnce. There are few places in this vvork-a-day world where "nature" is so completely "linked with art," or "fewest faults with greatest beauties joined." i Cutler & Tanner, Troine and Lo:idon. 183