[Footnote 1: Sir J.M. Lemoine, Legends of the St. Lawrence (Quebec, 1878).]

Various chroniclers have left us pen portraitures of the habitant as they saw him in the olden days. Charlevoix, La Hontan, Hocquart, and Peter Kalm, men of widely different tastes and aptitudes, all bear testimony to his vigor, stamina, and native-born vivacity. He was courteous and polite always, yet there was no flavor of servility in this most benign trait of character. It was bred in his bone and was fostered by the teachings of his church. Along with this went a bonhomie and a lightheartedness, a touch of personal vanity, with a liking for display and ostentation, which unhappily did not make for thrift. The habitant "enjoys what he has got," writes Charlevoix, "and often makes a display of what he has not got." He was also fond of honors, even minor ones, and plumed himself on the slightest recognition from official circles. Habitants who by years of hard labor had saved enough to buy some uncleared seigneury strutted about with the airs of genuine aristocrats while their wives, in the words of Governor Denonville, "essayed to play the fine lady." More than one intendant was amused by this broad streak of vanity in the colonial character. "Every one here," wrote Meulles, "begins by calling himself an esquire and ends by thinking himself a nobleman."

Yet despite this attempt to keep up appearances, the people were poor. Clearing the land was a slow process, and the cultivable area available for the support of each household was small. Early marriages were the rule, and families of a dozen or more children had to be supported from the produce of a few arpents. To maintain such a family as this every one had to work hard in the growing season, and even the women went to the fields in the harvest-time. One serious shortcoming of the habitant was his lack of steadfastness in labor. There was a roving strain in his Norman blood. He could not stay long at any one job; there was a restlessness in his temperament which would not down. He would leave his fields unploughed in order to go hunting or to turn a few sous in some small trading adventure. Unstable as water, he did not excel in tasks that required patience. But he could do a great many things after a fashion, and some that could be done quickly he did surprisingly well.

One racial characteristic which drew comment from observers of the day was the litigious disposition of the people. The habitant would have made lawsuits his chief diversion had he been permitted to do so. "If this propensity be not curbed," wrote the intendant Raudot, "there will soon be more lawsuits in this country than there are persons." The people were not quarrelsome in the ordinary sense, but they were very jealous each one of his private rights, and the opportunities for litigation over such matters seemed to provide themselves without end. Lands were given to settlers without accurate description of their boundaries; farms were unfenced and cattle wandered into neighboring fields; the notaries themselves were almost illiterate, and as a result scarcely a legal document in the colony was properly drawn. Nobody lacked pretexts for controversy. Idleness during the winter was also a contributing factor. But the Church and the civil authorities frowned upon this habit of rushing to court with every trivial complaint. Cures and seigneurs did what they could to have such difficulties settled amicably at home, and in a considerable measure they succeeded.

New France was born and nurtured in an atmosphere of religious devotion. To the habitant the Church was everything—his school, his counselor, his almsgiver, his newspaper, his philosopher of things present and of things to come. To him it was the source of all knowledge, experience, and inspiration, and to it he never faltered in ungrudging loyalty. The Church made the colony a spiritual unit and kept it so; undefiled by any taint of heresy. It furnished the one strong, well-disciplined organization that New France possessed, and its missionaries blazed the way for both yeoman and trader wherever they went.

Many traits of the race have been carried on to the present day without substantial change. The habitant of the old dominion was a voluble talker, a teller of great stories about his own feats of skill and endurance, his hair-raising escapes, or his astounding prowess with musket and fishing-line. Stories grew in terms of prodigious achievement as they passed from tongue to tongue, and the scant regard for anything approaching the truth in these matters became a national eccentricity. The habitant was boastful in all that concerned himself or his race; never did a people feel more firmly assured that it was the salt of the earth. He was proud of his ancestry, and proud of his allegiance; and so are his descendants of today even though their allegiance has changed.

To speak of the habitants of New France as downtrodden or oppressed, dispirited or despairing, like the peasantry of the old land in the days before the great Revolution, as some historians have done, is to speak untruthfully. These people were neither serfs nor peons. The habitant, as Charlevoix puts it, "breathed from his birth the air of liberty"; he had his rights and he maintained them. Shut off from the rest of the world, knowing only what the Church and civil government allowed him to know, he became provincial in his horizon and conservative in his habits of mind. The paternal policy of the authorities sapped his initiative and left him little scope for personal enterprise, so that he passed for being a dull fellow. Yet the annals of forest trade and Indian diplomacy prove that the New World possessed no sharper wits than his. Beneath a somewhat ungainly exterior the yeoman and the trader of New France concealed qualities of cunning, tact, and quick judgment to a surprising degree.

These various types in the population of New France, officials, missionaries, seigneurs, voyageurs, habitants, were all the scions of a proud race, admirably fitted to form the rank and file in a great crusade. It was not their fault that France failed to dominate the Western Hemisphere.



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

On the earlier voyages of discovery to the northern coasts of the New World the most informing book is H.P. Biggar's Precursors of Jacques Cartier (Ottawa, 1911). Hakluyt's Voyages contain an English translation of Cartier's own writings which cover the whole of the first two expeditions and a portion of the third. Champlain's journals, which describe in detail his sea voyages and inland trips of exploration during the years 1604-1618 inclusive, were translated into English and published by the Prince Society of Boston during the years 1878-1882.

For further discussions of these explorations and of the various other topics dealt with in this book the reader may be referred to several works in the Chronicles of Canada (32 vols. Toronto, 1914-1916), namely, to Stephen Leacock's Dawn of Canadian History and Mariner of St. Malo; Charles W. Colby's Founder of New France and The Fighting Governor; Thomas Chapais's Great Intendant; Thomas G. Marquis's Jesuit Missions, also to Seigneurs of Old Canada and Coureurs-de-Bois by the author of the present volume. In each of these books, moreover, further bibliographical references covering the several topics are provided.

The series known as Canada and Its Provinces (22 vols. and index, Toronto, 1914) contains accurate and readable chapters upon every phase of Canadian history, political, military, social, economic, and literary. The first two volumes of this series deal with the French regime. Mention should also be made of the biographical series dealing with The Makers of Canada (22 vols. Toronto, 1905-1914) and especially to the biographies of Champlain, Laval, and Frontenac which this series includes among its earlier volumes.

The writings of Francis Parkman, notably his Pioneers of New France, Old Regime in Canada, Jesuits in North America, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, and Count Frontenac are of the highest interest and value. Although given to the world nearly two generations ago, these volumes still hold an unchallenged supremacy over all other books relating to this field of American history.

Other works which may be commended to readers who seek pleasure as well as instruction from books of history are the following:

PERE F.-X. CHARLEVOIX, Histoire et description generale de la Nouvelle-France, translated by John Gilmary Shea (6 vols. N.Y., 1866-1872).

C.W. COLBY, Canadian Types of the Old Regime (N.Y., 1908).

A.G. DOUGHTY, A Daughter of New France (Edinburgh, 1916).

JAMES DOUGLAS, Old France in the New World (Cleveland, 1906).

F.-X. GARNEAU, Histoire du Canada (5th ed. by Hector Garneau, Paris, 1913. As yet only the first volume of this edition has appeared.)

P. KALM, Travels into North America (2 vols. London, 1772).

LE BARON DE LA HONTAN, New Voyages to North America (ed. R.G. Thwaites. 2 vols. Chicago, 1905).

MARC LESCARBOT, Histoire de la Nouvelle-France (translated by W.L. Grant. 3 vols. Toronto, 1907-1914. Publications of the Champlain Society).

FREDERIC A. OGG, The Opening of the Mississippi (N.Y., 1904).

A. SALONE, La colonisation de la Nouvelle-France (Paris, 1905).

G.M. WRONG, A Canadian Manor and its Seigneurs (Toronto, 1908).

For further references the reader should consult, in The Encyclopaedia Britannica, the articles on France, Canada, Louis XIV, Richelieu, Colbert, and The Jesuits.



Index

Algonquins, The, act as guides to Champlain, 41; friendly to the French, 45 Anticosti, Island of, 19,20 Arrets of Marly (1711), 143

Belle Isle, 18, 19, 20 Bigot, Francois, 68 Brebeuf, Jean de, Jesuit missionary, 56 Brouage, birthplace of Champlain, 33

Cambrai, Peace of (1729), 15 Canada, see New France Cap Rouge, Cartier winters at, 26; Roberval winters at, 28 Cartier, Jacques, sets out on first voyage of discovery, (1534), 16; a corsair, 16; former voyages, 17; reaches New World, 18; purpose of expedition, 19; returns home, 19; begins second voyage, 19-20; his ships, 20; winters at Stadacona, 21-23; learns of Great Lakes, 22; takes Indians to King, 23; account of voyage, 24; sails on third voyage from St. Malo (1541), 25; winters at Cap Rouge, 26; defies patron, Roberval, 27; personal characteristics, 29; later life, 29; death (1557), 29; bibliography, 29 Catalogne, Gedeon de, makes survey and maps of Quebec region (1712), 143-44; makes agricultural census, 184 Cataraqui (Kingston), fort established at, 85-86; La Salle receives grant of land at, 103 Chaleurs, Baie des, 18 Champlain, Samuel de, born at Brouage (1567), 33; sails with expedition of De Chastes (1603), 33; personal characteristics, 33-34; embarks as chief geographer (1604), 35; winters at St. Croix, 36-37; Order de Bon Temps, 38; returns to France, 39; sails again for the St. Lawrence (1608), 39; raid against the Iroquois, 41; seeks western passage to Cathay, 44; takes journeys into interior (1613 and 1616), 44-47; journals, 47; as viceroy's deputy, 48; surrenders to English, 51-52; returns to Quebec as representative of Company of One Hundred Associates, 52; death (1635), 53; appreciation of, 53-54 Champlain, Lake, 41 Chastes, Amyar, Sieur de, 32, 33, 34. Chauvin of Honfleur, 32 Church in New France, loyalty to, 113; Recollets, 115; Jesuits, 116 et seq.; aid to civil power, 127-28; revenues, 129-130; see also Jesuits Colbert, Jean Baptiste, personal characteristics, 8; interest in colonial ventures, 8-9; plans for French interest, 60-61; plans fleet of merchant vessels, 197-98 Courcelle, Daniel de Remry, Sieur de, Governor of New France, 75 Coureurs-de-bois, attack Indians (1687), 95-96; kind of men engaged as, 161-62; number, 162-63; leaders, 163-64; methods of trading, 165 et seq.; licenses granted to, 172 Crevecoeur, Fort, 106, 107

D'Ailleboust, Governor of New France, 55 Denonville, Marquis de, Governor of New France, 94 Donnacona, head of Indian village, 23 Duchesneau, Jacques, Intendant of New France, 88; quarrels with Frontenac, 89-91; recalled, 91 Du Lhut, Daniel Greysolon, 87, 95, 131 Dumesnil, Peronne, 73

Education in New France, 130-132 England, early explorations, 15, 16; colonial ventures, 49

Five nations, appellation of the Iroquois Indians, 42 France in the seventeenth century, population, 1, 3; army, 1; power and prestige, 2-4; outstripped in commerce, 3; racial qualities, 3-4; government, 4-5; church, 5; tardiness in American colonization, 6-8; weakness of colonial policy, 10-14 Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count, chosen to carry out colonial policy, 9; sent as Governor to Quebec (1672), 80; early life, 80; personal characteristics, 81-82; inauguration, 83; plans checked by King, 83-84; expansion policy, 84 et seq.; builds fort at Cataraqui, 86; opposed by Bishop and Intendant, 89-91; recalled (1682), 91; returns to Quebec as Governor (1689), 97-98: death (1698), 98 Frontenac, Fort, 85-86, 103, 108 Fur trade with the Indians, 155 et seq.

Gallican branch of the Catholic Church, 5, 114 Gaspe Bay, 18 Georgian Bay, Champlain's journey to, 46-47 Giffard, Robert, 142 Green Bay, 163 Griffin, The, ship, 104-105, 106

Habitants, 147-51, 207-26 Hakluyt, account of meeting of Cartier and Roberval, 27 Hebert, Louis, 137 Hennepin, Louis, Recollet friar, 104 Hochelaga (Montreal), 21-22, 26, 34 Huguenots excluded from Canada, 195-96 Hurons, The, act as guides to Champlain, 41; friendly to the French, 45-46; destroyed by the Iroquois, 55-56; Jesuits among, 118-19 Hurons, Lake of the, see Georgian Bay

Illinois River, La Salle reaches, 106, 109 Indians, hostility toward Cartier, 26; fur trade with, 156 et seq.; effect of trade upon, 178; see also Algonquins, Hurons, Iroquois, Onondagas Irondequoit Bay, 102 Iroquois, The, Champlain's encounter with, 41-43; friends of English, enemies of French, 42-43; troubles with, 56-58, 74-78, 93 et seq.

Jesuit Relations, 54, 119-20, 132 Jesuits, The, settle Montreal, 54-55; oppose Frontenac, 88; come to Canada (1625), 115-16; characteristics, 110, 117-18; missionaries to Indians, 118 et seq.; progress among French settlers, 122 et seq.; service to trade interests, 156-58 Joliet, Louis, 103, 164

Kalm, Peter, Travels, 185-86, 188 Kirke, Sir David, Commander of English privateers, 51

La Barre, Le Febvre de, Governor of New France, 92-94, 109 La Durantaye, Olivier Morel de, 95, 164 La Foret, Francois Dauphine de, 87, 95, 163 Lalemant, Jesuit missionary, 56 La Mothe-Cadillac, Antoine de 87, 163 La Roche, Sieur de, 32 La Salle, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, foremost among French pathfinders, 87; born (1643), 100; comes to Montreal (1666), 100-01; equips expedition (1669), 102; receives trading rights and land at Fort Frontenac, 103; goes to France for further aid, 103-04; first journey down the Illinois, 105-107; returns to Montreal, 107; reaches the Mississippi, 107; winters at Fort Miami, 108; journeys down the Mississippi, 108-09; plans for founding colony in lower Mississippi valley (1684), 109-10; death (1687), 110; later estimates of, 111-12 Lauzon, Jean de, Governor of New France, 57 Laval, Francois-Xavier de, Abbe de Montigny, Bishop of Quebec, arrives in New France (1659), 58; friction with civil authorities, 58-69; relations with Mezy, 72-73; returns to colony, 88; opposed to Frontenac, 89 et seq.; born (1622), 124; personal characteristics, 125-26; opposed to liquor traffic. 126-27 Law, John, 67 Le Caron, Joseph, Recollet, missionary, 46 Le Moyne, Jesuit missionary, 57 Lescarbot, Marc, 38 Liquor traffic with the Indians, 126-27, 173-78 Longueuil, Baron de, 142 Louis XIV, centralization of power under, 4-5; interest in colonial ventures, 9; assumes power (1658), 60; edict of 1663, 62-63; personal interest in New France, 70-71

Maisonneuve, Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de, 54-55 Mance, Jeanne, 55 Marquette, Jacques, Jesuit missionary, 103 Matagorda Bay, 110 Mazarin, Jules, not interested in colonial ventures, 8 Meules, Intendant of New France, 93 Mezy, de, Governor of New France, 72-74 Miami, Fort, 108 Michilimackinac, 105, 108 Mingan Islands, 20 Mississippi River, La Salle reaches, 108 Montmagny, Charles Jacques Huault. Sieur de, 54, 55 Montreal, settled, 54-55; annual fur fair at, 166-71; see also Hochelaga Monts, Pierre du Guast, Sieur de, granted trade monopoly, 35; organizes company, 35-39; loses influence at court, 48

New France, reflects old France, 10, 14; difficulty of communication with Europe, 12-13; population (1663), 61-62; colonial intendant, 67-69; administration, 69-70; requests for money, 71-72; period of prosperity, 78, 79; seigneurial system of land tenure, 133 et seq.; military seigneuries, 145-46; forced labor in, 150; merrymaking in, 151; courts, 151-53; fur trade, 155 et seq.; competition with English in trade, 159-61; liquor traffic, 173-78; effect of trade upon, 178-79; agriculture, 180 et seq.; industries, 188 et seq.; minerals, 190-92; exclusion of Huguenots from, 195-96; trade conditions, 198-201; social organization, 203 et seq.; seigneurs, 206-07; homes of habitants, 207-11; clothing, 211-13; food, 213-17; use of tobacco, 217; festivities, 217-21; folklore, 221-22; poverty of habitants, 223; litigious disposition of people, 224-25; religion, 225; characteristics of people, 225-26; types of population, 227; bibliography, 229-31 New France, Company of, see One Hundred Associates, Company of Newfoundland, Cartier's expeditions rests at, 18 Niagara, fort rebuilt by Denonville, 96; La Salle builds post at, 104

Old Council, 55 One Hundred Associates, Company of, organization, 50; powers and duties, 50-51; sends fleet to the St. Lawrence (1628), 51; sends Champlain as representative, 52-53; charter revoked, 61; failure of, 62; grants by, 137-38; restricts industry, 196 Onondagas, The, Champlain's attack upon, 46 Ontario, Lake, 46 Ottawa River, 44

Perrot, Nicholas, 95, 163 Pontgrave of St. Malo, 32, 29 Port Royal (Annapolis), 36, 37 Portugal, early explorations, 15, 16; colonial ventures, 49 Poutrincourt, Biencourt de, 35, 36, 38

Quebec, Champlain settles, 39-40; population, 48; surrenders to English, 51-52; burns, 93; pivot of social life, 204-05; see also Stadacona

Recollets, The, 115 Richelieu, Cardinal, interest in colonial ventures under, 7-8; becomes chief minister of Louis XIII, 49; prevails upon King to organize colonizing company (1627), 50; interest in New France not lasting, 60 Richelieu River, 41 Roberval, Jean Francois de la Roque, Sieur de, enlists services of Cartier, 25-26, meets Cartier returning to France, 27; winters at Cap Rouge, 28 Rouen, birthplace of La Salle, 100

Sable Island, 32 Saguenay River, 34 St. Croix, 36-37 St. Germain-en-Laye, Treaty of (1632), 52 St. John's, Newfoundland, 27 Sec.t. Lawrence, Gulf of, 18 St. Louis, Fort, 109 St. Malo, 16-17, 19, 25, 29 St. Maurice, 28 Seigneurs of New France, 133 et seq., 206-07 Sovereign Council, 63-66 Spain, early explorations, 15, 16; colonial ventures, 49 Stadacona (Lower Quebec), 21, 26, 39 Sully, Due de, opposed to colonial ventures, 7 Sulpicians, The, 102, 128 Superior Council, see Sovereign Council

Talon, Jean, first Intendant of New France (1665), 63; arrives in Quebec, 66-67, 68, 75; report to the King, 80-81; fosters industries, 188-89; plans trade with West Indies and France, 197-98 Three Rivers, 28, 53 Ticonderoga, fight between French and Indians at, 41 Tocqueville, de, French historian, 10 Tonty, Henri de, 87, 95, 104, 163 Tracy, Prouville de, 74-78

Ursulines, The, 128

Vignau tells Champlain of English shipwreck, 44-45

West Indies, Company of the, 78, 196, 197

THE END