Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-01-06
The French Canadians and Their
Language.
BY REV. NARCIssE CYR.

What kind of French do the Canadians
speak? How near is it to the pure
Partisan ? The writer is often asked these
questions, and as there prevails false ideas
on the subject, it is deemed useful to an
swer them through the press.
! First, it must be remarked that the
French emigration to Canada was COM
posed of the mobiles as well as the peasants
In colonizing "New France" they wanted
to reproduce, as near as they could, the
mother country and in order to induce
the nobility to emigrate, the government
granted them large portions of country,
over which they were to be lords and
masters. This was the feudal system of
SeignearieS, which has been great draw
back to Canada, and of which that prov
ince freed herself only few years ago.
This system, however, secured for the
colony class OF educated and well-bred
families, around whom clustered an intel
ligent society. Soon, colleges were
founded on the plan of those in the mother
country, and in these the youth of the
most intellectual class were educated,
French being invariably the medium
| through which instruction was impaired.
Consequently, Canada, in its infancy,
seemed as much a portion of France. as
though a district of it had been detached
and had drifted across the ocean.
When in 1863, this province was coded
to England, provision was made in the
treaty for the preservation of the French
language, 80 that since then the laws
have always been published in French as
well as in English, and the proceedings
in the legislature, the trials in the courts,
and all public business has been carried
on in these two languages
Not only new colleges and female SEM
inaries were founded from time to time SO
that at least one convent, as well as
classical, with an industrial institution,
exists for every hundred thousand of it's
population, but primary schools were es-
tablished at an early day, and these now
form regular system of popular educa-
| ton, which can compare, in many re-
spects, with the schools of this country.
In all these institutions the French Ian
guage is the language of the scholars, and
the books used are in pure French.
Moreover, out of the cities, the French
influence has been so great that the other
nationalities have been absorbed by it.
We meet with the descendants of the
Donaldsons, the Smiths, the McLearvs,
the Halls, &c, as well as those of Italian,
Spanish, j. Portuguese and Russian colonists,
who would be very much puzzled if you
addressed them in any other language
than French.
What is to be concluded from these
facts? That the Canadians have kept
their Frank nationality in a remarkable
manner, that after being separated from
the mother country by the misfortunes of
wars, they have religiously retained the
language, the manners and the spirit of
their forefathers. They could still be
taken fro province of France, only i'm
proved in language, as we'll as in dress
and general appearance.
Improved in language, we say, if we
compare them to the population of
French province, for the common people
in Canada, although they do not
speak the pure French, yet their
language is better than any of the
pat0iS,. of which there is great variety in
France, the inhabitants of district often
times being unable to understand those of
other districts, while the educated class
in Montreal, Quebec, and in the other
cities, speak as good French as is spoken
in the French provincial towns.
It is well known that, except on the
borders of the Loire and especially in the
vicinity of Orleans and Tours, every dis
trict has not only its patotS for the peas
ants, but its peculiar accent, as is, for that
matter, the case in every country, and
that sojourn among the educated class
of Paris is considered necessary to acquire
the best pronunciation, or get the classical
finish touch 1t is fact that Canadians
who have studied in Paris speak French
as well as Frenchmen, and that no one
could by their accent or their diction
imagine they were born out of France
Another fact: General Dix, who
studied French in Montreal, was compli-
mented for his knowledge of that lam
guage in Paris, while Ambassador from
this country.
We therefore conclude by saying that
the Canadians speak the French more or
less, according to the degree of education
they have enjoyed, just as any other
people use their vernacular As unedu-
Ecated Americans speak poor English, so
uneducated Canadians speak poor French,
and yet they understand the pure Partisan,
provided words beyond their compre-
hension are not used. Americans who
have studied French three or four years
in this country could not follow simple
French discourse as readily as an illiter-
ate Canadian Of average intellect, the lat
ter having the root of the matter in him
Unborn.
IL would De very unjust to form an idea
of the French Canadian people merely by
the laboring classes who emigrate to New
England, and yet these people are more
intelligent and haves more knowledge
than they generally get credit for.
/ The professional men, the merchants,
the wealthy farmers, very seldom emf
crate, but it is the poor mechanic, the
day laborer, the operative, who seek in
this country. for employment which is de-
MED them in their native land, owing
mainly to the English policy Of discourage
! ing manufactures in their colonies, to a