The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-08-22
DAILY PRESS.
MD
TUESDAY. AUGUST %, 1871.
The French Canadians.
.ORTLAND


The French Canadians, as we find them to.
day, are very different people from what they
were fifty years ago, With respect to the
state of education, commercial enterprise, and
agriculture among them half a century ago.
the less said the better. We will take them
as any traveller will find them to-day.
Ihey are of the average height; stouter and
stronger than the people of France, though
lacking the gracefulness of carraige and tout
ensemble of fhe Frenchman. Ihe prevailing
type OF face is distinct from that of the Eng
lish Canadian. 1t is dark and stern, while
gloom hangs over the conutenatIce, which.
however, is often relieved by pleasant yer,
satility OF expression peculiar to the French
character. The hair is remarkable for its lux
urlance, darkness, and tendency to curl
The French Canadians manifest heredita-
ry prIde IN dress. The upper class dress with
OUT Iault bnt the middling and lower classes
verge upon the vulgar. A French servant
girl VIII appear on Sundays and church holi-
uays In all col0rs of the rainbow,-epormous
chlgnon, crinoline, Ell ceterd, in the most ex
traVagant extreme. Butcher-boys and cab-
men srtut around in conspicuous suits of the
Drightest yellow, brown, and velvet, with black
beaver hat, and-a lavish display of pure oro-
ide. The poorer classes strive and strain to
keep up appearances beyond their means, and
periodically the French clergy censure their
extravaganza from the pulpit. The days of
beef-mOccasins and home-spun cloth have
vanished, even among the laborers The inter-
esting "Jean Baptiste" of twenty o. thirty
years ago, clad in the primitive gray or blue
flannel coat and breeches, and the peculiar
worsted cap called "tuque," with variegat-
ed colored sash, has become traditionary in
the cities, 1t has even disappeared from the
cab-stand and wharves of Quebec city, and
those who wish to see it must look at its rep
resentation on the copper coins of the "Ban-
que du Peuple," in the masquerades in the
skating rinks, or in the water-colors of
Kreighoff and jacob. Within the last twen-
ty years, English and French Canadians have
become so blended in many social rsspects
that old distinctions of dress have been al
most entirely obliterated, and there is not the
same effort made to retain unsuitable fash.
ions simply because they happen to be French.
The French of the cities do not, as many
suppose, speak pure French. l have heard
Parisians affirm that at first they had some
difficulty in understandingiy perfectly the
most of what educated French Canadians
would say, owing to the introduction of pc
cuar idiom and the iDtermixture of English,
producing a patois different from anything
heard in France. They speak faster than the
old French their preachers andllawyers plead
i'm high vehement tone and with an exces-
sive display of emphasis, which to the quieter
Anglo Saxon seems eXtravagant and some
what absurd. They gesticulate in Quebec
precisely as they do in Paris, and use many
expletives in ordinary conversation. In the
politest assemblies "Mon Dieu" is a common
expression of astOnishment, dread, and sor-
row. They learn the English language much
easier than the English seem to learn the
French, and for every English Canadian who
speaks French there are twenty French who
can converse fuenty in English. As trav-
eler gravely remarked, seven the little French
children speak French" There is a liveliness
in their conversation which we do not hear
in the English.
They are excessively fond of fetes and holi-
days, shows and professions. Business is will
liDgly suspended at the call of the Church to
commemorate the birthday or death OF a
saint, the morning being spent in church land
the rest of the day wherever and however
they please. They have an Athenian pen
chant for the theatre. They enjoy their holi-
days to perfection, and are the most easily
amused people on earth. They are passion
ately fond of vocal and instrumental music
and dancing, and have an especial capacity
for these gay arts"
The courtesy of all the French Canadian
citizens, rich and poor, is prOverbial. The
very beggars cOnstrain you by their civility to
give them aims, and the cabmen cajole you
by their politeness to increase their fare. They
are very sociable people, delighting in COM
pany at home and abroad, in clubs and asso-
ciatlons. Nothing makes Lower Canadian
society more agreeable, especially in the FASH
iOna5le assemblies of winter, than the inter
mingling of the two races, with their diver
gent characteristics and different shades of
manner. Looking at the sociable record of
the past fifty years as it has existed, with a
few Interruptions, between French and Eng
fish Canadians, one almost forgets the history
of Wolfe and Montcalm; and when young
French Canada is seen retrieving the laurels
his sires lost on battle-fieds by conquering the
affections of English maidens, and British Of
| fl GERS preferring and winning 'la belle Cana
dienne," one is forcby struck with the social
changes wrought by time and necessity, and
the discomforture of Lord Durham's predic-
tions of an endless "contest of races in Can
| ada.-Seribner's for September.