Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-11-07
French canadian Fsrm Lirs

II can always tell without guide-board
when we come to Canada" This sentence l
have heard over and over again from persons
coming into this province, and have been
obliged to admit the humiliatiuR fact-for fact
it is--that the difference in houses and their
surroundings, in methods of culture and ap
pearance of the people, is so pronounced that
there is no need Of being told, "This is Can
ada" or "This is the United States" 1t is
true that along the borders, influenced by
their neighbors, there is more OF thrift and
energy but along the st. Lawrence, and in
all French Canadian settlements there is a
contented apathy so long as 'fGtes" abound,
and the church is there a never-failing recre-
alton so long as there are fish in the rivers
and q little corn patch TO hoe, the happy
''Baptiste" requires no more. II should like
to be little Canadian GIRL" said my young
daughter, and when asked the reason of this
unusual ambition, she replied, ''Because they
have nothing to do but fish and dance and go
to church-they have lots of fun" The state
ment Was ohildlike, but covered the whole
situation. 1t is an idle, desultory life though
many earn their living by the rod, and it is a
common thing on the market boats to see the
front Of the deck covered with fsh for the
city markets from the fresh-water lakes. The
farms Of these French Canadians were once
large homesteads, but they have been divided
oha AONlNAhoNf giving paSh VI VhSh
succeeding family lot fronting on their be-
loved river the result is collection Of small
whitewashed huts anything but agreeable to
the eye, except that they are as clean as it is
| possible for lime and scrubbing to make them.
| The meadow and pasture fields are stony and
| rough the gardens and corn plot are worked
with the "pioche" or hoe and these are the
chief agricultural possessions of the people.
| Nowhere else is ignorance such "bliss. :" But,
! worst of ALL this apathetic contentment pre-
vents any advancement in any locality where
they are in the majority. Always polite to
| bis neighbors urbane and hospitable to all
there is simply no use talking to the French
Canadian of improved roads, or improved
| methods of farming, or Of assisting in the
county shows. The sntiquated ideas of the
people, and their utter ignorance of even the
elements of education, are an armor against
which no neighbor can prevail. Yet their
lives are pure and simple; quarrels are rare /;
there is no element of rowdyism in their COM
| position unless when they imbibe too much
''ire-wster," and even then they are more or
| derly than any other drunken men.
Here and there, among these happy go
lucky people, are the thrifty and hard working
farmers who have taken up land and paid for
| it under the various magnAtes who owned
| large tracts under the old regime. To them
there is still paid tithes-in some localities 10
cents on every acre, and in others, as in our
own, it is a bushel and a quarter OF wheat,
| paid to the seignoress, who is the superior OF
the gray nuns. The land was bought on these
terms, To me this seems a curious custom,
and always feel like rebellion when the
nuns man of business presents his little bill,
for the English-speaking people prefer pay
ing the tithe in cash, So particular are they
in regard to their rights that a house and lot
belonging to the seignory has not been sold,
and is falling into decay, because the nuns
would reserve the right to use the water power,
and no one would buy the property with the
chances of a mill being built, whether it in
terfered with the purchaser or not. The
English-speaking farmer is alive to all the
modern improvements. He plants orchards
and vineyards he tills his land with q view
to the rotation of crops, and prides himself
on having good horses and good implements.
Working early and late, during the short sea-
son, he acquires q hurried manner, in marked
contrast to the repose of his French neigh
Dor but he keeps his fences in repair and
his roadway passable The bishop makes the
round of the diocese every three or four years,
and before his visit every stone is removed
every hole in the road is filled up, and the
paths are made straight So when the French
mems roads are particularly bad, we pray fol-
the visitation of the bishop.
The thrifty countryman tolerates his thrift
less, happy neighbor, and blames his super
stition instead Of himself for his want of sue
cess but 1t is a drawback TO social and agri
cultural advancement. Like many othel
things, both would be better if their charac
teristics we're more evenly divided II the
overworked English farmer would take a lit
tie more ease, and the lazy, indolent French
fisherman had a little more energy, the coun
try would be better and so would the people
Cor. Rural Neio- Yorker.