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BOOK yet its population increased more rapidly than might have LXXVIII. been supposed, considering its disadvantages. When it was conquered by the English in 1759, the number of its inhabitants amounted to 70,000. The revolution which took place in the government and political institutions of the country in consequence of that event, retarded for a few years the progress of population. But the change of allegiance was rendered as easy as possible by the lenient measures of the conquerors. The laws were allowed to remain unaltered, the inhabitants were secured in the undisturbed possession of their lands under the ancient tenures, and in the free exercise of their religious rites. The prosperity of the country, and the great increase of its population may be judged of from the following authentic table:

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1765 76,275 764,604 194 724413,757 50,329 27,064 28,976
1783 113,012 1,596,818383,349230,096 98,591 84,66670,466

Increase 36,737 805,214 | 188,625 16,339 48,262 57,602 41,490

in 18

years.

In 1814, according to a regular census, the province of Lower Canada alone contained $35,000 (a) inhabitants. Of this number 235,000 may be considered as descendants of the original French settlers. The remainder is composed of emigrants from various nations, chiefly English, Scotish, Irish, and American. In 1783, the settlers of Upper Canada were estimated at 10,000, but the most of them were included in the numerous frontier posts and garrisons. After this period, the number of settlers, in consequence of a great accession of loyalists, disbanded soldiers, and emigrants from the United States and Great Britain, increased so rapidly, that in the year 1814, the inhabitants of the province amounted, according to the most accu

(a) [See Note on page 144.]-AM. ED.

rate returns, to 95,000.* Mr. Gourlay estimates the popu- BOOK lation of Upper Canada in 1820 at 134,259 (a) inhabitants, LXXVIII. among whom he calculates 3259 Indians.†

habitants

The greater part of the French population is confined to French inthe northern bank of the St. Lawrence, from Montreal to Quebec. That extensive line of farms and cultivated fields may have improved the aspect of the country, but it has not much contributed to the welfare of the first settlers. The Canadian farmers of that district appear to act in a manner diametrically opposite to that of the Anglo-Americans. They quit with reluctance the place of their birth; the members of a family choose rather to divide the last acre of their estate, than to emigrate and cultivate neighbouring lands, the fertility of which is superior to their own.

of the

The first French colonists are said to have come from Character Normandy. Their wants are easily supplied; they have French shown themselves attached to their religion, and submissive settlers. to the government that has respected their independence. Their natural sagacity and courage may make us regret that they have been so long deprived of every means of useful instruction. For the chance of a moderate profit, the French Canadians endure frequently painful hardships, and undertake the most fatiguing journeys; they cultivate flax, and their sheep furnish them with the wool of which their garments are made; they tan the hides of their cattle, and use them as mocasins or boots. The men knit their stockings and caps, and plait the straw-hats that are worn by them in the summer season. They make, besides, their bread, butter, cheese, soap, candles, and sugar; all of which are supplied from the produce of their lands. The farmers construct their carts, wheels, ploughs, and canoes.

The countenance of a French Canadian is long and thin, Appearhis complexion sun-burnt and swarthy, and nearly as dark as ance. that of an Indian. His eyes are lively, his cheeks lank and

* Heriot, Lambert, Supplement to Encyclopedia, article Canada.

+ Gourlay's Statistical Account of Upper Canada, vol. II. p. 617.
(a) [See Note on page 144.]—AM. Ed.

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BOOK meagre, and his chin sharp and prominent. The manners LXXVIII. of these inhabitants are easy and polite; they treat their su

Amusements.

Society.

periors with deference, their inferiors with affability. Their carriage and deportment are graceful and unrestrained, and they appear more like men that have lived in a great town than those who have passed their days in the country. They continue on the most affectionate terms with each other; parents and children to the third generation reside frequently in the same house. Although the practice of dividing their lands may be prejudicial to their interests, still their desire of living together is a proof of the harmony that subsists among them. They marry young, and are seldom without a numerous offspring; their passions are by this means confined within proper limits, and the descendants of the first settlers are rarely guilty of those excesses which disgrace too often the inhabitants of large cities.

The winter dress of the Habitans may give them the appearance of Russians, but French gaiety still maintains its sway in this cold country. Their social intercourse is of the same simple and homely kind as that of the French before the age of Louis the XIV. As soon as the long fast in Lent is ended the days of feasting begin. Whatever their lands supply is then presented for the gratification of their friends and relatives; immense turkey pies,huge joints of pork, beef, and mutton, large tureens of soup, or thick milk, fish, fowl, and a plentiful supply of fruit decorate the board. The violin is heard immediately after dinner, and minuets and country-dances increase the hilarity of the guests. The women, and even the men, are sometimes vain enough to powder their hair and paint their cheeks; "in this respect," says a shrewd traveller, "they differ only from their betters by using beet-root instead of rouge."

*

The Canadian settlers enjoy many advantages. A peace, that has lasted for more than fifty years, has augmented the wealth and comforts of the higher orders of society;

*Lambert, Travels in Lower Canada. vol. I. p. 326, 382. &c.

Education.

yet the Habitans are very ignorant. Public instruction BOOK has been so much neglected, that several members of the LXXVIII. provincial assembly can neither read nor write. The Quebec Mercury proposed lately, with much gravity, the establishment of a seminary for the information of the members of Parliament that were deficient in these two branches of elementary education. A recent traveller, who has perhaps exaggerated the indolent habits of the French Canadians, confesses that they are not much inferior in industry to the Virginians. The English colonists of Upper Canada do not as yet differ very much in their character from the inhabitants of the mother country.

govern

The manners and customs of the two provinces are no Laws and less dissimilar than their government and laws. The Eng- ment. lish law, both civil and criminal was first introduced into Canada after its conquest in 1759. The penal code of Great Britain was esteemed by the people a very great improvement, in as much as it freed them from the arbitrary enactments of their former rulers. In 1792, by the 31st George III. all the advantages of the English constitution were extented to Canada. Two houses of Parliament, a legislative council, and a house of assembly, were appointed in each province. These two houses have the privilege of proposing laws, which, after receiving the sanction of government, are transmitted to the king of England, who has the right of repealing them any time within two years. The legislative council of Upper Canada consists of not fewer than seven members, and that of the Lower Province of at least fifteen, all of whom are nominated by the British parliament. The house of assembly is composed of sixteen members in Upper, and of fifty-two in Lower Canada, who are elected by the freeholders of the towns and districts. In the counties, the land-proprietors that have an estate of the annual value of forty shillings are qualified to vote. In the different towns, the voters must be either possessed of a dwellinghouse and a piece of ground worth, at least, £5 Sterling a-year, or they must have been settled a twelvemonth in

9

BOOK the country, and have paid not less than £10 of yearly LXXVIII. rent. The assemblies are quadrennial, but the governor

Revenue

ses.

can dissolve them within that time. The municipal law of Lower Canada is regulated by the custom of Paris anterior to the year 1666. The English laws and forms of procedure have been adopted in Upper Canada. The executive authority consists of a governor, who is generally commander of the forces, of a lieutenant-governor, and of an assembly, composed of seventeen members, which exercises an influence in the country, similar to that of the privy council in England. The governor is invested with the prerogative of giving the royal assent or refusal to all the acts that have been approved of by the two houses of legislature. The only real advantage which and expen- Great Britain has obtained from the possession of Canada, is derived from its commerce with that colony. The expenses of the civil list in Lower Canada amount to £45,000, nearly three-fourths of this sum are defrayed by the province, out of the king's domains, and by duties payable on certain imports. The remainder is supplied by the English government, which supports the Protestant clergy, and the military and Indian establishments. The costs of the civil administration of Upper Canada are reimbursed by direct taxes, by duties on articles imported from the United States, and by a sum which is taken from the revenue of the lower province. In addition to these expenses, the British government lays out annually about £500,000 for the maintenance of the clergy, for the distribution of presents to the Indians, and for the forces and garrisons that are required to defend the country. Although this province is so costly to the English, its possession has been considered as useful and important to the mother country in time of peace. Canada is the great market for several articles of British manufacture that are imported into the United States. The agricultural produce of the country, and that which English commerce derives by its means from the interior of North America, have given rise to an increasing exchange, and to an extensive

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