Canada is almost the only colony that has been founded exclusively by Frenchmen,[CO] and a complete social organisation was carried thither. The country once explored, the royal fleet landed the seigneurs, who had received fiefs from royal grants, and who were followed by vassals transplanted from Normandy and Brittany, among whom the lands were distributed. At the same time an endowed regular and secular clergy, with ample domains and the right of collecting the tithe, was brought to the St. Lawrence. Next came traders and companies, to whom was given the monopoly of the fur-trade and the commerce of the colony. In a word the three orders, the clergy, nobility, and third estate, were imported ready made from Old France into New. The only thing which the colonists left behind them, was the poverty of the greatest number. The system was a good one for that period; the principle of order and of ranks, which prevailed under the only form then practicable, was in keeping with the character of the people. The proof of this is to be found in the fact, that Canada has flourished under this system in which the English conquerors have made no changes, and the population has increased in the bosom of general ease. I have seen nothing which more completely realised the aurea mediocritas, than the pretty villages on the banks of the St. Lawrence. They do not exhibit the ambitious prosperity of those of the United States; they are much more modest than those of the republic; but if there is less show, there is also more content and happiness. Canada reminded me of Switzerland; it is the same aspect of calm contentment and quiet happiness. It would be a subject of admiration were it not by the side of the American colossus; its rapid growth would attract attention, were it not for the miraculous expansion of the United States. Neither would it be right to assert that the progress of Canada has been in spite of the colonial system; the dispute about the because and the although is easily settled in this case. All that was burdensome about the original system remains untouched, and there is no complaint against it. The seignorial dues, the tithe, the seignorial mill, and the four banal, still exist in full vigour; and do not appear in the interminable list of ninety-three grievances, lately drawn up by the Canadians.
FOOTNOTES:
[CM] In the hotels and on board the steamboats, the door of the eating-room is beset by a crowd on the approach of a meal-time. As soon as the bell sounds, there is a general rush into the room, and in less than ten minutes every place is occupied. In a quarter of an hour, out of 300 persons, 200 have left the table, and in ten minutes more not an individual is to be seen. On my passage from Baltimore to Norfolk, in the winter of 1834, I found that, notwithstanding the cold, three fourths of the passengers had risen at 4 o'clock, and at six, being almost the only person left abed, and feeling sure that we must be near our port, I got up, and went upon deck; but it was not until eight o'clock, that we came in sight of Norfolk. On mentioning the fact afterward to an American, a man of sense, who was on board at the same time, and who, wiser than I, had lain abed till after sunrise; "Ah, sir," said he, "if you knew my countrymen better, you wouldn't be at all surprised at their getting up at four o'clock, with the intention of arriving at nine. An American is always on the lookout lest any of his neighbours should get the start of him. If one hundred Americans were going to be shot, they would contend for the priority, so strong is their habit of competition."
[CN] I allude particularly to the Northwest, or that portion of the West in which slavery does not exist.
[CO] In Louisiana, St. Domingo, and the other islands, the mass of the population consisted of blacks.
[LETTER XXIII.]
MONEY.
Sunbury, (Pennsylvania,) July 31, 1835.