"'Henceforth Diana in Miss S—ps—n see,
As noble and majestic is her air,
Nor can fair Venus, W—lc—s, vie with thee,
Nor all her heavenly charms with thine compare.
"'Around the B—ch—rs Juno's glory plays,
Her power and charms in them attract our praise
Minerva, who with beauty's queen did vie
And patronized all the finer arts,
Crowned the McN—ls with her divinity,
Crowned them the queens of beauty and of hearts.
"'Unto fair F—m—n now I turn my song,
Lovely in all she says, in all she does,
Lo! to her toilet see each goddess throng,
One cannot all, but each a charm bestows
Could all these beauties in one female be,
Her whom I sing would be the lovely she.'
"This effusion provoked more criticism than many a book of poetry is subjected to nowadays, and the censors were in their turn criticized by others. Montreal even took part in this literary tournament. But we are left in the dark as to its effect on the spirits, tempers or destinies of Miss MacCulloch and her sister belles.
"It would seem that the author was a young clerk or merchant of Quebec, as one of the critics spitefully tells him not to desert his shop. The ladies themselves do not escape, one writer suggesting that they are coquettish enough already without making them more so. The Montreal correspondent is warned off as an intruder, and told that he had better have saved his ninepence of postage money. Just imagine this silly acrostic furnishing gossip for Quebec and matter for the Gazette for two months!
"As another note of the state of society at that time may be mentioned occasional advertisements for the sale of negro lads and wenches, or of rewards for the recovery and restoration of missing ones. Slavery was not abolished in Lower Canada till 1803. In Upper Canada, as a separate province, it hardly ever existed. Did the manumitted blacks remain in Canada after their liberation, or did they seek a more congenial climate?
"For education there does not seem to have been any public provision, but private schools for both sexes were numerous. These were probably expensive, so that the poorer classes were virtually debarred from the advantages of learning. The instruction of Catholic children was in the hands of the clergy, and it may be that in some of the conventual schools a certain number were admitted free of expense or at reduced rates. It would appear that some of the young ladies were sent to English boarding-schools, if we may judge by advertisements in which the advantages of these institutions are set forth.
"A Miss or Mrs. Agnes Galbraith not only taught school, but also carried on the millinery business, to which she informs the public that she had served a regular apprenticeship, besides having been 'a governess for several years to a genteel boarding-school.'
"The principal of a boys' school who resided at Three Rivers 'respectfully begs leave to remark that he means to presume no further than he is perfectly able to perform, and build his hope of encouragement on no other foundation than his assiduity to merit it.' His 'course' is nevertheless a pretty full one, including English, French, Latin, Greek, writing in a natural and easy style after the best precedents; arithmetic, vulgar and decimal; geography, with use of the globes; geometry, navigation with all the late modern improvements; algebra, and every other useful and ornamental branch of mathematical learning. Some of the other male teachers write in a similar strain of their qualifications."
"It may be inferred, then, that the wealthier classes of Canada in those days had much the same advantages of culture as their friends in England. Intercourse with the mother country was much more general and frequent than might be imagined, and, no doubt, many young gentlemen, after a preliminary training at a colonial academy, were sent home to enter some of the English public schools or universities. From the higher ranks downwards education varied till it reached the 'masses,' with whom its index was a cipher. There is no reason to suppose, however, that the population of Canada, taken as a whole, was less cultivated during the last forty years of the eighteenth century than that of any European nation during the same period. From the consideration of education, one naturally passes to that of crime. Thefts were frequent, and sometimes committed on a large scale. The punishment was whipping at a cart-tail through the streets of the city—the culprits themselves being whipped and whipsters in turn. Assault, stealing in private houses, and highway robbery were punished with death. The expiation for manslaughter was being branded in the hand which did the deed. Desertion was very frequent, especially among the Hessians and Brunswickers then stationed in Canada. In some cases they were promised pardon if they returned to their regiments, but woe to them if they returned against their will! Towards the end of the year 1783 'Gustavus Leight, a German doctor, confined for felony, broke out of His Majesty's jail at Quebec.' He was '25 years of age, about 5 feet high.' We are not told whether or not he was captured as the advertisement is continued to the end of the year, but if he did not change his dress he could not have succeeded in baffling very long the keen eye of a detective, for "he had on, when he made his escape, a brown coat, red plush waistcoat, white stockings and cock'd hat.' If such a gentleman made his appearance in the streets of any Canadian city to-day, he would certainly be requested to 'move on,' or asked to 'explain his motives.' One thing is certain, that prisoners for felony in the year 1783 had not to submit to any arbitrary sumptuary arrangement—at least in the Quebec gaol (as it is always spelled in the Gazette, perhaps because it is the goal of evildoers).