Section II., 1905 [ 99 ] Trans. R. S. C. 



lY. — Origin of the French Canadians. 

 By B. SuLTE. 



(Read May 24, 1905). 



On seeing this title many persons may express the opinion jocularly 

 that the origin of the French-Canadian people was France, but we shall 

 see presently that there are other things to be considered in this con- 

 nection. 



What part of France did they come from? 



Under what influence? 



In what manner did they come? 



How long did the period of emigration last? 



From whence did they receive their present characteristics? 



How did they acquire their present form of language? 



Why are not some of the different " patois " spoken in France heard 

 here ? 



And what about the half-breeds ? 



We intend to explain the formation of a certain number of French 

 people into settlers on the St. Lawrence during the 17th Century and 

 from which has sprung the whole of the present French Canadian popu- 

 lation. Nothing will be said of the tradesmen, the functionaries and the 

 clergy who composed the " French " or floating element of the colony 

 until it disappeared at the conquest. 



I. Acadia was peopled by a company of traders between 1636 and 

 1670 or thereabouts. IsTo one has yet satisfactorily demonstrated where 

 the French of that colony came from, though their dialect would indi- 

 cate their place of origin to be in the neighbourhood of the Bay of Biscay 

 or the mouth of River Loire. They are distinct from the French Can- 

 adians in some particulars and not allied with the settlers of the St. 

 Lawrence. As a matter of fact the two French colonies in question have 

 lived apart from one another as " Acadians " and " Canadians,'' for 

 more than two centuries and a half now. 



Inter-marriages between Acadians and Canadians only commenced 

 after 1755, when some Acadians took refuge in Canada. 



Brittany never traded with Canada, except that, from 1535 to 1600, 

 some of the St. Malo navigators used to visit the lower St. Lawrence 

 and barter with the Indians, but there were no European settlers in the 

 whole of that pretended new France. Afterwards the regime of the 

 fur companies, which extended from 1608 to 1632, was adverse to colo- 



