Section II., 1903 [ 39 J Trans. R. S. C. 



lY.—The Death of DulJiut. 

 By William McLennan. 



(Read May 19, 1903.) 



The Anglo-Saxon constantly asserts with much self-satisfaction that 

 France is no colonizer and points his moral as he unfolds his tale of the 

 fall of French Canada, or French India, with a description of the cor- 

 ruption of the home government, the vileness of the colonial officials 

 and the failure of the King to send help in the hour of need. The in- 

 ference of course is that England succoured her colonies — ^and hence the 

 difference. 



The true reason of her failure was that France busied herself 

 altogether too much over her distant ^el.tlements. She not only attempted 

 to order every detail of their internal government but even their policy 

 towards their neighbours. She provided India, Canada and Louisiana 

 with priests, soldiers and settlers. The officer w'ho had gained his 

 peixsion and retirement was offered a seigneury with many dignities, the 

 soldier found no difficulty in taking up a respectable farm from his old 

 commander at a ground rent of a few sous for each acre. The King 

 provided the start in life, even up to the important part of a wife with 

 a modest dowry of provisions, clothes and a few livres in good white 

 money. 



Every officer who settled in Canada must needs have a title or at 

 least his ^' lettres de noblesse '^ and these were bestowed with a gene- 

 rosity which went far to make up the long despaired of arrears of pay. 



The home government curbed the governor, the intendant, the 

 bishop, and invited all the tittle-tattle they could write of each other. 

 Without a permission (congé) you oould not return to France, you could 

 not go into the English colonies to the south, least of all conid you go 

 into the woods and you could not even change your place of residence, 

 say from Montreal to Quebec. Were you a soldier you could not marry 

 without due submission to and permission from your colonel. Were 

 you a tavern-keeper you must have your pewter-pots regularly stamped, 

 must not open before a certain hour or close your door before another. 

 If a " bon bourgeois " you had many duties from that of keeping your 

 ways clean of weeds and briars before your gates to that of being in 

 your own pew in the parish church, upholding your share of the many 

 charities of the town and of taking your place in any expedition which 

 might be put a-foot under proper authority against those cruel devils. 



