[cRuiKSHANK] ADMINISTRATION OF SIR JAMES CRAIG 67 



clay pipe in liis mouth. Tilie liabitans produced or manufactured almost 

 everything they used. They cultivated flax, which they dressed and wove 

 into linen. Their clotliing was made of hoinespun cloth friom the wool 

 of their own sheep, and tTieir mocoasins and boots were in like manner 

 manufactured from the leather ithey had tanned themselves. They knit 

 their own stockings and caps and plaited tlieir own straw hats and bon- 

 nets. They built their own houses, barns, staMes and ovens and made 

 their carts, ploughs, harrows and canoes. Their bread, butter, cheese, 

 soap, candles, sugar and tobacco were all home-made. They rarely pur- 

 chased any article which they could maJce themselves or do without, and 

 were slow to adopt improved implements and methods of agriculture 

 ijitroduced by British settlers. There were few schools outside the cities 

 of (Jiiehec and Montreal, and the mass of the people, including many 

 persons of influence, were so illiterate that the Quebec Mercury in May, 

 180s, sarcastically suggested that an elemental^ school should be estab- 

 lished for the instruction of the members of the Legislative 'Assembly 

 in reading and writing. In general, the inhabiitants were abundantly 

 provided with the necessaries of life. They paid low rents and no taxes. 

 Their desires were simple and they seemed contented and happy. Their 

 manners were easy and courteous and they were gay and hospitable. 



The commerce of the province was conducted mainly by Scotch and 

 English merchants, most of whom were prosperous and wealthy. Four 

 weekly newspapers were published in Quebec and two in Montreal. The 

 two oldest of these, the Quebec Gazette, founded in 1764, and the Mont- 

 real Gazette, founded in 1778, were printed partly in English and partly 

 in French, while tlie Quebec Mercury, founded l)y Thomas Gary in 1805, 

 and the Canadian Courant, established at Montreal in 1806, by Nahuni 

 Mower, an American, were printed entirely in English. Le Canadien, 

 established at Quebec in November, 1806, was afc^solutely conduoted as 

 the political organ of the opposition to Government measures in the 

 Legislature. The expression " La Kation Canadienne," frequently 

 appeared in its columns, while the English speaking inhabitants were 

 designated as " intrus " and " étrangers." The only other I'rencn 

 newspaper, Le Courrier de Quebec, was very small, and devoted almost 

 entirely to literature. The printing offices were the only places wiiere 

 books were sold and their stock was scanty. There was but one public 

 library — 'that in the Bishop's Palace at Quebec.^ 



It could scarcely be contended that the French- Canadians had any 

 good ground for complaint against the existing government, and it was 

 generally acknowledged that the country was better governed and that 



1 Lambert's Travels; Gray, Letters from Canada. 



