86 QUEBEC. 



immense fortunes out of the codfish, but their fishermen are 

 poor and dependent. The latter are generally in debt to 

 the former for their boats, their fishing tackle, their 

 clothes, their provisions, and often even for their houses 

 and potato gardens. Where there is no competition the 

 buyer puts his own price on the fish, and in order to drive 

 off competition it is the interest of the merchant to keep 

 the fisherman in debt, and therefore in servitude. 



It is a matter of wonder to many that the French 

 Canadians take so kindly to English rule and English 

 institutions. I believe in no other part of the world will a 

 population of nearly 900,000 Frenchmen be found living 

 so contentedly. When we look into the matter, however, 

 the wonder ceases. These French are not French of 

 the Republic, nor yet of the Empire, they are French of 

 the old Monarchy. France of the present day, with its 

 revolutions and its wars, has no charms for them. They 

 have the sense to know when they are well off. They 

 love the country where their ancestors first settled and in 

 which they displayed so much heroism ; and they respect 

 the nation which, alter having conquered them, received 

 them on a footing of perfect equality. But there is 

 another strong bond which binds the French Canadians to 

 the British Empire, and that is their religion. The 

 French habitants of Lower Canada are under the rule of 

 their priests. It is customary to look upon their political 

 slavery as a misfortune, but I cannot regard it in that 

 light. The priests no doubt order them how to vote, but 

 they do so for their good. Better that an ignorant people 

 should be led by an educated priesthood than by an 



