HUGUENOT INFLUENCE 205 



disposition, a more active mind and an intenscr nature. 

 There is no race which at once combined proximity and , 

 tlie other requisites except the French ; and in the Frcncli 

 — with their clearness and quickness, their bright dispo- The French 

 sition — were to be found every required element. There 

 are two classes of French ; and that which came to 

 America to seek a home and religious liberty possessed 

 a remarkable combination of traits— a mingling of the 

 sanguine, light, cheerful, witty, sincere, devout, and ami- 

 able. Disposed to enjoy life, even under hardest circum- 

 stances, the Frenchman was the best of companions. As 

 Lavater, the great physiognomist, says: "His counte- 

 nance is open and at first sight speaks a thousand pleasant, 

 amiable things. His eloquence is often deafening, but his 

 good humour casts a veil over his failings." 



This is the stock that intermingled with the Puritan 

 and wrought the change, and it is strange that historians 

 should not have given them larger credit for their racial 

 influence. It is equally strange that only recently has the 

 extent of the Huguenot immigration been recognized in 

 any adequate degree. One reason given is that the French a strong 

 refugees came to New England from motives so much like 

 those which brought the early settlers that these strangers 

 did not, on arriving, exhibit the strong contrast with 

 their English predecessors which appeared on the entry 

 of the French exiles into other parts of our country. The 

 Huguenots and the Puritans had both suffered bitter per- 

 secution. They had faced death from devotion to the 

 same religious principles. Moreover they were not 

 strangers to one another ; for when the little congregation 

 from Scrooby sought refuge in Holland, they found Ley- 

 den full of Frenchmen who had fled from their native 

 country. For a time both bodies of people were allowed 

 to worship in the same edifice, and both were eagerly 

 waiting the opportunity to put the ocean between them- 

 selves and their enemies. In one particular they differed 

 radically, and that favoured the loss of recognition by the 



