408 THE FRENCH BLOOD IN AMERICA 



life were hard, but full of mental, moral aud physical 

 health. He despised no handicraft, neglected no means 

 of cultivation, shirked no duty (nor did he permit any 

 one else to do so, if he could help it), aud fought his way 

 upward, unhasting, unresting, honestly, persistently. 

 The Dutchman was milder than the Puritan, but as stiff- 

 necked, and an inborn republican as well as an educated 

 Calvinist. Slower, narrower, more prejudiced, he was 

 less agressive. To his commercial and industrial in- 

 stincts our country owes much of its prosperity. 



The Huguenot — to complete the comparison between 

 these three races which came together in the formation of 

 the colonial life and character — was devout, less ambi- 

 tious, affectionate of heart, artistic, cultivated, adaptable 

 and also highly endowed with the commercial instincts 



chelfftj^fnl^s '^ ^^^^ skilled capacities. He brought to America the arts, 

 , accomplishments and graces of the highest civilization 



then known, together with a sweet cheerfulness all his 

 own. Not a colony or a class but was ameliorated by his 

 influence, and consciously or unconsciously, we all love 

 him. His was, indeed, essentially a lovable nature. No 

 character could be truer or nobler or at bottom prob- 

 ably more affectionate than the Puritan, but the mani- 

 festation of qualities was very different. The French did 

 not think it a shame or crime to show freely the love they 

 felt. They were natural where others were restrained. 



It is certain, from the nature of things, that the home 

 lives of all these different bands of colonists must have 



Differences in differed widely. None had luxuries and few had com- 



the Home Life "^ 



forts, as we now understand these terms, but each had 

 some possessions, some ways, some deficiencies, and some 

 attainments which belonged to none of the others. Im- 

 proved conditions came rapidly, and in improvements 

 one would be sure to find the French in the lead. 



II 

 As we have intimated, although most of the refugee 



