First French Foot- Prints Beyond the Lakes. 143 



covered the documents he mentions, but the truth is that he merely ran his 

 fingers through the 500 volumes in question — half of the time copying full 

 pages of them without giving credit to the author. 



I am not astonished at that. The province of Ontario, close to that of 

 Quebec, is not at all enlightened about the French race in Canada. News- 

 papErs and books are published there every day that are a repetition of false- 

 hoods destroyed fifty times within a century. I was reading last week an • 

 article about "ignorance concerning the French-Canadians," published 

 twenty miles only from the French province. No wonder that the Ameri- 

 cans, who are located still further from us, are so completely informed on 

 our subjects. 



Speaking of the northwest, you mention our establishments here. The 

 fact is that the French trading company had fur trading houses from 1721 to 

 1753 in that direction ; they withdrew their men at the time of the conquest 

 (1760). Those that remained there were partly Frenchmen of France, partly . 

 French-Canadian coureurs de bois. From 1760 to 1783 they lived with the 

 Indians. In 1783 the " northwest " company was founded, and these men got 

 hired by them for the trade. The first four white women who were sent to 

 the Red River with their husbands, about IBIO, saw no cultivation there. I 

 don't see that we could speak about a colony which never existed. The only 

 French colony worth looking at was the one established between Quebec and 

 Montreal — and that one is still in existence. All the rest is a matter of 

 trade, discoveries, missions, etc., quite distinct from the agricultural colony. 



For want of light ©n the ensemble of the question — all the English writ- 

 erslresort to their imaginative power to explain what has taken place amongst 

 us in tie past, — and strange to say they don' I even understand the present 

 time 



Coming back to Nicolet, I must not forget to tell you that in 1634, there 

 were hardly one hundred people in the colony — all told, counting French- 

 men of all sorts possible. Out of that number, we have the names of Nicolet. 

 Margry, Godefrey, Hertel, Marsolet, Brule, and two or three others, who 

 were interpreters. Seven or eight others were employes of the trading com- 

 pany called the Hundred Partners. Real, actual, true settlers were altogether 

 about forty souls — say 7 or 8 families. 



The Feudal System, of Canada was practically a mechanism for coloniza- 

 tion and it worked to the satisfaction of all parties interested. It lasted in 

 full force from 1627 to 1854, without creating any conflict of importance. 

 Its spirit so admirably adapted to the circumstances of the country and the 

 necessities of the times, especially from 1626 to about 1700, is not understood 

 by English-speaking writers generally, but here, in Canada, we know better. 



A seigneurie, measuring six miles in front by six or twelve in depth, was 

 granted to any man willing to bring settlers from France at his own expense, 

 and provide them during a reasonable time with the requirements of their 

 new situation. These seigneurs were all, with very few exceptions, men of 

 pretty good family, but none of any high position, except now and then one 



