A Biographical Sketch of the Author of " Maples Leaves" 



BY 



WM. KIRBY, F. R. S. C. 



" My first acquaintance with the subject of this notice dates 

 as far back as 1863. when I happened to be in Quebec, 

 watching the progress of a bill introduced in Parliament, 

 previous to Confederation. 



To beguile a leisure hour, it so happened I had purchased 

 a volume styled " Maple Leaves — a budget of historical, 

 legendary and sporting lore, by J. M. LeMoine ". I was so 

 captivated by the dramatic interest infused into two out of 

 several sketches it contained, Chateau Bigot and the Golden 

 Dog, that I vowed to a friend, I would make them the 

 groundwork of a Canadian novel. Thus originated my Chien 

 d'Or romance. 



Few have had such opportunities as Mr. LeMoine for 

 studying the lights and shades of the old Province of Que- 

 bec. His early training, social entourage — love of books — 

 antiquarian tastes and familiarity with the English as well 

 as with the French idiom ; his minute explorations by sea 

 and by land of every nook and corner of his native province 

 and even beyond it, the whole jotted down day by day in 

 his diary, naturally furnishes him with exceptional facilities 

 to deal with Canadian subjects in a light or in a serious vein. 



Two attractive departments seem to have engrossed his 

 attention from the first, the study of early Canadian history 

 and of popular ornithology. 



In fact one of the first additions he made to his charm- 

 ing rustic home, at Sillery, near Quebec, was the erection of 

 an aviary for the friends of his youth, the birds of Canada : 

 and an ample museum for the preservation, by the art of 

 the taxidermist, of specimens of the Canadian avi-fauna. 



It may not be out of place to follow this indefatigable 

 writer, in his rather extended literary career. 



Struck, in 1861, with the lack of any French work to 

 guide Canadian youth attracted to the study of bird-life, Mr. 

 LeMoine published that year, in two volumes, a manual on 

 popular ornithology ; and, in order to allure the student to 

 this healthy and delightful pursuit, he imparted to those 

 volumes a strong, fragrant literary aroma. Whether it was 

 due to the novelty of the subject or to the contents of the 



