— 178 — 



" Alas ! " says he with some bitterness, in his stirring 

 novel, through the lips of his hero, M. d'Egmont, 

 " where are those days when friendly faces crowded at 

 my festive board ? What has become of that hopeful 

 dawn in my existence, when I trusted friends, when 

 I had faith in gratitude, when the foul word ingratitude 

 was yet unrevealed to me ? " 



M. de Gaspe, after his worst trial, retired from city 

 life and buried himself amidst his books into the seclu- 

 sion of his rustic manor for years ; let us follow him in 

 his pleasant exile. 



THE MANOR OF HABERVILLE. 



Now that the reader has been introduced to the Laird 

 of Haberville Manor, let us refer to his sympathetic 

 biographer, the Abbe Henry E. Casgrain, for a glimpse 

 of his cherished home at St. Jean Port- Joly. 



It presents a not inappropriate type of the more modern 

 Canadian seignioral manor, prior to the commutation 

 of the seigniorial tenure, by act of parliament, in 1854. 

 Few traces now exist of the feudal grand mansions of 

 olden times ; several of which, on account of their 

 warlike records, were noted in Canadian annals. 



In vain would one seek, in our day, for the solid, oft' 

 sumptuous stone-structure, with gibbet, lock-up, gate- 

 posts blazoned with armorial-quarterings : such that 

 of the high and mighty Seignior Jean Talon, Intendant 

 of Canada and Baron d'Orsainville (1). 



In vain, to look for the loop-holed and walled fort, 

 with guard-house, towers and platforms for howitzers 

 to scatter destruction among the skulking Iroquois, 

 watching from the next thicket for a white scalp ; such, 



(1) Talon's Patent empowered him to establish "a goal, a 

 four post gibbet... a post with an iron collar, on which his 

 arms should be engraved." 



