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Page 8
In the course of this summer, some of our opponents foreseeing the
probable issue of the contest they were engaged in, proposed terms of
capitulation, which were in most instances readily assented to by the
Company; the inventories and outstanding debts were assumed at a
certain valuation. They retired from the field, some with annuities
for a stipulated period, while to others a round sum of money was
granted; in either case the party bound himself, under certain
penalties, not to interfere in the trade for a stated period of time.
In this manner the Company got rid of all petty opponents, with the
exception of two who continued the unequal contest. By the latter end
of August the natives had all started for the interior, leaving behind
only a few decrepit old men and women. The scene was now completely
changed; a death-like stillness prevailed where but a few days before
all was activity, bustle and animation. Two of my brother scribes were
ordered to the interior; one[1] to the distant Lake Nipissingue, the
other to the Chats. Mr. Fisher set off to enjoy himself in Montreal,
Mr. Francher, the accountant, being appointed _locum-tenens_ during
his absence. Another young Scot and myself, together with two or three
non-descripts, formed the winter establishment. Having just quitted
the scenes of civilized life, I found my present solitude sufficiently
irksome; the natural buoyancy of youthful spirits, however, with the
amusements we got up amongst us, conspired to banish all gloomy
thoughts from my mind in a very short time. We--my friend Mac and
myself--soon became very intimate with two or three French families
who resided in the village, who were, though in an humble station,
kind and courteous, and who, moreover, danced, fiddled and played
whist.
[1] This gentleman's name was Cockburn;--he met his end a few
years afterwards in a very melancholy manner, while on his way
to Montreal (having retired from the service). He rolled over
the canoe on a dark night, and disappeared for ever!
There was another family of a different status from the others, that
of Capt. Ducharme, the king's interpreter, a kind-hearted, hospitable
man, who frequently invited us to his house, where we enjoyed the
charms of polished society and good cheer. The captain's residence was
in the Iroquois division of the village; this circumstance led us to
form another acquaintance that for some time afforded us some
amusement, _en passant_. We discovered that a very ugly old widow, who
resided in that quarter, had two very pretty young daughters, to whom
we discoursed in Gaelic; they answered in Iroquois; and in a short
time the best _understanding_ imaginable was established between us,
(Mac and myself, be it always understood.) No harm came of it, though;
I vow there did not; the priests, it seems, thought otherwise. Our
acquaintance with the girls having come to their knowledge, we were
one day honoured with a visit from the Iroquois padre; the severe
gravity of whose countenance convinced us at a glance of the nature of
his mission. I must do him the justice to say, however, that his
address to us was mild and admonitory, rather than severe or
reproachful. I resolved from that moment to speak no more Gaelic to
the Iroquois maidens; Mac continued his visits.
We always amused ourselves in the evenings with our French
_confr�res_, (whom I have mentioned as "nondescripts," from the
circumstance of their being under no regular engagement with the
Company,) playing cards or fiddling and dancing. We were on one
occasion engaged in the latter amusement _en pleine midi_--our
_Deputy_ Bourgeois being one of the party, and all of us in the
highest possible glee, when lo! in the midst of our hilarity, the hall
door flew open and the _great man_ stood sternly before us. The
hand-writing on the wall could scarcely have produced a more startling
effect on the convivial party of old, than did this unexpected
apparition upon us. We listened to the reprimand which followed in all
due humility, none more crest-fallen than our worthy Deputy. Mr.
Fisher then opened his portmanteau and drew forth a letter, which he
presented to my friend Mac, exclaiming in a voice of thunder, "Read
that, gentlemen, and hear what Mr. Thane thinks of your conduct." We
read and trembled; Mac's defiance of the authority of the priests
offended them mortally; a formal complaint was consequently preferred
against the innocent and the guilty, (although there was no guilt in
fact, unless _speaking Gaelic_ to the wood-nymphs could be so
construed,) and drew upon us the censures this dreadful missive
conveyed. The magnate remained a few days, and on his departure for
town, we resumed our usual pastimes, but selected a different _path_
to Captain Ducharme's. The Fathers had requested, when this
establishment was first formed, that some of the Company's officers
should attend church on Sundays for the purpose of showing a good
example to the natives. I did so, on my part, very regularly until
Christmas Eve, when having witnessed the ceremonies of the midnight
mass, I determined on remaining at home in future. I shuddered with
horror at the idolatrous rites, as they appeared to me, which were
enacted on that occasion. The ceremonies commenced with the
celebration of mass; then followed the introduction of the "Infant
Jesus," borne by four of the choristers, attired in surplices of white
linen. The image being placed by them on a sofa in front of the altar,
the superior of the seminary made his d�but, retiring to the railing
that surrounds the altar, when he knelt, and bending low his head
apparently in devout adoration, he arose, then advanced two steps
towards the altar and knelt again; he knelt the third time close to
the side of the image, which he devoutly embraced, then withdrew: the
younger priests performed the same ceremonies; and after them every
one of their congregation: yet these people protest that their
religion has no connexion with idolatry, and that the representations
of Protestants regarding it are false and calumnious. If we credit
them, however, we must belie the evidence of our own senses; but the
fact is, there are not a few Roman Catholics who speak with very
little _respect_ themselves of some of these mummeries.
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