THE CANADIAN HOME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 16, 17 April 1902, Page 23

THE CANADIAN HOME.

Sco you yonder on the slope of the hill, that pretty cottage so neat and white, with its little thatched barn, so clearly defined against the caressing foliage of that beautiful copse of maples ? Well, that is a Canadian home From its high green pedastal it smiles at the great

rolling river, in whose wave is mirrored its trembling image, and which so gently comes to expire at its feet, for the happy proprietor of this pretty dwelling loves his great, beautiful river, and has been careful to establish his home on its banks. Sometimes, when necessity obliges him to go away, he is always home&ick, because he must listen to its grand voice, and, contemplate its wooded islands and distant shores ; he must caress with his eyes its waters, sometimes calm, sometimes foaming and turbulent. A stranger who is not familiar with the ' habitant ' of our country, and who imagines that there is an ailinity to his ancestor — the peasant of old France — is much mistaken. More enlightened, and, above all, more religious, ho is far from sharing his precarious condition. The former is, in comparison, a veritable prince, perfectly independent on his sixty or eighty enclosure, he is furnished with everything necessary for an honest and comfortable subsistence.

Let us now peep under this roof, whose exterior is so attractive. I should like to sketch it just as I've seen it so frequently. On entering the ' tambour,' or passageway, two pails of fresh water, standing on a wooden bench, and a tin cup hanging against the wall, hospitably invite you to quench your thirst. In an inner room the mother of the family is quietly spinning near the window, while the soup is boiling on the stove. A calico cape, a blue skirt of domestic manufacture, a caline neatly fixed on her head, completes her toilet. The baby sleeps in its cradle at her side, from time to time she smiles at its bright little face, as fresh as a rose, peeping out from the quilt, whose triangular patches of the brightest colors are ingeniously distributed over it. In a corner of the room the eldest daughter sits on a chest, singing merrily while she works at her loom. Quickly and skilfully the shuttle flies between her hands , she makes in a day several measures of cloth, which she will use next year to make into garments. In another corner stands the huge bed, with its white and blue counterpane, and at its head a crucifix surrounded with pictures. That little branch of withered fir above the cross is the blessed palm. Two or three barefooted little children arc playing on the floor, harnessing up a dog. The father, bending over the stove, gravely lights his pipe with a lirebrand. He is accoutred in a red woollen cap, vest and pants of a grayish material, and rough, heavy boots. After each meal he must ' tako a smoke.' before going out to plough or to thresh in the barn. There is an air of thrift and comfort about tho house ; the voices of the children, tho songs of the young; .girl, ■with her spinning-wheel accompaniment, the appearance of health and happiness written on their faces, tell! of the peace and serenity of their lives. If ever, in travelling through this country, you are overtaken by a snowstorm or severe cold, go and knock without fear at the door of tho Canadian cottager, and you will bo received with that warmth and cordiality which their ancestors have transmitted to the.m as a souvenir and a relic of the old country, for this antique French hospitality, which can scarcely be found now in certain parts of France, seems to have taken refuge under the roof of the Canadian habitant. With, his language and religion ho has piously preserved many of his old habits and customs. The traveller who rested under his roof a century ago would to-day find the same manners and characteristics.

It is in the parish of the Riviere Ouelle, in the bosom of one of these good Canadian families, that we find again our missionary and his companions. All the family, eager to hear the extraordinary adventures of tho young officer, had gathered

round him. He was a young man, from 20 to 25 years of age, with fine delicate features ; his dark hair fell over and partially shaded his high forehead, and his proud glance revealed the loyalty of the French soldier, but an extreme pallor, consequent on the fatigue and privations he had undergone, had left a touching and melancholy expression on his face, while his refined and finished manners told of an equally finished and careful education. (To be concluded in our next.)