English colonies. The further I advanced northward here, the finer were the meadows and the turf on them was better and closer.1

With regard to the yield of grain crops, Kalm states that, wheat is the kind of corn which is sown in the greatest quantities here. The soil is pretty fertile, and they have sometimes got twenty-four or twenty-six bushels from one, though the harvest is generally ten or twelve fold. They sow likewise a great quantity of peas, which yield a greater increase than any corn; and there are examples of its producing a hundred fold.2

His description shows that in the district between Montreal and Three Rivers, the rich alluvial soil of the St. Lawrence valley was becoming somewhat run-out under the crude methods of agriculture. He says, "the soil is reckoned pretty fertile; and wheat yields nine or ten grains from one. But when this old man was a boy [referring to a farmer he had interviewed], and the country was new and rich everywhere, they could get twenty or four-and-twenty, grains from one.

66

Notwithstanding the crude methods of agriculture, the struggle for subsistence, once the land was cleared, does not appear to have been difficult. The Earl of Durham speaks of the French Canadians as occupying portions of the wholly unappropriated soil, sufficient to provide each family with material comforts, far beyond their ancient means, or almost their conceptions." As early as 1636, Le Jeune, in answer to the question, "The land being cleared and ploughed, will it produce enough for the inhabitants?" wrote that it would, and cited the case of one Giffard, who from

4

1 Kalm, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 156. 3 3 Ibid., p. 259.

2 Ibid., p. 206.

Durham, p. 16.

his first clearing had harvested, " eight puncheons of wheat, two puncheons of peas, and three puncheons of Indian corn"; and from the second crop he hoped to harvest enough, if his wheat yielded in proportion to indications, "to maintain twenty persons." This land had all been cleared, seeded and harvested with the help of seven men,1 showing that even under pioneer conditions a living might be had from the soil.

As the land was heavily timbered, however, the clearing of it was a slow, difficult, and expensive process. An arpent and a half [about an acre and a quarter] was considered a fair year's work for one man; and, as is the case in all such pioneer communities, only the more industrious and persevering could hope to succeed.

Most writers agree that the habitants had little difficulty in getting a living from the soil and this can doubtless be accounted for, in large measure, by their standard of living. Although considerably above that of the European peasantry, this standard consisted merely in a plentiful supply of plain food and other necessaries. Le Jeune describes a labourer's rations while clearing land as consisting of,

two loaves of bread, of about six or seven pounds, a week,that is a puncheon of flour a year; two pounds of lard, two ounces of butter, a little measure of oil and of vinegar; a little dried codfish, that is, about a pound; a bowlful of peas, which is about a chopin (pint),—and all this for one week. As to their drinks, they are given a chopin of cider per day, or a quart of beer, and occasionally a drink of wine, as on fête-days.

1 Rel. 1636, vol. ix, p. 153.

...

2 "Twenty men will clear in one year thirty arpents of land so clean that the plow can pass through it. . . . The usual task for one man is an arpent [a measure equal to .871 acres, Quebec Statistical Year Book, 1914, p. 199] and a half a year if he is not engaged in other work." (Rel. 1636, vol. ix, pp. 155-157.)

In the winter they are given a drop of brandy in the morning, if one has any. What they get from the country in hunting or fishing, is not included in this.1

These rations for a labourer, considering the amount of game and fish that must have been available, indicate for the whole population, in the matter of food, a fair standard of living.2

Whether there was any marked rise in the standard of living during the latter part of the French period seems doubtful. Occasionally, owing to a poor harvest,3 or as the result of war, we find that numbers of the population were reduced to actual want. The high price of the commodities which were not produced in the country, for a time at least, seems to have stood in the way of raising the habitant's standard of living. Kalm points out that

The common people in the country, seem to be very poor. They have the necessaries of life, and but little else. They are content with meals of dry bread and water, bringing all other provisions, such as butter, cheese, flesh, poultry, eggs, &c. to town, in order to get money for them, for which they buy clothes and brandy for themselves, and dresses for their women.5

This would seem to indicate that commodities which were produced by the inhabitants of Quebec were fairly plentiful and cheap but that few could afford to pay the high prices. necessary to obtain other things. The standard of living must have been relatively uniform.

1

Rel. 1636, vol. ix, p. 157; cf. Colon Docs., N. Y., vol. ix, pp. 151, 398. 2 Munro, Docs. S. T., p. xciii.

3 Edits et Ord. (1803), vol. i, pp. 551-552.

"Thus the harvest was gathered with great tranquility, the crop was abundant, and the famine, which had begun to be felt keenly, ceased at once." (Charlevoix, vol. iv, p. 241; cf. also Const. Docs., vol. i, p. 60.)

Kalm, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 192.

With the return of peace under the British rule, a large measure of prosperity was felt among the habitants.1 The prospect of a comfortable house on the land became more attractive to the young men than the lure of the fur trade, so that it was said,

nearly all Canadians-many of whom are young-build new habitations for themselves and are presented by their parents with cattle and articles for housekeeping. "Be fruitful and multiply" seems to be their motto, for the family of the new habitant soon begins to increase. He has however to work hard and live economically for a number of years before he is able to fill his barns with grain and enlarge his stock.2

Whatever weight we give to the more glowing accounts of New France, this stands out, that although resources were abundant, nevertheless the conditions of life were hard, and only the industrious and persevering could hope to exploit the environment successfully. Complaint was sometimes made that many of the early colonists were shiftless and indifferent, but this process of selection of necessity gradually developed a remarkably homogeneous type of population, thrifty and self-satisfied, traditionalistic and conservative in the extreme.

In considering the population of New France in the early days, the presence of the Indians must not be left out of account. At first thought one might assume that their presence would have tended to destroy the essential homogeneity of the population. This was not the fact,

1"The spirit which took possession of the towns soon spread into the most distant parts of the country, and introduced among their countrymen ideas of greater luxury and enjoyment than they had originally entertained." (A Political and Historical Account of Lower Canada, London, 1830, p. 117.)

Revolutionary Letters, pp. 27-28.

however, because in reality the Indians never became an integral part of the local community, nevertheless the status of the Indians must be reviewed briefly, because of the indirect effect which their presence had upon the rise of ecclesiastical control. This indirect effect was seen in the policies of the church and government authorities with respect to the Indians which of necessity strengthened the control of the church.

At the coming of the French to the St. Lawrence valley it was the rich habitat of native races. These comprised the Algonquin and Huron-Iroquois stocks, which were divided into numerous tribes. The Huron-Iroquois were much more virile and interesting than the representatives of the great Algonquin stock,' and it was with these that the French had most to do. The facility with which the French were able to mingle with the Indians,2 together with the influence of the Catholic Missions,3 soon brought the French into more or less intimate relations with these tribes.

The success of these efforts at first led the authorities to believe that the Indians would soon adopt a Christian civilization, and as they became assimilated with the French they would be a source of strength to the population in the colony. The missionaries were to be the chief recruiting agents in this plan of collecting the Christian Indians in villages.*

1 Rel., vol. i, pp. 10-11.

2 Parkman, The Jesuits in North America, vol. i, p. 131.

* These included the Montagnais, the Quebec, the Montreal, the Huron, the Iroquois and the Ottawa missions. (Rel., vol. i, pp. 15-35.)

"The foundations of French dominion were to be laid deep in the heart and conscience of the savage. His stubborn neck was to be subdued to the 'yoke of the Faith.' The power of the priest established, that of the temporal ruler was secure. These sanguinary hordes, weaned from intestine strife, were to unite in a common allegiance to God and the King. Mingled with French traders and French settlers, softened by French manners, guided by French priests, ruled by French