In a circuit we made of two or
three miles in the vicinity of the town, we passed a number of really
splendid villas belonging to English residents, but with this exception
all seemed much more French than English, excepting that in _la vieille
France_ we never saw such order, cleanliness, and comfort, nor could
these be well surpassed in any country.
The small farmers here live entirely upon the produce of their farms;
they knit their own stockings, and weave their own grey coarse cloth. We
looked into several of their houses, and the extreme cleanliness of
every little corner of their dwellings was wonderful. The children seem
very healthy and robust-looking. The whole population talk French. The
crosses by the roadside proclaim them to be Roman Catholics, and the
extensive convents in the town tend doubtless to the promotion of the
temporal comforts of the poorer inhabitants. The principal church was
richly decorated with gilding up to the roof, and the gold, from the
dryness of the climate, was as bright as if newly laid on.
The extreme clearness of the air of Canada contributed, no doubt,
greatly to the beauty of everything we saw, though we found the cold
that accompanied it rather sharper than we liked. Mrs. Baily told me
that it is a curious sight to see the market in the winter, everything
being sold in a frozen state.
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