ng him except the pleasure of
encountering a descendant of the people who so gallantly fought under
Montcalm so that posterity could enjoy a city in part exclusively
English and for the most part idiomatically French. A few evenings
previous I had talked on the Terrace to a glowing Nationalist, a young
expert in cynical idealism, who spoke very curtly about the Premier.
An ardent patriot, he talked freely and interestingly, as we gazed out
at the blue-hazed domes of the noble hills that mark the valley of St.
Lawrence. The roofs of Old Lower Town were sizzling in heat. Drowsy,
lumber-laden bateaux and ocean-liners crept and smoked about the docks.
Beyond the grey-scarped citadel the vesper bells of parish after parish
clanged a divine discord into the calm of the great river.

"What do you think of Gouin?" I asked him.

A cynical smile flicked over the Nationalist's face. For a moment he
did not answer.

"Pardonnez-moi," I mumbled. "I am Anglais."

"Oh!" he said, sharply, laughing. "Have you seen the Montcalm suite in
the Chateau here? Do so. The C.P.R. discovered an old bed and some
creaky chairs said to have been used by the great general. They placed
them in a suite of rooms which they rent to curiosity-hunting Americans
who sentimentalize over history at twenty-five dollars a day. Such is
Quebec when she is commercialized into a highway for tourists."

"But what has that to do with Sir Lomer Gouin?"

"Directly--nothing. Sir Lomer is not even a director of the C.P.R., or
of the Bank of Montreal, though one never knows what he may do with his
money and his talents when he gets tired of manipulating elections."

"Oh, you mean that Gouin--does not reflect the idealism of Quebec; its
love of the land that bore our fathers, its poetic isolation among the
provinces----?"

He blew a shaft of cigarette smoke.

"Sir Lomer," he said, "is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Province of Quebec. His chief duty is to go about inspecting and
improving properties and to sit at directors' meetings declaring
provincial dividends instead of deficits."

I remarked that since Quebec is so prosperous and so large and populous
with so many cradles, the Premier need not perhaps vex himself deeply
about ideals such as the French language in schools outside the
province.

"What!" was the reply, as a glass banged upon the table. "Would you
cage us in here like Indians on a reservation? Has the French-Canadian