his people, which thus became British by a campaign and a treaty, was
destined to form the solid core around which should grow the vast
Confederation of Canada. But for them there would now, in all
likelihood, be no Canada. By their rejection of the proposals of the
revolted colonies, the northern half of this continent was preserved to
Great Britain. The debt which the empire owes to the French Canadians is
immeasurably greater than we at present realize. Let us examine the
characteristics of the small and isolated people which was to exercise
such a deep influence on the future of this continent.

The whole population of Canada when she came under the British flag was
about sixty thousand. This hardy handful was gathered chiefly at Quebec,
Three Rivers, and Montreal. The rest trailed thinly along the shores of
the St. Lawrence and the Richelieu. The lands about the Great Lakes, and
the western country, were held only by a few scattered forts, buried
here and there in the green wilderness. At Detroit had sprung up a
scanty settlement of perhaps one thousand souls. In these remote posts
the all-important question was still that of the fur-trade with the
Indians. The traders and the soldiers, cut off from civilization,
frequently took wives from the Indian tribes about them, and settled
down to a life half barbarous. These men soon grew as lawless as their
adopted kinsfolk. They were a weakness and a discredit to the country in
time of peace, but in war their skill and daring were the frontier's
best defence.

Quebec had seven thousand inhabitants. Most of them dwelt between the
water's edge and the foot of the great cliff whose top was crowned by
the citadel. Where the shoulder of the promontory swept around toward
the St. Charles, the slope became more gentle, and there the houses and
streets began to clamber toward the summit. Streets that found
themselves growing too precipitous had a way, then as now, of changing
suddenly into flights of stairs. The city walls, grimly bastioned, ran
in bold zigzags across the face of the steep in a way to daunt
assailants. Down the hillside, past the cathedral and the college,
through the heart of the city, clattered a noisy brook, which in time of
freshet flooded the neighbouring streets. Part of the city was within
walls, part without. Most of the houses were low, one-story buildings,
with large expanse of steep roof, and high dormer windows. Along the
incline leading down to the