Social Influence of the Troops.—A Petty Tyrant1.—Brawls.—Violence and Outlawry3.—State of the Population.—Views of Denonville.—Brandy.—Beggary.—The Past and the Present.—Inns.—State of Quebec.—Fires.—The Country Parishes.—Slavery.—Views of La Hontan.—Of Hocquart.—Of Bougainville.—Of Kalm.—Of Charlevoix.
The mission period of Canada, or the period anterior4 to the year 1663, when the king took the colony in charge, has a character of its own. The whole population did not exceed that of a large French village. Its extreme poverty, the constant danger that surrounded it, and, above all, the contagious5 zeal6 of the missionaries7, saved it from many vices9, and inspired it with an extraordinary religious fervor10. Without doubt an ideal picture has been drawn11 of this early epoch12. Trade as well as propagandism was the business of the colony, and the colonists13 were far from being all in a state of grace; yet it is certain that zeal was higher, devotion more constant, and popular morals more pure, than at any later period of the French rule.
The intervention15 of the king wrought16 a change. The annual shipments of emigrants17 made by him were, in the most favorable view, of a very mixed character, and the portion which Mother Mary calls canaille was but too conspicuous18. Along with them came a regiment19 of soldiers fresh from the license20 of camps and the excitements of Turkish wars, accustomed to obey their officers and to obey nothing else, and more ready to wear the scapulary of the Virgin21 in campaigns against the Mohawks than to square their lives by the rules of Christian22 ethics23. “Our good king,” writes Sister Morin, of Montreal, “has sent troops to defend us from the Iroquois, and the soldiers and officers have ruined the Lord’s vineyard, and planted wickedness and sin and crime in our soil of Canada.” * Few, indeed, among the officers followed the example of one of their number, Paul Dupuy, who, in his settlement of Isle24 aux Oies, below Quebec, lived, it is said, like a saint, and on Sundays and fête days exhorted25 his servants and habitans with such unction that their eyes filled with tears. ** Nor, let us hope, were there many imitators of Major La Fredière, who, with a company of the regiment, was sent to garrison26 Montreal, where he ruled with absolute sway over settlers and soldiers alike. His countenance27 naturally repulsive28 was made more so by the loss of an eye; yet he was irrepressible in gallantry, and women and girls fled in terror from the military Polyphemus. The men, too, feared and hated him, not without reason. One morning a settler named Demers was hoeing his field, when
* Annales de l'H?tel-Dieu St Joseph, cited by Faillon.
** Juchereau, H?tel-Dieu de Québec, 511
he saw a sportsman gun in hand striding through his half-grown wheat. “Steady there, steady," he shouted in a tone of remonstrance29; but the sportsman gave no heed30. “Why do you spoil a poor man’s wheat?” cried the outraged31 cultivator. “If I knew who you were, I would go and complain of you.” “Whom would you complain to?” demanded the sportsman, who then proceeded to walk back into the middle of the wheat, and called out to Demers, “You are a rascal32, and I’ll thrash you.” “Look at home for rascals33,” retorted Demers, “and keep your thrashing for your dogs.” The sportsman came towards him in a rage to execute his threat. Demers picked up his gun, which, after the custom of the time, he had brought to the field with him, and, advancing to meet his adversary34, recognized La Fredière, the commandant. On this he ran off. La Fredière sent soldiers to arrest him, threw him into prison, put him in irons, and the next day mounted him on the wooden horse, with a weight of sixty pounds tied to each foot. He repeated the torture a day or two after, and then let his victim go, saying, “If I could have caught you when I was in your wheat, I would have beaten you well.”
The commandant next turned his quarters into a dram-shop for Indians, to whom he sold brandy in large quantities, but so diluted35 that his customers, finding themselves partially36 defrauded37 of their right of intoxication38, complained grievously. About this time the intendant Talon39 made one of his domiciliary visits to Montreal, and when, in his character of father of the people, he inquired if they had any complaints to make, every tongue was loud in accusation40 against La Fredière. Talon caused full depositions41 to be made out from the statements of Demers and other witnesses. Copies were deposited in the hands of the notary42, and it is from these that the above story is drawn. The tyrant was removed, and ordered home to France. *
Many other officers embarked43 in the profitable trade of selling brandy to Indians, and several garrison posts became centres of disorder44. Others, of the regiment became notorious brawlers. A lieutenant45 of the garrison of Montreal named Carion, and an ensign named Morel, had for some reason conceived a violent grudge46 against another ensign named Lormeau. On Pentecost day, just after vespers, Lormeau was walking by the river with his wife. They had passed the common and the seminary wall, and were in front of the house of the younger Charles Le Moyne, when they saw Carion coming towards them. He stopped before Lormeau, looked him full in the face, and exclaimed, “Coward.” “Coward yourself,” returned Lormeau; “take yourself off.” Carion drew his sword, and Lormeau followed his example. They exchanged a few passes; then closed, and fell to the ground grappled together. Lormeau’s wig47 fell off; and Carion, getting the uppermost, hammered his bare head with the hilt of his sword. Lormeau’s
* Information contre La Fredière. See Faillon, Colonie
Fran?aise, III. 886. The dialogue, as here given from the
depositions, is translated as closely as possible.See
Faillon, Colonie Fran?aise, III.
wife, in a frenzy49 of terror, screamed murder. One of the neighbors, Monsieur Belêtre, was at table with Charles Le Moyne and a Rochelle merchant named Baston. He ran out with his two guests, and they tried to separate the combatants, who still lay on the ground foaming50 like a pair of enraged51 bull-dogs. All their efforts were useless. “Very well,” said Le Moyne in disgust, “if you won’t let go, then kill each other if you like.” A former military servant of Carion now ran up, and began to brandish52 his sword in behalf of his late master. Carion’s comrade, Morel, also arrived, and, regardless of the angry protest of Le Moyne, stabbed repeatedly at Lormeau as he lay. Lormeau had received two or three wounds in the hand and arm with which he parried the thrusts, and was besides severely53 mauled by the sword-hilt of Carion, when two Sulpitian priests, drawn by the noise, appeared on the scene. One was Fremont, the curé; the other was Dollier de Casson. That herculean father, whose past soldier life had made him at home in a fray54, and who cared nothing for drawn swords, set himself at once to restore peace, upon which, whether from the strength of his arm, or the mere48 effect of his presence, the two champions released their gripe on each other’s throats, rose, sheathed55 their weapons, and left the field. *
Montreal, a frontier town at the head of the
* Requête de Lormeau a M. d'Aillebout. Dépositions de MM.
de Longueu?l (Le Moyne), de Baston, de Belêtre, et autres.
Cited by Faillon, Colonie Fran?aise, III. 393.
2219
He made a jump at the guns, took them under his arm like so many feathers
colony, was the natural resort of desperadoes, offering, as we have seen, a singular contrast between the rigor56 of its clerical seigniors and the riotous57 license of the lawless crew which infested58 it. Dollier de Casson tells the story of an outlaw2 who broke prison ten or twelve times, and whom no walls, locks, or fetters59 could hold. “A few months ago,” he says, “he was caught again, and put into the keeping of six or seven men, each with a good gun. They stacked their arms to play a game of cards, which their prisoner saw fit to interrupt to play a game of his own. He made a jump at the guns, took them under his arm like so many feathers, aimed at these fellows with one of them, swearing that he would kill the first who came near him, and so, falling back step by step, at last bade them good-by, and carried off all their guns. Since then he has not been caught, and is roaming the woods. Very likely he will become chief of our banditti, and make great trouble in the country when it pleases him to come back from the Dutch settlements, whither they say he is gone along with another rascal, and a French woman so depraved that she is said to have given or sold two of her children to the Indians.” *
When the governor, La Barre, visited Montreal, he found there some two hundred reprobates60 gambling61, drinking, and stealing. If hard pressed by justice, they had only to cross the river and place themselves beyond the seigniorial jurisdiction62. The military settlements of the Richelieu
* Dollier de Casson, Histoire de Montréal, 1671, 72
were in a condition somewhat similar, and La Barre complains of a prevailing63 spirit of disobedience and lawlessness. * The most orderly and thrifty64 part of Canada appears to have been at this time the cote of Beaupré, belonging to the seminary of Quebec. Here the settlers had religious instruction from their curés, and industrial instruction also if they wanted it. Domestic spinning and weaving were practised at Beaupré sooner than in any other part of the colony.
When it is remembered that a population which in La Barre’s time did not exceed ten thousand, and which forty years later did not much exceed twice that number, was scattered65 along both sides of a great river for three hundred miles or more; that a large part of this population was in isolated66 groups of two, three, five, ten, or twenty houses at the edge of a savage67 wilderness68; that between them there was little communication except by canoes; that the settlers were disbanded soldiers, or others whose fives had been equally adverse69 to habits of reflection or self-control; that they rarely saw a priest, and that a government omnipotent70 in name had not arms long enough to reach them,—we may listen without surprise to the lamentations of order-loving officials over the unruly condition of a great part of the colony. One accuses the seigniors, who, he says, being often of low extraction, cannot keep their vassals72 in order. ** Another dwells sorrowfully on the “terrible dispersion” of
* La Barre au Ministre, 4 Nov., 1683.
** Catalogne, Mémoire addressé au Ministre, 1712
the settlements where the inhabitants "live in a savage independence.” But it is better that each should speak for himself, and among the rest let us hear the pious73 Denonville.
“This, monseigneur, seems to me the place for rendering74 you an account of the disorders75 which prevail not only in the woods, but also in the settlements. They arise from the idleness of young persons, and the great liberty which fathers, mothers, and guardians76 have for a long time given them, or allowed them to assume, of going into the forest under pretence78 of hunting or trading. This has come to such a pass, that, from the moment a boy can carry a gun, the father cannot restrain him and dares not offend him. You can judge the mischief79 that follows. These disorders are always greatest in the families of those who are gentilshommes, or who through laziness or vanity pass themselves off as such. Having no resource but hunting, they must spend their lives in the woods, where they have no curés to trouble them, and no fathers or guardians to constrain80 them. I think, monseigneur, that martial81 law would suit their case better than any judicial82 sentence.
“Monsieur de la Barre suppressed a certain order of knighthood which had sprung up here, but he did not abolish the usages belonging to it. It was thought a fine thing and a good joke to go about naked and tricked out like Indians, not only on carnival83 days, but on all other days of feasting and debauchery. These practices tend to encourage the disposition84 of our young men to live like sav ages, frequent their company, and be for ever unruly and lawless like them. I; cannot tell you, monseigneur, how attractive this Indian life is to all our youth. It consists in doing nothing, caring for nothing, following every inclination85, and getting out of the way of all correction.” He goes on to say that the mission villages governed by the Jesuits and Sulpitians are models of good order, and that drunkards are never seen there except when they come from the neighboring French settlements; but that the other Indians who roam at large about the colony, do prodigious86 mischief, because the children of the seigniors not only copy their way of life, but also run off with their women into the woods. *
“Nothing,” he continues, “can be finer or better conceived than the regulations framed for the government of this country; but nothing, I assure you, is so ill observed as regards both the fur trade and the general discipline of the colony. One great evil is the infinite number of drinking-shops, which makes it almost impossible to remedy the disorders resulting from them. All the rascals and idlers of the country are attracted into this business of tavern-keeping. They never dream of tilling the soil; but, on the contrary, they deter87 the other inhabitants from it, and end with ruining
* Raudot, who was intendant early in the eighteenth
century, is a little less gloomy in his coloring, but says
that Canadian children were without discipline or education,
had no respect for parents or cure's, and owned no
superiors. This, he thinks, is owing to “la folle tendresse
des parents qui les empêche de les corriger et de leur
former le caractère qu’ils ont dur et féroce.”
them. I know seigniories where there are but twenty houses, and moire than half of them dram shops. At Three Rivers there are twenty-five houses, and liquor may be had at eighteen or twenty of them. Villemarie (Montreal) and Quebec are on the same footing.”
The governor next dwells on the necessity of finding occupation for children and youths, a matter which he regards as of the last importance. "It is sad to see the ignorance of the population at a distance from the abodes88 of the curés, who are put to the greatest trouble to remedy the evil by travelling from place to place through the parishes in their charge.” *
La Barre, Champigny, and Duchesneau write in a similar strain. Bishop89 Saint-Vallier, in an epistolary journal which he printed of a tour through the colony made on his first arrival, gives a favorable account of the disposition of the people, especially as regards religion. He afterwards changed his views. An abstract made from his letters for the use of the king states that he "represents, like M. Denonville, that the Canadian youth are for the most part wholly demoralized.” **
"The bishop was very sorry,” says a correspondent of the minister at Quebec, "to have so much exaggerated in the letter he printed at Paris the morality of the people here.” *** He preached a sermon on the sins of the inhabitants and issued a pastoral mandate90, in which he says, "Before we
* Denonville au Ministre, 13 Nov. 1685.
** N. Y. Colonial Documents, IX. 278.
*** Ibid., IX. 388.
knew our flock we thought that the English and the Iroquois were the only wolves we had to fear; but God having opened our eyes to the disorders of this diocese, and made us feel more than ever the weight of our charge, we are forced to confess that our most dangerous foes91 are drunkenness, luxury, impurity92, and slander93.” *
Drunkenness was at this time the most destructive vice8 in the colony. One writer declares that most of the Canadians drink so much brandy in the morning, that they are unfit for work all day. ** Another says that a canoe-man when he is tired will lift a keg of brandy to his lips and drink the raw liquor from the bung-hole, after which, having spoiled his appetite, he goes to bed supperless; and that, what with drink and hardship, he is an old man at forty. Nevertheless the race did not deteriorate94. The prevalence of early marriages, and the birth of numerous offspring before the vigor95 of the father had been wasted, ensured the strength and hardihood which characterized the Canadians. As Denonville describes them so they long remained. “The Canadians are tall, well-made, and well set on their legs (bienplantés sur leurs jambes), robust96, vigorous, and accustomed in time of need to live on little. They have intelligence and vivacity97, but are wayward, light-minded, and inclined to debauchery.”
As the population increased, as the rage for
* Ordonnance contre les vices de l’ivrognerie, luxe, et
impureté, 31 Oct., 1690.
** N Y. Colonial Documents. IX. 398.
bush-ranging began to abate98, and, above all, as the curés multiplied, a change took place for the better. More churches were built, the charge of each priest was reduced within reasonable bounds, and a greater proportion of the inhabitants remained on their farms. They were better watched, controlled, and taught, by the church. The ecclesiastical power, wherever it had a hold, was exercised, as we have seen, with an undue99 rigor, yet it was the chief guardian77 of good morals; and the colony grew more orderly and more temperate100 as the church gathered more and more of its wild and wandering flock fairly within its fold. In this, however, its success was but relative. It is true that in 1715 a well-informed writer says that the people were “perfectly instructed in religion;” * but at that time the statement was only partially true.
During the seventeenth century, and some time after its close, Canada swarmed101 with beggars, a singular feature in a new country where a good farm could be had for the asking. In countries intensely Roman Catholic begging is not regarded as an unmixed evil, being supposed to promote two cardinal102 virtues,—charity in the giver and humility103 in the receiver. The Canadian officials nevertheless tried to restrain it. Vagabonds of both sexes were ordered to leave Quebec, and nobody was allowed to beg without a certificate of poverty from the curé or the local judge. ** These orders were not
* Mémoire addressé au Regent.
** Réglement de Police, 1676.
always observed. Bishop Saint-Vallier writes that he is overwhelmed by beggars, * and the intendant echoes his complaint. Almshouses were established at Montreal, Three Rivers, and Quebec; ** and when Saint-Vallier founded the General Hospital, its chief purpose was to serve, not as a hospital in the ordinary sense of the word, but as a house of refuge, after the plan of the General Hospital of Paris. *** Appeal, as usual, was made to the king. Denonville asks his aid for two destitute104 families, and says that many others need it. Louis XIV. did not fail to respond, and from time to time he sent considerable sums for the relief of the Canadian poor. ****
Denonville says, “The principal reason of the poverty of this country is the idleness and bad conduct of most of the people. The greater part of the women, including all the demoiselles, are very lazy.” (v) Meules proposes as a remedy that the king should establish a general workshop in the colony, and pay the workmen himself during the first five or six years. (v*) “The persons here,” he says, “who have wished to make a figure are nearly all so overwhelmed with debt that they may be
* N. Y. Colonial Documents, IX. 279.
** Edits et Ordonnances, II. 119.
*** On the General Hospital of Quebec, see Juchereau, 355.
In 1692, the minister writes to Frontenac and Champigny that
they should consider well whether this house of refuge will
not “augmenter la fainéantise parmi les habitans,” by giving
them a sure support in poverty.
**** As late as 1701, six thousand livres were granted
Callieres au Ministre, 4 Nov., 1701.
(v) Denonville et Champigny au Ministre, 6 Nov,, 1687.
(v*) Meules au Ministre, 12 Nov., 1682.
considered as in the last necessity.” * He adds that many of the people go half-naked even in winter. “The merchants of this country,” says the intendant Duchesneau, “are all plunged105 in poverty, except five or six at the most; it is the same with the artisans, except a small number, because the vanity of the women and the debauchery of the men consume all their gains. As for such of the laboring107 class as apply themselves steadily108 to cultivating the soil, they not only live very well, but are incomparably better off than the better sort of peasants in France.” **
All the writers lament71 the extravagant109 habits of the people; and even La Hontan joins hands with the priests in wishing that the supply of ribbons, laces, brocades, jewelry110, and the like, might be cut off: by act of law. Mother Juchereau tells us that, when the English invasion was impending111, the belles112 of Canada were scared for a while into modesty113 in order to gain the favor of heaven; but, as may be imagined, the effect was short, and Father La Tour declares that in his time all the fashions except rouge114 came over regularly in the annual ships.
The manners of the mission period, on the other hand, were extremely simple. The old governor, Lauzon, lived on pease and bacon like a laborer115, and kept no man-servant. He was regarded, it is true, as a miser116, and held in slight account. *** Magdeleine Boucher, sister of the governor of Three Rivers,
* Meules, Mémoire touchant le Canada et l’Acadie, 1684.
** Duchesneau au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1679.
*** Mémoire d’Aubert de la Chesnaye, 1676
brought her husband two hundred francs in money, four sheets, two table-cloths, six napkins of linen117 and hemp118, a mattress119, a blanket, two dishes, six spoons and six tin plates, a pot and a kettle, a table and two benches, a kneading-trough, a chest with lock and key, a cow, and a pair of hogs120. * But the Bouchers were a family of distinction, and the bride’s dowry answered to her station. By another marriage contract, at about the same time, the parents of the bride, being of humble121 degree, bind122 themselves to present the bridegroom with a barrel of bacon, deliverable on the arrival of the ships from France. **
Some curious traits of this early day appear in the license of Jean Boisdon as innkeeper. He is required to establish himself on the great square of Quebec, close to the church, so that the parishioners may conveniently warm and refresh themselves between the services; but he is forbidden to entertain anybody during high mass, sermon, catechism, or vespers. *** Matters soon changed; Jean Boisdon lost his monopoly, and inns sprang up on all hands. They did not want for patrons, and we find some of their proprietors123 mentioned as among the few thriving men in Canada. Talon tried to regulate them, and, among other rules, ordained124 that no innkeeper should furnish food or drink to any hired laborer whatever, or to any
* Contrat de marriage, cited by Ferland, Notes, 73.
Canadienne, IX. 111.
*** Acte officielle, 1648, cited by Ferland. Cours
d’Histoire du Canada, I. 865.
person residing in the place where his inn was situated126. An innkeeper of Montreal was fined for allowing the syndic of the town to dine under his roof. *
One gets glimpses of the pristine127 state of Quebec through the early police regulations. Each inhabitant was required to make a gutter128 along the middle of the street before his house, and also to remove refuse and throw it into the river. All dogs, without exception, were ordered home at nine o’clock. On Tuesdays and Fridays there was a market in the public square, whither the neighboring habitants, male and female, brought their produce for sale, as they still continue to do. Smoking in the street was forbidden, as a precaution against fire; householders were required to provide themselves with ladders, and when the fire alarm was rung all able-bodied persons were obliged to run to the scene of danger with buckets or kettles full of water. ** This did not prevent the Lower Town from burning to the ground in 1682. It was soon rebuilt, but a repetition of the catastrophe129 seemed very likely. “This place,” says Denonville, “is in a fearful state as regards fire; for the houses are crowded together out of all reason, and so surrounded with piles of cord-wood that it is pitiful to see.” *** Add to this the stores of hay for the cows kept by many of the inhabitants for the benefit of their swarming130 progeny131.
* Faillon, Colonie Fran?aise, III. 405.
** Réglement de Police, 1672. Ibid., 1676.
*** Denonville au Ministre, 20 Ao?t, 1686
The houses were at this time low, compact buildings, with gables of masonry132, as required by law; but many had wooden fronts, and all had roofs covered with cedar133 shingles134. The anxious governor begs that, as the town has not a sou of revenue, his Majesty135 will be pleased to make it the gift of two hundred crowns’ worth of leather fire-buckets. * Six or seven years after, certain citizens were authorized136 by the council to import from France, at their own cost, “a pump after the Dutch fashion, for throwing water on houses in case of fire.” ** How a fire was managed at Quebec appears from a letter of the engineer, Yasseur, describing the burning of Laval’s seminary in 1701. Vasseur was then at Quebec, directing the new fortifications. On a Monday in November, all the pupils of the seminary and most of the priests went, according to their weekly custom, to recreate themselves at a house and garden at St. Michel, a short distance from town. The few priests who remained went after dinner to say vespers at the church. Only one, Father Petit, was left in the seminary, and he presently repaired to the great hall to rekindle137 the fire in the stove and warm the place against the return of his brethren. His success surpassed his wishes. A firebrand snapped out in his absence and set the pine floor in a blaze. Father Boucher, curé of Point Levi, chanced to come in, and was half choked by the smoke. He cried fire! the servants
* Denonville au Ministre, 20 Ao?t, 1685.
** Réglement de 1691, extract in Ferland.
ran for water; but the flames soon mastered them; they screamed the alarm, and the bells began to ring. Vasseur was dining with the intendant at his palace by the St. Charles, when he heard a frightened voice crying out, “Monsieur, you are wanted; you are wanted.” He sprang from table, saw the smoke rolling in volumes from the top of the rock, ran up the steep ascent138, reached the seminary, and found an excited crowd making a prodigious outcry. He shouted for carpenters. Four men came to him, and he set them at work with such tools as they had to tear away planks139 and beams, and prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent parts of the building; but, when he went to find others to help them, they ran off. He set new men in their place, and these too ran off the moment his back was turned. A cry was raised that the building was to be blown up, on which the crowd scattered for their lives. Vasseur now gave up the seminary for lost, and thought only of cutting off the fire from the rear of the church, which was not far distant. In this he succeeded, by tearing down an intervening wing or gallery. The walls of the burning building were of massive stone, and by seven o’clock the fire had spent itself. We hear nothing of the Dutch pump, nor does it appear that the soldiers of the garrison made any effort to keep order. Under cover of the confusion, property was stolen from the seminary to the amount of about two thousand livres, which is remarkable140, considering the religious character of the building, and the supposed piety141 of the people. “There were more than three hundred persons at the fire," says Yasseur; “but thirty picked men would have been worth more than the whole of them.” *
August, September, and October were the busy months at Quebec. Then the ships from France discharged their lading, the shops and warehouses142 of the Lower Town were filled with goods, and the habitants came to town to make their purchases. When the frosts began, the vessels143 sailed away, the harbor was deserted144, the streets were silent again, and like ants or squirrels the people set at work to lay in their winter stores. Fathers of families packed their cellars with beets145, carrots, potatoes, and cabbages; and, at the end of autumn, with meat, fowls146, game, fish, and eels147, all frozen to stony148 hardness. Most of the shops closed, and the long season of leisure and amusement began. New Year’s day brought visits and mutual149 gifts. Thence till Lent dinner parties were frequent, sometimes familiar and sometimes ceremonious. The governor’s little court at the chateau150 was a standing151 example to all the aspiring152 spirits of Quebec, and forms and orders of precedence were in some houses punctiliously153 observed. There were dinners to the military and civic154 dignitaries and their wives, and others, quite distinct, to prominent citizens. The wives and daughters of the burghers of Quebec are said to have been superior in manners to women of the corresponding
* Vasseur au Ministre, 2-4 Nov., 1701. Like Denonville
before him, he urges the need of fire-buckets.
class in France. “They have wit,” says La Potherie, “delicacy, good voices, and a great fondness for dancing. They are discreet155, and not much given to flirting156; but when they undertake to catch a lover it is not easy for him to escape the bands of Hymen.” *
So much for the town. In the country parishes, there was the same autumnal stowing away of frozen vegetables, meat, fish, and eels, and unfortunately the same surfeit158 of leisure through five months of the year. During the seventeenth century, many of the people were so poor that women were forced to keep at home from sheer want of winter clothing. Nothing, however, could prevent their running from house to house to exchange gossip with the neighbors, who all knew each other, and, having nothing else to do, discussed each other’s affairs with an industry which often bred bitter quarrels. At a later period, a more general introduction of family weaving and spinning served at once to furnish clothing and to promote domestic peace.
The most important persons in a parish were the curé, the seignior, and the militia159 captain. The seignior had his bench of honor in the church. Immediately behind it was the bench of the militia captain, whose duty it was to drill the able-bodied men of the neighborhood, direct road-making and other public works, and serve as deputy to the intendant, whose ordinances160 he was required to enforce. Next in honor came the local judge any there was, and the church-wardens.
* La Potherie. I. 279.
The existence of slavery in Canada dates from the end of the seventeenth century. In 1688, the attorney-general made a visit to Paris, and urged upon the king the expediency161 of importing negroes from the West Indies as a remedy for the scarcity162 and dearness of labor106. The king consented, but advised caution, on the ground that the rigor of the climate would make the venture a critical one. * A number of slaves were brought into the colony; but the system never flourished, the climate and other circumstances being hostile to it. Many of the colonists, especially at Detroit and other outlying posts, owned slaves of a remote Indian tribe, the Pawnees. The fact is remarkable, since it would be difficult to find another of the wild tribes of the continent capable of subjection to domestic servitude. The Pawnee slaves were captives taken in war and sold at low prices to the Canadians. Their market value was much impaired163 by their propensity164 to run off.
It is curious to observe the views of the Canadians taken at different times by different writers. La Hontan says, “They are vigorous, enterprising, and indefatigable165, and need nothing but education. They are presumptuous166 and full of self-conceit, regard themselves as above all the nations of the earth, and, unfortunately, have not the veneration167 for their parents that they ought to have. The women are generally pretty; few of them are
* Instruction au Sr. de Frontenac, 1689. On Canadian
slavery, see a long paper, l'Esclavage en Canada, published
by the Historical Society of Montreal.
brunettes; many of them are discreet, and a good number are lazy. They are fond to the last degree of dress and show, and each tries to outdo the rest in the art of catching168 a husband.” *
Fifty years later, the intendant Hocquart writes, “The Canadians are fond of distinctions and attentions, plume169 themselves on their courage, and are extremely sensitive to slights or the smallest corrections. They are self-interested, vindictive170, prone171 to drunkenness, use a great deal of brandy, and pass for not being at all truthful172. This portrait is true of many of them, particularly the country people: those of the towns are less vicious. They are all attached to religion, and criminals are rare. They are volatile173, and think too well of themselves, which prevents their succeeding as they might in farming and trade. They have not the rude and rustic174 air of our French peasants. If they are put on their honor and governed with justice, they are tractable175 enough; but their natural disposition is indocile.” *
The navigator Bougainville, in the last years of the French rule, describes the Canadian habitant as essentially176 superior to the French peasant, and adds, “He is loud, boastful, mendacious177, obliging, civil, and honest; indefatigable in hunting, travelling, and bush-ranging, but lazy in tilling the soil.” ***
The Swedish botanist178, Kalm, an excellent observer, was in Canada a few years before Bougainville,
* La Hontan, II. 81 (ed. 1709).
** Mémoire de 1736.
*** Mémoire de 1757, printed in Margry, Relations Inédites.
and sketches179 from life the following traits of Canadian manners. The language is chat of the old English translation. “The men here (at Montreal) are extremely civil, and take their hats off to every person indifferently whom they meet in the streets. The women in general are handsome; they are well bred and virtuous180, with an innocent and becoming freedom. They dress out very fine on Sundays, and though on the other days they do not take much pains with the other parts of their dress, yet they are very fond of adorning181 their heads, the hair of which is always curled and powdered and ornamented182 with glittering bodkins and aigrettes. They are not averse183 to taking part in all the business of housekeeping, and I have with pleasure seen the daughters of the better sort of people, and of the governor (of Montreal) himself, not too finely dressed, and going into kitchens and cellars to look that every thing be done as it ought. What I have mentioned above of their dressing184 their heads too assiduously is the case with all the ladies throughout Canada. Their hair is always curled even when they are at home in a dirty jacket, and short coarse petticoat that does not reach to the middle of their legs. On those days when they pay or receive visits they dress so gayly that one is almost induced to think their parents possess the greatest honors in the state. They are no less attentive185 to have the newest fashions, and they laugh at each other when they are not dressed to each other’s fancy. One of the first questions they propose to a stranger is, whether he is married; the next, how he likes the ladies of the country, and whether he thinks them handsomer than those of his own country; and the third, whether he will take one home with him. The behavior of the ladies seemed to me somewhat too free at Quebec, and of a more becoming modesty at Montreal. Those of Quebec are not very industrious186. The young ladies, especially those of a higher rank, get up at seven and dress till nine, drinking their coffee at the same time. When they are dressed, they place themselves near a window that opens into the street, take up some needlework and sew a stitch now and then, but turn their eyes into the street most of the time. When a young fellow comes in, whether they are acquainted with him or not, they immediately lay aside their work, sit down by him, and begin to chat, laugh, joke, and invent double-entendres, and this is reckoned being very witty187. In this manner they frequently pass the whole day, leaving their mothers to do the business of the house. They are likewise cheerful and content, and nobody can say that they want either wit or charms. Their fault is that they think too well of themselves. However, the daughters of people of all ranks without exception go to market and carry home what they have bought. The girls at Montreal are very much displeased188 that those at Quebec get husbands sooner than they. The reason of this is that many young gentlemen who come over from France with the ships are captivated by the ladies at Quebec and marry them; but, as these gentlemen seldom go up to Montreal, the girls there are not often so happy as those of the former place." *
Long before Kalm’s visit, the Jesuit Charlevoix, a traveller and a man of the world, wrote thus of Quebec in a letter to the Duchesse de Lesdiguières: “There is a select little society here which wants nothing to make it agreeable. In the salons189 of the wives of the governor and of the intendant, one finds circles as brilliant as in other countries.” These circles were formed partly of the principal inhabitants, but chiefly of military officers and government officials, with their families. Charlevoix continues, “Everybody does his part to make the time pass pleasantly, with games and parties of pleasure; drives and canoe excursions in summer, sleighing and skating in winter. There is a great deal of hunting and shooting, for many Canadian gentlemen are almost destitute of any other means of living at their ease. The news of the day amounts to very little indeed, as the country furnishes scarcely any, while that from Europe comes all at once. Science and the fine arts have their turn, and conversation does not fail. The Canadians breathe from their birth an air of liberty, which makes them very pleasant in the intercourse190 of life, and our language is nowhere more purely191 spoken. One finds here no rich persons whatever, and this is a great pity; for the Canadians like to get the credit of their money, and scarcely anybody
* Kalm, Travels into North America, translated into English
by John Reinold Forster (London, 1771), 56, 282, etc.
amuses himself with hoarding192 it. They say it is very different with our neighbors the English, and one who knew the two colonies only by the way of living, acting193, and speaking of the colonists would not hesitate to judge ours the more flourishing. In New England and the other British colonies, there reigns194 an opulence195 by which the people seem not to know how to profit; while in New France poverty is hidden under an air of ease which appears entirely196 natural. The English colonist14 keeps as much and spends as little as possible: the French colonist enjoys what he has got, and often makes a display of what he has not got. The one labors197 for his heirs: the other leaves them to get on as they can, like himself. I could push the comparison farther; but I must close here: the king’s ship is about to sail, and the merchant vessels are getting ready to follow. In three days perhaps, not one will be left in the harbor.” * And now we, too, will leave Canada. Winter draws near, and the first patch of snow lies gleaming on the distant mountain of Cape157 Tourmente. The sun has set in chill autumnal beauty, and the sharp spires198 of fir-trees on the heights of Sillery stand stiff and black against the pure cold amber199 of the fading west. The ship sails in the morning; and, before the old towers of Rochelle rise in sight, there will be time to smoke many a pipe, and ponder what we have seen on the banks of the St Lawrence.
* Charlevoix. Journal Historique 80 (ed. 1744).
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1 tyrant | |
n.暴君,专制的君主,残暴的人 | |
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2 outlaw | |
n.歹徒,亡命之徒;vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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3 outlawry | |
宣布非法,非法化,放逐 | |
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4 anterior | |
adj.较早的;在前的 | |
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5 contagious | |
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6 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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7 missionaries | |
n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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8 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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9 vices | |
缺陷( vice的名词复数 ); 恶习; 不道德行为; 台钳 | |
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10 fervor | |
n.热诚;热心;炽热 | |
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11 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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12 epoch | |
n.(新)时代;历元 | |
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13 colonists | |
n.殖民地开拓者,移民,殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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14 colonist | |
n.殖民者,移民 | |
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15 intervention | |
n.介入,干涉,干预 | |
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16 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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17 emigrants | |
n.(从本国移往他国的)移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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18 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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19 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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20 license | |
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许 | |
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21 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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22 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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23 ethics | |
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准 | |
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24 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
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25 exhorted | |
v.劝告,劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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27 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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28 repulsive | |
adj.排斥的,使人反感的 | |
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29 remonstrance | |
n抗议,抱怨 | |
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30 heed | |
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心 | |
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31 outraged | |
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的 | |
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32 rascal | |
n.流氓;不诚实的人 | |
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33 rascals | |
流氓( rascal的名词复数 ); 无赖; (开玩笑说法)淘气的人(尤指小孩); 恶作剧的人 | |
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34 adversary | |
adj.敌手,对手 | |
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35 diluted | |
无力的,冲淡的 | |
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36 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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37 defrauded | |
v.诈取,骗取( defraud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38 intoxication | |
n.wild excitement;drunkenness;poisoning | |
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39 talon | |
n.爪;(如爪般的)手指;爪状物 | |
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40 accusation | |
n.控告,指责,谴责 | |
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41 depositions | |
沉积(物)( deposition的名词复数 ); (在法庭上的)宣誓作证; 处置; 罢免 | |
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42 notary | |
n.公证人,公证员 | |
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43 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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44 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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45 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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46 grudge | |
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做 | |
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47 wig | |
n.假发 | |
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48 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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49 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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50 foaming | |
adj.布满泡沫的;发泡 | |
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51 enraged | |
使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 ); 歜; 激愤 | |
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52 brandish | |
v.挥舞,挥动;n.挥动,挥舞 | |
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53 severely | |
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 | |
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54 fray | |
v.争吵;打斗;磨损,磨破;n.吵架;打斗 | |
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55 sheathed | |
adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的;覆盖的;铠装的;装鞘了的v.将(刀、剑等)插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 );包,覆盖 | |
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56 rigor | |
n.严酷,严格,严厉 | |
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57 riotous | |
adj.骚乱的;狂欢的 | |
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58 infested | |
adj.为患的,大批滋生的(常与with搭配)v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 );遍布于 | |
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59 fetters | |
n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 );束缚v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60 reprobates | |
n.道德败坏的人,恶棍( reprobate的名词复数 ) | |
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61 gambling | |
n.赌博;投机 | |
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62 jurisdiction | |
n.司法权,审判权,管辖权,控制权 | |
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63 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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64 thrifty | |
adj.节俭的;兴旺的;健壮的 | |
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65 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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66 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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67 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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68 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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69 adverse | |
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的 | |
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70 omnipotent | |
adj.全能的,万能的 | |
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71 lament | |
n.悲叹,悔恨,恸哭;v.哀悼,悔恨,悲叹 | |
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72 vassals | |
n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 );(封建时代)诸侯;从属者;下属 | |
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73 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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74 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
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75 disorders | |
n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调 | |
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76 guardians | |
监护人( guardian的名词复数 ); 保护者,维护者 | |
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77 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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78 pretence | |
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰 | |
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79 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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80 constrain | |
vt.限制,约束;克制,抑制 | |
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81 martial | |
adj.战争的,军事的,尚武的,威武的 | |
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82 judicial | |
adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的 | |
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83 carnival | |
n.嘉年华会,狂欢,狂欢节,巡回表演 | |
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84 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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85 inclination | |
n.倾斜;点头;弯腰;斜坡;倾度;倾向;爱好 | |
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86 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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87 deter | |
vt.阻止,使不敢,吓住 | |
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88 abodes | |
住所( abode的名词复数 ); 公寓; (在某地的)暂住; 逗留 | |
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89 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
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90 mandate | |
n.托管地;命令,指示 | |
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91 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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92 impurity | |
n.不洁,不纯,杂质 | |
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93 slander | |
n./v.诽谤,污蔑 | |
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94 deteriorate | |
v.变坏;恶化;退化 | |
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95 vigor | |
n.活力,精力,元气 | |
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96 robust | |
adj.强壮的,强健的,粗野的,需要体力的,浓的 | |
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97 vivacity | |
n.快活,活泼,精神充沛 | |
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98 abate | |
vi.(风势,疼痛等)减弱,减轻,减退 | |
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99 undue | |
adj.过分的;不适当的;未到期的 | |
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100 temperate | |
adj.温和的,温带的,自我克制的,不过分的 | |
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101 swarmed | |
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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102 cardinal | |
n.(天主教的)红衣主教;adj.首要的,基本的 | |
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103 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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104 destitute | |
adj.缺乏的;穷困的 | |
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105 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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106 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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107 laboring | |
n.劳动,操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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108 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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109 extravagant | |
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的 | |
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110 jewelry | |
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝 | |
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111 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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112 belles | |
n.美女( belle的名词复数 );最美的美女 | |
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113 modesty | |
n.谦逊,虚心,端庄,稳重,羞怯,朴素 | |
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114 rouge | |
n.胭脂,口红唇膏;v.(在…上)擦口红 | |
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115 laborer | |
n.劳动者,劳工 | |
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116 miser | |
n.守财奴,吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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117 linen | |
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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118 hemp | |
n.大麻;纤维 | |
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119 mattress | |
n.床垫,床褥 | |
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120 hogs | |
n.(尤指喂肥供食用的)猪( hog的名词复数 );(供食用的)阉公猪;彻底地做某事;自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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121 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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122 bind | |
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬 | |
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123 proprietors | |
n.所有人,业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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124 ordained | |
v.任命(某人)为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 );授予(某人)圣职;(上帝、法律等)命令;判定 | |
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125 suite | |
n.一套(家具);套房;随从人员 | |
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126 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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127 pristine | |
adj.原来的,古时的,原始的,纯净的,无垢的 | |
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128 gutter | |
n.沟,街沟,水槽,檐槽,贫民窟 | |
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129 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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130 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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131 progeny | |
n.后代,子孙;结果 | |
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132 masonry | |
n.砖土建筑;砖石 | |
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133 cedar | |
n.雪松,香柏(木) | |
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134 shingles | |
n.带状疱疹;(布满海边的)小圆石( shingle的名词复数 );屋顶板;木瓦(板);墙面板 | |
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135 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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136 authorized | |
a.委任的,许可的 | |
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137 rekindle | |
v.使再振作;再点火 | |
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138 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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139 planks | |
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点 | |
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140 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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141 piety | |
n.虔诚,虔敬 | |
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142 warehouses | |
仓库,货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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143 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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144 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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145 beets | |
甜菜( beet的名词复数 ); 甜菜根; (因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而)脸红 | |
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146 fowls | |
鸟( fowl的名词复数 ); 禽肉; 既不是这; 非驴非马 | |
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147 eels | |
abbr. 电子发射器定位系统(=electronic emitter location system) | |
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148 stony | |
adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的 | |
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149 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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150 chateau | |
n.城堡,别墅 | |
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151 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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152 aspiring | |
adj.有志气的;有抱负的;高耸的v.渴望;追求 | |
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153 punctiliously | |
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154 civic | |
adj.城市的,都市的,市民的,公民的 | |
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155 discreet | |
adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的 | |
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156 flirting | |
v.调情,打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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157 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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158 surfeit | |
v.使饮食过度;n.(食物)过量,过度 | |
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159 militia | |
n.民兵,民兵组织 | |
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160 ordinances | |
n.条例,法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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161 expediency | |
n.适宜;方便;合算;利己 | |
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162 scarcity | |
n.缺乏,不足,萧条 | |
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163 impaired | |
adj.受损的;出毛病的;有(身体或智力)缺陷的v.损害,削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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164 propensity | |
n.倾向;习性 | |
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165 indefatigable | |
adj.不知疲倦的,不屈不挠的 | |
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166 presumptuous | |
adj.胆大妄为的,放肆的,冒昧的,冒失的 | |
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167 veneration | |
n.尊敬,崇拜 | |
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168 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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169 plume | |
n.羽毛;v.整理羽毛,骚首弄姿,用羽毛装饰 | |
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170 vindictive | |
adj.有报仇心的,怀恨的,惩罚的 | |
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171 prone | |
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的 | |
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172 truthful | |
adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的 | |
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173 volatile | |
adj.反复无常的,挥发性的,稍纵即逝的,脾气火爆的;n.挥发性物质 | |
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174 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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175 tractable | |
adj.易驾驭的;温顺的 | |
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176 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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177 mendacious | |
adj.不真的,撒谎的 | |
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178 botanist | |
n.植物学家 | |
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179 sketches | |
n.草图( sketch的名词复数 );素描;速写;梗概 | |
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180 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
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181 adorning | |
修饰,装饰物 | |
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182 ornamented | |
adj.花式字体的v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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183 averse | |
adj.厌恶的;反对的,不乐意的 | |
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184 dressing | |
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料 | |
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185 attentive | |
adj.注意的,专心的;关心(别人)的,殷勤的 | |
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186 industrious | |
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的 | |
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187 witty | |
adj.机智的,风趣的 | |
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188 displeased | |
a.不快的 | |
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189 salons | |
n.(营业性质的)店( salon的名词复数 );厅;沙龙(旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所);(大宅中的)客厅 | |
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190 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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191 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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192 hoarding | |
n.贮藏;积蓄;临时围墙;囤积v.积蓄并储藏(某物)( hoard的现在分词 ) | |
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193 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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194 reigns | |
n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 );君主统治时期;任期;当政期 | |
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195 opulence | |
n.财富,富裕 | |
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196 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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197 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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198 spires | |
n.(教堂的) 塔尖,尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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199 amber | |
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的 | |
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