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Tag Archives: Code Noir

Slavery in New France

22 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Indigenous People, New France, Racism, Slavery

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Amerindians, Arthur de Gobineau, Blacks, Canada, Code Noir, Marie-Josèphe Angélique, Panis, Quebec, racism, Slavery

New_France_4_3_Overseer-and-slaves-Latrobe-500x350

Labouring under the eye of the overseer, end of the eighteenth century (Photo and caption credit: Virtual Museum of New France, Slavery)

The image above can be found in Arnaud Bessière’s[1] entry on Slavery, in the Virtual Museum of New France, Slavery. Bessière’s document is short and authoritative. Morever, it is bilingual. I have used it to create this post. There were slaves in New France, but most were the Indigenous people of North America who themselves owned slaves.

Slave-owning people of what became Canada were, for example, the Yurok, a fishing society, who lived along the Pacific coast from Alaska to California or the Northwest Coast.

Some of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, the Haida and Tlingit, were traditionally known as fierce warriors and slave-traders, raiding as far as California. Slavery was hereditary, the slaves being prisoners of war and their descendants were slaves. Some nations in British Columbia continued to segregate and ostracize the descendants of slaves as late as the 1870s.
(see Slavery in Canada, Wikipedia).

Slavery among Amerindians may not have been as ingrained a cultural element in the native population of North America Northeastern coast, but Amerindians living on the shores of the St Lawrence had slaves. It was not uncommon for an Amerindian friend to give a slave to a French colonist. These Amerindians were members of the First Nations.

Let us see the numbers.

Before the Conquest of New France by the British in 1659,[2] New France had 4,000 slaves, but 1,123 were Blacks and the remainder, 2,472, Aboriginals. After the Conquest, French- speaking Canadians owned 1,509 of which 181 were English. These are Marcel Trudel’s numbers, quoted in Slavery in Canada (Wikipedia). Marcel Trudel also notes 31 marriages between French colonists and Aboriginal slaves (see Slavery in Canada, Wikipedia).

After the Conquest of Canada by Britain (1759), formalized by the Treaty of Paris (1763), French Canadians owned 181 Black slaves and 1,509 Amerindian slaves. So, as Bessière writes, no slave ship sailed down the St. Lawrence River.

Despite colonial officials’ oft-reiterated yearning to have African slaves imported to the colony, no slave ship ever reached the St. Lawrence valley.

Bessière also writes that

[t]hose black slaves who arrived in the region came from the neighbouring British colonies, from which they were smuggled or where they were taken as war captives. A number of Canadian merchants also brought black slaves back from their business trips to the south, in Louisiana or in the French Caribbean.

Lower Canada: the First Black Citizen & the First Black Slave

  • Mathieu da Costa
  • Olivier le Jeune

We know that Mathieu da Costa was the first Black to come to New France. He was not a slave, but a free man of African-Portuguese descent and Canada’s first linguist. As for the first Black slave in New France, he was a six-year old child. The young slave belonged to Sir David Kirke, one of the Brothers Kirke, who blockaded the St. Lawrence during the Anglo-French War of 1627 – 1629. Quebec fell (1628), but Samuel de Champlain argued that the English seizure of his land was unlawful, as the war had already ended when David Kirke took Québec. The territory was therefore returned to France, in 1632.

Oliver le Jeune may have had other owners, but he was last bought by Father Paul le Jeune and then given to one of Nouvelle-France first colonists, perhaps the first, Guillaume Couillard (see Bessière and Slavery in Canada, Wikipedia).

Guillaume Couillard - 03.JPG

Guillaume Couillard, figure au monument Louis-Hébert, parc Montmorency, Québec (Wikipedia)

New France did not have large plantations requiring an enormous work force. It was a semi-feudal society consisting of Seigneuries, long and narrow tracts of land located on both sides of the St Lawrence river. It was owned by the Compagnie des Cent-Associés, the Company of a Hundred Associates, who had a monopoly over the fur-trade. Finally, Black slaves were too expensive for ordinary colonists.

“The company was closely controlled by Richelieu, and was given sweeping authority over trade and colonization in all of New France, a territory that encompassed all of Acadia, Canada, Newfoundland, and French Louisiana. Management was entrusted to twelve directors.” (See Slavery in Canada, Wikipedia)

Consequently, the Black slaves of New France were domestic servants. Moreover, most of the colonists of New France were poor. In Philippe-Aubert de Gaspé‘s 1863 Les Anciens Canadiens (The Canadians of Old), a male Ethiopian is mentioned. Jules d’Haberville’s father was a Seigneur. But to return to Olivier le Jeune, it is believed the child was manumitted (freed) by the Couillard family. He died in 1654.

According to Afua Cooper, author of The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal, “enslaved First Nations people outnumbered enslaved individuals of African descent, under French rule. She attributed this to the relative ease with which New France could acquire First Nations slaves. She noted that the mortality of slaves was high, with the average age of First Nations slaves only 17, and the average age of slaves of African descent, 25.”[3]

The Seigneurial System

Farmers, later called cultivateurs, were given thirty acres of land. They paid their rente to their Seigneur and their dîme, to their curés, the parish priest. Their was a Chemin du Roy, but the river was the highway. It linked Quebec-city, Trois-Rivières and the island of Montréal. Under the Seigneurial System, farmers did the work.

Code Noir of 1742, Nantes history museum

Le Code Noir

  • the Panis
  • the Black

The Code Noir, which regulated enslavement in the French colonial empire, was promulgated by Louis XIV, in 1685. The first Code Noir was written by Colbert, but it was amended. It stressed that slaves had to be Catholics or convert to Catholicism. In 1689, New France was granted permission to enslave Blacks. But New France’s slaves were mostly Amerindians, all of whom were called Panis, whether or not they belonged to the Pawnee people. New France had very few slaves in the 17th century, but their numbers grew in the 18th century.

It would be difficult to determine how many Panis were given by Amerindian friends to the citizens of New France and how many were taken by colonists. However, no one can dispute that most slaves in New France were Amerindians rather than Blacks. Slavery and racism can be linked, but Amerindians had Amerindian slaves. Slavery has existed since time immemorial, but the Blacks of New France were owned by Whites. The transatlantic slave trade was human trafficking. It is a practice that has yet to end. La traite des Blanches, white slavery, was/is also human trafficking, and racism cannot be excluded.

transatlantic slave trade

African captives being transferred to ships along the Slave Coast for the transatlantic slave trade, c. 1880. © Photos.com/Thinkstock 

The image above belongs to Britannica.

I have noted that given Canada’s harsh climate, survival is a keyword in both the history New France and English-speaking.[4] In other words, the French, fur traders in particular, depended on Amerindians: birch bark canoes, snowshoes, remedies. Jacques Cartier, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts and his nagivator, Samuel de Champlain, were provided with thuja occidentalis, when their men were dying of scurvy. As for North America’s natives, they were not immune to certain European illnesses, such as smallpox, a devastating illness.

Arthur de Gobineau.jpg

1876 portrait of Gobineau by the Comtesse de la Tour (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Slavery vs Racism

Slavery may or may not be racist. However, enslavement is an extreme form of humiliation. So persons who have been slaves may be viewed as inferior.

Joseph Arthur, comte de Gobineau (14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882), the author of Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (Essai sur l’Inégalité des races humaines), believed commoners were inferior to aristocrats. (See Arthur de Gobineau, Wikipedia) and the White race superior to other races. However, although Arthur de Gobineau believed in Aryan supremacy, he did not look upon the Jews as an inferior “race.”

However unsavoury Arthur de Gobineau’ writings, he is associated with Scientific Racism. The 19th century is the birthplace of sociology and related disciplines. Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) developed the science of evolution. His ideas were shocking to many, but more scientific than Gobineau’s who thought the Black race was an inferior race.

The Disappearance of Indigenous Women

At the moment, the disappearance of aboriginal women in Canada is alarming.

“The issue gained increased awareness and attention after Amnesty International published Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Violence and Discrimination against Indigenous Women in Canada (2004) and No More Stolen Sisters (2009). Research conducted by the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) established a database of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In 2011, the NWAC database included 582 known cases, most of which had occurred between 1990 and 2010.” (The Canadian Encyclopedia)

The Hanging of Angélique

Marie-Josèphe dite Angélique is Canada’s most famous slave. Marie Josèphe, was a Portuguese slave brought to New England by a Flemish owner who sold her to a Montreal Seigneur, François Poulin de Francheville. When he died, his wife Thérèse de Couagne de Francheville decided to sell Marie-Josèphe to a Quebec City owner. Fearing she would lose the man she loved, an indentured servant whose name was Claude Thibault, the two escaped but were returned to Madame de Francheville, Thérèse de Couagne.

See the source image

Marie-Joseph-Angélique, (Photo credit: The Dictionary of Canadian Biography)

While she was absent, Thérèse de Couagne’s house was destroyed in a fire that spread to a large part of Old Montreal, including l’Hôtel-Dieu, a hospital. Marie-Josèphe was accused of arson. She was a runaway slave. She had run away with Claude Thibault who had been jailed and released. He disappeared. Marie-Josèphe was tried and convicted of arson. She was to be tortured, make amends (amende honorable), and be burned alive. The five-year old daughter of Alexis Monière, Amable, claimed she saw Marie-Josèphe- Angélique transporting coal. Marie-Josèphe-Angélique was tortured and hanged on 21 June 1734.

“The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal”

Marie Josèphe’s guilt was questioned by Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne in a book published in 2004. The fire may have started elsewhere. Two years later, in 2006, Dr Afua Cooper, PhD, who was born in Jamaica and is a faculty member at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, published The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal. According to Dr Cooper, Marie-Josèphe did set fire to her owner’s house, thus rebelling against her condition: slavery. (See Marie-Joseph Angélique, Wikipedia.)

In Lower Canada (Quebec), Sir James Monk, who could not abolish slavery, “rendered a series of decisions in the late 1790s that undermined the ability to compel slaves to serve their masters…” (See Slavery in Canada, Wikipedia). Later, Sir James Kempt refused a request to return a black slave to the United States. In practice, slavery had ended in Lower Canada.

Slavery was abolished in the British Empire by virtue of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

Conclusion

There is racism in Canada, including Quebec, but I do not know whether it is “systemic.” The French in Québec, the former Lower Canada, have concentrated on preserving their language. Bill 21 (secularization) led to demonstrations.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Comments on Racism (2 February 2015)
  • Ignatius Sancho & Laurence Sterne: a Letter (14 December 2013)
  • The Abolition of Slavery (15 November 2013)

Sources and Resources

  • Samuel de Champlain, Canadian Encyclopedia (two informative videos)
  • Racism, Wikipedia
  • Slavery, Wikipedia
  • Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Dictionaire biographique du Canada
  • L’ Essai sur l’inégalité des races is an Internet Archive publication
  • The Inequality of Human Races is an Internet Archive publication
  • An Essay on the Inequality of Human Races (Wikipedia)
  • Les Anciens Canadiens is a Wikisource publication

______________________________

[1] Arnaud Bessières, PhD, CIEQ, Virtual Museum of New France, Slavery

[2] Quebec City fell in 1759, but the treaty that ended the Seven Years’ War was
the Treaty of Paris, 1763.

[3] Quoted in Slavery in Canada (Wikipedia)

[4] Margaret Atwood’s Survival, a Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature (1972) applies to both cultures.

Best regards to everyone. 💕
I apologize for the delay. I was very tired.

Dr. Afua Cooper

Afua Cooper (The Canadian Encyclopedia)

© Micheline Walker
Micheline Bourbeau-Walker, PhD
22 June 2020
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Freemasonry & Abolitionism

31 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Black history, Mulatto

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Battle of Vertières, Code Noir, Freemasonry, French enlightenment, Haitian Revolution, Joseph Boulogne, The Black Legion, The French Revolution, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Toussaint Louverture

“Engraving depicting the exterior of Exeter Hall, reproduced on a 1905 postcard.”      (Caption and photo credit: Wikipedia)

 “Engraving depicting the exterior of Exeter Hall, reproduced on a 1905 postcard.” (Caption and photo credit: Wikipedia)[i]

The 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention, was held in Exeter Hall, a Masonic Hall. In fact, Exeter Hall is a synonym for the Anti-Slavery Society.

Quakers played an important role in the abolition of slavery. One of their leaders was French-born American Anthony Benezet (Antoine Bénézet). However, the Age of Enlightenment saw a rebirth of Freemasonry whose members took very seriously what would become the motto of France: liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, brotherhood [fraternity]).

Prince Hall (Prince Hall Masonry)

Prince Hall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However, African-Americans could not join Masonry, except that Prince Hall (1735 – 1807) was allowed to establish Prince Hall Masonry during the eighteenth century. Yet, Freemasonry played an important role in the abolition of slavery, but it should be noted that although Freemasonry flourished during the Age of Enlightenment (the 17th and 18th centuries), Masonic Lodges did not and do not always consider other Lodges as “regular.” For instance, one condition of membership is a belief in a supreme being and scripture.  Given this condition, current French Masonic lodges are not considered legitimate.[ii] (See Freemasonry, Wikipedia)  

 

   

Eighteenth-Century Masonry

Ignatius Sancho

Ignatius Sancho

However, as mentioned above, eighteenth-century Masonry shared the ideals of abolitionism. For instance, John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu KG, KB, PC (1690 – 5 July 1749, made sure Ignatius Sancho was educated, and the Montagu family always protected Sancho. John Montagu was a Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. Montagu family always protected Sancho. John Montagu was a Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. Moreover, Blacks and mulattoes[iii] have been active abolitionists and Freemasons, including Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint-George, the “Black Mozart,” Europe’s finest swordsman, not to mention an accomplished equestrian.

The struggle to abolish slavery is linked with the Enlightenment which subjugated tradition to the rule of reason and promoted tolerance. Yet, a large number of French slave owners were cruel.

Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint-George

Famed mulatto Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint George, (spelled Saint-Georges by Tom Reiss and Gabriel Banat*) the “Black Mozart,” was a Freemason.  He was a friend of George IV, a future king of England and a Freemason.

* author of The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow

La Loge Olympique

Moreover, Saint-George (c. 1745 – 1799) was the conductor of the largest orchestra of his era, the Loge Olympique, founded by French Freemasons and, among French Freemasons, Joseph Boulogne, the “Black Mozart” himself.

In fact, Joseph Boulogne, was “the first person of African descent to join a Masonic Lodge in France. He was initiated in Paris to ‘Les 9 Sœurs,’ [The 9 Sisters] a Lodge belonging to the Grand Orient of France.” (See The Chevalier de Saint-George, Wikipedia.) He premiered, as conductor, Joseph Haydn’s “Paris Symphonies” at the Loge Olympique. Coincidentally, Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was also a Freemason, as was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Moreover, in 1791, Joseph Boulogne (c. 1745 – 1799) was appointed colonel of the the “Black Legion,” or Légion franche des Américains et du Midi. The “Black Legion,” or Saint-George Legion, was comprised mainly of men of color with 800 infantry and 200 cavalry personnel. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, who was trained as a fencer by Joseph Boulogne at La Boëssière‘s Academy, would be Joseph Boulogne’s second-in-command.  For more information, please click on Joseph Boulogne.

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas[iii]

As for Thomas-Alexandre, Alexandre Dumas père‘s father, nicknamed “le diable noir” (the “Black Devil”), he joined the Queen’s Dragoons as a mere private and under the name (nom de guerre) Alexandre Dumas in 1786. I believe he was a Freemason but cannot confirm that he was.

In 1775, Antoine sold the four children born to him and Marie-Cessette Dumas to pay for his return trip to France. The children were probably sold à réméré, or “conditionally, with the right of redemption” (Reiss’ wording, p. 55), but Thomas-Alexandre is the only one of the four children Antoine redeemed. According to Alexandre Dumas, père, the author of The Count of Monte-Cristo and The Three Musketeers, his grandmother, Marie-Cessette, died of dysentery in 1772. (See Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Wikipedia.)

Haitian Revolution (Photo credit:  Wikipedia)

Haitian Revolution, Battle of Vertières (18 November 1803)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Toussaint Louverture  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Toussaint Louverture
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint Louverture, nicknamed the “Black Napoleon,” was the leader of the Haitian Revolution (1791 -1804). According to Wikipedia, Toussaint Bréda was a Freemason. (See Toussaint Louverture, Wikipedia.)

Toussaint Bréda, probably born on All Saint’s Day, la Toussaint, had been a free man of color since 1776 or 1777 and he owned property in Saint-Domingue. Initially, Toussaint was an ally of the Spaniards in Santo Dominguo, but he changed allegiance when France abolished slavery under Robespierre on 4 February 1794. Toussaint Bréda, who became Toussaint Louverture or L’Ouverture (the opening), during the Haitian Revolution, was of African descent. He was not a mulatto. He spoke French and French créole, but did not acquire a good knowledge of written French.

By 1801, Haiti was unofficially free. However, Napoleon sent his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc to the island. Toussaint was betrayed, arrested and deported to France, where he was imprisoned, at Fort-de-Joux, and died in 1803.  

Before leaving Saint-Domingue, Toussaint said, prophetically:

“In overthrowing me you have cut down in Saint Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again from the roots, for they are many and they are deep.” (See Toussaint Louverture, Wikipedia.)

On 18 November 1803, during the “second” Haitian Revolution, Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated General de Rochambeau at the Battle of Vertières. Napoleon’s army had been weakened. It had lost two-thirds of its men to yellow fever. Haiti was proclaimed the Republic of Haiti on 1 January 1804. Dessalines named himself Emperor. The Haitian Revolution has been associated with the French Revolution. Authority was being questioned, which entailed enslavement.

Free Women of Color with their Children and Servants, oil painting by Agostino Brunias, Dominica, c.1764-1796

Free Women of Color with their Children and Servants, oil painting by Agostino Brunias, Dominica, c. 1764-1796 (Photo and caption credit: Wikipedia)

The Enlightenment: liberté, égalité, fraternité

The objectives of Freemasonry were in fact the objectives of the Enlightenment.  As I mentioned above, they are summed up by the French motto: liberté, égalité, fraternité. Tom Reiss writes that

French Enlightenment philosophers liked to use slavery as a symbol of human, and particularly political oppression. ‘Man is born free but is everywhere in chains,’ wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the The Social Contract in 1762. (p. 60)

But to be more precise, eighteenth-century Freemasonry recognized an aristocracy of the mind rather than an accidental aristocracy, i.e. a mere accident of birth. However, aristocrats and American Presidents, beginning with George Washington, wasted no time in applying for membership in an aristocracy above aristocracy. They joined composers such as Joseph Haydn and the “White Mozart,” the composer of the all-but-Masonic Zauberflöte (K. 620) (The Magic Flute). (See The Magic Flute, Wikipedia) 

In other words, eighteenth-century Freemasonry sought equality for both the “White Mozart,” who could never have married an aristocrat, and the “Black Mozart,” who could never have married a white woman. Freemasonry played an important role in the abolition of Slavery, but so did other elements and other groups, such as France’s Société des amis des Noirs (the Society of the Friends of the Blacks), the salons, cafés, etc.

However, I would agree with Mozart biographer Maynard Solomon (born January 5, 1930) who writes that “Mozart’s position within the Masonic movement … lay with the rationalist, Enlightenment-inspired membership, as opposed to those members oriented toward mysticism and the occult.” (See Mozart, Early Life, Wikipedia.)

781PX-~1

French Colonialism: The Code Noir

However, despite a number of massacres, French colonialism was less harsh on slaves than colonialism in other parts of the world. The Code Noir, promulgated in 1685 by Louis XIV, prohibited the abuse of slaves. In 1691, records of an incident read as follows:

“‘The King has been informed that two negroes from Martinique crossed on the ship the Oiseau,’ reads the laconic record of the incident in the Royal Naval Ministry. ‘[His Majesty] has not judged it apropos to return them to the isles, their liberty being acquired by the laws of the kingdom concerning slaves, as soon as they touch the Soil.’ The slaves were free.” (Reiss, pp. 61-62)

Would that Louis had acted as magnanimously with respect to the Huguenots, French Calvinist protestants. He didn’t. The Edict of Nantes, an edict of tolerance issued on 13 April 1598, was revoked in 1685. They were brutally persecuted.

—ooo—

In short, I can’t help thinking that the lumières themselves (Voltaire, Diderot, both of whom were Freemasons, and other major figures associated with the French Enlightenment) shuddered in their grave when the guillotine severed the head of Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and scientist Antoine Lavoisier. The French Revolution went way too far.

Carmontelle's watercolour (1763) of Leopold Mozart with Wolfgang Amadeus and Maria Anna is among his best-known works.

Carmontelle‘s watercolour (1763) of Leopold Mozart with Wolfgang Amadeus and Maria Anna. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Dumas Dynasty repeated

  1. Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie (20 June 1714, at Belleville-en-Caux – 15 June 1786, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye) (arrived in France, aboard the Trésorier, the first week of December 1775); (Reiss, p. 52)
  2. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (25 March 1762, at Jérémie, Saint-Domingue, current Haiti – 26 February 1806, at Villers-Cotterêts [Aisne]), born to a black slave Marie-Cessette Dumas (arrived in France on August 30, 1776); (Reiss, p. 55)
  3. Alexandre Dumas, père (24 July 1802 at Villers-Cotterêts – 5 December 1870, at Puy, near Dieppe), the legitimate son of Marie-Louise Labouret;
  4. Alexandre Dumas, fils (Paris 27 July 1824 – 27 Novem­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ber 1895), the illegitimate son of Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay, a dressmaker.
Sources:
 
Le Code Noir pdf (accessed under Le Code Noir entries)
The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow, 
by Gabriel Banat (2006)
Joseph Boulogne 
 

RELATED ARTICLES

  • The Dumas Dynasty: Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (michelinewalker.com)
  • Créoles, Cajuns & Uncle Remus (michelinewalker.com)
  • Ignatius Sancho & Laurence Sterne: a Letter (michelinewalker.com)
  • The Abolition of Slavery (michelinewalker.com)

 ____________________

[i] The 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention was held in Exeter Hall, a Masonic Hall. In fact, Exeter Hall is a synonym for the Anti-Slavery Society.

[ii] At the moment, the Grand Orient de France is not considered as “regular” because its members have ceased to recognize a “supreme being.” (See Frédéric Desmons, Wikipedia.)

[iii] Tom Reiss, The Black Count: glory, revolution, betrayal, and the real Count of Monte Cristo (New York: Crown Publishers, 2012).

The “White Mozart” (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791)
The Magic Flute (Queen of Night Aria)
Diana Damrau as Queen of Night
Dorothea Röschmann as Pamina
Royal Opera House
Colin Davis, conductor  
Toussaint L'Ouverture
Toussaint L’Ouverture (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
© Micheline Walker
30 January 2014
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