A Lost Paragraph

01 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Canadian History, First Nations, Nouvelle-France, War

Tags

Capitulation of Montréal, François de Lévy, Jeffery Amherst, Missing Paragraph, sharing, Siege of Louisbourg

**Le Chevalier de Lévis** (Photo credit: Google)

—ooo—

Dear readers, I apologize for attempting to update my last post. In fact, an apology is no longer essentiel because the few lines I wrote have disappeared.

I had modified the paragraph that precedes the conclusion. I wrote that, ironically, Cameron of Lochiel’s decision to a refuse a promotion that would not allow him to help the d’Habervilles reinforced James Murray’s conviction that their “sovereign” could not do without the services of so loyal and grateful an officer. Cameron of Lochiel richly deserved a promotion. He is the hero in Aubert de Gaspé‘s Anciens Canadiens.

—ooo—

I also wrote that I would be closing my post in the not-too-distant future. My memory plays tricks on me. I will resume my career as an artist. I do watercolours, sanguine, drawings… Once in a while, I will dip the brush in my coffee instead of the water, but it does not affect the coffee. I really do not know what will happen to me. Nor do doctors. I can still function but I make spelling errors, repeat myself, etc.

Fortunately, scientists have now determined that Covid-19 attacks the brain and they have started to map out the harm inflicted by Covid-19. Forty-five years ago, no one knew. For 15 years, I did not dare tell anyone that I could not attend meetings that took place in the evening, or go out, whatever the event. In 1991, a Spect scan revealed a seriously slow rate of perfusion of blood to the brain and extensive damage. I was not expected to do anything anymore.

I tried to return to work. However, a new Chair, who wanted to avenge the dismissal of a colleague, would not look upon me as a full-time member of the Department. For four years, I taught on a part-time basis. I re-entered the classroom after he resigned. However, once I resumed my duties, my workload kept growing. I was teaching in several areas of learning. I fell ill and made decisions that I regret.

James Murray was a good man and Cameron of Lochiel, the bon Anglais. It seems that the only person who would harm the citizens of New France and the Amerindians who lived among them was Jeffery Amherst.

I will quote Wikipedia:

Amherst’s legacy is controversial due to his expressed desire to exterminate the race of indigenous people during Pontiac’s War, and his advocacy of biological warfare in the form of gifting blankets infected with smallpox as a weapon,notably at the Siege of Fort Pitt. This has led to a reconsideration of his legacy. In 2019, the City of Montreal removed his name from a street in the city, renaming it Rue Atateken, from the Kanien’kéha Mohawk language. The town of Amherst, Nova Scotia is controversially named for him, as is the town of Amherstburg, Ontario.
(See Amherst, Wikipedia)

It seems there is a rotten apple in every basket.

RELATED ARTICLES

An Update: the French and Indian War (26 July 2021)
Last Words on the Battle of Jumonville (25 July 2021)
The Battle of Jumonville Glen 24 July 2021)
The Good Gentleman (9 July 2021)
The Order of Good Cheer (19 June 2021)
La Débâcle/The Debacle (13 June 2021)
Jules d’Haberville & Cameron of Lochiel (12 June 2021)
Les Anciens Canadiens/Cameron of Lochiel (9 June 2021)

Nouvelle-France’s Last and Lost Battle: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham (24 March 2012)
The Battle of Fort William Henry & Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans (26 March 2012)
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran (25 March 2012)

Sources and Resources

Wikipedia, The Canadian Encyclopedia, & Britannica
Les Anciens Canadiens (ebooksgratuits.com). FR
Cameron of Lochiel (Archive.org ), Sir Charles G. D. Roberts, translator. EN
Cameron of Lochiel is Gutenberg [EBook#53154], Sir Charles G. D. Roberts, translator. EN

Scots in Canada

26 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in fur-trade, Lower Canada, Scotland, Scots, Scots in Canada, Sharing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Beaver Club, fur-trade, Hudson's Bay Company, Montreal, North West Company, sharing

*Ravenscrag*, built for Sir Hugh Allan in 1863, the Golden Square Mile (Wikipedia)

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I have continued to research Scots in Canada. They were fur traders and became were wealthy. When beavers nearly disappeared, they became explorers. As fur traders, they founded the North West Company (1779) which competed with the Hudson’s Bay Company (established in 1670). They lived in the Montreal’s Golden Square Mile (mille carré doré) and socialized at the Beaver Club, a gentleman’s dining club, founded in 1785. Later, they moved to Westmount, Montreal. A few senior members married French-Canadian women. The French who had remained in the fur trade after the Conquest were senior members at the Beaver Club. New France had its bourgeoisie and bourgeois remained. Some were Seigneurs. Affluent French-speaking Canadian may have lived in Outremont, a lovely area of Montreal. Until recently, bourgeois French Canadians did not live in Westmount. They lived in lovely homes located in Outremont. I visited relatives in that arrondissement. Their homes were lovely, but their dining-room could not accommodate a hundred guests.

Charles Chaboillez was a wealthy fur trader, but he lost his money. His daughter married James McGill who, in his will, paid his father-in-law’s debts and provided him with an annuity.

Montreal is a gem, but the money was in the hands of Anglophones, as Mr Neilson told Alexis de Tocqueville and as Tocqueville himself knew.

The Château Clique is associated with some members of the North West Company, but seigneurs and French bourgeois also belonged to the Château Clique. Fur trading had its classes, and the wealthy are its upper class. The French had been voyageurs and Amerindians were their guides. However, one could be wealthy in New France and Canada without exploiting others. I would not make that generalization.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Auld Alliance and Scots Guard: Scots in Canada (20 May 2021)
Alexis de Tocqueville and John Neilson: a Conversation, 27 August 1831
(13 May 2021)
Alexis de Tocqueville on Lower Canada (17 Janvier 2018)
Canadiana.1 (page)

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Love to everyone 💕

Les Indes galantes de Jean-Philippe Rameau, sous la direction de William Christie

Charles Chaboillez, a French Fur Trader (Wikipedia)

Absence

14 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in absence, Pandemic

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

absence, Poor memory, sharing, technical difficulty

I apologize for a delay in posting. There have been many events. The worst, however, is difficulty logging in to Windows/Microsoft. I supply a password. It works, but suddenly it no longer works. I do not think the password is the problem but something else. I am also facing criminality on the Internet.

As for my posts, the next one is a song in which the Vent du Nord ensemble express an opinion on Confederation. At this point, statues of the main father of Confederation have been removed. A building or buildings named after him have been renamed.

I have been updating posts on La Fontaine. La Fontaine’s Official Site is no longer the same, so the link to the text of the fables must be changed. These posts are listed on a page and, to my knowledge, all have been updated. In the days of Covid-19, informative posts may benefit students.

Where the Pandemic is concerned, the rapid emergence of variants combined with civil disobedience are undermining the vaccination campaign. The number of victims has risen. It seems that Easter has been as deadly as Christmas and refusal to wear a mask or to be vaccinated are deadlier still. It would be my opinion that governments respond to protest by loosening sanitary measures prematurely.

My memory is playing tricks on me. It’s a neurological issue caused by the virus H1N1, which I caught in February 1976. Beware of “slow Covid.”

Given the passing of Prince Philip, I am playing my “royal” music, the second movement of Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony. It has long been a favourite.

Love to everyone 💕

Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, 2^ndMovement, Israël Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta

**The Hunt** by François de Troy (Courtesy Britannica)

A Strange Experience …

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Illuminated Manuscripts, Sharing, the Bible

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Four Bibles, ME, Sappho, sharing

A 1st-century fresco painting from Pompeii, Italy, depicting the poet Sappho holding a stylus. Photograph: Mimmo Jodice/Corbis (The Guardian)

Most of yesterday’s post was written online. It was quite the adventure. It was published before I had finished writing it. I had a copy in Word, but it was not complete. Moreover, I am not the only person writing my posts. Parts of my posts can be and have been removed by someone else.

Yesterday’s post lacks a formal conclusion, but it is fine as it is. Missing from the post is the name of a Danish scholar and a link to his publication: a booklet.

This morning I added links. One needs a link to Blanche de Castile and Louis IX.

We know that four Bibles moralisées were realized in France in the 13^th century and that they constitute paradox literature. You may have noticed the feet of our depiction of Gods. They are nicely depicted if the side of a foot is drawn, but not if the front of the feet is depicted. Dimensionality had not been fully explored when our Bibles were illuminated and it remains somewhat problematical.

On a more personal but interesting note, I would like to tell you that I have recovered from myalgic encephalomyelitis after 44 difficult years. The problem started when I caught a virus in 1976, but ME was not diagnosed until 1991, after I underwent a SPECT scan at Mount Sinaï hospital in Toronto. I was told that my brain was damaged and that I could no longer lead a normal life. I chose to remain intellectually active as a university teacher.

ME disappeared quietly during the last eighteen months to two years. I cannot tell how it went away, but I can tell when my life started to change. It did after a strange three-month flu and voice extinction that triggered advanced emphysema. I had never smoked, not even one cigarette, and I am feeling quite well.

I apologize for rebuilding my post online. It took a long time because older versions would eliminate changes. Life can be strange.

Loreena McKennit sings Greensleeves by Henri VIII

*Sappho* (1877) by Charles Mengin (1853–1933). One tradition claims that Sappho committed suicide by jumping off the Leucadian cliff. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chronicling Covid-19, 2021

07 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in 19th-Century France, Art, Covid-19, Sharing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Édouard Manet, Covid-19, Donald Trump, sharing

**Un bar aux Folies Bergère** d’Édouard Manet (Courtaud Institute) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This painting by Edouard Manet is so intriguing. Where is the gentleman looking at the young woman?

However, this picture fits my topic. This post was written yesterday and it is about Covid-19. It’s incredible, but Covid remains a major threat. Yesterday, there were 2,641 new cases in the province of Quebec, revealing that some people celebrated Christmas and the New Year. One couldn’t. However, there was no demonstration against sanitary measures. Somehow, that is not the sort of thing Canadians do.

I pity the people of Washington, DC. There was a huge pro-Trump rally, which means that a thousand or thousands of people were infected. I believe they wanted life to be normal, which has been Mr. Trump’s attitude. Life is not normal and the pandemic will not end if strong measures are not taken. We must accept that there is a pandemic and stay safe. What choice do we have? I’m glad I live in Canada.

Despite the new lockdown, efforts are being made to keep street people safe. As I told you, I didn’t vote for Monsieur Legault, but I admire the way he is dealing with the pandemic. However, after ten months, Quebec still sits at the top of the list of Canadian victims, followed closely by Ontario. Many are working from home, and many are considering instituting a universal basic income. As for retired persons, it seems that pension funds are not decreasing. I keep thinking that poverty is at my door, but that is not the case.

Love to everyone and a very Happy New Year. 💕

**Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe** d’Édouard Manet (Wikipedia)

Amaryllis

02 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Sharing

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Amaryllis, Covid-19, sharing, Stay safe

I read yesterday that many of the people who travelled and congregated to celebrate Thanksgiving have been infected with the novel coronavirus. I can understand their wish to escape isolation, but Covid-19 is highly contagious and it may be fatal. Did these people have a right to travel and congregate? Staying at home is not easy. I had a moment of sadness so intense that a young man at the bank called the police.

When I spoke to the two officers, I said the truth. I have been in this apartment since early March, my lovely cat died, and I was not fully settled. Boxes of books must be carried out of this apartment, which I believe could present a danger. I may therefore put them in the hallway the day they leave. The boxes are small and have handles.

Moreover, there are a few compensations that one can arrange. On 4 December, I will share a gourmet meal with a neighbour. The meal will be delivered to her in the lobby of the building. She will then separate it and leave my portion at my door. I will pick it up after she has returned to her apartment, two doors down. We will both enjoy the meal. We will not sit together, but is sitting together necessary?

As for Christmas, it is cancelled. Paulina will be at home and so will John. No one will come to my door. But I will remember the Christmases of my childhood and may re-read The Wind in the Willows. People are rediscovering books.

Today I will order a poinsettia and amaryllis. Last year’s amaryllis is growing again, but it may not flower. These flowers will make the apartment look cheerful.

My freedom ends where yours begins…

I have a little rule and will share it again. My freedom ends where yours begins. There have been demonstrations by people who wish to work and live “normally.” We cannot live “normally.” It is too dangerous. The premier, François Legault, was spotted buying a pile of books, wearing a thick mask.

One is tempted to socialize, but gatherings must be at a distance or postponed. There are four vaccines. Canada has developed its own. In due course, we will all be vaccinated, but our current conditions preclude get-togethers. I was crying when the young man from the bank started to talk to me. His orders were to call the police. He did what he had to do and what he did turned me around. There are very good and kind policemen in Sherbrooke, Quebec. When they left, I was fine. I needed a “break.” As for the remedy, another cat, it made sense. I am still meditating, but I’ve heard of a cat named George who was homeless.

I’m returning to Molière, but re-read Denis Diderot‘s Paradoxe sur le comédien. It is a Wikisource book and short.

Love to everyone 💕