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TARDIVEL. ■="^cr::<^25^=^' s • QUEBEC "LE CANADIEN " STEAM PRINTING OFFICE, No3. 38 and 40, Ste-Famille Street. 1878 li : i {' * ■,'"-'-, ' ' . , A . . ... ,;. _____';__ , . _ ^ „ _ ,. _ ^3 .t A WORD OF EXPLANATION. r The following pages were first intended for publication in one of the English journals of this Canada of ours. I was under the impression, erroneous it appears, that public prints were invented for the discussion of questions of public interest, and I had fondly hoped that my remarks on Mr. Lemoine's latest work would not be passed over entirely unheeded by the literati. The editor to whom my manuscript was submitted by a mutual friend, through whose influence I sought to gain access to the out-side world, took a widely different view of the question. He did not pronounce my writing trash and consign it to the waste basket, as he might have done ; for this favor I am truly thankful. If I am rightly informed, he did not give himself the trouble of reading it ; he merely glanced over the first few lines and his ea.i^le eye liaving at once discovered that what I had penned was something else than a hackneyed puff, he let my audacious composition drop in holy horror. *' Oh ! quoth he, it would never do to publish this ; why it might hurt Lemoine!" Against this argument ad Iwminem my friend could say nothing, being convinced that to the editor's mind " hurting Lemoine " would be the nee plus ultra of human perversity. If Mr. Editor choose to place Mr. Lemoine above the rest of mankind, if to him it seem preferable that the reading public be led astray by false representations rather than that a single feather of this author's literary plumage be ruffled, then of course we have only to bow our heads in humble submission, for there is no law on earth that proscribes fogyism. A man, even if he is the editor of a newspaper, has a perfect right to be stupid if he sees fit/ wmmm — 4 — But perhaps after all Mr. lulitor is more to be pitied tlian blamed. He may be one of the many unhappy victims who have fallen a prey to the wiles of Mr. J. M. Lemoine, a man v/ise, not to say canny in his generation and one who knoweth how to make unto himself friends, especially amongst editors of newspapers and reviewers of books. He has a peculiar, winning way of bringing the Press over to his side. His receipt works like a charm, or rather like a railway subsidy on a refractory "member," This, however, is digression. Seeing that the "air line" to publicity was closed against me, I determined to resort to the next shortest route, the pamphlet. For I was firmly resolved to " say my say " on the Chronicles of the St. Lawrence, little recking whether my criticism would " hurt Lemoine " or not. J. P. TARDIVEL. C^uebec, November, 1878. .1 J .i :- ^S; t ^ ■ ,1 1 1 «" ? f " ( I ♦ART 1. 1 ■ ' • :>.'■*" I- Mr. Lemoink in borrowed feathers. ,«• '' i , . , ; lln paon muait ; un geai prit son plumage ; I'uis ajircs se raccommotla ; Puis parmi d'autres paoiis tout her se panada, Croyant ctre nil l)cau personage. j ' I II est assez degeais ideux pieds connne Iiii, Qui se parent souvent dcs dqxniilies d'autrui, j, Et que Ton appelle plagiaires. (La Fontaink). In a footnote, page 2 i i of the Chronicles of the St. Lawrence, Mr. Lemoine conrplains somewhat bitterly of a certain writer, one Chapin by name, who " piUaged and robbed " Legendary Lore of the St. Laivrenee. He con- cludes thus : . " Five of my sketches of Canadian History, some of which have cost me much research, are thus unceremo- niously abstracted and perverted, transformed in what he calls " tinted fact " without any acknowledgment what- ever of the source whence the materi.xls were drawn. I was in the act of drafting an energetic protest against this literary pirate, when I heard of his death." The foregoing w^ould lead us to suppose that Mr. Lemoine is a sworn foe to literary pirates and piracy. It is unfortunate, in the interests of Canadian literature, that the unscnipulous purloiner of /.(!'^'-t7/^/rt;7 Lore should have come to so untimely an end ; had he lived, we would now be in possession of Mr. Lcmoine's " energetic protest," a document which would have struck terror into the souls of plagiarists for all time to come. Procrastination is always dangerous. Perhaps Mr. Lemoine hesitated a moment ere he resolved to hurl — 6 — his death dealing thunderbolt at the head of the ill-stared Chapin, thus allowing the wretched man to escape over the dark river, and depriving the world of a priceless treatise on plagiarism. What was Chapin's gain is our loss. Life is uncertain. And though I sincerly trust that Mr. Lemoine has still before him a long and glorious career, yet no man knoweth at what hour the dread shadow may beckon him away. It behooves me therefore to lose no time in showing to the public how conscientiously Mr. Lemoine, the denunciator of literary piracy, observes the Golden Rule : " Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you." Not being pensonnally interested in the matter, I should have been willing to leave Mr. Lemoine alone in his glory and his plagiarisms until doom's day. had not my eye fallen on certain so called critici.sn)s of this gentleman's latest work : The Chronicles of the St. Laivrence. Not long since the Mercury, the Montreal Gazette and the Rose- Belford Canaaian Monthly pubHshed, anent this book, articles of considerable length and filled to overflowing with the most extravagant eulogies of Mr. Lemoine and his writings. Puff, I am aware, is a necessary evil in these our degenerate times, but there is a limit to human endurance, and the fulsome, almost nauseating praise bestowed on the Chronicles of tlie St. Lawrence excited my curiosity and determined me to glance through this wonderful volume. I found therein much to commend. The work is nicely got up and speaks well for the printer and the binder ; it moreover contains a fair amount of useful and interesting information borrowed from com-, petent writers on the regions of the Lower St. Lawrence. But I also discovered defects so glaring that none but th- blindest of critics could have failed to perceive them. It is even whispered about that Mr. Lemoine is himself the author of the above mcntionerl articles. But those who arc best acquainted wifh Mr. I.emoine and know how great is his modesty, will turn a deaf ear to this idle and malicious rumour set afloat by some unscrui)ulous gossip. Whatever be the source of the articles alluded to, they are woefully one sided and unjust. Mr. Lemoine's good points which, like angels' visits, are few and far be- tween, arc viewed through a very strong lens, whilst no mention is made of the many imperfections that mar this as well as the other writings of the same author. This rapturous and biased praise has no more the right to be called criticism than have the flaring yellow hand bills which adorn the walls of the city and herald the coming of a circus or a troop of dusky minstrels. It is but fair that the public, who pay their money, should have the privilege of taking their choice ; and how can they choose if they are continually misled by reviewers of new books who indiscriminately laud to the skies every work that comes under their notice ? The Gasetie, the Mercury and the Canadian Monthly having more than exhausted all that is to be said in favor of the Chronicles, I deem it meet that the public should be shown the other side of the medal, as the French say. And as no one seems inclined to perform this rather delicate operation, I, v/ho am accustomed to the frowns and sullen looks of irate authors, take upon myself the ungrateful task. " Mr. Lemoine's books, says the Rose-Bclford Canadian Monthly, appear with startling rapidity, and we no .sooner digest one portly volume than a new one comes quickly on the scene. " The "startling rapidity" will be accounted for further on, but allow me to remark at once that in my humble opinion it would be far more becoming in Mr. Lemoine to digest his " portly volumes" himself, instead of leaving that onerous duty to be performed by the unlucky reader. By so doing, what his books might lose in " starth'ng rapidity " they would certainly gain in solid wprth. In the first place I beg leave to ofifer my explanation of the " startling rapidity" with which books bearing Mr. l.emoine's name appear. T say books bearing Mr. Lemoine's name, and not Mr. Lemoine's books, and I say so advisedly. *?? Mr. Lemoi-^e's latest work, of which such great things have been .sa!d, is, for a very considerable part, copied from other writmgs. Whole chapters are transferred bodily from the works of divers Catiadian and American authors to the Chnmides. Like the bird of the fable, this gentle- man has been heretofore decking himself in borrowed feathers, and it is 'iigh time that a little judicious pluck- ing should bo doiie. , . ', ■ ■, T have taken the pains, with the help of some friends, to carefully analyse The Chrotiiclcs, page by page, in order to ascertain, as far as possible, how much of this work be- longs to Mr. Lemoine and how much of it is stolen or borrowed property. Here 's the result of our investigations. How THE " Chronicles ok the Saint Lawrence " >ih '\,- •■■ r.H ;' were written (?) ■ ■' ' ' The ''true inwardness'' of the book. A REAL " TABLE OF CONTICNTS." Page 15 — ?- page. — Settlement of New Ct-rlislo taken from I'ye's " Cana- dian Scenery" .Acknowletigment. Page 20 — 1 page — ■ Anecdote from an "old Chronicle" Acknowledgment. Page 22 — \ page. — Port Daniel,- Pye, 5 lines credited the remainder.... Without ackuowledguieut. — 9 — Page 26 to 30—4 pages.— Loss of tlie Col- borne, by Squii-8 Acteson Acknowledgment. j*^ Page 31 to 32—1 page— Description of Pabos, taken from Pye, quotation marks but No acknowledgment. Page 33— i page— flrand Rivor, Abbe - r.-»*;r Ferland Acknowledgment. Page 33- ii paf:«^— Grand River, no quota- ^- ' tion marks Acknowledgment. Page 34—"^ page.— Cape Cove, *c., Pye.. Acknowledgment. Page 35 to 36—^ page.— Anecdote, Bur- lington iVee i>es.9 Acknowledgment. Page 36 to 37— i page.— Cap d'KBpoir, , ., , Pye Acknowledgment. Page 39 to 40—1 page.— Perce, Abbe Ker- , ,v land Acknowledgment. Page 41 — 5 page.— Perce, Abbe Ferland . Acknowledgment. Page 44 to 45—1 page.— IVico, Pye, «|UO- tation marks but No acknowledgment. Page 45 to 47— 1^ page. -Pye Acknowledgment. ' l Page 49 to 51—3 pages.— Pye Acknowledgment. Page 56 to 70— 15 fages.—" Shipwreck of ; , • y. „ , , • ^ bir Hovenden Walker's Squa- t ,,,,>,, , dron," translate*! Irom Mr. Fau- .•/:•»•..« ^- • cher's De tribord a babord, with very Little aeknowledgment. Taffi 71 to 72—4 page. — Magdalen Islands, Pye No acknowledgment. . Page 72— i page.— Note, Drake Acknowledgment. Page 73 to 74— ^ page.— Bird Isles, JHeriot i ..,,,,4.., and Father Paul Lojeune Acknowledgment. ' Page 74 to 70— 2^ p.iges.— Bird Rocks, ,,^,, j Dr. H.Byract Acknowledgment. Page 77 to 83 — 6 4 pages. — Magdalen ,-* Islands, from commander For- v,„j; « tin's report for 1864, with notes ; ■• from American papers Acknowledgment. ; Page 84—^ page.— Allright Island, Pye. No acknowledgment. Page 85 to 87—3 pa^^es.— New Rich- mond, Maria, Asc, fioui notes by ,,.^...,1 " an official of Port Daniel" Acknowledgment. Page 88-^ page.— Anticosti, Warburton.Alanc page. , ^ ,.. Page I'Jl to 192 — j page. — Point Levis. Claude Pane t and Tliousi'rfoii....Acl\no\vlodgaient. Page 193. — A sentence concerning the >j , i .? ;, • Islanil of Orleans, in quotation marks but., No acknowledgment. '■•"''- Page 194 to 195—4 page.— Island of ' ^ Orleans, Jacques Cartier Acknowledgment. Page 194 to 198 — 4-i pages.— island of :, Orleans, " condensed, " says Mr. ^^ ~^ ^ ,, / ,-, j, Lemoine, from Turcotte's " His- • " ''■^*" toire de I'lle d'Orleans " Acknowledgment. ^ Page202—^ page.— Note from Collections . ■ . < : iifsH of fitate Historical Society of .lassirt Wisconsin Acknowledgment. , Page 304 — ^ page. — Loss of the Elephant, -^ Hocquart Acknowledgment. Page 207 to 211 — 5 pages.— Goose Island, ,^ pvri taken from one of Mr. Lemoine' s ,. ^ former works, Legend ary Lore, with notes from divers authors.. Acknowledgment. Page 513 — 3 page. — liiviere Uuelle, New ■ *S:ti York Mercury, itc ,\cknowledirment,. Page 214 to 21C — 1^ page. — Paikmiui's ; ^ ' old Regime in Cauoda Acknovvledgment^i; Page 216 to 217. — 13 page. — Canadian Cottage, Abbt- Casgrain Poor acknowledgment. Page 219 — 3 page. — Kamouraska, Judge Routhier Acknowledgment. Page 219 to 22rt — 7 pages. — Mirage, Dr. Kelly .Acknowledgment. Page 228 to 229— U page.— Tailousac, J. C. Tache, .ind iVew Yotk Tmes. Acknowledgment. ''^■*'' Page 230 to 231—^ page.— Lake St. John, Sweetser Acknowledgment.^ Page 231 — ^ page. — Saguenay, ui kuovvn author No ackaow'edgment. Pago 231 to 232— 1 page. — Saguenay, Bayard Taylor Acknowledgment Page 232 to 233— J page. — Saguenay, 'm^. White Acknowledgment. Page 233 to 234 — \ page. — Saguenay, Lon- ^T don Times Acknowle«]graent. Page 234 to 235--1 page --Malbaie, tran- slated from Mr. Lonioine's fr?nch work "I'Album du Touriste," of course there is No acknowledgment. — 12 Page 238 to 240—1 page.— St. Paul's Bay, quotations from ciiverso authors. Acknowledgment. Page 246—^ page. — Isle aux Coudres, Panet Ac^knowledgmeut. Page 24H to 2r)() — 1 ^ pnge. — Chateau IJelle vue, Krs. I'iiikinan Anknowledgment. Page 250 to 251 — ^ p«g«'. — '^t \nni', quo tation marks, no name oi author.No acknowledgment. Page 251 to 252—2 pages. — Ste. Anne, Sweetser, quotation marks at tho beginning of the quotation, but ^ * none at the end ; this can be called a Demi acknowledgment. Page 253 to 254 — IJ page.— St. Anne, Marshall Acknowledgment. Page 255 to 256 — 2 pages. — Blanc. Page 258 — ^ page. — Anecdote, Fabre Acknowledgment. Page 266 to 270—5 pages.— The whole of Chap. Ill of Part II is taken from Pye's Canadian Scenery Acknowledgment. Page 271 to 273—3 pages.- Perce, Pabos, taken from Pye's Canadian Scenery ; quotation marks but.. No acknowledgment. Page 274 to 277 — 4 pages. — Maria Carle- ton, &c. These pages are taken word for word from Pye's Cana- dian Scenery; they are credited .a-f-V by an asterick at the bottom of the last page, but as there are no quotation marks at all, an ordi nary reader, would never imagine that the who'e four pages were transfer reagos.— Anecdote, ;=^ from Mr. Fiiiu^Ii-t's Dc Tribord „ a Babord Acknowledgment. ' * Paga 304 to 305— I page.— Restigoucho, from the Dominion Monthly. . . . Acknowledgment. i : Page 305 to 306—1 page.— Metapedia, jj|j' ivomihQ Quebec Chronicle Acknowledgment. Page 311 to 313—2 pages. — St. Barnaby Island, from the History cf Emily Montague Acknowledgment. . , f Page 313 to 3 14— 1 page. — St. Barnaby m.. Island, from an article published , . ^.^ by N. E. I). Gauvreau, in Lavoix '* du Golfe Acknowledgment, r hr Page 317 to 318—2 pages.— Isle au Mas- sacre, borrowed from Mr. J. C ,.; | Tache, with very Faint acknowledgment. Page 319 — 1 page.- Suinniary of a legend " gather " by Abbe Caagrain Acknowledgment. Page 330—1 page —Code of signals Acknowledgment. Page 331 to 332— I i page.— Incident of siege of 1759, Chevalier John- stone Acknowledgment. Page 333 to 335— 2 i pages.— Frontenac, Parkman Acknowledgment. Page 336 to 340 — 4^ pages.— Battle at Beauport, Garneau and Hawkins. Acknowledgment. Page 341 — 3 page. — Episode of siege of 1775, from the journal of Dr. Senter Acknowledgment. Page 342 to 343—1 page.— Siege of 1775, Judge Henry Acknowledgment. Page 348 to 350—2 pages.— Siege of 1759, Chevalier Johnstone Acknowledgment. Page 352 to 301—9 pages.— Whale story, published in i'orcs< an(/ /SVrcam, January 27, 1870, over the nom de plume of " Stadacona" No acknowledgment. Page 362 — 1 page. — Blanc. — 14 — ■ Page 363 to 364—2 pages.— Appendix, " Extract from my Gaspe jour- nal 8th June 1877, " said extract consisting of a piece of verae written by some one else Acknowledgment. Page 365 to 380 — 16 pages. — Advertise- ments, table of contents, &c. This is a total of 2 1 5 pages of stolen or borrowed pro- perty. It will be readily admitted, I fancy, that in a book containing 380 pages, this is a pretty fair proportion. I do not pretend to say that I have succeeded in un- earthing «//the plagiarisms of which Mr. Lemoine is guilty; to do so would require at least a year of unceasing labor, and, as they say in French, /ej'eu n'cu vant pas la cliatidelle. Several pages that I have not included in the above table of contents, bear, on their very face, proof that they have been appropriated by Mr. Lemoine from the- writings of others. For instance, he speaks of the CanuJa side of the Baie des Chaleurs This was evidently written before Confede- ration. As the case now stands, I opine that there is nothing at all " startling " or at least wonderful in the rapidity with which Mr. Lemoirie's books appear. " The pen, it has been said, is mightier than the sword. " Mr. Lemoine, I think, should paraphrase this old saw in the following manner : " A pair of scissors are more serviceable than a quill." 4!: * The " clippings " of which Mr. Lemoine's book is composed can be divided into three categories. Firstly, we have, on a remarkably extended scale, ordinary quotations duly credited to the authors from whom they — 15 — are borrowed. Against this nothing can be said except that it renders the " rapidity " with which Mr. Lemoine's books are given to the pubUc less .startling than it appeared to the enthusiastic youth of the Canadian Monthly. Secondly, there are sundry sentences, whole pages some- times, enclosed in quotation mark.s, but the name of the author from whom they are ,iken is carefully omitted. To say the least, this is a strange proceeding. The third cate- gory comprises unscrupulous plagiarisms. On this point it is my painful duty to dwell at some length. If -if Persons worthy of credence had often hinted to me that Mr. Lemoine had a " strong weakness " for literary piracy. I always refused to entertain such an idea, but on turning over the pages of the Chronicles I was greatly shocked by what I there discovered. Several < hapters of the Chronicles are to be found, almost word for word, in Mr. Faucher de St. Maurice's latest work : De Tribord a Babord, and the only acknowl- edgment is in the table of contents and in one or two foot notes. The headings of the chapters make no mention of Mr. Faucher's name. An example will better illustrate this novel manner of borrowing. Here is the heading of chapter XIV as it appears on page i i i : — Loss of the FrencJi hrigatc " La Renojnnnfe, " on An^uosii, i ^.tJi Nov. i'/j6. — A Winter of Horrors, Starvation and death. — A Missionary's career. In the table of contents this is how the title of the same chapter reads L.oss of the French Frigate " La Renoninu{\' on Anticosti, iph Nov. 1736. — A Winter of ILorrors, Starvation and Death. A Missionary's career FROM Mr. Faucher's SUMMARY. Let those conversant with the code of literary honour decide whether such an acknowledgment justifies Mr. Lemoine in making a verbatim translation of some of Mr. Faucher's most interesting passages. WJ.J.- ■/ . S - — IG — Nor is this all. Speakinj^ of the wreck of the French frigate La Renomm^e, Mr. Lemoine informs his readers that what he fjives them " is a translation from a narrative written by Father Crespel." By this incorrect sentence, Mr. Lemoine evidently wishes to convey the idea that what he lays before the public is a translation of a narrative written by h'ather Cres])el. The truth is, as 1 have already .stated, that Mr. Lemoine translates the narrative penned by Mr. Faucher, and not the one written by Father Crespel. This can easily be seen by confronting the three versions. Here is an example : 1^ " The Chronicles uf the St. Lawrence," page 112. "Cool and jollected, in tlie midst of danger, captain Kreneuse quietly gave orders to nave tlie long-boat hung to the davits. Twenty persons jumped in ; as the last was entering, one of the blocks gave away. Half of the immates were precipited in the sea — the rest clung to the side of the boat, dangling in mid air. Without moving a muscle, &c. " De Tribord a Baboru," i-age 90 Fnipassible au milieu de tout ce ciiaos, M. de I'leneuse donna I'oidre de hisser la clialoupe sur ses poite- manleaux. \ ingt personnes cnibar- <[uent ; mais au monicnl oil la dcinieie prend place, un des |>alans niantpu-, et la moitie de cette grappe huvnaine est precipitce dans r;ibinie pendant <|ue ceux qui resttnt se ci.unponnent aux plats bord de reuit)ari ation, suspendue en Fair. Pas un muscle n'a bronche sur la figure de iM. de l''re- neuse, etc. This is how Father Crespel relates the same incident. (See Magazin du Bas Canada Vol. 1, page 124) : " Apr^s avoir mis notre canot a la mer, nous suspen- dimes la chaloupe aux palans, afin d'embarquer plus ais^ment tout ce que nous avions, et gagner plus vite le large, pour nous garantir de la mer, qui nous aurait peut- etre pouss^s contre le vaisseau, si nous ne nous (.-n 6tions 61oignes promptement. Nous y entramcs au nombre de 23 per.sonnes, et dans I'instant la boucle du palan de devant manqua ; la chaloupe rcsta suspendue parderriere et de ceux qui etaient dedans plusieurs tomberent dans la mer, d'autres restercnt attaches aux barres, et quelques- uns, par le moyen des cordages cpii pcndaietit le long du naviro remonterent dans le bord. Le capilaino, voyant ce desastre etc. " — 17 — "Chronici.ks ok the St. RENCE." FaGF. 131. Law- Labor and fishing eslablishments had made of Miscou, a spot advanta- geously known ail over New I'Vance. During the open season of summer, a regular packet, the ^hip A n^v Gar J/ai, plied between Miscou and Quebec. The summer months were spent in fishing and trading ; each fail, the fishing erafts returned to France ; in the spring, the catch of the aulumii previous waLi sent from Ki.uue U> Quebec, the population of the city being too scanty to furnish men for this branch of commerce, &c. " De Tribord a Babord." Page 320. Le travail et la p^che avaient fait alors de Miscou un endroit que tout le monde connaissait dans la colonic. Pendant la belle saison un navire, V A n,i,v Gardien, faisait un service rejgu- lier entre cette tie et Quebec. LVte se passait h pecher et k faire la traite ; puis k rautomne ies Equipages regagnaient les c6tes de France, emportant avec eux ces cargaisons de morue qui reve- naient I'annee suivante pour etre man- gees h. Quebec, car disent les relations du temps, " nous n'avons pas encore assez d'hommesen cette ville pourdes- cer Ire k c *te peche," &c. This vej'batim tran.slation runs through several pages and the only thanks Mr. Faucher gets is the following little foot note : " I am indebted to Mr. Faucher's work for several pa*-ticHlars concerning Miscou." Hore is still an other example of Mr. Lemoine's utter |i want of scruple in matters literary : "The Chroniclijs of the St. Lawrence," Page 183. Its (Prince Edward's Island) healthi- ness is unquestionable ; the Asiatic scourge, cholera, has never yet pene- tiated there. The summer heat and winter cold is less than that of Quebec, though, according to Bayfield, the spring would be retarded by the icy breath of the north wind blowing from the Gulf. This scientific naval officer sets forth that the south-west bree<:es which, in June, July and August, veil in murky fog, the Bay of Fundy, change to tepid and delightful emana- tions, in their passage through the strait of Northumberland and over the island and then again turn to dank, penetrating; mist, as they career sea- ward tfiwards Labrador, " De Tribord a Babord." Page 262. * Les conditions meteorlogiques de I'ile sont de ces meilleures. Elle n'a jamais ete visitee par le cholera asia- tique ; ses etes sont moins chauds que ceux de Quebec et ses hivers moins froids. Neanmoins, I'amiral Bayfield assure que le printemps est retarde par les vents du nord qui viennent du Golfe, et ce marin experimente a cons- tate que les vents du sud-ouest, qui, en juin, juiiletet aofit, couvrent d'un epai:* brouillard la bale de Fundy, devien- nent une brise ti^de et delicieuse en passant par le detroit de Northumber- land et sur I'ile, puis reprennent leur haleine hiimide et brumeuse, a mesure quits gagnent le large et courent vers le Labrador. The lines that T have just quoted from the Cltt'oniclcs are a slavish translation of a passage from Mr. Faucher's work, and yet there is absolutely nothing to indicate that they are borrowed. 3 — 18 — Mr. Fau:her's account of the loss of Sir Hovenden Walla.r's s ]ii,idron is also made vise of by Mr. Lemoine in a most imccroinonious manner, and with but very little if any real acknouleilj^inont. Mr. Fauclier's notes, which : must have cost him no little research, are cooly appro- ■' priate.l by the author of the Chronicles. It is difficult to V say which is the meaner, the purloining of another's ■ labor oi the theft of his iJeas. Ht)th are utterly despicable. Let us now behold Mr. Lemoine copying Mr de Belle- feuille's writings with an equal sans ^^cne and even less . acknowlt.'dument. Mr. Lk.moink, i-Adus 157, 141 AND 142. " On the marshy shores of ihe county of (Jloiiccili.-r, in N'ew UranNwiok, fifty miles fi(jm Miiamiclii, twenty live miles soutii of C,'ar,i<|net, there stands, close to a small stream, a villaije bearinjr t!ie name of tlie latter. (What Enfjlish I) Its aspect is sullen, lonely, desolate in the exireme. On one side, the set tiling; wateis of the (Jnlf of .St. Lawrence, rarely enlixened by a sail ; on the other, a low, naked monotonous sea-shore, doUed here and there with a few fishermen's Imts " The first settlement on the Mira- miehi River, in New Brunswick, /i>oi' /.W<y (Af^ain, wh.at Kni^Iish!) the Krench, chiefly Has(|ue, Norman or Breton colonist. Undi;r tlu admi- nistration of Canlinal I'^ieury :;treniiou.-, elforts weie made to ]ironi(»te this enterprise, to that decree that a ]">ench j^entleman .M. de Bi.'auhair, was sent out as Inlenilant l:y France. He founded at the north-west entrance of the Miraniichi Rivera small town which still hears his name ; the Island facing the town, also known as lieau- bair Island, was strongly fortified, &c. ' Mk. 1)k Mki.lkkei'ili.e, " Rp.virE (ANADn'.NNK," AUOIISI 1870. "Sur les bonis fangeux du comte tie Cdoucester, dans le Nouveau Bruns- wich, a5omilles de Miraniichi, a 25 an sud de Caraijuct, l)aignes i)ar les eaux du Golfe ft- Laurent generale- ment si pures, pres d'une ])etite riviere s clcve un village (|ui en porte le nom. I, a situation ipi'll occupe est triste au suiMcme degre. . . .D'un crtte, les eaux basses et troul)lees de la mer sur les- quelles une voile vient rarement egayer la vue ; de I'aulre, la ligne monotone d'un littoral plat, depouille, diveisitie seulement jiar cjuclques cabanes de peeheurs " I.es prvMiiiers etablissements sur la Riviere Miraniichi, Nouveau Bruns- wick, furent faits bientrtt ajucsle traite d'Utrecht, en 1713, par des sujets de la France, prineipalenient des ljasi[iie>, d js Bretons et des Normands. Sous radministration du Cardinal Fleury, de puissautes mcsures furent mises en onivre afin d'encourager et faire avan- cer ces etablis.semcnts qui en i)eu de temps progresscrent si bien qu'un M. I'ierre Be.nubair fut envoye de France comnie intendant II batit une petite ville a la pointe de terre qui poiti^^ son nom jusqu'4 present, h. I'em- iiouchure de la braiiche nord-oucst de la riviere Miramichi. L'lle en face, connue aujourd'hui sous le nom de rile Beaubair, etait fortement dtffen- due, etc." -'"1*- After havinj; copied Mr. tie Hellefeuillc in this scrvili; mmncr, Mr Lcmoine coiulescends to adiait, in a ;;i tn-ral, off-haml way, that he has borrowed mucli inlonvialiou from him ! •5S- r? Of all the many plaf^iarisms of which Mr. Lemoine is guilty, the following is, perhaps, the most revolting and the most impudent. The author of the Chronicles sets himself deliberately to worlc to c/rrmrhis readers and make them believe that he acknowledges what he borrows ; whereas, in reality, he perpetrates an outrageous literary theft. This is how he proceeds. Under the heading : " A Canadian cottage," we read, page 216 : " Do you see," writes Abbe Casgrain, " on the summit of yonder hillock that dainty white dwelling, with its thatched roof barn, furnishing such a pleasant contrast with the surrounding emerald fields. That is a Canadian cottage." As may be seen, this paragraph is enclosed in quotation marks as it should be were the quotation brought to a close : inverted commas at the beginning and at the end. An honest writer, wishing to continue the (juotation, would not have put inverted commas at the end of the first paragraph but would have placed them at the beginning of each succeeding one. Notso Mr. Lemoine. Me carefully omits them at the beginning of the six following paragraphs, translated word for word from rAbb6 Casgrain, and contents himself with quotation marks at the end of the sixth paragraph. Now, no ordinary reader, not accustomed to the crooked ways of tricksters, could possibly imagine that the whole intervening space, com- prising a page and a half, between the first paragraph duly closed and this stray quotation mark, is filled up — 20|— with stolen prop'-rt)-. Vet such is the case, as may be steii by the following example : llIK " C'HRONlLl.KS OK THK Sv. Lawrknck. " I'Ai;k 21b. The stranger, unfnnuliar with our Cauach.n lariner, aiul ljc;iit (jii assimi- lating him to the pea-^ant of old Fran- ce, his sire, would commit an egregious trror. More enlightened, especially more leligious, the habitant is far above the French peasant in his style of living. Compared tJ the French peasant he of Canada is a real little /r/«f^ - quite independent in means- -living on his sixty or eighty arpents of land, enclos- ed by a cedar fence — here, all his daily wants arc abandantly supplied, &c. " LtllKNIUKS CANAKIF.NNKS " fa<;k j6. LVtraiigfr qui, ne connais.sant pas Vhabitant de nos campagnes, croirait pouvoir I'assiiniler au j)iiysan de la vieilie Fiance.son ancetre, se mepren- drait etrongement. Plus eclaire et surtout plus religieux il est loin dc partagcr son etat prc- caire. En comparaison de celui-ci, c'est un veritable petit fritui', parfaitement independant sur ses soixante ou quatre- vingts arpents de terie, ciitDiires d'une clAtur" de cedre, et qui lui fournissent tout ce qui lui est necessairc \>o\\x vivre dans uuf. honnetc aisancc, &c. -!i& The foregoing is tricky ; here is something audacious. By glancing over the tabulated statement given above, the reader will observe that Mr. LenK^ine has transferred whole chapters of Pye's Can \dian Sce)ieyy to his Chro- nicles, sometime ; with, oftener without acknowledgment. This work being very scare, he tlnaight, no doubt, that he was safe in doing with it as be pleased ; he had struck a " Big Bonanza " and, to do him ju.stice, he made it " pan out " well, to use a cant phra.se of the western miners. Fortunately for me, though unfortunately for him, I succeeded in procuring a copy of this book and I am thus in a position to " show up " Mr. Lemoine in a new and still more interesting occupation. We have seen him as a translator, let us now gaze upon him as a transcriber : "The Chroniclks uk the st. Law- rence " PAGE 280. A remarkable feature connected with the Rock is its being the resort, during the summer months, of vast num- bers of sea-fowl, who make their nests on the summit, and in July and August, " Pye's Canadian .Scenery " PAGES 13 AN;> 14. A len arkabie feature cannected with the Rock is its being the resort, during the summer months, of a vast number of sea-fowl, who make their nests on the summit ; — and in July — 21 when the young ate fledpod, ami the |iaicnt l)ir J, sii!'se- quintlj/ oj the Secret, ha-, oil en i^^rutilied his passen^jers by tiring a gun whilst passing. This causes a perfect cloud of gulls, ganncts, cormorants, &c., to rise and set up the most discordant and unearthly yells and screams imagina- ble, &c. and August, when the voung are fle:;:' ■^. It has been noised about — murder will out — that the Chronicles, when they first came out of the printer's hands, were not exactly what we now find them. The first table oj contents made no more mention of Mr. Fauchcr's name than do the headinj^s of the chapters. Some charitable person, I presume, remarked to Mr. Lemoinc that this was a very audacious proceeding. Whereupon this worthy gentleman thought it would be wise to " cover up his tracks " a little, and his fertile brain soon wrought out a novel way, charming in its simplicity, of overcon.ing the difficulty. He suppressed the first table of contents, and replaced it by a second, containing some acknowledg- ment of the source whence certain chapters had been borrowed. This accounts for the discrepancy already noticed between the Table of contents and the heading of chapter XiV. The same discrepancy exists with regard to chapter XVI. ? i^. There is another contradiction which proves beyond all doubt that the table of contents, as it now appears, is not the one given to the printer. On the last page of the book, at the end of the table, we read, in a note, the follow ing words : '' mts for page i / i—iAucc I prepareil, c/n'e/lj' from the French narrative of Mr. Faucher, in " tribord and babord, " the short summary I gave of Father CrespcVs suf- ferings on AnticostI, &c." Now, as we have already seen, Mr, Lemoine distinctly states, on page i i i, that what he lays before the public " /i- <; translation from a narrative zvritten by Father Crespcir Thus it is evident that this note, as well as the table of contents, is an after thought, intended solely to hiile,* as much as possible, the plagia- risms of which the author is guilty. In reality it only serves to shew to what contemptible means an unscru- pulous writer can resort in order to extricate himself from a disagreeable position. Moreover, I have in my possession material proof that thefi;st table of contents has been tampered with. There ~ 24 — lies before me a copy of the Chronicles m which, by an un- lucky oversight, the binder has left two pages of the on^tnal / * Having pretty effectually pluci-^ ^heir achievements, ever po.ssessed . thorough knowledge of several languages I do not vouch for the accuracy of this statement, but I am convmced of the utter untruthfulness of the following proposition which the unwary might deduct from the pro- ZZa ^r" ^^ '^" ^"-^^ """^^•'^^ ■ " 'The less a man is Ztt '\ """". «fj-^g"ages. the greater is his ^Mr T T?"'' ''' --^--ould needs pro- claim M. J. M. Lemome a genius of vast proportions this gentleman's linguistic acquirements b.mg of Te simplest kind. It would be giving very stale nJws to the author of /y. ,.,,,,, ,, ,,,,,,,, ,,^ ^,^^^^ ,^^ .^ ^ ^^^^^^ of wonderful parts, but such an announcement might startle the rest of mankind. Mr. Arthur Buies has conclusively shown in his Pet/tes n- al — 25 — Chroniques that Mr. Lcmoine is a complete stranger to the French langiiai^e, and I am of opinion that his acquain- tance with the Anglo-Saxon dialect is not sufficiently- familiar to breed contempt. This I propose to demonstrate later. The witty chroiiqneur to whom I have just alluded has descrioed, in u happy and characteristic manner, the enviable position which Mr, Lemoine occupies as a French and English author. When Mr. Lemoine writes an English work his readers charitably pass over his many short comings because, say they, it must not be forgotten that he is a Frenchman. On the other hand, those who peruse his French productions remark good-naturedly that it is no wonder that his works are somewhat faulty for the excellent reason that his education is exclusively English. And thus Mr. Lemoine has heretofore escaped all adverse criticism. The gushing reviewer of the Canadian Monthly, the same young gentleman who is startled dX the rapidity with which Mr. Lemoine plies his trusty scissors, solemnly informs us that Mr. Lemoine " does not adopt the sober style of llallam. but rather inclines to the eloquent and highly coloured manner of Macaulay." Comparisons, it is said, are always odious, but this one, it will be admitted, is particularily offensive. •5fr •?«• With these few prefatory remarks let us now glance through those pages of the Chronicles, few though they be, which are unquestionably the product of Mr. Lemoine'f? elegant pen. — 2G — Ifjnorancc of thini^s most elementary is often displayed by Mr. Lcniome. Thus, in one of his numerous trans- lat:ons of passages from Mr. Faucher's work, he renders // nvuVe du Canada, the name given to the St. Lawrence in former days, by a Canada river, instead of the river of Canada. In this sentence not only does Mr. Lemoine sin against history, he also maims the English language A Canada river is outlandish. In another place he speaks of the Canada expedition, for the expedition against Canada I am aware that substantives may be used as adjectives to qualify other substantives, as an apple ; ehard, a hay loft d. Philadelphia laivyer ; but I think Mr. Lemoine is the first to extend this rule to the names of countries. What would be thought of expressions such as these ? An EiiSland city, a France village, a Hnngary general A Canada river may grate less harshly on the ear than the foregomg examples, but it is quite as incorrect. Mr. Lemoine speaks of <• a stupendous wall of conglo- merate, which appears as though it had been upheaved by another Atlas. " Wherefore another Atlas > Would not the original Atlas of whom we read in heathen fables have answered the purpose > The old gentleman, it is true was supposed to devote himself exclusively to upholding • from the most reliable accounts he does not appear to have done any upheaving at all. That is probably the reason why Mr. Lemoine finds it necessary to introduce another Atlas^ equal to the occasion. It is wha. the Americans would call a " new departure" in mythology. Expatiating on leprosy, in what he evidenty considers a very learned manner, Mr. Lemoine remarks • "This scourge appears to have been known long before the Mosaic era : we find it first mentioned in the fourth chapter of Exodus. God tells man to put his hand in his bosom, and when he ////A- it out, it is " leprous like snow " — leprosus ins tar nivis." Now Mr. Lemoine ought to know that this command ^ 27 — was not given to vian in general, but to one particulat* man, Moses ; and had he written Icprosaui instead of leprosHs he would have shown more respect for latin grammar. The author of the Chronicles though a jopious, is not a very accurate translator. Thus, page 133, in one of his many passages borrowed without acknowledgment from De Tribord a Babord, he commits a slight error. Mr. Faucher says that Father Quentin perdit la sant^ at Mis- cou, whereas Mr. Lemoine tells us that the Rev. gentle- man recovered his health tJiere, after having to bury his assistant. Whilst we are on the subject of translations, allow me to impart to the public a most interesting discovery that I made during my analysis of the Chronicles. The "ruling passion" with Mr. Lemoine is to copy some- thing, everything, no matter whom and no matter what. And this passion is so strong upon him that he takes the trouble to translate his own precious productions. Thus he gives us an English version of his wonderful descrip- tion of Murray Bay, written in what he calls French. Here it is in part : " The Chronicles of the St. I Lawrence," Page 234. i t Of all the picturesque parislies on : the margin of our ocean like river, ; which innumerable swarms of tourists ' visit every summer for salt water ba- , thing, none will interest the lover of sublime landscapes more than Murray \ Bay. One must go there to enjoy the| ruggedness, the grandeur of nature, ■ the broad horizons . You may not find there the waving wheat fields of Ka- j mouraska, the shelving verdurous | shores of Cacouna or Riviere du Loup i or Rimouski : — grateful retreats for | our citizens during the dog days, but I "L'Album du Touriste," Ku; . 355 ET 356. De toutes les pittorcsques paroisses sur le littoral de notre grand fleuve, oil vont s'abattre, chatjue etc, nos innoai- brables essaims de touristcs, pour "prendre les eaux," indle plus (jue la Malbaie ne saurait interesser I'amant (les paysagcs grand loses.Cest a la Mal- baie (}u'il faut aller pour jouirde I'apre, dela grande natiire,des larges horizons, Ce ne sont plus les beaux champs tie bio de Kamouraska, les cocpiets et vcr- doyants coteaux ile Cacouna ou de Ri- njouski, ou le lan^onrenx citadin va retremper ses forces durant la canieule ; — 28 — you will enter in communion with sa- vage unconquered nature and view points yet more majestic than those of the coasts and walls of Bic. In the in- terior, precipice on precipice ; impene- trable gorgiS in the /•rojections of the rocks ; peaks which lose themselves in the clouds, aud among which the bears wander in July a Byronic na- ture tossed about, heaped up_ in the north, far from tl\e ways of civilized men If, then, you wish to taste in their full features, of the dreamy solitudes of the shores, of the caves, of the great forests, overshadowing Pointe h Pique or Cap h FAtgle, or to capture by hun- dreds the frisky speckled beauties of the remote Lake Gravel, you must own a good eye, a well nerved arm, a supple leg. c'est une nature sauvage, indomptee, des points de vue encore plus majes- tueux que ceux que presentent Ics c6tes et les murailles du Bic. Precip ce sur precipice, gorges impi- nHrables dans la saillie des roc hers ; pics qui se peraent dans la nue, ou jjrime, en juillet I'ours noir une nature byronienne, tourmentee, en- tassee dans le nord, loin des sentiers de I'homme civilise Si done vous voulez savourer a grands traits la reveuse solitude des plages, des grottes, des grands bois de la Pointe au Pic ou du cap de I'Aigle, ou capturer par centaines les fretillantes truites du lointain lac Grave), ilfaut avoir ban ceil, bras nerveux, jambe souple, etc. I am loth to say which of the two versions is the more ridiculous ; certain it is that the translation is no improvement on the original, and that both are worthy of the author. Mr. Buies has, in his Petites Chroniques, laughed, to his heart's content, at this absurd twaddle and laid bare all the siUiness thereof, I shall merely draw attention to the unspeakable inanity of the last sentence. Why, in the name of all that's wonderful, must one own a good eye, a well nerved arm, a supple leg, in order to taste of the dreamy solitudes of the shores ? That is one of those things which surpass the ken of mortal man. But it must not be supposed that Mr. Lemoine is accurate even in the translation of his own writings. He goes so far as to flatly contradict himself. " The Chronici.es," Page 235. 1 The foot af the invader, in 1759, eft at Aiurray Kay, as well as on the remainder of the north shore, up to Quebec, a deep impress. "L'Ai.iiUM DU Touriste,"Page 338. La Malbaie ne paraft pas avoir joue UH r&le Men marquant pendant le si/ge dc J7J(p, bien qu'il y eut une descente. The Album du touriste, written for French readers, was not considered by Mr. Lemoine sufficiently emphatic for an linglish public, so the deep impress was brought into requisition. < — 29 — This fawning disposition is often noticeable in Mr. Lemoine's English writings. Thus, in his adaptation of Mr. Faucher's account of the loss of Sir Hovenden Walker's squadron, every thing that might hurt English susceptibility- is carefully omitted. The author of the Chronicles scoffs sometimes at the Catholic Church, in the hope of tickling Protestant ears. Had he been addressing Catholic readers he would cer- tainly never have written such sentences as the follow- ing : " The Church, too, struck them (the lepers) off from the communion of the faithful, so that they escaped the hangman's hempen halter to prepare for t/te torments of the damned." A discussion arises among the passengers on board the steamer Gasp^, as to what is the best cure for sea- sickness. Some favor " hot Scotch " others recommend "Irish potheen." V\ hereupon Mr. Lemoine remarks: " Here, as well as at the Vatican, t/u- (gallicism) opinions were divided, as on the question of infallibility. " Mr. Lemoine endeavors to persuade his readers that the English language has no secrets for him, and to that end he affects modes of expression peculiar to the Anglo- Saxon tongue. The result is that he makes some very amusing mistakes. For instance, on the first page of his book we read : — '* Blockade runners are expected to show at times a pair of heels, " He meant to say, no doubt, a good pair of heels ( i ). (i) 111 a paper published lately in the Canadian Monthly, Mr. lemoine speaks of beef mocassins ! - 30 - For loose, careless and ungrammatical sentences recom- mend me to the Chronicles, they are as Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallombrosa. Examples : " Before reaching it (the bay) one has to cross the Malbaje stream— a good river for salmon and trout fishery— by fr..eans of a scow. " That scow is decidedly in an awkward position ; it might easily have been placed nearer the water, thus. " Before reaching it, one has to cross, by means of a scow, the Malbai- river, a good stream for salmon etc. " " Dr. Bryant's excellent ornithological report of the Bird Rocks, which however, po.ssibly, will be relished by students of natural history alone. " This should read : " be relished only by students, etc., " " The judge of Bonaventure district holds /us court each year at the Magdalen Islands. " One would be led to suppose that .the honorable judge is a sort of itinerant potentate. " Captaine Jesse Armstrong was, in company with the Granicns and a dozen other craft at Pointe des Monts a few days before the accident zvhich befel those vessels. " That which is a gallicism and should be struck out, or if it must be retained, the sentence should read : " before the accident which befel those vessels happened. " " Of all hateful emanations from the bottomless pit to afflict poor mortality." " Which or that afflict, " would be English." " In October, 1 843, it took me seventeen days to reach, in a coaster of 43 tons, the Victoria Capt. Basile Cayen of Islet, from Point St. Peter, Gasp6, to the then spacious If- — 31 — harbor of the Palais, Quebec." A person can easily reach a place in a vessel, but it requires very long arms to reach from Gasp^ ^o Quebec, even in seventeen days. " To the simple denizen of the country a trip to Gaspesia or the Maritime Provinces was a serious under- taking and never lightly talked about. Its duration to and throuirh, at the shortest, covered four or five weeks ". Why not have said : " A trip to and through Gaspesia." That, at least, would have been comprehensible. " The Skating Rink of St. John, 'tis admitted, is the finest in the Dominion ; it cost $14,500, and can accom- modate 3000 or 4000 people. The form is circular — well lit up at night, and the directors, energetic tn^n." That reads like a badly worded advertisement of some faro- bank in the " Far West." Some of Mr. Lemoine's transitions are remarkable, not to say startling. Thus, after quoting six pages from Dr. Kelly on Mirage, he introduces Cacouna in the following graceful manner : " This much for mirage, let us proceed" ! " To t/ie faithful hailing from Rome, La Bonitg Ste. Anne is a talisman, a spot sacred, as much as Notre- Dame de Loudres and Paray-lc-Monial arcto French and English pilgrims." The word talisman is a misnomer ; as to the faithful hailing from Rome, I am quite at a loss to know T»i.-it is meant thereby and I am inclined to believe that Mr. Lemoine himself is no wiser than I. *' Baie des Chaleurs has not only its teeming rivers, Cascapedia, Bonaventure, Port Daniel, Ristigouche, &c., many picturesque headlands, storm-beaten capes, enchanted (more likely enclianting) islands sleep on the heaving bosom of its waters."' This is a very rambling s^untence indeed. A bay cannot be said to have rivers, and by no — 32 — stretch of the imagination can headlands and capes be represented as sleeping on tlie bosom of the waters. " Even old Ocean seems here to have doffed some of her wonted majesty of mien. " No one possessing the genius of the English language, no on*^ *^aving even an uneducated English ear could have writwe.i her. Mr. Lemoine often makes use of inappropriate and ridiculous terms : " The murtnuring St. Lawrence. " Miscou shorn of its inhabitants, " Crews wrecked on the island. " Vessels are wrecked, crews are shipwrecked. " The English man-of-war rode another gale in safety. " It should have been : " rode out another gale, &c. " " Paspc- biac, with its roadstead running out to a point in the Bay. " He undoubtedly meant to say headland, as a roadstead cannot run out to a point. In another place he speaks of an erratic wanderer. That is tautology, for, as every one but Mr. Lemoine knows, erratic means tvandering. The author of the Chronicles is of a scientific turn of mind, and he is extremely fond of exhibiting to the public gaze his inexhaustible fund of antiquarian lore. He never fails to give us the true meaning of all the crooked Indian names that abound in the regions of the Lower St. Lawrence. Sometimes, however, his science is rather muddled. Thus he informs us, page 152, that the word RestigoHche means " a river that divides like a hand. " That is poetical. Mr. Lemoine should have held fast to that definition. Nevertheless, twelve pages further on,' he tells us that the same word Restigouche signifies Broad river. This little contre-temps is clearly traceable to the bee-like disposition of our author who draws his sweets from too many flowers, but who, unlike the bee, cannot convert these sweets into true honey. One word more and I will draw my too lengthy remarks to a close. Mr. Lemoine's style of writing is an odd inedly of pompous, bombastic, grandiloquent phrases — 33 — and trivial not to say low expressions ; there is nothing natural, graceful or harmonious to be found in the whole work we have been examining (quotations excepted.) Speaking of four famished men he ^ays that " the greatest caution was necessary to bring them around. " And again, a missionary, who succumbs to fatigue and malaria, is represented as having to give in. *** I might continue my strictures on the Chronicles, ad infinitum, but enough has been said, I fancy, to justify me in summing up as follows : Mr. J. M. Lemoine is a poor though slavish translator, an extensive borrower, an unscrupulous plagiarist and a wretched scribbler. At best, he is but a maker of books, he is not an author. FINIS ^IP