odern coins, our language, but withal
a patriarchal simplicity and virtues that are heroic,--unite in keeping
the inhabitants of this region more impoverished as to all intellectual
knowledge than the Redskins, but also as proud, as crafty, and as
enduring as they. The position which Brittany occupies in the centre of
Europe makes it more interesting to observe than Canada. Surrounded by
light whose beneficent warmth never reaches it, this region is like a
frozen coal left black in the middle of a glowing fire. The efforts made
by several noble minds to win this glorious part of France, so rich in
neglected treasures, to social life and to prosperity have all, even
when sustained by government, come to nought against the inflexibility
of a population given over to the habits of immemorial routine. This
unfortunate condition is partly accounted for by the nature of the land,
broken by ravines, mountain torrents, lakes, and marshes, and bristling
with hedges or earth-works which make a sort of citadel of every field;
without roads, without canals, and at the mercy of prejudices which
scorn our modern agriculture. These will further be shown with all their
dangers in our present history.

The picturesque lay of the land and the superstitions of the inhabitants
prevent the formation of communities and the benefits arising from the
exchange and comparison of ideas. There are no villages. The rickety
buildings which the people call homes are sparsely scattered through the
wilderness. Each family lives as in a desert. The only meetings among
them are on Sundays and feast-days in the parish church. These silent
assemblies, under the eye of the rector (the only ruler of these rough
minds) last some hours. After listening to the awful words of the priest
they return to their noisome hovels for another week; they leave them
only to work, they return to them only to sleep. No one ever visits
them, unless it is the rector. Consequently, it was the voice of
the priesthood which roused Brittany against the Republic, and sent
thousands of men, five years before this history begins, to the support
of the first Chouannerie. The brothers Cottereau, whose name was given
to that first uprising, were bold smugglers, plying their perilous trade
between Laval and Fougeres. The insurrections of Brittany had nothing
fine or noble about them; and it may be truly said that if La Vendee
turned its brigandage into a great war, Brittany turned war int