I soon after visited the town of St. Denis, where I saw two young
ladies with whom I had formerly been acquainted in Montreal, and one of
them a former schoolmate at Mr. Workman's school. After some
conversation with me, and learning that I had known a lady who kept
school in the place, they advised me to apply to her to be employed as
her assistant teacher; for she was then instructing the government
school in that place. I visited her, and found her willing, and I
engaged at once as her assistant.
The government society paid her 20_l_: a-year: she was obliged to teach
ten children gratuitously; might receive fifteen pence a month (about a
quarter of a dollar), for each of ten scholars more; and then she was
at liberty, according to the regulations, to demand as much as she
pleased for the other pupils. The course of instruction, as required by
the society, embraced only reading, writing, and what was called
ciphering, though I think improperly. The only books used were a
spelling-book, l'Instruction de la Jeunesse, the Catholic New
Testament, and l'Histoire de Canada. When these had been read through,
in regular succession, the children were dismissed as having completed
their education. No difficulty is found in making the common French
Canadians content with such an amount of instruction as this; on the
contrary, it is often very hard indeed to prevail upon them to send
their children at all, for they say it takes too much of the love of
God from them to sent them to school. The teacher strictly complied
with the requisitions of the society in whose employment she was, and
the Roman Catholic catechism was regularly taught in the school, as
much from choice as from submission to authority, as she was a strict
Catholic. I had brought with me the little bag I have before mentioned,
in which I had so long kept the clippings of the thread left after
making a dress for the Superior. Such was my regard for it, that I
continued to wear it constantly round my neck, and to feel the same
reverence for its supposed virtues as before. I occasionally had the
toothache during my stay at St. Denis, and then always relied on the
influence of my little bag. On such occasions I would say--
"By the virtue of this bag, may I be delivered from the toothache;" and
I supposed that when it ceased, it was owing to that cause.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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