was the fair Hortense de Beauharnais, who in her son, Napoleon III.,
seated an offshoot of Canada upon the imperial throne of France long
after the abandonment of their ancient colony by the corrupt House
of Bourbon.

Conspicuous among the distinguished officers by his tall, straight
figure and quick movements, was the Chevalier La Corne St. Luc,
supple as an Indian, and almost as dark, from exposure to the
weather and incessant campaigning. He was fresh from the blood and
desolation of Acadia, where France, indeed, lost her ancient colony,
but St. Luc reaped a full sheaf of glory at Grand Pre, in the Bay of
Minas, by the capture of an army of New Englanders. The rough old
soldier was just now all smiles and gaiety, as he conversed with
Monseigneur de Pontbriant, the venerable Bishop of Quebec, and
Father de Berey, the Superior of the Recollets.

The Bishop, a wise ruler of his Church, was also a passionate lover
of his country: the surrender of Quebec to the English broke his
heart, and he died a few months after the announcement of the final
cession of the Colony.

Father de Berey, a jovial monk, wearing the gray gown and sandals of
the Recollets, was renowned throughout New France for his wit more
than for his piety. He had once been a soldier, and he wore his
gown, as he had worn his uniform, with the gallant bearing of a
King's Guardsman. But the people loved him all the more for his
jests, which never lacked the accompaniment of genuine charity. His
sayings furnished all New France with daily food for mirth and
laughter, without detracting an iota of the respect in which the
Recollets were held throughout the colony.