Their Manners And Movements Are Unaffected And
Elegant; They Dress In Exquisite Taste; And With A Grace Peculiarly Their
Own, Their Manners Have A Fascination And Witchery Which Is Perfectly
Irresistible.
They generally receive their education at the convents, and
go into society at a very early age, very frequently before they have seen
sixteen summers, and after this time the whirl of amusement precludes them
from giving much time to literary employments.
They are by no means deeply
read, and few of them play anything more than modern dance music. They
dance beautifully, and so great is their passion for this amusement,
probably derived from their French ancestors, that married ladies
frequently attend the same dancing classes with their children, in order
to keep themselves in constant practice.
At the time of my visit to Quebec there were large parties every night,
most of which were honoured with the presence of Lord Elgin and his suite.
One of his aides-de-camp was Lord Bury, Lord Albemarle's son, who, on a
tour through North America, became enamoured of Quebec. Lord Elgin's
secretary was Mr. Oliphant, the talented author of the 'Russian Shores of
the Black Sea,' who had also yielded to the fascinations of this northern
capital. And no wonder! for there is not a friendlier place in the whole
world. I went armed with but two letters of introduction, and received
hospitality and kindness for which I can never be sufficiently grateful.
The cholera, which in America assumes nearly the fatality and rapidity of
the plague, had during the summer ravaged Quebec.
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