about me, thirty or forty boys and girls, between the ages of seven and
fifteen. I looked at them in astonishment. They all had fair skins, red
cheeks, and clear eyes; they were all broad-shouldered, straight, and
sturdy; the younger ones were more than sturdy,--they were fat, from the
ankles up. But perhaps the most noticeable thing of all was the quiet,
sturdy, unharassed expression which their faces wore; a look which is the
greatest charm of a child's face, but which we rarely see in children over
two or three years old. Boys of eleven or twelve were there, with
shoulders broader than the average of our boys at sixteen, and yet with
the pure, childlike look on their faces. Girls of ten or eleven were there
who looked almost like women,--that is, like ideal women,--simply because
they looked so calm and undisturbed. The Saxon coloring prevailed;
three-fourths of the eyes were blue, with hair of that pale ash-brown
which the French call "_blonde cendrée_" Out of them all there was but one
child who looked sickly. He had evidently met with some accident, and was
lame. Afterward, as the congregation assembled, I watched the fathers and
mothers of these children. They, too, were broad-shouldered, tall, and
straight, especially the women. Even old women were straight, like the
negroes one sees at the South, walking with burdens on their heads.

Five days later I saw in Halifax the celebration of the anniversary of the
settlement of the province. The children of the city and of some of the
neighboring towns marched in "bands of hope" and processions, such as we
see in the cities of the States on the Fourth of July. This was just the
opportunity I wanted. It was the same here as in the country. I counted on
that day just eleven sickly-looking children; no more! Such brilliant
cheeks, such merry eyes, such evident strength; it was a scene to kindle
the dullest soul. There were scores of little ones there, whose droll, fat
legs would have drawn a crowd in Central Park; and they all had that same,
quiet, composed, well-balanced expression of countenance of which I spoke