Philippe AriΘs has pointed out that, in the western European history of childhood, boys were the first specialized children. During his visit to Canada in the first decade of the nineteenth century, John Lambert sketched this Lower Canadian youth (Travels through Lower Canada and the United States of North America (London: 1810), volume 1, p.61). The young man attended the Seminary at Quebec and his distinctive dress testified not only to his youth, but also to his social class and privileged education which would prepare him for a professional or clerical career, or for the life of a gentleman.
