The Project Gutenberg eBook of Our Intellectual Strength and Weakness, by John George Bourinot

Royal Society of Canada Series.

No. 1.

OUR INTELLECTUAL
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS.

Royal Society of Canada Series.

OUR INTELLECTUAL
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

A SHORT HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE,
ART AND EDUCATION IN CANADA,

BY
J. G. BOURINOT, c.m.g., ll.d., d.c.l., d.l. (laval).

Author of "CAPE BRETON AND ITS MEMORIALS OF THE FRENCH REGIME," and of
several works on Federal and Parliamentary Government
in the Dominion of Canada.

MONTREAL:
FOSTER BROWN & CO.

LONDON:
BERNARD QUARITCH.

1893

Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada by J. G. Bourinot, in the Office
of the Minister of Agriculture, in the year 1893.

GAZETTE PRINTING COMPANY, MONTREAL.

To my Friends
Sir J. W. DAWSON, (c.m.g., f.r.s.c., ll.d.)
AND
MONSIGNOR HAMEL, (m.a., f.r.s.c.),
WHO REPRESENT THE CULTURE AND LEARNING OF THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH
ELEMENTS OF THE CANADIAN PEOPLE,
I dedicate
THIS SHORT REVIEW OF THE INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
OF THE NEW DOMINION.

This monograph on the intellectual development of the Dominion was delivered in substance as the presidential address to the Royal Society of Canada at its May meeting of 1893, in Ottawa. Since then the author has given the whole subject a careful revision, and added a number of bibliographical and other literary notes which could not conveniently appear in the text of the address, but are likely to interest those who wish to follow more closely the progress of culture in a country still struggling with the difficulties of the material development of half a continent. This little volume, as the title page shows, is intended as the commencement of a series of historical and other essays which will be periodically reproduced, in this more convenient form for the general reader, from the large quarto volumes of the Royal Society of Canada, where they first appear.

I cannot more appropriately commence this address than by a reference to an oration delivered seven years ago in the great hall of a famous university which stands beneath the stately elms of Cambridge, in the old "Bay State" of Massachusetts: a noble seat of learning in which Canadians take a deep interest, not only because some of their sons have completed their education within its walls, but because it represents that culture and scholarship which know no national lines of separation, but belong to the world's great Federation of Learning. The orator was a man who, by his deep philosophy, his poetic genius, his broad patriotism, his love for England, her great literature and history, had won for himself a reputation not equalled in some respects by any other citizen of the United States of these later times. In the course of a brilliant oration in honour [1][A] of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of Harvard, James Russell Lowell took occasion to warn his audience against the tendency of a prosperous democracy "towards an overweening confidence in itself and its home-made methods, an overestimate2 of material success and a corresponding indifference to the things of the mind." He did not deny that wealth is a great fertilizer of civilization and of the arts that beautify it; that wealth is an excellent thing since it means power, leisure and liberty; "but these," he went on to say, "divorced from culture, that is, from intelligent purpose, become the very mockery of their own essence, not goods, but evils fatal to their possessor, and bring with them, like the Nibelungen Hoard, a doom instead of a blessing." "I am saddened," he continued, "when I see our success as a nation measured by the number of acres under tillage, or of bushels of wheat exported; for the real value of a country must be weighed in scales more delicate than the balance of trade. The garners of Sicily are empty now, but the bees from all climes still fetch honey from the tiny garden-plot of Theocritus. On a map of the world you may cover Judea with your thumb, Athens with a finger-tip, and neither of them figures in the Prices Current; but they still lord it in the thought and action of every civilized man. Did not Dante cover with his hood all that was Italy six hundred years ago? And if we go back a century, where was Germany outside of Weimar? Material success is good, but only as the necessary preliminary of better things. The measure of a nation's true success is the amount it has contributed to the thought, the moral energy, the intellectual happiness, the spiritual hope and consolation of mankind."

These eloquently suggestive words, it must be remembered, were addressed by a great American author to an audience, made up of eminent scholars and writers, in the principal academic seat of that New England which has given birth to Emerson, Longfellow, Bancroft, Prescott, Motley, Hawthorne, Holmes, Parkman, and many others, representing the brightest thought and intellect of this continent. These writers were the product of the intellectual development of the many years that had passed since the pilgrims landed on the historic rock of Plymouth. Yet, while Lowell could point to such a brilliant array of historians, essayists, poets and novelists, as I have just named, as the latest results of New England culture, he felt compelled to utter a word of remonstrance against that spirit of materialism3 that was then as now abroad in the land, tending to stifle those generous intellectual aspirations which are best calculated to make a people truly happy and great.

Let us now apply these remarks of the eminent American poet and thinker to Canada—to ourselves, whose history is even older than that of New England; contemporaneous rather with that of Virginia, since Champlain landed on the heights of Quebec and laid the foundations of the ancient capital only a year after the English adventurers of the days of King James set their feet on the banks of the river named after that sovereign and commenced the old town which has long since disappeared before the tides of the ocean that stretches away beyond the shores of the Old Dominion.[2] If we in Canada are open to the same charge of attaching too much importance to material things, are we able at the same time to point to as notable achievements in literature as results of the three centuries that have nearly passed since the foundation of New France? I do not suppose that the most patriotic Canadian, however ready to eulogize his own country, will make an effort to claim an equality with New England in this respect; but, if indeed we feel it necessary to offer any comparison that would do us justice, it would be with that Virginia whose history is contemporaneous with that of French Canada. Statesmanship rather than Letters has been the pride and ambition of the Old Dominion, its brightest and highest achievement. Virginia has been the mother of great orators and great presidents, and her men of letters sink into insignificance alongside of those of New England. It may be said, too, of Canada, that her history in the days of the French regime, during the struggle for responsible government, as well as at the birth of confederation, gives us the names of men of statesmanlike designs and of patriotic purpose. From the days of Champlain to the establishment of the confederation, Canada has had the services of men as eminent in their respective spheres, and as successful in the attainment of popular rights, in moulding the educational and political institutions of the country, and in laying broad and deep the foundations of a new nationality across half a continent, as those great Virginians to whom the world is4 ever ready to pay its meed of respect. These Virginian statesmen won their fame in the large theatre of national achievement—in laying the basis of the most remarkable federal republic the world has ever seen; whilst Canadian public men have laboured with equal earnestness and ability in that far less conspicuous and brilliant arena of colonial development, the eulogy of which has to be written in the histories of the future.

[A] In all cases the references are to the Notes in the Appendix.

Let me now ask you to follow me for a short time whilst I review some of the most salient features of our intellectual progress since the days Canada entered on its career of competition in the civilization of this continent. So far there have been three well defined eras of development in the country now known as the Dominion of Canada. First, there was the era of French Canadian occupation which in many respects had its heroic and picturesque features. Then, after the cession of Canada to England, came that era of political and constitutional struggle for a larger measure of public liberty which ended in the establishment of responsible government about half a century ago. Then we come to that era which dates from the confederation of the provinces—an era of which the first quarter of a century only has passed, of which the signs are still full of promise, despite the prediction of gloomy thinkers, if Canadians remain true to themselves and face the future with the same courage and confidence that have distinguished the past.

As I have just said, the days of the French regime were in a sense days of heroic endeavour, since we see in the vista of the past a small colony whose total population at no period exceeded eighty thousand souls, chiefly living on the banks of the St. Lawrence, between Quebec and Montreal, and contending against great odds for the supremacy on the continent of America. The pen of Francis Parkman has given a vivid picture of those days when bold adventurers unlocked the secrets of this Canadian Dominion, pushed into the western wilderness, followed unknown rivers, and at last found a way to the waters of that southern gulf where Spain had long before, in the days of Grijalva, Cortez5 and Pineda, planted her flag and won treasures of gold and silver from an unhappy people who soon learned to curse the day when the white men came to the fair islands of the south and the rich country of Mexico. In these days the world, with universal acclaim has paid its tribute of admiration to the memory of a great Discoverer who had the courage of his convictions and led the way to the unknown lands beyond the Azores and the Canaries. This present generation has forgiven him much in view of his heroism in facing the dangers of unknown seas and piercing their mysteries. His purpose was so great, and his success so conspicuous, that both have obscured his human weakness. In some respects he was wiser than the age in which he lived; in others he was the product of the greed and the superstition of that age; but we who owe him so much forget the frailty of the man in the sagacity of the Discoverer. As Canadians, however, now review the character of the great Genoese, and of his compeers and successors in the opening up of this continent, they must, with pride, come to the conclusion that none of these men can compare in nobility of purpose, in sincere devotion to God, King and Country, with Champlain, the sailor of Brouage, who became the founder of Quebec and the father of New France.

In the daring ventures of Marquette, Jolliet, La Salle and Tonty, in the stern purpose of Frontenac, in the far-reaching plans of La Galissonière, in the military genius of Montcalm, the historian of the present time has at his command the most attractive materials for his pen. But we cannot expect to find the signs of intellectual development among a people where there was not a single printing press, where freedom of thought and action was repressed by a paternal absolutism, where the struggle for life was very bitter up to the last hours of French supremacy in a country constantly exposed to the misfortunes of war, and too often neglected by a king who thought more of his mistresses than of his harassed and patient subjects across the sea. Yet that memorable period—days of struggle in many ways—was the origin of a large amount of literature which we, in these times, find of the deepest interest and value from a historic6 point of view. The English colonies of America cannot present us with any books which, for faithful narrative and simplicity of style, bear comparison with the admirable works of Champlain, explorer and historian,[3] or with those of the genial and witty advocate, Marc Lescarbot,[4] names that can never be forgotten on the picturesque heights of Quebec, or on the banks of the beautiful basin of Annapolis. Is there a Canadian or American writer who is not under a deep debt of obligation to the clear-headed and industrious Jesuit traveller, Charlevoix,[5] the Nestor of French Canadian history? The only historical writer that can at all surpass him in New England was the loyalist Governor Hutchinson, and he published his books at a later time when the French dominion had disappeared with the fall of Quebec.[6] To the works just mentioned we may add the books of Gabriel Sagard,[7] and of Boucher, the governor of Three Rivers and founder of a still eminent French Canadian family;[8] that remarkable collection of authentic historic narrative, known as the Jesuit Relations;[9] even that tedious Latin compilation by Père du Creux,[10] the useful narrative by La Potherie,[11] the admirable account of Indian life and customs by the Jesuit Lafitau,[11a] and that now very rare historical account of the French colony, the "Etablissement de la Foy dans la Nouvelle France," written by the Recollet le Clercq,[12] probably aided by Frontenac. In these and other works, despite their diffuseness in some cases, we have a library of historical literature, which, when supplemented by the great stores of official documents still preserved in the French archives, is of priceless value as a true and minute record of the times in which the authors lived, or which they described from the materials to which they alone had access. It may be said with truth that none of these writers were Canadians in the sense that they were born or educated in Canada, but still they were the product of the life, the hardships and the realities of New France—it was from this country they drew the inspiration that gave vigour and colour to their writings. New England, as I have already said, never originated a class of writers who produced work of equal value, or indeed of equal literary merit. Religious and polemic controversy7 had the chief attraction for the gloomy, disputatious puritan native of Massachusetts and the adjoining colonies. Cotton Mather was essentially a New England creation, and if quantity were the criterion of literary merit then he was the most distinguished author of his century; for it is said that indefatigable antiquarians have counted up the titles of nearly four hundred books and pamphlets by this industrious writer. His principal work, however, was the "Magnalia Christi Americana, or Ecclesiastical History of New England from 1620 to 1698,"[13] a large folio, remarkable as a curious collection of strange conceits, forced witticisms, and prolixity of narrative, in which the venturesome reader soon finds himself so irretrievably mystified and lost that he rises from the perusal with wonderment that so much learning, as was evidently possessed by the author, could be so used to bewilder the world of letters. The historical knowledge is literally choked up with verbiage and mannerisms. Even prosy du Creux becomes tolerable at times compared with the garrulous Puritan author.

Though books were rarely seen, and secular education was extremely defective as a rule throughout the French colony, yet at a very early period in its history remarkable opportunities were afforded for the education of a priesthood and the cult of the principles of the Roman Catholic religion among those classes who were able to avail themselves of the facilities offered by the Jesuit College, which was founded at Quebec before even Harvard at Cambridge, or by the famous Great and Lesser Seminaries in the same place, in connection with which, in later times, rose the University with which is directly associated the name of the most famous Bishop of the French regime. The influence of such institutions was not simply in making Canada a most devoted daughter of that great Church, which has ever exercised a paternal and even absolute care of its people, but also in discouraging a purely materialistic spirit and probably keeping alive a taste for letters among a very small class, especially the priests, who, in politics as in society, have been always a controlling element in the French province. Evidences of some culture and intellectual aspirations in the social circles of the8 ancient capital attracted the surprise of travellers who visited the country before the close of the French dominion. "Science and the fine arts," wrote Charlevoix, "have their turn, and conversation does not fail. The Canadians breathe from their birth an air of liberty, which makes them very pleasant in the intercourse of life, and our language is nowhere more purely spoken." La Galissonière, who was an associate member of the French Academy of Science, and the most highly cultured governor ever sent out by France, spared no effort to encourage a systematic study of scientific pursuits in Canada. Dr. Michel Sarrazin,[13a] who was a practising physician in Quebec for nearly half a century, devoted himself most assiduously to the natural history of the colony, and made some valuable contributions to the French Academy, of which he was a correspondent. The Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, who visited America in the middle of the last century, was impressed with the liking for scientific study which he observed in the French colony. "I have found," he wrote, "that eminent persons, generally speaking, in this country, have much more taste for natural history and literature than in the English colonies, where the majority of people are entirely engrossed in making their fortune, whilst science is as a rule held in very light esteem." Strange to say, he ignores in this passage the scientific labours of Franklin, Bartram and others he had met in Pennsylvania.[13b] As a fact such evidences of intellectual enlightenment as Kalm and Charlevoix mentioned were entirely exceptional in the colony, and never showed themselves beyond the walls of Quebec or Montreal. The province, as a whole, was in a state of mental sluggishness. The germs of intellectual life were necessarily dormant among the mass of the people, for they never could produce any rich fruition until they were freed from the spirit of absolutism which distinguished French supremacy, and were able to give full expression to the natural genius of their race under the inspiration of the liberal government of England in these later times.

Passing from the heroic days of Canada, which, if it could hardly in the nature of things originate a native literature, at least inspired a brilliant succession of historians, essayists and poets in much later times, we come now to that period of constitutional and political development which commenced with the rule of England. It does not fall within the scope of this address to dwell on the political struggles which showed their intensity in the rebellion of 1837–8, and reached their fruition in the concession of parliamentary government, in the large sense of the term, some years later. These struggles were carried on during times when there was only a sparse population chiefly centred in the few towns of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Upper and Lower Canada, on the shores of the Atlantic, on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, and not extending beyond the peninsula of the present province of Ontario. The cities, or towns rather, of Halifax, St. John, Quebec, Montreal, Kingston and York, were then necessarily the only centres of intellectual life. Education was chiefly under the control of religious bodies or in the hands of private teachers. In the rural districts it was at the lowest point possible,[14] and the great system of free schools which has of late years extended through the Dominion—and is the chief honour of Ontario—was never dreamed of in those times of sluggish growth and local apathy, when communication between the distant parts of the country was slow and wretched, when the conditions of life were generally very hard and rude, when the forest still covered the greater portion of the most fertile districts of Ontario,[15] though here and there the pioneer's axe could be heard from morn to eve hewing out little patches of sunlight, so many glimpses of civilization and better times amid the wildness of a new land even then full of promise.

The newspapers of those days were very few and came only at uncertain times to the home of the farmer by the side of some stream or amid the dense forest, or to the little hamlets that were springing up in favoured spots, and represented so many radiating influences of intelligence on the borders of the great10 lakes and their tributary streams, on the Atlantic seaboard, or on the numerous rivers that form so many natural highways to the people of the maritime provinces. These newspapers were for years mostly small quarto or folio sheets, in which the scissors played necessarily the all-important part; but there was, nevertheless, before 1840 in the more pretentious journals of the large towns, some good writing done by thoughtful men who studied their questions, and helped to atone for the very bitter vindictive partisan attacks on opponents that too frequently sullied the press in those times of fierce conflict.[16] Books were only found in the homes of the clergy or of the official classes, and these were generally old editions and rarely the latest publications of the time. Montreal and Quebec, for many years, were the only places where bookstores and libraries of more than a thousand volumes could be seen. It was not until 1813 that a successful effort was made to establish a "social library" at Kingston, Bath, and some other places in the Midland district. Toronto had no library worth mentioning until 1836. What culture existed in those rude days was to be hunted up among the clergy, especially of the Church of England, the Roman Catholic priests of Lower Canada, and the official classes of the large towns. Some sermons that have come down to us, in pamphlets of very common paper—and very few were printed in those days when postage was dear and bookselling was not profitable—have no pretensions to originality of thought or literary style: sermons in remarkable contrast with the brilliant and suggestive utterances of such modern pulpit orators as Professor Clarke, of Trinity. The exhaustive and, generally, closely reasoned sermons of the Presbyterian divine had a special flavour of the Westminster confession and little of the versatility of preachers like Principal Grant in these later times when men are attempting to make even dogma more genial, and to understand the meaning of the sermon in the Mount. Then, as always in Canada, there were found among the clergy of all denominations hardworking, self-denying priests and missionaries who brought from time to time to some remote settlement of the provinces spiritual consolation and to many a household, long deprived of the intellectual nourishment11 of other days, an opportunity of conversing on subjects which in the stern daily routine of their lives in a new country were seldom or ever talked of. It was in the legislative halls of the provinces that the brightest intellect naturally found scope for its display, and at no subsequent period of the political history of Canada were there more fervid, earnest orators than appeared in the days when the battle for responsible government was at its height. The names of Nelson, Papineau, Howe, Baldwin, Wilmot, Johnstone, Young, Robinson, Rolph and Mackenzie recall the era when questions of political controversy and political freedom stimulated mental development among that class which sought and found the best popular opportunities for the display of their intellectual gifts in the legislative halls in the absence of a great printing press and a native literature. Joseph Howe's speeches [17] displayed a wide culture, an original eloquence, and a patriotic aspiration beyond those of any other man of his time and generation, and would have done credit to the Senate of the United States, then in the zenith of its reputation as a body of orators and statesmen. It is an interesting fact that Howe, then printer and publisher, should have printed the first work of the only great humorist that Canada has yet produced. I mean of course "The Clockmaker,"[18] in which Judge Haliburton created "Sam Slick," a type of a Down-east Yankee pedlar who sold his wares by a judicious use of that quality which is sure to be appreciated the world over, "Soft sawder and human natur'." In this work, which has run through ever so many editions, and is still found on the shelves of every well-equipped library and bookstore, Sam Slick told some home truths to his somewhat self-satisfied countrymen who could not help laughing even if the humour touched them very keenly at times. Nova Scotia has changed much for the better since those dull times when the house of assembly was expected to be a sort of political providence, to make all the roads and bridges, and give good times and harvests; but even now there are some people cruel enough, after a visit to Halifax, to hint that there still is a grain of truth in the following reflection on the enterprise of that beautiful port: "How the folks to Halifax take it all out in12 talkin'—they talk of steam-boats, whalers and railroads—but they all end where they begin—in talk. I don't think I'd be out in my latitude if I was to say they beat the womankind at that. One feller says, I talk of goin' to England—another says, I talk of goin' to the country—while another says, I talk of goin' to sleep. If we Yankees happen to speak of such things we say, 'I'm right off down East;' or 'I'm away off South,' and away we go jist like a streak of lightnin'." This clever humourist also wrote the best history [19]—one of his own province—that had been written in British North America up to that time—indeed it is still most readable, and worthy of a place in every library. In later days the Judge wrote many other books and became a member of the English House of Commons: but "Sam Slick" still remains the most signal illustration of his original genius.

During this period, however, apart from the two works to which I have referred, we look in vain for any original literature worthy of special mention. A history of Canada written by William Smith,[20] a son of an eminent chief justice of New York, and subsequently of Canada, was published in excellent style for those days as early as 1815 at Quebec, but it has no special value except to the collector of old and rare books. Bouchette's topographical and geographical account of Canada [21] illustrated the ability and zeal of an eminent French Canadian, who deserved the thanks of his country, but these well printed books were, after all, mere compilations and came from the English press. Pamphlets were numerous enough, and some of them had literary skill, but they had, in the majority of cases, no permanent value except to the historian or antiquarian of the present day who must sift out all sorts of material and study every phase and incident of the times he has chosen for his theme. Michel Bibaud wrote a history of French Canada,[22] which no one reads in these days, and the most of the other works that emanated from the Canadian press, like Thompson's "War of 1812,"[23] are chiefly valued by the historical collector. It was not to be expected that in a relatively poor country, still in the infancy of its development, severely tried by political controversies, with a13 small population scattered over a long stretch of territory, from Sydney to Niagara, there could be any intellectual stimulus or literary effort except what was represented in newspapers like the Gazette of Montreal—which has always maintained a certain dignity of style in its long journalistic career—the Gazette and the Canadien, of Quebec, the Nova Scotian of Halifax, or displayed itself in keen contests in the legislatures or court-houses of a people delighting always in such displays as there were made of mental power and natural eloquence. From a literary point of view our American neighbours had, during this period, left us away behind, in fact no comparison can be made between the two countries; laying aside the original creation of Sam Slick. Towards the close of the eighteenth century Belknap published his admirable history of New Hampshire,[24] while the third volume of Hutchinson's history of Massachusetts appeared in 1828, to close a work of rare merit alike for careful research, philosophic acuteness and literary charm. That admirable collection of political and constitutional essays known as the "Federalist" had attained a wide circulation and largely influenced the destinies of the union under the constitution of 1783. Chief Justice Marshall illumined the bench by his great judicial decisions which have won a remarkable place in legal literature, on account of their close, acute reasoning, breadth of knowledge, insight into great constitutional principles, and their immediate influence on the political development of the federal republic. Washington Irving published, as far back as 1819, his "Sketch Book," in which appeared the original creation of Rip Van Winkle, and followed it up with other works which recall Addison's delightful style, and gave him a fame abroad that no later American writer has ever surpassed. Cooper's romances began to appear in 1821, and Bancroft published in 1834 the first volume of what is a great history despite its somewhat rhetorical and ambitious style. Hawthorne's "Twice Told Tales" appeared in 1835, but his fame was to be won in later years when he wrote the "Scarlet Letter" and the "House of Seven Gables," the most original and quaint productions that New England genius has yet produced. If I linger for a moment among these men it is14 because they were not merely American by the influence of their writings; but wherever the English tongue is spoken and English literature is read these writers of a past generation, as it may be said of others of later times, claim the gratitude of the untold thousands whom they have instructed and helped in many a weary and sad, as well as idle hour. They were not Canadians, but they illustrated the genius of this continent of ours.

It was in the years that followed the concession of responsible government that a new era dawned on Canada—an era of intellectual as well as material activity. Then common schools followed the establishment of municipal institutions in Ontario. Even the province of Quebec awoke from its sullen lethargy and assumed greater confidence in the future, as its statesmen gradually recognized the fact that the union of 1841 could be turned to the advantage of French Canada despite it having been largely based on the hope of limiting the development of French Canadian institutions, and gradually leading the way to the assimilation of the two races. Political life still claimed the best talent and energy, as it has always done in this country; and, while Papineau soon disappeared from the arena where he had been, under a different condition of things, a powerful disturbing influence among his compatriots, men of greater discretion and wider statesmanship like Lafontaine, Morin and Cartier, took his place to the decided benefit of French Canada. Robert Baldwin, a tried and conservative reformer, yielded to the antagonistic influences that eventually arrayed themselves in his own party against him and retired to a privacy from which he never ventured until his death. William Lyon Mackenzie came back from exile and took a place once more in legislative halls only to find there was no longer scope for mere querulous agitators and restless politicians. Joseph Howe still devoted himself with untiring zeal to his countrymen in his native province, while Judge Wilmot, afterwards governor like the former in confederation days, delighted the people of New Brunswick with his rapid, fervid, scholarly eloquence.15 James W. Johnstone, long the leader of the Conservative party in Nova Scotia, remarkable for his great flow of language and argument; William Young, an astute politician; James Boyle Uniacke, with all the genius of an Irish orator; Laurence O'Connor Doyle, wit and Irishman; Samuel J. W. Archibald with his silver tongue, afterwards master of the rolls; Adams G. Archibald, polished gentleman; Leonard Tilley with his suavity of demeanour and skill as a politician; Charles Tupper with his great command of language, earnestness of expression and courage of conviction, were the leading exponents of the political opinions and of the culture and oratory of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In the upper provinces we had in addition to the names of the distinguished French Canadians I have already mentioned, those of John A. Macdonald, at all times a ready and incisive debater, a great party tactician, and a statesman of generous aspirations, who was destined to die very many years later with the knowledge that he had realized his conception of a federation uniting all the territory of British North America, from Sydney to Victoria, under one government. The names of Allan McNab, Francis Hincks, George Brown, George Etienne Cartier, Alexander Galt, D'Arcy McGee, Louis Sicotte, John Hillyard Cameron, Alexander Mackenzie, Seth Huntington, William McDougall, Antoine Dorion, Alexander Campbell, and of other men, eminent for their knowledge of finance, their powers as debaters, their graceful oratory, their legal acumen, their political skill and their intellectual achievements in their respective spheres, will be recalled by many of those who hear me, since the most eminent among them have but recently disappeared from the stage of active life.

As long as party government lasts in this country men will be divided into political divisions, and objection will be of course time and again taken to the methods by which these and other political leaders have achieved their party ends, and none of us will be always satisfied with the conclusions to which their at times overweening ambition has led them; but, taking them all in all, I believe for one who has lived all my life among politicians and statesmen that, despite their failings and weaknesses, the16 public men of our country in those days laboured on the whole conscientiously from their own points of view to make Canada happier and greater. Indeed, when I look around me and see what has been done in the face of great obstacles during a half century and less, I am bound to pay this tribute to those who laboured earnestly in the difficult and trying intellectual field of public life.

But this period which brought so many bright intellects into the activities of political life was distinguished also, not merely for the material advance in industry, but notably for some performance in the less hazardous walk of literature. The newspaper press with the progress of population, the increase of wealth, the diffusion of education, the construction of railways and telegraph lines, and the development of political liberty, found itself stimulated to new energy and enterprise. A daily press now commenced to meet the necessities of the larger and wealthier cities and towns. It must be admitted, however, that from a strictly intellectual point of view there was not in some respects a marked advance in the tone and style of the leading public journals. Political partisanship ran extremely high in those days—higher than it has ever since—and grosser personalities than have ever characterized newspapers in this country sullied the editorial columns of leading exponents of public opinion. No doubt there was much brilliant and forcible writing, despite the acrimony and abuse that were too often considered more necessary than incisive argument and logical reasoning when a political opponent had to be met. It was rarely that one could get at the whole truth of a question by reading only one newspaper; it was necessary to take two or three or more on different sides of politics in order to obtain even an accurate idea of the debates in the legislative halls. A Liberal or Conservative journal would consider it beneath its legitimate functions even as a newspaper to report with any fulness the speeches of its political adversaries. Of course this is not newspaper editing in the proper sense of the phrase. It is not the English method assuredly, since the London Times, the best example of a well-equipped and well-conducted newspaper, has always considered it necessary to give17 equal prominence to the speeches of Peel, Russell, Palmerston, Derby, Disraeli, Gladstone—of all the leaders irrespective of party. Even in these days of heated controversy on the Irish question one can always find in the columns of the London press fair and accurate reports of the speeches of Gladstone, Balfour, McCarthy, Chamberlain, Morley and Blake. This is the sound basis on which true and honest journalism must always rest if it is to find its legitimate reward, not in the fickle smiles of the mere party follower, but in the support of that great public which can best repay the enterprise and honesty of a true newspaper. Still, despite this violent partisanship to which bright intellects lowered themselves, and the absence of that responsibility to public opinion expected from its active teachers, the press of Canada, during the days of which I am speaking, kept pace in some essential respects with the material progress of the country, and represented too well the tone and spirit of the mass in the country where the rudiments of culture were still rough and raw. Public intelligence, however, was being gradually diffused, and according as the population increased, and the material conditions of the country improved, a literature of some merit commenced to show itself. The poems of Crémazie,[25] of Chauveau,[26] of Howe,[27] of Sangster [28] and others, were imbued with a truly Canadian spirit—with a love for Canada, its scenery, its history and its traditions, which entitled them to a larger audience than they probably ever had in this or other countries. None of those were great poets, but all of them were more or less gifted with a measure of true poetic genius, the more noteworthy because it showed itself in the rawness and newness of a colonial life. Amid the activities of a very busy period the poetic instinct of Canadians constantly found some expression. One almost now forgotten poet who was engaged in journalism in Montreal wrote an ambitious drama, "Saul," which was described at the time by a British critic as "a drama treated with great poetic power and depth of psychological knowledge which are often quite startling;" and the author followed it up with other poems, displaying also much imagination and feeling, but at no time reaching the ears of a large and appreciative audience. We cannot,18 however, claim Charles Heavysege [29] as a product of Canadian soil and education, for he was a man of mature age when he made his home in this country, and his works were in no wise inspired by Canadian sentiment, scenery or aspiration. In history Canadians have always shown some strength, and perhaps this was to be expected in view of the fact that political and historical literature—such works as Hamilton's "Federalist" or Todd's "Parliamentary Government"[30]—naturally engages the attention of active intellects in a new country at a time when its institutions have to be moulded, and it is necessary to collect precedents and principles from the storehouse of the past for the assistance of the present. A most useful narrative of the political occurrences in Lower Canada, from the establishment of legislative institutions until the rebellion of 1837–38 and the union of 1841, was written by Mr. Robert Christie, long a publicist of note and a member of the assembly of the province. While it has no claim to literary style it has the great merit of stating the events of the day with fairness and of citing at length numerous original documents bearing on the text.[31] In French Canada the names of Garneau [32] and Ferland [33] have undoubtedly received their full meed of praise for their clearness of style, industry of research, and scholarly management of their subject. Now that the political passion that so long convulsed the public mind in this country has disappeared with the causes that gave it birth, one is hardly prepared to make as much a hero of Papineau as Garneau attempted in his assuredly great book, while the foundation of a new Dominion and the dawn of an era of larger political life, has probably given a somewhat sectional character to such historical work. Still, despite its intense French Canadian spirit, Garneau's volumes notably illustrate the literary instinct and intellectual strength which have always been distinguishing features of the best productions of the able and even brilliant men who have devoted themselves to literature with marked success among their French Canadian countrymen, who are wont to pay a far deeper homage to such literary efforts than the colder, less impulsive English Canadian character has ever shown itself disposed to give to those who have been equally worthy of recognition in the English-speaking provinces.

As I glance over my library shelves I find indeed that historical literature has continued since the days of Garneau and Ferland, to enlist the earnest and industrious study of Canadians with more or less success. In English Canada, John Charles Dent produced a work on the political development of Canada from the union of 1841 until the confederation of 1867, which was written with fairness and ability, but he was an Englishman by birth and education, though resident for many years in the city of Toronto.[34] And here let me observe that though such men as Dent, Heavysege, Faillon, Daniel Wilson, Hunt, D'Arcy McGee and Goldwin Smith were not born or educated in Canada like Haliburton, Logan, J. W. Dawson, Joseph Howe, Wilmot, Cartier, Garneau, or Fréchette, but only came to this country in the maturity of their mental powers, yet to men of their class the Dominion owes a heavy debt of gratitude for the ability and earnestness with which they have elevated the intellectual standard of the community where they have laboured. Although all of us may not be prepared to accept the conclusions of the historian, or approve the judgment of the political critic; although we may regret that a man of such deep scholarship and wide culture as Goldwin Smith has never yet been able to appreciate the Canadian or growing national sentiment of this dependency, yet who can doubt, laying aside all political or personal prejudice, that he, like the others I have named, has stimulated intellectual development in his adopted home, and so far has given us compensation for some utterances which, so many Canadians honestly believe, mar an otherwise useful and brilliant career. Such literary men have undoubtedly their uses, since they seem specially intended by a wise dispensation of affairs to cure us of too much self-complacency, and to prevent us from falling into a condition of mental stagnation by giving us from time to time abundant material for reflection. So much, by way of parenthesis, is due to the able men who have adopted Canada as their home and have been labouring in various vocations to stimulate the intellectual growth of this Dominion. A most20 accurate historical record of the same period of our history as that reviewed by Dent was made in French about the same time by Louis Turcotte of Quebec.[35] Mr. Benjamin Sulte, a member of this society, has also given us the results of many years of conscientious research in his "Histoire des Canadiens," which is not so well known as it ought to be, probably on account of its cumbrous size and mode of publication.[36] The Abbé Casgrain, also a member of the society and a most industrious author, has recently devoted himself with true French Canadian fervour to the days of Montcalm and Lévis, and by the aid of a large mass of original documents has thrown much light on a very interesting and important epoch of the history of America.[37] Dr. Kingsford with patience and industry has continued his history of Canada, which is distinguished by accuracy and research.[38] It is not my intention to enumerate all those names which merit remark in this connection, for this is not a collection of bibliographical notes,[39] but simply a review of the more salient features of our intellectual development in the well-marked periods of our history. Indeed it is gratifying to us to know that the Royal Society comprises within its ranks nearly all the historical writers in Canada, and it would seem too much like pure egotism were I to dilate on their respective performances. Of poets since the days of Crémazie we have had our full proportion, and it is encouraging to know that the poems of Fréchette,—whose best work has been crowned by the French Academy,—LeMay, Reade, Mair, Roberts, Bliss Carman, Wilfred Campbell and Lampman have gained recognition from time to time in the world of letters outside of Canada.[40][B] We have yet to produce in English Canada a book of poems which can touch the sympathies and live on the lips of the world like those of Whittier and Longfellow, but we need not despair since even in the country which gave these birth they have not their compeers. Some even declare that the only bard of promise who appears in these days to touch that chord of nature which makes the whole world kin is James Whitcomb Riley, the Hoosier poet, despite his tendency to exaggerate21 provincial dialect and make his true poetic genius too subordinate to what becomes at last an affectation and a mere mannerism which wearies by its very repetition. Even in England there is hesitation in choosing a poet laureate; there are Swinburne, Morris and other poets, but not another Tennyson, and it has been even suggested that the honour might pass to a master of poetic prose, John Ruskin, whose brilliant genius has been ever devoted to a lofty idealism which would make the world much happier and better. At the present time Canadian poets obtain a place with regularity in the best class of American magazines, and not infrequently their verse reaches a higher level than the majority of poetic aspirants who appear in the same field of poetry; but for one I am not an ardent admirer of American magazine poems which appear too often mere machine work and not the results of that true poetic inspiration which alone can achieve permanent fame.

The poems of the well known American authors, Aldrich, Gilder and Stedman, have certainly an easy rhythmical flow and an artistic finish which the majority of Canadian poetic aspirants should study with far more closeness. At the same time it may be said that even these artists do not often surpass in poetic thought the best productions of the Canadians to whom I have referred as probably illustrating most perfectly the highest development so far among us of this department of belles-lettres. It is not often that one comes across more exquisitely conceived poems than some of those written by Mr. John Reade, whom the laborious occupation of journalism and probably the past indifference of a Canadian public to Canadian poetry have for a long while diverted from a literary field where it would seem he should have won a wider fame. Among the verses which one can read time and again are those of which the first lines are

It would be interesting as well as instructive if some competent critic, with the analytical faculty and the poetic instinct of Matthew Arnold or Sainte-Beuve, were to study the English and French Canadian poets and show whether they are mere imitators of the best models of French and English literature, or whether their work contains within itself those germs which give promise of original fruition in the future. It will be remembered that the French critic, though a poet of merit himself, has spoken of what he calls "the radical inadequacy of French poetry." In his opinion, whatever talent the French poets have for strophe and line, their work, as a rule is "too slight, too soon read, too poor in ideas, to influence a serious mind for any length of time." No doubt many others think that, in comparison with the best conceptions of Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Emerson, Browning and Tennyson, French poetry is, generally speaking, inadequate for the expression of the most sublime thoughts, of the strongest passion, or of the most powerful imagination, and though it must always please us by its easy rhythm and lucidity of style, it fails to make that vivid impression on the mind and senses which is the best test of that true poetic genius which influences generations and ever lives in the hearts of the people. It represents in some respects the lightness and vivacity of the French intellectual temperament under ordinary conditions, and not the strength of the national character, whose depths are only revealed at some crisis which evokes a deep sentiment of patriotism. "Partant pour la Syrie," so often heard in the days of the last Bonaparte regime, probably illustrated this lighter tendency of the French mind just as the "Marseillaise," the noblest and most impressive of popular poetic outbursts, illustrated national passion evoked by abnormal conditions. French Canadian poetry has been often purely imitative of French models, like Musset and Gauthier, both in style and sentiment, and consequently lacked strength and originality. It might be thought that in this new country poets would be inspired by original conceptions—that the intellectual fruition would be fresh and vigorous like some natural products that grow so luxuriantly on the virginal soil of the new Dominion, and not like those which grow on land which is renewed and enriched by artificial means after centuries23 of growth. Perhaps the literature of a colonial dependency, or a relatively new country, must necessarily in its first stages be imitative, and it is only now and then an original mind bursts the fetters of intellectual subordination. In the United States Emerson and Hawthorne probably best represent the original thought and imagination of that comparatively new country, just as Aldrich and Howells represent in the first case English culture in poetry, and in the other the sublimated essence of reportorial realism. The two former are original thinkers, the two others pure imitators. Walt Whitman's poems certainly show at times much power and originality of conception, but after all they are simply the creations of an eccentric genius and illustrate a phase of that Realism towards which fiction even in America has been tending of late, and which has been already degraded in France to a Naturalism which is positively offensive. He has not influenced to any perceptible extent the intellect of his generation or elevated the thoughts of his countrymen like the two great minds I have just named. Yet even Whitman's success, relatively small as it was in his own country, arose chiefly from the fact that he attempted to be an American poet, representing the pristine vigour and natural freedom of a new land. It is when French Canadian poets become thoroughly Canadian by the very force of the inspiration of some Canadian subject they have chosen, that we can see them at their best. Fréchette has all the finish of the French poets, and while it cannot be said that he has yet originated great thoughts which are likely to live among even the people whom he has so often instructed and delighted, yet he has given us poems like that on the discovery of the Mississippi,[D] which proves that he is capable of even better things if he would always seek inspiration from the sources of the deeply interesting history of his own country, or enter into the inner mysteries and social relations of his own people, rather than dwell on the lighter shades and incidents of their lives. Perhaps in some respects Crémazie had greater capabilities for the poems of deep passion or vivid imagination than any of his successors in literature; the few national24 poems he left behind are a promise of what he could have produced had the circumstances of his later life been happier.[E] After all, the poetry that lives is the poetry of human life and human sympathy, of joy and sorrow, rather than verses on mountains, rivers and lakes, or sweetly worded sonnets to Madame B. or Mademoiselle C. When we compare the English with the French Canadian poets we can see what an influence the more picturesque and interesting history of French Canada exercises on the imagination of its writers. The poets that claim Ontario for their home give us rhythmical and pleasing descriptions of the lake and river scenery of which the varied aspects and moods might well captivate the eye of the poet as well as of the painter. It is very much painting in both cases; the poet should be an artist by temperament equally with the painter who puts his thoughts on canvas and not in words. Descriptions of our meadows, prairies and forests, with their wealth of herbage and foliage, or artistic sketches of pretty bits of lake scenery have their limitations as respects their influence on a people. Great thoughts or deeds are not bred by scenery. The American poem that has captured the world is not any one of Bryant's delightful sketches of the varied landscape of his native land, but Longfellow's Evangeline, which is a story of the "affection that hopes, and endures and is patient." Dollard, and the Lady of Fort La Tour are themes which we do not find in prosaic Ontario, whose history is only a century old—a history of stern materialism as a rule, rarely picturesque or romantic, and hardly ever heroic except in some episodes of the war of 1812–15, in which Canadians, women as well as men, did their duty faithfully to king and country, though their deeds have never yet been adequately told in poem or prose. The story of Laura Secord's toilsome journey on a June day eighty years ago [41a] seems as susceptible of strong poetic treatment as Paul Revere's Ride, told in matchless verse by Longfellow.

I think if we compare the best Canadian poems with the same class of literature in Australia the former do not at all lose25 by the comparison. Thanks to the thoughtfulness of a friend in South Australia I have had many opportunities of late of studying the best work of Australian writers, chiefly poets and novelists,[42] and have come to the conclusion that at least the poets of both hemispheres—for to fiction we cannot make even a pretense—reflect credit on each country. In one respect indeed Canadians can claim a superiority over their fellow-citizens of the British Empire in that far off Australian land, and that is, in the fact that we have poets, and historians, and essayists, who write the languages of France and England with purity and even elegance; that the grace and precision of the French tongue have their place in this country alongside the vigorous and copious expression of the English language. More than that, the Canadians have behind them a history which is well calculated to stimulate writers to give utterance to national sentiment. I mean national in the sense of being thoroughly imbued with a love for the country, its scenery, its history and its aspirations. The people of that great island continent possess great natural beauties and riches—flowers and fruits of every kind flourish there in rare profusion, and gold and gems are among the treasures of the soil, but its scenery is far less varied and picturesque than ours and its history is but of yesterday compared with that of Canada. Australians cannot point to such historic ground as is found from Louisbourg to Quebec, or from Montreal to Champlain, the battle ground of nations whose descendants now live under one flag, animated by feelings of a common interest and a common aspiration for the future!

Perhaps if I were at any time inclined to be depressed as to the future of Canada, I should find some relief in those poems by Canadian authors which take frequently an elevated and patriotic range of thought and vision, and give expression to aspirations worthy of men born and living in this country. When some men doubt the future and would see us march into the ranks of other states, with heads bowed down in confession of our failure to hold our own on this continent and build up a new nation always in the closest connection with England, I ask them to turn to the poems of Joseph Howe and read that inspiring26 poetic tribute to the mother country, "All hail to the day when the Britons came over"—

Or read that tribute which the French Canadian laureate, Fréchette, has been fain to pay to the English flag under whose folds his country has enjoyed so much freedom and protection for its institutions:

Or take up a volume by Roberts and read that frequently quoted poem of which these are the closing lines:

Even Mr. Edgar has forgotten the astute lawyer and the politician in his national song, "This Canada of Ours," and has given expression to the deep sentiment that lies as I have said in the heart of every true Canadian and forces him at times to words like these:

Such poems are worth a good many political speeches even in parliament so far as their effect upon the hearts and sympathies is concerned. We all remember a famous man once said, "Let me make all the ballads, and I care not who makes the laws of a people."

[B] A list of Canadian poems which have been printed in books (from 1867–1893) appears in the Bibliographical Notes (40).

[C] Given in full in Appendix.

[D] See Appendix to this work, note 40, for an extract from this fine poem.

[E] See Appendix to this work, note 40, for an extract from one of his national poems.

But if Canada can point to some creditable achievement of recent years in history, poetry and essay-writing—for I think if one looks from time to time at the leading magazines and reviews of the two continents he will find that Canada is fairly well represented in their pages [44]—there is one respect in which Canadians have never won any marked success, and that is in the novel or romance. "Wacousta, or the Prophecy: a Tale of the Canadas," was written sixty years ago by Major John Richardson,[45a] a native Canadian, but it was at the best a spirited imitation of Cooper, and has not retained the interest it attracted at a time when the American novelist had created a taste for exaggerated pictures of Indian life and forest scenery. Of course attempts have been made time and again by other English Canadians to describe episodes of our history, and portray some of our national and social characteristics, but with the single exception of "The Golden Dog,"[45] written a few years ago by Mr. William Kirby, of Niagara, I cannot point to one which shows much imaginative or literary skill. If we except the historical romance by Mr. Marmette, "François de Bienville,"[46] which has had several editions, French Canada is even weak in this particular, and this is the more surprising because there is abundance of material for the novelist or writer of romance in her peculiar society and institutions, and in her historic annals and traditions. But as yet neither a Cooper, nor an Irving, nor a Hawthorne has appeared to delight Canadians in the fruitful field of fiction that their country offers to the pen of imaginative genius. It is true we have a work by De Gaspé, "Les Anciens Canadiens,"[47] which has been translated by Roberts and one or two others, but it has rather the value of historical annals than the spirit and form of true romance. It28 is the very poverty of our production in what ought to be a rich source of literary inspiration, French Canadian life and history, that has given currency to a work whose signal merit is its simplicity of style and adherence to historical fact. As Parkman many years ago first commenced to illumine the too often dull pages of Canadian history, so other American writers have also ventured in the still fresh field of literary effort that romance offers to the industrious, inventive brain. In the "Romance of Dollard," "Tonty," and the "Lady of Fort St. John," Mrs. Mary Hartwell Catherwood has recalled most interesting episodes of our past annals with admirable literary taste and a deep enthusiasm for Canadian history in its romantic and picturesque aspects.[48] When we read Conan Doyle's "Refugees"—the best historical novel that has appeared from the English Press for years—we may well regret that it is not Canadian genius which has created so fascinating a romance out of the materials that exist in the history of the ancien régime. Dr. Doyle's knowledge of Canadian life and history is obviously very superficial; but slight as it is he has used it with a masterly skill to give Canada a part in his story—to show how closely associated were the fortunes of the colony with the French Court,—with the plans and intrigues of the king and his mistresses, and of the wily ecclesiastics who made all subservient to their deep purpose. It would seem from our failure to cultivate successfully the same popular branch of letters that Canadians are wanting in the inventive and imaginative faculty, and that the spirit of materialism and practical habits, which has so long necessarily cramped literary effort in this country, still prevents happy ventures in this direction. It is a pity that no success has been won in this country,—as in Australia by Mrs. Campbell Praed, "Tasma," and many others,—in the way of depicting those characteristics of Canadian life, in the past and present, which, when touched by the imaginative and cultured intellect, will reach the sympathies and earn the plaudits of all classes of readers at home and abroad. Perhaps, Mr. Gilbert Parker,[49] now a resident of London, but a Canadian by birth, education and sympathies, will yet succeed in his laudable ambition of giving form and vitality to the abundant materials29 that exist in the Dominion, among the habitants on the old seigneuries of the French province, in that historic past of which the ruins still remain in Montreal and Quebec, in the Northwest with its quarrels of adventurers in the fur trade, and in the many other sources of inspiration that exist in this country for the true story-teller who can invent a plot and give his creations a touch of reality, and not that doll-like, saw-dust appearance that the vapid characters of some Canadian stories assume from the very poverty of the imagination that has originated them.

That imagination and humour have some existence in the Canadian mind—though one sees little of those qualities in the press or in public speeches, or in parliamentary debates—we can well believe when we read "The Dodge Club Abroad," by Professor De Mille,[50] who was cut off in the prime of his intellectual strength, or "A Social Departure," by Sara Jeannette Duncan,[51] who, as a sequence of a trip around the world, has given us not a dry book of travels but a story with touches of genial humour and bright descriptions of life and nature, and who is now following up that excellent literary effort by promising sketches of East Indian life. A story which attracted some attention not long since for originality of conception and ran through several editions, "Beggars All," is written by a Miss L. Dougall, who is said to be a member of a Montreal family, and though this book does not deal with incidents of Canadian life it illustrates that fertility of invention which is latent among our people and only requires a favourable opportunity to develop itself. The best literature of this kind is like that of France, which has the most intimate correspondence with the social life and development of the people of the country. "The excellence of a romance," writes Chevalier Bunsen in his critical preface to Gustav Freytag's "Debit and Credit," "like that of an epic or a drama, lies in the apprehension and truthful exhibition of the course of human things.... The most vehement longing of our times is manifestly after a faithful mirror of the present." With us, all efforts in this direction have been most common place—hardly above the average of "Social Notes" in the columns of Ottawa newspapers.

I do not for one depreciate the influence of good fiction on the minds of a reading community like ours; it is inevitable that a busy people, and especially women distracted with household cares, should always find that relief in this branch of literature which no other reading can give them; and if the novel has then become a necessity of the times in which we live, at all events I hope Canadians, who may soon venture into the field, will study the better models, endeavour to infuse some originality into their creations and plots, and not bring the Canadian fiction of the future to that low level to which the school of realism in France, and in a minor degree in England and the United States, would degrade the novel and story of every-day life. To my mind it goes without saying that a history written with that fidelity to original authorities, that picturesqueness of narration, that philosophic insight into the motives and plans of statesmen, that study and comprehension of the character and life of a people, which should constitute the features of a great work of this class,—that such a history has assuredly a much deeper and more useful purpose in the culture and education of the world than any work of fiction can possibly have even when animated by a lofty genius. Still as the novel and romance will be written as long as a large proportion of the world amid the cares and activities of life seeks amusement rather than knowledge, it is for the Canadian Scott, or Hawthorne, or "George Eliot," or Dickens of the future, to have a higher and purer aim than the majority of novel writers of the present day, who, with a few notable exceptions like Black, Besant, Barrie, Stephenson or Oliphant, weary us by their dulness and lack of the imaginative and inventive faculty, and represent rather the demands of the publishers to meet the requirements of a public which must have its new novel as regularly as the Scotchman must have his porridge, the Englishman his egg and toast, and the American his ice-water.

If it were possible within the compass of this address to give a list of the many histories, poems, essays and pamphlets that have appeared from the Canadian press during the first quarter of a century since the Dominion of Canada has been in existence,31 the number would astonish many persons who have not followed our literary activity. Of course the greater part of this work is ephemeral in its character and has no special value; much of the historical work is a dreary collection of facts and dates which shows the enterprise of school publishers and school teachers and is generally wanting in that picturesqueness and breadth of view which give interest to history and leave a vivid impression on the mind of the student. Most of these pamphlets have been written on religious, political or legal questions of the day. Many of the poems illustrate rather the aspirations of the school boy or maiden whose effusions generally appeared in the poet's corner of the village newspaper. Still there are even among these mere literary "transients" evidences of power of incisive argument and of some literary style. In fact, all the scientific, historical and poetical contributions of the period in question, make up quite a library of Canadian literature. And here let me observe in passing, some persons still suppose that belles-lettres, works of fiction, poetry and criticism, alone constitute literature. The word can take in its complete sense a very wide range, for it embraces the pamphlet or monograph on the most abstruse scientific, or mathematical or geographical or physical subject, as well as the political essay, the brilliant history, or the purely imaginative poem or novel. It is not so much the subject as the form and style which make them worthy of a place in literature. One of the most remarkable books ever written, the "Esprit des Lois" by Montesquieu, has won the highest place in literature by its admirable style, and in the science of politics by the importance of its matter. The works of Lyell, Huxley, Hunt, Dawson, Tyndall, and Darwin owe their great value not entirely to the scientific ideas and principles and problems there discussed, but also to the lucidity of style in which the whole subject is presented to the reader, whether versed or not in science. "Literature is a large word," says Matthew Arnold,[52] discussing with Tyndall this very subject; "it may mean everything written with letters or printed in a book. Euclid's Elements and Newton's Principia are thus literature. All knowledge that reaches us through books is literature. But as I do not mean, by knowing ancient32 Rome, knowing merely more or less of Latin belles-lettres, and taking no account of Rome's military, and political, and legal, and administrative work in the world; and as, by knowing ancient Greece, I understand knowing her as the giver of Greek art, and the guide to a free and right use of reason and to scientific methods, and the founder of our mathematics, and physics, and astronomy, and biology, I understand knowing her as all this, and not merely knowing certain Greek poems, and histories, and treatises and speeches, so as to the knowledge of modern nations also. By knowing modern nations, I mean not merely knowing their belles-lettres, but knowing also what has been done by such men as Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin." I submit this definition of literature by a great English critic and poet who certainly knew what he was writing about, to the studious consideration of Principal Grant who, in an address to the Royal Society two years ago,[53] appeared to have some doubt that much of its work could be called literature; a doubt that he forgot for the moment actually consigned to a questionable level also his many devious utterances and addresses on political, religious and other questions of the day, and left him entirely out of the ranks of littérateurs and in a sort of limbo which is a world of neither divinity, nor politics, nor letters. Taking this definition of the bright apostle of English culture, I think Canadians can fairly claim to have some position as a literary people even if it be a relatively humble one, on account of the work done in history, belles-lettres, political science and the sciences generally Science alone has had in Canada for nearly half a century many votaries who have won for themselves high distinction, as the eminent names on the list of membership of the Royal Society since its foundation can conclusively show. The literature of science, as studied and written by Canadians, is remarkably comprehensive, and finds a place in every well furnished library of the world.

The doyen of science in Canada, Sir William Dawson,[54] we are all glad to know, is still at work after a long and severe illness, which was, no doubt, largely due to the arduous devotion of years to education and science. It is not my intention to33 refer here to other well-known names in scientific literature, but I may pause for an instant to mention the fact that one of the earliest scientific writers of eminence, who was a Canadian by birth and education, was Mr. Elkanah Billings,[55] palæontologist and geologist, who contributed his first papers to the Citizen of Ottawa, then Bytown, afterwards to have greatness thrown upon it and made the political capital of Canada.

Here I come naturally to answer the questions that may be put by some that have not followed the history and the work of the Royal Society of Canada,—What measure of success has it won? has it been of value to the Canadian people in whose interests it was established, and with whose money it is mainly supported? Twelve years have nearly passed away since a few gentlemen, engaged in literary, scientific and educational pursuits, assembled at McGill College on the invitation of the Marquess of Lorne, then governor-general of Canada, to consider the practicability of establishing a society which would bring together both the French and English Canadian elements of our population for purposes of common study and the discussion of such subjects as might be profitable to the Dominion, and at the same time develop the literature of learning and science as far as practicable.[56] This society was to have a Dominion character—to form a union of leading representatives of all those engaged in literature and science in the several provinces, with the principle of federation observed in so far as it asked every society of note in every section to send delegates to make reports on the work of the year within its particular sphere. Of the gentlemen who assembled at this interesting meeting beneath the roof of the learned principal of Montreal's well-known university, the majority still continue active friends of the society they aided Lord Lome to found; but I must also add with deep regret that, within a little more than a year, two of the most distinguished promoters of the society, Dr. Thomas Sterry Hunt and Sir Daniel Wilson, have been called from their active and successful labours34 in education, science and letters. As I know perhaps better than any one else, on account of an official connection with the society from the very hour it was suggested by Lord Lorne, no two members ever comprehended more thoroughly the useful purpose which it could serve amid the all-surrounding materialism of this country, or laboured more conscientiously until the very hour of their death by their writings and their influence to make the society a Canadian institution, broad in its scope, liberal in its culture, and elevated in its aspirations. Without dwelling on the qualifications of two men [57] whose names are imperishably connected with the work of their lifetime—archæology, education and chemistry—I may go on to say that the result of the Montreal meeting was the establishment of a society which met for the first time at Ottawa in the May of 1882, with a membership of eighty Fellows under the presidency of Dr. (afterwards Sir) William Dawson, and the vice-presidency of the Honourable P. J. O. Chauveau, a distinguished French Canadian who had won a high name, not only in literature, but also in the political world where he was for years a conspicuous figure; noted for his eloquence, his culture and his courtesy of manner. The society was established in no spirit of isolation from other literary and scientific men because its membership was confined at the outset to eighty Fellows who had written "memoirs of merit or rendered eminent services to literature or science"—a number subsequently increased to a hundred under certain limitations. On the contrary it asks for, and has constantly published, contributions from all workers in the same fields of effort with the simple proviso that such contributions are presented with the endorsation of an actual member, though they may be read before any one of the four sections by the author himself. Every association, whether purely literature or historical, or scientific, as I have already intimated, has been asked to assist in the work of the society,[58] and its delegates given every advantage at the meetings possessed by the Fellows themselves, except voting and discussing the purely internal affairs of the Royal Society. Some misapprehension appears to have existed at first in the public mind that, because the society was named "The Royal Society of Canada,"35 an exclusive and even aristocratic institution was in contemplation. It seems a little perplexing to understand why an objection could be taken to such a designation when the Queen is at the head of our system of government, and her name appears in the very first clauses of the act of union, and in every act requiring the exercise of the royal prerogative in this loyal dependency of the crown. As a fact, in using the title, the desire was to follow the example of similar societies in Australia, and recall that famous Royal Society in England, whose fellowship is a title of nobility in the world of science. Certain features were copied from the Institute of France, inasmuch as there is a division into sections with the idea of bringing together into each for the purposes of common study and discussion those men who have devoted themselves to special branches of the literature of learning and science. In this country and, indeed, in America generally, a notable tendency is what may be called the levelling principle—to deprecate the idea that any man should be in any way better than another; and in order to prevent that result it is necessary to assail him as soon as he shows any political or intellectual merit, and to stop him, if possible, from attaining that mental superiority above his fellows that his industry and his ability may enable him to reach. The Royal Society suffered a little at first from this spirit of depreciation which is often carried to an extent that one at times could almost believe that this is a country without political virtues or intellectual development of any kind. The claims of some of its members were disputed by literary aspirants who did not happen for a moment to be enrolled in its ranks, and the society was charged with exclusiveness when, as a fact, it simply limited its membership, and demanded certain qualifications, with the desire to make that membership a test of some intellectual effort, and consequently more prized by those who were allowed sooner or later to enter. It would have been quite possible for the society to make itself a sort of literary or scientific picnic by allowing every man or woman who had, or believed they had, some elementary scientific or other knowledge to enter its ranks, and have the consequent advantages of cheap railway fares and other subsidiary36 advantages on certain occasions, but its promoters did not think that would best subserve the special objects they had in view. At all events, none of them could have been prompted by any desire to create a sort of literary aristocracy. Indeed, one would like to know how any one in his senses could believe for a moment that any institution of learning could be founded with exclusive tendencies in these times, in this or any other country! If there is an intelligent democracy anywhere it is the Republic of Letters. It may be aristocratic in the sense that there are certain men and women who have won fame and stand on a pedestal above their fellows, but it is the world, not of a class, but of all ranks and conditions, that has agreed to place them on that pedestal as a tribute to their genius which has made people happier, wiser and better, has delighted and instructed the artisan as well as the noble.

For twelve years then the Royal Society has continued to persevere in its work; and thanks to the encouragement given it by the government of Canada it has been able, year by year, to publish a large and handsome volume of the proceedings and transactions of its meetings. No other country in the world can exhibit volumes more creditable on the whole in point of workmanship than those of this society. The papers and monographs that have appeared embrace a wide field of literature—the whole range of archæological, ethnological, historical, geographical, biological, mathematical and physical studies. The volumes now are largely distributed throughout Canada—among the educated and thinking classes—and are sent to every library, society, university and learned institution of note in the world, with the hope of making the Dominion better known. The countries where they are placed for purposes of reference are these:

So well known are these 'Transactions' now in every country that, when it happens some library or institution has not received it from the beginning or has been forgotten in the distribution, the officers of the society have very soon received an intimation of the fact. This is gratifying, since it shows that the world of higher literature and of special research—the world of scholars and scientists engaged in important observation and investigation—is interested in the work that is being done in the same branches in this relatively new country. It would be impossible for me within the limits of this address to give you anything like an accurate and comprehensive idea of the numerous papers the subject and treatment of which, even from a largely practical and utilitarian point of view, have been of decided value to Canada, and I can only say here that the members of the society have endeavoured to bring to the consideration of the subjects they have discussed a spirit of conscientious study and research, and that, too, without any fee or reward except that stimulating pleasure which work of an intellectual character always brings to the mind.

In these days of critical comparative science, when the study of the aboriginal or native languages of this continent has absorbed the attention of close students, the Royal Society has endeavoured to give encouragement and currency to those studies by publishing grammars, vocabularies and other monographs relating to Indian tongues and antiquities. The Abbé Cuoq, one of the most erudite scholars of this continent in this special branch of knowledge, has nearly completed in the 'Transactions' what will be a monumental work of learning on the Algonquin language. A Haida grammar and dictionary are also now awaiting the completion of the Abbé Cuoq's work to be published in the same way. A great deal of light has been thrown on Cartier's38 and Champlain's voyages in the gulf, and consequently on its cartography, by the labours of the Abbé Verreau, Prof. Ganong and others. The excellent work of the Geological Survey has been supplemented by important contributions from its staff, and consequently there is to be found in the 'Transactions' a large amount of information, both abstract and practical, on the economic and other minerals of the Dominion. Chiefly owing to the efforts of the society, the government of Canada some time ago commenced to take tidal observations on the Atlantic coasts of Canada—an enterprise of great value to the shipping and commercial interests of the country—and has also co-operated in the determination of the true longitude of Montreal which is now being prosecuted under the able superintendence of Professor McLeod. It is in the same practical spirit of investigation and action that the society has published a treatise by that veteran scholar, Dr. Moses Harvey, of St. John's, Newfoundland, on "The Artificial Propagation of Marine Food-fishes and Edible Crustaceans"; and it is satisfactory to understand from a statement made in the House of Commons last session that a question of such deep interest to our great fishing industry in the maritime provinces is likely to result in some practical measure in the direction suggested. The contributions of Sir Daniel Wilson on the "Artistic Faculty in the Aboriginal Races," "The Pre-Aryan American Man," "The Trade and Commerce of the Stone Age," and "The Huron-Iroquois Race in Canada," that typical race of American Indians, were all intended to supplement in a measure that scholarly work, "Prehistoric Man," which had brought him fame many years before. Dr. Patterson of Nova Scotia, a most careful student of the past, has made valuable contributions to the history of Portuguese exploration in North American waters, and of that remarkable lost tribe known as Beothiks or Red Indians of Newfoundland. Sir William Dawson has contributed to almost every volume of the 'Transactions' from his stores of geological learning, while his distinguished son has followed closely in his footsteps, and has made valuable additions to our knowledge, not only of the geology of the Northwest, but also of the antiquities, languages and customs of the Indian tribes of39 British Columbia and the adjacent islands. The opinions and theories of Dr. Thomas Sterry Hunt on the "Taconic Question in Geology" and the "Relations of the Taconic Series to the later Crystalline and the Cambrian Rocks," were given at length in the earlier volumes. Mr. G. F. Matthew, of St. John, New Brunswick, who is a very industrious student, has elaborated a work on the "Fauna of the St. John Group." Not only have our geological conditions been more fully explained, but our flora, ferns, and botany generally have been clearly set forth by Professors Lawson, Macoun and Penhallow. All these and many other papers of value have been illustrated by expensive plates, generally executed by Canadian artists. The majority of the names I have just given happen to be English Canadian, but the French language has been represented in science by such eminent men as Hamel, Laflamme and Deville—the two first illustrating the learning and culture of Laval, so long associated with the best scholarship of the province of Quebec. Without pursuing the subject further, let me say, as one who has always endeavoured to keep the interests of the society in view, that such monographs as I have mentioned represent the practical value of its work, and show what an important sphere of usefulness is invariably open to it. The object is not to publish ephemeral newspaper or magazine articles—that is to say, articles intended for merely popular information or purely literary practice—but always those essays and works of moderate compass which illustrate original research, experiment and investigation in all branches of historical, archæological, ethnological and scientific studies, and which will form a permanent and instructive reference library for scholars and students in the same branches of thought and study all over the world. In fact, the essays must necessarily be such as cannot be well published except through the assistance granted by a government, as in our case, or by the liberality of private individuals. The society, in fact, is in its way attempting just such work as is done by the Smithsonian Institute, on a large scale, at Washington, so far as the publication of important transactions is concerned. I admit that sometimes essays have appeared, but many more are offered from time to time, better suited to the periodicals40 of the day than to the pages of a work of which the object is to perpetuate the labours of students and scholars, and not the efforts of the mere literary amateur or trifler in belles-lettres. But while there must be necessarily such limitations to the scope of the 'Transactions,' which are largely scientific in their treatment, room will be always made for papers on any economic, social or ethical subject which, by their acute reasoning, sound philosophy and originality of thought, demand the attention of students everywhere. Such literary criticism as finds place now and then in the dignified old 'Quarterly Review' or in the 'Contemporary' will be printed whenever it is written by any Canadian author with the same power of keen analysis and judicious appreciation of the thoughts and motives of an author that we find notably in that charming study of Tennyson's "Princess," by S. E. Dawson,[59] who is a Canadian by birth, education and feeling. No doubt there is room in the Dominion for a magazine combining the features of 'Blackwood,' the 'Contemporary' and the 'Quarterly Review'; that is to say, poetry, fiction, criticism, reviews of topics of the day, and, in fact, original literary effort of the higher order, which, though mostly ephemeral in its character, must have much influence for the time being on the culture and the education of the public mind. Since the days of the old 'Canadian Monthly,'[60] which, with all its imperfections, contained much excellent work, all efforts in the same direction have been deserving of little encouragement; and, in fact, if such a venture is to succeed hereafter it must have behind it sufficient capital to engage the assistance of the best Canadian writers, who now send their work to American and English periodicals. Such a magazine must be carefully edited, and not made the dumping-ground for the crude efforts of literary dabblers or for romantic gush and twaddle, but must be such a judicious selection of the best Canadian talent as will evoke comparison with the higher class of periodicals I have mentioned. We have only one literary paper of merit in this country, and that is 'The Week,' which, despite all the indifference that is too apt to meet a journal not influenced by party motives, has kept its literary aim always before it, and endeavoured to do such a work as 'The New York41 Nation' has been doing for years under far greater advantages in the neighbouring country with marked success and ability. In the meantime, until a magazine of the character I advocate is established, the 'Transactions of the Royal Society' cannot be expected to occupy the same ground unless it is prepared to give up that important field which it and the societies with which it is associated alone can fill in this country. In one respect, indeed, the Royal Society, in my opinion—and I have endeavoured to impress it on my fellow-members—can reach a much larger class of readers than it is now possible by means of its somewhat formidable though handsomely printed and well illustrated volumes, which necessarily are confined, for the most part, to libraries and institutions, where they can be best consulted by students who find it necessary to inform themselves on such Canadian subjects as the society necessarily treats. It is quite possible that by selecting a more convenient form, say royal octavo, and publishing the purely scientific sections in one volume and the purely literary department in another, a larger inducement will be given to the public to purchase its 'Transactions' at a moderate cost and in a more convenient shape for reading, whenever they contain monographs or large works in which Canadians generally are interested or on which they wish special information. Of course, in making this change care must be taken to maintain the typographical appearance and the character of the scientific illustrations and the usefulness of the cartography. Not only may the Royal Society in this way reach a larger reading public, but it may stimulate the efforts of historic and other writers by giving them greater facilities for obtaining special editions of their works for general sale. As it is now, each author obtains a hundred copies of his paper in pamphlets, sometimes more; and if the form is now made smaller and more handy, to use a common word, he will be induced to order a larger edition at his own cost. Even as it is now, some four or five thousand copies of essays and monographs—in special cases many more—are annually distributed by authors in addition to those circulated in the bound volumes of the 'Transactions'; and in this way any value these works may have is considerably enhanced. If it should be decided42 to continue the large form, at all events it will be in the interest of the society, and of the author of any monograph or history of more than ordinary value, to print it not only in the 'Transactions' but also in a smaller volume for general circulation. Practically this would meet the object in view—the larger distribution of the best work of the section devoted to historical and general literature. But whether this change is adopted or not,[61] I think the Royal Society, by showing even still greater zeal and earnestness in the work for which it was founded, by co-operating with scholars and students throughout the Dominion, by showing every possible sympathy with all those engaged in the work of art, culture and education, can look forward hopefully to the future; and all it asks from the Canadian public at large is confidence in its work and objects, which are in no sense selfish or exclusive, but are influenced by a sincere desire to do what it can to promote historic truth and scientific research, and give a stimulus in this way to the intellectual development of this young Dominion, yet in the infancy of its literary life.[F]

[F] In the course of a speech by the Earl of Derby, in answer to a farewell address from the Royal Society, he took occasion to make some remarks with reference to its work and usefulness, which have been given in full in the Appendix (Note 58a) as the impartial opinion of a governor-general who always took a deep interest in all matters affecting the intellectual as well as material development of the Dominion.

This necessarily brief review of the work of the Royal Society could not well be left out of an address like this; and I can now pass on to some reflections that occur to me on the general subject.

In the literature of biography, so susceptible of a treatment full of human interests and sympathies—as chatty Boswell's "Life of Johnson," and Lockhart's "Life of Scott," notably illustrate—we have little to show, except it be the enterprise of publishers and the zeal of too enthusiastic friends. Nor is it necessary to dwell on the literature of the law, which is becoming in a measure43 more of a technical and less of a learned profession in the larger sense, unless, indeed, our university schools of political science eventually elevate it to a wider range of thought. Several excellent books of a purely technical character have been compiled from year to year, but no Kent, or Story, or Cooley has yet appeared to instruct us by a luminous exposition of principle, or breadth of knowledge. Those who know anything of Dr. Edward Blake's great intellectual power, of his wealth of legal learning, of his insight into the operations of political constitutions, cannot deny that he at least could produce a work which might equal in many respects those of the great Americans here named; but it looks very much at present as if he, and others I could mention, will give up their best years to the absorbing and uncertain struggles of politics, rather than to the literature of that profession to which they might, under different conditions, raise imperishable memorials. From the pulpit many of us hear from time to time eloquent and well reasoned efforts which tell us how much even the class, necessarily most conservative in its traditions, and confined in its teachings, has been forced by modern tendencies to enlarge its human sympathies and widen its intellectual horizon; but the published sermons are relatively few in number; and while, now and then, at intervals, after a public celebration, an important anniversary or ceremonial, or as a sequence of a controversy on the merits or demerits of creed or dogma, we see a pile of pamphlets on the counter of a bookstore, we do not hear of any printed book of sermons that appears to have entered of recent years into the domain of human thought and discussion in the great world beyond our territorial limits.

I shall not attempt to dwell at any length on the intellectual standard of our legislative bodies, but shall confine myself to a few general observations that naturally suggest themselves to an observer of our political conditions. Now, as in all times of our history, political life claims many strong, keen and cultured intellects, although it is doubtful whether the tendency of our democratic institutions is to encourage the most highly educated organizations to venture, or remain, should once they venture, in the agitated and unsafe sea of political passion and controversy.44 The first parliament of the Dominion, and the first legislatures of the provinces, which met after the federal union of 1867, when the system of dual representation was permissible—a system whose advantages are more obvious now—brought into public life the most brilliant and astute intellects of Canada, and it will probably be a long time before we shall again see assemblages so distinguished for oratory, humour and intellectual power. A federal system was, doubtless, the only one feasible under the racial and natural conditions that met the Quebec Conference of 1864; but, while admitting its political necessity, we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that the great drain its numerous legislative bodies and governments make upon the mental resources of a limited population—a drain increased by the abolition of dual representation—is calculated to weaken our intellectual strength in our legislative halls, when a legislative union would in the nature of things concentrate that strength in one powerful current of activity and thought. A population of five millions of people has to provide not only between six and seven hundred representatives, who must devote a large amount of time to the public service for inadequate compensation, but also lieutenant-governors, judges and high officials, holding positions requiring intellectual qualifications as well as business capacity if they are properly filled. Apart from these considerations, it must be remembered that the opportunities of acquiring wealth and success in business or professional vocations have naturally increased with the material development of the Dominion, and that men of brains have consequently even less inducement than formerly to enter on the uncertain and too often ungrateful pursuit of politics. We have also the danger before us that it will be with us, as it is in the United States and even in England under the new conditions that are rapidly developing there; the professional politician, who is too often the creation of factions and cliques, and the lower influences of political intrigue and party management, will be found, as time passes, more common in our legislative halls, to the detriment of those higher ideals that should be the animating principles of public life in this young country, whose future happiness and45 greatness depend so much on the present methods of party government. Be all this as it may be, one may still fairly claim for our legislative bodies that their intellectual standard can compare favourably with that of the Congress at Washington or the state legislatures of Massachusetts and New England generally. After all, it is not for brilliant intellectual pyrotechnics we should now so much look to the legislative bodies of Canada, but rather for honesty of purpose, keen comprehension of the public interests, and a business capacity which can grasp the actual material wants and necessities of a country which has to face the competition, and even opposition, of a great people full of industrial as well as intellectual energy.

Nowhere in this review have I claimed for this country any very striking results in the course of the half century since which we have shown so much political and material activity. I cannot boast that we have produced a great poem or a great history which has attracted the attention of the world beyond us, and assuredly we find no noteworthy attempt in the direction of a novel of our modern life; but what I do claim is, looking at the results generally, the work we have done has been sometimes above the average in those fields of literature—and here I include, necessarily, science—in which Canadians have worked. They have shown in many productions a conscientious spirit of research, patient industry, and not a little literary skill in the management of their material. I think, on the whole, there have been enough good poems, histories and essays written and published in Canada for the last four or five decades to prove that there has been a steady intellectual growth on the part of our people, and that it has kept pace at all events with the mental growth in the pulpit, or in the legislative halls, where, of late years, a keen practical debating style has taken the place of the more rhetorical and studied oratory of old times. I believe the intellectual faculties of Canadians only require larger opportunities for their exercise to bring forth a rich fruition. I believe the progress in the years to come will be far greater than that we have yet shown, and that necessarily so, with the wider distribution of wealth, the dissemination of a higher culture, and a46 greater confidence in our own mental strength, and in the resources that this country offers to pen and pencil. The time will come when that great river, associated with memories of Cartier, Champlain, La Salle, Frontenac, Wolfe and Montcalm,—that river already immortalized in history by the pen of Parkman—will be as noted in song and story as the Rhine, and will have its Irving to make it as famous as the lovely Hudson.

Of course there are many obstacles in the way of successful literary pursuits in Canada. Our population is still small, and separated into two distinct nationalities, who for the most part necessarily read books printed in their own tongue. A book published in Canada then has a relatively limited clientèle in the country itself, and cannot meet much encouragement from publishers in England or in the United States who have advantages for placing their own publications which no Canadian can have under existing conditions. Consequently an author of ambition and merit should perforce look for publishers outside his own country if he is to expect anything like just appreciation, or to have a fair chance of reaching that literary world which alone gives fame in the true sense. It must be admitted too that so much inferior work has at times found its way from Canada to other countries that publishers are apt to look askance at a book when it is offered to them from the colonies. Still, while this may at times operate against making what is a fairly good bargain with the publisher—and many authors, of course, believe with reason that a publisher, as a rule, never makes a good bargain with an author, and certainly not with a new one—a good book will sooner or later assert itself whenever Canadians write such a book. Let Canadians then persevere conscientiously and confidently in their efforts to break through the indifference which at present tends to cramp their efforts and dampen their energy. It is a fashion with some colonial writers to believe that there is a settled determination on the part of English critics to ignore their best work, when, perhaps, in the majority of cases it is the lack of good work that is at fault. Such a conclusion sometimes finds an argument in the fact that, when so able a Canadian as Edward Blake enters the legislative halls of England, some ill-natured47 critic, who represents a spirit of insular English snobbery, has only a sneer for "this Canadian lawyer" who had better "stay at home," and not presume to think that he, a mere colonist, could have anything to say in matters affecting the good government of the British Empire. But the time has long since passed for sneers at colonial self-government or colonial intellect, and we are more likely hereafter to have a Canadian House of Commons held up as a model of decorum for so-called English gentlemen. Such able and impartial critical journals as The Athenæum are more ready to welcome than ignore a good book in these days of second-rate literature in England itself. If we produce such a good book as Mrs. Campbell Praed's "Australian Life," or Tasma's "Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill," we may be sure the English papers will do us justice. Let me frankly insist that we have far too much hasty and slovenly literary work done in Canada. The literary canon which every ambitious writer should have ever in his mind has been stated by no less an authority than Sainte-Beuve: "Devoted to my profession as a critic, I have tried to be more and more a good and if possible an able workman." A good style means artistic workmanship. It is too soon for us in this country to look for a Matthew Arnold or a Sainte-Beuve—such great critics are generally the results, and not the forerunners, of a great literature; but at least if we could have in the present state of our intellectual development, a criticism in the press which would be truthful and just, the essential characteristics of the two authors I have named, the effect would be probably in the direction of encouraging promising writers, and weeding out some literary dabblers. "What I have wished," said the French critic, "is to say not a word more than I thought, to stop even a little short of what I believed in certain cases, in order that my words might acquire more weight as historical testimony." Truth tempered by consideration for literary genius is the essence of sound criticism.

We all know that the literary temperament is naturally sensitive to anything like indifference and is too apt, perhaps, to exaggerate the importance of its calling in the prosaic world in which it is exercised. The pecuniary rewards are so few, relatively,48 in this country, that the man of imaginative mind—the purely literary worker—naturally thinks that he can, at least, ask for generous appreciation. No doubt he thinks, to quote a passage from a clever Australian novel—"The Australian Girl"—"Genius has never been truly acclimatized by the world. The Philistines always long to put out the eyes of poets and make them grind corn in Gaza." But it is well always to remember that a great deal of rough work has to be done in a country like Canada before its Augustan age can come. No doubt literary stimulus must be more or less wanting in a colony where there is latent at times in some quarters a want of self-confidence in ourselves and in our institutions, arising from that sense of dependency and habit of imitation and borrowing from others that is a necessity of a colonial condition. The tendency of the absence of sufficient self-assertion is to cramp intellectual exertion, and make us believe that success in literature can only be achieved in the old countries of Europe. That spirit of all-surrounding materialism to which Lowell has referred must also always exercise a certain sinister influence in this way—an influence largely exerted in Ontario—but despite all this we see that even among our neighbours it has not prevented the growth of a literary class famous for its intellectual successes in varied fields of literature. It is for Canadian writers to have always before them a high ideal, and remember that literature does best its duty—to quote the eloquent words of Ruskin—"in raising our fancy to the height of what may be noble, honest and felicitous in actual life; in giving us, though we may be ourselves poor and unknown, the companionship of the wisest spirits of every age and country, and in aiding the communication of clear thoughts and faithful purposes among distant nations, which will at last breathe calm upon the sea of lawless passion and change into such halcyon days the winter of the world, that the birds of the air may have their nests in peace and the Son of Man where to lay his head."

Largely, if not entirely, owing to the expansion of our common school system—admirable in Ontario and Nova Scotia, but defective in Quebec—and the influence of our universities and colleges, the average intelligence of the people of this country is much higher than it was a very few years ago; but no doubt it is with us as with our neighbours—to quote the words of an eminent public speaker whose brilliancy sometimes leads one to forget his higher criticism—I refer to Dr. Chauncey Depew—"Speed is the virtue and vice of our generation. We demand that morning-glories and century plants shall submit to the same conditions and flower with equal frequency." Even some of our universities from which we naturally expect so much seem disposed from time to time to lower their standard and yield too readily to the demand for purely practical education when, after all, the great reason of all education is to draw forth the best qualities of the young man, elevate his intelligence, and stimulate his highest intellectual forces. The animating principle with the majority of people is to make a young man a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, or teach him some other vocation as soon as possible, and the tendency is to consider any education that does not immediately effect that result as superfluous. Whilst every institution of learning must necessarily yield something to this pervading spirit of immediate utility, it would be a mistake to sacrifice all the methods and traditions of the past when sound scholars at least were made, and the world had so many men famous in learning, in poetry, in romance, and in history. For one I range myself among those who, like James Russell Lowell and Matthew Arnold, still consider the conscientious and intelligent study of the ancient classics—the humanities as they are called—as best adapted to create cultured men and women, and as the noblest basis on which to build up even a practical education with which to earn bread and capture the world. Goldwin Smith very truly says, "A romantic age stands in need of science, a scientific and utilitarian age stands in need of the humanities."[62] The study of Greek, above all others of the humanities, is calculated to stimulate50 the higher qualities of our nature. As Matthew Arnold adds in the same discourse from which I have quoted, "The instinct for beauty is set in human nature, as surely as the instinct for knowledge is set there, or the instinct for conduct. If the instinct for beauty is served by Greek literature and art as it is served by no other literature or art, we may trust to the instinct of self-preservation in humanity for keeping Greek as part of our culture." With the same great critic and thinker, I hope that in Canada "Greek will be increasingly studied as men feel the need in them for beauty, and how powerfully Greek art and Greek literature can serve this need." We are as respects the higher education of this country in that very period which Arnold saw ahead for America—"a period of unsettlement and confusion and false tendency"—a tendency to crowd into education too many matters; and it is for this reason I venture to hope that letters will not be allowed to yield entirely to the necessity for practical science, the importance of which I fully admit, while deprecating it being made the dominant principle in our universities. If we are to come down to the lower grades of our educational system I might also doubt whether despite all its decided advantages for the masses—its admirable machinery and apparatus, its comfortable school-houses, its varied systematic studies from form to form and year to year, its well managed normal and model schools, its excellent teachers—there are not also signs of superficiality. The tendency of the age is to become rich fast, to get as much knowledge as possible within a short time, and the consequence of this is to spread far too much knowledge over a limited ground—to give a child too many subjects, and to teach him a little of everything. These are days of many cyclopædias, historical summaries, scientific digests, reviews of reviews, French in a few lessons, and interest tables. All is digested and made easy to the student. Consequently not a little of the production of our schools and of some of our colleges may be compared to a veneer of knowledge, which easily wears off in the activities of life, and leaves the roughness of the original and cheaper material very perceptible. One may well believe that the largely mechanical system and materialistic tendency of our education has some effect in51 checking the development of a really original and imaginative literature among us. Much of our daily literature—indeed the chief literary aliment of large classes of our busy population is the newspaper press, which illustrates in many ways the haste and pressure of this life of ours in a country of practical needs like Canada. When we consider the despatch with which a large newspaper has to be made up, how reports are caught on the wing and published without sufficient verification, how editorials have to be written currente calamo, and often after midnight when important despatches come in, we may well wonder that the daily issue of a newspaper is so well done. With the development of confederation the leading Canadian papers have taken, through the influence of the new condition of things, a larger range of thought and expression, and the gross personalities which so frequently discredited the press before 1867 have now become the exception. If I might refer to an old and enterprising paper as an example of the new order of things, I should point to the Toronto Globe under its present editorial management and compare it with two or three decades ago. It will be seen there is a deeper deference to an intelligent public opinion by an acknowledgment of the right of a community to hear argument and reason even on matters of party politics, and to have fair reports of speeches on both sides of a question. In point of appearance, make-up, and varied literary matter—especially in its literary department, its criticisms of new books in all branches of literature—the Australasian press is decidedly superior to that of Canada as a rule. The Melbourne Argus and the Sydney Herald compare with the best London journals, and the reason is mainly because there is no country press in Australia to limit the enterprise and energy of a newspaper publisher. Perhaps it is as well for the general instruction of a community like ours that there should be a large and active country press, and the people not too much under the guidance of a few great journals in important centres of political thought and action. For one I have more faith in the good sense and reason of the community as a whole than in the motives and disinterestedness of a few leaders in one or more cities or towns. But I must also add that when we consider52 the influence a widely disseminated press like that of Canada must exercise on the opinions and sentiments of the large body of persons of whom it is the principal or only literature, one must wish that there was more independence of thought and honesty of criticism as well as a greater willingness, or capacity rather, to study a high ideal on the part of the press generally. However improved the tone of the Canadian press may have become of late years, however useful it may be as a daily record of passing events—of course, outside of party politics—however ably it may discuss in its editorial columns the topics of the day, it is not yet an influence always calculated to strengthen the mind and bring out the best intellectual faculties of a reader like a book which is the result of calm reflection, sound philosophic thought, originality of idea, or the elevated sentiment of the great poet or the historian. As a matter of fact a newspaper is too often in Canada a reflex of the average rather than of the higher intelligence of the country, and on no other ground can we explain the space devoted to a football match, or a prize fight, or a murder trial, or degrading incidents in the criminal life of men and women. For one, I am an admirer of athletic and other sports calculated to develop health and muscle, as long as they are not pursued to extremes, do not become the end and aim of youth, or allowed to degenerate into brutality. All of us do not forget the great influence of the Olympian, the Pythian and other public games on the Greek character when the land was "living Greece" indeed; but we must also remember that art and song had a part in those contests of athletes, that they even inspired the lyric odes of Pindar, that the poet there recited his drama or epic, the painter exhibited his picture, and the intellectual was made a part of the physical struggle in those palmy days of Greek culture. I have not yet heard that any Canadian poet or painter or historian has ever been so honoured, or asked to take part in those athletic games and sports to which our public journals devote a number of pages which have not yet been set apart for Canadian or any literature. The newspaper reporter is nowadays the only representative of literature in our Pythia or Olympia, and he assuredly cannot be said to be a Pindaric singer when he53 exalts the triumphs of lacrosse or the achievements of the baseball champion.

In drawing to a conclusion I come now to refer to a subject which is naturally embraced in an address intended to review the progress of culture in this country, and that is what should have, perhaps, been spoken of before, the condition of Art in the Dominion. As our public libraries [63] are small compared with those in the neighbouring union, and confined to three or four cities—Montreal being in some respects behind Toronto—so our public and private art galleries are very few in number and insignificant as respects the value and the greatness of the paintings. Even in the House of Commons, not long since, regret was expressed at the smallness of the Dominion contribution, one thousand dollars only, for the support of a so-called National Art Gallery at Ottawa, and the greater part of this paltry sum, it appeared, went to pay, not the addition of good paintings, but actually the current expenses of keeping it up. Hopes were thrown out by more than one member of the government, in the course of the discussion on the subject, that ere long a much larger amount would be annually voted to make the gallery more representative of the best Canadian art, and it was very properly suggested that it should be the rule to purchase a number of Canadian pictures regularly every year, and in this way stimulate the talent of our artists. Montreal at present has one fairly good museum of art, thanks to the liberality of two or three of her rich men, but so public spirited a city as Toronto, which numbers among its citizens a number of artists of undoubted merit, is conspicuous for its dearth of good pictures even in private collections, and for the entire absence of any public gallery. In Montreal there are also some very valuable and representative paintings of foreign artists in the residences of her wealthy men of business; but whilst it is necessary that we should have brought to this country from time to time such examples of artistic genius to educate our own people for better things, it is still desirable that Canadian millionaires and men of means and taste54 should encourage the best efforts of our own artists. It is said sometimes—and there is some truth in the remark—that Canadian art hitherto has been imitative rather than creative; but while we have pictures like those of L. R. O'Brien, W. Brymner, F. A. Verner, O. R. Jacobi, George Reid, F. M. Bell-Smith, Homer Watson, W. Raphael, Robert Harris, C. M. Manly, J. W. L. Forster, A. D. Patterson, Miss Bell, Miss Muntz, J. Pinhey, J. C. Forbes, Paul Peel—a young man of great promise too soon cut off—and of other excellent painters,[64][G] native born or adopted Canadians, illustrating in many cases, as do those of Mr. O'Brien notably, the charm and picturesqueness of Canadian scenery, it would seem that only sufficient encouragement is needed to develop a higher order of artistic performance among us. The Marquess of Lorne and the Princess Louise, during their too short residence in the Dominion, did something to stimulate a larger and better taste for art by the establishment of a Canadian Academy and the holding of several exhibitions; but such things can be of little practical utility if Canadians do not encourage the artists who are to contribute. It is to be hoped that the same spirit of generosity which is yearly building commodious science halls, and otherwise giving our universities additional opportunities for usefulness, will also ere long establish at least one fine art gallery in each of the older provinces, to illustrate not simply English and Foreign art, but the most original and highly executed work of Canadians themselves. Such galleries are so many object lessons—like that wondrous "White City" which has arisen by a western lake as suddenly as the palaces of eastern story—to educate the eye, form the taste and develop the higher faculties of our nature amid the material surroundings of our daily life. No doubt the creative and imaginative faculties of our people have not yet been developed to any noteworthy extent; the poems and paintings of native Canadians too frequently lack, and the little fiction so far written is entirely destitute of the essential elements of successful and permanent work in art and literature. But the deficiency in this respect has arisen not from the poverty of Canadian55 intellect, but rather from the absence of that general distribution of wealth on which art can alone thrive, the consequent want of galleries to cultivate a taste among the people for the best artistic productions, and above all from the existence of that spirit of intellectual self-depreciation which is essentially colonial, and leads not a few to believe that no good work of this kind can be done in mere dependencies.

The exhibition of American art at the world's fair is remarkable on the whole for individual expression, excellent colour and effective composition. It proves to a demonstration that the tendency is progressive, and that it is not too much to expect that a few decades hence this continent will produce a Corot, a Daubigny, a Bonnat, a Bouguereau or a Millais. Not the least gratifying feature of the exhibition has been the revelation to the foreign world—and probably to many Canadians as well—that there is already some artistic performance of a much higher order than was believed to exist in Canada, and that it has been adjudged worthy of special mention among the masterpieces that surround the paintings of our artists. This success, very moderate as it is, must stimulate Canadian painters to still greater efforts in the future, and should help to create a wider interest in their work among our own people, heretofore too indifferent to the labours of men and women, whose rewards have been small in comparison with the conscientiousness and earnestness they have given to the prosecution of their art.

The opportunities which Canadian artists have had of comparing their own work with that of the most artistic examples at the exhibition should be beneficial if they have made of them the best possible use. American and French art was particularly well represented at the exhibition, and was probably most interesting from a Canadian point of view, since our artists would naturally make comparisons with their fellow-workers on this continent, and at the same time closely study the illustrations of those French schools which now attract the greater number of students from this country, and have largely influenced—perhaps too much so at times—the later efforts of some well-known painters among us. A writer in the New York Nation has made some56 comparisons between the best works of the artists of France and the United States, which are supported by the testimony of critics who are able to speak with authority on the subject. The French notably excel "in seriousness of purpose and general excellence of work from a technical point of view, especially in the thorough knowledge of construction in both the figure and landscape pictures." On the other hand, the artists of the United States "show more diversity of aim and individuality of expression, as well as colour feeling." Some two or three Canadian artists give examples of those very qualities—especially in their landscapes—which, according to the New York critic, distinguish the illustrations of the art of the United States. As a rule, however, there is a want of individuality of expression, and of perfection of finish, in the work of Canadian artists, as even their relatively imperfect representation at Chicago has shown. The tendency to be imitative rather than creative is too obvious. Canadian painters show even a readiness to leave their own beautiful and varied scenery that they may portray that of other countries, and in doing so they have ceased in many cases to be original. But despite these defects, there is much hope in the general performance of Canadians even without that encouragement and sympathy which the artists of the United States have in a larger measure been able to receive in a country of greater wealth, population and intellectual culture.

Not only does the exhibition of paintings in the world's fair make one very hopeful of the future artistic development of this continent, but the beauty of the architectural design of the noble buildings which contain the treasures of art and industry, and of the decorative figures and groups of statuary that embellish these buildings and the surrounding grounds, is a remarkable illustration of the artistic genius that has produced so exquisite an effect in general, whatever defects there may be in minor details. A critic in the July number of the 'Quarterly Review,' while writing "in the presence of these lovely temples, domes, and colonnades under the burning American sky which adds a light and a transparency to all it rests upon," cannot help echoing the regret that this vision of beauty is but for a season, and57 expressing the hope that some one of the American money kings "may perpetuate his name on marble, by restoring, on the edge of this immense capital, amid parks and waters, that great central square which, were it only built of enduring materials, would stand without a rival in modern architecture." Perhaps the fine arts in the Dominion—where sculpture would be hardly heard of were it not for the French Canadian Hébert—may themselves even gain some stimulus from the examples of a higher conception of artistic achievement that is shown by this exhibition to exist in a country where a spirit of materialism has obtained the mastery so long. Canadian architecture hitherto has not been distinguished for originality of design—much more than art it has been imitative. In Montreal and Quebec the old buildings which represent the past have no architectural beauty, however interesting they may be to the antiquarian or the historian, and however well many of them harmonize with the heights of picturesque Quebec. Montreal is assuredly the most interesting city from an architectural point of view in Canada, simply for the reason that its architects have, as a rule, studied that effect of solidity and simplicity of design most in keeping with the grand mountain and the natural scenery that give such picturesqueness to an exceptionally noble site. While we see all over Canada—from Victoria on the Pacific to Halifax on the Atlantic [64a][H]—the evidences of greater comfort, taste and wealth in our private and public buildings, while we see many elaborate specimens of ecclesiastical art, stately piles of legislative halls, excellent specimens of Gothic and Tudor art in our colleges, expensive commercial and financial structures, and even civic palaces, yet they are often illustrative of certain well defined and prevalent types of architecture in the eastern and western cities of the United States. It cannot be said that Canada has produced an architect of original genius like Henry Hobson Richardson, who was cut off in the commencement of his career, but not before he had given the continent some admirable specimens of architectural art, in which his study of the Romanesque was specially conspicuous, and probably led the way to a higher ideal which has reached some58 realization in the city which must too soon disappear like the fabric of a vision, though one can well believe that, unlike a dream, it will leave a permanent impress on the intellectual development of the people who have conceived an exhibition so creditable from a purely artistic point of view.

[G] Some extended notes on the artists of Canada and their work appear in the Appendix, note 64.

[H] See in Appendix 64a references to our notable public edifices.

The Dominion of Canada possesses a noble heritage which has descended to us as the result of the achievement of Frenchmen, Englishmen, Scotchmen, and Irishmen, who through centuries of trial and privation, showed an indomitable courage, patience and industry which it is our duty to imitate with the far greater opportunities we now enjoy of developing the latent material and intellectual resources of this fair land. Possessing a country rich in natural treasures and a population inheriting the institutions, the traditions and qualities of their ancestors, having a remarkable capacity for self-government, enjoying exceptional facilities for the acquisition of knowledge, having before us always the record of difficulties overcome against great odds in endeavouring to establish ourselves on this continent, we may well in the present be animated by the spirit of hope, rather than by that feeling of despair which some despondent thinkers and writers have too frequently on their lips when it is a question of the destiny in store for Canada. In the course of the coming decades—perhaps in four or five, or less—Canada will probably have determined her destiny—her position among the communities of the world; and, for one, I have no doubt the results will be far more gratifying to our national pride than the results of even the past thirty years, when we have been laying broad and deep the foundations of our present system of government. We have reason to believe that the material success of this confederation will be fully equalled by the intellectual efforts of a people who have sprung from nations whose not least enduring fame has been the fact that they have given to the world of letters a Shakespeare, a Molière, a Montesquieu, a Balzac, a Dickens, a Dudevant, a Tennyson, a Victor Hugo, a Longfellow,59 a Hawthorne, a Théophile Gauthier, and many other names that represent the best literary genius of the English and French races. All the evidence before us now goes to prove that the French language will continue into an indefinite future to be the language of a large and influential section of the population of Canada, and that it must consequently exercise a decided influence on the culture and intellect of the Dominion. It has been within the last four decades that the best intellectual work—both in literature and statesmanship—has been produced in French and English Canada, and the signs of intellectual activity in the same direction do not lessen with the expansion of the Dominion. The history of England from the day the Norman came into the island until he was absorbed in the original Saxon element, is not likely to be soon repeated in Canada, but in all probability the two nationalities will remain side by side for an unknown period to illustrate on the northern half of the continent of America the culture and genius of the two strongest and brightest powers of civilization. As both of these nationalities have vied with each other in the past to build up this confederation on a large and generous basis of national strength and greatness, and have risen time and again superior to those racial antagonisms created by differences of opinion at great crises of our history—antagonisms happily dispelled by the common sense, reason and patriotism of men of both races—so we should in the future hope for that friendly rivalry on the part of the best minds among French and English Canadians which will best stimulate the genius of their people in art, history, poetry and romance. In the meantime, while this confederation is fighting its way out of its political difficulties, and resolving wealth and refinement from the original and rugged elements of a new country, it is for the respective nationalities not to stand aloof from one another, but to unite in every way possible for common intellectual improvement, and give sympathetic encouragement to the study of the two languages and to the mental efforts of each other. It was on this enlightened principle of sympathetic interest that the Royal Society was founded and on which alone it can expect to obtain any permanent measure of success. If the English and60 French always endeavour to meet each other on this friendly basis in all the communities where they live side by side as well as on all occasions that demand common thought and action and cultivate that social and intellectual intercourse which may at all events weld them both as one in spirit and aspiration, however different they may continue in language and temperament, many prejudices must be removed, social life must gain in charm, and intellect must be developed by finding strength where it is weak, and grace where it is needed in the mental efforts of the two races. If in addition to this widening of the sympathies of our two national elements, we can see in the Dominion generally less of that provincialism which means a narrowness of mental vision on the part of our literary aspirants, and prevents Canadian authors reaching a larger audience in other countries, then we shall rise superior to those weaknesses of our intellectual character which now impede our mental development, and shall be able to give larger scope to what original and imaginative genius may exist among our people. So with the expansion of our mental horizon, with the growth of experience and knowledge, with the creation of a wider sympathy for native talent, with the disappearance of that tendency to self-depreciation which is so essentially colonial, and with the encouragement of more self-reliance and confidence in our own intellectual resources, we may look forward with some degree of hopefulness to conditions of higher development, and to the influence on our national character of what can best elevate Canadians and make them even happier and wiser,

[1] Page 1.—See "Democracy, and Other Addresses," by James Russell Lowell (Boston and New York, 1887) pp. 235–237. The address at the Harvard Anniversary, from which I quote in the commencement of the text, should be carefully read and studied by all those who are interested in education and culture in the Dominion, and do not wish to see the classics superseded by purely scientific and utilitarian theories. "Leave," he said, for instance, "in their traditional pre-eminence those arts that were rightly called liberal; those studies that kindle the imagination, and through it irradiate the reason: those studies that manumitted the modern mind; those in which the brains of the finest temper have found alike their stimulus and their repose, taught by them that the power of intellect is heightened in proportion as it is made gracious by measure and symmetry. Give us science, too, but give, first of all and last of all, the science that ennobles life and makes it generous.... Many-sidedness of culture makes your vision clearer and keener in particulars. For, after all, the noblest definition of Science is that breadth and impartiality of view which liberates the mind from specialties, and enables it to organize whatever we learn, so that it becomes real Knowledge by being brought into true and helpful relation with the rest."

[2] Page 3.—"Nothing remains of this famous settlement but the ruins of a church tower covered with ivy, and some old tombstones. The tower is crumbling year by year, and the roots of trees have cracked the slabs, making great rifts across the names of the old Armigers and Honourables. The place is desolate with its washing waves and flitting sea-fowl, but possesses a singular attraction. It is one of the few localities which recall the first years of American history; but it will not recall them much longer. Every distinctive feature of the spot is slowly disappearing. The river encroaches year by year, and the ground occupied by the original huts is already submerged." Cooke's "Virginia" ('American Commonwealths,' 1884), p. 19.

[3] Page 6.—Editions of Champlain's works appeared at Paris in 1603, 1613, 1619, 1620, 1627, 1632 and 1640; at Quebec in 1830 and 1870. An English translation was published by the Prince Society of Boston in 1878–80. The Abbé Laverdière's edition, in six volumes, 4to., (Quebec, 1870), is the most perfect modern publication of the works. It printed for the first time the text of the voyage of 1599–1601. For bibliographical notes of Champlain's works see Bourinot's "Cape Breton," 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. ix., Sec. II., App. VIII. (also in separate form, Montreal, 1892); Winsor's 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 130–134; Harrisse's "Notes sur la bibliographie de la Nouvelle France."

French Canadian writers like Garneau and Ferland have exhausted the language of eulogy in describing the character and life of Samuel Champlain, but no one who follows his career can doubt the truth of this latest tribute to the French colonizer62 of Canada by Dr. N. E. Dionne in "Samuel Champlain, fondateur de Québec et père de la Nouvelle France: Histoire de sa vie et de ses voyages," Québec, 1891: "Il possédait à un haut degré le génie colonisateur, et c'est dans ce rôle, si difficile de tout temps, qu'il fit preuve de sagesse et de clairvoyance, et dans le choix des colons, et dans la direction qu'il sut imprimer à leurs premiers efforts. L'intelligence de Champlain se révèle dans de nombreux écrits, où l'observateur judicieux et pénétrant coudoie le savant et le marin aussi hardi qu'expérimenté. Comme cosmographe il a eu l'immense mérite d'avoir surpassé tous ses devanciers, par l'abondance des descriptions et l'agencement heureux des données géographiques. C'est un nouveau titre de gloire que l'on doit ajouter à sa couronne resplendissante de tant de rayons lumineux. Plusieurs historiens, même de ceux qui ne comptent pas parmi les admirateurs des œuvres françaises, lui out rendu le témoignage d'avoir fait entrer la science cartographique dans une nouvelle ère de progrès. Naturaliste, géographe, marin, cosmographe; Champlain était tout cela à la fois, et dans une mesure hautement remarquable pour l'epoque où il vivait.... Pas un gouverneur sous l'ancien régime n'a donné d'aussi grands exemples de foi, de piété, et de droiture d'intention."

It is Captain John Smith of Virginia who, among the colonizers of America, can best compare with the founder of Quebec. The following estimate of his character, given by the historian George Bancroft (i., 138–139, ed. of 1866), could be applied in almost every particular to the Frenchman; all we need do is to read "New France" for "Virginia," "French" for "Saxon," "France" for "England," etc.: "He was the father of Virginia, the true leader who first planted the Saxon race within the borders of the United States. His judgment had ever been clear in the midst of general despondency. He united the highest spirit of adventure with consummate powers of action. His courage and self-possession accomplished what others esteemed desperate. Fruitful in expedients, he was prompt in execution. Though he had been harassed by the persecutions of malignant envy, he never revived the memory of the faults of his enemies. He was accustomed to lead, not to send his men to danger; would suffer want rather than borrow, and starve sooner than not pay. He had nothing counterfeit in his nature, but was open, honest and sincere. He clearly discerned that it was the true interest of England not to seek in Virginia for gold and hidden wealth, but to enforce regular industry. 'Nothing,' said he, 'is to be expected thence but by labour.'"

[4] Page 6.—Editions of Lescarbot's "Histoire de la Nouvelle France" appeared at Paris in 1609, 1611, 1617 and 1618; but the most complete and available modern copy is that printed by Tross in three volumes (Paris, 1866). For bibliographical notes of Lescarbot's works see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 149–151; Harrisse's "Notes."

[5] Page 6.—Editions of Charlevoix's "Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France," etc., appeared at Paris in 1744, three volumes, 4to., and six volumes in 12mo., with maps. Dr. Shea's admirable English version and annotations were printed at New York in six handsome volumes, 1866–1872. For bibliographical notes see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 154, 358.

[6] Page 6.—For bibliography of Thomas Hutchinson's excellent "History of Massachusetts Bay" (Boston, 1749, 1767, 1795; London, 1750, 1768, 1828, three volumes), see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iii., 344. He was royal governor of the province, 1770–72, and died near London in 1789.

[7] Page 6.—Editions of Sagard's works, "Le Grand Voyage," etc., appeared at Paris in 1632 and 1636, but Tross printed admirable copies at Paris in 1864–66. Charlevoix has not a favourable judgment of Sagard; but no doubt, while he is diffuse, he gives an excellent insight into Indian life and customs. For bibliographical notes see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 290–291; Harrisse's "Notes."

[8] Page 6.—Pierre Boucher's "Mœurs et productions de la Nouvelle France" appeared at Paris in 1664 (sm. 12mo.), and is described by Charlevoix as a faithful, if superficial, account of Canada. For bibliographical notes, see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 298; Harrisse's "Notes."

[9] Page 6.—The Canadian Government published at Quebec in 1858, in three large 8vo. volumes, a series of the "Relations," from 1611–1672, and supplemental or complemental issues of allied and later "Relations" were printed through the efforts of Mr. Lenox, Dr. O'Callaghan and Dr. Shea, of New York. For bibliographical notes on these invaluable collections, see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' 290 et seq.; Harrisse's "Notes."

[10] Page 6.—Père du Creux or Creuxius published his prolix work, "Historia Canadensis," with map and illustrations, in Latin, at Paris in 1664. For bibliographical notes, see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 296; Harrisse's "Notes." Despite its diffusiveness, it has value for the historical students of his times.

[11] Page 6.—Bacqueville de la Potherie's "Histoire de l'Amérique Septentrionale depuis 1534 jusqu'à 1701" was published first at Paris in 1722, four volumes, 12mo.; but a later edition appeared in 1753. Charlevoix's opinion, that it is an undigested and ill-written narrative, is prejudiced, as the work is on the whole a useful and exact account of the French establishments at Quebec, Montreal and Three Rivers, and especially of the condition of the Indians of the time. For bibliographical notes see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 299, 357–358.

[11a] Page 6.—The following note with respect to this able priest's writing is taken from 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 298, 299: "The Jesuit Lafitau published at Paris in 1724 his 'Mœurs des Sauvages Amériquains' in two volumes, with64 various plates, which in the main is confined to the natives of Canada, where he had lived long with the Iroquois. Charlevoix said of his book, twenty years later, 'We have nothing so exact on the subject;' and Lafitau continues to hold high rank as an original authority, though his book is overlaid with a theory of Tartaric origin of the red race. Mr. Parkman calls him 'the most satisfactory of the elder writers.'" Garneau, ii., 154, mentions that he discovered in 1716 a plant in the Canadian forests which is of the nature of ginseng, which for awhile was a valuable article of export to Canton. Eventually it became valueless in China on account of its being prepared improperly.

[12] Page 6.—Père Chrestien Le Clercq's "Etablissement de la Foy" appeared in two volumes, 12mo., at Paris in 1691, and an excellent translation by Shea at New York in 1881. He also wrote a work, "Nouvelle Relation de la Gaspésie," which was also printed at Paris in 1691. For bibliographical notes see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' iv., 291; Harrisse's "Notes."

[13] Page 7.—For bibliographical notes on this curious olla podrida of religion and history see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.' iii., 345; Stevens's "Historical Nuggets," ii., 505.

[13a] Page 8.—An interesting account of the life and labours of the eminent pioneer of science in Canada, who came to Quebec in 1685 and died there in 1734, will be found in the fifth volume of the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.' (section IV.), by the Abbé Laflamme. See also Parkman's "Old Regime in Canada," p. 366, n. Also, pp. 390–393 for citations from Kalm and Charlevoix as to social condition of the French colony. Also, pp. 160–163 and notes, for an account and references to authorities on subject of the Seminary.

[13b] Page 8.—He was professor of Economy in the University of Aobo, in Swedish Finland, and a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. His Travels in North America ("In Risa tel Nord America"), 1748–51, first appeared in Swedish (Stockholm, 1753–61), and subsequently in a translation, with the original somewhat abridged, by John Reinhold Forster (Warrington and London, 1770; 2nd ed., 1772). A translation in French by L. W. Marchand has also been published, and it is from that I quote in the text. (For German and Dutch versions see 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' v., 244.) I have since found that Forster, in a note (ii., 185, 2nd ed.) on the remarks of the Swedish savant with respect to the study of science in the English colonies, calls attention to the fact that "Mr. Kalm has forgotten his own assertions in the former part of this work." Dr. Colden, Dr. Franklin and Mr. Bartram, he continues, "have been the great promoters and investigators of nature in this country, and how would the inhabitants have gotten the fine collections of North American trees, shrubs and plants, which grow at present almost in every garden, and are as if they were naturalized in old England, had they not been assisted by their friends and by the curious in North America." Forster also refers to the schools, colleges and libraries already existing in the English colonies as evidence that Kalm hardly did justice to the men of culture in those countries. No doubt La Galissonière, Sarrazin, Gauthier, and others created, for a time certainly, much65 interest in the practical pursuit of science in Canada. The interest, however, must have been necessarily confined to a very small class in the two or three towns and garrisons to which La Galissonière's influence extended. Some of the Jesuit priests like Lafitau (see note 11a) had a taste for natural history, and have left us much information on the subject. But Lafitau, La Galissonière, Gauthier, Sarrazin and others were not native Canadians, though, like Charlevoix and his predecessors who wrote of the country, they have left imperishable memorials connecting their names with the literary and scientific history of New France. On the other hand, Franklin, Bartram, Stith, the Mathers and Beverley, whose names will be always associated with the early culture of science and literature in the old English colonies, were American by birth and education. Still these men represented a very insignificant influence in the practical, money-making population of New England and the middle colonies of which Kalm chiefly spoke. Their influence would be relatively trifling compared with that which was necessarily exercised by a governor like La Galissonière in New France, with its sympathetic officials and priests, and which was necessarily contrasted by Kalm with the indifference of the English colonists. Kalm failed, however, to recognize the public liberty, commercial enterprise and secular education which in New England and other colonial communities gave the people the advantage over the habitans and French Canadians generally. Instead, the spirit of materialism that was a distinguishing feature of the active, enterprising English colonists, must have grated on the susceptibilities of a student like Kalm, and prevented him from doing impartial justice to the strong qualities of a rising nation.

[14] Page 9.—For accounts of the deplorable condition of the public schools in the rural districts of Upper Canada from 1791 to the union of 1841 see Canniff's "History of the Province of Ontario" (Toronto, 1872). Canniff Haight's "Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago" (Toronto, 1885), and Bourinot's "Intellectual Development of the Canadian People" (12mo., Toronto, and 'Canadian Monthly,' 1881). At the present time there are 14 universities and 29 colleges in which a classical education is given; 6 ladies' colleges, and 5 agricultural colleges and schools of science. The value of their buildings, endowments, etc., is upwards of $12,000,000, and the attendance is about 9,000 students. The classical colleges of Quebec—which make up the greater number of the colleges in Canada—are a combination of school and college attended by both boys and young men. They confer certain degrees and are generally affiliated with Laval University. The effect of the classical studies encouraged in these colleges is very perceptible in the culture of the well educated French Canadian. At present there are in Canada upwards of 17,000 public, high, normal, and model schools, attended by about 1,000,000 pupils, and costing a total annual expenditure of between six and seven millions of dollars. In Ontario (once Upper Canada) there are 16 universities and colleges, including ladies' and agricultural colleges; about 6,000 schools of all kinds, attended by over 500,000 pupils, and costing annually over $4,000,000. See "The Statistical Year-Book of Canada," Ottawa, 1893.

[15] Page 9.—Some interesting details of the early settlement of Ontario will be found in Dr. Canniff's "History of Ontario" (Toronto, 1872). As a local record or annals it is the most valuable yet given to the public by a descendant of the pioneers and U. E. Loyalists. Canniff Haight's "Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago" is a readable and sketchy account of old times.

[16] Page 10.—A brief historical sketch of Canadian journalism will be found in Bourinot's "Intellectual Development of the Canadian People" (Toronto, 1881); also in Dr. Canniff's "History of the Province of Ontario" (Toronto, 1872), and in "Sketch of Canadian Journalism," by E. B. Biggar, "Canadian Newspaper Directory" (Montreal, 1892). Some of the statements in this article appear to require verification. I have now in my possession a copy of the 'York Gazette' printed in July, 1815, though Mr. Biggar states that no paper was published in York after the capture of the town by the American troops and the destruction of the press and type, in 1813, until 1817. The 'York Gazette' was originally the 'Upper Canada Gazette, or American Oracle,' first printed in 1793 at Niagara (Newark), when it was the political capital of Upper Canada after the passage of the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was removed to York (Toronto) in 1800, and became the 'York Gazette' a few years later. At the present time there are in Ontario alone, of daily papers, 47; weekly, 386. In the Dominion there are 98 daily papers, 1,035 weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. In 1838 there were in all British North America not more than 70 papers, of which 38 were in Upper Canada. In 1864 the total was about a quarter of the present number.

[17] Page 11.—Joseph Howe's speeches were printed at Boston in 1858, two volumes, 8vo. For bibliographical notes see 'Am. Hist. Ass. Papers, 1892,' p. 396, at end of Bourinot's "Parliamentary Government in Canada."

[18] Page 11.—Judge Haliburton's famous work has the title, "The Clockmaker; or, Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick of Slickville." London and Halifax, 1st ser. 1837, 2nd ser. 1838, 3rd ser. 1840. Reprinted 1838–1843, three volumes. New edition 1845. Several later cheap English and American editions have appeared from time to time. A bibliography and sketch of the judge's life, written probably by his son, Robert G., appears in the "Bibliotheca Canadensis" (Ottawa, 1872). The humorous sketches, to which he chiefly owes his fame, were contributed anonymously to the 'Nova Scotian,' then edited by Joseph Howe. The paper is still in existence as a weekly edition of the 'Morning Chronicle' of Halifax. The judge was educated in old King's College, Windsor. See infra, note 31.

[19] Page 12.—"An Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia," with maps and engravings. Halifax, two volumes, large 8vo. For bibliographical note see Bourinot's "Cape Breton," App. X. A complete copy, with maps and illustrations, is now becoming rare.

[20] Page 12.—"The History of Canada, from its First Discovery to the Peace of 1763; and from the Establishment of the Civil Government in 1764 to the Establishment of the Constitution in 1796." By William Smith, Esquire, Clerk of the Parliament and Master in Chancery of the Province of Lower Canada. "Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat." In two volumes, large 8vo. (Quebec, 1815.) He was a son of the historian of the province of New York, who after the war of the revolution became chief justice of Canada.

[21] Page 12.—The works of this eminent Canadian surveyor and hydrographer appeared under the following titles:

1. "A Topographical Description of the Province of Lower Canada, with remarks upon Upper Canada and on the relative connection of both Provinces with the United States of America." London, 1815, royal 8vo., with plates. Also an edition in French.

2. "The British Dominions in North America, or a Topographical and Statistical Description of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the Islands of Newfoundland, Prince Edward and Cape Breton, including considerations on land-granting and emigration, and a topographical dictionary of Lower Canada; to which is annexed the statistical tables and tables of distances, published with the author's maps of Lower Canada, in consequence of a vote of the Provincial Legislature. Embellished with vignettes, views, landscapes, plans of towns, harbours, etc.; containing also a copious appendix." London, 1831, three volumes, 4to., generally bound in two.

[22] Page 12.—"Histoire du Canada sous la Domination Française." Montreal, 1837, 8vo. Do., 1843, 12mo.

"Histoire du Canada sous la Domination Anglaise." Do., 1844. The third volume of the series appeared after the author's death, and was published by his son, J. G. Bibaud, at Montreal, 1878, 12mo.

[23] Page 12.—"History of the Late War between Great Britain and the United States of America, with a retrospective view of the causes from which it originated, collected from the most authentic sources; to which is added an appendix containing public documents, etc., relating to the subject." By David Thompson, late of the Royal Scots. Niagara, U. C. Printed by T. Sewell, printer, bookbinder and stationer, Market Square, 1832, 12mo., pp. 300. This was for some time believed to be the first book printed in Upper Canada, but Dr. Kingsford, F.R.S.C., in "The Early Bibliography of the Province of Ontario" (Toronto and Montreal, 1892), enumerates a list of some thirty-three publications that antedated it, and Mr. Charles Lindsey, a bibliophilist and littérateur of Toronto, adds a number of others. See Toronto 'Week,' Dec. 9, 1892, Dr. Kingsford's rejoinder, ib., Dec. 30, and another article on same subject by Mr. Lindsey, ib., Jan. 13, 1893. All these bibliographical notes are interesting, and show how insignificant in point of intellectual and original ability was the literature of Ontario for fifty years previous to 1841.

[24] Page 13.—Mr. Jeremy Belknap's "History of New Hampshire" was published in Philadelphia and Boston in 1784–92, three volumes. See Bourinot's "Cape Breton," in 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. ix., p. 315, and p. 147 in the separate volume (Montreal, 1892).

[25] Page 17.—Octave Crémazie was one of the vrai sang of French Canada, and a bookseller without the least aptitude for business. He left Quebec after his failure, and lived under an assumed name in France, where he died in poverty. His life was most unfortunate, and in the gloomy days of his later French career he never68 realized the expectations which his literary efforts in Canada raised among his ardent friends. His poems appeared at first in the 'Soirées Canadiennes' and French Canadian journals, but his works were published in full at Montreal, in 1882, under the patronage of the Institut Canadien of Quebec, of which he was one of the founders. The Abbé Casgrain has given the introduction for this edition, and added some of the letters written to him by Crémazie from Paris. Crémazie, and indeed many of his friends, considered the "Trois Morts" as the best effort of his poetic genius; but the Abbé truly says: "Crémazie has never really been original except in his patriotic poems; in them must be sought the secret of his popularity and his strongest claim to fame." And he goes on to say: "The old mother-country has so far given a warm welcome to only one of our poets. She has acknowledged Fréchette as the most emphatically French of our poetic aspirants; but the time is not far distant when she will recognize in Crémazie the most thoroughly Canadian of them all. His verses have not the exquisite workmanship that is so much admired in Fréchette, but it is full of a patriotic inspiration that is not so often found in the author of 'Fleurs Boréales.' Despite his inequalities and imperfections, Crémazie must live among us as the father of our national poetry." The patriotic poem which has touched most deeply the hearts of his countrymen is "Le Drapeau de Carillon," in which he recalls the military achievements of the days of Lévis and Montcalm—

"Les jours de Carillon,

Où, sur le drapeau blanc attachant la victoire,

Nos pères se couvraient d'un immortel renom

Et traçaient de leur glaive une héroïque histoire.

"O radieux débris d'une grande épopée!

Héroïque bannière au naufrage échappée!

Tu restes sur nos bords comme un témoin vivant

Des glorieux exploits d'une race guerrière;

Et, sur les jours passés, répandant ta lumière,

Tu viens rendre à son nom un hommage éclatant.

"Ah! bientôt puissions-nous, ô drapeau de nos pères!

Voir tous les Canadiens, unis comme des frères,

Comme au jour du combat se serrer près de toi!

Puisse des souvenirs la tradition sainte,

En régnant dans leur cœur, garder de toute atteinte,

Et leur langue et leur foi."

When we hear aspirations whispered nowadays that there may be only one language in Canada, it is well to consider the influence of such nervous poetic French on the national feelings of the large population in the province of Quebec. The French language is likely to be deeply seated for some generations yet while there are French Canadian poets.

[26] Page 17.—Hon. Mr. Chauveau's poems appeared at different times in the 'Canadien' of Quebec, 'Le Répertoire National,' 'Les Soirées Canadiennes,' 'La Revue Canadienne,' and in other papers and publications from 1838 until the year of his death, 1890. One of his latest poems, "Le Sacré Cœur," was printed in the second volume of the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' Sec. I. A valuable paper by the same69 littérateur, "Etude sur les commencements de la poésie française au Canada," appeared in the first volume of the 'Trans.,' Sec. I, p. 65. In "Songs of the Dominion" (London, 1889, App., pp. 455–448) the editor gives an illustration of his spirited style by citing "Donnacona" at length.

[27] Page 17.—These were collected by his son after his death, and printed in a little volume with the title "Poems and Essays." Montreal, 1874, 12mo.

[28] Page 17.—Charles Sangster was a native of Kingston, and consequently a native Canadian like the others mentioned in the text. His principal poems appeared in the following books: "The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and Other Poems." Kingston and New York, 1856, 8vo. "Hesperus and Other Poems and Lyrics." Montreal, 1860, 8vo. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Bayard Taylor and Jean Inglelow wrote of his verse in terms of eulogy. See "Bibliotheca Canadensis," p. 337.

Alexander McLachlan was a poet contemporary with Sangster, and imbued with much poetic fervour and Canadian sentiment, but he was born and educated in Scotland, and came to Canada when a young man. His "Emigrant and Other Poems" (Toronto, 1861) merited the praise it received, though this, like his other poetic efforts, are now rarely cited, and no new edition of his works has appeared of recent years.

[29] Page 18.—"Saul: a Drama in Three Parts." Montreal, 1857, 8vo. 2nd ed., 1859.

"Count Filippo; or, The Unequal Marriage: a Drama in Five Acts." Montreal, 1860.

"Jephthah's Daughter." London and Montreal, 1865, 12mo.

"The Advocate: a Novel." Montreal, 1865, 8vo. This was a decided failure.

[30] Page 18.—The first edition of Todd's "Parliamentary Government in England" appeared at London in 1867–68, two volumes, 8vo., and the second after his death in 1887. An abridged edition, by Spencer Walpole, an English writer, was printed in 1893, two volumes, 12mo. For bibliographical notes of this and other Canadian constitutional works see the Appendix to Bourinot's "Parliamentary Government in Canada: an Historical and Constitutional Study," 'Am. Hist. Ass. Papers,' Washington, 1892.

[31] Page 18.—Mr. Christie's "History of Lower Canada" embraced the period from the commencement of its political history as a British dependency until it was reunited with Upper Canada in 1840 by act of the imperial parliament. It appeared in Quebec and Montreal from 1849 to 1855, when the sixth volume, a collection of valuable documents, completed the work. Previously the author had published several memoirs and reviews of political events and administrations, which were all finally embraced in the history. For bibliographical notes see 'Am. Hist. Ass. Papers,' 1891, p. 393; "Bibliotheca Canadensis," art. "Christie." It is noteworthy70 that Mr. Christie was, like Judge Haliburton, born and educated in Windsor, Nova Scotia, where old King's College still pursues its calm academic studies amid its sheltering and ancestral elms. In 1890 this venerable and interesting institution celebrated the centenary of its foundation. See Hind's "University of King's College, Windsor, N.S., 1790–1890," New York, "The Church Review Co.," 1890. But Robert Christie could not in those times be educated in King's, as he was not a member of the Church of England like the Judge.

[32] Page 18.—The first volume of François Xavier Garneau's "Histoire du Canada depuis sa découverte jusqu'à nos jours" appeared at Quebec in 1845; the second in 1846; and the third, bringing the history down to the establishment of constitutional government in 1791, was printed in 1848. A second edition completed the work to the union of the Canadas in 1841, and was published in 1852 at Montreal by Mr. Lovell, the well-known publisher. A third edition appeared at Quebec in 1859, and a somewhat slovenly translation was made by Mr. Andrew Bell and printed at Montreal in 1860. The fourth edition appeared in four volumes after the historian's death. It is the third edition, as originally written by Mr. Garneau. The fourth volume of this edition contains an eulogistic review of the author's life by Mr. Chauveau, a poem by Mr. Louis Fréchette on "Notre Histoire"—also printed in 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. i., Sec. I.,—and an analytical table by Mr. B. Sulte. A portrait of Mr. Garneau is the frontispiece to the same volume. The 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. i., Sec. I., has a paper by Abbé Casgrain on Garneau and Ferland, "Notre Passé Littéraire, et nos deux historiens." In the same volume appears a paper by Mr. J. M. LeMoine on "Nos quatre historiens modernes, Bibaud, Garneau, Ferland, Faillon," which, like the preceding essay, certainly does not fail in the way of eulogy. French Canada assuredly is proud and not often too critical of her eminent writers.

[33] Page 18.—"Cours d'Histoire du Canada. Première partie, 1534–1663." Par J. B. A. Ferland, prêtre, professeur d'histoire à l'Université Laval. Québec, 1861, 8vo. Seconde partie, 1663–1759; do., 1865, 8vo. The second volume was going through the press at the time of the author's death, and subsequently appeared under the careful supervision of his friend the Abbé Laverdière, to whose historical labours Canada is deeply indebted. Indeed French Canada owes much to Laval, with its able teachers, historians and scientists.

The Abbé Faillon, a Sulpician, who wrote a "Histoire de la Colonie Française en Canada" (Paris, 1865) in four 4to. volumes, was not a Canadian by birth and education like Ferland and Garneau, but came to Canada in 1854, and, after residing there for over ten years, returned to his native country, where he published his well known and valuable work.

[34] Page 19,—John Charles Dent was an English journalist, who subsequently became connected with the Toronto press. He wrote the two following works: "The Last Forty Years: Canada since the Union of 1841," Toronto, 1881, two volumes, sm. 4to.; "The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion," Toronto, 1885–86, two volumes, sm. 4to. He also edited the "Canadian Portrait Gallery," Toronto, 1880–81. Although not a Canadian by birth or education, he identified himself thoroughly with Canadian thought and sentiment, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada71 before his too sudden death. A criticism of his work on "Canada since the Union" by the Abbé Casgrain ('Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. iii., Sec. I.) indicated that his opinions did not always meet with the warm approval of the French Canadians of a very pronounced type.

[35] Page 20.—This work appeared at Quebec in two 12mo. volumes in 1871. Mr. Turcotte was a French Canadian by birth and education, and connected with the legislative library at Quebec when he died. See a favourable review of his literary work by Mr. Faucher de Saint-Maurice, F.R.S.C., in 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. i., Sec. I.

[36] Page 20.—"Histoire des Canadiens-Français, 1608–1880. Origine, Histoire, Religion, Guerres, Découvertes, Colonisation, Coutumes, Vie domestique et politique, Développement, Avenir. Par Benjamin Sulte. Ouvrage orné de portraits et de plans." Eight volumes, 4to., Montreal, 1882–1884. Mr. Sulte is also the author of several poems, (See Note 40) and numerous essays and monographs of much literary merit and historic value. He is one of the most industrious members of the Royal Society of Canada.

[37] Page 20.—The Abbé H. R. Casgrain's best known works are the following:

"Légendes Canadiennes." Quebec, 1861, 12mo. New ed., Montreal, 1884.

"Histoire de la Mère Marie de l'Incarnation, première supérieure des Ursulines de la Nouvelle France. Précédée d'une esquisse sur l'histoire religieuse des premiers temps de cette colonie." Quebec, 1864, 8vo. New ed., Montreal, 1886.

"Guerre du Canada, 1756–1760. Montcalm et Lévis." Quebec, 1891, two volumes, 8vo.

The Abbé has been a most industrious historical student, and to enumerate all his literary efforts would be to occupy much space. He has been a principal contributor to the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.' His monographs, "Un pèlerinage au pays d'Evangeline" (vol. iv.) and "Les Acadiens après leur dispersion" (vol. v.), are particularly interesting, and the former has been crowned by the French Academy, and appeared in book form at Quebec. He is very much imbued with the national spirit and fervour of his countrymen.

[38] Page 20.—Six volumes of Dr. Kingsford's "History of Canada" have appeared since 1887. Volume i. embraces the period from 1608 to 1682; vol. ii., 1679–1725; vol. iii., 1726–1756; vol. iv., 1756–1763; vol. v., 1763–1775; vol. vi., 1776–1779. Toronto and London, 8vo. For bibliographical notes on various works relating to the political and general history of Canada see Bourinot's "Parliamentary Government in Canada," 'Am. Hist. Ass. Papers,' 1891, App. References are there made to McMullen, Withrow, Murdoch, Campbell, Hincks, etc. Also 'Nar. and Crit. Hist. Am.,' viii., 171–189. As usual, the learned editor, Dr. Winsor, supplies by his notes many deficiencies in the text. Also, Edmond Lareau's "Histoire de la Littérature Canadienne" (Montreal), c. 4, and Mr. J. C. Dent's "Last Forty Years; or, Canada since the Union of 1841," c. 42, on "Literature and Journalism." Among the later French Canadian writers who are doing excellent historical work is Dr. N. E. Dionne, F.R.S.C., author of several books on Cartier and his successors and Champlain. Mr. Hannay72 of St. John has written a "History of Acadia," which has been well received (St. John, N.B., 1879, 8vo.) The Abbé Auguste Gosselin is another industrious French Canadian writer. Mr. Joseph Tassé, whose "Canadiens de l'Ouest" (Montreal, 1878, two volumes) was distinguished by much research and literary skill, has of late years devoted himself mainly to politics and journalism, though he has found time to write several essays for the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' and a small volume, "38^me Fauteuil, ou Souvenirs Parlementaires" (Montreal, 1891), a series of political sketches, written in excellent French. A monumental work is the "Dictionnaire Généalogique des familles canadiennes" by Mgr. Tanguay, F.R.S.C., invaluable to students of French Canadian history and ethnography.

[39] Page 20.—A bibliography of the members of the Royal Society, on the plan of one given in the sixth volume (1892) of the 'Papers of the American Historical Association,' is now being prepared for the eleventh volume of the 'Transactions.' It will be much fuller necessarily than the bibliographical notes that appear in this monograph.

[40] Page 20.—Dr. Louis Fréchette's poems are admitted to be the most finished illustrations of French poetic art yet produced in the Dominion; and one who reads them can easily understand that "Les Fleurs Boréales" and "Les Oiseaux de Neige" (now in the third edition, Montreal) should have been crowned by the French Academy in 1880, and that he should have been accorded the Monthyon prize as a matter of course. His other volumes of poems are these: "Mes Loisirs," Quebec, 1863; "La Voix d'un Exilé," Quebec, 1869; "Pêle-Mêle," Montreal, 1877; "Les Oubliés" and "Voix d'Outre-Mer," Montreal, 1886; and "Feuilles Volantes," Montreal, 1891. His poem on the discovery of the Mississippi is probably his best sustained effort on the whole. A number of his poems have appeared in the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vols. i., ii., iii., iv. He has published some dramas and comedies (see 'Am. Cyclopædia of Biography,' vol. ii., p. 539), which have not been as successful as his purely poetic essays. He has also written several essays of merit in 'Harper's Monthly' and other periodicals of the day, as well as in the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.'

The following is an extract from his poem on "La Découverte du Mississippi":

"Tantôt je croyais voir, sous les vertes arcades,

Du fatal De Soto passer les cavalcades

En jetant au désert un défi solennel;

Tantôt c'était Marquette errant dans la prairie,

Impatient d'offrir un monde à sa patrie,

Et des âmes à l'Eternel.

"Parfois, sous les taillis, ma prunelle trompée,

Croyait voir de La Salle étinceler l'épée,

Et parfois, groupe informe allant je ne sais où,

Devant une humble croix—ô puissance magique!—

De farouches guerriers á l'œil sombre et tragique

Passer en pliant le genou!

"Et puis, berçant mon âme aux rêves des poètes,

J'entrevoyais aussi de blanches silhouettes,

Doux fantômes flottant dans le vague des nuits:

Atala, Gabriel, Chactas, Evangeline,

Et l'ombre de René, debout sur la colline,

Pleurant ses immortels ennuis.

73"Et j'endormais ainsi mes souvenirs moroses....

Mais de ces visions poétiques et roses

Celle qui plus souvent venait frapper mon œil,

C'était, passant au loin dans un reflet de gloire,

Ce hardi pionnier dont notre jeune histoire

Redit le nom avec orgueil.

"Jolliet! Jolliet! deux siècles de conquêtes,

Deux siècles sans rivaux ont passé sur nos têtes,

Depuis l'heure sublime où, de ta propre main,

Tu jetas d'un seul trait sur la carte du monde

Ces vastes régions, zone immense et féconde,

Futur grenier du genre humain!

"Oui, deux siècles ont fui! La solitude vierge

N'est plus là! Du progrès le flot montant submerge

Les vestiges derniers d'un passé qui finit.

Où le désert dormait, grandit la métropole;

Et le fleuve asservi courbe sa large épaule

Sous l'arche aux piles de granit.

"Plus de forêts sans fin: la vapeur les silonne!

L'astre des jours nouveaux sur tous les points rayonne;

L'enfant de la nature est évangélisé;

Le soc du laboureur fertilise la plaine;

Et le surplus doré de sa gerbe trop pleine

Nourrit le vieux monde épuisé."

Mr. Pamphile LeMay, one of the best known French Canadian poets, has published the following: "Essais Poétiques," Quebec, 1865; "La Découverte du Canada," Quebec, 1867; "Poèmes Couronnés," Quebec, 1870; "Les Vengeances," Quebec, 1875, 1876 and 1888 (also dramatized); "Une Gerbe," Quebec, 1879. He has also written "Fables Canadiennes," Quebec, 1882. A number of his poems have appeared in the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vols i., iii., v., vi., ix. He has also written several stories of Canadian life: "L'Affaire Sougraine," Quebec, 1884; "Le Pèlerin de Sainte-Anne," new ed., Montreal, 1893; and "Rouge et Bleu," comedy. One of his best works was a translation of Longfellow's "Evangeline."

The following is a list of other Canadian books of poems, of varying merit, which have appeared within a quarter of a century:

"The Songs of a Wanderer." By Carroll Ryan. Ottawa, 1867. Indicated much poetic taste, but the poet has been submerged in the busy journalist.

"Songs of Life." By Rev. E. H. Dewart. Toronto, 1867. He was author of the first collection of Canadian poems made in this country. See infra.

"The Prophecy of Merlin and other Poems." By John Reade. Montreal, 1870. In many respects the best sustained poems written by a Canadian can be read in this book.

"Les Laurentiennes." By Benjamin Sulte. Montreal, 1870.

"Les Chants Nouveaux." By the same. Ottawa, 1880.

"The Legend of the Rose." By Samuel J. Watson. Toronto, 1876. Mr. Watson was a writer of promise who died in the maturity of his power.

"The Feast of St. Anne, and other Poems." By P. S. Hamilton. Montreal, 1878; 2nd ed. 1890. Has some interest from its description of the ceremonies at the feast of Sainte-Anne du Canada—the tutelary saint of the Canadian aborigines—which is held by the Micmacs on the 26th day of July in each year on Chapel Island,74 in the beautiful Bras d'Or Lake of Cape Breton. See Bourinot's "Cape Breton."

"Waifs in Verse." (Ottawa, ed. in 1878, 1887 and 1891.) By G. W. Wicksteed, Q.C., for fifty years the able law clerk of the Canadian Commons.

"A Collection of Poems." By Miss Williams of Grenville, P.Q., 1879.

"The Coming of the Princess, and Other Poems." By Kate Seymour Maclean of Kingston. 1880.

"Lyrics, Songs and Sonnets." By A. H. Chandler and C. Pelham Mulvany. Toronto, 1880.

"The Times, and Other Poems." By J. R. Newell of Woodstock. 1880.

"The Consolation." By George Gerrard. Montreal, 1880.

"Poems of the Heart and Home." By Mrs. J. C. Yule. Toronto, 1880.

"Poems, Songs and Odes." By Archibald McAlpine Taylor. Toronto, 1881.

"The New Song, and Other Poems." By Mrs. W. H. Clarke. Toronto, 1883.

"Zenobia. A Poem in Rhymed Heroics." By Rev. Æ. McD. Dawson, F.R.S.C. 1883.

"The Mission of Love, and Other Poems." By Caris Sima. 1883.

"Lorenzo, and Other Poems." By J. R. Pollock of Keswick, Ont. 1883.

"Caprices Poétiques et Chansons Satiriques." Par Rémi Tremblay. Montréal, 1883.

"Les Echos." Par J. B. Routhier. Québec, 1883, 12mo. Judge Routhier is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, in whose 'Trans.' (vol. iv., Sec. I.) appeared "Lettre d'un Volontaire du 9^ieme Voltigeurs campé à Calgary." His literary reputation stands high among his countrymen.

"Old Spookse's Pass, and Other Poems." By Isabella Valancy Crawford. Toronto, 1884.

"Marguerite, and Other Poems." By George Martin. 1886.

"Laura Secord: a Ballad of 1812." By Mrs. Curzon. Toronto, 1886.

"Songs, Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems." By J. Imrie. Toronto, 1886.

"Dreamland, and Other Poems" (Ottawa, 1868), and "Tecumseh: a Drama" (Toronto and London, 1886). By Charles Mair, a poet of original talent, and descriptive power, who is now a resident of the North-west Territories.

"Orion, and Other Poems" (Philadelphia, 1880), and "In Divers Tones" (Montreal, 1887). By Prof. C. G. D. Roberts, who is the best known abroad of all Canadian poets, and represents that Canadian or national spirit which has been slowly rising from the birth of Confederation. Since the days of Crémazie—over thirty years ago—there are other poets who recognize the existence of a Canadian people in a large sense—a Canadian people of two races, born and educated in the country, and having common aspirations for a united, not an isolated, future. Prof. Roberts is now bringing out a new volume of poems in London.

The poetic taste of the Archbishop of Halifax, the Most Rev. C. O'Brien, F.R.S.C., is well illustrated in the following volume: "Aminta: a Modern Life Drama," New York, 1890. The Archbishop is also the author of a novel, "After Weary Years," (Baltimore and New York, 1885), the scenes of which are laid in Rome and Canada, and are described with much power of invention and fervour. As the author himself says, "historic places and events are accurately described." He has, it will be seen from his preface, great confidence in the future national greatness of the Dominion.

"A Gate of Flowers." By T. O'Hagan. Toronto, 1887. He has another volume in press.

"The Masque of Minstrels, and Other Pieces, chiefly in verse." By B. W. and A. J. Lockhart. Bangor, Me., 1887. These two brothers are Nova Scotians by birth and education, who lived their youth in the land of Evangeline. The Gaspéreaux and Grand Pré are naturally the constant theme of their pleasing verse.

"Among the Millet, and Other Poems." By Archibald Lampman. Ottawa, 1888. Some of Mr. Lampman's most finished sonnets have appeared in the best American periodicals, to which he is still a frequent contributor; his work shows the true poetic instinct. He holds a position in the Civil Service at Ottawa.

"The Water Lily. An Oriental Fairy Tale." By Frank Waters. Ottawa, 1888.

"De Roberval: a Drama. Also the Emigration of the Fairies, and the Triumph of Constancy: a Romaunt." By John Hunter Duvar. St. John, N.B., 1888. Mr. Duvar, who has fine literary tastes, has been a resident of Prince Edward Island for some years.

"The Epic of the Dawn, and Other Poems." By Nicholas Flood Davin. Regina, N.W.T., 1889. Mr. Davin is the clever "Irishman in Canada," and while the most pretentious of his poems in this little book were written across the ocean, others are the product of Canadian thought and sentiment.

"Lake Lyrics, and Other Poems." By W. Wilfred Campbell. St. John, N.B., 1889. Mr. Campbell, who was originally a clergyman of the Church of England, is now in the public service at Ottawa, and has written some of his best poems for American magazines. One on "The Mother," in 'Harper's Monthly' is full of poetic thought and deep pathos, and should be better known by Canadians than it appears to be. At this time of writing his new volume of poems entitled "The Dread Voyage" (Toronto, 1893), has appeared; it sustains his reputation, though one can hardly encourage his effort to imitate Tennyson in such poems as "Sir Lancelot." Canadian poets too frequently are imitative rather than original. Mr. Campbell's verses on the varied scenery of the lakes of the West show the artistic temperament.

For instance:

"Domed with the azure of heaven,

Floored with a pavement of pearl,

Clothed all about with a brightness

Soft as the eyes of a girl.

"Girt with a magical girdle,

Rimmed with a vapour of rest—

These are the inland waters,

These are the Lakes of the West."

ON THE LEDGE.

"I lie out here on a ledge, with the surf on the rocks below me,

The hazy sunlight above and the whispering forest behind;

I lie and listen, O lake, to the legends and songs you throw me,

Out of the murmurous moods of your multitudinous mind.

"I lie and listen, a sound like voices of distant thunder,

The roar and throb of your life in your rock-wall's mighty cells;

Then after a softer voice that comes from the beaches under,

A chiming of waves on rocks, a laughter of silver bells.

"A glimmer of bird-like boats, that loom from the far horizon;

That scud and tack and dip under the gray and the blue;

A single gull that floats and skims the waters, and flies on,

Till she is lost like a dream in the haze of the distance, too.

76"A steamer that rises a smoke, then after a tall, dark funnel,

That moves like a shadow across your water and sky's gray edge;

A dull, hard beat of a wave that diggeth himself a tunnel,

Down in the crevices dark under my limestone ledge.

"And here I lie on my ledge, and listen the songs you sing me,

Songs of vapour and blue, songs of island and shore;

And strange and glad are the hopes and sweet are the thoughts you bring me

Out of the throbbing depths and wells of your heart's great store."

"Pine, Rose and Fleur-de-Lis." By S. Frances Harrison ("Seranus"). Toronto, 1891.

"Songs, Lyrical and Dramatic." By John Henry Brown. Ottawa, 1892, 12mo. The New York 'Nation' truly says of this new poetic aspirant that he has Walt Whitman's tendencies, but nevertheless he "writes in a generous spirit, and may yet have thoughts and expression all his own." The fact is, I repeat, most Canadian poets are too imitative and too rarely original.

"Tendres Choses. Poésies Canadiennes." By Dr. R. Chevrier. Montreal, 1892, 12mo. That an author unknown to fame should give us his portrait, as in this case, is perplexing. Still the verse is frequently melodious, though it represents what is a feature of French poetry, melodious rhythm, rather than strength and thought.

"This Canada of Ours, and Other Poems." By J. D. Edgar, M.P., Toronto, 1893. This little volume contains "The White Stone Canoe: a Legend of the Ottawas," which had been published in separate form some years previously. His French and Latin translations are full of taste.

"Les Perce-Neige, premières poésies." By Napoléon Legendre. Montreal, 12mo. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and constant contributor (generally in prose) to its 'Transactions.'

"Mes Rimes." By Elzéar Labelle. Montreal, 1886, 8vo.

Selections of Canadian poems have appeared of recent years in the following publications:

1. "Selections from Canadian Poets: with occasional critical and biographical notes and an introductory essay on Canadian poetry." By the Rev. E. H. Dewart. Montreal, 1864, 8vo.

2. "Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada." Selected and edited by W. D. Lighthall, M.A., of Montreal. London, 1889, 12mo.

3. "Younger American Poets, 1830–1890." Edited by Douglas Sladen, B.A., Oxon. With an Appendix of Younger Canadian Poets. Edited by G. B. Roberts of St. John, N.B. New York, 1891, 12mo.

4. "Later Canadian Poems." Edited by J. E. Wetherell, B.A. Toronto, 1893.

In the first mentioned work, which is judiciously edited, the poets until 1864 obtain a place. In the three other books we have selections from John Reade, Geo. Frederick Cameron, Prof. Roberts, Bliss Carman (now a resident of the United States), A. H. Chandler, Isabella Valancy Crawford, Mrs. Leprohon, Hereward K. Cockin, John Hunter Duvar, Rev. A. W. H. Eaton, Louis Fréchette, James Hannay, Sophie M. Hensley, Charles Sangster, M. Richey Knight, Archibald Lampman, W. D. Lighthall, A. J. Lockhart, B. W. Lockhart, Agnes Maude Machar ("Fidelis"), W. McLennan, Charles Mair, Mary Morgan ("Gowan Lea"), Charles P. Mulvany, Rev. F. G. Scott, Philip Stewart, H. R. A. Pocock, Barry Stratton, A. Weir, Mary77 Barry Smith, John T. Lespérance ("Laclède"), W. Wye Smith, Ethelwyn Wetherald, John E. Logan ("Barry Dane"), George Martin, Mrs. Harrison ("Seranus"), D. Campbell Scott, James D. Edgar, E. Pauline Johnson, George Murray, William Kirby, Annie Rothwell, W. A. Sherwood, Isidore G. Ascher, P. J. O. Chauveau, B. Sulte, P. LeMay, and others. I enumerate these names to show how many Canadians have ventured upon the field of poesy despite the practical realities of life in this relatively new country. The selections in the second of these works would have been more valuable had they contained "Our Fathers" by Joseph Howe—the most spirited poem in some respects ever written by a native Canadian. To the names of poetic aspirants, too, must be added those of M. J. Katzmann and of M. J. Griffin, whose fugitive pieces have attracted notice. Mr. Griffin has fine literary tastes and his few poems, only the relaxation of leisure hours, show he might win fame in this delightful department of letters. The reader will obtain some idea of the standard of Canadian poetry by reading the selections, and should not be carried away by the too obvious enthusiasm that has at times stifled the critical faculty in the editors. The poetic genius of Canadians is to be stimulated, not by sentimental gush, but by a judicious criticism that is not sufficiently cultivated by our writers who review the efforts of our poets, historians and essayists. These remarks also apply to such articles as that by the late Mr. Lespérance on "The Poets of Canada" in 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. ii., Sec. II.

Mr. Evan McColl, F.R.S.C., is the Gaelic poet of Canada. Three editions have appeared of the "Clàrsach nam Beann," which was printed as far back as 1838 in Glasgow. The same was also published in English in the same year, under the title of "The Mountain Minstrel," of which six editions have been printed. In 1883 he published in Toronto "Poems and Songs chiefly written in Canada." Mr. McColl is a great favourite among his Scotch countrymen everywhere; but his decidedly original poetic genius, rude and wild as it is at times, is not a Canadian product, for he was born at Kenmore, Lochfyne-Side, Scotland, in 1808, and it was not until he was forty years of age that he made Canada his home. He is now a resident of Toronto, and still comes to the annual meetings of the Royal Society, of which he was one of the original members.

[41] Page 21.—"IN MY HEART." By John Reade.

"In my heart are many chambers through which I wander free;

Some are furnished, some are empty, some are sombre, some are light;

Some are open to all comers, and of some I keep the key,

And I enter in the stillness of the night.

"But there's one I never enter—it is closed to even me!

Only once its door was opened, and it shut for evermore;

And though sounds of many voices gather round it like a sea,

It is silent, ever silent, as the shore.

"In that chamber, long ago, my love's casket was concealed,

And the jewel that it sheltered I knew only one could win:

And my soul foreboded sorrow, should that jewel be revealed,

And I almost hoped that none might enter in.

"Yet day and night I lingered by that fatal chamber door,

Till—she came at last my darling one, of all the earth my own;

And she entered—then she vanished with my jewel which she wore;

And the door was closed—and I was left alone.

78"She gave me back no jewel, but the spirit of her eyes

Shone with tenderness a moment, as she closed that chamber door,

And the memory of that moment is all I have to prize—

But that, at least, is mine for evermore.

"Was she conscious, when she took it, that the jewel was my love?

Did she think it but a bauble she might wear or toss aside?

I know not, I accuse not, but I hope that it may prove

A blessing, though she spurn it in her pride."

[41a] Page 24.—In Mrs. Edgar's excellent annotations to the Ridout Letters in "Ten Years of Upper Canada in Peace and War, 1805–1815," (Toronto, 1890), appears the following account of a courageous woman's exploit which brought disaster to the Americans soon after their defeat at Stoney Creek:

"At a place called Beaver Dams, or Beechwoods, (about twelve miles in a direct road from Queenstown), where is now the town of Thorold, was a depot for provisions for the Canadian troops, guarded by a detachment of thirty of the 49th regiment under Lieutenant Fitzgibbon with some Indians and militia, in all about 200 men. In order to surprise and dislodge this outpost, an American force of 500 men, with fifty cavalry and two field-pieces, under Colonel Boerstler, set out from Fort George (Niagara) on the 23rd of June [1813]. A surprise was meditated, in retaliation, no doubt, for the affair of Stoney Creek. Laura Secord, wife of a Canadian farmer, who had been wounded in the battle of Queenstown Heights, accidentally heard of the designs of the Americans, and determined to give the outpost timely warning. She set out alone before day-break, on the 23rd June, from her house at Queenstown, and arrived at Fitzgibbon's headquarters, a stone house known as DeCew's, near the Beaver Dams, at sunset of the same day. On account of the American sentries and outposts, she had to avoid the high roads and beaten paths, thus making her toilsome journey nearly twice as long. In spite of weakness and fatigue, this heroic woman went on her way through pathless woods, over hill and dale and unbridged streams, till she reached her destination. Her warning came just in time. Lieutenant Fitzgibbon disposed of his little force to the best advantage possible, placing them in ambush on both sides of the road, and taking every precaution to make it appear that he had a large force in reserve. Between eight and nine in the morning of the 24th June, the advance guard of the American riflemen appeared. A volley from the woods received them and emptied their saddles. Soon firing came from all directions, and bugle calls, and Indian yells. The bewildered Americans imagined themselves in the presence of a much superior force. Finding that his men were losing heavily from the fire of the unseen foe, and that they were suffering from fatigue and heat, he consented to surrender. By the capitulation 542 men, 2 field-pieces, some ammunition waggons, and the colours of the 14th U.S. regiment were delivered over to the Canadians. For this brilliant achievement Lieutenant Fitzgibbon [afterwards a military knight of Windsor] received his Company and a Captain's commission. As to Laura Secord, her reward has come to her in fame. The heroine lived until the year 1868, and sleeps now in that old cemetery at Drummondville, where lie so many of our brave soldiers. There is no 'Decoration Day' in Canada, but if there were, surely this woman is entitled to the laurel wreath." Pp. 198–201.

[42] Page 25.—The Canadian reader can profitably and easily compare his own poets with those of Australia by reading Slade's "Australian Poets, 1788–1883, being a selection of poems upon all subjects written in Australia and New Zealand during the first century of the British colonization, with brief notes on their authors, etc." (London and Sydney, 1889.) It will be seen, however, that nearly all the so-called "Australian" poets are English born, while with one or two exceptions, those of Canada best known to fame are the product of Canadian life and thought. Henry Clarence Kendall, "the poet of New South Wales," was born at Ulladulla, on the coast of that colony, in 1842. He is the one Australian poet of reputation, except his forerunner, Charles Harpur, who was actually born under the Southern Cross. Kendall's verses on "Coogee," a striking natural feature of Australian scenery, show true poetic instinct and rhythmical ease:

"Sing the song of wave-worn Coogee-Coogee in the distance white,

With its jags and points disrupted, gaps and fractures fringed with light;

Haunt of gledes and restless plovers of the melancholy wail,

Ever lending deeper pathos to the melancholy gale.

There, my brothers, down the fissures, chasms deep and wan and wild,

Grows the sea-bloom, one that blushes like a shrinking, fair, blind child,

And amongst the oozing forelands many a glad green rockvine runs,

Getting ease on earthy ledges sheltered from December suns."

But among the many spirited poems written in Australia since its settlement not one can equal the "Sick Stock-rider," by Adam Lindsay Gordon, who came to South Australia in his early manhood, and attempted sheep-farming, with the result of "owning nothing but a love for horsemanship and a head full of Browning and Shelley." This is a quotation from an introduction to his book by Marcus Clarke, himself a novelist and poet. One can see in the mind's eye the scenes described in the following verses, so full of real life and genuine poetry:

"'Twas merry in the glowing morn, among the gleaming grass,

To wander as we've wandered many a mile,

And blow the cool tobacco cloud and watch the white wreaths pass,

Sitting loosely in the saddle all the while;

'Twas merry 'mid the backwoods, when we spied the station roofs,

To wheel the wild scrub cattle at the yard,

With a running fire of stockwhips and a fiery run of hoofs.

Oh! the hardest day was never then too hard!

"Aye! we had a glorious gallop after 'Starlight' and his gang,

When they bolted from Sylvester's on the flat;

How the sun-dried reed-beds crackled, how the flint-strewn ranges rang

To the strokes of 'Mountaineer' and 'Acrobat';

Hard behind them in the timber, harder still across the heath,

Close behind them through the tea-tree scrub we dashed;

And the golden-tinted fern-leaves, how they rustled underneath!

And the honeysuckle osiers, how they crash'd!"

The best known novels of Australian life are these: "For the Term of His Natural Life," by Marcus Clarke, who was an Englishman born and educated; "The Miner's Right," "The Squatter's Dream," "A Colonial Reformer," and "Robbery Under Arms," by Thomas A. Browne ("Rolf Boldrewood"), who was also English born:80 "Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill," by Madame Couvreur ("Tasma"), who is of Belgian descent, and is now a resident of Belgium, though she was born in Australia and there studied its social conditions; "The Australian Girl" and "A Silent Sea," by Mrs. Alick McLeod. Mrs. Campbell Praed, who is colonial born, has, in addition to several novels, written "Australian Life," which is described by Sir Charles Dilke ("Problems of Greater Britain," i., 374) as "a vivid autobiographical picture of the early days of Queensland." Copies of these and other Australian books the writer owes to the thoughtfulness of Chief Justice Way, D.C.L., Oxon., of Adelaide, South Australia. For many years he has been the recipient of these graceful attentions from friends in that fair land of the Southern Cross, and though it looks very much as if he will never meet some of them face to face—for the time is passing rapidly with us all—he takes this opportunity of now sending them his thanks across the seas.

[43] Page 26.—This spirited song was written for the one hundredth anniversary of the landing of Lord Cornwallis at Halifax. As many persons in old Canada do not know it—for it is not reproduced in recent collections of Canadian poems—I give it in full for the benefit of the youth of this Dominion, on whom the future destiny of the country depends:

"All hail to the day when the Britons came over,

And planted their standard with sea-foam still wet,

Around and above us their spirits will hover,

Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet.

Beneath it the emblems they cherished are waving,

The Rose of Old England the roadside perfumes;

The Shamrock and Thistle the north winds are braving,

Securely the Mayflower blushes and blooms.

Chorus.

"Hail to the day when the Britons came over,

And planted their standard with sea-foam still wet,

Around and above us their spirits will hover,

Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet.

We'll honour it yet, we'll honour it yet,

The flag of Old England! we'll honour it yet.

"In the temples they founded their faith is maintained,

Every foot of the soil they bequeathed is still ours,

The graves where they moulder no foe has profaned,

But we wreathe them with verdure, and strew them with flowers!

The blood of no brother, in civil strife pour'd,

In this hour of rejoicing, encumbers our souls!

The frontier's the field for the Patriot's sword,

And cursed be the weapon that Faction controls!

Chorus—"Hail to the day, etc.

"Then hail to the day! 'tis with memories crowded,

Delightful to trace 'midst the mists of the past,

Like the features of Beauty, bewitchingly shrouded,

They shine through the shadows Time o'er them has cast.

81As travellers track to its source in the mountains

The stream which, far swelling, expands o'er the plains,

Our hearts, on this day, fondly turn to the fountains

Whence flow the warm currents that bound in our veins.

Chorus—"Hail to the day, etc.

"And proudly we trace them: no warrior flying

From city assaulted, and fanes overthrown,

With the last of his race on the battlements dying,

And weary with wandering, founded our own.

From the Queen of the Islands, then famous in story,

A century since, our brave forefathers came,

And our kindred yet fill the wide world with her glory,

Enlarging her Empire and spreading her name.

Chorus—"Hail to the day, etc.

"Ev'ry flash of her genius our pathway enlightens—

Ev'ry field she explores we are beckoned to tread—

Each laurel she gathers our future day brightens—

We joy with her living, and mourn for her dead.

Then hail to the day when the Britons came over,

And planted their standard, with sea-foam still wet,

Above and around us their spirits shall hover,

Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet.

Chorus—"Hail to the day," etc.

[44] Page 27.—The principal contributors to the English and American periodical press of late years have been George Stewart of Quebec, Principal Grant, J. G. Bourinot, Martin J. Griffin, W. D. LeSueur, G. M. Dawson, S. E. Dawson, Arnold Haultain, John Reade, J. M. Oxley and Sir W. Dawson. Dr. Stewart of Quebec, despite the demands of journalism, has been always a most earnest literary worker, foremost by his own contributions and by his efforts to encourage the labours of others in the too indifferent little Canadian world. Goldwin Smith has always been a contributor of note, but he is rather an English than a Canadian writer. Among the names of the French Canadian general writers are those of Fréchette, Sulte, Marmette, Faucher de Saint-Maurice, J. Tassé, DeCelles, Dionne, Casgrain and LeMoine; but their efforts have been confined as a rule to the numerous French Canadian periodicals which have appeared for the last thirty years, and after a short career died for want of adequate support. In the numerous periodicals of England and the United States English Canadian writers have great advantages over French Canadians, who are practically limited to their own country, since France offers few opportunities for such literary work.

[45] Page 27.—"The Golden Dog: a Legend of Quebec." New York and Montreal, 1877, 8vo. Also translated by Pamphile LeMay, the French Canadian poet, Montreal, 1884. Mr. Kirby is also the author of several poems of merit: "The U. E.: a Tale of Upper Canada. A Poem in XII. Cantos." Niagara, 1859, 12mo.82 "Canadian Idylls," Toronto, 1878, etc. He was born in England in 1817, but came to Canada at the early age of fifteen. He was one of the original members of the Royal Society of Canada.

Mr. Lespérance, F.R.S.C., was the author of the "Bastonnais" and other historical romances of some ability, but not of that high order of merit which gives a permanent reputation. The Hon. L. Seth Huntington, long known in Canadian political life, was the author of a semi-political novel, "Professor Conant" (Toronto, 1884), which had its merits, but it fell practically still-born from the press. Many other efforts have been made in the same branch of literature, but the performance, as stated in the text, has not been equal to the ambition that prompted the experiment.

[45a] Page 27.—Major Richardson was born at Niagara Falls in 1797, and educated at Amherstburg, U.C., where some of the scenes of "Wacousta" are laid. He served in the war of 1812, in the West Indies and in Spain, where he belonged to the British legion. He came back to Canada in 1838, and was for years connected with the press. He wrote a number of novels and short histories of Canadian events, but they are now all forgotten. His historical narrative is not generally trustworthy, while his later romances never even came up to the merit of "Wacousta." He died in obscurity some time after 1854—I cannot find the exact year—in the United States, where he attempted to continue a career of literature.

[46] Page 27.—Mr. Joseph Marmette, F.R.S.C., is the author of several works of fiction, viz.:

"François de Bienville. Roman historique." 1^ere ed., Québec, 1870; 2^e ed., Montréal, 1882.

"L'Intendant Bigot. Roman historique." Montréal, 1872.

"Le Chevalier de Mornac. Roman historique." Montréal, 1873.

"La Fiancée du Rebelle. Roman historique." Published in 'La Revue Canadienne,' Montreal, 1875.

[47] Page 27.—"Les Anciens Canadiens." By Philippe Aubert de Gaspé. Quebec, 1863, 8vo.

Several translations have appeared since 1863. That by Prof. Roberts (New York, Appleton & Co., 1890) omits the notes and addenda, which, if not interesting to the general reader, have much value for the historical student. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens," vol. vi., contains a portrait of the old French Canadian novelist. He also wrote "Mémoires" (Ottawa, 1886, 8vo.), which have also much historic value on account of their fidelity and simplicity of narrative.

[48] Page 28.—Mrs. Mary Hartwell Catherwood, whose home is in Hoopeston, Ill., has so far written and published the following admirable romances of the old days of New France and Acadie:

"The Romance of Dollard." Illustrated. New York, 1889, 12mo.

"The Story of Tonty." Illustrated. Chicago, 1890, 16mo.

"The Lady of Fort St. John." Boston and New York, 1891, 16mo.

"Old Kaskaskia: An Historical Novel of Early Illinois." Boston and New York, 1893, 16mo.

She has now commenced in 'The Century' Magazine a new romance with the title, "The White Islander," a story of old Fort Michillimackinac, and in 'The Atlantic Monthly' another story, "The Chase of Saint Castin." Her romances are never long, but bear the impress of close study of the subject and of much careful writing.

[49] Page 28.—He is a most industrious worker in various branches of literature in London. After a residence of a few years in Australia, where he was connected with the Sydney press, he went to England, where he wrote many sketches of Australian life which were well received. Recently he has been studying the interesting phases of French Canadian and Northwest life, and has produced, among other stories, "The Chief Factor," the principal scenes of which are laid in the great territories of the Dominion before they were opened up to the farmer, the rancher and the railway.

[50] Page 29.—James De Mille was a native of New Brunswick, and a professor in Dalhousie College, N. S., at the time of his death. His first work of fiction was "Helena's Household: a Tale of Rome in the First Century" (New York, 1858). His most popular works, "The Dodge Club Abroad" (1866), "Cord and Creese" (1867), "The Cryptogram" (1871), and "A Castle in Spain" (1883), first appeared in 'Harper's Monthly.' A strange, imaginative work, "A Curious MS. Found in a Copper Cylinder," was published in New York in 1888, and is understood to have been written by him. It was not until Rider Haggard's fiction became popular that the New York publishers ventured to print a book which so severely taxes the credulity of the reader. As a work of pure invention it is in some respects superior to those of the English author. Mr. De Mille died in 1880, at the age of 43, when much was expected of him. See Appleton's "Cyclo. Am. Biogr.," ii., 138, for a list of his published works except the one just mentioned.

[51] Page 29.—She is the author of three books. "A Social Departure" and "An American Girl in London" have had many readers and are full of promise. Miss Duncan, in company with another young lady, in 1889–90, went around the world, and made numerous contributions to the press of Canada during that tour, but its noteworthy result is the first mentioned volume. She is now married and a resident of India, whose striking aspects of social life she is studying and portraying in print. Her latest story, or rather sketch, of Indian customs, "The Simple Adventures of a Memsahib" (New York, 1893), has many touches of quiet humour. One must regret that her talent has not been directed to the incidents of Canadian life.

[52] Page 31.—The extract given in the text is taken from "Literature and Science," one of Mr. Matthew Arnold's "Discourses in America," published in book form in London, 1885. See pp. 90–92.

[53] Page 32.—This address to the Royal Society of Canada, to which reference is made in the text, is given in the ninth volume of the 'Transactions,' pp. xxxix-xl. Dr. Grant could never be uninteresting, but the address shows his ideas can now84 and then be a little chaotic or enigmatic. It is quite evident he has never studied with much care the volumes of the 'Transactions,' or comprehended the useful work the Society is doing in its own way. Never an active member himself, he has not done adequate justice to those who have been at all events conscientious labourers in the vineyard where he has planted no seed.

[54] Page 32.—This distinguished scientific man is a Nova Scotian by birth, who, before he became so closely identified with the prosperity of McGill College at Montreal as its principal, was superintendent of education in his native province. His scientific works are numerous, but the one which first brought him fame was his "Acadian Geology: an Account of the Geological Structure and Mineral Resources of Nova Scotia and Portions of the Neighbouring Provinces of British America" (Edinburgh and London, 1855, 8vo.), which has run through many editions, and is now a very large volume compared with the little modest book that first ventured into the world of literature nearly forty years ago.

[55] Page 33.—He was born on his father's farm, in the township of Gloucester, near Ottawa. A bibliography, evidently prepared by his own hand, is to be found in "Bibliotheca Canadensis," pp. 31–34. His most important memoirs are on the third and fourth Decades and the Palæozoic fossils of the Canadian Geological Survey, in which nearly all the genera and species of the fossils there described were discovered by himself.

[56] Page 33.—The first volume of the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.' (1882–83), pp. i-lxxiv., contains an account of the proceedings before and after the foundation of the Society, with the addresses in full of the Marquess of Lorne and of the first President and Vice-President of the body. On the occasion of the Montreal meeting, 1891, a handbook was largely circulated by the Citizens' Committee with the view of giving information of the object and work of the Society. It was written by Mr. John Reade, F.R.S.C., and contains a succinct history of the origin and operations of the body until May, 1891. It contains plans of McGill College grounds and of Montreal in 1759, and sketches of the old Seminary towers, St. Gabriel-street church, St. Ann's, besides some interesting facts relating to Montreal's historic places.

[57] Page 34.—Dr. Kingsford has given a paper, "In Memoriam, on Sir Daniel Wilson" ('Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. xi.) in which he briefly reviews the excellent literary work and the wide culture of that eminent man. In volume ix. of the 'Trans.,' Sec. I., pp. 53–58, there is a well-written paper on the late Mr. Chauveau, by his successor, Mr. L. O. David of Montreal. The presidential address of Abbé Laflamme in 1892 (see 'Trans.,' vol. x.) was devoted to a review of the scientific attainments of Dr. T. Sterry Hunt.

[58] Page 34.—At the present time there are over twenty Canadian scientific and literary societies associated with the Royal Society in its work. Mr. John Reade, in the "Montreal Handbook of 1891" (see Note 56), gives the following list of societies85 established before 1867: Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, 1824; Natural History Society of Montreal, 1827—act of incorporation five years later; Institut Canadien, Quebec, 1846; Canadian Institute, Toronto, 1851; Institut Canadien, Ottawa, 1852; Hamilton Association, 1856; Société Historique, Montréal, 1858: Nova Scotia Institute of Natural Science, 1862; Natural History Society, St. John, N.B., 1862; Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, Montreal, 1862; Entomological Society of Ontario, 1863.

[58a] Page 42.—Four years ago you were good enough, in offering me the position of your honorary president, to ask the sympathy and encouragement which the governor-general, as Her Majesty's representative, might rightly be asked to manifest towards the representatives of science and of the liberal arts. I am afraid that my contributions to literature and science have been few. I do not know they are such as would have merited the notice of the Royal Society, but I can assure you that none of the members of your body take a deeper interest in all that concerns the welfare of your Society than he who is now laying down the office of honorary president. (Cheers.) There were some persons who considered that in a comparatively new country like Canada it was ambitious on her part when the foundations of the Royal Society were laid, but there must be a beginning of all things, and I think I may appeal to the work which has been and is being done by the different branches of the Society as evidence that its establishment was in no sense premature, but that it was fittingly determined that the progress of science and literature should take place coincidently with that of the country. In a new country like this—I think you have touched upon it in your address—there is a great tendency to further one's material wants, to promote trade and commerce, and to put aside, as it were, literature and the sciences; but here the Royal Society has stepped in and done good work by uniting those who were scattered by distance and who find in the meetings of our Society a convenient opportunity of coming together for the exchanging of ideas and renewing of those friendships which, though perhaps only yearly meetings permit, are nevertheless enduring. If we look back we shall best see what good work is being done. If we could imagine the existence of such a society as this in the older countries in olden times, what a mine of wealth of information would have been afforded us! We see that from the very first, whether in literature, which forms so important a part in our Society; whether it be in the constitutional studies, in which our President is such an adept—and I was glad to see his authority has been quoted on the other side of the Atlantic as well as on this—whether it be in the literature of the chivalrous pioneers of France, who first led the way into the unbroken wilderness, or whether it be in the latter days of constitutional progress of this country and its relations both to the old world and the country growing up alongside of us.

In literature, history and poetry, also, the Society will from the first have its stamp, as we trust, upon the future of the Canadian race. (Cheers.) That science and the arts to an equal extent may find a place here is our earnest wish, in order that by sentiment and feeling we may bind together in the closest ties that by which she must achieve a great and enduring success. I must not detain you from your other duties, but I could not refrain from saying in a few words how heartily and truly I appreciate and believe in the work of the Royal Society. At your next meeting, as you truly say, I fear I shall not be amongst you; but though the Atlantic may roll between us, you may be certain that in spirit, at least, I hope to be present at your meeting, and shall follow with the liveliest and deepest interest any record you86 may be good enough to send me of what takes place on that occasion. * * * * * I appeal not the less to my French colleagues than to my English ones in all matters which relate to the welfare of the Society. Science, art and literature, it is true, are cosmopolitan, but they are well knit together in this Society. We who have experienced in Canada the hospitality of its people are grateful for it. We have admired the greatness of the resources of this country, and we look forward to a society like this as having ample work to do in the future. As in every respect Canada seems to be disposed always to take a forward part, so I hope the Royal Society will ever press on to a higher and higher goal; and, gentlemen, I can wish to the Royal Society, to all my friends and brothers of the Society, to whom I once more tender my hearty thanks, no greater blessing than, like Canada itself, that they may be happy, united and prosperous. (Loud and prolonged cheers.)

[59] Page 40.—"A Study, with Critical and Explanatory Notes, of Lord Tennyson's Poem, The Princess." By S. E. Dawson. Montreal, 1882, 12mo. 2nd ed. 1884. The preface contains a long and interesting letter from the poet, which "throws some light upon some important literary questions regarding the manner and method of the poet's working." Tennyson describes the "Study" truly as an "able and thoughtful essay."

[60] Page 40.—It first appeared in Toronto in 1872 (Adam Stevenson & Co.), soon after Prof. Goldwin Smith took up his permanent residence in that western city. Much of its reputation for years necessarily depended on the contributions of a writer who, if he has failed to identify himself of late with the national or Canadian sentiment of the people, has at all events done something in the past to improve the style of Canadian littérateurs and to elevate the tone of journalism. The 'Monthly' was the ablest successor of a long list of literary aspirants in the same field, the majority of which had a still shorter existence. See Bourinot's "Intellectual Development of the Canadian People" (Toronto, 1881), chap. iv. and 'Canadian Monthly,' March, 1881.

[61] Page 42.—Since the delivery of the presidential address the Royal Society decided by a considerable majority—chiefly made up of the two scientific sections—to continue the quarto form for the present. Under these circumstances the compromise suggested may be adopted—that of printing separate editions of important monographs and works from time to time by some understanding with the author.

[62] Page 49.—The following is a fuller quotation from Prof. Goldwin Smith's very apposite remarks delivered before the Classical Association of Ontario (see 'The Week,' April 28th, 1893): "No age has stood more in need of humanizing culture than this, in which physical culture reigns. One of the newspapers the other day invited us to take part in a symposium the subject of which was 'How to Produce a Perfect Man.' The problem was large, but one help to its solution might have been a reminder to keep the balance. A romantic age stands in need of87 science, a scientific and utilitarian age stands in need of the humanities. Darwin avows that poetry gave him no pleasure whatever. This surely was a loss, unless the whole side of things which poetry denotes is dead and gone, nothing but dry science being left us; in which case the generations that are coming may have some reason, with all their increase of knowledge and power, to wish that they had lived nearer the youth of the world." See supra, Note 1, for Mr. Lowell's remarks on the same subject.

[63] Page 53.—Some interesting facts as to the evolution of libraries in the Dominion can be gathered by reference to Bourinot's "Intellectual Development in Canada" (Toronto, 1831); Canniff Haight's "Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago"; Dr. Canniff's "History of Ontario"; and Dr. Kingsford's "Early Bibliography of Ontario." The principal results of the Ontario law providing for the establishment of free libraries by votes of ratepayers in a community have been the opening of two excellent libraries in Hamilton and Toronto—the latter under the judicious superintendence of Mr. James Bain.

[64] Page 54.—An Art Society was founded in Upper Canada as far back as 1841, but its exhibitions were necessarily representative of British works of art. The present Art Association was founded in Montreal in 1860, and the Ontario School of Arts, which is doing excellent work, twelve years later, with its headquarters in Toronto. The Royal Canadian Academy, mentioned in the text, was established in 1880. The influence of these and two or three minor institutions in Canada has been on the whole in the direction of stimulating art, but their efforts are not adequately encouraged by government or people in the provinces.

The following is a list of the painters in oils and water colours whose pictures now make the principal features of the annual exhibitions in Ontario and Quebec, and the majority of whom were inadequately represented at Chicago: F. A. Verner, whose Indian and Canadian scenes are excellent; H. M. Matthews, who has made a high reputation for his Rocky Mountain paintings; L. R. O'Brien, essentially the most finished painter of picturesque Canada; T. Mower Martin, an industrious painter of wild sports and Canadian scenery; E. Wyley Grier, who has done some good work in portraits and natural scenery; W. Brymner, one of the most promising younger painters of Canadian scenes: George Reid, whose "Foreclosure of the Mortgage" is one of the best pictures produced in the Dominion; John Hammond of St. John, N.B., a painter of water life; Percy Woodcock, whose efforts at sketches of Canadian rural life are praiseworthy: F. M. Bell-Smith, who has a decided artistic faculty for the portraiture of our noblest scenery; Homer Watson, a favourite for his rustic landscapes and romantic pastorals; J. W. L. Forster, in some respects the best figure painter, but also capable of good landscapes; G. Bruenech, a careful artist of scenery; Ernest Thompson, who has made some good efforts at prairie subjects; J. C. Forbes, who painted Mr. Gladstone's portrait, and is one of the best artists of the class that Canada has so far known; W. Raphael and O. R. Jacobi, two of the oldest and best known painters of Canadian landscape. To these we must add Miss Minnie A. Bell, A. Watson, Miss Sidney S. Tully, Mrs. M. H. Reid, J. T. Rolph, R. F. Gagen, T. C. McGillivray Knowles, Forshaw Day, L. Huot, Mlle. Colombier, E. Dyonnet, C. Macdonald Manly, D. P. MacKillsan, J. W. Morrice, A. D. Patterson,88 Miss G. F. Spurr, F. S. Challener, Paul J. Wickson, Mrs. M. B. Screiber, W. Revell, D. Fowler, Miss E. May Martin, Miss Laura Muntz, Miss F. M. Bell-Smith, Miss Florence Carlyle, Miss I. M. F. Adams, Owen P. Staples, Mrs. M. E. Dignam, Charles Alexander, W. E. Atkinson, J. C. Mills, J. A. Fraser (in New York), Carl Ahrens, W. A. Sherwood, Miss Fannie Sutherland, T. C. V. Ede, H. Sandham (in New York), Mr. Harvey, Mr. Cruickshank, Mr. Seavey, A. Cox, Miss Edwards, J. Griffith, Colin Scott, J. Wilson, James Smith, C. J. Way, F. Brownell, A. P. Coleman, R. Harris, Miss Holden and Miss Houghton. Many of these artists, whose merits, of course, vary much, are not native Canadians. One of the strongest landscape painters, Mr. Matthews, is an Englishman, who has now, after some years, thoroughly understood the light and colour of Canadian scenery. O'Brien, Brymner, L. Huot, Forbes, Forster, Pinhey, Sidney Tully, G. Harris, Gagen, Knowles, Watson, Alexander, A. D. Patterson, C. M. Manly, E. May Martin and George Reid are Canadians. G. T. Berthon, who died recently in Toronto at an advanced age, and was known as a painter of numerous portraits, the best of which are to be seen in Osgoode Hall, was of French origin and education. Raphael is German by birth and education. Jacobi is a painter of the Dusseldorf school, and was at one time employed in the court of the King of Bavaria. Bruenech is a native, I understand, of Denmark, though educated in Canada. E. W. Grier is an Englishman by birth and education, with a knowledge of French art derived from study in Paris. So is Ernest Thompson, who also studied in Paris. Mower Martin is an Englishman, educated in that country and in Canada, with whose scenery he has been always enamoured. Carl Ahrens was born and educated in the United States. Miss Minnie Bell and Miss Laura Muntz are among the most promising younger artists of Canada. Both were born and received their elementary education in Canada. Miss Bell, after studying in Paris, is now in Montreal. Miss Muntz is still studying in Paris. Robert Harris is a native of Prince Edward Island. Mr. N. Bourassa, who is a French Canadian artist, has of late years devoted himself to ecclesiastical decoration. His best work is to be seen in the architecture and decoration of the churches of Notre Dame de Nazareth and Notre Dame de Lourdes, in Montreal, and he has the credit of having first applied probably in America "the art of painting to the adornment of Christian churches in the broad and thorough manner so common at one period in central Italy." (See Dr. S. E. Dawson's "Handbook of Canada," Montreal, 1888, pp. 183, 184.) The influence of the French schools of painting can be seen in the best works of Paul Peel (now dead), Forster, Harris, Geo. Reid and John Pinhey (born at Ottawa), all of whom have had success at the salons. At the present time there are some twenty-five Canadians, more or less, studying in Paris, and the majority are French Canadians. In fact, the French schools draw students from Canada as well as from the United States, and England is relatively ignored. The artistic temperament is more stimulated by the ateliers and the student life of Paris than among the more business-like and cold surroundings of a student in London. In sculpture the names are very few, Hamilton McCarthy, Hébert and Dunbar having alone done meritorious work, but of these three Hébert is the only native Canadian. One of the very first painters to draw attention, years ago, to Canadian scenery, especially to the wonderfully vivid tints of autumn, was Krieghoff, whose pictures have been so much copied that it is difficult now to tell the originals from the reproductions. He was, however, not a native Canadian but a Swiss painter from the German-speaking cantons, I believe. The name of Paul Kane (born in Toronto) will be always identified with Indian life and customs, and as the pioneer of art in Canada. A fine collection of his paintings is in the possession of Hon. G. W. Allan, who has always taken an89 active interest in the development of art in the city of which he has been so long an honoured citizen.

Among other Canadian artists who laboured in the commencement of art studies in this country may be mentioned the following: Dulongpré, Samuel Berczy, Audy, William Berczy, Vincent Zacharie Thelariolin (Indian of Lorette, 1812–1886), Hamel, Carey, T. H. Burnett, J. J. Girouard, P. Leber—many of whose artistic efforts are already forgotten though their work was meritorious. With respect to Berthon, the following note by Col. G. T. Denison, F.R.S.C., of Toronto, which I have received since writing of the artist above, will be of interest: "His father was a court painter under the great Napoleon, and several of his pictures are now in Versailles. He was a Frenchman, and I think was in Vienna when his son, my old friend, was born; for I am under the impression Berthon told me he was born in Vienna. I think he was brought up in France, and went to London when comparatively young, and there set up as a portrait painter. He was induced to come out to Canada about the year 1843 or 1844, and settled in Toronto soon after, where he died about a year ago, over eighty years of age. He was certainly, when in his prime, the best portrait painter we ever had in Canada, and in my opinion was better than most of the men of great celebrity in London to-day."

The successful artists at the World's Fair, where 113 works in all were presented from Canada, were the following: Mr. G. Reid, whose great picture mentioned above could not fail to attract much notice, Mr. Harris, Mr. Ede, Miss Holden and Mr. J. A. Fraser. This is satisfactory in view of the fact that the best work of the majority of leading Canadian artists was not represented in the exhibition. Apart from Mr. Reid's painting, the pictures that were signalled out for special notice were not equal in some respects to other efforts of the same artists that have been seen in our annual exhibitions.

In closing this note I cannot do better than give the following judicious remarks on art in Canada, delivered before the Canadian Institute, by an able Canadian artist, J. W. L. Forster: "The art of Canada to-day is a mingling of elements.... The influence of the old world may be seen in the work of many who cherish still the precepts of their masters. Yet it is due to those who have adopted Canada as their home to say they are as Canadian in the faithful reproduction of the pure glories of our climate as those who first saw the sun in our own sky. Our native artists who have studied abroad are much inclined to paint a Canadian sky with the haze of Western Europe, and our verdure, too, as though it grew upon foreign soil. Our art is not Canadian.... Material is certainly not wanting, nor motif of the grander order. The first requisite is for a stronger national spirit. Events are slowly developing this; and the signs are full of promise in this direction. The second great need is for a museum equipped with well-chosen specimens of the world's art. Our government and citizens are establishing schools of industrial and fine art, yet when we would point our pupils to examples of pure art, lo! there are none; and when we would know what art has been, in order to discover what art may be, we must go as exiles and pilgrims to foreign cities. A museum that gives the best of their art history and achievement will greatly strengthen our hope and give rein to our ambition. A third need is for capable and generous criticism. There are many men whose discernment and sympathies fit them eminently for the role of art critic; but as yet journalism has not opened wide the door to advancement in such a specialty."

[64a] Page 57.—While Canadian architecture is generally wanting in originality of conception, yet it affords many good illustrations of the effective adaptation of90 the best art of Europe to the principal edifices of the large cities. These are the most noteworthy public buildings:

In Ottawa.—The parliament and departmental buildings, admirable examples of Italian Gothic of the 13th century, with a fine central tower, the effect of which has been marred by a later tower in the western block out of harmony with the general design of an otherwise perfect group.

In Quebec.—The legislative building in the French style of the 17th century, noteworthy for its niches containing statues of men famous in French Canadian history.

In Montreal.—The parish church of Notre Dame, on the Place d'Armes, of a simple Gothic style, attractive for its stateliness and massiveness.

Christ Church Cathedral, on St. Catherine street, worthy of study as an admirable specimen of the early English style of ecclesiastical architecture, exhibiting unity of design and correctness of proportions.

Notre Dame de Lourdes, whose interior has been already spoken of (see preceding note); a good example of the Byzantine order, combined with effects of the Italian Renaissance recalling Venetian architecture.

The Montreal Bank, on St. James street, an artistic illustration of the Corinthian order, with an interior interesting for the artistic effort to illustrate on the walls remarkable scenes in Canadian history.

The Canadian Pacific Station, on Windsor street, a fine example of an adaptation of old Norman architecture to modern necessities.

In Toronto.—The University, perhaps the best example in America of a modern conception of Norman architecture, with a tower of much beauty.

Trinity University, whose graceful Tudor-Gothic design, in which the tower is a conspicuous feature, is marred by the clumsy projection of a later chapel building, entirely out of harmony with the admirable front.

Osgoode Hall, of the Ionic order, modified by additions of the Italian Renaissance.

St. Andrew's Church, a combination of the Norman and Byzantine orders, more suitable for a great library or a hall than an ecclesiastical edifice. As a specimen of architecture, apart from its purpose, it is harmonious and artistic.

The new legislative buildings, which are the most pretentious in Canada after the Ottawa parliament house, are a praiseworthy effort to illustrate the Romanesque, with details of the Celtic and Indo-Germanic schools.

The Methodist Metropolitan Church, a judicious example of a modern form of the Gothic style which distinguished the 13th century in France. It is at once simple and harmonious in its general design, and has a massive tower which adds to the general effect of the whole structure.

St. James's Church, often cited as a good example of ecclesiastical Gothic, with a graceful and well-proportioned tower and steeple, conspicuous from all points of view.

In Hamilton.—The court-house is in some respects the best designed of its kind in Canada. The head office of the Canada Life Assurance Company is noteworthy for its graceful simplicity, in its way not equalled in Canada.

In Fredericton.—The Church of England Cathedral, a perfect specimen, on a small scale, of pure early English Gothic on the Continent.

The new library building which McGill University owes to the public spirit of Mr. Redpath, of Montreal, is distinguished by the graceful simplicity of its external form, and the conveniences of its beautiful interior. Apart from this fine edifice, however, and the parliamentary library at Ottawa, whose external design is harmonious and whose internal fittings illustrate the effectiveness of our natural woods, Canada has no such libraries—in special buildings I mean—noteworthy for beauty of architecture and convenience of arrangements as we find among our neighbours,91–92 illustrating their public and private spirit. Neither have we an art gallery of special architectural features, for the building at Montreal is simple in the extreme. Such as it is, however, it is an object of imitation to other cities in Canada.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Our Intellectual Strength and Weakness

E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net)
from page images generously made available by
Internet Archive
(https://archive.org)

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL, ART AND GENERAL NOTES.

INDEX.

Transcriber's Note:

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Our Intellectual Strength and Weakness

E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL, ART AND GENERAL NOTES.

INDEX.

Transcriber's Note:

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net)
from page images generously made available by
Internet Archive
(https://archive.org)