NATIVE LITERATURE.
Lord Durham wrote, over fifty [Errata: (from final page) for _fifty_
read _forty_.] years ago, of the French Canadians: 'They are a people
without a history and a literature.' He was very ignorant, assuredly, of
the deep interest that attaches to the historic past of the first
pioneers in Canada, and had he lived to the present day, he would have
blotted out the first part of the statement. But he was right enough
when he added that the French Canadians had, at that time, no literature
of their own. During the two centuries and more that Canada remained a
French Colony, books were neither read nor written; they were only to be
seen in the educational establishments, or in a very few private houses,
in the later days of the colony. [Footnote: The priests appear to have
only encouraged books of devotion. La Hontan mentions an incident of a
priest coming into his room and tearing up a book; but the library of
that gay gentleman was hardly very select and proper.] An intellectual
torpor was the prevailing feature of the French _regime_. Only now and
then do we meet in the history of those early times with the name of a
man residing in the colony with some reputation for his literary or
scientific attainments. The genial, chatty L'Escarbot has left us a
pleasant volume of the early days of Acadie, when De Monts and De
Poutrincourt were struggling to establish Port Royal. The works of the
Jesuits Lafitau and Charlevoix are well known to all students of the
historic past of Canada. The Marquis de la Galissoniere was the only man
of culture among the functionaries of the French dominion. Parkman tells
us that the physician Sarrazin, whose name still clings to the
pitcher-plant (_Sarracenia purpurea_) was for years the only real
medical man in Canada, and was chiefly dependent for his support on the
miserable pittance of three hundred francs yearly, given him by the
king. Yet it would be a mistake to suppose there was no cultivated
society in Canada. The navigator Bougainville tells us, that, though
education was so defective, the Canadians were naturally very
intelligent, and their accent was as good as that of the Parisians.
Another well-informed writer says 'there was a select little society in
Quebec, which wants nothing to make it agreeable. In the salons of the
wives of the Governor and Intendant one finds circles as brilliant as in
other countries. Science and the Fine Arts have their turn, and
conversation does not flag. 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.' But the people
outside of the little coterie, of which this writer speaks so
flatteringly, had no opportunities whatever of following the progress of
new ideas in the parent state. What learning there was could only be
found among the priests, to whom we owe 'Les Relations des Jesuites,'
among other less notable productions. The Roman Catholic Church, being
everywhere a democracy, the humblest _habitant_ might enter its ranks
and aspire to its highest dignities. Consequently we find the pioneers
of that Church, at the very outset, affording the Canadian an
opportunity, irrespective of birth or wealth, of entering within its
pale. But apart from this class, there was no inducement offered to
Canadian intellect in those times.
The Conquest robbed the country of a large proportion of the best class
of the Canadian _noblesse_, and many years elapsed before the people
awoke from their mental slumber. The press alone illustrated the
literary capacity of the best intellects for very many years after the
fall of Quebec. We have already read how many political writers of
eminence were born with the endowment of the Canadian with political
rights, which aroused him from his torpor and gave his mental faculties
a new impulse. The only works, however, of national importance which
issued from the press, from the Conquest to the Union of 1840, were Mr.
Joseph Bouchette's topographical descriptions of British North America,
which had to be published in England at a great expense; but these
books, creditable as they were to the ability and industry of the
author, and useful as they certainly were to the whole country, could
never enter into general circulation. They must always remain, however,
the most creditable specimens of works of that class ever published in
any country. The first volume of poetry, written by a French Canadian,
was published in 1830, by M. Michel Bibaud, who was also the editor of
the 'Bibliotheque Canadienne,' and 'Le Magazin du Bas Canada,'
periodicals very short lived, though somewhat promising.
From the year 1840, commenced a new era in French Canadian letters, as
we can see by reference to the pages of several periodical publications,
which were issued subsequently. 'Le Repertoire National,' published from
1848 to 1850, contained the first efforts of those writers who could
fairly lay claim to be the pioneers of French Canadian Literature. This
useful publication was followed by the 'Soirees Canadiennes,' and 'Le
Foyer Canadien,' which also gave a new impulse to native talent, and
those who wish to study the productions of the early days of French
Canadian literature will find much interest and profit in the pages of
these characteristic publications, as well as in the 'Revue Canadienne,'
of these later times. From the moment the intellect of the French
Canadian was stimulated by a patriotic love for the past history and
traditions of his country, volumes of prose and poetry of more or less
merit commenced to flow regularly from the press. Two histories of
undoubted value have been written by French Canadians, and these are the
works of Garneau and Ferland. The former is the history of the French
Canadian race, from its earliest days to the Union of 1840. It is
written with much fervour, from the point of view of a French Canadian,
imbued with a strong sense of patriotism, and is the best monument ever
raised to Papineau; for that brilliant man is M. Garneau's hero, to
whose political virtues he is always kind, and to whose political
follies he is too often insensible. Old France, too, is to him something
more than a memory; he would fix her history and traditions deep in the
hearts of his countrymen; but great as is his love for her, he does not
fail to show, even while pointing out the blunders of British
Ministries, that Canada, after all, must be happier under the new, than
under the old, _regime_. The 'Cours d'Histoire du Canada' was
unfortunately never completed by the Abbe Ferland, who was Professor of
the Faculty of Arts in the Laval University. Yet the portion that he was
able to finish before his death displays much patient research and
narrative skill, and justly entitles him to a first place among French
Canadian historians.
In romance, several attempts have been made by French Canadians, but
without any marked success, except in two instances. M. de Gaspe, when
in his seventieth year, described in simple, natural language, in 'Les
Anciens Canadiens,' the old life of his compatriots. M. Gerin Lajoie
attempted, in 'Jean Rivard,' to portray the trials and difficulties of
the Canadian pioneer in the backwoods. M. Lajoie is a pleasing writer,
and discharged his task with much fidelity to nature. It is somewhat
noteworthy that the author, for many years assistant librarian of the
library of Parliament, should have selected for his theme the struggles
of a man of action in a new country; for no subject could apparently be
more foreign to the tastes of the genial, scholarly man of letters, who,
seemingly overcome by the torpor of official life in a small city, or
the slight encouragement given to Canadian books, never brought to full
fruition the intellectual powers which his early efforts so clearly
showed him to possess.
In poetry, the French Canadian has won a more brilliant success than in
the sister art of romance. Four names are best known in Quebec for the
smoothness of the versification, the purity of style, and the poetic
genius which some of their works illustrate. These are, MM. Le May,
Cremazie, Sulte, and Frechette. M. Cremazie's elegy on 'Les Morts' is
worthy of even Victor Hugo. M. Frechette was recognised long ago in
Paris as a young man of undoubted promise 'on account of the genius
which reflects on his fatherland a gleam of his own fame.' Since M.
Frechette has been removed from the excitement of politics, he has gone
back to his first mistress, and has won for himself and native province
the high distinction of being crowned the poet of the year by the French
Academy. M. Frechette has been fortunate in more than one respect,--in
having an Academy to recognise his poetic talent, and again, in being a
citizen of a nationality more ready than the English section of our
population to acknowledge that literary success is a matter of national
pride.
The French Canadians have devoted much time and attention to that
fruitful field of research which the study of the customs and
antiquities of their ancestors opens up to them. The names of Jacques
Viger and Faribault, Sir Louis Lafontaine, the Abbes Laverdiere, and
Verrault are well known as those of men who devoted themselves to the
accumulation of valuable materials illustrative of the historic past, as
the library of Laval University can testify. The edition of Champlain's
works, by the Abbe Laverdiere for some years librarian of Laval, is a
most creditable example of critical acumen and typographical skill. In
the same field there is much yet to be explored by the zealous
antiquarian who has the patience to delve among the accumulations of
matter that are hidden in Canadian and European archives. This is a
work, however, which can be best done by the State; and it is
satisfactory to know that something has been attempted of late years in
this direction by the Canadian Government--the collection of the
Haldimand papers, for instance. But we are still far behind our American
neighbours in this respect, as their State libraries abundantly prove.
The Canadian ballad was only known for years by the favourite verses
written by the poet Moore, which, however musical, have no real
semblance to the veritable ballads with which the voyageurs have for
centuries kept time as they pushed over the lakes and rivers of Canada
and the North-west. Dr. Larue and M. Ernest Gagnon have given us a
compilation of this interesting feature of French Canadian literature,
which is hardly yet familiar to the English population of Canada.
Other French Canadian names occur to the writer, but it is impossible to
do justice to them in this necessarily limited review. 'Les Legendes,'
of the Abbe Casgrain, 'Les Pionniers de l'Ouest,' of M. Joseph Tasse,
and the works of M. Faucher de St. Maurice, are among other
illustrations of the national spirit that animates French Canadian
writers, and makes them deservedly popular among their compatriots.
If we now turn to the literary progress of the English-speaking people
of Canada, we see some evidences of intellectual activity from an early
time in the history of these colonies. During the two decades
immediately preceding the Union of 1840, there was a cultured society in
all the larger centres of intelligence. In official circles there was
always found much culture and refinement, and the inmates of "Government
House," in the several capitals, then as now, dispensed a graceful
hospitality and contributed largely to the pleasures of the little
society of which they were the leaders by virtue of their elevated
position. Social circles which could boast of the presence of Mr. John
Galt, author of 'Laurie Todd,' and other works of note in their day, of
Mr. and Mrs. Jameson, who lived some years in Toronto, of the
Stricklands, of Judge Haliburton, of learned divines, astute lawyers and
politicians, and clever journalists, could not have been altogether
behind older communities. From one of the magazines, published in 1824,
we learn that there were some libraries in the large towns of Quebec,
Montreal, York, Kingston, and Halifax; that belonging to the Parliament
at Quebec being the most complete in standard works. Montreal as far
back as 1823, had several book stores, and a public library of 8,000
volumes, containing many valuable works, and, independent of this, there
were two circulating libraries, the property of booksellers, both of
which were tolerably well supplied with new books. [Footnote: Talbot's
Canada, Vol. I., p. 77. But it appears that there was a circulating
library at Quebec as far back as 1779, with 2,000 volumes; it was
maintained till a few years ago, when its books were transferred to the
Literary and Historical Society.] In this respect Montreal possessed for
years decided advantages over York, for Mrs. Jameson tells us that when
she arrived there ten years later, that town contained only one
book-store, in which drugs and other articles were also sold. Indeed,
Mr. W. Lyon Mackenzie commenced life in Canada in the book and drug
business with Mr. James Lesslie, the profits of the books going to the
latter, and the profits of the drugs to the former. Subsequently, Mr.
Mackenzie established a circulating library at Dundas, in connection
with drugs, hardware, jewellery, and other miscellaneous wares, it being
evidently impossible, in those days, to live by books alone. [Footnote:
Lindsey's Life, pp. 36-7.] By 1836, however, even Mrs. Jameson, ready as
she was to point out the defects of Canadian life, was obliged to
acknowledge that Toronto had 'two good book-stores, with a fair
circulating library.' Archdeacon Strachan and Chief Justice Robinson,
according to the same author, had 'very pretty libraries.' Well-known
gentlemen in the other Provinces had also well furnished libraries for
those times.
We see in the articles contributed to the newspapers many evidences of
careful writing and well digested reading. Literary and scientific
societies now existed in all the large towns, though they necessarily
depended for their support on a select few. Theatrical entertainments
and concerts of a high order were not of unfrequent occurrence, for
instance, we read in the Montreal papers of 1833 carefully-written
notices of the performances of Mr. and Miss Kemble. The press also
published lengthy criticisms of new publications, much more
discriminating in some cases than the careless reviews of these later
times, which seem too often written simply with the object of puffing a
work, and not with a desire to cultivate a correct taste. We notice,
too, that half a century ago there were gentlemen who thought they had
an innate genius for writing manuals of arithmetic, and so forth, for
the bewilderment of the Canadian youth. The literary tastes of the
people were, then as now, fostered by the Boston and New York
publishers; for example, we see lengthy notices of 'Harper's Family
Library,' a series of cheap publications of standard works on History,
Biography, Travels, &c., an invaluable acquisition to Canadians, the
majority of whom could ill afford to pay the large prices then asked for
English books. Several magazines began to be published in the East and
West.
The first experiment of this kind was the _Canadian Magazine_, printed
by N. Mower, in 1823, and subsequently published by Joseph Nickless,
bookseller, opposite the Court House, Montreal. It was intended, in the
words of the preface, 'as an archive for giving permanency to literary
and scientific pursuits in the only British continental colony in the
western hemisphere which has yet made any progress in settlement and
cultivation.' The introduction is a very characteristic bit of writing,
commencing as it does with a reference to the condition of 'man as a
savage in mind and body,' and to the advance of the countries of ancient
civilization in art and letters, until at last the reader is brought to
appreciate the high object which the conductors had in view in
establishing this new magazine--'to keep alive the heroic and energetic
sentiment of our ancestors, their private virtues and public patriotism,
and to form, for the example of posterity, a moral, an industrious, and
loyal population.' The early following issues contained many
well-written articles on Canadian subjects which give us some insight
into the habits and tastes of the people, and are worthy of perusal by
all those who take an interest in the old times of the colony. One
particularly valuable feature was the digest of provincial news at the
end of each number,--civil appointments, deaths, births and marriages,
and army intelligence being deemed worthy of insertion. Among other
things illustrative of social progress in 1823, we find notices of the
first amateur concert given at Montreal in aid of a charitable object;
of the establishment of the Quebec Historical Society, an event in the
literary annals of Canada; of the foundation of the first circulating
library in the City of Halifax, said to contain a number of valuable
works. In 1824, H. A. Cunningham published, in Montreal, a rival
publication, the _Canadian Review, and Literary and Historical Journal_,
which appears to have excited the ire of the editor of the _Canadian
Magazine_, for he devotes several pages of one issue to a criticism of
its demerits. But these publications had only an ephemeral existence,
and were succeeded by others. One of those was the _Museum_, edited by
ladies in Montreal, in 1833. It contained some articles of merit, with a
good deal of sentimental gush, [Footnote: The veteran editor of the
_Quebec Mercury_ thus pleasantly hit off this class of literature,
always appreciated by boarding-school misses and milliners'
apprentices:--'"The Cousins," written by M. ----, we candidly admit we
did not encounter. When a man has arrived at that time of life when he
is compelled to use spec----no, not so bad as that, but _lunettes_, in
order to accommodate the text to his eyes, and finds at the conclusion
of an article such a passage as the following: "Beneath that knoll, at
the foot of that weeping ash, side by side, in the bosom of one grave
lie Reginald and Charlotte de Conrci"--when a semi-centenarian meets
such a passage in such a situation, it is a loss of time for him to turn
back and threading way through the mazes of the story.'] such as one
found in the keepsakes and other gift books of those days. The first
magazine of ability in the West appears to have been the _Canadian
Magazine_, edited by Mr. Sibbald, and published at Toronto in 1833. The
next periodical, which lasted many years, was the _Literary Garland_,
published in Montreal, in conjunction with Mr. John Gibson, [Footnote:
These two gentlemen were long associated in the partnership, widely
known throughout Canada, as that of Lovell & Gibson, parliamentary
printers.] by that veteran publisher, John Lovell, a gentleman to whom
the country owes much for his zeal and enterprise in all such literary
matters. All these facts were illustrative of the growth of literary and
cultured taste throughout the Provinces, even in those early times. But
it must be admitted that then, as now, the intellectual progress of
Canada was very slow compared with that of the United States, where,
during the times of which I am writing, literature was at last promising
to be a profession, Cooper, Irving and Poe having already won no little
celebrity at home and abroad. It was not till the Canadas were re-united
and population and wealth poured into the country that culture began to
be more general. Sixteen years after Mrs. Jameson published her account
of Canada, another writer [Footnote: W. H. Kigston. 1852. 2 vols]
visited Toronto, and wrote in very flattering terms of the appearance of
the city, and the many evidences of taste he noticed in the streets and
homes of its people. At that time he tells us there were 'five or six
large booksellers' shops, equal to any in the larger towns of England,
and some of whom were publishers also.' Mr. Maclear had at that time
'published two very well-got-up volumes on Canada, by Mr. W. H. Smith,
and was also the publisher of the _Anglo-American Magazine_, a very
creditably conducted periodical.' Now, in this same City of Toronto,
there are some forty stationers' and booksellers' establishments, small
and large; whilst there are about one hundred altogether in the leading
cities of the Provinces. Of the libraries, I shall have occasion to
write some pages further on.
Since 1840, Canadians have made many ambitious efforts in the walks of
literature, though only a few works have achieved a reputation beyond
our own country. Nova Scotia can claim the credit of giving birth to two
men whose works, though in very different fields of intellectual effort,
have won for them no little distinction abroad. 'Sam Slick' may now be
considered an English classic, new editions of which are still published
from year to year and placed on the bookseller's shelves with the works
of Fielding, Smollett, Butler and Barham. The sayings and doings of the
knowing clockmaker were first published by Mr. Howe in the columns of
the old _Nova Scotia_, still published as the weekly edition of the
Halifax _Chronicle_, for the purpose of preserving some good stories and
anecdotes of early colonial life. Like many good things that appear in
the Canadian press, the judge's humorous effort would, no doubt, have
been forgotten long before these times, had not the eminent publisher,
Mr. Richard Bentley, seen the articles and printed them in book form.
The humour of the work soon established the reputation of the author,
and together with his companionable qualities made the 'old judge' a
favourite when he left his native province and settled in England, where
he lived and died, like Cowley, Thomson, Pope, and other men known to
fame, on the banks of the Thames. The comments of 'Sam Slick' are full
of keen humour, and have a moral as well. When first published, the work
was not calculated to make him popular with certain classes of his
countrymen, impatient of the satire which touched off weaknesses and
follies in the little social and political world of those laggard times;
but now that the habits of the people have changed, and the Nova Scotia
of the Clockmaker exists no longer, except perhaps in some lonely
corner; every one laughs at his humorous descriptions of the slow old
times, and confesses, that if things were as Sam has portrayed them in
his quaint way, he only acted the part of a true moralist in laying them
bare to the world, and aiming at them the pointed shafts of his ready
satire. The work is likely to have a more enduring reputation than the
mere mechanical humour of the productions of 'Mark Twain.' Many of his
sayings, like 'soft sawder,' have entered into our every day conversation.
The other distinguished Nova Scotian is the learned Principal of McGill
College. Professor Dawson is a native of the County of Pictou, which has
given birth to many men of ability in divinity, letters and politics. At
an early age the natural bent of his talent carried him into the rich,
unbroken field that the geology of his native province offered in those
days to scientists. The two visits he paid with Sir Charles Lyell
through Nova Scotia, gave him admirable opportunities of comparing notes
with that distinguished geologist, and no doubt did much to encourage
him in the pursuit of an attractive, though hardly remunerative, branch
of study. The result was his first work, 'Acadian Geology,' which was at
once accepted by _savants_ everywhere as a valuable contribution to
geological literature. His subsequent works--'The Story of the Earth and
Man,' 'Fossil Man,' 'The Origin of the World,' and his numerous
contributions to scientific periodicals, have aided to establish his
reputation as a sound scholar and tasteful writer, as easily understood
by the ordinary reader as by the student of geological lore. Moreover,
his religious instincts have kept him free from that scepticism and
infidelity into which scientists like himself are so apt to fall, as the
result of their close studies of natural science; and his later works
have all been written with the object of reconciling the conclusions of
Science with the teachings of Scripture--a very difficult task
discharged in a spirit of candour, liberality and fairness, which has
won the praise of his most able adversaries.
A great deal of poetry has been written in Canadian periodicals, and now
and then certainly we come across productions displaying much poetic
taste as well as rhythmic skill. The only work of a high order that has
attracted some attention abroad, is 'Saul,' a Drama, by Charles
Heavysege, who died in Montreal not long since, a humble worker on the
daily press. The leading English reviews, at the time of its appearance,
acknowledged that 'it is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable works
ever written out of Great Britain;' and yet, despite the grandeur of the
subject, and the poetical and dramatic power, as well as the
psychological analysis displayed in its conception and execution, this
production of a local reporter, gifted with undoubted genius, is only
known to a few Canadians. 'Saul,' like Milton's great epic, now-a-days,
is only admired by a few, and never read by the many. Charles Sangster
has also given us a very pleasing collection of poems, in which, like
Wordsworth, he illustrates his love for nature by graceful, poetic
descriptions of the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay. That a pure poetic
vein runs through the minds of not a few of our writers, can be seen by
a perusal of the poems contributed for some years to the CANADIAN
MONTHLY, _Scribner's_, and other publications, by L'Esperance, Watson,
Griffin, Carroll Ryan, 'Fidelis,' John Reade, Charles Roberts, Mrs.
Seymour McLean, and C. P. Mulvany; the volume recently published by the
latter writer is undoubtedly a good illustration of the poetic talent
that exists among the cultured classes of our people.
As to Canadian novels and romances, there is very little to say; for
though there have been many attempts at fiction, the performance has, on
the whole, been weak in the extreme. In historic romance, only three
works of merit have been so far produced; and these are 'Wacousta,'
written by Major Richardson, in 1833; 'Le Bastonnais,' by M.
L'Esperance, and 'Le Chien d'Or,' by Mr. Kirby, since 1867--during the
long interval of nearly forty years between these works, not a single
romance worth reading was published in Canada. These three books,
however, are written with spirit, and recall the masterpieces of
fiction. In novels, illustrative of ordinary life in the Colonies, we
know of no works that anybody remembers except those by Miss Louisa
Murray, the author of 'The Cited Curate,' and 'The Settlers of Long
Arrow,' who, at all events, writes naturally, and succeeds in investing
her story with a vein of interest. The late Professor De Mille gave us
two well-written productions in 'Helena's Household,' a 'Tale of Rome in
the First Century,' and 'The Dodge Club Abroad;' but his later works did
not keep up the promise of his earlier efforts, for they never rose
beyond slavish imitations of the ingenious plots of Wilkie Collins and
his school. Yet they were above the ordinary Canadian novel, and had
many readers in the United States and Canada.
In History, much has been attempted. Every one who can write an article
in a country newspaper thinks he is competent to give the world a
history of our young Dominion in some shape or other; and yet, when we
come to review the results, it can hardly be said that the literary
success is remarkable. The history of Canada, as a whole, has yet to be
written, and it most be admitted that the task has its difficulties. The
first era has its picturesque features, which may attract an eloquent
writer, but the field has in a large measure been already occupied with
great fidelity and ability by that accomplished historian, Francis
Parkman, of Boston. The subsequent history, under the English _regime_,
labours under the disadvantage of want of unity, and being for the most
part a record of comparatively insignificant political controversy. To
the outside world such a history has probably no very great attraction,
and consequently could bring an author no great measure of reputation.
Yet, if a Canadian imbued with true patriotism, content with the
applause of his own countrymen, should devote to the task much patient
research, and a graceful style, and while leaving out all petty and
unimportant details, should bring into bold relief the salient and
noteworthy features of the social and political development of Canada,
such a writer would lift Canadian history out of that slough of dullness
into which so many have succeeded in throwing it in their efforts to
immortalise themselves rather than their country. Nor can it be truly
said that to trace the successive stages in a nation's growth, is a task
uninteresting or unimportant, even to the great world beyond us. But
Canada has as yet no national importance; she is only in the colonial
transition, stage, and her influence on other peoples is hardly yet
appreciable So it happens, that whilst the history of a small state in
Europe like Holland, Belgium, or Denmark, may win a writer a world-wide
reputation, as was the case with Motley, on the other hand, the history
of a colonial community is only associated in the minds of the foreign
public with petty political conflicts, and not with those great
movements of humanity which have affected so deeply the political and
social fabric of European States.
All that, however, by way of parenthesis. Garneau's history, of which we
have a fair translation, remains the best work of the kind, but it is
not a history of Canada--simply of one section and of one class of the
population. Hannay's 'History of Acadia' is also a work which displays
research, and skill in arranging the materials, as well as a pleasing,
readable style. Such works as Murdoch's 'History of Nova Scotia,' Dr.
Canniff's Bay of Quinte, Dr. Scadding's 'Toronto of Old' are very
valuable in the way of collecting facts and data from dusty archives and
from old pioneers, thus saving the future historian much labour. The
last mentioned book is one of the most interesting works of the class
ever published in this country, and shows what an earnest, enthusiastic
antiquarian can do for the English-speaking races in Canada, in
perpetuating the memories and associations that cling to old landmarks.
Like Dr. Scadding in Toronto, Mr. James Lemoine has delved industriously
among the historic monuments of Quebec, and made himself the historian
_par excellence_ of that interesting old city. To him the natural beauty
of the St. Lawrence and its historic and legendary lore are as familiar
as were the picturesque scenery and the history of Scotland to Sir
Walter Scott. Both Mr. Lemoine and Dr. Scadding illustrate what may be
done in other cities and towns of Canada by an enthusiastic student of
their annals, who would not aim too high, but be content with the
reputation of local historians or antiquarians. We cannot lose any time
in committing to paper the recollections of those old settlers who are
fast dying out among us. 'The Scot in British North America,' by Mr. W.
J. Rattray, is an attempt--and a most meritorious one--to illustrate the
history of the progress of a class who have done so much for the
prosperity of this country. Historical bodies, like the New England
Historical Society, can do a great deal to preserve the records of old
times. The Quebec Literary Historical Society, founded as long ago as
1824, under the auspices of the Governor-General of the time, Lord
Dalhousie, has done a good work with the small means at its command in
this direction, and it is satisfactory to know that a similar
institution has at last been established in Halifax, where there ought
to be much interesting material in the possession of old families, whose
founders came from New England or the "old country" in the troublous
times of the American Revolution.
Reviewing generally works of a miscellaneous class, we find several that
have deservedly won for the authors a certain position in Canadian
literature. For instance, Colonel Denison's works on Cavalry, one of
which gained a prize offered by the Emperor of Russia, illustrate
certainly the fertility and acuteness of the Canadian intellect when it
is stimulated to some meritorious performance in a particular field.
Mrs. Moodie's 'Roughing it in the Bush' is an evidence of the interest
that may be thrown around the story of the trials and struggles of
settlers in the wilderness, when the writer describes the life naturally
and effectively. [Footnote: In the course of my readings of old files in
the Parliamentary library, I came across this reference to the early
literary efforts of this lady, whose pen in later times has contributed
so much charming poetry and prose to Canadian publications, serial and
general: 'The editor of the New York _Albion_ has had the good fortune
to obtain as contributor to his poetical columns the name of Susanna
Moodie, better known among the admirers of elegiac poetry, in her days
of celibate life, as Susanna Strickland. From the specimen with which
she has furnished Dr. Bartlett of her poetic ardour, we are happy to
find that neither the Canadian atmosphere nor the circumstances
attendant upon the alteration of her name, have dimmed the light of that
Muse which, in past years, engaged many of our juvenile hours with
pleasure and profit.'--Montreal _Gazette_, 1833.] Mr. Charles Lindsey
has given us, among other works, a life of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie,--with
whom he was connected by marriage--valuable for its historical accuracy
and moderate spirit. Mr. George Stewart has in 'Evenings in the Library'
illustrated how earnestly and conscientiously he has studied English and
American literature. Dr. Daniel Wilson, since he has made Canada his
home, has continued to illustrate the versatility of his knowledge and
the activity of his intellect by his works on 'Prehistoric Man,' and
'Recollections of Edinburgh,' besides his many contributions to the
proceedings of learned societies and the pages of periodicals, Mr.
Fennings Taylor, an accomplished official of Parliament, has given us a
number of gracefully-written essays on Episcopalian dignitaries and
Canadian statesmen, though he has had to labour in most cases with the
difficulty of reviewing the career of men still in life, whose political
merit is still a point in the opinion of parties. Mr. Alpheus Todd, the
well-known librarian of Parliament, has been without a rival in the
dependencies of Great Britain, in his particular line of constitutional
studies. For over a quarter of a century he has been accumulating
precedent upon precedent, until his mind is a remarkable store-house of
well-digested data, from which he has illustrated the growth of
Parliamentary institutions in Great Britain and her Colonies. His style
is remarkably clear and logical,--though the character of his works and
the plan adopted in their execution, are unfavourable to literary
finish,--and even those who may not agree with his conclusions, on
certain constitutional points, will give full credit to the
conscientiousness of his researches and the sincerity of his purpose.
His 'Parliamentary Government in England' was described in the
_Edinburgh Review_ as 'one of the most useful and complete works which
has yet appeared on the practical operation of the British
Constitution.' It says much for our system of Government, that it has
been able to stimulate the intellectual faculties of a Canadian writer
to the production of such thoughtful, erudite works. They are a natural
outcome of the interest which all classes of our people take in
questions of a political bearing. They illustrate the mental activity
which, from the earliest times in our history, has been devoted to the
study of political and constitutional questions, and which has hitherto
for the most part found expression only in the press or in the
legislatures of the different provinces. Works of constitutional
authority like those of Hallam, May, Stubbs, and Todd must emanate
naturally from the student, removed from the turmoil and excitement of
political contests, rather than from the politician and statesman, whose
mind can hardly ever find that freedom from bias which would give
general confidence in his works, if indeed he could ever find time to
produce them.
And here we may appropriately refer to the contributions made to
Colonial literature by the eminent men who have assisted in giving
Canada her present political and industrial status. The great speeches
of Canadian statesmen must nearly all be sought in the old files of
newspapers deposited in our libraries; but as a rule the chief interest
that now attaches to these speeches is the light they throw on the
history of the past. The opportunities which Canadian statesmen have had
of making great oratorical efforts have not been frequent in
dependencies where the questions have necessarily been for the most part
of purely local importance and of a very practical character. Yet when
subjects of large constitutional or national importance have come up for
discussion, the debates prove that Canadian intellects display a
comprehensiveness of knowledge and a power of argument worthy of a
larger arena. Some of Sir Alexander Galt's speeches, in bringing down
the Budget in old times, were characterized by that masterly arrangement
of statistics which has made Mr. Gladstone so famous in the House of
Commons. Sir John Macdonald's speech explaining the Washington Treaty,
in 1872, was remarkable for its logical arrangement and its
illustrations of the analytical power and the varied knowledge of that
eminent statesman, who, in the intervals of leisure, has always been a
student of general literature. Mr. Blake's speeches afford abundant
evidence of the brilliant talent of a public man who is both a student
of books as well as of politics, and who, were the tendency of
Parliamentary oratory something higher than mere practical debate, could
rise fully to the height of some great argument. But oratory, in the
real sense of the art, cannot exist in our system of government in a
Colonial dependency where practical results are immediately sought for.
It consequently follows that the speeches which interest us to-day lose
their attraction when the object has been gained. Both Mr. Howe and Mr.
McGee were able to invest their great addresses with a charm which still
clings to them when we take them up. The reason is, they were, like
Gladstone and Disraeli, both _litterateurs_ who studied their subjects
in the library, among the great masters of eloquence and statesmanship,
and were thus able to throw around a great question the flowers of a
highly cultivated mind. But even Mr. Howe's most memorable speeches of
old times would perhaps be hardly appreciated in the cold practical
arena in which our public business is now transacted. Yet it cannot be
said that the Legislature is no field to display the highest qualities
of intellectual activity because it is no longer possible to indulge in
those nights of poetic fancy or those brilliant perorations which are
now confined to the pulpit or lecture-hall. The intellectual strength of
the country must be of no mean order when it can give us statesmen like
Sir Charles Tupper and Mr. Mackenzie, whose best speeches are admirable
illustrations of logical arrangement and argumentative power. And, it
may be added, with respect to the present House, that no previous
Parliament, entrusted with the control of the affairs of Canada, has
comprised a larger number of gentlemen, distinguished not only for their
practical comprehension of the wants of this country, but for their wide
attainments and general culture.
When we come to sum up the literary results of the century that has
passed since the two races entered conjointly on the material and
intellectual development of Canada, it will be seen that there has been
a steady movement forward. It must be admitted that Canada has not yet
produced any works which show a marked originality of thought. Some
humorous writings, a few good poems, one or two histories, some
scientific and constitutional productions, are alone known to a small
reading public outside of Canada. Striking originality can hardly be
developed to any great extent in a dependency which naturally, and
perhaps wisely in some cases, looks for all its traditions and habits of
thought to a parent state. It is only with an older condition of
society, when men have learned at last to think as well as to act for
themselves, to originate rather than to reproduce, that there can be a
national literature. The political development of Canada within forty
years affords forcible evidence of the expansion of the political ideas
of our public men, who are no longer tormented by the dread of what
others say of them, but legislate solely with respect to the internal
necessities of the country; and the same development is now going on in
other departments of intellectual life, and affords additional evidence
of our national growth. It must also be remembered that there is a
mental activity among the intelligent classes of the country, in itself
as significant as the production of great works. Like our American
neighbours, the mass of Canadians is able to think intelligently, and
come generally to a right conclusion, on all matters of local concern;
in this respect, no comparison need be made with the mass of Englishmen
or Frenchmen in the Old World, for the social and educational facilities
within the reach of the people of this country, give them undoubted
advantages over others. It is only necessary to consider the number of
pamphlets and volumes on matters affecting Canada, that annually issue
from the press in this country, to show the existence of a mental
activity in entire harmony with the industrial progress of the country.
[Footnote: For instance, we find in Morgan's 'Annual Register' for 1879,
that during that year there were no less than 166 publications issued
from the press, of which 17 were poetic; 12 historical; 15 educational;
17 legal; 24 religious; 66 miscellaneous, &c. Some of these were of
considerable merit, as 'Tasse's Pioneers,' F. Taylor's 'Are Legislatures
Parliaments?' Frechette's Poems, Hannay's 'Acadia,' &c. In this
connection it may be interesting to add that the Parliamentary Library
contains some 1,400 copies of pamphlets, bound in 200 volumes, since
Confederation, and that the total number of original Canadian
publications registered since that time is over 1,500--only a few of the
pamphlets being registered copyright. The Parliamentary Library,
however, is very defective yet in Canadian books, papers and pamphlets.
Laval University has a far more valuable collection. We ought to have a
National Library like the British Museum, where all Canadian
publications can have a place. Strange as it may seem, only a few copies
of old Canadian papers can be found in the Ottawa Library. Yet, if a
little money were spent and trouble. taken, a valuable collection could
be procured from private individuals throughout the Dominion.] It is
fair then to argue that the intellectual progress of a country like
Canada must not be measured solely by the production of great works
which have been stamped with the approval of the outside literary world,
on whose verdict, it must of course be admitted, depends true fame. We
must also look to the signs of general culture that are now exhibited on
all sides, compared with a quarter of a century ago, when the
development of material interests necessarily engrossed all the best
faculties of the people. The development of higher education, together
with the formation of Art Schools, Museums, and Literary Societies, is
illustrative of the greater mental activity of all classes. The
paintings of O'Brien and Verner are pleasing evidences of the growth of
art in a country where, hitherto, but few pictures of merit have even
been imported. It is no longer considered a sign of good taste to cover
the walls with oils and chromes whose chief value is the tawdry, showy
gilt which encases them and makes so loud a display on the walls of the
_nouveaux riches_. In the style of public buildings and private
dwellings, there is a remarkable improvement within twenty years, to
indicate not only the increase of national and individual wealth, but
the growth of a cultured taste. The interior decorations, too, show a
desire to imitate the modern ideas that prevail abroad; and in this
respect every year must witness a steady advance, according as our
people travel more in the older countries in Europe and study the
fashions of the artistic and intellectual world. There are even now in
prosaic, practical Canada, some men and women who fully appreciate the
aesthetic ideal that the poet Morris would achieve in the form, harmony,
and decoration of domestic furniture. If such aesthetic ideas could only
be realized in the decoration of our great public edifices, the
Parliamentary buildings at Ottawa, for instance, the national taste
would certainly be improved. At present huge portraits of politicians,
who by intrinsic merit or political favour have become speakers, stare
down from the walls in solitary grandeur, and already begin to overcrowd
each other. We search in vain for allegorical paintings by eminent
Canadian artists, or monuments of illustrious statesmen, such as we see
in the Capitol at Washington, or in the elegant structure nearly
completed at Albany.
In one respect we are still much behind hand, and that is in our Public
Libraries. The library of the Parliament of Canada still remains the
only institution worthy of much notice in the Dominion. It was certainly
an event in the history of literary culture in Canada when this library
was moved into the edifice whose architectural beauty is in itself an
illustration of the rapid advance in taste of the Dominion. As one looks
up at its chaste, vaulted ceiling, which lights the tiers of volumes,
arranged in a circle, one recalls the now forgotten poem of Crabbe, that
ardent lover of books:--
Come, Child of Care! to make thy soul serene,
Approach the treasures of this tranquil scene;
Survey the dome, and, as the doors unfold,
The soul's best cure, in all her cares, behold!
Where mental wealth the poor in thought may find,
And mental physic the diseased in mind.
* * * * *
With awe, around these silent walks we tread;
These are the lasting mansions of the dead:--
"The dead!" Methinks a thousand tongues reply:
"These are the tombs of such as cannot die!
"Crowned with eternal fame, they sit sublime
"And laugh at all the little strife of time."
But whilst we pay this tribute to its architectural grace, one wonders
at the same time at the shortsightedness which has sacrificed everything
to appearance, and given us a building not even equal to existing
demands--as if a library was a thing of the present, not to increase
with the intellectual requirements of the country. As it is now, the
library contains only some 100,000 volumes, many of which have no
particular value. The American and Canadian department is confessedly
inferior in many respects, although we ought to excel in that
particular. Of late years, the annual grant has been extremely small,
and chiefly devoted to the purchase of books for the law branch, for the
especial benefit of lawyers engaged in the Supreme Court. But we have as
yet no Free Libraries like those in the United States, of which the
Boston Library is a notable illustration. [Footnote: Boston, twenty
years ago, spent and spent well, in founding her great free library,
more than two dollars for each man, woman, and child within her limits,
and she has sustained it to this day with great spirit and liberality.
That library has now more than 360,000 volumes, and her citizens in 1879
took to their homes more than 1,160,000 volumes. Many smaller places in
New England and elsewhere, not without careful investigation, have
followed her example, finding in the practical results of her 20 years'
work, proof satisfactory to their tax-payers, that a free library is a
profitable investment of public money, while in the West the great
cities of Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis, with Western free-handed
energy, have already free libraries on such a scale that one at least of
them bids fair to rank among the greatest in the world--_Scribner's
Monthly_ for September, 1880, where the advantages of a free library are
very tersely shown.] But, nevertheless, the reading facilities of the
people generally have increased very largely within two decades. At the
present time, as far as we can estimate from the information within
reach, there are some 130,000 volumes in the Parliamentary Libraries of
the Dominion, 700,000 in the Universities, Colleges and Schools--all of
which are necessarily of a limited professional class--and 140,000 in
Mechanics' Institutes and Literary Societies. The grand total of library
and prize books despatched to the Public Schools of the Province of
Ontario alone within twenty-five years is over one million and a quarter
of volumes--comprising of course books of an educational character, but
nevertheless valuable in laying the foundation of general culture, and
bringing the means of acquiring knowledge to sections where otherwise
such facilities would be wanting. Last year, the value of the books
imported into Canada amounted to about a million of dollars, or an
increase of about 30 per cent. in ten years. Literary and Scientific
Institutes are increasing in number, and some are doing a useful, if not
a national work: the Quebec Historical Society, referred to on a
previous page, the Toronto Canadian Institute, which has made not a few
useful contributions to science and literature, and the Institut
Canadien which has erected in Ottawa one of the handsomest structures
yet raised in Canada by a literary association. In Ontario there are
also some 100 Mechanics Institutes, including nearly 11,000 members,
with an aggregate of 118,000 volumes in the libraries; [Footnote:
'Address of Mr. James Young, President of Mechanics' Institutes
Association of Ontario (_Globe_, Sept. 24th, 1880).] and it is
satisfactory to learn that institutions which may have an important
influence on the industrial classes are to be placed on a more efficient
basis. These facts illustrate that we are making progress in the right
direction; but what we want, above all things, are public libraries, to
which all classes may have free access, in the principal centres of
population. The rich men of this country can devote a part of their
surplus wealth to no more patriotic purpose than the establishment of
such libraries in the places where they live, and in that way erect a
monument for themselves far more honourable than any that may be
achieved by expenditures on purely selfish objects. All through the New
England and Central States we meet with such illustrations of private
generosity, but there are few similar examples in Canada. Perhaps the
handsome contribution recently made by Mr. Redpath towards the
establishment of a museum in connection with McGill College--itself a
memorial of private generosity--is a favourable augury of what we may
often look for in the future, as the number of our wealthy men increase
and they become more alive to the intellectual wants of those around
them.
In the columns of our ablest journals there is a growing tendency to
devote more space to the discussion of literary, artistic and scientific
topics which are engaging attention in the world of thought The
publication of a periodical like the _Bystander_ may justly be
considered an event in the political and literary annals of this
country. It illustrates the desire that exists for independent political
criticism amid the intense conflict of party opinion; and even those who
cannot agree with the views of the eminent gentleman who conducts this
work will frankly admit the originality and independence of thought in
all he says. But it is not only as a political writer that Mr. Smith is
doing good service to this country; every one who reads his reviews of
current events cannot fail to profit by the study of his graceful style
as well as by the versatility of his knowledge on all the social,
political and economic questions that are engaging attention at home or
abroad. The pages of the _Canadian Monthly_ have also for some time
shown that there is coming to the front a number of writers of
considerable intellectual power on the leading social and religious
problems to which so many able thinkers are devoting themselves
now-a-days. Herbert Spencer has his disciples and defenders, who prove
themselves no contemptible adversaries of the orthodox school of
religion. Very few of us probably sympathize with these modern
iconoclasts who would destroy all motive for right doing in this world,
by breaking down human faith in the existence of one Supreme Being; but,
at the same time, no one can deny the earnestness and ability these
writers bring to their work. It is quite obvious that such able thinkers
as Mr. Spencer and his followers in Canada, with Mr. Le Sueur at their
head, cannot be 'snubbed' cavalierly by the professed teachers of
religion. The tendency of modern thought, a wave of which has reached
us, is undoubtedly in the direction of bringing all subjects, however
sacred, to the crucial test of argument, fact and experience, and our
religious guides must not think they will prevail by the exhibit of mere
contemptuous indifference to the free thought that prevails around them.
If our great theological schools and seats of learning are to prove
themselves equal to the demands of the present day, it will be by moving
out of their grooves of worn-out tradition and routine, and by enlarging
their teachings so that the men they send out into the world may be more
equal than most of them appear now to meet in argument the Positivist,
Rationalist and Materialist, or whatever the disciple of the modern
schools of philosophy may call himself. The man of true liberality and
faith in the truth of his religious principles must be fully prepared to
allow the freest expression of opinion, however antagonistic it may
appear to the true happiness of society. This very conflict of ideas and
arguments between such opposite schools of opinion must, in the end,
evolve the truth, and necessarily give additional stimulus to
intellectual thought in this country, where, so far, there has been a
great dearth of original thinkers to elevate us above purely selfish,
material interests.
In the natural order of things, the next half century ought to witness a
far larger development of the intellect of this country. We have already
seen that, with the progress of the Dominion in population and wealth,
education has been stimulated to a remarkable degree, journalism has
become more of a profession, and not only have several books, of more
than ordinary value and merit, been produced in various departments of
knowledge, but there are already signs of a spirit of intellectual
emulation which must, sooner or later, have its full fruition. If Canada
makes the material progress within the next few decades that her people
hope, and her statesmen are endeavouring to accomplish, in the face, no
doubt, of many difficulties, we may confidently look forward to a
corresponding intellectual development. So much practical work of
immediate importance has to be performed in a comparatively new country
like this, that native talent has naturally found chief expression in
politics, the professions, and the press; but with greater wealth, and
an older condition of society, literature, science, and art, will be
cultivated to a far larger extent. 'It was amid the ruins of the
Capitol,' says Gibbon, 'that I first conceived the idea of writing the
"History of the Roman Empire."' Such a work could not have been written
among the forests of Canada, while men were labouring with the many
difficulties of a pioneer existence. But with the greater opportunities
of leisure and culture necessarily opening up to us in the future,
Canadians may yet have a literature, not merely imitative, as at
present, but creative and original. It is stated somewhere in an old
English review of American literature, that on this new continent we can
hardly expect the rich fruition which springs from that deep, humanized
soil of the old world, which has for ages been enriched by the ripe
droppings of a fertile national life, where, in the words of an American
poet,--
One half the soil has walked the rest,
In poets, heroes, martyrs, sages.
It is certainly true that the beauty and grandeur of external nature
alone will never inspire the highest and deepest writings; but human
life with its manifold experiences, its glooms and glories, sorrows and
rejoicings, pains, pleasures and aspirations. Every rood of ground in
the old communities of Europe has its historic associations to point
many a moral and adorn many a tale. Yet if this America of ours has a
history only of yesterday, it, too, has its memories and associations to
stimulate the genius of history, poetry and romance. Already in the
first century of American literature have poets and historians and
artists appeared to rival those of the older civilization of the world.
The works of Parkman and Longfellow illustrate that there is, even in
the early history and traditions of Canada, much to evoke the interest
of the great world beyond us, when a writer brings to the task the
genius of a true poet or the brilliancy of an accomplished historian. If
our soil is new, yet it may produce fruits which will bear a rich
flavour of their own, and may please the palate of even those surfeited
with the hothouse growth of older lands. Hawthorne, Emerson, Howells,
Bret Harte, Sam Slick, are among many writers who illustrate the
raciness and freshness of American production. Nor let it be forgotten
that American and Canadian, in 'the fresh woods and pastures new' of
this continent, have an equal heritage with the people of the British
Islands in that rich, humanized soil which has borne such rare
intellectual fruit. We, too, may enjoy its bounteous gifts and gather
inspiration from its treasures of 'English undefiled,' although we live
in another land whose history dawned but yesterday, and where the soil
is almost virgin.
In this land there is a future full of promise for literature as for
industry. Our soil speaks to the millions of poor in the old countries
of the world of boundless hope. Here there is no ancient system of
social exclusiveness to fix a limit to the intellectual progress of the
proletariat. Political freedom rests on a firm, broad basis of general
education. Our political constitution is not alienated from the
intellect of the country, but its successful working depends entirely on
the public intelligence. As our political horizon widens, and a more
expansive national existence opens before us, so must our intellectual
life become not only more vigorous, but more replete with evidences of
graceful culture:
'For through all the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.'