The Intellectual Development of the Canadian People Part 2

Since 1867, the _Mail_, established in 1873 as the chief organ of the Liberal Conservatives, has come to the front rank in journalism, and is a powerful rival of the _Globe_, while the _Colonist_, _Leader_, and other papers which once played an important part in the political drama, are forgotten, like most political instruments that have done their service and are no longer available. Several of the old journals so long a.s.sociated with the history of political and intellectual activity in this country, however, still exist as influential organs. The Quebec _Gazette_ was, some years ago, merged into another Quebec paper--having become long before a memorial of the past in its appearance and dullness, a sort of Rip Van Winkle in the newspaper world. The _Canadien_ has always had its troubles; but, nevertheless, it continues to have influence in the Quebec district, and the same may be said of the _Journal de Quebec_, though the writer who first gave it power in politics is now keeping petty state in the infant Province of the West.

The Quebec _Mercury_ still exists, though on a very small scale of late.

The Montreal _Gazette_ (now the oldest paper in Canada), the Montreal _Herald_, the _Minerve_, the Hamilton _Spectator_, and the Brockville _Recorder_ (established in 1820), are still exercising political influence as of old. The St. John _News_ and the Halifax _Acadian Recorder_ are still vigorously carried on. The Halifax _Chronicle_ remains the leading Liberal organ in Nova Scotia, though the journalist whose name was so long a.s.sociated with it in the early days of its influence died a few years ago in the old Government House, within whose sacred walls he was not permitted to enter in the days of his fierce controversy with Lord Falkland. In its later days, the Hon. William Annand, lately in the employment of the Dominion Government in London, was nominally the Editor-in-Chief, but the Hon. Jonathan McCully, Hiram Blanchard, and William Garvie were among those who contributed largely to its editorial columns--able political writers not long since dead.

The public journals of this country are now so numerous that it would take several pages to enumerate them; hardly a village of importance throughout Canada but has one or more weeklies. In 1840 there were, as accurately as I have been able to ascertain, only 65 papers in all Canada, including the Maritime Provinces. In 1857, there were 243 in all; in 1862 some 320, and in 1870 the number had increased to 432, of which Ontario alone owned 255. The number has not much increased since then--the probable number being now 465, of which 56, at least, appear daily. [Footnote: The data for 1840 are taken from Martin's 'Colonial Empire,' and Mrs. Jameson's account. The figures for 1857 are taken from Lovell's 'Canada Directory;' the figures for 1880 from the lists in Commons and Senate Reading Rooms. The last census returns for the four old Provinces give only 308 printing establishments, employing 3,400 hands, paying $1,200,000 in wages, and producing articles to the worth of $3,420,202. Although not so stated, these figures probably include job as well as newspaper offices--both being generally combined--and newspapers where no job work is done are obviously left out.] The Post Office statistics show in 1879, that 4,085,454 lbs. of newspapers, at one cent per lb. pa.s.sed through the post offices of the Dominion, and 5,610,000 copies were posted otherwise. Nearly three millions and a half of papers were delivered under the free delivery system in the cities of Halifax, Hamilton, London, Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, St. John, and Toronto. Another estimate gives some 30,000,000 of papers pa.s.sing through the Post Office in the course of a year, of which probably two thirds, or 20,000,000, are Canadian. These figures do not, however, represent any thing like the actual circulation of the Canadian papers, as the larger proportion are immediately delivered to subscribers by carriers in the cities and towns. The census of 1870 in the United States showed the total annual circulation of the 5,871 newspapers in that country to be, 1,508,548,250, or an average of forty for each person in the Republic, or one for every inhabitant in the world. Taking the same basis for our calculation, we may estimate there are upwards of 160,000,000 copies of newspapers annually distributed to our probable population of four millions of people. The influence which the newspaper press must exercise upon the intelligence of the ma.s.ses is consequently obvious.

The names of the journals that take the front rank, from the enterprise and ability with which they are conducted, will occur to every one _au courant_ with public affairs: the _Globe_ and _Mail_, in Toronto; the _Gazette_ and _Herald_, in Montreal; the _Chronicle_ (in its 34th year) and _Mercury_, in Quebec; the _Spectator_ and _Times_, in Hamilton; the _Free Press_ and _Advertiser_, in London; the _British Whig_ (in its 46th year) and _Daily News_, in Kingston; _Citizen_ and _Free Press_, in Ottawa; _News_, _Globe_, _Telegraph_, and _Sun_, in St. John, N. B.; _Herald_ and _Chronicle_, in Halifax; the _Examiner_ and _Patriot_, in Prince Edward Island, are the chief exponents of the principles of the Conservative and Liberal party. Besides these political organs the Montreal _Star_ and _Witness_, and the Toronto _Telegram_ have a large circulation, and are more or less independent in their opinions. Among the French papers, besides those referred to above, we have the _Courrier de Montreal_ (1877), _Nouveau Monde_ (1867), _L'Evenement_ (1867), _Courrier d'Ottawa_, now _le Canada_ (1879), _Franco Canadien_ (1857), which enjoy more or less influence in the Province of Quebec.

Perhaps no fact ill.u.s.trates more strikingly the material and mental activity of the Dominion than the number of newspapers now published in the new Province of the North-West. The first paper in that region appeared in 1859, when Messrs. Buckingham & Coldwell conveyed to Fort Garry their press and materials in an ox cart, and established the little _Nor' Wester_ immediately under the walls of the fort. Now there are three dailies published in the City of Winnipeg alone--all of them well printed and fairly edited--and at least sixteen papers in all appear periodically through the North-West. The country press--that is to say, the press published outside the great centres of industrial and political activity--has remarkably improved in vigour within a few years; and the metropolitan papers are constantly receiving from its ranks new and valuable accessions, whilst there remain connected with it, steadily labouring with enthusiasm in many cases, though the pecuniary rewards are small, an indefatigable band of terse, well-informed writers, who exercise no mean influence within the respective spheres of their operations. The Sarnia _Observer_, Sherbrooke _Gazette_, Stratford _Beacon_, Perth _Courier_ (1834), Lindsay _Post_, Guelph _Mercury_ (1845), Yarmouth _Herald_, Peterboro _Review_, St. Thomas _Journal_, _News of St. Johns_ (Q), _Courrier de St. Hyacinthe_, Carleton _Sentinel_, Maritime _Farmer_, are among the many journals which display no little vigour in their editorials and skill in the selection of news and literary matter. During the thirteen years that have elapsed since Confederation new names have been inscribed on the long roll of Canadian journalists. Mr. Gordon Brown still remains in the editorial chair of the _Globe_, one of the few examples we find in the history of Canadian journalism of men who have not been carried away by the excitement of politics or the attraction of a soft place in the public service. The names of White, McCulloch, Farrar, Rattray, G. Stewart, jr., M. J. Griffin, Carroll Ryan, Stewart (Montreal _Herald_), Stewart (Halifax _Herald_), Sumichrast, Fielding, Elder, Geo. Johnson, Blackburn (London _Free Press_), Cameron (London _Advertiser_), Davin, Dymond, Pirie, D. K. Brown, Mackintosh, Macready, Livingstone, Ellis, Houde, Vallee, Desjardins, Tarte, Faucher de St.

Maurice, Fabre, Ta.s.se, L'O. David, are among the prominent writers on the most widely circulated English and French Canadian papers.

In the necessarily limited review I have been forced to give of the progress of journalism in Canada, I have made no mention of the religious press which has been established, in the large cities princ.i.p.ally, as the exponent of the views of particular sects. The Methodist body has been particularly successful in this line of business, in comparison with other denominations. The _Christian Guardian_, established at Toronto in 1829, under the editorial supervision of Rev. Egerton Ryerson, continues to exhibit its pristine vigour under the editorship of the Rev. Mr. Dewart. The organ of the same body in the Maritime Provinces is the _Wesleyan_, edited by Rev. T.

Watson Smith, and is fully equal in appearance and ability to its Western contemporary. The Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopal Methodists and Congregationalists, have also exponents of their particular views.

The Church of England has made many attempts to establish denominational organs on a successful basis, but very few of them have ever come up to the expectations of their promoters in point of circulation--the old _Church_ having been, on the whole, the most ably conducted. At present there are three papers in the west, representing different sections of the Church. The Roman Catholics have also their organs, not so much religious as political--the St. John _Freeman_, edited by the Hon. Mr.

Anglin, is the most remarkable for the ability and vigour with which it has been conducted as a supporter of the views of the Liberal party in the Dominion, as well as of the interests of the Roman Catholic body. In all there are some thirty papers published in the Dominion, professing to have the interests of certain sects particularly at heart. [Footnote: It is noteworthy that the Canadian religions press has never attained the popularity of the American Denominational Journals, which are said to have an aggregate circulation of nearly half of the secular press.]

The _Canadian Ill.u.s.trated News_ and _L'Opinion Publique_, which owe their establishment to the enterprise of Mr. Desbarats, a gentleman of culture, formerly at the head of the old Government Printing Office, are among the examples of the new vigour and ability that have characterized Canadian journalistic enterprise of recent years. The ill.u.s.trations in the _News_ are, on the whole well executed, and were it possible to print them on the superior tinted paper of the _Graphic_, and it would be possible if the people were willing to pay the expense, they would compare more favourably than they do with the impressions of the older papers published in New York and London. In its prints of native scenery, and portraits of deceased Canadians of merit, the _News_ is a valuable and interesting addition to journalism in this country, and will be found most useful to the future generations who will people the Dominion. Nor does Canada now lack an imitator of _Punch_, in the humorous line. It is noteworthy that whilst America has produced humorists like 'Sam Slick,' Artemus Ward, Mark Twain, and others, no American rival to _Punch_ has yet appeared in Boston or New York. The attempts that have heretofore been made have been generally coa.r.s.e caricatures--for example, the political cartoons in _Harper's Weekly_, which are never characterized by those keen artistic touches that make _Punch_ so famous. Previous efforts in this field of political and social satire in Canada have always failed for want of support, as well as from the absence of legitimate humour. The oldest satirical sheet was _Le Fantastique_, published at Quebec by N. Aubin, who was a very bitter partisan, and was sent to gaol in 1838 for the expression of his opinions. The _Grumbler_ was a more creditable effort made in Toronto some quarter of a century ago, to ill.u.s.trate and hit off the political and social foibles of the day in Canada. But it has been left for Mr.

Bengough in these times to rise in _Grip_ far above all previous attempts in the same direction, and 'to show up' very successfully, and generally with much humour, certain salient features of our contemporary history.

The influence of the press, during the century, must be measured by the political intelligence and activity of the people. Only in the United States are the ma.s.ses as well informed on the public questions of the day as are the majority of Canadians, and this fact must be attributed, in a large measure, to the efforts of journalists to educate the people and stimulate their mental faculties. When education was at a low ebb indeed, when the leading and wealthier cla.s.s was by no means too anxious to increase the knowledge of the people, the press was the best vehicle of public instruction. No doubt it often abused its trust, and forgot the responsibilities devolving on it; no doubt its conductors were too frequently animated by purely selfish motives, yet, taking the good with the evil, the former was predominant as a rule. It is only necessary to consider the number of journalists who have played an important part in Parliament, to estimate the influence journalism must have exerted on the political fortunes of Canada. The names of Neilson, Bedard, W. L.

Mackenzie, Hincks, Howe, Brown, and Macdougall, will recall remarkable epochs in our history. But it is not only as a political engine that the press has had a decided beneficial effect upon the public intelligence; it has generally been alive to the social and moral questions of the hour, and exposed religions charlatanry, and arrested the progress of dangerous social innovations, with the same fearlessness and vigour which it has shown in the case of political abuses. Political controversy, no doubt, has too often degenerated into licentiousness, and public men have been too often maligned, simply because they were political opponents--an evil which weakens the influence of journalism to an incalculable degree, because the people begin at last to attach little or no importance to charges levelled recklessly against public men. But it is not too much to say that the press of all parties is commencing to recognise its responsibilities to a degree that would not have been possible a few years ago. It is true the ineffable meanness of old times of partisan controversy will crop out constantly in certain quarters, and political writers are not always the safest guides in times of party excitement. But there is a healthier tone in public discussion, and the people are better able to eliminate the truth and come to a correct conclusion. Personalities are being gradually discouraged, and appeals more frequently made to the reason rather than to the pa.s.sion and prejudice of party--a fact in itself some evidence of the progress of the readers in culture. The great change in the business basis on which the leading newspapers are now-a-days conducted, of itself must tend to modify political acrimony, and make them safer public guides. A great newspaper now-a-days must be conducted on the same principles on which any other business is carried on. The expenses of a daily journal are now so great that it requires the outlay of large capital to keep it up to the requirements of the time; in fact, it can best be done by joint-stock companies, rather than by individual effort.

Slavish dependence on a Government or party, as in the old times of journalism, can never make a newspaper successful as a financial speculation, nor give it that circulation on which its influence in a large measure depends. The journal of the present day is a compilation of telegraphic despatches from all parts of the world, and of reports of all matters of local and provincial importance, with one or more columns of concise editorial comment on public topics of general interest: and the success with which this is done is the measure of its circulation and influence. Both the _Globe_ and _Mail_ ill.u.s.trate this fact very forcibly; both journals being good _newspapers_, in every sense of the term, read by Conservatives and Liberals, irrespective of political opinions, although naturally depending for their chief support on a particular party. In no better way can we ill.u.s.trate the great change that has taken place within less than half a century in the newspaper enterprise of this country than by comparing a copy of a journal of 1839 with one of 1880. Taking, in the first place, the issue of the Toronto _British Colonist_, for the 23rd October, 1839, we have before us a sheet, as previously stated, of twenty-four columns, twelve of which are advertis.e.m.e.nts and eight of extracts, chiefly from New York papers. Not a single editorial appeared in this number, though prominence was given to a communication describing certain riotous proceedings, in which prominent 'blues' took part, on the occasion of a public meeting attempted to be held at a Mr. Davis's house on Yonge Street, for the purpose of considering important changes about to take place in the political Const.i.tution of the Canadas. Mr. Poulett Thompson had arrived in the St. Lawrence on the 16th, but the _Colonist_ was only able to announce the fact on the 23rd of the month. New York papers took four days to reach Toronto--a decided improvement, however, on old times--and these afforded Canadian editors the most convenient means of culling foreign news. Only five lawyers advertised their places of business; Mr.

and Mrs. Crombie announced the opening of their well-known schools.

McGill College, at last, advertised that it was open to students--an important event in the educational history of Canada, which, however, received no editorial comment in the paper. We come upon a brief advertis.e.m.e.nt from Messrs. Armour & Ramsay, the well-known booksellers; but the only book they announced was that work so familiar to old-time students, 'Walkinghame's Arithmetic.' Another literary announcement was the publication of a work, by the Rev. R. Murray, of Oakville, on the 'Tendency and Errors of Temperance Societies'--then in the infancy of their progress in Upper Canada. One of the most encouraging notices was that of the Montreal Type Foundry, which was beginning to compete with American establishments, also advertised in the same issue--an evidence of the rapid progress of printing in Canada. Only one steamer was advertised, the _Gore_, which ran between Toronto and Hamilton; she was described as 'new, splendid, fast-sailing, and elegantly fitted up,' and no doubt she was, compared with the old batteaux and schooners which, not long before, had kept up communication with other parts of the Province. On the whole, this issue ill.u.s.trated the fact that Toronto was making steady progress, and Upper Canada was no longer a mere wilderness. Many of my readers will recall those days, for I am writing of times within the memory of many Upper Canadians.

Now take an ordinary issue of the _Mail_, printed on the same day, in the same city, only forty-one years later. We see a handsome paper of eight closely-printed pages--each larger than a page of the _Colonist_--and fifty-six columns, sixteen of which are devoted to advertis.e.m.e.nts ill.u.s.trative of the commercial growth, not only of Toronto, but of Ontario at large--advertis.e.m.e.nts of Banking, Insurance and Loan Companies, representing many millions of capital; of Railway and Steamship Lines, connecting Toronto daily with all parts of America and Europe; of various cla.s.ses of manufactures, which have grown up in a quarter of a century or so. No less than five notices of theatrical and other amus.e.m.e.nts appear; these entertainments take place in s.p.a.cious, elegant halls and opera houses, instead of the little, confined rooms which satisfied the citizens of Toronto only a few years ago. Some forty barristers and attorneys, physicians and surgeons--no, not all gentlemen, but one a lady--advertise their respective offices, and yet these are only representative of the large number of persons practising these professions in the same city. Leaving the advertis.e.m.e.nts and reviewing the reading matter, we find eleven columns devoted to telegraphic intelligence from all parts of the world where any event of interest has occurred a day or two before. Several columns are given up to religious news, including a lengthy report of the proceedings of the Baptist Union, meeting, for the first time, under an Act of Parliament of 1880--an a.s.sociation intended for the promotion of missions, _literature_, and church work, into which famous John Bunyan would have heartily thrown himself, no longer in fear of being cast into prison.

Four columns are taken up with sports and pastimes, such as lacrosse, the rifle, rowing, cricket, curling, foot-ball, hunting--ill.u.s.trative of the growing taste among all cla.s.ses of young men for such healthy recreation. Perhaps no feature of the paper gives more conclusive evidence of the growth of the city and province than the seven columns specially set apart to finance, commerce and marine intelligence, and giving the latest and fullest intelligence of prices in all places with which Canada has commercial transactions. Nearly one column of the smallest type is necessary to announce the arrivals and departures of the steam-tugs, propellers, schooners and other craft which make up the large inland fleet of the Western Province. We find reports of proceedings in the Courts in Toronto and elsewhere, besides many items of local interest. Five columns are made up of editorials and editorial briefs, the latter an interesting feature of modern journalism. The 'leader' is a column in length, and is a sarcastic commentary on the 'fallacious hopes' of the Opposition; the next article is an answer to one in the London _Economist_, devoted to the vexed question of protective duties in the Colonies; another refers to modern 'literary criticism,' one of the strangest literary products of this busy age of intellectual development. In all we have thirty-six columns of reading matter, remarkable for literary execution and careful editing, as well as for the moderate tone of its political criticism. It will be seen that there is only one advertis.e.m.e.nt of books in the columns of this issue, but the reason is that it is the custom only to advertise new works on Sat.u.r.day, when the paper generally contains twelve pages, or eighty-four columns. On the whole, the issue of a very prominent Canadian paper ill.u.s.trates not only the material development of Ontario in its commercial and advertising columns, but also the mental progress of the people, who demand so large an amount of reading matter at the cost of so much money and mental labour.

As the country increases in wealth and population, the Press must become undoubtedly still more a profession to which men of the highest ability and learning will attach themselves permanently, instead of being too often attracted, as heretofore, by the greater pecuniary rewards offered by other pursuits in life. Horace Greeley, Dana, Curtis, Whitelaw Reid and Bryant are among the many ill.u.s.trious examples that the neighbouring States afford of men to whom journalism has been a profession, valued not simply for the temporary influence and popularity it gives, but as a great and powerful organ of public education on all the live questions of the day. The journals whose conductors are known to be above the allurements of political favour, even while they consistently sustain the general policy of a party, are those which most obviously become the true exponents of a sound public opinion, and the successful compet.i.tor for public favour in this, as in all other countries enjoying a popular system of government.

CHAPTER IV.

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, a.s.suredly, 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 cla.s.s, there was no inducement offered to Canadian intellect in those times.

The Conquest robbed the country of a large proportion of the best cla.s.s of the Canadian _n.o.blesse_, and many years elapsed before the people awoke from their mental slumber. The press alone ill.u.s.trated 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 cla.s.s 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 ent.i.tles 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 a.s.sistant 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 ill.u.s.trate. 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 acc.u.mulation of valuable materials ill.u.s.trative 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 ac.u.men 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 acc.u.mulations 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 Ta.s.se, and the works of M. Faucher de St. Maurice, are among other ill.u.s.trations 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 ill.u.s.trative 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 cla.s.s 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 pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.sage 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 a.s.sociated 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 ill.u.s.trative 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 cla.s.sic, 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 cla.s.ses 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 Princ.i.p.al 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 a.n.a.lysis 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 ill.u.s.trates 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 ill.u.s.tration of the poetic talent that exists among the cultured cla.s.ses 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, ill.u.s.trative 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 a.s.sociated 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s 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 a.s.sociations 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 ill.u.s.trate 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 ill.u.s.trate the history of the progress of a cla.s.s 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 inst.i.tution 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 cla.s.s, 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, ill.u.s.trate 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 circ.u.mstances 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'

ill.u.s.trated how earnestly and conscientiously he has studied English and American literature. Dr. Daniel Wilson, since he has made Canada his home, has continued to ill.u.s.trate 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 const.i.tutional studies. For over a quarter of a century he has been acc.u.mulating precedent upon precedent, until his mind is a remarkable store-house of well-digested data, from which he has ill.u.s.trated the growth of Parliamentary inst.i.tutions 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 const.i.tutional 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 Const.i.tution.' 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 cla.s.ses of our people take in questions of a political bearing. They ill.u.s.trate the mental activity which, from the earliest times in our history, has been devoted to the study of political and const.i.tutional questions, and which has. .h.i.therto for the most part found expression only in the press or in the legislatures of the different provinces. Works of const.i.tutional 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 a.s.sisted 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 const.i.tutional 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 ill.u.s.trations of the a.n.a.lytical 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 ill.u.s.trations 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 pa.s.sed 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 const.i.tutional 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 forcib