.V^a 1 n-j o^.. -^^T.*. 5n^ '^'^ A... ^;^ <$§ r :^ IMAGE EVALUAT!0i4 TEST TARGET (MT-3) m 4. 1.0 i^lM III 25 ill |« 1^ 111 2.2 I.I ^ lifi lliio 11.25 1.4 i.6 dm. # o w Photographic ^Sciences UDrporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 .# A^ ,v :\ \ •A CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute foi Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de micrcreproductions historiques O' > 19oi Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliogr&phiques The institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual m&thod of filming, are checked below. / Coloured covers/ CoMverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagee L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. 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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et da haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'imnges ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA SECOND SERIES— 1897-98 VOLUMZ III . SECTION II ENGLISH HISTORY, LITERATURE, ACHAOLOG. ETC. ■^^ THE HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE OF QUEBEC 1764 to 1830 By BENJAMIN SULTE M '■:4 n FOR SALE BY J. DURIB & SON, OTTAWA ; THE COPP-CLARK CO., TORONTO BERNARD QUARITCH, LONOON, ENGLAND X897 r'i. IrS' Section II., 1807. [269] Tbanb. R. 8. C. r'^. ' -i'.:..- %"' ,^-?,. '-f.-:—' *- rf'^-' W' yi3»^ m m j^-i:^; ^^B mBsI S^' '^ ' VII. — Tke Historical and Miscellaneous Literature of Quebec — 1764 to 1830. Jiy Ben.^amin Sulte. (Read June ZirA, 181)7.) * The literature of all Tiations began with poetry, or, at least, with versiticafon, and the form of song is generally tlie first to appear. Such was the eas^ amongst the P^rcnch Canadian peoi^ie. Their settlement on this side of tho ocean is altogether confined to the ])eriod of l()3l)-l(i80, when books ■ jre rather scarce throughout Europe, especially in country places, ai. it is well known that Canada received only few families from towns a; d cities at that time. Curious enough, thougli most of the women who came during those fifty years could read and write, and before thirty of them were here, they had a school open for girls. The men, as a rule, were indifferent in that line of business. The literary knowledge imported by that little group of toilere of the soil was meiely the popular current songs of the northern and north- western (Brittany sent no settlers to Canada) parts of France, where they came from, but they wore songsters thems'.^ves, and all loved to sing and to play some kind of musical instruments. It is still one of the most remarkable features of that race. The fur trade started about the sam** date as colonization, and tho "habitant," or actual settler, soo - got interested in that new life. The songs of old France were carried to the Great Lakes ; they passed after- wards to the Mississippi and the Northwest plains, where they ai-e to be found nowadays, wherever the French Canadians have penetrated through this continent. Their number is immense. One would think that if he knows the series of those that have been pi-intcd in book form or other pub- lications he has nothing more to learn in that direction, but every week Avill bring to his ear a fresh supplement of that inexhaustible stock. A people who is given to such culture may be expected to produce many works of merit, and stamp them with its own peculiar mark, as, for instance, the charr.eterislic traits belonging to i. colony. VV'e couk' here mention what several high critics in modern France have said about the literary ca])acities of the French Canadians, but the compliments paid to the latter only reflect on the])resent writers, and the critics referred to have ne\-er i-ead any of our ])roductions previous to 1850. W«^ \\\h\\ tu draw attention to even an older period, that of 17f)4-1830, the very infancy of our small literary world. The germs that existed in tho domain of the song-makers of the 17th and 18th centuries have only • ■ • • • • « ■* > 1 I • • • * J < 1 ■ * ■ « • 51737 • • ' It' ' ' • •' •••• ** r^.^V"^ 270 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA recently dovoloped thomsolvos into largo-sized trees, notwithstanding the shrubs observed hero and there on that field soon after the conquest. Even before the conquest there was a ])repared ground for studies and literary displays. Beauharnois, Ilocquart, La (Jalissonni^re, from 1725 to 1750, kept the elite of the colony well posted with the contempor- ary works of that natui-e. Poems wore written which circulated in manu- script for want of a printing oflice, and most of them were no doubt lost for the same reason. Wo may quote the composition of Joan Tachd rel- ative to his trip across the Atlantic, and the one from the able pen of Abbd Etienne Mai'chand, both of 17:5(; oi- thereabouts. Mai-chand's Troubles de I'Eylise is well worth reading, inasmuch as it deals with a purely Canadian subject. The lirst ])rinting establishment in Lower Canada was that of 27ie Gazette, Quebec, 1704, but neither the English nor the French population made use of it at first in a literary sense. Their early publications boar strictly on topics of immediate call, as were the following : '' Case of Canadians at Montreal, disviessed by a tire on the 18th of Ma}', 1705 " ; "Catechisme du (lioc6sc de Sens, Quebec, 1705"; prayer-books and alphabets printed for Father Labrosse, Jesuit, I7(i6 07 ; "Trial of Dariel Disney, 1707 " ; " A compendium of laws concerning the religious com- munities, 17()8 " ; observations of J. F. Cugnet on the proposed plan of F. Maseres for a new constitution, 1771 ; " Lettrc sur la ville de Quebec, 1774." L' Adoration perpituelle, Montreal, by Floury Mesplet, 1770, is tho first book printed in that town. Mesplet had i)rocured a press and some typo from Philadelphia duiing the winter of 1775-*^G, and immediately issued several small volumes from Chateau Raniezay. Montreal, where he had settled for that purpose. A compilation of sacred songs, in French, 1770, is the second known work out of his jiress. Most of these poems are paraphrases and imitations of obsolete operatic compositions, with veiy pretty tunes and rather jjoor verses. These canticles became so generally known b}- heart, that ever}' individual could sing one or more of them a short time after they were introduced. Mesplet published in 1778 the narrative of St. Luc do Lacorno con- cerning the wreck oi L'Awjmte in the Gulf St, liawrence, 1761, Same year, 1778, he founded the Gazette of Montreal, half English, half French — still in existence in English. Quebec had a Cercle Littiraire, so called, but it must have been a reading-room. Anyway, it was a beginning of something, Mesplet started in 1779 a satirical paper styled 2'ant'pis, fant mieux, which lived about twelve months and got into difficulty with Governor Haldimand, who put the editor under lock and key. The name of that writer was Yalontin Jotavd an advocate by profession. The almanac issued by Mesplet in 1783 is styled by him, " curieux et int^ressant." In 1786 (Montreal) v-'as published a description of a certain ► • • • • . • ••* *•• • *•« ultb] HISTORICAL LITERATURE OF QUEBEC 271 1, to cele- brate the granting of a new political constitution to Canada, and, as a matter of course, he heard several songs com])OScd for the occasion, in- cluding two speciall}' prepared to welcome him, and which MM. Paby and Araiot rendered in a most happy manner. There was a spirit of literature in the air. Canadian pamphlets could be seen in the hands of many who had never experienced that sort of pleasure before. Papiers sur V Aiujleterre referred to the administration of the United Kingdom, and such reading was apropos of our new con- stitution. A long letter from Bishop Bailly upon the necessity of a university gave rise to discussion and meditation. L'ancienne et la noiwelle constitution du Canada is another commentary of a political im- portance, but indicating also that the Canadians were able to express their ideas before the world. La nouvelle constitution de France followed the above, ai I the whole province roused to listen to this display of opinions. To crown the whole came Le Magasin de Quibec, a repertory of literature and science. The Quebec Gazette also modified its old dull 272 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Bystem and opened tlio dooi- to sevorul fomniunicjitioriH concorniiig the questions of the day. Tliat coincided with the creation oJ" The Upper Canada Gazette, publislied at Newark in 1190. Contrary to what in generally believed, hooks were not unknown to the French population of the colony during the second half of the l8th century. It is stated that there were at least «)0,000 volumes in the private lihraries about the year 17(15, and many others were received after that date ; so that we may fairly say that there was one volume for every soul of the population in the province. Any one conversant with tlie liubits of the best families of the period in question understand readily that those people were educated not only in manners and outside politeness, but equally by reading and by that i)ractice of conversation and " causerie de salon'' which is so much French — a great school for learning what you have not yet gathered from books. The literature of the reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. (KJtJO to 17(J0), therefore, composed the main elements of a Canadian library by the end of the 18th century. Its influ. ence is visible on every page written in those days, either for the public press or in private letters. "We know, besides, nearly all the books then to be found in Canada, because a great many of them have been preserved by the descendants of the owners and handed down to us. At the outbreak of the French Eevolution a movement was noticeable amongst t.'.e politicians in France to favour " the English system of gov- ernment," in other words, the constitutional administration, but this could not be made clear for the masses, unless some written explanations bo furnished. A lawyer by the name of Do Lolme (a French Swiss) seems to have sounded the correct note, and his work became classical at its first edition. No sooner had a copy of it been received in Canada, that the members of the Legislative Assembly, who were forty-two Fi*ench speak- ing men out of a total of fifty, turned their attention to that Alcoran, but as the session was drawing near .to its end, J,it Avas thought better to arrange for a series of meetings in Quebec, Throe JJiver.-, Sorel, Chambly and Montreal, where the members could gather by small de- tachments and examine the " book of revelations " at ease. This was done, and it produced a good effect, inasmuch as it allowed some pi'actical information to make its way through the heads of our re]n'eBentative men. The spirit of the times is indicate by the insertion in the Quebec Gazette of several articles clipped from Parisian newspapers, and all necessarily of a " high tone " at that hour, when the Convention reigned supreme at Paris. We dare say no French Canadian publication would have been allowed to do the same thing. Such was again the spirit of the times. A French Canadian could not be otherwise than a bad subject ! The Duke of La Eochefoucauld, who visited Upper Canada in 1795, says that the people there were not so eager for news as the inhabitants [BI'LTE] HISTORICAL LITERATURE OF (.iUEBEC 273 of tlio United StatoH. " The only paper in the province is printed at Newark, and the government covers the three-quarters of its expenses lor want of subscription from the public. It is a wtekly paper containing-- very short extracts from (ho New York and Albany publications, and all in the views of Governor Simcoe. In brief, its usefulness is that of an otlicial gazette." La Kochofoucauld adds; that the Upper Canada Gazette had no sub- scriber in Kingston, but lliat the Quehec Gazette had two there! The tirst serious agitation in favour of liberty of the press in England only dates from 1795, when the following toast was drunk at a Whig dinner: "To the liberty of the press, without which we could not breathe," From n0 to 17H!)> publirtlied Hve or six treiitisos concerning law matters ; Justin McCarthy, a Frencli luwyor, gave an excellent dictionary of the old civil code of Canada (1S09) ; William Vondenvehlen, a French engineer, and Louis Charland, issued a compilation, being a sequel to Cugnet ; same yt!ar, Joan Antoino lioutliillirr published an arithmetic for the schools. Several other names must bo omitted here for want of space. The Quehec Gazettr.^ as a rule, refrained from attacking the French Canadians, and this was considered a 'ack of })atriotic energy on the part of that ])aper by parties who wished to keej) up a lively skirmishing against that population. The Mercury came to light in January, 1805, ready to open tire on the whole line. It soon found an occasion to satisfy its desire. Pierre Bedard, the leader of the j.^'rench Canadian party in the Legislative Assembly, laid a motion before the Bpeakor to inquire as to the author, printer, &c., of the Montreal (razette, who had })ubli8hed, April Ist, 1805, a " false, scandalous and malicious libel, highly and un- justly reflecting upon His Majesty's vei)resentatives in this province." The editor and the printer were accordingly ordered to be taken into the custody of the sorgoantat-arms, but not being found hy those who went to Montreal in quest of them, the matter was dropped. The Mercury then came to the front trying to throw upside down the party forming the majority of the Legislative Assembly, but the sergoant-at-arms being sent to the editor, this gentleman apologized and was released. Later on, tho House objected to another article from the same source, and Mr. Thomas Cary could not bo found, because ho had concealed himself in a secret room in his own house, from where he continvied the tight in each number of the Mercury. Mr. Bodai-d finally saw that his action was against tho liberty of the press, and abandoned the proceedings. A new political organ was launched at Quebec in November, I80(i, under the title Le Canadien, with a full programme for a constitutional government. This paper contained a series of historical documents referi'ing to Canada, which was a now phase in the journalism of the province, and also numerous original literary productions. Tho Mercury wont for its neighbour, and they had a long spoil of cross-tiring on the administration of public affairs. In literature Le Canadien did very well. It is visible that its con- tributoi-s were men of knowledge gifted with talent. From that moment the French writers of Canada have always formed a group in regular activity, and their development has been a constant fact until the present day. The Mercury had adopted against JJe Conadi'en a policy of insinu- ation. When the latter, for instance, entered into .* criticism of the [hui/tb] HISTORICAL LlTERATUilE OF QUKBEC 278 doinKf <>i' Niipolooii, its tusighboiir woiilil clot-Iaro that tho object was to blinil tho rojuiors, beciiiwo tho nuitoiial with which tho paper was printed had hiH-n furnished, by (uMier.il Tiirrouu, tho French ambassador at Washin/^ton. The i)()or Camidicn replied tiiat its shabl»v a[)p('urHn(o was not indicative of tho muniticeneo of a great {)rince, and we know how niisttrablo lie looked, but this was considered by his rival as another piece of duplicity. Two or throe of the contributors to Le Canadien wore rather witty. "Light, headed men," said The Mercury. " With KooHC->'ic men, Di'. Labrie gave an impulsion towards the study of the history of Canada. So did George Her-.ot, in his works published during those years. The Montreal press helped a great deal in that direction bj* the writings of Vigor, Bibaud, Mermet, Saint-George and O'SuUivan. ^he literature of Canada was born by this time. Lambert, v/ho visited the country in 1806-8, does not say much about it, for he only ,jaw the incipient state of things, and cannct be eiipected to have fo eseen the future. Here are his obser- vations : "The state of literatr.e and the arts did not improve very rapidly after the conquest. The traders and sotllers who took up their abode amongst the French were ill-qualified to ditt'use a taste for the arts and sciences, unless, indeed, it was the science of barter and the art of gaining cent per cent upon their goods. For many years, no other work vvas printed in the colony than an almanac. . . Of late years, the Cana- dians have apjieared desirous of establishing some claim to a literary character, . . The publishing of six newspapers weekly is a proof of the progressive improvement and prosperity of the country, though it may be but a fallacious symptom of literary improvement. Four of the news- papers are published in Quebec and two in Montreal. These, with an almanac, and the acts of the provincial parliament, ai-e all the works that are printed in Lower Canada." It is obvious that Lambert was unaware of other publications, such as schoolbooks, songsters, treatises upon the seigniorial tenure, commei.iaries on laws, discussions of political and historical nuitters, and amateur theati'iciils, which, in a colony, are ulwa; u form of intellectual develojiment worth mentioning. He continues : " Two of the newspapers have been established fifteen or sixteen years ; one of them is the Montreal Gazette, and the other the Quebec Gazette.'" The- Quebec GazMe was then 44 years old, and the Montreal Gazette 30 years. *' They are published in French and English, and contain the governor's proclamation and edicts, the advertisements of the sherifl's sales, mer- chants' stores, public auctions, hi!., together with a selection of the earliest • intelligence extracted from the English and American pajjcrs, . , The Gazettes %(i\&ora. interfere with the morals or manners of society ; those objects are left for the other weekly papers, which are published on Satur- days and Mondays. These papers consist of the Quebec Mercury, pub- lishc't entirely in English, by Cary, on Monday afternoon, and has been established about eight j'ears." Say three years. " The Canadian Courant^ £sultb] HISTORICAL LITERATURE OF QUEBEC fiv7 also published in Kiiglish at Montreal evory Monday by Nahum Mowor, an American from the Stat'js, who set up the ])aper about six years ago. The other papers are wholly French, and have been cstablishod since the year 1806. The oae called Le Canadien is conducted by Home disaffected or rather dissatisfied French lawyers and members of the House of As- sembly." These men orly invoked the application of a constitutional government in the colony, therefore the}' were reformers, not a set of malcontents for the sake of agitating the public mind, but true patriots, such as were seen afterwards in this country. " It is the only opposition paper in the province ; but the ' habitants ' either cannot read it, or pay very little attention to the complaints which it contains against the gov- ernment." How can this be compared with the repeated elections of that remarkable period, by which Sir James Craig's policy was four times dis- avowed by the people in less than three years ? It is visible that Lambert never suspected the existence of an intellectual movement in Canaua dur- ing his visit, and that not only he derived his information from a clique composed of anti-co'onists, but was unable to read French and to appre- ciate by himself the contents of the newspaper he so candidly stored into the back room. "The writers in Le Canadien, however, abused the lib- erty of the press to such a degree, in the course of the year 1808, that Sir James Craig thought proper to divest some of those gentlemen of the commissions which they held in the French militia, one of whom was a colonel." The reading of the revolutionary articles alluded to by Lambert would make any one of us Uuigh in 1897, but Sir James was not advancing with the times— far from that' "The other French paper, called Le Courrier de Quibec, is of very smail .size, and published every Saturday at two dollars per annum. This little paper is conducted by two or there young French Canadians, for the purpose of inserting their fugi- tive pieces. These gentlemen have recently established a literary society, which, though it may not contain the talent of a national institute or of a royal society, is, notwithstanding, deserving of all the encouragement that can be given to it by the Cunadian government. The nrst dawn of genius in such a country should be hailed with pleasure." Let us remark that the f rst dawn of genius is anterior to IHOS in CJanada, as already shown in this paper. " The Mercury and Canadian Courant ai-e devoted to news, and all the various ephemera which usually appear in periodical wc^rks of that description. The original essays which appear are merely of a local nature, and ai-e generally the offaitring of party disputation, acrimony and slander ; and are, of course, generally wi-itten in ' wit and sense and nature's spite.' " " The only public library in Canada is kept at Quebec, in one of the apartments of the bishop's palace.'" Was that the library of 1785 ? It I'^oks very much like it. Sir James Craig having suppressed Le Canadien (1810), another periouical was stavted in Montreal. This time the political feelings were * • « • • ••* • ••• ... • , - • • 1 ♦ • • * • • • « • • • • • t • ••# ♦ » • • • • • , • • • • • • • • • • • • , • • * . ••. ♦ • « • • •, .... • • • 278 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Bet aside and Le Spectateur, L'Aurore, Le Cotirrier, La Bibliothique, Le Maaazln Litteratre, IjObservatenr, L'Enci/clopMie, all published in Montreal (1813-1830), are historical a:id literary reviews, with a touch of scienco^in them. To complete this series up to 1830, wc must mention a largo history of Canada and the Voyages of Franch^re by Michel Bibaud, the valuable works of Jacques Viger, the archaeologist, the poetry of the same Bibaud and J. J. D. Mermet, the classical books of Joseph Bouchetto on Canada, the pamphlets of Dr. E. P. Tach(5 on various subjects, the Quebec '^and Montreal literary' societies, flourishing from 18 1 Y to 1830. and up to the present date. A French critic, M. Le Plde, on visiting the province in 1821, says the rising of its people in the field of intelligence is most remarkable, and exceedingly promising for the future. The men who fii'st studied the history of this country, commented on the laws and parHamentary practices, composed works for the schools, cultivated poetry and the current art of writing for the public, deserve more gratitude from us than those who. came after them, and accom- plished marvels, no doubt, but found the way open and new means of development already pi'epared. 'J I I