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v.i^ 
 
Ml 
 
 New Dominion Monthly. 
 
 APRIL, I S 7 I . 
 
 CANADIAN MATERIALS FOR HISTORY, POETRY, AND 
 
 ROMANCE. 
 
 BY J, r,. IIOLRINOT, Al:TIU>U OF " GKNTI.EMBN ADVKNTUHERS IN ACADIA," " WHAT IIAPl'KNED 
 AT UBAUVOIR ONB CIIUISTMAS KVE," .tC. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is not necessary to go bej'ond our own 
 country to find dramatic incidents which 
 may give light and brilliancy to the pages 
 of history, or evoke the genius of poetry 
 and romance. Our history does not 
 extend above two hundred years, and must, 
 therefore, be wanting in many of those 
 elementsof absorbing interest which neces- 
 sarily exist in the history of the communi- 
 ties of the Old World, where every foot of 
 ground has its memorable associations — its 
 record of human heroism and human suf- 
 fering, to point many a moral and adorn 
 many a tale. Where can we walk ampng 
 »v the communities of ancient civilization 
 >v without passing over the ruins of cities and 
 ^^ fanes,— the innumerable relics of ages, of 
 ^^ ~ which historians and poets can never cease 
 O to speak, and the world will never wrnry 
 to hear? Every ruined castle that rises by 
 the Rhine recalls the mediifval times when 
 every baron had his horde of retainers, 
 and the masses groaned beneath a weight 
 of oppression that was hard to bear. 
 . Those grand old cath-jdrals, like that which 
 towers above quaint, ill-fated Strasbourg, 
 which arose in those days when freedom, 
 as we understand the term, was little 
 known, testify to that spirit of devotion 
 which was the sole redeeming trait of the 
 middle ages. Wandering among the his- 
 toric places of England, we come at last to 
 a narrow atrip of meadow on the banks of 
 the Thames— apparently a tame, unpic- 
 
 turesquespot; and yet this is Ruhnymede, 
 where was won the first great charter of 
 England's liberties, and the first step was 
 taken towards that free, parliamentary 
 system which is the exemplar of the most 
 stable government that men have devised. 
 Every valley, every mountain, every ruin 
 has its talc of legendary lore. Nowhere 
 can we walk but we recall memories of a 
 remarkable past. 
 
 One liair the soil has walked the rest 
 III poets, heroes, martyrs, snges. 
 
 In comparison with such a history, that 
 of Canada must be necessarily tame. The 
 waving pines, the mountains towering into 
 the sky until they are lost in the purple of 
 distance, the wide expanse of lakes as large 
 as the greatest countries of Europe, the 
 foaming rapids and mighty falls that bar 
 the progress of the river to the sea, — all 
 the sublime features of Canadian scenery 
 may charm the eye and elevate the 
 thoughts; but, after all, it is in the record 
 of heroic endeavor and suiTering, of the 
 struggle between antagonistic principles 
 and systems, of human passion, frailty, and 
 virtue, thattheessence of history, romance, 
 and poetry really exists. 
 
 SOME SALIENT FEATURES OF CANADIAN 
 HISTORY. 
 
 It is in the early part of our history — 
 during that era when the memorable strug- 
 gle between the French and English for 
 the dominion in America was carried on — 
 that we find features of the most dramatic 
 
194 
 
 Canadian Materials for History. iC-c. 
 
 i-i 
 
 character. The Iiis.orian can contrast the I bovoiul tlie^eas, then dreamed of cstah- 
 cssentiallv dilVert-nt principles tliat oh- lishin^ a mighty empire, wliich would 
 tained in the early liovernment of tlie dwarf all the kinijdoms of the Old World ; 
 French and IJritisii Colonies on this conti- ' and, in pursuance of this idea, they tbrmed 
 nent, and show the radical streny^th or ' a chain of forts at dilVerent points — on the 
 weakness of each. In the New Kngland j Atlantic coast, by the St. Lawrence and the 
 settlements, we sec men brou^lit toijether 1 rivers of the far West, as well as on the 
 in the first instance by the absorbinj^ desire shores of the Gulf of Mexico— which were 
 
 to enjoy relijjious freedom separa'e and 
 apart from the Old World despotism. It is 
 true that these men did not always yield to 
 those dictates of Ciiristian ch.irity and 
 liberality wiiich their own bitter experience 
 should have taught tliem to practise. No 
 sadder record can be found than the history 
 of the persecutions of Die C^iakers; but, 
 nevertheless, stern and unyielding though 
 they were, the pioneers carried with them 
 across the oceun a knowledge of govern- 
 ment and a desire lor popular freedom, 
 which, combined with their adherence to 
 the principles of Christianity, gave them 
 strength and vitality, and well-fitted them 
 to be the founders of empires. The hum- 
 blest dweller in a New England com- 
 munity, provided he was industrious and a 
 member of the Ciuirch, had a share in the 
 administration of local alVairs, and never 
 failed to claim liis privilege. Men thus 
 educated in the principles of self-govern- 
 ment, were not likely to s nit tamely to 
 any vexatious regulations or imposts which 
 might be passed by a government across 
 the ocean, which, unhappily for the em- 
 pire, had not in those days a wise appre- 
 ciationof the value of colonies, oracorrect 
 knowledge of the best mode of admini- 
 stering their alfairs. Therefore it is, the 
 history of New Eingland is a history of 
 remonstrance against the arbitrary dicta- 
 tion of the Mother Country, and of con- 
 stant reversal of all regulations which they 
 had power to set aside. 
 
 But m the history of New France, we see 
 a very different state of things. Commerce 
 and religion first went hand in hand to 
 reclaim the wilderness on the coast of 
 the Atlantic, or on the banks of the St. 
 Lawrence. Hy and by the French Govern- 
 ment awoke to the importance of the vast 
 domain which they ^claimed by virtue of 
 the discoveries of V\-raz::ani, Cartier and 
 Champlain. French statesmen, long in- 
 different to the region of frost and ice 
 
 intended to overawe the British Colonies, 
 and assist the French in their project of 
 gathering under the folds of the J/iur ifv lis 
 the whole of this vast continent. The men 
 who were to cairy out this ambitious 
 design were of undoubted courage and rare 
 energy; and, if they failed at last in even 
 preserving their country from the then 
 hereditary foe of France, it was because 
 they had to work against tremendous odds. 
 The country, uniier such circumstances, 
 was necessarily kept in a chronic condition 
 of waitare, and had little opportunity for 
 gathering strength. It was governed by 
 the nominees of the French Government, 
 which assisted or neglected it according to 
 the whim or necessity of the hour; whilst 
 the masses, unlike those of the British 
 Colonies, had no share whatever in the 
 administration of public affairs, though 
 they were called on to give up their lives 
 at the summons of the military chiefs of the 
 colony. The result of such a system was 
 necessarily a want of that unity and vitality 
 that could alone give strength and stability 
 to the political fabric in times of national 
 dilliculty. Vet, if the system of govern- 
 ment was defective in many essentials, it 
 gave birth to men whose zeal and courage, 
 exhibited in the broader arena of European 
 life, would have won for them a wider and 
 more enduring fame than it was possible 
 for them to attain amid the forests of 
 America. 
 
 IIISTORIt I'l.ACF.S. 
 
 We, too, like the older communities of 
 Europe, have our classic ground, on which 
 the student may stand and recall a past 
 rich in historic recollections. On the east- 
 ern shores of the Dominion, within sight 
 of the Atlantic, we see the ruins of the 
 American Di hich, for many 3earR, 
 
 formed sc i: a part of the grand 
 
 scheme ■ .■"! iv ' 'bition in America. 
 Grass n . :!\ is ruined ramparts 
 
Canv^lan Materials for History^ d-c. 
 
 195 
 
 of eslab- 
 h would 
 l<i World; 
 t'J' tbrmed 
 >*— on tlif 
 i-'atui the 
 as on the 
 liicli were 
 Colonies, 
 project of 
 'irur i/,- lit 
 The men 
 imbitious 
 • iind rare 
 t in iivcn 
 'lie then 
 because 
 ousodds. 
 istanccs, 
 ondition 
 
 unity for 
 ined b_v 
 
 .'rnnient, 
 
 'I'd in If to 
 
 ; whilst 
 
 British 
 
 r in tlie i 
 though 
 
 eir lives 
 
 fs of the 
 
 tetn was 
 vitality 
 
 stability 
 
 lational 
 
 fovcrn- 
 
 tials, it 
 
 3 u rage, 
 
 ropean 
 
 ler and 
 
 ossible 
 
 JKtS of 
 
 which were levelled at the dictates of Hri- 1 /</;« and dwellers in the towns were 
 tish policy ; and the foundations of the mas- 1 actually famishing for bread; here Mont- 
 sive churches and ofllcial residences of: calm and Wolfe met in the las*, struggle 
 Louisbourg, are overgrown with weeds and | wiiich ended the career of France in Ame- 
 
 wild flowers, wliile a few casemates stand 
 out— griin objects in the expanse of green 
 that conceals the site of the old town. 
 When I last stood on this historic spot, not 
 a sound disturbed the stillness that brooded 
 over land and sea, except the cry of the 
 sea-gull, and the only signs of active life 
 were the fishing-boats, which were merrily 
 dancing over the bosom of the noble har- 
 bor that spread out before my feet. Only 
 a few grass-grown mounds now remained 
 to tell of the ambitious projects of France, 
 and of the days when the French soldier 
 hari talked with his comrade 
 
 " Of sallies and retiring, orirenclies, tents, 
 Of palisades, frontiers, parapets; 
 Of basilisks, of cannon, cuherin, 
 Of prisoners, ransoms, of soldiers slain, 
 And all the currents of heady fiKlU." 
 
 Then, at the mention of tlie name of Qiic- 
 bec, what a troop of illustrious men come 
 before us I — each memorable for the part he 
 played in the history of this continent. 
 Of some, the ashes lie beneath Canadian 
 soil ; of others, in Westminster Abbey, or in 
 some quiet graveyard in old France. Time 
 has touched the ancient town but liglitly. 
 Its quaint churches, its walls and gates, 
 the picturesque aspect of its siirroiindiiigs, 
 render it unique among American cities. 
 It has none of that newness so characteris- 
 tic of towns on this siile of the jcean. It 
 looks like some fortified city which has 
 played its part in the old world's history, 
 and been suddenly- tiansferred to that 
 grand promontory overlooking the St. Law- 
 rence. Here Cartier fraternized with Don- 
 naconna — the first of Kuroiieans who had 
 ever seen that graiul panorama of land and 
 river; liere Champlain laid the foundations 
 of the Chateau St. Louis, and of that town 
 which so long held the fortunes of New 
 France; here Frontenac beat oil' Phipjis 
 with his powerful fleet, and presided over 
 the destinies of Canada with a force and 
 energy which few administrators ever exhi- 
 bited before or afCer; here Bigot and his 
 creatures gambled and dissipated the 
 wealth which 'bey had amassed by corrup- 
 tion and peculation, while ihe poor //(/Si- 
 
 rica, where her hopes and aspirations once 
 ran so high. 
 
 Or leave C^iebec and visit the Lake 
 which bears the name of the illustrious 
 founder of (Jj^iebcc. Here ate the ruins of 
 Ticonderoga or Carillon — so named from 
 the music of the rapids in the vicinity — 
 which, like the ruins of Louisbourg, are 
 overgrown with weeds and grass, though 
 less than a hundred years ago this was the 
 site of one of the strongest fortresses in 
 America. Here, too, we recall a list of 
 illustrious men, — Abercrombie, Amherst, 
 and Montcalm. Here floated in turn the 
 //(■///' lie lis of France, the Red Cross of 
 England, and the flag of the Continental 
 Congress. In Qiiebec we still see all the 
 evidences of a warlike era in the massive 
 walls and gates, and tlie citadel frowning 
 down on the waters of the St. Lawrence; 
 but at Ticonderoga we see only a green 
 acclivity and some grass-covered rnounds, 
 in place of the ramparts and bastions, and 
 a few curious tourists, instead of the sol- 
 tliors wiio once inanneil the fortress. 
 
 rii \i{ \i ri;uisiic micn. 
 
 Among the elements of the population of 
 New France, we find not a few striking 
 tvpcs of character. Adventurous explorers, 
 brave sokliers, frciix ckcv<iliris, would 
 standout prominent figures in that historic 
 picture which would represent the princi- 
 pal actors in the first era of Canada and 
 Acadia. The very nature of the system of 
 government was calculated to bring out 
 striking trails of character among the resi- 
 dents of the country. I'nder the feudal 
 svbtcin, even " Commerce wore the sword^ 
 decked itself with badges of nobility, as- 
 l)ired to forest seigniories and hordes of 
 savage retainers." In the most trying 
 period of their country's history, these 
 seigneurs exhibited an amount of manly 
 fortitude and heroic daring that must 
 attract the admiration of all who study the 
 early annals of New France. In the long 
 and holly-contested conflict for the supre- 
 macy in America, the Canadian militia 
 
196 
 
 Canadiati Materials for History, d-c. 
 
 displayed the most conspicuous bravery, I Then wlial life more active, more advcn- 
 which even won the encomiums of Mont- j turous than that of the courcurs dc hois of 
 calm and other otricer8 of the regular the days of which I am spcakinj;. Alone 
 
 troops, who were for some time by no 
 means too favorably prepossessed in their 
 favor. The trials and sutVerings which the 
 fiabitans so uncomplainingly endured dur- 
 ing that trying crisis of their history, are 
 on record; and we cannot but admire their 
 constancy and fidelity to a government 
 which never administered their alTairs with 
 too sagacious or loving a hand. 
 
 As we look down the vista of the past, 
 we see one figure ever standing prominent- 
 ly in view. At the eorncil board of his 
 compatriots, at the camp-fire of the Indian, 
 struggling through the depths of Ameri- 
 can forests where white man never passed 
 before, daring in some frail canoe the 
 perils of unknown waters, ready to en- 
 counter even death itself for the sake of 
 his religion — we see the figure of the black- 
 robed priest. The same indomitable spirit 
 of religious enthusiasm that carried him 
 with Cortez and Pizarro to Mexico and 
 Peru, took him into the forests of North 
 America, to become the friend and teacher 
 of their savage denizens. Bancroft truly 
 says that "religious enthusiasm not only 
 colonized New England, but founded 
 Montreal, made a conquest of the wilder- 
 ness on the upper hikes, and explored the 
 Mississippi. The influence of Calvin can 
 be traced in every New England village; 
 in Canada, the monuments of feudalism 
 and the Catholic religion stand side by 
 side; and the names of Montmorenci and 
 Bourbon, of Levi and Condc, are mingled 
 with memorials of St. Athanasius and 
 Augustine, of St. Francis of .Assisi, and 
 Ignatius Loyola." History can tell of no 
 more brUliant achievement than that per- 
 formed by Marquette, who, in company 
 with Joliet and some others, ventured into 
 the depths of the illimitable West, and 
 finally embarked on the Mississippi, which 
 they traced to regions unvisited by white 
 men since the days when De .Soto, the 
 Spaniard, had found a grave in the waters 
 of the great river. A little stream still 
 bears the name of that intrepid priest, for 
 by its side he gently passed away, and a 
 rude cross long marked the spot wiiere the 
 voyageurs made his grave. I 
 
 lime acting as war-scouts of the Indians; 
 at another, trading for peltry through the 
 valley of the Saskatchewan, or on the 
 banks of the dark, mysterious Sagucnay. 
 Even yet, in the great West, on the confines 
 of civilization, we sec the descendants of 
 these adventurous, reckless spirits— a light- 
 hearted cheery class. Still we can see them 
 paddling their canoes on the waters of the 
 Rainy Lake, or the Red River of the West, 
 and merrily keeping time to the measure 
 of those old tunes wliich, centuries ago, 
 awoke tlie echoes of tlie woody banks of 
 the St. Lawrence and Ottawa's tide. 
 
 TIIIC CANADIAN INDIANS. 
 
 Nor can the story of the misfortunes of 
 the Indian tribes of Canada fail to excite 
 our liveliest sympatliies, despite the many 
 cruelties and enormities wliieh they were 
 too ready to commit in their long contests 
 with the whites. It is inexpressibly mourn- 
 ful to read of the gradual ilecay aiui ruin 
 of a proud race which reigned supreme in 
 their forest fastnesses till the European 
 came. The tribes that inhabited the hanks 
 of the St. Lawrence ajipear to have pos- 
 sessed many qualities tliat ought to have 
 reserved them for a happier fate than that 
 which has befallen them. When Carlier 
 visited the site of the present city of Mont- 
 real, he found there an Indian village of a 
 more pretentious character than was gener- 
 ally seen among the Indian tribes of the 
 North. Ilochelaga consisted of about fifty 
 wooden buildings, each divided into several 
 rooms, and all of them surrounded by 
 palisades made of trunks of trees set in a 
 triple row. Within were galleries for tlie 
 defenders, ladders to mount them, and 
 magazines of stones to throw down on the 
 heads of their assailants. In the centre of 
 the village was a large square, where pub- 
 lic demonstrations were usually made. The 
 wars waged by Champlain and his suc- 
 cessors proved the India ns to be possessed of 
 considerable strategy and capacity forcon- 
 linuous warfare. The lives of Le Rat, 
 I'ontiac, Brandt, and Tecumseth, prove 
 them to have possessed qualities whicii 
 make successful generals and diplomatists 
 
Canadian Materials for History^ cC-c. 
 
 T97 
 
 Tlic great Huron cliicf, Le Rat, was called 
 
 the "Demosthenes of the Woods," tlie 
 
 •• Maeliiavel of tlie Wilderness." " Never," 
 
 Kavs (iarneau, " ilid any deni/en of the 
 
 American wilds evince f^reater genius, 
 
 iniore valor, greater pruiience, or a deeper 
 
 [knowleilge (»f the liiiman heart, than he 
 
 {did during his eventful career, in which 
 
 [liis successes were constant, from the right 
 
 [adaptation of his means to etVect any given 
 
 Ifiul, and the inexhaustible resources of his 
 
 [mind in seasons of difliculty." The con- 
 
 [llicts of the whites with this remarkable 
 
 race — a race whose origin seems entirely 
 
 lost in a cloiidland of tradition and fable — 
 
 form very exciting episodes in our early 
 
 history, and allbrd abundant materials for 
 
 romance. 
 
 (JICNTLKMliN ADVKXTIKKKS. 
 
 Hut it is in the career of those " gentle- 
 men adventurers" who sought fame and 
 fortune in this then unknown world, that 
 we lind the elements of the most absorbing 
 interest; and among these pioneers of civi- 
 lization in Canada and the Great West, no 
 name appears more conspicuous than that 
 of Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle. Of 
 a noble family, thoroughly educated, pos- 
 sessed of great llimness of character, im- 
 bued with deep enthusiasm, and yet, 
 witlial, of a practical cast of mind. La 
 Salle was a type of the best class of "gen- 
 tlemen adventurers," to whom Canada owes 
 so much. The tourist who stood on the 
 siiores of Lachine in September last, when 
 so many thousands assembled to witness 
 the memorable aquatic struggle between 
 the oarsmen of the. Old World and of the 
 New, must have recalled the very dillerent 
 scene that was presented just two hundred 
 years agr, when that part of Lake St. Louis 
 obtained the name by wliich it is now best 
 known. Here, in his tbrest seigniory, by 
 the sliores of that lovely Lake — so calm 
 and still in comparison with the furious 
 rapiils that fret and fume below — La Salle 
 matured his plan for unravelling the secret 
 of the great river of which his Indian 
 visitors so often told him. Like all the 
 explorers of those tiui-.'s, when geographi- 
 cal science was only in course of develop- 
 ment, he had his dream of finding a shorter 
 route to the riches of the Chinese seas; 
 
 and, when he heard of this mysterious 
 river flowing through an unknown wilder- 
 ness, his sanguine mind immediately con- 
 ceived the idea that he was at last on the 
 point of making a discovery which would 
 give him enduring famj. He lost no time 
 in venturing into these strange Western 
 regions, and braved innumerable perils 
 that his might be the glory of solving the 
 problem which was perplexing the master 
 minds of his age; but if he did not succeed 
 in achieving the great object of his adven- 
 turous voyages — a shorter route to China 
 and Japan— he pjrformed a work which 
 places him among the foremost explorers 
 of the world, and justly entitles him to be 
 called "The Father of Colonization in the 
 Great Central Valley of the West." After 
 years of countless privations and difficul- 
 ties, which must ever beset the path of the 
 explorer, and which were vastly increased 
 in those times when science could do little 
 to assist the adventurer in comparison with 
 what it can in this age of progress, became 
 to, that great river of which the Indians 
 had told him so vaguely — 
 
 " Past llic Ohio shore, and past the mouth of the 
 Wah.isli, 
 Into the golden stream of the broad and sviitt 
 Mistsissippi. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Day after day they glided down the turbulent river; 
 .Night after night, l>y their bla/.inj; fires, encamped 
 
 on its borders ; 
 Now through rushing chutes, among green islands, 
 
 where pluuie-likc 
 Cotton trees nodded their shadowy crests, they 
 
 swept with the current. 
 Then emerged into broad lajfoons, where silvery 
 
 sand-bars 
 hay in the stream; and along the wimpling waves oi 
 
 the margin, 
 Shining with snow-white plumes, large flocks of 
 
 pelicans waded." 
 
 What a memorable day was that in the 
 history of this cotitinenl when La Salle 
 added a vast domain to the realms of 
 France ! With what awe must they have 
 looked on that wide expanse of water, 
 which stretched as far as the eye could see, 
 and looked so still and lonely, in the misty, 
 dreamy atmosphere of the tropics! There 
 stood that little band of pioneers— the 
 advance guard of t!;at mighty army of 
 civilization which, in later times, was to 
 reclaim that wide wilderness of swamp, 
 and snnd, and waving grass. Not a sail 
 
I9S 
 
 Canadian yFalcriah for History, «fr. 
 
 whitened the Cli.lf; their onlv comiKUiionK I Hunvard ! In his early youth he became a 
 were the Indians, wiu, stood in »iuiet con- ' soUlier, and won for himself a high reputa- 
 templation of the 8trant;e pn.ceedin-s of lion in the Sicilian wars; next, we hnd 
 these white invaders of their forest homes, him the associate of La Salle in his peril- 
 who slioulin^', I Vrv /-■ Roi. and sini;in« the j oiis adventures amonj,' the forests and rivers 
 grand hvmns of their l.ituru'v. rai^d of the West, until he reached the Gulf of 
 crosses and columns in token of the Mexico; entrusted with the defence of 
 soverei'^nty of the Grand Monarch at I Fort St. Louis, perched above the Illinois 
 VersaiUes. Of all that vast domain, like a feudal keep above the Rhine, he 
 stretching from tlie AUeghanies to the , faithfully fulfilled his duty ; and even when 
 Rocky Mountains, from the Rio Grande | he learned the news of the death of the 
 to the remotest spriivJIs of Missouri, ' man he had loved so well and served so 
 France no longer retains a single rood; truly, he would have perfected the work 
 the only evidences of her lormer suprem- ! which that astute and courageous master 
 acy are seen in tiie iiaine of Loui- i mind had planned; and if he failed to 
 siana, and in tlie remnant of pi.-ople ' relieve the little colony which La Salle had 
 who, like the Acadian French, still cling | left on the dreary shores of that lonely 
 to their language, their religion, and many I Texan Hay, or to form new settlements by 
 of their old customs. From this moinen- ' the mouth of the Mississippi, it was not 
 tous discovery, La Salle himself reaped no; through a want of capacity or courageous 
 benefit; but in this respect he fared no 
 worse than other explorers, even greater 
 than he was, — for history has minutely 
 
 resc ition, but because there seemed to be 
 an adverse destiny opposed to the plans of 
 all the bold men who had been the 
 
 described how he fell at the hands of the associates of the illustrious discoverer of 
 
 assassin amid the rank grass that covers 
 the banks of the great river whose mysteri- 
 ous course he had unravelled. Among the 
 many notable adventurers of whose ex- 
 ploits history tells us. no one surpasses him 
 in courage and practical action. The story 
 of his life, as it is told in the eloquent pages 
 of the historian Parkman, surpasses in ail 
 the elements of interest the best conceived 
 romance. •' Never" — I tpiole from thai 
 historian — "under the impenetrable heart | 
 of paladin or crusader, beat a lieartof more 
 intrepid metal than within the stoic pano- 
 ply that armed the breast of La Salle. To 
 estimate aright the marvels of Lis patient 
 fortitude, one must follow him on his track 
 through the vast scene of his interminable 
 journeyings, those thousands of weary 
 miles of forest, marsh, and river, where, 
 again and again, in the bitterness of batlled 
 striving, the untiring pilgrim pushed 
 onwards towards the goal which he was 
 never to attain. America owes him an 
 enduring memory; in this masculine 
 figure cast in" iron, she sees the heroic 
 pioneer who guided her to the possession 
 of her richest heritage." 
 
 Or review the career of Henri de Tonty 
 of the Iron Hand, and what material exists 
 for a romance as attractive as Qiientin 
 
 Louisiana. 
 
 Among the early inhabitants of Acadia 
 was one very extraordinary specimen of 
 the class of which we are speaking. One 
 of the captains of the celebrated De Carig- 
 nan Regiment — distinguished for its ser- 
 vices in Hungary in the war with the 
 Turks — which came to New France during 
 1665, was the Haron de St. Castin, a Ber- 
 nese by birth. When the regiment was dis- 
 banded and its men received favorable terms 
 to induce them to settle in Canada, he 
 established himself on the Richelieu; but 
 he soon tired of his inactive life, and leav- 
 ing his Canadian home settled at Pentagoet 
 (Penobscot) amid the forests. Here he 
 fraternized with the Abenaquis and led the 
 life of a robber chieftain, and his name was 
 long a terror to the New England colonists. 
 He married the daughter of an Indian 
 chief, and so influential was he that, at his 
 summons, all the tribes on the frontier 
 between Acadia and New England would 
 lift the hatchet and proceed on the war- 
 path. His life at Pentagoet, f^r years, was 
 very active and adventurous, as the annals 
 of New England show. In 17S1, happily 
 for the British Colonists, he succeeded to a 
 fortune in France, and thenceforth dis- 
 appeared from American history. His son 
 
 by bisi 
 mandl 
 feroci) 
 after 
 
 but ij 
 
 whevj 
 
 fatlu-l 
 
 last 
 
 Castil 
 
 F.urol 
 
 land,| 
 
 out 
 
 the n| 
 
 men 
 
Canadian Materials for ///story, if'c. 
 
 199 
 
 came a 
 repiita- 
 *e find 
 s poril- 
 I rivers 
 Jiilf of 
 ncc of 
 llinois 
 ne, he 
 n nhen 
 of the 
 ed Ro 
 work 
 nasfer 
 cil to 
 llfha.l 
 lonelj 
 !nts by 
 
 hy his Abcna{iui baroness, tiieii took com- 
 niaiul of his fort and savage retainers; in 
 ferocity lie far exceeded liis father, and, 
 after years of lieree contest with the New 
 lMii,'hind colonists he was taken prisoner; 
 hut he e^capecl and returned to Europe, 
 wliere he was just in time to succeeil toliis 
 father's estate, tlie eider pirate having at 
 last ended liis eventful life. Young St. 
 Castin did not long remain content in 
 Kurope, but sought once more the Acadian 
 land, where he vanishes, sword in hand, 
 out of history. What iirolilic materials for 
 the novelist exist in the lives of the gentle- 
 men adventurers of Acadia! 
 
 DISTIXCJllSIIED FRENCH-CANADIANS. 
 
 In that era of which I am speaking — an 
 era so lull of dramatic interest — Canada 
 gave birtli to men whose names are memor- 
 able in the history of their country. 
 Among the most famous was Lemoine 
 d'Iberville, who was one of seven brothers, 
 all of whom were men of note in their day. 
 lie belonged to the house of Longueuil — 
 one of the oldest and most celebrated Cana- 
 dian families — descended originally from a 
 Count of Salaqne en Biscaye and Margaret 
 de Tremouille, daughter of the Count des 
 Ciuines, who was also Grand Chambellan 
 of France, and one of the noblest families 
 in the kingdom. The services of Lemoine 
 il'Iberville are eloquently summarized by 
 IJancroft in these words : — 
 
 •• Present, as a volunteer, in the mid- 
 night attack upon Schenectady, where he 
 was chietly remembered for an act of cle- 
 mency; at Port Nelson, calm amidst the 
 crash of icebergs, in which his vessels had 
 become involved, and though exceedingly 
 moved by the loss of his young brother in 
 a skirmish with the English, yet, with 
 marvellous firmness, preserving his coun- 
 tenance without a sign of disquiet — putting 
 
 founded by his brother, the Sieur tie Bien- 
 ville. Milwaukee and Galveston were both 
 founded by Canadians. The first who 
 crossed the continent was Franchere, a 
 French-Canadian, and the founder of 
 Astoria. Viscount de Lery. who was born 
 at (.^lebec in the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, was one of the most eminent mili- 
 tary engineeis of the day, and aided the 
 first Nupiileon most materiallv. 
 
 But the genius of Pitt at last prevailed, 
 and the fall of I^ouisbourg, followed by 
 that of (:^iebec, led to the actpiisition of 
 Canada by the liritish. Now a century 
 and more has passed since the French ot 
 Canada came imder the dominion of Kng- 
 land, and time has removed national asperi- 
 ties, and intimately bounil the Anglo- 
 Saxon and (iailic elements together by ties 
 of mutual interest and fraternal feeling. 
 Fnglishnien cannot forget how largely the 
 Norman-French element enters into the 
 compositio.i of their race. I'erhaps it 
 will be with i.s in the course of time, as it 
 has been with F.ngland — 
 
 " As the viiryin^j tints \niilL' 
 'riRV'll Ibrin in liiMvcn's ViiiUt 
 Oiii' anil <it inacc." 
 
 SINCE THE CONC^'i:ST OK CANADA. 
 
 The war of 1S12 brought out conspicu- 
 ously the patriotic sentiments of the 
 inhabitants of Canada, and it is not too 
 tnuch to say that had it not been for the 
 energetic elTorts of the Canadians in assist- 
 ing the British troops to resist the approach 
 of the invading army of the great republic 
 on those borders, this country could never 
 have been saved to England. Full justice 
 has never yet been done to Canada for her 
 loyalty and devoti6n during that trying 
 crisis. The history of that war has as yet to 
 his whole trust in God — and, with tranquil 1 be written from •he Canadian point of 
 
 daring, making a conquest of the fort 
 which controls the vast Indian cominerce 
 of the wide regions of Nelson River; the 
 captor of Peinaquid; the successful invader 
 of the English possessions in Newfound- 
 land; and again in 1697, in spite of ice- 
 bergs and a shipwreck, victorious in naval 
 contests on the gloomy waters of Hudson 
 Bay, and recognized as the most skilful 
 naval officer in the service of France." 
 
 But Americans best remember him as the 
 colonizerof that Louisiana which La Salle 
 handed over to France. New Orleans was 
 
 view, and when that duty has been per- 
 formed by some faithful hand, the record 
 will be one of which not only the British 
 speaking population will be proud, but 
 the P'rench-Canadians as well, for theirs 
 is the memory of the memorable day at 
 Chateauguay when De Salaberry and his 
 compatriots gave an unequivocal response 
 to those Americans who had been aspers- 
 ing their loyalty. Since that time our 
 historv has been wanting in the elements 
 
200 
 
 Canadian Materials for- History, dc. 
 
 ^- 
 
 of dramatic interest; it has had no epi- 1 can expect to have a literature, in the 
 sodes of stirring import, except the fruit- extended sense of the term. When we look 
 less rebellion from 18,16-7 which after all Lround us, and see the evidences of mate 
 
 was little more than a faction fijiht in some 
 Irish county. Our history for the past 
 half century has been the record of mate- 
 rial progress : the forest has echoed to the 
 axe, and where the tall dark-green - ' .e 
 and spruce stood less than fifty years ago, 
 now towns and cities arise and speak more 
 eloquently than mere words of the achieve- 
 ments of the people. The lives of the 
 owners of this noble domain, so lately 
 reclaimed from the forest, may be less 
 adventurous than those of the pioneers 
 and explorers of whose exploits I have told 
 you, but the results are of no insignificant 
 character, as we may see when we look 
 over the face of this Dominion and recog- 
 nize all the evidences of its wealth and 
 prosperity, as well as intellectual progress. 
 Of the material condition of Canada, it is 
 beyond the purpose of this paper to speak ; 
 but here I may now consider what we have 
 done in the way of availing ourselves of 
 the materials we possess for the creation 
 of a Canadian literature. 
 
 OUR INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS. 
 
 So far British America has not produced 
 very many men of great eminence in the 
 pursuit of literature whose reputation has 
 extended beyond the limits of the Domi- 
 nion itself. In comparatively new countries 
 like the Provinces, the men of action have 
 chiefly been called into requisition. Forests 
 must be cut down, cities must be built, the 
 land and sea must pay their tribute to in- 
 dustry, before men have the leisure or 
 ability to give attention to letters and the 
 arts. Our life is so busy that few of us can 
 give much time and contemplation to sub- 
 jects of a purely literary character; and 
 then the rewards which men can receive 
 from commercial and industrial pursuits 
 are so great and manifold in a country like 
 this, only yet in the early stage of its deve- 
 lopement, that the class of professed men 
 of letters, leaving out of the question the 
 conductors of the periodical press, is neces- 
 sarily very limited, and confined to persons 
 of the learned professions. It is only when 
 communities are rich and prosperous, when 
 they have attained a certain age, that they 
 
 rial and intellectual progress throughout 
 Canada, we cannot but feel encouraged to 
 ..elieve that the time is fast upproachinj.; 
 when our people will stimulate the genius 
 of their own country, and we shall have a 
 class of professed men of letters in the 
 Dominion. British Americans have been 
 engaged for the past hundred years in 
 building up their country. They have 
 raised the framework of a noble edifice, 
 and now they should add a column here and 
 a column there, and otherwise complete it,, 
 soth.itit will be pleasing to the 'eye andl 
 creditable to the builders. A man who 
 settles in the midst of the forest is quite 
 content for a while with the hut which he 
 has hastily constructed out of the materials 
 around him; but when years have passed 
 by, and he has amassed wealth, when he 
 has thousands of acres of rich corn-fields 
 to show as the results of his energy and 
 industry, his ambition is stimulated, and he 
 builds a new residence and furnishes it in 
 a style commensurate with his improved 
 circumstances. So it should be with us in 
 British America. We have surmounted 
 our early difiiculties, and built up for our- 
 selves a country of whose wealth and 
 vitality we have every reason to be proud; 
 and now the time has come when we 
 should improve our surroundings and caL- 
 tivate the arts that refine and adorn. 
 
 AMERICAN LITERATURE. 
 
 A century ago the people of the United' 
 Slates, like ourselves, were without a lite ra- 
 ture of their own. Then they had as much 
 as they could do to build up houses for 
 themselves and future generations. Years 
 passed by, the United States became a 
 mighty nation ; men of wealth and leisure 
 increased in number, and the country 
 gradually had a literature of its own. 
 Cooper devoted his brilliant pen to a des- 
 cription of the struggles and diflficulties of 
 the early pioneers in the American wilder- 
 ness, and gave to the world romances 
 which have been read wherever the English 
 language is spoken. Washington Irving 
 wrote volumes which proved how deeply 
 he had drunk from " the well of English 
 
 undt| 
 
 the 
 
 eartl 
 
 at 
 
 awoi 
 
 andl 
 
 zestl 
 
 intl 
 
 Whj 
 
 leail 
 
 'lasl 
 
 poei 
 
 sonl 
 
 poel 
 
 his 
 
 has 
 
 for 
 
 Lo 
 
 mo 
 
 I'o 
 
 she 
 
 cla 
 
 iml 
 
 the 
 
 ■wh 
 
 am 
 
 ow 
 
Canadian Materials for History^ d-c. 
 
 301 
 
 undefilecl," ami entitled him to he called 
 the American Addison. Hawtiiornc un- 
 earthed the mysteries of New Kn^land lile; 
 at his command the ulern old Puritans 
 awoke to life and persecuted the (^j^iakers 
 and all who differed from them with infinite 
 zest. Bancroft, I'rescott, and Motley stand 
 in the foremost rank of modern historians. 
 Wheaton's work on International I^aw is a 
 leading authority atnonj^ all nations, and 
 ''as even been translated into Chinese, 
 ivwnjjfellow has written many extiuisite 
 poems, anil is preferretl by niiuiy toTenny- 
 (ion. Hryant has culled choice flowers of 
 poesj' frotn the forests and the scenery of 
 his native land. Whiltier, the (^lakcr poet, 
 has written poems which are remarkable 
 fortheirexquisite simplicity. James Russell 
 Lowell and Wendell Holmes are the fore- 
 most wits of tiieir day. The names of 
 Power, Ilosmer, Church, and Bierstadt, 
 show the love of the people for the hiijliest 
 class of art. So v^e see, wlii'n a people are 
 imbued with national aspiraiions, when 
 they have achieved national greatness, 
 •when tliey have attained wealth and 
 allluence, they will have a literature of their 
 own. 
 
 CANADIAN LITERARY EFFORTS. 
 
 I liave already, in the previous part of 
 my remarks, shown you that abundant 
 materials exist in the history of the Pro- 
 vinces for tlie production of history, 
 poetry, and romance. The struggles of the 
 colonial pioneers, their contests with the 
 forest tribes, their indomitable courage 
 amid what seemed at times unsurmount- 
 able obstacles, the fierce contests between 
 the French and British for the supremacy 
 in British America, the various steps in the 
 progress of tlie provinces— all these form 
 fruitful subjects for a vigorous pen. 
 Longfellow has siiown us in his " Evan- 
 geline" what rich materials there are 
 around uf for the man or woman im- 
 bued with the poetic and imaginative 
 faculty. .Street's poem of " Frontenac" is 
 less widely known; but it is, nevertheless, 
 a purely Canadian poem, replete with a 
 fine poetic flow, redolent of forest life, and 
 showing a perfect appreciation of our rich 
 scenery. Parkman, in his series of his- 
 tories, from which I have quoted more than 
 
 I once, shows that a Canadian history need 
 not be a dry collection of facts, or a dreary 
 political treatise. British America, how- 
 ever, has not produced many historians 
 whose works are calculated to attract the 
 general reader, who finds pleasure in the 
 pages of Macaulay, Froude, or Motley. 
 The best history is, undoubtedly, that of 
 the late M. (Jarneau; but it is wanting in 
 s|>irit, and does not give that insight into 
 the inner life of the Canadians that we 
 would wish to have in a work of this cha- 
 racter. .Scattered throughout the poems of 
 Sangster, Reade, Ryan, Suite and others, 
 are several pieces of undoubted merit; but 
 their works are hartlly known beyond On- 
 tario and (^lebec. Among our public men, 
 too, many of whom have won high dis- 
 tinction in the press, Mr. Howe has writ-I 
 ten several poems and delivered severa 
 aildresses which are of no ordinary merit, 
 and cause us to regret that he has not given 
 more time to literary pursuits. 
 
 The late Major Richardson, a native of 
 Ontario, has written several entertaining 
 romances connected with Canadian his- 
 tory, which were very generally read in 
 their day, but are now almost forgotten. 
 "Sam Slick" has given us a series of 
 sketches, which, although at times des- 
 cending into gross caricature, abound in 
 touches of veritable humor, which even the 
 Yankees and Nova Scot^ans, against whom 
 it is so often directed, are the first to appre- 
 ciate. Mr. Heavysege, of Montreal, is the 
 author of a dramatic production entitled 
 "Saul," which has been styled by British 
 critics " one of the most remai-kable 
 English poems ever written out of Great 
 Britain." Mr. Heavysege's genius appears 
 more adapted to the drama and poetry 
 than to romance, judging from a novel 
 named "The Advocate," which was pub- 
 lished during 1865, and has fallen almost 
 stillborn from the press. Professor de Mille, 
 of Halifax, has puolished several novels 
 of a decidedly sensational character,— in- 
 deed, in the " Cryptogram" and " Cord 
 and Creese," published by Harper Bro- 
 thers, incident follows incident with such 
 startling rapidity that even that joint stock 
 production of Bourcicault and Reade's. 
 •' Foul Play," sinks into insignificance; but 
 Mr. de Mille hardly does himself justice in 
 
202 
 
 Canadian Alateriah for History. t(v. 
 
 mean ontor of iiuiit; but I pnss them by 
 and content myself witli referring you Id 
 that very interestiti'^ compilation by Mr- 
 M()ri;an,the Hihliol/irra C<i/i(i</r»sis, wiiich 
 will irive the reaiier a verv accurate idea of 
 our literary proijress. I'ut I must not for- 
 get to speak of the highly cretiitableeflbrts 
 of the I'rench-speaking jiortion of our 
 population to create a national literature. 
 In history, poetry, and romance, they make 
 a very fair exhibit, and our ICiiL^iish writers 
 would ilo well to study their literary pro- 
 ductions, and imitate their spirit and the 
 love of everything Canailian they show 
 throughout. Theirs is a noble history, and 
 it would be strange, indeed, if tliev did not 
 avail themselves of the rich materials they 
 posses;, fur a French-Canailian literature. 
 
 I 
 
 throwing off these ephemeral novels; fori the d.ny, and have written works of no 
 in his two first works, " Helena's House- 
 hold — A Tale of Rome in the First 
 Century," and " The Dodge Club in Italy," 
 he gave many fine touches of wit and 
 pathos, which are entirely wanting in his 
 latest productions. M. Lemoine, of (^^le- 
 bec, in his " Maple Leaves," gives us many 
 pleasing illustrations of Canadian scenery 
 and character, and is aptly styled the 
 *' Old Mortality" of the section of country 
 where he resides. A great Canadian novel, 
 however, has not yet appeared— that is to 
 say, one which has its readers outside of 
 the Dominion, although no one can doubt 
 that there are abundant materials in the 
 past history, as well as in the social charac- 
 teristics of the several communities of Rri- 
 tish America, for romances full of origi- 
 nality and interest. In the department of 
 Biography, Mr. Fennings Taylor has 
 published "Sketches of British Americans," 
 and the " Three Last Bishops Appointed by 
 the Crown in Canada," written in a stately, 
 polished style which has many admirers. 
 Mr. Alpheus Todd has given us a work on 
 Constitutional Government which entitles 
 him to rank only below Ilallam and Mav. 
 Mr. John Foster Kirk, a native of Frederic- 
 ton, formerly the Secretary of Prescott, is 
 the author of a History of Charles the 
 Bold of Hungary, which, although not 
 equal to the works of his great prototype, 
 shows that he wields a vigorous pen, and is 
 likely to occupy a prominent position 
 among the eminent historians of these 
 times. In the department of science, 
 British America has produced several emi- 
 nent names; and foremost among these 
 stands Dr. Dawson, a native of Nova 
 Scotia, who has contributed a volume on 
 the Geology of Acadia, besides many 
 treatises on his favorite study, which en- 
 title him to a conspicuous place among the 
 savans of the century. Dr. Daniel Wilson, 
 one of the adopted sons of Canada, has 
 written a work on Pre-historic Man, ani a 
 Life of Chatterton, which prove him to be 
 a writer of much thought and research. 
 Sir William Logan has contributed much 
 valuable information respecting the geo- 
 logical attributes of Canada. Besides 
 these, there are several others who have 
 contributed to the periodical literature of 
 
 riii: (.AN \i)i \N rui'>s, and irs 1)ltii;s. 
 
 Towards the creation of a literary taste 
 in the Dominion, the press can do a great 
 deal. Xo fact, indeed, gives a better 
 evidence of our intellectual progress than 
 the rapid stride that has been taken of 
 late years by the press in all the essentials 
 of excellenee. Many of the most eminent 
 public men of Canada have been connected 
 with the press there, and so it must be 
 necessarily in a country like this, enjoy- 
 ing free representative institutions, where 
 public journals necessarily wield a large 
 inliuence. It is clear that the press of the 
 Provinces must steadily advance with the 
 material and intellectual progress of the 
 country, and gradually exhibit the charac- 
 teristics of its best r^nglish contemporaries. 
 At present, the newspaper forms the chief 
 reading of our busy people. There 
 are about four hundred public journals 
 published in the Dominion, and of these 
 at least thirty-two appear six times a week. 
 If we look at the Post OHke statistics we 
 find that last year, at least (in round 
 numbers) twenty-four millions of news- 
 papers passed though the post-otVices of the 
 Provinces, or six papers tor every man. 
 woman, and child in the Dominion, and 
 these ligLircs, it will be remembered, 
 do not take into the account the many 
 papers sold in book and periodical stores- 
 Of this large number, we may estimate 
 that about two-thirds are domestic, and 
 
Canadian Materials for History, iC-c. 
 
 20,-5 
 
 of no 
 m by 
 
 oil to 
 Mr. 
 wliich 
 ilea of 
 t for- 
 (Ibrts 
 f our 
 [itiire. 
 make 
 riters 
 I>ro- 
 tlie 
 liow 
 ntui 
 id not 
 tlu-y 
 Uiire. 
 
 the remainder American and IJritish. 
 These facts show torcibly how important 
 is the influence that the press exercises 
 in tlie Provinces. The editor lias a very 
 responsible work to do in Hritisli America, 
 and when he performs it witii a full 
 consciousness of the power and rcsponsjr 
 bility of his calling, he richly merits the 
 thanks of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 MiricssrrY of aicimli.atinc; i.rn.KAUY 
 
 .MATERIAL. 
 
 In all the Provinces a great deal of matter 
 connected with their history is scattered 
 about and at present inaccessible to the 
 student, and it is time steps were taken to 
 preserve these valuable materials to poster- 
 ity. In tlie United .States a great deal has 
 been done to collect and compile all the 
 documents referring to the early history of 
 tiie diiferent States of the Union. In Ca- 
 nada, something has been attempted in the 
 same direction, but a great deal yet remains 
 to be done in this respect. In Nova Scotia, a 
 commission, some years ago, collected and 
 bound up in volumes a great iiuantity of 
 valuable archives which were moulding in 
 the cellars of the Provincial lUiilding, and 
 very recently Mr. Akins, the gentleman 
 entrusted with the work, has issued, at the 
 expense of the Province, a volume contain- 
 ing the most important and interesting 
 documents. Windsor College, the oldest 
 collegiate seat of learning in the Dominion, 
 has olVered prizes, during some years, for 
 the best history of each county in the Pro- 
 vince, and in this way a great many facts 
 within the memory of the oldest inhabi- 
 tants are collated in a convenient form. 
 A \ery useful work has also been perform- 
 ed, in the course of years, by the Q^iebec 
 Literary.and Historical Society, who have 
 preserved many im))ortant docutnents from 
 oblivion, and very materially lightened the 
 labor of the writer on Canadian tojiics. 
 
 MENTAL SELF-r<KLIANCH ONK OF THE CON- 
 DITIONS OF POLITICAL IMON. 
 
 We are now entering on a new era in 
 the history of British America. The first 
 era ended with the cession of Canada to 
 Great Britain, in the latter part of the 
 eighteenth century; the second with the 
 union of the Provinces, in 1867. Hitherto 
 
 in these Provinces there has not been a 
 very strong love of country. It is true their 
 people take a commendable pride in the 
 history of the parent state ; they feel that^ 
 as citizens of the British Empire, they 
 are associated with the honors which its 
 eminent sons have won for it in the past and 
 are winning for it in the present. British 
 Americans cherish as fondly the achieve- 
 ments of the great men of England — her 
 warriors, her statesm m, her writers — as. 
 the people in pleasant Kent or Devon.. 
 Whilst it is but right and natural that they 
 should entertain these sentiments with 
 respect to the parent state, yet they should 
 not Ibrget, at the same time, that they have 
 a country of their own with which thev are 
 immediately connected, and which has a 
 history of its own. It is a commendable 
 trait of the people of the United States 
 that even in their very educational system 
 — in the text-books of their schools and 
 colleges — ail that the pen can do is done to 
 stimulate the patriotism of the youth of 
 the country. In British America, however, 
 little or nothing has yet been done to 
 excite similar feelings for the country with 
 which we are immediately identified. The 
 history of the several countries constituting 
 British America has been very little read 
 by our people. No doubt the isolated state 
 of the dirter£nt colonies has had a great 
 deal to do with the absence of patriotic 
 feeling; but we must see a change in the 
 course of time when the Dominion is firmly 
 established, and its people have forgotten 
 their sectional prejudices, and commenced 
 to t'eel that they are citizens of one great 
 community, possessed of a history replete 
 with the evidences of true heroism — with 
 associations of the most romaijtic and dra- 
 matic character. With a free and enlight- 
 ened press, with colleges and schools of a 
 high order in every section, with a gene- 
 rous, high-spirited, and patriotic people, 
 proud of their origin and confident of their 
 tutu re, British America enters on her new 
 era under most hopeful auspices. None of 
 us, however, must forget that, without a 
 high condition of intellectual culture, no 
 community can ever become truly great. 
 " Regarding the Dominion as an incipient 
 nation," said Mr. McGee, who did so much 
 in his time towai ds fostering a native litera- 
 
i 
 
 204 
 
 Charitas Excelsior J 
 
 ture, removing sectional animosities and 
 laying the foundations of a new northern 
 empire ; " I consider that our mental self- 
 reliance is an essential condition of ourpoli- 
 tical independence. I do not mean a state 
 of public mind puffed up in small things— 
 an exaggerated opinion of ourselves and a 
 barbarian depreciation of foreigners— a 
 controversial state of mind, or a merely 
 imitative, apish civilization. I mean a 
 mental condition, thoughtful and true; 
 national in its preferences, but catholic in 
 its sympathies; gravitating onward, not' 
 outward ; ready to learn from every other 
 people, on one sole condition — that the les- 
 son when learned has been worth acquir- 
 ing. In short, we should desire to see our 
 new national character distinguished by a 
 manly modesty as much as by mental 
 independence; by the conscientious exer- 
 cise of the critical faculties as well as by 
 the zeal of the enquirer." 
 
 " Knowledge is power," is an oft-quoted 
 aphorism which cannot be too deeply 
 studied by the young men of the Dominion 
 just starting into vigorous life. True intel- 
 lect must always rule, and leave its impress 
 upon all ages and peoples. The works of 
 Homer, of Virgil, of Dante, of Milton, of 
 Cervantes, have delighted generations in 
 the past as they must continue to delight 
 the world in the future. A few years ago, 
 the world witnessed a spectacle such as it 
 had never seen before. On the borders of 
 the St. Lawrence and the great Lakes, in 
 the cities of the American Republic, on the 
 
 banks of the St. John, on the isUnd con- 
 tinent of Australasia, throughout Great 
 Britain and her vast Empire, wherever the 
 English language is spoken, men assembled 
 to pay the tribute of their homage to a 
 man who, while he lived, was poor and 
 obscure. He had not added an inch of 
 land to his country; he was only a poor 
 Scottish laborer; at times a weak and err- 
 ing man; but he gave to Scotland some 
 poems of such exquisite pathos and genial 
 humor that the world has always recog- 
 nized in them the inspirations of true 
 genius. At a later time, and in the same 
 countries, men again held "high festival" 
 in honor of another son of genius, who, 
 like the Scottish ploughman, was of humble 
 origin. In his day he was only a play- 
 actor, but he left, as a heritage to England, 
 some dramas which, for their knowledge 
 of human nature, for their humor and 
 pathos, for their sagacious maxims, for 
 their delineation of passion, have never 
 been equalled by any writer of ancient or 
 modern times. Such is the tribute that the 
 world is certain, sooner or later, to pay to 
 its true benefactors and sons of genius. 
 The great men of whom Shakespeare wrote, 
 nearly three hundred years ago, are best 
 remembered now by the dramas where he 
 portrays their follies, their weaknesses, and 
 their crimes. The kings and chieftains of 
 the native land of Burns are almost forgot- 
 ten, while deep in the hearts of his coun- 
 trymen, all the world over, are imprinted 
 the poems of that poor Scottish peasant. 
 
 CHARITAS EXCELSIOR! 
 
 IIV KKV. A. STliWAUT DES IIKISAV. 
 
 "Though I sjienkwith the tongues of nvm and of 
 .ingds, anil have not charily, I am litcome as souiul- 
 u\g brass or a tinkling cymbal." — i Cor. xiii. 1. 
 
 Ye glorious powers of human speech, 
 Whose fame around the earlli dotii reach ; 
 My lips your mighty magic leach ; 
 
 And I will sing what poets sung, 
 
 Wlien the world's ages yet were young 
 
 The enchantment of the glowing tongue, 
 
 The nameless witchery of the hour, 
 The thrill transfixing the heart's core, 
 When language doth her treasures pour. 
 
 But hark I from yon bright hoavtnly sphere, 
 Falling in music on my ear, 
 Accents more silvery do 1 hear. 
 
 It is the voice of angel song, 
 
 Strains which the rapt seraphic throng, 
 
 Around the throne of God prolong. 
 
 / lid yet, ye wizard tongues of men, 
 Swift as the ready writer's pen, 
 A mightier power t^ian you I ken. 
 
 And yet, ye angel voices high, 
 Kolliiig your music through the sky, 
 A sweeter note than yours know I. 
 
 Witliout it, all your notes were vain. 
 It is of Love Divine the strain. 
 Struck on this sinful earth again I 
 
 I 
 
i 
 
 ^1 
 
li.