84 JOHN LESPERANCE ON THE 
Donnelly, Prudhomme, Marchand, Poisson, Routhier, Chapman and Lajoie. The latter 
has immortalized himself by a single ballad, “ Un Canadien Errant,” just as Sir George 
Cartier would be remembered by his “ O Canada, Mon Pays, Mes Amours,” even if he had 
not been one of the Fathers of Confederation. Blain de St. Aubin has also written many 
charming songs, set to music by himself. Among the poets of a higher flight, or who 
have produced more ambitious works, I give the first place, after much reflection, to 
Cremazie. He was a man of creative genius who would have made his mark in any 
country, and had circumstances allowed him to cultivate his great talents in quietude of 
mind, he would have written poems of sublime worth. As it is, barring a few weak 
lines, here and there, which he never had the heart to revise, his “ Vieux Soldat,” “ Drapeau 
de Carillon,” and “Les Morts,” are perfect and stir the soul like the blare of clarions. 
Cremazie deserves a monument at the hands of his countrymen, and that monument ought 
to be a national edition of his works. Following closely is Frechette, a poet in the loftiest 
sense of the term, and still in the maturity of his powers. He has done his full share 
toward spreading the knowledge of his country abroad, by winning from the French 
Academy the Monthyon Award, an honor somewhat equivalent to that of the Oxford 
University Prize Poem. Cremazie is the Hugo ; Fréchette, the Lamartine of Canada. The 
Beranger is Sulte. This poet is, perhaps, more distinctively national than any of the 
others, because he confines himself to the songs of the people. His “ Patineuse” is a little 
gem. Lemay has written a number of long poems, but in my opinion, the best of them 
is his translation of “ Evangeline.” You will doubtless smile when I venture the state- 
ment that some of the lines are an improvement on the original, but Iam happy to add 
that Longfellow himself concurred in this view. At least one clergyman has not deemed 
it derogatory to cultivate the muse in the intervals of his parochial ministrations, and it 
is some satisfaction to be able to say that he is almost as good a poet as he is a faithful 
pastor. “ Au Foyer de mon Presbytére,” by the Abbé Gingras, is a dainty little volume, by 
no means faultless indeed, chiefly through lack of revision, but containing many tender 
and striking passages, with a novelty of treatment such as might be expected from the 
heart of a celibate priest. 
It is perhaps owing to the general disapproval of the clergy that, notwithstanding 
their taste for the theatre and the natural histrionic gifts of the people, the French writers 
of Canada have not cultivated dramatic composition. The only plays of any note that I 
can find are a tragedy written by Gerin-Lajoie in his youth for Nicolet College, the “ Papi- 
neau ” and “ L’Hxilé,” of Frechette, and two or three comedies of a very superior order by 
Marchand. 
IV. 
NOVELISTS. 
After the poets naturally come the novelists. Here again the field is wide and it has 
been well cultivated. As was to be expected, the historical romance predominates, that 
being one one of the most efficient means of popular instruction and entertainment in a 
sphere that is so particularly rich as are the annals of New France. Every variety of 
picturesque material is at hand. There is the era of discovery and settlement—Cartier, 
Champlain, Maisonneuve ; that of heroic resistance to the Iroquois through a hundred 
