[sultb] historical LITERATURE OF QUEBEC 275 



doings of Napoleon, its neighbour would declare that the object was 

 to blind the readers, because the material with which the paper was 

 printed had been furnished by General Turreau, the French ambassador 

 4it Washington. The poor Canadien replied that its shabby appearance 

 was not indicative of the muniticence of a great prince, and we know 

 how miserable he looked, but this was considered by his rival as another 

 piece of duplicity. 



Two or three of the contributors to Le Canadien were rather witty. 

 " Light, headed men," said The Mercury. 



" With goose-(iuill armed, instead of spear." 



The epigrams flashed in all sorts of ways on both sides for many 

 months. It was a literary exercise that must have afforded the young 

 writers of the period a chance to test their natural resources. Songs 

 were put in circulation, and some of them reflecting on the attitude of 

 the Americans in regard to Canada, for there was a belief all ai'ound 

 that the diplomatic difficulty then existing could not be settled except by 

 war. 



Let us mention here a book published in Quebec at the beginning of 

 the war of 1812, entitled : " Resources of the Canadas or Sketches of the 

 Physical and Moral Means Which Great J3ritaia and her Colonial Author- 

 ities will Successfully Emploj' in Securing These Valuable Provinces 

 from Open Invasion and Invidious Aggression on the Part of the Govern- 

 ment of the United States of America, by A. Querist." 



But there was also a French Canadian party called the "office-seekers/' 

 (les bureaucrates), which intended to participate in the government pat- 

 ronage. They started a paper, Le Courrier de Québec, in Jan., 1807, with 

 Dr. Jacques Labrie as chief editor. Labrie had been educated in Canada ; 

 afterwards he had studied medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland, and he was 

 greatly given to matters concerning the history of Canada. His j)aper 

 opposed Le Canadien firmly in politics, and also pviblished several docu- 

 ments relating to the previous thirty years, in connection with our coun- 

 tr}', but it is not sure whether the intention of Labrie was to counteract 

 the notions spread by Le Canadien in the historical field. The purpose of 

 the bureaucrates was more in the direction of securing good government 

 berths for their folks than to indulge in sentiments upon things of old. 

 Labrie, nevertheless, made his mark in the circle of those who were given 

 to literary and historical pursuits. 



From that conflict of interest between the Mercury^ Canadien and 

 Courrier sprung the practice of advertising the merchants' goods, which 

 the Quebec Gazette had always neglected. This is another form of litera- 

 ture not likely to perish, although quite unknowi\ to our forefathers. 



When the Courrier died, in June, 1807, Le Canadien expressed much 

 regret at its departure, stating, in a sarcastic manner, that the best enemy 



