CANADIAN LITERATURE 



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CANADIAN LITERATURE 



miliar plot, but valuable as a faithful, vivid 

 picture of the ancien regime, of the days of 

 seigneurs, voyageurs, coureurs de bois, Indians, 

 sailors and soldiers. About the same time 

 appeared numerous poems from the pen of 

 Octave Cremazie, who became a national poet, 

 not because he was great, but because he cele- 

 brated the occasions which "touched some 

 lasting aspiration of his race." 



Later novelists are few, and little known 

 outeid their own communities. A classic of 

 its kind is Jean Rivard, by A. Gerin-Lajoie; it 

 is the French-Canadian adaptation of the cry, 

 "Back to the land." Among later novels which 

 have won fame for their writers are Choquette's 

 Claude Paysan, an artistic story of a habitant's 

 hopeless love; Mme. Laura Conan's L'Oublie, 

 crowned by the French Academy; and Na- 

 poleon Bourassa's Jacques et Marie, a tale of 

 simple people who bring to mind Longfellow's 

 Evangeline. Of poets there is a long list, 

 including Leon Le May, who translated Evan- 

 geline into French verse; Benjamin Suite, bet- 

 ter known as an historian; P. J. 0. Chauveau, 

 Louis Fiset and Alfred Garneau, three minor 

 writers whose work shows delicate poetic 

 touches; and above all, Louis H. Frechette, 

 who, of all French-Canadian poets, has prob- 

 ably the best claim to greatness. 



English Canada. The literature of English- 

 speaking Canada begins at a later date but 

 with a character similar to that of French 

 Canada. The first writers were men like Sam- 

 uel Hearne, Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Alex- 

 ander Henry, who wrote accounts of their own 

 travels and discoveries. This period of explora- 

 tion coincided roughly with the rapid settle- 

 ment and development of New Brunswick and 

 Upper Canada (Ontario) by the United Empire 

 Loyalists. For a generation or two these set- 

 tlers were too busy to write books, and it was 

 not until about 1830 that English Canada paid 

 much attention to literature. 



The struggle for responsible government, 

 both before and after the Union of 1841, was 

 accompanied by a flood of controversial polit- 

 ical literature, much of which is now of little 

 value. The speeches and writings of Bishop 

 Strachan, Sir John Beverly Robinson, William 

 Lyon Mackenzie, Egerton Ryerson and Joseph 

 Howe, however, are brilliant pieces of work as 

 literature, regardless of the great influence 

 they had on the events of the day. The chief 

 literary figure of this period is Thomas Chan- 

 dler Haliburfron, who wrote under the pen-name 

 of "Sam Slick." Haliburton in private life 



was a distinguished lawyer and judge, but to 

 posterity he is still the first Canadian humor- 

 ist. One of his distinctive gifts was his apti- 

 tude for short, pithy sayings. "Circumstances 

 alter cases" is perhaps the best-known quota- 

 tion from his books. 



Influence of Political Life. With the coming 

 of Confederation there was a distinct growth 

 in literary activity in the Dominion. A Cana- 

 dian national spirit first asserted itself, and 

 perhaps for the first time there were signs of 

 a truly national literature. Just pride in home 

 and native land and the appreciation of the 

 pioneers' sacrifices inspired the poet as well 

 as the novelist and the historian. The speeches 

 which had for their purpose the arousing of a 

 spirit of unity still remain as a distinct type of 

 literature, and many of the lateV speeches of 

 Sir Charles Tupper, Sir John A. Macdonald, 

 Alexander Mackenzie, Sir Alexander T. Gait, 

 Edward Blake and Sir Wilfrid Laurier have an 

 enduring quality which makes them good litera- 

 ture. The speeches of Laurier are especially 

 noteworthy as combining the "emotional ap- 

 peal of the French-Canadian with the reasoned 

 presentment of constitutional precedents and 

 principles" which are so characteristic of Eng- 

 lish orators and statesmen. 



History and Allied Subjects. The formal 

 histories, except those written by Francis Park- 

 man, who was not a Canadian, do not rise to 

 great heights. The standard History of Canada 

 is by William Kingsford; it is an accurate 

 record, but has little charm of style. John C. 

 Dent's The Last Forty Years (1841-1881) and 

 his Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion are 

 well written a^id clear. Hannay's History of i 

 Acadia is a valuable work, and Col. William 

 Wood's The Fight for Canada is praised as one 

 of the best historical books written by a 

 Canadian. The history of the Northwest is 

 a special field which has been ably treated by 

 Alexander Begg, George Bryce, George M. 

 Adam, Archbishop Tache and others. From 

 Ocean to Ocean, by Rev. George Monro Grant, 

 is one of the most interesting travel-books of 

 its kind. Other important books on the North- 

 west are Agnes C. Laut's Conquest of the 

 Northwest and Beckles Willson's The Great 

 Company, a history of the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany. The books on history and government 

 written by Sir John G. Bourinot are standard 

 authorities. 



Biography has been devoted mainly to politi- 

 cal leaders and statesmen, especially those of 

 the period immediately preceding and following 



