1855.] 



THE PRIZE ESSAYS. 



351 



The Prize Essays. 



1. — Canada; An Essay — . To v-hu-h iras avurdcd the First 

 Prhn Ly the I'aris Exhihitioa Vommitlce of Canada. By 

 J. SuERiDAN HoGAN. John Lovell, Montreal. 



2. — Canada and Her Resources ; — An Essay, to icJiich 

 was awarded the Second Prize hy the Paris Exhihition 

 Committee of Canada. By Alexander Morris, A.M., 

 Barrister at Law. Joha Lovell, Montreal. 



3.— Canada : Physical, Economic, and Social. By A. 

 LiLLiE, D.D. Maclear & Co., Toronto. 



On the loth November, 1854, the Executive Comuuttce of 

 the Paris Exhibition issued an advertisement announcinfr their 

 intention of offering for public competition three prizes i'or the 

 best three essays on " Canada, and its resources; its geological 

 structure, geogi'aphical features, natural products, manufactures, 

 commerce, social, educational, and political institutions, and 

 general statistics." Practical utility and comprehensiveness, 

 combined -nath conciseness, were to be among the chief con- 

 siderations on which the awards of the judges would be based. 

 The Essays were to be sent to the Secretary of the Executive 

 Committee on the loth Februaiy, 1855, thus allowing exactly 

 ninety-two days, or three months, for the production of a work 

 on Canada embracing a comprehensive description of the phy- 

 sical and social condition of the countiy. 



No one, we suppose, who takes the trouble to consider the 

 nature and extent of the subjects suggested by the Committee, 

 can fail to be convinced that the time allowed was much too 

 short. Indeed, as the period for the reception of the Essays 

 drew to a close, the Executive Committee appear to have 

 become convinced of the necessity of extending the time as 

 much as lay in their power, and accordingly they added fifteen 

 days to the three months before granted. 



The opportunities thus afforded for obtaining literaiy distinc- 

 tion were, however, sufficiently enticing to bring into the field 

 no less than nineteen competitors for the honours and emolu- 

 ment offered by Government. Of the essays subjected to the 

 consideration of the judges, three were reported "prizeworthy," 

 three received honorable mention, one was passed over as ille- 

 gibly written, and twelve remain in the hands of the Assistant 

 Secretary of the Committee, from whom they may be obtained 

 by the authors. The judges being unable to decide upon the 

 order in which the three essays reported prizeworthy should 

 stand, requested his Excellency the (jovernor General to make 

 the award. No more capable or disinterested judge could have 

 been selected, or one from whose expressed opinion disap- 

 pointed competitors or their friends would feel inclined to 

 appeal; and after a careful perusal of the two competing essays 

 which are named at the commencement of this article, we do 

 not hesitate to avow our conviction of the justice of that 

 award. We do not wish it to be understood, however, that 

 a?!// one of the essays before us presents a complete picture of Ca- 

 nada ; it is not to be supposed that the short period of fourteen 

 weeks would embrace time enough for any T\Titor, however fami- 

 liar with its physical history and its social condition, to describe 

 the country, its resources and it.s people with )ninutene.ss and 

 detail. The evident object of the Executive Committee of 

 the Paris Exhibition was to obtain a readable account and de- 

 scription of Canada and its institutions, in order to' place in 

 the hands of the middle classes in Europe a popular exposition 

 of what we offer here to indu.^try and enterprise. Mr. Hogan 

 has furnished us with such an essay, which, though cerfaiuly 



not free from sins of omission and a sprinkling of errors, is capable 

 of creating a very interesting, encouraging and truthful im- 

 pression of many leading features in Canadian life, and of the 

 encouraging future which lies within the reach of every 

 immigrant, and is the sure destiny of the country at large. 

 In the introductory chapter to Mr. Hogan's essay, we find 

 especial allusion made to the class of people for whose infor- 

 mation and guidance the essay was, with judicious care, more 

 particularly written. After alluding to the significant facts, 

 that the population of "Western Canada in 1829 was only 

 190,000, and the value of the real and personal estate of the 

 people estimated at £25,000,000, that, in 1854 the number of 

 its inhabitants had swollen to 1,237,000, and its assessed and 

 assessable property to £50,000,000, Mr. Hogan asks : — 



" And who aDd what are tlio people who divide among them this 

 niagaificent property ? And how liave they acciuired it '; Did they 

 come in as conquerors, and appropriate to themselves the wealth of 

 others ? — They came in but to subdue a wilderness, and have reversed 

 the laws of conquest ; for plenty, good neighbourhood, and civilization 

 mai-k their footsteps. Or did capitalists accompany them, to reproduce 

 their wealth by applying it to the enterprises and improvements of a 

 new country ? No ; — for capitalists wait till their pioneer, industry, 

 first makes his report, and it is but now that they are studying the 

 interesting one from Canada. Or did the generosity of European 

 Princes, or Eui-opean wealth or benevolence provide them with such 

 outfits as secured their success ? On the contrary, the wrongs of 

 Princes, and the poverty of Nations, have been the chief causes of the 

 settlement of America. Her prosperity is the offspring of European 

 hopelessness. Her high position in the world is the result of the sub- 

 lime efforts of despair. And he who would learn who they are who 

 divide among them the splendid property created in Canada has but to 

 go to the quays of Liverpool, of Dublin, of Glasgow, and of Uamburg, 

 and see emigrants there embarking, who knew neither progress nor 

 hopes where they were born, to satisfy himself to the fullest." 



The description of the geographical features of the country 

 is very general, and in some instances unnecessarily so, for we, 

 find no reference made, even in name, to the rivers, Thames 

 and Grand River, which unwater the richest and most fertile 

 portion of the Western Province. The chapter devoted to the 

 " Geological features and soil'' of the country is occasionally 

 obscure, and not without mistakes, which, with a little 

 reflection and care, might have been avoided. " All the great 

 lakes are placed in the line of contact between two vast chains 

 of Granite and Limestone." How does this general statement 

 apply to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the lakes par excellence 

 of Canada. The Granite is met with at the eastern extremity 

 of Lake Ontario, and the lake itself is excavated wholly out of 

 unaltered Lower and Upper Silurian rocks. Lake Eric is ex- 

 cavated entirely out of Upper Silurian and Devonian rocks, 

 and in no part is less than 200 miles from granite expo.sures. 

 The observation Ls partially con-ect with regard to Lakes Huron 

 and Superior, the least important of Canadian lakes. Again, 

 " From Quebec toNiagarathc red slate [?] is perhaps the prevail- 

 ing rock," and in the very next line, " the subsoil around 

 Lake Ontiuno is limestone on granite." . . . . " Oti Lake Erie 

 the strata are limestone, slate [';■] and sandstone." These con- 

 tradictions and errore ac(|uirc importance in Canada where the 

 real facts are locally known, because they leave room for cavil 

 and ungenerous criticism, and may affect the value of the c.isay 

 and the interests it is well designed to subser\'e. 



The cha]iter describing the stniggle.s and hopes of the early 

 settlor of Upper Canada is a truthful picture ; the one which 

 follows it, portraying the farmer of Upper Canada ns distin- 

 guished from the early settler, is also Mxll drawn and very 

 encouraging : — 



" Were I asked what is the leading charncteristiu of the Upper 

 Canadian fanner, I should unquestionably answer, Plestv. Pliiily 



