Canada under British Rule 1760-1900Bourinot, John George
History
Canada under British Rule 1760-1900
Bourinot, John George
Canada -- History
The Canadian people are displaying an intellectual activity commensurate
with the expansion of their territory and their accumulation of wealth.
The scientific, historical and political contributions of three decades,
make up a considerable library which shows the growth of what may be
called Canadian literature, since it deals chiefly with subjects
essentially of Canadian interest. The attention that is now particularly
devoted to the study and writing of history, and the collection of
historical documents relating to the Dominion, prove clearly the
national or thoroughly Canadian spirit that is already animating the
cultured class of its people.
Of the numerous historical works that have appeared since 1867 two only
demand special mention in this short review. One of these is _A History
of the days of Montcalm and Lévis_ by the Abbé Casgrain, who
illustrates the studious and literary character of the professors of the
great university which bears the name of the first bishop of Canada,
Monseigneur Laval. A more elaborate general history of Canada, in ten
octavo volumes, is that by Dr. Kingsford, whose life closed with his
book. Whilst it shows much industry and conscientiousness on the part of
the author, it fails too often to evoke our interest even when it deals
with the striking and picturesque story of the French régime, since the
author considered it his duty to be sober and prosaic when Parkman is
bright and eloquent.
A good estimate of the progress of literary culture in Canada can be
formed from a careful perusal of the poems of Bliss Carman, Archibald
Lampman, Charles G.W. Roberts, Wilfred Campbell, Duncan Campbell Scott
and Frederick George Scott. The artistic finish of their verse and the
originality of their conception entitle them fairly to claim a foremost
place alongside American poets since Longfellow, Emerson, Whittier,
Bryant and Lowell have disappeared. Pauline Johnson, who has Indian
blood in her veins, Archbishop O'Brien of Halifax, Miss Machar, Ethelyn
Weatherald, Charles Mair and several others might also be named to prove
that poetry is not a lost art in Canada, despite its pressing prosaic
and material needs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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