passing from the heroic days of canada, which, if it could hardly in the nature of things originate a native literature, at least inspired a brilliant succession of historians, essayists and poets in much later times, we come now to that period of constitutional and political development which commenced with the rule of england. it does not fall within the scope of this address to dwell on the political struggles which showed their intensity in the rebellion of 1837–8, and reached their fruition in the concession of parliamentary government, in the large sense of the term, some years later. these struggles were carried on during times when there was only a sparse population chiefly centred in the few towns of nova scotia, new brunswick, upper and lower canada, on the shores of the atlantic, on the banks of the st. lawrence and lake ontario, and not extending beyond the peninsula of the present province of ontario. the cities, or towns rather, of halifax, st. john, quebec, montreal, kingston and york, were then necessarily the only centres of intellectual life. education was chiefly under the control of religious bodies or in the hands of private teachers. in the rural districts it was at the lowest point possible,[14] and the great system of free schools which has of late years extended through the dominion—and is the chief honour of ontario—was never dreamed of in those times of sluggish growth and local apathy, when communication between the distant parts of the country was slow and wretched, when the conditions of life were generally very hard and rude, when the forest still covered the greater portion of the most fertile districts of ontario,[15] though here and there the pioneer's axe could be heard from morn to eve hewing out little patches of sunlight, so many glimpses of civilization and better times amid the wildness of a new land even then full of promise.
the newspapers of those days were very few and came only at uncertain times to the home of the farmer by the side of some stream or amid the dense forest, or to the little hamlets that were springing up in favoured spots, and represented so many radiating influences of intelligence on the borders of the great10 lakes and their tributary streams, on the atlantic seaboard, or on the numerous rivers that form so many natural highways to the people of the maritime provinces. these newspapers were for years mostly small quarto or folio sheets, in which the scissors played necessarily the all-important part; but there was, nevertheless, before 1840 in the more pretentious journals of the large towns, some good writing done by thoughtful men who studied their questions, and helped to atone for the very bitter vindictive partisan attacks on opponents that too frequently sullied the press in those times of fierce conflict.[16] books were only found in the homes of the clergy or of the official classes, and these were generally old editions and rarely the latest publications of the time. montreal and quebec, for many years, were the only places where bookstores and libraries of more than a thousand volumes could be seen. it was not until 1813 that a successful effort was made to establish a "social library" at kingston, bath, and some other places in the midland district. toronto had no library worth mentioning until 1836. what culture existed in those rude days was to be hunted up among the clergy, especially of the church of england, the roman catholic priests of lower canada, and the official classes of the large towns. some sermons that have come down to us, in pamphlets of very common paper—and very few were printed in those days when postage was dear and bookselling was not profitable—have no pretensions to originality of thought or literary style: sermons in remarkable contrast with the brilliant and suggestive utterances of such modern pulpit orators as professor clarke, of trinity. the exhaustive and, generally, closely reasoned sermons of the presbyterian divine had a special flavour of the westminster confession and little of the versatility of preachers like principal grant in these later times when men are attempting to make even dogma more genial, and to understand the meaning of the sermon in the mount. then, as always in canada, there were found among the clergy of all denominations hardworking, self-denying priests and missionaries who brought from time to time to some remote settlement of the provinces spiritual consolation and to many a household, long deprived of the intellectual nourishment11 of other days, an opportunity of conversing on subjects which in the stern daily routine of their lives in a new country were seldom or ever talked of. it was in the legislative halls of the provinces that the brightest intellect naturally found scope for its display, and at no subsequent period of the political history of canada were there more fervid, earnest orators than appeared in the days when the battle for responsible government was at its height. the names of nelson, papineau, howe, baldwin, wilmot, johnstone, young, robinson, rolph and mackenzie recall the era when questions of political controversy and political freedom stimulated mental development among that class which sought and found the best popular opportunities for the display of their intellectual gifts in the legislative halls in the absence of a great printing press and a native literature. joseph howe's speeches[17] displayed a wide culture, an original eloquence, and a patriotic aspiration beyond those of any other man of his time and generation, and would have done credit to the senate of the united states, then in the zenith of its reputation as a body of orators and statesmen. it is an interesting fact that howe, then printer and publisher, should have printed the first work of the only great humorist that canada has yet produced. i mean of course "the clockmaker,"[18] in which judge haliburton created "sam slick," a type of a down-east yankee pedlar who sold his wares by a judicious use of that quality which is sure to be appreciated the world over, "soft sawder and human natur'." in this work, which has run through ever so many editions, and is still found on the shelves of every well-equipped library and bookstore, sam slick told some home truths to his somewhat self-satisfied countrymen who could not help laughing even if the humour touched them very keenly at times. nova scotia has changed much for the better since those dull times when the house of assembly was expected to be a sort of political providence, to make all the roads and bridges, and give good times and harvests; but even now there are some people cruel enough, after a visit to halifax, to hint that there still is a grain of truth in the following reflection on the enterprise of that beautiful port: "how the folks to halifax take it all out in12 talkin'—they talk of steam-boats, whalers and railroads—but they all end where they begin—in talk. i don't think i'd be out in my latitude if i was to say they beat the womankind at that. one feller says, i talk of goin' to england—another says, i talk of goin' to the country—while another says, i talk of goin' to sleep. if we yankees happen to speak of such things we say, 'i'm right off down east;' or 'i'm away off south,' and away we go jist like a streak of lightnin'." this clever humourist also wrote the best history[19]—one of his own province—that had been written in british north america up to that time—indeed it is still most readable, and worthy of a place in every library. in later days the judge wrote many other books and became a member of the english house of commons: but "sam slick" still remains the most signal illustration of his original genius.
during this period, however, apart from the two works to which i have referred, we look in vain for any original literature worthy of special mention. a history of canada written by william smith,[20] a son of an eminent chief justice of new york, and subsequently of canada, was published in excellent style for those days as early as 1815 at quebec, but it has no special value except to the collector of old and rare books. bouchette's topographical and geographical account of canada[21] illustrated the ability and zeal of an eminent french canadian, who deserved the thanks of his country, but these well printed books were, after all, mere compilations and came from the english press. pamphlets were numerous enough, and some of them had literary skill, but they had, in the majority of cases, no permanent value except to the historian or antiquarian of the present day who must sift out all sorts of material and study every phase and incident of the times he has chosen for his theme. michel bibaud wrote a history of french canada,[22] which no one reads in these days, and the most of the other works that emanated from the canadian press, like thompson's "war of 1812,"[23] are chiefly valued by the historical collector. it was not to be expected that in a relatively poor country, still in the infancy of its development, severely tried by political controversies, with a13 small population scattered over a long stretch of territory, from sydney to niagara, there could be any intellectual stimulus or literary effort except what was represented in newspapers like the gazette of montreal—which has always maintained a certain dignity of style in its long journalistic career—the gazette and the canadien, of quebec, the nova scotian of halifax, or displayed itself in keen contests in the legislatures or court-houses of a people delighting always in such displays as there were made of mental power and natural eloquence. from a literary point of view our american neighbours had, during this period, left us away behind, in fact no comparison can be made between the two countries; laying aside the original creation of sam slick. towards the close of the eighteenth century belknap published his admirable history of new hampshire,[24] while the third volume of hutchinson's history of massachusetts appeared in 1828, to close a work of rare merit alike for careful research, philosophic acuteness and literary charm. that admirable collection of political and constitutional essays known as the "federalist" had attained a wide circulation and largely influenced the destinies of the union under the constitution of 1783. chief justice marshall illumined the bench by his great judicial decisions which have won a remarkable place in legal literature, on account of their close, acute reasoning, breadth of knowledge, insight into great constitutional principles, and their immediate influence on the political development of the federal republic. washington irving published, as far back as 1819, his "sketch book," in which appeared the original creation of rip van winkle, and followed it up with other works which recall addison's delightful style, and gave him a fame abroad that no later american writer has ever surpassed. cooper's romances began to appear in 1821, and bancroft published in 1834 the first volume of what is a great history despite its somewhat rhetorical and ambitious style. hawthorne's "twice told tales" appeared in 1835, but his fame was to be won in later years when he wrote the "scarlet letter" and the "house of seven gables," the most original and quaint productions that new england genius has yet produced. if i linger for a moment among these men it is14 because they were not merely american by the influence of their writings; but wherever the english tongue is spoken and english literature is read these writers of a past generation, as it may be said of others of later times, claim the gratitude of the untold thousands whom they have instructed and helped in many a weary and sad, as well as idle hour. they were not canadians, but they illustrated the genius of this continent of ours.
