Part 10

[Footnote 42: Page 25.--The Canadian reader can profitably and easily compare his own poets with those of Australia by reading Slade's "Australian Poets, 1788-1883, being a selection of poems upon all subjects written in Australia and New Zealand during the first century of the British colonization, with brief notes on their authors, etc." (London and Sydney, 1889.) It will be seen, however, that nearly all the so-called "Australian" poets are English born, while with one or two exceptions, those of Canada best known to fame are the product of Canadian life and thought. Henry Clarence Kendall, "the poet of New South Wales," was born at Ulladulla, on the coast of that colony, in 1842. He is the one Australian poet of reputation, except his forerunner, Charles Harpur, who was actually born under the Southern Cross. Kendall's verses on "Coogee," a striking natural feature of Australian scenery, show true poetic instinct and rhythmical ease:

"Sing the song of wave-worn Coogee-Coogee in the distance white, With its jags and points disrupted, gaps and fractures fringed with light; Haunt of gledes and restless plovers of the melancholy wail, Ever lending deeper pathos to the melancholy gale. There, my brothers, down the fissures, chasms deep and wan and wild, Grows the sea-bloom, one that blushes like a shrinking, fair, blind child, And amongst the oozing forelands many a glad green rockvine runs, Getting ease on earthy ledges sheltered from December suns."

But among the many spirited poems written in Australia since its settlement not one can equal the "Sick Stock-rider," by Adam Lindsay Gordon, who came to South Australia in his early manhood, and attempted sheep-farming, with the result of "owning nothing but a love for horsemanship and a head full of Browning and Shelley." This is a quotation from an introduction to his book by Marcus Clarke, himself a novelist and poet. One can see in the mind's eye the scenes described in the following verses, so full of real life and genuine poetry:

"'Twas merry in the glowing morn, among the gleaming grass, To wander as we've wandered many a mile, And blow the cool tobacco cloud and watch the white wreaths pass, Sitting loosely in the saddle all the while; 'Twas merry 'mid the backwoods, when we spied the station roofs, To wheel the wild scrub cattle at the yard, With a running fire of stockwhips and a fiery run of hoofs. Oh! the hardest day was never then too hard!

"Aye! we had a glorious gallop after 'Starlight' and his gang, When they bolted from Sylvester's on the flat; How the sun-dried reed-beds crackled, how the flint-strewn ranges rang To the strokes of 'Mountaineer' and 'Acrobat'; Hard behind them in the timber, harder still across the heath, Close behind them through the tea-tree scrub we dashed; And the golden-tinted fern-leaves, how they rustled underneath! And the honeysuckle osiers, how they crash'd!"

The best known novels of Australian life are these: "For the Term of His Natural Life," by Marcus Clarke, who was an Englishman born and educated; "The Miner's Right," "The Squatter's Dream," "A Colonial Reformer," and "Robbery Under Arms," by Thomas A. Browne ("Rolf Boldrewood"), who was also English born: "Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill," by Madame Couvreur ("Tasma"), who is of Belgian descent, and is now a resident of Belgium, though she was born in Australia and there studied its social conditions; "The Australian Girl" and "A Silent Sea," by Mrs. Alick McLeod. Mrs. Campbell Praed, who is colonial born, has, in addition to several novels, written "Australian Life," which is described by Sir Charles Dilke ("Problems of Greater Britain," i., 374) as "a vivid autobiographical picture of the early days of Queensland." Copies of these and other Australian books the writer owes to the thoughtfulness of Chief Justice Way, D.C.L., Oxon., of Adelaide, South Australia. For many years he has been the recipient of these graceful attentions from friends in that fair land of the Southern Cross, and though it looks very much as if he will never meet some of them face to face--for the time is passing rapidly with us all--he takes this opportunity of now sending them his thanks across the seas.]

HOWE'S "FLAG OF OLD ENGLAND."

[Footnote 43: Page 26.--This spirited song was written for the one hundredth anniversary of the landing of Lord Cornwallis at Halifax. As many persons in old Canada do not know it--for it is not reproduced in recent collections of Canadian poems--I give it in full for the benefit of the youth of this Dominion, on whom the future destiny of the country depends:

"All hail to the day when the Britons came over, And planted their standard with sea-foam still wet, Around and above us their spirits will hover, Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet. Beneath it the emblems they cherished are waving, The Rose of Old England the roadside perfumes; The Shamrock and Thistle the north winds are braving, Securely the Mayflower blushes and blooms.

CHORUS.

"Hail to the day when the Britons came over, And planted their standard with sea-foam still wet, Around and above us their spirits will hover, Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet. We'll honour it yet, we'll honour it yet, The flag of Old England! we'll honour it yet.

"In the temples they founded their faith is maintained, Every foot of the soil they bequeathed is still ours, The graves where they moulder no foe has profaned, But we wreathe them with verdure, and strew them with flowers! The blood of no brother, in civil strife pour'd, In this hour of rejoicing, encumbers our souls! The frontier's the field for the Patriot's sword, And cursed be the weapon that Faction controls!

CHORUS--"Hail to the day, etc.

"Then hail to the day! 'tis with memories crowded, Delightful to trace 'midst the mists of the past, Like the features of Beauty, bewitchingly shrouded, They shine through the shadows Time o'er them has cast. As travellers track to its source in the mountains The stream which, far swelling, expands o'er the plains, Our hearts, on this day, fondly turn to the fountains Whence flow the warm currents that bound in our veins.

CHORUS--"Hail to the day, etc.

"And proudly we trace them: no warrior flying From city assaulted, and fanes overthrown, With the last of his race on the battlements dying, And weary with wandering, founded our own. From the Queen of the Islands, then famous in story, A century since, our brave forefathers came, And our kindred yet fill the wide world with her glory, Enlarging her Empire and spreading her name.

CHORUS--"Hail to the day, etc.

"Ev'ry flash of her genius our pathway enlightens-- Ev'ry field she explores we are beckoned to tread-- Each laurel she gathers our future day brightens-- We joy with her living, and mourn for her dead. Then hail to the day when the Britons came over, And planted their standard, with sea-foam still wet, Above and around us their spirits shall hover, Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet.

CHORUS--"Hail to the day," etc.]

ESSAYISTS.

[Footnote 44: Page 27.--The principal contributors to the English and American periodical press of late years have been George Stewart of Quebec, Principal Grant, J. G. Bourinot, Martin J. Griffin, W. D. LeSueur, G. M. Dawson, S. E. Dawson, Arnold Haultain, John Reade, J. M. Oxley and Sir W. Dawson. Dr. Stewart of Quebec, despite the demands of journalism, has been always a most earnest literary worker, foremost by his own contributions and by his efforts to encourage the labours of others in the too indifferent little Canadian world. Goldwin Smith has always been a contributor of note, but he is rather an English than a Canadian writer. Among the names of the French Canadian general writers are those of Fréchette, Sulte, Marmette, Faucher de Saint-Maurice, J. Tassé, DeCelles, Dionne, Casgrain and LeMoine; but their efforts have been confined as a rule to the numerous French Canadian periodicals which have appeared for the last thirty years, and after a short career died for want of adequate support. In the numerous periodicals of England and the United States English Canadian writers have great advantages over French Canadians, who are practically limited to their own country, since France offers few opportunities for such literary work.]

WILLIAM KIRBY'S WORKS AND OTHER ROMANCES BY CANADIANS.

[Footnote 45: Page 27.--"The Golden Dog: a Legend of Quebec." New York and Montreal, 1877, 8vo. Also translated by Pamphile LeMay, the French Canadian poet, Montreal, 1884. Mr. Kirby is also the author of several poems of merit: "The U. E.: a Tale of Upper Canada. A Poem in XII. Cantos." Niagara, 1859, 12mo. "Canadian Idylls," Toronto, 1878, etc. He was born in England in 1817, but came to Canada at the early age of fifteen. He was one of the original members of the Royal Society of Canada.

Mr. Lespérance, F.R.S.C., was the author of the "Bastonnais" and other historical romances of some ability, but not of that high order of merit which gives a permanent reputation. The Hon. L. Seth Huntington, long known in Canadian political life, was the author of a semi-political novel, "Professor Conant" (Toronto, 1884), which had its merits, but it fell practically still-born from the press. Many other efforts have been made in the same branch of literature, but the performance, as stated in the text, has not been equal to the ambition that prompted the experiment.]

MAJOR RICHARDSON.

[Footnote 45_a_: Page 27.--Major Richardson was born at Niagara Falls in 1797, and educated at Amherstburg, U.C., where some of the scenes of "Wacousta" are laid. He served in the war of 1812, in the West Indies and in Spain, where he belonged to the British legion. He came back to Canada in 1838, and was for years connected with the press. He wrote a number of novels and short histories of Canadian events, but they are now all forgotten. His historical narrative is not generally trustworthy, while his later romances never even came up to the merit of "Wacousta." He died in obscurity some time after 1854--I cannot find the exact year--in the United States, where he attempted to continue a career of literature.]

MARMETTE.

[Footnote 46: Page 27.--Mr. Joseph Marmette, F.R.S.C., is the author of several works of fiction, viz.:

"François de Bienville. Roman historique." 1^{ere} ed., Québec, 1870; 2^e ed., Montréal, 1882.

"L'Intendant Bigot. Roman historique." Montréal, 1872.

"Le Chevalier de Mornac. Roman historique." Montréal, 1873.

"La Fiancée du Rebelle. Roman historique." Published in 'La Revue Canadienne,' Montreal, 1875.]

DE GASPÉ'S WORKS.

[Footnote 47: Page 27.--"Les Anciens Canadiens." By Philippe Aubert de Gaspé. Quebec, 1863, 8vo.

Several translations have appeared since 1863. That by Prof. Roberts (New York, Appleton & Co., 1890) omits the notes and addenda, which, if not interesting to the general reader, have much value for the historical student. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens," vol. vi., contains a portrait of the old French Canadian novelist. He also wrote "Mémoires" (Ottawa, 1886, 8vo.), which have also much historic value on account of their fidelity and simplicity of narrative.]

MRS. CATHERWOOD.

[Footnote 48: Page 28.--Mrs. Mary Hartwell Catherwood, whose home is in Hoopeston, Ill., has so far written and published the following admirable romances of the old days of New France and Acadie:

"The Romance of Dollard." Illustrated. New York, 1889, 12mo.

"The Story of Tonty." Illustrated. Chicago, 1890, 16mo.

"The Lady of Fort St. John." Boston and New York, 1891, 16mo.

"Old Kaskaskia: An Historical Novel of Early Illinois." Boston and New York, 1893, 16mo.

She has now commenced in 'The Century' Magazine a new romance with the title, "The White Islander," a story of old Fort Michillimackinac, and in 'The Atlantic Monthly' another story, "The Chase of Saint Castin." Her romances are never long, but bear the impress of close study of the subject and of much careful writing.]

GILBERT PARKER.

[Footnote 49: Page 28.--He is a most industrious worker in various branches of literature in London. After a residence of a few years in Australia, where he was connected with the Sydney press, he went to England, where he wrote many sketches of Australian life which were well received. Recently he has been studying the interesting phases of French Canadian and Northwest life, and has produced, among other stories, "The Chief Factor," the principal scenes of which are laid in the great territories of the Dominion before they were opened up to the farmer, the rancher and the railway.]

DE MILLE'S WORKS.

[Footnote 50: Page 29.--James De Mille was a native of New Brunswick, and a professor in Dalhousie College, N. S., at the time of his death. His first work of fiction was "Helena's Household: a Tale of Rome in the First Century" (New York, 1858). His most popular works, "The Dodge Club Abroad" (1866), "Cord and Creese" (1867), "The Cryptogram" (1871), and "A Castle in Spain" (1883), first appeared in 'Harper's Monthly.' A strange, imaginative work, "A Curious MS. Found in a Copper Cylinder," was published in New York in 1888, and is understood to have been written by him. It was not until Rider Haggard's fiction became popular that the New York publishers ventured to print a book which so severely taxes the credulity of the reader. As a work of pure invention it is in some respects superior to those of the English author. Mr. De Mille died in 1880, at the age of 43, when much was expected of him. See Appleton's "Cyclo. Am. Biogr.," ii., 138, for a list of his published works except the one just mentioned.]

SARA JEANNETTE DUNCAN.

[Footnote 51: Page 29.--She is the author of three books. "A Social Departure" and "An American Girl in London" have had many readers and are full of promise. Miss Duncan, in company with another young lady, in 1889-90, went around the world, and made numerous contributions to the press of Canada during that tour, but its noteworthy result is the first mentioned volume. She is now married and a resident of India, whose striking aspects of social life she is studying and portraying in print. Her latest story, or rather sketch, of Indian customs, "The Simple Adventures of a Memsahib" (New York, 1893), has many touches of quiet humour. One must regret that her talent has not been directed to the incidents of Canadian life.]

MATTHEW ARNOLD ON LITERATURE AND SCIENCE.

[Footnote 52: Page 31.--The extract given in the text is taken from "Literature and Science," one of Mr. Matthew Arnold's "Discourses in America," published in book form in London, 1885. See pp. 90-92.]

PRINCIPAL GRANT'S ADDRESS.

[Footnote 53: Page 32.--This address to the Royal Society of Canada, to which reference is made in the text, is given in the ninth volume of the 'Transactions,' pp. xxxix-xl. Dr. Grant could never be uninteresting, but the address shows his ideas can now and then be a little chaotic or enigmatic. It is quite evident he has never studied with much care the volumes of the 'Transactions,' or comprehended the useful work the Society is doing in its own way. Never an active member himself, he has not done adequate justice to those who have been at all events conscientious labourers in the vineyard where he has planted no seed.]

SIR J. W. DAWSON.

[Footnote 54: Page 32.--This distinguished scientific man is a Nova Scotian by birth, who, before he became so closely identified with the prosperity of McGill College at Montreal as its principal, was superintendent of education in his native province. His scientific works are numerous, but the one which first brought him fame was his "Acadian Geology: an Account of the Geological Structure and Mineral Resources of Nova Scotia and Portions of the Neighbouring Provinces of British America" (Edinburgh and London, 1855, 8vo.), which has run through many editions, and is now a very large volume compared with the little modest book that first ventured into the world of literature nearly forty years ago.]

MR. BILLINGS.

[Footnote 55: Page 33.--He was born on his father's farm, in the township of Gloucester, near Ottawa. A bibliography, evidently prepared by his own hand, is to be found in "Bibliotheca Canadensis," pp. 31-34. His most important memoirs are on the third and fourth Decades and the Palæozoic fossils of the Canadian Geological Survey, in which nearly all the genera and species of the fossils there described were discovered by himself.]

ORIGIN OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA.

[Footnote 56: Page 33.--The first volume of the 'Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.' (1882-83), pp. i-lxxiv., contains an account of the proceedings before and after the foundation of the Society, with the addresses in full of the Marquess of Lorne and of the first President and Vice-President of the body. On the occasion of the Montreal meeting, 1891, a handbook was largely circulated by the Citizens' Committee with the view of giving information of the object and work of the Society. It was written by Mr. John Reade, F.R.S.C., and contains a succinct history of the origin and operations of the body until May, 1891. It contains plans of McGill College grounds and of Montreal in 1759, and sketches of the old Seminary towers, St. Gabriel-street church, St. Ann's, besides some interesting facts relating to Montreal's historic places.]

SIR D. WILSON, T. S. HUNT AND MR. CHAUVEAU.

[Footnote 57: Page 34.--Dr. Kingsford has given a paper, "In Memoriam, on Sir Daniel Wilson" ('Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,' vol. xi.) in which he briefly reviews the excellent literary work and the wide culture of that eminent man. In volume ix. of the 'Trans.,' Sec. I., pp. 53-58, there is a well-written paper on the late Mr. Chauveau, by his successor, Mr. L. O. David of Montreal. The presidential address of Abbé Laflamme in 1892 (see 'Trans.,' vol. x.) was devoted to a review of the scientific attainments of Dr. T. Sterry Hunt.]

CANADIAN SOCIETIES.

[Footnote 58: Page 34.--At the present time there are over twenty Canadian scientific and literary societies associated with the Royal Society in its work. Mr. John Reade, in the "Montreal Handbook of 1891" (see Note 56), gives the following list of societies established before 1867: Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, 1824; Natural History Society of Montreal, 1827--act of incorporation five years later; Institut Canadien, Quebec, 1846; Canadian Institute, Toronto, 1851; Institut Canadien, Ottawa, 1852; Hamilton Association, 1856; Société Historique, Montréal, 1858: Nova Scotia Institute of Natural Science, 1862; Natural History Society, St. John, N.B., 1862; Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, Montreal, 1862; Entomological Society of Ontario, 1863.]

THE EARL OF DERBY AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA.

[Footnote 58_a_: Page 42.--Four years ago you were good enough, in offering me the position of your honorary president, to ask the sympathy and encouragement which the governor-general, as Her Majesty's representative, might rightly be asked to manifest towards the representatives of science and of the liberal arts. I am afraid that my contributions to literature and science have been few. I do not know they are such as would have merited the notice of the Royal Society, but I can assure you that none of the members of your body take a deeper interest in all that concerns the welfare of your Society than he who is now laying down the office of honorary president. (Cheers.) There were some persons who considered that in a comparatively new country like Canada it was ambitious on her part when the foundations of the Royal Society were laid, but there must be a beginning of all things, and I think I may appeal to the work which has been and is being done by the different branches of the Society as evidence that its establishment was in no sense premature, but that it was fittingly determined that the progress of science and literature should take place coincidently with that of the country. In a new country like this--I think you have touched upon it in your address--there is a great tendency to further one's material wants, to promote trade and commerce, and to put aside, as it were, literature and the sciences; but here the Royal Society has stepped in and done good work by uniting those who were scattered by distance and who find in the meetings of our Society a convenient opportunity of coming together for the exchanging of ideas and renewing of those friendships which, though perhaps only yearly meetings permit, are nevertheless enduring. If we look back we shall best see what good work is being done. If we could imagine the existence of such a society as this in the older countries in olden times, what a mine of wealth of information would have been afforded us! We see that from the very first, whether in literature, which forms so important a part in our Society; whether it be in the constitutional studies, in which our President is such an adept--and I was glad to see his authority has been quoted on the other side of the Atlantic as well as on this--whether it be in the literature of the chivalrous pioneers of France, who first led the way into the unbroken wilderness, or whether it be in the latter days of constitutional progress of this country and its relations both to the old world and the country growing up alongside of us.

In literature, history and poetry, also, the Society will from the first have its stamp, as we trust, upon the future of the Canadian race. (Cheers.) That science and the arts to an equal extent may find a place here is our earnest wish, in order that by sentiment and feeling we may bind together in the closest ties that by which she must achieve a great and enduring success. I must not detain you from your other duties, but I could not refrain from saying in a few words how heartily and truly I appreciate and believe in the work of the Royal Society. At your next meeting, as you truly say, I fear I shall not be amongst you; but though the Atlantic may roll between us, you may be certain that in spirit, at least, I hope to be present at your meeting, and shall follow with the liveliest and deepest interest any record you may be good enough to send me of what takes place on that occasion. * * * * * I appeal not the less to my French colleagues than to my English ones in all matters which relate to the welfare of the Society. Science, art and literature, it is true, are cosmopolitan, but they are well knit together in this Society. We who have experienced in Canada the hospitality of its people are grateful for it. We have admired the greatness of the resources of this country, and we look forward to a society like this as having ample work to do in the future. As in every respect Canada seems to be disposed always to take a forward part, so I hope the Royal Society will ever press on to a higher and higher goal; and, gentlemen, I can wish to the Royal Society, to all my friends and brothers of the Society, to whom I once more tender my hearty thanks, no greater blessing than, like Canada itself, that they may be happy, united and prosperous. (Loud and prolonged cheers.)]

S. E. DAWSON ON TENNYSON.