The Spirit of French Canada: A Study of the Literature 9780231897518

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The SPIRIT FREMCH

of

CANADA

A Study of the Literature

The SPIRIT of FRENCH CANADA

AMS P R E S S , INC. NEW YORK

1967

Copyright 1939, Columbia University P r e s s New York

Reprinted 1967 with permission of Columbia University P r e s s

AMS P R E S S , INC. New York, N . Y . 1 0 0 0 3

M a n u f a c t u r e d in r h e U n i t e d S t a t e s of A m e r i c a

To the Memory of ALEXANDER

GUY

HOLBORN

1881-1937 Associate Professor of French Columbia University

>9'6~37

SPIERS

Nous sommes venus il y a trois cents ans et nous sommes restés. . . . Nous avons marqué un plan du continent nouveau, de Gaspé à Montréal, de Saint-Jean-d'Iberville à r Ungava, en disant: Ici toutes les choses que nous avons apportées avec nous, notre culte, notre langue, nos vertus et jusqu'b nos faiblesses deviennent des choses sacrées, intangibles et qui devront demeurer jusqu'il la fin. . . . Et nous nous sommes maintenus, peut-être afin que dans plusieurs siècles encore le monde se tourne vers nous et dise: Ces gens sont d'une race qui ne sait pas mourir. LOUIS

HEMON

FOREWORD of the national spirit in French Canadian letters has -*• grown out of an interest in French C a n a d a and its people first aroused during school days in Montreal. Later contacts have strengthened the impression that French Canadians merit close acquaintance, and an interest in their culture has naturally developed. Bibliographical studies show that much has been written about French Canadian literature. Books and articles on individual authors, on literary movements, on the poetry and the novel, and on folklore have been numerous. While many writers have recognized the connection between the literature and the growth of a national spirit in French C a n a d a , no one, to my knowledge, has considered the whole field of literary activity from this point of view. I have attempted in the present study to fill this g a p by focusing attention on the parallel between the themes of national inspiration in the literature and the unifying elements in French C a n a d i a n civilization. T h e student in this field is confronted by numerous problems. M y first investigations showed the inadequacy of many research tools and the difficulty of locating capital works. T h e introduction to my Bibliography of French Canadian Poetry contains a detailed analysis of French Canadian bibliographical sources up to the year 1935. T h e most recent annual catalogues of C a n a d i a n books published by the Toronto Public Library once more contain French Canadian lists, which were omitted in 1931, 1932, and 1933. T h e University of Toronto Quarterly began in 1936 the publication of an annual critical and bibliographical essay on C a n a d i a n letters. Since 1937 French Canadian works have been listed and discussed in a special section edited by Felix Walter. T h e Collection G a g n o n of the Montreal Municipal Library has lately been arranged and catalogued under the supervision of M . Aegidius Fauteux, M u CT"HIS STUDY

X

FOREWORD

nicipal Librarian, and is now of great value to the student of Canadiana. Most of the preliminary bibliographical work for this book was done in New York, at Columbia University and the New York Public Library. This was followed by research in Montreal, at the Municipal Library and the bookshop of M. G. Ducharme, who put his thorough knowledge of Canadiana at my disposition. The book has been written after an examination of the whole field of the literature since 1850, from which selections have been made to illustrate the divisions of the subject. My sincere thanks are due to M. Ducharme; to Professors Horatio Smith and J. Bartlet Brebner, of Columbia University, for their helpfulness in reading and criticizing the manuscript; to Dr. Wilbur M. Frohock, of Columbia University, for reading certain chapters; to my mother, for assistance in preparing the manuscript; and to M. Aegidius Fauteux and Mile Germaine Laflamme, for their courtesy in making available the collections of the Montreal Municipal Library. My final word of appreciation is reserved for the late Professor A. Guy H. Spiers, of Columbia University, under whose direction this project was started. His friendship was a constant source of inspiration, and his encouragement and kindly criticism were invaluable during the difficult days when this study was taking shape. I. F. F. Columbia University January 3, 1939

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

I

T H E T H E M E S OF N A T I O N A L INSPIRATION IN F R E N C H CANADIAN LITERATURE T H E HISTORY OF T H E R A C E

I 5

T H E MOTHER COUNTRY

49

T H E ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

81

LANGUAGE AND FOLKLORE

123

T H E CULT OF T H E SOIL

153

L I T E R A T U R E IN T H E S E R V I C E OF A N A T I O N A L I D E A L

193

ABBREVIATIONS

200

BIBLIOGRAPHY

201

INDEX

211

INTRODUCTION NOSE OF T H E CAR points north across the international •*• boundary at Trout River or Rouses Point or Jackman, the customs official calls out a cheery wish for a good trip, and the roads of a foreign country open up ahead. Almost at once, familiar things begin to wear an unfamiliar air. The cast of features of the farm family driving to town in an ancient buggy; the road signs in two languages, "Ecole-School," "Pont-Bridge"; the draught oxen standing in the court of a farmstead; the occasional roadside stone ovens, in which bread is baked today as it was generations ago; the incomprehensible foreign tongue in the mouths of the idlers at a filling station; all these sights and sounds bring to the casual tourist the glamour of foreign travel that the guidebooks have promised after a drive of just a few hours from the metropolises of the eastern seaboard. But to the ethnologist, the sociologist, the political economist, and the student of literature French Canada offers much more than this. Here is to be seen an unusually clear example of conscious racial1 survival, of stubborn and successful resistance to the British desire for a united people, an amalgam of the Canadians of French ancestry and the English-speaking immigrants from the mother country and the American colonies. Here two civilizations exist side by side, showing many indications, of course, of mutual interpénétration, but each preserving its own basic culture, its own language, and its own habits of thought. CR'HE

1 French Canadian writers are in the habit of referring to their people as a "race." Following the precedent set by Dr. Elizabeth H. Armstrong in her thesis, The Crisis of Quebec, 1914-18, I shall use the word repeatedly in the following pages, attaching to it, however, no anthropological significance. Abbé Lionel Groulx, in the preface (p. 7) to La Naissance d'une race, says: " L e mot 'race' ne prétend point ici à son sens rigoureux. Il n'en veut pas moins exprimer la personnalité bien nette, bien caractérisée, d'un groupe ethnique qui est le nôtre. Nous constituons une variété dans la famille française. Distincts, nous le sommes, non seulement par le pays, par l'allégeance politique, par une histoire et des traditions qui nous sont propres, mais aussi par des caractères physiques et moraux déjà fixés et transmis avec la vie, dès la fin du dix-septième siècle."

2

INTRODUCTION

The struggle for French Canadian survival seems more impressive because of the fact that for a century and three-quarters the attacks on the racial identity of the French have been unremitting. These attacks have taken two forms. On the one hand, many overt attempts have been made, some in the present day, to reduce the influence of the Catholic clergy and to deprive the French of their language, their system of law, their political rights, and the control over the education of their children. These have been resisted by organization for political action. The second form of attack has been more subde. English and American cultural influences have penetrated to most parts of French Canada, and the temptation to yield to them has been strong and hard to combat. The brunt of the battle against these foreign cultures has been borne by the publicists and men of letters, who for a hundred years have been preaching the retention of a French way of life. This book will treat the literary expression given to the national spirit by French Canadian writers since the middle of the nineteenth century, when works of some artistic merit first began to appear in Canada. The subject has been organized around five unifying elements that have been vital in French Canadian civilization. Each of these will be suggested in this introduction so as to present the whole picture in outline and then will be given extended development, primarily in terms of the literature, in a separate chapter in the body of the book. First of all, however, for the same purpose of orientation a brief summary of the observable facts of the French Canadian survival may be helpful. There is the question of population. In 1763 the strip of land along the St. Lawrence River and the few scattered settlements in the hinterland contained about 65,000 people, practically all of French descent. Since that date immigration from France has been negligible, but at the time of the national census of 1931 the French population of Canada had reached the figure of 2,927,990, which was 28.22 percent of the total population of the Dominion. Of these 2,927,990 people, 77.5 percent lived in the Province of Quebec, where they constituted 79 percent of the population. In New Brunswick the French Canadians comprised about a third of the total population, and in all the other provinces and territories of

INTRODUCTION

3

the Dominion they formed smaller but significant minorities. In addition, the United States census of 1930 showed that 370,852 French Canadians, born in Canada, lived in the United States, and that 735,307 native-born Americans had at least one French Canadian parent. These figures indicate that in about six generations the 65,000 French Canadians had multiplied to some 4,000,000. At least part of this unusual fertility may be attributed to a desire to produce a race numerous enough to escape absorption into the English-speaking majority. Despite the heavy emigration of French Canadians to the United States, where they have settled for the most part in New England, the French in Canada have yielded comparatively little land to the English. Since the seventeenth century the French Canadians have been clearers and tillers of the soil, and they still hold and work a large portion of the land. Many farms have been in the one family for generations, and pride in ownership of property has been a bulwark against encroachment and absorption and has helped to keep alive the national spirit in French Canada. As they have clung to their land, so have the French Canadians clung to their religious faith. The census of 1931 showed that the population of the Province of Quebec was 85.7 percent Roman Catholic. Since the population of the province is 79 percent French, it is fair to assume that practically all the people of French descent adhere to the Roman Catholic Church. And, indeed, this is borne out by observation. Scarcely a village is too small to boast a Catholic church as its principal architectural feature, and the priest of the parish is today an important figure in the community as he has been for three hundred years. The interests of race and church have been practically inseparable, and until very recently the Roman Catholic Church in Canada has held the loyalty of its people as firmly, perhaps, as has any church in any land. But the French in Canada have conserved much more than the religion of their ancestors. Through the fabric of their lives run threads that can be traced back to the sturdy Norman and Picard peasants who were among the early colonists. The old-world charm of many homes, farms, and villages recalls the whitewashed simplicity of small Norman communities. Except in the largest cities

4

INTRODUCTION

numerous customs and traditions of the people have been preserved. The folk tales and songs brought from France by the earliest settlers are often told and sung around the fire on winter evenings just as they were when a few homesick Frenchmen huddled in their houses at the foot of the great rock of Quebec and longed for spring. The old legends are told in the flavorful speech of ancestors from the provinces of northern and western France, stripped in the course of three hundred years of the local peculiarities of dialect that would prevent its being a truly national language. T h e basic social unit is still the family, and many a French Canadian patriarch dominates the lives of his dozen or more strapping sons and daughters and glories in the gift of life that he has made to his race and to his church. The banks of the St. Lawrence are lined with rows of farmhouses, each at the head of its long and narrow strip of land, recalling the days when the river was the only highway and every man needed a piece of water frontage. And the system of civil law is based on Roman law brought from France. It has been modified and codified in later days, of course, but the people have resisted with great determination efforts to nullify its provisions and to bring the laws of Quebec into harmony with the laws of the other provinces. These are the facts, but what of the vitalizing spirit behind them? Unifying factors must have bound the people together, inspiring them to a common defense of their nationality, and creating that pride in belonging to a great race without which the French in Canada would almost certainly have disappeared as a self-contained group. What are some of these deep wells of feeling from which French Canada has drawn its unity and that French Canadian men of letters have been able to use as sources of inspiration for their works? i. Pride in race is perhaps most easily fostered when children can be brought up on the stories of the men and women who have made the race great. French Canada is peculiarly rich in such tales, for the conditions of life in the early colony were so hard that only men and women of heroic mold could have triumphed over them. T h e settlers who followed Champlain to the banks of the St. Lawrence, the missionaries who carried the gospel to the hostile

INTRODUCTION

5

Indian tribes, the explorers who added great areas of the continent to the domains of the mother country, all these represented the glory of France in the New World. They left behind them stories of heroism and devotion, which have inspired their descendants to fight for the traditions created and transmitted by the founders of New France. 2. France has been considered by French Canadians as their spiritual homeland. This fact may seem remarkable, since France and Canada had little cultural contact during the period of colonization. France's colonial policy provided material support for the colonists, but took no thought of the intellectual needs of the pioneers. France was careful to send farm implements for clearing and cultivating the soil, but neglected to provide printing presses for the dissemination of culture. Indeed, printing was not introduced into Canada until four years after the Conquest.2 The ships entering the St. Lawrence every spring brought quantities of supplies, but few books. After the Cession serious commercial relations between France and Canada were practically suspended until 1855, and this meant a complete severance of the few cultural bonds existing prior to that time. Despite these facts and despite the revulsion engendered by the attacks on the monarchy and the church in France during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the tradition of loyalty to the homeland had been kept alive and was expressed in the enthusiasm that greeted the arrival at Quebec in 1855 of " L a Capricieuse," the French naval vessel sent by Napoleon I I I to re-establish commercial relations between France and Canada. Again French Canadian literature took on new importance at home after the Académie française awarded the Prix Montyon to the poet Louis-Honoré Fréchette in 1880. During the early years of the World War many French Canadians felt that they were fighting for France, the mother country, although they wore the uniform of His Britannic Majesty.3 Today young French Canadians frequently complete their professional training in the universities of France and bring back with them a devotion to things French that pervades the entire upper stratum of French 2 3

Brown and Gilmore, Quebec's first printers, established their press in 1764. Armstrong, The Crisis of Quebec, 1914-18, p. 69.

6

INTRODUCTION

Canadian society.4 When the Cartier quatercentenary was celebrated in 1934, a delegation of distinguished French scholars and men of affairs, who brought the good wishes of the mother country, returned home with the knowledge that 3,000,000 Canadians had kept a love of France in their hearts and that beyond the seas there was a strong outpost of French culture and civilization. 3. Since the founding of the colony the church has been the center around which the life of the French Canadian community has been built. During the entire period of the French occupation of Canada the priest was frequently the only educated man in a society of farmers, trappers, anc^ fishermen. Thus he ministered not only to the spiritual, but also to the physical and cultural needs of his people for he was often their physician and teacher. When the community was too poor to support him, the priest was forced to cultivate his own fields, cut his own firewood, and arrange for the preserving and storing of food for the winter. Men capable of such devotion to duty commanded the respect of the people, and that respect persists after three hundred years as one of the striking characteristics of French Canadian life. The local priests represented French culture in their parishes, and many felt the obligation to resist all attempts to wean the people away from French ways. Since the importation of books from France ceased after 1760, not to be resumed until 1855, the meager personal library of the priest, augmented perhaps by manuscript copies of standard works, frequently furnished reading material for all the instruction in the French language given in the community. Attempts were made continually to destroy the Catholic schools or to reduce their importance by the imposition of uniform programs without considering the interests of the French population.5 As a result of these moves the priests were forced to give instruction in French and religion after school hours and to put forth great efforts to rally their people in opposition to the new educational policies. The private academies and colleges, so numerous in French communities in Canada, were founded and staffed by the religious * Exact figures are difficult to obtain, but Students Abroad

(nj., No. i, Nov.,

1935, p. 18) reports 71 Canadian students enrolled in French universities for the academic year 1933-34- Probably most of these were French Canadians. s

Groulx, L Enseignement

français au Canada, I-II, passim.

7

INTRODUCTION

orders and now provide a complete educational program for French Catholic boys and girls from the elementary grades through postgraduate university work. Thus the church and education have gone hand in hand in French districts throughout Canada. This close union of interests has been self-perpetuating, since only the young men and women trained in schools controlled by the church are fitted to give the instruction in French and religion that the French Canadian people demand. It is not surprising that practically every important figure in the cultural and political life of French Canada is a product of a church-controlled school, and the effect of this on the development of arts, letters, and philosophy in French Canada can be readily understood. The church has also labored to preserve the organization of the family as a strong bulwark against the tide of English influence. It is within this circle that the child learns his mother tongue; that he hears the stories, legends, and songs of his people; that he acquires the principles of religion and strict virtue that have made the French Canadians one of the world's most moral races. Families are large, and loyalty within the group is strongly developed. Although intermarriage between French and English is more frequent today than it was before 1867, still it does not constitute a serious menace to French racial purity, and the fusion of the two groups by this means seems a remote possibility indeed.6 4. The role of a common language in preserving the unity of a people is too obvious to need detailed discussion. In French Canada, as in Belgium, the Union of South Africa, and many other bilingual or multilingual countries, leaders of the dominant political or linguistic group have seen that it was desirable to eliminate the secondary language as a living cultural force, and, on the other hand, valiant efforts have been made to insure the continued existence of a separate mode of speech and to conserve its individual character. The problem of the leaders of French thought in Canada has been exceedingly difficult because they have had to combat several forces simultaneously. The first of these is the natural tendency of federal, provincial, and local governments, despite constitutional guarantees, to relegate French to the position of a 8

Langlois, Histoire

de la population

canadienne-française,

pp. 152-53.

8

INTRODUCTION

foreign language, especially in communities where French-speaking people are in the minority. T h e language to be used in schools and the language acceptable on examinations are still subjects of bitter controversy in several parts of Canada. 7 The second force is economic and practical. In the towns and cities, particularly, the Canadian French are constantly obliged to transact business with people who speak only English, and the result has been that, while few English bother to learn to speak French with any fluency, large numbers of the French find it economically necessary to have an excellent command of English. T h e third force operating against the preservation of the French language is more subtle, but is recognized as extremely dangerous by many French Canadians. It is anglicization. Obviously, the speech brought from France by the colonists of two or three hundred years ago is inadequate today, and new words have become necessary for all the developments of modern civilization. Frequently, the French in Canada have not looked to France for a new word to describe a new invention or process, but have adopted the easy expedient of borrowing the English word and gallicizing it slightly. The result of this process may well be the creation of a hybrid language, many of whose roots are English and whose morphology remains French. The emotional value of the language is heightened by the fact that it is the medium for the folklore of the people. Much interest has been aroused among folklorists during the last thirty or forty years by the discovery and publication of the immensely rich collection of stories, social traditions, and songs of French Canada. Marius Barbeau, Ernest Gagnon, and E.-Z. Massicotte have been among those who have understood the significance of this precious part of the national cultural heritage, and they, together with others, have been untiring in their efforts to gather and to study the folklore and folk songs before they should be forgotten. For, generation by generation, some of these traditions and legends, especially those that have enjoyed only local popularity, are being lost. There is, however, a large body of this material that is familiar to almost every French Canadian, and, allowing for minor local differences, the same stories are told and the same songs sung 7

Groulx, L'Enseignement

français au Canada, II,

passim.

INTRODUCTION

9

today as were popular three centuries ago. Experts have been particularly interested in tracing the connections between the folk material of Canada and that of the French provinces. It is easy to establish the fact that the earliest settlers brought the stories and songs directly from their homes in the Old World, and it has been possible in many cases to find the original French version. Even though a French Canadian could neither read nor write, he had in his songs and stories a literature that came from the heart. Even today the Canadien sings at his work, on his way to market, and at village gatherings, and, through his singing, he keeps fresh the contact with a homeland he has never known. And, of course, the sharing of a common emotion, engendered by the singing of a traditional song, is a powerful stimulus to racial consciousness and unity. 5. The French Canadians have always been an agricultural people, and many of their intellectual leaders have believed that they could maintain their strength as a group only if they remained in contact with the soil of their forefathers. The first colonists cleared tracts of virgin forest and cultivated small farms, and their descendants, in many instances, are working the same lands. Emparons-nous du sol! is the rallying cry today, as it was in 1862 when Antoine Gerin-Lajoie put the principle of the continued colonization of new land within the Province of Quebec at the very center of his novel Jean Rivard. But farming is not the only outdoor occupation with which the French Canadian has been identified. The colonial companies thrived on the rich trade in furs, and trappers still set forth into the winter woods alone, packs on their backs and snowshoes strapped to their feet. Recently the vast areas of northern Quebec have been opened to the logger, who cuts the trees from which much of the world's newsprint is made. Thus another industry has been created that should keep the French Canadian close to the soil he loves. But the appeal of the city is strong, and there are leaders of French thought in the Dominion who complain that increasingly large numbers of young people are deserting the farms and the camps to build new lives for themselves in the metropolitan centers of Canada and the United

INTRODUCTION

10

States.8 This, they say, is a grave blow to the cause of French Canadian nationality, and the seriousness of the situation has been realized by outstanding publicists, who have been trying through vigorous propaganda to stem the tide away from the soil. Since the beginning of the century French Canada has had a well-developed literary regionalist movement, a recognition of the fact that the French Canadian has a strong attachment to la petite patrie, the locality into whose soil his roots have penetrated deep. Families have been content, in the main, to stay close to the districts where they were originally established. They have found their happiness in these small communities, their children have married into the families of neighbors so that almost everyone is related in some degree to everyone else, and the churchyards are crowded with the graves of generations of their ancestors. To the man of Gaspe the fogs of the Gulf and the nets of the fishermen spread on the rocks to dry mean home; the man of the Richelieu Valley feels the same possessive thrill when he looks over fertile farmlands and thinks of the neat little village to which he will carry his produce on market day. Until very recent times there was no problem of mutual understanding among these regional groups, for they almost never visited each other. Roads were bad, means of transportation practically nonexistent, and, besides, there was so much to do at home that even had the urge to travel been strong the opportunity would seldom have presented itself. Today the situation is changing, and French Canadians, like Americans, are buying automobiles and traveling about their own land. The unity of French Canada was built originally, however, of many small unities, so that loyalty to the racial group was, in a way, an outgrowth of the strong attachment to the regional group. And perhaps this is not ihe least effective way of creating national unity, for, if the character of la petite patrie is loyally defended against incursions of a foreign civilization, no fundamental change can take place in the character of la grande patrie. Such are the more important factors underlying the present 8

The Canada Year Book (1958) shows (p. 145) that the percentage of rural population in the Province of Quebec has decreased from 77.S in 1871 to 36.9 in 1931- However, there were actually 140,984 more rural inhabitants in 1931 than in 1871.

INTRODUCTION

II

study of modern French Canadian letters. I add here a word about the considerations that have set the tone of this study and the principles that have governed the selection of the illustrative examples from the literature. For a century and three-quarters French Canadian nationality has been a subject around which strong passions have centered. I do not mean to show, and indeed do not feel, any partisan bias in discussing a movement in which I am taking no active part. The appraisal to be made of French Canada's literature of national inspiration will be as completely objective as possible. However, it is difficult to refrain from admiring the sustained effort made by the French Canadians to preserve their identity. The fight they have carried on has undoubtedly led to excesses, the point of view of their leaders has frequently been narrow in the extreme, and demagogues have flourished. But their mistakes have been the natural accompaniment of the will to action and are more admirable, I believe, than the stagnation that results from the passive acceptance of an unfortunate situation. Throughout this book the word "nationality" is used in its broadest sense to mean that unifying emotion that has preserved the racial identity of the French Canadians. Louis-D. Durand has defined the term in accordance with this idea: "La nationalité c'est le sentiment d'identité qu'un groupe humain a de lui-même." 8 It should be clearly understood, then, that no reference is intended to any special organized group that may have called itself "nationalist." This does not claim to be a history of French Canadian literature. The admirably concise Histoire de la littérature canadienne, by Mgr Camille Roy, gives a detailed account of the development of this literature, and no good purpose would be served by paralleling the work of Mgr Roy. Nor is this a complete survey of all the works of literature that might be fitted into the categories to be discussed. Rather, characteristic examples have been chosen to illustrate the lines of thought followed by French Canadians who were concerned about the problems of national unity. It follows, then, that this study is not limited to masterpieces. The first con» L'Action

française, XVII, 368.

INTRODUCTION

12

sideration in studying literary works will be their power to reflect one phase or another of the whole national movement; their value as literature will be judged primarily as it has bearing on their effectiveness as propaganda. There will probably be critics to disagree with the choice of material. T o them there would seem to be no answer other than the classic de guslibus non est disputandum. T h e study has been carried back to about the middle of the nineteenth century, although there are many specimens of French Canadian literature bearing an earlier date. The reasons for selecting 1850 as a rough starting point have already, indeed, been suggested and may be stated simply. The literary productions of the earliest period, prior to the appearance of Garneau's Histoire du Canada during the years from 1845 t o 1848, while having some historical interest, have little value as literature. T h e best work of the time was in the fields of political journalism and oratory, which are outside this subject. For the rest, it consists in large part of bits of highly stylized satirical or gallant verse, dashed off in odd moments by journalists, politicians, and men of affairs. With the publication of Garneau's history, however, French Canadian literature entered an era in which it made important contributions to the national spirit. Garneau's literary successors, the members of the so-called Quebec school of i860, Crémazie, Fréchette, Casgrain, and others, gave time and serious thought to their writing and thus created the tradition of a significant literature in French Canada. T o achieve a satisfactory understanding of French Canadian literature, its peculiar characteristics must be kept clearly in view. It was conceived at a moment when the national dignity had received a stinging blow, born in great travail into a society that was not literary-minded and that treated men of letters as ne'erdo-wells, and nurtured by men who had known the bitterness of oppression, persecution, and even exile. It has been a literature with a mission: to raise the prestige of the race and to assist in unifying the people against the ever-present threat of national extinction or absorption. Mgr Roy defines its threefold inspiration as French, national, and Catholic. 10 He stresses the point that the 10

C . R o y , Histoire

de la littérature

canadienne

(ed. of 1930), pp. 18-19.

INTRODUCTION

13

literature must show these three characteristics if it is to be truly representative of the French Canadian people. This accounts for the criticism that has been directed at various times against the pseudo-Parnassian-Symbolist poetry written in Canada after the beginning of the twentieth century and against the more recent attempts to create a Canadian school of psychological fiction patterned after French models. Even Louis-Honoré Fréchette, sometimes called the poet laureate of French Canada, was criticized by Abbé H.-R. Casgrain, in the introduction to the collected works of Crémazie, because too often he lacked the patriotic spark. 11 1 hope to show how closely French Canadian literature has clung to these principles. One more point. If the literature has remained true to its threefold inspiration, it should be possible to consider it, not only as a reflection of the national life of French Canada, but also as a factor in determining the character of that national life. It would, indeed, be easy to show how literary works have influenced the thinking of Frcnch Canadians. Abbé Casgrain, for example, has written: Nous n'oublierons jamais l'impression profonde que produisirent sur nos jeunes imaginations d'étudiants l'Histoire du Canada de Garneau et les Poésies de Crémazie. Ce fut une révélation pour nous. Ces grandes clartés qui se levaient tout à coup sur un sol vierge, et nous en découvraient les richesses et la puissante végétation, les monuments et les souvenirs, nous ravissaient d'étonnement autant que d'admiration. Que de fois ne nous sommes-nous pas dit avec transport, à l'aspect des larges perspectives qui s'ouvraient devant nous: Cette terre si belle, si luxuriante, est celle que nous foulons sous nos pieds, c'est le sol de la patrie! Avec quel noble orgueil nous écoutions les divers chants de cette brillante épopée. 12

But such a development would lead us far afield. This study, therefore, will examine the ways in which literature has interpreted the elements of unity present in French Canadian society. During most of the last century, interest in literature in French Canada was limited to those who were creating it and to a small group of connoisseurs and patrons of letters. Today, however, the 11

Crémazie, Œuvres

12 Ibid., p. 59.

complètes,

p. 62.

14

INTRODUCTION

people are more aware of their native writers, French Canadian literature appears in the curricula of schools and colleges, and standards of taste have been raised. Since, then, the literature has established its claim to consideration by the public for whom it was created, it is worthy of serious study. Because I believe that the cultural achievement of French Canada has not been adequately appreciated in the United States, I offer this book as a contribution to a better understanding between two great neighboring peoples to the end that fuller understanding may strengthen mutual liking and respect.

THE HISTORY

OF THE

RACE

Tout ce monde de gloire oti vivaient nos aieux. —OCTAVE

CRJ£MAZIE

on winter evenings at French Canadian hearths when the stories of the founding of the colony are retold: of Champlain, the Father of New France, who was concerned about the salvation of the savages; of the Jesuits, Father Brebeuf, Father Lallemant, and others, martyred in the attempt to establish mission stations among the Indians; of Dollard des Ormeaux, who, with sixteen other young men and a few loyal Hurons and Algonquins, set out from Montreal to meet certain death in an effort to halt an Iroquois war party bent on the destruction of the colony; of the Sieur de La Salle, indefatigable explorer and colonizer, who added the Mississippi basin to the domains of Louis X I V ; of Madeleine de Vercheres, the fourteenyear-old girl who, almost single-handed, successfully defended her father's seigniory against a band of some fifty Iroquois; and of Le Moyne d'Iberville, called "le Cid canadien," whose exploits against the English in Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, Louisiana, and the Antilles seem incredibly energetic and triumphant. And yet, these stories, rich in the atmosphere of a courageous past, could have small influence until they were made available to the whole people. Before the 1820's they were hidden in scattered unclassified archives both in Canada and Europe, and in a few published accounts of the early colony known only to an occasional scholar. Some belonged to the oral tradition of the people, of course, but these had acquired an anecdotal character and did not carry the prestige attaching to presumably attested historical facts. The pioneer research work in French Canadian history between 1820 and 1850 furnished material for the poets and novelists, who L A M O U R LIVES A G A I N

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

i6

made such striking use of it that the literary group of 1850 to 1900 is generally known as the "historical," or "patriotic," school. Precursors of Garneau Lord Durham, in his report of 1839 on the situation in Canada, made the contemptuous statement that the French Canadians "were a people with no history." 1 This remark might be given two interpretations, either one of which suggests that the noble lord lacked information. If he meant to discount the accomplishments of three centuries, he showed profound ignorance; if he was referring to written history, he must have been unaware of the work already finished or in progress by 1839. True, litde thought had been given in earlier days to the collection and publication of the manuscript material on the history of New France, but, by the time of Lord Durham's residence in Canada, farsighted men were beginning to understand that a knowledge of French Canadian history would be a powerful factor in strengthening the people against British encroachments. T o meet the need, the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, founded under the patronage of the governor-general, Lord Dalhousie, in 1824, had begun its pioneer work in gathering historical materials. In 1838 the society, aided by a grant from the government, published the first of its many series of documents, the anonymous Mémoires sur le Canada, depuis 1749 h 1760.2 The moving spirit in this task was Georges-Barthélemy Faribault, perpetual secretary of the society, whose famous Catalogue appeared in 1837. Its richness was a source of pleasant surprise and encouragement to students interested in the history of their own people. Lord Durham might be forgiven for overlooking two histories of French Canada written before 1839. One, the work of Dr. Jacques Labrie, was left in manuscript at the death of its author in 1831. The Legislature had voted funds to publish the work posthumously, but the manuscript was destroyed in the sack of the village of Saint-Benoît during the Rebellion of 1837. The other was the 1 2

The Report of the Earl of Durham, p. 218. J. E. Roy, Les Archives du Canada, p. 86.

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

17

first volume of the Histoire du Canada, by Michel Bibaud, published in 1837. This history aroused no enthusiasm in French Canada, because the author criticized the "patriots" and praised the policies of the English government toward the French Canadians. Philéas Gagnon says of the author: " C e M. Bibaud est contre tout mouvement de la part des Canadiens, pour améliorer leur sort. C'est un tory de la vieille roche." 3 The modem reader would add that Bibaud's style is unstimulating. During this period another man, as an amateur, was devoting his time to gathering material for the history of French Canadian civilization. He was Jacques Viger, the first mayor of Montreal, whose immense collection, Ma saberdache, is now in the archives of the Séminaire de Québec. He had a reputation as a scholar and was regularly consulted for accurate information on the political and social history of Canada. Today his collection, much of which has never been published, is one of the most important sources of material for historians working in this field. GarneaxCs Histoire du Canada T h e preparatory work of all these men bore real fruit in 1845 when François-Xavier Garneau published the first volume of his Histoire du Canada. T h e failure of the Rebellion of 1837 had been followed by stern repression on the part of the British authorities, by the execution or exile of many popular leaders, and by the loss of the constitutional guarantees of racial identity. The Act of Union of 1841, it was feared, would lead to the extinction of French Canadian nationality. The French had received no comfort from the parts of the Durham report devoted to them. Lord Durham had called them unprogressive and uneducated, had pointed out that they were despised and distrusted by the English, and had raised the question of the desirability of their national survival : And is this French Canadian nationality one which, for the good merely of that people, we ought to strive to perpetuate, even if it 3

Philéas Gagnon, Essai de bibliographie canadienne, I, 41.

18

THE HISTORY

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were possible? I k n o w of n o n a t i o n a l distinctions m a r k i n g and cont i n u i n g a more hopeless inferiority. . . . T h e r e can hardly be conceived a nationality more destitute of all that can invigorate

and

elevate a people, t h a n that w h i c h is e x h i b i t e d by the descendants of the French

in L o w e r

C a n a d a , o w i n g to their retaining

their

peculiar language a n d manners. . . . L o w e r C a n a d a must be governed now, as it must be hereafter, by an English population. 4

It was small wonder, then, that a profound discouragement had settled over the people. A t this tragic moment Garneau brought out his history. Its pages breathed the grandeur, the tragedy, the despair, and the courageous vision of three hundred years of his people's history and helped to bring to life a sense of national dignity. Spirits that had been sunk in gloom took courage from the simple and convincing relation of the distinguished story of the race. François-Xavier Garneau was a son of the humble people of whom Lord Durham had spoken so disparagingly. The family, originally from Poitou, had been established in Canada since 1662, but had never acquired wealth or position in the colony. Garneau's father gave his eldest son as good an education as he could afford: that is, through the elementary grades. Young Garneau entered the office of Archibald Campbell, a Quebec notary, when he was sixteen, and furthered his education by reading diligently in the classics. The story is often told that he was inspired to become the historian of his people by the taunts of Campbell's young English clerks, who took delight in reminding him that he was the son of a conquered race. Be that as it may, the liberal education that he gave himself by means of his reading and later by travels in England and France as secretary to Denis-Benjamin Viger, diplomatic agent of the French Canadians in London, prepared him admirably for the work to which he devoted all the leisure time of his life. He became a notary in 1830, at the age of twenty-one, but found his profession anything but lucrative. After a brief experience in a bank he was appointed translator to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and then secretary of the Municipal Council of Quebec. In these official positions, he found time to * The Report of the Earl of Durham,

pp. «13 et sqq.

THE HISTORr OF THE RACE

19

bring to completion his Histoire du Canada, the first volume of which appeared in 1845, the second in 1846, and the third in 1848. In this first edition Garneau ended his history with the year 1792, but the second edition (1852) carried the account on to the year 1840. A third edition followed in 1859, from which the historian was persuaded to eliminate certain passages that had provoked criticism, largely on the part of churchmen. Since the death of the author in 1866, four more editions have appeared: a fourth in 1882-83, under the supervision of Alfred Garneau, eldest son of the historian; the fifth and sixth, in 1913-20, in which Hector Garneau, the author's grandson, re-established the text of the original edition and brought the work up to date by adding the results of later research; and finally a seventh in 1927-28. The work has also appeared in several abridged editions for classroom use and in an English translation. Garneau's history is a massive and scrupulously careful compilation of facts, laboriously gathered long before any work had been done to make the archives accessible to research workers. In its presentation of opinion it is temperate and sincere. The clarity of its composition and the excellence and eloquence of its style place it among the distinguished works of Canadian literature. Through all its pages runs a vibrant current of patriotic emotion, which may be considered an expression of the author's devotion to his race. The next few pages will show the principles that guided the composition of this work, so intensely Canadian in its every element. The first point will be Garneau's independence as a historian; the second, the nature of the poetic intensity that transforms his account of historical events into an epic of a steadfast people. Garneau must have felt keenly the necessity of maintaining his own liberty of conscience. He seems to have appreciated his function as a serious historian to judge men and events honestly in the light of the facts that he could assemble, without prejudice and without partisanship. Since he was studying the history of French Canada, he was forced to evaluate the work of church and clergy, which he has criticized and condemned as well as praised. Some churchmen of his time believed, as others still do, that Garneau's

20

THE HISTORY

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analysis of the policies of the early Canadian church was unfortunate, and spoiled an otherwise great work of art and erudition. Mgr Camille Roy expresses this point of view in his Histoire de la littérature canadienne:

Il est malheureux que la philosophie de Garneau ne soit pas toujours d'une doctrine solide, exempte des influences du libéralisme contemporain. . . . Son admiration pour Voltaire et pour Michelet le préparait mal à comprendre les questions religieuses qui surgissent à chaque page de l'histoire du Canada. Les théories séduisantes du gallicanisme et du libéralisme ont plus d'une fois inspiré et faussé ses jugements. Il n'a pas toujours assez bien compris le rôle joué par le clergé dans notre histoire, et les conditions très spéciales dans lesquelles s'est souvent produite l'intervention de l'Eglise, notamment celle de Mgr de Laval, dans la politique de la colonie.8 Garneau's independence is shown in his comments on Richelieu's policy of excluding the Huguenots from Canada: Le XVII e siècle fut, pour la France, l'époque la plus propice à la colonisation, à cause des luttes religieuses du royaume et la situation faite aux protestants. . . . Si Louis XIII et son successeur avaient ouvert l'Amérique à ces hommes nombreux et pleins d'énergie, le Nouveau Monde compterait peut-être aujourd'hui un empire français. Malheureusement on adopta une politique contraire. . . . Richelieu fit . . . une grande faute quand il consentit à exclure les protestants des colonies. S'il fallait absolument éliminer l'une des deux religions pour avoir la paix, l'intérêt de la colonisation exigeait que cette élimination tombât sur les catholiques, qui émigraient peu ou à regret, plutôt que sur les protestants, lesquels ne demandaient qu'à sortir du royaume. 6 Again he is frank in his judgments on the character of Mgr de Laval, the first Bishop of Canada, who constantly disagreed with the civil authorities of the colony: Il faut attribuer principalement à sa haute naissance l'influence que ce prélat exerça dans les affaires du pays, faisant et défaisant les gouverneurs à son gré. M. de Laval avait beaucoup de talent, une activité infatigable, mais son esprit absolu et dominateur voulait tout faire plier sous sa volonté. Ce penchant, confirmé chez lui par le zèle religieux, dégénéra, sur le petit théâtre où il était appelé 5 6

C. Roy, Histoire de la littérature canadienne ("éd. of 1930), p. 57. Garneau, Histoire du Canada (5th éd.), I, 94.

THE HISTORY

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RACE

21

à figurer, en querelles avec les hommes publics, les communautés religieuses, et même avec les particuliers. Il s'était persuadé qu'il ne pouvait errer dans ses jugements, s'il agissait pour le bien de l'Eglise, et il entreprit ici des choses qui auraient été exorbitantes en Europe. 7

Readers accustomed to the works of objective historians may not find these quotations unusual or significant. It must be borne in mind, however, that the rigid religious training that is the center of most French Canadian education has permitted the development of very few unbiased scholars who would indulge in comments such as Garneau has made. Although he asserted his right to criticize, Garneau was as ready to recognize meritorious effort. His admiration for the self-sacrificing services rendered by the church through its missionary priests is no less sincere than his strictures on some of its policies and leaders. His sympathetic summary of the great accomplishments of the Jesuits illustrates this point: L e missionnaire marchait à côté du défricheur pour l'encourager et pour le consoler; il suivait l'explorateur et le traitant dans leurs courses périlleuses; il s'installait parmi les tribus les plus reculées afin d'y annoncer la parole de Dieu. Maintes fois on le vit tomber héroïquement sous la hache des sauvages qui avaient déclaré une guerre mortelle à ses doctrines. Son dévouement, surtout aux heures critiques de la colonie était sans bornes. . . . Les Jésuites remplissaient une tâche noble et sainte. . . . U n bréviaire suspendu au cou, une croix à la main, ils accomplissaient, souvent au risque de leur vie, les plus rudes voyages en des terres inconnues. O n leur doit la découverte de plusieurs vastes pays. 8

Garneau insisted on his right to express his opinion; he also tried to be honest in reporting facts and to give a complete picture of Canadian life. With the limited tools of research at his disposal he has described in great detail the nature of the country and its original inhabitants, and of the social, economic, and religious organization of the French colonists. Garneau understood rightly that the story of French Canada should be told against the background of European and American colonial history, and, therefore, he has ~ Ibid.,

I, 222.

8 Ibid.,

I, 282.

22

THE HISTORY

OF THE RACE

studied the European scene from the time of Francis I as well as the growth of the thirteen colonies. Garneau analyzes carefully the political difficulties following the Conquest. His opinions on the policies of the English and French would seem to be the result of a close study of the conflicting interests of the two parties. His conclusions about the insurrection of 1837 show that although he was sympathetic with his people in the struggle to preserve their rights he could judge impartially the motives of some of the leaders of the rebellion: Cette insurrection avait été prématurée et inattendue. Nulle part le peuple n'y était préparé. Il n'y avait que les hommes ardents engagés dans la politique, les agitateurs, leurs partisans et des transfuges, qui vissent dans une révolution un remède aux abus existants, ou une occasion de satisfaire leur ambition personnelle. . . . Bientôt ceux que l'intérêt personnel animait se crurent patriotes à force de se proclamer tels et de se mêler avec ceux qui l'étaient réellement. Mais le temps devait nous faire connaître les uns et les autres.9 T h e vigor of the prose in which Garneau tells his glamourous stories undoubtedly accounts in part for the instantaneous success of his book. It is important to recognize the excellence of the historian's style, for distinguished writing was a novelty in Canada in 1845. T h e poetic intensity suffusing many of his best pages thrilled his readers and inspired ambitious writer patriots to imitation. 10 His account of D'Iberville's victory over the English in Hudson Bay is a good example of his ability to tell a dramatic story convincingly: La fuite lui était impossible. Il fallait combattre ou se rendre. Son vaisseau portait quarante-quatre canons; mais le nombre de ses hommes en état de servir était diminué en ce moment par la maladie et par l'envoi d'un détachement à terre, qu'il n'avait pas le temps de rappeler. Il paya d'audace. Lâchant ses voiles au vent, il arriva sur les Anglais. Ceux-ci venaient rangés en ligne. Ils lui crièrent: "Vous êtes d'Iberville, enfin nous vous tenons!" Le Pélican voulut aborder le Hampshire, une troupe de Canadiens était prête à sauter sur son pont; l'autre sut l'éviter, et, virant de bord, couvrit Le 9

Garneau, Histoire du Canada (5th éd.), II, 676-77. See, for example, Introduction, n. 12, and Ch. i, nn. 17, 19, and 27.

10

THE HISTORY

OF THE RACE

23

Pélican de mitraille. L'Anglais cherchait à le serrer contre un basfond; d'Iberville déjoua sa manœuvre. Après trois heures et demie d'une lutte acharnée, le Hampshire gouverne pour gagner le vent, recueille ses forces et pointe ses pièces à couler bas. D'Iberville, qui a prévu son dessein, le prolonge vergue à vergue. Les balles, la mitraille et les boulets font un terrible ravage. Le Pélican redouble son feu et tire une bordée si à propos, qu'enfin son fier adversaire fait encore au plus sa longueur de chemin et sombre sous voiles. T o u t périt. Déjà d'Iberville courait droit à YHudson Bay, le plus près d'entrer dans la rivière Bourbon, et qui amena aussitôt son pavillon. Restait le Daring qui, ayant peu souffert dans sa voilure, prit chasse et se déroba. Cette belle victoire donna la baie d'Hudson aux Français. 11

This is but one example chosen from many. Just as dramatic are Garneau's accounts of the massacre of Lachine,12 of Montgomery's siege of Quebec,13 or of La Salle's early explorations.14 Garneau's mastery of style was important in developing a literary consciousness in French Canada, but behind his eloquence was a deep conviction. His studies had taught him to value the tremendous effort dedicated to the establishment and preservation of a French way of life in the Canadian wilderness, and they thus confirmed his natural sympathies. In his "Discours préliminaire" he speaks of the racial characteristics that have contributed to the maintenance against heavy odds of a French civilization in America. In his "Conclusion" he pleads that the force of tradition be used to insure an equally distinguished national future. Thus, Garneau's Histoire du Canada begins and ends with the dominant idea that despite mistakes, weaknesses, and betrayals the French Canadians have built a society worth preserving as their contribution to the world's culture. His presentation of this point of view in the "Discours préliminaire" is admirable in its clarity and force: Ce qui caractérise la race française entre un auteur, cette force secrète de cohésion tient l'unité nationale à travers les plus relève triomphante de tous les désastres. Ibid., I, 414-15. «2/í>id., 1, 340-42. ™Ibid., II, 362-65. 14 Ibid., I, 301-7. 11

toutes les autres, c'est, dit et de résistance qui maincruelles vicissitudes, et la . . . T o u t démontre que

24

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

les Français établis en Amérique ont conservé ce trait caractéristique de leurs pères. . . . A u x deux bouts de cette moitié du continent, deux groupes français ont pareillement pris place, et non seulement ils s'y maintiennent comme race, mais on dirait qu'un esprit d'énergie, indépendant d'eux, repousse les attaques dirigées contre leur nationalité. Leurs rangs se resserrent; la fierté du grand peuple dont ils descendent, laquelle les anime alors qu'on les menace, leur fait rejeter toutes les capitulations qu'on leur offre; leur nature gauloise, en les éloignant des races flegmatiques, les soutient aussi dans des circonstances où d'autres perdraient toute espérance. Enfin cette force de cohésion, qui leur est propre, se développe d'autant plus que l'on veut la détruire. 1 5

Garneau's "Conclusion" is a brilliant summary of the work of three hundred years as well as an eloquent call to action: Nous avons donné l'histoire des émigrants français qui ont fixé les destinées de leur postérité à l'extrémité septentrionale de l'Amérique du Nord. Détachés comme quelques feuilles d'un arbre, ces émigrants ont été jetés dans un monde nouveau pour y être battus de mille orages, orages de la décadence d'une antique monarchie et de la conquête étrangère. . . . Ce peuple a grandi de lui-même, sans secours étranger, dans sa foi religieuse et sa nationalité. Pendant cent cinquante ans, il a lutté contre les colonies anglaises, trente ou quarante fois plus populeuses, et son histoire nous dit comment il accomplissait son devoir sur le champ de bataille. . . . Depuis la conquête . . . il a fondé toute sa politique sur sa propre conservation. . . . Il s'est resserré en lui-même, il a rallié tous ses enfants autour de lui, et a toujours craint de perdre un usage, une pensée, un préjugé de ses pères, malgré les sarcasmes de ceux qui l'entourent. C'est ainsi qu'il a gardé jusqu'à ce jour sa religion, sa langue,—et u n pied à terre à l'Angleterre dans l'Amérique du Nord en 1775 et en 1812. . . . Que les Canadiens soient fidèles à euxmêmes; qu'ils soient sages et persévérants, qu'ils ne se laissent point séduire par le brillant des nouveautés sociales et politiques! . . . Pour nous, une partie de notre force vient de nos traditions; ne nous en éloignons ou ne les changeons que graduellement. . . . Notre sagesse et notre ferme union adouciront beaucoup nos difficultés, et, en excitant leur intérêt, rendront notre cause plus sainte aux yeux des nations. 16 15 Garneau, Histoire du Canada (5th éd.), I, xlix-1. 16 Ibid., II, 715-18.

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

25

This concise analysis of the character and achievements of the French Canadians was a direct challenge to the conclusions of the Durham report. Garneau's insistence that his people preserve their culture, despite the sarcasm of the English, and his sly reference to the services rendered by French Canada to England in 1775 and 1812, showed both English and French that an articulate champion had arisen to defend the dignity of the French Canadians. Garneau set the tone for the major part of the French Canadian literature of the next fifty years. He not only opened up the resources of the national history and achieved distinction in his prose style but also proclaimed that his people had gloriously proved their right to create their own destiny. He gave a direction to the thinking and writing of many young men who were beginning to dream of a French Canada that would possess literary as well as historical claims to honor among the nations. Louis-Honoré Frechette has expressed the reverence in which Garneau was held by the members of the historic and patriotic school of writers in the poem "Notre histoire," which appears in the fourth edition of the Histoire du Canada: Et toi, Garneau, salutl Salut à ta mémoire, Fidèle historien de toute cette gloirel Poète enthousiaste et modeste érudit, Au-dessus de ce cadre immense et poétique, Ainsi qu'un médaillon antique, Ton mâle profil resplendit! 17 Garneau summarized his own purpose in the words used by Thiers at the end of his Histoire de la Révolution française: "Nous avons écrit sans haine, plaignant l'erreur, révérant la vertu, admirant la grandeur, tâchant de saisir les profonds desseins de la Providence dans le sort qu'elle nous réserve, et les respectant dès que nous croyions les avoir saisis."18 Garneau's literary followers have given ample proof that success indeed crowned this nobly stated effort. Garneau's pioneer work stimulated other serious students to supplement, complete, and, in some instances, correct the results «Ibid. (4th éd.), IV, 14. 18 Ibid. (5th éd.), II. 713.

26

THE HISTORY

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of his research. Chief among these successors was A b b é JeanBaptiste-Antoine Ferland, who between 1856 and 1862 gave lectures at Laval University on the history of Canada. T h e popular acceptance of the course led A b b é Ferland to publish it under the title Cours d'histoire du Canada. T h e first volume appeared in 1861, and the second, posthumously, thanks to friends, in 1865. His teaching and his constant association with the writers of the "patriotic" school, gave Ferland a dominant position in the budding literary movement and encouraged the apprentice poets and novelists to use the materials of their own history in their creative works. In 1866 the poet Octave Crémazie, for example, could write to A b b é H.-R. Casgrain from his exile in France: " M M . Garneau et Ferland ont déjà . . . posé une base de granit à notre édifice littéraire." 19 But A b b é Ferland was only one of many. Abbé Casgrain was a tireless researcher over a period of almost forty years and played a significant part in molding the character of the new literary school. Antoine Gérin-Lajoie, whose novel of colonization, Jean Rivard, is to be discussed later, left his Dix ans au Canada de 1840 h 1850 in manuscript at his death. It was published in 1888. Joseph-Edmond R o y , Narcissc-Eutrope Dionne, and other men of less renown were also attempting to reconstruct the past so that the prestige of the French Canadian people might be heightened. Octave Crémazie Although the national history furnishes present-day authors with material, it was during the forty-year life of the so-called literary movement of i860 that French Canadian writers made greatest use of historical and patriotic subjects. T h e group that, about i860, set itself the task of "creating" a French Canadian literature, to borrow A b b é Casgrain's expression, was under the double inspiration of the researches of Garneau and his successors, and the demonstration given by Octave Crémazie that acceptable poetry could be written on national themes. Crémazie's direct contact 19

Crémazie, Œuvres complètes, p. 19.

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27

with French Canadian letters was short, covering only the period from 1854 to 1862, but his influence was decisive in orienting the young writers of the Quebec group. Octave Crémazie was born in Quebec, in 1827.20 He was a pupil at the Petit Séminaire of that city, where he showed a strong aptitude for literary studies. As a young man he became associated with his brothers in their bookshop on the rue de la Fabrique, the gathering place of those interested in literature. After the reestablishment of commercial relations between France and Canada in 185521 it was easier to obtain current French books, and the back room of the bookshop was the scene of lengthy and earnest discussions on the literary movements in Europe. FrançoisXavier Garneau, A b b é Ferland, and, of the younger men, Antoine Gérin-Lajoie and A b b é Casgrain were among those regularly present. O u t of these gatherings came two literary reviews, the Soirées canadiennes, in 1861, and Le Foyer canadien, in 1863. In 1862 Crémazie, always more interested in literature than in bookkeeping, went bankrupt. In his efforts to extricate himself from financial difficulties, he fell foul of the law and was forced to flee the country. He chose France as his place of refuge and assumed the alias "Jules Fontaine." The exile's life of poverty and loneliness came to an end in 1879, at Le Havre. During the eight or nine productive years of Crémazie's life, the number of his published poems did not exceed thirty, some twenty of which are included in the so-called Œuvres complètes, published by the Institut Canadien de Québec, in 1882. Crémazie's influence on his contemporaries was due in part to the fact that he had access to the best European literature of the day and, therefore, could be depended upon to keep other culturally minded men in touch with new developments in the world of art and ideas. His tastes in reading seem to have been exceptionally broad, and he led his friends in discussions of the literary movements in France, England, Italy, and Scandinavia. He was 20 For a discussion of the disputed date and circumstances of Crémazie's birth see the article by Chanoine Emile Chartier in the Bulletin des recherches historiques, X X X I X , 355-59. 21

Vide

supra.

28

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particularly impressed by the French romantics, 22 and, as a result, his own writings and those of his contemporaries have a strong romantic flavor. Every circumstance seemed to favor the emergence of Crémazie as a real leader of a literary school, had not the collapse of his business affairs taken him into exile so early. Crémazie was able to inspire his associates by example, as well as by precept, for, in addition to being a purveyor of culture, he was also a successful poet. First among Canadian writers, Crémazie captured the admiring attention of public and literati alike by the clear expression that he gave to the enthusiasms of his people: their mother country, their R o m a n Catholic Church, and their history. His verses, overloaded as they are with reminiscences of French romantic models, show Crémazie's deep conviction that the history and institutions of French C a n a d a were worthy of his lyre. T h e weak or pompous lines and the elaborate oratorical developments do not entirely conceal the spirit that aroused his contemporaries to enthusiastic acclaim and that caused Nérée Beauchemin to refer to him many years later as the "divin Crémazie." 2 3 Crémazie speaks with feeling of the founders of New France: the explorers, the missionaries, Mgr de Laval: Des hommes étrangers, sur leurs vaisseaux rapides, Vinrent poser leur tente au sein de tes grands bois. Les fils de Loyola, missionaires sublimes, Fécondant de leur sang ton sol régénéré. Le signe rédempteur brillant sur sa poitrine Annonce à tous les yeux sa mission divine. Il s'en vient commander les combats du Seigneur Dans les vastes forêts où domine la France.24 But disasters were to overtake the colony, and foreign aggression had to be met by force. In one of his best-known poems, " L e Drapeau de Carillon," Crémazie tells of that great victory over 22 23 24

Bisson, L i Romantisme littéraire au Canada frunçais, pp. 106-7. Beauchemin, Patrie intime, p. 164. Crémazie, Œuvres complètes, pp. 156-57.

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29

the English at Fort Ticonderoga, in 1758, and addressing the flag, declares his admiration for the deeds of the past: Quand tu passes ainsi comme un rayon de flamme, T o n aspect vénéré fait briller, dans notre âme, T o u t ce monde de gloire o ù vivaient nos aïeux. Leurs grands jours de combats, leurs immortels faits-d'armes, Leurs efforts surhumains, leurs malheurs et leurs larmes, Dans un rêve entrevus, passent devant nos yeux. 2 5 In these verses of historic inspiration Crémazie seems to answer the appeal that he puts into the mouth of an old veteran of the war with the English: Qui nous rendra cette époque héroïque, O ù sous Montcalm, nos bras victorieux, Renouvelaient dans la jeune Amérique Les vieux exploits chantés par nos aïeux? Ces paysans qui, laissant leur chaumière, Venaient combattre et mourir en soldats, Qui redira leurs charges meurtrières? 28 His literary successors replied to the challenge through their volumes of prose and poetry, which show the vitality of the movement inspired and encouraged by Crémazie. Philippe

Aubert de Gaspê

When the first volume of the Soirées canadiennes appeared, in 1861, it carried an epigraph from the writings of Charles Nodier: "Hâtons-nous de raconter les délicieuses histoires du peuple avant qu'il les ait oubliées." T w o years later, as if in response to this command, a novel was announced under the title Les Anciens Canadiens, and the author was immediately acclaimed as an important figure in the developing literary movement. H e was Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, w h o in his seventy-fifth year had set himself the task of telling some of the stories of the Conquest as they had been told to him in his youth b y those who had lived through that exciting time. Against this historical background D e "Ibid., p. 136. 26 ¡bid., p. 112.

THE HISTORY

30

OF THE

RACE

Gaspé wished to give a detailed picture of the life of the period, with the customs, the songs, and the stories that were, indeed, disappearing rapidly from the Canadian scene. Philippe Aubert de Gaspé was born in Quebec, in 1786. He was descended from one of the oldest noble families of Canada and passed part of his childhood- on the family estate at Saint-JeanPort-Joli. After completing his studies in law he was admitted to the bar, and he later became sheriff of Quebec. His financial situation was compromised by his opulent style of living, and he was forced into bankruptcy. Since he had inextricably mixed his own funds with those of his clients, he was found guilty of misappropriation and was sentenced to four years in prison. After his release, he retired to his estate, where he lived quietly with his family, his friends, and his books, the perfect type of the country gentleman of the old school. He broke into this easy leisure to write Les Anciens Canadiens, which was followed, in 1866, b y his Mémoires. H e died in 1871, at the age of eighty-four, in the full enjoyment of his belated literary glory. Like many of his contemporaries, De Gaspé wanted to follow Gameau's lead in restoring the prestige of his race. He reproaches himself and his compatriots for accepting a position of inferiority: Vous avez été longtemps méconnus, mes anciens frères du Canada! Vous avez été indignement calomniés! Honneur à ceux qui ont réhabilité votre mémoire! Honneur, cent fois honneur à notre compatriote, M. Garneau, qui a déchiré le voile qui couvrait vos exploits! Honte à nous, qui, au lieu de fouiller les anciennes chroniques si glorieuses pour notre race, nous contentions de baisser la tête sous le reproche humiliant de peuple conquis qu'on nous jetait à la face à tout propos! Honte à nous, qui étions presque humiliés d'être Canadiens! 27 Certainly he took his own criticism to heart. Although handicapped by an unsure technique, De Gaspé has obviously attempted to put into his novel his love and admiration for the civilization created by his ancestors. T h e story he tells is simple. Jules d'Haberville, a young French Canadian, and Archibald of Lochiell, a highland Scot of about the 27

De Gaspé,

Les Anciens

Canadiens

(cd. of 1931)' P- l39-

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

31

same age, become fast friends while studying together at the Collège des Jésuites, at Quebec. Arché, an orphan, spends his vacation at the D'Haberville manor at Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, where he is accepted as a member of the family. After completing their studies, the young men leave Canada to serve in the army—Arché going to England, Jules to France. The war between the two countries breaks out, and the friends return to Canada, but under different flags. Arché, assigned to ravage the south shore of the St. Lawrence, finds himself obliged to set fire to the home of the D'Habervilles. Quebec falls into the hands of the English after the battle of the Plains of Abraham, but the next year sees the French triumphant for the last time at Sainte-Foy, where the two friends meet. Jules is wounded, and during his convalescence, Arché succeeds in effecting a reconciliation. It is several years, however, before the other members of the D'Haberville family forgive him for the crime of burning their manor house. Love interest is introduced when Arché asks the hand of Blanche, Jules's sister. She loves him but refuses to marry him because he had set fire to her old home. Jules marries a young English girl, Arché settles nearby, and, as they approach middle age, all bitterness is forgotten in the satisfaction of their close friendship. This naïve story lacks strength of plot, subtlety of characterization, and distinction of style. De Gaspé is far less concerned with the succession of events than with accounts of eighteenth-century French Canadian life. He makes no pretensions to being a psychologist, and he is frequently discursive. However, he does make a sincere attempt to recreate the life of that period and to rehabilitate the memory of the heroes of 1759 by telling again the story of their courage. Les Anciens Canadiens uses historical events for its background. The battles for the possession of Quebec, the pillaging and burning of French communities, the policies of General Murray toward the Canadians, and many other details are reported accurately. Indeed, De Gaspé thought the factual basis of his novel was so important that he included copious footnotes and an appendix, in which he specified sources. This insistence on a genuine historical background places De Gaspé directiy in the line of writers inspired

32

THE HISTORY

OF THE

RACE

by Garneau and shows that he, too, hoped that knowledge of their past would engender in his people the will to emulate the courage of the defenders of New France. Other Historical

Novelists

A prolific French Canadian novelist was Joseph Marmette, lawyer, some time C a n a d i a n commissioner in Paris, and aid to the archivist of the Dominion. Marmette devoted his attention particularly to the historical novel, in which he achieved great popular success. His work is obviously modeled after that of Scott, Cooper, and Dumas père, who he says were his favorite authors. In the introduction to the second edition of François de Bienville Marmette reveals the plan behind his series of novels: En publiant une édition définitive de mes romans historiques . . . je puis réaliser un désir depuis longtemps caressé, celui de relier par des préfaces ou des précis historiques ces quatre volumes: le Chevalier de Mornac, François de Bienville, l'Intendant Bigot et la Fiancée du Rebelle, où j'ai cherché à peindre fidèlement les époques les plus remarquables de nos annales. A l'aide de ces additions, je me trouverai avoir atteint—avec plus ou moins de précision—le but auquel je visai le jour où je traçai les premières lignes de mon premier livre: rendre plus populaire en la dramatisant la partie héroïque de notre histoire et l'embrasser dans ces quatre volumes, où la fiction n'a que juste assez de place pour qu'on puisse les classer dans la catégorie des romans historiques. 28 A s he says, Marmette adhered closely to historical facts. T h e results of this method are not always happy. His detailed descriptive passages are frequently of inordinate length, and his characters are seldom interesting as human beings. Rather surprisingly, his dialogue is quite natural. Like other authors of his time, Marmette can trace a large part of his inspiration to the two precursors, Garneau and Crémazie. François de Bienville bears as an epigraph the first verse of Crémazie's poem, " L e Drapeau de Carillon," and, throughout the novel, numerous footnotes show that the author found his facts in Gar28

Marmette, Françoit

de Bienville

(2d éd.), pp. 7-8.

THE HISTORY

OF THE RACE

33

neau, Ferland, Charlevoix, and other historians. Many who could not or would not read Garneau bought and read Marmette's stories, and so the knowledge of French Canadian history was still further disseminated. T h e work of Marmette was complemented by that of at least two other writers of the time. Napoléon Bourassa chose the tragic story of the dispersion of the Acadians as the basis for his novel, Jacques et Marie, first published in the Revue canadienne, in 1865-66. Laure Conan (pseudonym of Félicité Angers) was the author of psychological novels, historical novels, and historical monographs. O f her historical novels, L'Oublié, published in 1902 and crowned by the French Academy, is the most appealing. It is the curiously heart-warming story of Lambert Closse, right-hand man to Maisonneuve in the early colony of Villemarie, now Montreal. Few details are known of his life, but Mile Conan has imagined a canvas of heroic deeds based on historical facts and has superimposed upon this a delicate and tender love story with Closse and his girl wife as the central characters. In recent years the popularity of the novel based upon French Canadian history seems to be as great as ever. New titles are regularly added to an already long list, and one of the prominent Montreal publishing houses29 has grouped several of its newer publications for young people under the general series title of "Romans historiques." Novels by De Gaspé, Marmette, and Mile Conan, among others, have been reissued within the last few years in popularly priced editions. Among the younger writers of historical novels, Robert de Roquebrune (pseudonym of Robert Laroque) has achieved greatest success. Les Habits rouges was published in Paris, in 1923, and was awarded the Prix David as the most representative French Canadian novel of that year. Professor Jones states that twentyfive editions of this work had appeared before 1931.30 D'un océan a l'autre, published in 1924, tells the story of the Riel rebellion of 1870 and its renewal in 1885. 29 30

Librairie d'Action canadienne-française. Jones, Le Roman canadien-français, p. 179.

34

THE HISTORY

OF THE RACE

Les Habits rouges describes the colorful events of the insurrection of 1837, when a group of "patriots" led by Papineau dreamed of establishing a Canadian republic to end the tyranny of both English and French politicians. T h e author shows the passionate desire for freedom which motivated some of the leaders. Cormier "n'aime guère voir un Canadien sous la livrée de l'étranger," 31 and he qualifies the English as "l'ennemi depuis bien longtemps, ennemi de notre race irréconciliablement." 32 Papineau is described with great attention to detail: Ses traits . . . avaient un relief magnifique. Aucune mollesse ne venait alourdir ce masque où les yeux se creusaient comme dans une figure de pierre. Le front était allongé par les cheveux rejetés en arrière. La bouche mince, aux lèvres un peu tombantes, était dédaigneuse sous un grand nez frémissant. La maigreur de ce visage était vigoureuse et une autorité émanait de tout l'homme.83 Jérôme de Thavenet is the type of ambitious young French Canadian who thought to advance himself by association with the English, but who was unable to resist the call of blood when forced to choose between les étrangers and his own people. Much of the action centers about Henriette de Thavenet, Jérôme's sister, who, although strongly attracted by an English officer, one of the "habits rouges," sacrifices her half-realized love to aid the patriots. She becomes a symbol of all the sacrifices of French Canadian women for the success of the cause. Possibly the author has been too sparing with the historical details of the rebellion. Some preliminary knowledge is necessary to make clear the events of the story, and De Roquebrune has assumed that his Canadian readers would have that knowledge. The effect is to emphasize the human emotions rather than the historical facts. An illustration will make the point clear. Jérôme and his friend, Lieutenant d'Armontgorry, an enthusiastic anglophile, are forced to take part in one of the street riots that precipitated open rebellion in the Montreal district. S1 12 33

R o b e r t de R o q u e b r u n e (pseud.). Les Habits ibid., p. 20. Ibid., p. 121.

rouges, p. ¡7.

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

35

[Armontgorry] détestait tout ce qui lui rappelait l'animosité des patriotes et des bureaucrates. Sa double qualité de Canadien-français et d'officier anglais le gênait, au fond, beaucoup. Aussi tâchait-il intérieurement à concilier ses sentiments et, n'y parvenant pas, il préférait ne pas songer à ces choses.34

On the occasion in question the young men are caught between the opposing forces and are obliged to make a difficult choice. For Armontgorry the decision is one of life or death, for at that moment he is wearing the English uniform and is liable to court martial should he join the rebels. But neither Armontgorry nor Jérôme hesitates to strike a blow for the patriot cause. As Jérôme explains to his sister afterward: Ni lui ni moi n'avons réfléchi. Nous avons été emportés par un instinct: défendre les nôtres. Maintenant que mon exaltation est passée, je me rends compte des conséquences terribles que tout cela aura pour nous deux. . . . O n devient rebelle quand les siens sont en cause. Armontgorry et moi nous acceptons le combat pour la défense des nôtres. Et sois sûre que nous saurons soutenir cette guerre jusqu'à la fin, quelle qu'elle soit. 35

The historical details of this story are merely suggested and are clearly subordinated to the superior interest of the emotional conflicts. The rebel victory of Saint-Denis and the defeat of Saint-Charles are described in some detail, but the emphasis is again on the reactions of the characters, especially on those of Henriette, who is present during both engagements. The fate of many of the combatants is closely bound up with her own, and the attention of the reader is focused on the events of the battles as they relate to the emotions, past, present, or future, of Henriette herself. De Roquebrune has interpreted successfully the passions, the enthusiasms, and the final despair which gave color to the abortive uprising, and in achieving this result he has promoted a better understanding among his readers of an exciting moment in French Canadian history. " Ibid., p. 78. »' Ibid., pp. 141 et sqq.

36

THE HISTORY

OF THE

RACE

Louis-Honore Frechette T h e development of historical poetry has closely paralleled that of the historical novel. Immediately after i860 poets began to write on subjects suggested by Garneau and others. As in the case of the novel, the popularity of such themes is great even today. This discussion will treat Louis-Honor^ Frechette and LeonPamphile L e M a y , members of the "patriotic" group, Paul Gouin and Robert Choquette, poets of the modern period. I am deliberately neglecting the work of William Chapman, Benjamin Suite, Adolphe Poisson, and J e a n Charbonneau, to mention but a few who have written historical poetry, because I believe that, while their inspiration was similar, their technique was inferior to that of the four poets chosen. Louis-Honore Frechette was one of the earliest disciples of Octave Cremazie and the first French Canadian man of letters to see his work crowned by the French Academy. He was born in Levis, in 1839, and was a student in Quebec at the time Cremazie was publishing his first pieces of verse. On occasion he visited the bookshop on the rue de la Fabrique and so came under the spell of the work and the ideas of Cremazie and his group. As a young man he practiced both law and journalism without much success. Embittered by his failures, he moved to Chicago in 1866 and spent five years there in voluntary exile. After his return to Quebec he presented himself as candidate for the legislature and, later, for parliament. H e was defeated on both occasions, but in 1874 was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa, where he served until 1878. T w o more electoral defeats prompted him to quit politics and devote all his time to literature. Frechette's first collection of poems, Mes loisirs, appeared in 1863, attracting little attention. The period of his great popularity began with the publication of Les Fleurs boreales; les oiseaux de neige, in 1879, for which he received the Prix Montyon of the French Academy in 1880. Encouraged by this recognition, Frechette believed himself of intellectual stature to compose a national epic,

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

37

and in 1887 published La Légende d'un peuple in Paris. The poet's fame exposed him to the attention of unfriendly critics, the most violent of whom was a less successful rival, William Chapman. The failure of Feuilles volantes seemed to show that he had been deserted by his public as well, and the last years before his death, at Montreal, in 1908, saw his influence on Canadian literature considerably diminish. Frechette included poems of historical inspiration in several of his published collections. In La Légende d'un peuple, however, he fully explored the possibilities of this theme. He had before him the example of Victor Hugo, who, in La Légende des sticles, had attempted a synthesis of human progress throughout the ages. The defects that critics have noted in the work of Hugo are all present in Fréchette. Moreover, the Canadian poet had not Hugo's all-embracing vision and vaulting imagination. As a result, La Légende d'un peuple is not the grandiose epic of which the poet dreamed. One of its most obvious faults is the lack of a unifying thread. This same criticism had been directed against Hugo's epic, but the defense made for Hugo, that human progress can indeed be traced through his work, cannot be offered in the case of Fréchette. Instead of showing the continuity in the popular will to preserve French Canadian national integrity, Fréchette has chosen to rhyme significant incidents in the history of Canada. He focuses attention on the men involved rather than on the realization of an ideal. Thus, in the section called "Première époque," devoted to the period prior to 1759, Fréchette writes of the deeds of L a Salle, D'lberville, Dollard (whom he calls Daulac), and Cadieux, among others, but he makes no attempt to interpret the work of each of these men as an incident in a struggle for survival, of which the whole nation was the hero. To vary his method of presentation, Fréchette introduces himself now and again into his poems and tells of spots he has seen that recalled to him great events of the past. For example, in "Première messe" the poet reports his impressions on visiting the reputed scene of the first mass celebrated in Canada, at the confluence of the Saguenay and the St. Lawrence rivers. The effect is

3»

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE

to transfer attention from the significance of the event itself to the poet through whose imagination it is being interpreted. Such an hors- 1929), 221-31; (Jan., 1930), 317-27. Pelletier, Albert. Carquois. Montreal, Librairie d'Action canadiennefrançaise, 1931. 219 pp. Perrier, Philippe. "Les Canadiens français et la vie morale et sociale du Canada." In AF, X V I I (May, 1927), 344-56. Poisson, Adolphe. Chants canadiens à l'occasion du 24 juin, 1880. Quebec, P.-G. Delisle, 1880. 78 pp. Sous les pins. Montreal, Beauchemin, 1902. 338 pp., illus. Rivard, Adjutor. Chez nous. Quebec, Editions de l'Action sociale catholique, 1919. 256 pp. Etudes sur les parlers de France au Canada. Quebec. J.-P. Garneau, 1914. 280 pp.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

209

Rouleau, C.-E. L'Emigration: ses principales causes. Quebec, Léger Brousseau, 1896. 14g pp. Roy, Camille. Essais sur la littérature canadienne. Montréal, Beauchemin, 1925. ¿03 pp. Etudes et croquis. Montreal, Louis Carrier, 1928. 252 pp. Histoire de la littérature canadienne. Nouvelle édition. Quebec, Imprimerie de l'Action sociale, 1930. 310 pp., ports. Includes bibliogs. Roy, J.-Edmond. "Les Archives du Canada à venir à 1872." In R S C T , ser. 3, IV, sec. 1 (19x0), 57-123. Saint-Pierre, Telesphore. Les Canadiens des Etats-Unis: ce qu'on perd à migrer. Montreal, La Gazette, 1893. 16 pp. Savard, Félix-Antoine. Menaud, maître-draveur. Quebec, Librairie Garneau, 1937. 265 pp. Shortt, Adam, and Doughty, Arthur G. (eds.). Documents relating to the constitutional history of Canada, 1759-1791. Ottawa, King's Printer, 1907. xiv, 734 pp. Siegfried, André. Le Canada, les deux races. Paris, Armand Colin, 1906. 415 pp. Skelton, Oscar Douglas. Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. New York, T h e Century Co., 1922. 2 vols. Société du Parler français au Canada. Glossaire du parler français au Canada. Quebec, L'Action sociale, 1930. xix, 709 pp. Bibliog.: pp. [xv]-xix. Sœurs de Sainte-Anne. Précis d'histoire littéraire: Littérature canadienne-française. Lachine, Procure des Missions des Sœurs de Sainte-Anne, 1928. 336 pp. Soirées canadiennes. Quebec, Vols. I-V, 1861-65 || Stewart, George. "The Index Expurgatorius in Quebec." In Ar, X V I I (Apr., 1897), 747-51. Students abroad. League of Nations, Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, Paris. See esp.: n.s., No. 1, Nov., 1935. Taché, Jean-Charles. Forestiers et voyageurs. Mœurs et légendes canadiennes. Montreal, Librairie Saint-Joseph, Cadieux & Derome, 1884. 240 pp. Taché, Louis-H. (comp.). La Poésie française au Canada. St.-Hyacinthe, Le Courrier de St.-Hyacinthe, 1881. 288 pp. Tardivel, Jules-P. L'Anglicisme, voilà l'ennemi. Quebec, Imprimerie du Canadien, 1880. 28 pp. Tirol, Marcel. "Contes canadiens et tradition française." In R T C , X X I (Mar., 1935), 55-64. Toronto. Public Library. Canadian Catalogue of Books, published

210

BIBLIOGRAPHY

in Canada, about Canada, as well as those written by Canadians. 1921 (current). Toronto, Toronto Public Library, 1921 (current). Turnbull, Jane M. Essential Traits of French-Canadian Poetry. Toronto, Macmillan, 1938. 225 pp. Vattier, Georges. Essai sur la mentalité canadienne-française. Paris, Honoré Champion, 1927. 384 pp. Veillées du bon vieux temps. Montreal, G. Ducharme, 1920. 102 pp., illus., music. Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de. Candide, ou l'optimisme. Paris, G. Crès & Cie, 1921. 255 pp. Weir, George Moir. The Separate School Question in Canada. Toronto, The Ryerson Press [0934]. ix, 298 pp.

INDEX Académie française awards, 5, 36, 53, 74 Acadia established, 4g Acadians, dispersion, 33 Action française, L', 1*5 Act of Union of 1841, 17, »26 Agriculture, see Farming All Souls' Day, 96 America, see United States American colonists, attitude toward Catholicism, 89 American Revolution, 88, 89 Americans, blamed for moral decay, 111 Anciens Canadiens, Les (Gaspé), 1C>6; " L e Berceau," 62; Le Paon d'émail, 104; criticism of work bv, 104, 199 Morissette, A b b é Napoléon, 107 Mother country, 49-80; see also France Mothers, role of, iogf., 130 Moyen, Elisabeth, 84 Murray, Gen. James, 129 Napoleon III, 5, 63 Nationalism, 103, 122 Nationality, definition and use of, 11 Nationalization of literature, 196, 199 National spirit, connection between literature and growth of, ix, 2, 193-99; and language, 123-25 Nature, place in literature, 153 Ncpean, Sir Evan, 129 New Brunswick, population, 2 Now France, colony, 50, 81; see also Canada

217

New Testament, 115 Nodier, Charles, quoted, 29 Novelists, historical, 29-35 O l d Testament, 115 Ontario, struggle for educational tonomy, 130 Ottawa, University of, 100 Oublié, L' (Angers), 33, 84-86

au-

Pages trifluviennes, 188 Palardy, Jean, 44 Papineau, Amédée, 41 Papineau, Louis-Joseph, 34 Paris, Treaty of, 57 Parisian French, 132 Parliamentary system, 89 Parnassianism, 72 Parnassian sonnet, 42, 47, 167 Parnassian Symbolist poetry, pseudo-, >3

Pastoral, 154 Patrie, la, meaning, 91 Patrie, La (Montreal), 137 Patrie, la grande, 10 Patrie, la petite, 10, 185-92, 199; meaning, 185; see also Regionalist movement Patrie intime (Beauchemin), 93, 185 Patriotic school, iG, 58, 149 Péan, Hugues, 44 Péan, Mme Hugues, 44 Pelletier, Albert, Carquois, 140; criticism Qf A l'ombre de l'Orford, 141 Periodicals, 106 Perrier, A b b é Philippe, on the moral life, 109, 110 Petite patrie, la, see Patrie, la petite Petite Revue, La, 106 Pioneers, 153, 155; in literature, 155t. Ploughing, 168 Poetry, pseudo-Parnassian-Symbolist, 13; historical, 26-29, 36-48; sonnet, 40, 42, 47, 167; devotional, 115-22 Poets, 53; oppose emigration, 164 Adolphe (1849-1922), 36; Poisson, Chants canadiens, 58; "Noblesse et roture," 58; quoted, 75 Poitiers, University of, 54 Politics, 197 Population, French Canadian, 2; decrease in rural Quebec, ion; trends, 160-65 Prayer, evening, 94

218

INDEX

Press, control over, 90, 101 Priests, 86-90; role in community, 6; clergy and Church of today, 90-99; influence, 97, 100 Printing introduced, 5 Prix David, 33, 44 Prix Montyon, 5, 36, 53, 74 Proclamation of 1763, 88 Protestant schools, 129 Prud'homme, Eustache (1845-1927), " A la France," 64 Pseudo-Parnassian-Symbolist poetry, 13 Quatercentenary, Cartier, 6, 54, 73 Quebec, Province of, 187; French Canadian population, 2; R o m a n Catholics, 3; civil law, 4; decrease in rural population, ion; reactions during Franco-Prussian and World wars, 64, 65; education, 100, 129; urban population, 160, 161, 165; agriculture, 166 Quebec Act of 1774, 88 Quebec school of i860, 12, 80, 149, 160 Race, loi de la, 157, 159 Race, use of term, m ; pride in, 4; history of the, 15-48 Racial solidarity, 11 if. Rainier, Lucien, pseud., see Melançon, A b b é Joseph-Marie Rebellion of 1837, 34, 162; aftermath, 17; Garneau's conclusions, 22 Rebellion (Riel) of 1870, 33 Récollets, 82 "Refrancisation," 196 Regionalist movement, literary, 10, 134. 154. 156, 185-92, 198L Relations (Jesuits), 82, 83 Religion, see R o m a n Catholic Church Religious customs, 96 Religious literature, see Literature; Poetry, devotional Repatriation, 161 Réveil, Le, 106 Reviews, 106 Revolt, see Rebellion Revolutionary War, 88, 8g Revue canadienne, 33 Revue libre, La, 106 Richelieu, Cardinal, Duc de, exclusion of Huguenots from Canada, 20 Riel, Louis, 33 Riel rebellion, 33

Rivard, Adjutor (1868), 137; quoted, 154, 158, 172; " A u feu!" 97; Chez nous, 91, 96 —Geddes, J., and, Bibliographie du parler français au Canada, 124, 137 Rivard, Jean, 98, 146, 163, 169, 172, 175 Roads, 162 Roadside shrine, 95 Roman Catholic Church, influence of its clergy attacked, 2; loyalty to, 3; center of community life, 6; educational work, 6, 99-101; preservation of family life, 7, io8ff.; Garneau's evaluation of church and clergy, 19, 21; missionaries, 21, 82-86, g8; failure to develop unbiased scholars, 21; anticlerical maneuvers of T h i r d Republic distasteful to, 77; in an expanding nation, 81-90; under British rule, 88; during American Revolution, 89; under parliamentary system, 89; church and clergy today, 90-99; in politics, 90; buildings and embellishments, 91; develops own priesthood, 97; leaders and preachers, 98; control over literature, 101-8; church and national morality, 10815; devotional poetry, 115-22; defense of the language, 131; against emigration, 163; diminishing influence over non-spiritual matters, 194; control blocking intellectual progress? 196 "Romans historiques," 33 Romanticism, 72 Ronsard, Pierre de, 124 Roquebrune, Robert de, pseud., see Laroque, Robert Rouleau, C. E., 164; L'Emigration: ses principales causes, 162 Roy, Joseph-Edmond, 26 Roy, Mgr Camille (1870), 12, 103; on Garneau, 20; on Le May, 40; on inspiration of literature, 102; quoted, 103, 104, 137; on Blanche Lamontagne, 105; on use of old words, 135; program for literature, 196-99; on nationalization of literature, 196; on exoticism, 199; Essais sur la littérature canadienne, 196; Histoire de la littérature canadienne, 11, 20, 102;

INDEX Roy—(Continued) " L a Nationalisation de la littérature canadienne," 196 Roy, Mgr Paul-Eugène, 98 Royal Society of Canada, Transactions, 137 Rural population, 160 Sainte-Anne, Sœurs de, 105; Précis d'histoire littéraire, 103; criticisms by, 103, 104, 105 Sainte-Foy, victory at, 57 Saint Lawrence settlements, 50; speech, 133 Saint-Pierre, Telesphore, Les Canadiens des Etats-Unis . . ., 163 Saint-Vallier, Mgr de, 109 Savard, A b b é Félix-Antoine, 194; Menaud, maître-draveur, 134, 142-45, 157. >59. 174. i 7 8 . l 8 5 ; style. >44; quoted, 178 Schools, see Education Scriptures, paraphrases of the, 116 Shrine, roadside, 95 Siegfried, André, on the church and nationalism, 122 Singing, 146 Smith, Horatio, x Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal, 84 Société du Parler français au Canada, 132, 137; founding of, 136; Bulletin becomes Le Canada français, 138; "Corrigeons-nous," 138 Soeurs de Sainte-Anne, see SainteAnne Soil, cult of the, 3, 9, 153-92 Soirées canadiennes, 27, 29 Sonnet, 40; Parnassian, 42, 47, 167 Sowing, 169 Speech, see Language Spiers, A. Guy H., x Spinning, 174 Stories of heroism and devotion, 4, 15, i45fESugar making, 172 Sully, Duc de, 154 Suite, Benjamin (1841-1923), 36 Superior Council of Public Instruction, 100

219

Supernatural, fondness of French Canadians for, 150 Taché, Jean-Charles, Forestiers et voyageurs, 179 Taché, Louis-H., La Poésie française au Canada, 101 T a l o n , Jean, 45, 49 Tardivel, Jules-P., L'Anglicisme, voilà l'ennemi! 136 Tennessee Valley Authority, 164 Thavenet, Henriette de, 34, 35 Thavenet, Jérôme de, 34, 35 Thiers, Louis Adolphe, quoted, 25 T h i r d Republic, 77, 113 Toronto, University of, Quarterly, ix; excerpt, ig5 Toronto Public Library, catalogues of Canadian books, ix Transubstantiation, doctrine of, 118 Trappers, 181 United States, French Canadians in, 3, 194; loss of population to, 161; living conditions in, 163 University of Toronto Quarterly, annual essay on Canadian letters, ix; excerpt, 195 University training, 100 Urban population, 160, 194 Valdombre, pseud., see Grignon, C.-H. Verchères, Madeleine de, 15 Viger, Denis-Benjamin, 18 Viger, Jacques, Ma saberdache, 17 Villemarie, founding of, 84 Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de, quoted, 49 Voyageur, 178; description, 17g Walter, Felix, ix Weaving, 174 Wolfe, Gen. James, 57 Women, place in family and farm life, iogf„ 130, 173 World War, 62, 65-69 Writers, interest in purifying language, 138; program for, 196-99; see also Literature