The Frontier and Canadian Letters 9780773595521

Citation preview

ONLIBRARY' - . @e&s"oforiginal works, reprints and iew @.~; echons of source material relating to ' w d a , issued under the editorial supewkion $;fk Institute of Canadian Studies of . &leton University, Ottawa.

~ E N E R A LEDITOR

& h a e l G. Gnmwski EXECUTIVE EDITOR

fsines H.,Manh EDITORIAL BOARD

B, Carman Bickenon (History) 93- Eorcese (Sociology) David B. Knight (Geogmphy) 5,Gporge Neus~iel(Law) *mas &. Rymes (Economics) p;wl(G. Smith (Anthropology) Michael S. Whittincton (Political Science) $.MEClelIand and Stewart Limited. 1977 ..~ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

'

@e.Frontier and Canadian Letters was first rwbhhed in 1957 by The Ryerson Press, T"01onto. It is republished in this edition by "pem,ission of the author and first publisher .*:~. tSBN 0-7710-9805-7 .$lie Canadian Publishers YcClelland and Stewart Limited 25;Hollinger Road, Toronto

.r,

&iqted. and bound in Canada --:..,:

r>.

CONTENTS CHAPTER

-

:: ;. I N T R O D ' W ~ O NTO THE CARLETON '

.,LIBRARYEDITION

INTRODUC~IOW I. A PLANT

OF SLOW GROWTH

11.-.CLIMATEAND SOIL IN LITERARY

FLOWEUINGS 111. THECULTURAL VALUESOF THE

FRONTIER

N.'&U&UDES TO THE NEWENGLAND FLOWERING V. THEFIRSTHARVEST

VI. fHE FRONTIER PRO'CESSIN UPPER CANADA

VII. P;ONEEFI AUTHORS IN FBLENCH-SPEAKING CANADA

VIII. THEFLOWERING OF ELEDERPCTON

m. FRONTIER VALUES OUTLIVE THE FRONTIER

X. THELAST GREAT FRONTIER

XI. THEFRONTIER AND TODAY

Introduction to the Carleton Library Edition

back revolution had not yet democratized Canadian studies, nor had the series of critical letters and the new critical magazines appeared. The university quarterlies (Queen's, Toronto, Dalhousie) had allowed some Canadian content for decades, and then as

1957. George Woodcock's Canadian Literature appeared in 1959; the fmt ofthe university periodicals devoted exclusively to Cana-

reswctabilitv in Canadian Studies. One suspects that university

*.

.quent-develoP"ni which has scan in the past five yeaG& .p&+ic& as the J a m 1 oj Canarkan Eiliort utd .%&a CQ@ @&an Litem# lawchid while c o m h Eitde rnappzM,es' e a d ' - out- of the garrets Lo psrade @wily ar the b g d c r b s k Harder * ,:times m y d m a y of EAcw W k jato &cir gaif & into . . .bb,, a@. .."The Fr&r d C & n d mLcim ma&& tke dlwide the contemporary era of paperhck and pmodicd ~ c r n t i o n and the previow m e of rare bul &en hnmsivivr pubkation8 by the c&itted few who, like tb dka"da, Eaapdi; literaas their province olrnast ma r -tion h a 2lctu . duties. Suck m e AUmd Baiky, E. K. tlrolum, IW. E. Northrop Frye. R. G u s t w C. F. K W , d o n ~ R o p s , A . J . M . S m i b , F. A. %wtO R. E . W W o o d h o u ~ e ~ 1 1 1 l t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ B i i m ~ O .

:-

forties and ' f d h and tlbg d &&I atfs i t u h of write- w k n o w c$ey Lrop Osnre. Skm c k h ;ornetintea, and k;rdlag s c a h h mined w tbs slW cof End+& itenture, they bm@i mawto j u a m ~ n tm thc dk& d kdi{idual writen b e f m the h d thematic audics mfll ur this ooc :OMbe ma&. The con@xt fm Warid rted In his ovn intmdunion~fcamumcr tJx hevrlii~il). oC ind its awlration lo d a l stud*L It m m a Y ccnnmm coionial experian$ in tke ~ F surkrac T thlP( i i h p ta Emmptaa out-

-nee

r ~.It.l~~-f8evar)lof'ERoprtfbWiLafWarc s.xial phewmem. h w t t ~ ire r%n, Whet wwe (kc w&ibma in the mother emmuiao lgdn &i Mrmn & A& then itexafiRdnn R * & Y ~t eziven L O E Q ~ &'those conditions yet It K aw&uiate b e d fm a professional ioumalist to baw wntkn. a d e iwmaliu monaver, Meewd in . the: lore d his Bms

.

urban cmditions.

..

..::. Inevitabh it3 snbceedeak arc Ammbapa. FZeaw &be u~eatre,public har preceded us along most d, we have tea&> to fol: low American signposts, whether we are hdding a political convention or adapting TV entertainment u writing literary hIPtory.

..

Introduction m the Carleton L i b r q Edition

.

is

Mr. Eggtexton a c k w k d g m m a y ot the critical and hiitoricd' sourrrs fmm wKiL he benefited, from L. A. White's The Science ' of Csflrua to E. K. h a ' s ON C d k n Pectry. Of e o u w &e erandfasben &a11 s& F l d American ffwdj, are V. L. Parrinea. t a 7 x M& c-rs ~n me T ~ O U vot. ~ ~ I.I . TNSI&

.,

a d Browackf Society 16N-1763,, Twner's Tk FrmJier in Ameri-' ' run H b w v . F w n (beae eianb we k m e d that N o d American .-ed ww fmtersd l$ h e bnd on a moving frantier; that as tke fmm& P ~ M Kwesward ~ tk more ventumome immigrants gravitated to & di* tk ctuore conservative element built the older aettkd mew; that a e b q r e n t politkal and Eocial develoaeRb wee pd1c0rsB an tbb oo~(nie.thesis;that "culture" y cbc e v i d m m aF ewhetrc taste Founded on tl t r & i of the ans in Eurwe-was built up m older areas pr .g~eooivclyiR i*ljlPtieil d Old-World models, alter n suffieie period, d gmw%& rtab?t&y, aenumukted ~ 4 t h kisure, . edwtional ,+ad lad4iqFmss L M i t ~ t m s ,~~rmmmICations and other servicer c&~arian. ol the in&t a d the m o t h s an acceptit16y were inadmissable able hxarq. 0. the StmW, jtf, e,l u x u k . s;d the fronckr habit of practicatit~wwld always make Ike am wpm m cdmial popular euhure. Fmm 1sc4)reu. m. we lel& rn apply the botanical analogy (Lat 96e8 e m i p a t h , ~a cransphnting iaio a new soil. 'At firs, acmrdin; u tCu m a p h , tho trrlwpbrlal stock withers ' oadcr tk nbock cd bein; uproo(6d ud thrasa into alien soil. If it ' survives. it m w - 6 d ; r m r p a c fa w c s Wort it renews its &rwth.' Ba~ d ~ a tramplan& . cul~urea i m withers, shedding sane d b ways .r il ksvcs brhiad prmpo &its pods. and finding ' &n inappppropriaw its aew envirenmenl. So ibc lociety transplanted R, [be errtern A w b n seaboard, initially vigorous. d& ELined eu~oasrwte a d i r in cb eady 18th centiry before reasxftins its& am$. by the thh cenmq, y.Pc$wirjya recognizable- cultun 4ad @pucirrg a literatulo d h mam, the "Flowering of New Ea@arrd", as Vm Wpck Broob erUs it. . Of cmm t k were ~ manv subSWuent ~efiaemenlsof these famatEve stdies. a w i n g th; e&ic precnise, the botanical analom and the adastatm hvmasberis. H a r d Innia's Fur TmBe ; ; L in c a h g whh DWI& Creigkfom. had argued for the wl

up

'-*

Inuoduction tg tbe Carleton Library Edition

.

.

tian" as. opp&d to the "continental" axis; Louis B. Cullure 8n the iWoviug.,FcwItkrst& the caatint4ity d pncwlture in ihe homes and @&tutjoas dtbc NEWW d , 6 J.' P. Matthem' TrdiiwI in Exik for t$e and

~~~

ad what ekira~tc paid. tima? a W E & $ of literature a ~ w i m r e4ia

1.

What follows must be a "stwty d enviroamart" bot Rlr. dvaa%m, iw&L : . diverse reghs of Cnnada tucn not gn z&@p6i1tL i& I%? for Bwh

& tpn points att that, despite -111

.

tr i m f a w d a d

-

op

the Paeifi

had lo carefakly $rtdkd: . . The Fro)11ier d rs h @erefare a rzdy. at a particular atage d Cznad.ia31 &ism, oQCanadieu kieealure at a particular stage: an attempt to acrouJlt for a lar@Iy wlaial liter.

~

-':.

,

-~

,

~

.,

-

---

.--,

~.

--

1nuodPcrioa to the~arlefoiLibrary Edicioa

l h h a @dim MiPo L%tle,m

my kind of Age or bobd for 811 FImL Ameriara soil, L

~ nfa&t , attier,

L i e his prdeaaans. Mr.Qgkscem asks why a !a%ghiatus-tpe

zii

Introduction to the Carletovl Library EBirion

familiar " c u l t d lag"-was necessary befm a m f f l North Am~rieM"mltwm" e x W to make a liirnry flowering possible or to prodwee a sru flame. He dota RQI exam&. h e psibility IIaighb a w e s l e p l &I 6 ? aeeS d t k e o w : that then aiL.ht tbrafme n e w be h Norlh A&c1 of h o k r European d&oou. a c k i k t i o a cam-. parable to the parent c i v i l h b ; and (hat t l m rabht never be

cf the same asrapticas, L the same these were pac-Rourxau clickCI

orau

H

Turner; pernaps

m t k E s r v p a , and

b

ek

In his introduetay enquij into & p r r l characicristics of colonial societirr Mr. Eaalcston A n n &at tbr "sfflallesl unity .I% Ipirihaal d k i*s su of society is the Fesni):. weer of the iacipimt writer may h u e beoa -ntially frxe and settlcd befm tbe drU amve aut iaM tErc hrpf eoetrnunity wrmu* his M e . " H e w "00111~ ratio* o f the pioneer family"'mrast be hrcludcd, and bcyoad it &he s!dapkg community. He q u a While:

7""

Introdwetwn to the Carleton Library Edition individual is born d r e a d ed

in

fmtler

more isalnted aad re had h g c r to wwt hoi61itybthe am waa mare obrlow H w ,tht*, to wcaunt for

I

Maj. John Richardson? The simplest answer, I suppose, is that the officer-class of the garrisons was a cultural stimulus of sorts, as it sat the same time in Halifax. Mr. Eggleston prefers to fall back the Dresence of Richardson's alleeed aristocratic French !her. 'The danger of lhii type of expla~arioobecomes apparent Pacev's revelation that Richardson's erandmother in fact was ~vinkiian.She might well be the expla;ation, insofar as a single can be. but not of a kind to su~nortMr. Eeeleston's areument " ultural bntinuity kith ~ u r o ~ e ' . ' hadter Vn anem~ts."toillustrate the frontier thesis" bv a few s dn the early leiters of French-speaking Canada. ~ h ;same snutifying influences of the frontier are called upon lo account for I the absence of an.early French-Canadian literary tradition, but . more so: "Is a native literature remotelv oossible without even a iingle printer, a single publisher or a siig& bookstore in the cammunjty?" And.when the conquest brou&t the means of literary ,publication in its wake, the temper of the people inevitably w,as directed toward the oat. Here. more recent scholarshio and the :5. flood of'new writersSmightgi"e a very different pictu;e; hut of course this book is concerned with the pioneer phase, or phases,

-

2~

i

_

~

'

F ' -onl,.

-5.. . -

-..fii'

.

,

The Fredericton writers of the 1880's are treated as a famillr group withii a small but college-centered community whose cohlsion could "ienite. but could not feed. the literarv llame." E m ~ h a sis is put on&e strong, conservative educationai backgroundsthat led to Roberts' role as a foundiie father of Canadian literature. This was not in any sense a pizneer community, and yet the cadtal. Fredericton. had a ~ooulationof onlv 6000 at that time. ~ 6 n of e the Fredericton grdup, Mr. ~ ~ ~ l e sobserves, toi was able to earn a kving by writing. "Ontario society was singularly slow to produce a climate and soil favourable to the growth of native arts and letters," Mr. Eggleston writes in his chapter, "Frontier Values Outlive the Frontier." Here the botancial analogy seems most apt, for after the initial production by literary immigrants l i e Moodie (and after precocious blooms like Richardson) there is a noticeable witherink to the end of the nineteenth centurv. and renewed erowth is slow in the twentieth. For the few nam& that do appear: the explanation offand is "family influences, supplemented by cultural stim-

uu o m r m from the woids world." For Camptdian aationalists Mr. E&tm's I I M is~clear: t b utE wit1 not thrive io tsolati.m.

"The Last Omat FrmtiCf' Mr. E g b examines ia the Cawkru k r d had ~m h~acme throvefi but where, except For a icu ca&y h e @ of setilera&c, rbe tn&.ition f m wibisreeas bo wrbearst4 lift took A c e within-a single l i f k . A h n h d t y IBe number of cities w& small. Much of the Wa1-on poinhl onaf is as ~ p a m l y8ettled as Siberia sad* as by ia fe aay h t a f e .

- nadiaa West,

-

-

Yov caadd welad haK a &t&e k that ranreland settins withaat e v e ~ ~ k & a pky, ~ hharitng a lyric wellWkad,meetini i?a mlw. e in P M t e r r . miur s wblisher. atP I&emy k t y , CM (1&mg with &@;aq critic.. What n utat~rnt,and hon, rctla* from the Boston of, say, ISYM

.

e

Mr. Eg laston gksces at Ceanor. kgb, McClung, Saberson. Stead. lrrcl d e n as p e ~ ~ ob a~lidesature m that nevel f b m r d . (Today, w h samcr as tJlo4e oP Margaret Laurence, KuBy Wkbe, R o w Kroetoe& Gem& R y e , and Sheila W a w chaikw critics like Wlllim New asd Jahh hd& to explain t k vigocu of western writiag. But with only McCourt's The C m a k Wesr ia Fietiem as kk is&. Mr. Emkston could not have nnlkipated s c h a deveiop&al.) Ha @% Grwe slightly more atkfiticw &an the others. a d hlhe Iriacraehkal faeu (DD. 14s-148) need smm m d m . C i m rrr {&I-21 oi 4) w6dn he came be NpaitoBa t~ Elve. The -ME of his "'wrugdine, on alwc for near@ tkiviy p n " in t b U r ~ abcfm be.minis;hok to prwice a lanslwrrwrl is f k ; G r m had been R piofessional inan &!am k a m e to C n W a d he came.here twenty yean later than his wtgbigwy & h d . Whether or not they were "wreful" to ha. hi More aroQda r e = the Enekh dassics. The "chaacc c~ux(scer"&a1 "put bin rightw-abw~manuscripu probably is ipouypkal, and the lace Arthur Phelps assured me that Lome Pierce's p e n c e at [bat Winniprg meeting of 1924 was "not quite by chance." Moreover, Phelps and Kirkconnell worked hard th an&t the "ehanec" & e m of& CaaadiDn Chabs.

sew

Introd&

M tbe ~ p f l e c Library i Edition

Tkre are other abrervatioas that t h e has fnvalidaed. Sinelair ROOS, fo~cxanspk.miMcd to be e U ~ - b O O ak d d ' , evcn W g h mact rgsdes ocill p&r kis firs be&. T h e do nor, h w r , invalidate -. Mr. E@krw'g study. We emid add mamy end

one-sixth d the mpl m6 ninth tlie pdueliea m tb 4 e U a Q . r l a a d l J . " eq h 4 cent stat+ thrl of m u $ 1 c a M a m6 . 6 4 nwally @I C ~ Rmw. L $1 ow@ p l b S j g canpias. have e W per, a& m y

k?.

one- . the reaDid aa-

ebO(iP

of place it omz Wed l iar Waotsm A m . Cottoin& t b Amciisan cuitus araarrd *aorldwlll,in- IRat t b vrtuR t k Americas fre&iet & p W y arutwd will, iw W2p or wolse, be eveqwne's valtms taauatw. P+%tbapt k y bav;r btke berniseofthe sriase$ woo8. It sce~ns;nlikel~.Since 1957. the &dim c f p e l r y lamcntd by Mr. Egakston has, accordhp: to outward %as, scorned and even rrwema its t m d . Poetry ;is o @es w%-haot&i~~ ~ f u t l y revived. More m-es and m e bat.&¶ arc ~ W B I I W rnore , support h availabk m anthem rsld odilan. k d a r as a eonaciolrs government p o k y can prevail against iasllCTeregfe, paogress k being made. But stin tbe hcliEnew-(br d w b i about the v&Mity of the arras-& &ere. Recently r ashod srea? my h m e adver-

Introduction to the Carleton Library Edition tized aa evenin$ public-iatecest course 'in Canadian Literatdn The cowse had been wet1 prepared, and was suffiiently an. n o w e d . Yet it had to be camelled: oat a skglo fegistration wa

-

received. hr)wps aP i$e alts exist only bewipc a small intellec tual m m m i t y - l k e hoverticalsociety" this book ends with-con siders e m important. W k r e h a t community becw~estoo small BS in the impmoeul ckctrmk it nay do, then the condition d the frontier might oblrin win. whatever t k s n w d com p e n s a f k . and fhs cultural Eife of t k whde communiiy coul~ ' again decline. I suy " c o W becaw this wId.happen; but I am confident it wiU not. Art ip ao Ptnllger $0 Idversity. If it can survive in. P phyaieally hestile e n v h m e n l it c ~ su&e a in ouraffiflcial envi ronmknt whae tke e m k pre lipemvice a& popular miscon c e p t i o n s . . m k d M mp-pf and @tical expediency, superficia e d u c a i i wd meal by D b w e w w y in league with the corn mnriul media. There is a am in which the .arts are always on ; frmtler, always op& by a namww utilitfand expediencq Them is aka a wnoc in whicb t k a* .we continually pressin; back the fioaliess of e x p r i e m , & this is the direction in-whicl today's eMpl.rntatrtw V& edbs Mr. &glestoo's thesis. No onty wowl-3 b add l$e R ~ U p ) ~ a&g phywrightz-there ~ were fev of the tetatar vh@s in 1951-the wfim d Newfmdland. thq young Quebec a w e , ird t k w b k meatire rnovcrnent of the West C m t is the BLFs, LCx 4 rkDw h m %vies and Watson.. Wiebe,. K r - h e . La~rcwa,Ryga. R e a ~ y ,Aviwn, Atw~od. Blais, A+a, Cam&, Itood, Bsxvmisg Rlswlme. Helwig. Metcalf, and so many aherr a s expbriag t k m s i p w c n t frontiers of coaseiwrar~sa d ~ m & g r&e f m s to axpress them. When the physieal froacl%rt bars -Mosnt. Piufdy, Theesiault and othzrs have p m w d hem inPo the &chic-she motional frontiersremain P pact oF thr m a m p r a t y , a d t b msimaal. consciousm. Thex arc always h m to sx@o?e, ia arm appropriate to each sew, g e ~ r r a t h and , ttce allishr will bt, ns they always have been, the adventwrm froatmimen grepmd to settle them anfl move with them BS Ihsyrewde. With ihb pralifiiation; The Fron tier otK3 C@md&mh r w s rawins as p o R k n t ro today's, as tl Wilfrid Egglerton's, generation d.Candisas.

-

~

1

:-

,

~

. I? .:

,

~

-:

-. ,L. .: - -*.& ., = . ...~ . ,a7 . . 3 ; ; ' . . &GbasU it. 2 ;~.k7s.Ss

-- >.

~

-

r

.

:

-

.

.

L.

-

A-

.

4

". .'#-% :;-: .9!Kw+~:.

society itself, the importation of press- the inauguration of newspapers and magazines, the emergence of printers, editors and publishers, the opening of book stores, the establishment of libraries, and a stimulating renewal of intellectual ' contact with the mother country, France. The fortunes of war and a sense of political subservience, a resentmedt of it, indeed, turned the thoughts of the Frenchspeaking North Americans back to.their illustrious pant: there. began to appear archivists, antiquarians and historians; and at the same time a small but receptive reading public came into being, p r e p a d to enwurage their activities. The birth of French-laneage letters in Canada was slow and painful, and the treatment of pioneer authors as callous and unimaginative as usual. Nevqtheless, here .as elsewhere in North America, a native literature of great community value and creditable technical skill did eventually come into being. The weekly newspaper and the magazine played at least as importanta role in the development of the French-language. authors of Quebec in the nineteenth century as in English-. speaking Canada. Michel Bibaud's pedestrian verse appeared in L'Aurac, Garneau's early historical writing in Etienne Parent's Lc Canadimnr, and in his own L'Abcilic Canadimnc anc L'ZNlilul. Bibaud's La Bibiiolhcquc Canadienne provided r medium for a nymber of Quebec authors. A group of writers launched Lcs Soirbs Cdnodicnncs in 1861: in it appeared Gbin-Lajoie's novel, Jean Rimrd, and the popular tales o f . LaRue and Tach&. Lc Foyrr Canadirn fostered the work. of. established French-Canadian writers. These are only a few of the publications which offered the literary figures of Quebec a means of finding expression in ihe years before book publishing was a well-established industry. Comparative dates are of little significance, but it is iriteresting that the first peaks of literary achievement in French appear around 1860, that is, about midyay between the

~

least preserved and collected qli6cation and kepiration of

nettled into a lifelong nrdtrous of Quebec's gloriw past, as

the poet. He caught up the flame fmm Garneau and spread it ardently. I n CrCmazie's life all those contributory influences mentioned elsewhere in this book can be traced: the home, the school, the library, the social club, the intimate c i d q the magazine. Crtmazie's family, as I have noted, owned a bookstore in the rue de la Fabrique, in Quebec City. At Laval College, Crtmazie came under the influence of a famous educator, a native of Vermont. In due course he acquired what Wade calls an "astonishing erudition." MacMechan describes the physical appearance of the not very , poetic-looking figure, and comments: "This ugly little hmk seller was a learned man. With equal ease he qu6ted Sophodes and the Rarnayana, Juvenal and the Arabian or Scandinavian poets. He had even studied Sanscrit."' Booksellers both in Quebec and in Montreal provided a kind of informal meeting place which stimulated literary production. Octave CrCmazie's presence in the bookshop owned by hi family had unquestionahlx a catalytic effect on French-Canadian writing. Louis Frkhette's interest in poetry, it is said, was born there. Archibald MacMechan has given us a charming sketch of the little book-shop "in the rue de la Fabrique," just opposite the old Jesuit barracks: Crbnazie's bookshop, its windows filled with the latest volumes from Paris, was the rendezvous for the best minds in Quebec. "There Garneau -the historian might be seen rubbing elbows with Etienne Parent the .thinker, Baron Gauldrk-Boilleau, wnsul-general for France, shaking hands with Abbe Ferland, while Chaveau turned over the leaves of Pontmartin's Somcdis. There LeMay and Frtchette came to read their first essays; there Tach6 and Cauchon carried on endless arguments, and GCrin-Lajoie loitered after the dosing of the legislative library."

_

'MacMechan, Anhibald: HlodmaInr of C a d i o n Lilsrolure. Toronto, P. 60.

1924.

98

T ~ FRONTIER E AND CANADIAN L8mm.s

These associations were not confined to stimulating talk. 'With that French instinct for concerted action, so different h m English individualism," MacMechan goes on, "this ctnocle established a magazine, Lcs SorrCes Canudieruus, the aim of which is sufficientlyindicated by the motto b o w e d from Nodier, 'Let us hasten to relate the delightful tales of the people before they have forgotten them.' In 1862, a financial indiscretion exiled C r h w i e from Quebec to Paris and his d a r ~as C a d e n poet and literary - ". stimulus were virtually over. But from his detached post in the heart of literary Europe he saw the literary struggles of i subsequent letters to % :,coIonial Quebec in a stark light. H his old f r i e d Abbe Casgrain contain some of the most perceptive obauvations on pioneer letters we are ever likely to read. These letters, Mason Wade observes, represent the &st noteworthy French-Canadian criticism. Crhazie did not allow his patriotic fuyour to cloud hi judgment. Commenting on Caspin's enthusiastic summary of the literary movement in Quebec, the critic wrote fromParis: Mm.Garneau and Ferland, have already, it is true, supplied a granite base for our literary edifice; but if one bird d m not make a spring, two books do not constitute a literahre. AU that has been produced by us, beyond these two great works, seems to me to have no chance of survival. In ~oetrv.in fiction, we have only secbnd-dassworks. Tragedy, &e drama, m still to be born. .

"'

--

...

..

A8 for Canadian writers, it was hopelesn for them to expect to earn enough for their least needs, Crtmazie wrote. They were placed in the same situation as thcee of the Middle Ages. Unlens they engaged in polities, observed CrCmazic"and God knows the literature that we o w e 0 the tirades of political pundits!"-their pens could not win sufficient for their least needs. The young man leaving college thought it a call to IMaeMechan, op. cil. P. 61.

the higheet destiny to have his name attach* to some article in a magazine, Crimazie said, but such fpolish vanities of youth goon vanished before the daily cares of life: The need of gaining his daily bread has imposed upon him the harsh necessity ofdevoting his life to certain arid occupations,-which will blight in him the sweet flowers of the imagination and break the intimat~anddelicate fibres of poetic sensibility. . Under such conditions it is a misfortune to have received fmm heaven a portion of the divine fire. Since one cwnot earn a living by the ideas which boil in one's brain, one must seek employment which is nearly always contrary to one's tastes. The most usual result is that one becomes a bad employee and a bad writer.'

..

How familiar these sentiments are! They rnn thmugh the story of early Canadian letters like a persistent strain in the minor key. Wilson MacDonald gave the idea a haunting expression in "The Cry of the Song Children," Lloyd R o b e 5 in his moving lyric, "I Would Be Free," and Frederick Philip Grove returned to it again and again. CrGnazie saw penetratingly that if Quebec failed to produce a notable literature in that era, it would not be from lack of talent, but from lack of effective demand. The cause of the inferiority of French-Canadian letters to date Iay not in the rarity of men of talent, he wrote, "but in the disaswua environment pmyided for the writer by the indifference oba population which has as yet no taste for letter&, at least for works produced by native sons." It was not that the economy of French-speaking Canada was too poor to support a lituature. Mason Wade point8 out that Crhazie denounced Quebec's "society of grocers." In this he included the professional men with limited vision and oldfashioned tastes. "The masterpieces of foreign literatures were completely unknown and of no concern to them; how should they be. LWade, Maron: The FrrnJt C d m , 7760-19d5. Tomto, 1955. Chapter VI, section 9.

interested in an infant literature?" Wade quotes Crhazie as observing that in his own bookselling days in Quebec "' was not these.pillars of society, but a few students and ung priests who bought works of real value and devoted their silm savings to'the masterpieces of literature. It seemed to him that there was nothing to do but await better days."' Crhmazie, of course, would not see it, nor would the con