The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1899-08-24
The Novelists and Canada.

AS a matter OF fact, until quite recently
Canada could scarcely be said to have any
novelists. Fiction has been in the past
the most unfruitful branch of our intel
lectual tree. While every decade has
produced scores of verse writer's and one
or two genuine poets, and every period OF
the national history has had its more or
less capable historians, the rich mines OF
Canadian history and national character
istcs have remained almost untouched by
noveists. There is in Canada the broad
est possible field for the writer of fiction.
The early days of the French occupation
| TEEN with incidents of dramatic and ro-
mantle interest, such as the interminable
conflicts between the French and the Eng
fish, and between each of these and the
Indians; the expulsion of the Acadians,
and the stirring incidents of the Jesuit
Relations; later the exodus of the United
Empire Loyalists from New England to
Canada, the War of 1872, etc. For the
analytical novelist and the novelist who
makes the delineation of character his
special field, there is no lack of oppor
| tunty in the contrast and mingling of
two races so different in character and
mode of thought, and yet one iii loyalty
and mutual respect. Nor are definite
types wanting; the picturesque habitant
! of Quebec and his brother, the simple
minded Acadian of the Lower Provinces !;
the sturdy and self reliant farmer of On
ario; the breezy and unsophisticated son
of the great Northwest; the free and easy
miner and lumberman of the Pacific
Slope; the trapper of the North; the coast
fisherman; the Prince Edward Island er,
who believes that the whole Dominion
circles around his little island, and tue
| degenerate aborigine-these are all COM
/ ponent parts of our mixed population.
1t is true that from time to time in the
! past solitary figure has arisen and made
d half hearted attempt to arouse the dor
mant interest of his countrymen.~ The
late James De Mile, for many years
| Professor of English Literature at DIAL
| housie College, Halifax, published about
forty novels and tales, chiefly through
| "Harper's S. " a the time, they We're all
popular in the United States; but very
few OF them had any lasting value. The
best were ''Helena's Household" ''The
Martyr of the Catacombs;" The Dodge
Club" "Cord and Creese;' 1.-The B. O.
W. c. Papers, and posthumous novel,
entitled "a Strange Manuscript Found in
Copper Cylinder.' At still earlier
period De Gaspe published his historical
novel, Lies Anciens Canadiens;' Mrs.
| Leprohon, ''Antoinette de Mirecourt, -
! and a number of other stories; Miss A.
NJ, Machar and Mrs. Trail (the latter a
member of the famous Strickland family
wrote tales of the pioneer days and the
| War of 1912; and William Kirby published
his Golden Dog a historical romance
of the days of the French occupation.
Nearly all of these were published in the
United States, and were only known
there. Canadians had not yet thrown off
the stern and eminently practical spirit of
the pioneer, fresh from the battle with
nature for home; and they could not
stoop to anything so trivial as the reading
of novels, especially those of home pro-
duction.
A few years ago Gilbert Parker's name
became known through the publication of
some clever sketches of life in the wild
Northwest-"Pierre and His People" and
IAN Adventurer of the Nortb.' These
were followed by several novels, based on
the early romantic period of Canadian
history, the best of which was 1.-THE
Seats of the Mighty" which has since
been dramatized. Sara Jeanette Dun
can Mrs. Cotes), Robert Barr, Grant
Allen, and Miss Lily Dougall have also
each written number of novels. But it
is not until we come down to the autumn
of 1898 that we at length see what prom
Uses to be the genuine and thorough
awakening of the long dormant spirit of
Canadian fiction. 1t is as if the fire of
Canadian fiction, after a prolonged period
of smouldering, had at length been blown
into a fairly respectable blaze which
promised in time to develop into per
manent beacon. "Recent Canadian Fic-
tion," by Lawrence j. Burpee in the
August Forum.