New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-28

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The st Lawrence is a goodIy thread on which
to string the pearls Of Canadian history and |
legend Surely one of the most beautiful rivers |
IN the world, it is as intimately associated with
the traditions Of the Aulerinds as with the eX- /
pioradon and development Of the North Ameri- |
can Continent by Europeans. Forming the out |
let Of the Great Lakes. it springs, Mfnerva-like |
fun grown into being. and save for the current |
flowing by and among the thickIy scattered |
Thousand Islands, the Manatoana of the !
Amerinds. its source might well be mistaken for |
IFS mouth, so broad and splendid is its embay- !
ment- To this popularity rather than to its |
magnificent length it would seem to owe its de- |
scription by Carriers Indian pilot "a river
without end" Al the epoch-making events Of
Canadian history belong as well to that of the !
ST Lawrence. ard against its sturdy and often
turbulent current pushed the equally sturdy flow
Of trader. trapTer and missionary explorers who,
persisting westward to the great plains north
ward to Hudson Bay and southwark TO the Gulf
of Mexico. claimed. in the name Of France, a
continent that they were unable TO retain.
While the physical history Of every river be
gins at its source, the human history Of Ameri- !
can rivers begins at their mouths. working, as
we have seen. against the stream into the in
terror Therefore. Nj. Browne in the present
volume. takes Us first from Lake Ontario to the
Atlantic % mark the course and picturesque
then conducts rs back again in the wake of the
early discovers and settlers under Cartier,
Champaign and Frontenac. successfully. We
note the founding Of the cities of Quebec and
Montreal, and the fall Of the former when Wolfe
defeated Moutcalm the Plains of Abraham
Since legend holds equal place with fact in such
q narrative this. the author gives space TO
the story Of Wolfe's reciting Grays "tleSy as
Re foated down TO the attack and saying, i
thu
take Quebec" Not that MI Browne claims
authenticity for the fable, but because it illus
tratrs the peculiar traits of the British com
mander, his moods Of enthusiasm. his love Tor
good literature and clear cut courage 1t is in
the same spirit that he treats his subject
throughout, and the picture that he draws Of the
river and the people who farmed and traded ana
fought upon its banks is, if in places somewhat
crudelv overlaid with color, generally correct in
outline and infused with imagination If he fails
anywhere it IS in conveying an adequate IDEA Oh
the place the river holds as a whole in the his
tory # American civilization and its influence
on the destines Of this country and Of those
which struggled for its control. His picture Is
panoramic if you VIII. but Of the type that Is
Jnrolled upon the stage and exhibited in sec
lions rather than Of that shown in its entirety
IL the wide sweep Of a cyclorana.
Cartier designated the ST. Lawrence as the
.riz-er Of TEochelaca' or the great river of
Canada" Hochelaga was the name of the Ind
ian town he found on the present site Of Mon
treal and he states in his journal, us appellent
me lille Canada" As Mr.. Browne says that
Cartier Limited the application of the name
canada to the country about Stadacone'
where Quebec now stands, and Stadacone was
..une Vile" il is as if he called the stream in
differently the River of Montreal and the River
Of Quebec He gave the name "Hochelaga' to
The country above Canada and the territory
below he termed the country of the Saguenay-"
Whether there is reason to believe WIN
w 4 H Murray that ships from Iberia sailed
m the st Lawrence before the Christian era
and that II was continuously, or even lnterlnt-
tenflv visited by Basque whalers up to the time
If the coming of Jacques Cartier, the author
docs not undertake to say. There is enough OF
Incident and adventure TO set down within the
,,e-fo9 If recorded history fill the volume and
n make selection difficult. Yet il is pity that
more is not known Of the earlier time The
lower section Of the river is the birthand of the
gods and heroes Of the picturesque Amerinds,
,..boea MYTHS and legends have not yet fled be-
fore the searchIight Of civilization, so there is
rot y SPOT without its warrior dream, and some
aI1usfor 10 that day when the land was peopied
fv y race with an unwritten history The
legend Of the league Of the Iroquois. described