Canadian novels and novelists [microform]

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'653 Eas! '."ain Street

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(716) 482 - 0300 - Ptione

(716) 288 - 5989 - Fax

.-I^

Canadian NoveLs and NovelLsts.

By Mr. Lawrknck J. Burpkk.

\\

[A'tntf February .S7/r, /po/.

I have interpreted the title of tliis paper in the broadest
sense, a« inchidi i>j all branches of Action, the novel proper,
the romance, the short-story, etc. When the subject first
suggested itselt to nie, I felt that there was scarcely sufficient
substance in it for even a short paper, but upon making a
careful examination of the field it appeared that instead of tin-
existing material l)eing meagre, I shouM have to resort to
rigid compression to keep the paper within reasonable bounds.
The very interesting section of French-Canadian fiction is
consequently omitted altogether, to be dealt with perhaps on
some future occasion, and in reviewing the course of th«-
English section of our fiction, I have confined anything like
a full treatment of the novelists and their books to the earlier
and little-known writers, passing over more recent names as
briefly as po>sible. i

Under the adverse conditions ,.f pioneer life in a new
country the first feeble efforts towards literature, semi-con.scious
at best, are found to be rather practical and utilitarian thar
intellectual. This applies especially to the case of Canada.
Going back to the earliest beginning of our literary history we
find, first, certain rough and ready accounts of explorers and
navigators, descriptions of the country, its natives, etc. Then,
books of advice (wise or otherwise) to immigrants, and other
things of the kind. Following these, we come upon a mass of

1. A somewhat full coasiderrftiun of the fonteinfxuarv Kr<»ni» nf
CHiiadian uoveiists will »h^ found in an article by the writer, in thf
Forum, New York^-Awgnntr^JJ^IH ,»■ i t^^^

,- ..- <;-f?.j j.-A.^H A/ i

'if i. --i ^ ri ^ ■> I

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'*'"■•■*'.'.'»*.*» "'(■(^••U

■""' ""■ '''^•■' '■"""■' 'MV narrative,, .,,- all „f Jin I,'

h .„a . Af,..rwar,ls ,l,c half.fle,:«.| „ff.,„,„^, „, '^
Clmnal Muse appears, si„«i„^, i„ :,,,„„„. „„,,„, ,'^,, , „ ' !
l'»e ..Mccre s.,„,.,s uf ,:,.. „..„. la,,.: of pr,„„i«.. .,, " Ow

a... .s.ra,„ „f fr,.,,,,, „f, „,, ^„^„ „„ ,,^^ ' „a ',„:,:
>ncl„,al„„> to write and read fiction. Tl>i, liter, rv
.;-.. i. no, of c„„r.se. a. .li,tinct an,, a'r!-':.:" ^ , e^^ 'il':
"n, w„ul,l „„p,y. We .shall discover one or two pre.n ,te
,ve s „, the earner periods of o„r history, .„.,, ne.'er 1, Z
.". tl„„>;l,|.e a general ,levelo,„„e„t in the writi,,., „r ficl,on
or t u appearance of a reco,„i.ed «r„„p of Canadi,.-;, ,ove , '
.s not c, 1« fonnd except within the Inst riecade or two '

The first novel written i„ Ca„a,Ia was "The Hist.ir,. „f
hini v.Montaijnc "hv Mrs Pr,..„ i> ■ -, "'siory ..l

,.f .1,: ■ .' trances l!r,„>ke, wife of the chaplain

of the Ka r,son at Quebec. This book belo„f;s t.: the one
popular class of epistolary novels. ,t was wri.^n i,lJ^
ami pubhshed at London iu 1 769. sixteen vears au r he
appearance of the last of Richardson s fan,o„s tr l,^v ^^
epistolary novels, "sir Charles (Jraudison •• *" .

Mrs. Urooke's nov, I consists of a .scrie, of let,> rs fr,.„,
Km. y Mo„,a,M,e, at Sillery, to her fr.euds abroa.l, a„ ,

Over half a century elapsed before a..vtl„ns further a„

.^ocWd'H '" 'T: ''""'"'' "^'""^^ "- honour of .,,
procluced the second book of fiction written in Cauada. Tl„:

■■' i';.K'".i,llin".M;M;;[,.vi;i;."- ",';":;i'-""- ,!" '-r ->■,■„.■». ..v,,,,. a,,,,,,,.

V.I. I. u v.„. I ■!.,„ V ' ;',"i' .£',■'"'"''•"■ -I i>"'.ii V. 17 a,.

I2„i,.. ■ri,i,i.,h,.(i,«„1 ,■'„■; .. ., -^.i-- ^"'' 'V 2i:i i,.,4 V,,

y..„r at i„,i,ii„. tw,",,,,-K ':.:'',';;;''''';.''•" ""; i'"''ii»i,-.i i....^,, t.

i„lMK, Thr,,,iy,,,n.dit,u,„i,VVl..< .'."'■''','''''■'' ' i"" ' I'., is

(!„:.( ■,„l..t.m. .a,r,..„ uh.s .I,.,,,,. .|„i ,,, n,,. ,|^^,^^ ,.^^^. ^|

NATK»Ht USRARY

CANADA

NBLimDLlJilG HKTXOHUM

maim

— J—

«!>" "St. frMil.i's C.M.vcMl •■ , . I

to the ,;„„e Ki.-ncT.,l tv„c- ul',, , '""'""'"• ^'''O. l.olo„Ki„i;

...any «.„ts /,..;. : '7""""P..-i..ic.n„,,, i,,?

who was liviiir in kin,, , ,'""""".• '">'■«■ 'lrni.swU-k.ai„l

"ovd was,,,;, i. ."^"r, ' H ""T '■"'"''• ^" "'^ ' ""

"T<.n„cw.„te." 2 "'trij^MU', fntitlcl

M-O'-r John Richardson ul,,, ,„ .,. ,

"I iKu an, w ,s lake,, „ri „ '' """™l ". H.^' war

'•• !.^^'rat„e a,„l j„„r„ali„„. , ,„ ,' ' , '"' ''"■■"-' '"".-'•If
"-K i.. <.ai,.". a„„earc.,l ,„ „, " '-,;.• ""''"'"" " ^■"''^

'.- .H40. .,s first'::,:; ,::':; rif'""' ^' "^-^-■"•■

.i...s, 'Kcu^or the Salons of Pa r ,:"';" -trV"'""
New Vorl,i., ,839, i.. two vol,, , " '.m, " ''r"^ "''"' '"
^Hi. by is ,„„st i,„p„rta„t w k .mI ' "'"' '""""«'• '■'

Ma>,v- of le scenes are lai,l '"'''^'•' "' "'•'.■".''•

_ K waconsta was very favourahly reviewed

-•. has ar,,..n..s,i,.« pa pe, ^'L Trms :;;• ''■^"^>"'"'''''' »''if'lioRraph-
;:Hna.la,-:ntlnspaner^,3 £ves'a /:,'/:;'" '■'^".•■"""" -» impHn m

Mrs I.rt also wrote a fhiir? ^..
never pu..hed. '^'"^ «'<>•>. " Kdith." which however was

I>y such authoritative Kii^jlish joiirna's as the Athrnfrum
A\\i\ Satirist. Riclianlson's third !>ook, "The Canadian
Hrolhtrs," is a vijjorously written rotn.inceof the war of i8ii,
ill which, as has l)ccn stated, he himself tfK»k a part, i
This was followed by " Matilda Montgonierie," "Vait-na-jjee;
or the Massacre of Chicago", " The Monk Knij^ht olSt. John,"'
"Westbrook," ••Tecuniseh," and one or two othen, founded
chiefly upon incidents in Canadian history.

In 1838 tlie Literary (Garland, a monthly magazine
"devoted to the advancement of jjeneral literature", uts started
at Montreal, and for some years edited by Johi Gibson.
The majjazitie ran for fourteen years, an unprecedened th.njj
in Canada, and was by all otlds the most important venture
of the kind in the country, up to that time. 2 Its* contents
were mainly fiction, from Canadian pens, amonj; tie chief
contributors being Mrs. Moodie and Mrs. Traill, tw) of the
famous Strickland sisters, Mrs. Leprohon, Hugh K. »Iontgo-
nit-rie. Re- erend Joseph .\bbott, Mrs. Maclachlan, hnnings
Taylor, Dr. William Dunlop ("Tiger" Dunlop, as he was
called) of the Canada Company, Mrs. Cushing, Mrs.Cheney
iiifl Mi.ss. Foster, the last three sisters.

Mrs. Susanna Moodie was born at Bungay, in the^ounty
of Su.sstx, England, in 1803. Four of her sisters, KUabeth,
Agnes, Jane and Catharine, contributed to the literaire of
the period, the first two being authors of the standarc works
"The Queens of England," "Queens of Scotland,"etc. hsanna
Strickland began to write when she was fifteen years jf age,
contributing short poems and tales to English annu» and
magazines. In 1821 she married Mr. J. W. Dunbar .V)die,
and they came to Canada the following year, .settlin;,on a
farm near Port Hope, aftcwards removing to a pla( near
Peterborough, in what was then practically the wilcteiess.
In her best-known book, "Roughing it in the Bush, Mrs.
Moodie has given a graphic picture of the hardships thy had

1. Published at Montreal in l»tO.

2. First Series. Dece!i!l>er 183« \n DererTib«?r 1S42
t«» 1862. Published by Lovell & Gibson.

New 8cii, 1545

' ( •

5

to umlerKo in tluir f.ackwoo<l.s home. Ifcr first fmok written
after she came u, Canada was " Mark Hurdlestone, the (JoM
Worshipper." . This was followed by ''Flora I.vml.Hav " 2
"Matnm.m.al Spec.Uticm.s, ' 3 "RouKhiiiK it in the Bush." 4
"Ltfe in the Clearinx-s," 5 "Dorothy Chance." "The Monck-
tons," 6 etc.

Mrs. Call' .ine Parr Traill, who died only a couple of
years ajjo, haviUK' nearly reache<l the century mark, wa.s lK>rn
in KuKland in 1H05. 7 She emigrated to Canada in 1832,
with her husband, I^ieutenant Traill of the Scotcii Fusiliers.
1 hey seiile<l near Rice Lake, in UpjK'r Canada, where nearly
all her books were written. Besides several charmiiiKly
written botksof science, which furnish delightful reading as
well to the novice as to the naturalist, she was the author of a
nuinl)er of tales, among the chief of which may be mentioned
"The Canadian Crusoes," 8 "Lady Mary and her Nurse," 9
and "Stones of the Canadian Forest." 10

Mrs. kosanna Kleanor Leprohon was born and educated
in Montreal. She contributed to the /M^tan Garland at
the age of fourteen, and sub.sequentlv wrote' a numl>er of
noyel.s, romances and short tales, as well as some rather

V **»*»''-»>♦'«• 1«52, in 2 v..|iiii,t.8

:1. iau'"' ''•^'"^''"y ' •"'• P-^sai^en in nn Eventful Lif.-." I8M.

5' •"' Uf^fn'r/f *!«!" ^^** ""^^ = "•> L''" "• <'anad«." JH62.
n i«a»j. i t oiiiiMfM.

Mi^; Mc).KliH8ub-equentIypuhliHhe<l a number of oth<>r m.velK ri
in iS. ' "^'^ "*'"'■**** Leatrini." 1875. Mrs. Moodie died

10. PubliHhpd 185A

mc.luKMc i.H-.n. M, n, ,„s | m..,.,,„, j,, ,„, .. |ii!,!j„,|Kv;,
C;.n.i.Uns,>.".av.uf lur u..rk i.- Iktion " Slu- a.nu-.l prin-
'•'pally to .KpiVt tl... stair of S.H i,ts uhich ixistnl in Cai.a.l ,
ITiut lo aii.| miuu.ltattlv ..lur tlu' Om.nuM." Il.r IhM „„.
l-rtaiit novel u ,. -Ma lU rcsfonl." whJH, .,|»iHar,.| in tlu
/./A^.//,'<;,„/.,W,„ .s,s. T!u folloui„« xcar " Mornuv
'••1/ Hanhnt^.,.- apiK-an-l: an.l atur tlusr <anu- in rat.i.l
s.iccvssi.m. -I-.va UuuUu^.lnu." •' Clarnuv Im,/ Clatv.uv '•
"l'.VfUcnu'I)oMiu!l." ••Annan.lDuran.l." . ••Tlu- Mm..,
not.scof I).. \-ilU.rai.- and " Antoin.tk- «k- Mir.cmrt " •
Mu- last tlircf. -s u- I ... tl- lir>.. uv,v aftc-ruanls tra.islatf.l
""toFrcnrh. *••!<!:, M. r...f„nl" was uannh prai>ol I.n M,.
M..o.lK-.ntlu-/.,Aw. I/.,;.,:,,., !;,I!eviIk-. of uluch slu'
uas ilu'ii i-tlitor

Tnr.iin^ nou to tlu- |,,.wcr iMuvin.vs. wcT..nu- to ., „ „u
'•^I'H-h ranks lua.l aiul sI„miI.K-,s ahovc c-vc-rv otlu-r -lann- in
Cana.han litcratn.v TI,o,:,,s Clian.lKr HalilMulon. •> San,
Mi'-k ■• nahhiJI.Mi was I.o,n at Windsor. Xova ^-otia
"•• tlu- ,7tl, iK-cvnilH-r. ,;,,'.. n,. ,vas c-.It,catc.l at Kind's
C olk'^rc., \\ ni.lsor. -radnalin- will, hononts ; wa, callcl to tlit-
'•"•; and afu-rwanls rc-prcs.-nl.-d il,c co.-.nlv of Annapolis in
llH' IMovmdal Asscnl.ly. In :,c;,,s. ,vl,c-n onlv tl.irtv-two
yc-ars .,t A^v, hv was appoinu-.l CliK-f Jnsiicv of the Conrt of
C.un.non Pk-asof Xova Scotia, and in tS.j, was transfc-rrd
t«. tlu- Snprcnie Conn of thai Province. In iS^r. hv rcno.cd
I- l-.n^land an.l c-ntrrc<l the Ivn^Iish Parliament, where for
several vears he stannehlv npheld ■ Colonial ri-hts in an
assen,I)l> that, when not aclivelv hostile, was indifTerent on the
subject. He died at his I-.n^^rH,), h„„K-. Cordon Honse, on the
banks ol the Thanies. in 1X65.

It is inipossihe tor. -.tempi to do even paiiial justice, with-
in the limits of a .i,reneral paper, tr. the work of one whom
Artemns Ward pnmrmnced to he the " father of the American

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8

The Illustrated London News of July 15th, 1842, con-
tained a sympathetic review of Jud^e Haliburton's work,
from which the followinjj^ is taken :

"The primary cauNi; of ilH succeHK. wi; ccncoivi-, imiy Ik; found in its Hoiind, Kiif^Kci
ixiH, uncxaKKi'ralcd viewNof human niilurR— not of hiimitn natuioa<*U in modified by
artlflcial InxtitutlonH and Hiibje<'ted t'> tlic duHpotic i.-aiiriccH of faHhion, but iih it uxlMt^>
in a fruv and cnmpHrativtdy uuHophiHticatcd Ntate, full of fiiith in itM own inipulHCt, and
quick to HynipathiHo with kindred huinatiity: ndvcuturoun, M-lf-rclyintf, untrammolled
by Hocial etiquette ; KiviuK full vt-nt to the eniotionp) that rJKe within its breast ; reifard-
IcsK of the diHtini^Monx of cuHte, but rcMuh- to find frlendx and brethren amonf; all of
whom it nuiy come in contact.'

" Sam Slick " has found his way into every corner of the
earth. A traveller records his surprise and pleasure at meet-
ing with a well-thumbed copy in a log hut in the woods of
the Mississippi Valley. Another traveller found one in the
most northern town in the world, Hammerfest, Norway,
where it was the constanc companion of the British Consul.
Forty years ago it is recorded that an able but very eccentric
Danish Governor at St. Thomas, in the West Indies, was
noted far and wide for his excessive admiration for " Sam
Slick " and his sayings. Whenever a very knotty point
arose before him and his Council, which consisted of three
persons, he used to say, " We must adjourn till to-morrow. I
should like to look into this point. I must see what Sam
Slick has to say about it."

As Nova Scotia had her pre-eminent man-of-letters, .so
New Brunswick might also boast of her's, though on a lower

4. ••The OldJudge ; or. Lifein a Colo •>• " By the author of "Sam
Slick the Clockniaker." 2 vols. H my Colhuni, Loinlon, 184!), 8v...
Appt-ared originally in Frazer'n Mnyiizine, Feb. 1847. Other e.lition.s :
New York. 1W9 ; Londoi , 18«() ; New York. 1862; New Yo k. 18S(i
Translated into German m 1849-5f> and published in Hvnls. Frem h
translrttion, " Le Vieux Ji;ge," Bibliofheque Unii^ertelle de Gencrt.
Tom. X . 1849.

5 Sam Slick's Wise Saws and Modern Instance^ ; i>r. What he
Said, Did, 01 Invented," 2 vols Huist & Blaokett, London. 1853, 8vo.
Other editions : Philadelphia. ISSi; London, 1859.

6. ' Nature and Hinnan Nature. By the author of Shhi Sli> k the
Clockmaker, 2 vo! .. Hurst & Blackett, London, 1855, 8vo. New York.
1855; London. 185t,

A bo"k wronpriy a-sorihed to Haliburtoti in the "English Ca a o-
gue." Morgan's "Bibliotheca Canadensis," etc., is "Kentucky. A T-tle "
London, 1834. It is simply an English edition, with a different title, «'f
James Hall's "The Harpe's Head, a Legend of Kentucky." 1833

'f^

.- ".

:}■»?

—9—

plane than Halilmrton. James De Mille was born at vSt. John,
New Brunswick, in 1834, and died in 1S80. He was educated
at Acadia College, \Volf\ illc, and at Brown rnivcrsity. From
186 : to 1865 he filled the imix)rtant Chair of Classics in the
faculty of Acadia, and was afterwards Professor of History
and Rhetoric at Dalhousie Collej^e, Halifax. He was the
author of some twenty or thirty novels and tales, all publish-
ed in the ITnited States. The Harpers brou^dit out some of
his best books, " The D(Kl}rc Club," " Cord and Creece." '
*' The Cryptoj^ram," - " A Stran^^e Manuscript Found in a
Copper Cylinder," ^ etc. Several of these first appeared in
harper\s Magazine as .serials.

De Mille's first book was " Helena's Household," a storv
of the catacombs at Rome, in the days of the persecution of
the Christians. "The Dod8:e Club" was published in 1^69,
some months before the first appearance of Mark Twain's
" Innocents Abroad." It is a curious coincidence that two
books, so similar in arranjjement and styi? of humor, should
have appeared the .same year. There can be no po.ssibility
that one borrowed from the other, for De Mille's book appear-
ed before " Innocents Abroad," and it would be absurd to
suppose that a writer of Mark Twain's .superabundant hinnor
and intellectual resource could have t' e s!iorhte>t occasion to
pick anolher man's brains. While on the subject of coincid-
ences, it might be noted that "The Ciockmaker" first appear-
ed in 1835, some months before "Pickwick Papers." \uy-
one who has read the two books mu.st have been struck with
their marked resemblance both in plan and treatment. .\s it
actually has been charj^ed against both Haliburton and De
Mille that they borrowed from Dickens and Mark Twain
respectively, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that
in each case the Canadian book appeared first.

Although Mrs. Scott Siddons selected it for one of her
readings, and was enthusiastic in its praise, "The Dod-^e

1. Published, 1869
2 Published, 1871.
3. Published. 1888, after his death.

ICJ

Club" hardly comes up to the level of "Inuocents A^ u.a(\ "
It does not possess the overniasterinjj: appeal of Mark T>, .;.i's
b-)ok, though its huuior is as true, and the narrative eqr.ally
brij^ht and entertaining.

James De Mille's novels did not in any case represent
the b^st work of which he was capable. He was always an
extremely busy man, and his books of fiction were written
at night, after the fatiguing work of the lecture room had
been gone through He himself called them mere "Pot-
boilers," and looke 1 forward to a period of comparative 1 isure,
when he might produce the best that was in him. He died,
however, in the prime of life, before his dream could be ful-
filled.

Personally he was a most charming companion, a genial
and entertaining talker among his friends, a musician and
artist of more then ordinary skill, and a rem.irUable linguist.
He read and spoke nearly all the languages of Europe, under-
stood Latin, Greek and Anglo-Saxon, and had a working
knowledge of Arabic and Sanskrit. He had wandered into
every road and by-way of Kni^Hish literature, and enriche.l a
text-book on Rhetoric which he prepared with such a wealth
of illustrative passages from the English classics as will
hardly be found elsewhere, i

From about i860, when the last of Ma'-or Richardson's
books appeared, no book of fiction of any consequence
came out in Upper Canada, (or Ontario,) until the year ICS74,
when Miss \gnes Maule Maclipr, of Kingston, a friend of
Whittier's, publishsd a little tale called " For King and

1. The following is a fairly loinplet^' list of Professor De Mille's
books .>f fiction, besides those mention d ahovie : ''Ma tyrs (.f the < 'ata
(•Hnbs,"1858; ' Andy O'Hara " 186(); '-John Wheeler's Two Uncles."
186() ; " The S -Idier and the Spy," 188.5; •* Arkan-^as Ranger. 18(5,j :
"The Li.v and the Cross." 1874, 18D3; "Lady of the Ice," 1870; " An
One 1 Question," 1872 ; " Tiie American Baron." 1883; "The Living
Link," 1874 ; " A Comedy f Terrors," 1872 ; " rhe Babes in the W- od."
1879; "ACas'lein Spain," 1883. The dates of piiblicatio.i are tho-e
given in Allibone's "Dctionary of Authors." but their absolute
accuracy is problematic al, ms MacFarlane in his "Bibilogrnphy of New
Brunswick *' gives different dates in neai ly every instance, while he,
again, is not sure of some of his own dates.

•.:t,i''

^}^:

m

— : r —
Country." This is a storv of the n'lr r.f r^r^ • •

<lcsc ptu. pas,a„...s of ,he sc.nery „f ,|,e IVni„s„la Miss
Machar l,ass,„cc writ.n, a ,„„„ber of „,her novels a,„l t t

o voir,;' :;'" '" t-"''" ^™'^-^^- -^"^ '^ •■"- "- -"-

"I a volume of very fair verse

I" 1877 Mr. Join. Talo„.I,cs,x.rancc, of Momreal „„1,.
l..shed a story of ,he A,„crica„ i,„asio„ of Canada i, ,--

;::f ' : t^ -j'-' ,«»— •.^." T„is ,„ok »:,:;, ;;:r;^

iran. ,^Ljd nito French.

United States, also without the a.ithor's consent ™d it «•.
not „„„ asreeently as , ,, ,„„, .„e firs, an I ^ iV . i^, ^
.p-ared. fron, the pnbHshin,, honse of L. C I.a..e & Co

_<«t,,„, nn,ler the title .-Th.-^olden ,M.." I.t^e.^on
and., ,,y ered.tab'e, fa^t, that this novel, whieh ranks
ainon. the best written b>. a Canadian, has „e er t ^0^.^
ed m a Canadian edition. ' PP^'"^

.Mr Kirby's ron.anee is fonnded on an ancient tablet
cona,n„,„ an ,n.scription snrtnonn.ed bv a golden do" The
ablet or,K„,.,lly stood in the face of a bnildin,, in t^e'citvrf
Quebec, dat.„., from before the Conqnest. VVIten tre b" Id
...K was pnlled down in ,8;:, the tablet was removed aid
plaeed above the entrance to the Post Office, where i'mav
st.ll be seen. Fron, the legend connected ^ith this abt

xeV?r r t'-^r °' '"^ "°'"^'°"-^ "'^^o'- '- '™'- ^^

Aew hrance, Mr. ktrby eonstrncted his fascinating romance.
Sir James LeMoine mentions a pleasing incident in con
nection with " The Golden nocr • t, '->u™t m con-

was nresen. , ^'OWe" "og. It appears that Kirbv

the Marquis of Lome. After some of the leading members
of the Society had been presented, the Princess Lo«is"L„

«^.IIB,j

TJP^IW!

ikrf

■_*pl-^'- '4: a ^

— 12-

lyi*

an AidcMlc-Camp to Mr. Kirhy, and after he had been present-
ed to her, conveyed to him pnblicly the Queen s thanks for
the p'easiire Her Majesty had felt in readin<f his book. This
incident is noticeablf not only as a personal tribute to Mr.
Kirby, but also as niarkiii<<;in a peculiar decree the thou^htful-
ne>s atul tact for which the late ()ueen was .so ju.stly noted.

.Another iniereslii'jr point i ' coiniectiou witli Mr. Kirh\ 's
novel niav al.s<» be mentioned. It i- eniL'sdied in the follow-
in»i[ letter, which I received a .short time since from Mr. G.
Mercer .\dani, a Canadian man-of-letters, now editinj>^
the American edition of the '' P!)ncyclopccdia Britannic.i,' atid
tbe was f*jr .some years editor of the Canadian M nthlyy
Toronto : —

"Klirlyin I87S" (he writei) "I was instrumental in briii^n{r rnit William Kirhy's
('><nH<1iau romance, " I^ Chicn D'Or," which was founded on the loKond related by J.
M. LcMoiiiu in his "Maple Leaves." The I^ondun Graphic, in an issue subsefjuent to
this published a r. ivelette with the same name, contribute 1 by Hesant and Uicc, wt en
these writers were worlcing their literary partnership. .About this time a numb r of
piracies of Cani> " ^n thin);-> hiul been appearing in Knt;land. owinjf tothethen absence
of an iiilernatii. t'- ^pyright. Among these unacltnowledged reprints was the episode
ill regard lo Ijord .'.elsoii relat^nl ba^LoMoinc in " Maple Leaves," and other thintfH.
Keing in'erestod as a Canadian wfiter and publishei; I wrote a L'tter protesting against
tli'se dcliiuiuencies, which was published in the Toronto newspapers as well as in the
Loiidr.n Athciuvum In that letter I gibbetted Bcsant and Itico among the IttLirde-
liiiquents, who, n» I conceived, had just boiled down Kirby's romance and made
a novek'tte of it f"r the Oraphic. and this without a word of acknowledgment. I Wiw
l>y no means alono in CDiicclving thai the Oraphic novelette wan a plagitirism ; not
only Kirby, the author of the wtory, was convinced of the theft, but LeMoine of Que-
bec was also of this opinion, and when my Athenwum letter appeared he wa.s about to
write «howiiig up the appropriation 'n the London TimcM Of this ho tells me in a
letter from him in my possession, dated September 21th, 1878. He calls Besant and
Uice's novelette a ' clumsy, pale copy of p good original -Kirby's ' Chicn D'Or,'" and
adds that if Husant and Rico's denial that they had ever seen the latter is to be
a:ccptcd, "then a curiou-i literary coincidence must be accounted for." Well, the
Knglish n()velists threatened legal action and cabled this information over, promising
to send by mail a categorical denial of my charge. To meet this and defend myself I
prepared a careful and lengthy statement enumerating all the points of resemblance
between Kirby's book and their novelette, and my st ttement appeared in the Toronto
Olobc and Mail, occupying some columns in length, on or about September 22nd, 1878.
Of course. a« a gentleman, I was bound lo accept their denial, and I cloved by with-
dravt iiig my stateineiits, ani the suit fell to the ground Tlie points I made, however,
were >-o convincing ihut everyone believed that 1 had hit the nail on the head, and thnt
tlu? Knglish novelists (IJIco ospeoiallyl v.ero the culprits I ha<l t«ken them to bo. Hice.
ilr. .S. K. Dav\8on- then ii publisher in Montreal- afterwards told me. was in Canada
I he previ' us summer, and had asked for any recent native literature, which he took
home with him."

T

T

'I

%

" Tlie (loMcii I)(>}^^" has het'ii twice translated into
French, once by Mr. Lonis Frechette, and a^^a^n by Mr.
Paniphil? LeMay, both of them very prominent in the French-
Canadian world of letters. Mr. LeMay had already won even
lii<rher m -rk as a translator by his fine renderinjif into French
of " Kvan ;^.Hne." which won the warm praise of Lon»^ fellow
him.self. '

In 1 886 a romance entitled "An .Mgonqnin Maiden,"
by Miss Irthelwyn Wetherald and (^t. Mercer Adam, was pub-
lished 'It Toronto. It deals in a vivid and picture.sqnc man-
ner wi !i *he critical period in I'pper Canada between the
War of iHi2andthe Rebellion of 1837. A new edition is
.said to be in contemplation by a Toronto pnblisher.

Mr. Gilbert Parker may very properly be regarded as
Canada's leading novelist, whether we consider him merelv
among his contemporaries, or with the whole gronp of Cana-
dian novelists. He is not to be compared with Halibnton,
for Hull rion, though, as has bx-n pointed out, his books re-
veal th ^ e^sential qualities of a true novelist, was first and
foremos* a humorist.

Mr. Pakcrwas born at Camden Fast, Ontario, in the
year : ;>62. He studied at the Normal vSchool, Ottawa, and at
Trinity College', Toronto, where he was also for a time Lecturer
in F)ng!ish Literature He went to Australia shortly after-
wards, owirg to ill-health, and became a.ssociate editor of the
Mo' ning Herald. He travelled extensively among the South
Sea Islands, embodying the result of his observations in a
book of travel, " ' ound the Compa-s in Australia." While
there he also wrote several plays, "The Vendetta," "o De-
fence," and an adaptation of "Faust." He subi,^ juently
returned to Canada and travelled extensively in the North"
West, where he gathered materials for several of his sub-

1. For a full account of the "Golden Dog" legend, see Sir James
LeMoine's ** Maple Leaves." 1873, p. 89.

Tne legend leftrred to above is as follows :

"Ju suis iin chien qui ronge Tos,
En le rongeant, je prends nion repos ;
Un temps viendra (jui n'est pas venu,
Que je morderai qui m'aura mordu."

— 14—

sequent h<x)ks He afterwards removed to Kn^^land, wliich
has since been his home.

His first novel, apart from short-stories, was " Mrs,
Falchion," published in 1893. Tlw scene is laid partly in
Western Canada and partly in the Far Fast. In nearly all
his subsequent romances the scene is laid entirely in his na-
tive country. His second 'lovcl was ''The Trespasser;'"
which was followed by " The Translation of a Sava^'e," "^ in
which an Kn^rlishman marrie.-i a beautiful younjj Indian j^nrl,
and carries her back with him to his Fnt^'lish home, with
unhappy results to her. "The Trail of the Sword," r»
" When Valmoiul Came to Pontiac," * " The Seats of the
Mijjhty " " and " The Pomp of the Lavilettcs," " followed in
rapid succession, niarkin^^ an almost continuous improvement
in the author's style and in the symmetrical treatment of his
theme. " The Trail of the Sword" has since been tran.slatcd
into French, and "The vSeats of the Mijrhty " has been suc-
cessfully dramatized. In 1898 he published '' The Battle of
the Strong," undoubtedly the strongest and most .sustained
piece of work he has yet put forth. The .scene is in the
Island of Jersey and in Fr nice ; the plot is inten.sely dramatic
and skillfully developed ; and the characters are drawn with
an assured touch

In a recent letter Mr. Parker tells me that he has com-
pleted a new Canadian novel, as well as another dealing with
modern life in Egypt. He has also written a number of
sketches of Anglo-Egyptian life, some of which have appear-
ed in English and American magazines, and others are to
follow. It is to be hoped that Mr. Parker's new duties in the
British Parliament will not be allowed to interfere with his
value as a man-of-letters. "^

1. Pub. 1803; 2. 1894; 3. 18$U ; 4. 185):.: a. |8JW;«. 1897.

7. Sin e this i-iiper was uvul Mr. I'iirkcr h.is hn.iiKht out the new

CaiuMhaii novel ref ried t - ah ve. It is enti h-d -'ThH Right -f Way

p.hhsheil mil. and shares with tw. ..th»r Canadian hooks of firt'oi.

hy Seton-llioinson and ' Knlph Connor ") the diHtinction of heading the

list of most p.pidar »-o ks, in the United States pur.Iishers' list* and

on

library reports, in Dfci-inJifr. 11X)1
type. Hnd very finely worked out,

The plot i» of the " Enoch Arden,"

— «5—

Mr. Charles C. I). Rolens is a niati of cxcfptionally
wide intellectual activity. He was educated at Kin^j's Col-
lege, Windsor, Nova Scoti.i, the satne \ciurahlf institution
from which ^^aaduated Ha il.urtoti ad many others who have
left their mark on Canaiian literaturL- or public life. Mr.
Roberts suhsequently filled the chair of Kn^^rlish litera-
ture at Kin«,''s ColIe<:e fo- .sexeral years. He afterwanls
edited the Toronto !{W<\ and was for a time a.s.sociate editor
of the New York ///r/K/nrtrt/ Imrrioin Of late years he has
devoted himself entirely to literary work. Hveti before he left
college .Mr. Robirts had bc,:^Min his literary career. His first
book of ver.se was published about this time, and it was fol-
lowed at intervals by .some half dozen other volumes of i)oetry,
the best of which he is about to re-publish in a Collected Kdi-
tion. I He ha.s also found t'lne to write an excellent " Historv
of Canada," a Canadian (iuide-Hook. a' d, what we are more
imuiediately concerned with, .several lKK)ks of .slu)rt-storie.s,
and a .series of historical romances.

His first romance was "The Forge in the Forest," pub
lislied in 1897, and this was followed by -' A Si.ster to Evange-
line," which is i" the nature of a sequel to the first bojk.
The scene ot both novels is laid in Nova Scotia, in the davs
when the .Acadians were still tilling their dykeland.s around
Grand Pre, and the Black Abb6 was plotting for the over-
throw of Knglish authority in the Province. These stories
are excellent examples o: that very popular type of ficiicn—
the historical novel. No one is more competent to write
authoritatively and entertainingly of the romantic incident-
of early days in Nova Scotia, than Mr. Roberts. In these
books he has charmingly combined the varacity of the his-
torian with the imagination of the novelist. They are
among the best books of the kind that we have yet had in

1. Published in 1»»1. It embodi-s an excellent .selection of his
verses, through one would perhaps have liked to nee a few more ot the
earlier poems.

— 16—

Canadian fiction.

Dttring the past few years a Jinnihtr of new historical
romances have been written and published by Canadian
writers, bnt it will not be possible to do more than touch
upon them in the briefest possil)le way.

"The False Chavalier," '^ by \V. I). UKlithall, of Mont-
real, is a very readable romance of New France ; and the wav
in which it came to be written is almost as romantic n^ the
story itself. It appears that a bundle of ancient papers was
accidentally discovered in an old m i lor-house in the
Province of Quebec, and these, Cv>ming into Mr. L'jjhthall's
hands, were worked into the present fascinating story.

Another Montreal novelist is Mr. William McLennan,
whose first book, "Spanish John," '' had a somewhat similar
origin to that of Mr. Lighthall. "Spanish John" is a tale
of the days when the Young Pretender was making a last
desperate effort to regain the throne of his fathers. The
scene is laid partly in Scotland and partly on the Continent.
Mr. McLennan's .second book, "Span O' Life," ' written in
conjunction with Miss Jean N. Mcllwraii'i of Haiiiilton,
Ontario, is placed in that romantic period of Canadian his-
tory surrounding the final conflict between France and Eng-
land fi>r the mastery of the New World. Th. >t<)r\' gi\'S a
vivid and couvincing picture of the time, and c-vers both the
Louisbonig ;5^ige and also the final Sejge of Quebec. ^

Miss Blanche Lucile McDonell, of Montreal, brought out
in 1898 a romance of French Canada entitled " Diane of
Ville-Marie." The scene is laid in Montreal in the days when
Frontenac was Governor of New France, and tlie gigantic and

1. Mr. Roberts has completed a new historical novel entitled
"Barbara Ladd," the scene of which is placed in the same picturesque
province by the sea.

2. 1889.

3. New York, 1898.

4. New York, 1899.

5. Miss Mcllwraith has since brought out a novel of her own, " The
Curious Career of Roderick Camobell," Boston, 1J)01. Thii is an his-
torical novel, of the days before the Conquest of Quebec.

„

,

niastcrftil DolHor de Cassoii ruled the spirinial destinies „f
Ville-Marie.

" Mar«:»icritc de Roberval," » f)y Mr. T. G. Manpiis.
Principal of the- Cn11c,'rintp InsHt:n" r't Uroc'-villc. is ri
romance of the days of Jacqnes Cm, r. !• ,s !om„U.d o;, .,
picturrsqiie old le«:cnd. which llu- c.rlv F-nnch-Caiiadian his-
tonaiis jrave credence t<.. hnt which I'lrkin.i:. w.)uld nut v.Mich
for. The lejrend was to the efTect tliat Roberv d on his nnal
voyage to New France bronglit with him Ids hc-anlifid niter
Marjrucrite. Her lov-r slipped on hoard tiio vessel withonl
Roberval's knowledjre or pennission, and in fact a.-dnst his
express command. His discovery led to a violent scene. Snh-
sequently, maiicions friends came to Roberval with .sc andalons
tales involvin.£r Mars:nerite and her lover. Roberval's ra-c-
now knew no bound.s, and embraced Mar<;nerite as well as
her lover. He left the n nnpnnisherl until the vessel rraclird
a bleak, uninhabited island, .-omewherc near the Straits ot
Helle Isle, called sn^jrestively the Isle of Demons. Here Ik-
pn^ them ashore with a few provisions, and abandoned them
to their fate. In some versions of the story Marguerite's old
nurse was permitted to accompany her unfortunate mistress.
The tragic history of their life on the desolate and haunted
island, furni.shes the substance of Mr. Marquis's romance.
Marguerite is finally left the .sole survivor, is rescued by
a passing vessel, and carried back to France, where she tells
her pitiful tale to the nuns of a friendly convent. The same
story has been graphically told in a long narrative poem, bv
the late Mr. Geo. Martin, of Montreal. Colonel Hunter-
Duvar, the Prince Edward Island poet, also worked it into his
drama " Roberval." It will be found, in a somewhat differ-
ent form, in the famous collection of tales, "The Heptamer-
on," of Marguerite of Navarre.

Mr. Edgar M Smith, is the author of an hi«.torica]
> romance entitled " Aneroestes the Gaul,' -' which has been

1. Ixjndon, 1899.

2. Fisher Unwin, I^ndon, 1898. Graftoa k .'-on, Montreal.

M^JLM....tmmmmikM m

.,.*-tij'^.'

— iS—

warmly praised hy sc\iral kadiji;; ICiijLflisIi r« viim-in. It
deals with tlif period <»f Ilaiinih I's invasion of Uoni'.- -ilu
Si'Ctind Punic War, and is not only a ^^raplin .in«l fon ihli-
story of that famous campai^Mj, !)tit reveals a snrprisinyiy
close knovvledjreof the pcriol. It is almost more valnat>le as
a fra^nneni of history than as a romance.

N'iss Aj^ness C. Lant, of Ottawa, pid)lislii(| a few
months ajro a romance of the earlv days in the ^'reat Noith-
West, when the hitherto all-powerf»il Hudson's Hay Company
was fi^htinj; for its existence with the yonii)^' and vij^'or^ns
Canadian company of the Xorth-West. Her Ixjok is entitled
*' Lords of tile North," ' and is the first attempt to pn' the
records of this period of Canadian hist«)ry into liie loinj of
romance.

''With RinK of Shield," -' l.y Mr. Knox Ma^jee, «.f
Toronto, is a stirrinj,^ tale of the dayj* of the Hniuhh.icked
Kinjj, Richard the Third of En}4land.

There are .several other books in Canadian fiction which,
althouj^h not historical :n subject, partake more of the nattire
of the romance than the novel. Such a one is Mr.s. Harrison's
" Forest of Bonrg-Marie," ^ which Robert Harr has so deserv-
edly praised in a recent avUcle. It is the only sustained story
which we have of modern life in P'rench Canada, and is on
the whole remarkably true to life, and a strou}^ piece of
work both as regards matter and style.

Another book of the same class is " Ro.se i\ Charlitte," »
by Miss Marshall Saunders of Halifax. This is a romance
of modern life, the scene of which is laid on the Nova Scotia
coast of the Bay of Fundy, among the homes of the modern
Acadians. Miss Saunders, is also the author of .several other
books of fiction, "Bea\.tiful Joe" , which was published several
years ago, and reached a circulation of about half a million

1. Bii^-^:s, Turuniu. i'.h;i. Mis- L.Uir il .s ^inif i: liip .-h-d ji second
liistoriijil iiovt'l, ' H«'i- Ids of Einpirt'."

2 T(ii.iiitt). 190<). Mr. Maj<<'e has sinrc pul> islied "M rk Kvfnird."
(1901) u romance of Kli/,al)i'thaii Kngland.
S .MoiatiK, T»r nto. 18fl8.
4. Pagf & Co , Hoston, 1»>H.

— 19 —

•■"l-i- i.. Il„. |-„„,,1 s,..,..s .,,,.1 fan,„l:,, ,,„, |,a, Uxn

>..,t> . .„„«.: „t .N..W Knxla,,,! lif- aiuUteu-U-r ; •• Ik-r

•'|>p.-..hnK r.uluT 1„ i„v..,.il>. ,l,.,n ailiih rradcrs

M.ss I ilv l)„„^.aM, .,f M„,„r,.i, „ „». a„th„r „t a „„,„.

w;:;:\tv''' '■''';'■;", ''',^' '""■"'"■ """""-i.'

Th, «a> f,,l ,wc,M,v "Wl.a, .V.c.e,si,y Knows" ,,«.,„,

able , ,,ar.„r. ,„ fi,-.,,,,,, which cr.a..,. s,„„c.,h,„,, .,f , ,,„,,,.
- wlK., „ firs. „,,,..,rc,i, -X ,j„„,i„„ „f ,,„'^,,,, ,,,;■'
The Ma, .,„„,, o: a Day," , .H„6, » -a IWn Wavs „f f ove •'

..ru, ofa „„vd ,h, ,,,|.v hisf.ry ,,f the Mormon., ami of the
-Kukahle ,„an .ho f„„,„U.l ,ha, sect. Several of the ot ^r
hooks have their scenes haid i„ Canada

Mr. Grant .Allen, who died in Kn^dan.l ahont a year airo
was, a.s of co„r.,e everyone knows, a Canadian by hi ,1 H^
.pen tl. greater part of his life, however, in m„|and a
hs books are ,n no sense Can.adian, either in tone or theme
So far asl„s novels are concerned, perhaps we need noT be
over anxtons t<, clai.n then, in any event. He was m uc^
.nore br, bant, difying, and s„cce,ssfnl, and one ,2hZL
say, mnch ,„„re entertaining, as a scientific writer tLn a! a

Mrs. Kverard Cotes (forn.erly Miss Sara Je.annette Dnn
can, was born ,n Brantford, Ontario, and spent the fi s wl J
years or so o her life in her native conntry. Her honre is
now.n s.mla, India, where her hnsband is a prac dn^^
pl^K.,an. She has devoted herself to the writing o7fi:;i;:n'
1- PM-eA:{'„., Hr,.stu„. im).

m^^^im^m

•!^. ;!-*"«-* •»-=

3c>™

■aHi'l'

*i*.

for the past till (.r iwtlvc Mirs. .\a a Caiiadtaii novelist she
slaiids aliiuwl ma class by hrrstlf. Her lK>ok.s — or al any
rate tlic Iw.st of lliem -arc in.stinct with a certain «|incl
lumiour, which is all htr i»wn, and which is a.H rare as it in
enjoyable. Her First, an*! I>est, Inxik, was 'A Social De-
parture," published in iHt^). ' In this she tcll.s in a charin-
inj^'ly fresh and orij^inal manner the a.lvcntnrcs of herself and
one Ortliodocia, in their »niclia|K-rone<l journey around the
world. The UmiU is stjuietliinvj akin to IX'Millc's "Dod^e
Clnl)" in plan and humour, a»id nii^ht also Inr cla.s,sed with
(Jrant .Mien's "Mi.ss Cavlcy's .\dventurcs" .md Robert Harr's
"Jennie Ha.xter, Jour:!alist ', but it apj>eals to the present
^{eneration more keenly than "The Dod^e Club", and is va>tly
superior, b(»th in narrative and in the «ju ilily of its humour,
to the other two. Some of the .scenes, such as the Japanese
reporter's interview, and Ortho<locia's experience in a Jap-
anese buth-tub, are quite irresistible.

Her second book was "An American Girl in London,".*
which sufficiently describes itself. It is almost as amusing
and entertaininij as its predecessor. This was followed l)v
"The Simple .Xdveniures of a Mem.sahib," "Vernon's Aunt,'^
' The Story of :>oiiny Sahib," ".\ Daughter of To-day," ''His
Honour and a LuU/' "A \oyajre of Consolation," and "The
Path of a Star",* The lust book is much inf^.-rior to Mrs.
CoUs irlivr work, and is a disappointment to those who
have leari'd to look for somcthinj; above mediocrity from
lier.

RoIkmI Harr be<ran his literary life as a humori.st, wntinjj^
tar the Detroit Ftcc /Wis . der the pen-name of " Luke
Sb.irp." He afterward-, drifted into short-.stories, and from
thai into novels and romances, and his last published book is
an entcrtaiving volume of travels in the Mediterranean. * His
literary career has thus been a varied one.

1. " A Soci il f) paJiitf ; nr How Orthoddtia and [ went K atul
the World l)y Oiir-t-l. i-s. ' I, ndoti. ISJJO

2 P'ihli-''«'.l fdij^iiiiMv ill III.' hitlirs Plrlnrliil, London.

W 1«'J5. 4. !SW».

.'>. H»' hiisij'ciMi lvioiii')lt«t('(l i voliitii*' of ^hor-r stories. "The M«'ity
>!oii!ir(li." ii,iiiiiliiij< ill.' (oiiiiiii! ic adventures of one of the S(r.'tti.sli
KiiiK •

— il-

'

IIi>tii>t lM..k \v.i> tiitiilnl "StraiiKc HapiK'ninvjN." and
was ;.uI.iis!k-«I in 1HS2, luforo he had Ivit hi^ hovh.M>il\ huiiu-
ill O.ilario Hf ..fltwd liu- iiniMiHcript Ut all iht- Uadinu
iicw.s.Kipi, of thi- pruviiuv, hit thcv wouM m.t hwik at it.
He t:u I t icd llif A//- // /■/,, /Vv .V, which not only am-|X-
it, 9u\ what i« niiirc tt» llic point, p.ii Kt*»H'r«>n^'y for it, hnl
offtrrc! him a p.sition on tlu- siaiT of thv pafwr. " Stranj^r
Happen i njjs • consist > of a huniorons acconnt «»f a 'oya^ein
asm..!l h..ataronnd the Miuthcrn >horc of I.akc Ivric. It i«i
not i: !iki Jcronu- K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Hu.t " in
style a .1 p. an. I'ossihly there existed some nnconscions
affinity I.eiween thenj. f..i we find in after vears the two
nove ^ts juiiiin^r in the estahlishment of that aninsinj^' little
mon!i y.llie L<.ud..n /,//,>,- whijh, hy the way, has sadly
deKeiitrated, in other hands, from the hri>;htnes/and humour
of its lir>t nnmhers.

In 1.S92 Mr. Harr pid)lished " In a Steamer Chair," and
after that, "From Whose Hourne," (1N93), "The Face and
the Mask," (1H94), "In the Mid.-t of Alarm.s,"— a hnm..r(.ns
acconnt of the Fenian Raid in the Sixties- /Sy4), ' "A
Woman Intervenes," (iSc/,), "The Mjital)e Manx," (iS</,),
"OneDax'sOmrtship,' (i.So"), and " Tekla " (189H.)

A couple of years a>r(, . '...si v(^nnu made its apjK'ar-

ance in Toronto, under the t. Black Rock." - Rein;,r t„i.

assuming, it did not at first attract much attcution. Its pub-
lishers were, fortunately, not of that enterprisinjr type which
announces a hundred-thousand edition before the book is on
the market. " Black Rock" was therefore left to make it>
own way in the world, as an>- ^r„od bcxjk should, and its sid)-
sequent success is a strikiu- tribute to the soundness of pub-
lic taste. Slowly l)ut .surely the book gained ground, as 01 •
reader recommended it to another, until " Hlack Rock" be-
came recognized as one of the strongest books of the vear.

Ha id

...,Mpan.>. 18!I8 Nvw .■.l.ti.Mi, I'..,,,,, ,., im). wi I. a.. ii.li.Ml.uU<„.

listi-r'

— 22 —

And yet it liad no artifu-i il hooni ; no hcraldinir of its me: its
to an expectant world ; ant! it \va> moreover (jiiite free from
any tinj^'e of sensationalism, to appeal to the jaded taste of a
pnblic snifeited with new fiction. The antlior's name L;iven
on the title-pajrc was Ralph Connor, bnt this soon became re-
)ov/ coirnized as a noju-de-plnmc, and it leaked cmt that the anthor
/ was Rev. C. VV. (lordon, of Winnipe*,', a missionary of the
Presbyterian C hnrch.

The origin of " Hlack Rock " was as modest as its ap-
pearance. It seems that Mr. (Gordon, anxions to raise funds
for his mission in the far west, discussed the matter with the
editor of the Hcs/mins/cr, a Toronto magazine. The editor
suggested that he should put his appeal before the pnblic in
the popular form of fiction, and Mr. Gordon, after some hesi-
tation, agreed to this, and sent to the IVestu.instcr a .sketch of
a mining camp in the Rockies, such a camp as formed the
.scene of his own missionary labours. This afterwards became
the first chapter of " Black Rock," and was fol'owed by
others, initil the story was completed. It is not particularly
well constructed, .so far as plot is concerned, bnt this weakness
is more than redeemed by the freshness and originality of its
treatment. It isastrong, sincere, and very dramp'ic piece of
work— altogether one of the best bits of fiction produced
by a Canadian.

A beautiful little idyl of the Foot-hills of the Rockies,
^ called " Beyond the Marshes," was Mr. Gordon's next contri-
f)ution to Canadian literature. This sketch was prefaced
by a sympathetic introduction, by the Countess of Aberdeen.
In the " Sky Pilot" • Mr Gordon changed his. sceiie from
the Pacific Slope of the Rockies to the foothills and plains on
thf eastern side of the mountains — somewhere in the neigh-
hood of Calgary or Fort McLeod. This book has, if any-
thing, had a wider success than " Black Rock," and the two
books have reached an enormous circulation in the United

^ V^,"" ^^)' ""'^ -^ ^'i'*' '»f ^'>^" F'>'>fl>'lls. Bv R mh C .iin..r. Tor-
oiiK). The W.'SfiiiitihteiCc , I«90. New ed. I85«).

■■

l..«la,„I,-.ah«,y.s an ,„,ccr(: Ul.l 1, r tra, . nthnnic l„K,ks

"„.l, „,„ a few years a,„ a c„„plc „f rcnarkahlv i„,ercs,:
"Sr a„< attractudy written hooks, tl,.- first calU.i: " I„ the-
'f;:."! "-^■-■•"'.•'Co.npnny," and tl,e second. " Hnnu.nrs
oi 3/- They are, .as their titles imply, contrihntions to the
ear y ht.story of Ontario, bnt have none of the drv..as-d!'s
|1 naluy of eotnent.onal histories. Since the appearance of
'--twoWks, the sisters h.ave a.ain colLabon'ted npon a
X book of fietton. -Cotntnitted to His Charge," ■ a si.nple storv
o .lla«e ,fe ,„ <,„t.ar,o, ^graphically tohl, .and with not a
im e cpnet hu.nonr. The story is so,nethi„« in the tnanner
ot Mi.s. (Taskeir.s "Cranford."

Another -anadian boo', of the .same cla.ss is "Raldoon " "^

n- the Rev LeRoy Hooker, a Canadian clergvman now

nMn.,nUnea^> This book is perhaps more cioselv akin

o Harries;' Window in Thrnms" than to " Cranford^' the

Innnonr bem^ essentially Scotch in tone. Mr. Hook;r also

wrote another book, - Enoch the Phili.stine."

Mi.ss Joanna K. Wood, of Oneenston, Ont , is the author
of .several books of fiction. The first two, " The Untempered
Wind' (1894), and "Judith Moore,^' (1898), are novels of
rnralhfe in Ontario. The third, lately published. "A Dan^h-
ter of Witches" (1900), is a rather clever .stndv.of character
as found in a New England environment. Miss Wood has
completed a fourth book " Farden Ha !," the scene of which
IS aid in Scotland, and which promises to be the best she has
jet written.

A new type of fiction has lately become popttlar with
Canadian novelists. It aims to bring the life of what we call
the lower annnals " sy.npathetically before hnman readers.
The tdea ts not an entirely new one, for Kipling, (to cite no
earher examples), tntrodnced it ^ery sueces,sfnily?n his Jungle

\ r^i*"'**'"^'' ''"''""to, imi

" (hicagt), 1891); Toioiito, IfNKj.

ir.,,'«

liooks. The Canadian stories, luAvcvtr, arc siifficicntlv c^Iffc r-
erent in treatment, scenery, and ir. the animals thev intn dncc,
to appeal with soinethin<,r of novel force to present- dav
readers.

The first and best of these animal hooks is Mr. Ernv .:
Seton-Thompson s " Wild Animals I Have Known. ' * Sin. •
the publication of this delij^htful collection of anima: tabs,
xMr. vSeton-Thompson has brouj^ht out two additional .^tories'
the first entitled, "The Trail of the Sand-Hi. 1 Sta- " =■' anci
the second, "The Biography of a Grizzly." ^t

Another book of the same class is Mr. \V. A. Fra.ser's
" Mooswa, and Others of the Boundaries," « which firsi appear-
ed as a serial in the Canadian Afagazinr. Mr. Fraser h. s
completed a new animal .story, " The Ontr.ist.s," -^ which is to
be published this year.

Mr. Charles G. D. Roberts has also entered the .same field
with his "Heart of the Ancient Wood," (19 o), in w^hich,
howeve'r, the human element is introduced more freely than
in any of the other animal stories.

All of these books are good in their way, and each con-
tains sufficient originality to save it from any suggestion of
plagiarism, either in matter or ideas, but there is a possibility
that if the thing be carried too far the public will grow tired.
It is a familiar phenomenon in the book world that when one
man makes a success of a new departure in fiction, others
immediately rush in to gather the after-math, until the type
becomes a positive bore. Already a dozen or more American"
writers have taken advantage of Seton-Thompson's phenomin-
al success, to force upon the market more or less crude at-
tempts in the same direction.

The field of juvenile fiction has been by no means neg-

1. Scribners, Npw Y.>rk, 1898

2. New York. 1899.

;l ^«^'^, Y-'ik, 1900. Mr. Sf^ ..n-Thnn.pson hns s=nce pul-li h,.,J
York iVl" " «""'»'iI-8tone.s. " Lives of the Hunted,-' New

4. New York, inCK). Biig^s. Tororit... IIIOO

5. New York, and Toronto. IJXl.

ii

^Jt'

."M"!^

- »5—
.'t iLt'" Tr"%';"' " '" '■'"'"'^'•■'^ •" "•-"- '-^■■> upon

in two series, " Tl.c I! () \v (•",,, ' ''

volumes, and the latter?,, thre^. tt „, L 'rV", ^''^
run througl, several editions, "* '"'"''' ''^"^■

e.vci„'ivi;" olr"/"""/ ;"■' "" *-™'"' ""'-'f ••"""«'

pro,.c:iri:::tt^^:,irr;cr •;;::-■'"' r

licationof his first storv - I^.n Ti iV „ ' , ""' ^^''" I'"^^'
he has broiiP-ht out «;mn.. fiff " • '>""«<•' »" iNS/,

'ure, all ,ood\f Zi::!!'"''" '"'"''''" """'^•^ "' -'™'-

r-,,,*'''-''" )^' T'"""*"- '""" '^"^^Iv editor of the J«,//,\-
C<„«/„«„„, has done excellent work in this field

poets'hived*bled"'' «° T ''"" ^->- «--"">• our Canadian
a,,[ success. Mr. Roberts has certa ,,lv produced son,,,
very fa.r ro,na„ces and short stories, and he n„'t be takeTa

aramat.st, whose .splend.d dra,na " Sa,. ' received such warn,
pra.se from Longfellow, Hawthorne, E,ner.son, Bava d T v ^
and Coventry Patmore, once tried his haudat a nov , tale'

b ;::;^^^""rh" R "''\^'^-'-^^-^" ' was a,no,,t'iai :

^ t p .blished^ Hnnter-Duvar, the Prince Edward Island

Cua s 0 tt C r,'^T^ ^'''' °' imaginative work,
Annals of the Court of Oberon," but the historical nove
wh,ch he subsequently wrote, and thought to be the " thin
he had ever written, ,ss„cl, a crude and tedious bit of fietio, ""s

^11 m manuscnpt. Archibald Lan,p,na„ began an an.bi-

1. Published 1869 187S

?• .^^K^'^^^i^ 1871-1877.

d. The Advocate ; A Novel.

Montreal, 1865. 8vo.

■■"'»

V_i'

—26—

tious „„vcl wl.i'c nt cliche, but nave it >,p after writiu^two
o l.ree chapters. U„„can Ca„,pbell Scott has p„bli.,he<l o„e
.t. e lK.„k ..1 short stories, excellent .,„ far as thev «o, b,.t, „p
o he present l,e has pr«l„ce,l nothing, n.ore, at an • rat ■ i,"^
IM.0I. fonn Isabella Valaney Crawford, Willian, Wilfred
Ca.npbell, . Jean Klewett, Frederick Ceor^c Scott, Lonis Vri-
c.etlean.I others of our poe-ts, have made random attempts
at wr.l.ni; ficfon, but apparently have resarde,! it rather as a
rec ea ,ou r.nu the tnore serious work of writing poc-try. This
am tude of course, never yet brought success, and ne«r will.
In fact, tl,e.|ual,t,es that «o to make a successful poet rarely
produce a successful novelist.

The short-story has been a very popular fern, with Cana-
an no^ehsts, especially of late yeans. Mo.st of our writers
who have done tnore su.,tai„ed work in fiction, have at cue
tune or another .attempted the shon-story, not reali.in^, too
"tten, that the short-story requires a distinct gift, and ttet it
can no n.ore be succe.s.,f„lly written by any novelist, than a
sonnet n,ay be wrttteu by a„y poet, or a miniature painted bv
^fiy artist. ^ -

Mr Gilbert Parker has published, so far, three volumes
o short-stortes, " P.erre and His People, • '■ (his first coutri-
bufon to fiction), " An .Adventurer of the North," » in wluch
he adventures of Pretty Pierre are continued, and " The
Lane that Had no Turnin..." ^ The scenerj- of the first two
books ,s m the Canadian North-West, and the latter is placed
... Quebec. .Mr. I^arker holds the unique position of having
wnt ten the best short-stories as well as the strongest romances
ot all our Canadian novelists.

lent 'i.SroVfi';- """T ''''*' ''''■'""" ^^'- C-'"npben has written an excel-

tlie urgmnent against p„ets as novelist weaken

2 Toronto, 1892.

3 Toronto, 1895
4. Toronto, 1900.

ir-"ftiiii

.^ X'-m,

,^g - ^i^

iiiiili

i^'i.

Caii'uli " I I, > I 1 wlin.stinas m Frcucli

c:;;:;,'- ;„ Jzt ;:::;;;::>• "-'•;■" — "^ .•:...,<»„.

Ti, , •^"i»>n;,Mliesc niav he mentioned K W

" Bo„ho„„„e;' '' i;^ ; I V Z"' ; v"""^' "^^^^ "^^^'^
can Can,pbel Scot ' I , c dT ''"T '" ^''9'^' ^'>' ^^""-

winia.Lr.n„a::;\.:r;f^r~;:^^

Conrtin.^r." (Chica^.,, 19,0.) "'^^'"'^' N A kuhculons

Street 'i:;;:::^ ::^rf -; "^r "^"^^ ^^^ ^ '' ^^^^ ^^— ^
''Stones' :;\:r;^:v^v-^^;>-^

(1H86); Robert I^^r -r T J "''^'■"^«" '^ "Crowded Out,"
V ^, Nooert Harrs " In a Steamer Chair " (]8o2i " ri L

Strong: Arm," (1890), etc • " Th^ K,. Z'"^' ^'»92), The

W. A. IWr; Robe t' "bv flo v' , '\'''^ '" '^'^Q) by
etc, '' The Loom o^tsti^ ^^l^f^' '''''''^'^ (^9oo),
J. Trv-Davies' - A q ^l^' Z^^^' ^'^ Arthur J. Stringer;
J. 1 ry uavies A Semi-Detached House " riooo^ • F ri,ff ^
Smith's "A I m-..r ,» u ^^900;, h. Lhfford

can. ••so„f„f':,::s;:UvT;;^:r':;i'«'''^^ ^'--^"»-

I am more tlian conscious that in th. r
atte„.pt to review Canadian fiction I Lve ^ 7""^
patience to Uie utmost, and ha e don. IT ^'°"'

justice to the wide fidd If . r T "' ''"'' ""^"'^

..ons than wa., either. „esirab,e or expedient, ^..e, Z

o , however that I have eonn.ed over two hnndred and

fiftv anthers ,n English-Canadian fiction alone, withom

c^n^.n, the eontribntion of French-Canadian novelist"!

1. Moranj?. Toronto, 1900.
2 Briu-jfs, Toronto, 1«P5.
3. Briggs, Toronto, 1899.

"^

■

—28—

and leaving out of consideration, as well, llie mass of fiction by
Canadian writers which lias appeared in variotis ina^rixincs
btit not in book-form, you will, I tliink, ajjrce wi'h me that
the space ht..c given to the subject of Canadian Novels and
Novelists is not after all so very much out of the way.

)'

^ i|