The Intellectual Development of the Canadian People | Page 6

Canada rose, in 1867, to between three and four millions, or an increase

of more than a hundred per cent. in a quarter of a century. By the last
Census of 1870, we have some idea of the national character of this
population--more than eighty per cent. being Canadian by birth, and,
consequently, identified in all senses of the term with the soil and
prosperity of the country. Whilst the large proportion of the people are
necessarily engaged in those industrial pursuits which are the basis of a
country's material prosperity, the statistics show the rapid growth of the
classes who live by mental labour, and who are naturally the leaders in
matters of culture. The total number of the professional class in all the
provinces was some 40,000, of whom 4,436 were clergymen, 109
judges, 264 professors, 3,000 advocates and notaries, 2,792 physicians
and surgeons, 13,400 teachers, 451 civil engineers, 232 architects; and
for the first time we find mention of a special class of artists and
litterateurs, 590 in all, and these evidently do not include journalists,
who would, if enumerated, largely swell the number.
Previous to 1867, different communities of people existed throughout
British North America, but they had no general interest or purpose, no
real bond of union, except their common allegiance to one Sovereign.
The Confederation of the Provinces was intended, by its very essence
and operation, to stimulate, not only the industrial energy, but the
mental activity as well, of the different communities that compose the
Dominion. A wider field of thought has, undoubtedly, been opened up
to these communities, so long dwarfed by that narrow provincialism
which every now and then crops up to mar our national development
and impede intellectual progress. Already the people of the
Confederated Provinces are every where abroad recognised as
Canadians--as a Canadian people, with a history of their own, with
certain achievements to prove their industrial activity. Climatic
influences, all history proves, have much to do with the progress of a
people. It is an admitted fact that the highest grade of intellect has
always been developed, sooner or later, in those countries which have
no great diversities of climate. [Footnote: Sir A. Alison (Vol. xiii. p.
271). says on this point: 'Canada and the other British possessions in
British North America, though apparently blessed with fewer physical
advantages than the country to the South, contain a noble race, and are
evidently destined for a lofty destination. Everything there is in proper

keeping for the development of the combined physical and mental
qualities of man. There are to be found at once the hardihood of
character which conquers difficulty, the severity of climate which
stimulates exertion, and natural advantages which reward enterprise.']
If our natural conditions are favourable to our mental growth, so, too, it
may be urged that the difference of races which exists in Canada may
have a useful influence upon the moral as well as the intellectual nature
of the people as a whole. In all the measures calculated to develop the
industrial resources and stimulate the intellectual life of the Dominion,
the names of French Canadians appear along with those of British
origin. The French Canadian is animated by a deep veneration for the
past history of his native country, and by a very decided determination
to preserve his language and institutions intact; and consequently there
exists in the Province of Quebec a national French Canadian sentiment,
which has produced no mean intellectual fruits. We know that all the
grand efforts in the attainment of civilization have been accomplished
by a combination of different peoples. The union of the races in Canada
must have its effect in the way of varying and reproducing, and
probably invigorating also, many of the qualities belonging to
each--material, moral, and mental; an effect only perceptible after the
lapse of very many years, but which is, nevertheless, being steadily
accomplished all the while with the progress of social, political, and
commercial intercourse. The greater impulsiveness and vivacity of the
French Canadian can brighten up, so to say, the stolidity and
ruggedness of the Saxon. The strong common-sense and energy of the
Englishman can combine advantageously with the nervous, impetuous
activity of the Gaul. Nor should it be forgotten that the French
Canadian is not a descendant of the natives of the fickle, sunny South,
but that his forefathers came from the more rugged Normandy and
Brittany, whose people have much that is akin with the people of the
British islands.
In the subsequent portions of this review, the writer will endeavour to
follow the progress in culture, not merely of the British-speaking
people, but of the two races now working together harmoniously as
Canadians. It will not be necessary to dwell at any length on the first
period of Canadian