The Intellectual Development of the Canadian People | Page 7

history It is quite obvious that in the first centuries

of colonial history, but few intellectual fruits can be brought to maturity.
In the infancy of a colony or dependency like Canada, whilst men are
struggling with the forest and sea for a livelihood, the mass of the
people can only find mental food in the utterances of the pulpit, the
legislature, and the press. This preliminary chapter would be
incomplete were we to forget to bear testimony to the fidelity with
which the early Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries laboured
at the great task devolving upon them among the pioneers in the
Canadian wilderness. In those times of rude struggle with the
difficulties of a colonial life, the religious teachers always threw a
gleam of light amid the mental darkness that necessarily prevailed
among the toilers of the land and sea. Bishops Laval, Lartigue,
Strachan, and Mountain; Sister Bourgeois, Dr. Burns, Dr. Jas.
McGregor, Dr. Anson Green, are conspicuous names among the many
religious teachers who did good service in the early times of colonial
development. During the first periods of Canadian history, the priest or
clergyman was, as often as not, a guide in things temporal as well as
spiritual. Dr. Strachan was not simply the instructor in knowledge of
many of the Upper Canadian youth who, in after times, were among the
foremost men of their day, but was as potent and obstinate in the
Council as he was vigorous and decided in the pulpit. When
communications were wretched, and churches were the exception, the
clergyman was a constant guest in the humble homes of the settlers,
who welcomed him as one who not only gave them religious
instruction, but on many a winter or autumn evening charmed the
listeners in front of the blazing maple logs with anecdotes of the great
world of which they too rarely heard. In those early days, the Church of
England clergyman was a man generally trained in one of the
Universities of the parent state, bringing to the discharge of his duties a
conscientious conviction of his great responsibilities, possessing at the
same time varied knowledge, and necessarily exercising through his
profession and acquirements no inconsiderable influence, not only in a
religious but in an intellectual sense as well--an influence which he has
never ceased to exercise in this country. It is true as the country became
more thickly settled and the people began to claim larger political
rights, the influence of many leading minds among the Anglican clergy,
who believed in an intimate connection between Church and State,

even in a colony, was somewhat antagonistic to the promotion of
popular education and the extension of popular government. The
Church was too often the Church of the aristocratic and wealthier
classes; some of its clergy were sadly wanting in missionary efforts; its
magnificent liturgy was too cold and intellectual, perhaps, for the mass:
and consequently, in the course of time, the Methodists made rapid
progress in Upper Canada. Large numbers of Scotch Presbyterians also
settled in the provinces, and exercised a powerful influence on the
social, moral and political progress of the country. These pioneers came
from a country where parish schools existed long before popular
education was dreamed of across the border. Their clergy came from
colleges whose course of study cultivated minds of rare analytical and
argumentative power. The sermon in the Presbyterian Church is the test
of the intellectual calibre of the preacher, whose efforts are followed by
his long-headed congregation in a spirit of the keenest criticism, ever
ready to detect a want of logic. It is obvious then that the Presbyterian
clergyman, from the earliest time he appeared in the history of this
country, has always been a considerable force in the mental
development of a large section of the people, which has given us, as it
will be seen hereafter, many eminent statesmen, journalists, and
litterateurs.
From the time the people began to have a voice in public affairs, the
politician and the journalist commenced naturally to have much
influence on the minds of the masses. The labours of the journalist, in
connection with the mental development of the country, will be treated
at some length in a subsequent part of the review. At present it is
sufficient to say that of the different influences that have operated on
the minds of the people generally, none has been more important than
the Press, notwithstanding the many discouraging circumstances under
which it long laboured, in a thinly populated and poor country. The
influence of political discussion on the intellect of Canada has been, on
the whole, in the direction of expanding the public intelligence,
although at times an extreme spirit of partisanship has had the effect of
evoking much prejudice and ill-feeling, not calculated to develop the