The Irishman in Canada

Front matter

THE IRISHMAN IN CANADA. BY NICHOLAS FLOOD DA VIN. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO. TORONTO, ONT. : MACLEAR AND COMPANY. Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year on* thousand eight hundred and oeventy-seven, by Macleab & Co., Toronto, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. Entered at Stationers' Hall. tttlNTRR, HOSE & CO., PRDTCKRS AND BTNUUftS, TORONTO. m IS, WHO TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE EIGHT HON. fretleritjfi wmy\$ llacliujootl, sari of M^rin, K.P., K.C.B., GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA, THIS BOOK BY PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, AS TO ONE EMBODIES, IN RARE AND HAPPY COMBINATION, ♦ THE VARIETY OF GIFTS Irishmen HAVE BBOUGHT TO THE SEBVIca OF THE EMPIRE.

Preface

. An old friend of mine, Mr. Joseph Hatton, writing in Tinsley's Magazine says : — " Still at the bottom of all thought and speculation as to the future, there is a strong layer of old English sentiment outside the Province of Quebec. The great pioneers of Canada, the English and the Scotch look across the broad waters of the Atlantic, and think of home. They feel proud of the flag which is not only to them a national symbol, but a link between the far-off settlement and the churchyard where their forefathers sleep beyond the sea." Scarcely anybody in England knows anything of Canadian history, and Mr. Hatton cannot be blamed for not being aware that the majority of people in Ontario, as compared with other nationalities, are Irish. The population of Ontario is 1,620,831 : of these 559,442 are Irish, 328,889 Scotch, 439,429 English ; and in the four Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the Irish number 846,414, as compared with 706,369 English, and 549,946 Scotch.

The Irishman was here as early as others ; he fought against the wilderness as well as others ; his arm was raised against the invading foe as well as that of others; and when a man who was not Irish lifted the standard of revolt, and another who was not Irish betrayed his country and his flag, who more faithful,

PREFACE.

. VI who more heroic, than the countrymen of Baldwin and Fitzgibbon in putting down that rebellion ? That a literary man like Mr. Hatton should wholly ignore the Irish, therefore, shows that there was need of such a book as the present. Who to-day are more truly attached to British connexion than the great majority of Irishmen all over the Dominion 1 Amongst ourselves also, the Irish have been too much ignored ; chiefly because the follies and absurdities of a few make hundreds averse from an assertion which would be only the reasonable expression of self-respect. There is a great dissimilar ity in culture between the Irish cotter and the Irish gentleman, between the Irish labourer and the Irish pro fessional man, but not more than there is between the Scotch laird and the Scotch gillie, or between the Eng lish squire and the English peasant.

Why then is it that Irishmen of the more cultivated class are sometimes found to run down the less cultivated class of Irish, so that, as somebody has said, whenever an Irishman is to be roasted, another is always at hand to turn the spit 1 " My grandmother," says the Earl of Beacons field, "the beautiful daughter of a family who had suffered much from persecution, had imbibed that dislike for her race which the vain are apt to adopt when they find they are born to public contempt. The indignant feeling which should be reserved for the persecutor, in the mortification of their disturbed sensibility, is too often visited on the victim." Something like this process has taken place in the minds of Irishmen of a certain class. But let any Irishman who reads these lines ponder what I say : — You can never lose your own respect and keep

PREFACE.

. VII the respect of others j you can never be happy and dress yourself solely in the glass of other men's approval ; you may as well seek to fly from your shadow as to escape from your nationality. If you find any men mistaken, or low down in type, or in popular esteem, it is your duty to raise them, especially if they have on you nation al or family claims. I had not intended to write a preface, and I have said enough in the opening chapter to indicate the objects 1 have kept before me. The history of Canada cannot be written without the history of the Scotchman, the Englishman, and the German in Canada ; the Frenchman in Canada has found his historian. " The Scotchman in Canada " is in the hands of a writer capable of doing justice to a great theme and an extraordinary race, whose deeds here as elsewhere are illustrious with such episodes as the Red River settlement, planted under the guidance of Lord Selkirk, by men with a determined bravery comparable to that of the German troops at Gravelotte, again and again attempting the hill, studded with rifle pits, which guarded the French left.

Even the Mennonite settlements will come within the purview of the historian, and he will have to deal with a later American immigration than the U. E Loyalist — an immigration composed mainly of men who entered Canada intending to settle in Michigan, but, who, when they saw the splen did stretches of oak near London and the neighbouring counties, settled here. Among these settlers were the Shaws, the Dunbars, and the Goodhues. There was an eastern settlement of the same class, in which we find the Burnhams, the Homers, the Keelers, the Smiths, the

PREFACE.

. VIII Perrys. Some of these were led to come to Canada by inducements held out by the Government of the day to construct roads and build mills. Hence in many instan ces we find American immigrants the great patentees where they settled. In the index I do not give every name, but only the leading names. I have in the notes thanked Mr. Charles Lindsey and the Hon. Christopher Fraser for their assistance in placing books at my disposal. I have to thank Chief Jus tice Harrison for the loan of books, and Mr. Justice Gwynne for the loan of books and old files of newspa papers. To Mr. Allan McLean Howard my thanks are also due for books which could not well have been pro cured elsewhere. To Dr. McCaul for books and hints respecting the university, I must likewise express my obligation. My thanks are due to my friends through out the country who sent information, and to the agents employed by my publishers.

Particularly are my thanks due to Mr. Sproule, of Ottawa, who, though an Orange man, has visited a large number of Roman Catholic prelates and clergymen, in regard to this book, and got me more Roman Catholic information than has come from all other sources whatsoever. In a special manner, my thanks are due to Sir Francis Hincks, who, both by word and letter, helped me to understand the great period of which he could truly say — pars magna fui. For esti mating the character and genius of Sullivan, he gave me invaluable data. From Mr. Thomas Maclear, and Mr. Thomas A. Maclear, I have received much assist ance in collecting information for the settler chapters,

PREFACE.

. IX and in revising the proofs. Last though not least, Dr. Hodgins, Deputy Minister of Education, claims my thanks for books and pamphlets connected with his department. I have in places departed from rules usually observed in books. For instance, in some cases, I have not " spelled out " figures because I thought the use of arithmetical symbols more suitable to the subject treated at the moment. The Irishman has played so large a part in Canada that his history could not be written without, to some extent, writing the history of Canada, and the following pages may, in the present stage of Canadian historical literature, be found useful to the student and the politician. Toronto, September 22nd, 1877. EERATA. Page 127, I. 4, for " exist" read " exists." 163, I. 3 from bottom, for " Walters" read " Watters. ' " 165, I. 13, for " Livingstone" read " Livingston."

" 177, I. 4 from bottom, for " £809" read " £800." " 213, I. 14, for "Again he" read " Acadian." 328, verses belong to note p. 327. 347, 1. 7, for " McGibbon " read " McKibbon." 349, I. 4 from bottom, for " Byson" read " Bryson." " 350, 1. 14 from bottom, dele " school teacher." " 350, 1. 12 from bottom, for " Morsom" read " Mossom. 393, heading, read "Baldwin's character." 409, I. 9, for " Catherine" read " Charlotte." 476, I. 13, for "Vice-Chancellor" read "Chancellor." 577, I- 12 from bottom, for " 1859" read " 1849." 595, I. 7 from bottom, for " arm he drew " read " arm drew. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Motive Of The

"IRISHMAN IN CANADA." PAGE Future of Canada 1 Materials for the future historian 2, 3 Writing the History of the Irishman in Canada an inviting task 4 Resources of the Dominion 5,6 Irishmen's position in Dominion G

Chapter II. Antecedents Of The Irishman In Canada

Irish History 7,8 The Celt in Europe . . 9 Early Settlement of Ireland 9 The Irish colonize Scotland and South-west Britain 10, 1 2 Effect of the Introduction of Christianity into Ireland 13, 15 Barbarizing effect of Danish Incursions 15, 18 Norman invasion 17, 22 The Tudor and Stuart policy in Ireland 23, 24 William III and James II 24, 27 Ireland the great Liberaliser of the Empire 28 Achievements of Irishmen on the Continent of Europe 28, 32 Great Irishmen in India 33, 34 Statesmen, Orators, Artists, Preachers, Literary Men 34, 37 Irish Intellect and Character 38, 42 '48 and the Men of '48 ; Penal Laws and Gladstone's Legislation 43, 46 Ireland in the Eighteenth Century 47, 50

Chapter III

antecedents — Continued. — Irishmen in the new world and in Australia. The Founders of the United States 50, CONTENTS. XII PAGE The Struggle for Independence 56, 61 Vast Immigration of Irishmen and their Success ... 62, 64 The Position of Irishmen in the United States 64, 65 Their Conduct during the War 65, 66 The Irishman in Australia, in Mexico, in California and in South America 62, 64, 66, 68

Chapter IV. Laying The Foundation Of Canada

The French Regime 68 Carleton, the First Irish Governor of Canada, and his Policy 68-74 The War, Invasion of Canada, Carleton's Dangers, Difficulties, and Success 75-87 Carleton's Magnanimity and Administration 87, 88 Major-General Haldimand, Governor 88' Acknowledgment of the Independence of United States, and the U. E. Loyalists 88-96 Methodism in Canada 96-98 The Father of Anglicanism in Upper Canada 99-101 The Roman Catholic Church in Canada 101 Carleton becomes Lord Dorchester, and Returns as Governor-General of Canada 101 State of Education 102, 103 The Constitutional Act of 1791 103, 104 Lieutenant-Governors Clarke and Simcoe open respectively the Parliament of Lower, and the Parliament of Upper Canada 104 Colonel Talbot and the Talbot settlement 105-126

Chapter V. Laying The Foundation Of Canada

— Continued. What Canada owes Irishmen and Canadian Unity 128-130* The First Settlers 130-132 Character of the Irish settler 132-1 35 Analysis of the Population of the Dominion 135-142 Irish settlements in Newfoundland 142-145 The Irish in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince. Edward Island 145-170 Irish Settlements in Lower and Upper Canada 170-173 The dawn of political life in the Canadas 173-178 Progress of the Methodist Church 178-185 Education 185-186 The poet Moore in Canada 187-190 CONTENTS. XIII

Chapter VI. The War Of

1812-1814. PAGE The Veterans of 1812 to-day and the Character of the War 191-194 Circumstances leading to War 195-200 Two prominent heroes of the War 200-204 The First Year of the War 205-210 The Second " " 211-235 The Third " " 236-241

Chapter VII. Irish Immigration From

1815 TO 1837. The Results of the Great War in Ireland 242-244 Irish Immigrations ; what the Irishman has done for Canada ; what Canada has done for the Irishman 244-301

Chapter VIII

irish immigration from 1815 to 1837 — Continued. The Blakes 302-308 Settlement of the County of Carleton 310-328 The Irishman in Montreal 328-336 " Oxford 337 " Sandwich 338-340 " Halton and Welland 341 -344 " the County of Victoria 344-355 ' ' the County of Peterborough 355 " Kingston 365 " Percy 372-379 " Belleville 379 " Dundas, Brantford and Hamilton 379 " the County of Middlesex 380,381 " the County of Wellington 381-383

Chapter IX. The Rise Of Responsible Government In Canada

Character of this History 385 The first early stirrings of freedom 385, 386 Agitation of Gourlay and Mackenzie ■ 386, 387 Struggle to have the debates reported 387, CONTENTS. XIV PAGE Doctor Baldwin in Parliament 389 Hon. Robert Baldwin ; Entrance into political life ; his character... 390-395 Goes to England and presses his views on Lord Glenelg 396 Sir Francis Bond Head 396-406 Robert Baldwin Sullivan enters public life 398, 399 The Rebellion of 1837 401-406 Sir George Arthur, Governor ; unsatisfactory condition of all British North America ; struggles for liberty 406, 407 Sir Francis Hincks 408, 409 Mr. Poulett Thompson (Lord Sydenham) Governor- General 410-473 The Union of the Canadas 409-438 The first Parliament of United Canada 438-460 Disputes regarding Responsible Government 446-459 Agitation 460 Portraits of Draper and Sir Francis Hincks 463,464

Chapter X. The Rise Of Responsible Government

— Continued. State of Education in Canada 473-476 Government of Sir Charles Bagot 476-483 Fall of the Draper Government and rise of the Baldwin party to power 478-482 Sir Charles (Lord) Metcalf e, Governor-General — violent agitation ... 483-503

Chapter XI The Rise Of Responsible Government

— -Continued. The unconstitutional interregnum 503-508 Popular agitation 509-512 Parliament Dissolved ; exciting contest 512, 513 Election of Speaker ; attack on the Ministry ; jjrogress of Constitutional Government ; indecency of Ministers ; Draper's University Bill ; departure and death of Lord Metcalfe 521-532

Chapter XII. The Rise Of Responsible Government

Continued. Lord Cathcart, Administrator 532 Disorganisation of the Tory Party 532-534 Lord Elgin, Governor-General ; Draper's farewell ; famine immigration ; the New Ministry ; death of Sullivan; effect of Free Trade ; CONTENTS. XV PAGE commercial depression ; Rebellion Losses Bill ; mob violence ; seals of Government ; treason ; triumph of Responsible Government 534-564

Chapter XIII. The Canadian Constitution

Developing the country ; the " Clear Grits ;" Independence and Annexation : advantages of Canadian Constitution 564-572 Parliament meets ; " Clear Grits " attack the Reform Government ; fruitful legislation ; Railway Mania ; Mr. Brown's hostility to the Hincks' Government ; Coalition Opposition ; fall of Hincks and close of the Irish period (1825-1854) 572-589

Chapter XIV. Progress Of Canada

Irish immigration since 1837 - 590-597 The Irishman as a social force 597-598 ' [ as a Medical man 589-603 " as a Journalist 603, 604 The Bench, the Bar, culture 604-611 Canadian Art 611-618 Irish poets in Canada 618-620 Volunteers 620-623

Chapter XV. The Irishman As

A RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL FORCE. Importance of Religion and Education 623 The Church of England in Canada 624-629 The Methodist Church 629-632 The Presbyterian Church 632-635 The Roman Catholic Church 635-643 Education , 643,644

Chapter XVI. Canadian History From

1856 TO 1877. Premiership of Mr. (now Sir) John A. Macdonald 645 John Sheridan Hogan 645, 646 Thomas D'Arcy McGee 646-651 CONTENTS. PAGE Foley.. ..: 651 Confederation, Lord Monck, Fenianism 651-656 McGee, fierce contest, longing after repose, murder 656-659 The Catholic League 659 Return of Sir Francis Hincks .659, 660 Reform Party reinforced by Mr. Edward Blake 660, 661 New Irish members 661, 662 Lord Dufferin, Governor-General ; nationality, what ; Lord Dufferin's talents ; his career 662-666 Conclusion

Chapter I

It requires no such faith as Abraham's to look forward to a time when Canada will be a great nation. Had the aged Hebrew, when told to count his descendants by the stars, turned away incredulously and re-entered his tent, and sat down to laugh with Sarah over what might well have seemed a mocking promise, he would surely have been excusable. It was hard for him to believe that the withered trunk would sprout and cover the land with forest. But, however strong his faith, he could not have grasped the mighty future which lay locked within his wintry loins. What human vision could have seen in the patriarch, bowed with age, the extraordinary people who were to be to the world what the fruitful cloud and the vivifying sunshine are to the earth — a people, to whose spiritual insight that of the Greeks was blindness, from whose sublime morality Roman virtue differed, as the human differs from the Divine?

But there would be no excuse whatever for doubts on our part. We already count ourselves by millions ; we live in historical times ; we are the heirs in possession of the moral and intellectual wealth of centuries ; we carry in our veins the blood of races which have been prolific in martyrs and heroes, poets and states men ; in beauty, which gives sweetness to strength, and in art, which renders that beauty immortal. We have seen the family and tha clan expand into the nation, and the descendants of rob bers and outlaws become the stern lawgivers of the world. From What rude tribes sprang Greece ; out of what a coarse chaos came the refined civilization of France and the glory of the Brito- Hibernian empire. The great Eastern shepherd had long slept in his grave when his children were the slaves of a cruel tyranny; his dust had passed through many forms when Solomon ruled at Jerusalem; ages had intervened when a greater than Solomon promulgated from Zion a kingdom which can know no decline.

We, too, shall have long slept with our fathers when Canada's sun will be in the zenith. But they only play their part worthily who live for morrows whose light cannot gladden them. This is a duty which is laid on all, but especially on young peoples. Our politics are evanescent; our ambitions, dreams; there is nothing of reality in the passing show but the qualities which assign the individual and the community their place in the moral scale, and determine the character of their successors. Humanity is immortal ; the individual, perishable. Even races disappear and give place to other races. Old forces take new forms, as in the sea the waves spend themselves, transmitting their strength to other waves, which in their turn are doomed to die. It is natural to wish to know what manner of men our fathers were.

On no subject has there been more curiosity, on none has there been so much absurd speculation, as on the ethnology of nations who have taken a foremost place in the world. The fountains of the Nile have not been so baffling as those changes and conditions which preceded the advent and growth of nations. The sources are lost in unrecorded time. It is only yesterday that the clue from language was discovered. Hence, ignorant or uncritical historians, more enamoured of the marvellous than careful about truth, have allowed fancy to run riot, and taught men to reverence fabulous heroes, and sometimes to regulate their con duct by what was no better than idle legend. When the future historian of Canada sits down to write a story which, we may hope, will be illustrious with great achieve ments and happy discoveries, triumphs in literature and art, in OBJECTS OF THE WORK. 3 his library, side by side with lore it has not entered into the heart of man as yet to conceive, will be found records such as the historian of Greece, or Rome, or Ireland, or Scotland, or England looks for in vain.

He will have to treat of the races which laid the foundation of the great northern empire on this continent, and he must have adequate information to his hand But those records will be incomplete, unless we take care that a class of facts, which may easily escape, are duly hoarded. The future historian will find full particulars regarding those heroic Frenchmen — the missionary and the soldier — who were the pioneers of our civilization. He ought to know all about the English settlement. He should be acquainted with all that Scotchmen have done for Canada. He should not be ignorant of the noblo elements of national life one of the most brilliant of modern nations has laid at her feet. To point out this is the task I have set myself. I have another object in view : I wish, while performing this task, to sweep aside misconceptions, to explode cherished fal lacies, to point out the truth, and so raise the self-respect of every person of Irish blood in Canada.

The time has not yet arrived when we can speak of a Canadian type, and until that day arrives, whether we are born on Canadian soil, or in the mother lands, we cannot safely forego the bracing and inspiring influences which come from country and race.* Our first duty here is to Canada ; but one of the best ways efficiently to discharge this duty, is to be just to ourselves and true to facts. Writing the history of Irishmen in Canada, I can afford to speak in this way, for it was in great part due to the eloquence and enthusiasm of an Irishman that the scattered provinces were brought together, and men born on this soil have acknowledged * Let the miserables who would deny a country because the shadow of a vanished oppression is only passing from it, and who do not scruple to abuse their fellow-countrymen, ponder the following remarks of an Englishman :— " The moral degradation arising from this vast mass of helotage could not fail to affect the bearing even of the upper classes of Ireland.

It produced in them that want of self-respect and respect for their country in their intercourse with the English which drew from Johnson the bitter remark, ' The Irish, sir, are a very candid people ; they never speak well of each other.'" — "Irish History and Irish Character." By Goldwin Smith. their indebtedness to his winged words for the most precious of gifts.* Happily, to write the history of Irishmen in Canada is no uninviting task. It is not merely that Ireland can advance her claim to recognition and respect as no inconsiderable contributor to the great work of laying the foundation of this young nation. She has helped to reclaim the land from barrenness ; to substi tute for the wilderness the garden. In clearing and in counsel, her sons have done their part. Whether it was necessary to speaL or strike, they have been at the post of duty.

This is not aU which makes the task so pleasant. The heroism, the endur ance, the versatile genius implied by all this may be found written on the tearful pages of the history of the motherland. What renders the task so pleasant is, that here the factions which have afflicted successive centuries exist but in shadow because the ground of quarrel is wholly absent. Whoever studies the history of Ireland, not in what are called popular histories and student's manuals, but in contemporary documents, will learn that the great bone of contention, from age to age, was not religion, nor form of government, but the land. Here, land can be no apple of discord. Ireland, nay, the three kingdoms might be drowned in one of our lakes. We have, too, out lived the age of plunder and confiscation, and never can any difficulty arise on this score in a country where we open up provinces as men in the old world make a paddock.

And if there can be no misgiving as to the abundance, neither can there be any as to the wealth and frnitfulness of the land. Ireland's fields are greener, but they are not as variously fruitful as those of Canada ; her hills — nothing could surpass their beauty, but they do not contain the mineral treasures which are to be found here ; her rivers have unspeakable charm, but their sands are not of gold. A glance at the physical geography of Canada wiU show it to be one of the richest sections of the globe. Its forests will •" There is a name I would fain approach. . . . one who breathed into our new Dominion the spirit of a proud self-reliance, and first taught Canadians to respect themselves— Thomas D'Arcy McGee."—" Canada First ; or, Our New Nationality." By W. A. Foster. EESOURCES OF THE DOMINION. 5 build thousands of fleets and warm the hearths of many generations.

Already great as a wheat -growing country, it is destined to be greater, the isotherm of wheat running right across the greater portion of the whole Dominion. The red loam of Prince Edward is among the most fertile of soils. What country is so beautifully wooded and watered as New Brunswick, whose fer tility is only surpassed by the wealth of its mines and fisheries ? Nova Scotia, variegated by lofty hills and broad vaUeys, by lakes and rivers, is rich in geological resources, and, while bountiful to the agriculturalist, is still more bountiful to the miner. Gold and iron and copper, lead and silver and tin, abound. Shipbuilding is carried on extensively, as in New Brunswick and in Quebec. The agricultural resources of Quebec and those of Ontario need not be dwelt on. It is now known that the land to the north west of Manitoba is richer than any prairie land in the world.

Our minerals held their heads high at the Centennial of 1876. Canadian horses and cattle are finding a market in England, and the gates of commerce are thrown open to us under the Southern Cross, if the eastern bounds of our Dominion, washed by the stormy Atlantic, are variously rich, so are the western bounds, whose golden feet are laved by the calmer waters of the Pacific. Destined at once to be the England and the California of the future, British Columbia is as beautiful as she is richly dowered. The traveller who proceeds up the highway made where the Fraser cleaves the granite ridges of the Cascade range, and enters the open valleys beyond, is face to face with " the unequalled pastoral and agricultural, resources of the bunch-grass country." * From an eminence in the neighbourhood of Kamloops he com mands an interminable prospect of grazing lands and valleys waiting for the husbandman.

He may see the mouths of the coal-pits opening into the hulls of the vessels ; here, inex haustible supplies of iron ore ; there, the woodsman laying the axe to trees two hundred and fifty feet high and over four hundred years old. Skirting the Fraser, he will see the Indian fisherman haul out a salmon on the sands, whence the miner is sifting sparkling ore. In Cariboo, in Cassiar, in the vaUey of the Stickeen, the precious metal is still more abundant. * See Lord Dufferin's speech at Victoria, Sept. 20th, 1876. What land is more richly blessed by nature with water, whether we consider it as a beautifier, or as a drudge, or as a fishing field ? The fisheries, inland and seaward, are unequaUed. No country in the world has such an avenue of approach as the St. Lawrence. To wind one's way through the Thousand Islands is to wander amid enchanting beauty.

It is an Irish poet who writes — " There are miracles, which man, Cag'd in the bounds of Europe's pigmy span, Can scarcely dream of — which his eye must see To know how wonderful this world can be." * What variety and beauty is there up Lake Superior ! Cross the continent, and you may sail along the coast for a week in a vessel of two thousand tons, threading " an interminable laby rinth of wateiy lanes and reaches," winding endlessly amid a maze and mystery of islands, promontories, and peninsulas for thousands of miles, the placid water undisturbed by the slighest swell from the adjoining ocean, and presenting at every turn an ever-shifting combination of rock, verdure, forest, glacier, and snow-capped mountain of unrivalled grandeur and beauty." f Those capacious and tranquil waters, capable of carrying a line of battle ship, seem gentle, as if on purpose to suit the frail canoes which skim in safety over the unrippled surface.

In such a country, where the laws are equal, with everything which can stimulate industry, j everything which can stir the heart, it would be an extraordinary thing if the Irishman did not rise to a high level. Here, all that his fathers ever struggled for he has. He is a controlling part of the present ; he is one of the architects of the future, and he has nothing to do with the disasters of the past, only so far as they teach him lessons for the present. Nothing to do with the glories of the past, save to catch their inspiration. On those disasters and those glories it will now be my duty briefly to dwell. * Moore. t Lord Dufferin. J I am convinced, from what I saw in the States, and from all I have heard, that the position of the Irishman in Canada is better than in the States, FUNCTION OF H1ST0E7. 7 chapter n. No source of education open to a people ought to be so ruitful as the story of their own country.

But, if it is to teach and correct and inspire, it must be true. The muse of history is the purest of all the Nine, and no passion should darken the clear blue of the intellectual atmosphere of her domain; no fiction warp its crisp outlines. The romancer, who gives you idle fables, and calls them history, would play a much more useful part if he appeared in his true character of novelist ; while the man who distorts facts or colours them mischievously, with the view of raising or stimulating passions, is worse than a murderer, for he sows broadcast the seeds of murder. In uncritical times, the deposit of the national fancy is easily mistaken for the gold of truth, and for the most credulous of Irish historians there is this excuse : for him the future was a vista of despair ; the present, blood and tears, and hope, in the unnatural strain, was turned to the past, giving additional warmth and boldness to imagination.