Literature.— In times past there was no na tive literature, and little general culture, except in small select circles at Quebec and at Mon treal; but during the past half-century, with the increase of population, the establishment of colleges and universities, the dissemination throughout of classical education, and the de velopment of self-government, the French Canadians have created for themselves a litera ture, which shows that they inherit much of the spirituality and brilliancy of their race. The histories and poems have attracted much at tention in France, and some of their literary works ' have been awarded prizes by the French Academy. In history mention should be made of the names of Garneau, Ferland, Suite, Tasse, Turcotte, Dionne, Casgrain, Gosselin, Le Moine, Gagnon, Myrand, etc.; in poetry, Cremazie, Chauveau, Frechette, Poisson, Le may, Chapman and many others; in science, Hamel, Laflamme, De Foville, etc. In art some progress has been made, and young men go to the Paris schools from time to time. The only sculptor of original merit that Canada has yet produced is Hebert, a native of Quebec, whose statues of eminent Canadians stand in several places. Science has not made as much progress as belles-lettres and history, though Laval University has among its professors men who have done creditable work in mathematics, geology, chemistry and physics. In romance, however, little has been done, except by Mar mette, Lemay and a few others.
History.— Jacques Cartier discovered and explored the river Saint Lawrence in 1533, it was not until 1608 that Samuel de Cham plata founded the present city of Quebec, which, at the end of 12 years, had a population of only 60 persons. The Recollets were the first missionaries. The Jesuits came to the settlement in 1625, and thereafter Montreala leading part in its history. Mon was founded in 1642 by Maisonneuve; but for many years as an agricultural or commercial settle ment, New Frante, as it was called, remained a failure, its only trade being the fur trade. A change came under Louis XIV, when a systematic effort began to make the colony the starting point of a French and Catholic em pire which should embrace the whole of the continent. The result of this policy was a long contest between the two races, which began in 1689 with the second advent of Count Frontenac as governor of New France, and ended in 1759 with the capture of Quebec by a British army under Wolfe. The capitulation of Montreal in 1760 completed the English con quest of Canada, which, with all its de pendencies, was in 1763 formally ceded to the British Crown.
The policy of the conquerors toward New France was, from the appointment of General Murray, a liberal one, and in 1774 took definite form in what was known as the Quebec Act, by which the British Parliament assured the French Canadians the free exercise of their re ligion, the enjoyment of their civil rights and the protection of their own civil laws and cus toms. The act also annexed larger territories to the of Quebec, and provided for a governing council partly composed of Catholics, and for the administration of the criminal laws as in use in England. There was, however, constant strife between the conquering and the conquered race, the object of which was to amalgamate the two races, and to put an end to it, Parliament in 1791, divided Canada into two provinces — Lower Canada, or Quebec, for the French, and Upper Canada (now Ontario) for the British, many of whom had fled thence from the United States at the close of the Revolutionary War. Each province was to have, besides the governor who represented the Crown, a legislative council nominated by the Crown, and an assembly elected by the people for four years. But the two races were not separated by the division of the province, and in 1841, after a long and stormy agitation, a reunion of the provinces was effected 'under the name of the Province of Canada, and with it the establishment of responsible government. The legislature consisted of a council and assembly, each province being represented in the assembly by 42 members, 84 in all, elected by the people; and the council numbered 20 members, appointed by the Crown. This ar rangement lasted until 1867, when it gave way to a union of the provinces of British North America. The way for confederation was cleared by a convention of representatives of all the provinces, held in Quebec, in October 1864, which unanimously adopted a set of reso lutions embodying conditions on which the provinces, through their delegates, agreed to a federal union. These resolutions were duly laid before the various legislatures and adopted in the shape of addresses to the Queen, whose sanction was necessary to embody the wishes of the provinces in an imperial statute; and in February 1867 the British North America Act was passed by Parliament. On 1 July of the same year the union of the provinces of Can ada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was pro claimed under the name of the Dominion of Canada, the names of Upper and Lower Canada being changed at the same time to Ontario and Quebec.