Un demi-sièle de vie politique par P. A. Choquette, and: Merrier par Robert Rumilly (review)

R•vmws OF Booers 4415 Un demi-slide de vie politique. Par P. A. CUOQUErrE. Pr6face de ROSliRr RUraLLy. Montreal: Les •ditionsBeauchemin. 1936. Pp. 352. ($1.25) Mercier. Par ROSERTRtrmLL¾. (Collectiondu Zodiaque,'35.) Montr&al: Les &litionsdu Zodiaque,LibrairieD6omFr•re. 1936. Pp. 545. ($1.00) IN many respects thesevolumesare complementary, the practiceand the philosophy ,so to speak, of Quebecpolitics. In the first, M. Rumilly has put into literary form the political reminiscences of Judge Philippe Augustc Choquette. He givesusan attractive pictureof an active man of varied interestsalert at all timesto defend whatheconsidered to betherightsof FrenchCanadians. Although an ally of Mercier and a friendof Laurier, M. Choquettedoesnot seemto have sharedmany party secrets; hiscorrespondence, especially hiscorrespondence with Laurier, is not of great historicalvalue. In Mercier,M. Rumilly hasattemptedthemoredifficulttaskof portrayingone of the mostelusiveandcontradictory characters in Canadianhistory. Mercierhas longwanteda biographer, yet it may bequestioned whetherM. Rumlily hasfilled that ri51e. He hasproduced an appreciation and an apology,scarcelya critical and impartial study. Althoughhe dealswith controversial topics,M. Rumlily doesnot cite his authoritiesand, apart from a very generalacknowledgement of assistance, thereis nothingin the natureof a bibliography. M. Rumilly givesthe conventional interpretationof Mercier'scareer,taking full advantageof its highly dramaticepisodes. Of the arcanaof Quebecpolitics,of the effortsto form a purely French-Canadian or nationalparty, of therelations of that remarkabletriumvirate, Mercier, Laurier, and Chapleau,we are told little that is new; of the profound economic and socialchanges that transformedQuebecduring Mercier'slife-time and powerfullyinfluencedhis career,we are told less. M. Rumilly has written with much charm and humour yet his Mercier remainsa literary rather than an historical work. JOHN IRWIN COOPER Quebec, WhereAncientFranceLingers. By MARIUSBARSEAU.Illustrationsby MARJORIE BORDEN. Toronto: The Macmillan Companyof Canada. 1936. Pp. [x], 173. ($2.50) The Kingdomof Saguenay. By MARIUSBaRSEAU. Toronto: The Macmillan Companyof Canada. 1936. Pp. [x], 167. ($2.75) BOXHthesebooksbelongto a smallbut usefulgroupof Canadianaof whichwe coulddo with a goodmany more,for they illuminateCanadianhistorywith the little known and give it a realiw which constitutionaldialecticswill never have. In Quebec M. Barbeauhasdescribed in a pleasantlysimplemannersomeof the artsandcrafts,thesongs anddances, andthelegends ofFrenchQuebec. He speaks with the affectionatefamiliariW of one who is both historian and the legateeof history,of the delicateand beautifulwood-carvingto be foundin somany corners of FrenchQuebec;of the workof menlike the Baillarg6s,Jean-BaptisteCOt&and Jobin;of the silvercommunion vessels, lamps,censers, and domestic objectslike ewers andporringers; of the cradlesongs andamusements of the French-Canadian people. There is a rather conscious romanticism aboutthe writing, almostnostalgic at times,because M. Barbeauis concerned, asare manyof hispeople, with theslow-andperhaps notsoslow4issolufionof theindigenous cultureandsentiment that is the peculiarpossession of his own people. "French culture", he says,"in Canadarestedon twin factors: the vitality of ancestraltraditionscoupledwith ...