A Book of Canadian Prose and Verse ed. by E. K. and E. H. Broadus (review)

334 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW prairie provinces is changing the "British orientation in Canadian politics"; and he surmisesthat the end of the Anglo-Japanesealliance will have a marked effect in British Columbia. He tells us that Canada's chiefsecurityliesin the fact of her beinga partner in the British Empire. He doesfull justiceto the importanceof railway policy and the strategic value of many of the lines,and makesthe uniquepositionof the C.P.R. quite clear. Canada'slow percentageof illiterates, and the high moral standard of the population, he regards as particularly noteworthy and promising. The articleshouldsupplyall that isnecessary for a rapid survey , thoughthe bil•liographical references--even allowingfor difficulties in Germany in laying handson worksdealingwith Canada--might have been fuller, and at least included such German authors as A. Fleck, E. J. Neisser,and perhapsJ. G. Kohl, whose2•eisen in Kanada, old as it is, is still very useful and readable. But Dr. Hasenclever'shands may have beentied by the economyof spacenow imposedon scientific publications by reason of the dire economic conditions obtaining in Germany, though, for some reason or other, there is always paper enoughand to sparefor novelsand art books. Louis HAMILTON A Bookof CanadianProseand Verse. Compiledand edited by E. K. and E. H. BROAr)Us. Toronto: The Macmillan Company of Canada. 1923. Pp. xv, 390. Tu•s collectionis made up of poetry and prose,English and French, covering most of the field of Canadian life. It commenceswith an "Ode onthe King'sBirthday (June4th, 1776)", andendswith a speech by Sir Robert Borden,deliveredin New York in 1916. Its editorshad two objectsin view--a "representative selection", and "a picture of Canadian life, past and present". Their success in both directions makes the book particularly attractive to students and teachers of Canadianhistory. The literary merit varies,of course,but the panorama is unexpectedlycomprehensive. Commendation of any book for the absenceof a defect common to its classcomesperilouslynear "damningwith faint praise". However, a Canadian anthology isin question, anda common feature(anddefect) of its classhas been a determination to find literary merit of no mean order in versewhich rhymed and prosewhich parsed,providedthat thesewere Canadian. The reader of this bookdiscovers,to his relief, that the disease isnot pandemic. The editors,in a pithy prefaceandin specific comment, arehappyin suggesting theweaknesses aswellasthe strengthof their material, thoughthe brevity carrieswith it, perhaps, a hint of the text-book manner. REVIEWS OF BOOKS 335 The historical schemeof compilation has permitted the reproduction of someunfamiliar material not likely to be met with elsewhere,and an interestingliterary curiosityworthy of mentionis "The RisingVillage", by Oliver Goldsmith, a Canadian grand-nephewof the English poet. J. B. BREBNER Lespetites choses denotrehistoire. Par PIERRE-GIrORGES RoY. Cinqui•me s•rie. L•vis. 1923. Pp. 303. TH•S is the fifth in a seriesof extracts from Canadian history that M. P.-G. Roy has brought together and edited, and to which he assigns the unpretentioustitle of Les petiteschoses. It was a happy device on M. Roy's part to adopt this novelway of making the readingof Canadian history simple and attractive. The present volume seemsthe most enjoyableof the set,because it hasnoneof the racefeelingof the earlier collections,falling back, instead, upon the quaint, homely, familiar, picturesque detailsof theold Frenchr•gime andof the yearsimmediately after the Cession. The volume contains in all one hundred and sixteen titles or petites choses, each dealing with the first or original appearanceof its kind in Canada,--as, for example: the first negro; the first surveyor; the first printed book; the first intendant; the first dancing-party; the first Protestant church; the first French-Canadianpoet, etc., etc. A wide rangeof subjectsisthusingeniously displayed; andasfewof the extracts exceedthree pagesin length, the readerfindshis curiosity and interest sustainedfrom coverto cover. Brief asthey are, there is abundanceof entertaining historical reading in these selections; and though in no very important sensea contribution to knowledge,they do certainly present many of the small details of Canadian history in a pleasing form. C. E. FRYER Le vieuxQu•,bec. Par PIERRE-GEORGES RoY. Premieres6rie. Qu6bec. 1923. Pp. 300. M. RoY is so well known as an indefatigable archivist and writer of specialmonographs that the interestedpublicwill beapt to mistake this new volume for either a collectionof archivesor a monographon somespecialfeaturesof Quebecprovincial. history. True...