Notes and Comments

Notes and Comments GEORGE EARLE WILSON George Wilsonwasborn on a farm near Perth, Ontario, on what is stillcalled'the Scotch line,'on 7 April 189o,of a sturdyScotch-Presbyterian family.He grewup robust,tall, and blessed with a tremendously strongconstitution.He went to the Perth high school,[bur-and-a-halfmilesaway;he walkedeachway, puzzlingout mathematicalproblemsor memorizingLatin vocabularies and French irregular verbs.He evenstayedtwoyearslongerthannecessary - thoughheled hisclass - in ordertobesureof hismastery ofhissubjects. It wasin •91o,whenhewas,2, thathe went to Queen's. Hisbestsubject hadbeenmathematics, but hisrealinterestlayin biggerquestions. What was•nan,andwhatwasman'splacein the universe? He firstsoughtan answer to thesequestions in philosophy, buthedid notfind thatitsapproachsatisfied him. Wilsonturned to history.Here wassomethingdefinite,the storyof man'slong struggleupwardintothe light,against the worldand againsthitnself.It wasa big subject: it tookineverything. History,theacadetnic discipline, wasbutasinallcoreof whathistorywasfbr Wilson,for hetookall knowledge fbr hisprovince. He could havefinishedQueen'sin three years;he stayedfive, studyinghistory,English, philosophy, andeventhenleft withregret. Thatwas in •9•15. He hatedthewar.Hewas atoughanduncompromising pacifist. At Queen'she had to fight that out - literally- for hitnself.His argutnenthe put sternly: 'I was notgoing tostick abayonet intoanother humanbeinginordertosettle a powerstruggle in Europe.On thatpointI hadnouncertainty or hesitation.' He went to Harvard asa graduatestudentin the fall of •9•t5,and wasto remain there until thelatesutnmerof •9•9, workingonhisPHDdegree. Dalhousie University needed someone toteach history andeconomics. The presidentappealed to Harvard.Wilsonwasrecommended, andafter somepersuasion fbrhewas happyatHarvard,andonagraduate fbllowship-agreedtogo.At thetime heknew littleandcared less about theMaritime provinces. Forhimthegrowing edge 120 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW of Canadawaswestward,not eastward.Soit wasthat in Halifax on a bright Septemberdayin •9•9aratherreluctant George Wilson walked uptoDalhousie. Hewas to stayfifty years. Lateron he saidthatthereasonhestayedatDalhousie wasnotanoverwhelming loveof AtlanticCanadaor of NovaScotia. The clutchof reasons comprised friends, loyalty,and freedom.Hiscolleagues weregood.A fewwereasleep, butmostwere exceptionally ableanddevoted men.Butfreedomwasperhapsthemostimportant. If Dalhousie nevergavemuchin salary,it did notdemandmucheither,exceptgood teaching. It caredlittlewhetheramanpublished or not.It carednothingforwhata professor didwiththelongsummers fromtheendofApriltotheendofSeptember. Summeraftersummer, yearafteryear,from •92oto •969,andthenafterheleft Dalhousie, Wilsontrampedfromoneendof Europetotheother,withfriendsand withBaedeker, andwroteit allintohisownfertile,capacious mind.He remembered what he sawand what he read. He usedto say,'You shouldnot only knowit, you should knowyouknowit.'He always madeapointof fastening things down.Andhe lovedtowalkhishistory,in Greece,in Turkey,in Rome,or Paris.We walkedParis togetherfor a few daysonce,whenhe seemedto seethe historyof Parisfrom the insideof the buildingsoutwards.We were walkingalongthe Rue St Honor• one morning,and he lookedup at one houseaswewalkedby and said,'That'swhere Robespierre closedthe shutters sohe wouldnot haveto hear or seethe tumbrils goingby.' Wilson was abornteacher, andhelovedhissubject. Thatwas thesimple recipe that comprehendsthe toweringreputation he built at Dalhousie.He never stopped learning. He took, if not literally,at leasteffectually,monasticvows.He never married. He had a thoroughlyconventional appearance; like Marx, he disliked ostentatious bohemianism, andwasalways inclinedtopreservetheordinaryformsof socialintercourseand goodmanners.Underneath theseformsthere wasa strong intelligence- independent,realistic,and at bottom sceptical.He liked Bishop Butler's statement, 'Thingsandactions arewhattheyare,andtheirconsequences will bewhattheywillbe:why,then,should wedesire tobedeceived?' He wasadeeplypessimistic man,always conscious of themutabilityandtragedyof the human condition. That was, I think, becausehe loved men, and much of the time feltsorryforthem;theywerecaught,asheseemed toseeit,inanunthinkingpassion for gettingand begetting. Justbeforehisdeathhe publishedprivatelya kind of autobiography for hisfriends.He titledit, 'All for nothing?' Thispessimism sometimes affectedpeoplewhowereclose tohim;andtherewere somegreatmindswhowereindeedunnervedbyhisfrequentsense of thefutilityof acting.Yet, he wasnot a gloomypersonto be with. A pessimist philosophically, indeedhewas; buthewasamanwholoved,if notlifeasanabstraction, thenliving, whoateanddrankandjokedwithtremendous gusto. Hissense ofhumourwasnever far away.Hislaughterhada kindof immortalitytoit: asif laughterwerea triumph of manoverfate. It washard not to enjoyhiswit,whichfrequentlyhada distinct Johnsonian turn.(Boswell's Johnson wasabookhemuchadmired,andusually triedto readonceayear.)At dinneronceathisoldplaceinMorrisStreet,Halifax,ayounger colleague of minewassurprised to discover that Wilsonhad beenHarold Laski's NOTES AND COMMENTS 121 graduateassistant atHarvardin •9•7 . He wasalittlerudein hissurprise, andin his question,'WasLaskithen asfar to theleft ashewasin the 3os? ' 'I don'tknowabout that,'Wilsonsaid,'buthewas just asconceited.' Wilsonlovedhistory,but he wasneveran antiquarian.He had no patiencewith whatonemightcallthememorabilia ofhistory.Nelson's jacketwiththebulletholein it was merely the dressof Nelson the man. If history was not fundamentally philosophical it wasnothing.His presidentialaddressto the CanadianHistorical Association in •95• isaneloquent, evenmovingstatement of whathefelt. Nor were factshistory,thoughhefelt youwouldnotgetfar withoutthem.We talkedonceof HerbertButterfield's Whig Interpretation qfHistory, andhowittookoneuponahillside toseetheview.'Yes,'saidWilson, hiseyes shining, 'facts won'tmakeyouanhistorian.' He wasimpatient with publishing,althoughhe himself wrote with force and elegance. He turned out a sharpand shrewdarticleon Confederationin New Brunswick thatstillstands (Canadian Historical Review,•928). He wrotehisbookon Robert...