The Journal of John Payzant ed. by Brian C. Cuthbertson (review)

REVIEWS 265 withthepast. AlthoughPatrywrites aboutpopularFrench-Canadian attitudes to foreignaffairsin thenineteenth century, theWartimeInformationBoard, theVichy-Canada relationship, andtheFrenchconsulate generalat Quebec, he seems unfamiliarwith the importantworkon thesesubjects byArthur Silver,W.R.Young,JohnHilliker,PaulCouture,andPierreSavard.Nor do errors suchasJohn A. MacDonaldand ExternalAffairs ministerJames Jamieson bolster thereader's confidence inthecarefulness oftheauthor.Patry, itappears, isnotsowell-versed inthehistory oftheprovince asintheaffairs of theplanet. In thefinalanalysis, however, thisbookmustbejudgedonwhatitadds toour knowledge ofthei96osandi97os. HereagainPatrydisappoints. Heismuch tootaciturn about events inwhich hetookpart.Onecase isespecially puzzling. He describes at considerable lengtha majorquarrelbetween Johnson and Pearson whichoccurred duringtheI967visitof Prince Albertof Belgium. He quotes fromtheletters ofJohnson andPearson, butheomits theportion ofthe letterswhichrevealsthat Patryhimselfwasat the centreof the spat.In a broadersense, Patryissimilarlyevasive in describing whathe wasdoingin those livelydays. Didheregardthedisputes between OttawaandQuebec over seemingly trivial incidentsof diplomaticprecedence and representation as steps thatwereintendedto leadQuebectowards autonomy or, rather,were theysimplylegitimate responses to intolerable federalencroachments? The reader is never sure. Claude Morin, at least, was more honest about what he thoughthewasdoingin hismemoirs. Patrycouldhavetold usmuchaboutthe eventsand, in particular,about DanielJohnson withwhomheworkedclosely andtowhomthisbookisdedicated . Johnson, unfortunately, isalifeless figureinthisbook.SoisAndr&Patry. Both deserve better. JOHNENGLISH University ofWaterloo The Journal ofJohn Payzant. EditedbyBRIAN C.CUTHBERTSON. Hantsport,NS, LancelotPress, i98i. Pp.xiv,i3o. $5-95John Payzant, third childof HuguenotparentswhomovedfromJerseyto NovaScotia in theearlyi75os,wasoneof themostsignificant preachers and ministers inNovaScotia duringtheheyday ofevangelical revivalism, the•77øs to the x83os. He wasmoreaccomplished thanmostof hiskindhavingbeen subjected (following captureby Indians)to threeyears Jesuiteducation in Quebec. Hisjournalprovides adetailed account of hisearlyreligious experiences andhiscareerasa NewLightpreacher, thenminister,at Horton and Cornwallis andfinallyatLiverpool, whereheserved from•793untilhisdeath in x834.BrianCuthbertson hasdoneacompetent job of editingthejournalto makeitreadable without puffingupitsimportance bypedantic notes. Hisbrief 266 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW introduction sets thegeneral scene andsays some useful thing sonsuch matters as early Nova Scotianmarriagelaws,a sourceof much trouble for nonAnglicans . As it stands,this little volume will be of someuseto suchcreatures aslocal and church historiansand to studentsof revivalismin Nova Scotia,but it isdifficult to seeit appealingto a wider audience.It is, to useone of Payzsant's own phrases, fullofmaterial'too tedious tomention'(59) as disputes smouldered on overbaptism andotherchurch ordinances. The tediumisrelieved in places as Payzant describes theexcitement of revivals whichbroughtwholesettlements togetherin worshipand debateand sodisruptednormalactivities that 'no business was donethatweek, andbutlittleVictuels dressed'(87). It also helps whenwereadof a doctorwhowasunableto diagnose a five-or six-month pregnancy, complaining, inanefforttomaintain hisdignity, thatwomen'were notmadeof Glass Sothata person couldSeethrough them'(74). Piquancy is added when welearn thatthepoorgirlwas pregnant byHarris Harding, one of themorepopularpreachers ofthetime. Payzant's sometimes tortuous dealings withBaptists andotherevangelical churches show theproblems faced byNewLights when revivalism began headingalong denominational lines, aprocess thatwas completed bythe•8sos. The difficulty hehadofreconciling himself tothis dominant trendpartly explains hisincreasing isolation, which BrianCuthbertson thinks hadsomething todo withPayzant living forsolonginLiverpool. (If HenryAllinehadlivedtosuch a ripeoldageandhadhadtodealforyears withchurch affairs, hisreputation withposterity wouldprobably bemuchweaker.) Thematerial is,onthewhole, stodgy butalong withothersources itcouldbe minedandworked tosupport ageneral thesis onthesignificance ofevangelical religionin moldingthecultureof earlynineteenth-century NovaScotia. The organisational efforts,theincreasing frequency of inter-settlement contacts, thelocal institution-building going onwithintheevangelical churches, andthe dialectic among all these Non-Conformists andtheAnglican establishment explaina greatdealaboutthisformative periodof NovaScotian society and culture. CORr•ON STEWART Michigan State University TheOldAttorney General: a Biography of Richard JohnUniacke. BRIAN CUTHBERTSON . Halifax,Nimbus Publishing, •98•. Pp.vi,•5o.$• .95. R.J.Uniacke wasoneof themostinteresting andimportant of BritishNorth Americans andinthis lively biography BrianCuthbertson provides aneffective portrait ofthemanandhisplace inNovaScotia society andpolitics. Uniacke's wasa remarkablecareer.He servedas memberof the Assembly and its ...