The Thomas Chandler Haliburton Symposium

Introduction

Introduction The strong creative pulse of modern Canadian writers attracts and holds the attention of readers and scholars with the understandable result that major figures who wrote before the twentieth century tend to be neglected. This is perhaps the condition of Thomas Chandler Haliburton who, as George Parker notes in his paper, was "just about the only Canadian writer who was a household name in the nineteenth century." He has been called the father of American humour and his influence on Mark Twain, for example, has been frequently acknowledged. Haliburton also received international acclaim and lived to enjoy his role as an international celebrity. With all of this, however, there are a variety of critical opinions about his literary merit; about influences on him and his influence on others; about his historical , political, and economic views; about his particular use of satire, his publishing experience, his pirated and abridged works, and his multiple editions with their corruptions and inconsistencies. So a reappraisal is indeed timely, and the weekend of April 27-29, 1984 was just that, and brought pleasing results. The opening paper was given by Allen Penney who, using slides and dialogue, gave an architectural interpretation of aspects of Haliburton through his home "Clifton" in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and unravelled the complex design and evolution of this distinguishedhouse, now owned and operated by the Nova Scotia government and open for public view. Through consideration of the original design and subsequent changes in the house, and brief reference to Haliburton's experience in England, Professor Penney reveals biographical facts 2 of Haliburton's life in Nova Scotia and in England and demonstrates his aspirations to be an "upper crust" statesman and to have kinship with British aristocracy. Richard Davies' paper on Haliburton's letters— 240, of which 139 are unpublished—advances knowledge of Haliburton's life, including information on relationships with Judge Peleg Wiswall whose knowledge of Nova Scotia past and present was an asset to Haliburton's History, and discloses additional facts about Abbe Jean Mande Sigogne with whom Haliburton shared interests in political causes that succeeded in passing through the Nova Scotia legislature. The letters also reveal new instances of Haliburton's warm sense of humanity, justice, and fair dealings, and new aspects of his literary, social, and political experiences in England, including relationships with such people as Richard Bentley, Mrs. Caroline Norton, Stephen Price, James Haliburton (formerly Burton), James's brother Decimus Burton, Mrs. Frances Trollope, and others. The letters confirm and develop Haliburton's aggressive enthusiasm for every aspect of economic and social development in the nineteenth century including railways, bridges, and steamships. Stanley McMullin examines the Tory mind through the life and writings of Haliburton and Egerton Ryerson. Professor McMullin considers Haliburton's Tory vision—with its strong pre-loyalist roots and attitudes —as more an idealistic, personal declaration of belief than a pragmatic political ideology. Professor McMullin believes that Haliburton and Ryerson (the latter a true loyalist of Upper Canada), as disparate colonials, express a similar vision that suggests a unique colonial set of mind. Both men admired United States, identified France as the central cause of trouble in European politics, celebrated the British monarchy, worked from "the 'inner spirit' of conservatism," and were moderate Tories. Professor McMullin strongly suggests that it is time for a serious study of the conservative mind in Canada, a study that will reveal Haliburton's Rule and Misrule of the English in America (1851) as one of the central early works of the colony. Thomas Vincent's paper places Haliburton's fiction in the European tradition of satiric literature, and notes the way satiric authors manipulated their narrators and used their narrative structures to reach their objectives. Working in this tradition, Haliburton had 3 a sophisticated audience that identified the social and moral implications of his satire, and admired its complexity , especially in the first series of The Clockmaker. Haliburton's literary apprenticeship is revealed in Gwendolyn Davies' study of "The Club Papers." This series of satirical sketches, first published in Joseph Howe's Novascotian on May 8, 1828, and continued until October 12, 1831, was itself a manifestation of the intellectual growth of Nova Scotia following 1812. The Club's writings contained satires, songs, dialogues, and dramas, on social, economic, and political events of Nova Scotia, and, in fact, the Club saw itself as the conscience of Nova Scotia. Led by Joseph Howe, prominent literary...