all, only the natural sequel of colonial obscurity. It is still a
current belief abroad--at least in Europe--that we are all so much
occupied with the care of our material interests, that we are so deeply
absorbed by the grosser conditions of existence in a new country, that
we have little opportunity or leisure to cultivate those things which
give refinement and tone to social life. Many persons lose sight of the
fact that Canada, young though she is compared with the countries of the
Old World, has passed beyond the state of mere colonial pupilage. One
very important section of her population has a history contemporaneous
with the history of the New England States, whose literature is read
wherever the English tongue is spoken. The British population have a
history which goes back over a century, and it is the record of an
industrious, enterprising people who have made great political and
social progress. Indeed it may be said that the political and material
progress that these two sections of the Canadian people have conjointly
made is of itself an evidence of their mental capacity. But whilst reams
are written on the industrial progress of the Dominion with the
praiseworthy object of bringing additional capital and people into the
country, only an incidental allusion is made now and then to the
illustrations of mental activity which are found in its schools, in its
press, and even in its literature. It is now the purpose of the present
writer to show that, in the essential elements of intellectual
development, Canada is making not a rapid but certainly at least a
steady and encouraging progress, which proves that her people have not
lost, in consequence of the decided disadvantages of their colonial
situation, any of the characteristics of the races to whom they owe
their origin. He will endeavour to treat the subject in the spirit of an
impartial critic, and confine himself as closely as possible to such
facts as illustrate the character of the progress, and give much
encouragement for the future of a country even now only a little beyond