In this book, distinguished scholars and writers of today discuss leading figures in the history of Canadian letters and public affairs, providing a treasury of information on Canadians of importance, and a meeting between Canada’s past and present. Robert L. McDougall begins with an essay on Thomas Chandler Haliburton, humourist, satirist, and creator of Sam Slick. J. M. S. Carless deals with George Brown, Liberal leader, and proprietor of the Toronto Globe. J. S. Tassle examines the life and work of Philippe Aubert de Gaspe, seigneur, lawyer, and author of the first French-Canadian prose classic, Les Anciens Canadiens, which he created when in his seventies. A.J.M. Smith, himself a poet, supports his opinion of Duncan Campbell Scott as a "remarkable, if not impeccable, poet." James A. Gibson discusses Sir Robert Borden as Leaders of the Opposition and Prime Minister, and his contributions to the theory and practice of Canadian autonomy. Earle Birney, poet and novelist, points out that the trend of modern criticism has led to misunderstanding and misprizing of the poetry of E.J. Pratt, which is therefore too commonly regarded as "old fashioned." Barker Fairley, scholar and artist, discusses Frederick H. Varley, outstanding Canadian artist and one of the Group of Seven, who, in the intense humanism of his best work, exemplifies a tradition sadly neglected, the author believes, in contemporary Canadian painting. Guy Sylvestre describes how the main events of the life of Francois-Xavier Garneau, historian and author of Histoire du Canada, paralleled important milestones in the history of the nation. David M. L. Farr tells how John S. Ewart, political dissenter, regarded the exposition of self-government as the "chiefest part of Canadian history." Jean Bruchesi, drawing on the personal correspondence of his subject, gives the story of Louis Joseph Papineau, patriot and leader of French Canada. Robin S. Harris finds that Egerton Ryerson’s prose writings on religious and
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