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A.

Since I came to Canada I have given myself the pleasure
of reading a good deal of French-Canadian literature guided by the
works of my friend Mr Camille Roy a
grand servant of Canadian linguistics. I have been
struck especially by your work in two departments, in history and
in poetry. You have the true historical sense, and the right instinct
in securing a full record of the past. Especially in local history
you have done admirable work in preserving that continuity between
past and present which is the foundation of a nation's strength.
I have been deeply interested, too, in your poetry, which is the
expression of the soul of a people. But French-Canada is only
at the beginning of its literary achievements. You have here all
the materials to produce great literature - a people whose story is
one of the most romantic in the world, and a peasantry which, happily,
is still close to the soil and preserves its ancient traditions.
I look forward to French-Canada in the future making a distinguished
contribution to those things of the mind which must always
be the basis of true civilisation. May I say, too, that I hope
some day soon we shall have a singer drawn from the people like my
Scottish Robert Burns, who will put the soul of your people into imperishable
verse? Your habitants in the past have produced many delightful
country songs, but they have still to produced their great poet.