The Henson Journals

[129]

Monday, July 19th, 1909.

Keewatin. Lake of the Woods, Ontario.

Last night our conversation ranged over a large variety of subjects. I observed that the younger generation of Canadians had a far more strongly marked accent than the older, which was the more surprising since intercourse with England was far closer than in former times, and many boys & girls were brought up in England. Max Dennistoun suggested that the explanation might in part be found in the fact that schoolmates imported into Canada from England often became objects of derision to the youth whose instructor they were supposed to be, & that these exaggerated their native idiom by way of mockery!! There must be something in the American atmosphere to explain the dialect. In the States I incline to think that the disgusting habit of chewing gum may go some way towards explaining the thickness of pronunciation. It is universally affirmed that boys have no singing voices: & this circumstance is offered as the reason why young women are generally employed as choristers in the churches. Generally, however, the "American accent" has been far less offensively apparent than I had been led to expect, though individuals (Justine & Dorothea) have been equal to the largest theory!

[130]

We discussed the religious situation in Canada. I said that I should carry back with me to England a melancholy impression of religion both in the States & in Canada. The intellectual poverty of the clergy, & even their mean aspect are very remarkable. 'The truth is', says Max D., 'this country is so prosperous that there is for every man worth anything a better paid employment that the parson's.' Similar solutions of the problem were offered me in the States. But, if this is the case, then where can we look for improvement? Certainly it must be allowed that the poorer & more miserable the country, the abler & more flourishing the Church. Scotland prior to its modern prosperity was an example: Ireland is still a conspicuous example. When there are no secular careers deserving a vigorous man's adoption, he will turn to the Christian ministry! Only where power, consideration, & wealth are associated with the Ministry is it found able to attract to itself the finer intellectuals & the robuster characters! This was true of the Medieval Church: it is scarcely any longer true of any church. Hence the decline of Christianity. But where in all this is found a place for Divine Vocation? Where indeed? The salient & disconcerting fact stares one in the face, viz: that the Christian Church is manned & directed by weaklings. Hence the smallness of its policy; & the poverty of its ideals.

[131]

Canadian society is deplorably & cynically materialistic. Every one seems to be measured in dollars: the possession of dollars is the all–condoning circumstance. Sharp practice, 'graft', & even dishonesty are naked and unashamed. Men speak of them openly, but no penalty of public censure visits the guilty, provided only they succeed in becoming rich. 'We are a young country: things will right themselves in time' – that is the optimistic phrase one hears everywhere. Christianity seems to be absorbed in a squalid struggle to perpetuate its denominational forms. It brings little or no redeeming & reforming power of the Spirit into society. It is impossible to believe that these poor little drivellers in surplices, begging round abjectly for a few dollars, & eating the bread of a contemptuous charity at the tables of men, who openly despise the religion they are set to represent, can ever arrest & discipline this strenuous and self–absorbed Canadian society.

"My rule is', observes Max D magisterially 'always to go to Church in Winnipeg: never to do so in Keewatin'. He should have added that he is at Keewatin regularly on Sundays throughout the summer. He is training his sons to regard this localisation of religious duty as normal. Yet it is the basest error of old paganism on its legs again!

[132]

The day is blustering & threatens rain. Last night there was a thunderstorm, & the heaviness of the atmosphere yet attests the fact. Boating seemed unattractive if not also impracticable. Accordingly, after breakfast we walked for 1 1/2 hours through the woods. I found the mosquitoes very troublesome, & returned much bitten. We conversed on social & economic subjects. It appears that in the spring the streets of Winnipeg are filled with men, mostly foreigners, seeking employment. The frost in winter is no obstacle to building. Brick–laying & cement–building proceed when the temperature is 30o below zero. It has been found that the excavation of cellars is best effected in winter, when the ground is frozen as hard as stone, & it can be treated by the same methods. There are many accidents to workmen caused by the blasting of the rocks with dynamite, but more often than not the injured workmen or their relatives fail to secure any adequate compensation. The baseness of some employers is almost unimaginable. Max D. told me that recently he was engaged as counsel for an injured workman, who received his injury in unusual circumstances. This man was foreman in a factory, which was burnt. He might have escaped from the flames, if he had left one of the work–girls to perish. He preferred to get badly burned [133] in carrying the girl out of the burning building. His efforts were unavailing, for the girl died afterwards of burns & shock. He claimed compensation for his own injuries. This the employers refused alleging that he might have avoided injury if he would, – that they were not required to pay for the consequences of his gratuitous concern with the perishing work–girl. A jury accorded compensation, but the employers appealed, & Max D. advised his client to compromise the matter. I inquired whether public opinion in Winnipeg condemned the employers, & I was assured that there was no reason for thinking it did.

In the afternoon we stayed indoors, save for a stroll to the station, where we saw tied to an adjacent hotel two young bear cubs. Before our departure Mr Machray, who is the Chancellor of the diocese of Rupertsland, came in to see us. He was full of an opinion he had to give as to the power of the Canadian House of Bishops to elect a Bishop for China. Then we went to the station at Keewatin, & caught the 10.8 p.m. train for Montreal. This carried us as far as Kenora (4 miles): there we changed, &, after a wait of 3 1/2 hours, got on to the Toronto Express, leaving at 2.45 a.m. (Tuesday) & due to arrive in Toronto at 3 p.m. (Wednesday).

[134]

The wet weather accompanied us to Toronto. Mostly the line ran through a desolate country: granite boulders with intervals of wood in many places wasted by fire. Lake Superior, along the shores of which we travelled for a long while, was swathed in mist. Only the masses of pink flowers at intervals relieved the bleak & barren aspect of the country. We learned from the paper, which was brought onto the train on Wednesday morning, that Clemenceau's ministry had fallen very unexpectedly. He seems to have lost his temper in a duel with Delcassé, & given himself away.

We arrived in Toronto in good time, & drove to 105 Bedford Road, where we were welcomed by Mrs Macdonald, once Miss Jessie Dennistoun.

After tea our hostess took us for a drive in the town. We saw the University, which has a fine aspect. I called on Prof. Goldwin Smith, who, at the age of 86, retains his mental powers, apparently unlessened. He is a picturesque figure in his long dressing gown. "Imagine the women of England governing India", he said with imperial scorn.

We were carried by a strange assortment of churches. Certainly the denominationalism of America makes a queer show. The absence of an Established Church is as apparent as it is repulsive.

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