Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/285

 Public and High Schools are efficient, and our Universities with their too small endowments, are doing a good work; yet, of native Canadian authors, there are none who rank with the great writers of the Mother Country. Nevertheless, there are many good writers of verse, some clever journalists and essayists, and not a few historians who have done good and faithful work. Every year the number of those who seek literary and scientific fame is increasing, and with greater wealth and leisure, the growth of higher and nobler ideals, and the development of a stronger national sentiment, Canada may hope yet to have among her sons and daughters, worthy rivals of Shakespeare, Milton, Macaulay, Scott and George Eliot. The love and practice of art in its various forms is also becoming more and more apparent; Canadian artists already having won fame and distinction in song and painting. With the increase of education, wealth, leisure, and foreign travel, there has been a marked change in the customs and health of the people. Social refinement and luxury have in recent years greatly increased, and a type of character is being gradually developed which is distinctly national. With her magnificent resources of soil, forest and mine; her strong, hardy, intelligent, and vigorous people; her relatively pure, simple, and healthy domestic life; her free systems of education; and her excellent form of government, Canada certainly possesses the promise and potency of a great nation.