Welland Canals date from this
period, and were the commencement of that noble system of artificial
waterways that have, in the course of time, enabled large steamers to
come all the way from Lake Superior to tide-water.[1] In 1833 the _Royal
William_, entirely propelled by steam, crossed the ocean--the pioneer in
ocean steam navigation. A few years later Samuel Cunard, a native Nova
Scotian, established the line that has become so famous in the world's
maritime history. In Lower Canada the higher education was confined to
the Quebec Seminary, and a few colleges and institutions, under the
direction of the {359} Roman Catholic clergy and communities. Among the
habitants generally there were no schools, and the great majority could
neither read nor write. In Upper Canada high schools for the education
of the upper classes were established at a very early day, and the
Cornwall Grammar School, under the superintendence of Dr. John Strahan,
for some years was {360} the resort of the provincial aristocracy. Upper
Canada College dates from these early times. But in 1838 there were only
twenty-four thousand children at school out of a total population of four
hundred thousand. In the maritime provinces things were not much better,
but in Nova Scotia the foundation of King's,--the oldest university in
Canada--Dalhousie, and Acadia Colleges, as well as Pictou Academy, shows
the deep interest that was taken in higher education. In all the
provinces there was an active and even able newspaper press, although its
columns were too much disfigured by invective and personalities. In 1836
there were at least forty papers printed in Upper Canada alone. The
names of Cary, Neilson, Mackenzie, Parent, Howe, and Young are among the
names of eminent journalists. It was only in the press, in the pulpit,
at the bar, and in the legislature that we can look for evidences of
intellectual development. The only original literary works of importance
were those of Judge Haliburton, who had already given us the clever,
humorous creation of "Sam Slick," and also written an excellent history
of Nova Scotia. In the happy and more prosperous times that followed the
union of 1840, and the establishment of political liberty, intellectual
development kept pace with the progress of the country in wealth and
population.

[1] Governor Haldimand first established several small canals between
Lakes Saint Louis and Saint Francis, which were used f