Author: Ward, J. G.
Biography:
WARD, J. G. (fl 1834)
The only reliable source of information about Ward is his own preface to The Spring of Life, a long didactic poem with prose notes published at the author's expense in Montreal in 1834. He does not appear to have published any other books, and the usual reference works are silent about him. He was an immigrant from England, where most of the poem had been composed. Among the difficulties he cites for an aspiring writer in such a context are the lack of an educated reading public for literature, especially in Lower Canada where there was not yet so much as a literary periodical in English; personal illness; and "the death of a dear and most affectionate wife" while the work was in progress. On the other hand, as a passionate advocate for the value of literature to society, he foresees gradual recognition and acknowledgment of the worth of the arts and sciences, to which he is making an original contribution. His poem, with an epigraph from Cowper and notes ranging from classical literature through China and Persia to the history of the printing-press, is a polished and accomplished piece of work. HJ