The F^,J^^,A. 
 
 HEING 
 
 Extracts from Speeches and Two Letters, 
 
 or 
 
 Ml{. J. D. EDGAK, M.P. ^ 
 
 ' / 
 
 To Stai! w iTH A Coward's Blow — Passions of Ignorance and of 
 Bkiotrv — Liberals can have no part in it. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Toronto Reform Association, held 
 on November 21st, 1893, in referring to the approaching Ontario elec- 
 tions, Mr. Edgar said : — (as reported in the Glohe.) 
 
 A new wea[)on is being forged to stab Sir Oliver Mowat with, and 
 to stab him in the dark, and to stab him with a coward's blow. His 
 long years of magnificent service to his country, his whole open and 
 manly career are to be forgotten, and his perfect fairness to all creeds 
 and classes is to be made a ground of insidious attack by the envenomed 
 emissaries of bigotry and intolerance, workmg in secret, by day and by 
 night, upon the worst passions of the community. This latest invention 
 of his opponents is hidden under the apparently harmless name of the 
 Protestant Protective Association. T ask my fellow Protestants : Has 
 Protestantism come to such a pass in Ontario that it dare not openly 
 
and publicly protect itself from wrongs real or imaginary? Must it 
 hide itself, and shun the light of day, and work by the secret, under- 
 ground methods of the Spanish Inquisition, or the I'enian brotherhood ? 
 Why, the Ecjual Rights agitation itself was open, and its supporters 
 were ready to defend their views. The Orange Order is publicly incor- 
 porated, and on the i 2th of July, shows its colors to the world most 
 elaborately, while the P. \\ A. do their work as secretly as a gang of 
 burglars. They must be thoroughly ashamed of their objects, or of 
 their means of accomplishing them — or both. 
 
 I understand that Liberals are appealed to join this secret associa- 
 tion on the promise that it will be used in due time as a weapon to 
 stab Sir John Thompson with. I cannot believe that such a shallow 
 argument will influence any Liberals. In the first place, we d© not 
 require such assistance. We can drive Sir John 'i'hompson out of 
 power to-morrow, either on his financial policy, or on the records of 
 himself and his colleagues. 
 
 I want to say this as a Dominion public man, that much as I 
 believe the country would gain by a change of government, and a 
 change of policy at Ottawa, I would rather remain in opposition for the 
 rest of my life than gain power for my party by pandering to the base 
 and unchristian passions of ignorance and of bigotry. 
 
 [Mr. Edgar was loudly cheered on concluding his remarks.] 
 
 
 
3 
 
 FIRST LETTER TO THK 1»RESS. 
 
 Quotations from Sweit and Macaui-av — Canada and Switzer- 
 land — (Irowth oi- Different Denominations — 'J'hk "Prin- 
 ciples" OF THE P. P. A. — Protestant Majorities should he 
 (iENEROUS —Protestant Cleroy Ignored isv the P. P. A. — 
 Its Sfxrecv Evidence ©f a Weak. Cause — Irs OnjFxr to 
 Destroy Confederation. 
 
 It is now many years since Dean Swift's experience led him to 
 write : 
 
 "Some people have just enough religion to make them hate, and 
 not enough to make them love one another." 
 
 At a later day Macaulay, after a lifetime of historical research, 
 gave it as his opinion that " the experience of many ages proves that 
 men may be ready to fight to the death, and to persecute without pity, 
 for a religion whose creed they do not understand, and whose precepts 
 they habitually disobey." 
 
 If there are any persons in Canada, either Protestant or Catholic, 
 who can fairly be classified with those described by Swift or Macaulay 
 in the sentences quoted above, it is not to them that these words are 
 addressed. I only seek to reach the attention of those be they Con- 
 servative or Liberal, Catholic or Protestant — who desire to see Canada 
 united, happy and prosperous, and who wish to harmonize, and not 
 intensify, the differences of race and creed among our people. 
 
 Some few observations which I recently made, on my responsi- 
 bility as a public man, respecting the P. P. A., have evoked several 
 attempts at defending that organization. They have for the most part 
 been in the shape of anonymous letters to the press, and the authors 
 seem to desire to hide their identity, though one would suppose that a 
 worthy cause could bear an open defence. There was, however, one 
 article published in The Mail as a news item, under the heading " The 
 Canadian P. P. A., its Principles, Membership and Position," and as it 
 has every appearance of being an authoritative defence, 1 will refer to 
 it presently. 
 
■ '.^ 
 
 1m considering tl)C t'lTccl ol aroiisiiig uniniosily hclwccn llic l'ri» 
 testants and (Catholics of Canada, or the prudence of doing so, regard 
 must be had to the relative numerical strength of these bodies. The 
 last census shows that we have a population of five millions, whereof 
 two millions are Roman Catholic. This proportion should not filt any 
 but the most timid of Protestants with alarm, and at the .same time it 
 suggests to us the folly and danger of any attempts by a majority, to 
 oppress 40 per cent, of the people. In many respects Canada can be 
 compared with Switzerland, where the people are divided much as we 
 are in race, creed and language. \'et there is not in the world a more 
 united, peaceful and patriotic country than that brave little Republic. 
 Hut is there cause for the most nervous of I'rotestants to fear that the 
 growth of the Roman Catholic poi)ulation either in Canada or in 
 Ontario, is going to overwhelm the principles of the Reformation ? 
 Let us examine the census again. 
 
 The comparison of the census of 1881 with that of 1891, gives the 
 following as the proportion of the growth of each denomination : 
 
 Roman Catholic increased 03 per cent. 
 
 Church of England n 06 
 
 Presbyterian m 09 
 
 Methodist n 54 
 
 In other words, the Church of England increased twice as much in 
 proportion as the Roman Catholics, the Presbyterians three times as 
 much, and the Methodists eighteen times as much. 
 
 Let us take the actual increase of the same four denominations in 
 Ontario from 1881 to 1891. We find Roman Catholics increased 
 37,000. 
 
 Church of England increased 18,000 
 
 Presbyterians increased 35, 000 
 
 Methodists increased 62,000 
 
 1 15,000 
 Surely the ever-watchful and nervous shepherds of the Roman 
 flock will be filled with alarm at the dangerou.sly rapid growth of the 
 Methodists in Ontario. What new and wicked means will they intro- 
 duce to compass the destruction of those heretics ? Nothing short of a 
 revival of the Spanish Incjuisition would be equal to the emergency. 
 
 It is not contented, I believe, that the P. P. A. is to be an instru- 
 ment for the conversion of Papists, or the saving of their souls. Its 
 
 II 
 11 
 II 
 
aim is to acconiplisli rather the temporal injury than the spiritual good 
 of the two millions of" members of that Church among us. It seeks to 
 keep them out of employment in business, and to disfjualify them from 
 being eligible for any political positions. -,' 
 
 To quote from the " Principles " of the Association, as set forth in 
 '/Vie Ma/V, we have this avowal : — 
 
 "6. It is in our opinion unwise and unsafe to appoint or elect to 
 civil, political or military office in this country, men who owe supreme 
 allegiance to any foreign king, potentate or ecclesiastical power, and 
 who are sworn to obey such power." 
 
 It cannot be denied that this extraordinary language is intended 
 to refer to all our Romau Catholic fellow-citizens. If it were necessary 
 to prove that such is the intention, it could be done by referring to the 
 form of oath which appears in the Ritual of the Association. The 
 candidate for admission is made to swear : — 
 
 " That I will not employ a Catholic in any capacity if I can pro- 
 cure the services of a Protestant," and " that I will not countenance the 
 nomination in any caucus or convention of a Roman ( Catholic for any 
 office in the gift of the C^anadian people, and that I will not vote for, 
 nor counsel others to vote for any Roman Catholic, but will only vote 
 for a Protestant — that I will endeavor at all times to place the political 
 positions of this Government in the hands of Protestants." 
 
 What can men who adopt these views and obligations suppose 
 they have to attack ? Surely, such a declaration of war would only be 
 approved by those who felt that the political rights of Protestant citizens 
 were being tramped upon by Roman Catholics wherever these have a 
 majority. I can sl.ow that, on the contrary, the political treatment of 
 Protestants, where the Catholics have a clear majority, is far more 
 generous than the latter receive from Protestants who have control. 
 Take up the last census again, and the Parliamentary returns, and we 
 will find that in Ontario four constituencies with large Catholic majori- 
 ties send Protestants to the House of Commons, and that only one 
 Roman Catholic is elected by any Riding with a Protestant majority. 
 Then take Quebec, and we find that while seven Catholic Ridings elect 
 Protestant M. P's., not one Riding with a Protestant majority sends a 
 Roman Catholic to Parliament. Would it not be fair to tell these 
 honest truths to a candidate before asking him to take so shocking and 
 unchristian an oath ? I am sorry to say that it looks as if to-day the 
 
6 
 
 l^rotestant majorities are far less generous in their treatment of Koman 
 Catholic candidates than they should he. 
 
 For che liberal treatment of Protestants by Roman C'atholic C'on- 
 stituencies, the return to be made by the V. P. A. is to exclude all 
 Roman Catholics from every elected or appointed position in Canadti. 
 It is necessary to point out the absolute folly as well as the wickedness 
 of such a proposition. It would involve the disqualification and dis- 
 enfranchisement of over forty per cent, of our fellow citizens, who con- 
 tribute to the support of the country, and that, of course, could not be 
 done without civil war. Any attempt to disqualify a British subject on 
 account of his religion would be promptly put down by the whole power 
 of the British Empire, which claims to lead the civilization of the world, 
 and would never permit any of its possessions to relapse into the state 
 of barbarism proposed by the I*. P. A. 
 
 The Protestants in Canada are not an ignorant nor a disorganized 
 body. They all have their freely chosen clergy, who are a cultivated 
 and able class, devoting their entire energies to Christian work, and full 
 of zeal for the principles of the reformation. Are these moral leaders 
 and teachers all to be superseded by a secret, political, self-constituted 
 junta? No Protestant minister has abandoned his citizenship. His 
 influence for good is felt in politics, and it was never before sought to 
 supercede it until the P. P. A. was organized. Do they take the clergy 
 into their confidence? Far from it, for they could not trust that 
 educated class to co-operate with them in their dark ways and unchar- 
 itable aims. A minister is seldom so cowardly as to conceal his 
 conscientious views upon public questions where either morality or 
 religion is concerned, and, therefore, he needs no secret lodge in which 
 to conspire. 
 
 I admit that there often arise in Canada religio-political questions 
 such as those connected with separate schools, and it is desirable that 
 these should always receive the fullest and freest discussion. But in 
 order that legislatures and people may be influenced to arrive at wise 
 and just conclusions, it is absolutely necessary that all arguments, pro. 
 and con., should be made m public. On delicate and irritating sub- 
 jects of this nature the press and the platform should spread abroad, 
 honestly and fearlessly, but with fairness and moderation, the different 
 views of different sides, so that in the' end truth and justice may prevail. 
 Concealment of argument shows a weak cause. Secret, one-sided dis- 
 cussion is the fertile parent of prejudice, falsehood, hatred and bigotry. 
 
While the miserable programme of the V. \\ A. is absolutely 
 impossible of accomplishment, yet its system and efforts have a direct 
 tenilency to sow seeds o( strife and rancour among our niiAod creeds 
 and races. If all respectable and patriotic Canadians fail to unite and 
 stamp it out by exposing its cowardly and odious mission, it may pro- 
 gress far enough to endanger Confederation, If it could succeed in 
 lashing mto a fren/y the latent evil passions of any important part of 
 Ontario's population, (^)uebec might be driven out of Confederation. 
 (Quebec is the pivotal province of the Dominion from its geographical 
 position, and its secession would smash Confederation into its original 
 atoms, and the name of Canada would disappear from the map of the 
 world. 
 
 At whose instigation has this useless and dangerous institution 
 been planted in Canada? Why, it is a direct importation from the 
 United States, a political organization transplanted, and, to all appear- 
 ances, controlled from the other side of the line. The Mai7 article 
 already referred to, states that at " one time there were joint meetings 
 of the supreme bodies of the Canadian and United States Societies," 
 but owing to too much Union jack, " they refrain from attending 
 meetings of the Canadian Association." So there seems to be no 
 doubt that the parent system in the United States, by joint meetings of 
 the supreme bodies, nursed and controlled the Canadian off-shoot, but, 
 for apparent reasons of policy, they refrain from joint meetings now. 
 
 It is, therefore, clear that the members of the P. P. A. are the 
 dupes and tools of a foreign political conspiracy. From its natural 
 tendencies it is not possible to conceive that it could have been started 
 by Canadian patriots, but if the object were to rend in sunder Confed- 
 eration, and to weaken Canada as a rival power, no better instrument 
 could have been invented than this one. Let loyal Canadians stand 
 from under ! 
 
 J. I). l^Dt.AK. 
 
 Toronto, l)ec. 7th, 1893. 
 
9 
 
 SICCONl) I.K'rrHR TO THK l^RKSS. 
 A Rkim.v ro Coi,. O'isrikn, M.P. 
 
 CONSKKVATIVKS AfRAID TO DkNOUNCK ThK I*. 1*. A. — CaRDINAF. 
 
 1'rincipi.es ok tiik Rkkok.m Party. — Posmion ok thk 
 I>iuKRAi, Lkadkks. - A Cathoi.u (Conservative savs thekk is 
 NO SOU!) Catholic X'otk. — Thk Prkmikk and thk '• N'ei.i.ow 
 Martin." 
 
 Sir, — Col. O'Hrien has published in The Mail o^ the i3tli inst., 
 an answer to my letter of the 7th, on the subject of the P. P. A. NN'ith- 
 out desiring to prolong the discussion to a tedious extent, 1 would like 
 to say something in reply. 
 
 1 have always had a high regard for Col. O'Brien's frankness and 
 uprightness, and I am therefore not surprised to find from his letter 
 that he does not belong to the P. P. A. He says, moreover, that he 
 has never seen any authentic documents relative to its organization, 
 and that, if my (juotations are correct, then certainly there are some 
 things in them with which he could not agree. He further announces 
 that it is not with the methods of the P. P. A. that he proposes to deal, 
 and he says not one word in their defence. 
 
 It is so far satisfactory to know that neither the organization nor 
 the methods of this creature of darkness are approved of by the 
 doughty Protestant champion of Shanty Bay. 
 
 Col. O'Brien is a lifelong Conservative, who has been closely allied 
 with his party leaders ever since a time, more than thirty years ago, 
 when he was editor-in-chief of The Cohuiisf, an influential party organ 
 in Toronto. He is well qualified to speak of Conservatives and still 
 undoubtedly speaks for many of them. It therefore may be accepted 
 as an authentic statement of the attitude of that wing of the Ontario 
 Conservatives in Ontario known as " Sir John Thompson's friends," 
 when we are told by Col. O'Brien that " the position of some of these 
 latter gentlemen is pitiable indeed. They are afraid to say much 
 ngainst the P. P..\. because they know how largely that body is com- 
 
pijscd «)l Coiiscivalivcs.' This is uiuluuhlcdly Inic, for wliilc The (ilohc 
 and other liberal journals have come out strongly against the V. I'. A., 
 and hav) taken broad grounds of prin(i|)le on the question. The Em- 
 f*ire and the whole Conservative press of Ontario have been dunib. 
 
 Si)eaking again from his intimate knowledge of one party, and 
 only from his outside observation of the other, lie savs : " I'hf) card- 
 inal point in the policy of the Keform as well as of the Conservative 
 party has been to gain, or kec|), the support of that church which the 
 P. P. A. is organized to oppose." If such has been the cardinal policy 
 of the (Conservative i)arty in Canada, it is a disgrace to that party, and an 
 insult to that church, yet Mr. O'Mrien, so old and so prominent a (!on- 
 servative, ought to know. 
 
 I decline, however, to allow Col. O'Brien to speak for the Reform 
 party on this point, and as far as I understand its history and its aims 
 he is hopelessly astray. If he wants to know the cardinal principles of 
 that party let him learn that they believe in the absolute erjuality of all 
 creed.s, of all races, and of all classes before the law. 'I'hat they will 
 not brook interference with the perfect liberties of the whole peopU;, 
 whether by priest or parson, by monarch, or by demagogue. That one 
 church is as good in the eye of the State as any other, and no better. 
 That every church is entitled to be protected in perfect freedom of 
 doctrine and of worship. Col. O'Brien must have some inkling of these 
 principles when in speaking of myself he said, that it was only natural 
 that I, as a Reformer, should denounce the P. P, A. Yes I And does 
 Col. O'Brien doubt that equal denunciations would come from my 
 pen if the existence of a similar secret society were formed among the 
 Roman Catholics to persecute and boycott the Protestants of Canada ? 
 
 I may be told that the Liberal doctrine of equal rights to all is 
 excellent in theory, but is not put into practice, and that we are always 
 fishing for the Catholic vote, and bating the hook with unequal or 
 unfair concessions to that church. A glance at the past will convince 
 any candid mind that such a charge is baseless. 
 
 The leader of the Liberal party when I first formed my political 
 opinions was (leorge Brown. Did he truckle to any church. Catholic 
 or Protestant ? Then came Sandfield Macdonald, himself a Catholic, 
 but an unflinching upholder of ecjual rights. Next in order was Alex- 
 ander Mackenzie, and who has dared to accuse him of pandering to any 
 class or creed to win their votes ? To him succeeded Edward Blake, 
 who in his brilliant career neither sought nor gained any special sup- 
 
port Irom llic Catholic Chinch. I'hosc who knew iiiiii best arc aware 
 that he even avoided all semblance of negotiating with ecclesiastical 
 authorities upon the simplest matters. He adopted his i)olicy from the 
 whole country, and let it be judged on its merits by all. 
 
 To defend Wilfrid Laurier from charges of seeking to prefer in 
 public matters one race or one creed to another, would be superflu- 
 ous, for such charges have never been made. 
 
 Let us now turn to the long reign of Liberalism in Ontario, and 
 inquire whether Sir Oliver Mowat has been faithful to the doctrines of 
 the Liberal party in this matter of the relations between Church and 
 State. He is frequently charged with having at his last two elections 
 received " the solid Catholic vote." That is a mistake. He received 
 the votes of Catholics who are Liberals, and undoubtedly a share of the 
 votes of Catholics who are Conservatives, but not half of the latter. 
 The reason why he received some ('atholic C'onservative support was 
 natural and obvious. The same class of Protestant bigots who are 
 now fighting behind the entrenchments of the P. P. A., had been 
 appealed to by the Local Opposition, to turn the Government out for 
 having afiforded common ju.stice under the constitution to our Catholic 
 fellow-citizens. It must not be forgotten that it is as much a part of 
 Liberal doctrine to render justice to a Roman Catholic as it is to resist 
 any encroachments upon popular rights on the part of his church. 
 When Sir Oliver was unfairly and cruelly attacked and slandered for 
 his noble course, was it surprising that many fair-minded Catholics 
 declined to follow the great bulk of their fellow-Conservatives in their 
 crusade against him ? 
 
 Since the date of Col. O'Brien's letter there has appeared in The 
 Empire an important communication from an influential Conservative 
 who has the best possible means of an accurate knowledge, and whose 
 standing in the party is unquestioned. The writer is Mr. J. A. Mac- 
 donell, of Glengarry, well-known as a party organizer, and a leader of 
 the Scotch Catholic Conservatives in Eastern Ontario. His object is 
 to discipline and check the fiery Protestant zeal of " his young friend, Dr. 
 Ryerson," who seems to be doing his best to identify himself and his 
 party with the lofty standards of the P. P. A. No one in Ontario has bet- 
 ter means of knowing than Mr. Macdonell how far the " solid Catholic 
 vote" is given to the Liberals, and I think his testimony will be generally 
 accepted as conclusive on that point. He says: " I take, particular 
 exception to Dr. Ryerson's remarks with regard to what he is pleased 
 
to term " the solid Catholic vote," which he alleges is at the beck 
 and bidding of Sir Oliver Mowat, and constitutes the backbone of his 
 party. I challenge the truth of the statement, and, as a Conservative 
 I, impugn the wisdom of its utterance and too frequent iteration." 
 
 While we have Mr. Macdonell on the stand, it will be interesting 
 to take his evidence on that other serious charge against Sir Oliver 
 Mowat, of making undue consessioiis to Roman Catholics. 'J'his wit- 
 ness possesses an intimate knowledge of the position, and tells us all 
 about it in a few words, where he says : '* Does Dr. Ryerson invite 
 Conservative Catholics, such as myself, to join in a crusade against the 
 Mowat Government because it has done us ordinary common justice, 
 such as British subjects we are entitled to, and less than which they 
 could not have accorded to us, without giving us the right to appeal to 
 the Parliament of Great Britain for redress against the infraction of its 
 enactments ? " 
 
 Mr. Macdonell is an astute politician, and sees clearly enough the 
 fatal rock upon which his party is drifting by identifying itself, as it is 
 now doing, with its extreme and most ignorant wing. He asks if " in 
 this free Province of Ontario the Catholic religion is to be placed under 
 a ban, and is it wise for the Conservative party to join forces with the 
 Protestant Protective Association in its fight against a phantasmagoria 
 which exists but in the narrow minds of these intolerent political 
 pariahs who constitute this excrescence upon the body politic ? " 
 
 I think we can fairly gather from the varying language and atti- 
 tudes of Col. O'Brien, Dr. Ryerson and Mr. Macdonell, that the cancer 
 of the P. P. A. is eating its way deep into the flesh, and into the bone 
 and sinew too, of the Conservative party. May not that result be 
 directly traced to the old Conservative policy of trading on the bigotry 
 and prejudices of race and of creed, which, perhaps, gave temporary 
 political advantage when guided by a dexterous leader, but can never 
 redound to the permanent good of any party in the State ? 
 
 To return to Col. O'Brien— I hope he will pardon me for saying 
 that I regret that he should have thought it necessary to resort in his 
 letter to such bitter and general denunciations of the Roman Catholic 
 Church. I cannot think that he has an unkindly nature, nor an un- 
 christian heart, and I am sure he could not have reflected how much 
 pain his utterances must give to nearly one half of his fellow-(.'anadians, 
 whose honest and most sacred beliefs are bound up in that church. 
 
 On the other hand, it was only a few days ago that most people 
 
12 
 
 were surprised, and a little bit shocked at an instance of ill-judged and 
 vindicative language en the part of the Prime Minister, when he flip- 
 [)antly spoke of the winner of the important election in Winnipeg as the 
 •' VcUovv Martin." Coming from him, and addressed to an antigonish 
 audience, this epithet can scarcely be considered as calculated to allay 
 the already resentful feelings of an influential section of his own varie- 
 gated following. As a joke it was ponderous, and as a witticism, which 
 has called for .so much explanation, it was a con.spicuous failure. 
 
 When we see that the Protestant clergy of Ontario are practically 
 unanimous in condemning the formation of the P. P. A., I think that 
 we politicians should all try to support them by at least refraining from 
 the use of language which might either inflame the passions or wound 
 the pride of the ignorant, even if we can not .soften our hearts to feel- 
 ings of a broader charity towards what we may consider to be the faults 
 and errors of our neighbors. 
 
 J. D. Edc;ak. 
 
 Toronto, Dec. 18. 
 
 ■ 1.1 
 
13 ---■ *, 
 
 
 MR. EDGAR BEFORE HIS CONSTITUENTS. ' • 
 
 Political Divisions not on Lines of Religion — No Solid Catholic 
 Vote in Ontario — A Plea for Toleration. 
 
 In February, 1894, Mr. Edgar held a series of meetings in his 
 constituency of West Ontario, and on the 15th he addressed a large 
 gathering at the village of Greenwood, township of Pickering. This 
 was a conservative locality, and the best available place of meeting was 
 the Orange Hall, which was rented for the occasion. The following is 
 from the Globe^s report of the proceedings : — 
 
 Mr. Edgar then said that he wished to say a few words to his con- 
 stituents on a subject to which he had referred elsewhere. It was not 
 exactly a political question, though its promoters sought political 
 objects, nor was it a religious question, though religion suffered by 
 being mixed up with it. In Canada we are mainly composed of two 
 races, with two languages, and each race is proud of its ancestry and of 
 its mother tongue. While we are a Christian people, about 40 per 
 cent, worship in Catholic churches and 60 per cent, in Protestant 
 churches. He had always rejoiced that politics did not divide us on 
 the lines of race or of religion Yet among the overwhelming Pro- 
 testant majority in Ontario some are found to day so timid as to fear, 
 or so designing as to profess to fear, that their liberties and their faith 
 are in danger by reason of what they call " the solid Catholic vote." 
 Take first the Province of Quebec. Is there a solid Catholic vote 
 there, and, if so, who gets it ? In the House of Commons there are 
 to-day 49 French Catholic members from Quebec, and of these 25 are 
 Liberals and 24 are Conservatives. So there is nothing solid there. 
 In Ontario he had as much experience in election contests as anybody, 
 and had run in five different constituencies, sometimes successfully and 
 often not. He had ne /er yet discovered a solid Catholic vote. If he 
 had received it he would never have been defeated. He had never 
 asked for or expected a man's vote as a Catholic or as a Protestant. 
 
H 
 
 He would not insult an elector by such a suggestion. If there was a 
 man in Ontario free to denounce the P. P. A. without being suspected 
 of a desire to catch Catholic votes it was himself. His hearers knew 
 that the Catholics were only 6 per cent, of the population of their 
 riding, and could not affect the result. He could state with a complete 
 knowledge of the facts that there was no solid Catholic vote in Ontario, 
 and God grant that there would never be a solid Protestant one. 
 (Cheers.) Let each and all try to promote kindly feelings between all 
 their fellow-citizens, and work together to build up their common 
 country. Let every Canadian worship God in his own way, and seek 
 for the consolations of religion where he can best find them. Above 
 all things let no man in this free hnd be persecuted on account of his 
 religion. He wished, there in the heart of the great Protestant Province 
 df Ontario, there in the midst of one of its most intensely Protestant 
 constituencies, and even in that Cjrange Hall in which he spoke, to 
 proclaim to the world that the Liberal party would uphold, under all 
 circum?itances, at all times, in all places and at every risk, their glorious 
 principles of civil and religious liberty. (Loud and long continued 
 applause.)