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THOMAS D'AROY McGEE, M.R.I A "»: o. r„ »«„™ „, ,„. „,„ ^ ^„„„^ ^^„ „_^_^__^ „.„,„„„„„ J,„ PROVINCE or CANADA. e ° ' . » ; 4 » « « * .. •« u a *, • ' • . : •. %. ; LONDON : CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 1865. ' ' 1 * i ' .- .. - m JM., !' jj. ' it.". s" LONDON : BKADBUKY AM) KVANS, PRINTKRS, V.-RITEFRIAIW 1 •• •• • • • • • • a •••♦»• • ••• • ♦••• • • •. I . • • • . . • »,'•'* • • •• m • e • * « ■ * 9 s » » * 1 J » • • •, • •• ,», « • • , • • • , . • . . \ Vf/ ' Mi^£" 33L9^ TO E. W. WAVKIN, ESQ., MP. FOR STOCKPORT, ™SE INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH MANY OREAT ENTERPRISES IN WHICH THE MATERIAL FUTURE OP BRITISH- AMERICA IS INTERWOVEN • iNl>, STILL MORK, WHOSE HIGH-SPIRITED ADVOCACY OP A SOUND COLONIAL POLICY BOTH IN AND OUT OF PARLIAMENT, HAS CONFERRED LASTING OBLIGATIONS UPON THESE PROVINCES, ®&is Bokmt IS VERY SINCERELY AND CORDIALLY DEDICATED. ml H: I m PKEFACE. This selection, from a large number of speeches and addresses, deHvered during the past few years in the Canadian Parliament, or to pubHc assemblies in the North- American Provinces, has been made, "at the request,"~to use a venerable formula— "of many iriends." The only object in making public at present such a selection, is, to contribute something, however inconsider- able, to the fullest discussion of what may be caUed the British- American question. For the sake of convenience the speeches and addresses are arranged in two parts. I. Addresses deHvered to special societies, or at popular gatherings. II. Speeches in the Canadian Parliament. This division of -the matter selected was intended, in the first place, to aid the "home" reader, personaUy unacquainted with those Provinces, in forming a fair estimate of the elements which go to make up the aggregate of our present British-American society ; and m the second, to give some exemrL'^cation of the difficulties, local, sectional, and legislative, which the contemplated Confederation has had to encounter. VI PREFACE. No one can be more conscious than the speaker him- self of the deficiencies of every kind to be found in these speeches ; they were sometimes made at short notice — sometimes ill-reported, and seldom corrected for the press: if, notwithstanding, they should be found to possess any saving interest, it can only bo attributed to the fact that they form a tolerably consecutive mnning commentary, on the recent course of political opinion in the British Provinces ; on the main events of the American civil war, and on the new relations arising for the Provinces out of those events ; and, finally, on the efforts which have been made, especially during the last few years, to bring about the establishment of ** a new Nationality," on monarchical principles, in British- America. MoNTKEAL, April nth, 1865. lii CONTENTS. PART I. ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. I'AOK 1 6 9 12 33 38 43 THE LAND WE LIVE IN THE POLICY OF CONCILIATION WITH UNITED STATES . CANADA'S INTEREST IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR AMERICAN RELATIONS AND CANADIAN DUTIES . . . . BRITISH- AMERICAN UNION . . 'f.' -*!,**^ .. '"TJr. '' ^"'^^"^^^^' ™^^ ^^««- ca'itain-general'oe Tat rritT. ^;^^^^'»-— -« --- -VNCE and OTTAWA, THE PROBABLE CAPITAL OF AN UNITED BRITIsL AMERICA 7l THE COMMON INTERESTS OF BRITISH KORTH AMERICA . fig INTERCOLONIAL RELATIONS AND THE INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAV 68 THE FUTURE OF CANADA 88 BISHOPS COLLEGE, LENN03{VILLE, C.E. . . . gg PROSPECTS OF THE UNION ' • ■ 96 100 THE CAUSE OF THE QUEBEC CONFERENCE mo GROWTH OF MONTREAL, AND ITS REQUIREMENTS . . . . lU THE GERMANS IX CANADA . ,,„ ■ . 117 SPEECH AT COOKSHIRE, COUNTY OF COMPTON, DECEMBER 22, 1864 122 THE IRISH IN CANADA ; THE IMPORTATION OF FENIANISM . Ul ^//. I' //' V' ^. /r. XL Xf/L ^//. xv// x/x. \ \: t *• VIU CONTENTS. PART II. srEECHKS IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. PAfiK "THE DOUHLK MAJOlllTY " 1^9 CONHTITUTIONAL I)1FFI(;ULTIK8 BRTWKKN Ul'PEK AND LOWER CANADA ^^^ RKl'KESKNTATION BY POPULATIOi; ,..,-• 177 CONSTITUTIONAL DIFFIOULTIKK BETWREN TrPPEH AND LOWEK CANADA ^°-' CANADIAN DEFENCES 1^^ RKPRE8KNTATI0N BY POPULATION . iOtf EMIOKATION AND COLONISATION 210 INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY DIPLOMACY 232 STATE OF THE COUNTRY : PUBLIC DEFENCES . . . .241 INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY DIPLOMACY 2.')1 SPEECH ON MOTION FOR AN ADDRESS TO IIKU MAJESTY IN FAVOUR OF CONFEDERATION 261 I. II, J//. ii 1 m IM AfiE 149 i. 154 //. 177 //. 182 ly 199 i< iOtf 1//. 210 m 232 m 241 1^- 251 261 PAET I. ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 1^/^ THE LAND WE LIVE IN hiif Qfill ,v T 1 i 11 X- r^^P^cues or such occasions • tl snih I t?nt? "Si"' ^ •"".'' '^^ "«• freedom and Sn.;.*'^ ' ''"»''"'* never be asserted in vain amoncr . ^IST^t'^^'Tf "' NewEngUnraXS Xhyou'presLr'rSde'nT ""t,*"" ^^''^ -" your faVo Jte aniivt a^'S J J t' -jr""^""* «' gratification as our fellow-^iti'ens o? MoLS ^"^"'7 best interests of aU humanity in the New Worid M *" jom in hope that not only tL sons of N^w En'l'ni V"! Americans from all other Ws rttLdair^f"' wJI KthldafLnt ''*"^™'^,".'' '" Massachusetts ay on tins day, UO years ago j-a ship which wafted owr t H ''11 11 f'lj fi A^'/' i : I '-h ', "* li ■■ 2 BRITISH-AMEKICAN UNION. the sra as targe a cargo of the seeds of a new civilisation as any ship ever did, since the famous voyage recorded in the legends of the Greeks. It is rather a hard task this you have set me, Mr. President, of extolling the excellen- cies of "the land we live in" — that is, praising ourselves —especially at this particular season of the year. If it were mid-summer instead of mid-winter, when our rapids are flashing, aud our glorous river sings its triumphal song from Ontario to the Ocean — when the northern sum- mer, like the resurrection of ihe just, clothes every linea- ment of the landscape in beauty and serenity — it might be easy to say fine things for ourselves, without conflicting with the evidence of our senses. But to eulogise Canada about Christmas time requires a patriotism akin to the Laplander, when, luxuriating in his train oil, he declares that " there is no land like Lapland under the sun." Our consolation, however, is tha^ all the snows of the season fall upon our soil for wise and Proviuential purposes. The great workman. Jack Trost, wraps the ploughed land in a warm covering, preserving the late sown wheat for the first ripening influence of the spring. He macadamizes roads and bridges, brooks and rivers, better than could the manual labour of 100,000 workman. He forms and lubri- cates the track through the wildernetis by which those sailors of the forest — the lumbermen — are enabled to draw dowTi the annual supply of one of our chief staples, to the margins of frozen rivers, T^hich are to bear their rafts to Quebec, at the first opening of the navigation. This climate of ours, though rigorous, is not unhealthful, since the average of hun an life in this Province is seven per cent, higher than in any other portion of North America j and if the lowness of the glass does sometimes incon-» venience individuals, we ought to be compensated and consoled by remembering of how much benefit these annual falls of snow are to the country at large. So much for our climatic difiiculties. Let me now say a word or two on our geographical position. Whoever looks at. the map — a good map is an invaluable public instructor — not such maps as we used to have, in which Canada was stuck away up at i Ca/i./, since A)>DRES3ES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS 3 Mountain passesto tl 7nl'™°'.f,"^ *^""g'' ">« ^o^J subjects on^rp ifit T^f W 'Klr/h"" '^T which it r^pKi! ' *^''® ^'"^^*« «nd the title by wmcn It IS held, thej were steamiriff down tn T?nrf p * with mails and merchandise from7pau7s Th/l v'^' of Canada is not only important in i>Ll?k ; •. • ? P'^''*'^'' as a Via media to the Pacific Ll ' ^"* ^^ ^s^mportant filled nn,i n,r f *™ °* Jacques Cartier may vet be ful- -- ■mc. a htJc vo iM North, the Amoor, which may be "111! " ;1 • £ 1 '5 tip" ' I' fill m i' :Ji iill MMM :iii 1, ! r^A 4 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. called the Amazon of the Arctic ; farther off, but in a right line, the rich and populous Japanese group, which for wealth and enterprise have not been inaptly called the British Isles of Asia. These, Mr. President, are some of our general geographical advantages ; there are others that I might refer to, but on an occasion of this kind I know the fewer details the better. Now, one word more as to our people : the decennial census to be taken next month will probably show us to 1 e nearly equal in numbers to the six States of New England, or the great State of New York, deducting New York city. An element, over a third, but less than one-half of that total, will be found to bo of French Canadian origin j the remainder is made up, as ti.e population of New York and New England has been, by British, Irish, German, and other emigrants and their descendants. Have we advanced materially in the ratio of our American neighbours ? I cannot say that we have. Montreal is an older city than Boston, and Kingston an older town than Oswego or Buffalo. Let us confess frankly that in many material things we are half a century behind the Americans, while, at the same time — not to give way altogether too much — let us modestly assert that we possess some social advantages which they, perhaps, do not. For example, we believed until lately — we still believe — that such a fiction as a slave, as one man being another man's chattel, was wholly unknown in Canada.* And we still hope that may ever continue to be our boast. In material progress we have something to show, and we trust to have more. All we need, Mr. President, mixed up and divided as we naturally are, is, in my humble opinion, the cultiva- tion of a tolerant spirit on ail the delicate controversies of race and religion, — the maintenance of an upright public opinion in our politics and commerce, — the cordial en- couragement of every talent and every charity which * An allusion to the recent ease of Anderson, arrested and tried in Upper Canada, on the charge of killing his master, while attempting to escape, in Missouri. He was finally acquitted by the Upper Canada Court 6f Appeal, bat not until a writ of habeas corpus had been issued from c-^-^. / ^gWB^S OK VAWOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 6 Provi„cialism,-a„d mth these amendment ll Tv ■ l! ! •m , .f Hit ^/'A THE POLICY OF CONCILIATION. Eehases at Montbkal, MaboH| 1861. In reply to the toast of liis health, at a dinner given him by his constituents, on the eve of the session of 1861, Mr. McGee (after some local observations) said: The career I have had in Canada led me chiefly into those parts of the country inhabited by men who speak the English language, and using the opportunities which I have had between the time when I ceased to be a newspaper publisher to that of my admission as a member of the Lower Canada bar, I trust I have learned something which may be profitable to me in the position to which you elevated me on trust and in advance. The result of my observations, thus made, is, that there is nothing to be more dreaded in this country than feuds arising from exaggerated feelings of religion and nationality. On the other hand, the one thing needed for making Canada the happiest of homes, is to rub down all sharp angles, and to remove those asperities which divide our people on questions of origin and religious profession^ The man who says this cannot be done consistently with any set of principles founded on the charity of the Gospel or on the right use of human reason, is a blockhead, as every bigot is, — while under the influence of his bigotry he sees no further than his nose. For a man who has grown to years of discretion— though some never do come to those years — who has not become wedded to one idea, who, like Coleridge, is as ready to regulate his conduct as to set his watch M'hen the parish clock declares it wrong; who is ready to be taught by high as well as by low, and to receive any stamp of truth — I may say that such a pian will come to this conclusion : that there are in all origins ^2? ^//. ADDBESSBa ON VARIOUS PrSUC OCCASIONS. 7 ,-U!iou,f»h subject to a constitutional monarchy in our extern ' : s we claim to be as free a people — indeed, we V • : c-jj- selves we are a freer people — than our neighbours of New York, or New England, or the North-western States, As a free people, with absolute domestic self-government, with local liberties, bound up in an Imperial Union, goverr -ijfi bj ou" own majority constitutionally ascertained, we ars aj* i .'C^^ interested in the issue of the present unhappy conie.il;, as any of the States of the United States ; while. ^^.//r ADDRESSES ON VABIOCS PUlllIO OCCASIONS. IS Ltlf""} ^T"?? P'"'"'''' Canadians are more imme- o«!X I '"""""«')' O""""™'! i" tlie i«ue than my Mexicans. Let us glance first at tlie merits of tliis most unhappy contest Are the Slave States engaged in a lawfi resistance to fcdera despotism, or in a «-a„to« Lauren the legitimate central authority ? To answer thirr,^..;^? clearly, it s necessary to loo{ back C tU S 'of las Woyember, in which Mr. Lincoln obtained the vote of oin^TTh:'"'" "-'^-'- S'="e,, to the date o^'the lormation of the government by the original thirteen ihere cannot in my opinion, be a doubt on the m nd of any one who looks carefully into the historical argument that the signers of the Declaration of Independence reieeted in that document the modern doctrine of Sher ^iSv nor hat the authors of the Constitution of 1789 regSd Its ,ealm as merely municipal; nor that the frames Tthe North-west Ordinance of 1787 resa-ded it ;„ /^. bght; nor that those of the FatheTwho de itat Z African slave trade should be adjudged piracrafter IsOS looked upon "the peculiar institution" as a baleful tr.,?^ be girdled and finely cut down rather tl.«„/rK ' gated and fostered, aid, likeThe str"d t^ of%tSr invoked and Idolized. Of late years, almost witCmv own recollection, a new doctrine liasoveZn the SouS^ that slavery ,s national, not loeal-constitutiona not tern IZ",- f^ r I' " ""' '"'"'"' of ""0 fakeS not to be' able to stand alone— as a lie to tIanA »f oil V i triangulated-so this fallacy "ll" btgotln al^p ilo' sophy to strengthen it, a false theology to sanctify it -and It has had its dav. In a«5«Pi-fi'nr, i^c L ""^'-^v i*-, ana pretensioi., the sLetStito3ed'to\X?^^^ up with the strange doctrines of StatHovtei "„ty anTthe nght of seces,ion-to deny, therefore, to the Federal nower the prerogatives of what' Webster called "rlTernZJ sZ«l' " t""^ '"' ^"""^ of ^ govfrnZr! QueS, of TV^' 1 ^' P"""™"' P"'"*'^"' question-to the question ot ledcral oppression— is this- Wno «,» Tf.j i authority "a govemiTe^it proper"? It mfbe'lS 'h in / « I .If;;; i! • 1 ' r ■ 1 "I ' '! • . , ii • ¥ a(JJi< 16 BRITISH-AMEEICAN UNION. historically, or upon the internal evidence of \h!^ Constitu- tion, or both. It is certain that the Federal power was first constituted by the cession of ample sovereign attri- butes by all the people of the thirteen revolted Colonies. All the parties to that compact gave up the treaty-making and war-making powers; the power to coin money; to establish a Supreme Court of Judicature ; to pass an uni- form law for the admiision of citizens by naturahsatioc. — Virginia gave up her lands New York gave up her customs, and almost every essential sign and substance of sovereignty became invested in the Federal Administration. If there is any proviso of secession, it must be found in the Federal Constitution ; but there is no such proviso there ; that instrument confers essential prerogatives of sovereignty, but is dumb as to any imaginable modus for the withdrawal of a State from its State allegiance. Secession is, in this view, a mere question of force — of revolution ; and resolves itself into just this : Are the Slave States able to break the bonds with which their fathers bound them, but which they are no longer willing to be bound by? Question of co:a- stitutional or conventional right there is none, even for those of the original thirteen States, who now seek to with- draw from their allegiance. But with the more recently acquired States—in the case of Louisiana, Florida, Ala- bama, Misciissippi, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas, pur- chased by Federal money and Federal blood — drawn into being by the warmth and nurture of the Federal power — conquered and colonised by Federal arms and Federal laws -—the crime of treason is aggravated by the vice of ingra- titude, and their secession partakes, in an extreme degree, of the taint of constitutional and conventional repudiation and wrong. And from what description of government is it these States are so eager to break away ? By their own declara- tion, from a government hostile to "the extension" of human slavery; a government whose original sin is, in their eyes, the grand declaration, that " all men " — black as well as white — "are endowed with certain inalienable privileges, among which are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of rk "^^,//^ ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 17 happiness"— a government which, wide-spread as wpr^ ,-f arms, and various as were the interests S?,^h. T '*' never accused even b, the hXt'tlo, ofho's't"^ the general interests of the South, until the cLv o Mn Lmcoln's inauguration. On that Iv IL u n^ .' ever, was. alrea\„.ga;.iJ»dlZf^dtt""^^^^^^ approaclung, rather than of actual, irjS Th^hi?f ^tuht""™":' '^"'''""^^''ich is Britth docSne too eighteenth century, waf contemptuouSf rdecW bv t^^^ s-s- i-rchtf hi t££ H ? tff^^\ states, th„ a pScVrel"hSl out to British America; not eontent with Xe IbfulS of the Spanish race in Tlorida Ti.to« .n^ "'" suojugation was a likj n-cnace held ouT^^SXbtand mS td Central Amenca. The Monroe doctrincas expounded at San Juan, has not been entirely forgotten amonrus R.^f by far the least defensible series of ren,ihi;^n • were those committed uponX ablSa&m^*^'wS cou d count their warriors by tens of thousands whenTe extinct EasTn?"^.' 'T "'^'^ .^''^"^'' "'" "o- absoTutdy 10 nun ,l,„^ • "" M'«='=^>PPi there remain not above 1 J,000 aborigines ; west of that river, all the remnants nf f the tribes combined-adding 100 000 for Sorni. do not exceed, i. the total. 35^.000: I remori^L™ ~ — o — — — \V m I!| I! I f^ I i; 6^-/>^ J8 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. remnants from their old hunting-grounds, all the forms of law were scrupulously observed ; the Indian treaties of the Union r^e an immense collection ; but it is impossible to reconcile with any notion of natural right, or conventional justice, such purchases as were made, from the Osage tribe for instance, of 48,000,000 acres of land, for the wretched stipend of $1000 a-year, payable to the chiefs I Still, it must be admitted that in these transactions the Federal policy was mild and merciful compared to the sanguinary intolerance of individual States — such as Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia. Nor is it an insignificant fact, that while, thus far (and I trust it will be so to the end), the Federal government has humanely refused to enlist the tomahawk and the scalping knife on its side, the Confederate autho* rities are said to have called back the Cherokee to the eastern war-path, from which he was years ago banished) in the name of Western civilisation.* South of the Texian border, men see, no doubt, in recent events, another lesson of retribution. The spoil .of Mexico has proved the shirt of Nessus to the North. With Cali- fornia, came in an excess of luxury which has been too sudden to be safe. The extension of the Union to the Pacific, before the intervening south-western prairies were surveyed, not to say colonised, was no doubt a violence done to Nature, and as such it has been avenged. But we should remember on this head, that the invasion of Texas — the Santa Fe expedition, the descent on California, the fillibuster forays into South America, were mainly acts of that floating, turbulent Mississippi population, who are the chief authors of the present insurrection. Judged by the event, it would seem that Aaron Burr appeared on that river half a century too soon ; had he lived in this gene- ration he would have found fewer legal scruples to overcome — he would have been received in Richmond, not as a cul- prit to be tried for conspiracy, but as a hero to be honoured for his enterprising patriotism. • This statement, though generally believed at the time, was not, I am bappy to B&y, subsequently found to be correct. ii; (2s,. 'y^.//K ADDRESSES ON TARIOCS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. X9 Mountains and fe AtlanHaT? t'',^'' ^t*™" the Kocky barrier to its governmeS ,,i/^''/''''* '' "» "«« the upper ..^TA^lk. 4Kh?"t^ °" hills, within sS,t of I ,i, r'' ''H°° ^'''^ Cattara^u, Alleghany to the oKd J!",:"^^^ "'"""J f^<"» the cauoi from Kansasnr'n!; Tv *'}"' '*"« Port with the tells us ho^-- " ^"""^^ ^" oW English ballad "■" *™'> to tie Seyem rum- Ine Severn to tlie eea. ^w.rt,r'»stt''-« s- ^f -. of this complete in itself, for we Knot a sinrie tXf v '^^ " flowing towards us from the south • h,.t V ; '"""/"?, "f «2e of the American Union tlwrt if ?t L'^ ff ?•*? *" "''»«'■'«<' it had also the framTwwk rf a „tnt 1'"'''''°" ?/ * »«»' of almost equal foree X ?he la?^™, IdL" nf " ^°'"' -the memory of a common PoC^!^ ,1, r'' ?^'^'» are likewise labouring to breTk^av^"!; • i^'T"""'' much as the North, and the NoXal'the &nTh ^' ^"^ "" tomed to hold forth thp a^^TZ i , '"' "*'* °oo"8- highest type ot Zt nt o^S^' YeHt™"'"'' *'«' doubtful whether in fl,« I,„ii ,• . ^^t '* "ow seems the leaderlof th^ Sh^^e S7 '"^^TT "^ ^^ P'"*. degree of study on ht ctar Th„° W*"? ™^ K'^' the camp to civil TT.^s s«''to^ I'n?"" 1"!" another sense than the autlfor 3e it th. « "'""g^.™ poefs euloffy on th« m.-tH.-t- % tt ^'"><'">an™ „/ •'"' ""tivuuraer of Uramenborg . viii 'ii ' I m r M V't iiiil i . (ill I 20 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. " The good Knight ceased to walk on The fields of war and gore, His sword and helm the balk on He hung to use no more. *' And he his eye projected Into the night afar, And keen the course inspected Of every twinkling star." The grave of Washington ought to have consecrated the valley of the Potomac to peace and union for ever. Will those who now battle about that tomb partition out his dust when they have rent asunder his system? Could either side assume sole custody of those pregnant ashes? To me, the violence done to all actualities, to the living language, the living kindred, and the river system, seems less monstrous and unnatural than this violence done to the maxims and memory of the Fater Patria, by the very means of all others he most abhorred and deprecated — civil war and sectional hostility. The next question to be considered is, the species of government the seceded States propose to themselves if they should come successfully out of the conflict. They intend to call it a Kepublic, but they do not attempt to deny that it is to be a pagan Bepublic— an Oligarchy founded upon caste, the caste founded upon colour. A Republic founded upon the servile labour of 4,000,000 blacks to begin with; with 200,000 or 800,000 planters, and the rest of the white population — over 7,000,000 rather freedmen than freemen; such an Oligarchy, stripped of all disguises, being of the newest, must be of the most exacting and intolerant description. Such an Oligarchy would combine, some of the worst features of the worst system hitherto endured by mankind; a rule of caste as inexorable as obtains in India ; a Patrician power of life and death ; a Spanish contempt of mechanic industry ; a Venetian es- pionage ; a Carthaginian subtlety and craft. Organise an American power on such a basis, give it a flag, a Senate, a military aristocracy, a literature, and a history, and you condemn mankind on this continent to begin over again ^ ^/^ ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 21 the r'^at battle Of first principles, which, in the Christian parts of the earth, were thought to have been settled and estabhshed some centuries ago. As long as the monstrous doctrines of the innate diversity of the human race, the incurable barbarism of the black, and the hereditary masteJ! ship of the white, were confined to individuals, or States, or sections they were comparatively harmless ; but build a government on such a basis; accept 300,000 whites as the keepers and lords of life and death over 4,000 000 blacks; erect an entire social and political superstructure Wn. flf M ^''^ '"^ contemplate, if you can, without b Jr^ ^S'^^^fY''^^^ ^*.'' diplomacy may, what would be the effect of the recognition of such a Repubhc ? If the northern boundary of Maryland (near the 40° parallel) is to be continued to the Pacific, or if the Missouri com promise line of 86- 30 is to be continued, slavery wTu obtain a larger territory than freedom, north of' the equator We will thus place beneath the feet of a few hundred thousand men, a country larger than all the Free States, or a^l British America combined; a countrv- exclusive of Mexico-already extending over 15 degrees of latitude, and 40 degrees of longitude; a country abounding m cereal and m tropical products, called for in all the markets of the world. The labour to cultivate this vast scope of continent, so governed, must be servile labour, and the only race of slaves accessible to the new oliearchvarp in Africa. The Gulf of Guinea would soon befaS wiS the new flag. Once salute it with the honours due to sovereignty m British waters, and you send it with your sanction to the Congo and the Senegal—While missionaries and men of science are penetrating the inmost recesses of Africa, some by way of Mount Atlas, others through l.gypt and Abyssmia, others tracing the line across its vast extent, others starting from Zanzibar and Mozambique- while all this heroism of science and of the cross is exhibited to us on that mysterious stage, are we prepared to sanction the erection of new barracoons on the slave coast, and new ih %4 ^. /^ 22 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. auction marts for human creatures along the cotton coast ? Has the benevolence and science of Europe explored the land only to bring the slave seller and the slave buyer more readily together ? Is dense night to settle down again on all the 60,000,000 who people that forlorn and melancholy region? I'or of one thing we must rest certain, the government that recognises a slave power on the Gulf of Mexico, recognises by one and the same act that slave power in the Gulf of Guinea. Was it not enough for Europe to have fastened such an evil on the infant societies of the New World, that she now, in the hour of hope for its extinction, comes to the rescue to perpetuate the crime ? What has become of all the public penances done for that sin of our ancestors, of all the declarations against slavery and the slave trade ? Are they all to be unsaid, renounced, controverted, because Manchester is alarmed for its cotton, and Liverpool and Havre are averse to the blockade ? We, in Canada, must feel deeply whatever concerns the pros- perity of the Empire ; we should grieve to hear of want and suffering in Lancashire, as much as if it were in one of our own populous counties; but we know there is cotton in Brazil, in India, in Egypt, in Surat : we know that cotton grows readily in Guinea, in Jamaica, in Queensland ; and we have an abiding faith that the glorious stand taken by the Empire in recent days against African slavery, will not be deserted, because there may be a short supply of a single staple, which in a very few years may be effectually remedied, not only for the present but also for the future of the trade. I do not underrate the vital importance to England of an ample supply of cotton ; there are a million mortals depending on that industry ; but there is capital enough in England, and there are cotton-fields enough in the rest of the world, to enable Manchester to shake off her dependance on slave labour and now is the time in •which that long-desired change can be wrought— once and for ever. Being a continental people, we have to consider for our- selves, whether we ought to welcome a new era in the military prganisation of tliis continent—whether we ought <^^. ^./y. ADDRESSES ON VASIOUS PUBHC OCCASIONS. 23 to do or say anything to hasten the advent of such an em We have been steadily makinir friends of onr ... ii- neighbours during the last twe^nt/yea™ Wl atT ''" »*^|s;^t^&b!'-.XoSr sympathy H Our nstitutions are too entirely dissimilar to of Panol unit. »t r B ^'"P-'-^-of Mahomedan unity- e ? I T ^ *' ')"' Eeformation— the different doffma, loM i!;; ^^ T,''"'r'' fis''*' *••« -iifferent rsteSev hold sacred must lead to an era of standi,,/ armies of passports, of espionage, of fluctuating boujdar ™ ind border wars. Are we prepared to welcLe a Sof ner manent and st,U increasing armaments for Nor b America ' are we prepared by word, or deed, or sign, or sS sympathy, to hasten the advent of such time, for „,?, postenty, i not ourselves ? I sincerel"th'at a w.se and a nobler sense of our position an^d duties w 11 dTect and mstruct us to a wiser and nobler use ?f whatover nfluence we may possess with the mother ^untry in tl d ""^r^- ^''^'^ '^ '"'""'er considerahon ^ two inglish-speaking powers 'ake the place of the one w,^h which alone the Empire has had to^eal these 80 ,em p^st, there wdl inevitably arise a bahince, and a rivals? diplomacy, between them. If cotton is strong enouT to SSw nf^."'' ^°""'' "'"' ^ ^"glandUmef th^ intimate ally of the one power, France, her great western Sr "'if Etr, '\^f -i-ble'relatiKr : she wiU JLt^ T""? ^'""^ """"^^"y »t ffiehmond! She wiU cause J)rance to become necessaiy at Washington • tne ivorth. Strange as it may seem (such is the elartiHt» of French manners), it is nevertheless true, tLt theft S aavaland mibtaiy officers were highly popute ktK 'J 'l(i|| ,1 i .'I' 'I ^//^ ^ BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. of Independence, when stationed at Philadelphia, New York, and Newport. Since Prance parted with her own possessions upon this continent, it has been her traditional policy to build up a West-Atlantic power to combat with England. It was the policy of the old noblesse, who ruled I'rance in 1777 ; it was the policy of Napoleon I., when he gave up Louisiana, from the Gulf to the Minnesota line, to Jefferson ; it is the same policy, which, according to report, led a French prince, very near the throne, to drink to the success of the North, in his recent visit to the other side of the Lakes. The North being the second maritime power —the second Atlantic power— would form, in alliance with France, a most serious rivalry to England's maritime ascendency; and I leave you, gentlemen, to ponder over the probable consequences of such an alliance in our waters, or along our thousand miles of frontier, originally explored, and at several points first colonised, from France. In the first stages of the contest, it seemed to me and others, that the public sympathy in this country was altogether with the North. Some offensive bravado from one or two '^^^ York newspapers was made use of by some one or more Canadian journals, to arrest, to turn back the genial currents of that sympathy. A pretence was next made that it was a war undertaken from a lust of dominion, and not from any sincere love of liberty. Because the Federal government, which always recognised slavery as the creature of the municipal law south of the Pennsylvania line, did not rashly set that municipal law at nought ; therefore, it was not at all a war for freedom ! It would require very little argument— none at all, if the view I have taken of the merits of the controversy be correct— to prove that a war for the unity of the Eepublic must be necessarily, ipso facto, a war for liberty. The dogmas on which the Republic is founded are genuine articles of every freeman's creed ; like the dogmas of the Chnstian religion itself, they are held in deposit by the Federal hierarchy; one age or one generation is not suffi- cient to exhaust or to develope all their latent salutary ^:::^. '^Vj^ ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 25 efficacy. It may be that the keepers have not always proved worthy ot their trust, that the expositors have not comprehended the true spirit of their own doctrine : but he must be a very impatient, a very unreasonable American reformer, who would not be content with the progress «ie anti-slavery cause has made, from the days wlien nw?^'?°'' ¥^ \^^*'' ^°^"d h^« neck in Boston, till the day when Mr. Lincoln was carried on the Chicago platform into the presidential mansion. The fears of the South for the perpetuity of slavery are better evidence than the sophisms of our anti-American editors and orators. They felt the decisive hour gradually but surely drawing nigh and desiring to guard against every possibihty of peaceful emancipation, they are now battling for an opportunity to reconstitute their entire system on the abominable foundation of the eternal bondage of the blacks. Is not battling to put down such a ^(^V^mt, ipso facto. making war for freedom ? ' -f J "''* Another argument calculated to prejudice the Canadian mmd is this that the Free are endeavouring to enforce upon the biave States the very same superiority which their revolutionary fathers denied to Great Britain. If I under- stand the ments of the American revolution, there is no parallel whatever m the causes of quarrel. In the days of Washington, Mr. Grenville, Lord North, and the other authors of that revolt-for the seeds were shipped from Lngland which were harvested in America,— held that they had an Imperial right to tax the colonies without the consent of their le^slatures, and they practically tested that nght, first m the Stamp Act, and afterwards in the Tea Tax. Was there been any pretence set up by the South that Congress, the Imperial power, has violated the existing nghts or the mumcipal institutions of any one of the States subject to its superiority ? Has there been any direct or indirect interference with the domestic institution, since the slave trade was declared piracy in 1808 ? The com- promises of 1820 and 1850-the adoption of Mr. Douglas's principle of the right of territories to admission to the Umon, with or without slavery, as they should themselves ■; t t*i ' i n ^ |/v^ 26 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. determine; the decision of the Supreme Court in the celebrated " Dred Scott case," were all concessions to the South, or, more strictly speaking, to the desire to perpetuate the Union. Nor, looking at it calmly, from the point of view of history, do I feel disposed to admit that Cliief Justice Taney, or Mr. Douglas, or Mr. Clay, went too far, paid too high a price, for the preservation of the Federal bond. The ordinary American mind has been, for a generation or two, so occupied in the contemplation of the blessings of hberty, that it has neglected or overlooked the co-equal worth of unity. This war— this great adversity bursting like a summer thunderstorm in their clear sky — will lead them to inquire into many phenomena in the heavens above and the earth beneath. Discipline and subordination in war will teach them the value of unity and obedience to laws in time of peace. They will learn that unity is to liberty as the cistern in the desert to the seldom sent shower; that of liberty we may truly say, though Providence should rain it down upon our heads, though the land should thirst for it, till it gaped at every pore, without a legal organisation to retain, without a supreme authority to preserve the Heaven-sent blessing, all m vain are men called free, all in vain are States declared to be independent. The contest waged by King George III. against the thirteen United Colonies was a contest to assert the Imperial right of taxation; a right unlieard of, as Mr. Burke proved, before the year 1764 ; a right which we in Canada, loyal as we are, would resist as stoutly as did the Americans in 1776; but the Southern States, in their several " ordinances of secession," have not alleged any parallel innovation on their domestic rights against the United States government. They have alleged a case of oppression, without particulars; there are no specific counts in their indictment; it is one broad general assumption, or assertion, of sovereignty reserved and danger apprehended. Now, as theologians contend that there can be no such thing as heresy in general, neither can we conceive of any such thing as oppression in general. When men have been badly hurt they know where they are diar. ^./^ ADDRESSES ON VAEIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 27 hurt, but these people do not. I dismiss, as unworthy oi w.r nJ ^77^ '''^'""; ^^'^ '"P^^^"^ ^^'""^ *'^^ revolutionary ZnH- P Ji P'"'""*' ^"-^ '^''^ «^ P«^«"el to this insur. r u«i *^ "P°"^y '-^g^i^st tlie constitutional majority m 1861 And m discussing it let me add, of my own opinion, that the civil war of itself proves nothing agZ republican institutions nor against the Pederalcon^stitu ton considered in itself. It only proves a very old truth, n 1 ,.? f Tv^ TT^ ^°"S co-exist undistibed in the presence of political liberty. Besides the military and diplomatic possibilities of invo3' ""t ? '^''..*° '""'^^'^ *^^' commercial interests involved, lo show the extent to which our credit and prosperiy depend upon that of our neighbours, I will give you, first the figures of what we sold to them for the four years ending with '54, the year the Reciprocity Treaty was negotiated, and next, what we sold to them in the fou^ years ending with 1860 :— Four years ending 1854 Four years ending 1860 $27,081,887 $58,947,384. This increase from 27 to 58 millions of exports is as you perceive, more than double, while there is this further consideration to be taken into the account, that whereas on L\l 'it'T }^ F"'*'^ ?^'*'' ^^"^^t^d $2,400,000 in duties— that is, taxed your industry to that extent in four years on the 58 millions, if we are to beheve Mr Hatc^ they have not collected in the four years ending in J 859-: the latest figures m his report-the total sum of $300,000. If, however, the Reciprocity Treaty has been beneficid to Wp nnt'f"' ?i? ^''' ^"tl '^"'y °P^^^°°' *« «^e Americans. We took from them in the four years ending I860, goods and products to the value of $7 0,000,000%nd upwards On these imports, we of course raised a very large share of our revenue-fully one-fourth of our wholVrev^nue bu the Americans were not without their profits, and the custom duties feU, as they naturally must, on Canad Ln consumers. The value of our whole' Ameriian commerce T ■:%' y^.//- H' V' •fl 'i |li|l iiiif BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. in 1860 may be estimated in tins way, that whereas t!ie year's exports and imports amounted together to over $69,000,000, our exnorts and imports to and from the United States summed up witliin a fraction of 88 out of those $09,000,000. Our entire trade with Great Britain reached to but $29,000,000, and with the rest of the world to about $2,000,000. Now, gentlemen, this enormous trade may be injured, decreased, crippled, or even lost in various contingencies. It is a trade maintained with the Free States altogether; it may be injured by their defeats, by their embarrassments, by their onerous burthens in a Jong-continued war. It may be crippled, or even lost, through international estrangement, enmity, and a spirit of retaliation. I ask the farmers, the millers, the forwarders and lumberers of Upper Canada and Central Canada to think of this, when they see a portion of the press they patronise artfully and continually labouring to stir up hostility and hatred towards the Northern Americans. I venture to ask those journalists themselves to reflect upon the consequences to Canada of a refusal to continue the Reciprocity Treaty in 1865 ; to estimate the consequences, to count the cost, to ask themselves how many ploughs may rust in the farmyard, how many bushels may rot in the warehouse, how many mortgages may be foreclosed by the bank or the court ; what stringency, what gloom, and what suffering, what permanent check to prosperity must be inflicted upon Canada and its people ? For all these reasons, commercial, diplomatic, military, and Christian, it must be to us a problem of the highest interest, whether this civil war is to be a long or a short one, and on which side the chances of victory may incline. We can only form our judgments as to the issue by com- paring the character, the resources, and the situation of the combatants. If the knowledge of causes is prophetic of events, and if we could master the whole of any set of existing facts, we could, probably, construct history a priori for a generation or two after our own time. We must not however, mistake the bravado articles of any particular press as an infallible index of Northern character, if we do m iiiu /2{5 ^./^ ADDnESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 29 20,000,000; they are very generally educated, so far at » l,?v r""'" ""'' '""'""',8' "'^ '=''"™' information ° the day Tlicy are, men and women, all politicians and now all Unionists. Their unanimity, fhoug ■ not sT'ile^ IS not less real than that of their Southern b?el„en When I see men hke Mr. Uiekinaon and Mr. Everet^i warm in the support of Mr. Lincoln's administration as if they were members of his cabinet, I cannot doubt that he energies of the North are braced, that no man really essen fal ,s wantmg. We are to remember, however! Umtthfa generation of Americans have hitherto had everything the r own way-tha since the Treaty of Ghent, fort/ years aa" their voyage of life has been all plain sailing.^ They S been born to prosperity and dandled in luxury a J S opinion. The hrst great adversity with such a people is hard to bear, but they bear it bravely, and will le™ to the first battle; but what militia, what army, after al has not been, at one time or another, smitten with panic? Not to mention modern instances, which might seem invidiou. no one I suppose will question the courage of the SpaiiS who followed Cortez into the city of Mexico • nor the courage of the legions who landi with™ to restore Roman ascendency m Egypt. Yet we know that a clamor raised by some sailors who had come up to wit3thf assault on Alexandria in the one case, aL thrb S im down of a causeway in the other, threw those Span sh an! Epman veterans mto panic flight, even unde? the eye withm the sound of the voice, of their illustrious captains' The North will fight; the North has the numbers two to one m its favour; its credit exceeds in proportion its numbers; it can command both "gold and iron " he tl hinges on which all wars must move. The Sou'th on the other hand, possesses in its pecuhar social formation some advantages as a war-making power, which go a good wav to w:flth''^f eh"^ .'f -""^Z in numbers'and'l'vSb we^th. It cherished in its colonial stage a tincture of feudal pride, which has not been entlely obliSed. ^.# 30 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. .'I f! il ,ni III' Ihe spirit of caste is not uncongenial to the military spirit. So long as its 4,000,000 of bondsmen close their ears to the distant din of war, and labour as if the earth did not rock beneath their feet, the whites can spare a percentage to the army, equal to almost double their number at the North. A very large proportion of these whites are horsemen from their childhood, and as cavalry ought to be much superior to an equal number of Northern tradesmen or townsmen. In their unanimity, in their sense of discipUne, in their gradations of ranks and classes, they possess some materials of military success which the North might envy. In their consciousness of supenonty, sedulously cultivated, and unhesitatingly be- lieved, they have another great element of success; for nothing is more certain than that undoubting belief is often the perfector of its own prophecies. Yet the South, besides Its inferiority in numbers and in realised wealth, has the fatal defect of its shallow shores without a first-class harbour from Norfolk to Galveston— a coast more easily blockaded than any other of the same extent with which we are acquainted. They are not by their position, nor by their discipline, a maritime people, and even if they succeed, they must be for ever dependant on some foreign mantime power. Yet with all these drawbacks they are an enemy not to be despised, and the war they wage wiU neither be a short war nor a weak war. Whatever indirect advantage Canada or the Empire might derive from the war, the people of Canada can never be mdifferent to the dangers to the system of free inter- course and common arbiter, which is to stand or fall in this encounter. It is not by feeding our minds with such paltry passions as have been sometimes appealed to, that we, the possessors of a seventh part of North America, are to shame our Kepublican neighbours out of their assaults upon ourselves. Our littleness is not to rebuke their littleness; we are not to answer railing with railing, nor to heap up wrath against the day of wrath. We can afford to speak of the American system in this hour of its agony m the glowing language of their finest poet: c^Av^^ ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 31 " ?•?' *"?? ??" *"'' Ship of State f bail on, Union, strong and great I Humanity with all its fears, • With all the hopes of future years. ^ hanging braathless on thy fate f We know what Master laid the keel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope What anvils rang, what hammers beat. In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope." We do not-to continue the poet's image-while the shin IS drmng on the rocks, her signal gun pealngfor ad above the din of the tempest-we do not lurk Ln J the shore, gloating over her danger, in hope of enricC/o^ selves by the wreck. No, God forbid ! Such LK; feehng of the people of Canada. On the contrary, so far ^ their pubhc opinion can be heard throughout the British Empire or the United States, their wish would K the Republic, as It was twelve months ago, migjit Ive to celebrate m concord, in 1876, the centenary of k I„d. pendence. We prefer our owi\ institutions Uhd's b^J our preference IS rational, not rancorous; we ^ think and we do think, it would have been weU for theTto 1 lave retained more than they did retain of the long-tried ^sdoL of then: ancestors ; we may think, and we do think thS their overthrow of ancient precedents aud venerXe safe guards was too sweeping ii^ 1776; but as b tween cot S IroH ^"^^V'^^^ ^-il ^ar-as between natur J sfhihnnal ^^"^f^"^^, opprcssiou ; as between the con- st^utonal majority and the lawless minority; as between free intercourse and armed frontiers; as between ne^ro emancipation and a revival of the slave trade; as beS the golden rule and the cotton crop of 1861 L L wee" therevea^ed unity of the race and the heartless hereL of Afncan bestiality; as between the North and SoLh n this ittSwY"*' ] 'f^^'^^'y '- ^h« belief, that all th PaTr f ? ' T'* ^"*e"»gent, and most magnanimous in Canada and the Empire, are for continental pe'ace? or con^ stitutional arbitrament, for universal, if gradual emancina: sr i'll 32 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. tion, for free intercourse, for justice, mercy, civilisation, and the North.* * Whoever has the patience to follow to the end this series of ipeeches and addresses will perceive that the strong pro-Northern sentiments of the speaker, so freely uttered in the doubtful and discouraging days of 1861, though never retracted, were repeated less frequently, and with several modifications, during the three succeeding years. This was a natural con- sequence of the tone taken towards Canada, and the Empire, by the organs of Northern opinion, especially after the affair of the Trent. It is to be hoped that the heartily friendly feeling which was expressed in this addr 3s, and so heartily applauded by a fair representation of the best men of V per Canada, may be found capable of restoration, without any com- promise of self-respect on the part of either people. '(i ! I ! II ill- %. /. AMEBICAN RELATIONS AND CANADIAN DUTIES. Me. MoGee said :-Ladies and Gentlemen, I received some time ago a warm invitation frommyfrLd Canflin Anderson the Seeretaiy of this Society, aSrie to be present and take part in the proceedings of this evenin/ It was an invitation given with great^cordiXy for S s"oietvTl^t^r*^''"f, *'" °'^^^' ^™ '" -»b^ th^ rafLTdenf n' ^"^"^H'"l>g'-'"'t. ""d the unfortu- nate resident. It seems to be incident to our state nf society, where we have no legal provision for the Door no 'ZTtZtf i "'•"' 1 V P"''l- gen^r^liXtha? S- ? 1 . ^""™'' »f charitable labour amon" our dffercat voluntary societies,-and as I look upon them T w ether under the auspices of Saint Patrick Caw^the; society— the society of Canada,— I did not feel that T Son T?-^"'"^ 7 °" ?r^'- grounds, decline he invitation It is very true, Mr. President, that you and I b°4 fe ttt" *°-'"°™" ro-hipping'under'the ile W t„ • r * ? ™^ '■'''"°'' ''''? ^''6 should not be united here to-mght m a common work of charity ? With me it >s no reason; such differences exist in the first elements 'f our population : and it is the duty of every njan eXc Z of every man undergoing the ed/cation o/a statesman Z «.deayour to mitigate instead of inflaming, reS" a,^ wSpiead^,r^"?"" f f"- *'- ^rface tS tho"; hem t^ tli ! ™'"'? "^ '•^•'gion-any idiot may arouse them, to the wise man's consternation. %„rl n^ re--.-"..- c:^^^ 1 m 84 BEITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ( I man's deep regret. If in times past they have been too often and too easily aroused, we must all deeply deplore it ; but for the future, — in these new and eventful days, when it is so essential that there shall be complete harmony within our ranks, — let us all agree to brand the propagan- dist of bigotry as the most dangerous of our enemies, because his work is to divide us among ourselves, and thereby render us incapable of common defence. It is upon this subject of the public spirit to be cultivated among us — of the spirit which can alone make Canada safe and secure, rich and renowned — which can alone attract popula- tion and augment capital — that I desire to say the few words with which I must endeavour to fulfil your expecta- tions. I feel that it is a serious subject for a popular festival — but these are serious times, and they bring upon their wings most serious reflections. That shot fired at Fort Sumter, on the l3th of April, 1861, had a message for the North as well as for the South, and here in Quebec, if anywhere, by the light which history lends us we, should find those who can rightly read that eventful message. Here, from this rock, for which the immortals have con- tended, here from this rock, over which Richelieu's wisdom and Chatham's genius, and the memory of heroic men, the glory of three great ^tions has hung its halo, we should look forth upon a continent convulsed, and ask of a ruler, " Watchman, what of the night ? " That shot fired at Fort Sumter was the signal gun of a new epoch for North America, which told the people of Canada, more plainly than human speech can ever express it, to sleep no more, except on their arms — unless in their sleep they desire to be overtaken and subjugated. For one, Mr. President, I can safely say that if I know myself I have not a particle of prejudice against the United States ; on the contrary, I am bound to declare that many things in the constitution and the people I sincerely esteem and admire. What I contend for with myself, and what I would impress upon others is, that the lesson of the last few months furnished by America to the world, should not be thrown away upon the inhabitants of Canada. I do not believe that it is our ADDEESSES ON VABIOUS PUBIIC OCCASIONS. 35 so freely -it .eej rC " Clfje'ef '"^^ ""V""^^ feet to act another and a ^LtlJ : """"^^ """^^ <"» join them on theirs A rlJ' ^ ^'^ "wer ought to Lnadian, nor ^tish-^^ "^^^"cl^r''- aiiovrarf «rf H f -St'Tht-w-; for, that is what we „„iu ri *'"'' "^ ™S''* *" labour death. He^sofrne-setnth of t^,?"'?-*" ^'^'^^ *° '^' of a long ancestrrstr,_an1no nart r^V'"''^'"'^ that the glorious tal? nf «.;. it ?"* °' '' ^^^'" *» us cold chr?n°c es oidv hJZY- "^'^^'-'''^ned not by but we want more ^nTen 7™* """^^Wers and doctors- the signs of S andCjfr' '""^ ''"™''"^- "*^« '««" countfy. o/eTourlSl o7dV°""^ T^ ^^-^^'-S and death to old baSX^s'' tI. 7 "'"'^^'"'^''g'^' project of a special t^ nir'tl, T ? ^°?S entertained a L populatio^^td^VSSlhrPnLttt^^^ what I chiefly waStr.^-- ^'•"'"''y' ^'- I^esident, we woultSe SSa J/aXrrf 'T ".*'^' "'^^ '^ we must all libenlL l„ n ™^'"* ™'' '«''owned, nationally. The e S"!™ to^^^ fr*-"%' f %ously; great free people but tW I ? "'^ ''°™*'J' *or one 'me %AnTthe"\^:^ ;rfrLT?h ""'" ""^ suspicious, obstructive "pationaliUes'' V ^^^^."^S^. dear to every land beneath the sta^i the chajrA ^"''^ lier bosom, and nursed nnnn ),„- u ! , ™ ™™ ™ man of another countoy,X"verbo;ri' t-' "'l™ ">« speech, holding whatever ere™ ,!?' 'P?'''''g *''"'«''« H '« a cou miry to _?!» ' » 2 c^^y- 36 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Pi serve and honour and cleave to, in weal or in woe, — when he heaves up the anchor of his heart from its old moorings, and lays at the feet of the mistress of his choice, his New country, all the hopes of his ripe manhood, he establishes by such devotion a claim to consideration, not second even to that of the children of +>^ --'.il. lie is their brother delivered by a new birth frc dark-wojibed Atlantic ship that ushers him into exist, ^e in the new world, — he stands by his own election among the children of the household, and narrow and most unwise is that species of public spirit, which, in the perverted name of patriotism, would refuse him all he asks — " a fair field and no favour." I am not about to talk politics, Mr. President, though these are grand politics — I reserve all else for what is usually called " another place '* ; — and I may add, for another time. But I am so thoroughly convinced and assured that we are gliding along the currents of a new epoch, that if I break silence at all, in the presence of my fellow-subjects, I cannot choose but speak of the immense issues which devolve upon us, at this moment, in this country. I may be pardoned, perhaps, if I refer to another matter that comes home to you, Mr. President, and to myself. Though we are alike opposed to all invidious national distinctions on this soil, we are not opposed, I hope, to giving full credit to all the elements which at the present day compose our population. In this respect it is a source of gratification to learn that among your invited guests, to-night, there are twelve or thirteen members of the House to -whicli I have the honour to belong — gentle- men from both sides of the House — ^who drew their native breath in our own dearly beloved ancestral island. It takes three quarters of the world in these days to hold an Irish family, and it is pleasant to know that some of the elder sons of the family are considered, by their discrimina- ting fellow-citizens, worthy to be entrusted with the liberties and fortunes of their adopted countries. We have here men of Irish birth who have led, and who still lead, the Parliament of Canada, and wh are determined to lead it in a spirit of genuine liberality. We, Irishmen, Pro- ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 37 testant and Catholic, born and bred in a land of religious controversy shonld never forget that we now live and act m aland of the fu lest religious and civil liberty. M 7e have to do, IS each for himself, to keep down dissensions which can only weaken, impoverish, and keep back the country; each for himself do all he can to increase its wenlth. Its strength and its reputation; each for himself— you and you gentlemen, and all of us-to welcome every talent, to hail every invention, to cherish every gem of art to foster every gleam of authorship, to honour ever; acquirement and every natural gift, to lift ourselves to the level of our destinies, to rise above all low limitations and narrow circumscriptions, to cultivate that true catholicity of spirit which embraces all creeds, all classes, and all race, m order to make of our boundless Province, so rich in Jinown and unknown resources, a great new Northern nation. 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 ^ff Ht 1, ;^| B .]T7 ; 1 1 i ' HI w 1 ^' ■i ' 1 ■ ilH iiH^ I 1; i, I U > ■ ii ■ !!»! n II 1 in i ! 1 '. < : t ■ i ! } ■; ; 1 I !( 1 1 |. il i i I'! 11 ^/^l^/ BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Speech at a Political Pio-nio at Port Robinson, Canada West, Septeuber 18th, 1862. Hon. Mr. McGee said he had listened with great pleasure to the statesmanlike, national, broad-principled, and high-spirited speech of the Premier of Nova Scotia, (Mr. Howe), and he had heard the fervent, animated, and manly sentiments expressed by his hon. friend, Mr. Mitchell, of New Brunswick, with almost equal pleasure. !Por his own part he had never been a sectional man. He had no sectional partiahties in this country. He was neither a Lower Canadian nor an Upper Canadian. In the Government, or . out of the Government, he had never known what the old Province line was. The Province line was obliterated before he came to the country, and never should be restored with his consent. And not being a sectional man as regarded Canada, he was not a sectional man as regarded British America ; for if, in the progress of events, we could draw together more closely, in the presence of the perilous circumstances that confronted us on our Southern frontier, the bonds of amity and union with our British brethren who dwelt on the shores of the Atlantic, he, for his part, was ready to bid Godspeed to the Union, and to take his share of the responsibility of bringing it about. The last great act of union that was accomplished on this continent of British America, was accomplished amidst great difficulties, and as it appeared to him very hastily in some of its details, and it had worked in some respects not to the satisfaction of the people either of Upper or Lower Canada. But still that Act of Union of 1840 was a step in the right direction, one step forward in a^.^/. West, AlOBESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIOKS. 39 !nnh^lP*f pI"?'"'' P™"'J»<'« 'eemed to have pre- scnbed to the British people of the northern portion of thl eontment. And now, looking back at it, he^did not tUnk to information or influence in Canadian affairs, who would hX^tff t*t"-^° '''t ^y^^ ='""= "f things which existed before liat Union As that Union of 1840, therefore was a step in the nght direction, so he beUeved th.^ Tn The fulness of time and of events, a greater union than that would come, and that aU the people of the north bred a^d nursed under the system of lo« object was some- times a^med at by admimstering a whipping to some of its colonial possessions, and that the samrthSg was r sorted to when It was sought to make an impression for some CT^M t-'' o" ^""^ Government of the Northern States at Washington. These colonies ought not to subSt (I M e«e shores ;who^e plana of Empire, more vast and sagacious than any of his time, failed of success only through the short-sightedness of his sovereign, in^Sowtg the Atlantic shores of New England to fall into the hands of his rivals, thereby changing the history of the New World. ' ^^^'^°' Hon. Mil. McGee, President of the Executive CouncU ot Canada, addressed the assemblage in response to this sentiment. He said : I heg to assure you, Mr. President. and the gentlemen of tl-n Maine Historical Society, who have done me the honour to invite me here, that I feel it a very great privilege to be a spectator and a participant in the instructive, retributive ceremonial of this day This pemnsula of Sabino must become, if it is not now, classic ground; and this 29th of August, the true era of the establishment of our language and race on this continent, one of the most cherished >/;/ of the English-speakinff people of North Amer-ica. It is, on goieral grounds, an occasion hardly less interesting to the colonies still English, than to the citizens of Maine, and, therefore, I bec^ to repeat m your presence the gratification I feel in being * This was the commencement of an interesting series of annual celebra- tions, observed with great Mat, of the foundation of " theS colony on the shores of New England." The place is the peninsula of Sabino at the K erTc^S^r'^"' ri ' *'^ 'T"^'' "- "^'^^^^ George P'opham brother of Chief Justice Popham, and the time 19th of August (old Jtyle)! ^M 44 BEITISH-AMERICAN UNION. i: ll' '•i'A allowed to join in the first, of what I trust will prove but the first, of an interminable series of such celebrations. I would be very insensible, Sir, to the character in which I have been so cordially presented to this assembly, if I did not personally acknowledge it; and I should be, I conceive, unworthy the position I happen to occupy as a member of the Canadian Government, if I did not feel still more the honour you have paid to Canada, in the remembrance you have made of her first Governor and Captain-General, the Sieur de Champlain. That celebrated person was in truth, not only in point of time, but in the comprehension of his views, the audacity of his projects, and the celebrity of his individual career, the first statesman of Canada; and no one pretending to the character of a Canadian statesman could feel otherwise than honoured and gratified, when Champlain's name is invoked, pubhcly or privately, in his presence. We have no fear that the reputation of our great Founder will not stand the severest test of his- torical research; we have no fear that his true greatness will dwindle by comparison with the rest of the Atlantic leaders— the chiefs of the renowned sea-chivalry, of whom we have already heard such eloquent mention. All Cana- dians ardently desire that he should be better known— be well known— and perhaps, Mr. President, you will permit me to indicate some of the traits in the career, to point to some of the traits in the character, which halo for us for ever the name and memory of the Sieur de Champlain. What we esteem most of all other features in the life of our Founder, is that chief virtue of all eminent men— his indomitable fortitude; and next to that we revere the amazing versatility and resources of the man. Originally a naval officer, he had voyaged to the W ;t Indies and to Mexico, and had written a memoir, lately discovered at Dieppe, and edited both in Prance and England, advocating among other things the artificial connection of the Atlantic rnd Pacific Oceans. From the quarter-deck we trace him to the counting-rooms of the merchants of Rouen and Saint Malo, who first entrusted him in 1603, with the command of a commercial enterprise of which Canada was the field. ^Y^.y//- ■ ADDEESSES ON VABIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 46 rrom the service of the merchants of Eouen, Dieppe, and Samt Malo, we trace him to the service of his Soverd^ Henry IV For several successive years we iind his flait glancmg at all pomts along this roek-boand coast on which we are now assembled, from Port Eoyal to Massaehu! setteBay Whenever we do not find it ire, we maybe ccrtam it has advanced into the interior, that i is unf/rled at Quebec at Montreal, or towards the sources of the Hudson and the Mohawk. We will find that this versat e sailor has become m time a founder of cities, a negotS of treaties with barbarous tribes, an author/ a di comer As a discoverer, he was the first European to ascend the Kicheheu, which he named after the patron of his latter ears-thc all-powerful Cardinal. H^ was the fir rto traverse that beautiful lake, now altogether your own which makes his name so familiar to Americans; he was the first to ascend our great central river, the Ottawa as far north as Lake Nppising, and he was the first to di^ cover what he very justly calls "the frcsh-water s^» of Lake Ontano. His place as an American discoverer is therefore amongst the first; while his claims as a eoTonise; rest on he firm foundations of Montreal and Quebec Tnd his project— extraordinary for the aee— of Sir, th! Atlantic with the Pacific V an artificS chann of^com munication. As a legislator, we have not yet reco^red if we ever sh^l recover, the ordinances he is known to have promulgated; bu as an author we have his namt"ve of transactions in New France, his voyage to Me"fcT Ws treatise on navigation, and some other papers. As a diplomatist we have the Franco-Indian alliances, which he founded and which lasted a hundred and fifty ye^rs on th s continent, and which exercised so powerful^'n Xncr not only on Amencan but on European affairs. To hiS also It was mainly owing that Canada, Acadia, and Ca « tt toarof wT^ ^'•- ''"^'^^'«^«s meed of eloquent and reverent remembrance bu° among them, from North to South, there wil be no se condary place assigned to the Sieur de Champla n Mr. President, you have added to the sentiment in honour of Champlam, an allusion and an inference as t„ t^^j"/ ferent results of the French and EnglSontl t tv » wb h you will probably expect me to offer an obCmtion or two before resuming my seat. Champlain's pro ect ongmaUy was, no doubt, to make this Atlantic coaWe basis of French power in the New World. His Govern ment claimed the continent down to the 40th raS' wbch, as you know, intersects Pennsylvania, Oh?o and Illinois, while the Enghsh claimed ud to \tt x^^ ' t- ? intersects Nova Scotii'and Canada ^ ^"'' '"^"^ Withm these five degrees of latitude the pretensions of France were long zealously maintained in dSomacv but ^ere never practically asserted, except in the 44th and «th tttZ T- , ^'""."olP'^Paredto dispute the^ference that the practical abandonment, by France, of the coast dT coveries of her early navigators, south of 45 mav ht: changed, as you say "the destiny of the New Worid " It may be so; it may be, also, that we have not mctd the point of time in which to speak nositivelv n, i^n manent result; for DiWne PrvLCe 'llri^^H fo^brt by ong and insensible curves, of which even fte de^es sighted men can discern in their time but a verv S' section. But we know; as of the nast th,f t\l p C power in the reign of Louis XlTl^and XTV ^ '""'' ticaUy based on the St. Lawrence tith^ si" I""'- rather than on the Atl^-d^ith' : We tfrfat^ t'^Si piriT""? "f *'''%«h''"ge of Champlain?; t atd £r2 } u"°' P'^J'^'''^'' ''^"^^ ^° -"Mh as to aLde to ior that would carry me where I have no wish to^n ;„t^ international issues, not yet exhausted. ^°~'"'° 1 maybe permitted, however, to onest;™ *i,-f ■"— , r ii'i 'I a^m 48 BRITISH-AJ^IKRICAN UNION. n ! influence, as developed in its Eoman Catholic religion, its Eoman law and its historical fascinations, was ever really circumscribed to Canada, or was really extinguished, as has been usually assumed, by the fall of Quebec. It is amazing to find in the Colonial records of the period between the death of Champlain and the death of Montcalm, a century and a quarter, how important a part that handful of secluded Trench colonists played in North American affairs. In 1629, Champlain could have carried off all his colonists in "^ single ship"; more than a hundred years later they were estimated at some 65,000 souls ; in the Seven Years' War they were, according to Mr. Bancroft, but as " one to fourteen" of the English colonists. The part played by the Canadians in war, under the Trench Kings, was out of all proportion to their numbers ; it was a brilliant but pro- digal part; it left their country exposed to periodical scarcity, without wealth, without commerce, without poli- tical liberty. They were ruled by a poHcy strictly martial to the very last, and though Bichelieu, Colbert, De la ?^/^ GalHssionere, and other supreme minds saw, in their " New Trance," great commercial capabilities, the prevailing policy, especially under Louis XIV. and XV., was to make and keep Canada a mere military colony. It is instructive to find a man of such high intelligence as Montcalm justifying that policy in his despatches to the President de Mole on the very eve of the surrender of Quebec. The Canadians, in his opinion, ought not to be allowed to manufacture, lest they should become unmanageable like the English colonists, but, on the contrary, they should be kept to martial exercises, that .they might subserve the interests of Trance in her Transatlantic wars with England. Such was the policy which fell at Quebec with its last Trench Governor and Captain-General; a policy, I need hardly say, which no intelligent Canadian now looks back to with any other feelings than those of regret and disapprobation. A hundred years have elapsed since the international con- test to which you refer was consummated at Quebec, and Canada to-day, under the mild and equitable sway of her fourth English sovereign, has to point to trophies of ^. I///- ADDRESSES ON VAWOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 49 8«bjects to the french ktr The rrlT°'\^'"' """ lation, which from 1608 uffyfln u,l T '^'^'?» P"?"' from 1750 to 1800 ts'XHed'rsTotoo'^rL' leic 1., nas a population exceed iiff Massarhn«!Pffc «f 2 a yeomanrj, as ever stirred the Jl ^f thresh HFri^h Canada points with iustiiiahlp n,-;^. , .f^"- . ■" French field E„^g,i.h Canadf;S\St'°^: ZZLTl whose four and Cnty^ers Lfeac^^^^^^^^ esteemed frfendfHTnL Pot, ^^tTf.-J^^ »'' »»'l from your^n^nds than to ti!rn^i T ?^*^^?^ ^'^ ^^^^^«' tioii to anv^nK!- ^"^ *^"' historical commemora- uoii 10 any political account — and rprfniTihr t \^ \ have done myself the pleasure of bein'1f"eVl w'\^ gmed any such intention -R.^f .« ii .^ ^ """ ""*■ your futhority, MrpSden^ i "tie' ffi^ 'S'S Fosterity-we have summoned our a cesforf from tl.f --- wiuiou. riuiencu lo trutu or injustice to the B i« I m r an I \ I I II I'l ^J>V//' 50 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Dead : for the dead have their rights as the living have : injustice to them is one of the worst forms of all injustice, and undue praise to the undeserving is the worst injustice to the virtuous and meritorious actors in the great events of former ages. When we leave this place we shall descend from the meditative world of the Past to mingle in the active world of the Present, where each man must bear his part and defend his post. Let me say for myself, Mr. President, and I think I may add I speak in this respect the general settled sentiment of my countrymen of Canada, when I say that in the extraordinary circumstances which have arisen for you, and for us also, in North America, there is no other feeling in Canada than a feeling of deep and sincere sympathy and friendliness towards the United States. As men loyal to our own institutions, we honour loyalty every- where J as freemen we are interested in aU free States ; as neighbours we are especially interested in your peace, prosperity, and welfare. We are aU anxious to exchange everything with you except injustice and misrepresentation ; that is a species of commerce which — even when followed by the fourth estate (pointing to the reporters at his right) — I trust we will alike discourage, even to the verge of prohibition. Not only as a Canadian, but as one who was originally an emigrant to these shores as an Irishman, with so many of my original countrymen resident among you, I shall never cease to pray that this kindred people may always find in the future, as they always have found in the past, brave men to lead them in battle, wise men to guide them in council, and eloquent men like my honourable friend yonder (Hon. John A. Poor), to celebrate their exploits and their wisdom from generation to generation. Ill 1,1 OTTAWA THE PROBABLE CAPITAL OF AN UNITED BKITISH AMERICA sonMSr^'^'^s^^r "IZ introductory remarks, of a per- feply interested than in L'ZZjofTlZnZ' priety of reference which was made "" fl f ■ "'" I™" having admitted and adored ?^n7d°- •""" '"^i'"^' ''"* pohc/of the present aZ nlttttion Tv' "^ f ''' "' ">" Otra« wa not my choicrbTt it" rT *'" ,^"'''«™- use of by any party combination. If tliev allowrrl fh! Ottawa question to Hp morl^ „ * -'^ anowed the gentlemen, not only may vour c.itv h«.onie ^V- - - O- £ 2 1^ Irif h m m ^^A//4 52 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Government of Canada, if your interests are properly repre- sented, but in after times of all British America, between the Eocky Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. I suppose you have all seen in the public journals a good deal of dis- cussion as to the late Intercolonial Conference at Quebec, and a projected Intercolonial railway. Well, gentlemen, all I can tell you on that head is that that newspaper dis- cussion must necessarily be premature, because no man at this moment, in any of the Colonies, or in England, can possibly say what precise shape that project may ultimately take — what route may be chosen — what distances involved — on what terms — under what conditions — subject to what management — that road will be made, if it is made, within a few years. The discussion must be premature, because the project is inchoate — because the negotiation has merely taken its first preliminary form — because, as a negotiation, it can only be matured in London, by and with the consent of the Imperial authorities. Those who desire to avoid rash conclusions and needless retractions will suspend their judgments till the project has matured and received its last form from negotiation, and then if it can be shown to be necessary to strengthen the connection with the mother country — if it can be shown to be necessary to our self- preservation as a British American people — if the liability can be limited, and the proportions fairly adjusted — I, for one, would not shrink from going to the people of Canada, from end to end of the Province, with this test question : *' You think the connection valuable to Canada ; what will you pay for it?" Is it worth to you five-twelfths of an iron road four hundred miles long ? Is it worth the outlay on an additional link of railway of the distance, say from Montreal to Kingston, or thereabouts? For, gentlemen, depend upon it, we cannot in the North America of our day — in this new American age which announces its advent with salvos of artillery — we cannot go on as we have gone on in the piping times of peace. We have three choices before us : either to continue the Connection, or to set up for ourselves, or to drift into annexation with the Northern Democracy. Not one per cent, of the people of Canada at 6Z^/^//A ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 53 T^tlt^^'^'^'v^''''' '' ""'} "°^ P^' ^^"*- «f the people leel that the hour has come for our entering on an inde pendent poitical existence; and, therefore, Sicdiv the XZtZr^''-'?' '^^ '''• proper'Slt on our side ot the Imperial connection. I say franklv I pace tnsalfernativeon no impalpable groundf but I do f^Zf T ?' '^''' ground of common sen e, of seS'" interest, of self-preservation, as well as on the sense of dutv and conscientious obligation. I put it to you on Canadian f rh^t-n^^^ ~ I -^'he connectt is TmilU or i n^ilff ' «"ly q'lestions are, whether as to a mil tia or a military road, what can you pay, and when and how, will you pay it ? But, gentlemen^ I do not rest our railroad connection with the Lower Provinces on mflf ary reasons only; there are political reaso^anTtW^^^^^ commercial reasons as well Aq f^ +i,« « "> <»"u mere are the three Provinces ^ ^ — tV „XSpR mter-colonml free trade, which would brin" n ™00 000 more customers, and if we should unfortunate^ W the Rec.proc,ty Treaty in 1865, would give Upperffia a breadstufls market, which takes as much from the Unfted States now, as the United States do from Cam.da As to the mtnusic value of the new country to be ODened T 1,»,^ the authority of a gentleman whose aMty to Td^e cainot b questioned m Canada-Mr. Walter knRo TL been over the ground this last summer, and made Terv fuH 30 mS s'':nX '''" *f .""t T""™ "' "wt^s/^ Brumwirlr thi ™?>e^ f-" P-s of f r^ 1 ? • "' *''* ^""'^ '■'"sed here to-night on behalf of Colonial unity, feeble as it is, will be audtble within a month, to the farthest western settler who hea ^rewolf bark by night beyond Lake Huron. Now, what in outlTne IS this British America of vhich we speak? W^areW mil ions of nominal British subjects Lted ov"r a sevenS part of the continent. I say nominal British subicotrf„ we enjoy wit^iin ourselves absolute self-government wth an ndefinite and sentimental, rather than aprr^ti^al or oneroM allegiance, to a distant, non-resident sovereign It IS to be allowed, however, that there are two excen tioiis to this state of absolute seIf-government--tL ^f-t^ cratic power of the Government of Brit^rColumb a * and he close ohgarchy of the Hudson's Bay. And S if to how how thoroughly the rights of the CWn are' assumed to be extinguished in the soil of aU these imme",se reriZ we learn, only within a week, that that HudZ's BayS remeS. °°'°*''''' f"*'f" ""'^led at the lime, lias since beea U !' t '? ^<-/X. 58 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ¥ pany have actually sold the proprietorship (and received the pretty luck-penny of £100,000 down) of somewhere about 500,000 square miles of Her Majesty's dominions in North America, which the sellers pretend to hold in fee by a title derived from King Charles II. Distant as that ter- ritory is from us, far in the future as its ultimate destinies may repose, I am sure the Imperial Government will have something to say about its sale, and that we in Canada will have some thing to say about its delivery. I know nothing but what has been stated in the newspapers as to this sale, but I instance it here, at once, to call attention to the statement, and at the same time to illustrate the anomalous state of our allegiance, where one private company can propose to sell and another to buy a British dominion as large as all England, France, and Germany. A single glance at the physical geography of the whole of British America will show that it forms, quite as much in structure as in size, one of the most valuable sections of the globe. Along this eastern coast the Almighty pours the broad Gulf Stream, nursed within the tropics, to temper the rigours of our air, to irrigate our " deep-sea pastures," to combat and to subdue the powerful Polar stream, which would other'T'ise in a single night fill all our gulfs and harbours with a barrier of perpetual ice. Far towards the west, beyond the wonderful lakes which excite the admira- tion of every traveller, the winds that lift the water-bearing clouds from the Gulf of Cortez, and waft them northward, are met by counter-currents, which capsize them just where they are essential — beyond Lake Superior, on both slopes of the Kocky Mountains. These are the limits of that climpte which has been so much misrepresented — a climate which rejects every pestilence, which breeds no malaria ; a climate under wliicli the oldest stationary population — the French Canadians — 1 :^ve multiplied without the infusion of new blood, from France or elsewhere, from a stock of 80,000 in 1760, to a people of 880,000 in 1860. I need not, however, have gone so far for an illustration of the fostering effects of our climate on the European race, when I look on the sons and daughters of this Peninsula — natives ^. ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 59 of the soil for two three, and four generations ; when I see the hthe and manly forms on all sides around and before me; when I see especially, who they are that adorn that gallery alludmg to the ladies), the argument is over, the case IS closed. If we descend from the climate to the soil, we find It sown by nature with those precious forests, fitted to erect cities, to build fleets, and to warm the hearths of many generations. We have the isotherm of wheat on the Eed Kiver, on the O^awa, and on the St. John; root crops everywhere; coal m Cape Breton and on the Saskatchewan ; iron (with us) from the St. Maurice to the Trent; in Canada^ the copper-bearing rocks, at frequent intervals, from Huron to Gaspe; gold in Columbii and in Nova Scotia; salt, again and hides, in the Ked River region: fisheries, mlan; .nd seaward, unequalled. Such is a rough sketch-a rapid enumeration of the resources of this laSd of our children s mheritance. Now, wh.t needs it, tWs country, w^th a lake and river and seaward svstem sufficient to accommodate all its own and all its neighbours' com- merce? what needs such a country for its future? It needs a population sufficient in numbers, in spirit, and in TJhiTT ""f "''^^ ''^^S^°^« ^^^ ^^^ liberty, unity authority, free intercourse, commerce, security, and law. ^ oWf t'i.W 'u' *^^:y°^»g ladies probably would not tt Ifh '''.f ^' ^"^"^ ^^" ^^^"^^ be somewhat more woddl iT- P "'"^ ^'' ^^ ^^'''' P^«^i^^^«- What would be a fair American ratio of population for our terri- tory, covering, as it does, a third part of the continent P ants to the square mile-our square miles are four mil- wnnlT.^ ?TT -^ ^'"''"''' ^^"^'^ ^^^n a backwoodsman Toved tLl /"^ inconveniently close. Of the liberties en- iw *Y "? f^^f T P"'^ °^ *1^« continent, it is to be te^Bn-H h^P^^ the temporary exceptions-Hudson' neLe s Pwf Columbia--they are in the hands of the the n W ^V'^'f ^'f '^^"^'^'^ ^" ^^^''' d«ty ; but as to the other social and political needs of which I have made '^^' tr^^'A- 60 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. wm mention, that one about which I feel just at present most anxious, is authority. I am told, I have been taunted a good deal in some leading American journals for my fre- quently expressed anxiety on this head. I have been taunted as a Liberal, as if lawful autliority were incon- sistent with liberality ; and, as an Irishman by origin, I have not been spared. I answer, Mr. Mayor, to all these flippant deliverances, that if I lived in a state of society in which liberty was in danger from the encroachments or excesses of authority, I should stand fast by liberty; but, whereas, in our new world one plant is indigenous, and grows wild all round us, and the other must be introduced from afar and carefully cultivated, that other equally essen- tial to the very existence of good government, I choose to concern myself most for that which we most need, leaving that which every public man is sure to cultivate, to the charge of its innumerable other guardians. I answer, as an Irishman proud of the name, that in walking in this path I am in the right line of succession with the most illustrious Irish statesmen of the past— O'Connell, Plunkett, Curran, Grattan, and, above all, Burke : their trophies are found on every arch of the temple of the Constitution— their effigies are carved upon the very slirines of its sanc- tuary. They were statesmen whom the world knew ; they were as jealous of authority as they were vigilant for free- dom : what names has the school that opposes them pro- duced to equal the least among that illustrious succession ? I do feel anxious for the consolidation of our provincial liberties— for the timely planting of a well-deliued supreme authority among us, and, therefore, I adopt cordially the only practical form of arrangement which I can by any sign discover — the Union of all the Colonies, under the regency or vice-regency of a royal Prince, or other Imperial ruler. It will, perhaps, be within the recollection of those who hear ^e,---I rejoice to see around me some of the same friends to-night,— that several years ago, in this very room, I .^dvo- cated, on commercial and political grounds, this same good cause of Colonial union. Is it not obvious, ladies and gen- tlemen,— you, to whom I am all but a stranger,— that if I ilMlliill'H <%!-/; ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 61 did not believe there were very good arguments in favour of such an union, I M^ould not presume, after a lapse of years, to take up, on the same spot, the s^me cause before the same community ? These arguments, to my m „d are so numerous that I shall be obliged, as formerly! tTp^^^^^^^^^ by way of selection-touching only on a few ^f thrmost prominent and popular. ° -> "^ '-"e most First There is the argument from Association. What IS taught us by the whole history of our times ? ThaUhe C b;en 2/ f' }"" T""'"''' ^" «^^^«^^' ^««°«iation Ms been tried, and found m general to work wonders The very Intercolonial Kailroad, of which I am by-and by Twi hon?"r«^!T WW l"^*^.^* ^^°°^^ y^"" cannot do I ri f^i .'^^- .^^^* *^^" i« the obvious remedy ? Is 1 not the union of our joint credit, skill, and reSes lor the accomplishment of a common purpose, whicHS none of us ,ior all of us, can hope to effect ? ^ ^ fecond. Ihere is the commercial argument. Why should we, colonies of the same stock, provinces of the same em pire, dominions under the same flag, be cutting eachX?; throats with razors called tariffs? Here, for example is my overcoat of Canada tweed, which, import dinrNew Brunswick, IS charged 15 per cent., and in Nova ScoS 10 per cent.~New Brunswick beiig 5 per cent worse han you are. Now, the British Isfands'^a;d all uS states and kingdoms have long found it absolutely neces sary to have within themselves the freest poss'KcW; of commodities. Why should not we here ? WhTshould we not have un axed admission to your 800,000 market and you to our three million market? I confess I can see no good reason to the contrary. At the Quebec Con ference,^ over which I had the honour to preside we decided that intercolonial free-trade should folCtonL' on the making of the railway, and I look back with satis faction to having drafted that compact. • The Intercolonial raUway conference of September, 1802. 'ifrii ! I 'i!i 'i (Jk^i /X^ l: ( »1( ' ! H llli'f I 'M 62 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Third. There is the immigration argument. I was much struck, speaking on this point, with a note to an article in I thmk, "MaccuUoch's Commercial Dictionary/' in which immigrants bound for these Lower Provinces were warned not to take shipping to Canada, because it was as hard to get here from Quebec to these lower ports, as fro-Ji Liver- pool! Practically, every one knows that an emigrant ship s cargo is a mixed cargo. Say there are 400 persons aboard one of those ships arriving at New York, 100 will disperse towards the manufacturing districts of New Encr- land, another 100 to the mineral districts of Pennsylvania while the other half will be divided between the landing' place and the agricultural West. The wide market makis the tuU ship. The diversities of occupation swell up the aggregate of new labourers, and if we were united the in- evitable result would be that each of us would secure a muca larger share as parts of one great State, than either or all ot us can command as separated and obscure pro- vinces. In the past what has been the fact ? We gamed but one milhon of British emigrants in all our provinces from 1815 to 18^0 while the United States gained t'lTee millions. Three of our natural born fellow-subiects passed us by for one that remained. They helped to swell the ranks and increase the riches of the liepublic in a threefold ratio to ours, and they raised it in half a century to so hi-h a pitch of prosperity, that prosperity-mad, it spurned the immigrant, and madly menaced those ancient islands from which it drew its first being as well as the whole outline of its civilisation. Fourth. There is what I shall call the patriotic arffu- ment— the argument to be drawn from the absolute necessity of cultivating a high-hearted patriotism amongst us provinciahsts. I speak without offence—with an eve to my own part of the country as well as any other— when 1 ask, why are our ordinary politics so personal; why are our great men sometimes found so small? Because we are sectional and provincial in spirit as well as in fact • we are not simply shut up in our several corners, but we sub- divide those corners into pettiest domains. With us in "S^ii-/ ADDRESSES ON VABlo„s PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 63 Canada, there is a Toronto mrl, •„ m, Quebec party. It wassaid „^„M OUawa party, or a party, Antony had hrnartv hi *.f' ^O^'"""^ W his non4''-and Wee tLTcL and fell^Tp™""^^'''' h'" capable in these lands ofbt inspire] "^^"""l- ^' ^^ a saving patriotism ? Are we eanahK h- '™*™»'* of a common passion for a comm .^cate , c7 M"t'' ''"<' of being made so in advance „fl.„T •,. Capable, I mean, the sacred fire from war™ W or gn dL"!;"'' "'«'" P'^'»' contest. I don't ask vo, Lw ^ ^ fr "" '" " common on the Gulf or tie BaySra/T, """^^ ^^1 ^own here. besieged-thatQneSh d fa£' '^^^ ''^"'' Quebec was' ever that you would (S^ „!" , ". "" ''oubt what- we would equally f^/'onXTT""''""'^ 't^' " «>=" that Hahfa^al been attack dtaflrt"o?M?-^ '""'' that a hostile force had crossed fh/st T I'S"^' °' might be too late then to remedv ft .1 '^?'!"-, ^"* *' would certainly be too h, J f^^ . ^"'^ °^ isolation_it them. Is it not the part of LT /"""^ "^ ">« ™™'' of have time-now wKeacttTr'''" '"'^' '^''"^ *^ Jet «s-is not this throppo u^f/'rrS'^"''^ ■' "»' yet -Pon together, if war comes to conZllM T 1"^ ''"'"^ or M ourselves by each other and ,1 T M*' ""^^ """''uct may stand, and «'? " tt?F' f "5'""^' ^^ "'^' ''^ not distrust us? "'''' ^"S'^'' •»"? trust, and next lie ffhbours I am w ^,^^"!^/^o°i *he state of our lay my hVd on^my'lCrttlt ar*: tirriTll^r""" I have uttered one word' since Vl,; J ° ""' ''^'"'o unhappy civil wa.-f., "rritate n, itl,-« ""'"^r"' "^ "'« agains^us. I depreca™^ l\ 1^".'''""'"^" ''^^""^ that war, in which we were commTnded tn K °" •""' '" neutrality, in spirit and vV]^H^ at '".observe a strict man who values the bkifnlf*^ I ""^'-^ '"P'o'e every wantonly to agUtet^li^LftdST'T'tr' ' w.h to conciHafe norZn pr^ac^l^ Z ^^ t^I ■ C^/l / ■ 64 BPJTISH-AMEKICAN UNION. m. I say it as a lover of peace and a hater of causeless war- fare; but if war must come upon us here, in these long peaceful regions, I have no doubt, for my part, that all our people, of every race and creed and class, will be found serried like iron in defence of our own freedom and the imperial connection which ensures it to us. I dare not pretend to predict the end of the present contest; but however otherwise it may end, there must long continue a powerful military element, active and unexhausted. If the South be subdued, armies will be needed to hold it down; if the combatants separate, each will arm his frontiers and replenish his arsenals. It seems to me a question mainly, in tliis light, whether we shall have two military independencies or one between us and Mexico? If two, then it would be but natural that they should turn back to back— as to their aggressive movements^the South marching south, the North marching north. You remember Pope's lines — " Where is the North ? In York 'tis on the Tweed ! In Scotland 'tis the Orcades ; and there— 'Tis Greenland, Zembla, or the Lord knows where ! " "Where would be the limit of the North then? I put the question through you and t^.rough the press of Halifax to all British America. Where would be the limit of the North, in that contingency ? I leave the answer to each for himself, while I, for my part, answer, that if these Provinces are united in good time, for mutual support counsel, and protection, I do not fear that they would be able to hold their own against all comers. So much for the obvious arguments in favour of Colonial union; the argument from Association : the argument from Commercial advantages : the Immigration argument ; the Patriotic argument proper; and the argument drawn from the proximity of danger, from the circumstances existing in the neighbouring States. Here, I quit the general subject, aud now beg to come directly to the topic most immediate —the necessity-- the absolute necessity ou all these grounds — of an intercolonial railroad. c^^ •^ ' -U>I.BESSES OK VABIOCS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 6i this subject. ButlLstU.H.'r"^""''' negotiations on « one iog„i3ant of Tthtt ^ l^Ek "C °""'T»' he last negotiation, that the LputoUon „7^ ^"^/V »' freely made here and in TTnli ? . " '"'d faith so delegates who went ov« fai °t "?""'' ^o Ca»»dian undeserved accusation. I do not dL." ." f '»'"<"«" and totious; I think I maV sav I ^m i^T!'? -^ ?' «" '^"Pl- for with some of the LTZt!^ impartial m the mattej- that negotiation, on r^:^ Canarf ' ? ' ^^ '"' but whether with them or aL°n,t ft! '/ ?° ™g" »«'• them and for Canada thT Statiln^/ Ld"/' { "^T '"' teU you candidly how the «,;..,;■ ■ " '^'"'l- I * U leading public in of dl nSr "."'"^ " Canada, most desirable, if the UabiL m P K Pf'-.f /dmit that it is wrk, so long proWted sCd u^ ''""t'^i *^ this great no parliameutaiV party, there! t ?,"^F"™- There i, would say, or die^ay^lI.-To IZ.^^'^"^ '^^^'' "«" any terms." At the same tir^if"" eonnexion— o.. influence-many in E^Sm anH """"Hitioal men of Canada, many iso of the "nstoLT' """" '" ^«'"n to the project' at aU-Jert "n^not t 1 ^ ■">' ^"^"""We work; they were so scorcheKrthe P^f/^'"'?""™* say, that they dread the 6iei^«Z ,u •?'^ ^'"^ they respects the popdar pre.^dil ' other railroad. In ,omi not unfounded,? bu TofS f "'' k""' "I^"'" "^"S »'« only basis is a'melanSoFy want ofTnf ""? '° ^"^ '''«> extent, resources, and caDaSlf ?'°™''"on. as to the America. The prej^dice^realt ill,"™ ^^ "^ ^"tish against New BrVswiS: ^Nova tt- '''' "^P^"'^' " rather than against the road Pi "''"''' ^ eouutries, want with a rfuway down thte W ''^'- " Y'^"' <'" »« We have no trade! we „, hke?v^ "T •^°"- *''"«• with them. The Cd is a wSe ''^L tl '""' f"' '"^' render the road impassable." &'? " " "'"**' "onW assumption; but has not every 12 t ™'"'''' ^^o^^ encounter just such assumnZ^?^ w ™P™>'emeiit to Procity Trity carried TS n '^^ ,.^'" ""t the Keci- ; cornea against prejudices as Dervsr«._™, B ' 'J ! « f , ,M ut^/A- %'^ BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Hi ■ : !|i'' contrary to the facts P Was not the Union of the Canadas themselves a conquest over far worse prejudices ? And it is because this want of knowledge can only be combated by intelligence, that I am a volunteer in the needful work of making the different provinces acquainted with each other. It is not harder to pull a prejudice than to pull a tooth — and the unsounder it is, the more necessary to have it out. I invoke intelligence on our side. To combat against such lamentable misconception everything helps, from a weather almanac up to a Scriptural quotation, and even if the railroad should not soon go on, the labours of intelligence will not be altogether lost. In one sentence, ladies and gentlemen, I do not hesitate for my part to say, that if it can be shown to the satisfaction of the people of Canada that the country through which the road would pass, is naturally rich for three-fourths of the way in soil and in minerals ; if it can be shown (as is the fact) that, thanks to your warm-hearted neighbour, the Gulf Stream, your winters are far milder than ours, either in Lower or Central Canada ; if it can be shown that the liability could be limited to three, or even three and a half millions ster- ling ; if it can be shown that private capitalists able and willing for the work might be found to undertake it ; then, ladies and gentlemen, on all these showings, which I myself believe to be perfectly possible, I have no hesitation in saying that the people of Canada, for their own sakes, and for the sake of British connection, would sustain their government in entering at once on this great work, and thus rendering practicable the so desirable Union of all the Colonies. Here, perhaps, I best may pause. A very few words, and I am done. This great project of Union was, as you know, endorsed by Lord Durham, the Imperial High Com- missioner to these Provinces, in 1838. Of late years it had been sustained through all vicissitudes, on this side of the Atlantic, mainly by the advocacy of the many able public men Nova Scotia has given to political life. Some — the chief among them (turning to Messrs. Johnson, Howe, Tupper, Henry, &c.), I havt -ie satisfaction of seeing here, CZ^A '{ / \ ADBEESSES 0» y^oUS PUBLIC OCOAS^a 67 for the subject, but from^^Z *"?{, ""' .""'^ <»" "' "^^e ject wholl/without Eon to Lrf ™',*° f"»' '""e sub- In the prience of the ^.t .,?k,"^; " '~»' "iistii.ctions. the line, of party ar^'S ^fe^^ TT'^ "' to contemplate it in the lislit nf . , ."Pi"'"' I endeavour ble, and /hope to U^ to belt tn' ^^>^^' P"'''" American Nationality. For I r.w ^'^ ?""""'' B""'»>'. question I asked at fost X ZT "!, T '^' <>f 'he a Nationality ? Territo;T „ J u''^ '° """»'"«'' '"ch and reiigioui freedom-S^sTraSj-/ T """• ^''' ""^ lions we already are-fonr^.r ^l y*- ^o" mil- that for a thouind yews ha™ m'Ik""""' ^'" "«' "»^' When the sceptre of cWst^ i fr'".'"" °^ Christendom, enervate grasjof the GrS^of Letf"'%*''^"!'''«' '^ 'he western tribes of X-^^ tr}f^V ^"^^''^'^"^^ ^^'^ kindly, snatched atTh"ffin^oiv.''i'', "'*?»'<'•'»' ^ut at the head of humanT^^^^ ^ ' *°i ^^ themselves fire-tried kingdom-fouS' of^l? "" 'H'?^''" "^ «•»»« western Europe. AnS^n.^r ocean-discoverers of have more SMonsTWllf3 f^gre^'^ population : we English reahn; we We t!^V f 1t^ ^ ^"""^'^ the he put his heel Z tt nS rf m-,. '""* ?™" ^'^ ''hen mans than William M wien h. „ ' 7?, ^/'e more Nor- host along the strand of r^l^:""'^^!!' T'^? St. Edward and St. Louis • M7e laws of Code; we speak the Ses oT^hi """ "'"' ""^ »<»nan we copy the constitXawh^i &'''!,''"«'' ^"^"'t- Sidney and Sir Thomas 111^^^/''^ ®''™'^ ™d save. Out of these a,. 111 hand, we aid our E„S *''"'<'"*y. ^ that, hand theacconipMrnenTof'Sr^i,"^'""'' ''""'^^ '» 12 'I'l INTERCOLONTAL BFt.atJONS AND THE INTERCOLONIAX RAILWAY, At AsDBBSfl AT Mbohahios* Inshtotb, St. JoH», N.B., AuausT, 1888. Me. McGbe said : — Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentle- men, — The postponement of the present address from Friday evening last till to-night, which I hope has not caused the Committee or the citizens of St. John any in- convenience, arose from my strong desire to see a part of Nova Scotia, of which the traveUer, hurried by rail from Windsor to Halifax, has no conception, — I allude to the beautiful valley between Windsor and Annapolis. For two entire days we traversed that beautiful valley — looking out on those fertile marshes, celebrated in the hexameters of Longfellow, breathing the perfume of meadows, of corn- fields, and of orchards. In no part of North America have I seen a lovelier, or apparently a more prosperous, country. I do not wonder that our countrymen of Nova Scotia should be proud of what they called the Garden of their Province, or that they should — for they are a most hospitable people — desire to give strangers such a treat, as a journey through that 80 or 90 miles of their " happy valley." While referring to Nova Scotia, I may be permitted, perhaps, to say, that I think the good cause of Colonial Union received a powerful impetus the other night at Halifax. When I left here a fortnight ago, I had no intention whatever of speaking on that subject during my visit to Nova Scotia ; but I sincerely rejoice now tiiat the delivery of the address, or lecture, which my friends requested for a local charity, was the occasion of an expression of public opinion by the first men and first ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS 69 tion of our friend Captain Millet's Voluntera Comn' ,v endeavouring to mppf .« +1- . institutions. In avuuriiig CO meet, m this respect, the wisHph nf fi^a defltttct":\tff^r'™ this subject of Colonial po.iticafatTrn.Le^/e^^tlte'l'Sd? reserve ite discussion for the Dres™? ^^f • *" "ocasion. when, speaking or he'^J-olunteeTf sPtT"'? ii Mi 31 ^H /jff J ^^^^H f f .»- H^' ^, i Bn' j^H^lfl ff D ill Is Plr Inn «f y # ''IK 1 1 II ii) TO BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. thfTfi— theoretically at least — admit that the Imperial connection, as now existing, is well worth fighting for; all parties admit that the extent of our ability is the measure of our responsibility ; but no one with us, endorses the doctrine of the new school of Colonial reformers in England, that our measure of local "self-government" necessarily includes self-defence. We hold to the old doctrine, that peace and war are the dread prerogatives that attach to sovereignty only; that to provide means and measures of defence attach as responsibilities to these prerogatives; that not being sovereign powers we can neither make war nor cause war to cease ; and, therefore, that our contribution towards the defences of these Pro- vinces must needs be secondary, as our powers and respon- sibilities are secondary, to those of the Empire at large. But while we hold these maxims, all of us, absolutely, we cheerfully acknowledge that the sacrifices made by the Imperial Government in maintaining the West India fleet -—as much for our protection as that of the West Indies — in maintaining the great fortresses from Hahfax to Kings- ton — in dispatching her Guards, as she did in December, 1861, to guard our frontier — we cheerfully and gratefully admit, that tliese sacrifices on the part of the Sovereign State, demand sacrifices in turn from us, and that, cost what it may, we must, in Canada, for some time to come, maintain a large and efi'ective Militia. The late Govern- ment, of which I was a member, armed and equipped in a few months 25,000 men, and enrolled about 10,000 other volunteers, for whose equipment Parliament had made no provision. It is not, perhaps, too much to say, that Canada can and will raise, as a precautionary force/ 50,000 active service men; and in case of necessity, I have no doubt we could double the number in a reasonable time. Perhaps you will allow me to remark here, on the recent views promulgated in England, by Mr. Goldwin Smith, Mr. Adderley, M.P., and others, as to the military relations sustained by the thirteen colonies who became the United States, relations contrasted by those gentlemen with the similar relations sustained by us, much to our disparage- Wi AMBESSE3 ON VA8.0U8 PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 71 lisLed at Loudon durTnt th! """""'''« *^'- Ho»e, pub- dealt with the immeda£ ^^Jl'T iri-^"^ Mr.^^e of the question ar«ttd [v Mr a7, "l' '""^T"' "'P""" Those gentlemen contrast inril^i"''^ ""^ *''■ ^•"'^^■ they call the " self ™lia„eV" If ^ ^ *" f^'.'"'' •"' "''at this matter of defend No^whatTl'""* '^It'^' "' reiat on to this militnr^ „ . ^'- ">* ""'l '"cts in »ith Great 81™^,!^^"'" "' t^"'" ^''■Colonies deny that there is e. tan ! ^ '»«' "^-'My ? I utterly denf, to show thaUho t ",^3 ™eSe r'"'''''''' "' P^^ themselves princinals ,■«*!.„; jT™''* ^^^^ "on^'dered Spain, or fSuT LlTt The N '"''"«'''"'' *'™''<=''' Iroquois they acted foffhl 1 ?'''™gan5ett8 or the was ImperialLwhen the f^lT "'' ""'* '''«" "'« q™"™! -whativer contWen w" >,™' * ^reat civilised power, paig„,_they ™a S thdr h„ ? ""'"'•"ted to the cam- the Imperial TrmurvTi" P."^ "'"' g»' '' «>" of "Queeu Anne W^-„ Kit p'^ H™« «'»? e-ploM stateof their puW^opinfonf STl°r'?''Tr'' '•>» war"_k„own in Eurooe »?Jl,i « o ^'^""^ ^"^ I"*an genius of Chatham contoved to mlkeT ^"'" """-"'» in their own nuarr^l Knf . "" """e prom nent triumph for the Cl shin North T "^'" T "^ »?'«=■"« any ot'her ianguag^ tt^trrhteT "f when we contend that tl.o „ 7 ."' '" I'anada, alone comprehends the dl'^^r '".'?*" P^» " "« and means of defeaeeTh,.- ^- w"",« '«'^1™'« »«?' of New York an^New terl°V''"°y^'g<'«™»" the Lords of Trade i„ At ' f'»'-'^J ""d Clinton, to Governors Hutchinson Li nk*'" """espondence of submitted at he llLnv m ? "''■ *! P'» "^ ""io" Franklin; every docunS of fw" ™ ?^ "^*' ""^ ^'■ opinion, dace the auS J,"*"'?' P".™^' ^°^. i" "ny main defence relts o\ ?l e J.^oeri^'^.'^v""^ ''' *''^' ">« on the Colonial anthorit s PgovIo" stlev" "t{-7'^ were so convinced from "past elpS e"' £ttw\tk < '1 ' i 1^ i^J t ij'HliJIMi I ■a tmi 1 ■•|M MHM 72 BEITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ! I fl I I 111 and New England "would never agree on quotas" (towards Colonial defence), that they saw no hope of getting any thing done except by the direct intervention of the Crown, " by rcyal instructions." I refer to this entire despatch, and to many other papers on the same subject, published in the voluminous Colonial Records of New York, to show that we have not degenerated from the example of the elder Colonies in their best days ; to show that the charge is at loast not made out as completely as Mr, Adderley would have his English readers believe. I advocate the union of the Provinces on, among other founds, that of better providing for the common defence, am committing no indiscretion — because their report has been published by order of the Imperial Parliament and of the Canadian Assembly — when I allude to the fact that the late Koyal Defence Commission, in Canada, laid great stress on the completion of what they call "the Quebec and Halifax Eailway" as a military work. But we have even a better evidence of its importance — the evidence of fact. You all remember when, at the time of the Trent affair, the Persia and other transports were dispatched with troops for Canada in the month of December. They were to get a certain sum if they landed them here or at Halifax, and nearly double the sum if they landed them in the St. Lawrence. Well, the Persia made her way up to Eiviere du Loup, but she was obliged to run from that port, leaving some of her boats and men behind her, before half the soldiers were landed; the remainder I believe she brought round here. Tliis occurrence, which happened early in the winter, indicated precisely the military position of Canada for four or five months in the year, and with Canada, New Brunswick, at least, must stand or fall. Nova Scotia, guarded by fleets and fortresses, might be made a sort of cis-Atlantic Gibraltar or Malta, but your destiny and ours, gentlemen, is as inseparable as are tiio waters which pour into the Bay Chaleurs, rising, though they do, on the one hand on the Canadian, and on the other on the New Brunswick Highlands. Geographically, we are bound up beyond the power of e^^tricatiou ; your Northern coun- It-iC ADDRESSES ON VAEIOUS PrBUC OCCASIONS 73 ever associate New BranS ^^n f"^'^' ■""'* '<" in the advantages annrcLiE''"?^ '' ^''-P'"'''^" the Gulf WhSi ih„J "asMties of the commerce of i. fo/man to makr^'e ctm^'nt^,^"" " "^ ^"'"^ '' '' .nd supplying^ ,elt™el'"rf T"'' ™J'P!^">»«-'g expansion, and man invmf«/ti^ moaem iurope was ocean ship, and the art oT t„- .• '"^""c"' ' ^"'P''^'' *''« have become celebrated in .n^^ !?"•,. ^° ""'=°""' "''«' M by the foo tt;: of rZncf'it""f ^•=™^^' S'™" '^e are a generaS wXt It''*'- '""S""?. f" »«ity-if the n,a, Ls are :Lr/:7anVrarUdr "' "^"^^^ from th'e imrnse resuZaTi v^K™"' '^- 'r'^'' ^^ ciation, in our tim^V W i ^ ^^ ,*^ pnnciple of asso- prietv, refer a..art„' ft. ""^ P"''T' "'"'<»" '""P™- Ls Vh -r "i,:t:iS™and^ ^tletTn? rf" Promces, as comnarpd wifh fi ®f"7"^^r ^^ ^^^ese shouiri:i s:"^mt,sraJto r'"'"/''^ ^''"^'' «'""- little. It seems LI ?h 1 1 "'"'''• '" ^comparatively itself as Inf^l ^ • ' "'^' *''° ^''^ existence of the war agriculturists havefct^r?: rrtaM^r I' '( s , 74 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ■H? iii; i i«' > II sumption of the country is not seriously impeded, it is clear there must be an enhanced demand, just now, for a quarter of a million of men to supply their places. It is thus the wide field makes the full ship, and the port from which the redistribution of diverse industries takes place over the greatest extent of country, draws to itself the strong and perpetual stream of fructifying foreign labour. You have in the interior of New Brunswick — ^I speak on the autho- rity of the Agricultural Professor Johnston- -one of the finest unsettled tracts in North America, a tract through which I hope yet to travel by railroad— within sight of the houses of tens of thousands of the proprietors of tlie soil. But while the maritime Provinces are disunited from Canada, and Canada from them, we are comparatively unseen and unfelt in Europe— we present on the map our puny outlines in vain; give to the Provinces the aspect of Empire, and you will see how strangers will turn to them with such reverence as the Parsee does to the rising Sun. I am well aware, Mr. Chairman, that we cannot have Union, that we cannot even have a commercial league, without other means of intercourse than we now possess. There was some fanciful talk formerly among us in Canada, that the people of Maine might wish by-and-by to cast in their lot with us, and thus make Maine the bond of connection, east and west. This commanding position seems, however, clearly reserved for New Brunswick, which alone can unite Nova Scotia and Canada. Now what, you will ask, in your opinion, is the greatest obstacle to the establishment of such direct intercourse ? I answer un- hesitatingly, ignorance of each other's true resources and condition. It is not the distance; it is not the cost; it is not the disputes about routes or modes of construction ; it is Intercolonial ignorance wliich, primarily, stands in the way of the Intercolonial Eailway. Por example, very intelligent people with us, especially in Western Canada, will insist that the winter down here is so severe that the road, if made, would be blocked up all the winter with ice and snow. In vain we show that your 100 miles of rail- road, and Nova Scotia's 60, have not been stopped by such ADDRESSES ON V^OUS PtTBUC OCCASIONS. 75 Canada is colder Sn & Ca.mlr'', "'^r^°"«' Provinces are colder thTwrCan^d^^ ^^"""^ the exact facts on llii, m,,„i. . ™™- Now, what are climate? (I select th" Ct Zmt^'^^, ^''^'^^ "' for the «*„;«» 7«6v"fn' ,s^„ the tables prepared North America.) £ mean liii\ '"'"'='' ""''"'J^'l <>" and the Nova Scotia cL?tl ? I '^"P"'""^ "l tUs points-Windrtd Sou "an* 'H'''^''''' """^ ''"'«^' former, to 42-09 at thf latt^^hf I "f "•'''^ "' ^^^ degrees higher thl o„ k j l™^* ?<""* bein? 2 aelrees hifht ttn ^Vti "Itf 't1^ average being nearly 3 degrees hSr .1 '■.*"'' *''« annual temperature of MonS or tronto n f T" vam to show them this ,.,.,1 *„ • t . 5' " " ^ >n Eton's report. In S "Al"- P?!"'. '» ^''^fe'^O'- John- Wlika dear ffcbl^^rt rt^' TBlSf' ^"^ Blackwoou harinfS^d t^*l'«r''^"™ *"■'»>' *l>at he must be to th! e^ of tZ „i, *^"''"™' » Moravian having made npthS7mindsthat''^N ''"«'''''" ^»'«'*™' wilderness, declLd tLf. -ij ^^l' Brnnswict is a useless to'tell £ TtCe 1 fern "Th '^ •,^' '^ heheve m the Gulf Stream t • *"*?"• "% mil not soon be able toWck tirnrnnT""''^ 5°?' **"** "« "'i" form of ancient preMice LTthT ""''n ,""" *°"™g of the insuperable obstacl^' „f v •? "I '''" ""> '^°'^ are frighten^ed becauselfe oCd S'„? ''''""'^ °"'^'' on cur Province, and arsue S .(,„ f , T T"* " 'I™'' just such another. ^ ^ Intercolonial would be reionlt'obSrX't t'T .T '"r"' ""-J -» controlled 6^1^01111] n"?'"^ ''""S directed or being, in thLe VoriS. T 11? tffth '" "^^ ^'"^ £st;rsetfd"g "'^' ^pet^arr c^w xadarti?e"^:x:StttsS.!^ >j (ps , ' s r'ii a r;i LI' • f 76 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ' ti 1 I III with proximate certainty, before the Legislature of the several Provinces should be called upon to give effect to the project. On all these grounds there is fair room for discussion and argument ; but how any man who looks beyond the hour, can deny the vital necessity for a road, on some con- ditions, is really what I cannot conceive. No party — ^no Government in Canada — could take that extreme ground, and live ; no man pretending to the character of a states- man would venture on such ground. A resolution opposing the project absolutely was once proposed in the Canadian Parliament, and only seven persons, besides the mover, voted for it in a house of over a hundred. And such, I am certain, would be the fate of any similar vote moved now after a general election. In fact, a feeling of un- easiness pervades the thinking portion of the Canadian people. They feel that a more intimate connection with England is necessary, and that if this is to be effected we must ourselves draw nearer to the mother country. I deny that there was any want of faith on the part of the Canadian Government in the late negotiations in London on this subject. We may have thought the Imperial Government were driving a hard bargain with us, and that they ought to regard this road as a work of military defence ; but no one who knows the gentlemen who went as Delegates from Canada could believe them capable of acting in bad faith. V/ith one of those gentlemen I am not acting politically, but whether acting with him or against him, I feel it my duty to bear witnese to his integrity and his high sense of honour. Notwithstanding all the difficulties that lie in the way, however, I do not despair of seeing this great work go on, with your and Nova Scotia's co-operation. Although I have usually put forward defensive and com- mercial reasons for the road, I confess to you frankly, that I place as high, or even higher than either, reasons more purely political. I am, from conviction and observation, in favour of giving the constitutional monarchy a fair trial in British America. In the language of the Hon. Premier of Nova Scotia the other night, I am desirous to see that iorm of free government working side by side with the ADDBESSES OK VARIOCS PUBUO OCCASIONS, 77 some republics upoTdeltTpriroiole 'T T'ff' ""'^ salutary efficacy of wjffi"aff "tL ""'"'"^^ "'" publicanism" of the Brit fh .? j suppressed re- periods and oirclstLces t ^SS'o:"^ ""^ anxious years of con^Metu™ {' f^"^^^^^ 5 "™' ^fto"""? governn^entpreservativl^JSotaTdrnTer^^^^^^^^^^ [Here the reporter resorts to the "third person."] Tlie lecturer dwelt at great length on this subV,.t H„ i.. j abandon^' theories w£kh t harM"''%?^''''^""°- '» principles which het siptd to b'et ° tT"?' ^^ authority were Bari;s „f tf. .l'" '' ■'"''erty and authorit^rariibCcould not eS" Ifaf r""""' She has made?he UpperShtAfT' '^' '! ^"""^S- renresenti.,» ti^^^J^ l^^lamber elective— and as a body .^.' :i ;i ,• f'^ _, ...^ *v,«,x,;c4iu ui Honour, monarch is, and always must be, great. The extifiripHPo c\f 78 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. i/f. !!l • all ages has shown that in times of peril authority is essen- tial to the welfare or even to the existence of the State, and that if the head of the Government had his authority unduly impaired in times of peace, he must when danger threatens, burst all these shackles, and, it may be, in the spirit of the highest patriotism assume a degree of power necessary for the protection of ths rights and liberties of the people as well as of his own inheritance. The powers now assumed 7 u -^'^^^^^^^ °^ *^6 neighbouring republic in suspending the Habeas Corpus, and ordering the arrest of persons and the suppression of newspapers, often by telegraph, showed that this was true In this, history is but repeating itself. Ihe Koman Kepublio two thousand years ago, when danger threatened, sensible that its electoral system was not ad?ipted to emergencies, substituted the Consul by a Dictator. ^ ^ It had been his fortune, hs said, to live t^vice under a republic, and twice under a Monarchy, and therefore, besides what he read on the subject, he had an introspective view of the working of the two svsteras. Prom his own observation, he was satisfied that the United States was not the place where a person with European notions and ideas could desire to bring up his family. Their respect for religion, for authority, for law, for old age— all that consti- tutes the strongest and most enduring bonds of society- ail that thinking men value most, is fast disappearing. Where the most awful and most holy names are used so constantly and so profanely, in the most odious asseverations and the most fearful blasphemy, it was but natural to ex- pect that some great calamity must come for the purgation of people prosperity-mad. But the calamity he anticipated was social, not political. He never^ did anticipate that the institutions of the country would prove a total failure. In one way or other the monarchies of Europe had carried on the great work of government for a thousand years. The unity of the States, framed by great and wise men, has not outlived three generations. He would not say that the Americans had not made some important discoveries in politics, as well as in machinery, and excellent adaptations ' W 1! AI^DBESSES O^ VABIOUS PUBLIC OCCASION3 79 asked the audience toV/e^ t^^enS tt' "?' «^ ment the existence of authority iT Th? a!^ .•^?'^ ^«^^"^- out of the people of th^e jSov * ? ^*^'"*!' ^^' ^^^^^d udices, as wdl those that nl! ""'^^ °^^ ^°^^<1 Pre- that are the reverserye w thou^^^^^^^ '"^ -^t*^^^ ^« *ho«e what is there to g^vrstSv .1 f r°'^^^' ^^ ^^*h°"ty. secure the liberties orthetolp w^ ^^'"^ent or to rich dews and rains of hSnLl ^^'f.* ""^'"^^ ^^ ^^^^ the there be no ci, terns to catch In/ ^^^^^^ridy desert, if sustentation of aniLli ^ndl'^ter wlZ''''' ^ *^« result of the present strugdron the p^^"*^^^' ^e the Mississippi, this much waa evident T .^^^^^^^^^ ^nd the to have a pacific Republic as m,r f ■' ll^ ""^ ^'^ °° ^^^ger border wilf hencefor^be a "rert 1^^-^^^ ^^^^^^ our must hasten to decide whethfr 1 "^'^'^P^^^^' «"d we crude republics, which ^^Ife^m^r. '" ^' ''^''^'^ ^« have passed ovr^r us, shall fall inZ T ^^^""'^ summers great republic, or as desLdtol ' °P'" "^«^' ^^ t^e stitutional monarchy The eo^^^^^^^ con- cannot continue very lent to be wt^f''^ ^^''' ^'^^^^^^^ nection with the E^ire^iriittl ^ .^^ ''' ^^^e con- which we pay to the Soverd Jn n '' ^^^ *^^ ^"^g^'^nce words, and yet enta^s on ^?« '^""''^^^^ ^"d warmly in prove too ^ eighty T^TarTnTr^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^ly tional monarch! framed after fU t'*'^ "^^^'^ ^ ^o^stitu- ment with whicl' we htf bLn?^^^^^^^^^ °^ *hat Govern- cannot have much that has 'e t^fr'T''^' ^^' i;nglish nation. We cannot have a L^ ^^'' ^^^^^"^ i^eudal laws; but we may have \,^hT'^"^""^<^ «' revenue for aU the things neLlr^ to if7^^' '}^^'^^y^ ^ ample measure of freedom Trh' ^.^^^^y^ ^^^ the most empire comes from the North Sh ll '? '^'^ °^ ^^^ that ^potism of Asia, the sVa^^-of tli": T' '"^ ^°" ^^- l-urope, create out of these disclTp!.*^ ^^ P?"P^"«"i of f re now unknown to Spe nntn "* ?'°'^"^«« ^hich tnownone to the otherS W !" /? ^"^^"^^' ««- -the, and aiding one ^^ "^^^^^ one - — !juxjn. Ulld ■I ' ail 80 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. look to London, to Paris, or to Washington, a great con- stitutional monarchy, with strength and authority in the government, justice and truth in its councils, and hberty everywhere — a country to be admired and respected by aU nations ? Henceforth a balance of power — a principle in- troduced in Europe as a substitute for the temporal supre- macy of the Popes — would be necessary to prevent the aggrandizement of the strong and the oppression of the weak. Even Mexico, M'ith its people whose blood was one- eighth Spanish and seven-eighths that of the savage native tribes, was endeavouring to prepare for this future; and would not these Provinces become, as they easily might, a power able to maintain its own independence ? The time, he said, was suited for such a change. In the time of the Eegency, when the greatest talents were properly employed in exposing to ridicule and contempt the degrading vices of the Sovereign, it would have been difficult ; but the virtues, public and private, of the Queen have shed a new lustre on the authority she wields, as the virtues, public and private, and even the domestic afflictions, of Maria Theresa won back the affection and loyalty of the Hungarians for the House of Hapsburg. The lecturer [says the reporter] concluded as follows : — This being my general view of my own duty — my sincere, slow-formed conviction of what a British-American policy should be — I look forward to the time when these Provinces, once united, and increasing at an accelerated ratio, may become a Principality, worthy of the acceptance of one of the sons of that Sovereign whose reign inaugurated the firm foundation of our Colonial liberties. If I am right, the railroad will give us Union, Union will give us nationality, and nationality a Prince of the blood of our ancient kings. These speculations on the future may be thought prema- ture and fanciful — but what is premature in America? Propose a project which has life in it, and while still you speculate it grows. If that way towards greatness, which I have ventured to point out to our scattered communities, be practicable, I have no fear that it will not be taken even in my time. If it be not practicable — well then, at least, ihi ABDBESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONa 8l I shall have tin's consolation tliaf T h.„ ■ ■. , . gence of these Province^ o nV »!. '.""""'' "'« "te'li- personal warfare, to the eoS.r^r P*j"»»'"'o>'tests and Uf. ana ^o^i^^S^^^^^fO^^ liere, ,n the lower ProvincerT.»^l f. '• ^ ^""^ ^^^ except a very occasion^ p^U I L ^^. ^^^1^'' »"« in St. there'i, no party ^cltdaonnosfd'/^^N"^ '" ^^^'-' t^a which is to ^ve us ™™n stSh A^" ^'^'^ ^''^'P"^ firm conviction I retZ ti mT& ''™?'^- ^" ««" humble part-and all theT.H ' '^'^P^'^^ ^ take my this visit'aiong-s"h«r:Iii l^rTnc'/X -d, ' ''T' ''°^ 1 need not appeal to vonr ZhU^^ j *' ^reat measure. sister Provinces; lamsure Ltth.v 1?^'""?°™'=^ ■'■' *he who are publicists, h^r^h w^l"'^'!'"*°Tf'''-*"know, and a. fair constr Jctiol of :'i;:S '" fdo ° V"'; P'"^ to prejudge the Dresent r«„„I- '"77^?-. i do not attempt be mtch%„r;St Xw ^f""r"'f ™' ""^ 1"^! among them do not dpo^„ f 5^ 7 ''""'* »'■ fall, many and authority At ,11 evenl *? ^^aunch friends of union men of British AmerL" al^S ^'"' T. ^^"'^ "'» P^^o either to drift ^thX tL nf ^''"""* •"" '"» """^es- goMea moment and fix fo eve/thr"°™^'.''V° "^'o 'he our institutions. We have "It """"r'™"' •'''a'aoto of «ve government or demo7racv iT? ^^'^If-'^P'^^'a, ^«' .". part, I choose Z^^.ttl it^ ^if ^l! !i^ Ff iff 82 BRmSfl'AMERICAN UNION'. colonist who agrees with me to unite our efforts, that we may give our Provinces the aspect of Empire, in order to exercise influence abroad and at home, to create a state and to originate a History, " which the world will not willingly iet 016. m lij;!.|8 /! ! WW I I I I I f M I III' ! I II if THE FUTURE OF CANADA Me. MoGm said •— T nm » and gentlemen, of "The Fut, r/Sn /"," '"-"'e'"' l»die» on which I have alr"dv snotll ™'4,- " " ^ ^"bj^t and cities, and I truTtTt ly „o/h?"'?.*'y '! ''«'« '"^n, judging by the array before me ft ,-^„ /""?.;:' '" "'""«»'- -for Toronto. Before howeveVV* ?' "'""'"'' "» '""orest of the subject, let me take Tou all T^r ^^^ ^''™«ion confidence I may say C A ?'t °i"' P'^^^'^"' '"'o my diffioait to discurLTubfect ' fv ^ T '' <'^«dingl^ the topics of thedayfrthou'r.^'" **'"»«»»'l "ilea o^ "ary speculations. Ourpolckl '?&•'''. ""''' "'~«'''- lent qualities, but they anXfr'" """^ '"^''J' ««ol- of motiyes of conduct I^ if w '~ Pu",™" '° ""o matter n- the words "Canada," 'Vm^^^'V' "''""'P''' 'o 'Constitution,-' without^ubifcSeselftrr"™''"."' of wrappmg up a partisan speech in f^„- •''' ™sP'oion "lar lecture ? I rememberdl Li,™ ^'^mse of a pop. delivered a purely ScHc T.1/ ''?"' f<""^ y^"" "go, I "The Political SorS^f skY' "* '^ ''^'^ Pj4 on the critics of the day Xllv^''''"5> Hays," some of partisan manoeuvre • but T fn If fi ""/ ''',«««tation a clever "hen it wiU be adLttedtha^ft It '&'*"' '^"'^y ™'»«. tician, to choose a great suhtft /'""'•, "^» ''<>'• » Pol.- dfecuss it on its mS Slf general interest, and to attempting to steal a iT, 1„ """Promising himself by It has been object d to my treatS^r.,"' W^ audience^ ■t .s theorelicaf; that it p2 mel 2 ^ • '" '"'"^<"' t^*' own myself wholly unsuLt SVlfcKf To^i^^^I i4nit ii ' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I 1.25 us 30 tii Ki ^ S ^ I M m Ml 12.2 lAO 2.0 m 14 111.6 m ^ /a %\^> M % ^*fe Photographic Sciencss Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ f^ > II .jl 84 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. mingle in the discussion injurious criticisms on our Repub- lican neighbours. To these objections, I answer, that though theoretical to-day, our future will be practical to- morrow ; that I do not, and never did, place myself in the position of a preacher of loyalty ; that I preach rather secu- rity, I preach precaution, I preach self-preservation ; that if I criticise the American system of government, I equally criticise our own, and I trust no one will deny me that right of free discussion, which within proper bounds is one of the first— if not the very first — of the rights which constitute the common stock of our freedom. In glancing over the political map of Europe and America, the patent fact strikes every one, that in the old world the governments, with hardly an exception, are monarchical, while in the new world they are republican; Switzerland on the old conti- nent, and Brazil on the new, are alone exceptions to the rule.* From this prevalence of one invariable type on each side the Atlantic, one might be led to conclude that there was some natural fitness, in each case, of the constitution to the circumstances. I do not pretend to deny that it is natural for a larger liberty to flourish in these new regions j that the new-found forest gave way for freedom but not for privilege; but if we look closer, I think we will discern that there are as many varieties among the States calling themselves republican as there are among monarchies j that some monarchies, in all but name, might be considered republics, while some repuWics partake largely, if not of a monarchical, certainly of an oligarchical character. We must not allow ourselves to be misled by names alcne in this discussion, but if possible we must endeavour to force our way through that cactus-fence into the presence of the things themselves. The circumstances of the new world, North and South, were certainly favourable to the erection of republics. The monarchy did not emigrate ; the metro- polis, with all its attractions, remained in the parent State ; the aggrandisement of labour was the foundation of new communities ; the old Colonial relation was strained till it * Mexico has since been added to the American exceptions. ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 85 pendence. Such' i "tlf't'^WM iLTTth"e''"A '1 *" ceded us in the natho... „f 17 "fftes, which have pre- because I know o^,t S iLT"""^^^C, ^ ^»^« «» 'hem ejeut,, and^he;j ?„"§i,tt"; ^f"^ /'''T''"'^"'^"^ of the past, in a sincere s^WrifS"- ■ ^ ^ '" *''« <»''«1m seek for: if we consalt Ht,t„ ^ ''"'' .P?*'"'*'^ *'«'' we shaUfind therpotrous MdZI' '•""' °^ «""«« '^o if, m a siucre desire tokn"w andto h^-^ST. f?,?''' ''"'' we seek that source of noHt.Ii • a ° '^''* I*? '""e truth, away en,pty or ra;;ott"' luthen'"' "T "",""•? a man be cot«mDorarr t« » »r..r ™n— »« to events; if if the event sSs^th *^/ • I ""'* ''^ "o' «^ i'; will not heLTthe MtandTh?."^* "'""T''*' ''°'' ">» deaf and duu.b Zitov with tm1?ir,"'^^J "^^ « quences on after aees Tn a '"'".^''"f en'a'ls its conse- would seem tobe fe"disltr".t' '^* '^'^■"*' ^'«»t» African as a slave'' the r^«T^c ''J^L'^P^'^^^" «' tlie 1776; the fin'raCoSatt/st^Ts" ?h'f"« Looking bfk to H^to^ ,Ld out'of tl *«■' g^-^ftiona. »^^t?Scii^ss£,5?Stl"n^^^ 56 BRITISH-AMERIOAN tJNIOK. HI » f !For me, it has the fatal defect of instability and incon- stancy. It may be that, out of their present tribulation, the national character will consolidate and establish itself; but up to the present, whether in manners or in ideas, there has not been that fixity of character in the republic which — even supposing everything there to be for the best — would justify any observer in proposing it as a model to other communities. The colony-bred men who founded the republic, were men with English ideas of law and go- vernment. George Washington was quite as ceremonious in his official conduct as George III. He drove to open the first Congress with " buff and blue " liveries — postilions a.nd footmen ; and in his bearing towards ambassadors and private citizens, he preserved all the gravity and dignity of a sovereign. As to the judicial office, from the highest to the lowest — from the decisions of the supreme court to the pettiest jurisdictions — the Americans of to-day have de- parted much farther from the ideas of their grandfathers than we in Canada have, from the English of the age of Alfred. In the legislative department of government, new opinions, no less opposed to the old colonial wisdom, have prevailed. Makers and managers of elections, under the name of conventions, act for the people on the one hand md the candidate on the other; and after the election, the convention leaders naturally constitute themselves "the lobby,*' or third house (as it is called), at Washington and all the state capitals. Having made the legislators and the governors in conclave, it is natural they should look after them in office ; it is natural, but it is deplorable, that this vast organised, extra-constitutional body called "the lobby," should dictate its will to those whom it has called into ex- istence. In manners, which are the types of stability or of inconstancy, not less than in ideas, the internal revolution l^as proceeded, is proceeding, and probably must proceed much further, from the standard of the age of Washington. If the Puritan fathers were to revisit Boston to-day, and hear bits of Mozart music, pouring out of Gothic cliurches blazoned with stained glass, they could hardly imagine that tjie congregations boasted themselves the. children of the. •' I ADDRESSES OK 7ABI0US PUBLIC OOCASIOKa ST in » nation's mn^c LuaTI u »»g« .""I'n'^ined, a change am not attachtaK too mn^r^,' """T «" '" "^ ™»'»' I »»4 tion, of the abKfrM .T^n&'^eltrtre t can character. If. then T iJ °^®?".<^s ^^ the Amen- this d^ription, I'slf ^' tJoTwrre^^re'S/of r f "^ '' preaching up AmerinmU.^ Z. ' '^^V <>' openlj, are model you prow^T™, M " ?.^* ""' ''""' >" *'"'» ^e show us that XI ™ "i .'" »'""*'« ." « 'definite model ; otherwise youT^opCe TL l^ W " '**^'' ""'^ "^tain on the spray of thfiS,™^* ^haU grasp at the rainbow into Niagara tlTtfrtri*™""- "j* "'^'^ «' '""Wins British Stit«ti™,Tat llsT wjb":' ?/ " 'T ®'*'f' "•« enemies, the merit of stabiMr * v K"*^' *™' ''^ 't' existed for many LndMsXea™ T,'"'*' J!!"'^'^^' '"'=« is rather strange for m, K °J^ i, ' "^^ *" '"'1 *■•«» i' resisting that Ko~nt in wf' 7'''' ''^'" '"" ?<"'"' » amongst the aCeTof RritK "»*'"?«»»»%. *<> be found in Canada. oSTar^n,^*!— '"'"''""»' 8'"'en'menv day Mand htd £n gZted t'cL^ ^P'^=-'f » "7 «>eth'eSb^ythrB"?ih»" "?'' H » the school'to- origiMl upTn whLh mus^ r;"1'Tl '^'""" "" "-e g«" new free StaSJ^ iLTe rt\^'' f"»»t^*^>»f tutions of aU tised byXre BeoSr!. 5" ^"' '"^^^ »»^ prao^ i ii; y il V' 88 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. !' ' which we can trace for eight hundred, and which some antiquarians may even trace for a much longer period, will account for the permanence of any one set of institu- tions ? If you say that they have not in themselves tlie elements of permanency — if they have not the saving salt which preserves the formation of the Government of a free state from one generation to another — how do you account for their continued and prosperous existence — how do you account for it that of all the ancient institutions of Europe this alone remains; and remains not only with all its ancient outlines, but with great modern improvements, and even alterations, but alterations some of which might more properly be called restorations, and all of which have been made in harmony with the design of the first arcjiitectn ? Here is a form of government that has lasted withmodi- fications to suit the spirit of the age for a period of 800 years ; and here is another that has lasted 80 years, if it may not now be said to be re -revolutionised by the exigencies of the civil war. One has had a career of eight centuries, and the other of two-and-a-half generations. How is it that I account for the permanency of the institutions of the first ? Because, in the first place, their outline plan, what- ever abuse or injustice may have been the occasional result of the system, combined all that has ever been discovered in the science of government of material importance. The wisdom of the middle age and the modern, of the earliest political writers and these of a late day, have all laid down one maxim of government — that no unmixed form of govern- ment can satisfy the wants of a free and intelligent people; that unmixed democracy, for instance, must result in anar- chy or miUtary despotism ; but that that form of govern- ment which combines in itself an inviolable monarchy and popular representation, with the incitements and induce- ments of an aristocracy— ^a working aristocracy, an aristo- cracy that takes its share of shot in the day of battle, of tpil and labour, of care and anxiety in the time of peace : an aristocracy of talent opeii to the people, who by talent and desert make themselves worthy to enter it — is the %he9t result of political science, the highest effort of the ABBESSES 0» VAHioirs PCBUC OCCASIONS. 89 Oujlities. If watoQ:;^raurrin^";ib"!f5 '""^ «"» to free jroverniiient ih.t "" """'''«rty are necessary then "e%an appfy tte t?r.'' "rr^^^'the other- whether it be S to IZ ^u" •" *^ 'f'^'^. and see of the state is involab?e \T '^"*'" " *■"' ^'^ head any state that th™e shl Irf h "'"'P^^J',*"' the rtability of tribunal somewWa^d „„!,,.''%''?''•''?'"'''« authorit/or »K>ng.' It is necessary in a^v fi^ ™ '""« "*" * "» sliould be some pow«^yL?{/'f goyernment that there other power-beS whTch!„ ^"f."^ *••« »*«'' » ««ne euce not subjectrtLScl?^'' '*'''= ""' ""' "'' '■>«"- complaint of the priyaK^ "'"'"' "' '"«" '<> «ie just ftate. This i. tcS^Z' to p^"";* -f^^S 'S!-'-' '^^ lution, and to preyent Cl 'ik f '^"''"'. becoming reyo- general disorgSnTation H»^ *" ^°T'"S ">« ^""ee of inriolabUity tW 3" th? "•* P^"'^ ""^ P™ple of peerage, t/e foJtorftS£t»f rf'«' '" ""o^ same time that the ^21 Ik li *'"'* ''"''' "»« "* the stagnant well, an intoSe^nofr^""" "^"^ »'» " Thejr left the deyiceo The iS^^^^^^ one gable-they left it open toany „^?h ' '" V 'f^^' '^"' distmguish themselyes in war ^/ ° ?'"'"' *'"' ""ght •night be the childr™ of Z^ '"/ J'T'' »'""'"gh they ennobled who weZnablMn' ^"""^ ?"" l^^^ •««' enter and take thel let °nlt° T^ ' T P"™'"') <» there, who dated therde^ceTtblTf^^ '"'''J''* ?'»"<'<»' plane by which the peopfe miti "'""f " , ^'"' ^"""ed »as left open; and tSmnv?^ ™' "> '^«''«' Portion the peerag^ si oSd not TT"- T "'*'^« '" »der that •hicl. conld neyerbe addedT ""t/" '^"^'""^ «aste h/ the ineritable Lw „flto,^°i„r"'''^^^ fr""- except «» to the English pZle tS 1 ^>' " ^^'^'^- Then to their representaCf t th^cr ^""^ «l*"' ^''"^"^ » Beform Bill there hS Ln w?''"'"™ ' •"" ^'nce the tBi point, and a feelg tlr^ ^r'™' .''*''^'^*™ "» 8 taat aU classes haye theii' £ur: f! •(•I i lllil :||;rj :! f l< '^ m f 1^ il )■ 'i i ', ^ I III' 90 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. influence. This reform may be enlarged from time to time, in accordance with the spirit of the period ; but a good proof that at present it meets general approbation and gives satisfaction, is that the party has not ^et become by any means powerful that demands a more radical change.* Mr. Mc- Qee, having entered at some further length into a conside- ration of the elements that form the British system, went on to say that in forming the institutions of our country, we should compare this system with that which prevailed m tlie North American States, to ask ourselves which was the best. He observed that there was a strong democratic element in our society in Canada, but he felt satisfied from his own intercourse with the people that not three-tenths— he might say one-tenth, but he wished to give the widest possible limit — of them were what, by any stretch of the tjerm, could be called democrats. He did not believe that this proportion existed, even if all who were really demo- crats at heart, but for various motives denied the designa- tion, were to express their private convictions; and this included the whole, whether of French or other than Trench origin, Formerly the democratic spirit had been much more strongly exhibited in this country. We had made our Legislative Council elective, which in his opinion was much to be regretted. We had adopted to a certain extent the caucus and convention system of the United States, which even many Americans regarded as productive of so much evil, and which he thought had no advantage which should commend it to our approbation. We had also en- couraged and sustained a democratic tone in our public press, and in some very conspicuous examples the press had a direct tendenc^r to a low — almost the very lowest — tone of democratic opinion. He spoke of the public press as one who knew it well, and was proud of the rights it en- joyed. Fifteen of the best years of his life had been spent in almost every relation in which he could stand towards public journals. It was because it was desirable that the - • Here the reporter, for the sake of condensation, makes use of the (^ir4 person, and so continues to the end. . ) ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 91 . Kneel nf 11^^ deplored the exhibition occasional?? ffive out flf mi/i»,- u* i! "^. .'^®"\* -^t such a man might 3 minister ofP J ''t'''" no man, not even the or- fi«ence,Xt; tS'd oSU^ iSe n'' " •'"''"^V- mation of onininn/ fr*!, °',?™' '" *T P«"'ersion or for- Dress LT}^1 • '"^ ^'"'«'" "f a powerful public d^LS arts of H,. „ ^"ff^ •"" T''^"™ °f *'"' "orsl be a Sg:Sr^^^:":^Sl.bon„ng States; for there might He went on to sav £ „ J i • 'lf"'8°S'<' Politician. Sets te"-^ pi'KiM-;r- ^^^^ 92 BRITISH-AMERICAN TJNION. ■ f , ground every day, and that if the representatives of the people were true to themselves and to the people, it would be shown that there never was a community sounder at the core than ours, or one more ready to make sacrifices for the institu- tions which they prized. Returning to a consideration of the probable future of Canada, he said it was for the people of the country, with the precedent of England and the example of the American republic before them, to decide which should be the prevailing character of our government — British constitutional or American democratic. For his part he preferred the British constitutional government, not because it was called British, but because it was the best ; and he rejected the republican constitutional, not because it was called republican, but because it was not the best. He pointed out tnat we v/ere now witnessing a great epoch in the New World's history, and that the events daily transpi- ring around us should teach us not to rely too much upon our present position of secure independence, but rather to apprehend and be prepared for attempts against our liberties and against that system of government, which he was con- vinced was cherished by the great mass of the people of the Province. In conclusion, he said he left the subject with his audience. He had but sketched it in outline. He was embarrassed, not with the meagreness, but with the richness and fulness of tbs topic, and the amplitude of the material connected with it. He had already spoken in seven of the principal towns in Canada, and in the principal cities of the maritime Provinces, on the same text, and every time, of itself, it suggested something new. He only wished it had been presented in a measure better worthy of their attention: but at all events a subject more important and really de- serving of contemplation, however treated, could not have been offered than "the Future of Canada." i::^ BISHOPS COLLEGE, LENNOXVILLE C.E invitation of"tL Cht^Jlt rftlp'.S'''^'' *f '™«' yesterday I left QuebM T uj ? / 'College, and when Jeart, I Ld left the d^;ti™„? "^d """ *"• » «»»»" at behind me. Be, dL M, p/ * ^,1'''"' ?!*'''■»' »"''g«th« unaecartomedtoS/^alST'""''/''™?'' "»' ^1>»% notice elsewhere tw/i, .i *° ?'?'»«*''' « momeiri »hich I should ahSi from aS"'".t"'^ " P'^'^™" » iU-considered speXns It n,.? "! •>''« »'>»'i»idered or is ever admiss Jkfori' Jt T' ^'^fP'J'^ doubted, if it of previous prenanrtion ^ f ^^\ ",""'"' «»">« degree «pe&, a, he mTb7fo,S:^f '''*'•,'"''•''''' '"^ » f»<»d to You We pur4 sfrTn th„V fA''.'" j''^ ^^IMefence. consider at"^ whli SdvlL Y '' """^ .^ *"=« ^o" '« whether or not I had ^^3" • ?" ""^^^ ^ "<'»''<'« You ought to have consiZ.rj^T'' "t'^'^^ "''•>■ me. my tr„n\ at theTherZokTstatn %^"^^^''t ^ i" however, now that I have broken the ilf "'^J^T^ ">«. metaphor in thi, »,t of weathert to i^l J" T' "'^'''"6 on two ideas which ZJIT h t"'??' ^"^ * moment another pl^, rdthTcThlvfi^f ? ''^*? ' ^^^^^^o^ *» over since. Thev Ted to Z * " f^Jfj^g in my .ind which inoluderthe ^JZ !""" ?' *'"'»g''t, one of heritance, « ""^tal told that this Collet hf, ^^ { ^^'"^- ^''«n I »»" jear; when I coSer .1,»?V' "T'^Y'^ ''» '"»«««> consider that ,t stands almost within the 94 BRITISH-AHERICAN UNION. , 'I II shadow of the ancient pines which bowed to the same blasts that impelled Cabot and Cartier on their courses — when I reflect a moment on the riches which abound above the soil, in the soil, and under the soil of Canada, I cannot but think the merely material prospects of the youna men of this country are prospects to be envied. And when I consider on the other hand our mental inheritance,-r-the conquering English speech, in which a man may travel round the world and find himself on no shore a stranger— when I think of the hived and hoarded wisdom of antiquity, made common to us all by the two magicians, moveable types and the steam press ; when I remember that although much has been lost, a priceless amount has been saved from the wreck of ancient schools and societies, I must again congratulate the fortunate youthhood of these Pro- vinces on their ample mental inheritance. One thing, also, ought not to be omitted; it is the glorious associations connected with our own home history. Patriotism will increase in Canada as its history is read. No province of any ancient or modern power — not even Gaul when it was a province of Eome — has had nobler Imperial names inter- woven with its local events. Under the French kings Canada was the theatre of action for a whole series of men of first-rate reputation — men eminent for their energy, their fortitude, their courage, and their accomplishments, for all that constitutes and adorns civil and military reputations. Under our English sovereigns — ^from the days of Wolfe to those of the late lamented Lord Elgin (to speak only of the dead), our great names are interwoven with some of the best and highest passages in the annals of the Empire. We have not, therefore, a history simply provincial, interesting only to the Provincials themselves ; but a history which forms an inseparable and conspicuous part in the annals of the best ages of the two first Empires in the world, France and England. I congratulate you, young gentlemen, natives of Canada, on that fact, and I trust you may years hence, at other convocations, when other dignitaries preside, and another age graduates, that you may be enabled to tell your successors how, even within your own time, a grea^ > the same ' coursea — 3und above a, I cannot younff men nd when I ;ance,— the may trarel stranger— f antiquity, , moveable it although leen saved s, I must these Pro- hingj also, ssociatious iotism will )rovince of len it was imes inter- Qch kings ies of men ergy, their Qts, for all iputations. ' Wolfe to )nly of the me of the ipire. We nteresting ory which I annals of id, France in, natives I hence, at (side, and ed to tell }, a grea^ ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 95 Monck wa» Governor-General of cfnada Pardon me f^ I !i H II PROSPECTS OF THE UNION. RSMARKS AI A DiNNHR OIVBN TO THK CANADIAN PaRLIAMENTART Excursionists to the Maritime Provinces, at the Duill-room Halifax, N.S.,* Auocst 14tf, 1864. * Mr. McGee said : Let me say at the outset that the idea of this visit did not originate with the Canadians ; the credit of the invitation and the merit of its con- ception are due to the citizens of St. John and of Halifax, headed, in the one case by Mr. Donaldson, and by your Mayor in the other. In the next place it would be unfair if I forgot to ttale that to the great railway of Canada and its public-spirited directors is also due the possibility of our carrying into execution the design of visiting these Provinces, in what I fear you must fed to be rather an invading host. Men have different obiects of ambition ; some wish to be great orators, others artists, others to be distinguished in the naval or military services of their country; but to be a good companion and a good f^dlow-traveller is surely a worthy ambition. There are some of our fellow-travellers, and some also of the sons of Nova Scotia, whom we all desi'-e to h.^ar, and I shall, therefore, make my speech very short. Though I believe I am a good comrade, yet I must say that I am afraid, judging from the present attachment of some of our company to this place, they intend to settle here, or else to deprive your city of some of its fairest treasures. I name no names ; I trust that having given • On an invitation from the Board of Trade of St. John, and the ^yor and citizens of Halifax, about a hundred Canadian gentlemen, mem- bers of Parliament, merchants, editors, &c.,had spent a month on a tour through New Brunswick ai.d Nova Scotia. 'f ■ ADDMSSES ON VAUIOUS TOBUC OCCASIOKS. 97 visit m,.y be convS^" c^f 'l ™"''^%*'',"""'' ">*' representing one of IhechZS TZl *''^ r°"' Canada, that we did not nlac/TvI 1 Legislature of promise in aeki.g him to LinThi?" ™'^"' ""'" Po^^^"! no political desiln i" the"^ m n5 f !"'''""'• ^''"■''■« '™s invitation or of tl^sa w .„ a™ pted ; """t '*" '^'" «"= here as a Minister of the Crown ht- i "^ """ "^'^If of the Legislature; but I myl thatT?'^ "^ " T"'"'' person present must alsohone S 1 f ^ ''"P*' •''"'' ^very of time passes we shd Ihav™ ticatt ""^ ^f' '^"^'^ mteicolonial hospitality of whicKe ?i T"^''^ °" f'O My fears are that we may mov. .! r ?"" '''^ ^"pients. slowly in British AmerieT In si '^""^^l ■ *« <'<"»<'ve -in so,ne oases >Z"t ulTZSttl'' T '^^i' character, and it miglit be excellmft „i -f " "^ "'""»"'' house were not on Are- k.t be2^ T 'f "" "^ighbour's to prevent the dangerous eem.nf f •"' ''°'™''^^ "' trjing than the act of a Sa'^ac '''^l,™' '•^^''•'"'S "^ is notlnng elsf and blind his though to th! ^1^" T''" '"" '''"* '"'^ ^yes l™, is unworthy to have a nw'"'f'""=' P^^'ing "round free Provinces. X repeaTlL'^^Z/" "'" """^"^ "*' 'hese -that we may be overtVen Tv ?. ' '"'^T" '°» ''"^ -that we J„ walte our Zi*T".''''«^ ""'"■' ^tortn goWen moment of opportun^ v^*r 1 "^T ^'^^ '"* «'« s»l, is given to indivTdS ™ C ''"' '* ''"' ^"'" "•"H and whidi, if neglected movn "'" '"""' '" " ^'''^^me, frankly my hopeWbXTolL^TInte"- / ^''" ^'''' the gentlemen who will meet Jii^ , character of Conierence. I don'TK.:; ^7^1'^'' u''"^'''!'' a prehmniary meeting of course Tf f ' ^' ™™' ''« backward, I sliall be IrdJZ a- ' P''"=^' "« " s'ep a step forward, we siIh be ^ "^fWomted ; if it puts u^ is in the characre? of 1 ,. ^T^^ encouraged. JJy hope in their des^e to , ink t,^l '""'"? "''° '"" "ssenrble,! oppose-who a^: ^ o^ tl'Sn"'' 0^ th^! I- 1 98 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. i who have a vested interest in their own insignificance. "For, what is it we are called upon to sacrifice ? Nations have been called upon often to sacrifice much for the sake of religious and secular hberty — year after year, generation after generation, they have sent out the flower of their youth to die upon the battle-field in order that the patrice might be saved. But what are we called upon to sacrifice ? A few sectional prejudices, a few personal prejudices, some few questions of etiquette and precedence ! These we are asked to place upon the altar of general union for the benefit of the whole. Tlie metropolitan Power, with a wisdom which we might well emuL>.te, has invited us to ask the union as a boon that we might have for the asking. Best assured, if we remain long as fragments, we shall be lost ; but let us be united, and M'e shall be as a rock which, unmoved itself, flings back the waves that may be dashed upon it by the storm. Let me appeal to the press and pubhc men of these Provinces, as I would to those of Canada. Don't aggravate the difficulties that lie ahead. Don't magnify particular obstacles that stand in the way of the leading spirits of the different Colonies — as I must call those who have devised this Conference ; for it is a Nova Scotia project, this idea of a Conference in respect to Union of the Colonies. I appeal to the ^jress to back up those who have the moral courage to look the future in the face, and are endeavouring to protect these Provinces against the dangers that tlireaten them. I have had some experience of political life in America — both in the Northern States and in the Provinces — and I think I can prophecy — though it is a dangerous ground to venture on political prophecy — that we shall never take a decennial census again, either as British Colonies or independent States, except we have an union of one kind or otlier. Before I sit down you will permit me to say, in addition to what has been said by Monsieur Bureau who comes from Eastern Canada, and bv Mr. McCrea wlio comes from the extreme west — from the borders of Lake St. Clair — that all of us, both those who are silent and those who speak, feel deeply the uniform kindness with which we ADDRESSES ON v^EIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIOKS. 99 anxious to comt' ^^n^^lT. T"" ^''^ ^ ''^^ »o and I have told them that Oii, k?' ^T '""'™"'^'J "-e. Nova Scotia; and now I „t%*'" ""^'n^fy kindness of and all, that^hetlbific^J' ,^ ^t'-r ^r them, one among your friends. You will „„„;. °^'^, henceforth rrtum our heartfelt thanks F^^* J ™i?" "''''" 1»" '» Lieutenant-Governor the Vic. r •''? |?«^"'»eies the Archbishop-from a 1 ctsel of tr'"'- ''" '^'""^ «'e there has Len nothing but oneL ,• '=*?»^''f Halifax, nesses since we landfd here '=^|;""1!^^^™» of kind- merely Jocal, it met us bevond tl,. ^^ '''"'I™'' "^ "o* -in the persons of our Si m 'p '' °K^^^ P™""ee and Mr. \Vier. They Took 2 t'. ^l\ ^?°'' ^'- Co'eman, of this Province to ^Lt us IrfT,,'''' f° f?\"'« ^"^^^ 112 !« . i:!' "SOME OBJECTIONS TO A CONFEDERATION OF THE PROVINCES CONSIDERED." AdDBEBS DEL1VEE8D AT TbMPBRANOT HalL, HaUFAX, N.S., AuauBT 16th, 1864. Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen j Those whose opinions I have every reason to receive with deference,— those who, in this city, have ever been my kind friends, and who hold distinguished places among its citizens — have been pleased to say that an address on the subject which has been announced to you would be a useful and almost a necessary close to the Intercolonial festivities of the last fortnight. I have cheerfuUy yielded my opinion to theirs, and I am therefore to address you, on the subject announced—" Some Objections to a Confederation of the Provinces considered." In the first place, Ladies and Gentlemen, I must solicit your kind consideration for whatever you may find defective in the treatment of a subject, so limited even as this is. The festivities of which we, from Canada, have been the objects for several days past, were not, as you may well imagine, the best possible preparation for the discussion of the most important public question ever submitted to the people of these Provinces. I should, I am free to own, have liked more time for uninterrupted reflection, but the commands laid on me were irresistible, and I am here, on short notice, to do the best in my power. I shall come at once, with your leave, to the matter in hand— the much-talked-of Confederation. The proposal though not very new is yet not at all definite ; it is there- fore liable to all sorts of conjecture; all sorts of notions are afloat about it, and will continue to be afloat until the ADI>n.SSKS ON V.„,o„3 p^^uo OCCASIOKS 101 broad field which „iS then be feiH "PJ^"'^/^^ of the cussion. "^" "« fairij open for our dis- of l^hi^g^t^erwt^at^^^^^^ ^ danger we all ™„ "Confederation" itself Of ?„nfi/ .^""^ '» "'o tern, and there have bepn L oonfederations there may be monarchies. L2d -3 a7 ™"f "' "' "^ ^o-^ollted how unhicel Tfe Ne/L., '"""^'"h-^ is Russia; bnt an I'eredita^head; itSfatr " Tl'^^W^t pj permanent head hereSv 1 .1 ^?''"f''t"'oy without >ng States are a con ederacv with f '">■ *''^ ™%hbour. for his time over the arZ^'nTlL '"'/ ^ ''«^'^' '"P^eme 0/ affairs. It is not^ZCtelv JL'"'' «•« administration American Confederacy-'f TshLut '"■{, '^"^ our British -should reproduce the imerica." the's^'"* i-to existence model ; we ought to be abl^ T f' . '""f ' ^ '^e Dutch able-to strikeout a new e^l'™ ""^ding men are "ource of free governments ?„!? ?"" *'" '*™ fru^M variety of the same ?amot' stocf vT?^'' "^ « "^^ congenial to our climZ my^Cui*^ ""f^' ""^ are the principal objections whil^T "'^^ot? What themselves.? Two or three of tS^^l^ 7? '°J'' '^^''^Vd «e fairiy and discuss Srl„ and f -^'.^ endeavour to decide with what effect, f»T believe T T?" ."^^ ^°i. y" '» you. I am a friend and earnest ,1 * "f '''"'"^ ^V to speedy Confederation '"^™""^ "' " strong and verynaLtthrs'i^t&eS "^ ™^ '» -% - themselves, a^ilk tra S u he Murf ^^ %^ ^'^^'^^'^=i<^ and the disruption of the Norfc"' ®''-!J''* American It must be admitted tha thf So ntA """" 9?»f«r> ti I if '"""^ *"« proclaimed- it has been i^ZiZCf^'l^^^^^f^^'' """"'^^''^ »' domestic danger. Z, t Y^lZ^^^ 102 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. are of many kinds, and the question, therefore, is many- sided. Reasoning after the fact, it is easy to be wise, ancj reasoning on a famib'ar case, it is easy to be eloquent. The example of the Northern American States which, less than a century ago, were " sister colonies " of Nova Scotia and Canada, may serve as a guide as well as a warning to us. Tor the present purpose we will pass over the Spanish EepubHcs, where there has been a failure of civilisation rather than a failure of the federal system, and we will consider only the familiar example of the States. They broke away forcibly from the body of the Empire,— I will not say without justification; but having broken away, the generation that succeeded this violent separation set their hearts upon making their society as unlike Europe as possible. Now, I will not pretend to say that we should desire to mould America — even if it were possible, which it is not— on the forms of Europe, — but I will venture to allege that Europe, in its positive Christianity, in its ancient learning, in its manners, and in its conservatism, presents to America many subjects for study, for imitation, and for admiration. When, therefore, the American Democrat of our century said in his heart, " I will make my country as unlike the rest of Christendom as I can," he said a vain and foolish thing, and his vanity and folly have brought their own punishment. Every one, of course, has his theory as to the disruption of that Confederacy, and you would probably like to hear my theory. Well, it is this : Every constitution we have any record of, placed the prin- ciple of infallibility, at least the seat of absolute last resort, -—somewhere. In England, it is in the Queen in Council; in the United States, it was placed in the Supreme Court. When, by their local legislation, a large portion of the States themselves rejected the doctrine of the infallibility, the inviolability of their Supreme Court, when they broke down the very shrine of their constitution, the Government, with or without civil war, was overset. Now, supposing with this example before our eyes we were to form a Con- federation, why should we invite at a future day a like Hit ADDRESSES 01, VABIOITS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 103 the ex Jtivrlrof S t r^t'J'Sjit^' inviolability Prince w,o V^^t^f * t ^ n^^I--^' ^jf ^ « NatureAa Kood J^idf 1. "'T^ ?."""' "^ ''»' f""'"' for the failure of th^ A ' ■ '''" "'"^^^'ood- I account dom^tic ene™°el eliTr° '^''"" '» P"'^"* "^''f from peculiar dSlTfdSZ of "'' """"!; ""^ ""^ sy8tem,-,,otfromtl.em,.rl?.!ff ■*!'!''"''■■' '""'^'' *hat rither than a Z/oSwaT? tole^'Vurtf '"'''''' Kepublican Zon ^ ^ ' '" '°™ '''P'='=''' ^"'^ t^^ of fL'CLelntle^biLS'o^f "''/ T^^ true we owe above «67 Oon mm K * ^ ^''"''^^- I' " quite 3,000,000 pfo%" the ieted'XT'^^ "1 of New Brunswick. Kiouah our debt f, I "'t ^"^''' wSch Lord w' "^ '?•'' 8'?* North-western ternC Jii I 1 I s 1 i ■u 104 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. inducements to union ; but there is one of a nature rather less tangible, wliicli yet I hold to be most important. As an element of our common security — as a contribution towards our mutual defence — it is impossible to attach too much importance to the moral effect of our union. Both on ourselves and on our neighbours the mere fact of our being united for purposes of defence would have a most salutary effect, and might go a long way to avert the attempts which might be made, with a greater prospect of success, against our estranged and isolated communities. As it is, we are bound up in each other's fate without being allied for each other's help — we are associated in danger, but not in preparation. If, therefore, I add the considera- tion of our mutal defence to the more material considerations of internal free trade, as an inducement to your union with Canada, I feel confident I am doing my duty at once to Canada and the Maritime Provinces. III. A third objection arises from the vast extent of country M'hich it is proposed to bring, for general purposes, under one general Government. 1 do not underrate tlie difficulties arising from the straggling and outstretched nature of our territory. But modern science has fortu- nately provided us a remedy against this evil — in steam communication. This invaluable means of communication is, of itself, a reason for union, since we cannot absolutely command its good offices without clubbing our capital. It is not creditable > any of us, nor is it worthy of the enterprise of the Empire to reflect, that if a Canadian wishes, for example, to visit the North-west, he must be indebted to an American enterprise, and pay tribute to an American route ; while if he wishes to visit these Provinces, he must, as we all have done, be under the same necessity of traveUing over American soil, and sailing on American waters, to meet his fellow-subjects on the Atlantic ! This is a state of things which ought not to be allowed to con- tinue, and which I am persuaded will not be allowed, if Mr. Fleming's Intercolonial Survey should prove, as I have reason to believe it will prove, — that the long-desired highway can be built for a reasonable sum such as these Provinces can shoulder. Upon tho feasibility of that road, ADDKBSSE3 OK VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 105 amtfl wm nt'lnZw *° '"'"Mection depe„d,,_a„ I beg, gcnH;r„ Tot^r^ib e"V/ tat if l! '' '"^''^t' most distant comtitaeno 1, „f T)^'- ■ . '' ¥'"2^ «^en the each other, in time as the sLr i'''"' '^?"'"'='' »' '"="' '» London i„' the S TeZyT:^Z'^^'"'''':r'-'' were, fift„ears ago, to a^IZ.cZe^U^^^''"''^ of tv' trer]iSXs'"t^ '^ "-^ ^-^^^^^ I shall not g^in deta tto'ihi r""^ "^ confederation, cnlties, but I ir"u slv ai''' ^'""''^°» o( these diffi. colieagues did on'"oSSorca;io" "Vat a"r^ st""'"''" founded or enlaCd nrVr ''w''~1 ""^ ='»'^ being -.ountinglSt: '"tT JHote^^^t "^ PoVTe' '^^':e^rjri ^ri^^^^ ^o';r elsewhere, that I S^not * " '""'''■•e'lth time, hare and this magnitud on my ISn"' " ""T,' l"^-'""^ »f proceed\, our anee7or"tl™ „ Sdet^- I ™"'^ trown, and I wnnlrl n^f f^ ^ ^•'U tag sanction ot the an^er after e'omr^erult^Jof "'^ "^""""^ "^ '"« -e'x:L*^;„tre:"t?^""r"' '^^' --«"' •>« tiation can be either Zlf/°'' *^' mo""^"'""^ "^-go- want for the discassion? a ill "' ^^^'"'""'''J- What we best men, irresDecf veof * '"*''^'»='"' Particulars is odr of British Sr a at th s T >"''{ antecedents. The cry men ! '• not merX at i„2 f ''"""* ^' " «» ' ™°'« i» quality asTell as n „, ?,. °^ 'T^'' •"" "» "'"ease Imean, by a remote TlS ^."^ '"'' "'"^'"''"^ "''"t in battlementid ^ , Z"!'" ''T''-''™?'! "-"es, nor ^•M but in »en,t^h!S^!i'|aKr: 1^ £: ^ i 106 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. rights, and how to preserve them. Here, where we are now assembled, another form of the same thought presents itself to me : time was, when your noble harbour, the pride and boast of all British America, was burthened only by the transitory shadows of the cloud and the canoe, where now we see such broad-armed navies ride as never were dreamt of by the divine Alcceus. Its depths were as fruitful then as now — its tides as constant — its shores as sheltering ; but the civilised man has succeeded to the savage, and even the face of Nature itself has changed, under the filial offices of her darling child — the European man. As in material triumphs, so it may be in political. Give us men — high-minded men — men who know their rights, ail how to secure them— and we will change the moral and political aspect of British America as greatly and as bene- ficially as the physical aspect of the once barbarous Chebucto has been changed, since the foundation of the good city of Halifax. And now, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have, however imperfectly, complied with the wishes of many valued friends, who desired that I should say a few parting words to you on this subject. By this time to-morrow the waters of the Bay of I'undy will be between our kind friends and us ; — before the end of the week, if it please God, we shall be back again in our Canadian homes, recounting the pleasant adventures we have had here and in New Brunswick. Will you permit me, before taking my leave, to utter one last word of appeal to the press and public of these Maritime Provinces ? Before I may be able to visit you again, it is possible, nay it is probable, the fate of British America, for all time to come, will be decided. So certain am I that the present moment is decisive of our fate — so certain that elements hostile to our future existence as free, but not democratic States, are in active existence— so assured do I feel that the men who now sway our several councils mast save or sacrifice our future fortune — that once more I would beseech all to whom my feeble voice may reach, not to embarrass this great discussion by minor issues. On the contrary, as was said of old, "a great ADDBESSES ON VAWOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 107 spirit befittetli a great forfnnp " t * i public men will Sirnn^ • I ^'""'^ ?"' P'"''' ""^ o"'" personal and merce na^^ Zte7ke7eZf TT^' glonons British America-for the sake ofUl '', "^ °" ^itim^^fZ' Inferior „"Zr"^ " ""'''™"''"'' structufe!" the cUt it al"S;,r/ ofthTt "'" °" reconciling liberty with law in i ^ f- . • ''''''^' ^» 1 ij|H|lH H w^^^^m ;1 ^^^Hl '^H H 1 iB 1 fivi ^ w If 1 HB3 B! 1 1^ t 'JuWifK '' .ImMBK'B ;:^Pjmi 'ifln ^'■WmMm IMh I^H iPMBB i THE CAUSE OF THE QUEBEC CONFERENCE. ] I Speech at thh DfejEUNKR given to the MEaBERS of the Qtjkbbo CoNFBHENCK, AT MoMTREAL, OOTOBKU 2yTH, 18G4. Mr. McGee said he had no intention at that loie hour, and after their long sitting in Conference that alternoon, to detain them. When they were in the Lower Provinces their hospitable entertainers, many of whom tliey were glad to see to-night, were, on all occasions, pleased to hear Canadians speak and themselves to listen. He thought, as far as he (Mr. McGee) was concerned, he would best dis- charge his duty in siiowing himself a good host by being a good listener. However, as the Canadian politician who earliest made the acquaintance of some of the gentlemen now here, as one who had been, in an humble way, a pioneer of this gathering of the British North American family, he could not, as the only one of the members for Montreal present at this moment, who had not spoken, allow the meeting to separate without giving his hearty endorse- ment to every word of welcome addressed from the chair and by the various speakers to their friends from the coast Colonies. They were welcome to Canadians as fellow- subjects long estranged from them, and now, he hoped, about to be united. They we^ ; wdcome to Canadians on their own account, as accomplished geiitlemen, /tnd of their accomplishments and powei.! the iiiceting had had this evening some evidence. They vere still more welcome to Canada on account of the colonies of Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and of the communities there which they represented. As far as he was concerned, he would make no mystery of what brought them here, or of the business with which they were en- ADDHESSES ON VABIOUS PUBLIC OCCAS.ONa 109 thi» Conference at Quebec w, 7^^ 1^ f ™ f ""I''' ^^V the several Governors of tli» P,„ •' ' ' ^"'^1 ""e the benefit of traTvice of tl.ri """•'' ™'m""^ '^''f'"^'-'' "f they should be thSr^^tireredl^SrTt' Q„"ebrr, f'"" close counc 1 totretlie?? Pnrf ^ • i ?, ^"^^^c holding ge."tlemen to adSSer tl^°« "rlt ? n™'^'' "^ exist, and not to frame \Z, ?''""'"f"' ""d >»>vs as they asked, had these%«7eV rernrET-skeTl'^' 'V'"' was reported, the lines nf „ ,,„ ""f. '". sketch out, as the reason why, he would lliT •="""""'■<»' ? If -sked same which th^ vistor to^'s, i'"" '" '?"" *"'•''' "'« read on searching for .h„ '' ""' '^""'"1 "P"" to the reasons for this RatJierinT tA t '"/l^ "'"'''' »«« Virginia, at the nplaudrof Gfom,^ 1 t "" ^'''^^^ "f age of earthnuake Td Lrf- ? ' ^°°\ """""^ '" this A^a. Look a' "^ In ? , ''"'S''"'"''" i" ^o'th called its statesmen wirm f *'f ^ ^ '°y"'ees who «ere solemnly and repSlvtW ?'!?' ^"'™ ''»'' earned and byflirectXaS LTrp' '""^'T"^'*' not provide adequately for t e e^n^ ,1, 'f^ r'"'^'''''' ^^^ new condition, ingland would S? f t u ""■ ,P'''™' the consequences wZ T j • ''"^'f tameless 'for things could not ™ on'i f^ ^"™ "1 ^' "•™"'e "'at »nt'ed to see ™4o'ns ?or he X.I Cent""' , ?' f'^^ look across the border and M If l-onference let them thick as blackbcvrts wl^y ; Iral'et'afthe'Tr ".^ engage m the work which had f„, ^Z f-'^ *'' ""<' them. It was now J... i • ^""^ '™« occupied theyshouIdhaverthremtSclT? «'?'"= '" f"' *'■«' *i i no BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. 'j all the intelligent people of Canada, of whatever origin, creed, or race, This was not a time for questions about creeds, or origins, or races, but a time either to save c- ruin British North America. If its fate were not decided within thir decade by its own ace, in one sense assuredly it would be, and perhaps not to their satisfaction. If the vhirty-three delegates had presumed to go into the Chamber in Quebec to sketch an outline to be submitted to Her Majesty in Council and the Imperial Parliament, before which Submission it was not righu it should be suomitted in any kind of detail to the people of these Provinces — if they had gone into that room in a time of profound peace to sketch a new basis of constitution for these Provinces — they found their justification in the circumstances, in the peculiar position, in which the British American Colonies stood towards Repubhcan North America, and m the inti- mations, official and unofficial, respecting our duties as to self-defence, conveyed to uj for the last three years from the most undoubted sources — from the Governmenf of the Empire itself. The Conference had acted, not in an em- pirical spirit— they had not gone into Council to invent any new system of Government, but had entered it with a reverent spirit to consult the oracles of the history of their race. They had gone there to build, if they built at all, on the old foundations. They desired not to build an edifice with stucco front and lath and plaster continuations, but a constitutional edifice upon a basis of solid British masonry, solid as the founr\dtion of the Eddystone Light- house, which would bear the whole force of the democratic winds and waves, and the corroding political atmosphere of the New World, and which they hoped would stand for ages, a vindication of the solidity of their institutions and of the legitimacy of their origin. In their (the British N. A.) political architecture, Le trusted they would vindicate the honour of the races from which tliey sprung, the Norman, tlie Saxon, the Celt, the homely, vigorous, fearless Scandi- navian, and all the races that had gone to make up the great concrete called the populntion of the British Empire. He trusted that the British N. A. political architecture ADDRESSES ON VAMors PUBLIC OCCASIONS. Ill the New York journals thatT 1 "pon them by some of simply demo JcyTJtufeLrZ'''^ mion would be acknowledge the monarcSnl ^" • f "? '''""'"J "»' ""'j edifice witi B tisheSon^T'ih'' ''"' '°'"'""' » freedom as the main wTTZ ? ' «»™er.stone, and people feel their Cd^m^l t„ S^^/th^a'd ""^''^ "'« for authority and the throne as well If .f ''''''"=<=' represented here authorit; and the Sne 7 "'""^ "•''" the we l-w shine editor nf il,. w ^"""i^- I" answer to cautioned CanaLns'^ailt "mZrltio^'- '"' ""' '>»^ degree of success they had attSn?.f''f'T,'"""' *>'« regard to the laying of the Aflantt M ''^ '"* ?°"« "'•» years ago, he fMr Mooii * u '^'''S«'P'i cable a few editor tit; had'not been .!^ "poW venture to assure the of their d'epth "s tSrsrwr'faid tlfe ^"f ,--?"'« out members of the Conferenel b=i . i '^"'''^ '"'<'• Tl'e without having a feir irdicatL ^"? ^S^""=' '" f"' opinions and aentimels fere tLv . 1"'. ""■\ '■''^^ stimulus from England havW ""* ""'f^ "" "'^otrical and the B.11 of for he had always said tL P^ ' T ^ " ^^™<"" Canadian, he came to cSrand if^ „ 7 ^"' «« "Wished before drew it, either soially pSiSr" '^™*" "P" *'" '« would remain "ndraSonf :S;4,e™id°ttr"^' '' simply as a citizen or representative Jlr f '? """"' "<" as an inhabitant of cSa hut L ?'",'' "<"• <>''» had laboured, in his linmbt' » f T' ''*" '''^'''•'=''- and spectacle wl ich hev .„ ,? 7F' '? """"^ ''''™' "'is very f lessly and" un'reredly t Ji:e'"rrf 7f'"r '""f f^ Canada, he lirmly believed souitiS 1? '^™"'"' "'"' mercenary motiv/s, but fromril^^f^f ,-' -^ ^7 J - i^^B 1 hF 1 m ' II H i 112 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ii "« '» Perform even a during tl,e sumS Jt :ute"^- ''' "^"'''-^ gymnasium of our deserriL J ^ admission to the M if but for tirprXe L r/r"'. ^\ '^"""'""' • be a young Seotsnian/ntf «.?»;„ J T^^' "■"'« *»"W it. If all those who m^Vt i ^ }'° ^"^^ "»' belong to of the Societri have^f donb?tT? • '"i" ^"^ "*"'^»° «ell as works of Sty and il r '" """^ '^''•^'^'■™^' "' ness of the Society^Sjd be " fl '^?™'^?' '"'^ "^eful. AU the sister soeieirrepretted onir w" "'^ '"■*^- to grow as the city smw. „IT *"" P'atform ought city on the ConSn! t ilf ' "' "P' 'o '"'^t that°no than Montreal I l„Jwi!rf ""'' ''^'^''^ ™^ ^o'^ it extend from HoSelai fn T i,?"^ l''^ '" ^^'^ *» ^^e idolise its yast dimenSs T tf' ''Jl' ™' ^™P'^ *» Greeks, nearly of"uman ^ ^r^" *"?' ^""^^ "^ the ^Wria; anda^ityis"r„re'wo;w;;f .^r^" ^"^"^ of acres it covers— or thp X? ^.^pP™ 'of .tlie unmber idol f,.m Nineveh ?«r bei^g fo t;%rS"-T'''^'' ?." desureto see our citv Cfoi. ;f. „i "/ • .S"- I would provide itself rtiraVnossill'f'' '' "" the erueible) mental eulturej s wVaTmin ^fr' "^ ^"^''^ ™'I ways. With 120 nnnlf 1,?^? elevators and street rail. library, andVgXy oflrtot r"" "^''^ ^?«^'^Vmo "oeans, for witfout looks mus^ '7 ^T ^ *'">'" ""r eye, nor the ear, nor the nnZ'f ' r P"?"''' "'''^^"^ 'be more value to c vSonTll f*^'"^ "^ "■"" ^^ °^ >"»* tions are to the people of th. L '™''' ?f '^^^^ S^era- President, for sneSl *'''.''""S "ge. Pardon me, Mr. but we havelTot ' ?;Vbotirar ttt''" ""^> '^'''^ "snappers/' and I Icnnw fi, V f / dippers'' and the wen. A word or two r^nl ^ ^f '"^ ^ '°^^^*3^ ^^ Scots- Mval of HalIow!^'„ ZT^ '^'' T^'^^ "'«« of this verse, and MaZe ton c nva?' Th' ^^"^^^^^^^^^^ in stitious rites whH th^ b.-.d ' 1 ,^^^^^cient super- - -i.^ft tn. baxd lias celebrated have vanished 1 2 -^./ 116 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I '^11 one by one out of the by-ways even of the old world ; but the old, good, kindly, neighbourly feehng — the old here- ditary humour, the old love of social enjoyment — remain, I hope, unimpaired and unchanged. The original of the scene that Burns drew was a Scottish peasant cottage of the middle of the last century — " Amang the bonnie winding banks, Where Doon rins, whimplin, clear. Where Brace ance ruled the martial ranks An' shook his Carrick spear." While the scene we witness here to-night, which owes so much to the spell of his genius, is contained within what we are apt to call, a little magniloquently, our "Crystal Palace," without any of the romantic surroundings or his- torical associations of the original. But I trust we are not less happy in our lot here, in the new country in which that lot has been cast, than were the "merry, friendly, kintra folk" whose pranks and joys he so heartily ap- proved. f i;. THE GEKMAJSrS IN CANADA. Address to tub Gebmax Societt, Cixr Concert H.tt at December 7th, im ''''' ^^^'^^al, devolve up'on meV;V>;jp ,T„ X dut 07^1"^ *» mg jou, accordine to an »if,w; i ^,""7 of address- Montreal on these occ^ion" ""^^^^f^ 'f' <">«tom in aud for the German .w!" , S 'P.°''^° f<»^ •'™self aU he has s^^rto th? ^1™'' *'"'', ^ ^^ "^'^^ «* the protection of IL ■ "^Port^^e of such a society for GermVtt^stf iSSL TI '"^ r""""" "^ the satisfaction he halTore^l' j i *P"'''^'{, ooncur in standing which exists lo?gXo„ J Lir:"'",' "f "; long may that good feelinf m„t,"n,.ff t °™''°' "'«> aUo«r me to say that so far ,,1'"^^ '"",™'''= ''^ "" the Grand TruKom ° v „m f ""?■ "'^?™'''' ^ "onsider tarily settlinrLteTJ K,' '^/'" ''?,'^ "''"'y >" ™1™- couia be bro° -ht a^ins th^ '"^' "" *'"' ^'"'"'^ t^at deplorable accident Sr„ ™ ""'"'S °»' of the recent t^k ''>.««-trini?trer:ocSfrdid?e5^"* ' currmff in that setflpm^r^f t ?i,- i •, "^^ ^^^^ ^^ con- present, actiagin „'"and t"^ "/"^ '^" "'^^ ^»« sincere hope that thrif ' ]• 1 ^ ""?' "S'"" ^''P'oss my always conTnut WMe wet! S~/,'^,<'^^'i'nding ma^ wouldappear:1;hrhtem'ord^S ^Spe^;;: *.;1. 118 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. II' il 1 i l! : each other, let it still be our pride and boast that our Montreal societies, of whatever origin or whatever religion, are rivals only in acts of benevolence and efiForts at im- provement. The firmness and forbearance of a few in- dividuals on both sides might have given Toronto the same cheering tale to tell that we have here ; and I must say, for my own part, that those in Toronto who have most in- fluence with their fellow-citizens, and who allow a great city like that to drift into a chronic state of strife and hatred, have much to answer for. In this city we have had and now liave, and always must have, our differences ; but I am quite sure that any armed combination against any portion of our fellow-citizens, any combination against private or associated rights, and therefore against the law of the land, could, in the present temper of Montreal, be put down in forty-eight hours. I wish it were so in Toronto. I hope it may yet be so. It ought to be so ; and if the men of real influence in Toronto said the word, it would be so. You will allow me also, I hope, to express my acknowledgments to Professor Simon, whose musical accomplishments I have long been familiar with, for the surprise he has given me in introducing some old words of mine to his exquisite music, and to Ilerr Brandt, for the true feehng and taste with which (if I may be permitted to say so) he has rendered both words and music. I turn now to another topic, the proper topic of the evening — the German Society of Montreal, or rather the Germans in Canada. I have enjoyed the warm, whole-hearted hos- pitality of the chief German settlement in Canada, in the county of Waterloo, when they were represented by my able and truly liberal-minded countryman, ihe Hon. Mr. Poley, who, I regret to say, is no longer in public life in this country. I have seen the flourishing German settle- ments of the United States, from Pennsylvania to Wis- consin, and knowing the universal character of those settlers — their patient industry, their peaceable demeanour, their power of endurance, and their love of freedom — I have naturally desired to see a large increase of German immi- gration to this country. The Fatheriand, with its fifty lan immi- ADDRESSES OK V^RIOtrs PUBLIC OCCASIONS J 19 Whether that efflux finds its wwi f f n""'" ,PoP"lation. or the Oder, or the Eh „e f o^^n '"i''' °'='™ ''? "'« Elbe from Catholic State., or pSt aT r" 'l ■ ?' °™'"'- attract them to our shores -fndltT'^ r** "« """'d thing like the same rate a' tZv^I '^ "".r ^r' »' »»"'«- And why do we not? 'b et/e i„'"the"fi"r"f ^'»''»- name of Canada is not as Slr%„ ,1. n ^"'' P'"""' «>= - the larger and loud" ^X name o?T"' ?' ""r^ cause at Hambum inrl t?. " ^ ?°^® °* America; be- dam, the r.^JXlflT^jJiY'"^^^ ^'l ^"'t"- of New York. And we shall. n?f '•""'""' ^' '^e name labour under this IradttXeU 'tU Tl •''^T *» which our public mm 1.., . ^ ■ ^feat work in nnionofallSTlricIirsu.^ '',T ^"S^S^-J-the Then British America w II hi i''^''"-''/''''°'°Pl«bed. labour will bedSfiedeittl. T '"""S"'' ''' ««ld of tinctly enough in the OM w^^i "' "*™^ "'" ^o™-! dis- . United Statfs the aHeSL rf t '"'• '° 5'"''^ ^''h tbe *" over Germany. One other til ""'Srahng classes aU »bout this result, and that i, » f"^ "^ "™'' *" l"™? of the German i and th. f ^"'^p-erous estimate myself, I should Te the W l^li"'" f'^f^''' ^ Celt inferiority iu the Ce ,Vrt. t^ "^ ^ *'*'?" «" '""ate disparity, dissimUar rifts and d,-,°^-i^*"' ''"' ^ ""J™' I am .sufficiently a citf en of i. u'? P°"""'^- I l>ope ledge the strong pot s rf Ihl p""''' '". '"' '""^ "'t""^- the great servifes^rSml bv f? ™?" ''^^'^'^''- *» admit practical as well J'„ toecnlat 1 •" "'' ™'^ '<=«'^-i» the world. Nothing used o Itt'^T""'" *''^ '»^' "f United States than"^h:topX er^r'tSTt T" " ^ popular phrase "tlipDn+Jl^^ error that, to use the It used I remind me of L o^Z"" ""'"'^"^"tual people! played off early inVl^'^ZlVi't^t'fl^'' freely' - V^i^-^XV'"^^^^^^^^^ -^^ supper, and afterwards to a theairicS" euSSm^nt '^^h ^ 120 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. M piece, got up for the occasion, represented a street in Venice, with a solitary lamp burning at a door. The ghost of Cicero was discovered flitting in and out of the shadows, when a German traveller entered, and endeavoured to get admittance to the lighted house. Failing to get in, he pulled out his watch to learn the hour ; he then took out a printed book and began to read by the lamp ; till, at last, becoming impatient, he drew his pistol and fired in the air to awaken the Italians. At this the ghost of Cicero, who had watched all the German's movements, asked for explanations, which were given ; and then Cicero demanded, if the barbarians of the north had, since his age, invented the timepiece, printing, and gunpowder, what had the Italians invented ? And at this point a Savoyard entered on the scene, crying out, " Heckles ! Heckles ! Heckles I " This was a very proper rebuke to the arrogance of that particular company, though it was far from just to the \ Italians as a people. If we are to succeed in forming a new Confederation of the North, in establishing a free and united Monarchy upon the basis of these separated Pro- vinces, we shall only do so by being just to all men, of every origin, speech, and creed, who may desire to come amongst us, to aid in that great work. The general idea of a Confederate government is already familiar to the German mind, from your experience in Switzerland and the Netherlands, and the German Confederation proper— though the last one is rather a league than a union — a Staatenbunde than a Bundesstaat. It is an idea which combines what the Germans have always cherished — free- dom, with what they have always striven for— unity. Not only by its grandeur and prestige but by its security, is it well calculated to attract and interest a thoughtful people, whose migrations, judging from the fruitfulness of the stock, are as yet far from the end. If we may infer the part they are destined to play from the part they have played, then we could wish our country no better gift, than a large infusion of the Germanic element. On this point, if you will allow me (as to the past), I will refer to one of the greatest names of our times, the late Dr. Arnold of ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PCBLIC OCCA.IOKS. 121 as Professor of Modern ml„ ^" •j'VTK""'"' "ddress 1841, Dr. Arnold shoTed th»rk", .^'^'''•''''''''"^'1 « century possessed dl Sre twfL !''"'''''° "' "'« fourth the politfeal ^isd^m of lite "nd !T'^^°.^ ^'^^<=^' "J^ tianitr. but it »«nted the German .if " .l"™', "^ '^''™- ages tore an undoubted 0,™^.^'?'' '¥ "'« Middle ence of this element was stuS tT^','., '"" ">^ '"A"- to be felt, "for good?r frevJ in ^1 "f*^ '""« "'"'"'"■^ the civilised world " A, L" ' I f ""? '''"•>' '^°'">toy in belong to the dv^ised tZ f f'V? ?""''' ^'»™'=a to which^Arndd eseX^;:llV'''"VY hope and expectation tWtZ ' S"?''' ^ "Peatmy government may p ov'e ^Jt„T YM" "•" '"'™'=J and to settle large numben of PeZ °' .'""»'^"°-' to draw federacy. Mr Cha X„ f f '^'^'"ans m our future Con- further^ tt;e t LT beea„s^'« ^"^"-^ "" °°' """" party politics, still Ro not wfsh tn^t "7 "' '^'o '^ politics on any occasion w-^,"'''™'''' «''«'» Sacral aiscussions. I thank v,™ '^f '""^ '''' ^P"^' ^ such cordial recmtion S f """ gratefully for your verv the city, rnTSgTblU^Ce fat^^'f 7 "^^ " this first public festival nf f l? ^n "J, ""'' ^ take part in You have made a gotd Lt^Sn?"" ^^'^ of Mokreal only say, what we ITshK "^'- 8<^""^™«"'- and I can from now, that I Zh^u Ly^u'"" °' *^"^ »''=oks returns" of your CX Xf' '''"'' ""'""^ ^^f^ < f tl''f| SPEECH AT COOKSHIRE, COUNTY OF COMPTON, DECEMBER 22, 1861 On THK OOOASION 07 A FUBLIO DlNNIR TO Mb. J. H. FOPI, Membeh vor Compton. Hon. Mr. McGee said : Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I promised my respected friend, your county member, Mr. Pope, to meet him at the recent public dinner given to my colleague, Mr. Gait, at Sherbrooke, and to come over here with him to Compton to speak to you on the subject of British- American Union. I was, greatly to my regret, prevented, by a sudden and sharp illness, from being pre- sent at the Sherbrooke dinner ; for there is no public man in Canada whose services to the Union deserve all honour- able acknowledgment more than Mr. Gait ; and there is no place in the country I had rather discuss this question than in " the Eastern Townships." * I am here to make good your member's promise in my behalf, and I am deeply thankful that I am able to be here, and have still a voice to raise in behalf of this cause. This is a border county — it is a county actually undergoing colonisation — it is the home of a mixed people, various in origin, in language, and in creed ; and, therefore, a very fit place to consider propositions which must interest men of all languages, origins, and creeds, which involve all our future relations among ourselves and with our neighbours, internal and external. So far as I can help it, gentlemen, I will not trouble you with what has been said before by my col- • The " Eastern Townships " form that portion of Lower Canada lying between Montreal and the American line. They were settled by "Town- ships," not by "Parishes," as in French-speaking Lower Canada. ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PDBLIO OCCASIOKS. 123 leagues in the government at otl.er meetings, but I will the wf r^r developments whieh Imv-e been projected by the late Colonial Conferences, to show on what princinli 1 e S of'^^ '" '""''7"' ^y ""'"P"™"" -/e™! ada.Ib ftf r' '"S"' "".'' *° '''?"' '" '''""■"g' i" 'PeeM pSlVrnVu^nitr"' ''"""""' "^ ^""'•' ^-"-" At the start I cannot but congratulate the people of all the Provinces on the fortunate conjunction of circnrastanee" wh.eh makes tins the best possible time for a searchTnTexa- vviien 1 was in the Maritime Provinces last summer-when the Oin erences were still a thing to come_I aTpealed on H hlld no't r" • "! "'." n\'''"^ "'« P"""'" t^erclhat It Should not be prejudged, and I must say I think a verv fXu"ZT/'t??r Vli^""^ f-'"'g-- ■"»n>-feS in this respect. But I should be sorry, sneakin" for mv<,e1f now that the stage of intelligent discus^iorha b'een reSd' M^Jo LfrT ? PJ?'' i.tl>»tw"cpossibi;,,rf IT •-. f ./'"'" '•«P'-e«''t"'g discussion now, I should welcome It for there could not 1,e, there never can be a SuLT/'^i^ *""^ ^^""'' ' ''''«™-''™ "-» the present cident with responsible government in these colonies— a sovereign whose personal virtues have rendered monarchica! principles respectable even to tliose who preferabs rS he repubhcan system-witl. peace and prLperity at P e^ seut within our own borders-we are called on to consfder rtat further constitutional safeguards we need to carry us on for the future ,n the same path of peaceable progression Amtri. kV'T> g^»«emen, did the wide field of pro,Terto'"'tK;°f:^' V^r'r ''^^^'""i ^« i-t^otlvea prospect to the thoughtful observer as in this same eood Twefinrjiie '''• ^'f'^^^S all minor deta™, S Union IS nt this moment throughout the entire new n 4 124< BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. > III world the mot d'ordre of States and statesmen? If we look to the far South, we perceive a Congress of Central American States endeavouring to recover their lost unity ; if we draw down to Mexico, we perceive her new Emperor endeavouring to estabhsh his throne upon the basis of union; if we come farther north, we find eleven States battling for a new Union, and twenty-five on the other side battling to restore the old Union. The New World has evidently had new lights, and all its States and statesmen have at last discovered that liberty without unity is like rain in the desert, or rain upon granite — it produces nothing, it sustains nothing, it profiteth nothing. From the bitter experience of the past, the Confederate States have seen the wisdom, among other things, of giving their ministers ssats in Congress, and extending the tenure of executive office fifty per cent, bejond the old United States period. Prom bitter experience, also, the most enlightened, and what we may consider the most patriotic among the Mexicans, desiring to estabhsh the inviolability of iheir executive as the foundation of all stable government, have not hesitated to import, not " a little British Prince," as I have been accused of proposing, but an Austrian Archduke, a descend- ant of their ancient kings, as a tonic to their shattered con- stitution. Now, gentlemen, all this American experience, Northern, Southern, and Central, is as accessible to us as to the electors of Mr. Lincoln or Mr. Davis, or the subjects of the Emperor Maximihan : it lies before us, an open volume, and invites us to well read, and mark, and digest its contents. It was with a view to contribute my mite at the present stage of the discussion, that I accepted Mr. Pope's kind invitation, and am now here to off'er you as clear a view as I can put into words, of the process of rea- soning and observation by which those who composed the late Conferences arrived at the decisions at which they have arrived, in relation to the constitution and powers of govern- ment in the future Confederation. You have probably all read in the newspapers what purported to be the text — and it was very near the text — of the conclusions arrived at. You have no doubt aU read Mr. Brown's explanations at ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 125 Toronto, and Mr. Galf s further explanations at Sherbrooka • you have probably also seen two other expressions of opinion' on the genera question, m the journals of the day, on^e Cm the Honourable Mr Dorion, who is opposed to all un o^ exceot some sort of Pedp-"*-— -^ ^i^*^^ ^ umon, the Honourable Mi not be prepared ^to agree with Mr. Cameron ; bata leris ative union, uiider our cireumstauces, was simplv oufcf the question. We might as weU ask for the moorand keep askmg until we could get it. It was a que^t^°u between some form of federative union or no unio2 aTau" and I am no at all prepared to say with Mr. Dorion-and never was-that the greater union is not the most desirabfe If conditions can be settled satifactorily to all parUeT It seems to me^and i„ saying so I intend^io shadow of dis- respect to the honourable member for Hoelielaga-that the man who can seriously maintain that union is not strength M n "•" <^'"»P''.'-''"™ly ^"11 communities, owning a common allegiance, existing side by side on the same conti- nent in he presence of much la/ger communitierowuW another aUegianee, would not be stronger and safer unit"! than separate, that such a one puts himself out of the iale of all rational argument. f ^'* I will take as an instance of the irrationality of such an argument, the particular question, the great tU question deZr^h T*" ^p"'^^ »d Englan3_the queSnof detence. The future General Government has reserved to iteelf, saving the sovereignty of England, the control of ou? mihtia and military expenditure. Every one can s^ ITI war with England and the United States would be law Iv a naval war, and such a naval war as the ocean has S before seen-a war tjiat would interest and stir the heart of England even beyond the pitch that made her staid me? chants astonish Lloyd's in 1813 with "three times three cheers," when they heard that the S/iamon had fought a^d captured, and earned the CieMpea/te a prize into Halfc Harbour. Suppose, then, in the event of an iLl!! „r 'i Xi 1 ji|| iill mm i ^mm^Bm 126 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. •'3 ( ; h if our soil, either in Upper Canada or Lower Canada— sup- pose that a flotilla was needed on the St. Lawrence or on Lake Ontario ; that England could spare us the gunboats, but not the skilled seamen ; would it be no advantage to Canada to have the 50,000 Atlantic sailors of the Lower Provinces to call upon for their contingent ^ to such a service ? No doubt the Empire could call on' them now, but unless it restored the press-gang it could not make them come. But if by our union we gave that valuable class of men the feeling of common country ; if by the intercourse and commerce which must follow on our union, that feeling grew to the strength of identity, we would have enough help of that description— drawn from what my col- league, Hon. Mr. Cartier, calls the maritime element— for the asking. The Imperial power, having conceded to all the North American colonies responsible government, can only secure their co-operation, even in military measures, through those several local governments. Every one can see at a glance how much the Imperial power, and we our- selves, would gain in any emergency— if there were but two governments instead of five to be consulted— how much in promptitude, in decision, in time, in unanimity, and in effectiveness. I need not enlarge, I am sure, on so self- evident a proposition as this : the man that will not see it, will not : that is all I need add on that score. It has, indeed, been asserted by the sceptics in our work that all our theories of increased commercial intercourse are chi- merical; and yet, oddly enough, these are the same people who think a commercial union would " secure all the bene- fits" of this chimerical prospect. Well, I will not meet assertion by assertion, but I will answer a conjecture by a fact. At the very time the member for Hochelaga was issuing his rather inconsistent declaration against a political union, as, among other reasons, wholly unprofitable in a commercial point of view, and in favour of a commercial union as all that was to be desired in itself, at that moment the first steamship, laden with breadstuffs, direct from Montreal to Newfoundland, was dropping down the St. Lawrence, as e result of the partial and brief intercourse ADDRESSES ON VARIOTTQ pttbtt^ ^ YAKIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 127 in itself, perhapXt L^nli Xe rf tZ' '^"^ Jf'-'""' |..ess of miiou fn a commie Tp^fvewf'T"' "''^'^■ tion another fact • whilp w» ... i • " ' ^ "V »>««- Harbour last Sep ember dZ l^"^ '" Charlottetown arrival 6f a fin? oeel JoiZ ,t 1°" '"^ "^"^'^ '» *!•« line bet,reen Bostr airirincrM'^rVf " ^^g""" Boston people find the trade J Lt^SlMe^J^- ^1^ cultivating, and thev do it TJ,! . . '''™'' '^O"'"' produce and where tLr,> /«, ^V^""" "'''"« 'here is line of stelt to tn Ire'^tet'r'' "^''^ -*f ^-'i* » nothing to the islanders wh?ch if ai ZfT ^'?'^ ^^' could not just as well snZZtu^ ' l,}^ "'^ distance, Montreal. IrepearhoS^fS no^"" '""" ^"^'i'"' " point as that, with provinSke ol ?, ■^- ' f P'^'" * reputation, is creditfis seCS't/ ?^1,™'? '? '''™g">' *' illustration on this last S n"^'^ ft, [•'"S ^-^^ one other where it is. The stri'; f^r^ea^^hicl"^ f "^ ^*°P'? organisation has over a small nnflf . *, ^".""So pohtical nnitj and disposaUe force but trt'""*..""'^'" '^S'^^^'^ that the aggrLo; mST^isf or\fe^hflSf r^'"-!' hu'ger transaetions in attacking a larger thaiwf! °^""°'' smaller state. If for ev.™„i. • ^ "'^n 'n assailing a in addition to all the iZ^^f'l r?' '^'^'" "^ ^'^'""^ «s-if we could bv nn/^?T ^^o^wment could do for to shut r^7st^IZr£;llTi^^l^%^f'"'> be sure people of Maine, to exclud^ f^m U e Gulf ttt l"*""" 'H Massachusetts, to withhold fmT ill u^T^ fishermen of of New England the S X B^^^ ^ ^™-' question but that we wonH >„;Ju' "^^on—no man can of defence, not now at ^hlv ^^o^l additional means with the Lowe Province IfT'"^ f ! ^'"'"^- ^^ '<> onr forces and ourro^'es n a?StT •""''' T'-^ any sane man pretend that would notT • ' °""' ^""^ to them in their hour of danger ?fHe»? TT^S™ he told, again, the Imnprial r f ' ' x '^' '"""'0 I may «s if thef wil . I reS twTT' '=''?,'^'' ^" '>"*« ^r alone ca/neither dH^o^'lS^St ^^^^ hi 128 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ! fully, nor with so little trespass on our local responsible governments, as a united legislature could through an united public force, M'ith the aid of a Federal treasury. I really, gentlemen, ought to beg your pardon, and I do so, for dwelling so long on the truism that union is, in our case, strength ; but as the first proposition to which we all agreed at the first Conference, I thought I would give some reasons why we had unanimously arrived at that result. Another objector opposes our project because Colonial Union is inconsistent with Imperial connexion. Well, to that we might answer that we are quite willing to leave it to the statesmen of the Empire themselves to decide that point. If England does not find it so, I think we may safely assume it is not so. And, in point of fact, the Impe- rial Parliament several years ago decided the question when they passed the New Zealand Constitutional Act, establish- ing six or seven local governments, under one general government, in that colony. Still another objector con- tends that the complement of Eederalism is Eepublicanism, because most of the States with which we are familiar as Federal States are also Republics. But this objection is by no means unanswerable. It is true Switzerland is a republic in the sense of having no hereditary head, but the United Netherlands, when a Confederacy, were not a Eepublic in that sense. It is true the United States and Mexico, and the Argentine Federations, were all repub- lican in basis and theory ; but it is also true that the German Confederation is, and has always been, predomi- nantly monarchical. There may be half as many varieties of federal governments as there are states or provinces in the world ; there may be aristocratic federations, like the Venetian J or monarchical, like the German; or demo- cratic, like the United States: the only definition which really covers the whole species of governments of this description is, the pohtical union of states of dissimilar size and resources, to secure external protection and internal tranquillity. These are the two main objects of all confede- racies of states, on whatever principles governed, locally or unitedly. Federalism is a political co-partnership, which responsible irough an easury. I id I do so, is, in our lich we all give some result. e Colonial Well, to leave it ecide that k we may the Impe- ition when establish' e general 2ctor con- blicanism, amiliar as )jectioD is rland is a head;, but ere not a Jtates and ill repub- that the predomi- f varieties »vinces in , like the or demo- on which J of this milar size L internal [ confede- locally or ip, which ADDRESSES ON VXBIOtTS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 129' various circumstonce! and ?n\n'''i'""'''"!' "" """' There n,.y be al Jst S™ vSat'"""?.'"'^"'.^^- as of companies in private an7 sS |?fc ^"f^'^'""'"" propriety too, " tlie comDanv T^ t' . ^? '"J'' "'"i company who own the h„?d% '!„ ''!.^*'''' .<" . "«'e each IS widely different 0„V lf.j^ ,■ "fgamsation of it will be of the f^rth cils of ^7^7". ^'. ^"«-''' ' for mutual aid. The an\,Z \ -^ '^"^"^ division- sectional equality toriLtrl'H'* 1?' ^"" " 'he principle which is known Jh i^ ^PP" House_a democratic co„federa«rnexf us a.^^f./PP"''^'''^ '» «'« federation of Germany ' "'^ aionarcliical con- .ua"?: roThet^riXttr T" /'""^ "" "PP-''" servatjve. Well eentlm™ ? P^? '""o ^"■'"gently con- so-that it is a'hS! S whl^''"' "'^'° "'''-'f >* ^e the popular elemS^ot' Se o^ "'rf '^ '^''''' '" t.me. It was remarked long to bv S% r T^ "' and a greater than BolinffbrokX,;^ ii > .^"''ngbroke— remark "-that it is easferto' ^ft "■ u " > P™fo™d on a monarchy, than anvthin^S ^"1"'^ °^ « "-epublic It is always el^y in our S t Z^f? °" * '^P^hiic ence and .demoLtic :S^.lT^J't<'777«e i"m their former Sovereign. Unlike our neighbours, we have had no question of sovereignty to raise. We have been saved from all embarrassment on the subject of sovereignty, by simply recognising it as it already exists, in the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. There, for us, the sovereign powers of peace and war, life and death, receiving and sending ambassadors, still reside so long as Her Majesty and her descendants retain the alle- giance of the people of these Provinces. No doubt, some inconvenience may arise from the habitual personal absence of tlie Sovereign; but even this difficulty, now that the Atlantic is an eight-day ferry, is not insuperable. Next, we made the general, the supreme government, and the local derivative; while the Americans did just the reverse. As to the merits and the consequences of this funda- mental difference, I must observe this, that merely to differ from another, and a sometime-established system, is, of course, no merit in itself; but yet, if we are to be a distinct people from our republican neighbours, we can only be so and remain so by the assertion of distinct principles of government — a far better boundary than the River St. Lawrence, or the Ashburton line. But suppose their fundamental politics to be right, would we then, for the sake of distinction, erect a falsehood at the North, to enable us to contend against a truth at the South? Would we establish monarchy merely out of a spirit of antagonism ? No ! gentlemen, God forbid ! I of course hold not only that our plan of government is politic in itself, but also that it is better than the American. I am prepared to maintain this at all times — against all comers : for if I had not myself faith in our work, I should scorn to inculcate its ABDEESSES ON TASIOCS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 131 ^^ttoZflJ'tu f'^%'"'!'^' - I -'<» *•"> Other of our delibeSns ifpV„i'X".''t '?<:f!'™8'' "'» ''™" tion." I deny Zt th^,, • ^ r''^'' "'e new constitu- are novel orZZt X^Z'^tC ""'=''•7 ^"^^^'^ "nd for ages have existed Tthl p^'^T -?""'"?'"' «" ««'- of the contrivance?!, d,i 'fe Bntish Constitution. Some but the KoyaTau hority t£'°-] "^ P"""'?'^^ "« »«; i.ative Upper House K f«^I'f '''P°"'^^'^y' » "omi: inventions of onr makin/ w7 «■ Jrages, are not ».edici„e warranLfto cL"^ »!^^,f;7» ?«•"-• Patent that our work is a perfect woVk'^h^^f '''' *^ P''«'«"^ perfect, we Imve at least I^-, ' "i^ T """""t "ake it concurrence of the nirt l, .1 ti' ""P""^ °^ '^^^io". by the consent of the sal'^s ,t2 ""'.f '?'"' settlement, and the the origi-nal sln7Z7ZX''''l^'T ■^'^'^^'X ^^^ that the necessity for anyrevisl w^ iV' '" "^ ^"^"^ am quite sure the nennlpL^T t, "' ■ ^*''''"" "ecur, for I to hive it said of Stlw? ^'"T"^ *'" "ever wish seller of the C ce.2rv Sd ^^";.';''*' ^^t ^''""^ ^o"^' the French Consti'utio/ thlf I *j'o"'^' ""J "''"'S ^^l^ed for publications. We Md on ,t iJ^'/ ""f '"•""'' '" Periodical I may say, in the "nirit nf *., "^ foundations, and I trust The Irouudwork of XL t^e .ancient founders, as well, humihty, seKenW 0^^'"'"'"'/'',™ "^ government is these are not nSenthl^f '' ™1 ''"'y ^ear. I t„ow giants indigenourrtfetll r t^^ -> - ti:„,"L;Sn3l^^' undiscipli^ld,";";^^; ants family of humb?e vtZ? T """^ ™'""""' "'an the great demoia y T my "ke nriX' 'T' J/'"'" ■'^"'^<'- !■"'« feeling carried S(o polile" 7' e% '"' "^'"'^■^■y'"^" unreal equality between 1^;!. f 'democracy asserts an trate, the weak and the 2 !?'^ "^e, subject and magis- But Ihe samTvi't s'whtrf!;]''' r^^",'"* ">^ "'t™"'- and conjugal p^e n n ivi» If "°""'' ^''»' "feetion eivil authority^, and rt,^.?» '!t' "'^ ''='^""^1 to uphold anarchical f^m^X^^m^^ntltrlrjiri'?'''^^^ K 2 i : • f. I i 182 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I ' ' There was a time when such a doctrine as this, which T am now inculcating here, in Compton, could hardly get a patient hearing in any part of North America ; but that time is fortunately passed away : it is possible in our days, even for republican writers to admit the merits of the monarchical system, without being hooted into silence, as the elder Adams was when he published in Philadelphia, towards the end of the last century, his eloquent " Discourses on Davila." His grandson and editor, the present able Minister at the Court of St James^, tells us how the printer M'as intimidated from proceeding with the pubhca- tion, and that it was the great cause of his ancestor's Ufe- long unpopukrity ; and for what ? Because he maintained, with Burke and Washington, Bossuet and Shakespeare, the divine origin of society, as against the theory of its human origin, upheld by Jefferson, Paine, Kousseau, and John Locke. John Adams could be President of the United States, but he could not get a printer to publish a general treatise on government which admitted the merits of monarchy — which contended that there was "a natural aristocracy at Boston as weU as at Madrid " — and the in- tolerant outcry then raised against him for the " Discourses of Davila" pursued him to the grave. Another American, of even higher mental mark than President Adams — per- haps the very first intellect of all the authors of trie American system — was on the same ground equally sus- pected and equally abused ; Alexander Hamilton, in his original plan of the American Constitution, offended in the same way as Adams by advocating " a solid and coercive union " with " complete sovereignty in Congress ; " and we all know how, down almost to yesterday, his memory was branded as that of an enemy of the country he did so much to bring into existence. No wonder political science has been almost at a standstill for fifty years on this continent, when no man, however high his position, dared raise a negative to the prevailing democratic theories without per- mission of the clamorous majority for the time being. At last, and almost simultaneously, the negative has been raised at the extremes of North America — Mexico, and Sn£\v-S\rb„me^'t!to'':S' '"'^^..r f- "-at „„, President Adams. We ii^ve no '?.r ■''''^ *''^ P"°'" "f spirit of antagonism to orneft Sk "" '^''''» "' » have enough "in common JfhfS '""'". •' '^.^ ""' ««" obviate any very 2ealonTn,„n„ j- «»»stitutionally to we will /„ h/ve :„ Iirffi?*^" ■>" either part /but distinguish permanently our LlLT''*' '>'""» '» institutions from their imHt.fH? T "'*"• P'op'e. our « « have a hist™^ Sm "t " h^;" '"^'»' ' ("''- 1 nave referred Mr Pi,„; "^siory. assertion of soSh^sSr^rinSl^r"^™™' " «>' being made in Mexico Tt J u T^ ^ <""■ ""n now should reach, by dSratSn7„''i'*/'.f ^^"S« "f Canada i-esults wliioli Mexico ht?„ j forethought, the same depths of hertng anarclifXt"""""! '^' "i^^able whether the new Emper» desi!I? tT "°V?' '"''""''d nnces, or to leave them tlLirtf^ '° consolidate his pro- I know, that with aU the m,^°;f organisations; but this Mexico, I should, for my p^^X" t r' '^T''^^ "^ the permanent establish^ „f „/ ^' "^ """""^^ '»' North than in Mexico wt if '^5'' jnonarohy i„ the selves one great S em I. . T """"^"'^ ^°'™d for our- State-whifh is'^^SllTefoil th!^: r'^'r,/^^''"''' »"<> have but half the nnnni T ""'?" °^ Mexico. If we number of m„o S"'?^;™' »« l>»ve three times tl and while I own tha? I wir*^™" ""=' """ Mexico hasi Enipire, under t e^* f o7rU"""T.'° "'^ Mexican still stronger hope« forK,5 fT^' ^,''*™' ^ confess, free kinglom of Ca^dt IT H ^*''"''"n»t of the Britain. ™' ""''«' "'o auspices of Great dol^te^l^*^- ^; - the '* Conferences could people, the powers of the nrero^?^™ "Vl* Crown to the -ffrage. T^e have pJesJ^edt'e'':' Sl-t '^''"7^ "^e >n use among us, anS we lave S"dtf ""?'^ "i"' - -ci,t,Vwva one or two thaf II III f , m 1 im wifflf 1 Im 1 m 134 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION, ; i II litii ^ ^ were well-nigh lost ; we have been especially careful not to trench on the prerogative of the Crown, as to the rights, or rank, or income of its future representative on this con- tinent ; as to the dignity of the office, or the style and title of the future kingdom or viceroyalty, or by whatever other name it may be Her Majesty's pleasure to designate here- after her dominions on this continent. Next to tlie United States, we have the most extended suffrage in the world ; some think quite too far extended; but in our state of society, I do not see how that is to be avoided, in the selection at least, of the tax-imposing House of Parliament. We have, besides, restored to the Crown one of its essential attributes when, as the fountain of honour, we leave to the Sovereign the confirmation of the second and Conservative Chamber ; and we preserve for the Crown its other great attribute, as the fountain of justice, by retaining its right •.to appoint the Judges, of course upon the advice of the Con- stitutional Councillors of the Queen in this country, who are in turn responsible to Parliament and the people for their advice and appointments. We have provided also, in our new arrangements, that the tenure of all offices shall be good behaviour, in contradistinction to the " spoils prin- ciple " of our next neighbours. In all these respects we have built on the old foundations, in the spirit of the old wisdom, and we have faith, therefore, that our work will stand. Maturally, gentlemen, we cannot expect that our course will be all plain sailing. We must have our difficulties, as all states, new and old, have had ; and this brings me to refer to the apprehensions excited as to the local legisla- tures. The dift'erence of language between the majority of Lower Canada, and the majority of the whole union is a difficulty ; but it is a difficulty which almost every other nation has had and has solved : in Belgium they have at least two languages, in Switzerland they have three chief languages — German, French, and Italian; the Federal form of Government, the compromise between great states and small, seems peculiarly adapted to conciliate difficulties of this description, and to keep politically together men of ADBHESSES OX VAHIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS 135 doubt a good deal of nVS ■, J ' .?""" *'"'™ " »o as there l lol„ moZlTrl^ ^'" "' '^»' Town-sliips, dare say JouTS.I 4e me to !n """' '" * ""''^'''' ""^ ^ r J.tr;f"th':"si?!":!i:=l r "'" -i- r'-«™ »' «>« member i„ Lower Ca La hJ^ "'/" J^'!g«^l'-'Peaki„g reasoaably forTy co eliltw " ',"*T"='' '"""""^ "nd Upper Canada I am n! 'j "''" '""" " ""'""^ in tiisf that they can L alS","' "' ■''^'"■''3 both minori. the reach of Sri „,.„?'' P"'"."^''*-«»cred beyond rights, civil a. d" XTouT T^^^^^^^^ «" tl'eir every possible constitu Si L^nt e for"''"^ *" ''■'""' east and west I am ,„r. ll, ^'""f "'ee for our rainorit es, sidered your specW Zi g™"™'« "''o may be con- (Hon. ]tfr GaU) a„rT """/' ""= Co-'ference- could have be Vo Itv to thr"^ f"? "'"' ^ "y^^lf Conference. But we Q f° ."'«/™e'««'™s of the late colleagues went ^lu 1 1 TetfTll °" ^'i"'"'™ power of disallowaiiPP Za .^"^*~-*"at m securing the warrant it, ^'r^G^Tr' Greyer in*'''-'='! '"^•" appomtment of Judges and LocalG™ 's to tST^ "'? Government, and in exnre^^lv r..Z,r ■ , General tion for the educaLnJ S ^ T?,'"^ '" "'" ^^O'''"'"- taken every nosSe^lr^ f H'' •"''"°"^"' ""^ ^ educationafaSt teeslJ^g'^^^^^^ by a sectional majority YoTw?!? bl /'"'"""'' """""'J' the Queen's name J^ich fthi^ t/et Tor""!'" Government T^ wS bel^Sf'/'jf "'• t «™^'-' UUU8 yon cannot protect your own interests, it in f 'If I! 136 BRITISH- AMERICAN UNION. «i . !.; ;J will be the first time you ever failed to do so. The • Protestant minority in Lower Canada and the Catholic minority in Upper Canada may depend upon it the General Government will never see them oppressed — even if there were any disposition to oppress them — which I hope there is not in Upper Canada ; which I am quite sure there is not in Lower Canada. No General Government could stand for a single session under the new arrangements without Catholic as well as Protestant support ; in fact, one great good to be expected from the larger interests with which that Government will have to deal will be, that local prejudices, and all other prejudices, will fall more and more into contempt, while our statesmen will rise more and more superior to such low and pitiful politics. What would be the effect of any set of men, in any subdivision of the Union, attempting, for example, the religious ascendency of any race or creed ? Why the direct effect would be to condemn themselves and their principles to insignificance in the General Government. Neither you here, nor the Catholic minority in Upper Canada, will owe your local rights and liberties to the forbearance or good- will of the neighbouring majority; neither of you will tolerate being tolerated ; but all your special institutions, religious and educational, as well as all your general and common franchises and rights, will be secured under the broad seal of the Empire, which the strong arm of the General Government will suffer no bigot to break, and no province to lay its finger on, should any one be foolish enough to attempt it. This is the frame of government we have to offer you, and to this system, when fully understood, I am certain you will give a cheerful and hearty adherence. We offer the good people of these colonies a system of government which will secure to them ample means of preserving external and internal peace ; we offer to them the common profits of a trade, which was represented in 1863, by imports and exports, to the gross value of 187,000,000 of dollars, and by a sea-going and lake tonnage of 12,000,000 of tons! We offer to each other special ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS 137 year ; we give them what tli^v need Zr 1 V^ '''7 tl.ey must IZfS , ^Zlftllf iT'f TS«'' ^'"'''''''• one reasou why I, .'.^ea!l S 'i ^ J^'^^t »'? '"' have continued an nrlv««„f % l^^V P * °^'' ^* season, . accounts pro or «,» w.H,^ .♦ """V""""*. "<> exchanges or postal anf LvelC pull 'r !;™"^««°'' t^"" f" modern Mediterranean the tr.? T '""^."""^ »" ""^ wnrlrl H,,.'. I "™' ™ '™e Central sea of the western give, a distinct historical existence To T^St! ''^^ ''*,'' and contrast in the greatest Itos C „« 2!!^°° principles tested in their rp,iilt.T„j' • * ^''^ ''*™ .ystem's gauged, T.r22"'^'Z^ZT.T^''f ""J s ate, reformed and revised, fLS aid reflld \l abundantly supph^d"„Vl^-''^orru=^^^^^^^^^^ 138 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. II » those of our neighbours, so that no Cicero need ever, from personal considerations, enter into indefensible incon- sistencies, and no Tacitus be forced to disguise his virtuous indignation at public corruption, under the thin veil of an outlandish allegory. I may be sanguine for the future of this country, — ^but if it be an error of judgment to expect great things of young countries, as of young people who are richly endowed by nature, and generously nurtured, then it is an error I never hope to amend. And here let me say, that it is for the young men. of all the Provinces we who labour to bring about the Confederation are especially working ; it is to give them a courtry wide enough and diversified enough to content them all, that we labour; it is to erect a standard worthy to engage their affections and ambition ; it is to frame a system which shall blend the best principles with the best manners, which shall infuse the spirit of honour into the pursuit of politics, that we have striven — and who can be more interested for our success than the young men of these Provinces, who are to carry on the country into another century ? We in our time hope to do our duty; not only in " lengthening the cords and strengthening the stakes " of our constitutional system, with a view to that future, but in guarding jealously, in the perilous present, the honour and integrity of this province. I may say to you here, on the Eastern frontier, that the Government of the day are fully informed of all the machinations that have been set on foot, within and without our borders, to drive, or tempt, or trick Canada, out of that straightforward neutrality commanded by the Queen's Proclamation four years ago. So far, we have been enabled to maintain that neutrality in the letter, as well as in the spirit, and I trust we may be equally successful in doing so, so long as it may be required of us. I am well convinced there is no Canadian who would wish his Government to make any base compliance — to overdo or overstrain any legal obligation — in order to buy for us the inestimable boon of peace ; but I am equally convinced, and you will agree with me I feel confident, that all that can be done by way of prevention, however i h ADDRESSES ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 139 was proud of the self-control, the abilitv ViTp !.^^°'.^^'°- , I and f„. your representatives fn pXl?„t J / my 'frS whether this greatTorl t\t ST'^'an 7' preMoe impede, Jno Sso^.^al Sn'otst^L t H f 140 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I • n great work. "Why I the very Aborigines of the land might have instructed the sceptics among ourselves that union was strength. What was it gave at one time the balance of power on this soil to the Six Nations, — so that England, Erance, and HoUaad all sought the alliance of the red- skinned statesmen of Onondago ? What was it made the names of Brant, and Pontiac, and Tecumseth so for- midable in their day ? Because they too had conceived the idea — an immense stride for the savage intellect to make — that union was strength. Let the personalities and partisanship of our times stand abashed in the presence of those forest-born Federalists, who rose superior to all mere tribal prejudices in endeavouring to save a whole people. And now, my friends of the County of Compton, once more receive my grateful thanks ; have no fears for the rights of the minority, but be watchful as you ought to be, and as I am sure your worthy member (who is always at his post when your interests are at stake) will be. The Parliament of Canada is, as you are aware, called by His Excellency for despatch of business at Quebec, on the 19th of January; it is an early call ; end I am sure you all feel it will be an important session. I am, I do assure you, persuaded in my inmost mind, that these are the days of destiny for British America; that our opportunity to determine our own future, under the favour of Divine Providence, is upon us ; that there is a tide in the affairs of nations, as well as of men, and that we are now at the flood of that tide. Whether the men who have this great duty in charge will be found equal to the task, remains to be proved by their votes ; but for my part, I am hopeful for the early and mutually advantageous union of all the Provinces ; for the early and firm establishment of our monarchical Confedera- tion on this continent. THE IRISH IN CANADA; THE IMPORTATION OF FENIANISM. and, so far as He can, for whom we hwo «)=„ *„ i ' v.s,on suited to this t^jing seal lit t e at all w'itC ut fZw'"'' \"''^'^ r' '^° otherwise «,an b h« " c wi« outtrh ™ "'"* ^ ''^^'"^ •» '-'^'^^ a t pVv^ ^ege, without winch my presence l.^rfi «onid Up -,..,..-"/ i, -Wil ;,' If >iti '', ? 142 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ' J »f useless both to you and to me ; and the first of them is, to say a few words, which I may have no other opportunity of saying, on behalf of an admirable object, for which a reverend gentleman from Ireland is at present canvassing the city — I allude to the Eev. Mr. Beausang, of the Catholic University of Ireland. Being so long out of old Ireland, fully conscious of the changes that have taken place in myself and in the circle of my own friends during sixteen years, I always speak with great diffidence when I venture to give any public expression to opinions on Irish topics of the day. Moreover, gentlemen, as you may have observed, I do not belong to the Jefferson Brick school of poUticians (Jefferson, you may remember, was of opinion that his leading articles in the " Eowdy Journal " made the Czar shake in his shoes at St, Petersburg). I have rather avoided than sought to" parade in public the often-abused name of our glorious " old country." I have avoided doing so, because I feel no stirrings of national gratification in presenting my native land in the character of an habitual victim, or a perpetual plaintiff; or an unsatisfied petitioner for the cold world's pity. I dislike as much as Moore did that she should *' Yearly kneel before our masters' doors ! And hawk her wrongs as beggars do their sores ! " ); m-\ f lii I consider it the part of true patriotism not to jeopardise the position of the Irish in these British Provinces — half a million strong or thereabouts — by idle or irritating retrospective con- , troversies j by fighting over again the battle of the Boyne ; or disputing about the merits of the illustrious Prince, who '■was the victor, and the unfortunate King, who was the van- quished in that eventful contest. The Irish mind has been fed too much on stimulants and too little on solids : and this, among other reasons, is one of my strongest motives for desiring the secure establishment of an Univer- sity of their own, springing from amongst and congenial to the spirit of tfie Irish Catholics still in Ireland. On this view, I may say I hope without presumption, that I saw with very great regret, but still greater surprise, Lord ADMESSES ON VAWOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 143 Palmerston's refusal to anrnt « p..i; that Universitv TherP ^ !» PoriiMnentary charter to recognised bfaw in Irrnd E'r-'^ Universities SLVSCV.lI7i:«^^ 'P '»? S resp'ec't^S Irishman can fo L 1 ft ft la^ ^l t/ ""iho-'o""'- No all our »ost faS pub ic Jen of An T 51^ "^ »'""'^' its first and greatestSLr^X'™' itf it '™'J not least ornament, Isaac Butt. No cZ\^jJ, ""n consent to part with the reputation of Wn' ™'"»«n wiU Plunkett, o'f T.C.D., becal" e ™ L s'S a d'^f'^l''"" minister, and educated at the cost of tL .1 Assenting " may old Trinity flourish and be fo„„H f ^"'"^"'y-Iong tenaciously she mav cW to L Fi* ?i, """' ' ^""^"^^ and distinLns S 0? u, ^rof ih" f"'"'"' '^^'^• era, should ever forget tha her ^.11 f Emancipation Dr. Macdonnell (fX „f^,he =£wf ' ^"'°^ Nova Scotia, and uncle of my Kend Dr 1i 7'™?f °f this c ty), was one of th.. « Uuietly rebuked, when the scho arsL nfV"V''''''7'''" its due but dignified recoCTtoon to fh» "" ^ ''""''"''* genius of a prLeof scS fa"d a prin'TtrP '"'' Church. But while wp pat, o^^ j ^ ^ *^^ itoman with aU its dogmas Lrdifnc^itlXlT ''™''^' Never once for hi t^i^ l^dU "ye^ ?/ ^JIS 144 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. l 'm I i i<\ annals have religion and science been considered irrecon- cileable in Ireland — never have they been other than help, mates to each other — never has the decree of their utter divorce been pronounced until our own days, and never, I trust, either now or hereafter, can that unnatural divorce be carried into effect. Speaking as a layman — as a poli- tician, if you choose — I repeat, with all deference, that it seems to me a most calamitous mistake for the Imperial authorities to make war upon the laudable ambition of the Irish mind, to found for Catholics a Catholic University, and to have its statue fixed by legislative enactment. But I will not dwell upon this subject farther than to commend to my countrymen and co-religionists who are here tlie cause which brings the present delegate of that University, the Rev. Mr. Beausang, among us. There is another sub- ject which more immediately concerns ourselves, in Mon- treal and in Canada, which has lately occupied a good deal of the attention of the press — I allude to the alleged spread of a seditious Irish society, originating at New York, whose founders have chosen to go behind the long Christian record of their ancestors, to find in days of Pagan darkness and blindness an appropriate name for themselves. A statement having been made the other day in the Toronto Globe, on the authority of its Montreal Correspondent, that there were 1500 of these contemporary pagans in Montreal — a statement made I am sure without intentional malice on the Correspondent's part — I felt bound, as I suppose you may have seen, to deny absolutely that statement. The denial was not given in my own words, but the alleged fact was denied, and that was the main point. I now, in your presence, repeat that denial on behalf of the Irish Catholics of this city ; I say there could not be 15 such scamps asso- ciated and meeting together, not to say 1500, without your knowledge and mine ; and I repeat absolutely that there is no such body amongst us, and that the contrary statements are deplorably untrue and unjust, and impolitic as well as unjust. I regret that papers of great circulation should lend themselves to the propagation of such statements, which have a direct tendency to foster ed irrecon- than help, their utter id never, I ral divorce -as a poH- nce, that it le Imperial tion of the University, Qent. But 3 commend 3 here the University, lother sub- s, in Mon- i good deal ged spread ork, whose ^ Christian in darkness iselves. A he Toronto ndent, that Q Montreal mal malice I suppose lent. The dleged fact )w, in your h Cathohcs amps asso- thout your at there is statements tic as well circulation of such to foster ADDBESSM ON YAEIOUS PUBUC OCCASIONS, 145 S^' wl'Te result" Z t "'^^ ''■"^^ "> -»'«"• Canada. Any [wo o, mor.t "" """^ P^* "f Upper trates-and with nnnn "'™"' <" ""schievous magis- peace the?e I^^ l/JlZll!^' commission ofll,e more of these may Xect « 1^ ^K ' 'J^r""^ *"» °' rigours of martial LaT,1 a ™'#'''">"l>ood to all the searches havfb 'en „ade ttn'^T.' ""'^ ""^^'ho^ed churches; alreaX as fn Jr„ f ^^ """ '" Catholic magistrates livTytiZ^ll *' ^"^^ "^ ^""'<'- «'« class of the Veo;7:^Z'ti'Z7 Xrcor"^ ""' of evil mavflow fmm *ki„ 7 "7- ,,"'!»' consequences aible man shudder And th.f' '?"?'' '"''^'' ""? "espon- to these often invented 1 J t '' "" """^ '<• ? Why, reports. Observr?le aWr/ fi*^' ^^^aggerated, newspaper to cut in all thT ,u^nis-the K ^f ^?'^' *^ "^de to tremble before rSi^„f 7'"^™* ™"'™ «'« ""ade Fenians in tharq^rter °? tl ' m™V ^"^ "^ "^^f" "■'e they are as whoinnlnffi. ! "''''^' ^ ™"'"^'' to say other respect At\"S, '" """^^'^ "' '« every all unaskS advi^rs I wouid'rk°'^''\™S "'^ ^^'^ »f Canada, in each ocalilv ffH ^- ° *''' '^'"'"'''■'=« "f Upper this for ignlttt^sL^^^^^^^^^ estabhsh at once, for your owrsakesfi?,', '''"''''« y°"' »ake-a oor>« permitted to^extt mlgu/drw u"nt Tr'^'r^, "°""' '^ nity, socially, noliticdlv »!!l """."P™ the whole commu- Catl olic who hearsZ: ^t 'f^'"^\- How would any «e, and St'Xr^^-it ba^S p'^ fif'' 'Tr" ^ im ui 146 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I these wretcbed conspirators, if they had the power, would bring to pass as surely as fire produces ashes from wood, or cold produces ice from water. I repeat here, deliberately, that I do not believe in the existence of any such organisa- tion in Lower Canada — certainly not in Montreal ; but that there are or have been emissaries from the United States among us, for the purpose of establishing it, has been so often and so confidently stated, that what I have said on the general subject will, I hope, not be considered untimely or uncalled for. By the law of Lower Canada the adminis- tration of an oath of membership in any secret, seditious society is a penitentiary offence, punishable by twenty years' imprisonment; and the taking of such an oath is punishable by seven years' imprisonment. By the law of the Church, membership in any such society, if persevered in, entails, ipso factOf the penalty of excommunication. I will just refer to an excellent recent work, the Lectures on Modern History, by Professor Eobertson, of the Catholic University of Ireland, where the chief decrees on this sub- ject, collated by Professor Murray, of Maynooth College, show that Pope Clement XII., Pope Benedict XiV., Pope Leo XL, Pope Pius VIL, and the present Pope Pius IX., have all strongly condemned these societies. (Mr. McGee here cited the titles of the several decrees by which this description of societies had been condemned.) By all those solemn Acts of ecclesiastical legislation, secret seditious societies are expressly and in the most emphatic terms con- demned ; and as we, in this Society, are all Catholics, I feel that I am justified in strengthening my own position by a circumstantial reference to those august authorities. Causa finita est ! Mr. President, — I have been led to speak at greater length than is usual with me on these occasions, because I may not again for some months have an opportunity of meeting you all, face to face. We, the Irish inhabitants of Montreal, are doing very well as we are. We are, young and old, some 30,000 j our mechanics compare favourably with those of any other origin j our young professional men are putting forth the promise of great talents ; our ADDRESSES OK VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 147 that there is not, K rfo'll S^ f '"''"'^''^^ able community of Irishmen a3 11 " J ' * "'?''^ '^'P'"'" found anywhei ihrt^:: Z' Zw^^^'T' ^^.^ with pnde— for it i^ a n,.«..j .i- !''"'''• I say this When I contolte thifr ^'".^ '" ''" "'''« to say. may, in their joTatd sh rin^Tn"?:;" ^^ 't'"'"^? "^ ^ "^' template their peaceful T?^ tr,als,_when I oon- resp^ct and confidence nn »n ■ J' "t'"'^'^ ''^'^'' «a<=tinff that any newspaner Lr^ ^ "?''' ? """"o' """ ^''^ ^^eenly asperseVem ^a biXr '''™''f«' should attempt to shSuld darra^ociate thel ~"'P'f °"' <»• that an/ one anti-social de" M^' ^sldent"^^' with lawless and know, and I trust TvL '.f "^^ ^ood cause you can at any tU™l3 m/ sfier'^^^r^Lr h't"°"'' will continue to grant me ., t services; but you 2e«sat large wilfgranr^e tl^T ?™ '"'•'/'"'•"■««- stricted free speech^ whenr;. T ^^'tf "S"" »' ""f"'- eithet a speciafsocietv or tit ^"^ f"?'? »'" '» «''" f"" "as myzealfrv™, ilf u^r'''y°'''l'°y'™>t8: it what / hive tnC edi ";in'^'7utThis'l tl "r^'^" say, that wherever the flag aCe us is af iL i ^ ""^ our community is in questln-we ^ be fou„7l ''"'.' 0? th ftis ,t±' "f o-irl'h'bi^rdlir classes of HltSeiJC^rdianl^ecr'""'"" •''" ^" m mm X.2 SP M] Corni now 1 it his of Pa time, tain n the CO throng conten engage would the ch Govern then tc which, to be s( Therefo last im * Tliis Upper and Union Ac< tent of its PAET II. SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. "THE DOUBLE MAJOKITY."* H„™ 0, A3.».„. T„„™, 4„„ 28,,. ,859. now before the Hou^rtd fh^^^T"' .;'*^;«'=''' "''t thai it his duty to support'^ If ft I ^it- '^'=«''^) had felt time, a valuable moment for tlw!i^ i *,'" "'« P^sent tain moderate vi^ws and t^hr ''" ^'J'^'''^^ *» «nter. «>e countr, to ml^lt tatrruTl^ 'S'"™"'' -» throughout the length and hr^uAtu ,J, influence felt contended, in the fery debSl V\' ^t"'^- '' ''^> he engaged. I„ all probaWlitv tL w '^H *'^'? '^^'^ *i.e„ would ever take pC in a Un trrr"'"- w '"'"'^'^^'-ich the chief city of Uuner Pnn.^ u ^islature sitting in Government intended to ^^fn^'f ^' ^''"""^ 'hat^the then to remove to Ottawa^ tw *"" ^'^^ ^ ^^K and which, though situated in ir™V''T'''''"y '» ■•^'ide-- to be so peculiarlv ir™, H'^P*' C^ada, could not be said ThereforeTwa: ft; SIT *T ^V^^ "' ^^'o" '-iinponant debate ^:^t£1:^:te?ti^-^: * Tliis was a constitutional exBedient K^ ^i,- i. •. Upper and Lower Canada had an Si ^nS"'' '*7'' P''*'P°««'J. that aa Union Act, no legislation " should be for.^"" '^f J^e^^bers, uider the li 150 BRITISH-JlMERlCAN UNION. Upper Canacfa. They were first of all to go to Quebec for four years; but where, he would ask, was the guarantee that the Union would last four years in the present con- dition of the Province ? When they heard leading repre- sentatives of the people who occupied seats in that House, instituted under and oy virtue of the Union, give utterance to disunion sentiments; when they heard such sentiments loudly proclaimed from one side of the House, and echoed tauntingly back from the otlier, and when they heard gentlemen declare "well, let a severance of the Union come — we are prepared for it," these, he asserted, were strong symptoms and unmistakeable indications of what the feeling of both sections of the Province was on that point. If the Government believed tlie Union workable, or that it could be made workable, it was their most solemn duty to have rebuked such sentiments. But their very silence showed that their beHef was that the present Union was not workable ; that its dissolution was a mere matter of time ; that it was on its last legs, and that it was either unworthy of being defended or incapable of any defence at all. Where could it have been with more propriety defended than in the chief city in Upper Canada, and in the course of a debate in which sentiments diametrically opposed to Union had been uttered ? He had no doubt in his own mind that they would find the difficulties which had distracted the Legislature during tliis session, as well as the last, would assume a greater degree of gravity in Quebec, And why P Tiie hon. member for Montmorency had talked eloquently and well upon the necessity of com- promise, and no man recognised the importance of that doctrine more than he (Mr. McGee) did, for the spirit of compromise was the spirit of harmony ; but where was it desirable that that compromise should be made ? He (Mr. McGee) would answer, on that very spot, in the chief city in Upper Canada, and in the presence of the people of Upper Canada. If the hon. gentleman was as bold a statesman as he was an advocate in that House, that was the place to settle the difficulties arising between both sections. Could it be reasonably expected that hon. mem- ion. mem- SPEECHES m CAVADUN PARLIAMENT. 151 arguments and Drouo,„l. „f ' "''' ^'^''' «> "a'ii'y to present Union tafa 'Idefl^irTfT" ^ ,. ^- ^^ "'« this was the time this wa, t . -^ " "'"'''' ''^ upheld- (Mr. McGee) had o,t „^ tjTT' 5° I""'" '«• "" acquainted with thcZluLT^T^ f '?''''"? himself country, and ha was c^nvCd ttttt-/''^™^^'"" '^^ when he said that there exS s, .t ! ''.'l''"' .^""ggmte the upper section of the Si, 1^,'"' "^ '"""''»" in theautLrityofmrmbe™rrpZl' "•''•''? ?"" «'^''. »" too, that if this erTof dt,ni ''"^".'" Lower Canada popular. Had the Ld of thHr ""Z '^'""^ '' ^""^^ "o let it not be annountd bf the "uter ' of r""" ' • '' '"' people, nor yet let it h. iZ u i i ^ °' "'e Passions of fhe Wt of £r repttt 1 f ^^ I'~t/debate, on IS to steer the ship'^ofStetefct^fiwr "''''''' '""'y'' and if the evil must come let tC % ^ *'H- ^'"P^" P"*, the sliock. It was ,a^d i., ^'"^ ^pedients to break Home Governml^ wouW L """"" """'''""tion that the Union. iC could ontr P"""' " d'^^olntion of the analogy, and LthTna he LtenTd "'"'''' *'"" P°"" f""" their colonial history" hal "ueh »n 5 f "S" '""»™°'' *» and Nova Scotia wKmerlv „1 '"'• ^'" Brunswick separated by the actL nfT^ povmce, and had been Breton hadC s t°ted^^ ?'"'' ^^^^'T^nt. Cape as Labrador had SrSel^dZr^V^r™ '"/»' vmce be onsed orieinallv tr.i,. ^'^ ^PPef Pro. separated from uTmi h P^^'lf of Quebec-was later. Judging from thl .„! • i v""*"^ ^^ * eentury country had^ em plsu J 1? P°'«'J' ^^ich the mothei than tL, if aZsoEn of t !n'- """""^ '""'" ""^^i" for, it wo'uld not b Xed mZv""- ''™''?'^ P'^^'^'' had as deeply at heart he h»l^ ^^^ impartially. He the religiouVinstitSs o'f ":; &? T"""? '"'' Canadian could have An^ I,, i! i "" ^ ^ny Lower them attacked v^tho'it puig ft^'wi^ri; d^^/?'' ''^''' against such utterances In ft.t !, ''^"'^'' P'''''est feit as strongly ^ryVoViSd'dTKnTr^^r^tf iiiVH iHl 152 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. tlie social and religious institutions of Lower Canada, and if they were attacked — and might that day be far distant — his duty would be to unite himself heartily with those who defended their hearths and their altars. On the other hand, he had a very deep, strong, and sincere feeling of interest in the people of Upper Canada. He belonged to them by birth ; he had a great deal in common with them ; one-third of them were emigrants like himselt^ and he could therefore speak impartially on the subject. In that spirit he M'ould say that, badly as they got on under the present system, they would get on much worse if the Union were severed. The radical evil did not lie so much in the system as in that insatiable thirst for office which made every man believe himself a born statesman, and imagine that he should succeed to office after occupying a seat for twelve months in that House. Too many of them desired by illegitimate means to attain to wealth, to have a hand in a job, and surreptitiously to arrive at a position to the attainment of which men in other countries were willing to devote the best and the greater portion of well-spent lives. This spirit he regarded as dangerous — as the rock against which they would split if proper caution was not used. That was the spirit which would prove their ruin, and which would produce a dissolution of the Union. It would be doubly productive of evil in Quebec, as there the French Canadian influence would be stronger, and consequently the suspicions of the people of Upper Canada would be more aroused. Mr. Cauchon — That will strike in both ways. Mr. McGee — That is your view of sound policy. The hon. gentleman thinks Lower Canada has now the power and will keep it. Mr. Cauchon — I never said so. I hope you don't want to misrepresent me. What I said was that we ought not to make L^^y concession to Upper Canada without being well aware of what we are doing. Mr. McGee said that such grave issues as those between the two sections of the Province ought not of course to be settled without mature deliberation. The hon. gentleman SPEECHES IN CANADIAK PAEMAMEKT. 153 which he was e„c„uS\v1or'!i/''^' "'«''*' i""^ '" specting the eentlempn »I,„V j I S^""™™ opposite, re- the A/mi„i:tSn Yn/u.tlst"r''''l"P''!' '° '""» suppose it possible th»t tr£f !•' *' ""'' »"J"«'- To been fructiK an,! ft£ ,• 9"*^.''°"^' «<»ne of which had settled in tf el^ht h^ "^ "™\*'"' ^mon, could be not have alUd t thk^r ^'' t"«'J- Ha would show the eid"tenVof an Jf %'''? '■' ""' incidentally n.en unfairi;t"fr'the ntsTtdTe '° ^'r P""'' position in which thpir ,^fl the country~m a instead of taki g t^^^^^^^^^ ^' .endangered, opportunity of bein-Tsefnl .n^ ' f^ ?''"^ ^^^««^ ^^ Instead of beinrtreatedt .n\ '^ -"^^ f ^"' ^' P^^^^^le. wi-. harshneSf stX nrun^^^^^^^^^^^ ^toT" ^^^^^^^ a spirit existed, it showed cIe«rv?Wv ^""^ ^' '"^^ that they should srawZi^ ^l^wly that it was not desired theory4hat S^ Z otTaliol^'T'/'^? ^^ m the mind of Lord Svdfmlin^ ! nation—which existed abandoned on toth sfdts and'tt^ "^"'"'''^ ^'^ ^^^^ could be made towards Sie^^^^ ZnT'' ?^''''^ was one of those who dL red that if ^h. ''"^''^' ^'' were displaced, it should be onlvfn i ^'^T^ ^^'^^"^ complete and perfect uLn 7 ^^l^ T^^ ^°' ^ "^^^^ to tL speedy SoTthis «! :ttV"^^^^ cipient nat bnality, which in +110^ "^^^^l"^? ^"to an m- the consent of the nrrent s/.f. ^" "^ °f t^^ne, .nd with the nations of the ^Zw'u """" '" ^'\' '^' ^^'''^ ^™^^% that prospect to be aiul!' '' ^'^^ ^^^ ^^^ "«<^ believS with confidence to th«f l "^ ^ "' ^"" ^^^« ^^^^ed forward say that fwrnot f sotrnTd^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ -'^^ occupied the Treasury BenX« fJ 1 ?^"^^e«»en who. parting word to S pS '^'^^ ''"°"«^^ °"« ^^^^ iitally concerned Sand on ?h ' ^"'^^^"^ ^^^"^^ "^««* bidding her adieu show .n, '""P'J '^<^ «^^^^i«» «f adopting or relSLrrf TV ''"'T^^' g^^^^d« f«r for Cornwall ^ ^ ' resolutions of the hon. member '*■ 11 j|; i I CONSTITUTIONAL DIFFICULTIES BETWEEN UPPER AND LOWER CANADA. ! I " I HousB OF Assembly, Que^ku, Mat 2nd, 1860. Mr. Brown (Toronto) having moved a series of reso- lutions affirming the necessity of constitutional changes in the relations of Upper and Lower Canada, Mr. McGeb said — I have no intention of detaining the House by speaking at any great length, snaA still less of following in anything like detail, the observations made last night by the member for North Hastings (Mr. Benjamin). I listened to the hon. gentleman's speech throughout, with a great deal of attention, but I failed to perceive any con- clusive argument in all that he said. The exposition he made to this House reminded me of Palstatf's "penny- worth of bread to such an unconscionable quantity of sack." (Laughter.) But, though I do not intend to follow in argument, as I must follow in point of time, the hon. member for North Hastings, if the House will allow me, I shall offer some views which X have formed for myself, from a careful perusal of the political records of this Pro- vince, as well as of the sister colonies of British North America, and after giving them all the attention I could, both during the recess and during former sessions, when I had the honour of attending this House, and had the use of its valuable library, the most valuable possession we have, I shall offer to the House with great deference the views which I considered it my duty to form in relation to this question, which differs most materially from any other question that can come before this House. On every other occasion, we are either debating a particular ex- penditure, or we are for or l^ltnst a particular law, but iu II SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PABLUMENT. 155 this discussion we have rai«8PrI ^h^ i whether or not we ou^k tl kJ i. "« P^vious question, that, at this momen" th,^ R ''^'•^-"tether it is true branches of thrSature IT" ™'^ *' co-ordinate according to the V^^^iZrC^dloft """"iT' Government. We are deLing the tenu^ nf *''F°™''''« istence, whether we havp fi,lli j .1 °t °'" """» «- tenure, and whether it is iX '^ ?"<""'"^ "^ ^at stituents that thatTenure should 1™?*^%°* »" ™- question of much morni" scotfi"?^''- '^'' "^ " any particular expenditure, whiymaW t^ ^P^'^ °^ our form of Government «;.„ J ^* P'*"* ""^Cf may either pass he oTrefect Zf^'K "^ "^.f ''^"^ '^^ before goin^ farther. tha?tWs is not {he S't*"'" ^^'^^' second, nor the thir^ ih^t X '^"^•^^J^e lirst time, nor the been ^nd.rZnZnf^t^^^''*^''^ °\^'^' has Sir Heng CavendishVreportof « l^^'^'Zh*", "" »?• Quebec B 1" in the TmnJ.i b i- "abates on the ^miliar to mostLteJ'^/i^^tr'that d''*' ^ occupied the Commons of OrZi nT- •'"* *«cassion engaged the earnest attention oflhe^hlT ff" ''*^'' "'«' fet half of George the Thwf ^ 'ttlm I""' were, accordmato Sir Onv Po.i.t" ^ 'x^, ™ '''*' tbere settlers in aU Canada and Lt I'.'"" ''•'»™400 British altogether, includW "supnlsTt'S '\*? ^?'"'"' '■^^•'itants fonstitutiiu continT;i iZCffl^ Abor,g,nes The first It was then abolished- two^^^ ''91-seventeen years; fegisktures,con3istg;^a„Sec„tiv':h''''f T/^'^' ^"^ bers each, were grantld to TTnn™ j i^*'' *'"' *''" c''*'"- disoussion on the Canada ife MI °^'' ^T^' '^'> mens of Great Britain Sx dfv,, I """"P'^** ">« Co""- first statesmen of thSenerSnTil^r ™''f"5? ''7 tl>e which was chieflv dw^tl j "'^' "•« discussion from by the mlbertr Konto' T' '"«t '"-"'-J very remarkable in everv resoZ L "•? * .''"cnsaon point of time with threS!?!.""'' i' '^^"'^^ '» which at that day occupUre mfnrf, f"1, 1"' P^^'pH the civilised worid. Te ieat^"!" "' ^''''T «'?'csme„ in Kevolution were then nteY^j^^rinr:?!*"^ "'™^'' i , ev 156 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ( \ the Canada Act of 1791 got entangled in the consideration of the general principles involved in the discussion of the issues raised by the French Eevolution, and as the member for Hastings said last night, led to the rupture of a political and personal friendship of twenty-five years' standing, be- tween two of the most illustrious statesmen of Great Britain, Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox — a rupture, however, which did not grow, as he said, out of the merits of the Canada Bill, but from the introduction of French politics into the debnte by Burke, as was charged by his former friei'd Fox, — unjustly and unnecessarily. The constitution adopted in 1791 differed very materially from that adopted iu 1774, and continued for twenty or thirty years, without encountering any formidable criticism or censure. It went into effect in Lower Canada at once, and in Upper Canada in 1796. It was called in those days the "New Constitu- tion," and had its eulogists and enthusiastic admirers. We have an anecdote in Christie's " History of Canada," that when Prince Edward, father of her present Majesty, and grandfather of the young Prince, whom we expect soon to see amongst us, visited this colony, he quelled an election riot at Charlesbourg, in this neighbourhood (Quebec), by appealing to the meritfj of the " New Constitution," and the advantages Canadiajis had obtained under it. After a full and fair trial, however, the New Constitution was found not to work well. It was found that the colony had out- grown it. Time and experience, those great instructors of all statesmen, who are not wilfully blind or hopelessly in- capable, proved wiser than Lord North in 1774, than Mr. Pitt and his colleagues in 1791, exposed many gaps and vacant spaces in the once lauded constitution, and pointed out many occasions and many reasons for change, improve- ment, addition, and amendment. Dissatisfaction strongly manifested itself in Lower Canada about the year 18:iJ2. The relations of the Executive and Legislature were not defined. The relations of the Judiciary to the Executive and Legislature were not defined. The House of Assembly had spent the greater part of two sessions, 18 18 and 1819, in impeaching the Chief Justice and three or four of the 1 It. SPEECHES IK CANATUK PAEtlAMENT. 157 a court of impeLhmeut S? ? competency to sit as question, whfch was refe-r.? K T */'^'', """'Wutional Prince Eegcnt's Government • L^u ^f"'."'"'^ *<> «•« mtoconsiderationrnodSononth "'"."f '' " "'"^ taken by the Home GovWmenrfrl fW 5°'"' *"■' ''^» gi"'" hear.) In lX2r*v; ,-,""''%''> 'his. fftear the ist poplt'tsXt" 1 "g ^'"™^^' ">» M" pctitionerKnSionfr^l, ' '^"'^1 °f Commons^as a gradnaUy becoSg ac rtoLI^^'p ^/"^ ='* «"" «■»« ment, which at fir^t of cn^ri °f *^°"»titutional Govern- curious fact-a fact oerhrwl' / '*^'""- ^» 't is a entirely worked out of Th?' ''I "^f^ °^ *'''* «■•« uot yet that the mSy of lower r'^'"'' "f-?"'*^' ^anada,- iu the first" Ze wth L r. TA- '*' T* "'^■"^^'v"' having been trained mder tl ^,"f' ''"''"n"! Government, and his predecessors™ :'a'';rS2'for'"s,,f ""?'"'^'^ mihtary power. Wlie.i th. P„ *•* ?? , submission to posed, ithe French popdatnor''''V°^ ^"* ^'^ P™- ahnost to a man aS if « Lower Canada petitioned to be mflicteTwifrau Vssemblv "Th''' ""'^ ¥»<" ^^^ AssembUes in other colon,V^7j i^j"^ ?"""«'' ""t how the colonists and the Craw? »„? f ^ T^'<^i^i^^n penditure of pubhrmoner But afor'" ^'' '"'*'' ^='- past, when the generaC Ui.h f, * ^T y*"" ''•"•e the flag of Great^BrS fVthe Vrof t»r''f f'™ "^ away, and when a eei».r»t,„« % -i" ? , ^"'™* had passed practices grew up^tKbn/r'"fl^''^^ especiaUy,\nd sTme of tlnH/ "^ ^'-'^S"' P™f^=«on the seignors of the coun tv T^'^f f^^^'""- and some of stitu.i?n-,l system and th!^ f v'" "f" '»»'"''« a con- been direc JtoThe ea 'r of""^'''? ^^'^ ^""^ ^"'"ctlj the legislature so that ftbl™'' '^^^fed its hopes to pride to have a sea in ther tt n'"""' "( '"""'Pl' » j i>ecember, he make submission. £ het) A^ndfv "°f ''^-'™' <" the measure-the worHf t^^ J^u ""* '' tl^'^rigin of Lurry, i„ two short Ll^-.^kTsZ^i^'r 'V same sense as the Brifisli rnr^JuV ^P^^^n of in the generations of «e::^ttSd"r^^^^^^ Cathedral, were the work of one a<«. tl,„ ' ''f « '^"'ogne another, the completion of a thW ^fl,. l^'f ™<''"'' "^ fourth; which is compared to ll„ ',''* '"^''^U^hnient of a tt.e product of the w^es le^ tti^Z^Tf ^""f'""™. iiebec to the Altamna ■^mZ : S""'^™ "> from the Ken- f oy of a Chfn^ ;„"' 7en'" 17^-;, »»{!- the presi- the "Federalist" Sr the f2 li discussions of together 1 Mr. Sneaker th^.^? '*™'' "'«'''' JO*" this ConstitutionTS; t cr„no°t ZTl'^f'^ ?''™' as "the wisdom of our anceXrr I'tT ''^ "' P,™visions by which it was carried sTch as to ..'''T?*''?"'*™^ great halo of glorv There u^V ""■f?"",^. '« "i'l' any such as met at Bunnvmede .n1 " f""^"", ^^^"'^■ sat at AnnapolifrtrfeeCce TtheT"','"^' ''"'^ ^ heard demandine it- no f„J !f . ■ P^°P'* "«•■« not «sted at the tiL ev« S CKfj"" »/ ""^ P^P'e bj- sheer Imperial influe^e eS™.f„ ^V' *^' '''™'' advance of £1,500 m^LTf u'^*''"' '«"' 'l-o Sydenham loan caJried the s!d 1 P''''il'= . «'orts.-The instrument thus r^m d d scrvi foH ^"- ™' "*"' '^^ reverence than such as ly flTrrbe : ttac ,edT^ ™ ,?""" Wd Sydenham and Lord John Eus,e 1 t/ ' "•'''^T?' «.se Lord Grey speaks of Lord Svd "i,aj' :: '" '""' 'if i» 1 -•- u 162 BHITISH-AMERICAN UNION. iH i :5l "assumed the government ;*' and that Lord Metcalfe, in his despatch to Lord Stanley, of the 5th of May, 1843, speaks ol' i; >rH :;ydenham. as the fabricator of the form of Gnv(;riiuent now existing in tliis Province." — When lion, gentlemen attribute to " the Act of Union " the ad- vantages which have sometimes ilowed from the system of responsible government, they commit, it seems to me, a senou? anachror\i5»p^ Responsible government is nowhere conceaed in the Act of tfniou. (Hear, hear.) Neither Lord Sydenham, nor his second and ablest successor, Lord Metcalfe, recognised "responsible government" in the sense we now use it, as inherent in the Act of Union, As Lord Metcalfe observes of his predecessor, he "scouted the idea" of responsible government in his despatches. After the Union was consummated at Kingston, he practically ac- cepted it, or submitted to circumstances he could not control, by admitting that members of the Executive Council ought not to continue such, when they ceased to command the confidence of a majority of this House. Lord Metcalfe certainly did not recognise that theory ; nor did the Colonial Ministers, his immediate superiors ; Lord Elgin, so bitterly abused yesterday from the benches oppo- site, may be called the first Governor-General who acted consistently on the theory — and he did not arrive here till the seventh year after the Union. Let us, therefore, not confound two things — the Act of 1840 and the estab- lishment of responsible government ; let us not credit to a false cause whatever good results have sprung from another, and a subsequent advance towards legislative independence. And, after all, in what does this "responsibility" of ministers to this House or the country consist? On the vigilance and patriotism of the majority of the House I admit it ought to depend; but on what does it really depend ? I answer — and the records of our recent as well as of our earlier politics under the Union bear me out— it depends as much, if not more, on the personal qualities of the Governor sent us — on his capacity, his firmness, aiul his superiority to personal influences — as on the will of this House. It does uot exist in your Union Act, nor in auy SPEECHES m CANAMAK PAM.IAMEOT. 168 «»pecta public oS wfo Zrr *^" " «"vep„„rwl,o tracing, „.ho j, L teLer 1 i '"' ", """''itu'ional fi' to Be the head of a Xf . • ' "' ''^ ">form,f.n every public manXen^lv „"";'"'""'»' S'"'"— ^Inol. is »ot (hear. hearS, ^ 7""''™ ■"• chance medley ment; but'noltherZ^" mT" ^''?'"''" «"""'■ very different thing Mr leaS^' ''•™'- ^"' " '' » o--'"', as minister? ir'tSnd' T™^ " ° J"^""'''^'' tu-ion ivhieh every bodv „rn„ ;) ",1"^"? "»>■ a eonsti- from trying to work an illTfi ^ "'™ .'"'''itually obey., state o/ so'eiety supp em ±,l''':f """f tution, i^ a „L stitution out of the reZrre^nf ''''""' "^ *''=•' e""" justice and foresi? S !!,/?" T? '"»<'"'", and the will of any e m»,, t '"'"''"'!*1<'" ''l.ich depends on "ill of any number rf men ^T"" )'f'-^' """^ ''e- "' the tl.e name\f a con°tiSn ""xT'"""™' '' ""deserving theory is, that Zi^Zn^ rtall^offi" "'1, "'° benig susta lied by a mainrit^ „f .l- li " °^'"^ without another power which ^nT)^ ' "°"''- B"' there is them in office under th."'^ ''™. '"'"'' *° ''» »ith keepin,- this HousH; ts trz^:it:' \'r " ""^f'y «f Give any ministry ImuPvL i ? ^ *^^3^ ^^*e elected. broad party li'„"e"^^e E a't'/l"' ^'^'t^ ^^ ^''^ -^^» or partisan! or inca^ab e Srtr wl" will'^ \ ^]!'^^'' profuse use of the mMin !^ ' ° T^ P^'''"^^^ ^hem' a "Orders in Counci^Iand .^"'^' - ' *'*' '°^"'''* «^ trusted or deJes ted i^f \^ «i""stry, houever dis- tins ^ ^ouse "eletVrytS Tarf'"^^ ^^ ?^^ Gov. .nor remains. Is it no so P T^ . .u-"""^ ^' '^"^ •'» lesson M'hich Time and Fvn..; i ""^ this the plainest our existing conXut io. P ^ff , ^^'^" *^"&'^<^ "« from Parhamenti a efo^^^^^^ ^^'^'^'^ ^ ^^- people against a bad Sst^^^^^ portfolio, and lau-h u ^^ 1 %i"^^ ^^^ *^«^n l^is official statiorranryou c Lrfoi, ^e -ay retire from benches or the crosj LnnLT v "^ ^"'" *" *^^« ^^^k cross benches. You cannot reach him M 2 ' iil-'I 164, BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. IM ' ' w when he is in — you cannot reach him when he is out. Where, then, is your " Kesponsible Government ? " Can there be responsibility of ministers without a penalty ? It seems to me there cannot. And if not, where is your penalty ? Have you not tlie same radical defect whinh Mr. Grattan found in the constitution of his country, when he exclaimed, in allusion to the Jloman fasces, " Ireland has no axe, and therefore she has no honest minister." I am well aware that, practically, the power of impeachment has fallen into comparative disuse in England, and has been very rarely resorted to in the United States ; but I know that it exists in the coiistitation of both— that it is not a dead letter— that it has been used with terrible eftect in times past, just as the great guns under our windows, though silent now and somewhat rusted, can yet serve every purpose for which they were originally cast from the furnace, and mounted where they stand. But, sir, we are told by the hon. member for North Hastings, that we owe to the Union, unqualifiedly— apart from the system of re- sponsibility — whatever monetary credit the Province has enjoyed the past dozen or twenty years. Sir, I am not a disunionist, and I hold, of course, that some form of union is essential to our common credit, and most beneficial to our common progress. I do not think it possible that Upper and Lower Canada, once separated, could advance, or command one means of progress— money— in anything like the proportion which they can, being, united. Disso- lution, "pure and simple,'' as the phrase is, I consider very simple indeed ; I consider it altogether retrograde ; and I do not believe the youngest man in this House will ever live to see it. (Hear, hear.) But because I am a unionist, mujt I, therefore, be for this Act of Union and for no other ? Or, is it even possible for me, or for any one, to stand by Lord Sydenham's union at this time of day ? Sir, it is not possible ; for that union, such as it was, no longer exists ; it has been frittered away, year by year, by Imperial legislation and by Provincial legislation, till it now hangs in tatters upon the expandhig frame of this colony. Of its sixty-two clauses; no less than thirty have been repealed by CL 1 SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. IQ5 statute within the last ten years ' Th^ 4.fl, «] of this HousP-ly.nv« L ^*^^"""f— to tlie constitution the same important XU i "''"'"'' '"•''"''"g *» U, making tl^ fi^^lill^^ '":^.,'';™ "T'^';'^''; clause tlie country, has been reoS J f^"' ''"'8'"'S* "^ legislation o^I, ecele Se^^"^^^,: te 3 t «,e1;,,"""'.''» "" sent, has been repealed • e mTli 1 ^"'/'^'f » <=<>"- Court, of Appealttut'eVed'e ''l;i : ^J T^' »nd health Tnd Jor ' Sor'rit''Lfi'%'?;"«'' "' '*' tins Chamber, or^he comp^sWon tt "ol 'Xl'? 1 x^: etrAiSo^risVe-^ «o dreadfulirmulltr' T err s1lf*;i- tfrf 7f which the Administratim, «f Ti,! j j ■ '"'* '"f" '«''» desperate fiXuy_the ]2M, *''«^. ^"^ draw hope from with vjenerai and the all-important " Orflpr« in n«., -i « Vi ;::rrmarbe'"""'^, f ^"-«°-f P-u'™ purpose has been defeated-and I reioice t af ,> K ^^ conception, ^.d who? i^lteV^t^-'rotme^'! ■??*rj\ ■tia« la / ;' 1' 166 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. why, tlieu, sliould it be maintained and enforced against another set ? (Hear, hear.) Are we, of Lower Canada, to rule our fellow-subjects of Upper Canada, on the Pagan principle of the lex talionis ? or, rather, on the Christian principle " of doing unto others as we would be done by ? " I do not say that we should place ourselves or our institu- tions— differing so widely as we do from Upper Canadians — at their mercy; I mean nothing of the kind; I have never entertained any such idea. No! I. believe that a remedy can be found by Upper Canada for her wrongs, and by Lower Canada ample safeguards for her rights ; and I shall immediately, with permission of the House, though with very great self-distrust, indicate the nature of that remedy, as it suggests itself to my mind. But, before I do so, let me ask every candid man in this Assembly, whether he believes the present state of things in this Province can be much longer maintauied ? Are the people satisfied with the vague, unlimited power of the Executive over the public expenditure ? Are they satisfied with the appointment of strong political partisans— often by their own colleagues— to the judicial bench? Are elections to this House con- ducted on a system calculated to inspire awe and obedience towards the laws we make ? Is the character of this House elevated by the scenes which take place at our elections, by the notorious bribery and corruption which have been practised, by the fact that we met in 1858 with thirty-two seats in this House, out of 130, contested, with every fourth man in the House petitioned against ? (Hear, hear.) Is it the fact that the character of this House has been raised of late years under the working of our present system ? Is it the fact that a Lower Canadian majority persistently ruling the people of Upper Canada against their well-understood wishes, as expressed through their legiti- mate organs in this House — is that winning friends for tlie system in Upper Canada ? (Hear, hear.) Is an elective Legislative Council, when it becomes wholly elective — as it soon will— is it, coming fresh from the people, likely to recognise in this Assembly the same monopoly of popular power which the House of Commons holds, in ccuiparison SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 167 ^'ith the hereditary House of Lords P Tf fh.n , i, . pohtical conflict— if thp Pv^,. V- • '^'^^^^ °* ^^^ ff *• *'""""^'' " t'le ±ixecutive is not rpt^ardpfl wiVl, fiffection and respect by the conntrv ie\u °^^ ^ iua.ec4t into the ;"ovLio" of tttet'of It"" "'!?'' omissions of the A.>/ nf tt • ^^^^>ct of Union, or the cnouSi to suiin 1 • F"'"'J-'^ instrument not strong last social commotion i„ tL^ P ovincf ?f H° "'^ ""! u-.o.gan.3ed, it"!,; s ::;le:TiSSo^ •f!! rdlTrali' iff! ■Iff ?iiS 168 BEITISH-AMERICAN UNION. VJ 't ; ■ l' i i are to be found in the Taxing Department and the Sueing Department — with the finance Minister, the Postmaster, and the Attorney-General. Individual vigour, I admit, may do much towards a remedy ; but the system ought to be such as to provide against individual weakness, and to render mediocrity comparatively harmless. This, Sir, I fear we never can have, with the present arrangement of nomi- nal heads and irresponsible subordinates. We certainly have not hitherto had a satisfactory departmental system. (Hear, hear.) I have shown, I trust, that Lord Syden- ham's Union did not originate in any view to the interests of Canada, though I do not allege but that the interests of Canada have been served by that instrument, up to a cer- tain point. But I say H was not the act of the people of Canada. It was imposed on the people of Canada by Im- perial authority alone. It was urged on to remove an irksome state of things in the Province itself, and to strengthen the connection with the mother country. It was hastened at a time when its chief advocate, the Gover- nor-General of that day, would have needed to have been more than human, to have been above the impressions produced on his mind by all the conflicting stories and views pressed upon him, oy men coming heated from the late social contest, many of whom had been actually in the welee of civil war. I admit that those who point out the defects of the present Union are bound to make a clear and strong case against it ; and I think that clear and strong case has been made. (Hear, hear.) I speak not now so much of details, as cf the broad and general facts. The details have been elaborated with great care in several pubhcations ; and, among others, in an excellent pclitical document which the hon. member for North Hastings took as the text for his speech last night — the address of the Reform Convention lately held in Upper Canada. But, 1 suppose, upon this subject, we are all free companions on this side of the House, and each of us has some peculiar view of his own, which he will express, as I have risen to do, in pronouncing an opinion on the motion of the hon. member for Toronto. I shauld have preferred, I admit, people of la by Im- einove an P, and to intry. It he Gover- have been npressions tories and from the ally in the it out the I clear and md strong ot now so icts. The in several t political itings took ess of the I. But, I janions on le peculiar ve risen to f the hon. , I admit, SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 369 to have voted upon that motion with some modificatio-.s • but I am now debarred from doing so by the Ition of he previous question moved by the'membeVfor Ha'tin J that now we shall have to vote for or against it nfle form m which it has been proposed. (Hear hear A. T am debarred from voting fo'r a'ny modiffi oTt at mo' tion, I am prepared fully to concur in the opinion that The Act of Union has not ansM^ered the designs of ts prolec tors-that It has not fulfilled what they claim fo it-Xt t has been already in great part repealed-tha it has no longer, so to speak, "a leg to stand unon "-that it is not now m existence in this Province. Tlie question thLt LHSTt^'tlTd'^ i"^^^^ ^^^"; --^rMst^^^^^^ S If!' f^ *''' ^''^"- "'""^^^^ fo^ Toronto that he niT T.'^I *° P/^P"^'- I ^^^^e no doubt, when we b la kbt es%^ h' *'^ "f T' ""^^^^« -" be as tW^k as Diackbeines. I have no doubt every one who has evpr trdistribS'oir ^'^°' ^'^^ '^^^'^'^ owrschi: uie distribution of functions, and of joint authority of the proportion of power to be exercised by the c >^trd anthn ny, and the proportion to be retained'byl^otf g v n^^^ men s. There is no subject, perhaps, on which the iium"n mmd can exercise itself; so capable of endts combiir ons as the quest on of civil government ZlZ' even that science, the subtlest of all science^ Thenlniv IS not more full of acute distinction than 1 2 lomtf^' tively modern science, of the formation of constituC and the distribution of powers. Now my or 1 lb ' view which I offer to the House for what it is wo X is tha the remedy which will suit our circumstances is a bo 1 application of the federal principle. I am prepared to appy hat remedy to our position with the sanction of the neon t of both sections of the Province, and not oth rw se But 1^ Liiion of ail the North American colonies— and I think it not onk a more desirable thing, bat a more practica Z^ 1 think every man m this House who has given ca e d andlr^'-' '' '^'r^i'^'^ '«"«t see that dissSnTure and simple is entirely out of the question; that an abso! '^jf W 170 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I! f : / lute dissolution of the Union is an impossibility. We are not our own masters in that respect at all events. "We have to get the consent of the Empire, and the consent of the public creditor, and the whole tendency of these modern times is against it. Every invention for diminishing the obstacle of space, for the multiplication of ideas, for the swifter communication of intelligence, is against it — art is against it — science is against it — nature is against it. Dissolution pure and simple, no man on the floor of this House, I believe, ever will live to see, should he live to be as old as tlie oldest of his ancestors. But, while I believe that to be neither the desirable nor the practical remedy, I say it is easier to obtain, and we have already obtained, the sanction of the Imperial authorities to enter into the con- sideration of the question of the general federation. Yet to work out this cure' even with the sanction of the metro- politan power, much time for deliberation, and many mutual conferences, will be necessary. If the Legislatures of the Lower Colonies, and our own, were prepared for it, the initiative ought to be taken immediately upon the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, for even then, it Mould probably be 1864 or 1865 before all the obstacles could be removed, and all the arrangements agreed upon. It would, however, be something to hope for, and to work for, and to wait for, in the interim. ; it would occupy the hearts and minds of all the statesmen of all the colonies, and prepare tliem by correspondence and intercourse to act understandingly together, when they should come together. I rest the advocacy of a Federal Union of all the Provinces mainly on these grounds. First. — That a Unity of all the Provinces is desirable commercially, and would be bene- ficial to each. Secondly. — That a mere Commercial Union, such as the German Zollverein, without the superintendence of some central political power, would not give sufficient security for the interests of all members of the confederacy. Thirdly. — Tliat such a union is a necessary complement of our present colonial system, — unless we are to look forward to annexation to the TJnited States. Fourthly. — That while the tendencies of our times are all in favour of such Union?, SPEECHES IK CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. in Wetif iiS;? '" ""V^"^*'' «'™ 'hose .Inch and Provin rffitXoTof'H"""^ '^'"'''"^ States commercially, was T a^T, f ™,'™'"' '^ ''«^i'»l'le House two sessS 4,ce b.'tll"'^ dearly shown to this -though he did nor il^ , P''""' ^'"''™'' Minister Had he^done .,0 I sluM hf f u •r°'"l'°" '° ^''^ ^'e. oolonial Eailwny ItT, :^ °M *''" '"''J^^' "^ ^" I-ter- that ,ve should have a, .f^l^H r"""-^''"-'' f*"- Ga™da, our domestic market T 1 7 ?f f,"""'™ consumers to and custom system should „r™,"f, *'"",''"' »'' '"» Provinces. l/ow " it Z VTh ' , "if^gh™'' »» these tariffs and different 1" • " ', ''^"^ " '''«en different Nova Scotia Sg each otS ' ' '' P"' ^T'"'"'' »" ours, is it possible vv?^„u ""^"'^'h and both taxing in the ratio nfyl! "^''"""^ S™"' '» numbers or in «-ealth i» not p si c as wfCd'T" ""'" ^>''""' ^'^'es? England States averlf thir? ""I 'uf *'"'^ "'" New ."ile, Canada SeZeX,ttl^ »>l,ab,tants to the square Nova Scotia, StlltLlTi "1 N"* Brunswick and Intercolonial trade St' ,"'''* f'^ven. The statistics of States, shows S "at ?rr'^' "Z^""^" ^ "'^ United at the' expense of each o ferl",''?'/ "!,''" "'Sag'^'' *"' 1857 we Lj,oM to the uti ed st ^ 'k*^ ?™''^"^- ^" va ue of 1 776 2-.n/ „ "Jniled States breadstuffs to the adjoining Sfce!ilr? «^«"«i?0,0. "-Me the two ^^tuffs to"tl,e vlue of Ts nnn "'L^"'"''' ^""es bread- other hand we importld f^o^' iT «?"°^'»""- 0" «>«' Indies produce T 1 va^To '^t'olntf '''?^ ^"' totKiVMroUTyjsf'^' 1™'?-""' '^^-' i''^t- of 322,000;..-;* all to'thl '! ^"°'"' '° "'^ ••""onnt of our Wpst tudia tndp tl?^ i .l '" """y °" """eh Provinces. • *t«ce 1 v tT^'."" "'^'""y °^ "'o -"■-"er -West Indian tnnl™!/''?.!,']''" i^"»'« "^ eommerce goodb and breadstiiffs. But there if are In, 172 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. 1 !lil other mediums of exchange between us. Nova Scotia has coal, — we have none ; and fuel, at least in Lower Canada, we are told is becoming every day more scarce and dear : Upper Canada exports flour, and imports West Indian goods — fish and coal ; we manufacture many articles whicli the Lower Provinces want, and they produce or can pro- 'fitably procure us others which we require. What then is wanting to our mutually benefiting each other ? I answer — intercourse — association — union. (Hear, hear.) It is argued that no intercourse exists, and, therefore, that no commerce could exist. Create the intercourse, and you create the commerce. Would the Reciprocity Treaty have been of any practical value to any portion of Canada, if it were not for the canals and railways on our side the line, and the otlier ? There are the broad facts— a milhon of consumers at our own doors — our own fellow-subjects — ^vith wants which we can supply, and commodities to ex- change — yet they profit nothing from our vicinage, nor we by them. At this moment each of these Colonies is much more profitable to the United States than to Canada ; we have reciprocity with strangers, but none with our fellow- subjects. When I place the necessity for a general federa- tion on commercial grounds in the first instance, I do not mean to say, Mr. Speaker, that a mere commercial uuiou without a central political power, could accomplish any great things. I know there is the example of the Zollverein, which, since 1838, has extended its circles from the Rhine to the Russian frontier— over 40,000,000 of consumers. Where would the Zollverein be, without the sustaining and directing power of Prussia ? Wliere would any commercial union be without a tariff'-making and treaty-making power? The experience of the Haiise towns and the Italian Repuh- lics — the experience even of those separated Provinces is full of instii^ction on this head. The territorial interests of New Brunswick were sacrificed in the Ashburton Terri- tory, the ship-building irterests of all our seaports were sacrificed in the Reciprocity Treaty— the American coasting trade has been lost to us, by the indifi'erence of Imperial ili: :im m SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT, I73 £nr?i;:n''fTf "^ Newfoundland have tl.ree time, or "even veor r ^""^ «'"'" "P t" J^'-ce witl,i„ s,^' already advanced too far for dSe cies to Sif "" .«m&.^.«e&,.. in the ropl famil/of EXd-ll no? s es enll > ""V'"' l***"' ^^'' """^""t °f tl'e Empire FederiHnnP P« -ii ^^ ^^' -^^or a Canadian ?ri.r^xtt\er3i^^^^^^^^^^ »gam; Lord Grey, Sir Lytton Bulrer! Mr. Labou here most every Colonial Secretary of late year^s-h™ teW- tto be our own affair with w'hich the met opS " reZt-'N*" "'terfe^^ unfavourably, /ova Scotia It vL i ^ Bfunswick, as I had reason to believe dtrie to .t^fhr'n-*", *'V"' ""T^y- '^ -' "^'-^v n itsflvn,,. ' 1 .r'"'""^ ""'''^''^'' ^"^"'^ Quebec flill be 1 ts favour; and the commercial interest in England is :!. ""^ Imperial Parliament durin-^ the nresent '"-oO" , tlie Cuuards, Gilmores, Dunlops, Eichardsons, 111 Hi n I ' I 174 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Gillespies,'— names powerful alike on 'Change and m the reception room of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. These petitions not only show that it is commercially, but poHti- cally, desirable to draw all these colonies close together. The petitioners pray for an Imperial aid of 60,000/. a year for seven years, to complete the 400 miles of railway which would connect Halifax with Quebec. They point out that the defence of these colonies costs the Imperial Exchequer 420,000/. per annum, which this road would in great part supersede ; and every argument for the road tells equally for the federation. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I have said that the tendencies of our times are all in favour of such a Union as I speak of, while the obstacles in our way are not greater than have been often overcome by other separated States and Provinces. It is true, we are of unequal size, with unequal resources, and ditferent degrees of indebted- ness, but the local governments may harmonise all these inequalities. We are of different religions; yet the two great divisions of Christians— Catholics and Protestants- would be, as nearly as possible, balanced, in a union of all the colonies. We are a northern people, and must be a commercial people ; the bonds of interest would therefore bind us. We would have in our favour the river system of the North, from the mouth of the Gulf to the head of Lake Superior. We have not a tithe of the difficulties to overcome which the fathers of the Swiss, Dutch, and American Confederacies overcame. Difficulties indeed there are, but none, Sir, in my humble judgment, which could not be got over in an amicable Conference of the Colonies ; and as I once heard the hon. member from South Ontario (Mr. Mowatt) ask—" What are statesmen fit for, if not to overcome difficulties?" I cannot believe that any one here has a vested interest in the continuance of our dis- union. There may be those who imagine that su jh a plan as I have sketched would prove fatal to their self-importance; who, as is said— I think unjustly said— of Julius C^sar, " would rather be first in a village than second in Rome. We can understand that there might be such persons, even SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PAMIAJ.ENT. I75 ''^Jt,^Z7p:^L':!iZ: /"? "f ^ther „,omber, of better aspira"iom-rn whololr' '' "/"''" ™''"' »'"' all the talents of all H ^ P. ' °' '"'"' '" "««' "' ^^^^i" iellow-subiecfs in nmi^nKi L ° aoicbt oi their ouujcL-i-s in amicab e contrnvpr^v v,.^ i tie prosnerf nf a K,. i ''''"''^over.sj. i(or such men .najoritef as no 10^^'.::™"' n"" 'f^ ■"»"«-'''o l-izon, and tXJl '^j'^^ \T''"' r. honour. (Hear henr 'i T ! i i 1 °* ^^^°"^ ^^^ o^ ctreating^hniiuTe- el velltl fh^^f ' t^'^''^ out respect of person. a„,I „ ti! 7 ■ ^ ?'"'''"' »''''- increase, prospi^ ; Ld 1 ' 1 f '" ""^"^ '''^''^''- '°' ""= Northern „at?o ^ o 1 it a Ni"""'"?^ ""^ '"«l'''^'" must become if all ofu do hn 7" ™"°"-'''"' ^''"='' " Men do not talk o thl contlent ? T '""'^ '» ""^ ^■''^■ centuries, but of the ^n™';^;^ tM' 'T^^'' ^^ ni this age as thev did fnrm»,. ,,■ "° ""'^ vegetate l^ition.^ Th^ l^a outrnn ' ti stel'n '^°'' ""VP'"'^ """ Hies tlie telegraph Well ^ ™", ""''' "'"' ^">P^ ™'- '1- the patrt^'JiV ;%"rou"'a,d'' 'IV'" 'I"^ 'f might outlive the palm-tree wl divas' la,, ed 'i'""'"'"'' memorate his birth an,l ,»f „ . planted to con,- we have witnessed h?ce theV™ rf .'° """'^' ''"'''^"' »' cussing was for n'ed Wh! t, f """"' ""^ "'^ '«'»' '''«- can sav the wnrlrl n^ ^ . ^^"^ • — and who ticuiarfy-*: ]^^S.;i;ir orLn™i,i:°*;Vti," 't/t century the ratio of the pasTp 3 I t T °' "'" =;^'ithTop-thi,t^!£^^^ of that shield the Deals nfrw ''' "'^^"'^ ^'^« ^^^^^ iiieiu, tlie peaks of the Western mountains and the Ih] 1 II 1 |i PI^R 1 1 1 [j 1 W "Jill "'f^' *» 176 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. crests of the Eastern waves — the winding Assinaboine, the five-fold lakes, the St. Lawrence, the Ottawa, the Saguenay, the St. John, and the Basin of Minas--l)y all these flowing waters, in all the valleys they fertilise, in all the cities they visit in their courses, I see a generation of industrious, contented, moral men, free in name and in fact,-— men capable of maintaining, in peace and in war, a Constitution worthy of such a country. (The lion, gentleman resumed his seat amidst loud and general applause.) ■\'l ' !ii;n!,p'5 ::;f . I I REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. LOISLWIT. AS.,MBLI, (3„,„„, „,„„ 28,,,, 1801 House long in ,ta«„g my rensofs & tl v ,1 i, nd t^ have a ways voted a^airmt fh.f -.^ • ^^^^^> ^ singly and'alo„e;beeSl h veT^Z' rhlve""' fundamental change in this House, which was not ^ - corrective will the other d,amb™ ettivfa. t'" '^""'T permanence— tor life? Arp vm, , ir f^^stituted ^/i constitute the other HousYon the Inll ^7 ""'"r ^ *" ii V ^"^ '^>. ^^^ «.^' <^x *^ #? ^ >/ ^.^ 178 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. your question will not be a practical one, till you are pre- jpared to consider it with all its pendants, conditions, and surroundings. (Hear, hear.) I hope to see a party — I hope to see a government who will be so prepared to con- sider it, and to overhaul our whole constitutional system, or rather no system, for at present we have none. At present, the Act of Union hangs in shreds and tatters on the statute book ; 27 out of 62 clauses, with schedules A and B, haviiig been supsrseded or repealed, by Imperial or Provincial legislation. (Hear, hear.) Thirty-five clauses — and these, except the twelfth, of little importance — are all that remain. It is a disgrace to the intelligence of the House, of the country, and of the age we live in, that such a tattered garment should be all we have to clothe the limbs of this young giant nation. (Hear, hear.) This, Mr. Speaker, is not a subject for heat — not a subject on which it is seemly to talk of bloodshed, on one side or the other. The hon. member for Portneuf, and the hon. member for Laprairie, are ready to shed their blood in resisting Bepresentation by Population; while the hon. member for Peel is prepared to shed his blood to obtain it. I ought to congratulate the House on this increase of the martial spirit (laughter), but I prefer to look at the ques- tion from a general point of view, as one might look from the summit of the "Two Mountains" upon the Ottawa river, from which you can see both Upper and Lower Canada at once. (Cheers.) Besides the considerations affecting the other House, involved in any other fundamental alterations in our owji organisation, there will be the consideration of the relation which the Judiciary of Canada are to sustain to the other departments of Government in the new system. In Eng- land, it was an ancient constitutional usage for the Sovereign, or both Houses, to submit queries on constitutional subjects to the Judges ; but the legislative bodies have not hesitated at times to vote the answers of the Judges " iusufficient," and to affirm other principles, in resolutions or enactments of tlieir own. In the United States, the Supreme Court has always been an essential department of the Govern- SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PAMUMENT. 179 the relation of th7judl7tA\'7"? '? "'' "' ^ ^'^'^ outive. Lastly Mr sS,„ *,, ^^f?'*''"* and the Exe. change, involves aa"^',''^,^^^^^ ^l constjtntional Government. While I iitt™^„„ . f •'" *''« Imperial Government impos n A tS^ ^ ''^'' "S^""* *^^ I^eriai I know very weKhat it ,^'*^{-'»»'J? jons^ution npon us, able, that L ISd erron^r"^' '''''''^' '^ "' <"''''' improved system unS tt.T "" .*he administration of an tioW it. THrtir"^" Impend Government have sane- as I indicated wonld Sen or de 'f^"'^^'' * """' '^'^"^ Great Britain ? EmvThW ?,f ^f ^"^ 'he connection with executory chief,- butTo f ZTL^X'^f "" ''' cumstances are not forf^^i .. "f'^es that where cir- enjoyed with an hered t^ a T^ ^"^ ^'^'^^ ""»? '«' onewhohasnopreSr»L- * '' ™. «'cctive chief; as really founded l2nZ Tl * """f J'^t'onal monard.y, cental lawTasTe'hrflhfr '"^^'1 *?' «■« f-nda- be prepared to see thfcninL- '.^'"''?' ™"''' I ^''oaid by a vice-royaltrwhich should h ^"™g"'»<"' at this side in Her Majesty's frmilv and 11 .1°""' * '"'"'*' ^'"''"'■^ diately after tie S^^T' m P°T'°^'^"'^ ™"'«- out this view with Li?deT!l ^ *■■' ';'=''■• I thro'f jde-. rather thanTcr^ttSL" Lt°?r'^''f1 for the consiHpMf mr, r.Au ""^^^"O" > out 1 throw it out that the v« dS „ °^^ r groundlessly alarmed, the conneetir Orthe conl". "'r'" "^"S"" '^reaten adoption of a permanent r,^^' " f""? "• »'^' ^ ">« Imperial bond,^^^^!^^"'''' T'^"' ""« bedded and preserved ^8° ,H/'f^^' ""?''' .^e im- guarantee of Vat descri„tior;ou d be ''r'i ■^'""^'"' sentation in the Imnerial P,I! . Colomal repre- metropolitan constitTon !„„ f "'"' '' ^'■''f''™ *" the many^able men bo h ^,-1^ ??'™ ""^ ^"'^'hown by may'mentiorthe namf rf Dr p Jr«?: r™« *'"'"' * powers! I «'^i:;:2ix^s;^^rtt^^^^ K 2 I In 180 BRITISH-AMERICAN UKION. tt.; constitution should originate among ourselves (hear, hear) ; that it should spring from the sensus communis of Canada, and the other Provinces, if they coalesce; that it should be the product of the best heads, both in and out of political life, in these colonies ; that it should not be imposed upon us as a mere Imperial edict by the Minister of the day in Downing Street, though I cheerfully admit vie must go to Downing Street for its final sanction. (Cheers.) With these guarantees — an equality secured to territory in the Upper House— above all, with the Imperial indorsement on its back, it is necessary to suppose one of two things before we can dream of the violation of such a compact. Either Lower or Upper Canada should conspire in secret and revolt, or the Imperial power should join one or other to oppress one or the other. (Hear, hear.) For your reli- gious guarantee, gentlemen of Lower Canada, insert in such an instrument, so sanctioned, the very words of the capitalation of Quebec, and so long as you are a million strong— 100,000 fighting men with the free use of arms— you may laugh to scorn any violence to your institutions, even if any one were mad enough and wicked enough to attempt such violence. (Cheers.) 1 submit, Mr. Speaker, that 1 have indicated sufficiently my own objections to any unconsidered and unqualified change, without taking up the whole system and viewing it in all its parts. I am not opposed — 1 am in favour of the representation of the tax- paying many in this House, which votes and disposes of those taxes ; but I am against piecemeal legislation, on the frame of the Government itself. If the old house will not stand, let us take it down and erect a new one, according to our enlarged means and increased family. But the word dissolution— divorce — what the old Jurists called separaUs- tnus — ought never to be heard in this House. (Hear, hear.) Another term of almost equally evil import is that too often heard in this debate, " my section of the country." We have nothing to do with sections here; we are the Commons of Canada. Sir, perhaps I am in a too sanguine mood of the triumph of what I believe to be the right pjinciples, but though they are thus wrangling for recog- SPEECHES IN CANADIAK PAMUMENT. 181 uitioD there are three things I do not desoair of. T ^„ „„t despair of the adoption of "the prin"rn„mbe^ as the PaImeZrc?'r '? '^ PopularVanch 7 th^ telre 7t^ "f f" W'^ of wC fn d^ tliZl of seeing under this generous, wise, and tolerant coiS treaJ As however, the amendment of the hon member forCornwaU does not pretend to lay down the « Do^hl uigxiiy aesiraDle, with our present imperfect system thaf I trip i i I i CONSTITUTIONAL DIFFICULTIES BETWEEN UPPER AND LOWER CANADA. House of Asskmblt, at Quebko, April 17th, 1861. After some introductory remarks, Mr. !^'''cGEE said : — I proceed now to the general question— Shall we, or shall we not, have such constitutional changes as our present circumstances, our twenty years' experience of Responsible Government, and a majority of our fellow-subjects, demand at our hands? (Hear, hear.) The arguments addressed to this House in favour of maintaining things as they are, by the three Cabinet Ministers from Lower Canada having seats in this House, and by several members, their parti- sans, (who may be called the buttresses of the Administra- tion joined to it and supporting it from without,) were mainly three : 1. The example of Great Britain, of whose institutions ours were said to be a transcript: 2. The recent sad experience of the United States— held up to us for our warning: 3. The determination of French Canadians never to entertain at any future time, near or distant, the question of readjusting the popular representation in this House. I think these three heads include all the argument or show of argument that was made on the other side, and when I examine the two former — the American and British precedents — I shall feel free to discuss the con- sequences of the utterly impracticable pohcy foreshadowed in the ultimatum of "things as they are" for another tea years. (Hear, hear.) I deny. Sir, at the outset with the member for South Ontario, that our system can be con- sidered a transcript of the British Constitution. Where is the resemblance— not to say identity ? England has three "estates'* — a Sovereign and two Houses; and we have . SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. " 183 tie UnS sf* ^"'■x^^' »'«i l^rassia, and Belgium, aud tlie United States, have also two Chambers and an Esecu- find iLfr^r- " *^l»°'^ '"'''"' th« ^'f'-ce we w." tnd that m the present distribution of our powers Z. depar almost as widely from the British system"^™ se;era' important particulars, as the United StateJ, or some other, f the conntnes just named. In the Constitution" 1;'^ x791, and even m the Act of Union, the distribution nf powers was essentially different froi wh. tt is now of tW CouSTr-^r™' '"^ " J-'Ji^-l function a, part i!!! 1 jPP ' ^""'^ "■»' nominat ve and might have been hereditary, now it is elective and ephemera hen ctchoVi:'l''7'^'°" "^t '"""«' -=;^of* h? Wi,l * . I^l'^'"'".^"" ^^"^ » Statute, ratified by an Imperial Act, declaring it to be essential to abolish "the S"" WitL?f '^.-r-'-n betwee: "h and otale. Without judicial powers in your Executive V » Uup'e"r 1?'='^^''^'r'' ¥T^' or liereLary deTn uS your Upper House, wliere is the much-talked-of transcrint of the British Constitution ? In the powers and fmSns of tins Honse, we might, indeed, find a close resemblance «"Ztr,2fh""' ?""1 ^""'^ »f Commons in were not tor the 12th section of the Act of Union, which IS the real basis of this House; the clause decrlS equality of representation to the t^o formrProvincesTf owTZ"'^- ^"T F™'"^»- I' '' »"* «'« olau e, by your own slowing that gives a federative character to this T21 i.t, !f^T •"'^•1"/ J**^^' *" «>« Bi" of Bights, n W f 1i VT? "* ^''''"«' 0' Scotland-or iu an^ ot their House of Commons? No such provision exists and consequently each of our three branche of the fH^ & tI « ■{• ?"'"""'" '» *''« J^ritish system. (Bear, hear.) The British system, Mr. Speaker as a verv cursory acquaintance with its'histc/ry shows, was' .SginTlS^ h , BRITISH- AMERICAN UK ION. constructed on the principle of a domestic balance of power, and although it has undergone important modifica- tions, it has never wholly lost its original character. In its first stages, the balance was between the Clergy and Nobles--" the spirituahty and the temporality/' as they were anciently called. A radical innovation was made by tlie great partisan leader Simon de Montfort, now bettei' known as a soldier than a statesman, when he introduced the representation of borough towns. Before his day the tenants holding in capita, and by knights' service in the counties, looked with the same indifference on the claims of the mere mechanics of the towns, that the hon. gentle- man does on the majority of Upper Canada; but when de Montforfs reform began to take effect on the system, especially after the Reformation had displaced the clerical equipoise, the balance was formed by the town and country party — and that continued to be the case till the Reform Bill of 1832, and still, in part, continues. In England this off'setting of interests and classes was possible, for the soil of England was held by feudal tenure, and so early as the reign of the first Stuart, 8000 towns could be counted within the kingdom. In England, as Romilly said of India, "distinctions of class are religiously preserved;" in England there are estates of the Crown, of the Peerage, and of the Commons ; but in Canada we have nothing of the kind. In Canada we have been obliged to extinguish the only feudal tenure which remained on the Continent, and to substitute for it, the tenure of "free and com- mon soccage" — the universal tenure of the British American Colonies, a tenure fatal to the growth of sustenance of a landed aristocracy. I freely admit, there- fore, with all the hon. gentlemen who have made that assertion, that the British system is not now and never was founded on the basis of numbers alone ; but at the same time I assert, we never had a close copy of that system, and that every year since the Union we have been departing, under the pressure of circumstances, more and more from the general resemblance which our Constitutional Acts once bore to that original. But, Sir, I might go even farther SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 185 than this— I might assert with truth, that for the last h«If iney Drought in their Reform Bil in 1832? Thev Pm was carried, and the Representation still stands Whv cW ed ? BeLr^^LT ^™<''"'^t« ""d Leeds enfran- uioear Because the former were d sneonled atid tho latter were populous towns; and was no^ Vh»t , i str.de towards the representa'tiorof members^ This tf oSr;e,iriwtr;h t's Ctiraii' ^ "^^ -i Secretary and other gentleirwKJred to ihem?;'™ SwriTerti '^^f-'r*^^ I»pS1arlite ;r hat beuuditvi fl P'""'"'."?*"^ hove always considered Xded to M? n'r'^''*f '"J?.""'- T''« Hon. Secretary auuaea to Mr. OConneUon this pout, and was eladlo Me iasTw'^S^I^ ~ authoritylf tt: .i,„k.i • T- , , S\ ''''' -f '"«' 'he honour to know him hgh ly m h.s latter days, and the misfortune to diSriSm t? eST C' '° "^^ ■"'""y I ""^ >>« Wed L CnU W s™T °/ "^ """•« ""'"« judgment. It a few a 7lJLl'- ^ *;*? ''™ "■""7""'^ ♦» J^'e known that an J 7 fe*' lu'toneol persons, lut I can truly say ««^™,oaZl '" ^^''Sgeration of native patriotiL, { BCTer approached a person who seemed more trnlv L servmgthe itleof "great" than Mr. O'cSl kt" I consider his exclusively Gaelic origin, his proriucial birth l.« proscnfced creed, his foreign educitionrwren I on.' « 250,OOO^Lre than that i Lower Canada, and notwithstanding aU the arrangement made under various pressures and pretexts at "S^UnTon " these quarter of a million out of two millions and a h^' one-teuth of our total numbers-demand a" kcrledt" presentation on this floor, in my humble olZn^f'!; .Wive proposition, to which both sections may i^the eud be reconciled. Can any such proposition be mal hv « 2 ' h 196 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Lower Canada ? (Hear.) That is the great question which the bill before the House calls on us to revolve witlim our. selves. The Premier says "No," and menaces us with a war of race. The hon. member for Montmorenci reluses even to debate it— moves "the six months' hoist." My hon. friends from Montreal and Iberville, and i hope 1 may add my hon. friend from St. Hyacinthe, do not despair of a remedy ; they are at all events quite willing to hear other opinions and to offer their own when the question comes up in a practical shape. I agree with those who hold that we can find an alternative proposition other than by repealing the Union, which would be a release but no remedy. And I will put a supposititious case to those Hon. gentlemen who deny the possibility of establishing any efficient checks against oppr- "on in our circumstances. It is this:— Suppose you had guarantees for the tuUest religious and civil freedom in your fundamental law, framed by yourselves, and ratified by Her Majesty for herself and her successors ! Suppose you had a guarantee in the com- position of the Upper House; suppose you had a power ot final interpretation in cases of doubt arising under the constitution, composed of an equal number of the judges of Upper and Lower Canada; would all these guarantees, involving the good faith of the Sovereign and of her repre- sentative, the good faith of the Upper House, and the high Judiciary,— would all these content you ? Hon. Mr. Catjchon— No. • • .r,- Mr. McGee— I believe there is but one voice m this House says "No." Such guarantees could be had both from England and from Upper Canada ; the interests ot the Empire, the interests of the public creditor, the mtere^sts of Upper Canada herself, would all be favourable to such a settlement, and if Lower Canada is wise m season she wiU neither despise such terms nor insult those who respecttully submit them for her consideration. To those who threaten a war of race, I say solemnly— Beware 1 (Hear, hear.) We have pretty well extinguished the war of creeds, and we are not likely to permit ourselves, 1 hope, to be embattled, liKe the Knights of Rhodes, by languages and nationalities. SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 197 What must we think of the sanity, not to say the wisdom, &if '"' i!' ""^^ 'T^^ ^**"" '^^^ ^ °»«"«ce against th^ Mghsh-speaking population, two-thirds of the whole people of this dependency of England ? That English-speaking population IS a slow match, as hard to kindle as to extin! guish, and to those who address it in the language of menace, I say again— Beware ! (Hear, hear.) Ear better and worthier of the hon. gentleman's position would it be tlTiil'^f n°^ his majority to propose an alternative to the people of Upper Canada than to force them into one united phalanx as his devoted follower for the last seven years, the member for Durham, told him the other ni^H iirr t' 1.^ ^'"^^^^ P'^'" '' *h« ^"^^ ^or reforms/' sa^s a great pohtical authority, and it will be far easier o adjust our mutual difficulties now, than to let the old con- stitution run on into downright political bankruptcy. Does the hon. gentleman suppose that, by postponing the day of reckoning, he can diminish the demands on either side or lessen the pangs of concession on either ? Is his best pre- parative for a friendly settlement to be found in a long cherished previous hostility? WiU his own usefulness a! a pacificator be improved by his haughty tone in the pre- sent debate ?--Ear from it. (Hear, hear.) He may win the applause of the unthinking; he may strengthen him- self by such language with a section or a faction, but he never can become, by indulging in that spirit, a statesman for the whole country. (Cheers.) Another word only I wiU add—to every man who values our provincial union peace and prosperity-and that is, that there is no time like the present in which to enter on the great, good work of constitutional amendment. To those who would attract new strength from abroad; to those who would contrast our stability with Amenca's agitation; to those who desire the principles of constitutional monarchy to have a fair trial m this new field; to those cooler spirits who look beyond the hour, and know a duty in the distance as well as when they can touch it with their right hands,— to all and every one of these classes I say use your time, and correct by the high light of experience the prrors and f ,■' 198 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. aberrations of your constitution. Let such as have faith in a war of creeds, let such as have faith in a war of races, take their stand— the sooner the better; but let all just men who have seen and felt the derangement of our whole existing system, who have thought and compared thoughts as to the remedies to be applied; let them be but true to themselves and their convictions, and I am persuaded a solution will yet be found satisfactory to all reasonable men both in Upper and Lower Canada. (Loud cheers.) 1 if (i CANADIAN DEFENCES. Mb McGee addressed Mr. Speaker as foUows— A ^ omits, as weU as for what it contains, and I cannot for Suirof''ti:> ui ''^ •«, ^' ^ "™'' *he gratiUg results of tlie late decennial Census, and the subject of emigration and the settlement of the country, ough to have been referred to. The Census is an event of rare occurrence; ,t i, an act of the highest importance Its results stated in the Royal Speech would havrrircul'ated arther and with higher authenticity than wherput fori d m any other manner. I think, therefore, it should have been referred to, and that the subject of ErngS on wa' also, JUS at this period, of such importance as not to have been omitted. The leading EnglisK journal lately uttSrld a sen ment on this head with which I entirely concur when It said that if our statesmen were worthy J tS position, "America's difficulty might be made^(Snada's opportunity." N„ other subject has occupied a larger space m the provincial ptess-the press of all parties-tE ^r^lT^uT-'^u tl'o '""'is of our provincial agente abroad would have been much strengthened by such an authonty. We have only to hope that^ during tL "essi^ L^trrT^""'"' "'T^- '" 'h'^ HoulethanTC (Hear Zr'" 0^^ f ^ \^^ ^™» ">e Throne. (Hear, hear.) Of the first sentences, Mr. Speaker— T mean the very proper reference to the late Prince Consort in the speech-there has not been, and there could not b" any difference of opinion i„ this House. AU pitos arl 200 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ii equally agreed in Canada, that the world has lost a finished man in the Prince Consort— a man whose memory is less to be honoured for his good fortune and alhances than tor his provident use of his time, the elevation of his tastes, and the conspicuous example of his private hfe. fo those sentences we all cordially subscribe, and we are all indebted to His Excellency for having given us an opportunity ot ioiniiiff with him in the just and feeling tribute he has paid to the character of the deceased Prince. Immediately following this allusion to Prince Albert there is a paragraph on which I propose, Mr. Speaker, to make some observa- tions to the House, coupling it, however, with the last paragraph specially addressed to this House— I mean that concerning our Colonial defences. The first mentioned paragraph alludes to Her Majest/s gracious recognition ot the attachment exhibited by all classes in this Province, m the late emergency,* towards the mother countiy, and 1 feel that it is no forced march to take up in connection with that passage the relative one of how far this Province ouffht to look to the metropolitan power for its external defence, or for any species ot military protection whatever. (Hear, hear.) I must say. Sir, with all deference, but with all emphasis, that we in Canada cannot but think that the time chosen by the anti-Colonial party in England for the declaration of their principles, exceedingly ill chosen, and the manner of some among them exceedingly injurious to Canadian feeling. If they were really the people of Eng- land— if they were likely to direct at any future day the Government of England,— it would be incumbent on us liere, without the loss of a single day, to look around us m search of some new state of political existence. VVhat, Sir' when all ranks and classes with us have been vieing with each other as to who should do most to give volunteer defenders to the country, was this a time to read us an economical lecture on the burthensome nature ot our allegiance to the Empire? Was this a time to have it proclaimed in Washington by the authority of the Imperial The affair of the Trent SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 201 Parliament, that that supreme assembly considered us too dear a bargain at 2,000,000/. a-year. (Hear, hear.) It is undeniable, I suppose, Mr. Speaker, that we are indebted for this rebuff, and the Americans for this gratification, to that school of economists who bring every subject of Go- vernment to the infallible test of pounds, shillings, and pence. With that school it is, perhaps, presumptuous to reason, but this I venture to assert, that if their doctrine of putting everv Imperial relation in the scales of a cash balance should ever prevail, the British Empire will be near Its end, not only in North America, but in the British Islands. (Hear, hear.) These gentlemen of England argue that this country is no commercial benefit to England, because it is of no apparent profit to her. But supposing even this argument to be unanswerably true— though I am far from allowing it to be so—are there no relations any longer profitable or desirable between the mother country an(l her colonies but commercial relations ? Are there no political ties ? Are there no military advantages as well as disadvantages attached to colonies? lam not competent to judge whether the military conveniences or inconveniences of holding Canada as a base of North American operations may preponderate in the minds of British military men, but it IS clear so far that they have not pronounced against retaining the military power on our soil. It is so far an outcry of civilians and politicians, and it may therefore be answered by other civilians. Now it seems to me. Sir, that both m England and with us much confusion arises from substituting England, or "the mother country,^' for the Empire at large, in certain stages of the argument, and dropping that substitution at other stages. Thus we hear people talk of the Empire and the Colonies, as if the Colonies were something apart, exclusive, external to Em- pire. This is an evident fallacy; we, here in Quebec, are at this moment as strictly an Imperial city as London or Dublm. Her Majesty's subject in Windsor, Canada West, stands as near to Her Majesty, politically, as Her Majesty's subject in Windsor, County of Berkshire. (Cheers.) The reciprocal duties of subject and Sovereign are not attenuated 202 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. bv distance, but, on the contrary, are oftener enhanced, since they are cherished against the relaxing influence of such distance. Those who talk, therefore, of it being un- reasonable to expect the Empire to defend Canada, forget that Canada is itself the Empire in North America. The Empire, commonly called British, is an Asiatic Empire in virtue of India, an Australian Empire in virtue of Aus- tralia, an African Empire in virtue of the Cape and other possessions; and it is an American Empire still, in virtue of our sister Frovinces and ourselves. Is it the will and wish of the English in England to have no longer fellow- lubjects in North America? For it must come to that — whenever the Empire in Canada is not to be defended by all the vigilance and all the resources of the entire Empire, whenever its existence comes to be considered in the metropolis as something separate and apart from their own existence. If that undesirable change should come to pass, future British Ministers at Washington will be much less harassed with work than Lord Lvons, because they will be much less influential ; they will have fewer cares, but they will also have a lower sphere of action. Why are Her Majesty's representatives on the Potomac facile princeps of all the diplomatic body? Why is the British Minister, next to the President, the second power at Washington? Not alone because of England's greatness proper to herself, but because he alone represents a North American power— if we except the Russian representatives of the Czar's provinces in the North Pacific, which certainly give a pro- portionate influence to Russia. If Lord Lyons could re- view Mr. Seward, with his hand resting on the breac^ - f the Armstrong gun that thrills this wliole region from th Citadel, he could not more visibly and personally ' • Canada and Quebec at his back than he has already in the mind's eye of the statesman of the Federal Union. (Cheers.) No, Mr. Speaker ; directly the commerce of Canada may no longer be .in object to the manufacturers, but indirectly, and politic? I; every English relation with every part of America "lok /lic^dy depend materially on the fact, whether or not the Crown of England is still one of the ^ J SPEECHES IN CANADUN PARLIAMENT. 203 largest proprietors on this continent. I object, therefore, not only to the confused way in which the terms Empire and Colony are bandied about, but I also object to the time chosen by the anti-colonial party in England for raising Uie question of what we are worth to the rest of the Empire And I hope. Sir, that from every side of this House, from every person of influence within these waUs. ministeriahst as well as oppositionist, that one unanimous protest will go iorth m this discussion against the time chosen by th(; anh-colonial party in England, for raisin? such ar. issue with Canada, (rfear, hear.) With a new state of iiias all over North America— with half a million men under arras, in our near neighbourhood ; with evidence before us of the employment of secret agents of the United States m Canada- was this a time to cast a damper upon the ardour of Colonial loyalty, and to give a new hope of spohation to our irritated neighbours ? Mr. Speaker, a former residence of some years in the United States has given me, I presume to say, some insight into the American cha- rac er, and consulting that knowledge I do not hesitate to declare that m my opinion we are not yet finally done with the American diffi culty. Formerly you had to do with the example and opinions of their democracy, but let Canadians never forget for one hour, that they have now to do with democracy armed and insolent-with democracy in square and column with a sword by its side and a bitter humilia- ion m Its heart. (Hear, hear.) It is possible, I wish I could say it is probable, that the evil may cure itself through internal purgation; but Canadian vigilance must sleep no more except upon its arras. We have burst into a new era-fhe halcyon has fled to other climes and latitudes --the storm and penl are daily visible in our horizon. I have no fears for Canada, in the presence even of such a phenomenon as a victorious democratic army, for I believe alter all, the other and elder members of the Empire will stand cordially by us in our day of danger. But they must be prepared to do so, in some fair proportion to their relative strength and wealth as compared with ours, and in proportion to the strength and wealth of the enemy opposed \ • I a: II II if i 204 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. to US. This is no Cape Colony— +liis is no Canterbury settlement -and ouv American neighbours are neither Maoris nor Caffres. It is not against semi-savages, armed only with lances or small arms, that we must keep our frontier, and the frontier of the Empire, but against a people as well armed, as enterprising, and ten times as nuraeroas as ourselves. I admic T/e must do our share— wilhug]y, cheerfully, and to the utmost extent of our young resources j but I say still, that our share must be proportionate to that of the Empire. (Hear, hear.) To ask us to be the prin- cipals ill our own defence— in our present stage of develop, ment— willi our six or seven inhabitants to the square mile —with our three against twenty-five millions— is to ask a downright impossibility. The proportion we should bear to the Empire may, perhaps, be indicated by our mutual symbols of the Lion and the Beaver. There is great dis- parity between those creatures ; the beaver, it is true, can work in land and water, and the beaver has worked wonders in the wilderness. But the lion must bear the lion s share ; if he would continue lord of the forest he must be some- times felt— at least his formidable points must be visible to the eye of every American emissary. To drop all metaphor, Mr. Speaker, and speaking only for myself, I declare my perfect readiness to entertain any proper project for putting our Canadian Militia on a thoroughly effective footing, as suggested in His Excellency's speech, but 1 cannot lor a moment entertain— and I do not believe any party m this House or country can entertain— the injurious propof tion lately affirmed by the House of Commons, which, as amended by Mr. Baxter, clearly intimates that we are here- after to rely invariably and mainly on ourselves, and only incidentally on the rest of the Empire for the common defence. (Hear, hear.) On this point I trust the whole House can be unanimous as one man. Not to aisturb that unanimity in any quarter I pass over some other topics ot the Speech at present. It seems to me we ought to have an early and emphatic expression of opinion on this para- mount question of colonial defence, and I would not have troubled the House at all to-day i " irom mterbury ! neither Bs, armed keep our i a people aunieroas •willingly, 'esources j te to that the prin- f develop- juare mile s to ask a ould bear ir mutual great dis- true, can id wonders )n's share ; t be some- ; visible to metaphor, leclare my [or putting footing, as mnot lor a irty in this propof ' tion which, as ^e are here- 3, and only le common b the whole disturb that er topics of ght to have 1 this para- Id not have kvt r» (7t4-t-kloti AT SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 205 what is due to my own constituents, and the country at large (Cheers.) In the course of the debate there are other topics to whi-^h I should wish to speak, but just at present they all dwindle into insignificance in comiarison with this, on which I have endeavoured to lay my own views respecifully before the House and the country. (Loud cheers,)* ^ r.Ii'n?\*^rfP''°^i' butoneof a series on the subject, the only record of which, during the Session of 1863, is found in the condensed rr;r^ V*' Q^^^^'f '>-«% Chrmide, it is proper to add the foZ. 11 flilf f i' • I.- ?^ ^-' **"®^^> ''«°* "'^ ^ bJ^o"^. fron» actual fac^ the great danger which might at any moment come upon the country from an aggressive movement on the part of the Northern States He ]T:^^ *^' i^°"^^ *^* \'^ ^'^ «»«• ^^ °« ^^e^ny of the Noxth ; Ihat, on inSt^' X"""' t'°K V. *"Tt« *^^ ^''^^ '" *heir struggle with the S-l^T" ^' he believed the Washington Government to be the to hide from ourselves the fact that there was a strongly hostile feeling if the m.-ads of a portion of the American people toward! WthiVg Brifish that those who were at the head of affairs in the United States were coZZn /' v'k«*T'^*^ ^"«'»°*^' ^°^ f»"y realised the dmZl consequences which such a contest would involve; but it should not be forgotten that political demagogues might, in a moment of political excite! whth w *, J'-^«"^«°*^'*l «'f tion for instance, bring about a stated thin^ which would punge us into an armed contest. It was only necessai^ fa a proof of this kind of^danger, to refer to the case of the S-^n^Zl^oi a? be public ovations which were accorded tr Commodore Wilks, who w" BrS rV^'^^fr'^ ^''^"«* ^' ^*^ ^''^ * ^h'^* »«ross the biws oil f«'w ^-T} • Ti '^''"? ^.^ "" ^yi"« ^h^n ««"»« other boisterous blue* ja^et might not by a similar act, put an end to the peaceful relations at present existing between England and America. Mr. Mctfee then rXred the extensive armament going on along the American side of our fron- p!,':7?i, /°'*^^'^ .*''' Tf "'^ *^^ * "^^ f«rt *nJ »>arraek3 near Rouse^s Point, the strengthening of the works at Niagara, and the fort at Mackinaw • and quoted the speeches and state papers of the late Mr. Webster and othlr leading American statesmen to show that the invasion of Canada by way of Rouse's Poin vas a favourite scheme with many of their leading K men; and that fhe absorption of the whole continent by the American Republic was the darling object of iheir ruling public. In conc'utir Mr McGee dwelt on the willingBess which the moLr-country S "hown in the hour of uanger, to defend her British North American possessions But while It was well known that England would spend he* iLt man and heJ as shilling in defence of her Colonies, ii" the latter showed that thty were really desirous of maintaining the connection, -at the same time H wis incumbent upon Canadians to provide to the fullest extent of theb melJs lor their own protection against insult and aggression. " P i II KEPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. HOOSK OF ASSEMBIT, QCBBKO, ApBII. IST, 1862. Me. McGee':— Whenever there was a hair to split the hon. member (Mr. Dunkin) never failed to have his razor at hand. (Laughter.) But such was not the spirit m which a grave reality like this ought to be dealt witu, and any man who could descend to sophistry in such circum^ stances, was wholly misplaced in this House. (Hear, hear.) All that he had ever read or heard of state-craft went to show that when a question had taken strong hold on a large population, that when it had become one of the poll- tical realities, it was no longer met with a flat negative, but with an alternative proposition. By a reasonable alternative one part of a party, the moderate part, was cer- tain to be satisfied, and so the combination was at an end. (Hear, hear.) . Such an alternative would not satisfy extremists, but it would take from them the alliance of those who gave their extreme demands weight. It could not be pretended any longer, with the two votes of this week on record, that the demand for this change came from any one side of the House, or from mere agitators, when they had around them such advocates of it as the member for Welland (Mr. Street), the member for West Brant (Mr. Ryerson), and the able lawyers who had spoken and voted for it (the Messrs. Cameron). (Hear, hear.) As a member for Montreal, a neutral ground, and a cosmo- politan community if there was one in the Province, he (Mr. McGee) appealed to his honourable friend (Mr. Rose), as a joint representative of that city, to be true to the crowing public opinion of that great city, which was m favour 01 an amicable, raiionui semcmcui ui v^i^ vj^a^^v.^... SPEECHES W CANAWAK PAKLUMENT. 207 mstmcts and vote for this reasonable amendment (H^ fiutd tKrT?rP'^""°''T"l.' country made the town-tW S mif ^/j\*''?''l ^ heard where they w«J S bf rd^he'liT ,:%S tT^ ^ concession flip Vn'r,!,^, 5^*^ •'"cjr resistea tne minimum of concession, the higher would rise the maximum of demand tent to have but one representative; ^hile ellTt Lower Kr^' °.T^ """^ OnS^iitt^ovHo'lof inhabitants, had two members ea/ih wl,; I h ' j Bruce with twice the numberhaTb'„tti%h^"rese:'* .ns«-er that concession iS^nlTston ^i tt.^ """^f h^m:Lbttlttd^:stT^l^^^^^^^^^ stabihty Why. Sir, what foli; tUs 5T We te^ L 1' heaf r'lv: ^ Heptarchy stagJof our existen e '(Hea^ trZil,. L ^K? "" 'f "^ '^t'-^^"' "bout immnffi , doaiii«t that uicusure, tiiere was no such pro- 208 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. test on the ground of stability then. (Hear, hear.) Huron and Bruce would not be put off by the plea of stability. But he might be asked what guarantee will you give to Lower Canada if new eastern counties come to knock at our doors year after year? (Hear, hear.) His answer was, Lower Canada had her Imperial guarantee— she had her guarantee of numbers, her own brave blood, and the tree- man's final guarantee— the right to car:y arms. (Hear, hear.) But in addition there was another guarantee he would aUude to— he would say to the gentlemen of Lower Canada-settle up your country ! If the same pains had been taken the last ten years to settle Lower Unada that had been taken in Upper Canada, the disparity of representation would be now on the other side. (Hear, hear.) He must speak plainly, but not disrespectfully, when he said that such pains had not been taken. Ihe British and German emigration was allowed to pass through Lower Canada as if there was no habitable land either to their right hand or to their left. No^^ ^hey had Sir William Logan's opinion, and the Hon. Mr. Cauchon s official report of 1856, that there was more habitable land now unsettled in Lower than in Upper Canada. (Hear, hear ) [Mr. McGee here read a quotation from Hon. Mr. Cauchon's Report of 1856, showing that there was room enough in the St. Maurice region for eleven millions of people.] Yet nothing had been done to open up tha country, and the Three Rivers Inquirer of the 25th instant stated, that it was said to be, because "the Hon. Mr. Turcotte was opposed to the settlement of old country emigrants, or the appointment of an agent at Three Rivers (Hear, hear.) But the fact was undoubted— the emigrant was not retained in this section of the country. (Hear, Hon. Mr. Sicotte.— Where will we go to? Mr. McGee.— There is room enough for all. (Cheers.) The population of this country will count by miUions before its frontiers give way from repletion. (Cheers.) And what has been the consequence of squandering the Colonisation lund of L'^wPT Canada on parish improvements!' iae mswer was, ire was room SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 209 obstacles that kept out *he foreigner kenf n„+ i\.. r ivenet ^1 M"? P'^''^ of ob^'truction and exdu rest of the Province would not stanrl .tiu 1^ \^ . ' ^® Provincial man o ^^"^'-^ ,/° "» sectional spirit— as a Ter views oTn'- .^PP'/r'' ^'"^''' Canada diffe eJtn the countr/ (cS.) ^ ^^'''' '"'" ^'^^^^'^ ^^ I II I I ) i II 1 EMIGRATION AND COLONISATION. ''^y^S/V'^o™ o» Aasi!JiBi.T, Ap>il 25IH, 1862. The House resumed the adjourned debate on Mr. McGee's motion of the 8th instant, "That a Select Com- mmee be Appointed to take into --iderat.on he^j^j^^ of Immigration and Colonisation, especially with .«'"™«« to ttelprin? Immigration of the present year ; with power Z tend foTpersonsInd papers, and to report from time to^ *"mC McGee, after a few introductory remarks, said :- In movh g for W' Committee, Mr. Speaker, I might mov on Te g ound that it is not only called for lu i se It, but tha ™the Vvince expends large «»»f,.»"f ^. "J^tl a knowledge of its own resources, this Committee « the natural corollary of that ^''P™'^''"^- , ^fr^Zd th public accounts, yesterday placed o» *%*f '^fj^^ma oUoivina principal items of expenditure for what we may calun feiLl terms, exploring or exhibiting the resources of the Province — Geological Survey (1861) . . Bureau of Agriculture, salaries, &c. „ Contingencies . Roads and Bridges (^•^•) • Improvement Fund (C.W.) Colonisation Roads (C.W.) . „ iC.E.) Crown Lands Surveys (West) ,, (East) . Colonisation Road Agents (West) . „ (East*) . Inspection of Agencies (West) . (East) . 120,315 00 8,091 00 6,805 00 57,845 00 17,398 00 54,000 00 62,424 00 75,444 00 41,969 00 11,392 00 2,976 00 3,514 00 Included in the item of ''Roads and Bridges," C.E. [ON. late on Mr. Select Com- the subjects ith reference ; with power from time to arks, said :— ; might move ;self, but that [y to arrive at oaittee is the ling over the ,le, I find the what we may the resources 120,315 00 8,091 00 6,805 00 57,845 00 17,398 00 54,000 00 62,424 00 75,444 00 41,969 00 11,392 00 2,976 00 3,514 00 B," C,E. SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 211 Agricultural Societies (West) 7^ ." . »» (East) . . * * ■ * iimigration service. Inland and Porei-n Agencies Ao ' as per page 112, Public Accounts °^^.'''' *''' iimigration Commission ' * • • . . Total $53,894 00 48,725 00 45,329 00 400 00 $501,612 00 b. ti^^P tr T' *'"'' ^""".OOO P« annum may be said to be the present annual expenditure of the Province on tW various branches of administration which fairrectlv »S00,000, IS about four per cent, on 'tlie total revenues of poforfort "''*-/""/« -nt. be a SLt proportion lor these branches of the pubUo service I am cent "oTtP"'^ '" ^^r.- "' -y ""^ opinio" ten pe" cent, of the revenue would not be an excessive expendi ture ou the work of increasing the population and decreas mg the wilderness; but I content myself with pointinJo, t *rr'f".^ «500,000 a-year on Volo^stsr utvlT agen s (,uland and foreign), roads and brid|es, agSffi ocieties, and an agricultural bureau, and tLCeTughtto have something handsome to show at the end of eaclf yelr for such expenditure. (Hear, hear.) On a point of S immediate importance - the SpringEmigratC and the arrangements made to meet it,-I m^ust eStrear he Holse extend to me its indulgence, in the next place. I need hardly say, that I did not take up this inqu'y in U,e beginning with any view either to sme or to i fure par ticular individuals, and that I do not inteud-soC as I an help it-to let the reform demanded assume al Wn ictive aspect. {Hear, hear.) But jurtice mu™t b7do'« tear essly done, in the Port of Quebec, the com ng season a wiTiS "f disappointed hope, going homefromthk sme, will reach us all, from the highest to the humblest person connected with this Government. Having orS nail, recommended the appointment of provincial a°ens Aroad, in my report of Ise'o, I wns of coLe l^^ytCl «ia that suggestion had been acted upon, as fi,f as Great fC.L:"' if !"t«r-^-*'';-f.-d Beigiu^r;:^' -ucnec. Iheic may oe some doubts as to whether the r2 I \ •'■' i! ! n 212 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. versons appointed pro tern, to fill those offices have been always the fittest persons for their work-there may be some doubts whether they have been stationed at the best points for their work, but there can be no donbt that a few able a-ents on the other side of the Atlantic must be of benefit il this Province. The French agency has been objected to in some quarters as useless and unprofitable but when we see from the statistics of New York that during the last few years from ten to twelve per cent, of all the am- vals at that port were from Havre-some 8,000 last year out of 68,000— when we see that Havre ranks as a JNort^ American port next to Liverpool and Hamburgh m this trade, I cannot concur that the appointment of Mr. ^erre was a needless or improper one. If Mr. Verret should not succeed in doing much in Prance, he may make better progress in. Belgium and Switzerland-at least let us hope so, for the sake of the undertaking. (Hear, hear.) Whether Berlin is the proper station for the German agent, Mr Wagner, despatched by the Crown Lands Department, i cannot pretend to say, but my impression is, tliat one ot the great northern shipping ports-Bremen or Hamburgh —ought to be his head-quarters. (Hear, hear.) J3ut another appointment equally important, which was sug- gested in I860, has not yet been made,--I mean a Una- dian agent at New York. By the New York booking system, we know that, in 1859, 2,000 emigrants were landed at that port whose destination was Canada; tliat, in 1860, there were 1,880; and in 1861, 1,554 similarly bound for Canada ;-or, in three years, 5,434 settlers. Now this is a contingent well worth looking after. And supposing such an agent appointed at New York, it migh be made part of his business during other seasons of the year to visit those neighbourhoods in which there are native Canadians willing and anxious to return to this country, to report the facts, and to arrange for their return. (Hear, hear.) He would also meet with other British subjects- with some of those hundreds of natives of the British Isles who have besieged the Consulates m the great cities, anxious to be sent back again to their old homes, SPEECHES IN CANADIAJT PARUAMENT. 213 Wlitv to » tj V'"^ ""^ '""^ I'* '■"■•'=<'<'• i" "» P™ba- Diuty, to a second emigration. fUenr lisnr 1 T «™ i an advocate for the crfation ornX:;W sTeZ wouTd Lfh *']^"^ ^'"? '' ^^ really reql;df but I would not be doing my duty to the Province if I did not once more point out the importance of a prop r Lett Sn tl.f p' ""'T ^••'•-S^«^«»t of the Inland Agents vv hi, this Province, I am not prepared to speak in de- tail at tins moment; besides, so much depends on the the head of the department, that I shrink from discussin mit ee '; fj'T ""'^^ ^'' ^^^^ '"^'^^^^ them Tcom^ tTe Com2ti P" ""' "^'^ ^''' '^' ""i^^d «-^tion of da.] rr u ^^^°^«^«"dations which, as an indivi- dual, and a member in opposition, I fear would have httle chance o adoption-coming from me. I will It, ther^ lore, dwell on that point; for it must rest, in t e enS with the Minister of Agriculture whether 'any o these offices are to continue sinecures or to be made realises Mr. Speaker, the mention of ^e^v York remh^ds i^^^^^^^^ C V ha ^nf'f?"''' '"^ P'"^^? '^'' ^^»i^^ tl^^t State and in {lir /'^' ^T '""'T'''^ °^^^ *1'« emigrants arriving in heir waters, formerly it was not so. But for the past ten or twelve years no department of the public se vice has been more steadily improving than the denar ment committed to the Coimisiioners^f Emig atio r I have here their last Annual Eeport, and it is 1 tlilv instructive to see how they handled the 68,000 aS esils i^o :T n' f^'^'V'' I 1-e thrown 7 The arrivals at New York ia 1861 were • . Of these, arrived in steamers lu sailing ships . Total number of vessels . Average of passengers to ship • • 68,311 21,110 37,201 453 150 214 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Destination of New York arrivalt in 1861. New York City and State ^HS« Pennsylvania and New Jersey I'^to New England States J'^JJ Western States ^J'JJ" Southern States ^''°P. Canada West ^»^" Canada East * Balance to California, &c Aid and Employment Afforded. Amount received at Castle Garden and its agencies, from friends of emigrants in interior, to assist emigrants on arrival . $17,59100 Advances^raade to emigrants on deposits of baggage . . ^'^^9 00 Of which was repaid during the year .... 1,26700 Number who received treatment or relief in Emigrant Refuge and Hospital o»"'^ Number of emigrants sent back to Europe at their own request „ V i * Number provided with temporary lodging in New York, Albany, Buffalo, &c J.177 Temporarily supplied with food in Castle Garden . . 1,6V>\) Number of persons uf both sexes provided with situations by Commissioners and their agents in New York City and State ^»Q^^ Emigrant Correspondence. Letters written at Castle Garden for emigrants . . . 1,682 Letters received for ditto "^^ It will be seen by a glance at these figures how tho- roughly the Americans have, to use their own expression, " realised the idea" that emigration is a source of national wealth. Por some they have nursed and tended; for some they have found prompt employment; for others they have made themselves clerks and correspondents ; to others they have advanced cash on deposits of baggage, which they report have always been repaid. (Hear, hear.) "We may deprecate as we please some traits of American life ; but, in working up the raw material of a new country into populous and prosperous communities, it would be well for us to imitate their sagacity, and their system. (Hear, hear.) I refer to the New York arrangements, to es how tho- SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 215 point out the absolute necessity of an enclosed landing- place for emigrants arriving in our own port. Is it not a reproach that we here, in Quebec, have less care for our fellow-subjects present or prospective, than the Americans have at New York (hear, hear) ;-that the newly-arrived strangers on our docks, male and female, may be exposed and tempted to their ruin, as they have been too often tempted and seduced, both male and female, for want of a properly.provided landing dep6t ? I do not pretend that we could set up anything on tlie scale of the New York buildings— tliere is no need for so costly an establishment: but there is need for a safe and ordinary means of accommodating over night 200 or 300 persons, who are anxious to draw breath before continuing their pilgrima-e to the interior. In the name of humanity— in the name of common decency-I appeal to the gentlemen opposite to see that some temporary landing-place and Em&rant E^fuge is provided, before the Spring fleet pours its pas- sengers in upon us. It was mainly to effect this one point that I was so anxious to obtain my Committee before the faster recess;— but it is not yet too late, if the hon gentlemen opposite will order it to be done. (Loud cries ,^^^^' } n/ o ^"^^ °^ ^""^^y suggestion of this kind must depend, Mr. Speaker, not only on its fitness, but also on the character of the Minister entrusted with its execu- tionif it should be adopted-I allude to the Minister of Agriculture Now, it seems to me, Sir, and I bdieve the opinion to be a growing one, that that portfolio oudit to be estimated as one of the most important,— requiring as good abihties as any other in the Administration. Everv one admits that the legal offices of those who may be called our Ministers of Justice,-that the Finances, tlie Crown Lands, and the Pubhc Works, require able men to fill them well; but, hitherto, it seems to have been con- sidered that the Ministry of Agriculture-including, as it ought to do, Emigration-might be given to any second or third-rate man. (Hear, hear.) Now, what should be lairly required as a standard of ability in such a depart- ment.? Should the Minister appointed know as much a. 216 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I [< a clerk under the Civil Service Act? Should lie know what the Provincial Examiners insist upon as the standard for every land surveyor ? Should he know dl parts of \m own country well, and something of other countries from which we draw so much of our labour, and to which we export so much of our produce ? I will not be guilty of the arrogance of defining the duties of such an office by any description of my own, but I will seek for an example of what such a Minister ought to be ; and, happily, I can find an illustrious example in the history of this Province, in the person of one of its old French Governors, whose memory is too little known among us in these days. The Swedish Naturalist, Peter Kalm, a disciple of Linnscus, who visited Canada, and stayed some time in this city in the year 1749, lias left us, in his "Travels," the following account of the Marquis dc la Gallissonniere, then Governor- General of this country : — jui " He (the Marquis de la Gallissonniere) has a surprising knowledge in all branches of science, and especially in natural history ; in which he is so well versf d, that when he began to speak with me about it, I imagined I saw our great Linnseus under a new form. When he spoke of the use of natural history, of the method of learning, and employing it to raise the state of a country, I was asto- nished to see him take his reasons from politics, as well as natural philosophy, mathematics, and other sciences. I own that my conversation with this nobleman was very instructive to me; and I always drew a deal of useful knowledge from it. He told me several ways of employing natural history to the purposes of politics, and to make a country powerful m order to depress its envious neigh- bours. Never has natural history had a greater promoter in this country ; and it is very doubtful whether he will ever have his equal here. As soon as he got the place of Governor-General he began to take those measures for getting information in natural history which I have men- tioned before. When he saw people who had been in a settled part of the country, especially in the more remote parts, or had travelled in those parts, he always questioned sciences. SPEECHES W CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 217 fcTof tT.'c 1° '"-'''i.'''",","' '"'^"- '""'^'' °^'--' """""I'. «c., ot tic ijlace. He likewise inquired what use the b u dry wa ; wliat akcs, rivers, and passages tliere are ■ and a number of other imrliculars. iLse who sceLd to ave clearer notions than the rest, were obliKed to live in. eircumstantial descriptions of ' what thy'' 1 ad sfen He himself wrote down all the accounts he received -and h tins great applieatio,,, so uncommon amoirperso'ns of "yank he soon acquired a knowledge of ife Sjis- taut parts of America. The priests, commandants of fort, and 01 several distant places, are often surpr^«l bv Is luestions, and wonder at his knowledge, when thev come he2'unTneV:r,'"' ™'" '" '"'" ' ^^ '- oZTeTl here h.v „T ' ■" ■{""""■■"»- »■• 0" »"ch a shore, &c.. Where they often went a-liunlirig, there are some part cuhr pants, trees, earth, ores, &c., for he had got a kSd 4 of those lungs before. From whence it happened tlfat omeol the .nlmbitants believed that he had "? preteraa the cunosi es of places, sometimes near two hundred S' "t'Jr Hr''"' "1°"^''' '"^ --r was here ope mel for f ^ '''•'" '^'''"'''' ""<' ^''""-^o "o^ This is the portrait of a Franeo-Canadian statesman of the eighteen h century, who considered " natural l"tory" i"l iiot Lt^TT r".," S™"^^ '"'^ Canada. Now I S t n me ,Ln°? 1 "" *^'"'1"' ''^ '" Gallissonniere's gieat name, stoop to draw any sat real contrasts between truifd Si°' "" p"'l''° °f ^srieuitut ziz Marquis (le la (jalhssomuere. Eut supposing, Mr Soealcer eoi.ga^,at,o„ of the department to'^'l.e alf tttf/ u5.t be in Its head and its members, let us consider the attractions we can offer in Canada to' intending settlers!* 518 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. J: I It is true that this Province has neither the golden rivers of California nor the luxurious climate of Australia; but it has two things which free-born men value even higher —complete civil and religious liberty, and productive land to be acquired by any man's industry. Our chief moral attraction must ever lie in our institutions; our chief material attraction must lie in cheap or free land. The institutions of this Province, whatever defects may exist, are, take them all in all, the most desirable in the world ; and if we can only succeed in keeping down the wrathful spirit of religious bigotry— bigotry on all sides— that despotic temper which makes a bigot in religion and a despot in politics out of the self-same stuff;— if we only succeed in keeping down that spirit, the institutions of Canada ought naturally to attract valuable accessions to our population from abroad. As to our material advan- tages, the land resources of this Province are not so well understood, even by Canadians themselves, as they should be. Which of us familiarly thinks of the hundred mil- lion acres in Lower, and fifty million acres in Upper Canada, so ably and fully described in that vade mecum of such information, the Crown Land Commissioner's Report of 1857, for which the hon. gentleman (Mr. Cauchon) and those who assisted him in its preparation deserve the highest credit,— a Report that ought to be familiar to every Member of this House. (Hear, hear.) But confining ourselves to the public lands actually in the market in this Province, we find that we commence the year with over 7,600,000 acres of Crown Lands in the two sections ; over 500,000 acres of Clergy Lands,— not to mention the School Lands, the Indian Lands, and the Ordnance Lands, with- held, and I think very properly withheld, for the present. I will trouble the House with a tabular view of these lands, taken from the new emigration pamphlet, giving the acreage in round numbers only : — since been tested in the most practical way, but only over a limited extent of the auriferous field, and the result so far has been such as to encourage the formation of several mining companies, chiefly by capitalists at Boston 1 HT -V I- SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT, Canada East. 219 Counties on the north side of the Ottawa Counties on the north side of St. Lawrence Counties south side of St. Lawrence . .'.'.' Total available in Canada East, in 1862 . Canada West. In the Ottawa and Huron countrv Continuations of Lennox, Frontenac, Addingtoni and District of Nipissing . . Continuations of Hastings, and Peterborough, " Victoria*. Simcoe, and part of Nipissing . ' District of Algoma . .... Fort William (Lake Superior) '.'.'.*.' ' Total available in Canada West, in 1862 Acres. 1,09;^, 000 1,378,000 1,544,000 4,015,000 600,000 660,000 1,170,000 200,000 64,000 2,694,000 ninM f 1 /' ^^"''v ^^^^^'^"'S to the new emigration pamphle^ while accordinar to the Crown Land Coramis- sioner s Report for the year ending December 31st, 186J, the Crown Lands actually in the market at that date were : — Canada West Canada East Total Crown Lands in market Acres. 2,021,2291 6,593,833 7,615,0624 This domain might be diminished at the rate of a millico ir " ^.T'~> ^^'^^^ «^ ^«^<^00 °«« l^^ndred acre farms, and the decrease would not be felt,-the want would be supplied by the new surveys, on which the Province iXnr A ^7P«^'^ ^'?"^ *^" *° ^^'"'^ ^^""dred land urveyors As the House is aware, Mr. Speaker, a per entage of this immense domain is very liberali; given away m "free grants;" to what extent that per cen Ige may be actually m demand I am not now going to discusf disnosed Tu^T'' ^\f i^h «^e lands of "the Crown disposed of by sale, are sold, cannot be considered exorbi! es nfl^'^'' Canada the average price obtained in the sales of last year was, for the Crown Lands $1.25 the School Lands %l ^o or„i +i,„ ni t i ti'iv ^^r ijauu.. ^i.„..^ „„a vxic wicrgy juands $2.oU; m ;!»ll 1 I r I i 220 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. i il'li Lower Canada the average prices were, for the Crown Lands less than 50 cents, and for the Clergy Lands less than $1 per acre. Considering that on these purchases five years' time is usually given, and that a first instalment of ten per cent, is all that is usually required, it is evident that the first cost of our public lands cannot be any great obstacle to the more general settlement of our waste terri- tory. Are there, then, defects in the machinery by which the lands are to be settled ?— are the formalities expensive ? —are the surve^ > inaccessible ?— are there hostile conibi- nations? Thesu are all considerations of the utmost im- portance for this House, and especially for the Committee which I have proposed. Before passing altogether from this point, I cannot but remark on the existence among us of certain landed monopolies, which, I fear, have given Canada a bad name for a poor man's country to get. I allude to such corporations as the British American Land Company and the Canada Company ; and speaking of these great companies, I was sorry to see, Sir, by the Crown Lands Eeport for this year, that Mr. Yankoughnet had dis- posed "of ten townships en bloc" in the Ottawa and Lake Huron tract to another of these companies. I know that the late Commissioner, to whose great administrative abilities I have always cheerfully paid homage, intended and stipu- lated that settlement duties should be rigorously exacted of this new company. (Hear, hear.) But who is to answer that his successors will be equally resolute ? Who is to guarantee the Province that a corporation rich enough to purchase will not be influential enough to hold up these ten townships at an excessive figure, and so keep back the surrounding settlements? What has been our experience of these large landed companies ? They all came into existence with the fairest possible professions towards this Province. The Canada Company and the British American Company were created by Eoyal Charter before the days of Eesponsible Government, so 'we are not fairly answerable for them, as we shall be for others, if others are to be created by our own action. The Canada Company's report for the present year is now in my possession, and shows SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 221 hoT they have used their chartered privileges to snpp„I»t. upon Canadian lands during the ^s X tarf it d.reetors congratulate the proprietors on the coSant nro gress^e nse of prices in their sales of wild " 1^^ "The Directors again draw the attention of the nro pnetorstothe steady annual increase in the market vah^ fea re?nTe'i'/aff™'^ ^f ' T' '^"^^"-"-^ andtpo™" Mature in their affairs; the ultimate success of their onera tions depending, as it does in some degree, upon 7b o" gessive increase in the price to be obtained from the sale of t:Zrf' -^ *''f "*'"^- ^'''^ ^'-Jo-^d tab e Vf and disposed of since the year 1829, arrlnged in decennial penods, furnishes an interesting illustration on SisS:- 1829 to 1840. 1841 to 1850 1851 to 1861. 736.608 acre, at lis. Id. per aore, 493,873 „ 32s: 4d: [I "It will be seen from these figures tliaf nUlmnn-i, +u quantity of land disposed of durinf tl £tS n Zs has ben less by one-half than in the preceding pS i reated more than double the amount." ° ^ ' " No doubt this is a most satisfactory state of things to n, aTd'to t^'"^' '?."'' Directors^of the Canadlcom" panv, and to the propnetors of the Canada Company but If the growth of the western section of the Province is in tr^ctedTtuf ?''" i, ■' t' '""^'^'"S P°Pu'a™n is ob" fwidlandfe r' ^'^"""^^^oM, exorbitant price w wild land (d2s. sterling per acre , t is not quite so snti, actorya state of things for CanadL as for tie Commlv" The transae lons of the Company dnring the flrSTw^o " ^""""^ *''!<,V* "^^"f ""y *•* *^® 28th February, 1862 •_ 424 acres have been sold at 32s. lid. per acre 6,22 acres have been leased at 56.. n/per acre 24,522 acres converted to freeholds." 36^H?rnr"''^''"' "^•"'^"'^ ^"^ ^^'' '^"^^ period amount to oo,8UU/. currencv, viz. : I' II 222 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. " On account of purchase money rent and interest » sundries £26,875 9,581 814 " The sum of 31,000/. sterling/' adds the Report, "has been remitted home by the Commissioners since the 31st X)pcGTiibcr» I have no disposition, Mr. Speaker, to exaggerate the evil in our state of society of these great land companies, but I think it my duty to state to this House that both in the Eastern Townships, where the British American Land Company still retains en bloc many thousands of acres, and in those counties in Upper Canada in which the Canada Company retains its vast reserves, that they are generally looked upon as lets rather than as aids to settlement. They allow their lands to lie waste, unless they can get their own exorbitant prices, or if they lease them it is often to take them back again from the disheartened lessees ; for, in any event, the value is certain to increase by the mere increase of the neighbouring settlements on the lands of the Crown. The whole surrounding country is tugging to lift that dead weight of corporate lands held en bloc, and if a more liberal poUcy is not adopted by them— if a pohcy less hostile to Canadian interests is not adopted— this Pro- vince may be compelled, in self-defence, to inquire by what means it may best mitigate this evil, and enfranchise the large scopes of country now held in worse than mortmain clutch.^ The Clergy Reserves and the Seiguorial Tenure, strong as they were, had to give way to the requirements of a growing society ; and those companies, it" they are wise for themselves, will not overdo the opportunities which they unfortunately possess, to retard, in many sections, the growth of population. (Cheers.) It might seem to be a sufBcient cure for this evil, that the millions of acres of Crown Lands in the market were to be had, in Upper Canada, on an average at $2 per acre, and in Lower Canada, from $1 to 50 cents per acre ; but, unfortunately, • This language should be received with many modiacations, as larger experience has instructed ua. But the objection as to abuse of privileges remains good. SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 223 the great companies have got into the very heart of the land ; they have got prime soil centrally situated-which gives them the opportunity they so usuriously employ, to monopohse and overcharge-according to all exiftin^ American standards of the value of wild lands, mllf hear.; Another topic in connection with our land policy relates to what are called the Colonisation or "Free G?ant^ roads east and west (Hear, hear.) Irom the Crown Land Commissioner s Report, just laid on the table of the Jhrr\''%T'''/^.^ glance with what unequal strides the work of free colonisation went on, last year, in UnDer as compared with Lower Canada. In this'section of the Province all the free grants fell a fraction short of 10 000 exceeded dO,000 acres. Now, as to the quantity of "free grant land reduced to cultivation during the year the number of settlers actually established on the colonis'at on roads, and the reported value of the annual production on hosenewlmes of road, I have taken the Commissioner's figures, and I find that the result in each section of the Province, for last year, stands thus :— Roads in Upper Canada. Addington Bobcaygeon, Hastings . ; . Muskoka . . , Opeougo . . . . Total Upper Canada . . Roads in Lower Canada. Elgin road Matane,, . . . ." Kempt „ . . . Acres. 726 960 300 416 2,402 Settlers. 27 88 62 40 217 Arpents. Settlers. 7iJl 29 705 _ 305 14 1,741 43 Total value of Products in 1861. $38,662.20 30,007.10 44,418.15 4,900.23 36,716.32 $154,584.00* Value of Products in 1861. $15,000.72 4,443.15 1,317.70 $20,762.67 The colonisation road expenditure last year in Lower Canada was over $52,000, and for that very considerabL • This figure must be taken, not for the year 1861 alone but fnr «ii free grant " reclamations oa those roads to that date ' ' *" * 224 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. sum and the donation of 10,000 acres, we have 43 new "free grant" settlers added to the pioneer popuhvtion. Those 10,000 acres, according to the statutory limitation of 100 acres the grant, ought to give the Province at least 100 such settlers. It may be that on some of these free grants, settlement duties will be commenced the present spring, but it is evident that taking l*'"*^ 'nrt TUvL p ° ^ 1.7 yea, and day by d^y? \'Kt' "t^ot""' S subject m this place, I quoted a statement which had m ^r .'"//"''' P^P"' "'^' oPPO'i'i™ *o it set em ni wIh T ^ nr "" "'"'■ ■"^■"ber of this House (Hon Mr Jurcotte). The paper referred to has since wSrawn that statement, and I am happy to repeat rnlSX 228 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. 1 = coxTCction, for I could not believe that any Canadian states- man would be capable of entering into a conspiracy against any class of Her Majesty's subjects seeking a home m this countrv. (Hear, hear.) We are here, Mr. Speaker, withm 100 miles direct of the middle waters of that great river on which there are as yet but two or three townships orsanisetl— Polette, Turcotte, and Shawinegan. Quebec wants a back country-and 30 or 40 miles of a road con- tinued from Gosford, would tap the St. Maurice at the Tuque, the centre of its lumber operations, and give Quebec a back country. A lateral road again from the St. Maurice to the waters of the La Lievre and the Gatineau would not be so heavy an undertaking as the Opeongo lload, in Upper Canada, which, from Renfrew to Lake Huron, is to be 186 miles in length. Such roads might serve to give immediate employment to a number of emigrant labourers, under skilled leaders, to familiarise them to the use ot the axe. and to prepare them in one season for dealing with "the bush " in the next. (Hear, hear.) My hon. friend, the member for Napierville (Mr. Bureau), who has given great attention to this subject, has a notice on the paper for an increase of the Colonisation road grant, and, under certain conditions, I think such an increase desirable; but everything depends— everything— on the spirit and system in which the service is hereafter to be admmistered. It that department was in the hands of a Marquis de a Gallissionniere— if such a man lived in these degenerate days— he would soon, without favoritism or injustice, or conspiracy, redress the balance of population between the east and west— he would give us internal peace on just principles, and external security, on the guarantee ot our united numbers. (Cheers.) I cannot but think, Mr. Speaker, that, under a proper administrative system, the county agricultural societies, and the municipalities, might also be made important auxiliaries in the settlement ot our waste lands. By the new emigration pamphlet just pub- iished, we learn that certain municipalities have mtormed the Bureau of a demand for upwards of 13,500 tarm labourers, servants, and mechanics. It strikes me that AV SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 229 these little local parliaments might do something more, if they were not a raid of being flooded with a pauper imm - TcZ\ 1 '•''* ^^V"/iew of the present sodal Zte of Grea Britain and Ireland, is quite chimerical. The pauper class is no longer there; they have been cut out of the basis of society; we shall, fortunately, never see again the scenes Canada saw in 1832 and 1847. The munici- pahties, then, ought to be enlisted with the government in operations in common, to feel a direct interest in the com- country Ihere is yet another impediment in our way to 1-ch Ir^'f^-^' bf ;« I ^lo-. It is, the impresLn Mhich seems to prevail in some quarters, that there is an inevitable conflict of interests between the lumberer and the ac ual settler. But this conflict the spread of intelligence will postpone indefinitely. To the experienced eye of the surveyor or the geologist, the character of the timber in- dicates the character of the soil. Such men need not look below the surface ; if they find large hemlocks and bass- woods mixed with white pine, maple, beech and birch, they immediately infer a warm productive soil beneath. " Mixed timber generally, ' says Mr. Duncan Sinclair (a good autho- loTT'^'ii' ''^Fk^'' my committee in 1860), "indicates good land." "Oak and black walnut," he adds, "always bespeak themselves good soil to grow upon." There is no necessity for the lumberer's interest and the settler's coming into collision; but valuable as the timber trade is. agriculture IS more valuable still, and those charged with the supervision of the public domain should see that the greater in erest is not sacrificed to the less. (Hear, hear.) Ihe woods and forests and the agricultural settlements are necessary and useful to each other, and it ought not ^. be a matter of difiiculty for a firm and intelligent Minister to ensure each its own field, and to guarantee all fair advantages to both. (Hear, hear.) I have thus, Mr. bpeaker, endeavoured to sketch hastily and very imperfectly m consequence of the lateness of the night, the outlines of a reform which I believe to be essential to the best interests, to the largest increase, and fullest security of this Pro- M HI I 1 ! III J t r' i ,i m ! W 230 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. vince. The Committee which the House is, I nni rejoiced to know, well disposed to grant, will, 1 trust, be as much more effectual as it will be more numerous, than any of its predecessors. In alluding to the Committees of the last Parliament, I will only say of them, that any one who will take the trouble to consult the journals of this House for 1860 (vol. xviii.) and 18G1 (vol. xix.) may see in detail the reforms we formerly projected and advocated. I cannot but again express my gratification that some of those re- forms have been adopted — such as the agencies abroad, and districting the inland agencies, to some extent. I confess, Mr. Speaker, I am deeply, nervously anxious about the emigration of the coming spring. If it is botched, we shall be all to blame, and the fair fame of the Province will be deeply compromised; but I trust we will be able to handle this difficult interest firmly and wisely, as well as tenderly. The subject should enlist all our sympathies, for in one sense, and that no secondary one, all men have been emigrants or sons of emigrants since the first sad pair departed out of Eden, when — *• The World was all before them, wbere to choose A place of rest, and Providence their guide." In these latter days, as well as from the first, we renew the ancestral experience, obeying the Divine ordinance—" go forth and fill the earth and subdue it." (Cheers.) In the eyes of the frivolous and the vain, such wanderers may be adventurers, and the term adventurer may be made to mean anything that is base and disreputable. But all the civi- lisation of the world has been the handiwork of just such adventurers. Heroic adventurers gave Greece her civihsa- tion; sainted adventurers gave Rome her Christianity; the glorified adventurers celebrated in history, established in western Europe those laws and liberties which we are all endeavouring to perpetuate in America. (Cheers.) Let us rather, then, as adventurer has lost its true meaning, let us rather look upon the emigrant, wherever born and bred, as a founder, as a greater than kings and nobles, because he is destined to conquer for himself, and not by the hired SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 231 hands of otlier men, liis sovereign dominion over some «lmre of l,e earth's surface. (Cheers.) He is the tr^e founder wlio plants his genealogical tree deep in the soil of the earth, whose escutcheon bears, what Cowley so happily called the best shield of nations-" a plough proper ii a jield arable." (Cheers.) Mr. Speaker^ in fhe's ,iril oJa broad, uncircumscribcd Canadian patriotism, whidi knows m this House, in any legislative light, neither race, nor religion, nor language, but only Canada and her advance- ment, I beg to move for the fourth time for a Committee on Emigration and Settlement. When I see those interests |ulopted as their ovvn by hon. gentlemen opposite who have the power, if they have the will, to establisli a new system, 1 certainly feel some degree of exultation at the favourable prospects which are before this great project. I can say or myself most truly, though not at all insensible either to the tavour of my constituents or my colleagues in this House, that if 1 were quitting public life or personal life to-morrow, I would feel a far higher satisfaction in re- membermg that some honest man's sheltering roof4ree had been raised by my advocacy, than if I had been Premier or Governor of the Province. (Cheers.) let it be the mad desu-e of others in Europe and Amer:,>a to lay waste populous places ; let it be our better ambition f o copulate waste places. In this we shall approach nearest to the JJivine original, whose image, however defaced, we bear within us ; in this we shall become makers and creators of new communities and a new order of things ; it is to further m some degree this good work, during the present session, that i have now the honour to move for a Select Com- mittee to take into consideration the subject of Emigration and the Settlement of the country. [The hon. gentleman sat down amid loud cheers from all parts of the House.]^ .f l^ M^r^^^' ^Py'l 28, 1862, the following Committee were on motioa Mr. McGee, Honourable Messieurs Alleyn, Robinson, Foley, Loran-er fwrkft''"'' ^1 Cazes Desaulniers, Pope, 0'HallorL,'jobin, Bel SfHPr I flf INTEECOLONIAL RAILWAY DIPLOMACY. House op Assembly, Quebec, October 2nd, 1863. On the resolution to concur in the vote of $20,000 for exploration and survey of the proposed Intercolonial Rail- Hon. Mr. McGee said that, before concurrence was taken on this resolution, he begged leave to call attention to two additional documents laid on the table, since this subject was last under consideration. Among the papers sent down, there were only two really new, the despatch from His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, dated 1 8th September, 1863, and an elaborate answer thereto, contained in a memorandum from the Government of Canada, dated 29th September, 1863. The letter of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor gays : — " I have the honour to transmit to your Excellency (Governor-General of Canada) the accompanying copy of a minute of my Executive Council. I readily assent to the adoption of the course recommended by this minute, and entirely concur in the hope therein expressed, that no further departure from the agreement entered into between the three Provinces will be hereafter proposed by your Excellency's advisers." It was quite evident from that short note that His Excellency the Lieutenant-Go^- ^rnor of New Brunswick did not expect that any other portion of the Intercolonial agreement of September, 1862, would have been abandoned by the Government of Canada, except only in relation to the time of the preliminary survey. If this other memorandum of 29th September, drawn up by the Canadian Government, contained, as it professed to do, their deliberate conviction that the negotiations of 1862 SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 233 had come to an end ; if that was their dehberate conviction at the recent reconstruction of the Cabinet, an intimation to this effect ought to have been candidly and authori- tatively conveyed to the Governments of the Lower Pro- ymces before this, and also to this House and country. (Cheers.) But the first intimation of the abandonment on our part was made in this document of 29th September last, tie caUed this document an uncandid document, and injurious m the highest degree to the character for eood laith of this country; and if there was one thing more than another which any Government, either old or new ought to preserve with jealousy, it was their reputation foi^ good taitii. Ihis document went round and round Robin hood s barn, and did not state honestly that the members ot the present Government, on coming into office, agreed among themselves to regard the negotiations entered into by Messrs. Howland and Sicotte as at an end. It did not prelend to say the Government was reconstructed on that understanding If the Government had stated that, after a iull and careful reconsideration of all the facts, they were resolved to abandon the negotiations; if they had said so plainly and above board, tliey would have deserved credit for frankness at least. (Hear, hear.) But it was only now they came out wiih a declaration on this most im- portant subject of policy, with regard to which, months aao the present Attorney-General East had left the Cabinet • and later, refused to become again a member, on the ground that tins Intercolonial Railroad question was n^t wholly abandoned. It was only now they took definite ground on this matter which, if they had taken with credit to them- selves, should have been taken and held from the beginning (Cheers.) But there had been a breach of faith on the part ot our Government towards both the Colonial and Imperial Governments in regard to these Intercolonial JJailroad negotiations. He would adduce evidence to prove this position, and did believe tlie members of the House would not permit this matter to be disposed of by a stab in tlie dark four months after. They should, in the previous session, m duty to the Premier himseli; tu the member. \m 234 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. it I II 3': of the former Government not in this one; in justice to the hon. negociators themselves, and by all the considera- tions of honour and national good faith, have stated frankly what they stated now. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman now proceeded to read the minute of the Canadian Govern- ment to support his views of their conduct in reference to breaking off of the negotiations. The second paragraph read as follows: "The Committee find that, whilst the Executive Council of New Brunswick advise the appoint- ment of a surveyor to act in conjunction with the surveyor appointed by this Province to conduct the proposed survey, they would seem to qualify the recommendation by asso- ciating with it a hope that the survey being accomplislied, the basis agreed upon by the Convention, held in Sep- tember, 1863, will be adhered to, if the construction of the railway be hereafter found practicable. The Committee learn with pleasure that, so far as the survey is concerned, their plans are cordially acquiesced in by the Executive of New Brunswick, and they look forward with satisfaction to the consummation of the important undertaking, of which tlie survey is the preliminary step. In order that there may be no misapprehension, however, between the Goveni- ments of the Provinces having a common interest in this matter, the Committee think it right to call to mind the manner in which the negotiations conducted in London terminated, and the general position in which the question of an Intercolonial Railway at present stands in this Pro- vince. The Committee would remind your Excellency that the conditions proposed by the Imperial Government, in connection with the assistance to be rendered towards the construction of the railway, differed in some important particulars from the agreement of September, 1862, and from the instructions which the delegates sent on the part of Canada were charged to carry into effect. The Com- mittee may refer to the distinct refusal on the part of the Imperial Government to regard the contribution which Canada might make to the Intercolonial Eailway as being to that extent an expenditure for defensive purposes ; the proposed sinking fund, and to the condition set forth in SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 235 the 9th of the series of propositions presented by the Imperial Government :-' Government not to be asked for this guarantee until the line and surveys shall have been nM H 7^/PP^«^f by Her Majest/s Government, and until it shall have been shown to its satisfaction that the line can be constructed without further application for an Impeml guarantee/ The Imperial Government thus making the proposed assistance, by way of a loan, contingent upon tJie results of a previous survey establishing the suf- hciency of the guarantee for the full purposes for which it was to be granted The delegates, therefore, were con- strained to decline the acceptance of a proposal fettered by conditions so much at variance with their instructions, and their decision received the approval of their colleagues as being m liarmony with the spirit of the agreement arrived at by the Quebec Convention, and in entire conformity with tlie unequivocal tone of public opinion in the Province. Ihe negotiations founded upon the understanding entered mto by the Convention of September, 1862, were regarded as terminated with the return of the delegates to thS Pro- vmce. ^ow this portion of the despatch was wholly incorrect the delegates not being either instructed or con- strained to dechne any propositions made by the Imperial Government, heir duty being to transmit such to the other members of the Canadian Government for their considera- tiou. lie minute (Canadian Executive Council) went on 'otl^i^h. ""'T ^/oP^d that the Report of the Council of 2oth February last would have sufficed to prevent miscon- ception as to the necessary abandonment of the basis upon which the negotiations up to that time had been founded, and to show that any further action by the Government of 11 Province must be the subject of subsequent considera- tH)n. Now he demed that the Report of Pebruary 25, H indicated the necessary abandonment of the basis upon ^hich the nego lations up to that time had been founded. He denied that the modification went further than as ohTlv iff "'f^K^ '^' a preliminary survey, which was a totally different thing. If it could be shown that the Order in Councd of 25th February, 1862. prononnn.d 236 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. :l necessary the abandonment of the basis referred to, then this memorandum of a few days ago was in harmony there- with, and the basis was abandoned by the last Government, and not the present. But no such thing could be shown. The minute of 29th September further stated, " That the carrying out of the agreement of September, 1862, neces- sarily depended upon the success of the negotiations with the Imperial Government, and the assent of the Legislatures of the three Provinces being obtained. These negotiations having failed, and it being manifest that the construction of the railway could not be attempted without Imperial aid, the Canadian Government did. not feel that they were in a position to invite any action on the part of the Canadian Legislature, beyond making a preliminary survey, the re- sults of which may lead to further negotiations, and on a different basis from that agreed to by the Convention." The hon. gentleman (Mr. McGee) denied emphatically that the negotiations had failed. Such was not the fact. The document continued as follows : " In order to promote the construction of a work which the events of each suc- ceeding year invest with greater importance, the Committee addressed themselves to the task of devising plans whereby the attainment of the object might be secured in a manner consistent with the interests aud resources of this Province. They found that the examination of the route, and the satisfactory completion of a survey was also indicated by the Imperial Government, as conditions precedent of any negotiations, and they then informed your Excellency that they had decided upon recommending an appropriation by the Legislature of Canada, for the purpose of making such a survey as is necessary to the final determination of the several proposals. In conformity with this, they have asked an appropriation of $10,000 during the present session, and they have also appointed an engineer to pro- ceed with the survey so soon as the requisite arrangements can be completed. Tho action of the Legislature has pro- ceeded so far as that it may be regarded as having rendered the appropriation a certainty, and the immediate commence- ment of the survey is, therefore, dependent only upon the 11 SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 237 unqualified concurrence of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The necessity of a pr2Tde^in„ view of an early commencenient of the survey, is obvion" inasmuch as the season during which this su veyray be most advantageousb: performed is rapidly passS awly" He would beg the House to observe that this was"thrw time any Canadian document attempted to plac 'c re spons.bil.ty of the re ection of the proposition for a Lev -an^atlmrrm f ?™ '"4 '"' New B™iS an attempt to make it appear that the terms of the negot.at.ons agreed to by those Provinces, and incorDo rated m both the.r Statutes, to which they iever oSd' had been abandoned by them, instead of by us. tle'r ^ (Che's: ^''T^'^T' ""^ '5''^ -"""'g t"e tmd. (Uieers.) And, really, to ask them to give their oucurrence to the abandonment of the terms lalto atk iiem to abandon the scheme altogether. If this was what paitrj Item ot ^^0,000 for a survey, at once— let them get up and declare they were not in favour of tl e I ^ colonial project itself. ^^^^^^' Hon. J S. Macdonald— Hear, hear. . Hon. Mr. McGee would do the hon. ffentleraan the justice to say that he believed he was a Sid of the cheme, and opposed to its abandonment; bu his new dleagues who were opposed to it, had dragged C S lem m tins matter. But his Government no "asked U^ Lower Provinces to abandon the conditions accepted by them, and embodied in their Statutes. He Xn J. S Macdonald) had become a party to that proceed^n^ im iTdtisf ?; " unwillingly it m/ttered not,^nd u l^ Z ZJ \ ^^^If^Sues must fall the responsibility. He (Air. McGee) could understand tlie conduct of the Hon Hor. J. S. Macdonald— No, no. 238 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Hon. Mr. McGee repeated this was tlie reason, and it was well known to the House and the country. (Hear, hear.) Several Opposition Members — Yes, yes. Hon. Mr. McGeb would repeat he could understand Mr. Dorion's position on this question, but he could not understand, and thought this House would not understand, why it was necessary for Government to make this elaborate statement (the minute of 29th September) to throw the onus of the abandonment of the scheme on the Lower Pro- vinces, while in reality all the obstacles to it had arisen, one after another, in the sentiments and conduct of the present Canadian Government itself. (Cheers.) Having raised obstacle after obstacle, which the sister Provinces had generally overcome, our Government at last, having no longer an impediment to raise, had given an interpretation to their own policy on the Intercolonial Railway project, which they had never given before the electors, or the country, or this House, during all the past discussions on this subject ; and now, for the first time, four months after their ascent to power, we had an authoritative expression of the new policy in relation to this subject, with an attempt to make it appear of a piece with the old policy. (Hear, hear.) One of the most singular portions of the document which he had read was, that in relation to the necessity of a prompt decision on the part of New Brunswick, in order to the commencement of a survey of the route. This prompt decision was required on the part of New Bruns- wick — not on our part. (Loud laughter.) This was equivalent to saying again it was only the Lower Provinces that were raising obstacles. It would be remembered that on previous occasions he had endeavoured, but failed, to extract from the Government whether they had ever in- formed the Governments of the Lower Provinces that they had abandoned the policy of 1862. The Attorney-General East and Finance Minister had failed to answer this ques- tion when put to them on three several occasions, during the present session. (Hear, hear.) Now, however, we could get an answer M'hen the members of the Administia- SPEECHES m CANADIAN PABLUMENT. 289 potv'stL'el'terl-^""'"^ "'™-'-» "Pon the 29th-September, now when lev 'Lth'" ?°"""" "^ ""^ power during al'.ostVe wl Yf 'Icrtimrjirf/ '" a policy and Zf tl ' • -^ ''''* *""■ Mu"sters agree to tlem ? p oceeded to 3"'™? ".? P'^P^'' ^i'e hoS. gen- statement in tl'e minC °I ,• '/"^r^l""*' °f ">« Imperial Governmen M^ '„«V f '" "'" °'^J'='=' "' "i^ tion to thL Hote thattfli'' having convened the informa- been aban.otrant:.^t Kot^ St ^I'^a^- t°Sr? -"-M .t:^ as to the abandoUrXr:? oTsS^^^^^^^^^^^ t?r n1&::^i^o^^^''°^"■^''^- pro,»sition a,7 inlmatedifl'l; 'm ''"'" ^"""^ °f «^ of I strorhoSatlle Lr* r'''^ *'■"! *''<> ^^P'-^^^''"" to a suece?.fu7t:rmtl;"^?AfprnT&^^ minnte of Tbrulv fneSXTTV" "'' """"'h "^ t'>o single sentenceTn Lnf ii M '* ?"*•"<" "^"'^ '° q^ote " some hon members ^r/; I„ ' ^""f " '' """" '^'^ »'^'" to theGovcrnlTt tLiJTT ' ""i"/' *'"' "^^^vere ia vcrument, tliat thej had recorded a minute of CouucU r : 240 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. communicated to the Lower Provinces, winch would justi y them in assuming that our Government had abandoned its own act of the previous September. Hon Mr Galt— Was this mmute of February, 18fi3, communicated to the Governments of the Lower Pro- ^^"hou. Mr. McGeb replied in the affirmative They dis- tinctly understood that it recognised the old basis, and authorised a survey, everything going to show they under- stood the very contrary to the scheme being abandoned. He thought it was much to be regretted this minute ot Sep- tember 29th had been adopted, as the character of Her Maiesty's Ministers in Canada must suffer both in he LoTer Provinces and in England-much to be regretted for the honour of this country. (Hear, hear.) A more dlingenuous piece of special pleading he had never read ; and it was because he had a real desire that our country- men aong the Bay of Pundy and the Gulf should not have a ow opinion of this country, that our Government shoud not be considered a pack of tricksters and hat Canada Zuld maintain unsullied her public faith that he con- demned the parties responsible for this document, and desired to see our Cabinet take a more honest and dignified course than in the matter under consideration. It at any time Government should find it necessary to abandon a particular policy, which it had ratified m a manner par- taking of the nature of a solemn contract or treaty, i ouc'ht to do so frankly and officially, and at the earliest possible moment. He had no objection, if Government was oDDOsed to any measure, to their getting up frankly and Sgto and would no( have objected if they had state thev did not consider the former negotiations binding, and that the whole thing was abandoned; but if they lelt so, t them not ask $20,000 for a survey to enable tliemselves to gain time, while simultaneously they seek to place the responsibility of rejecting the scheme on the Lower Pro- vinces ill an unfair and disingenuous manner.* * Aff^r some further discussion of a conversational kind, the concur- rence was taken, without dividing the iiuuse. ind, the concur- STATE OF THE COUNTEY : PUBLIC DEFENCES. HorsB OF Assembly, Qusbbo, October 13th, 1863. fhP^fl.vl5' ^""l- ^^^ ?^f^^' ''''^°"' *^« question being on Uie^^third reading of the Militia and Volunteer Militia Mr. McGee said-Before the question is put Mr &''-^^T' '■' '^^r^ ^^'' House for the k t^e heTr/nT T ^ry ^' F«P^^ t« do so, on the sub ec tile b lis JV"'"T' "^T'"^'^ ^''' "^ ''^' ««rt in S nnr A T ^^1? °^^''' '"^J"'<^ inseparably connected with our defence, the situation in which, when we auit (Hear, hear ) I think. Sir, it must be admitted by every ot grace, that one of our greatest weaknesses is the present Government of the country. (Hear, hear.) No^doub here are other vulnerable points of attack in our position but so long as we may have a strong Goverriment-a Go ZZ^^lT '°' r.' '""''y 4resentinraU ill and sections ol the population-a Government thoroughly masters of the hearty, unbought allegiance of the p4 le hey govern, the mam basis of all defence may be consSd sShoT"^ ?«^'i^-^-^ «-^l^ a (Government o ssential to the effective administration of this new Militia code, so soon as it becomes law? (Hear wf On noting the large expenditure necessarjr to put them in ituents,that we have taken the best possible means for the preservation of Canada's independence, so Ion- as the 242 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. 11 ;1 i! greatest clanger of all remains unremecHed— a weak Go- vernment, existing by sufferance, at the mercy, from day to day, of the caprice of two or three individuals ? (Hear, hear.) Mr. Speaker, I shall vote for the final pas?" -e of both the bills now before you, not that I consider this Militia Bill the best or the fittest measure for Canada— not because I think the Volunteer Bill one which will satisfy, or could be expected to satisfy, the Volunteers of this country— (hear, hear)— but because I regard this Govern- ment as merely a Provisional Government. (Cheers and counter cheers.) It can be considered in no other light, with its majorities of one, two, and three. (Cheers.) And because, though it is a great misfortune to a country to have a merely ad interim Government in critical times, yet provision must be made, means and machinery must be provided for some degree of defence, even under the im- mense disadvantage of placing them in the hands of such a Government. (Cheers.) I do not think in the present hands the country will get value for the money voted. Mr. ScoBLE— Why do you vote it then? Hon. Mr. McGee— As a temporary provision. (Hear, hear.) But certainly not because I regard these Acts as embodying the best system, nor this Government as pos- sessing the confidence of those who are to be called on to turn out under these Acts. (Cheers.) In vain we vote pay to militiamen, and clothing and arms to volunteers, if we cannnot present to the world without, the spectacle of a Government calculated to inspire them with respect, and to our own people at home such a conduct of affairs as will enlist their cheerful and united co-operation in bearing the cost and performing the duties of this or any other system of Mihtia organisation. (Hear, hear.) It is necessary, most of all now, before we separate for the year, that some one should tell the truth plainly to the Government itself, that however weakly they may exult in the adroit manage- ment by which they have barely escaped defeat, day by day, since the first day of the session, at what sacrifices and surrenders of principle and public policy they themselves knoM', that, however they might raise a cheer when the SPEECHES IN CAKADUN PAHLUMENT. 243 .0 protect hz:i^!:::l^7:t:iz^zT' of the session— than f Iipv l.ori ^ "^umenc—at the close session ?r I, ?^ ^^ ^^^" ^<^ tJ'e opeiiinr^ of th« bession, (Cheers, and cr p-? nf « nt^ V ? ''"® ves/0 It is necessirv f lln f i ""' ''''' ^"^ " Yes, little in detdirr^Tll?.' f!^7"«trate this truth a -the close of trsecond mol ' ""' ''' ""''' ^^"^^^ «ay wasted, in Qrebec-i iT?"*^ ^'f ' 'P'"*' ^ ^'^"^^ "«fc the rapid decadent orttnir'T^, ^""^ ^°' ^"'"^^e good MacdlldDtrelS^^^^^^^^ formed alike of "new broom. " „.,j" last— Hopes are in a very summary marrn^r Tt 'il 1 ' ''"^^aTOur to do House LtZiZTohvctafV'r'^T^'''''^ ^-^ «>« l»t was to enableihe count;/ bv '^M"'"''"'™ "f May ment, to remedy the LS reMk,^ f^f il ?T ^"^''''- Uance of parties was found to t" e crttel in^Lt'f Parliament. (Hear hpnr ^ Tl,.. ""^^^''^^^^'i m the last (hear, hear) JaKTUtTu^rSl;''f '- men strengthened with so many other stL mp„ "[°"» -«ihI 254 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. in the name of Canada, without being called to answer for it to the Parliament of Canada. (Cheers.) I must say a word here on behalf of a gentleman who has shown throughout these negotiations signal temper and ability. I mean my friend, Mr. Tilley, of New Bruns- wick, on v.hom the organs of our Administration have endeavoured to throw the entire responsibility of delaying the Survey. (Hear, hear.) Now, the fact is, as these documents show beyond a shadow of doubt, none of the negotiators has been more anxious than Mr. Tilley — as certainly no one of the Provinces is more at stake than New Brunswick — in this undertaking. The accident of politics threw Mr. Howe out of public life for the mo- ment in his own Province, soon after the return of the joint delegation from England, and the Imperial Govern- njent — (I am sure every British American will rejoice at it) — having provided an honourable retreat for Mr. Howe, in the Imperial office of Fishery Commissioner, this Nova Scotian revolution — by which, whatever his programme may have been, I cannot but feel that our provincial politics have lost one of their foremost exponents,— this change, I say, naturally forced Mr. Tilley into the foreground in the maintenance of the Quebec compact of September, 1862. Mr. Tilley has performed his part, in my judg- ment, with great ability, and an extraordinary command of temper ; and when the great project has succeeded, as succeed some good day it will, to no man can it be more indebted than to Mr. Tilley, for having nursed it through the most critical period of its existence. (Hear, hear.) Now, Sir, to return to this curious correspondence. The last document brought down to us was, the House remem- bers, the Memorandum of our Council, ;Tad here on the 29th September, the day of its adoption, in vindication of the Premier, by himself,' and before it could be communi- cated to the other parties. That proceeding I then thought, and still think, irregular and disorderly; but let that pass. The document, however, I may observe, e7i passant, is signed in these papers {N. B. Series, p. 18), "J. S. McD."— and not, as is our Canadian custom, by the Clerk SPEECHES m CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 255 Provinces Jem to hate mde t^Z'^- V"'^ J'"' ^°"" influence in oar Council C,..! "''•""' "^ " ''<"''''« GovernorGoMon Ttll^Xt TS'Jk tT" "f last, and is thus enlareed unon in t,,. k ' August of the 28th SepteS 3 T " P ™.'"".')?«S' ""espatch this Province, l/on S Llillev^/M^^^'H ^'"'^'"^ °f cial Secretar/of wtotk werT «?''! th^Pmin- way to Quebec for^e purnosrof *'"'• *'"■*, ™ "'«'' their obligat ons • and I aZJ? I """'f"' '° '^'=«P« from the eifect' that Ult iTotlf tE\'^^-p™''J>' Government as a bodv repudiaM tl,. ! ' *''^ Canadian tember 1862, or refSrbeX t g^^^ S'P- of the Survey, he umnl^ ho.r^ "vc tweiuns ot the expenses to tako any fcth^len 17V''fr'''" ''"* '" ^'('^ diatelj; yet, rat ^01^,^^ T "''' f '"" ''^'^ ™"'e- ingthicJnadianCabitt X^^S^^^^^^ urgei^thatthearranXnfa slwnr?'*?' -^r.^^.^ and possibleto assumethfSGo~P;A7A<' ^°i™g «« it ^as a Government, to immitiCZT ""^"P^da intended, as entered." (Nl7X%f:!^^i^-^'^'^it had was sent off to Downi'nS Street afttXfer'' «4 to the Duke'^f "^J^LleZZ 'itt "f'f"^ Sl:s^:ttnsr-£fs^ 256 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION". obligations of September, 1862,"— a very dubious position, as the Lower Province statesmen inevitably felt. The Memorandum of the 29th September, read in this House by the Premier, intended tn define the exact position, at that time, of the Canadian Cabinet, was communicated to New Brunswick, and drew from Governor Gordon the re- markable letter to Lord Monck, of October 7th, which formally inaugurated "the good faith" controversy — a controversy which seems ended only by Mr. Fleming's appointment, ten days ago, arl the gl"[»i»i o! sunshine which now seems to have fallen upon the path of the project — or, at least, upon the prospect of the project. I shall not go into the particulars of the good faith discussion, in which we find His Excellency compelled by the exigencies of the case to defend his own honour, while endeavouring to justify his advisers; in which we find questions — amounting almost to questions of veracity — raised between these high officers administering these neighbouring Go- vernments; questions which never ought to have been raised, never could have been raised, if a weak spirit, un- able to wield, and unable to resign office, had not presided in the Executive Council, and led the deliberations of this House, with a pitiful salvage of one per cent, of its members. (Cheers.) When our own return places the papers I have quoted from the New Brunswick official return in the hands of all the members of this House (the return for which I am now moving), I shall be prepared, if necessary, to go into every detail of that ingenious series of expedients — the gain-time-at-any-price-pohcy, pursued by the present Administration towards the sister Provinces. (Hear, hear.) I shall content myself to-day with calling attention to one other fact involved in these Nova Scotia and New Brunswick documents. The House will re- member that last year our Government would not go on with the joint Survey, of which we were then to pay five- twelfths only, unless Nova Srotia and New Brunswick expressly renounced the Quebec compact of September, 1862. Well, what are we doing now? We are now going on with it at " our sole eirpense" though neither of u SPEECHES ra CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 257 t&rT^m'iriir'tl!^"? "i" ""^ ""' of renunciation. till. 90tl. ^f T„if , .^ ^^^ Bmnswick Council of davtn,.r„ "^■^" ^"y ago, transmitted the same . J !Lht *"'?"!'' ""P^^'^'J' '""ves to that ProvC passed at the last session of U.e Lfgislatte ofT^Brut ! " T T A 1 ^^*^^'0"gh the delegation to England was our work, I utter y deny tliat there was any understanding tacit or explicit, that the basis of the Que^rrmnt^ wf out m that denial. It was from an announcement made in us speech on the opening of this House, in Au'u tlst bv he Hon. Attorney-General En t (Mr Dorion^ a= t Ih ^ to the Duke of Newcastle, that the Lgwer Provinces tonlr a arm, and that New Brunswick took up tL eTuntl fn. P hghted faith and Intercolonial honour^ Hear In llr'^^'"' "^^^^^^ equally forward, becau ^ H Scotia has been under an Administration ad inUrimll " J I 258 BTITTISH-AMERICAN UNION. m several months, and her new Cabinet are hnaiedl about their new policy. But, so far as she has given it, the testimonv of Nova Scotia, as to past transactions, is entirely with New Brunswick, and against us, as having unworthily defeated the project. lion. Mr. Brown.— The best thing they ever did. (Hear, hear.) Hon. Mr. McGee.— The best thing they ever did ! I regret to hear the hon. member for South Oxford express so shocking a sentiment — that the best thing a Govern- ment ever did was to meet in conference with two otlier Provinces to sign an ngreement, and then violate that agreement without meeting Parliament or putting the ques- tion to a test. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Speaker, I fear, I deeply and sincerely fear, that the conduct of our Government has inflicted a blow on the vitals of this project, which even Mr. Fleming and his theodolite cannot cure. I received but yesterday— by the same mail that brought us these papers — a letter from a valued friend, a member of the Nova Scotian Assembly (not a Minister), a letter, in which he says : — " The Intercolonial is as dead as a door-nail — Canada killed it." I trust my good friend the writer, whom I have no objection to name — Mr. Tobin, member for Halifax — is mistaken, but I fear for the worst. I fear we have not only killed it, but that, by our evil Ministry, we have forced into existence a brood of local projects in both Provinces, which will divide their councils, and devour their substance, for many a day to come. (Hear, hear.) I say here deliberately, and in possession of as full informa- tion from below as Ministers themselves have, if this chance of a Canadian outlet to the sea through British territory is for long, or for ever, closed against us, an awful responsi- bility rests upon His Excellency's present advisers. (Hear, hear.) Will despatching Mr. Pleming in rude haste to head-waters of the Restigouche, or the valley of the Tobique, restore the project to where it stood, in the hst of possibilities, twelve months ago ? I say it will not--it cannot. If our Government really means to restore the project to the region of reality, let them legislate. Let SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PAIIUAMENT. 259 lite/ood fatl, „„,T *,'''' '?''-'""'=s«-'li« would look really Ge to J , "m""'^'"" '"" '"f'' *f »"' M"'i'"ers a,iSt;r„Tu.rr^^^^^^ wanting an iron Hi.t nf Qrn . ^. "^ Atlantic— there is Provinces. Canada f I.p ]^J- -n -P .°^ *"^ several guarantee for our Provioeia. gooTf JSt^h^"^ ' S,!' "^ spoke,, of a brood o'f projeetf Xd. lia^e prZ'^up ';, T Lower Provmees, on the faU of the Intercolonid :!!?' " Pot many have .pronn from the one hms Io»- like twigs from Ibo fell'd forest tree '' ^ ' s 2 260 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. Prinoe Edward — into one great maritime community — witli one tariff, one treasury, and one legislature. (Hear, hear.) It is impossible not to admire the superiority to mere sec- tionalism exhibited in thi proposal, and I, for one, humbly and sincerely pray to God, that for their own sakes, and for our sake, they may succeed, and the sooner the better. (Hear, hear.) I'could have wished, as I have always advo- cated, that steps might, ere this, have been taken for the initiation of the larger union of all the Provinces ; but if we are just now barren of the wise and generous spirit of compromise that seeks to restore the ancient Arcadia to its old integrity, we can have at least the modest merit of admiring in others what we may not possess within our- selves. (Cheers.) This will be a union— unlike our exist- ing union— brought about by the internal action of the sections themselves, with the sanction of the Crown; it will be a union unheralded by any great civil commotion— and one, which it is not presumptuous to foretell, that will consecrate the memory of its author? to lasting remem- brance. (Cheers.) I could not forbear, Mr. Speaker, since reading the respective speeches of the Governors of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, from expressing my hearty admiration of the wise prevision they exhibit in this recommendation, and in adding my humble hope, as a Canadian rep .esentative, that the auspicious union they now have proposed may go on to a most fortunate fruition. The hon. gentleman concluded by moving for the returns of which he had given notice on the first day of the Session. m SPEECH ON MOTION FOR AN ADDRE=!S( to HER MAJESTY IN FAVOUR OF cON FEDERATION. -^^ ^n (.out- LeO,S,„,V. ASS.MBLT, TarBSBA., F„B,..KT 9,H, 1865. having been caUed- North Ameneaa Provinces, fulfil '■'th^'''^'"' ■"''* ^"l"'^- ^P^'''=«f' I rise to endenvour to vernment, in moving this Address °toHprM- f "l Lries nnon flf '' ' ""i-*^'' ^"' °"^^ constitutional comnii- Minister of F nance, gave us a financial view of the whot subject; and last evening the Hon. President nf thtr cl gave us another exteifded financ iafand ^o itic, addr-" View, as the phrase is. It may we 1, therefore seem tut tt S Ttil t&"^ r *' i.nporta:;crrl t' w ue stated. btiU this subject is so vast, the project before 262 BEITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I \i- m the House is so vast, and comprehends within it so many objects of interest, the atmosphere that surrounds a subject of this importance is so subtle and fluctuating, that there may be, I am fain to believe, a little joiner-work still left to do — there may be a Mains here and there to fill up ; and although, as far as what is called " the prehminary case '* is conce lied, the question might perhaps very well have rested with the four speeches already delivered, there may be some slight additional contribution made, and, such as it is, in my own humble way, I propose to make it to-night. We all remember that in the nursery legend of the 2%ree Kings of Cologne, Caspar brought myrrh, and Melchior incense, and Baltassar gold, but I am afraid my contribu- tion will be less valuable than any of these, yet such as it is I cheerfully bring it, particularly when there are so many in this and the other provinces who would like to know what my own views are in the present position of the general question. With your approbation^ Sir, and the forbearance of the House, I will endeavour to treat this subject in this way : — Pirst, to gi 76 some slight sketch of the history of the ques- tion ; then to examine the existing motives which ought to prompt us to secure a speedy union of these provinces; then to speak of the difficulties which this question has encountered before reaching its present fortunate stage; then to say something of th3 mutual advantages, in a social rather than political point of view, which these provinces will have in their union ; and, lastly, to add a few words on the Federal principle in general; when I shall have done. In other words, I propose to consider the question of Union mainly from within, and, as far as possible, to avoid going over the ground already so fully and so much better occu- pied by hon. friends who have already spoken upon the subject. My hon. friend, the member for Hochelaga, thought he did a very clever thing, the other evening, when he disen- tombed an old newspaper article of mine, entitled " A New Nationality," and endeavoured to fix on me the paternity of the phrase — destined to become prophetic— which was //^ SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 26S frofte TLor^ f-^f "g"i«l-d personage, in the Speecli irom tne Ihrone, at the opening of the Session T rin happen to remember the article alluded o as one' of mv su ZrZ Pf'^'fr'^^S in Canada; but I am qui sure that the almost-forgotten publication in which it appeared was never known, even bv name fo ill ;ii f • reraon who delivered tl.e ;pe::hlTa^t fo ''"bTi lion, member tor Hoehelaga, I was not ashamed of it • on the XrKtr t!F'^" s„„,e tingling of pareL'n ' «iien 1 saw what/t6n years ago, I pointed out as the true OS ion for these colonies to talce, likely to be Tdopted bv aU the colonies under such favourable circumstaS I do not thmk It ought to be made a matter of reproaeh to me o^jpm for belittleing tlie importance ofThe subirct' thati ten years ago, I used the identical phrase empWed in e Speech from the Tlirone. The idea itself is a gooToVe and it may have floated through the minds of manv men and received intellectual hospitality even from the hoZ? able member for Hochelaea him<,elf n„. ;, • "j™""- this s^t of tiling of P„f f: tCaL^'^'lirZ^f.^l pened," Puff says, "to hit upon the same tSt and bhakspeare made use of it first-that 's all." My honour to he Hl,e I T-' r^""l'S '" ""^ "rticle he has read to tlie House winch is deserv ng of disaDnrobation !,« i. parUcep, erminis, and equaUy°blameable,1r S mo^ bbmeable, than myself. He is,' indeed, the older offeX and I bow to him in that character with aU proper humUit? tins child of many fathers, is altogether absurd and fttile It IS almost as ridiculous as the attempt to fi. the name of Uns new Confederation, in advance of the deci on orthe Gracious Lady to whom the matter is to be ree"red I nori/,?V" ""5 "'"Wer, published in a western city not less than a dozen attempts of this nature. One inl' vidual chooses Tuponia, and another Hoehelaga asa "uit able name for the new nationality. Now, I Zld Jk "ny li" '^' fc M 264 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. honourable member of this House how he would feel if he woke up some fine morning, and found himself, instead of a Canadian, a Tuponian or Hochelagander ? (Laughter.) I think we may leave,, for the present, the discussion of the name as well as the origin of the new system proposed : when the Confederation has a place among the nations of the world, and opens a new page in history, it will be time enough to look into its antecedents ; and when it has reached that stage, there are a few men who, having strug- gled for it in its earlier difficulties, will then deserve to be honourably mentioned. I shall not be guilty of the bad taste of personally complimenting those with whom I have the honour to be associated ; but when we reach the stage jf research, which lies far beyond the stage of decision in these affairs, there are some names that ought not to be forgotten. 044, }ym7n^U\^, c^^ ^ So far back as the year 1800, the Hon. Mr. Uniacke, a leading politician in Nova Scotia at that date, submitted a scheme of Colonial Union to the Imperial authorities. In 1815, Chief Justice Sewell, whose name will be well remem- bered as a leiding lawyer of this city, and a far-sighted politician, submitted a similar scheme. In 1822, Sir John Beverley Eobinson, at the request of the Colonial Office, submitted a project of the same kind; and I need not refer to the report of Lord Durham, on Colonial Union, in 1839. These are all memorable, and some of them are great names. If we have dreamed a dream of Union (as some of you gentlemen say), it is at least worth while remarking that a dream which has been dreamed by sucii wise and good men^ may, for aught we know, or you know, have been a sort of vision — a vision foreshadowing forth- coming natural events in a clear intelligence : a vision — I say it without irreverence, for the event concerns the lives of millions living, and yet to come — resembling those seen by the Daniels and Josephs of old, foreshadowing the trials of the future, the fate of tribes and peoples, the rise and fall of dynasties. But the immediate history of the measure is sufficiently wonderful, without dwelling on the remoter predictions of so many wise men. Whoever, in 1862, or SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 265 even b 1863, would have told us that we should see even what we see in these seats by which I stand-^such a repre- sen^tion of interests acting together, would be accounted, as our Scotch friends say, -half daft ; " and whoever, in uL^iTl ri??r' ^^^^^ *^' ''"^^ ^^'> ^°"ld have ^en- !rl/H ^"^^^^^1 ^h^^omposition of their delegations which sat with us under this roof last October, would probably have been considered equally demented. (Laugliter.) But had n"f ''"!?• fT^^'/^d if those gentlemen whi have fore Z^^^'%Y'^ -'^ ^""S^"g '^ ^bout, and, there- fore, natural y f e t less interest in the project than we who had, will only j^ive us the benefit of the doubt- " will only assume that we are not all altogether wron^. think ve have already shown them satisfactorily, that we nrL ^ T T"! "^^^''^^ ''"'°" ^'^ ^"tering on this enter- prise. 1 submit, however, we may very well dismiss the antecedent history of the question for tl/e present: it grew y^t rom an unnoticed feeble ^M, to be a stately and floufS ^^ ng tree; and, for my part, any one that pleases may say he made the tree grow, if I can only have hereafter my S share of the shelter and the shade. (Cheers.) But in Z presen stage of the question, the first real stage of its sue! cess—the thing that gave importance to theory in men's mmds-yvas the now celebrated despatch, signed by two members of this Government and an honourable gentleman fo merly their colleague (Hon. Mr. Eo.s), a member of the other House. I refer to the despatch of 1858. The recora mendations in that despatch lay dormant until revived by he Cons itutional Committee of last Session, which led to ledtntlT^r J'l ^n *^ the Quebec Conference, which v1] L^ T ^^ ^ of the Constitution now on our table, whicli will lead, I am fam to believe, to the union of all these provinces Hear, hear.) At the same time that we men! tion the distinguished politiciaii:., I ^ilink we ought not to iorget those zealous and laborious contributors to the public press who, althougli not associated with governments, and no hemselves at the time, in pohtic;, ^-et greatly contri- buted to give hfe and interest to this question, and, indi- /if 266 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNIOX, mi reotly, to bring it to the happy position in which it now stands. Of those gentlemen I will mention two. I do not know whether honourable gentlemen of this House have seen some letters on Colonial Union, written in 1855— the last addressed to the late Duke of Newcastle — by Mr. P. S. Hamilton, an able public writer of Nova Scotia, and the present Gold Commissioner of that province ; but I take this opportunity of bearing ray testimony to his well- balanced judgment, political sagacity, and the skilful hand- ling the subject received from him at a very early period. (Hear, hear.) There is another little book written in English, six or seven years ago, to which I must refer. It is a pamphlet, which met with an extraordinary degree of success, entitled Nova BrUannia, by my honourable friend, the member for Soiith Lanark (Mr. Morris) ; and as he has been one of the principal agents in bringing into existence the present Government, which is now carrying out the idea embodied in his bo.jk, I trust he will forgive me if I take the opportunity, although he is present, of reading a single sentence, to sliow how far he was in advance, and how true he was to the coming event which we are now considering. At page 57 of his pamphlet — which 1 hope will be reprinted among the poHtical miscellanies of the provinces when we are one country and one people — I find this paragraph : — "The dealing with the destinies of a future Britannic empire, the shaping its course, the laying its foundations broad and deep, and the erecting thereon a noble and enduring superstructure, are indeed duties that may well evoke the energies of our people, and nerve the arms and give power and enthusiasm to the aspirations of all true l)atriots. The very magnitude of the interests involved, will, I doubt, not, elevate many amongst us above the demands of mere sectionalism, and enable them to evince sufficient comprehensiveness of mind t(. deal in the spirit of real statesmen with issues so momentous, and to originate and develop a national line of commercial and general policy, such as will prove adapted to the wants and exi- gencies of oar position." (Hear, hear.) iL im\ SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 267 There are many other excellent passages in the work but I wi 1 not detain the House Jvith ^many qiotaLns! Ihe spirit that animates the whole will be seen from the extract I have read * But whatever the private wriL in his closet may have conceived, whatever even the individual statesman may have designed, so long as the pubhc mind was uninterested m the adoption, even in the discussion of a change m our position so momentous as this, the Union of these separated Provinces, the individual laboured in vam-perhaps, Sir, not wholly in vain, for although his work may no have borne fruit tlien, it was kindling% fire hat wou d ultimately light up the whole political horizon and herald the dawn of a better day for our country and our people Events stronger than advocacv, events stronger ITlll'^'^^ ''.T^ ^^ ^* ^^'^ ^'^^ ^^'^ fi're behind the in- visible writing to bring out the truth of these writings and to impress them upon the mind of every thoughtful man who nas considered the position and probable future of Uiese Provinces (Cheers.) Before I g^o farther into the details of my subject, I will take this opportunity of con- gratulatmg this House and the public of all the Piovinces 2?Jl- 'f i'"°'?"^^^ ^^ti^ity of the provincial mind since his subject has become the leading topic of discussion in the Mantime, and what I may call relatively to them, the Inland Provinces. It is astonishing how active intelligence has been m all these communities since the subject has been fairly launched. I have watched with great attention the expression of public opinion in the Lower Provinces .s well as III our own; and I am rejoiced to find that even from the smallest of the Provinces I have read writings and speeches which would do no discredit to older and more cultivated communities-articles and speeches worthy of any press and of any audience. The provincial mind, it would seem, under the inspiration of a great question, leaped, at a single bound, out of the slough of mere mer- cenary struggles for office, and took post on the high and ■V0'- M- i 268 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. %n ItMi honourable ground from which alone this great subject can be taken in, in all its dimensions — they rose at once to the true dignity of this discussion with an elasticity that does honour to the communities that have exhibited it. (Cheers.) We find in the journals and in the speeches of public men in the Lower Provinces a discussion of the first principles of government, a discussion of the principles of constitu- tional law, and an intimate knowledge and close application of the leading facts in constitutional history, which gives to me at least the satisfaction and assurance that, if we never went a step farther in this matter, we have put an end for tlie present, and I hope for long, to bitterer and smaller controversies. We have given the people some sound mental food, and to every man who has a capacity for • discussion we have given a topic upon which he can fitly exercise his powers, no longer gnawing at a file and wasting his abihties in the poor effort at advancing the ends of some paltry faction or party. I can congratulate this House and Province and the Provinces below, that such is the case, and I may add also, with satisfaction, that the various orators and writers seem speaking or writing as if in the visible presence of all the colonies. (Hear, 'hear.) They are no longer hole-and-corner celebrities: they seem to think that their words will be scanned and weighed afar off as well as at home. We have, I believe, several hundred celebrities in Canada — my friend, Mr. Morgan, I believe, has made out a list of them — (laughter) — but they are no longer now local celebrities; if celebrities at all they must be celebrities for British North America; for every one of the speeches made by them on this subject is watched in all the Provinces, and in point of fact by the mere appearance of political union, we have laid the lines of a mental union among the people of all these Provinces ; and m^Tiy n:c]i : ., speak with a comprehensiveness which formerly did not characterise them, when they were watched only by their own narrow and struggling section, and weighed only according to a stunted loc'al standard. (Hear, hear). Pederation, I hope, may supply to all our public men just ground for uniting in nobler and more profitable SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 269 wf ' wT ^^'!? ^^'''}' HT ''^""'^'''^ ^'»« P^^t. (Hoar hear.) We, on tins side, Mr. Speaker, propose for thli bet er future our p an of Union; and, iiyL wm alW mf I shaU go over what appear to me theVincipal Ztim which exist a present for that Union. My hon friend he Finance Minister mentioned the other evUgseverat strong motives for union -free access to the sea nn extended market, breakincr down of hnJil^ + • nZrlj n ' sident of the Council Ia.t':igl,''lniu.li\etLeni I- r Mi7"'T "' '?'"''™ "> "'« eomn,ercial advantrjes ^vhich will flow rom it, and other powerful reasons wS may be advanced in favour of it. But the motives to such a comprehensive change as we propose, must be mixed mot.yes-partIy commereial, parti/ mil tary, and partlv lated-motives which must move many people of all 11"^ Provinces, and which are rather of a\.odal, or strict v speaking, political, than of a financial kind. In the fi ,t place, I echo what was stated in the speech las? mVI,r 1 my lion; friend, the President of tlifSunoU-tfi^/ °f cannot stand stUl; we cannot stave ofl' some XaTe an- lery;* ^'"'•/lo^-P'Ovince apart frm^S'i-i «e would; and that we are in a state of poUticaltralLn AH, even honourable gentlemen who are oroseHo hj^ .lescrmtion of umon, admit that we must do som U.h^ and hat that something must not be a mere tempm"y exof' tot. We are compelled, by warning voices ftoSfa" alf wilb'^n ' ° '"''"' f "''""S^ ™'J ^S'e^' change We vch!w1 f ™"' "''" '"' Unionists, declare Sur con! V iction that we cannot go on as we have gone • but von «ho are all anti-Unionists, say-"Oh ! that^is b giT question; you have not yet proved that." V/IS^m Speaker, what proofs do the gentlemen want? I presume here are the mflueuces which determine any S ^mnge m the course of any individual or State%irTt^ H.S patron, owner, employer, protector, ally, or friend t^ 270 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. !, «rf 'f in our politics, "Imperial connection." Secondly—His partner, comrade, or fellow -labourer, or near neighbour ; in our case, the United States. And, thirdly,— The man him- self, or the Province itself. Now, all three have concurred to warn and force us into a new course of conduct. Wliat are these warnings ? We have had at least three. The first is from England, and is a friendly warning. England has warned us by several matters of fact, according to her custom, rather than verbiage, that the colonies had entered upon a new era of existence, a new phase in their career. She has given us this warning in several different shapes— when she gave us " Responsible Government " — when she adopted Free Trade— when she repealed the Navigation Laws— and when, three or four years ago, she commenced that series of official despatciies in relation to militia and defence which she has ever since poured in on us, in a steady stream, always bearing the same solemn burthen — " Prepare ! prepare ! prepare ! " These warnings gave us notice that the old order of things between the colonies and the mother country had cease'd, and that a new order must take its place. (Hear, hear.) About four years ago, the first despatches began to be addressed to this country, from the Colonial Office, upon the subject. Prom that day to this there has been a steady stream of despatches in this direction, either upon particular or general points connected with our defence j and I venture to say, that if bound up together, the despatches of the lamented Duke of Newcastle alone would make a respectable volume— all notifying this Government, by the advices they conveyed, that the re- lations — the military apart from the political and com- mercial relations — of this Province to the mother country had changed; and we were told in the most explicit language that could be employed, that we were no longer to consider ourselves, in relation to defence, in the same position we formerly occupied towards the mother country. Well, these warnings have been friendly warnings ; and if we have failed to do our part in regard to them, we must, at all events, say this, that they were addressed to our Government so continuously and so strenuously that they SPEECHES IN CAXADIAN PARLIAMENT 271 second place, there 'came ill may all i,B''oM:' '" "'" Lafe Erie " „„/° f,l"' '";f <^l« fr™ Lake Ontario to has been^girt/tri/t' "^"^^SZ^t number was reduced, from desertion and othr causes- bv 5 000 men leaving 10,000 men as the regular armv of fC United States. In Decern bpr iKfto ., ,&."^^/ ^™/ o± the 1861, to January, IseTSSirmv of onnn™'"-'^''''""^' » II p i; i i !!'• IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) ^^ 1.0 I.I E lit ™ 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 125 1.4 !.6 -^ 6" — k V] <^ "^^ ^- *.'''# ''^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER N.Y. 14580 (716) b72-4f03 v iV * ft. o «S^, j\_\ 6^ '9) 272 BBITISH-AMERICAN UNION. i offered ; but if we allow two-thirds as correct, we find that a people who had an army of 10,000 men in 1861, had in two years increased it to an army of 600,000 men. As to their munitions and stock of war material at the opening of the war — that is to say, at tlie date of the attack upon Tort Sumter — we find that they had of siege and heavy guns 1,952; of field artillery, 231; of infantry firearms, 473,000; of cavalry firearms, 31,000 ; and of ball and shell, 363,000. At the end of 1863, the latest period to which I have sta- tistics upon the subject, the 1,052 heavy guns had become 2,116; the 231 field pieces had become 2,965; the 473,000 infantry arms had become 2,423,000; the 31,000 cavalry arms had become 369,000; and the 863,000 ball and shell had become 2,925,000. Now as to the navy of the United States, I wish also to show that this wonderful development of war power in the United States is the second warning we have had, that we cannot go on as we have gone. (Hear, hear.) In January, 1861, the ships of war belonging to the United States were 83; in December, 1864, they numbered 671, of which 54 were monitors and iron-clads, carrying 4,610 guns, with a tonnage of 510,000 tons, and manned by a force of 51,000 men. These are frightful figures; frightful for the capacity of destruction they represent, for the heaps of carnage they represent, for the quantity of human blood spilt they represent, for the lust of conquest they represent, for the evil passions they represent, and for the arrest of the onward progress of civi- lisation they represent. But it is not the figures which give the worst view of the fact — for England still carries more guns afloat even than our well-armed neighbours. (Cheers.) It is the change which has taken place in the spirit of the people of the Northern States themselves which is the worst view of the fact. How far have they travelled since the humane Charming preached the unlawfulness of war — since the living Sumner delivered his addresses to the Peace Society on the same theme ! I remember an accom- plished poet, one of the most accomplished the New Eng- land States have ever produced, taking very strong grounds against the prosecution of the Mexican war, and published 1 11 "M l JujjmM i ^ \': SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PAELIAMENT. 273 idtrtt'^rairwSifgr "■"■ "''^' ^-^ Ef you take a aoaord an droar it, An go stick a feller thru, Guv'inent won't answer for it, God'll send the bill to you I (Laughter.) This was slightly audacious and irreverent in at that time. Ihe writer is now one of the editors of a popular Boston periodical, and would be one of the la^t I have no doubt, to induce a Northern soldier to withflraw his sword from the body of any unhappy Southernertlm "stuck'thru"''% u' rt ^^^"^' P°"^^<^^1 ethics, stuck thru, (Laughter.) But it is not the revolution wrought m the minds of men of great intell gen^'^^ most to be deplored-for the powerful will of such me^^ may compel their thoughts back again to a pliilosophy o under Mr' T •'' '\'" TT""'^ '"^ ^^^^^^^^ ^"^^^^«^« created under Mr. Lincoln which are represented, the former bv an estimated governmental outlay of above $100,000,000 this year, and the other by the 800,000 men, whose Wood t thus to be bought and paid for; by the amies out ot" un ! form who prey upon the army in uniform; by the army of contractors who are to feed and clothe and arm the fighdnr million; by that other army, the army of tax-colle tor^ Mho cover the land, seeing that no industry escapes un- W ^'i n J ,*^.^ ','''• '' *^^ ^^y ^*^°"i t^^e rear ! Blood » blood! blood IS the cry from the front! Gold! gold gold ! IS the chuckling undertone which comes up froS the ZrTl^,^ ^^1^'''' ^'^ "'"^'^ ^ '^'^^^y aristocracy. T i / ""^ ^''.™^ '"*"'*^^^^ ^^'^ contracting interest and the tax-gathering interest, the worst results that have grown ou ot this war. There is another and equallv serious mterest-the revolution in the spirit, mind a i J principles of the people, that terrible clmig; which 1ms lThZT^ f ',"5 ''? ^^^'^'^^' ^° *^^«™- When the tir.t battle was fought-when, in the language of the Duke X mmn. 274 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ;! *iJ II of Wellington, the first " butcher's bill was sent in " — a shudder of horror ran through the length and breadth of the country ; but by- and-by, as the carnage increased, no newspaper was considered worth laying on the breakfast table unless it contained the story of the butchery of thou- sands of men. " Only a thousand killed ! Pooh, pooh, that's nothing ! " exclaimed Mr. Shoddy, as he sipped his coffee in his luxurious apartment ; and nothing short of the news of ten or fifteen thousand maimed or slain in a day could satisfy the jaded palate of men craving for excite- ment, and such horrible excitement as attends the wholesale murfler of their fellow-creatures. Have these sights and sounds no warning addressed to us ? Are we as those who have eyes and see not ; ears and hear not ; reason, neither do they understand ? If we are true to Canada — if we do not desire to become part and parcel of this people — we cannot overlook this, the greatest revolution of our own times. Let us remember this, that when the three cries among our next neighbours are shoddy, taxation, blood, it is time for us to provide for our own security, I said in this House, during the session of the year 1861, that the first gun fired at Fort Sumter had " a message for us ; " I was unheeded then ; I repeat now that every one of the 2,700 great guns in the field, and every one of the 4,600 guns afloat, whenever it opens its mouth, repeats the solemn warning of England — Prepare! prepare! prepare! (Cheers.) But I may be told by some moralising friend, Oh ! but when they get out of this, they will have had enough of it, and tiiey will be very glad to rest on their laurels. Tiiey ! Who ? The Shoddy aristocracy have enough of it ? The disbanded army of tax-gatherers have enough of it ? The manufac- turers of false intelligence have enough of it ? Who is it probable will have had enough of it ? The fighting men themselves ? I dare say they would all like to have a fur- lough, but all experience teaches us, it is not of war soldiers tire, but of peace ; it is not of the sea sailors tire, but of the land. Jack likes to laud, and have a frolic and spend his money, so does Jack's brother the fighting landsman — but the one is soon as much out of his element as the other, SPEECHES IK CANADIAK PARLIAMENT. 275 When parted from hi, comrades, when denied the gipsy joys to „h P>",'"" '" ""'""S" feels his s,vord, he iook^T woric again. He will even quit his native country if .,he contmues perversely peacefnl, and go into fore""„ se v.t rather than remain what lie calls "idle." (Hear 1 S s expenence, which I beg respectfully to cite in opposiS Ha It "VlTt'^'^^^ "' "^ n,oralisi„'g'^?rie"d ,ZZ: l\ I ■ A"'"'™^<^'"'«^■'" East told us in his speech the other night, that one of the articles of the o ginal programme of the American Revolutionists was the acquisition Canada to the United States. TW pretend to underrate the importance of this countrv, now that th^v lie m'wZ"' "r'""' but Iremem-berwdf atlh^ r„ „f .{ ^'''''^'•' 'ho was not a demagogue, at the onen ing of the Worcester and Albany Eailwa° , some years siiTce expressed he hope that the railways of the New EnSand enra„7Z"i''"'"] 'T'^' ^'"'^''''' b-^-e ttir S- Canada It! the U ' "^ T-""'"' """"' ■'» •i™ ^""g i^anada into the Union, and increase the Northern nre ponderance in that Union. (Hear, hear.) I tli k Sifi am justified in regarding the American conflic as one of hatThinT."' ^'' ""^"i' »<• "- tl'ird warn^g that things cannot go on in this countrv as thev are i, „ TxpSclTn h"" "'"""-'' "™"'S voice frrol'o'v,: expenence m the government of these Provinces. (Hear hear.) On these internal constitutional difEcultie; exS among ourselves, which were so fully exposed a't ev n i ! by my hon friend the President of the Coune'i I Zd Z on 'au' if T '"^Ti, '" ''"^^ ''-" -=>' not ima^' lary on al hands. An illustration was used in anotlfer place in exp aimiig this part of the subject by the venerabLe and gallant kniglit, our Premier, than ihich Vo hinrcouW be more clear. He observed that when we had had five admm^trations within four years, it was full tine to look Tme rT r™"™"' '^"edy for such a state of thiX True-most true-Constitutional Government araon" 'S had touched Its lowest point when it existed only bv fe succes.,ful search of a messenger or a page after a meUer T 2 i:l mmm 276 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. IP willingly or unwillingly »absent from his seat. Any one niight in those days have been the saviour of his country. All he had to do was, when one of the five successive governments which arose in four years was in danger, to rise in his place, say "Yea!'' and presto the country was saved. (Laughter.) This House was fast losing, under such a state of things, its hold on the country; the administrative departments were becoming disorganised under such frequent changes of chiefs and policies; we were nearly as bad as the army of the Potomac before its " permanent remedy " Mas found in General Grant. Well, we have had our three warnings ; one warning from within and two from without. I daresay, Sir, we all remember the old school-book story of the "Three Warnings ;" how Death promised not to come after a certain individual he had unintentionally intruded on on his wedding-day. I say unintentionally, for Death is a gentleman, and seldom walks in unannounced (laughter); but he promised not to call upon this particular person without giving him three distinct warnings. Well, the honourable gentleman in question — i daresay he was honourable, and a member of some house — he, like all the rest of us, expected to out- live everybody. But in process of years he fell lame, then afterwards he became deaf, and ai last he grew blind : then Death's hour had come, and in spite of some admirable pleading on behalf of the defendant in the case, he had his "three warnings" like a Parisian editor, his case was closed, his form was locked up, and his impression was struck off the face of the earth, and Death claimed and had his own. (Laughter.) Now, Sir, we have had three warnings, and if we do not take heed of them and prepare for the possible future condition into which we may be plunged, wo to us if wc are found unprepared when the hour of destiny strikes ! (Cheers.) We have submitted a plan preparing us for such a contingency, and the Attor- neys-General East and West have analysed its constitutional character, while the Minister of Knance and the President of the Council have treated it in its financial aspects. There are some objections to be taken to the plan, I case was SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 277 understand, in detail; but I do not believe that any mem- ber will get up in this House and declare that he is an anti-unionist, and that he is opposed to union, and that he considers union unnecessary and inexpedient. (Hear, hear.) «o "?t know that there is one man out of the one hundred and tliirty who compose this House, in view of the circum- stances in which we are placed, who will declare tliat he is opposed to every sort of union with the Lower Provinces. One niay say that he does not like this or the other clause -tliat he does not like this or that feature of the proposed scheme; but still all admit that union of some kind would increase our protection and be a source of strength. Some honourable gentlemen, while admitting that we have entered, within the present decade, on a period of political trausi' tion, have contended that we might have bridged the abyss with that Prussian pontoon called a Zollverein. But if any one for a moment will remember that the trade of the whole front of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia gravitates at present along-shore to Portland and Boston, while the trade of Upper Canada, west of Kingston, has long gravi- tated across the lakes to New York, he will see, I think, that a mere Zollverein treaty without a strong political end to serve, and some political power at its back, would be in our new circumstances, merely waste paper. (Hear, hear.) iJie charge that we have not gone far enough— that we have not struck out boldly for a consolidated union, instead ot a union with reserved local jurisdictions— is another charge which deserves some notice. To this I answer that It we had hnd, as was proposed, an Intercolonial Railwav twenty years ago, we might by this time have been perhaps, and oaiy perhaps, m a condition to unite into one con- solidated government; but certain politicians and capitalists having defeated that project twenty years ago, special in- terests took the place great general interest might by this time have occupied; vested rights and local ambitions arose and were recognised ; and all these had to be admitted as existing in a pretty advanced stage of develop, ment when the late conferences were called together. (Hear, hear.) The lesson to be learned from this squan- mm 278 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. deriiig of quarter centuries by British Americans is this, that if we lose the present propitious opportunity, we may find it as hard a few years hence to get an audience, even for any kind of union (except democratic union), as we should have found it to get a hearing last year for a legis- lative union, from the long period of estrangement and non-intercourse which had existed between these Provinces, and the special interests which had grown up in the mean- time in each of them. (Cheers.) Another motive to union, or rather a phase of the last motive spoken of, is this, that the policy of our neighbours to the south of us has always been aggressive. There has always been a desire amongst them for the acquisition of new territory, and the inexorable law of democratic existence seems to be its absorption. They coveted Florida, and seized it ; they coveted Louisiana, and purchased it; they coveted Texas, and stole it; and then they picked a quarrel with Mexico, which ended by their getting California. (Hear, hear.) They sometimes pretend to despise these colonies as prizes beneath their ambition ; but had we not had the strong arm of England over us we should not now have had a separate existence. (Cheers.) The acquisition of Canada was tiie first ambition of the American Confederacy, and never ceased to be so, when her troops were a handful and her navy scarce a squadron. Is it likely to be stopped now, when she counts her guns afloat by thousands and her troops by hundreds of thousands ? On this motive a very powerful expression of opinion has lately appeared in a published letter of the Archbishop of Halifax, Dr. Connolly. Who is the Arch- bishop of Halifax ? In either of the coast colonies, where he has laboured in his high vocation for nearly a third of a century, it would be absurd to ask the question; but in Canada he may not be equally well known. Some of my honourable friends in this and the other House, who were his guests last year, must have felt the impress of his character as well as the warmth of his hospitality. (Hear, hear.) Well, he is known as one of the first men in sagacity as he is in position, in any of these colonies ; that he was for many years the intimate associate of his late SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 279 distinguished covfrhe, Arclibisliop Hughes of New York : that he knows the U,i,ted States as thoroughly as lie does the Provinces, and these are his views on this particular point ; the extract is somewhat long, but so excellently tTe wIlol^ofT: "" " "'"" "^^^ ^' ""^^^^^^ ^^ "^^ ^^' " Instead of cursing, like the boy in the upturned boat, and liokhng on until we are fairly on the brink of the cataract, we must at once begin to pray and strike out for the shore by all means, before we get too far down on the current We must at this most critical moment invoke the Arbiter of nations for wisdom, and abandoning in time our perilous position, we must strike out boldly, and at some risK, for some rock on the nearest shore— some resting-place of greater security. A cavalry raid or a visit from our Fenian friends on horseback, through the plains of Canada and the fertile valleys of ^^^ Brunswick and ^ ova Scotia, may cost more in a single week than Con- federation for the nexi fifty years; and if we are to believe you, where is the security even at the present moment against such a disaster ? Without the whole power of the mother country by land and sea, and the concentration in a single hand of all the strength of British America, our condition IS seen at a glance. Whenever the present diffi- culties will terminate— and who can tell the moment?— we will be at the mercy of our neighbours; and victorious or otherwise, they will be eminently a military people, and with all their apparent indifference about annexing this country and all the friendly feelings that may be talked, they will nave the power to strike when they please, and this is precisely the kernel and the only touch-point of the whole question. No nation ever had the power of con- quest that did not use it, or abuse it, at the very first favourable opportunity. All that is said of the magnani- mity and forbearance of mighty nations can be explained on the principle of sheer inexpediency, as the world knows. Ihe whole face of Europe has been changed, and the dynasties of many hundred years have been swept away Within our own time, on the principle of might alone— the ! 280 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ti f ri '!*' oldest, the strongest, and as some would have it, the most sacred of all titles. The thirteen original States of America, with all their professions of self-denial, have heen all the time, by money, power, and by war, and by negotiation, extending their frontier until they more than quadrupled their territory within sixty years ; and believe it who may, are they now of tlieir own accord to come to a full stop ? No; as long as they have the power, they must go on onward : for it is the very nature of power to grip what- ever is within its reach. It is not their hostile feelings, therefore, but it is their power, and only their power, I dread ; and I now state it as my solemn conviction, that it becomes the duty of every British subject in these Provinces to control that power, not by the insane policy of attacking or weakening them, but by sti*engthening ourselves — rising, with the M'hole power of Britain at our back, to their level, and so be prepared for any emergency. There is no sensible or unprejudiced man in the community who does not see timt vigorous and timely preparation is the only possible means of saving us from the horrors of a war such as the M'orld has never seen. To be fully prepared is the only practical argument that can have weight with a powerful enemy, and make him pause beforehand and count the cost. And as the sort of preparation I speak of is utterly hopeless without tlie union of the Provinces, so at a moment when public opinion is being formed on this vital point, as one deeply concerned, I feel it a duty to declare myself unequivocally in favour of Confederation as cheaply and as honourably as possible — but Confederation at all hazards and at all reasonable sacrifices. "After the most mature consideration, and all the arguments I have heard on both sides for the last month, these are my inmost convictions on the necessity and merits of a measure which alone, under Providence, can secure to us social order and peace, and rational liberty, and all the blessings Me now enjoy under the mildest Government and the hallowed institutions of the freest and happiest country in the world." (Cheers.) These are the words of a statesman — of a mitred states- SPEECIIEa IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 281 man-one of that order of miglity men, powerful in their generution, wliose statesmanlv Kifts hnve been cas n he Aimenes and VVoLsey, Laud and Knox. No one more depreeates than 1 do the interferenee of clergymen in mere party pohties and I think such is the senlent also of Mar, of deliverance or conquest, who has a better who so good a right to speak as the ministers of the Gospel of peace, and justice, and true freedom ? Observe once more t e^e two closing sentences, -I feel it a duty," says the llustrious Arclibishop, "to declare myself unequivocally in avour of Confederation as cheaply' and as Imnourably obta^iied a^. possible, but Confederation at .d hazards and 'L ir 'V' if 'r^'"'- ^^''' ^'^^ "^°«t mature con- s deration and all the arguments I have heard on both 8^e for the last month, these are my inmost convictions nn«"«^^'«d institu- mll\ ^ f.?^ ^"^ ^''"^^'"'^ ^"^"t^y i" the world." (Hear, hear.) The next motive for union to which I .hall refer is, that it will strengthen rather than weaken he Tovf:'"" ^^ '^'' i^"P'"' ^^ ^^^-"^-1 ^- the e rish^ such 2 ?°^^^^-^.'°, ^^y be called, if there are any such, the anti-unionists, allege, that this scheme now submitted will bring separation in its train. How, pray? fhpr^Tp"^ these countries more important, will you make them less desirable as connections to England? Bv making their trade more valuable, will you make her more anxious to get rid of it ? By reducing their Federal tariff! Mill you lessen their interest for England? Bv making them stronger for each other's aid, wS you make her less wil ing to discharge a ighter than a greater responsibility? But It the thing did not answer itself, England has answered that she "cordially approves '^ of our pfan of union,-and she has always been accounted a pretty good judge of her own Imperial interests. (Hear, hear.)' She does not con- '•> 282 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I ^ St sider our union inimical to tliose interests. Instead of looking upon it with a dark and discouraging frown, she cheers us on by her most cordial approval and bids us a hearty " God speed " in the new path we have ciiosen to enter. (Hear, hear.) But I put it on provincial grounds as well. \Vc are not able to go alone, and if we attempted it we would almost certainly go to our own destruction — 80 that as we cannot go alone, and as we do not desire union with the United States, it is the duty of every man to do all in his power to strengthen the connection with Great Britain ? And how shall we do it ? Is it by com- pelling the Imperial Government to negotiate at Charlotte- town, for every man and musket required for our defence, to negotiate agaiji at Halifax, and again at Erederickton, and again at St. John's, and again at Quebec ? Is it by having these five separate governments that we are to render the connection desirable ? oi is it by putting the power of these colonies into the hands of one General Government and making the negotiations between two parties oidy, thereby simplifying the whole transaction and expediting whatever is to be done between the two countries? (Hear, hear.) I will content myself, Mr. Speaker, wjth those principal motives to union ; first, that we are in the rapids, and must go on; next, that our neighbours will not, on their side, let us rest supinely, even if we could do so from other causes; and thirdly, that by making the united colonies more valuable as an ally to Great Britain, we shall strengthen rather than weaken the Imperial connection. (Cheers.) Let me now. Sir, call your attention to the difficulties, past and present, which this great project had to encounter, before it reached the fortunate stage in which we now find it ; by considering these difficulties we shall be the better enabled to see the folly of throwing the subject back into the cauldron, merely on the ground of detail. When a Union was advocated by individuals, however eminent, of course it had but scanty chance of success. (Hear, hear.) That was the first stage; when, as in 1822 and 1.S39, it found favour with Downing Street, it excited the suspicions of the \Ms SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 283 colonists; when it was identified with the Quebec and llulilax railway project, it shared the same fate,-it was sacrificed to the jealousies and dissensions which destroyed that particular undertaking. When, as in the case of my ion. trienc (Mr. Galt^s) motion, and my own motion in I860, the siibject was mooted in tliis House by a private member to i..T '^ "^ i' '^'f T^^'"'' ^'^"^^ «« y^^' ^ 'n«««"re to succeed in other hands than their own ; wlien as was he case in 1858, the Ministry committed theuSes toTt the Opposition comidained that Parliament had not beer consulted When Canada proposed to move, in J 859 Newfoundlrmd alone responded; when Nova Scotia moved m 1800 l^ev^ Ijrunswick alone agreed to go with her; a a events, Canada did not then concur.'' (Hear, he^ar.) Of late years the language of the Colonial Office, of Mr Labouchere^of Sir Bulwer Lytton, and of the hunented Duke of Newcastle, was substantially: -Agree amon- yourse ves, gentlemen, and we will not stand in the way." Ah there was the rub-" Agree among yourselves!" Easier said than done, with five colonies so long estranr^ed andwhose former negotiations had generally ended in bftter controversies. Up to the last year there was no coujunc tion of circumstances favourable to bringing about this union and probably if we suffer this opportunity to be wasted we shall never see again such another conj=.,inction as will enable us to agree, even so far, among ourselves. 13y a most fortunate concurrence of circumstances-bv what I presume to call, speaking of events of this ma^. mtude, a Providential concurrence of circumstances-the Government of Canada was so modified last spring as to enable it o deal fearlessly with this subject, it the very moment when the coast colonies, despairing of a Canadian union, were arranging a conference of their Swn for a union of their own. Our Government embraced among its members from the western section the leaders of the fc?rmer Minis ry and former Opposition from that section. At the time It was formed it announced to this House that it was IS intention as part of its policy to seek a conference wiS the Lower Colonies, and endeavour to bring about a genera 284 BRITISH-AMERICAN TJNION. I^i union. This House formally gave the Government its confidence after the announcement of that policy, and although I have no desire to strain terms, it does appear to me that this House did tliereby fully commit itself to the principle of a union of the colonies, if practicable. That is my view, Sir, of the relations of this House to the Government after it gave it expressly its confiden(;e. Other members of the House take another view of that matter, they do not think themselves commliited even to the principle, and they certainly are not to the details of the scheme. (Hear.) After the coalition was formed an incident occurred, which, though not of national import- ance, it would be most ungrateful of me to forget. An Intercolonial Excursion was proposed and was rendered practicable through the public spirit of two gentlemen representing our great railway, of which so many hard things have been said that I feel it my duty to say this good tiling— 1 refer to "the Honourable Mr. Eerrier and Mr. Brydges. (Cheers.) Forty members of this House, twenty-five members of the other House, and forty gentle, men of tlie press and other professions, from Canada, joined in that excursion. So many Canadians h-^A never seen so much of the Lower Provinces before, and the people of the Lower Provinces had never seen so many Canadians. Our reception was beyond all description kind and cordial. The general sentiment of union was everywhere cheered to the echo, though I am sorry to find t:.:.t some of those who cheered then, when it was but a general sentiment, seem t' act very differently now that it has become a ripened project, and 1 fear that they do not intend to act up to the words they then uttered. They may, perhaps, intend to do so, but they have a very odd way of going about it. (Laughter.) We J, Sir, this was in August; the Charlotte, town Conference was called in September, the Quebec Conference in October, and the tour of the maritime delegates through Canada took place in November, Pour months of the eight which have elapsed since wc promised this House to deal with it have been almost wholly given up to this great enterprise. Let me bear my I ^ii ■^t" n^. SPEECE^.S IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 285 tribute, Mr Speaker, now that I refer to the conference to the gentlemen from the Lower Provinces wZ !!l ' many days in council with us, under thLrof"\cheern A very worthy citizen of Montreal, when I weit in a 7av or two m advance of the MontU banquet aslfed mT wi ha curious sort of emphasis-" What s^ of peopleTre t ey ? --meaning the maritime delegates. I ansCed him then, as I repeat now, that they wer^, as a body ^1^6 aid accomplished a body, I thought, as any newTount'v tuM produce,--and that some among .hem would compare w unfavourably m ability and infomation with some of the leading commoners of England. As our GovernLnt n chded a representation both of the former Opporon ^^^^^^^ the lormer Ministry, so their delegations were compoL ,1 about equal parts of the Oppositio^n and MinisterSfpartie of their sever.1 provinces. A more hard-workincl set o^ men; men more tenacious of their own riTf7 v'^.f considerate for those of others; men of L fe r^i^^^^^^ debate; men of gentler manners; men more wilH i ' o bear and forbear, 1 hardly can hope to see togetl^ a °one council table again. (Cheers.) But why Seed I dvvell on this point .P They were seen and heU in all lu principal cities, and I am sure every Canadian who mef them here was proud of them as feHow-subjects and wodd be happy to feel that he could soon c.ll them frilow countrymen ^n fact as well as in name. (Cheers T Sir hJ his combination of great abilities-by^thrcoaliHon o^ leaders who never before acted togeUierlth^otS th ex^^raordiuajy armistice in party warfare, obtained reverv colony at the same moment-after all this labour Lid a^ this self-sacrifice-after ail former impediments had been most fortunately overcome-the treaty was concluded and signed by us all-and there it lies for your rScution The propositions contained in it have been obiected to an i we were reminded the other evenino- bv tli ,1 ' u, rnptriKpr fnr PI,.* .i , ^'""s oy tile honourable member for Cliateauguay, that we are not a treatv making power. Well, in reference to that obLton I believe he I.nperial Government has in certain ct'essii as the lieciprocity Treaty, conceded to these Pro n L tt (•I j ill i^ 1 ii:":jiii r ■ H f ' 286 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. riglit of coaction ; and in this case there is the Imperial despatch, of 1863. to Lord Mulgrave, Governor of Nova Scotia, distinctly autliorising the public men of the colonies to confer with each other on the subject of union, and inviting them to submit the result of their conferences to the Imperial Government. (Hear, hear.) We assembled under the authority and acted under the sanctioii of that despatch. Everything we did was done in form and with propriety, and the result of our proceedings is the docu- ment that has been submitted to the Imperial Govern- ment as well as to this House, and which we speak of here as a treaty. And that 'here may be no doubt about our position ^in regard to that document we say. Question it you may, reject it you may, or accept it you may, but alter it you may not. (Hear, hear.) It is beyond your pcwer, or our power, to alter it. There is not a sentence — lot even a word— you can alter without desiring to throw out the document. Alter it, and we know at once what you mean — you thereby declare yourselves against the only possible union. (Hear, hear.) On this point, I repeat after all my hon. friends who have alr'ady spoken, for one party to alter a treaty is, of course, to destroy it. Let us be frank with each other ; you do not like our work, nor do you like us who stand by it, clause by clause, line by line, and letter by letter. Oh ! but this clause ought to run thus, and this other clause thus. Does any hon. member seriously think that any treaty in the world between five separate provinces ever gave full and entire satisfaction on every point, to every party? Does any hon. member seriously expect to have a constitutional ac*, framed to his order, or my order, or any man's order ? Ko, Sir, I am sure no legis- lator, at least since Anacharsis Clootz was Attorney-General of the Human Eace, ever expected such ideal perfection. (Laugnter.) It may be said by some hon. gentlemen that they admit the principle of this measure to be good, but that it should be dealt with as an ordinary parliamentary subject in the usual parliamentary manner. Mr. Speaker, this is not an ordinary parliamentary measure. Fc do not legislate upon it, tee do not anact it,— that is for a SPEECHES IN CA^fADIAN PAELIAMENT. 287 higher authority. Suppose the Address adopted by this lon it m \ " ^ n [' ^V'P™"' Parliament to act apon It. (Hear, hear.) That body that can cause the several propositions to be moulded into a mtS^sure wlS «^l^^^e form of law and these resolutions «^ Pf6b»blfB?1he tpmstma veria of the measure thev3^ give us and the other Provinces. But some Ion genUr men opposite say, that if there be defects in tL tof; they ought to be remedied now, and that the Government ought to be glad to have them pointed out. YersuTdy If this were simply the act of the Parliament of Canada : Tyrone T„ 1 ^1 °" "?' ''?""/ ^' ^ » Address to the Ihrone, in the terms to wliich four other colonies are ?»t"^v"^ r" "' *" ^''' '» "«''«= aJterationsTtt we cannot bind them to accept them. If we were weak a^d widked enougl. to alter a solemn agreement wWi the other Provinces the moment tlieir representatives had turned except that of defeating tlie whole measure, and throwing it as w^U as the country back again into chaos? (H?ar hear.) I admit. Sir, as we havl been told, tha we ouS to aim at perfection; but who has ever attained rexcfot perhaps the hon. member for Broome? (Laughter We however did strive and aim at the mark,\ndte t ink we made a tolerably good shot. The hon. member for Chau teanguay will not be satisfied-insatiate archer -unles we hit the bul s eye. (Laughter.) My hon. friend s -ve 1 read in political literature-will he mention me one authority, from the first to the last, who ever heTd that human government was or could be anything more than wha a modern sage cabled "an appr'oximftion o he right, and an ancient called " the possible best ?" Well we beheve we have here given to our countrymen of all the Provmees the possible best-that we have given them an approximation to the right-their representatives and ours unlSttr;"'".'*^'''^ " ™? ''P'"'^''™ -d ^"bstoce until they found this basis of agreement, which we are al confident wiU not now, nor for many a day to comT be 288 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. easily swept away. Before I pass to another point, Sir, permit me to pay my tribute of unfeigned respect to one of our Canadian colleagues in this work, who is no longer with us; I mean the present Vice-chancellor of Upper Canada (Hon. Mr. Mowat), who took a constant and hon- ourable share in the preparation of this project. (Cheers.) Now, Sir, I wish to say a few words in reference to what I call the social relations which I think ought to exist and are likely to spring up between the people of the Lower Provinces and ourselves if there is a closer communication established between us, and also in reference to the social fitness to each of the parties to this proposed union. And first, I will make a remark to some of tlie French Canadian gentlemen who are said to be opposed to our project, on IVench Canadian grounds only. I will remind them, 1 hope not improperly, that every one of the colonies we now propose to re-unite under one rule— in which they shall have a potential \oice— were once before united as New France. (Cheers.) Newfoundland, the uttermost, was theirs, and one large section of its coast is still known as "the French sliore;" Cape Breton was theirs till the final fall of Louisburgh ; Prince Edward Island was their Island of St. Jean ; Charlottetown was their Port Joli ; and Frederickton, the present capital of New Brunswick,' their St. Anne's ; in the heart of Nova Scotia was that fair Arcadian land, where the roll of Longfellow's noble hexameters may be heard in every wave that breaks upon the base of Cape Blomedon. (Cheers.) In the northern counties of New Brunswick, from the Miramachi to the Matapediac, they had their forts and farms, their churches and their festivals, before the English speech had ever once been heard between those rivers. Nor is that tenacious Norman and Breton race extinct in their old haunts and homes. I have heard one of the members for Cape Breton speak in high terms of that portion of his constituency, and I believe I am correct in saying that Mr. Le Visconte, the late Finance Minister of Nova Scotia, was, in the literal sense of the term, an Arcadian. Mr. Cozzans, of New York, who wrote a very readable little book the other day SPEECHES W CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 289 bS ^£:if re"/-|l -iCents „e. the "they might have steDned o^t „f T"^ "^ "'^ «'<"n™. years ago!" In N wTrislfc ,w"™™''^ ^ ''""'''^'l county, especially in the S JI \'' ■"""•' ""'" »»« and politics, 4ire TWed.^:? toJi'^p' '\^ '="' English. A worthv friend of 7° u ""'J' ^'■'^"<='' and Chatham, who was ^^^^^^^^ 5 Z' ^v"' ^'- Mi*"''^" "f Conference, owed his^^ST ele^ io'n fe't o^tf *'^^ "' "^ because he was Piem W,-.«^/ j ?5 '"^^^ "ounties, IVench constituent rtKn^li"""''' ^P?'= '» '"' - leave of the House read 1 Tv -f" S": ^ "'"' "'itb passage from a very capiW sketct „f 'fl"^'""? ^"bject a tented as^Ki^'rCjiaTrrJ^, "^ "^r" well off. There was an » r „f \ '""''''3' equa y as the large timber rwo.stori.S housef "''• T1 '^-^'^™ "b""* red, standing among 1^^ t| . V''"'"'^ * '"'"•'' Man the well-tiiled flelds\nd S ct tie T ?' ^^'^ ''»"'=■'' the sea coast. We stonner.fi. i "*""'' '" ''"""''"g on »s good views Jt!'t:XVtTll'T''H''''^ Mountain, at the house of a Mn!,! ^ ir- ■ ' ^'^"* ^"«' of Grand River, mS was t^br"' !'° ''' "' "'^ ""»'"' whole aspect of the fZ wa,%7?"i'*'?= P""'*- 'Jl'^e Normandy-the outer doo?, !f fi f "^ ""= "^'"irie in -the pan'els of a£etX l'\r frfr'"f, 't'^ open, uncarpeted room with itlT , • "^~""=l'"'ge, lasses at the spinZg/wheelJ L P^ ''7''^ ^"^-"'^ appearance of Madam? vXf i, ^'^""^ """'"'"e and ail carried me h^ZZ^a^'^^ZTWl' <''^"S'"-=' a short conversation with tl pVV- . ' ^^t'^'"- After the bridge, where twTLl ' "'^ *""""' -^o^™ to -three o;rs anT a ThibSdZ' " '''"'™^ ■ ''^ ^'"""'""cn pushed o/from the iite" ■"■" ™'"'S f"'' '"'- »»d 290 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION, It will be observed boveraor Gordon speaks of four counties in the north of New Brunswick which still bear a marked French character. Well, gentlemen of French origin, we propose to restore these long-lost compatriots to your protection : in the Federal Union, which will recognise equally both languages, they will naturally look to you ; their petitions will come to you, and their representatives will naturally be found allied with you. Suppose those four New Brunswick counties are influenced by the French vote, and say two in Nova Scotia, you will, should you need them, have them as sure allies to your own compact body, to aid your legitimate influence in the Federal Councils. (Cheers.) 1 proceed with my analysis of the maritime population, in order to establish the congruity and con- geniality of our proposed union. In point of time, the next oldest element in that population is the Irish settle- ment of Ferryland, in Newfoundland, undertaken by Lord ' Baltimore and Lord Falkland (Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time), immediately after the restoration of King Charles IL, soon after 1660. Newfoundland still remains strongly Irish, as is natural, since it is the next parish to Ireland — (laughter) — and I think we saw a very excellent specimen of its Irish natives at our Conference in Ambrose Shea. (Cries of "hear, hear.") To me, I confess, it is particularly grateful to reflect that the only Irish colony, as it may be called, of our group, is to be included in the new arrangements. (Hear.) Another main element in the Lower Province population is the Highland Scotch. Large tracts of Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton were granted after the Peace of Paris, to officers and men of Frazer's Highlanders and other Scottish regiments, which had distinguished themselves during the Seven Years' war. If my hon. friend from Glengarry (Mr. D. A. Maodonald) bad been with us last September at Charlottetown, he would have met clansmen, whom he would have been iproud to know, and who could have conversed with him in his own cherished Gaelic. Mr. D. a, Macdonald. — They are all over the world. (Laughter.) \h SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 29! Hon. Mr McGeb.--So much the better for the world. (Cheers.) And I wiU tell him what I think is to tS honour, that the Highlanders in all the Lower Provinces preserve faithfully the religion, as well as the Wual ctr of ""''•'' '^tT^f^''\ ^^^' C^^holic Bishfp ff Oharlottetown is a Mclntyre; his Right Eev. brother of Anchat (Cape Breton) is a McKinnon, and in the li^ ot tti€ clergy, I find a constant succession of such namp ' united at the boundary line, and belong to the carboniferous pc -iod. The developments of almost every season ill'jstrate :uore clearly the magnitude of these coal fields, which extend from Newfoundland by Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and across a large portion of New Brunswick into the State of Maine. Mr. Henwood, a geologist of high stanliLg, observes that the beauty and extent of these coal treiiUi' is is impossible to describe. In Nova Scotia, SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLU^EXT 297 coal formation n other narts of Nn.* i * a ^- " , «i ,"';;';;; t ;* ",■ ;'»■»"■»-"£., resource of our towns for fuel T ,1 fi ' ■ ^'^^^ inent What Sir ?1? ^f "'^^^-a very specious argu- and the StllSS tZ fig 1^ Cir ?j"'™' "f ' obliged to fight for E, l:^ t a'o 'g tfeoTSt. : impossible case. ii^':i;oJ:^sz.z^'i::::^ 298 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. ^i ; on a fishery oi any other war, finc^iing it easier and cheaper to seize the lower colonJes by land than by sea, by a march from a convenient rendezvous on Lake Champlain, through Lower Canada, into the upper part of New Brunswick, and so downward to the sea — a march like Sherman's march from Knoxville to Savar.nah. While we obstructed such a march by ever) means ip our power, from the Eichelieu to Eiviere du Loup, v/hose battles would we be nghting then ? Why, the seaports aimed at, for our common subjugation. (Hear, hear.) But the truth is, all these selfish views and arguments are remarkably short-sighted, unworthy of the subject, and unwortliy even of those who use them. In a commercial, in a military, in every point of view, we are all, rightly considered, dependent on each other. Newfound- land dominates the Gulf, and none of us can afford to be separated from her. Lord Chatham said he would as soon abandon Plymouth as Newfoundland to a foreign power, and he is thought to have understood how to govern men. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are Siamese twins, held together by that ligature of land betw^een Bale Verte and Cumberland Basin, and the fate of the one must follow the fate of tlie other. (Hear, hear.) Prince Edward is only a little bit, broken off by the Northumberland Strait from those two bigger brethren, and Upper and Lower Canada are essential to each other's prosperity. Our very physical outhne teaches us the lesson of union, and indicates how many m^uiual advantages we may all derive from the treaty we have made. Mr. Speaker, while we in Canada have no doubt of the ratification of the Intercolonial Treaty, by this House and country, I cannot conceal from myself that our friends in the Lower Provinces are fighting a battle with narrow views and vested interests, which are always most bitter in the smallest communities. There are coasting trade interests and railway interests at work ; and there are the strong interests of honest ignorance and dishonest in- genuity."^ What can these men mean, who are no fools ? * Events have since confirmed this prediction ; but I see no reason to despair of all the Maritime Provinces yet coming freely h^lo tlie proposed confederation, or some similar political union. no reason to SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAJIENT. 299 Do they, too, fancy tliey can get a Government made to their own private order? Do they think they can so on on the o d system ? Do they mean to give np%he cofntrv '\ el p'™™'- % ^'''^'"" ''™S op at oW the "?'7 ihese Provinces for sale-terms cash !-' Kreenback"' Mari«,t ^pj'^"' '" ^ '^J'r '" ''' «'^ unioS of tl e united a.^T'l '? ''^''"^' '° high-spirited, and so work ^f I fee?® vieir victory will not be won without woric, yet 1 feel assured it will be a v ctorv. If the honest tCrTnttr" '"' '^'JV"' » iment the r^l tliey run by defeating, or even delaying this measure I am sure they would, even yet, retract. (Hear hearf Tf Z reject It now, is there iiy'human pro& t fatle "ill about'th?? '" nl'^r^ -t of oircumstan : To br „1 kno» Pr'l '''f 'I, ^°* ^^'y "»"»« "bout we I that iiav r^' r-' ^'" ,''™"S' "»'' fortmate events that hav3 occurred m Canada; the extraordinary conces Tunoertf ^^ ""i'"''^'^ "f "^-^ Governments b fow-D to Tr'coifidfnr ^fr Pf^™«'. ^""^tance, admitthg reDresentlv;! H ^"\,^"'^»S ««» Wm here as his cot representatives Hon. Messrs. Archibald and McCullv two e pact Twe t!i"f tT' "f "^^ oPPonent's^lt' etc thfn„ 11 J^"' •*'"' ''''''<'™^' that the same or similar • t lieTde 7n T" '" ^°"r ''■ Can we expect o see tie lealr nf f " -^PPe-' Canadian conservative party and tUe leader of the upper Canadian liberals sitting side bv side again. If this project fails to work out,1 a%iMt of mutual compromise and concession, the p oblem of our ex;': r' Mtef*'™''',T ' ^''' ^"- « -too much™ 3, „f 1 """^^ "'"'^ '" •>« "ifacles if tliey were events of every-day occurrence, the very nature ol' woT ders requires that they should be rare; and tllis a mira" culous and wonderful circumstance, that menat theTerd the tad^rtro: i" '^ -Parate provinces, and men at me iieaa ot the parties opposing them, all agreed at the same time to smk party dittirencis for the good of all and did not shrink, at the risk of having their mot ve Js understood from associating together for the purnosrtf bringing about this result. (CWrs.) I h 'e S, Sir 1^1 300 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. I' *] what risks do we run if we reject this measure ? We run the risk of being swallowed up by the spirit of universal democracy that prevails in the tlnited States. Their usual and favourite motto is — No pent-up Utica contracts our powers, But the whole boundless continent is ours. That is the popular paraphrase of the Monroe doctrine. And the popular vcice has favoured — aye, and the greatest statesmen among them have looked upon it as inevitable — an extension of the principles of democracy over this con- tinent. Now, I suppose a universal democracy is no more acceptable to us than a universal monarchy in Europe would have been to our ancestors ; yet for three centuries — from Charles V. to Napoleon — our fathers combated to the death against the subjugation of all Europe to a single system or a single master, and heaped up a debt whicli has since burthened the producing classes of the empire with an enormous load of taxation, which, perhaps, none other except the hardy and ever-growing industry of those little islands could have borne up under. (Hear, hear.) The idea of a universal democracy in America is no more wel- come to the minds of thoughtful men among us than was that of a universal monarchy to the minds of the tliought- ful men who followed the standard of the third William, or who afterwards, under the great Marlborough, opposed the armies of the particular dynasty that sought to place Europe under a single dominion. (Hear, hear.) But if we are to have a universal democracy on this continent, the Lower Provinces — the smaller fragments — will be "gobbled up" first, and we will come in afterwards by way of dessert. (Laughter.) The proposed Confedera- tion will enable us to bear up slioulder to shoulder; to resist the spread of this universal democracy doctrine ; it will make it more desirable to maintain on both sides the connection that binds us to the parent State ; it will raise us from the position of mere dependent colo- nies to a new and more important position ; it will give us a new lease of existence under other and more favour- ■ II SPEECHES IN CANAblAN PARLIAMENT. 301 able conditions; and resistance to this uroiect wH-I, ; pregnant with so many advantages llZTt o„ lif tt' T? '™P'^ '•>*'' "I'imate union with the U, ted r^WSrie,^irtLT.irann^^^^^^^^ a close the little remainder of wlK Le to s- A '? am sorry to have detained the House T itZfrries of ^i h^ rpdS/ 'of Xte tz -i race, occasionally introduced, boSi on the one side and tl?; SiXst f.ix?». art' -' afraid of the f reuclf CanadS,' n,Jorit"fnr'fu L?loTa Government do „g injustice, exce >t ace Se ntaUy not be cause 1 am of the same religion ai themselv ffororit' and a nguage are barriers stronger to divide ien in h^ lat n, P ", 'ft" '" ""'^ ">«"'• Neittrl I bel ve tl at my Protestant compatriots need have any such fear ;^;.e^T'is '^^irtiiXTun&td "-rr from 1 hnnt T hoU • L \ ^\^^^^^^ Unadian character Irfes'^^fSL^te^SySata^^ worthy friend, the Eev'. Mr. Kem^tf leTef" Chte 302 BRITlSH-AMfiRICAN UXION. li >| Montreal. The passage is on page seven of the Intro- duction : — "About the year 1790 the Presbyterians of Montreal of all denominations, both British and American, organised themselves into a Church, and in the following year secured the services of the Rev. John Young. At this time they met in the Recollet Roman Catliolic Church, but in the year following they erected the edifice which is now known as St. Gabriel Street Church — the oldest Protestant Church in the Province. In their early Minutes we find them, in acknowledgment of the kindness of the Recollet Fathers, presenting them with ' One box of candles, 561bs., at 8d., and one hogshead of Spanish wine at 61. 5s.' " (Laughter.) I beg my hon. friends, wlio may have different notions of Christian intercourse at this time of day, just to fancy doings of that sort. (Hear, hear.) Here, on the one hand, are the Recollet Fathers giving up one of their own churches to the disciples of John Knox to enable them to worship God after their own manner, and perhaps to have a gird at Popery in the meantime — (laughter) — and here, on the other hand, are the grateful Presbyterians pre- senting to these same Seminary priests Presbyterian wine and Presbyterian wax tapers in acknowledgment of the use of their church for Presbyterian service. Certainly a more characteristic instance of tolerance on both sides can liardly be found in the history of any other country. I cite this little incident to draw from it this practical moral — that those who are seeking, and, in some particulars, I believe justly seeking, the settlement of Protestant education in Lower Canada on firmer ground than it now occupies, might well afford to leave the two great Seminaries of Montreal and Quebec at peace. No two institutions in Christendom ever more conscientiously fulfilled the ends of their erection ; and whoever does not know all, but even a little, of the good services they have rendered to both the people and the Government of Lower Canada, to the civili- sation and settlement of this country, has much yet to learn of the history of Canada. (Hear, hear.) To close this topic, I have no doubt whatever, with a good deal of SPEECHES IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 303 Lower Canada, I think the Catholic minority i{^^^^ Canada ought to be placed in precisely the same positZ!! neither better nor worse. (Hear hear ^ a7 P°^^^'^^~: shall not add another word on tWs SL f'''"* ^ aware of the particular naturro^e Sfiel'aS for at present, either east or west. (Hear W f All i have spoken on this subject Imve laid a\o^^^^^ tins plan oi Confederation. I trust the House will Dermit consiaerea m itself. In the application of this princinle to former cons itutions, there certainly always was one ?S defect the weakness of the central authority. Of 111 the s something ,„ the frequent, fond recurrence of mnHnd this principle, among the freest people, in t£ best times and in their worst dangers, which l^d me to b lieve xc 1 lent baiT^ ^'''' '"''' '" ''^"'» "^'"^'' i'-lf-a" excelent basis for a government to have. Eut indeed bir, the mam question is the due distribution of powers t 304 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. liJl iV 'I -i ' V '^n m 'I a Federal Union — a question I dare not touch to-night, but whicli I may be prepared to say something on before the vote is taken. The principle itself seems to me to be capable of being so adapted as to promote internal peace and external security, and to call into action a genuine, enduring, and heroic patriotism. It is a fruit of this prin- ciple that makes the modern Italian look back with sorrow and pride over a dreary waste of seven centuries to the famous field of Legnano ; it was this principle kindled the beacons which yet burn on the rocks of Urij it was this principle that broke the dykes of Holland and overwhelmed the Spanish with the fate of the Egyptian oppressor. It is a principle capable of inspiring a noble ambition and a most salutary emulation. You have sent your young men to guard your frontier. You want a principle to guard your young men, and thus truly defend your frontier. For what do good men who make the best soldiers fight? For a line of scripture or chalk line — for a text or for a pretext ? What is a better boundary between nations than a parallel of latitude, or even a natural obstacle? — what really keeps nations intact and apart ? — a principle. When I can hear our young men say as proudly, " our Federa- tion," or " our Country," or " our Kingdom," as the young men of other countries do, speaking of their own, then I shall have less apprehension for the result of whatever trials the future may have in store for us. (Cheers.) It has been said that the Federal Constitution of the United States has failed. I, Sir, have never said it. The Attorney- General West told you the other night that he did not consider it a failure; and I remember that in 1861, when in this House I remarked the same thing, the only man who then applauded the statement was the Attorney-General West, — so that it is plain he did not simply adopt the argument for use the other night when advocating a Federal Union among ourselves. (Hear, hear.) It may be a failure for us, paradoxical as this may seem, and yet not a failure for them. They have had eighty years' use of it, and having discovered its defects, may apply a remedy and go on with it eighty years longer. 13ut we also were SPEECHES m CANADIAN PARLIAMENT. 305 improved and keoMnl '"'°'"™'"'' ^^ "'"""^ '>■ <""' be ourselves And onV^f Th, ■"*"' "''''''■ "''^•' "PP'i^'l '" as the Pre ilnt of l?,H"«^^fn'^ literature, has declared have, m relation to the head of \li n '^ ^^^ relation to the iudiriW • i !■ Government, in chamber of f hi t*' • ? f ^' '"^ ""^^^^^^^ *« th^ second interest in them, wliile matters nfTl. T "" '""'^ left exclusively to' a GeneTdGovernmeS I ;''''"^^'^'.T inseparable from every eovemZlltZt " P"""?'" and important servieiTlTount y bZ ments have been more „r less coS^tl^^" thdrfhS" ter. Spam was a Federation, for although it h„d ft reignmg over the whole country it hadM W^l '"^ ments for the administration o/loeal atfa r^jrv",' Isles are a juasi Confederation, and the o? W d^f doms were confederated in the gtates-Generll It "s t !r 306 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION, pnnciple tliat rims through all the history of civilisation in one form or another, and exists alike in monarchies and democracies ; and having adopted it as the principle of our future government, there were onlv the details to arrange and agree upon. Those details are' before you. It is not in our power to alter any of them even if the House desires it. If the House desires, it can reject the treatv, but we cannot, nor can the other Provinces which took part in its negotiation, consent that it shall be altered in the slightest particular. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to have detained tlie House so long, and was not aware till I had been some time on my legs, that my phvsical strength was so inadequate to the exposition of those few points which, not specially noticed by my predecessors in this debate, I undertook to speak upon. We stand at present in this position : we are bound in honour, we are bound in good faith, to four Provinces occupied by our fellow colo- nists, to carry out the measure of , Union agreed upon here in the last week of October. We are bound to carry it to the foot of the Throne, and ask there from Her Majestv, according to the first resolution of the Address, that Slie will be graciously pleased to direct legislation to be had on this subject. We go to the Imperial Government, the com- mon arbiter of us all, in our true Federal metropolis— we go there to ask for our fundamental Charter. We hope, by having that Charter, which can only be amended by the authority that made it, that we will lay the basis of perma- nency for our future government. The two great things tiiat all men aim at in free government, are liberty and permanency. We have had liberty enough— too much, perhaps, in some respects— but, at all events, liberty to our hearts' content. There is not on the face of the earth a freer people than the inhabitants of these colonies. But it is necessary there should be respect for the law, a high central authority, the virtue of civil obedience, obeying the law for the law's sake ; for even when a man's private con- science may convince him sufficiently that the law in some cases may be wrong, he is not to set up his individual will against the will of the country expressed through its recog- -i' ! i SPEECHKS IN CANADIAN PAELIAMENT. 307 nised constitutional organs. AVe need in these Provinces and we can bear a large infusion of authority I amnot at all afraid this Constitution errs on the side of too erea conservatism. If it be found too conservative now^ tl« downward tendency in political ideas which ch-,mcterises ment. Its conservatism is the principle on which this instrument IS strong, and worthy of the support of ever, CO onist and through which it will secure the wa™ apprZ bation of the Imperial authorities. We have here no to ditions and ancient venerable institutions; here thereto no aristocratic elements hallowed by time or brfglit deed? here, every man is the first settler of the land, o emoved' from the first settler one or two generations at thefarrest •ere, we have no architectural monuments call nV up dd associations; here, we have none of those old popukr egends and stories which in other countries have eSed a powerful share m the government; here, every matt the on ot Ins own works. (Hear, hear.) We hmnone of those inllueiices about us which, elsewhere, have their effect upon government ust as much as the invisible atmo fcx '? n '"""t,'" '-"""^""^ "f^' ""'J animal and vegl" tab e existence. This is a new land— a land of voun.r Cr'hadZtV' 'T-' ^""^ <='-- -^^^'S nave not had that time to grow here naturally. We have no aristocracy but of virtue and talent, wluclf is he best aristocracy, and is the old and true meaning of the term (Hear, hear.) There is a class of men risiii|in these cX' nies superior ,„ many respects to others with whor^ tJij might be compared. What I should like to see, is-t^ fair representatives of the Canadian and Acadian arista cracy should be sent to the foot of the Throne with tj^ scheme, to obtain for it the royal sanction-a scheme „o suggested by others, or imposed upon us, but one the wol of ourselves the creation of our own intellect and of our own free, unbiassed, and untrammelled will. I should like to see our best men go there, and endeavour to have h^s 1^ o'H'erT'"'/ '""="'' "'" ^'"P^™' Parliament-go ,g into Her Majesty's presence, and by their manner, if not i 308 BRITISH-AMERICAN UNION. It i * actually by their speech, saying — "During Your Majesty's rei{]jn we have 'had Responsible Government conceded to us : we have administered it for nearly a quarter of a, century, during which we have under it doubled our population, and more than quadrupled our trade. The small colonies which your ancestors could hardly see on the map, have grown into great communities. A great danger has arisen in our near neighbourhood. Over our homes a cloud hangs, dark and heavy. We do not know when it may burst. With our own strength we are not able to combat against the storm ; but what we can do, we will do cheerfully and loyally. We want time to grow ; we want more people to fill our country, more industrious families of men to develop our resources ; we want to increase our prosperity ; we want more extended trade and commerce ; we want more land tilled — more men established through our wastes and wildernesses. We of the British North-American Pro- vinces want to be joined together, that, if danger comes, we can support each other in the day of trial. We come to Your Majesty, who have given us liberty, to give us unity, that we may preserve and perpetuate our freedom; and whatsoever charter, in the wisdom of Your Majesty and of Your Parliament, you give us, we shall loyally obey and observe as long as it is the pleasure of Your Majesty and Your Successors to maintain the connection between Great Britain and these Colonies." (Loud cheers.) THE END. BRADBURY Ak'D EVANS, IRtNTKliS WUITEFRIARS. ur Majest)''s [jeded to us : if a « century, )ulation, and lonies which have grown risen in our hangs, dark urst. With against the eerfully and :e people to n to develop isperity ; we I want more wastes and erican Pro- !r comes, we N'e come to ve us unity, edom; and jesty and of y obey and \Iajesty and iween Great