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BACKWARD
..QLANCCS

Tl lO.VVVS h. villi I.

Haufax, N, S. :
.TAMES .iOWES * SONc, PRINTERS, HOLUS
1898.

STREKT,

Entered according to Ant of PapliHment of Cflnadfl. in the Veai

One Thousand Eight Hundred and NMnety- Eight

Ey Thomas B. Smith,

At the Department of Agpiculture.

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Dedication.

/ Dedicate this Hook

The many Friends in my Native County

At
Wliose Homes I liave been so hospitably entertained

Ayid
With whom I liave enjoyed so many conversations

The
Memory of nhich I sliall alioays Dearly C/iensh

^♦<«— ~-5K-— ^

<NlNTR0DtICTieN.>*

H>-f<-

DUKIX(J niHiiy })l«'asant con vernations with
tricniis l»elonoinoj to botli political parties, I
have ofton been surprised at th«! limited infornia-
tion ol" [)ersons retrardinj^ the actiouM of some of
the men who were the founders of confederation.

Party lines appeared to have hidden the real
truth from them. Some of the men who were
prominent actors in advancing the Union would
be denounced with great rancour, while others
who worked shoulder to shoulder with theui to
accomplish the same object were as (^n-atly
praised.

One set of the.se men were considered tlie
great enemies of N(;va Scotia, the other, special
friends of the province. Party leaders were
judc^ed from merely party stand points. The
opinion seemed to be, that if it had not been for
the conservative pvrty there would have baen
no confederation.

While there may be some truth in this opin-
ion, in reference to a portion of the conservative
party of Nova Scotia, it is also tr\i' that the
Clear Grit Party of Canada was as determiner!
in its struggle, a.-^ the Canadian Conservative
party to bring ab(3Ut Confederation, anl dra^j
Nova Scotia into the Union.

In the followinu^ chapters of this work uiost
of the facts were obtained from valuable docu*-
inents, which had been carefully preserved for

INTHODUCTION.

many years. Those papers unfortunately with a
valuable library were swept out of* j.'xistence in
a few minutes, by the disastrous fire last fall.
Several of the chapters of the ori<;iiial uiaiiu-
Kcript of the work were lost at the time, anrl
have been re- written from memorv alone, an^l
arc conse<juently not as fully complete as the
orif^inal.

Tlje Ijook is written to please no puliticui
party, but to bring to light real facts, and place,
in brief, the authors of Confedei-ation in their
proper positions. The exercise of independent
judgment is the only proper mode of arrivinj^
nt a sound opinion.

Whatever the reader may consider the merits
of the work, and In.' ma}' eonsider them of littlo
account, I trust no one will accuse me with unfair-
ness.- My aim has been from the beginning to
the end, to state as briefl}' and clearly, as far as
possible, the whole truth from a purely unpre-
judiced and inde])endeiit standpoint.

I otter the book to the public, trusting that
some of the rising generation as well as some
others may tind a little instruction in it, an<l
perhajis also some things interesting and enter-
taining.

These Backwai-d Glances have not been con-
fined strictly to the passing in of Confederation.

Thomas Baulow Smith.

Chapter I.

Home and Native Land.

The place of one's l)irth ami its name arc
always dear To him. The name of no oilier
locality sounds us swec^ aii.l no other country is
as loved,

It matters not where Jie hreatlied the tirst
hrcath of native air v'lietuer in a tislierman's
cottage within sound of tin ocean's solemn roll,
or amid gioen and ferL.K plains, or near the
nieandering pathway on th^* rugged mountain's
side, or midst the stillness of a va--.t fornst. no
matter where, it is the place of his hirth and
boyhood, unforj^otten ajid disarly cherished
through all his years.

The little U>g cabin by the river's side, and the

thatched cottage near the lonel}'' country road

have far n>ore attractions for the ones barn there

than the most beautiful buildings in the whole

world, and more interesting incidents circle about

them than the most thrilling events of a thousand

years which surround the historic places an(l

castles of any land.

" If solid ha{)piiiO)i8 wo prize
Within ourselves thisjcwel lies,
And i' ey are fools who roam.

This woral has nothing to bestow ;
From out ourselves our joy must llow,
Aud that dear hat our home."

JiACKWARI) tiJ.AXCES.

Tliere subsists a relation between a people and
the country they have inhabited for hundreds
of years. The physical character of a country,
and in some instances its surroundings, appear
to influence in a «freat degree the moral and
physical character of its inhabitants, and thus to
a certain extent deti^rrnine their history.

The history of the people of Nova Scotia does
not show that they were ever anxious for a union
with any of the other British provinces. If any
union would have been considered desirable by
the inhabitants, it would undoubtedly have been
a union wdth New Brunswi(?k, to which province
Nova iScotia is connected by a narrow neck of
land, and with, perhaps, Prince Edward Island,
which seems to nestle almost in the lap of the
former provinces. All the people of the three
provinces are essentially the .same in their origin.

Nature has placed Nova Scotia in an isolation
almost as splendid as that of Great Britain. In
their almost sea-girt home, the children sprung
from tlie mother land, felt that they owned a
little England of their own, and had lost none of
the thoroughly independent character of their
ancestors, who as Britons were determined to
rule within themselves. Britons in no .sense
W'ould be governed from without, and would
never allow any interference in their own affairs
by any race on the continent of Europe, no
matter how closel}'' they might have been

BACKWAUIJ GLANCES.

allied to any such race in origin or in charac-
ter. They cherished above everything else their
isolated independence, and in this respect Nova
Scotians were not unlike them. Nova Scotia
became as dear to Nova Scotians as England or
Scotland to their fathers. Tliev honored the
name of their province as highly as the latter
did those of their own countries. When it was
proposed to allow the word " England" or
" English" to swallow up " Scotland" or tlie
" Scotch" by giving both countries one name,
that of England, the anger of all patriotic
Scotchmen was aroused. They petitioned Her
Majesty not to allow the word " England" or
" English" to swallow up " Scotland" or the
" Scotch."

A writer to assuage the anger of Scutchmen
suggested that the United Kingdom should be
given the new name of Britannia. That name
would embrace all and everybody. Her Majesty
would then be called the Queen of Britannia, and
all would be Britons. But the Scotchmen clung
to the words Scotland and Scotch as dearlv as
they clung to the kilt. They considered it a
mortal sin to make this new departure. To take
away by Act of Parliament " Scotland" and
" Scotch, ' words in which they were conceived,
and in which they were born, without their free
consent would be an act of tyranny coupled with
the creed of slaves.

BACKWARD OLANCES.

A Highland soldier at the time said something
like the following : " Let a general address a
Scottish regi?nent as follows : ' Britons,' your
intrepidity, bravery and victory have this day
won immortal honors for Britannia and your-
selves, and the praises of Her Majesty the
Queen and of all Britons will be showered upon
you." These words, he said, would perhaps stir
the men with pride.

But let him s«ay " ' Scotchmen ! ' ' High-
landers • ' your gallantry and success in the held
this day have again crowned you with fresh
laurels and glory, and England, like Scotland,
rings with your praises. In you the world has
once more seen what Scotland can produce and
the Scottish race can perform. Highlanders !
Scotchmen ! on your banners rests eternal fame.
Your deeds of valor are this day unsurpassed by
any race of men. You, sons of Scotland !" Here
the general would be obliged to stop his address,
the men would be so moved with the allusion to
their country, their name, and their <leeds, thnt
they could no longer restrain their proud
impetuosity which, like a pent up stream, was
ready to burst every barrier and bear down
every obstacle in its course,

George the Third, in the lirst speech he
addressed to Parliament, said he gloried in the
name of Britain, and he was the first English-
born King of the family chosen by Act of

BACKWARD GLANCES.

Parliament to roign ovor Briton. And some one
has as teed the question :

How much greater would be the i,'lory of
one in tlie name '■ Scotclunan," "Irishman" or
" Englishman." belonging to either race whose
ancestors for a thou-and years had been called
" Irishmen," " Englishmen" or " Scotchmen ?"

Even the songs or airs of each country touch
and stir the feelings of each race in its own way.
The longer a people dwell in a country, the more
they seem to become part and parcel of it. The
thistle is as dear to Scotchmem as the white or
red rose to En<>li^^hmen, or the shamrock to
Irishmen. And as the three in one have become
the emblem of the unitv of the three races, so
each in turn inspires to action.s high the race it
represents.

Clusters of rich associations cling about these
emblems, both in their united and separate form,
and a look at them has sometimes sent a thrill
of glory-streamed enthusiasm through a regiment
of men. and shown their love of country to be as
firm and pure as ever. The very fact of the
British army being composed of the three races
has made it a terror to other nations, because
each race, tilled with the spirit of emulation,
strives with all its powers and mighty hope to
share in equal honors, and, if it be possible, to
bring the greater glory to its own people and
countrv.

■•«;

JJACKWAI'J) <;lan<jes.

Unitcxl in one common field, moved by a
Common dut}', and advancing toward the toe in.
one common rank, they charge, each inspired Vjy
the great deeds of its own countrymen on a
former field, and bound by the strongest deter-
mination to sustain the honor and renown of its
name.

An insult offered to any of these emblems has
Htirred instantly the hearts of a whole race into
a blaze of patriotism ; and the words "Scotch,"
" English" and " Irish," coupled with "Thistle,"
*' Rose" and ' Shamrock," have become synonym-
ous with virtue, vaior and victory.

Nova Scotians love their country and its name
as dearly as any l^nglishman ever loved his own
country and its name. Nova Scotia has for its
emblem the Mayflower, which for beauty and
sweetP'^ss is unsurpassed by any country. It is
an emblem of purity blooming amid the snow.
Nature has given it to the province, where the
inhabitants cherish it as dearly as Englishmen
do the rose.

To unite this beautiful emblem with the
maple leaf without consulting the high-spirited
people of "Scottish," "Irish" and "English"
extraction it represented was an act of glaring
injustice and wretched policy. It raised a storrn
of disapprobation and protest. It exhibited no
gratitude f(jr the loyalty end patriotism of one

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HACKVVARI) Gf.ANCKS.

■i

of the statjnchest colonieH of the Empire. It wan
in direct opposit^^n to a generous and active zeal
in support of colonial liberty. To partially
swallow up Nova Scotia by Canada was con-
demned at the beiiinnincf, has been condemned
for thirty years, is condemned now, by all who
are opposed to the ruin of the liberties of
a people. No self-governing colonists ever
expected to see in the reign of the good Queen
their liberty tossed about as a plaything in the
Imperial Parliament. The colonies that have
never suffered as Nova Scotia, have the satisfac-
tion of seeing that there are now men in the
British Parliament of more liberal ideas, more
general knowledge, more thorough understand-
ing, and in all respects better calculated to pro-
tect the interests and liberties of the colonists than
were Disraeli and Gladstone and most of their
followers thirty years ago. To-day ujen in the
British House of Commons love to foster liberty
among their proud colonists and despise the
insolent and grinding despotism of some otiier
nations. These men desire to retain the grati-
tude of their race in each and every colony.
What was done thirty years ago is now imi)0ss(-
ble to undo. Noihintr is so mild and cfentle as
true courage, and the colonists in Nova Scotia
have been honored a thousand times for their
display of this rare quality, under the tyranny
and oppression of British statesmen.

HACK WARD fi LANCES.

Knglish statesmen and politicians who for a
centiu V have been calle<l upon to deal with
Indians, negroes and savao^es far awny in
their possessions felt even under the civilizing
influences of the nineteenth century Christianity
that at a critical time in the united colonies of
Canada they could lay their hands* upon the
constitution of another free British colony and
unite it with the former to satisfy their demands
and arrange their ditHculties, as tht^y would unite
tlie possession of a tribe of savages to some British
possession in tlie Pacific Ocean.

Jf at the time the British North America Act
was before the luiglish Parliament there had
been in that great body one hundred men who
pos.sessed each the really enlightened mind of
a Charles James Fox, confederation, if ever
established, as far as Nova Scotia was concerned,
would have been completed in a very different
way from what it was. Fox declared himself
against everything that had the least tendency
to bridle and restrain liberty.

He expres.'^ed himself as a friend to universal
toleration, and an enemy to that narrow way of
thiidcing that made men come to Parliament,
not for the removal of some great grievances
which they tliemsclves felt, but to desire Parlia-
mei\t to shackle and fetter their fellow-subjects.
If Mr. (dadstone and Mr. Disraeli were as intel-
lectually superior to most of the men that have

l^ACKWARI) (il.ANCES.

appeared in the Briti.sh Parliament durini^ the
past half century, as they are said to have been,
intellectual superiority for once has shown itbelt
to be as dancrerous to liV>erty as ignorance.

But their acts were possibly coniinitted
throui^h their being far removed fi'om tl\e
colonists of Nova Scotia, and their understand-
ing beini:^ darkened by distance, the}' did not
study the life of the colonists as they did the
life of Englishmen. They were in a sense alien-
ated from the life of these e«iual in every respect
to themselves. They did not st'e at the time
that the whole colonial possessions " fitly joined
together," through independent action, " and
compacted by that whicli every part supplieth,"
" according to the effectual working in the mea-
sure of every part, maketh increase of the "'
whole '■ unto the edifying of " the vast Empire
" in love."

The idea of a great colonial Dominion seemed
to possess British statesmen and intoxicate their
senses, and their desires must be satisfied, no
matter at what c( st to Nova Scotia, or how-
much in opposition to the will of its inhabitants.
When the appeal of Nova Scotians was before
the English Parliamc.'nt, praying to be considered
as free British subjects, lo3'a] to Great Britain
and strong in love for the mother land, there
should have been found among the Lords and
Commoners in Parliament a majority of noble-

HAr'KWARO rjT-ANCES.

minJed men who would have treated iheir
colonists with the liberal spirit of Englishmen,
by condemning at the beginning and opposing
at every stage in Parliament a union distasteful
to their distant subjects in one of England's
most enlightened colonies.

Any Justices' Court in Britain would never
fail to take ample time in considering an appeal
of any individual, no matter how humble his
station, and the Britisji Parliament should have
acted in the same just manner toward the inhab-
itants of one of the most advanced English
colonies. And these members of a British
Parliament should have remembered that these
colonists gloried in the name of Nova Scotia and
were ever bold in the glorious assertion of their
colonial liberty. They should have considered
these colonists as Englishmen jealous of their
rights and no less warm in their assertion of
them. And they should have denounced in
glowing language the least attempt to unite
with any other colony their Nova Scotian sub-
jects who were so decidedly opposed to such
un-English procedure. In glancing backward to

some incidents in the British Parliament of
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, which bring
back recollections of the past that even now
stir the soul and make memory revert to those
eventful days, every true Nova Scotian and
every lover of liberty must blush a% the course
pursued by British statesmen.

ChlAPTER II.

The Half Had Never Been Told,

\\'l\ile a quarter of a century has been speeJ-
ing into the history of the past, time has been
revealin<r to all thnt if the electors of Nova
Scotia had even by a slight majority vote asked
the provincial legislature to pass a resolution
expressing their desire to have the province
become a member of United Canada it would
have commenced its career in the Union under
more satisfactory conditions than it did.

The confederation of the four British North
American provinces has been called the con-
federation of statesmen and politicians, and this
is strictly true so far as the province of Nova
Scotia is concerned.

The delegates to the Charlottetown convention
were appointed to consider the question of a
maritime union. They were not authorized to
confer with Canadian delegates respecting tlie
larger union. The Nova Scotian delegates were
not authorized to dissolve the convention at
Charlottetown and go to Quebec to meet the
Canadian delegates there. No intelligent student
of the times doubts that the leading men of the
political parties of Ontario and Quebec united

HAfKWAHl) (JLANCES.

for one purpose, antl one puipose only, and that
purpose waH to secure the annexation of the
Maritime Provinces. 'J'he former provinciH were
in a sad financial and ie<;islative condition, and
only the capture of New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia could save them.

Whatever mav ha^'e been the feelinj/s of the
people of New 13runswick at tirst, they e\en-
tually entered the Union by freedom of choice.
But the representatives who in the Nova Scotia
legislature supported the I'nion resolutions were
false to the trust committed to their char<ije by
the electors, and true to the political combine,
which by union of interest stole away the con-
stitution of Nova Scotia and the libertie.s of her
subjects.

Had the people of this province been allowed
to follow their inclination in eiLjhleen hundred
and sixty-seven it is possible that before the
present time they would have peacefully and
willingly entered the Union — entered it in a
dignified and honorable manner. As it was, an
act of parliament made Nova Scotia a part of
the territory of Canada ; but no act of parlia-
ment can chaiige the spirit of a free people.

Nova Scotia would have doubtless been a
heavy gainer had she been allowed to remain
out of the Union for a ([uarter of a century. It
is almost certain that the laiited States would
have admitted her coal duty free, and other

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HACKWAKD iiLANCES.

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natural products would have l)>?en similarly
treattni. The ex])rrienco of twenty-fiv»' years
has shown to tli^? world that the Americans
would like to own Nova Scotia. They have
ever had an eye on her rich nnnerals, her grand
harbors and beautiful valleys.

If they possessed Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor
anrl many of their watering resorts would soon
sink into insignificance. This beautiful land of
the mayHower wou^ 1 soon become one vast sum-
mer resort and its lovely rivers antl bays filled
with yachts and crafts of every description.
The Americans woidd also like to have this
Atlantic peninsula, in order tliat they ndght
completely command the winter transport of
Canadian commerce, knov^dng as they do, that
Canada would be seriou.sly handicapped without
Nova Scotia.

The Americans bought xVlaska to keep Eng-
land from getting it, and they would have used
every effort of a peaceable kind and offered
every inducement to entice Nova Scotians to
cast their lot beneath the stars and stripes. And
it is not at all unlikely that many million dollars
of American capital would have been invested
in industries in Nova Scotia during the past two
or three decade.s. And this province with its
exben.sive and lucrative fisheries in all probability
could have secured most any commercial relations
it desired with the Ignited States had it been free

HACKWAUI) (il.ANCKS.

of till' Canadian I'nion. The Americans woui«l
sooner pos.s(»«H Nova Scotia than any other terri-
toiy of etjiial .size on th(* American continent.
They wouhl sooner own it than many New-
founiUands.

Now let UH for a moment look at vhat they
have ottered Newfoundland i-espectin^ trade re-
lation.s hr^tween the two countries. In tlie draft
of a connnerciai treaty a few years aijo. Article
II. of that propose(i treaty, wonhl allow, dry
coiltish. cod oil, seal skins, he.rrin^^s, .salmon,
trout and salmon trout, lobsters, cod roe.s. ton-
^ue.s and .sounds the product.s of the Hsheries of
Newfoundland to be admitted into the United
State.s free of duty. Also all ho^i^sheada. barrels,
kegs, boxes, or tin cans in which the above
articles shall be carried free of duty. And the
United States would allow Newfoundland to
collect duty on the following articles importerl
into the colony from the United States, on Hour
tweaty-tive cents per bbl.; pork, one dollar and
fifty cents per bbl ; bacon, hams, tongues, smoked
beef and sausages, two and one <juarter cents
per lb.; beef, pig's heads, hocks, feet, one dollar
pel' bbl.: corn meal, twenty-live cents per bbl;
oatmeal and peas thirty cents per bbl.: kerosene
oil, six cents pei- gal.; salt, twenty-tive cents per
ton, &c. And article V. stipulated, that if at
any time any reduction is ma le l>y the colony
of Newfoundland, durinix the term of the con-

■ft

.•J,

HA( KWAMl) (JI.ANOKS.

vention, in the rate of tliuy on tin- tirticlfs
linine'l in the convcrujon, the «ai(l reduction
(shall also apply to the ITniti'il States. No fur-
ther remarks w'll be made upon this proposed
treaty, except that the United Statc.'S \vi;re will-
ing to accpiiesce in even a more liberal treaty, hut
it was found impossible to overcome the <jpposi-
tion of Canada and En^'land.

This propose*! treaty with Newfoundland has
merely been stated here to show what Nova
Scotia ndght have expected had she been allowed
to remain a colony separate from the Dominion.
If Newfoundland with her rich fLsheries has
been offered such a treaty, is it not almost cer-
tain that Nova Scotia would have been offered
just as crood a one, if not a much better one ?
The New England States have always been
desirious of close commercial relations between
the Maritime Provinces and themselves.

On February Gtli, 1893, a representative intro-
duced a lesolution in the house of representatives
of Massachusetts which read as follows :

" Whereas closer commercial relations with
Canada will accrue to the prosperity of all the
citizens of our state, and whereas his excellency
William E, Russell, has suggested that the
General Court of the commonwealth by resolve
or petition, address Congress to take early action
in this important matter ;

mmmm

wmm

nACKWAUD (I LAN CHS.

'Resolved, that the Senate and House of Repre-
i-entatives of Massachussett.s in Genera! Court
ao.^)rnble(l respectfully request Congress to ne-
gotiate in their wisdom, some measure, by which
reciprocal commeicial relations may speedily
exist between the Dominion of CanmJa and the
United States of America. '

The reader can well iniairino what miuht have
been the commercial relations between the
United States and Nova Scotia, hail this province
like Newfoundland been allowed to remain a
single colony of the mother land.

Were Nova Sc(-»tia a colony to-day, such as
she was in the year 1866, Canada to gain the
confidence of this province, and with the view
ultimately to influce her to throw in her lot
with the great Dominion, would have very large-
ly boui^ht her coal and invested millions in her
onterprises. England would have backed Canada
in every .<cheme that she put forward to please
and interest Nova Scotia, and wtiatever reason-
able terms this province might demand, if at any
time she consented to become a member of the
Canadian union, would be acceded to by either a
Liberal or Conservative British government or
parliament. The value of Nova Scotia to England
and tlie Empire is great. It is a most important
connecting link in the British Belt that circles
the globe. VV^ithout Nova Scotia, where could
Great Britain find a rentlezvous in the North

•f

RA( KWAIMt GLANCES.

2.S

Atlantic in winter for a Heet of men-of-war or a
coalinci[ station in tinios of necessity ? New
Brunswick could never have supplietl the place
of Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island and
Newfoundland are out of the question. The
union with Canada was brought about so hastily
and enacted so quickly that the people of this
province never ha<l an opportunity to consi'ler
the importance of their province to Canada anii
Great Britain, in fact it has taken a (juarter of a
century of time to reveal the immense value of
Nova Scotia to the Dominion at large and to the
whole extent of the British Empire.

Nova Scotia was run into the Canadian Union
for a mess of pottage. If such a game were
attempted in 1(S98, as was so successfully phiyed
in 1!S07, it is hard t(^ say what the result would
be. The Australian colonies have learnt a whole-
some lej-soji in more ways than one from the
Canadian TTnion. No two or three of these
colonies will ever attempt to force a sister colony
against the will of its people into a gigantic
Australian Confederation, A year or two ago a
despatch from Svdnev, New South Wales, stated
that Sir George Dibbs the then premier of that
colony, had submitted to the premier of \'ictoria,
a scheme for the union of the two colonies. The
name suggested for the union was the United
Colonies, until such time as the other colonies
consent to join it, and when they consent to do

BACKWAKI) (iLANCtS.

80, tlie Confederation will be called the Dominion
of Australia. A Canadian newspaper conuiient-
ing at the time on the despatch, remarked that ,
" Sir George Dibbs was evidently favorably
impressed by his visit to Canada, and by the
Canadian constitution and its working ; but
there must be peculiar local conditions and
prejudices in Australia which suggest to him
the advisability of such a gradual or piecemeal
proceeding towards Australian unit}'."

The condition in one respect was similar in
Australia to what it was in British North
America yjrevious to the year 1867. Two Aus-
tralian colonies Victoria and New South Wales
seemed to be in harmony regarding union, if
so, they would remain when united, as United
Colonies, until the other colonies consent to join
them. The people's liberty in the other colonies
must be respected, and the Dominion of Australia
if it ever comes into existence must be estab-
lished on the free will of the people of ail the
colon.'es. No coalitions, no conventions, no
parliaments, no delegations, will be allowed to
override the free and independent voice of the
electors This is just as it should be and is the
essence of British freedom, as expressed in
Britain's Australian colonit^s.

Since the above was written fuller details of
the draft constitution of the proposed Common-
wealth of Australia have come to hand. Any

lUCKWARI) GLANCES.

2.5

tVree colonies upprovincr the constitution will
est' Vl'sh a federation. Thev will make a becfli^-
ninsf, and it is thought, the other colonies will
come in in time. It will not be the Ir^^nslature
of any outside colony, any hod}' of (Jelc^ates,
nor the Imperial Parliament that will foice any
.such colony into the union. It must enter
freely, by the unrestricted voice of its inhabi-
tants. The AustiYilians are to be conunended
for their attempt to ft)rm a (Commonwealth by
laying the foundation stones in the .spirit of
provincial liberty. When the I anadiaJi fathers
were layini^ the foundation stones of the
Dominion it was truly said of them that they
entered upou the task in u s[)irit of political
privateering. They recognized that it wa.^ only
by a fox-like polic}^ that they could hope to
capture Nova Scotia and carry their great scheme
through and give the character of a nation to
the 8cattere<l provinces of British North An^erica,
The Australian delegates are actuated by lofty
motives in their attempt to have a Dominion
founded by the people and foi' the people. An
Australian i)<)minion full\' based upon tlie
popular will is their motto, and no province
however small, will be draiXi^ed in like a stone
froni a quarry to give it strength and support.
The smaller colonies of Australia are bound to
protect tlKunselves against the larger ones. It
matters not how small or irisigniticant the

ija<;k\vard glances.

colony, it is to have enual representution
in the senate with the largest. The smaller
colonies insisted upon it as their only
possible protection asjainst the largei* ones. The
convention that drafted the constitution oi: the
proposed federation would have been a complete
failure, if this had not been concedefl to the
colonies. The financial provisions show another
#;afe-guai'd for the smaller colonies. The colonies
a^i'ee to abandon the custom and excise duties
for the purpose of federal H nance. After pro-
viding for the expense of the Commonwealth,
the surplus is to be returned to the colonies
in due proportion, what a due proportion
means is not stated. It may mean a proportion
above that re<piired from each province on a
basis of population. In case of a deficiency in
any pnnince, it is not stated how the matter
would be adjusted. This no doubt has been
thoroughly considered. It is a system that will
make each province look well to its imports and
as imports depend on exports, to its exports
also, lender tiie arrangement in Canada, Nova
Scotia has allowed Ontario and Quebec to cripple
her imports, and consecjuently to capture a large
portion of her revenue on imports, which now
come through Ontario and Quebec, instead of
direct. What Nova Scotia has lost in duties
Ontario and Quebec have gained. It is said
that even now. with all its safeguards, too many

HACKWAHI) (il.ANCES.

of the people in Australia ure dissatisHeiJ with
the scheme to make it safe. This <lissatist'action
has been caused in some colonies, because the
dele:jates of the other colonies are determined to
fully protect these colonies. Such delci^ates
would have been a blessiui; and an honor to
Nov'i Scotia thirty years aijo.

Eni^land has added to her empire many
colonies, some by peaceful occupation, some by
cession, others by treaty and successful war until
it needs a dili;j^ent historian to recall the circum-
stances under which each successive locality
came under Britain's power, but in the history
of the English race, it would be difficult to find
an instance, except that of Nova Scotia, where
the mother countrv agreed with two of her
colonies to hand over to them a third colo.iv in
face of the unanimous opposition of its inhabi-
tants, who were the direct heirs of En^^lishmeu,
Irishmen and Scotchmen. British Justice, in the
case of Nova Scotia, became British despotism.
If Nova Scotia had shown herself at any time
in her historv a colony disloyal to the old land,
or inrlifierent to the renown and honor of Entr-
laml, or careless and unconcerned about Biitain's
future, she iJiiijht have looked for a rebuti' when
occasion presented itself. Nova Scotia had
always been one of the most loyjil of the British
North American colonies. Her loyalty to tlu^
mother land was deeper and broader than that

BACKWARD (il.AXCKS.

of eitlier of tlie Canadas. Her attachment to
Britain was as sound as that of New Brunswick,
Prince Edward If^land or Newfoundland. And
neither of these latter provinces were forced
into the union in opposition to the will of their
inhabitants. To Nova Scotians, patriotism
seemed only devotion to the mocher land. Their
loyalf.v was loyalty to the Queen of EiiLrland,
and their highest hope, and dearest prayer, that
vshe mi^ht long live to wear the crown and sway
the sceptre, and that nothing should co 'e to
overthrow the British constitution and English
throne. They were patriotic and loyal to their
hearts' core. They were ambitious to follow as
nearly as possible in the footsteps of England.
They were proud that the blood of Britons
flowed through their veins. The men and
women born in the early part of the century
were as purely Engli.^li in sentiment as the
truest Britons in the land of the rose. They
looked upon their provirice as scarcely anythinor
moi'e than a mere colony of England, and were
perfectly content to have it remain ^o forever.

Our ancestors trusted in England, as loving
children in their parents. To them :

" The soeptre sliowed the force of temporal power.
The attril)utc to awo aud tuajosty,
Wherein did sit the dread and fear of kings."

The time was when most of the colonists only
thought of kings and (jueens, as ail-powerful,

KACKWAHI) <;LANCKS.

'7%

■clocked in royal purple nnd jewelleil ditidems ;
Imt in this generation, they look back upon
sixty years of glorious reign, and think of their
beloved Qaecn, as a royal woman, Hndir.fj^ her
chief happiness in domestic life. In lier more
private life they see her, without much more
regal pomp than would attend a common sense
inotlier of any respectable family in Nova
♦Scotia. They look upon her as one who loves
raanlv tVankness of character in her subjects,
and soundness and liberality of view in her
people. Her good sense and womanly virtues
have more attracted the attention of her subjects
than her sceptre, her royal robes and sparkling
crown.

The feelings of the people of Nova Scotia,
their firm patriotism and deeply I'ooted loyalty,
were not fully understood by Englishmen at the
bringing in of (Confederation, and to the Queen
the IntJfhwl never been told. It is just possible
that one or more of the men who used every
eli'ort to disturb the peace of this province and
unite it with the Canadas against the will of the
people, has found out that royal honors are not
easy, unless he can feel that his career and his
labors meet with the appreciation of his fellow-
colonists and are supported with the grateful
acclamation of his country mc;n.

The flight of time, the extension and (piick-
of intercourse, the growing means of

enmir

JUCKVVAHD (a.ANCES.

knowledge, have enlarged the views of the
present j^eneration. At this liour Nova Scotiann
are as loyal to their Qaeen as at any hour in her
long reign. They love the old land as well as
their sires did. And this love of the old home
will never wane while the same attraction
emanates from the British throne.

^^.^- ^.^.

Chapter III.

The Views of British Statesmen Regarding the

Colonies*

Wlien thoHo Britisli Colonies that have out-
irrown .short skirts are bot:i lining to adorn
theinsi'lves with the i,'arb of nationality, the
mother land begins to consult with such as to
her future, and tlieir future. England then
realizes that such colonial possessions are of
more importance to her and to the world than
mere trading posts or military stations. Tlu;
day has come wlien she sees that the colonists
are making the colonies. It is not necessary ^n
our day for British colonists to establish their
liberty by forcible means, — liberty strengthens
with their childhood and grows with their
growth. In their youth they niay agree in
being governed by worn-out soldiers or by
Eiritish placemen. But in their manhood they
demand the best men England has to give, or
those e(|ual to the best and wisest of themselves.
It is not so very long ago since the great majority
of Britons knew no more about the location of
many of the colonies, than the captain of a
tishing craft in a dense fog knows of the loca-
tion of his dories.

After the long contest, signalized by the
crowning victory of Wolfe at Quebec, John

Ji2

MA( KWAUl) ni.AN(.'p:s.

Wilk(,'.s, nietiilHr for Aylesbury, in seventeen
hiuidre'l uinl sixty-one, fixpre.ssed his ambition
to ^o to (^hiebec, as tlie first ^-overnoi-, to recon-
eile tlie new subjects to the Enijlish. He wajs
(listtppointed in this, and his non-success lie laid
to the charge of the Ivirl of lUite, who had
V»econie Secretary of State, and who, it was said,
re((uired two tests of merit in those he favored,
namely : Toryism in politics, and \)irth north of
the Tweed. Lord Bute — we are Kjld, eould not
spell, and Sir Francis Dash wood — whr^ it is said,
could not do a sum in simple addition — was Chan-
cellor of the ExcheMpier. And it is also said that
rurlther l<new^ anything more of London than that
it was a place where merchants traded and bank-
ers flea It in money.

Thesu were tine .statesmen into wliose liand.s
were placed the destinies of KnghuKJ and the
salvation of the colonies. What a test of a
mans titness to become a governor of an impor-
tant hlnglish colony, or of any colony or any
place, that he must be a Tory and a Scotchman !
How could it })e expected that a person who
knew nothing of the capitil of the country of
which he had charge, could know^ anythiuiz of
England's colonial possessions or of the people
who were settling in them ?

It has been said that the revolt in the Ameri-
can colonies was caused by English statesmen
and legislation, and not by any act of the people

]5.\rK\VAlU> (if. A sets.

:\:\

of tlic lli'itish nation. Ainl tho.so who ifU'l
history in(U'})t'ii(lcntly and lor correct int'urrna-
tion, will probably aj^'ree that t)ie sayini( is true.

Porhap.s no I'^n^^lishniaii ever .studied the
(jucstion of the colonie.s and colonial ^overiniiont
Uiore closely than Sir \\ lUiam Molesworth.
Speak i)ii; in Tarliament in 183'S, as Sccretar}' of
State for the Colonies, his comprehensive views
and vast knowledj^e made him appear as a li;4ht
in a darkened chamber. In advocating the
principles of self-orovernment, he souj^fht to
destroy an inii[uitous and meddlin^j system
which excited ill-will among the colonists Jind
threatened in some colonies to lead to the over-
throw of Ent^lish power.

In our day, a person who l^ecomos Secretary
of State for the Colonies is able to fiiltil his
duties worthily, with a desire not only to assert
the honor of England, but to prouiott; the real
and permanent well-being of the inhabitants
of tlie smallest dependencies. And Jiritish
statesmen, looking at the distant and valuable
po.ssessions of the country, feel proud of its
acquisitions, ami the result is that there is a
reciprocity of feeling \a hich should exist between
brethren, and that unity and good-will which
binds hrndy together parent and child. To Sir
William Molesworth no political (juestion was
nearer his heart than colonial reform. He
could atibrd more information upon the subject

BACKWAHD fll.ANCK.S.

and (lid inoie to ndvaiic*^ tlie piinciplo ol* sclf-
•^oveiniiient in the colonitss than any otiior man
in the parliament of his day. rnfortunately
for tlie colonies, he died wlien njost u.sel'ul and
in the prime of life. And from hi.s deatli, in tlie
year 1855, until 18()7, lie left no ouo belli nd in
parliament as well versed in colonial matters as
himsvlf Times have greatly cliancred since
1SG7. We have lately seen a race horse add
popularit}' to a prime ndnister, and a winning
yacht bind a prince of royal blood ch.)ser to
tlie hearts of the English people.

Had a Nova Sc«»)tian jockey riilden an Englisli
race horse to victory over the Derby course in
18(50, or a Nova Scotian t-ailor at the helm of
a clipper yacht belonging to the Secretar}'^ of
State for the Colonies won in that year the
America cup, the history of Nova Scotia and
the feelings of its inhabitants would possibly
have been better understood in the following
year, and its latitude and iongitude better known.
Many things go to pruve thiit some Englishmen
prominent in politics. ;ird social position, and
influential in tlie councils of state, knew little
more about this province in 18G6, than a cele-
brated Duke, high in official circles, knew eighty
3'ears earlier. This Duke, speaking in the
British parliament, is reported to have said,
" Oil, yes, yes to be sure Annapolis must be de-
fended ; troops must be sent to Annapolis, pray

|{A( KWAHI* (iLANCKS.

wiMjro is Amiapolis -* Cape liretoti Jiii Jsluud !
won'iert'nl: show it, to me on the inap. So it is.
siire enounfh, my dfur sir yon always btiiji; us
jroofl ncvvM. I must ;^u and tell the Kin^ that
CajH.' Hreton is an ishmd." The late Hon. Josrph
llow'c, in H speecli (Iclivered in Hants ( 'oiinty in
I-SU7, sjiid : " Tlie tjeneral public of Kn^ian<l do
not appear t(r consirKr Nova Scotian atlaiis as of
any serious C(jncern. 'I'he (juestion of confeder-
ation is a colonial atf'air and seeminfijly worthy
of no special attention. A celebrated jockey by
the name of Grimshaw in returnin*; from one of
the great races in that country was accidt-nt-
ally thrown from his: carriage and killed. And
«o ijreat was the CKcitement concerning' tlie
death of yount; (irimshaw, that it was talk-
ed about in every club, at every street corner
anrl by all clasnes of citizens. Many of the
leadin*;^ newspapers trave column.s in sketchin<^
the career of tlie dead jockey. Every paper
was filled with matter concerning the record of
the celebrated rider. About the same time a
3''0ung widow of fashion, whose husband is
remembered for his splendid entertainments at
his castle, sustained another heavy domestic
bereavenjent in the premature death of her cele-
brated poodle do^i " Jim," which expired in her

•

pocket while eating medicated ginger snaps, an
she was about to alight from her carriage. The
<3.xit of the jockey and Jim occupied columns of

mmmmt

f\(>

JUCKWAKl) GLAXCES.

tliese papers, while five line-i were devoted to

Nova Scotia and the Canadian Confederation.'"

About tliree or l-our years previous to the pass-

inor of the British Xortli America Act, a ^^Mitle-

nian from Nova Scotia wliih.' travelhrit-; in

Knirhin<l, met in a railway coach het^veen

Ciuister and London, a clerical gentleman and

liis little son. The g'entloman had a ^ood livinyf,

and was a graduate oi' one of tlie first univer-

saties. The little son liad a fine collec<:ion of

posta^a* stamps, and opened liis book to show

liis collection. The Xova Scotia gentleman

looked over the book and remarked to the little

fellow, " 1 (juesn that I can give you a stamp, 1

do not see amoni^ the tunidjer."' The boy'^

fatht^r replied, " Oh, thanks, a stamp of the

United States of America:'" "No:" said the

Nova Scotian. '' Be^- your pardon, sir," replied

the father, " I thou;^ht you were an American,

as you used the word (/u.cxs." " I am a British

Colonist, 1 am a native of Nova Scotia," replied

tlie other. "Oh, I see! you have come (piite a

distance to visit the old hind. Is not Nova

►Scotia an island lyinj^^ nearly midway betw^eon

that of Ascension and St. Helena, the exiled

home of Napoleon Bonaparte :*" asked the

clerical gentleman. Probably there vsere thon-

.sauiJs of educated persons, moving in the besC

society and occupying responsible positions in

England at that time, who knew as little about

Nova Scotia as the learned divine.

BACKWARD GLANCt:s,

In the year l<S(j7, tliert- \v«jie men in political
lii''3 in ^England wlio did not know, or perliapH
care, whether Nova Scotia wa8 in Africa, Asia,
or America, or whether it was one of the
Cannibal Islands or not. If British politicians
had known, in 1867, all it was tlieir duty to
know about this province, they never would
have allowed the Britisli North America Act to
have passed the House of Commons, in much
less time than many Acts incorporating joint
stock conipanies with five or ten tliousand
<lollars capital, have been in pa>^sing tlirough the
Nova Scotia legislature.

In this year of the Diamond .Jubilee, a givat
change is seen in the opinions of Englishmen,
caused no doubt by very much added informa-
tion, In the British |)ress, in the clubs, in
literary circles, in parliament, everywhere, the
talk is about the colonie.-.. Our statesmen are
running over to England, as I'eguiarly and
actively, and as otten as chddren to their
moth rs knee when looking for t)ie appearing of
Santa Claus. These statesmen are ban({Ueted,
are decorated, are entertained at garden parties
and at clubs, and invited hither ;) ul thither all
over the land. Colonial politicians from the ends
of the earth are seen at every important function.
Every word that drops from their lips is caught
up and sent over the A\'iiole empire, .md next
morning is read in ten thou.sand colonial homes.

^'/^"^^"immmum

H A C K W A K T ) G L A N ( ' i:s.

Amid all tins high social whirl, " The future of
England and Her Colonies," are the watchwords.
"Preferential Trade," "Colonial Defence," "Inter-
change of regular and colonial ti'oops," and
Imperial Federation, are for the time b'ing made
magnificent play thingH. We hope amid all this
magnificence and splendour that colonial states-
men, will not forget that the}^ owe in no small
degree their elevation to their own countrymen.
Omar Pasha, when commander-in-chief of the
Turkish forces, shortlv after the close of the
campaign in the Crimea, said, " My breast is
adorned with seven Turkish and four foreign
decorations, these latter being the Cross of the
Legion of Honour, the Order of the Bath, the
llussiaii order of St. Anne, and tlie Spanish order
of Isabella , I have also been considered worthy
of three sabres of honour enriched with diamonds,
Then turning to his friend, he continued : All
that Monsieur Grati", 1 owe to you, as it was you
who gave me tlie first notion of the military art.
and to the brave soldiers of my country who
sustained me upon the field of battle."

Sir William Molesworth always had his eye
on colonial statesmen, and formed sound opin-
ions as to their abilities. The Hon. Francis
Hincks (afterwards Sir Francis Hincks), though
a comparativi; stranger in Canada, was elected
to represent the County of O.xford in ]\Iarch,
1841. He appeared in the first parliament hold

BACKWARD GLANCES.

subsefiuent to the union of the Upper nnd
Lower provinces of Canada. In 1844 Lord
]\Ietcalf dissolved the Canadian parliament. Mr.
Hincks-was not returned, beinijj defeated ; but
in 1848 he was re-elected, and accepted the
office of Inspector-General of f'inance. The
apjpointnient to office was made under the
administration of Mr. Baldwin. When this
gentleman retired from office, Mr. Hincks was
appointed Prime Minister by the (iovernor-
Oeneral, a post Sir William Molesvvorth felt he
well deserved, and the duties of which he
admirably discharged. He continued to hold
this important position until the year 1854,
when he was defeated by the opposition. Sir
William Molesvvorth, who knew that Mr. Hincks'
intimate acquaintance with colonial ^Vairs made
him peculiarly adapted for an important colonial
post, ottered him the Governorship of Barbadoes
and the Windward Islands. He accepted the
position and proved that the best colonial Gov-
ernors are those who have had an intimate
ac<[uaintance with colonial affiiirs. The Secre-
tary for the Colonies saw" that the clear, vigor-
ous intelligence and untiinchintr intejjritv of Mr.
Hincks would fit him for high colonial position
in any part of the wt)rld.

The great Disraeli with all his knowdedge,
had not, in Sir William Molesworth's day, a very
exalted opinion of the colonies and colonial
.statesmen.

'^vf^n^mmm

P.ACKWAKL) GLAN'CES.

Lord Kosebery lia.s l»rou;j:;}it home to ])israc!i
the fstatemt.'nt that : " Tliese wretched colonies
will }dl be indeperulent, too, iii a few years, and
are a luilistone round our necks." The .state-
ment ha.s often been made, and nearly as often
denied. In a speech recently Lord Rosebery
incidf>ntali^ v..<'..n-ed to it. A correspomlent
wrote him ti. he statement was challenged,
and su<;i^csted iiiat he «^ive his authority. Lord
Rosebery replied through his private secretary
tliat the words as (juoted appear in ;i letter
dated August L3th, 1S52, addressed to Lord
Malmsbury, then Foreign Secretary, and written
])y Disraeli when Clmncellor of the E cchequer.
Sueli, tiien, were the views of one of England's
greatest statesmen respecting H-ngland's colonial
possessions fourteen years before the Canadian
confederation, And these vi(nvs were shared by
many pronnnent and clever Englishmen of the
time and for a ([uarter of a century later. Dis-
raeli lived long enough to change his views. In
a speech delivered by Disraeli (then Lord
Beaconstield) at Aylesbury in 1S79, he paid a
glowing triljiits' to Camida ; He said : " Now a
very peculiar circumstance is tliat the Dominion
of Canada wishes to institute a great yeoman
class. It has legistated for that purpose; its
leoislation has now an influence for that i)ur-
pose. Now, I believe the great and growing
yeoman class in Canada will be largely tlie

BACKUAKI) (USANCES.

means of prenervin*;)^ her from ultra Republican-
ism, it will preserve Canada from a despotism
that ends in democracy, or a deinocrucy that
ends in despotism."

Had JBenjamin Disraeli, studied as closely the
colonies, an<l the colonial system, and watched
colonial statesmen as closely twelve years before
his jjjovernment passed the British Ncirth Ameri-
can Act, as lie did durini>- the twelve years aftei-
the passage of that act, he would nave given
more attention to the appeal of Nova Scotians,
and the people of this province might have
received the consideration due them by a Ph-itish
government and parliament.

Whatever the future history of Canada may-
be, and we all trust it may be great and glorious,
and also hope that it will be untarnished by any
of those follies which have been committed in
the past under the plea that the resolutions of
legislatures are always the voice of tlie people.
We all hope that the policy of England, with
regard to her distant and valuable possessions,
will lienceforward continue to excite the admira-
tion of not only her colonists alone, but of the
world. Wise and understanding Englishn)en
well know that the growing wealth and power
of tlieir country, ai'e in a measure due to the
growing greatness of its colonial po.ssessions.
The day seems to have passe<l when Hritisli
statesmen view the colonies as incumbrances.

'« "■■ '•■•i>'i''!i*mmmmmmmmmmmm

lUCKWAKl) GLANCES.

The day has come when tliey look upon thcui
with pride. And self governin;:; colonists in
every (piarter of the earth may be enhanced by
the conviction, that no federation of their colon-
ies will in the future be accomplishet.l, unless the
direct voice of tl\e electors in each self governino;
colony demands it. Such unions will be the
otfspringa of the ardent wishes formed in the
hearts of the inhabitants of each and every
colony. No British colony will lienceforth be
called upon to endure the humiliating position
of Nova Scv^fcia in 1867. The inhabitants of
New Brunswick became Canadians by their own
vote. The people of Prince Edward Island be-
came Canadians by their own choice. Those of
Newfoundland remained out of the union
and kept tb j control of their liberty. The
citizens of Nova Scotia became (Canadians
through the despotism of their legislature ami
the power of a Fh-itish parliament. Colonial
growth, time and study have been enlai'ging the
sympathies of British statesmen toward the
colonists, and teaching them toleration and for-
bearance. These things have also tauo-ht colon-
i'-ts to keep an ever watchful eye ove?' selHsh
and arnbitious statesmen and politicians, whether
at home or abroad.

Englishmen appear to have found out, though
late it may be, that a man to till the office of
Colonial Secretary worthily, should possess an

UACKWAHiJ (;la\ci:s.

uiiHitiching rectitude of pnrpo8e. ar. intiuiate
acqiiaintance oven with the small politics of
siiKill dependencies, and witli a desire not only
to assert the honor of his country, hut to promote
the real and permanent well beint; ok' the colo-
nists, by bringing the policy of Erj^^land, witli
rejrard to her distant pOvSsessions to accord witli
the feelint^s of th.e majority in any of her selt-
governing provinces. If such wisilom and such
a policy should be always displayed, then Eng-
land will have continued cause to justly glory in
the strength and greatness of her Empire. And
all colonists will continue to turn with a home
feeling and a thrill of patriotic pride toward the
mother land from whom they have derived so
many noble and spirit stirring associations. The
love of the place of our birth, it has been said,
is implanted deep in man by Ood himself. This
is a great truth, that should be always upper-
most in the minds of those in powder, when
dealing with other lands and otiier peoples.

We now live in a very different day from that
in which we lived in l^<i)7. Through the medium
of electricity the pulse of England and the pulse
of Canada, or the pulse of any province of
Canada, can be taken in the same hour. To-day
the affairs of the newly discovere<l gold regions
of the Klondike are know^n as quickly in London,
Edinburgh or Dublin as they are known in
HalifMX. Peers and statesmen and public men

BACKWAKH GLANCES.

of tilt} old country are constantly as>ociatino*
with tlio leading minds of the eolonie.s. Colon-
ists are now not seekino- p Ivice so much from
England, as Englishmen are seeking information
from the colonists. The old days of colonial life
are rapidly passing out, a new era has dawned.
Erom the occupant of the throne, to the occu-
pants of the humblest English cottage home.s,
Canada is daily becoming better known. The
Northwest and J^ritish (-olumbia are bein'J-
settled by Englishmen, Welchmen, Scotchmen
and Irishmen, while the relatives and friends of
these settlers on the other side of the Atlantic
are deeply interested in theii- welfare, and are
informing themselves concerning the localities
in wliich they reside.

In glancing backward through thirt}' years,
to the time of the enacting of the legislation
which passed Nova Scotia into the Canadian
union, we tind we cannot blame the British
Parliament alone, nor the Nova Scotia legislature
alone, nor the conservative partj'- of Canada
alone for forcing Nova Scotia into the union, but
by a combination of both the political parties of
Canada together with the unconstitutional act
of the Nova Scotia legislature, the Parliament of
Great Britain willingly sanctioned their demands.
That there may be no mist'dike concerning the
action of the Canadian parties we insert here a
fpiotation from a speech delivered at Flalton a

UACKWARl) GLANCES

few years a^o by the present premier ol" Canada.
He is reported to huve said . " It took (it^oi-gc
Hrovvn a whole life time to obtain justice not
only for the province of Ontario, but fur the
whole of the united provii\cesof Canada, (mean-
ing Ontario and (Quebec). It took him a whole
life time to obtain the remedy of that evil and
to substitute for the clumsy legislative union
(meaning the union of Quebec ami Ontario) the
present federal union of the British American
provinces. Mr. Laurier in tlie above words has
i-iven the credit of brinii'inc; about confederation
to the great leader of the Orit party, the late
Hon. George Biown.

If any nmn in the British House of Commons
understood the feeling of the people of Nova
Scotia in 1867, that man was the Right Honor-
able John Brit^ht. That true Eriiiclisliman and
friend of the people of this province, in present-
ing a petition to the House, complaining (4' the
absorption of Nova Scotia into Canada by the
Confederation Act, had tlie following to say :
" The Nova Scotia Legislature by sanctioning
the plan, had acted contrary to the wislies of the
people ; the assent of the British Parliament had
been obtained, if not by fraud, at least by
extravagant over-colouiing of the facts; and the
G>)vernment, when they were pressing the bill
on with indecent haste, knew that Nova Scotia
was averse to it." He therefore proposed an

BACK WARD <iLANCES.

address to tli(?^ crown, prayin;;" tliat a coin-
inission iiiin;lu be sent out in in(|uire into the
causes of tlie tliscontoiit felt by tlie Nova
Scotians ; and from such an enquir}- lie antici-
pated either that some niodiHcation niii^ht be
made in the Confederation which would meet
the wishes of Nova Scotia, or that the union
niiii^ht be contined to the Maritime Provinces, or
to the Canadus alone. To refuse the entpiiry
would be to follow up the foolish iiaste of last
year by more perilous obstinacy, and he warned
the House in the most solemn tone, that to turn
a deaf ear to these complaints of the colony
would be the first step toward throwing it into
the arms of the United States, Mr. Briirht'a
motion for enq.iiry w'as seconded by Mr. Baxter^
but op))Osed from the Treasury Bench by Mr.
Adderley, wdio, wliile not denying the dis-
content, said that Confederation was tlie only
alternative of annexation to the United States,
as these provinces could not remain forever in
an independent position. Mr, Cardwell believed
the discontent would pass away. If Mr. Adder-
le}^ believed what he was saying, all tliat can be
said about him, is, that he was grossly ignorant
of the inhabitants of Nova Scotia and their
unswerving patriotism to England. Nova Scot-
ians never dreamed of annexation to the United
States, they could not have been forced into
annexation, before, or at, Confederation except at

liACKWAlU) GLANCFS.

the point ot" the hayoiiet. And conniierciHlly
s]^eakinf; annexation to the United States, would
have been of much more value to Nova Scotia,
than Confederation lias ever been. Mr. Uriulit
in his speech mentioned, as a proof of pul)hc
opinion in this province, that at the last j^eneral
eh.'ction, the people almost universally pro-
nounced against ('onfedeiation, althougli the
influence of the colonial office, of the military,
of the Canadian otKcials, and even the name of
the Queen had been used on that side. Had the
Queen known in full ail the circumstances con-
nected with Confederation, it is not at all likely
she would have sanctioned the British North
America Act, until it was so amended as to sat-
isfy her most loj^^al subjects in Nova Scotia. As
for the colonial office it was bound to carry its
point, even at saeriticintj British liberty in a
British colony. As to Canadian officials their
eyes were on place and honors, the first they
secured in Canada, the latter they received from
England. As to the military service, the officers
cared more about their own proni'^ '/ n, than
tbey did about the happiness of thv. colonists,
and likely some of them knew little more, or
cared little more about the feelings and opinions
of Nova Scotians, than, Sitting Bull, Chief
Boundmaker, Big B(;ar or Red Crow. It will
not now avail to dwell upon the past, unless by
so doing like action and like procedure may be

HACKWAUl) <iLANCES.

Hhunned in tlie future, and policies once adopted,
may not again be attempted.

Hri^rlit and his or»e or two lollowei's, stood
almo.st alone in su])j)ortintr cohjnial libs-rty, and
their acts recall those of Chatham, Vox and
Wilkfs one hundred years (earlier. The inter-
ference of British power in ei*^diteen hundred
and sixty-seven, a^^ainst everything which was
dear to Nova Scotians, was even worse than the
interference of tiie same power one hundred
years earlier with the American colonists. The
former colonists f'xhibited no opposition to the
old land, and were, thrifty, peaceful, loyal and
thorou<,ddy contended beneath the Union Jack.
Dne soul animated the whole province, and if a
traitors nest could be found, it was in the
j)rovincia] assembly, and not against the tlag of
England, but against the liberties of the people.

There are words of statesmen that never
should be forgotten , M'ords that time has
shown to be prophetic ; words tliat are gui<ling
stars in history. Such words were those of
Wilkes in seventeen liundred and seventy-tive.
"I speak, sir, as a tirm friend to England and
America, but still more to universal liberty and
the rights of mankind. I trust no part of the
subjects of this vast empire will ever submit
to be slaves. I am sure the Americans are too
high spirited to brook the idea. England was
never engaged in a contest of such importance

ItACKWAlU) r.r.ANCKS.

4!)

to our iiiosi valuable concerns ;in<l posses«;ions.
Success — tiujij HUCCOSH seeujs to me not «'(]ui vocal
not uncertain, but itnpoMsiljle. W'a shall l>e
considered as their most iniplacahlc enemies, an
eternal separation will follow, and the ;j;rand('nr
of the Hritisji Empire pass aw.'iy."

Wilkes styled Samuel Adams and .lolin
Hancock, not only worthy gentlemen, Imt true
patriots, as he wcjuld have styled every Xova
Scotian whose name was on the petition pre-
sented by John Bright, had he been a jnetni)er
of the British Parlianu nt at that time.

Some of the warmest adherents of the House
of Brunswick could not Ijrook, that the forms
of the constitution, as established at tlie Revo-
lution should be perverted to give effect to the
whims of a kinfj. The best and wisest men of
England at the time, saw that every proper effort
must be put forward to maintain the power of
the people in .opposition to that of the Crown
and House of Lords.

Happily in our day Queen Victoria has stood
between parliament and the people, and Ijy her
judicious and praiseworthy firmness has so
balanced the affairs of the nation, that scarcely
any friction has been felt between parliaments
and the people. In this day an English govern-
ment or parliament that usurped to itself powers
which belong to the people would not long
manage the affairs of the country. The voice

vt ii .i.t V w. i!i. ui«iiwHifR«im*«ii«mi HHMuusuBnBWiimi

inCKWAIIl) GLANCES.

fjf the nation would be attentively listened to by
Her Majesty, and matters voiild soon be righted,
if any government or pailiament attempted to
interfere witli the constitutional ritjhts of the
people.

Her Majesty's subjects in every self governing
colony a?'e supposed to have the same rights
extended to them, as are extended to Eno-Hsh-
men. The unanimous voice of any British
colony, in opposition to any tyrannical act of its
legislature would l)e respected by the Queen, and
the difficulty would be a<4reeably arranged,
soon after ilie matter was fully and fairly laid
before Her Majest3^

In eighteen hundred and sixtv-seven Her
Majesty could not have been fully and fairly
informed of the state of feeling in Nova Scotia.

No consideration would ever have mfide the
Queen an instrument in a measure to suppress
liberty and lower the rank in which Nova
Scotia stood among the other British American
Provinces, and render its situation among self-
governing dependencies beneath that of New-
foundland, Prince Edward Island and New
Brunswick.

Her Majesty never could have known, who
the leading evil spirit on this side of the Atlan-
tic was who conducted much of the mischief to
Nova Scotia. And who constantly looked to his
own elevation and fame as the two most desira-

IJACKWARI) (JLAVPF.S.

ble objects. If she had been made familiar
with his acts, she never would have i^ivcn her
Royal sanction to the British North America
Act, nor extended to him Royal recognition.

It is very doubtful tliat she ri^litly divined
Disraeli's ulterior plans, indeed they must have
been vaguely conceived by her, during the hurry
and rush of the Act tli rough Parliament. Her
Prime Minister was undoubtedly a great states-
men, tilled with grand designs and ambitions.
Throucjh him India was transformed from a
possession to an Empire. He secured for Britain
the control of the Sue/ Canal. And lie was full
of the scheme of imperial federation of autono-
mous colonies, to the advocacy of which the
present Sacretary of State for t)ie colonies hi^s
succeeJed.

But if Mr. Chamberlain should undertake to
do with any single Australian colony or any self-
governing depeii'iency no matter how small,
what Disraeli did concerninir Nova Scotia at the
time of the Canadian union, he would (juickly
find oui that the conditions of thirty years ago
are very dilierent from the conditions of to-iJay.
Colonists cin talk with their Queen to-day, and
hiy their grievance before her as (piickly as her
subjects at home. Enlightenment is liberty.

Disraeli may have been stirred in his idea of
imperiil federation by Bismarck, who had a
grand theatre around hin; for the display of his

VVMIMMmiH

BACKWARD (iLANCF:s.

powerfii] genius, when he converted a number
of petty principalities into a majestic empire.
His action with the least of those principalities
was open and creditable indeed, when compared
with that of Disraeli toward Nova Scotia. Dis-
raeli's was an achievement without a parallel
British liistory regarding colonial government.
It is not likely to have a parallel. Any English
Prime Mini>ter or Colonial Secretary in this
day, who attempted such a move under similar
circumstances, would bitterly lament the criii i-
D.al mistake he had made.

English statesmen may tind little trouble m
drawing Canadian statesmen who are looking
for immoital renown, into taking the colonial
lead for the accomplishment of a great and entire
colonial scheme. But Imperial Federation will
never be accomplished by statesmen, politicians
and parliaments alone. When such a federation
is accomplished, if it ever is, it will be founded
on the sanction of Her ^Majesty's free born
colonial subjects circling the earth.

In this day a secretary of state for the
colonies may deliver a high toned speech, on
England's Foreign Policy, which the next morn-
ing may send a thrill of disapprobation through
every self governing British possession. The
colonies are not anxious to be drawn into any
European-Asiatic complications, to satisfy the
ambition of any member of the Imperial CJovern-

RACKWAUD GLANCES.

rnent. The colonics have been watcliincr closely,
the wise aii,l cautious poh'cy of Lord Salisbury'
as well as the policy of the colonial secretary,'
and tiiey can form a (^uite correct opinion of
what are Enalanrl's interests, and what M,re the
individual interests of Britisli statt^smen. The
conduct of a secretary of ytate for the colonies
like that of a prime minister, should be
characterized by wisdom, moderation, tjrmness
and exalted integrity. If uniformly ^mided by
these noble gifts no improper acts will be com-
mitted against the weakest colony, and Englandn
transactions with foreign nations will be In the
future, as in the past, without stain or without
reproach.

m^m=

Chapter IV.

Princess Victoria, and from the Coronation to
Confederation,

Many intenstingr sketches, in this Jubilee
j^ear have bfen published concerning the yontJi-
ful days of England's Gieat Queen. Some
interesting events, wliich may not have been as
widely published as many others, will be re-
corded in thi chapter.

Princess Victoria was nearly a year old when
Cnoroe III, died. She was two years old when
the j^reat Napoleon breathed his last in Sr.
Htlena. She was thirteen years of age when
I he first Reform Act passed, anu iTOin which
began those changes in the British House of
Cununons, which have made that body the
gieatest as>-emlly in the world. In the follow-
ing year she doubtless heard with joy that slavery
under British rule had been abolih>hed forever.
In 1829 the little Princess Victoria learned from
those about her that the great city of London
was policed for the first time by a rnetr-opolitan
force. This was done under Sir Robert Peel,
who was Home Secretary in the Duke of
Wellington's cal>inet, and from that circum-
stance sprang the nicknames " Bobbies " and

15ACKVVAKD GLANCES.

'' Peelei's," Capital punishment for the cri'ue
of forgery was enforced for the last time
in Euijland in 1829. In Augus*- «f the same
year the tirst bus rolleil through the streets
of London. A year later the opening of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway took place.
The young Princess saw the erection of the new
London bridge in 1881, and the introduction of
steel pens the following year. In 1834 an Aus-
tralian colony was formed into a self governing
province, and the same year the old Parliament
buildings at Westminster were destroyed by
Hre, making way for the magniHcent pile of the
present day.

h\ the very year of her corji.ation the first
i.teamship to cross the Atlantic made the voyage
to New York, and the first telegraph line was
built and operated. These advances were follow-
ed two years later by the establishment of the
penny post. About this time it took one of Her
Majesty's troop ships seventy-eight days in the
voyage from Portsmouth to Quebec. A new
Pacific province, " New Zealand " came in with
1841. New Zealand whose praises Kipling has
sun<;, is amanjj tho brifjhtest ijeuis of the British
Crown.

*' Last, loneliest, loveliest, e.xtjiiisite, utart—
On us, on us, the unswerving 80,ison smiles.
Who wonder 'mid our fern why nion depart
To seek the llap[.y Isles ? "

m»m

5(1

IJACKWARD GLANCKS.

This was also the year in which the Prince of
Wales was born. The following jear Her
Majesty paid her first visit to Scotland.

Polar exploration, one of the most active of
the scientific endeavors of the century, be<j^an in
earnest with the famous expedition of Sir John
Franklin in 1845. The repeal of the Corn
Laws, one of the most important events of her
reign, mark 1<S46, as a memorable year in Biitish
histor}'. This yenv was also marked by the
terrible potatoe famine in Ireland. The first of
international exhibitions was held in 18.51, and
it had a special interest for Her Majesty from
the fact that her consort, Prince Albert, was the
originator of it. It was this year too that gold
was discovered in Australia,

Two years later, Arthur, Duke of Wellington,
hero of Waterl;)0 and conqueror of P)onaparte
died.

Three years later came the Crimean War,
which laid the foundation of that CJreat Eastern
question, which lias kept Europe on the watch
ever since. Al this time English women in high
social circles, added renown to their rank and
sex, by leaving their homes, and going to the
field.s of battle to care for and comfort the sick
and wounded and dying defenders of their
country.

It was also at, this time, just after the battle
of Inkermann that the Bishop of London prepared

HACKWARD GLANCES.

the beautiful prayer, which was daily read in a
hundred thousand British homes. The prayer
read as follows :

" O Almighty and most merciful God, the pro-
tector of all that trust in Thee, accept. We
beseech Thee, our humble intercessions for our
brethren, Thy servants now fighting the battles
of our country by land or by sea. Protect and
defend them, with Thy Almighty power. Give
them true courage in danger, and mercifulness in
victory. Re pleased, O Lord, to succour and
relieve the sick and wounded, and to bless the
means used for their recovery. Grant that all
they who fall in battle may depart this life in the
true faith of Christ. Minister abundantly the
consolations of Thy Holy Spirit to tlie father-
less children and widows, and to all who are in
sorrow or anxietv, and in Thine own wood time
restore to all the nations of the world the bless-
ings of peace. Grant this, O HeavenH- Father,
for the sake of Thy dear Son, the Prince of
Peace, our Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen."

The Victoria Cross, which every true British
soldier covets, was instituted about this time, by
royal warrant, as a reward tor individual in-
stances of merit and valor in the army and navy.
Of all prizes that men in the arniy and navy
covet there is none more eagerly sought, more
jealously guarded, or more dearly loved than the
simple cross in gun metal beating the inscription

lUCKWARI) <iLANX'f:S.

" For Valor." Although many acts of hcroisin
had been porformed in botli services in the
earlier part of Her Majesty's rei<j^n, it was not
deemed advisable to make the action of the war-
rant retrospective. The heroes of the Crimea
were therefore the first who received the much
covete(i decoration.

Shortly after the return of the Queen of Eng-
land from her visit to the French Emperor in
the autumn of 1855, she established the Victoria
Cross, The Cross of the Lofjion of Honour liad
been established by the Great Napoleon. The
following touching incident n)ay have had some-
thing to d(^ with the introduction of the Victoria
Cross. A guard of honour, composfid of the
Imperial Guard, was drawn up in the courtyard
of the Palace of St. Cloud. An incident occurred
exhibiting in a very remarkable manner the
consideration of Napoleon III for his soldiers,
and his magnificent recognition of bravery. The
officers in command of the Guard of Honour had
caused to be brought near the Palace, for the
purpose of gratifying him with a view of Eng-
land's Queen, a gallant Voltigeur of the Imperial
(iuard, who had been frightfully wounded before
Sebastapol. The Emperor saw the poor fellow,
and, in reply to his inquiry, was informed that
he had shown distinguished bravery in one of
the recent engagements. His Majesty desired
the man should approach. The soldier trembl-

BAt KWAKI) (JI.AXCKS.

inaly advanced on crutclios, wlien the Emperor
stepped forward, and uni'iistening from Ids own
unif«jrm tlie Cros.s of the Legion of Honour,
placed it upon tlie left breast of the gallant
fellow, who was so much overcome by the
gracious condescension that he burst into a flood
of tears. The incident was witnessed by the
Queen and the Euipre.ss, and all present were
greatly affected by it.

Shortly before the above incident, an<l the
Queens visit to Napoleon HI, the most brilliant
charge I'ecorded in the annals of war took place.
A halo of glory still fresh, surrounds the name
of the Earl of Cardigan and his horsemen, who
shot through the valley of death caught some
beams of its brightness, and those who fell by
the way lay covered with immortal honor.

The deeds of the Light Brigade brought fresh
renown to the British soldier, and additional
lustre to Victoria's reign. Here are Earl Oar-
diofan's own words concer/iin^j that brilliant
charge : " I received an order to attack the Rus-
sians in the valley. I received that order and I
obeyed it. 1 delivered that order myself lo the
briaade under my command, I ordered them to
march — I ordered them to a<lvance — i ordered
them to attack the Russians in the val'ey. 1
must say this, that I did so upon that occijsion
— it being my duty to give the order to then. —
I did give it, but 1 deeply regretted : t, an<1 1 am

■ iiJji"iM,wiiiii.ii»iniiiipiiiiiwMn,u,ji.u^,».,4,4i

MACKWAKD GLANCKS.

sure I should have much more Heepl" regretted
it afterward if anything had prevented my per-
forming the rest of my duty, which was to share
the dangtrs, which those brave men ho nobly
faced, Whatever danger my comrades incurred,
I shared it with then). We proceeded, — we
advanced down and along a gradual descent of
more than three (juarters of a mile, with one of
the batteries opposed to us vomiting forth shells,
round shot and grape — with a battery on the
ricjht flank and a batterv on the left, and all the
intermediate ground covered with Rus=>ian rifle-
men — so that when we came down within a
distance of fifty yards to their urtillery which
had been firing at us, we were, in fact, sur-
rounded and encircled by a blaze of tire, and
raked by the riflemen, who tired upon us in flank.
As we passed on, the oblique fire of the artillery
was brought upon our rear, and on both flanks.
We entered the battery — we went through the
battery — the two leading regiments cutting down
a great number of the Russian gunners. In the
two regiments which I had the honour to lead,
every officer was either killed or W'Ounded, or
had his horse shot under him, except one. Those
regiments having proceeded on, were followed by
the second line, consisting of two more cavalry
regiments, which continued to cut down the
Russian gunners. Then came the third line
consisting of two other regiments, who also

1!A( KWARD (il.AN'CES.

iioVjly jierformed their duty. Tlie result was,
this body of about (JOO cavalry succeeded in
passinjj; throun^h a body of, as wt; have since
learnt 5,i)00 Russian cavalry : and having passed
tlirough this mass, they went, according to our
technical and military expression, "threes about,"
and retired in the same way, doing as much
execution as they possibly could upon the enemy.
Upon returning up the hill we had descended,
we had to run the same gauntlet, and incur the
same risk from the f^ank fire of the tirailleurs.
Numbers of men and horses were shot down,
and many of those unfortunate soldiers who had
lost their chargers were killed while endeavour-
ing to make their (escape. But what was the
feelinu and bearing of those men who returned i
From each legiment returned but small detach-
ments — two thirds of ^hem having been destroyed
— and those men, when they arrived at the
summit of the hill fiom whence they had com-
menced the attack but a short time before, gave
three cheers of triumph and rejoicing at the
exploit they had jierformed ; and well they
might do 80, for they ha<'. ridden over a Russian
battery, and encountered a countless body of the
enemy in the rear."

There was one Canadian horse, which charged
with the six hundred, through that valley of
blood, death and glory. The following was pub-
lished in the London 'Telegraph a few years ago :

"f^"T^ xfmKmA.^mmmmmmmmmmmsaiaaBm

BACKWAUl) (GLANCES.

" Ser;;».'ant Fawke, one of tae Scots Greys, tells
liow in riding back, a shell came skipping Hlon|jf,
and, after passing throuj^h the Dragoons, struck
the snow white Canadian charijer on which he
was mounted, killing it on the spot. When he
fell came the supremo moment of (ianger, but his
comjianions rescued him, and a sergeant major
of the Dragoon Chia^wls gave liim the bridle of a
riderless charger of the 1,'Uh Light Dragoons, and
mounted upon him, he escaped out of the valley.
In December, 1855, the <^ijeen held a
chapter of the most noble order of the Garter
at the castle for the purpose of investing His
Majesty the King of Sardinia with the order.
Her Majesty wore a kirtle, mantle, hood and
gold enamelled collar of the (xarter, and also
wore a magnilicent diadem of diamonds. The
Knights of the Garter with the otiicers of the
order, entered the throne-roo«n and took their
seats at the table, the senior Knights nearer the
Queen, The ta))le w^as covered with purple
velvet, with a deep border of gold lace and
bullion fringe. The King wore the uniform of
a Sardinian General, dark blue with -ilve»
appointments, and was attended by the u 'IN

and officers of his court. Her Majesty thi aeen
and Knights of the Garter received the Kinf
standing, and His Majesty was conducted to a
seat in a chair of State, placed on the right hand
of the Sovereign. The Queen announced to the

I5A<K\VAKI) <;LAN(ES.

(;:{

Kiri^ of Sardinia t)iat His Majenty bad been
elected a Knic^ht ot" t)ie Most NoMe Order of tlie
Oartcr. Garter Kin|i? of Anns, presented t)ie
Garter to the Oieen, and Her Majesty, assisted
hy Hiw Royal Higliness Prince Ail)ert, buckled
it on the left leg of His Majesty, the chancellor
prononncing the following admonition :

To the lionour of God omnipotent, and in
memorial of the blessed martyr St, (ieorge, tie
about the leg, for tliy renown, this Noble Garter;
wear it as the symbol of the most illustrious
order, never to be forgotten or laid aside, that
thereby thou may est be admonished to be courage-
ous , and having undertaken a just war, in which
thou shalt be engaged, thou mayest stand firm,
valiantly tight, and successfully conijuer. Garter
King of Arms presented in like manner, the
Ribband, having t\.^ George suspended, and the
Queen, assisted by His Royal Highness the
Prince, placed the same on the left shoulder of
Flis Majesty, the Chancellor pronouncing the
usual admonition. Her Majesty the Queen then
gave the Accolade to the King of Sardinia, and
His Majesty received the congratulations of
Prince Albert and the Duke of Cambridge, and
also of each of the Knights of the Garter present.

In connection with the war, Florence Night-
ingale who.se name is immortal, left the comforts
of a beautiful English home, in company with
other gallant women to minister to the wants of

-■'■r'Jfi7I-:B-5'aiJJ--.'J.l,*)l!H»pWP|k^

BACKWARD GLANCES.

the sick, wounded and dying soldiers in the
Crimea. Her pure and lovely character cannot
be better described, than was done by a wounded
soldier " She would speak to one and another,
and nod and smile to as many more ; but she
couldn't do it to all, you know, for we lay there
by hundreds ; but we, could kiss her shadow as
it fell, and lay our heads on the pillow again
content. Another said : " Before she came there
was such cussin and swearin, but after that it,
was as holy as a church," A widow of a gallant
soldier also went out with Miss Nightinfale
she was the widow of the late Colonel Willouffh-
by Moore, she became lady superintendent of the
otHcers hospital at Scutari. She sacrificed her
life for her country, and left an example to
England's daughters, as her gallant husband did
to England's sons. Colonel Moore perished in
the Europa, rather than forsake the burning
ship so long as any of his men were ia it. How
noble it is, faithfully to live and unliinchingly to
die, in the discharge of duty The spirit of these
great women, touched de ^ply that of tlieir Queen.
The heroic Sir Thomas 'I'rowbridge, was
among the bravest of the brave at the battle of
the Alma, and his valour at Inkermann has
become oiio of the glorious facts of history.
When his skill and courage in directing the tiro
of a battery had contributed to turn the tide of
battle — and when a fatal cannon shot had carried

BACKWARD GLANCES.

away both his feet, the wounded hero refused to
be conveyed to the rear, demanding of his fellow
soldiers but to carry him 'to the front, and raise
him on a gun carriage, that before bleeding to
death, he might witness the successful issue of
the conflict , and then coolly, in that position,
continue to direct the fire of his battery until
he shared in the final triumph and shouts of
victory. Preserved by almost a miracle, to life —
his services were crowned by every applause that a
nation's gratitude could bestow. Afterwards his
honours were hallowed and enhanced by the tears
of pity from his Queen herself, as she placed
then) upon his sliattered frame. This touching
act was performed by his sovereign not long
before she witnessed the simple and touching
one performed by Napoleon III. in the court
yard of the Palace of St Cloud.

There are many persons living in Nova Scotia,
who remember the great illuminations, bonfires
and rejoicings everywhere over the province,
wdien the news of the fall of Sebastopol reached
these shores. The Queen and His Royal High-
ness were at Balmoral Castle, and the Duchess
of Kent was at Abergeldie Castle, when the joy-
ful news of the fall of Sebastopol reached the
Royal paity. The Queen immediately caused
the joyful tidings to be circulatcl through the
neiiihbourhood Soon the Hiijhlanders were
seen approaching in groups in every direction.

....nuvH(|ini>li'iwmJix>«iii'

BACKWARD GLANCES.

The main body was led by Ross, Her Majesty's
piper, playing favourite national air^. The
erection ot* bonfires was but the work of a few
minutes.

Some whisky having been procured, the
health of the Queen and Prince and of the brave
soldiers of the Crimea was drunk, whilst the
air ranf"" with acclamations.

Her Majesty and the Duchess of Kent, with
the ladies of the suit, viewed the distant scene
from the windows of the castle. It was one of
sui passing wildness and beauty. The country
for a considerable distance was lighted by vast
bonfiies, the ruddy flames from which were re-
flected from the windows and walls of the castle.
The picturesque figures of the Higlilanders, who
had collected in great numbers, were seen against
the flames, and their shouts were heard far and
wide throuijh the glen. A little before twelve
o'clock, the whole concourse of peasants, work-
men, ghillies and others, descended from the
summit of the Craig G( bhain and assembling be-
fore the castle windows, sang " God Save the
Queen ; " and after three hearty cheers for the
Queen, and three for the British army, gradually
dismissed.

From the (Coronation to Confederation.

If the reader will glance back, we will trace
together from the coronation, some leading

HACKWAWn OLANCES.

events down to the; confederation of ihe pro-
vinces of British North America. The <iny of
the Queen's coronation, Fleet street ped(]lers
were selling Incifer matches at a half penny
each. She was eighteen years old wlien she
became Queen by the death of William IV. on
June 20ih, 18.S7. With her coronation robes,
she wore the insigna of the Order of the Onrter,
the highest order of Knirjhtbood in England.
Old Mr. Grenville says that she blushed witli
embarrassment when her elderly uncles had to
kneel and swear allegiance to her on her acces-
sion. It is said the Queen had to propose to her
liusband. Once she asked him if he liked Eng-
land. And he replied very much. Then why
would you leave it ? she asked. By little en-
quiries of this kind, it is reported, slie ascertained
the state of his feelings, and finally made a
declaration. The law gave Prince Albeit no
exact social precedence Lord Albermarle, master
of the house, maintained that he had the right
to sit in the Queen's carriage on statue occasions
and not the Prince Consort. The Duk*; of
Wellington, however, gave his opinion that the
Queen could put Lord Albermarle where she
liked, either on top of the coach or beneath
it, or anywhere else.

Wnen the <^ueen ascended the throne, the
locomotives Rocket and Planet were capable of
a speed of eight ndles an hour. In 18.3(S, three

mssmmmmmmmmm^mm

BACKWARD (iLANCER.

roads were built and a remarkable speed of
thirty-eight miles an hour was obtained under
favourable conditions. In 1837, the journey
from Liverpool to London occupied sixty hours.

In the first year of Victoria's reign, His Ex-
cellency Sir Colin Campbell being governor of
Nova Scotia, one of the principal matters dis-
cussed by the Council, was the proposed measure
of the late Governor-General (Lord Durham) for
the union of the Briti>h North American Colon-
ies. His Excellency proposed to form a govern-
ment for the British colonies in North America,
which, whilst it maintained the supremacy of
the mother country, and protected the common
interest of all the the colonies, should leave to
each the arrangement of its own peculiar affairs.
The Legislative Council decided against the
adoption of this plan, and directed the delegates
whom they were sending to England to oppose
it. And nothinfj came of the scheme at that
time.

The exhibition of 1851, is one of the events of
the Queen's reign, which opened up new high-
ways for the intercourse of nations, and brought
them to see, that invention, extension of
industry and commercial enterprise are the
main foundations of the greatness and power of
christianized countries. After two thousand
years, England in the early reign of Victoria
revived the occasions of public competition. It

PACKWAHD CLANCES.

was to be no lorifi^er rnr. i alone who descended
into the arena, that multitudes miirlit admire
the vigor, beauty and s^'mmetry of his mnscular
development, but the ingenious machinery
created by him for multiplying his powers and
regulating his labour. In these exhibition
palaces, it is seen that invention is man's
attribute. The product of man's industry in a
thousand varied forms is here gathered together
from the four corners of the world. Parliaments,
peoples, kings, presidents, queens and tnnperors
now sanction these itnmense gatherings, and are
yearly offering inducements to different races to
mingle together, as the many waters. The f^ng-
lish exhibition of 1851, and that of France in
1855, are the foundations of all those great
expositions which have dotted every civilized
country since that time. The nations now are
truly advancing to that happy state, when their
interests will be so intermingled, that neither
happiness nor misfortune will be able to touch
one nation without aflVcting the other.

ROYAL COMMISSION.

The Queen's Royal Commission to Great
Britain, Ireland and the Colonies is thus
expressed : — " Whereas, amid the glorious suc-
ces which through the power of Almighty Uod,
has attended our arms during the present war,
many soldiers, sailors, and nuirines, .serving in

501

BACKWARD (iLANCES.

our aririies and fleets, have g-allantly fallen in
battle, or by other casualities during the war :
and nianv who .shall hereafter be enfiaired in
conflict, or in the further prosecution of
hostilities, may also noltly sncririee their lives in
our service, while protecting the invaded liberties
of our Ally, and repressing the lawless ambition
of our enemies :

" And whereas it hath been represented to us,
that nianv of our lovingf siibiects throughout
our Kingdom and Doniinion, actuated by a just
sense of the sacred right of those who fell in
the Country's service and in support of our just
cause of war, are anxiously desiring of testifying
tlieir loyalty and love to us and to our throne,
by a just and generous benevolence tov»'arfl the
widows and orphans of those our soldiers, sailors
and marines who have been so killed, or who
may hereafter die amid the ravages and casual-
ities of war, and also by their gifts and subscrip-
tions to contribute a portion of those means,
■with which our nation lias been blessed, toward
succourinof, educatinnr and relieviuij those who
by the loss of their husbands and parents in
battle, or by death in active service in the
present war, are unable to sustain or support
tliemselves."

A writer of the time says, "That no sooner
had the Royal Commission appeared, than the
flood-gates of charity were quickly opened;

HACK WARD (JLANCKS.

subscriptions flowed in ; every city, every town-
ship, every parish in the land hud its meetings
its committees, its subscription lists. The
thanksgiving day for the harvest was made a
day for offerings of the more sul)8tantial sort
dedicated to the same object."

Beside all this the Directors of the Crystal
Palace devoted the receipts of two Saturdays
and the P^mperor Napoleon sent them his
splendid band (that of Leo Guides) to draw
crowded houses. At all the theatres j^rent
benefits showed the interest of the play goers in
this most worthy cause. And Irst, though far
from the least, the w^orking men whether in
public dockyards, on board ship in the large
engineering and manufacturing establishments,
or in private work shops and solitary garrets,
with clerks, merchants, bankers and all sorts of
conniiercial or professional firms, gave their
quota at the call of their Queen. And in the
pjritish Colonies as soon as the Commission of
Her Majesty was made known, all hearts were
stirred to action, and magnificient contributions
were sent to the Mother Land. Australia sent
£38.048, sterling, East Indies, £5(3,630, and
British Guiana, Hong Kong, Gibralter, Ceylon,
Cape of Good Hope, Trinidad, Bahamas. Ber-
muda, New Zealand, Malta, and the Mauritius,
all contributed handsomely. The Canadas by
private subscription gave £18,374, sterling, and

■J'-;-^Bft3'««IW«W;3r«KBriB<r^PWJS»SW»WHffraHB'JW^^

BACKWARD ULANCKvS.

Nova Scotia, New Hiunswick and P. E. Island
1" 15,053, beside votes of money for the oVijeet in
the Canadian and Maritime Province Le;;is-
lature. Newfoundland also contributed hand-
somely. The <j^rand total received from all the
colonies towards the Patriotic Fund was
£143,358, sterling, or if put into dollai-s, would
amount to nearly three quarters of a million by
private subscription. In Enolanii the Queen
and Prince Albert heatled the IIhL with n)a*,yniti-
cent gifts. The Queen's invitation went straight
to the colonial heai't, no ruler ever met with a
more hearty response in so short a time. The
colonists loved their Queen. She merited their
love. They showed that they felt witli her for
the sorrowing one" in the Mother land, and for
those suffering and gallant men in camp, field
and hospital, far from friends and home. There
is something in that little word home, which
lifts the heart and excites intense emotion in
every true colonial breast. The old home of our
sires, how ve have always loved it. We can
understand something of the feeling of the
British soldier when on service in a strange
land, as he hears the bugle play " Home Sweet
Home " while sitting around the camp tire, h(5w
silently he will listen to the thrilling notes as he
turns aside his head from the watch tire, with a
tear in his eye and looks toward home and
thinks of loved ones there. We love the old

IJACKWAKI) GLANCP:S

home of our father's and have always been
; proud of the bravery and gallantry of our race.

Close upon the heels of the Crimean War came
the Indian Mutiny, with all its horrors, which
resulted in taking out of the hands of the East
India Company, tlie {government of that vast
territory.

About this time iron clad ships were intro-
duced and the navies of the world have since
been revolutionized. In 18(30, tlie Prince of
Wales visited Canada and the United States.
Queens-land was added in the same year to the
Australian colonies. And in the sanie year
justice was done to the English Jews by the
removal of their political disabilities. The
Queen's first visit was made to Ireland in 1861,
a year made sorrowful by the death of the Prince
Consort. In 18G7 was the Abyssinian war, and
also in this year the second Reform Act was
passed. And in this year the British North
America Act was passed, and Nova Scotia be-
came a province of the Canadian Union. Then
followed in fiuick succession, the disestablish-
ment of the Irish Church, the creation of the
London School Board, and the proclaiming Her
Majesty Empress of India.

PRIME MINISTERS.

The first thirty years of Queen Victoria's
reign she had the following prime ministers as

:-xs:.:.K:'y}.t'.<i,.'iiXTSj IIHIIH.ill HWIHW

R«^

::iPi

HACK WARD T. LANCES.

counsellors. When she ascended the throne,
Lord Melbourne. In 184], Sir Uobert, Peel. In
1840, Lord John Russell. In 1852, Earl of
Derby. In 1852, Lord Aberdeen. In 1855,
Lord Pahnerston. In 1858, Earl of Derby. In
1859, Lord Palmerston In 1865, Earl Russell.
In 18G(), Earl of Derby.

■f

-^Y®

Chapter V.

Charlottctown Convention.

When business tiriiis have been Htru;^glincj
year aftei year to keep themselves afloaTaad
avoid bankruptcy, they sometiiues hit upon the
scheme of enhir^Hng their capital out of the
funds of other (inm. Often their first aim is to
employ agents to communicate with business
establishments in other cities n- towns, that are
reported financially sound. la some instances
these agents are sent to confer with the members
of these sound firms, and if possible, to induce
them to bicome partners in their sclieme. These
agents are sometimes, clever, ambitious and un-
scrupulous. Their reputation and reward de-
pends upon their success. In this way some
firms and corporations have been enabled to tide
over tinanciai shoals and launch out into deep
water. Sometimes these smaller and sounder
firms have profited by their union of interest
with the larger ones, an.l at other times have
become seriously crippled by the result. The
agents are always great gain^jrs if successful.

It also sometimes happens that two or three
commercial firms in good standing and with first

t u

()

HACKWAIU) (JI.ANCES.

class credit, desire to unite under one name to
add to their prosperity. Their busine.s.s being
iriuch (he same and all in goo<l workinj^ order,
they feel that it would not only be in the inter-
est of iheirselvcH, but of their employers) and
their customers to unite.

As it \H in the commercial world, .so it i.s in the
political worhJ. Tlie union of Nova Scotia with
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
would have been Mimilar to the latter, tlie union
of Nova Scotia with the Canada.s wa« similar to
the former.

Long before the British North America Act
was passed in the Briti.sh Parliament, the two
political parlies of Canada (Reform ard Con-
servative) had so mismanaged the affairs of the
provinces, that they had brought themselves to
an ab.solute and perilous dead lock. Thus
brought face to face with provincial bankruptcy,
the leaders of the two parties formed a coalition,
and a governiiient was formed with the follow-
ing programme •

" The government is prepared to pledge itself
to bring in a measure next session for the
purpose of removing existing difficulties by
introducing the federal principle in Canada,
coupled with such provisions as will permit the
northern provinces and the North West territory
to be incorporated with the same .system of
government."

HACKWARI) nr.ANrKS.

Witliin a inoiitfi of Uk; formation of this
coalition croverninent, it appointed dclet^ates to
attend the convention which the Maritime
Pt'ovinces ha»l previously appcjinted to meet at
Chariot tetown,

On the 12th of Septembi^r, hSO-l-, the Ontario
and (^{ijebec dele^^ates met in convention the
deletijates of the Maritime Provinces, and at once
proceeded to business with close*! doors. The
result of the Canadian's visit was that the Cliar-
lottetown Convention adjourned, without attend-
ing at all to the business for which the three
maritime province legi^lature-i had creitsd it.

Another convention, called the intercolonial
convention was summoned, by the Gjvernor
General to meet at Quebec, October 10th, l(S(j4,
just twenty-ei<i^ht days after the tiuie appointed
for the meeting of the maritime delo..jat'js at
Charlottetown. Accordingly this convention
met at Quebec, and was composed of six dele-
^'ates from Upper C.inada, six from Lower
Canada, seven from New Brunswick, seven
from Prince Edward Island, and five from Nova
Scotia. The Quebec convention sat also with
closed doors, and nothincr but the bare re>ult of
the deliberations was known. The convention
sat seventeen days, during which time a consti-
tution was adopted, and the convention ad-
journed. The names of the delegates to the
Quebec convention were as follows :

BACKWARD (JLANCES.

New Brunswick was represented by : —

Hon. S. L. Tilley, Provincial Secretary.
" J. M. Johnson, Attorney General.
'' J. H. Gray, M. P. P.
" E. B. Chandler, M. L C.

•' w e. streves, m. l. a

" C. FrsHER.
" P. Mitchell.
The delegates from Nova Scotia were : —

Hon. Charles Tuiter, Provincial Sec'y.
" W. A. Henry. Attorney General
" K. B. Dickie.

" J. McCULLY

" A. 0. Archihald.
Prom Prince Edward Island the delef,^ates were: —
Hon. C()L. Gray, President of the Council.
" E. Palmer, Attorney General.
" W. H. Pop , Provincial Secretary,
" G. Coles.
" T. H. Haviland.

" E. W HAL AN.

" A. A. MacDonald.
Those from Newfoundland were : —

Hon. F. B. S. Carter, Speaker H. of A.
" Ambrose Shea.
Those from Ontario and Quebec were

Hon. Sir Etienne P. Tachi-;, Premier.
" J. A. MacDonald, Attorney Gen 1 W,
" G. E. Car'J'IER, Attorney Gen )., East.
" \V. McDoiKULL, Provincial Secretary.

BACKWAUI) GLANCES.

Hon. George Bkown, Pres. of the Council.

" A. T. Galt, Finance Minister.

' A. Campbell, Com. of Crown Lands.

" Oliver Mowatt, Postmaster General.

" H. L. Langevix, Solicitor Gen., East.

" T. D'Ar. • McGee, Minister of Ag'ture.

" J. Cock BURN, Solicitor General. West.

" J. C. Chapais, Com. of Public Works.
The above is a list of those men vho repre-
sented the provinces at the Quebec convention.
The government of Ontario and Quebec, twelve
iu nujnber, attended the convention in a body.
The delegation of the T-anadas was one well
mixed with Grits and Conservatives as will be
seen from the list above If this delegation
could possibly gain the support of the delegates
of any one other province, they knew they would
secure a strong position. They accomplished
t.tM-s end. The membei;s of the Reform and
Conservative Govertunent, of toe Canadas were
well aware, that if they adopted any okher
measure, less vsecret and less hurrie<i, to bring
about a union of the six provinces, or a unioti of
a majority of them, it would have proved abor-
tive. Jt w^as the terrible dilemma into which
most of these twelve C ladian delegates had
plunged their provinces, that made them so de-
termined to bring about th(> union of peoples in
some respects ditlering in rac Unguage educa
tion and religion.

lUCKWARI) GLANCES,

The rush with which confederation was pushed
tlirongh the parliament of Upper and Lower
Canada, without havino' l)oen submitted to tlie
people, or scarcely having been discussed upon
the iiustings, sliows the extreme difheidty in
Vvdiich tliis coalition oovernment was placed, and
the determined and (piick effort made b>- the
members to extricate their provinces from their
bankrupt condition as speedily as possible. They
must have felt that the step on which they had
decided was bold, but they knew well that bold
attacks give success generally.

It will be seen that the resolutions passed by
the Legislatures of New Brunswick, Prince
Edward Island and Nova Scotia, gave the dele-
gates to the Charlottetown convention no power
or authority to consider a union with the

Canadas. The delegates to the Charlottetown
convention delegated themselves to meet the
government of the Canadas at Quebec. The
resolutions of the Maritime Province Legislatures
were alike in form and read as follows :

" That his excellencv, the lieutenant governor,
be authorized to appoint delegates — not to exceed
five, to confer with delegates who may be
appointed by the other Maritime Provinces, for
the purpose of discussing the expediency of a
union of these provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince
Edward Island and New Brunswick under one
government and legislatrure, the report of the said

15 AC K WARD (JLANCES.

delegates to be laid before the lecrislatures of the
colonies before any action shall be taken in
regard to the proposed question."

Had not the Quebec (Convention swallowed up
the Charlottetown delegation, is there a man
living in Nova Scotia to-day, who was au elector
at the time of confederation, believes that
Maritime Union would have been accomplished,
or even attempted in reality without the question
having first been submitted to the people ? It
is doubtful if there be one. The Canadians were
bound to keep the question of Maritime Union
from being put to the electors of the Maritime
Provinces. They knew that a consolidation of
interest in these provinces would put the greater
union otf for years to come, if not forever. And
the state of Upper and Lower Canada would, if
possil)le, become more desperate.

The impartial historian who by and by writes
the true and inward history of confederation
will properly describe the men who gathered at
the Charlottetown convention from Nova Scotia.
The greater union has not covered or effaced
their record in that convention. Time may
record their hidden acts, their secret correspon-
dence, their confidential conversations, and their
intrigues with utbers. The impartial and honest
historian vvill perhaps be in a p(>siti .>n to state
the motives and intrigues, which led tliem frotn
principles of right to unite with those who were

mmm

llACKWAKI) (.LANCES.

careless and inditferent to tVie feelinfjs, rights and
liberty of Nova Scotian.s. He may show in the
clear liglit of knovvled^je, the weakness, the
selfishness, the ambitions and vanities of those
Nova Scotians who formed a part of the Char-
lottetown convention. Perhaps he will state
that the rewards of their duplicity have been
official distinction and imp.irial recognition.

The dele<j;ates from Nova Scotia to ihe Char-
lottetovvn Convention were : —

Hon. Chaklks Tui'PEK, Provincial Sec'y.
" W, A. HioNiiv, Attorney General.
" K. F). DiciciE.
" J MrPrLLY.
" A, G. AncHiiiALD.

From New Brunswick to the Charlottetown
Convention the delegates were : —

Hon. S. L. Tilley, Provincial Secretary.
" J. M. Johnson, Attorney General.
" J. H Grav, M. p. p.
" E. B. Chandler, M. L. C.
" A H. St F EVES, M. L. C.

Princt^ Edward Island was represented by the
i'ollowiag trentlenien —

Hon. (X>l. Gray, Pres. of the Council.
" E. Palmer, M. L, C, Attorney Gen 1.
" VV H. Poj'E, Colonial Secretary
" A. A. MacDonald, M. L C.
" G. Coles. M. P. P.

IJACKWARl) GLANCKS.

The Canadians who came down and passed
over to Charlottetown as swift ships and as
eagles that hasteth to the prey were • —
Hon. J. A. MacDonald.

''• OE(>R<iE BrOWX.

" A. T Oalt.

" (l E. Cautiek. ..,, .

" W.\i. McDougall.

" T. D'Ai^cY McGee.
These CVmadian statesinen wer»:! brave, de-
termined, secretive, discerning', skilful men an<i
adepts in manipulating their fellow men. Their
business at the time was to make wliat seemed
political impossil)ilities, possible. On their way
from Canada, it is said, there was amonfj them
a doubting Thomas or two. However, they
would advance on Charlottetown in a solid boiiy,
capture the convention and retreat to Quebec to
celebrate their victory by a more important one
near the ramparts of the historic town where
the bravery of M\)i tcalm and victory of Wolf
were not forj^otten. (.»)ucbec the pl-tce of French
heroism and Hritish valour was a locality well
united to inspire conthh-nce in the br^^asts of
Macilonald ('artier and Brown. Ou' of dant^er
and what seemed their sure political <leHtructn»n,
these men felt they must s:^in safety, and safety
Mid relief they found urider the ramparts of
Quebec. Doubts vanished the victory was
virtually won. From Iwnnkruptcy, coalition an<l

i.U"W«>ilii1''»MP^WM?ii«ifl«Hf«iWW»«J!»«W»l'|i"l'.W«IJi!l*i<

8-t

BACKWARD GLAN'CES.

the principles of the union of Upper and Lower
Canada, they had stepped on the threshold of a
greater union. They looked for no imperial
honours if unsuccessful, nor the acclamations of
their friends. While they looked to the Britisli
Pariiam(>nt to get them linally out of their
trouble, they had craftily chosen the time to
hoodwink English statesmen, and bla/e forth
their own loyalty to the mother country. Under
the pretext of fears of an American invasion or
that war with the United States was inevitable,
they implored the British government and par-
liament to come to their a.-sistance. They must
have smiled at their success, as from time to
time they deceived the statesmen of Britain.
They also must have had a jolJy reunion after
their .successful visit to Prince Edward Island.

A storA' has been told of an incident which
(Xjcurred when they w^ere en route i*) meet the
Maritime delegates at the Charlottetown Uon-
vention. The story may be true or it may not.
It is this: — An evening or two before arriving
at the capital of the Island, when some of the
party were rather mirthful, one of the number
looked luite sad. He was invited to brace up.
He replied : " Gentlemen, you may be happy and
laughing and hopeful under some transient
influence. But our combined energy and dis-
cretion must not be weakened by your inspired
visions," One of the party rose to his feet, not

HACK WAR I) ^JF.AXC'tS.

amonj,^ the jingling of sleigh bolls, for the sum-
mer evenings had scarcely finished tlieir course,
and said in reply, in sober accents : ' Qu-il n'y
rien d nnpossible ; Je vien le faire moi nienie."

The only way to learn of men accurately is
by their acts. Some people believe what they
wish to believe, and report wliat they wish
others to believe, because it is to tlie interest of
their leaders and party. The popular conception
of leading politicians and statesmen, a conception
not supported by investigation and facts and
based on sound judgment, is often as far from
ihe real truth as a tale of fiction.

It was not fears of an American invasion, bat
tlie desperate state of the Canadian provinces,
that imj>elled the Canadian statesmen on, in their
desperate work to save themselves and their
provinces from utter ruin. Tliey wsre compelled
to sin in their own defence to preserve their
reputations.

'. ■ <■: 11 i^m^mmmimmm^r'

Chapter VI.

The British North America Act, Unpopular in

Nova Scotia.

Tii(3 validity of the Act of Union was detor-
uiinedJy dinputed in ISoya Scotia at the elections
of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. The peo-
ple 8ho\\ed their strengtli and were as seven to
one against Ibnfederation. Out of nineteen
representatives, eighteen were elected opposed to
the union, aiid Hon. Dr. Charles Tupper the only
unionist elected obtained his seat hy a .-^inall
majority of seventy. Hon, Adams (}. Archibald
was defeated for his seat as Secretary of State
for the provinces in John A. Macdonald's coali-
tion government, and being then unable to
obtain a constituency, was subsequently obliged
to resign his seat in the Hrst Union Cabinet.
There was not a constituency in Nova Scotia,
whereadefeated unionist could looktoforaehance
of election. Some of the leading papers of the
country of that time, openly stated that : " Never
before in Canada have votes commanded such
prices or found such a buoyant market as during
the present contest." Those same papers might
havealso stated, that tlie corrupt election practices
of the United Provinces had never di.sgraced Nova

B A C K W A K n GL A N'C ES.

Scotia Itcfore. The result of those contcstK has
been a barrier to the expression of free public
opinion in this province for thirty years. The
gold of Canada, the intkience of the l-iocal
Government, and the bullion of tlie Bank of
Eno^land could not have changed the votes
of the electors of Nova Scotia at the time
of confederation. The people were honestly
and intelli(,^ently opposed to the union. In every
free and enlightened country, no political or
constitutional changes, wliidi aliect the whole
electorate and people, should be brought about,
without their consent at the polls.

In a former chapter, the Charlottetown Con-
vention and the one afterwards held have been
mentioned, and before proceeding further with
the present chapter, some events that transpired
in the Canadian and Nova Scotia Legislatures
vsoon after those conventions had brought
their proceedings to a close will be related. On
the third of February, 1865, Sir E. P. Tach.^
moved in the Canadian Legislative Council : —

" That an hunjble address be presented to Her
Majesty praying that she may be graciously
pleased to cause a measure to be su})mitted to
the Imperial Parliament for the purpose of unit-
ing the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward
Island in one government, with provisions based
on certain resolutions which were adopted at a

1. 1 1 ,>i.iiij"^^im»i^(»Bnni^nn»»B

BACKVVAKD GLANCES.

conference of delegates for the saiil colonies,
held at the city of Quebec on the tenth of Octo-
ber, eighteen hundred and sixty-four."

/Vt the same hour and on the same day the
Hon. John A. Macdonald made the same motion
in the Canadian House of Assembly. The motion
was adopted in the Assembly by a majority of
tifty-eioht.

The people of Nova Scotia had never been
consulted on the ([uestion of union witli Canada,
Tupper, Henry, Dickie, McCully and Archibald
excepted, yet the Legislature of Canada took
upon itself to pass a resolution to address the
Queen to interfere with their constitutional
rights and hand the province over to a combina-
tion of politicans who represented a disorganized
and dissatisfied people. A combination who liad
arrived at a point, when it was found impossible
to control their own political machine.

A few months later the Hon. Charles Tupper
in the Nova Scotia House of As.sembly, sub-
mitted the following resolution : —

" Whereas in the opinion of this House, it is
desirable that a confederation of the British
North American colonies should take place ;
Resolved therefore, that His Excellency the
Lieutenant Governor be authorized to appoint
delegates to arrange with the Imperial Govern-
ment a scheme of union which will etlectually
insure just provisions for the rights and interests

l!ArK\V,\Hl> fU-AN'CKS.

of tliis i.n.vinco." 'rh(i motion passed with a
Jiinjority of twelve, while at the same time it
would have been defeated at the polls hy an
overwlielmin^r vote, and J)r. Tupper and his
associates were well aware of tliis. lint they
had made up their minds to override the liberty
of the people, cu.st what it mi^rht. They all got
their reward but they lost the hearts and appro-
bation of their fellov/ cohjnists. Some of them
hav« li\ ed to see that they have never regained
them.

To the everlasting honor of the Prince Kdward
Ishmd Legislature, it was not influenced by the
<.K>uebec conference. That pi'ovince entered the
union seven years later of its own free will and
upon its own terms. And the Newfoundland
Legislature acted according to the well under-
stood wishes of the people of the ancient colony.
During the simimer of eighteen hundred and
sixty-six, the delegates whose legislatures had
pronounced in favour of confedpration made
arrangements to meet and settle the details and
determine the precise terms of the Act giving
effect to the union of the provinces of Can.'ida,
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which was to
be submitted for adoption by the Imperial Par-
liament. The delegates were appointed by the
several governments.

From Upper Canada, they were Hon. John A.
Macdonald, Hon. William Macdoui^all. From

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BACKWARD « LANCES.

Lower Canada, Hon. W. P. Howland, Hon. A. T.
Gait and H. L. Lanijevin. From New Bruns-
wick, Hon. S. L. Tilley, Hon. C. Fisher. Hon. P.
Mitchell, Hon. R. D. Wilmot and Hon. J. M.
Johnson. From Nova Scotia, Hon. Charles
Tupper, Hon. W. A. Henry, Hon. J. W. Ritchie,
Hon. A. G. Archibald and Hon. J. McCully.

These gentlemen met according to appoint-
ment in London, England, early in December,
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and immediately
proceeded to business.

On the seventh of February, eighteen hundred
and sixty-seven, a bill for the confederation of
the four provinces was introduced into the House
of Lords by Lord Carnavon, Colonial Secretary,
and was received with approbation by all parties.
On the nineteenth it was read a second time,
was passed through committee on the twenty-
second, and on the twenty-sixth of the same
month was read a third time. It was pushed
through the House of Lords in less than three
weeks. It was brought down to the House of
Commons on the twenty-eighth of February and
was moved to a second reading. It was opposed
in the House of Commons by no men of promin-
ence, with the exception of Hon. John Bright.
It passed its second reading without a division.
It passed through committee of the whole on
the fourth of March, and was read a third time
and finally passed the House of Commons on

■I

BACKWAHF) (JLANCES.

the eighth of March, occupying but ten days in
its passage through that illustrious chamber. A
Bill to disestablish the Church in Ireland, or the
Deceased Wife's Sister's Bill have caused much
more discuf^sion, than the one to alter the con-
stitution of four British colonies in America.
On the twenty-eighth of March the Act received
the royal assent and became one of the laws of
the Empire. Nova Scotia became a province of
Canada according to the will of the British
Parliament, and in direct opposition to the will
of her own loyal subjects. Her Majesty issued
her proclamation on the twenty-second of May,
declaring that the Dominion should commence
its existence on the first of July eighteen hun-
dred and sixty-seven. It is likely that some of
those who voted in the British Parliament, were
a.s ignorant of the condition of the people of
Nova Scotia, as they were of the comlition of
some of the dusky tribes who inhabited the
" Dark Continent." But it is not likely, that
any true lover of colonial liberty, has ever envied
or will ever envy, the lot of those Nova Scotians,
who assisted in writing the Act which was in-
troduced in the House of Lords and concluded
in the Commons ; though each in turn should
have seized the premiership of his country, and
worn the Order of the Bath, or by the anointing
oil of British statesmen have been established
High Priest of Imperial Federation.

I5ACKWARD GLANCES.

If some shipwrecked sailor from this province
who for thirty years had been a cast away on
some lonely island, where he had never received
any communication from the outer world, should
suddenly have placed in his hand, the history of
Confederation he would sometimes stop, to won-
der at a tale, which seemed a marvel of fiction,
fact and farce. If assured by someone, t^ at
what be bad been readinor was pure truth, he
would be filled with sorrow and anger, sorrow
for his countrymen, and angry at the men who
stole away their liberty He would exclaim, it
is a pity my country had not more faithful and
more devoted friends in her legislature. This
history of my province has changed my miser-
able life greatly, — so greatly that 1 should not
wish now to return to my native land, but to
.see my friends. I feel only disgust and con-
tempt for those men in whom my friends in
Nova Scotia confided.

'^*\-

K'"

Chaf^ter VII.

The First Union Government,

Lord Monck, the Governor-General, assigned
to Hon. John A. Maedonald the task of forming
the Hrst ininistry under confederation.

Mr. Mac<lonald in currying out the order of
Lord Monck, plainly intimated that as a coalition
had been formed in the province of Canada in
IHfU to promote the scheme of confederation, so
it would become necessary to form another
coalition government to conduct the affairs of
the ^ew Dominion now that confederation had
been accomplished.

The idea by no means n>et with the hearty
approval of all the leaders of the respective
parties and was strongly opposed by members
of the clear Grit Party. The Hon, Jolm A. Mac-
donald formed a ministry of thirteen, six of
whom were conservatives, six reformers and one
who had been a member of the reform party for
some time, but had left it for religious and per-
sonal reasons. Air. Macdonald said, in forming
the government. " I desire to bring to my aid in
the new government those men, irrespective of
party, who represent the majorities in the differ-
ent provinces of the union. I do not want it to
be felt by any section in the country that they

BACKWARD (JLAN'CES.

h.'ive no )*epresentative in the cabinet, and no
influence in the f]fovernment." Tlie niiniatry as
formed by Mr. Macdonald was composed of the
following men : —

Hon. John A. Macdoxalo. Conservative.

" Adam J. F. Blair, Liberal.

" Alexandp:r Camf'HELL, Conservative.

" Wilijam Pearce Howlam), Liberal.

" GEOK(iK E. Cahtier, Conservative.

" William McDoucjall, Liberal.

" Alexander T. Galt, Conservative.

" Samuel Leonard Tilley, Liberal.

" Jean Charle.s Cafais, Conservative.

" Peter Mitchell, Liberal.

" Hector L. LAN(iEViN, Conservative,

" Adams G. Archirald, Liberal.

" Edward Kennv, Conservative.
The cabinet stood regarding the provinces as
follows: Ontario was given five members, three
of whom were liberals or reformers, that party
having the ascendancy in the province. Quebec
was given four, all being conservatives, this
party being in a large majority in the province.
New Brunswick was given two members, both
being liberals. Nova Scotia was also given two
members, one was a liberal and the other a con-
servative. Hon. Adams G. Archibald certainly
did not represent the liberal party of Nova
Scotia, and Hon. Edward Kenny had certainly
less of a party to represent than the liberals had

BACKWARD (JI.ANOES.

in Quebec. Tlie Hon. Atlanis (}. Archibald and
the Hon. Edward Kenny therefore for a short
time repreHented tlieniHelves.

New Brunswick from the formation of the
firRt Union Government exhibited a disposition
to give confederation a fair trial and the elements
of Ontario clear grittism have never taken a
very strong hold in that province. The good
old liberalism, that has done so much for the
sister province has not been superseded by the
grittism of the Upper Provinces. New Bruns-
wick got her difficulties settled largely to her
satisfaction, because her representatives were
wise and moderate, and supported the coalition
government of the Hon. John A. Macdonald when-
ever they felt such support was in the interest
of their constituents and province. After the
Nova Scotia members had accepted the ITnion
they became rigid unionists, and they accepted
it as soon as they were sworn in and took their
seats. And they sealed the fate of their province
when they cast their first vote for or against any
question which affected the Dominion at large.
This will .scarcely be denied by any person in
Nova Scotia or in any other part of Canada, who
knows anything of parliamentary practice or
the constitution of his country.

Taking the four provinces, it will be found
that three of them pronounced unmistakablj'^ in
favour of Hon. John A. MacDonald's coalition

HACK WARD GLANCES.

government. These provincoH were. Ontario,
Quebec ajnd New BrunHwick. Nova Scotia
alone pronounced as decidedly against it. Thus
through her representatives she placed herself
in antagonism to ail tlie conservatives and
moderate liberals of the three provinces, and
firmly allied herself through her members with
the clear grits of Ontario. The (Confederation
at that time numbered four provinces only.
Prince Edward Island stood wisely aloof, choos-
ing her own time to enter the union.

To explain what the professed principles of
the Clear (irit party of Ontario were, and with
what high sounding words and professions
they were about to enter the union, a resolution
or two passed at a great Reform convention
held in the Music Hall, Toronto, on June twenty
seventh, 1867, will be given here in full. The
Krst resolution was moved by Hon. Edward
Blake and reads as follows : —

" That this convention records its high grati-
fication, that the long and earnest contest of the
Reform Party for the great principles of
representation by population, and local control
over local aflairs, has at last been crowned with
triumphant success ; and it claims from the
people of Upper Canada the meed of gratitude
due from a just and generous people to those
who, by years of self sacrificing labour, have
peacefully achieved great and invaluable
changes."

BACKWARD GLANCES.

The local control over local affairs mentioned
in the above resolution , was that Quebec would
no longer interfere in matters relating only to
Ontario, and that Confederation would dissolve
a union, which was brought to a political dead
lock and provincial bankruptcy, while states-
men had been trembling on the brink of n
chasm, where a fearful crash seemed imminent.
The invaluable constitutional changes, were the
union of the four provinces of Ontario, Quebec,
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, for which the
Grit party had been fighting so long, and now
saw its labours crowned with triumphant sitc-
cess, and freeing Ontario from the direct
interference of Quebec in matters purely
provincial.

The next resolution was moved by the Hon.
George Brown, it reads as follows : —

" That while the new Federal Constitution for
the United Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick, doubtless contains obvious
defects, yet we unhesitatingly and joyfully
recognize that the measure, as a whole, is based
on equitable principles, and removes the barriers
that have heretofore stood in the way of good
government in this province, and in behalf of
the great Reform Party of Upper Canada, this
convention heartily accepts the new Consti-
tution about to be inaugurated, with a determin-
ation to work it loyally and patiently, and to

MACKWAKD <;LAN<ES.

provide such anieiKlments as experience from
year to year may prove to he expedient."

In this resolution Mr. llrown admits that tlie
new Fe<lenil constitution contains obvious de-
fects. The render will .see later on with what
spirit his great part}'^ treated some of these
obvious defects. And how loyally and patiently
it worked topjther to rectify the wrongs, the
new constitution had brout/ht to Nova Scotia.
The new constitution Mr. Brown also adniitfi,
removed the barriers that stood in the way of
jrood government in the province of Ontario.
One of the great barriers to good government,
must have been the French element in the legis-
lature of the United Provinces. This barrier
the leader of the great Reform Party, thought
would become less powerful and less annoying
to Ontario in the larger union. But time and
experience have proved that this barrier did not
stand so much in the way of the peace and
prosperity of Nova .Scotia, as the great Reform
Party did at the outset of Confederation. The
leaders of this great Reforrft Party invited the
repre.sentatives from Nova Scotia to place their
necks under the yoke of Clear Grittism, and
then whipped them into line to kick at their
province, by voting against a partially satisfac-
tory compromise.

Mr. Brown in supporting the resolution said ;
that he defended the coalition government of

MACKWAHl) < J LANCES.

18(54, that lie had been a mouiber of that j^ov-
ernment, that tliat governnient was a necessity
and the only means of bringing about Confed-
eration, but now that end had been obtained,
coalition had served its purpose and should not
again be resorted to. Ho strongly denounced
tho8e men of the Reform Party who favoured
coalition and most especially the Hon. W. P.
Howland and the Hon. William Macdougall who
had then accepted seats in the then proposed
cabinet of Hon. John A. Macdonald. He claim-
ed that after the Reform Party had fought a
hard and long tight and gained the victory of
Confederation, it was now asked, by the terms
of the proposed coalition to give up all that it
had won.

Mr. Brown admits, that confederation was
only brought about by the enduring energy of
the Reform Party and in its coalition with the
Conservative Party for that purpose. He was
perfectly willing to support a coalition to free
Ontario from the influence of Quebec, but he
would oppose to the bitter end any coalition,
that attempted to satisfy the people of Nova
Scotia in their righteous demands. The unity *
of the Grit Party of Ontario, was of more
moment than the happy unity of all portions of
Canada,

The Hon. W. P. Howland, one of the true
Ontario liberals, a class composed of the best

100

HACKWARD GLANCES.

men in thai province, in speaking to the resolu-
tion moved by Mr. Brown said: — That he
claimed by virtue of the union, old party lines
had been swept away ; that the government to
come into exiHtence under the new constitution
had, at that time no declared policy, and that it
was unfair to attack it before it had announced
what it intended to do. He believed tliat new
issues would arise and an honest opposition l>e
formed, but considered opposit ion for oppositions'
sake, unjust and ungenerous. He state<l that he
and his colleagues had consented to join Mr. Mac-
donald because they considered that the great,
Liberal Party of Upper Canada should be repre-
sented in the first cabinet of the Dominion, and
also because he did not think they should .iesert
those reformers of Nova Scotia and New Bruns-
wick who worked so zealously to accomplish the
riion. Those liberals who allied themselves,
with Mr. Macdonald afterwards proved to be
amongst the warmest supporters of Nova Scotia
in her advocacy for better terms. And the Hon.
.Joseph Howe was not long in finding out that
Liberalism and Clear Grittism in their principles,
*were as far apart as the Republicans and ultra
Democrats in the United States. The great
parting of the ways, which had united the
Clear Grits, Liberals ani Conservatives till con-
federation was accomplished, has done n^ore
to corrupt the constituencies of Canada ilian

BACKWARD GLANCKS.

J 01

any otiier event since confederation. It em-
bittered parties and lias led to all kinds of dis-
reputable means to obtain and to hold power.
A long lease of power and an etpially lonj; term
of opposition, have still further widened the
breach between the parties, until it has really
become more a conte.»i"'»n for power than for
principle.

Fox once addresse ' the following reproaches
to Pitt : — '* He rememberod tlie day he had Hrst
congratulated the Honse on the acipiisition of
Pitt's abilities ; it liad been his pride to tight
side by side with him the battles of the constitu-
tion, little thinking that he would one day
desert his principles, and lend himself to be the
instrument of tliat secret influence which they
had both combatted so successfully. He ndght
have been prepared to Hnd a formidrtble rival in
the Right Hon. gentleman — a rival that would
leave him far behind in the pursuit of glory —
but he never could have expected that he would
have descended so low as to be the persecutor of
of any man."

The two great parties of Ontario had stool
side by side in fighting for the union, but after-
wards one of them found it convenient for party
purposes to drift away, and throw defiance in
the face of Nova Scotians, while patting their
weak and misguided representatives upon the
back.

ijijui.i 111! mmmmmmmmmmmttm

mmmmmmmmm

Chapter VIII

The Antics at Ottawa.

The Anti Confederates elected and delegated
to Ottawa in eighteen hundred and sixty seven,
were not sent to legislate or vote upon
matters concerning Upper and Lower Canada or
New Brunswick, but it' they allowed themselves
to become sworn members of the House, to look
wsolely after the interests of Nova Scotia. At
that time the Legislature of Nova Scotia was
petitioning the Queen and Imperial Parliament
for a repeal of the British North America Act,
so far as Nova Scotia was concerned. They
knew that all their supporters desired was to be
freed from the Act of union. It was fresh in
their minds, that the legislature that had
adopted the union resolution, had been turned
adrift by an overwhelming majority of their
fellow provincialises. As in all bodies of men,
there are diversities of gifts, so it was among
the representatives from Nova Scotia, but the
same spirit, should have povssessed them all, and
that same spirit should have been, to have
waited patiently the result of the petition of the
Local Legislature to the Queen and Imperial
Parliament, before uniting themselves with any

BACKWARD GLANCES.

103

party at Ottawa. They believed the acts of the
defeated Nova Scotia Legislature unconstitu-
tional, and they must have seen ihe difficulties
in the way, of pursuadinc; the Imperial Parlia-
ment to repeal the British North America Act.
Consequently they should have remained quiet,
till an answer of the Home Government was
returned to the petition of the Local Legislature.
That the acts of the Local Legislature were
unconstitutional, few will deny. Mr. Plunkett
in one of his great speeches on the Irish Act of
Union, said.

" I, in the most express terms, deny the com-
petency of parliament to do this act. I warn
you do not lay your hands on the Constitution,
1 tell you that, if circumstanced us you are, you
pass this Act it will be a nullity, and no man in
Ireland will be bound to obey it. You have not
been elected for this purpose. You are appoint-
ed to mako laws, not legislatures. You are
appointed to act under the constitution, not to
alter it. You are appointed to exercise the
functions of legislators not to transfer them ;
and if you do so no man in the land is bound to
obey you."

The electors in Nova Scotia were almost as
one, in accord with the views held by Mr.
Plunkett, and their representatives at Ottawa
knew to a man their views. They were elected
because they publicly confessed these views.

I^HiHniiillllRPPf

104.

BACKWARD GLANCES.

Mr. Gladstone in speaking upon his first measure
for Home Rule in Ireland, and in relation to the
duties of Irish members in the British House of
Commons, laid down this principle, " that it
must be admitted that injustice Ireland having
her own parliament managing Irish affairs,
could not claim to have any voice in purely
English and Scotch concerns."

If the principles laid down by the great
English liberal leader be right in relation to Irish
members who might take their seats in the
House of Commons, how much more sound, such
a principle would have been in relation to Nova
Scotian members who took their seats in the
Canadian House of Commons while disavowing
the validity of the British North America Act.
But strong party spirit has often carried men far
away from sound principle. And it did so at
Ottawa in eighteen hundred and sixty-seven and
eight, if not very often since that time. The
very moment any Nova Scotia representative
either by speaking or voting in the Canadian
Commons on questions afi'ecting the other provin
ces, at that moment he placed himself on record
as a Dominion representative.

After the Imperial Government had watched
the proceedings of the Anti Unionists, in the first
session of the first parliament of Canada, the
Duke of Buckingham, in June, eighteen hundred
and sixty-eight, sent a dispatch to Lord Monck,

UACKWAlll) (JLANCH^S.

105

i\ of the Dt

in relation

Uovcrnor ueneri
to the petition of the Nova Scotia Le^^jislature
far a repcdl of the Union. Tlie Duke of Hnck-
inghani, in his dispatch, said lie hoped the
Dominion (ioverninent would consider the com-
plaints of Nova Scotia, and ni(!et them in a
liberal spirit ; this the Hon. John A. Macdonald
and the Hon. G. E. Cartier proposed to do at a
conference held in Halifax two months later,
And failing then Mr. Macdonald renewed the
subject on October the si.xth by a letter to the
Hon, Joseph Howe. In this communication he
expressed the willin<j;ness of the Dominion (Jov-
ernment to consider the (;[uestion of taxation and
to use ever}' means possible to remove any cause
of complaint. He also urged Mr. Howe that he
should enter the Cabinet, so that Nova Scotia
might be fairly represented therein. To this
proposal Mr. Howe replied October twenty-tirst,
to the effect, that although he preferred a repeal,
he had very little hope of its being granted by
the (Gladstone Ministry any more than by the
Disraeli Government. Under these circum-
stances he was disposed to enter into negotiations
with a view to modif3nng the terms on which
Nova Scotia had entered the Union.

Where the Hon. Joseph Howe made the great
mistake of his life, was in not consulting his
con.stituents in Nova Scotia, and especially in
Hants County, before entering upon these

^F"^^W

BffW"

mmm

106

BACKWA.RI) GLANCES.

negotiations. Had he done so, it is not at all
likely, the corrupt practices enacted in eighteen
hundred and sixty-nine would have ever been
witnessed. A generation later, it has freely been
acknowledged, that, it is a pity for Hants County
and a pity for Nova Scotia, that Mr. Howe
should have been opposed in his attempt to enter
the cabinet of Hon. John A. Macdonald.

After Mr. Howe had entered Hon. John A.
Macdonald's government, he moved in the House
of Commons : " that the House go into com-
mittee on resolutions, which provided for the
debt of Nova Scotia being taken as S9,186,000,
and an extra subsidy of $82,698 annually allow-
ed for ten years." The Hon. Edward Blake with
whom the anti-unionists had become closely
allied, at once moved an amendment : " That
the Act did not empower the parliament of
Canada to change the basis of union. The Hon.
Alexander McKenzie seconded Mr. Blake's
amendment. Mr. Blake's motion was lost, fifty-
seven voting for and ninety-six against. The
debate was lengthy, the bill was adopted clause
by clause, until tlie fifth was reached, when Mr.
Blake moved to add to it ; " that the grants and
provisions made, and the British North America
Act of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, shall
be in full settlement of all demands on Canada
by Nova Scotia."

When the House met again the question of
Better Terms fur Nova Scotia was not allowed

lUCKWAHD GLANCES.

107

to rest. Mr. Mills to kill the whole bill if
possible, moved : " tHat this Act shall not take
effect until ratified by the Imperial Parliament."

The Clear Grit element having determined to
make one more effort, to cheat Nova Scotia out
of the $82,698 annually for ten years, it was
moved by Mr. Blake: " that parliament was ex-
ceeding its powers by alterintr the financial
arrangements provided for in the British North
America Act." He was again defeated in his
motion, but true to the British North America
Act, which he and his party claim to be the
fathers of, he determined to try again. He took
a curious way to show his determined opposition
to any meddling with the Act which brought
Nova Scotia into confederation. There was in
those days dual representation, a man could hold
a seat in the Ontario Legislature as well fis his
seat in the House of Commons. He moved in
the Ontario Legislature, " that an address be pre-
sented to Her Majesty, praying that she would
cause a measure to be submitted to the Imperial
Parliament for the purpose of removing all color
for the parliament of the Dominion assuming
the power to disturb the financial arrangements
made in the British North America Act."

The address was carried in the Ontario Legis-
lature where there was a large majority of the
Grit element, and forwarded to the Queen.
This motion in the Legislature of Ontario, openly

lOS

BACKWARD GLANCES.

exposed the true feeling of the Clear Giit Party
of Ontario toward Nova Scotia. They were
Unicnists of the mo.st bitter kind and were
bound to hold Nova Scotia to the very letter of
the Act.

The Secretary of State for the Counies
d€cid(d that the Dominion Parliament had the
power to alter tlie terms of the act, if it pleased
it to do 1^0. Neither was this the end of clear
grit opposition to NovaJScotia. Mr. Blake again
brought the subject before the House of Com-
mons. He moved the following resolution : —

'♦ That an humble address be presented to Her Most
Gracious Majesty, praying that she will be pleased ta
cause a measure to be submitted to the Imperial
Parliament providing that the Parliament of Canada
shall not have power to disturb the financial relations
established by the British North America Act of
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, as allowed by the
act respecting Nova Scotia."

The debate on this motion brou^"ht out an
opposition to Nova Scotian interests that for
steady, united, prolonged, dogged and deter-
mined opposition on the part of the Grits has
seldom been equaled in colonial parliamentary
history. Mr. Blake's motion was defeated, as it
deserved to be.

At this time the two parties from Nova Scotitv
in the House of Commons stood as follows :
Out of nineteen members in the House, eighteen

BACKWARD ( i LA N (' ES.

109

were opposed to the union. There were, there-
fore, seventeen Anti-Confederate represontativeH
from Nova Scotia, without countinjj; the Hon.
Joseph Howe. Tliese were all present during
the debate for better terms. And how many of
them voted to leave the question open for future
Parliaments to deal with it, and not to shut out
this province for ever from any further appeal ?
The answer is, but two from Nova Scotia beside
Mr. Howe, and these two were Forbes and
MacDougall, names ever to be reniembered, not
in their constituencies alone, but all over the
province. Even from New Brunswick two true
men were found noble enoui^h in spirit and
broad enough in view to vote for the amendment
of the Imperial Act of Union in the interest of
their sister province by the sea. These men were
Anglin and Costigan, who belonged to the class
of independent men that did so much for the
Maritime Provinces previous to the days of
Confederation.

If these matters had been put plainly and
truthfully before the electors of Nova Scotia in
the year eighteen hundred and sixty-si.x the
people of the province would have been spared
a useless agitation, and possibly a heavy provin-
cial debt. The action taken by the Anti mem-
bers from Nova Scotia in the Dominion House
of Commons on the question of Better Terras
placed them on record as uniting with the

mmmmmmm

110

BACKWARD GLANCES.

wtiffest Unionists of Cunada and with the open
enemies of Nova Scotia, the clear Grits of
Ontario, with wliom party came before princi-
ple, nnd with whom plain, broad, common sense
acts, were discarded for seltish and party pur-
poses. Most of those clear Grits professed to
believe that any tampering with the British
North America Act would bring about a disrup-
tion of the Union, the very thing the Anti
representatives professed to desire, yet these
Anti members supported the act in its entirety
and put a second seal upon the fate of Nova
Scotia. This is in brief what the Clear Grittism
of Ontario has done for this province. It has
driven man}' of the Independent Liberals of the
country from its ranks, who for nearly a quarter
of a century gave continued strength to the Con-
servative party. Canada should have a strongly
united Liberal party, and it is hoped twenty -five
years of opposition may at last have established
such a party.

Finally in eighteen hundred and sixty-nine
Mr. Blake told the Anti representatives from
Nova Scotia, " that if after a trial of five years

they were still dissatisfied with Confederation
he, for one, would not keep the province of
Nova Scotia in the Union." We shall see in a
following chapter what efforts were made by the
seventeen so-called Anti-Confederate members
elected at an ensuing general election to hold Mr.
Blake to his promise.

Chapter IX.

Misguided Nova Scotians,

On the thirtieth of January, eighteen hundred
and sixty-eight, the first Anti-Conl'ederate
government of Nova Scotia met, and shortly
after passed an address to the Queen praying
for a repeal of the Union as far as Nova Scotia
was concerned. In the address may be found
the following clause : —

"That from the tune the scheme of Confederation
was first devised in Canada until it was consummated
by the Imperial Act in London, it was systematically
kept from the consideration of the people of Nova
Scotia at the polls, and the Executive Council and
Legislature, in defiance of petitions signed by many
thousands of the electors of this province, persistently
and perseveringly prevented the same from being
presented to the people."

It is not unlikely that if the members of
the Legislature of New Brunswick or Prince
Edward Island had cast the same defiance in the
face of the electors of those provinces as did
those of the Legislature of Nova Scotia in
the face of the electors of this province that the
electors would have risen in their frae manhood
and surrounded the pm-liament buildings and

112

HACKWARI) GLANCES.

dragfjed from thoir seats 'the rncii who wero
taiuperiiig with their libert}' and escorted
them to their homes, with the caution there
to remain. And they would have served
them right. The Nova Scotia Legishiture
also resolved at the same time : —

** That the Imperial Pariiametit have no conatitu-
tiotial power to authorize a Governor-General, or any
other subject of the Queen, to make senators or
create any part of a legislature, with power to tax
the people of Nova Scotia, or otherwi.se legislate for
them, without a provincial statute authorizing them
to do so."

This Legislature reiterated the almost unanim-
ous voice of the electors of Nova Scotia. The
Legislature was all but entirely Anti-Union. At
the election held the eigh.teenth of September,
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the people of
Nova Scotia were granted their first opportunity
of speaking at the polls their views of Con-
federation, and this was nearly three months
after the proclamation of the Queen had brought
the British North America Act into force.
According to the view\s of the electors, each !nan
from Nova Scotia who took a seat in the first
Parliament of the Dominion took that seat simply
as a delegate. They had no right to go there
to legislate for Nova Scotia, and no right to
legislate for other provinces or people of the
Dominion. They had no business in the House

BACKWAMI) ULt

113

of Commons at Ottaw*i, except as delegates
seeking the repeal of the Union as far as Nova
Scotia was concerned. The only proper place
or LegiMlatiire, the only constitutional place, to
battle for repeal was in the Nova Scotia Legisla-
ture. It was the only acknowledged constitu-
tional chambers in which Nova Scotians could
sit and legislate. And when those eighteen
Anti-Unionists allowed themselves to be sworn
in members of the Canadian House of Commons
and took their seats they sanctioned the British
North America Act, which created those seats,
b}' giving to Nova Scotia a certain number of
representatives in the Canadian Parliament.
After they had put the second seal on Con-
federation by their lirst act in Parliament, they
pressed it the closer by uniting almost solidly
with the most uncompromising Unionists in the
Canadian provinces. After they had taken their
seats they should not have allowed themselves
to have received the appellation '■ Misguided
Nova Scotians." They should have patiently
and perseveringly waited and watched for a
favorable opportunity, which must have arrived
sooner or later, when they could have unitedly
and independently pressed with advantage the
claims of their fellow-provincialists. The dearest
interests of their province called upon them, and
called them loudly, to stand off from either
Canadian party, free from the reins of Hon.

114

HACKWARI) GLANCES.

John A. Macdonald or the crook of Hon. George
Brown. " Misguided," they chose the lattt;r
course and became a huddled and shrinking
flock under the ' Brown standard" of " no com-
pensation nor compromise." In their mand^uvers
they displayed neither foresiglit nor patriotism ;
they became untrustworthy look-outs in their
colony's darkest days. They sacritied principle
to party and laid Nova Scotia at the feet of
Ontario and the Union, and within the clutches
of the Clear Grits of Canada. It is said the late
Thomas D'Arcy McGee, in conversation with a
few of those Nova Scotians one evening on the
course they were pursuing toward their province,
exclaimed : " My God, men, where are yoar
eyes ?" There were, luckily for the Liberal
party, in the House of Commons at that time
some true Liberals, con.scientious, unselfish,
practical, and thorouglily accomplished men,
who discharged the duties devolving upon them
in a statesnwm-like way; men who were admired
by all impartial and independent Nova Scotians ;
men who were consistent in their advocacy of
Liberal principles ; men whose dignity of charac-
ter and weight of authority commanded rpspect.
Such men endeavour to deserve well of their
province or country, and they seldom look for
any immediate recompense either in the way of
empty praise or oflScial honors. Such men work
for their country njore than for party. Among

HACKWAkl) ni.ANCES.

115

Kuch men, whatever may have })een his party
leanings, wjis the lamenteH Hon. T. D'Arcy
Mcliee And it ha-s l)een truthfully said of hiju
by one of Canada's greatest men, " tliat he might
have lived a long and respected life had ho
chosen the easy jtath of popularity, rather than
the stern one of duty. He has lived a short life,
respected and beloved, and has died a heroic
death, a martyr to the cause of his country. But
he has been slain, and I fear slain because he
preferred the path of duty." Tlie interest of Ins
friends he preferred before his own interest; the
interest of his country before the interest of
party. Listen to his manly, unselfish and grand
words as he refuted the statement that he had
been slighted, inasmuch as he had not been ottered
a portfolio in the new administration, while he
held one in the old. He said that he had volun-
tarily offered to waive any claim to a seat in the
new nunistry, as he saw it was necessary for
some of its members to retire so as to make room
for those to be appointed to the Marititne Pro-
vinces, and that as Mr. Edward Kenny, an Irish
Roman Catholic, had taken his place, he saw no
reason for his Irish Catholic friends to fancy '
that they had in any way been slighted. He
gave away, that an Irish Catholic from Nova
Scotia might take his place.

It would be a happy thing for the Dominion
at large, and for every province of (.Canada, if in

116

BACKWARD GLANCES.

the political field of the country a majority of
men like Mr. McGee could be found.

The Nova Scotia members did not seem to
realize the importance of their province in the
formation of the Dominion. The Canadians from
the first, were wise enough to see that without
Nova Scotia, confederation must be largely a
failure, and in their distracted condition, drift-
ing between the breakers, on either hand
imminent peril, they caught at any means,
constitutional or unconstitutional, true or false,
open or secret, noble or ignoble, anything to save
the credit of the colony and re-establish their
own reputation and position, and fastened their
anchor on Nova Scotia and rode out the storm.
As orders came from Britain to pay out a little
more cable, part of the Canadian crew with
their assistants from this province jumped to
the machinery of parliament, and with one long
and strained effort sought to hold in tact every
link. Lord Aberdeen is reported to have
remarked at the National Societies' banquet of
Halifax as follows: — "In fact I am almost
tempted to paraphrase an old Aberdeenshire
saying and exclaim : Take away Halifax and
one or two hundred mik-r of adjacent country
and where would Canada be."

In other words, take away Nova Scotia and
where would Canada be. If by any freak or
force of nature Nova Scotia were carried south

BACKWARD GLANCES.

117

of the Gulf Stream and set there to become an
island gem of the vast Atlantic, where would
New Brunswick be ? Quite likely all her At-
lantic harbors would be either blocked by ice
or most dangerous to approach for four or tive
months in the year. The New England coast
mioht be almost as dangerous, and Canada
would have no safe and satisfactory outlet
on her eastern border for quite a portion of
the year, and would be compelled to send her
Atlantic exports and bring in her imports
through United States territory. And in all
prcbability the fishing grounds would be largely
changed, and Prince Edward Island might
gradually become a thing of the past. There
might also be the absence of a haven of safety,
in which oeean tramps and greyhounds could
find shel' .r and repair, and no great coaling
station where fleets of all classes could fill their
empty bunkers and laugh at the storm. The
mighty St. Lawrence might become more dan-
gerous than the Bay of Biscay through severe
Atlantic storms. The Gulf Stream might also
step a degree or two from its course and
shorten the glorious season of summer and
pleasures of autumn days.

What might happen, who can say,

If Nova Scotia were taken away,

To beautify the open sea !

But whe:e, ! where would Canada be

mm.

mumim

^smm

118

BACKWARD GLANCES.

There are no arguments to increase the
importance of Halifax harbor to Canada, and
there are none to diminish it. There are resorts
for vsbipping in every continent that divide the
crown of victory over almost insuperable diffi-
culties, but Providence has crowned that of
Halifax, Queen of the Atlantic. It is a ^reat ojift
of nature to Nova Scotia and the British Ameri-
can provinces. It is a slur upon it to call it a
winter port, because it is a port of all seasons.
The claims of some other ports in the Dominion
to superiority should awaken the citizens of
Halifax to a sense of duty in its defence and in
establishing the supremacy of nature's gift. It
is also the duty of every Nova Seotian to con-
tribute according to his ability to his own
province, and he can do this effectually by being
determined to make Halifax the great Canadian
shipping port of the east. If Nova Scotia has
not before been sufficiently united in a deter-
n.ined effort to further the claims of Halifax,
the time assuredly is at hand when all Nova
Scotians should be combined in the interest of
their capital's magnificent harbor. Halifax
should be no less jealous of its rights and no
less warm in its assertion of them than Montreal
or St. Johii In Confederation, Chebucto harbor
has been made a plaything by Canadian politi-
cians, statesmen and governments ; out of Con-

BACKWARD GLANCES.

119

federation it would have been soutjht after by
Canada as thouoh it contained a sea of ^old.

Nova Scotia would be all right without
Canada, but Canada would be all wrong with-
out Nova Scotia. She became the key to
Confederation and the rock on which it was
established. The passing in of the X^nion
created no generous sympathies ; the hearts of
the colonists did not awaken to admiration or
kindle to enthusiasm ; it inspired no interest
nor excited any noble impulses. And why ?
Because the sovereign rights of the electors of a
self-governing colony were trailed in the dust.
England either ignorantly or designedly sanc-
tioned what no other portion of the Anglo-
Saxon race, free in its institutions, and careful
of individual and local liberty, would think of
sanctioning. The United States of America
would not attempt by act of congress to annex
any United States territory as a state of the
Union without first receiving a favorable
application from the people of the territory, and
then the will of the electors expressed by a two-
thirds vote praying admittance to the Union.
The Imperial Government and Parliament m:^y
have been deceived by the Nova Scotia Govern-
ment, the Nova Scotia delegates, the Canadian
and other delegates, and strangely perplexed,
in considering the protests of Nova Scotians
and the happy alliance of their representa-

mMMJMiumHin'numm

120

BACKWARD GLANCES.

tives with the mOvSt uncompromising Union-
ists of the Dominion. If perplexed, they had
reasonable hope from the strange things their
eyes beheld, that party be it what it
may, or by whatever name, or of what-
ever mixture or composition, would gradually
by its stronger influence absorb anti unionism
and overshadow provincial patriotism.

It is something to be ashamed of, to know
that the place and official loving propensities of
representatives to be found in all parties, have
been strong enough to injure and even stifle
their high principles of action. Constable the
painter has said, the mind loses its dignity less
in adversity than in prosperity, this opinion seem
ed reversed by the strange display made by the
Anti Unionists on the floors of the House of
Commons in eighteen hundred and sixty-eight
and even later. After they had yielded up their
independence on the altar of Grittism, unlike
Sampson they never seem to have awakened to
the fact, that the secret of their strength had
departed. No innate impulse seems to have
lead them to high thoughts and noble aspir-
ations. Did they understand the value and
importance of their province to Canada ? If
they did they were unworthy of the name of
Nova Scotians. If they did not they were
unworthy of the positions they were called upon
to till.

lUCKWARD GLANCES.

121

There are politicians who are not careful as to
what they say, so long as they can make capital
for themselves or their part}'. Some of these
will tell us that Nova Scotia is making progress
equal to any period of her history, but how any
honest man with the census returns of a quarter
of a century in his han'ls, and the revenue
returns before him, and the value of farm lands
in his mind, and the general wealth of the
province in proper figures at his command, can
dispute that unsatisfactory and doubtful pro-
gress has been made, since Nova Scotia was
incorporated with the Canadas is beyond all
comprehension.

And yet with all the misfortunes that have
befallen Nova vScotia since she was stealthily
betrayed by unpatriotic and selfish and untrust-
worthy men and " misguided men, " she is as
loyal to England and Canada, as any province
between the two oceans. And why is this ?
Because her sons and daughters are of the British
race, inspired with British honor, merely glancing
at the past and confiding in the future, and
aspiring to contribute their part to the advance-
ment of the Union, in all that contributes to a
higher and better civilization and to make
Canada the most enlightened and progressive
nation of the earth.

imnRiimssffis^ss^ssia

Chapter X.

Population, Pfbpcr Representation, &c,

Perhaps the reader will not conHider it out of
place to glance backward for a moment or two
and trace the growth of population in Nova
Scotia for three-quarters of a centuij- before the
Queen ascended the throne. He will find below
a statement in figures gathered from reliable
authority.

In the year 17G4-, Nova Scotia proper

contained a population of 13,000

In " " 1838, 146,903

Cape Breton 30,500

Total 177,403

In the ten years previous to the coronation
of the Queen the population of the province
increased 23,000.

In 1838 the population of Nova Scotia, includ-
ing Cape Breton, was 177,403, exclusive of the
County of Cumberlajid, and the military in
Halifax. And from the time of tho birth of
Princess Victoria until 1838, the increase in the
twenty years, exclusive of Cape Breton, was

BACKWARD GLANCES

123

!«'

about (30,000. Thirty years later, when Her
Majesty gave her sanction to the British North
America Act, the increase of population, includ-
ing Cape Breton, averaged about or near 60,000
in each decade, or in other words, an increase of
about one hundred per cent, in thirty years, op
over thirty per cent, in each decade. At the
ce^asus of 1871, the population of the province
was found to be 387,800. In 1897, the year
closing the first thirty years of Confederation,
the population of the province was estimated at
about 450,000. or an increase of about 90,000 in
thirty years, being an increase of about twenty-
five per cent, for the period, or an average of
about eight per cent, during each decade of Cjn-
federation. It will therefore be seen that the
increase of population in Nova Scotia during her
thirty years of Confederation, has only averaged
about one-third the amount it averaged during
her thirty years of self-governing colonial life
previous to her absorption into the Canadian
Union. In brief, the province increased in
people from 1838 to 1871, 210,000, and from
1871 to 1897, 00,000. It doubled in the first
thirty years, or increased over the last thirty
years at the rate of more than two to one,
basing the increase on the population of 1867
and that of 1837. If the population of Nova
Scotia had increased during her thirty years of
Union as it did her thirty years just previous to

"mmBmrnmuA^^/A

124

BACKWARD Gi^ANCES.

Confederation this province would contain at
this day 750,000 souls. If the question should
be asked, Why this great decline in increase ^
No other answer could be given but ihe one : the
people have been leaving the province in num-
bers annually far exceeding any other period of
its history, and if all the native born Nova
Nova Scotians who have left the province
during the past thirty years could,- together
with their children, be gathered to the localtiea
of their birth from the State of Massachusetts
and other states of the American republic the
population of the province would undoubtedly
be 750,000 persons. It is said there are 10,000
Nova Scotians in the North West and British
Columbia. In a paper published in Boston con-
taining an article on the census of Massachusetts
for 1894 there was a statement which read, as
nearly as can be remembered, as follows : In
1860 there were about 14,000 Canadians in the
State of Massachusetts ; less than 2,000 of these
were from Nova Scotia. In 1894 there were
77,000 natives of the Maritime Provinces in the
state, and by far the larger part being Nova
Scotians. The above are not given as strictly cor-
rect; they are only given from memory, the paper
which contained the article having been des-
troyed in the great Windsor tire, and all eflbrts
to procure a copy have so far proved useless.
However, it hcs been stated time and time again

HACK WARD fJI.AN'CES.

125

in reliable newspapers that there are in the
State of Massachusetts alone 150,000 provincial-
ists, including their children. If all these state-
ments are anywhere near the truth it is easily
to be seen why the population of Nova Scotia
numbers so f^light an increase since the Union.
Has Confederation been a cause of this continued
exodus to the United States ? It undoubtedly
has been a cause. Persons in every locality of
the province w^er^j so disgusted with the mode
in which Confederation was brought about that
during the first decade afterwards they left the
province in droves like sheep. For instance, in
1874, when there was plenty work in Hants
county for young mechanics and others, a person
could scarcely visit a locality without finding
young, able-bodied men packing their trunks to
start for the United Statas. If any of these
were asked why they went when there was
sufficient employment all about them, nine out
of every ten would reply : We are going to a
country where we will not be sold for the price
of a sheep skin, or some similar remark would
be given in answer. This same feeling existed
more or less in every county of Nova Scotia,
and was very strong all along through the first
ten years after the Union. These young, and
middle-aged men also, annually left by thousands.
This gave an immense impetus to emigration
from the province to the " land of the free." And

isnRssa

■M

12(i

BACKWARD GLANCES.

ever since that time. hundreds and thousands have
yearly been followinj^ their friends and relatives
into " Uncle Sam's dominions." This is one of
tho reasons, and one of the principal reasons
why 80 many Nova Scotians are now making
their homes in the State of Massachusetts and
other states of the union, and why the popula-
tion of the province shows such a discouraging
increase since Confederation.

The question may properly be asked ; why
then is it that New Brunswick and Prince
Edward Island show also so slight an in-
crease in population since Confederation ? In
New Brunswick the strong Anti-Confederate feel-
iroj which was manifested there turned as a whirl-
wind to the opposite side, the great body of the
people became Unionist filled with great expec-
tations for the future of the province. The great
pledges and promi.ses made on the hustings and
elsewhere did not appear to be fulfilled. The
showers of blessings that were soon to appear
and become continuous delayed their approach.
The enthusiasm of the people subsided as quickly
as it had risen, and the first few years after tho
Union showed a large exodus to the United
States. After this the great shipping interest
began to fail, and mechanics, and farmers, and
laborers followed their relatives and friends to
the land of the stars and stripes. And the great
times that w^ere about to dawn upon the province

BACKWARD GLANCES.

127

with the incoming of the Union have not
appeared, consequently there are no inducements
to recall these emigrants home. The exodus from
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia had an effect
upon the inhabitants of Prince Edward Island,
and they began to march in large sfjuads to
the American states. Politicians and others
looked about themselves to check emigration,
and the only thing they could hit upon was
Union with the other provinces. They were
cautious. They demanded big things trom the
Dominion, feeling they were running consider-
able risk, as there was a good deal of dissatisfac-
tion in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
at the time. The government of Canada granted
their demands, well knowing if they did not then
succeed in getting the little island to join the
Union it would be doubtful if it ever offered
itself for admittance again. Confederation did
not check the exodus, but has seemed to give it
more impetus. If Nova Scotia had no coal
mines her showing in the last census would have
been on a par with that of New Brunswick and
Prince Edward Island.

The first thirty years previous to Confedera-
tion the population of New Brunswick increased
considerably over one hundred per cent ; it ran
up from 119,557 in 1835, to 285,594 in 1870.
Whatever might have been the fate or fortune
of the Maritime Provinces for the past thirty

BSS

128

BACKWARD (iLANCES.

years had they remained separate from Canada,
there is one thing certain, they could have V)een
in no wors«i condition than they have been under
Confederation with Canada. Tlie Island of Prince
Edward during the thirty years previous to its
entering the Union increased its population one
l)un(lred per cent, from 47,034 to 94,000.

In Piince Edward Island the population
increased in twenty years, from 1871 to 1801,
but 15,000, or U) per cent.

In New Brunswick the population increased
in twenty year.-', from 1871 to 18i)l, 35,750, or
slightly over 12 per cent.

In Nova Scotia the population increased in
twenty years, from 1871 to 1891, 62,500, or
nearly 16 per cent.

In Prince Edward Island, therefore, the
increase was at the rate of 24 per cent, for
thirty 3'ears. In New Brunswick the increase
was at the rate of 18 per cent, for thirty years,
and in Nova Scotift, t; e increase was at the rate
of 24 per cent, for thirW years. Showing a
decrease in the rate for Prince Edward Island
compared with thirty years previous to Con-
federation of 74 per cent. In New Brunswick a
comparison for the same period shows a decrease
of over 80 per cent. ; and in Nova Scotia for
the same period a decrea.se of about 76 per cent.

Quebec increased in the twenty years from
1871 to 1891 in its population 297,000, or about
25 per cent.

HACKWARD liLANCES.

12f\

Ontario increased in its population tor the
same period 40ii,5()0, or over 30 per cent.

The last ten years of Confederation, from
1881 to 18!) I, maked a. sorry showing in
increases of the population of the Maritime
Provinces. In Nova Scotia tlio increast^ was
0,800, or about 2| per cent. The increase was
from 440,o72 to 450,39^1. In Prince bid ward
Island the showing i.s even worse, the increase
being about {, per cent. The increase was from
108,891 to 109,078. In N(5W Brunswick it
scarcely reaches a percentage at all, the increa.se
being only thirty per.sons, the figures standing
321,233 in 1881 and 321;2C3 in 1891. In
Ontario the figures for the san\e time .show
about 11 per cent, of an increase. And in
Quebec they show for the .same period nearly
10 per cent. The population of Quel^ec
increased in the last ten years, from 1881 to
1891, from 1,359,927 to 1,488,535. And in
Ontario for the .'^ame time the population
increased from 1,92(3,922 to 2,114,321. Manitoba
in the same time ran up from 62,260 to 152,506 ;
and the city of Winnipeg from 7,985 to 25,639.
And British Columbia increased in population
as follows for the same period : In 1881 its
population numbered 49,459 ; in 1891 the
population was 98,173. The organized North
West Territories from 1881 to 1891 inerea.sed
in inhabitants from 25.515 to 66,799. The

WUUUL

BBI

lao

BACKWARD GLANCES.

unorganized Territories in the same time from
30,931 to 32,168.

The population of the whole Dominion
increased in number from 1881 to 1891, from
4,324,810 to 4,833,239, or an increased of 508,429.
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward
Island together contributed to this increase but
10,041.

Statistics are not acceptable or pleasant read-
ing to many persons, but they are often very
instructive. And it is a good thing for every-
body to pull themselves up short sometimes and
take a close survey of their native place and the
great country to which they belong, and search
for themselves and .see whether their country is
going upwards or downwards. It is good to
have such periods now and again, and no season
is so fitting as that when the country is free
from the turmoil and excitoment of political con-
tests. Such seasons will help us all to search out
the most earnest-minded, clear-headed and deep-
thinking n^en of the country and learn their
views of the country's affairs and of political
partie?^ and their doings. Most of us need more
sound information on public questions than we
usually have to allow us to give a proper voice
at the polls. And if we allow ouraelves to be
guided alone by the harangues of party politi-
cians or by the party press, without seeking our
information from more reliable sources, we will

HACK WARD GLANCES.

131

<;ome far short of the duty we owe to our coun-
try and ourselves when we are called upon to
speak our minds at the polls. If we never
question anything, if we simply accept it, we
will never learn to think or act for ourselves.
Our thinking will be the thoughts, true or false,
of others, and our work will be for the benefit of
individuals and parties, much more than for our
country or for ourselves. From time to time
as we are trying to properly inform ourselves,
we will be brought face to face with some
startling questions, which can only be mastered
by patient and persevering application. Have
not many of us, at one time or another, attended
political meetings, held because of an approaching
political contest, and while being quite satisfied
with the remarks of our party speakers, have left
those meetings feeling that something else was
wanting '. And was not this something on due
refection found out to be that these speakers
dare not let themselves free to state in all its
ir.ignitu'Je and beauty the whole truth ^ Had
they done so, they knew they would have to
free themselves from party i.nes and what are,
called party principles and forf<iit their positions,
because they were depending solely upon satis-
fying party clamou: ir anticipation oi" success
and position.

When some of the speakers had just returned
from parliamen*^ to feeek the continued support

"""xmrnmrnrnm^fi

132

BACKWARD GLANCES.

of their constituents, how we have seen them
shuffle and strain to shelter themselves and their
inconsistencies behind their words, oftentimes so
much at variance with their former attested pro-
fessions, and yet they boldly asserted that their
views were unaltered, and they proclaimed the
principles of their party, as they did four or five
years previously. And too frequently their talk
was received with shouts of praise by their
former and present supporters. It is only when
you bring such men, such representatives of the
people, up face to face with a plain question,
requiring of them a plain yes or no for answer,
that 5'on can induce them to explain what they
really have done or what they really believe.
That is if they have done anything, or really
believe anything. It not unfrequently happens
that some of these men are incapable of doing
anything or believing anything, or seeing any-
thing, except what they are advised to do, to
believe, and to see by their leaders, their
superiors, their whippers. They work as per-
fectly as machines standing in rows on the Hoor
of a great manufacturing establishment. If any
friction occurs they are overhauled, and generally
take their medicine in a lump in a caucus dis-
pensary ; if this method does not prove satisfac-
tory in every instance the dose is quietly washed
down with £i sugar-coated promise or pledge,

BACKWARD U LANCES.

133

There are men who honestly believe that any
tampering with the platform of their party,
which has stood firm for many years, woukl
bring disaster to the country. Such men stand
as obstacles in the way of reform, especially
when a new and possibly more rational or<ler of
things would be likely to do good to any or
every section of the country.

\\ hen we see the very best, purest and most
carefully informed men of both political parties
disagree with the ideas and most cirefuily
cherished plans of their leaders and others we
feel assured that in the end these men will do
more good for their country than the combina-
tions of those men who are moved to act by
seltish and partizan motives alone.

It is a thousand pities fc Nova Scotia that
its legislature had not been composed of a
majority of such men on the eve of Confedera-
tion, and in the first parliament of the Dominion
this province had not been represented by a
large majority of such men also. What are
party politics for in an enlightened country and
a profesKed '^hiistian country such as Canada ?
Certainly not to throw out the bait of decep-
tion, of corruption, and every other scheme
which circumstances make it expedient to toss
broadcast over thv:; whole country merely to gain
or hold the reins of power and '"atisfy a few
persons with otticial position and otHcial recogni-

^'osmsmmmmm

134

BACKWARD GLANCES.

tion and seats in parliament, be these few taken
from high or inferior social position, or accepted
for their intelligence or part}' influence. Were
not fjovernments, and parties, and rulers or-
dained for mankind to raise step by step poor
humat rature to higher, brighter and happier
station^: < », to make people law-abiding and
moral, to Si . them to active and independent
thought, to elevate their being and fill their lives
with pure desires and lofty aspirations ?

It is often said there is no perfection in
politics. It is likely there never will be perfec-
tion in any constituted or corporate body in this
world, but it is possible for all in every line of
life's work to press straightly, steadily and
patiently on toward perfection, through the
broad and open road of honor, equity and justice,
without continually stepping aside into crooked
paths and shadowy and meandering by-ways.
Some people exclaim : Everything in its day.
But it would be better to exclaim, everything for
its day. The day should not be allowed to hold
too tightly in its grasp everything as it is, in the
interest of a favored few, but should continuous-
ly be allowed to let in fresh Hght to stimulate
the growth of the multitude and purify the
political atmosphere. The fulfilment of Lord
Rosebery's prediction, or prophecy, as stated in
another chapter, may be at hand, though it may
take another Wesley or Booth or another Lincoln

iJACKWA7?D GLANCES.

135

or Peel to bring it in in all its fulness. Slowly
at first such beneficial reforms gain ground, but
irrisistibly they continue expanding in volume,
while justice everywhere is becoming the quality
of the weak and attribute of the powerful.

A fuller knowledge and a warmer endorse-
ment of the principles best calculated to work
out the social and political salvation of every
class of the people will flow in as a river, and
party prejudice and wickedness will as regularly
disappear. Then governments will not, as now,
be largely by the party and for the party, but
from the uncorrupted, intelligent and independ-
ent people, and by them and for them Then
government or party influence, private power,
and corrupt jobbery and corporate despot-
ism will weaken and wither and disappear,
and majorities and minorities be satisfied
alike, and the humblest toilers over the face
of the country and the poorest occupants of the
smallest cottage homes will feel their pow^er as
well as that of others acknowledsred in the
government and legislation of their country.
When talent and worth will be considered above
and beyond any party lines or considerations ;
when hundreds and thousands of neglected and
forgotten and unnoticed persons who earn their
daily toil with horny hands and by the sweat of
their brows will not only be noticed and acknow-
ledged as brethren on the eve of an approaching.

' ^■'■■''jw t miCLfei

136

BACKWARD GLANCES.

political contest, but will be continuously noticed
and acknowledged by an equality born of com-
mon sense and brotherly love. There are party
organizers and workers, and members and ex-
members of parliament, in Canada to-day who
must look upon their partizan work with an
overwhelming sense of shame ; men who have
bribed, bought, corrupted and debauched, not
only Oiie person here and there, but whole con-
stitn(?ncies, and then smiled and applauded their
work, Deca'iae by such means they had secured
their ends by an inglorious triumph; men who
by party pledges, by personal promises and by
private subscription sit in parliament and exclaim
they were honored with the free and independ-
ent voice of the constituents ; men who shout
that the pure principles of their partj' and the
splendid organization of their electoral district
carried them to victory ; men whose pockets
instead of their heads and principles were their
strength. And the desire for ra-election of some
of these men causes them to appear again and
again among their supporters at regular intervals
and grind out the sayings of their superiors, with
scarcely an intelligent idea of their own, as an
organ-grinder turns out a certain number of
tunes to the delight of the small boys assembled
at the street corners. And many of these men
would never have stood, or rather sat, in
parliament if they had not had plenty of money

HACK WARD OLANTJES.

137

to back their pretentions and a clique or
two in the electoral district whose members were
very ambitious to further their own ends. The
country has pure, good and able men in its
legislative halls, men fitted by nature for their
positions, but they have been and still are a
small minority.

It is impossible for us to have everything as
we would like to have it in this world, but it is
possible for us to have everything better than
we now have. It is our own fault, the electors'
fault, that as a rule they are not better repre-
sented in the parliaments of their country than
they are. And it is a pity for many of the towns
and cities of Canada that more suitable men
were not chosen to guide their affairs in their
local councils. There are always to be found
numbers of ambitious and ill-suited individuals
on the hop looking for these positions, who
ought to be lavssoed in their first attempt,
individuals who stretch themselves beyond their
measure and boast of things without their
measure.

There is another class of individuals always
about, some more intelligent than those
just mentioned, often belonging to one or
another of what are called the professions, always
alive to their own interests, designing and deceit-
ful to a degree, restless and ambitious. They are
apparently full of deep earnestness, spouting

imsmmi^mBmmmm

138

BACKWARD GLANCES.

forth a mass of verbiage to mystify their hearers
and cover up their own short- comings and those
of their party. They know their ends are better
served by an unceasing flow of rhetoric tlian by
plain speech. They do not call a spade a spade
but an instrument, well proportioned, manufactur-
ed by the sturdy hands of a professional smith
and containing all the elements of stability for the
work which it is intended to perform when
manipulated by the practical hands of an expert
in trench-making. Occasionally we find one or
more of this class who do not lack poetic instinct,
for now and again they seem to mount without
themselves, and their language is beautiful as
a bed of roses, but alas, fades as soon. They
have little use for monosyllables which are
largely the best things for conveying a mighty
message to the minds and hearts of mankind and
impart new . life and vigor to all who listen.
Their speech when completed, as the Right Hon.
John Bright would say, was like a Scotch terrier,
80 covered from end to end with hair that one
could scarcely tell his head from his tail.

Should we not, then, exercise more care and
judgment in the election of the men into whose
hands we place so grave a trust ? If we do this
we shall soon re-establish what is almost over-
thrown : a government by the people and for
the people. Lot this be done and the mighty
electorate of this country will soon show that

■«

BACKWAHD GLANCES.

139

patriotism and manhood are not dead, and tbey
are able to crush every clique and conspiracy in
the political arena between the two oceans.
Neither in the Provincial Legislatures nor in
the Dominion Parliament ia it safe to trust the
affairs of the province or the country to men
whom neither promises could bind nor principles
of honor could secure, men who would abandon
fifty principles for the sake of power, and forget
fifty promises when they were no longer neces-
sary to their ends.

In this day, when so many promises are made
and so many unfulfilled, it may be encouraging to
some disappointed office-seeker to read the
following good story, especially if he makes
up his mind to act as determinedly in bis own
interest as the tide-waiter did. The moat suc-
cessful method is that adopted by the tide-
waiter. Those politicians who are lavish with
promises at times of election and who forget all
about them soon after should cut this f^tovy out
and hang it up where it will daily meet their
gaze :

During the premiership of the Duke of Port-
land a dksolution of parliament and a general
election took place. His grace was zealous in his
own cause, and was assisting one of his friends
in canvassing a certain borough in the South-
West of England. As usual on similar occasions,
bis grace was " hail fellow well met " with every

mmmi^BnsssasmimmmmmmmmKamm

liACKWAR]* GLANCES.

votf^r who was unpledged, and ainont^ others with
one who was so charmed with his grace's frank-
ness and cordiality that he whispered a secret
into the Duke's ear, to the effect that the tide-
waiter was so old and feehle as scarcely to be up
to the duties of the office, and that he, the voter,
thought it would be a snug berth for himself,
and hoped that, as his grace had condescended to
solicit him for bis poor vote, he would obtain the
place for him. This promise was readily given,
but it was better remembered by the receiver
than by the giver, as promises generally are.

It is said they go long bare foot who wait for
dead men's shoes; but the tide waiter died at
last. Awry posted the office seeker to London,
to wait on the Duke of Portland, and demand
the performance of the promise. It happened
to be the winter season and in the middle of a
deep snow ; it also happened that the King of
Spain was sick and dying, and his decease was
expected to have considerable influence in Euro-
pean politics. On the night when the west
country place hunter arrived, the Duke was in
expectation of dispatches from Madrid, and to
his gentleman-in-waiting, said, that, if any one
called to see him, to admit him, even, if he, the
Duke, were going to bed or asleep. The Duke's
gentleman of course gave orders to his ow^n
gentleman's gentleman, who in turn gave- in-
structions to the porter. Accordingly about

BACKWARD GLANCES.

141

midnight a man was announced, who stated that
he had an important communication to deliver
his grace. The valet at once admitted him, and
led him quietly up to the Duke's chamber,
pushed open the door and desired him to enter.
In another minute the elector was at the Duke's
bedside. His grace, half asleep and half awake,
and believing the stranger to be the bearer of
tidings from Madrid inquired, " What news ? "
" Please your grace, .said the man, I come to tell
you that he is dead, and I come to get his
place, which your grace promised me." " Whose
place?" " Why the tide-waiter's," replied the man,
in perfect amazement, for he thought he was on
such friendly terms with the Duke, that the
latter would never forget him or his request.
It is said that after heartily abusing the man for
his unseasonable intrusion, the Duke's fancy was
so agreeably tickled with the ludicrous incident,
that he really did let him step into the dead
tide-waiters shoes by giving him the position.

"The Coming in of Tide- Waiters,"* w^ould he
an appropriate reminder, if : t^ng up in every
Conservative and Grit committee room in Canada.

The man who enters public life in order to
make money out of his position, and who
forgets his promises, and who enters into
speculation at his country's cost, or whose
chief aim is official position, will never make an
honest or trustworthy servant of the people.

142

BACKWARD <{LANCP:.S.

There may have been a time wlien ^ood soc'^tv
thought nothing niore natural than rase, _,
and immorality in high places, but that time
han passed out.

An independent and pure press is a strong
cheek to impure government. Such a press is
beginning to take a strong hold upon the
electors of Canada. Party bigotry, political
and individual selfishness and party at any
price niugt eventually bow before such an
honest and enlightened instructor.

Party in this as well as other countries ' s
long ruled the master of some of the ablest
well as some of the weakest men.

It is said a bishop once published a treatise
upon Grace, or the office and operation of the
Holy Spirit, in the preface to which he said, " I
have a master above, and 1 have one below."

There are men, able men and ordinary men in
the councils of state, in Parliaments, and in
various official positions, whose master above,
below and within is party, and who are chained
prisoners of party and driven by it at will.

Chapter XI.

Prince Edward Island's entrance into the Union. 8rc.

Whatever was done in any of the Brit-ish
North America FrovinceH, regarding confetier-
ation, or any attempts to bring the question into
prominence, previnus to the appointment of the
maritime provinces delegates to meet at Char-
lottetown in the year eighteen hundred and
sixty-four, dues not come within the scope of
this work. Those things belong to the history
of the provinces down to the final and successful
attempts to bring in confederation.

In this brief chapter, a few lines will show
the state of popular feeling in Xew Brunswick
and Prince Edward Island. Whether the con-
vention at Charlottetown, was secretly arranged
by leading statesmen of the Canadas and a few
statesmen in the maritime provinces, as an
advanced post from which to work the greater
scheme of union, is not krwn and perhaps
never will be. Many persons now believe there
was such an understanding. And a close obser-
ver of the movements of the actors, cannot but
feel that many things were played behind the
screen, that were never performed before the
public. The movements in the upper provinces

Ill ji iii'mmmmmimmmwm

144

BACKWARD GLAN'CES.

and those in the marifcirao provinces wereahnost
simultaneous and it can hardly be thought these
like movements took place by mere chance.
The thing was done so bcJdly and suddenly that
the electors of the maritime provinces seemed
almost stupified. They never expected to see
their delegates at Charlottetown captured as
willing prisoners, and carried oft' to Quebec
without a protest.

At this time Hon. George Brown, leader of the
Canadian grits, proposed to Hon. John A. Ma(3-
donald, leader of the conservative ])&rty, to form
a coalition government for the purpose oi effect-
ing, if possible, a confederation of all the
provinces. The proposed meeting at Charlotte-
town, not having yet taken place, the Governor
General was requested to ascertain whether the
conference would bo willing to receive a deputa-
tion from Canada, and a satisfactory reply being
received, Messrs. Macdonald, Cartier, Brown,
Gait, McGea, Langevin, Macdougall and Camp-
bell were appointed delegates to attend the
meeting at Charlottetown.

The delegates t',t the Charlottetown convention
from the maritime provinces, after hearing the
delegates from Canada and conferring with them
for a short time, only two days adjourned until
the tenth of October to assemble at Quebec. In
the presence of the Canadian delegates, maritime
union disappeared as quickly as the setting sun,

BACKWARD GLANCKS.

and thfe delegates were left to work out their
dark scheme. The Canadian delegates were, no
doubt, very generous and very gentlemanly in
their promises, and knew how to work the dele-
gates, as well as they had often before worked
voters in parliaments and constituencies. In
less than a month they sent the Canadian gov-
ernment steamer " Victoria " to Pictou, where on.
the fifth of October she took on boari the
Governor of Nova Scotia, his wife, and the Nova
Sootia delegates, then the " Victoria " callvid at
Charlottetown and took on board the Prince
Edward Island delegates, then at Shediac and
took on board the New Brunswick delegates.
The " Victoria " with her passengers arrived at
Quebec in the evening on the ninth, and the
following morning the convention opened. The
whole proceeding of the voyage seems much
like a party carriage going the rounds on an
election day and carrying voters to the polls.
And those who ride on party carriages on such
occasions, usually have their rewards satisfactor-
ily arranged. But the scheme of confederation
was not, however, to be carried out as speedily
as the Canadians anticipated, nor as the New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia delegates antici-
pated. Opposition to the scheme soon grew to a
storm in New Brunswick, which swept Tilley
and his suppQrters from office, at the general
election which took place in March, eighteen

146

BACKWARD OLANCES.

hundred and sixty-five, and not a single one of
the delegates which had a few months previously
mailed on the government steamer " Victoria " to
Quebec and attended the convention win return-
ed, and a very stronw anti-confedera govern-
ment was formed.

Opposition to the action of the delegates and
to confederation, was even stronger in Nova
Scotia than in New Brunswick. In New
Brunswick, however, the storm seeme . to have
soon spent its fury, the tide of popuK r favour
seemed to have turned toward con f» deration,
Mr. Tilley came again into power, with the
people at his back. Tho Prince Edward Island
delegates on their return from Quebec found the
people of the Island decidedly opposed to con-
federation, and they remained opposed to the
scheme until January eighteen hundred and
seventy-three, nearly six years after confeder-
ation was adopted. At this time, an honorable
member introduced a minute in council to the
effect that if the Dominion Government would
offer liberal terms, the government of Prince
Edward Island would recommend a dissolution
of the House, so that the people may have an
opportunity of saying at the polls, whether the}'
prefer to enter the Dominion or not. The Privy
Council of Canada suggested to Prince Edward
Island to send a deputation to Ottawa. The
Island government did as requested, but the

BACKWARD GLANCES.

147

delegates were instructed to do nothino^ more
than learn what terms could be obtained if the
people of the Island consented to go into con-
federation. Messrs. J. C. Pope, T. H. Haviland
and Geo. W. Rowland were appointed a com-
mittee, and proceeded to Ottawa, where they
had an interview with the governor general —
Lord Dufferin. A committee of the Privy
Council, consisting of Messrs. J. A. Macdonald
S. L. Tilley, Charles Tapper and Hector Lange-
vin afterward met the Prince Edward Island
delegates, and a few days later. May the fifteenth,
eighteen hundred and seventy-three, an agree-
ment was reached satisfactory to the delegates.
The terms were substantially as follows : —
On condition of Prince Edward Island giving
up her revenues, the Dominion agreed to assume
a debt f^qual to fifty dollars a head on the popu-
lation of the Island, which was ninety-four
thousand and twenty-one, thus making the debt
the Island was authorized to incur, four million,
seven hundred and one thousand and fifty dol-
lars. As the Island had only a very small debt,
it was to receive interest at the rate of five per
cent on the difference between the amount of its
debt and the amount authorized until the debt
amounted to four million seven hundred and one
thousand and fifty dollars. The Dominion
government also agreed to pay thirty thousand
<lollars for the support of the government and

148

BACKWARD GLANCES.

legislature of the province and eighty cents per
head of the population.

A general election was held on the It-land, a
month before the delegates were sent to Ottawa,
and the people were favourable toward union
provided they could secure their own terms.
Those terms they did secure. And their province
was admitted a memVjer of the Canadian Un-ion
on July the first, eighteen hundred and seventy-
three, over eight years after the people of the
province, had positively refused to accept the
ters I offered them at the Quebec con^^ention.
Prince Edward Island secured all she asked by
yielding up to Canada her revenue, which was
not very great at the time.

What Sir Charles Tupper must have thought
when acceding to the demands of Prince Edwaru
Island, when she proposed to enter the union is
probably not known. If he cared to contrast
the terms he made for his own province, when
he helped to drag her into confederation, with
those he was willing to give Prince Edward
Island to gain her consent to enter it, he must
have felt that he had acted unfaithfully toward
Nova Scotia.

If the Nova Scotia delegates and legislature
had acted in as good faith toward the Nova Scotia
people as the delegates and legislature of Prince
Edward Island acted toward the people of that
province.thisprovincecouldhaveentered the union

BACKWARD GLANCES.

149

(that is if the union could have been accouiplislied
witliout Nova Scotia), in eighteen hundred and
seventy-three on terms equally as good hh those
given to Prince Edward Island. And one of the
terms would have been fifty dollars a head on
hor population according to the census of
eighteen hundred and seventy-one, which would
in this one particular have given Nova Scotia
eiglit million more dollars than she received in
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, or about
double what she was allowed on debt account.
Or if Nova Scotia had been allowed to remain out
of the union, until the Queen's Diamond Jubilee,
she might have celebrate Queen Victoria's
splendid reign by entering the Canadian union
upon terms in every way satisfactory to her
inhabitants.

The island gem of the St. Lawrence has pro-
duced no sons to sell her liberty and has elected
no legislature that has violated her constitution.
She is a free province of Canada by the sacred
will of her inhabitants and not by a forcible
Act of England's parliament.

She rejoices in the cloudless light of liberty,
and has no unworthy act of her government or
legislature to transmit to posterity.

Chapter XII.

The Countess and the Canadas.

A family of respectability from the province
of Quebec, reduced in wealth, but not in social
position, had resided for some time in the pro-
vince of Nova Scotia. The youngest and fairest
of the family whose name was Pauline, had
become acquainted with a sailor lad on one of
the ships then at rest in the harbor of Halifax.

In the early fifties the ship sailed away, and
carried the gallant seaman to Portsmouth, G. B.,
from which port, she was speedily ordered to the
Medite "ranean.

Pauline's heart swelled within her, and could
find no relief, but by unpacking itself in tender
words addressed in the neatest writing to the
absent sailor. The letter was signed simply and
touchingly, Your Pauline.

She had I een told, the ship liad been ordered
to the Mediterranean and mailed the letter to
the port where the ship was to call, awaiting
further orders. She addressed the letter accord-
ingl3^and anxiously waited for a reply, and many
a wakeful hour did the fair writer spend in recall-
ing what she had written, confident that he who
was to receive tliese avowals would esteem them
beyond all that was ever written by sage or

BACKWARD GLANCES

151

poet. Two rnontlis passed by and no reply had
been received by the anxious lover. Three
weeks latt(!r, a postman called at a residence
where Paulino was visiting, and askt;d for Mrs.

Arthur , the name of the one Pauline loved.

She was handed a letter addressed Mrs. Arthur
. There was a moment of terrible sus-
pense. She tore open tlie envelope and discovered
her letter. She soon found that the letter was not
sufficiently stamped to carry it beyond England,
and it had been returned by the post office au-
thorities. The post office clerk ha<i evidently
concluded that " Your Pauline," was the wedded
wife of Arthur, to whom the letter was addressed.
Arthur had appeared in the most fashionable
circles of Quebec and Halifax. He was good
looking and about twenty-four years of age,
with accomplished manners, brilliant in conver-
sation, and the bearer of a proud name. He
always talked plainly, and was possessed of a
full degree of common sense, he had no weak
vanities, neither bad he a pino-apple shaped
head, nor the nose of a rabbit and gait of a pea-
cock. He was unlike some of our city and small
town youth, who are society leaders. He talked
with no unnatural accent, neither would he
despise his poor relations, if he had any. He
w>*s a true young fellow, cast in nature's best
mould, thorough and sound and not a half-
cracked article, tossed upon the world and

Ill ^ fjm mmmmmmm

RmPI

152

BACKWARD (GLANCES.

society for what purpose no scientist or philoso-
pher has yet discovered.

Pauline really loved 'nim and was also some-
what dazzled by liis embroidery, his handsome
face and specious tongue. She was above the
medium height, full and round in figure, without
in the least pertaining to grossneas, and erect in
her bearing and graceful as an elm. She had a
passion for dogs, and loved them as well as she
did her school mates, perhaps better. She had
a beautiful voice, soft, rich and sympathetic, and
her complexion, one of a combination of pink
and olive. In manner she was dignified and
self possessed. Her hair was dark brown and
abundant, parted in tlie middle and lay in
soft rings on her crescent shaped brow. Her
hands were perfect in shape and soft as kid.
When she went for a walk, she was usually
accompanied by her scotch terrier, which she
called "Jolly Tar." Her mother was a French
lady, her father was of Scotch descent. At
one time lie was in good financial circum-
stances, he had died when Pauline was a mere
child. Her mother had a small income in
her own right. Too much society and too little
prudence on the part of her mother, who was
rather haughty, perhaps also vain, caused the
pounds to dwindle away. Young Arthur first
met Pauline in Quebec, where her mother kept
a genteel boarding house. Pauline was then in

BACKWARD GLAN'CES.

153

her eighteenth year. Hon. G. E. Cartier and
Hon. Joseph Howe, it is said, were well ac-
quainted with the family, and when Pauline
had received the returned letter, she went to Mr.
Howe seeking advice about stamping a letter
to a Mediterranean port. Her next letter reached
its destination, but in the meantime she had
received a letter from Arthur, who as it after-
wards appears had fallen deeply in love with
her on sight. Time passed on, the young sailor
took ill in the East, and Pauline became dearer
to him than ever. He was compelled soon to
return to England. But before leaving the seat
of war, he wrote to Pauline and gave her direc-
tions to cross the Atlantic and meet him in
England on his return. She sailed from Canada
late in the fall and not long after arrived safely
ill her lover's country. Arthur had arrived
home a few day.M earlier.

His mother wis lady A , a widow resid-
ing at the time with her aunt the Countess of
L . He made known to his mother the

fact that a young colonial girl was crossing the
ocean, and it was his intention to wed her. The
news very much surprised his mother, as she
and the Countess were desirous of arranging a
match for him at home. In fact they had
sighted a young lady they considcjred most
suitable for Arthur, if all could be mutually
arranged. Lady A was most anxious to

154

BACKWARD (JLANCES.

learn from her son who the kicky bride should
be. He informed his mother, that his intended
was a young colonial lady coming from one of
the Canada's. His mother kept silent about the
matter for a day or two, then she informed the
Countess of Arthur's intention. This revelation
brought matters to a crisis, as the Countess
addressed herself to the subject in hand. She
prcpo'jed un immediate interview with Arthur.
He agreed and met the Countess at the hour
appointed. After the usual greetings, the
Countess said to him : "My dear Arthur, I am
informed that you are aV)out to marry a young
girl from one of our colonies, belonging to one
of the Canadas, is it really true your intentions
are such ?" " It is settled," replied her relative.
" Artluir " slie said gravely, "is it possible you
would place your devoted mother and myself in
danger of becoming related to a family of
convicts ?" " I do not quite understand you rny
dear aunt, the girl I love and whom I intend to
marry belongs to one of the Canada's, ' replied
Arthur. The Countess threw up her hands in
utter astonishment, and almost reeled from her
seat, as she said, " Oh Arthur, dear Arthur, you
sadden me, I despair, as those words ' one of
the Canadas ' sound in my ears, not even
convicts, but indians, have been your associates
in America. I heard of their rebellion against
British rule in the year eighteen hundred and

TUCK WARD r.LANCKS.

155

thirty-eight, they were said to be the most
treacherous and blood thirsty tribe of indians in
America, Oh those Canadas : those Canadas !
thone Cana<las ! would you injure our proud
name by matrying a squaw, trained up in
blankets and inoecasins, an expert witli the
arrow and scalping knife ? " asked the (-oun-
tess. Then clasping her hands over her
agitated breast she seemed to swoon, as she mut-
tered "one of the Canadas, those evil wretches,
our escutcheons to be stained and our noble
name to be classified with those terrible
wretches 'Black Hawk' and 'King Priilip.' "
She lay in a swoon as Arthur hastened to
summon in his mother. The poor old Countess
continued quite ill for some days, while her
nights Wire haunted by visions of Red men.
After the Countess had recovered, she told
Arthur's mother, that if Arthur married into the
Canada tribe, it was but proper to exclude them
from soei'ity and order them to leave England
at once. The mother though she loved her son
most tenderly, was proud of her station in life.
She felt that nothing else could be done, but to
accept the advice of the Countess, and order her
son to leave the country. She told Arthur the
following morninir, that she almost felt he had
ceased to respect and love her and if he would
not promise to forsake his da"ling of the forest,
he must leave her home and the country at

15(J

BACKWARD GLANCKS.

once. If you marry tliat jjjirl yon have cejined
to love me, tiiul you forfeit the respect of my
kind aunt, the Countess." Arthur advanced a
a htf p, took Ids motlier's hand, and said : " My
niotlier dear, you and the Countess will luA be
convinced, that the young lady to whom I am
pledp^d, is no other than a colonial girl horn in
one of the Canadas," she interrupted Arthur and
said ; " now, no more about one of the ('anadas,
the (Jountess luis given me their hist(.'ry you
will oblige l)y leaving my presence, at least till
you repent of your folly." " Mother " continued
Arthur, 'you will not allow me to explain, you
give away to your fears, an*! cannot patiently
listen to my explanation, I go." and immediately
left the room.

One week later he met Pauline in Liverpool
and took her to a friend's in the north of Eng-
land. She remained about six WM3eks in one
of those or rather near one of those colliery
villages where all about seems coal dust and
gloom, but where, in the beautiful ey uiii
the visitor may watch scores of ' ' trudg-

ing along towards their iionies a th(.dr day

of weary and begrimed toil. i- din dur-
ing her short stay in the locality waj- much
interested in watching the lives of those people.
Arthur paid several visits to the place during
his lover's residence there. His last visit brought
about the wedding. He and Pauline were

HACKWAHD (J LANCES.

157

privately '.iinrriod and left at once for Paris. At
the inarria^^e the bride was attended b}' a
dau^litor of a wealthy citizen of the district,
aud the bridet^rooni by a friend. The bride was
presented with a co.stly and rich bracelet by the
father of the bridesmaid wlio was a pillar in a
Wealeyan diurch. The bracelet bore the motto
"God careth for thee," in dianjonds. Arrivinj^
in Paris, they selected rooms in a comfortable
hotel in a pleasant part of the city. They met
there several Canadians, with whom they be-
came intimately actjuaintt'd.

A few months after thev h^ld lived in Paris

they accidentally met the Dacliess of S .

It was at the " Jardin d'Hiver ' where they
met. After witnessing the fairy-like scenes and
the performances of the mad-brained dancers,
the duchess invited the bride and j;room to spend
a few days in her company. It has been said,
that when once London society crosses the
channel, and is dragged by the fiery coursers
along the iron road to Paris, it feels emancipated
from its thraldom, the coroneted head is as lif^ht
as that encased in a wide-awake. Dukes and
Duchesses become as merry and liglit- hearted as
shop boys and girls, and may be seen wending
their way through the frolicksome people at
places of public resort, and wondering why they
could not do these things in England. One may
see distinguished personages dining most any

158

BACKWARD CJLANCKS.

day at the " Trois Freres " or ut tlie " GaFe-de
Paris." But as society is constituted in England
such relaxation is unconnnon.

The Duchess of S , full almost in love

with Pauline and an arranaement was made

with Arthur, whereby the Duchess of S

would on her return to England, undertake to
bring about a reconciliation of Arthur and his
mother. Soon the duchess intended returning
home, but before doing so she together with
Arthur and Pauline visited the Paris exhibition.
Their visit liappened on a day, when the Queen
of England, who was visiting Napoleon the
third, also visited the exhibition. A considerable
number of ladies were present, bj'- special favor ;
the ladies were conjpelled to sit alone in a
privileged spot, The Imperial and Royal
cortagf.^s, it had been arranged were to pass this
spot. Wives were isolated from husbands,
brothers from sisters and lovers from lovers.
By this means an elf'erly English lady of noble
and ari>*tocratin bearing, found herself side by
side with a charming young French lady, for

whom the Duchess of S had found a seat.

The Duchess of 8 seated herself a few

yards distant. The elderly English lady soon
entered into conversation with her neighbour,
and lenrnt from the talk of her fair companion,
that she had not long been married, and that
her husband was soHiewhere in the crowd, and

HACKWARI) GLANCKS.

159

that the Duchess of S had invited her to

accept the seat she occupied.

The Eno^lish lady spoke to Pauline of the
inauguration of the great exhibitions. She said,
" an institution like this for the advancement of
art. peace and civilization is a crowning affair of
the nativ.n. There are articles here from many
parts, even from the French in America, who to
their honor be it said, have united with our
English Colonists in that far away Ian I to sup-
press and drive back those murderous Canadas,
more terrible than the Mohawks or any other
indian tribe on that great continent. Britain
should send out a force to annihilate those vil-
lians." " I have reason to hate them with a treble
hatred." Pauline replied ; " the indian tribes of
Canada are now not dangerous, but have you
over lost anv relatives in the wars with the
Indians ?" " No, my dear, but I have suffered
untold agonies hy those wret,cheJ Canedas."
Pauline turned the conversation with a smile,
as she saw her friend was becoming agitated.
Pjiuline's face lit up as she replied ; " How true
it is that nations and people are improving in
art, morality, education ami science and benevo-
l^'nce, people are mixing more and more like tlie
many waters, the British colonies are important
and growing children around our Mother land."
At this moinent the cortage passed and Pauline's
voice ceased.

m^m^mf^^a^^

160

BACKWARD GLANCES.

A perfect tide of feathers, ribands, lace,
flowers and silks, kids and gold eiiibrodiery
tilled up the track of their majesties, l^auline
was almost dazzled with the scene and smother-
ered in finery. The elderly English lady seeing
that she was not accustomed to such assemblies,
took her by the hand as they followed in the
tram, so that it would be impossible for them to
become separated in the sea of people. At
length they took each others arm as they were
jostled among the wives and daughters of high
state functionaries who formed the escort of the
English Queen, and his Majesty's Imperial host.
Hitherto neither of the two ladies knew the
name or rank of the other, in this way they
passed more than two hours together protecting
one another from the pressure of the crowd,
while conversing quite intimately upon various
little affairs arising out of the circumstance of
the parade.

When they had again met the Duchess of

S , the English lady whispered to the

Duchess, '• what a charming young woman I
have found." " I wonder who she is V " I
shall certainly not leave iier until I have

inquired her name." The Duchess of S

replied in an equally subdued tone : " I also
admire her very much and would like to invite
her home with me." The promenade was at
last brought to a close, and the Queen and

BACKWARD GLANCES.

161

Emperor left the exhibition. A great crowd
collected again at their departure. At this
moinent Pauline exclaimed, " however shall I find
Arthur in auch a multitude ? " " Is your brother's
or your husband's name Arthur," inquired the
English lady? "Qui ma cht're madam," said the
young woman, "Ah ! here he comes, what a
lucky chance to meet him," exclaimt^d Pauline.
Arthur quickly saw his wife and stepping
toward her, said, " what has happened my dear
to place you in the company of Countess

L / " The English lady for a moment stood

trembling and abashed, and Arthur taking her

hand in his said, " my dear Countess L ," in a

tone of complete confidence, as he led Pauline with
the other hand toward the Countess ; " this is
one of the Canadas, Pauline is my wife." The
Countess answered nothing in reply. She was
agitated and ordered the carriage. When the
carriage had arrived, she took the hand of
Pauline tightly in her own, and planting a kiss
upon her cheek, she said, " step my dear into the
carriage," then turning t^ Arthur she said in
trembling tones, yet slowly, " let us hasten to
England, to your dear mother, relieve her of her
unnecessary anxiety, and that I may receive her
congratulations on my journey to Franca and
visit at Paris."

They left the following morning fi>r tljeir
English home, the Duchess of 8 accom-
panying the party.

162

BACKWARD GLANCES.

The Duchess of S-

managed the whole

affair with great tact. She had told Arthur she
would do her beat to heal the breach. She
admirably succeeded at the first opportunity.

The Duchess of S belonged to an illus^tri-

ous British family containing a long line of
noble names, and she, herself was a woman of
retined common sense, and noble qualities of

heart. Arthur's relative, the Countess of L

belonged also to an old aristrocratic family, but
her ancestors had not' been renowned Ijy any
splendid mental or martial achievements. Lady

A , Arthur's mother, belonged to a class

suddenly raised by v,'ealth and title to prominence
and high social distinction.

There is no finer class of people in Britain,
and less pretentious than that which composes,
the well informed, common sense portion of the
British aristocracy. They are nobility itself.
But weak, vain, narrow visioned persons are
found in all classes of society, and among the
ancient nobility of England, such a class natur-
ally exists. They exist as well among that
class, which is continually tumbling into social
prominence, through wealth, political influence
and party power. Addison has remarked in one
of his " essays on manners," " that there is more
to do about precedence in a company of justices'
wives than in a company of Duchesses." In
Great Britain to-day, there is no portion of the

P4CKWARD GLANX'ES.

163

people less aristocratic, than the well informed
and intelliorent aristocracy.

After Arthur and his wife were comfortably
settled in England, and the imaginary war
whoop and scalping knife, had ceased to be bars
to a family re-union, they toured in pleasure for
some time through what are called the provincial
towns of the country. They were welcomed and
received by the best society, and only once was
Pauline called upon to resent an insult because
of her colonial birth. She met at a railway
station the daughter of an iron monger, who
had gained great wealth and prominence and
social position through successful business opera-
tions. This young woman she had met at a
ball an evening or two earlier. Pauline became
the chief attraction at the function, which creat-
ed little jealousies among the fair ones. The
iron monger's daughter leaning upon the arm of
her partner, with a haughty toss of the head, as
they walked through one of the corridors lead-
ing from the ball room, said loudly enough for
Pauline to hear her ; " she is only a poor girl
from Canada, why is so much fuss made over
her presence here, I am sure she is no beauty, it
is a wonder Arthur ever married her." At tlie
station Miss Ironmonger put out her hand to
bid Pauline a farewell on her departure in com-
pany with her husband and the Countess L

for Ireland. Pauline tixed her dark brown eyes

I ■juL.LiJui. \i^^^mmmmmmmmimmimmimmKm

164

BACKWARJ) (^tLANOKS.

upon her detractor, who .seemed to tremble and
sway, as tliough taping a wliirlwind or tempest,
while Pauline looked a young Juno about to
cast the bolts of Jupiter upon her, said, " I was
about to treat you unkindly," then she paused,
and in a gentle, confident, masterful and woman-
ly n)anner continued, " I thank you ; but always
remember that 1 am a Canadian and proud of
the name, and the county to which you belong
will some day be as proud of Canada as I am."

The party toured through Ireland for some
time, then returned to England. As they were
entering a Britii^h port on board an Irish packet,
Pauline became deeply interested in the conver-
sation of two young men sitting near the Coun-
tess and herself. One pulled a paper out of his
pocket and began to read to the other as follows :

" The Minister of Foreign Affairs has received from
Lord Cowley the following communication : — Mon-
sieur le Ministre, I have the honour to transmit to
your Excellency the annexed copy of an address, in
which the Legislative Council and the Legislative
Assembly of Canada offer conjointly to the Queen
their congratulations on the occasion of the victory
gained by the allied armies at the Alma, and express
their intention of contributing to the subscription in
aid of the widows and orphans of the soldiers and
seamen, both English and French, who have fallen in
the present struggle. A sura of £20,000 having been
for this object, sent to London by the government of

BACKWARD GLANCES.

165

Cf*uada to be divided equally between the two
nationH, T am charged to request your Excellency to
inform me of the wishes of the Government of the
Emperor relative to the racfde of transmitting the
£10,000 (250,000 francs) which belong to France."

I am, itc,
Jan. 30th, 1855. Cowlk.y.

Just aa the young Irishman had concluded,
three shrills touts of the steamer's whistle startled
the passengers. Quick as the Hash from a gun,

the young man took the Countess L by

the arm and said " qi'.ick ladies and see the
lovely sight over the other side of the ship." In
an instant they were up and almost to the other
side, when a collision occurred and the ladies fell
into his arms from the shock. Arthur hastened
from another quarter of the packet, where he
had been looking after his luggage. The upper
part of the steamer had been stove in and the
ladies escaped serious injury, if not death.

A few years earlier a young man named
Windham, had rescued on one of those Irish
packets two ladies from imminent death in a
similar collision in the Irish Cliannel. This
latter lived to become the hero of tlie Redan,
the former a few years later woo the Victoria
Cross for valor on the sunny plains of India

A Warding From Over the Sea.
Shortly before the introduction of the British
North America Act in the British Parliment, an

mmmmmmmm

166

BACKWARD GLANCES.

Eiitjlish officer arrived from America und met at
Arthur's home a gentleman of one of Her
Majesty's regiments deeply interested in Cana-
dian confederation. In conversation the officer
said : I have spent some time in the United
States and recently travelled through Quebec,
Ontario and thje Maritinie Provinces, spending a
few weeks in each of the provinces, before finally
embarking at Halifax for home. To wliatever
part of the Canadas, (witli of course some excep-
tions) I directed my attention I found evidences
of advanced civilization, and all tliose accommo-
dations which an emigrant so often looks for in
vain. Canada occupies a high position in its
agricultural mercantile and manufacturing inter-
ests. Few colonies possess the advantages it
offers, in an intellectual and religious point of
view. Its political institutions open up a wide
field for talent and energy which could find ^w
exercise at home. The politics of the country are
in a deplorable condition nevertheless, and the
provinces on the verge of bankruptcy. The
factions are worse in some respects than those of
Ireland. Party and prejudice are rampant.
The Maritime Provinces can only save those
provinces* credit and regulate their political
machinery. They are doomed without tlieir aid,
hence the terrible efforts to bring about the
union on the part of both the liberals and con-
servatives of Ontario and Quebec. The clear

lUCKWAUD OLANCteS.

167

grit elements of Ontario are the loudest and
most determined unionists in all British North
America. They stop at nothing and never seeni
daunted.

" In the Maritime Provinces the people are real
Britons and fervently loyal to our Queen. In
Nova Scotia I found the great mass* of the
people deadly opposed to unite in a political
compact with Ontario and Quebec, and I feel it
will be unwi.se in our government to attempt by
legislation to force this people into a union
against their will. Their feelings toward the
Motherland are too true to be even tampered
with. I willingly admit, the union cannot be a
success without Nova Scotia, but it will be a
greater success when those people join it will-
ingly, whicli I think they will if left alone for a
few years. I may be mistaken but I am
impressed that my views are correct. The men*
of the maritime provinces are hardy, intelligent
and iiidustrious, the women are excellent house-
keepers and the daughters tlie " Belles of the
Einpire." The young ladies of Ontario and
especially some of those of Quebec are exception-
ally beautiful," (Pauline who was sitting beside
her husband at the time, smiled and bowed, ^
but I had considered the ladies of New
Zealand the handsomest I had ever seen, until I
had visited St. John, Fredericton, Annapolis,
Kentville, Windsor and Halifax and other

108

BACKWARD GLANCKS.

localities of the niaritiuic provinces. I hope the
people of Nova Scotia will be allowed to exert
that British freedom they so much prize, and
upon which all our institutions are founded. It
is just that they should."

The ^^entlenian who so strongly advocated
the confederation scheme, and who afterwards
received recognition from his sovereign, admitted
the union was impossible of success without
Nova Scotia, merely replied : "It must be
accomplished to save the Canadas fioin political
and financial shipwreck."

Just as the gentleman spoke the last words,
the Countess entered the room. She was well
acquainted with the gentleman, whose words
she heard on entering. She invited him to
repeat them. He did so. The Countess said :
" Lieutenant, those last words of yours, bring to
my mind a very unpleasant remembrance. A
few years ago I thought the Canadas were a
tribe of indian warriors, but I rojoice to-day in
having studied a little of our colonial history,
':nough indeed to correct me in mj^ judgment of
our people in the British North American colon-
ics. How little we have known of our race in
other lands. Association with those colonists
informs us better than books, and the speeches
of our politicians." At this moment Pauline
re-entered the room havinix left a few minutes
before the Countess came in. " Look," " Lieuten-

HACKWAHI) CLAN ES.

ant," said the Counters, "here comes one of tlie
CanadiiH, I think hir ([uite as beautiful as any
lady in En^dan<l and even more captivatin*;. I
was absolutely cha .ned at my tirst 8i;;lu uf lier.
You will be ^dad of the opportunity to li>ten to
her, if she cares to speak concerninjU' the union
of Nova Scotia with the Cajiadas. She knows
more about our Nova Scotian colonists than any
of our statesmen, and thinks it not only unwis**
but wronf:^ to interfere with the will of such an
intelligent and loyal people." The Lieutenant
looked at Pauline, and scjd ; " you pi.^rhajus Jud^je
rightly, but tlu re are times when England must
consult her own interest Hrst, even if that inter-
est conflicts with the feelings of any one of her
colonies. " If that be so," replied Pauline, " re-
garding a free and enlightened colony such as
Nova Scotia is, I consider the enforcement of
such English interest in opposition to the wisli
of the colonists, as unfounded in principle, and
if such a polic}" is continued among our free
colonies, it will be fatal in its consequences to this
country. With my knowledge of Nova Scotians,
if I were a public man, I would condemn such a
system at the beginning, and opp(jse its progress.
in every stage, both in and out of Parliament."

The Lieutenant laughingly replied ; " Perhaps-
I am guided in my opinion by strategy, and
military knowledge, rather than purely political
knowledge, if I may so express myself, regarviing

170

IIACKWARD TiLANCES.

the union of Nova Scotin with the Cana(hia."
" Thfit, I dare say is true, and to use another's
expression, ' your words are a grenadier's march
to my heart,' but ' my mouth shall speak of wis-
dom ; and the meditation of my heart sliall be
of undeistanding.' Our prayer, the prayer of
this nation, should be that every statesman of
the land, may be i,niided in Ills action by tlio
third verse of the forty-ninth psalm, when ho
attempts to interfere with tliat beautiful and
rich little English colony lying far tway in tlie
Atlantic, and inhabited by the bravest and
truest British hearts. It is not for you and me
Lieutenant with our knjwledge of those people
to sanction an extreme course and the exercise
of arbitrary rule. Power continued by gentle
njeans, and by degrees, rather than by a sudden
exliibition of strength, is in its nature more
desirable and firm, than by any other means. It
was once said that an English government mis-
took a single province of Massachusetts Bay for
the American Empire, and in this day English
statesmen seem to know as little about Nova
Scotia, as they once did about Massachusetts.
You may not know the province as well as I do
and the state of feeling there," replied Pauline.
The Lieutenant answered by saying : " I feel
rather surprised, you being a Canadian, do not
wish to see a compact union, called Canadian."

Pauline readily replied : " I am proud of being
a Canadian, and desire to see a compact and

MACKWAHI) (iLANCES.

171

isatiMl'jictory union. Hut becHUMo I was free
born, I object to a forocMl and unsatisi'actory one,
in one of its principal parts."

Tlie Lieutenant here turned the conversation,
and soon after took lii.s departure. And in no
long time, after his visit to Arthur's home, was
appointed to an honoraiile position in one of
Hor majesty's colonies.

Tlie lieutenant admitted to Arthur the next
time that they met. that Pauline's thorou<^h
common sense, her love of liberty, together with
her easy Hn<l <Jjraceful manner, "and captivating
and earnest tone, were indeed a ijronadier's
march to liis heart. And that she had almost
pursuaded hini that she judged correctly, but he
felt that his position would not allow him to
retreat fro»n the stand he had taken.

The most notable variation between the
lieutenant and Pauline was that the lieutenant's
politics resembled a piece of haughty and dom-
ineering stale-craft, whereas the politics of
Pauline were part of her nature. She was aware
from her knowledge of Nova Scotians, that tliey
could be trusted to enjoy their freedom, without
the least fear that they would abuse their
opportunities.

If British statesmen had possessed the true
nobility of aim which inspired Pauline, there
would have been no forcing of Nova Scotia into
the Canadian Union, in eighteen hundred and

172

BACKWARD GLANCES.

nixty-seveii. And if the leader or leaders of the
No\a Scotiari government party had possessed a
little of the purity and patriotism of this 8}>]endid
Canadian woman, it is JifHciilt to say what
>j;reat and growing advantages would have sur-
sounded Nova Scotia at the present hour.
?auline well knew tliat it would have he(tn a
statesmanship far more in keeping with the
time, for Englisli politicans to have listened to
the Mppeals of the colonists in defence of their
lights, rather than to a hungry band of placemeTi
and pensioners in the service of Hiitain in the
colony, or to a few Nova Scotian |>olitieians,
who in view of the possibility of carrying the
province into the union looked forward to Cana-
dian or Imperial honour?!. If their success
raised them in ine esteem of Kngiishmen, it
rendered them still more obnoxious to every
true Nova Scotian colonist, and to every Cana-
dian, influenced by a spirit as noble as that of
Pauline.

I'here is scarcely a person, among tiie l^ritish
aristocracy of to-day to whom tlie word Canada
>vould suggest red skins or convicts or the name
Nova Scotia, Maoris or Zulus.

And naval and military ofhcers an<] Eno^llsh
statesmen have found out, that not in the
increase of battle ships and guns, nor in the
conimand of a mighty commerce alone, lies the
power of Britain, but that in a greater degree,

BACKWARD (ILAXCES.

173

ahe tincKs lier power increasinor tlirouo^h tlie
expansion and development of iiiaLrnificent prov-
inces and territories in her threat colonial pos-
sessions.

The colonics are making the Greater I'rituin,
which some day compared with (ireat Britain
may appear as powert'u) as the latter did to
Nova Scotia in eif^hteen hundred and sixty-
seven, (ireat and small colonies are achieving
many triumplis, other and greater victories are
yet in store For tliem. H may be advantageons
to civilization and the world at laro-e, if colonial
progress does not lessen Great tW'itain's p^^wer.
Esjghxnd has been imphcitiy trusted alike by
her great and proud colonies and her equal!}"
proud and smallei one> . Whatever the future of
( Sreat Britain and her colonies may he, the out-
look would seem to forecast a more extensive
alliance of the Anijlo Saxon race hrndy united
in the cause of civilization under their several
forms of popular goverrnnent.

Britislj statesmen and soldiers have sometimes
blundered, but their history is still incomparable
What they, in tlieir own way liave accomplished
for Great Brita; tin- Ancjlo Saxons, their
brethren, scattere'l about the globe, will accom-
plish in their own way for the world.

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Chapter XIII.

Canadian and Other Tariffs.

Whether Canada lias prospered under a pro-
tective taiiff more rapidly than she would have
prospered under a non-protective taritt', is a
question it might be difficult to decide. No
doubt protection has done good in some sections
of the Doniinion, while its effects have been the
opposite in other localities. Freer commercial
intercourse with the New England States, would
have been a much greater boon to the Maritime
Province during the past twenty years, than all
their trade with the rest of Canada and protec-
tion included. Hardly any intelligent citi/en of
these provinces will deny this statement.

But looking at what nearly all other countries
and governments have been doing through the
past quarter of a century, it is difficult to see
how Canada could have escaped a protective
tariff. Even if Encjland had jjiven her colonies
an advantage over other countries in her mar-
kets, in prohibiting foreign articles from com-
peting with, tho.se of her colonies on even terms,
which she is never likely to do, it is most diffi-
cult to understand, how Canada could have
stood the competition of the United States, and

BACKWARD GLANCES.

at the same time liave created any ^^-eai in-
dustrial establishments of her own.

Protection like an epidemic has been spread-
ing over the whole face of the globe, and manu-
factories of all kinds have been sprinn-lntr up
like mushrooms.

Articles that wure largely exported about the
world, such as cotton, woolen, silk, linen, steel
and iron, glass and pottery, all manufactured,
can now scarcely find markets in America,
France, Germany, Belgium, Holland. Austria,
Hungary, Italy or Spain, these goods are manu-
factured cheaper and as good in all these countries
as they are in the United States. They are
manufactured in all these countries about as
cheaply as in any one of tliem. And all these
countries have custom duties on all these classes
of goods, in some instances higher tlian those
that were imposed by the McKinley law in
America.

We cannot turn to any continent of the world
without meeting with protection. If we look at
Asia we find in India high duties, with discrim-
ination in favour of English goods, and .some
classes of these goods are manufactured in India.
In China some of these classes of goods are also
manufactured there bv labourers tiettiuir ten
cent8 tt day, who subsist on fisli and rice. There
are many articles the Cliinese do nut manufac-
ture, but they are yearly acquiring the al^ility

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176

BACKWARD GLANCES.

to jriake all classes of croodH needed in that vast
country. At the present time Great Britain
witli cheaper floods than America, and some of
the Emn^pean countries controls the trade of
China.

If we look at Japan, a hi^h rate of duties is
found tliere, and che ip labor engaged in manu-
facturing man}' articles formerly imported. In
the Australian colonies, in all but one, there are
high custom duties with discrimination in favor-
of EnHand.

Africa is largely supplied by Great Britain,
France, Belgium and Gennany with manufac-
factured and other articles, but Africa is largely
just opening.

If we look at our own continent, we itind
Mexico with a tariff law covering all classes of
manufactured goods. In Brazil, the Argentine
Kepublic, Peru, Chili, Bolivia and all the princi-
pal countries of South America the case is the
aanK'. So it must be admitted that protection
and tiie spread of manufacturing industries
around the world have severely hampered the
comamerce of the globe, and the countries that
can manufacture the cheapest or place their
n*anufactured articles in the ports of those
countries, that have not yet been »ble to manu-
facture for themselves, will secure their business
in this line.

Canada could have ke[>t on importing all she
required in manufactured go<^ds from Kngland

BACKWARD OLANCES.

177

and the Unite<l States, but all the operatives
working in industrial establishments of the
country, would liave been manufacturing goods
for Canada in the United States, and in all
probability Ontario and Quebec would have
shown little more increase in population during
the last decade than the three maritime pro-
vinces. If the United States had l)een willing
to continue the Reciprocity Treaty of eighteen
hundred and fifty-four until the present time, it
is more than likely, it is almost certfiin ev^ry
portion of the ]3ominion would have been as
prosperous as its most prosperous parts. Theie
seenuid to be nothing left for Canada but pro-
tection, and the Hun, Alexander McK^n/ie
appeared to realiz*' this when lie added two and
one-half per cent, to the tariff during his admin-
istration and received the support of tlu- anti-
union members from Nova Scutia in liiis piece
of legislation, nnd also in placing a duty on
American od fifty per cent, higher, than has
been placed on aiiv other article since that time.
It is generall}' believed to-day, that if the leader
of the clear grit party, the Hon George Brown
had not with persistence interfered with Mr.
McKen/ie's intentions, the liberal leader would
liave l^*en the first statesman to have established
the protective system in this country, and some
portions of some of Ids speeches appear to
support this Ix'hef. Canada ha.s been forced

178

BACKWARD C LANCES.

into this position through the circuniHtancefi sur-
rounding her. Otlier countries were drawing
away her people, she was obliged to do something
to retain iier population in her towns, cities and
centres of trade. The country has produced
few if any giant monopolis in the past twenty
years, and it is in a better position to hold
these in check, than the people and government
of the United States are to control the great
monopolies of that country. If (Janada con-
tinues to keep an ever watcliful eye on her
industries and regulate their growth, slie will be
acting well in the interests of her future. It is
thought Ijy able and observing minds, that a
change in the protective system of the world
will be brought about sooner or later, and that
like the great military and naval systems of
Europe which must some day burst by their
own power, if not modified by some other cause,
protection will meet the same fate.

There is no invention in British, American or
German machinery, which reduces the cost of
production, that is not at once adopte<i in every
manufacturing country of the world. And so
the iDUsiness goes on, manufacture for ourselves,
protect ourselves and squeeze in where we can
till each country is practically living in its own
hive, and its inhabitants are restrained from
gathering from .'ibroad, and unlike the bees
which unmolested gather their honey from

RkCkwart) glances.

170

flower to flower and field to field and continue

to increase in number and plenty. We have not

yet found Canadian cities stuffed with idlers and

paupers. Wages have been average, prices

nioderate, and few undesirable imniigrants have

been encouraged to come into the country. The

people have lived economically and have not

been overburdened with taxation. W^hen her

natural products and other articles were .shut

out of one market, she found another. Her

.surplus products have readily found a market in

the mother country : and her bankintr system is

sound. She has .md few whisky kings, railway

kings or millionaires to control her legislatures.

She has few political bosses of importance in any

of her great cities, and if the people prove true

to themselves and their country in the future as

they have in the past, they will check the rapid

growth of millionaires and gradually pull down

the barriers of class distinction and brin«r about

a purer socialism Self respect, morality and

education and true manhood will completely

overshadow \ain pretentious, and throw back

the J lower of wealth, and check the pride of

birth and subdue it within proper limits, and the ,

society of the educated and manly mariner,

agriculturalist, mechanic, artizan, fisherman and

honest toiler, will be as good and elevating, a.s

he who carries a title or wears a decoration, or

oi those who deal out law and medicine, and of

saaoHWHi

180

liACKWARD GLAXCES.

the millionaire and those who thrive and flourish
throuiijh the droppinofs of those who have lived
and died before them.

The power of England has been, and is, great
on land and sea. Her commercial power is also
great, and were she to put at a stroke a McKinley
tariff* upon her imports from all countries ; where
would Canada be ? Where would the I'nited
States be ? Where would every country that
sends its thousands of articles annually to her
shores be ? And where \tould England in a little
while herself be ^ She could by such an act very
largely block the commerce of the round world,
and whatever distress and misfortune such an ex-
periment would cause to the nations at large, it
would soon cause the bringing in of freer co»u-
mercial intercourse in all the earth. It is to be
hoped, our statesmen of whatever party they
may call themselves will not seriously tinker with
this country's tariff, until some event brings
about a trade reformation in the United States.

Canada has not been the first of Britain's
possessions to discriminate in favour of imported
goods from the mother land, that honor Vjelongs
to India and the Australian colonies.

It is a fact, that under a protective policy, the
consumer has to pay more for his goods, than
under a free trade policy. Some politicians will
tell us such is not the case, because the more
industries you encourage by a high tariff, the

BACK WAR I ) « J. AXCES.

181

more competition there is in a country, and
competition cheapens articles. True it does.
But a high tariff places a limit on competition.
ft places a barrier against the competition of
other lands, some of which produce certain articles
cheaper than Canada is able to produce them.
The expression, ' we must protect our Indus-
tries," proves conclusively, that foreign competi-
tion would bring goods into the country at a
price lower than the Canadian articles, and by
flooding the markets bring all classes of goods to
a much lower level in prices. In one respect
this would be an advantage to the consumer by
giving him a free market and cheaper goods.

Mr. Davies, Mr. Foster and Sir Richard Cart-
wright in speaking on the tariff in the House of
Commons a few years ago, took different views,
at least two of them from the other, (apparently
different views), but in following out their
different ways, they all come out at the same
wicket. Mr. Foster believed by reducing the
tariff' on sugar, kc, he was giving the people
some millions, the consumers they were called,
and consequently lightening the burden of taxa-
tion from off' the shoulders of the consumers.
Sir Kichard Curtwright and Mr. Davies believed
the National Policy was costing the consumers
from ten to eleven million dollars annually, and
by reducing this amount from the taxation
caused by a high tariff, it would be putting

IH B wrTB'wiirttii i i i wn i a

182

BxVCKWARI) GLANCES.

eleven million dollars into the pockets of the
consuiiRTs. When we uncover their views, by
taking away a mass of tiu^nres and words, which
covers and mystifies them, both their opinions
are as completely united as were the bodies of
the " Siamese Twins." The simplicity of a great
truth is often hidden, by a speaker wlio design-
edly covers with words and figures his real
opinions for purely selfish and interested motives.
Such men confuse the minds and thoughts of
electors who have not tlie time, nor sometimes
the inclination to look into the prominent or
great c^uestion placed before tliem, and are an
obstruction to the advance of great truths, and
the spread of a healthy public opinion. There
is this to say of protection, and it is a simple
saying, and will be clearly understood by every
reader, it is this, it is better for the countrv to
raise eleven million dollars of extra taxation
from the people on manufactured goods, no
matter into whose pockets the money goes, or
from whom it comes, in a country where
people are free to buy what they require, or as
much or little as they desire, than to have thirty
millions go out of the country to employ foreign
labour in a land, where it is proposed not to
return one million of this money to support the
working classes of the country from which they
received the money. The circumstances which
the Acts of other lands and people, place about

RAOKWARh (-JLANCKS.

183

UH, very often lead us to support policies we
would like to see abolishoil hy these other lands
and other peoples. Policies to which we may
be opposed and compelled to adopt in the interest
of our own industries and working classes.

The great danger of ;i InVh protective taritF is
in the increasing greed of corporations, and the
power they exert in governments and parlia-
ments, and at the polls, to the injury of the
working classes,

A clear and concise writer, has said : '• It is of
first importance to keep ever in the foreground
the fundamental fact that the real issue is and
must be the commonwealth against the corpor-
ations ; that is, the freedom, happiness, an<l pros-
perity of all the people against the aggression of
organized greed. It matters not whether we
consider the question from the standpoint of
econoniics, from that of public morality and
national integrity, or from that of private virtue
and self respecting manhood , whether we view
it in its relation to the liberty of the people and
that sound morality upon which enduring free
government alone can rest ; whether we view it
merely as a question of business relating to the
interests of the people ; or whether we consider
the higher and more important aspects which
relate to the fundamentals upon which lasting
civilization rests, — this issue l>ecomes one of first
importance to every right thinking man, whether
he be statesman or educator, farmer or artizan."

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BACKWARD OLAN'CES.

When one political party, declares that the
prosperity of the country depends absolutely
upon its policy, and its policy is protection, and
the other party declares its policy is the
opposite of protection, there must be uncertainty
in the minds o£ the people as to the future.
Instead of both sides being rno<Jerate, they be-
come more extreme in their views. One sustain-
ed by its policy is fighting desperately to maintain
its ground, the other supported by its policy as
determinedly trying to defeat its opponents
and drive them out of their position. While
this is going on, with victory on one side and
sometimes on the other, uncertainty as to the
future reigns supreme, and more especially is
this so, when neither party shows a willingness
to yield a point to the other alx>ut th*.' things
for which they are contending. The situation
in the United States will confirm the above, we
have seen the American treasury under a high
as well as under a low tariff, and withal under a
continually changing tariff, suffering deficits.
and continuous strikes and unrest among the
masses. England with her unchanging system
of duties has been steadily moving forward, with
her exchequer full to overflowing, and with but
slight interruptions of unreat among her working
classes. Canada may not yet have reached that
stage, when sudden and continuous changes are
being made in her tariff, and it m hoped she never

BACKWARD OLANCRS.

185

will. Among tlie greatest evils any country can be
CfJled upon to endure, is when its tariff is l^eing
ceasdessly tinkered with by one party or the
other. Far better would it be under the present
restrictions surrounding the commerce of the
world, for a country to endure the penalties of a
hi;:^h tariff or the disappointments of free trade,
rather than the fluctuating and tinkering system
of ti»e United States.

The people will soon find out that the pro-
fe«>sions of an irresponsible opposition are out of
date, wlien such opposition, changes its place to
rmt' of responsibility, and where it has to consider
the numerous and important interests fostered
hy a tariff' of eighteen or twenty years standing.
The people readily see that any sudden and
flrH,^tic change, under present conditions, would
Hh&ka the foundations upon which trade has
>>een resting, from one end of the county to the
other.

In opposition to the tariff policies of other
countries Kngland is better enabled to continue
on in her course of comparative free trade, than
would any other country under the sun. Eng-
land is not only a great trader, but also a great
banker. Most every country of the globe owes
her millions of money, and some of them very
many millions ; it has been said that the amount
the draws annually, from interest and dividends
oat of these countries, approach half her yearly

186

BACKWARD GLANCES.

revenue. This statement may be near the truth
or it may not.

One thing is certain, and that is, her annual
income from these sources is very great. In
finding a market open and unrestricted for all
these countries, she is contributing toward pay-
ing her subjects the interests and dividends due
from other nations and peoples. Whereas, if a
protective tariff was levied on all those -rticles
of import, the borrowing power of other coun-
tries would be diminished and their capabilities
of pt'iying their interests and dividends impaired.
In this way she is enabled to purchase cheaper
than most countries. While she occupies this

position, it is difficult to see how she can place a
duty on her foreign imports, or give her colonists
a preference in her markets over other countries.
Statesmen and politicians may talk about pro-
tection, fair trade and discrimination in the
mother country, but none of them receive any
satisfactory encouragement from the English
people, who are most cautious in attenjpting any
serious change in their revenue system. Her
present system is likely to remain, as unchange-
able as her people. No risk of commercial niin
is involved in extensive commercial relations
with Great Britian. No English government is
at the mercy of organized and powerful com-
binations of wealth. A government is incapable
of taking care of itself when regulated and
controlled by great trusts and corporations.
Good and safe government can only rest on the
uncorrupted voice of the people.

Chapter XIV,

Independent Action.

The live years probation promised by Mr.
Blake came to a close at the beginning ol" the
year eighteen hundred and seventy-four. Messrs.
McKenzie's and Blake's party took the reins of
power about this time. These Honorable gentle-
men had seventeen professed anti union members
amongst their supporters. Some of the f-even-
teen were the njost pronounced anti unionists of
Nova Scotia. Not one of these seventeen, made
a demand upon Mr. Blake to fulfil his promise.
There was no raising of the tomahawk, or daub-
ing on of war paint and brandishing of scalping
knives and figuring in a war dance. They were
silent, tranquil, and full of passive obedience
to their ciuefs. Yet some of these braves,
joined in the Nova Scotia pow-wow of eigh-
teen hundred and eighty-six. These so-called
seventeen Anti Nova Scotia representatives, sat
with Messrs. McKenzie and Blake : they voted
with Messrs. McKenzie and Blake, and they sup-
ported the union with McKenzie and Blake, and
some were members of a union cabinet, yet not
one of them ever troubled Messrs. McKenzie and
Blake about repeal for Nova Scotia, and what is

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]88

BACKWARD GLANCES.

even worse, not one of these Nova Scotia mem-
bers e /er opened his mouth about an extension
of the eighty-two thousand, six hundred and
ninety-eight dollars, as the ten yearj* for which
this sum was annually given to Nova Scotia
were about to expire. They were docile ; they
were beautifully contented ; they were smiling ;
they were in office ; they were in power ; these
things were much nearer their hearts than anti-
unionism ; than repeal, better terms or an exten-
sion for another ten years or forever of the
eighty-two thousand and odd dollars. There
has been often openly announced a sentiment,
which declares all is fair in politics, but it is
hoped the day is at hand, when deception will
stand for deception, and insincerity for insin-
cerity, whether committed in political or private
life. Party has given principle too long the
cold shoulder in Canada, as well as in other
countries.

A public man may honestly change his views
on great public questions, or on any fixed line of
policy. The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone has
done so. The late Lord Beaconsfield had changed
his political views many times, and so did the
late Sir Robert Peel, but they openly let their
constituents and the world know what they had
done. No public man should be condemned for
a conscientious change of view. He should be
the more respected. Sir Robert Peel has said ;

BACKWARD GLANCES.

189

«»

" He held it impossible for any man to adopt one
fixed line of policy under all circumstances ; and
tlie only question with him when he departed
from that line should be : ' am I actuated by any
interested or sinister motives?' 'and do I con-
sider the measure I contemplate called for by the
circumstances and necessities of the country ?' "
There are men, perhaps their number is limited,
who enter political life, and at the same time
feel that they will never allow themselves to
become ujere machines in working out other
n\en's views, or in practicing other men's decep-
tions. There are two things such men keep
separate from each other. These two things are
principle and party. Principle they store deep
in their heart, and party they commit to the
grave. They never allow political or party
prejudice to override their judgment and con-
science. They are men into whose hands it is
safe to commit the affairs of a nation or province.
The time already appears to be (juite at hand in
this province and in this Dominion when men
may without difficulty act as honest and
jndep*»ndent legislators, and at the same time
R3 honest and devoted servants of the people.

Sir Robert Peel has also said : " If men were
always to adhere to old notions their experience
would be worth nothing ; and what is experience
worth if it teach not wisdom ? The outcry
about inconsistency and turncoatism has scared

■^■nBh

190

BACKWARD GLANCES.

iiiany an honest man in public life from the
expression of his heart conviction."

If there bad been more principle and much
less party, and no interested or sinister motives
in the local legislature of eighteen hundred and
sixty- six, Nova Scotians would have been at
liberty to either have entered the Canadian
Union or remain as they were. The Nova Scotia
Legislature committed a grave wrong, a despotic
act, the recollection of which will always sug-
gest despotism. Every lover of liberty, every
independent thinker, every true Nova Scotian,
and every English statesman acquainted with
the facts must condemn the act of that legisla-
ture. Sir Charles Gavin Duffy, a few years ago
in claiming the right for Ireland of determining
the provisions of her newly proposed constitu-
tion said : " Whenever the necessity for a
written constitution arose in any country repre-
sentative men of the nation proceeded to consider
the special provisions suited to its character and
requirements. British colonies great and small
exercised an independent judgment. The farmers
and fishermen of Prince Edward Island and the
convict population of Van Dieman's Land equally
with the intelligent and aspiring citizens of Can-
ada and Australia picked and chose for them-
selves, and their c\\o\CQ when made was confirmed
by an imperial statute. The people to be
enfranchised, to be worthy of their destiny,

PACKWARD niANCES.

191

must be active anri mpn'pathetic partvcvH m
whatever is done to establish and regulate their
liberties. If they themselves cannot do this
work it will never be effectually or permanently
done."

Sir Charles Gavin Duffy lays down the only
principle consistent with freedom. The people
should choose their representatives or delegates
for a particular business. Everybody knows
that Hon. Charles Tupper and his associates in
the Nova Scotia Legislature were not chosen by
the electors of the province, to make any terms
with Canada or to alter the constitution of the
province. They were elected to perform the
functions, and only the functions, their prede-
cessors performed for a quarter of a century.
The farmers and fishermen of Prince Edward
Island did choose for themselves, and the ship
builders and farmers of New Brunswick did the
same, and the convict population of Van Dieman's
Land have the power to pick and choose their
delegates and exercise an independent judgment
in all matters connected with the constitution of
their country. British colonies great and small
exercised an independent judgment, even when
the necessity for a written constitution arrived.
How much greater the necessity for an indepen-
dent judgment, wlien anyone but the people
attempt to interfere with that written constitu-
tion. The appointing of the delegates to the

11)2

ilACKW'AKl) fJLANCES.

Oharlottetown convention, as far as it was <lone
by tlie Governor, was not wrong, becauNe the
people seemed to favour a maritime union, but
there would have been no maritime' union with-
out the sanction of tlve electors. The delegation
to the Quebec conference, and the passing; of the
Canadian union resolutions by the local leoiwla-
ture was a high handed and a shameful usurpa-
tion ()f power in face of the popular will. They
dare not submit the (juestion of confederation to
the people, because they were aware they wuuld
have been routed, horse, foot and artillery. It
was a traitor's victory, and if anyone could have
seen into the lives of the actors all through their
subsequent career, it is quite likely he would
have found there a continued and strange mix-
ture of intense happiness and ecjually intense
misery. Happy, because selfish desires had been
obtained. Intense misery, because of the con-
tinued frowns of their fellow colonists, knowing
full well when they depart hence they go unwepu,
unhonored and unsung.

After the Nova Scotia legislature and dele-
gates had so ignorainiously settled all to their
satisfaction and the Imperial Parliament had
established the union, Messrs. filake, MacKenzie
and their Clear Grit adherents swallowed the
British North America Act in a lump, as one
swallows some delicious fruit. Blake and Mac-
Kenzie may have had interested r otives in their

liACKWAKL) GLANCES

193

opposition to any aineniliiient of the Act of
Union. They may have been panderirif^ to tho
clamour of tlieir constituents. They uiay not
have possessed independence enou<»h to express
their honest convictions. They must have
known the be.st minds and abhist statesmen of
Enirland were acrainst tliem. In ei«,diteen hun-
dred and sixty-eight, Mr. iJisraeli said in the
British House of Commons : " I take no oxaf'<^e-

rated views of the articles of union," (he was
refer rincr to the British North America Act) and
the Great Acts of Parliament, which were passed
to carry them into etiect, cannot by any consent
of the soverei«rii and of the estates of the realm
be chanored and modified. " On the side of the
anti unionists of Nova Scotia, it is wonderful
that they should conceive a warmth of friend-
ship, which tnight be described as devotion for
the men and party, which were the most intense
unionists of the whole country. These men in
tho House of Commons from Nova Scotia at
that time showed neither manly independence
nor noble aspirations. They carried party deep
in their hearts and consigned p inciple to the
grave. Party success and power were dearer to
them than their province. They willingly served
in the ranks of the enemies of their province in
the hope of party preferment. Party has been
made a great obstacle to the happiness and
prosperit}' of a people, as well as a great stimu-
leut to industry and freedom.

1!)4

nAf'K\VAIU> (iKAXCKS.

Hnt the <]jiys are sijijnalin},' the arrival of other
flays which with the light they are hrino^ing,
will point f)iit and reclif'y thr wron*»s and faults
of the past. We see niueh clearer to-day, the
mistakes of thirty year?^ a^o, than they weie
se(!n at that time ; we are to profit hy experience.

Lord Rosebery not long ago in a speech,
probably forecast the coming views of the niasst. ■<
in civilizt'd cominnnities, when he said . ' the
conscience of the eominnnity. now at la><i alive
to its (lutie.^ to all classes, would bring in a higher
morality a*? the future of poKties. I>y that are
tjovennnents henceforth to be guided. There
was nnw an unnamed body of citizens ever
inclined to say : A plague on both your houses ;
a plague on both your parties ; and who demand
ot politicians to cea.se their mere talk and do
something for the people. I hope to see at no
distant A}\y a prime minister who from time to
time will descend ^"•"^m the platform of party
and speak straight to the hearts of his fellow
countrymen." His words are the herald of the
new political morning. The proclamation of a
policy for the people and by the people. The
system that makes men see in party, all that is
loving and beautiful, all that is satisfying and
comforting, a system that accepts nothing, be-
lieves nothing, hopes for nothing outside party
lines, will make the way clear for this higher
morality in politics, and for the proelatiiaticn of

MACKWAm) (ir,AN< KS.

105

K»>

policies t'or the ]»eople and by the pcoph*. 'ri)e
progress that in being made in Canada in the
direction of this new reform is not ao much due
to statesmen and politicians, as to liard- working^
observing, determined citizens, with 8j)irits un-
compromising and ever ready to go t'orwaid.
honest in tlie'r ertbrl^ • bring about a socialisju,
wliich is not socialism but a far purer and fai*
more practical dot.'rine For "ohe lack ot' ;uch
minds, and spirits, and such consciences, in the
flouse of Commons duiing tlie fir.^'^t decade of
confederation the record of Nova Scotia has been
lar;'elv a failure.

Sir Oliver Mowatt, a gentleman, a statesman
and a patriot, who was never inflated with the
Clear (Jritism of George Brown and Edward
Blake, and who has been able to peer deeper into
the future than either, and whose mind has been
ever glancing all around and through party lines,
lias said in a magniHcent speech : " If any of us
in time desire to become an independent natiori ;
if any of us are for Canada first ; if we pref .)r
our own people to any other people ; if we do not
wish that as a political organization our dear
Canada should be annihalated ; if we do not wish
to 1)6 ourselves party to its receiving its death-
blow as a 1 ation, our proper course is plain, the
course of us all, Conservatives and lieforrnfrs
(dike: it is to cherish our own institutions; to
foster the affections of our own people toward

196

BACKWARD GLAKCES.

the fatherland ; to strengthen their appreciation
of the greatness and the glories of the Empire ;
to stimulate their interest in its grand history in
the cause of freedom and civilization ; and to
give now and always to the Dominion and to the
provinces the best administration of public affairs
that is practicable by our bed statesmen and best
public men whosoever they may be. I hope that
when another century has been added to the age
of Canada it may still be Canada, and that its
second century, like its first, be celebrated by
Canadians unabsorbed, numerous, powerful and
at peace."

" To give now and always to the Dominion
and the provinces the best Jidminis^tration of
public affairs by our best statesmen and best
public men whosoever they may be," are words
coming from one who represents and advocates
true Liberal principles. These guiding words
should be treasured in the memory of everv
Canadian. They should be his watch- words at
every political contest, Dominion and Provincial.

Chapter XV.

The Duty of Canadians to their Country.

The principles of tlie Reform Party of Canada
at the entering: in of Confederation were as
follows : —

"That it is alike the duty and desire of the
Canadian people to cultivate the moat friendly
relations with the neighboring people of the
United States, and especially to offer every
facility for the extension of trade and commerce
between the two countries. The convention
anticipate'^ with pleasure that the day is not far
distant when the government of the R'ipublic
will modify their restrictive commercial policy
towards the British American colonies ; and
while holdinor it the true Canadian policy to look
diligently about for new and profitable mirkets
for the products of the Dominion, wherever they
can be found, and while well satisfied that such
markets exist in othor foreign lands, fully a-j
lucrative as those heretofore enjoyed, yet this
convention regards it as the duty of the Canadian
ftdministration to meet frankly and cordially afiy
overtures from the Washington Government for
a new tre-ity of commercial reciprocity between
Canada and the Republic, extending over a fixed

^tM

108

BACKWAKl) GLANCES.

term of j'ears, based on efjuitahle prkiciples, and
consistent witli the honor of both countries."

The above resolution was moved at the oieat
Reforn» convention in the Music Hall at Toronto
on tlie twenty-seventh of June, eighteen hundred
and sixly-seven, just four days before Confedera-
tion was established. It was moved by Mr. John
Smith, of Hamilton, and seconded l>y Mr.
McDougall, of West Elgin, and unanimously
assented to. This was to be the true polic}^ of
the Reform Party of Canada in the parliaments
of the Union and everywhere over the country.
As soon as the government at Washington
expressed a desire for closer trade relations with
Canada, the Reform Party would be willing to
listen to their proposals, if they were based on
equitable principles and consistent with the
honor of both countries. The Americans have
so far never done this, and Canada has been
compelled to protect her markets from lieing
controlled by the Americans.

From the tone of the resolution it seems
hardly consistent with the honor and dignity
of Canadians to travel to commercial centres in
the United States and make speeches in favor
of reciprocitj', or go to Washington seeking a
moditication of l-nited States tariff' laws in
favour of Canada, without first being invited to
do so, by the President and government of the
Republic.

BACKWARD GLANCES,

199

Tlie views of the Honorable Alexander Mac-
Kenzie were always in accord with the sentiments
f>f the above resolution. Listen to the words ot*
Mr. MacKenzie in one of his public addresses.
" I had," he said, " the pleasure the other ni^ht
ci sitting beside a distinguished gentleman from
the United States. A newspaper of that morn-
ing had made a reference to Mr. Blaine being a
strong opponent of reciprocity, and to my being
an advocate of it, and conjectured that we would
probably be able to settle our differences at the
bantjuet. Weil, I referred to the matter simply
saying, that so far as reciprocity was concerned,
I tielieved myself in trade, and though every
Yankee failed to trade in anything else, he
would trade in jack knives, but I said that if
the modern Yankee had changed in this respect
and declined to swop on equal terms, we must
swop with somebody else."

Listen again to the words of Mr. McKenzie in
the same address. " Let me refer," he continued,
" to Sir Alexander Gait's utterance : He says he
would adopt such a policy with the United
States as would be independent of any action of
theirs in relation to the introduction of their
goods into the .Dominion, and that the tariff
must be regulated to suit Canadian interests
only. That has been my policy all my life, and
I refused to go into a government of which he
wa-j a prominent member, Chancellor of the

200

BACKWARD GLANCES.

Exch(Mjuer, because I conceived that his policy
of eigliteen hundred and sixty-six would lay us
at the feet of the United States commercially.
I refused for that reason, so that I am triad to
know that if we differed ten vears acjo we are in
entire harmony at the present moment as to the
policy to be adopted by this country."

The words of Mr. McKenzie delivered in
eighteen hundred and .seventy-seven are as clear
an a cloudless sky. While the Americana adhered
to protection against Canadian goods, he was in
favour of a tariff to be regulated to suit Cana-
dian interests only. And such was his view ten
years earlier, when he refused to go into a
government, whose policy he feared would lay
the markets of hia country at the feet of the
United States. And such were his views all his
life, including the four years he governed the
country from the beginning of eighteen hundred
and seventy-four until his government was de-
feated in eighteen hundred and seventy-eight-
And such is the only true and patriotic policy
for the Dominion, while the condition of the
United States tariff' towards Canada remains as
at present.

Canadians have looked abroad for other
markets and have accomplished wonders in this
direction. The trade stati.stics for the years
eighteen hundred and ninety-four and those of
eighteen hundred and ninety-seven are .some-

BACKWAKl) GLANCES.

201

thing to cheer the hearts of the people. Wc
have shown the American people that we can
thrive and grow without them, even if their
hi;j;h protection tariff does press very hard on
the people of the Maritime Provinces. Our
country has not been overrun with tramps, and

" The first low wash of waves
Where soon .shall roll a human sea,"

highly agitated and boisterous, pressing up to
the very doors of Parliament, is as far di.^jtant
as ever in the new Dominion.

Every thoughtful Canadian is deeply sensible
of the importance of close trade relations with
the United States, and there is a class of Ameri-
cana who desire freer trade with this country.
And if the Maritime Provinces of Canada and
the New England States of America had been
free to make a treaty or arrange their tariffs,
long ago, sati.sfactory trade relations would
have existed between the peoples of these impor-
tant sections of the two great countries. But as
the United States as a whole, and Canada as a
whole, have full charge of their tariff and treaty
arrangements, nothing can be accomplished in
the way of change except through the general
governments of these peoples. If Canada is to
become a great nation, she must maintain her
dignity with her growth, and patiently wait
until her neiiibbour shows a willingness to remove
the barriers she erected aofainst the Dominion.

202

BACKWARD fJLANCES,

Those vvlio first raised the obstructions are the
proper ones first to attempt to remove them.
Canadians have again and again shown that they
have no aversion to a change, but wwild heartily
welcome one, if such a change could be brought
about consistent with the dignity and honor of
their country. The people of the Dominion are
national in feeling, proud of the race from which
they sprung, and are fully determined to sustain
their country in the proud position which sl\e
occupies. To pursue any other course is to
admit the cotintry is incapable of taking care of
itself without the assistance of the United
States. We iHUst Icok to ourselves, rely upon
ourselves, without any further looking to Wash-
ington or reliance upon th^ Congress of the
United States. Any further efforts in this
direction will only multiply and prolong the
mistaken methods which have proved fruitless
in the past. This experiment has been thorough-
ly tried anil utterly failed, and will as often fail,
until the Americans exhibit a serious desire to
bring aboi>t a change in their trade relations
with the people of this country.

Canada is prosperous, tranquil and happy, in
most of her parts there is scarcely any unrest
concerning taxation. The country has not be-
come the dumping ground of misery, degradation
and crime from the cities and countries of
Europe. The Canadians seem to have remem-

BACKWARD (JLAVCES.

20,S

bered the fact, that to a considerable extent the
immigrants yearly arriving in any country
direct the destinies of that country, and have
only encouraged those of a better class, who are
opposed to outlaw, ignorance and irreligion.
They encourage only those who are in favour of
sound institutions and peaceful progress. The
country is in need of immigrants, Tt has still
room for hundreds of thousands of theui, but it
has decided do obtain them if possible from those
localities where moral and religious instruction
in various forms is given to the youth.

before the building of railways into the far
west of the United States, atheism, outlaw,
robbery and murder were rampant.

All through the west and far west of Canada,
the Pacific Railway has been the open door for
the Bible and the first settlements of those
districts took place under the banner of the cross.
Canadians seem to have realized from the foun-
dation of the union until the present, that the
greatness of England and the extent of her
power, has been in the national acceptance of the
christian religion. And in holding to this belief
lies the safety and security of the Canadian
Union, It would be safe in the Dominion, it
would be well for the Dominion to extend to
every nation builder, who has been long enough
in the country to understand something of Us
inBtitutions,and who can read and write, and who

204

KACKWARD (J LANCES.

is not an idiot, the freedom of the franchise.
The working men of the country in every
department of toil have proved themselves
worthy of this liberty. Those who have been
denied the franchise because two or three hun-
dred dollars of property was wanting to qualify
them, have in most cases exhibited a manly and
patriotic spirit. Their hands, and heads, and
hearts have been' peacefully and steadily engaged
in developing the country and working out its
destinies.

The men who take the lead in this legislation,.
will prove themselves deeply interested in the
future of the working men of the country, and
their act will be forever remeuibered with
gratitude.

While we see the toilers in some other coun-
tries, and in much older countries distressed and
turbulent, the working classes of the Dominion,
perhaps more so than at any other period in the
history of the countiy are contented and pros-
perous. And over the larger part of Canada, to
quote the beautiful words used by Sheridan, —

. "^ Content sits basking on the cheek of toil."

The United States and Canada are proud of
their ancestry. They are brethren, impelled by
that free spirit which has been the boast of
Britons from time immemorial. Between Canada
and America there should be no dissension.

BACKWARD (GLANCES.

205

Both countries stand at the head of modern
civilization. Their literature, their language,
their love of freedom, their laws and institutions,
their aims and hopes are much alike. In the
progress of the United States all Canadians feel
a pride, and the truest citizens of the llepublic
rejoice at the youthful vigor of Canada.

Neither country whatever their differences in
questions of trade, or tariff, can help seeing in
the other evidences of goodness and virtue and
internal worth, and of lofty aspirations and
generous sympathies which awaken their hearts
to admiration of each other.

«•

Chapter XVI.

Fidelity and Firmness in Discharge of Duty.

The noble otibrt, the glorious task of Sir
Oliver Mowatt, performed at a critical tinu; in
Canadian history, will never, never be forgotten
by his countrymen. His beautiful river of words
will contiiiuallv roll on invicjorating the tliouglits
of the people, and stimulatino every patriotic
feeling as it passes down through the second
century of representative government. It will
pass along with increasing power and expanding
volume to the close of another century, receiving
in its flow ten thousand tributary streams rising
in the hearts of the people and coming from
every section of the country.

In all lands there are those persons, whoso
opportunities for informing themselves of the
history of their country or of the workings of
political parties and of government and legisla-
tion are so limited, it is well, to keep such grand
words as those delivered by Sir Oliver Mowatt,
at the close of the first century of representative
government in Canada constantly on the wing,
that they may the better be enabled in the
midst of hypocrisy, extravagance, error and
party prejudice and passion, to hear occasionally
the outbursts of a true and honest heart.

IIACKUAKD Or.AXCKS.

207

Their uncheckod (low will often in.spire some
onrelesH and tlionghtless citizen to a sense of his
'liity, and .stii- him to a true sense of hm responsi-
^•IlitieM. All Sir Dllver Mowatt's countrymen
honour him, and the historian will hereafter
honour him, for his noble patriotism, which lias
been proved by acts as well as words. And for
the straight-forward simplicity of his conduct,
which has led him to openly acknowledge the
errors intu which some of his friends had fallen.
He has never preferred the interests of in-
dividuals before the interests of his country.
Such men as he are the safest to trust witli the
affairs of a country. The breath of popular
applause cjwinot turn aside such a man from a
seiise of hi« duty, which he follows with unfal-
tering step. Men like the present Governor of
Ontario endeavour to deserve well of their coun-
try by deeds for which they receive no empty
praise.

Whatever may be the opinions in Nova Scotia
regarding confederation, it must be admitted that
in many portions of the Dominion great things
have been accomplished since the union. No
old country or young country, has made such
magnificent strides in so short a time. And all
has been done in perfect peace.

There has been neither bloodshed nor riot, nor
strikes to seriously interfere with the onward
march. So far these splendid achievements are

208

IIACKWAIU) (iLANCtS.

the offspring of the union. In gUmcing back-
ward over thirty yoais, even in thin province our
pulsations (juicken, an«l our hopes in tht future
are strencjthened.

Englishmen and Americans, alii<e, have again
and again expressed their admiration at Caiiada's
progress, and at the glories with which tiie
victories of industry and peace have crowned
her. Fron) the lofty stage of tlie Imperial
throne the Queen Empress has watched with a
proud lieart her une(pialled success. And other
European monarchs have looked across a troubled
ocean, and wondered at the nation builders toil-
ing in the west from sea to sea, excited by no
fiery passions nor disturbed by any clamour.
And it may be that more than one of those rulers
have wept, as tliey turned about to view their
own countries and thrones. Our glancing back-
ward will strengthen our interest in the far away
localities of the vast domain, in the fertile
plains and boundless prairies, in the placid lakes
and streams, and in the rushing rivers, in the
grandeur of the mountains and beauty of the
hills, and in all the vast developments from
ocean to ocean during the last thirty years of
Queen Victoria's reign. As we rest for a moment
to consider all these splendid achievements, we
are led to ask ourselves the (juestion : Why these
grand results { Are they from the country and
its people alone :' Men in power, men in opposi-

HACKWAia) fiLAXCES.

209

tion, men in a^-rioiilturo, mon in cornmtnce, men
in every <lopurtm<'nt of enterprise anil industry (•
Without ^ topping further to consider ttie.se
(jiieHtion«. the answer fhishcs in upon us, as
coming from an uns(y.'n .|iiartor, Not from tliese
alone. Hut l)ecause the people are building a
nation founded upon the principles of the (.Miris-
tian religion, and thereby a<lvancirig tht; progress,
the happiness, the gran<leur and security of the
country.

If it has been <iecreed that .some day Canada
shall take her place among the nations of tht>
world, lu'r career of peace, and respect for the
Christian religion will have fitted her to perforn)
her duties more nobly and more gloriously
These things will very greatly assist her to enter
among the powers fully equipped.

If the Dominion i.s still to hold a first and
favoured place among the possessions of the
Empire and the peoples of the world, this can
only be done by the lionest exercise of all the
powers of all her people and a determined resolve
to trust in Him who has placed them in this
higli position, and in advance of some nations
that sprung into existence centuries before.

We must lay aside our local di.sappointments
and sorrows, without yielding up the lioneat
demands for provincial satisfaction in part or in
whole, and checking every sectarian or provincial
ill feeling, press forward with all other sections

210

BACKWARD GLANCES.

of the country in one great and united
Ijrotherhood, guided always by the precepts and
example of Him who knows how to lead and

how to govern.

As the first quarter of a century of United
Canada has passed to its close, and the consolida-
tion of the union assured, no nobler work will
ever be performed by the present ;ind toniinj^
generations, than to maintain in all its extent
the grandeur and security of the New Dominion
unimpaired.

Cultivating the arts of peace under the influ-
ence of freedom and Christianity, Canada has
advanced by rapid strides to great distinction
among the possessions of Great Britain. If tlie
Dominion should ever in its career find it neces-
sary to avenge insult or repel injury, it is hoped
that other nations will be a^witness to the e(iuity
of tlie sentiments and luoderation of th(.' views of
its people. This great colony can always maintain
her great and honored position, if Ingoists and
Demigodo are kept in there proper place, and
the conduct of those in authority is charjtcttri/.ed
by wisdom, moderation and firmness.

Let the wliole career of the country, l)e based
not upon any sectarian principle of education,
politics or religion, but upon the broad principles
of education, politics and religion, all founded
upon the teaching, the life and example of
Jesus Christ and His Apostles, then must as-
suredly the progress of the country will be like
the progress of a pure stream, which is sure to
fertilize the land th.rough which it luns. Then
tlie country could not bo stopped in its e.ireer of
glory unde:' the sovereignity of the people.

Chapter XVli.

Coronation to the Diamond Jubilee.

From the Coronation down to Canadian Con-
federation Her Majesty had as counsellors ten
Prime Ministers. This covered a period of just
thirty years, and it will be seen before the con-
chision of this chapter that she had exactly that
number of Premiers for advisors during the thirty
years from eighteen hundred and sixty-seven
to the year of the Diamonrl Jubilee.

In the sixty years of her \ouir reign she has
therefore had for counsellors twenty political
chieftains, or one for each three years of her
rule. All these Prime Ministers have shown
themselves to be exceptionally able statesmen.
Sojue of them men who exhibited extraordinary
tact in managing the House of Commons, but
none of them had tact or genius enough to
manage the Queen at will. Men of undoubted
genius have utterly failed to acquire the
command of that good woman. Her reign has
been her own, and a consistent one, from begin-
ning to the i)resent. Royal supremacy and
constitutional government have been linked
together and marched side and side. In reality

212

BACKWARD GLANCES.

the reign of Queen Victoria lias been a revela-
tion. The favourite doctrine of royal superiority
has been kept in complete subjection by queenly
common sense, and constitutional government
has never received a jar. Her Majesty made no
place for great nobles and influential commoners,
who would take pride in supporting extravagant
claims of the crown, in opposition to the rightful
supremacy of Parliament.

She has shown to the world how a monarch

can govern on constitutiokjal principles, without

any undue exercise of the ro\al prerogative*

Her queenly career has 'oeen one of perpetual

honor, and also of unceasing interest in tho

welfare of all her subjects. Th'.- advance of the

principles of peace and upright administration

has been her highest aim. Good men and women

in all civilized countries, incl siding tho.se of tho

greatest capacity and most comprehensiue views,

as well as all others, are strong in their adnnra-

tion of the moral courage displayed by the

Queen in endeavoring, at all hazards consistent

with the dignity and honour of Britain, to keep

the peace of the world. Her trust is in God,

Britain and the Empire. And among the titles

that surround her immortal name, there is none

more appropriate than Q<jeen of the People.

Her power extends to the en- is of the earth,
and she rulws around the world.

BACKWARD GLANCES.

213

In a book of refe*'ence of the year eighteen
hundred and thirty-seven, it is stated that the
area of . Her Majesty's dominions was at that
time (2,000,000) two million square miles. Sixty
years later a sinnlar authority tells us that the
British rule embraces no less than (11,385,000)
eleven million, three hundred and thirty-five
thousand square miles, an addition of (0,335,000)
nine million, three hundred and thirty-five
thousand square miles, since Victoria the First
mounted the English throne.

The Roman Empire, which for centuries gave
a measure of unapproachable magnitude to the
minds of men and which teemed to overshadow
the world, was vast indeed in its extent. But
the ac(iiiisitions of territory in the sixty years
of the Victorian Era to the British Empire have
been greater in extent, than the whole dominion
of Ancient Rome. And the Dominion of Canada
embraces more than one quarter of tiiis vast
British Empre.

The Lord Chief Justice of England, in a
speech delivered at the Hotel Metropole on the
occasion of the South Australian dinner, gave in
graphic words some of the salient features of
the extent and character of the British Empire.
He said : " The British Empire is fifty three
times the size of France, fifty two times the
size of Germany, three and a half times the size
of th^ United States of America, thrice the size

214

Ji AC K \V A K G LA NO ES.

of Europe, with treble the population of all the
RuHsias. It extends over eleven million square
miles, that is ninety one times the aera of the
United Kingdom : and occupies one fifth
of the human race, or tliroe hundred and
sixty Juillions of people. It embraces four
continents, ten thousan*! islands, five hundred
pron intories, and two thousand rivers. Men
of Eiifrlisli, Irish, Scotcli and Welch birth have
acquired all this vast territory and mainly
within tlie last one hundred and fifty years.
Very much of it has been acquired and a great
deal done to consolidate it during the sixty
years of Her Majesty's reign. It is a mighty
^^mpire.

Nova Scotia is but a speck of this mighty
empire, yet small as it is, its people are as loyal
to their Queen, as those of an}-- spot in the vast
domain. With one acclaim they voiced their
irreetini's and congratulations at the close of Her
Majesty's sixty years glorious reign, and added
to these the prayer ; That the providence, who
has watched over her, and guided her through
all her rule, may spare her many years to ride
over them and her millions of contented and
happy subjects.

The leading events in Canada since con-
federation, are the completion of the Inter-
colonial Railway, the admisson of Briti.sh
Columbia to the union, the admission of Prince

l^ACKWARD GLANCES,

215

Edward Island, the purcliase of f-*iince Ruperts
land, the Reil rebellions, tlie celebrated march of
Wolselev to Fort Oarrv, the establishment of
the N. W. Mounted Police force, now comprising
a body of men, who are said to be f(|Ual to the
finest troops in the world, the bet^inning and
completion of the Canada Pacific Railway, the
establishment of the Salvation Army from
ocean to ocean, the rapid conversion of the
Indians from paganism to Christianity, the
introduction of the national policy, the appoint-
ment bv the Governor General in Council of
Canadians to provincial governorship, the
Repeal Question in Nova Scotia, the half
century celebration of the Queen's reign, and
the greater one at the close of her sixtv years
rule. &c.

The Canada Pacific Railway has linked the
Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, and at every
station between the two great seas, the Union
Jack floats in peaceful triumph. The Bible has
steadily marched besidt- the flag, and beneath its
proud foMs has been instructing the settlers, in
their duty to one another, to their God and to
other nations and peoples.

During Her Majesty's reign England has built
22,000 miles of railway, at an expense of
$4,000,000,000. The TJnited States of America
have built 170,000 miles of railway, costing
ten billion dollars India has built 34,000 miles ;

216

BACKWARD GLANCES.

Cape Colony has constructed 8,000 miles of rail-
way, and the British North American provinces
and the Dominion ncciily 15,000 miles of rail-
road. The (Jnited States of America have had
over a dozen Presidents since the coronation day
of Queen Victoria. When she ascended the
throne the journey across the Atlantic took
eighteen and twenty days : to-day it is made by
the ocean greyhounds in a few hours over five

days.

Prime MinidGvs .since 1807.

In 1868, Benjamin Djshaeli.

" W. E. Gladstone.

" 1S74-, Earl of Bkaconsfield.

" 1880, W. E. Gladstone.

" 1885, Marquis of Salisbury.

" 1886, W. E. Gladstone.

" 1886, Marquis of Salisrurv.

" 1892, W. E. Gladstone.

" 1894, Lord Rosebery.

" 1895, Lord Salisbury.

Greece may have created beauty and wisdom,
and Rome power through the acquisition of a
great empire, but England has extended wisdom
and power and love with her ever increasing
possessions, and over these possessions a woman
rules, whom her subjects value more than all the
Caesars together of Rome were ever valued by
their subjects. The might and invincibility of
the once great Roman empire could never bear

r'*

BACKWAHD GLANCES.

217

the least comparison to the niicfht and ituincibil-
ity of the British empire to whicli the great
Queen has contributed so much. The favor of
God has rested upon her and the light and love
of heaven have illuminatedall the colonial posses-
se-sions. Her court has been pure, her rule wine
and her aim peace. Her life and her reign have
brought untold blessings to Great Britain and
the euipire. And the result of such a reimi to
the world, who can tell !

Whatever were the feelings of Nova Scotians
thirty years ago, and whatever those feeling's
may be to-day, not one in the province can be
found who would cast a shadow of imputation
on the Queen. She is loved as a mother as well
as a queen.

The last thing im the Queen's reign connected
with Canada to be recorded in this chapter is
taken from a late London weekly, The
Outlook, devoted to politics, life, letters and the
arts, and conducted with unusual brilliance ;

"Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal took his
seat and sul)scribed the roll as a member of the House
of Peers on Tuesday. It was all very quietly done
and is dismissed in a line in English jouriuils. Yet
from that single ceremony may date a great develop-
ment in the management of the empire, for the
Canadian High Comuiissioner is the first direct
representative of a colony to become a member of
the Imperial Parliament."

If Imperial Federation ever becomes a great

and leading question among British politicians

21H

RACKVVARy) GLANCES.

and the English people it is more than likely
Canada will be the first colony invited to unite
in the great scheme, and other colonies as they
attain to the position of Canada will also be
invited to cast in their lot with the Imperial
Empire. Some have gone so far as to say that
the leading colonies could offer no greater honor
to the British crown than by showing a divsposi-
tion to unite with England in forming an
Imperial Federation in the closing years of
Queen Victoria's reign.

If, however, a change is to be made, and a
great federated empire is to be formed and sup-
ported, it will not be by the sole authority of
a Canadian Parliament, and ratified by the
Imperial Parliament, but first of all it must be
supported by the confidence of the Canadian
public.

The glorious cause of freedom, of independence,
and of the country's constitution will not be
handled alone by parliaments, without first
seeking the will of the people, whose right it is
to deal with these matters. The most .sacred
of all matters connected with the colonies will
never again be trusted to parliaments, to
conventions, to commissioners, or otherwise
without the people's impress. Titles and deco-
rations may be cast among schools of Canadian
politicians and others, which may be found
irresistible alike to weak and strong minds, but

BACKWARD (JLANXKS.

219

through these the Canadian public will not bo
misled from a sense of duty to their country.
In this free and enlightened age, no government
«ven if supported by a combination of dukes, lords
and baronets, will be allowed to violate the
constitution or usurp the powers of the people.
So long as the Canadian constitution continues
to grow and alter with the revolving years and
changing times, it is hoped it will grow and
alter to suit first and last the popular will.

Canadians, like Englishmen, are a proud
people, in which reason has acquired the ascend-
ency over vain ambition, and they are not
likely to be led away by the thought of mtrib-

utiniT

their resources to establishing a vast,

controlling and perhaps a domineering power in
the world, without fi?-st being fnlly convinced it
will be beneficial to themselves and to the world.

Chapter XVIII,

Howe and Macdonald.

The loss of a .statesruan like the Honodnible
Joseph Howe to Nova Scotia is heinor more
sevei'ely felt aH time passes away. He is more
and more being admired by all parties and all
classes for his fearlessness and iiiipartiality, for
his stren^tli and o;rasp of mind, for his dislike
of mere display and for liis consistent advocacy of
liberal principles. AH the great (juestions in
modern politics received his earnest attention.
He found time, too, for literary recreation. All
his countrymen honour him for the earnestness
and sincerity with which he advocated many
liberal reforms which have been successfully
carried out. It is as a reformer that Joseph
Howe's name will be remembered by posterity.
He possessed transcendent abilities and that
genius which w^ould have titted him to become,
had opportunities offered a great leacKn- in the
Britisli House of Commons or in the councils of
the most enlightened nations. And he will bo
remembered because he was a conscientiou*!,
practical and thoroughly accomplished states-
nuui, who having chosen his vocation, gave to it
all his thoughts and energies, and who died from

HACKWAUI) (U.AN'CKS.

221

over exertion and anxiety in the discluirge of
the heavy duties devolvint; upon hin».

For tlie course he liad taken on the (jiiestitHi
of " Better Terms " for his province, he luid been
the subject of the most slanderous attacks and
disreputable diaries ; but he appealed to ohe
wliole course of his public life for the refutation
of such charp^oa. Both in public and private life
Mr. Howe always evinced a sincere desire to
serve tlie best interests of his native land. The
mental character of Mr. Howe in some points
resembled the Earl of Beaconsfield, and like
that eminent statesman, sometimes a puzzle to
his friends, and a puzzle to himself, he bravely
fought his way to the truth. Mr. Howe, no
doubt, affeer looking carefully through the lead-
ing men of the grit party of Canada, saw tlie
only rising hope for Nova Scotia in Sir John A.
Macdonald, a gentleman of distinguished parlia-
mentary talent, of cautious temper and moderate
opinions, whose abilities and demeanour obtained
for him the respect and good will of all parties.

If the hope of IS'ova Scotia has not grown
much brighter since the union of Howe and
Macdonald, her course should now be perfectly
clear ; there may be great difficulties before her
iind heavy and severe struggles, but she has only
to be more true to herself, than to parties and
party leaders, if .so, success v^dll infallibly crown
her efforts. A success not equal to that she

900

HACKWAKI) <n,ANCES.

woulH have posses^Red, if her union witli CanatU
Imd never been iiccoinplished, but a Hucceas
jjjreater than slie now has, for to use the words
of and Irislinian, " in the union she has (jai7}e<l a
lomy

It falls to the lot of every ^ood statesman in
the course of his public career to be maligned
and misrepresented either by his coadjutors or
tlie public. For thirty years Howe had proved
hiniaelf an honest, unselHsh, consistent states-
man, and all now admit his death was a lament-
able occurrauce to Nova Scotia. His character
during that period had been patent to English-
men, Americans and the world ; but no one until
liis failure in the cause of Repeal accused him of
duplicity. If they had his life would have given
the lie to their assertions, as it does a quarter of
a century after his death to the coarse and
contemptable observations of those who should
have been his friends when he was Hearing the
close of an honorable career. Some of those
who denounced hiva in the stronjjest terms were
colleagues and s importers of the men who
opposed any concession to Nova Scotia and who
strenously and determinedly bound themselves
together t) hold this province to the union
under the terms it had been forced into it. The
citizens of his province cannot do otherwise
than admit at this time, that his defence of
Nova Scotia was manly and spirited, and that

BACKWAHI) (JLANChS.

223

not, till ht; saw lii.s powers ha<i provod inade-
quHtti! to the crises, because the extracn-rliuary
(lirticulties of his position demarvled sonietluii*^
more tlian 'yvojit talents and untiring assiduity,
did he attempt to make the best terms he could
for his provini|j.

All ujust iionor his name and the histrorians
will honor him hereafter for his forjret fulness of
self, his noble patriotism to Kngland and his
deep sympathy with his brethren in Nova
Scotia. The people of this province looked to
him to rescue them from their miseiable posi-
tion, and probably no statesman ever undertook
a harder task at a more deeply critical Juncture.
And were he living to-day, there could not be
found one, in whom Nova Scotians would be
disposed to place jj;reater confidence.

Ontario, Nova Scutia and Quebec statesmen
who were the originators of the Union, and who
knew they had tilched Nova Scotia into the
confederation against the will of her inhabitants,
had the seltish satisfaction of witnessinir on the
floors of parliament representatives from this
province, silent and assenting at the very moment
when they should have spoken out boldly and
earnestly in defence of their constituents. Time
proves all things and to-day Howe towers above
ail those Nova Scotians as a Pyramid among
Pygmies. Howe saw at that time what most
persons see to- day, that after the Anti-Uidoni.'^t

224

IJACKWAliU fJLAXCKS.

members had sacriHsod tlie cause of tlieir
province for party purposes, in tlie Coniinona of
(!^anada, tliat the fetters of confederation were
more tightly bound, and there was only left one
course, and tliat course was to secure better
terms for his ill fated province.

What little he was able to accomplish was
achieved in face of long and determined oppo-
sition : the deadly opposition of Canadian (irits
and Nova Scotian Anti-Unionists. Mistaken
Howe might have been regarding the deeply-
rooted bitterness of his followers in this province
against Confederation, but who believes for a
moment that he ever intended to deceive his
supporters to serve personal ends. And until
his motives, in acting the part he did, can be
proved not to have been in the interest of his
countrymen, he must be admired for the
unwearied assiduity wdiich ever accompanied
the noble efforts of his c'enius. If he made any
errors, they were errors of greatness ; his virtues
as a patriot and statesman were almost unique
In the lamentable opposition he received from
many of those who were fornierly his staunchest
friends, hp scarcely ever evinced any V)itternesa,
and when lie did allude to the manner in which
he was hounded during the campaign in Hants
in eighteen liundred and sixty-nine, liis words
evinced nothing more than the outflow of that
moral indignation which a nature so good as

BACKWARD (i LANCES.

225

hiy was, i^ first to t'ofl, and whicli, with .such
ove)-vvliohnii)cr powers of oratory, lie eouM nob
be expected to restrain. Some of those who
opposed his return in that campaign, bein^r
youn^ in years and experience at the time, have
since deeply regretted the course they then
pursued. To-day Howe lives deeper in the
hearts of Nova Scotians than ever, while those
who with malignant bitterness cruelly misrepre-
sented him, appear to this generation as persons
j:alous and insincere, and who were never
swayed by grand impulses. It is perhaps not
well to return too often to the past, and to recall
circumstances now partly forgotten, or the recol-
lection of which survives only in a small number
of memories ; but it will be well for Nova Scotia
if the old liberal principles for which Howe Ion;;
and gallantly fougiit are resurrected in all their
purity. He was ever true to his principles and
never allowed them to be swayed by Canadian
Clear Grit\sm. A statesman who dvies not
undertake the conduct of afiairs from a sense of
public duty, and from honorable motives, has
not in his heart the principles of unadulterated
liberalism, and no man who calls hiinself a
liberal should give his ,jpport to such a man.
When he does so, he cannot be actuated by n
desire to perform his duty to his province or
country. When tii,' noblest sentiments and
truest princi| ics animate and direct political

"IW

22G

HA C K "• A H I) '^^a. A NCES.

parties, they encoura;;*: human intollio^ence in
the paths of purity and pro^re-^.s.

" JMay days long \fint return again,
By all tlieir hoi^es attended :
And strains of ne?er-cliangiiig truth
Id one fond unioa bler^ded."

iS'os'a Scotia never wantecl a Howe more than
she wants one to-day. She wants a leader wlio
wouM be an able an<} trustworthy arlvocate of
provincial rights and reform, and wliose everj,
effort would be unreservedly <i\ven to advance
the pure and undefiled principles of liberalism.
This province has Vornc- too long with men,
charged with the conduct of public affairs, who
have proved themseJve.s inade«|uate to the per-
formance of the duty that devolved upon them,
and who have appeared insen-'ible to the feelings
and complaints of the great electoral body. If
this province could place at tlie council board of
the Dominion a gentleman who, by his nmgna-
nimity of mind, by his far-seeing policy, and
by his honesty of purjiose, would excite the
warmest sympathy of hi« colleagues, he would
doubtless accomplish sonsetldng more than has
been accomplished for the pnnince. Had Howe
lived tw^o decades ]on:,'er, Nova Scotia would
have always been near hi.-j heart, her interests
would have been his intcTests, and her happiness
his happiness. His years would have been
<Ievo(ed to her, as they had in the past, Hut

BACKWARD GLAXCES.

227

Howe is dead, and no one has risen to till his
place. Those in this county who were acquaint-
ed with Joseph Howe, and who worked for him
or «^-ainst liirn, will ever remember his finely
touched spirit, his broad intellect, and lofty
imagination and noble kindliness of soul. He
looked upon the follies and frailties of men
durinor a political contest, as but natural, yet he
strongly believed in the upward progress of
mankind, and looked for a better day. He
formed some of those true friendships in Hants
County which like the shadows of evenintr. in-
crease even till the setting of the sun. The
kindliness of his nature showed itself in the
>/road honest snnle, as he approache*! all classes
of his constituents.

He would take the shipbuilders by the liand
with a wliole souled grip, p-ni talk with them
alx)ut their magniticent enterprise and substan-
tial reward, and to the agriculturists of their
yeoman spirit and their power at the polls. To
ihe working men of thei.^ honourable and pro-
longed toil in advancing the pr-osperity of the
province, and earning an honest livelihood by
the sweat of their brows, for themselves and
their families. And in leaving their company,
he wf,n!(l place his hand upon the shoulder of
John, Pat or Sandy, and with a gentle tap or
two remark to them, " You are the yeoman iir
whom the country must trust, and in whom I

mmmmm

228

BACKWARD GLAKCES.

must trust for iny return. If you honor rne
witli your confi(]ence, I shall do njy best for you
all. I sometimevS, my dear fellows, envy you in
your manly toil, when 1 coinpare it with ray
drudc^ery. I shall always remember with pride
my yisit among yon to-day." His visit was the
theno of conversation among the men at the
cl0v«e .J ' ^ day's toil. He impressed them as
one of U jiselves, and by his ofi' hand manner
many a simple, warm hearted rustic was induced
to give his first vote to Joe Howe.

Those ubiquitous and otficious characters
always to be met with in aiost polling sections,
Howe had small opinion of. He quietly describ-
ed one of those fellows as having the gait of a
parvenu and the head of a weasel. There was
another class he always cast a suspicious
glance upon. These were the men, who to gain
the esteem of their fellow beings, and work
tliemselves into official position or parliament,
scented vestries and churches and temperance
organizations, and who when before the church
and the world were just, honest and upright, but
to use a Yankee expression, when not before the
church or world, their walk was " slantandicular,"
and who would commit acts in secret-counsel
(hat any open sinner would be ashamed of.
These fellows he called hatchet-heads and shunn-
ed them as he would a rattle snake. The fol-
lowing words were once delivered in this county.

BACKWAHD GLANCES.

229

" When such a mixture of professed goodness
and quiet eunninfr, help to confer place, profit
and reputation, there is mo saying to what
positions such characters may aspire, and by
what unmanly and deceptive acts they may
attain their ends. " Why I met a day or two
ago, one of this class, whom I really believe has
the vanity to think himself a second Chatham,
and fitted for acting the part of a second Sully.
He flatters people to gain tlu ir confidence, and
promises everything in the most pleasant and
assuming manner. But you will live long
enougli to find out that his smile, his words and
his promises are sheer hypocrisy. His concealed
vice is countenanced by unsuspecting voters
and cunning self-interested hypocrites. Watch
his life and you will find it a vice which carries
with it its own punishment. Such characters
are good for one thing only, and that is to rate
the profit and pleasures of position and ofhce
above the service of their country. You may
call them Johns but they have the character of
a Judas."

Seeing him amongsb his constituents, gave one
a better opportunity of judging of Howe's gen-
erosity of mind, firmness of principle and true
manhood, than perhaps upon any other occasion.
He is said to have converted a tory of forty
years standing, in the following manner. He
said to the workman, " of course I cannot expect

230

BACKWARD (;LAXCES.

your support." " No, replied the toiler, ' my
grandfather was a tory, my father is a tory, and
I have always been one.'"

" And how long have you been swinging tlie
broad axe," asked Mr. Howe. " F'or about forfy
years," was the reply. " Anrl do you expect to
swing it thirty or forty 3'oars hmger, through
the long days of fourteen or fifteen hours ? " in-
quired Mr. Howe,

" I hope not," answered the hewer of wood.
'■ Then trust in me," said Mr. Howe. The
mecuan^c without looking up or slacking the
least in his work, said, " I am going to try you
this time," and he did vote for him on that
occasion and always to the end of his career,
leaving behind him a family of the staunchest
liberals ia the constituency.

Sir John A. Macdonald possessed this faculty
of Howe, (the rare qualification of knowing-
how to attract men and hold them.) At a
gathering which Sir John was to address were
all sorts and conditions of men. The crowd was
large. As soon as Sir John came on the ground,
he started in to make himself known individual-
ly. It was at the great pa)"ty gathering at Birch
Cove. A group of persons standing near the
outskirts of the crowd, saw Sir John slowly mak-
ing his way through the human mass, picking up
each individual on his way. The group watched
the movement of his hat, which moved along at

liACKWVRD GLANCr«!

281

an antrle of forty-five degrees. His position
could easily be located by watching 'ns hat. As
he approached the group, he stepped aside and
shook heartily by the hand two ordinary looking
men, saj^ing with a smile, " I am pleased to meet
you, we have a charming day for our turn out,
I hope you have brought your friend^, also to
enjoy with us, this lovely afternoon. You have
here one of the most beautiful spots in Canada.
It is such a pleasure for me to meet my Nova
Scotia friends. I often think of you all, if it is
impossible for me to visit you often." He shook
their hands in that way in which one man seems
to convey his feelings to another and passed on
toward others. One of the men said to his
coinpanion : " Bill I'm dashed if he don't know
me." " Aye do he and me too," replied the
other. These men really believed that he had
seen them before, and felt that they were as
good as any one of the part\^ and perhaps they
were. And in reality were more worthy, than some
present, who made much greater pretentions.

This rare quality, is seldom if ever found in
in-itable, narrow, jealous, vain and insincere
men. Men who are never swayed by grand
impulses, and whose friendships are not both of
the intellect and heart.

By the possession of this gift, co;nbined with
their other great qualities, one cat* readily under-
stand the fury of enthusaism which always

232

JJACKWARO GLANCES.

greeted Howe and Macdonald whenever they
appeared upon the public platform.

Their great qualities of head and heart, their
deep interest in all classes of humanity, their
splendid achievements, and their dislike of mere
display so distinguished them from the ordinary
public men, that the eyes of the whole country
were attracted toward then). And their able
leadership, their skill in cabinets and parlia-
ments made the country ring with applause.
And to-day when they are not present in the
arena of party strife, their sound home patriot-
ism and constant loyalty to Old England reilect
a brilliant lustre on their great names.

The exertions made in Nova Scotia over half
a century ago by Howe for government by the
people and for the people, and the victories he
obtained, are not exceeded in the brightest pages
of history, and have tilled all his countrymen
with admiration and gratitude. Neither Howe
nor Macdonald were political bigots, every great
man has to suit himself somewhat to the time in
which he lives, even if he see beyond the range
of ordinary mortals. They would like to see
mere party feeling driven out by a higher senti-
ment, which would unite as one soul all who
love their country, and which would enable men
to forget, largely, person and party, in their
deep concern for the general interest of the
community at large.

HACK WARD fILAXCES.

233

They would like to see new fields open, not
for the display of eloquence, but for the utter-
ance of that sound wisdom, which every broad
minded and well informed elector values more
highly. Howe and Macdonald were not without
faults. They were human like other people.
They had faults as most great men have had
them, and as many ordinary men have had
them. Their ambitions and necessities may at
times have led them from the path of strict
rectitude, but like well equipped and true pro-
portioned ships, that by stress of weather
occasionally fall off their course, in the main,
point steadily and straight ahead. Like much
smaller men, they may have lost their time, if
not their temper, by sometimes indulging i« an
abortive series of assaults and repulses, but
when any momentous subjects were agitating
the heart and. quickening the pulsations of the
people, they took their stand far bej^ond idle
bickering and party warfare.

The splendour of Howe's character and war-
fare renders the era of responsible government
one of the most brilliant in Nova Scotiun or
Canadian history. He exhibited his firm liberal
principles, in this county when in eighteen
hundred and sixty-seven, he is reported to have
said, as he quoted the words of Charles James
Fox : " He held that liberty w as the essence of
the British constitution, the end of all govern-

234

IJACKWAHD ULANCtS.

meiit is the happiness of the governeil. I know
of no way of governing mankind but by con-
ciliating them ; I know of no mode of governing
the people but by letting them have their own
way. Mankind were made for themselves not
for others." Howe was against confederation
because the intelligence of his province opposed
it, and were he living to-day he would be opposed
to Imperial Federation according to his sound
liberal principles unless assured by the direct
voice of the electors, that a large majority of
Canadians were desirous of a greater union.

His protests against the action of the Imperial
Government and Parliament on the question of
union with Canada, were long, strong and de-
termined, p .d like Williams of Khars, he only
surrendered, when all hope and relief were gone.
He understood the deep, broad principles of
freedom, better than most statesmen of his time.
None understood the Colonial system better, and
if the Right Hon. \V. E. Gladstone had under-
stood the Colonial system as well in eighteen
hundred and sixty-eight, as Mr. Howe <lid, and
as he (Gladstone) appeared to have understood it,
when he delivered his great Midlothian speech
in eighteen hundred and ninety-two, he might
have acted differently when the pt'tition of the
thirty-one thousand Nova Scotian electors was
before him pra}ing for separation fiom Canada.
He said in that speech : " Have we not scattered

BACKWARD <;LANCES.

235

over the world, a number of states, colonial in
their origin, but which now have, in more than
one sense swollen to national dimensions. Is it
not true that every one of these is suhject to the
supremacy of parliament ^ And I want to know
v/hether you consider that the supremacy is or is
not a shadow or a fiction. In my opinion it is a
real, overshadowi ntr, controlling power — a power
meant to be called into action should occasion
arise, but with respect to which the prayer of
every man is, that such occasion may not come,
and will not come, and the belief of every
rational man founded upon experience, is that
such occasion need not come, and will not come.
What I mean is the supremacy occa-sioned in
that sense in which it imparts the smallest
interference with the local freedom of such states
as Canada and the Australian colonies."

When Mr. Gladstone spoke these words he was
perfectly sensible of what the result might be, if
the British Government and Parliament should
interfere with the local freedom of any single
Australian colony, as the British Government
and Parliament interfered vvj-h the local freedom
of Nova Scotia in eighteen hundred and sixty-
seven.

Howe was always the friend and deliverer
of his countrymen, and by no tyranny ever
attempted to trample their rights under his feet.
In hfs heart he must have despised those men

236

IIACKWAKI) <JI,AN( KS.

who were afterwards decorated for their perti<ly,
and who pretended and profi'ssed to be safe a^d
authorized guides of tlie people, and who u
their utmost eH'orts to deceive tliem and betray
them.

Many at this time remember their braKen
promises, uttered and echoed from one end of
the province to the otlier. They told the people
that whatever the losses of the province, the loss
of its constitution, its revenue, and its colonial
independence, whatever these were, it was to
enjoy inestimable benertts that would outweigh
all these a thousand times.

The people were to see Halifax harbor dot
daily with thousanils of masts fr )m all parts of
the globe. The granaries of the West would
pour their wealth daily into the hatches of
hundreds of ships. Tn ten years, twenty years
at the most, Chebucto harbor would become the
Liverpool of Canada or the New York of the
Dominion. The farming districts of the pro-
vince v/ould teem with population, and their
l>arns be bursting with grain. Ships would
increase in demand, ship building would be
revolutionized, and every county from Cape
North to Cape Sable would boast of its increas-
ing enterprises and its millionaires, and the Bay
of Fundy would not be able to hold all the fish
Canada and the North West would consume in
a year. Such were .^ome of the prophesies of

HACKWAIU) fiLANT'ES.

287

those men who were the niak«'rs of (\)nfeiki'a
tion and the makers o{ themselves at their
countrymen's expense.

Thirty years of Canadian I/nion have made it
a fixed fart. Nova Scotia is linked to some of
the provinces by ties of similarity and kinsliip,
by f'omnjon effort ami common risk in the pa'»t.
But her position in the great Union re(ji.ires a
Howe more to-(hiy than at any other time for
a quarter of a century to lead the Liberals <jf
Nova Scotia independently and wisely amon^^
the Canadian parties, inspirino- then) with zeal
first in the interests of their province, and I(!a<l-
ing them above the biddings of parties and
boodlers, and of those who take their stand npon
reversible platforms. No statesmen or politicians
of any class can stand high in moral d'gnity and
in true nobility of feeling who allow party and
power-loving projtensities to stifle or even to.
injure the highest principles of action.

For some reason which has never been satis-
factorily explained, hostility to Nova Scotia
lived in McKenzie as it did in Hlake. It mn^ir
liave been galling indeed to the illustrious sou
of Nova Scotia, who had disciplined under the
commanding influence of his character the public
spirit of his province, to see men calling them-
selves Liberals form an all-powerful unity with
those men who doggedly opposed any relief to
the land in which his greatest interests were

238

BACKWARD GLANOKS.

enwrapped. These men hated the independence
of Howe, because they well knew it weakened
their power. They were wanting in moral
strength, which is the true greatness of a
nation, a people, a party, or an individual.

Howe was wise enough to perceive that it
would be too much to expect that party would,
as a rule, place any interests, even those of
country, ab)ve the interests of the party,
especially a party hungry for place. He knew
that those who tightly embrace party super-
stitions are unable to consider political ques-
tions on their merits. The spirit ol party and
place seemed to animate and control iill the
counsels of the opposition in the first parliament
of the Dominion. It may not be ntccssary under
present conditions to do away with party, but it
is necessary in the interest and honor of every
civilized country to have a number o*' honest,
intelligent and independent !nen to hold the
balance of power between parties. When this
happy state of things comes to pass, deception,
jobbery and' corruption in high places must
cease.

Sir Jolin A. Macdonald was returned to power
during the commercial union and unrestricted
reciprocity agitation by the independent liberal
vote of the countr3^ And after his demise the
independent liberal vote assisted Mr. Laurier to
power. The present conservative government

BACKWARD GLANCES.

239

of (ireat Britain rode into place and power on
the vote of the independent liberals of that
country.

Fifty years acre in France there were quite a
few of ( iiose intelligent independent men. The
splendid example of such persons as Bosquet,
helped to bring about a free form of government
in that country. Bosquet by his independence
of action, his cool judgment and firm will, when
the revolution of eighteen hundred and forty-
eight broke out was among those in the- upper
grades of the French army to pronounce dis-
tinctly for the Republic. And when Louis
Napoleon put the " yes or no " to France,
(ieneral Bosquet with all his division voted " no."
This was true independence, it was heroic ; it
made him a great character in tlie arm3^ And
to his principle he held with a constancy, which,
it must be adajitted was somewhat hazardous.
He was relegated to retirement as deep as
Cavaignac or Emile Zola. He lived to have his
gallantry at Alma and Inkerraann appreciated
by r.ngland and France, and crowned his career
by the capture of the ^[alakotl', when he led the
assult. Zjla's heroism waits for no appreciation
in the independent world.

Whatever faults Sir John A. Macdonald
may have possessed, he has never been charg-
ed with enriching himself at the public ex-
pense. And this accusation has never been

240

BACKWARD fiLAXCES.

ca'^t at Howe. Both of lliese f;rcat men
could have truthfully uttered the word.s of
Clay in is farewell to the Senate in eiijhteen
hundred and forty-two : " AJy acts and my pub-
lic conduct are affiiira suhject to the criticism
and'judgment of my fellow men, but ' private
motives by which they have been prompted,
they are only known to the great searcher of
the human heart, and whatever errors — and I
doubt not they have been many — may be dis-
covered in a review of my public serv'ce to the
country, I can with unshaken contiden 'e, appeal
to the Divine Arbiter for the trutli o! the de-
claration that I have been intluenctd by no
impure purpose, no personal af^grandizement,
but that in all my public acts I have had a sole
and single eye, and a warm and devoted heart,
devoted and dedicated Uy what, in my judgment,
I believed to be the true interests of my beloved
country.

Howe and Macdona) 1 were never ambitious
tu be wealthy. They had no desire to use their
high and important p<jsitioDS to gain individual
wealth. They were als'j too great too favour
the tendency towar<l making the acquisition of
wealth the national ideal. They wore fully
alive to the fact that many nations have checked
a sound growth by running too much after the
Gods of the world. They had seen that the God
of the Greeks was culture, the Gwl of the Romans
military power, and at the portals of their coun-

rUCKVVARD (JLANCES.

241

try the God of ^>Ad was capturing America, and
neither wished the spirit of this God to get a
strong hold on their countrymen. They could
place a value upon the men upon whom England
was heaping titles, because of their prominence
in party, through wealth and through (iovern-
ment influence, when these were their principal
. .ommendations. Howe especially seemed to feel
that a man who had been a real benefactor to his
country, whether in culture, in military genius,
in commerce, in wealth or in statesmanship,
should crave no higher title than the gratitude
and esteem of his countrymen. Knowing that
he who craved more was giving himself away to
an insatiable vanity and ambition unworthy of
stronii: manhood. Both Howe and Macdonald
were pleased that Canada was quite freed from
feudal traditions, great manor houses, and the
law of primogeniture, and felt that this country
required no other peers than those wise, active
men in all grades of society, seeking intellectual
advancement and the welfare of all classes, and
the restraints of law, order, morality and religion.
They seemed to believe that if the President and
Government of the United States were given the
power to create, by bestowing titles, an aristoc-
racy of wealth in that country, it would elevate
a class with sucli power as would in a short time
seriously cripple the free institutions of that land.
Witliout the genius of Howe, by which he had
impressed his fellow colonists to stiike for their

242

JiA( KWAHD GLANCES.

rights, at a time vvlien comparatively little whs
understood of colonial feeling and colonial govern-
jnent in England, it possibly might have been
yearH later before the people of Nova Scotia
would have enjoyed the full benefits of respon-
sible government. His genius carried the people
with it, and called forth from a state of things
aln»ost worn out, that liberty of opinion the
electors of this province enjoyed until the British
Parliament passed the British North America
Act.

In their manner Howe and Macdonald were as
far removed from the pretentious aristocrat as a
common sense man from a fop. These noble
minded men could enter the peasant's cottage, or
a log cabin, no matter how humble its occupants,
just as pleasantly, as happily, and as courteously
as they could the drawing om of the wealth^^
or (he reception room of a palace.

Like Lincoln, Howe was able to be at ease
and at home everywhere. They were the same
men, as they mingled amongst those who were
rich or those who were poor. Tinsel and title
and courtly recognition could not turn heads, so
w^ell balanced and so well stored.

Sir John Macdonald has recognized in the man
of color, a friend and brother, and has been
known to step aside while conversing with high
state officials, and grasp the hands of these sons
of Ham. And Howe has performed a thousand

BACKWARD (JLANCES.

243

times aiinilar manly acts. A story is told of
Howe during one of his canvassing tours in
Hants. He called to see an old darky, wiio was
at the time engacred in scraping pitch from the
planks of a ship in construction. He invited
the colored voter to come down from his placa
and shake hands.

" Oh, Massa Howe," said Joshua Boen, " my
hand be too dirty fo' you to clutch," but I's
gwan to gub you a clean wote." " Joshua, my
dear fellow," " I wont have your vote without
you also give me your hand, it is only soiled
with honest toil."

Joshua descended, and as he approached
Howe, his face lit up with an immense smile
and shining like polished ebony in the sunshine,
extended his hand, saying : " Well ; well ;
Massa Howe, if you muss, you muss," Howe
clinched his hand, and shook it, as only a true
man shakes the hand of another.

This incident brings to mind a story told of
Lincoln, which may not be considered out of
place, if repeated here.

In the y(3ar eighteen hundred and sixty-three,
at a public reception given at the White House,
Washington, a young English nobleman was
being presented to the President, when just
inside the door stood an honest faced old farmer,
who shrank from the pressing crowd, until he
and the plain faced old lady clinging to bis arm

244

IJACKWARD GLANCES.

were pressed to the wall. The President being
tall, could look over the heads of the assembly,
said to the Englishman ; " Excuse me, my Lord,
there's an old friend of mine." Passing to the
door Mr, Lincoln said, as he grasped the old
farmer's hand : " Why John I'm glad to see
you, I haven't seen you since you and I made

rails for old Mr in Sangamon county

in eighteen hundred and forty-seven. How
are you ?

The old man turned to his wife with quiver-
ing lips, and without immediately replying to
the salutation said : " Mother he is just the same
old Ah: r

A man, who has attained high official position
or high i ocial distinction, and who feels himself
greatly e'evated above his former associates and
friends, a-id puts on frills of vast superiority,
and looks i pon the ordinary class of humanity,
as a vain ar'stocrate upon his tenantry is more
of a human thing than a man.

The unbalmced statesman, and the political
upstart who st'ut about among their supporters
from day to d&y passing and repassing all those
persons who arj not classified with the tones
and elite, so-called, of society, without a nod or
smile or manly recognition of them, is as far
removed in true nobility of soul from a Howe,
Macdonald or Lincoln as a vain, giddy, thought-
less actress, is from the late Francis Willard.

BACKWARD GLANCES.

245

There are, however, a few great men, wlio
Feern so constituted by nature, as not to be able
to make themselves genial or off hand, and
yet are neither vain or proud. Such individuals
meet with the respect of the multitude, if not
admired by the nistsses.

Petty prejudices, which are the ruin of same
minds, wnll not linger with those who study the
lives of Howe and Macdonald, in that broad and
benevolent spirit which has been the companion
of liberty in all ages. It is undoubtedly true,
that there are lives of the past over which we
can linger with intense interest and feeling, and
the farther removed the lives of such eminent
men as Howe and Macdonald are, the more in
tense the interest in them becomes. And whv
is it so ? It is not because such lives represent
grand and enduring acts ^ The thoughts and
words of such men are ever endurlnor and al-
ways have a magnetic attraction. Our minds
seem to go out toward those great men who
have lived before us, and we like to learn what
they thought and how they acted, and to knovv
what they have transmitted to those who come
after them.

The best testimonial anyone, or all, can raise
to Howe and Macdonald is to acquire a thorough
knowledge of their deeds, and casting all preju-
dice to the winds act in a spirit similar to that
by which they were influenced. They are gone

246

BACKWARD GLANCES.

but their acts and records remain. Though
dead their lives continue to speak. Their
nienioriea are cherished by all. Their deeds
were unselfish and unsurpassed. Their names
are unfading and undying. And in every colony
of the Great Empire, their lives will continually
be read, studied and remembered.

And all will learn how, each, in his own way,
evoked and aspired to forward the greatness and
glory of the English colonies.

Macdonald passed away surrounded by the
sorrows and praises of his countrymen. He
lived and survives in their hearts. Howe died
M'ith shattered friendships about him, and as
the sun obscured for a n)onient by a pa.ssing
cloud, reappears in all his glory, so with the
passing away of partizan prejudice, the life and
deeds of Howe are coming forth again in all
their splendour and strength, and the love and
gratitude of this generation are entwining them-

selves in all their freshness and strength around
his honored name and deeds, as the ivy about
the giant oak.

The millionaire will find a richer man than
himself. The warrior who returns from fields
of victory covered witli glory may meet another
surrounded by greater glory. The great states-
man may behold in his rival a greater than he.
But in Canada, Howe has no peers.

Joseph Howe was a great statesman because
he was a great man. The .secret of Sir John A.

BACKWARD GLANCK.S.

247

Macdoimld's power was nofcin givat eIo([uence, nor
perhaps exceptional statesmanship, but in his
correct judgment of men, and in his extra-
ordinary tact in nianajjfing a House of Parlia-
ment. He possessed qualities in an extraordinary
degree necessary for a leader of a great popular
assembly. His art was such as controls cau-
cu.*ses, councils and conventions, and at Charlotte-
town and Quebec it assured him of victory.
With all the great elibrts of other Canadian
statesmen to bring about confederation, it is
doubtful, without Sir John A. Macdonald's tact,
whether it would have been as quickly accom-
plished as it was. Alike privately and publicly
he was earnest and successful in winning over
others to join him in the stand he took for, or
against any important measure. His long rule
in Canada was due to his extraordinary tact in
managing his assc^iiates in government and his
followers in the House of Commons. He pos-
sessed not only good huinonr but good nature,
thcvse qualities attracted and held his followers.
The result of liis death is showing itself in the
party he led to so many victories.

Howe and Macdouald who were peers above
titles, are not ren»embered as Lord Kingston or
Lord Halifax, but simply and plairdy as Joe
Howe and Sir John A. Macdonald, Whatever
may be the value of titles in the mother land,
the}^ are about as useful to Canadian statesmen

24.S

MACKWARD GLANCES.

a.s a cocked hat and a court uniform would have
been to Abraham Lincohi when he signed the
Emancipation Proclamation. The spirit of Howe
is abroad in Nova Scotia and in beiiinnino; to
animate anew the people of the province to a
true sense of their duty. Surrounded by the
influence of his spirit, they are now studying
the many instances of indifferences, if not of in-
capacity, of many of the men they have sent to
represent them, and feel that if Nova Scotia is
to attain a first and favoured place among the
Canadian provinces, this can only be accom-
plished by an honest, independent and firm
exercise of the talents and powers of the men
they elect to represent them in the general par-
liament.

The people are beginning to realize this truth,
that about nine-tenths of the thoughts and ener-
gies of Canadian governments, and local govern-
ments also, have been and are devoted to the one
end of keeping themselves in power. They are
now beginning to see that this is the beginning,
end and almost all of Canadian and provincial
politics. They are realizing that Howe's words
were prophetic when he said : Confederation
means the ruin of Nova Scotia's trade in her
natural market, the United States, and out of
the union there are ten chances to obtain closer
trade relations with the United States to one in
confederation. It is well to remember that it

15ACKWAKI> (JI.ANCES.

24?)

lidH been in successful opposition to unyielding
personal and combined interest that has given
the people of England their liberty and inde-
pendence.

A system seems to be pretty well established
in Canada which makes the interests of party
paramount to the general welfare. The dealing
with contractors, the reduction of the national
debt, the lessening of the annual expenditure,
and settlement of tariff disputes have been
turned into a mere sparring match of politicians
simply for points.

If this was the system as was charged, upon
which the Conservative party rested, it would
also appear to be the system upon which the Grit
party is resting. These were never Howe's
principles, hence they are not in accord with the
views of the true Liberals of the country. Party
politics in Canada are rapidly following on the
American line.

Another Macdonald would be of great benefit
to the Conservative party, and a Howe an untold
blessing to the country.

It has been beautifully said that " in common
with the wondrous three — Burke, Pitt and Fox —
Sheridan is one of the immortals ruling our
spirits from their urns."

And while the political laurels of Howe and
Macdonald will never wither while the English
lanjjuage lasts and Canada endures. It should

250

nACKWAHD GLANCES.

be the fervent prayer of all who cherish sound
liberal principles and profound patriotism, that
their immortal spirits may be abroad in the
knd to rule and guide the mij^hty electorate of
the Dominion as it approaches the ballot boxes
of the country, at each successive contest.

ADDENDA.

Since tlie closini,' cluipter of this book wtu;
written, events between Kn<flan<l and the United
States seeiri to be shapini;' for a closer friendship
between the two countries. Sncli friendship
must result not only in inestiinablo benefit to
the nations immediately conoernel, but must
^ive a wonderful impetus to the pro^n-ess of
civilization, to political freedom, and to the im-
provement of the material condition of the
mafises over the whole world. Tlie collision be-
tween the despotism of Spain and the f''eedom
of America has forced these events to the front.

The councils of prudence and the maxims of
good policy of the An^do-Saxon race wotdd Ije
the greatest incentive to the extension of civiliza-
tion and apostolic Christianity the world lias yet
seen. When the mifrla und majesty of a race
that acknowledges no superior but the (iod of
Battles are called upon to illustrate and main-
tain tliemselves, the powers of the world must
tremble. The God of Battles that sits above
the storm has heard the cry of Cuba, and hjis
ordained that a wing of th.,- Anglo-Saxon people
shall go over and help her while in the throes of
emancipation after a century of bondage. Lib-
erty cannot sit enthroned with ease, while
tyranny lurks at her gates.

252

BACKWARD GLANCES.

The splendour of the Antrlo-Saxon character
is unique, what that character has accomplished
throughout the present cen^-ury, is but an illus-
tration of what it may perform in the next.
The time appears to be quite near, if not already
at hand when nations will no more be allowed
to tyrannize over their colonial subject, than
parents in well regulated communities are allow-
ed to ill treat their children. The attempted
government of Cuba has for niany years been a
disgrace to humanity. A close alliance between
America and England would mean the relegation
of the strongest of the outside nations to the posi-
tion of a second class power. And a combination
of all such nations could not ultimately succeed in
a struggle with the people composing a British-
American coalition.

Canada can do, and is doing much through
her people and through both her political parties
to strengthen the bond of friendship between
England and America. To Nova Scotia, com-
mercially speaking,, tive years of close tra^le
relations with the New England States would

be of more benefit than a quarter of a century
of confederation.

The consummation of a British- American alli-
ance would fee the entire ruin of the business of
the American tail-twisters on the one hand, and
on the other of that interesting class called
Canadian jingoes, who have advocated Chinese

fe.

HACK WARD GLANCES. f

253

walls, commercial union, unrestricted reciprocity
and preferential tariflls, as thougli these were the
only things the Dominion required.

The piopheoy of the Hon. Joseph Howe
uttered at Detroit thirty-two years ago. seems
nearing fulfilment.

" Why should not tliese three great branches
of the family ilouriah under different S3^stems
of government, it may be, but forming one grand
whole, proud of a common origin, and of their
advanced civilization ? Tlie clover lifts its tre-
foil leaves in the evening dew. Yet they draw
their nourishment from a sin^jle stem. Tliua
distinct, and yet united let ua live and flourish.
Why shoul'l we not ? I see around the door the
fi^gs of the two countries. United as they are
there, I would have them draped together fold

within fold and let

" Their varying tints uni*p,
And for 111 in heaven's liglit
One arch of peaf^e."

If it be decreed bv the God of Rattles that the
three great branches of tlie Anglo Saxon race
are to be united under the Stars and Stripes of
America and the Red Cross flaw of Eniifland, the
nations and peoples composing these branches
will step into the twentieth century with
tiiumphant acclaim, and in passing through its
years, surround their march witii the most bril-
liant and glorious periods in the history of the
world.

254

BACKWARD GLANCES.

The rulers of these three branches of the
Anglo Saxon race directly trust in the God of
battles, love and peace. The Queen of England
acknowledges the true hand of providence in all
the nation's triumphs of war. of peace and of
righteousness, and President McKinley with the
same implicit trust invites the nation's thanks
and nation's prayer to Almighty God for the
natioii's victories, Britons, Americans and
Canadians, in founding and extending their
institutions have kept in view these words,
" Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever : the
sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
Whatever defeats and revers<:'S these nations
have had in the past, have been to admonish
them of their errors, and teach them wisdom.
And that they cannot be happy, prosperous and
enduring if they take great ami controlling
interest in extending tlie power of the God of
wealth, or of commerce, or of party, pride and
impurity. If successive rulers of England and
the colonies follow in the fo<>tprints of Victoria
the Good relying in full eontidence in the
Unerring Hand which guides the world aright,
the growing greatness of the present, is but a
forecast of the magnificence of the future. And
if the people of the Great Republic continue to
place the aifairs of the nation in the hands of
men like William McKinley, thf?ir votes will
result in victories, honorable and enduring.

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$l)ip Cbandlery, Paints, Oils, etc.

WATER STREET, WINDSOR, N, S,

■1.I1.IIUJWJ1IJ1 .ijiiii iiiipp^|i^n|i«^v«i^pf^>piiaiipipipMi«qiiM

ADVERTISEMENTS.

w. ^jt. ROBSonsr,

(Successor to Lewis Rice & Co.)

P\)©io§r<

;r,

Everytliing in Photographs. Fine grouping,
fine lighting. Babies' photos a specialty.

All Amateur Goods,
CAMERAS, PLATES, PAPER, Etc, Etc

-ix7iisrDSO]E§., isr. s.

FRED W. DIMOCK.

m Coal Depot, ^.

Shaw's Wharf, Water Street, Windsor, N. S.

FuKNACK, Stove, Grate,
Blacksmith, Steam, ...

and all classes of COAL^ constantly on hand
and in full supply.

Our stock of Coal is from the beat mines in Cape Breton
and the Trovinco, and also the United States Our prices
are moderate.

Alsc a^ent for Patent Fir* Extinguisher and . . .
Birkbeo Investmerit, Security and Savings Con\pany.

ADVEKTISEMENTS.
.'^ESTABLISHED 1866. A)

John Lynch & Sons,
« Staple and fancy «

GROCERS.

New Brick Store,j:^ ^ A-Watcr Street,

WINDSOI?, N. S.

Graduate Spencer

Optical Institute,

New York,

AND

Detroit Optical
Institute, Detroit.

R. H. TRAPNELL,

Optician, Jeweller and Engraver.

Haik Springs, Whf;kus and
- all damaged parts of watches
replaced equal to new. . . .
Fine Watches adjusted.

WATliI^ .STI^I:l:r, ^ WIMDSOP, M. .S.

I'l'i' 1 ''^^mmmmmmmm^mmmim

ADVERTISEMENTS.

Cbe Book $f novelty €o.

G. K. MacKeen, Manager.

>*^Impott<rs and . . TV T ij.* "Tl 1

.A/ Dealers in IMOVeltieS, DOOKSf

Stationery, Magazines, Toys,
Fancy Goods, Violins,i1CAi
Accordions, ^^all Paper, etc.

Hmti for ** BacKward 8la«ce$." Price 75C,

Copies mailed ':o any address
on receipt of price

THE BOOK AND NOVELTY CO., - WINDSOR, N. S.

LEITH HOUSE, Established 1818.

Wine & Spirit
Merchants.

„...^.^>,_^_.^/-//4L/F^X, TV. S.

^-•b

ADVKKTISEMENTS.

George A Pyke,

Whollsale GROCEP,

MIjOlLIF-jPlX.

Goods always
fresh.

Special atten-
tion to letter
orders.

' Goods shipped
always same
day as or
dered.

All goods . . .
guaranteed .
as to quality.

FHE POSSIN HOUSE,

• •

Toxonto,

ONLY TWO BLOCKS FROM UNION RAILWAY STATION,
CONVENIENT TO STEAMBOAT LANDINGS.
ON THE PRINCIPAL STREET.

Remodeled and Refurnished.

The most complete, luxurious and liberally managed Hotel in Ont.

Rooms— Large, Airy and Kn Suite.

I'asseiiger and Baggage Elevators running day and night.

Fire Escape Balconies from every floor.

Prices graduated according to location of Room.

-- - — ^>'^»<r*

lE^roprie-tors.