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{'■ 
 
 I I 
 
 A NEW LIGHT 
 
 ON 
 
 ANNEXATION 
 
 A POLITICAL BROCHURE. 
 
 BY 
 
 S. R. CLARKE, 
 
 OF OSGOODE HALL, TORONTO, BARRISTKR-AT-L AW. 
 
 Entered accorflingvo Ac.<rif tfie PaVli&h*ent qf CaAu<)a, >,tJve ye..i 1891, by Samuel Robinson 
 "• 'CLA.<Ki«, itftj^DepitrMT'elft (V^4R,nc^lt'"^' '" ' ' 
 
 > % 
 
 • • • (tit 
 
 TORONTO : 
 
 Jamks Murray & Co., Pkintuks and Bookbinders. 
 
 1891. 
 
• • • « * 
 
 • ■ • . ' . ' » ' < ' 
 
 no. 
 
A NEW LIGHT ON ANNEXATION. 
 
 t: 
 
 IN darkness or from behind the hedgerow the criminal strikes the 
 blow in violation of the rules of society. Knowing this, I dis- 
 close my name, not because of any superior courage I possess, but 
 because I have no intention to commit a crime against my country. 
 Besides, revealing the identity, serves as a kind of ballast, preventing 
 the frail craft I am about to launch from listing too much to either 
 side, as it might, if I sailed under a mere nom-de-plume. 
 
 I moreover fear that if in the course of the voyage I should happen 
 to foul any of the numerous larger craft going in the opposite direc- 
 tion, a gleam of light still unsubdued on the wave in my vessel's 
 wake might reveal its name and partly to excuse themselves and 
 partly to upbraid me, the question would be asked : *' Why I com- 
 menced such a perilous voyage in the night ? " 
 
 If the too indulgent reader follows me to the end no doubt he will 
 ask why I presume to lay bare the motives, or to criticise the actions 
 of our great public men, or why searching in the womb of time I drag 
 to the light of day a fate impending over 70,000,000 of our race. But 
 let me say I am no political pope claiming omniscience or omnipo- 
 tence for my thoughts or prayers ; I am only a citizen of a free 
 country claiming the right to speak whenever you choose to hear, and 
 even if the seed I sow fall only on the rock, why should I stay my 
 hand ? 
 
 '' Sow in the mom thy seed, 
 At eve hold not thine hand, 
 To doubt and fear give thou no heed, 
 Broadcast it o'er the land." 
 
 In presuming to unfold my views on such a far-reaching and all 
 important question as the unification of the continent of North 
 America, I beg to say that I approach the great theme with the utmost 
 diffidence and distrust of my own judgment, knowing well that the 
 greater number of the people ot Canada hold widely divergent opin- 
 ions. Nothing, therefore, is stated dogmatically or in any hope that 
 my views will displace any existing notions or in any way mould public 
 sentiment on this vital subject. There is no one in this great free 
 country who will withhold from me the right to express opinions or to 
 advocate changes in our political relations, which, according to my 
 humble judgment, would subserve the best interests of our people. 
 
 '■b^OW 
 
Between treason and patriotism there lies a tenuous line which 
 has never l)cen accurately defined. 
 
 To advocate what may he the will of the majority of a State and to 
 propose the ascertainment of that volition in a constitutional manner 
 is far remowed from treason. It is an attribute of freemen and a 
 necessity in all progressive communities. 
 
 Recent events have directed public attention in a greater degree 
 than ever before to the political future of our country. At present 
 Canada is a colony of Britain seeking to achieve greatness under a 
 constitution derived from an Imperia! act, which provided for a con- 
 federation of the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New 
 Brunswick, and which also contained further provisions looking to the 
 admission as part of the confederacy of other provinces or territories 
 then constituted, or about 'o be formed on the northern half of this 
 continent. The consolidation of all these provinces and territories in 
 one dominion has since been effected. 
 
 In 1867 when Canada was thus erected from these materials, the 
 scheme of confederation was expected to produce decided and most 
 beneficial results. It was (juite in accord with the sentiment of the 
 majority of our population that a great nation owing allegiance to 
 England alone should be built up and flourish on Canadian soil, and 
 imbued with this spirit and hope our people have faithfully and 
 earnestly, with fidelity to the mother land, pervading every movement, 
 sought to construct and maintain a prosperous, progressive and power- 
 ful Canadian nationality. An experience of now m re than two de- 
 cades of the order of things thus inaugurated has demonstrated that 
 little practical benefit has accrued, or is likely to accrue from the con- 
 solidation to which I have referred. We have a Governor-General 
 and a Commander-in-chief of the land and naval militia appointed by 
 the Home government, but paid by us. In England is vested the 
 power to negotiate treaties affecting our interests. We are accorded 
 tlie privilege of an appeal in certain cases to the highest tribunal of 
 ihe British Empire, the Imperial Privy Council, and we enjoy no 
 doubt all the freedom necessary to our needs. Our constitution is 
 similar in principle to that of England. We have eliminated from . 
 control in our affairs certain elements that at the time of confederation 
 threatened the welfare of the old provinces. But I believe I may 
 safely say without travelling into the region assigned to the pessimist, 
 that confederation has not accomplished the hopes of its authors, and 
 from our connection with the mother country little practical benefit 
 seems to accrue, either to the ruling or the subject State. What 
 trade is now carried on between the colony and the parent land 
 does not depend upon the continuance of the relationship, the exist- 
 ence of which seems in some matters, notably the fishery question, to 
 be rather an embarrassment than a benefit to either party. A sever- 
 ance of the tie would change the formal parts of our legislative and 
 judicial procedure. Inst^^^H of running as now in the name of 
 
 I 
 
which 
 
 ind to 
 
 
 " Her Majesty Queen Victoria, etc.," and ostensibly deriving their 
 sanction from (jueenly authority, their vahdity would he attributed to 
 the fountain from which they really spring — tlie peoples' will ; and few 
 will deny that, ascribing to this royal and most estimable lady, a j)ower 
 inherent in the people ahjne, may well be described as a relic of 
 feudalism more particularly in an age where the title " king " or 
 "queen" is no longer a synonym of power, but merely an evidence 
 that in some respects, even in the radiant light of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, there is a slavish adherence to ancient forms. We should reach 
 for the substance, and instead of exalting anyone individual to an un- 
 necessary dignity the impulse of our action should be "the greatest 
 good of the greatest number." As to court formula judges would be 
 addressed as " Vour Honors," " This Honourable ( 'ourt," and not as 
 •' Your Lordships," "My Lords," etc. .And were it not that our pres- 
 ent practice is one of the trappings of English jurisprudence inherited 
 by us, and that judges are really exercising functions of government 
 and have no i)ower to alter, though, perhaps they might to some 
 extent relax the usage, my plebian and inconoclastic mind induces me 
 to say that the judges themselves would welcome the innovation, 
 knowing that it involved no loss of self-respect or dignity. 
 
 The sentiment in favor of what is euphoniously described as "Brit- 
 ish connection" is deep r oted and wide spread, and it is matter for 
 great regret that the slightest suggestion in the direction of political 
 union with the neighboring States is so distasteful to a great and im- 
 portant section of our people. This sentiment is perhaps more fully 
 developed in the city of Toronto than in any other part of Canada, 
 but, nevertheless, in all parts of the Dommion it has a firm hold on 
 the affections and is interwoven in the habits of our people. Annexa- 
 tionist as I am, I nevertheless confess that the mere prospect of sep- 
 aration from our mother country has raised emotions and t-volved 
 feelings of fealty and attachment, the existence of which I had before 
 doubted, and though I am willing to become a unit in a new nation to 
 be created without any parental admonition or control, yet stib re- 
 sponsive to the instincts of my nature, I never can forget the dear 
 " old mother " who from my infant eyes wiped their earliest tears and 
 soothed and nourished me while hel[)less on her breast. The feeling 
 of loyalty to Britain is a factor which cannot be ignored in any pro- 
 posal that Canada should no longer form part of the great empire 
 from which the sun never withdraw^ his light. 
 
 " The mother land we hold so cK ar across the stormy main. 
 Seeks not to fetter freeborn sons for sake of petty gain ; 
 The mother liveth for the child, a mother sure is she, 
 
 Our gain is hers, her truest good a prosperous son to see." 
 
 These are the beautiful words of a gifted Canadian lady, and for 
 the purpose in hand I will assume they voice our true position in re- 
 gard to the mother country, and that she would concede our gain was 
 
hers. But there still would remain the question : Would annexation 
 be acceptable to the majority of the Canadian people, and the further 
 question, is it desirable that we should remain as we are ? Dealing 
 with the latter point first, it seems to me the interests of our country 
 suffer from the connection in this way. The emigration we seek to 
 attract is necessarily Kuropean, and experience very clearly shows that 
 no colony identified as we are with a European monarchy can ever 
 hope to compete with a contiguous Republic in securing the surplus or 
 dissatisfied population of the old world. When the (lerman or the 
 Irish emigrant hies away from the land of his birth it is not only with 
 the hope of iaiproving his worldly prospects, but in the belief that he 
 is escaping from what he regards as ihe injustice and oppression inci- 
 dent to monarchial institutions. The Republic at our doors is paraded 
 in the face of the nations as the land where alone freedom is enthron- 
 ed. She has already gathered into her net a great many fish, and the 
 halo of her success extends far beyond her boundaries. It matters 
 not that Canadians are practically as free as citize s of the Republic. 
 Our difficulty is an inability to convince the would-be emigrant to our 
 shores, that in Canada there is just as much civil and religious liberty 
 and as much room for expansion and growth as in the United States. 
 Thus we are seriously handicapped in attempting to secure additions 
 to our population from the outside. We are catching only a frag- 
 ment of the water and much of the foam from the great tide of Euro- 
 pean emigration. Then as to retaining our natural increase we have 
 to encounter to a lar.e extent the same dithculty. The boundary be- 
 tween the two countries does not prevent a change of citizenship from 
 one to the other, and the greater opportun ties presented by the wider 
 field allures from his native land many a son of Canada. If we had 
 lost nothing in this way our population would now be at least 10,000,- 
 000. ^\'e have in Canada a noble birthright, a land endowed by 
 nature with immense possibilities, wealth in fisheries, mines, timber, 
 furs and agricultural land, wanting only development and application, 
 but these it does not seem to rec ive. In 1878 the national poh"cy of 
 protection to home industries— or Canada for the Canadians — was in- 
 troduced and heralded far and wide as the one only universal panacea 
 for our ills. Tall chimneys were expected to cleave the circumam- 
 bient air, the smoke from thousands of furnact s it was feared might 
 obscure the sun, and the hum of industry it was fondly believed wou d 
 only grow faint when confronted with the murmur of the seas, merci- 
 ful y encompassing our shores. 
 
 It was apparent to thoughtful men at the time that this policy was 
 delusive. It is not that upon which I^^ngland's commercial supremacy 
 depends, and though I am free to admit our situation in reference to 
 other trading or producing communities must be taken into account, 
 this is the very ground on which I claim that we cannot ignore or cut 
 off the natural market across our borders or hope for the most profit- 
 able result if we seek to diveit trade from its natural channels, or if we 
 

 climb mountains or traverse wide extending seas to secure the 
 right to buy or sell which lies open at our doors. What we recjuire is 
 not to foster a few " spmdling and exotic industries," but to draw 
 from outside communities men and money to assist in building up 
 our national fabric, and this N.P., or properly styled " no progress" 
 policy, is rather calculated to still than to increase the tumult of the 
 country's toilers. 
 
 Casting about for an infallible specific, to rescue the country 
 from commercial and industrial atrophy the Reform party in 1887 
 propounded the policy of " Unrestricted Reciprocity " between 
 Canada and tiie United States. This was a stej) in the right direction. 
 If attainable it would certainly help the country, but the Hon. I'Mward 
 Blake, a statesman, a patriot and a man of commanding intellectual 
 attainments, formerly a leader of the Reform i)arty, and still in sympa- 
 thy with them, has clearly demonstrated in a recent manifesto that the 
 horse though a good one cannot be put into harness. His positions 
 briefly are — to derive any benefit from the scheme it must be perman- 
 ent, and this would necessarily involve control by the major instead of 
 the minor interest affected. Furthermore, the tariffs of the two coun- 
 tries must be assimilated and our revenue retjuirements not admitting 
 of such a gap as that arising from the non-collection of imposts on all 
 commodities, the subject of exchange between the two cc antries — 
 Canadians would at once have to grapple with the formidable consid- 
 eration of " deficiency of revenue and its supply," and considering the 
 rapid strides we have made in the way of accumu'ating a debt of over 
 $230,000,000, even in a time of peace and assumed prosperity, and the 
 yearly charge upon our resources amounting to over $30,000,000, 
 the difficulty that Mr. Blake forecasts is practically insurmountable. 
 
 Then again our country is expensively governed. It has been 
 erected on a large scale, and covering such a wide area it necessarily 
 involves greater expense than if the same population dwelt within 
 a tenth of the area, as they well might, without being crowded. We 
 have a general federal government with over two hundred members 
 of parliament ; each i)rovince and territory has a local government. 
 We have a high commissioner maintained in London to represent the 
 interests of the country there, and who, though a i)ublic servant, 
 living on public money, came over here and took part in the recent 
 elections. It is said he invaded the office of the Grand Trunk Rail- 
 way and attempted to secure by alluring promises, the influence of 
 that corporation in favor of the party in power. When the constitu- 
 tion requires that our rulers submit their actions to the judgment of 
 the electorate, the verdict of the latter is vitiated by what is known as 
 the " gerrymander." Electoral divisions are grouped together, not 
 with reference to their geographical situation, but so as to secure safe 
 constituences for government candidates. Not merely individuals, 
 but whole provinces, as well as the representatives of certain creeds, 
 are brought under the allurements of the bribe. False issues are 
 
raised for decision, and a ^reat and free people are being toyed with 
 to suit the personal interests and the poekets of ambitious and un- 
 scrupulous men. In atUHtion to all this, the burdens of taxation are 
 unfairly distributed. The weaker j)rovin(es are continually clamour- 
 ing for the freedom of the public chest. .\ subservient government 
 yields to the demand as the price of support, leaving the richer pro- 
 vince that asks nothing to foot the greater part of tjie bill, and until 
 recently a submissive i)e()ple, impressed with the conviction that the 
 yoke of serfdom could not be shaken off, patiently resigned themselves 
 to a "death-like apathy in public affair' 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald, who has fo, -.o many years directed the 
 helm of the ship of state, is the ablest politician Canada has yet 
 [)roduced. Hut he is merely a politician, primarily anxious to wield 
 power ; secondarily, concerned about the interests of the country. A 
 master of men, in touch with the masses, and winning respect from 
 the classes, he understands the best methods to form and mould 
 public sentiment, and the exponent of theories whii'h fnid general 
 acceptance, has secured the essentials ot control. Me is the Napoleon 
 of our politics. He regards not the blood that flows or the men who 
 fall. By an extensive policy of national bribery, this great political 
 general has entrenched himself in power. The Canadian Pacific 
 Railway, costing the country $100,000,000, was undertaken as a bribe 
 to secure dominion west of the Rocky Mountains, And eastward 
 seeking the Atlantic main, another iron band attests his strategy. So 
 in all parts of Canada, with public money, he has erected great 
 national works, political ramparts, generally but not always to the 
 advantage of the country, but invariably tending to gi\e control 
 to this Proteus of diplomacy. Considering the pernicious influences 
 besetting him, >here is nothing in his life that falls below, nor is there 
 much that rises above this standard. His overweening personal 
 ambition colors and distorts his views as to the interests of the 
 country, but with this (jualification he seeks its good. He may 
 honestly believe that it is better for Canada that he be its first consul 
 than that the modern Napoleon should be partially engulfed in the 
 maelstrom of continental politics. Though he has done much for 
 Canada, yet she has done more for him. As a political captain he 
 would not, in the great Republic, where there are so many vast 
 weighty and conflicting interests, assume the premier position. His 
 peculiar methods could not be successfully applied, so far as the 
 jurisdiction of the Federal (Government extends. No such extra- 
 ordinary subvention as that granted to the Canadian Pacific Railway 
 has ever been known in the history of trans-continental or inter-state 
 railway construction in the Ur^ited States. Our generous govern- 
 ment, with the fruits of the people's toil in their hands, started into 
 manufacturing capitalists out of the raw materials indigenous to our 
 soil, when they enfranchised the great Canadian Pacific, and enriched 
 it with such lavish legislative aids. 
 
It is John A. who has principally inculcated the national senti- 
 ment of loyalty and adhesion to Hritish institutions. Although the 
 history of the world shows that there were men who have swayed 
 the destinies of millions of their fellows, not because of the merits 
 of their propaganda, but because ihey were able to becloud the mind 
 and to make dupes, still, a too confiding public will not even at 
 this day acknowledge they are being deceived. A page of Canadian 
 history reveals a portion of the Conservative party seeking anncxa 
 tion to the United States, and even now, if deprived of power for 
 several lustrums, if these ultra loyal citizens found that the cry would 
 no longer win votes, it would vanish rapidly as the surplus in the 
 national treasury. 
 
 But in the recent elections the " old flag," endeared to us by so 
 many great traditions, associated with the illustrious names of Marl- 
 borough and Wellington, was brought down to the wretched predica- 
 ment of being a mere battle cry for ignoble party warfare, and the 
 loyalty plant which had taken deej) root in our soil, was ruthlessly 
 uplifted, plact.'d in a hothouse, and stimula.jd to such an unnatural 
 growth, the precursor of decay, that an indignant people, resenting 
 the vandalism, are now more disposed than ever before to allow 
 economic considerations to smother ' their robust national pride." 
 
 But there is still a large element which, irrespective of any 
 consideration except love for England, will uphold " the grand old 
 flag, which for a thousand years has braved the battle and the bree/e.' 
 The sentiment in fa /or of loyalty finds full fruition in the breasts 
 of some of the honest toilers who knt)w only how to subm': to labor 
 and to wait. It gains adherents m) doubt from the official and 
 military classes, whose positions might be a'tered or imperilled by a 
 change in our system, and there are certain other elements of the 
 population who might conceive that their interests would be best 
 served liy maintaining the status quo. I'he whole army of gourmands 
 who are picking up choice morsels from the |)ubli(: crib, will no doubt 
 shout loudly against annexation. The leaders of the party in power 
 cannot be expected merely as gobemoNches to swallow the loyalty pill. 
 While professing to be taking it in large (juantities, they are really 
 juggling with the nostrum, and throwing it up their sleeves. As a matter 
 of necessity the "outs" must find some other specific. Their breasts 
 are heaving with a desire not only to promote the interests of <he 
 country, but to have a share in shaping its destiny. In a word, the 
 struggle on both sides is for glory and power, ducats and dukedoms. 
 The pathway to these goals is along the lines of popular sentiment, 
 or intelligence, or passion, or greed, or prejudice, or national pride, 
 or any other agency available to secure votes, and it is for this pur- 
 pose that the " old flag " is waved. The success of the shibboleth 
 depends upon the fact that the deluded democracy neither see nor 
 believe that men of superior intellect to themselves take this means 
 to gratify their all-consuming ambitions. If no one had faith in the 
 
10 
 
 cry it never would find life or expression in this coinniunit)', for it is 
 only because the people believe in the honesty and good faith of 
 those who propound a policy or sentiment, that either becomes a 
 fulcrum with which to move nations. 
 
 A few days ago I met a gentleman of the old school, whose 
 letters I often see in the papers, who was so bitter against "the 
 Yankees," and so misguided as to assert that the brightest gem 
 in the diadem of life — the virtue of woman— had no place in the 
 social system of our neighbors. This is one result of the loyalty cry, 
 and if such a statement be not the outcome of gross ignorance, one 
 might well ask, is reason dethroned in that man's mind? Let all 
 true men execrate the miserable teaching perverting the understand- 
 ing and inflaming national animosities to such an extent as to 
 induce any man to deny the existence of the jewel of womanhood 
 in any part of the wide world. This is the same tiling in kind 
 though not in degree as that slavery of mind and surrender to 
 fanaticism which one in the history of Britons found expression in 
 the faggot and the rack. 
 
 We cannot fail to admire the generalship with which "Old 
 To-morrow " conducted the last constitutional battle. Though his 
 eye has lost its former fire, and infirmities are. beckoning him to the 
 great beyond, yet taking the lance poised by biis enemies, and hurling 
 his own well-tried blade, as the first blow '"ell the grit phalanx were 
 compelled to assume the defensive, and instead of being driven to 
 this miserable plight, they should have pursued an aggressive policy. 
 They failed in tactics, not in the merits of their cause. The advan- 
 tages of greater commercial intercourse with our neighbors were 
 clearly and ably demonstrated, but little was advanced as to the 
 practicability of the scheme, or to meet some of the objections urged 
 by their opponents, and since pointed out by Mr. Blake. 
 
 " When you lightly touch a nettle. 
 And it stings you for your pains, 
 Grasp it as a man of mettle, 
 And it soft as silk remains." 
 
 My private opinion is that the Reform party went into the contest 
 as a kind of preliminary sparring match with the forces now arrayed 
 against continental unity. ^Vhile success would have been welcome 
 their main object was to test the strength of their opponents. In the 
 set-to the Reform party carried on their shoulders the whole odium 
 of anrexation, without expounding any of its benefits or oflering it 
 for acceptance, and in the fac e of the odds against them, the voice of 
 the people manifests widespread deep-rooted and general dissatisfac- 
 tion with the present condition of affairs. But it is plain the Reform 
 party must, if they do not \\.„nt to commit political suicide, either 
 advance or recede. In a word, party lines must be c rawn as prior 
 to 1887, orel.se the Reformers must espouse the cause of political 
 union, and for this reason — the Conservative party have directed 
 
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 their whole forces to maintain the positit)n that unrestricted recipro- 
 city forms, merely the protocols of a treaty ignominiously transferring 
 our noble heritage to " a hostile nation." They are now unmistak- 
 ably en evidtme before the country in that martial array. The great 
 tribune, Mr. Blake, supports the Conservative position in respect to 
 the tendency of their opponent's policy. And I further think he is un- 
 doubtedly right when he says if you must trade with " Uncle Sam," 
 settle now your political destiny, and the reason he gives is that now 
 you are free, and you may not be (juite free when your whole com- 
 mercial and industrial system depends on the good graces of *' brother 
 Jonathan." Mr. Blake is no traitor to his party, and though not in 
 ^^ councils, I feel persuaded it was by advisement he demolished 
 *"!e unrestricted reciprocity banner. 
 
 o far as the progressive Reform party is concerned, it must be 
 e er annexation or retrogression. My own idea is the Reform party 
 advance. They seem clearly to be fighting the annexation battle 
 L der cover of the " unrestricted reciprocity '' colours for the present. 
 It is easy to see they disclose no practicable scheme to meet the fiscal 
 impediment, and though they understand this weakness the entire 
 pressure of their argument is on the benefits of nr ore intimate trade re- 
 lations. Annexation is now unpopular, and the plan is to create such 
 a universal desire for free trade that the people will demand it even 
 at I he pric of effacing their nationality. Already from "The Globe" 
 battlements great guns are clearing the ground for the decisive and 
 final conflict. I can hear the shrill scream of their immense projec- 
 tiles, as flying westward they pierce the air well above the majestic 
 time-scarred peaks of the Rocky mountain chain, and far to the east 
 off Sable Island I see them smite even the Atlantic wave. And soon 
 the political union flag will be fluttering in the gale. When Jesus 
 Christ sought to ameliorate the condition of mankind he met with 
 more than vehement opposition. Jealousy, rage and hate all joined 
 to suppress his teachings. The world has never secured a great re- 
 form without a bitter fight, for the monsters of ignorance and prejudice 
 always die hard, so prepare for action. From the v-omplexion of events 
 I would infer a perfect understanding between Mr. Blake and the 
 present commander of the Reform fleet. Mr. Blake's good ship is 
 skirmishing in advance to determine the strength of the enemy. If 
 he finds that the latter are not exactly impregnable in their position, 
 the entire Reform fleet will move up to Mr. Blake's lines and a grand 
 assault will be made. But there is no use in expecting the hardy in- 
 telligent Canadian sailor to join in the engagement unless he knows 
 exactly what he is fighting for. In other words, what will " Uncle 
 Sam " do for Canada, if the latter joins his concern ? What are the 
 " spoils of war " ? And the battle cry must be political onion, and the 
 actual terms on which it is to ratified must go before the great tribunal, 
 the people, for adoption or rejection. Mr. Blake is in my opinion an 
 Anne349,tiQnist frpm honest conviction ih^t it is the best remedy for 
 
 f.** 
 
12 
 
 our ills to be found in our pharmaccepia. He does rrot consider it 
 our ideal future and he is, no doubt, as much attached to the mother 
 country as the most blatant loyalist. But looking to our general and 
 lasting good, and that of the mother country as well, he sees as all un- 
 prejudiced men must see that annexation is our ultimate bourne. 
 
 -In the desperate strife of the warring forces Mr. Blake is now the 
 shining mark to which many a poisoned arrow flies, I have no 
 authority to speak for him, and only from his public acts and utter- 
 ances I attem[)t to give in a feeble and imperfect way my own diag- 
 nosis of his character and motives. He is not in politics for sordid 
 gain, nor yet for place or power. The inspiration of his life is his 
 country's weal. He is in law for gain, but do not suppose that this 
 pursuit requires an elastic conscience, when even judges seeking only 
 the right, too often mistakenly uphold the wrong. In politics Mr. 
 Blake has nothing to gain, but everything except his country's good to 
 forego. No one knows better than he that to expect absolute honesty 
 and purity in public life is illusive as an attempt to grasp the tint of 
 the rainbow on the cloud. The methods of the practical politician 
 are distasteful to him. It is not congenial to his nature to be com- 
 pounding nostrums, not nourishing to the body, but only designed to 
 tickle the public palate for the purposes of the hour. And ye who 
 berate him now show me a single dishonourable or inconsistent act 
 in his career. Think ye that the man has been a dawdler, a mere 
 prodigal or wanton of time ? Think also of the sacrifices he has 
 made on behalf of his country.. Why sheolize the man because as yet 
 he has not been explicit in his views in regard to our political future ? 
 Do you not see that for the present his desire is to leave that to in- 
 evitable inference, because a direct statement that he advocated an- 
 nexation would startle England, the United States and Canada more 
 perhaps than if he gravely asserted that an Atlantic liner had been 
 wrecked in mid ocean by collision with a parallel of latitude. Being 
 an obscure member of society I can freely express my views without 
 shaking the foundations of the structure, but a man on whom the 
 people wait to catch the words that fall like jewels from his lips must 
 be careful of his power. In my humble judgment the only rewaird he 
 seeks is that his name and deeds shall shine in letters of unsullied gold 
 on history's page. When the '• old man " and the " old policy " sleep 
 well in their political grave, and when the great question as to 
 whether the " old flag " shall for ever be our national ensign, agitates 
 the public mind and fires the popular heart, the burning words of 
 •Edward Blake will swell the flame from sea to sea. When we loolc 
 at Mr. Blake merely as a practical politician I confess that his conduct 
 appears disappointirtg and mysterious, and this is simply because he 
 cannot adapt himself to his environment, and advocate opinions he 
 does not hold, or support schemes quite within the realm of practical 
 politics, but not in the interest of the country. It is a blessing we have 
 at least one man who is not a practical politician, whose stomach re- 
 

 ;r it 
 
 >ther 
 
 and 
 
 un- 
 
 '3 
 
 jects the nauseous draughts practical selfish time-serving politicians 
 eagerly swallow, and who does not care to resort to the art of leger- 
 demain to deceive the public as to what he is really doing. 
 
 Too many of our public men wait in some quiet harbor with 
 straining nerves^ eager eyes and open mouths, watching for the first 
 impact of the breeze on the sails of their unsciworthy craft, so that by 
 a fair wind they may have some chance of reaching a popular port. 
 
 If I may place my pigmy intellect ag inst the pr.ctices of the 
 time, I venture, to predict that the day is coming when the man of 
 popularity and power will be one who, grasping the helm with a firm 
 resolute hand, drives his staunch craft in the very teeth of the gale, up 
 and down the wave, through foam or spindrift, to the port of right. 
 There are "how too many men who are like boys playing with toy ships 
 on tiny waters, where they become the mere sport of the breeze. Mr. 
 IJlake is apparently somewhat austere, lacking in personal magnetism, 
 unable, perhaps, to inspire the masses with devotion and enthusiasm, 
 and is therefore deficient in some of the essentials of a great leader. 
 But his honor, honesty, and patriotism, cannot be gainsaid. He is a 
 type of man so unusual that he is liable to be misunderstood, and to 
 this and not to malice I would attribute the recent attacks upon him. 
 I am sure those who revile him now, know nothing of his lofty pur- 
 pose or the yearnings of his soul. He can and will bide his time, and 
 let history tell the true story of his worth. At present Mr. Blake's 
 good ship is waiting for sailing orders, when, rain or shine, storm or 
 calm, fair wind or foal, she will make for the por* which the true 
 interests of the country prescribe. I have little doubt he will lead 
 the Conservative party who seem now anxious to secure him for a 
 ronmiander, provided they resolve themselves into a mere aggregation 
 of men imbued with his ideas as to the country's weal, and ready to 
 emphasize them with their votes. But the chances favor his being 
 reinstated in command of his old ship. 
 
 That annexation would be in the interest of Britain I have no 
 doubt, though I am well aware some may think this the flimsy pre- 
 tension of a man imbued with mere anti- British proclivities, and 
 anxious to attract attention by the bare audacity of his utterances. 
 But let us calmly consider the matter. England is now the seat of 
 many of the great manufacturing and financial interests of the world. 
 She produces wares which are carried in her own ships to Africa, to 
 both the Indies, to China and Japan, to islands under the Southern 
 Cross, to Australia, to New Zealand, and to North and South 
 •America. England is also the world's banker. From London to all 
 parts of the globe radiate and flow the golden streams that give life to 
 processes of production and distribution. But greater far than her 
 manufacturing and financial interests, is her commerce. On the high 
 seas she has absorbed the carrying trade of the world. The domain 
 of other powers " stops with the shore." There England's colossal 
 empire begins, and wherever "great ships go," the mariners of 
 
M 
 
 England are found. Hero is the origin of her colonial possessions. 
 Many of her sons remained in the territories to which they had, in 
 the si)irit of adventure, been carried in her own ships. W^here the 
 community was small and weak, protectit n w. s sought from Britain 
 and invari hly granted. Hers is a kind of paternal government. 
 The term of endearment we use towards her — "our mother country" 
 — proves this fact. England has always been ready with men and 
 money to preserve the integrity o( the communities she has been 
 instrumental in founding. This is perfectly well known, not only to 
 the colonies, but to the whole world'. When the mantle of England's 
 protection and power rests on the shoulders of a people, they have 
 always secured independence and peace. It is IJritish pluck, tne 
 masterful, courageous, paternal spirit of the British lion, in preventing 
 other powers from trampling on he ^ or her dependencies, that has 
 given her such a firm hold in the hi^^^rts of all colonists. Hut here is 
 the |)oint. Extenduig ovei a colony, this imperial and national 
 guardianship is no advantage to Britain. She grants it when asked, 
 because, in the beautiful words of Fidelis, "a mother sure is she." 
 We derive now a substantial benefit from England's protection, from 
 her naval suj^remacy, from her ownership of great ships of war, and 
 from the fact that the thunder of her hundred ton guns would re- 
 verberate and roll all along the Atlantic seaboard, over old oceans 
 gory breast, if we were menaced by " Uncle Sam." England will 
 spend her last dollar and consign to a soldier's honored grave her 
 last man, to {^reserve the independence and nationality of Canadians, 
 if we but say the word. But it is not to her advantage to do so. 
 What she is really interested in is our growth, the production of 
 wealth, and the increase of population in our midst, thus affording 
 material with which to expand and still further magnify her enormous 
 commercial interests And not only is she interested in our prosperity, 
 but for the same reason she is intensely concerned with the increase 
 of industrial enterprise and population all over the world, because 
 its commerce lies in her lap. She is a cosmopolitan nation, knowing 
 neither clime nor named sea, parallel of latitude or longitude, arctic 
 nor antartic pole, nor even the equatorial line, for on the great ocean 
 all is free ; no tariff walls there, and as the world increases in wealth 
 and j)opulation, so increases England's trade and her manufacturing 
 and financial interests. The strength of England increases in the 
 same ratio that her colonial subjects emerge from ihestatt of tutelage, 
 and it seems to me that they must do so, just as the members of a 
 family, when they reach man's estate, no longer remain in the old 
 home. On the seas England is and always will be queen. Her 
 vulnerable points are her outlying dependencies, which, through 
 differences, might embroil her in conflict with adjacent States, just 
 as the Fishery and Seal questions have threatened in the past. 
 
 If Canada became an independent nation now, what would it 
 mean ? Will any candid man say it would signify more than this — 
 
'5 
 
 just 
 
 that we no longer required guardianship, being able to assert our 
 manhood, and to place our individuality and identity jjcfore the 
 world. It would not afiFect our trade with, or our love for our dear 
 old mother, and it would remove all possibility of England coming 
 into collision with the great Republic on our account. And if we join 
 forces with 'brother Jonathan," it would t qually secure a permanent 
 peace between England and the United States of North America. 
 And none of the other great powers of the world would ever dare to 
 provoke to war the nation I desire to see formed. The new nation 
 could devote her energies to the arts of peace, the extinction of the 
 existing national debts, and the destruction of the tariff walls. Ar'l 
 in view of England's great commercial, manufacturing, and financia' 
 interests, just consider the immeasurable, incalculable advantage this 
 would be to her. Whatever retards growth or reduces the i)roductive 
 force on this continent, tends to impoverish the blood now pulsing 
 through England's great arteries of trade; and the converse is true, 
 whatever promotes growth gives greater vitality to this arterial str- am. 
 Therefore, I say, the loss of her colonial empire only means that the 
 state of tutelage has passed. It means no diminution of England's 
 power or impairment of her glorious prestige. It means only an in- 
 crease in the strength of her sons, and in the mighty volume of her 
 commerce. England is too strong to either fear or feel decay through 
 Canada asserting the dignity of manhood, and I hope and believe 
 that colonial empire or no, Brit in, as, and infinitely greater than the 
 Britain of to-day, " will nestle in the heaving sea " in all her pride of 
 power and place, as long as the world endures. 
 
 I cannot do more than merely glance at one of the features by 
 which the proposed nation would be distinguished. The same 
 colonists of England more than a hundred years ago sought the 
 eastern shores of North America. They found new, vast, and diffi- 
 cult conditions confronting them. In England the artizan knows 
 only his s[)ecial line, but he knows it well, and from father to son the 
 handicraft is transmitted, without any necessity for greater develop- 
 ment of skill in hand or brain. So the soldiers and sailors of old 
 England, in matters of business outside their duty to their com- 
 manders, know little more than how to draw their pay, but when 
 called upon to maintain their country's prestige and power, courage- 
 ous and fearless they confront the foe, stolid and plucky as if inspired 
 ^ith the imperious disdain of (iibraltar's rock for all mundane things. 
 So that I say the English man as a rule confines himself to one 
 pursuit, in which he excels, but his mind is not so complex or adapt- 
 able to new and varying conditions, or so stored with general know- 
 ledge and capabilities, as that of a man American born. In the new 
 world the scope and application of mind was wide, varied, and free. 
 There were cause and opportunity for great mental and physical 
 development, in subduing the forces of nature antagonistic to com- 
 fort, support, and progression. Difficulties and conditions unheard 
 
i6 
 
 of and unknown in the lan-l of their fathers, stimulated, strengthened, 
 and expanded the physical and mental activities of the early colonists. 
 Necessity, too, was a spur, th^.. came self-reliance, industry and pluck, 
 and these cliaracteristics are to day innate in the people of this 
 hemisphere. Though the intellect of the ordinary European is like 
 fine gold, that of the American (which includes Canadian) is bright 
 and sparkling as the diamond. Our society is now being formed on 
 P^uropean lines. But we have still the great substratum on which the 
 pioneers built. In our present advanced condition, specialization and 
 concentration of physical and mental force in parti'^ular fields of 
 action are rapidly coming to the front, and with the early impress of 
 the American mind aiding our onward march, I can only point to 
 Edison and ask the question, where will we end ? 
 
 Here in North America is now laid the great foundation stone of 
 the most wonderful empire in the world. There is here a vast 
 matrix of production now pregnant with varied and inexhaustible 
 riches fresh from the hand of their creator (lod. Why should the 
 people to whom it belongs be longer divided against themselves with 
 frowning tariff walls, restricted trade, possibility of war, and national 
 enmity and prejudice impairing their giant strength ? 
 
 Would " evening blush to own a star?" and if not, why should I 
 disavow or conceal my desire to see all North America under one 
 government? If we seek by artificial bands to bind its northern half 
 even to England's glorious isle, some day nature may rend the chain, 
 and show the world she was mocked in vain. 
 
 But our genuine old tory will have none of annexation just now. 
 It matters not that father time has persistently thrown behind us 
 many an exploded dream about a vigorous colonial trade policy on 
 the part of Britain, many a grand inchoate imperial zoUervein, bind- 
 ing the colonies and the mother country closer in sentiment and 
 interest, and many an extravagant forecast of great material and 
 national progress on the part of Canuda. Still, our old tory, standing 
 in the same relation to Sir John A. Macdonald as the heathen to 
 their idols, complacently returns for solace to the great possibilities 
 of the future. I say it with deep regret, heretofore Canada's future 
 has been the salient feature of her condition. Till now father time 
 has contemptuously left us in darkness, but we are still invited to 
 behold him hastening surely to turn on a light equal to the sun at 
 noonday. He cannot do so too soon. A little bright fructified pre- 
 sent might be introduced with advantage. Besides, "variety is thespice 
 of life." However, you must not imagine I do not like our old tory. I 
 certainly admire his faith in his mentor. We all know how rapidly 
 he has shifted from protection to limited reciprocity at the first wink 
 of his " guide, philosopher, and friend,' and though the space between 
 the present attitude of the Conservative party and political union is 
 wide, and the turn a sharp one to make, I have no doubt if 
 "John A." were to declare for annexation to-morrow, our old tory 
 
17 
 
 would shoot round the corner with such eager, breathless haste, and 
 electric speed, that we could all hear his coat-tails snappip" in the 
 breeze. But still the old tory lays " the flattering' unction to his 
 soul" that he is really John A.'s master. He indignantly resents the 
 slightest imputation that he is merely a bull with p heavy iron ring in 
 his nose, wooing him to abject subjection as he prances around, 
 bellowing loudly of his freedom and independence. Taking his cue 
 from his leader, when we broach the subject of political union with 
 " Uncle Sam,'' for want of any reasonable argument against it, our 
 old tory sageh' shakes his head to make sure that the ring is still 
 attached to his nasal organ, and then he gravely hints at the mobiliza- 
 tion of imperial forces to check "the majestic procession of events." 
 He forgets that in England to-day there is not as much loud-mouthed, 
 fatuous, unreasoning loyalty to the sciuare mile as there is in Canada 
 to the square inch. Rejoicing in our strength and the justice of our 
 cause, feeling that the day of triumph is near, we bear no malice 
 towards our old tory. Let us " take him up tenderly, lift him with 
 care," and after wrapping the " old flag " around him for a burial 
 shroud, place him in his political coffin. The new nation will recjuire 
 another flag. In one corner a cluster of beaming stars, in the other 
 the dear old " Union Jack," and in the centre the (Canadian Beaver. 
 May the natural life of our old tory be prolonged till that not-distant 
 day when this new national emblem will usher in an era brighter 
 than his struggling manh^ d knew. 
 
 Canadians have no ca se to fear competition in any walk of life 
 with our American cousins ; we are more enterprising and alert in 
 business matters than our neighbors ; we have strength, brains, 
 industry and energy, and all we crave is a fair opportunity. Whatever 
 our lot may be there is no danger of the name "Canadian " fading 
 from men's minds. We will make ourselves heard and felt even in 
 the great confederacy of nations. In the past we have been strug- 
 gling manfully against an adverse fate. Our people have been 
 cabined, cribbed and confined. Though enterprising to the border 
 of recklessness, prudence checks our movements. Our merchants 
 cannot expand their trade beyond the bounds of our limited market. 
 Our manufacturers must curtail their output for the same reason. 
 The transport trade on land and water must rise or fall with our 
 resources. Some of the produce of the farmers' weary labor falls 
 back on his hands for want of a living profit, and in evcy branch of 
 industry too many honest men must beg for leave to toil. 
 
 Meantime the army of officialdom with its retainers and camp 
 followers are zealously howling about the wonderful progress of the 
 country. They furnish us with misleading statistics of our growth, 
 and equally delusive statistics of our neighbors' progress. It is 
 sought to bewilder or fascinate us with great schemes of imperial 
 federation which fail to materialize. The internal management of 
 our affairs is always about to accomplish marvels, and we have all 
 
i8 
 
 kinds of extravagant promises and prognostications about future 
 development. 
 
 If during the past liundred years our population had increased to 
 40,000,000, as it might have done under wise beneficient new world 
 institutions, we would now have in our midst many a Stewart, 
 Vanderhilt, Clould and Astor. It was the growth of their country 
 that made these men. Just as a great ship resting on a bar when 
 the tide is out, floats again proudly on the wave with its mighty 
 inflow, so rise the private fortunes of individuals with the national 
 advancement. 
 
 Toronto is an older city than Chicago. New York is of more 
 recent date than Quei)ec. The population of the Republic has 
 reached 60,000,000 in practically the same period that ours has 
 become 5,000,000. It seems to me the cause of this national atrophy 
 is the inordinate amount of politics, loyalty and government, with 
 which we are afflicted 
 
 We are reviled if we venture to remonstrate in regard to the 
 administration of public affairs. We are branded as traitors if we 
 make bold to assert that the country is at a standstill. All kinds of 
 excuses, explanations and justifications are offered to account for our 
 condition. If we were really working out our great destiny satisfac- 
 torily we would not hear so much in extenuation of the conduct of 
 our rulers. Now they earnestly inculcate submission and satisfaction 
 on our part. So much time and attention have been devot d to en- 
 gender the impression that we have been getting on remarkably well 
 as a nation, that I can easily understand the party in power have no 
 leisure to consider or introduce measures for actually improving our 
 condition. If they had expended as much energy in plans to pro- 
 mote the substantial interests of the country as they have in 
 subterfuges to conceal their own short-c mings and mismanagement, 
 I have no doubt we would now as a nation be fully abreast of the 
 great Republic. I honestly be'ieve the only radical remedy in sight 
 is political union. The annexation of the people's great domain, 
 called Canada to the United States, is, at this writing, subject merely 
 to *' old to-morrow's " beck or call, and the question is, how long will 
 British freemen submit to this autocratic rule? 
 
 I can see no bar to political union except mere sentiment. And 
 make no mistake it is a consummation extremely fascinating to 
 " Uncle Sam's " ambition. He is astute enough to see its material 
 advantages, but more than money, he looks to glory, the great scheme 
 of the unification of the continent, and making one in interest, sympa- 
 thy, hope, prcgress, glory and government, the remarkable people to 
 whom the greater part of the western hemisphere is now assigned. 
 Owing to this all ^sorbing ambition of " Uncle Sam," we now as a 
 people lie helpless m the lap of the mother country, and if we do go 
 forth to the natural destiny of man and leave the state of protection 
 and care, let it be with the never dying feeling of love and attachment 
 
'i; 
 
 future 
 
 1 have already indicated as properly and necessarily existing between 
 mother and son. To gratify his ambition " Uncle Sam " would, in 
 my opinion, be willing to impose on the broad back of the new 
 nation the entire debt of both, and if he did so the fiscal difficulty 
 which now confronts us with reference to unrestricted reciprocity 
 would be removed. And here I can appr )priate in favor of annexation 
 all ihe arguments adduced in support of unro^^tricted reciprocity and 
 could, if necessary, add to their cogency in many ways. Permanence 
 in the relationship would be secured, the revenue requ.rements being 
 the same, there would be no difficulty about the assimilation of the 
 tariffs, the long line of custom houses between the two countries 
 would be abolished, t*^ ' existing causes of irritation and the clashing 
 of interests would disappear and a new nation would arise in 
 sympathy and identified in interest with Britain. British gold is now 
 seeking investment in the United States in hundreds of millions 
 annually. Within the past five years, in breweries alone, $500,000,000 
 of British capital has become a dividend-earning and controlling 
 power. Not only in money but in men the British Isles have sent to 
 the United States at least ten of their sons for every one sent to this 
 fawning colony, and from the noble patriot, Washington, down to the 
 present time, the dominant spirits in guiding the destiny of the great 
 Republic have belonged to that " marvellous race called the Anglo- 
 Saxon." The United States is already the " greater Britain,' and as 
 such has inherited the "tongue of England, its literature, its religion, 
 the inexhaustible wealth of its laws, constitutions and law abiding 
 liberties." 
 
 A few sickly theorists with the tinsel of royalty dazzling their 
 mental vision are laboring painfully to disseminate the notion that our 
 system of government is superior to the American. According to 
 these gentlemen the initiative in American legislation belongs to no- 
 body in particular. I quite agree this objection will not lie in respect 
 of oui system. Sir John Macdonald is a kind of emperor, king, 
 president and British prime minister all combined. He has no trouble in 
 either initiating or enacting measures according to his own sweet will. 
 'I'heoretically the Senate bars his way. Practically this august body 
 only cloaks his absolute power ; they are his own complaisant 
 nominees rewarded for long faithful party services. In the United 
 States the wheat and chaff are placed in a great hopper, passed 
 through sieve after sieve driven by the machinery of government, 
 winnowed and sifted by public opinion .::il at the end we see only 
 the clear golden grain. I will on some other occasion contrast the two 
 systems of government, and endeavor to show wherein the American, 
 though possessing some defects, is on the whole, so far as I am able 
 to judge, superior to our own. 
 
 Though I entertain a decided opinion as to the material advan- 
 tages of such a union over any other feasible plan for improving our 
 condition, I do not claim that it would land us immediately in a 
 
30 
 
 terrestrial paradise. In our great Canndian forests we gaze with 
 admiration upon the lofty pine tree raising its jjroud trunk and sj-read- 
 ing its evergreen branches, seeking a benison from tlie clouds; and in 
 the economy of nature, in the same forest it may be beneath the 
 shadows of the pine tree wc find the poison ivy or the briar. So in 
 the realm of government the virus from the poison ivy i)ermeates the 
 body [)olitic and in the firm flesh of the young giant I fain would see 
 inspired with life many a thorn would find a place, or he might 
 be called ui)on to grapple with the moloch of monopoly or to repel 
 the assaults of a misguided democracy. 
 
 Hut we should not l)e afraid to advance because of possible 
 difficulties in our way or of imperfections incident to all human 
 institutions, for even on the earth designed by the greatest architect 
 of all, there are poisonous and impeding forces, the existence of which 
 we can neither explain nor destroy. Neither should we allow our 
 future to be settled by the inglorious action of drift or the dire force of 
 necessity, but while yet there is time, and before our interests become 
 so interwoven with those of the Republic that we cannot withdraw, we 
 should, as becomes a free people, decide upon our destiny. I do not 
 propose to go to Washington by the back-stair's route or like a beggar 
 asking for bread, to go tapping at our neighbors' door. 1 am proud 
 of my country and I disdain any imputation that she is unable to con- 
 tribute her full share to the suggested national partnership, and in a 
 congress of nations invoking liberty, justice and equality I would 
 invite an alliance, commercial and political, of all English speaking 
 people on the continent of North America, whose aim would be to 
 maintain a greater Britain, too great for tutelage or colonial depend- 
 ence, too great for p-^^'^'-y squabbling over quintals of fish or bales of 
 peltries, but not too great to love and uphold Britain, the brightest 
 star in the galaxy of nations. 
 
 'L he forces of nature upheaved here an immense continent with- 
 out defacing its bosom by an arbitary line, such as the boundary 
 between the United States and Canada. The latter is man's decree. 
 He alone carried it over mountain and plain to where at either end 
 the seas bid defiance to his behests. This attempted dissection 
 of the continent, involving an array of custom houses, helps to 
 antagonize the interests of two free people, already joined by racial 
 bands, with similar habits and pursuits, and sharing together the 
 natural riches of the continent. It restricts their trade, militates 
 against their substantial interests, and lessens their friendly inter- 
 course. As with an omnipotent hand sustaining nature's decree, 
 let us obliterate this line, and let the sovereign people declare that 
 hereafter it be ineffectual as a shadow on the wave to impede the 
 traffic athwart the ocean's breast. 
 
 The ship of state is now drifting through force of wind and tide, 
 unstayed by helm or strength of crew in the direction of continental 
 unity, and though as a matter of sentiment we all would prefer 
 
31 
 
 erecting on Canadian soil a powerful and distinctive nationality, it 
 seems unwise longer to ignore our true position and manifest destiny. 
 In. love for En^^land and (Canada I am the peer of any man. 1 have 
 not formulated a sentence bearing either on Britain's position or 
 ours without emotion, tending to draw from my eyes the tears |)roper- 
 ly incident to childhood alone. Jiut when I write of the British 
 soldier 1 cannot check their flow. As the grandson of two British 
 soldiers, and at their feet, and from their lips, when hut a lad, I learn- 
 ed much about England's great commercial and monetary interests 
 and all about the indomitaljle [)luck of the British soldier. My 
 progenitors stood by the old flag all thn^ugh the tremendous struggle 
 with Napoleon, and almost with my mother's milk I absorbed a 
 knowledge (;f and love for the [)owerful, fatherly Britisli lion. In 
 spirit, day after day, nay, year after year, I have stood with the men 
 who at Waterloo, if they had not been Britons strong and true would 
 have found their flag and their country's name both prostrate on that 
 bloody plain. And whatever of good or ill I have set before you charge 
 to the account of the nationality known as Canadians, for here I first 
 became conscious of the stern realities of life, and my sole desire is to 
 serve my native land. The heart of every Canadian is pregnant with 
 hope ; though all cannot see our future in the same way, let us meet 
 on the common ground of love for our country, and be loyal primarily 
 to ourselves ; let not the " blightins; heat of party burn the manhood 
 from our breasts." But as a free, progressive and loyal people let us 
 survey our jjrogress in the past, consider what forces have been array- 
 ed against us, what elements of danger there now are, and what is the 
 best remedy to apply, and with our minds unclouded or besotted by 
 either hate, ignorance or prejudice, let us consider whether we are 
 really helping Britain by still seeking her protection, and endangering 
 the continuance of amicable relations between her and the United 
 States. If this be done we will find the dawning of a brighter day 
 when in the race down the long aisles of time the intelligent, ener- 
 getic men of this northern clime will lead the vanguard of civilization. 
 Therefore, with titanic strength and patriotic zeal let us lift this great 
 question of continental unity beyond the reach of mere party politics, 
 and higher beyond the grasp of merely self-seeking local interests, and 
 again higher beyond mere ignorance or misconception, and still again 
 higher and away from the poison fangs of passion, hate, or prejudice, 
 and yet further upwards to the realm of desire to subserve the best 
 interests of the greater and lesser Britain, of Canada and the Anglo- 
 Saxon race; and highest of all by a last supreme effort let us crown the 
 truly royal summit, where nearer to God, and looking down the moun- 
 tain slope up which they climbed, statesmen, patriots and free people 
 meet, and in a great parliament ratify for all time to come nature's 
 resistless imperial decree. 
 
 In conclusion, my prayer is to see a nation newly born, her throne 
 between two oceans, the greatest on the globe, with the major part of 
 
S3 
 
 her northern and southern shores laved by lesser seas, christened "the 
 United States of North America," and which as a mighty empire in 
 closest sympathy with all families of the Anglo-Saxon race, conscious 
 also of her power and glorying in the brightness of her promise, will 
 raise her proud head and bare her dauntless breast in friendly greet- 
 ing, or if need be, in defiance to the world. 
 
:d "the 
 ipire in 
 iscious 
 ie, will 
 ' greet- -