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D 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 J\id: ' •■ ^Xl^ _:^ idC i I FREiNCH BY JOSEPH T^^SSIi: French i^autuUaiis are ii niorul ami religious people, listening to their hierarchy and tlu-ir priestliood, and as a Protestant I liiive no hesitatiou in saying that the b«jst and finest moral police iu the world wiw, to be found in the priesthood of French Canaila.— (^jpeech of Sir John A, Macdouald, at St. Geow»= Clnb, London, on January 4, 1886.) The French people in Canada are iu the position of a people speaking an alien language, but do not con- sider themselves an alien people, und are at this mo- ment as proud of British law and freedom as any portion of the Canadian people ; and aa Lord Dufferin remarked the other d,iy in London, there is no class or population more thoroughly trained iu Parliamentary practice and life, and to all the rights and feelings of au independent and proud people. -nSpeeob of Hon. Alex. Mackenzie, Dundee, Scotland.) ^f 'I i/i^ 6 M MONTREAL IMPUniHUlK (SKNKKALK, 45, JAOQUFS OARTIKR HiiUAHB 1888 H - - * 4rt«» J^jjlj^^ , ^.^H ^b:.>^\^ »TMHrill^^^^H ^^^^BUlil ■ I «n ctft»^--<~.-'-* ,■'„...» «u. <- THE FRENCH Ql ESTION / nv .lOSEl^H T^HSK Kifuuli riiiiiuliuns iiiv a iiioiul aiul ifligioiis (leoplf, liKtfiiing t(i tlit'ir hiVnircliy mid their priesthood, and ii» a Protestant I liave uo hesitation in saying; tliat the liest and finest moral iiiilice ill the world was to bef'nind ill the piieHthood of Kienoh Canada. (Speech of Sir .lohn A. MacdonaM, at St. (ieorxes (!lul), London, on .ranuai.v4, 1886.) Th»- Kreiieh people in ('aiuida are in the position of ;i iieople speaking an alien laiiKUage. hut di> not con- sider themselves an alien people, and are at this nio- iiieiit as pronil of British law and freedom as any portion of the Canadian people : and as Lonl Dutferin remarked the other day in London, there is no class or lioimlation more tlioioujthly trained in Parliamentary practice and life, and to all the rights and feelings of an independent and proud people. (.Speech of Hon. Alex. MiicKenzie. Dundee, Hcotland.) " MONTREAL IMPKIMKRIK (1KNKRAL15, 4.5, .JACQUESrAUTIEU HQUAHE 18S8 .v: f The followino- letters need very little introduction. They are an answer to a series of charges made by The Mail against the French Canadian race. They are pub- lished, at the request of many persons who think that they contain facts worth preserving and studying and not to be easily found elsewhere. The first letter was prompted by a communication of a so called " Pro- testant Minister " of Quebec, which appeared in that paper. But the cudgels were soon taken up by the editor of The Mail, who seems to have played the double role with wonderful skill and elasticity. After the insertion of the first letters. The Mail, which had provoked and stimulated the debate, which had been asking for more information, complaining that my facts were not to the point, sud- denly came to the conclusion to settle the dispute by silencing me. The light however could not be diverted in that way. I found in the new organ of the conservative party, The Empire, a paper fair enough to put before the public the suppressed defence of a much abused people and I hereby convey to its editor my warmest thanks. The discussion having been abruptly closed, it became necessary to make considerable additions in order to cover the whole ground. As it will be seen by the letter of Mr. Joseph Pope, private secretary to Sir John Mac- donald, The Mail had extended the same unfair treat- ment to that gentleman when, a year previous, he gen- erously undertook to refute other outrageous statements against the moral character of my race. THE FRENCH QUESTION. FIRST LETTER. Reply to " A Protestant Minister."— Religious toleration in Quebec.— French flag and French loyalty.— Ethnological homogeneity.— Opinion of Lord Dufferin. — English exodus of Quebec— Duty of Canadians. To the Editor of 'VhkU.\\u Sir, ■■. .■'•■■',.f ■;,;■-. '-^ ■• .■■ ^\--^.^ " ''^ : ■ - ^ I notice that in your issue of Saturday a correspondent signing " A Protestant Minister " has been writing on the crisis and denouncing the French element, quite a favourite theme in some quarters. As you were at one time a most able advocate of a much maligned race— and no one regrets more then I do that the powerful friend of yesterday has become the sworn enemy of to-day— perhaps you will permit a short reply in your columns. While not admitting that a "crisis is looming up," still if it ever should come it will be brought about by such extremists, such fire- brands, as your correspondent. In the first place, I deny that French Canada has become a source of weakaess to Confederation. It is one of its main pillars. No other province is so much interested in the u ifUfuw •w^'^^^^imf^mnffl'fliftl!^ n — — maintenance of Confederation. And, as a matter of fact, there are fewer disloyal men, fewer annexationists, fewer commercial unionists, or veiled annexationists in Quebec than in any other province ; it is tlie bulwark of Canadian loyalty. I deny also that the spirit shown towards the British minority of Quebec is arrogant in the extreme. No minority is more fairly, more handsomely treated in the whole Dominion, its educational system is under its absolute control. It has a greater number of public officials, senators, members of parliament, legislative councillor?, judges, than warranted if population were the only standard. Such is the protection granted to the minority that the limits of twelve counties cannot be changed without its assent, a fact unique in our constitution. On many occasions Protestants have been elected to represent French constituencies. If French law exists in civil matters it is the outcome of a solemn treaty, and of this itself it is to be said there is not only no complaint on the part of the ablest English lawyers; but, on the contrary, they admit that it is eminently just and logical. In a speech delivered on the 4th January 1S86 before the St. George's Club of London, Sir John MacDonald declared that the French Civil Law of Lower Canada was the best, the most scien- tific system of law in the world. The display of the French flag on every street and on every public building offends deeply " A Protestant Minister." There was a time when it was hailed perhaps with respect by your correspondent whilst it divided the glories of the Crimean war with the Union Jack. Such a display shows undoubtedly that the great majority of the people are French, that they cherish the souvenir of the Old Motherland — who does not, with a heart beating in the proper place ? — but it is also the highest evidence of the unlimited liberty which we enjoy irrespective of our origin. That very freedom is the golden cord which unites us to the mother of liberty. It is the mainstay of our attachment to British institutions. Let " A Protestant Mini3ter " be not unduly alarmed on that score. In 1775, in 181 2 and 1886, we rallied and fought for the flag he loves so much, even against our own blood, even at one time despite the passionate appeals of a Lafayette, and our valour was never questioned. But for us, Canada would not be to-day a most valuable part of the Empire. The majestic Nile has witnessed the presence of our Canadian boatmen under the commatid of Lord Wolseley. And so gallant has been their conduct that they were thanked by an unanimous vote of the British Parliament, on the 12th August 1885. In the words of the Chancellor of Jie Excheijuer I (Sir Michael Hicks-Leach) *• they have shown — conclusively shown — " to the world that strong and deep loyalty which is the real bond of " union between this country and her Colonies, anti that, at the fain- " test idea of danger, our Colonists will rally around the Mother *■ Country, and fight with her soldiers and sailors wherever they may " be required." On all occasions we have shown a common inter- est in a conmion cause, and we shall do our duty whenever necessary. Let " A Protestant Minister" be not unduly alarmed also by the display of the Papal flag. Rome does not foment treason. Obedience to the existing powers is part of its preaching. Even Bismark has lived to benefit by that lesson. If your correspondent has read history, he should know that during the wars of 1775 and 181 2, the Catholic Hishops of Quebec and Montreal were the first to preach loyalty to the Crown, and Lheir voice was obeyed. The uprising of 1837 was also condemned by the same authorities, and but for their interference the vvhole people would have been in arms. Some excesses may have been committed by the populace, but they were neither inspired nor encouraged, nor approved by the Church. I know they have met wiih tlie unanimous disapproval of the French press. It would be unfair to impute your riots in Toronto, and some of recent occurrence, to the heads of Protestantism, and the same rnay be said ol the onslaughts on the Salvation Army. Those very ex- cesses have just been condemned by Recorder Dery, and the Army of General Booth, which is not even tolerated in some Protestant coun- tries, may continue to march to the conquest of the unwilling souls "f the good city of Quebec. If there are any cases of injustice, they are isolated, and exceptions prove the rule. I deny furthermore that there is a general desire among the French to get rid of the British element. There is a laudable spirit of emula- tion, but not of extermination. Certain Ontario papers express some- times the kind desire that the French should be wiped out, but our papers dont reciprocate. I would consider the disappearance of the British element a public calamity. I cordially endorse what your correspondent says of Anglo-Saxon brain, pluck and wealth. They have erected everlasting monuments in our cities. We much rely on them for the continuance, the enlargement of our progress. But we fancy that Britons have learned to know that the intermingling of the old Norman blood has done too much for England's greatness to be deprecated as a fac^ior of our new Canadian nationality. The multiplication of our families may be enormous, unparalleled in the history of mankind, but it should be a matter of public rejoicing, it ft _ 8 — 1 proves our morality and the healthfulness of cur climate. Why should it be so threatening when we dont grudge the millions of dollars , devoted to draw an European immigration entirely foreign to our ' / origin and to our traditions ? What we need most in our vast domains ' is population, but few will deny that the home product is always the best adapted to a country. To the narrow-minded who would suppress, if they could, the descendants of the early pioneers, and who consider , them a hindrance to our political unity, let me oppose the noble, the thoughtful language of a statesman, Lord Dufferin : — I do not think that ethnological homogeneity is an unniixecl benelit to a country. Certainly the least attractive characteristic of a great portion of this continent is the monotony of many of its outward aspects, and I consider it fortunate for Canada that her prosperity siiouid be founded on tlie co-operation of difterent races. The interaction of national idiosyncrasies introduces into our existence a freshness, a colour, an elastic impulse which otherwise would l)e wanting ; and it would be most faulty statesmanship to seek their obliteraticm. My warmest asjiiration for that province (Quebec) has always l)een to see its French inhabitants executing for Canada the functions wliich France herself has so admirably performed for Europe. The British element is not reduced in this province because our laws are unjust^ because tliey are persecuted, but because they emigrate to more congenial quarters, following, in large numbers, the advice of Horace Greeley : — " Go West, young man." Tf " A Protestant Minister " will study the census of New England for the last two or three decades, he will ascertain a diminution of the same kind. Shall it be said also that Eastern Ontario is becoming more French because we are ruling that great province? The effects being the same everywhere, your correspondent must find truer causes than those which he enumerates. Your correspondent signs his letter " A Protestant Minister." I ([uestion it very much. A Christian minister has the greatest regard for truth and charity. He knows no hatred. He loves his neighbour. He strives to unite instead of disuniting people born for a common destiny. As I do not find these characteristics of a Christian minister in his epistle, but the very opposite, 1 am fully warranted in concluding that the signature is a misprint. The correspondent, as he informs us, lives under the shadow of the Plains of Abraham, and almost hopes for a repetition of the celebrated battle. Hut let him not forget that since then a common monument has been erected by a far-seeing governor to the memory of the two heroes, representing two great nations, who fell gloriously on ihe battlefield. Let him meditate the admirable I Iiy should )f dollars n to our t domains Iways the [ suppress, ) consider he noble, ;o a country. tment is the for Canada races. The freshness, a ould be most ;ion for that ixecuting for I for Europe. inscription : Mortem virtus communem, famam histon'a, monumentum posteriias dedit. Standing on the old rock of Quebec, that monument means peace instead of war ; it means obliteration of the past and concentration of all our forces to make a great and united Canada. Let us rise to the height of that sublime lesson. Yours, etc., Joseph Tasse. Montreal, September 29. 1887. )ecause our ;y emigrate the advice Protestant ast two or kind. Shall )re French being the causes than . ,. I. inister." I itest regard 3 neighbour, a common I minister in I concluding : informs us, ost hopes for ret that since ing governor nations, who e admirable 5 / SECOND LETTER. The friend of yesterday the enemy of to-day. — George Brown and French Domination. — The " low races " according to Goldwin Smith. — Com- mercial Union should be established to crush the French. — French- Canadian fecundity a "danger" to Anglo-Saxon civilization. — The tithe system. —First Canadian Cardinal. — Another opinion of Lord Dufferin on French Canada. — Diversity of races not a source of national weakness. — Canadian Nationality, To the Editor ^^The Mail. Sir, I must confess I did not expect to cross swords with you when I took up the gauntlet thrown by " A Protestant Minister." But since you enter the arena, and direct on me your powerful artillery in a two-column leader, 1 cannot be expected to remain silent. I even hasten to " speak now." It is quite evident that you have recapitulated in your lengthy comments all your grievances, real or fictitious, against the French. Such grievances would have been quite in place in the Globe of former days. What a surprise to see them ventilated, nay magnifies, in the paper which on so many occasions burst the bubbles — Et tu quoquc^ mi Jill .' As you are refurbishing the worn-out arguments of George Brown and resuming his unfortunate crusade which caused so much strife and so much bitterness, I cannot but think of the words which he uttered in discussing the scheme of Confederation ; Here we sit to-day seeking amicably to find a leniedy for constitutional evils and injustice complained of— bv the vanquished ? No, sir, but complained of by the 10 and French nith. — Com- h. — French- .— The tithe ord Dufferin of national ou when I But since tillery in a nt. I even lur lengthy lie French, i Globe of magnifies, )les — Et tu guments of 1 caused so f the words n ; nal evils and ed of by the conquerors ! Here sit the representatives of tiie British population claiming justice — only justice, and here sit tlie representatives of the French population discussing in I the French tongue whether we shall have it. One hundred years have passed away since the conquest of Quebec, but here sit the children of the victor and the van- quished, all avowing hearty attachment to the British Crown, all earnestly delibe- V rating how we shall best extend the blessings of Britisli institutions, how a great I people may be established on this continent in close and liearty connection witii \ (Ireat Britain. : I cannot admit that the vanquished have conquered the victors. But if such were the case, even to the slightest extent, what becoines of the assertion attributed to Governor Head, and believed in by many, that we are an "inferior race"? Among those believers, i I am sorry and astounded to say, I have to include one of I your most frequent and brilliant contributors, a writer of manifold I ideas, crochety as they are at times, but a most inveterate enemy of the Celtic race. The name of Mr. Goldwin Smith will suggest itself as the party referred to. Such is his blindfulness, such is his I racial prejudice, such are his notions of Anglo-Saxon superiority, sucli is his hatred of everything Catholic, that he, a former professor of Oxford, that he, who poses as a regenerator of humanity, that he, who fills the English and American papers with his elucubrations de omni ,re scibili, was not ashamed to class the descendants of France among Iwhat he styles the ^ lower races " and to utter the following [monstrous — yet a mild term — language in a letter addressed to the Jmfependcnt oi ^Q\\ York : • . . Jiy slieer numerical increan- tl^e lower races seem in a fair way to thrust thehiglier , races— whose marriages are restrained by social pride, ana whose ^oomen i /'(rn (woid I maternity— ixoxa the seat of power. The outlook is serious, because nothing can be • ^' more opjjosed to Anglo-Saxon civilization than the civilization of the French Catho- ^ lie, while the French Catholic will fmd an ally in the Irish, Cerman and Italian Catholics, who are so strong upon this continent. Nor can anything apparently jarrest the extension of French nationality except the action of assimilating forces * more powerful than those which the Anglo-Saxon and Protestant element exerts, or can be expected ever to exert. Mr. Smith has a fine command of language, says the Boston Filot^ referring to the italicised sentence, and " nobody could improve upon " such a graceful euphemism for murder." The French and Irish Tare virtuotis ; therefore they are prolific ; therefore Anglo-Saxon civilization demands their extinction. Such is Mr. Smith's scandalous argument. The best thing would be the Standard suggests, for Mr. Smith to introduce among the French Canadians certain — 12 — points of civilization which would tend to keep down the race increase, such as intemperance, child murder, divorce and the actions which lead to them — marks and evidences of the higher civilization of the higher race — whicli are almost unknown among the French Cana- dians. " Why does not Mr. Goldwin Smith " it a§ks " write a book "•to extol these signs of higher civilization and form an Anti-Increase " and MultiplySociety to propagate his theories among the lower races." You have agitated for some months a new issue, that of Commer- cial Union or unlimited reciprocity with the United States. You are worshipping new gods altogether. It is not my desire to introduce that matter in our discussion. It may be irrelevant. But I cannot but point out that Commercial Unionists are making a very great mistake, if they want at all the concurrence of the Province of Quebec, in parading Mr. Goldwin Smitli as one of the exponents, one of the foremost champions of the New Idea. Truly Commercial Union is represented by the versatile Professor as our commercial and financial salvation. Truly it is depicted as the panacea to all ills existing or germinating. But what commends it most to his judgment is that it is the only means of crushing and denationalizing French- Canada — Britishers having failed to do it — with the view of american- izing the whole northern continent. I will not discuss the following quotations — which are all from last September — as to dispose of Commercial Union from a French stand point it will be sufificient to put them before the public : . " It is said Quebec is against commercial union. If siie is it is not on any com- mercial frrounds. It is because the dominant and tithe levying priesthood of Quebec Mants to item. But I fail to see why you are so much con- i " :« ma "i I lati ?-i 13 11 the race the actions ilization of ench Cana- rite a book iti-Increase )wer races." f Commer- 5. You are D introduce It I cannot very great 'rovince of exponents, Z!ommercial iiercial and to all ills s judgment ng French - >f american- le following dispose of sufficient to oil any com- )o(l of Quebec ;rease of inter- public."' n\- UH toward 1 in bulk and alien to us as Canada." anesting its ifluence of the k of assimila- le very reason nion uitli the I the unfair- much con- cerned. The tithes are paid by the Catholic farmers of Lower Canada. They are intended for the support of a clergy which the people have learned to love. The Catholic farmers do not complain. They pay the tithes cheerfully, without murmur. The suits on that account are very '•are. The tithes have been reduced to the twenty-sixth part of the harvest and they are collected without the slightest harshness. They are even remitted in cases of extreme poverty. No evictions. If the farmers do not feel aggrieved why should you denounce the system ? The tithes do not affect Protestants. They are not called upon to pay a farthing. You give up your whole case when quoting Lord Durham you admit that " the priest loses his tithe the moment that an estate •'passes, by sale or otherwise, into the hands of a Protestant." At the time of the American Revolution the French-Canadian farmers were offered the abolition of tithes, among other privileges, if they would transfer their political allegiance to the Republic. They refused to do so. In fact, the only serious agitation ever made for their abolition was inaugurated in 1849 by les enfants terribhs oi the Rouge party. That so-called reform becam'. an article of the programme oiV Avenir. But it has been set aside since, Jean-Baptiste sternly refusing to coun- tenance it. When Lord Durham stated in his celebrated report that those who fired at the British flag in 1837, expected the overthrow of tithes, he only proved how much he was misinformed as to some of the causes of the revolt. The grievances of the French, as they existed at that period, have been enumerated in a famous paper called the Ninety-two Resolutions, which was submitted in 1834 to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. These resolu- tions were drawn, I am proud to state, by the first editor of La Minerve^ my illustrious predecessor, Hon. A. N. Morin. They are mainly directed against the violation by the Executive and the Legis- lative Council, sustained as they were by Downing Street, of all the principles of sound constitutional government, but you will fail to find in them the slightest reference to the supposed iniquity of the tithe system. It is a great crime, in your estimation, that French priests should desire that the property around them should belong as much as possi- ble to their own flocks. But that crime, I am sure, is common to ministers of all denominations, and it is trivial enough to dispense with any defence. It will suffice to deny most emphatically that the sale of properties or the interchange of trade between Catholic and Protestant is prohibited or interfered with by our priests. Many English traders will tell you that their best customers are Catholics. II J — 14 — i No doubt our clergy encourage our people to protect themselves. Do not forget that Freemasonry does not exist among Catholics. No doubt also our clergy encourage the taking possession of the soil. Our most zealous champions of colonisation are such men as Cur6 Labelle, Father Gendreau and many others. They have learned to know that the hard-working yeomanry is always the purest, the strongest, the safest, the most devoted to the institutions, and the bulwark of a community. Blessed be their names ! Most beneficial is their patriotic labour. You are chagrined because the first Cardinal of Canada was hand- somely treated by the two political parties in Quebec — by Protestants as well as Catholics. You should rather have commended the Protes- tant representatives who, imitating the Anglican Bishop of Montreal, and rising above religious bigotry, justly felt that the conferring of the berretta upon Archbishop Taschereau was a distinction which reflected credit on the whole nation and a tribute to the growing importance of Canada. When Cardinal Newman received the Roman purple, the most enlightened minds of England were the first to con- gratulate one of the great men of the age. When Archbishop McClos- key was raised to the Cardinalate, he being the first Americain citizen to enter the Sacred College, the satisfaction was universal. His dis- tinction was considered as being conferred not only upon millions of Catholics but on the Republic itself. The New-York Herald of the 28th April, 1875, S^^s vty\\. to that satisfaction in the following glowing terras : — The investiture of the Cardinal yesterday at St Patrick's Cathedral was an impor- tant event in the history of America. The Catholic Church has played in civilization for more than a thousand years, a part loo active for such a ceremony to be without world-wide significance Heligion is a power in America When we remember that the Catliolic Church has been and is one of the greatest civilizing agents in the world, and that it must continue to have a profound influence upon society, we rejoice that its position in the United States has had formal recognition from its supreme head. The appointment of Mgr. McCIoskey as Cardinal by the Pope is a compliment in the highest degree to the millions of Catholics in America These sentiments do not surprise those who are familiar with American history. In 1778, Washington selected his friend Dr. Carroll, the future Archbishop of Baltimore, to accompagny Benjamin Franklin and Charles Carroll, when they were entrusted with the unsuccessful mission of enlisting my ancestors under the Stars and Stripes. During the last civil war, it was an eminent Catholic prelate. Archbishop Hughes of New-York, who w.is delegated by Lincoln to confer with Emperor — lo — nselves. Do tholics. No he soil. Our ure Labelle, > know that rongest, the ulwark of a eir patriotic a was hand- ' Protestants I the Protes- 3f Montreal, onferring of :tion which he growing the Roman first to con- jop McClos- icain citizen al. His dis- millions of raid of the e following was an impor- in civilization ' to be without 1 we remember 5 agents in the )n society, we lition from its the Pope is a lica :h American 1, the future ranklin and isful mission ring the last lop Hughes th Emperor Napoleon in order to prevent him from throwing the great influence, of France on behalf of the South. But the other day, when most solemn festivities were held at Philadelphia, in the very cradle of the Republic, under the auspices of President Cleveland, to celebrate the centenary of the American Constitution, Cardinal Gibbons was re. quested to invoke the blessing of God upon the American nation. The flatterring opinion of French Canada which I have quoted from a speech of Lord Dufferin, is treated by you as mere "taffy.'" You believe evidently that our late Governor deserves the dubious compliment paid one day to a prominent politician : " He will make a good diplomat, he knows how to lie." I quote your very words : — " Lord Dufferin was not in the habit of looking the facts in the face " when addressing the people. It was not expected of him. His business " was to please, and be pleased." To satisfy you, I shall cite another speech of Lord Dufferin, not delivered to a French meeting when courting applause, as you suggest, but made in the very stronghold of John Bull, at a public dinner tendered to him in London on the 7th July, 1875. Perhaps you will accept this as his " serious opinion " : — And here, perhaps, I may be permitted to remark on the extraordinary abilitv and intelligence with which the French portion of her Majesty's subjects in Canada join with their British fellow-countrymen in working the constitutional privileges with which, thanks to the initiative they were the first to take, their country has been endowed. Our French fellow countrymen are, in fact, more parliamentary /than the English themselves, and in the various fortunes of the colony there have never been wanting French statesmen of eminence to claim an equal share with their British colleagues in shaping the history ot the Dominion. Whatever may be the case elsewhere, in Canada, at all events, the P'rench race has learned the golden rule of moderation and tiie necessity of arriving at practical results by the occasional sacrifice of logical symmetry and the settlement of disputes in the spirit of a generous compromise. (Cheers.) The fruit of this happy state of thmgs is observable in the •,|act that nowhere do those differences of opinion which divide the political world of Lj'^very country separate the Canadian nation either into religious or ethnological imctions. Keligitm and race are, of course, observable forces acting within our body l^olitic, but as 'far perpendicular rather than horizontal, and in a county and borough idection as often as not Catholic will be found voting against Catholic, Orangeman gainst Orangeman, Frenchman against Frenchman, and what, perhaps, will cause "^ss surprise. Irishman against Irishman. The Mail does not accept my " dream" of a Canadian nationality. It even asserts that there " is no instance in modern times where two ■^ races, divided in language, laws and sentiment, and kept asunder by Jlthe deliberate contrivance of their constitution, have managed to '♦"form a permanent community." What an historical heresy ! The very IfH — 10 — first instance cited by The Mail destroys its contention. I quote again : " Austria-Hungary, with its Babel of races, is only held '* together by fear of Russian absorption and by the absolutist methods " of its rulers." I would rather say that the Empire is held together by a community of interests and by the extended liberties which had to be granted to its 37,000,000 of Germans, Roumanians, Magyars, Bohemians, Moravians, Slovaks, Poles, Ruthenians, Slovenes, Servians, Crotians, Latins, etc., etc. Your very objection was formulated when the scheme of Confederation was under debate, and the Hon. Alexan- der Mackenzie promptly silenced the anti-unionist. You will find more than one hard nut to crack in the following : 1 believe that feeling of loyalty has been our sole difticulty in working our present political system. Hut I do not believe for one moment that it would be possible or perhaps desirable to extinguish that strong feeling of nationality. Break down that feeling and all patriotism will be Inoken down with it. (Hear, hear). 1 do not think it would be fair, or kind or honourable to attempt to do so. When Britain conque- red the country she accepted the responsibility of governing a foreign people in accordance with their feelings, so far as consistent with British policy. That feeling of nationality obtains so strongly in all countries that where attempts have been made, as in Austria, to break it down they have signally failed. When such an attempt fadled, though made by a despotic GovernmenI, with a powerful army ai its command, how could we expect it to 'iucceed in a free country ? In Austria, at this moment, eighteen dillerent nationalities are represented in the national councils, and, notwithstanding all its military power and prestige, Austria has been compelled to accord local parliaments or assemblies to every one of those eighteen nationalities. (Hear, hear). -■>.,-,.;^'^ ■■... ••,.■-■. ,,:, ,■ ■■.-..■- .,■■.-'.:' y- .::-,.•■■ ,■ ' -■ ■ If the union of Belgium and Holland has been broken, the divorce does not imply all that you say. Though separa- ted Belgium is not an homogeneous nation. It is still composed of four ethnical elements. The last census (1880) states that there are 2,237,867 Belgians who speak French only, 2,479,747 who speak Fle- mish only, 41,046 German only, 420,339 French and English, 35,324 French and German, 2,809 Flemish and German, 13,410 who speak all three languages, and 6, 412 who do not speak any of the three. It was but the other day the Flemish was recognized as the second official language of Belgium. And still the throne of Leopold remains unshaken. But while surveying Austria-FIungary, the Mail should have men- tioned a small Confederation, surrounded by a chain of snowy peaks, situated in the midst of the most powerful nations of Europe, and which has succeeded in maintaining its perfect independence and the — 17 311. I quote 3 only held list methods . together by rhich had to IS, Magyars, les, Servians, lulated when Ion. Alexan- ou will find ing our present be possible or reak down that , 1 do not think Britain conque- leign people in ^. That feeling iipts have been When such an nverful army ai ' In Austria, at itional councils, been compelled en nationalities. een broken , lugh separa- composed of lat there are lo speak Fle- glish, 35,324 o who speak the three. It ; the second pold remains Id have men- snowy peaks, Europe, and ence and the autonomy of its various nationalities, during many centuries. In visit- ing Switzerland several years ago I was struck with many characteris- tics peculiar to our country. I saw three small races scattered over their lofty mountains or densely settled in the valleys, or on the shores of their many beautiful lakes, speaking three of the most popular modern languages — the French, the Italian and the German — keeping religiously their customs and their traditions, but strongly imbued with the idea of a common destiny, with the determination to maintain the integrity of their territory, as enamoured of liberty as in the days of William Tell. The German language in spoken by 2,030,792; the French, by 608,007; the Italian, 161,923, and the Roumansch, 38,705. You predict all sorts of evils because there are two languages recognized by ':he constitution of Canada, the two noblest exponents of modern civilization. Switzerland goes one point further, it recognizes three official languages, French, German and Italian, and the republic is not undermined thereby. Are you not convinced? "-..•'-■•■ '4>.>.>:i ■■>■:>• .:-.,• /-.■,.-,'■■■, There is a little island under the very shadow of England, which has preserved its French laws, its French language, its various peculia- rities, the Island of Jersey. Where could we find a population more loyal, more devoted to England, although it almost faces the coasts of Franc, its former proprietor ? The langage of Lord Thurlow uttered in the British Parliament (1775I, may be properly quoted here : — " It I** is said that Englishmen carry their political constitution with them '* wherever they go, and that they are oppressed if they are deprived of " any of those laws. I assert that if an Englishman goes to a country " conquered by his government, he does not bring these English laws ; " such a contention would be as reasonable as to say that when an " Englisman goes to Guernsey the laws of the city of London follow " him there." Is not the United Kingdom herself composed of distinct races ? The estrangement of Ireland does not result mainly from a difference of P nationality or religion. It is the outcome of centuries of misgovern- '; ment and misunderstandings culminating in the abolition of her native Parliament. And can we forget the example of the United 4 States, one of the greatest agglomerations of peoples diversified by "their religion, their language and their customs! Still the American i* Eagle has restrained them all, still that agglomeration has become a "great political unity. E pluribus unutn. j£ My dream of a Canadian nationality does not mean the absorption ^of either the French or the English-speaking element. Both are strong 18 ill enough to resist absorption. Encouraged by our onward march, there are even optimists who think that the French-Canadian metal would stand the test if thrown altogether into the American chaldron. My dream is to see our various races striving to develop the resources of the country, preserving the pact of Confederation, preparing our future possibilities, making of Canada the freest country in the broadest and most Christian sense of the word. In the magnificent harbour of New- York our neighbours have erected the statue of Liberty enlightening I he world — a present from old France — but I assert that our institutions are by far already the finest on the continent. A great British stales- man has truly said that our system of government was a happy com- pound of the best features of the British and American constitutions. Familiar as you are with our unrivalled fluvial communications, you have noticed that the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa meet and run together at the head of the Island of Montreal ; they do not merge their waters, they hold their peculiar colour, still they run swiftly, still they form united a beautiful river, our pride, the admiration of the tourist. Let the English and French do the same. Let them unite without assimilating. Let them live alongside, preserving in all its purity, improving even the blood of nations which runs through the best part of humanity. Let them pursue the plan of Providence which has assigned special missions to races and has made them as diversified as nature itself. The other day a prominent writer review- ing the last census of France, came to the conclusion that the popu- lation was increasing very slowly, and to refute the assertion that the French blood had degenerated, almost struck with paralysis, he instanced the wonderful multiplication of French-Canadians in the New World. Let also the English and French maintain their peculiarities ; let them worship God according to their conscience ; let them speak the language of Shakespeare or Corneille, or rather let them learn and speak both. The day is nigh when your lead- ing classes will have to be familiar with our language, and the public mind will be broadened and the barrier separating two races will be suppressed thereby. ''^ Let them unite the genius, the *The great educational value oflearning a language other than our own is sufficient reason w hy J"rench should be taught in every English school in this Province that aspires to anything beyond tlie most elementary instruction. That the language of the majority of our own people should have precedence over Latin in common schools goes without saying, unless we wish to educate our children for exile, as too many are doing. The fact that not only France, but Canada has a magnificent French literature, alTords the material for gaining from the study both linguistic and patriotic advantages which should make French to us besides our own the first among languages. — The Witness, March 3, 1888. I larch, there letal would Idron. My resources of gour future roadest and )ur of New- nlightening institutions •itish stales- happy com- )nstitutions. :ations, you et and run • not merge un swiftly, miration of them unite \ in all its ms through Providence ade them as iter review- It the popu- on that the aralysis, he ians in the intain their :onscience ; ;, or rather your lead- e, and the rating two genius, the wm is sufficient Province that 2 language of 1 in common r exile, as too a magnificent linguistic and own the first "I — ID — wonderful capabilities of their races ; let them engraft Anglo- Saxon boldness and endurance on Celtic vivacity and brilliancy, and Canada shall become, according to the prediction of the late W. H. Seward, the Russia of North America, but a Russia endowed with a far higher degree of freedom and civilization. To be peopled, to be civilized, this northern half of the continent requires all the united energies of its inhabitants. C/num in pluribus. In his remarkable speech on Confederation, twenty-two years ago, Cartier exclaimed : '' The time has come to buihi up a great nation." Such should be the dominant object of old and young Canada. Let us not lose the present opportunities. Of nations it might be said as of individuals : " There is a tide in the affairs of man, Which, taken at the Hood, leads on to fortune ; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is spent In shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current as it flows. Or lose our venture."' There are other points, other charges contained in your article which remain untouched. With your permission I shall discuss them in another letter. Were I to trespass too much on your space you might object with reason, I confess, to this new lorm of French inva- sion. Yours, etc., Joseph Tassk. Montreal, October 6, 1887. ■M / THIRD LETTER. Opinion ol Lord Durham on the French Canadian clergy.— "The Mail " will not dare to quote it.— Minority ruling majority before 1841 —Lower Canada was first to enfranchise Jews.— The Oka Case.— Intermingling of Norman and Anglo-Saxon blood.— Catholic properties not more exempted from taxes than Protestants.— The examination of students before the bar,— Why the French text is taken while conflicting with the English. |i To the EdiforofTH^UML. SiK, You quote frequently the celebrated report of Lord Durham to illustrate the so-called grievances of the British minority of Quebec and the so-called intolerance of the Catholic clergy. As I had not read the Report for some years I thought it desirable to refresh my memory. Imagine my surprise — a surprise that will reach your readers — when, fully impressed with your candour, I found' that you had stopped your quotation at a very interesting point, one which des- troys your argument. Instead of a wholesale denunciation of the clergy of Lower Canada which your quotation had led me to expect, I met the most splendid tribute of respect and admiration ever rendered by their most ardent defenders. What I shall cite precedes * and follows your quotation about the tithes : It is a subject of very just congratulation that religious differences have hardly operated as an additional cause of dissension in Lower Canada ; and that a degree r-" of practical toleration known in very few communities, has existed in this colony from the period of the conquest down to the present time. The French-Canadians are exclusively Catholics and their Church has been lel't in possession of the endowments which it had at the conquest. (Here follows your "t — 21 — Mail" will 41 • — Lower ermingling not more of students licting with Durham to of Quebec I had not refresh my each your i • that you which des- ion of the to expect, •ation ever ;e precedes s have hardly hat a degree 1 this colony has been lel't follows your fjuotation.) But the Catholic priesthood of this province have, to a remarkable degree, conciliated the goodwill of persons of all creeds ; and I know of no parochial clergy in the world whose practice of all the Christian virtues and zealous discharge of their clerical duties is more universally admitted, and has been productive of more beneficial consequences. Possessed of incomes sufficient and even largtr, according to the notions entertained in the country, and enjoying the advantage of education, th'v have lived on terms of equality and kindness with the humblest and least instructed inhabitants of the rural districts. Intimately acquainted with the wants and characters of their neighbour*, they have been the promoters and dispensers of charity and the effectual guardians of the morals of the people ; and in the general absence of any permanent institutions of civil government, the Catholic Church has presented almost the only semblance of stability and organization, and furnished the only effectual support for civilization and order. The Catholic clergy of Lower Canada are entitled to this expression of my esteem, not only because it is founded on truth, but because a grateful recognition of their eminent services in resisting the aits of the disaffected, is especially due to them from one who has administered the government of the province in those troubled times. I would be warranted to stop there, having turned your very autho- rity, your very battery, against you, but I have no objection to discuss the merits of your whole argument. I was almost amazed to learn that in 1835 ^^ ^^^ "o* the French majority that was oppressed, but the English minority. To support that extraordinary view you refer to a petition of the Montreal Constitutional Association presented to the Crown. A very lame excuse when we know that the feud between the majority and the minority existed since i 765. A very lame excuse when we know that such petitions, such remonstrances, aiming always at the same object, were presented to the British Parliament whenever it wanted to give us an instalment of liberty, to treat us not as aliens, but as free men. You might just as well assert that the evicted in Ireland are not the tenants but the landlords ; that the slaves of the South w^ere not the coloured people, but the planters ; that when Catholic emancipation was promulgated in England, under the advice of Lord Wellington, it was another religion that had been persecuted heretofore. Such is the logic of the wolf against the lamb. To have an insight of the state of things then existing, it would suffice to read the following article of the ninety-two resolutions submitted in 1834 to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and to which I have already adverted. It is taken from the Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, session 1834, p. 329 : — 75. Resolved, Tha' it is the opinion of this committee that the number of the inhabi- tants of the country being about 600,000, those of French origin are about 525,000 and those of British or other origin 75,000 ; and that the establishment of the Civil -10 ^ i1 Government of Lower Canada, for the year 1832, according to tlie yearly returns made by the Provincial Adminirtration, for the information of the British Parlia- ment, contained the names of 157 officers and others receiving salaries who are appa- rently of British or foreign origin, and the names of 47 who are apparently natives of the country of F"rench origin ; that this statement does not exhibit the whole dis- proportion which exists in the distribution of the ])ublic money and power, the latter class being for the most part ai)pointed to the inferior and less lucrative offices, and most frequently only obtaining even these by becoming the dependents of those who hold the higher and more lucrative offices ; that the accumulation of many of the best paid and most influential, and at the same time incompatible offices in the same person, which is forbidden by the law and by sound policy, exists especially for the benefit of the former class ; and that two-thirds of the persons included in the last (Commission of the Peace issued in the Province are apparently of British or foreign origin, and one-third only of French origin. Whilst striving to prove that we are illiberal, intolerant, retrograde, you leave in the shade many good points in our favour. You forget, for instance, that the very Province of Quebec, charged with so much bigotry and intolerance, was the first to enfranchise the Jews, to open to them the doors of our Legislature. Ezekiel Hart, of Three Rivers, could have been admitted in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada thirty-six years before Baron Rothschild could enter West- minster palace and '' sit down upon the mysterious cushions of green leather," to use the words of Macaulay. Of course the enfranchise- ment of the Jews occasioned much strife and more than one struggle, which, I may mention, was reviewed by me several years ago in La Revue Canadienne under the heading '= The Political Rights of the Jews in Lower Canada." This uncommon example of liberality for the time struck the attention of the Hon. Mr. Mackenzie, who said in his speech on Confederation : — As regards the people of Lower Canada of French origin, and who are Roman Catholics, I have always heard it said in their favour, that a large degree of libe- ralism characterizes their conduct towards their Protestant neighbours. (Hear, liear.) Lower Canada, I believe, was the first portion of British territory to give political freedom brated Le Play, who made a thorough study of the economic fabric of almost every people. There are three species of parishes, the Roman Catholic Parish, the Protestant Parish and the municipal Parish, which is equally distinct from the two others. The limits of a parish , determined by the Catholic Bishop of the diocese are generally accepted by the civil authorities. They may be enlarged or lessened however. In all cases a proclamation from the Lieutenant-Governor in council is necessary for the erection of the religious parish into a civil parish. But it becomes a municipal parish by the very fact of its erection into a civil parish, if it tloes not contain any portion of a township [Municipal Code, art. 26). To be formed a parish muni- cipality must contain 300 souls. It may exist for civil purposes where there is no canonical parish. In 185 1, a special statute was even passed authorizing the Protestants of the Seigniory of .Vrgenteuil, County of Two Mountains, to form parishes for civil and municipal purposes only. The now celebrated parish of St. Barbe is situated in the County of Huntingdon. It has been detached from the parish of St Anicet, an old civil parish separated from the township of Godmanchester, and declared a municipal parish in 1855. ^^ ^^^^ erected into a civil parish in Ihe ordinary way, by proclamation of the Lieutenant-Gover- nor, on June 12th, 1882, notice having been given by the civil autho- rities. Nothing could be more regular. But as the civil proclamation gave larger limits than those assigned by the canonical ilegree, and as some other points had been raised, it was thought proper to put an end to all doubts and to ask the Legislature to pass an act fixing the true delimitation, which was done by unanimous assent. The protestant ratepayers did not want the parish to be recognized municipally because they would have to pay their share of the local expenditure and 4there would be an increase of the Catholc representation in the county council, each mayor of a municipality being ex officio a member of that body. It occurred that the majority of the • — 24 — county council espoused their cause and refused the admission of the mayor of St. Barbe, Darnase Perron. The parish .applied for a w.-ij of mandamus to compel the Huntingdon county council to give a seat to its mayor, and carried its point. On the 6th September 1887, His Hon. Judge Belanger decided that " the defendant (the county " council) is in the wrong, and is enjoined and ordered to recognize the " said Damase Perron as a member of said council, and to admit him " to the exercise of his rights, privileges and obligations as such, and in " default, is liable to a fine of $2,000, payable to the Crown, and the " defendant is liable for the costs." You may now judge on what side were the law-abiders and the law-breakers. To come to another point, I will admit that the Church, whilst not prohibiting, discourages marriages between Catholic and Protestant. The Church being the depository of truth cannot favour unions whose offspring are exposed to belong to another religion. Still there are a good many unions of that kind. But the Church assents to them on the condition that the children shall be educated in the Catholic faith. Besides, all Englishmen, Scotchmen and Irishmen are not Protestants. According to last census, there were in the Dominion 1,791,982 Catholics and 1,299,161 French. Then there existed 492,821 Catho- lics of other origins, which leaves a broad ground for intermingling even among people of my creed. As the Mail fails to see " the " infusion of Norman blood into the veins of English-Canadians," I will tell him that whole English-speaking settlements have been absorbed in the district of Quebec, including that of Murray Bay. In this connection I may recall an anecdote much to the point. A few years ago I went to that favourite summer resort to enjoy the salty breezes of the Gulf, far from the everlasting cares of our beloved and hard profession. There I met my good friend, Mr. Warnock, a leading Irish Catholic of Ottawa, also in search of fresh air and rest. Being unacquainted with the French language, Mr. Warnock wanted to deal with a hotelkeeper familiar with his own tongue. Du Berger, Chamard and such other well-known names in the locality, had too much of the French sound. Warran's hotel was picked up on the list as the very house he wanted, there he would feel at home, there he could chat and move freely. So Mr Warnock hastened to shelter himself under the roof of Mr.Warran. But imagine his stupefaction when he discovered that his host was a degenerated Scotchman, unable to utter a single word of English, more French than any living man he knew, whilst Du Berger, the French hotelkeeper, next to him, could speak English as easily as his mother tongue. So my friend Mr. Warnock was badly ■ ' ■>. '^^v^iAhiih 25 — e admission pplied for a uncil to give ember 1887, (the county ecognize the admit him such, and in )wn, and the an what side li, whilst not [ Protestant, inions whose 1 there are a 5 to them on itholic faith. Protestants, n 1,791,982 2,821 Catho- itermingling o see " the inadians," I 5 have been ray Bay. In )int. A few oy the salty beloved and :k, a leading rest. Being .nted to deal er, Chamard much of the as the very i\d chat and If under the i discovered ter a single cnew, whilst »eaic English :k was badly caught, and concluded probably that there is not always much in a name. So much also for French ignorance ! Now, if you refer to the House of Commons, you will find that three of its leading members* the Hon. Mr. Chapleau, Secretary of State ; the Hon. Mr. Landry, M.P. for Kent, New Brunswick, and Mr. Girouard, M.P. for Jacques , Cartier, are married (the last one for a second time) to English- speaking ladies. And they never were chastised by their constituents 4' for having intermingled their Norman blood ! The first French Senator of Ontario, Hon. Mr. Casgrain, did not marry a woman of his race, Mr. Bain, M.P. for Soulanges, and Mr. McMillan, M.P. for Vaudreuil, both married to French women, are of Scotch-French extraction. Mr. Duckett, the late M.P. P. for Soulanges, was the descendant of Irish and French parents. The Hon. Mr. McShane, Minister of Public Works in the Province of Quebec, has captured one of the French beauties, but his colleague, Hon. Mr. Turcotte, is wedded to Miss Macdonald. The Hon. Mr. Blanchet, late Provincial Secretary, has united his destinies to the daughter of General Seymour, ;. and Mr. Tessier, M.P. P. for Portneuf, is married to another accom- plished woman, Miss Barnard, of Montreal. Miss Nolan was the second wife of the late Governor Cauchon, and Miss Macdonald, daughter of the celebrated Sandfield Macdonald, was the wife of the late Mr. Lunglois, M.P. for Montmorency. General Middleton is married to Miss Doucet, of Montreal. To refer to Vaudreuil County I may slate that the father of Mr. McMillan, M.P. , represented the county : for several years, and that one of its first members was the late Mr. Harwood, an English Protestant, married to Miss de Lotbiniere, and father of Lieut. -Colonel Harwood, who also represented the county before the Union. And I could quote numberless instances of this ^ nature. With such a record, how can you charge us with national 8 bigotry and intolerance, with systematic hatred of the English ? '■£ From your article, one might infer that Catholics alone benefit by •t- the " exemption from taxation of enormous clerical estates." I hold k the view, I must confess, that churches, presbyteries, benevolent insti- I tutions are deservedly exempted from taxes; they would have to be ^^ supported any how at the expense of the community. But I need not argue that point since you charge that Catholics are unduly favoured to the prejudice of Protestants. Without going further, let us take 7 the case of Montreal, the most important, the most illustrative prob- . ably, that could be enquired into. The report of the auditor for the "' year 1886 shows that there were Catholic exemptions for $6,206,190, ■ and Protestant exemptions for $2,784,800. I'he other exemptions 26 were : Government pioperty, |2, 419, 500 ; municipal property, $4,- 336,500; various exemptions, ^772,500. Total, $16,519,450. At the last census, the population of the city was 140,747, of whom 78,684 vere of French and 28,995 of Irish origin ; as to religion, 103,579 were Roman Catholics. Since the municipalities of Hochelaga, St. John Baptist and St. Gabriel have been annexed, the population exceeds 185,000 according to municipal returns, and the Catholic proportion is still larger than it was in 1881. Where is the injustice? .' I quote again : " The attempt to compel the students of McGill " and other Protestant colleges to submit to an examination in sub- " jects taught only in Roman Catholic colleges... and other circum- " stances go to show that the Church is obeying that natural instinct " which under favourable conditions such as hereexists leads all eccle- " siastical establishments to extend the sphere of their authority." There has been no such attempt and the Catholic Church has as much to do with the examination of the students of McGill and other protestant colleges as the Great Lama himself. The system of examination by the Bar in Quebec prevails also in Ontario. Two examinations are required in your province before the bar examiners from all law students, whether graduated or not. In Quebec, never have the gra- duates in arts, literature or sciences of any university, eiUier French or English, Catholic or Protestant, been admitted to the study of the law without a preliminary examination by the Bar on their classical attainments. Nay, never have the graduates in law of any university in Canada been admitted to the practice of the law, without having been first admitted to study by the Bar examiners ; without having stud- ied with a practising advocate during four or five years, and, finally, without passing an examination in law before the Bar examiners. Changes have been made in the law respecting the legal profession, but their effect has been to raise the standard of classical and legal studies. The preliminary exaininalion is conducted by three professors in classical colleges, the programme having been adopted unanimously by English as well as by French advocates, including professors of McGill and Laval, members of the board of examiners and of the general council. The programme of the Bar requires an examination in French, English and Latin, history, literature, geography, arith- metic, algebra, geometry, moral and intellectual philosophy, and ele- mentary notions on chemistry and natural philosophy. All these subjects are taught in the French colleges as well as in McGill College, and I fail to see how they are more Catholic than Pro- testant, more French than English. The ba.- council is composed 27 roperty, $4,- ,450. At the vhom 78,684 ion, 103,579 ochelaga, St. e population the Catholic he injustice ? ts ofMcGill ition in sub- )ther circum- :ural instinct ads all eccle- r authority." as as much to ler protestant nation by the linations are from all law have the gra- :iuher French study of the lieir classical ly university thout having ; having stud- and, finally, r examiners, al profession, :al and legal •ee professors unanimously professors of s and of the examination [raphy, arith- phy, and ele- r. All these Ls in McGill ic than Pro- is composed Of six sections, Momreal, Quebec, Three Rivers, Sherbrooke, Artha- baska and Bedford, electing each three members, and out of eighteen examiners eight are English. This does not look like Protestant exclusion.* '^ Now it is a rule of the Assembly that where the French and •''English version of a statute are conflicting the French version shall "prevail ; English being thus relegated to a subordinate position." Why should you object ? Two thirds of the province are French speaking, and the majority rules under British law. In the Dominion the English text prevails in such cases and we do not object : could you not imitate our spirit of justice ? I Yours, etc., Joseph Tasse. Montreal, October 10, 18S7. • *J' "l'/"'''^^^'' information see three Jitters published by Mr. Pagnuelo. Q. C, m the Montreal Gazette under tlie lieading : Unwersitics and the Bar. A Criticisim of the aiinital Report of McGill Uiiiversitv. !i FOURTH LETTER. The school law of Quebec— More regardful of the rights of minorities thar any other existing save Manitoba. — The separate school bill of Ontaric (1863) — Denunciations of the " Globe".— Some articles of the Quebec law. — Protestants receiving more than they were entitled to.— Evidence of Hon. Mr. Chauveau.— Our priests and nuns the educators of tht continent. — The great celebration of Nicolet — Tribute of the late Edward Carter to the services rendered by the clergy to the cause education. 7o the Editor of The Mail. i! Sir, Are you really in earnest when you refer to the " illiberal charac ler" of our school law ? Save Manitoba, there is not a school lav more just, better digested, better balanced, more regardful of tlu rights of the minority in any other part of the Dominion or in am country. It may not be perfect, but perfect laws are to come Still it is considered by some as the most perfect existing. Any fai suggestion, any real improvement will, I am convinced, find no syste matic opposition in the proper quarters. They will discuss am proposed changes, as they have done heretofore, intelligently, impar tially, progressively. The laws of Medes and Persians wert unchangeable, but we do not imitate them, our statutes sufferii\. probably from the other extreme. I have excepted Manitoba, bu even in that province there was an agitation, ten years ago, to repca the Separate School Act. That agitation had been nursed by tb Toronto Globe^ true to its old traditions. But the agitators haf forgotten that the system could not be altered by a stroke of the pen that it was an essential part of the charter constituting the Province ''^%m 29 — F minorities thar ol bill of Ontaric s of the Quebec !d to. — Evidence ducators of the 3ute of the late to the cause o lliberal charac t a school lav gardful of tlu lion or in an; are to come, ing. Any fai: , find no syste 11 discuss an; gently, impar Persians wert itutes suffer! n. Manitoba, bu ago, to repca nursed by tb; agitators hac 3ke of the pen g the Provinc: of Manitoba. The eminent and universally respected Archbishop Tach6 taught them a lesson in a series of letters publ'b-hed in the Standard, which silenced fanaticism and cannot but im)"ress favour- ably any broad minded man. Every one knows how the minority was ti«eated in New Brunswick ; the disturbing events of 1872 are too fresh to be yet forgotten. After a most energetic resistance, after an unsuc- cessful appeal to the Privy Council, after the grossest outrages had been perpetrated, even the carriage of Bishop Sweeny being seized to pity taxes to the Public school fund, the Catholic minority had to submit, and what has been done since to improve their condition is the result of rhere tolerance. Can you dispute the fact that the school law of Quebec is far more liberal, far more extensive in its protection than that of Ontario, improved as it has been of late ? The Province of Quebec, with a population mostly French, mostly Catholic, was the first to grant dissentient schools to the minority. In fact, Protestant schools have al all times been recognized and supported by its government since 1763. In Ontario, separate schools were the outcome of a long, obstinate and violent struggle. Remember the thunderings of the Globe of those days. Remember the incessant appeals of George Brown to religious passions and prejudices. Remember his virulent denunciations of priests and nuns, whom he compared to the vilest creatures. But for the support of Sir John A. Macdonald, of the late Hon. Hillyard Cameron, of Mr. Powell, M.P. for Carleton, and several leading Orange members, more liberal than the Browns, the Macken- i^s, the Mowats of that epoch— they have reformed since — the ^mand of the Catholics of Ontario would not have culminated in He passing of the Separate School Act in 1863. The following extract pves a slight idea of the manner in which the Protestant members 10 voted for the bill were denounced by the Globe (1863) : — " There [remains but one duty to the electors of the West. Every man who 'otes for Scott's bill must be noted at the next election. Soulless lust be the friends of education who shall vote for one of these frucklers to the Romish hierarchy." In this connection, I may recall |§e fact that if Salvationists were ill-treated the other day in Quebec id Ottawa by intolerant mobs, not composed exclusively of Catholics, \t Sisters of Charity, inoffensive, unobtrusive as they are, were »ned at one time in the very streets of enlightened Toronto. Improved as it has been, the Separate school system of Ontario is 111 very crude and " illiberal " compared to that of Quebec. Here, lile dissentient schools were legalized and subsidized at the outset, 30 — the Protestant minority has secured an independent section of th Board of Education, a secretary or deputy superintendent, Protestan school inspectors, board of examiners, a proportion of Governmen grants, according to population and the number of pupils, the endow ment of two Protestant universities, McGill and Bishop's, of a Norma school, &c., &c. You are quite wrong in reflecting on " the illibera " character of the school law which, in those districts where they arc " unable to support a Separate school, leaves the Protestants the optioi. "• of keeping their children at home or of sending them to the Publi( '• school, where, the Church being supreme, the teaching is sectarian.' The law is as liberal as it can be in that respect. So much so that i: has been adopted for the Catholic minority of Ontario. In the citie; there is a complete division of school taxes according to population In the rural districts the Protestant has the right to pay taxes to ;; Protestant school situated beyond the municipality where his propert\ is situated, even when he is a non-resident. Let us see a few article; of the Act to amend the law respecting education in the Province o; Quebec (1869): — ;., u'^ fv-7-i>c;- The grants to the normal schools, antl all other grants whatsoever for educationa purposes, and all expenses of the Government for educational purposes, shall \-< divided between the Roman Catholic and Protestant institutions, and for the bentii of Roman Catholics and Protestants respectively, in proportion to the Roniai Catholic and Protestant populations of the province, at the then last census. Dissentients shall not be liable for any assessment or school rate which may I imposed by the school commissioners, except for the assessment of the then currer, year, for assessments for the public, of any schoolhouse previously contracted for, i. for the payment of debts previously incurred. Any dissentient may, at any time, declare in writing his intention of ceasing i support the dissentient school. Any non-resident proprietor may declare in writing his intention of dividing hi ^axes between the schools of the majority and those of the minority. Whenever the school trustees of the minority in two adjoining municipalities shal be unable to support a school in each municipality, it shall be lawful for them 1 unite and to establish and maintain under their joint management, a school whic' shall V)e situated as near the limits of both municipalities as possible so as to !» accessible to both. Whenever there shall be no dissentient school in a municipality, it shall be lawli: for any resident, head of a family pursuing the religious faith of the minority in th said municipality, and having children of school age, to declare in writing to l!i chairman of the school commissioners that he intends to support a school in neighbouring municipality, v\hich school shall be not more than three miles distai: from his residence : and he shall, therefore, pay, subject to the restrictions abov- mentioned, his taxes to the commissioners or trustees, as the case may be, by whdn such school shall be maintained. iit 31 — section of tii ;nt, Protestaii f Governmen lis, the endow *s, of a Norma " the illibera here they art nts the optior. I to the Public ; is sectarian.' juch so that i; In the citie; to population pay taxes to a re his property t a few article; lie Province o: ir for educatioiia )ur poses, shall 1 1 nd for the bent li n to the Roniai St census, ate which may b the then curn r contracted for, i :ion of ceasing i n of dividing lu unicipalitics shal wful for them i t, a school whic' jssible so as to li it shall be lawfu le minority in tlii in writing to t!i art a school in iree miles distai; restrictions abov' nay be, by whon In Ontario, there is no Catholic board of education. Such a system based on that of Quebec was proposed a few years ago by Mr. Meredith, leader of the Opposition, in one of his campaign speeches, but we shall have to wait a change of Government, I presume, for its adoption. There is no Catholic secretary, no Normal school, etc. •^Pursuing your grievances, you also complain of the " unfair manner #' in which the school tax on industrial and commercial corporations, f ' which are controlled chiefly by the English, is distributed." Such a ,tax, I confess, presents great difficulties in its apportionment. How ;kan you state that the stockholders of any bank, insurance, loan .tompany, etc., are Protestants or Catholics, when the book stock is "liable to be changed, when the balance of power can be overturned at ?any moment ? How can you apportion the taxes levied upon them according to tne creed of the shareholders ? How would you class, for instance, the Jews, who are not an insignificant part of the financial World ? I fail to see it. Suppose you allot to the Protestant fund the taxes paid by an institution of which the greater number of its share, holders are supposed to be Protestants, are you not aolating the very principle of the law in appropriating the contributions of the minority towards the support of the schools of the majority, and vice, versa ? Still these corporations are fully protected and they have only to make a declaration, through their agent, if they want that their taxes should be paid in the Catholic or the Protestant fund. The law states that every year there shall be prepared in the cities of Mon- treal and Quebec a statement relating to the assessment, which shall be divided into four distinct panels : Panel number one shall consist of real estate belonging exclusively to Catholics ; panel number two of the real estate belonging to Protestants ; panel Bumber three of the real estate belonging to corporations, or to per- jlons neither Catholics nor Protestants, or to firms and commercial partnerships who shall not have declared through their agent, or one ^f their members, their desire of being placed on the first or on the '^cond panel ; panel number four of the real estate exempted from laxation. We have to deal presently with panel number three, or the ©eutral school tax. The law states also that " a sum proportionate to fl? the value of the property inscribed on panel number three shall be % divided between the Roman Catholic and Protestant boards in the ♦J relative ratio of the Roman Catholic and Protestant populations in the M said cities according to the last census. The remainder of the said 'S amount shall be divided between the Roman Catholic and Protestant ** boards in the relative ratio of the value of the property inscribed on 32 •' panel number one and on panel number two respectively." On that verv basis are distributed the Government grants. This is the fairest, thf least objectionable, the least imperfect system, which has been af.opted after mature deliberation. •; Minorities are naturally inclined to find out grievances. A little bit of history will serve as an illustruHon. In 1864 there was quite a flurry in Lower Canada over this very question. Some active Protestants, very mindful, very jealous of their rights, complained bitterly that they were unfairly treated, that they were not receiving their fair share of provincial grants. What was the result ? Hon. Mr. Chauveau, then Superintendent of Education, a man of broad views, superior to any national or religious bias, studied carefully their complaints, and had to come to the conclusion that they could not be substantiated. If you have not already done so, I will commend the reading of the pam- phlet which he published :— "A few remarks on the meeting at " Montreal for the formation of an association for the protection and " promotion of the educational interests of Protestants in Lower " Canada." This paper will convince you that the grievance should not have been uttered by the Protestants, but by the Catholics, and that the grant obtained by the former had always been much larger than that which they could claim, taking as basis the present one, the number of the population and of the pupils, the Protestant minority had been receiving 30.25 per cent, whilst they were entitled to 14.98. Does this look like intolerance, trampling of Protestants' rights, appro- priation of Protestant funds for Catholic purposes ? This being a very serious matter, of great moment to our Protestant fellow-citizens, whom you are endeavouring to revolt against our " illiberal school law," I will extract a few statistics from that pamphlet, with the com- ments of such an authority as the Hon. Mr. Chauveau : — *t «t The department having been assailed on the subject of the Superior Education grant, we subjoin a table showing the distribution of the grant as between Protestant and Catholic institutions, in many instances it will he seen that Protestant institu- tions, with a much smaller number of pupils, receive the same or larger allowances than the Catholic institutions in the same place, and vice versa. As to the propor- tion between Catholic and Protestant institutions, the figures show that the Pro- testant section of the community has, upon the whole, no ground of complaint. The distribution gives the Protestant institutions 30.25 per cent, of the whole amount. The Catholic population, according to the census of 1861, was 943,253 ; the non- Catholic population, comprising persons whose creeds were unknown, was only 168,313. If the amount was distributed according to population, the Protestant ins- titutions would receive 14.98 per cent. ; they now have more than twice as much If, on the contrary, the distribution was based on the aggregate number of pupils, " On that the fairest, h has been A little bit uite a flurry Protestants, )itterly that ;ir fair share .uveau. then irior to any Us, and had ntiated. If of the pam- meeting at itection and 3 in Lower ance should itholics, and much larger lent one, the int minority ed to 14.98. ights, appro- being a very low-citizens, beral school th the com- ior Education ;een Protestant testant institu- gei" allowances to the propor that the Pro- omplaint. The vhole amount. ,253 ; the non wn, was only Protestant ins- ,vice as much ber of pupils, Protestants would receive 1 7.48 per cent. The results of a comparison between the grants made to Catholic ami to Protestant institutions in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, are still more striking. The Catholic population of Montreal is 65,896, and the non-Catholic 24,432. Vet the I'rotestants, who are not one third of the population, are receiving double the amount paid to Catholics. The Catholic popu- lation of the city of Quebec is 41,477, the non-Catholic population 9,732. The Pro- testants, who are not one fifth, get more tiian double the sum allowed Catholic jtnstitutions. In the face of such facts, how can you assert with any reasonable- pess : " Toleration, as non-Catholics understand it, is not practisetl i^* in Quebec In the power and privileges just enumerated the 1* church possesses all the apparatus for making heresy and heretics un- *' comfortable ; and if, as Mr. Tasse implies, she has neglected to ** employ it for that purpose, she is open to the charge of shirking the *' duty imposed upon her by her own doctrine that she alone is truth, ** that Protestantism is error, and that hence toleration of Protestan- *' tism is a crime." No doubt tiie Church believes she is truth and Protestantism is error. But as to the righteousness of your con- clusion that " hence toleration of Protestantism is a crime," let it be subject to the decision of the authorized exponent of Catholic faith. His Holiness Leo XIII : " The Church does not condemn the leaders " of the state who, having some good to achieve or some evil to pre- '* vent, tolerate that in the practice the various religious denominations '• should exist in the State." We are proud, Mr. Editor, of our university, of our colleges, of our convents, of our academies, of our school houses of all kinds. They have moulded more than one generation. They are the noble work of a noble succession of bishops, priests, and laymen, and of nuns, who, like the Vestals of old, have kept burning the sacred fire of nationality. Their names, their labours, from Laval down to Bourget, cannot be forgotten. They will last as long as virtue is remembered. But for them French Canada would not exist to-day. But for them we would lK>t have produced those great men who, either in the religious or political arena, have been enabled to defend our rights and to l«»id us in the path of duty and honour. Now, more than ever, I feel greatly indebted to the college which gave me the necessary e4ucation to raise my voice, imperfect as it may be, and to defend TOiy race in the very language of its traducers. These colleges, these Cj^nvents have not been limited to my people ; their portals have been opf"n to all races, to all creeds, to the whole New World. You have vfeited them and you have noticed, 1 am sure, that a good many of their pupils, in some cases a very large percentage, are of Angio and 3 — Vi Irish Canadian extraction, and that hundreds of them, even hail from the I nited States. By the way, Catholic education is not so back ward in Ontario as it is sometimes represented by The Mail, if it is true, as alleged by Principal Austin in your issue of last Saturday, that there are at present over i,ooo Protestant girls in the Roman Catholic Convent schools of the province. In that great institution, in that ancien seat of learning, called the Seminary of St. Sulpice, hundreds of American clergymen and some of their most eminent prelates, including the present Bishops of Boston and Portland, have studied science and theology. If I were mentioning laymen I could name such men as General Dix. Out of four hundred pupils, the College of Ottawa can claim every year eighty belonging to the Republic. I am not exaggerating in asserting that our religioih orders, the Sulpicians, the Jesuits, the Father Oblates, the Fathers of St. Croix, the Clercs de St. Viateur, the Christian Brothers, the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame, the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, the Crey Nuns, etc., etc., have become tci a certain extent the educators of the continent.* Not only are the\ distributing here to foreigners the bread of science, but they have established throughout the United States — even South America has witnessed their zeal — scores of institutions where the rising generatioi: learns to become good Christians and good citizens. You are well acquainted with the holy life of Marguerite Bourgeois, the celebrated founder of that most important order of religious ladies called " The Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame." Of that noble woman as learned as .she Wiis virtuous, Parkman has truly said : " To this day in §. *As tlie Anglo-American dioceses are mostly of recent foundation wi;h a Catiiolu population much disseminated, very few of them possess regular seminaries provide witli sufficient teaching power. Under these circumstances the American bishop were and le still obliged to fall back upon the seminaries of Canada. All their be>: subjects. :)i se that must receive an ecclesiastical education complete and somewlia elevate.], are sent to one of the four great seminaries : Quebec, Montreal, .Si. HyacintI e or Three Rivers. If one follows the ordinations which are held in thes. dioceses, he will ascertain that not only these ihiological students complete theic their education, but that great many of them receive all the degrees of onlr nation ; in certain years, the number of subjects hailing from the United State (and from the English dioceses of the Dominion) almost equals the number ■ Canadian aspirants. These Canadian Seminarie:; render even more importaii services to the dioceses of British America than to those of the States, as they hav: educated aImo.st exclusively all the young men who aspire to the priesthood, in Uppc Canada and in the .Maritime Provii ces. Hence we may assert boldly that Lowt Canada or French Canada has h^fn, firstly by its missionaries, and secondly by i clergy and its seminaries, tiie real focus of the propagation of Catholicit) Northern America, and that it is yet to day the corner stone of the Catholic Churu of that continent. — BalUtiii dc f Association dc St Frainois dc Sales par M^n S^gur (Sept. 1879 ) — 35 — /en hail from not so back vIau,, if it is ast Saturday, the Roman ,t institution, f St. Sulpice, Tiost eminent .nd Portland, ing laymen I ndred pupils, »nging to the our religious he Fathers of Brothers, the of the Holy ive become tci only are the\ but they havi 1 America has ing generation You are wel! the celebrated s called " TIk noble woman To this day in m wilh a Catholi minaries provick American bishoj ,da. All their be- ete and somewlia :c, Montreal, Si are held in the^ ts complete tht> degrees of <3r more importai ites, as they ha\ iesthood,in Uppi )oldly that Lowt nd secondly by i of Catholicity Catholic Chuit SaUs par Mgr '< crowded school-houses of Montreal and Quebec, fit monuments of her '■ unobstructive virtue, her successors instruct the children of the poor " and embalm the pleasant memory of Marguerite Bourgeois. In the *" martial figure of Maisonneuve and the fair form of this gentle nun we "find the two heroes of Montreal." When you visit the beautiful convent of Villa Maria, the former residence of our governors, you admire in the parlor a large picture splendidly drawn by a nun, a true artist, representing Marguerite Bourgeois teaching an Indian girl under the shadow of a large tree. To-day the tree planted by Mar- g.ierite Bourgeois is not only firmly rooted in Canadian soil, pro ducing abundant fruits, whose perfume permeates every section of society, but it has the most exte isive ramifications on the whole '^ northern section of America. Her successors are not less than 800, educating 20,000 pupils in 86 establishments, to be found in Canada, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Illinois, etc. Next in nnnber, the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, whose mother house is the magnificent convent of Hochelaga, have 34 branch establishments in Canada and the United States, their splendid convent of Oakland at San Francisco being not the least remarkable, and they teach between eight and nine thousand children. The Grey Nuns of Ottawa count not less than 3i sisters of their order in Buffalo, Lowell, Ogdensburg and Plattsburgh, and the number of their pupils may fairly be put at five thousand. A few years ago took place a very unusual and solemn demonstra- tion, the first of the kind, in the little picturesque town of Nicolet {O Nicolet qv' embellit la nature ! is a favourite song of the students) which claims to possess one of the most important and oldest colleges of the country, in fact the first founded since French dominion ceased to exist. It was a large and imposing gathering of its former pupils, many of whom had reached the highest distinctions. There you could find princes of the Church side by side with learned judges and pro- minent politicians. They were animated by one deserving object, that of honouring their old Alma Mater. Many were the speakers and eloquent were their words. It seems as if they had united to choose as a text the inspired words : Quam bonum et Juc nudum est habitare fratres in unum. How good and joyful it is for brethren to dwell in unity ! Their Lordships the If , Bishops Bourget, of Montreal ; Baillargeon, of Quebec (both became Archbishops after- wards) ; and Cook, of Three Rivers ; Rev. Mr. D6saulniers, a pro- linent professor of the Seminary of St. Hyacinthe ; Rev. Mr. Lafldche, low the eminent Bishop of Three Rivers ; the Hon. Mr. Chauveau, the late Judges Mondelet and Loranger — wliat shadows we are ! but two are now living — rivalled successively with their eloquence in paying the most beautiful homage to the merits and services of the institu- tion. One of the last, but not the least eloquent speaker was another good man, lost since to the country, the silver-tongued Mr. Edward Carter, a leading politician and barrister, and a former pupil of Nicolet. He being a Protestant, educated by Catholic priests, under the special guidance of the late lamented Rev, Mr. Leprohon, his remarks were received with peculiar interest, mingled, no doubt, with keen curiosity. Let us admire, if we were not present to cheer with the whole assemblage : — . , , As an English pupil of Nicolet College, I am not ashamed to acknowledge it. Notwithstanding that my career is in purt spent and although a period of thirty years has elapsed since I left this institution, I never regretted the days I spent within these walls, and the early association and friendship I had there formed. On the contrary, 1 iiave never ceased to boast of it ; and when I witness the magnificent spectacle now presented to my view, that pride is only surpassed by those emotions which so grand a re-union is certain to produce. Yes, I am happy and proud to be here, surrounded as I am b^ so many friends and classmates. I am aware that it is not unusual lo hear a certain portion of the English community speak with levity of institutions of this kind, and affect to despise them. But, if they could only witness the magnificent spectacle here presented, and see the fruits which have ripened into maturity from the young plants nurtured and cared for by your religious pastors, • how soon would they nut acknowledge Iheir error ! In fact, who are the men who compose this grand re-union ? I see before me your illustrious bishops ; on each side and all around me men whose career has covered them witli glory, men who have become distinguishe replies were not to the point. Still 1 waf^ , titc willing that the public should be the judge of that contention, <«"'<(■. my fourth letter reached the editor, he came evidently to the ci ^ . .1' sion to leave it in the pigeon-hole. This would be a saving of spin . and of mental labor. I telegraphed to ascertain whether the letter would appear or not. in answer I received the following telegram : Toronto, 9th November 1887. IvClter will probably appear on Saturday, l)ut we are very crowded just now. The M.\il. The letter did not appear on that Saturday, the Mai/ bt ig very crowded. It has remained in that embarrassing condition i ce. I then requested the editor to kindly surrender my manuscript, as I — 39 — by telegraph sed. — Appeal lonch Cana- s in its own respondent, old city of It, the Mail Minister " as absorbed which were articles was the editor wa;^ : jite ;ion„ - ' ' i tht cc •; . .1' ng of spin . • the letter telegram : ml)er 1887. list now. "iiK Mail. be ig very n ' ce. 1 :ript, as I [intended to publish it elsewhere. But this was not an easy capture. (It required strong will, coupled with the burning love of a father for [his child. Judge by the reply : ' Toronto, 21st November, 1887. Leave it until Saturday next. Will endeavor to prim it then. The Mail. I waited patiently, but the light was kept under the bushel. The itter remained unpublished notwithstanding the very great effort Itnade. Such an effort is unprecedented. I wired again for my manu- [script. I was advised that it would be forwarded at once. The un- ifortunate captive was delivered, however, only on Saturday morning, [third day of December. This was a glorious day, the imprisonment jin the il/i?/V dungeon having lasted more than one month. I give these details in answer to the many friends who, thinking [that I had been crushed by the Mail, enquired what had become ^of its disputant, and to show at the same time that I have been treated most unfairly. The Mail is the master of its space. It is also the judge of its waste-basket. But were it unwilling to insert my prose, which it kindly styled " capital rethoric," it should not have deceived me during several weeks, without the slightest acknow- ledgment or explanation. Most flimsy is the pretext of lack of space, uttered at the eleventh hour, when the Mail has made of that question the question of the day, and when it can dispose of sixteen or twenty pages every Saturday, v - I put these facts before the public in order that they may know "also, that, if deficient in ability, I have lacked neither diligence nor determination in the defence which I had undertaken, of a much maligned race. I had learned to appreciate and admire British fair play, but I confess that this valuable article was soon exhausted by the Mail. Having taken up the cudgels 1 do not intend, however, to be silenced in that summary way. It is not in the power of the Mail to muzzle French Canada. The same task undertaken here- ytofore by other powerful organs has miserably failed. The two sides of the case must be exposed. The public must know, if my ^'-fellow-countrymen, numbering almost a third of the population, are an intolerant, bigoted, ignorant race and a danger to the community. I trust I shall find a newspaper in Ontario willing to give me thef fair play refused by the Mail^ and I hereby confidently appeal to The Empire. — Titre oblige. Yours, etc., • Joseph TassIv. Montreal, december 27, 1887. '.M FIFTH LETTER. Catholic tolerance at the very beginning of the century. — Intolerance of the American Congress. Its address to England against Catholic faith and French laws (1774).— An address of the same kind to the American V colonies. — The other side of the shield. — Address of the Congress to French Canadians urging then to join the insurgents. — Appeals to vhem from Washington and Baron d'Estaing. — French Canadians scorn their duplicity and remain true to British Crown. — Governor Haldimand says the Eastern Townships ought to be settled with French Canadians.— According to Wm. Parker they are the right arm of the Empire. — The Canadian clergy is the finest moral police of the world, says Sir John Macdonald.— The last gun for England. To the Editor of The Mail. Sir, In your article on the 8th October you allege that " I have not como to close quarters with any of those questions," meaning your whole indictment against the French Canadian people. That statement is reiterated in your reply of last Saturday. As you are too interested to be impartial, I shall not discuss that point, leaving it to be decided by the impartial public, the public that will read both sides, the public that will weigh your arguments and mine and decide acconl- ingly. I only pray them to wait patiently for their verdict till all the pleas, all the facts are before them. In your article of the ist October, which 1 have by no means exhausted, 1 read the following : — " At the outset we find the people " in the American colonies complaining of the power granted to the " Roman Catholic Church. To this it may be replied that the clerg\ "and people of New England lived in an intolerant age and were '*4te: ^23553^^"^".'- — 41 lerance of the ::athblic faith the American Congress to — Appeals to h Canadians n. — Governor settled with the right arm police of the land. ve not como your whole jtatement is o interested be decided sides, the ide accord- •dict till all no means the people ited to the t the clergy ! and were 1 " themselves intolerant." You are quite right. You will find tolerance ^in Catholic Maryland and intolerance, even of the most cruel kind, in New England and elsewhere. As early as 1649, the Assembly of ' Maryland passed an act by which Chris' ians of all sects were secured in the public profession of their faith, and allowed to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. In the colony of ■ Plymouth men and women were hanged for being Quakers, while others were imprisoned and pilloried on suspicion of Anabaptism, Prelacy or Romanism. With all the vaunted liberty of our neighbors, as late as a few years ago, a Catholic could not become a functionary of New Hampshire. Even the American Congress which claims to have 1^ kindled the light of liberty on the Atlantic coasts was impregnated with the most absolute, the most intolerant notions. When England passed the Quebec Act (1774) which re-established the French language, the French laws, and gave fuller liberty to the Catholic Church in Lower Canada, that very Congress was the first to remonstrate and to denounce that measure of justice in the most violent terms. Let us see the following extract of the " Address to "the people of Great Britain from the delegates appointed by the *' several English Colonies of New-Humpshire, Massachusetts Ray, " Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, Connecticut, New York, " New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Lower Counties on Delaware, Mary- " land, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, to consider of *' the grievances in general Congress at Pliiladelphia, September 5, t( 1774. . * * Now mark the progression of the ministerial plan for enslaving us : Well aware that such hardy attempts to take our property from us ; to deprive us of that valuable right of trial by jury ; to seize our persons and carry us for trial to Great liritain ; to blockade our ports ; to destroy our charters and change our forms of government would occasion, and had already occasioned, great discont- ent in all the colonies, wliicli might produce opposition to tliese measures, an Act was passed to protect, indemnify and screen from punishment such as miglit be guilty, even of murder, in endeavoring to carry their oppressive edicts into execu- ^on, and, by anotlier Act, the Dominion of Canada is to he extended, modelled and governed, as that liy being disunited from us, detached from our interests by civil as well as religious prejudices, that by their numbers daily swelling with Catholic of an arbitrary inot claim tht ty : — Nor can mid ever con- our island in and rebellion what end they of imr Roman i reduce us to a doubtless make ir liberties, and your commerce e notorious, in s will you reap J said, you will th, and we may tinent will then icpect that after icing you to the mgress issued ' Hampshire, hey said : — as passed for le Roman Ca- by the treaty 1 of the right vil cases abo- in direct vio- jn, under the ^ince and the nd those vast y boundaries 1 denounced deavoured to on as having igotry, perse- #, i3 *,Jtion, murder and rebellion through every part of the world," which had criticized severely the re establishment of French laws, issued a proclamation to the Canadians — the French alone were then thus designated — urging them in the sacred name of liberty, to unite their destinies to them ? The Congress even pointed out the example of Switzerland, which you have failed to accept when cited by me, to show how Catholics and Protestants could live harmoniously under a common flag in the practice of true liberal institutions, and resist tyranny against all comers. That famous document is addressed : " To the inhabitants of the Province " of Quebec. Friends and fellow-subjects." The many italics are to be found in the paper as originally published. Wliat is offered to you by the late Act of Parliament (1774) ? Liberty of conscience in your religion ? No. God gave it you ; and the temporal powers with which you have been and are connected firmly stipulate for your enjoyment of it. If laws, divine and human, could secure it against the despotic caprices of wicked men it was secured be ore. Are the French laws in civil cases restored? It seems so. But observe the cautious kindness of the ministers, who pretend to be your benefactors. The words of the statute are — that those '' laws sliall be the rule until they shall be varied or altered by any ordinances of the Governor and Council.' Is the " certainty and lenity of the criminal law of England secure to you and your descendants ? No. They are subjected to arbitrary allcrations by the Governor and Council, and a power is e.\pressly reserved of appointing " such courts of tv7/«/«rt/, civil and ecclC' j«u/«(vz/ jurisdiction as shall be tliought proper."" Such is the precious tenure of mere will, by which you hold your lives and religion. The Crown and its Ministers are empowered, as far as they could be by Parliament, to establish even the inquisition Heelf among you. Have you an assembly, composed of worthy men, elected by yourselves, and in whom you can confide to make laws for you, to watch over your welfare, and to direct in what quantity, and in what manner, your money shall be taken from you ? No I The power o( making laws for you is lodged n the Governor and Council, all of them dependent upon and movable at the pleasure of a Minister. * * * Your /ndgifs and yonr Lci,'islafi7>e C'o/nicil, as, it is called, are di'/>eiidcnt on your Qoz'ernor and /le is dcpi'ndt'iit on the .servant of the Crown in Great iJritain. The Itgislative, executive and judi^ing powers are all moved by the nods of a minister. Privileges and immunities last no longer than his smiles. When he frowns, their fijible forms dissolve. Such a treacherous ingenuity has been exerted in drawing up tbe code lately offered to you, that every sentence beginning with a Ijenevolent pre- tention, concludes with a destructive power ; and the substance of the whole, divested of its smooth words, is that the Crown and its Minister shall be as absolute tlffoughout your extended Province as the fiespots of Asia or Africa.*** Seize the opportunity presented to you liy Providence itself. You have been con- T^red into liberty, if you act as you ought. This work is not of man. You are a snail people, compared with those who, with open arms invite you into a fellowship. I ti fi! Ii — 44 — A moments reflexion shouli rt-ho unite in her cause above all such lowminded infirmities. The Swiss Canton, furnish a memorable proof of this truth. Their union is composed of Roman Catholn and Protestant states, iving in the utmost concord and peace with one another, ain: thereby enabled, ever since they bravely vin licated their freedom, to defy and defta every tyrant that has invaded them. *** In order to complete this highly desirable union, we submit it to your consi. deration whether it may not be expedient for you to meet together in your severa towns and districts and elect deputies, who afterwards meeting in a provincial congress, may ciiuose delegates to represent your province in the continental con- gress to be held at Philadelphia on the loth of May, 1775. In this present Congress, beginning on the fifth of the last month, and continue- on this day, it has been with universal pleasure, and an unanimous vote, r.^solved. that we should consider the violation of your rights by the act for altering the gu- vernment of your Province, as a violation of our own, and that you should be invitei to accede to our Confederation which has no other object than the perfect security f tlie natural and civil rights of all the constituent members according to their res- pective circumstances, and the preservation of a happy and lasting connexion uii! ( Jreat Britain on the salutary and constitutional principles herein before mentioneii For effecting these purposes we have addressed an humble and loyal petition to hi. Majesty praying relief of our and your grievances, and have associated to stop uL importations from Creat Britain and Ireland, after the first day of December, an- all exportations to those Kingdoms and the West Indies, af er the tenth day of ne,\i September, until the said grievances are redressed. That Almighty God may incline your minds to approve our equitable ani: necessary measures, to add yourselves to us, to put your fate whenever you sulTe: injuries which you are determined to oppose, not on the small influence of you single province, but on the/consolidated powers of North America, and may grant i our joint exertions an event as happy as our cat . is just, is the fervent prayer o' us, your sincere and aflectionate friends and fellow subjects. By order of the Congress, Henry Middleton, President. October 26, 1774. «t, ti (( Could it be believed also that George Wabliington, who was a lea ding spirit of the Congress, as one of the representatives of Virginia, issued a proclamation when he took command of the American forces pressing my ancestors to join the invading army of Colonel Arnold, Some of his words : " Come, my brethren, unite with us in an indis- — 4J) — your interest and le friends or your ited every colon\ , iting to complete itinguishing youi against a heart v 3m elevates those le Swiss Canton- f Roman Catholi. one another, ain: to defy and defea t it to your consi. iv in your severa in a provincia: : continental coii- ;h, and continue^ us vote, r.^solved, ■ altering the gt- should be invite. perfect security ( iing to their rev g connexion wit! before mentioned al petition to iii^ ciated to stop al f December, ati! enth day of no.\: .ir equitable an- lenever you sul'fc: influence of you: and may grant ti fervent prayer i iTON, President. v'ho was a lea es of Virginia, ■nerican forces lonel Arnold, us in an indis- ^soluble union ; let us run together to the same goal.'** The cause of "America and of liberty isthecauseof every virtuous American citizen, *f whatever may be his religion or descent. The united '^olonies know no •^distinction but such as slavery, corruption and arbitrary dominion "may create. Come, then, ye generous citizens, range yourselves under "the standard of general liberty, against which all the force of artifice "and tyranny will never be able to prevail." Much more tempting was another proclamation — that of Baron d'Estaing, commander of the French fleet, which had come to the rescue of the American revolu- tionary party : I shall not ask the military companions of the Marquis of Levis, those who shar- ed his j^lory, who admired his talents and genius for war, who loved his cordiality and frankness, the principal characteristics of our nobility, whether there be other ftanies in other nations among which they would be better pleased to place their own. Can the Canadians who saw the brave Montcalm fall in their defence can they become the ennemies of his nephews ? Can they light against their former lead- ers, and arm themselves against their kinsmen ? At thi bare mention of then names the weajions would fall out of their hands. [ shall not observe to the ministers of the altars, that their evangelical efforts will require the special protection of Provi- dence, to prevent faith being diminished by example, by wordly interest, and by sovereigns whom force has imposed upon them, and whose political indulgence will be lessened proportionably as those sovereigns shall have less to fear. I shall not observe that it is necessary for religion that those who prench it should form a body in the State ; and that in Canada no other Ijody would be more considered, or have more power to do good than that of the priests, taking a part in the government, since their respectable conduct has merited the confidence of the people. I shall not represent to that people, nor to all my countrymen in general that a vast monarchy, having the same religion, the same manners, the same language, where they fin I kinsmen, old friends and brethren, must be an inexhaustal:>le source of commerce and wealth, more easily acquired and better secured by their union with powerful neighbors than with strangers of another hemisphere, among whom evervihing is different, and who, jealous and despotic sovereigns would, sooner or later, treat them as a conquered people, and doubtless much worse than their late countrymen, the Americans, who made them victorious. 1 shall not urge to a whole people that to join with the United States is to secure their own happiness, since a whole people when they acquire the right of thinking and acting for themselves, must know their own interest. But I will declare, and I now formally declare in the name of His Majesty, who has authorized and commanded me to do it, that all his former subjects in North America, who shall no more acknowledge the supremacy of Great Britain. may depend upon his protection and support. -fllould it be believed also that Dr. Carroll, the future Archbishop of Ifelltimore, Charles Carroll, Mr. Chase and Benjamin Franklin, were dllfgated to Canada, in April 1775, ^^ conciliate the clergy and the people? But the bloody revolution of the previous year could not be 415 It forgotten, the French leaders had no faith in their professions of (riendship — Tint <'o Danaos et dona ferenies .' — and they remained as firm as rock in their allegiance to the British Crown. I have given some development to this part of my argument in order that the public should fully realise the temptations to which our people were exposed, which they had to resist, and at the same time the infernal duplicity of the American Congress. That Congress may have been composed o: great men, may have initiated a step which produced a revolution and created the greatest Republic known, but their double dealing toward^ Canada is a blot on their escutcheon which shall remain as long a< honor is upheld among nations. Fides Punica is thrown in the shade. Let me give to my ancestors the full credit which they deserve, and which is now so manifest in the light of experience. They did no- only minister a severe rebuke to those who had practised treacherv towards them — they proved that they were wiser from a national stand point than such eminent Frenchmen as D'Estaing, Lafayette and Ro chambeau. Annexed to the United States they would have beer denationalized probably by the giant who crushed Louisiana. Annex ed to the States they would have added a mere satellite to the Aiiit rican constellation ; whilst unveiling the future they could foresee the establishment of a distinct nationality and a future as bright as tli. North Star. Opus magnum ! From a British standpoint you are most ungrateful in endeavouriiu to belittle the services rendered by the Catholic clergy to the Britisl Crown. You state : — " No one has ever disputed their value, thong; '•history relates that in almost every instances she exacted a. quid pro qu ''in the shape of an extension or a mere formal recognition of her prerc " gatives." The Act of 1774 was not granted to reward the services c the clergy. It was inspired by self-protection, and not by a sense justice. Discontent was then brewing in the American colonies, am lest it should extend to French Canadians, the British Parliamei; granted us liberties and immunities which otherwise it would hav refused or indefinitely postponed. When England was threatene with a second war against the United States, Governor Prevost ende.; voured to conciliate the clergy and their flocks, much alienated by tii action of his predecessors, in giving to Mgr. Plessis a standing whic the Catholic Bishop had not before. In 1813, Lord Bathurst was pet tioned against that concession, but he promptly replied that the tiiu, was ill chosen to raise such a dispute while French-Canadians wer; fighting for England. Many years bafore, the British Government had under their cor — 4' irofessions of ' remained as I have given \at the public kvere exposed, nal duplicity I composed oi evolution and aling towards lin as long as in the shade. deserve, and They did not sed treachery national stand yette and Ro Id have beei; siana. Annex te to the Anit lid foresee the i bright as tli. endeavouriiu to the Britisl value, thoug: a quid pro qu m of her prero the services c by a sense o colonies, am sh Parliamen it would hav; ^as threatene Prevost endea ienated by tl landing whic lurst was pet: that the m anadians wer ider their co: sideration a plan for settling with Royalists " the tract of land* to the " Eastward of the River St. Lawrence and bounded on the North I** and West by the revolted colonies " or what is known to day as v^he Eastern Townships. By Royalists were meant many of the people lof Vermont '-who call themselves our friends " and several Lovalists §who had made repeated solicitations for grants of land on that ■Ifrontier. Governor Haldimand took the view that the territory 7|5hculd remain unconceded, at least, for some years, when a better judgment could be made than at present of the turn which affairs may take on the continent. (*) He gave another consideration for which you are probably unprepared : .. v ,., »m There is another consi'leration : tlie Canadians will increase much in population, and in a few years, more lands will I e wanted for them, and it seems •jood policy that the frontiers should be settled by people professing different re igions, speaking a different language, and accustomed to other law< and government from those of our restless and enterprising neighbours of New-Kngland Loyalists and Americans Settled near one another could not agree, at least, for some years, and th.- smallest trifle might be productive of outrages, from which great mutual mischief would ensue in s])ite of all efforts on the ^)art of the respective governments lo prevent it ; hence, my Lord, appears the great advantage which the land between the River St. Lawrence and the Ottawa River towards Cataraqui possesses for making useful and happy settlements for the Loyalists, and of whicli I have given in former letters an ample description. The same view was still expressed in much stronger terms before a fommittee of the British Parliament, held in 1828, by a prominent English merchant, who was fully conversant with Canadian affairs, having lived several years in this country. Mr. William Parker said : I would encourage the French Canadians, they are the only people you can depend on. The population of the oth-^r Provinces is of a mixed character (a great many loyal, brave and good men, no doubt, amongst them). The French Canadiai s are united in their origin of which they are justly proud, in religion, in manners, and in virtue. They have a character to support and they have always nobly supported it. Whilst they were under the French Government they were the bravest sul)jects that France had, and with the one-sixth of their present nun.ber they gave the greatest opposition to the British that they met with at the couquest of Canada. I am persuaded if the French Canadians had been as numerous at that time as they are now, we would not have wrested Canada from France, and if such hail Ijeen the result, we would not have the youthful, powerful and federative American Repu* blic en'roaciing on us as they do at present. The French Canadians are reproa- ched for not Anglifying themselves ; arc the inhabitants of Jersey and Guern- (*) Letter to the Right Honorable Lord North, one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of Slate, Z^tli iVoTemher 1783, re/ntiTe to settling Loyalists near the line 4^. — 48 — sey worse Uritish subjects for having preserved their language, manners and Norman laws, or are they so reproached ? And yet, I will boldly assert that Lower Canada and other North American Colonies, are often thousand times more vital importance to this Empire than these Islands are. I consider them more than the right arm of the Hritish Empire. I am convinced that if the F^rtnch Canadians were double their l)resent number they would set all the union of America at defiance. They are the best subjects this ccnintry lias. Let me complete these quotations by the following testimony of Sir John Macdonald as expressed at London, England, before the St. James's Club, at a dinner, January 4, 1886 : lie hatl been asked while in this country many questions with respect to the future of the Dominion. One r f the questions was whether there was any doubt about the loyalty of the Freich-C anadians to the English Sovereign. He had the greatest pleasure in saying that if there was a loyal body of men within the bounds of the British l']mpire, it would be found amongst the French-Canadians of the Dominion. (^Cheers.) lie would not enter into the causes of the sympathy which they felt with Kiel, who was recently executed, it was a natural sympathy, but in no way affected the loyalty of Canadians to the British Crown. It must be remembered that they became British subjects before t; ^ French Revolution, and the engagement to pre- serve their religion, their rights, their privileges, Iheir institutions and their pro- perty had been religiously carried out, they nad no sympathy with the modem infidelity, the rabid democracy, and tiie disre 1 of all authority which now exists in France. They were a moral and nis people, listening to theii hierarchy and their priesthood, and as a Protestant uc liad no hesitation in saying that the best and finest moral police in the world was to be found in the priesthood of French Canada. What we have done in former years we are prepared to do now. Sir Etienne Pascal Tach6 has said that the last gun for British supremacy on this continent shall be fired by a French Canadian. The predic- tion will be realized yet. Yours, etc., Joseph Tass6. « *i t$ m^. ind Norrnan wer Canada [ importance right arm of double their They are the lony of Sir re the St. to the future ibt about the the greatest ounds of the he Dominion, they felt witli way affected ired that they sment to pre- ind their pro- 1 the modern y which now ;ning to their in saying that priesthood of lo now. Sir supremacy "he prcdio Issfe. ■d i SIXTH LETTER. ^he tithe system does not crowd out Protestants. — Opinion of Sir John Macdonald. — Protestants emigrate Westward from all the Provinces. — Advance of the French in Ontario. — " The Globe ' imputes them the Liberal defeat of 1882. — A Roland for an Oliver. — French development from 1841 to 1881. — No tithes in the Eastern States, still the old element disappears. — The clergy and agriculture. — What they are doing for its- advancement. — Revd. Mr. Pilote one of the earliest promoters of pro- tection. — Ontario is not the milch-cow of Quebec. — Why the adminis- tration of Quebec is more expensive. — The twelve privilep-d constitu- encies. To the Editor of The iMail. Sir, My argument has not convinced you of the justice of the tithe system. You may not be open to conviction. Let us dissect your reply. You state : " The system furnishes the clergy with a motive for " getting rid of Protestant settlers, since every Protestant farm which '* falls into the hands of a habitant becomes a source of clerical *' revenue." The same view is upheld by Mr. Robert Sellar, editor of the Gleaner, in the concluding part of his recent History of Hun- iingdon^ Chateauguay and Beauhartiois : " In 1838, the English speak- *•' ing population of Quebec was full of vitality, expansive and self- " assertive : in 1888 it is the reverse, what has caused the change? '* I submit that it is to be found in the extension to the townships of '♦'French law and customs The first aggressive step was the act "that extended the parish-system to the townships, whereby the ** priest resident in them enjoyed the same powers as those in the " Seigniories, and could, by force of law, collect tithes and taxes to -*M5uild and maintain churches and presbyteries. A systematic system " was inaugurated and is carried out with growing vigor to push "~i|ut the English-speaking farmers and substitute habitants. '' I vjftave established already that the tithes are paid only by Ca- 4 — 50 — tholic farmers and that not a farthing is exacted from Protest- ants. This point is clear, undisputed, unassailable. If the clergy of Lower Canada were not supported by tithes, they would have to be supported by fixed or voluntary contributions. Would the farmers have to pay less ? I question it. They would have to pay in haici cash whilst they pay only according to the yield of the crops, what- ever may be the price of grain, high or low. Then you are wrong in asserting that the large sums taken from them owing to that peculiar system, reduce their capacity as rate-payers. Here rises another point. Are Catholic farmers paying more than Protestants for the support of the clergy? According to population you have more churches because the Protestant creed is much sub-divided, being composed — such is the list published in the last census — of members of the Church of England, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Adventists, Congregationalists Unitarfans, Episcopal Reform, Universalists, etc . etc. Those denominations require the building of special churches, the maintenance of special clergymen, and the congregation being sometimes small the expense bears more heavily on the members. In Montreal alone there were last year 25 Catholic churches and 54 Protestant on the list of exemptions from taxes, although the Catholic population is much larger. Protestant ministers marry. Catholic priests cannot marry. Then the former having wife and children require naturally larger salaries. If the incomes of some cures are large; than required for their maintenance, they generally make the best us of them. Many are devoted to our educational or benevolent institu tions, the poor of the parish always coming in for a large share. their devotedness to our best interests, to our intellectual advance ment, you may judge by the fact that or.r sixteen classical college with their several thousands of pupils, have been founded by them Open the will of almost any curd and you will find that his last thouL'l was to confound into a common sentiment the interests 01 il; Church and the State. Truly, some of our institutions po.ssess larf estates derived mainly from the earliest days of the colony. lint t[ proceeds are devoted to educational or benevolent purposes. Ti richest, the Seminary of St. Sulpice, attends to the religious wants several parishes, keeps up a theological .seminary and a classic college, attended by hundreds of students from all parts of Cana and the Republic, supplies preliminary and gratuitous education thousands of pupils belonging to the poorest classes. The Seniiii: of Quebec has founded and maintained for many years that grc institution, Laval University, which is unrivalled on the contineni, th flc cai op tith lope deli Mac Me Th boMnc m Protest- 2 clergy of have to be he farmers pay in haal :rops. what- ,re wrong m ;hat peculiar lother point, e support of ches because ised— such is he Church of Adventists, ersalists, etc , cial churches, sgation being members. In rches and 54 ;h the Catholic Lrry. Catholic -lildren require res are large; e the best us volent instill! rge share. ctual advance ssical college nded by them his last thougk nterests 01 ili |iis possess lar^ lony. But tl purposes. Ti vgious wants and a classic arts of Canau us education The SeminJ years that gw he continent. If I were to believe you and your ally, Mr, Sellar, the tithe system " furnishes the clergy with a motive for getting rid of 'i " Protestant settlers." I have aready convinced any fair minded reader .^ that the system has nothing whatever to do with the Protestant "'% exodus from the Province of Quebec. The French-Canadian emigra- ftion to United States has been much larger than that of English Protestants. Many claim that there are 500,000 of my compatriots, ,,|1 and even more, disseminated on the vast surface of the Republic. In ^ ^act you will find them in the remotest corners of the Union, from a Maine to California, from Montana to Florida. "Where has not A^the Canadian penetrated?" exclaimed the celebrated Father de ■,^Smedt, after meeting Canadian huntsmen in the fastnesses of Oregon. ■•''.But you are confounded by your own pretensions. In previous articles you have strongly adverted on what you style the French invasion of Ontario. Well, there are no tithes to collect in your great province. They are not authorized beyond Quebec. The Frencli laws and customs so much dreaded by Mr. Sellar do not extend to other provinces. Protestant farmers cannot be forced there to quit their lands owing to their pressure. They cannot be chased by the same fact that " the Church of Quebec possesses all the apparatus for rendering " heresy uncomfortable." Then how is it that so many old country settlements are fading away before ihe French waves ? How is it that Highlanders of Glengarry and Stormont are leaving for other fields ? How is it that in all the counties eastward of Kingston so many of the Anglo Saxon element are selling their homesteads to the over- flowing population of Quebec ? As it does not exist, the tithe system cannot crowd them out. The true reason is that the same causes Operate in Quebec as well as in Ontario. For many years yoa have acknowledged as your chieftain a great Statesman, than whom no other has done so much to mould our des- tinies, to blend harmoniously the conflicting elements which consti- ^^te the Dominion. Still with all his wisdom, that states.nan could not S^ that Protestantism was jeopardized by the maintenance of the tithe system. Not only does he uphold the views which I have deve- loped, but he has publicly disavowed your own course. In a speech delivered at London (Ont.) on the i6th September 1886, Sir John Macdonald used the following language, which will commend itself Ut every fair-minded Protestant : The AfiTt'/ has eitlier in correspondence or by article, attacked tiie Ecclesiastical ^jMltion of Lower Canada, but whether by corre.sp mdence or article, I am not bound by it nor is the Government bound by it. The French Canadians of Quebec I m l-JS, , — 52 — have their own religion and their own T-egislature. Why should we interfere in any way with them. A man, if he be a Catholic, gives a certain proportion of his crops to the priest of his oarish. A certain portion of his grain only, mind you. If he raises roots or hay or cattle he pays no tithes, and if he chooses to turn Protestant, he needs not pay tithes any more (laughter). The people of the agricultural dis- tricts have more crops than cash, and it is convenient for them to pay their tithes in the produce of their crops rather than subscribe and pay in cash. That is their system, and they like it, and it is a system of which Protestants cannot complain, as they have nothing to do with it. And if these people do not complain of it, why should we, in another Province, with diflerent institutions, try to force our opinions upon a point of that kind. I disapprove it altogether, altogether. I think it is desirable that I should say this (Cheers). :v-r ^ As to the extent of the French invasion in your province, you may form a very adequate idea- -although it has been much larger propor- tionately since the buildi-ig of the Canadian Pacific Railway — by the following statement which indicates the French movement in Ontario from 1 85 1 to 1 88 1. FRENCH POrULAIlON OF DNTARH) FROM 185I TO I881. Total Districts. 1850-61 1860-61 1870-71 1880-81 Population. 1880-81. Addington 281 .... 920 968 23,470 Algoma 328 995 1,562 20,320 Bothwell .... 464 706 27,102 Brant 44 . /* jfj 413 33,869 Brockville 570 657 12,514 Bruce 60 239 880 669 64,774 Bytown (Ottawa) 2,056 3,644 7,214 9,384 27,412 Cardwell .... u 24 16,770 C.irleton 898 975 797 1,668 23,689 Cornwall .... 967 2,222 9,904 I'un^las 231 391 1,031 1,245 20,598 l^»rham 76 13 163 211 36,265 Elgin 92 38 507 579 42,361 Essex 5,424 3,706 10,539 14,658 46,962 Frontenac 551 595 997 7,2 ,4^953 Glengnrry 1,627 1,371 2,607 4,188 22,221 GrenviUe 311 230 625 635 13,526 f^rey 30 68 426 411 7/,, 129 lialdimand 159 31 478 331 ,8^6,0 Halton...,.^,«:. 818 55 270 222 21,919 "^ni'l^o" »7 79 240 500 35,961 "^'^''"g^ 789 550 2,785 3,381 55,192 ""■■on 412 479 813 821 76,970 ^^^^ '>268 1,603 3,480 4,529 36,626 '^'"g'^t"" 210 100 363 480 ,4,091 Lanibton 369 13 837 g26 42,616 — 53 — Lanark Leeds Leeds and Grenville. Lennox Lincoln London Manitoulin Middlesex Monk Muskoka Niagara Nipissing Norfolk Northumberland Ontario Ottawa (v. Bytown). Oxford Parry Sound Peel Perth , Peterborough Prescott 3'43*^ Prince Edward Renfrew Russell . . . , Simcoe Storniont Toronto Vict ria Waterloo Welland Wellington Wentworth York 378 389 865 83s 33.975 478 298 693 922 22,206 .... 291 337 12,029 62 119 296 296 16,314 337 6 440 504 22,963 . . .. 77 34 223 19,746 ... .... 40 3 77 425 439 73.335 • • • • ,^ ■■ • ■ • ■ 193 261 17.145 . . .. • • f • 57 933 27,204 . . . . • « » • 21 52 3.445 . . . . 963 358 • • » • 144 297 687 516 33.593 856 179 901 776 39.283 189 177 631 606 48,812 84 40 4 ■ * « 446, t • • • 389 50. '^93 , . . . .... 129 .... 114 16 41 25 16,387 49 296 502 540 54.985 490 .300 1,024 1,230 37,266 .438 6,558 9-623 14,601 22,857 ■85 91 697 839 21,044 804 1.139 2,882 5.240 40,125 688 2,889 5,600 9,622 25,082 569 946 3,024 3,886 76,129 758 970 1,266 1,967 13.294 467 435 572 1,230 86,115 18 466 660 818 34.612 139 ' ^39 1.536 1,294 42,740 242 68 550 610 26,152 . • ■ . 152 328 372 73,535 134 99 409 438 30.99' 62 291 911 910 66,698 From France . 26,417 1,007 33.287 2,389 Totals 27,424 35,676 75,383 102,743 1,923228 When the Liberal party were routed at the general elections of 1882, the Globe had to explain to the faithful their overwhelming defeat. After having surveyed the battle-field, he came to the conclu- sion that the main cause of the disaster in Ontario was the advance of the French brigade in the Eastern constituencies which, according to many Reformers, to use the words of Mr. Blake, was " a place of l)lack darkness." The Globe was quite right. The leaders of the i — 54 — Reform party, their organs in the press had been for years malign- ing my race, assailing Sir John A. Macdonald for having " surren- dered " to her the birthright of Ontario, and my fellow-contrymen would have been lost to all sense of self-respect had they not resented such a systematic outrage. These are the figures quoted by the Globe : NO. OF PEOI'I.E OF FRENCH ORIGIN. Name OF County. 1871. 1881. Glengarry 2,607 4,188 Cornwal' 967 4»222 Stormo'.t 1,266 1,967 Dunda. 1,031 1,245 Prescolt 9,623 u 14,601 Russell 5,600 ;; , 9>622 Carleton 797 1.668 South Renfrew 1,265 2'°°^ North Renfrew 1,616 ' • 3,234 South Leeds 693 922 Total 25,465 41,675 That is to say, an increase in ten years and in ten counties of over 16,000 inhabitants of French origin. That is to say, six years ago, we were in Ontario almost the double of the whole French element in 1763, a number which has produced more than one million and a half in a single century. As in duty bound, the G/ode commented on these appalling figures. The great Liberal organ, complimentary as usual to my race, seized the opportunity to assert that ** the " average Quebec Frenchman is not a good farmer, his advent be- " ing as a rule the prelude to a deterioration in the quality and value *' of the farm upon which he enters." But how did the G/ode explain the exodus of the Old Country settlers ? Not by the system of tithes. Not by the existence of French laws. They are un- known in those counties. He ascribed the very same cause by which I have already explained the English exodus from Quebec : *' On the whole, the indications seem to be that the section of the " Province in question will be more and more given up to the people "of French origin as the scions of the more enterprising races keep ** moving to larger and newer fields. They take Horace Greeley's ** advice and go Westward." (The G/obe, September 5, 1882.) There are also no tithes in the Eastern States. Still the descendants of the Puritans are fast disappearing — still the growth of that section of the Republic has been less proportionately than that of Ontario and Quebec during the period intervening between 1871 and 1881. Their Dr mil u — 55 — exodus Westward must have been large because they have received during the same period a considerable influx from Lower Canada and from the Maritime Provinces, not to speak of European immigration, I will draw your attention to an elaborate essay prepared by Mr. John Lowe, the well-informed secretary to the Department of Agriculture, and which has been inserted in the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Montreal meeting, 1884. It treats of" Population, Immigration and Pauperism in Lower Canada." The following comparison which he has drawn is worth studying: States and Provinces. ^"Pj^'^**'^"- ^""i^"""' Increase, ^^^^ »•' Maine 629,915 648,9^,6 22,021 4. New Hampshire 318,300 346,991 28,691 9. Massachusetts i,457,35i 1.783.085 325,734 22. Rhode Island 217,353 276,531 59,178 27. Connecticut 537.454 622,700 85,246 16. Vermont 330,55i 332,286 1,735 0-5 Ohio 2,665,260 3,198,062 532,802 20. Illinois 2,539,891 3,077,871 537,980 21. Michigan 1,184,059 1636,937 452,878 38. 1871. 1881. Quebec 1,196,516 1,359,027 167,511 14. Ontario 1,620,851 1,923,228 302,377 19. Nova Scotia 387,800 440,572 52,772 13. New Brunswick 285,594 321,233 35,639 12. 1870. Manitoba 12,228 65,954 53,726 407. British Columbia 10,586 49,459 38,873 367. Let us examine another part of your argument : " We might add " that the tithe system is of itself injurious to the material welfare of a " community, agriculture being discouraged when those who spend no " labor in the production are allowed to participate in the produce." This statement is as unjust as untrue. Our clergymen cannot fail to be much interested in the production of the soil since they live by it. Far from being retrograde, our priests count among the most advanced agriculturists of Lower Canada. Much of our agricultural education, much of our agricultural literature, much of the most progressive methods are due to them. In i860, a special committee was appointed by the Legislative Assembly, under the chairmanship of the eminent Dr. Tach6, then member for the County of Rimouski and now deputy minister of agriculture, to 'inquire into the state of agriculture in '*■ Lower Canada, the means of improving it and of facilitating the set- p 15) =! — 56 — " tlement of the waste lands." If you look over the evidence you will find that five of the most elaborate replies to the queries of the com- mittee were prepared by the Rev. Mr. Delage, curate of L'Islet, Rev. Mr. D6saulniers, of the Seminary of St. Hyacinthe, Rev. Mr. Ferland, of the Seminary of Nicolet, renowned since by his history of Canada ; Rev. Mr. Hebert, of Grande Baie ; Rev. Mr. Pilote, of the College of St. Anne la Pocatiere. Their observations were most appropriate, and many of the suggestions which they offered have been accom- plislied since. The Afai/ having been in the good old days an ardent apostle of the National Policy, will be interested to know that even at that early period the Rev. Mr. Pilote indicated protection as a power- ful factor towarc's assisting agriculture as well as industry : A second meani of improving the state of our agriculture would be to favor our agricultural and .nanufacturing productions l)y according to our produce a suflicient protection against the importation of produce of the same nature from foreign countries. It is a fact that in many instances the importation of a foreign article has had the efiTect of ruining the same article produced by us. Is it surprising, then, that we are vrithout manufactures of any value ? In the absence of foreign markets, manufactures in this country would be an outlet, constantly open, to our agricultural produce. Now these manufactures would not fail to spring up on all sides if a suf- ficient protection were afforded to tlie objects produced by them. Unfortunately, all questions of tariff appear to be managed for the interests of foreign trade. We have been, and still are, the victims of too great condescension — the vital interests of the : country, its agricultural and manufacturing produce — has been bartered for advan- tages, which were often imaginary, but always of an inferior order. A good system of agricultural reform requires, therefore, as a necessary condition that manufactures should be encouraged now, that encouragement can only proceed from a good pro- tective system. It is quite evident that the National Policy was not a new thing when it was formulated by the Conservative leaders in Parliament and adopted by them after their victory of 1878. It had been recom- mended twenty-eight years before, although not its first exponent, by a modest and learned priest. Suu/n cuique. Another suggestion towards mending agriculture was theestablishment of agricultural schools : two of them with model farms have been since organized under the con- , trol of the devoted priests who superintend the colleges of L'Assomp- tJon and St. Anne la Pocatiere. I have just before me the fifth annual report of the 5^ Two Mountains, 26,855 ; Beauharnois, 28,746; having a total population of 153,461, were only given the same representa- tion. That was a genuine *' gerrymander." The Act of Union which was proposed by Lord Durham to '• subject Lower Canada to the vigorous rule of an English majority," was intended to destroy French Canada, but it became our salvation in the skilful hands of Lafontaine, Morin, Tache, Caron, Cartier, supported as they were by the mass of the people. Of that Act it may well be said : Saluiem ex inimicis nostris. Yours, etc., Joseph Tass^. SEVENTH LETTER. Another false charge.— The question of Patronage. — French Can«idian c, never had their share — Striking figures before the Union of 1841. — How the minority was treated —Testimony of Sir Etienne Pascal Tache — The cry of " French Domination " raised by Hon. Messrs. Mac- kenzie, Mowat, James Young and by tht " Globe. " — My answer in Parliament. -- Statistics of 1872, 1881. — The somersault of the " Mail." — The 'Globe" explains our insufficiency of representation in the civil servict; by our ignorance of the English language.— The hol- lowness of that, pretension. — The federal Patronage in 1887. — French still inadequately represented. — How the English minority is treated by the government of Quebec and the c'ty of Montreal. To the Editor of The MaIl. Sir, One of your many charges against the French race had firstly been •rumpeted by the Huntingdon Gleaner. Let us take down the words o*'the oracle : " The English-speaking people during the past fifteen " years have been by degrees deprived of their rightful share of repre- " sentation in municipal and legislative matters, in our law courts and " depaitmental offices." This ih a sweeping charge. But where are the facts, where are the figures to sustain it ? I have failed to find them. The Huntingdon Gleaner has not produced them. The Mail holds its light under the bushel. And as we have not heard again from '' A Protestant Minis- ter" — I always thought he was a myth—we are at loss to know all that he may know. I would be fully warranted to make a general denial and to leave you the onus probandi. But I am quite willing lo set aside the ordinary rules of discussion and to proceed promptly with the defence. There are misconceptions to dispel and misrepresentations to correct, which shquld no longer be allowed to lead astray the public mind. If a grievance of that kind were to be formulated it should be made by French Canadians and not by their English fellow- a (( (( < ( (( in( wa — 65 citizens. They are the sufferers and still they are represented as the oppressors. When all the facts are put before the [lublic, it will be admitted that nothing but the moft glaring ignorance, as I do not wish to impugn its good faith, could have excused the Gleaner from having uttered such a statement. In a previous letter, to illustrate the condition of things existing before the Union of Upper and Lower Canada, and which culminated in the revolt of 1837, I instanced the iniquitous mode by which the patronage was distributed. French Canadians were treated as a con- quered race. They were systematically excluded from office, and although by far the greatest number they had only a few crumbs from the ministerial table. I even quoted article 75 of the celebrated Ninety two Resolutions, which asserted that in 1832, according to an official return, there were 157 officers of English origin against 47 French, although the English population counted but 75,000 out of 600,00a souls. To have a more extended comprehension of the case, let us review shortly what existed previous to that time. You know that from 1759 to 1764, Lower Canada was administered by a military Council. In 1764, it was replaced by a special Council composed of the most influential Englishmen and of an obscure French Canadian. The population was then estimated at 69,275 inhabitants, of which 500 were Protestants. In 1774, v/as passed the Quebec Act to which I have already referred as the first public act o*"the British Parliament, indicating that we were not to be treated as slaves but as freemen. Still a third only of the Legislative Council was French. Then came the Act of 1 79 1. Englishmen were still the majority in the Cabinet and in the Legislative Council. They had nine Legislative Council- lors against six of French origin, although the majority of the Assem- bly was French. There were then in the Province 135,000 French Canadians and 15,000 of other origins. The Mail admits that '' from '' the conquest to (say) 1820, the French had good ground for com- " plaining. A number of English-Canadians, belonging to the class " from which the members of the family compact in Upper Canada " were drawn, sought to obtain control of the province, partly " with a view of breaking down the guarantees enjoyed by the " French and of making one people out of the two races through " the process of assimilation. " The Union Act of \Za,i was intended to annihilate French Canada. The upper province alone was consulted about its adoption. I do not lake into account the special Council of Lower Canada, a mere sham, a tool in the hands of mm — G6 — I ^' i the Governor. Upper Canada assented to the proposal provided there would be an equality of representation, although it counted only 450,000 souls whilst Lower Canada could claim 650,000. Another condition was that the debts of Upper Canada, amounting to 15,925.779, would be paid out of the common fund. Lower Canada had not a cent of debt. It had even a surplus of ;^ 189,306.* A third condition was that the seat of Government should be situated in Upper Canada. The Legislative Assembly presented also an address to the Queen claiming the abolition of the French language. Messrs. Merritt, Small and McDonald, of Glengarry, alone voted against that iniquitous proposition. , /. ;:r ■ ^^ As to the responsibility of political parties in that connection, let us hear a good and disinterested judge, the late Sir Louis Hyppolite Lafontaine. '^ The R, -formers of Upper Canada, or at least their " representatives, are 'he men that have assumed the responsibility of " the Act of Union and of its unjust and tyrannical provisions, by " leaving all the details to the discretion of the Governor General." After its consummation the subject of the Union came before the House. All the French members, save Messrs. Delisle and Salaberry, denounced it by their votet;, and nine Englishmen sided with them : Baldwin, Aylwyn, Hincks, Armstrong, Christie, Hamilton, Hopkins, Nelson and Price. Let us honor those names. It remains to see how matters have been managed since the Union. The first administration (Draper) was composed of eight ministers, five from Upper Canada and three from Lower Canada. Not one French Canadian. The Legislative Council was composed of twenty-four members, and eight were French : Hon. R, E. Caron, de Blaquieres, *lu I840, Lord Sydenham wrote these lines : " In the summer of i>^y), Upper Canada was on the eve of liankruptcy. With an annual revenue of not more than ^78,000, the interest on the debt amounted to _;^65,ooo, and the ordinary expenses of tlie Government amounted to ;^55,ooo, thus leaving an annual deficit of ^42,000, while the absence of a sea port deprived it of the power of augmenting its revenue by the ordinary and less onerous means of imposinjj taxes." - In a letter written in November 1839, Lord Sydenham had said : •' The finances are still more dilapidated than is believed in England. The annual deficit is already ^75>ooo, and exceeds the revenue. All the public works are sus- pended. The imnii^Matioii from the Province goes un rapidly and in great numbers. The Union orters the only means of settling the linauces, inasmuch as it will deter- mine England to aid Upper Canada to till its empty treasury." h\'/ ,■'■■' ;V ■ ■ ■ ^ ~ 67 — . ..■: :yVv^' , ^ ,..,.., Barthol^my Joliette, Jules Quesnel, Frs. P. Bruneau, J. B. Tachd, Et. Mayrand, Ol. Bertheiet. With Sir Charles Bagot was inaugurated the true era of constitutional government. The Baldwin-Lafontaine cabinet was formed in the following year (1842), and though a vast improve- ment on its predecessors, it comprised but two French-Canadians, and eminent ones they were, Lafontaine and Morin. Matters mended gradually, and in 1849 great was our jubilation ■ when the French language was re-established under the auspices of the great Lord Elgin. In looking over the names of the Hincks- Morin cabinet formed in 1852, and composed of ten ministers, I notice that out of five Lower Canadians four were French : Messrs. Morin, Chauveau, Tache and Chabot. Now as to the treatment of the English minority of the Province during and before the Union, I could not do better than to cite the following words from Sir E. P. Tachd, who presided at the Conference of Quebec, which enacted the famous resolutions upon which was based the Act of Union. These words were uttered in the course of his speech in favor of Confedera- tion before the Legislative Council of Old Canada : Tliat the people of Lower Canada always acted towards the English with liberahty was best exemplified by facts, /^efore tliB Union, while the constituencies were almost exclusively French, English Protestant gentlemen wer ■ frequently returned to Parliament ; and ht had now opposite to him an honorable member, who had for twenty years represented an entirely French and Roman Catholic county. He doubts that in the course of these twenty years the honorable gentleman had ever been asked whether he was Scotch or Protestant. They took the man for his sterling worth. It was even a fact that the French had elected members with extraordinary names, and, as everybody knows, there was sometimes a good deal ii a name. Now, if there was one name which French Canadians disliked more than another it was that of Luther. Yet they had elected a gentleman bearing that significant avipella- tion. lie was glad they had, and 1 ■ had no doubt he had been elected because of his personal worth, but it unquestioi.ably showed a great deal of liberal feeling on the part of the chf^tors. Put if an English Protestant w.is bad in the eyes of a French Canadian, a ench Protestant was infinitely worse, and yet the county of LotV)iniere had electe- 1 French Canadian Protestant without even questioning his religion. Put again, uite lately in a division in Lower Cnnada, numbering 1:0,000 souls of which (n ly l,.|oo were English, an election of a member to this Chamber had taken place, tiie candidates being a French Roman Catholic gentleman, long and well known, and an English Protestant, and with what result ? Why that that English Protestant had beaten the French Roman Calh(dic by 1,000 votes. Gould any greater proof of a tolerant and liberal feeling he exhibited ? When the Act of Confederation was discussed before the Imperial Parliament, the public of France paid naturally some attention to a political evolution which concerned so deeply their '^ kin across the — 68 — sea." Most of them were opposed to it as being calculated to increase the preponderance of the English-speaking element, against which we were contending. One of these articles, published by Le Memorial Diplowatique (April 1867), is before me. It takes the ground that French Canadians were already unfairly treated in the distribution of patronage, and that they would count as so many cyphers in a Confe- deration composed of several provinces alien to them in language, laws, religion and customs. The following figures then set forth by the anti-Unionists were quoted to show how disproportionately we were represented in the public service : English. French. In the two branches of the Legislature 100 86 Civil Service 2165 337 Administration of Justice (Upper and Lower Canada) , . , , 934 294 Public Institutions c 444 74 \ Scientific and Educational Infcitutions 44 41 : ■ :■-.' ■■■.•. -i {-■.-•,.. . - ■ .. -'--'- '^ " 7 - --■--■•■ 3146 832 '- A difference of 2,314 in favor of officers of English-speaking origin. And still the majority of Ontario led, or rather misled, by George Brown, had been contending all along that the country was ruled by the vanquished and not by the victors. This state of things continued after Confederation. The Reform party did, not cease to denounce vehemently Sir John MacDonald for being too subservient to Quebec interests. The Hon. James Young used the following language in the Ontario Legislature, on the i8th January 1882 : " In the old Province " of Canada Sir John kept office for fifteen years by denying the " rights of Ontario to obtain a French Canadian majority, and his *• action on the boundary award was evidently dictated by the same " motives . The Government at Ottawa evidently hope to in- " gratiate themselves into the confidence of other Provinces, and *' particularly Quebec, by dismembering Ontario and cutting down to " one half its actual size." Another leading Reformer was even credited with saying that Ontario " had long enough been made the catspaw of French lickers." One day, and that day is not very distant, the Hon. Mr. Mackenzie forgot himself so much as to use the following insulting language : " Sir John and his Ministers are mere " puppets in the hands of a French majority ; they are jumping- " jacks who jump when the Quebec string is pulled, though I fancy " it must be rather humiliating for him to dance to such music." [Globe., 30th January, 1883.) In a speech delivered in Toronto during the electoral campaign of that year, Hon. Mr. Mowat, .— 69 — Premier of Ontario, was reported to have said : " Why was ^j Sir John so much opposed to his own Province ? There was " but one explanation, which was that Sir John was under the '' coercion of the Bleus of Quebec. He thought they had got rid '^'^ of that. For a long time they had to fight against that party, and *' many remembered the struggle, how their legislation was dictated I' from Lower Canada, and from one section, the Bleu party of Lower II Canada. At length Upper Canada could stand it no longer and '* Confederation was a consequence. They would be no longer under I' Lower Canada. But now we were to be deprived of half the pro- II vince because the Bleus of Lower Canada willed it, and because " they had at the head of the Government a man who was determined " to remain in office even if half his Province should be sacrificed for "it." This was a false charge as the French conservative members, moved by a high sense of justice, always agreed to refer the boundary award to the highest tribunal of the empire, the Privy Council. Even poetry was indulged in to array Ontario against Quebec. Let us hear the Liberal bard, Mr. Edgar, M. P. : The. desperate, reckless Tory crew Ontario ! Ontario ! • At bidding of tiie Quebec lileu , Ontario ! Ontario ! 1 Would rob thee of thy rich domain But all their plots shall be in vain They 11 never get thy votes again Ontario ! Ontario ! * . On the 4lh November, 1879, the Globe published the following charge : The old saying that Ontario is the milch cow for the remaining Provinces, was never more forcibly proven than it is by the action of the i)resent Government in relation to the distribution of patronage. Ontario, with nearly one half of the popu- lation of the Dominion, and directly and indirectly contributing a larger proportion than that to the J )ominion revenue only at the present time receives abouth one-fifth of the patronage The Department of Finance, Justice, Railways and Canals, Marine and Fisheries and of the Speaker of the Senate, are devoted to the three Maritime Provinces, while of ihe remaining departments those of Public Works, Inland Revenue, Militia and Defence and the Mouse of Commons are given to the Province of Quebec alone. In the Department of the Speaker of the Commons the French Canadians are receiving the lion's share, and the Englisii-speaking employes are being plundered to satisfy tliem. Last session of Parliament in this department pages an I messengers were employed who could not speak a word of English. These are specimens of the maimer in whicii Speaker Hlanchet is administering the affairs of his department — 70 — I was at the time a member of the House of Commons and I thought it my duty to investigate that charge, which had become quite a war- cry for our opponents. On the 25th April, 1882, I gave the result of my labor after having analyzed an immense quantity of statistics. My investigations convinced me and cannot but convince any impartial man that far from being the spoiled children of Confederation, our people did not receive a fair share of public patronage, taking popula- tion as the basis. These figures having lost nothing of their actuality, I will submit them to your consideration. I gave first the statement of the inside service for the year 1881 : if I INSIDE SERVICE. (From the Public Accounts of 1881.'} Department. / Governor General's Secretary Office . . Privy Council Justice Militia and Defence Secretary uf State Interior Auditor GeneraVs Office Finance Treasury l^oard Customs nland Revenue Public "Works Railways and Canals Post Office Department Agriculture Marine and Fis leries Civil Service Board French. j>fo. Salaries. .... •••••••••••• 3 $ 3.750 00 Other Okioins. 10 7 6 2 5 10 13 22 5 12,529 IS 8,566 67 6,150 00 1,444 55 4,050 00 4,984 63 13,75^ 09 •3,275 00 8,860 17 212 30 5,100 00 No. 7 13 17 20 32 50 IS 42 2 24 2! II 18 lOI 8 20 2 Salaries. $ 12,875 00 20,349 60 19,040 05 22,568 28 28,234 98 55,881 48 19,866 63 49,925 00 2,133 38 26,511 97 24,249 23 14,008 48 24,477 73 92,383 46 11,775 00 21,347 50 600 00 93 $182,678 56 403 $439,227 77 It was impossible to find a similar return as far as the officers of Parliament and those of the outside service were concerned, their names, for some unaccountable reason, not being given in the Public Accounts. But a return similar to that was produced in 1872, and i drew from it the following statement : * ; ,{ , PARLIAMENT. (From an official return published in 1872.) '''""NCH. OTHEH OKKirS'.S. No. Salaries. X.) Saliiriea. Commons 19 $17,91000 33 $38,91950 Senate 9 10,40000 II 8,90000 Parliament Library 5 6,50000 7 8,55000 33 $34,81000 51 $56,36950 OUTSIDE SERVICE. (Customs, Post Office, Inland Revenu;, Marine and Fisheries, Public Works, etc.) Fkench. other Origins, X'l. Salariert. No. Salaries. NovaScotia ,4 $ 3,28900 891 $ 293,39325 NewBrunswick 14 3,10000 509 216,57950 Q"^^^^*^ • 321 135.72850 431 220,47450 ^^"'^"° 15 5.78000 714 393,89925 Manitoba i Ooo 00 1. 3,25000 British Columbia ,2 17,62000 Generally 7 4,71000 41 26,32200 372 $153,217 50 2604 $1,171,538 50 To show how I arrived at such figures touching the Province of Quebec, I submitted the following detailed statement : PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. French. Other Oriwin.s. ■ - No. Salarie.s. No. Salaries. Cas^oms 75 $34,63450 156 $78,225.50 Post Office 70 35.18000 77 51,23900 Inland Revenue 37 24,365 00 35 29,000 00 Public Works 35 13,19900 39 18,63600 j^arine 104 28,35000 123 42,57600 321 $135,72850 430 $219,67650 ' _ ; ABSTRACT. P«ENfH. Other Origins, No. Salaries. No. Salaries. No. Salaries. Inside Service 582 $ 634,093 128 $138,506 454 $ 495,587 Outside Service 2976 1,324,756 372 153,217 2604 1,171,538 3558 $1,958,849 500 $291,723 3058 $1,667,125 These figures give a proportion of French employes ef seven per cent. According to population \\ should be a little more than one fourth. The total population of Ca.iada at the last census is computed at 4,324,810, whilst the Freiich alone numberet^ 1,299,161. ,,,,,„ , .. -. ,.„.,., ,.-.^, — 72 — The disproportion is still larger in the salaries. These figures demonstrate also that if the French element had more than its share in a few branches of the service, it was not fairly represented in some, whilst totally ignored in others. But what becomes of the statement of the Gleaner when we see that in the Province of Quebec, where the nine twelftlis of the people are of French origin, the English-speaking minority had even secured the lion's share. What becomes of his charge when we find that in 1872 there were in the Departments of Customs, Post office, Inland Revenue, Public Works, Marine and P'isheries, 431 English-speaking officers, receiving |!22o,- 474.50, against 321 French employes, receiving $135,728.50. That is, to say there were no more English-speaking officers than French in the Province of Quebec. The Gleaner may now speak of French Domination ! I may say that Hon. Mr. Ross, the present Minister of Education, and Mr. Casey, M. P., criticized my speech, but that they did not dispute the accuracy of my statement. Hon. Mr. Laurier even contended that he was not aware that the cry of French Domi- nation had been raised by his Ontario friends. The Mail could not swallow such a dose of real or fictitious ignorance, and it adverted to it in strong language, Avhich I would not quote, owing to its flattering allusion to myself, but for the striking somersault of that paper which it illustrates. Those lines appeared on the 29th April, 1882 : Mr Tasse, M. P., did a bold thing up in a masterly way in forcing the ery of " French TJomination," and without offending a single individual, except one, spoiling completely the pretty theory of the Globe that the Frenchmen were " run- ning '" the country. Mr Tasse's figures as to the relative strength of the French and F,nglish in the public service were interesting enough, but they were eclipsed by the purely political aspects of the case he presented. He showed how, while the Grit organs in Ontario were screaming that the Dominion was under " French Domi- nation '' the Grit (French) papers in Quebec were decla'ing that under the "Tory"' rule the French-speaking race was being outraged and neglected. The way in which Mr. Tass6 exposed the hypocrisy of this state of things was most effective. When Mr. Laurier confessed that he was not aware that the Grit press of Ontario had raised tho cry of French domination he was either exposing in the simplest way the ignorance which prevails among the Rouges of the currents of thought among their own party, or he was guilty of something very like a prevarication. Does Mr Laurier read the Globe / If so, his ignorance of the cry of "French Domination '" can iiardly be taken for granted. We fancy that the French Liberals find it more agreeable to ignore the t)rgan of their party in Ontario. They have had to pay a good deal and sutTer a good deal for its alliance. They have certainly strong claims to some .sort of sympathy, for they stand more insults, more annoyance, more bullying, than human beings ought to have to stand from political allies. Occasionally, as on the boundary question, they ^/<7 rebel ; the juorm does turn ; but as a rule, Mr. Laurier and Mr. Cas- — 73 — grain take the insults on their race with great coolness and good humor — shall we say, with great indiflference ? Mr. Tasse's exposure of one phase of their hypocrisy will sug- gest the other phases that exist with some degree of fulness among men for whom political life ju-t now is all self-suppression and self-content. Quantum fnuiaius ab i/lo ! The Globe ^\s\\\qS\ up to that time had con- tended that French Canadians were too liberally treated, suddenly carae to the conclusion that these figures completely demolished its old-time pretensions. It even implicitly admitted their correctness in asserting that if there was not a larger percentage of French employes, it was owing to their lack of proper qualification. The following extract of an article commenting on my speech, which it published on the 27th April, 1882, cannot be left unnoticed : There is a very plain and palpable reason why a larger proportion of French Canadians have not obtained posts in the public service. The number of those wiio are qualified for responsible positions is smaller than that of other nationalities — not because they are less intelligent or worse educated, but because also a large propor- tion of them persistently refuse to learn English. The systematic policy of isolation which they pursue, their non-receptiveness to the ideas, habits of thought and business methods of their English speaking fellow-citizens, largely unfit them for posts for which they are otherwise well-qualitied. The study of English is positively discouraged in many circles in Quebec. It is on record that a leading public man inflicted a severe chastisement on his son for the offence of learning the language spoken by three-fourths of the Canadian community. What a gratuitous insult ! What a ridiculous story about that leading public man, whose name is not given, and who is represented chastis- ing his son for learning the language of Shakespeare. Far from being discouraged, the teaching of the English language has never been so wide-spread in Quebec as it is today. It is with such tales, such misrepresentations, such systematic abuse, that the Globe has for so many years poisoned the public mind of Ontario. I have been a member of the public service of Ottawa, and I have never met a French employe who was not tolerably familiar with the English language. So unfounded is that statement that a very large number of French aspirants have passed the civil service exam- ination, proving themselves conversant with the two languages, and are now waiting employment. It was Charles V, who said : Autant de langues qiion salt, autant de fois on est homme (as many languages as a man knows, so many times he is a man). The literate French Cana- dian learns enough of Greek, Latin and English to multiply his intel- lectual capacities. Let his fellow-citizens of other origins meet him half-way by the study of his language and they shall not fail by a com- mon intercourse to know and appreciate each other. Then the abyss which fanatics try to open between the two races shall be bridged. — /4 — The situation has been somewhat improved during the last deccde. The official list of last year shows that the total number of the officers of the Dominion Government was 4,458, out of which 825 were French. From that list I have extracted the following statement : INSIDE SERVICE. French. English, - ';^ Governor-Generars Office o § ' ' ': Privy Council 4 i ? .0 > Justice ' ,^4 ;,, .V :V Militia and Defence " ^9 Secretary of State 9 H • * Civil Service Board i '3 Public Printing 4 H Department of the Interior 9 5^ Mounted Police i 4 Indian Affairs 2 30 Auditor-General 2 I9 Finance 2 30 Inland Kevenue 6 22 Customs 2 27 Postoffice > 167 Agriculture 25 16 Marine 2 17 I Fisheries 3 '^ Public Works 16 II Railways and Canals 9 I J Senate '2 14 }Iou-e of Commons 30 4° 174 582 OUTSIDE SERVICE. . , Justice 59 ^^8 Militia and Defence 8 10 Interior ' ^ 52 Mounted Police 3 4^ Indian Affairs 12 94 Finance *' 3° Inland Revenue 86 ' 324 Customs 107 ' 893 , :? Postoffice 208 869 Agriculture 25 . 66 . r: . Marine 7^ 229 -; ;^ Kt': Fisheries 2 18 Railw ays and Canals 54 249 Total 651 3,051 Inside Service 174 5^2 825 3,633 to Although that statement is more satisfactory than that which I submitted to the House of Commons, still the French do not receive one-fifth of the public offices, not to speak of the difference in the salaries, whilst they are entitled to more than one-fourth. Is this French domination ? Let me complete this statement by other figures still more striking. Out of 8 lieutenant-governors in the Dominion one is French ; of 15 Federal ministers 3 are French ; of 19 deputy heads of depart- ments, 4 are French ; of 76 Senators, 18 are French ; of 214 members of the House of Commons, 53 are French ; of the 7 judges of the Supreme and Exchequer Courts, 2 are French ; of the 6 judges of the Court of Queen's Bench of Quebec, 3 are French ; of the 26 judges of the Superior Court of Quebec, i8 are French. I do not know of a single French judge of the Superior Court in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and British Colombia, although these five Provinces had a French population of 211,667, according to the last census ; that is to say, a larger num- ber than the Protestants of Quebec who numbered 188,309. The English speaking minority of Quebec is represented by one Federal minister out of 4 ; 6 Senators out of 24 ; n members of the House of Commons out of 65. I wish the French minority of the other Provinces were as handsomely treated. Another item worth noticing : From the last postal guide I have ascertained that in April last there were in the Province of Quebec 1357 post offices, out of which 805 are held by French Canadians and 552 by English speaking people. This does not look like ostracism. In the local legislature there are 7 English speaking Legislative Coun- cillors out of 24, and 13 members of the Legislative Assembly out of 65. Before the Mercier administration came into power they always had two Tiinisters in the Cabinet holding important portfolios. I admit you have now a grievance on that account, and that it should be redressed speedily, your only minister being a mere figurehead, hav- ing neither influence nor portfolio. That exceptional anomaly is due, no doubt, to the fact that not a single English member was returned at the last election to support Mr. Mercier. Perhaps you will be desirous to ascertain now how the minority is treated by the French Government of Quebec in its distribution of public patronage. I may enlighten you by the following statement which I have made out of the Public Accounts for the year 1886, the last issued : ♦ ^ — 70 — . PROVINCE or (JUE13EC. FlIESI II Rnolihh. K«i Hiilaiii'H. No. Salaries. Lieutoiiant-Govcinui"s office. I $ loo oo 3 $2,450 Executive Council 3 2,80000 .. Provincial Secretary 9 1 1,647 5° ' ^^oo Registrar 3 2,80000 »» Attoniey-(]eneiaI 5 8, 766 65 . . Treasurer i 80000 10 14.050 Auditor 6 6,35000 3 3,650 Crown I.anils 20 29,69000 8 12,050 Agriculture and I'uhlic Works 15 15,632 32 3 7,600 Education 10 41,92600 5 5.320 Railways i 40000 i 4,000 Sheriffs 25 81,52800 6 20,023 Coroners 17 4,23000 6 6,820 District magistrates 6 7,420 00 I 2,325 Gaol physicians 3 1,160 oo 4 1,200 Office inspectors 4 5,20000 2 4.300 Crown Land Agencies 19 50,24000 16 47.480 Cadastral surveying 3 3,21000 I 2,400 Official GazdL' 5 11,47900 ... Total 165 $285,37948 70 $134,868 The English people of Montreal are justly proud of the leading position which they occupy in commerce, finance, shipping, railways, etc. Britons may be a nation of shopkeepers, according to Napoleon, but shopkeepers rule the world. Here, they have been mainly instru- mental in securing to Montreal her predominant position as the com- mercial emporium of Canada. And none is more willing than your disputant to give them all the credit which they richly deserve. One of our most important public boards is the Harbour Commission. It is composed of nine members, the Mayor of Montreal being one of them. By their names you will judge that there is not the slightest evidence of French domination in the office : Messrs. Andrew Robert- son, chairman ; Hon. J. J. C. Abbott, mayor, Hon. J. B. RoUand, Edward Murphy, Henry Bulmer, Victor Hudon, Hugh McLennan, Charles H. Gould, Andrew Allan. I have examined the list of the Harbor Commissionners from 1830 to 1887. It shows 51 names, out of which I find 15 of French origin. We must go elsewhere to find out your ghost ! As to municipal representation, let us see how matters stand in the great city. During many years the English element preponderated in the Council although they were the minority. Presently out of 36 — 77 of ot lest aldermen, representing twelve wards, 20 are French and 16 belong to other origins. The employes under their control number 100, 63 are French and 37 of other origins. From 1852 to 1887, the gentlemen elected to fill the high position of Mayor have been Messrs. Chas. Wilson, W. Nelson, H. Starnes, C. S. Rodier, J. L. Beaudry, W. Workman, C. Coursol, Jos. Cassidy, A. Bernard, Dr. Kingston, S. Rivard, H. Beaugrand and J. J. C. Abbott. The present incumbent secured a tremendous majority against a French Canadian, Aid. Rainville, having been supported by the v/hole French press, and on the night of victory he publicly declared that but for our assistance he could not have been elected to fill the civic chair. I extract the following from his speech which was cheered to the echo, according to the Montreal Gazette^ March 2, 1887 : We must not forget on this occasion that we owe our yictory vejy h\rgciy, I may say, almost entirely, to the magnanimity and generosity of our Frencli friends. (Loud cheers.) It was an admirable thought ; it was a gracious and a pleasant and an amicable thought of our French citizens when they proposeu that, after a series of years, during which the civic chair was fdled by a gentleman of French origin, that we the English-speaking citizens should now liave our turn. (Cheers). Our French fellow-citi/.ens announced th.it their English speaking friends should have the satisfaction of seeing in the civic chair one of their own race and one speaking their own language. Many people thought and many people said that the offer of the French Canadian people would not be carried out and that the promise of their jour- nals and their leaders would not be carried out. ("No, no.") I never did think so. (Cheers.) I have always thought that once the minds of the French Canadian people were made up, once they gave a pledge of their sincerity, their word was as good as their bond, and there was no danger of their promise not being fulfilled. (Cheers.) With the intelligent and well-meaning section of the French Canadian people I knew we could rely on ihtxx parole d'honneui: (Loud cheers.) Ab uno disce omnes. I have not the statement of the other cities and villages, but I feel quite sure that they indicate almost everywhere the same liberality, the same respect for equal righij, the same desire to enjoy in common with our fellows citizen of other origins, whom Pro- vidence has placed in our midst for our greater advantage, the ines- timable blessings of political and municipal liberties which have made of the province an example worth imitating by all the mixed commu- nities of this broad Dominion. :\ , v; c^ ;:;:.. ..•■.:",.•-•..-,:'".. Yours, etc., ■ '■: -.. ..;- V--.,^':-.--'' '■ . : ." : , V ' " , Joseph TASsfe. ^ •- EIGHTH LETTER. The " Mail " celebrates the " imbued virtues " of the French-Canadian race. — Admits that my eulogy of Catholic schools and colleges is well deserved. — How they fared at the International Exhibitions. — Success of the Chriwtian Brothers at New Orleans, acknowledged by the Com- missioners. — Evil effects of unchristian education in France and United StJ^tes. — Extract from " Satan in Society " corroborated by leading American papers. — Catholics are resisting the unchristian system and founding parochial schools. — They are subject to double taxation, not in Canada. — The Common Schools must be altered or disappear. — The Prussian system is a Christian one. — Opinions of Frederick the Great, Napoleon, Guizot, Robert Peel, Gladstone, Leo XIII, and John Eaton. — Christian education can alone save a nation. To the Editor of The Mail. Sir, Your articles contain various admissions of which I shall note the two most important. They are a tribute to truth which one could hardly expect to find in your denunciations. I quote : '' We beg Mr. Tasse to believe that The Mail is not ani- " mated by the slightest animosity toward the French Canadian " people or their creed. They are entitled to all the rights and " privileges, civil and religious, we demand for ourselves. They " were the pioneers of civilization here, and the imbued virtues they " have displayed through all these years stand to their lasting credit. '* Nevertheless, we believe it to be exceedingly unfortunate for them- " selves and the country that they should not have been allowed to " participate in the manifold benefits springing from modern " enlightenment." One would think from these lines that you are our best friend, that we have no greater admirer of our " imbued virtues," that when you are accumulating day by day columns o'l abuse and threatening us with a revision of the Treaty of Paris, yo ir earnest wish is to secure us all the rights and privileges, civil and religious, which a liritish citizen could desire. How simple-minded and ungrateful we are ! (I popuj siiccei by (lij aie A in Qui J'imeA ""A 2dit. lem- :d to dern are bvied o': yo ir and inded Our great draw-back, it appears, is our stubbornness to resist *' modern enlightenment." These are dazzling words, and to under- stand them even imperfectly, you offer me the followmg observation in your third and last article : " Mr. Tasse's eulogium of the Roman '' Catholic schools and colleges in Quebec is no doubt well deserved, " but it has no bearing upon the present controversy. He is aware, ** of course, that the system he ?o eloquently commends is being cast " aside by the state in the most enlightened Roman Catholic ** countries," I am glad to know that my eulogium of our colleges and schools is well deserved. Then you give up your whole case. If the eulogium is not exaggerated, the system must be appropriate to our circumstances. You must have some regard for logic. The system may not be perfect, still it ha. stood successfully the test of time, still it has been improved gradually, still it has been highly appreciated at the international exhibitions of Paris, Phila- delphia and London.* Vou may not be an admirer of the religious orders as teachers, still in many international competitions, the pupils of the Christian Brothers have carried the first prizes. At the centennial Exhibition held at New Orleans (1884-85), they ol/tained the grand diploma of honor tor collective educational exhibits, several diplomas of lienor, certificates of merit and honorable mentions for their many institutions which included 2 normal schools, II colleges, 12 academies, 37 parochial schools, 2 industrial and training schools and 2 orphanages. You may judge of the extent of their exhibits by the fact that they covered ninety feet, their instal- lation being most systematically and artistically arranged. The greatest compliments were paid to them as educators by the Ameri- can Commissioners. This short extract of their Report is most con- clusive : " La Salle's motto was " Principles of education are univer- •^ sal ; their application must be local," hence the Brothers are alive to " every change in the popular phase of education. They hold to " nothing merely because it has the sanction of antiquity. They are " ready to adopt what stands the test of experience. As a body, " conservative yet progressive, they are saved from the disastrous ^■Quebec had a difticult pioblem to solve in oiganizing a system of education for a population the majority of whicli are Roman Catholic, but the sohitiim has been successful. As in Ontario, both higlier and elementary ccUication are provided for by the State and tlie municipalilies comlnncd, and tlie various classes of institutions are almost as vaiied. Tiic (Quebec etiucational exhibits are sufficient to sliow that in Quebec as in Ontario, education is on a sound and healthy iooting, —Lom/on y'lww, September 21, 1 880. — 80 — "■ effects of individual experimentation." You will he surprised to learn that your own deputy minister of Education, Mr. I. George Hodgins, paid to them the following compliment : " I shall " not be doing justice to other parts of the great exhibit if I " did not refer to the very extensive and admirable collection " of the Christian Brothers, under the direction of our excellent " friend, Brother Maurelian, President of the college of Memphis. '' That exhibit is one of the most interesting in the Exposition. " Its educational appliances are admirable, while the benevolent and "truly Christian work done by the "Catholic Protect "-"was a '•'• surprise and gratification to myself and to other members of the " jury." I may add that a' committee in a recent report to the British Parliament wrote : " Had we known the system of the " Christian Brothers, Lancasterian methods would never have been '■' tolerated in our schools." What you want is a non-sectarian, a godless education, such as it exists in the United States or in the French Republic. Briefly, you want to banish Christ from the school, to esmasculate education of all that gives it vitalizing power. May Providence save us forever from such " modern enlightenment ! " The present school system is the curse of France. It is perverting the public mind to an awful extent. It is pro- ducing a generation of infidels. The results have been so alarmingand so mischievous that the clergy, assisted by the best classes, have been establishing free universities, academies and schools, which are meeting with the greatest success. The American Republic is also demoralized by its school system, although it is not pervaded by the spirit of infidelity to the same extent. The best minds, among them many leading Protestants, view the future with the gravest apprehension. They attribute the corruption which is spreading, at an awful rate, to the suppression of religious instruction in the public schools. I have no objection to state that one of my chief objections against annexa- tion, would be that unchristian system of education. That system is the canker-worm cf the commonwealth. A few years ago was published an American book, the work of a celebrated physician, whose startling revelations created an immense sensation. The book is entitled " Satan in Society" and denounces the materialistic system of school instruction as the greatest agency of social depravity and national disorganisation. There are pages of that book which could not be reproduced here, horrid as are the details therein contained. The following will be quite sufficient for the present purpose : (( it In (< Tl 81 — f a nse ces ncy ages the Kfor " 'I'he evil dangers of the present system of education, and bringing up the boys and girls of our country, are too obvious to require minute description. Irreligion and infidelity are progressing /r7///>(?.f.w with the advance guards of immorality and crime, and all are /os/rird, if not engendered, by the inaterialistk system of school instruction, and the con ecjuent wretched training at home and on the play ground. The entire absence of all religious instruction from the school room is fast bearing fruit in a generation of infitiels, and we are becoming worse even than the Pagans of old, who had at least their positive sciences ol philosophy, and their religion such as it wa-, to oppose which was a criminal olTence. *' But we have not only the removal of the salutary restraints of religious inhuence from our popular system of education : we have the promiscuous intermingling of the sexes in our public schools, which however much we may theorize to the contrary, is, to say the least, subversive of that modest reserve and shyness which in all ages have proved the true a'gis of \irtue. We are bound to accept human nature as it is, and not as we would wish it to be, and both Christian and Pagan philosophy agree in detecting therein certain very dangerous elements Nourished by languishing glances during the iiours passed in the scliool room, fanned by more intimate asso- ciation on the journey to and from school, fed l)y stolen interviews and openly ar- ranged festivities — pic nics, excursions, parties and the like— stimulated by the prurient i^ossip of the newspaper, the flash novels, sentimental \veeklies and maga- zines, the gallant of twelve years is the libertine of fourteen. That this picture is not overdrawn, every experienced physician will bear witness. •'And as for the PuV>lic School girls, they return from their 'J>o/is/iing schools' — these demoiselles— cursed with a superficial smattering of everything but that w'hich they ought to have learned — physical and moral wrecks, whom we. physicians, are ex- pected to wind up in the morning for the husband-hunting excitements of the even- ing. And these creatures are intended for wives ! But •loi^'cs only, for it is fast going out of fashion to intend them for mothers— an 'accident' of the kind being regarded as 'foolish' ! " We assert, then, that the present system of education, by its faults of omission and commission, is directly responsible, not, it is true, for the bare existence, but for the enormous prevalence of vices and crimes, which we deplore ; and we call upon the civil authorities to so modify the obnoxious arrangements of our .schools, and upon parents and guardians to so insi.Mct and govern their charges, that the evils may be suppressed, if not extinguished.' Sensational as they were, these charges were sustained by several leading newspapers. The Chicago Times said that " the public school " system in Chicago had become so corrupt that any school boy " attending, who had reached fourteen years of age, was whistled at " by his c >mpanions as a spooney if "le had not a liaison witli some " one on more of the public school girls." The Dai/v Sentinel, of Indianapolis, quoting approvingly those remarks, added : " ft was " only too true of Indianapolis, also judging by the wanton manners "of troops of the girls attending public schools in Indianapolis." The reputation of Prof. Agassiz is indisputable. Having had to in- 6 HW .. Ml ii «IM . i llill |) >l l ii . l JM #l |WM||t|W||»|M "i to oe aoie to Believe me, Yours very truly, JosEiMi Tasse, Esg., r.>«LM,.. u r ... ., Joseph Pope. La Mtnerve., Montreal. To THE EurroK ni riiE "Maii," In the/l/.^/7orthe3oth ult.. there appears under the he-idine ..i 'Romanism ... Quebec," a report of a lecture recently deSl n loronto by the Reverend L. N. Beaudry, of Montreal, u/ w dr f h gentleman says among other things, that " in all the counirie vl eVe the Roman Catholic Church prevailed, the common people 'vere I)Oor, Ignorant and vicious. If they went to Albany N Y or t6 — 86 — ' " any city in the United States or even in Toronto and searched the " records of the Police, they would find a majority of the miscreants '* were Roman Catholics." Here it is clearly insinuated that the tendency of the Roman Catholic Religion is to make men vicious. This is a grave charge to bring against any religious system. The question which now concerns us is, is it true as regards the Church of Rome in Canada ? It will I think strike most people as strange that the Reverend gentleman, who has all along been devoting himself to the French Canadians, should suddenly leave the consideration of his fellow coun- trymen and go to the United States for an illustration of the malign influences of the Catholic Faith. Could there be any more apt illus- tration than is furnished by the Province of Quebec itself, that very Province upon which he is lecturing ? Mr. Beaudry's whole theme goes to show how thoroughly " Romish " that Province is, how completely under the Papal rule. As a matter of fact the Roman Catholics in the Province of Quebec number over 86 per cent of the entire popu- ladon. Ontario, too, is equally favourable for purposes of comparison, 83 percent of its people being Protestant. Let us therefore, leaving on one side the police records of Albany, N. Y., interesting though no doubt they be, search the Blue Books of our own country and see what they disclose. I assume at the outset that human nature is the same in both Provinces. The total number of convictions, for indictable offences in the Province of Ontario for the year 1884 was 1436. Now the popu- lation of Ontario is to that of Quebec as 24 is ^o 17. Under similar conditions therefore the number of convictions in the Province of Quebec for the same period should be 10 17, that is supi)osing the population to be divided in respect of religion as in Ontario. But such is not the case. These poor French people are in the leading strings of the foul superstition of Rome, of that system which induces vice. What then must be the extent of their moral degradation? 790 convictions for the whole Province in the year 1884, or 2^ per cent less than we should look for on the basis of Ontario' s crivie. Let us go on. The records show that there were in the Province of Ontario during the period of 1880-84, 14 convictions for murder, there was not one in the Province of Quebec. According to the ratio of population there should have been 10. There were 29 cases of rape in Ontario, there were 10 cases in Quebec. There were 120 cases of burglary in Ontario, 83 in Quebec, and so on throughout the list. In Ontario during the same period one person in every 73 was charged with an indictable offence. In priest ridden Quebec, one in every 148. The Reverend gentleman goes on to say, speaking of the obser- vance in Lower Canada of those days which from time immemorial have been consecrated by the Catholic Church to God and His Saints — " they were days of dissipation, and he presumed that so " far as the Roman Catholic population was cojjcerned they were " about the same here (in Toronto)." — 87 ~ What says the record to this implied charge of intemperance brought aga.ns his countrymen by one who ought to know better ? ^ In the Province of Ontario between the years i88o and 1884 one person in every 238 was charged with drunkenness. During the sarie Ece.'" ^ °"' P"''^" '" '"'•'y ^^7 was charged with that Nay, more than this Not only is it a fact that the morals of the French Canadian people are not less pure than those of their Western brethren, but it can be shown that this "invasion " by the I owe bv"the'?'rthoi?r"''"' t"^ " """ ^^^'"^ ""' ^'^''^ ^- encroachmenT'' by the Catho he race, who to quote the words of a reverend brother of Ml. Beaudrys, are now " crawling along the Western bank of the Ottawa River l.ke a swarm of potato bugs," is not without beneficial 'Tn «« ' T"^ ^''""^t °f 0."^^^i« -^ the following figures show In i88o,vvhich IS the period to which, I take it, the Reverend gentleman alludes as marking the beginning of this invasion, the o"al number of convictions in Ontario was 18 311 ' In 1881 after the French had begun to come in, swelling the popu- lation and increasing in a proportion beyond their numbers that portion of the people from which the criminals are drawn, the figure dropped \.o 17. no. ' "S"«c& v.?",i'"^n^^^'''''^^'"^~4^''^"'^^^^^°"ti"""l and in the latter year the Ontario convictions had fallen to r6 284 In the face of these facts, which are accessible to all, it does seem to me unfortunate that the reverend gentleman should 'not have given his hearers something beyond mere general assertion in support of his hrrT.H 1"' ?I" T''"^ -'^•'''' ''^'^'^'^' "^^y 1^^ '^^ faults certainly n Canada has the efifect ot restraining its professors from those forms of immorality which off-end against human as well as Divine Law Your obedient servant, Ottawa, i«i December 1886. Joseph Pope.