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^r 
 
EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION 
 
 OF ONTARIO. 
 
 D'HLTDH IHcCHRTHY'S 
 
 Great Speech 
 
 Delivered in Ottawa, December 12th, 1889. 
 
 (Reprinted with Mr. McCarthy's permiteion.) 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE EQUAL RIGHTS' ASSOCIATION, 
 
 9| Adelaide Street East, Toronto. 
 
 CopitB qfthu SpMoh, and oth»r Literature^ may be obtaemd on applies 
 tion to W. Banke, Secretary^ at above addreee. 
 
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 SPKECH 
 
 1 
 
 or 
 
 Mr. D'Alton McCarthy, M.P. 
 
 DELIVERED ON THURSDAY. DEC. 12. 1889, 
 
 AT OTTAWA, 
 
 Under tlie uiispicM of the Ottawa Branch of the 
 
 EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The following is a verbatim report of the speech delivered 
 by Mk. McCarthy, Q.C, M.R, on Thursday evening, December 
 12th, under the auspices of the Ottawa Branch of the Equal 
 Rights Association. Previous to Mil. McCarthy rising, the 
 following resolution, on the motion of Mr. R D. Ross, seconded 
 by Mr. Geo. Hay, was unanimously carried : 
 
 That this meeting desires : 
 
 1. To express its hearty approval of the course puraued 
 by Mr. D'Alton McCarthy, Q.C, M.P., on the question of the 
 disallowance of the Jesuits' Estates Act. 
 
 2. And to record its sympathy and approval of the policy 
 promoted by him of abolishing the dual language system pre- 
 vailing in Manitoba and the North- West Territories. 
 
 3. And this meeting avails itself of this opportunity of 
 expressing the opinion tliat in our own Province the use of the 
 French language as the language of instruction in the Public 
 Schools should be abolished and for ever prohibited, and that no 
 undecided measure for obtaining this end will be satisfactory to 
 the people of Ontario. 
 
 Mr. McCARiHY,who was received with prolonged cheering, 
 said, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I have to thank you, 
 in the first place, for the cordial manner in which you have re- 
 ceived the resolution which has been moved and seconded so 
 
ably by the two gentlemen who have just addressed vou. I 
 have felt for a long time that J would like very much, if an 
 opportunity were atlbrded me, to address the citizens of the 
 capital of our Dominion. I have, it is true, had that opportunity 
 in one sense, more than once, but my engagements are such that 
 I have not always my time at my own disposal, and therefore 1 
 have not been able, until this evening, to gratify my own great 
 wish and come here in obedience to the call, and under the 
 auspices of the Ecpial Rights Association (cheers). 
 
 I have to thank you most cordially for approving of n)y 
 course in Parliament on the (juestion of the Jesuits' Estatets Act, 
 and still more for your endorsera«!nt, if I may consider you have 
 endorsed it, of the policy 1 am now promoting, and which I shall 
 continue to promote, viz.: the abolition of the dual language sys- 
 tem and of Separate Schools in Manitoba and the Nt)rtli-We8t 
 Territories. (Loud cheers.) I am not .so much concerned at 
 present with the local question. I think that very naturally 
 and more ^properly belongs, in the first place, at all events, to 
 the gentlemen of the Local House, who ought to be, and aie, no 
 doubt, more familiar with matters of that kind than I can pre- 
 tend to be. At the same time, as a citizen of Ontario — of the 
 Dominion— I heartily endorse the sentiment which the meeting 
 has given utterance to — that w«* ought, and ought atTjnce and 
 for all time, to put an end to the teaching of our children, or any 
 portion of our children, either French Canadian or English, in 
 any other language than the language of the country in which 
 we live. (Cheers.) I say further, but I do not propose to tres- 
 pass upon your time or patience to-night in discussing the point, 
 that we will not support or tolerate in this Province, no matter 
 which political party may advocate them, any half-hearted mea- 
 sures to carry that object or reform into effect. (Loud cheers.) 
 Before entering upon the more serious part of the discussion that 
 is before us, I would ask why it is you are assembled here to 
 listen to me ? and why I am here to-night to address you under 
 he auspices of the Equal Rights Association ? It is quite true^ 
 as the mover of the resolution has stated, that I have been classed 
 as a Conservative of the Conservatives. I have supported sjnce 
 Confederation the political party that is now in power in the 
 Dominion, and I announce here to-night, that although T have 
 separated myself in some measure from them, that I ami still in 
 accord with the general policy of the Qovemment ; differing from 
 thrn, however, on a particular measure — the disallo.wance of the 
 Jesuits' Estates Act, and I may yet have to differ from them more 
 
5 
 
 and more as I procQ0d in the course I have announced. I have 
 this to say, no matter what the consequences may bo, that ray 
 first allec^iance is to the principles I have lately adopted, and my 
 second allegiance to the political party I have hitherto supported. 
 (Loud cheers.) I hope they will not come in conflict. I do not 
 wish to dissever myself from my political friends and political 
 associations, but where they do clash, f see the path of duty for me 
 lies clearly in supporting and maintaining the resolutions which 
 form the basis of the Equal Rights Asaociation. (Prolonged cheers.) 
 Now, sir, why are we here under the auspices of the Ecjual 
 Rights Association ? We all have our political partyisms, and 
 wliy havo we, more or less, separated ourselves from those party 
 alliancfis ? Why do we stand to-night on what may be called a 
 new platform? and why do we join in what may bo looked upon 
 as a new departure ? I think it is light and proper we should 
 face that (juestion fairly and honestly. If we are not able to 
 give a satisfactory answer to our own consciences ; if we are not 
 able to satisfy the conunon sense of the Dominion ; if in very 
 truth we are not right in the course we are taking, our Associa- 
 tion and tlie aims and end of the Association will ex)me to 
 naught. We have to look this question squarely in the face, 
 and I propose to tell you to-night why 1 believe the programme 
 of the Equal Rights Association is a necessity, why we are 
 called upon to separate ourselves, more or less, from political 
 parties — why I have, to some extent, separated myself from 
 former political associations —and stand by the colors which we 
 hoist as part of that prograunne. (Applause). A little history 
 may be nece-sary — perhaps a little tedious history, ladies and' 
 gentlemen — in order to fully appreciate the position of Canada 
 to- day. You know from what lias been stated to you, that this 
 was at one time New France, an appanage of the kingdom of 
 France. We know that it passed under British rule in the 
 cession of 1703, mainly in consequence of the victory of Wolfe 
 on the Plains of Abraham. We know that at that time there 
 was, so to speak, a handful of French Canadians living in and 
 inhabiting this country. We also know that they were living 
 in a civilized state and under a code of laws which had to be 
 recognized by the conquering power. By that cession certain 
 rights were guaranteed to the French, anrl by thosa rights so 
 gua»-anteed to them by treaty — which is the highest description 
 of human law — we desire to be bound. We desire to be governed 
 by that law, since a rule of international law binds us to give 
 effect to a treaty made by two independent powers ; but tnere 
 
has been a constant effort on tlio part of French Canadians prin- 
 cipally, to misrepresent and distort an<i create false impressions 
 — I *will not sav wilfully, because many of those who may have 
 done so, have doubtless been as ignorant of it as niaiiy of us 
 until quite recently were — as to the terms of that treatj'. It is not 
 two years since I heard a gentleman occupying a high position in 
 Quebec, say that beyond all question the people of Quebec were 
 not only granted the freedom of their religion, but their institu- 
 tions and laws by the Treaty of Cession. An examination of 
 that treaty — as we have had to unearth that old musty document 
 during the last twelve months, and we may have to look at it 
 more or less again — satisfies every fair minded man that all that 
 was guaranteed was the freedom of their religion, and that only 
 so far as the laws of Great Britain would permit. (Applause). No 
 word is to be found in that document about their language. No 
 word is to be found about their laws. And whatever suggestions 
 of that kind weie made by the defeated party to tht) conquering 
 general, were simply rejected, and the answer given was : "You 
 will become His Majesty's subjects!" I do not stand here on 
 this platform to advocate the slightest interference with the 
 Roman Catholic church, or to justify or paliate discourtesy to 
 those who profess that faith. I do not go on the letter ot the 
 law, as might be done in strictness, and say that the manner 
 they are permitted to exerci.se their religion under the direct guid- 
 ance of His Holiness of Ronje, is not according to oi* permissible 
 under the strict language of the treaty, or accoi<ling to law. We 
 claim for Roman Catholics, as fur ail in the Dominion, most per- 
 fect and absolute freedom, in every shape and form : but we deny 
 to any religions sect or body, no mutter what that may be, that 
 it shall intrude itself into the sphere of the civil power (cheers). 
 I wish that my Roman Catholic friends would understand from 
 me, and from every person who ndopts the Equal Rights Plat- 
 form, that there and there alone do wo differ from them. It is 
 a great pity, but it is true, that our Roman Catholic frien«ls are 
 looking upon us as making an attack on their religion, and are 
 drawing themselves up in an attitude. of defense, and hurling 
 back on us abuse, as if we were attacking the tenets of their 
 faith. I trust no words will ever fall from my lips that will not 
 indicate that I have the highest possible respect for the faith 
 that any of my fellow subjects may be brought up to entertain: 
 But when any religious body attempts to enter on the 
 domain of politics, when it asserts to itself, or presumes to assert to 
 itself the right to say, " This is a matter of morals, this is a matter 
 
.:-:-XA.YMt.aiim» i^-^- 
 
 of religion and therefore a matter as to which we have the right 
 to interfere," oh, for instance, it was the practice and the 
 habit, in the City of Toronto, of the late Archbishop to com- 
 nnmicate to the members of his church that the question of 
 scho<»l education was a matter of relu^on appertaining to the 
 church, and that consequently in school mttttn'^the church 
 was .supreme — and if what I have read in the paper here to-night 
 be correct, a similar authority is claimed by the Archbishop of 
 C^ttawu with reference to educational affaii's here — at that as- 
 sumption we draw the line (applause). There lies the difference 
 between us, and there alone. That is all I propose to say in 
 referencM.' to tlie Roman Catholic question. 
 
 An Act was passed after the Treaty of Paris, to which I 
 have refeircd, which greatly enlarged and extended the privi- 
 lofres oi' the French Canadians. It was the first blundering 
 piece of legislation for which we are indebted to our ancestors, 
 and which liaa proved, and is going to prove a terrible incubus 
 on this country. The British government of that day, we know, 
 were not guided by great wisdom, or else probably there would 
 have Itecn no revolution on this continent, and the whole of 
 North America to-day would have been under the Union Jack. 
 Much statesmanship was not exhibited by them in their deeds 
 or acts ; and among these acts of unwisdom was the Quebec 
 Act of 1774. The secret history of that Act we do not perhaps 
 know, but we see the result. The result is what ? 1 hat ot 
 merely wasthe religion of the French Canadian guaranteed tohim, 
 8ubjectalways,of course, to the King's supremacy as declared by the 
 Supremacy Act of Queen Elizabeth's time, but in addition to that 
 their own peculiar laws were granted to the French Canadians, 
 and not merely their own peculiar laws, but their Church was 
 created or constituted into a quasi-State Church, and they had 
 from that time forth the power which they exercise to this day, 
 of exacting tithes by force of law, and raising other moneys for 
 the Church establishment in a maimer <lenied to all the rest of 
 the community, and which we would not for a moment submit 
 to in any church or denomination we belong to. (Loud cheers.) 
 That was the beginning of this series of troubles. If it had not 
 been for the tithe system, the Province of Quebec to-day would 
 probably have quite as many English speaking inhabitants as 
 French speaking inhabitants ; because a direct premium was 
 offered to the Hierarchy of the Lower Province to buy out, or 
 get rid of, the English Protestant, the Scotch Protestant, or 
 everybody but those of thftr own religion, so that the property 
 
held by them should become subject to this law paaaed in 1774, 
 known as the Quebec Act, and afterwards widely extended -1 
 may say enormously extended— by the Parliament of United 
 Canada. So that what was practically but a small part of that 
 Province which was sull^eci to the latvs of French Canada and 
 subject to the peculiar institutions of that Church, wm, by the 
 law of the Parliament of United- Canada, extended throughout 
 the whole length and breadth of the fjreat Province of Quel>oc. 
 (Hear, hear.) From the moment of the passage of the Quohec 
 Act, everywhere the anxiety of the Hierarchy wa.s to keep the 
 French Canadian as a French Canadian, to prevent him inter- 
 mingling with the other races, because, forsooth, if allowed to 
 intermingle with the English, there was a possibility of his being 
 converted or perverted, whichever you choose to call it, by which 
 the Church would be deprived of the beiicfit otherwise to be 
 obtained from the law and system which this iniquitous Quebec 
 Act imposed upon us. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Lack of time prevents a very close investigation of the .nat- 
 ters of which I am dealing, but we must go a step further. All 
 E resent have heard of the rebellion of 1837-38. We know that 
 lOrd Durham was sent out here for the purpose of investigating 
 the causes of the difficulties prevailing, not merely in Upper 
 Canada, as it was then called, but in Lower Canada. 
 
 We know, and if we do not know we ought to know — be- 
 cause there is no more useful historical work to be referred to 
 than the great report of Lord Durham — that he found the diflS- 
 culties of the Lower Province were not the difficulties of the 
 Upper Province ; that he found the difficulties there were race 
 diihculties, whatever name was given them. Whatever pretext 
 or pretence, whatever was the motive or apparent motive, probe 
 it to the bottom and you found a contest going on between the 
 English speaking inhabitants of the Province of Quebec and the 
 French Canadians. Lord Durham said this must cease. Great 
 errors had been committed by the British Government already. 
 When they found the 60,000 or 65,000 French Canadian people 
 here in this enormous country it was impossible that they could 
 recognize their language and their laws, considering the sparse- 
 ness of the population in relation to the enormous territory 
 which they inhabited ; that as there were but two courses open 
 to the conqueror — either to respect the nationality of the actual 
 occupants, recognize the existing laws, preserve the established 
 institutions, or to treat the conquered territory as one open to 
 the conquerors; or regarding the conj^ered race as entirely sub- 
 
ordinate, and as speedily as possible tx5 assimilate the character 
 and institutions of its new subjects to those of the {?roat body of 
 the Empire. 
 
 Let nie quote Lord Durham's exact words, pre<^ant as they 
 are with the very hi;^liest practical statosnianaliip : 
 
 "There are two modea by whicli a government may deal with a 
 conquered territory. The first course open to it is that of respecting 
 the rightH and nationality of the actual occupants ; of recognising the 
 existing laws, and preserving established institations ; of giving no 
 encoiirageiDent to the influx of the conquered people — and, without at- 
 tMnpting any change in the elements of the community, murely, incor- 
 po'iiting the Province under the general authority of the central gov- 
 ernmont. The second is that of treating the conquered territory as 
 one open to t!ie conquerors, of «mcouraging their influx ; of regarding 
 the conquered race as entirely subordinate ; and of endeavouring, aa 
 speedily and as rapidly as possible, t") assimilate the character and in- 
 stitutions of its new subjects to those of the great body of its Empire. 
 In the case of an old and long settled country — in which the land is 
 appropriated — iji which little room is left for colonization — and in 
 which th(5 race of tlu; actual occupants must continue to constitute the 
 bulk of the future population of the Province — policy as well as hu-. 
 manity, render the well-being of the conquered people the first care of 
 a just government, and recon)mond the adoption of the first mentioned 
 system ; but in a new and unsett ed country, a provident legislator 
 would regard, as his first object, the interests not only of the few indi- 
 viduals who happened at the moment to inhabit a portion of the soil, 
 but those of that comparatively vast population by which he may rea- 
 sonably expect that it will be tilled ; he would form his plans with a 
 view of attracting and nourishing that future population — and he 
 woidd, therefore, establish those institutions which would be most ac 
 ceptable to the race by which he hoped to colonize the co untry. The 
 course which I have dessribed aa best suited to an old and settled 
 country, would have been impossible in the American continent unless 
 the conquering State meant to renounce the immediate use of the un- 
 settled lands of the Province ; and in this case, suci: a, course would 
 have been additionally unadvisable— unless the British Government 
 were prepared to abandon, to the scanty population of French whom 
 it found in Lower Canada, not merely the possession of the vaat extent 
 of rich soil which that Province contains, but also the mouth of the 
 St. Lawrence, and all the facilities for trade which the entrance of that 
 great river commands." 
 
 The latter course ought to have been pursued and the 
 troubles of 1837 would not have been found to exist. Well, sir 
 2 
 
w 
 
 he had a scheme. He had a plan, and his plan is to be found 
 here recorded in his raport. He .said: — "What am I to recom- 
 mend to the powers that sent mo?" There were two coui-ses 
 open. He said : " This country must be made Engli>h. Lower 
 Canada must, at the earliest possible moment, be brought into 
 line as an English speaking community. In their own interest 
 and in the interest of all the people who are likely, in the not 
 very distant future, to be here, there must not be these race 
 difficulties and race troubles. Considering merely their own 
 welfare as a people, and while it is not yet too late, they must 
 be made, as far as possible, and as much as po.ssible, English 
 speaking, English in feeling and true British subjects." (Cheers.) 
 Well, what were the means he proposed for at aining this end ? 
 Here was the great Upper Province, at that time C(Mnputed to 
 have a population of 400,000 English speaking people, and there 
 v/as the Lower Pi-ovince, with the larger popidation of between 
 600,000 and 700,000, of whom it was computed 420,000 were 
 French (.'anadians. Unite them together in one province. In 
 order to accoinplish the end in view, give them an equal nunjber 
 of representatives. Ere long the Upper Province will increase 
 in population so rapidly that it will have a iatger ))opiilation; 
 but, in the meantime, a certain ap{)arent injusiiee will be done 
 to the Lower Province by giN ing to Upper Canada an equal re- 
 presentation. The great object is to bring them together. Tlie 
 English are sure to outnumber the Fi-ench before long and the 
 French will certainly be brcnight into harmony with their 
 English speaking neighbors. They will gradually, or rapidly as 
 he hoped, adopt English methods and English ways or thought, 
 and this country will be, as it ought to be., an Anglo-Saxon com- 
 munity. This, in brief outline, was Lord Durham's method of 
 doing away with the difficulties which he found in what is now 
 the Province of Quebec. 
 
 First, and above all things, then, he held that the French 
 language must be stamped (.ut. Now, remember, ladies and 
 gentlemen, that there was no law, np to LS41, ]M}imitting the use 
 of the French language, it is not to bo found in the ti'eaty ; it 
 is not to be found in the Quebec Act of 1774; it is not to be 
 found irr the Act of 1791, by which Legislative institutions 
 were granted to the Province of Lower Canada, then created. 
 That was the time of the separation of the two Provinces, and 
 at the time at which I have brought you down to -1840 — the 
 French Canadian had no guaranttie for his language. Now, by 
 resolution of the Legislative Assembly and by force of his ma- 
 
11 
 
 jority in the A^ssenibly, he had ordained that if. should be permis- 
 sive to us(^ tho French language in the proceedings of the Assem- 
 bly, but there was no statute law allowinof it. Lord Durham 
 realised that, so long as the use of the French language was per- 
 mitted, so long as tliey were permitted to be educated in their 
 sf'liools in the French language, to be instructed in the literature 
 of Franco instead of the literature of England, they would remain 
 French in feeling ; and no matter what they might call them- 
 selves, they would be French to all intents and puiposes. Is 
 there any shadow of doubt that Lord Durham was right ? 
 (Hear, liear.) Is there a shadow of doubt that between these 
 two race^, of all races in the world, if they are ever to be united, 
 it must be by the obliteration of one of these languages and by 
 the teaching in one of these tonguen. (Hear, hear.) Why, sir, 
 is it not known to us all, that for one hundred years before 1763, 
 the great contf^st in the world — the gj-eat wars — because there 
 was nearly one imndred years of wars, for whut ? For the 
 colonial Emi)ire here and the great colonial Empire of India. 
 The great duelists in those wars were tin French and the Eng- 
 lish. The battle was fought to determine as to who was to 
 possess the North American continent; hence our history is filled 
 u iti) contests, in this very land we live in, between the F'rench 
 and the English. At the end of that one hundred vears — at the 
 time of the treaty of Paris m 1703 — it was definitelv' decided 
 that out of that great long contest England had emerged victo- 
 rious — (prolonged cheers) — that the North American continent 
 was practically to be Anglo-Saxon, and that it, as well as India, 
 was to be under the rule and dominion of the British Empire. 
 (Renewed cheers.) Can you expect that the French Canadian, 
 learning of the exploits of his own countiymen ;ts contrasted 
 with the feeble etibrts of the cowardly Anglo-Saxon who was 
 defeated on so many fields and driven from so many posts — (loud 
 laughter) — thus nurtured and brought up, is likely to love the 
 British name or the English speaking iidiabitant, the descendant 
 of his conqueror ? (Hear, hear.) If he is ever to be a Briton in 
 thought and feeling, Ik^ must learn to clu'rish, not merely our 
 institutions, but our glorious past, and to look forward with us 
 to a still more glorious future. (Cheers.) Therefore it was that 
 Lord Durham pointed out, arid if 1 had time to read you some 
 extracts which I have here, I would prove to your satisfaction 
 that even fifty years ago, although the science of language was 
 not under.'-tood then as it is today, that there is no factor equal 
 to language to bati I people together, and unfortunately, I think 
 
12 
 
 we may say, as is demonstrated in our own case, that nothing i* 
 more calculated to keep people asunder. I have here the state- 
 ment of a great man who has devoted his lifetime to the investi- 
 gation of this subject. If you will permit me I uill read it to 
 you. It is from a lecture delivered by Prof. Mullcr, the great 
 scientist on the subject of language, at the University of Oxford, 
 within the last twelve months. What does he say ? 
 
 "These may seem but idle dreams of little interest to the practical 
 politician. All I can say is T wish it were so. But my ineinocy reaches 
 back far enough to make me see the real and lasting mischief for 
 which, I fear, the Science of Language ha.s been respousilj!t> for the 
 last fifty years. The ideas of race and imtioiiality founded on lannunge 
 have taken such complete possession of the fancy, both of the. yonny a.nd 
 the old, that alt other arguments seem of no avail. Why wan Italy 
 uni ed ? Because the Italian language embodied Italian nutumality. 
 Why was Germany united 7 Because of Amdt\'i song, ' Wliat is the 
 German Fatherland?' and the answer is given, as far as .sounds the 
 German tongue. Why is Rus.sia so powerful a centre of attraction for 
 the t:lavonic inhabitants of Turkey and Germany 1 Because the 
 Russian language, even though it is hardly understood by Servians, 
 Croatians and Bulgarians, is known to be most closely allied. Pjven 
 from the mere cinders of ancient dialects, such as Welsh, Gaelic, and 
 Erse, eloquent agitators know how to fan a new, sometimes a dangerous 
 fire." 
 
 And, if I might add to my citations, already too many, as I 
 must admit, let me quote again from Lord Durham's report on 
 this very matter, the influence of language as he found it, from 
 actual experience in the Province of Lower Canada : 
 
 "The two races thus distinct, have been brought into the same 
 community, under circumstances which rendered their contact inevit- 
 ably productive of collision. The difference of language from the first 
 kept them asunder. * ♦ # ♦ ♦ 
 
 " No common education has served to remove and soften the 
 differenf^es of origin and language. The associations of youth — the 
 spirit of childhood — and the studies by wliich the character of manhood 
 is modified are distinct and totally different. 
 
 *' As they are taught apart, so aro their studies different. The 
 literature with which each is the most conversant, is that of the 
 peculiar language of each, and a^l the ideas which men derive from 
 books, come to each of them from perfectly different sources. The differ 
 ence of language in this respect produces effects quite apart from those 
 which it has on the mere intercourse of the two races. Those who 
 
13 
 
 have reflected on the powerful influence of language on thought, will 
 perceive in how different a manner people who speak in differei.t 
 languages are apt to think ; and those who are familiar with the litera- 
 ture of France, know that the same opinion will be expressed by an 
 English and French writer of the present day, not nierely in different 
 words, but in a style so different as to mark utterly different habits of 
 thought. This difference is very striking in Lower Canada. It exists, 
 not merely in the books of most influence and repute, which are, of 
 course, those of the great writers of France and England, and by 
 which the minds of the respective races are formed, but it is observable 
 in the writings which now issue from the Colonial press. * * * 
 " The diUerence of language produces niiscouceptions yet more 
 fatal even than those which it occasions with lespect to opinions, it 
 aggravates the national animosities, by representing all the events of 
 the day in utterly different lights." 
 
 Is I Lure anything truer than that ? Wull, sir, realizing; that, 
 desiruu.s of making this a British country, the Imperial Parlia- 
 ment passed a Union Act, and l)n)Ught togetiier in the year 1840 
 or IS+l Upper and Lower Canada, wlrich had been separated by 
 the Act of 1701. If you look at that Act, y:)u will find a clause 
 omplialically declaring that in the Courts of Law, in all proceed- 
 ing in Parliament, in all official documents, that one language 
 and one langimgo alone should be used, and that should be the 
 English tongue. (Cljcors.) That was in ISiO. That was in 
 consequence of Lord IJurhniu'.s report, which was accepted by 
 the statesmen of England, and which has always been looked 
 upon as a singularly able and exhaustive document. He hoped 
 by uniting the two Provinces, by bringing them together, by 
 putting down and stamping out the French language, that the 
 end which every patriot must desire wouM be accomplished ; and 
 that end woidd have l»ecn the Anglicizing of the French Cana- 
 dians, and making this into a truly British country. The 
 Parliament of 1840 dirl all it could to repair the injury of 1774 : 
 but, gentlemen, it was not \ery long before our politicians un- 
 did it all — (hear hear). Now, do not let me be too hard on politi- 
 cians. My redemption, if I am yet redeemed — (laughter) — ray 
 repentence, at all events — has been rather of nhort date. I did 
 not realize, and I do not know that others see the matter in the 
 same light as I do now — because I tliiidc if they did they would 
 act as I propose to act — that in the couise our public men are 
 pursuing ou both sides of the House, and which had beenpur- 
 8ued for the liist forty years there was any great wrong. We 
 gathered around our political chiefs and adopted and supported 
 
14 
 
 a course of trade i)olicy and other ]iolitical objects which ap- 
 peared to us best calculated to develope this great country, and 
 we forj^ot — at least I for;Tot, and I assume that otheis were 
 equally careless — that while we were hoping to build up this 
 country by the expenditure of millions, while we wore taking in 
 the great North-West, which millions of people are yet to in- 
 habit, wliile we v/ere building the Canadian Pacific Railway at 
 a cost far beyond what a country so young and comparatively 
 poor seemed able to atford, while we were advancing at this suf- 
 ficiently rapid pace of prosperity, we were forgetting the " one 
 thing needful " to the consolidation of the Dominion ; but 
 all this time we were forgetting that this great trouble, 
 which was an enormous difficulty in 1837, had quadrupled itself 
 in 1(S67, and that we were leaving for our children to settle that 
 respecting which 1 used the expression you will remember — I 
 did not say in our generation — but I said that in the next gener- 
 ation the bayonet would do it, if we did not settle it by the ballot 
 in this. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 This trouble was already lifting up its hideous head while 
 we were fi hting over matters of comparative unimportance. 
 Let me show how. It was not four years that our united 
 Parliament, constituted by the union of 1840, had been sitting 
 before the parties became pretty eveidy divided A general 
 election had been held and the parties cnme back, as I .say, very 
 evenly divided. The French (Canadians, who ure never very 
 backward in asking what they want — (laughter) — had been 
 yearly drawing attention to the disadvantages under which they 
 pretended they were laboring in not being permitted the use of 
 their own tongue, and were desirous of carrying out designs 
 which even at that early time, some of the more reckless and 
 daring among them had formed of estaV>lishing a French nation- 
 ality in this country. Mr. Lafontaine pressed that matter with 
 a good deal of vigor, and I think it was in the session of 1843, 
 that he moved an adareas to the Crown asking that this " blot" 
 in the Union Act, whereby English was declared to be the tongue 
 of United Canada should be repealed : that they should be free 
 in this country to use such language as they pleased and not be 
 fettered or controlled by Iinpeiial enactment. That was resisted. 
 The orders sent from home were to resist that, but, as I told you, 
 a general election i-ook place, the parlies came back almost equal 
 and before poor Mr. Lafontaine had an opportunity to bring for- 
 ward the resolution, which it was ])erfectly well known he pro- 
 posed to repeat in the first session of the new Parliament, down 
 
15 
 
 comes the government of the day and anticipates him by an- 
 nouncing as a government measure the very thing which Mr. 
 Lafontaiiie liad proposed the previous session, and which thQ 
 Government had opposed. (Laughter.) When I read that in one 
 of our recent histories, I thought we are not quite as bad as per- 
 haps we think we are. (Renewed laughter.) We imagine we 
 are-wholly devoted to partyism.and perhaps there is some truth 
 in it ; but let me read to you an extract from the late Mr. Dent's 
 History, and 1 think you will see that our ancestors fifty years 
 ago were cjuite as abandoned in that respect as we are to-day. 
 (Laughter). n 
 
 " At the opening of the session of 1844-46, Mr. Lafontaine had it 
 in contemplation to move an address to the Throne, praying that the 
 existing restrictions upon the use of the French language should be re- 
 moved. His intention having become known, the Government resolved 
 to propitiate the favor of ""jhe French Canadian members by moving the 
 address as a ministerial measure. There were positive instructions 
 from the Colonial Office to the effect that no such disingenuous pro- 
 ceedings should be resorted to by the Provincial Administration ; but 
 the goveranient's need of support was urgent, and, as Metcalfe's bio- 
 grapher naively remaiks, *it was expedient to disarm the Opposition.* 
 Sir Charles gave his consent, and accordingly, on the 20th of Decem- 
 ber Mr. Papineau, Commissioner of Crown Lands, to the great surprise 
 of the Opposition, moved the address. The motion was seconded by 
 the Hon. George Moffat, member for Montreal, an ultra-Tory. It was 
 received with tumultuous applause by the Assembly." 
 
 Why, a good deal like the Jesuit Act. Both sides were 
 united — (applause) — and there was not even a noble thirteen — 
 (cheers) — and it was similar in this, that it was to propitiate the 
 French Canadians : but I think you will agree with me that we 
 were at least thirteen better than they were in 1844. (Cheers.) 
 Now, sir, that was within four vears of the constitution of 
 United Canada, and so fitted were we for self-government that 
 we undid the good work which Lord Durham's wisdom had given 
 us in the year 1S40 or 1841. We have brought the trouble, 
 therefore, on ourselves. There is nobody else to blame but 
 the Canadian representatives and the Canadian politicians, 
 and I suppose the people ought to be responsible for what the 
 politicians do. So 1 have understood the rule to be. In four 
 years aiterwards, and in compliance with this address so unani- 
 mously carried, this clause was stricken out of the Act by the 
 British Parliament. Now, before I am done with you to-night, 
 
16 
 
 if you have the patience to remain until I am through, 1 will 
 point out to yon that this may be a very useful precedent ; that 
 if in 1844 and 1845 the Parliauieut of united Canada could pt^i- 
 tion for the repeal of a clause of the Union Act, I do not know 
 whether in 1890 or 1891, if tie necessity arist s the Parliament 
 of the Dominion of Canada cannot petition for an ainendinont 
 to the British North American Act also. (Cheers.) Well, I will 
 bring you down a little later and I shall come to the tiuio of Con- 
 federation. In the time of confederation, so strong antl mighty 
 had the French Canadian become that he was not satisfied witli 
 having the English language, as the only languuge. stricken out 
 or rather eliminated from the Statute book, but ho insisted and 
 gained his point, by having it enacted by the British Pai-liament 
 that in the Dominion of Canada — in the Parliament of tlmt 
 Dominion and in the Parliament of the Province of Quebec — the 
 French language should hold equal position with the English 
 tongue. There for the first time, you lind it recorded in an Act 
 of Parliament that the French language was to liave any status 
 in this country. Trace it up. The clause in the treaty of ITO.'i 
 guaranteed the freedom of religion to the conquered pi'oplo — a 
 guarantee which was nobly kept and which nobody desires to 
 infringe. There was the Act of 1774, giving tliein the rii^ht to 
 impose tithes — restoring to them their laws — but not the French 
 language. Therewas the Act of 17i)1, by which the Legislative 
 Assembly was given, but not the right to use the French lan- 
 guage. Then there was the Act of 1840 or 1841, by which the 
 French language waS proliibited.and then the Act repealing that 
 clause of 1841 in 1848. It was not until 1867 that the French 
 Canadian power became so great as to insist and demand at the 
 hands of the Imperial Parliament that the French language 
 should be recognized throughout the length and breadth of the 
 Dominion of Canada. That, we ow-e, rightly or wrongly to the 
 public men of both sides. Blame not one more than another. 
 We are all to hlame. (Hear, hear.) The question is, are we to 
 remain that way forever ; or is there enough patriotism in this 
 city and this Dominion to prompt men to stand out, knowing 
 what is right and regardless of what party it may injure, and 
 insist that this country is to be yet a British country ? (Cheers). 
 Well, sir, since that time, has the influence of the French 
 Canadian decreased or increased ? Has it grown greater or has 
 it grown less ? Is the French Canadian to-day more English 
 than he was at the time of the conquest, than he was in 1841, 
 than he was in 1807 ? Sir, I have only, been in public life for 
 
17 
 
 twelve ynars, but to my certain knowledge the Frenchman is 
 more French, so far as I can see, joidging by his representatives 
 in the House of CominonH, and more French is spoken in the 
 House than when I first came here in 1870, and it is still grow- 
 ing. You may say, " What has that to do with Equal Rights " ? 
 I venture to say it has a great deal to do with Equal Rights. If 
 we are to continue in that coiirse, dealing with this simple ques- 
 tion alone ; if we are to go on in this wa}', what is to be the end 
 of it ^ I ask you, I ask any honer^t man in this assembly, What 
 is to be the end of it? Why, sor.ie men will say, "* Annexation 
 — we will buiy the Frenchman l>y annexation. The Americans 
 understand how to settle; this question, and annexation is the 
 only solution." 1 deny it. (Loud cheers.) I say there shall be 
 no annexation . 1 say there shall be no tearing up of the British 
 North America Act; but within the limits of the con.stitution 
 and by constitutional means is the remedy to be sought. It may 
 not be to-day or to-inorrow, but the day shall come when the 
 question will be settled by the British people who inhaltit the 
 Northern part of the American continent. (Prolonged cheers.) 
 Therefons it is that this E([ual Rights A.ssociation was established. 
 But not only that, sir : What have we to boast of as the outcome 
 of the Act (.)f Union ? A Separate School system imposed on the 
 people of free Ontai'io by their own votes ? No. Search the 
 records and you will (incl that the Act for the settlement of the 
 Se])aratf^ School question was imposed on the people of the 
 Upper Province by the vote of the people of the Lower Prov- 
 ince, ami against the will of the people of the Upper Province. 
 (Hear, hear.) Search the B. N. A. Act and you will see that it 
 was attempted to be fastened i)n you for all time by this organic 
 law, the B. N. A. Act, as a part of the bargain made at the time 
 of Confederation. That and similar enactments have w^e to thank 
 for the present state of afiairs ; that is the result of Lord Dur- 
 ham's well-meant labors. He brought us together, thinking 
 that the English majority would ultimately govern ; he brought 
 us together with the belief that he' was doing the greatest possi- 
 ble benefit to us and to them. We came together ; we assembled 
 in a common Parliament, but by the skilfull direction of the 
 French Canadian vote, and the desire for jiovver among the Eng- 
 lish and consequent division among them, the French Canadians 
 were ultimately able to place their feet on our necks and impose 
 laws on us contrary to our will, and we came out of the partner- 
 ship taking the smaller share of the assets. (Hear, heai.) Before 
 I turn from the discussion of Dominion politics, let me give you one 
 
18 
 
 or two examples of the necessity of the Kqual Rights Association, 
 "Whatever pretence, whatever groun<l tliere inny liave been for 
 the permission of th-^ dual language- the double language—in 
 the old part, or that part of Canada where the Frenchmen ex- 
 isted when this country was conciuered, will any honest man say 
 by what pretence we are to perpetrate that iniquity in the great 
 North West of this country ? (Hear, liear.) Is there an argu- 
 ment to be used in favor of establishing two ofheial languages 
 in Manitoba and the North West ? nnd if so. what h the argu- 
 ment ? There were many Frenchmen living he)'e, it was 
 said. Ceitainly not in the North-West at the time the constitu- 
 tion such as it is was given to them. Possibly there were a few 
 half-bred French in the Province of Manitoba ; but look at the 
 act of statesmanship, if it may \>c dignified by that nauif, of your 
 public men — and again 1 say of both sides, because the Act giv- 
 ing a constitution to Manitoba was passed not without contest, 
 not without motions and amendi. +s ; but I have searched tho 
 records and found that not a man raised his voice agnin-t the 
 iniquitous clause — by which in the courts of law and the Legis- 
 lative Hall of the great Province of Manitoba, the two languages 
 were attempted to be foisted upon the people and puu in such a 
 way that they could never be got rid oft and so in the North 
 West. Yet, it is said, there is no necessity for a new departure. 
 We are to go on as we have been going, each following our poli- 
 tical leader and fighting the issue of whether protection or free 
 trade, or modified free trade, be the best for this country ; or a 
 grant to this railway or a bonus to tiiat is to be the subject of 
 consideration in the gn it Parliament of the Dominion, and 
 while we go on planting these seeds, sure to bring^^ 
 forth trees bearing fruit of terrible misery to our descnd- 
 ents, there is to be no man to raise his voice in Pailiament. or, 
 if he does, he is to be denounced as a fanatic and an oppressor of 
 minorities and so on (hear, hear). So with our schools. That 
 question was settled, as I told you, in 1863: settled by the^ 
 majority of the Lower Province although it concerned the atf'airs. 
 of the Upper Province. Not much provincial rights about that 
 in those days (hear, hear). But since we have had provincial 
 rights, since we have had our own .separate parliament, what, 
 have we seen ? Has there been any attempt to eradicate the- 
 Separate School System from our midst ? No. But while that 
 law stood, and properly so if there were to be separate 8ch()ols, 
 that every man must be assumed to be a public school supporter 
 unle.ss he chose himself to come out and insist on having a sep- 
 
19 
 
 I: 
 
 arate school; by a wily amenHment to that law, passed in 1870 
 that lif^ht was practically denied to those amongst the Roman 
 (.'atholics who preferred to liave their children brought up with 
 the C(>mmf)n herd of" us. So that any man, be he jiriest or lay- 
 man, could go to the assessor and say A. B. and C. being Roman 
 Catholics aie presumed to be si'paiate school sup|)orters. I do 
 nut say that they could not get round that, but anyone who 
 knows anything about Roman Catholicism, will regard him as a 
 brave ujan, who, in the face of the powers that V)e, will say " T 
 cease to be a separate school supporter " (hear, hear). We all 
 know that. That has been done hy oni- own little parliament in 
 Toronto, without demur or opposition, and therefore by the 
 unanimous consent of both political parties. Is it time then, 
 tiiere should be a new departure there ? (cheers). Now, have I 
 established good reasons wh}' there should be a departure and for 
 an Equal Rights Association ? (cheers). 
 y Let us face the manner in which we are attacked. What 
 is said of u.s ? " Some of us are, forsooth, sincere and conscien- 
 tious ; some of us are doing it for a purpose." I have been told 
 by a distinguisheil minister of the crown — I saw it reported in 
 tlie public press — that I am urged on by di.sappointed ambition 
 (laughter). Well, I did not know that before, and when that 
 gentleman and I are face to face I will ask him what he mean.'* 
 (loud cheers). T am not going to make any boast. All I can 
 say is that 1 have no ambition ungratified with regard to public 
 affairs (renewed cheers). Others, we are told, are making use of 
 this organi;;iation as a means for stirring up hatred, schism and 
 bigotr}' between races and creeds. I do not deny — there is no 
 use in denying it — that we are attacked on that ground, aud that 
 ifi more or less the effect of our organization, but T do deny that 
 there is any cause for it. I do not deny that language is some- 
 times used on platforms which had better not have been uttered. 
 But 1 would like to know what political revolution has been 
 cairitd on witliout words being said which should not have been 
 said ; but I do say that the platform wo. have laid down has not 
 a plank in it that any honest, honorable, straightforward man 
 wiio loves his country will gainsay. (Loud cheers.) And while 
 I admit that the French-Canadian will draw up into line and 
 resist this reform, and while I am aorry to say it, I find the 
 Roman Catholic drawing up into line and thinking that we are 
 treading upon his corns, all [ can say is, I think that is inevitable. 
 What of the time to come ? Are we to go on living as we are 
 living ? Are we to go on crying " peace, peace," when there is no 
 
20 
 
 peace, or is thero a timu for us to assort our manhood, and has 
 that time come yet ? That is the rejison of the (renesis of the 
 Equal Kiglits Association, and I am not ashamed to come liero 
 under your banner and address a tmmlier of my fellnw-eitizens, 
 and declare I am ready, if necessary, to se[>arate myself from my 
 political associations, and stake my future, whatever that may 
 be, on the suec«'ss of the doctiines that we enunciate lure. 
 (Loud cheers.) The Jesuits Estates' Act, it has been very pro- 
 perly said, has given rise to this. It is the immediate cause of 
 the formation of the Equal Rights Association ; it has been the 
 occasion of an agitation that has spread from one end of this 
 Province, nay, from one end of the Dominion to the other, atid 
 when it becomes known it will be yet moie widel}' ditfused. But, 
 although that is so, it is by no means anything more than the 
 immediate, the proximate cause, as we lawyers might term it, 
 of the outcry vve have all seen, and niost of us have felt during 
 the past Summer. I confess I could not stand the Jesuits Estates 
 Act; there was something to me revolting in it. I am not a 
 bigot, I trust. Perhaps my religious feelings are not strong 
 enough to constitute a bigot. T will be quite candid with yoo. 
 I am willing that every man shall worship God in his own way 
 and I woe' I not raise a voice against him, but I have always 
 been led to believe that the Jesuits, whenever thfy got into a 
 community or a State were the cause of miseliief, of ti-ouhU>, of 
 disorder, of anarchy (hear, hear), and ought to be supinesscd, 
 not in the interest of anv reli<?ious denomination, or of religion 
 at all, but in the interest of that peace and order which is csson- 
 tial to good government. 
 
 We see that they have been within the last week or two 
 expelled from the late Empire of Brazil. (Applause.) They 
 cannot be quite all that their good friends would pictuie 
 them to be, and we know that there has been no pretence upon 
 the part of the Jesuit body to renounce their early teachings or 
 early practices. What they were at their formation in tlie days 
 of Loyola, they are to-day. There is no doubt about that. A 
 very distinguished friend of mine — 1 do not know whether it is 
 right to use his remark or not — came up to me not long ago and 
 said : — " I have not had an opportunity of seeing yc»u." This 
 gentleman is not in politics. He has been many years out of 
 politics, and holds a distinguished position notwithstanding. 
 There are men not in politics, quite distinguished. (Laughter.) 
 He said : — " I want to shake you by the hand and congi atulate 
 you upon your vote on the Jesuits' Estates matter, f would 
 
21 
 
 " have voted that way it' it had put fifty Governments out of' 
 "power." Ho wiiH a Conservative. "You might," ho said, "as 
 "well j^ive a bounty on the importation of rattlesnakes." 
 (Laughter and applause.) 
 
 What drove me to the ('ourse 1 took was thi.s, that the Act 
 was based on the assumption (hat the Briti.sh Crown had stolen 
 the jiropetty from the Jesuit body; and the Act was carried 
 out on the theory that His Holiness of Rome was the power 
 to settle dilferences between the (>own — when I use the 
 word " (^rown " in this country J mean the State — and the sub- 
 ject-i of that (^rowii. If the Act did not mean that, and you all 
 Temember that Sir Jolin Thompson proved tr) 188 men that it 
 did not mean that (laughter), why then, Mr. Mercier, as the 
 framer of the Bill, the man who promoted it, certainly has a very 
 false conc(^ption of his own measure ; for he has recently told us 
 — -and 1 trust that those \vho voted for it are now .satisKcd about 
 it— that it was the great act of his life ; that he recognized no. 
 right in kings or people to keep stolen property any more than 
 aiiy one else; and the grand act of his life, an act which he sum- 
 moned his young and irmocent .sons to witnes-s, was the restitution 
 of that money to the Jesuit Fathers, the roturninn: of stolen sfoods 
 to the Jesuits, as he did not many days ago in the City of Mon- 
 treal. We know it was not .stolen. (Applause.) We know 
 j)erfectly well, or at least those amongst us who have chosen to 
 study, that the Jesuit body ha<l been dissolved by the Pope of 
 Rome, for misconduct, before the ces.sion of 1763, and were not 
 in existence to claim property. And we know perfectly well 
 that they could not be recognized, and as I have always thought, 
 and I still adhere to that view, that they could not have been 
 recognized by the laws of England and could not have been al- 
 lowed to hold property at the time of the cession of this greaj 
 country to the British Crown in 17G3. Then we know that the 
 gentlemen who were incorporated the other day were not in any 
 shape or form the lineal descendants of that bod}', any more than 
 if any half dozen of us had been incorporated and claimed the 
 Jesuits Estates. 
 
 We know, also, that notwithstanding all that was said, that 
 that money was practically handed over to the Pope of Rome, 
 and he did not give it to the Jesuits, because he knew they had 
 no particular claim to it (laughter), but he parcelled it among the 
 , Roman Catholics of Lower Canada, part of it going to the 
 tlniversity of Quebec and part to the Jesuit College of Montreal. 
 Those of us who voted against that Act, I think, have been 
 
n 
 
 amply justiiie*!, and must in th(! s'lLflit of all lione.-t rmni he hdil 
 to have boon jusf.Kic*! t'nr tlicir voto on that ocousioii, (OlioorH.) 
 But after all, as I say, it was but a small matter. We havi.> a 
 rocortl for ei^^lit months, Mr. (Mmirman-— I mean the Kqual 
 Rights Association — which no political party could boast of in 
 a (iecade of years, and if thri'f> an; men amon^ us now wlu» want 
 to go back to their old political alliance, I sny, shame on tluMu ' 
 They ought to be .satisfied with what we have accomplished in 
 so short a time. (Loud cheers.) What have wo accomplished ? 
 Go to the >Provir>c(f of Manitoba and what do we see tliere ? 
 Why, that the Government is going to deal, not only witli the 
 dual language (piestioTi and the iniijuitou^ Act wliich would fas- 
 ten it upon them, but with Separate Schools. I had the honor 
 to stand upon the same platform at Portage la Prairie with the 
 Attorney-General of thii Province, when he announceil hia int(;n- 
 tion, in anticipation of the action of his (Government, that he 
 would cease to sign the, official cheque) for the publi(!ation of the 
 statutes in the dual language or cease to be the At,torne3'-Gon- 
 eral. ((Micers.) Do you tell me that tlie Kqual Rights Associa- 
 tion had notlnng to do with that? Of course, the feeling was 
 there; the grievance existed. People's mind.^ had only to be 
 directed to it, and the moment attention was drawn to it the 
 Province of Manitoba rose to a man and said, " Wd want no dual 
 language, and away with Separate Schools as well.' (Applause.) 
 Let me prove what I say is correct. There ought to be no 
 sympathy between Attorney-General Martin and my.self accord- 
 ing to old political doctrines. He is a Reformer aiul I a Cou.ser- 
 vative ; therefore we should be sworn foes. But the people of 
 Manitoba do not view the* matter so. When Mr. Pendergast, 
 the Frens . representative in the Cabinet, resigned on account of 
 the announced policy of the Manitoba Government, and Mr. Mc- 
 Lean was appointed Provincial Secretary in his place, the Con- 
 servative party called a convention, nominated a candidate to 
 oppose the new Provincial Secretary in Mr. Greenway's Gov- 
 ernment. The gentleman who received the nomination — I forget 
 his name for the moment — went among his would-be constit- 
 uents, saw them and finding that the feeling was strong in favor 
 of the policy of the Government in refer'^.ice to the dual lan- 
 guage .system and Separate Schools, that it was useless for him 
 to oppose any man in favor of it and therefore he withdrew from 
 the contest (hear). Is not that a proof of what is going on in 
 Manitoba. And in the North-west — our Great North-west — ■ 
 what of it ? Why at the last meeting of their Legislative As- 
 
23 
 
 sernlily they pa»<se'l a rosoliitioii, with practical unanimity— the 
 minority consisted but of two — achirosstMl to the Hoijso of Coni- 
 inonH. to tho Senate, and to His ExcciljMicy tho Govnrnor-Cloneral, 
 prayinj;^ that next Kession the dual hingiia^o clauso shoiiM bo 
 Rtruclc out of tiie Act, and I have undertaken the task — and a 
 more gh^rious tank I never undertook — (loud olieers) — that I shall 
 be the mover of that bill. (Renewed cheers). 1 phidged mysell: 
 to it before I went to the North-west, I renewed the pledge at 
 the meeting which I addreH.sed there, I said to the meeting, "^ 
 care not whether you aid me by your petition or not; I look 
 upon this as a matter of so much vital concern, affecting not 
 merely the North-west but the whole Dominion, that I shall 
 move in it, but I ask you to strengthen me by your petition," 
 ai\d aH I said, the petition was practically carried by almost an 
 unanimous vote. (T.oud cheers.) And Separate Schools they a.sk 
 to be allowed to deal with. Now, 1 would like you to point to 
 any other political organization or association, that, in the short 
 space of eight uv nine months, has accomplished what we have 
 accomplished. We may not have obtained grants of public 
 money : truly we have not. But wo have been the means of 
 initiatinc: the greatest reforms that have been proposed in my 
 day at all events, and I believe in the days of the oldest man I 
 have tlie honor to address here this evening (hear, hear). Do 
 we rest (h(M(! ? We were told during the last session of the 
 Ontario Legislature that the schools in the eastern part of this 
 Province, where it was asserted that the French were gradually 
 creeping in and displacing the Englishmen, electing their own 
 trustees, appointing French teachers, bringing in French books 
 not authorized by ihc Council of Public Instruction, and in point 
 of fact widening the boundaries of the Province of Quebec — we 
 were told that was a mere delusion. Truly there was a little of 
 that kind ot thing going on but not very u»uch. Everything 
 was quite satisfactory. But the Equal Rights Associations, met 
 in convention. They fulminated their thunders, and the 
 result was a Commission to investigate this matter, which did 
 not require investigation about six weeks before. (Applause.) 
 The repent o( that Commission was niade and 1 read in the speech 
 which Ml'. IVIowat delivered in Woodstock, he claimed great 
 credit for giving immediate effect to that Commi.ssion. Had we 
 nothir.g to do with tliat I wonder? If the Equal Rights Asso- 
 ciation had never been formed, and there had been no agitation 
 in the Piovince of Ontario, do you think there would have been 
 any change in the schools of the Eastern part ? 
 
v^ 
 
 24 
 
 voice. — No. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy — That ouglit to satisfy the ambition of most 
 men ; but I aiu not quite satisfieil yet 
 
 A voice. — Go on. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. — We will go on ? (Great cheering.) And 
 what flo you saj' about Separate Schools ? I have read Mr. 
 Mowat's utterances almost as carefully as I ought to read an- 
 other book. I study them, because I know he is a careful, 
 cautiou.s, canny politician. 1 say not a word against him. You 
 know this is all a scheme. I am Sir John Macdonald's tool. 1 
 am going through this country for the purpose of getting Mr. 
 Mowat out of power. I am not to injure Sir John Macdonald, 
 but if possible to destroy the little Premier. So bear in mind 
 anything I say in that connection must be taken cum grano. 
 I notice Mr. Mowat has paid particular attention to the Separate 
 School question, he says : " At one time we were not giving 
 the Catholics justice. At another time it is 'No Popery/ and 
 now ' No Popery and No French.' " He says : — " I fall back on 
 the administrative acts of my Government and challenge any 
 attack on my administration of the public affairs of this Prov- 
 ince." The J^qual Rights Association are not dealing with thai. 
 W3 leave that to the Opposition. We aie dealing with certain 
 great principles, and I nia}' state that we arc going to hew to 
 the line, and are not particular where the ciiips fall. (Applause.) 
 And so, although Mr. Mowat has not had uTiything to do with 
 the Jesuits Estates' Act, and had nothing to do with the drawing 
 of the Act — of which he was foully accused — and had nothing 
 to do with Mr. Mercier, we shall continue. I notice he is rather 
 ashamed of Mr. Mercie'- at present, and even the Globe is think- 
 ing that Mr. Mercier is going a little too far. It rather threatens 
 him if he does so and so. And Mr. Mowat, too, is getting 
 ashamed of his companionship. 
 
 But when all is said and done, Mr. Mowat is paying the 
 raost marked attention to the feeling about Separate Schools. 
 That is a tribute to the agitation we have raised, and if nothing 
 comes of it it will be because Mr. Mowat is so circumstanced 
 that he cannot help himself. Give him a fair iiing and I would 
 not be at all surprised if the two clauses which were inserted in 
 the Act in 1877 and 1879, I believe, and which are so much in 
 dispute come out of the Act very shortly. Mr. Mowat has re- 
 cently submitted to the Courts a case, and he wants the Courts 
 to tell the public what his Act of Parliament means. (Laughter). 
 Don't laugh at that because it is the very greatest conipliment Mr. 
 
25 
 
 Mowat could have paid us. Of course, we know, that if Mr 
 Mowat was really anxious to cut the connection with the other 
 party and to come out squarely as the Mr, Mowat of ancient days 
 would have done, he would not have hesitated to have passed a De- 
 claratory A.ct — a familiar form of legislation, by the way, in his 
 iVasembly, defining the meaning of the law. (Laughter). Catholic 
 iouruals.say the Act nuans what it^ays, or that it ought to mean 
 what it says, that is, that every Roman Catholic is presumed to 
 be a supporter of Separate Schools. We say he should be pre- 
 sumed to be a supporter of Public Schools. Mr. Mowat could 
 have settled that by one stroke of his pen, but, instead, he has 
 gone through the farce of a.skitig a Court of Law to say what 
 this Act means. Perhaps my Conservative friends will say " You 
 are destroying the party ; you are not going to get any Refor- 
 mers to leave Mi'. Mo .vat, the R«iforujers will hang together to 
 su])port Mr. Mowat, and the end will be to split up the Conser- 
 vative party." I liope that it will not be so. I hope that the 
 Conservative patty will stand on the platform of Equal Rights. 
 (Cheers). 1 do not care whether the Reformers do or do not 
 stick to Mr. Mowat. An honest man be he Reformer or Conser- 
 vative, won't stick to Mr. Mowat, or Sir John Macdonald or any- 
 body else in this matter. (Renewed cheers.) If public opinion is 
 not ripe ; if people are not sufficiently educated to put mutual 
 trust in one another, by and by, when they see we are honest, 
 when they see we are not serving a double purpose, but have 
 only a single eye to the good of the country, men of all classes 
 will rally round us. (Loud cheers.) At present they distrust us. 
 A few days ago I read a letter which gave an account of a curi- 
 ous incident which happened in West Lambton during the recent 
 local election in that constituency. Forty Conservatives in one 
 polling Hub-division put their names down to vote for the Third 
 Party candidate, and forty Reformers. When in the evening the 
 ballots were counted it was found that only forty votes had been 
 cast altogether for Mr. McCree. (Laughter.^ The Conserva- 
 tives say the Reformers went back on them, and the Refor- 
 mers return the compliment. It is quite plain, however, 
 that forty men on one side or the other did not keej) their 
 pledges, and it just shows the feeling of mistrust which prevails 
 on account of the political differences which have hitherto in- 
 sanely separated the people of this country. (Hear, hear.) So 
 much for what we have done ; so much for our reasons for doing 
 it,, and now have we any reason to disband to night (Loud cries of 
 "No.") Have we any reason to continue the tight? (" Yes, yes.") 
 
26 
 
 We ought to be satisfied with what we have aceompllshecl. For 
 my part I never felt so proud of any political movement as that 
 in which we have been enrifagetl this Summer. For. my })ait I 
 am willing to continue in the way we arc moving. True it is, 
 we do not know where we ma}' be at tlu; close of the next session 
 (Hear, hear). We know this question about the Noith West 
 Territory is to come up in the House of C<)mmons, and how will 
 the parties vote ? Is that to be supported by thirteen, oi- will 
 there be as many as thirteen ? (Applause"). What will they say of 
 Provincial Rights, I wonder? (Applause). The great North- VVest 
 Territories' Assembly de.sire to get rid ofthe dual language. It has 
 unanimously petitioned in favor of it. We will liear, I dare say, 
 some hair splitting before the session is over. (Laughter and ap- 
 plause). I do not think there will be practical unanimity. I think 
 the French Canadian desires, nor merely that he should have his 
 .language, as -his Institutions and his laws, in the Province of 
 Quebec; but his ambition is to carry it to the Province of On- 
 tario.and thence to Manitoba anil the North West, and ultimately, 
 if he can, to subdue this country to Frenchmen, or to make of it 
 a French nationality. And he will die game. There will be no 
 backdown on the part of the French Canadian. Already in 
 Manitoba there has been meeting after meeting in the French 
 pai ishes. protesting against the abolition of the French language 
 and of the doing away with the Separate Schools. ' 
 
 I am not in the confidence of the party, and do not know 
 what the Conserv tives are to do. One observation fell from 
 one of the speakers to-night which calls from me for a disclaimer. 
 I will gratify the Free Press. It has been asking ever since the 
 24th of May, practically daily, and one time sent an interviewer 
 to know what I had to say about it. It was said I am still the 
 Executive head of the Conservative party in this Province. 
 Sir, I have not held that position for the last seven or eight 
 months (cheers). I may state that, and I do state it, and I will 
 tell you why I resigned. It was honestly and fairly put to me : 
 " Your position as the executive head (*f the Party, for the 
 organization of the Party-— lor that is all I was — makes your 
 vote on the Jesuit Estates' Act more damaging to us than 
 the course of twenty other men would be." I felt there was 
 force in this argument, and that it waw my duty at once to with- 
 draw. (Cheers.) That is a family matter, .so to speak, but when 
 it was said I was still the bead of the Party, and credit given 
 me on that account for taking the position I had taken, it was 
 only fair that I should let you into the secret, if secret it may 
 
» 
 
 be. 1 am not in a position to tell you what the Conservative 
 party are goinj^ to do about it — ^the Dual Language question — 
 but I am inclined to think, from what I saw in an address 
 in a constituency recently opened, that we may guess 
 what Mr. Laurier's course will be. In that constituency, 
 Richelieu, which was carried by the Conservaties by over 400 o{ 
 a majority, it, was claimed by Mr. Laurier's candidate that he, 
 (Mr. Laurier,) would ha the protector of the French Canadians 
 in all the Provinces of the Dominion. That may be the course 
 Mr. Laurier intends to pursue, but whatever cour.se he intends 
 to pursue, wo have to realize that a great struggle is before 
 us (Hear hear}. You are very unanimous here to-night; but 
 I dare say to-morrow^ when you go out into the cold, your 
 feelings may undergo a ciiange equal to the tmperature, and, 
 you will not be .so hot about equal rights or other questions. 
 When asked if j'ou are going to desert your old party chief, 
 you will feel that you will not turn your back upon him. So it 
 is going to be in other constituencies all through the Province ; 
 but I tell you that while the Equal Rights Association may not 
 be able to return many representatives to the next Parliament, 
 they will, without doubt, bo able to control who shall be returned. 
 (Cheers). Look at West Lambton, I am told that shows the 
 weakness of the Equal Rights movement. In the iirst place the 
 gentleman who ran there was not the candidate of the Equal 
 llights Association. He was the candidate of a party of v/hich 
 Dr. Sutherland is the founder, and which is known as the Third 
 Party. 
 
 It is perfectly true that the local branch of the Equal Rights 
 Aissociation, which, perhaps, has not been very active or ener- 
 getic in that ])art of the Province, did ask the three gentlemen 
 who were seeking the suffrages of the people whether they ac- 
 cepted the platform of the Equal Rights Association or not, and 
 as Mr. McRae was the only one who endorsed it, he was pr, ni- 
 ised such 'support As the local a.ssociation could give. But put 
 it as you jilease 700 or 800 men came out with a perfect know- 
 ledge that they could not elect their man, and voted for him- 
 VVhen I was in Sarnia I was told Mr. McRae would receive 200 
 votes, about equally from each party. When the day came, how- 
 ever, he polled 700 or 800 votes from men who knew that tlu;ir 
 ballots were jiraccically thrown away, but knowing that they 
 were entering a protest as freemen against the system which 
 prevailed (cheers). Now, sir, there is not a constituency in the 
 Province — I am not speaking beyond that — in 'which the Equal 
 
Rights Association cannot control the election of a man, if they 
 cannot elect their man. (Hear hear.) There may not be many 
 of us, but there are always some men willing to put country be- 
 fore party ; (cheers) always some men willing to do the right 
 and not be led away by specious cries, such as the politicians 
 are apt to use to coax men into line, and they will be ample to 
 carry succtiss on our banner, in one sense or another at the next 
 general election (applause). I have not much more to say to 
 you. ladies and gentlemen. I thank you heartily for the attend 
 tive hearing you have given me, but 1 ask you just to pause anp 
 consider whether there is not really a danger ; a substantial 
 danger in things as they exist at present. It is not at all open 
 to (question that a party in the Province of Quebec be it little 
 or be it great — and I will deal with that in a moment — is openly 
 proclaiming that the object and intent of the Frei\ch Can9<lians 
 is to establish a French Canadian nation in our midst. (Hear 
 hear.) Now, Mr. Merci^ris the leading man in Quebec to-dny. 
 He is the Premier of the Province, and if T understand it aright, 
 he has carried every election, no matter whether held by a 
 former supporter of his or by an oppositionist, that lias 
 been contested, except in the county of Brome, wbieli is 
 two-thirds English. Mr. Mercier's words are therefore not to 
 be considereil as the wild vaporings of a man witliout position, 
 influence or responsibility. And what does Mr. • Mercier .say ? 
 He told it openly, to an immense meeting of his fellow-countty- 
 men at the great French Canadian celebration last Jun<', that it 
 was his desire to unite the Blues and the Rousres and to fiaht 
 the battle under the tri-color and practically, that lie looked 
 forward to the establishment of a French nationalitv. We know 
 that, at the same time, a part of the .same prograunne was culling 
 upon His Holiness, the Pope of Rome, to bless the young French 
 Canadian nation established on the banks of the St. Ijawrence ; 
 we know that there is a paper called, La Verite which has consid- 
 erable influence in the Province of Quebec;, and which flatly 
 tells us that th^ position at present is one of tr'>usitii>n, and that 
 the French Canadians look forward to no anialganuition wiLJi 
 other nationalities, such as we hope to see in this country, but 
 to the establishment of a French Canadian nationality. Tde editor 
 has put that in words which are unmistakeable. Let me read 
 them to you : 
 
 "But," it continues, "auch uxu not, is not, never will be tht de.me. of 
 French Canadians. *For us, Confederation toas and is ilic mem»a Ut an <ind. 
 
^mmmm' 
 
 39 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 It is a mean.'f of eiuiUiinj it.s to dwell in peace unth our Englisii neighbors, 
 ivhilKt »(ifc quurdino ovy rujliU, ihrelopUnj mir resources, stremjihenimj lut, arui 
 mnkimi iw yiady /w our natunud piture. Let tw .saw it boldly — the, 
 idexd of the, French Canadian people is nvt the ideal of theothei' races which 
 to-do\j iidiubit the Uvul o}ir futhers subdued for Christian civUizatio)t. Oii/r 
 idc(d is the fu) mat ion here, in thi^-i corner of the' earth watered by the Uood of 
 (•M.r heroes, of a nation iithidi shall perform on thin continent the part Fra)u:e 
 has plaijed w /.o/if/ in, Eurojye. Our aspir(diim is to fomul a. nation lohich, 
 s^Miially, shall profess ih<- CaihoUe faith and speak the French lawpuuje. That 
 is not and cannot be the aspiration of the other races. To say then that all 
 the ijivups vjhiidi cotistit'de Confederation are aninuitcd by <>iie and tJie same 
 aspiraliim, is to fitter a soun,din,g phroM withoid poLitictd or historical meaniiuj. 
 For tM the preseiU fonn (f novei-nnuod j> it4)t and cannot be the last loonl oj 
 our national exi^eiux. li is mereUj a foad towards the goal which we have 
 in view,' that is all. Let us i^ever lose sight <f oar ouyii natimial destiny. 
 liath»r let us constantlij prepare onrselve^^ to fulfil it worthily at the hov,r 
 decreed by I'rovidence, which circumstances sfudl reveal to us. Our whole 
 history proves that it is not to be a vain dream, a inere Utopia, but the end 
 which the Cod •>/ natio)is has marked out lor us. We have not been snatched 
 from denth a sc<>re of times : we have not multiplied iinth a rapidity tndy 
 prodigiints ; we have not icrought harvests of re^i.dance and of peaceftU ccm- 
 quest in the Eastern toicnsJiips and in the border counties of Ontario) ; ux 
 luive iu>t ohsorbeAl many of Un- English and Scotch settlements planted, amon,g us 
 in order to break up ou,r humogenity ; wo have not put forth all these efforts 
 mul seen them crowned with success, to go and perisJi mt'seraUy in any all- 
 Canadian arrangement. " 
 
 Is that plaiu ? Is there any doubt about that meaning ? 
 Now, I could read you others. Mr. Laurier came to Toronto, as 
 you know, a little while ago, and he announced there very 
 liberal pentiments. He returned to his Province to be met by 
 denunciation from La Verity, which said his weie not French 
 Canadian sentiments. He was also denounced by La Prtsse. 
 He had to go into a fight in the constituency of Richelieu, ren- 
 dered vacant by the death of Captain Labelle, and was beaten 
 by over 400 hundred, probably on account of the views he 
 had proclaimed at Toronto. The policy has been generally 
 proclaimed by the leading newspapers and men of the Province 
 that a French nationality is desired. I acknowledge, and I have 
 the right to assume, that when these gentlemen tell us, as one 
 or two of them have announced, that they have no such ambition, 
 they are speaking the honest truth ; but if they have no such 
 ambition what are we to say of Mr. Mercier's position ? It is 
 said he is doing it to keep himself in power. Why, if he 
 is doing it to keep himself in power, he is pandering to the 
 wishes of his fellow-countrymen. (Applause.) We must face this 
 aspiration of hi? fellow-qountrymen. We must cry out against 
 it, and we must do it by banding ourselves together; not to do 
 
'M) 
 
 injustice to French Oanaditiiis — G»ji] forbid — and not to perpe- 
 trate a wrong to any citizen. (Cheois.) I look foi- the day when 
 there will be French Canadians with hearts larire enough and 
 uiind.s comprehensive enougli to take in the situation, aiul to see 
 that this is but an idle dream that can never be realized. Talk ol' a 
 nation to perform on this contin(>nt the part played by Old France I 
 Surely Anglo-Saxons will never tolerate the pranks Old France 
 played in Europe. Surely any man must see that this is pre- 
 posterous folly, wild fancies, madness, and yet the feeling, the 
 policy of practical politicians is there and must ha taken account 
 of. I hope and look forward however, for some large-minded 
 Frenchman who will cotne out among the people of his Province, 
 and in the face of the cures, say, " 1 am for Britisii nationality 
 and will endeavor to bring u\y peof>le into line for a British 
 country." (Cheers.) We should receive such a man with open 
 arms, and we should encourage everything of that kind, no mat- 
 ter whence it emenates. (Hear.) We have no hostility ^o Que- 
 bec, their good is our good. They are being extir,)ated from the 
 land, — are being driven away in hundreds of thousands by the 
 iniquitous tithe law imposed by the Act of 1774? — eonseci-ated by 
 ithe Act of 1867. What does history teach u.s. It is a poor 
 arming country in Quebec, or possibly it is farmed by a j>oor 
 class of farmers. The people are already over-bvndened and they 
 are fleeing by hundreds of thousands from these burdens. I saw 
 a statement the other day that 200 heads of families in Rimouski 
 have disappeared across the borders within a few months. Is it 
 to be wondered at? Do you think that people will continue for 
 centuries to be tied down by tithes, fabrique, assessment.s, etc., 
 when there* is a land of frefdom for them across the bordei-. If 
 it is an object to us to keep our people here, I want to see the 
 French Canadians kept here so long as their interests are not an- 
 tagonistic to the rest of the Dominion, and this can only be 
 ol)tained by doing away with laws of this kind. (Loud cheers.) 
 When w* look back to 184i4-5, and at the action of the Impei'iai 
 Parlit'-o^'^'^ I think we can v.ell ask them to give iis power to 
 aiu^ni. C)'i con.ititution by eleminating such parts as ai'e inimical 
 t 'Jii, j"ob'ii3 x^eal. Are we to be told that in this 19ch century 
 ^■hi : 'a,w fi unchanged a)id unchangeable? Are we to have 
 Sej'arai'; b ids in Upper Canada, tithe assessments in Lower 
 Canada, dual language in the Dominion Parliament, and dual 
 languages in Quebec, the North-west and Manitoba Are 
 we to be denied the right of free men, or consistently with 
 JrMi>erial interests and the duty we owe to the Crown, and with 
 
81 
 
 proper safeguards should we not have the same rinhta that 
 others have had to alter the Constitution ; to amend it, and to 
 have the obnoxious clauses obliterated fronx it ? (Cheers). I 
 trust the day will come when these matters will tind a 
 place in our platfo;rm. I am not tied down by the Convention. 
 I accept what it did, but I claim the right of perfect freedom of 
 action. What that platform is, is simply for the expunging or 
 re{)eal of the amendment to the Separate School Law, so that 
 the law will be restored to its position in 18G3. It asks that 
 Fiench shall cease to be taught in our schools, or rather thit the 
 teaching in our schools shall be English. I have no antipathy 
 to the French language, but desire that our children may be in- 
 structed from our school books in the English tongue. There is 
 no difficulty about that. A practical teacher will tell you that 
 as the child comes lisping to his knee he could teach him in any 
 language. It is all a farce this proposed bi-litigual series. If you 
 allow that to be foisted upon you, you will have more French 
 taught there than English ; but let the law be that the teachers 
 to be placed in the French settled parts of the Province shall be 
 English-speaking men with a competent knowledge of the French 
 language, whose interest it will bo that the ciiildren shall be 
 taught English and there will be no difficulty in the way. 
 No matter what the school-books or course of teaching may be; 
 whether the same be bi-lingual or any other device you may 
 hit oii, if the teacher is French his sympathies as well as those of 
 the trustees and the parents of the children being not to Anglisize, 
 but to keep the children French — the plan will provo abortive. 
 (Certainly English may be taught as an accomplisliment, because 
 il is well that the child should know the language, but it will 
 be as a foreign tonguo and not as the language of the country. 
 Now sir, I have already occupied too much of your time. 
 I am exceedingly gratiHfed to this large and intelligent audience 
 for the hearing they have given me, and lean only say that I have 
 been encouraged very much by the feeling which I think 
 prevails in the capital of the Dominion. You have the 
 dlHiculties here more clearly defined than they liave in other 
 parts of Canada, and your duties and responsibilities are corres- 
 pondingly great. We in the other and western parts of the 
 Province hope and look forward with confidence to your action 
 when the time comes for that action. It is not by mere assembl- 
 ing together in meetings that good is to be done. It is when 
 the time comes for political action ; when the elections are upon 
 you. That is where we look and expect to see results. Trusting 
 
32 
 
 sir, as I do, with great confidence in that result, believing that 
 you can control if you cannot elect — for you can control the elec- 
 tion in this constituency — and that you will exert yourselves, not 
 merely here but in the surrounding constituencies, I will have 
 pleasure in reporting to my friends in Toronto, that notwith- 
 standing what was said about the dying out of the Equal Rights 
 feeling it still lives in the hearts of the people of Ottawa. (Cun< 
 tinned cheering.) 
 
 I'll 
 
 IS- 
 
that 
 elec- 
 s, not 
 have 
 with- 
 .ights 
 Con-