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THE 
 
 PRESEIT AID EFTFSE 
 
 OF CANADA 
 
 ST 
 
 HENRY LACROIX. 
 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHNLOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 
 
 1867. 
 
 .-§ 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The following pamphlet has excited so much attention among 
 the nationality for whose benefit it was specially intended, that it 
 has been thought desirable to translate it for more general circu- 
 lation. It is so seldom that the productions of our French Gana. 
 dian brethren are reproduced in the English tongue that much less 
 is known of their thoughts and feelings by British Canadians than 
 is desirable. A closer acquaintance would bring about a much 
 stronger feeling of mutual kindliness than now exists. It is true 
 that there is no repulsion such as formerly existed, but that is be- 
 cause it has yielded rather to indifference than to any warmer 
 feeling on the part of each. A closer study of each other would 
 lead to more cordial relations and to mutual appreciation of the 
 good qualities, diflFering in some respects in the two races, which 
 would tend to the more rapid advancement of Canada in prosperity 
 and happiness. 
 
 The translator has aimed in the execution of his task to repro- 
 duce the original faithfully, and to maintain, as far as possible, the 
 true spirit of the author's expressions and turn of thought. 
 
THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CANADA 
 
 BT 
 
 HENRY LACROIX 
 
 All nations have a certain number of timid people, whose mis- 
 sion is always to call out beware ! These are checks which doubt- 
 less are useful, and which at certain moments serve the great end 
 of progress, by moderating the course of the car, by which is repre- 
 sented this active condition of life. The spirit which speaks by 
 the mouth of alarmists, is i; self an alarmist ; its senses are its brain ; 
 in it all the breezes of political existence, and of material progress, 
 have one and the same sound, — perdition I 
 
 Humanity has never made a step in advance that alarmists have 
 not done all in their power to prevent it ; but there is this consola- 
 tion, that they have never been able to succeed. 
 
 Providence forms the light, and distributes it everywhere ; but 
 the concave brains which receive this light, are not suited to reflect 
 it. Over the walls of the organ so constructed, obscurity reigns ; 
 the ray, powerful at its focus, exists, but sheds no light around it. 
 
 The soi-disant friends of progress, after having been convex 
 nlirrors in the history of the past, after having produced fire and 
 flame to enlighten all administrations, to animate them for the 
 public good, and to make them pass not a few measures, appear as 
 if they wished now to become concave mirrors. 
 
 The annexationists of former days, are now afraid of a simple 
 confederation of internal powers ; they war against an elementary 
 idea, against the very alphabet of political development. A great 
 philosopher of antiquity rebuked, one day, an aspirant to public 
 life, because he had not the gift of governing bis own family. As 
 much might be said of those who have a heroic courage in regard 
 
6 
 
 to an impossibility, but who recoil before a measure of prime neces- 
 sity. 
 
 What is there so extravagant, so frightful in the measure of 
 confederation, in that first step of an infant nation, beginning to walk 
 alone ? Ye are brotlbrs, alarmed at sight of this new sprung 
 boldness, which is smiled upon and encouraged by the mother. 
 Ah ! brethren, how puerile are your fears. We no longer recog- 
 nise the theorists of former days, the brave, the courageous cham- 
 pions of national development. Formerly, the idea of nationality 
 was only a sentiment, but now this idea has grown, and has become 
 an intellectual power. Formerly, this idea was wrapped in swad- 
 dling bands ; now it is freed from its trammels ; it has attained a 
 body, a movement, a future, because circumstances are favourable 
 to its development, and this state of things is due, in part, to the 
 conservatives of to-day, who, before were progressionists. 
 
 The predominant idea which has inaugurated this new position 
 of aflFairs, apart fiom those which may be entertained by certain 
 agents, and which should not make us lose sight of the first, is to 
 create in the northern part of America, a distinct power, not in 
 opposition to that which is its neighbour, but for purposes of gen- 
 eral interest. 
 
 The emotional side of things is always more palpable and more 
 easily grasped than the serious part. Prejudice is a vagabond sen- 
 timent, having the entire world for its domain, and its haunts are 
 everywhere numerous. But this malignant, contradictory, some- 
 times violent spirit, ends in being put aside by a superior influence, 
 whiv;h often only shows itself after events have been accomplished. 
 
 How often have we not seen what at first appeared impossible, 
 and prejudicial to the public interest, accomplished and recognized 
 as a benefit ! There are two kinds of reason in the world : that 
 which is acknowledged, and that which is not acknowledged. The 
 first has always a certificate of long naturalisation in public opinion ; 
 the second is an immigrant, most frequently subjected to a cold and 
 unintelligent reception from nearly every one. But in spite of 
 this, the second reason has the right of citizenship in the world, 
 and it finds brains prepared to receive and to welcome it. These 
 brains are at first few in number ; the incubation of novelties is 
 slow, and like rare and valuable plants, new ideas take a long time 
 to bear fruit. The child in the cradle belongs to this order. Un- 
 til he has attained the age of puberty, nay, even till he have reached 
 maturity, what trouble, pains and anxieties does he not cause to 
 those who watch over him, to those who are responsible for his 
 development ! 
 
 The education of the child is a constantly renewed fact in the 
 world, which is never wanting in the newly born. The same thing 
 
T 
 
 applies to ideas, and to the di^ cnlties of securing their existence 
 and developement. If the relations shrunk from the mission, from 
 the task which is incumbent on them, because this mission, this 
 task is painful and full of sacrifice,— where would humanity be ? 
 If nations had no men of large views, to pifepare the paths of the 
 future, and to point them out, where, if not in dreams, would be 
 public welfare and prosperity ? 
 
 We like to consider great social and political questions from a 
 high point of view, for it is thus that their good or evil side can 
 be discovered. Disputes and bitter polemics, in which passion 
 plays the chief part, are thoroughly repugnant to us. When the 
 destinies of the country become matter of discussion, and great 
 measures have become accomplished facts, either by the tacit con- 
 sent, or by the expressed will of the majority, we like to see support- 
 ers and opponents exchange their flashes of light, tc illuminate 
 the political atmosphere, that by proper reasoning on both sides, 
 public opinion may be formed. 
 
 An opposition is a stinj which often wounds an administration, 
 even when the latter has done its best to secure the general good. 
 If it is sometimes right for it to blame administrators for certain 
 more or less serious errors, that belongs to some extent to the posi- 
 tion which it occupies. 
 
 There is an axiom common to both town and country, — " Get up 
 that I may sit down." It is a joke more annoying than injurious, 
 for the oppositions that have succeeded for a long time in this 
 country of " simple folks," as we have often been described by 
 foreign authors, have been generally animated by a good spirit. 
 
 It is the duty of every opposition, under every circumstance, to 
 control by its active power the aflfairs of the country. The bene- 
 fit of those for whom they are administered demands this, and 
 the good of the administrator.! also requires it. 
 
 He who wishes the good of his country, ought logically to desire 
 a strong opposition. 
 
 We truly believe that the administrators of the present day 
 would hail, with joyful heart, the unhoped for advent of an oppo- 
 sition worthy of the name. The statesman who is not inured to 
 war by struggles, becomes enervated, and loses, in great part, the 
 necessary qualifications for his mission. Would the people have 
 the full right to find fault with its ministers, if it shows itself unin- 
 telligent and careless ? 
 
 The great measures which, for the last fifteen years, have drawn 
 the country from its almost nonentity, are due in great part to 
 the initiative taken by a few men. The greatest amount of mate- 
 rial prosperity and of external reputation, supervened since that 
 period, 'id not proceed from inspiration springing from the people. 
 
That is a misfortune for the political history of the country, but 
 it testifies in favour of the men who have inaugurated, even thus, 
 a new age, in which each one finds profit, — if not glory. 
 
 These remarks which truth and sincerity draw from our pen, 
 will find an echo in the conscience of thinkers, of observers, and 
 even to some extent among all. 
 
 Animated by the sacred fire of love of country, and under the 
 independent inspiration of reason — which is never the creature of 
 party — we vlare to speak the words which precede, and which 
 follow. We have hailed with joy the measure of the confedera- 
 tion of the provinces, even when it was only in the shape of a 
 proposal, because we saw in it solid guarantees for bringing about 
 the general progress, and not that of one class or of a few indivi- 
 duals. We desire above all, what shall profit the greatest number. 
 
 The French Canadian population of this country, has returned 
 from the land of dreams, where it was made to see, from the top of 
 the mountain of ambition, a sea and a world intended for itself 
 alone. It has understood that all those who are born in Canada 
 are Canadians, and tuat those who have come to settle here, have 
 a right to that title and to all the privileges it bears. 
 
 From frequent intercourse with our neighbours, whose mind is 
 practical, our people have understood that a country does not be- 
 come powerful, prosperous and happy, except on condition of at- 
 tracting to it all the foreign nationalities which seek another 
 country, and of treating as brethren all those wl o come to it. 
 Much has been said against the emigration of our youth, of their 
 flight to the United States ; but in that school they have learned 
 this lesson. There is no evil wnich does not profit in one way or 
 other, and which does not bring about a real benefit. 
 
 'Xhe history of the Freach name in America is a glorious one, 
 but we do not feel bound to grant the expression of it to self love, 
 always loquacious when unrestrained. The Spaniards glory in 
 and make a worship of their genealogy, of the heraldic bearings of 
 their ancestors; let us be satisfied with less high sounding titles, 
 and act as our fathers did, instead of sleeping on their laurels. It 
 is upon this condition alone that we shall preserve the spirit which 
 animates us, and which gives to our perceptive faculties such am 
 intellectual power. 
 
 It is a recognized fact, that races, like individuals, have a par- 
 ticular mission to fulfil in social economy, and that by virtue of 
 their organization. Those in whom the moral faculties predomi- 
 nate, are not well adapted for practical life, for executing what their 
 lively imagination conceives and shows them. The mission of the 
 races of a physical order, in whom the spirit is at once slow and 
 methodical, is to execute what these first conceive. France and 
 
Britain personify well these two different characteristics : The first 
 is theory, the second is practice. In Canada, in which the two 
 races are side by side, there is found in the former a theoretical 
 and in the latter a practical spirit. 
 
 Routine in practice was the spirit which animated, not very 
 long ago, the French population of this country, in its different 
 branches of industry, commerce, agriculture, &c. They followed 
 to the lettei the ways of their fathers, who, they said, found thorn 
 answer well. This reasoning was in the mouth of all Canadians 
 living in country places. They refused instruction to their children, 
 because, they said, it was a useless luxury. Ignorance " was the 
 safeguard of morality ; the surest means of loving labour ; of 
 having the land well cultivated ; of binding more closely the 
 members of families, and of thus producing contentment and 
 happiness." Who does not remember this reasoning of our good 
 habitants ! 
 
 All at once came an unlooked-for immigration of Saxons into 
 this peaceful population, content with its lot, and living in an 
 intellectual fashion, with gossiping, tittle-tattle tales, in which the 
 marvellous played the chief part — as in the time of their ancestors, 
 the Gauls. Energetic hordes came, allured by the happiness to be 
 found here, and of which they sought a share. They were not 
 wanted ; they were despised ; an earnest war was made on them 
 in which abuse rained on them as thick as hail. The evil they 
 would do was urged ; " they will sow discord among a happy peo- 
 ple ; they will waste the land ; they will insult our worship ; they 
 will overthrow ^ the altars ; they will pollute everything, and will 
 drive from the land of their ancestors the good habitants who now 
 live there happily!" It -y^as a serious affair, and he would have 
 been ill advised and injudicious who would have dared to thir' 
 and speak otherwise ! 
 
 But all this talk, these sincere emotions, these tears of rage, 
 this manly indignation, in which the heart of women spoke as 
 loudly as that of the men, could neither touch, nor soften, nor 
 terrify the human grasshoppers who came to destroy Canadian 
 happiness. There is nothing so ne"-" happiness as misery. 
 
 If this was not the langua, whic ■ was held not a quarter of a 
 century ago in our country places on the arrival of Earopean emi- 
 grants, seeking here a place at the common fire side, it was not far 
 short of it. In the towns, these remarks were scarcely heard, but 
 it was the way in which the mass of the people felt disposed towards 
 those who came to increase its number and power. 
 
 Feeling does not reason, and when it jars with the opinions of 
 others, it has a language of its own, not very courteous. When by 
 the force of circumstances an invasion of this kind is established, 
 
10 
 
 the people among which it takes place, are always led, more or less, 
 in the beginning, to regard ii. as a misfortune. Emigration to a coun- 
 try in which the population sticks to old ways, and has little enter- 
 prise, gives reason to them to fear for their interestc. The emi- 
 grant is generally needy, and like the grasshopper, is apt to devour 
 whatever comrs in his way. The emigrant is an enterprising being, 
 whom Providence directs, and to whom it gives a safe conduct to 
 all parts oi the world, in spite of the clamours of the men-children 
 who do not wish him. The emigrant is a regenerator, despised 
 and ill received by ignorance, but welcomed with open arms by wis- 
 dom. The latter makes it his duty and pleasure to seek him, to 
 invite him, even from beyond sea, to bear the cost of his passage, 
 to establish him on land freely given, and at all times to hold out to 
 him a helping hand. Now this is beginning to be understood ; 
 but it has not yet been put in practice. That will undoubtedly 
 come in the .-3W order of things. 
 
 It cannot be contradicted that the peaceful invasions of the pre- 
 sent day, whose weapon is a spade, are desir.ible for countries whose 
 forests are great and numerou-i. The surplus of Europe may con- 
 tinue for ages yet, to oversow into the new world, without any fear 
 being experienced of its proving inconvenient to us. Let us import 
 men, the flood will not run to waste; the lands are eager for them, 
 and demand them at any price. The agglomeration of races has 
 made of the neighbouring republic a power unequalled in the new 
 world. It is for us to aspire to the same lot, and we may realise 
 it by the same means. Now that the spirit of union has taken pos- 
 session of Canadians, it will not be long before the power will show 
 itself Some will shrug their shoulders ; others will smile with pity 
 at these words, so convinced arc they that all is lost. We may be 
 permitted to differ in opinion with those who so believe, and point 
 out the future of the country as we see it, and as it shews itself 
 to us. 
 
 The zealous ad'^ersaries of Confederation are actuated by hostile 
 sentiments, which they cannot successfully dotond by their reason. 
 The liberal party is endowed with fine intellect, but this intellect, 
 long habituated to the service of a fixed idcr. — that of annexation 
 — sees with grief the final blow to that cherished idea. Grief 
 alwayo obscures the intellect ; it is a mournful veil, on which is 
 painted every kind of deformed creations, which reason repudiates, 
 but which do not the less exist to the excited sonsos. It will take 
 these adversariea some time to recover from the shock which they 
 have received, or to a linit the force of the logic which speaks to 
 them as well as to others. The strongest objections which they 
 can bring against Confederation, are all questions of form, rather 
 than of fuudauiental principles. Wo speak of those who are 'erious, 
 
11 
 
 and who do not make use of politics foi personal and unworthy 
 ends. 
 
 The liberal party has always been lulled and often soothed by 
 the idea of annexation to the United Sta^.es. This idea has been 
 a bait for a great number, even for those who have not ranged 
 themselves entirely with thjs party, and for people of every origin. 
 This idea makes its appearance from time to time, and serves as 
 the polar star to all shades of opinion whenever Pnything goes 
 wrong. It was, according to circumstances, a saviour or a bugbear 
 in the mouths of those who uttered it. This idea shone more bril- 
 liantly in times of trouble, becoming pale and almost vanishing at 
 other times. It has never been very certain that the United 
 States wished Canada. There had oven been good reason to be- 
 lieve the contrary ; nevertheless, this idea served the purpose ot a 
 bugbear in the hands of ihose who made use of it. 
 
 The idea of annexation has never had a definite shape ; it has 
 never taken a sufficiently tangible form to assume a place among 
 the vital questions which have by turns seriously occupied public 
 attention. It is not because some entertain and nourish this idea, 
 as a good thing for the benefit of all, that it must necessarily 
 triumph. The benefit which is of easy attainment, even granting 
 for a moment that annexation would have been possible, is seldom 
 of unmixed good. Annexation would have been a powerful means 
 of converting those who dread poverty, and who are earnest in ado- 
 ration of the golden calf, for American capital would have come in 
 abundance to develop all there is to be developed, not only in ma- 
 terial but also in human nature. 
 
 The people is a being endowed with a prescience of its destiny ; 
 it marches towards its destiny with a certainty of glance, that men 
 individually can neither have nor oan acquire. If it was necessary 
 that all nations should travel the same road, and that at the same 
 pace, and in the same manner, notwithstanding the difference of 
 their organization and of their respective tendencies, what a fine 
 march would it not make ? What tumult, what wretchedness, what 
 confusion would there not be seen ? 
 
 The elevated heights of politics include general rules, which 
 when applied to certain nations become rather hurtful than useful 
 and beneficial. The nation itself is the best judge of what it 
 requires, and if on every occasion it is not the visible promoter of 
 the changes which are brought about wiihln it, if it does not 
 loudly express its will, its tacit assent is certainly an expression of 
 weight and value. If he who finds himself served by another, 
 accepts the service, that shows that ho desired the thing or that he 
 found it to be good. The will of the many is, in politics, the law 
 which is imposed, wil)int?ly or unwillingly, and we should add, 
 
12 
 
 sooner or later. It is allowable for the opponents of Confederation 
 to fall back on the proposition, that the future will show that they 
 were right, that they alone could read in the book of fate, that they 
 alone knew the development which the feeling and intelligence of 
 the great body of Canadians ought to acquire. It is a consolation 
 which it is allowable for them to entertain and to cherish, and 
 which they will doubtless entertain and cherish. Public opinion 
 is usually apathetic, but it always arouses itself to oppose a measure 
 unsuitable to its circumstances ; it then makes itself heard, in an 
 imposing, or if necessary, in a threatening form. 
 
 Is there seen to-day any arousing, any threat on the part of those 
 who have the undeniable right to impose their will on the subject 
 of the question which we now contemplate ? Is there seen the lava 
 issuing from the craters, and spreading itself elsewhere than in 
 narrow circles ? No. That is an indication in our favour. 
 
 Yes, wp see in that fact, that the act accomplished has received 
 the sanction of all the usual laws, even of that which is all power- 
 ful ; that of the people, that of the soul of the country. Let it be 
 said that this soul is ill informed, that it is inoomplete. We will not 
 dispute, for argument's sake, this kind of proposition, which it 
 may be remarked, is not very flattering to the feelings of that soul, 
 for the soul of the people is as much endowed with sensibility as 
 that of an individual. To say that any one is stupid, is certainly 
 not to pay him a compliment. Let it be said that this soul of the 
 country is still childish, we will see in that statement an undisputed 
 and indisputable truth ; but at what period does not the individual 
 and personal nature in the child show itself? Let two or three 
 children be placed before an ignorant man, he will find in them 
 the same nature, the same destiny which they are to follow and 
 accomplish, for all three have the same general conformation ; a 
 head, a body and its members. Two adjacent countries do not in 
 reality resemble each other more than two individuals taken at 
 random ; both have a peculiar mission to fulfil in the universal 
 economy, the same as individuals taken singly. The judgment of 
 the politician, who would mould the members, the spirit and the 
 intellect of one people on the model of another nation, because the 
 latter appeared to him to bo more noble and bettor organised, awd 
 because it carried on its affairs better than the first, and that without 
 its consent or desire, this judgment, we say, would bo that of an 
 ignorant man, of ^ politician who has only the name of the science 
 which he profcc'es. 
 
 The people of Canada is still a child I but this child has a future 
 to traverse, and that future is its own ; it is not that of its rieigh- 
 bour. Destiny holds it by the hand and guides its steps securely, 
 whatever alarmists may say. It does not yet see this future paint- 
 
13 
 
 ing itself in distinct images outside of its own mind, but in its 
 internal consciousness it sees the germs of its future greatness and 
 no one can pluck up this germ, nor divert it to another destiny 
 than that which pertains to it. Providence has agents of all kinds 
 in the world, to further its views and execute its plans ; it has some 
 who are blind ; some whose sense of smell is dull ; others who are 
 deaf to certain sounds ; others again who are talkative, and who can 
 cnly speak. This category of agents is not useless, as some would 
 believe. Providence hag never made anything in vain. All the 
 beings which crawl, and some which scarcely even crawl, fulfil 
 Bseful parts, and arcomplish acts which contribute to the general 
 development. Human beings, with the attributes of the leech of 
 the serpent, of the fly, of the fox, of the wolf, of the hyena &o. 
 all have their work to do in private and in public life. They are 
 seen everywhere, toiling and sweating water and blood to accom- 
 plish the task laid upon them. Each of th«se beings has his per- 
 sonal ambition, and his ambition for his class ; all are endowed with 
 peculiar instincts, to guide this ambition, which has such diflerent 
 shades. You see them around you, you see them within you, let 
 no one be offended — you see them accomplishing the work of Pro- 
 vidence, and you ask yourself: Is this good, is this evil? Great 
 question, often answered by each one without much thought. 
 Nevertheless, the public consciousness has a voice, which is strensth- 
 ened by the answer given in the words of the old battle cry : For- 
 ward ! This voice is an intelligence which ridicules the miseries 
 errors and vices of A\ kinds, puffed up and exaggerated by the voice 
 of Individuals, like the frog in the fable. This intelligence sees 
 and wills the end, and as all things forward the work, it makes use 
 of all things ; it knows that vice becomes transformed ; that the 
 good is left, and that from the shapeless stone a jewel may appear 
 by continued friction. This intelligence is practical ; it does not 
 reside in one brain, but in the aureola of public consciousness • 
 there is its sept, its heaven. Evil individualised, which succeeds 
 in establishiiig and seating itself for » minute, or rather during 
 part of a second, on the most conspicuous position in public life, or 
 in the history of any nat'on whatever, never can, whatever may bo 
 said, th^ow from its track the chariot of public progress, nor mate- 
 rially alter the advance of the nation in which this political phe- 
 nomenon takes placo. 
 
 There are grand teachings in the philosophy of history. 
 
 When Canada shall have completed the union, when the hitherto 
 Mattered Provinces shall bo bound to her, this power, immense by 
 the extent of its territory, rich in its products of every kind, and 
 offering to emigration t Uractions of which the value is not yet 
 known, this power will bo reckoned among the nations, and thoa 
 
14 
 
 •will come to it a phase of development, which will bring about 
 among it8 people the desire and the will to be free from all protec- 
 tion. Nature always emancipates those who are ready to govern 
 themselves, nations as well as individuals. This is a certain and 
 inevitable perspective for Canada. The age of majority is a desir- 
 able epoch, wished for as much by the protectors as by the pro- 
 tected. 
 
 The bond which still unites the provinces of North America to 
 Britain is very attenuated ; scarcely visible, so far has the popular 
 "will been exercised. The sovereignty of the protecting power 
 in these countries has been so nominal, that the protected scarcely 
 perceive it. Public opinion can make, unmake and reform the 
 laws at pleasure, by the aid of its representatives sitting within view 
 and under its immediate control. The new measures introduced 
 to serve as rules for the new condition of aflfairs, may be, in part, 
 not fitted for carrying on public business properly, and not suited to 
 the peculiar spirit and wilful intellect ot Canada ; but for every evil 
 there is a remedy under a representative government. 
 
 It is well that the opposition should work for its side, that it 
 should show the people the imperfection of the laws which govern 
 them ; but exaggeration and violence should not animate it, and 
 should not make it lose siglit of that part of its mission which is 
 truly great. Let it dismiss the gross spirit of personality, which 
 blinds reason and appeals only to passion. The victories obtained 
 in this spirit, and by means of its agency, are ephemeral ; their 
 lustre is of short duration, and the conquerors always close their 
 career by disappearing in the shade, It will be objected that since 
 action is synonymous with passion, the movement of any ma- 
 chine whatever, makes a greater or less noise, and the springs 
 come and go, and wear out the parts which they touch ; but is it 
 not well known that a little oil does not then hurt, and that the 
 action and the results are only the more perfect. The spirit of 
 party is generally violent and rude ; but wince what period has it 
 become incapable of improvement ? Is it since men have learned to 
 read, to calculate, to observe, to reflect, to give to their acts method 
 and wisdom ? Is it those who have taken on themselves the task of 
 ^caching others, who should have recourse to blameworthy means, 
 who should excite and turn in a wrong directiou popular passions ? 
 Is it in the heated crucible of offensive discussions, that we learn to 
 know the truth, and make it known to others ? Is it in this hell 
 that reason dwells, and that we can find her ? The flames attract 
 the foolish, and many have their wings burned with them ; do 
 these feel thankful to the flames ? The chair of the editor, and the 
 tribune, or even the stump of the orator, are sacred altars towards 
 which the eager eyes of the crowd, and even those of men of let- 
 
16 
 
 t€rs are directed. Do not pollute these altars with impure utter- 
 ances, if you desire them to be venerated, and that they should 
 form points of attraction. Keep far from these tabernacles, if you 
 wish to defile them, and to defile those who approach them ; those 
 who look there for reason and not insult. Too long has the French 
 language served in this country, to express anything except its 
 pure and delicate sense. Beir^s claiming to be animated with the 
 desire for the public welfare, drag through the mire this beautiful 
 acd noble language, and prostitute it to the vile service of perso- 
 nalities ; and these are the people who aspire to represent those 
 ■who speak, love and venerate it, who dare believe they will be suc- 
 cessful ! Since what time, then, have the men of New France aban- 
 dou'cd intercourse with their gods — with politeness, propriety and 
 good breeding? From what period do they no longer speak the 
 language of their ancestors ? Whence dates their favour for those 
 who outrage their gods whom they revere ? 
 
 There is for us a subject of surprise that we dare to point out — 
 that they who expend so much energy against those who endeavour 
 to accomplish the task of Union and of Unity, do not employ their 
 batteries against the people, which is not opposed to the measure. 
 Gros Jean is responsible for the acts done in his name. It is he 
 who desires what the first do not wish for. 
 
 The experienced navigator, when he finds himself in some new 
 region, has frequent recourse to sounding, that he may not be ex- 
 posed to striking on sand banks, or to shipwreck on reefs. If thoee 
 who are at this moment navigating the sea of Opposition, gave evi- 
 dence of the same foresight and the same wisdom, they would learn 
 that rocks and shoals surround them on every side, and that it 
 would be better for them to burn their ships, and take to new. 
 The heroic courage of rashness, is qualified as folly by common 
 sense. 
 
 The voice and decrees of fate call all Canadians to a new life, 
 and this the warmest opponents of the act now accomplished, can- 
 not deny in either soul or conscience. Almost the whole world is 
 in process of reconstruction. Canada, with many other countries, 
 submits to this law ; to that there can be no reasonable objection, 
 for the changes have been made in the interest of the public wel- 
 fare ; in order that on the new bases the general development may 
 be on a grand scale ; in order that all may find their account in it, 
 even the malcontents. 
 
 At the beginning of this era, it was said that no good could come 
 from Bethlehem, which did not binder the assertion, made in good 
 faith, from proving a glaring untruth. We have in Canada de- 
 tractors of this kind ; but their pride is more detestable than that 
 of the others, for it insults their own blood, and all those who have 
 been born on the same soil as themscl ^es. 
 
^ 
 
 16 
 
 What is there to hinder Canada from having a future of its OTrn, 
 and to seek, like other countries, for glory, prosperity and happi- 
 ness. When we see, and that every day, individuals arriving at 
 these diflferent stages, who had begun at the foot of the ladder, 
 should we fear for the advancement of a country whose geographi- 
 cal and other advantages are so great and so well fitted to give pre- 
 sage of a glorious future ? We love the bosom which nourished us ; 
 why should we not love the country which gave us birth ? The 
 mother is a glory, in which the children breathe with joy the per- 
 fume of a pure love. Country is a mother in which men find on 
 an ideal and practical scale the same happiness, when they labour 
 for its advancement and do not slander it. 
 
 The reconstruction of which some complain, instead of lessening 
 and difiiinishing the chances for national prosperity, will have the 
 contrary effect. The population is increased ; is that counted for 
 nothing ? The territory has now outposts which allow of industry 
 and commerce being extended ; are these advantages to be depre- 
 ciated and despised ? These outposts which the sea bathes are ter- 
 ritories by themselves, and part of the populations included in them, 
 speak our language and are descended from the same stem as our- 
 selves ; shall we be unwilling to hold out to them a fraternal hand 
 
 and to invite them to the national banquet? What say 
 
 the adversaries of Confederation to this ? These brethren who have 
 80 long languished in the darkness hold out their hands to us — and 
 
 we disown them ! If there is a single Canadian, speaking 
 
 the language which the ACADIANS speak, who dares to say or 
 even to think so, let it be known by all those who belong to the 
 great and noble family, characterised by tenderness, from whence 
 we derive our origin. 
 
 If the fibre which speaks to the brain a language of love is not 
 loosened nor broken in us — all will be proud of the new alliance 
 which restores among us brethren too long separated from their 
 brethren. Who does not know their sad history ; who does not 
 know what they have had to endure ? Their past existence is a val- 
 ley of bitter tears, surrounded by mountains of moral and physical 
 tortures. Pariahs, sufferers, holocausts, paying for the faults of 
 their fathers, history has never shown any so cruelly treated. They 
 have suffered painful and bloody sacrifices, without cursing those 
 who were the first cause of them, without cursing France for her 
 errors, her evil conduct, her faults towards them. Like the rao« 
 of Judah, they have been tracked like wild beasts, from rave to 
 cave, in which they concealed their nakedness and their 'uhousand 
 misfortunes. The insults which their fathers had escaped during 
 their sensual life, entirely given up to the gross pleasrres of the 
 flesh — they received in their stead, without acoosing Provideaoe of 
 
17 
 
 injustict;, and without calling down a malediction ou their ances- 
 tors. Ask the beautifal work of Charles Gayarrd — " histoire de 
 LA L0UI8IANNE " — for some information on the history of the 
 Acadians. At page 128 of the second volume, you will see : 
 
 " When Louis XIV had ceded Acadia to Great Britain, he sti- 
 pulated that the subjects whom he had abandoned should retain 
 their properties, if they swore allegiance and homage to Queen 
 Anne. But the Acadians would not take the oath required, except 
 with the reserve that they should never be obliged to bear arms 
 against France." 
 
 Page 120. — " Driven like vile herds, Acadian families, to the 
 number of seven thousand souls, were close stowed in the ships of 
 their persecutors, and when they turned their looks towards their 
 country, to bid it a sad adieu, they perceived only the flames which 
 consumed their villages, aud the British bayonets which lined the 
 banks. So did ancient Messenia iee her children fly before the de- 
 cree of exile issued by the ferocious Lacedemonians. Thus are 
 renewed in the New World, those scenes of horror and of tender- 
 ness, of which Greece has been the witness, and which the pen of 
 the author of Anacharsis has represented with such terrible colours. 
 The very expressions of Barthelemy are only too applicable to the 
 fate of the modern Messenians. " An entire nation, driven from its 
 homes, wandering aimlessly among nations, terrified at its misfor- 
 tunes ; youths, enfeebled by grief, bearing on their shoulders the 
 authors of their days ; women seated on the ground, expiring from 
 weakness, with their children clasped in their arms ; here tears, 
 groans, the strongest expressions of despair. If this picture were 
 given to one of the most cruel Spartans to paint, a remnant of 
 pity would make the pencil fall from his hands." 
 
 Page 131. — "The Acadians had heard that upon one single 
 point of North America, still floated thut stainless banner, which 
 they loved with so heroic a devotion. Immediately the hope of 
 seemg it again reanimnted their {'OiM-age. The greater part of them 
 thought only of repairing to Louisiana, and all who were able had 
 themselves transported there. We have already seen how they 
 arrived there in detached bands, to whom the colony granted all 
 the assistance it was possible to bestow. It thuf, gained the acces- 
 sion of an honest and laborious population, which proved for it an 
 element of prosperity:" 
 
 This took place in 1764. 
 
 In the year 1867, on the 1st July, the remnant of these martyrs 
 awoke to a new life, and found again their brethren ready to receive 
 them into their arms. New Lazaruses, they issue from their tomb, 
 and bless the Canadian beams which revivify them. Where is the 
 national pencil which can ilbxstrate this new feature in the history 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 Hi 
 
 i» i 
 
 of the country ? Let the Cauadian artist who has used his psn with 
 so much talent in the sen ice of the Acadians to describe t!ie heavy 
 shadows which surrounded them, have now recourse to his pencil 
 to paint the brilliant colours of the aurora which cherishes aiid blesses 
 them. 
 
 It will be difl&cult to establish in the minds of the people sub- 
 stantial reasons for opposing the completed work or hindering its 
 progress, unless by having recourse to reasons of a .secondary order, 
 in order to attack certain tendencies more suitable for the old than 
 the new world, and which seem to have crept in here rather as re- 
 flections than as something original. A nation which Is growing, 
 and every class of which is devoted to toil, has little reason to fear 
 that deleterious institutions will arise with any chance of life. 
 Those are reproached who have accepted a customary mark of dis- 
 tinction in Europe, altogether honorary, the gratuitous conclusion 
 being thence arrived at, that the firm intention is to transplant 
 and to revive here that which, even in Europe, is already falling 
 into more or less desuetude. 
 
 There is one thing we may be convinced of, and that is, that 
 Britain, in which public opinion exercises so powerful a control 
 over general and other business, over the foreign as over the do- 
 ::2iestic, cannot logically seek to plant in this country, that which, 
 there as well as here, is regarded as among the things of the past. 
 No. Those who have recourse to this bugbear to irritate and 
 frighten the people, having no good reasons to press into their ser- 
 vice, take the first that come and use them. Does the abolition of 
 tLo seigniorial tenure in Canada mean a new creation of this kind ? 
 It is not necessary to say more on this jubject, nor to bring for- 
 ward any reasons beyond this simple question. 
 
 Our mind, somewhat familiar with analysis and synthesis, 
 seeks in vain in the sum of the petty ideas which for some time 
 have been uttered against Confederation, whether their united num- 
 ber offered a serious point of attachment, or even if by means of 
 their united number it would be in the least degree possible to estab- 
 lish a platform on which a party could even support themselves* 
 This is why we have advised, on a former page, the opposition to 
 hum their ships. 
 
 Progress in politics does not mean a retreat. Nations like in- 
 dividuals are obliged to make progress, to march forward, and this 
 is the reason their feet are not turned backwards. Even the crab 
 does not make a step backwards, except to avoid danger, and when 
 that danger arrives unforeseen. Some would have it believed that 
 Ihe country, instead of obeying the law of progress, is marching 
 rapidly to its ruin. Men, like plants, under the unhealthy influ- 
 ence of shadow, see everything dark around them, and become 
 
19 
 
 misshapen, some in their minds, others in their appearance. Hu- 
 manity has laboured from the beginning to fill up the depths, to 
 level the rough places, to drain the meadows and morasses, to give 
 to the earth a more regular form, that the shadows might neither 
 be EO deep, nor so noxious. This gigantic work is no fanciful tale ; 
 it is a reality everywhere visible. Well, this labour which bears 
 fruit, from .luman sweat and exhausting toils of every kind, has 
 its moral and intellectual pendant. Nations march forward also in 
 these two parts of the same work. Men of morose disposition are 
 unhappy beings, and scarcely deserve the trouble with which inter- 
 course with them is sought, unless it be for the purpose of convert- 
 ing them to sounder ideas. This also, let not the dissatisfied be 
 offended, is one of the missions humanity has to accomplish. Men 
 must learn to live in open day, after having haunted the sad and 
 darksome paths of life. The discontented of the country must be 
 converted, sooner oi late>, and must discover that progress here is 
 not a dead letter, but a vivifying fact which smiles on all, even oa 
 those who refuse to ackriowledge it. 
 
 II. 
 
 Behold i,he chariot of light arrive ; the innumerable steeds which 
 bear it along are resplendent with colours of every diflFerent shade ; 
 the traces are almost imperceptible from far, but close at hand, where 
 they in some sort approach, they form so grand a spectacle, that 
 men stop at the sight and are struck with ecstaey and admiration. 
 
 The disc of the god of physical nature appears, and men bow 
 before his face as a friend whose goodness, greatness and power are 
 recognised. Language fails to express the feeling. 
 
 The sun's rising is an every day event. New born humanity is 
 also an every day event. Both appeal to reason and to sentiment^ 
 and to the effort to render both fruitful in results. 
 
 During the night of nations, germs spring up, but they become 
 evident only when the sun of events comes to discover them, and 
 to show their active mission. During these nights in which occur 
 from time to time mysterious procreations, which escape the notice 
 of neighbours, a silence of death keeps guard at their gates. This 
 silence is the guardian angel of their infancy. 
 
 See the mother at the head of the cradle; she commands silence. 
 It is in miniature what the other scene is on a large scale. 
 
 Look at what has been the infancy of Canada ; a silence of 
 death. The world was ignorant almost of its existence. 
 
 Suns whose coming we scarcely know, and which enlighten the 
 world without appearing, like the first, fix also their looks of fire 
 upon humanity, and develop in it higher germs which eternity, 
 
20 
 
 li 
 
 keeps ever in reserve for the necessities of the moment. These 
 stars illumine the moral and intellectual atmosphere of nations ; 
 we seek them in vain everywhere, and everywhere they escape the 
 sight as if they had no existence. They are seen in their eflfeots, 
 while the natural sun is seen before its effects are felt. 
 
 The visible is very great, very beautiful, very powerful ; but can 
 it be compared to the invisible ? The rapid, precocious develop- 
 ment of a certain nation, like that of certain individuals, is consi- 
 dered as an evil, and can it be judged otherwise ? The lustre, the 
 spontaneity, the feverish vigour, the impetuosity of development 
 fbrm a phenomenon of nature which blinds the senses, which charms 
 the feelings, and which even overpowers the guardians of reason, 
 when these forget discipline, its rigorous rules, its severe precepts. 
 No one can be present at this mysterious overflow of power, without 
 being moved to his inmost being, without admiring the violence of 
 the current, which forms endless rivers, shoreless lakes, bottomless 
 seas, and dazzling falls — of industry, of commerce, of knowledge, 
 and of all which gives foundation, form and extent to national exis- 
 tence. 
 
 It is beside one of these extraordinary creations, such as is without 
 paral'el in the whole world, that Canada lies and lives. It is beside 
 this vigorous, flexible and intelligent giant which fixes and fascinates 
 all eyes and all nations by its marvellous works in every department 
 of knowledge, that Canada dares to make herself distinguished. 
 This giant is undoubtedly a reality ; but is the other a dream ? 
 Yes! 
 
 Yes ! it is a dream ; but it is a dream of Providence, and of those 
 who can see into the infinite, into the iavisible, into the decrees of 
 destiny. 
 
 The adorers of the God of the moment, chant his praises before 
 his altars, and recognize none else ; from afiir, even, they adore him, 
 for he scatters his rays on every side. He is a God individualised 
 in some one nation in each age of universal life. He is a God who 
 lives and dies. 
 
 When with his powerful heel he crushed the hideous hydra of 
 slavery, at the price of the blood of his children, at the price of a 
 new immortality for history, dying under the stroke of the expiriiig 
 cause, a shiver of joy ran through every generous heart ; the very 
 demons, who swarm everywhere, saw in it one suffering less to 
 practice or to be endured. 
 
 We do not prostrate ourselves before this God — for he must stand 
 who would see great things aright. 
 
 The neighbouring nation has grown as by enchantment. It is 
 the miracle of the Christian era, before which the most obstinate 
 stand confounded. This nation is great in all things ; in science, 
 
21 
 
 in art, in philosophy, its works rival those of the foremost nations 
 of Europe. Education spread everywhere, equalises classes, estab- 
 lishes fraternity, and from individual unity forms general unity; 
 Philanthropy is there grand in simplicity and wisdom — its homes 
 are its schools, its dwellings are workshops, where poverty, mother 
 of the passions, is driven off by toil. It is this people which is 
 Canada's neighbour. 
 
 What are we to conclude from this situation, foreseen and arran- 
 ged by infinite wisdom ? Is it because the one is great and the other 
 small, that the former must absorb the latter? Is it because the 
 first is powerful, that the latter cannot become so ? 
 
 All bodies, however powerful, however beautiful, however well 
 developed they may be, are condemned to die. This is an every 
 day experience, as well as one confirmed by history. That is the 
 end of every nation, as well as of every individual. 
 
 The nation of the United ^'.tates is a miracle. That of Canada 
 
 is a MYSTERY. 
 
 The " new law" begun the new era by a miracle. The new world 
 has begun in this manner. 
 
 The mystery at the beginning of this era was long in a state of 
 infancy ; it was ouly after three to four centuries that his existence 
 was officially recognized. The mystery in the " New World," 
 which is to succeed to the miracle is still in ii fancy ; its existence 
 is placed in doubt. The foundation exists, and should the crowning 
 work not exist ? 
 
 Canada is bound to the United States like the flesh to the bones. 
 Is not the flesh the mystery proceeding out of the rib ? 
 
 Miracles attend its destiny; its astounding works charii the 
 eye, thunder in every ear, and find everywhere tongues to proclaim 
 them. The mystery itself believes ! but few believe in it. 
 
 Is it not the image which the pencil of thought traces on the 
 canvas of reality ? 
 
 The sphere of facts palpitates under the breath of the atmos- 
 phere idea. Notwithstanding the heat of the one, the cold of the 
 other, falling or rising, make it undergo every possible degree of 
 existence. That is a mystery which science sees and recognises in 
 the letter, but not in the spirit or in the truth. 
 
 The God of the moment is great in science, great in deeds, great 
 in miracles, and he grows by the incense which he receives ; through 
 this transparent cloud, from far or near, he is seen great, and grow- 
 ing greater, as if his proportions were about to take the world by 
 storm. It is a miracle, which strikes every sense, and which is only 
 believed because it is a. fact. 
 
 Oh 1 nariOW minds, must there be always a miracle for you ; do 
 you still need strange gods on your country's altar to attract to it 
 
22 
 
 your adoration ? The miracle strikes your eye ; but where is the 
 * intellect to vivify your mind ? Where is to be found in you that 
 national element, that holy tabernacle, which the breath of the 
 foreigner defiles and overthrows ? 
 
 Oh ! adorers of the miracle, who would believe that you are a 
 mystery, when you scarce believe it yourselves ? Who would be- 
 lieve that your women bear as a germ the breath of the new world ? 
 Forerunners in the desert, you go to see the miracle, to burn 
 incense before it, as if your mission and your faith must see before 
 you could believe. 
 
 From what time does the mystery see the miracle through the 
 magnifying prism, when from its position the things of the present 
 moment show their future proportions? Is the mystery a mystery 
 for itself ? Alas ! Yes. In the present state of the world, tangible 
 truth has more disciples than pure truth. 
 
 The ill understood incitement of national inspiration has driven 
 the lovers of their nation to a foreign country, to stand beside suc- 
 cess, when it has said to them " labour and suffer here.'" Suffaring 
 is the real mother of great works. Could the present era ever have 
 existed but for the sufiFerings of Calvary ? 
 
 All the vital forces of the country are necessary to the country. 
 The crime of treason to country, does not merely consist in labour- 
 ing for its ruin, but also in abandoning it, and in carrying else- 
 where what the country has given as a trust to each of its children. 
 In this country where even in the most populous localities, the po- 
 pulation is thinly scattered, not only does the necessity for emigra- 
 tion not exist, but the very contrary is felt. The land calls loudly 
 for those who leave and abandon it. Its voice recalls them even 
 when they are far oflF. This maternal voice is not an illusion, it is 
 a reality. It is a reality which follows the ingrate every moment, 
 which pains him with love, with grief, with tears, with a tender- 
 ness which it alone can express. Upon a foreign soil this voice 
 speaks to the children, to the grandchildren of the fugitive ; it 
 follows his race for ages through the numerous generations which 
 he bestows on other lands; it speaks in tones of endearment to 
 them, as if their fathers had not been guilty of cowardice and moral 
 treason. It is under the inspiration of this voice that our pen 
 moves, that it traces, however feebly, the emotions with which it 
 is animated. 
 
 Guided by the voice of the mystery, our fathers came into these 
 distant countries, and from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf 
 of Mexico, are still to be found their traces and their children; 
 Indefatigable pioneers, they watered with their sweat and blood 
 the lanu J on which the miracle was to take place. New Magi, 
 they knew what their sons are still ignorant of ; that sacrifice is 
 duty. 
 
23 
 
 Enlighteners of the New World, your manes arise to-day to tell 
 your descendants, " that the mission of the race continues still; 
 that the children have to complete what the fathers begun." 
 
 The I "eezes aie animated with these mysterious and dearly loved 
 voices ; they speak to the wisest and to the most hardened. 
 
 Say not when these voices speak to you of national duty —that 
 it is an effect of the imagination ! Say not that these are chimeras ! 
 When they say to you : " Children, remain here, labour here, and 
 if it must be so, suffer here,"- say not it is a lying inspiration, that 
 it leads astray, for you would lie to yourself, you would blaspheme 
 against the truth. 
 
 Do not believe that here you are nothing — that on the other 
 side you are something. Your fathers exuded blood and water 
 that the miracle should be accomplished in the New World. They 
 followed the line of duty ; they sacrificed the present for the future. 
 It was their mission ; it is yours still. 
 
 Opening the field to the miracle, pointing out to labourers of 
 another order the scene of their labors, gathering laurels of devo- 
 tion, love, and immortality, can we call these living without glory 
 and without reward ? Is not the joy of living in a higher sphere 
 superior to that which is found in lower walks of life? 
 
 If you see the new state of things in sombre colours; if you see 
 the foreign element to your blood increasing in the country, be not 
 jealous of it, nor dissatisfied, for it is an auxiliary which will deve- 
 lop your \;ork. The generous blood which flows in our veins is 
 the product of a spirit which is full of love and of devotion for 
 great causes, which doe^ not regard mere personal considerations. 
 In this respect the sons will be worthy of the fathers, worthy of 
 the immortal source (France) which still gives to the whole world 
 the invaluable aid of high moral and persuasive intellect. 
 
 The new phase into which Canada enters may be regarded in 
 many ways, but the best appreciation of this event and of its con- 
 sequences, will naturally be found among those not of a discontent- 
 ed 'Tiind, among those who have faith in the people, and are not 
 afraid of the future. These are not generally party men ; they are 
 not concerned with the passions which often disturb and blind those 
 who come in contact with them. They rest cold as the pure at- 
 mosphere, without losing their interest in the public good. Every 
 change has its annoyances and inconveniences, which last for a 
 longer or shorter time, according to circumstances, or to the parti- 
 cular nature of the change. Must it therefore be concluded that 
 change is a misfortune, in a larger or smaller degree ? 
 
 The future of a nation, like that of an individual, is in the hands 
 of Providence. Providence, with mind, heart and infinite power, 
 watches over and sustains its work, according to the most elemea- 
 
24 
 
 tary notions of logic. But this Simple view is scarcely yet recog- 
 nised, unless when silence calms and sets the passions at rest. 
 
 It is as easy to foresee the destiny of a nation as that of an indi- 
 vidual when the eye of intelligence sounds the inward heart of each. 
 This telescopic organ scarcely sees the xlstails, the poverty, the 
 nothing" vrhinh fill to a certain extent the general plan of these two 
 movers of society, for they are of no consequence in its estimation. 
 This organ sees along the coming ages, and does not occupy itself 
 with reg ding or analysing that wnicli is only the annoyance of 
 the moniupt; it investli^ates the mind of both, and there at the 
 source, he learns their destiny. 
 
 When the microscopic eye meddles with politics, it cannot attain 
 to a knowledge of lofty ideas of them ; it foresees only what it sees, 
 and that is certainly not always either fair in form or agreeable to 
 contemplate. 
 
 Those who believe in progress in small things, or in the indivi- 
 dual, must, if they wish to be logical, believe in its greater mani- 
 festation, in that of nations. Abortions are never so frequent as to 
 become a rule. Those who amuse themselvec by taking account of 
 them, to estimate their value, study and preach small notions. 
 
 Why should it be desirable that a people should be eclipsed and 
 incomplete before having attained the apogee of its existence? The 
 details, or the nothings of a change, which are injurious to the act, 
 are they of such a nature as to render the act bad, when on all 
 sides it is admitted io be good, even by those who endeavour to 
 oppose it ? Can these details be so increased as to eclipse the gen- 
 eral plan, and to render it impracticable ? 
 
 What is, then, th3 mission of those who see the petty defects, 
 who discover faults, unless it be to labour to remove them ? But 
 let us allow the capricious wind to pass, unchained against the 
 high mountains of public reason ; it is a breeze which will be puri- 
 fied by the contact, and will then become more regular in its action, 
 bringing benefits to all. 
 
 After having passed in review the marvellous prodigies of our 
 neighbours, whom the adversaries of OonCederation hold up a? 
 models to be imitated and followed; after having rendered full jus- 
 tice to the miracle of the New World, to which, as we have shown, 
 we have largely contributed ; attwr having shown that this country is 
 great— very great — we dare to undertake a task as agreeable — that 
 of demonstrating that this veritable progress, which is surprising to 
 those who doubted the ways of Providence, is doomed to be surpassed 
 in the future by the people mysterij. which begins now to sketch out 
 the plan of its reconstruction, of the reconstruction of the New 
 World. 
 
 The picture which unrolls before our inward sight is a picture 
 
25 
 
 in which fancy plays no part. We do not fear to examine its 
 immense proportions, to pass along the shadows which furrow it and 
 give it relief, which might perhaps terrify eyes less trained, and the 
 soul which faints and is distorted with the expression of the Laocoon 
 — and which issues from the ordeal into growing day shining with a 
 pale and lustrous light. The lines are lost in every picture worthy 
 of the name ; the light and shade paint themselves on the canvas 
 of the ideal and of the real, without obtruding tl^e details or giv- 
 ing them a prominence which would detract from the whole. 
 
 This picture, which is exposed above our heads, and which these 
 mirrors unconsciously reflect, without producing in them any sen- 
 sible emotion, exists and may be seen in the horizon of divine 
 thought, spiritualised upon the foundation of Luman thought. 
 
 Never has an event happened in the world whose shadow has .ot 
 appeared beforehand, often long previous, in a more or less defi- 
 nite manner, on the undulating waves of the human brain. This 
 reproducer of the divine will, registers the future as well as the 
 other parts of time. 
 
 An episodical description of the picture before our eyes, would 
 rather be received as a fantasy than otherwise, and this is why we 
 must not at this moment paint its grand and exciting movements. 
 The small amount of logic yet existing in the judg-ment, does not 
 allow of many accepting as truths, the philosophical inductions 
 which plainly decide questions and cause them to be estimated at 
 their simple value. The science of numbers is almost the only one 
 in which logic has full sway, and even in it the deductiops are not 
 yet perfectly established, nor fully known. The resources of num- 
 bers on a great scale, are astonishing, and the short sighted politi- 
 cian, who would believe that a p iblic enterprise is destined to fail, 
 according to all the laws of ordinary reason, must bo greatly asto- 
 nished when he sees the contrary result happen. But no ; it is 
 very difficult to convert, to remodel, to reform the absolutist. 
 
 " Man moves, and God leads him," is an axiom which is pro- 
 nounced only with the lips, so little importance is attached to it by 
 beings who are si.nply talkers. The capitalists, the employers, the 
 poor, who invest tiirir great, their small, or their slender capital in 
 enterprises proclaimed by the sound of the trumpet, believing that 
 the profits of their venture should return to them directly^ ar«.i 
 often annoyed and indignant that God should permit, or rather 
 will, that it should be otherwise — or that others should become the 
 possessors. That happens often, however, for the good of the 
 many, it not of the few. Fraternal humanity in its essence is still 
 often a strangle to this arrangement, for this sensitive part of the 
 being is not yet developed to the wished for point. How many 
 peculiar fallacies, which cause blood and tears to flow, and which 
 
 J 
 ''I 
 
26 
 
 Ht 
 
 lead the victims to despair or to the tomb, become for others 
 sources of joy, of contentment and of happiness ! This is called in 
 the language of ordinary reasoning — injustice ! This is what arises 
 from regarding things too close at hand, of calculating for oneself 
 only, and not from general considerations. This is to be wanting 
 in logic, to have a microscopic eye. 
 
 There have been public enterprises in this country, which have 
 turned out unfortunate for a certain number, and which have 
 brought the public chest into a sad 'condition of penury, while 
 nevertheless drawing the country from the quasi nonentity in 
 which it formerly existed. The general physiognomy has thus 
 changed its aspect ; from a low and insipid expression, it has be- 
 come bright and animated ; instead of suffering and languishing, 
 the body has become ac^tive and prosperous ; from a state of cowar- 
 dice and ineptitude, the soul has become courageous and enter- 
 prising — and all these changes are due to tii'j unfortunate enter- 
 prises which have cost millions. 
 
 Let Providence demand from the heart and the intellect of men 
 resour.-^es to aid in the removal of any public suffering whatever, 
 and it immediately makes a division among them ; Providence 
 must then displease one of the parties, whose will it thwarts for the 
 moment, free to reconcile it afterwards. This is the history of 
 the world, ou a great scale or on a small, and on every side. God 
 shows himself so much the fathc-i of all men that he distributes 
 without distinction his favours of the day. We see these favours 
 fall upon heads called unworthy : we see the wicked prosper ; we 
 see the virtuous man at the foot of the social scale, and the vicious 
 man at the summit ; and short sighted mortals say — it is unjust ! 
 It happens, however, that by this proceeding, which appears 
 strange and undesigned, a sensible progress is exhibited and light 
 is produced where shadow existed. Astonishment bursts forth for 
 a niomcnt, and passes like the shooting stars athwart the gloom of 
 human life, rejoicing, for an instant, the eyes of the beholders. 
 
 Earthly power \f> a kind of Providence, which copies on a small 
 scale, what is seen on a great. This pov/er sometimes showers 
 its blessings upon beings styled by evil names and of bad reputa- 
 tions. This appears unjust ; but can this proceeding prevent great 
 good from being accomplished ? No ! I'olitical morality is after 
 all only the expression of individual morality. Power finds as many 
 occasions to do evil as the individuals whom it represents, and 
 like them it at times yields to tcmptvtion, and gathers like them 
 its fruits. The public balance, whose scales contain good and 
 evil, like i)rivato balances end always in equilibrium, and show 
 that progress is the net and clear result of all united weights. 
 Some will say, thanks to us if it is so. Others will say the same ; 
 
w 
 
 27 
 
 but it is the united sum of all these voices which makes reason 
 plain and clear, for separately these voices are all more or less 
 tainted with passion. 
 
 Providence, we are told sometim38, permits suffering. Close at 
 hand suffering is a monster, a misfortune ; but viewed from a dis- 
 tance, it is an angel, a joy. Have you ever, readers, reflected on 
 this truth, 
 
 Public reason, most generally expressed unconsciously, so power- 
 ful is it in itself, possessing so much self-reliance, and despising so 
 fully the dangers which threaten it, does not trouble itself with 
 petty local and momentary annoyances, so insignificant are they to 
 its whole being ; it laughs at the evil infiuences which sometimes 
 come in sheep's clothing to attack with pin-points its most vital 
 parts. The blows of clubs only come after maturity, when old age 
 seeks repose. 
 
 Let no one belive, after what we have said, that we wish no con- 
 trol, nor an organized body to exercise it. Certainly not ! We 
 desire there should be some control. It does exist, by its own right, 
 and by virtue of necessity, and of public well-being ; even when 
 it is violent, passionate, gloomy with despair, and on which 
 death smiles, as on the Girondins, we I lieve in its necessity and 
 its usefulness. Wc believe in motion, which wears out evil, which 
 exhausts itself. Motion in our mind, is synonymous with life 
 and progress. 
 
 Providence makes use of human agency to control its plans and 
 ita works. Between these poles so opposed to each other, the 
 one so great and infinite in every respect, the other so small, there is 
 a bond of association, which shows itself in theory and in facts. 
 The divine light becomes incarnate in the light which issues from 
 the human brain ; it vivifies mortal works ; it stamps them with 
 its seal ; it works by human operation, 
 
 This prospect is immense from its lessons, consoling by the 
 reflections to which it gives birth. In considering it we experience 
 the certainty that the power, love and wi.sdom, which forn* us — 
 which are m.s, are of a nature to confront all poaslble eventualities, 
 and to assure us that the chaos of which alarmists always give 
 warning before each step man takes, is not after al! very alarm- 
 ing, since it is peopled and animated with every variety of crea- 
 tions of usefulness and beauty. 
 
 The people, which is the providence of politics, places over itself 
 rulers, but these are not always invested with the intelligence 
 which reveals the future. The ruling power is oftenest tho agent, 
 sometimes, however, unconsciously, of tiie national destinies. Power 
 isues from the people ; it is the living expression of the people ; it 
 is its thermometer, its barometer ; if it sometimes slumber, it is 
 
28 
 
 Wause the people slumbers ; if it is weak in action, it is because 
 the people is so, and that it communicates to power this state and 
 this condition of being. There is variety in nations, as among in- 
 dividuals, and the changing conditions which we remarked among 
 the former in different periods of their history, which frequently 
 give them a strange and somewhat contradictory physiognomy, 
 are a perfectly natural and easily explainable phenomena, being 
 on a large s'jale what is constantly repeated among individuals. 
 
 The controlling agents of the people also issue from the people, 
 but tbey never represent the majority, except when in power. 
 
 The moderators of power are checks on the too rapid expenditure 
 of money, on undertakings leading to depths which have to be filled 
 up. These checks, then, press firmly on the paths, they grasp them 
 with vigour and strength. A dull sound is first heard, but soon it 
 increases in violence ; the sparks fly, and the obedient wheels drag. 
 These check? are sometimes set in action, when the car and its 
 occupants run no real danger ; at other times, however, their action 
 is useful and beneficial. The firm of the people is a partnership 
 which, nevertheless, little fears in reality the supposed or even the 
 real dangers, oft«n found on the way. This multiftirious company 
 has become very courageous, since it has acquired a consciousness 
 of its worth, since it has learned that motion leads to pi-osperity, 
 and that united action will always come to its aid, provided it acts 
 and fulfills its mission. This sentiment, formerly born of fcar^ is 
 itself very significant in the present time ; this newborn will certain- 
 ly end by giving the checks a less arduous task, perhaps vhat of 
 counters or reckoners only, the ofiice of hands on the public dial. 
 This employment, whose inauguration we foresee, is far from 
 being a servile charge. Is it not the indication on the dial which 
 points out the hours for toil, which sets it in operation, and which 
 stops it at the determined and wished for time ? 
 
 Solidarity ! We pause at this magic word, at this miracle of the 
 language, which the mysterious, beautiful, glorious France has 
 thrown from her bosom to enlighten and console the whole world. 
 What new ideas have followed in the train of this word, to give to 
 national affairs a njore elevated and unhoped for seal. Universal 
 fVaternity, in a moral point of view, appears now to be realizable, 
 looking at the affinities, so easily brought about, which lead to it. 
 All the paths oF life are now paved with solidarity^ this is why they 
 arc more frequented, more beautiful, even safer and more solid. 
 Humanity is indeed man, but it is man in his greatness. 
 
 Is it now permitted to linger on the highways or byways of 
 life, to slumber under the shadows of the far nvmte^ to regard the 
 sun rising and setting, careless of the lcsson.4 he teaches, and which 
 ho has 80 long repeated ? Can we now sec without comprehending ? 
 
29 
 
 It is like knowing how to read a little in printed books — even a 
 very little — they show who cannot do so. It is the miracle which 
 makes known the mystery. 
 
 Educate the people ! People, educate yourselves ! Dollars thus 
 spent are found again as ingots of gold, so greatly are they trans- 
 formed when put to this use. Matter rejoices and adorns itself 
 when a pure feeling animates it, and when an enlightened intellect 
 directs, instead of misleading it, it blooms beyond expression, and 
 from a single stalk or a single bud, it brings forth the desirable 
 and the desired fruits, surpassing even the possible. 
 
 Let education be free ! Let the chains which have trammelled 
 its movements be broken ! Let sentiment become intelligence ! and 
 the shadows will disappear from the surface of the country. The 
 national awakening shows still a task to be accomplished, and what 
 is done heartily and with wisdom, will render the rest easy before 
 long. Between the idea and its accomplishment there must be — 
 time ; there are roads to be made through woods, meadows, hills, 
 mountains ; sometimes there are tunnels to be pierced — before the 
 end is reached. All these difficulties, which present themselves 
 under hundreds, thousands of aspects, of different natures, are 
 rendered more easily surmountable by those who have faith — 
 that quality which has been so long preached, and yet which ia 
 still in the condition of a miracle except for certain objects. 
 
 It will be objected that the development of the country can only 
 take place by the assistance of money, and that the slender capital 
 here is not sufficient to accomplish the end in view. We do not 
 anticipate that progress could be made here without toil, that any- 
 thing can be accomplished without the struggle of ideas, contend- 
 ing and thus purifying each other. When public opinion, either 
 directly, or indirectly through the administration, shall have ma- 
 tured any plan whatever, which shall be a step in advance, resources 
 will not be wanting, in one form or another, to give a body to the 
 matured idea. Why certain ideas do not succeed in obtaining a 
 material form, is because they have not been sufficiently matured 
 when tested in the crucible of reality. What is necessary, then, 
 for the country, that it may become prosperous, ia the manufacture 
 of ideas, and of intellectual centres, protected against every kind 
 of import or export duty. It is a system which mav at first appear 
 new, strange and impracticable ; but by reason of its novelty and 
 strangeness, it deserves to be tried before being pronounced im- 
 practicable. Multiply the manufacture of ideas ; grant them a 
 moral if not a material encouragoiront, and you will see that they 
 will produce wonderful results. Allow them liberty as a guide, 
 and the errors they commit will correct themselves. Do not trouble 
 too much those who are acting for you, and who ore aiming high. 
 
30 
 
 Let direct taxes, which sooner or later will become realities, be 
 raised from each intelligently, and let each impose his own, as an 
 obligation to the public, and as a duty to himself, and you will see 
 that faith will not suflfer by it, but that, on the contrary, it will 
 gain and will remove mountains ot impossibilities. 
 
 We cast from our minds the evil idea that any public body, 
 which acts by virtue of means which are not ours, really desire ta 
 work evil to the public. Fraternity of souls is a reality which we 
 admit, however little fraternity yet exists among bodies. We of- 
 ten see with grief this state of things, but it does not cbill our faith 
 in the future. 
 
 Two steps from us the future shows itself smiling to every one, 
 as if all were its friends, as if no one would attack it. This image 
 is a punishment for the discontented who stand on a low level ; 
 this reality is a great joy for others. Nevertheless, we now see op- 
 ponents for form's sake, who assume an air of honest sincerity in 
 their opposition, yet who in reality cherish the hope that their 
 worst prognostications will not be falsified. 
 
 If on one side we see a certain want of sincerity and good faith, 
 elsewhere we discover a secret uneasiness like that of a penitent child. 
 This feeling is not avowed, it is so difficult to confess it. If on one 
 side the new state of things is openly opposed, on the other side it 
 is often disavowed in silence, by those who have not the boldness 
 to say why. 
 
 The fact accomplished is an idea having body and soul for all; no 
 one, not even its warmest opponents, would thiitk of reversing it, 
 for they understand that would be impossible : but this fact, still 
 new, and whose machinery only works apart and separately, to tell 
 the truth, can be taken as a mark for criticism only by those ani- 
 mated by impatience and for those who reason at random. This 
 fact, carried into effect by the force of reason, still surprises even 
 those who see it with pleasure. We live in an age of great move- 
 ments and of mighty reconstructions, and we submit like other na- 
 tions, with astonishment at sight of the great overturning which is 
 made and which we ourselves make. 
 
 Each party has something to lose by reconstruction. Those 
 who live at the expense of party, and by party, and who have found- 
 ed upon party hopes which are not yet realised, are not quite satis- 
 fied with the system which is almost reconstructed anew. The 
 old foundations are almost destroyed ; parties no longer exist, ex- 
 cept nominally. This confounds routine. The spider whose threads, 
 so skilfully stretched as snares for flics, are broken, must feel in his 
 little mind the utmost dissatisfaction and blind rage. Let us pity 
 the spider; but wait, and the morrow sees it begin its labour again, 
 and soon we see new snares fixed in the same place or not far dis- 
 tant. 
 
31 
 
 If we should examine minutely the question of the losses incur- 
 red on both sides, we should have much to say ; but if in the same 
 way we should examine the whole benefits that all would gain by 
 the change, two volumes would not sufiice. Let the little to be 
 found here be examined as the true expression of an immovable 
 faith in the future, and as a tribute offered to a small nation, which 
 we view through the veil formed by the present, as a great people. 
 
 Let us hope that the spirit of journalism will appear with the 
 new order of things, and that the editors who desire to lose the 
 rough and ugly skin of the caterpillar, be able soon to wing their 
 flight in an elevated sphere, and to rejoice even their own readers by 
 their transformation and reconstruction. 
 
 Let us hope that the people, who will have the greatest charge 
 in the reconstrujtion, will not be wanting in duty. Let us trust 
 that those who will be deputed to lighten the load by their measures, 
 remember that their constituents honour them with their confidence, 
 and that they ought to be faithful to their trust. To represent the 
 people in its different shades of opinion, is to be invested with a 
 glorious charge, which the minority bears, as well as the majority. 
 To honour the opposition is on the part of those in power an act 
 of duty which profits those who exercise it. A childless family 
 is a centre of sadness, and a family in which the child is despised, 
 in which its words, sometimes so full of sense, are not listened to, 
 does not draw down blessings on it. 
 
 Those who have recourse to passion to convince the people that 
 they are its true friends, are to be sincerely pitied. It is an un- 
 worthy means, which in the end is always condemned, even by 
 those who have at first been its supporters. A man must know 
 how to subdue himself, before he can subdue others profitably. 
 Above the public feeling, there is good sense, which is not always 
 evident, but which does not the less exist. Appeals to the passions 
 raise a more or less turbulent and rude mass, which sometimes 
 erects itself, for a time, on a throne of straw, where the dunghill 
 emits its exhalations ; but this state of things is never of long 
 duration, in spite of the more or less legitimate provocations which 
 palliate its empire. We must return to constitutional means, to 
 courteous contests, in which striking reasons do not knock out the 
 brains, but transform and reconstruct them. It were glorious, as 
 well as more profitable, to contend in this manner rather than in 
 the other. 
 
 The people will always know how to appreciate the worth and 
 merit of those who act without concealed motives, and who devote 
 themselves to its cause and its aggrandisement. Ill advised is he 
 who thinks he sees in momentary success, solid guanmtees and a 
 real benefit. Under the glass which forces growth, springs a fruit 
 
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 32 
 
 •without flavour and without strength, whose carbon perverts and 
 vitiates the blood of him who eats it. Ill advised are those who be- 
 lieve they will find in political life personal success, and guarantee? 
 for fortune, their own glory and not that of their constituents. 
 Gros Jean, is a crafty being, who puts on an air of believing the 
 craft of others, and who drops those who seek to put this trick oa 
 him, or do him this ill turn. Ah! we believe with all our strength 
 in the good sense of the people, even when it is not manifested. ^ 
 
 Hopel believe! the one is the labour of thought, the other its 
 result, rendered clear and substantial to the mind. With these two 
 motors, humanity, from the bottom of the humanimal scale, has at- 
 tained 'its present progress. This is a lesson of history, sumiued 
 up in a few words, which cannot be contradicted, and which em- 
 braces all the periods of universal life. This lesson of the practical 
 -order of knowledge, is addressed to the people which can always 
 understand simple things. 
 
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