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CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions 
 
 Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
 1980 
 
Technical Notes / Notes techniques 
 
 The Institute has attenipted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Physical 
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 images in the reproduction are checited below. 
 
 
 
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 L'Institut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains 
 difauts susceptibles de nuire A la quaiitd de la 
 reproduction sont not6s ci-dessous. 
 
 D 
 
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 Coloured pages/ 
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 Coloured plates/ 
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 poss 
 of th 
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 The 
 cont 
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 The 
 
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 intirieure) 
 
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 Additional comments/ 
 Commentaires suppl6mentaires 
 
The images appearing here are the best quality 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Les images suivantes ont 6ti reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la nettet* de I'exemplaire film*, et en 
 conformit6 avec les conditions du contrat de 
 filmage. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall 
 contain the symbol — ► (meaning CONTINUED"), 
 or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever 
 applies. 
 
 The original copy was borrowed from, and 
 filmed with, the l<ind consent of the following 
 institution: 
 
 National Library of Canada 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la der- 
 nlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: 
 le symbole —^ signifie "A SUIVRE ', le eymbole 
 V signifie "FIN". 
 
 L'exemplaire filmi fut reproduit grfice A la 
 g6n6rosit6 de l'6tablissement prdteur 
 suivant : 
 
 Bibliothdque nationale du Canada 
 
 Maps or dilates too large to be entirely included 
 In one ex|:,08ure are filmed beginning in the 
 upper Inft hsriu corner, left to right and top to 
 bottom, as many frames as required. The 
 following diagrams illustrate the method: 
 
 Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre 
 reproduites en un seul clich6 sont fiimdes d 
 partir de Tangle sup^rieure gauche, de gauche d 
 droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre 
 d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant 
 lllustre la mdthode : 
 
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 , IV 
 
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LOYALTY 
 
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 (XjT f J <XVv^C<D 
 
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 LOYALTY. 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED TO THE 
 
 TORONTO YOUNG MEN'S LIBER KL CLUB, 
 
 JANUARY 19th, 1885, 
 
 BY— 
 
 ■J. D. EDGjLR, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
 
 / 
 
.. I ■ t 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 THE GRIP PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 FRONT STREET WEST, TORONTO 
 
 V^ 
 
 
 
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 V 
 
LOYALTY. 
 
 While there is a feeling abroad, in all the Provinces 
 of Canada, of doubt and unrest as to our future, there is 
 still no serious agitation for any distinct political change, 
 nor is there any popular grievance against the Mother 
 Country to excite resentment or warp the judgment. It 
 is, therefore, a fit and favorable time for us to examine, 
 with a calm but fearless scrutiny, our obligations and 
 duties as loyal Canadian citizens. Questions of material 
 interest undoubtedly bring about the establishment of 
 nationalities, but no great nation ever existed without a 
 basis of "sentiment" for its rise and progress. One of 
 the noblest of national sentiments is that of "loyalty," and 
 it is well-known that 
 
 CANADIANS ARE OVERFLOWING WITH IT. 
 
 I do not propose to enquire what have .on the technical 
 definitions of "loyalty" at different times and by different 
 men, because there has never yet been a condition of 
 things similar to our own, in the history of nations. I 
 
LOVALTV 
 
 will nithcr seek to know what practical conclusions we are 
 let! to, from the circumstances of our position. 
 
 The Dominion of Canada was ushered into existence l^y 
 the British North America Act '* with a constitution similar 
 in principle to that of the United Kingdom," as we are 
 told by the preamble. We shall, therefore, be safe in 
 examining the obligations of loyalty and allegiance as 
 they are imposed upon citizens of the United Kingdom, 
 in order, by analogy, to learn our own. An Englishman 
 is loyal to his Queen and Parliament — to the British Con- 
 stitution, in which the Sovereign is the nominal head, but 
 Parliament the real sovereign. He is only loyal to a 
 monarch or dynasty, so long as they are loyal to 
 
 4t 
 
 THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT BETWEEN KING AND PEOPLE" 
 
 as defined -first in 1688, and illustrated ever since by the 
 steady increase of the power of the House of Commons. 
 
 The late J. R. Green, in his history of the English people, 
 in alluding to the results of the revolution of 1 688, says, with 
 perfect truth. '* An English monarch is now as much the 
 creature of an Act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer 
 in his realm." A still more illustrious historian tells us what 
 became of the doctrine of divine right of kings in Eng- 
 land. Lord Macaulay says, " To deprive royalty of those 
 mysterious attributes, and to establish the principle that 
 
 ii 
 
•snp 
 
 mm 
 
 I/)VALTV. 
 
 kings reigned by a right in no respect differing from the 
 right by which freeholders choose knights of the shire, or 
 from the right by which judges grant writs of habeas 
 corpus, was absolutely necessary to the security of our 
 liberties." F'or convenience, and because the English 
 can find no form of government that they like better than 
 a parliamentary one, they use the name of an hereditary 
 monarch to represent the executive functions that are 
 vested in the parliamentary majority. 
 
 The Queen, we know, has not any actual personal power, 
 either executive or legislative. Yet she is clothed round 
 about with a real majesty, for she is the symbol of the might 
 and power of a great nation. I contend that loyalty is due to 
 
 THE REAL POWER IN THE STATE 
 
 which commands obedience, which both makes laws and 
 executes them — the Parliament. When a piece of colored 
 bunting flies over a British man-of-war no other power can 
 insult it with impunity. Is it because of any other reason 
 than that it represents, just as the Queen does, the power 
 of a Government established at a general election by the 
 people of England ? In Russia loyalty means fidelity to 
 the legislative and executive authority, which are com- 
 bined in the Czar. In the republics, loyalty is due direcdy 
 to the legislative and executive bodies, as from time to 
 
 ii 
 
LO\ ALTY. 
 
 time selected by the people. Canadians are loyal, just as 
 are Englishmen, to Queen and Parliament, and that Par- 
 liament is the one which makes our laws — the Parliament 
 of Canada. 
 
 I may be met here by the reply that supreme legislative 
 authority rests with the Imperial Parliament, which only 
 delegates such of its powers to Canada as it sees fit. I a^mit 
 that our Constitution is nominally the work of an Imperial 
 Act, but as a Canadian, I will not admit that 
 
 ANY POWER ON EARTH 
 
 shall ever be permitted to deprive us of self-governing 
 rights and powers, which we now de facjto enjoy. It is for 
 us, on the other hand, to be ever vigilant in demanding 
 whatever extension of these powers we may seem to require. 
 I can oily add that such self-governing powers, once 
 achieved, can never be yielded up by a race of free men, 
 and I dismiss as unworthy of discussion any theory to the 
 contrary. 
 
 The powers which we have of legislating, either 
 by Dominion or Provincial Legislatures, cover nearly 
 all the subjects on which the English Parliament 
 legislates for Great Britain and Ireland. All domestic 
 and municipal matters that directly affect the people, 
 and some important matters, such as the tariff, which 
 
Un'ALTY. 
 
 affect our foreign rehitions, are legislated upon by our 
 Parliament. Upon those classes of subjects the Imperial 
 Parliament has practically 
 
 NO JURISDICTION 
 
 which we can recognize. The executive powers of our 
 responsible ministers are co-exten-ive with our legisla- 
 tive powers In every one of our statutes, Orders in 
 Council, proclamations, or letters patent, Her Majesty's 
 name appears. In executive and administrative matters 
 she represents the power and dignity of the Dominion. 
 Her name is the symbol under which our people govern 
 themselves. We are therefore loyal to it. Whenever I 
 hear, in my own country, the glorious roll of the National 
 Anthem of England, I can join in the sentiment it voices, 
 because I feel that here we are singing "God Save the 
 Queen of Canada." 
 
 To Victoria, as part of the legislative, and as 
 part of the executive authority of Nv^w Zealand, I am 
 sure that a Canadian owes no loyalty, any more than he 
 owes obedience to the laws or the executive acts of that 
 flourishing colony. There is, therefore, nothing in the 
 name of the Queen, when separated from actual, binding, 
 lawful authority, to command our fealty. The name of the 
 Queen, used at Ottawa with all pomp and ceremony, does 
 
8 
 
 LOYALTY. 
 
 not command a particle of obedience in Newfoundland. 
 It is a mistake some Canadians make to fancy that the 
 English people respect them any the more for protesta- 
 tions of 
 
 WHINING LOYALTY. 
 
 E^ en the natural sentiment of affection for England some- 
 times receives a rude shock when a wandering Canadian 
 sets foot in the land of his forefathers for the first time. 
 He looks for some reciprocal gush of affection and devo- 
 tion towards Canada on the part of the English people. 
 He may find it in some few quarters ; he will find hostility 
 nowhere, while the all but universal discovery he makes 
 is, that the good people of England know little and care 
 less about Canada. They know all about the United 
 States, all about its institutions and its history, and honor 
 its citizens. Not one in a hundred has any knowledge of 
 our history or institutions. We " received, very properly, 
 as colonists, and are welcome ^ " John Bull with patron- 
 izing politeness, not unmingled th genuine surprise that 
 we know how to behave ourselves at all. 
 
 While that is the case, no English public man of 
 either party would make himself ridiculous by proclaiming 
 that the people of Canada should not be allowed to 
 
 CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINIES. 
 
 All the prominent English statesmen are earnesti/ anxious 
 
 ■111 
 
^'W'" 
 
 LOVALTV, 
 
 to maintain some form of satisfactory connection with the 
 colonies, and they are wise enough to discern that their 
 only way to secure that end is by appealing to our intelli- 
 gence, and to our sentiments of self-reliance and self-respect. 
 Although they never make the mistake, nowadays, of 
 threatening us themselves, they should be careful how 
 they squander Imperial Ribbons and Crosses upon indis- 
 creet Canadians, who come straight from Downing Street 
 to Toronto, and threaten to turn the muskets of 1837 
 against Canadians, who may prefer a National government 
 for their country. Sir John A. Macdonald is a privileged 
 character here, and his agonizing loyalty only provokes 
 a smile after all. This incident, however, may not be 
 without a lesson. Canadians are sensible enough to place 
 small value upon the 
 
 DOWNING STREET TITLES 
 
 and decorations, which are now so often offered to our 
 public men. When it is seen that an accumulation of these 
 honors has completely turned Sir John's head, and filled 
 him with a consuming loyalty, and an Imperial ardor 
 against Canadian National aspirations, it will become more 
 clear than ever that Canadian statesmen should only 
 accept honors, which are conferred upon them by the 
 Canadian people. 
 
lO 
 
 LOYALTV. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the Canadian Jingo is much 
 more exacting in his requirements as to loyalty, than 
 even his imperial prototypes, who cluster round the 
 throne. No doubt every one of our colonial monarchists 
 would denounce a man as disloyal, who might advocate a 
 Canadian Republic. Yet, in England, 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 SIR CHARLES DILKE. 
 
 in 1 87 1, publicly stated that he had always preferred a 
 Republican form of Government to Constitutional Mon- 
 archy. These views he has never retracted, but he has 
 since been elected to the House of Commons, many times, 
 for the metropolitan constituency of Chelsea, has become 
 a member of the Administration, and is now a Cabinet 
 Minister, and sworn adviser of the Oueen. Indeed it is 
 broadly stated that the Prince of Wales is strongly tinged 
 with Sir Charles Dilke's notions himself. 
 
 In all speculations upon the present and future of Ca- 
 nada we Anglo-Saxons must not forget that a large and im- 
 portant element in our population is of another lineage. To 
 found a united nation we must have a common ground upon 
 which we can stand with the 
 
 FRENCH CANADIANS. 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 Our European traditions are not theirs. We cannot ask them 
 
LOYALTY. 
 
 II 
 
 > 1 
 
 I 
 
 A ' 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
 to take sides with us at Cressy or at Agincourt. Even 
 Waterloo we had better not try to make the test of our com- 
 mon sympathies. We must find another bond between us, 
 and we may easily find it in their love for Canada, their 
 devotion to the fair land that they have inherited from 
 generation to generation. If we, who are native Cana- 
 dians, but whose parents came from Britain, can feel, as 
 we do, that our first love and devotion are due to this 
 land of our birth, how warm must be the feelings of that 
 emotional race towards the country on whose shores their 
 ancestors landed nearly three hundred years ago. Their 
 hearts are, indeed, bound up in Canada. Whenever they 
 have believed that their dear country required their 
 services they have never paused to ask the name of the 
 foe — it was enough for them that he was supposed to be 
 the enemy of Canada — and they confronted him in battle 
 array. They defended Canada to the death in 1759 
 against the English invader. In 1775, just sixteen years 
 later, when Montgomery led his New England troops 
 against Quebec, he found that the simple Canadians 
 resented his invasion of their soil, although he claimed to 
 be the champion of their lost cause. The history of the 
 world does not record a braver or more brilliant exploit 
 than the fight of Chateauguay, in 181 3, where a mere 
 handful of French Canadians under De Salaberry rolled 
 back an army from our frontier. 
 
^.^ 
 
 12 
 
 LOYALTY. 
 
 What shall I say of the sad events of 1837 ? Goad- 
 ed by misrule, they claimed that " the solemn cove- 
 nant made with the people of Lower Canada, (as 
 they styled the Imperial Act of 1791,) had been con- 
 tinually violated, and their rights usurped by the British 
 Government." Believing that Canada again called for 
 the assistance of her sons, the patriot bands of habitant 
 seized their rude weapons, and made war upon the British 
 Empire. Poor fellows ! The lion's paw soon crushed 
 them to the earth. The leaders fled the country. Scores 
 of prisoners were tried by a court-martial of British officers, 
 and condemned to death. Of these 57 were transported, 
 and no less than ten were 
 
 il 
 
 ACTUALLY EXECUTED 
 
 in Lower Canada in the name of the gentle young Queen 
 who had just ascended the throne. To this day the great 
 majority of French Canadians call those men who suffered 
 death for the acts of 1837, patriots and martyrs, and believe 
 that their blood was shed in the cause of their country. Be 
 that as it may, it cannot be denied that, the result of the 
 revolt was to secure such liberties as we now enjoy. To 
 what then can we ask our French-speaking fellow Cana- 
 dians to pledge their allegiance and their loyalty, unless it 
 be to the self-government we have achieved, and the fuller 
 
 it I' 
 
LOVALTV. 
 
 13 
 
 measure of freedom, which every patriotic Canadian is 
 seeking to attain ? 
 
 The future of Canada is likely to be much influenced 
 by the progress of certain sentiments, which are 
 profoundly stirring the great powers of pAirope to-day. 
 There is a simultaneous impulse in France, Germany, 
 and Italy, to create for each 
 
 A COLONIAL EMPIRE 
 
 to compete with Great Britain, whose imperial sway has 
 quietly extended around the globe, whilst the other nations 
 have been wasting their energies in mutual bloodshed. 
 This wave of pro-colonial sentiment has reached England, 
 though she does not need to create colonies, hut only to 
 retain them. Nothing is more easy than to give the alarm 
 in England upon any subject immediately affecting the 
 national safety — one day it is the channel tunnel, another 
 the condition of the navy. Let us hope that the excite- 
 ment upon the Colonial question will not assume a panic 
 form, else old England may take fright at the size and 
 strength of her colonial offspring, and picture herself as a 
 Frankenstein, who has created monsters she cannot 
 control. A movement for a closer alliance between 
 Mother Country and colonies has been brought into 
 great prominence owing to the names ot some distin- 
 
M 
 
 LOYALTY. 
 
 guished English statesmen, of both political parties, who 
 are connected with it. There is every indication that 
 one result of the agitation will be to start, outside of 
 Canada, a discussion which must force Canadians to come 
 to some early decision as to their own future. 
 
 The practical difficulties in the way of a Federation of 
 the Empire are so great that no one claims to have satisfeic- 
 torily solved them. Yet, one can conceive of a substantial 
 alliance between Canada and England, without waiting for 
 Africa, Asia, and Australasia to join in it. Why is it not a 
 feasible project, a practicable question of the hour, to give 
 Canada ' 
 
 A GUARANTEED AUTONOMY, 
 
 with England and the United States as her sponsors? 
 Provisions might be readily made in the Treaty, for refer- 
 ence to arbitration of all disputes between Canada and 
 England, or between Canada and the United States. By 
 such an arrangement England might secure whatever ad- 
 vantage there would be in having Canada's alliance in case 
 of need, in her European relations ; but its grandest result 
 would be to draw back to the old land, by a mutual bond, 
 the lost colonies of America. 
 
 A guaranteed autonomy of this kind would possess 
 marked advantages for England, for the United States, 
 and for Canada. It would cover the best features 
 
 '. 
 
LO\ALTV. 
 
 15 
 
 '> 
 
 that are promised, or claimed, from Federation of the 
 Empire, from Annexation to the United States, and from 
 Indepe.idence, and would he without many of the objec- 
 tionable features that mar each separate plan. Were this 
 an occasion for discussing the subject, I think it could 
 be shown that a guaranteed autonomy for Canada is 
 eminently feasible, and is, to-day, within the range of 
 practical statesmanship. 
 
 No paper, however discursive, which attempts to deal 
 with the subject of ** loyalty " should be concluded without 
 an enquiry as to what constitutes patriotism in general, and 
 
 * CANADIAN PATRIOTISM 
 
 more particularly. Is not patriotism but a combination of 
 that attachment which every man feels for the land where 
 his hearthstone is fixed, and that instinct of love for all the 
 earthly beings and things which surround his home ? The 
 youth who has seen no other fields, or woods, or moun- 
 tains ; who has sailed no other streams, or lakes, or rivers, 
 than those of his boyhood's home, burns with a noble zeal 
 to prove his love for them against the world. The older 
 man, who has won for himself a little spot of sacred ground 
 that he can call his home, may feel a more sober enthus- 
 iasm for his country ; but it is strong, and will endure. Are 
 Canadians to be the only people who cannot be permitted 
 
' ^^"1' 
 
 i6 
 
 LOYALTY, 
 
 to <f'\vr. their first allegiancL*, their best and truest affection 
 to their own country? Is it to he a cause for reproach to us 
 that vve prefer our own fair land to all others ? Yet we 
 are often told that true loyalty and patriotism can only 
 be found in our devotion to the interests of a country 
 three thousand miles away. I have no sympathy with 
 those Canadians who think it a fine thing, or an evidence 
 of spirit, to belittle England, and to create among us a 
 feeling of hostility against her. There never was, since 
 time began, such another race of men as have sprung 
 from that - 
 
 GLORIOUS LITTLE ISLAND. 
 
 One with her in blood and language, one in the civilization 
 of to-day and in the traditions of her storied past, we have 
 only love and pride for our motherland. If the day should 
 ever come when we shall see the Powers of Europe 
 arraved against her. and her liberty in danger, she would 
 not recjuire co appeal to Canada for such help as we could 
 afford. Our common blood would be in flame, considera- 
 tions of prudence or expediency would disappear before 
 the warlike instincts of our race, and we would not count 
 the cost of men or treasure to be lavished in her cause. 
 There is only one way in which our feelings towards 
 Eno-land can be altered. Were she unwisely to refuse us 
 any of the powers of further self government that we shall 
 
 
LOVALTV. 
 
 17 
 
 seek, or rashly to thwart the will of the majority of the 
 people of Canada in respect to changes in their political 
 relations with her, we might see, what has happened before 
 on this continent, good-will turned to hostility, and love 
 to hatred. But, in my opinion, we shall never witness 
 that most deplorable result. Let it be distinctly stated 
 and felt, both here and in Kngland, that 
 
 OUR DESTINY IS IN OUR OWN HANDS; 
 
 that we are free to. discuss and decide upon what is best 
 for Canada in all things, and then our love for the Mother 
 Country will grow with our growth. It may be many 
 years before the majority of the Canadian people shall 
 decide that it would be well for them to undertake the 
 responsibilities of a National existence, but, when that 
 inevitable day shall come, may we see Old England 
 rejoicing that we are strong enough to stand and to walk 
 alone, and proclaiming to the whole world that she is 
 proud of her offspring, as we are proud of her.