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THE SPEECHES OF THE EARL OF DUFFERIN.
It was in the beautiful city of Florence, in
Italy, that theRi^htHonourableSir Frederick
Temple, Eail of Dulferin, K.P., G.C.M.G.,
K.C.B., F.R.S., first saw the light of day on
the 2l8t June, 1826*. His father was fourth
Baron Dufferin, and his mother a grand-
daughter of the celebrated Richard Brinsley
Sheridan, whose genius was in a measure
_ transmitted through his son Thomas to
/ the lai/ter's daughters, the. Hon. Mrs. Nor-
ton, who was married tq the baronet of
Keir, and the Baroness Dufferin. In her
son Frederick the mental acquirements of
this lady wore perpetuated, and shone with
increased brilliancy. Lord Dufferin was
educated at Eton and Christ Church College
at Oxford. On his father's death, on21st July,
1841, he succeeded to the title. He early
dir'^cted his attention to the questions that
were then in Ireland beginning to cry ur-
gently for attention, the fruits of his studies
being iriven to the country through the
columns of the Times, and in the House of
Lords, to which he was elevated in 1850
under the title of Baron Clandeboye. At
this time Lord Dufferin was a Lord in
Waiting to the Queen, a position which he
held at intervals until 1858. He was attached
tj Lord John Russell's famous special mis-
sion to Vienna in Feb., 1855. On his return
he went to Iceland in his yacht, the trip fur-
nishing materials for his Lordship's best known
work, "Letters from High Latitudes."
Lord Palmers ton soon found employment for
the rising young statesman by sending him
to Syria to investigate the Christian massa-
cres, that about this time created consider-
able stir. This he did with great acceptance,
not alone to his Government, but to the in-
habitants themselves, and this it was pro-
bably that led the press to jump at once to
the conclusion that he would be appointed to
administer the British reforms in Asia
Minor. On his return to Britain he was
made a K.C.B. He was chosen to move
the Address in reply to 4ihe Speech
from the Throne in the House of
Lords immediately after the death
•of the Prince Consort, on 15th December,
1861. The powers he then displayed con-
tributed perhaps more than anything else to
hia great future success, for the eyes not
only of England but of all Europe were upon
him when he rose to speak. His marriage
in 1862 is the next «landmftrkin his history.
He espouied Harriot' Georginn, eldest daugh*
ter of Archibald Rowan Hamilton, Esquire,
of Killyleagh Castle, County Down, Ireland,
a lady of good old Scottish stock, and on«
distinguished alike for the brilliancy of the
Irish and the common-sense of the Scotch —
one whose unobtrusive help has sustained
and nerved his Lordship in many hours of
weariness. From 1864 to 1866 he was
Under Secretary of State for India, in the
latter year being offered the position of
Governor of Bombay, whicb for family rea-
sons he had to decline. He was then trans-
ferred to the War Department as Under
Secretary, a position which he vacated on
Mr. Gladstone's accession to power in 1868,
to assume the duties of the Chancellorship of
the Duchy of Lancaster and of Paymaster
General. In this year he was also sworn in as
a Privy Councillor. When he had been in
these positions tor about three years,he was,
in 1871, created an Earl of the United King-
dom. In his own native county he has
been Lord Lieutenant and Honorary Colonel
of the North Down Rifles. On the 22nd
May, 1872, he received his commission as
Governor General of Canada from the Glad-
stone Government — a fitting reward for a
quarter of a century's labour for his country.
It is no part of our purpose to pursue the
effulgent course of Lord Dufferin's adminis-
trfl-tion in Canada. Every one in the coun-
try cannot fail to 1^ conversant with his
movements from his first landing at Quebec
on the 25th June, 1872, to his departure
thence the 19th Oct., 1878. He perfected
the constitutional work which others had
ably begun. His whole career in Canada may
be summed up in the words : — " Say what a
Governor should be, and he was that."
In inviting our readers' attention to the
most important of Lord Dufferin's speeches
in public, we may say that wm do not
consider it necessary to do more than
preface them very briefly. They are all suf-
ficiently self-explanatory. We cannot do
better than open our list with his famous
speech in the House of Lords, to which al-
lusion has already been madg : —
mm
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1872
ON THE PRINCK CONSORT.
[Delivered iu the House of Lords, in mov-
ing the reply to the Address from the Crown
shortly after Prince Albert's death in
1861. J
"My Lords,— In rising to perform the
duty which has devolved upon me, I feel
that scarcely ever has any member of your
Lordships' House been called upon to ad-
dress you under more solemn or more try-
ing circumstances ; and most painfully am I
aware how great is my need of your Lord-
ships' patience and indulgence. My Lords,
for nearly a quarter of a century it has on
the invariable privilege of those who .lave
successively found themselves in the posi-
tion I occupy to-uight to direct your atten-
tion to topics of a pleasing, hopeful, or
triumphant character — to a gratifying re-
trospect, or a promising future- to projects
of law calculated still further to promote
the rapidly-increasing prosperity of the
country — to treaties of amity and commerce
with foreign nations — at the worst, to dif-
ficulties surmounted or disasters success-
fully ret-ieved — to foreign wars gloriously
conducted and victoriously concluded.
But, my Lords, to-night a very different
task awaits me. For the first time since
Her Majesty commenced a reign of unex-
ampled prosperity, v,e have been overtaken
by a calamity fraught with consequences
which no man can yet calculate — unexpect-
ed — irremediable — opening up alike to
Sovereign and to people an endless viata of
sorrow and regret. Under such circum-
stances even the most practised speaker in
your Lordships' House might well shrink
from the responsibility of intruding the in-
adequate expression of his individual feel-
ings on a grief which must have endowed
the heart of every one who hears me with
an eloquence far greater than any he can
command. If, however, my Lords, there is
anything that can mitigate the painful
anxiety of my situation, it is the conviction
that, however inefficient — however wanting
to the occasion — may He the terms in which
you are urged to join in the proposed sen-
tences of condolence with Her Majesty, the
appeal mut in its very nature command
such an unanimity of earneht. heartfelt
acquiescence, as to leave the manner in
which it may be placed before you a matter
of indifference. My Lords, this is not the
occasion, nor am I the proper person, to
deliver an encomium on the Prince whom
we have lost. When a whole nation lias
lifted up its voice in lamentation, the
feeble note of praise which may fall from
any individual tongue must necessarily be
lost in the expression of the general sorrow ;
but, my Lords, superfluous as any artidcial
panegyric has now become, right and fitting
18 it that that public grief which first found
vent in the visible shudder which shook
every congregation assembled in this metro-
polis when his well-known name was omit-
ted from the accustomed prayer — which,
gathering volume and intensity as reflection
gave us the measure of our loss, swept to-
wards the Throne in one vast wave of pas*
sionate sympathy, and is even still reiterat-
ed from every distant shore that owns alle-
giance to the Hritish Crown, — right and
ritting is it that such a manifestation of a
nation's sorrow as this should find its final
embodiment and crowning consummation in
a solemn expression of their feelings by both
Houses of the British Legislature. Never
before, my Lords, has the heart of England
been so greaMy stirred, and never yet has
such signal homage been more spontaneously
rendered to unpretending intrinsic worth.
Monarchs, heroes, patriots have perished
from among us, and have been attended to
their grave by the respect and veneration of a
grateful people. But here was one who was
neither king, warrior, nor legislator — occu-
pying a position in its very nature incompa-
tible with all personal pre-eminence, — alike
debarred the achievement of military reaown
and political distinction, secluded within the
precincts of what might easily have become
a negative existence, — neither able to confer
those favours which purchase popularity, nor
possessing in any peculiar degree the trick of
manner which seduces it, — who, nevertheless,
succeeied in winning for himself an amount
of consideration and confidence such as the
most distinguished or the most successful of
mankind have seldom attained. By what
combination of qualities a stranger and an
alien — exercising no definite political func-
tions — ever verging on the peril of a false
position — his daily life exposed to ceaseless
observation — shut out from the encou-
ragement afforded b^' the sympathy of
intimate friendship, the support of
partisans, the good fellowship of
society, — how such an one acquired so
remarkable a hold on the affection of a jea-
lous insular people, might well excite the
astonishment of any one acquainted with the
temper and the peculiarities of the British
nation. Yet, my Lords, after all, how simple
anti obvious is the secret of the dominion he
acquired 1 If, my Lords, the death of I'rince
Albert has turned England into a laud of
mourning ; if each one of us is conscious of
having lost t&at calm feeling of satisfaction
and security which has gradually been inter-
woven with the existence of the nation from
the day he first took his stand beside the
Throne; if it &eems as though tho sun of our
prosperity were darkened, and a pillar of our
V.
1872
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
of
of
ur
ur
State had fallen, it is because in him we have
lost that which has never failed to auciuire
the unlimited contidence and enthusiastic
veneration of Englishmen — a man who, in
every contingency of life, in the presence of
bewildering temptations, in the midst of
luxury and splendour, in good report and in
evil report, iii despite of the allurements of
vanity, of selKshness, and ambition, trod
day by day and hour by hour, patiently,
humbly, faithfully, the uninviting path of
duty. My Lords, ^reat must that people
ever became whose highest notion of human
excellence is the fiiltilment of duty ; and
happy may that man be considered who has
been able to realize their ideal ! Of the
various achievements of Prince Albert's
career I need not remind your Lordships.
We can, most of U3, remember the day when
he first came among us, and every subsequent
chapter of his blameless life has been open to
our inspection. We all know with what
prudence he yiroceeded to exercise the func-
tions of his elevated but ditficult station, and
with what simplicity of purpose he accepted
the position marked out for him by the Con-
stitution. Noble Lords on either side of the
House ciin describe the impartiality of the
welcome he extended to all the Parliamen-
tary advisers of the Crown. Those who have
had the honour of enjoying personal inter-
course with him can speak not only to the
grasp of his remarkable intellect, and the in-
exhaustible store of his acquirements, but
still more to the modesty, the gentleness, and
chivalrous purity of a disposition which in-
vested the Court over which he presided
with an atmosphere of refinement and tran-
quil happiness such as, probably, has never
5'et been found in a Royal home ; while his
various speeches, reple:e with liberal wis-
dom — the enlightened infiuence he exercised
over our arts and manufactures — and, above
all, the triumphant establishment of the
Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, will bear wit-
ness to that practical sacjacity which, in spite
of the apparent inaction to which he was
condemned, could call into existence an un-
imagined field for the exercise of his untiring
energy. And yet, my Lords, it is not so
much for what he did, as for what he was,
that the memory of Prince Albert will be
honoured and revered among us, though,
probably, all that he has been to England no
one v/ill ever rightly know. As I have
already had occasion to remark, the exigen-
cies of his position required him to shun all
pretension to personal distinction. Politi-
cally speaking, the Prince Consort was
ignored by the Constitution — an ever- watch-
ful, though aflf'ectionate,jjealousy,[on the part
of the people, guarded the pre-eminence of
^the Crown. How loyally and faithfully ^he
Queen's first subject respected this feeling
we are all aware ; yet who shall ever know
the nobler loyalty, the still more loving fide-
lity with which the husband shared the
burdens, alleviated the cares, and guided the
counsels of the wife ? Some there are amons
us, indeed, who have h%d opportunities of
forming a just idea of the extent to which
this country has profited by the sagacity of
Her Majesty's most trusted counsellor ; but
it will not be until this generation has passed
away, and thode materials see the light from
which alone true history can be written, that
the people of England will be able justly to
appreciate the real extent of their obligations
to probably one of the wisest anrl most infiu-
ential statesmen that ever controlled the des*
tinies of the nation. But, my Lords, de-
serving of admiration as were the q' alities I
have enumerated, it is by ties of i tenderer
nature that he will have most endeared him-
self to our affection. Good, wine, accom-
plished, useful as he was, little would all
these encaging characteristics have availed
him, unless, before and above all else, he
had proved himself worthy of that precious
trust which two and twenty years ago the
people of England confided to his honour,
when they gave into his keeping the domes-
tic happiness of their youthful Queen. How
faithfully he has ffulfiUed that trust — how
tenderly he has loved, guarded, cherished,
honoured the bride of his youth, the compa-
nion of his manhood, is known in all its ful-
ness but to one alone ; yet, so bright has
shone the fiame of that wedded love, so hal-
lowing has been its influence, that even its
reflected light has gladdened and purified
many a humble household, and at this mo-
ment there is not a woman in Great Britain
who will not mournfully acknowledge that
as in life he made our Queen the proudest,
and the happiest, so in death he has left her
the most afflicted lady in her kingdom. Well
may we then hesitate, my Lords, before we
draw near even with words of condolence to
that widowed Throne, wrapped as it is in the
awful majesty of grief ; yet if there' is one
thing on earth which might bring — I will
not say consolation, but some soothing of her
grief, to our afflicted Sovereign, it would be
the consciouf- ' of that universal love and
sympathy for ^er with which the heart of
England is at this moment full to bursting.
Great as has been the afl^ection always felt
for her by her subjects, the feeling has now
attained an intensity difficult to imacrine.
Death and sorrow have broken down the
conventional barriers that have hitherto awed
into silence the expression of her people's
love ; — it is not a M<march in a palace that
they now see, but a stricken Woman in a
desolate home ; and public meetings, and ad-
THE SPEECHES OB' THE
1872
dresses of condolenoe, and marbln memorials
attorly fail to interpret the unspeakaltle
yearning with which the entire nation would
fain gather her to its bosom, and, if it were
possible, for ever shelter her from all the ills
and sorrows of this storm-shaken world.
Surely, next to the compassion of (lod must
be such love from such a people ! To
give expresfiion to these Reiitiments, as far as
the forms of State will admit, will, I am
certain, be the heartfelt desire of your
Lordships' House ; and not, even when in
some day of battle and defeat your Lord-
ships' ancestors made a rampart of their lives
round the person of their King, will the
1 Peers of England have gathered round the
Throne in a spirit of more genuine devotion ;
and heartily, I am sure, my Lords, will you
ioin me in praying that the same inaurutablu
Providence which has visited our Queen and
country with so great a calamity will give to
her and ua patience to bow before the
dread decree ;^ and that the Father of the
fatherless and the Comforter of the aHlictod
will, in His own good time, afford to our
beloved Sovereign such a measure of consola-
tion as is to be found m the love of her lost
husband's children, in the veneration of hia
memory, the fulfilment of his wishes, and
the imitation of his bright example. Such
a wish fan be embodied in no nobler words
than those furnished by the great poet of
our age : —
* May all love,
' His love unseen, but felt, eo'rshadow thee,
• The love of all thy sons encompass thee,
• The love of all thy daughters cherish thee,
• The love of all thy people comfort thee,
'Till Qod's love set thee at his side again.'
And now, my Lords, glad should I be
might my task of sorrowful reminiscence be
here concluded ; but on sitch an occasion it is
impossible not to remember that since we
•were last assembled, the service of two other
trusted and faithful councillors has been lost
to the Crown and to the State — the one a
member of your Lordships' House, cut off
in the prime of hia manhood and in the midst
of OHP of the most brilliant careers that ever
flattered the ambition of an English states-
man; the other a Member of the other House
of Parliament, after a long life of such unin-
terrupted labour and unselfish devotion to the
business of the country as has seldom charac-
terized the most indefatigable public servant.
My Lords, it is not my intention to enume-
rate the claims upon our gratitude possessed
by those two departed statesmen ; but, in
taking count of the losses sustained by
Parliament during the last recess, it is im-
possible not to pause an instant beside the
vacant places of Lord Herbert and Sir James
Graham. Each has gone to his account, and
each has died, falling where he fought, ai
buHt befittt^d the noble birth and knightly
lineage of each. My Lords, whenever in
her hour of need Englantl shall marshal her
armies for the vindication of her honour, or
the protection of her territories, the name of
him who laboured so assiduously for the
improvement or the sanitary condition of
tlie soldier at a time when peace was devas-
tating our barracks in more fatal proportion
than war our camps, will never lack its
appointed meed of praise. And when the
day shaii come for the impartial pen of
history to bla/on those few names to whom
alone it is given to bo recognized by posterity
as the leading spiiits of a by-gone age, the
trusted friend, the laborious coaiijutor, the
sagacious colleague of liord Aberdeen and
of Sir Robert Peel, shall as surely find his
just measure of renown. But, my Lords, it
was neither in the hope of winning guerdon
or renown that the Prince whom we mourn
and the statesmen whom we have lost pre-
fcr1%(l the path of painful, 8elf-<lenying tfuty
to the life of luxury and ease that lay within
their reach. They obeyed a nobler instinct ;
they were led by the light of a higher reve-
lation ; they cast their bread upon the waters
in the faith of an unknown return. ' Omnia
fui,nih'd expedif,' sighed one of the greatest of
Roman emperors as he lay upon his death-
bed at York ; yet when, a moment after-
wards, the captain of his guard came to him
i')T the watchword of the night, with his
dying breath he gave it, * Lahoremun.' So
is it, my Lords, with us ; we labour, and
others enter into the fruit of our labours ;
we dig the foundation, and others build, and
others again raise the superstructure ; and
one by one the faithful workmen, their
spell of toil accomplished,, descend it may be
into oblivion and an unhonoured grave — but
higher, brighter, fairer, rises the fabric of
our social policy ; broader and more beauti-
ful spread out on every side the sacred realms
of civilization ; further and further back
retire the dark tides of ignorance, misery,
crime — nay, even of disease and death itself,
until to the eye of the enthusiastic specu-
lator on the destinies of the human race it
might almost seem as if in the course of ages
it might be granted to the intellectual energy
and moral development of mankind to re-
conquer a lost Paradise and reconstruct the
shattered harmony of creation ! In what
degree it may be granted to this country to
work out such a destiny none can tell ; but,
though heavy be the shadow cast across the
land by the loss of the good and great, most
eloquently do their lives remind us that our
watchword in the darkness still should be,
* Laboremua'J"
1872
EARL OP DUFPERIN.
ON THB BVB OF HIS AAILINO.
[Delivered in Belfut on the 11th June,
1872, at a bknquet over which the Mayor
preaidod, and which was attende<l by many of
tho most prominent gtiutlumeu and ladies in
Ireland.]
"Mr.Mator.My Lords, Ladies.and Gen-
TLKMKN, — lam sure it will be easily under-
stood that,to'any one in my situation to-night,
it must be dithuult to find wordseither simple
enough or strong enough to express his
thanks. Those whom I see around me are
representatives of all that is most distinguish-
ed in the social, mercantile, political and
professional world of LFlster anil the North.
They are, therefore, the very men whose
good opinion it has always been my chief
ambition to acquire. Amongst them are in-
cluded not only my personal friends and po-
litical associates, but numbers to whom it
has been my misfortune to tind myaelf oppos-
ed on many momentous public questions, and
on whose indulgence and sympathy, there-
fore, I could have no claim, beyond what
their native generosity of feeling must supply.
(Cheers.) Yet all have been pleased to join
together to-night in a demonstration of per-
sonal kindness and goodwill towards Lady
Dutferin and myself, so cordial and so unani-
mous, so diverse in the quarters whence it
proceeds, and so magnilacent in its outward
characteristics, as may well render the object
of it speechless from surprise and gratitude.
(Loud cheers. ) Yet, ladies and gentlemen,
however unequal I may bo to making you
understand all that I feel at this mo-
ment, there is one assurance I must hasten to
give you, and that is, that I fully compre-
hend that it is not to anything that I have
done, or been, or am, that I owe this supreme
honour ; but that I ani indebted for it to
that instinctive feeling of sympathy which
all Irish hearts show towards those who, in
the discharge of anxious public duties, are
called upon to leave their home and native
land. (Applause.) You, Mr. Mayor, have
indeed been good enough co lay some stress
onmy humbleefiforts to promote the advan-
tage of this town and neighbourhood — (hear,
hear) — but, although I am conscious that the
desire to serve my country has never ceased
to be the great passion of my life — (hear) — a
sense of how little I have been able to do to-
wards so great an end has not failed to sup-
ply me with a store of humiliating reflec-
tions. In one respect alone is my conscience
at ease, and that is in the knowledge that
from my earliest entry into public life,
neither from fear nor favour, neither from a
love of applause nor from a dread of running
counter to any dominant tide of popular sen-
timent, have I ever been turned aside from
advocating what I believed to be fair, and
juit, and right (Great cheering). As a
consequence, I have found myself opposed in
turn to many of the phases of political
thought and feeling which may have prevail*
ed in this country. Probably there are many
gentlemen in this room — I trust no lady —
(hear, hear) — to whom at oie time or another
my words and conduct may have been dis<
pleasing — (hear, hear, and cheering) — but I
hope I may regard their presence here to-
night as an assurance that in the warmest
moments of controversy, no matter how
strong my personal convictions, I have never
failed to pay to my temporary opponents
that respect and deference which was due to
their high character, their conscientious mo<
tives. and their intellectual eminence. (Ap-
plause.) On the other hand, I trust I may
take the opportunity of assuring those of my
entertainers with whom I have been political-
ly allied that I retain a no less grateful ap-
Ereciation of the confidence with which they
ave honoured me, of the encouragement
with which they have greeted my humble
efforts on their behalf, and of the genial and
affectionate cordiality which has invested our
political intercourse with the attributes of
personal friendship. (Cheers.) Ladies and
gentlemen. Constitutional Government must
necessarily be carried on by party. (Hear,
hear. ) Allegiance to one's party is the first
obligation on every honourable man. (Hear,
hear. ) Party warfare is as necessary to our
political existence as those conHictipg forces
which hold the world in equilibrium, and re-
fresh and purify the face of nature. But if
there is one respect in which public life in
this country has the advantage over public
life amongst other nations, it is that our
statesmen, in respecting themselves, have
learned to respect each other— (hear, hear) —
it is that each section of the community, in
advocating its own opinions or interests, is
content to do so with sobriety
and moderation, and that a mutual
rpirit of forbearance leads to the
settlement of the most burning questions
under conditions in which both sides can
eventually acquiesce ; it is that political
controversy seldom degenerates into per-
sonal rancour ; it is that when once Her
Majesty has been pleased to invest one of
her subjects with representative authority,
whether as a judge, an ambassador, or a
viceroy — (cheers)— no matter what may have
been been the vehemence of his political
antecedents, his countrymen of all classes
and parties are content to regard him hence-
forth as their common servant, champion,
and representative — (hear, hear) — as eman-
cipated from all taint of political partizan-
ship — (hear, hear) — and as actuated by a
8
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1872
■itnplo desire to lerve the nation at largo.
(Cheers.) It is this generosity of sentiiiieiit
on tho part of thd British people >^iiuh
seems to have acted like an inspiration on
the minds of those great men whose services
abroad havo added so many glorious pages to
our history. It has puriiied their natures,
elevated their aspirations, invigorated their
intellects, until, as in the cose of Lord Can-
ning — (cheers) — Lord Elgin — (cheers) — and
our late lamented countryman, Lord Mayo
— (loud cheerH) — their reputations have ex-
panded beyond the anticipations of their
warmest friends, and in dying they have
left behind them almost heroic memoiies.
(Loud cheers.) And how could this be
otherwise ? As the ship ho sails in slowly
moves away from the familiar shore, as the
well-known features of the landscape, the
bright villas, the pointed spires, the pleasant
woods, the torrent beds that scar the n^ un-
taiu side, gradually melt down into a ..ngle
tint, till only the broad outline of his native
coast attracts his gaze, something of an an-
alogous process oper^.tes within his mind,
and, as he considers his mission and his des-
tiny, the landmarks of home politics grow
faint, the rugged controversies which divide
opinion become indistinct, the antagonisms
of party strife recede into the distance, while
their place is occupied by the aspect of an
united nation, which has confided its inte-
rests and its honour to his keeping, and by
the image of the beloved Mistress he repre-
sents and serves. (Loud cheers.) It is
thoughts like these — it is the consciousness
that he carries with him the contidonce of
his countrymen, the good wishes of his
friends, the favour of his Queen, that com-
pels a man to forget himself, his selfish in-
terests and feelings, and makes him wholly
his country's ; which gives him courage to
incur responsibility, to sustain odium, to
confront danger, to sacrifice health, and, if
need be, life itself, at the simple call of duty.
(Cheers. ) Ladies and gentlemen, as far as
such inspiriting auspices as these can ensure
success, few will have left their native shores
under more encouraging circumstances than
myself. (Hear, hear,) I only wish I could
feel that the friendly anticipations you have
expressed were more certain to be realized.
But, after all, perhaps a deep and almost op-
pressive sense of the responsibility of one's
position — a humble hope to be enabled, in
spite of one's deficiencies, to do one's duty — a
due appreciation of the honour of one's post,
is a better preparation for a future career
than a more confident and self-satisfied frame
of mind. (Cheers.) At all events, there is
one function of my great office which will
prove a labour of love, and to the discharge
of which I know I shall not be unequal —
that which will consist in presenting myself
to our fellow-subjects across tho Atlantic aa
the embodiment aimI representative of that
kind feeling — (hear, hear)— of that deep sym-
pathy — (hear, hear)— of that ceaseless and
indeHtructihlo pride and affection with whioh
till classes and all parties in this country re-
gard the inhabitants of our great Dominion.
(Cheers.) Ladies an<l gentlemen, you are of
course aware tliat the (fovuriiinent of Canada
is strictly constitutional — (hear, hear) — that
it reflects, in all respects, the institutions of
this country, and that this resemblance ii
maintained, not merely by the outward form
of its machinery, but what is of far greater
importance, by that spirit of dignified mode-
ration and sagacious statenmanship which
inspires the conduct of tli > distinguished
men who have successfully ministered her
affairs and directed the councils of her Legis-
lature. (Cheers. ) Why, the mere creation
of the Dominion, the union of the Provinces
the concentration of power in the hands of a
Supreme Parliament, whose jurisdiction now
extends from ocean to ocean, is itself a proof
of the patriotism, of the ability, and of the
organizing power of the Canadian people.
(Hear, hear.) It is not to be supposed but
that many local interests, prejudices and tra-
ditions must have imagined themselves com-
promised by the absorption of the Local Le-
gislatures into the bosom of the mightier
body ; but not only have the wisest coun-
cils on the subject been permitted to prevail,
and all minor jealousies been obliterat-
ed, but even those who most vehemently op-
posed the arrangement, when once the con-
troversy was concluded, have acquiesced in
the settlement, and with a loyal and gene-
rous patriotism have done their very best to
render nugatory their own misgivings, and
to make the system they at one time found
it necessary to oppose work to the best pos-
sible advantage. (Cheers. ) Ladies and gen-
tlemen, who can now doubt the constructive
power, the statesmanslike instincts, the vi-
tality, or the future of a community whose
Parliament and whose statesmen can already
boast of such notable achievements in the
art of government 1 (Hear, hear. ) But,
ladies and gentlemen, to be the interpreter
of the goodwill of the people of Great Bri-
tain towards ihe inhabitants of Canada is
cot the only congenial duty imposed on me
by my office. There is another of an anal-
ogous kind which it will give me hardly less
pleasuse to discharge. Side by side with the
Dominion of Canada, along a frontier of
more than 2,000 miles, extends the territory
of a kindred race — (hear, hear, and applause)
— who are working out their great aestiny
under institutions which, though differing in
some of their outward aspects from our own,
1872
vEARL OF DUFFERIN.
9
have b4>en eUborat«d under the inipiratioa
of thataamo love of freedom -(hear, hear)—
that roveruiico for law, that Roher, practical
atateHmttimhip— (hear, hear — that capacity of
■elf-diaoipline— (hear, hear) — which charac>
teriaos the Eni^liah-apeaking race. As the
Chief of the Executive of Ciinada, aa the
repreaeiitative o{ the BritiHli Oown, as the
servant and apokeaman of the Liritiah people,
it will be i.iy agreeable duty tn exhibit on all
occanioiiB whatever of h apitality, courtoHy,
and friendlinean to the citizena of the United
Statea may moat accurately exhibit that
Seuuine aympathy felt by thia country for
iMierica, whioli, in apite of any monetary
and auperKcial disputea which may troul>le
the outward surface of their amity, deacenda
too deep down into the hearts of both peoplea
ever to be really ahakeu or disturbed. (Loud
cheera. ) It has been n:y good fortune to
know a great number of distinguished Ame-
ricana. Some of my doareat friends are
natives of the Htutes, and not the least of
the pleasant anticipations which await me is
the prospect of acijuiring a better know-
ledge and becoming more intimately ac-
quainted with the social and political organi-
zation of that great and prosperou!* nation.
(Loud applause.) Hut of course the most
constant and ab8orl)ing duty of every one
connected with the Government of Can-
acla, and one not less agreeable than those to
wnich I have alluded, will be that of deve-
loping the latent wealth and theend^nious
material resources of the vast territory com-
prised within my new jurisdiction. Few
people in this country have any notion how
blessed by nature ia the Canadian Hoil.
(Hear, hear.) The beauty, niajesfy, and ma-
terial importance of the Gulf of the St. Law-
rence is indeed the theme of every traveller,
while the stupendous chain of lakes to which
itia the outlet is well known to afford a sys-
tem of inland navit^ation Huch as is to be found
in no other part of the habitable globe. The
inexhaustible harvest of its seasj annually
gathered by its hardy maritime population,
the innumerable treasures of its forests, are
known to all ; but what is not so generally
understood is that beyond the present inha-
bited regions of the country — beyond the
towns, the lakes, the woods- there stretches
out an enormous breadth of rich alluvial soil
■comprising an area of thousands of square
iniles, so level, eo fertile, so ripe for cultiva-
tion, so profusely watered, and intersected
by enormous navigable rivers, with so excep-
tionally mild a climate, as to be destined at
no distant time to be occupied by millions
of our prosperous fellow-subjects, and to be-
come A central granary for the adjoining
continents. (Cheers. ) Such a scene as this
may well tire the most sluggish imagination,
nor can there be oonoeiTed a greater pri^i.
lese than being permitted to watch the de*
velopment of an industry and civilization
fraught with such univeraal advantage to the
human race. In fact, ladiea and gentlemen,
it may be doubte<l whether the inhabitants
of the Dominitm themaelvos are aa yet fully
awake to the magnitioent destiny in atore
for them— (hear, hear) — or have altogether
realized the promiae of their young and virile
nationality. Like a virgin goddess in a pri-
n)iuval world, Canada still walks in uncon-
scious beauty among her golden woods and
by the margin of her trackless streams,
catching but broken glances of tier radiant
majesty, aa mirrored on the surface, and
acarcely recka as yet of the glories awaiting
her in the Olympus of nationa." (Loud and
long cheers. )
THK HITUATION AT HIS ADVENT.
[This speech was not made by Lord Duf-
ferin, but by Lo-d Lisgar, live days previous
to Lord Dutforin's advent. It was delivered
at a farewell banquet in Montreal on the
2UthJune, 1872, and is valuable as showing
the state of Canada from a gubeinutorial
point of view upon Lord Dufferiu's taking
the reins of office.]
'* Gentlemen, — I am very sensible of the
honour conveyed by your applause, and I beg
you to accept my warm and earnest thanks
for all your kindness. I was much gratified
at receiving the invitation t) this banquet,
which, indeed, I did not expect to tind so
numerously attended and so marked in all
respects. I feel the compliment all the more,
inasmuch as it ia a repetition, after some
length of time and acquaintance, of a similaa
compliment paid to me on my first arrival. I
retain in distinct recollection the prompt
hospitality and the lavish attention which
were paid to me by the Mayor and citizens
of Montreal more than three years ago.
Such demonstrations, I am aware, are made,
not to the individual, but to the official — not
to the person, but to the choice of the Bri-
tish Government and the representative of
England in this great and noble dependency,
and it is only right that they should be so di-
rected, seeing, as we see by the latest in-
stance, the pains and care the British Govern-
ment bestows on the selection of a person to
represent the Sovereign in her British North
American possessions. » They have selected
Lord DufiFerin, a nobleman of high rank,
favourably known in literary circles, and
conversant with all the accomplishments and
intricacies of social and political life. When
I had the pleasure of addressing a large and
intelligent audience in this place three years
ago, I was just entering upon tlie duties
which had been assiguedrto me by the choice
and good opinion of the Duke of Bucking-
II
10
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1872
ham, acting on behalf of the Government of
England. I was, as it were, buckling on my
armour ; now I am laying it otf. There is a
proverbial warning against boasting on the
former occasion, which 1 cannot consider in-
applicable to the latter also, and 1 hope 1
shall not lay myself open in any degree to
the imputation of neglecting it at the close
of my ollicial life; for I consider this my
last public appearance at the close of a pub-
lic career which, whatever its general short-
comings, has certainly been passed in em-
ploy met* ts of high responsibility, and has
been uometiines thrown upon circumstances
of great difficulty. But when I recall to
mind the topics upon which I dwelt when I
last spoke iu this place, I then felt that, bas-
ing myself upon the known energy of the
people, and the good faith which had there-
tofore attended the counsels of the statesmen
of Canada, I could argue well for the future.
I anticipated large additions to the territory;
I indulged the hope that the bitter feeling
which then prevailed in the United States
would speedily give place to amity and
reconciliation, and. I looked forward to the
early commencement of public works ot
great mai^nitude and undoubted utility.
Well, three years have barely passed ; the
things which rose then in anticipation — the
visions of hope — some said, of too sanguine
hope, are now a realized, accomplished suc-
cess. It is true that Newfoundland and
Prince Edward Island still stand without
the pale of the Dominion, and deny them-
selves the advantages which have Howed In
so full a tide upon the Provinces which have
thrown in their lot with it. But the vast
area held by the Hudson Bay Company has,
after a protracted investigation, been ceded
to the Crown, and by the Crown forthwith
transferred to Canada — a mighty hor>n,
greater in extent and richer in mources
than more than one first-class European
Kingdom. British Columbia came in on
equal terms, a willing and valued partner
and Aociate. The temper and sagacity
br uj<ht to bear on the arrangements with
P ■'■■h olumbia reflect credit on the nego-
t..-*toA a the one side and the other. If it
be hi^ >raise for machinery to aay that it
workk. enly auu efficiently without noise
or frict. a, to that praise the arrangements
with British Columbia are entitled. They
work efficiently and work satisfactorily to
all concerned, and seem to be as highly ap-
proved of after trial as they were at their
first commencement. The troubles which
ensued in Manitoba were due rather to mis-
understanding and. misapprehension, arising
from ignorance, than to any rooted policy.
They were overcome by steadiness, patient
explanation, and. the occasional display of an
adequate armed force to sustain civil autho-
rity. The form and frame of representative
institutions have now been organized, and
set in motion with every prospect of satisfac-
tory working. Much praise is due to Lieu-
tenant Governor Archibald for the legal at-
tainments, the unwearied industry, and the
Hue temper which he has brought to bear on
the difficulties he had to encounter. He
iterally encountered the wilderness, but he
has cleared the forest and taken out the
stumps. Whoever succeeds him — for I hear
Mr. Archibald wishes to leave with views
and objects of his own — will have an easy
task. He will enter on the results of ano-
ther man's intelligent labours, and will not
probably have more obstacles in his way
than were found in the older settled Pro-
vinces. To carry on the agricultural simile,
he will only have to cultivate the cleared
farm on ordinary known principles, and with
a proper rotation of crops. So much for
the extensions of territory that have been
made. The Dominion now stretches from
ths Atlantic to the Pacitic, and opens its
ports on the one and the other ocean to re-
ceive and interchange the manufactures of
Europe and the varied products of Australian
and Asiatic commerce. As to Nova Scotia,
I need not inform this audience that the
work of reconciliation has been effected.
Whatever of ill-feeling remains is only ^e
smouldering embers of the former tire.an^Pis
faat dying out. The danger of conflagration
is past ; and if we wanted proof to contii iT>
the accounts received from many quarters of
the good dispositions which prevail through-
out all the Acadian bodies, it may be found
in the concurrence of opinion with the other
Provinces, and in the mode in which the re-
presentatives of Nova Scotia joined with the
representatives of the other Provinces in af-
Hrming for the general interests the
acceptance of the articles of the
Treaty of Washington whfch affect Canada.
' I must admit that when I alluded to pub-
lic works of great magnitude, of which I
hoped to see the norainencement, I had not
in 'view — I had not formed the conception
of so vast an 'enterprise as a railway thou-
sands of miles long to connect the Canadian
system of lines with some point on the coast
of the Pacitic. I had only in my irfind the
water communication, — new canals to be
dug, and old ones to be enlarged and deepen-
ed. Vast as is the project of the railway, it
need not be appalling. It is only in the
darkness oi night or of ignorance that
doubts and apprehensions appear appalling,
— that shapes and shadows loom porten-
tous in the gloom. They vanisrh away, or as-
sume their proper dimensions, in the light of
science, and the clear day of . reason and
1872
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
11
awakened energy. We may indeed draw
cour»j;e from the earliest leaaona learned in
our infancy. The memories of a champion,
which continue, I trust, to be as popular
and as carefully studied as they were in my
youth, assure us that many a giant may be
overcome by intelligence ; and this giant of
a railway, if there be any truth in the adage
that "wellbegunishalf done,"is already half
overcome by the careful preliminary surveys
which have been carried over a wide expanse
of country, and in the teeth of many obsti-
cles, by that ex'jellent public servant, the
Engineer-iii-Chief, Mr. Sandford Flemiug,and
his indefatigable assistants. The conquest
will be completed in good time by the united
energy, capital and credit of the country.
I see at hand and around me those who pos-
sess all the requisites, and are equal to the
task. The work will be done, for it ia in-
dispensable, in order to fulfil the inter-
provincial engagements which have been
entered into, to afford facilities for trafiic,
and travelling to distant parts of the Domin-
ion, and not merely to bind all the parts to-
gether by a ationg bond, and fresh liiiks, by
links stronger than iron, but to rivet them
toorether by fresh associations, •* and weld
them into one integral, indissoluble whole
by constant, familiar, mutually beneHcial in-
tercourse. The last, but by no means the
least, advantage which will accrue from the
work is the powerful stimulus which it will
give to emigration. It will afford employment
and encouragement to multitudes who are
prepared, and longing to avail themselves of it,
and who need such help and encouragement
during their first struggles for a few months,
it may be for a year or two, in a strange
country. This last remark applies in an
equal degree to the works upon the canals.
They too will swell the tide of emigration
by hopes of employment. I do not believe
that I ever read a paragraph in an opening
speech from the Throne with greater satis-
faction than that which proclaimed that the
Government were about to take the canals
in hand, and press their improvement on a
large scale. This satisfaction was enhanced
when I saw it officially announced in his
budget speech by my honourable friend the
Minister of Finance {Sir Francis Hincks).
that the country could well afford the out-
lay, and that now was the time. I hope I
may be allowed to say, even in Sir Francis
Hincks' presence, that he appears to me to
unite, in an eminent degree, accurate
knowledge of the subjects he haa to handle
with a true appreciation of the requirements
of the country, and the tendencies of sound
public opinion. In his lucid exposition of the
financial state and prospects of the country,
he spoke of the marvelloua increase of Cana-
dian exports, that ia, of the marvellous increase
of the producta of Canadian industry, the
proofs of a marvelloua advancement m the
country ; he mentioned the rising manufac-
tures, a rapidly growing carrying trade, and
used the term, ' wonderfully prosperous' in
reference to the present condition of the
country, while he looked forward to a fur-
ther progress as well as a great increase in
the public revenues in future years. I think
that the conclusion ia properly and emphati-
cally drawn that now is the time to under-
take the necessary — and what past experi-
ence of similar outlay, and even calculation
of future chances, pronounce to be safe —
expenditure. I have heard apprehensions
expressed in some quarters that the combi-
nations aniongst working men, and the high
rate of wages insisted upon, may go far to
check or delay the progress of public
works, or make the outlay a burden too
grievous to bear. These apprehensions
need not be indulged in. Combinations to
keep up wages are seldom successful, except
in trades where the workpeople are few in
number, and collected in a small number of
local centres. In all other cases, wages soon
Hnd their natural level — that is to say, the
level of the rate which distributes the
whole circulating capital of the country
among the entire working population. If
workmen demand more, their demand can
only be obtained by keeping a portion of
their number permanently out of employ-
ment. The intelligence of the people will
soon discover this point, and their entering
into combinations and unions will facilitate
their doing so. No attempt ahould, there-
fore, be made to prevent or put down the
combinations by legislation or by force. The
atrocities sometimes committed l)y workmen
in the way of personal outrage or intimida-
tion cannot be too rigidly repressed, and to
that end the process of law should be simpli-
fied and made summary. In all other re-
spects, and so long as they abstain from the
molestation of parties who do not join them,
the Trades Unions ahould be left free to
combine for their own purposes and to fur-
ther their own interests by all lawful and
peaceable means. I served on a Committee
of the House of Commons many years ago,
by which these principles were ascertained
or confirmed, and upon its conclusions the
law of England now rests. I was glad to
see ?that in the coarse of the session just
closed Sir John Macdonald introduced a Bill
to. assimilate the law of Canada to that of
Great Britain in these respects. I believe
this course was wise in itself, and doubly so
inasjauch as it is desirable that the law in
Canada should in all cases be as closely as
possible assimilated to that of England. No
12
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1072
sarer or more lasting bond of union between
the two countries can be devised than an
identity of laws founded upon and fostering
an identity of feeling. I well know that
Sir John Macdonald has this object much at
heart, and that he desires to strengthen the
bond and perpetuate the connection, the
good intelligence, the alliance between Cana-
da and England. I wish bim and all those
who work with him in this Held, God-speed,
and the amplest success. But, after all, the
true remedy for the follies and violences of
strikes and demands for too high wages, as
of all social evils, is popular intelligence,
quickened by sound education. You have
established an excellent system in the Domi-
nion, and education is in a flourishing con-
dition. I fear it may be objected that the
process is slow, that the truths of Economic
Science and the convictions of Philosophy
can scarcely reach the popular mind ; that
the knowledge of the people is, and must
ever remain, supferticial. This, to a certain
extent, cannot be denied. Still, the truths
which regulate the moral and political
relations of man are of no great distance
from the surface. The great works in which
discoveries are recorded cannot be read by
the people, but their substance passes
through a number of minute and circuitous
channels, through the lecture, the pamphlet,
the newspaper, to the shop and the handet.
To borrow a simile from an eminent writer :
* The conversion of these works of unproduc-
tive splendour into select use and unobserved
activity, resembles the processes of nature in
the eternal world. The expanse of a noble
lake, the course of a majestic river imposes
on the imagination by every impression of
dignity and sublimity, but it is the moisture
that insensibly arises from them, which
gradually mingles with the soil, nourishes all
the luxuriance of vegetation, and adorns the
surface of the earth. ' But now, Sir, I must
bring my remarks to a close. There are, no
doubt, many other topics to which I might
allude — the Treaty of Washington, for in-
stance, but that is ground on which I will
not tread ; Sir John Macdonald's excellent
and exhaustive speech must be fresh in all
your recollections ; — a speech which con-
vinced or satisfied the Parliament of Canada,
and elicited the applause of the Ministry
and the press of England. I will not weaken
it by any attempt at repetition, or ' risk
darkening councils by words without know-
ledge.' I will not further trespass on your
indulcence than to reiterate my thanks,
and to say that, in leaving Canada, I leave
no serious difficulties for my successor.
There are no clouds in the Canadian political
sky, — no harassing questions to engross his
attention on his arrival. Should any arise
hereafter, he can rely, as I have relied with
confidence, on an experienced and respon-
sible Ministry, and recur, if need be, to the
assistance of a loyal and well-instructed
Parliament. I am happy to be able to say
so much, and to think that my humble name
has been honourably associated with the
youthful energies and the rising fortunes of
the Dominion ; I say rising fortunes, for
many are the signs and assurances that its
fortunes are rising, and they are legibly
written in evidence. The judgment and
foresight displayed in reconciling the con-
flicting claims of the different Provinces and
cementing them into one powerful and har-
monious union argue statesmanship of no
mean order. The entertainment of such
vast projects as the "Pacific Railway and the
improvements on the canals show how large
and comprehensive a view Parliament can
take of what is needed to advance the gene-
ral incerests. In the last session a question
arose on the point of religious education and
touching the respective rights and powers of
the Dominionand the Provincial Legislatures.
At tirst, it wore a threatening aspect, but it
was set at rest by the united action of
parties usually opposed to each other, much
to their credit, while the settle lent proved
that the wisdom and moderation of Parlia-
ment are equal to dealing with the most
thorn/ aiil troublesome matters. Lastly,
the adoption of the articles of the Treaty of
Washington, under the doubtful circum-
stances of the time, and when every day
brought a different surmise as to the chances
or fate of the Treaty, savoured of that
magnanimity which Edmund Burke sain was
not seldom the truest policy of the State,
These wise and happy arrangements show
that the day of little things and little minds
is past. The Parliament and the people
are conscious of their position, and zealous to
act up to it valiantly and becomingly, with
the Divine blessing. They will take for their
motto the old watchword of the Church,
Sursum Corda ; — brace up their energies,
and raise their hearts to the great responsi-
bilities and the lofty destiny to which, in
the order of Providence, they are called, and
proceed, as I most wish they will, from
strength to strength rejoicing."
AT HIS ARRIVAL IN OTTAWA.
[His Excellency was sworn in at Quebec,
after which he proceeded to Ottawa, and
was there received by the Mayor and Cor-
poration and the Societies, on the 27 th June,
1872. This speech was made in reply to
their addresses.]
" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, — The
warm and hearty welcome which has been
accorded me on my arrival in Canada, and
the magniflcent reception with which I have
1872
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
13
been greeted .on reaching the metropolis of
the Dominion, emanatiug, as it has done,
from all sections, creeds and classes of Her
Majesty's subjects on this side of the Atlan-
tic, only affords fresh proof of tlie attach-
ment, loyalty and devotion of the Canadian
people to the Throne and person of our most
gracious Queen. As long as I have the
onour to be the representative of the (Jrown
in this country it will be my most anxious
endeavour, on the one hand, to cherish and
foster, by every means in my power, those
loyal sentiments by which you are so pro-
foundly animated; and on the other, to ex-
hibit, on behalf of Her Majesty,
the atfection and solicitude which
she has • never ceased to feel for
the inhabitants of this her greatest depen-
dency. In thanking you for such expres-
sions of kindness in your address as are per-
sonal to myself, I can only say that, al-
though I cannot hope to fulfil the flattering
expectations of me which you have oeen
pleased to form, I am actuated by the most
earnest and single-minded desire to serve
you to the best of my ability, to spend the
best years of my life amongst you, and to
place' unreservedly at your disposal such ex-
perience in the conduct of government as my
previous public career has enabled me to
acquire. To be permitted to associate my-
self with you in developing the marvellous
resources of this glorious land — to have a
share in building up on this side of the At-
lantic a great, prosperous and loya' com-
munity, is a privilege amply sufficient to
satisfy the ambition of the most aspiring
statesman. In conclusion, I beg to thank
you on Lady Dufferin's behalf for having in-
cluded her in your kindly welcome. 1 can
assure you that from the moment we set foot
on Canadian soil, we have both forgotten
that we have ever had another home than
yours — and in discharging the social duties
which attach to her position. Lady Dafferin
confidently expects to establish ties amongst
you whicli will tflfectually compensate her
for the loss of those she has so lately been
forced to sever."
HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE VOLUNTEERS.
Lord Duflferin immediately set himself to
learn what he could of the economy of the
country. In the course of his inquiry he
visited the camps at Prescott and Kingston.
At the latter place, on the 1st of July, he
delivered this speech, addressing Lieut. -Col.
Jarvis, A.A.G.J in command.]
"CoL. Ross, Coii. Jahvis, Officers and
Men OF THE Third Military District, —
It can hardly be expected that on an occa-
sion such as this, I, a civilian, should at-
tempt to address you; but inasmuch as I
have had, as Under Secretary of State, and
as a Minister of a Military Commission, con-
siderable experience in military matters, I
hope that a few remarks from me will not
be out of j)lace. I have heard much, before
eoming to this country, of the Canadian
Volunteers. I had heard them highly spoken
of, but I confess that I am agreeably sur-
prised at the magnificent physique and ap-
pearance of the men whom I have had the
pleasure of reviewing to-day. As Her Ma-
jesty's representative, I rejoice to find that
she has such a sturdy and proficient army
of defenders ; and I doubt not that, should
the occasion arise, you would all turn out
manfully for the defence of your families and
homesteads. The spectacle which I have to-
day witnessed is one which I shall long re-
member. The steadiness and proficiency of
the men is beyond all praise, and, though I
am not conversant with the details of mili-
tary science, I could not but observe the ad-
mirable manner in which the different corps
acted. As the representative of the Queen
in this country, I shall have much pleasure
in congratulating Her Majesty's Government
and the Commander-in-Chief on having so
ttne a body of men for the defence of this
country as that which is furnished by the
Third Military District. lam aware' that
soldiers are not fond of long speeches, and I
therefore close my remarks to you by 'thank
ing you sincerely for the gratifying an magi-
niticeut spectacle you have afforded me this
day."
AT LAPRAIRIE IN 1872.
[His Lordship was received here by the
Mayor on the 4th of July. His bpeech was
remarkable for two declarations, the one re-
garding his position, and the other with re-
ference to his intentions.]
" Thanks to the maguanimoiis and wise
conduct of your Parliament, and the saga-
cious administration of my predecessors, I
should have arrived in Canada at a time
when most of the anxious political questions
which occupied your attention have been
settled, and all classes and sections of the
community seem to be united in an endea-
vour to promote and develop the material
resources of the country, "Bred as I have
been, in the atmosphere of Constitutional
Government, I trust that my adminiitra-
tion of your affairs may prove worthy of a
face and noble people."
HIS INTRODUCTION TO LOVERS OF ATHLETIC
SPORTS.
[Delivered at the Stadacona Athletic
Sports, held in July, 1872, in response to an
address by the Mayor of the city. ]
'* Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, —
I can assure you that both myself and Lady
Dufferin feel gratified by the expression of
thanks which you have just made, and by
i^m
u
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1872
the warm reception which wo have had her®
to-day. In being present to-day, I do no
more than fulhl a duty as the representative
of Her Majesty, for our beloved Sovereign
seldom allows an occasion to pass without
shewing her interest in the nports and amuse-
ments of her people. I am sure we must all
feel gratified at the way in which the games
of the day have gone off : it has seldom been
my good fortune to be present at so large a
gather, ngito witness such extraordinary good
Dehariour,mutual courtesy and good humour.
I cordially reiterate the desire expressed by
you, Mr. Mayor, that the present celebration
may be the inauguration of the institution of
annual games in this city, and more, that
you may always be favoured with such de-
liGihtf ul weather and your assemblages graced
by the presence of so many beautiful ladies. "
SETflNG OUT FOR ONTARIO.
[Delivered in reply to an address of the
citizens of Quebec when His Excellency was
on the eve of his departure for Ontario, on
23rd September, 1872.]
"Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, —
I can assure you, I find it difficult adequate-
ly to express, either on Lady Dufferin's
behalf or my own, our deep sense of the
kindness of yourself and our other friends
in thus coming to bid us good-bye. The
deljcacy of feeling which has suggested so
graceful a compliment doubles its value in
our estimation. When we first arrived here
we were unknown to you all, and strangern
in the land. When we next come to Quebec,
we feel that we shall be returning to a circle
of warm friends, to a most charming and
agreeable society, and to the sight of kind,
familiar faces. Our only regret is that cir-
cumstances have not permitted us during
our brief stay amongst you to make greater
exertions on your behalf, for I am well aware
that the social duties of my station are as
imperative as my political functions. En-
camped, however, as we have been upon the
rock above us, and confined within the nar-
row casemates of the Citadel, it was impos-
sible for us to open our doors as widely as
we conld have wished ; but though in one
sense the space at our disposal for your ac-
commodation has been restricted, in an-
other way, at all events, we can make ample
provision for you all. In the chambers of
our hearts there is room and verge enough
for many friends. Their avenues are guard-
ed by no state nor ceremonial ; no intro-
duction is needed to gain admisssion there ;
. and those who oace enter need never take
their leave. Both on my own behalf, and
on Lady Duflferin's, Mr. Mayor, I accept
with gratitude your kind invitation to a ball
later in the year. ''
AT TORONTO, 1872.
[His Excellency arrived on the evenine of
the 24th Sept., and was ;.'armly welcomed.
His first speech was on the 27th September,
in reply to the address of the Corporation. ]
'* Mr. Mayor and Gentlf.mbn, — During
my progress through the \ariuus sections t»f
the Dominion I have been everywhere greeted
with assuranccss of the deep attachment of
the (^anadif. .) people to the British Throne
and Con8ti«'tkti<jn, and nowhere have those
expressions been more marked than in the
Province of Ontario. I can assure you that
I am deeply sensible of the honour I enjoy
in being called upon to administer the Gov-
ernment of so important a community — a
community destined, I believe,* to develop
the traditionf^l institutions and the genius of
the Mother Country to the highest degree of
perfection. The confederation of the Pro-
vinces proves how great is the yjractical wis-
dom and sagacity of your statesmen ; and
the rapidity with which all sectional
jealousieb, and the animosities of race and
religion, have disappeared, aflfords a striking
proof of the patriotism and magnanimity of
the people. Most cordially do I reiterate
your hope ; at, ere long, the whole of the
North American Provinces may be welded
into a perfect whole, and that before I leave
your shores I may have called together a
Dominion Parliament, in which no portion
of Her Majesty's Trunsatiautic territories
shall be unrepresented."
[His reply to the address of the Board of
Trade, upon the same day, was the follow-
ing:— (
" I feel it to be a great honour to have
been called upon to administer the Govern-
ment of so progressive and so prosperoup a
Dominion. Hardly a week passes but frish
proofs are ' brought to my notice of the
illimitable resources which it contains, and
which cannot fail to become rich fountains of
wealth to its industrious and energetic
people. I have been looking forward with
impatience to my visit to the capital of On-
tario — and I propose to spend some weeks in
Toronto for the express purpose of becoming
acquainted with its inhabitants and its insti-
tutions."
[The following speech is His Excellency's
introduction to the schoolboys of Ontario.
It was delivertfd at the Upper Canada Col-
lege on the 15th October: — ]
"Mr. Principal, Ladies and Gentle-
MBV,— I can assure you that it is with very
great pleasure I find myself within these
walls. Any institution which contains
within it such a specimen of the
youth of a country must be one of the
most interesting sights which could be pre-
sented to the eyes of those who are in any
1872
1872
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
15
ining of
corned.
;ember,
ration. ]
-During
tions t)f
greeted
inent of
Throne
re those
u iu the
,ou that
I enjoy
;he Gov-
mity— a
develop
jenius of
legree of
the Pro-
;ical wis-
Bu ; and
sectional
race and
striking
nimity of
reiterate
)le of the
3 welded
re I leave
ogether a
10 portion
lerritories
Board of
le follow-
to have
Govern-
isperouP a
but frtsh
ce of the
bains, and
antains of
energetic
vard with
al of On-
wee ks in
becoming
1 its insti-
cellency's
Ontario,
ada Col-
Gentle-
rith very
lin these
contains
of the
le of the
Id be pre-
lire in any
way connected with itn adnunistration, and
I am sure that both to the Lieutenant-Go-
vernor and to myself the aspect of so many
bricht and intellitjent faces is a matter of the
createst satisfaction. I have had the pleasure
already of passing through the various class-
rooms, of informing myself of the course of
instruction communicated at this college,
and of making the accfuaintance of those
gentlemen who superintend the studies of
the pupils ; and, from first to last, I have
seen nothinc but what appears to me to be
based upon the most a<liflirable prmciples
for the instruction of youth. As I under-
stand, it is the ambition of those who direct
♦the inftjrnal affairs of this establishment to
assimilate, as far as possible, the principles
of its moral government to those which have
proved so successful in the administration of
the great public schools in England. Well
then, sir, I ask myself what are the leading
features of an English public school. And
here I would lay aside for the moment any
reference to the particular course of study
which is common to them all, and that is,
that the authorities who are charged with
the responsibilities of the education of those
young lads have laid down for themselves
the golden rule, that they will not
treat the boys placed under their
care as mere children, as incapa-
ble of themselves discerning be-
tween what is right and what is wrong,
between what is honourable and what is dis-
honourable ; but they endeavour to create
among their pupils a healthy public opinion,
and through its instrumentality to maintain
the proper discipline of the school. I am
certain that there is no more fruitful princi-
ple, no more certain mode of gaining at the
same time the confidence of the pupils, and
enlisting them on the side of order, regulari-
ty and good conduct, than by thus making
an appeal to their honourable feelings. Edu-
cated myself at a public school, where,
perhaps, this principle of trustfulness towards
the boys has been carried out to the greatest
extent, I know how it acts upon the minds
of the individuals who are thus honoured by
the ^confidence of their master. Although, of
course, like other boys, we were very often
idle, and oceaaionally disobedient — although
we committed many things for which we
deserved punishment, and for which, I
must say, we received it, yet we each of us
had this feeling, that, placed upon oar ho-
nours, as it were, we disdained to commit a
base, a dishonourable, or an unworthy ac-
tion. (Loud applause.) Perhaps the dis-
tinction between what was strictly right and
wrong was somewhat confused ; though we
gave rather a libTal interpretation to the
code which we thus set ourselves, yet, not-
withstanding any imperfections of this kind,
there was not one of us who.if discovered in a
fault, or accused|of any act of Idisobedience,
would have hesitated to avow this fault, or
would have sought refuge iu anything so daa-
tardly as a lie. There was also another prin>
ciple to which an appeal was made with
success, and which worked with greatest be-
nefit among tho boys — the principle
of endeavouring to impose upon the elder
lads a certain degree of redponsibility, not
only in regard to the example t'ley set, but
in reference to the active influence they
exercised among their junior companions.
This was a very healthy principle. I do not
think that the authority thus delegated was
ever abused, or that the boys who were the
most conscientious in its exercise were at all
unpopular upon that account with their
youngei colleagues ; and I am sure a kindly
viord of warning from a boy whom we felt to
be superior to ourselves, not only in his
moral character, his age, or learning, but
also in his skill in manly sports, exercised a
most healthful and pleasant influence upon
our own conduct. (Applause.) We knew, of
course, we were schoolboys, and willingly
and gladly submitted to the discipline we
were called upon to obey ; but our masters
were always careful to inculcate on our
minds that because we were schoolboys,
we had not ceased to be English gentlemen.
I will not dwell further upon this point, be-
cause I know that to a youthful audience
brevity is the soul of eloquence ; but before
concluding, I wish to say with what satisfaC'
tion I have perceived the catholic character
of this establishment, not only in the techni-
cal acceptation of that term in respect of its
freedom from any religious restrictions or
controversial impediments to its utility, but
in the sense that its healthful influence seems
to extend throughout the whole Dominion of
Canada, and even into distant parts of Ame-
rica. I have already had the pleasure of
speaking to two or three boys who have come
from the Southern States — one from Georgia,
and another, I think, from New Orleans —
and it apeak s well for the reputation of this
college that such distant students should
have been attracted to its walls. There is
also another very favourable regulation which
I have observed, and which had not been
thought of when I was a boy, and which, in
a country like this, cannot fail to be of th«
greatest convenience. I mean the principle
of allowing the streams of education, after
they have flowed together for some time, to
bifurcate in difi'erent directions, so as to al-
low the boys to follow the course which
their taste or talents point out, or their pa-
rents in their discretion may select for them.
By this means you are able to furnish sta-
16
THE SPEECHES OP THE.
1872
•A*
donts to all those varieties of occupation
which are ao multiform in a new country.
It must be a source of pride to you that this
college should have furnished to the annals
of the State the names of so many distin-
guished persons. You already count among
those who have gone before you the Prime
Minister of this Province, and porhaps some
day you may also be able to point out, as
amongst the numbers of your predecessors,
the Prime Minister of the Dominion. (Ap-
plr.use. ) We have present here to-day one
of the most distinguished gentlemen of this
Province, a person eminent in the legal pro-
fession, who was also a pupil of this establish-
ment, and it must be a mutual satisfaction
to him, as well as to the pupils assembled in
his presence, that they should have this op-
portunity of meeting. (Applause.) I thank
you, Mr. Principal; I thank you, ladies and
gentlemen ; and I thank you, bojjs
for the kind and hearty welcome yon have
given to the representative of Her Majesty ;
and I am quite certain that, wherever a Ca-
nadian boy is to be found, there, also, Her
Majesty will find a loyal subject." (Loud
cheers. )
[His Excellency made the acquamtance of
the studf u<-.s of Ontario, at Toronto Univer-
sity, on the 18th of October,]
" Dr. McCaul, Ladies and Gen-
tlemen, — I cannot quit the presence
of this distinguished company with-
out desiring, in a few words, to ex-
fjreas to the Chancellor, tvi the Vice- Chancel-
or. and the authorities oi this institution,
and to those who upon this occasion have
associated themselves with them in the pleas-
ing welcome which they have been good
enough to extend to Lady Dufferin and my-
self, my best thanks for the kind and hearty
reception which they have accorded us. I
have been looking forward for a considerable
time with the greatest pleasure to this occa-
sion. I had long since heanl of the admir-
able system of education which had been
established in the Province of Ontario, and
especially in the University of Toronto.
(Applause.) But I must say that any ex-
pectations I may have formed, however
pleasing, have been infinitely surpassed by
the pleasure I have experienced in my visit.
(Applause.) Until I reached Toronto itself,
I confess I was not aware that so magnificent
a specimen of Gothic architecture existed
upon the American continent. (Applause.)
1 can only say that the citizens of Toronto,
as well as the students of this University,
have tc, be congratulated, in the first place,
that amongst the inhabitants of their own
Province there should have been found a
gentleman so complete a master of his art as
to have been enabled to decorate this town
with such a magnificent specimen of his
skill ; and, in the next place, on the liberali-
ty and public spirit of the Government and
the people, which placed at his disposal the
means of executing his design. (Applause.)
But it is not only on account of the material
appliances for the distribution of instruction
that I have to congratulate you. I must
also felicitate those whom I seo present still
more upon the fact that they have been able
no collect within these walls, and to furnish
this Hall and its chairs with a President.aad
with a body of Professors, amply worthy o*
the buildintr which they occupy. (Applause.)
Thanks to an intimacy I had the good for*
tune of forming with some relatives 'of Dr.*
McCaul, before I reached Canada, I was in
some measure aware of the successful na<
ture of his labours, and of the noble work
upon which he was engaged. (Applause.)
Since my arrival here, I have also been able
to assure myself that perhaps in no other
educational establishment is there to be
found a more competent body of Professors,
or a collection of gentlemen who, in their
several departments, are more qualified to
do justice to the subjects which they under-
take to teach. (Applause.) It is a special
matter of congratulation to the inhabitants
of Toronto that there should be residing in
their midst a body of gentlemen of this de-
scription, because it cannot fail to be an
advantage, to any society that, mixing upon
familiar terms with them upon every occa-
sion, there should be found gentlemen of eru-
dition in the several departments of human
knowledge, inasmu ^' as their presence and
their conversation i mot fail to stimulate
the intellectual and the mental activity of all
who have the happiness of becoming acquaint-
ed with them. But, of course, ladies and
gentlemen, it is rather in their professorial
and professional character that we have now
to consider them, and I must say that no-
thing has taken me more by surprise, while,
at the same time, nothing has given me
greater pleasure, than to have perceived, in
consequence of the pleasing duty which I
have been called upon to perform, that, with-
in the walls of this University, a greater
number of subjects is taught and a more
practical direction is given to the education
and to the studies of the students than with-
in the walls of any University with which
I have been hitherto acquainted. (Applause.)
All I can say is, that I myself, who have
been educated at Oxford, should have been
extremely grateful if the same means, the
same appliances, and the same advantages
for pursuing the various branches of study,
which were not then considered by any
means a necessary portion of our curriculum,
had been placed within my reach. (Ap-
1872
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
17
planse.) But, while I hasten to pay this
compliment to the practical character of
many of the departments over which these
distinguished gentlemen preside, I trust it
will not be for a moment imagined that
upon that account I am one of those who are
disposed to undervalue or to desire to see
relegated to an inferior position that which I
consider to be the backbone of a liberal edu-
cation — I mean the study of the (ireek and
Roman classics. (Applause.) lam happy
to think that, amongst, the many students to
whom it has been my good foituno to deliver
prizes, there have been several young gentlB-
men who have distinguished themselves both
in Latin and in Greek, and I think that, es-
pefiially in a new country liktj this, where
there is such an exuberant display of all the
riches of nature — where every one almost is
primarily concerned in material pursuits— it
is a point of the very greatest importance
that the lessons and the experiences of anti-
quity should not be lost sight of, but that a
knowledge of the learning, of the poetry,
and of the history of the past should libera-
lize our modern ideas. (Applause.) In con-
sidering the educational system of Toronto,
so far aa I have been able to make myself ac-
quainted with it, it seems to me as though its
University were the key-stone of that educa-
tional arch upon which the future prosperity
of the Province must depend. (Applause.)
Owing to the very high standard which has
been tixed for matriculation, there is natu-
rally required of every educational establish-
ment of a lower degree the maintenance of a
correspondingly high standard, while that
standard itself becomes the platform from
which the students, when once they have
succeeded in entering your walls, take a
new departure, and endeavour to reach, be-
fore they have finished their University
career, even a still higher elevation. And
now, in conclusion, I would ask permission
to say a very few words more, especially
addressed to the students of the University
themselves. I by no means venture to read
them a lecture, or to preach them a sermon ;
but I would simply remind them that per-
haps in no country in the world, under no
possible conditions which can be imagined,
do a body of young men, such as those 1 see
around me, start in life under more favour-
able auspices, or enter upon their several
careers with a more assured certainty that
by industry, by the due cultivating of their
intelligence, by sobriety of manners and of
conduct, they may attain the greatest prizes
of life. I would remind them that they are
citizens of a country in which the most
cherished prizes of ambition are open to all —
that, however humble the origin of any one
of them may have been, there is no position
the Ber.vioe of the country which he may
2
not hope to attain, and such a position !•
one of the most honourable objects of ambi<
tion which a young man could put before
him as his aim in life. And I would further
remind them that they may hope to attain
to not only the prizes which exist in this coun-
try in the several professions they may
adopt, or in the public set nee of thejI)omin>
ion, but that there are other prizes of an
imperial nature witliin th«'ir reach, — for the
Queen of England does not stop to enquire
whether a deserving citizen is .m Australian,
or a Canadian, or a Scotchman, or an Irish*
man, or an Knglishmiin ; it is enough that he
should have leudered the State good service,
and this is his title to her favour and reward.
(Applause.) Already we have in this coun-
try a distinguished example of the truth of
what I have said. Within a few weeks past,
to a native born Canadian, and at the same
time one of the most distinguished servants
of the Empire, the Qaeen has been pie sed to
extend a signal mark of her favour, aud has
invited Sir John Macdonald to become a
member of tha Imperial Privy Council.
(Applause. ) There are others, friends of my
own, who, in their early life having been
Colonists, on returning to England have
fought their way into Parliament, and are
now counted among the most distinguished
and successful rulers of the Empire. It will
be enough for me to make this slight allusion
to this subject. I am sure those I am address-
ing will lay it to heart, and the lesson I have
ventured zo inculcate will not be lost upon
them. Ladies and gentlemen, I have to
apologise for the extremely imperfect nature
of these remarks. It was not until a very
short time before I made my appearance
among you that I was made aware that I
should be called upon to do more than make
a formal reply to the very cordial address
with which I have been honoured. Had I
known that an opportunity would be afforded
to mo of addressing, for the first time since I
have been in Canada, an audience so dis-
tinguished in every respect, both for its
learning and, I may say for its beauty (ap-
plause), I certainly, should have made that
preparation which I feel to be necessary,
and the want of which I trust you will kind-
ly excuse. " (Loud applause. )
[On the 23rd of October His Exdellency
made the following speech to the young
adios of Loretto School : ]
" Young Ladies, — I can assure you that I
find it very difficult, indeed, to discover
words which will express, with sufficient
earnestness, my deep sense of the kindness
with which you have received me to-day.
When I look around and consider all the
preparations which have been made for my
welcome, I scarcely know to whivih to refer
with the greatest admiration. The young
18
THE ftPEECHES OP THE
1872
I
/
m
UdioB themaelvoa, ranged like a bed of flow-
ers in theauuflhineof apring tide, — the beau-
tiful muaio ..-hich has been sung with auch
taste, (lulioucy, and feeling, more especially
tho aoug which was written b^ my mother,
to whicn, naturally, I can never listen with-
out deep emotion, all have combined to make
an impression upon me which will never fade
away. I have been extremely interested in
Itoarning, from the observations which fell
from His (irace the >^rchbishop, the origin
of this community, and I am proud to think
it was from Irish shores it set Torth to this
country upon its beneficent mission. 1 con-
gratulate you heartily, young ladies, upon
the fortunate circumstance which has placed
you within these walls, and I am sure, from
all I have heard and witnessed of the noble
work in which the sisters are engaged, that
the benefits which will be spread abroad
through the Jominion cannot be over-estima-
ted. In speaking of a certain lady, an Eng-
lish writer, famous in his time, concluded a
brilliant passage in her honour by observ-
ing, that * to know her was itself a
liberal education. ' I would venture to re-
commend you to lay this observation to
heart, and to remember that the character
and conduct of the women of a country do
more, perhaps, than anything else to elevate
the tone of feeling amongst its inhabitants, to
iuo^^ire them with high thoughts anc' noble
endeavours, and with that spirit of chivalry
which raises our nature far above its ordinary
level. When, however, these sentiments
are still further illuminated by a spirit of
devotion, and directed by the counsels of
religion, we have just cause to hope that the
career of such a nation will receive the bless-
ing of God, and will prove a benefit to the
world at large. I wish more especially to
express to the sisters themselves my deep
and hearty sympathy with them in their
lives of retirement and self -saCi. ifice, and I can-
not imagine that there can be a greater con-
solation to their own minds, or that a more
perfect tribute could be paid to the utility
and high character of their work than the
fact that the pupils placed under their
guardianship and beneath the influence of
their saintly lives should include the flower
of the Catholic maidenhood of Toronto. I
can only say, in conclusion, that, on my
own behalf as well as on behalf of the
Countess of Dufferin, I thank you again and
again, and that I wish to each one of you
individually, and to the community collec-
tively, a.i the happiness that this world can
give. I make no doubt but that, whatever
may be the dangers, the anxieties, the trials
and temptations which, in your future lives,
you will have to encounter — and there is
none of us whose life is entirely exempt
from them — the instruction which you have
had here will do as much as any earthly
thing can do to'austain and comfort you, and
will prove, to the end of your Uvea, a de-
lightful reminiscence."
TO TUB BISHOPS OF THE CHUEUH OFKNOLAND.
[Delivered in reaponse to an address from
the Bishops of the (Jhurch of England in
C'anada, at Ottawa, on the 6th Nov., 1872. •
" Mv LoRiw, — As the representative of
our most gracious Queen, who is the Head of
the Church, of which you are the Bishops of
the Ecclesiastical Province, I accept with
pleasure the address of welcome which you
have presented to me, and, in doing so, I
fulfil a function in especial accordance with
my delegated office. But it is not solely as
representative of our Queen in her relation-
ship to the Church of England, but rather as
the Chief Governor of this great Dominion
and her Civil Minister, that I desire to record
my satisfaction at receiving so cordial an
expression of good-v/ill from the rulers of a
religious community whose influences have
been so generally beneficial throughout the
country. Conciliating and blameless to those
of your fellow-subjects who are not members
of your communion, you faithfully maintain
in this new land the faith, discipline and
doctrines of the Mother Church, while, by
your efforts to spread abroad true religion,
and to inculcate the truth of the Gospel,
upon which alone national prosperity und
the happiness of a people is founded, you
contribute to promote the present and ensure
the future greatness of Canada. I can
assure you that no efforts shall be wanting on
my part tofurtheryour religious endeavours.
In conclusion, I beg to thank you, cm Lady
DuflFerin's behalf and on my own for your
prayerful aspirations and kind wishes."
UNVKILINO HKK MAJESTY'S STATUE AT
MONTREAL.
[Delivered on th3 21st November, at
Victoria Square, Montreal. The Statue was
procured by the citizens.]
" Gentlemen, —It is with a degree of
pleasure, very difficult to express in words,
that I find myself engaged in the discharge
of a duty so appropriate to my office, and so
congenial to my feelings, as that which you
have imposed upon me to-day. (Cheers.)
Among the many circumstances which have
made me feel at what a fortunate epoch I
have arrived in Canada, by no means the
least agreeable is the fact that there should
have been reserved to me this opportunity
of taking part in a ceremony which evinces,
in so marked and general a manner, the un-
failing loyalty and affection entertained by
the citizens of this large, prosperous and
wealthy town to the person and throne of
our Sovereign. (Cheers.) It is, therefore.
1872
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
19
with the moat heartfelt aatia faction that I
undertake the funutiou now alloted to me,
and that I booome the momentary depoHitary
of this unique and orecioup ^ift with which
you, gentlemen, the aubscribors to the under-
taking, are denin us to grace your city, and
whicli you now comuiiHHion me to hund over
as a ptrpetual ornaiiieut to the inhabitants
of Montreal and to their chihlren for ever.
(Appbiuse.) And I munt say it is to no
mean heritage that theue future generations
will fall heirs, for, thanks to the magic
power of the sculptor, long after we
and those who have loved and honoured
Queen Victoria shall have passed away,
there will still remain to them and to their
descendants, untouched by time, this breath-
ing representation of that open and intelli-
gent regard, that sweet womanly grace and
imperial majesty of aspect, which in her
lifetime combined to render the presence of
the Queen of England more august than that
of any contemporary monarch. (Tremendous
cheering.) It is to you, then, citizens of
Montreal, that I now turn ; it is in your
hands that I now place this sacred deposit ;
it is on you that I lay the charge of guard-
ing for yourselves and those who come after
you this fair image of your Queen, this
gracious impersonation of the Majesty of
Britain, this stately type and pledge of our
Imperial unity, this crowned and sceptred
symbal of those glorious institutions which
we have found to be so conducive to the
maintenance of individual liberty, and
of constitutional freedom (Loud applause.)
Gentlemen, it was my good fortune in
early life to serve near the person
of our Sovereign. At that time no domestic
calamity had thrown its ineffaceable shadow
across the threshold of her home. I was
then a spectator of her daily life, its pure
joys, its refined and noble occupations, its
duties never neglected, but their burdens
shared by the tenderest of husbands and
most sagacious of friends. It was then that
I learned the secret of that hold Her Majesty
possesses over the hearts of her subjects in
every part of her extensive empire — (cheers) —
and when in latter days death had for ever
shattered the bright visions of her early
happiness, and left her to discharge, alone
and unaided, during long years of widowhood,
in the isolation of an empty palace, the
weighty and oppressive functions of her
royal station, renewed opportunities were
afforded me of observing with what patience,
patriotism and devotion to the public service
her brave and noble nature bore each burden
and discharged each daily task. (Applause.)
From dissipation, gaieties, the distraction
of fiociet}', the widowed Sovereign may have
shrunk, but from duty never. (Loud cheers. )
WheUj therefore, you oaat your eyes up to
this work of art, let the image of the woman,
as well aM of the Queen, be enahriued in your
recollections, and let each citizen remember
that in her, whose sculptured lineaments he
now r jgardf,he has i«.n example of proaperity
borne with meekness, of adversity with
uatience, of the path of tluty unfalteringly
followed, and of a blamel isHaeas of cAiatvoce
which has been a aourcu of pride to every
English heart — (cheera) — and whoae pure and
radiant influence has shed its holy light on a
thousand thousand British homes, ((ireak
applause.) Above all, let each Canadian
patriot remember as he contemplates with
pride the ever brightening destinies of his
native country — let your children and your
children's children remember, as, generation
after generation, this great Dominion gatheni
strengtl and power, that it was under the
auspices and the iiovernment of her whose
statue I no ' confide unto your keeping that
these mighty Provinces were confederated
into a still mightier State, and that the foun-
dations of that broad Dominion were laid
which I trust is destined to prove the bright-
est ornament, and I trust the moat powerful
adjunct, of the Empire of Britain. (Great
enthusiasm. ) Gentlemen, I thank you again
for the opportunity you have given me of
taking part in these proceedings, and for
those kind expressions which you have ad-
dressed to me personally. I feel I can make
no better return than by saying that, in the
discharge oi' my office in this country, it is
my desire and hope to follow, at however
humble a dist&nce, the example of that be-
loved Sovereign who, during a long reign,
has faithfully trod in the paths of the British
Constitution, and has never once failed in
her duty ? to her Crown, her Ministers, her
Parliament, or her people." (Prolonged
cheers. )
[His Excellency then made the following
speech in French, acceding to the request of
the Mayor : — ]
" Messieurs,— Je le ferai, sans doute,
d'une mani^re bien imparfaite, mais je ne
saurais voir cette cer^monie solennelle se
terminer, sans essayer de vous exprimer
dans votre propre langue combien j'ai ^M
heureux d'assister h cette belle fete, et de
pouvoir apprecier I'empressement que voub
avez mis a y prendre part, de votre c6t^.
Je u'ignore pas, messieurs, que dans nulle
partie de son vaste empire, notre Souveraine
saurait compter sur un dt^vouement plus
complet que celui des Canadiens-Franyais.
Biave et noble ra-ie qui, la premiere, four-
nit k I'Europe les iTxoyens d'importer la civi-
lisation sui* le continent d'Am^rique. Kace
valeureuse et hardie dont les explorateurs
dans I'interieur de ce continent ont permis
c
20
THE SPEECHES OP THE
187.1
I' '
III
'II
II nil
it riadtifltrie Europ<ienne du H'iin|jlauter non*
leulornent Bur lea bonis da Haiut- Laurent,
maia onuoru dans loa riches valU^ua du I'Ohio
et du MiaHiHuippi ; lo.s prumiorM forts (£u'ullo
^rigea et les premiers (^tahlisHumentH qu'elle
forma sunt devenus aujourd'hui, ^r.lue au
jugeinunt droit et ii I'esix'co d'iiixtinut ([ui la
oaracti'^riaent, le noyau <le grandus villua et
do puissantes populationa ; et c'est i\ leur uo-
operation aotuelle et a leur intelligoucu na-
turellti, (jue noun dovoiia une bonne partie
de la condition proHpero de cette Province.
Le spectacle de deux peuples compodea de
nationalities si diverans s'efforgant, a I'onvi
I'ua de I'autre, de pn)Uvorleur loyauti'j i\ lour
Reine ot au gouverncment, et travaillant de
concert pt dans une harmonic parfaite au
bien de leur commune patrio, reatera I'un den
faits les plus remaniualdes et lea plus heurcux
de I'histoire du monde, en iiienie temps qu'il
^moignera de la saguaso politi(|uo et dus-
sentimenta magnanimea dont sont penotri^a
toua les membres do la grando famille Caua-
dienue. "
AT M'dILL COLLEOE.
[Delivered on tlie 22nd of January, in re-
{)ly to an addreaa rea<l on behalf of the Col-
ege by the Chancellor, the Hon. Charlea
Dewey Day. His ExoelUoncy'a visit arouaed
great enthubiasm among the students.]
"Mk. Chanc'Kllok, Lauies and Gentle-
men, — I can assure you that I am deeply
sensible of the warm and tlatteriug welcome
which you have given me — a welcome not
only conveyed in the words of the address
which you, Mr. Chancellor, have just read,
but which haa been still further exemplified
and acuentuated by the ceremony which pre-
ceded my admission to your halls. Only
upon one other occasion, and that the most
important in the livfts of eacb of us, have
Lady DufFerin and myself been treated to
similar honour, and that Avas upon our mar-
riage day. I can only say that if the
' coaches ' of this colleges are as good as the
• horses ' — (applause and laughter) — the stu-
dents cannot fail to take very high and
creditable degrees. Ladies and gentlemen, I
do not propose to trouble you upon the pre-
sent occasion with anything more than a
very brief but very warm expression of my
thanks, not only for the welcome which you
have addressed personally to myself and to the
Countess of Dufferiu, but still more for that
exhibition of loyalty with which you have
gratified me as the. representative of Her
Most Gracious Majesty. In return, I can
assure you, with the most perfect truth,
that there is no university in any part of
Her Majesty's dominions which the Queen
does not regard with interest and solicitude.
, Applause. ) At the same time, I think it
Mght to mention that I. feel I should not be
treating thii great inatitutioa with reepeot if
I did not promise to myielf on some future
occasion, when I shall have had more leisure
than has been possible to me during my |;ro-
sent visit to Montreal, to take advantage of
the orivilege which belongs to mo as visitor
to address the students. (Applause.) Aiid I
am less inclined at the present moment to
trespass upcm your time, because within the
last few weeks the whole subject of Univer-
^ity Education has been most exhaustively
considered and discussed by three of the
principal statesmen of Eucland. If any of
the professors, if any of the students should
have happened to have read the spttech of
Mr. (iladstouo at Liverpool, of the iJuke of
Somerset at Plymouth, and of Mr. Ibuce
when addressing his constituents, I am sure
they will feel it would be impossible for
any one to add anything to the combined
treatment by those gentlemen of this sub-
ject. Of course, we are all aware that in
England and elsewhere a very violent con-
test is raging betvi'een those who niganl the
Art courses as amply sufUcient for all the
real purposes for which edacational estab-
lishments are founded, while upon tlie other
hand, a school equally resj;?ctable, and sup-
ported by equal authority, . i inclined to de-
nounce a system of classical education as a
prejudice or superstition of the past, and to
set up the material and applied sciences as
their only curriculum. Mr. Gladstone on
the one hand, with a very natural affection
for his own Alma Mater, went so far as to
say that ho considered even the unimproved
course which prevailed at Oxford when he
himself was a student was <iuite sufttcient to
furnish as well educated a set of young men
as the necessities of the age required, and
that by the occasional training which was
there given, the mind was more fitly pre-
pared than it could have been by any other
means for the various difficulties, struggles,
and contests of life. On the other hand, the
Duke of Somerset took an opposite view, and re-
ferring tvith something approaching disdain
to the assertion made by Mr. Gladstone, that
the construction of a violin had exhibited as
much ingenuity and intellectual power as
the invention o*f the steam engine, called
upon his audience to compare the respective
achievements of material and political
science. Now, I confess, as far as I myself
am individually concerned, my own train-
ing naturally leads me to regard perhaps
with undue favour a classical curriculum as
the backbone of a liberal education ; but be
that as it may, and without venturing for a
moment to pronounce a dogmatic opinion
upon so debateable a topic, I cannot help re-
membering that, in this country at all events,
the almost overwhelming reasons which, on
¥
1873
J87a
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
21
the one hand, may be ur^ed in favour of
paraiiiouiit attention buin^ given to the
uhysical and practical scioucea, are con-
fiontud with arguments of c(»rreRponding
force in favour of tlio arta and claHttical
hiarning ; for while on the one hand the pros-
|iuiity of who Dominion almost entirely <Ie-
pends upon every one of ita inhabitants
using every exertion and straining iovery
nerve to develop its material rcsourctis ; on
the other, the fact of the whole population
being iingagcd in these nocosHary occupations,
and in the accumulation i>f wealth, renders it
all the more a matter of vital importance
that the purely intellectual life of the com-
munity shouhl bo ennobled, eml)elliHhed,
disciplined, and refined by the wisdom, the
poetry, the wit, the experience, and the
Ehilosophy of the classic ages. Leaving,
owever, this part of the subject,
I will conclude by addressing a very
few words to those young men who
have shown in so gratifying a mannor
with what indulgence they will probably
listen to anything which tails from their well-
wisher and a friend. I would ask them,
then, to remember that the generation which
has preceded them has succeeded in bringing
to a successful issue one of the most difficult
and one of the most beneticial achievements
which statesmen have ever undertaken. The
generation which now lives and superintends
the affairs of this great country has been
able, in spite of no ordinary difficulties and
impediments, to weld into an united Domi-
nion the whole of those magnificent provinces
of Canadian America which are contained
between the Atlantic and the Pacific. It is
to the guardianship and t^e improvement of
that inheritance which in due time those I
now address will be called, and a heavy bur-
den and responsibility will lie upon them to
take the best advantage of that glorious
birthright to which they are destined, to fall
heirs, and in no degree to be behind those
who have preceded them in their devotion to
their native country. I would further re-
mind them that happily they live in a coun-
try whose inhabitants are as free as the air
they breathe, that there is not a single prize
which the ambition of man can desire to
which they may not aspire, and which they
may not be certain of making theirs, if only
they will apply those faculties with which
Providence has endowed them with industry,
intelligence, and perseverance. There is not
one of you here who may not rise to the high-
est offices of the State, who may not render
his name illustrious for all time to come, who
may not engrave for himself on the annals of
his country an imperishable record. Finally,
ladies and gentlemen, I must congratulate
this unirersity, this city, this Provinoe and
the Dominion at large, upon the fact that an
establisliniunt so well conducted, founued
upon HO wide a basis, endowed with such a
healthy vitality, should be daily pouring
forth into the world a band of young men,
who each sets out upon his separate career,
endowed with all tlie advantages which *
university education can give, and ainnngst
thoHu advantages you must reckon not mere-
ly the learning, not merely the intellectual
training whicti is the end of all education,
bnt that more subtle and even more impor-
tant ([uality which will enable the most
casual acquaintance to distinguish between a
university man and one who is not. I can*
not conclude these few and imperfect words,
which I regret not having had the opportu*
nity to study before I ventured to address
you, without commenting upon the fact that
it is to a citi/on of Montreal that we are
indebted for this great establishment, and
that it is to the continued and repeated
munificence of other citizens of Montreal,
who have imitated his liberality, that the
usefulness of the University has been con-
tinuously expanded. In this country here-
ditary distinctions do not take such root, or
become bo completely a part of the social
system, as in Europe; but I will venture to
say that the very fact of any man having con-
nected his name in so honourable a manuer
with an institution of this kind will ever
prove to his descendants as legitimate a
source of ancestral pride as any that ever
originated in the Letters Patent of a Sove-
reign. I thank you again, Mr. Chancellor
and gentlemen, for the sentiments of kind*
ness contained in your address to Lady Duf-
ferin and myself. I trust that during oiu
residence in this country we may have many
opportunities of improving our acquaintance
with you, and I consider it a matter of no
small advantage that, whenever we come to
Montreal, it will be possible for us to recur
to the intimacy of a b»)dy of men that repre-
sent so ably every branch and description of
human learning. "
AT MCOILL NORMAL SCHOOL.
[Delivered upon the same visit as that up-
on which the preceding speech was made,
in reply to the address of the teachers of the
Normal School.]
" Ladies and Gentlemen, — I can assure
you it gives me the greatest pleasure to have
had an opportunity of paying you this visit,
and of showing you by my presence here to-
day not only what an interest I take in the
Ijeneral subject of education, but how much
importance I attach to those particular
functions which you will be shortly called
upon to perform. It would be almost im-
possible to exaggerate the responsibility
which rests upon you, because it is upon
iil
m
22
THK aPEECHKS OP THE
187n
'i
i
you, upon thn teachorn who are iprearl
abroad in uvery village and diHtriol from one
end of the country to the othur, that munt
dvpend tho «lue e<iuoation of the gruat inaHH
of thu ptioi»lo, I am happy to think, from
what 1 have ■ouu in Toronto and horo, that
every precaution haii heun taken and every
meanN han been furninhud which nian'H in-
genuity can contrive to tit you for the huc-
ceasfui performance of your important tank.
It 18 a (lulightfu) thing to kiutw that a num-
ber of young men and women, whoHu intolli-
gen«e iH printed on uvery linonmeiit of their
countenanceM, ahouhl year after year he Hent
forth from each (»f thcNe parent eHtablinh-
ments, spreading abro.id in all dircctioiiH
lound teaching and what(tver is neccHHary
to develop the intellectual vigour and activi-
ty of the nountry. I do not know that there
in any practical auggeation I have to make to
you, and yet there is one thing of which I
would venture to remind you, namely, that
in your future relati(ms with your young
pupils, you should remember that your func-
tions must not be confined merely to th*^ de-
velopment of their intelligence and the im-
parting of information, but that there is
also another duty as important as either of
these, andthntia, that you should endeavour
to refine, diHcipline, and elevate their gene-
ral behaviour, rendering tiiem polite, well-
bred, deferential, respectful to their parents,
to their elders, and their superiors. Per-
haps in a new country, wiiere, on every side,
we are surrounded by the evidences of pros-
perity — where a spirit of independence is an
essential element of success — where, at a
very early age, young uersons are called
upon to fight their own battles and to un-
deiiiake their own responHibilities, it is very
natural that there snould be developed an
exuberant spirit of self-contidenoe. Now,
what I would venture to ask you from time
to time to impress upon your pupils is this,
that although, upon the one hand, there is
no quality more oveditable than self-respect,
yet, on the otlicr hand, the very idea of
self-respect excludes self-asssertion, and I
say this the more readily because I confess,
if there is any criticism which I have to pass
upon the youth of this new country — 1 do
not say of Canada especially, but of the
continent of America — it is that I have
been struck by the absence of tha j deference
and respect for those who are older than
themselves to which we still cling in Europe.
Now, to use a casual illustration ; I have
obser/ed, in travelling on board the steam-
boats on the St. Lawrence, children run-
ning about from one end of the vessel to the
other, whom more than once I have been
tempted to take up and give a good whip-
ping. I have seen them thrust aside gentle-
me in oonrerMtioD ; trample on kdie*
dreaiei, shoulder their way about, without a
thought of the inconvenience they wer«
occanioning, and, what was more remark-
able, theae thoughtleaa indiacreticms
did not seem to attract the attention
of their parents. When I ventured to
make an obaervation on this to the people
with whom I have been travelling, I was
always told that these little peccant iiidivi*
duals Clime from the other Rtde of the line.
Well, I only hope that this may bo ao ; at uU
events, without eiKpiiring too strictly how
that may be, I trust that the teachers of the
achoola of ('ana<Ia will do their very beat to
inculcate into their pupila the dutiea of
politeness, of refined behaviour, of respect
for the old, and of reverence for their
parents ; that they will remembei that a
great deal may be done by kindly and whole-
aome advice in this particular ; and that, if
they only take a little trouble, they will con-
tril)ute greatly to render Canada not only
one of the best educated, most prosperous,
most successful, and richest, but one of the
most polite, best bred, and well-mannered
countries of the American continent."
AT ST. PATRICK'.S OKI'IIAN ASVl.UM.
[Delivered in reply to an address on the
30th. January.]
" Mr. Skcretarv, Ladies and Gentle-
men, — So far from it having been a sacrifice
on my part to come here, I can assure you
that it has been to me an unmixed gratiHca-
tion. No one can find himself under this
roof, in tho presence of such a scene as this,
without esteeming the invitation which he
has had the pleasure of receiving a very great
privilege. The allusion which has been
made in your address to that devastating
famine by which Ireland was depopulated in
184tl and 1847 has recalled to my recollection
very bitter and affecting memories, it so
happened that it was in that year I first was
called upon to undertake the responsibilities
attaching to the ownership of land in Ireland,
and my hrst initiation into my duties as an
Irish landlord consisted in an endeavour to
confront the exigencies of that terrible dis-
aster. Although in my own neighbourhood,
owing to peculiar circumstances, the distress
never reached a point which did not admit of
alleviation, circumstances led me to tlie
southern portion of the kingdom, where
famine had seized upon the people, and with
my own eyes I was forced to see all its terri-
ble consequences. Since coming to this
country I have had occasion to make mysel
acquainted with a fact, of which I confes
until then I was but very imperfectly in-
formed, and that is, the noble way in which
the inhabitants of Canada assisted the unfor-
tunate emigrants who, forced to fly under
1878
EARL OF DUFFERIN.H
the itrnke of fnmine from their own coantry,
Arrived uiH)n the thoree of North America
not only Aeatitiito, hut many of them struck
down antl |Mirinhin)i( hy iliseaflo. 1 am now
aware of how many of the clergy of Cana<la,
both Catholic and Froteatant, an well as of
the momhura of the mc<lical profeanion, fell
victima to their noble and ooiira^eoua on*
deavours to assist those unfortunate persons ;
and I confess that when I read the record of
the niortality which thon took place amongst
those classes to whom I have referred, I was
perfectly horror-struck with the facts that
were revealed ; and ho, na an Irishman, if un
no ocher account, I shall over bear in my
heart the deep sonao of the debt which we
all owe to this country, and ^suecially to
thoBC) clAHacH to whom I have referred, for
the aaaiHtancti which they then rendered to
OS. The exist ince of this asylum only shows
that in the chftHfiaements with which we are
afllictud,amerciful Providence veryfreciuently
sows the aoeda of innumerable benetits ; for,
as haa been stated by your Secretary, it ia
owing to the emergency which then aroae,
and which you endeavoured to meet, that
this admirable eatabliahmcnt continues to
dispense those benetits to the unfortunate
orpnana of the locality, even although the
immediate occasion to which it owes ita
existence has happily ceased to endure.
(Applauflo. ) I am very glad to think that
the ostabliahment ia being conducted under
such satisfactory auapicea, and I am sure
it will not be considered inappropriate if, on
behalf of thoae who are inteseated in all auch
good and noble works aa these, I should
venture to tender to thoae ladiea who lire
present, and who, I understand, are good
enough to devote their time and their ener-
gies to the education and to the interests of
these little fatherless children, my beat
thanks, accompanied by an assurance that,
in common with every one who is ac([uaiutod
with their good deeds, I am deeply sensible
of that all society owes to them. "(Applause.)
AT CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I.
[Delivered in reply to an address presented
upon his Excellency's landmg for the first
time on the Island, on the 18th July.]
"Gentlemen,— Although, from time to
time, it has been the good fortune of many of
my predecessors to set foot upon your hos-
pitable shores, none of them has ever arrived
amongst you under auch happy auspices as
myself ; and it is with unspeakable pleasure
that I return you my warmest thanks for
the cordial welcome you have extended to
me. Until the present moment each suc-
cessive Governor-General of Canada, though
nominally invested with viceregal authority
over your Islatad, was necessarily precluded,
by the separate system of governments
hitherto in nxistenoe, from taking that im*
mediate and personal interest in your afTaira
which your recent incor|MtratioD with the
Dominion will henceforth enable me to do.
Hut it ia upon other grounds than these that
I desire to take this the earlit «t opp«)rt«nity
afforded me, of offering you mv warmest ;'on.
gratuhitions on tlie great ciiange in your
political condition which has so recently
taken place. Hitherto, thanks to the native
ability of your pultlic men, and the intelli-
gence of your Local Uigislature, your affairs
have htten adiniiiiaterod with so much sue-
oeas aa to have aocured the utmoat peace and
proapcritv to your citizens ; and theao ad-
yaiitauea, as far as all matters of domostio
interest are concerned, you will still retain,
but to theae there will be superadded the
innumerable benetits which cannot fail to
flow from your complete and perfect union
with the Domini(m — a j^reat and powerful
community, whoso political importance and
wiioae material wealth and reaourcea are
yearly on the iiicreaHe. A larger an I more
important Held will lie afforded to the talents
and abilitiea of your public men, all <»f whom
have ao patriotically united in pro-
moting the confederation of the Island ; and
who, I feel assured, will bo perfectly com-
petent to hold their own, and to make their
mark, and worthily to represent your senti-
m«uitH and interestain the central Loginlature
at Ottawa, while all the other arrangements
which have become necessary to couaummate
the Union, whether of a commercial or finan-
cial character, will not fail, I truat, to pour
a fuller tide of vitality and wealth through
all the arteries which miniater to your
material welfare. On the other hand, your
accession to the Dominion will powerfully
contribute to its strength and completeness
while your well-known loyalty will still fur-
ther reinforce the devotion of its citizens to
the throne and the Empire. In conclusion,
gentlemen, allow me to assure you that it
will be my especial care to watch over your
interests with the most anxious aolicitude,
and, aa far aa in me lies, to make it a point
of conacience that you shall not be losers by
the bargain you have made. I rejoice to think
that 80 beautiful a day should atill further
enhance the enjoyment of our arrival at your
beautiful Island ; and, in returning thanks
for the kindly words you have especially ad-
dressed to Her Excellency, I can assure you
that we l)i)th look forward with the greatest
pleasure to a visit so happily commenced."
AT HALIFAX CLUB DINNER.
[Delivered in acknowledgment of the toast
of their Excellencies' h-\lth, eloquently pro-
posed by Sir William ang, Chief Justice,
on the 8th August. ]
" GiCNTLEMEN, — U anything were wanting
fsmm
r
24
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1873
It I
I!!
|l
III'"!
to enhance the honour done me, it would be
found in the eloquent and most kind and
considerate terms in which the health of the
Countess of Dufferin and myself has been
proposed by the Chief Justice. When I
first arrived an.ongst you I was of course a
■trancer to all but a very few, and although,
with her traditional loyalty, your city was
prepared to pay eve^y proper mark of re-
spect to the representative of Her Majesty,
you have made us feel that, as our acquain-
tance improved, a sjntiment of personal
kindness and good- will has begun to mingle
in daily increasing proportions with the offi-
cial hospitalities with which we have been
overwhelmed. (Oreat cheering, ) Of course
these indications of your friendliness and u-
dulgence are very gratifying to my feelings,
nor can you be surprised that I should re-
ciprocate your good-will in even a still
warmer manner. (Cheers.) I am sure I
shall ever look back to my visit here as a
most pleasurable reminiscence. Independent
of the advantages I have enjoyed of becom-
ing acquainted with the material aspects r.nd
characteristics of the chief city of one of
the most important Provinces of the Domi-
nion, I have been able to make the personal
acquaintance of almost all your eminent citi-
zens, your politicians, yourj clergy, your
judges, and the heads of those variou<j in-
terests anvl professions which maintain the
intellectual vitality and minister to the com-
mercial prosperity of this the ca^Jital of
Eastern North America. As a consequence,
I feel that henceforth I shall be able to exa-
mine with a warmer sympathy and a far
more intelligent appreciation than hereto-
fore, such problems affecting your welfare
as may from time to time be submitted to
the consideration of my Government at Ot-
tawa. And here, gentlemen, I should be
disposed to conclude this imperfect expres-
sion of my thanks, were I not desirous rf
conveying to my friend the Chief Juetice tut
great gratification I have derived from the
remarks which have dropped from him in re-
gard to my official position as Governor-
General of this great Dominion. Gentlemen,
I am well aware that this is, as it were, a
domestic festival, and that nothing could be
more inopportune than the slightest allusion
to any political topic, but I may be permit-
ted to say this much in reference to what
has fallen from the Chief Justice, that if
there is one obligation whose importance
I appreciate more than another, as attaching
to the functions of my office, it is the abso-
lute and paramount duty of maintaining not
merely an outward a+titude of perfect im-
partiality towards the various parties into
which the political worid of Canada, as of
the Mother Country,ifj divided, but still more
of preserving that subtle and inward balance
of sympathy, judgment and opinion that
rbould elevate the representative of your
.Sovereign above the faintest suspicion of
having any other desire, aim, or ambition,
than to follow the example of his Royal Mis-
tress in the relations which she has constant-
ly maintained towards her Ministers, her
Parliament and her people— (tremendous
cheering) — to remember every hour of the day
that he has but one duty and but one office,
to administer his government in the interests
of the whole Canadian people, and of the
Dominion at large. (Great cheering.) Of
course, gentlemen, having been but one brief
year in the country, my character and my
sentiments in these respects can scarcely be
known, and there is always a dange - during
the fervour of those political contro\ ersies —
which seem to be conducted by the Press of
Canada with peculiar animation — (great
laughter) — of unauthorized references being
made to the Governor General's supposed
sentiments, opinions and intentions, which
would convey to the uninstructed reader a
very erroneous impression of the conduct
and the attitude of the Chief of the State.
Gentlemen, I do not make this remark by
way of complaint. If there is any person
in Canada who has been kindly and consi-
derately dealt with by the Press, — to whom
the Press of every political complexion has
shown indulgence and good-will, it is my-
self ; and it is a most natural, and by no
means an uncomplimentary circumstance,
that the organs of different shades of opi-
nion should persuade themselves that the
Governor General must necessarily be of
their way of thinking and see through their
spectacles (laughter) ; but what I wish to
say once for all — and I do not care how wide-
ly this remark is disseminated — is this, that
there is no human being who is authorized
to make any statement or suggestion as to
what my opinions or sentiments may be in
respect of any political topic, or who has
ever been in a position, or is likely to be in
a position, to make anything approaching to
a conjecture upon points of this description.
It is true my object and my desire is to in-
form my mind upon evQty subject af-
fecting the interests of the country by con-
versation and by discussion with any one
who can afford me instruction or informa-
tion, and it would be very unfortunate for
me if this freedom of intercourse with all
classes and parties in Canada, from which I
derive so much benefit and pleasure, should
be trammelled by the dread lest this casual
intercourse should become the foundation
.for inference, comment or conjecture in the
Press. No, gentlemen; I understand my
duty too well ever to allow my judgment or
1873
EARL OF DUFPERIN.
25
my sympathie* to be surprised into political
partizanship. My one thought and desire is
the welfare of Canada as a whole ; to main-
tain her honour, to promote her prosperity,
to do my duty by her and her entire people,
is the sole object of my ambition. When I
converse with your public men, it scarcely
ever occurs to me to remember to what poli-
tical party they belong. I only see in tnem
persons devoting themselves, each according
to his lights, to the service of his country.
My only guiding star in the conduct and
maintenance of my official relations with
your public men is the Parliament of Canada
— (cheers) — in fact, I suppose I am the only
person in the Dominion whose faith in the
wisdom and in the infallibility of Parlia-
ment is never shaken. (Great laughter.)
Each of you, gentlemen, only believe in Par-
liament so long as Parliament votes according
to your wishes — (cheers) — and convictions ;
I, gentlemen, believe in Parliament, no
matter which .vay it votes (laughter), and
to those men alone whom the absolute will
of the Confederated Parliament of the Do-
minion may assign to me as my responsible
advisers can I give my confidence. (Cheers.)
Whether they are the heads of this party or
that must lifi a matter of indifference to the
-Governor General. So long as they are
maintained by Parliament in their
positions, so long is he bound to
give them his unreserved confidence,
to defer to their advice, and loyally
to assist them with his counsels. (Applause. )
Whenever in the vicissitudes of party warfare
they are replaced by others — (laughter) — he
welcomes their successors with an equally
open and loyal regard. Such privat friend-
ships as he may have formed he will have a
right to retain. (Hear, hear.) As a reason-
able being, he cannot help having convictions
Tipon the merits of different policies. (Hear.)
But these considerations are abstract, specu-
lative, devoid of practical effect on his offi-
cial relations. (Cheers.) As the head of a
Constitutional State, as engaged in the ad-
ministration of Parliamentary Government,
he has no political friends — still less need he
have political enemies — (great cheerinj>); the
possession of either— nay even to be sus-
pected of possessing either — destroys his use-
fulness. (Cheers.) Sometimes, of course,
no matter how disconnected his personality
may be from what is taking place, his name
will get dragged into some controversy, and
he may suddenly find himself the subject of
criticism by the Press of whatever party
may for the moment be out of humour —
(laughter)— but under these circumstances he
must console himself with the reflection that
these spasmodic castigatiens (laughter) are
■aa transitory and innecmous (great laughter)
: as the discipline applied occasionally to their
idol by the unsophisticated worshippers of
Mumbo Jumbo — (immense laughter) — when
! their harvests are short, or a murrain visits
' their flock. (Cheers.) For, gentlemen, of
j this I am certain, that although he may
I sometimes err in his judgment, or fail in
serving you as effectually as he might desire,
I a Viceroy who honestly seeks to do his duty —
(cheers) — to whom the interests of Canada
are as precious and her honour as dear as his
own — (immense cheering) — who steers, un-
moved, an even course, indifferent to praise
or blame, between the political contentions
of the day (cheers), can never appeal in vain
to the confidence and generosity of the Cana«
dian people." (Immense applause).
1873
DESPATCH ON " THE PACIFIC SCANDAL,"
[Political parties were now thrown into
the wildest commotion upon what is known
as "the Pacific Scandal." With tlie
charges brought against the Government
every one is familiar, and those who paid
any attention to the proceedings have each
his own idea as to the innocence or culpabil-
ity of the Ministry. It was hardly to be
expected that His Excellency could escape
imputations of one kind or another in such a
political upheaval. He did not. His ac-
tion in proroguing Parliament on the 13th of
August was reflected upon bitterly by the
Reform press, and as strongly commended by
the Conservative organs. Let His Excel-
lency be his own defender. The following is
his despatch to the Earl ci Kimberly on the
difficulty.]
No. 197.
Canada, August 15, 1873.
' My Lord, — I have the honour to state, for
your Lordship's information, that at half-
past three of the afternoon of Wednesday,
the 13th instant, I prorogued Parliament.
As this event ife likely to be regarded with
dissatisfaction by one of the great political
parties in this country, and has been already
animadverted upon in no measured terms by
a portion of the Canadian press, I propose to
give your Lordship a full account of the
circumstances under which it has taken
place.
Although I have already acquainted
your Lordship from time to time
with everything which has occur-
red in connection with the grant of
the Pacific Railway Charter, as well as with
the proceedings in and out of Parliament to
which it has given rise, it may be well to
preface my intended statement by a brief
recapitulation of its previous history.
The scheme of a Canadian line of railway
from the Atlantic to the Pacific first acquir-
ed a practical character in 1871( when its
fi
\w
26
THE SPEECHES OF THE
187a
iijiii!
\''
!
oonatruction in ten yearn from that date be-
came one of the conditions on which British
Columbia covenanted to enter into Confed-
eration.
The first move towards the realisation of
the pro^ 3ct seems to have been initiated not
by a Canadian, but by an En£;liahman of the
name of Waddington, who, after broaching
his proposals in Toronto and elsewhere, ap-
parently without success, eventually suc-
ceeded in obtaining the co-operation of a
number of capitalists in Chicago and New
York, most of whom, though not all, were
interested in the "Northern Pacific Railway,"
a United States line connecting at Lyndon
with the continental system, which it is in-
tended to carry across the northermost
States of the Union to a port on the Pacific,
and which will consequently run parallel
— though at a lower latitude and over a
wider arc — with the proposed Canadian line.
A deputation from these gentlemen seem
to have visited Ottawa in the autumn of
187.1, and to have had an interview with
some members of the Canadian Government,
by whom they were informed that the time
for entering into negotiations for the con-
struction of the railway had not arrived.
For several months no other proposition
ig- , was rtceived by the Government,
■^^"' ^' but it is stated by Sir Francis
Hincks, in a letter of which I append a
copy, that, being in Montreal in the month
of July of the same year, he met Sir Hugh
Allan, and, giving him the names of some of
the Americans who had made these advances,
expressed his regret that a work of such im-
portance should fail into the hands of
foreigners. Acting upon this suggestion.
Sir Hugh Allan turned his attention to the
matter, and eventually, in conjunction with
these American gentlemen and some Quebec
friends of his own, formejl a company for
the prosecution of the work. But as the
session of 1872 approached, it became evi-
dent that the admission of parties connected
with the American Pacific to a share in the
contract for the Canada Pacific was become
unpopular, and, Parliament appearing to
share this feeling, it was announced by the
Government to Sir Hugh Allan that no pro-
posals emanating from an American Company
would be entertained.
On this intimation, Sir Hugh Allan appears
to have addressed himself to the organization
of a purely Canadian Company, and gave to
the Government the most positive assurances
that he had entirely dissociated himself from
his American friends.
In the meantime another Company had
been formed in Toronto called the " Inter-
oceanic Company, " of which Mr. Macpher-
son, a gentleman of very high standing
and' character, and a Dominion Senator, wm
chairman.
During the ensuing session — that i«, in tho
apring of 1872 — both the Companies, tho
" Interoceanic " and "Canada Pacific," a»
Sir Hugh's was now called, obtained Acta
of Incorporation, and, at the same time, an
Act of Parliament was passed enabling th*
Government to enter into a contract with
one or the other of the above-mentioned
Companies, or with an amalgamation of th»
two, or, if they should see fit, to grant a
Royal Charter to a new and altogether dis-
tinct Company, in case an agreement should
be found impossible with those already in
existence.
The terms which Government was autho-
rized to grant to whatever Company under-
took the contract were settled in the last
Parliament, and will already have been com-
municated to your Lordship by my prede-
cessor. Lord Lisgar, who, up to this time,
was still in office ; but it may be convenient
to mention that the principal concessions
consisted of a grant, under certaia condi-
tions, of 50,000,000 acres of land, in alter-
nate blocks along the line, and of a subsidy
of #.30,000,000 (say £6,000,000 sterling). Of
this sum, the interest of £2,250,000, which,
by the transference of the fortification loan
to the same account, became eventually
£3,800,000, was guaranteed by the Imperial
Government.
The session closed on the 14^h June.
Parliament was dissolved on the 8th July.
On the 25th June I arrived in this country,
and became personally cognizant of many of
the events I now proceed to record.
From the 15th July to the 12th October
the elections were being held. As soon as
they were concluded, Sir John Macdonald
returned to Ottawa, and the Canadian Pacific
Railway became a frequent topic of conver-
sation between us. My Government never
seem to have favoured the idea of giving the
contract to either of the rival companies,
who were then competing for the preference.
In Senator Macpherson's Company an Ontario
interest was very strongly represented. In
Sir Hugh Allan's a Quebec interest predomi-
nated. The contemplated undertaking
would evidently tax the resources of the
country to the utmost. It would be unde-
sirable, therefore, Sir John argued, that any
Canadians desirous of putting their shoulders
to the wheel should be excluded, and &
fusion of the two Companies — as provided
for in their incorporation Acts, and contem-
plated by the Act of Parliament — was the
object to be attained. Into the intricate
and somewhat bbscure negotiations which
then ensued between Mr. Macpherson and
Sir Hugh Allan, at the instance of my
1873
EARL OP DUFFERIN
^ „ Government, I ntad not enter. They
*^°' are sufficiently displayed in the
Blue Book which I subjoin, and which I
have marked for reference. It suffices to
say that, notwithstanding Sir John Mac-
donahl's efforts to bring the parties to an
understanding, the negotiation altogether
failed, principally, as it was alleged on the
one side, because Sir Hugh Allan had not
really broken off his connection with the
American interest, and. on the other, be-
cause Mr. Macpherson was not willing to re-
cognise the claims to the chairmanship of
Sir H, Allan, whose pretentions my Govern-
ment were disposed to favour, in considera-
tion, as they stated, not only of his influen-
tial position in the Province of Quebec, but
as having been the first Canadian in the field
to associate himself with the enterprise.
In reference to this point, I may observe
that, although I have no means of knowing
•ither when or to what extent my Ministers
may have pledged themselves to favour Sir
Hugh Allan's election to the chairmanship,
the selection of such a person, the originator
of the Oceanic line of communication be-
tween Great Britain and Canada, a gentle-
man who might fairly be regarded as the
representative capitalist of the Dominion,
and who would be more likely than any
other to make an impression upon the Eng-
lish money market, was a choice which, at
that time, few seemed disposed to question.
B'^ffied in their efforts to effect the amal-
gan^.'^aon they desired. Sir John Macdonald
and his colleagues announced their intention
of promoting the formation of a new and in-
dependent Company, out of whatever ele-
ments of strength were to be found through-
out the Dominion, and shortly before the
meeting of the new Parliament in March, a
Board of Directors was constituted, which
included not only some of the leading pro-
moters of the two defunct Companies, but
representative men from each of the Pro-
vinces of the Dominion. Of this Board, Sir
Hugh Allan seems to have been elected
Chairman as a matter of course, and to the
Company it represented the Charter was
eventually issued.
In previous despatches I have already
described to your Lordship the precautions
which were taken to prevent any American
interest or foreign capital ever obtaining
control over the concern, I am not suffi-
ciently conversant with railway financing to
assert, on my own authority, that the re-
strictions introduced into the Charter, with
this view, are sufficient for their purpose.
Money, like water, has a very narrow
shoulder, and will find its way wher-
ever it is likely to fructify, — but
as far as I can iudge, every reasonable pre-
caution seems to have been taken. All th*
Directors must be British subjects. The
President and the majority of the Directors
must reside in Canada, and though the shares
are transferable, no transfer can be made
for the first six years without the consent
of the Government, nor after six years with-
out the consen'. of the Directors — the trans-
fers in both cases being registered in the
books of the Company.
Another subject which seemed constantly
to preoccupy the mind of my Prime Minis-
ter at this time was the necessity of prevent-
ing any one individual, or any one interest,
or combination of interests, whether repre-
sented by Sir Hugh Allan or another, from
acquiring a predominant influence on the
directory. Here again I am not sufficiently
familiar with the acana of Board-rooms to
know whether the adjustments on which
Sir John relied were as effectual for the pur-
pose as they appeared to me to be ; but I
may observe that, although the scrutiny of
Parliament was directed under the light of
subsequent events to these especial points,
neither House has expressed dissatisfaction
with the provisions of the Railway Charter,
or the personnel of the governing body. On
the contrary, up to the last moment of the
session, on repeated occasions. Parliament
continued to manifest its confidence in those
who framed the one and constituted the
other. If, therefore, as is alleged, a corrupt
modification of the Pacific Railway Charter
to the advantage of Sir Hugh Allan and his
American friends, was the consideration for
which these personages squandered the en-
ormous sums asserted to have been spent, it
would seem that they have scarcely obtained
their money's worth — a result, I should
imagine, foreign to the experience of such
shrewd men of business.
But though the Parliament of Canada
thus unmistakably ratified the Railway
policy of my Ministers, its verdict on the
subject was not destined to pass unchalleng-
ed. On the 2nd of April, Mr. Lucius Seth
Huntington, a distinguished member of the
House of Commons, startled his immediate
auditory, as well as the whole political
world of Canada, by the unexpected intro-
duction of the following motion :
"Hon. Mr. Huntington moved, that Mr.
Huntington, a member of the House, having
stated in his place, that he is credibly in-
formed and believes that he can establish by
satisfactory evidence, —
" That, in anticipation of the legislation
of last session, as to the Pacific Railway, an
agreement was made between Sir Hugh
Allan, acting for himself, and certain other
Canadian promoters, and G. W. McMuUen,
acting for certain United States capitalists.
28
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1873
m'
illl !:
III!
Sir Hugh Allan did
money for the pur-
at the solicitation
instances of Minis-
lii!'
whereby the latter agreed to furnish all the
funds necessary for the construction of the
contemplated Railway, and to give the for-
mer a certain percentage of interest, in con-
sideration of their interest and position, the
scheme agreed on being ostensibly that of a
Canadian Company with Sir Hugh Allan at
its head, —
"That the Government was aware that
negotiations were pending between these
parties, —
"That subsequently, an understanding
was come to between the Government and
Sir Hugh Allan and Mr. Abbott, M.P.,
that Sir Hugh Allan and his friends should
advance a large sum of money for the pur-
pose of aiding the elections of Ministers and
their supporters at the ensuing general
election, and that he and his friends should
receive the contract for the construction of
the Railway, —
" That accordingly
advance a large sum of
pose mentioned, and
and under the pressing
ters,-T -
" That part of the moneys expended 'by
Sir Hugh Allan in connection with the ob-
taining of the Act of Incorporation and
Charter were paid to him by the said United
States capitalists under the agreement with
him, — it is
" Ordered, That a Committee of seven
membei'S be appointed to enquire into all
the circumstances connected with the nego-
tiations for the construction of the Pacific
Railway, — with the legislation of last ses-
sion on subject, and with the granting of the
Charter to Sir Hugh Allan and others ; with
power to send for persons, papers and re-
cords ; and with instructions to report in
full t^ e evidence taken before, and all pro-
ceedings of said Committee" — which was
negatived.
As I have already remarked in a previous
despatch. No. 116, May 3rd, the charge thus
brought against my Government was very
grave, viz. : — that they had trafSced with
foreigners in Canada's most precious inter-
rests in order to debauch the constituencies
of the Dominion with the gold obtained as
these price of their treachery. In making
the allegations, however, Mr. Huntington
did not enforce them by any confirmatory
statement or by the production of any prima
Jacie proofs of their validity. He merely
read his motion and sat dowM. Neither Sir
John Macdonald nor any of his colleagues
having risen to address the House, a divi-
sion was taken without debate, which re-
sulted in a majority of 31 for Government
in a House of 183.
Notwithstanding this display of their Par-
liamentary strength — which I imagine was
put forward by way of protest against Mr.
Huntington's appeal to his own mere ipse
dixit — my Government felt that the matter
could not thus be disposed of, and accord-
ingly the next day Sir John Macdonald gave
notice of the following motion, which was
carried on the ensuing "^uesday, April
8th :—
" On motion of the Right Hon. Sir John
A. Macd maid, that a select Committee of
five members (of which Committee the mover
shall not be one) be appointed by this House
to enquire into and report upon the several
matters contained and stated in a resolution
moved on Wednesday, the 2nd April, in-
stant, by the Hon. Mr. Huntington, member
for the County of ShefFord, relating to the
Canadian Pacific Railway, with power to
send for persons, papers and records : to re-
port from time to time, and to report the
evidence from time to time, and if need be
to sit after the prorogation of Parliament."
The members to compose the Committee
were then named by the House as follows :
Hon. Mr. Blanchet, Mr. Blake, and Hon.
Messrs Dorion (Napierville) Macdonald (Pic-
tou) and Cameron (Cardwell).
Of the five above mentioned gentlemen,
three — viz., Mr. Cameron, Mr. Macdonald,
and Mr. Blanchet — may he regarded as regu-
lar supporters of the Administration, and
two — Mr. Blake and Mr. Dorion — as leading
members of the Opposition.
On the debate which took place on
this motion, I am informed by my Prime
Minister, — and here I must remind your
Lordship that I have no other means of
acquainting myself with what takes place in
the House, as I am precluded from being
present at its proceedings, and the newspa-
per reports are quite untrustworthy — that
Mr. Mackenzie, the leader of the Opposition,
as well as Mr. Blake, Mr. Dorion and Mr.
Joly, eminent members of the same party,
expressed themselves of opinion that the evi-
dence tendered should be on oath, and the
former gentleman further suggested, it being
doubtful whether the Committee could sit
after the House was once prorogued, that a
Bill should be introduced expressly enabling
it to do so. I shall have occasion subse-
quently to refer to this latter circumstance.
As the necessity for sworn testimony in re-
spect of such grafe charges was generally
obvious, an Oaths Bill was introduced into
the House of Commons on the 18th April,
was passed through the Senate on the 29th,
and received the Royal Assent on the 3rd
May. The time occupied in getting this
measure through Parliament was pronounced
unnecessarily long by many members of the
Opposition.
I
1873
EARL OF DUPFERIN.
29
lagine was
kgainat Mr.
D mere ipse
the matter
ind accord-
lonald gave
which was
day, April
in. Sir John
ommittee of
se the mover
' this House
L the several
a resolution
L April, in-
;on, member
■iting to the
;h power to
ords : to re-
report the
id if need be
rliament."
I Committee
B as follows :
:e, and Hon.
>k place on
y my Prime
remind your
er means of
^kes place in
from being
he newspa-
vorthy — that
Opposition,
ion and Mr.
ame party,
that the evi-
ith, and the
sted, it being
tee could sit
3gued, that a
ssly enabling
jasion subse-
sircumstance.
imony in re-
as generally
oduced into
18th April,
on the 29th,
at on the 3rd
getting this
pronounced
moers of the
Into the motives which induced me to
sanction the Oaths Bill, and into its subse-
quent history, I need not enter, as the former
are stated in my despatch of the 3rd May
(No. 116), and the latter is recorded in your
Lordship's communication of June 30th (No.
198) ; but I may observe in passing, that
amongst other respects in which my conduct
has been criticised, the fact of my having
communicated to you by the first opportunity
a certified copy of the Oaths Bill has been a
very general point of attack. I apprehend
it will not be necessary to justify myself to
your Lordship in this particular. My law
adviser had called my attention to the possi-
bility of the Bill being illegal. Had perjured
testimony been tendered under it, no pro-
ceedings could have been taken against the
delinquent, and if, under these circum-
stances, I had wilfully withheld from the
Home Government all cognizance of the Act,
it would have been a grqss dereliction of
duty. To those in this country who have
questioned my procedure it would be suffi-
cient to reply, that I recognize no authority
on this side of the Atlantic competent to in-
struct the Governor-General as to the nature
of his correspondence with Her Majesty's
Secretary of State.
In the meantime the Committee had met,
and on the 5th May had resolved, amongst
other things, " That in view of the absence
of Sir George Cartier and the Hon. .1. J. 0.
Abbott, and the impossibility of the investi-
gation with which the Committee is charged
being carried on in a proper manner without
an opportunity being afforded these gentle-
men of being present and hearing the testi-
mony adduced, it was advisable the Com-
mittee should adjourn until Wednesday, the
2nd day of July, if Parliament should be
then in session " — a conclusion which appears
to have been arrived at in the Committee by
a majority of three to two. On the follow-
ing day these recommendations were adopted
by the House of Commons, on a vote of 107
! to 76.
The ordinary business uf the session being
now nearly concluded, and it having been
1 admitted, I understand, by all parties, that
[the Committee could not ait after proroga-
[tion, it was arranged that the House should
[adjourn to such a da3>r beyond the 2nd July
I as would enable the Committee to complete
[the investigation and to frame their report.
[The date eventually determined on was the
13th August, which was also settled as the
I day on which Parliament was to be pro-
I rogued.
As the nature of the understanding at the
; time in respect of this latter event has been
: warmly controverted, it is necessary that 1
should here acquaint your Lordship with the
facts of the case so far as I am cognizant of
them. Early in May — I forget the exact
date — Sir John Macdonald waited upon me
in my office, and having communicated to
me the arrangements contemplated for the
convenience of the Committee, informed me
that he wished to take my pleasure as to
the date of prorogation, mentioning the 13th
August as the one he desired to suggest.
Having received my assent to this proposal,
he repaired to the House of Commons, and
announced from his place, as leader of the
House and the person responsible for the
conduct of public business, that Parliament
would be prorogued on the 13th August,
stating — as he affirms — in the most distinct
terras, that the " re-assembly of Parliament
on that day would be pro forma — that no
business would be done beyond the reception
of the report of the Committee, which could
then be printed with the evidence, and go
before the country — that the members would
not be required to return, and that only the
Speakers of the two Houses need be in their
places." The only observation eliciteiL by
this announcement proceeded from Mr?Hol-
ton, an Opposition member, who remarked
" that to do any business there must be a
quorum, and that he and a quorum would be
there," to which Sir John informs me he re-
plied that "if a quorum was necessary a suf-
ficient mimberof members would be found in
the neighbourhood of Ottawa "— ^ quorum
consisting of the Speaker and nineteen others.
It was upon this understanding. Sir John as-
sures me, that the House consented to ad-
journ, and in confirmation of his assertion he
has comrafunicated to me the subjoined letter
from Mr. Palmer, the member for St.
John —
" St. John, August 11, 1873.
" Sir John Macdonald, Minister of Justice,
Ottawa.
" Sir, — In consequence of statements that
I understand have come from some members
of the Commons, to the effect that there
' might be an actual session of Parliament at
the adjournment on the 13th, to you, as the
leader of the Government, I beg to make the
following statement by way of protest : —
"I have to remind you that the House of
Commons only consented to adjourn to that
time on your pledge openly given in the
House that no business should be transacted,
nor would the attendance of members be re-
quired, as there would be enough around
Ottawa to make a quorum ; that Mr. Speaker
would receive the report of the Committee on
the Huntington charges, so that it might be
published, and that then Parliament would
be at once prorogued.
"If this promise had not been made, I do
not believe the House would have consented
30
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
I !ii!-
to anv Buch adjournment. I certainly would
not have given my consent to any adjourn-
ment that would have put the country to an
expense of a quarter of a million dollars by
bringing the Legislature together again.
" At all events, be that as it may, I feel
that it would be dishonourable for myself to
attempt to do business at an adjournment of
the House at which my colleagues had been
told that no business would be done, and
that they need' not attend, and therefore I
must decline to do so ; and I protest at any
attempt to do business, and I require the
Government to fulfil the pledge made to me
and to every member of the House, that
Parliament would be at once prorogued.
" While I do this, I do not wish to inter-
fere in any way with the right of the Govern-
ment to call Parliament together whenever
they think the exigencits of the case require
it ; they must be the judges of that, and be
responsible for it ; but let that be done in the
usual way, that all may understand that it is
their duty to attend ; and when I, together
with all my colleagues, am so called upon, I
trust that I shall be found in my place, and
I shall then feel that whether or not all my
colleagues attend, they will not have been
kept away by a pledge that they would not
be required, and I could therefore honourably
join in doing anything that the House might
consider for the interests of the country.
" I have the honour to be, &o.,
"A. L. Palmer,
" Member for the City and County of St.
John."
As far as my opinion is concerned, I am
quite clear that is was the desire and expec-
tation of Parliament that prorogation should
take place at the time mentioned. Every
member must have known that Sir John's
announcement on the subject was an intima-
tion of the pleasure of the Crown through its
official organ in the House, and that the
Prime Minister could only have made it after
receiving my authority to do so. Formerly,
the intentions of the Sovereign on this sub-
ject were conveyed to either Chamber by a
written message; but though a verbal com-
munication through the First Minister has
been now substituted, it does not render this
latter* mode of communication leas formal or
official. Had, therefore, the House of Com-
mons desired to prolong the session beyond
the 13th August, its proper course wonld
have been to have communicated its wishes
to me by an address. Though the fact that
no motion to this effect was even suggested is
sufficiently conclusive, there are other cir-
ci' instances which indicate, more or less dis-
tinctly, the feeling of the House. The mo-
tion originally appointing the Committee,
and carried on the 8th April, ordered it to
■it, "if need were, after prorogation," and
more than one member of the Opposition
urged the propriety of a Bill being introduced
to enable it to do so. Clearly, therefore,
when this motion was carried and these sug-
gestions made, the majority who passed the
one and the individuals who proposed the
other must have contemplated the probability
of the report of the Committee being con.
sidered not in the present, but in a subse-
quent session of Parliament. Indeed, the
mere fact of prorogation being fixed for the
13th August implies this much, for it is not
to be presumed that the House would have
proceeded to consider the report until both
it and the evidence upon which it was
founded had been printed and distributed to
members — but to enable this to be done an
interval of a few days, after Parliament had
re-assembled and had received the report,
Would manifestly have been required before
action could have been taken upon it. If,
therefore. Parliament had contemplated con-
sidering the report during the current ses-
sion, it would have desired a later day to be
fixed for prorogation than that on which the
mere manuscript copy of the report was to
be laid on its table.
Again, when Mr. Dorion moved an amend-
ment of the motion for the Committee's
adjournment to the 2nd July, that, "inas-
much as the Committee will have no power
either to enforce the attendance of witnesses
or to compel them to give testimony without
the action of this House, it is essential to the
proper conduct of the investigation that it
should be prosecuted under circumstances
that will admit of the prompt exercise of the
authority of the House, it is therefore neces-
sary that the House should sit on the day to
which the Committee has leave to adjourn,"
the House decided against him by a majority
of 101 to 66 — one of the representatives from
British Columbia, as I am informed, protest-
ing against members from the more distant
Provinces in the Dominion being required to
return to Ottawa so late in the summer as
the 2nd July.
But the intention of the House is still fur-
ther exhibited by the following circumstance :
during the session a Bill was passed increas-
ing the indemnity paid in this country to
members of Parliament for their attendance.
Into that Bill a clause was introduced to the
following effect : — "The said amendments
shall apply to the present session of Parlia-
ment, and if either House shall adjourn for
more than thirty days such adjournment
shall, for the purposes of such Act, be equiva-
lent to a prorogation. This provision was
intended by its authors to enable members
to receive their salaries and travelling expen-
ses on the 23rd May, the day on which Par.
187S
ktion," and
Opposition
; introduced
, therefore,
I these aug-
) passed the
oposed the
probability
being con.
; in a subse-
Indeed, the
ixed for the
'or it is not
would have
until both
ich it was
stributed to
) be done an
liament had
the report,
uired before
ipon it. If,
aplated con-
3»irrent ses-
er day to be
n which the
eport was to
d an am end-
Committee's
that, "inas-
re no power
of witnesses
ony without
jential to the
;ation that it
ircumstancea
[ercise of the
refore neces-
in the day to
to adjourn,"
)y a majority
itatives from
fied, protest-
more distant
required to
summer as
e is still fur-
ircumstance :
issed increas-
couiitry to
attendance,
iduced to the
amendments
)n of Parlia-
adjourn for
adjournment
it, be equiva-
■ovision was
,ble members
elling expen-
n which Par.
1873
EARL OF DUPFERIN.
81
liament adjourned, without havino: to wait
for the 13th August, the day named for pro-
rogation. I may also menti<jn that the same
day — i. e. ,on the 23rd May — I came in State to
the Senate Chamber to give my assent to the
Bills of the session ; and in view of a Pro-
gress I intended to make through the Mari-
time Provinces during the summer, I pro-
Tided, before leaving Ottawa, for the proro-
gation of Parliament by commission, in order
to spare myself the labour and fatigue of a
journey of 2,400 miles for what I understood
would be a mere formality.
From the foregoing narrative youi Lord-
ship will probably agree with me in the con-
clusion that up to the time when the Houses
adjourned, it was clearly the wish and the
expectation of Parliament that prorogation
should take place on the 13th August. And
it IS most natural that this should have been
the case. The commercial business and the
agricultural operations of the year have to
be crowded into the five short months of
summer. Almost every member of both
Houses in this country is actively engaged
in business pursuits requiring his personal
attendance. To be detained from home at
this season implies uoc only extreme incon-
venience but pecuniary loss. Already the
lateness of the current session had bred con-
siderable discontent, and it had been ex-
pressly determined by the House that in
future the session should never begin later
than the first week of February. The dis-
tance from Halifax to Ottawa is something
like 1,200 miles, from Victoria in British
Columbia it is 4,000 miles. The re-asaembly
of Parliament in August, for the transaction
of business, would have cut up the entire
summer, as far as many members were con-
cerned, and would have been more or less
inconvenient to all but those who reside
within a day or two's journey of Ottawa.
The majority in the House of Commons ap-
pear to have attached but little significance
to Mr. Huntington's accusations, for they
negatived his motion without even requiring
my Ministers to reply to it, and I do not
imagine that any one of them contemplated
a renewal of the session on the 13th August.
But, though the conduct of the majority
who confided in the Government is easily
understood, the procedure of the members of
the Opposition is more difficult to explain.
They had in their possession, it is to be pre-
sumed, what they considered convincing
proofs of the corruption of Minis-
ters. The matter had been refer-
red to the adjudication of a committee,
and, according to the theory of the prosecu-
tion, could have but one result. Strong in
these convictions, they should never have al-
lowed the announcement of prorogation to
have passed unchallehged, but should have
resorted to every means known to the Con-
stitution by which • such a consummation
could have been precluded. Indeed, so ob-
vious was theii duty in this respect, that
their opponents have attributed to them a
deliberate intention of allowing the disper-
sion of the majority to take place nub Hilentio,
with a view to the packing of a Uouse with
their own adherents on the day to which it
had adjourned — an operation to them excep-
tionally easy, as the parliamentary strength
of the Ministers lies principally in the Mari-
time and outlying Provinces, while their own
is close at home in the central region of On-
tario and Quebec. The subsequent publica-
tion in the newspapers of the (iocuments now
known as the Allan and McMuUen corres*
pondence is pointed to as having been a
move in aid of the same unworthy policy, by
supplying a eudden and unexpected pretext
for insisting on the immediate intervention
of Parliment at a time when the Ministerial
supporters were dispersed.
I do not, however, myself attach the
slightest credit to this injurious insinuation.
Although, undoubtedly, party strife is con-
ducted in this country with less reticence and
generosity than at home, and although the
combatants " strike below the waistcoat"
more frequently than could be wished, my
personal knowledge of the leaders of the Op-
position convinces me that such a design
would be quite foreign to their natures. My
own opinion is, that, from first to last, they
found themselves impeded by the initial mis-
take in tactics — as I ventured at the time
toconsiderit — committed by Mr.Huntington
in not reinforcing his motion by the produc-
tion of some of the documents on which it
was founded. Had he done so. Parliament
would undoubtedly have listened to him with
greater respect, and Mr. Dorion's motion
might perhaps have been carried ; for, though
Mr. Huntington's case is far from being
proved, no one can now deny that, if he was
in possessflion of the Allan correspondence at
the time*he demanded his committee, he had
aright to require an investigation of the
suspicious circumstances thus brought to his
knowledge. The premature disclosure of
his hand could not have been the objection,
for a sufliciency of " pieces justijicatives" for
his purpose have since been produced. As
it was, he could not convince the house of
the urgency of the affair, and, discouraged
by their repeated defeats, the Opposition, I
imagine, gave up all hopes of being able to
persuade Parliament to dispute the arrange-
ments of the triumphant Minister. Be that
as it may, it is certain that the day after the
adjournment most of the members of both
Houses dispersed themselves in different di-
I 'i!
82
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1873
illilll
reotions, some to their homes, some to the
States, and acme to Europe, without any
more intention of returning to Ottawa on
the 13th August than niyaelf.
On the 2na July Mr. Cameron's committee
met in Montreal, but in the meantime I had
received an intimation from your Lordship
that the Oaths Bill had been disallowed by
the Queen in Council, and I had made the
fact public by proclamation.
Immediately on leceipt of this intelligence,
communications had^passed between Sir John
Macdonald and myself as to the course to
be puisued. Sir John was inclined to issue
a Commission to the members of the Com-
mittee, but, as he hesitated to do so from an
unwillingness to expose the Crown to the re-
jection of its mandate, I addressed him in
the following terms: —
" The Citadel, Quebec,
June 28th. 1873.
" I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 19th. I am sure you are quite
right not to allow the Committee to be post-
poned beyond the time originally fixed for
the opening of its proceedings.
"On the part of the Crown, I should have no
objection to the offer of the Commission as you
propose, and I think you may with perfect
propriety act upon the assumption that the
members of the Committee will accept the
charge confided to them.
" The Government has stretched its legal
conscience and encouraged Parliament, though
not without warning, to exceed its legitimate
powers in order to facilitate this enquiry.
The obstacle now interposed is one with
which you have no concern, and beyond your
control. You propose to obviate the diffi-
culty by the only means in your power — but
a means both legitimate and effectual. No
one can doubt that for the purpose for which
the Committee was originally constituted, its
conversion into a Conimiasion can make no
practical difference. A.s a Commission it will
take evidence, and as a Committee it will re-
port upon that evidence to the House. It
would be unreasonable to allege that in dis-
charging this double function, and in acquir-
ing, in addition to the powers delegated to it
by Parliament, a technical authority at the
hands of the Crown to take evidence on
oath, it abates one tittle of its constitutional
independence."
Thus authorized, Sir John communicated
with Mr, Ccimeron in the following letter : —
" Montreal,' July 2nd, 1873.
" Sir, — As the Act which would have
enabled the Committee now sitting in Mon-
treal, of which you are Chairman, to ex-
amine witnesses on oath, has been disallowed
as being beyondg the competence of the
Canadian Parliament, I desire to renew to
you as Chairman of the Committee the offer
ma(l« by me on the part of the Government
on the floor of the House of Commons, to
issue a Royal Commission addressed to the
gentlemen forming the Committee which
would confer upon them all the powers given
to the Committee by the House of Commons,
including the examination of witnesses un-
der oath, and the power to send for persons,
papers and records, anvl jontaining the same
provisions as to the votes of|the members of the
Committee and yourself as Chairman, as was
ordered by the House. The acceptance of
this Commission will enable this Committee
to proceed with the enquiry, and the exami-
nation of witncses on oath without any im-
portant delay. I shall cause a copy of
this letter to bo sent to each member of the
Committee.
" I have the honour to be,
'■' Your obedient servant,
"J, A, Macdonald.
"To Hon. J. H. Cameron, &c., &c.
"P.S. — The Commission will contain a
clause enjoining the Commissioners to report
to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
(Signed,)
'J. A. Macdonald."
The majority of the Committee'are under
stood to have been willing to retui
a favourable reply to this proposal, ha
their colleagues assented, bat neither Mr.
Dorion nor Mr. Blake considered them-
selves at liberty to accept the arrangement,
and stated their reasons in the following
terms : —
" To the Ri(jht Honourable Sir John A. Mac-
donald.
" Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 2nd inst.,
received this morning, enclosing a copy of a
letter addressed by you to the Hon. J. H.
Cameron, Chairman of the Special Commit-
tee of the House of Commons, now sitting
in Montreal, in which you state that, as the
Act which would have enabled the Commit-
tee to examine witnesses under oath had
been disallowed, as being beyond the com-
petence of the Canadian Parliament, yon
desire to renew to him, as Chairman of the
Committee, the offer made by you on the
part of the Government to issue a Royal
Commission, addressed to the gentlemen
forming the Committee, which would confer
upon them all the power given to the Com-
mittee by the House of Commons, including
the examination of the witnesses by the
Committee ; but, as I understand your pro-
posal, it is that the Government should give
to the several members of the Committee
named by the House of Commons to enquire
into the charges made against it a Commis-
sion to enquire into the same charges, with
power to examine witnesses under oath, and
this virith a view to carry out the intention
of the House, to have this enquiry made an-
1873
ivernment
inuna, to
od to the
;ee which
ivers ({iveu
Coininons,
leaaea un-
r peraoQB,
tliti same
iberauf the
an, as waa
iptance of
Joiiiniittee
ho exami-
it any im-
, copy of
9er of the
rvunt,
DONALD.
&u.
contain a
B to report
>mmon8.
ONALD."
are under
retut
)OBal, ha
either Mr.
red them-
augement,
following
m A.Mac'
mowledge
2nd inat.,
copy of a
Lon. J. H.
1 Commit-
aw sitting
at, as the
I Commit-
oath had
the com-
nent, you
lan of the
rou on the
a Royal
gentlemen
uld confer
the Corn-
including
IS by the
. your pro-
lould give
ommittee
1«73
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
8
der oath, N'ow, I would beg to call to your
attention that the Committfce was originally
na.netl on your own motion, aa an ordinary
Parliamentary Committee, without refe-
renoo to any authority to examine witneaaea
under oath, and that it waa only on tho
auggeation of the Committee, aubaequently
made, that the House and Senate unaiii-
moiialy pasHed the Oiitha Bill, although on
more than one ocuaaion you youraelf made
the HUggestion, unheeded by the House, that
a CoininiHHion might be .iHHue<l instead of
passing an Act to authorize the administer-
ing of oatha to tho witnesses. This uhme
seems to me to be conclusive that the House
of Commons, whone nominee I am on tho
Committee, did not intentl that the enquiry
ahimld be carried on by a Commission ap-
pointed by tho Executive, and responsible
aa such oidy to that Exeuutive. It sooma to
me, moreover, that tho authority wiiich is
aouyht to be conferred on the Committee to
examine witnesses under oath cannot be at-
tained by the issue of a Royal Commission ;
for, although tlie Comuiissionora appointed
might examine witiiesfea under oath, it
would not be as members of tlie Committee
appointed by tlie House thivt they would do
ao, but as Commissioners, whose decisions
and proceedings would be subject to the
supervision and control of the Executive,
under whom they wculd hold their appoint-
ment, and not of the House. I have always
been willing, as a member of the House of
Commons, to obey its commands in refe-
rence 1 any Parliamentary duties it might
impose upon me ; in that view I did not
shirk the arduous and unenviable position of
a member of this Committee of Enquiry, as
being part of the labour and duty to whicli a
member of Parliament is bound to submit ;
but if, instead of moving for the appoint-
ment of a Committee by the House, the Gov-
ernment had proposed to name me on a Com-
mission for tJie purpose of this enquiry, I
would then certainly have declined the pro-
posed Commission. I cannot see why I
should now accept it, when it seenis to me
that the effect of issuing such a Commission
would be to supersede the Committee, and
more especially in view of the declaration
you made immediate!^ before the adjourn-
ment of tho session in reference to Mr. Blake
and myself, that we should not have cou-
aented to serve on the Committee, that men
in our positions in England would not have
done so. and that you could not expect any
fair play at our hands. Tliia alone should be
a sufficient reason why I humbly believe I
should not be called upon to accept a Com-
mission from the Uovernment of which you
aretheliead, after your public declaration,
made in my absence, of my untitness to per-
form what the Commisaion would impose on
me.
" I have the honour, ko.,
(Signed) '• A. A. UokioN."
" MoNTKKAi,, July 3.
" Sir, — 1 have the honour to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 2nd inst. , en-
closing a copy of a letter addressed by you to
the Him. Mr. ('ameron, as Chairman of the
Pacific llfiilway Enquiry Committee. 1 can-
not agree in your statement that tho accep-
tance of a Royal Commission would enable
the Committee to proceed with the enquiry
and the examination of witnesses on oath.
The Committee is, I believe, unanimously ol
opinion that the acceptance of tho Com
mission would not enable the Committee
make progress, and that the action of th
Commissioners (whether or not they be the
same persons as those who constitute the
Committee) would be entirely di8cor,.ected
from the action of tho Committee. Sliaring
their opinion, I atn called on to consider
whether I should accept the offer made by
the (rovernment, of a Royal Commission
addressed to the gentlemen who happen to
be memhers of the Committee, calling on
tiiem to en({uire into tho matters of charge
])referred in the statement of Mr. Hunting-
ton, I believe that it would be of evil
consequence to create the precedent of a
(iovornment issuing a Commission of en-
quiry into matters of a charge against itself,
tfie Commissioners being, as they are, sub-
ject to the direction and control of the ac-
cused. I believe that the acceptance of
such a Commission would be opposed to the
sense of the House of Commons, as mani-
fosted by its action last session, and would,
under present oircumstances, be calculated
to prejudice the enquiry ordered by the
House, and to impair the full and eflicieut
exercise of its most ancient and important
powers. The House of Commons does not,
I think, expect that the Crown or any one
else, least of all the members of its own
Committee, will interpose between itself and
the great enquiry which it has undertaken.
Apart from these and other difficulties, you
have yourself interposed a ban-ier to rpy
acceptance of your offer. During my ab-
sence from the House of Commons last ses-
sion, you stated in your place that 1 had
done wrong in not declining to fulHl the
dutj' of Committeeman, which had been im-
posed on me by the House ; that English
statesmen in my position^-which, however,
you misstated — would have scorned to do '.X6
I had done ; and that my speeches during the
session showed that your Government could
not expect fair play from me on the enquiry.
I shall not condescend to reply to these
!^'
84
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1873^
il
stAtementH, but I have to any that although
I reluctantly came to the coricluHion that 1
waR not free to decline to Horve the Houae
o( which I am a member, I do not think it
consiHtent with my self-reBpect to accept t'ne
CommiNHion here offered by a Mininter who
has choHtMi to HO characteri/e my conduct. I
hav« sent a copy of thin Itstter to Mr.
Cameron for bin information as Chairman of
the Committee.
" I have, &c.,
(Si><nfd) •'Edward Blakk.
"The Kixht Hon. Sir John A. Maodonabl."
1 do not presume to ({uestion for a moment
the propriety of the courne adopted by these
gentlemen. As memberH of the lltmse of
Commons, they may have had a more acute
appreciation of their ['arlianiientary ol>li>{a-
tions than had occurred t(» my apprehension, —
but 1 trust that your Lordship will not c(Ui-
Bider that 1 acted wronj;ly in thus endea-
vouring to forward the enquiry by what 1
considered an opportune expedient.
The Committee being thus piet Inded from
swearing in their witnesses, a motion was
made by Mr. Dorion, supported by Mr.
Blake, that tliey sliould content themselves
with unsworn testimony, but the majority
considering themselves clebarred from this
course by the express instruccions of the
House upon the point, they determined to
adjourn until the l.Stli August.
This resolution was taken on the 3rd July.
The day after there api)eared in the Mon-
treal Herald a i-eries of letters and telegrams
written by Sir Hugh Allan to a Mr. Mc-
Mullen, and to a Mr. Smith, of Chicago, and
to Bome unknown person iu the United
States, iu reference to the Canadian Pacific
Railway. The day following a long state-
ment on the same subject, in the form of an
affidavit, was issued by Sir Hugh Allan in
■kr o i \! A another newspaper. I have
Ho. 3 and JNo. 4. ^i^eady had the honour of
forwarding to your Lordship both the docu-
ments, but 1 think it well to append them to
this despatch for convenience of reference.
It is not necessary for my present purpose
that I should either analyze or contrast
the oonllicting assertions observable in these
productions. It will be sufficient to note
that not only does SirHugh Allan admit upon
oath that the language of his letters is "in-
accurate," but he also denies in the moat
positive manner the correctness of the in-
ferences sought to be deduced from them.
On the whole, as far as I could gather from
the tone of the press, and from conversation,
these revelations rather improved than other-
wise the position of the Ministry. On the
one hand, Sir Hugh Allan's letters accounted
for and justified Mr. Huntington's perti-
nacity; on the other, his affidavit. — or rather,
Sir John Maodonnld's telegram, quoted in
the affidavit, — satisfactorily proved that, so
far from yielding himself, or all<>wing his
colleague, Sir Ceorge Cartier, to yield to the
pressure put up<jn him by Sir Hugh Allan in
the height of tne electicm contest, my Prime
Minister had required the immediate and
complete cuncellnigof an arrangement favour-
able to Sir Hugh, to which Sir (Jeorge
had evinced a willingneHS to subscribe. In
iilustration (»f this point, I subjoin Sir
(ieorge Cartier's letter, as well as Sir Hugh
Allan's reference to Sir John Macdonald's
telegram concerning it.
[Copv.]
•• MoNTRKAi., 30th July, 1872.
"Dkah Sik Hugh, —
" I enclose you copies of telegrams received
from Sir John A. Macdonald; and with refe-
rence to their contents I would say that, in my
opinion, the (iovernor-in-Council will ap-
prove of the amalgamation of your Company
with the Interoceanic Company, under the
name of the Canadian Pacific Railway Com-
l»any, the )'-ovincial Board of the amalga-
mated Cci. jiany to be composed of seven-
teen members, of whom four shall be named
from the Province of Quebec by the Canada
Pacific Railway Campany, four from the
Province of Ontario by the Interoceanic
Railway Company, and the remainder by the
(lovernmc-nt ; the amalgamated Company to
have the powers specitied in the 10th sec-
tion of the Act incorjjorating the Canada
Pacific Radway Company, &c. ; the agree-
ment of amalgamation to bo executed be-
tween the companies within two months
from this date.
"The Canada Pacific Company might take
the initiative in procuring the amalgamation;
and if the Interoceanic Company should not
execute an agreement of amalgamation upon
such terms and within such limited time, I
think the contemplated arrangements should
be made with the Canada Pacific Company
under its charter.
" Upon the subscription and payment on
account of stock being made, as required by
the Act of last session, respecting the Cana-
dian Pacific Railway Company, I have no
doubt but that the Governor-iu' Council will
agree with the Company for the construc-
tion and working of the Canadian Pacific
Railway with such branches as shall be
agreed upon, and will grant to the Company
all such subsidies and assistance as they are
empowered to do by the Government Act. I
believe all the advantages which the Gov-
ernment Act empowers the Government to
confer upon any Company will be required to
enable the works contemplated to be suc-
cessfully carried through, and I am convinced
that they will be accorded to the Company
to
Ci
lUi
liLlilii
187a
1873
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
89
3uot6d in
that, HO
l(>wiii^ hiR
iolil to the
{h Allan in
my I'riino
jdiatu and
ont favour-
lir (itiorKe
loribe. In
il)joiii Sir
1 Sir HuKh
audonald's
ly, 1872.
15 received
with refe-
that, in my
will ap-
' (.'oinpany
under the
I way Com-
16 umalga-
of Beven-
[ be named
he Canada
from the
iteroceanic
der by the
ompany to
10th sec-
e Canada
the agree-
cuted be-
monthti
might take
gaination;
hould not
atiou upon
ed time, I
nts should
Company
yment on
quired by
the Caua-
have no
Mincil -will
construe-
an Pacitic
shall ha
Company
they are
nt Act. I
the Gov-
nment to
squired to
;o be sue-
convinced
Company
to he formed by amalgamation, or to the
Canada I'uciiic C'onifmny.aH the cuhu may be.
" I wouM add that, as I approve of the
•neaiiuroH to which I have roferrud in thin
' .ttur, I flhall use my bont uudoavouri to
have th«m carried into effect.
"Very truly yours,
(SigBod) "Cko. E. Caktikk."
Eketract from Sir H. Allan's AJidurJt <tf July
5th.
"On the same day that I re oeived the
above lt'tt«r from Sir (Joorge ( 'irtior I in-
formed Sir John A. Macdonal<' of the con-
ents of it, and asked for hia SAnotion of the
views which it contained. Pu;. he declined
to concur in the terms of Sir tieorge's letter,
telegraphing to him that ho -would not agree
to them, and that he would come down to
Montreal and confer with him respecting
them. Thereupon, I immediately informed
Sir George E. Cartior that I should consider
the letter addressed to me as being with-
drawn ; and to my knowledge Sir George
telegraphed Sir John that he had seen mo,
and that as he (Sir John) ol)jected to Sir
George's letter, it had been withdrawn. I
also telegraphed to Sir John on the same
day (July Slst) to the effect that I had seen
Sir George Cartier, and that he (Sir John)
might return my letter or regard it as waste
paper, and tha^ I was satisfied with the
telegram of the 26th as expressive of the
views of the Government."
But any reaction iu favour of the Govern-
ment which might have thus set in wa's more
than counterbalanced by the appearance of
another series of letters, which I also re-
V K append, and which are now gene-
■ ■ rally known as the McMulten cor-
respondence. Amid these productions there
have been introduced documents of a very
compromising character, the one a letter
from Sir George Cartier asking for twenty
thousand more dollars ($20, 000 -=£4, 000
sterling), and the other a telegram from Sir
John Macdonald demanding an additional
ten thousand dollars (110,000 =-£2, 000 sterl-
ing). These latter I subjoin : —
" Montreal, Aug. 24, 1872.
" Dear MR- Abboit, — In the absence of
Sir Hugh Allan, I shall be obliged by your
supplying the Central Committee with a fur-
ther sum of twenty thousand dollars upon
the same conditions as the amount written
by me at the foot of m,y letter to Sir Hugh
Allan of the 30th ultimo
" George E. Cartier.
'* P. S. — Please also send Sir John A.
Maodonald ten thousand dollars more on the
same terms."
•• ToHONio, Aug. 2flth, 1872.
"To the Hon. J.J. C. AiiHorr, St.
Anne's : —
' ' ( Immediate, Private. J
" I must have another ten thousand '; will
be tlie last time of cuUii g ; do not fail nio,
answer to-day.
" John a. Macdonald."
But for the api>earance of the foregoing
documeutH, I doubt whether so great an im-
pression would have been produced upon the
public mind by the statement of Mf. Mo
Mullen. I myself have no knowledge oi the
gentleman, and have no right to impeach his
veracity, but it is manifest that many of his
assertions are at variance with Sir Hugh
Allan's sworn testimony, while others liuve
been contradicted by gentlemen whose
credibility it would be diflicult to inipugn.
Even with regard to the documents them-
selves, it is to be observe*! that they were
neither addressed to Mr. McMullen nor to
any one with whom he was associated, and
that they could scarcely have come into his
jjossession by other than surreptitious means.
They do not therefore necessarily connect
themselves with those nefarious transactions
towhich Mr. McMullen asserts he was
privy. It is further contended by the
friends of the Government that the sums
mentioned or everj referred to were not very
large— about £12,000 sterling in all— an am-
ount which would go but a little way lo defray *
the legitimate expenses of the 150 Ontario
and Quebec elections, and that there was
nothing to show whether they had been
proffered as a subscription or as a temporory
loan from a wealthy political partizau. Their
sinister significance resulted in a great
measure from their factitious juxtaposition
with Mr. McMuUen's narrative. Under
these circumstauces, though without attach-
ing too much importance to mere conjectural
pleas of this kind, I was unwilling to jump
to a hasty conclusion on a matter involving
both the private and the public honour of
my Ministers, and above all things I felt
bound not to allow my judgment to be
swayed by the current of popular suspicion
which this concatenation of documents would
naturally produce.
I happened to be at Prince Edward Island
when the McMullen correspondence reached
my hands, whither two of my Ministers-^
Mr. Tilley, the Minister of Finance, and Dr.
Tupper, the Minister of Customs— had aUo
come for the purpose of settling certain de-
tails consequent on the recent confederation
of the Island. I immediately sent for these
gentlemen, and the strennous assurances I re-
ceived from each of them confirmed my hop*
-■'HI
36
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1873
that matters might be Mtitfaotorily uxiilain*
«(1. Hut, however that might \w, I Kaiiw
that our (liginal programme for tliu iuiioti-
nite prorogatit>i: of i'urliamoiit could m>
longer l)u adhoruil to, atxl that my pruHunoe
at Ottawa on tho i.'Uh Auguatw.iH iniperutive.
UhderatHinling, liowover, that proparatioiiH
wore ill progriiHH for our pul)liu rticoption iit
Halifnx, I tliought it hitter to iirocoud
thithor, antl to make no annnounuenit'nt of
my suli.H«!(|iHMit intoiitioMH until the Inut mo-
ment. At iliti Haniu timo I wrote to Sir
John, ami iNtiinatuil to him tiiut the potti-
tion of atlairH huil oiianguil Hinoe we parted —
that u rec'DHn for the usual period wati no
longer po!«Mil>l>;, and that it wan nouoHHary
I'arlianiunt should lie provided with an early
an opportunity as oiruuniHtanue* perMiitte<l
of pronoiiiioing ui>on the i)oint» ut Ihhuo be-
tween hiiuHulf and his aHHuilantH.
On reaching tUlifax, on the 29th July, I
four. 1 the popular exuitemeiit all over the
Dominion wan intenHo.anil that my HUpposed
viewH, Hyni|iathieH and intentions were
heooming iioi merely the auhjeot of conjou-
turu, hue of asHertiou and coinmunt in the
rival uewHpuperH -the (fovernment preuH
stating, as if upon authority, that my
course would he so and so— unnoiincunieiits
whioh wuio met hy the Opposition prints
witli strong admonitory or rather minatory
articles. As, at this time, I had by no
means madu up my mind as to tlie proper
course lu he pursued, and felt that no deci-
•ion was p()SMil)le until I had seen my Minis-
ters, 1 determined to take an early opportu-
nity of deprecating the introduction of the
Governor (Jeneral's name into such a contro-
versy. An occasion soon presented itself,
and I have the honour to subjoin an extract
from a newspaper report of u speech I made
at a dinner given to mu by the Halifax
Club :—
* ♦ * " An.l here,
gentlemen, I should be diaposod to ct <.ude
this imperfect expression of my lUanks,
were I not desirous of conveying to my
friend the Chief Justice the groat gra'itica-
tion I have derived from the remarks whioh
have droiiped from him in regard to my
official position as Governor-General of this
great Dominion. Gentlemen, I am well
aware that tltis is, as it were, a domestic
festival, and that nothing could be more in-
opportune than the slightest allusion to any
political topic; but I maybe permitted to say
this much in reference to what has fallen
from the Chief Justice, that, if there
is one obligation whose importance I ap-
preciate more than another, as attaching
to the functions of my office, it is the ab-
solute and paramount duty of maintaining
not merely an outward attitude of perfect
Impartiality toward* the various parties
into which the political world of ('anada as
well as the M(»ther Country is divided, but
still more of preserving that moreHul)tlu and
inward balance of sympathy, judgment, and
opinion which should elevate the representa-
tive of your Sovereign above faintest suspi-
eion of having any other desire, aim, or am-
liition than to (oWow the example of his
Royal Mistress in the relation she has oon«
stantly maintained towards her Ministers,
her i'urliament, and her people (tremendous
applause); to remember every himr of the
day that he has but one duty and but one
object — to admiinster his Government in
the interests of the whole Canadian people,
and of the Dominion at large. (Cireat cheer-
ing. ) Of course, gentlemen, having been
))Ut one 1)rief year in the country, my charac-
ter and my sentiments in these respects can
scarcely be known, and there is always a
dangoi during the fervour of these political
controversies, which heem to be conducted
by the [)reiH of Canada with peculiar liveli-
ness and animation — (great laughter) — of
unauthoii/,ed references i)oing made to the
(iovenioi -General's supposed sentiments,
opinions, and intentions, which wouhl con-
vey to the uninstructed reader a very erro-
neous impreHsion of the conduct and the atti-
tude oftlie Chii r of the State. Gentlement
I do not make this remark by way of com-
plaint. If there is any person in Canada who
has been kindly and considerately dealt with
by the press, to whom the presH of every
political complexion has shown indulgence
and goodwill, it is myself, and it is most
iiatuiid and liy no means an uncomplimen-
tary eiroumstance, that the organs of differ-
ent shades of opinion siiould persuade them-
selves that tne Governor-Cieneral must
uecrssarily be of their way of thinking, and
see through their spectacles. (Laughter.)
But what I wish to say once for all, and I do
not care how widely this remark is dissemi-
nated, is this — that there is no human being
who is authorized to make any statement or
suggestion as to what my opinion or senti-
ments may bo in respect of any political topic,
or who has ever been in a position, or is
likely to be in a position, to niake anything
approaching to a conjecture upon points oi
this description. It is true, my object and
my desire is to inform my mind upon every
subject affecting the interests of the country,
by conversation and by discussion with any
one who can afford me instruction or infor-
mation ; and it woi id be very unfortunate
for me if this freedom of intercourse with all
classes and parties in Canada, from which I
derive so much benefit and pleasure, should
be trammelled by the dread lest this casual
intercourse should become the foundation of
1873
EARL Of DUFPERIN.
inference, o( mment, and onnleotur* in the
SreiH. No, uuntlumen, I nnileiiUiul my
uty too wullto allow mv j«tlj{rii«nt or my
lyiiipiitliioH to hn KurpriNKtl into pulitiiral pnr-
tiT.iiiifihi[>. My OIK) ttioiight ami dtiMire ia thii
welf.'irt) of I'aniKia ah a whnlu. To inaintAiii
h«r honour, to proriioto h<ir nroHp«(rity, to «lo
my duty l»y h«r iiinl her uiitiru pooplu, iH th«
lole ohji-ot of my ainhition. When I con-
verso with your puhltc men, it iictrcely ever
ocuurn to mo to nintimhor to what politit^al
party thoy huhtng. I only hum in thum pur-
BouH devoting themHelvea, each a-:(;ordiug to
bin liglitn, to the Horviceof hin country. My
only ^tiidin^ ntar in the conduct and mainte-
nance of my otHcial relatiouH with your puh-
lie men ih the Parliament of ('anada.
((/heo'H. ) In fa(!t, I HU[)i»oHe I am the only
perHon in the Dominion wnono faith in the
wisdom and the infallihility of Parliament is
never Hhakcn. (Oreat laughter.) Kach (»f
you, gentlemen, oidy believe in Parliament
BO long tin Parliament acts according to your
wiHhcH -(cheers and laughter) —and conric-
tions. I, gentlemen, believe in Parliament
no matter which way it votes — (laughter) —
and to those men alone whom the deliberate
will of the confederated Parliament of the
Dumini(m may assign to me as my respon-
Bihle advisers can I give my conHdenco.
(Cheers. ) Whether they are the heads of
this party or of that party must be a matter
of indifference to the (iovernor-CJeneral.
(Cheers.) So lony as they are maintained by
Parliament in their position, so long is he
bound to give them his unreserveil conti-
dence, to defer to their advice, and loyally
to assist them with his counsels. ( Applause. )
"Whenever, in the vicissitudes of party war-
fare, they are replaced by others — (laughter)
— he welcomes their successors M'ith an
equally open and loyal r<i|[ard. (( Jheers. )
Such private friendships as he may have
formed he may have a right to retain. ( Hear,
hear.) As a reasonable being he cannot help
having convictions upon the merits of differ-
ent policies — (hear) — but these comsidera-
tions are abstract, speculative, and devoid
of practical effect on his official relations.
(Oneers.) As the head of a Constitutional
State, as engaged in the administration of
Parliamentai y Government, he has no politi-
cal friends ; still less need he have political
enemies. (Great cheering. ) The possession,
or even to be su.spected of possessing either,
destroys his usefulness. (Loud cheers.)
Sometimes, of course, no matter how discon-
nected he personally may be with what ia
taking place, his name will get drai;ged into
some controversy, and he may suddenly find
himself the subject of hostile criticism by
the press of whatever party may for the mo-
ment be out of power. (Laughter.) But,
nnder theae oircumatanoea, he muat onnitole
bimxulf with the reflection that theiie apas-
modic castigations -(laughtur) arenNtranai*
tory and innoeuouit (great laughter) an the
diHcipline apnlieil oooaaionally to their idols
by the unHophisticatod wornhippera of Mum-
i>o Jumbo (immense laughter) -when their
harvrsts are abort or a murrain viiita their
ilocka. (('heers. ) For, gentlemen, of thia I
am certain : although he may aomntimeB er**
in his judgment, or fail in aerving you m
effectually as he might deaire, a Viceroy who
honently aeeka to do hia duty - (oheera) — to
whom the intoreatR of Canada aieaH precioas
and her honour as dear as his own— ira-
meuHo cheering) — who Btcer* unmoved an
even course, indifferent to praise or blame,
between the piditical contentions of the day
— (cheers) can never appeal in vain to the
conHdenco and generosity of the ('anadiau
people. (Inuiumse applause.)"
Hut though keeping my final decision in
suspense, my mind was much occupied, a»
your Lordship may imagine, with the con-
sideration of the variciis courses open to me.
On one point I w-is quiteclear — namely, that
it would not be i.ght for me to countenance
the settlement ot the serious issues raised
between my Ministers and their opponents —
involving, as they did, the ])er8oiial honour
of the most eminent men in Canada^ the fate
of my Ministry, and the public credit of the
country — except at the hands of a full Par-
liament, in which the distant Provinces of
the Dominion wore as well represented as
those of Ontario and Quebec.
As I have already described to your Lord-
ship in the earlier part of tRis despatch,
before Parliament adjourned on the 2.'ird
May, I had caused it to be aniumnc-ed to
both Houses that prorogation would take
place on the 13th August. This arrange-
ment, I have no he.<itation in say-
ing, was agreeable to what were tlien
the views of the majority both in the Senate
and in the House of Commons. Ou the faith
fo thia pledga, many gentlemen were gone to
so great a distance ths t it was physically
impossible for them to be recalled, and it so
happened, from causes to which J have
already referred, that by far th« larger pro-
portion of these absentees were supporters
of the Government. All the niendiers from
British Columbia, except Sir F. Hiucks,
were on the wrong side of the Rocky Moun-
tains. Some Ministerialists wt-re in Europe, a*
I was informed, others in the States, and even
to those in the Maritime Provinces, a return
to Ottawa, though not physically impossible,
as it was to their colleagues, would prove a
great inconvenience at such a season. On
the other hand, I learnt that the Oppoaition
Were mustering their full force, an operas
38
A.
THE SPEECHES OF THE.
\
1873
mm
i! Ill
! }^
ey poaaeased certain geo-
fraphical facilities. Were, therefore, the
[onae of Coinnioua to meet for the trausac-
tion of puVtlic buainean, it waa evident that
important votes might be passed, and decis-
ioua taken, contrary to the real sense of the
country, and that my Ministers might justly
complain tliat they were unfairly treated,
and their fate determined by a packed
Parliament.
But, apart from these practical considera-
tions, a grave question of principle seemed
to me involved. The Imperial officer re-
presenting the Crown in the Dominion is the
natural protector of the federal rights of its
various Provinces, as secured under an Im-
perial Act. The sanctity of the rights of any
one of these Provinces is not affected by the
number of its representatives or the amount
of its population. In this view it is especi-
ally necessary that, in a country of such
enormous distances, ample notice should be
j^iveu of the times and seasons when Parlia-
ment is to sit. But if it be once admitted
that the otlicial " fixtures " which regulate
the opening or closing of a session auci liie
conduct of public business, are to be caprici-
ously tampered with, and changed at so
short a notice as to preclude the distant
representatives from being present, it ia
evident, much wrong and inconvenience
would result, and the door be opened to a
great deal of trickery at the hands of an un-
sciupulous Minister.
The foregoing considerations pointed
pretty distinctly to prorogation as an inevi-
table necessity of the situation. Only one
other alternative indeed either suggested
itself then or has occurred to me since, and
that was another adjournment of the House
to such a (late as would suit the convenience
of the absentees. At first I confess this
course appeared to me fairly practicable, but
further reflection disclosed difficulties I had
not at once seen. In the first place, this was
an arrangement which I had not
the power of enforcing, and I was con-
fronted by the obvious lefloction, that if the
Government made a motion to that effect, it
might be defeated or meet with an amend-
ment tantamount to a vote of want of confi-
dence at the hands of the majority in pre-
sence, and I should then find myself landed
in the very position which I was quite aatii3-
fied ought to be avoided. Even if the
opponents of the Government were to refrain
from taking so unfair an advantage of their
numerical superiority, it was evident that in
view of the adjournment preliminary issues
would crop up of vital importance relative
t'o the fresh instructions to be given to the
Committee ; for inatance, whether the evi-
dence was to be sworn or unsworn, and, if
the former, how the oath was to be adminis-
tered, — all of which would necessarily be
decided in a manner unduly adverse to the
Government, and in the absence of those
who had an undoubted right to make their
voices heard on the occasion. I was so anx-
ious, nevertheless, to find some way of
avoiding a course which I foresaw would be
denounced, however unjustly, as an undue
exercise of the Queen's prerogative, that I
thought it desirable to make a suggestion
in this sense to Sir John Macdouald, offering
at the same time to become the channel of
communication by which an understanding
between him and his opponents might be
arrived at. Sir John's reply was very much
in the sense I had anticipated. He insisted
upon the injustice of his (iovernment being
given over bound kand and foot to the tender
mercies of their opponents in the absence of
his supporters, whom ho had disraiased to
their homes with my aanction, and with the
acquiescence of Parliament. He called my
attention to the fact that the Opposition
organs, far from hinting at any compromise,
were insisting on the fact that a quorum of
Parliament could do anything that Parlia-
ment itself could do,- and were evincing by
unmistakable signs that they would, show
no quarter ; that both Messrs. Blake and
Dorion had endeavoured to persuade the
Committee to content themselves with un-
sworn evidence ; and that if Parliament met
for business they would be in a position to
pass an instruction to the Committee to that
effect, — that no man would be willing to risk
his life, still less his honour, in the hands of
witnesses released from the consequences of
perjury, — and finally, that he would not feel
himself safe in entering into any arrange-
ments dependent upon the bonafdes of those
with whom I h»d suggested he should treat.
Unfortunately, in this country party
{iiumoaity is intense, and the organs of each
side denounce the public men opposed to
them in terms of far greater vigour than those
to which we are accustomed in England.
The quarrel at this moment is exceptionally
bitter. The one party openly accuse the
other of personal dishonour, while these re-
gard their opponents as unscrupulous con-
spirators. As a Consequence, a mistrust of
each other's fair dealing, — which I cannot
believe to be justified on either hand, — has
been engendered, which would render the
role of mediator under any circumstances
extremely difiicult. As it was, the former
part of Sir John's representations, if not the
latter, coincided too closely with what h»d
occurred to my own mind to enable me to
deny its cogency. There being, however,
no further time for correspondence, I left
Halifax on Saturday night, the 9th August,
til
1873
adminlB-
aaarily be
'se to the
of those
lake their
1.8 so anx-
B way of
would be
»x undue
e, that I
uggestioa
1, offering
hannel of
rstanding
might be
ery much
e insisted
ent being
he tender
.bseuce of
raiased to
with the
sailed njy
opposition
[ipromise,
|Uorum of
at Parlia-
incing by
aid show
lake and
made the
with ua-
ment met
losition to
ee to that
ng to risk
hands of
ueuces of
d not feel
arrange-
;« of those
uld treat.
ry party
ns of each
pposed to
;han those
England,
eptionally
jcuse the
these re-
[ilous con-
dstrust of
I cannot
and, — has
3uder the
imstances
le former
if not the
what h^d
,ble me to
however,
ce, I left
August,
1873
EAltL OF DUFFERIN.
39
and arrived in Ottawa on the morning of
Wednesday, the 13th. Had I been at liberty
to have done so, I should have perferred
starting sooiier, but che town of Halifax had
organized a aeries of popular demonstrations
in our Honour for Saturday afternoon, and it
would have occasioned great dissatisfaction
liad I absented myself.
Before continuing my narrative, there is
one incident connected with my stay at
lliilifax which perhaps ought to Hud mention
here. Mr. Huntington sent me a sealed
lacket covered by an official communication
to my Secretary, which, as I understood
from the gentleman who brought it, as well
as from Mr. Huntington's letter, contained
copies of the incriminatory documents in hia
possession. As the matters to which the
papers referred had become the subject of a
public investigation before a House of Com-
mons Committee, and as I waa still uncertain
what turn affairs might take, I did not con-
sider it would be proper for me to take per-
sonal cognizance of these papers. I there-
fore returned the packet unopened to Mr.
Huntington.
The 13th August was not only the day
appointed for prorogation, but it was
also the day to which the Committee of En-
quiry had adjourned, but, as far aa I can
gather from the subjoined report of what
occurred, it came together to very little pur-
pose. Indeed its whole procedure on this
occasion is difficult of comprehension, in con-
sequence, I suppose, of the meagreness of
the only report of what passed, which I have
been able to obtain. In the first place, only
four out of the five members were present,
and eventually another, Mr, Dorion, with-
drew in the middle of a discussion, leaving
what are considered the Government mem-
bers in a majority. One of these, Mr.
Blanchet, then proposed that they should re-
port their proceedings to the House. Mr.
Blake, in amendment of this suggestion,
moved the adjournment of the Committee,
which was carried, — the' result being that
when the House met at three o'clock, ah had
been arranged six weeks before, for the very
purpose of receiving the Committee's report,
no report of any sort or description was
forthcoming. The followin;^ is the account
■of the proceedings referred to: —
" Ottawa, Aug. 13.
"The Pacific Committee met at 11:30.
Present: Messrs. Cameron, Blanchet, Blake,
Dorion.
"At the request of Mr. Blake, the resolu-
tion passed by the Committee at last meet-
ing — that the Committee cannot proceed
without farther instructions from the House
— was read.
" Mr. Blake moved that the said resolution
be rescinded.
" Yeas — Blake, Dorion.
"Nays — Cameron, Blanchet.
" xlesolution lost.
" After sonre conversation as to the Com-
mittee making a report to the House,
" The Cljuirmau said if Mr. Dorion and
Mr. Blake were not in favour of making a
report, and withdrew because they thought
no report should be made, the majority of
the Committee would not make any report.
" Mr. Dorion said he wanted a report to be
made, but did not concur with the majority.
" The Chairman — All we propose to do is
simply to report our proceedings to the
House. If you don't like that report, we
need not make any at all.
"Mr. Dorion — If I move any amendment, I
would stop the report from being made.
* ' The Chairman — It is impossible for me
to tell the result of merely reporting our
proceedings to the House. But if you don't
think any report of our proceedings should
be made, I have no objection that it be so
resolved. My own impression is that as we
reported all our former proceedings to the
House, there ia no objection to our also re-
porting those which have taken place sinco
the last meeting of the House.
" Mr. Dorion said he would not interfere
with such a step.
" The Chairman— Then I suppose it is so
resolved, and we have completed our busi-
ness?
" Mr. Blake — No, there is a quorum pre-
sent, and any amendment is in order. I
move that the Hwuse be asked to give such
instructions to the Committee as will enable
them to proceed with the enquirj'.
"Mr. Dorion here withdrew from the
room, and the motion was carried unani-
mously by Messrs. Cameron, Blanchet, and
Blake.
'• Mr. Blake enquired of the Chairman--
Do you propose to give the House communi-
cation of this resolution ?
" The Chairman —Not unless you move it
to be done.
" Mr. Blake— Do you propose to commu-
nicate any of the previous proceedings ?
" The Chairman — I do not.
" Mr. Blanchet— 1 think we should report
our proceedings. I move that the proceed-
ings of the Committee since 17th of May last
be reported to the House.
" Mr. Blake — I move an amendment that
the Committee adjourn till eleven o'clock to-
morrow.
" Carried.
" Yeas — Blake, Cameron.
" Nay— Blanchet.
" The Committee then adjourned."
40
THE SPEECHES OF THE
187
in Ottawa'
me by ap"
liiii!!:
I! lllll!
! ill If
A few hours after irty arrival
Sir John Macdonalfl called upon
pointment, and formally Hubmitted the una
nimous advice of my Ministers, that Parlia-
ment should be prorogued according to the
announcement made by my authority in both
Houses previous to its adjournment. After
some conversation, in which we went over the
whole ground, and again examined the sug-
gestion contained in my letter relative to an
adjournment, I finally announced to hira
that, on a due consideration of all the cir-
cumstances of the case, the prorogation of
Parliament seemed to me inevitable, — that I
did not feel myself justified in withdrawing
my confidence from Ministers, or in conclud-
ing that Parliament had done so, and that,
therefore, I was prepared to be guided by the
couDselB of himself and his colleagues, — but
that I must formally insist on one condition
as the price of my assent to prorogation,
viz. : — That Parliament should be again con-
voked within as short a period as was consis-
tent with the reasonable convenience of mem-
bers, and that I considered six or eight weeks
was as long an interval as should intervene
beore the House re-assembled. Sir John
Macdonald did not offer any objection to this
proposition — indeed he had already volun-
teered a suggestion to a similar effect, — and
• it was agreed that I should meet my Council
at two o'clock, in order that it might be rati-
fied in the presence of all my Ministers.
At^'one o clock, however, |1 was unexpect-
edly informed that a deputation of Members
of J Parliament was desirouR of waiting upon
me with a Memorial against prorogation. I
had not received the slightest intimation of
. the intention of these gentlemen, yet, al-
though I felt the propriety of such a step
upon their part was very questionable, I con-
cluded to receive them.
In the meantime I had repaired to the
Council Chamber, as agreed upon, where my
Ministers jointlj re-submitted the advice
-they had commissioned Sir John Macdonald
convey on their behalf in the morning, I
' made the same reply to them as to my Prime
Mini8ter,and the re-assembly of Parliament
within the time specified was agreed upon.
It was, however, suggested that if ten weeks
were named as th-i limit instead of eight, it
would be possible to get the preparation of*
the estimates sufficiently advanced to roll
two sessions into one, and dispense with the
usual spring session. Although I was scarce-
ly in a position to know how lar this pro-
posal was practicable, or would be acceptable
to Parliament, it would evidently prove
such a saving of expense to the country', and
of fatigue and inconvenience to members,
many of whom would otherwise scarcely have
time to return to their homes at all between
an autumn and the usual session, that I con-
sented to the additional fortnight, upon the
specific understanding, however, that if in
the interval anything should occur which in
my opinion required Parliament to meet
sooner, an expression of my wishes to that
effect would be at once acted upon without
comment or discussion.
These matters being settled, I returned to
where the deputation of remonstrant mem-
bers was waiting for me. They were intro-
duced by their Chairman, Mr. Gartwright, a
gentleman for whom I have a great esteem.
In presenting the Memorial, Mr. Cartwright
stated that it had been signed by ninety-two
members of Parliament, and that .vnother
gentleman had intimated his willingness to
have his signature attached to it. I found,
however, on examining the document, that
three of the ninety-two signatures had been
afiixed by deputy, though, of course, with
the full authority of their owners. I note
the circumstance, however, as I shall havfr
occasion to refer to it hereafter.
As my interview with my Council had
occupied some little time, it had not been
possible for me either to study or to write
my reply to the Memorial. I was therefore
forced to make Mr. Gartwright and his-
friends an extempore answer, which wa&
afterwards reduced to writing as nearly as
possible in the terms actually used. This
document, together with the members' re-
monstrance, I subjoin for your Lordship's
information.
MEMORIAL.
"The undersigned, members of the House
of Commons of Canada, desire respectfully
to approach your Excellency, and humbly to
represent that more than four months have
already elapsed since the Hon. Mr. Hun-
tington made, from his place in the House,
grave charges of corruption against your Ex-
cellency's constitutional advisers in reference
to the Pacific Railway contract ; that al-
though the House has appointed a Gommit-
■ tee to enquire into the said charges, the pro-
ceedings of this Committee have, on various
grounds, been postponed, and the enquiry
has not yet taken place ; that the honour of
the country imperatively requires that no
further delay should take place in the inves-
tigation of charges of so grave a character,
and which it is the duty and undoubted right
and privilege of the Commons to prosecute.
"The undersigned are deeply impressed
with the conviction that any attempt to post-
pone this enquiry, or to remove it from the
jurisdiction of the Commons, would create
the most intense dissatisfaction ; and they
therefore pray your Excellency not to pro-
rogue Parliament until the House of Com-
mons shall have as opportunity of taking,
187
1873
EARL OF DUFFEBIN.
41
, that I con-
ht, upon the
that if in
iur which in
it to meet
[68 to that
oon without
returned to
trant mera-
were intro-
artwright, »
reat esteem..
Cartwright
' ninety-two
lat Anotlier
llingness to
5. I found,
ument, that
es had been
30urse, with,
irs, I note
shall have
ouncil had
d not been
ir to write
as therefore
it and his-
which wa»
.s nearly as
used. lhi»
nembere' re»
* Lordship's
if the House
respectfully
1 humbly to
onths have
I. Mr. Hun-
the House,
ist your Ex-
in reference
:t ; that al-
[ a Commit-
es, the pro-
, on various
the enquiry
le honour of
ss that no
n the inves-
1 character,
)ubted right
prosecute,
r impressed
tnpt to post-
it from the
ould create
; and they
lot to pro-
use of Com-
of taking
such steps as it may deem necessary and ex-
pedient with^ reference to this important
matter.
" The number of names signed to this
document is ninety, within ten of one-half of
tne House. Tliey are as follows : —
"Opposition. — Anglin, Archibald, Bain,
Bechard, Bergin, Blain, Blake, Bod well,
Bouruasa, Bowman, Boyer, Brouse, Buell,
Burpee (Sunbury), Cameron (Huron), Cart-
wright, Casey, Casgrain, Cauchou, Charlton,
Church, Cockburn (Muskoka), Cook, Cutler,
Deloruie, St. George, Dorion, Dorion, Edgar,
Ferris, Fiudlay, Fiset, Fleming, Fournier,
Galbraith, Geoffrion, Gibson, Gillies, Goudge,
Hagar, Harvey, Higginbotham, Hoi ton, Hor-
ton, Huntiugton, Jett6, Laflamme, Lander-
kin, McDonald (Glengarry), McKeuzie, Mer-
cier, Metcalf, Mills, Oliver, Paquet, Pater-
Bon, Pelletier, Pickard, i oser, Prdvost,
Richard, Richards, Ross, Ross, Ross, Ross,
Rymal, Smith ( Peel), Snider, Stirton, Tasche-
reau, Thompson, Thomson, Tremblay,
Trow, White (Halton), Wilkes, Wood,
Young, Young.
"Ministerialists.— Burpee (St. John),
Coffin, Cunningham, Forbes, Glass, Mac-
donetl (Inverness), Ray, Schultz, Scriver,
Shibley, D. A. Smith (Selkirk), A. J. Smith
(Westmoreland)."
REPLY.
" Gentlemen, — It is quite unnecessary for
me to assure you that any representations
emanating from persons possessing'the right
to speak on public affairs with such authority
as yourselves will always be considered by
me with the greatest respect, even had not
circumstances already compelled me to give
my most anxious thought to the matters to
which you are now desirous of calling my at-
tention.
"You say, in your memorandum, that
four months have elapsed since the Hon.
Mr. Huntington preferred grave charges of
corruption against my present advisers in
reference to the Pacific Railway contract,
and that although the House has appointed
a Committee to enquire into these charges,
the proceedings of this Committee have on
various grounds been postponed, and the en-
quiry has not yet taken place.
"Gentlemen, no person can regret more
deeply than I do these unfortunate delays,
the more so as they seem to have given rise
to the impression that they have been un-
necessarily interposed by the action of the
Executive.
" It may be premature at this moment to
enl3r into a history of the disallowance by
the Imperial Government of the Oaths Bill,
but this much, at all events, it is but fair to
every one that I should state, viz., that im-
mediately after I had assented to that Act
I transmitted a certified copy of it to the
Secretary of State, in accordance with the
instructions by which I am bound on such
occasions. That, leaning myself to the opi-
nion (an opinion founded on the precedent
afforded by the Act of the Canadian Parlia-
ment, which empowers the Senate to examine
witnesses on oath) that the Act was not
ultra vires, I accompanied it by a full expo-
sition of the arguments which could be
urged in its support ; but on the point being,
referred by the Secretary of State for
the professional opinion of the law offi-
cers of the (yrown, it was pro-
nounced inconsistent with the Act of Con-
federation. The postponement therefore of
the enquiry, so far as it has arisen out of
this circumstance, has resulted wholly by
the operation of law, and has been be-
yond the control of any one concerned.
" You then proceed to urge me, on grounds
which are very fairly and forcibly stated, to-
decline the advice which has been unani-
mously tendered to me by my responsible
Ministers, and to refuse to prorogue Parlia-
ment ; in other words, you require me to dis-
miss them from my counsels ; for, gentlemen,
you must be aware that this would be the
necessary result of my assenting to your re-
commendation.
" Upon what grounds would I be justified
in taking so grave a step ?
" What guarantee can you aflFord me that
the Parliament of the Dominion would en-
dorse such an act of personal interference on
my part ?
"You yourselves, gentlemen, do not form,
an actual moiety of the House of Commons,
and I have no means, therefore, of as-
certaining that the majority of that body
subscribe to the opinion you have enounced.
" Again, to what should I have to appeal
in justification of my conduct ?
" It is true grave charges have been pre-
ferred against these gentlemen — charges
which I admit require the most searching in-
vsstigation ; but as you yourselves remark
iu your memorandum, the truth of these ac-
cusations still remain untested.
"One of the authors of this correspond-
ence, which has made so painful an impres-
sion upon the public, has admitted that many
of his statements were hasty and inaccurate ;.
and has denied on oath the correctness of the
deductions drawn from them.
" Various assertions contained in the nar-
rative of the other have been positively con-
tradicted.
" Is the Governor-General, upon the
strength of such evidence as this, to drive
from his presence gentlemen who for year*,
have filled the highest offices of State, and ia
whom, during the recent session, Parlia
4S
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1878
Ills
ilillii':!
li-
iiiiiiiii:
lUiUlill!!
lil i
ment has repeatedly declared its coutinued
confidence ? It is true, certain documents of
grave signiticauce have lately been publish-
ed in the newspapers in connection with
these matters in regard to which the fullest
explanation must be given, but no proof has
yet been adduced which necessarily connects
them with the culpable tr:insaction3 of which
it is asserted they formed a part, however
questionable they may appear, as placed in
juxtaposition with the correspondence to
which they have been appended by the per-
son who has possessed himself of them.
" Under these circumstances, what right
has the, Governor-General, on his personal
responsibility, to proclaim to Canada — nay,
not only to Canada, but to America and
Kurope, as such a proceeding on his part
must necessarily do — that he believes his
Ministers guilty of the crimes alleged against
them ? Were it possible at the present time
to make a call of the House, and place my-
self in direct communication with the Parlia-
ment of the Dominion, my present embarrass-
ment would disappear, but this is a physical
impossibility. I am assured by my Prime
Minister, and the report of the proceedings
at the time bears out his statements, that
when Parliament adjourned it was announc-
ed by him, as the leader of the House, that
thejmeeting on the 13th August would be
immediately followed by prorogation ; that
no substantive objection was taken to this
announcement ; and that, as a consequence,
a considerable portion of your fellow-mem-
bers are dispersed in various directions. I
should therefore only deceive myself were I
to legard the present Assembly as a full Par-
liament.
" Since the adjournment, indeed, circum-
stances have occurred which render your
proximate re-assembly highly desirable, but
m this country there are physical circum-
stances which necessarily interpose a con-
Jiiderable lapse of time before the represen-
tatives of the various Provinces comprising
the confederated Parliament of Canada can
assemble, separated as some of them are by
thousands of miles from the capital of the
Dominion.
" In regulating the times and seasons
when Parliament is to be called together,
the Executive is bound not only to consider
the reasonable convenience of these gentle-
men, but also to protect the federal rights of
the Provinces which they represent; and
under these jcircumstances I have concluded,
on the advice of my Ministers (and even if I
differed from them as to a policy of such a
course, which I do not, it is a point upon
which I should not hesitate to accept their
recommendation), to issue a Royal Commis-
«ion of Enquiry to three gentlemen of such
legal standing, character and authority as
will command the contidence of the public,
by virtue of the powers conferred upon me
by the Act 31 Vic, cap. 38. On the other
hand, I have determined in proroguing Par-
liament to announce to the members of both
Houses my intention of assembling them im-
mediately after the Commission in question
shall have concluded its labours. By these
means an opportunity will be aflforded for the
preliminary expurgation of these unhappy
matters before a tribunal competent to take
evidence on oath; ample opportunities will
be given to the member** of the more dis-
tant Provinces to make tlieir preparations,
in view of an autumnal session ; and with-
in two months or ten week a from this date a
full Parliament of Canada will take supreme
and final cognizance of the case now pending
between my Ministers and their accusers.
" Gentlemen, the situation we have been
discussing is one of great anxiety and em-
barrassment, but I cannot but hope that on
a calm retrospect of the various considera-
tions to be kept in view, you will come to
the conclusion that in determining to be guid-
ed by the advice of my Ministers, on the
present occasion — in other words, in declin-
ing to act as though the charges which have
been advanced against them were already
proven, and ia adhering to arrangements
upon the faith of which many of your col-
leagues are absent from their places, I have
adopted the course most in accordance with
the maxims of Constitutional Government,
and what is due to those whom the Parlia-
ment of Canada has recommended to my
confidenoa."
After the members had retired, it had be-
come time for me to proceed to the Senate
Chamber, and about half-past three o'clock
the Speaker appeared at the Bar, and Par-
liament was prorogued. Considerable ex-
citement, I am informed, prevailed in the
House of Commons, and cries of " Privilege"
were utteredJJ when Black Rod made his ap-
pearance ; but as far as I can learn, nothing
was done or said incompatible with the
dignity and self-respect of that assembly.
Only the Ministerialists present, about thirty-
live in number, accompanied the Speaker
to the Senate Chamber. The Opposition,
amongst whom, on this occasion, I supoose
must be included thirteen of the ordmary
supporters of my Government who had signed
the Memorial, remained behind in their
places. Upwards of seventy members in a
House of two hundred must have been
absent — all of whom, with the exception of
three, were claimed by Government as their
adherents.
In the evening, what ia popularly know*^
1873
1873
EARL OP DUFFERIN.
43
hority as
le public,
upon me
the other
;uing Par-
rs of b>th
them im-
. question
By these
led for the
unhappy
nt to tako
litiea will
more dis-
paratioDS,
aud with-
hia date a
e supreme
ve pending
cuaers.
^ave been
and em-
DC that on
considera-
come to
to be guid-
on the
in declin-
'•hich have
already
ingements
your col-
es, I have
ance with
)vernment,
;he Parlia-
ied to my
it had be-
;he Senate
ee o'clock
and Par-
jrable ex-
ed in the
Privilege"
de his ap-
i, nothing
with the
assembly,
out thirty-
e Speaker
>pposition,
[ supoose
e ordinary
iiad signed
in their
nbers in a
lave been
ception of
it as their
:ly know^
No. 0".
as an "indignation" meeting was
held, under the presidency of Mr.
Mackenzie I have appended to this des-
patch a report of its proceedings.
I have thus recounted, in as faithful lan-
guage HS I can command, the various circum-
stan<;ea connected with the recent proroga-
tion. In doing ao, your Lordship will per-
ceive that I have not attempted to discuss,
still leas to defend, the action of my Minis-
ters on any of the occasions referred to,
except so far as the justification of their cou-
(■luct follows as a corollary to the vindication
of the attitude I myself have assumed. The
propriety of their procedure is a matter which
they will have to settle with the Canadian
Parliament. My contestation would be, that
the fact of their being hereafter proved
innocent or guilty of the accusations alleged
against them, or of having acted judiciously
or the reverse, is a result which can have no
relation to my share in theae transactions,
aud that, given the circumstances in which 1
found myself, I have acted in the highest
interests of the Parliament and of the people
of Canada. In the same way, if from time
to time I have argued against any of the
views maintained by the Opposition, it haa
only been as contending against their implied
condemnation of what I myself have done or
aaid.
Were I to be put upon my defence, my
best justification would be found in a review
of whatever other courses may be considered
to have been possible; but this enquiry has
been prajty well exhausted in the course of
the preceding statement. The alternatives I
have seen suggested by those who are dis-
posed to criticize ray conduct are indeed very
few. The morning after the news *c>f the
prorogation had reached Toronto, but before
my pledge in regard to an autumn session
was known, the Olobe — a recognized organ of
the Opposition, and one of the ablest con-
ducted papers in Canada— in lamenting the
prospects of a recess which was to last to
February of next year, observed that " a
prorogation for two or three weeks " would
have been a proper course. As I had actually
anticipated the pith of these suggestions
(for the question of Tl few extra weeks, I ap-
prehend, could not have become any grave
cause of complaint), I naturallyjmight have
expected to have been complimented on my
action ; but although this paper and all the
other Opposition journals in 'Canada have,
with a few exceptions, shown great forbear-
ance to me personally — considering the ex-
citement which prevailed and the forcible
language in which leading articles are written
— I am afraid I must admit to your Lordship
that its subsequent allusions to my procedure
Iiave not been eulogistic.
But if a short prorogation was wrong, what
were the alternatives? An adjournment.
But an adjournment is an act of die* House,
and cannot be compelled by the Kxecutive.
The leader of the House had already rejected
the suggestion, and not the slightest intima-
tion had ever reached me that such an expe-
dient would be agreeable to the Opposition.
On the contrary, their last word witliin an
hour off the time the House was to meet, as
conveyed to me by the ninety- two members,
amoagst whom were Mr. Mackenzie ;ind Mr.
Blake, was — " Let us meet and proceed to
business as though we were a fully con-
stituted assembly, representing the collective
will of the people."
But it has been suggested that 1 should, on
the one hand, have compelled the acquies'
ceace of Sir John Macdonald in an adjourn-
ment by refusing to prorogue, while, on the
otlier, Mr, Mackenzie ought to have been
driven into the arrangement under a threat
of prorogation.
Now, 1 airi quite ready to admit that one
of the functions of a Governor-General is to
moderate the animosities of party warfaie, to
hold the balance even between the contend-
ing parties, to see that the machinery of the
Constitution is not unfairly strained for
party purposes, to intervene with his coun-
sels at opportune moments, and when desired
by hia Ministera to become the channel of
o:)mmunication with their opponents, or, even,
though uninvited, to offer himself as nego-
tiator in a difficulty. But the role, marked
out for me above is very different from thia.
I certainly should not have considered it con-
sistent with my personal honour to have ap-
proached my Prime Minister with a threat I
had no intention of executing, even had I
seen less clearly than I did the objections to
the course proposed; while, except at his
instance, I should have been still less justi-
ried in opening communications with the
Opposition. But, as I have already explained,
the mere negotiation of an adjournment
would not have advanced matters in any
degree, unless the issues relative to the
future proceedings of the Committee could
have been settled at the same time ; but the
divergencies of opinion upon these points
were irreconcilable, and could never have
been satisfactorily dealt with except by the
House in full session.
If, then, my choice lay — which seems to be
admitted — between a short prorogation aud a
barren adjournment for a similar period, I do
not think it can be disputed that the former
was the preferable of the two.
Of course it was always open to me to have
dismissed my Ministers, and have to take my
chance of Parliament approving my conduct,
but I did not feel myself warranted in ha-
44
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1873
1:!'
ill;
HU'lii
zarding such h step od the data before me.
Indee^t the raahncas and injustice of the
proceeding would probably have roused such
a feeling of dissatisfaction in the minds of
what I have no reason to know may not prove
tlie majority of the conatituencieH that there
would havfc been a great chance — if Sir John
and his friends came at all decently out of
the affair — of their being borne back into
office on the shoulders of the people. If
wholly exculpated, your Lordship can imagine
what my position would become in presence
of the reaction that would have ensued. At
all events, as I told the remonstrant members
in my reply, I was not prepared, by publicly
withdrawing my confidence from my Minis-
ters, to proclaim to Canaria, to America, and
to Europe that I believed untried men guilty
of such atrocious crimes as those imputed to
them. It is, however, not necessary to
debate this line of conduct, as no responsible
porsou in this country has ventured to recom-
mead it.
But though not directly suggesting the dis-
missal of my Ministers, it has been very
generally contended that I should have con-
sidered them under a ban, and should have
ceased to act on their advice, though still
retaining them in office. The establishment
of a relationship of this kind between the
Crown and its Ministers would be a novel
fact in Constitutional history, and might
have proved difficult of execution. I was to
go to my Council and say to
them, " Gentlemen, you state that in
your opinion the Crown has pledged
itself to Parliament to prorogue on
a certain day : you assert as a matter of fact
that, relying on this pledge, sixty or seventy
members are not in their places, and that to
allow the House to proceed to business in
their absence would be a gross impropriety
to which you would not consent, and that
in view of this circumstance as my constitu-
tional advisers, placed about me by the
will of Parliament, you unanimously advise
me to prorogue. Well, gentlemen, when
Parliament last voted, you possessed a com-
manding majority : whether you have lost
the confidence of Parliament or not 1 cannot
tell. You say you have not. Others say
you have. Your political opponents have
brought grave accusations against you. You
are therefore under a ban. You have for-
feited my confidence. I do not intend to
take your advice, except on mere questions
of administration, but — pray retain your
places." To which, of course, these gentle-
men would have replied : — " We are highly
sensible oi your Excellency's forbearance ;
perhaps you will favour us with a list of
subjects on which you will accept.our recom-
mendation, as well as an index expurgatorius
of those which are tabooed. The arrange-
ment will lighten our responsibili-
ties, our salaries will remain the
same, and our honour " — I cannot exactly
conjecture how the sentence would have
concluded. But the suggestion that my re-
fusal to take their advice upon prorog!iti(m
would not have been tantamount to a dis-
mis^tal of them, is too untenable to need re-
futation.
Before, however, closing this head of the
discussion it may be well to examine the
grounds on which it is alletred I ought to
have withdrawn my confidence from Sir
John Macdonald and his colleagues.
In order to answer this question, we must
inquire what I had to go upon ? There were
Mr, Huntington's statements as displayed in
his motion, — but these statements were not
statements of facts, but of conclusions drawn
from facts within Mr. Huntington's know-
ledge perhaps, but not within mine, and
offered no safe foothold. Next, there were
Sir Hugh Allan's statements, — but upon
which was I to found myself, — upon those in
Sir Hugh's letters, in which he admits there
was a good deal of "inaccurate " language,
or upon those in his affidavit ? If upon the
latter, could I have pronounced the Gov-
ernment guilty ? Then there were Mr.
McMuUen's statements, — but these have
been much questioned, and many of them
contradicted. I do not think the people of
Canada would be willing to allow the repu-
tation of any of their representative men to
be staked upon evidence of thi# nature.
Lastly, the -e was Sir George Carcier's letter,
and Sir John Macdonald's telegram. In re-
spect to these documents, I would merely
obser^^e that suspicious as they might ap-
pear, no man would have been justified in
acting upon any conclusion in regard to
them, until it had been shown with what
transactions they wee connected. There is
as yet no evidence to prove that the sums
referred to were consideration moneys for
the Pacific Railway Charter : and Sir Hugh
Allan states upon his oath that they were
not, as will be seen from the subjoined ex-
tract from his affidavit : —
" In these and similar ways I expended
sums of money approaching in amount those
mentioned in those letters, as I conceive I
had a perfect right to do ; but I did not
state in those letters, nor is it the fact, that
any portion of those sums of money were
paid to the members of the Government, or
were received by them or on their behalf
directly as a consideration in any- form for
any advantage to me in connection with
the Pacific Railway contract. "
On the other hand, what were the counter-
vailing facts within my knowledge? The
1873
he arrange-
respooBibili-
etnain tiie
not exiiotlj-
would have
that my re-
prorogation
it to a (lia-
to need re-
head of the
examine the
I ought to
36 from Sir
les.
m, we must
There were
displayed in
ts were not
laions drawn
ton's know-
mine, and
there were
—but upon
pon those in
idmits there
" language,
If upon the
i the Gov-
were Mr.
these have
ay of them
le people of
w the repu-
ive men to
ii# nature,
bier's letter,
am. In re-
uld merely
might ap-
justitied in
regard to
with what
There is
the sums
moneys for
Sir Hugh
they were
(joined ex-
expended
lount those
conceive I
I did not
} fact, that
ouey were
srnment, or
leir behalf
f. form for
ction with
he counter-
ige? The
1873
r EARL OP DUFFERIN.
45
theory of the prosecution is " that the terms
of the charter were corruptly modified to
the advantage of Sir Hugh Allan and his
American confederates." Has the liargaiu
been carried out ? Certainly not as far as
the Americans are concerned. Their com-
plaint is that they have taken nothing by
their motion. I was myself a witness of the
pains taken to exclude thc-.m when the
charter was being framed. Have Sir Hugh
Allan and his friends been gratified with
that control over the concern t(( attain which
Mr. McM'dlen asserts he bribed my Minis-
ters ? This is a fact less easy to elucidate,
but I myself believe that he has not. At
moments when Sir John Macdouald could
not have been playing a part he gave me
repeated iidications of his desire to prevent
Sir Hugh from obtaining any cominanding
influence on the direction. That direction
was framed with a view to a proper repre-
sentation upon it of every Province in
Canada, regard being had to the wealth and
population of each. It numbers aniongst its
members gentlemen who had lieen on the
direction of the late Interoceanic Company,
and it includes the names of men whom
every one would acknowledge would never
willingly associate themselves with any dis-
honourable enterprise. It is difficult to be-
lieve that these personages are either the
willing or unconscious tools of Sir H. Allan.
Hence, we must arrive at the inference that
at all events, if the crime was imagined, it
can scarcely have been consummated. This
would not in the least excuse its authors,
but if a thing has not been done, the fact
affords prhna/acie grounds for believing that
it was not intended to be done. Lastly, I
have received the most solemn assurances
from my Ministers, both individually and
collectively, on ♦•.heir word as men of honour,
and on their fealty to the Crown as my
sworn Councillors, that they are absolutely
innocent of the things laid to their charge.
On a balance of the foregoing considera-
tions, can anyone say that I should have
been justified in deliberately violating my
first duty as a constitutional ruler on a
premature assumption of the guilt of these
gentlemen ?
But a still more important question re-
mains behind. Had I any means of knowing
that my Ministers had forfeited the cong-
dence of the House of Commons — for, of
course, if this were the case, any inward im-
pression of my own would cease to be ele-
ments of the problem T
What were the factg upon which I could
rely ? During the whole of the preceding
session the Oovernment had m^irched from
Tictory to victory, aa will be seen by the
subjoined record of votes taken on test
divieiems : —
l8th do
do
2n<l April,
do
lyth do
do
7th May,
do
8th do
do
l2th do
do
Idth do
do
16
25
31
26
31
33
24
35
7lh March, majority for Government
do
do
do
do
. do
do
do
They had left off with a majority of 35
at their command. The ordinary pre-
sumption would be that their supporters
still adhered to them. Had anything oc-
curred to invalidate this conclusion ? The
publication of the documents I have referred
to ? Judging from the process of thought in
my own mind, which compelled me to sus-
pend my verdict. I could u<jt bring myself
to believe that Parliament had jumped to
any premature conclusion. But I had one
other indication to assist nie. Ninety- two
members of Parliament declared themselves
opposed to the Views of Ministers on proro-
gation. Where were the other one hundred
and seven, and what were their opinions ?
Of the thirty-five or forty who were in their
places, not one took steps to make me aware
that they had ceased to support the (Govern-
ment. Their names were conspicuously ab-
sent from the Memorial. The sixty or sixty-
five members who were away cannot com-
plain if I have interjjreted their absence as*
an indication that they endorsed the policy
of Government, so far at least as prorogation
was concerned. That the Memorialists werfe
so many and no more was in itself signifi-
cant, for it gave the measure of the effort
made and the maximum result. There were
not e\'en a moiety of the House. They
were a minority, and therefore not in a posi-
tion to acquaint me with the wishes of the
majority, or to speak in behalf of Parlia-
ment at all. So acutely was the force of
this fact felt, that within a very few days
after prorogation it was industriously cir-
culated by all the Opposition newspaperp,
that in refusing to acquiesce in the sugges-
tions of the signatories of this Memorial, I
had flown in the face of a " majorittf of
the House of Commons. It is said that hy-
pocrisy is the homage paid by vice to virtue.
The pertinacity with which this misstate-
ment has been propagated, I cannot but re-
gard as a homage to the strength of my po-
sition, But, not content with this, some
papers have even gone further, and stated
positively that other gentlemen, friends of
the Government, waited upon me the same
day and held language similar to the remon-
strants — an assertion for which there'is not
the slighte&t foundation, for on that day, up
to three o'clock, with the exception of the
Speaker, the remonstrant members them-
r''i
46
THE SPEECHES OP THE
187:^
selves, ami tiiy Miuisters, I had neither
Bpukuii to nur heard from a single ineiiiber of
Parliament.
But it haa been aubBequeiitly argued, that
inaaniuuhaH no diviuion over tuuk pluou in a
perfectly full Houae, ninety-two aignatui-ea
implied a practical majority— as though my
appreciation of what should cimstitute a ma-
jority in to be regulated by my estimate of
the cogency of the respective whips. If,
however, we are to count noses with such
1>articulHrity, let us see how the case stands.
'. admit that the numerical strength of a
house is always in excess of its voting
power. There will alvrays be accidental va-
cancies. But the ranks of each side are
equally liable to be thinned by casualties.
Wiiab was the voting power represented by
this Memorial ? It is true, on the word of
the Chairman, I took 9.3 as the number of
persons on whose behalf he spoke, but the
actual signatures at the time I had to decide
on my course were only 92. Of these, three
were affixed by proxy, reducing the momen-
tary voting strength of the body represented
to 89 ; for it is to be presumed that, unless
detained from Ottawa, the romaiiiing gentle-
men would have signed with their own
hands. Now, if we double 89 we get a house
of 178, and no later than last session 183
aames appeared on a division list — so that
the 89 remonstrants represented only a
minority of the House even on this principle
of reckoning. But during the whole of last
session, Government had a large majority — a
condition of aifairs which superinduces a
laxity of attendance. Had the two parties
been more evenly balanced, had victory
depended on only a few votes, the muster
of members would have been inevitabiy
stronger, and the maximum division list of
183 undoubtedly exceeded.
But I am not prepared to admit that a
Governor-General would be justified in tak-
ing so serioui a step as was then ur^ed upon
me, on the strength of a Memorial signed
even by a majority of members of Parlia-
ment. Except so far as bringing a certain
amount of pressure to bear upon him for a
momentary purpose, a document of this na-
ture is quite inconsequent. It would prove
BO much waste paper in the presence of a
difiFerent mandate from the constituencies of
many of these gentlemen, and when the time
for voting arrived, the Governor who relied
upon it might very well find a considerable
proportion of its signatories on the wrong
side of the division list, with a dozen plau-
sible .excuse! for their having played him
false. Indeed, within a couple of hours after
tke deputation had left my presence, I was
asstired on trustworthy authority that some
of these very persons had openly stated that
in signing the Memorial they by no means
intended to signify that they withdrew their
support from Government.
It is further to be remembered that al-
tiiough I was in Ottawa at six in the morn-
ing, I heard nothing of this Memorial until
one o'clock, that three was the hourat which
Parliament met, that the gentlemen bring-
ing it must have known that its presenta-
tion and perusal must have occupied some
time, and that I was bound to communicate
it to my Ministers, yet it was upon the
strength of a document of this nature, pre-
sented in this fashion when my Speech from
the Throne was in the hands of the printers,
and the guard of Honour under arms, that I
was expected to take a step which under
such circumstances must have inevitably led
to a change of Government, and possibly a
general election.
I have one further point to mention, and I
have done. It is a favourite theory at this
moment with many persons, that when once
c;rave charges of this nature have been pre-
ferred against the Ministry, they become ipso
facto unfit to counsel the ( Vown. The prac-
tical application of this principle would
prove very inconvenient, and would leave not
only the Governor-General, but every Lieiu
tenant-Governor in the Dominion, very thin-
ly provided with responsible advisers, for as
far as I have been able to seize the spirit of
political controversy in Canada, there is
scarcely an eminent man in the country on
either side whose character or integrity has
not been, at one time or another, the subject
of reckless attack by his opponents in the
press. Even your Lordship and Mr. Glad-
stone have not escaped, for it has been
more than insinuated that the Imperial Gov-
ernment have been 'got at' by Sir John
Macdonald, and that the law oflBcers of
Her Majesty were instructed to condemn
the Oaths Bill contrary to their legal convic-
tions.
In conclusion, I desire to call your Lord-
ship's attention to the fact, that in this de-
spatch I have made no allusion to the Koyal
Commission, which I have just issued under
the advice of my Ministers.
My desire is to keep the transactions re-
'lating to the prorogation of Parliament,
and to the issue of the Commission, en-
tirely distinct. These two events are quite
disconnected and independent. The
reasons which induced me to agree to the
prorogation of Parliament had to bo con-
sidered without reference to the effect of
prorogation on the Committee, or at least
they appeared sufficiently cogent to over-
power any countervailing arguments founded
on the necessity of keeping the Committee
alive. However much I mi^ht have desirod
1873
no means
irow their
(1 that al-
the morn-
)rial until
rat which
fien briug-
I preHenta-
pied some
nmunicato
upun the
ture, pre-
tiuch from
e printers,
in«), that I
lich under
■itably led
possibly a
ion, and I
•ry at this
vheu once
been pre-
sconie ipso
The prac-
)le would
I leave not
/^ery Lieur
very thin-
srs, for as
B spirit of
there is
ountry on
egrity has
lie subject
its in the
VIr. Glad-
las been
erial Gov-
Sir John
officers of
condemn
ral convic-
Toni Lord-
n this de-
the Royal
led under
.ctions re-
nrliament,
ssion, en-
are quite
it. The
ee to the
10 be con-
effect of
at leaat
t to over-
;8 founded
lommittee
ve deiirad
1878
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
47
to do BO, I could not have treated Parliament
as a pregnant woman, and prolonged its ex-
istence for the sake of the lesser life attached
to it. If I have satiHtied your Lordship that
prorogation under the circumstances was the
proper course, the extinction of the Commit-
tee was an ill effect with which I had no
concern, it is necessary to keep this con-
sideration very clearly before our eyes,
otherwise a confusion of ideas will ensue,
prejudicial to a correct judgment of the case.
The extinction of the Committee is being
den;«uncud as the worst feature in the trans-
action by persons who are ready ti admit
that prorogation was perhaps a necessity, and
they insensibly transfer their dissatisfaction
with the result to the circumstance which
occasionwl it. The same class of minds pro-
bably conjecture that the destruction of the
Committee was the main inducement with
my Government for insisting on prorogation,
but with speculations of this kind I have
nothing to do. I prorogued Parliament f o r
what I considered not only full and suffici-
ent, but imperative reasons. The subordi-
nate consecjuences incident to the transaction
do not, therefore, come under review.
There is one further point it may be well
to remember. I see it is asserted that the
Government purposely kept its sixty mem-
bers away. Of course I have no means of
knowing how far this may have been the
case. It is probable that having concludtd
that the session could not be prolonged, my
Ministers may have notified their followers
to that effect, but it is an indisputable fact
that the absence of a considerable proportion
was unavoidable.
In another despatch I propose to address
your Lordship on the subject of the Com-
mission. ,
I have the htmour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient servant,
(Signed) DUFFERIN.
The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley,
&c., &c., &c.
SUPPLEMENTARY DESPATCH.
[In this despatch His Excellency gives a
further insight into the spring of his move-
ments in this great crisis. ]
No. 198.
Canada, Aug. 18, 1873.
My Lord,— In my previous despatch of the
15th August, I had the honour of informing
your Lordship of the circumstances under
which Parliament was prorogued on the
13th.
As a consequence of that erent, the Pacific
Railway Committee of Enquiry became ex-
tinct, and, an I have already mentioned, an
interval of eight or ten weeks was to elapse
before the re-aasembly of Parliament, A
question consequently arose as to whether,
dnring this short recess, anything could be
done to forwanl the hitherto abortive en-
quiry touching the Pacific Railway Charter.
When 1 was at Prince Edward Island, and
in communication with my two Ministers,
Messrs. Tilley and Tupper, —shortly after
the publication of the McMullen correspond-
ence,— I had intimated to them that, should
the Committee of the House of Commons
find itself unable to prosecute the inveMtiga-
tion, the truth must be got at somehow, —
and that perhaps an enquiry conducted before
three judges of the land might prove a satis-
factoiy issue out of the difficulty. In mak-
ing this 'suggestion I was actuated by a
double motive. In the first place, I was
deeply distressed at the embarrassing rela-
tions which existed between my Ministers
and myself. These gentlemen were being
assailed by irresponsible newspaper corres-
pondents with accusations of the most in-
jurious description. Documents which,
Eerhaps, in themselves proved nothing, had
een brought into an alleged connection with
a narrative that invested them with a very
sinister signification. The Parliamentary
Committee that had undertaken to discover
the truth appeared to be paralyzed, and the
accused were thus shut out from all means
of vindicating their characters. Yet it was
to these persons 1 was bound to recur for
advice in all matters affecting the adminis-
tration of public affairs. Again, as an Im-
perial officer, it was my duty to watch with
especial care over Imperial interests. The
allegation current against my Ministers and
others, was that they had fraudulently dealt
with certain monetary trusts, voted indeed
by the Parliament of Canada, but guaranteed
to a considerable extent, by the Imperial
Government. This being so, I was evident-
W bound, apart from any action of the
Canadian House of Commons, whose powers
of scrutiny seemed for the present of small
avail, to obtain satisfaction in regard to
these matters by any constitutional methods
within my reach. Indeed from this point of
view it was not the Ministry of th«> day, —
who are but an evanescent Committee of
Parliament,— but the Parliament of Canada
itself that was responsible to Great Britain
in respect of any malversation which might
have occurred — as having confided the dis-
posal of these interests to improper agents.
At the same time, as long as the Parlia-
mentary Committee was in existence, even
though it had ceased to act, the resort to
any other instrument of investigation was
not desirable. Beyond, therefore, the casual
suggestion to which I have referred, nothing
further was volunteered by me in this sense.
When, however, the prorogation of Parlia-
ment being decided upon, and the Commit.
44
THE IPEECHES OF THE
1873
\m
tee of tho Houae of Commons boing about
con8e(|uently to become oxtiuot, my (}ovuru-
ment undertook, ou its own i'GsponHibiIity,to
adviHu the issue of a Ommission to three
Judges of character, standing, and acknow-
ledged integrity, I had no ditliculty in ao-
<iuie8cing in their recommendation.
I have now, tiiercforo, to infonn your
Lordship that on the 14th August 1 signed a
Commission at the instance of my rusponsi-
Irde advisers, and by virtue of tlio powers
vested in the Governor-General by tho
(Janadian A«t of the 31 Vic, cap. 38, to the
Honourable Judge Day, tho Honourable
Judge Polette ami Judge Gowan, authoi-iz-
ing them to enquire into tho various matters
connected with the issue of the Pacific Rail-
way Charter. A copy of this Commission 1
have the honour to append.
On referring to, it, your Lordship will
observe that the purview of the Commission
is very wide and inquisitorial, and that there
is nothing to restrict its recepti;m of any-
thing that may appear to deserve tlio name
of evidence. The professional antecedents
of these gentlemen are set forth in the ac-
companying document, which has V)i'en pre-
pared for^ne by my Ministers. Only one of
■them is personally known to me, viz. Judge
Day, who, as Chancellor of the McGill
University, received me on my visit to that
institution. Since that we have improved
our acquaintance, and I have no hesitation
in stating, both from what 1 know and iiave
learnt, that I have every contidence in Judge
Day's high sense of honour, capacity, and
firmness.
I have also considered it my duty to satisfy
myself as to the qualifications oi the two
other gentlemen with whom he is associated,
and I am in a position to inform your Lord-
ship that they are generally regarded as per-
sons of unblemished integrity, sound judg-
ment, and professional ability, while the
leui^th of time all three have been removed
from politics free them from the suspicion of
political partizanship.
Notwithstanding the creditable antece-
dents of these personages, they have been
sharply assailed by the Opposition press, for
which the praises of the Ministerial organs
is scarcely an adequate consolation. Per-
haps, however, it may not be amiss that I
should append two or three articles from
newspapers bitterly opposed to the Govern-
ment, who, nevertheless, are compelled to
bear a scant and niggard testimonv to the
high qualities of these gentleman.
tinder ordinary circumstances, I should
have thoughtit sufficient to have terminated
.my despatch at this point, but as matters
now stand, it is uecespary that I should de-
scribe to your Lordship the chief features of
the controversy to which the issue of this
Commission has given rise.
The objections urged against it aeem to be
three in uumber :
Ist. That the present investigation is not
of the kind contemplated by the Act.
This point is so entirely a (piestion of
legal interpretation that I can oidy beguided
in regard to it by my law officer.
2nd. That the issue of the Commission
is an invasion of the privilege of I'arlia-
ment ; that. Parliament being seized
of the matter, no other authority has a
right to concern itself in the investigation.
I apprehend that this view cannot be sus-
tained. The powers with which tho Com-
mission i« vested being legal, and granted by
Parliament without limitation, it is difficult
to believe that their exercise can be held an
interference with the privileges of Parlia-
ment. It is not a criminal suit, l)ut a sim<
pie enquiry that has been instituted by the
House of Commons at the instance of my
Ministers. Moreover, Parliament has
ceased to conduct this enquiry. The Crown
possesses no absolute guarantee that it will
be renewed, or that when it will
be eflectual. H Ministers fall on
a vote of want of confidence ou
the Address, it might prove the interest of so
many persons to let the matter drop, that
the Committer may not be reappointed.
Unless conducted ander oath, the investiga-
tion will certainly orove inefi'ectual ; and
I am advised that it is doubtful whether any
device exists by which a mere Committee of
the House of Commons can be enabled to
swear its witnesses. If, therefore, an im-
mediate investigation will promote the
" good government of Canada," to quote
the words of theAct, I do not apprehend that
Parliament can denounce the Commission,
as, a breach of privilege. The House of Com-
mons may declare the issue of the Commision
to be inopportune and unadvisaMe, and may
visit with its displeasure the Ministers who
counselled its appointment, but it can have
no locus standi as against the Crown itself.
Moreover, it must be remembered that
the^Commission can in nojway intercept or su-
persede the jurisdiction of the'House of Com-
mons. It will be quite competent for Parlia-
ment to ignore the fact of its liaving existed.
Its influence on the present situation will
entirely depend on the way in which it dis-
charges its functions. If the public is con-
vinced that it has elucidated the truth — no
matter with what result — its position will be
unassailable ; if it fails to do so, it will not
require the action of Parliament to proclaim
its decheance.
There is yet another way of looking at the
matter. Few people will deny that indivi-
1873
of thia
setn to bo
ion ii not
b.
IHtioH of
be guided
iiiiniHHion
f I'lirlia-
seized
ty has a
sti^atloH.
)t be 8UH-
tho (Jom-
'u 1 1 ted by
s (litHcult
e held an
of I'ariia-
it a aim*
1 by tlie
se of my
icnt has
le Crown
%t it/ will
it will
fall on
jnce c)u
srent of so
rop, thub
ppointed.
investiga-
ual ; and
Bther any
niittee of
nabled to
an im-
lote the
to quote
lend that
amission,
e of Com-
ommision
and may
^tera who
can have
|rn itself,
red that
ept or 8U-
i of Com-
or Parlia-
'f existed.
;ion will
oh it dia-
ic is con-
ruth — no
)n will be
will not
proclaim
Dg at the
t indivi-
1873
E4RL OF DUFFERIN.
dually 1 have the right to re<{uire an expla*
nation troin niy MinisteiH in regard to theao
tranHuctiunH. Hut it ih evident that in re-
apeut of ao complicated a buaiuttHa 1 have
neither the timt, nor the knowledge, nor the
profeHuional acuteneau ueceaaary to unravel
the tangled web of incriminatory matter
f)reHented to me. If, then, 1 poaaeaa the
egal power, and if, by undertake 'ng to an-
swer tot- the act, my MinisterH endow me
with the conatitutional power, t^an t'arlia-
ment c(mi plain if 1 take ailvant.ige of theae
circuniHtancta to subject i>>y Miniatera,
though the commisaion that i upreaeuta me,
to aucii an interrogatory aa I may deem ad-
viaable, or if 1 oriier the ciiluction of auch
other evidence aa may be lorthcoming, and
ia calculated to throw light upon the buai-
nesa ?
Nor haa Mr. Huntington himaelf any
grounds to diapute my right to take cogni-
zance of the ail'air. While the Parliamentary
Committee was still in exiateuce, he ap-
proached me otHcially and directly with oom-
municationa incriminating aworn members of
my Privy Council. It ia true I returned
him the documents he forwarded, and de-
clined to take personal cogui/ance of a mat-
ter then before a Committee of the House of
Commons, but I retain his covering letter,
and it is scarcely competent for him — the
Committee have ceased to exist — to decline
the jurisdiction of the Commisaion so far as
it is ouucerned with what he himself brought
to my notice. By his own act he has invit-
ed my intervention, and submitted the
matter to the direct cognizance of the
Crown.
Thirdly. The " personnel " of the Com-
mission is complained of as partial to the
Government, and aa having been chosen by
the accused. Into the personal question I
need not enter further than I have done.
That the Commissioners should have been
named by the Government is an accident in-
evitable to the anomalous situation of
affairs ; but when we consider the character
and antecedents of these gentlemen, that
they sit in open court, that their powers of
enquiry are unlimited, that they will act
under the eyes of unsparing critics, that any
appearance of flinching on their part will
only stimulate the desire both in and out of
Parliament to further enquiry, and that in
such,au event a review of the case by the
House of Commons is extremely probable,
I do not think that any practical objection
can be taken to them on this account.
I should have much preferred that Sir
John's previous offer to the House of Com-
mons' Committee should have been renewed;
for although this Committee cannot be pro-
nounced free from those characteristics
which adhere to all Parliamentary Commit-
teeH on Huch occaaiona it might ponaibly
poHaesa gn^iter vigour of eviHceration than
a Comndaaion, though ita ultimata
verdict might not prove unaidmoua. It
would, more<iver, have been al>le to command
the appearance of Mr. Huntington aa awiU
ling prosecutor. That i;entl«man, aa T
unde^ tand, intenda to queHtiou thf juriadio*
tion ot Judge Day and Iiih c<>llragut'H. Of
courae, tiie Mininteralista aaaevorate that he
feara being brought to book; that havintr
thoroughly prejudiced the public mind
through the agency of Mr. McMullen's let-
tera, he would willingly let the Government
lie aa long aa poasible under the odium ot a
vague charge which accurate enqiiiry would
diapoae of ; but thia aeema a groundleaa as-
persion. Mr. Huntington may be, and in-
deed I truat, and ao far believe, is mistaken.
He may have " got hold of the wrong end
of the stick," and have been too nuick ia
drawing inferences ; it may be doubtful if
he is well advised in declimng to appear, if
that should be his determination, but that
after all he haa said and done he should have
misgivings aa to his case is not credible, and
such an injurious supposition is unjuatitiable.
But the difficulties in the way of making a
second offer to Messra. Blake and Dorion ap-
peared insuperable, but both of these gentle-
men declining Sir John's former proposal to
make them CommisHioners grounded them-
selves not only on the necessity of obtaining
the Houses sanction to their change of
status, an objection which, though somewhat
subtle, was perhaps sustainable, but further-
more asserted that as Commissioners their
independence would be destroyed. Mr.
Blake, moreover, had stated that on person
a grounds he could not consent to act on
a Commission appointed under the advice of
Sir John Macdonald. As there was no rea-
son to suppose that theae gentlemen had
changed their minds in these respects, it did
not appear advisable to re-approach them on
the subject.
Under these circumstances it was evident
— if the interval that must elapse before the
re-assembly of Parliament was to be utilized
— that ;'ny inquiry v hich might be possible
must be confided to fresh hands.
That my Ministers should desire an oppor-
tunity of making themselves heard can be
well understood. The language used on their
behalf is something of this sort : — " For
months past we have been the object of the
vilest calumnies. Our most confidential
documents have been purloined by an in-
former, and dishonestly connected with a
narrative which is itself untrue. Hitherto
we have had no opportunity of rebutting
these accusations. " The instrument appoint-
'.Hi
00
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
«d hy tho Houiu of Cotnmnnn to do juatioe
between UH and our tradiioerM lian proved
powurleHB tor tliivl ol)juot. (NuiHidurin^ with
whom we have to dual, we ru({uiru the evi-
dence a^iitiii>t UH to he HiihMtantiat«!il hy an
oath. VVearn not willing to placu our hon-
our at the luoruy of our accUHurrt luiIttHH pro-
teutud a^ainHt pt-rjury. Wo ouraelves are
anxious to l>u heard upon our oathii. We
doubt whether a Cotnuiitteo of the KoUHe of
(/OinmoiiH uan acciuiru the powor of nwuariii^
in its witiieHn<«8 without an Imperial Act.
We think it but fair btif(»re I'arliaincnt re-
aaaembluH that wo Hhould have an opportu-
nity of auHWuriiig fully, point by point, the
iujuriouH alle^ationB brought a^llinMt us.
Thin cannot be done by niore BtateinontH.
Wo desire therefore to subject ourselveH to
as searching an interrogatory as a skilled
tribunal or our nio^^t bitter opponents can ap-
ply. Unless we have this o|iportunity wo
shall meet i'arliainent at a disadvantage.
Our enemies have possessed themselvesof the
ear of the public for months. We have ha<l
DO opportunities of counteracting those in-
fluences. Let at least our story be heard be-
fore a premature decision is snatched from
Parliamniit, saturated as it may have become
with these calumnies. We do not wish to
escape from the scrutiny of the House of
Commons. We know we could not do so —
did we so desire — but since its action is for a
time suspended, do not condemn us to re-
main, during the interval, under the appro-
bium of such accusations. "
It is not my province to examine the force
of this pleading. I merely repeat it 'or yonr
Lordship's information ; but no one can fail
to see that my Ministers are fairly entitled,
80 far as the law allows them, to do what-
ever in them lies to dissipate the impression
occasioned by the enforce<l silence entailed
upon them by the inaction of the late Par-
liamentarv Committee.
I have now concluded my narrative of ' '
two important occurrences in which I
found myself so unexpectedly engaged.
anxieties have been very great, and my puoi-
tion most embarrassing. If I have erred in
the conduct of these affairs, I feel I can
count upon your Lordship's indulgence to
put a favourable construction on ray inten-
tions. Trained in the liberal school of poli-
tics under the auspices of a great champion
of Parliamentary rights, my politicalinstincts
would revolt against any undue exercise of
the Crown's prerogative. Yet it is of this I
find myself accused. I trust, however, that
reflection will dissipate such impressions, and
that the people of Canada will ultimately
feel that it is for their permanent interest
that a Governor-Geneial should unflinchingly
niaintain the principle of Ministerial respon-
sibility, and that it is bettor hu ithouKl be
to«> tardy in relinciuishing thin palladium ot
colonial liberty, than too raah in resorting to
acts of personal interference.
Conaiderini/ how eager has been the con-
tntversy. I cannot hope to escape criticism,
but any irritation tlHis engendere<l will per-
haps be softened by the reflection that, com*
ingto this country full of faith in its people
and its di^Htinies, I was naturally slow to
believe that widespread public and personal
corruption should exist among its most emi-
nent {)ublic men. If it should turn out that
I have been deceived in my estimate of Cana-
dian purity, tho error is one which Canada
may alFord to pardon. If, as I trust will be
the case, the integrity of her chief statesmen
is vindicated, I sliall be well content if the
fact of " my not having despaired of the
Republic " is forgotten in the general satis-
faction such a result will produce.
lie that as it may, there is one circum-
stance which we can regard with unmiti-
gated satisfaction. The alleged revelations
which have taken place have profoundly
moved the whole population. Apart from
the section of society "within politics"
whose feeling may be stimulated b\ other
considerations, every citizen in the country,
no matter how indifferent to public aflairs,
has been dismayed an«l humiliated by the
thought that such things as are alleged to
have taken place by Mr. McMullen and Mr.
Huntington should be possible. This is a
reassuring sign; and even should it be found,
which Cod forbid, that the Government has
been unworthy of the trust confided to it,
the indignation and the searchings of heart
that will ensue throughout the land will go
far to cleanse the public life of Canada for
many a year to come.
I must apologize for the length of this and
ivious despatch, but in recording these
ctions I felt that I was contributing
page of the History of Canada.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) DUFFFHIN.
The Right Hon. the E irl of Kimberley,
Sec, &c., &c.
AT ST. JOHN N.B.
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
Children of the Common Schools, presented in
August. The|only portion of the speech to
which special reference is necessary is (that
which is subjoined.]
" Education is a subject to which I have
devoted a great deal of my time, and in
which I am deeply interested. During my
tour through the various parts of the Do-
minion, I have felt it my duty to pay special
attention to a subject so vital to the interests
of Canada, and wherever I have gone I have
I
1878
liuuU be
[allium ot
lortiug to
the con-
sritiuimn,
will por-
hat, uom-
its puople
' bIuw to
1 poFHonal
iioHt emi-
I out that
) of Cana-
I Canada
4t will be
itutcHinoD
ittt if the
lmI of the
eral satis-
a oircum-
I uniniti-
evelatioua
rofoundly
)art from
politics"
b\ other
) country,
ic affairs,
1(1 by the
lUeged to
II and Mr.
This is a
be found,
meut has
ed to it,
of heart
lid will go
auada for
this and
ling these
itributing
FRIN.
rley,
from the
eaented in
speech to
:y is ;that
ch I have
e, and in
uriug my
the Do-
ay special
i interests
>ne I have
1874
EARL OP DUFFKRIN.
61
bad the latisf aotion of obeervmg that the
education of the children is among the fore-
most nubjtjcts which preouuupy the atten-
tion of my follow-citi.ens. • • • I ^^i\\
conclude by saying that among the many
f;lurioua sights which it has buuu my good
ortune to witness sinee I crossed the Atlan-
tic, there is none which has been ii«> gratify-
ing to the feelings uf myself and the Countess
of iJutl'orin hh tliat which is here exhibited,
(lentlenien, I sue before me, standing in the
brightness of their youth and beauty, thu
snuling representatives of the seven I'ro-
vinues^whichc onstituto this Dominion ; and,
if 1 inuy bo permitted to close my observa-
tions with a prayer, it is that as tlieir pro-
totypes now stand side by side in sisterly
union, and in the brightness of their youth-
ful lovolineNs, so may these ghtrious i'ro-
vinces over remain united by the ties of
domestic affection and the bond of a common
loyalty, and boast themselves to futuro
agesas ttie mutliers of a race as energetic,
brave, and loyal as that to wliich their fair
representatives before us beh)ng."
AT MONTKKAI. IIUIH SCHOOL
[Delivered in reply to an address in Latin
read to His Excellency on the occasion of
his visit to the institution on the 5ch of Feb-
ruary, J
"Vir DoctissimejVos Prieceptores celebres,
et vos hujus pruiclaro) Hchowl Canadensis
alumni, me fortune nescio qua permagna
coram vobis hac in aulii hoc die versatum
iuvenio.
"Itaque me quum gratum,illustria8imi,tutn
humiiem seuteutiis vestris fecistis. Humi-
lem, quippe qui literarum in studiia aliqua
ex parte versatus dumtaxat perfecttw cumu-
latojque scieutio) limiua attigisse videar,
cujus arcana explorasse mihinegatuin est.
Oratum autem, quippe qui, in hac clari im-
perii nostri provinci^ munere regali exothcio
regio f ungens, ilia voluntatis et tidei piguora
accipio, uoii tam in meipsum expressa ac
provocata, quam in llegiuam ; cujus regnum,
ut ita dicam, in me^ person^ est exhibeu-
dum atqne sustinendum.
" Quae quum ita sint, amici, omnia qua;
bona, omnia quae culta, omnia quae honesta,
vos reperite, corripite, hac adolescentise hork
occupate. Hiuc \erk virtute, ver<i sapieuti^,
veri fortudine imbuti, non solum vobismet
ipsis sed etiam patriae tam vestrsa quam
mea) prsesidium et decus fioreatis."
AT NEWMARKET.
[Delivered by His Excellency at the lay-
ing of the corner stone of the new Christian
Church at Newmarket, on the. 25th July,
in reply to an address read by the Rev. T.
Garbutt.]
'* Having spent the greater portion of my
life in a country which, whatever its other
Z
merits and bleMings may be, Hm unforta
nately been only too much distinguished b
the vehemence of religious controversy,
has always afforded me the most genuine
pleasure to observe how in Canada the de<-
scundants of those who in past generationi
often found themselves bitterly opposed,
still retain allegiance to the resjjective
chi \cB in which thev were born, lit in the
progress and enlightenment of learn-
ing they regard with very different
feelings from their ancestors those
with whom they have the misfortune to
differ in religious belief, 1 must say, wher-
ever I have gone in ('aiiatla, I have almost
invariably found, as 1 have found this day,
that ministers of the various religious per-
suasions, whether Catholic, Episcopalian,
Methodist, or to whatsoever denomiiiutioni
they may belong, regard each other with sen*
tiinents of the most unatlected goodwill, re-
cognizing, as a broader and stronger tie than
any otlier, that Lrothorl'ood which is engen-
dered by their common faith in the jirinoi-
ftles of Christianity. 1 trust that this good
celing will always distinguish the inhabi-
tants of (.'ana<la ; and that an civilization
progri'sses, and as human intelligence be-
comes more extended, we shall be more and
more disposed to overlook those slight
ditlerences of opinion which at present
separate us, and be more ready to unite in
one common effort against those enmities
which we are apt to create in striving against
the scourge of human existence. "
TO THE OJIBBKWAV INDIANS.
[Delivered on the 27th July, in response
to an address from Joseph Benson VVane-
guishking and other Chiefs at Rama.]
•' I am especially glad to learn from your
address that you are contented with your
present situation, that your circumstances
are prosperous, and that Providence has
blessed your industrious endeavours. I can
assure you that your Great Mother across
the sea, though from certain circumstances
she is not able to be in your midst, takes
the deepest interest in your welfare, and
it is my duty from time to time to make
her acquainted with the condition of her
Indian subjects. If at any time they have
occasion to complain, or have any grievance
to be redressed, they will always Hud in me
a ready and willing channel through which
their representations may be conveyed to the
foot of the Throne. You have said in your
address that the prom; jes which your Great
Mother, through the late Governors, made
to you nave been faithfully fulfilled. I am
glad to think you so thoroughly comprehend
that there is no obliga*' which Her
Majesty considers so sacr^,- as the obliga
iiion to keep faith with her Indian subjects
52
THE SPEECHES OP TJE
1874
III
Nothing would occasion us greater sorrow
than that we should have reason to think
that our good faith and our fair word were
not trusted, and that the Government of the
country had not tlie confidence of the Indian
nations. I do not know that any paragraph
of your address to which I have hatened has
caused me a livelier joy than to hear that,
under the auspices of your missionaries, and
the example of your chief, the young men
of this nation have begun to understand how
terrible are the evils which result from an
undue indulgence in iutoxicatmg drinks.
Let me assure them that if they wish to
secure happiness for themselves, for their
wives and for their children, there is nothing
that is so certain to bring about such a result
than that they shall exercise self-restraint
in this particular. Fire-water and intoxi-
cation are the root and source of every
physical evil — almost every mr?al mis-
fortune. "
AT BRACEBRIDGE.
[Delivered during his tour in Muskoka in
July.]
" It has been my good fortune to visit
many neighbourhoods that are beautiful and
picturesque, and to make any comparison
would be perhaps invidious, but this, at all
events, I may say, the approach to your
town across the water of the lake, and of
the singularly beautiful and winding river
by which we have ascended, has struck me
as much as anything I have seen in any
part of Canada. I am sure that you are too
well acquainted with the habits of the Eng-
lish, and too alive to those sympathies which
prevail in England, not to be aware that
it is perhaps a weakness amongst us to look
back with pride and satisfaction to those
ancestors from whom we are descended, and
who may have been in any way connected in
an honourable manner with the history of
our native land. But, although we can well
understand that the representative of a great
English family may regard with pride the
fact that he can boast among his ancestors
some great lord who carved out for himself
possessions with the sword, and founded a
family, I confess that I myself would far
rather be able to point out, among these
from whom lam descended, on 3 who, like
yourselves, in spite of many discouragements
and great difficulties, having successfully
contended with the rigours of Nature, and all
the embarrassments which attend the early
settlement of a colony, has succeeded in
founding a community so prosperous as that
by which I am now surrounded. Although
it might be presumptuous in a mere casual
visitor, who can have formed but very hasty
conclusions from what may have caught his
attention as he made his way in this direc*
tion, to pronounce an opinion on the future
prospects of the country, yet any one who
has at all studied the economical phenomena
which '^•haracterize the advances of civiliza-
tion, cannot help being struck by the
immense natural advantages which surround
the locality in which yV)U have pitched your
tents. ( )n the one side stretches away to a
great distance a water communication,
navigable by steamers, which offers those
necessary facilities for the distribution of the
natural wealth of the country without which
it would be comparatively valueless ; on the
other there 'exists what may be called an
ocean of timber land, ready io supply the
inhabitants of Canada for another fifty years
with the CO' "vmodity which I regret to say
is rapidly -ling in the more thickly popu-
lated districts. Around me, on all sides, I
see the evident proof, not merely of industry,
but of that remarkable intelligence which
will enable you to extract from your labours
the most profitable returns. That you are
loyal in your attachment to the Throne and
to the institutions of the Empire, is a charac-
teristic you possess in common, I am happy
to say, with all your fellow-subjects from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and it affords
me, as the representative of Her Most
Gracious Majesty, singular satisfaction to
find in this most remote district a numerous
population who are prepared to maintain
unimpaired those rights and privileges of
freedom under whose protection and influ-
ence the Dominion is year by year acquiring
greater strength, and a more extended em
pire."
AT CHICAGO.
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
Mayor and Corporation of Chicago on the
16th of August.]
" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, — When
it was originally suggested to me that I
should put in at Chicago during the course
of my cruise round those magnificent lakes
which are the joint property of Canada and
of the United States, it never occurred to
me that I should land upon your wharves in
any other capacity than that of a private in-
dividual seeking information and pleasure
from a visit to one of the most flourishing
cities in the United States. The kind con-
sideration which has prompted so magnifi-
cent a reception as that with which you have
honoured the Countess of Dufferin and my-
self has, therefore, taken me by surprise. I
can assure you I am deeply touched by the
expression of so much unaffected friendliness.
Of course it is needless for me to assure you
that with us, in England, Chicago has almost
become a household word, not merely in con-
sequence of the terrible calamity which a few
years since overwhelmed it — a calamity in
1874
1874
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
68
which the people of England most heartily
sympathized with you — but as an evidence of
what luiinan intelli^^ence and industry can
accomplish in converting the waste regions
of the earth inco emporiums of wealth, com-
merce and architectural beauty. I am told
that it. was within the period of my own life-
time that Chicago first received her charter
of incorporation, and in.passing through your
magnifii'ent streets, unless that the fact ha«l
been conveyed to me on the best a-.thority,
I copfesa I could scarcely have credited it.
I have been very much interested, Mr.
Mayor, in the account with which you have
been pleased to favour me of the character-
istics of those municipal institutions under
which this marvel has been accomplished,
and it is a matter of satisfaction to me that
the secret of municipal government, which
is one of the great safeguards of freedom,
and which was originally the fountain of
political freedom, siiould have reoeivert so
successful a development in this country.
In Canada we are happily able to point to
similar arrangements, and I confess that
there is nothing in the social and political
institutions of that country which I regard
with greater admiration, or which I think is
more likely to secure the good government
of the people at large, than the principle of
municipal government, applied to the very
great extent to which the principle has been
applied throughout the Dominion. It was,
of course, with the greatest curiosity that I
looked forward to the pleasure of ^ssing
through your magnificent streets, and of
visiting those various other points of inte-
rest to which you have alluded. I do not
know whether it may • be known to any
gentleman present that a great English
statesman, a friend of my own, and what is
of more importance, a constant friend of
America, during every phase of her national
history, Mr. John Bright — (applause) — wished
to test th"? ca| acity of the rising generation
of English politicians, and the character of
their education, by ascertaining whether or
no they possessed due and accurate informa-
tion in regard to the condition of Chicago.
That was a crucial test which he said he
would seek to apply in the case of every can-
didate for office, and he intimated that his
opinion of their capacity would very much
depend on their ability to answer it. Prob-
ably no other city has ever had so great a
compliment paid to it by a foreign statesman.
In conclubion, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen,
I can only again thank you from the bottom
of my heart, both on behalf of Lady Dufiferin
and myself, and on behalf of those who are
my fellow-travellers and fellow- visitors, for
the extreme kiaduess and th.mghtful con-
sideration 'V ith which it has pleased you to
welcome us to Chicago. "
[Delivertd in reply to an address from the
Board of Trade, presente»l in the Exchange
llooms on the ITth of August.]
" Oentlemen, — When I accepted the in-
vitation which was so kindly addressed to
me by your President, I certainly was quite
unprepared to find myself in the presence of
so large and so distinguished an audience,
or under the obligation to address you in a
speech. At the same time, I do not like to
content myself merely with a curt expres-
sion of my acknowledgments ; but I will
try to express, not only on behalf of myself
and of those who accompany me, but on be-
half of the people of Canada, our deep sense
of the friendliness and courtesy which is
thus exhibited towards the person who ad-
ministers the Government of the Dominion.
I cannot help considering as a most striking
proof of the friendly feelings which I know
are entertained towards British North Am-
erica by the people of the United States,
the fact that so large a concourse of citizens
suuuld have assembled on this occasion to
support your President in welcoming the
Governor-General of Canada. I feel, how
ever, that at this monlent there is peculiar
propriety ia my finding myself in such
pleasaut relations with the Board of Trade
of Chicago. Chicago is the principal city of
the United States, situated upon that great
chain of lakes which are the common pro-
perty and joint pride of the people of Ame-
rica and of Canada. At this moment, as
you are aware, the Governments of our two
countries are engaged in considering a most
important question — as to whether or no it
might be possible to unite the interests of
the two peoples into a closer connection by
the ties of fresh commercial intercourse.
That, of course, is a subject which must
have had special cla* ns upon the attention
of members of this Association. It would
be out of place for me on the present occa-
sion to refer in any particular manner to the
terms which have been already communicat-
ed to the American Senate as those upon
which the people of Canada would be dis-
posed to enter upon the reconstruction of
the existing commercial arrangements be-
tween themselves and the United States. Of
course I am well aware that in the States, as
well as in Canada, there are differences of
opinion as to the policy of Free Trade versus
Protection. I do not imagine that in any
country will there be found a perfectly una-
nimous coincidence of opinion upon these
much-disputed topics; but at all events this
I may say, the Government of Great Britain
and the Governnient of Canada are generally
anxious to promote whatever policy and
m
n
■t% *
64
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1874
whatever arrangementn are most likely to
ioorease and develop those commercial rela-
tions by which Canada and the United States
are already brought so close to each other,
and which, in our opinion at all events, can-
not be too much extended, and, if extended
Bufhuiently, cannot fail to stimulate a friend-
ly intercourse between the people. (Ap-
plause. ) In the policy which the Govern-
ment of Canada has shown itself willing to
promote, I believe there existed but one mo-
tive, and that is the desire to come to an
understanding with the Government of the
United States, which shall be mutually ad-
vantageous both to the people of Canada
and to the people of the United States.
I do not think that for one moment we have
imagined that in any agreement or treaty
which may be agreed upon that it would be
either possible or desirable to make a one-
sided bargain. What we desire is fair and
equal dealing, and I believe you, gentlemen,
are actuated by the same honourable senti-
ment. The Governor-General of Canada,
who is the administrator of a Parliamentary
Government, is not in a position at any time
to express his own private sentiments upon
any political question. His opinions, so far
as he can officially announce them, are the
opinions which are suggested to him by his
reB{)on8ible advisers, and the policy which
he at any time is authorized to advocate is
the policy which is inaugurated by his Min-
isters. It would not be, therefore, proper
for me to ihtrude on this occasion upon this
assemblage my own private opinion in re-
spect to this most inipovtant topic. I will
simply content myself with saying that both
in my private and my public capacity it will
always be my most earnest object, and one
of the dearest motives of my ambition, to
do everything in my power which will in
any way promote and extend good feeling
between the people of the United States
and the inhabitants of Canada. (Applause.)
In conclusion, gentlemen, allow me to ex-
press to you, as well as I can under the very
unfavourable conditions under which I am
called upon to address you, both on my own
behalf and on behalf of the Countess of
DufFerin, my deep sense of the great honour
which you have done me in coming together
this morning in such large numbers, in
receiving me with so much kindness and
courtesy, and in listening to my few and
imperfect observations with so much pa-
tience and indulgence." (Applause and
cheers. )
AT WINDSOR.
[Delivered among other speeches iu reply
to that of the St. Jean Baptiste Society, on
the 19th August.]
" J'ai ^cout^ avec une satisfaction toute
particuli^re I'adresse que vous m'avez fait
I'honneur de me pr^-ienter. Je suis bien
convaincu que nulle part dans la Puissance
Sa Maje8t6 n'a de snjets plus loyaux,
plus fiddles et plus intelligents que
ses sujets de race franyaise, et je me r^jouis
de I'occasion qui m'est donnee d'exprimer
mon estime et mon respect pour les repr6-
sentants de ces h(5roique8 pionniers, k la
hardiesse desquels nous devons, en si grande
partie, I'h^ritage dont nous jouissons.
"Cost une chose des plus dtonnantes que
ce coup-d'oeil avec lequel les chefs des
premieres expt^ditions fran^aises discernferent
comme par inspiration 3ur leur route chaque
endr' t avantageux, chaque position conven-
able, ;oit pour lenr defense soit pour leur
commerce. lis choisierant avec une telle
sagacity les sites pour la construction de leurs
forts, et pour la fondation de leurs ^tablisse-
ments, que les generations suivantes ne
purent faire de meilleurs choix. C'est pour
cela que presque chaque cite importante,
dans les valines du Mississippi et du St.
Laurent, doit son origine h un fondateur
fran9ais.
" Mais ce n'est pas k ce seul titre que nous
sommes obliges envers la race fran9aise. II
ne faut pas oublier que c'est h son elevation
d'esprit, k son amour de la liberty, et k son
exacte appreciation des droits civils contenus
en germe dans la constitution primitivement
accordee par I'Angleterre au Canada, que
nous devons le develpopement de cette auto-
nomic parlementaire d'ont le pays est fier k
si bon droit ; et je puis voua assurer, qu'aux
yeux d'un anglais, il y a peu de choses
plus agr^ables k observer que la dig-
nity, la moderation, et I'habilete politique
avec lesquelles les hommes publics franfais,
du Canada, aident leurs coliegues anglais k
appliquer et k faire fonctionner ces grands
principes de droit et de pratique constitu-
tionnels, qui sont la b9,se du gouveruement^
libre de ce pays.
"Messieurs, j'aitcujours considere comme
du meilleur augure la collaboration de la
race fran9ai8e dans le Canada ; cette race qui
a dej^ contribue si puissamment k civiliser
I'Europe, ne pent manquer de suppieer et de
corriger de la fa9on la plus heureuse les-
qualites et les defauts consideres comme in-
herents au John Bull traditionnel : d'uu'
autre c6te on me pardounera, si, comme
anglais, j'esp6re que nous pourrons lui rendre-
la meme service. Avec la gendrosite, I'esprit
d'invention, I'eian, la grftce, la delicatesse,
la precision du jugementet la finesse artistique
des fran9ai8, avec le flegme et le temperam-
ment britanniques, on i pent dire que nous
reunissons les elements qui gouvernent eu
{t.ande partie le monde moral et le monde-,
physique. "
i;i!!
1874
1874
EARL OF DUPFERIII
M
AT DETROIT.
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
Mayor and Corporation of that city on the
19th of August]
"Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Oentlemen, —
I am sure it will surprise no one present if
he should perceive that I am perfectly in-
capable of rendering au adequate return to
the citizens of Detroit for the honour they
have done me, and for the reception with
which I have been honoured. I confess that
the kindness and hospitality I have received,
conveyed in a manner so delicate and so
agreeable to my feelings, has completely
taken me by surprise ; nor am I prepared on
the present occasion to express to you in any
way which will satisfy me how deeply I
have been touched by the kindness I have
received. At the same time, I feel it would
be ungracious on my part did I not endea-
vour, ho\/ever humbly, to make you under-
stand that it is not from any want of appre-
ciation that I fail to record the sentiments of
which I am conscious. (Applause.) And,
gentlemen, the gratitude which I feel is all
the deeper, because I perfectly understand
that th*} demonstration which hsvs taken
place has been addressed, not so much to
the humble individual who stands before
you, as to the representative of a truly
friendly Power,and to the Governor-General
of that rising nation that stretches along
j'our banks, from ocean to ocean, and whose
hopes and interests, as well as whose com-
mercial ties are so closely amalgamated with
your own. (Loud applause.) Gentlemen,
when I came to Canada, and when it became
my business to acquaint myself with the in-
most sentiments of the people, there was no-
thing which struck me so ^'orcibly as the
fenuine admiration and respect, and I think
might say afiection, with which the people
, of Canada regarded the people of the United
States. (Applause.) Gentlemen, of course
I came to Canada as an officer ni the British
Government, as a servant of the British
Queen, and was bound therefore to promote
and maintain the connection between Can-
ada and the Mother Country, which I be-
lieve the inhabitants of both countries con-
sider to be of equal advantage to each other,
and there was nothing which more satisfied
me as to the absence of all difficulties in that
respect than the observation of how heartily
was the esteem felt by Canada for the United
States, and how compatible it was with the
most perfect contentment. Gentlemen, I
believe that upon the part of the United
States is a generous sympathy with Canada
in her endeavour to work out her own future,
to extend the foundations of her prosperity,
and to pursue that honourable career upon
which she has embarked. There is nothing
upon which Canadians more surely count
than the goodwill, sympathy and encourage-
ment of the people of the United States oa
tliat subject. (Hear, hear and applause.)
As you are awure, and as has been mo>t
justly observed by the gentleman who has
spoken in your behalf, the commercial in-
terests of Canada and of the United States
are inseparably united. At this moment it
is a matter under the consideration of the
two Governments whether they cannot even
be drawn into closer harmony, and if, as a
consequence of such result, the friendship
between Canada and the United States be
thereby increased, all I can say is, that out
of the arrangements no result can come
which would be more cordially welcome or
would be more agreeable to the peo-
ple of England. (Applause.) The good
understanding between Canada and America
is considered in Enstland as a happy and for-
tunate circumstance. (Applause.) As I
said before, I knew I should fail to ade-
quately express all I feel on this occasion,
but I am sure there is not one will leave the
room without understanding that the iew
words I have thus spoken are a genuine ex-
pression of my most inmost sentiments, and
that, so long as I live, the magnificent spec-
tacle which has been exhibited to my eyes
to-day, as the procession which has been
organized in my honour passed through your
beautiful streets, will be one of the dearest
and most agreeable recollections of my entire
life. I indeed congratulate you on being
citizens of your beautiful city — I congratu-
late you upon the fact that the foundations
of your prosperity are placed on so secure a
basis as you observe they are — I congratu-
late you upon those various natural advan-
tages with which Providence has blessed
you, and, above all, I congratulate you upon
that feeling of just pride which you
entertain for the institutions of your
country, and for the nation's soil of which
you are such worthy inhabitants. (Applause.)
Within a few short years England and
America have given an exam pie to the world
of what nature can do to remove those diffi-
culties which from time to time necessarily
intervene and draw a cloud between friendly
peoples. They have shown that, by mutual
forbearance, by mutual respect, by a deter-
mination to seek nothing but what is just
and honourable from each other, that diffi-
culties of the gravest character — difficulties
which in less wise ages might have pro-
duced lamentable results, can be obliterated
— can be completely obliterated — and leave
those between whom they occurred more
closely locked than ever in the bonds of
mutual friendship." (Loud and prolonged
applause. )
FfW
56
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1874
III' I ■;■;■■■ I
i:, : ■ :■ i i ■
■n
iLiE :rr
'M ■
■:i
''iv:;.!.!-
MM '
AT 8ARNIA.
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
Munsee Indians on the 20th of Au}^u»t. J
His Excellency said chat*aniong the many
pleasures which he had enjoyed during his
present tour, few of them were to be com-
pared with that which he experienced in
finding himself face to face with the intelli-
gent, well-educated, well-dressed represen-
tatives of the Indian community iu this
neighliourhood. Coming as he did from the
distant West, and from interviews witli
their Indian fellow-subjects, who unfortu-
nately, from their remote position, had not
yet laeen able to share those advantages
which the Indians of this locality enjoyed,
he was sensibly struck by the wonderfully
improved condition of the latter. He
was proud to think that, thanks to the wis-
dom of the British Government, such marks
of advancement and improvement should be
seen among them. He declared himself
fully sensible of the obligation which rested
npon the white people to use their utmost
endeavours to promote the welfare and
guard the riiihts of the Indian tribes, and
expressed Ids pleasure at the fact of all the
Indians present being able to converse with
him in the English language. He was glad
to think they were sensible of the benefits
■which had been conferred upon them by
those good and Christian men who had sown
amongst them the truths of religion, both by
means of the Bible and by their own noble ex-
.•>mj-]ep. H(; Rpoke of having, during his
tour, made the acquaintance of a tribe of
Indians to whom, unfortunately, the glad
words of the Gospel could scarcely hc^e
been preached yet. He remarked that, in
contrasting the condition of those people
with the condition of the Indians before him,
he could not fail to be struck with the im-
mensely beneficial results which flowed from
religion going hand in hand with civiliza-
tion. With reference to the allusion which
had been made in some of the addresses to
questions affecting certain rights depending
on ancient treaties, he said that, of course,
it was not desirable for him to enter upon
the present occasion into a consideration of
these, but he assured them — and this, he
said, must be his answer to all representa-
tions of that nature — that no petition was
ever addressed to him as the representative of
the Crown.by any of Her Majesty's Indian
subjects, without his feeling it his duty to in-
etitute enquiries in regard to the statements
it contained, and under the advice of his
responsible Ministers to do whatever might
be thought desirable under the circum-
stances of each particular case. He wished
them all happiness and prosperity, and
trusted that they would continue to be
satisfied with the Government under which
they lived ; that year after year they would
learn better and better, by industry, by at-
tention to their duties, and by those labours
from which no one, rich or poor, was ever
exempt in this world, they would j«in wi 1 li
their white fellow-subjects in helping to
build up the Dominion of Canada.
AT OODEBICH.
[Delivered on the occasion of a visit to the
International Salt Works on August 21.]
" I have derived the greatest pleasure and
instruction from my visit to these works.
It is the first occasion in my life that I have
had an opportunity of acquainting myself
by actual inspection with the manner in
which salt is prepared for the market, and I
am glad to think that, thanks to the bounty
of Providence, underneath our feet there
should be what appears to be an inexhaus-
tible supply of that article, and that, too,
of the finest quality, and so situated as to
be readily and easily obtained. I am still
better pleased to think that this Company,
notwithstanding these invidious restrictions
which are imposed, should still find them-
selves in a position to trade with the United
States. With respect to any possible future
alterations in the tnrifT which might render
the trade in salt between this country and
the United States freer than at present, I
can only say that I shall only be too glad
if the wishes of the gentlemen connected
with this interest should be gratified in that
respect. (Applause.) If every individual
interest in Canada could be accommodated,
it would be a matter of gratification to the
Government. I am afraid, however, that as
I pursue my progress through other portions
of the country, I may meet with interests
which would not be disposed to entertain
exactly tha same opinion as that which I
heard fall from the lips of your President
to-day. If I do meet gentlemen ex-
pressing opinions different from these, my
reply will be that I should, of course, be
very glad if their views could also be
furthered. (Laughter.) As far as the poli-
tical aspects of the question are concerned,
I am afraid I must refer you to my respon-
sible advisers." (Laughter.)
AT BERLIN.
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
citizens on the 22nd of August.]
" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, — Among
the many pleasurable visits which it has
been my good fortune to make during the
course of my present tour, I can conscien-
siously say that there has been none which
has given me greater pleasure than tha
which I am now paying. It is a matter of
pride to me, as an Englishman, that in my
capacity as ^representative of the British
lit I ,
1874
which
/ would
, byat-
labours
as ever
in wi 1 li
[>ing to
it to the
21.]
lure and
works.
1 1 have
myself
^nner in
it, and I
! loounty
it there
lexhaus-
lat, too,
id as to
am still
Dmpany,
t Fictions
id them-
} United
le future
it render
itry and
resent, I
too glad
innected
1 in that
[dividual
nodated,
)n to the
that as
portions
interests
nitertain
which I
'resident
ex-
1874
EARL OF DUFFERTN.
57
tien
lese, my
:)urse, be
also be
the poli-
ncerned,
r respon-
Erom the
-Among
it has
•ing the
sonscien-
le which
lan th a
natter of
at in my
British
Queen I should have the honour of address-
ing a German audience. (Applause.) It is
needless for me to assure you that 1, in com
mon with all your other British fellow sub
i'eots, am prepared to recognize you as fel
ow-citizens with the utmost cordiality and
affection. I believe that in Haying this I am
accurately expressing the general feeling of
the British section and of every other sec-
tion of the Canadian people, who all recog-
nize iu the German element a contribution of
strength to our national Constitution, and a
popuhition who, by their thrifty habits, by
their hereditary intelligence, by their in-
dustry, sobriety and general good conduct,
are likely to aid most powerfully in fur-
thering the prosperity of our common coun-
try. (Cheers. ) Gentlemen, it has been my
privilege*o reside for a considerable period
in your Fatherland, and I have had the ho-
nour of receiving many marks of kindness
and goodwill at the hands ot that august
Emperor under whose beneficent sway Ger- !
many has become united. (Applause. ) And
it may be a satisfaction to you to know that
Ijshall consider it my duty, in communicat-
ing from time to time, through the proper
channels, my impressions as to the condition
of the Dominion, to take care that the Go-
vernment of Germany understand that he^
children in this country are conteated witn
the land of their adoption, and that, although
they regard with undiminished affection the
traditions of their forefathers, they are per-
fectly Contented to find themselves under
British rule, and in the enjoyment of the
liberties secured to them by the British
Constitution. (Applause.) Gentlemen, T
believe that under no Government, and in
no country, are popular rights and those
principles of true liberty better combined
with the administration of order than under
the Constitution under which you live.
(Hear, hear. ) I am sure there is not a per-
son in this vast assembly who does not feel
that under Parliamentary Governnient his
voice is duly heard — that his rights as a
ft-eeman are respected, and that his mate-
rial interests are adequately subserved."
(Cheers.)
AT BRANTFORD,
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
President and Directors of the Young Ladies'
College on the 24th of August.]
" There are tew subjects which presen*
greater interest to Lady Duflferin and mysel^
than that of education, especially the educa"
tion of the female portion of the leading
classes of Canada, as it is so intimately con-
nected with the future fortunes and status of
this country, because, it is on the proper edu-
cation of our girls that we must depend for
that high tone of moral feeling, for that
delicacy of sentiment, and for that freedom
from whatever is meretricious, frivolous and
base, which more than anything else are the
essentials of a nation's glory. (Applause. (
And I am inclined to insist the more
strongly upon this point because we must
all be aware that female education is a sub-
ject with respect to which we are liable to
fall into error, and over which it is therefore
incumbent for the people of Canada to watch
with the greatest jealousy and attention.
In Canada, as in every new country, there
are, of course, circumstances and consider-
ations which in some degree miMtate against
that which ought to be the i^ading and
principal feature of all education — namely,
its domesticity. In a newly settled country,
where the scattered habitations militate
against education, and where even in towns a
very considerable number of the inhabitants
are driven to live less iu private than is the
eustom in E'"- "pe, it is of course more diffi-
cult to niaiu....a unimpaired those home in-
fluences which are so essential, especially in
. } training of young girls. Now, I con-
fess that I am strongly of opinion that we
cannot keep our girls too long from coming
out into the world, and becoming young
In other countries we
contrary occur more
to be wished, but I
in Canada we are
so convinced of the desirability of maintain-
ing amongst us simplicity of manners,
simplicity of dress — (hear, bear)- simplicity
of thought and feeling — (applause) — that we
are determined to prevent the youthful
members of our families from becoming pre-
maturely sophisticated. (Applause and
laughter.) Even if we middle-aged men can
carry into the occupations of our mature
years the freshness, the liveliness, and the
innocence of boyhood, we feel it to be so
much gained. (Applause.) And this truth,
of course, is inftnitely more applicable to
those who are to be the ornaments of our
houses and the mothers of our children.
(Applause.) However, it would be pre-
sumptuous in me to do more than
simply glance at 'these topics. I
am sure that every experienced person pre-
sent will be able to gather from what I have
said the full meaning I desire to convey, and
that that freshness and that simplicity which
I am proud to think are among the noble
characteristics which distinguish the Cana-
dian people at large will also long be main-
tained, the prominent attribute of the man-
ners and of the tone of thought and feeling
of our woman-kind. " (Great and continued
applause. )
ladies. (Applause. )
sometimes see the
frequently than is
am hopeful that
4
V'.V'i
68
THE SPEECHF<* of THE
AT arUSCARORA.
[Delivered in reply to the adflress of the
Six Nations on the 25tli of Auguat. ]
*♦ Chiefs, Counoilnien, and Young Men of
the Six Nations, — I desiie to express to you
the pleasure which I derive from my visit to
your settlement and from the eloquent ad-
dresses with wiiich I have been honoured. I
have long looked forward to thid expedition
with the greatest impatience, for you must un-
derstand that it ip no idle curiosity which
brings me hither, but that when the Gover-
nor General and the representative of your
Great Motlier cornea among you it is a
genuine sign of the interest which the Impe-
rial Government and the Government of
Canada tf ke in your welfare, and of their
desire to show that your interests and your
happiness are as much a matter of solicitude
to them as are those of the rest of your fellow
citizens. Neither must you suppose that I
am ignorant of those olaims upon the
gratitude and affection of the English na-
tion which you possess. I am well aware
that in ancient ' imes, when there wag war
between the eaiiy French colonizers of Ca-
nada and the early English colonists of the
lower States, you were always a friendly
people to the English Crown, and that in
later days, when differences arose between
our ancestors and the ancestors of the pre-
sent inhabitants of the United States — dif-
ferences which I am glad to say have long
since been buried in oblivion by both parties
— it was on the bravery in arms and on the
fidelity of your grandfathers that the Crown
of England then relied. The memory of
these transactions I can assure you shall never
be allowed to pass away; and although you
have ceased to be the warlike allies of Great
Britain, we are still proud to hail you as its
pacific and contented subjects. You could
not have a greater proof that the memories
of the ancient ties which bound the Six Na-
tions and the English people together have
not been forgotten than the fact that one of
the principal towns in Ontario has been call-
ed after that glorious chieftain Tyendinaga,
of whom you are so justly proud, and in the
next place than by the manner in which
those treaties and reservations which, in con-
sideration of their services, were made in
your favour, have been observed and main-
tained. There is no part of your address
which has given me greater pleasure than
that in which you acknowledge that the
British Crown has kept faith with its Indian
subjects, and that you and all the members
of the Six Nations have confidence in the
word of the British Government. Although
the days are happily past in which we need-
ed your assistance on the battle field, you
must not suppose that we do not count with
equal anxiety upon your assistance in those
peaceful efforts to which the people of Can-
ada are now devoted, or that wo fail to value
you asfailhful and industrious coadjutors in
the task we have undertaken of building
up the Dominion of Canada into a prosper-
ous, rich, and contented nation. During my
recent visit to the westward I came into
contact with other tribes of IndiauH who
were, unfortunately, leas happily circum-
stanced than yourselves, inasmuch as, in-
habiting a more distant region than you,
they have not had an opportunity of Acquir-
ing those habits of civilization which you
have so readily adopted, and of which the
beneficent efforts are apparent in the com-
parison of the scene before me and the ap-
pearance presented by those Indian tril s to
whom I refer. For although 'iKe your-
selves, they are animated witr uyal feelings
towardH your Great Mother and firmly at-
tached to the Government of the British
Crown, they were in every way inferior to
you in physical appearance, in their habits of
life, and in their material comforts. It is to
be hoped that in the course of time a more
settled mode of existence will gradually be
extended among all the Indian subjects of
the Canadian Government, but at the same
time I wish it to be understood that
it is by no means the desire of
the Government unduly to press
upon its Indian subjects a premature or vio-
lent change in their established habits. To
have done this would have been, in my
opinion, a great mistake. I believe that one
chief reason why the Government of Canada
has been so pre-eminently successful in
maintaining the happiest and most affec-
tionate relations with the vatious Indian
nations with whom it has had to deal, has
been that it has recognized the rights of
those people to live according to their own
notions of what is fittest for their happiness,
and most suitable for the peculiar circum-
stances in which they are placed. I am glad
to think that in doing so they have already
begun to reap the- fruits of their forbearance
and good sense, and that from ocean to
ocean, amidst every tribe of Indians, the
name of Canada is synonymous with human-
ity, with good faith, and with benevolent
treatment. I am very pleased to see
amongst those who have assembled to wel-
come me many members of your families ar-
rayed in the ancient dress of the Indian
nationality; for I certainly am of opinion
that it is wise of you to take a just and
patriotic pride in those characteristics of
your past history which, being innocent iu
themselves, will serve to remind you of your
forefathers, and of the antecedents of your
various tribes, and will add colour and iu
I
f
1874
EARL OF DUFPERIN.
09-
presB
or vio-
Its. To
>
tereat to your existence as a distiuct nation-
ality, 80 happily incorporated with tlie Bri-
tish Empire. We see that^those of French,
English, Irish, and Scotch origin who have
settled in Canada, however closely united
they may be in their present interests, and
in a common patriotism to the land of their
adoption, still rejoice in those innocent
celebrations which recall the memories of the
various sources from which their parentage
is derived, and I trust that the Indian sub-
i'ects of Her Majesty will always take a simi-
ar pride in preserving intact, from genera-
tion to generation, the distinctive attributes
of their national circumstances. And now
I trust you will forgive me if, standing in
the relation to you of the representative of
your Great Mother, I venture to utter a few
words of advice. In the Hrst place, let me
entreat you, with all the earnestness I can, to
devote all the energies which you possess to
the improvemfnt of your agriculture. Of
course lam well aware that a nation of hun-
ters cannot be expected even in one or two
generations so completely to change those
abits which are engraven into their very
nature as to rise to a level with other com-
munities who have followed the occupation
of agriculture for thousands of years. Still
J^ou must remember that, making every al-
owance which can justly be demanded on
your behalf, on that score, there is room for
still further improvements, and in the
course of the next generation the Govern-
ment of the country fand your fellow-sub-
jects will expect that you will compete with
them on more equal terms than you are able
to do at present in all those arts of peace,
whether of agriculture or of mechanics, which
it is'necessary to cultivate for the purposes of
your own support, and in the interests of
your common country. In the next place —
and now I am addressing myself to the young
men of the nation, because I feel it is scarce-
ly necessary that I should give any recom-
mendation to their fathers — let me recom-
mend you to avoid all excess in intoxicating
liquors as if they were so much poison, as if
it were the destrnctioh of the happiness of
your homes, of your health, of your energy,
of everything which you hold dear, as hon-
ourable and right-minded men. It only re-
mains for me to thank you from the very
bottom of my heart for the kindly welcome
whieh you have given me, for the pains you
have taken to make my visit agreeable, for
the evidences which you haue exhibited of
your loyalty to your Great Mother, and for
your friendly feelings towards myself and the
Countess of DuflFerin. On entering the In-
dian Reserve w6 passed through an arch
which was beautifully constructed and de-
corated with appropriate emblems. On our
passage through your domain we encoun*
tered Indian bands of music, all of them
playing the hymn in honour of the Queen
On arriving at your Councd House our path
to the dais was strewn with flowers, and we
found ourselves accommodated in that tra-
ditional arbour in which from time imme-
morial the Indian tribes have been accus-
tomed to greet their guests. In return, let
me assure you that so long as I administer
the government of this country every In-
dian subject, no matter what his tribe, what
his nation, or what his religion, will find in
me fa faithful friend end sure protector,
(applause) — and that in undertaking this
office I am but representing the wishes of the
Local Canadian Government and following,
the instructions of the Imperial authorities.
The people of Canada and the people of
Britain will not cease to recognize those ob-
ligations which have been imposed upon
them by the hand of Providence towards
their Indian fellow-subjects, and never shall
the word of Britain once pledged be broken,
but from one end of the Dominion to the
other every Indian subject shall be made to
feel that he enjoys the rights of a freeman,
and that he can with confidence appeal to-
the British Ciown for protection."
AT WOODSTOCK.
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
Mayor and Corporation of the town of Wood-
stock on the 26th of August. ]
"Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,— lam glad
to find myself for the second time in my
life in Woodstock, and I am still more glad
to think that my visit will be sufficiently
prolonged to enable me to make a better
acquaintance with the town and its inhabi-
tants than on the first occasion. I thank
you very heartily for the patriotic and loyal
address which you have presented to me, and
I assure you that there is no feeling by
which the Canadian people are animated
with which I sympathize more than in their
desire to build up their country into a dis-
tinct, prosperous, and respected nationality.
As the representative of Her Majesty the
Queen, and an officer of the Imperial Gov-
ernment, it'is of course one of my principal
duties to strengthen V>y every means in my
power those ties of afifection by which the
inhabitants of the Dominion are bound to
the connection with the Mother Country.
You must not, however, imagine that upon
that account I regard with any other feeling
than that of the utmost sympathy the spirit
of loyal patriotism which I am proud to
think is day by day being more strongly de-
veloped from one end of the Dominion
to the other. I do not think the Canadian
people would be loyal to the Empire unless
they were also able to be equally loyal to
if
60
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1874
their own oountry, to be proud of the fact
that they are Cauadians, to believe in the
destinioB which are in store for them, and to
be able to look forward with confidence to
the task which has been imposed upon them
by Providence, and entrusted to them by
the Mother Country, of becoming a jzlorious
adjunct of the British Empire, aff'ording an
example to the Continent of America of
what can he done under British institutions
when they are supplemented by a spirit of
noble and patriotic independence. In con-
obision, allow me to thank you for those ex-
presMions in your address of kindness and
goodwill to myself. I only desire to be a
faithful servant of tlie Queen and a genuine
friend of the Canadian people —(cheers) — and
I neither, wish for nor do I look forward to
any other reward than that of carrying home
with me the conviction that as long as I live
I may be able to boast of having always
maintained friendly and affectionate relations
with tliat noble community in whose midst
for a. few years my lot has been oast. "
(Cheers. )
AT THOROLD.
[The following remark occurs in a reply to
an address of the Council, delivered on the
29th of August.]
" During his present tour he had visited
the distant waters of Lake Superior, and
had arrived at the conclusion that no reason-
able man could doubt but that within a very
few years the industry and energy of the
Canadian people would have conducted the
water-ways of the Atlantic to the head of
Lake Superior. (Applause.) Neither was
it possible to overrate the consequences
which would flow from these great works.
No one could look upon the navigation of
the northern patts of North America with-
out perceiving that the River St. Lawrence
and the chain of lakes which empty their
waters into it are destined to be the high
road along which all the productions, not
only of the Canadian North- West, but also
of the northern valleys of the Mississippi
and its tributaries would pass. " (Cheers. )
AT THE TORONTO CLUB DINNER.
[Delivered on the evening of the 2nd of
September, in reply to the toast of his
health, which was proposed by the late
John Hillyard Cameron. ]
" Mr. Cameron and Gentlemen, — I can-
not but consider it a very happy circum-
stance that one of the most gratifying pro-
gresses ever made by a representative of the
Queen through any portion of the British
Empire should find its appropriate close in
this cordial and splendid reception, at the
hands of a Society of gentlemen which,
though non-political in its corporate charac-
ter, is so thoroughly representative of all
that is most distinguished in the various
BchooLs of political thought in Canada. It
is but a few short weeks since I left Toronto,
and yet I (question whether many born
Canadians have ever seen or learnt more of
the western half of the Dominion than I
have during that brief'period. (Hear, hear.)
Memory itself scarcely sutiices to reflect the
shifting vision of mountain, wood and
water, inland seas and silver rolling rivers,
golden corn-lands and busy prosperous
towns, through which we have held our
way ; but though the mind's eye fail ever
again to re-adjust the dazzling panorama,
as long as life endures not a single echo of
the universal greeting with which we have
been welcomed will be hushed within our
hearts. (Creat applause. ) Yet deeply as I
am sensible of the personal kindnesses of
which I have been the recipient, proud as 1
feel of the honour done to my otlice, moved
as I have been by the devoted afl'ection
shown for our Queen and for our common
country, no one is more aware than myself
of the imperfect return I have made to the
generous enthusiasm which has been evoked.
If, then, gentlemen, I now fail to respond in
suitable terms to the toast you have drunk,
if in my hurried replies to the innumerable
addresses with which I have been honoured,
an occasional indiscreet or ill-considered
phrase should have escaped my lips, I know
that your kindness will supply my short-
comings — that naught will be set down in
malice — and that an indulgent construction
will be put upon my hasty sentences.
(Cheers.) But, gentlemen, though the lan-
guage of gratitude may fail, the theme itself
supplies me with that of congratulaticn, for
never has the head of any Government pass-
ed through a land so replete with content-
ment in the present, so pregnant with pro-
mise in the future. (Cheers.) From the
northern forest border lands, whose primeval
recesses are being pierced and ^ndented by
the rough and ready cultivation of the free
grant settler, to the trim enclosures and
wheat-laden townships that smile along the
lakes, — from the orchard." ot Niagara to the
hunting grounds of Nepigon, — in the
wigwam of the Indian, in the homestead of
the farmer, in the workshop of the artisan,
in the office of his employer- -everywhere
have I learnt that the people are satisfied
(applause) — satisfied with their own indivi-
dual prospects and with the pros-
pects of their country, (applause) —
satisfied with their Government, and with
the institutions under which they prosper
(applause) — satisfied to be the subjects of the
Queen (tremendous applause) — satisfied to
be members of the British Empire. (Re-
newed applause.) Indeed I cannot help
187i
various
a<la. It
Toronto,
iny bom
; more of
M than I
ur, hear.)
eHect the
rood and
iig rivers,
rosperous
held our
fail over
>auorama,
e echo of
I we have
ithiu our
jeply as I
inesses of
proud as I
je, moved
affection
r common
\n myself
,de to the
lu evoked,
respond in
ive drunk,
numerable
honoured,
considered
j8, I know
my short-
et down in
)n8truction
sentences,
the lan-
heme itself
ilaticn, for
ment pass-
1 content-
with pro-
From the
36 primeval
adented by
of the free
osures and
along the
erara to the
., — in the
•mestead of
le artisan,
ivery where
satisfied
)wn indivi-
the pros-
kpplause) —
and with
ey prosper
jects of the
latisfied to
pire. (Re-
annot help
1874
EARL OF DUFFERIN
61
thinking that, quite apart from the advan-
tages to myself, my yearly journeys through
the Provinces will have been of public bene-
fit, as exemplifying with what spontaneouH,
uiiconcerted unanimity of huiguage the
entire Dominion has declared its faith in it-
self, in its destiny, in its connection with
the Mother Country, and in the well ordered
freedom of a Constitutional Monarchy. (Ap-
plause.) And, gentlemen, it is this very
combination of sentiments which appears to
me BO wholesome and satisfactory. VVord&
cannot express what pride I feel as an Eng-
lishman in the loyalty of Canada to Eng-
land. (Hear, hear.) Nevertheless, I should
be the first to deplore this feeling if it ren-
dered Canada disloyal to herself — if it either
dwarfed or Hmotherei' ('anadian patriotism,
or generated a sickly spirit of dependence.
Such, however, is far Irom being the case.
The legislation of your Parliament, the atti-
tude of your statesmen, the language of your
press, Huliiciently show how Hrmly and in-
telligently you are prepared to accept and
apply the almost unlimited legislative facul-
ties with which you have been endowed
(hear, hear) — while the daily growing dispo-
sition to extinguish sectional jealousies and
to ignore an obsolete provincialism proves
how strongly the young heart of your con-
federated commonwealth has begun to throb
with the consciousness of its nationalized
existence. (Great cheering.) At this mo-
ment not a shilling of British money finds its
way to Canada ; the interference of the
Home Government with the domestic affairs
of the Dominion has ceased, while the Im-
perial relations between the two countries
are regulated by a spirit of such mutual de-
ference, forbearance, and moderation, as re-
flects the greatest credit upon the statesmen
of both. (Hear, hear.) Yet, so far from
this gift of autonomy having brought about
any divergence of aim or aspiration on
either side, every reader of our annals must
be aware that the sentiments of Canada to-
wards Great Britain are infinitely more
friendly now than in thode earlier days when
the political intercourse of the two countries
was disturbed and complicated by an exces-
sive and untoward tutelage, (cheers) ; that
never was Canada more united than at pre-
sent in sympathy of purpose and unity of
interest with the Mother Country, more at
one with her in social habits and tone of
thought, more proud of her claim to share
in the heritage of England's past, more ready
to accept whatever obligations may be im-
posed upon her by her partnership in the
future fortunes of the Empire. (Tremen-
duous applause.) Again, nothing in my recent
journey has been more striking, nothing
indeed has been more affecting, than the
passionate loyalty everywhere evinoed to-
wards the person and the throne of Queen
Victoria. (Great cheering.) Wherever I
have gone, in the crowded cities, in the re-
mote hamlet, the allection of the people for
their iSoveroign has been blazoneil forth
against the summer sky by every device
which art could fashion or ingenuity invent.
(Cheers.) P^ven in the wilds and deserts of
the land, the most secluded and untutored
settler would hoist some cloth or rag above
his shanty, and startle the solitudes of
the forest with a shot from his rusty fire-
lock and a lusty cheer from himself and
his children in glad allei^iance to his coun-
try's Queer. (Applause.) Even the Indian
in his forest, or on his reserve, would mar-
shal forth his picturesque symbols of fidelity
in grateful recognition of a Govern-
ment that never broke a treaty or
falsified its plighted word to the
red man — (great applause)— or failed to
evince for the ancient children of the soil a
wise and conscientious solicitude. (Renew-
ed applause and cheers. ) Yet touching as
were the exhibitions of so much generous
feeling, I could scarcely have found pleasure
in them had they merely been the expres-
sions of a traditional habit or of a conven-
tional sentimentality. No, gentlemen, they
sprang from a far more genuine and vital
source. (Cheers. ) The Canadians are loyal
to Queen Victoria, in the first place because
they honour and h)ve her for her personal
qualities — (cheers), — for her life-long devo-
tion to her duties — (cheers), — for her faith-
ful observance of all the obligations of a
constitutional monarch — (cheers) ;— and, in
the next place, they revere her as the symbol
representative of as glorious a national )'
of as satisfactory a form of government
any country in the world can point t — a
national life, illustrious through a thousand
years with the achievements of patriots,
statesmen, warriors, and scholars — (great
cheers) — a form of government which more
perfectly than any other combines the ele-
ment of stability with a complete recogni-
tion of popular rights, and insures by its
social accessories, so far as is compatible
with the imperfections of human natur.., a
lofty standard of obligation .-ind simplicity
of manners in the classes th"t regulate the
general tone of our civil intercourse.
(Cheers.) On my way acroa.s the lakes I
called in at the city of Chicago — a city
which has again risen more splendid than
ever from her ashes — and at Detroit, the
home of one of the most prosperous and in-
telligent communities on this continent. At
both these places I was received with the
utmost kindness and courtesy by the civil
authorities and by the citizens themselves,'
i
wmm
^
THR SPEECHES OF THE
1874
lil
who vied with each other in makiug ine feel
with how friunilly aii interuat that greiit utul
feuoruua people wliu have udvauuud the
ruite<l HtatoH to bo nplendid a position in
the family of natioua, regard their (Juiiadian
neigUboura ; but, though diaposed to watch
with guiiuiue admiration and sympathy the
development of our Dominion into a gruat
power, our frieudu auroHS the linu are wont,
as you Uuow, to amuse their lighter mo-
menta with the ' lar^e utterances of the
early gods.' (Laughter.) More than once
I waa addteased with the playful auggestion
thut Canada should unite her fortunea with
those of the Great Republic. (Laughter.)
To these invitations 1 invariably replied by
acquainting them that in Canada we were
esaentially a democratic people — (great laugh-
ter) ; that notniug would content us unless
the popular will could exercise an immediate
and complete control over the Executive of
tho country — (renewed laughter) — that the
Miuialers who conducted the (jrovernment
were but a Committee of Parliament, which
waa itaolf an emanation from the constitueii-
oies — (loud applause) — and that no Canadian
would be able to breatlie freely if he thought
that the peraona adminiateriug the affaira of
his country were removed beyond the super-
viaioii and contact of our legislative aasem-
biies. (Hear, hear, cheers and laughter.)
And, gentlemen, in thia extemporized re-
partte of mine — (laughter) — there will be
found, I think, a germ of sound philoaophy.
In fact, it appears to me that even from the
point of view of the most enthusiastic advo-
cate of popular rights, the Government of
Canada is nearly perfect ; for while you are
free from those historical complications which
sometimes clog the free running of our Par-
liamentary machinery at home, while you
{)oa8es8 every popular guarantee and privi-
ege that reason can demand — (hear, hear) —
you have an additional element of elasticity
introduced into your system in the person
of the Governor-General ; for — as I have had
occasion to remark elaewhere — in most
forma of government, should a misunder-
standing occur between the head of the State
and the representatives of the people, a dead-
lock might ensue of a very giave character,
inasmuch as there would be no power of ap-
peal to a third party — and deadlocks are the
dangers of all constitutional systems —
whereas in .Canada, should the Governor-
General and his Legislature unhappily dis-
agree, the misunderstanding is referred to
England as "amicus curice," whose only
object, of course, is to give free play to your
Parliamentary institutions, whose interven-
tion can be relied upon as impartial and
benevolent, and who would immediately re-
place an erring or impracticable Vioeroy-\-
for such things oan be — (laughter) — by au-
otiier otlicer more competent to hia duties,
without the slightest hituh or disturbance
having been occasioued in the orderly march
of your atfairs. (Applause.) If then the
Canadian peoplu are loyal to the Cniwn, it in
With a reanouing loyalty. (Applause.) It
is because they are able to appreciate the
advantage of having inherited a constitu-
tional system so workable, so well balanced,
and BO peculiarly adapted to thuu own
especial wants. (Applause.) If to these
constitutional advantages we add the bless-
ing of a judiciary not chosen by a capricious
method of popular election, but selected for
their ability and professional standing by re-
sponaible Miniutera, and a.Uke independt.ut
of popular favour and political influences —
(hear, hear) — a civil service whose rights of
permanency both the great political parties
of the country have agreed to recognize—^
(applause) — and consequently a civil service
free from partisanship, and disposed to make
the service of the State rather than that of
party their chief object — (hear, hear) — an
electoral system purged of corruption by the
joint action of the ballot and the newly-con-
stituted courts for the trial of bribery — (ap-
plause) ; — a population hardy, thrifty and
industrious, simple in their manners, sober
in mind, God-fearing in their lives — (cheers) ;
— u'td lastly, an almost unlimited breadth of
teriitory, replete with agricultural and
mineral resources, it may be fairly said that
Canada sets forth upon her enviable career
under as safe,* sound, and solid auspices as
any State whose bark has been committed
to the stream of Time. (Great cheering.)
The only thing still wanted is to man the
ship with a more numerous crew. From the
extraordinary number of babies I have seen
at every window and at every cottage door —
(laughter and applause) — native energy and
talent appears to be rapidly supplying this
defect — (laughter) ; — still it ia a branch of
industry in which the home manufacturer
haa no occasion to dread foreign competition
— (great laughter) — and Canadians can well
afford to share their fair inheritance with
the straitened sous of toil at home. When
crossing the Atlantic to take up the govern-
ment of this country, I found myself the
fellow-passenger of several hundred enci-
grants. As soon as they had recovered from
the effect of sea-sickness the captain of the
ship assembled these persons in the hold, and
invited the Canadian gentlemen on board to
give them any information in regard to t~eir
adopted country which might seem
useful. Some of the emigrants began
asking questions, and one man pre-
faced his remarks by saying that "he had
the misfortune of having too many children.'
,
1874
-by an-
duties,
urbauoe
/ luuruh
leu the
f/u, it is
i8e. ) It
;iatti the
!UUittitU>
alaDced,
cii own
() these
lie blesa-
iprioious
jottil for
ig by fe-
jpoudbat
uuucea —
rights ot
il parties
sognize— '
ii service
to make
11 that ot
lear) — an
)u by the
3wly-con-
ery— (ap-
irifty aud
era, sober
-(cheera) ;
>readth oi'
.ural aud
said that
jle career
jspiues aa
ininitted
heering. )
man the
i'Vom the
lave seen
j;e door —
ergy and
iug thia
jianch of
ufacturer
•mpetition
3 can well
luce with
When
le govern-
nyaelf the
Ired ea.i-
ercd from
tain of the
hold, and
board to
d to tj^eir
ht seem
ta began
■nan pre-
"he had
children.'
1874
EARL OP DiyFFERIN.
6S
Being oalled upon in my turn to address the
oompaity, I alluded to this phrase, which
had grated harshly on my ears, and remarked
that perhaps no better idea could l)e given
of the ditlerfnces butweeu the old c(Uintry
an<l their new home than by the fact that
whereas in England a struggling man might
be overweigbt(!(l in the battle ot life by a
numerous family, in the laud to which they
were going a man could scarcely have tmi
many chudren. (Cheers and laughter. )
Upon which I was greeted with an approving
thump on the buck uy a stalwart young emi-
f^ant, who cried out, ' Right you are, sir;
that's what I've been telling Emily.' (Laugh-
ter. ) Indeed, for many years paat 1 have been
a strong advocate of emigration in the iiite-
resta of the British population. I believe that
einigrution ia a benetit both to choae that go
and to those that remain, at the atime time
that it ia the moat effectual and legitimate
weapon with which labour can contend with
capital. 1 have written a book upon the
subject, and have been very much Hcolded
for wishing to depopulate my native coun-
try ; but however strong an advocate of
emigration from the Engliah atandpt.int, 1
am of course a thouaandiold more interented
in the subject aa the head of the Canadian
Government. { Applause. ) Of courae lam
not in a poaition, nor is it deairable that I
should take the reaponaibility of saying my*
thing on this occasion which should expose
me hereafter to the reproach of having
drawrf a false picture or given delusive in-
formation in regard to the piospecta aud
opportunities afiorded by Canada to the in-
intending settler. (Applause.) The subject
is so serious a one — so much depends upon
the individual training| capacity, health,
conduct, and antecedents of each several
emigrant, that no one without an intimate
aud special knowledge of the subject would
be justified in pronouncing authoritatively
on its details (hear, hear) ; — but this at all
events I may say, wherever I have gone I
have found numberless persons who came to
Canada without anything, and have since
risen to competence and wealth (ap-
plause) — that I have met no one who did not
gladly acknowledge himself better off' than
on his first arrival (cheers) — and that amongst
thousands of persons with whom I have been
brought into contact, no matter what their
race or nationality, none seemed ever to re-
gret that they had come here. (Great and
continued applause. ) This fact particularly
struck me on entering the log huts of the
settlers in the more distant re-
gions of the country. Undoubt-
edly their hardships had been very
great, the difficulties of climate and locality
frequently discouraging, their personal pri-
these ))uople
the position in
tiemeiitious ex>
vationa most severe ; but the language of a11
was identical, evincing without exception
tiride in the past, content with the present,
lope in the future (cheers); while, com-
bined with the aatinfaction «>iu;h man felt in
his own success and the improved prcmpects
of his family, there shone another and even
a nobler feeling— namely, the delight inspired
by the consciousness of being a co-
etiicient unit in a visibly X'^osperous
community, to whose prosiierity ho
was himself contributing. (Hear, hear,
and cheers.) Of course
could never have attained
which I found them without
ertions. I'robably the agricultural labourer
who comes to thia country from Norfolk or
Dorsetshire will have to wo^k a great deal
harder than ever he worked in his life before,
but if his work is liar>ler he will find a
sweetener to his toil of which he could never
have .Ireamt in the ohl country — namely, the
prospect of independence, yf a roof over his
neait for which he shall pay no rent, and of
ripening corn fields round his homeatead
which own no master but himself. (Tremen-
dous aupluuse. ) Let a man be sober, hculthy,
and industrious ; let him come out at a pro-
per time of the year; let him be content with
small beginnings and not afraid of hard work,
and I can scarcely conceive how he ahould
fail in his career. (Long-contiuued applause.)
Gentlemen, I have been tempted by the in-
terest of the subject to trespass far too long,
I fear, upon your indulgence (no, no), but I
felt that perhaps I could »'"•; make a more
appropriate return for the honour you have
done me than by frankly mentioning to you
the impression left on my mind during my
recent journeys. (Hear, hear. ) It now only
remains for me to thank you attain most
heartily for your kindness, and to assure
you tliat every fresh mark of con'iilence
which I receive from any section of the Cana-
dian people only makes me mora determined
to strain every nerve in their service (cheer-
ing), and to do my best to contribute towards
the great work upon which you are now
engaged — namely, that of building up on this
side of the Atlantic a prosperous,
loyal, and powerful associate of the British
Empire. " (Tremendous applause. )
AT THE ONTARIO LADIES' COLLEGE.
[The following remark was made in a speech
replying to an address from the young ladies
of this institution, at Whitby, on the 3rd of
September.]
" I do uot know whether it would be out o
place to remark that there are dangers
against which it is advisable for all those
who are interested in the healthy, intellec-
tual training of the youth of this continent,
and particularly of its female youth, to
It.
94
THE 8FM:K(^r{EvS OP TnK
18M
guard. Of lattt thoro hai H|>rung up a claM
of litoratiirit which, in my (ipiiiioii.uoiitrihutoH
but very little to thu adviitiuumuiit of thoau
higher aMpirationa whiuh it oiitjht to ho thu
aim and ohjnct of all litornturu to promote.
There hiiit ariuun of Into a Hchooi of wricors
whoao chief trick Huemn to )>« to extract
amustiniont and owoko daughter l)y turning
everything that is nol)lit, oUivatod, and ntve-
rencod hy the roat of thu world into ridicule ;
to HuhHtituto parody for invention, and
ooarHu vulgarity for the t«nder humour of a
better dny. Or, if this error ia avoidod i
aickly, uiorliidHuntimontaliHm in Huhatituced,
more corrupting than abaolute vice ; or an
hiatoiicul Hunaationaiiiun which is aa bad aa
cither. I cannot but think it ia a great
matter that in our achoola we ahould take
the greiit'!at paina to maintain a standard
of healthy, robuat and n-lincd taate."
AT HKI,I,KVn,LE.
[Delivered on the flth of September, in the
courau of u reply to an adclreaa in which
alluaion waa made to the injustice done to
Canada through her true position being mis-
understood.]
"In a concluding paragraph you have
alluded to a feeling which I have aometimes
heard mentioned inprivate,and to which hith-
erto my attention has never been so pointedly
directed, j^ viz.: — That Canadian affairs
scarcely obtain that share of popular atten-
tion in England which their importance
merits. (Hear, hear.) Well, Mr. Mayor
and gentlemen, I would ask you to call to
mind the old adage which says ' Happy are
the people without annals.' (Hear, hear,
and laughter.) An adage which implies
that only too often the history of a country
consists of an account of its follies and mis-
fortunes. (Laughter.) It is sometimes as
well to lie without a history as with one.
(Laughter. ) In the same way you must re-
member that as long as the domestic affairs of
Canada are conducted with thatwiadom which
commands the contidence of England — as long
as the material condition of Canada is such
as to occasion neither apprehension nor
anxiety to England — as long as the senti-
ments of Canada are bo affectionate and loyal
to the Mother Country as to leave her no-
thing to desire, so long will her intercourse
with Canada be confined to those placid hum-
drum amenities which characterize every
happy household. (Hear, hear, and laugh-
ter.) Again, you must remember that in
England every man who is connected with
public affairs, every public writer, every per-
son through whom the national sentiments
find expression, is so overwhelmed and over-
weighted by his daily occupations that you
must not be surprised if they have not time
to'^be very loquacious on Canadian subjects ;
and, after all gentlemnn, I may observe, m
a HonHitivu KngliMhmnn, that I do not find, in
Canadian pulilic prints, (piito that ample
ahare given to the diacuaaion of purely Hritiah
mattora which I, of course, might desire.
(Laughter.) No, gentlemen, you muat not
jmlge of the affection of the Mother (Country
for her grcateat colony, you muat not judge
of the intereat ahe takea in your affairs, her
pride in your loyalty to heraolf, by what
may haj)pon to be said or rather not aaid in
the newspapers. (Applause.) The heart
of England ia large, but the English nation
is undemonatrative (applause) ; and I am
sure that vou will tind, whenever the neces-
aitiea of the caae really ro(|uire it, that the
svmputhieH of EnglarKl and the attention of
English (mbliu opinion will be concentrated
upon ('anada with a aoliuitude and an energy
that wiU leavtiyou no occaaiiui of complaint,
((ireat applause.)
AT HROCKVILLE.
[Delivered in reply to an address from the
Mayor and Corporation, on the 7th of Sep-
tember.]
" Mu. Mayor and Gentlemen,— I thank
you for the addrcHS with which you havo hon-
oured me. This is the last a«ldres8 I am destin-
ed to receive before my final return to Otta-
wa, where much serious business awaits my at
tention. It is with regrot 1 tind my holidays
drawing to a close, and that a termination
is about to be put to the pleasant and in-
structive personal intercourse I have had
with such larye numbers of the Canadian
people. At all events I shall carry the
pleasantest memories with me into retire-
ment. During the six weeks my tour has
occupied, I believe that I have received
something like one ^huntlred and twenty
addresses, every one of which breathed a
spirit of contentment, loyalty and kindness.
In fact, from first to last no harsh, despond-
ing, or discordant note has marred the jubi-
lant congratulations of the nation. But the
demonstrations with which we have been
honoured have not been confined to mere
vocal greetings. It would be impossible to
describe either the beauty or the variety of
the triumphal emblems which have glittered
on either hand along our way. In addition
to the graceful and picturesque decorations
of evergreens, flags, capestry and prismatic
canopies of colour from window to window,
with which the towns were gay, we have
passed under a number of the most ingeni-
ous and suggestive arches. There was an
arch of cheeses (laughter), an arch of salt, an
arch of wheels, an arch of hardware, stoves,
and pots and pans (great laughter), an arch
of sofas, chairs and household furniture
(laughter), an arch of ladders, laden with
firemen in their picturesque costumes, an
whi
terl
mal
ed,f
eve
pail
allf
im
EARL OF DUFFEIUW,
•5
an
Arch of carriagoi (laughtor), anarch of boat*,
a fruo trM(l« ^reh, a iirotuctioniiitii' arch
i grout laught(> ), an arc-n of uhihlrcii, aiul
Mt of all an aroh -no, not an urih, hut
ratht-r u eeluatial rainbow of lovuly young
ladit'B ! ((}ruat lauuhtcr ami u{>plautiu.) In-
dued, tho huuvuna thomHulvoH iirou|i«tl fat-
ueiiB, for not unfrci^uvntly a nia^iu chct'Hc or
other comuHtible would duHcoml into our
carriage. A« for thu OnintcMH of ihitfurin,
hIiu huH bucn nearly Hinothoru<l benfiith thu
noHugayH which ruined down upon l>er, for
our path hiiH buon utruwed with tlowcrH. Ono
town, not uontont with tultilling itH M[)lvndid
prograiMintt of procuHBion, tiruworku
ami illuininationa, concluded itH re-
oeptiou by the impromptu conflag-
ration of half a Htreot — (luu^^hter and
applauHti) - and when tho next morning I
thought it my duty to condolo with the
authoiiticH on their nncifortune, both tho
owner of the'property and the Mayor usHured
me with the very heroiani of politeneBH
that the accident would produce a great im-
f)rovement in the appearauto of the place.
Great laughter.) (Jentlrmen, I nuiht now
bid you gooil-byo, and through you I deaiie
to say goodd)ye to all ray other entertainers
throughout the Province. I have been niost
deeply ud'ectcd by their kiuduess ; for al-
though of course I am well aware that the
honours of which I have been tho recipient
have been addressed, not to me, the individu-
al, but to my otlice, it would be alloctation
were I to ignore the fact that a strain of
personal goodwill has been allowed to
mingle with the welcome accorded by the
people of Ontario to the representative of
their Queen. (Cheers.) I only wish I could
have made a more Ht return to the demon-
strations with which I have been honoured.
Happily the circumstances of the country
have justified me in using the language of
honest and hearty 'congratulation, and if I
have done wrong in e ometimes venturing on
a purely festive occasion a gentle note of
warning, or hint of advice, I trust that my
desire to render practical service to the
country will be my excuse for any inoppor
tune digressions of this nature. " (Cheers. )
AT LONDON, ENGLAND.
[Delivered at a dinner of the Canada Club,
held in the Albion, London, England, on the
8th of July, in reply to the toast of his
health. ]
" In rising to return thanks for the honour
which has been done me by this splendid en-
tertainment, and for the kind and cordial
manner in which my health has been receiv-
ed, I hope it will be understood that, how-
ever deeply I may feel the compliment thus
paid to me — and words would fail to express
4ll that I experience on this score — my per-
I
■onal gratitude MUtl natiitfaotion is abaorbed
and loMt in thu prouder consciouaneiiH that
thia brilliant u^aembly and the diatinguiahed
men I auc around tuu are met, not ao much
for thepur^ioMo of exten<ling a welcome to *
mere indivnlual like myaelf, but that they
have been brought together by the deaire to
pay a tribute of reapect to the great Do-
ndnionover whioh I have the honour to pre*
aide, nnd to testify their aympathy in the
moHt marked and generous manner witli that
noble commi uty, their kinsmen and felloW«
citi/i i, who on the other nide of thu Atlah*
ticu. '! engaged in building up u natii>iiulity
cognate to their own, inHtin(;t with tliu same
hiuh H^>irit of conatitutional freedom, an<i
determined to prove itself a powerful and
worthy member of tho Hritiah Empire.
(CheoiH. ) My lords and gentlemen, it is this
consideration alone which can give impor-
tance and signilicance to the demonstration
of to-night, and to proceedings which will
be scanned and discussed with unspeakable
ride and pleasure Ity thousands of your fel-
ow-Hubjects in their distant Cunailian home
(hear, hear)— for if there is one predilection
mere muikiul tiiun another in the Canadian
people; if there is one passion — if 1 may'ao
call it —which predominates over every other
feeling in their breasts; if there is ohn
special message wliich a person in my situa-
tion is bound to transmit from them to ycUi,
it is this — thut they desire to maintain intact
and unimpaired their connection with this
country, that they cherish an ineradicable
conviction of the pre-eminent value of the
political system under which they live, and
that they are determined to preserve pure
and uncontAminuted all the traditional cha-
racteristics of England's prosperous policy.
(Cheers.) It would be impossible to over-
state the universality, the force, the depth
of this sentiment, and proud am I to think
that un assemblage so representative of the
Fublic opinion of this country as that which
see around me, should be met together to
reciprocate it and do it justi^ie. (Hear,
hear.) But, my lords and gentlemen, I
should be giving you a very wrong impres-
sion if I gave you to understand ' that the
enthusiastic loyalty of the Cana'dian people
to the Crcwn and person of tnir gracious
Sovereign, their teucler and almost yearning
love for the Mother Country, the desire to
claim their part in the future fortun«a of the
British Empire, and., to sustain all the obli-
gations such a position may imply, was born
of any weak or unworthy spirit of depen-
dence. So far from that being the case, no
churacteristic oi the national feeling is more
strongly jnarked than their exuberant conti-
deuQe in. th/eir ability to shape their own
destinies .tK^ t^eic appointed issues, their
86
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1875
^
t
jealous pride of the legislative autonomy
with winch they have been endowed, and
their patriotic and personal devotion to the
land within whose ample bosom they have
been nurtured, and which they justly regard
aa more largely dowered with all that can
endear a country to its sons than any other in
the world. (Cheers.) And I assure you this
intense affection for 'this Canada of ours,'
as we lovingly call her, can surprise no one
who has traversed htr picturesque and fertile
territories, where mountain, plain, valley,
river, lake and forest, prairie and table-
land alternately invite,by their extraordinary
niagi»iiicence and extent, the wonder and the
admiration f)f the traveller. (Cheers.) And
yet, however captivatitig may be the sights
of beauty thus prepared by the hands of
Nature, they aie infinitely enhanced by the
contemplation of all that man is doing to
turn to the best advantage the gifts thus
placed within his reach. In every direction
you see human industry and human energy
digging deep the foundations, spreading out
the lines, and marking the inviolable bouu
daries upon and within which one of the
most intelligent and happiest of offsets of
the English race is destined to develop into
a proud and great nation. The very atmos-
phere seems impregnated with the exhilar-
ating spirit of enterprise, contentment and
hope. The sights and sounds which caress-
ed the senses of the Trojan wanderer in
Dido's Carthage are repeated and multiplied
in a thousand different locaiitija in Canada,
where flourishing cities, towns and villages
are rising in every direction ''ith the rapidity
of a fairy tale. And better still, pari passu
with the development of these material evi-
dences of wealth and happiness, is to be
observed the growth of political wisdom,
experience, and ability, perfectly capable
of coping with the various difficult prob-
lems which from time to time are pre-
sented in a country where new condi-
tions foreign to European experience and
complications arising out of ethnologi-
cal and geographical circuiastances are
constantly requiring the application and
intervention of a statesmanship of the
highest order. And here, perhaps, I may
be permitted to remark on the extraordinary
ability and intelligence with which the
French portion of Her Majesty's subjects in
Canada join with their British fellow-coun-
irymen in working and developing the con-
stitutional privileges with which, tlianks to
*he initiative they were the first to take,
their country has been endowed. Our
French fellow-countrymen are, m fact, more
parliamentary than the English theniseives,
and in the various fortunes of the colony
there have never been wanting French
statesmen of eminence to claim an equal
share with their British colleagues in shap-
ing the history of the Dominion. Whatever
may be the case elsewhere, in Canada, at all
events, the French race has learnt the gold-
en rule of moderation, and the necessity of
arriving at practical results by the occasion-
al sacritioe of logical symmetry, and the
settlement of disputes in the spirit ot a gen-
erous compromise. ' (Cheers.) The fruit of
this happy state of things is observable in
the fact that nowhere do thofe differences
of opinion which divide the religious world
of every country, separate the Canadian
nation either into religious or ethnological
factions. Religion and race are, of course,
observable forces within our body politic j.
but as far as I have remarked, the divisions
of party are perpendicular rather than
horizontal, and in a country or borough
election, as often as not, Catholic will be
found voting against Catholic, Orangeman
against Orangeman, Frenchman against
Frenchman, and, what will perhaps
cause less surprise, Irifihman against
Irishman. In fact, it is made a
matter of complaint by many per.«ons that
the considerations which regulate and deter-
mine the allegiance of the people to their
several political leaders have become effete
and meaningless traditions, unrepresentative
of any living or vital policy which distin-
guishes the administrative programme of the
one party from that of the other. If this i»
so, it is perhaps to be accounted for by the
fact that our political system is so free from
those complications which attach themselves
to an older civilization ; we are so little
harassed by embarrassments contracted
in the past ; each individual enjoys such
ample apace and verge within which to exer-
cise his energies and develop his idiosyncra-
sies ; there is so little friction between either
the units or the classes which compose our
community ; and the machinery of Govern-
ment works in so free an atmosphere, that
the development of our policy is more akin
to natural growth than artificial training,
and affords, consequently, fewer opportuni-
ties for the exhibition of conflicting political
theories than is the case elsewhere. Still I
must confess, as the constitutional head of
the State, and dependent, consequently, for
my guidance upon the advice of Parliament-
ary chiefs, I should feel extremely unea^-y
unless I knew their conduct was carefully
watched by a well-organized, well disciplin-
ed, and, if I may so call it^professional Oppo-
sition. (Hear, hear. ) Nor am I ever more
likely to be able to give my entire confi-
dence to my Ministers than when I find their
conduct and measures have been able to
stand the test of an incisive criticism applied
I'ljl.!'
1876
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
67
by their political competitors for office. A
Governor-General is bound, |()f course, to
regard his Ministers as true metal, but he
is never better able to do so than when they
come well refined out of the Parliamentary
fire ; and, my lords and gentlemen, this
is doubly the case when one is able to feel —
and I am happy to say I have always been
able to feel — the most unlimited contidence
in the integrity and wisdom of the Parlia-
ment of the country whose aifairs i adminis-
ter. As long as one can feel certain that not
only the material interests, but, what is of
more importance, the honour nnd reputation
of the country can be safely trusted to its
Parliament, then there is no situation in the
world happier than that of a constitutional
ruler. No Eastern despot vv European auto-
crat 'jan feel anything approaching to the
satisfaction with which he watches the
march of those events upon the happy and
fortunate issue of which so much of his own
peace and reputation must depend. And I
am certain there have never been pny in-
dividuals who have had greater cause and
opportunities for appreciating these charac-
terestics of a popular assembly than those
persons who, " like my predecessors and my-
self, have had the good fortune to preside
over the free Dominion of Canada. (Cheers. )
Aad, my lords and gentlemen, the circum-
stances to which I have briefly alluded are, I
am happy to say, continually receiving a
more marked recogrition at the hands, not
merely of the people in this country, but,
what is even of greater importance, at those
of the inhabitants of the United States.
Nothing, in faot, can be more friendly than
the relations and feelings which prevail
between the Canadian people and their
neighbours across the frontier. Whatever
may have been the case in former times,
every thoughtful citizen of the United
States is now convinced that the fate of
Canada has been unalterably fixed and deter-
mined, and that she is destined to move
within her own separate and individual
orbit. So far from regarding this with jea-
lousy, the public of the United States con-
templates with a generous enthusiasm the
daily progress of Canada's prosperous career.
In fact, they are wise enough to understand
that it is infinitely to the advantage of the
human race that the depressing monotony
of political thought on the American ' conti-
nent should be varied and enlivened by the
development of a political system akin to,
yet diverse from their own, productive of a
friendly emulation, and ofFering many points
of contrast and comparison, which they al-
ready begin to feel they can study with
advantage. (Cheers.) My lords and gentle-
men, 1 have to apologize for having detuined
you at 8o great a length, but before I sit
down I cannot help expressing my deep
obligation to the gentleman who proposed
my health, for the kindly and friendly terms
in which he has been good enough to allude
to me as an thdividual. In reply, I can only
assure him that the recognition thus accord-
ed to my humble efforts to do my duty will
only prove a fresh incitement to me to con-
tinue in that course which has merited his
approval. I have no higher ambition in the
world tiian that of being able faithfully to
serve my Sovon iijn in the high station in
which sfie has placod me, worthily to main-
tain in her beaiititul Dominion the honour
and the dignity of the Crown, to imitate as
closely us may be her noble example in the
discharge of my Viceregal duties, and to
obtain the confidence of the Canadian peo-
ple by my devotion to their service, and by
the impaitial exercise of those constitutional
functions which attach to my high offic6.
(Cheers.) If to love a country with one's
whole heart, to fee\ that in each one of its
inhabitants one possesses a personal friend, to
believe in its future as implicitly as any one
of its most sanguine "ons, to take a pride in
everything which belongs to it — its scenery,
climate, its physical and moral characteris-
tics, the idiosyncrasies of its people, nay their
very ^sports and pastimes — be any test of
loyalty to its interests, then I feel my devo-
tion to Canada can never be called in ques-
tion. (Cheers.) My only regret is that my
ability and talents should not be commen-
surate with the desire by which I
am possessed of rendering it effectual service.
Happily, however, its present condition, the
fortunate consummation of all those aspira-
tions which nnder the auspices of one of my
predecessors have been crowned by Confede-
ration, and the satisfactory impulse given to
its young life by the wise administration of
another, have superinduced so halcyon an
epoch as to have rendered it a comparatively
easy ^ask for a successor of less eminence and
experience than theirs to carry on the task
which they so happily inaugurated. If,
therefore, at the end of the next three years,
I shall be able to complete my term under
the same happy circumstances which have
hitherto characterized its duration ; if I can
carrv with me home to England the consci-
ou^^-ss that the people of Canada regard me
as having been a faithful, loving and devoted
servant to the Dominion ; if, at the same
time, I am fortunate enough to have merited
the approval of my Sovereign and country-
men at home, I shall consider few public
servants will have ever reaped so honourable
and so dearly prized a reward." (Loud
cheers. )
' \ ivil
68
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1875
li :■ '
AT CLAWDEBOYK (IKELAND).
[Delivered in reply to an address of wel-
come by his tenantry on the 28th of July.]
" I am very grateful to you for the kind
expressions wlUch you have u^d in regard
to my endeavours to do my duty by my Queen
and country in that great Dominion over
which I have the honour to preside. And
perhaps it would not be inapuropriate to the
present occasion that I should tell you that
amongst the many pleasures I have had in
administering the affairs of its government,
and in visiting its various districts, few have
been greater than that which I have expe-
rienced from, in aln?ost every part of the
country, Irishmen from different parts of
Ireland, all of them united by common sym-
pathy of loyalty to the Queen, — all of them
animated by a spirit of happiness and con-
tentment, — and all of them^ engaged in a pros-
ferous career. But amongst those Irishmen,
am happy to say, the most prosperous
and fortunate the most contented
and the most fortunate, have been
persons who have been connected with this
locality, and who do equal honour to
the country which they have adopted and the
district from which they have taken their
origin. When I visited Fredericton, the
aapital of N^ew Brunswick, the Lieutenant-
Governor proposed to me to visit what he
said was one of the most remarkable oin-
fltances of how intelligence and industry can
create a paradise in a desert. We drove a
few miles out, and presently we came to a
beautiful little village, in the centre of which
stood a magniticeat church. Beside the
church was a schoolhouse, — beyond the
schoolhouse was a mansion almost as large
and as splendid as Clandeboye itself ; in tlie
neighbourhood were villas, and, further on
again, beyond them,comfortable cottages for
the superintendents, skilled workmen, and
artisans belonging to this great establishment.
The owner had taken a lease from the Gov-
ernmentof 200,000 orSOO.OOO'acres of forest ;
he had cut down the trees, made dams, con-
structed weirs ; he had cleared the country,
and had created, I might say, a large extent
of arable land, and pari passu with his in
creasing prosperity, he had devoted his
wealth and intelligence to promote the happi-
ness of those to whose labour and industry
he was so much, indebted for his own ad-
vancement. He was very glad to receive
me, and introduced me to his mother, and I
then found that this good old lady had
originally come from Clandeboye ; and this
gentleman himself had, I believe, been a
cenant of my neighbour, Mr. Sharman Craw-
ford, and I spent an hour with them, giving
an account of their grand nieces, and ^rand
nephews, and their various other relations.
Again, when Iwent up to Lake Superior, I
was taken to see a very remarkable under-
taking, a silver mine, the shaft of which has
been sunk in a small island, not much bigger,
originally, than a dining room table ; but, in
order to prosecute their enterprise, the com-
pany had been compelled to create, as it
were, a Venice in the waters of Lake Supe-
rior. They have built a small city upon piles,
and they are now in the course of conduct-
ing one of the most successful enterprises
upon the American continent. At the head
of that enterprise I was extremely pleased
to find a well-known Killyleagh man. These
are but a few instances of many others which
I could enumerate, but I thought I could
not make a more opportune communication
than by giving you those instances of the
manner in which County Down men, wh«r-
ever they find themselves in any part of the
world, seem invariably to fall upon their
legs, and go to the top of the tree."
AT OTTAWA.
[Delivered on the occasion of a dinner to
the newly appointed Judges of the Supreme
Court, at Government House, on the 18th of
September. ]
" My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen, —
Although it is not my usual custom to call
upon the guests at Government House to
drink any other toast than that of the
health of Her Most Gracious Majesty the
Queen, the present occasion is one of such an
important and exceptional character that I
am sure it will not be considered unnatural
I aliould desire to mark it in a peculiar man-
ner. For the first time since its constitu-
tion by a recent Act of Parliament, I have
had the pleasure of receiving at my table the
learned and distinguished Judges who com-
pose the Supreme Court of Canada. The
establishment of that Court marks another
epoch in the progressive history of the Do-
minion ; it exhibits another proof and pledge
of the stability of our Confederation, and of
the solidifying process which has knit into a
homogeneous and patriotic community the
inhabitants of what a few j'ears ago were
the scattered districts of Great Britain's
North American possessions. But the con-
stitution of such a Court is not merely an
evidence of so complete a unification of the
Dominion as to permit the rays of justice
being thus focussed to a point ; it is also an
exemplification of the confidence reposed by
the people of Canada in the learning and at-
tainments of the legal profession in this
country. Had not the Parliament oi Canada
been c<^nvinced that the Bar of the Domi-
nion was now, and would continue to be,
capable of producing persons of such com-
manding authority and reputation as that
their judgments would be universally ac-
1876
rior, I
inder-
ch has
)igger,
jut, in
3 com-
, as it
Supe-
i piles,
uduct-
rj)riBe8
le head
pleased
These
1 which
I could
ication
1 of the
I, wher-
t of the
ou their
inner to
(upreme
i 18th of
EMEN, —
1 to call
[ouse to
of the
eaty the
: such an
,er that I
nnatural
liar man-
constitu-
, I have
table the
^ho com-
da. The
another
if the Do-
ad pledge
)u, and of
nit into a
unity the
aso were
Britain's
the Con-
ner ely an
on of the
of justice
is also an
eposed by
ig and at-
n in this
ol Canada
the Domi-
lue to be,
such com-
)n as that
rsally ac-
1876
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
qniesced in, it would not have ventured upon
BO bold an experiment as the creation of a
Court superior in its jurisdiction to all the
other Provincial Courts in the Dominioa.
(Applause.) I have myself no misgivings
that Parliament will be disappointed in these
expectations. I have no doubt but that
those eminent personages present amongst
us to-night will succeed in establishing for
their Court a reputation and an authority
equal to the anticipations of their country-
men. The authority of a court of justice is
founded on the soundness of its decisions.
(Fear, hear. ) Tinder the free Constitution
of the B)itish Empire, no earthly power can
check the growth or diminish the weight of
an authority established on such a basis. A
great Court thus becomes the author of its
own supremacy — nay, it can extend its as-
cendancy beyond the limits of its natural
jurisdiction, and impress foreign codes of
jurisprudence with its own interpretations
of equity and justice. Witness the respect
and deference with which the Chief Court
of the United States is quoted by British
and European jurists. Such a court is the
parent of peace, order and good government ;
it is the guardian of civil, political and re-
ligious liberty. (Hear, hear. ) It is like the
sun at noon-day ; it shines with its own
ilght ; and happily, human passion and pre-
judice, executive tyranny, and popular
frenzy, are as impotent to intercept the
beneficent influence of the one as to shear
the beams from the other. (Hear, hear.) I
now propose to you the health of the Chief
Justice of Canada, and of his brethren the
other Judges, members of the Supreme
Court of Canada, and to this toast 1 will
venture to add but one word more. ' Inter
pocula,' the strict rules of Responsible Gov-
ernment may for a moment be suspended,
and as during the saturnalia the Roman
slaves were allowed to buffet their masters
with impunity, so a Governor General may
be permitted for once, on a festive occasion
like the present, to give his Prime Ministei*
advice instead of receiving it ; and the ad-
vice I would tender to Mr. Mackenzie, and
through him to the Parliament and people
of Canada, is this : that inasmuch as pure,
efficient, and authoritative courts of justice
are the naost precious possession a people can
enjoy, the very founts and sources of a
healthy national existence, there is no duty
more incumbent on a great and generous
community than to take care that all and
every one of those who administer justice in
the land are accorded a social, moral, and I
will venture to add, a material recognition
proportionate to their arduous labours,
weighty responsibilities and august position."
(Applause.)
AT THE QUEBEC DINNER.
[Delivered in reply to the toast of His
Excellency's health, proposed by Mayor
Murphy, in the Music Hall, on the 2l8t of
June.]
" Mr. Mayor, Your Honour, and Gen-
tlemen, — I can assure you it is with feelings
of no ordinary emotion that for the first time
since coming to this country I find myself
called upon to address a public audience in
the ancient capital of Canada ; for I cannot
help remembering under what various con-
ditions, in how many vital emergencies, at
what supreme epochs in its history, during
tht last .300 years, my illustrious predeces-
sors must have had occasion to harangue the
citizens of Quebec. (Cheers. ) In a thou-
sand vicissitudes of fortune, in perpetual al-
ternations of triumph and despondency ;when
hordes of savages were lurking round your
palisades ; when famine had prostrated you
strength, and the unaccustomed rigours «f an
Arctic winter had benumbed your faculties ;
when novel forms of pestilence devastated
your homes, crowning your clergy and your
sisterhoods with the aureole of martyrdom ;
when foreign leaguers assaulted your inde-
pendence, and hostile cannon threatened
your battlements. Viceroy after Viceroy has
a^jpealed to your patience, your fortitude,
your charity, your patriotism, and never
once, whether in good fortune or ill fortune,
as your history tells us, has the appeal been
made in vain. (Great applause. ) Happily,
however, those days of dramatic oratory are
over. From the rock on which your city
stands, once isolated by an interminable
ocean of primeval forest, and a waste of bar-
barism, there now stretches out on every
side to the horizon a perfectly ideal prospect
of agricultural wealth and beauty, while
you" political dominion, at one time reach-
ing no further than the range of your primi-
tive artillery, now requires two oceans to
confine it. (Cheers.) As a consequence of
this extraordinary growth, the personal and
autocratic administration of the Regal re-
presentatives in this country has been super-
seded by the infinitely safer,more effective,
and less obnoxious regimen of Parliamen-
tary Government. (Applause.) But though
relieved of the wider responsibilities which
once weighed so heavily upon the earlier
occupants of the office, and brought them
into such close though not always harmo-
nious intimacy with the community they
ruled, the Governor Generals of to-day fiud
themselves all the better able to cultivate
those friendly social relations with the in-
habitants of the country which it is one of
their chief duties to maintain, and of which
this splendid banquet is a most gratifying
exhibition. (Applause.) And proud ami
70
THE SPEECHES OF TH5
187tf
to think, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, that
the admiration I have always felt for the
beauty of your town, which in my opinion
is rivalled by that of only two other capitals
in the world (applause), and the deep sense
I entertain of the singular kindness and af-
fection evinceil toward me by your citizens,
should have evoked so flattering a recogni-
tion as that which is being extended to me at
this moment. I only wish I could make an
adequate return for so much goodwill, but
there is one tiling at all events which I can
do —I can seize this opportunity of express-
ing my heartiest and warmest sympathies
with the efforts which you, Mr. Mayor, and
your enlightened townsmen are making to do
justice to the glorious inheritance you have
received from those who have gone before
you, by devoting your energies to the moral
improvement, the commercial development
and the external embelishment of this re-
nowned and ancient city. (Continued ap-
plause.) It is with especial pleasure I have
learnt that there is now every prospect of
our being able to accomplish the scheme
which has been set on f(;ot for the ])re8erva-
tion and beautifying of your fortitications,
combining, as it does, a due regard for the
requirements of our increasing traffic, by the
enlargement and multiplication of your
thoroughfares, with the careful protection
from the hands of the Vandal of those glo-
rious bastions which girdle the town, and
which are dignihed by such interesting his-
torical associations, and in doingthis, gentle-
men, you are only following the example of
every municipality in Europe that has the
c;ood luck to be placed in similar circum-
stances. There was a time, indeed, when,
through ignorance and a cross indifference to
the past, the precious relics of antiquity
were lightly regarded, and irreparable injury
has consequently been inflicted on many an
invaluable monument ; but the resentment,
the contempt, and the objurgations with
which the authors of such devastations have
been since visi d by their indig-
nant descendants, evinces how com-
pletely the world has awaked to the
obligation of preserving with a pious solici-
tude such precious records of a bygone
age. But if this obligation is imperative
on the other side of the Atlantic, where the
vestiges not only of mediaeval art, but even
of classic times, are to be found in consider-
able profusion, how much more is it incum-
bent upon us to maintain- intact the one city
on this continent which preserves the
romantic characteristics of its early origin(ap-
plause) — a city the picturesqueness of whose
architecture and war-scathed environments
presents a spectacle unlike any other which
s to be found between Cape Horn and the
North Pole. (Tremendous applause.)
Gentlemen of the Town Council, you must
remember that you hold Quebec not merely
as the delegates of its citizens, not merely
even in the interest of the people of Canada,
but as trustees on behalf of civilization and
th inhabitants of the whole American con-
tinent (applause) — by whom the ruin and
degradation of its antique battlements would
he regarded as an irreparable outrage and a
common loss. (Renewed applause.) But,
gentlemen, happily there is no danger of
the perpetration of any such suicidal
destruction. Far from lending a traitorous
hand to assist the ravages of time, you are
making preparations to still further exalt
and adorn your crown of towers ; and sure
am 1 that in after ages, when a maturer
civilization shall have still fuither changed
the face of Canada into that which it may
at present be beyond our imagination to
conceive, your descendants of that day will
regard with feelings of everlasting gratitude
those wise and instructed ajd.iles who handed
down to them intact so precious a memorial
of their countiy's past — a memorial which
eacii lapsing century will invest with an
ever deepening glow of interest. (Great
cheering.) And, gentlemen, ypu must not
suppose that the laudable efforts you are
making have escaped the observation of our
fellow-countrymen at home. No sooner was
it known in England that a scheme had been
inaugurated for the embellishment of the
fortihcations of Quebec, than the Secretary
of State for War, as the official representa-
tive and spokesman of the military sympa-
thies of the Empire, announced to me his
intention of testifying his own admiration,
and the admiration of the soldier world of
Great Britain at what we are about to do, by
asking the Imperial House of Commons —
who responded with acclamation to the pro-
posal — to vote a sum of money to be ex-
pended in the decoration of some point
along your walls in such a manner as might
sferve to connect it with the joint memory of
those two illustrious heroes, Wolfe and
Montcalm (great applause), whose deeds of
valour and whole noble deaths in the service
of their respective countries would have
been alone sufficient to immortalize the fair
fortress for whose sake they contended, and
whose outworks they watered with their
blood. But, gentlemen, the news of your
praiseworthy exertions has moved the heart
and sympathies of even a greater personage
than the Secretary of State for War — the
Queen of England herself, who takes as
much pride and interest in all that is doing
in her distant colonies as she does in what
happens within a stone's throw of her palace,
has been graciously pleased to command me
1!
1876
EARL OP DUFFKRIN.
71
to take an early — aad what better oppor-
tunity could I take than the present of
conveying to you, Mr. Mayor, and to those
who are associated with you in this credit-
able enterprise, and to the citizens of Que-
bec, whose patriotism has authorized you to
engage in it, her warm approval of the pro-
ject which has been set on foot, and her
hearty sympathy with the enlightened senti-
ments which have inspired it, and she has
furthermore expressed a desire to be asso-
ciated personally with the work by present-
ing herv^ood city of Quebec with one of the
new gateways with which your enceinte is
to be ])ierced, for the erection of which Her
Majesty has been good enough to forward to
me a handsome subscription — (tremendous
applause.athe whole company rising an '
cheering for several minutes) — and which
she desires may be named after her father,
the late Duke of Kent, who for so many
years lived amongst you, and who to his
dying day retaineclso lively a recollection of
the kindness and courtesy with which he
was treated. Mr. Mayor and gentlemen,
this would not be the place to enter into
any discussion of the details or of the mode
by which the projected improvements are to
be carried out. But there is one leading
principle which I trust may be kept in view,
viz., to arrange that there should be one
continuous uninterrupted pathway for pedes-
trians along the entire circuit of the ram-
parts, starting westward from Durham Ter-
race, round the base of the Citadel, and so
by the Esplanade, the Artillery Barracks,
Palace Oate, the GrandjBattery.past the pre-
sent Parliament Buildings, across Mountain
street, and back to Durham Terrace again.
If this is accomplished, you will possess a
walk which, for its convenience, freedom
from noise, danger, and interruption — for
the variety and beauty of its points of view,
and for its historical and civic interest, will
be absolutely unequalled (applause and
cheers), and I am happy to think that the
inexhaustible store of cut stone, of which
the obsolete and superfluous outworks be-
yond the walls are composed, will supply
cheap, handy, and ample materials for the
repair of the dilapidated portions of the
bastions, and for the construction of the
contemplated gateways. But in resorting
to these materials I hope you will avoid the
error committed by the zealous but not very
enlightened agent of a friend of mine in Ire-
land. Upon the estate of this nobleman
there stood an ancient tower, the relic of a
oastle which in ruder ages his ancestors had
inhabited. Finding that mischievous chil-
dren,|cattle,tourist8, donkeys (laughter), and
other trespassers of that sort were forestall-
ing the depredations of time, he instructed
his man of business to protect the ruin, with
a wall, and left forlEngland. On returning
he took an early opportunity of visiting the
spot, to see whether, as his agent had
already assured him, his orders had been
properly exncuted. Judge of his dismay
when he found indeed a beautiful new wall,
six feet high, running round the site of the
old oastle, but the castle levelled itself to the
ground. (Great laughter. ) The economical
agent had pulled down th»j tower in order to
build the wall with tlie stones of which it
was composed. (Renewed laughter. ) But,
gentlemen, I must detain you no longer, and
yet before I sit down there is one observa
tion I cannot help desiring to make. I can-
not help wishing to exuress the extreme
satisfaction which I experience in observing
with what alacrity and self-abnegation the
chief citizens of Quebec, gentlemen whose pri-
vate occupations and engagements must be
extremely absorbing, are content to sacrifice
their domestic leisure, and tlie interests of
their private business in order to give their
time and attention to tlie public service, and
the direction and management of your muni-
cipal affairs, (Cheers. ) And in paying this
well-deserved compliment to those whom I
am immediately addressing, I am happy to
think that I can extend it with equal jus-
tice to the municipalities of Canada
at large. (Applause.) Gentlemen, I
take it that there is no more healthy sign
of national life than this, or rather thatthere
would be no more fatal indication of an un-
patriotic, selfish, and despicable spirit, than
were we to see what are called the busi-
ness men of the country, that is to say,
those persons who, by their education, cha-
racter, habits, and intelligence, are best fit-
ted to serve her, being tempted by an over-
absorption in their private business to abstain
from all contact with public affairs, and a
due participation in the onerous and honour-
able strife of municipal or parliamentary
politics. (Cheering.) Were such a defec-
tion on the part of the most intelligent,
energetic, and high-principled men of the
country to prevail, the consequence would
be that the direction of its affairs would fall
into the hands of corrupt adventurers and
trading politicians, and that the moral tone
of the nation as a nation would deterio-
rate throughout every ramification, phase,
and stratum of society. And what, I ask, is
the worth of the largest fortune in the world,
of the most luxurious mansion, of all the re-
finements and amenities of civilization, if we
cannot be proud of the country in which we
enjoy them (loud applause), if we are com-
pelled to blush for the infamy of our rulers,
if we cannot claim act and part in the pro-
gress and history of our country (cheers), if
■I'i
m
72
THE SPEECHES OE THE
1876^
■ <!«»*
our hearts do not throb ia unison with the
Tital pulse of the national existence, if we
merely cling to it as parasites cling to a
growth of rotten vegetation ? (Applaupe. )
)f course I do not mean to imply that we
should all insist on being Prime Ministers,
Secretaries of State, or Mayors, or Members
of Parliament, or Town Councillors.
(Laughter.) Such aspirations in all would be
neither useful nor desirable. A large pro-
portion of the energies of the community
must be always employed in building up its
mercantile, manufacturing and agricultural
status, and in its learned professions ; but I
venture to think that no one, especially in a
young country, no matter what his occu-
pation, should consider himself justified in
dissociating himself altogether from all
contact with political affairs. The busiest
of us can examine, analyze and judge ; we
can all canvass, vote, protest, and contend
for our opinion ; we can all feel that we are
active members of a young commonwealth,
whose future prospects and prosperity will
depend upon the degree of patriotism, self-
sacrifice, and devotion with which we apply
our energies in our several stations to her
material, moral, and political development.
(Great cheering. ) The principle, I am happy
to think, has been duly appreciated by my
fellow-subjects on this side of the Atlantic,
and it gives me the greatest pleasure to think
that here, as at home, due honour and recog-
nition is accorded to those who, like you, Mr.
Mayor, like you, gentlemen, that surround
me, like the two Prime Ministers, and the
members of the two Governments with which
I have been associated since I came into the
country, have sacrificed many an opportuni-
ty of increasing their private fortunes, and
of enhancing the worldly position of their
families, in order that they may render more
faithful and undivided service to their be-
loved Canada, and the Empii'e of which she
is the fairest offshoot. " (Tremendous cheer-
ing and applause. )
AT LAVAL NORMAL SCHOOL.
[Delivered at the distribution of prizes to
the female students in the hall of tbe Ursu-
line Convent, on the 27th of June.]
" Ladies AND Gentlemen, — 1 assure you
I have difficulty in finding words to convey
all that I have felt during the very touching
spectacle we have just witnessed, but the
performances of this afternoon would be in-
complete were I not to express, jn behalf of
those present, the admiration we have ex-
perienced at everything that has taken place.
I cannot say how glad lam to have had an op-
portunity of giving away with my own hands
the medals I have been allowed to place at
the disposition of this institution; and I can
only say that if all the others Ijhave the
pleasure of annually distributing are as well
deserved elsewhere as this one has been here
to-day by Mademoiselle Lavoie, I have every
reason to be proud of the results they will
have produced, (Cheers.) I have had so
many opportunities on previous occasions of
expressmg my deep sympathy and interest
in the educational work of which to-day's
ceremonial has been so interesting an ex-
ponent, that I fear I can hardly find anything
new to say upon the general subject, unless
it be to remind those ladies at whose
triumphs we have had the pleasure of as-
sisting, that the honours they have now gain-
ed ought to prove a fresh incentive
to them to continue their exertions
in the honourable profession to which they
propose to devote themselves. I ^ay the
honourable profession c/lvisedly, because
however wearisome, laborious, and trying it
may occasionally prove, the privilege of
teaching is, after all, one of the most benefi-
cent, useful, and effective occupations in
w those who love their country, and
th fellow creatures, can engage. You are,
as was once said of your prototypes in a
higher sphere, ' the salt of the earth;' each
one of you is now qualified to prove in the
separate theatre of your respective labours a
centre of light, and a fountain of intellectual
and moral instruction, destined to illuminate
an<l render gay with fruit and flowers the
region within the scope of your influence ;.
and what limit are we to place to the influ-
ence for good of a virtuous, high-minded,
sensible and well-educated woman over thos&
with whom she is brought in contact ? And
we who are anxious about the future of our
country must have great satisfaction in con-
sidering that there should exist in the vari-
ous provinces of Canada such an admirable
machinery as is provided by these Normal
Schools for the diffusion of an atmosphere of
cheerfulness, elegance, purity and intellectual
activity in the homes of the nation. This is
especially true as applied to the women
teachers of our schools, for it is on them we
must depend for the maintenance of a proper
standard of good manners, of refinement, and
of that high moral tone of which these quali-
ties are the outcome, and I trust yoa
will always rembember that the execrtion,
of this portion of your functions is not less
imperative upon you than are the, pother
branches of your profession. And in rela-
tion to this particular part of your duties,
there is one peculiarity I have observed in
this country — indeed not indigenous, but
imported, — which I think you might use
your influence to correct : I observe that it
is an almost ^universal practice upon this
continent, even on public occasions — in
prize lists, roll calls, and in the inter-
'I
1876
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
7&
course of general society — for young ladies
to be alluded to by their casual acquaint-
ances, uay, even in the newspapers, by
what in the old country we would call
their "pet" names — that is to say, tho«e
caressing, soft appellations of endearment
with which their fathers and brothers, and
those who are nearest to them, strive to give
expression to the yearning atl'ection felt for
them in the home circle. Now it seems to
me to be a monstrous sacrilege, and quite
incompatible with the dignity and self-re-
spect due to the daughters of our land, and
with the chivalrous reverence with which
they should be approached even in thought,
that the tender, love-invented nomenclature
of the tireaide should be bandied about at
random in the mouths of every empty-headed
Tom, Dick, and Harry in the street, whose
idle tongue may chance to babble of them.
(Cheeis and laughter. ) For instance, in the
United States, beforeher marriage, I observed
that Miss Grant, the daughter of the occu-
pant of one of the most august positions in
the world, was generally referred to in the
newspapers as "Nellie," as though the
Earagraphist who wrote the item had been
er playfellow from infancy. Of course
this is a small matter to which I have
alluded, but it is not without significance
when regarded as a national characteristic.
After all, the women of this continent arc
ladies, as refined, high-minded, and noble-
hearted as are to be found in any country
in the world, and the sooner we get rid of
this vulgar solecism the better ; — and the
first place where the correction should be
made is in our school lists,' which are
official documents where young ladies ought
to be entered in their full Christian names,
and not in their nicknames, as I have often
Been done. In conclusion, ladies and gentle-
men, allow me to congratulate you upon the
very satisfactory character of this morning's
ceremonial, and to express ou your behalf to
the authorities under .whose intelligent ad-
ministration such excellent results have been
produced, our warm appreciation of their
eflforts to promote the cause of education
through the powerful instrumentality of the
Female Normal School of Quebec."
AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
[Delivered in reply to an address of wel-
come from the Mayor and Citizens, under an
arch in the street, on the 18th of August.]
"Mr, Mayor and Gentlemen, — I can as-
sure you that I feel very grateful for the
kind welcome with which you and those
whom you represent have been pleased to
greet Lady Duflferin and myself on our ar-
rivaltin this important and beautiful Province.
I never doubted but that in J BritishiiCo.
lumbia, as in every other portion of the
great Dominion of which you form a part,
the representative of Her Most Gracious
Majesty the Queen would be sure to find
himself in the midst of a population inspired
by the most enthusiastic devotion to the
Person, Throne and Government of tlieir
Sovereign, nor that would such sentiments
be more likely anywhere to find appropriate
expression than , in the flourishing city
which has the honour of bearing her name.
Almost from the first moment that I
landed in Canada I felt that my functions as
Viceroy would not be adequately fulfilled
unless I could accomplish a visit to British
Columbia ; and the personal intercourse I
have had with your Parliamentary represen-
tatives at the capital of the Dominion still
further confirmed my desire to visit a popu-
lation who, in the persons of their members,
contributed so materially to enhance the
dignity, the eloquenee, and the intellectual
reputation of the Federal Parliament. I
have now arrived, after a tedious and cir-
cuitous journey of many thousand miles
through ajforeign country, and a sea voyage
of several days' duration, in this splendid
port, which for its commodiousness and se-
curity is not to be rivalled by any harbour in
the world. It will be my pleasing
duty to become personally acquainted
with all the leading inhabitants
of your community, and to acquire
by personal observation an accurate know-
ledge of the views, wishes, needs, and aspi-
rations of every class and section that com-
pose it, and to carry back with me to the
seat of Government at Ottawa, and to trans-
mit to the Imoerial authorities at home, the
valuable infovination which I thus hope to ac-
quire. On the other hand, I trust that the pre-
sence amongst you of the head of the Execu-
tive Government of the Dominion, and of
the officer entrusted by Her Majesty with
the duty of representing her in British North
America, will be accepted by you as a pledge
of the interest and sympathy with which you
are regarded both by the Queen of England
and her advisers, as well as by the Govern-
ment at Ottawa and the entire body of your
Canadian fellowrsubjects, who, I can safely
assure you, desire nothing more sincerely
than to be united with you in the strictest
bonds of fellowship, patriotism, interest, and
afiFection. I need not add that I have no
greater ambition than to contribute within
the sphere of m'y constitutional functions as
energetically as possible towards this end,,
and I sincerely trust that ere my term of
office is concluded I may see the national as
well as the political coniicction already ex-
isting between British Columbia and the
Eastern portion of the Dominion in a fair
M
4
ml
74
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1876
iBfi
way of being rendtired Btill more close and
iutimate. "
[An extract from a npeech in reply to
au adtlresB from the Chamber of Commerce,
read by Mr. Henry llhoden, on the 25th of
August.]
•' As you are aware, in spite of its indis-
putably countervailing advantages, the
inarch of Parliamentary government is oc-
casionally disturbed by unexpected checks
and miucarriages, wiiich it is altogether
beyond the power of the Executive Admiu-
istration either to control or avert. Nor is
it within the competence of the head of that
Executive, whether as represented by Her
Majesty to her advisers at home, or by the
Governor-General here, to do more than
superintend and give free play to the work-
ing of the Constitutional machine. But,
gentlemen, be assured that within the limits
marked out ft)r me by the sphere of my
official position, no effort shall be wanting
on my part to promote the cause of justice,
good faitli, and ^ood feeling in the regulation
of the relations into which your community
hiis been drawn with the other constitutional
portions of Her Majesty's great Canadian
Dominion."
AT NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
[An extract from a speech delivered in
reply to an address from the Mayor and
Citizens, read on the 27th of August.]
" I can assure you, I fully sympathize with
the anxieties to which you give utterance in
respect of the accomplishment by the Do-
minion of those engagements to which you
refer as the ' Carnarvon terms,' more
especially as the performance of one of them,
in which, I understand, you consider your-
selves so deeply interested, viz., the con-
struction of the Nanaimo and ^ Esquimalt
Railway, has, through the action of one
branch of the Canadian Legislature, become
extremely problematic. "
AT THE SCHOOLS OP VICTORIA, B.C.
[An extract from a speech in reply to an
address read by the Superintendent on the
18th of September. His Excellency, after
intimating that he presented three medals
for competition, said ;]'
" I shall look forward with very great in-
terest to learning, when the proper time
comes, the names of those pupils who x.iay
have been successful in the contest I now
propose to you. Those names will be re-
corded in a book kept for that purpose ; and
if ever, in after life, I may have the oppor-
tunity of being of the slightest assistance to
the successful competitors, the fact of their
having one of these prizes will be in itself a
title to my interest. "
HIS OREAT SrEECH IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
[Delivered ^at Government H(m8e, Vic-
toria, on the occasion of his departure on the
20th of September.]
"Gentlemen, — I am indeed vary i^lad to
have an opportunity before quitting British
Columbia or thanking you, and, through you,
the citi/ens of Victoiia. not only for the
general kindness and courtesy I have met
with during tny residence among you, but
especially for the invitation to the banquet
with which you proposed to have honoured
me. I regret that my engagements did not
permit me to accept this additional proof of
your hospitality ; but my desire to see as
much as possible of the country and my
other engagements forced me most reluctant-
ly to decline it. I shall, however, have a
final opportunity of mingling with your
citizens at the entertainment arranged for
me at Beacon Hill this afternoon, to wl^ich I
am looking forward with the greatest plea-
sure. Perhaps, gentlemen, I may be aiso
permitted to take advantage of this occasion
to express to you the satisfaction and enjoy-
ment I have derived from my recent pro-
gress through such portions of the Province
as I have been able to reach within the short
period left at my disposal. I am well aware
I have visited but a small portion of your
domains, and that there are important cen-
tres of population from which I have been ■
kept aloof. More especially have I to regret .
my inability to reach Cariboo, the chief
theatre of your mining industry, and the
home of a community with whose feelings,-'
wishes, and sentiments it would have been
very advantageous for me to have l)ecome
personally acquainted. Scill, by dint of con-
siderable exertion, I traversed the entire
coast of British Columbia from its southern
extremity to Alaska. I have penetrated to
the head of Bute Inlet. I have examined
the Seymour j>^arrows,and the other channels
which intervene between the head of Bute
Inlet and Vancouver Island. I have looked
into the mouth of Dean's Canal and passed
across the entrance to Gardiner's Channel. I
have visited Mr. Duncan's wonderful settle-
ment at Metlahkatlah and the interesting
Methodist mission at Fort Simpson, and
have thus been enabled to realize what scenes
of primitive peace and innocence, of idyllic
beauty and material comfort, can be present-
ed by the stalwart men and comely maidens
of an Indian community under the wise ad-
ministrationiof a judicious and devoted Chris-
tian missionary. I have passed across the in-
tervening Sound to Queen-Charlotte Island
and to Skidegate, and studied with wonder
the strange characteristics of a Hydah village
with its forest of heraldic pillars. I have
been presented with the sinister opportunity
1876
EARL OF DUFPERIN.
40
anc
.
of deicending upon a tribe of our Pagan sav-
ages in th« very midst of their drunken orgies
and barl)arou8 rites, and after various other
explorations 1 have had the privilege of visit-
ing under very gratifying circumstances the
Royal city of New Westminster. Taking
from that spot a new departure, we proceed-
ed up the valley of the Kraser, where the
river has cloven its way through the granite
ridges and bulwarks of the Cascade Range,
and along a road of Huch admirable con-
struction, couMidoring the engineering diffi-
culties of the line and the modest resi)urce<i
f tiie colony when it was built, as doo4
the greatest credit to the able adminis-
trator who directed its execucion. Passing
thence into the open valleys and rounded
eminences beyond, we have had an oppor-
tunity of appreciating the pastoral resources
and agricultural capabilities of what is
known as the bunch grass country. It i» need-
less to say that wherever we went we found
the same kindness, the same loyalty, the
same honest pride in their country and in-
stitutions, which characterize the English
race throughout the world, while Her Ma-
jesty's Indian subjects on their spirited
horses, which the ladies of their families
seemed to bestride with as much ease and
grace as their husbands or brothers, notwith-
standing the embarrassment of one baby on
the pommel and another on the crupper, met
ua everywhere in large numbers,ancl testified
in their untutored fashion their genuine de-
votion to their white mother. Having jour-
neyed into the interior as far as Kamloops.and
admired from a lofty eminence in its neigh-
bourhood what seemed an almost intermin-
able prospect of grazing lands and valleys
susceptible of cultivation, we were forced
with much reluctance to turn our faces home-
wards to Victoria. And now that I am back it
may perhaps interest you to learn what are
the impressions I have derived during my
journey. Well, I may frankly t( 11 you that
I think British Columbia a glorious Province
— a Province which Canada should be proud
to possess, and whose association with the
Dominion she ought to regard as the crown-
ing triumph of federation. Such a spectacle
as its coast line presents is not to be parallel-
ed by any country in the world. Day
after day, for a whole week, in a vessel of
nearly 2,000 tons, we threaded an intermina-
ble labyrinth of watery lanes and reaches
that wound endlessly in and out of a net-
work of islands, promontories, and peninsu-
las for thousands of miles, unruffled by the
slightest swell from the adjoining ocean, and
presenting at every turn an ever-shifting
combination of rock, verdure, forest, glacier,
and snow-capped mountains of unrivalled
^andeur and beauty. When it is remem-
bered that this wonderful lyatem of naviga*
tion— equally widl adapted to the largest
liiie-of-battle ship and the frailest canoe, — >
fringes the entire seaboard of your province,
and cominuuicat'^9 at points sometimes more
than a hundred miles from the coast with a
multitude of valleys stretching eastward into
the interior, at the same time that it is
furnished with innumerable harltours on
either hand, one is lost in admiration at the
facilities for iutur-comnmnication wliich are
thus provided for the future iidialulanta of
this wonderful region. It is true at the
presi'ut moment they lie unused except by
the Indian fisherman and villager, but the
day will surely come when the rapidly
diminisliing stoics of pine upon this conti-
nent will be still further exhauHted, and
when the naticms of Europe, as well as of
America, will be obliged to recur to British
Columbia for a material of which you will
by that time b** the principal depository.
Already irom an a<ljoining port on the main*
land a large tra«le is being done in lumber
with Great Britain, Europe, and South
America, and I venture to think that ere
long the ports of the United Statea will per-
force be thrown open to your trathc. I had
the pleasure of witnessing the overthrow by
the axes of your woodmen of one of your
forest giants, that towered to the height of
250 feet above our heads, and wfiose ringd
bore witness that it dated iis birth from the
reign of the Fourth Edward ; and where he
grew, and for thousands of miles along the
coast beyond him, millions of his contem-
poraries are awaiting the same fate. With
such facilities of access as I have described
to the heart and centre ot your various
forest lands, where almost every tree can be
rolled from the spot upon which it grows to
the ship which is to transfer it to its desti-
nation, it would be difficult to over-estimate
the opportunities of industrial development
thus indicated — and to prove that I am not
over sanguine m my conjectures, I will read
you a letter recently received from the
British Admiralty, by Mr. Innes.the superyi-
tendent of the dockyard at Esquimalt : —
' From various causes, spars from Canada,
the former main source of supply, have not
of late years been obtainable, and the trade
in New Zealand spars for topmasts has
also completely died away. Of late years
the sole source of supply has been the casual
cargoes of Oregon spars, imported from time
to time, and from these the wants of the
service have been met. But my lords feel
that this is not a source to be depended
upon, more especially for the larger sized
spars.' Their lordships then proceed to
order Mr. Innes to make arrangements for
the transhipment for the dockyards of
7«
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1879^
I
R
Great Britain of the apeoifled number of
Dou^laH \)U\(3 which will bo rciiuired by tho
■ervicu during thiMtnHuing year ; and what
England does in thia dir<i(;iion other natioiia
will ftiel thoinselveH compoUml t(» <lo an wall.
Hut I havH hiarnt a further Ichhou. I have
had opportunitiea of inspecting nomo of the
apotB whore your mineral wealth ia Htored,
and here a^ain the ocean Htanda your friend,
the inouthH of the coal pita I have vinited
almoat opening into the hulls ot the veaselH
that are to convey their contents across the
ocean. When it is further remembered that
inexhaustible supplies of iron ore are found
in juxtaposition with your coal, no one can
blame you for regarding tho beautiful island
on which you live as having been especially
favoured by Providence in the distribution
of these natural gifts. But still more pre-
cious minerals than either coal or iron en-
hance the value ot your possessions. As we
skirted the banks of tho Fraaer we were met
at every turn by evidences of its extraordi-
uary supplies of Jiah, but scarcely leas fre-
quent were the signs afforded us of the
golden treasures it rolls down, nor need any
traveller think it strange to see the Indian
tiaherman hauling out a salmon onto the sands
from whence the miner beside him ia sifting
the sparkling ore. But the signs of minersd
wealth which may happen to have attracted
my personal attention are as nothing, I un-
derstand, to what is exhibited in Cariboo,
Cassiar, and along the valley of the Stickeen,
and most grieved am I to think that I have
not had time to testify by my presence
amongst them to the sympathy t feel with
the adventurous prospecter and the miner
in their anluous enterprises. I had also the
satisfaction of having pointed out to me
where various lodes of silver only await
greater facilities of access to be worked with
profit and advantage. But perhaps the
greatest surprise in store for us was the dis-
covery, on our exit from the pass through
the Cascade Range, of the noble expanse of
pastoral lands and the long vistas of fertile
valleys which opened upon every side as we
adduced through the country, and which,
as I could see with my own eyes, from vari-
ous heights we traversed,extended in rounded
upland slopes or in in gentle depressions for
hundreds of miles to the foot of the Rocky
Mountains, proving after all that the moun-
tain ranges which frown along your coast no
more accurately indicate the nature of the
territory they guard, than does the wall of
breaking surf that roars along a tropic beach,
presage the softly undulating sea that glit-
ters in the sun beyortd. But you will very
likely say to me, of what service to us are
these resources which you describe, if they
and we are to remain locked up iu a distant
and at present inaccessible corner of the Do-
minion, out off by a tracklesB waato of in*
tervening territory from all intercourse,
whether of a social or of acommenual charac-
ter, with thoBo with whom wo are politically
united ? Well, gentlemen, I can only
answer, of comparatively little use, or, at
all events, of far leas proHt than they would
immediately become were the railway, upon\
whose c«)nstruction you naturally counted
when you entered into ('onfoderation, onco
completed. But here I feel I am touching
upon dangenms ground. You are well aware,
from tho first moment I set foot in tho
Province I was careful to inform every (me
who approached me that I lame here as the
CTOvernur-Oenural of Can' ' and the repre-
sentative of Her Major actly in the
«ame way aa I had \. tnrough other
Provinces of the Dominion, in order to make
acquaintance with the people, their wants,
wishes, and aspirations,and to learn as much,
as I could in regard to the physical features,
capabilities, and resources of the Province ;
that I had not come on a diplomatic mission,
or as a messenger, or charged with any an-
nouncement either from the Imperial or from
the Dominion Government. This state-
ment I beg now most distinctly to repeat.
Nor should it be imagined that I have come
either to persuade or coax you into any
line of action which you may not consider
conducive to your own interests, or to make
any new promises on behalf of my Govern-
ment, or renew any old ones ; least of all
have I a design to force upon you any fur-
ther modiHcation of those arrangements
which were arrived at in 1874 between the
Provincial and the Dominion Governments
under the auspices of Lord Carnarvon.
Should any business of this kind have to be
perfected, it will be done in tho usual con-
stitutional manner through the Secretary of
State. But though I have thought it well
thus unmistakably and effectually to guard
against my journey to the Province being
misintei'preted, there is, I admit, one mission
with which 1 am charged — a mission that is
strictly within my functions to fulfil, name-
ly, the mission of testifying by my presence
amongst you, and by my patient and re-
spectful attention to everything which may
be said to me, that the Government and tho
entire people of Canada, without distinction
of party, are most sincerely desirous of cul-
tivating with you those friendly and affec-
tionate relations, upon the existence of
which must depend the future harmony and
.solidity of our common Dominion. Gentle-
'men, this mission I think you will admit I
have done my best to fulfil. I think you
will bear me witness that I haye been inac-
cessible to no one, that I have shown neither
impatience nor indifference during the con-
versations I have had with you, and that it
1876
fEARL OF DUFFERIN.
77
wouM havo Ixion inipoMihle for any one to
have oxhihitod nioru anxiety thoroughly to
untlorHtimd your viuwi. I think it will he
further utlinittud that I have done this with-
out in the HlightoHt degree auoking to din-
turh or einhurrusH the nuiruh of your donieH-
tio politics. I have treated the exiHting
Minintern aH it became me to treat the re-
Hponaihle udviners of the ('rown in this loca-
lity,and I have ghown that deference to their
opponents which is always due to Her
Majesty's loyal Opposition. Nay, further,
I think it must have been obHerved that I
have betrayed no disposition either to create
or to foment in what might be termed,
though most incorrectly, the interest of
Canada, any discord or contrariety of in-
terest between the mainland and the islantl.
Such a mode of procedure would have been
most unworthy, for no true friend of the
Dominion would be capable of any other
object or desire than to give universal satis-
faction to the Province as a whole. A set-
tlement of the pending controversy would
indeeil be most lamely con;:luded if it left
either of the sections into which your com-
munity is geographically divided, unsatis-
fied. Let mo then assure you, on the part
of the Cani^dian Governmment, and on the
part of tiic Canadian people at large, that
there is nothing they desire more -barnestly
or more fervently than to know and feel that
you are one with them in heart, thought,
and feeling. Canada would indeed be dead
to the most self-evident considenitious of
self-interest, and to the first instincts of
national pride, if she did not re^;ard with
Batisfaction her connection with a Province
BO richly endowed by nature, inhabited by a
community so replete with Britisli loyalty
and pluck, while it afforded her tlie means
of extending her confines and the outlets of
her commerce to the wide Pacific, und t« the
countries lieyond. It is true, circumstances
have arisen to create an unfriendly and hos-
tile feeling in your minds againet Canada.
You consider yourselves injured, and you
certainly have been disappointed. Far be it
from me to belittle your grievances, or to
Bpeak slightingly of your complaints. Hap-
pily my independent position relieves me
from the necessity of engaging with you in
any irritating discussion upon the various
points which are in controversy between
this colony and the Dominion Government.
On the contrary, I am ready to make several
admissions. I do not suppose that in any
part of Canada will it be denied, that you
have been subjected both to anxiety and un-
certainty on points which were of vitr^ im-
portance to you. From first to last, . ce
the idea of a Pacific Railway was originated,
things, to use a homely phrase, have gone
' oontrairy' with it, and with overybodv
connected with it, and you, in common with
many other peri^oiiH, have suH'ered in many
ways. liut though happily it is no part of
my duty to pronounce judgment in these
matters, or to approve, or blame, or criti-
cixe the conduct of any one concerned, I
think that I can render both Canada and
British Columbia some service bv speaking
to certain matters of fact which nave taken
place within my own immediate cognizance,
and by thus removing from your mimlB
certain wrong impressions in regard
to those matters of fact which havo ua-
doubtedly taken deep root hero. Now, gen-
tlemen, in discharging this task — I may
almost call it a duty — I am tture my observa-
tions will bo received by those I see around
mo in a candid and loyal Hoirit, and that the
heats and pasaions which have been engen-
dered l)y these unhappy dilTerenccs will not
prove an impediment to a calm consideration
of what I am about to say, more especially
as it will be my endeavour to avoid wountf-
iiig any susceptibilities, or forcing upon your
attention views or opinions which may be
ungrateful to you. Of course, I well under-
stand that the gravamen of the charge
against the Canadian Government is that it
has failed to fulfil its treaty engagements.
These engagements were embodied in a
solemn agreement which was ratitied by the
respective Legislatures of the contracting par-
ties, who were at the time perfectly inde-
pendent of each other, and I admit they thus
acquired all the characteristics of an inter-
national treaty. The terms of that treaty
were (to omit the minor items) that Canada
undertook to secure, within two years from
the date of Union, the simultaneous com-
mencement at either end of a railway which
was to connect the seaboard of British
Columbia with the railway system of the
Dominion, and that such railway should be
completed within ten years from the date of
Union in 1871. We are now in 1876, live
years have elapsed, and the work of con-
struction even at one end can be said to have
only just begun. Undoubtedly, under these
circumstances, every one must allow that
Canada has failed to fulfil her treaty obliga-
tions towards this Province ; but, unfor-
tunately, Canada has been accused not only
of failing to accomplish her undertakings,
but what is a very.differentt thing — a wilful
breacti of faith in having neglected to do so.
Well, let us consider for a moment whether
this very serious assertion is true. What
was the state of things when the bargain was
made ? At that time everything in Canada
was prosperous; her finances were flourishing;
the discovery of the great North-W^est, so to
speak, had inflamed her imagination ; above
78
THE SPEECHES UF THE
1876
all thingit, railway ontrrprine in the United
HtntuH, nixl ^(tiierally on tliiH uontinnnt, wom
bein^ (IvvttloixMl to an iiHtnunilinK oxtunt.
Onu tratiH-i'ontinHntal milway hii<l luien buo-
oennfully cxcouttMl, and Hfvernl iitln!rii on the
lanit) gigantic Bcale were h«inf( projrotiiil ; it
hatlcoino to he connidoKitl that a railway could
be Hung aoroBB tlu) ilocky Moiintaina nn rea-
dily UH aurofls a hay lUdd, and the ob-
■crvationH of those who paHHud from Now
York to San I'VanoiNco did not HuggcHt iiny
extraordinary ohstaules to iindurtakingi of
this deHcription. Unfortunately, one ele-
ment in the calculation waH left entirely out
of account, and th.it waH the comparative
ignorance which prevail('<l in regard to the
mountain rangOH and the mountain pasHeH
which intervened between the Hudson Hay
Compauy's poHHeRsionH and our western
coast. In the United States, for years and
yeivrs, troops of emigrants had passed west-
ward to Salt Lake Oity, to Sacramento, and
tothe(iolden Gate ; every track and trail
through the mountains was wayworn and
well known ; the location of a line in that
neighbourhood was predetermined by the
experience of persons already well acquaint-
ed with the locality. But in our case the
trans-continental passes were sparse and un-
fvequented, and from an engineering point
of view may be said to have been ab-
solutely unknown. It was under these cir-
cumstances that Canada undertook to com-
mence her Pacific Railway in two yearo, and
to iiniah it in ten. In doing this she un-
doubtedly pledged herself to that which was
a physical impossibility, for the moment the
engineers peered over the Rocky Mountains
into your Province they saw at once that
before any one passage through the devious
range before them could be pronounced the
best, an amount of preliminary surveying
would have to be undertaken which it would
require several years to complete. Now,
there is a legal motto which says, ' Nemo
tenatur ad, impo'sibile;' and Iwould submit
to you that under the circumstances 1 have
mentioned, however gieat the default of
Canada, she neod not necessarily have been
guilty of any wilful breach of faith. I my-
self am quite convinced that when Canada
ratified this bargain with you she acted in
perfect good faith, and fully believed that
she would accomplish her promise, if not
within ten years, at all events within such a
sufficiently reasonable period as would satisfy
your requirements. The mistake she made
was in being too sanguine in her calculations;
but remember, a portion of the blame for-
concluding a bargain impossible of accomf
plishment caonot be confined to one only of
the parties to it. The mountains which
have proved our stumbling block were your
own mountains and in your own territory*
and howev«r deeply an impartial obHorver
might nynipathi/e with you in the niisear-
riageof the two time torma of the i!ompaot,
one of which namely, as the communce*
ment of the line in two years from 1H7I —
has failed, and the others of which -namely
its completion in ten— nmst fail, it is impos-
sible to forgot that yourselves are by no
means without responsibility for such a
result. It is (piito true, in what I nmst
ailmit to be a most generous spirit, you in>
timated in various ways that you dul not
desire to hold Canatla too stri(;tly to the
letter of her enagements as to time. Your
expectations in this respect were stated by
your late Lieutenant-flovernor, Mr. Trutoh,
very fairly and explicitly, though a very
unfair use has been made of h<8 words ; and
I have no doubt that if un' reseen circum-
stances had not intervened you would have
exhibited as much patience as could have
been expected of you. But a serious crisis
BUj)ervened in the political career of C'anada.
Sir John Macdonald resigned office, and Mr.
Mackenzie acceded to power, and to all
tiie responsibilities incurred by Canada in
respect to you and your Province. Now it
is asserted, and I imagine with truth, that
Mr. Mackenzie and his political friends had
always been opposed to many portions of
Canada's bargain with British Columbia.
It therefore came to be considered in this
Province that the new Government was an
enemy to the Pacific Railway. But 1 be-
lieve this to have been, and to be, a com-
plete misapprehension. I believe the Pacific
Railway has no better friend in Canada than
Mr. Mackenzie, and that he was only
opposed to the time terms in the bargain,
because he believed them impossible of ac-
complishment, and that a conscientious en-
deavour to fulfiil them would unnecessarily
and ruinously increase the financial expendi-
ture of the country, and in both these opi-
nions Mr, Mackenzie was undoubtedly right.
With the experience we now possess — and of
course it is easy to be wise after the event —
no one would dream of saying that the
railway could have been surveyed, located,
and built within the period named, or that
any company who might undertake to build
the line within that period would not have
required double and treble the bonus that
would have been suflficient had its construc-
tion been arranged for at a more leisurely
rate ; but surely it would be both ungene-
rous and unreasonable for BritishColumbia to
entertain any hostile feelings towards Mr.
Mackenzie on this account, nor is he to be
blamed, in my opinion, if on entering office
in so unexpected a manner he took time to
consider the course which he would pursue
1876
SAUL OF DUFFdiUN.
70
in reKard to hii tno<le of (lealinK with a
(|ii«iition of auch enormnuii importaiiou. His
noHition wait uniloubtudly a v«>ry uiiiWarraiia-
ing one. His (ioveriimont hiul iiihtiritud
reapoiiHihiIiti«s which he ktuiw, and wliich
thu <;ountry had uomo t<» kiuiw, uould not h«t
dimiharuud. Already Hritinh Cohiinliia had
ooininniiuod to cry out monfor tho fuliiitiMtiit
of thu har^aiti, and that at the very time that
Canada had comu to thu conclusion that thu
ruliiXAtion of nomo of itB conditionH wan
neouHHary. Out of such a condition ofaf^'uirH
it was almoHt impoHsihlu but that thf
■houhl arise in thu hrnt {)hi(;u dulay -for h
ohan^uH of (tovernment nuceeHarily check tliu
urogruHH of public huHinuHa — and in the nuxt,
friction, cont overay, coUiaion between tho
Province an<l thu I)oininion. Ilapnily it ia
not neceaaury that 1 ahouhl follow tiiucoiirac
of that quarrel, or diaouaa the varioua pointa
that were then contuatud. You cannot ex-
pect me to make any admiaainn in rcapect
to the course my Miniaters may have
thought it right to ])ur8ue, nor would it be
graciouB upon my part to criticise the action
of your Province during thia painful period.
Out of the altercation which then ensued
there issued, under the auspices of Lord
Carnurvon, a settlement, and when an agree-
ment has been arrived at, the sooner the
incidents connected with the conflict which
preceded it are forgotten the better. Huru,
then, we have arrived at a new era ; the
former lachfn of Canada, if any such there
had been, are condoned, and tho two time
terms of the treaty are relaxed on the one
part, while on tho other certain specific
obligations were superadded to the main
article in the original bargain ; that is to
say — again omitting minor items — the Pro-
vince agreed to the Pacitic Railway being
completed in sixteen years from 1874, and
to its being begun ' as soon as the surveys
shall have been completed,' instead of at a
fixed date, while the Dominion Government
undertook to construct at once a railway
fro'm Esquimalt to Nanaimo, to hurry for-
ward the ourveys with the utmost possible
despatch, and as soon as construction should
have begun, to spend two millions a year in
the prosecution of the work. I find that
in this part of the world these arrange-
ments have come to be known as the ' Car-
narvon terms. ' It is a very convenient
designation, and I am quite content to
adopt it on one condition, namely, that
Lord Carnarvon is not to be saddled with
any original responsibility in regard to
any of these terms but one.
The main body of the terms are'Mr. Mac-
kenzie's — that is to say, Mr. Mackenzie prof-
fered the Nanaimo and Esquimalt Railway,
the telegraph line, the waggon road, and the
annual expenditure. AH that liord
narvon di<l was to auggeat
the propt»aed expenditure
Car.
that
ahould be
two millions instead of one and a half mil-
lion, antl that a time limit ahould bu added.
lUit, as you are well aware, this last coo*
ditinn waH nucusaarily implied in the pro-
ceeding one relating to thu annual expendi<
ture- for, once oommitted to that expendi-
ture, CanaMa in self-di fence would be
obliged to hiiaten the completion of thu line
in ordur to rentier [reproductive tho capital
she sank. It is tnereff>ru but, juat to Lord
Carn.irvon that he ahould bu abaolvud from
thu ruaponaibility of having been in any way
tho inventor of what aru known as thu '(Car-
narvon terms. ' Lord Carnarvon merely did
what uvury arbitrator would do under the
circuinatancea ; he found the partira already
agreed in respect to the principal items of
the bargain, and was consequently relieved
from pronouncing on their nitritisic merits,
and proceeded at once to suggest thu further
concession which would Le necessary to
bring the Province into final accord with
her opponent. In pursuance of this agree-
ment tlie Canadian^Covernment organized a
series of survuyitig parties upon a most ex-
tensive and coHtly scale. In fact, dnring the
last two years two millions of money alone
have been expended upon these operations.
The chief engineer himself has told me that
Mr. Mackenzie had given him carte hlanche
in the matter, so anxious was he to have the
route determined without delay, and that
the mountains were already as full of as
many thcudolites and surveyors as they could
hold. I am aware it is asserted — indeed, as
much ha£ been said to me since I came here —
that these surveys were multiplied in order
to furnish an excuse for further delays.
Well, that is rather a hard saying. But
upon this point I can speak fronr. my own
personal knowledge, and I am sure that
what I say on this head will be acct pted a»
the absolute truth. During the who'e of the
period under review I was in const jint per-
sonal communication with Mr. Flerning, and
was kept acquainted by that gentleman
with everything that was being done. I
knew the position of every surveying party
in the area under examination. Now, Mr.
Fleming is a gentleman in wfiose integrity
and in whose professional ability every one *T
address has the most perfect confidence.
Mr. Fleming, of course, was the responsible
engineer who planned those surveys and de-
termined the lines along which they were to
be carried, and over and over again Mr. Flem-
ing has explained to me how unexpected
were the difficulties he had to encounter;
how repeatedly, after following hopefully a.
particular route, his engineers found them-
fi
80
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1876
selves stopper^ by an impassable wall of
mountain which blocked the way; and how
trail after trail had tn be examined and
abandoned beforehehad hit on anything like
a practicable route. Even oow,aiter all that
has been done, a glance ?at the map will show
you how devious and erratic is the line
which appears to afford the only tolerable
exit from the labyrinthine ranges of the
Cascades. Notwithstanding, therefore,
what has been bruited abroad in the sense
to which I have alluded, I am sure it will be
adrritted — njiy,! knnwit is admitted — thatas
faras the prosecutionof the surveys is concern-
ed Canada has used diligence — yes, more
than diligence — in her desire to comply
with that section of the Carnarvon terms
relating to this particular. You must
remember that it is a matter of the greatest
moment, involving the success of the entire
scheme, and calculated permanently to afTect
the future destiny of the people of Canada,
that a right decision should be arrived at in
regard to the location of the Western por-
tion of the line; and a, Minister would be a
traitor to a most sacred trust if he allowed
himself to be teased, intimidated, or cajoled
into any precipitate decision on such a mo-
mentous point until every possible route had
been duly examined. When I left Ottawa
the engineers seemed disponed to report that
our ultimate choice would lie betjveen one of
two routes, both starting from Fort Oeorge
— namely, that which leads to the hea<l of
Dean's Canal, and that which terminates in
Bute Inlet. Of these two, the line to Dean's
Canal was the shortest by some 40 miles,
and was considerably the cheaper by reason
of its easier grades ; the ultimate exit of this
channel to the sea was also more direct than
the tortuous navigation out of Bute Inlet; but
Mr. Mackenzie added — though you must not
takOjWha^ I am now going to say as a defi-
nite conclusion on his part, or an authorita-
tive communication upon mine — that provid-
ed the difference in expense was not so great
as to forbid it, he would desire to adopt what
might be the less advantageous route from
the Dominion point of view, in order to fol-
low that line which would most aptly meet
the requirements of the Province. Without
pronouncing an opinion on the qaerits of
either of the routes, which it is no part of
my business to do, I may venture to say that
in this principle I think Mr. Mackenzie is
right, and that it \ycald be wise and gene-
rous of Canada to coasult the local interests
of British Columbia by bringing the line and
its terminus within reach of existing settle-
ments if it can be done without any undtie
sacrifice of public money. .. rom a recent
article in the Globe it would seem as though
•the Bute Jalet line had finally found favour
with the Government, though I myself have
no information on the point ; and I am
happy to see from the statistics furnished by
that journal, that not only has the entire line
to ihe Pacific been at last surveyed, located,
graded, and its profile taken, but that the
calculated cpenses of construction, though
very great, and to be incurred only after
careful consideration, are far less than were
anticipated. Well, gentlemen, should the
indications we have received of the inten-
tions of the Government prove correct, you
are very much to be congratulated, for I am
well aware that the line to Bute Inlet is the
one which you have always favoured, and I
should hope that now at least you will be
satisfied that the Canadian (Government has
strained every nerve, as it undertook to do,
to fulfil to the letter its first and principal
obligation under the Carnarvon terms, by
prosecuting with the utmost despatch the
surveys of the line to the Pacific coast. I
only wish that Waddington Harbour, at the
head of the Inlet, was a better port. I confess
to having but a very poor oponion of it, and
certainly the acquaintance I have made with
Seymour Narrows and the intervening chan-
nel which will have to be bridged or ferried
did not seem to me to be very favourable to
either operation. Well, then, we now come
to the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Eailway. I
am well aware of the extraordinary impor-
tance you attach to this work, and of course
I am jjerfectly ready ^ admit that its im-
mediate execution was promised to you in
the most definite and absolute manner under
Lord Carnarvon's arbitration. I am not,
thjrefore, surprised at the irritation and
excitement occasioned in this city by the
non-fulfilment of this item in the agree-
ment — nay, I wish to go further ; I think it
extremely natural that the miscarriage of
this part of the bargain should have been
provocative of very strenuous language and
deeply embittered feelings ; nor am I sur-
prised that, as is almost certain to follow on
such occasions, you should, in your vexation,
put a very injurious construction on the
conduct of those who had undertaken to
realize your hopes. But still I know that I
am addressing high-minded and rea-
sonable men, and moreover that
you are perfectly convinced that I would
sooner cut my right hand off than utter a
single word that I do not know to be an
absolute truth. Two years have passed
since Ihe Canadian Government undertook
to commence the "'>nstruction of the Esqui-
malt and Nanaimo Railway, and the Na-
naimo Railway is not even commenced, and
what is more, there doed not at present seem
the remotest prospect of its being com-
menced. What then is the history of the
1876
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
18
beea
,^e and
I sur-
low on
xation,
on the
iken to
that 1
rea-
that
would
utter a
be an
passed
lertook
Eaqui-
■He Na-
d, and
at seem
com-
of the
''•vse, and who is answerable for your dig-
uppoiutinent ? I know you consider Mr.
Mackf)n/io. I am not here to defend Mr.
Mackenzie, his policy, his proceedings, or his
utterances. I hope this will be clearly un-
derstood. In anything I have hitherto said
I have done nothing of this sort, nor do I
intend to do so. I have merely stated to
you certain matters with which I thought it
well " >'' you to be acquainted, jccause they
have i^een misapprehended; and what I now
tell you are also matters of fact within my
own cognizance, and which have no relation
to Mr. Mackenzie as the heal of a political
party, and I tell them to y( u not ouly in
your own interest, but in the interest of
public morality and English honour. In ac-
cordance with his engagements to you in re-
lation to the Nanaimo and Ksquimalt Rail-
way, M'. Mackenzie introduced so soon as
it was possible a iiill into the Canadian
House of Commons, the clauses of which
•were admitted by your representatives in
Parliament fully to discharge his obligations
to yourselves and to Lord Carnarvon in res-
pect of that undertaking, and carried it
through the Lower House by a large ma-
jority. I have reason to think that many of
his supporters voted for the Bill with very
great misgivings both as to the policy of the
measure and the intrinsic merits of the rail-
way ; but their leader hal pledged himself
to exercise his parliamentary influence to
pass it, and they very properly carried it
through for him. It went up to the Senate,
and was thrown out by that body by a
majority of two. Well, I have learut with
regret that there is a very widespread con-
viction in this community that Mr. Mac-
kenzie had surreptitiously procured the de-
feat of his ewn measure in the Upper House.
Had Mr. Mackenzie dealt so treacherously
by Lord Carnarvon, by {he renresentative of
his Sovereign in this countrj, or by you, he
woidd have been guilty of a most atroc^us
act, of which I trust no public man in Can-
ada or in any other British colony could be
capable. I tell you in the most emphatic
terms, and I pledge my own honour on the
point, that Mr. Mackp^zie was not guilty of
any such base and deceitful conduct. Had I
thought him guiity of it, either he would
have ceased to be Prime Minister, or I should
have left the country. But the very cjn-
trary was the fact. While these events
were passing I was in constant personal com-
mUi.ication with Mr. Mackenzie. I natu-
rally wptched the progress of the Bill with
the greatest anxiety, because I was aware of
the eagerness with which the Act was de-
sired in Victoria, i nd because I had long felt
the deepest sym^ hy with you in the suc-
cession of disappointments to which, bj the
force of circumstance8,you had been exposed*
Wlien the Bill had passed the House of Com-
mons by a large majority, witli the assent
of the leader of the Opposition, in common
with every one else, I concluded it was safe,
and the adverse vote of the Senate took me
as much by sur])riae as it did you and the
rest of the world. I saw Mr. Mackenzie the
next day, and I have seldom seen a man
more annoyed or disconcerted than he was ;
indeed, he was driven at that interview to
protest with more warmth than he has ever
used against the decision of the English
Government, which had refused, on tiie opi»
nion of the law olhcersof the Crown, to allow
him to a^ld to the members of the Senate
after Prince Edw.ard Island had entered Con-
federation. 'Had I been permitted,' he
saiil to me, ' to have exercised iny rights in
that respect this would not have happened ;
but how can these mischances be prevented
in a body, the majority of which, having
been nominated by my political opponent,
is naturally hostile to me V Now, gentle-
men, your acquaintance with Parliamentary
Government must tell you that this last ob-
eervation of Mr. Mackenzie's was a perfectly
just one. But my attention has been drawn
to the fact that two of Mr. Mackenzie's party
supported his Conservative opponents in th«
rejection ot the Bill ; but surely you do not
imagine that a Prime Minister can deal with
his supporters in the Senate as if they were
a regiment of soldiers. In the House of
Commons he has a better chance of main-
taining party discipline, for the constituen-
cies are very apt to resent any insubordina-
tion on the part of their members towards
the leader of their choice. But a Senator is
equally independent of the Crown, the
Minister, or the people; and as in the House
of Lords at home, so in the Second Chamber
in Canada, gentlemen will run from time to
time on the wrong side of the post. But it
has been observed — granting that the two
members in question did not vote as they
did at Mr. Mackenzie's instigation — he has
exhibited his perfidy in not sending in his
resignation as soon as the Senate had pro-
nounced against the Bill. Now, gentlemen,
you cannot expect me to discuss Mr. Mac-
kenzie's conduct in that respect ; it would
be very improper for me to do so ; but
though I cannot discuss Mr. Mackenzie's
conduct, I am perfectly at liberty to tell
you^what I myself should have done had
Mr. Mackenzie tendered to me hia resigna-
tion. I should have cold him that in my
opinion such a course was quite unjustifiable,
that as the House of Commons was then
constituted I saw no prospect of the Queen's
Government being advantageously carri d on
except under his leadership; and that were %
!'»::«
M:> II
nK
I 'I*
82
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1876
to resign at that time the greatest inuonve-
nience and detriment would enHue to the pub-
lic Hervicc. That is what I shouhl have said
to Mr. Mackenzie in the event contemplated,
and I have no <louh1 that the Parliament
and tiie people of Canada would have con-
firmed my decision. But it has been fur-
thermore urged that Mr. Mackenzie ought
to have reintroduced the liill. Well, that is
agaiu a point 1 cannot discuss ; but 1 may
tell you this, that if Mr. Mackenzie had doiio
soj I very much doubt that he would
have succeeded in carrying it a second
time even in the House of Commons. 'J'he
fact is that Canada at large, whether rightly
or wrongly I do not say, has unmistakably
shown its approval of the vote in the Senate.
An opinion has come to prevail from one end
of the Dominion to the other— an opinion
which I find is acquiesced in by a consider-
able proportion of the inhabitants of British
Columl)ia — that the Nanaimo and Estiuimalt
Railway cannot stand upon its own merits,
and that its construction as a Government
enterprise would be, at all events at
present, a useless expenditure of the
public mon«iy. Now, again, let me
assure you that I am not presuming to c(jnvey
to you any opinion of i^y own on this much
contested point. Even did I entertain any
misgivings uu the subject, it would be very
ungracious for me to parade them in your
presence, ami on such an occasion. I am
merely communicating to you my conjecture
why it is that Mr. Mackenzie has shown no
signs of his intention to reintroduce the Na-
naimo and Esquimalt Railway l>ill into
Parliament — viz., because he knew he had no
chance of getting it passed. Well, then,
gentlemen, of whom and what have you to
complain? Well, you have every right from
your point of view to complain of the Cana-
dian Senate. You have a right to say that
after the Covernment of tie day had pro-
mised that a measure upon which a majority
of the inhabitants of an important Province
had set theii' hearts, should be passed, it was
ill-advised and unhandsome of that body not
to confirm the natural expectation which
had been thus engendered ip your breasts,
especially when that work was itself offered
as a solatium to you for a previous injury. I
fully admit that it is a very grave step for
either House of the Legielature, and particu-
larly for that which is not the popular
branch, to disavow any agreement into which
the Executive may have entered, except
under a very absolute sense of prblic duty.
Mind, I am not saying that this is not such
a case ; but I say that you have got a per-
iect right, from your own point of view, not
«o to regard it. But, gentlemen, that is all.
You have got no right to go beyond tha'^i.
You have got no right to describe yourselves
as a second time the victims of a broken
agreement. Ah I have shown you, the per-
sons who had entered into an engagement in
regard to this railway with you and Lord
Carnarvon bad doiu; their very best to dis-
charge their obligation. But the Senate,
who counteractcfl th»'ir intention, had given
no preliminary promises whatever, either to
you or to the Secretary of State. They re-
jected the Bill in the legitimate exercise of
their constitutional functions ; and there is
nothing more to be said on this head, so far
as that body is concerned, either by you or
Lord Carnarvon, for I need not assure you
that there is not the slightest chance that
any Secretary of State in Downiug-street
would attempt anything so unconstitutional
• — ^so likely to kindle a llame throughout the
whole Dominion — as to coerce the free legis-
lative action of her Legislature. But there
is one thinf^ I admit the Senate has done, it
has revivjd in their integrity those original
treaty obligations on the strength of which
you were induced to enter Confederation,
and it has reimposed upon Mr. Mackenzie
and his (iovernment the obligation of offer-
ing you an equivalent for that stipulation in
the Carnarvon terms which he has not been
aide to make good. Now, from the very
strong language wliich has been used in re-
gard to the conduct of Mr. Mackenzie, a
bystander would be led to imagine that as
soon as his llailway Bill had miscarried, he
cynically refused to take any further action
in the matter. Had my (jlov^rnment dene
so tlipy would have exposed themselves to
the severest reprehension, and such conduct
would have been Doth faithless to you and
disrespectful to Lord Carnarvon ; but so far
from having acted in this manner, Mr. Mac-
kenzie has offered. you a very considerable
grant of money in consideration of your dis-
appointment. Now, here again I will not
touch u]jon the irritating controversies which
have circled round this particular step in
these transactions. I am well aware that
you consider this offer to have been made
under conditions of which you have reason
to complain. If this has been the case it is
most unfortunate, but still, whatever may
have been the sinister incidents connected
with the past, the one solid fact remains
that the Canadian Government has offered
you $7oO,000 in lieu of the railway. This
sum has been repreeented to me as totally
inadeqr ;i,ue, and as very far short of an
equivalent. It may be so, or it may i^ot be.
Neither upon that point will I offer an opi-
nion, but still I may mention to you the prin-
ciple upon whioh the sum has been arrived
at. Under the Nanaimo and Esquimalt
Railway Bill, whose rejection by the Senate
whi(
terei-
th<!u
idea
the
or ot
Ever
atth
Atei
press
lions
to bo
are
■be' a
1876
1876
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
88
elves
■oken
per-
mt in
Lord
) dis-
3uate,
f^ivea
her to
ay re-
vise of
iiere ia
so far
you or
ro you
e that
[-street
iitioual
)ut the
i legis-
t there
lone, it
)riginal
f which
eration,
kckeiizie
of offer-
ation in
lot been
he very
fid in re-
Ltnzie, a
that as
ried, he
ir action
nt dene
selves to
conduct
you and
it ao far
Ir. Mac-
jiderable
your dis-
wiJl not
les which
step in
are that
!cn made
/e reason
ase it is
ver may
onnected
remains
ofl'ered
This
totally
of an
y uot be.
an opi-
the prin-
1 arrived
Isfjuimalt
le Senate
y-
we have been considering, (>anada was to
contribute a bonus of $10,0(X) a mile. The
total distance of the line is about 70 miles
consequently the .f750,0()0 is nothing more
nor less than this very bonus converted into
a lump sum. Now, since I have come here
it has been represented to me by, the friends
of the ; ailway that it is a line which is cajta-
ble of standing on its own merits, and that a
comi)any had l)een almost induced to take
it up some time ago as an unsubsidized enter-
prise. N'ly, only yesterday the local paper,
which is the most strenuous champion for
the line, asserted that it could be built for
$2, ()()(),()()() ; that the lands— which with the
.$700,000 were to be replaced by Mr. Mac-
kenzie at your disposal — were worth several
millions more, and that the railway itself
would prove a most paying concern. If this
is so — and what better authority <!an 1 refer
to — is it not obvious that the bonus proposal
of the Dominion Uovernment assumes at
least the semblance of a fair offer ; and even
if you did not consider it absolutely up to
the mark, it should not have been deuounceil
in the very stronj/ language which has been
used. However, I do not wish to discuss
the point whether the i$V.'50,0()0 was a siiUicient
oiler or not. All that I would venture to
submit is that Mr. Mackenzie, having been
thwarted in his bona fulc endeavour to fulfil
his special item in the Carnarvon terms, has
adopted the only course left to him in pro-
posing to discharge his oldigations by a
money pjyment. I confess I should have
thought this would be the most natural solu-
tion of the problem, and that the payment
of a sum of money equivalent to the measure
of Mr. Mackenzie's original obligation, to be
expended under whatever conditions wouM
be most immediately advantageous to the
Province, and ultimately beneficial to the
Dominion, would not have been an unnatural
remedy for the misadventure which has stul-
tified this special stipulation in regard to the
Nanaimo and Esquimalt ilailway ; but, of
course, of these matters you yourselves are
the best judges, and I certainly have not the
slightest desire to suggest to you any course
which you may think contrary to your in-
terests. My only object in touching upon
them at all is to (lisabuse your minds of the
idea that there has been any intention upon
the part of Mr. Macken:.ie, his (Jovernment,
or of Canada, to break their faith with you.
Every single item of the Carnarvon terms is
at this moment in the course of fuldlment.
At enormouei expense the surveys have been
pressed forward to completion ; the fifty mil-
lions of land and the thirty millions of money
to be provided for by Canada under the Bill
are ready ; the profiles of , the main line have
hQ' a taken out, and the most elaborate in-
forntatiou has been sent over to Europe in re-
gard to every section of the country through
which it passos; several thousand miles of
the stipulated telegraph have been laiddown;
and now that the westerm terminus seems to
hav3 been determined — though upon this
point I have myat-lf no information —
tenders I imagine will be called for almost
immediately. Whatever further steps may
be necessary to tloat the undertaking as a
commercial enterprise will be adopted, and
the promised waggon road will necessarily
follow pari pcMu witii construction. Well,'
then, gentlemen, how will you stand under
these circumstances ? You will have got
your line to Bute Inlet. Now I will com-
municate to you a conclusion I have arrived
at from my visit to that locality. If the
Pacilic Ilailway once comes to Bute Inlet it
cannot stop there. It may pause there for a
considerable time, until Caradian trans-
pacific traflic with Aus-tralia, China and
.Japan shall have begunjto expand ; but sueh
a traflic once set going, Waddington
Harbour will no longer serve as a terminal
port — in fact it is no harbour at all, and
scarcely an ancho-ago — the railway must be
])rolonged, under thesd circumstances, to
Esquiuialt— tliat is to say, if the deliberate
opinion of the engineers should pronounce
tlie operation feasilde, and Canada shall in
tlij meantime have ac([uired the additional
financial stability which would justify her
undertaking what, under any circumstances,
nmst prove one of the most gigantic achieve-
ments the world has ever witnessed. In
that case, of course, the Nanaimo Railway
springs into existence of its own accord, and
you will then be in possession both of your
money compensation and of the thing for
which it was paid, and with this result I do
not think you should be ill satisfied. But
should the contrary be the case, the prospect '
is indeed a gloomy one ; should hasty coun-
sels and the exhibition of an impracticable
spirit throw these arrangements into con-
fusion, interrupt or change our present
railway programme, and necessitate any re-
arrangement of your political relations, I
fear Victoria would be the chief sufferer, I
scarce y like to allude to such a contingency,
nor, gentleruen, are my observations directed
immeiliately to you ; for I kuow very well
that neither do those whom I am addressing,
nor do the great majority of the inhabitants
of Vancoaver Island or of Victoria, partici-
pate in the views to \yhich I am about to
refei ; but still a cjjrtain number of your
fellow- citizens — gentlemen with whom I have
had a great deal of ple&,s»nt and interesting
conversation, ^nd who have shown to me
personally the greatest kindness and courtesy
— have sought to impress me with the beiief
84
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1876:
!'
that if the Legislature of Canada \a not com-
pelled hy some means or other, which, how-
ever, they do not specify, to make forthwith
these 70 miles of railway, they will be strong
enough, in the face of Mr. Mackenzie's offer
of a money e^juivalent, to take British Co-
lumbia out of the Confederation. Well, they
certainly will not be able to do that. I am
now in a position to judge for myself as
to what are the real sentiments of the com-
munity. I will even presume to say that I
know immeasurably more about it
then these gentleuieu themselves. When
once the main line of the Pacific Rail-
way is under weigh, the whole population of
the mainland would-be perfectly contented
with the present situation of affairs, and will
never dream of detaching their fortunes from
those of Her Majesty's great Dominion. Nay,
I do not believe that these gentlemen would
be able to persuade their fellow-citizens even
of the Island of "Vancouver to so violent a
course. But granting for the moment that
their influence should prevail, what would
be the result ? British Columbia would still
be part and parcel of Canada. The great
work of Confederation would not be per-
ceptibly affected. Bnt the proposed line
of the Pacific Railway might possibly be
deflected south. New Westminister would
certainly become the capital of the Province;
the Dominion would naturally use its best
endeavours to build it up into a flourishing
and prosperous city. It would be the seat
of Government and the home of justice, as
well as the chief social centre of the Pacific
coast. Burrard Inlet would become a great
commercial port, and the miners of Cariboo,
with their stores of gold dust, would spend
their festive and open-handed winters there.
Great Britain would of course retain Esqui-
malt as a naval station on this coast as she
•bas retained Halifax as a naval station on
the other, and inasmuch as a constituency of
some 1,500 persons would not be able to
supply the material for a Parliamentary Gov-
ernment, Vancouver and its inhabitants, who
are now influential by reason of their intelli-
gence rather than their numbers, would be
ruled as Jamaica, Malta. Gibraltar, Heligo-
land and Ascencion are ruled, through the
instrumentality of some naval or other
ofl&cer. Nanaimo would become the
principal town of the island, and
Victoria would lapse for many a long year
into the condition of a village, until the
development of your coal fields and the
growth of a healthier sentiment had prepared
the way for its re-iucnrporation with the
rest of the Province ; at least, that is the
horoscope I should draw for it in the contin-
cency contemplated by these gentlemen.
But Ged forbid that any such prophecy
should be realized ! I believe the gentlemen
I have referred to are the very last who
would desire to see the fulfilment of their
menaces, and I hope they will forgive mo
if I am not intimidated by their formidable
representations. When some pertinacious
philosopher insisted on assailing the late
King of the Belgians with a rhapsody on the
beauties of a Republican Government, Hia
Majesty replied : ' You forget, sir, I am a
Royalist, by profession.' Well a Governor-
General is a Federalist by profession, and
you might as well expect the Sultan of
Turkey to throw up his cap for the Com-
mune as the Viceroy of Canada to entertain
a suggestion for the disintegration of the
Dominion. I hope, therefore, they will not
bear me any ill-will for having declined to
bow my head beneath their ' Separation *
arch. It was a very good-humoured, and
certainly not a disloyal, bit of ' bounce *■
which they had prepared for me. I suppose
they wished me to know they were the
' arch ' enemies of Canada. Well, I have
made them an arch reply. But, gentlemen,
of course I am not serious in discussing such
a contingency as that to which I have referred.
Your numerical weakness as a community is
j'our real strength, for it is a consideration
which appeals to every generous heart. Far
be the day when on any acre of soil above
which floats the flag of England mere ma-
terial power, brute political preponderance,
should be permitted to decide such a contro-
versy as that which we are discussing. It is
to men like yourselves, who, with unquailing
fortitude and heroic energy, have planted
the laws and liberties, and the blessed in-
fluence of English homes amidst the''wiP.8
and rocks and desert plains of savage bands,
that England owes the enhancement of her
prestige, the diffusion of her tongue, the in-
crease of her commerce and her ever-widen-
ing renown, and woe betide the Government
or the statesman who, because its inhabitants
are few in number and politically of small
account, should disregard the wishes or care-
lessly dismiss the representations, however
bluff, boisterous, or downright, of the
feeblest of our distant colonies. No, gentle-
men, neither England nor Canada would be
content or happy in any settlement that was
not arrived at with your own hearty approval
and consent, and equally satisfuo*ory to
every section of your Province ; but v» e
appeal to moderation and practical good
sense to assist us in resolving the present
difficulty. The genius of the English race
has ever been too robust and sensible to
admit the existence of an irreconcilable
element in its midst. It is only among
weak and hysierical populations that such a
growth cptt flourish. However hard the
.'TTl
1876
EARL OP DUFFERIN.
•5
jssed in-
le'ViPva
e bands,
t of her
, the in-
r-wideu-
eriiment
abitants
of small
or care-
lowever
of the
), gentle-
would be
that was
approval
o'^ory to
but v»e
lical good
present
'lish race
nsible to
:oncilable
y among
at such a
bard the
blows given and taken during the contest,
Britishers always Hnd a means of making up
the quarrel, and such I trust will be the
•case on the present occasion. My functions
as a constitutional ruler are simply to super-
intend tho working of the political machine,
but not to intermeddle with its action. I
trust that I have observed that rule on the
present occasion, and tha£ although I have
addresstd you at considerable length,} have
not said a word which it has not been strict-
ly within my province to say, or have in-
truded on those domains which are reserved
for the action of my r^'sponsible advisers.
As I warned you would be the case, I have
made no announcement, I have made no
promise, I have hazarded no opinion upon
any of tlae administrative questions now oc-
cupying the joint attention of yourselves and
the Dominion. I have only endeavoured to
correct some misapprehensions by which you
have been possessed in regard to matters of
historical fact, and I have testified to the
kind feeling entertained for you by your
fellow-subjects in Canada, and to the ilesire
of my (Government for the re-establishment
of the friendliest and kindliest relations
between you and themselves, and I trust
that I may carry away with me the convic-
tion that from henceforth a less angry and
irritated feeling towards Canada will have
been inaugurated than has hitherto subsist-
ed. Of my own earnest desire to do every-
thing I can, and to Torward your views so
far as they may be founded in justice and
reason, I need not speak. My presence
here, and the way in which I have spent my
time, will have convinced you of what has
been the object nearest my heart. I can-
not say how glad I am to have come, or how
much I have profited by my visit, and I as-
sure you none of the representations with
which I have been favoured will escape my
memory or fail to be duly submitted in the
proper quarter. And now, gentlemen, I
must bid you good-bye, but before doing so
there is one othei topic upon which I am
desirous of touching. From my first arrival
in Canada I have been very much preoc-
cupied with the condition of the Indian
population in this Province. You must re-
member that the Indian population are not
represented in Parliament, and, con8e<iueut-
ly, that the Governor-General is bound to
watch over their welfare with especial
solicitude. Now, we must all admit that the
condition of the Indian question in British
Columbia is not satisfa tory. Most unfortu-
nately, as I think, there has been an initial
error ever since Sir James Douglass quitted
office, in the Government of British Colum-
bia neglecting to recognize what is known as
he Indian title. In Canada this has always
been done : no Government, whether Pro-
vincial or Central, has failed to acknowledge
that the original title to the land existed in
the Indian tribes and communities that
hunted or wandered over them. Before we
touch an acre we make a treaty with the
chiefs representing the l)ands we are dealing
with, and having agreed upon and paid the
stipulated price, oftentimes arrived at after
a great deal of haggling and difficulty, we
enter into possession, but not until then do we
consider that we are entitled to deal with an
acre. The result has been that in Canada
our Indians are contented; well affected to
the white man, and amenable to the laws
and Government. At this very moment the
Lieut. -Governor of Manitoba has gone on a
distant expedition in order to make a treaty
witii the tribes to tho northward of the
Saskatchewan. Last year he made two
treaties with the Crees and Chippeways,
next year it has been arranged that he
should make a treaty witli the Blackfeet,
and when this is done the British Crown
will have acquired a title to every acre that
lies between Lake Superior and the top of
the Rocky Mountains. But in ^British
Columbia — except in a few places where,
under the jurisdicticm of the Hudson Bay
Company or under the auspices of Sir James
Douglass, a similar practice has been adopt-
ed — the Provincial Government has always
assumed that the fee simple in as well as
the sovereignty over the land resided in the
Queen. Acting upon this principle they
have granted extensive grazing leases,
and otherwise so dealt with various sections
of the country as greatly to restrict or inter-
fere with the prescriptive rights of the
Queen's Indian subjects. As a consequence,
there has come to exist an unsatisfactory
feeling amongst the Indian population. In-
timations of this reached me at Ottawa two -
or three years ago, and since I have come in-
to the Province my misgivings on the biibject
have been confirmed. Now, I consider that
our Indian fellow-subjects are entitled to
exactly the same civil rights under the law
aa are possessed by the white population, and
that if an Indian can prove a prescriptive
right of way to a fishing station, or a right
of any other kind, that that right should no
more l^e ignored than if it was the case of a
white man. I am well aware that among the
coast Indians the land (question does not
present the same characteristics as in othor
parts of Canada, or as it does in the grass
countries of the interior of this . P. o .'ince ;
but I have also been able to understand that
in these latter districts it may be even more
nee ssary to deal justly and liberally with
the Indian in regard to his land rights than
on the prairies of the North- West. I am
86
fTHE SPEECHES OP THE
1876
very happy that the British Columbian
Government should have recognized the
necessity of assisting the Dominion (iovern-
ment in ameliorating the present condition
of affairs in this respect, and that it has
agreed to the creation of a joint Commission
for the purpose of putting the interests of
the Indian population on a more satisfactory
footing. Of course, in what I have said I
do not mean that in our desire to be humane
and to act justly we should do anything
unreasonable or Quix tic, or that rights
already acquired by white men should be
inconsiderately invaded or recalled ; but I
would venture to put the Government of
British Columbia on its guard against the
fatal eventualities which might arise should
a sense of injustice provoke the Indian po-
pulation to violence or into a collision with
our scattered settlers. Probably there has
gone forth amongst them very incorrect and
exaggerated information of the warlike
achievements of their brethren in Dakotah,
and their uneducated minds are incapable
of calculating chancds. Of course, there is
no danger of any serious or permanent re-
volt, but it must be remembered that even
an accidental collision in which blood was
shed might have a most disastrous effect
upon our present satisfactory relations with
the warlike tribes in the North- W»st, whose
amity and adhesion to our system of govern-
ment is so essential to the progress of the
Pacific Railway; and I make this appeal, as I
may call it, with all the more earnestness
since I have convinced myself of the degree
to which, if properly dealt with, the Indian
population might be made to contribute to
the development of the wealth and re-
sources of the Province. I have now seen
them in all phases of their existence,
from the half-naked savage, perched
like a bird of prey in a red blanket
upon a rock, trying to catch his
miserable dinner of fish, to the neat Indian
maidens in Mr. Duncan's school at Matlah-
katlah, as modest and well dressed as any
clergyman's daughter in an English parish,
or to the shrewd horse riding Siwash of the
Thompson Valley, with his racers in training
for the Ashcroft Stakes, and as proud of his
stackyard and turnip field as a British squire.
In his first condition it is evident he is scarce-
ly a producer or a consumer ; in his second,
he is eminently both; and in proportior as
he can be raised to the higher level of civil-
ization will be the degree to which he will
contribute to the vital energies of the Pro-
vince. What you want are not resources,
but human beings to develop them and con-
sume them. Raise your 30,000 Indians to
the level Mr. Duncan has taught us they can
be brought, and consider what an enormous
amount of vital power you will have added
to your present strength. But I must not
keep you longer. I thank you most heartily
for your patience and attenti')n. jMost ear^
nestly do I desire the acconiplisiiment of all
your aspirations, and if ever I have the good
fortune to come to British Columbia again, I
hope it may be by — rail. "
AT OTTAWvV, ON HIS RETURIf. '
[Delivered in reply to an address of con-
gratulation from the City Council on the 23rd
of October.]
*' Gentlemen, — It is with feelings of no
ordinary emotion that I accept this fresh and
unexpected mark of your confidence and good
will. Glad as I may be to find myself at home
again, after so many months of travel, the
warm welcome which has been prepared for
me by yourselves, and the citizens of Otta-
wa, sheds an additional brightness over my re-
turn. My visit to British^Columbia has been
both gratifying and instructive. Nothing
could have been more kind or cordial than
the welcome extended to me personally by its
inhabitants, or more universal or genuine
than the loyalty of all classes in the Province
towards the Throne and Person of Her
Majesty. Of course you are aware that
there are certain matters in controversy be-
tween the Local Government of the Province
and my own responsible advisers, but on no
occasion, from the time that I landed till the
time that I took my departure, did the Bri-
tish Columbia people allow this circumstance
to aff'^ct the friendliness of their bearing to-
wards the representative of their Sovereign.
I do not presume to hope that my visit to
the West will have been productive of much
practical result, so I'ar as the disputes to
wliich I have alluded are concerned. Their
settlement will depend upon other consider-
ations, and will be provided for under the
advice of the responsible Ministers of the
Crown at Victoria and Ottawa; but I have
no hesitation in saying that my presence
amongst your fellow-countrymen on the
other side of the Rocky Mo^^ntains has been
universally regarded as a proof and pledge of
the friendliness and goodwill felt for them
by the people of Canada at large, and I am
quite certain that any reasonable effort upon
the part of the Dominion, and the exhibition
of that generosity of feeling which is due-
from a great community to a feebler neigh-
bour, will not fail to restore that perfect
harmony and intimate union in thought and
feeling between British Columbia and her
sister Provinces'' which is so essential to the
strength and permanence of our Confedera-
tion. (Cheers.) In conclusion, gentlemen,
I cannot help adding one word of congratu-
lation on the admirable appearance made by
Canada at the Centennial Exhibition, from.
Aus
1876
kdded
it not
iirtily
it eav'
of all
3 good
;uin, I
of con-
le 23rd
) of no
38h and
id good
,t home
,'el, the
reci for
>f Otta-
r my re-
las been
Sfothing
lal than
[y by its
(genuine
*ruvince
of Her
ire that
'ersy be-
Province
it on no
rl till the
the Bri-
iimstance
aring to-
ivereign.
visit to
of much
iputes to
Their
consider-
mder the
rs of the
it I have
presence
on the
has been
pledge of
for them
end 1 am
ffort upon
xhibition
h is due
>ler nei gh-
at perfect
.ught and
I and her
itial to the
onfedera-
entlemen,
congratu-
e made by
tion, from.
1877
EARL OP DUFFERIN.
87
whence I have just come. Whether we take
into account the variety of our products,
their intrinsic value, the degree to which
they are destined to promote the expansion
of our wealth, trade and commerce, or
whether we consider the admirable method
and completenesH with which they have been
displayed under the supervisitm of our Com-
missioners, we must be equally struck with
the effective share which Canada has taken in
enhancing the attractions of the Centennial
show. There can be no doubt but that these
proofs of our resources and prospects have
made the most favourable impression upon
our neighbours in the United States. In
many respects they acknowledge, with a
generosity which well becomes them, that
we are their masters, and the many prizes
we have taken away, especially in the agri-
cultural competitions, have completely borne
out their appreciation of our eminence.
(Cheers.) Indeed I may say I am never al-
lowed to enter the United States without
being made to feel with what kindly feelings
we are regarded by that great people whoae
own extraordinary development is one of the
marvels of the age. Wherever I go I never
fail to meet with the greatest courtesy and
consideration, which I gladly recognize as a
tribute not to myself, but to the Canadian
nationality I represent, whom the people of
the States are always anxious to honour in
my person. (Cheers.) At no period in the
history of the world has those bonds of sym-
pathy and affection • by which the members
of the great Anglo-Saxon race are inde-
structibly united, been drawn closer or ren-
dered more sensibly apparent than at the
present moment. The many proofs given by
England of her friendly feeling towards the
people of the United States have found their
crowning expression in the noble waj' she
has associated herself with them in celebrat-
ing the Centennial year of their existence as
an independent community, and nowhere liaj
her Imperial dignity been more fitly or appro-
priately displayed than beneath the lucent
roof of the PhiladeUihia Exhibition, where she
sits enthroned amid her native treasures,
and surrounded by the crowd of loyal co-
lonies through whose intervention she not
only extends her sceptre to the four quar-
ters of the world, but has everywhere estab-
lished Parliamentary Government institu-
tions, and laid deep the foundations of an
imperishable freedom. (Cheens.) Facing
her in genomus emulation stands the United
States, backed by the wealth of her virgin
territories and the inventions of her inge-
nsous artificers, and as you traverse the build-
ing from end to end, you almost forget to re-
member whether you be English, Canadian,
Australasian, American, from Africa, or from
India, in the proud con.iciousness that yon
are a member of that great Anglo-Saxon
race whose enterprise has invaded every ran
gion, who9e children have colonized two con-
tinents, whose lanyuage is spoken by one-
third of civilized mankind, who.se industry
throngs the markets of the globe, and whose
political v?cniu8 has developed the oidy suc-
cessful form of Constitutional Coveriiment
as yet known to the nations of the earth."
(Great applause.)
AT THE NATIONAL ('LUB, TORONTO.
[Delivered in reply to the toast of his
health, proposed by Mr. John Gillespie, Vice-
President, on the 12t;h of January.
" Gkntt.emkn, — I ass'ire you it is with feel-
ings of the deepest gratitude that I rise to
acknowledge the kind and cordi.'d manner in
which you have been good enough to drink
my health. Such tokens as those which you
have just exhibited of your confidence and
kind feelings are a most welcome encourage-
ment to any one in my situation, for it gives
me the assurance that I have not failed in
that which is one of the dearest and most
anxions desires of my heart, namely, to se-
cure the goodwill and attachment of those I
have been i;c»nimissioned by my Sovereign to
serve. (Cheers.) Precluded, as the repre-
sentative of the Crown necessarily is by the
very essence of his duty, from the slightest
appearance of a desire or design to place
himself in sympathy with any phase of po-
litical enthusiasm, or with the special predi-
lections of any section of the community,
however numerous or well inspired ; reduced
as his functions are to those rather of a nega-
tive than of a positive character, and unsen-
sational as is the routine of his ordinary du-
ties, there necessarily remain but
very few points at which he can
come into anything like intimate or
harmonious contact with those to
the promotion of whose interests,
happiness and welfare the energies of his life
are nevertheless directed. (Hear, hear.)
Under these circumstances his pleasure and
his pride is all the greater when he finds that
his silent, obscure, and unostentatious efforts
to do his duty and to benefit the country
with which he is connected have attracted
the notice or oornmendation of those v;hoi9e
esteem it is his ambition to win and preserve.
His principal achievements probably consist
rather in preventing mischief than in accom-
plishing any substantial good ; and, even in
regard to his public speeches, which more
than anything else communicate some little
substance to his shadowy individuality, as I
observed the other day to the Town Council,
the best part of them, to adopt the privilege
of my country, are those which have been
left out. (Great laughter.) In fact, the
88
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1877
head of the State ,in a cotiHtitutionnl injimc
is the (lepoflitary of what, though undoubt-
edly a very great, iH altogether a latent
power — a power which, under the auspices of
wise parliamentary statesmanship, is never
aud'ered to become active, and his ordinary
duties are very similar to tliose of the hun)ble
functionary we see superintending the work-
ing of some complicatetl mass of steam-driven
machinery. (Larghter. ) This personage
merely walks about with a little tin vessel
of oil in his hand (reiuiwod laughter) —and he
pours in a drop here and a drop tliere, us
occasion or the creaking of a joint may re-
quire, while his utmost vigilance is directed
to no higher aim than the preservatitm of his
wheels and cogs from the intrusion of dust,
jgrit'i, or other foreign bodies. (Roars of
laughter, which were renewed again and
again.) There, gentlemen, what was I say-
ing? See how easily an unguarded tongue
can slip into .an ambiguous exprer-sion (up-
roarious laughter) — an exjjression which I need
not assure you on this occasion is entirely
innocent of all political sigiuricance. (Laugh-
ter. ) But I must say that, far from having
cause to complain of my humble efforts, such
as they were, not having been duly appr.:-
ciated, I am only too sensible that your kind-
ness, and the general instincts of the people
of Canada to take the will for the deed, has
created tor me an amount of goodwill and
approval far beyond my deserts, of which
such entertainments as the present, and the
pleasant things said at them, is the agreeable
exhibition. (Cheers.) Anybody would in-
deed be dead to every sentiment of gratitude
in whose heart such tokens of confidence did
not arouse a still more earnest desire to do
his duty, and to strain every nerve in the
service of those who are so ready to condone
his shortcomings and to reward his exer-
tions. (Loud applause.) And, gentlemen,
here I must be permitted to say that I consi-
der it as no small part of my good foitune that
my connection with Canada should have oc-
curred at a moment when probably she is in
the act of making one of the greatest strides
towards the establishment of her prestige,
stability, and importance which has hitherto
been recorded in her history. (Cheers.)
Even a casual observer cannot have failed to
mark the decisive manner in which she is
gradually asserting her position as one of the
most important communities in the civilized,
•world. (Great applause.) This circum-
stance has had a very visible efTect both upon
the public opinion of England and of the
United States, In spite or that preoccupa-
tion with their own affairs natural to all coun-
tries, Canada on several occasions has not
merely attracted the sympathies, but has
compelled the admiration and attention of
the thinking men of both countries. Her
school systems, her federal arrangements,
her municipal '> institutions, her maritime
regulations, have repeatedly been cited in
recent years by English statesmen of autho-
rity and distinction as worthy of imitation.
(Cheers.) ^Vs for the United States, although
they may be too proud to own it, there is nbt
a citizen of the neighbouring republic who
does not envy the smooth and harmonious
working of our well-balanced and happily-
adjusted institutions (Applause.) Of one
thing I am quite sure, that there is not an
American politician l)etween the Atlantic
and the Pacific who would not at the present
moment be content to give iudf his fortune,
and perhaps a grent deal more, to possess
that most serviceable and useful thing, a
Giovernor-Cieneral. (Ureat laughter.) In-
deed the ac(iuisition by the United States of
so valuable a personage has of late come to
appear of such prime necessity,
would prove such an obvious mode
of solving their personal difHcultiea
and of remedying" the defects of their
Governmental machine, that I have been
extremely nervous (laughter) about passing
so near tiie border as I had to do on my way
hither. There is no knowing what might
happen in the case of people under such a
stress ot temptation. (Renewed laughter.)
Raids have been prompted sometimes by
love as well as hate. (Laughter.) In fact,
the tame ceremonies of modern marriage are
but the emasculated reproduction of the far
more spirited principle of capture (great
laughter) ^^by which brides in less sophisti-
cated ages were obtained. Who knows to
what lengths Mr. Tilden and Mr. Hayes and
the millions of their respective adherents
now drawn up in hostile array against each
other might not be driven in the agony of
their present suspense ! (Laughter.) A
British Governor-General ! What a cutting
of the Gordion knot ! (Great laughter. ) And
so near too: just across the water. A gun-
boat and a sergeant's guard, and the thing is
done. (Continued laughter.) And then
think what they get m him ! A person dis-
sociated from all sectional interests, preju-
dices, and passions (hear, hear) — who can
never become stronger than the people's Par-
liaments or divide the national vote. (Ap-
plause.) A reprcjcntative of all that is
august, stable, and sedate in the govern-
ment, the history, and the traditions of the
country, incapable of partizanship, and lifted
far above the atmosphere of faction, without
adherents to reward or opponents to oust
from oflBce, docile to the suggestions of his
Ministers, and yet securing to the people the
certainty of being able to get rid of an Ad-
ministration, or Parliament, the moment
1877
EARL OP DUFFER IN.
89
either had forfeited their confidence.
(Applause.) ideally, gentlemen, I think I
had Ijetter remove nearer to the North I'olo
(great laughter), for I am sure you will be-
lieve me when I say that after having been
made to feel for so many years how good and
kind are the people of Canada (great cheer-
ing), having had an opportunity of appre-
ciating how high an honour it is to be con-
nected with a Dominion so full of hope, with
fiuch a glorious prospect before her (great
chi'ering), I shall never be induced, oven
under thi atress of violence (laughter) an<l a
threat of being 'bulhlozed' (loud laughter)
to sit for one moment longer than I can help
in the Presidential chair of tlvM United States.
(Lau!j;hter and cheers.) Should I go, you
may expect me back by the underground
railway. (Renewed laughter.) Nay, more,
so deeply iittached am I to our ('anada that
the Pashalik of Bulgaria shall not tempt me
away (laughter)— even though a full
domestic establishment, such as are cus-
tomary in that country, should be
provided for me out of the taxes of
the people (laughter) and Lady DufFerin gave
her consent, which is doubtful." (Great
laixghter and applause. )
[Delivered in proposing the health of the
Chairman. ]
" He was well aware that the National
Club sought to identify ttself with all that
was most patriotic in the country ; that he
himself was in perfect sympathy with their
endeavours to cultivate a just pride in the
glorious Dominion of which they were citi-
zens, and that his presence there to-night
evinced hi} profound conviction that those
sentiments of patriotism were not only com-
patible with the most genuine loyalty to the
Crown, but were the best pledges which
could be given of the devotion of those he
saw around him to the honour, welfare, and
interests of the British Empire at large."
(Great applause. )
AT THE TORONTO CLUB.
[Delivered on the 13th of January, in reply
to the toast of his health, proposed by Hon.
William Cay ley.]
*' Gentlemen, — I have been so frequently
called upon during the course of my official
career in the Dominion to express my appre-
ciation of the fervent loyalty of the Canadian
people to the Throne and Person of Her Ma-
jesty, as evidenced by their reception of her
representative on such occasions as the pre-
sent, that I sometimes dread lest my acknow-
ledgments should acquire a stereotyped and
common-place character. But I assure you,
however bald and conventional may be the
expressions I am forced to use, the feelings
which inspire them well from my heart with
ever fresh intensity. (Applause. ) Love and
devotion to the Queen, as the type and livina
representative of constitutional freedom, of
wtdl-onlered government, of a renowned
historical past and a hopeful future, is the
ruling passion of Kngiishmen all over tho
world. (Cheers.) iiut with this national,
normal, and abiding principle, rooted as it is
for all time in the hearts of our countrymen
(hear, hear), there is undoubtedly intertwined
a tenderer sentitnent — a aentimout of chival-
rous personal devotion towards that Sove-
reign Liuly who, ill her early girlhood, was
called upon to preside over the destinies of
so vast an Empire — whoso checiuered life, as
mai<len, wife, and widow, has been so inti-
mately associated witli every phase of the
private as well as the public existence of
each one of us (hear, hear), and whose unos-
tentatious, patient career of faithfully ful-
tilled duty and never-failing well-doing,
immeasurably enhances the splendour of the
crown she wears (cheers), and has advanced to
a degree it might be didicult to estimate the
geneial wulfivre of her subjects. (Loud ap-
plause. ) Such, then, being the justly inspired
devotion of the Jkitish people to the Throne,
it can be well umlerstood that its representa-
tive should be sometimes even morbidly
anxious that nothing in his conduct or cha-
racter, or in the way in which he discharues
his delegated functions, should be out of
harmony with the relations Queen Victoria
has established between herself and her
people, not only within the limits of (ireat
Britain, but wherever the English ensign
waves (applause) — I might even say wher-
ever the English language is spoken. (Re-
newed applause.) His pride and pleasure is
therefore proportionably all the greater, the
oftener he receives at the hands of such a
community as that in the midst of which I
have the happiness to dwell those reassuring
evidences of their willingness to extend to
him their countenance, encouragement, and
support, for he knows that the cheers which
greet his ears and the passion of loyalty
which surges around him as he passes from
Province to Province and city to city of the
land are both intended and destined to re-
echo in the ears and to ripple round the
throne of her, the essence of whose happiness
is her people's love. (Hear, hear, and cheers.
And, gentlemen, if there is anything
which could enhance the satisfaction which
Her Majesty experiences in the conviction of
the place she holds in your affections, it
would be in the knowledge of the prosperous
and satisfactory circumstances under which
you are strengthening the foundations of her
Throne and enlarging the jjborders of her
Empire. (Applause. ) Of course I am well
aware that during the past two or three years
the commercial community of Canada have
^i 1
90
THB SPEECHES OF THE
1877
puBHud throU|jh hard and trying timoi. Rut
Vfheiix I oliHorvc, iiH I iiuvu hacl an opportu-
nity of doin^, tiiu uxtruordiiiary dovidopinent
wluoh haH takuii place in thn archituoturai
Bplondoiir of Toront) during tho interval
whicli has intitrvcnod ainco my last vinit
(hear, hear), I cannot Ix) cxpuctod to entertain
ftny nuH^'ivingH oithtsr in rti^^ard to your pro-
H«tiit or to your future. VVitliin thin hrief
tteriod new banku, churcheH, coinniercial
>r.ildinf{H, inanHiona, whole Htrc^tn have
Hpruii^ into exiHtence with the rapidity of
magic, while everything connected with
them and with the city uHHureH me that the
progre8H thuH developed ia aa aolid and Huh-
tantial an it Ih rcHplendent. (Applause.) In
fact, one of the happineHHcH of living in a new
and teeming country like (Janada ia the feel-
ing that 'the atara in their couraea ' are
fighting for ua, and that every aeason ia dea-
titied to bring with it tho dincovery of new
n"«ourceH, and fresh iaauea to our induatriea.
It has been only during the currency of the
prcaent year we have been made aware of
the poaaibility of our eatubliahing a branch
of trade whose development ia deatined to
do aa much aa anything that haa for a long
time happened to increase our wealth, to in-
vigorate our exertiona, and, what ia beat of
all. to draw atill more tightly together the
bonds which unite ua to the Mother (Jountry.
(Hear, hear, and applatise, ) I am told upon
good authority that the succeaa attending
the experiment of importing Cana-
dian beef into the English market haa
alreaily brought down the price of
butc\jer8' meat in (Jreat Britain
several cen!,3. (Hear, hear.) Well, gentle-
men, what does this imply ? Wh^y, that ere
long the millions of England will be depen-
dent upon the pasturea and faimera of Can-
ada for the chief and most important item of
their daily aubsiatenco. For what are the
diminutive scraps of grass land in Ireland,
or along tho foggy coasts of lielgium, in
comparison with the illimitable l)readth8 of
cuttle-producing territory whioh spread from
hence to the Rocky Mountains, whose inex-
haustiVjle produce the very iindemency of our
climate will assist u» in transporting fresh
and sweet to Liverpool and Smithtield? But,
gentlemen, it is not merely upon the ma-
terial progress of the country or of your
neighbourhood that I desire to congratulate
you. Every time that I come to
your capital I am more and more
agreeably impressed with the intel-
lectual viuour and activity of which it
is the centre and focus. (Applause.) After
all, it ia in thetowna of a country that ideas
are engeiulerod ard progress initiated; and
Toronto, with her University, with her Law
Courts, with her various religious commuui-
tiea, her learned i)rofeanionH, poHHenaeH in aa
exceptional degree those conditions whioh
are must fav(»urable to the raising up amongst
us of great anrl able men, as well aa robust
and fruitful aystems of religioua, political,
and HcientiH; thought. (Cheers.) And here
I maytixpreaa my aatiafaction at obaerving
that, ami<l tho aterner, severer, or more
practi<;al pui suits of life, its lighter gruces
have not been forgotten. (Hear, hoar.) I
believe Toronto is the oidy city in
(Canada, perhaps on the Continent which
bodsts a School of Art and an annual Exhi-
bition. 1 have had the privilege of admir-
ing some of tho contributions which are ia
preparation for the ensuing year, and I must
say I have been delighted to find how many
works of genuine merit it is likely to offer
to ycmr inspection. (Applause.) 1 believo
the cultivation of art to be a most essential
element in our national life. I have no doubt
that a fair proportion of the wealth of the^
higher claaaes will be applied to its encou-
ragement, and I trust that ere long the (fov-
eminent of the cr)untry may see its way to
the eatabliahment of a National (iallery. I
am alao very glad to hear of tho steps you
are taking to facilitate your communica-
tiona with the great North-' Vest. (Hoar,
hear.) No town can have much of a future
before it unless it has a rich and extensive
territory at its back, and, thanks to her geo-
graphical positirm, there is no doubt out
that, by wise and judicious arrangements,
this city will be able to appropriate to her-
self for commercial puinoses a very consid-
erable proportion of the entire region of
country lying between tho lakes and the
Rocky Mountains. Every day the accounts
of tho fertility of that region are more sa-
tisfactory, and I have been assured by the
Count de Turenne, a distinguished friend of
mine, who travelled over a considerable pro-
portion of the Province of Manitoba last
autumn, thst the newly-arrived emigrants,
with whom he was constantly brought into
contact, especially those of foreign origin^
universally expressed themselves as perfect-
ly content with their condition and pros-
pects, ((ireat applause.) This is all the
more satisfactory because it is probable that
those great streams of emigration from Ire-
land, which have hitherto contributed so
much to the development of this continent,
will have ceased to How, and that we shall
have to look elsewhere for those we require
as partners in the rich heritage placed at our
disposal. But there is atill one fountain of
emigration which has been comparatively
untapped, but which, I am convinced, might
be iurned into Canada with the greatest ad-
vantage, and that is an emigration from Ice-
land. Iceland is a country but very little
1877
EARL OF DUFFER IN.
n
fitted for human habitation; in fact, nothi^^
l)iit tho indomitahlo har<lihoo«l, induHtry, and
coura^d of its intiahitantM could havu <'n-
ablud itH population to hoar up a^aiiint thn
ri^ourn of itM oliniato and tho BUcci'Hsivo
coxniic ratiiHtrophun hy whiuh it han buen
t)«rp«itually ovorwhelmed. Alriiady Hovi-rai
»,iii<1h of IctdandorH have found tht'ir way
hither, and I liave no doubt that in <Iuu tinio
an (tinigration w<!MtwardH niight, I think, be
advantagoounly proHucut»;d. Krti(iUHntin);,aH
I am in th«) habit of doinj^ every year, the
flhoroH of the Lower St. Lawrence, 1 have
often thought to how much better protit the
induHtry and onerj^ies of itH hardy and in-
duHtriouH |)opulation nii^ht be applied if, in-
stead of breaking tlieir heartH from geiwra-
tion to generation in their endoavourH to gain
aPcantyHubsiBtencefrom the rugged rockn and
sand-fhoked hollowH which they cultivjite
beneath a sUy of desperate severity, they
could be persuaded to remove to the alluvial
Boils ancl more propiti«)UH climate of our
prairie lands. (Applause.) Were they to
do so, there is no doubt that for every dollar
they succeed in extracting from their Lau-
rentian rocks they would l)e rewarded, under
the more favourable auspices I have indicat-
ed, by a tive-folfi return. (Ureat applause.)
However, gentlemen, if 1 once open the
chapter of my speculative ideas for the im-
provement of Canada I should never stop
(renewed applause) — for the problems both
of political and social science which present
themselves for solution on this continent are
inconceivably interesting and attractive; all
the more so because there seems to exist from
one end of the continent to the other — and I
am not now merelyr,eferring to Canada — the
happiest capacity for their solution. (Cheers.)
If we look across the border, what do we
Bee ? A nation placed in one of the most
trying .md ditficult situations which can be
imagined. (Hear, hear.) Two hostile and
thoroughly organized camps arrayed against
each other in the fiercest crisis of a political
contest. (Hear, hear.) Yet, in spite of the
enormous personal a'>d public interest.s at
stake, in spite of the natural irritation such
a struggle must engender, in spite of the
thousand aggravatiotis created by this un-
paralleled situation of suspense, there is ex-
hibited by both sides a patriotic self-re-
btraint, a moderation of language, and a dig-
nified and wise attitude of reserve which is
worthy not only of our admiration, but of
the imitation of the civilized world. (Con-
tinued applause.) Of course we know that
in a written constitution every possible con-
tingency cannot be foreseen and provided
against, and undoubtedly a blot has been hit
in the Constitution of the United States ;
but there is no doubt that a proper remedy
will be ouickly discovered; and intereiited an
Canada is and alwayn muNt be in the welfare
and prosperity of her great neighbour (hear,
hear, htmr); and friendly an<l attectionate as
are the HentimentH of the (^inatlian people
towardft the inhabitnntn of the United .Staten,
I am Hure, gentlemen, I am only expreHsing
the Heritinu'Tita of all who hear me(hoar,hear)
when T say that, combined witli the respoot
which has been excited in our minds by the
patience and fortitude exiiiltited by the
American people under the most trying
circumstances, we experience the most fer-
vent desire, and we entertain the moat
implicit confidence, that they will quickly
discover a satiHfi»ct«)ry solution for their
present dilHculties. (('heers and con-
tinued applause.) In conclusion, gentlemen,
allow me to express to you my regret that
cirkninistances should precdude me from find-
ing myself more frecpiently in ho pleiisant a
neighbourhood and under such agreeable aus-
pices (applause); for, gentlemen, (juito apart
from the gratiliciition I experiejice in the
kind welcome accorded to Lady Dnflerinand
myself by the citizens of Toronto, it gives me
the greatest pleasure to observe how sound
and satisf.'ictory are the relations which exist
between the inhabitants of the Province and
the gentleman who is associ.'ited with me
and li'4 colleagues in the other Provinces in
exercising within the borders of Ontario the
representative functions of the Crown,
(('heers. ) Perhaps no more convincing proof
would be given of the soundness of our i>olicy
than the way in which the seven Provinces
of the Dominion are yjresided over by their
respective Lieutenant-Ctovernors. That Can-
ada should be aide to furnish forth an un-
failing supply of gentlemen of such high
character, of such large political experience,
of such undoubted honour as to command the
implicit confidence of their fellow-citizens in
their constitutional impartiality and their
capacity for government, exhibits in a re-
markable degree how large is the lUnd of
able public men upon whoso services the
country can always count. (Loud applause.)
During my residence in Canada I have natu-
rally been thrown into very intimate and
confidential relations with every one of these
gentlemen in turn, as well as with their pre-
decessors, and I must nay that I have never
repaired to them for information or advice
without being forcibly impressed by their
ability, patriotism, and knowledge of afTairs.
(Cheers.) And depend upon it, it is a matter
of the greatest advantage to the community
that a class of statesmen should exist amongst
US, removed by ti eir office'from the domina-
tion of party prejudices and passions, and
yet as aeeply interested and concerned in
everything that affects the public welfare as
■ . • 'i i I
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92
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1877
the able men who are occupied in the arena
of Parliamentary warfare. (Hear, hear.)
When to these political advantages we have
added the further satisfaction of seeing the
social life of our capital presided over, as it
is in this city, with a femenine dignity, grace
and refinement which cannot be surpassed
(long-continued applause), by the ladies who
uhare with the Provincial rjpresentatives of
the Queen the cares and anxieties of their
office, we need never fear that monarchical
institutions should fall into disfavour with
the Canadian people. (Great cheering. )
AT THE MENNONITE SETTLEMENT.
[Delivered in reply to an an address read
on the 21st of August.]
" Fellow-Citizens of the Dominion
AND Fellow -SUBJECTS of Her Majesty,—
I have come here to-day in the name of the
Queen of England to bid you welcome to
Canadian soil. With this welcome it in
needless that I should couple the best wishes
of the Imperial Government in England or
of the Dominion Government at Ottawa, for
you are well aware that both have regarded
your coming here with unmitigated satis-
faction. You have left your own land in
obedience to a conscientious scruple, nor
will you have been the first to cross the ^'At-
lantic under the pressure of a simiUr exi-
gency. In doing so you must huve made
g»'eat sacrifices, broken with many tender
associations, and overthrown the settled
purposes of your former peacefully ordered
lives ; but the very fact of your having man-
fully faced the uncertainties and risks of so
distant an emigration rather than surrender
your religious convictions in regard to the
unlawfulness of warfare, proves you to lie
well worthy of our respect, confidence and
esteem. You have come to a land where
you will find the people with whom you are
to associate engaged , indeed, in a great
struggle, and contending with foes whom it
requites their best energies to encounter.
But those foes are not your fellow-men, nor
will you be called upon in the struggle to
stain your hands with human blood — a task
which is so abhorrent to your religious
feelings. The war to which we invite you
£8 recruits and comrades is a war waged
against the brute forces of nature ; but those
forces will welcome our domination, and re-
ward our attack by placing their treasures
at our disposal. It is a war of ambition, —
for we intend to annex territory, — but
neither blazing villages nor devastated fields
will mark our ruthless track ; our battalions
will march across the illimitable plains which
stretch before us as sunshine steals athwart
the ocean ; the rolling prairie will blossom
in our wake, and corn nd peace and plenty
will spring where we have trod. But not
only are we ourselves engaged in these bene*
ficent occupations— you will find that the
only other nationality with whom we can
ever come into contact are occupied with
similar peaceable pursuits. They, like us,
are engaged in advancing the standards of
civilization westwards, not as rivals, but as
allies ; and a community of intereats, ob-
jects, and aspirations has already begun to
cement between the people of the United
States and ourselves what is destined I trust
to prove an indissoluble affection. If, then,
you have come hither to seek for peace-— peace
at least we can promise you. But it is not
merely to the material blessings of our land
that 1 bid you welcome. We desire to share
with you on equal terms our constitutional
liberties, our municipal privileges, and our
domestic freedom ; we invite you to assist
us in choosing the members of our Parlia-
ment, in shaping our laws, and in moulding
our future destinies. There is no right or
function which we exercise as free citizens
in which we do not desire you to participate,
and with this civil freedom we equally glad-
ly oflfer you absolute religious liberty. The
forms of worship you have brought with
you, you will be able to practise in the most
unrestricted manner, and we confidently
trust that those blessings which have waited
upon your virtuous exertions in your Kussian
homes will continue to attend you here ; for
we hear that you are a sober-minded and
God-fearing community, and as such you
are doubly welcome amongst us. It is with
the greatest pleasure I have passed through
your villages, and witnessed your comfort-
able homesteads, barns and byres, which
have arisen like magic upon this fertile
plain, for they prove indisputably that you
are expert in agriculture, and already pos-
sess a high standard of domestic conifort.
In the name, then,of Canada and her people,
in the name of Queen Victoria and her em-
pire, I agaia stretch out to you the hand of
brotherhood and good fellowship, for you
are as welcome to our aflfection as you are to
our lands, our liberties, and freedom. In
the eye of our law the least among you is
the equal of the highest magnate in our land,
and the proudest of our citizens may well be
content to hail you as his fellow-countryman.
You will find Canada a beneficent and loving
mother, and under her fostering care I trust
your community is destined to flourish and
extend in wealth and numbers through
countless generations. In one woVd, beneath
the flag whose folds now wave above us, you
will find protection, peace, civil and reli-
gious liberty, constitutional freedom, and
equal la\i s. "
fli'SJ
1877
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
9
you
to
In
is
and
ugh
eath
you
leli-
and
AT THE ICELANDIC SETTLEMENT.
[Delivered in reply to an addres, from the
settlers at Gimli, on the 14th of September.]
" Men and Women of Iceland, now
Citizens of Canada, and Subjects of
Her Majesty the Qvben, — When it was
my good fortune twenty years ago to visit
your island I never thought that the day
would come when I should be called upon as
the representative of the British Crown to
receive you in this country ; but the oppor-
tunities I have thus had of becoming ac-
quainted with your dramatic history, with
your picturesque literature, and the kindness
I have experienced at the hands of your
countrymen, now enable me with the great-
est cordiality to bid you welcome. I have
learnt with extreme sorrow of the terrible
trials to which you have been exposed so
socm after your arrival by the unexpected
ravages of a terrible epidemic. Such a visi-
tation was well calculated to damp your
spirits and to benumb your energies, aggra-
vating {.a it did those inevitable hardships
which attend the first efforts of all colonists
to establish themselves in a new land. The
precautions which the Local Government
was reluctantly compelled to take to prevent
the spreading of the contagion through the
Province must also have been both galling
and disadvantageous, but I trust that the
discouragements which attended your advent
amongst us have now for ever passed away,
and that you are fairly embarked on a ca-
reer of happiness and prosperity. Indeed I
understand that there is not one amongst
you who is not perfectly content with his
new lot, and fully satisfied that the change
which has taken place in his destiny is for
the better. During a hasty visit like the
present I cannot pretend to acquire more
than a superficial insight into your condition ;
but so far as I have observed, things appear
to be going sufficiently well with you. The
homesteads I have visited seem well built
and commodious.and are certainly far supe-
rior to any of the farmhouses I remember in Ice-
land, while the gardens and little clearings
which have begun to surround them show
that you have already tapped an inexhaust-
ible store of wealth in the rich alluvial soil
on which we stand. The three arts most
necessary to a Canadian colonist are the
felling of timber, the ploughing of land, and
the construction of highways ; but as in your
own country none of you had ever seen a tree,
a coru|field, or a road,it is not to be expected
that you dhonld immediately exhibit any
expertness in these accomplishments ; but
practice and experience will soon make y^^
the masters of all three, for you possess, in
far greater degree than is probably imagined,
that which is the essence and foundation of
all superiority — intelligence, education, and
intellectual activity. In fact I have not en<
tered a single hut or cottage in the settle-
ment* which did not contain, no matter how
bare its walls, or scanty its furniture, a
library of twenty or thirty volumes ; and
I am informed that there is scarcely a child
amongst you who cannot read and write.
Secluded as you have been for hundreds of
years from all contact with the civilization
of Europe, you may in many respects be a
little rusty and oeh^nd the rest of the world ;
nor perhaps have the conditions under which
you used to live at home — where months
have to be spent in the enforced idleness of
a sunless winter — accustomed you to those
habits of continued and unflagging industry
which you will find necessary to your new
existence ; but in our brighter, drier, and
more exhilarating climate, you will become
animated with fresh vitality, and your con-
tinually expanding prosperity will encourage
you year by year to still greater exertions.
Beneath the genial influences of the fresh
young world to which you have come, the
dormant capacities of your race, which ad-
verse climate and geographical conditions may
have somewhat stunted and benumbed, will
bud and burgeon forth in all the frpristine ex-
uberance, as the gems which have been for
centuries buried beneath the pyramids and
catacombs of Egypt are said to excel in the ex-
uberance and suucculence of their growth
the corn- seeds of last year's harvest. But
as sun and air and light are necessary to
produce this miracle, so it will be necessary
for you to profit as much as possible by the
example and by the intercourse of your
more knowledgable neighbours. I have
learnt with great satisfaction that numbers
of your young women have entered the
households of various Canadian families,
where they will not only acquire the Eng-
lish language, which it is most desirable you
should all know, and which they will be
able to teach their brothers and sisters — and
I trust I may add, in course of time, their
children — but will also learn those lessons of
domestic economy and housewifely neat-
handedness which are so necessary to the
well-being, health, and cheerfulness of our
homes. I am also happy to be able to add
that I have received the best accounts from
a great number of people of the good con-
duct, handiness, and docility of these young
Ingebors, Raghnhildas, Thoras, and Gud-
runs, who I trust will do credit to the epical
ancestresses from whom they have inherited
their names. Many of the houses I have
visited to-day bore evident signs in their
airiness, neatnesn, and well-ordered appear-
anf'e" of possessing a housewife who had al-
ready profited frum her contact with th^
■\i
f^mmmm
94
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1877
ouse*- world. And while I am upon this
subject there is one practical hiut which I
shall venture to make to you. Every single
house I virited to- day, many of them being
mere temporary hubs, with at the most two
small chambers, was furnished with a large
close iron cooking-stove, evidently used not
merely for cooking purposes, but also for
heating the habitation. 1 believe that this
-arrangement is anytliing but desirable, and
at all events in those houses where a sepa-
rate kitchen cannot be obtained, an open
^replace should be introduced. I am quite
certain tliat if I were to come amongst you
in winter, I should Hud these stoves in full
operation, and every crevice in your shan-
ties sealed up from the outer air. Now, you
are surrounded by an inexhaustible supply
of the best possible fuel, which can be ob-
tained with comparatively little labour, and
consequently, economy of coal, which is their
chief recommendation, need not drive you
to an excessive use of these unwholesome
appliances. Our winter air, tnoutjh suffi-
ciently keen, is healthy and bracing, and a
most potent incentive to physical exertion;
wuereas the mephitic vapours of an over-
heated, closely packed chamber paralyze our
physical as well as our mental activities. A
constitution nursed upon the oxygen of our
bright winter atmosphere makes its owner
feel as though he could toss about the pine
trees in his glee, whereas to the sluggard
simmering over his stove-pipe it is a horror
and a nameless hardship to put his nose out-
aide the door. I need not tell you that in a
country like this the one virtue pre-emi-
nently necessary to every man is self-re-
liance, energy, and a determination to con-
quer an independent living for himself, his
wife and children, by the unassisted
strength of his own right arm. Unless each
member of the settlement is possessed and
dominated by this feeling, there can be no
salvation for any one. But why need I
speak to Icelanders —to you men and wo-
men of the grand old Norse race — of the ne-
cessity of patience under hardship, courage
in the face of danger, dogged determination
in the presence of difficulties ? The annals of
your country are bright with the records of
your forefathers' noble enduranae. The
sons and daughters of the men and women
who crossed the Arctic Ocean in open boats,
and preferred to make their homes amid the
snows and cinders of a volcano rather than
enjoy peace and plenty under the iron sway
of a despot, may aflford to smile at^'any one
who talks to them of hardship or rough liv-
ing beneath the pleasant shade of these mur-
muring branches and beside the laughing
ripples of yonder shining lake. The change
Sow taking place in your fortunes is the
very converse and opposite of that which be-
fell your forefathers. They fled from their
pleasant homes and golden corn fields into a
howling wilderness of storm atid darkness,
ice and lava, but you I am welcoming to the
healthiest climate on the continent, and to a
soil of unexampled fertility, which a little
honest industry on your part will soon turn
into a garden of plenty. Nor do we forget
that no race has a better right to come
amongst us than yourselves, for it is proba-
bly to the hardihood of the Icelandic navi-
gators that the world is indebted for the
(liacovery of this continent. Had not Co-
lumbus visited your island and discovered
in >6ur records a practical and absolute con-
tirmation of his own brilliant speculations in
regard to the existence of a western land, it
is possible he might never have had the enter-
prise to tempt the unknown Atlantic. Again,
then, I welcome you to this country — a
country in which you will find yourselves
freemen serving no overlord, and being no
man's men but your own ; each master of
his own farm, like the -Udalmen and
' Boeuders' of old days ; and remember that
in coming amongst us, you will find yourselves
associated with a race both kindly hearted
and cognate to your own, nor in becoming
Englishmen and subjects of Queen Victoria
need you forget your own time-honouriid
customs of the picturesque annals of your
forefurthers. On the contrary, I trust you will
continue to cherish for all time the heart-
stirring literature of your nation, and that
from generation to generation your little
ones will continue to learn in your ancient
Sagas that industry, energy, fortitude, per-
severance, and stubborn endurance have
ever been the characteristics of the no-
ble Icelandic race. I have pledged my per-
sonal credit to my Canadian friends on the
successful development of your settlement.
My warmest and most affectionate sympa-
thies attend you, and I have not the slight-
est mispiving but that in spite of your en-
terprise being conducted under what of ne-
cessity are somewhat disadvantageous con-
ditions, not only will your future prove
bright and prosperous, but that it will be
universally acknowledged that a more valu-
able accession to the intelligence, patriotism,
loyalty, industry, and strength of the coun-
try has never been introduced into the Do-
minion."
AT WINNIPEG. -"
[Delivered in reply to the toast of his
health at a dejeuner on the 29th of Sep-
tember.]
•' Mr. Mayor, Your Honour, Ladies
AND Gentlemen, — In rising to express my
acknowledgments to the citizens oi Winni-
peg for thus crowning the friendly reception
1877
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
95
will
I his
Sep-
.
I have received throughout the length aiul
breadth of Manitoba by so noble an enter-
tainraenlQ I am painfully oppressed by the
consideration of the many respects in which
my thanks are due to you, and to so many
other pet sons in the Province. (Applause.)
From our first landing on your quays until
the present moment my, progress through
the country has been one continual delight
^loud applause), nor has the slightest hitch
or in congruous incident marred the satisfac-
tion of my visit. I have to thank you
for the hospitalities I have enjoyed at the
hands of your individual citizens, as well as
of a multitude of independent communities,
— for the tasteful and ingenious decorations
which adorned my route, — for the quarter of
a mile of evenly-yoked oxen that drew our
triumphal car, — for the universal proofs of
your loyalty to the Throne and the Mother
Country, and for your personal goodwill
towards Her Majesty's representative.
Above all, I have to thank you for the evi-
dences produced on either hand along our
march of your prosperous condition, of your
perfect contentment, of your confidence in
your future fortunes, for I need not tell
you that to any one in my situation, smiling
corn fields, cozy homesteads, the joyful faces
of prosperous men and women, and the
laughter of healthy children, are the best
of all triumphal adornments. (Applause.)
But there are other things for which I ought
to be obliged to you, and first for the beau-
tiful weather you have taken th^ precaution
to provide us with during seme six weeks of
perpetual camping out (laughter), for which
attention I have received Lady DuffSria's
especial orders to render you her personal
thanks — an attention which the unusual
phenomenon of a casual waterspout enabled
us only the better to appreciate ; and lastly,
though certainly not least, for not having
generated amongst you that fearful entity,
*' a Pacific Railway question " — at all events
not in those dire and tragic proportions in
which I have encountered it elsewhere.
(Great laughter. ) Of course I know a cer-
tain phase of the railway question is agitat-
ing even this community, but it has assumed
the mild character of a domestic rather than
of an inter-Provincial controversy. Two
distinguished members, moreover, of my pre-
sent Government have been lately amongst
you, and have doubtless acquainted them-
selves with your views and wishes. It is
not necessary, therefc-ic, that I should mar
the hilarious character of the present festival
by any untimely allusions to so grave a
matter. Well, then, ladies and gentlemen,
what am I to say and do to you in return
for all the pleasure and satisfaction I have
.received at your hands ? I fear there is very
little that I can say, and scarcely anything
that I can do commensurate with my obli-
gations. Stay — there is one thing at all
events I think I have already dcme, for which
I am entitled to claim your thanks. You
are doubtless aware that a great political
controversy has for some time raged between
the two great parties of the State as to
which of them is resjtonsible for the visita-
tion of that terror of two continents — the
Colorado bug (Great laughter.) The one
side is disposed to assert that if their oppo-
nents had never acceded to power the Colo-
rado bug would never have come to Canada.
(Renewed laughter.) I have reason to be-
lieve, however, though I know not whether
any substantial evidence has been adduced
in support of their assertion (laughter), that
ray (Government deny and repudiate having
had any sort of concert or understanding
with that irrepressible invader. (Roars of
laughter.) It would be highly unconstitu-
tional for me, who am bound to hold a per-
fectly impartial balance between the con-
t'inding parties of the State, to pronounce
an opinion upon this momentous question.
(Renewed laughter.) But howe\rer disput-'
able a point may be the prime and original
authorship of the Colorado bug, there is one
fact no bne will question, namely, that to
the presence of the Governor-General in
Manitoba is to be attributed the sudden,
total, othe/wise unaccountable, and I. trust
permanent disappearance, not only from this
Province, but from the whole North- West,
of the infamous and unmentionable
' Hopper ' (loud laughter) whose annual
visitations for ttie last seventeen years have
proved so distressing to the agricultural in-
terests of the entire region. ^*at apart from
being the fortunate instrument of conferring
this benefit upon you (laughter), I fear the
only further return in my power is to assure
you of my great sympathy with you in your
endeavours to do justice to the material advan-
tages with which your Province has been so
richly endowed by the handp of Providence.
From its geographical position, and its pecu-
liar characteristics, Manitoba may be regarded
as the keystone of that mighty ansh of sister
Provinces which spans the continent from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Great applause. )
It was here that Canada, emerging from her
woods and forests, first gazed upon her roll-
ing prairies and unexplored North-West, and
learnt, as by an unexpected revelation, that
her historical territories of the Canadas, her
eastern seaboards of New Brunsmck, Labra-
dor and Nova Scotia, her Laurentian lakes
and valleys, corn lands and pastures, though
themselves more extensive than half a dozen
European kingdoms (applause), were but the
vestibules and antechambers to that till then
m
96
Tf] E SPEECHES OF THE
1877
undreamt "of Dominion, whose illimitable
dimenHions alike confound the artthmetio of
the surveyor' and the verification of the ex-
Elorer. (Tremendous applause.) It was
nnce chat counting her past acnievements
as but the preface and prelude tfi her future
exertions and expanding destiniei, she took
a fresh departure, received the utilatus of a
more Imperial inspiration, and felt herself no
longer a mere settler along thr banks of r.
single river, but the owner of half a conti-
nent, and in the amplitude of her poBseH8ion,8
in the wealth of her resources, in the sinew
of her material might, the peer of any Powe
on the earth. (Loud applause.) lu a recen
remarkably witty speech the Marquis of Sal
isbury alluded to the geographical misconcep-
tions often engendered by the smallness'of
the maps upon which the figure of the world
is depicted. To this cause is probably to be
attributed the inadequate idea, entertained
by the best educated persons, of the extent
©f Her Majesty's North American posses-
sions. Perhaps the best way of correcting
such a universal? misapprehension would be
by a summary of the rivers which flow
through them, for we know that as a poor
man cannot afford to live in a big house, so
a small country cannot support a big river.
Now, to an Englishman or a Frenchman the
Severn or the Thames, the Seine or the
Rhone, would appear considerable streams,
but in the Ottawa, a mere affluent of the St.
Lawrence, »n affluent moreover which
reaches the parent stream six hundred miles
from its mouth, we have a river nearly five
hundred and fifty miles long, and three or
four times as big as any of them. (Applause. )
But even after having ascended the St. Law-
rence itself to Lake Ontario, and pursued it
across Lake Hurop, ::>t. Clair, and Lake
Superior to Thunder Bay, a distance of one
thousand five liundred miles, where are we ?
In the estimation of the person who has
made the journey, at the end of all things
(great laughter) ; but to us who know better,
scnrcely at the commencement of the great
fluvial systems of the Dominion ; for, from
that spot, that is to say, from Thunder Bay,
we are able at ouce to ship our astonished
traveller on to the Kan^inistiquia, a river of
some hundred miles long. Thence, almos
in a straight line, we launch him on to Lak«
Shebandowan and Kainy Lake and River —
a magnificent stream three hundred yards
broad and a couple of hundred miles long, down
whose tranquil bosom he floats into the Lake
of the Woods, where he finds himself on a
sheet of water which, though diminutive as
compared with the inland seas he has left be-
hind him, will probably be found sufficiently
extensive to render him fearfully sea. sick
during his passage across ic. (Laughter.)
For the last eighty miles of his Voyage, how-
ever, he will be consoled by sailing through
a succession of land-locked chanjjels, the
beauty of whose scenery, while it resembles,
certainly excels the far-famed Thousand
Islands of the St. LaAvrence. (Loud cheer-
ing. ) From this lacustrine paradise of sylvan
beauty we are able at once to transfer our
friend to the Winnipeg, a river whose exis-
tence in the very heart and centre of the
continent is in itself one of Nature's most
delightful miracles, so beautiful and varied
are its rocky banks, its tufted islands— so
broad, so deep, so fervid is the volume of its
waters, the extent of their lake-like expan-
sions, and the tremendous power of their
rapids. (Tremendous applause.) At last let
us suppose we have lauded our traveller at
the town of Wianipeg, the half-way house of
the continent, the capital of the Prairie Pro-
vince, and I trust the future ' umbilicus ' of
the Dominion. (Great cheering.) Having
had so much of water, having now reached
the home of the buffalo, like the extenu:»ted
Falstaff,"he naturally ' babbles of green fields*
(laughter and applause), and careers in im-
agination over the primeval grasses of the
prairie. Not at all. Escorted by Mr. Mayor
and the Town Council we take him down to
your quay, and ask him which he will ascend
first — the Red River or the Assiniboine, two
stieams, the one five hundred miles long, the
other four hundred and eighty, which so
happily mingle their waters within your city
limits. (Applause.) After having given him
a preliminary canterup thesebespective rivers,
we take him off to Lake Winnipeg, an inland
sea three hundred miles long and upwardti of
sixty broad, during the navigation of which
for many a weary hour he will find himself
out of sight of land, and probably a good
deal more indisposed than he ever was on
the Lake of the Woods, or even the Atlantic.
(Laughter.) At the north-west angle of Lake
Winnipeg he hits upon the mouth of the
Saskatchewan, the gateway to the North-
West, and the starting point to another one
thousand five hundred miles of navigable
water, flowing nearly due east and west be-
tween its alluvial banks. Having now reach-
ed the foot of the Rocky Mountains our
' ancient mariner' (laughter) — for by this time
he will be quite entitled to such an appella-
tion — knowing that water cannot run up hill,
feels certain his aquatic experiences are con-
cluded. (Laughter and applause.) He was
never more mistaken. (Laughter.) We im-
mediately launch him upon the Arthabaska
and Mackenzie rivers, and start him on a .
longer trip than any he has yet undertaken
(laughter) — the navigation of the Mackenzie
river alone exceeding two thousand five hun-
dred miles. If he suryives this last experience
1877
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
97
we wind up his pereeri nations by a con-
cludins voyage of one thousand four hundred
miles do^yn the Fra8«jr riv«r, oi-, if he prefers
it, the Thompson river to Victoria, in Van-
couver, whence, having previously provided
him with a first-class return ticket for thit
purpose, he will probably prefer getting home
via the Canadian Pacific. (Roars of laughter.)
Now.'in this enumeration, those who are ac-
quainted with the country are aware that,
for the sake of brevity, I have omitted thou-
sands of miles of other lakes and rivers which
water various regions of the North- West, the
Qu'Appellee river, the Belly rivfjr, Lake
Manitoba, Liike Winnepegosis, Shoal Lake,
&c. — along whose interminable banks and
shores I might have dragged and dually ex-
terminated our way worn guest (laughter),
but the sketch I have given is more than
sufficient for my purpose; and when it is fur-
ther remembered that most of these streams
flow for their entire length through alluvial
plains of the richest description (applause),
where year after year wheat can be raised
withont manure, or any sensible diminution
in its yield (hear, hear), and where the soil
everywhere presents the appearance of a
highly cultivated suburban kitchen garden in
England, enough has been said to display
the agricultural riches of the territories I
have referred to (great applause), and the
capabilities tbey possess of atfording happy
and prosperous homes to millions of the
human race. (Long-continued applause.)
But in contemplating the vistas thus open-
ed to our imagination, we must not forget
that there ensues a corresponding expansion
of our obligations. For instance, unless
great care is taken, we shall find, as we
move westward, that the exigencies of civil-
ization may clash injuriously with the preju-
dices and traditional habits of our Indian fel-
low-subjects. As long as Canada was in the
woods the Indian problem was comparative-
ly easy, the progress of settlement was slow
enough to give ample time and opportunity
for arriving at an amicable and mutually
convenient arrangement with each tribe with
whom we successively came into contact ; but
once out upon the plains, colonization will
advance with far more rapid and ungovern-
able strides, and it cannot fail eventually to
interfere with the by no means inexhaustible
supply of buflfalo upon which so many of
the Indian tribes are now dependent.
Against this contingency it will be our
most urgent and imperative duty to take
timely precaution by enabling the red man,
jiot by any undue pressure, or hasty or ill-
considered inttrference, but by precept, ex-
ample, and suasion, by gifts of cattle and
other encouragements, to exchange the pre-
carious life of a hunter for that of a pastoral
7
and eventually that of an a^cuUural peo-
ple. (Applause. ) Happily in no part of Her
Majesty's dominions are the relations exist-
ing between the white settler and the origi-
nal natives and masters of the land so well
understood or so generally and humanely in-
terpreted as in Canada, and, as a conse-
quence, instead of being a cause of anxiety
and disturbance, the Indian tribes of the
Dominion are regarded as a valuable adjunct
to our strength and industry. (Hear, hear,
and applause. ) Wherever I have gone in
the Province — and since I have been here I
have travelled nearly a thousand miles with-
in your borders — I have found the Indians
upon their several reserves, pretermitting a
few petty grievances- of a local character
they thought themselves justified in prefer-
ring, contented and satistied, upon tho most
friendly terms with their white neighbours, '
and implicitly conHdingin the good faith and
paternal solicitude of the Government. (Ap-
plause. ) In some districts I have learnt
with pleasure that the Sioux, who a few years
since entered our territory under such sinis-
ter circumstances — I do not, of course, refer
to the recent visit of Sitting Bull and his
people, who however, I believe, are remain-
ing perfectly quiet— are not only peaceable
and well-behavetl, but have turned into use-
ful and hardworking labourers and harvest-
men, while in the more distant settlements,
the less domesticated bands of natives,
whether as hunters, voyageurSjguides, or pur-
veyors of our furs and gasne, prove an ap-
preciably advantageous element in the econo-
mical structure of the colony. (Applause.)
There is no doubt that a great deal of the
good feeling thus subsisting between the
red men and ourselves is due to the influence
and interposition of that invaluable class of
meii, the half-breed settlers and pioneers of
Manitoba (loud applause), whfl, combining
as they io the hardihood, the endurance, ana
love of enterprise generated by the strain of
Indian blood within their veins, with the
civib* nation, the instruction, and the intellec-
tual power derived from their fathers, have
preached the gospel of peace and goodwill
and mutual respect, with equally bene-
Hceut results, to the Indian chieftain in his
lodge, and the Britith settler in his shanty.
(Great applause.) They have been the am-
bassadors between the East and the West
the interpreters of civilization and its exigen-
cies to the dw^ellers on the prairie, as well as
the exponents to the white man of the con-
sideration justly due to the susceptibilities,
the sensitive self-resnect, the prejudices, the
iimate craving for justice of the Indian race.
(Applause.) In fact, they have done for
the colony what otherwise would have been
left unaccomplished, and have introduced
'd
m
■ tu
98
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1877
between the white population and the red
DiaD a traditional feeling; of amity and
friendship, which, but for them, it might
have been impossible to establish. (Cheers.)
Nor can I pass by the humane, kindly and
considerate attention which has ever
distinguished the Hudson Bay Company
in its delilings with the native population.
(Applause.) But, though giving due credit
to luese iuiiuencea amongst the causes which
are conducing to produce and preserve this
fortunate result, the place of honour must
b3 adjudged to that honourable and gene-
rous policy which hasbeen pursued Y ' suc-
cessive Governments of Canada towu ds the
Indian, and which at this moment is being
superintended and carried out with so'much
tact, discretion, and ability by your present
Lieutenant - Governor (applause), under
'which the extinction of the Indian title
upon liberal terms has invariably been re-
cognized as a necessary preliminary to the
occupation of a single square yard of native
territory. (Cheering.) But our Indi&n
friends and neighbours are by no means the
only alien communities in Manitoba which
demand the solicitude of the Government
and excite our sympathies and curiosity. In
close proximity to Winnipeg, two other
communities, the Meunonites and Iceland-
ers, starting from opposite ends of Europe,
without either concert or communication,
have sought fresh homes within our terri-
tory, the one of Russian extraction, though
of German race, moved by a desire to escape
from the obligations of a law which was re-
pulsive to their conscience; the other bred
amid the snows and ashes of an Arctic volcano,
by the hope of bettering their material con-
dition. (Applause. ) Although I have wit-
nessed many sights to cause me pleasure
curing my various progresses through the
} dominion, seldom have I beheld any spec-
tacle more pregnant with prophecy, more
fraught with promise of a successful future
than the Meunonite Settlement. (Applause.)
When I visited these interesting people they
had only been two years in the Province,
and yet in a long ride I took across many
miles of prairie, which but yesterday was
absolutely bare, desolate, and untenanted,
the home of the wolf, the badiz^r, and the
eagle, 1 passed village after udlage, home-
st^d after homestead, furnished forth with
all the conveniences and incidents of Euro-
pean comfort, and a scientitic agriculture,
while on either side of the road corn Helds
already ripe for harvest, and pastures popu-
lous with herds of cattle, stretched away to
the horizon. (Great applause.) Even oti
this continent — the peculiar theatre of rapid
change and progress — there has nowhere, 1
magiue, taken place so marvellous a transfor-
mation (cheers), and yet when in your name,
and in the name of the Queen of England, I
bade these people welcome to their new
homes, it was not the improvement in their
material fortunes that preoccupied my
thoughts. Glad as I was to have the power
of applutting them so ample a portion of our
teeming soii — a soil which seems to blossom
at a touch (cheering(, and which they were
cultivating to such manifest advantage —
I felt mtinitely prouder in being
able to throw over them the aegis
of the British Constitution (loud
cheering), and in bidding them freely
share with us our unrivalled political institu-
tions, our untrammelled personal liberty.
(Great cheering.) We ourselves are do
accu^toTed to breathe the atmosphere of
freedom that it scarcely occurs to us to con-
sider and appreciate our advantages in this
respect. It is only when we are reminded
by such incidents as that to which I refer, of
the small extent of the world's surface over
which the principles of Parliamentary Gov-
ernment can be said to work , smoothly and
harmoniously, that we are led to consider
the exceptional happiness of our position.
(Applause.) Nor was my visit to the Icelan-
dic community less satisfactory than that to
our Mennonite fellow-subjects. From acci-
dental circumstances I have been long since
led to take an interest in the history and
literature of the Scandinavian race, and the
kindness I once received at the hands of the
Icelandic people in their own island naturally
induced me to take a deep interest in the
welfare of this new emigration. (Applause.)
When we take into account the secluded
position of the Icelandic nation for the last
thouband years, the unfavourable conditions
of their climatic and geographical situation,
it would be unreasonable to expect that a
colony from thence should exhibit the same
aptitude 4 for agricultural enterprise and
settlement as would be possessed by a people
fresh from intimate contact with the higher
civilization of Europe. In Iceland there are
neither trees, nor corn fields, nor highways.
You cannot, therefore, expect an Icelander
to exhibit an inspired proHciency in felling
timber, ploughing land, or making roads, yet
unfortunately these are the three accomplish-
ments most necessary to a colonist in Canada.
But though starting at a disadvantage in
these respects, you must not underrate the
capacity of your new fellow-countrymen.
They are endowed with a great deal of
intellectual ability and a quick intelli-
gence. They are well educated. I scarcely •
entered a hovel at Gimli which did not pos-
sess a library. They are well conducted,
religious, and peaceable. Above all, they are
docile and anxious to iearu. (Applause.)
1877
1877
EARL OF DUFFERIN
99
Nor considering the ditficulty which prevails
in this country in procuring women servants,
will the accession of some hundreds of
bright, good-humoured, though perhaps in-
experienced^ yet willing Icelandic girls,
anxious for employment, be found a disad-
vantage by the resident ladies of the country.
Sliouhi the dispersion of these young people
lead in course of time to the formation of
more intimate and tenderer ties than those
of mere neighbourhood between the Cana-
dian population and the Icelandic colony, I
am safe in predicting that it will not prove
a matter of regret on the one side or the
other. (Applause.) And, gentlemen, in
reference to this point I cannot help remark-
ing with satisfaction on the extent to which
a community of interests, the sense of being
engaged in a ci^mmon undertaking, the
obvious degree in which the prosperity of
any one man is a gain to his neighbours, has
amalgamated the v arious sections of the
population of this Province, originally so di-
verse in race, origin, and religion, into a
patriotic, closely welded, and united whole.
(Applause. ) In j no part of Canada have I
found a better feeling prevailing between all
classes and sections of the community.
(Cheers, ) It is in a great measure owing
to this widespread sentiment of brotherhood,
that on a recent occasion great troubles have
been averted, while at the present moment
it is finding its crowning and most triumph-
ant expression in the establishment of a
University under conditions wliich have been
declared impossible of application in any
other Province of Canada— I may say in
any other country in the world
(great cheering) ; for nowhere else either in
Europe or on this Continent, as far as I am
aware, have the bishops and heads of the
various religious communities into which the
Christian world is unhappily divided combin-
ed to erect an Alma Mater to which all the de-
nominational colleges of the Province are tu
be affiliated, and whose statutes and degrees
are to be regulated and dispensed under the
joint auspices of a governing body in which
all the Churches of the laud will be repre-
sented. (Great applause. ) An achievement
of this kind speaks volumes in
favour of the wisdon?, liberality, and
the Christian charity of those devoted
men by whom in this distant land
the consciences of the population are led and
enlightened, and long may they be spared to
see the effects of their exertions and mag-
nanimous sacrifices in the good conduct and
grateful devotion of their respective flocks.
(Cheers.) Nor, I am happy to think, is this
good fellowship upon which I have so much
cause to congiatulate you confined either
within the limits of the Province, or even
within those of the Dominion. Nothing
struck me more on my way through St*
Paul, in the United States, than the sympa-
thetio manner in which the inhabitants of that
flourishing city alluded to the progress and
prospects of Canada and the North-West
(loud applause), and on arriving here I waa
equally struck by tinding even a more
exuberant counterpart of those friendly senti-
ments, ((ireat applause. ) The reason is not
far to seek. Quite independently of the
genial intei course promoted by neighbour-
hood and the intergrowth of commercial rela-
tions, a bond of synipathy between the two
populations is cresed by the consciousness
that they are both engaged in an enterprise
of world-wide importance ; that they are
both organized corps in the ranks of huma-
nity,and the wings of a great army marching
in line on a level front ; that
they are both engaged in advanc-
ing the standards of civilization
westwards, and that for many a year to come
they will be associated in the task of con-
verting the breadths of prairie that st -etch
between them and the setting sun into one
vast paradise of international peace, of domes-
tic happiness, and material plenty. (Great
cheering.) Between two communiues thus
occupied it is impossible but that amity and
loving kindness should be begotten. (Ap-
plause.) But, perhaps, it will be asked,
how can I, who am the natural and official
guatdian of Canada's virtue, mark with'
satisfaction such dangerously sentimental
proclivities towards herseductive neighbour?
I will reply by appealing to those experienc-
ed matrons and chaperoues I see around me.
They will tell you that when a young lady ex-
presses her frank admiration for a man, when
she welcomes his approach with uncon-
strained pleasure, crosses the room to sit be-
siege him, presses him to join her picnic,
praises him to her friends, there is not th«
slightest fear of her affections having been sur '
reptitiously entrapped by the gay deceiver.
(Loud laughter.) On the contrary, it ia
when she can be scarcely brought to mention
his name (great laughter), when she avoids
his society, when she alludes to him with
malice and disparagement, that real danger
is to be apprehrnded. (Renewed laughter.)
No, no ! Caua< th loves and admires the
United States, . ut it is with the friendly,
frank affection which a heart-whole stately
maiden feels for some big, boisterous, hob-
bledehoy of a cousin fresh from school,
and elate with animal spirits and good
nature. She knows he is stronger aLd more
muscular than herself, has lots of pocket
money (laughter), can smoke cigars, and
' loaf around ' in public places in an ostent-
tious manner forbidden to the decorum of hae
I
100
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
■ituation. (Uproarioui laughter.) She ad*
mirea him for hia bignena, strength, and
proflperity. Hhe likes to hear of his punch*
ing the heads of other ho'ys. (Laughter.)
She anticipates and will be proud of his
future success iu life, and both likes him and
laughs at him for his atl'ectionute, loyal,
though somewhat patronizing friendship for
herself. ((iieat laughter,) Hut of no
nearer connection does she dream, nor does
his bulky imago for a moment disturb her
virginal me<litations. (Laughter.) Iu a
world apart, secluded from all extraneous
influences, nestling at thtf feet of her inajcs-
tio Mother, Canada dreana her dream, and
forebodes her destiny — a dream of ever-
broadening harvests, multiplying towns and
villages, and expanding pastures ; of consti-
tutional self-government, aiad a confederated
Empire ; of page after page of honourable
history added as her contribution to the an-
nals of the Mothej- Country and to the
glories of the British race ; of a perpetuation
tor all time upon this continent of that tem-
perate and well-balanced system of govern-
ment, which combine's in one mighty whole,
a8 the eternal posse^-^iou of all Englishmen,
the brilliant history and traditions of the
f>aat, with the freest and most untrammelled
iberty oj. action in the future. (Tremen-
dous cheering.) Ladies and gentlemen, I
have now done. I have to thank you for
the patience with which you have listened
to me, and once again for the many kind-
nesses you have done Lady Dufferin and
myself during our stay amongst you,
(Applause.) Though elsewhere in the
Dominion stagnation of trade and commerce
has checked for a year or two the general
advance of Canada, here at least you have
escaped the effects of such sinister incidents,
for your welfare being based upon the most
solid of all foundations, the cultivation of
the soil, you are ia a position to pursue the
even tenor of your way untroubled by those
alternations of tortune which disturb the
world of trade and manufacture. You have
been blessed with an abundant harvest, and
soon I trust will a railway come to carry to
those who ueed it the surplus of your pro-
duce, now — as my own eyes have witnessed
— imprisoned in your storehouses for want
of the means of transport. (Cheers.) May
the expanding finances of the country soon
place the Government in a position to gratify
your just and natural expectations." (Great
cheering. )
AT NEW YORK.
[Delivered before the American Geographi-
cal Society on the 31st of January.]
"Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle-
men,, — In rising to respond to the kind ob-
rv^'oi ons which have been made in my re-
gard by your President and the other gentle-
men who have addressed you, I am disturbed
by contending considerations. On the one
hand, i feel that I have no right whatever to
intervene in the present discussioa; on the
other, 1 am naturally desirous to express my
deep sense of the honour conferred upon me
by so friendly a reception. (Applause.) It
is true I once sailed towanls the north, and
got as near the Pole as Washington is to
Ottawa; but the voyage was an fruitless as
that of the Peri to the gate of Paradise, and
possessed bu* jne feature in common with
the expeditions of more serious explorers,
namely, that I had to turn back again.
(Laughter.) With the exception of estab-
lishing the temperature through an unfre-
quented section of the Arctic Ocean, it was
barren both of scientific results and personal
adventure. I am therefore really no more
qualifietl to pronouncp an opinion upon any
of the interesting topics which have been
discussed to-night than a life-long inhabi-
tant of the tropics, and consequently I shall
abstain from doing so. There is, indeed, one
character iu which I can claim admission to
your halls, namely, that of a Fellow of the
Royal Geographical Society of England, and
we well know that geographers are brothers
all the world over. For the geographer, the
political and the ethnological lines of demar-
cation by which nationalities are divided do
not exist. All countries are to him what
Italy in former days was once pronounced
to be; 'geographical expressions,' The only
heroes or potentates on his roll of fame, the
only sacred names admitted to his calendar,
are those gallant mariners and noble explo-
rers who generation after generation have
faced danger, privation and death in the
cause of science, and in the hope of bringing
to the knowledge of mankind those secret
regions of the earth which God has prepaied
from everlasting for the habitation or advan-
tage of the human race. (Loud applause.)
And in no part of the world ought maritime
adventure to be held in higher honour than
on that continent which is irtdebted for its
original birth and present glorions existence
to the heroic daring of the greatest navigator
that ever trimmed a sail or took a bearing.
As a fellow-geographer, therefore, I beg to
express to you my warmest sympathies and
most respectful admiration. And proud am
I to think that the two great Anglo Saxon
Powers of the world should have been so in-
timately associated in these Arctic expedi-
tions, which by common consent are justly
regarded as the most heroic, if not the most
successful, of any which have been under-
taken. (Applause.) I can assure you that
in Great Britain the names of Kane and
Hayes and Hall are as familiar and honoured
1878
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
101
hoaiehold worda as are those of Franklin and
Belcher and McClure in this country (ap-
plause), and never will either the navy or
the people, or the Queen of England, forget
how the United States recovered, refitted,
and returned across the ocean the poor old
battered Resolute to the port from whence
she nailed. Many and strong as are the bonds
of sympathy which unite Great Britain to
America, none, perhaps, have engendered
more affectionate sentiments between the
two countries than those derived from our
united efforts to penetrate the Arctic regions,
and, as 1 may now add, the recesses of Cen-
tral Africa. (Hpplauso. ) But, after all, I feel
I am really here in quite another capacity.
You ore aware that when the great sea cap-
tain, Christopher Columbus, to whom I have
made allusion, returned to the Court of Fer-
dinand, he brought with him in chains several
captive Indian chiefs as proofs of the reality
of hia achievements and as specimens of the
strange nationalities he had discovered. To-
night your discussion has been concerned
with those icy regions which lie l)eneath
Arcturus, and reflect the rosy radiance of
the Aurora; and if Chief Justice Daly has
now led me captive to your presence, it is
only because he wished to parade before
your eyes a potentate whose sceptre touches
the Pole, and who rules over a larger area of
snow than any monarch. (Loud laughter.)
In one respect alone does my condition differ
from that of the prisoners of Columbus.
When presfinted to the Court of Spain the
gentle Isabella commanded their manacles to
be struck from off their limbs, but the chains
I wear are those which have been forged
around my heart by the courtesy, kindness
and consideration I have received at the
hands of the people of the United States,
and such fetters even your imperial mandate
would be powerless, to loose." (Great ap-
plause. )
AT MAGILL UNIVERSITY.
{Delivered in reply to an address by the
Chancellor, the Hon. C. D. Day, on the 13th
of February. The speech was delivered in
Greek, and the following is a translation.
Lord DufiFerin's scholarly reply excited great
admiration.]
" I have listened with great pleasure, Mr.
President, and learned gentlemen of the
Faculty, to all the courteous things you have
said of me. It has given me peculiar satis-
faction to hear the accents of the Attic
tongue ; and I can never think without
•motion of the commendation which has been
bestowed upon me in the language of Plato
and Demosthenes. You will allow me to
couple with this expi ession of my thanks a
few words not perhaps unfitting to
be spoken here, and now. For
those who, like myself, are | incessant*
ly occupied with public affairs, there can be
no such relief from the cares and anxieties of
political life as is to be found in shutting
out the din of the passing hour and the
noises of the world, at one time by turning
aside into the groves of the acudemy, at
another by pacing the marble pavements of
the porch, to renew in the one or the other
ancient ties of friendship and of interest.
Certaiidy no one can fail to rejoice when he
beholds this quiet abode of letters and of
peace. Nay, if the whole truth must be
told, who would not be glad to tarry here —
here in sweet converse with valued friecids,
to share in and to enjoy the progress of all use-
ful knowledge and of true science ? Never-
theless, I must not dally too long with such
reflections, remembering that I administer
the government of a young nation which is
just entering resolutely on the paths which
lead to glory and prosperity, and which, not
yet having attained its full stature, has need
of many services such as we believe this
University fitted to render it. In the actual
condition of our affairs, everyone must deep-
ly feel how close the connection is between
this great institution of learning 9.nd the
fairest hopes of the country — and I most of
all am conscious that in these youths I see the
future strength of Canada. Upon them, in
the due course of time, it will devolve to
take up and carry forward to grander re-
sults the work now entrusted to our hands.
As we now behold their zealous industry,
and their success in pressing up the steep
and narrow way which leads to all sound
learning, we must feel that we may im-
plicitly rely upon them, and that we may con-
fidently leave the commonwealth to such in-
heritors. It is with considerations such as
these, most honourable gentlemen, that I
tender you the thanks I owe you for admit-
ting me into your fellowship. I recall the
years which, when a youtn, I passed at
Oxford as the happiest of my life, nor can
any name fall more sweetly upon our ears
than that of Alma Mater. It is but natural
then that I should prize and promise to hold
in the highest esteem the honour you have
conferreaupon me. One word more let me
add on behalf of my wife, the Countess of
Dufferin, and of my family, and in acknow-
ledgment of the good wishes you have so
cordially lavished upon us : may God grant
yon all the happiness you asked of Him for
us."
AT THE WINDSOR HOTEL.
[Delivered in proposing the health of the
President of the United States, at a banquet
held ,on the 14th of February.]
"Sir Francis Hincks and Gentlemen,
— Although it is very unusual for the guest
1 ;
!■■ I
!.l
4
102
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1S7S
of the eVening to intrude himself upon the
notice of his entertainers at so early a period,
I have venturud to ask permisaion from your
Chairman to intervene for a few mumeuta
for the purpose of introducing a toast.
That toait, ladies and gentlemen, in the
health of the I'reHidont of the Unitud Statua.
(Cheers.) Coming, as I do, straight fnim
the country whose government he adminis-
ters — the uontideratiun for Canada he hau
been pleased to evince in his personal cour-
tesies to myself fresh within my recollection
— my heart still warm and glowing with
the memory of the extraordinary kindness,
attent.on and hospitality with which I have
been honoured by every American citizen
with whom I came into contact— (loud ap-
plause) — whether at Washington or New
York,- or indeed in any other part of the
country — (renewed applause) — you will
readily understan*! I should wish to lose no
opportunity of giving expression to my gra-
titude, and of emphasizing my regard for the
great republic, its ruler and its people —
(bud applause) — and I indulge my inclina-
tions the more readily because I know that
I am interpreting your own sentiments —
(hear, hear) — that my experiences have been
yours, and that probably there is not a single
individual present who caonot testify in his
own perfec'A to the genial good nature, ur-
banity and friendliness of our neighbours
across the line. (Cheers.) Ladies and gen-
tlemen, upon the personal or upon even the
political claims of the President of the United
States to the confidence and affectionate re-
f;ard of his people, it would be out of place
or me to dilate. It is not either in his per-
sonal or political capacity that he presents
himdelf to our regards. It is not for us to
concern ourselves with the conditions and
circumstances under which the Chief of the
American Executive attaips to power. In
our eyes he is solely and simply ' the elect
of the people ' — (applause) — the head of one
of the greatest and noblest nations of the
earth — (loud applausts)— the representative
of their Majesty and Imperium, the reposi-
tory of their power, the mighty Chief of their
glorious Commonwealth — (great applause) —
and when we drink hia health it is the Ame-
rican people we desire to honour — (cheers) —
it is to the American people that we wish
happiness and prosperity, it is to the At le-
rican people we extend the right hand of
fellowship and affection. (Continued ap-
jtlause.) And, gentlemen, the more I know
cf them, the better I have become ac-
quainted with their views and aspirations,
the more disposed I feel io bid you cultivate
their friendship, and to rely upon their gene-
rous regard and sympathy. (Cheers.) A;
{ar as I nave observed, from the President
downwards there is not a human being in the
States who does not wish you well, who is
not anxious to respect your independence,
who does not desire to see you prosperous
and powerful. (Applause.) In the fresh,
free atmosphere of liberty, which sweeps
their land from the Atlantic to the Pauitic,
no noxious root of jealousy can grow, and fi
there is one characteristic by which they are
more distinguished than another, it is chat
of generonity, the inherent attribute of every
educated democracy. (Renewed applause.)
Nay, I will ad.l that if Europe wishes to
leiirn to what perfection kindness can be
brought, to how great a degree genuine hos-
pitality can enhance the graces of social in-
tercourse, it is to this continent they must
come for iuformatioii. (Loud ipplause. )
Ladies and gentlemen, I am ha; to think
that the oheers which my toast ^s called
forth will not die away altogether in silence.
,Vn have amongst us to night three distin-
guished citizens of the States. (Cheers.)
We have our old friend Oeneral l3art, the
Consul-Goneral of the United States, who,
by his courtesy and ability, has won the re-
spoct of all who know him. (Applause.)
VVe have Mr. Biurstadt, one of the most
eminent and distinguished artists of the pre-
sent generation — (cheers) — and I have the
happiness of seeing near me Mr. Webb
Hayes, the son ot the President of the
United States — (cheers) —to whom your city
has extended its hospitality, and in drinking
his father's health, and in bidding him ana
his two other friends welcome to the Cana-
dian soil, I am sure that ho and they will
understand that if, instead of three repre-
sentatives of their nation, the whole people
of America were amunst ua to-night, our
hearts, if not our hotels, would be big enough
to receive them all." (Tremendous ap-
plause.)
I Delivered in response to the toast of his
health on the same occasion. ]
'•Mr. Chairman and (Jenti.kmen, — Be-
foro attempting to express to you the deep
gratitude I feel, not only for the kind recep-
tion you have given to the mention of my
name, but still more for the round of honours
and hospitalities with which I have beea
greeted during the present memorable week,
there is a little matter of business, which,
since it has been referred to by the Consul-
General of the United States, I feel, perhaps,
it would be desirable for me to mention in.
order that once for all I may reply to ik
query which has been put to me by all
m(»si every friend who has heard of my re-
cent visit to Washington. Well, then-
gentlemen — No ! I have not brought
them back in my portmanteau. (Laughter.)
O'Ar fivQ inilUons and a half of fish moaey
■
1878
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
101
were not haoderl to me aoroM the counter
by the President; of the United States
(great laughter), aa many pernunn imagine (re-
newed laughter) to have been the case. What
U more, I did not even aak for them, nor
look as if I wanted them, or indeed as if I
knew anything about them. (Hoars of
laughter.) And in asnuming this attitude of
reserve, I am sure I consulted the <lelicacy
of your feelings. (Renewe<l laughter.) Some
of those pres'int, — I trust not many, for
money is diliicult to come by in these hard
times (laughter) -occupy thj position of cre-
ditors. Well, how do they demean them-
selves under such circumstances? Why,
however resolutely they may be disposed to
Sut the law in force against the\ fraudulent
ebtor, when thoy see the man who owes
them money scraping together every six-
pence within his reach, with the view of dis-
charging his liabilities — appropriating his
wife's pin money (laughter) — cutting
down the allowance of his younger
brothers and sisters — stopping his
children's schooling — and talking, as if
he really meant it, of curtailing his own
dady consumption of cigars and cocktails
(great laughter), he naturally feels it would
be impious to trouble the serenity or to em-
barrass the self-respect of so right-minded a
personage by dunning him for payment.
(Renewed laughter.) If he knocks up
against such a one in the street, he slinks
down the nearest alley (laughter), or ahirku
behind a shop door rather than disturb, by
his own obnoxious and compromising pre-
sence, the self-sutisHed cogitations of so
much virtue. (Roars of laughter.) Well,
then, gentlemen, that was exactly the con-
duct I pursued during my visit to the States.
I was perpetually hiding behind doors
(laughter), and running round street corners
(great laughter), so satisfactory did I find the
public temper in regard to our little matter,
nor did I move a muscle of my countenance
when I was contidentially informed by an
enterprising newspaper interviewer how
General Benjamin Builer and other influen-
tial personages had been overheard to pro-
pose the sale by auction of the Treasury
Buildings at Waahir.jtonrather than that the
Great Republic should remain an instant
longer in the debt of Canada. (Uproarious
laughter.) And yet I did not altogether re-
frain from diplomatic action. When asked
by the Secretary of State to dinner, I osten-
. tatiously abstained from taking fish (roars of
laughter and applause), a demonstration the
force of which Mr. Evarts met and acknow-
ledged by the maintenance of a precious and
pregnant silence (laughter) on the subject of
the Halifax award. Now, 3ome uninstructed
gentleman might imagine this silence
to have been of ominout import. Suoh an
inference only show* how ignorant ■oroe
people are of the subtle manner in which
the representatives of great natiDns inter-
change ideas. (Ijaughter. ) AmbMMulora
do not dispute like washorwomen across a
tub. ((ireat laughter.) When they meet,
they imitate the lofty reticence of thoae two
famous augurs of ancient Rome — a nod, a
wink (laughter), a Uemi-mot, or,as upon this
occasion, no word at all, conveys the most
important decisions. (Laughter.) In Mr.
Evarts' taciturnity I read, as all of you
would have done, a reference to the ancient
(ireek apothegm, 'Speech is silver, but si-
lence is gold' (great laughter), and by re-
maining HpeechlesB Mr. Kvarts intended me
to understand that not only did he intend to
pay up like a man, but that he intended to
pay up in gold like a gentleman (tremendous
cheerinfi and laughter), and the President
himself has confirmed this solemn undertak-
ing of us Ministry by handing over to me
his OWL son as a hoptage (laughter and ap-
plause), though, to save appearances, in the
guise of a friendly visitor. But we have had
a narrow escape. If, by a stroke of Machia-
vellian policy, he had only substituted his
daughter, we are so gallant I believe we
would have kept the young lady and let the
money go. (Cheers and laughter.) And
now, gentlemen, having disposed of the only
serious matter before us, we can afford to
make a night of it, and in order that you
may do so the more agreeably, 1 will hasten
to conclude the task your kindness has im-
posed upon me. And yet, before 1 sit down,
I cannot help desiriiig to express more fully
than I have yet hid an opportunity of doing
my very deep sense of the extraordinary
kindneps I am receiving at your hands. For
an entire week, myself, iny family, my
friends, my staff, my household, have been the
guests of your city, lodged in a palace, and
welcomed to a series of entertainments of
unparalleled splendour and interest. (Great
cheering. ) The Beauty of the Province has
decked itself in its most irresistible charms
to grace the occasion. (Applause.) Thanks
to the muniricence of one of your eminent
citizens, my visit is destined to become as-
sociated with as noble an act of charity as
has ever illustrated the annals of the Domi-
nion (loud applause), while Education, Art,
the Drama, and many other elements of our
national life have received a fresh impulse
and additional proofs of the interest and
sympathy felt for Jxem by your fellow-citi-
zens in virtue of your having permitted me
to become the interpreter and exponent of
the general sentiment in their regard. Such
a prolonged ovation has seldom been ex-
tended,! believe, to the head of any Executive
104
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1878
and if a proof were wanting of your loyal-
ty to our Sovereign, it would be found in
this succession of graceful courtesies to one
Mrhose only claim to' your consideration ia
the fact of his being her representative.
(Great cheering.) For, gentlemen, God for-
bid that 1 should mistake for a moment the
significance of these glorious demonstra-
tions. Unless intended to exhibit your de
votion to the Throne and Person of our gra-
cious Queen — your reverence for the consti-
tution under which you live — they would be
empty, meaningless and vain, (Applause.)
It is only in this sense that I could either
enjoy or accept them, (wheers. ) It may
be, however — and it would be affectation on
my part to ignore the fact — that circum-
'stances of a peculiar nature have invested
the present festival with a character more
Eersonal to myself than those with which I
ave been hitherto so frequently greeted.
(Applause. ) It is probably for the last time
I have the pleasure of Hnding myself in
your presence; and although 1 dislike ex-
tremely touching upon any egotistical topic,
■uch a reflection naturally evokes within my
mind many and many a regret. (Great ap-
Elause.) During a period of six years I
ave frequently come amongst you, mingled
with your society, taken part in your sports
and pastimes, interested myself with your
affairs and business, become one with you in
thought and feeling, and never have I re-
ceived at your hands, whether in my public
or in my private capacity, anything but the
kindest consideration, the most indulgent
sympathy, and the warmest welcome.
(Cheers. ) I have known many of you long
and intimately enough to have watched your
little children grow up into young men
and maidens, your maidens into wives
and mothers, and there is scarcely a family
amongst those I see around me with whose
domestic joys and sorrows 1 have not
been permitted to sympathize. (Ap-
plause. ) But — what is still more significant
-this brief period — hardly exceeding a lustre
to mark the extension of
. 'plication of your public
r churches and of your
jns. (Appi. use. ) But,
have bee/, during my
•)ur affairs, and under
that will have been
m*>
vol-
— has enabled
your city, the
buildings, of
charitable i ,.
best of all, ic wi
administration of
my nominal
auspK
laid, in the widening and the perfecting of
our Lapentiun navigation, the ineradicable
foundations of your future prosperity, nay,
of your commercial supremacy and absolute
dominion over the north-eastern section of
America. (Tremendous applause.) Well,
ladies and gentlemen, ties that have been eo
deeply rooted, ties that have been conse-
crated by such endearing reminiscences, can
never fail or wither, and to my dying day I
shall remomber, nath feelings which cannot
be expressed in words, the extraordinary
marks of confidence and goodwill I have
received from the citizens of Montreal.
(Great applause.) And yet if there is one
thing more than another which causes me
satisfaction in all that you have done and
are doing for me, it is the reflection that the
springs from whence your generous benevo-
lence, your princely hospitalities ascend, are
perennial, inexhaustible, and independent
for their overflow upoa the accidental quali-
ties, of him to whom they are immediately
addressed, and that it is in something deeper,
more laatinv(, more signiflcant, than in your
mere goodwill to an individual official, who
is here to-day and away to-morrow, that
they have their sacred birth and origin.
(Cheers. ) After all, the Viceroys of Canada
are but " 'ajuevr/vd KcipTfva" — fleeting sha-
dows and evanescent r?iVZo/oH» that haunt your
history, but scarcely contribute a line to its
page. Should we leave behind us a
single kindly memory— should our names
hereafter mark a date, or identify a period, it
is the most we can aspire to. Half a column
of a biographical dictionary would suffice to
exhibit the sum of our united achievements ;
so imperceptibly do we come and go, play
our small part, and fade from ofif the scene.
But unsubstantial, phantasmal, and imper-
sonal as we may be individually, we never-
thelesfi represent and symbolize, in our uninter-
rupted succession, some of the most solid
realities of which the modern world can
boast, — for are we not the living proofs and
exponents of the love of a mighty nation for
the children she has sent forth to enlarge
her dominion and enhance her renown
(great applause), — the affection of a great
Colony for a Mother Country, that has en-
dowed her with absolute freedonj and legis-
lative independence, — the reverence of a
free people for constitutional liberty as secur-
ed by monarchical government, — the recog-
nition by the owner s of half a continent of
their right to share a still mightier Imperium
— the love and loyalty of two chivalrous
races towards the purest woman and the
most duty-loving Sovereign that ever wore
a crown or wielded a sceptre (long- continued
applause), — the unswerving confidence of a
modest. God-fearing community in thei
ability to vindicate their independence,
to elaborate their own destiny, and
to guard and embellish to the utmost
the glorious inheritance with which
they have been endowed by Providence.
(Loud and continued applause.) In one re-
spect we are, indeed, but insignificant factors
in the system of your national existence ; ia
another we are more than the equal of the
1878
1878
EARL OP DUFFERIN.
106
ffroatest autocrats that ever terrorized man-
kind. If then, ladies and gentlemen, I
now acknowledge, with all the emphasis of
which language is capable, the Hatiefaction I
have experienced by the exhibition of your
Affection and goodwill towards the Governor
General of Canada, it is not the individual
who thanks you, but the interpreter and
representative of those indestructible princi-
ples of constitutional governmeut.of Imperial
unity, and of natural atTection which are the
foundations of your private happiness and
public prosperity."
AT THK ARTS ASSOCIATION, MONTREAL.
[Delivered in reply to an addresb read by
Sir Francis Hiucks, on the 15th of Feb-
ruary. ]
" On the present occasion the reply I am
about to make will, I think, be as succinct
and as hearty, perhaps, as all those chat I
have hitherto had the honour of composing.
It is a written reply. Every word upon the
paper has been carefully studied. There is
not a word too much in it, or a word too
little. I will not so far trespass upon the
attention ^f this distinguished audience as
to read my reply to the address, but I have
the pleasii --e of handing it unread to Sir
Francis Hincks (His Excellency then hand-
ed a cheque to Sir Francis for $100), and I
have resorted to this course the more readily
because I am well aware that whereas the
professors of every branch of science,
whether it be connected with Greek or with
Latin, with mechanics or metaphysics, with
the military art or any other, think a con-
siderable amount Of previous study is neces-
sary to be able to speak with authority upon
it^ when we come to art, every one seems
to think he is a born art critic, and sufli-
dently capable and intelligent to en]i{»hten
Iiis fellow-creatures upon any topic. (Hear.)
Without worrying the audience with
any superficial remarks in connection with
art, I will contine myself to making an
announcement on behalf of an honoured and
personal friend, who has been pleased to au-
thorir,e mt to inform those interested in the
objects which have been so eloquently en-
larged upon by the projectors of the address,
that it was his intention at no distant date
to enhance the value of Mr. Gibbs' treasures
by the contribution of a valuable picture
which he had been good enough to say I
should put a value upon." (Applause.)
IIT THE SENATE CHAMBER.
[Delivered in reply to the joint address of
the Senate and House of Commons, in the
Senate Chamber, on the 16th of April.]
" Honourable Gentlemen, — It is diffi-
cult for me to find befitting words in which
to thank you for the signal and unprece-
dented honour which has been conferred
upon me by this joint address from your two
Houses. Regarding, as I do, the
utterances of Pariament as the
most august and authoritative ex-
pression of the popular sentiment, it
affords me unmeasured satisfaction to be
thus assured of the confidence and esteem
of the inhabitants of the Dominion.
To win the goodwill of a nation is the
greatest achievement open to human am-
bition, and to learn from you that I hold a
place in the affections of the people of Can-
ada is alike the highest triumph and the
greatest pleasure I am ever likely to enjoy.
It would not become me to enquire how
far this result is to be attributed rather to
your own generosity than to any exertions
upon my part. It is a happy principle root-
ed in the nature of Englishmen uf all estates
to content themselves with the simple dis-
charge of those duties which lie to their
hand, without considering too curiously to
what degree their conduct may influence
the personal estimation in which they are
held by others, and their reward, when it
arrives, is often as great a surprise as it is
a satisfaction. All that I can say is that
from the moment I came amongst you I
have had but one thought— the desire to
render faithful service to our Queen,
to the Empire, and to Canada.
If there are no positive advantages to
which I can point as having resulted from
my administration, there is one boast I can
fairly make. No act or word of mine has a
tendency to damp your personal devotion to
the Crown, to discourage your attachment to
the Empiie, or to discredit the system of
Constitutional Government under which you
live. I found you a loyal people, and 1 leave
you the truest-hearted subjects in Her
Majesty's dominions. I found you proud
of your descent and anxious to maintain
your connection with the Mother Country ;
I leave you more convinced than ever of the
solicitude of Great Britain to reciprocate
your affection of her dependence on youir
fidelity in every emergency. I found you —
men of various nationalities — of Eng-
lish, French, Iiish, Scotch, and German
descent — working out the problems of Con-
stitutional Government with admirable suc-
cess ; I leave you with even a deeper con-
viction in your minds that the ^ue applica-
tion of the principles of Parliamentary Gov-
ernment is capable of resolving every politi-
cal difficulty, and of controlling the gravest
Ministerial crises, to the satisfaction of the
people at large, and of their leaders and
representatives of every shade of opinion.
When I resign the temporary Viceroyalty
with which I have been invested into the
hands of my Sovereign, I shall be able to
■ a
106
THE SPEECHES OF THE
lft78
MMire her that not a loaf has fallen from her
maple chaplet, that the luHtre of no jewel in
her transatlantic diadem has been dimmed.
Thanks totheopportutiitiefl afforded me by the
liberality of Parliament, I have been enabled
to traverse the fertile regions of your North,
West, to appreciate your inexhaustible re-
sources, and to scan the vast expanse of your
territories from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The speeches to which you refer in such
flattering terms have beeii but the natural,
the irresistible, exclamations evoked by the
sights I have beheld. Closely associated
with me in the discharge of all my duties
has been the lady to whom j'our address re-
fers in so kind a manner. Moving amid a
society, where the proverbial gallantry of
Frenchmen combines with English and
Celtic chivalry to create in every Canadian
home an atmosphere of purityaud refiuement
she naturally regards the six years she has
passed amongst you as one of the happiest
periods of her life, and I am commissioned to
convey to you her warmest thanks for the
good wishes you have expressed in her re-
gard. In conclusion, allow me to assure you
that 1 shall esteem it one of the greatest pri-
vileges of my future life to watch the pro-
gressive development of your prosperity, to
advocate your interests in the British Par-
liament, and to confirm our fellow-country-
men at home in their eonviction of the high
degree to which Canada is destined to con-
tribute to the welfare, the strength, and the
renown of the British Empire."
BEFORE THE ONTARIO SCHOOL OF ARTS.
[Delivered in reply to an address read bv
Hon. W. H. Rowland, on the 2l8t of May.']
" Mr. Rowland, Ladies and Gentle-
men, — I assure you that when I accepted an
invitation to open this Exhibition I was
quite unprepared for the reception you have
given me, and still less for those very kind
and gracious words to which Mr. Rowland
l^as just given utterance, and with which
you have testified your acquiescence. I
thought that my duty would be simply con-
fined to coming here in company with Mr.
Rowland and ray other artistic friends, and
strolling among the pictures as a mere spec-
tator. But under the present circumstances
I cannot refrain from assuring you that I
esteem it a very great privilege to have had
an opportunity of paying this unexpecte
visijti to Toronto, more especially in connec-
tion with an object of such importance to
this community, and that is so congenial to
my own tastes and pursuits. Far be it from
me, ladies and gentlemen, to trespass on
your attention with any dissertation upon
Art. That is a subject upon which every-
body thinks himself competent to speak ad
inAnitum, but with regard to which few
people can say anything very much to the
pur^ioee. Art is a subject rather of feeling
than of science, and notliing is so difficult to
render in words as those subtle sensationi
which objects of Art evoke within our
breasts. AH that I can say is, that I am
happy to know that such a Society as that
in whose gallery we are now assembled
should have established itself in your midst ;
and although its beginninc may be considered
modest, it cannot fail to fulHl a prosperous
career. After all, we must remember that
the Academy of Great Britain began pretty
much like this Society, and now the corres.
ponding ceremony in London to that whicL
we are celebrating to-day is considered by
everybody in Great Britain as one of the
great festivals of the year; and the one
public dinner in London which is always re-
garded as a source of pleasure to all those
who are invited, and an invitation to which
is coveted beyond measure, is the public
dinner given by the Royal Academy to those
distinguished gentlemen in the several lines
of politics, literature, and art, who are in
Loudon during the season. 1 trust the time
may not be far distant when this Society
will hnd itself sufiioiently strong, sufficiently
popular, to establish something of a similar
entertainment in Toronto. I have to con-
gratulate the Society upon the very ex-
cellent display which it has exhibited on its
walls. I trust it will not be presumptuous
if I venture to hazard the opinion that that
display indicates marked progress. In the
first place, there are a fewer number of
pictures, and evidently the Society has been
more severe in its selection of those works
which it has thought fit to exhibit to the
public. There is only one other topic in re-
spect to which I would venture to detain
you. I dare say there are present to-day
many young artists who are members of the
School of Art which is being so liberally
sustained in connection with the Society
itself. Let me say to those students, that
although it may be perfectly true that they
may feel themselves at a disadvantage in
having to enter upon their career of study
under less favourable circumstances than
are enjoyed by their fellow-students in the
great schools of London and of Paris, yet
they should not feel discouraged, be-
cause, at all events at the outset
of the study of Art, very little
is to be obtained from the supervision of
a master. What they need is perseverance
industry, and, above all, modesty. The na-
tural instinct of a student of art is to slur
over and shirk the very thing upon which
his future success will depend, namely, the
S 3vere study of outline drawing. One's na-
tural instinct is to hurry into colour. Now',
1878
EA.RL OP DUFFERIN.
IW
II' ?
let me tell these youn^ persons that iu the
School of Art at Paris no student is allowed
to touch anything but a piece of charcoal or
a lead pencil for four entire years. For four
years the student is kept strictly and rigidly
to simple drawing with charcoal and with
pencil. The result of that is that the French
are almost the only people in Europe Who
draw. And yet it is obvious ♦hat good
drawing is the very foundation of all excel-
lence in art. In England the course has not
been quite so severe ; and I do not say but
that perhaps the French carry their discipline
in this respect to too great lene^ths. In Eng-
land, I think, the course ia three years, but
there is no doubt that the very first thing a
student has to do is to tell himself that be-
fore he attempts to indulge in those brilliant
fancies which adorn his dreams he must first
learn to draw. It must be remembered that
as beautiful a work of art can be produced
on a sheet of common letter paper with a
common pencil as with anything else, if the
artist only knows how to use his pencil. For
instance, if you go to the great halls of art
in London, in Paris, in Dresden, or in Rome,
you will find displayed sketches in pen and
ink, charcoal, and pencil which A^ould now
sell for thousands of pounds. These studies
have been left for the admiration of future
generations by the great names of antiquity
— by Michael Angelo, Raphael, Correggio,
and the other artists of the several countries
to which I have referred. And it must not
be supposed that this severe discipline, if it
is really encountered in the proper spirit, is
devoid of the greatest satisfaction. On the
contrary, if a really zealous art student will
condescend to shut himself up with what are
called 'blocks' — than is, with square,
round, and hexagonal pieces of wood — he will
be able to arrange these blocks in the hiost
interesting forms, and he will discover in a
little time that he is capable of enjoying the
very greatest excitement in delineating these
forms with correctness ; and his success will
convince him that this is not only a very
great triumph, but one of the very best step-
ping-stones towards excellence in art. Then
he will proceed from drawing outlines to
drawings in black and white, and perhaps
eventually, if he has faithfully pursued his
course, he will be permitted to indulge in a
little colour, and so he will go on from step
to step, all the time feeling that every day
and every hour he is acquiring greater power
and greater facility, until at last his plea-
sure becomes so great that words cannot de-
scribe it. And such a course has this fur-
ther advantage — that it is as open to women I
as to men. Now-a-days the attention of the
w<trld is very properly turned to the various
respects in which women can take part with
men in those more serious occupations which
heretofore have been, perhaps too exclusive'
ly, conh led to the male sex. Well, persons
may differ in rei^ard to several of the direo-
tiona indicated as proper to be pursued bv
ladies, but all must be agreed that at all
events art is a field of labour in which they are
equally entitled with men to compete and
excel. There is in London an Artists' Soci-
ety entirely confined to lady artists, and
everybody will tell you that they compare
most favourably with their brother artists.
We must also remember that Angelica Kauff>
mann and Madame Le Brun were members
of the Royal Academies of their respective
countries ; and inasmuch as it is not a ques-
tion of muscular power so much as of delicacy
of touch and handling, in these respects
women are p'-e-eminently endowed. Conse-
queutly, I am glad to observe that amongst
the meml)ers of this Society there are to be
reckoned several ladies ; and I only trust
that as time goes on their ranks will be still
further recruited. Ladies and gentlemen, I
now conclude these brief observations with,
in the first place, wishing you and the Soci-
ety every possible success ; and in the next,
with' returning to you my warmest and
heartiest thanks for the pleasant reception
which you have given me, for the opportunity
which you have afforded me of seeing again
so many friendly and well-known faces, and
above all things for the extremely kind and
touching expression with which Mr. How-
land has been good enough to interpret your
feelings towards myself and Lady Dufferin.
( Loud applause. ) One further duty I have
to pet form, and that is to declare this Exhi-
bition open."
TO THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEEKS,
[Delivered at the sham fight in Montreal,
on the 24th of May.]
"Soldiers AND Citizens ov the Great
American Republic, — I cannot allow the
opportunity to escape of expressing to you,
both on my own behalf, on behalf of the Go-
vernment and country, and on behalf of Her
Gracious Majesty, whose representative I am,
the extreme satisfaction which I experience
in thus being able to welcome you as guests
in the name of the people of Canada to the
soil of the Dominion. (Cheers.) A greater
compliment could hardly be paid by one
country to another than that which you have
been good enough to confer upon us by tjhus
joining with our fellow-citizens and soldiers
in celebrating the birthday of our Queen.
(Loud cheers.) I accept the demonstiation
upon your part as an additional proof of that
undisturbed friendship which I trust will al-
ways prevail hereafter between the two coun-
tries ; and, furthermore, I have to congratu-
late you upon your admirable soldierly ap-
i!!
■ Hi! •
ii'i
ill
■ i!
106
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
pearance. Although I am a civilian to-day,
yet, once having occupied the position of
under Secretary for War in Great Britain,
and from haviug had occasion to make my-
self acquainted more than nxost civilians
with military affairs, it is scarcely pre-
sumptuous in me if I venture to pay you
that well-merited compliment. I trust we
shall be able to make your visit to the
city sufficiently agreeable to you, not only
in such a manner as will please you while
you remain with us, but that we may entice
you to return, and not only yourselves, but
others of your countrymen to imitate your
example upon future occasions."
TO THK MONTREAL BRIGADE.
[Delivered at a banquet in the evening of
the same occasion.]
" Gentlemen, — I thank you most hearti-
ly for the cordial manner in wjiich you have
drunk my health. I should have felt I had
lost one of the pleasures to which my office
legitimately entitles me, had I been compel-
led to leave Canada without taking part in
such a celebration as the present. During
the whole term of my office, I have never
had an opportunity of seeing myself sur.
rounded by the representatives of out* Cana-
dian Forces. It is true, I have had the good
fortune to come into individual contact with
most of the distinguished officers of the
DoJiinion, but until now I have never seen
them gathered round me in their corporate
capacity. On my arrival in Ottawa, six
years ago, ene of my first duties was to go
to a review at Kingston, but since then, un-
til to-day, I have never had a chance of see-
ing any large body of troops assembled in the
field. My experience of the military lt7iue
of Canada has been confined to guards of
honour. (Laughter. ) Of these, I have
seen a greater number, and in a greater
variety of places, than the Sovereign of the
most military nation in the world ; and,
though a civilian, I have acquired as good
an eye for criticizing this special and peculiar
formation as my friend the Lieutenant-
General himself. (Laughter.) Last year, I
endeavoured to collect under my roof at
Ottawa as many officers of our national
army as I could lay my hands on, but an
unfortunate accident prevented my
receiving my guests in person. The
apeatacle, however, I' have witness-
ed this morning — the scene which
now meets my view — more than repays me
for my previous disappoiutment. Any-
thing more admirably arranged, more grati-
fying to the pride of Canadians, and to all
the friends of Canada, than the performance
of this morning, cannot well be conceived.
(Cheers. ) From first to last everything has
passed on to my entire satisfaction, and I
now beg to tender my best thanks — and I
render this acknowledgment not only on
my own behalf, but on behalf of my fellow-
spectators, and of the country at large — to
the Lieutenant-General who has planned, to
the Militia authorities who have organized,
and to the officers and men who, at great
personal sacrifice and inconvenience, have
executed and earn "i out the triumpiiant
celebration with which we have this morning
saluted the birthday of onr Moat Gracions
Sovereign, (Cheers. ) It is not for me to
indicate, even by praise, the professional
excellences cf the mananivres. That plea-
surable task will be performed in due time
by a more competent authority. But there
is one characteristic of to-day's perform-
ances, at all events, which must have at-
tracted everyone's attention — that is, the
magnificent appearance, the patriotic en-
thusiasm, the spirited alacrit/, the loyal
sentiments which have been exhibited by
each and all of the regiments that have
paraded before us. Though I should be
very far from wishing to depreciate the
effects of training and discipline in produc-
ing efficiency, we n it all admit — even the
greatest martinets «mongst us — that such a
lively spirit of patriotism, such an exuberant
alacrity in the performance of their military
duties, as have been exhibited to-day by
our soldiers, is the first step towards the
formation of victorious battalions. Happily,
the prospect of the Dominion being required
to array itself in defence of its homes
and liberties is remote. We have but one
nation for our immediate neigbour, and with
that nation we are united by long tradition,
by a community of interests, and by a con-
tinual interchange of courtesies, — in indis-
soluble friendship (hear, hear), while those
foreigners who, under any unhappy circum-
stances, might attempt to assail us, are re-
mote and separated from our shores by
leagues of sea. It is true, of late there have
been heard a few vague and probably exag-
gerated rumours of a certain amount of Celtic
effervescence (loud laughter) along our
Southern frontier, but I cannot believe that
such an unpardonable crime as a second
filibustering attack upon the sacred peace of
Canada can be in contemplation. I never
have and never will speak harshly or dis-
respectfully of my Irish countrymen (cheers),
however wrong I may consider their opi-
nions, or misguided their conduct. It is not
by harsh or violent language we shall win
them back to a friendlier frame of mind.
(Hear, hear.) Undoubtedly, in past days,
Ireland has suffered ill treatment and injus-
tice ; but for generations England has
strained every nerve*to make reparation for
1878
indis-
those
. never
or dis-
cheers),
ir opi-
is not
all win
mind.
t days,
in jus-
d has
ion for
878
EARL OF DUFFBRIN.
109
thoae wrongD. (Hear, hear.) However dig'
posed, therefore, we may be to make allow-
ance for the circumstances which may have
generated these inimical passions, if they
tietke effect in acta of outrage and murder — if
the peaceful homesteads of Canada are to be
ravaged by hands of marauders, who can
have no possible quarrel with her peaceable
inhabitants, such violence — a violence whi<;h
outrages every law recognized by civilized
mankmd — must be suppressed with unhesi-
tating firmness (hear, hear) ; but, as I said
before, I cannot bring myself to believe in
the possibility of so great a wrong. During
my various progrenses through the country I
have come into contact with hundreds and
hundreds of kindly Irishmen, labouring in
the field, the forest, by the river side, or in
the mine, and never did I meet one who did
not give me a hearty welcome, both as a
fellow-countryman and as tlie represen-
tative of the Queen. (Loud cheers.) Hap-
pily for Canada, these Irishmen are sown
broadcast through the land, and are intimate-
ly associated with their fellow-oitizens of
French, English and Scotch descent. They
are contented, prosperous and loyal. Yet
it is these Irish homes — where the
kindliness, hospitality, the wit and the
mirth of old Ireland livesuuder such happy
auspices — which are to be involved, together
with those of their British and French neigh-
bours, in these unnatural hostilities. (Hear,
hear.) What cause of quarrel has the inva-
der with the people of Canada which our
own Irish fellow-citizens could not themselves
allege, had they a mind to do so? (Hear,
hear. ) Nor are the Irish the only nationality
within our borders who might, if they chose,
tranrfiate historical wrongs into actual war-
fare. Half the population of Glengarry, I
believe, fled to this country, if not from Cul-
' loden, at all events from their Highland
homes, to avoid the tyranny of him whom
they called a usurper, whose great-grand-
daughter now sits upon the throne ; yet
where is there to be found a more loyal peo-
ple in the world than the people of Glen-
garry ? In considering, therefore, the possi-
ble occasions on which we may have to rely
upon the valour of our gallant troops, I re-
ject with horror from my thoughts the idea
that they should ever be called upon to shed
the blood of even the most inconsiderate or
irreconcilable of our Irish fellow country-
men. Nay, on a day of peril, if in the Cana-
dian line of battle 1 could find a regiment
more essentially Irish in its composition than
the rest, it would be to the keeping of that
regiment I would by preference entrust the
standard of the Queen and the flag of the
Dominion. (Great cheering.) And, gentle-
men, if this cloud — or rather, phantasmal
exhalation — lie dispersed along our southern
boundary, what is there behind it in that
direction but illimitible sunshine, and the
prospect of perpetual peace ? ( Hear, hear. )
It is true, even so, we are still liable to in-
vasion, and to-day we have witnessed how
soldier-like and martial is the array of our
Southern neighbours. (Loud cheers.) But
if they have forced the bulwarks of our laud,
if they have penetrated to the heart of our
richest city, if they have established them-
selves within the precincts of our camp, it
has only been to give us a fresh proof of the
kindly feelings entertained for us by them-
selves and their fellow-countrymen in the
States, perhaps to lay siege to the heartb of
our young ladies (laughter) and to join with
us in doing honour to our Gracious Queen.
In the name, then, of all those who are pre-
sent — of the Volunteer Army of Canada, of
the people of Canada, I bid them welcome ^
and, inasmuch as it is the habit of every
politic Government to extend to deeds of
military daring substantial rewards, I hereby
promise to every American soldier-citizen
who is now present, or shall ever aftet take
part in our reviews, a free-grant farm within
the Arctic Circle the day he takes the oath
of allegiance. (Loud and continued laugh-
ter. ) But, though we have thus disposed in
the most satisfactory manner of all possible
foes wdthin the circuit of our immediate
vision, it is not the less necessary, on that
account, that we should take ^ose precau-
tious which every nation sinds the world
began has found requisite for its safety. Let
us learn a lesson from the fate of the aborigi-
nal inhabitants jf this very continent. We
read in the pages of Prescott, how happy
and careless were their lives, how destitute
of fear, as they sported and slept beneath
the umbrageous shelter of their tropical
groves. War with them had ueased to be an
imaginable contingency, every possible foe
had disappeared from the limits of their
isolated world, yet suddenly, unexpectedly,
coming from whence none knew, there stood
upon their shores steel-clad men, armed with
the thunderbolts of death, and in a few short
years that harmless, flower-crowned people
were annihilated — their altars, cities and
temples l?id wa?te and desolate. Happily, *
the repetition of such a catastrophe in our
case is impossible ; but, for all that, a war
cloud seems to be gathering in Europe,
which may involve the entire Empire in its
dreadful shadow. As members of that Em-
pire, as men of British descent, as subjects of
Queen Victoria, it may be necessary for us to
face the responsibilities which our national-
ity- jntails. You have seen by the papers
the precautions your Government has taken
to protect that — happily for us — restricted.
1lil .
I
•iiii
i'i
iio
THE SPEECHES OP THE
1878
portion of our seaboard which is within
reach of an eneniy'a auault ; but I am proud
to think that the spirit of Canadian patriot-
ism has not confined itself merely tu these
exertions. Almost every mail has brought
either to me, or to the Prime Minister, or to
the Minister of Militia, the most enthusastic
offers to serve in the Queen's nrmies abroad
in the event of foreign war. (Loud cheers.)
These offers have represented not merely the
enthusiasm of individuals, but of whole regi-
ments and brigades of men. (Renewed
cheers. ) It has been my duty to transmit
them to the Hom^ Government, and to the
foot of the Throne ; and I should be failing
in my duty if I neglected to tell you that
they have been duly appreciated, not only by
the Queen's Ministers, but by the Queen her-
self. (Prolonged cheering. ) It will, undoubt-
edly, require a great deal of consideration to
determine to what'extent, and in what man-
ner, advantage is to be taken of such noble
self-devotion. Happily the time has not yet
arrived, and I trust to God it may never do
so, for giving practical effect to the sugges-
tions which have been received ; but I feel
that I could noh have a better oppoitunity
of recording and emphasizing facts so indica-
tive of the martibl and loyal spirit of the
Canadian people as those I have indicated.
No, gentlemen — God grant that many a long
year may pass before the note of warlike
preparation rings through the quiet hamlets,
the sun-lit fMds, and the prosperous cities of
Canada. Bat should the evil day arrive,
let it find us prepared and ready to do our
duty. (Hear, hear.) It is not by undisciplined
levies, however enthusiastic, that the homes
and liberties of a country can be guarded.
Every day war is becoming a more compli-
cated science, the problems of which can only
be successfully dealt with by highly organ-
ized battalions and trained and scientific
officers. Above all, remember, things are
not with you as they were a few short years
ago. British North America is no longer the
congeries of disconnected Provinces, destitute
of any strong bond of sympathy or mutual
attachment. You are no longer Colonists or
Provincials — you are the owners, the defen-
ders and guardians of half a continent — of a
land of unbounded promise and predestinated
renown. (Hear, hear. ) That thought alone
should make men and soldiers of you all.
Life would scarcely be worth living, unless
it gave us something for whose sake it was
worth while to die. Outside our domestic
circle there are not many things that come
up to that standard of value. But one of
these you possess — a country you can be
proud of ; and never should a Canadian for-
get, no matter what his station in life, what
his origin or special environments, that in
this broad Dominion he haa that which it is
worth while both to live for and to die for."
(Loud and long-continued cheers. )
FAKKWELL TO OTTAWA.
[Delivered in reply to aa address from the
Mayor and Corporation on the 7th of .liiue.]
'* Mr. Mayor and Gkntlemen,-^I am
moved more than I dare trust myself to say
by the kind address with which you have
just honoured me, ' breathing aa it does a
spirit of personal regard and affection,
rather than that of official compliment.
As you say, for six years my wife and I
have lived amongst you, I might almost say
in the intimacy of domestic intercourse.
Our daily occupations, interests and amuse-
ments have been more or less identical with
your own. Two of our children are your
fellow-citizens ; and no embellishment hps
enhanced the beauty and dignity of your
lovely city that has not occasioned as much
pride and pleasure to us as it coulu have
done to you. Indeed, among the many re-
grets which our departure entails upon us,
by no means the least is the thought that
we shall no longer have the daily pleasure of
admiring, and re-Jtdmirin^, your Parliament-
ary buildings, which, both as regards their
site, their architectural splendour and pictur-
esque and regal outline, excel all others
that exist upon this continent. It
has been a deep regret to me to learn
that, for the last two or three years, Ottawa
has shared in that commercial depression
which has been so severely felt, not only over
the whole of this continent, but in every
European country. Happy
have been had this a. e
completely disappeared
departure ; Vmt though the
overcast, already I think a lightening of the
atmosphere can be discerned in various
quarters, nor have I the slightest hesitation
in predicting the fairest prospects for your
future fortunes. Independently of the
lumber trade, which cannot fail
shortly to revive, there are many circum-
stances which point to the inevitable in-
crease in the wealth, importance and dignity
of your city. I suspect that the mineral
resources of the region which surrounds you
will piove very considerable. You will
eventually find yourselves on the shortest,
the cheapest and most important of all the
lines_of railway between the Atlantic and the
Pacific : while the expanding power, wealth
and energies of this great Dominion will
necessarilystimulatethe vitality, and enhance
the importance of its legislative metropolis
But it^ IS not on these public topics I had
intended to speak to you. It is not the Gov-
ernor-General of Canada who is addressing
you, but your fellow-townsman ; and speak-
should I
of anxiety
before my
sky be still
1878
1878
EAKL OF DUPFERIN.
Ill
lich it is
lie for."
trom the
>f .liiue.]
-»-I am
ilf to say
ou have
I does a
iffectioD,
pliment.
t'e and I
most say
ercourse.
cl amuse-
iual with
ire your
lent hps
of your
as much
ila have
many re-
upoD us,
^ht tliat
easure of
rliament-
irds their
id pictur-
II others
ent. It
to learn
i, Ottawa
epression
ouly over
in every
lould I
anxiety
ire my
be still
Dg of the
various
lesitation
for your
of the
ot fail
circum-
able in-
i dignity
mineral
unds you
J'ou will
shortest,
of all the
c and the
wealth
ion will
i enhance
letropolis
C3 I had
the Gov-
Idressing
Ld speak-
ing both on Lady Dufferiu's behalf, and on
my own, I can assure you that no two
people can have ever paased six happier
years than we have done beneath the roof
of Iliiioau. The consciousness of the many
friendships we have made, of the kindly
feelings displayed to us by persons of all
creeds, classes and professions, will serve to
enhance for the rest of our lives the happy
re^'.oliections of these times ; and I tiust
that from henceforth, not only shall I my-
self have many opportunities of being of use
to you, both uoUeubively and intiividually,
but that it will remain a tradition in my
house to love and «erve Canada and her
tjsjofle.'*
AT HARVARD UNIVEHSITY.
[Delivered before the Alunmi Association
at dinner on the 2Gth of June. [
"Mr. President and Gentlemen, —
Among the many ]:rivi]eges attaching to my
high ofiiue as representative of Her Majesty
in Canada, there is none to which I have at-
tached greater value than the opportunities
which it has afforded me of cultivating
friendly relations with the Government and
the people of the United States (applause) ;
but although ere now I have had opportuni-
ties of addressing American audiences, I
have never found myself in the presence of a
more august assembly than the present.
S .anding in a hall — itself an historical monu-
ment such as no European University can
boast of — in the presence of many whose
achievements as statesmen, as men of
science, as poets, as historians, as lawyers,
have won for them the admiration of the
civilized world (applause)- -environed by the
effigies of your old Colonial worthies and
Governors — of the Wiuthrops and Endicotts
of early days, as well as by those of the
heroes of the Independence period, of the
Adamses, Franklins, Jeffersons of the last
century — nay, seated at the same board with
the distinguished descendants of those
famous men, I might well shrink from in-
truding myself upon your attention. At
the same time I cannot help remembering
that I now stand beneath the maternal roof,
and can appeal to every one present in right
of those brotherly relations which have been
eetablished between us. (Applause) En-
couraged by these considerations, I should be
wanting in courtesy if I did not seize the op-
portunity of expressing to the authorities of
this University my veiy deep sense of the
honour conferred upon me by permitting me
to enter the ranks of its alumni. (Applause.)
The loving veneration with which I regard
my own Alma Mater of Oxford is in itself a
sulHcient security that I duly appreciate the
privileges to which I have been admitted.
But I confess there is a further reason which
leads me to pay every mark of reverence in my
power to this University. My experience in
Cauda has taught me to prize at a higher
value than ever, the inHucnces which ema>
uate from these centres of intellectual effort
and moral vigour. Although civilization
has been in possession of America for nearly
300 years — although its population has at-
tained so enormous an expansion, our ener-
gies are for the most part of necessity still
engaged in contending with the brute f( real
of nature,and in converting to our uses those
endleps tracts of territory which have passed
into our possession. As a consequence I have
observed that in Canada.and perhaps the ob-
servation may be equally applicable to this
country, there is some little danger of the
more ideal side of life being lost and for-
gotten — of our attention being too exclusive*
ly turned to providing for the material well-
being of society — and of the successful rccu*
mulation of wealth becoming the princif il
title to social, consideration. Now to su^h
unfortunate tendencies and conclusions, these
sacred workshops of the brain are the most
powerful correctives ; for here we are
taught to recognize the existence of posses-
'sions more valuable than anything which
either money or power can procure, and that
the noblest aim of life is not merely to make
a fortune, or to leave an estate to our descen
dants — though these may he perfectly legi-
timate and honourable objects of ambition —
but to elevate the moral standard of our
generation; to enlarge the limits and capaci-
ties of human thought; to restrain the en-
croachments of sin, sickness, poverty, igno-
rance, corruption, and dishonesty ; and to
render our Fatherland a still more glorious
home for uur children even than it has been,
for ourselves. Such are thelessons that you
teach, nnd when I remember that thisnation
— so gifted by Providence with all the bless-
ings which a bounteous Nature can confer,
so successful in the art of self-government,
so removed from the disturbing inHuences of
external forces, its social system so untram-
melled by traditional anomalies — is adorned
throughout its length and breadth with many
and many a noble seminary of learning, that,
tired by your example, is rivalling your ef-
forts, I cannot but hope that hand in hand
with our own Cnnada it is destined to show
the world by what sure and simple methods
the happiness of the human race may be im-
measurably increased. (Great applause.)
But, gentlemen, it is not these considerations
alone which move me to express my grati-
tude for the honour you have done me. I
have long had the good fortune of knowing
some of the most distinguished personages of
New England — Mr. Adams (applause), Mr.
Longfellow (applause), Mr. Emerson (ap-
11 ,
112
THE SPEECHES OF THE
187ft
pUuae), Mr. Holmes (applause), Mr. Ijowell
(applause), and I am now the guest of one
whose own literary and political career hab
added fresh lustre to the name of the foun-
der of your conui.v>nwealth, of whom ho is
the direct descendant and representative,
and with whom I am happv to think I am
entitled to claim clone kiuHhip. (Applause.)
At home I have sometimes had the pririle^^e
of welcoming to my roof no lesser men than
Prescott, Hi-wthorne, Story, Motloy (great
applause), and when 1 consider that through
your grace I have been domiciled, so to speak,
within the precincts of that sumo Alma
Mater whence these great and noble men de-
rived their inspiration, and where, during a
youth of high endeavour and unceasing in-
austry and self-sacritice, they laid sure and
deep the foundations of that world- wide fame
which now reflects such honour upon the
University which sent them forth, I am
naturally deeply sensible of the privileges
thus conferred upon me. (Great applause. )
For while we gentlemen of the outside
world have been merely occupied in those
material pursuits which minister to the well-
being of ourselves and families,each of these,
in their several lineo of literary or artistic •
achievement, have endowed their country
with whatThucydides with such proud pres-
cience pronounced his history m ould prove a
* Ktema es aei. In conclusii>n, gentlemen, I
cannot sit '^ wn without expressing to you
my warmest admiration of the ncene at whi'^h
I was permitted to assist this morning. The
dignity and decorum of the ceremonial attend-
ing the granting of your degrees has made a
most profound impression upon my mind.
Above all, when I consider the amount of
rhetorical ability, of philosophical acumen,
of practical appreciation both of economical
and political questions exhibited by those of
your students to whose exercitations we had
the pleasure of listening, I cannot help say-
ing to myself, if the Young America of
to-day is capable of so satisfactory an exhibi-
tion, what may we not expect from its ma-
turer and more serious efforts in the time to
come." ( Prolonged applause. )
TO THE QUEBEC LEGISLATUKE.
[Delivered before the Members of the
Quebec Legislature, in reply to an address
presented on the 22nd of June. ]
" Hon. Gentlemen and Gentlemen, —
To say that I am deeply moved by the ad-
dress with which the two Houses of the
Quebec Legislature have honoured me, is
to express but very little of what I feel, for
at such a moment t cannot help remember-
ing that it was when landing on your shores
six years ago 1 was made to feel for the
first time amongst what a loyal, cultivated
and generous people I had come to take up
my abode. Certainly no Viceroy could
have entered upon his career under happier
auspices than those you had prepared for rae.
yinco that time Lady Dufferin and myself
have had the happiness of frequently revisit-
ing our summer home witnin your lofty
Citadel, and at each return that home has
become endeared to us by ever brightening
a88ociation»«, and the cementing of closer
fiendship. Yeai by year I have had better op-
portunities of appreciating the devotion of
the inhabitants of the Province of Quebec to
the Throne and (iovernment of ohe (^ueon,and
to the interests of the Empire ; and nothing
has gi v'en me great ir pride than to observe,
when a cloud of war recently threatened
Great Britain.gthat Her Majesty's French
Canadian subjects were not a wiiit behind
their Eni,'lish, Scotch and Irish fellow-citi-
zens in testifying their willingness to rally
to the defence of Her dominions. It
is (|uite true that the distinctions of
race which exist within the borders of Can-
ada complicate to a certain de_ree those
problems of government with which the
statesmen of the country are periodically
called upon to deal, but the inconveniences
which may sometimes arise from this source
are more than counterbalanced by many ad-
vantages which ensue from it. I do not
think that ethnological homogeneity is an
unnjixed benefit to a country. Certainly
the least attractive characteristic of a great
portion of the continent is the monotony of
many of its outward aspects, and I consider
it fortunate for Canada that her prosperity
should be founded on the co- operation of
different races. The inter-action of national
idiosyncrasies introduces into {our existence
a freshness, a variety, a colour, an eclectic
impulse, which otherwise would be wanting ;
and it would be most faulty statesmanship
to seek their obliteration. My warmest as-
piration for this Province has always been
to see its French inhabitant° executing for
Canada the functional which France herself
has so admirably performed for Europe.
Strike from European history the achieve-
ments of France — subtract from European
civilization the contributions of France, —
and what a blank would ' be occasioned I
I am very sensible of your goodness in re-
ferring in such flattering terms to my humble
endeavours to promote the embellishment
of your city, by the preservation and adorn-
ment of its picturesque and world-famous
battlements. Though various circumstances
have postponed the execution of the
project, I am happy to be able to announce
that, ere many days pass by, a commence-
ment will ha /e been mad«, not without ad-
vantage, I trust, to those of our fellow-
citizens who in these recent times of distress
,
1878
EARL OF DUPFERIN.
118
ider
perity
ion of
dtional
steuce
clectic
nting ;
anship
eat as-
been
ng for
herself
urope.
hieve-
ropean
ce, —
oned !
in re-
umble
hment
idorn-
amous
tances
the
ounce
ence-
utad-
ellow-
tresB
have found n difficultv in obtaining employ-
ment. In conclusion, allow me to o^presn to you
in Lady Dufferin'a name, her deep aenae of the
complimnnt paid to her in your address. In
no part of tlio Doininio; haa nho met with
groator courtesy, with more chivalroiia and
considerate attention, than in the city of
Quebe J, and never will its picturesfpie out-
lines, or the lovely soonery which surrounds
it, fade from her memory or from mine."
AT OUANHY.
[Delivered in reply to an addroaa, on the
20th of August. ]
" Mr. Mayor, Ladies ani> r}ENTLKMR>f,
— I would re({uire far greater in .;enuity than
even an accomplished sj^oaker i night possess,
to vary tho<e expressions ot delight and
satisfaction to which every fiovernor-CJeneral
raust desire to give utterance, when making
an official tour through any part of Canada,
BO cordial, so universal, so loyal ia the recep-
tion he meets with in every hamlet, village,
town or city through which he passes. In-
deed I must fairly admit to you that my
vocabulary of felicitation and panegyric has
been almost exhausted by the n(.ver-ending
evidences I meet with of the contentment and
patriotism of the Canadian people. And yet,
in almost every district I traverse there are
nearly always to be found some peculiar and
novel features, affording fresh and unaccus-
tomed grounds upon which to congratulate
its inhabitants. Certainly nowhere do these
exist in greater abundance than in the East-
ern Townships, which seem to comprise
within their area all the advantages which
one would desire to congregate within the
circuit of an ideal kingdom (applause) :
beautiful scenery, where mountain, hill and
dale, woodland, lake and river, are mingled
together in the most picturesque confusion ;
convenient means of communication with the
adjacent centres of population both in Canada
and the States ; breadths of agricultural
land of the best quality, and such pastiires
as have enabled those enterprising gentlemen
who devote themselves to the raising of
cattle, to bring to market beasts which vie,
both in reputation and the prices they fetch,
with those produced by the most noted
breeders in England (hear, hear) ; while the
entire population seems to be animated by a
spirit of energy and enterprise which is
determined to do more than justice to the
material advantages placed within its
reach. In fact, the. conditions of this pe-
culiar and beautiful region are so remarkable
that it is here, I venture to prophesy, will be
developed a phase of our many-sided Cana-
dian existence, which, though now in its
infancy, cannot fail eventually to assume
considerable proportions, and to add greatly
to the well-being and happiness of a large
proportion of the community. (Applause.)
Hitherto, in Canada, a flharp line haa divided
the occuiiantfl <»f the urban from those of
the rural populatiim. (liear, hear.) TLe
farmers of (Janad.i have constituted a class
by themaelvea, nor ;ih a rule have our huc-
ceasful tradera and merchants been often
tomnted to remove with their accumulated
wealth into the country, from the neighbour-
hood of those marts and haui ta <f ooinmerca
which witnesaiMl their early atrugglea and
ultimate aucceap. As a cousei.ueiiue, the
prospects and advantages auppoHud to be con-
nected with a mercantile curler have become
invested with a preatige and importance
which experience <Ioe8 not always prove to
have belonged to them, and our farmers'
sons, instead of being contented to stick to
agricultural pursuits, have been thus tempted
— with insufficient capital, scant experience,
and defective training — to set up aa amall
traders, to their own ruin, and the great dis-
advantage of he country. (Hear, hear.)
Now, this undoubtedly is an evil. Important
and essential to our wealth and greatness as
may be our mercantile and manufacturing
industries, agriculture must, almost o?
necessity, constitute for many a long day
the chief resource and employment of the
major part of the community, and it is to our
agricultural population that we must look
for the settlement of the North-West, the
general enlargement of our borders, the
increment of our bulk, and the advancement
of our importance as a far-spreading nation.
(Applause.) Any circumstance, therefore,
which even in an indirect manner gives a
higher character to our agricultural system,
which elevatea its reputation as a lucrative
enterprise, which develops its amenities, or
adds value to its products, will prove of
immeasurable advantage. (Hear, hear.) To
this end I believe the peculiar characteristics
of this region will powerfully contribute.
(Applause.) With such attractive scenery,
within so short a distance of Montreal, pos-
sessing every charm and advantage which a
country life can oflFer, it will be impossible
for our wealthier citizens much longer to con-
tent themselves with that suburban-villa life
— only broken by a few weeks' trip to some
watering-place — which they now a£fect.
Following the wise example set them by Sir
Hugh Allan, by Senator Cochrane, by Mr,
Brown, by Mr. Christie and others, they
will create for themselves, instead, a rural
paradise beside the lovely lakes and rivera
which decorate your neighbourhood, and I
am very much mistaken if the rich lands by
which they will find their residences sur-
rounded will not arouse within their breasts
that instinctive love for the cultivation of
the soil which is the primeval passion of
mankind. (Applause.) Hence we shnll se^
established amonjsjst us what will prove by a
I I
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
meaiiH an undoBlrable adiunot to our present
•ooial Hyatom, tlie Canadian country gcntlo-
man settini^ an example to the wholo neigh-
bourhood—by the juilioiouB application t»f
his capital to the land— of what a highly
ioientiHc agriculture can aconipliHh, and
inoculating, so to Apeak, every country side
with a strain of thoroughbred horHes,
cattle, sheep, and swino, which will still
further stimulate the nascent trade we liave
recently established in live and dea<l stock
with the Mother Country. (Hear, hear.) So
many poets hav« so bw» etly sung of the
delights of a rural life that I will uot expa-
tiate upon them. Agriculture, * the in-
vention of gods, and the employment of
heroes,' — as Lord BeaconsHuld once describ-
ed it, is still undoubtedly a most honourable
and agreeable pursuit^ (Hear, hear.) If it
does not promote the accumulation of
individual wealth so ra^)idly as other
kinds of industry, it distributes it more
equally, especially when, as is the case in
this country, almost Cfvery cultivator owns
the land he tills ; nor can it be doubted that
the establishment here and there throughout
the country districts, of a class of persons
blessed with means, leisure, education, and
trained intelligence, and at the same time
united, by a community of pursuits, tastes,
and interests, with the mass of the popula-
tion which surrounds them, would have a
most \)enelicial effect in stimulatiug the
general advancement, intellectual, moral,
and material, of the entire rural community.
(Applause.) Upon the advantages which
they themselves would derive from such
methods of existence I need uot dila.te.
They would discover a fresh interest in life,
fresh beauties in nature, while the happy,
healthful influences amid which their children
•would grow up, the simplicity of habits they
would engender, could not fail to prove a
blessing to every succeeding generation.
(Applause. ) 1 believe that the uoblest virtues
and the best characteristics possessed by
Englishmen are to be traced to their love of
a country life ; and certain am I that English
young women would not be half so nice, so
rosy, so frank, so beautiful, so robust, so
modest, so simple as they are, if they were
not for the most part ' country-bred. ' (Hear,
hear.) Although, therefore, the change may
not be immediate, I think you will see from
the allusions I have made that the beautiful
and fertile districts you inhabit are destined
to be a powerful factor in promoting the well-
being of the country ; and, were I granted a
wish, I do »ot know that I could make a
better choice than to aek for the privilege of
revisiting this lovely district some fifty or
a hundred years hence, to see its rolling
plains and woodlands carved out, as I am
sure they will be, into innumerable parks,
homesteadk, farms and villas, justly untitling
it to be called the (j^arden of Canada, whiU
here and there shall rise in frecjuunt cluster
the augmented spires, roofs and chimneys of
those prosperous little towns, through whose
bright pavilioned streets we have recently
held our triumphal way. (Loud applause.)
Such, at least, gentlemen, is the tlestiny I
anticipate for you and your neighbours ; and,
if affectionate wishes were of any avail, if a
magic wand could work the miracle, the
picture I have drawn should become a reality
this very minute. But, alas ! to labour and
to wait is the lot of mankind. It only re*
mains, therefore, for me to bid you go on
and prosper in loyal fidelity to those blessed
traditions which have already secured to you
peace and order, freedom and self-govern-^
ment, honour and renown, within the wide*
circuit of that glorous Empire of which you
are by no means the least pleasing ornament.
(Loud applause.) Gentlemen, I will con-
clude by telling you a story : You know
that Bostouians are not supposed to fail in
the virtue of self-appreciation. Well, a
school inspector from that city was visiting
a certain seminary in New England, and,
after describing to his young auiHence a little
boy whom he once knew as possessing every
tiossible juvenile virtue, such as never being
ate for school, never blotting his copy books,
never telling a story, or omitting an exer-
cise, he concluded by asking the children in
solemn tones ; ' And where do you think
he is now?' With one acclaim the little boys
cried out : 'In Heaven, sir.' (Great laugh-
ter. ) With a somewhat disconcerted visage
tlie school inspector replied : ' No ! no I
uot exactly in Heaven ; but — he is keeping
a store in Boston.' (Great laughter.) Well,
gentlemen, for ' keeping a store in Boston,'
I would have substituted, he is at the
plough-tail in the Townships." (Tremen-
dous applause and laughter.)
TO THE MUNICIPALITIES OF ONTARIO.
[Delivered in reply to the joint address,
at Quebec, on the 5fch of September.]
" Gentlemen, — I hardly know in what
terms I am to reply to the address I have
just listened to, so signal is the honour
which you have conferred upon me. That
a whole Province, as large, as important, as
flourishing as many| a European kingdom,
should erect into an Embassy the Mayors of
its cities, — the delegates of its urban and
rural municipalities, — and despatch them on
a journey of several hundred miles, to convey
to a humble individual like myself an ex-
pression of the personal goodwill of the con-
stituencies they represent, is a circumstance
unparalleled in the history of Canada, or of
any other Colony. (Loud cheers.) To
' )
1878
)arka,
whil«
luster
eys of
whose
ceutly
lause. )
tiny I
; and,
il, if »
le, the
reality
)ur and
nly re-
go on
blesfted
I to you
i^overn- ^
le wi<le
ich you
lament,
ill con-
u know
) fail in
Well, a
visiting
nd, and,
e a little
[jg every
er being
y books,
m exer-
ildren in
think
ttle boys
it laugh-
l visage
o 1 no 1
keeping
Well,
Boston,'
at the
Tremen-
1878
EAllL OF DUFFEUIN.
US
flRIO.
address,
]
in what
I I have
honour
!. That
tant, as
ingdom,
ayors of
ban and
them on
|o convey
an ex-
the con-
mstance
|da, or of
s.) To
•tand as I now do in the prosence of so many
ilistinguished persons, who have put thom*
■elves to great personal inconvenience on
my account, only addH to my embarrnsH-
ment. And yet, gentlemen, I cannot pre>
tend not to bo delighted with Huch a genuine
demonstration of regard on the jtart of the
large-hearted inhabitants ol the great I'm-
Tiuce iu whose name you have addressed me
(loud applnnse), for, quite apart from the
perHonul gr:ititicatic>n I experience, you are
teaching all future a<iniinistrat()rH of our af-
fairs a lesson which you may he sure they
will gladly lay to heart, —since it will show
them with how rich a reward you are ready
to pay whatever slight exertions it may he
within their power to make on your behalf.
(Applause.) And when in the history of
your Dominion could sucli u uroof of your
({enerosity be more opportunely shown ? A
few weeks ago the heart of every man and
woman iu Canada was profoundly moved by
the intelligence, not only that the (iovern-
ment of (ireat Britain was about to send out
OS England's representative to this country
one of the most promising among the younger
generation of our public men, hut that the
Queen herself was about to entrust to the
keeping of the people of Canada her own
daughter, ((ireat applause. ) If you desired
any illustration of the respect, the affection,
the conhdence with which you are regarded
by your fellow- subjects and by your Sove-
reign at home, what greater proof could you
require than this, or what more gratifying,
mora delicate, more tcmching recognition
could have rewarded your uever-failiug love
and devotion for the Mother Country and its
Ruhr? (Cheers.) But though Parliament
and the citizens of Canada m -y well be proud
of the contidence thus reposed in them, be-
lieve me when I tell you that, quite apart
from these especial considerations, you may
well be congratulated on the happy choice
which has been made in the person of Lord
Lome for the future Governor-General of
Canada. It has been my good fortune to be
connected all my life long with his family
by ties of the closest personal friendship.
Himself I have known, I may say, almost
from his boyhood, and a more conscientious,
high-minded or better qualitiedViceroy could
not have been selected. (Great applause.)
Brought up under exceptionally fortunate
conditions, it is ^needless to say he has pro-
fited to tne|utmo8t by theladvantages placed
within his reach, many of which will have
fitted him in an especial degree for his present
post. His public school and college educa-
tion, his experience of the House of Com-
mons, his large personal acquaintance with
the representatives of all that is most dis-
tinguished iu the intellectual world of the
United States, this literary and artistic tostei,
his foreign travel, will all combine to render
him intelligently sympathetic with every
phase and aspect of your national life. (Great
Hjtplause. ) A)>ove all, he comes of • good
Whig Ht<M:k — that is to ray,|of a family «vho«e
prominence in hi^ttiry is founded upon the
Hacritices they have made in the cause of
cdiiHtitutiunal liberty. (Cheers.) When a
couple of a man's ancestors have perished on
the Hcutroid as martyrs in the cause of politi-
cal and religious freedom, you may be sure
there is little likelihood of their descendant
seeking to encroach, when acting as the repre-
sentative of the C'rown, upoh the privileges
of I'nrliuinent or the intlependence of the
feople. (Loud cheers. ) As for your future
•riiieesH it would not become mo to eidarge
upon lior merits — she will soon be amongst
you, taking all hearts by storm by the grace,
the suavity, the sweet simplicity of her
inaunerH, life and conversation. (Tremen-
dous applause.) (ientlemen, if ever there
was a lady who in her earliest youth had
formed a high ideal of what a nol)le life
should be — if ever there was a human being
who tried to make the most of the oppor-
tunities within her reach, and to create for
herself, in spite of every possible trammel
and impediment, a useful career and occa-
sions of l)eueHting her fellow-creatures, it is
the Princess Louise, whose unpretending ex-
ertions in a hundred different directions to be
of service to hyr country and generation, have
already won for her an extraordinary amount
of popularity at home. ( A pplause. ) When to
this you add an artistic genius of the highest
order, and innumerable other personal gifts
and accomplishments, combined with manners
so gentle, so unpretending, as to put every one
who comes within reach of her influence at
perfect ease, vou cannot fail to understand
that England is not merely sending you a
Iloyal Princess of majestic lineage, but a
good and noble woman, in whom the
humblest settler or mechanic in Canada will
find an intelligent and sympathetic friend.
(Cheers.) Indeed, gentlemen, I hardly
know which pleases me most, the thought
that the superintendence of your destinies is
to be confided to persons so worthy of the
trust, or that a dear friend of my own like
Lord Lome, and a personage for whom I
entertain such respectful admiration as I do
for the Princess Louise, should commence
their future labours in the midst of a com-
munity so indulgent, so friendly, so ready
to take the will for the deed, so generous in
their recognition of any effort to serve them,
as you have proved yourselves to be. And
yet, alas ! gentlemen, pleasant and agree-,
able as is the prospect for you and them,
we must acknowledge there is one drawback
iiii
J.
116
THE 8FEE0HE8 OF THE
1878
to the pioture. Ijord Tiome Hm, m 1 hare
■aid, A inultitadfl «)f iiiHritn, hut hvom »\»}t»
will ))« (liiioovor(>il nil vhi) hum, and nnfortii-
iiati^ly an irrinturabltt, and an I may call it a
oongonitjil duM«!^ attaohon to thia ap|M>int-
merit. liord Ijortut in not an Irikhtnan !
(Oreat iiiUKluer. ) Itia not hin fault — ho did
the hM«t h« could for himBelf--(ren«w«'d
lauf^htor) — ho oamo an nonr the ri^ht thiii^
an poHHihlo hy hoiiiK horn a ('eltiu Mi^h-
laador. ((/ontinuod iau>{htor. ) Thoro in no
douht tho world iH Ix'Ht adrnininterod hy
Irishmon. (tlitnr, hear.) Thingn novor
went l>utter with uh oithnr at homo or ahroiid
than whun Ijord I'lilmttrnton ruled (iruat
Britain (choem)— liord M aye governed India
(ohoera) —Lord Moiiuk diroi tod tho destiniea
of Oanada (cho(!rH) — nn(i tlio liohinnons, tho
Keunodya, tho liiiftanH, the ('allaghana, tho
Gorea^ tho HonimHyH n<lminiHterod the
Atlaira of «tur AuHtraiiiiti colonicH and West
Indian poaaeanionfl. (Liuid applauao. ) Have
not even the French at lant made the name
••incovery in the pernon of Marnhal Mac-
Mahon ? (lianghtor and applaune. ) Hut
(ibill we m.iHt he genernua, and it is right
Scotchmen should have a turn. (Laughter.)
Afi'er all, Scotland oidy got her name he-
oause aho waa coniiucred hy tho Irinh (ureat
laughter) — and if the real truth wore known,
it ia prohahle the House of Inverary owes
moat of its glory to an Iriah origin. (Ap-
plause.) Nay, i will go a step further —I
would even let the poor Englishman take an
occasional turn at the helm (groat laughter)
— if for no better reason than to make him
aware how much better we manage the buai-
neas. (Renewed laughter.) But you have
not come to that yet, and, though you have
l>eena little spoiled bylhaviug been given three
Iriah Governor-Generals in auccesaion, I am
sure you will find that your new Viceroy's
personal and acquired qualitioations will
more than counterbalance his ethnological
disadvantages. And now, gentlemen, I
must bid you farewell. Never Hhall I forget
the welcome you extended «o me in every
town and hamlet of Ontario when I first
came amongst you. It was in travelling
through your beautiful Province I first learnt
to appreciate and understand the nature and
character of your destinies. (Applause.)
It was there I first learnt to believe in Can-
ada, and from that day to this my faith has
never wavered. Nay, the further I ex-
tended my travels through the other Pro-
vinces, the more deeply my inicial impres-
sions were confirmed ; but it was amongst
you they were first engendered, and it is
with your smiling happy hamlets my bright-
est reminiscences are intertwined. (Great
applause. ) And what transaction could bet-
ter iUustrate the mighty changes your ener-
<laya tho aitea now
peroun towna, tho
clad bowera, and
children aport in
f^ea hftv wrought than the one in which w«
are '.•. thia moment engaged ? Standing, aa
wo do, upon thin lofty platform, aurrr)unde<l
by thoHo anti((Uo and hintorical fortificattoni,
no olonely connected with infant fortunes of
the colony, one cannot help contranting the
present ncene with othern of an iinalogoua
character which have been frc((ucntly en-
acted upon tho vory spot, Tho early Gov-
ernorn of (.'anada have often received in Que-
bec, depution from the very dintrictn from
which each of you have jome, but in those
occupied by your proa-
tloldn you till, the rone-
trim lawnn whore your
noace, wore then denne
wildernenaen of primeval forest, and thoso'
who came from thence on and errand here,
were mercilesn navagoa, taeking the ])reHenoe
of the Viceroy either to threaten war ani
vengeance, or at best to iirofTer a treacherous
and uncertain peace. Now, little could
Montmagny, or Tracy, or Vaudrouil, or
Frontonac, have ever imagined on auch ocoa>
aiona, that for the lank dusky forms of the
lro(iUois or Ottawa emissariea, would one day
be aubacituted the beaming countenances and
burly proportions of Englishapeaking Mayors
and Aldermen and Reeves. (Applause.)
And now, gentlemen, again good-bye. I
cannot tell you how deeply I regret that
Latly Dutf'erin should not be preaent to ahare
the gratification I have experienced by your
visit. (Applause.) Tell your friends at
home how deeply I havo been moved by thia
last and signal proof of their goodwill, that
their kindness shall never be forgotten, and
that as long as I live it will be one of the
chief ambitions of my life to render them
faithful and effectual service." (Tremen>
dous applause. )
AT LAVAL UNIVERSITY.
[Delivered in reply to an address by the
Very Rev. Rector, on the 11th of Septem-
ber.]
"Rector, Your Grace, Ladies and Gen-
tlemen, — In tiie eloquent and graceful ad-
dress to which I have just listened, the
Rector has condescended to imply that in
entering your learned confraternity the
representative of the Queen confers more
honour than he receives, but both in my
own name, and in the name of our Gracious
Sovereign, I must demur to any such sug-
festion. It is true the actual birth of this
Tniversity is of recent date, but the ante-
cedents which ushered in, the conditions
which aurronnded that auspicious event, were
of a nature to stamp the University of La-
val with a prestige and dignity such as are
possessed by few seminaries of learning upon
this continent; and when I look around upon
this august assembly — when I remember
jy the
kptem-
Qkn-
ful ad-
[l, the
lat in
the
more
Jin my
raciouB
\l 8Ug-
\>i this
ante<
iitionB
It, were
]o{ La-
las are
upon
upon
kember
1S78
EARL OF DUFFEUIN.
117
what iiitlunnocM aro at work to Ntimulate
vuui' t x«<rti()iia ~huw pr(>miBiiit( in ihu iut«l>
IvctuHl liol<i it ia your miiiaion to cultivate—
how ritih ymi aro in workiii>^ power, I rujitice
ill boiiiK uittitlt)«l tt> ackiioHludgt) tliat thure
il lio iiaiiit), howuvor illuiitrioui, which would
not AO(|iiire fruHli dignity l>y lU unrolment
up<»n your Iioiikti. (Loud appluUMu. ) Such
being uiy ainofcru conviction, it in acarculy
neccHHary I mIiouUI aitHuro you that 1 am
dcttply ^nituful for tho honour you have doiiu
mu, ami thut I iihiill ulvvayn cliuritih with
uratcful Kutihfuctiuu the rtiuicmbruncu of thin
day'a curcnionial. (Cheera. ) Uut great aH
ia rny purHonal grutilication, 1 cr'inot help
confcHhinK that to m«, um to you all, thu
plcaauro ot the occuition iu uiortt thai. :narrti(l
DY the Had rtilloction that thu illuHtiiouH Pre-
late, hand in liand with whom 1 hud hoped
to enter your gatert, has been prematurely
and unexpectedly taken from amongMt um..
Itwoulil be out ( t place forme lo expatiate
upon the many iiualitieH of tlie late Aposto-
lic Delegate. My relationu with him were
of courue (tidy those of personal friendship;
but apart from my appieciation of his de-
lightful qualities as a companion, I am enti-
tled, botii as a fellow-countryman and as the
head of the (lovernnient, to bear teUiinony
to his claims upon our reverence and admi-
ration as a Chistain Bishop, and a Dignitary
of the Catholic Church. And now. Rector,
your Grace, ladies and gentlemen, it only
remains for me again to express to you my
deep and constant sympathy with you in the
labours in which you are engaged. When
one redects upou what human learning and
Bcientitic research has already achieved for
the benefit of mankind, for the advance-
ment of civilization, for the mitigation of
Buffering, one has ditliculty iu linding suUi-
oiently sober language in which to convey
one's anticipations of the good such an in-
stitution as this can effectuate. (Applause.)
A University founded in the midst of au in-
telligent community is like an instrument
of irresistible power and all-embracing
energy iu the hands of a giant. There is
nothing scarcely which it cannot accom-
plish. In its natal hour it becomes seized
— it enters at once into possession — of
everything that the intellect of past genera-
tions has created or acquired — its jurisdic-
tion immediately attaches to the whole do-
main of human thought ; and spread abroad
through the vast unknown, stretch endless
territories ot unattaiued knowledge over
which it is as well entitled to stretch forth
its sceptre as ie any rival institution. (Great
applause. ) Alexander sighed for fresh worlds
to conquer, but to the philosopher no such
cause of sorrow need arrive, for the continea
of space and time can alone rest his potential
nchiev«<mcnts. Lot but thu lanipof unniua be
lit within your prvciiicta, and it will diHchtae
to you un«lruamt of real::^a and kingdoroi
lying about yo - fe«t. (Applause.) HucK
are the poaaiiiiutiua within your reach; and
reniemlter, in working out your auapicious
(h-Htiny, you are expanding the moral power,
the mental activity, the intellectual graHi) of
the conitnunitv unloll^Ht whom ytm laixtr.
At this moment the French-C'anaiiian race to
wnich you belong in engai^ed in a generous
struggle with tiieir Kiiglinh fellow-subjectM
to aeo which shall contril)ute moat to the ad-
vaiiceinent of thu moral, material, and politi*
oal welfare of their country. (Applause.)
Tliere is not a atudent, a man of buHinesH or
of science, a politician or an author of either
origin, who (loea not feel the inspiration of
this noble rivalry (Cheers ) L^pon the suc-
cess of your exertions, upon the ellioacy of
your diHciplinu and tr'iining, upon the i*h&-
1 actor of the mental and moral atmosphere
j«>u create within your wallM, will in a great
meiiHure depem) the issues of the conflict.
(Applause.) In that conllict I can heartily
wish you success without compronuHing my
impartiality, for it is a struggle v, Iierein the
defeated reap laurels as untarnished — bene*
fits as universal — as those which crown the
winners, since it is round the brow of Canada
the wreath of Victory will be twined, and
into the lap of Canaila the prizes of the con-
test poured." (Loud aplause. )
[Delivered in reply to the Very Rev.
Rectoi when he presented His Excellency
with the diploma.]
" Monsieur i,k REcrKUR, Mehhki(jneuk.s,
Mesl)AME.s et Mes.sieuks— Dausl't'loquente,
et gracieuse adreNse que je viens d'entendie,
M. le Recteur a bien voulu exprimer I'id^e
qu'en devant membre de votre Havante asso-
ciation, le repr^sentant de la Reine conf^re
plus d'honueur qu'il u'en re(,oit. Jedois,
tant en mon nom qu'an nom de notre Giaci-
euse Souveraine, declarer qu'il m'est impos-
sible d'accepter ce compliment, tout Hatteur
qu'il soit. 11 est vrai que I'origine de I'Uni-
versite com me telle, est de date recente ;
mais les antuci^deuts qui out prcpari^ sa fon-
dation, les conditions dans lesquelles s'est
realist^ cet heureux 6v(inement, out 6te de
nature h imprimer k rUniversit«i-Laval un
tel prestige et une telle dignitt!) que pen de
sanctuaires de la science sur ce continent
ftourraient en rtjclamer de semblables ; — et
orsque je porte mes regards sur cette aifguste
assembl^e, lorsque je rappelle d ma m^moire
les influences qui contribuer - stimuler vol
efforts,la feconditt', etlesesp^i^-icesdu champ
intellectuel que vous avez pour mission de
cultiver, les ressources puissantes de votre
organisation, je jois rcconnaitre,
et j'^prouve un veritable plaisir k
ii
ili
118
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1875
ff'i
m
:*t.,
1!. .;
*. :
,»(■■■ ■
i; ;
proclamer que le nom le plu8 illustre
ne pourrait manquer de recevoir un nouvel
^clat par son association' ii cette Uiiiversitt'.
Comme c'est li inon intime conviction, il
est I'l peine nticessaire de vous assurer que je
VOU8 sills profond^inent reconnaissaut de
riionneur que vous m'avez fait, it que je
h6rirai tourjour8avucgratitU(le';t satisfaction
le souvenir de la solennit6 de ce jour
Mais, quelque plaisir que je ressente
personnellement, je ne puis m'enip^cher
d'avourer que, puir moir comme pour vous
tous, une tristo pensee vieat troubler la joie
de cette fete, J'avaia esptir^ d'entrer dans
I'enceinte de votre institution c6te h, cAte
avec I'illustre prelat qu'une niort pr6matur6e
bC Boudaine vient d'enlever d'au inillieu de
nous. II ne me conviendrait pas de m'^tendre
Bur les nombreuses qualit(^a du Dtilt^j^uiJ Apos-
tolique. Mes relations avec lui n't^taieut que
des relations d'amits^ pereonnelle; mais, outre
que j'ai pu app-ecier ses prcJcieuses qualit^s
comme ami, men double titre de concitoyen
et de chef du gouvernement canadien me fait
un devoir de reconnaltre ses droits k notre
respect et :\ notre admiration commo
4v6que chr^tien et comme digni-
taire de I'Fglisej catholique. Et
maintenant, M. le ilecteur, Messeig-
ueurs, Mesdame« et Messieurs, il ne me reste
qu'A vous exprimei ma profonde et constante
sympathie pour vous dans les travaux qui
font votre continuelle occupation. Quaud
on consid^re ce que les connaissances hu-
maines, ce que lea recherches de la science,
ont dej.'i fait pour I'avantage du genre hu-
main, pour I'avancement de la civilisation,
f)our le soulagement de la souflfrance, on a de
a peine ^'trouver des termes assez justes pour
rendre ce que Voa peut augurer de bien d'une
institution comme celle-ci. Une university
au milieu d'un peuple intelligent, c'est uu in-
strument dun pouvoir irrt^aistible, d'une
Anergic sans borues, entre les mains d'un
g^ant. II n'y a, h vrai dire, rien qu'elle ne
puisse accomplir. D^s les premiers instants
de son existence, elle entre ausaitOt en pleine
possession de tout ce que I'intelligence des
generations pasa^es a pu cr^er ou acqu^rir ;
sa juridiction embrasse le domaine en tier de
la pensee humaine, ets't^tend memeau-dessus
de I'iuconnu et de I'immensite ; elle aspire
k la possession des champs immeuses des
connaissances qui restent encore a acquerir,
et sur lesquelles elle a autant de droit d'^-
tendrrf son sceptre qu'£,ucune autre institution
fivale. Alexandre soupirat apr^s de nouveaux
mondes pour les conqu^rir; mais le philosophe
n'aura jamais un tel sujet dc tristesse ; les
limites de I'espace et du temps peuvent seules
mettre un terme au perfectionnement de ses
connaissances. Que la lamp^ du genie brille
dans le domaine confie a vos soins : elle vous
decoarrira des regions et des royaumes in-
esper^g, ct ;jui cei>endant sout k vos pieds.
ielles sont les conquetes qui s'oflFrent k
votre ambition, ct rappelez-vous qu'en pour-
suivant votre destinoe sous des auspices aussi
favorables, vous utaldissez I'influence morale,
vous developpez I'aotivite et les facult^s in-
tellect'-.elles du peuple au milieu duquel vous
vivez. Eu CO moment, la race canadiennn.
franyaiae k laquelle vous appartenez livre un
combat g^nereux avec ses compatriotes
d'origine anglaite, atin de connaltre ce qui
pourra procurer plus sllrement I'avancement
du bieu-dtre moral, materiel et politique de
son pays. 11 n'y a pas un etudiant, pas un
homme d'affaires ou de science,
pas uu homme politique ou un
auteur, de Tune ou de I'autre origine,
qui ne ressente I'inspiration de cette noble
rivalite. Du succ^s qui couronnera vos
efforts, des resultats de votre enseignement
et de reducation que vous donnez, de la
nature de I'atmosphere intellectuelle et mo-
rale que Ton respire dans vos murs, d^pendra
en graude partie Tissue de ce combat.
Je puis done, dans cette lutte, vous
souhaiter le succ^s de tout coeur, sans com-
promettre mou impartialite, puisque c'est
une lutte ou les vaincus recueilleront des
lauriers aussi purs, des avaiitages aussi uni-
versels que ceux qui serout le prix des vain-
queurs ; car c'est sur le front dn Canada que
brillera la couronne de la Victoire, c'est sur
le sol du Canada que pleuvront les recompen-
ses du combat." _. .<i/.HM.-i If)
TO THE 8T. JEAN BAPTISTB SOCIETY OF
ticM'»«r--rT«! QUEBEC. ^
[Delivered in reply to au address in the
Music Hall, on the 12th of September. ]
" Mr. President and Gentlemen, —
It is needless for me to assure you with
what pleasure I again find myself taking part
in those refined and artisitic relations with
whicnthe French race delight to solace their
leisure, and surrounded by the loyal and
patriotic members of the St. Jean Baptiste
Society. It has been one of the happy
peculiarities of your nationality that you
have ever known how to enliven the serious
occupations of life by a graceful gaiety, and
to introduce a brilliancy of colour amid the
sombre shadows of our dull work-a-day
world. This happy temperament not only
sheds its benign influence over your social
existence, but it has invested everything
you have touched — your architecture, your
literature, your history — with a most attrac-
tive individuality. Brilliancy, picturesque-
ness, dramatic force, a chivalrous inspiration
— these are the characteristics which have
thrown over the early annals of Canada a gla-
mour of romance, which attaches to the his-
tory of no other portion of the continent. The
1878
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
119
the
EN, —
with
part
with
their
and
jtiste
happy
you
erious
aad
id the
a-day
tonly
social
jrthing
your
,ttrac-
eaque-
ratioQ
have
agla-
e his-
■t. The
genius of Washington Irving and of Haw-
thorne have indeed endeavoured to do for
New England and its neighbourhood what
Sir Walter Scott accomplished for his own
land ; but though the magic of their style
may for the instant delude the fancy, the
moment you close the page you awake to
the unreality of what they have depicted.
Various influences in fact have induced our
neighbours across the line to break complete-
ly with their ante-revolutionary past, and
to sutfer oblivion to envelope the musty,
arid, an.l ascetic records of their old colonial
days. But with you the case has been dif-
ferent. Your past has refused to die, or to
efface itself. Its vitality was too exuberant,
too rich with splendid achievements, too re-
sonant, too brilliant, too replete with the
daring and gallantry of stately seigneurs —
the creations of able statesmen — the mar-
tyrdoms of holy men and women, to be
smothered by the 'ust of ages,or overwhelm-
ed by the uproa,r of subsequent events.
Though the advent of your English fellow-
citizens, and the political changes which ac-
companied their establishment amongst you,
might have been expected to have built up a
partition wall between the past and present
of Canada, the solution of historical continu-
ity has been really much less marked in this
country than in the United States ; and far
from wishing to erect the change of regime
into an Era, the English Government and
the English people, with an instinct as hon-
ourable to themselves as to you, have pre-
ferred to adopt your past, on condition that
you will share their future ; and there is no
English-Canadian of to-day who does not
take as great -a pride in the martial achieve-
ments of the French captains of the 17th
and 18th centuries, in the heroic and
adventurous explorations of the Jesuit
Fathers, in the enterprise which established
Quebec and Montreal, in the semi-feudal
spUjidours of your early Viceroys, as any
Frenchman amongst you all. Nay, in the
lovely poem of 'Evangeline,' in the thrillling
tales of Fenimore Cooper, in the picturesque,
dramatic and clever pages of Parkman, we
see that it is to Canada the .poet, the novelist
and the historian even of the United States
are obliged to come for the subject matter of
their tales, and an interesting theme.
Speaking for myself, 1 can truly say that
whenever I pace the frowning platform of
your Citadel, cr make the circuit of your
ramparts, or wander through your gabled
streets, I instinctively regard myself as
much the direct successor of those brave and
courtly Viceroys who presided over your
early destiny, as 1 am the successor of Lord
Lisgar, Lord Monck or Lord Elgin. How
then cari I fail to appreciate the compli-
ment you have paid me in linking my uamo
in so tl;^tering a manner as you have done
to-day with the memories of tliose illustrious
men ? — or what more delightful assurance
could I desire than that your affections will
hereafter preserve a place for me on that
honourable register? It is true my claims to
such an honour are far weaker, far less
imperative than theirs. They led you to
battle and to victory, they shared your pri-
vations, and on a thousand occasions — in
seasons of plague and famine, of siege and
invasion — risked their lives on your
behalf. All that I have ever
been able to do for you has been to give you
such proofs of my sympathy with your
aspirations — of my respect for your charac-
ter and genius — of my faith in your future —
as circumstances permitted. But, believe
me, in quitting this country, and in counting
up the various respects in which my grati-
tude is due to the Canadian people, the
courtesy, the kindness, the hospitality I
have received at the hands of my French-
speaking fellow-subjects will never be for-
cfotten ; and proud am I to think
that, ,;^under my auspices and at my
humble suggestion, the ramparts of
Quebec are destined to rise in renovated
splendour, and to remain an enduring me-
morial of the loving solicitude with which I
have ever regarded this the most beautiful
city upon the American continent, and its
kindly inhabitants. "
TO THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN CURLTNG CLUB.
[Delivered at Toronto, in the Adelaide-
street Rink, in reply to a farewell address
read on the '2Srd of September by Mr. J. S.
Russell. The address was acccmipanied by
a silver tea kettle in the shape of a curling
stone, the entire article being produced in
Canada. ]
" Mb. President, Ladies and Gentle-
men, — I find it difficult to express my sense
of the honour you have done me, not only
in preparing for me so noble a reception, but
in accompanying it by circumstances so
grateful to my feelings. When I accepted
your invitation, I was^ unaware of the sur-
prise which was in store for me, and now,
when the whole extent of your goodness has
been revealed, I find difficulty in returning
you adequate thanks. I am deeply sensible
Mr. President, of the kind appreciation you
have extended to me as the representative of
our Queen, and as the head of the Gov ern-
ment of this country, because, although , in
their moments of leisure, there are no per-
sons who better know how to enjoy them-
selves than the curlers of Canada, I am well
aware that they reckon among their uum bars
men of the highest intelligence and great
political influence, to whose experience and
i!|
120
I^THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
wisdom Canada is indebted for the pros-
perous direction of her affairs. (Applause.)
But I am particularly touched by tile kind
way in which you have addressed me as a
brother curler. In looking back upon the
six years and a half I have spent in this coun-
try, which include, I may say, some of the
happiest hours of my life (applause), there
are few amongst them which I shall regard
with more satisfaction than those which I
have passed upon the ice with my brother
curlers. Whether as victor or as victim
(laughter) in those friendly contests, my
satisfaction has been untarnished by any dis-
agreeable or unpleasant reminiscence, for
wherever I have gone — upon every rink — I
have found myself greeted with the greatest
cordiality, and sometimes overwhelmed with
an embarrassing hospitality. (Applause.)
In conclusion, allow m« especially to express
my deep thanks for this beautiful present
which you have given me. I really cannot
tell you how much I appreciate the delicate
ingenuity and sense of artistic beauty which
devised this lovely ornament. That orna-
ment will be preserved not only during my
life, but I trust for many generations amongst
those who come after me, as a memorial of
the kindness which their ancestor received in
tne Dominion of Canada at the hands of its
curlers. (Cheers.) And I am pleased to
;i think that whenever it makes its appearance
'I on the breakfast table. Lady Dufferin will be
there to share with me the reminiscences it
calls to mind, and to talk over all the plea-
sant hours we havo passed in your company.
(Applause.) There is only one thought
which strikes me in connection with this
present, which I might hesitate to express,
and that is that it would seem as though the
curlers of Canada were determined to keep
my wife and myself in hot water the re-
mainder of our lives. " (Loud laughter and
(applause. )
[Delivered on the same occasion, in ac-
knowledgment of the presentation by Mayor
Morrison of a curling stone in miniature.]
" Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is
very unfair to hit a man when he
is down, I have been already com-
pletely prostrated by the kindness
of the friends on my left, and now Mr.
Mayor, with a want of generosity I should
not have expected in him, suddenly attacks
'^me with this beautiful and fatal instrument.
I can only say that I accept it with the
greatest gratitude, and that I am delighted
to have a personal recollection of so distin-
guished a citizen of the flourishing city of
Toronto as Mr. Morrison, more especially as
it will remind me of the Mayor under whose
auspices I shall have experienced so much
gratification. Had I only been permitted to
use this stone at that curling match which I
had the honour of playing with some of my
friends present, I can assure them the result
would have been very different from what it
was. " Laughter and applause. )
AT THE ONTARIO PROVINCIAL EXHIBITION."
[Delivered at the opening of the new Pro-
vincial Buildings, in reply to an address by
the Ontario Agricultural and Arts Associa-
tion.read by Mr. Thomas Stock, on the 24th
of September.]
"Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle-
men, — In endeavouring to return you my
best thanks for the noble reception you are
giving me, for the series of Arabian Nights
entertainments through which from hour to
hour and day to day I have been hurried by
your hospitable citizens, I can truly say I
have never felt less equal to such a task.
During the past six years and a half, in-
deed, I have been often required at various
times and places to say what are called ' a
few words' to different classes of my fellow-
countrymen in the Dominion. But on these
occasions there was always some current
to engage our attention, and to which it was
desirable I should address myself. Now,
however, the case is very different. It is
true we have a special business before us.
I am nominally here to open this Exhibition,
and, perhaps, under ordinary circumstances
it would be sufficient for me to dilate upon
the splendour of these buildings, the variety
and the richness of their contents, the prot)f8
they display not merely of the material
wealth of Canada, but of the energy, in-
genuity, and industry of our mechanics, ar-
tizaus and agriculturists; but my imagina-
tion refuses to be confined vithin even these
spacious halls. (Applause.) No I the
contributions they encloae only serve to con-
jure up before me in all their beauty the
radiant expanses of those seven fair Pro-
vinces I have traversed from end to end (hear,
hear, and applause); audit is not the depart-
ments of a mere Provincial Show which lie
mapped out beneath my feet, but the terri-
tories of our great Dominioi^ whose wealth
and capabilities these courts exhibit. Nor is
it in the presence of a detached crowd of
casual sight- seers that I seem to stand, but
face to face with that entire population with
whose destinies I have been so long associat-
ed, to whom r owe so much, and who are
building up a British polity upon this side
of the Atlantic which is destined, I trust,
to exemplify more successfully than any
other what happiness, what freedom, what
strength, what peace can be secured to man
by patiently, wisely, soberly expanding and
developing those great principles of Consti-
tutional and Parliamentary Government
which centuries ago wej^e born in England
1878
PARL OP DUFFERIN.
121
II at
Ian
nd
Ui-
>nt
lud
^applause), which ou>' aoceators shed their
blood to defend, which our forefathers trans-
planted to this country, and which our
lathers have left us as the most precious in-
heritance they could bestow. (Tremendous
applause.) Impressed, then, by such a con-
sciousness, knowing that to-day for the last
time I am speaking to the people of Canada,
what am I to say ? There are many things I
would desire to say at such a moment, but I
dread to tread on forbidden ground.
(Laughter. ) As you are well aware, in all
those matters which are of real and vital
moment to you, I am only entitled to repeat
in public such words of wisdom as my Ot-
tawa Egerias may put into my mouth.
(Great laughter. ) In my own behalf it is
only competent for me to expatiate in these
vaporous fields of extra- political disquisition
which may happen to lie floating around the
solid political life of the people. Yet, per-
haps, a Viceroy in extremis might claim ex-
ceptional indulgence. (Laughter.) To all
moribund personages, as to Jacob when he
gathered the Fathers of Israel round his
bedside, the privilege of monition and bene-
diction has been granted. (Applause and
laughter.) Happily my closing sentences
need not be of such ambiguous import as
those addressed by the Patriarch to Judah
and his brethren. (Great laughter. ) Though
a country in the throes of a general election
might have some sympathy with the attitude
of Issachar (loud laughter), as 1 am not a
defc'-^-^d Prime Minister, I have no tempta-
tion i,c apply to you the burden of Reuben.
(Renewed laughter. ) What, then, is to be
my valediction — my parting counsel to the
citizens of the Bj^minion before I turn my
face to the wall ? A very few words will
convey them. Love your country, believe
in her, honour hei',work for her, live for her,
die for her. Never has any people been en-
dowed with a nobler birthright, or blessed
with prospects of a fairer future. Whatever
gift God has given to man is to be found
within the borders of your ample territories;
and in return the only obligation laid upon
you is 'to go forth and multiply, and re-
Jlenish the earth. ' (Applause and laughter. )
t is true, the zone within which your lines
are cast is characterized by ruder features
than those displayed in lower latitudes and
within more sunward-stretching lands; but
the North has ever been the home of liberty,
industry and valour (cheers), and great di-
versities of climate and of geographical and
physical conditions are wont to breed anta-
gonistic material interests and disruptive
tendencies, which the fortunate uniformity
of your own climate and position can never
engender. (Applause.) It is also true you
ace not so rich as many other communities,
but the happiness of a people does not so
much depend upon the accumulation of
wealth as upon its equable distribution.
(Hear, hear.) In many of the wealthiest
kingdoms of Europe thousands can scarcely
obtain their daily bread ; and though
Canada is by no means at present a nation
of millionaires, there is not amongst us
an agricultural homestead Vjetween the At-
lantic and the Pacific where content
and a rude plenty do not reign (applause),
and in a thousand localities the earth is
bursting with the mineral wealth which
only requires improved transportation to
develop. (Renewed applause. ) Nor indeed
are you so numerous as your neighbours,
but this is an inferiority which time will
soon correct. Providence has spread out
for you the fertile prairies of the North-W^est
and your daughters must do the rest.
(Loud laughter and applause.) But if these
admissions may be made on the one side,
what countervailing superiority may not be
quoted on the other ? In the first place you
possess the best form£of government, with
which any historical nation has ever been
blessed. (Cheers. ) The excellency of the
British Constitution, with the self-expand-
ing energies it embodies, is an ancient story
which I need not insist on, but as
there are always external forces
which disturb the working of the most per-
fect mechaniism, so in an old country like
England, many influences exist to trouble
the harmonious operations of tlie political
machine ; but here, our Constitution has been
set agoing almost in vacuo — entirely disen-
cumbered of those entanglements which
traditional prejudices and social compli-
cations have given birth to at home.
My nexu advice to you, then, would be to
guard and cherish the characteristics of your
Constitution with a sleepless vigilance.
And do not consider that this is a superflu-
ous warning. I do not, of course, refer to
any of those principles which either regulate
the relation of the Mother' Country to the
Colony, or of the Crown to the Parliament.
All questions which were at one time in
controversy in either of these respects have
been long since happily settled to the satis-
faction of everybody concerned. (Applause.)
During the whole time that I have been
Governor-General of Canada not a single
difficulty has ever arisen between the Co-
lonial Office and the Government. (Hear,
hear.) Indeed it would be impossible to
overstate the extraordinary smoothness and
harmony with which this portion of th e
machinery has worked, so far as my experi-
ence has gone. (Applause.) The indepen-
dence of the Canadian Parliament and the
Canadian Administration in all matters
i
■
122
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
*,■
atfocting their domestic jurisdiction have not
only received a generous recognition, but
have been stimulated . and expanded to the
fullest possible extent by the authorities at
home, as the recent establishment of a Su-
preme Court of Justice on Canadian soil
impressively testifies. (Applause.) Nor has
anything occurred to trouble the relations of
the Viceroy as representing the lleyal pow-
er and his Parliament. The respective
limits of privilege and prerogative have been
rinally determined, and there is no tempta-
tion, either upon the one side or the other,
to overstep them . (Cheers. ) But there are
one or two other principles incident to the
British Constitution which, though fully
recognized and established, might, perhaps,
be oversidden in time of political excitement,
unless public opinion exerted itself to main-
tain them absolutely intact. I allude to
the independence of the judges and the non-
political and permanent character of the
Civil Service. With regard to the inde-
pendence of the judges I will say nothing.
Notwithstanding what has been done else-
where, I do not think that the Canadian
people will ever be tempted to allow the
J'udges of the land to be constituted bypopu-
ar election. (Hear, and applause.) Still,
ou this continent there will always be pre-
sent in the air, as it were, a certain ten-
dency in that direction, and it is against this
I would warn you. And now
that I am upon this topic, there
is one f^h-ther observation I am
tempted to make in regard to the position of
the judges. I should hope that, as time goes
on, as the importance and extent of their
work increases, and as the wealth of the
country expands, it may be found expedient
to attach somewhat higher salaries to those
who administer the laws. Pure and right-
eous justice is the ^^ery foundation of hu-
man happiness ; but remember it is as true
of justice as of anything else — you cannot
have a tirst-rate article without paying for
it. (Cheers and laughter.) In order to
secure an able Bar you must provide ade-
?uate prizes for those that are called to it.
f this is done, the intellectual energy of the
country will be attracted to the legal profes-
sion, and you will have what is the greatest
ornament any country can possess — an effi-
cient and learned judiciary. (Cheers.) But,
after all, the chief danger against which yon
will have to guard is that which concerns
the Civil Service of the country. Now, th6
Service Civil of the country, though not
the animating spirit, is the living mechanism
through which the body politic moves and
breathes and has its being. Upon it de-
pends the rapid and economical conduct of
every branch of your affairs ; and there
is nothing about which a nation should be
so particular as to secure in such a service
in(u>pendeace, zeal, patriotism and integrity.
But in order that this should be the case, it
is necessary that the civil servants should be
given a status regulated by their acquire-
ments, their personal qualiticatious, their
capacity for rendering the country efficient
aerviee, and that neither their original n'^i-
pnintment nor their subsequent advancement
should in any way depend upon their politi-
cal connections and opinions. (Applause.).
If you take my advice you will never allow
your Civil Service to be degraded into an
instrument to subserve the ends and inte-
rests of any political party. (Cheers.) The
success of a political party ought to depend
upon its public policy, and the ability of its
rhiefs, and not upon the advantage likely to-
accrue to its individual adherents. In fact,
the more the area of personal profit conse-
quent upon a change of Government is limit-
ed, the better for the country at large. (Hear,
hear. ) On the other hand, the independence
thus conceded to the members of the Civil
Service imposes upon them a special obliga-
tion, namely, that they should serve their
successive chiefs — no matter to which side
they may belong — with a scrupulously im-
partial zeal and loyalty. (Hear, hear.)
There is no' offence which should be visited,
with swifter or more condign punishment
than any failure in this respect. A civil
servant who allows his political sympathies
to damp his ardour, devotion, zealjand loyalty
to his departmental chiefs is a disgrace to
his profession. (Hear, hear.) Happily
both the great political parties in this coun-
try have given in their <£dherence to this,
principle. Both are convinced of the whole-
someness of the doctrine to which I have
referred, and I have no doubt that the
anxiety manifested by our friends across the
line to purge their own^Civil Service of its.
political complexion will confirm every think-
ing Canadian in the conviction I have
sought to impress upon you. (Applause. \
Again, therefore, I say to you, guard this
and every other characteristic of your Con-
stitution with an unfailing vigilance, for,
though you search all the world over, it is
not likely you will ever get a better one.
(Cheers. ) It is true no one can live in the
proximity of our great neighbours without
conceiving the greatest admiration for the
wisdom which framed the political institu-
tions under which they have so wonderfully
prospered, but I am not at all sure that the
success of the original experiment is not as
much due to the fortitude, the good sense,
and the moderation of the subsequent
generations that have carried it into
effect, as to the foresight and wisdom of
•
1878
EARL OP DUFFERIN.
12ft
its authors ; and certain am I that there is
not a thinking American who, however proud
he may be of his country, does not ocoahiou-
ally cast an envious sheep's eye across the
border at our more fortunate condition.
(Laughter and applause.) The truth is, that
almost every mo(iern Constitution' has been
the child of violence, and remains indelibly
impressed with the scars of the struggle
which ushered in its birth. (Applause.) A
written Constitution is of necessity an arti-
ficial invention — a contrivance — a formula
as inelastic as the parchment on which it is
written— instead of beiug a living, primeval,
heaven -engendered growth ; but the founda-
tions of the polity under which you live
are of secular antiquity (loud applause) ; no
revolutioaary convulsion has severed the
continuity of your history, or disinherited
you of your past — your annals are not com-
prised within the lifetime of a centenarian,
but reach back through a thousand years of
matchless achievement in every field of ex-
ertion open'to mankind. (Loud cheering. )
Nor do oven the confines of two oceans
suffice to hedge you in ; you share an Em-
pire whose flag floats, whose jurisdiction as-
serts itself in every quarter of the globe
(applause) — whose ships whiten every sea —
whose language is destined to spread further
than any European tongue (tremendous
cheering)- whose institutions every nation as-
piring to freedom is endeavouring to imitate,
and whose vast and widespread colonies are
vieing with each other in their affectionate
love for the Mother Country (cheers),in their
efforts to add lustre to the English name, in
their longing to see cemented still more
closely the bonds of that sacred and majes-
tic union within which they have been born.
(Applause. ) Gentlemen, believe me, one is
not an Englishman for nothing (great ap-
plause) ; and although, perhaps, I should be
prepared to go beyond many of my hearers,
not merely in justifying but in extolling
the conduct of those men of the revolution-
ary period who tore themselves — though I
believe with bleeding hearts — from their
Mother's side rather than submit to her
tyranny, I confess I should have difficulty
in finding words to express my want of sym-
pathy for those, should any such ever come
mto existence, who — unless under the stress
of equal provocation — should be tempted to
abjure so glorious a birthright in pursuit of
any Utopian chimera. (Applause.) None
such, however, are here. (Cheers.) Of
course I am well aware that many of the
most earnest- minded men amongst us have
insisted of late years with laudable enthusi-
asm — and, in doing so, though perhaps un-
consciously to themselves, they have only
given utterances to the feelings of every man
and woman in the nation — upon the duty of
a supreme devotion to the interests of their
own Canada. (Cheers.) But you are well
aware that as an Imperial officer I have
never siiown the slightent jealousy or breath-
ed a word in discouragement of such hcmonr-
able sentiments ; for 1 am cohvince<l that, s»
far from being antagonistic to Imperial in-
terests, it is amongst those who are prepared
to make the greatest sacrifices for their
native land that we shall always find th&
most loyal subjects of the Queen. (Great
cheering.) Ihe only thing that, perhaps, I
would be disposed to deprecate would be
the over- passionate advocacy of any specu-
lative programme that may lie outside of the
orbit of practical statesmanship. (Hear,
hear.) As eveiy human society is in a state
of uoutiimous development, so occasional
readjustment of its mechanism becomes ne-
cessary ; but I think you may take it for
granted that, though they may talk much
about it, the experienced men who superin-
tend your affairs are perpetually on the
watch for any serious symptoms of strain or
friction in the wheels of the body politic,
and as soon as these disclose themselves
there is no doubt they will find expedients
with which to meet the emergency. It is in
this way, by this practical procedure, and
not by theoretical excursions into dreamland,
that the British polity has been so success-
fully elaborated. (Applause.) So long as a-
man slgeps well, has a good appetite, and
feels generally jovial, he may rest assured
he needs no doctoring. (Laughter.) But
if he takes to perpetually feeling his pulse,
looking at his tongue, and watching his
digestion, he will invariably superinduce all
kinds of imaginary pains and aches, and
perhaps a real illness. (Applause and laugh-
ter. ) Well, so far as I have observed, you
all appear at present in the best 'of health
and spirits, and I do not know that you
will much better your condition by allowing
your imagination to speculate as to whether
the exuberant vitality you are accumulating
in your system, under your present satisfac-
tory regimen, will or will not eventually
necessitate some hundred years hence an in-
conceivable process of amputation. (Laughter
and applause. ) But what is so satisfactory
in this case is, that those sentiments of
loyalty and affection for the Mother Country,
which are so dominant in Canada, coincide
and run in parallel lines with what the coldest
common sense and the most calculating
policy would recommend. (Great applause. )
They are, in fact, but the wreaths of roses
which entwine and overlie the strong cords
of mutual profit and advantage by which the
two countries 'are bound to one another.
(Applause. ) I therefore say, '^^cherish as one
124
THE SPEECHES OF THE
1878
mm
of the noblest traditions transmitted by your
forefathers that feelin of loyalty towards
Great Britain, the £inpire,and its Sovereign,
hy which you are animated, for it iti in that
direction, and not in any other one, that
your true course lies. (Great applause.)
And now, in conclusion, I have but one
more word to say. However earueptly I
may have bosouglit you to be faithful to
your native laud, and to estimate at its
proper value your birthright as Englishmen,
it is almost with equal persistence that I
would exhort you to sultivate cordial rela-
tions with the great American people. A
nobler nation — a people more generous or
more hospitable— does not exist. (Loud
applauHe. ) To have learnt to understand
and appreciate them I esteem as not the
least of the many advantages I have gained
by coming to Canada. (Applause.) Of my
own knowleuge I can say that they are ani-
mated by the kindliest feelings towards the
Dominion, and I cannot doubt but that the
two countries are destined to be united in
the bands of an unbroken friendship. (Loud
applause.) Nor can I conceive a more in-
teresting or delightful task in store for the
philosophical historian than to record the
amicable rivalry of such powerful and cog-
nate communities in the path of progress, —
the one a republic indeed, but where the
authoritative pre-eminence assigned to the
elect of the people, and the comparative
freedom of the Executive from Parliamentary
control, introduces a feature akin to personal
government ; the other a monarchy, but to
which the hereditary principle communicates
such an element of stability as to render
possible the application of what is really the
most popular and democratic political sys-
tem to be fou ad upon this continent (loud
cheers), while both combine, each in their
respective spheres, to advance the happiness
of mankiud,and to open up a new and fresher
chapter of human history. (Applause.)
And now, gentlemen, I must hurry
to a conclusion. I have only to
thank you for the patience with
which you have listened to me. My
race amongst you is run. To-day I am but
hastily finishing off the concluding paragraph
in the record of my official career. That re-
<5orc\ I am happy to think, is destined to be-
come the preface to a more brilliant chapter
in your history. (Cheers.) In a few weeks
one of the most promising of the younger
generation of English statesmen will reach
your shores, accompanied by a daughter of
your Queen. (Tremendous applause. ) Under
the auspices of these distinguished person-
ages you are destined to ascend yet higher in
the hierarchy of the nations, to be drawn
still closer to the heart of the Motner Coun'
try, to be recognized still moro universally
as one of the most loyal, most prosperous,
and most powerful of thone great colonial
governments which unite to form the Empire
of Great Britain. (GrePt cheering.) May
God Almighty bless you and keep you, and
pour out upon your glorious country the uni-
versal blessings that lie at His right hand. '
(Tremendous cheering, renewed again and
again.)
TO THE IKISH PROTESTANT BENEVOLENT
BOCIKTY.
[Delivered on the 25th of September, in re-
ply to an address road by Capt. VV. F. Mo-
Master, in the Queen's Hotel, Toronto.]
"Gentlemen, — Few things could have
given me greater pleasure than to leceive
such an address as that which you have pre-
sented to me. I recollect the friendly recep-
tion you gave me on my first arrival, and I
rejoice at this opportunity of bidding you
farewell. I am well aware of the useful na-
ture of the task you have set yourselves, and
of the broad and liberal spirit in which you
execute it, and it is, therefore, to you, and
through you to the rest of our Irish fellow-
countrymen in Canada, that I feel irresistibly
compelled to convey one last and parting en-
treaty. No one can have watched the recent
course of events without having observed,
almost with feelings of terror, the unac-
countable exacerbation and recrudescence of
those party feuds and religious animosities
from which for many a long day we have
been comparatively free. Now, gentlemen,
this is a most serious matter (hear, hear) ; its
import cannot be exaggerated ; and I would
beseech you and every Canadian in the land
who ex( ■ cises any influence amid the circle
of his acquaintance — nay, every Canadian
woman, whether mother, wife, sister, or
daughter, to strain every nerve, to exert
every faculty they possess, to stifle and eradi-
cate this hateful and abominable root of bit-
terness from amongst us. (Hear, hear.)
Gentlemen, I have had a terrible experience
in these matters. I have seen one of the
greatest and most prosperous towns of Ire-
land — the City of Belfast — helplessly given
over for an entire week into the hands of two
contending religious factions. I have gone
into the hospital and beheld the dead bodies
of young men in the prime of life lying stark
and cold upon the hospital floor — thedelicate
forms of innocent women writhing in agony
upon the hospital beds — and every one of
these struck down by an unknown bullet —
by those with whom they had no personal
quarrel — towards whom they felt no animo-
sity, and from whom, had they encountered
them in the intercourse of ordinary life, they
would have probably received every mark of
kindness and goodwill. (Hear, hear. ) But
^
1878
EARL OP DUFPERIN.
125
K
\
where these tragedies occurred — aenselesB
and wicked as were the occasiona which pro-
duced them— there had long existed between
the contending partiea, traditions of animo-
sity and ill-will and the memory of ancient
grievances ; but what can be more Cain-like,
more insane, than to import into this country
—unsullied as it is by any evil record of civil
strife— a stainless paradise, freah and bright
from the hands of its Maker,— where all have
been freely admitted upon enual terms —
the bloodthirsty strife and brutal quarrels of
the old world ? Divided as you are into va-
rious powerful religious communities, none
of whom are entitled to claim either pre-
eminence or ascendancy over the other, but
each of which reckons amongst its adherents
enormous masses of the population, what
hopes can you have except in mutual forbear-
ance and a generous liberality of sentiment ?
Why, your very existence depends upon
the disappearance of these ancient feuds.
Be wise, therefore, in time, I say, while it
is still time, for it is the property of these
hateful quarrels to feed on their own excesses;
if once engendered they widen their bloody
circuit from year to year, till they engulf the
entire community in internecine strife. Un-
happily, it is not by legislation or statutory
restrictions or even by the interference c f
the armed Executive, that the evil can be
efifectually and radically remedied. |^Such
alternatives, even when successful at the
time — I am not alluding to anything that
has taken place in Canada, but to my Irish
experiences — are apt to leave a sense of in-
justice and of a partial administration of
the law rankling in the minds of one or
other of the parties ; lut surely when rein-
forced by such obvious considerations of self-
preservation aa those I have indicated, the
public opinion of the community at large
ought to be sufl&cient to repress the evil.
Believe me, if you desire to avert an im-
pending calamity, it is the duty of every
human being amongst you — Protestant and
Catholic, Orangeman and Union man — to
consider with regard to all these matters
what is the real duty they owe to God, their
country, and each other. (Applause.) And
now, gentlemen, I have done. T trust
that nothing I have said has wounded the
suseeptibilities of any of those who have
listened to me. God knows I have had but
one thought in addressing these observations
to you, and that is to make the best use of
this exceptional occasion, and to tak e the
utmost advantage of the good will with
which 1 know you regard me, in order to
eflFect an object upon which your own
happiness and the happiness of future
generation so greatly depend."
TO THE COMMEKCIAL TRAVELLERS OF CANADA.
[Delivered in the Queen's Hotel on th«
same day, in reply to an address read by
Mr. Riley, on behalf of Mr. Paterson, the
President.]
" Mr. President and Gentlemen,— I
assure you I experience very great pleasure
in receiving an address from such a body as
this. In the tirstplace,I am well aware that
the Commercial Travellers constitute a com*
munity as distinguished for its integrity, for
its intelligence, for its general aptitude for
advancing the prosperity of Canada, as any
in the country. In the next place, I cannot
help remembering that one of the wistst and
kindliest statesmen whose eloquence and
achievements have ever adorned the pages of
English history, had the honour of once being
enrolled amongst your number. I allude to
Richard Cobden. (Applause.) And I am
also glad to think that another member of
your profession, Mr. George Moore, has also
justly attracted by his honourable and dis-
tinguished career the admiration and sym-
pathy of his fellow-countrymen. But there
is a still closer tie which attracts me towards
you, because, after all, what am I myself bat
a commercial traveller ? (Laughter and
applause. ) I am a commercial traveller who
has travelled more and further than any of
you. (Renewed laughter.) I have vaunted
my wares with as much earnestness and
sincere belief in their excellence as any gen-
tletnan present. (Loud laughter.) I have
endeavoured to extend our connections, and
to push the business of our House (great
laughter), with energy and integrity (laughter
and applause), and, as you are good enough
to assure me, to the satisfaction of my em-
ployers (great applause) — and amongst those
who have addressed me there are none in a
better position than yourselves to give me an
assurance on such a point, as none are in the
habit of mixing more intimately with all
classes of the community. " (Loud applause. )
TO THE CITIZENS OF TORONTO.
[Delivered in the Queen's Park, in reply to
an address read by Mr. Roddy, the City
Clerk, on'the 25th of September.]
" Mr. Mayor and Aldermen of thb
City of Toronto, — I am afraid that it is
almost hopeless for me to make niyself
heard by the large assemblage of the citizens
of Toronto who have done me the honour of
meeting me here to-night. But I trust that
there will be some among.%t them sufficiently
near to be able to gather from the few ob-
servations I am about to make, how deeply
sensible I am of the honour which you, Mr.
Mayor, and your colleagues, have done me
in presenting me with so flattering an ad-
dress, and which they have conferred upon
me in assembling in such numbers to wel-^
126
THE SPEECHES OE THE
1878
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«onie me. I remember perfectly when I Hrat
arrived in your city, when I was a stranger
to you all, when Canada was altogether a
terra incognita to uh, that you were good
enough to illuminate your houses, to aa-
aemble in your atreetq, and to make me feel
once for all that I had come amongat f rienda,
and that I had found a home. (Cheera.)
After six years' experience I can only aay
that your friendahip has never failed me; and
now that I am about to leave you I almoat
feel aa though I were being banished from
my native land. (Applause.) 1 regret ex-
tremely that during the period of my ad-
ministration I have not been able to render
you greater services. At all eventa, tlie will
haa not been wanting, and, though 1 have
very little to boast of, 1 may, at all eventa,
congratulate myself on the recollection that
no cloud has ever come between you and
me ; that I have done nothing and aaid
nothing which has in any degree shaken
frour love for the Mother Country, your
oyalty to your Queen, or your devotion to
your beloved Canada. (Loud cheera.)
Never have I found myself in the midst of a
population animated by a nobler spirit of
patriotism ; never have I found myself in
the midst of a population more industrious,
more law-abiding, more sensible of their
privileges as the subjects of a great consti-
tutional ruler, or more deternimed to ad-
vance the renown and glories of the British
name. (Prolonged cheering.) Mr. Mayor,
Aldermen, ladies and gentlemen, I feel that
it would be to trespass unduly upon your
attention if I were to trouble you with any
lengthened observations upon the present
occasion. When all is said and done, I can
only repeat that I am most grateful to you
all, that as long as 1 live I shall retain the
tenderest recollection of your country, and
that the rest of my life shall be devoted,
whenever the opportunity of doing so shall
arrive, to furthering the interests of Canada,
to championing the cause of the Dominion,
and to showing by my acts and words how
faithful is my recollection of the love, affec-
tion and kindness I have received at your
hands." (Loud and long-continued cheer-
ing.)
TO THE YORK COUNTY COUNCIL.
[Delivered on the same occasion, in reply
to an address presented by Mr. N. Clarke
Wallace, M.P., Warden.]
"Mr. Warden and Gkntlemen, — As this
is the sixth speech I shall have had the plea-
sure of making to-day, I dare say you can well
understand that I shall find some difficulty
in finding words adequately to thank you for
the tund, loyal and flattering address with
which you have honoured me. But, though
I am forced on each of these agreeable oc-
casions to make use of alinoat the same
orinula of expression,! trust you will believe
that, however stereotyped those expresaions
of gratitude may b«, tne aentimeut which
they repeat will be fresher and freaher from
the Uottoni of my heart on every aucceeding
occasion upon which I receive freah proofs ol
the confidenee and esteem of the people.
(Applause.) I will not, after what I have
already said in your presence, in reply to
the Mayor, do more than again aasure you
that 1 am deeply sensible of your kindness
and goodness, and that in return I beg to
offer you my best and warmest thanks."
(Cheers. )
TO THE CITIZENS OF HAMILTON.
[Delivered on the same occasion, in reply
to an address read by Mayor Kilvert.]
"Mr. Mayor— In reply to an address which
yon have been good enough to present to
me, I must ask you to be the bearer to your
fellow'citizens in Hamilton of my most
grateful thanks. It is very difficult, when I
recur to the various progresses I have made
through Ontario, to distinguish between the
receptions I have met with at the several
towns which ornament that great Province.
But this I can say, that I distinctly recollect
that at Hamilton I received as kind and
loyal a reception as at any other place in
Her Majesty s Dominion. 1 regret extremely
tha^ have not been able to repair myself
in j^rson to your town, in order that I
might see your fellow-citizens face to face,
and thank them for the kind opinions they
have expressed of me in their address. I
therefore ask you to be my ambassador,, and
to express to them the pleasure I feel on this
occasion." (Applause.)
TO THE ONTARIO SOCIETY OF ARTISTS.
[Delivered in reply to the toast of his
health, proposed at a luncheon on the 26th of
September by Mr. W. H. Howland.]
" Mr. Howland and Gentlemen, — In
returning you my best thanks for the flatter-
ing manner in which you have drunk my
health, permit me to assure you that I should
have felt my leave-takings in this city to
have been most incomplete unless I had had
an opportunity of giving my artist friends in
Ontario a parting shake of the hand. (Ap-
plause.) I shall never forget the kindness
and courtesy with which they have always
welcomed me here, or the pleasure I have
derived from inspecting their Annual Exhi-
bition. As this is altogether a domestic
festival, I shall not intrude upon its felicity
by a speech. Moreover, I have so lately
had an opportunity of saying to you what-
ever I thought I could say to any purpose
with reference to Art, that the want of an
appropriate theme would of itself close my
mouth. Still there is one thing I would
1878
1878
EARL OF DUFFERIN.
loat the aame
u will believe
le exprcHHiotiH
biineiit which
d freiiher from
)ry Bucueedina
fresh proufH of
)f the people,
what I have
3, in reply to
Eiiii assure you
your kinduesa
eturn I beg to
lest thuiiks. "
IILTON.
,8ioD, in reply
[^ilvert.]
address which
to present to
bearer to your
of my most
tiicult, when I
a I have made
h between the
,t the several
reat Province,
nctly recollect
as kind and
tther place in
jret extremely
repair myself
order that I
face to face,
opinions they
ir address. I
bassador, and
I feel on this
F ARTISTS.
toast of his
on the 26th of
land. ]
!JTLEMEN, — In
or the flatter-
ive drunk my
that I should
n this city to
ess I had had
tist friends in
hand. (Ap-
the kinduesa
have always
easure I have
Annual Exhi-
a domestic
on its felicity
ve so lately
o you what-
any purpose
le want of an
lelf close my
hing I would
wiah to do, and that is to oonf;ratulate you
and every artist in Canada upon the advent
to your shores uf one of the muHt intelligent
and appreciative patrons of Art such a
Society as this could possibly desire. (Loud
applause. ) Gentlemen, in Her Koval High-
ness the Princess Louise you will not only
find a sistitr brush (laughter), but one who,
both by her nai/ive genius aiul the sound and
thorough practical education she has re-
ceived, is qualified to be your friend, protec-
tor and guiding star. (Applause.) That
ahe will be ready and willing to do so I have
no doubt, for broad and generous as are all
her sympathies, in no direction do they flow
out in a richer or more spontaneous strain
than towards har artist friends, and I shall
be very much mistaken if her advent in Can-
ada does not mark an;i,era in the Art history
of this contiuenii. (Applause. ) And now,
gentlemen, before I sit down there is another
topic to which I would for a moment refer.
I am about to confide to you a mission
which, though not directly in your line, is
sufficiently connected with your pursuits to
justify me in demanding your assistance. In
your neighbourhood there exists, as you are
aware, one of the most wondrous, beautiful,
and stupendous scenes which the forces of
Nature have ever constructed. Indeed, so
majestic is the subject, that though many
skilful hands have endeavoured to transfer it
to canvas, few have succeeded in adequately
depicting its awe-inspiring characteristics.
I allude to the Falls of Niagara. Bub I am
further sure everyone will agree with me in
tl ' aking that the pleasure he may have de-
rived from his pilgrimage to so famous a
spot, whether as an artist or simple tourist,
has been miserably marred and defeated
by the inconvenience and annoyance he has
experienced at the hands of the various
squatting interests that have taken posses-
sion of every point of vantage at the Falls to
tax the pocket and irritate the nerves of
visitors, and by whom — just at the moment
when he is about to give up his whole being
to the contemplation of the scene before him,
as he is about to feel the inspiration of the
natural beauties around him, his imagination
and his poetic faculties are suddenly shocked
and (disorganized with a demand for ten
cents. (Loud laughter.) Some few weeks
ago I had the good fortune to meet|His Ex-
cellency the Governor of the State of New
York, and I then suggested to him an idea
which has been long present to my mind,
that the Governments of New York and of
Ontario or Canada should combine to acquire
whatever rights may have been established
against the public, and to form around the
Falls a small public international park (hear,
hear) — not indeed decorated or in any way
Bophiaticated by the puny art of the „
scape gardener, uutoarefuUy preserved in
picturesque and unvulgarized condition ii
which it was originally laid out by the hand
of Nature. (Loud applause. ) Nothing could
have been more gratifying or graciouH than
the response which His Excellency the Gov-
ernor of New York was good enough to make
to my representations, and he encouraged me
to hope that, should a fitting opportunity
present itself, he and hia Government might
bo induced, if not to take the initiative in
the matter, at all events to 'co-operate
heartily with our own in carrying out such a
plan as I have sketched. (Applause.) No>
where in the world are all the arrangomenta
connected with pleasure grounds better
understood than upon this continent. You
possess quite a specialty in that respejt, and
if on either side the river the areas a(lu,pted
for such a purpose were put under the charge
of proper guardians, and the present guidea
organized into an efficient and disciplined
staff, it would be a source of increased grati-
fication to thousands and thousands of per-
sons. (Applause.) Now, of course We all
know that what is everybody's business ia
nobody's business, and notwithstanding the
all-embracing energy of my honourable and
learned friend upon my right, it is not the
kind of tiding which probably would have
come to the notice of his Government unlesa
the matter was previously agitated by eome
powerful interest. It is for this reason that
I take the opportunity of addressing an audi-
ence who I am certain will sympathize with
such a project on this subject, and of urging
upon them the advisability ot bringing their
influence to bear in the direction I have sug-
gested. (Loud applause.) Mr. President
and gentlemen, I have again to thank yon
most warmly for the kind reception you have
given me, and I beg to conclude by proposing
the health of your President, with a hearty
wish for your future prosperity." (Ap-
plause. )
TO THE CLERGY OP THE ROMAN CATHOLIC
ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCE OF ONTARIO.
[Delivered on the 26th of September, in
reply to an address from the Clergy of the
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province.]
" Your Grace and My Lords, — I can
assure you it is with feelings of the very
deepest satisfaction that I acknowledge the
address with which you have honoured me.
I am well aware that throughout Canada
there does no ■■ exist a more patriotic body,
one more devoted to the interests of the
country or more attached to the Empire of
Great Britain, than that great ecclesiastical
community over which you preside as its
spiritual pastors ; and I rejoice to think
that, under your advice and guidance, it
^
THE SPEB0HB8 OF THE EABL OF DUFFERIN.
icm
m
I
\on\d ho 80 ready, m on all occoaiona I have
^ound it, to acknowledge the juatice and
benignity of Her Majuaty'a rule m Canada.
That nerHonagcH iu your exalted poHition
■houlrl addresa me personally in such flatter-
ing terma ia very gratifying to my feelings,
and I shall ever retain the moat grateful
recollection of the courteay I have always
received at the hands of the Catholic hierar-
chy of Canada. I shall have great pleasure
in conveying to Her Majoitv tnc sentiments
of loyalty, to her Throne and affection for her
Person you have reciuested me to repeat in
your behalf. In leaving Canada I carry
away with me an increased appreciation of
what can be done to superinduce a sentiment
of goodwill and content amongst a popula<
tion composed of different rolif»iou8 convic-
tions by the administration of equal laws and
impartial justice."
TO THK HT. PATRICK SOCIETV OP QUEBEC.
[Delivered in reply to an address, on the
18th of Ootober.in the Citadel.]
"Mr. President and Gentlemen, — I
Accept the kind address with which you
have honoured me with the greatest satis-
faction, not only because I recollect with
gratitude the kind feception you gave me
when I first landed oa these shores, but
because I am well aware of the 'undoubted
titles to the respect and confidence of their
fellow-countrymen which are possewaed by
the members of the St. Patrick Society of
Qnebec. In the first place, the members of
the Society are all Irishmen, which is in it-
self a very considerable merit ',\ bat not only
8«,the principles and functions of the Society
are of the most benificent and liberal nature.
Yon comprise within your ranks both
Catholics and ProtestantH, united by the
Ixinds of the closest amity and a coumiuuity
of well-doing. No sectarian prejudices or
passions are allowed to stand in the way of
your efTt)rtH to benefit those who claim your
assistance, the very basis of your existence
being the noblest charity. I thank yon
heartily for the kind expressions you have
used in regard to myself. It is indeed no
mean reward to leave those amongst whom
I have lived ao long under such gratifying
circumstances, and believe me the assurance
of your confidence and esteem contril)ute8 in
no alight degree to mitigate the sorrow I
naturally experience inb'dding farewell to so
many kind and indulgent friends. I trust
that the Society may long continue to dis-
charge its beneficent task in the coble spirit
by which it lias been animated, and that
every year will enlarge the circle of its in-
fluence and the scope of its operations. I
shall be careful to inform Lady DufFerin of
the kind way in which you have remember-
ed her on the present occasion."
Lord Dufferin sailed down the St. Law-
rence from Quebec, in miserable weather, on
the 19th of October. The last voices he
heard from the receding shores sang " God
Save the Queen." When the Polynetian was
leaving the land "Good-bye " was signalled
to him — he returned the simple potent word,
THANKS.
\
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'1
B
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