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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 
 
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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 
 
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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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