Chapter VII: Part II (4)

Permettez-moi de vous remercier de votre bien-veillante reception, et de vous dire que je désire avoir ma part de l'approbation que le public accorde à vos travaux, en continuant l'octroi des prix inauguré par Lord Dufferin, qui savait si bien apprécier la valeur de votre université, et qui, en sa qualité de savant, connaissait tout le prix de l'enseignement qu'on y donne.

Ici les élèvès placés sous vos soins, reçoivent tous les jours une large part des connaissances que vous avez puisées à des sources précieuses dans diverses contrées du globe; car les voyages sont aussi propres à instruire que les livres eux-mêmes, et parmi vos professeurs il y en a qui ont parcouru beaucoup de pays et vu beaucoup de peuples différents, et qui ont suivi en Amérique la pratique des fondateurs du Christianisme, en apprenant les langues étrangères, en voyant l'ancien monde, ses habitants, tout en s'initiant à sa littérature immortelle.

Les fondateurs de cette institution ont pourvu aux moyens de faire suivre des cours complets de médecine, qui jusqu'ici n'avaient été ouverts qu'a un petit nombre de personnes; car dans votre institution la medécine s'enseigne d'après une méthode digne de la nation qui a produit Broussais, Bichat, Corvisart et Pinel.

Les sciences naturelles sont enseignées à des hommes qui, en prenant part au développement et aux découvertes des richesses naturelles de ce vaste continent, continueront l'oeuvre de leurs ancetres, les pionniers du Canada.

Cette partie de la puissance renferme des richesses naturelles encore inconnues et qui n'exigent que l'esprit d'entreprise pour leur exploitation.

C'est aussi un pays où l'or, les marbres précieux et les serpentines aideront á augmenter par leur valeur les revenus de la population qui doit neanmoins compter principalement sur la culture du sol et qui dans l'elevage des bestiaux augmentera sa prospérité en approvisionnant les marches de l'Europe.

Je suis très honoré de votre réception, et mon désir le plus sincère est que la Divine Providence permette que l'Université Laval soit toujours le flambeau des arts et des sciences pour la noble et génereuse population de Québec.

At Toronto during the same year the Governor-General had occasion to speak as follows:--

Gentlemen,--In rising to return you my heartfelt thanks for the loyal and cordial manner in which you have received the toast of the health of the Queen's representative, I thank my learned and honourable friend on my left for the manner in which he has proposed that toast, and you, gentlemen, for the way in which you have been good enough to receive it. I knew that in a Canadian company that toast would be received with all honours, because I believe there is no nation in this world which has more profound love for its Sovereign than the Canadian people. (Loud cheers.) With reference to the Prince of Wales, to whose visit you have made allusion, I know that he was delighted, as was also the Duke of Connaught, with the visit they paid to Canada, and they have both expressed a confident hope that during my term of office they may revisit Canadian soil. (Loud cheering.) With regard to ourselves personally, I shall accept with gratitude everything that has fallen to-night from your eloquent lips, sir, with regard to the Princess, my wife. (Great cheering.) But as for myself, I must demur to the excessive kindness of some of your expressions; and although it may be a bold opinion for a layman to lay down in the presence of so many distinguished in the law, I believe my learned friend has almost for the first time--and I hope for the last--in his life departed from that attitude of strict impartiality which it is his duty, as well as my own, to maintain. (Great laughter and cheering.) I have a theory on the subject, of which I will let you into the secret. My honourable friend has confided to me that it was his painful duty to make some very severe observations from the Bench to-day. I think that it may be possibly owing to a natural reaction of feeling, that he has found it almost obligatory to make some observations in my favour to-night, almost too kind (Loud laughter.) We have been delighted with the reception we have met with in Toronto, and I must say that it has been a matter of good fortune, in my opinion, that we have been able to visit this great city at a time when its citizens are occupied with the great show which is being held within a short distance of its limits, and which is a most remarkable exhibition to have been set on foot and carried out by any city. (Cheers.) And in a few days we shall not only have had the pleasure of inspecting the exhibits, but of seeing some of the live stock which is now enjoying such favour not only in Canada, but also, luckily for Europe, over the water. That examination will be for me one of peculiar interest. I look forward to that trade developing a new and--as I trust it will be--a permanent source of revenue to this country. (Cheers.) I see you have Landseer's pictures of "Peace" and "War" upon your walls. I know of no more striking contrast that can be seen between peace and war than at Quebec, for instance, where under the frowning guns of that magnificent fortress the air is daily full of the lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep, and vast numbers are to be seen being embarked upon the large and fine vessels of the Allan Line for transport to Europe. (Cheers.) We may congratulate Canada not only that she has begun that trade, but that she has done so in so energetic a fashion, that though the shippers expected there would be but little traffic so late this year, the trade has been carried on with increasing volume throughout the autumn, and depend upon it, it will bring you good return, not only to the farmers already here, but by bringing more people to Canada. These people are the class you want, and I believe that for every few hundred cattle or sheep you send to Liverpool, you have every prospect of getting in exchange a stout English farmer. (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I hardly expected that upon this, my first official visit, I should have had the opportunity of expressing my gratitude to the Toronto Club for entertaining me in so friendly a fashion at so pleasant a banquet. In meeting you here to-night, I feel I am in the presence of a representative assembly of those who lead the intellectual and commercial life of this city, one of the greatest already, and at the same time one of the most promising, not only in the Dominion but on the American continent. Before you, then, gentlemen, I wish I could find words warm enough to give you an idea of the manner in which we have been touched by the efforts made in our behalf by the citizens of Toronto. (Loud cheers.) It would not be reasonable to seek any justification of such kind feeling, but, at all events, I can say to you that, if a hearty and earnest interest in every phase of your national life can be taken as any excuse for such welcome, this justification, at all events, exists to the full. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) In one sense, also, I am no stranger to your affairs, for I do not feel that in studying Canada I have embarked on a sea hitherto unknown to me. It is not only since my arrival here that I have watched with unflagging enthusiasm the current of events which is so surely leading this country to the full enjoyment of a great inheritance, for long before we landed on your shores much of your history and of your present condition was well known to me. A brief visit, paid many years ago, could give me but little real insight into your condition, but every man in England who has had anything to do with public life has, since the Confederation of the British North American Provinces, considered his political studies as wholly wanting if a pretty thorough knowledge of your resources and position were not included in his survey of the Empire. (Cheers.) Confederation has had this advantage, that your destinies have been presided over by men who had weight and authority at home, and who were able to put before the English people, in attractive form, the resources of this country. Especially was this the case during the six and a half years Lord Dufferin has been in this country; for his speeches, giving in so poetical a form, and with such mastery of diction and such a grasp of comprehension, an account of your material and political condition, were universally read and universally admired. (Loud cheers.) Perhaps in former days, and before the country had become one, so much attention would not have been given to your affairs, but since Confederation we all know in England--every politician in England knows--that he is not to consider this country as a small group of disconnected Colonies, but as a great and consolidated people, growing in importance not only year by year, but hour by hour. (Great cheering.) You now form a people for whom the Colonial Office and Foreign Office alike are desirous to act with the utmost strength of the Empire in forwarding your interests; and in speaking through the Imperial Foreign Office, it is impossible that you should not remember that it is not only the voice of two, three, or four or five millions, as the case may be, that you speak, but the voice of a nation of over forty millions. (Great cheering.) As I said before, I believe that in former days perhaps the interest was not so lively, although perhaps it would be unjust to say that too strongly, because within the last few months, as well as in past years, we have had striking examples of how willing Great Britain is to undertake warlike expenditure for colonies by no means as united or as important as Canada. (Prolonged cheers.) But the feeling with regard to Canada as a mere congeries of colonies, and Canada as one people and Government, may perhaps be compared to the different feelings that a mother may be supposed to have in the pride with which she may regard a nursery full of small infants, and the far different pride with which she looks upon the career and stature of her grown-up and eldest son. (Laughter and cheers.) To be sure, as it is with all sons and all mothers, little passing and temporary misconceptions may occasionally occur, and which only show how deep in reality is their mutual love. (Laughter.) The mother may sometimes think it sad that her child has forgotten some little teaching learnt on her knee, and that one or two of the son's opinions smack of foreign notions--she may think that some of his doings tend not only to injure her, but himself also and the world at large. (Great laughter.) Perhaps, sometimes, he thinks on his part that it is a pity old people cannot put themselves in the place of younger natures. (Uproarious laughter.) But if such is the tenor of the thought which may sometimes occupy the mother and the child, let no one dream for a moment that their affection has become less deep, or that true loyalty of nature is less felt. (Loud cheering.) They are one in heart and mind; they wish to remain so, and shall remain so; and I should like to see the man who would dare to come between them. (Tremendous cheering.) In saying this, gentlemen, I express what may be regarded as my first impressions of the feelings which animate you, and I believe that when I leave you, my last impressions will be identical. (Loud cheering.) And now, gentlemen, the topics on which a Governor-General may speak without offence are somewhat limited--(laughter)--although he is expected to be the advertiser-general of one of the largest countries in the world--(great laughter and applause)--an empire so large that the study of its proportions is, I think, much more like the study of astronomy than the study of geography. (Laughter and applause.) It is perhaps best that he should speak on generalities; but in making my first appearance among you I may be expected to record other general impressions. I may perhaps be permitted to mention a subject which is generally understood as giving a good opening for conversation and acquaintance, and likely to lead to no serious difference of opinion, namely, the subject of the weather. (Roars of laughter.) I can now speak with some authority upon that momentous topic--(laughter)--because I have now spent a winter, a spring, a summer, and part of an autumn in Canada, and I believe that any one who has had a similar experience with me will agree that the seasons and climate enjoyed here are singularly pleasant and salubrious. (Cheers.) You have, gentlemen, real seasons--there is a real winter and a real summer. (Loud laughter.) You are not troubled with shams in that respect--(laughter)--no shoddy manufactures of that nature are imported over here from Europe, where winter is often like a raw summer and summer like a wet winter. How different has been the reality of your winter, for as an old woman once wrote home to her friends in Scotland, "All the children here may run about in the snow without wetting their feet" (Great laughter and cheers.) We have only to look at that column on which a splendid bunch of peaches is hanging to see a summer trophy which should bring many to our door; but it is only a small sample of a vast crop of a similar nature which you have in Western Ontario, for as I am informed by my honourable friend on my right, Mr. Mackenzie, the peaches are often given to the pigs. (Great laughter.) The pleasant and bracing seasons of Canada can be enjoyed in a country without its equal, for nowhere has the settler a more varied range of choice in the scenery, the locality, the soil which will finally determine him where to found a home. His fortune may be compared to that of a man entering one of those new houses where each may have his own flat--a magnificent abode, where, if he wish not to travel, far, to be easily reached and visited by his friends, he may remain in the rooms of the ground floor--our spacious Maritime Provinces, where he will find himself very near his fishmonger--(cheers and laughter)--close to the old tradesmen with whom he has dealt in Europe, and warmed by a great kitchen well-furnished with a store of Pictou coal. (Laughter and cheers.) If he prefer other apartments he may ascend to those great and most comfortable rooms, our ancient and populous Provinces of Quebec and Ontario--the first-floor rooms of our Canadian mansion, which are so amply provided with the old-fashioned associations which he may love; while, if still more active, he may select accommodation in the vast chambers of the second floor--the wonderful districts of the North-West, which have been so bountifully furnished by beneficent Nature, that he will require but little capital to make his abode exactly according to his own taste. (Loud cheers.) And if he prefers another and still more airy location--(laughter)--he may go on again and inhabit our recently erected and lofty storey of the Rocky Mountain District, near which he would again find an ample supply of coal, nearly as good as that which he found "down below." (Applause.) He will be none the less fortunate when he makes the acquaintance of the master of this modern mansion, when he finds that everything is ruled in order and prosperity by him, and that his name is the Canadian House of Commons. (Loud applause.) And now, dropping all fanciful metaphors, I must speak in more serious terms for a moment, and express my admiration for that I most able House, the excellence of whose debates would be a credit to any assembly. (Cheers.) During its session I have sometimes been reminded of an exclamation of the late Baron Bunsen, the German diplomatist and author, whose residence in London as Prussian Ambassador at the Court of St. James's has caused him to be affectionately remembered in England. Chevalier Bunsen, looking on at the proceedings of the House of Commons, said that to him it was a marvel how an Englishman could ever rest until he had sought to become a member of that Assembly, where the Ministers of the Sovereign, and they who endeavoured to win a share in the government of a powerful people, met face to face as champions of different policies to discuss before the country the principles which should guide a mighty nation. As in England, so here, let no one turn his back on political life as too hard, as bringing too much contention, or as occasioning too much unpleasantness. One of the worst signs of a country's condition is, when they who have leisure, or property, or social influence look upon public life as too dirty for them, and hang back from the honourable rivalry, allowing other hands to have a commanding share in government. (Hear, hear.) I am confident that this will not be the case here, and long may it be before a Canadian prefers his ease, if he may command it, to that noblest labour to which he can be called by the voice of his fellow-citizens, a share in the government of his country, in her Parliament. (Cheers.)

In striving to be a member of the Dominion Parliament, or to have a potent voice in the election of such a one, each man, whatever may be his circumstances, must feel that it is a high and proper ambition to do what in him lies to direct the policy of this Royal Commonwealth, which sees its will expressed by the Cabinet--which is but a Committee of the Parliament elected by the people--carried out loyally and fully by the Executive head of the Government. (Cheers.) To be sure you may say to me, you are speaking in ignorance--the Governor-General is not allowed to be present at the debates of Parliament. (Laughter.) Certainly, gentlemen, I am not allowed to be present and never have been. (Renewed laughter.) I have never even followed the example of my eminent predecessor, who has left me such a heritage of speeches at the Toronto Club. (Laughter and applause.) I have followed his example in making a speech, but I have not followed his example in another case, for I am informed that he has heard debates of the House concealed by the friendly shadows behind the Speaker's chair. (Loud cheers and laughter.) I have never placed myself in that position, and of course my knowledge is entirely derived from reports--of course I do not speak of newspaper reports. (Roars of laughter.) That is quite impossible-- (renewed laughter)--because I am fully conscious that we should not put our trust in printers--(great laughter)--but I speak of other reports which are more trustworthy, and for which, of course, my responsible Ministers are responsible. (Laughter.)

I shall mention a particular rumour that has reached my ears, which is to the scarcely credible effect that the current of discussion is often not quite so tranquil as might be assumed by outsiders, looking only at the harmonious outline of the buildings in which the members meet (Great laughter.) Perhaps the reported occasional quickening of the political current, and the hurried words to which it gives rise, occur only because pure panegyric is distasteful, and a wholesome criticism is on the other hand preferred.

Believing this, I shall only venture to express the opinion, that if any spoken words fly too swiftly it is because one bad habit, and one only, exists among the politicians of Canada. It is this--and I am sure you will realise the melancholy significance of the fact to which I am so reluctantly compelled to allude--it is, that Canadian politicians do not bring their wives with them to Ottawa. (Uproarious laughter.) I hope the recently developed doctrines of constitutional duty may still allow a Governor-General to take the initiative in making a suggestion, and my suggestion would be that the ladies should favour us with their presence at Ottawa, for I am certain that an alteration in this practice would soon put a stop to the reports to which I have drawn your attention, which some people may think may detract from the position of our celebrated, and alas! at Ottawa, too often celebate politicians. (Roars of laughter.) And now, gentlemen, I have only to thank you repeatedly and most earnestly for your welcome, and the citizens of Toronto I would thank, through you, at large for the extreme kindness with which they have been pleased to receive us. But I believe, gentlemen, it is not mere kindness that is shown by such demonstrations as those we have recently seen. If it were that only, it would perhaps lose some of its significance. In the display made we have seen the outpouring of the heart of a people whose loyal passion is strong for the unity which binds a great History to a greater Present, and which, under the temperate sceptre of our beloved Queen, is leading Canada and Britain together in freedom to an assured and yet more glorious Future. (Cheers.)

During a visit in 1879 to St. John, a city then suffering from the effects of a disastrous fire, he said:--

Although there may be temporary pressure, and partial failure in trade, not a year elapses that does not indicate progress made in the material welfare of the country as a whole. The Dominion is steadily and surely rising in wealth, in unity of feeling, in all that makes a nation. Our territories are enormous, and no one need travel far in any Province, but he will find new clearings and fresh settlements; while land in abundance and of great excellence, as compared with much in the old country, can be had almost for the asking.

Throughout our greater Britain, and steadily and surely upon these our eastern coasts, the people increase from decade to decade, notwithstanding the great attractions offered by the prairie lands of the interior. No one can look at the district you inhabit without feeling certain that this increase will continue. Impatient, restless, and ignorant of his true interests would that man be, indeed, who, under such circumstances, would not desire to tread in the steps of his fathers, to face, with British pluck and spirit, any difficulties that may arise; and to rejoice that his lot has been cast in that Empire which has withstood every danger, whose might has been moulded by centuries, and whose flag has never waved over any people whose character has not been ennobled by the free institutions it represents.

In reply to an address of the City Corporation, he said:--

To THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COMMONALTY, ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK:-Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,--The dignified and truthful words in which you recall the trials through which many of your ancestors passed in this country, now the happy home of their descendants, remind me how strong to-day among you is the feeling of the duty of patriotism--a duty, the fulfilment of which I rejoice to think is accompanied by no burden, but brings with it the enjoyment of much political advantage. We have found with pleasure that sufficient time has been at our disposal during this, the first year after our arrival in the Dominion, when there have been necessarily duties which have demanded attention at the capital and journeys to be undertaken in other parts--to allow us to return to those Maritime Provinces where we were first welcomed by a loyal people, and to visit St. John, which must be regarded as the commercial capital of even a wider district than is contained in New Brunswick itself.

Accept our thanks for meeting us here, on behalf of your city, and for the genial reception tendered to us. I should indeed have considered our first survey of our Dominion most incomplete had we been unable to stay awhile among you.

Much we have been unable to see; many places in which we should wish to spend some days, and where we might observe mining and other industries successfully followed, we must hope to visit another year. In St. John we arrive at once at one of the centres of life and activity on these our eastern coasts. We observe with the greatest satisfaction the evidences of the energy you bring to the aid of our common country, and the important place you fill in promoting the welfare of our Federation. The British people and foreign countries alike look upon the Dominion as our Empire's eldest son, in whose life and character the nature which has made the mother country stronger, the older it has grown, is seen and recognised by all. You are entering on a glorious manhood, which will, in future ages, stand forth in the beauty of strength and pride of freedom, to be known in history as asserting a place among the mighty of the earth.

The district is the scene of events wherein widely different actors have played their parts, and interesting, indeed, is the development of the story of which your harbour and town have been the theatre. Two centuries ago the adventurer only knew this place--his company stealing along the coast in small and battered craft, seeking a settlement, obliged to guard against the savages of the forest, yet full of visions of a great future for his new home, and endeavouring, almost in vain, to interest Europe in his schemes. But the years peopled the shores with sturdy colonists, who pushed their way, although held down by difficulties of transport, by distance from other settlements, by wars of race and by mutual jealousies. Now we see a land whose natural loveliness and fertility is turned to the best account, connected with all the life of Europe and America by countless channels of communication, and using the arts of modern civilisation to make the utmost of its political and geographical position.

In expressing to you our gratitude for the welcome you now give us, accept our best wishes for your welfare, and let us utter a fervent hope that the energy here exhibited, which no depression in trade can master, and which even the ruin of fire has only been able, temporarily, to affect, may receive full reward in the future prosperity of your loyal and flourishing city.

During His Excellency's visit to Fredericton, the capital of the Province of New Brunswick, he replied as follows to an address:--

TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FREDERICTON:--Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,--This is not the first time, as you remind me, that the Queen's children have visited your people, and have received at their hands the proofs of an affection for our Sovereign which animates all Her Majesty's subjects. The Queen has now reigned for a longer period than has been vouchsafed to most of our monarchs, over a prosperous and united nation, whose strength has, during her life, been greatly increased by development and consolidation of this her great Dominion. Her Majesty possesses here the love of a people more numerous than was the English nation when it achieved the glories which the trumpet of fame, moved by Shakespeare's breath, made a household word among all nations.

In Canada, I am able to receive with pride testimonials of respect, reverence, and love for her rule, from men whose Government represents a force, if population and material resources be taken into account, far greater than that possessed of old by England, even in those days which ring with the deeds of her heroes, and have been called the "spacious times of great Elizabeth."

And while we must look upon this country as rapidly becoming one of the moving influences of the world, we cannot forget what an advantageous variety of position and power, within the sphere of the Dominion, is possessed by the various Provinces. Here, in the Province of which this city is the capital, you have the great ocean and highways so near you that your brave and hardy maritime population can furnish your mercantile marine with many of the best sailors in America. In the territory, comprised within your limits, you occupy a central position through which much of the land traffic of this part of the American continent is likely to be conducted, and your climate gives to all who cultivate your soil abundance of agricultural resources in corn and pasture land.

It may not be unappropriate now, when you give us your kindly and hospitable welcome to the capital of your Province, to ask you to receive with our thanks the expression of our hope that the members selected as the representatives of the Province, and who assemble here, may be granted wisdom by the Most High to further the welfare and promote the best interests of a true and loyal people.

During this visit to New Brunswick, he said, in reply to the Warden and Members of the Municipality of Kings County:--

Gentlemen,--The duties connected with the high office with which I am honoured cannot indeed be considered to impose any heavy burdens, when their performance leads me to visit populations so kindly in their sympathies as are those of this Province, where we meet men always glad to testify their affection for the institutions under which they live by their reception of the representatives of the Queen. Perhaps in no other country in the world is it possible for the representative of any sovereign to travel for thousands of miles, and to be everywhere greeted with the same assurances of contentment with political condition and affection for the throne. I thank you, especially on the Princess's behalf, for the words you have spoken in reference to her. She will always associate herself gladly in anything tending to the welfare of the people of this Dominion. In so doing she will fulfil the wish of her father the Prince Consort, whose desire it was that his children should identify themselves with the interests of our Colonial Empire. I hear with gladness the assurance you give of the firm and unswerving loyalty of the people of the county of Kings, and I desire to tender to them my sincere thanks.

The first visit to Toronto took place in 1879. A loyal and kindly address having been read, His Excellency replied:--

Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,--I remember well that the first time I saw Toronto was when, a good many years ago, the city was pointed out to me, where far off, over the waters its houses were visible from a spot not distant from Niagara. This first gave me an idea of the size and importance of your town. Men who were then with me told me that thirty or forty years before there would not only have been nothing visible at that distance, but only a very small settlement when viewed much nearer. But just as the city can be seen from afar, so is its position now so important that you cannot think of Ontario, wide as are its limits, or indeed of Canada itself, without seeing in the mind Toronto, the capital of our most populous Province. Here are combined things rarely found closely united, namely, great commercial prosperity with great literary activity. If you are proving that you can lead the way in commerce, it is as great a distinction that you can, by the ability of your literary men, do much towards guiding and influencing the thoughts of your fellow-citizens of the Dominion. I thank you for your loyal words in our Queen's name. They express the feeling I expected to find among you, but I must speak my grateful acknowledgments for the cordial manner in which you have given utterance to them. Adhesion to our Empire and love for its Sovereign I knew I should find; but the character of this great reception, the magnificence of your preparations to welcome the representatives of the Sovereign, form a demonstration for which I confess I was not prepared. It has been our fortune to be kindly received by great communities, both in the old world and in the new; but I never returned my thanks with a more heartfelt gratitude than I do now to you, the citizens of Toronto, for the manner, at once so splendid and so sympathetic, in which you have been pleased to receive us. In December last, delegates from many of the towns of Ontario came to Ottawa to give us their greeting. Accompanying the addresses presented to us was an offering which, while it showed a feeling of personal regard, might well, I believe, serve as an emblem of the patriotism of Ontario. It was a wreath of that plant which in the old country loads the air with perfume wherever moss and mountain are most green with moisture. Reared among morasses, it grows only where around its roots the soil is firm; and where it springs, the foot may safely tread and securely stand. It was therefore, in olden days, taken as my clan's badge to signify a firm faith and steady trust, and with this signification I looked upon the wreath of marsh myrtle given to us on the part of so many communities in Ontario last December, as a fit emblem and just expression of that steady, firm, and faithful support which our Queen will ever find wherever a citizen of Ontario lives to assert his rights and freedom in upholding the honour, the dignity, and the power of our united Empire.

To an address in German, presented in 1879 at Berlin, Ontario, the Governor-General answered:--

Meine Herren und Damen!--Die Prinzessin und ich finden es eine unserer angenehmsten Pflichten, Ihnen einen Besuch hier zu machen, um uns von der Fruchtbarkeit, welche Ihre Kolonie charakterisirt, zu überzeugen.

Wir freuen uns um so mehr, da Ihre Zuschrift uns in der lieben deutschen Sprache ein Willkommen sagt, und die Versicherung deutscher Treue aus deutschem Munde kommt.

Wir wissen, daß Sie als Zeichen der Gesinnung Ihrer deutschen Bevölkerung in Kanada den Spruch, der seit Jahrhunderten dem Sächsischen Hause angehört:--"Treu und fest," als ihr Motto nehmen könnten.

Obgleich Sie uns in so treuer Weise empfangen, und der Königin Ihre Ehrerbietung beweisen, bleiben Sie dennoch gute Deutsche, und sind darauf stolz, daß Sie Ihre Kinder und Kindeskinder in der kräftigen Muttersprache erziehen können.

Die Liebe für das alte, deutsche Vaterland sollte nie aussterben; es verhindert jedoch nicht, daß Sie auch die englische Sprache benützen, die doch so sehr mit der deutschen verwandt ist.

Die schönen Worte, die der Poet Arndt geschrieben hat, find Ihnen wohl alle bekannt und wir können sie hier, wo Sie ein anderes Land zu Ihrem Land gemacht haben, wohl gebrauchen:

"Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland?
Ist's Preußenland? Ist's Schwabenland?
Ist's wo am Rhein die Rebe blüht?
Ist's wo am Belt die Möve zieht?
Doch Nein! Nein! Nein!
Sein Vaterland muß größer sein!"

Kann man nicht hier diesen Worten eine weitere Deutung geben?--Können Sie nicht als Mitbürger und Gründer einer neuen Nation dieselbe mit allem Edlen, was von dem alten Lande kommt, lenken und stärken?

Es ist uns eine wahre Freude, von allen Seiten zu hören, wie man die deutschen Ansiedler achtet und schätzt und sie als einen wichtigen Zusatz zu unseren Kräften betrachtet. Ihre Wissenschaft, ihre Liebe für die gute Erziehung der Jugend, sowohl in höheren Studien, als in den Studien, durch welche die gewerblichen Fortbildungsschulen in Deutschland sich einen so ruhmhaften Namen gemacht haben; ihre Sparsamkeit und ihr Fleiß, sind Canada viele Tausend Quadratmeilen Landes werth.--Die häuslichen Tugenden ihrer Frauen und Töchter sind ein schönes Beispiel für Alle.

Ich hoffe, daß die Zahl deutscher Einwanderer sich mehren wird und werde in meinen Erwartungen dadurch bestärkt, daß es bei Ihnen daheim gewiß Viele giebt, die überzeugt sind, daß das Vaterland nicht geschwächt wird, wenn deutsche Töchter jenseits des atlantischen Meeres gute Männer finden. Es wird uns sehr angenehm sein, der deutschen kaiserlichen Familie sagen zu können, wie Sie in Canada glücklich leben, und als Männer, die dem Lande Glück bringen, angesehen werden.

In 1880, it was resolved that an Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition, supported by a Federal grant, should each year be held at some city of the Dominion. The first of these central and national meetings took place at Ottawa. It was largely attended, and opened by the Governor-General with these remarks:--

Mr. President and Gentlemen,--I thank you for the address which you have read to me, expressing that deep loyalty to the Queen which, not merely from hearsay, but from observation of the sentiments which animate the people of Canada, whether in the cities or in the country, I know to be real and universal. The Princess joins with me in asking you to accept our gratitude for your recognition of the interest we feel in the great efforts at present made, in various parts of Canada, to display to the best advantage the industrial achievements of our artisans. Some of the handiwork of our two largest Provinces can be seen in this building, while others are not unrepresented; and we have evidence of the skill which graces the strength of a new brother--the young giant of the west. [1] Everywhere proof is given that the Canadian can hold his own in the rivalry that brings Art to bear on the great natural products around us, and this is not surprising when we know that he comes from the races which in Europe have been the most renowned for the taste, the ingenuity, and the solidity of their workmanship. Where so many regions have but recently been peopled, there is, it need hardly be said, much to be done, and it is most satisfactory to see how each city and town is bending itself to the task to prove that there is no laggard in the patriotic competition. I have gladly attended several of these shows, and it is a feature peculiar to this country that the industrial exhibition so generally accompanies the agricultural show. Whether this shall always be the case as in the gathering inaugurated to-day, it will be of course for you to determine by experience of success in your venture in thus combining them. This is, perhaps, the first meeting to which more than a local character has been given. It will be a matter for your consideration, and for all in Canada interested in your endeavours, whether a novel practice be established here in moving to each Province in succession the Central Exhibition, without injury to the local fairs, which will, in any case, be held. If you decide to move the agricultural show from Province to Province in successive years, no new practice would thereby be espoused, for such has been the custom of the national societies of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In the old countries the spaces to be traversed are much smaller, but the need of comparison between the various exhibits is also much less. The local shows are held there in almost every county, but the advantage derived from the annual moving of the national societies has been well expressed in the words of a former and justly beloved Viceroy of Ireland, who said that the experience the National Society had earned for itself had, by its annual movement, been carried through every part of the land, through each Province in turn; and this had tended to ruse together the knowledge of the best specialties of each, whether in tillage or in pasture, in cereals or in green crops, or in the breeding and fattening of cattle. With us in Canada, if a similar practice were followed, we might perhaps add that comparison would benefit the proper employment of the best agricultural machinery, for the manufacture of which our Canadian artisans have won high commendation at the greatest international contests. If you discuss these questions, I am sure you will do so, not with the view of benefiting one city or Province only, but in the spirit which sees in all common efforts a means of uniting our Canadian people, and an instrument to make a national feeling create a national prosperity. We may congratulate our countrymen that in the live stock of all kinds shown to-day, we have a representation of those vast resources which yield so much in excess of our own requirements that we can relieve the wants of older lands; and how great is the difference between the bygone traffic from the new world to enrich Europe and what we now witness! In other days the southern seas were covered with the towering galleons of Spain, bringing the ingots of gold and silver, wrought in the mines of America through the cruel labour of thousands of enslaved Indians. This was the wealth which poured into the treasuries of a nation whose riches reared the colossal palaces of the Escorial, and the wondrous Minster of Seville. The creation of such prosperity meant a short-lived reign of luxury and cruelty--the lifting up of an old country for a time--the abasement of a new land. How different the happy and more lasting wealth with which we are able to endow Europe from Canada, when the parent land and the Dominion alike reap equal fruits from a bounteous harvest. Our treasure fleets are now laden with golden grain, and flocks and herds; with riches wrung from no servitude, but derived from the free and noble toil of a liberty-loving, independent, and self-reliant people. It is to the men who have cleared the tangled forests, or have tilled the prairie lands, that we owe such great shows of agricultural wealth as those we have lately seen, and which prove how rich and inexhaustible are the veins of ore from which we can give enough and to spare.

May the endeavour of such a society as this, assisted as it has been chiefly by individual efforts, but countenanced by the Dominion Government, be to extend for the general good of our country, the experience it earns and whatever success is secured by the co-operation of the citizens.

[1] Manitoba.

[During the delivery of the address the gates had been opened and the people allowed to come in so as to hear His Excellency's reply, and at its close they gave hearty cheering.]

The first Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art took place at Ottawa in 1880. The experiment of collecting together the work of artists resident in the country, was a success from the commencement, and the annual meetings since held have fully warranted the formation of a National Society for the Promotion of Art. The Governor-General gave the opening address as follows:--

Ladies and Gentlemen,--It is now my duty to declare this first exhibition of the Canadian Academy to be open to what, I am sure, will be an appreciative public. That this ceremony should take place to-day is characteristic of the energy with which any project likely to benefit our community is pushed in this country, for it is only ten months ago, on the occasion of the opening of the Local Art Gallery at Montreal, that the proposal for the institution of the Canadian Academy of Arts was made. To-day the Academy is to be congratulated not only upon being able to show the pictures and the works of art which you see around you this evening, but upon the favourable reception which the appearance of such an association has received from all classes. I have indeed seen nothing but the kindest criticism. Although I believe some gentlemen have been good enough to propose we should postpone the initiation of this institution for the present, and should wait for the short and moderate space of exactly 100 years, and look forward to its incorporation in the year of grace 1980. It is difficult to meet such gentle criticism, but the Academy may be allowed to suggest that although in the words of the old saying, "art is long-lived," yet that "life is short." Art will, no doubt, be in vigorous life in Canada a century hence, but, on the other hand, we must remember that at that time these gentle critics may have disappeared from the scene, and they will themselves allow that it is for the benefit of the Academy that it should begin its existence while still subject to their own friendly supervision. It is impossible to agree with the remark, that we have no material in Canada for our present purposes, when we see many excellent works on these walls; and if some do not come up to the standard we may set ourselves, what is this but an additional argument for the creation of some association which shall act as an educator in these matters? Now, gentlemen, what are the objects of your present effort? A glance at the constitution of the Society will show your objects are declared to be: the encouragement of industrial Art by the promotion of excellence of design, the support of Schools of Art throughout the country, and the formation of a National Gallery of Art at the seat of Government. The first of these objects, the encouragement of good design, receives an illustration in a room which I hope all present will make it a point to visit--a room on the second floor, where many tasteful and good designs have been exhibited in competition for prizes generously given by several gentlemen, who recognise the good effect such competitions are likely to have upon trade. Many of the best of these designs have been called forth by a prize offered by a member of the Legislature, and it is to be sincerely hoped that in future years his example, and the example of those who have acted in a similar manner, may be more widely and generally followed. English manufacture, as you know, has become famous for its durability; French manufacture for its beauty and workmanship; and here, where we have a people sprung from both races, we should be able to combine these excellences, so that Canadian manufacture may hold a high place in the markets of the world. The next object of the association is to be worked out on the same lines by the support afforded the local schools; and here I must emphatically impress on all who care for the encouragement of Art in Canada, that however popular the Academy exhibitions may become, however much you are able to strengthen its hands in assisting provincial efforts, the assistance it gives to any provincial schools can only supplement, and can never stand in the place of, provincial effort. It is true that the gentlemen belonging to the Academy give half of all they possess--one half of any surplus in all their revenues--in aid of local efforts, but it is by no means likely that that amount will be great. As the exhibitions are to be held each year in a different city, so that each Province may in turn be visited, it will probably be found best that any donation which can be made shall be given to that town in which the yearly exhibition is held. I hope, for instance, that this year it may be possible to give a grant in aid of a local school to be formed at Ottawa. With regard to the third object I have mentioned, the gentlemen who have been appointed academicians have patriotically undertaken, as a guarantee of their interest in the welfare of Art in Canada, that it shall be a condition of their acceptance of the office of academician that they shall give, each of them, a picture which shall become national property, and be placed here in an Art gallery. These works, of which you already have several around you, will be at the disposal of one of the ministers, who may be charged with this trust, and it will be in his option to decide whether they shall be exhibited in other parts of the country, or lent for purposes of Art instruction for a time to local schools. If you are not tired of these subjects, I would ask your attention for one moment to the organisation by which it is proposed to accomplish these purposes. First, there are a certain number of gentlemen who, after the model of similar institutions in other countries, where the plan has been found to work well, have been chosen as academicians. These comprise not only painters, but architects also, and designers, engravers, and sculptors. There are others again, forming a wider circle, and following the same professions, who have been chosen as associates, from whose ranks the academicians in the future will be annually elected. These gentlemen, the academicians, will govern the institution. They have already been supported by very many men in the country who follow other professions, and who will have nothing to do with the governing of the society, but who have been requested to join and give their aid as entertaining a love for Art, and a desire that Art should be enabled to assist in the most practical manner the interests of the country. It is probable that almost every gentleman of note in Canada will be upon this roll. So much, then, for the purposes undertaken, and the machinery by which these are to be accomplished. One word only as to the part which, at the request of several gentlemen, I have ventured temporarily to undertake. It seemed difficult, if not impossible, to get the body as at present constituted elected at the start, for scattered as the artists of the Dominion are, few knew the capabilities of others outside of his own neighbourhood. Following, as we will have to do here therefore, an English precedent, it was thought best that the first list should be a nominated one. However carefully this has been attempted, some omissions and faults have been made, and these will be corrected, for the plan followed at the commencement will not be pursued hereafter, but at a general meeting held during the time of the exhibitions, elections will form part of the business of the assembly. Although it may be for the interests of the Academy that the Governor-General of the day should be the patron of the society, you will find that the more self-governed it is the more healthful will be its prospects. At the outset the position of patron may be somewhat like the position of that useful but ugly instrument with which many of us are perhaps but too familiar, namely, the snow-plough. At the first formation of an artist society he may be expected to charge boldly into mountains of cold opposition, and to get rid of any ice crusts in front of the train, but after the winter of trial and probation, and difficulties of beginning are over, and the summer of success has come, his position, in regard to the artists, must be more like that of a figurehead. I have, however, great faith in the power of artists to make a figure-head useful as well as ornamental, although I do not know that they have shown a proof of this to-day by making their figure-head deliver a speech, which it is well known figure-heads never do, except on the strictest compulsion. You may remember that in old days in Greece, an artist named Pygmalion, carved a figure so beautiful that he himself fell in love with his work and infused his own life into the statue, so that it found breath and movement. I shall not expect the Academy always to be in love with its figure-head, but I believe that you will be able to instil into him so much of your energy and vitality, that if the vessel gets into difficulties you may enable him to come down from his place, and even to give her a shove astern. Let me, at all events, express a hope, in which I believe all present will join, that the Canadian Academy, this fair vessel that we launch to-day, may never get into any trouble, but that from every city, and from every Province of the Dominion, she may receive a favouring breeze whenever and wherever she may show a canvas.

At Quebec, upon the festival of St. Jean Baptiste, on the 24th June 1880, there was a gathering of representatives of the French-Canadian race from many cities of the United States as well as of Canada, and the celebration in honour of their national saint was exceptionally enthusiastic. An opportunity was thus given to the Governor-General to show that appreciation of French Canadians which has been so constantly exhibited by his predecessors in office. He spoke in French and said:--