Three Imperial Topics: Imperial Ignorance; Imperial History; Imperial Unity

As you have seen from the printed notifications which have been put into your hands, my duty is to introduce "Imperial Topics." I rise to make this very important presentation to such a very select audience with mingled feelings. In the first place, I may be allowed to express my appreciation of the compliment that has been paid me by the invitation to speak tonight. In the second place I may, perhaps, be allowed to express the feelings of almost terror with which I approach the task. At least I have one satisfaction and that is in knowing that these evening meetings, of which this is the first and which is somewhat in the nature of an experiment, are said to be somewhat more friendly in their nature than the meetings which are held in the middle of the day, and, therefore, I may possibly expect that you will be a little more indulgent with the speaker than you are when gentlemen who are pre-eminent as orators are invited to address the Club on more or less recondite topics.

This is an Empire Club which, I take it, means a club that is devoted to the interests of Canada as part of the British Empire; that is to say, a club whose principle is that not only the material requirements of our country, but also, the highest interests of our national existence demand that we shall develop in one way only, that is, as part of the British Empire. In choosing an Imperial topic to which to address myself this evening I have decided to speak on the subject of " Imperial Ignorance," and I trust that nobody will be unkind enough to suggest that that is a precise and accurate description of my speech. a reason I chose this subject was simply because I have always been given to understand that the worst charge that could be brought against a speaker

would be that he knew nothing about his subject. I felt that this at least was a subject on which I was thoroughly qualified to speak, because the more I thought of it the more I became convinced of my own ignorance; not only in that there were many things I knew nothing about, but also because with respect to many things which I thought I knew, I felt compelled to say with josh Billings, " I would rather not know anything at all than know so many things that ain't so."

The phrase "Imperial Ignorance" is usually employed to designate that most severe irritant to every good Canadian which is described as lamentable Jack of knowledge on the part of our fellow-subjects in Great Britain of us, our aspirations, our local conditions and our point of view. I have never been able to understand why it is that Canadians are possessed of such a refined sensitiveness on this point, but it is a fact that there is a very great sensitiveness on the part of Canadians with respect to the ignorance which is said to exist in the Old Country with regard to us and our affairs. In thinking the matter over I was somewhat led to the conclusion that this is a thing which we have in some sense inherited. We are accustomed in considering Imperial matters always to refer back to matters that have long since become history, to troubles that are now happily ended, to ghosts that have long been buried. We pass in review various matters connected with our history, and in particular the ghost which stalked the earth during the early part of the last century under the name of Colonial Misrule; and we remember instances where British statesmen have quite failed to grasp and to understand the ideals of the Colonial people.

The result of this attitude on the part of Imperial statesmen towards Canada, being exemplified in later days by certain diplomatic missions which ended as we thought unfortunately, has been to leave an impression that we are very much misunderstood, that nobody takes the trouble to understand us, and that nobody cares anything about us anyway and never will learn anything about us. While I am quite open to admit that, to some extent, this is the case, yet on the other hand I think that, while this ignorance is being very rapidly dissipated, good loyal Canadians and good loyal subjects of the British Empire might be better employed in considering their own ignorance on Imperial matters. I would like to ask the members of the Club to consider the relative positions of Canada and Great Britain. Canada extends over the greater half of the North American Continent, covering an area of three and three-quarter million square miles. The British Isles are a mere speck on the bosom of the broad Atlantic, covering an area of not more than possibly one hundred and twenty-five thousand square miles.

But it is a fact that the importance of these two countries is in inverse ratio to their territorial extent, which means that it takes more than acreage to make a nation. Canada is yet but a great leggy boy awakening to a sense of his own potentialities; Great Britain is the greatest civilizing and colonizing power, the greatest genius in the art of nation-building,--that the world has ever seen. Canada is yet in her exuberant youth; Great Britain is the Old Mother-land from whose womb have come mighty peoples. From those little Isles in the broad Atlantic the hands holding then rod of empire have been stretched forth and under them 430,000,000 people of the world enjoy a rule that is both just and beneficent. On whom then, Gentlemen, is the onus of acquiring knowledge? Surely I am right in saying it lies upon us. We are loyal Canadians; we love our country, and, as every citizen ought to do, we take an interest in the affairs of our country, but we also allow our vision to range over a wider field-the British Empire-which is so vast, as a matter of actual fact, that the sun never sets on it and it has perfect alternation of night and day and heat and cold.

A Club of this kind, therefore, has a mission to fulfil as an educative force, and my object in choosing the term "Imperial Ignorance" for these few remarks to-night was to indicate some directions in which I thought the Empire Club might be an educative force; some directions in which every member of this Club might be a missionary and spread the doctrines to support which this Club has been founded. For example, how many members even of this highly intelligent gathering know very much about the latest great Imperial achievement, the Australian Commonwealth? I can imagine the attitude of horror assumed by some of us if a stranger were to come here and not only not know who Sir Wilfrid Laurier is, but all about him. Yet how many men in the streets of Toronto can tell you today who is the Premier of Australia? What do we know of New Zealand, British Guiana, the Malay Peninsula and all the outlying parts of the British Empire?

And, furthermore, when we consider the many parts of which the Empire' is composed, and reflect upon the varying conditions, of their existence, the influence of climate, environment, heredity, history, and so on, how many of us are competent to give a precise definition of the ideas to which these widely different peoples give concrete expression? And yet these people are all under the influence of the British Empire and British ideas of government; they are all affected, those who are not of our own race, by the influence of AngloSaxon character; they are developing slowly towards the realization of the great Imperial ideal. And my view, in my humble capacity, is that every member of the British Empire should strive by a sympathetic study of other parts to place himself in a position to form a more just understanding of the various questions which arise from time to time and which affect more nearly or more remotely, every member of the Imperial family.

Now, Sir, an Imperial topic and one which I think is very much neglected in these days of adventurous propagandism is the question of what Great Britain has done for Canada. We hear a great deal about what Great Britain -has not done, and I am not insensible of the other side of this question, of the sins of omission and commission, of the sometimes maladroit diplomacy which has resulted unfortunately for us. But at the same time we must remember, first, that Great Britain won this land and won it after a severe struggle lasting over many years and paid a very heavy price for it. That price was not only paid at Louisbourg and Quebec, but it was paid during the seven years of warfare which extended over many parts of the globe; and at the same time that the Colonial Empire of Great Empire was placed on a solid foundation in America; Clive in India, by his victory over the hordes of Surajah Dowlah, in 1757, had laid the foundation of the great British Indian Empire.

And after England had' won this continent, what happened? The rule of Louis XV., who, it has been said, was a prince who was deservedly despised not only because of his personal debauchery, but also because of his inattention to the wants of his people and his lavish expenditures of public moneys on profligates and favourites, was succeeded by that of George III. of England, and sixty years later Papineau, the French Canadian orator, pronounced these words, speaking of the change of government: "From that day the reign of authority succeeds to that of violence. From that day the treasures, the navy and the armies of Great Britain, are mustered to afford us an invincible protection against external danger." And, furthermore, whereas, the French had never looked upon this country as territory wherein by reason of its excellent climate and its great resources a people might be built up who should live happily and contentedly under the French rule, but rather had considered the country as a place for the exploitation of political favourites and debauched Intendants, the English Government, on the contrary, introduced to this country the constitutional liberty of a free people; trial by jury; the writ of Habeas Corpus; religious liberty and all the ideas which go to make up a free, contented and prosperous people, and crowned all by conceding to us the gift of responsible government.

I am well aware that I am talking platitudes. These are subjects which have been much canvassed, much spoken of, much read, much thought of very member of this Club, but we must remember one thing: there is a feeling of unrest in the air today and much speculation; political nostrums for fancied national ills are advanced by self-appointed physicians, and we hear all sorts of proposals advanced by speakers -who are sometimes ill qualified to deal with them, and we are offered, from day to day, different destinies from which we are permitted to choose one to be the ultimate destiny of this country. Therefore, I say that in order to view these questions as they arise in their proper perspective it is absolutely necessary that we should sometimes go back and consider the history which we are invited to break with if we change the position of Canada as an integral part of the British Empire. More than that, the early settlers who came to this country from Great Britain, who came here to compel the land to yield up its treasure to them, transplanted a great body of English public opinion. This included all the ideas of a free people, judicial and legal forms, high standards of those personal qualities which are the backbone of every nation; respect for personal honour, business honour, truth and fair dealting; and these have become the most valuable possessions of our people.

And I must not neglect to say that these people also transplanted to this country a personal attachment to a Sovereign. This is something about which one hesitates to speak; to exactly define the value of which it would require somebody much more skilled than I am; but at all events I can say this, that personal attachment to a Sovereign is a thing the value of which is most thoroughly realized by those who have it not. It has been my fortune frequently to be present at great public occasions when a vast concourse of people have risen at the first note of the National Anthem to pay a tribute of respect to a Sovereign who reigned, indeed, in the hearts of the people; and I shall never forget the feeling of mental exaltation which I experienced on every occasion of that sort; and on each occasion I revised again my idea of the great value which this possession is to us all. And all these years since that time we have been able to peacefully develop along sound economic lines under the protection of the British Government.

It is true we had a loss in 1842. Daniel Webster was a little too astute for Mr. Baring (afterwards Lord Ashburton), and we most certainly lost territory which we thought we ought to have; but at the same time the careful student of history will hesitate before he charges that to the ignorance or incompetence of British statesmen. In 1846 when the Oregon Boundary was settled the cry of the Americans was " 54 40' or fight," and while we thought that they got more than they were entitled to, it was not 54° 40', but 49°, as far as the Pacific Ocean. The fact is, without our great partner we should never have had a chance to try any diplomacy, and that has been exemplified on more occasions than one. We are apt to forget these things. We speak about the Maine Boundary in tones of high indignation. We never hear anything or say anything about the Behring Sea seal fisheries; we never hear anybody tell how, in Cleveland's Administration, when the question was up, Lord Salisbury, through Lord Pauncefoote, conveyed to the Government of the United States the message that Her Britannic Majesty's Government would hold the United States Government responsible for depredations on the high seas. We never hear anything about the $5,000,000 Halifax award which we never should have got if it were not for Great Britain; which the States were firmly determined not to pay if they were not forced to do so.

And, even in the case of Alaska, while not expressing any opinion about-the merits of it, there is this one thing I am perfectly convinced of, that, had we been alone and single-handed, there never would have been any arbitration at all, and we should have got nothing. Again, in the case of Newfoundland, we hear now that the French shore difficulties are in process of settlement. If that is the case I ask you That w e could have given the French in order that we might be relieved of the disability under which we suffered? The fact of the matter is, as Prof. Clark said to me one day, " When you have a headache you forget to be thankful for having a head." That is the case in all these diplomatic controversies, when things do not go in our favour. We are very ready to complain about our headache, but we never stop to be thankful we have a head at all in order that it may ache. I say for my part I consider it both ungracious and ungrateful to magnify every little thing that occurs to our disadvantage and to throw the fault upon Great Britain with respect to it, and at the same time never to express feelings of proper gratitude and loyalty for all that Great Britain has done for us from the very moment of our existence as a country.

Now we hear a great deal about the destiny of Canada; about every week we are offered new changes, one day Independence, another day annexation to the United States, another day that we remain as we are. I observe that quite recently a speaker before our sister Club, the Canadian Club, announced a fourth-that we go on within the British Empire to greater and greater liberty. About that I have nothing whatever to say. I have no quarrel whatever with that, but I want to ask you how we are to solve these questions, of such magnitude and complexity, without a thorough knowledge of them? After-dinner oratory is not going to do it, nor the windy harangue of every peripatetic agitator. There is only one thing, and that is careful, intelligent study on the part of the great body of the people, so that they may not only have a clear idea for themselves, but may also force the leaders of government into a position in line with public sentiment. Mr. Ewart, in his excellent address before the Canadian Club, found fault with the fact that we were not a self-governing people. He said we were in a state of political semi-servitude, because we were not a sovereign state, autonomous and self-existing, had no extra-territorial jurisdiction and were not able to settle our disputes with other countries.

I must confess, that I had always thought we had certain legislative mdepenaence. Mr. Ewart said, "If I were asked, 'Are you in favour of Independence?' I would say, ' Ii you mean legislative independence, yes; if you mean separation from the British Empire, No!"' This brings up, of course, the question of treaty-making powers. We do not want extraterritorial jurisdiction; we have enough to do on our own farm without that. There are certain matters of procedure with which we cannot meddle, but we are quite contented with them as the procedure is very good. And I think, Sir, that we ought not rashly to claim the settlement of our own disputes. This cannot be. We cannot settle single-handed our own disputes unless we are prepared to defend them single-handed. Nations self-existing must also be self-protecting. How anybody could have the hardihood to advance such a proposition as that when Canadians do not contribute one cent to the defence of the Empire passes beyond my comprehension. I read a very interesting article the other day by Mr. W. Beach Thomas, written over a year ago, and curiously enough called " Imperial Ignorance " also, and he pointed out that Sir Wilfrid Laurier had expressed the opinion that the millions that were spent on railway building in this country were of greater strategic value than any contribution we could make to Imperial defence. But, as Mr. Beach Thomas very sensibly pointed out, it may be true that the special business of, Canada is to build railways, but if we are really part of the British Empire it is necessary that everyone should do his part. Of course the hand must write, the feet must walk, but the nervous system is the care of the whole business; without the nervous system our hands and feet are not very much good; and Canada ought to make at least a reasonable contribution towards keeping the nervous system in a state of perfect health. Altogether I think this destiny of Canada business has been very much overdone. We are in as happy a position as any people under the sun, and all we have to do is to attend to our own business, to develop our own resources and not trouble over academic questions about our status.

I should like at this point to make a protest against the Americanization of this country. Canada has a boundary of 3,000 miles, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, which is merely imaginary; there is no actual boundary line between two peoples of the same creed and language. Consequently the lesser is and to be affected more or less by the greater, and, therefore, we find that this country is gradually assimilating American , ideas with regard to almost everything. Some things we cannot avoid. We do not object to the invasion of American capital, because it helps us develop our country, but our press should surely be independent of the American press. It is no advantage to Canadians, when cable dispatches are received by our daily newspapers every morning of what has happened in the capital of the Empire to be told that Mr. Choate and certain American Duchesses were present at such and such a function. That is not a matter of national importance to us. Again, the American people in private life have certain characteristics which are not characteristic of the British people, and it is against those I wish to enter a very emphatic protest. I could not attempt to do more than simply indicate what I mean, because every member here can supply the balance better than I can express it.

In England there is a more definite cleavage or division between classes, but there each class respects the other, and it is recognized that respect is as much due to inferiors and equals as to superiors. In that historical document, the Declaration of Independence there is a fallacious and also meretricious statement that all men are born free and equal. While it is true that in the eyes of the law all men are equal at the same time the result of this statement has been to encourage an absolute lack of respect for everybody else. Every man is not only as good as his neighbour, but a little better; and this has resulted in an irreverence for age and a contempt of authority; and that is one of the most ominous situations that you can find in any country. It is merely a question of standards. In sport the American rule seems to be that a man should win because of the personal distinction which it brings him. Under British standards a man indulges in sport because he likes it, and for the joy of the contest, and when you have said that you have said everything.

In a Club such as this every man ought to be a missionary, and every man ought to be able to give reasons why he considers it a privilege to be a member of the British Empire, and why the principles on which British people have -been brought up are better principles than those of other countries. How is it in public affairs, and how can I provide myself with hands delicate enough to touch this subject? At all events in Great Britain a statesman is supposed to have a certain high-minded regard for his country's welfare. A man, after an honourable career, goes into politics because he wishes to serve his country, or to provide an honourable occupation for his closing years of life and to give his ripened experience to the service of his country. Under the American principle, to be a successful public man, you must predicate something else than that, and that is something which I can only describe as subtlety or smartness. The book of Genesis says, " Now the serpent was the most subtle of all the beasts of the field that the Lord has made." But we are not a nation of serpents. There is nothing high-minded about the serpent, but there is something very subtle about it and I protest against that standard of public life.

If I might be permitted to tell an old favourite story of mine that I once heard an American Senator tell in the course of an after-dinner speech in the city of Brantford, it was this: " I was one day rounding up a herd of steers when I was ranching in the West and by some mischance the flap of my saddle flew up exposing the red saddle pad underneath," and he went on to finish the story in his own way as follows: "With a remarkable unanimity of purpose the whole herd lowered their heads and came at me, al in a moment I found myself heading the grandest cavalry charge in American history. If a man is to be judged by the enthusiasm of his following I was at that moment the most popular man in the United States." Then he went on to describe how he galloped along until he came to a river fringed with a very thick undergrowth and, discovering a little path through the bushes, he dashed down and through and up the other bank just as the whole herd came thundering along and got entangled in the bushes. He said, " I stopped my horse and turned around and I could hear them threshing about, and I could hear their bovine profanity as they said one to the other, 'Damn him, where is he?'" Now that is exactly what I want to know about a great many of our public men. It would have been very interesting to all the members of this Club and to all the men who are interested in the development of Canada as part of the British Empire to have had some expression of opinion from our leading men at Ottawa during the early days of the Chamberlain campaign as to the Imperial question. We never had any such expression, notwithstanding the fact that we deliberately invited the English people to enter on that controversy.

I say that this principle that public men should deceive their constituents and should try to evade explaining where they stand on public questions is one of the most lamentable characteristics of our public life. I need not speak about conditions which are not very far removed from us here in the City of Toronto either in provincial or municipal affairs; but I will say this, in spite of what anybody may say, and I state it here unhesitatingly, that the condition of public affairs at the present time is both degrading and ignoble. I should like to know where we get all this ballot stuffing and ballot switching and bribing, and so on. I do not claim that England is absolutely faultless, but I must say that from all I can learn, such things are not very well known there, and I think we must get them-let us say we get them-from our close proximity to our neighbours to the south. If that is not too self-righteous a thing to say, let us not say so; but at the same time let us make a resolution with respect to the matter. Why should not this Club be a power in the land in connection with purity in public life? There is no reason why a man should not have a right to demand the suffrages of this Province simply because he loves his country, but that is the last thing any man thinks of advancing as a claim to election; and I am firmly convinced that this Club could do a great public service if it would take a strong position on the question of purity in public life.

I should like to have said a word in conclusion about the picturesque aspect of the British Empire. We have an interest in common with all the members of this worldwide Empire. Whatever happens on the St. Lawrence, on the Ganges or Nile, we can say, "Quorum magna Pars fui,"--"I had a part in those events." Furthermore, this Empire offers a great field for careers, a great, broad and interesting life for a man to lead. Mr. Blake is transferred without violence from Ottawa to Westminster. Sir Percy Girouard is transferred to South Africa and there establishes a world-wide name for himself. Our barristers are privileged to plead before the Privy Councilthat most interesting of judicial bodies, that one day considers a question of Cyprus or Malta, another day a point of Brahminism in India and another day a line fence in Ontario. And all these things point to the fact that life is broader and more interesting inside this Empire of ours, and that there are more fields of interest and honourable attainment to be found than outside of the British Empire.

With regard to the destiny of Canada, I should like to say before sitting down that it may seem strange to see a young man take a backward attitude when any Canada Forward movement is suggested, but one who truly loves his country must act as his conscience dictates, and personally I hate to see a fine sentiment spoiled by ill-advised agitation. As regards Imperial Ignorance-there is one thing to be said, that ignorance is the most fruitful source of misunderstanding, and if through some small misconception the loyalty of a body of people belonging to the Empire should be affected it would not be because of the slight misconception, but because of the ignorance which occasioned that misconception. In other words, seditions arise from small occasions, but never from small causes; and the slight misconception would be the small occasion, but the ignorance which lay behind it would be the great cause. Therefore, I venture to say, in conclusion, that I trust that the members of this Club having borne with me so kindly in these disjointed and somewhat clumsy remarks will also try, if they can, to exert an educating influence in this country, because, while we are perfectly aware of all these platitudes of which I have spoken, the fact is that new generations are springing up and the events of today are history tomorrow, and it is our duty to continue the task of educating our own generation and so strengthening the chain which had its beginning at the commencement of our own history.

To be a member of the Empire Club brings with it great responsibilities-responsibilities for what we say and what we do. But responsibility also brings pleasure. On not a few occasions it has been my pleasure to sit and listen to the learned and eloquent addresses that have proceeded from where I now stand. On the present occasion it is my responsibility and pleasure combined to address to you a few words. Pleasure, indeed, it is; for, no son of the Empire should regard the discharge of a duty for the Empire in any other sense than as a pleasure. Of the severest of all tests-to die for one's country-it has been beautifully said, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mari "

What joys, what glories, round him wait, Who bravely for his country dies.

My task on the present occasion is not an easy one. To follow such speakers as Mr. George E. Foster, Chancellor Burwash, Principal Gordon, Mr. Monro Grier, K.C., Mr. Sulte, Sir Sandford Fleming, Chancellor Wallace, Mr. J. M. Clark, K.C., Hon. L,. P. Brodeur, Mr. H. J. Pettypiece, M.P.P., and the wide range of subjects which they have covered is no easy task, and, I fear, my courage might fail me were it not for two things: The feeling that I shall carry with me your kind indulgence, and the love I have for the cause which is common to us all. I therefore crave from you that indulgence, and, if I cannot hope to be as learned and eloquent as those who have preceded me, I shall make bold in claiming that I yield to none of them in devotion to that Empire whose welfare this Club is so ably promoting.

There is a certain sort of individual who sneers at the love of country, and particularly at the recent development of Imperialism. He says that it is only a sentiment. We grant that it is a sentiment, but, at the same time, we boast that sentiment has built up and maintained great nations, and today is ruling the world. Edmund Burke, one of the master minds of the human race, in speaking of sentiment said that though it was as light as the air we breathe, yet it was as strong as steel to bind a nation together, and Sir Walter Scott, in his rich poetic imagery, gives us the lines

Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land?

It is a splendid augury for the success of this Club that it is founded largely upon a sentiment, and for the spread of that sentiment, the love of the British Empire. It must appeal to every reasonable person that we are thus building upon a foundation as broad as the human race and that can carry a superstructure as lofty as the human desires. I use the word sentiment as embodying the noblest and purest aspirations for self, society and Empire. " Where liberty is, there is my country," was the sentiment of that great apostle of freedom, Benjamin Franklin. Let it be our sentiment to love the British Empire for within its vast domains there is to be found the greatest degree of freedom known to the history of civilization. If you wish to realize the power of sentiment, read the following lines from one of the songs of the American Civil War, when the country was passing through one of the most titanic struggles ever recorded

For the birthright yet unsold, For the history yet untold, For the future yet unrolled, Put it through.

In attempting to address you today on "Imperial Sentiment, Its Evolution and Value," I shall ask you to bear with me while I dip a little into the history of the past. In the case of the Roman Empire, we meet with an example of a military state. It conquered other states, but only to levy tribute from them. The Roman subject had nothing of which he was truly proud; there was no deep national sentiment in his life, and he fell into indolent and corrupt habits. He soon became a prey to the hardy barbarian. The Roman system of colonization was a system of oppression, and had no other result than that of educating the oppressed in due time to become the oppressor. On the other hand, Greece was considerate towards her Colonies and the Athenian Empire had attained much maritime strength. In this respect there is much to learn from her, and Britain has profited by the model of Ancient Greece. But the people of Greece were never a coherent whole. Though proud of their literature, their learning, and their Athens, they never were a nation. They were a group of units; but that rare cement was wanting which binds the individual into the family and the family into the state. The Golden Age of Greece came as a bright sunrise in the east, speedily ascended to its zenith, and rapidly set behind the hills of eternal night. She, too, like Rome, was wanting in a true national sentiment. She had not before her gaze that star of liberty and the freedom and equal rights of all, 'and she soon went to pieces on the rocks of discord and schism. Let us hear how Lord Byron tells the story of her fall

Chime of the unforgotten brave! Whose land from plain to mountain cave Was Freedom's home, or Glory's grave! Shrine of the mighty, can it be That this is all remains of thee?

'Twere long to tell, and sad to trace, Each step from splendour to disgrace Enough-no foreign foe could quell Thy soul, till from itself it fell; Yes; self-abasement paved the way To villain bonds and despot sway.

Neither Greece nor Rome knew how to adapt themselves to the conditions of the conquered states, nor how to induce the conquering invaders to become Greek and Roman citizens, imbued with a love of what was good in either and with a desire to perpetuate these empires. Despite the splendid attainments of the Greeks in poetry, history, philosophy, science, and art, and the high achievements in these and also the military greatness of Rome, neither fostered nor created a national sentiment. There was wanting to them that greatest of all national assets, the patriotism which makes for self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control. In the language of Milton, they know not that " to be free is the same thing as to be pious, to be temperate, to be magnanimous." Their freedom was not of that type which restrains oneself, and in so doing, restrains others. They taught not the great lesson of individual liberty that the nation might be free. They knew not that-

He is a freeman whom the truth makes free, And all are slaves besides.

From the history of Spain there is much to learn. At one time it looked as if there was a great future for her. The passage round the Cape of Good Hope had been discovered and Columbus had brought home the news of a Western Continent. During the sixteenth century Spain was the foremost sea power, and had planted many colonies. Her expeditions were led by daring spirits, such as Pizzaro, Cortez, and Las Casas. Daily her ships were returning laden with gold from the Western Hemisphere. She had also the glory of Granada to look back to. But the whole energy of Spain was directed towards the acquisition of gold, and to do this she laid her colonies under heavy tribute, oppressing them often into open rebellion which sometimes proved successful. But every phase of national life was neglected. Her people were not educated, and her industrial development entirely overlooked.

The gold which she had strained every nerve to possess became to her the curse of Midas. The gold was held in the hands of a few, while the necessaries of life were scarce, high-priced, and almost unattainable, except to these few. But worse still, the enormous stores of gold that Spain had acquired, through the oppression of her colonies, were squandered with lavish profusion by Charles V. and Philip II. on fruitless wars. Thus it soon came about that Spain was poor, with all the conditions that make for the welfare of the people wholly wanting. True to her character as the oppressor, she drove from the country the Jews who were her principal financiers and merchants; she expelled the Moors, and thereby banished her best agriculturists, leaving much of her lands waste; she fitted out, at enormous cost, the Armada to crush England, and by its destruction, lost control of the sea; and by wars and persecutions in the Netherlands ending in her defeat, she lost prestige, and created a strong rival. So we see that because Spain possessed no true national sentiment, her prosperity was speedily eclipsed. Spain at home was not a nation in the real sense, her wealth had failed to raise the people, and her colonies were disloyal. Lecky, the historian, tells us

" At a time when she seemed on the highway to an almost boundless wealth, she sank into the most abject poverty. Her glory was withered, her power was shattered, her fanaticism alone remained." In the midst of all her efforts for Empire she had failed to create that essential of Empire an Imperial Sentiment. Behind the throne the hearts of the people beat not in unison with the notes of a national song.

In the case of Germany and France there is a strong patriotic sentiment at home. They love their respective countries, but here the resemblance to Britain ceases. These countries have never in the past, nor are they now, establishing colonies in the true sense. They have, it is true, some foreign possessions, but these possessions have no self-governing powers. They are subject to the will of the Home Governments, and kept in subjection by a system of military rule. In the past, France had some, colonies of French blood, but these were lost to France, either by war or sale. When people from France or Germany go- abroad they lose themselves among the peoples under other flags. These countries have no colonies of their own race to which their people can migrate. Thus it becomes apparent that the strength of these empires are seriously retarded in their growth and power, because of this lack of colonizing foresight. Their sons, when they go abroad, are lost to their flags and soon to their language and national sentiments. In the race for empire these countries must fall behind Britain. Goethe, the eminent German philosopher and poet, who saw deeply into things, has told us

Stand not idly, fixed and rooted, Briskly venture, briskly roam; Head and hand, where'er thou foot it, And stout heart, are still at home.

Of this spirit but little is found in the French and German character. They are not by nature explorers, adventurers, or advance settlers. They wait the reclamation of the wilds before they migrate. They allow others to do the pioneer work, when they follow and help to fill up. But this has two important results so far as empire-building is concerned: It does not make colonies for either of these countries, and it loses to them vast numbers of their best citizens. But in this there is an entire absence of the Imperial sentiment as it is manifested in the British character. France is now and Germany will soon be carrying practically stationary populations and their overflow, instead of going to their own colonies, which are uncivilized military dependencies, will be absorbed by the English-speaking countries-the various portions of the British Empire and the United States.

The history of England, of England and Scotland as Great Britain; then of these and Ireland; and finally of Great Britain and her colonies and dependencies as the British Empire; is a vast book whose pages are of silver and whose letters are of gold. A family of note prides itself upon its ancestry, and yet the study of heredity is but the study of the results of yesterday, and yesterday a long succession of units of time and events, and so the study of British history is the study of a long succession of yesterdays, each with a brilliant sunrise and a glorious sunset, without a night, except in the sense of a period of rest for renewed labours and increased achievements. Of the earliest inhabitants of Britain we know but little, or of the influences they may have left upon their successors, other than that they were savages, that their utensils of peace and their implements of war were made of stones and flints, and that they erected rude stone structures of which some remain, as interesting sepulchres.

Following these primitive inhabitants, came the Celtic migrations which laid the foundation of Britain's future greatness. The Gaelic branch came first, but was at a later period forced to the north and west by the hordes of Cymric Celts that occupied the south and east. From these we have inherited much of what has made Britain such a marvellous military power. From the Romans we inherit our love for government, municipal and national; to the Saxons we owe our love of liberty and the great law of the brotherhood of man; from the Norman we derive our love of the rights of property; from the Norsemen our love of the sea. Mirabile dictu! Far more wonderful than the story of Cresna, as told in Virgil's " Aeneid," is the fact that Britain has always conquered her conquerors, has absorbed into herself those who sought to be her masters, and has strengthened her own national life out of those who sought to destroy it. Thus it is that the various invasions of the British Isles by the Romans, the Saxons, the Angles, the Danes, the Normans, but had the effect of bringing to the sea-girt isles the bravest and most adventurous of these races, all being branches of the great Aryan family, and bringing them together into one common people.

How could it be otherwise than that a great future must be in store for a country so peopled? The sea-faring instinct, the military spirit, the literary genius came from all these various streams and, blending together, produced that great river which has expanded and swept over the world as the British Empire, on whose domains the sun never sets, which covers one-fourth of the earth's surface, and sways its beneficient rule over one-third of the human race. Britain is the only instance known to history with a just colonial system. As a wise parent allows his children reasonable liberties, so has Britain granted her colonies a large measure of freedom. In the case of her dependencies, she has ruled with such a spirit of justice, that hundreds of millions, as in India, have been made loyal and devoted citizens of the Empire. No other country could have accomplished such a task.

In the language of an eminent historian, "Britain has become the greatest and most highly civilized country that the world ever saw, has spread her dominion over every quarter of the globe, has scattered the seeds of mighty empires and republics over vast continents of which no dim inspiration had ever reached the old geographers, Ptolemy and Strabo. She has created a maritime power which would annihilate in a quarter of an hour the navies of Tyre, Athens, Carthage, Venice, and Genoa together; has carried the sciences of healing, the means of locomotion and correspondence, every mechanical art, every manufacture, everything that promotes the convenience of life, to a perfection which our ancestors would have thought magical. She has provided a literature which may boast of works not inferior to the noblest which Greece has bequeathed us; she has discovered the laws which regulate the motions of the heavenly bodies; has speculated with exquisite subtlety on the operations of the human mind; has been the acknowledged leader of the human race in the career of political improvement. The history of Britain is the history of this great moral, intellectual, and physical change." In the face of these facts, he would be a bold man, indeed, who would say that there is not a solid foundation for our Imperial sentiment, or that it is not of real national value. I make haste to say that it could repel more invaders than the Empire's vessels; could conquer more foes than all her battalions, and is more precious and enduring than her gold.

In 1880 Lord Beaconsfield, who was one of the first of Imperialists, said, " The strength of this nation depends on the unity of feeling which should pervade the United Kingdom and its widespread dependencies. The first duty of an English Minister should be to consolidate that co-operation which renders irresistible a community educated as our own, in an equal love of liberty and law." With the Imperial sentiment as we now know it, grant that by some great catastrophe Britain should lose her ships and her wealth, then in the words of Shelley, in his song to the cloud, the people, "Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, would arise and upbuild them again."

Time would fail me to recount more than a few of the many great deeds that have evolved the strong Imperial sentiment of to-day. Britain, like the fabled Atlas of old, has often been called upon to bear the weight of the whole world upon her own shoulders. In the. days of Philip II., Spain was a mighty power, with a large fleet, bidding for the control of the seas and the mastery over Europe. The Invincible Armada was sent against Britain, but Howard, Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, Frobisher, Fenner were not wanting in their skill and devotion to duty. The Armada was annihilated and the command of the seas passed to Britain, where it has ever since remained. When Louis XIV. of France, with his vast hordes was over-running Europe, Marlborough was sent to cope with them; and at Blenheim, Oudenarde, Ramilies, and Malplaquet, the power of France was overthrown and the British power established. During the twenty years that Napoleon devastated Europe in his thundering career, in Egypt, in the Peninsula, on the seas, and in Belgium, the British held him in check, and finally crushed him at Waterloo. Again, when that great tyrant, Russia, sought to dominate Turkey and the Mediterranean, Britain, with uplifted and outstretched arm at Alma, at Balaclava, at Inkerman, at Sebastopol, said " No." The great Indian Mutiny came and was suppressed, that vast region being made truly loyal. As it were but yesterday a dark plot was laid to destroy British rule in another, continent. This time, however, the Colonies took a hand in the struggle, and South Africa was saved and the Empire consolidated as it had never been before.

Turning to our own country as a portion of the British Empire, just one word or two. There is much in her young life to create a true national pride and sentiment, and to make us feel that we are destined to play a great part in the future history of the world. It is now recognized and admitted on all hands that Canada is the most favoured country on the face of the earth. She has a salubrious, invigorating, varied and glorious climate. There are within her borders an endless wealth of forest, stream and lake; vast possibilities of farm, orchard and garden; a manufacturing and artizan future second to none; and a growth of literature, science and the fine arts of which the older countries might well be envious. But Canada's greatest wealth is in her people. As a loyal, lawabiding, intelligent and industrious people they are surpassed by none. Their courage has had a fair share of baptism by blood. During the American War, in the struggles of 1812, when discord rent the land in 1837, at the time of the Fenian Raid in 1866, during the first and second Riel Rebellions, far up the River Nile, and just recently in South Africa, Canadians have abundantly proven to the world of what splendid material they are made.

Judging the future by the past; and, in history, this is a proper method of reasoning, Canada has in her people the powers that made an Imperial Rome, added to the staying, colonizing, civilizing qualities of an Imperial Britain. In her loyalty to the Throne, in her love of liberty, civil and religious, in her aspirations after all that is elevating, may Canada never tune her life to a lower key than that set by the traditions of the Motherland. As the centuries roll past may she ever remain a priceless jewel in the British Crown; for no finer setting could there be for so precious a gem. May the future generations of this country be able to sing with the same fervor of heart as those I see before me, "Rule Britannia," and " The Maple Leaf Forever." It will thus be seen that the Imperial Sentiment in which we take such pride-and we are proud of that pride-is not a creation, but a slow growth, and has been bought at an enormous price in blood and treasure. The ancient Britains, the Celts, the Romans, the Saxons, the Danes, the Normans, have all mingled their best in the building up of the British Empire, which thus comes to be of the best pure gold from the furnace of stress and storm, "a gem of purest ray serene." If all else were taken from us but this sentiment, we would still be invincible-the Britain of the past and the Empire of the future. Let us all pray that for the British Empire the words of Tennyson's "In Memoriam" may ever be true

O Father, touch the East, and light

The light that shone when hope was born,

The members of the Club who are not here will have missed greatly the excellent introductory speech which has been made by our friend, Mr. Osborne. It was one not at all surprising to some of us who have had the opportunity of watching his career, believing as we did that he would be one of the bright examples that Trinity can add to those who have preceded him in literary and accurate mental methods. I quite think that in your own memories myself and my good friend who has preceded me may well be entered in sporting phrase, as being included amongst those who " also ran." However, I am very glad to have the opportunity of speaking a few words to the Empire Club, especially as I believe there is much to be done in this line of dispelling the Imperial ignorance which exists among ourselves.

I can say, from my own experience during the somewhat lengthened visit which I recently made to England, that although I had considered myself in some degree versed in Imperial matters, I found how much larger was the field, how much greater was the Empire, how much ignorance there was on my own part when I came to compare myself with many of those who were sitting at the centre of affairs. We, in this land, as has been most appropriately pointed out, are somewhat restricted in our view. For this I think we may in some degree blame our newspapers. The contrast between the Imperial information in the British papers and the Imperial information-although there is a good deal of it-in our own Canadian papers is so marvellous that we must not wonder that our general public are not so fully versed as they should be upon matters in other portions of the globe which concern us as members of the Empire. In this I cheerfully accord with all that Mr. Osborne has said, and would say, too, that we must not wonder that there may not be that particularity of information amongst all the people of England, massed as they are in so small an area and so much engrossed in their own affairs.

And we must pardon them if they do not know all the particular details of our "line fence" disputes. I am glad to be able to say that while at first there was a feeling of almost horror at the upheaval which was created in Canadian circles upon the subject of the Alaskan Decision, yet it very soon dispelled when they came to understand that it was not so much with the result, but with the method of the decision that the Canadian people were most aggrieved; that the Canadian people had no animosity against the British Government nor any feeling of a want of sympathy on the part of the British people, but were rather upset by the manner in which the decision was arrived at without their consent. I think that has been dispelled, but a lesson has been learned, and that diplomatic methods applied to judicial decisions will have passed out of the administration of Colonial matters in Imperial councils. There is only one thing I think left to be done and that is that the United States should change the names of those two little rocky islets upon which there has been so much discussion from the archaic names which are now attached to them and call them " Ashburton " and " Alverstone," in honour of the two men who have added more to their territories than any of the heroes of their own people. In finding myself in this position of summing up, I may possibly add a few more thoughts which have come from my recent experience in the United Kingdom.

One thing I felt, in constant conversation with all classes of people, was the inferior position which we Canadians occupy in the Empire by being so slight contributors towards its maintenance and its defence. It pains one when in conversation with men with whom you are speaking upon Imperial subjects to have them say to you, not with any acerbity, but in the most kindly and courteous manner, " But you don't contribute to the maintenance of our navy." It hurts one to find that while we glory in the Empire we do, comparatively, so little for it; and if I have learned anything while over there it is to respect the tax-paying Englishman and the British subject in the Old Land who pays for the care virtually of a world; who even now is about to contribute out of his taxes for the payment of the settlement of the Newfoundland dispute, while we sit by, only, and enjoy. It is time I think that we should look upon some of these- matters from a different point of view. Take, for instance, one, that of our militia and defence. I think every one will admit we have been niggardly even towards our own militia. I think it will be admitted that what we have done has not been such as we ought to have done. If it were not for the men in the ranks and for the officers who hold them together, whose expenditures have been more comparatively than those of us who did note fill the ranks or hold the position of officers, there would be far less of militia or defence in this country. We must learn to look at this duty from the point of view of being, not so much as something for ourselves, but as our contribution towards, what I might call, the conflagration hazard of the Empire. We in supporting and creating our militia should look upon it not solely as being for the method of our own personal defence, because certainly it is not in animosity to our neighbours that we maintain our militia, but that we shall provide the means and methods whereby we may, when a time comes, when necessity compels, take up our share as British subjects in the warfare of the British Empire.

That we have the spirit to do it has been shown by what Canada and 'the other colonies have done in the South African War. Having the spirit let us provide the means and let us see that this militia establishment in this country of ours for the maintenance of the sacredness of our homes, for the defence of our own soil, for our capacity to take our share with our brother subjects wherever they may be, is maintained at such a standard as shall enable us to put that spirit into absolute action and to take up our share in the defence of the Empire. Now, it is quite true, that we as living on the % land have all our thoughts, or our main thoughts, turned towards defence on land, while in Great Britain, living face to face with the sea, their thoughts are turned more towards defence at sea. It is a natural thing, therefore, that we shall have been slow at the task of taking up our position in naval matters. Yet there are, and they are now admitted by many in England to be, points which may be fairly and properly taken as contributions by us towards naval defence. The war now going on has taught the British people more than ever -the value of the Siberian Railway to the Russian nation. While they have looked upon that as being the wonderful work of a great nation which has attracted their attention and whose, value they now appreciate from the point of strategic warfare, they did not give so much thought to the extension of our Canadian Pacific Railway and the other railways we are building across our own continent. Perhaps it was because the enterprises paid; perhaps it was because those railways which at first were not to pay for the axle grease to run them, have become favourable investments for people in all portions of the world. But now the strategic value of the Canadian Pacific Railway is being more completely understood, and it is seen to be, as the Siberian Railway is worth to Russia, many battleships and many steamships; so the rail communication across this continent is worth a great deal to the Empire.

Now that is a contribution which has not been direct, yet we are also stepping onwards a little on our way, and I think when we consider that we have already established fishery protection cruisers and are now proposing to maintain training ships upon our own sea frontiers, bye and bye, in the fruition of time, we shall come to a more complete understanding of our duty for the protection of trade upon the wider seas. When the day comes that the British carrying trade, which up to this time has been cosmopolitan, shall come to be Imperial, when there are products being carried upon Imperial traffic lines in which the Old Land is building up the new, and the new is interchanging with the old, then there will be more distinct lines of sea command in which we ought to take up our distinct lines of assistance. So long as it remains in its present position, there may be some reason why we should not understand or see where it is that we should contribute towards protecting British sea traffic; but let us fructify upon the knowledge that is gradually growing, let us educate ourselves and through this Club and other clubs educate our people, to the duty of taking our share in the care of sea communications between us and the heart of the Empire.

Now that point brings us to Imperial Reciprocity, which really means, I think, as we may say from our own experience, first, the cultivation and preservation of home industries. Then after having created these comes the interchange between Imperial centres. Let us apply this to ourselves. Under modern trade conditions no country can be self-contained; yet contiguity of territory is no longer a requisite for the union of interests--the oceans which once separated us have become the cheapest and quickest methods of union, and thus has come the unity of the British Empire, for by this means the farthest portions of it and each of its units have been brought into absolute contact. The conflagration in Toronto is read in the British papers next morning; and the merchants of Toronto are repeating their orders for goods by cable on the same afternoon. Modern methods have brought us into absolute touch and contiguity. We are nearer together in all parts of the world than we were with places in our immediate vicinity twenty years ago. That, then, I say, shows that we must look upon this Imperial subject, not merely as has been pressed upon us by some that it needs physical contiguity to create a union of interests, but that modern methods have brought the outer realms of the Empire into absolute and integral contact with each other.

Now I think in building up this Imperial Reciprocity each unit must judge what is best for itself. I may say that I always took that line in speaking to any of the English audiences that I had the opportunity of addressing, that they must judge for themselves what was first best for themselves; that we in Canada were giving a preference to British goods as a free gift and not as a bargain. It was for them to say whether it would suit them in some way or other to recognize that free gift by a free gift of their own, and that it must be done in such a way as would be of no harm to themselves, while at the same time it would give benefit to us; that it was to be done out of a sense of the unity of the Empire, of a preference for eating or wearing in British countries that which was created or grown in British countries, so that the brotherhood of the Empire should be one, in fact as much as in sentiment. With this comes the question of the dominant thought which we should have for the welfare and advancement of the whole Empire. I take it that here in Canada we have to build up ourselves and we have to help to build up those who built us. Canada's interests, both local and Imperial, lie entirely east and west. You may say we are interested in our east and west traffic for our own purposes. We are as much interested in the open door in China and in the welfare of Japan as is the man who lives in the United Kingdom. Perhaps more so, because the products of our growth and production are those which are mainly and mostly needed in those countries in the far east. Do we appreciate it? Do we think of it? Is our mind turned towards the open door in China and the alliance with Japan, with the same point, or to the same extent as that of any one in the British Empire? Let us think of it, let us see how the British power exerted as it is in the far east is for our benefit just as much as it is for theirs, although we make so little contribution towards its maintenance.

Now, seeing that we are interested east and west, we should be guided exactly as they have been in the United States. Their west was built up by their east and their east is built up by their west. The progress that there has been in the United States has been due to the expansion which we are only now entering on. Let us hold it for ourselves. Let us keep it on the east and west lines upon which they built theirs, so we, too, shall build up our east and west. But that brings us on still further. While our own personal and local interest is built upon that line so is the interest of our Empire. If we lower the doors at the east to the Old Land and to the far west we not only contribute towards the building up of our own country, but we contribute also to the progress of those in whom we are interested. Every ship that comes out from one of the Colonies, or from the Old Land and comes loaded to either our Pacific or our Atlantic shores, carries back at lower rates the products of this land, and increases our own local advantage and helps to build our brothers across the seas. East and west is the line that we should develop--east and west it is our duty to develop. For this Canada of ours is not all our own; it has been a gift to us from the others who preceded us.

We in Canada are trustees for the British race. We hold this land in allegiance, we hold it in development, for our brothers, who are the sons of those who won it for us. Therefore it is that we stand in such happy shape that by preference to our British brothers across the sea and by increasing our east and west lines of traffic we build up ourselves and at the same time we help them. If we can lay aside all thoughts of entering into absolute and sole ownership of this magnificent portion of the continent which has been given to our hands, as we recognize the brotherhood of British men, British trade and British interests, then we shall have a higher view of the work we may do for the upgrowth of our country, then we shall open up a wider horizon than we have ever looked upon. But we must be patient with our old friends across the seas. It is about thirty years since we started in upon the idea of taking care of home industries, but it is sixty years since they opened all their shores to all the world. It takes time for them to learn the changes in world trade conditions, but let me say that the increase of knowledge and thought for the Colonies, and particularly for Canada grows apace. A man has but to introduce himself as a Canadian, or to bring a Canadian matter before a British audience, to receive the heartiest welcome, and to be taken fully to their hearts as a true member of the British Empire.