6 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



aptly stated by Professor Seeley to be "the culminating point of English 

 " power in the eighteenth century " — and the present Queen ascended 

 the throne, that Canada and other dependencies of the Crown may be 

 said to have made the beginnings of that remarkable development, 

 which is one of the most interesting and important features of the 

 century and of the Queen's reign and has been, in a measure, some com- 

 pensation for the loss of the old Thirteen Colonies through the fatuity of 

 English statesmen in the second half of the eighteenth century. 



II. 



I purpose to give in the present paper a brief historic retrospect of 

 the position Canada occupied at the time when Her Majesty ascended the 

 Throne and to compare it with that the Dominion now holds as a federa- 

 tion of seven provinces and organized territories extending from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. No one will gainsay Canada's preeminence 

 among the dependencies when we consider how much she has done in 

 sixty years, despite the enormous difficulties that have stood in the way 

 of her progress on account of the rivalry of a great republican Power on 

 her borders for three thousand miles, which has drawn away from her 

 the wealth and joopulation of Europe, and also a large number of 

 Canadians from year to year up to a very recent period. In this review 

 it is necessary to refer briefly to some leading features of Canadian 

 history. In these days, when Englishmen have leai-ned at last to take 

 an interest in colonial questions — to recognize the fact that lessons may 

 be learned from even colonial history and colonial statesmanship, we feel 

 no apology need be made even to my English readers ^ if I ask them to 

 give their attention for a few minutes to a short account of the political 

 evolution of the Canadian federation, which has already passed beyond 

 the first quarter of a century of its existence. In this record we shall 

 see what elements of stability this federation possesses, even when com- 

 pared with that great Power to the south, whose remarkable develop- 

 ment has been among the most interesting features of the century now 

 80 near its close. 



Both England and France entered about the same time on a career 

 of colonization in North America. Champlain was already encamped 

 with his little band of settlers on the picturesque heights of Quebec''' 

 when the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the rock-bound coast of New 

 England. Then, for a century and a half, the colonies of England and 

 France struggled for mastery. The sturdy independence of the English 

 colonists, accustomed to think and act for themselves, left as a rule to 



1 This special reference to " English readers " originates from the fact that a 

 part of this monograph first appeared as a leading article in the Edinburgh Mevieto, 

 and I have allowed it to remain, though the text has been revised and enlarged. 



2 Champlain arrived at Quebec (Stadacona) on July 3rd, 1608, and laid the founda- 

 tions of the picturesque town. 



