348 



The Progress of the New Dominion. 



March 1883. 



It may now be said witli truth 

 that tliere is a Canadian people. 

 If we look closely into the census 

 statistics, we find that, of the total 

 population of the Dominion, nearly 

 4,000,000 are native ('anadians, 

 and consecpiently attached to the 

 country by all those ties that make 

 home dear to the people. As re- 

 spects origin, the population is coin- 

 posed of French, Irish, English, 

 and Scotch, besides a large German 

 clement in some western counties. 

 The French Canadian comes from 

 a Norman and Breton stock, and 

 possesses much of the thrift and 

 steadiness of his ancestry, I'lie 

 habitant may be wanting in energy, 

 hut he is conservative in all his 

 tendencies, a lover of liis Churcli, 

 fond of simple pleasures, little dis- 

 posed to crime or intem[)orance, a 

 ca[)ital worker in mills and fac- 

 tories. The liighcr class has pro- 

 duced men of line intellects, who 

 liave won distinction in politics, in 

 the professions, and even in French 

 literature. The other elements 

 of the Canadian people display 

 all those energetic and persever- 

 ing chiiracleristics essential to the 

 foundation of prosperous communi- 

 ties. They possess that spirit of 

 aggressiveness which is a natural 

 characteristic of the Teutonic race, 

 and eminently (pialitios them to 

 overcome the climatic and other 

 difficulties of Canadian colonisa- 

 tion. The history of Canada, so 

 far, emphatically proves tliat tlie 

 Canadian people possess that sta- 

 bility of character, that earnestness 

 of purpose, and that love of free 

 institutions, wliich give the best 

 guarantee of their success in laying 

 deep and firm the foundations of 

 a great State to the north of the 

 American Republic. ^ 



When, a century~and a quarter 

 ago, Canada fell into the possession 

 of England, the French Icing, bask- 

 ing in the smiles of mistresses, and 

 enjoying all the pleasures of a vo- 



luptuous Court, consoled himself 

 with the reflection that he had, 

 after all, only lost a valueless 

 region of ice and snow. That 

 same region now gives homes to 

 nearly a million and a half of the 

 F'rench race, who enjoy an amount 

 of comfort and happiness which 

 they could never have had in old 

 France. \N'e mav now travel foi- 

 days among the whoat-lields and 

 orchanls of the colony, so neglected 

 and despised by the king and his 

 ministers. Hut Canada has ex- 

 tended her boundaries far beyond 

 th(! limits of th(> province found- 

 ed by France. The eastern aiui 

 western shores of the DominioD 

 are washed by the waves of tin- 

 two great oceans which separate 

 America from Europe and Asia. 

 The climatic con<]ilioiis of this 

 vast tei'ritorx do not varv to anv 

 great extent : the cold is intense 

 in winter, and the heat even fierce 

 at times in summer, — Ihitish 

 Columbia, with its more equable 

 temperature rnd mild winters, 

 beitig an exception to the rest of 

 British North America. Though 

 the climate is rigorous at times, at 

 all events it is bracing and healthy ; 

 though the heat is great for weeks, 

 it ripens with remarkable rapidity 

 all those grains and fruits which 

 are at once the life and luxury of 

 man. The natural features of the 

 territory are varied in their char- 

 acter. The Dominion may be 

 divided into certaii divisions, 

 having distinct natural charac- 

 teristics. First, we have the mar- 

 itime provinces of Nova Scotia, 

 New Brunswick, Prince Edward 

 Island, on the Atlantic coast — 

 provinces noted for their large bays 

 and harbours, and their maritime 

 industry. In the interior arc fine 

 agricultural lands, producing hardy 

 grains and fine fruit, especially 

 apples. In remote districts there is 

 still some valuable timber ; whilst 

 coal, iron, copper, marble, and even 



gold, 

 it is 



t 



