Afarcli 



1883. 



Tlie J'roi/ress of the New Dominion. 



mi 



The liealtliy 

 ces of pros- 

 t and hope 

 rented that 

 is tlie most 

 nst the pro- 

 ti sentiment, 

 eiitiiry hitcr, 

 on of the 

 octiiall)' any 

 existed iti 

 ion with the 

 ar by year, 

 •y extended 

 cd the pro- 

 and now 

 a liiohcr 



o 



ion in the 

 m coininon- 



lorstand the 

 at mass of 

 ect concern- 

 pjireliension 

 ito, we need 

 acter of the 

 fda. Tliere 

 rders, nearly 

 :-l)orn Cana- 

 iiillion speak 

 The Frencli 

 s, for the 

 3dly monar 

 e opinions, 

 the early 

 hat section | 

 Idng was a 

 on all the 

 id with re- 

 1 from tlie 

 of the dark 

 under the 

 for over a 

 adians have 

 a deep at- 

 and even 

 B with tlie 

 ent State. 

 I" their de- 

 , and arc 

 icir affairs, 

 , by the 

 e war of 



American liidcpemlence, when stir- 

 ring appeals were made to the 

 French (.Canadians by Udclianiboaii 

 and Lafayette, the Frcnioh priest 

 was entirely on the side of iMig- 

 land. The" rebellion of 1837 had 

 no substantial support among llu' 

 intelligent n^ajoiitv of the people 

 of Lower Canada : on the contrarv, 

 they looked with siisjjicion on the 

 rofvjblican sentiments <>{ some of 

 the revolutionary leaders. It was 

 a French ('anadian statesman who 

 •leclared that "the last shot lircd 

 for British rule on the continent 

 of America would be fired by a 

 French Canadian." V>y the present 

 constitution the special interests of 

 the French Canadians are protected, 

 and their rights expressly guar- 

 anteed ; and under these circum- 

 stances, tliev are the class least 

 likely to sec any advantages in 

 annexation. (.)ii the contrary, it 

 conveys to their minds tlie idea of 

 [lositivc peril to those institutions 

 to which they attach tlie greatest 

 importance. They believe it really 

 means in the end the destruction 

 of their laws and language, just as 

 the old institutions of the French 

 have been gradually forced to give 

 way in the State of Louisiana. 



Among the English Canadians 

 there exists an inHuence against 

 annexation just as powerful in its 

 way as the attachment of the 

 French Canadian to British con- 

 nection. This is tlie influence of 

 the descendants of the old Loy- 

 alists who made their homes in 

 Canada in such large numbers dur- 

 ing the closing years of last century. 

 The descendants of the forty thou- 

 sand and more persons who became 

 Canadians at that time of imperial 

 discomfiture now form a consider- 

 able portion of the dominant class 

 in the Dominion, and still retain 

 that affection for the parent State 

 which is their natural heritage. 

 They have much more liberal, pro- 

 gressive ideas than had their stern, 



uncompromising forefathers. They 

 do not form a distinctive political 

 party, but arc found in the liberal 

 as well as in the (,'onservative ranks. 

 One, indeed, would forget that thee 

 are descendants of the Loyalists in 

 (.'anada, were it not for crises affect- 

 ing the honour and interests of the 

 em|)ire, when immediately their at- 

 tMclimcnt to England rises above 

 all minor considerations, and makes 

 its influonce felt throughout the 

 T^oiiiinion. Iinlecd, to the silent 

 infliienccs of this class may be at- 

 tributed in a great measure the 

 fact that there arc such striking 

 contrasts in the social life of the 

 Canadians and their American 

 neighbours. AVe do not notice in 

 (Janada the restlessness and want 

 of tone characteristic of the average 

 American citizen. Society in the 

 older cities and towns even yet 

 refuses to be Americanised in 

 thought or speech. The language 

 is that of English society of the 

 better class; the orthography is 

 still English, and "honour" has 

 not become " honor," nor are Cana- 

 ilians in the habit of going to the 

 "theater," — though it must be ad- 

 mitted that the press and careless 

 writers arc working energetically 

 in that direction. The current 

 literature is that of p]ngland ; and 

 it is a fact that even Ilowells, 

 James, and other distinguished writ- 

 ers, have fewer readers in Canada 

 than in London. Indeed one may 

 think with reason that there is too 

 decided a disposition among Cana- 

 dians to ignore American literature, 

 and in fact to look suspiciously at 

 everything that is not lilnglish — a 

 decidedly insular trait which Cana- 

 dians have inherited in a large 

 mcasnre from the Loyalists. In- 

 deed it is to the influence of this 

 spirit that we may attribute the 

 slow growth of a native literature 

 in Canada. 



These national influences com- 

 bine with a strong belief in the 



