UNITED STATES AND CANADA m 



date. (Cheers.) With this determination to main- 

 tain, as I hope they will — nay, to draw closer the 

 bonds which unite them to Great Britain — I am 

 convinced their loyalty and affection will never lack a 

 warm response. They will be citizens of no mean 

 State. They will be citizens of a Dominion the like 

 of which 



THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN 



with regard to extent, population, resources and 

 variety of nations who owed allegiance to it. One 

 of our poets, Mr. Matthew Arnold, has written of 

 the overwhelming burdens of this vast Empire. 

 The burdens are vast, it is true, but we will not 

 lessen them by cowardly surrender — (cheers) — or 

 a mean betrayal of the interests entrusted to our 

 care. Relief must be found in widening the founda- 

 tions of the great Confederation, and not in cutting 

 away the outposts. (Cheers.) The interest of 

 true democracy is not towards anarchy or the dis- 

 integration of the Empire, but rather the uniting 

 together kindred races with similar objects. You 

 have a portion in the great path that lies before us. 

 It may yet be that the federation of Canada may be 

 the lamp lighting our path to the federation of the 

 British Empire. (Cheers.) If it is a dream — it 

 may be only the imagination of an enthusiast — it is 

 a grand idea. (Hear, hear.) It is one to stimulate 

 the patriotism and statesmanship of every man who 

 loves his country ; and whether it be destined or 

 not to perfect realisation, at least let us all cherish 

 the sentiment it inspires. Let us do all in our 



