the dominion of canada possesses a noble heritage which has descended to us as the result of the achievement of frenchmen, englishmen, scotchmen, and irishmen, who through centuries of trial and privation, showed an indomitable courage, patience and industry which it is our duty to imitate with the far greater opportunities we now enjoy of developing the latent material and intellectual resources of this fair land. possessing a country rich in natural treasures and a population inheriting the institutions, the traditions and qualities of their ancestors, having a remarkable capacity for self-government, enjoying exceptional facilities for the acquisition of knowledge, having before us always the record of difficulties overcome against great odds in endeavouring to establish ourselves on this continent, we may well in the present be animated by the spirit of hope, rather than by that feeling of despair which some despondent thinkers and writers have too frequently on their lips when it is a question of the destiny in store for canada. in the course of the coming decades—perhaps in four or five, or less—canada will probably have determined her destiny—her position among the communities of the world; and, for one, i have no doubt the results will be far more gratifying to our national pride than the results of even the past thirty years, when we have been laying broad and deep the foundations of our present system of government. we have reason to believe that the material success of this confederation will be fully equalled by the intellectual efforts of a people who have sprung from nations whose not least enduring fame has been the fact that they have given to the world of letters a shakespeare, a molière, a montesquieu, a balzac, a dickens, a dudevant, a tennyson, a victor hugo, a longfellow,59 a hawthorne, a théophile gauthier, and many other names that represent the best literary genius of the english and french races. all the evidence before us now goes to prove that the french language will continue into an indefinite future to be the language of a large and influential section of the population of canada, and that it must consequently exercise a decided influence on the culture and intellect of the dominion. it has been within the last four decades that the best intellectual work—both in literature and statesmanship—has been produced in french and english canada, and the signs of intellectual activity in the same direction do not lessen with the expansion of the dominion. the history of england from the day the norman came into the island until he was absorbed in the original saxon element, is not likely to be soon repeated in canada, but in all probability the two nationalities will remain side by side for an unknown period to illustrate on the northern half of the continent of america the culture and genius of the two strongest and brightest powers of civilization. as both of these nationalities have vied with each other in the past to build up this confederation on a large and generous basis of national strength and greatness, and have risen time and again superior to those racial antagonisms created by differences of opinion at great crises of our history—antagonisms happily dispelled by the common sense, reason and patriotism of men of both races—so we should in the future hope for that friendly rivalry on the part of the best minds among french and english canadians which will best stimulate the genius of their people in art, history, poetry and romance. in the meantime, while this confederation is fighting its way out of its political difficulties, and resolving wealth and refinement from the original and rugged elements of a new country, it is for the respective nationalities not to stand aloof from one another, but to unite in every way possible for common intellectual improvement, and give sympathetic encouragement to the study of the two languages and to the mental efforts of each other. it was on this enlightened principle of sympathetic interest that the royal society was founded and on which alone it can expect to obtain any permanent measure of success. if the english and60 french always endeavour to meet each other on this friendly basis in all the communities where they live side by side as well as on all occasions that demand common thought and action and cultivate that social and intellectual intercourse which may at all events weld them both as one in spirit and aspiration, however different they may continue in language and temperament, many prejudices must be removed, social life must gain in charm, and intellect must be developed by finding strength where it is weak, and grace where it is needed in the mental efforts of the two races. if in addition to this widening of the sympathies of our two national elements, we can see in the dominion generally less of that provincialism which means a narrowness of mental vision on the part of our literary aspirants, and prevents canadian authors reaching a larger audience in other countries, then we shall rise superior to those weaknesses of our intellectual character which now impede our mental development, and shall be able to give larger scope to what original and imaginative genius may exist among our people. so with the expansion of our mental horizon, with the growth of experience and knowledge, with the creation of a wider sympathy for native talent, with the disappearance of that tendency to self-depreciation which is so essentially colonial, and with the encouragement of more self-reliance and confidence in our own intellectual resources, we may look forward with some degree of hopefulness to conditions of higher development, and to the influence on our national character of what can best elevate canadians and make them even happier and wiser,

"the love of country, soaring far above all party strife;

the love of learning, art and song,—the crowning grace of life."

the end