Memories of Canada and Scotland — Speeches and Verses

by Duke of John Douglas Sutherland Campbell Argyll

At Toronto during the same year the Governor-General had occasion to speak as follows:—

Gentlemen,—In rising to return you my heartfelt thanks for the loyal and cordial manner in which you have received the toast of the health of the Queen's representative, I thank my learned and honourable friend on my left for the manner in which he has proposed that toast, and you, gentlemen, for the way in which you have been good enough to receive it. I knew that in a Canadian company that toast would be received with all honours, because I believe there is no nation in this world which has more profound love for its Sovereign than the Canadian people. (Loud cheers.) With reference to the Prince of Wales, to whose visit you have made allusion, I know that he was delighted, as was also the Duke of Connaught, with the visit they paid to Canada, and they have both expressed a confident hope that during my term of office they may revisit Canadian soil. (Loud cheering.) With regard to ourselves personally, I shall accept with gratitude everything that has fallen to-night from your eloquent lips, sir, with regard to the Princess, my wife. (Great cheering.) But as for myself, I must demur to the excessive kindness of some of your expressions; and although it may be a bold opinion for a layman to lay down in the presence of so many distinguished in the law, I believe my learned friend has almost for the first time—and I hope for the last—in his life departed from that attitude of strict impartiality which it is his duty, as well as my own, to maintain. (Great laughter and cheering.) I have a theory on the subject, of which I will let you into the secret. My honourable friend has confided to me that it was his painful duty to make some very severe observations from the Bench to-day. I think that it may be possibly owing to a natural reaction of feeling, that he has found it almost obligatory to make some observations in my favour to-night, almost too kind (Loud laughter.) We have been delighted with the reception we have met with in Toronto, and I must say that it has been a matter of good fortune, in my opinion, that we have been able to visit this great city at a time when its citizens are occupied with the great show which is being held within a short distance of its limits, and which is a most remarkable exhibition to have been set on foot and carried out by any city. (Cheers.) And in a few days we shall not only have had the pleasure of inspecting the exhibits, but of seeing some of the live stock which is now enjoying such favour not only in Canada, but also, luckily for Europe, over the water. That examination will be for me one of peculiar interest. I look forward to that trade developing a new and—as I trust it will be—a permanent source of revenue to this country. (Cheers.) I see you have Landseer's pictures of "Peace" and "War" upon your walls. I know of no more striking contrast that can be seen between peace and war than at Quebec, for instance, where under the frowning guns of that magnificent fortress the air is daily full of the lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep, and vast numbers are to be seen being embarked upon the large and fine vessels of the Allan Line for transport to Europe. (Cheers.) We may congratulate Canada not only that she has begun that trade, but that she has done so in so energetic a fashion, that though the shippers expected there would be but little traffic so late this year, the trade has been carried on with increasing volume throughout the autumn, and depend upon it, it will bring you good return, not only to the farmers already here, but by bringing more people to Canada. These people are the class you want, and I believe that for every few hundred cattle or sheep you send to Liverpool, you have every prospect of getting in exchange a stout English farmer. (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I hardly expected that upon this, my first official visit, I should have had the opportunity of expressing my gratitude to the Toronto Club for entertaining me in so friendly a fashion at so pleasant a banquet. In meeting you here to-night, I feel I am in the presence of a representative assembly of those who lead the intellectual and commercial life of this city, one of the greatest already, and at the same time one of the most promising, not only in the Dominion but on the American continent. Before you, then, gentlemen, I wish I could find words warm enough to give you an idea of the manner in which we have been touched by the efforts made in our behalf by the citizens of Toronto. (Loud cheers.) It would not be reasonable to seek any justification of such kind feeling, but, at all events, I can say to you that, if a hearty and earnest interest in every phase of your national life can be taken as any excuse for such welcome, this justification, at all events, exists to the full. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) In one sense, also, I am no stranger to your affairs, for I do not feel that in studying Canada I have embarked on a sea hitherto unknown to me. It is not only since my arrival here that I have watched with unflagging enthusiasm the current of events which is so surely leading this country to the full enjoyment of a great inheritance, for long before we landed on your shores much of your history and of your present condition was well known to me. A brief visit, paid many years ago, could give me but little real insight into your condition, but every man in England who has had anything to do with public life has, since the Confederation of the British North American Provinces, considered his political studies as wholly wanting if a pretty thorough knowledge of your resources and position were not included in his survey of the Empire. (Cheers.) Confederation has had this advantage, that your destinies have been presided over by men who had weight and authority at home, and who were able to put before the English people, in attractive form, the resources of this country. Especially was this the case during the six and a half years Lord Dufferin has been in this country; for his speeches, giving in so poetical a form, and with such mastery of diction and such a grasp of comprehension, an account of your material and political condition, were universally read and universally admired. (Loud cheers.) Perhaps in former days, and before the country had become one, so much attention would not have been given to your affairs, but since Confederation we all know in England—every politician in England knows—that he is not to consider this country as a small group of disconnected Colonies, but as a great and consolidated people, growing in importance not only year by year, but hour by hour. (Great cheering.) You now form a people for whom the Colonial Office and Foreign Office alike are desirous to act with the utmost strength of the Empire in forwarding your interests; and in speaking through the Imperial Foreign Office, it is impossible that you should not remember that it is not only the voice of two, three, or four or five millions, as the case may be, that you speak, but the voice of a nation of over forty millions. (Great cheering.) As I said before, I believe that in former days perhaps the interest was not so lively, although perhaps it would be unjust to say that too strongly, because within the last few months, as well as in past years, we have had striking examples of how willing Great Britain is to undertake warlike expenditure for colonies by no means as united or as important as Canada. (Prolonged cheers.) But the feeling with regard to Canada as a mere congeries of colonies, and Canada as one people and Government, may perhaps be compared to the different feelings that a mother may be supposed to have in the pride with which she may regard a nursery full of small infants, and the far different pride with which she looks upon the career and stature of her grown-up and eldest son. (Laughter and cheers.) To be sure, as it is with all sons and all mothers, little passing and temporary misconceptions may occasionally occur, and which only show how deep in reality is their mutual love. (Laughter.) The mother may sometimes think it sad that her child has forgotten some little teaching learnt on her knee, and that one or two of the son's opinions smack of foreign notions—she may think that some of his doings tend not only to injure her, but himself also and the world at large. (Great laughter.) Perhaps, sometimes, he thinks on his part that it is a pity old people cannot put themselves in the place of younger natures. (Uproarious laughter.) But if such is the tenor of the thought which may sometimes occupy the mother and the child, let no one dream for a moment that their affection has become less deep, or that true loyalty of nature is less felt. (Loud cheering.) They are one in heart and mind; they wish to remain so, and shall remain so; and I should like to see the man who would dare to come between them. (Tremendous cheering.) In saying this, gentlemen, I express what may be regarded as my first impressions of the feelings which animate you, and I believe that when I leave you, my last impressions will be identical. (Loud cheering.) And now, gentlemen, the topics on which a Governor-General may speak without offence are somewhat limited—(laughter)—although he is expected to be the advertiser-general of one of the largest countries in the world—(great laughter and applause)—an empire so large that the study of its proportions is, I think, much more like the study of astronomy than the study of geography. (Laughter and applause.) It is perhaps best that he should speak on generalities; but in making my first appearance among you I may be expected to record other general impressions. I may perhaps be permitted to mention a subject which is generally understood as giving a good opening for conversation and acquaintance, and likely to lead to no serious difference of opinion, namely, the subject of the weather. (Roars of laughter.) I can now speak with some authority upon that momentous topic—(laughter)—because I have now spent a winter, a spring, a summer, and part of an autumn in Canada, and I believe that any one who has had a similar experience with me will agree that the seasons and climate enjoyed here are singularly pleasant and salubrious. (Cheers.) You have, gentlemen, real seasons—there is a real winter and a real summer. (Loud laughter.) You are not troubled with shams in that respect—(laughter)—no shoddy manufactures of that nature are imported over here from Europe, where winter is often like a raw summer and summer like a wet winter. How different has been the reality of your winter, for as an old woman once wrote home to her friends in Scotland, "All the children here may run about in the snow without wetting their feet" (Great laughter and cheers.) We have only to look at that column on which a splendid bunch of peaches is hanging to see a summer trophy which should bring many to our door; but it is only a small sample of a vast crop of a similar nature which you have in Western Ontario, for as I am informed by my honourable friend on my right, Mr. Mackenzie, the peaches are often given to the pigs. (Great laughter.) The pleasant and bracing seasons of Canada can be enjoyed in a country without its equal, for nowhere has the settler a more varied range of choice in the scenery, the locality, the soil which will finally determine him where to found a home. His fortune may be compared to that of a man entering one of those new houses where each may have his own flat—a magnificent abode, where, if he wish not to travel, far, to be easily reached and visited by his friends, he may remain in the rooms of the ground floor—our spacious Maritime Provinces, where he will find himself very near his fishmonger—(cheers and laughter)—close to the old tradesmen with whom he has dealt in Europe, and warmed by a great kitchen well-furnished with a store of Pictou coal. (Laughter and cheers.) If he prefer other apartments he may ascend to those great and most comfortable rooms, our ancient and populous Provinces of Quebec and Ontario—the first-floor rooms of our Canadian mansion, which are so amply provided with the old-fashioned associations which he may love; while, if still more active, he may select accommodation in the vast chambers of the second floor—the wonderful districts of the North-West, which have been so bountifully furnished by beneficent Nature, that he will require but little capital to make his abode exactly according to his own taste. (Loud cheers.) And if he prefers another and still more airy location—(laughter)—he may go on again and inhabit our recently erected and lofty storey of the Rocky Mountain District, near which he would again find an ample supply of coal, nearly as good as that which he found "down below." (Applause.) He will be none the less fortunate when he makes the acquaintance of the master of this modern mansion, when he finds that everything is ruled in order and prosperity by him, and that his name is the Canadian House of Commons. (Loud applause.) And now, dropping all fanciful metaphors, I must speak in more serious terms for a moment, and express my admiration for that I most able House, the excellence of whose debates would be a credit to any assembly. (Cheers.) During its session I have sometimes been reminded of an exclamation of the late Baron Bunsen, the German diplomatist and author, whose residence in London as Prussian Ambassador at the Court of St. James's has caused him to be affectionately remembered in England. Chevalier Bunsen, looking on at the proceedings of the House of Commons, said that to him it was a marvel how an Englishman could ever rest until he had sought to become a member of that Assembly, where the Ministers of the Sovereign, and they who endeavoured to win a share in the government of a powerful people, met face to face as champions of different policies to discuss before the country the principles which should guide a mighty nation. As in England, so here, let no one turn his back on political life as too hard, as bringing too much contention, or as occasioning too much unpleasantness. One of the worst signs of a country's condition is, when they who have leisure, or property, or social influence look upon public life as too dirty for them, and hang back from the honourable rivalry, allowing other hands to have a commanding share in government. (Hear, hear.) I am confident that this will not be the case here, and long may it be before a Canadian prefers his ease, if he may command it, to that noblest labour to which he can be called by the voice of his fellow-citizens, a share in the government of his country, in her Parliament. (Cheers.)

In striving to be a member of the Dominion Parliament, or to have a potent voice in the election of such a one, each man, whatever may be his circumstances, must feel that it is a high and proper ambition to do what in him lies to direct the policy of this Royal Commonwealth, which sees its will expressed by the Cabinet—which is but a Committee of the Parliament elected by the people—carried out loyally and fully by the Executive head of the Government. (Cheers.) To be sure you may say to me, you are speaking in ignorance—the Governor-General is not allowed to be present at the debates of Parliament. (Laughter.) Certainly, gentlemen, I am not allowed to be present and never have been. (Renewed laughter.) I have never even followed the example of my eminent predecessor, who has left me such a heritage of speeches at the Toronto Club. (Laughter and applause.) I have followed his example in making a speech, but I have not followed his example in another case, for I am informed that he has heard debates of the House concealed by the friendly shadows behind the Speaker's chair. (Loud cheers and laughter.) I have never placed myself in that position, and of course my knowledge is entirely derived from reports—of course I do not speak of newspaper reports. (Roars of laughter.) That is quite impossible— (renewed laughter)—because I am fully conscious that we should not put our trust in printers—(great laughter)—but I speak of other reports which are more trustworthy, and for which, of course, my responsible Ministers are responsible. (Laughter.)

I shall mention a particular rumour that has reached my ears, which is to the scarcely credible effect that the current of discussion is often not quite so tranquil as might be assumed by outsiders, looking only at the harmonious outline of the buildings in which the members meet (Great laughter.) Perhaps the reported occasional quickening of the political current, and the hurried words to which it gives rise, occur only because pure panegyric is distasteful, and a wholesome criticism is on the other hand preferred.

Believing this, I shall only venture to express the opinion, that if any spoken words fly too swiftly it is because one bad habit, and one only, exists among the politicians of Canada. It is this—and I am sure you will realise the melancholy significance of the fact to which I am so reluctantly compelled to allude—it is, that Canadian politicians do not bring their wives with them to Ottawa. (Uproarious laughter.) I hope the recently developed doctrines of constitutional duty may still allow a Governor-General to take the initiative in making a suggestion, and my suggestion would be that the ladies should favour us with their presence at Ottawa, for I am certain that an alteration in this practice would soon put a stop to the reports to which I have drawn your attention, which some people may think may detract from the position of our celebrated, and alas! at Ottawa, too often celebate politicians. (Roars of laughter.) And now, gentlemen, I have only to thank you repeatedly and most earnestly for your welcome, and the citizens of Toronto I would thank, through you, at large for the extreme kindness with which they have been pleased to receive us. But I believe, gentlemen, it is not mere kindness that is shown by such demonstrations as those we have recently seen. If it were that only, it would perhaps lose some of its significance. In the display made we have seen the outpouring of the heart of a people whose loyal passion is strong for the unity which binds a great History to a greater Present, and which, under the temperate sceptre of our beloved Queen, is leading Canada and Britain together in freedom to an assured and yet more glorious Future. (Cheers.)

During a visit in 1879 to St. John, a city then suffering from the effects of a disastrous fire, he said:—

Although there may be temporary pressure, and partial failure in trade, not a year elapses that does not indicate progress made in the material welfare of the country as a whole. The Dominion is steadily and surely rising in wealth, in unity of feeling, in all that makes a nation. Our territories are enormous, and no one need travel far in any Province, but he will find new clearings and fresh settlements; while land in abundance and of great excellence, as compared with much in the old country, can be had almost for the asking.

Throughout our greater Britain, and steadily and surely upon these our eastern coasts, the people increase from decade to decade, notwithstanding the great attractions offered by the prairie lands of the interior. No one can look at the district you inhabit without feeling certain that this increase will continue. Impatient, restless, and ignorant of his true interests would that man be, indeed, who, under such circumstances, would not desire to tread in the steps of his fathers, to face, with British pluck and spirit, any difficulties that may arise; and to rejoice that his lot has been cast in that Empire which has withstood every danger, whose might has been moulded by centuries, and whose flag has never waved over any people whose character has not been ennobled by the free institutions it represents.

In reply to an address of the City Corporation, he said:—

To THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COMMONALTY, ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK:-Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,—The dignified and truthful words in which you recall the trials through which many of your ancestors passed in this country, now the happy home of their descendants, remind me how strong to-day among you is the feeling of the duty of patriotism—a duty, the fulfilment of which I rejoice to think is accompanied by no burden, but brings with it the enjoyment of much political advantage. We have found with pleasure that sufficient time has been at our disposal during this, the first year after our arrival in the Dominion, when there have been necessarily duties which have demanded attention at the capital and journeys to be undertaken in other parts—to allow us to return to those Maritime Provinces where we were first welcomed by a loyal people, and to visit St. John, which must be regarded as the commercial capital of even a wider district than is contained in New Brunswick itself.