Ladies and Gentlemen,—It is now my duty to declare this first exhibition of the Canadian Academy to be open to what, I am sure, will be an appreciative public. That this ceremony should take place to-day is characteristic of the energy with which any project likely to benefit our community is pushed in this country, for it is only ten months ago, on the occasion of the opening of the Local Art Gallery at Montreal, that the proposal for the institution of the Canadian Academy of Arts was made. To-day the Academy is to be congratulated not only upon being able to show the pictures and the works of art which you see around you this evening, but upon the favourable reception which the appearance of such an association has received from all classes. I have indeed seen nothing but the kindest criticism. Although I believe some gentlemen have been good enough to propose we should postpone the initiation of this institution for the present, and should wait for the short and moderate space of exactly 100 years, and look forward to its incorporation in the year of grace 1980. It is difficult to meet such gentle criticism, but the Academy may be allowed to suggest that although in the words of the old saying, "art is long-lived," yet that "life is short." Art will, no doubt, be in vigorous life in Canada a century hence, but, on the other hand, we must remember that at that time these gentle critics may have disappeared from the scene, and they will themselves allow that it is for the benefit of the Academy that it should begin its existence while still subject to their own friendly supervision. It is impossible to agree with the remark, that we have no material in Canada for our present purposes, when we see many excellent works on these walls; and if some do not come up to the standard we may set ourselves, what is this but an additional argument for the creation of some association which shall act as an educator in these matters? Now, gentlemen, what are the objects of your present effort? A glance at the constitution of the Society will show your objects are declared to be: the encouragement of industrial Art by the promotion of excellence of design, the support of Schools of Art throughout the country, and the formation of a National Gallery of Art at the seat of Government. The first of these objects, the encouragement of good design, receives an illustration in a room which I hope all present will make it a point to visit—a room on the second floor, where many tasteful and good designs have been exhibited in competition for prizes generously given by several gentlemen, who recognise the good effect such competitions are likely to have upon trade. Many of the best of these designs have been called forth by a prize offered by a member of the Legislature, and it is to be sincerely hoped that in future years his example, and the example of those who have acted in a similar manner, may be more widely and generally followed. English manufacture, as you know, has become famous for its durability; French manufacture for its beauty and workmanship; and here, where we have a people sprung from both races, we should be able to combine these excellences, so that Canadian manufacture may hold a high place in the markets of the world. The next object of the association is to be worked out on the same lines by the support afforded the local schools; and here I must emphatically impress on all who care for the encouragement of Art in Canada, that however popular the Academy exhibitions may become, however much you are able to strengthen its hands in assisting provincial efforts, the assistance it gives to any provincial schools can only supplement, and can never stand in the place of, provincial effort. It is true that the gentlemen belonging to the Academy give half of all they possess—one half of any surplus in all their revenues—in aid of local efforts, but it is by no means likely that that amount will be great. As the exhibitions are to be held each year in a different city, so that each Province may in turn be visited, it will probably be found best that any donation which can be made shall be given to that town in which the yearly exhibition is held. I hope, for instance, that this year it may be possible to give a grant in aid of a local school to be formed at Ottawa. With regard to the third object I have mentioned, the gentlemen who have been appointed academicians have patriotically undertaken, as a guarantee of their interest in the welfare of Art in Canada, that it shall be a condition of their acceptance of the office of academician that they shall give, each of them, a picture which shall become national property, and be placed here in an Art gallery. These works, of which you already have several around you, will be at the disposal of one of the ministers, who may be charged with this trust, and it will be in his option to decide whether they shall be exhibited in other parts of the country, or lent for purposes of Art instruction for a time to local schools. If you are not tired of these subjects, I would ask your attention for one moment to the organisation by which it is proposed to accomplish these purposes. First, there are a certain number of gentlemen who, after the model of similar institutions in other countries, where the plan has been found to work well, have been chosen as academicians. These comprise not only painters, but architects also, and designers, engravers, and sculptors. There are others again, forming a wider circle, and following the same professions, who have been chosen as associates, from whose ranks the academicians in the future will be annually elected. These gentlemen, the academicians, will govern the institution. They have already been supported by very many men in the country who follow other professions, and who will have nothing to do with the governing of the society, but who have been requested to join and give their aid as entertaining a love for Art, and a desire that Art should be enabled to assist in the most practical manner the interests of the country. It is probable that almost every gentleman of note in Canada will be upon this roll. So much, then, for the purposes undertaken, and the machinery by which these are to be accomplished. One word only as to the part which, at the request of several gentlemen, I have ventured temporarily to undertake. It seemed difficult, if not impossible, to get the body as at present constituted elected at the start, for scattered as the artists of the Dominion are, few knew the capabilities of others outside of his own neighbourhood. Following, as we will have to do here therefore, an English precedent, it was thought best that the first list should be a nominated one. However carefully this has been attempted, some omissions and faults have been made, and these will be corrected, for the plan followed at the commencement will not be pursued hereafter, but at a general meeting held during the time of the exhibitions, elections will form part of the business of the assembly. Although it may be for the interests of the Academy that the Governor-General of the day should be the patron of the society, you will find that the more self-governed it is the more healthful will be its prospects. At the outset the position of patron may be somewhat like the position of that useful but ugly instrument with which many of us are perhaps but too familiar, namely, the snow-plough. At the first formation of an artist society he may be expected to charge boldly into mountains of cold opposition, and to get rid of any ice crusts in front of the train, but after the winter of trial and probation, and difficulties of beginning are over, and the summer of success has come, his position, in regard to the artists, must be more like that of a figurehead. I have, however, great faith in the power of artists to make a figure-head useful as well as ornamental, although I do not know that they have shown a proof of this to-day by making their figure-head deliver a speech, which it is well known figure-heads never do, except on the strictest compulsion. You may remember that in old days in Greece, an artist named Pygmalion, carved a figure so beautiful that he himself fell in love with his work and infused his own life into the statue, so that it found breath and movement. I shall not expect the Academy always to be in love with its figure-head, but I believe that you will be able to instil into him so much of your energy and vitality, that if the vessel gets into difficulties you may enable him to come down from his place, and even to give her a shove astern. Let me, at all events, express a hope, in which I believe all present will join, that the Canadian Academy, this fair vessel that we launch to-day, may never get into any trouble, but that from every city, and from every Province of the Dominion, she may receive a favouring breeze whenever and wherever she may show a canvas.
At Quebec, upon the festival of St. Jean Baptiste, on the 24th June 1880, there was a gathering of representatives of the French-Canadian race from many cities of the United States as well as of Canada, and the celebration in honour of their national saint was exceptionally enthusiastic. An opportunity was thus given to the Governor-General to show that appreciation of French Canadians which has been so constantly exhibited by his predecessors in office. He spoke in French and said:—
Gentlemen and Friends of the French-Canadian race from abroad as well as from our own Province,—I rise with the greatest pleasure to thank you for the way in which you have received the toast which has been proposed by the President in drinking the health of the Princess and myself. The Princess has especially desired me to convey to you her gratitude, and I regret that owing to the short duration of the stay of Prince Leopold in this country, she has been unable to remain with me for the imposing celebration which we have witnessed to-day. She is at all times sorry to quit Quebec—a place she loves as much for the moral worth of its people as for the grandeur of its scenery. As for myself, gentlemen, I have obeyed a pleasant call in being amongst you to-day to testify my respect for our French-Canadian fellow-citizens, and my appreciation of the value of the element furnished by its noble and gallant race in influencing for good our young and growing Canadian nationality. I am here to show how much I prize the loyalty evinced by you on all occasions towards Her Majesty the Queen, whose representative I am. At the same time I do not wonder at the devotion shown to so august an embodiment of the principle of Constitutional Rule. The Queen sets the example of a Sovereign, who has at all times given constant proof, that with us the acts of power are the expressions of the will of the people. It is this that gives to her the highest rank amongst rulers in the eyes of the nations who acknowledge her sceptre. It is among you especially that all men will expect that this should be recognised. It was the Normans, who in France watched and guarded the cradle of that liberty at present enjoyed in England— it was the men of Normandy and Brittany who at a later age laid the foundations of the liberty-loving community of Canada. The very usages in the Parliament of Britain survive from the days when they were planted there by our Norman ancestors. I do not know that it has been observed before in Canada, but it has often occurred to me, that in the British Parliament we still use the old words, used by your fathers for the sanction of the Sovereign given to bills, of "la reine le veut," or "la reine remercie ses bons sujets, accepte leur benevolence et ainsi le veut,"—forms which I should like to see used at Ottawa as marking our common origin, instead of the practice which is followed, of translating into modern French and English. In celebrating this fête, all can join in pride in the element predominant amongst us to-day, as it is to your race we owe the liberties of Runnymede and the practices that mark the free discussions of our Parliament. I rejoice to see so many met together, and that we have representatives of our allies the French, as well as of those who have made a home—let us hope a temporary one only—among our friends in the United States. I rejoice to see these members of the race repatriated, if only for a time, and may assure them that our old and our new lands of the West are wide and fertile enough to justify us in detaining them here and in annexing any number who may be willing to be so treated. As they well know, they will always have with us the most perfect guarantees of liberty, the fullest rights of franchise, while they will not suffer so much as now from frequent waves of moral heat incurred by all who have to take part in constant electioneering; nor will they, on the other hand, have to endure the winter and moral cold which may be experienced by all who have to undergo the effects of a Gubernatorial or Presidential veto. Our visitors will see with us to-day the signs of a happy, a loyal, and contented people; they will see us sharing in that revival of trade which I am happy to say is marking the commencement of another decade; they will see us holding in highest esteem those traditions which associate us with the past; they will see you in the fullest enjoyment of your laws, your language, and your institutions; they will see, above all, that you use the strength you thus inherit from your ancestors for no selfish purposes, but as imparting vigour and unison with the powers of other races to our great confederation, and in cementing a patriotism which is willing to bear the burdens as it shares the glory of a great country, the greatest member of the mightiest Empire ever known among mankind.
The following was delivered at the opening of Provincial Fair.
Gentlemen of the Agricultural and Arts Association of Ontario,—Believe me that any service which I can render to your invaluable association will always be at your command, and you may be sure that it is the desire of the Princess always to join me in such endeavours. It must at the same time be remembered that ladies have not that iron constitution which it is necessary that an official should possess, and it is not always possible for them to be present as well in the body as in the spirit. I congratulate you on the great progress visible in the manufactures exhibited, and on having the Provincial Show held this year at Hamilton. In Ontario, where the science of agriculture is beginning to be so thoroughly understood, I fear I can say but little that may be of use to you, but I cannot too pointedly praise that most prudent of all speculations, which has made several of the gentlemen who lead the way in such matters purchase some of the best of British cattle. To be content with raising inferior stock is as unfortunate in economy as is an illiberal and unscientific treatment of the land. Great as are the advantages possessed, in this country by the new soil, which has comparatively recently been broken up, yet the effects of unscientific farming are necessarily to be seen in many places, and it is quite as much an object of our agricultural exhibitions to point out defects of this nature, as it is to display the triumphs of those who, pursuing agriculture upon a wiser plan, can year after year show the superiority of a scientific and liberal culture of the land. I have no doubt that much good will result in the advice given in the report which will be issued of the Agricultural Commission now sitting in this Province. There is much upon which you may be congratulated. The great increase in the numbers of horses raised here is meeting the demand for them—the growth of the cheese manufacture under the factory system— the increased attention given to root growing in connection with cattle feeding—the care bestowed on more general under-draining—the development of fruit and vine culture, and the excellence and cheapness of your agricultural implements, are all features upon which we may dwell with the utmost satisfaction. Your pasture lands are so wide, and the facilities afforded by the country for the raising of stock are so great, that it will be your own fault if you allow any others, be they breeders in the old country or the United States, to take the wind too much out of your sails. It is to be desired that provision be made against bad usage of the meat sent to England, for sufficient care is not taken of it at present after debarkation, and it appears to disadvantage in consequence in the markets. It must be remembered that at the present moment you have advantages with regard to the protection afforded you in the permission given to land your cattle alive in the old country, when it is denied to the States, which cannot be expected to last. It is impossible to urge too strongly the necessity of preparation against a time when American cattle will be again admitted alive into England. Unless you get the very best stock, and produce high graded beasts, you cannot hold your own. The necessary expense attending the purchase of high-bred cattle will now pay you, and if with their produce you can maintain your place in the European markets, you may be assured that the money so spent could never have been spent to better purpose. I am informed that lately at Toronto—and I hope we may see the same feature here in two days—Galloways, Polled Angus, as well as good Shorthorns, were to be seen in the yards. In sheep also, some of the gentlemen who with so much foresight lead the way amongst our agricultural communities, have made purchases this year of Shropshire and other high-class animals. I trust that each year may see a marked improvement with respect to following such leaders, and I have the utmost confidence that with the spirit of enterprise which has made British North America proportionately equal to any area on this continent in population, and in all the arts which can lead to that population's prosperity and happiness, Canada will not be found to be one whit behindhand.
To an address presented at the opening of the Quebec Provincial Fair, held at Montreal, His Excellency, the Governor-General, replied, both in French and English, as follows:—
Gentlemen,—It is a happy augury for our country that the expressions of loyalty to the throne, and confidence in the institutions under which we live, should be emphasised by you, who represent the different races of which our nationality is composed, when we meet to-day under roofs which shelter the products of the industrial and agricultural industry of a wide territory, now enjoying marked and unusual prosperity. It is not only a personal sentiment of reverence toward the august occupant of the throne, the faithful interpreter of our constitutional law, but it is to the perfected fabric of the experience of many centuries,—to the freest form of government on earth, that you declare your devotion. The love for such institutions can therefore be no passing phase dependent upon any single life; but is a love that lives with the life of the nation by whose decrees those institutions exist and abide.
It is my happy duty to represent among you to-day the countenance given yearly by the Federal Government to one of those great provincial fairs, by which our people in each section of the country show the high value they place upon the comparison and competition to be obtained by such exhibitions. Each year Industrial Art is thus aided, and a stimulus is given to the excellency of workmanship, which can alone content a people with its manufactures, and provide for their acceptance abroad. Each year at such re-unions the prospects of fresh enterprise in agriculture are discussed. For instance, we look forward with confidence to the new organisations for the cultivation of the beet-root, to be undertaken under favourable auspices, experiments having already proved that the beet-root grown here possesses a far larger percentage of sugar than can be shown by that of either France or Germany. Again, in the exportation of phosphates, which have proved themselves so excellent as fertilisers that they have arrested the attention of the Agricultural Chambers of Europe, fresh combinations will ensure a large supply from the Valley of the Ottawa. Lastly, the encouragement of the improvement in the breed of cattle, and the solution of the problem how best to export them with profit, engage your minds. It is almost certain that although in some parts of our country the cattle must be fed during winter for a longer period than in others, yet with good management and proper co-operation, wherever good crops can be produced, the winter will form no obstacle to the profitable sale of cattle in the European markets. By contributing last year at Ottawa, and this year at Montreal, to a Provincial exhibition, the government of our Union designates its desire in the interest of the whole country to supplement each year, at a different place, those provincial resources which are so wisely lavished on many branches of education. The grant given on the part of the Union by which this meeting is constituted a Dominion Exhibition, is the contribution made for a special branch of instruction. As by our constitution, education is a provincial matter, such Federal grants, if made, must be given where more than the interests of one Province only are concerned. The object to be attained is to help forward those who, owing to a less favouring fortune, are behindhand, by enabling them to see the results attained by their neighbours. The question must not only be, "Will such an Exhibition pay its expenses?" It must be asked, "Will such an Exhibition spread useful knowledge over wider districts which require it?"
Let me, in concluding these remarks in answer to your address, express on the part of the Princess the gratitude she will feel at your mention of her name; and I shall now fulfil the duty, for the performance of which I have been invited here, in declaring this Exhibition open to the public.
At the laying of the foundation-stone of a new Museum at M'Gill
University, Montreal, in 1880, His Excellency spoke as follows:—