At the Second Meeting of the Royal Society, at Ottawa, May 1883, the
Governor-General said:—
Mr. President, Mr. Vice-President, and Members of the Royal Society of Canada,—When we met last year, and formally inaugurated a society for the encouragement of literature and science in Canada, an experiment was tried. As with all experiments, its possible success was questioned by some who feared that the elements necessary for such an organisation were lacking. Our meeting of this year assumes a character which an inaugural assembly could not possess. The position we took in asserting that the time had come for the institution of such a union of the scientific and literary men of this country has been established as good, not only by the honourable name accorded to us by Her Majesty, a designation never lightly granted, but also by that without which we could not stand, namely, the public favour extended to our efforts. Parliament has recognised the earnest purpose and happy co-operation with which you have met and worked in unison, knowing that the talents exhibited are not those of gold and silver only, and has stamped with its approbation your designs by voting a sum of money, which in part will defray the expense of printing your transactions. And here, in speaking of this as a business meeting, I would venture to remind you, and all friends of this society throughout the country, that the $5000 annually voted by the House of Commons will go but a very short way in preparing a publication which shall fully represent Canada to the foreign scientific bodies of the world. We have only to look to the Federal and State Legislatures of America to see what vast sums are annually expended in the States for scientific research. We see there also how the proceeds of noble endowments are annually utilised for the free dissemination of knowledge. It is, therefore, not to be supposed that the comparatively small parallel assistance provided by any Government can absolve wealthy individuals from the patriotic duty of bequeathing or of giving to such a national society the funds, without which it cannot usefully exist. You will forgive me, as one who may be supposed to have a certain amount of the traditional economical prudence of his countrymen, for mentioning one other matter on which, at all events, in the meantime, a saving can be effected. While it is necessary to have accurate and finely executed engravings of beautiful drawings for the illustration of scientific papers, it is necessary that the printing of the transactions should occasion as little cost as possible; and I believe you will find it advisable for the present that each paper shall be printed only in that language in which its author has communicated it to the society. Your position is rather a peculiar one, for although you work for the benefit of the public, it is not to be expected that the public can understand all you say when your speech is of science in consultation with each other. The public will therefore, I trust, be in the position of those who are willing to pay their physicians when they meet in consultation, without insisting that every word the doctors say to each other shall be repeated in the hearing of all men. When funds increase, it seems to me that the economy it will probably now be necessary to exercise in regard to this may be discarded.
In the sections dealing with literature it is proposed to establish a reading committee, whose duty it shall be to report on the publications of the year, that our thanks may be given to the authors who advance the cause of literature among us. To assist in that most necessary enterprise, the formation of a national museum, circulars have been addressed by the society to men likely to have opportunities for the collection of objects of interest, and the Hudson Bay Company's officers have been foremost in promoting our wishes. The Government is now prepared to house all objects sent to the secretary of the Royal Society at Ottawa, and contributions for collections of archives, of antiquities, of zoology, and of all things of interest are requested. I rejoice, gentlemen, that I have been able to be with you now; that a year has elapsed since our incorporation, as this period allows us in some measure to judge of our future prospects. These are most encouraging, and the only possible difficulty that I can see ahead of you is this: that men may be apt to take exception to your membership because it is not geographically representative. I would earnestly counsel you to hold to your course in this matter. A scientific and literary society must remain one representing individual eminence, and that individual eminence must be recognised if, as it may happen accidentally, personal distinction in authorship may at any particular moment be the happy possession of only one part of the country. A complete work, and one recognised for its merit, should remain the essential qualification for election to the literary sections, and the same test should be applied as far as possible to the scientific branches. If men be elected simply because they came from such and such a college, or if they be elected simply because they came from the east, from the west, from the north, or from the south, you will get a heterogeneous body together quite unworthy to be compared with the foreign societies on whose intellectual level Canada, as represented by her scientific men and authors, must in the future endeavour to stand. One word more on the kindly recognition already given to you. In America, in France, and in Britain, the birth of the new institution has been hailed with joy, and our distinguished president is at this moment also a nominated delegate of Britain. An illness we deplore has alone prevented the presence of an illustrious member of the Academy of France, and the French Government, with an enlightened generosity which does it honour, had expressed its wish to defray the expenses of the most welcome of ambassadors. We have the satisfaction of cordially greeting an eminent representative of the United States, and I express the desire which is shared by all in this hall, that our meeting may never want the presence of delegates of the great people who are dear as they are near to us.
It is, gentlemen, greatly owing to your organisation that the British Association for the advancement of science will next year meet at Montreal, following in this a precedent happily established by the visit last year of the American Association. These meetings at Montreal are not without their significance. They show that it is not only among statesmen and politicians abroad that Canada is valued and respected; but that throughout all classes, and wherever intellect, culture, and scientific attainment are revered, her position is acknowledged, and her aspiration to take her place among the nations is seen and welcomed.
I am sure that your British brethren have chosen wisely in selecting Montreal, for I know the hearty greeting which awaits them from its hospitable citizens. The facilities placed at the disposal of our British guests will enable them to visit a large portion of our immense territory, where in every part new and interesting matters will arrest their attention, and give delight to men who, in many cases, have but lately realised our resources. Their words, biassed by no interests other than the desire for knowledge, and founded on personal observation, will find no contradiction when they assert that in the lifetime of the babes now born, the vast fertile regions of Canada will be the home of a people more numerous than that which at the present time inhabits the United Kingdom.
I must not now further occupy your time, but would once more ask you to accept my heartfelt thanks for the determination shown by all to make the Royal Society a worthy embodiment of the literary activity and the scientific labour of our widely-scattered countrymen throughout this great land.
The Governor-General's reply to addresses from the Royal Academy and the Ontario Society of Artists, Toronto, June 1883:—
Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Allan, and Ladies and Gentlemen,—I beg to thank you most cordially for the most kind and courteous addresses which you have been so good as to present to us. We shall keep them as mementos of the part we have been able to take in promoting Art in the Dominion. That part has necessarily been a very small one. I have been able to do very little more than make suggestions, and those suggestions have been patriotically and energetically acted upon by the gentlemen who have taken in hand the interests of Art. But what we have done we have done with our whole hearts. The Princess has taken the deepest interest from its inception in the project of establishing a Royal Academy. When, owing to the unfortunate accident at Ottawa, she was unable to visit the first exhibition of the Academy held in that city, I remember she insisted that I should bring up to her room nearly every one of the pictures exhibited, in order that she might judge of the position of Canadian Art at that time. (Applause.) It is very fitting that your first meeting in Toronto should be held in a building devoted to education, such as this Normal School. I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing the Exhibition, but I am given to understand that it is an excellent one, and shows marked progress. That the Exhibition should be held in this building shows the appreciation of your efforts on the part of the Government of Ontario. It symbolises the wish of your association to promote education by extending Art-training, and training in design. It is therefore most fitting that the Normal School in Toronto, the great centre from which come the masters of education for Ontario, should be chosen as the place in which to hold this Exhibition. Perhaps when the Exhibition is next held in this city, you will be privileged to meet in a Hall belonging to the local Art Society—a gallery of paintings. A proper gallery is yet wanting. I have seen a good many such in other places, notably in Boston, New York, and Montreal. I am accustomed to think that Toronto is quite in the front rank, if not ahead of any other city upon this continent. It should not be behindhand in this respect. I know, at all events, one eminent Toronto man who lives not far from here, whose features and form are as well known as those of the Colossus were to the inhabitants of Rhodes in ancient days, who is not satisfied with himself, nor is the world quite satisfied, unless he is at least twenty lengths ahead of everybody else. [1] The position he has earned for himself is such that the Provincial Government and the Dominion Government, with my full consent, are prepared to spend $117,000 this year in securing his habitation, so that it shall not be swept away by the waves of Lake Ontario. (Applause and laughter.) I am sure—though I speak in the presence of much better authority—that if the association here shows itself as much ahead of the world as the gentleman to whom I have referred, the Provincial and Dominion Government will, in the same manner, back up your position by money grants if necessary. (Renewed laughter.) It has been a great satisfaction to me that when the Royal Academy was founded, I had the great assistance and support of the gentleman who was then President of your local association, Mr. O'Brien. As this may be the last time I shall have an opportunity to speak on Art matters in Canada, I should like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude which all those who had to do with founding the Academy owe to him. With untiring zeal, good temper, and tact, he worked in a manner which deserves, I think, the highest recognition. As a result of the labour bestowed upon the project, we see here to-night the Academy and the old Society in one unbroken line. With regard to the work done by the Academy, you are aware we have held three or four annual meetings, and marked progress has been seen. The patriotic determination not only to hold meetings in towns where good commercial results could be obtained, but in others, is shown by the holding of a meeting in Halifax and other towns where it was not expected that a very large number of pictures could at once be sold. The good results of this course are shown by the fact that as a result of the meeting in Halifax, a local Art society is to be established there. A local association has been started at Ottawa, and is making good progress. In Montreal a great impetus has been given to the local society, and throughout the Dominion the cause of Art has been promoted by a central body bearing a high standard and encouraging contributions from all parts of the country. We have also to pride ourselves upon the enterprise of our artists in seeking instruction abroad. Several names might be mentioned of those who have gone and have diligently studied at Paris and elsewhere. At the Paris Salon this year, two of our lady members, Miss Jones and Miss Richards, have been very successful in having every picture they sent admitted to the Exhibition. (Applause.) A subscription was made in Montreal, some years ago, for an excellent statue which was erected at Chambly, the subject being Colonel de Salaberry, and the artist, Mr. Hébert of Montreal, one of your members. I am happy to say that Mr. Hébert was successful in the face of strong competition from Italy, France, England, and America, in carrying off the prize for the best model for a statue to be erected in honour of Sir George Cartier by the Dominion Government Another of our members, Mr. Harris, has received a commission from the Federal Government to paint a picture commemorative of the Confederation of the Canadian Dominion. These are marked proofs that the position attained by our academicians is now recognised; and it shows also, if I may be allowed to say so, the influence a society like this may virtuously exercise upon the Government and the treasury. (Laughter and applause.) There is only one other subject I would like to mention, though it has no direct connection with Art. But it is one mooted by Lord Dufferin, I think, in this very place, at all events in Toronto, some years ago. He asked me when I came not to lose sight of it, but to push it upon all possible occasions. I allude to the formation of a national park at Niagara. I believe I am correct in saying that on the American side the suggestion originated with a mutual friend of Lord Dufferin's and mine, Mr. Bierstadt. Lord Dufferin took the most energetic steps in promoting the project. He wrote to the gentleman who was then governor of New York. Some difficulties arose at the time, still steps were taken by which the project might have been successfully carried out before now. However, a change came, and a less sympathetic regime followed that of the governor with whom Lord Dufferin had communicated. I believe that now our neighbours are perfectly ready, and have nearly, if not quite, carried a measure for the scheme so far as it affects them. Their part of the work is of course a much more serious undertaking than ours. I request the influence of the Canadian Academy, and of the Society of Artists, in asking both the Dominion and Provincial Governments to take measures to meet the Americans in this movement, if they have made or are about to make it. We should secure the land necessary to make this park, so that the vexatious little exactions made of visitors may cease. I am sure it will be an immense boon to the public at large, as well as to the inhabitants of this Province and of the State of New York, if this scheme, so well initiated, shall ultimately prove successful.
[1] Mr Hanlan, Champion Sculler of the World.
Ottawa, May 1883.—Address to His Excellency.—Mr. Speaker announced the receipt of an informal intimation from the Senate that they were awaiting the arrival of the Commons to present the farewell address to His Excellency the Governor-General, in view of his early departure from the country.