This notice of motion aroused much heated discussion in the Press, numbers of letters being written strongly supporting Mr. Hopkins’s resolution, one “member of the Society” writing under that name, quoted the object of the Society in its constitution “to unite Englishmen and their descendants in a social compact for the promotion of mutual and friendly intercourse,” and he went on to say that there could be “no mutual and friendly intercourse between a true-hearted, honest, loyal Englishman and a traitor and enemy of England’s power and position. . . . If the St. George’s Society does not speak out with no uncertain sound it will be a disgrace to the Englishmen of Toronto and be a death blow to the Society. Most Englishmen would as soon join a society for friendly intercourse that contained thieves as one that contained traitors. The thief might steal one’s money. The annexationist is striving to steal our birthright, our name, our place in history, and the lives of the thousands who would die in defence of their country and its institutions.”
A number of our Imperialists who belonged to the Society formed a committee to organise a plan of action. This committee met in my office. We were not satisfied with Mr. Hopkins’s resolution, as it asked Goldwin Smith to resign, which he could easily avoid doing and so put the Society in a false position. On the afternoon of the day of the meeting our committee decided on a resolution which it was thought could be carried as a compromise. When the meeting was held after there had been considerable discussion, all upon the proper course of action, a committee was appointed to draft a resolution as a compromise, and the one we had prepared was adopted and carried unanimously. It was in the following terms:
Whereas it has been brought to the attention of this Society that Mr. Goldwin Smith, one of its life members, has openly proclaimed himself in favour of severing Canada from the rest of the British Empire, and has also accepted the office of honorary president of an association having for its object the active promotion of an agitation for the union of Canada with the United States, therefore this Society desires emphatically to place on record its strong disapprobation of any such movement, and hereby expresses its extreme regret that the Society should contain in its ranks a member who is striving for an object which would cause an irreparable injury to the Dominion, would entail a loss to the motherland of a most important part of her Empire, and would deprive Canadians of their birthright as British subjects.
This was soon followed by Mr. Smith’s resignation from the Society.
In spite of Mr. Goldwin Smith’s farewells he had an article in the Contemporary Review for January, 1895, on the Ottawa Conference of 1894. After reflecting on the manner in which the “delegates” were appointed, he went on to say the conference confined itself to discussing trade relations and communications, and that defence “was excluded by omission.” He sneered at the French Militia who served in the North-West Rebellion, and attacked the Canadian-Pacific Railway, insinuating that it would be blocked in case of war, because part of it went through the State of Maine. He made a great deal of snow blocks also, and even said that the prediction made when the Canadian-Pacific Railway “was built, that the road would never pay for the grease on its axle wheels, though then derided as false, has, in fact, proved too true,” and he absolutely stated that “as a wheat-growing speculation, the region has failed.” The whole article was as inimical to Canada and the aspirations of the people as he with his literary ability and indifference as to facts could make it.
This article aroused a good deal of criticism and hostility all over Canada. I received many letters from various parts of Canada, some from friends, some from strangers, asking me to reply to it. Sir Oliver Mowat urged me very strongly to answer it. I therefore prepared an article and sent it to the editor of the Contemporary with a request that he should publish it. I wanted no remuneration, but claimed the right to answer many inaccuracies. I received from the editor the following letter:
11, Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, W.C.,
8th March, 1895.
Dear Sir,
I am afraid I cannot find a place for your article on Canada.