Canada (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Canada I envy my friend Dr. Ma odonald his Kel'tic eloquence and fervor - I must admit that I fear I am but a Sassenach - while, however, I cannot hope wholly to succeed in the pleasant duty imposed upon me, with such a subject and with such an audience, it is impossible that I can wholly fail. I recognize that I am speaking in large part to those who claim Canada as Fatherland, but who are now dwelling under a żag differing from that whose folds guarded their birth, and some of whom at least now are citizens of a State which is not that to which their ancestors owed allegiance. Yet in the eyes of a Canadian, they have not become foreigners or aliens; nor is that State by any Briton considered foreign or alien. And I, for one, refuse to considermyself a foreigner in the midst of a nation whose people speak the language which is that my inf-ant tongue learned at a mother's knee, and are governed by laws based upon the same fundamental principles as mine. The common ancestors of many - of most - of us laid deep and well the foundations of both speech and law - and peoples who speak the English language and obey the English Common Law cannot be alien or foreign to each other. While many Canadians are not of the same race and do not speak the same language nor are they governed by the same system of law, yet they, too, look upon this nation in the same spirit as their fellow-canadians of British ancestry. Nor are the nations enemies or antagonistic, except indeed in that rivalry which is open to brother as to foe - the ways of trade are open to all, and each people will make the laws, levy the tariffs and impose the restrictions conceived to be best calculated to advance their own interests. War, open or masked, there is not - there has not been open war for nearly one hundred years; and it is inconceivable that it can ever again be. Blood is thicker than water, and all the waters of the sea or of the Great Lakes cannot wholly sever those whom blood unites. Notwithstanding the change of allegiance, the heart of those who have thus become citizens of the United States must needs turn to the Land of the Maple - for their clime not their soul they change, who cross the sea - Jand once a Canadian always a. Canadian. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.