And well, Mr. Speaker, may the work we have unitedly proposed
rouse the ambition and energy of every true man in British
America. Look, sir, at the map of the Continent of America, and
mark that island (Newfoundland) commanding the mouth of the noble
river that almost cuts our Continent in twain. Well, sir, that
island is equal in extent to the kingdom of Portugal. Cross the
straits of the mainland, and you touch the hospitable shores of
Nova Scotia, a country as large as the kingdom of Greece. Then
mark the sister province of New Brunswick--equal in extent to
Denmark and Switzerland combined. Pass up the river St. Lawrence
to Lower Canada--a country as large as France. Pass on to Upper
Canada--twenty thousand square miles larger than Great Britain and
Ireland put together. Cross over the Continent to the shores of
the Pacific, and you are in British Columbia, the land of golden
promise,--equal in extent to the Austrian Empire. I speak not now
of the vast Indian Territories that lie between--greater in extent
than the whole soil of Russia--and that will ere long, I trust,
be opened up to civilisation under the auspices of the British
American Confederation. Well, sir, the bold scheme in your hands
is nothing less than to gather all these countries into one--to
organise them all under one government, with the protection of the
British flag, and in heartiest sympathy and affection with our
fellow-subjects in the land that gave us birth. Our scheme is to
establish a government that will seek to turn the tide of European
emigration into this northern half of the American Continent--that
will strive to develop its great natural resources--and that will
endeavour to maintain liberty, and justice, and Christianity
throughout the land.