=Source.=--_Ocean to Ocean._ (Cf. 49.)
From the sea-pastures and coal-fields of Nova Scotia and the
forests of New Brunswick, almost from historic Louisbourg up the
St. Lawrence to historic Quebec; through the great province of
Ontario, and on lakes that are really seas; by copper and silver
mines so rich as to recall stories of the Arabian Nights, though
only the rim of the land has been explored; on the chain of lakes,
where the Ojibbeway is at home in his canoe, to the great plains,
where the Cree is equally at home on his horse; through the prairie
Province of Manitoba, and rolling meadows and park-like country,
equally fertile, out of which a dozen Manitobas shall be carved in
the next quarter of a century; along the banks of
A full-fed river winding slow
By herds upon an endless plain,
full-fed from the exhaustless glaciers of the Rocky Mountains, and
watering "the great lone land"; over illimitable coal measures
and deep woods; on to the mountains, which open their gates,
more widely than to our wealthier neighbours, to lead us to the
Pacific; down deep gorges filled with mighty timber, and rivers
whose ancient deposits are gold beds, sands like those of Pactolus
and channels choked with fish; on to the many harbours of mainland
and island, that look right across to the old Eastern Thule "with
its rosy pearls and golden-roofed palaces," and open their arms
to welcome the swarming millions of Cathay; over all this we had
travelled, and it was all our own.
Where's the coward that would not dare
To fight for such a land?
Thank God, we have a country. It is not our poverty of land or
sea, of wood or mine, that shall ever urge us to be traitors. But
the destiny of a country depends not on its material resources.
It depends on the character of its people. Here, too, is full
ground for confidence. We in everything "are sprung of earth's
first blood, have titles manifold." We come of a race that never
counted the number of its foes, nor the number of its friends, when
freedom, loyalty or God was concerned.
Two courses are possible, though it is almost an insult to
say there are two, for the one requires us to be false to our
traditions and history, to our future and to ourselves. A third
course has been hinted at; but only dreamers or emasculated
intellects would seriously propose "Independence" to four millions
of people, face to face with thirty-eight millions. Some one may
have even a fourth to propose. The Abbé Sieyès had a cabinet
filled with pigeon-holes, in each of which was a cut-and-dried
Constitution for France. _Doctrinaires_ fancy that at any time they
can say "Go to, let us make a Constitution," and that they can fit
it on a nation as readily as new coats on their backs. There never
was a profounder mistake. A nation grows, and its Constitution
must grow with it. The nation cannot be pulled up by the roots,
cannot be dissociated from its past, without danger to its highest
interests. Loyalty is essential to the fulfilment of a distinctive
mission--essential to its true glory. Only one course, therefore,
is possible for us, consistent with the self-respect that alone
gains the respect of others; to seek, in the consolidation of the
Empire, a common Imperial citizenship, with common responsibilities
and a common inheritance.