Few positions for young Canadians of ambition—American consulships—Bayard Taylor—S. S. Cox—Canadian High Commissioner—Desirability of men of elevated life—Necessity for developing a Canadian national spirit.
Few positions for young Canadians of ambition—American consulships—Bayard Taylor—S. S. Cox—Canadian High Commissioner—Desirability of men of elevated life—Necessity for developing a Canadian national spirit.
Ithas occurred to many of our young Canadians that there are very few positions attainable to us as Canadians really worth striving for. We are so peculiarly situated, that we seem to be in a large measure debarred from obtaining positions which would ordinarily fall to the lot of those attaining eminence among five millions of people. To become a member of a Provincial Legislature is, perhaps, the first position ambitious young men ordinarily aspire to; and while the position itself is really honorable, and also one of usefulness, yet it is not wholly satisfactory. As to becoming an M.P., and spending three dreary months or so in Ottawa, it is not a desirable situation. In fact, most aspiring young Canadians, who come from good homes, do not take kindly to the idea of being forcibly banished for three months out of the twelve. In Washington, on the other hand, since consuls andcharges d’affairesof all civilized nations are resident there, it naturally follows that that capital must be the place of social activityand the like, and a place where one can meet persons worth knowing, and who are wholly different from ourselves.
To become a judge, no doubt, is the aspiration of many young Canadians, and not for a moment would any one attempt to decry the desirableness of that honorable position. Yet the fact is, that we have altogether too many young men aspiring for legal positions. “Too many lawyers in Canada by three-fourths” is heard among us as common everyday talk. Since Canada has no foreign consular service, all consularships are squarely and flatly out of our reach. Bayard Taylor began as a boy tramping over Europe on foot, and gave the world his boyish volume of “Views Afloat,” which is quite as readable to-day as when first penned. And he kept on travelling until he became quite familiar with most of the languages of modern Europe. Then a consulship was given him, and he really obtained a position worth working for. At different courts he became the representative of the great American nation, and enjoyed social advantages which can fall only to the lot of persons thrown in contact, as he necessarily was, with people from every quarter of the globe. Finally he became ambassador at Berlin, and enjoyed the highest honors there. There he died, and his body was sent back to his American home, having been accorded especial honors by the German court. Here was a career, it appears to the writer, which was really worth striving for. He was not a lawyer, nor in any wise specially educated in any particularspecialty, but yet with the career open to him, by dint of his own push and good common-sense, he really rivalled in position any of those among us who make political fights to get to Ottawa, or pore over the midnight oil to become eminent in law. And what is true in Mr. Taylor’s case is equally true in the case of many representatives who to-day are the accredited representatives of the American Government at the court of St. James. Take, for instance, the case of S. S. Cox, who was American representative at Constantinople. Mr. Cox was, no doubt, a tolerably clever man, but not a lawyer, though generously educated. Like Taylor, he travelled and gave to the world the result of his observations in his “Arctic Sunbeams” and “Orient Sunbeams.” True, he had been a member of Congress, but even if one were to become an M.P. in Canada that would not further him in any way for foreign preferments. No one will for a moment doubt but that Cox’s position ascharge d’affairesat Constantinople was far preferable to that of any M.C. at Washington, or an M.P. at Ottawa.
We have a High Commissioner, some one reminds me. Yes, and we may instance Sir Charles Tupper at London; but the social status of that gentleman over there must have been so doubtful that one can hardly jump to the conclusion that his position was desirable after all. Of course, his salary would be desirable, but of that I am not speaking. Do not for a moment suppose that Sir Charles would be very graciously received by the representative of the Czar,for instance. Obviously not, for he was not a real ambassador, or even a consul, and he had no particular powers, anyhow. The representative of the little kingdom of Greece, as the representative of three millions of people, would have far more social status in London than our Sir Charles, who ought to represent over five millions, and half a continent. So I think I might as well give over this matter of consulship, for there’s really nothing to be attained in that direction.
We educate a young man at home in one of our universities, and then to give him a good finish send him off to Oxford, or perhaps to Heidelberg, and our young man comes home the representative of one of our best Canadian families. He has not been educated for a profession particularly, for his parents as well as himself realize that the professions are already quite full enough, and also that there’s noéclatto be gained from the hardest drudgery in any one of them. Now, I ask, what position is open to him at all commensurate with his careful education and his talents? Really among us, as Canadians, there is none. No doubt, at Oxford or Heidelberg, he has studied the laws of nations and many matters of civil polity, and ought to be as well qualified, after a little apprenticeship, as any one anywhere to be the foreign representative of his own country at St. James, St. Cloud, or St. Petersburg. But he cannot, and must either lead the life of a gentleman of leisure among his people or go in for sordid money-getting. If he leads the life of a gentleman of leisure he does not fully fillthe sphere of usefulness his countrymen are by right of common citizenship obviously justly entitled to. As to common money-getting, we hope never to see the day when the most cultivated in our young country will give themselves over wholly to that sordid life.
An aristocracy in Canada is not what I am aiming at. But we do certainly need some peer among us to leaven the mass, and keep us refined and up to the social standard. The United States is already possessing such persons. The case of Charles Sumner, for instance. He could have made money as a lawyer, no doubt. But with his great talents and careful education, he spent his life among his New England kin, except when travelling or at Washington, and no one will for a moment deny but that he leavened his fellows during his whole life. Political preferments or legal standing he never sought after, but he, with his culture and pure life, did real good to his fellows.
It would be easy to elaborate and speak of many more such examples, both in the United States and Britain. But having illustrated the point, I have said sufficient to prove that such a cultured few among us are desirable and to be commended. They do not call them aristocrats in the United States, and I do not see why they should be so termed here. In the future, as our country grows, and our old families become stable with the steady growth of our country, their sons must be educated broadly and generously, and will no doubt be a benefit to us by leaveningthe lump; and we certainly do not want to cast our ringers at them, even if they do not get down to sordid money-getting, but seek for something higher. Yet, as I set out to prove, there are really few positions among us worth their striving for. If they would rise among us and make themselves known, I fail to know where or how they are to do it. Is a clerk or head of a department needed at Ottawa? Canadians, we are led to know, do not as a rule get the preference. In very many instances some one must be imported from the British Isles and given that position right over the heads of our own fellows. Now, we all love honor, and respect our common Mother Country, but this is carrying the matter too far, without a doubt. Do not for a moment suppose any Canadian will be exported from Canada to London to fill any one of the clerkships or offices over there. Such an instance is not within my knowledge, and I am at a loss to know why we need do it for the young English, Scotch or Irish man. The remedy for the want of a goal for Canadians I am not going to speak of. Let those who can, and wish, take the matter up and tell us. Yet we do not want independence just now that we may have foreign consuls and the like, and thus open careers for our young men of abilities, for we are too poor yet to do all that. Nor do we want annexation to the United States, for our people are unmistakably British, disguise the fact as one may. Our people are really British in thought and feeling, and are not disposed to throw off the Mother Country. If Imperial federation ever takes place, itis probable that the different colonies will then have a residentcharge d’affairesat each sister colony, and our chosen members would assemble at the central parliament at London. In this there would be a help to our ambitious young men, and perhaps some remedies will thus come about. But it is absurd to think that our rising young men will always be content to go on as we are, finding no goal in our midst worth striving for. These young men see, perhaps, their college-mates in the United States away ahead of them in positions of trust, while they cannot possibly get higher as Canadians, and are apt to become in a measure disgusted with home. The writer can recall instances of his fellow college-mates in the United States whom he thinks were no cleverer than himself, nor had they any special advantage over him in any wise. Yet to-day in his memory he can fix upon a number of such American college-mates who are now foreign consuls of the United States Government, M.C’s, senators, and others who occupy high positions in the army and navy of that Government. In drawing the comparison between them and himself it is quite natural for him to ask himself why his college associates so signally succeeded. The answer must be because success could be obtained in their own country, and such success led to preferments worth striving for, to the contra-distinction of our own lot as Canadians, where there is no career open to us.
That we all love Canada, and are all satisfied withour form of government, goes without saying, yet somehow we are not developing a national spirit in any wise whatever. It appears to me that we can and ought to develop a spirit of patriotic pride among us, and I see nothing incompatible with our position as provinces to hinder fostering such a spirit. One great difficulty is that our flag and that of Britain are exactly alike. Go away from home, and meet a Canadian vessel up in the Mediterranean, for instance, and I defy you to tell if she be not an ordinary British ship. The same ensign is at the peak, and there is really nothing outwardly visible to make a Canadian’s heart swell with pride on beholding a Canadian ship away from home. It seems to me that we might have a flag of our own, not incompatible with the Union Jack, which would cause us to cling to it and feel that it was really our own.
In the way of a national ode there positively is nothing at all. Moore’s boat song is the best thing we have by far, and is really a gem. But gem as it is, recollect it was written by an Irishman, and is mainly about boat life on our great river. Perhaps we are not old enough yet to produce a genius capable of giving us a national ode, and yet we have had some very good poems by Canadians, and I wish quickly to see the day when some of our poets will give us a national ode which shall be a gem for us to rally round. Let those who possess the proper poetic genius ponder on this subject.
Ask a Canadian young lady who sits down to the piano in Britain before a drawing-room full of Britonsof both sexes to play something Canadian, as I have heard asked there. Now just let our young lady musicians think the matter over and make up their minds what they would play and sing under such conditions. If our young ladies go over there, they must know they will be asked for such songs, and I really hope, for the credit of our country, they will not be compelled to fall back upon American songs to represent Canada. Such songs may represent America, but the part Canada plays on this continent will in such songs be sadly deficient.
A retrospect—Canada’s heroes—The places of their deeds should be marked—Canada a young sleeping giant—Abundance of our resources—Pulpwood for the world—Nickel—History of our early days will be valued.
A retrospect—Canada’s heroes—The places of their deeds should be marked—Canada a young sleeping giant—Abundance of our resources—Pulpwood for the world—Nickel—History of our early days will be valued.
Noone can look back over the years covered by this volume of reminiscences and observations of Canadian history and life without being struck by the changes that have already taken place, and also by the great possibilities of the future. At the close of the American Revolution of 1776 there were not more than 80,000 white persons in all of what we now call Canada with its confederated provinces. When Roger Conant came to Upper Canada, on the termination of that lamentable struggle, he found only 12,000 inhabitants in that province. At the time of the War of 1812 there were in all Canada about one-fifth of a million inhabitants, and in Upper Canada (Ontario) 55,000. It is only ninety years since that war, and the increase has been a marvellous one. We have nearly 3,000,000 inhabitants in what was formerly Upper Canada, and 5,000,000 in the whole Dominion. Let another period of ninety years revolve around our land, and the millions that will then inhabit our provinces will make our presentenumeration seem insignificant, as well as those of our forefathers in 1792 and 1812.
We know, of course, that the War of 1812 was Britain’s war. Canada was really not a party to its origin. But it would be a bold person to-day who would dare to assert that our forefathers did not do their duty in that struggle. The world at large, as well as ourselves, recognizes that they did all that a few poor but brave men could do.
“Oh! few and weak their numbers were,A handful of brave men,But to their God they made their prayer,And rushed to battle then.”
“Oh! few and weak their numbers were,A handful of brave men,But to their God they made their prayer,And rushed to battle then.”
“Oh! few and weak their numbers were,A handful of brave men,But to their God they made their prayer,And rushed to battle then.”
There dwells no Canadian on his native soil whose heart does not swell with pride at the valor of our forefathers in that war. For although it was Britain’s quarrel, and we honestly felt that Britain had been rather overbearing in her conduct to the United States, and had claimed too much in indiscriminately searching American ships and removing any men from them she chose, our people showed their valor, hardihood, and that Anglo-Saxon pluck which is the common attribute of the white man on this continent north of the Rio Grande River.
If, then, we are proud of our sires, let us mark the places of their deeds. Already the site of the famous battle between Wolfe and Montcalm in Quebec, which sealed the fate of a continent, is in doubt. How much more so, then, will be the sites of the deeds of our forefathers in the War of 1812, andthe more recent struggle of the Canadian Revolution of 1837-38. The author submits that it is the duty of those who know these historic spots to mark them by monuments or tablets. Very soon those who know them to-day will be off the scene, and information as to the whereabouts of these spots will be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. We are making history so very fast that it behoves us to bestir ourselves with regard to these matters. Future historians will glean every word we say, and view with eager interest every spot we mark.
Truly we are laying the bricks and stones of the superstructure of this great country of ours. Our 5,000,000 may seem insignificant to our children’s 125,000,000 by and by, but our children will search most diligently for all we did and said while in our adolescence.
Canada to-day is a young sleeping giant which has not yet felt its power, nor yet risen to consciousness of its own importance, wealth, power and grandeur. Our future no one can read. While we are proud to be a part of the great British Empire, and glory in it, we are none the less Canadians first, and we must never forget it. Some deep political thinkers and far-seeing statesmen have said that the white man’s governments and the flags of Anglo-Saxondom will some day be unified and made to wave over all the continent of North America north of the Rio Grande. How that may be accomplished no one will have the hardihood to predict. Our United States cousins may join us and a united flag may be evolved.That such an amalgamation would most materially add to our advancement is self-evident. We would like to see that gigantic stride made and still remain members of the great Empire, if that be possible. A treaty of commerce between us and the United States, be it reciprocity or what not, would so very materially tend to our benefit that we would risk much and give much to obtain it. There is such an abundance of food for man and beast in Canada, and always has been, without a single general failure of crops, that we cannot realize what such a failure really means. Nor can we make comparisons between times of abundance and years of want. No general failures have ever come to Canada, and while it has never been uniformly productive, the past two seasons have surpassed all previous records. We have seen harvests of 60,000,000 bushels of grain in Manitoba, Alberta, Assiniboia and Saskatchewan, seeking an outlet to Europe through the railways and canals of Ontario.
Verily, Canada is a young sleeping giant which has not yet awakened to its power. Our resources of all kinds are enormous. Take, for instance, our vast supplies of pulp-wood spruce, the raw material of paper. Explorers have found hundreds of square miles of this timber as yet untouched by the hand of man, between the northerly boundary of Ontario and James’ Bay. These forests may be cut off, but in twelve years will again have grown ready for another cutting. It is freely asserted that Canada has more spruce wood for pulp than all the world besides.The resources of commercial white pine are also within Canadian borders. The United States have almost exhausted theirs, and are coming for ours, but they most ungenerously mulct us in $4.00 per 1,000 feet for duty on this pine. This example very forcibly again reminds us that we particularly want a treaty of commerce with our nearest neighbors. Canada’s resources in pulp-wood and pine alone are sufficient to make her rich, and all nations must yet pay tribute to us on this account. To these we may add nickel, of which only New Caledonia besides has any quantity. Nickel the nations must and will have, regardless of price. In extent of fertile lands no nation can make a comparison with us. All these considerations point to a marvellous development in the future. With the increase of population and the spread of education we may take it for granted that the history of our early days will become more and more interesting to future generations, and that every genuine contribution to it will be highly valued.
The End.
With 21 full-page illustrations by E. S. Shrapnel, lithographed in colors. Printed on superior paper, with gilt top, and bound in buckram, with cover design in green and gold.
PRICE, $3.50 net, postpaid
..Press Comments..
TheJournal of the Royal Colonial Institute, London, England, reviewing the book, gives the following admirable summary of its scope and contents:
“Stories regarding the early settlement of Canada always possess a certain amount of fascination, and the book under notice is no exception to the rule. It is of more than ordinary interest, as it is written by one who is a descendant of the first Governor of Massachusetts, and the grandson of one of the earliest settlers in Canadian territory. Mr. Conant gives us many old settlers’ stories, as well as legends and traditions of the past, and presents glimpses of the rude, free life that obtained in the earlier years of settlement, whilst at the same time he depicts many of the phases of present-day life in Canada, as compared with the past. His personal experiences, which extend over many years, are full of interesting details regarding life in Canada. Mr. Conant not only describes the country and its advantages for settlement, but supplies numerous anecdotes regarding its administration, both politically and from a municipal point of view. He describes various events in its history so graphically as to enable the reader to follow him with interest through the many pages of the work, and to gain an insight into the mode of life which existed in Canada long before the railways opened up the country.”
The Toronto Globe:
The value of such unadorned records as those contained in Mr. Conant’s book will be fully appreciated by the future historian. With many of his contemporaries, the incidents he relates and the customs he describes are a common memory, and will be vouched for as not only accurately set forth in these pages, but with not a little incidental interest. Mr. Conant is well known to a large constituency of Canadian readers as a writer of some descriptive talent and with a pleasant colloquial style.
Toronto Mail and Empire:
“Mr. Conant has not only written a book that those interested in Canadian history will want to read, but he has set a good example to those who have the material for a family history.”
...Some Personal Commendations ...
The Right Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, G.C.M.G., writes the author: “I have received your book, ‘Upper Canada Sketches,’ and I can assure you with perfect sincerity that I enjoyed it very much.”
“A friend called my attention to your ‘Upper Canada Sketches, and, though I was only able to skim through it, yet I want to write and tell you how much I enjoyed it.... It seems to be the most readable book in that line that I have come across.”—Miss Minnie Jean Nesbit, Hamilton.
“I have read, ‘Sketches’ with great pleasure. It is very good and does you credit.”—Dr. H. Wheeler, Windsor, Eng.
“I have read it [‘Upper Canada Sketches’] with great pleasure and interest. It is, in paper, print, engravings, and margin, a pleasure to look at, and you have brought together very valuable sketches of life.”—Miss Janet Carnochan, Secretary Historical Society, Niagara.
“I got for my own library, as soon as it appeared, a copy of your book, and read it through with a great deal of interest and enjoyment.”—C. C. James, Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Ontario.
“I have greatly enjoyed Mr. Conant’s charming book, having read it from cover to cover. While I don’t suppose it appeals to a down-east Yankee like myself, as it must to a Canadian ‘to the manor born,’ I fully appreciate its fine literary finish, stirring incident, and flavor of ‘ye olden time.’”—Ada Chadwick Williams, Chicago.
“Am glad you found something of interest in my book. I could say the same thing, many times emphasized, regarding your own fine volume.”—Frank H. Severance, Esq., Author of “Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier.”
“Your ‘Upper Canada Sketches’ are unique, and more references are made to this book than to any other we have on Colonial history.”—David Boyle, Esq., Secretary Canadian Historical Society.
“I read your ‘Upper Canada Sketches,’ and I must pay you the compliment of saying that I could not get away from the atmosphere of that book for a long time after reading it. I have seldom had scenes cling to me as they did. I shall be greatly interested in anything further that you may do along that line.”—C. N. Johnston, L.D.S., D.D.S., Chicago.
Mr. Fred Odell Conant, author of “The Conant Genealogy,” writes: “I have waited for an opportunity to look it over carefully before replying. It is first-rate, and, so far as I can judge, gives a very good representation of life in the early days in the wilds of Upper Canada. I have been much interested in its perusal, and shall send for two or three more copies at once. You have the gift of making interesting reading.”
WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher,29-33 Richmond Street West, - - Toronto, Ont.
FOOTNOTES:[A]Vide“Upper Canada Sketches,” by the author.[B]Vide“Upper Canada Sketches,” by the author.[C]The author’s forbears then lived on the shore of Lake Ontario, at Port Oshawa. Word came to them of the taking of York during the night of April 26-27, and that the fort would be blown up if the Americans entered it. They were, therefore, on thequi vivefor the explosion. For thirty-three miles to Port Oshawa on that still April afternoon the sound of the explosion followed the water along the shore, and the author’s people distinctly heard the heavy boom they were waiting for. Hence it may be gathered that the blowing up of the fort was premeditated.
FOOTNOTES:
[A]Vide“Upper Canada Sketches,” by the author.
[A]Vide“Upper Canada Sketches,” by the author.
[B]Vide“Upper Canada Sketches,” by the author.
[B]Vide“Upper Canada Sketches,” by the author.
[C]The author’s forbears then lived on the shore of Lake Ontario, at Port Oshawa. Word came to them of the taking of York during the night of April 26-27, and that the fort would be blown up if the Americans entered it. They were, therefore, on thequi vivefor the explosion. For thirty-three miles to Port Oshawa on that still April afternoon the sound of the explosion followed the water along the shore, and the author’s people distinctly heard the heavy boom they were waiting for. Hence it may be gathered that the blowing up of the fort was premeditated.
[C]The author’s forbears then lived on the shore of Lake Ontario, at Port Oshawa. Word came to them of the taking of York during the night of April 26-27, and that the fort would be blown up if the Americans entered it. They were, therefore, on thequi vivefor the explosion. For thirty-three miles to Port Oshawa on that still April afternoon the sound of the explosion followed the water along the shore, and the author’s people distinctly heard the heavy boom they were waiting for. Hence it may be gathered that the blowing up of the fort was premeditated.