10 
 
 POLfriCAL GENEROSITY, 
 
 A PAPER READ BEFORE THE 
 
 JUNIOR CONSERVATIVE CLUB, 
 
 April, 1881, 
 
 By D. A^ ANSELL. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 
 
 There is a gloom hanging over our association to-night, for I am 
 siire that there is no heart in this room that does not beat in sym- 
 pathy with the millions of mankind who are mourning the recent 
 death of the greatest statesman of our day — Benjamin Disraeli, Earl 
 of Beaconsfield. 
 
 The career of Lord Beaconsfield has not only been one of the 
 most romantic and extraordinary in English political history, but it 
 may well thrill each one of us with a sense of the ardour, devotion 
 and patriotism of the dead statesman. Without the aid of wealth or 
 brilliant family connections, he rose from the most unassuming 
 position to be Leader of the House of Commons, chief adviser of Her 
 Majesty the Queen, and the ruler of the destinies of Britain. He 
 was, besides, a warm friend of Her Majesty, and one to whom she 
 always looked up in time of trouble. He was twice called to the 
 important office of Minister of Finance, and was twice Prime Minister. 
 
 He was a Conservative who was loved by the Liberals, for his 
 gentlemanly demeanor and the liberality and kindness of his actions. 
 He was a Tory who passed a more Radical Reform Bill than had been 
 attempted by his opponents. 
 
 He is gone in a ripe old age, fallen asleep with his great mind 
 undimmed to the last ; but the record of Benjamin Disraeli's Jife is 
 a power which may honorably fire the breast oi all youthful aspirants 
 to political honor, and which will long fill countless hearts in the 
 Old World and in the New, with admiration and respect for the 
 memory of this most distinguished statesman. 
 
 I am not quite sure that I should have headed this evening's 
 Essay with such a soft-soiinding title, had I not felt that our party 
 is at present in that most happy and enviable position where we can 
 afford to be generous and charitably disposed towards all mankind, 
 even including the honorable gentlemen of the Opposition. Were 
 we at this moment the under dog, instead of the victorious canine 
 on the top, no doubt my thoughts would have run in a narrower 
 groove, and I should have expressed my feelings in a few short snarls 
 and growls, instead of in the highly peaceable, moral and philan- 
 thropic strain in which I propose to address a few words to you on 
 this occasion. 
 
the limits of a brief article will not admit of my reviewing the 
 long list of successes which have crowned the efforts of the present 
 Government. I am not here to justify the Tariff Bill and its amend- 
 ments, for I consider, gentlemen, that time and events have already 
 sufficiently justified that great reform in the financial affairs of the 
 Dominion of Canada. The National Policy is proving itself each day 
 to be the great and true policy for the interests of this young and 
 enterprising nation. Nor will I attempt to handle the threadbare 
 topic of the Pacific Railway ; though I firmly believe that Govern- 
 ment has dealt with one of the grandest problems of the age in a 
 masterly spirit which will not fail to bear its fruit in due season. So 
 vast a scheme of trans-continental communication, and the coloniza- 
 tion of the myriad fertile acres of the great North-west, needed 
 consummate boldness and skill in its consideration, and has been, 
 let us hope and believe, planned out and decided upon with greater 
 wisdom and foresight than I am willing to attribute to the party that 
 lately vacated the seat of power at Ottawa. 
 
 I am thankful for every good measure that has been passed, 
 and thankful that we still rejoice in a leader worthy of the name. 1 
 say, gentlemen, may Sir John A. Macdonald long live to give our 
 land of Canada the advantage of his brilliant statemanship 1 
 
 " Such men are raised to station and command, 
 When Providence means mercy to a land. 
 He speaks and they appear j to Him they owe 
 Skill to direct, and strength to strike the blow ; 
 To manage with address, to seize with power 
 The crisis of a dark decisive hour." 
 
 No ; the history of the present parliament is not for such a feeble 
 pen as mine to attempt to deal with ; but with your kind permission 
 I will ask your attention to a few general inferences that have 
 occurred to my mind from a review of the political situation. Has 
 it ever occurred to you that not a few pit-falls exist, into which suc- 
 cessful legislators are not unfrequently in much danger of falling ? 
 Now, I hope that the Conservative party, having attained so much, 
 will not allow itself to fall into the error of over- legislating for a 
 'grateful people. Guard carefully and hold fast what is good ; make 
 reforms just so far as you can see your way clear ; but, for Heaven's 
 sake, gentlemen, don't let us frame a multiplicity of laws just for the 
 sake of experimenting ; and don't let us learn to think our own party, 
 or our own individual selves infallible. Others are just as confident 
 as we are of the truth of their own convictions. Our opponents are 
 possessed of great intelligence, — many of them, no doubt are our 
 equals, if not our superiors. We may be sometimes in the wrong. It 
 is hard to realize the likelihood of our own selves being in the wrong 
 in any matter, however small ; but as the world contains *' many 
 men with many minds," it naturally follows that the great majority 
 of us must, as a matter of necessity, be in the wrong. 
 
 We look back into the past, and what do we see, — nations, sects, 
 philosophers, cherishing beliefs in science, morals, politics and 
 religion which we decisively reject. Yet they held and maintained 
 their convictions with a faith in many instances far stronger than 
 ours. And it is somewhat humiliating to be compelled to acknow- 
 ledge that from a parity of reasoning, in the light of coming years, 
 many of our fondest idols of to-day will be shattered and exposed by 
 the stern truth of events. 
 
 rt hCi / r r 
 
I say, then, that in our public conduct there is at present an 
 evident want of a little more practical humility. Though we have 
 less self-confidence than our ancestors, who never hesitated to em- 
 body in law their pet notions and judgments upon any and all sub- 
 jects whatever, we have vet far too much. Though fortunately for 
 those whom the Church of England in her liturgy, calls '^ Jews, Turks, 
 infidels and heretics," we have ceased to assume the absolute infalli- 
 bility of our religious beliefs, we do not forget to enforce other 
 beliefs of an equally doubtful kind. Though we no longer presume 
 to coerce men for- their spiritual good, we still thi.ik ouselves called 
 upon to coerce them for their material good, — not seeing that the one 
 is in truth as useless and unwarrantable as the other. Innumerable 
 failures seem, so far, powerless to teach this. Take up a daily paper, 
 and you will probably find a leading article exposing the corruption, 
 negligence or mismanagement of some Government department. In 
 the next column you will not unlikely find a demand for an extension 
 of State supervision. A bank manager absconds. You must enact 
 new banking laws. An engine explodes on the Grand Trunk, or a 
 locomotive, attracted by the earth's centre of gravity, goes through 
 ice to the bottom of the St. Lawrence ; you must have more boiler 
 inspectors appointed. Small-pox has broken out ; you must purify 
 the poisonous atmosphere by legislation. The sidewalk has flown up, 
 and struck an after-dinner alderman in the face ; you must either 
 abolish plank sidewalks by ret of Parliament, or impose prohibitory 
 legislation on the food and drink, especially the latter, — composing 
 that worthy official's repast. You might as well try to stop Mayor 
 Beaudry's celebrated polyglot imprecations ! 
 
 Thus, while each day chronicles a failure, there every day re- 
 appears the belief that it needs but an act of Parliament, and a staff 
 of officers to effect any end desired. Ever since society existed, 
 Disappointment has been preaching : '' Put not your trust in legisla- 
 tion," and yet, gentlemen, as I have endeavored to demonstrate, we 
 are still too prone to a desire for over-legislation." 
 
 Are we, then, you may say, to stand still and watch the revolving 
 wheel of time go round while we do nothing that will leave its mark 
 upon the x'ecords of our day and generation ? I answer most emphati-' 
 cally : '' No." There is room enough for vigorous thought and deci- 
 sive action in the field of these great questions which come naturally 
 to the surface as the enlightenment of the world progresses. Whilst 
 avoiding the mere inventing or hunting up of additional subjects of 
 Government, we shall always find quite enough in legitimate and 
 necessary spneres of work to occupy our most profound attention. 
 
 We have to retain our influence as an organization ; we have to 
 retain our respect which I am proud to say is felt in this city and 
 throughout the country for the organization I have the honor of 
 addressing to-night. The time has arrived, gentlemen, when a mere 
 negative existence on our part will result in our being swamped by 
 the rising wave of Liberal organization ; the time has arrived when 
 a mere passive expression of our cherished opinions, and honorable 
 aspirations will result in the association fading away like the morning 
 mist before the rays of the sun. 
 
 I am led to these remarks by the recent formation in our imme- 
 diate community of what bas the outward appearance of a very for- 
 midable political combination, of a powerful ally to the parties from 
 
whose opinions in most essential points we conscienciously differ. We 
 may call our opponents a party of ideas, and ours a party of solid 
 realities, but be tnat as it may the fact remains clear to all unbiassed 
 minds that the late visit of Mr. Blake to this city, and his reception by, 
 and address to, the Young Men's Reform Club is deeply significant of 
 the struggle which lies right before us, if we wish to retain the appro- 
 val of our own conscience and the " prestige" which we have gained 
 in the eyes of the people. 
 
 It is sincerely to be hoped that our efforts will not reveal them- 
 selves in the form of recrimination and personal abuse of those who 
 are honestly opposed to us. A conciliatory and gentlemanly spirit 
 will always accomplish more than the most violent denunciations. 
 ** Suaviter in modo fortiter in r^," should be our watchword, and 
 success will not fail to attend our efforts. And after all it needs no 
 hypocrisy to accord a due meed of praise to those of the Liberal 
 party who have done their best to advance the interests of the 
 Dominion of Canada in accordance with the spirit of their own 
 principles. From the days of Papineau to the present time, the 
 Liberal party has figured far from ignobly in the annals of our 
 country. For my own part I rejoice in a strong and healthy Opposi- 
 tion ; it affords us scope for the free exercise of all our latent political 
 energies ; and is, in fact, the sine qua non of the very existence of 
 associations such as these. 
 
 Did the limits allowed me permit, gentlemen, 1 would venture 
 to point out further instances where a conciliatory spirit and charita- 
 ble disposition should always exhibit itself. I suppose I may say that 
 the bitterest war that ravages society in the present day is the war of 
 religious denominations. Bigotry is rampant ; intolerance is every- 
 where visible. Let so-called Liberal Reformers, such as Professor 
 Goldwin Smith, think they are rightly employing the talents with 
 which God has endowed them, by the scurrilous abuse of some 
 belief whose existence seems a source of personal discomfort to their 
 almighty selves, — I refer especially to Goldwin Smith's attack upon 
 the Jews, — let such as he, I say, continue to take delight in such 
 dirty work ; but, gentlemen. I say, in the name of all true liberalism 
 let us Conservatives shun and discountenance such narrow warfare.* 
 No wonder that Rationalism' and Nihilism, and a hundred other 
 " isms " are throwing their ghastly shadows over the face of the earth, 
 when men are cutting each other's throats upon the disputed question 
 of ihe very road to heaven ! You cannot kill a faith or a superstition ; 
 you cannot justly even subordinate one religion to another. It re- 
 mains, then, that till the clearer light of coming ages dispels the gloom 
 from our little finite minds, we must place all denominations upon an 
 equal footing, respect all, and protect all, so long as their course is 
 worthy the respect and protection of impartial men. Let lis not assail 
 Christianity, or Judaism, or the worship of Budda or Confucius ; but 
 rather arknowledge and search out the good which lies hidden 
 beneath the surface of each. Let us look at men's lives rather than 
 at their opinions ; for I humbly tenture to think that after all it is by 
 our lives we shall be judged and not by our beliefs. Why should I 
 fix my eyes so keenly upon the differences that separate me from my 
 otherwise respected neighbour, when a far pleasanter occupation 
 would be to set to work to find out and admire the wonderful iden- 
 tity which flows through all the creeds of all the ages. 
 
And speaking politically, gentlemen, we must be aware how we 
 fan the flame of religious dissensions. One spark may cause the most 
 gigantic conflagration ; and the fostering of these terrible religious 
 differences, mav, ere we are aware, hurl society on the American 
 Continent into the horrors of civil war such as never before was seen 
 or heard of. The liberty of the Press is a pillar of our freedom that 
 I should be averse to see curtailed in any respect, but I must say that 
 it seems in the present day as if some editors used the great trust 
 committed to them for the exhibition of their own personal likes and 
 dislikes in religion and in some other matters. The quality most 
 lacking in modern journalism is that of high moral courage, courage 
 to give, if need be, the devil his due, and to refuse to pander to the 
 tastes of subscribers. Only a very successful newspaper can live 
 without the ill-gotten gains of bribery. A true newspaper should 
 reflect and follow public opinion ; not seek to form and lead it into a 
 thousand eccentric, and often very ill advised experiments. 
 
 And now, gentlemen, what is the secret why the attainment of 
 true success is missed by so many of the ablest politicians of the 
 present day ? It is because the watchword of Duty is not forever 
 present in the minds of those who seek to legislate. It is because the 
 path of duty is too frequently departed from by those who would 
 elevate themselves, — their own petty little selves, — upon the ruins of 
 other men's interests. On such an important topic I will not speak to 
 you in my own feeble words, but with your permission I will read 
 what S. T. Coleridge said when some of us were boy-i, on this same 
 subject of duty : — 
 
 "There are many able and patriotic men in the House of Com- 
 mons, Sir Robert Inglis, Sir Robert Peel, and some others ; but I grieve 
 that they never have the courage or the wisdom, — I know not in 
 which the failure is, to take their stand upon Duty. The devil works 
 precisely in the same way. He Ls a very clever fellow ; I have no 
 personal acquaintance with him, but I respect his evident talents ; 
 consistent truth and goodness will assuredly in the end overcome 
 everything ; but inconsistent good can never be a match for consistent 
 eviL Alas ! I look in vain for the same wise and vigorous man to 
 sound the word Duty in the ears of this generation." 
 
 England's immortal Shakespeiire, in his play of King Henry 
 VIII, strikes this subject so fearlessly and so aptly that I may well 
 be pardoned by giving a quotation from him : — Reierring to Duty as 
 the only trufe path to success in political life, he makes Cardinal 
 Wolsey speak this from his death-bed. 
 
 (( 
 
 Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition: 
 By that sin fell the angels ; how can man, then. 
 The image of his Maker, hope to win by *t ? 
 Love thyself last : cherish those hearts that hate thee ; 
 Corruption wins not more than honesty. 
 Still in thy right hand carry gentle Peace, 
 To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not. 
 Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's. 
 Thy God's, and Truth's ; then, if thou fall'st, Cromwell I 
 Thou fall'st a blessed martyr." 
 
V 
 
 And in the " Merchant of Venice" he touches the subject of 
 attempting to attain dignity and honor without merit. 
 
 " Who shall go about 
 To cozen fortune, and be honorable. 
 Without the stamp of merit ? let none presume 
 To wear an undeserved dignity. 
 O, that estates, degrees, and offices. 
 Were not derived corruptly, and that dear honor 
 Were purchased by the merit oi the wearer I 
 How many then should cover that stand bare 1 
 ' How many be commanded that command I 
 
 How much low peasantry would there be gleaned, 
 From the true seed of honor I and liow much honor 
 Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times 
 To be new varnished 1" 
 
 Gentlemen, I have heard that in ancient times a frail barque was 
 tossing near the shores of Greece in a terrible tempest. A mariner 
 turi^d toward the foaming sea and prayed thus : 
 
 ** Neptune I thou canst save me if thou wilt ; and if thou wilt thou canst 
 destroy, but live or die, / will tteer my rudder true" 
 
 My concluding words are : Let us, each and all, steer our rudders 
 true. If our principles in politics as in private morality, are founded 
 on the eternal and immutanle laws of equity and right our house will 
 stand tirm and unshaken when the waves of opposition dash against it. 
 And when skies are clear and the success of the objects of our devo- 
 tion is attained ; when sweet desire is fully satisfied and results prove 
 the stability of our ideas, and the justice of our aims, then we shall 
 stand forth before the world, still calm and unassuming in our attitude 
 towards our brethren of all shades of political belief, of all religions' 
 colors and races : and glowing with ever verdant feelings of charity, 
 and love which cannot fail to be recognized and reciprocated by our 
 fellow-men, and approved of at last when politics and ourselves are 
 at rest together in the grave by the great Judge of us alL 
 
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