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TRUE AND Som POLICY

EQUAL mUHTS FOB ALL.

-••-o-

OPEN LETTERS

TCy

DALTON MCCARTHY, Esq., Q.C., MR,

L. G. DESJARDINS,

LATB MP. FOR L'ISLBT.

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QUEBEC:

PBINTJ3D AT THB " MORNING CHRONICLE " OFFICE

1893.

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•TRUE AND SOUND POLICY

EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL.

:'/.

OIPBlSr HiETTEIiS

DAITON McCAETHY, H, Q.O., M.P.

L. O. DESJARrHNS,

LATE si. P. FOR L'ISLET.

"^""-^ii^ «♦-

QUEBEC :

PRINTED AT THE "MORNING CHRONICLK "' OFFICE.

1893.

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MR. DESJARDINS'S LETTERS.

(From the ^hiebcc Momitig Chronicle, May 20th, 1893.)

Mr. L. G. Desjardins, who has been doing such
noble work, of late, for his fellow-countrymen, brings
to-day, his notable series of open letters to Mr.
Dalton McCarthy to a close. Tliese letters, couch-
ed in firm, but gentlemanly language, have attracted
great attention throughout the country. The Mont-
real Gazette and the Toronto Empire have done
us the honor to republish this valuable correspon-
dence. And from many a private source, we have
received warm words of praise about the letters
and the author. Indeed, we are but repeating the
views of more than a score of attentive readers of
the series, when we say that we have been asked
to republish in pamphlet form, this notable and
instructive contribution to the political and social
history of the Dominion. We hope that Mr. Des-
jardins will give his consent, and allow a brochure
to be made of his exhaustive study of I'Vench-
Canada in Canadian politics. Such a work, brief
as it is, would prove a valuable addition to our
literature.

Thus far. three letters have appeared. The fourth
and last of th(' set, we publish in our ci)l\unns, to-
day. Like its i)redecess()rs it is charactcri/ed by
breadth o( view and lofiiness of pur[)ose. Mr. Mc-
Carthy was, in the old da> s, a devoted follower of
Sir John Macdonald. \\v had .ui abidin,<^^ faith in
the statesmanship of his old leader. He and Mr.
Desjardins were fijrhtinj;, for years, on the same
side of politics. Somethini:;; occurred to estran);,'e
Mr. McCarthy. Hut Mr. Desjardins remained true
to his early convictions, and refuseil to change his
politics at the bidding of any one. He is naturally
shocked at Mr. McCarthy's course, but, though he
is severe on him, he has more pity and sorrow in
his heart than malice. His open letters are pittas,
asking the prodigal to return to the fold. Mr. Des-
jardins does not need to be a prophet to foretell
the result of Mr. McCarthy's crusade, Neither side
will accept the erratic member for North Simcoe,
able and brilliant as he undoubtedly is. His hos-
tility to the French and the Roman Catholic Reli-
gion will prevent Mr. Laurier from asking him to
join his band. The Conservatives cannot afford to
take him up, knowing as they do, that his racial
and religious opinions are against him, as a public
man. Then, when he has some sensible views to
offer on the question of tariff reform, he is restrict-

ed from doing anything practical, by his connection
with Imperial FedtTation, which has ideas of its
own on fiscal matters. Indeed. Mr. McCarthy has
turned himself into a Jonah, and mores the pity,
because he is a clever man, a clear-thinking man,
and independiMit enough to do a world of good, if
he only had a mind to.

We ask our readers to read Mr. Desjardins' let-
ter clear through. It is full of information. It is
well expressed. It is patriotic in tone. It is sound
in principle. It puts French-Canadianism on a
proper footing before the community. Itdealswith
th(^ sacrifices which l-rench Canada has made. It
teaches a lesson which all true sons of Canada
must learn and consider.

SERIES Ol- LETTERS

At)|tUKS>.|;D Tl>

DALTON McCarthy, Esq.,

Q. C, M. P., etc., etc.

{From the Oiirht-r Moniiiiif Cln'OHitic.)

FIRST OPKN LETTER.

Dear Sir,

I hope that the cordiality of our friendly relations,
during the two long and important sessions of the
Dominion Parliament I had the honor of a seat in the
House of Commons, and the pleasure of beina; your
colleague, will, in your own opinion, sufficiently war-
rant me to address you this open letter. I have care-
fully read the report of your speech, on the occasion of
the demonstration in your honor at Toronto a few days
ago. Though prepared, by your recent course, to hear
from you the expression of strange views, on questions
of paramount interest to the welfare of our country,
I must frankly admit my surprise at what appear to
have been your earnest remarks that evening. How

you could, gifted as you are, experienced as you must
be, propound such a polioy, based on such principles,
on so erroneous a judgment of the past, on so mistaken
a vie\Y of the present, and so dangorous a conception
of the future roquir-'monts of our country, is, with due
respect to the weight of your opinion, a wonder to me.
How you have deliberately come to the conclusion of
taking such a stand, and asking your countrymen to
support such a political platform, is beyond my com-
prehension.

I am justified in the supposition that after what you
have said about the French-Canadian element, you
cannot possibly be astonished that I deeply resent so
unfounded and so inimical an attack on all that, in
common with the unanimity of my French compatriots,
I hold dear and will always be, in duty bound, ready
to defend.

I trust yoii will kindly bear with me — for I do not
intend to use any harsh language, whatever may be
my feelings — in appealing to your own judgment, to
your own reason, to your own sober second thought,
from your views, as I have read them, to the consider-
ations I propose to ofler in contradiction thereof.

Sir, you began your vigorous onslaught against my
French-Canadian countrymen by an astounding decla-
ration, which would have greatly staggered me, if, for
one single moment, I had been able to suppose that
you had the shadow of a foundation to make it the

(

way you did. In order to avoid any possible error on
the point under review, please allow me to quote your
own words. You are reporti'd as having said : —

" It was all quiet and rialil so lonj^ as I fouaht the
battles of my country as 1 did iaithlully until the year
1887 ; (am I to conelude that you have since discon-
tinued to do .so) ))ut when, in accordance, gentlemen,
with the wishes and desires oliny then leader, Sir John
Macdonald, I announced in the County oT Haldimand
that French-Canadian domination should no longer
rule this country ; when I advocated and endorsed and
supported, with all the humble ability which I had,
the action of the Government in bri)iging to justice
that arch-rebel Kiel ; when I announced that in my
humble judgment the French-Canadian was a spoilt
child, I was not willing to take back these words at
the bidding of these French-Canadians, honestly
believing them to be right."

No words could be plainer. You positively declare
that you were authorized by Sir John Macdonald to
announce to the electors of the county of Haldimand,
and, consequently, through them, to the whole elec-
torate of Canada — " thiil Fienrh-Canad'nn domination
should no longer rule this ronnfrtj.'" That he asked you
to say so to the intelligent and loyal freemen of Haldi-
mand, I readily believe, even if I had not the author-
ity of your solemn assertion that he did so. I also
quite agree that in so saying you were acting " in
accordance with the wishes and desires of your then
leader, Sir John Macdonald." 1 do not wonder at your
words in their true and only reasonable sense, but at

the meaning you attach to them, at the construction
you wanted your audience to put upon them.

Well might Sir John Macdonald have asked you to
affirm that Canada was not to be ruled by French-
Canadian domination. Every French-Canadian, from
the most influential to the humblest in the land, would
have cheerfully asked you to say as much, and is
grateful to the great departed leader for having given
you this patriotic advice. Would to God that you were
still so impressed with the inspiration of his powerful
mind to follow the noble examples which, for many
)'ears, were your guiding star.

Sir, the French-Canadians have never intended, never
aspired to rule Canada from the day which closed a
long and bloody struggle, with equal honor for both
parties in the fight. They have bowed to their new
destiny, and loyally sworn their allegiance to their
new Sovereign, with the hope that if, at last, they had
been defeated, they could henceforth confidently rely
upon the protection of the glorious flag of England,
the justice which the Crown of the British Empire
administers to all its subjects, the beneficent rule of free
institutions, the faithful observance of treaty obliga-
tions, the liberality, the friendship, the respect of their
new countrymen. All they have aspired to, all they
have claimed, all they have desired, was that they
should be allowed to give daily evidences of their
unswerving loyalty to their Sovereign and to their

country, in defending the authority of the Crown, in
upholding its Majesty, in doing their best for its honor
and glory by contributing their fair share of work, of
earnest efforts, of patriotic exertions, for the prosperity
and the national grandeur of this Canada of ours.

I only regret that I was not given the opportunity
of standing side by side with you, on the public plat-
form, in the county of Haldimand, to tell the patriotic
citizens of this fair constituency that Canada was not
to be ruled by French-Canadian domination. And,
added to your convincing argument, and to the eloquent
periods of my golden-tongue friend Montague, ray
humble but patriotic voice, would perhaps have carried
some weight with the electors of Haldimand. 1 know
that my humble services were not required, for Dr.
Montague and yourself were more than equal to the
emergency of the occasion. After a hard fought battle
you have rallied the electorate of Haldimand to the sup-
port of the policy of Sir John Macdonald. You have
wonderfully well accomplished your mission, and Sir
John Macdonald had then every good reason to trust
you.

But, Sir, if it is perfectly true that the French-Cana-
dians do not aspire to rule Canada, they do not relish
the prospect of being crushed, destroyed, annihilated,
denationalized as you seem determined to try and do.
You cannot be surprised if they do not take stock in
such a venture. Past experiences should convince you

Ihat the undertaking, in spite of all your exertions,
■will not prove politically a paying investment.

I must take thf liberty ol'tflling you, in all frankness
and sincerity, that where you have been very unfair to
^^ir John Maodonald, very unjust to his great memory
and to his life-long devotedness and loyalty to a policy
of fair play to all, of peace, of harmony between creeds
and races, was in your attempt to create, in the mind
of your audience, the impression that when he wished
you to tell the eleetors of Haldimand that this country
was no longer to be ruled by Fr« neh-Canadian domi-
nation, he meant that my French-Canadian countrymen
were hereafter to b,' deprived of their legitimate share
of political influence in working out the destinies of
Canada. 1 positively joint issue with you on that
point. From the very bottom of my heart and soul 1
feel sure that Sir John Macdonald never told you any-
thing of the kind, never uttered a word, never mooted
a syllable, which could be so construed by his most
violent opponent, much less by one of his most trusted
personal and political friends. Asa solemn guarantee
that I am right, I have his whole public career, the
deeds of his whole life, his words in and out of Par-
liament. You know as well as I do, — and you ought
to know even much better, — how hard and how long
he had to struggle in Ontario against the charge that
he was the subservient tool of the French-Canadian
domination. He always answered what was the truth,
and nothing but the truth, that he w^as not the sup-

porter of the domination of any raco or creed, but the
loyal public servant of all, the upholder of justice and
fair play, the protector, as far as lay in his power, of
the rights of minorities. For many years you defended
him to the best of your ability, which amounted to a
great deal, for, without indulging in any kind of flat-
tery whatever, — from which I am specially precluded
under present circumstances,—] am animated by a
sufficient feeling of fairness to congratulate you upon
the fact that you are an able man. By what pi- ^css of
reasoning, by what phases of sentiment have you come
to the conclusion that what you have so well and so
eloquently said, during so many years, was all wrong,
and that the leader whom you followed with devotion
and supported with all your might, because you believe
him to be a great statesman, ruling far above national

and creed prejudices and passions, was only a political
trickster, unworthy of your confidence. For, if he was

the kind of man you now so unfairly represiMit him to

have been, you will agree with me that he would not

have deserved the confidence of any honest elector,

much less of an influential public man as you w^ere.

I have other very conclusive evidence that you have
entirely misrepresented Sir John Macdonald.

Fortunately for his fame, for historical truth, for the
future good of Canada, you were not the leading actor on
the stage, during the long and often r^enewed electoral
content in the fair land of the county of Haldiraand,

tfk I , i a

^lOk.

jBwr'«i!Wf»-

Our mutual friend, the eloquent Montague, I remem
ber well, aU'o happened to be around there. Like your
self, he was the trusted supporter of your then leader
If my memory serves me right, he was the standard
bearer during those very glorious days. You were
you claim, his right hand man. Well and good. Grant
t'd you were. Our friend Montague is good-natured
kind-hearted, unpretentious, loyal to the core, true as
steel. I am sure he will not begrudge you your due
share of merit and glory for the great archievements,
in the county of Haldimand, of the party to which you
then belonged with all the might of your soul and the
earnestness of your heart. Nevertheless, he was the
worthy standard-bearer of what you both believed to
be a great national cause. He must have known what
were the real views and sentiments of Sir John Mac-
donald. You cannot possibly pretend that you were
the only mortal w'hom Sir John would trust in a crisis
like that to which you allude in your speech. How
astonished, how amazed, he (Dr. Montague) must have
been in reading the report of your remarks at the
Toropto meeting in your honor, that when, in accord-
ance vjith the vfishcs and desires of his then leader, he was
eloquently and patriotically speaking words of peace,
of harmony, of mutual fair play, of justice, of hostility
to the ruling of Canada by the domination of any par-
ticular race, he was all the while unconsciously play-
ing the artful game of a cunning politician, and not
follo\\ iug the loyal teachings of a true statesman and
a sincere patriot.

But, Sir, our friend Moutague knows better. Happily,
he is alive to aveng^e the memory of his beloved leader,
and to uphold the truth, and magnificently ho performs
that duty. On Saturday night, the 22nd of April, he
was in Montreal, in the great and prosperous metro-
polis of Canada, where creeds and nalionalities are so
kindly leading their way to future development. He
had the honor to address a very intelligent and influ-
ential gathering, hundreds of leading men in all walks
of life, assembled on that evening for the worthy pur-
pose of honoring the memory of the great man you so
long loved and folio w<}d. After your Toronto speech,
it is no surprise to me that you were not there. But
Dr. Montague was. As was properly expected from
him, he took up the gauntlet which you had thrown
at him and at the revered dead leader. The hall where
he spoke still rings with the powerful echo of his
patriotic words, with the indignant denunciation of the
stand you have taken. Please read with me the follow-
ing few lines of his eloquent address : — •

" Referring to the generous reception given him in
entering the room, and when arising to speak, he said
he was not forgetful that in this they sought to express
the feeling of friendship and good neighborship that
existed in Quebec for their sister Province, a consti-
tuency of which he had the honor to represent. He
came from.the Niagara peninsula, which was first tilled
by British loyalists in exile from the United States,
and every foot of which was made sacred by the heroic
deeds of Canada's and Britain's sons, and so he felt at

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home ill the historic Province of Quebec, whose people's
blood was spilt in defence of the institutions we loved,
and whose hearts betit time to Canada's best interests
in the future and lent strength and proi^ress to her
part. (Loud cheers.) Their hearty reception and good
feelings to Ontario found a hearty response in hearts
and homes there. True, they had disturbing spirits
who attempted to stir up discord with the French, a
few wandering minstrels, whose doleful tunes, how-
ever, were simply the pipings of disappointed ambition,
but among the great people of the Western Province
there was no trace, either among orange or green, of
bitterness or jealousy towards their French sister Pro-
vince. There was nothing in the history of the past
or the condition of the present to cause anything of the
kind. True, Quebec spoke a different language, but he
trusted that they were broad enough to sympathize
with Quel)ec's people in their desire to hand down
their beautiful language to their children. Their creeds
were different, but every creed was sacred beneath the
folds of the British flag. Their forefathers had, it was
true, contested the right of Britain to rule in this
country, but he could not forget at the same time that
those same men had afterwards given up their lives in
defence of British homes and institutions, and at a
later period, when the United States invaded our shores
at a time when Britain was engaged in the death
struggle for freedom in Europe, those same men laid
down their lives for their country in repelling the
invasion as bravely as their compatriots in Ontario.
Later on when Confederation was being established
and the scheme w^as taking practical shape, our depart-
ed chieftain found his greatest confederates among the
people of this Province, in a HcGee and a Cartier. In

the years that have passed since then Quebec may
have made mistakes. As the result of demagogism,
passion and prejudices had been aroused, but when
the time ol' trial ('ume the people stood by our chieftain
and gave streni»th to his arm, by which he was enabled
to conduct the all'airs of our country on a scheme
broad enougli to boar the Ijurdt-ii of whatever danger
the future may have had in store."

No wonder that those eloquent words were received
with an outburst of applause. Let every well-wisher
of the future happiness of Canada pray to God that
they shall be n^-echoed throughout the length and
breadth of this wide Dominion, that they shall be re-
peated in every home of the land. May you ponder
over them, and, once more returning to your own
former sell", iinally make up your mind that you are
now pursuing a most dangerous course.

Sir, you can, if you like, exercise your privilege of
changing your political course. You are alive, in good
health, atle to defend yourself You can make your
case. You can travel all over the Dominion, from
Prince Edward Island to British Columbia, to appeal
to the electorate. The people of Canada will pronounce
judgment upoif you, as upon all the other political
leaders. But, Sir, there is a sacred plot of land upon
which you have not the right to trhread the steps of
your unfair march to fame and political prominence.
All the friends of the dead statesman, and even his
opponents, will stand up to protect it. You know

wWe is the sacred plot of land. YoU must remem W
that, on the day when our beloved leader was laid to
his eternal rest, bi'arin^ the brunt of the heat of the
day, us we had so often done on tlie political field of
battle, we marched tog-ether to the bnrying place. \Ve
were both deeply moved. And when we took leave
of his mortal remains, you were sure, as I was, that
Canada had lost one of its noblest sons, its g-reatest
statesman, a loyal and devoted servant. When I shook
hands with you after the exchange of our feelings of
regret and sorrow, it could not have entered into my
mind that less than two years after, you would stand
upon a public platform in the prosperous city of
Toronto, which always so loyally supported him,
addressing thousands still growing enthusiastic at the
mere mention of his name, and telling them what you
wanted them to believe of Sir John Macdonald's
course, after the words I have quoted from your speech
as reported.

Sir, I see by the report of your speech, at Toronto,
that you somewhat complained of the length of the
open letter which my good friend, Mr. Mackintosh,
has considered it his duty to address to you. I will
take heed of the advice, and will not tresspass too much
upon your valuable time. But you will, no doubt,
pardon me if I call again your attention to some other
observations of mine, in a fair spirit of criticism, of
several points of your speech, on that celebrated occa-
sion of your new departure. Be sure that I will only do

■■■ I

19
^0 with th. ho,„.„fs„eceoa,>.,..„.,i.„e, from y„u. ,„M

'"'■ '•^""* ■" " "«' ' ".y Fn...eh.(.a„..dia„ iH[

oou..t,v„.,.,. y . ,.„v,. ,o 1„„, i,.d„oe,l mo to b.-lieve
that your mtolli.eace wa» forever op..,.,.<, o.Uv o

a..d the r...,po„.„hility of a public man. that I am still

'o what I have to »yi„ favor of my kinsmen.
Please believe me, with personal regard,

Vonrs very sineereh-

L. Q. Desjardins,

Late M.P. for LTslet.

Quebec, April 28, 1893.

SECOND OPEN LETTER.

Deau Sir,

I prosume that the tone of my first opou letter to
you was courteovis enou«rh not to displiuiso you, nor
hurt your Icclings, howovor much you may disapprove
of my arguuu^nts and my sentiments. I can assure you
thai I do not write i'or the mere purpose ol' annoying
you, hut under the impulse of a deep sense of duty.
The only favor 1 ask from you, which our former, and
I hope I may yet add our present personal friendship
and personal regard mak ; me crave for, is that you
should have the kindness to read my humble but earnest
remarks with the same spirit of fairness and patriotic
aspiration with which I write them. You have taken
the liberty of making a most unjustifiable attaek upon
my French-Canadian countrymen. I have no doubt
that you are chivalrous enough not to deny me the
liberty, mu h IciS the undoubted right, to come to their
rescue, to publicly espouse their cause, to plead their
case with devotion, if not with ability, to meet your
barges, which, with the strongest conviction the
soul of an honest man can be possessed of, 1 sincerely
believe to be unfounded and uncalled for.

Another point I also wish to make very clear. I can
' ciuilly assure you that I do not write as a party man,
nor with the inspiration of party feeling and ambition.

lean

lan,

lion.

Though, as T oponly said in Ottawa, only a few days
ago, 1 was always a strong party man, as long as I
was in active political lil'e, I havo likewiso always
been sulliciently ind«'pend«Mit to do my duty as a public
man to the best oi" my ability, according to the dictates
of my conscience, and to what I considered for the
good of my country. But, happily, I am now out of
active political life, if! was not, I would not write
you through the press. I would not hesitate to meet
you on the public platform to defend my French-Cana-
dian countrymen against your attacks, if you would
condest'end to discuss such an important publico (|ucs-
tion with so humble an individual as myself. If 1
had still the honor of being a member of the Parliament
of Canada, 1 would challenge you on the floor of the
House of Commons to support your charges with rea-
sonable evidence, and I would surely disprove them
with undeniable facts, if not with the eloquence you
could put forth, and that the subject under review
would certainly deserve.

But I am no longer a public man, and you must
remember that only a few weeks ago, in the lobby of
the House of Commons in Ottawa, you w^ere kind
enough to tell me that you regretted my withdrawal
from public life. I felt, and still feel, sure of the sin-
cerity of your expression of sorrow, though I am fully
aware how little the country is losing by my absence
from Parliament. But, if I have not now the great
honor of being one of the representatives of the people
of Canada, I glory to have still, and for as long as I

shall live, the greater honor of being a loj^al British
subject, though a F'rench-Canadian born, and one of
that race you think and nay should disappear from the
fi^ce of the earth without further delay, i'ou have
solemnly pledged your word to the thousands who
listened to you at the Toronto meeting, on the evening
of the 12th ult., that henceforth you were to devote
your ability, which is great, your energy, which is pro-
portionate to your talents, to bring about, as soon as
possible, the national demise of my French-Canadian
countrymen.

Sir, please allow me to repeat with the greatest pride
that I am a loyal British subject. Though born a
French-Canadian, let me tell you that I have been
brought up by humble but honest and loyal parents.
From my early youth, I have been taught by them,
and by the members of the Roman Catholic clergy who
educated me, to be always true, under all possible cir-
cumstances, to my word and to my solemn oath. I
claim the merit of having so far followed their teachings,
and I am more than ever determined to do so until my
last breath. In four different capacities, I have several
times taken the oath of allegiance to Her Most Gracious
Majesty Queen Victoria, the Sovereign of the British
Empire, and, consequently, of this great Dominion. I
hav^e sworn to be the faithful subject of my Sovereign
as a citizen of Canada, as a member of Parliament, as a
public ofhcer, and also as a volunteer officer, for I am
proud to inform you that I have been a member of our
militia ever since 18G4, first as a full private, subse-

quently as a non-commissioned and next as a commis-
sioned officer, and that since 1884 I have the great
honor to be the Lt -Colonel in command of one of the
oldest and most efficient battalions of the Canadian
force.

Many times bound by my solemn oath, in those four
different capacities, I will tell you plainly that I would
be deeply insulted if any one was to cast the shadow
of a doubt on the sincerity of my loyalty to Her Majesty,
to British institutions, to my country, meaninq- not
only Canada, but the whole Empire of which I am one
of the humblest, but, as I claim the right, and as I am
in duty bound to be, one of the truest sons.

I strongly felt it important to preface my further
criticism of your Toronto speech with those remarks,
in order to assert still more my right as a freeman, as
a citizen of Canada, and as a loyal British subject, to
protect, to the best of my ability and energy, my French-
Canadian countrymen against the undeserved and cruel
blow you are aiming at them with the solemnly avow^ed
purpose of denationalizing them, and denying them
their sacred and vested rights as loyal subjects of their
beloved Sovereign.

Sir, I have another reason which, I feel sure, fully
justifies me to address you as I do. I have been in
active political life for over twenty years, either as a
journalist or as a representative of the people of Canada.
I sat for nearly ten years in the Quebec Legislative
Assembly, and for two years in the House of Commons
in Ottawa. I often spoke in the debates of these two

Houses and on the public platform. I claim the merit
of having invariably, even under the most trying cir-
cumstances, always followed the same course for equal
justice to all, always spoken the same loyal language,
whether my audience was a French one, an English, a
Scotch, or an Irish one. That very fact, the truth of
which could be proved by the official report of my
words, and all my hearers on all ocasions — and several
times I had the great honor to count you amongstthem —
undoubtedly gives mc an additional right to criticize
your Toronto speech in the courteous, but energetic,
way I am doing.

Referring to the famous question of the Jesuit Estate
Act, you are reported to have said :

" And I may tell you that, with regard to that Jesuit
Estate Act, the Conservative party at lirst had by no
means come to a certain definite conclusion. My voice
was raised for the disallowance of an Act which was a
disgrace to a British constitution, and though I was
not able to prevail upon my then leader to adopt that
course, it was not because fSir John Macdonald did not
equally agree with me, but because he had been con-
trolled for some time before and for some short time
afterwards by the French-Canadian influence, which,
if I live, gentlemen, it is my purpose shall find its end
in the history of this country."

Please allow me, Sir, to ask you if it is possibly true
that you have uttered the above quoted sentence, and
that before an intelligent audience of thousands of the
free electors of Toronto ? I will frankly tell you that
I can scarcely believe it, if you do not positively answer

true
f; and
)fthe

that
iswer

me that, as a matter of fact, you have really done so. But

I have just before me your A-ery carefully reported

speech, and until I hear from you, I must take it for

granted that you have pronounced the following words :

" And though I was not able to prevail upon my
then leader to adopt that course (the disallowance of
the Jesuit Estate Act), it was not because Sir John
Macdonald did not agree with me, but because he had
been controlled for some time before and ior some short
time afterwards bv the French-Canadian influence,
which, if I live, gentlemen, it is my purpose shall find
its end in the history of this country."

So, you have positively taken your stand, and the
first plank of your new political platform /V; to put an
end to French-Canadian influence in the his/nri/ nf this
country. My French-Canadian countrymen will ut least
be grateful to you for one thing, the frankness of the
avowal of your cruel design. A well-known enemy is
less dangerous than a concealed one.

Sir, it is almost incredible that you can have uttered
such words. I will speak my mind openly, and tell
you that such utterances are unworthy of a Christian,
unworthy of a British subject, unvv'orthy of a statesman,
unworthy of a man.

I say they are unworthy of a Christian, and why ?
Sir, you would only realize your purpose, by succeeding
in bringing about the total extinction of the million
and a half French-Canadians who live happy and
hopeful in Canada, under the protection of England and
its free institutions. This would be, I solemnly repeat,

unworthy of a Christian, and would prove that the
world would be retracing its steps to the barbarous
times of old.

The French-Canadians exist, as all other nationalities
do, by the will of the Almighty. If Providence had
so wished, there would never have been any French-
Canadians at all. But the Divine Will has decided
otherwise, and I ask all the Christians of Canada, and
even of the whole world, of whatever denominations
they may be, if it is very Christian-like for a public
man, who aspires to rule his country, to proclaim that
his political platform will have for its primary object
the national and natural death of a million and a half
of his countrymen. For it amounts to nothing- less, if
your utterances have any meaning.

Sir, those words of yours, above quoted, are unworthy
of a British subj(>ct. What is the greatest pride of a
true Englishman ? Is it not that England is the classic
land of Ireedom. Is it not that under Great Britain's
institutions, every man, whether he be Scotch, Irish,
German, Italian, French, or Indian born, is free and
protected by the Majesty and the justice of the Crown,
the moment he has taken the oath of allegiance, on
condition that he be loyal, true, faithful, law-abiding.
In the name of what barbarous Right, of what cruel
principles, would you make an exception, against the
French-Canadians, to such a glorious general rule all
over the great and mighty British Empire.

Your words are unworthy of a statesman, because
any one deserving that name would have indignantly

ruel

Ithe

all

ise
Lly

scorned at the mere proposal to utter them, and would
have blushed to pronounce them before an audience ot*
British subjects and freemen.

The utterance I have quoted from your speech is
moreover unworthy of a man, and why ? Because,
without any knowledge whatever of Christian morals,
without the obligation of being a good and loyal Britisih
subject, without the intelligence of a statesman, human
feeling alone should have stopped those words upon
your lips, and even slaughtered them in your throat,
if they had by surprise entered your mind.

Sir, a man is a man, of whatever race he may be by
the accident of birth, a fact for which surely he is not
to be held responsible and tyrannized. So say Christian
morals and teachings. \Yill you pretend to tell me
that because they are French-Canadian born, my
compatriots have no right to their fair share of the gifts
of a generous Divine Providi^Mice, of the warmth and
the light of the sun that daily shines over their heads,
of the air they breathe, of the space in w^hich they move,
of the varied resources of the earth and their golden
fruits, of the enjoyments of the heart and of the intel-
ligence, of the happiness derived from human freedom
in all its various and glorious forms? They have, as
human beings, the right to that fair share of the advan-
tages of God's creation, and I know of no other man
but you, in this brond Dominion, who would deny it to
them.

Do not complain that I exaggerate the meaning of
your words. They are plain, and cannot passibly be

misv.. iistrued. The purpose you haA'epleclj^ed yourself
to, is, if you live, to put an ond to French-Canadian
influence in the history of this country. Let me tell
you, in all sincerity, that if Providence blesses you with
some more years of earthly life, you could employ them
to a fur better object. But, of course, like any one else,
you are free to exercise your moral liberty of choosing
between right and wrong-. It is evident that you have
finally, after several years of hesitation, made up your
mind to side with injustice and wroni?.

You have solemnly made known the objective point
of your further exertions. "Would you kindly give me
some information about the ways and means you intend
employing to reach the end you have in view. It seems
to me that you are undertaking a rather difficult task,
with very little prospect of success. To put an end to
all liiither French-Canadian influence in the history of
this country, bear it well in mind, you must do nothing
less than annihilate the million and a half of your
French-Canadian countrymen. Having fully considered
this, by no means pleasant, question, I can see but two
practical ways of working out 3'our purpose. First, a
general slaughter of the French-Canadians by force of
arms ; second, if, per chance, you were kind enough to
come to the sympathetic conclusion not to go to such
an extreme, the passing of a law, by the Dominion
Parliament, approved of by the Imperial Parliament,
depriving the French-Canadians of all their religious,
civil and political rights, making so many slaves of
them all, men,, women, children, and organizing a

sufficient military force to keep them well bound to
their tyrannical chains. You will never, were you to
live two centuries more, fulfil your purpose, if you do
not do one or the other of the above two things. Outside
of those two resources of success, in your rather wild
venture, you are doomed to a signal failure. You can
only, as a final result, ruin yourself politically, after
bringing untold misery upon your country. For, as
long as there is left a French-Canadian free in the land,
with the right to worship his God as he pleases, to
work, to own property, to study, to develop his intel-
lectual and moral faculties, to think, to writ \ to speak,
to vote, to sit m Parliament, to shoulder his rifle for the
defence of his Sovereign and his country, French-
Canadian influence will not be at an end in this great
Dominion.

Suppose, for one moment, that you were to try the
first practical way of putting an end to French-
Canadian influence, how would you proceed ? You
might take command of the army, and starting on your
new errand, you might, alter having gently done away
with the several thousands of French-Canadians in
Ontario, march down to the Province of Quebec to
commence your slaughtering process with the certainty,
of course, that the million and a quarter of my French-
Canadian countrymen, here, would be grateful to you
for such an honor, and would benevolently lay down
their heads on the block, as so many tender sheep.
Please tell me how many recruits would cheerfully
enlist, in Ontario, to follow you in that crusade. Don't

you think that yon would run the risk of being left
entirely alone to compose all your army, general and
full privates, Lt.-Colonel O'Brien himself refusing to
be false to his oath as a volunteer officer in the Domi-
nion of Canada. Grant me that you had better give up
all notions of the kind.

Next, what about the only second practical way of
solving the question to which final settlement you
want to employ the rest of your worthy life. At the
next session of the Dominion Parliament, will you
propose such a law as the one I have mentioned, a
moment ago, as the only other practical means of put-
ting completely an end to Freni'h-Canadian intiuence
in this country V If you would dare do so, how many
members of the House of Commons and of the Senate
would vote for your very liberal bill ? Are you sure
you would get my friend, Li. -Colonel ()' Brien, to second
your motion only to introduce the bill. And, if at the
next general elections, you were to ask the freemen of
Canada to express their opinion upon such a bill, how
many would pronounce in favor of it ? Let me answer
the question, and afiirm positively that from Prince
Edward Island to British Columbia, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, not one sane man would.

You had much better conclude with me that you are
undertaking an altogether impossible task. Take my
friendly advice, and give it up at once. You can
employ your time and your undoubted talents in a
much more prolitable, patriotic, and honorable way.

You will pardon me for having indulged in a little

jocular digression. The fact is that, considered from th^
point of view of the impossibility of it, execution, your
plan of campaign would look vory ludicrous, if such
earful consequences were not certainly to follow the
least serious attempt to carry it out.

riuase b(>lieve me, with personal regard,

Yours very sincerely,

Quebec, May 4, 1893.

L. G. Desjardins,
Late M.P. for LTslet.

THIRD OPEN LETTER.

Dear ?>ir,

You arc reportt'd to have said to the Toronto moet-
ing that gTOi'ted you, the following sontenco :

" But I am not going- to tolerato the perpetuation of
the discords and the unhappy divisions which have
been caused in the Province of Quebec by the unfor-
tunate system which, according to my reading of his-
tory, has been pursued by them ever since the Canadas
were united in 1841."

When I lirst read those words of yours, T paused to
wonder how fa^* a man's mind can be swayed, out of
all couimon sense and reason, by prejudice. Your
reading of history is evidently a very blinded one.
What can you possibly mean when you speak of the
" discords and the unhappy divisions " that have existed
in the Province of Quebec ever since 1841. I do not
know of any such things. My humble way of reading
history is the very reverse of yours. To form a sound
opinion on the matter, I have not only, like yourself,
the resources of historical information, but I have more-
over the personal knowledge of what has taken place
in this Province during the greater part of the half
century you refer to.

In contradiction of your assertion, I positively affirm
that ever since the Union of the Canadas in 1841, no

8ft

country on oarth has been blessed with more harmony,
peace, good will and kindn«?ss of feeling than the Pro-
vi:ioe of Quebec. When responsible ffoverninent was
granted us by the mother country, tin* peopl*^ ol' Lower
Canada, of I'onner days, settled down with loyalty and
good hiith to the practise orsell-govenunent. ()1 course,
there were diflerences of opinion. At times there was
considerable political activity. J*ublic (piestioiis were
discussed. The pt'o[)le met to consider matters of
general interest. They spokt* freely ; they voted like-
wise. \n doing all this, they were surely acting within
their constitutional rights. Ihit, all the wliil«\ «|uiet,
order, respect of law an<l others' opinions pri'vuilcd.
Men of dilferent creeds and races joined hands to work
for the good and the prosperity of their common
country. A great deal has been accomplished ; much
more will yet be done in due course of time.

We have had no racial quarrel, no religious strife.
The French-Canadian majority has always been just,
fair and generous towards the English-speaking minor-
ity in this Province. Very often constituencies almost
entirely French and Roman Catholic have elected
English-speaking and Protestant members of Par-
liament, and never had any reason to regret having
done so.

You had better come down to Quebec and witness
for yourself how cordial, how kind are the daily rela-
tions of all the members of our mixed community. You
will see no sign whatever of discords and unhappy
3

divisions. On mutters of puMir policy they ii'^n'o to
<lil["»*r. You are not the only man in Canada tlia< cau
<laiin tho riafht to think for hitnsolf, to speak his mind,
to vvrilo his viovvs, to vote aicMndinuf to his honost con-
victions. Wo do lh»> saun' down hore. lUit, vvIumi I
hav<» thonijhi. spokon, vvritttMi and voted, the way 1
< (msider hest lor my (jonnlry. I do not follow your very
bad example, and threattni my neii^hhour with the loss
of his legitimate political inllnence, because he thinks,
speaks, writes and votes dilFerently.

Sir, I am the more surprised at your wholesale
denunciation of the political course of my French-
Canadian countrymen sinct; the Union of the Canadas,
in 1841, that you are surely one of the last men from
■whom it could possibly have been expected. I will
take the li})erty to refresh your memory on several
important points. Perhaps will you then be a more
reliable reader of historical events.

As you know, lor the last half century, evei since the
granting of responsible government to Canada, the
French-Canadians have been divided between the two
great political parties. If I am not mistaken, and if I
read history with some attention, it seems to me that
the same political phenomenon has been seen every-
where, in every country blessed with free institutions,
in Ontario, in all the Provinces of the Dominion, in
England, in all the self-governing British Colonies, in
France, in the United States, in short all the w^orld
over. I have myself sided, as you well know, with the
Conservative party. As a rule that party has repre-

sont»>(l tho majority of tho FnMioh-Canaditiiis for tht^
last fifty yoars. On tho oth(»r hand, the I n»ral party
has always ralli«><l the support ofan infliifntial miiif)rity.
Ill rnakin';' thi'ir choice between the8i» two p irtios, uiid
tlie tlillereiit platforms tht'ir leaders sulnnitteil to the
approval of the electorate, my Freneh-raiiiuliau com-
j)atriots only exercised an iindouhtcd ('onstitiitional
privilege which no one has the rii^ht to deny thi'ni,
much less to threaten them, as you have done, with
iiothiiiir less than political disfranchisement for havini^
used that privilege the way they thought propi-r. You
are at liberty to think, if you like, that under some
given circumstances they might have acted otherwise.
But, if you have this liberty, have they not that of
believing that, all things considered, their course was
the better. If, as a freeman, I claim the right to cri
ticizvi my neighbor's action with regard to public
matters, how can I challenge his right to criticize mine ?

I have no doubt that long ago you must have studied
and learned — many study and never learn— the fun-
damental principles of human freedom. You aspire to
the honorable rank of a political philosopher. I am not
over pretentious. I may not always be able to have a
fair conception of the wide range of your thoughts.
But I have sufficient notions of philosophy to know
that the liberty of a freeman is nei^essarily limited by
that of another freeman. Without that limitation, there
would be no human freedom on earth. Nations would
be governed by tyrannical instincts and fanaticism.

. Il-f'

Misery would reign supreme instead of happiness and
hope.

Surely you are the last man that should reprobate
the political course i'ollovved by the French-Canadians
ever since 1841, i'or the very good reason that just as
much as any of them vou are responsible for it. You
are not only a very unreliable reader of history, but you
soon forget all about it. You are several years above
fifty. You are my senior by thirteen years. You have
commerced very young to take an active part in the
political struggles of your country. Your rise was
rapid and promised much. You were soon looked at
as one of the leading men of the future. Twice an
unsuccessful candidate in 1872 and 1874, you were
elected to the Houf^e of Commons in 1876. You have
at once taken a prominent position in Parliament, for
which you were very well qualified by your training
during many years of valuable services to your party.
So that, to a high degree, you are responsible for the
political course of the Conservativ^e party. The majority
of the French-Canadians has always supported the
policy of that party. Your speeches, your Parliament-
ary eloquence, your influence had weight with many
of them, and induced them to follow what they then
considered your good example.

If, as you pretend and say it is your firm purpose to
accomplish, the French-Canadians are to be practically
disfi-anchised by the total destruction of all their
influence, on account of the political course Lhe majority
of them ha« followed according to your often repeated

less and

probate

iiaclians

just as

it. You

but you

3 above

[)U have

t in the

ise was

oked at

vice au

)U were

)U have

ent, for

aiuing

party.

■or the

ajority

ed the

iment-

raany

y then

)ose to
tically

their
bjority

eated

advice, what shall be done with yourself? If they are
guilty, you are still more so, because you are now
forced to acknowledge that you were one of the prin-
cipal charmers thai deceived them. If they deserve
punishment, you surely merit the severest chastise-
ment an indig'uant public opinion can inflict upon a
political leader.

Do you not perceive how wrong, how absurd it is
for you to tell my Fn^nch-Canadian countrymen that
they must be forever deprived of the least particle of
influence in the history of this country, because for
years and years they have believed in you, they have
had faith in your political sairacity, in the soundness
of your views, in the logic of your arguments, in the
patriotism of your words and deeds. For do not be
mistaken, it amounts to nothing lesc. In ray humble
opinion, formed according to the dictates of common
sense, if 3'ou have so well succeeded in deceiving my
French-Canadian compatriots, they are not to be
cruelly dealt with, but rather pitied for having been
the victims of their own loyalty and their misplaced
confideui e in unworthy schemers.

Now that he is gone to his eternal rest, that his voice
is no longi^r heard in Parliaui Mit and re-echoed through-
out this broad Dominion, you most unfiiirly reproach
Sir John Macdonald with having been unduly con-
trolled by French-Canadian influiMice, forgetting that
for the last twenty-live yiwrs you have supported him
with all your might in the course he followed, accord-
ing to my compatriots' dictation, as you now so incre*

ir;

dibly pretend. If he was reallj^ guilty of the crime
you consider so atrocious, do you not think that you
carry a largo share of the deadly weight of his guilt.
Were you not, for many years, an influential and very
inti'lligent party to the dark conspiracy to sacrifice
public good to the truckling" of the illegitimate French-
Canadian domination AVere you not wilfully deceiving
the people of Ontario when you so ofr.en put forth all
the strength and warmth of your eloquence to rally
them to the support of the policy of Sir John Mac-
donald, whom you i ow charge with having been but
the subservient slave of my French-Car adian country-
men, sacrificing all the best interests of the Dominion
to their exij^encies, to their prejudices, and to what
you call their reactionary ideas.

Will you allow me to tell you why you no longer
approve of Sir John Macdonald's course ? It is merely
becaus.' he was guided by true statesmanship, and that,
unfortunately, for some time past your mind has been
overpowered by prejudice. Statesmanship and fana-
ticism inspire political leaders very differently. Outside
of all party considerations. Sir John Macdonald saw
that only two courses were opened to him in his
responsible position of one of the political leaders of
Canada. As a statesman — and you know just as well
as I do that he was one of the greatest of this century
the world over — he considered that his duty was to
scorn the teachings of fanaticism and to listen to the
inspiration of bro.id national sentiments and aspirations.
Surely you will not deny rae nor any one else, the

liberty, as a IV .>oinan, to think and say that he was
right and you are wrong. I have no doubt that you
will grant me that he had more experience than you
had, that his political genius was as great as yours —
be it said without disparagement of the amount a
generous Providence has allotted to you —that his judg-
ment of the wants of the future of the country, that his
ability in the art of government were as lar reaching
as yours were and are now. And after your two great
minds, his and yours, have b^'cn pondering on the best
course to follow, you now say that he should have
become a fanatic He by far preferred to remain a real
statesman to the last. Now that the people of Canada,
who have greatly benehtted by the sagacious and
patriotic course so magnanimously taken and so per-
se veringly followed by Sir John Macdonald, can more
properly appreciate how important it was for the
future of our glorious Dominion that your present views
were not acted upon, they can better judge by the con-
sequences which would have followed the adoption of
such a policy as you recommiMid, had it heen carried
out by the responsil)le advisers of the Crown and by
Parliament, compared to those they have witnessed
with satisfaction and enjoyed with delight.

How <'an you not foresee that your new course is
fraught with the greatest dangers. What would be its
inevitable result if it was to meet the approval of
many ? Any one who has read something of the history
of the world — and I suppose you have— can very easily
see Canada would have to go through the ordeal of
years of religious, national and political strife. Creed

would be raised against creed, race against race. For
so many years, the prosperity and development of the
country would be seriously checked, its energy ham-
pered, its happiness destroyed, and very likely, at last,
the great union of the Provinces would prove a failure.

Thank Gotl, so far the profound sense of duty, the
political sagacity, the sound judgment, the wisdom,
thi^ prestige of a great statesman, the spirit of justice
and [air play, the respect of constitutional rights, which
aniinaled the Parliament of Canada, the intelligence and
l)atriotism of our free people, have av'^erted the evils
which your bad advice, if followed, would bring upon
our dear <*ouniry. Happily true statesmanship has
prevailed. After having enjoyed the proud satisfaction
of the most solemn approval of his course by Parlia-
ment and by the ]>eople of Canada, Sir John Macdonald
had, moreover, bi^fore the close of his public career and
his farewell to his countrymen, of all creeds and races,
whom he had so loved and so patriotically served to
his last l)reath, the delight of witnessing peace, har-
mony, contentment and hopefulness all over the land
where he has left so many monuments of the powers
of his mind, of the devotion of his heart, of the earnest-
ness of his whole soul for the good of his country.

That French-Canadian influence, ever since 1841,
has been duly considered, not only by Sir John Mac-
donald, but also by almost the unanimity of the political
leaders of Canada, was only fair and just. How you
can reasonably object to it, I would not be able to
understand, if you had not kindly condescended to tell

the people of the Dominion that hereafter your purpose
will be to put an eud to all kind of French-Canadian
influence in the history of this country.

But, Sir, when you aiKrm that Sir John Macdonald
was unduly controlled by the French-Canadian in-
fluence, you are once more very unfair to our departed
leader, and to my French compatriots. In the discussion
and consideration of public questions, my French-
Canadian countrymen had the right to their legitimate
share of political influence. They have had it, and no
more. It is very narrow-minded on your part to find
fault with it. Moreover, your contention that Sir John
Macdonald was unduly controlled by French-Canadian
influence and, conf^oquently, coerced to take a course
the very reverse of that which he really believed best
for the good of the country of which he was the lead-
ing statesman, is altogether without foundation and
an outrage to the memory of the great patriot we so
long admired, but whom you have evidently ceased to
respect, since you pass such judgments upon the motives
which guided him.

I feel confident that the many thousand electors who
will read this letter, irrespective of creed and racial
consideration, will approve of the remarks I have just
made. Let every well wisher of the great future of
this wide Dominion rejoice ar the glorious fact that the
good sense and the sound patriotism of our people,
throughout the length and breadth of Canada, have so
far triumphed over prejudice and misguided personal
ambition, and have spared to our country the misery

its most devoted and ablest servant so strongly always
prophesied would be the awful result of the course you
now advise.

After your remarks at Toronto, I would have been
recreant to my duty, if I had not proved that your
charges against Sir John Macdonald, that he was
dominated bv undue French-Canadian influence, and
against my compatriots, for having acted as you said
they did, were without the slightest shadow of reason-
able evidence, and only based upon the prejudices which
evidently have swayed your mind for sometime past.

Let me appeal once more to your calmer reason, on-
lightened by the events of the last few years, to the
natural and generous impulse of your heart. Let me
ask you, for our country's sake, for its future happiness
and grandeur, to reconsider the decision you have un-
fortunately arrived at, to follow a more patriotic course,
and to cheerfully join hands with all the friends and
lovers of freedom, irrespective of creed or race, and of
party interests, to work out the great destinies which
will be the glorious lot of this Dominion, if w^e are all
true to our common country, to ourselves, and to our
duties as freemen, as loyal British subjects !

One or two other ppints of your Toronto speech, it is
my bounded duty to criticize next week, and I will
bring those open letters to a close.

Please believe me, with personal regard,

Yours very sincerely,

L. G. Desjardins,

Late M. P. for L'Islet.
Quebec, May 10, 1893.

"" ■'? . " jj

FOURTH OPEN LETTER.

Dear :^ir,

I see by the report of your speech, that in a moment
of enthusiasm, which is easily understood, you elo-
quently pointed to the words : " Equal Rights for All,"
which occupied a prominent place in the decorations of
the crowded hall where you addressed a very intel-
ligent and patriotic audience, such as always meet in
the prosperous city of Toronto to hear public questions
discussed, and that you very properly exclaimed :

" But, Sir, the issue to which I desire to draw your
attention is that wiiich that motto brings to my mind."

I am sure you carried the meeting by this clever
appeal to the sense of justice of all those who were
attentively listening to you. I have no doubt you were
warmly applauded, as you would be anywhere in
Canada, even in the remotest part of this Province of
Quebec, of which you think so little.

If you are sincere, and if " Equal Rights for AH" is
really the great issue you wish the electorate of the
Dominion to pronounce upon, you will receive the
unanimous support of my French-Canadian country-
men, on the only condition that they will enjoy the
advantages to be derived from the sound principle you
say should govern our country. But, Sir, do not wonder
that before throwing their lot with you, they will ask

:ii:

you to be kind enough to explain what you mean by
the motto you pointed at. Do you not consider that,
after your solemn pledge that, if you live, your purpose
will he to put forever an end to French-Canadian
influence in the history of this country, your sentence,
above quoted, is rather strang'e reading ? What a
splendid application of the principle you promised your
audience to battle for, you are making" in striving, to
the best of your admitted ability, to practically disfran-
chise a million and a half of your countrymen, one-
third of the loyal population of this Dominion. If you
were to achieve such a success, in 3'our new crusade,
would you be able to congratulate yourself upon the
triumph of " Equal liights for All," as the result of
your patriotic labors ?

Sir, let me tell you that the French-Canadians are,
have always been in th(» past, and will be in the future,
amongst the staunchest supporters of a true and honest
policy of " Equal Rights." They know that, as Chris-
tians, as freemen, and as British subjects, it is their
bounden and sacred duty to uphold such a policy, in
obedience to moral law, as well as to the inspiration of
their unswerving loyalty to their Sovereign and to
their country. What they have sworn to do unio others,
they have the right to claim should be done unto them.
You are, so far, the only politician of an)'" standing in
this wide Dominion, who has solemnly taken the re-
sponsibility of denying them that undoubted right.
They confidently hope, more for the country's good at
large, than for their own sake, that you will be the

first and last, and that until j'ou reach the day which
wilLclose your earthly career.'fyou will ho ^thc only
man living, under the protection ol' British laws and
freedom, for the very inglorious purpose of depriving
a million and a half of the most loyal suhjects ol' our
Gracious Queen ol'all their constitutional privileges.

Please also allow me to quoti; I'rom your speech, the

following sentence :

'' Now, I have stated luslbre, and I repeat here to-
night, thiit no one imagines a more insane project than
to start a young country, a great country, as we hope,
this yet will be, on the basis ol'continuing two sei)arate
languages, and consequently two separate nationaHlies."

Previous to that outburst of your indignation at the

project you gently consider as an insane one, you are

also reported to have said, referring to a debate in the

House of Commons on the North-West policy of the

Government :

" I wound up my speech by saying it was a danger
to Confederation, the attempt of the French-Canadian
people to perpetuate their nationality and divide the
people into two separate and distinct bodies."

Sir, it seems to me you have been hitting rather high
by these sentences, for if there is any insanity in the
fact of the existence in Canada of two separate nation-
alities under the same constitution and the same
Sovereign power, Providence is alone responsible for
it, and not. likely to beg your pardon for what you
evidently consider a serious offenee. When the long
struggle of England and France for supremacy in this

! t

North-Amorican CoiitiruMit closed by tho linal triumph
of the former, when Wolfo and Montcalm both shed
thoir blood for the honor of their respective country,
you ought to know that there were some sixty
thousand French-Canadians settled on the virgin soil
of Caiuida. The giorious Hag of England was hoisted
al (Quebec. It h;is ever since protected them and the
succeeding generations of their kin. Their natural
right to live, to till the soil, to be free and happy, was
recognized and respected by their new Rulers. They
were human. They loved. They married. Their
homes, where every day they ])rayed to God in l^rench
lor the' safety, the honor, the glory of their new Sov-
ereign, were blessed with many children whom they
brouiiht up as so many loyal sons of the British P]mpire.
They rapidly increased in number. Such was the
start of this young, of this great country, on the basis
of two separate languages, and consequently tw^o
separate nationalities. How would you have prevented
it, if you had then lived, with the over generous and
liberal notion of the policy of Equal Rights you are
now recommending, I would like very much to know,
and it is for you to say. Would you have at once torn
to pieces the solemn treaty of peace between England
and France ? Would you have buried, alive or dead,
the sixty thousand F'rench-Canadians who saw with
grief the flag of their ancient Mother Country going
back over the ocean never to return, but who manly
and honestly pledged themselves to be loyal to that of
Great Britain ? Would you have trampled under loot

ll!

all their roligious, civil iuul political rights? Would
you have taken over their property, destroyed their
sweet homi,.», chased away the men from the tender
embrace of their wives and children, desolated the huid
ol" their birth, and written in the history of Great
Britain the dark paijes of the destruction ol' a gallant
race, vantjuished, but always worthy of I lie respe«-t of
the victors, of the admiration of the civilized world?
If I may judge by your pn^sent views and feelings,
such would have been your \ urpose, for no other course
would have been opened to you to previuit the per-
petuation of two separate languages and two separate
nationalities in Canada.

Happily, then and ever since, there were in the Par-
liament of free England statesmen more liberal, whoso
mind was capable of a more logical conception of equal
riffhts than vours. Thev gradually increased the consti-
tutional privileges of the French-Canadians, so much
so that, in 1841, my compatriots were granted com-
plete self-government as enjoyed by British subjects.
Canadian statesmen have since followed the noble
example given them by the leaders of the Imperial
Parliament. So it is that duality of language and
nationality has been perpetuated in this young country,
which, please believe me, is only the greater and the
more glorious by the fact that under the jrgis of its
free institutions, men of diflferent races and creeds can
live happy and prosperous, rivaling only in their
patriotic exertions for its oreatness, and in their loyalty

to the authority of tho Crown thoy havo all Kwoni to
(lelciul.

But, Sir, will you ploaso kindly I'ollow mo in a short
jt'trospect ol th« history ol tlio British Euipiro, and
])(Mhaps will you com*', iiko.niyscir, to tho conclusion
tliat, alter all, tlit^ atlcniiit to pcrpi'tuatc duality of
language and nationali'y in this younu: country is not
so insane a project as you believe. Without claiming
the merit of hein*^ as sound and clever a reader of
historical events as you are, 1 suppose I can, now and
then, take the liberty of givini^ some of my leisure
hours to the study of the onward march of the civiliz 'd
world, and part cularly of that larji'e part of mankind
living under tie Sovereign Power of England in the
live great divisions of the universe. My humble way
of reading histoiy, from a somewhat philosophical point
of view, has tau :^ht me that England, after more than
a century of wonderful efforts, has succeeded in build-
ing up the greatest empire ever seen, precisely by the
broad policy of giving full scope, not only to duality,
but even to diversity of nationality and language, in
its newly acquired Dominions.

If I remember well, once the United Kingdom of
Great Britain was divided into three Sovereign States,
England, Scotland and Ireland. If I am not mistaken
— and if I am vou can call to your assistance your
superior historical knowledge to correct me — the fun-
damental basis of the marvellous Imperial structure,
which is the wonder of the world, was the union of

those thn?e iiuloptMidout States. All tho j^rcut British
fitatesmon havo n<^r»HMl, and still aj^jree, in the sound
opinion that without the unity of the three ancient
kingdoms, the unity of the Empire could not last. IJut
when Eniyland and Scotland were hound toi^ether, was
it considered an insane pr(»ject to allow the perpetua-
tion of the glorious Scotch nationality ? After so many
years of that happy and prosperous union, is it not yet
being perpetuated ? Are the Scotchmen not as proud as
ever of their luitional traditions? If you have any
doubt about it, you had better make it your duty to
ask the thousands of them y< ii will meet in Ontario,
during the campaign you have unde: aken, what are
their feelings on that point.

So with Ireland. Would not the Ulstermen them-
selves join with their countrymen of another creed to
protest against any attempt to annihilate Irish nation-
ality, Irish traditions, to put a final end to the perpetua-
tion of the Irish name in the history of the Empire and
of the world ?

"When the authority of the Sovereign of England
was extended to the great Indian Empire, was it con-
sidered an insane policy to respect the national feelings
c£ the numerous millions of that v^'^onderful country ?

Have the British statesmen ever consid'^red as a piece

of insanity to allow the free use of the many dialects

spoken all over the almost boundless Empire they are

called upon to govern ? Have they ever looked at the

liberty to speak those languages, to che:j.ja and revere
4

^ '

I i

national traditions as a danger and a permanent menace
to the maintenance of Britisli Sovereignty over the
broad Dominions npon which the sun never sets, but
always smiles on prosperous national groups, enjoying
the varied advantages of human freedom to tln^ largest
extent yet seen since the creation of our planet? Have
they not rather believed, with very good reason, that
the secret of the grandeur of the British Empire was to
be sought and found in that very policy, based upon
the immutable principles of eternal justice, which you
think very foolish, but which the experience of more
than a century have proved to be the most gloriously
successful ever adopted ?

Since diversity of language and nationality is the
rule under the British Crown and the enlightened
British policy, will you please tell me why an exception
should be made against my French-Canadian country-
men? Why should you be less liberal towards them
than you are for the remnants of the Indian tribes of
old, whom the Canadian Parliament has enfranchised
and called to the dignity of freemen and of British
citizenship ?

Since you consider it a public duty to allow the
Indians of the North-West to perpetuate themselves ;
since you vote large sums of money every year to
protect them, to educate them, to civilize them, if pos-
sible, all that in acknowledgment of their natural right
to live and die in the land where they have seen the
light of day, in the name of what morals, of what

.4SS..

TtMW i U'. W

priuciplos can you deny the same undoubted privilegeK
to the Freuch-Cauadiaus V A barbarian from the
darkest corner oi' AlVica is protocted and at liberty the
A'ery moment he has his loot on the free soil of the
British Empire, if he swears allegiance to the Crown,
if he obeys the laws of the laud, if he qualihes himself
to fuliil the responsible duties of a citizen. Why
should not a French-Canadian be so respected and
kindly welcomed anywhere under the sun ?

Now, let us go for a moment beyond the limits of
the British Empire, and what do we find '^ Not only
duality, but diversity of languajjes and nationalities
exist iu nearly all the most powerful countries in the
world. Look at the great German Empire, and its
numerous groups, at the Austrian Empire, with its
two g-reat national divisions, at Sweden and Norway,
united under the same king, but each of these two
countries having its own Grov-^rnment, its own consti-
tution, its own code of laws. lieturn to our own con-
tinent, and throw a glance over the boundary line.
Do you not hear divers languages freely spoken over
the broad extent of the American Republic. Do you
not see numerous national groups, many of them yearly
increasing in large proportions, the Yankee, the
English, the Scotch, the Irish, the Italians, the Aus-
trians, the Russians, the French, the Sw^edes, the
Norwegians, the Danes, the Germans ; the latter alone
actually numbtn-ing perhaps more than fifteen millions,
a whole people by themselves, speaking their own

hiother tongue, having- daily their own national papers
edited in German and circulated by millions.

If the different national groups, for such they really
are, of the once separated States of Prussia, Bavaria,
kSaxony, Wurttemberg, Baden, Hesse, etc., could,
without being charged with attempting an insane
project, unite togetherunder their constitution of 1871,
to organize one of the great ruling Powers of our times ;
if Swedes and Norwegians can, without being consi-
dered desperately insane, perpetuate their nationalities
under the same Royal authority ; if Austrians and
Hungarians can, without for so doing, run the danger
of being all confined in insane asylums, live happy and
contented under the rule of the same Emperor, enjoying
their respective constitutional privileges, — the first
charter of Hungary, called by the historic name of
" Bulla Aurea," granted by King Andrew^ II., dating
as far back as 1222 — if nearly all the European nation-
alities can be re])resented by their descendants under
the Hag of the United States ; can you possibly give
me the shadow of a sensible reason why the same
glorious political phenomenon could not be perpetuated
in Canada ?

Do you know of a small Island called Jersey, a very
loyal country not far off from England, governed by
Our Most Grracious Queen, w^here the French language
is yet the national tongue of the population ?

Sir, are we to understand that you undertake the
gieac worK to realize unity of race, of language and of

creed In the British Empire ? Let me tell you that
you are begiriniug many centuries too late, and that
you cannot possibly live long enough to even see the
very distant dawn of the success of your political
scheme. You had better believe me. it is altogether a
chimerical idea, a preposterous plan.

If you were called upon to occupy the honorable
position of Prime Minister of Canada, would you adopt
the emigration policy that no man from Europe, or
elsewhere, would be allowed to become a loyal British
subject, and a true Canadian at heart, if he would not
bind himself to give up his native tongue, his religious
creed, and to alter, I cannot understand by what mira-
culous means, the blood Ihiu runs in his veins ?

Sir, you have added insult to cruelty in speaking at
Toronto of my French compatriots. It was unworthy
of your intelligence and unworthy of your standing as
a public man, to scornfully sneer at them about what
you called with derision the " prosperous ways of the
Pro .ince of Quebec, its advancing intelligence, all
those things which add such brightness and glory to
the Canadian scene." What have they done to
deserve such treatment at your hands ? If your heart
and mind were not now closed to all fairness by
prejudice, you would admit that the fact that the sixty
thousand French-Canadians living a few years more
than a century ago, have increased to a million and a
half in Canada alone ; that their children of successive
generations have settled the many millions of acres of

land of which they are the owners, have engaged by
thousands, and with success, in prol'essional, commer-
cial and industrial pursuits, that they have produced
political leaders of talent, ol great intelligenije, ol" mast-
erly elocjU(Mice, that they have always been loyal and
law-abiding, is greatly to the credit of my compatriots.
You would concur in the opinion of all right-thinking
and high-minded men, that, for what they have accom-
plished, in spite of all the difficulties they had to
contend with, they are entitled to the consideration
and the friendly esteem of all their countrymen, of
whatever race and creed they may be.

I will speak my mind openly to the last word of
these letters, as I have done all my life in discussing
public matters. Sir, do not conclude, irom all I have
said in my criticism of your speech, that I have the
least apprehension for the future of my French-Cana-
dian countrymen, in consequence of your new depar-
ture. I am sure that if I had, 1 would be most unfair
to my intelligent and patriotic countrymen of the
groat Province of Ontario. I know them well enough
to be convinced, to the very bottom of my heart, that
they will not be carried away by your appeals to pre-
judices and fanaticism. They will calmly listen to your
arguments, they will weigh them in the balance of
justice and of lair play, and from Sarnia to the eastern
limit of the fair land of Ontario, blessed with so many
gifts of Him who is the Creator of all nationalities and
languages on earth, you will find very few to join
with you for the purpose of depriving my French

5ft

compatriots of all their constitutiomil rights. If you
persist in that very bad course, you will soou bt» lelt
alone and given plenty of time to repent having ruined
the bright political prospects which once were yours.

I feel confident that my French-Canadian compatriots
will not vainly appeal to the fairness and the kind
feeling's of the electors of Ontario, and of ail the other
Provinces of the Dominion. From British Columbia
to Prince Edward Island, a powerful wave of popular
opinion will easily check the under currents of creed
and racial prejudices, vainly stirred up by disa[)pointed
ambition, unworthy motives, and dangerous ospirations.
Our dear country will be spared the years of religious
and national strife it is your purpose to create and
foment.

In thus addressing you in a fair and courteous criti-
cism of your speech in Toronto, it was my duty to
avonffc the g-reat statesman Canada lost two years au'o.
I must positively affirm that in so doing I was animated
not by a particle of partisan feelinn', but by a profound
sense of justice to his memory. Sir John Macdonald's
fame as a powerful, high-miiuled leader of men, w^on-
derfully skilled in the art of government, as a true and
sincere patriot, is a national property, a national honor
and glory, which opponents and partisans alike, will
defend and protect again^;t the aspei'sions of unjust
reproaches and of erroneous judgments, wilfully <>r not,
passed on the motives and tlie priiicii^les which in-
spired him through his very loni:', bat s!i!l far too sh(n't,
political career. Like any of us, he had his faults, for

; I

; I
I

he was human. But, in his active frame, the heart was
good, ever generous, naturally kind, the mind was
hirge, the intelligence reached that high degree which
is called genius, the soul was all devotedness and
patriotism. His most cherished dream was the pros-
perity and the grandeur ol" his dear Canada. To that
object, to that end, he has given his whole life. For
nearly half a century he has battled for justice and fair
play to all, for a true and genuine policy of Equal
Rights. A British subject he was born, a British sub-
ject he died, as he had, a few weeks previous, publicly
expressed the hope he would, when he was on the very
threshold of eternity. Let him rest in peace and, though
gone for ever, enjoy the gratitude of his countrymen,
to whom he has given the whole resources of his supe-
rior talents. If you are losing faith in the future of
your country, go to his grave and, in the midst of the
solemn tranquility which mak(vs the surroundings so
serene and so impressive, meditate upon the important
duties and the great responsibility of a public man,
listen to his patriotic inspirations, learn to follow his
noble examples. You \\i\\ return from this pious pil-
grimage heartened, a better man, a more generous poli-
tical leader, a truer friend of a sound policy of " Equal
Rights."

Only a very few days after the publication of this,
my last open letter to you, and all the loyal British sub-
jects will unite to celebrate the anniversary which
causes so many rejoicings all over the Queen's Domi-
nions. I will be allowed to conclude by repeating

■AOw^.,

what, at a critical period in our history, I said from my
seat in the Leg-islative A.ssoiiibly ol' this IVoviuce.
When next wc^ek, on tiio nlorious t\v»'uly-l'ourth ol" May,
from all parts of hor vast Empiro, the sound of a mai^ni-
licent concert of expressions of loyalty will reacli the
foot of the throne, let us send lo llcr Majesty the cheer-
ing- news that peace, harmony and happim^ss are si ill
reig-ning supreme in Canada. Let us unite in the invo-
cation, that long may she live : long may she be happy
and glorious ; long mav she eniov the tender affection
of her no))l(^ children and the felicity of her royal home ;
long may she occupy the magnilicent throne which,
lor more than half a century, she has adorned with all
the virtues of a great Queen, an aflectionate motli(>r,
and a most distinguished woman ; long may she wit-
ness the prosperity of her mighty Empire ; long may
she rejoice at the new triumphs of Coxstituttoxal
Ltbeuty in her broad Dominions ; long may she have
the respect, the esteem, the veneration of her devoted,
loyal and ever grate I ul subjects !

And, in the name of them all, I can say that of the
hundreds of millions of British subjects, none will join
more heartily than the French-Canadians in that sin-
cere invocation.

Please believe me always w^ith personal rerj-ard,
Yours very sincerely,

L. (t. Des.tardins,

Late M. P. for L'Islet.

Quebec, May 17, 1808.