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world to civilization. There is no Canadian who could not respect the cross of Christ, emblematic of the Christianity which blesses and enlightens a poeple. There are none who, much as they may differ from their aims and principles, will refuse the first meed of praise and honour to the heroic actions of the early Jesuit missionaries. But when an important historical event is made the occasion of a great French-Canadian jubilee, when the monument and the cross are declared to be emblematic of a distinctive French-Canadian compact and the indissoluble alliance of the Church and the State, it is quite another affair. Such is the plain meaning of the demonstration, and it is just as well that the English people should understand the issues now presented to them. Under the circumstances, it is not to be wondered at, that the inauguration of this monument, instead of being a Canadian affair in which French and English could have united, was a distinct display of French-Canadianism or nationalism. Every item on the programme partook of this distinctive characteristic. The inauguration proceedings were French- Canadian and religious, the procession was a display of French-Canadian emblems, and the utterances at the closing banquet furnished the cap sheaf of the Nationalist « propaganda. As a display and manifestation of French- Canadian nationalism, each of these events was a magnificent success, and the promoters deserve for their exertions.
PROGRAM OF PROCEEDINGS
On entering the grounds I! was handed a programme of the proceedings, which was introduced by an article entitled “ Le Canadien-Français,” which contained some very novel and striking passages, calculaced to rouse the national ardour of the people. ‘‘ Before this name,” said the writer, ‘ nations bow with respect, because the people which bear it count in its history pages rendered glorious by bravery, glory, and martyrdom. We are proud of the past, we are satisfied with the present, and we have faith in the future.” The glories of the past are vividly portrayed from a French-Canadian standpoint. For instance, ‘ who will ever forget,” says the narrator, those glorious
‘ words of the French-Grovernor to the emissary of the English Admiral Phipps, ‘ I will reply to your master by the mouth of my cannon, that he may learn that this is not the way that they overcome a man like me’” The writer also takes good care to tell that Wolfe lost 6,000 on the Plains of Abraham, but no mention is made of the losses of the French General. After telling what they have been, the writer asks: ‘“ What are we? In 1760 Canada was ceded to England. Neveral thousands of the French preferred to return to their Mother country rather than submit to the yoke of proud Albion. We were only 60,000 souls in what now forms the Province of Quebec and after one hundred and-thirty years of conflict for the conservation of our language, our institutions, and our laws, we are now more than two million. We are masters of the Province of Quebec. We have entered the Province of Ontario. We count thousands of brethren in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, the North-West Territories, and British Columbia. Our compatriots number eight hundred thousand in the American Republic. Each State has its French- Canadian colony. The French-Canadian people are like an immense tree, whose vigorous and fruitful branches still protect under their shadow all of the ancient New France. By guarding the faith of our fathers and struggling without ceasing for the defence of our dearest rights we have become what we are. Our soil was fertilized by the blood of the Jesuits. The English would have liked to annihilate us after the cession, and to-day we are legions in the face of persecution and fanaticism. We have raised the standard of loyalty, of patriotism, and of the faith, and we have triumphed.” This is a pretty good exposition of the national idea.