I.


"Before the curing of a strong disease,
"Even in the instant of repair and health,
"The fit is strongest; evils that take leave,
"On their departure most of all show evil."
--King John, Act III.


In the present advanced and happy times it is instructive to take
a retrospective glance at the days of our forefathers of the
nineteenth century, and to meditate upon the political struggles
and events of the past hundred years, that by so doing we may gain
a clear insight into the causes which have led to the present
wonderful developments. We, in the year of Grace 1983, are too
apt to take for granted all the blessings of moral, political
and physical science which we enjoy, and to pass over without
due consideration the great efforts of our ancestors, which have
made our present happy condition possible.

Let us try to contrast the Dominion of to-day with the Dominion of
1883. To begin with population. Our population at the last census
in 1981, was just over 93,000,000. A hundred years ago a scant
5,000,000 represented this great Canadian nation, which has since
so mightily increased and proved itself such a beneficent factor
in human affairs. Seven provinces and some sparsely peopled and
only partially explored territories formed all that the world then