Ask a Canadian young lady who sits down to the piano in Britain before a drawing-room full of Britons of both sexes to play something Canadian, as I have heard asked there. Now just let our young lady musicians think the matter over and make up their minds what they would play and sing under such conditions. If our young ladies go over there, they must know they will be asked for such songs, and I really hope, for the credit of our country, they will not be compelled to fall back upon American songs to represent Canada. Such songs may represent America, but the part Canada plays on this continent will in such songs be sadly deficient. CHAPTER XXIV. A retrospect--Canada’s heroes--The places of their deeds should be marked--Canada a young sleeping giant--Abundance of our resources--Pulpwood for the world--Nickel--History of our early days will be valued. No one can look back over the years covered by this volume of reminiscences and observations of Canadian history and life without being struck by the changes that have already taken place, and also by the great possibilities of the future. At the close of the American Revolution of 1776 there were not more than 80,000 white persons in all of what we now call Canada with its confederated provinces. When Roger Conant came to Upper Canada, on the termination of that lamentable struggle, he found only 12,000 inhabitants in that province. At the time of the War of 1812 there were in all Canada about one-fifth of a million inhabitants, and in Upper Canada (Ontario) 55,000. It is only ninety years since that war, and the increase has been a marvellous one. We have nearly 3,000,000 inhabitants in what was formerly Upper Canada, and 5,000,000 in the whole Dominion. Let another period of ninety years revolve around our land, and the millions that will then inhabit our provinces will make our present enumeration seem insignificant, as well as those of our forefathers in 1792 and 1812. We know, of course, that the War of 1812 was Britain’s war. Canada was really not a party to its origin. But it would be a bold person to-day who would dare to assert that our forefathers did not do their duty in that struggle. The world at large, as well as ourselves, recognizes that they did all that a few poor but brave men could do. “Oh! few and weak their numbers were, A handful of brave men, But to their God they made their prayer, And rushed to battle then.”