Of most men one might say when they are forty-five they are middle-aged and mature. This is the forty-fifth anniversary of the birth of this Dominion; and Canada is still but a youth, a sturdy, growing, promising youth among the nations. She is a people of great heritages, of lofty aspirations and of fine ideals, and she has in Sir Wilfrid Laurier a son worthy of herself. He will speak to us this morning. SIR WILFRID LAURIER:[4] Though I have no claim whatever to be here on this present occasion, still if my presence on this platform can further convince our American visitors how welcome they are amongst us, I can assure them that I would have traveled many and many a long mile to swell the greeting with the seal and hand of the Canadian government and the Canadian people. Welcome you are, not only for the good work in which you are engaged, not only for the intellectual labors which are your daily vocation, but also because whenever you cross our borders, and whenever the Canadian members of this association cross your borders, you and they are real missionaries of peace, apostles of civilization, and those visits tend further to improve our relations, to dispel old prejudices and to make us appreciate the blessings of the peace which hath prevailed between your country and my country for nearly a hundred years. [4] Printed only in part. May I take advantage of the present opportunity to remind you of the fact, which has been twice already brought to your attention, that today is the national holiday of Canada. We celebrate our national holiday on the first of July, you celebrate yours on the fourth of July,--but the resemblance goes no further. The day you celebrate on the fourth of July recalls the fact that your forefathers wrenched and violently tore asunder the tie which had bound them to the motherland. I think I can call upon your memory to confirm that history attests that this step was not taken lightly, that it tore the heart strings of many and many of those who signed the Declaration of Independence, but that it was forced upon them by the vicious policy that was followed toward the colonists by the British government.