Having decided upon this point, it was considered advisable that before we went to England we should first test feeling in different centres in Canada, to make sure that the policy we were advocating was one that Canadians generally would approve. I decided to go to New Brunswick and lay the question before a public meeting in St. John and discuss the matter with prominent men, and in that way test public opinion. I had a very successful meeting in St. John on the 28th November, 1901, where one senator and four members of the Commons and of the local legislature spoke approvingly of the resolution, which was carried unanimously. The Press in New Brunswick was very favourable. The St. John _Sun_, in its leading article the next day, said: We have no hesitation in endorsing the policy propounded by the President of the British Empire League, and supported at last night's meeting by all the speakers on both sides of politics and the unanimous vote of the audience. The article concluded in the following words: Nor is it out of place to say that Colonel Denison's manner of presenting the proposition was worthy of the great theme. He is himself intensely impressed with the solemn dignity of the subject, which touches the destiny of our Empire, and this grave interest was borne in on the audience, and pervaded the other speeches, even those in which a lighter tone prevailed. For this reason, perhaps because most men speak better when they speak strongly, the speeches following the address of the evening were, like Colonel Denison's itself, in tone and quality distinctly superior to those which one usually hears on public occasions. The _Morning Post_, of London, and the _Naval and Military Record_ both had long articles commenting upon this meeting and approving of the spirit shown, but not speaking hopefully of the possibilities of Great Britain accepting the principle of preferential duties. From St. John I went to Montreal, where I addressed a successful meeting on the same subject on the 30th November, 1901. On the 24th January, 1902, I addressed a large meeting in London, Ontario, the Bishop of Huron in the chair. The same resolution was carried unanimously, and the three newspapers--the Conservative, the Liberal, and the Independent--all united in warm approval of the policy, as did the other speakers, who were chosen equally from both sides of politics. Some time later a meeting was organised at Owen Sound, which was addressed by Mr. Alexander McNeill, Vice-President of the League, advocating the same policy, which was unanimously endorsed. The seventh Annual Meeting of the League at Ottawa, at which this policy was also endorsed, took place on the 20th February, 1902.