The Struggle for Imperial Unity: Recollections & ExperiencesDenison, George T. (George Taylor)
History
The Struggle for Imperial Unity: Recollections & Experiences
Denison, George T. (George Taylor)
Canada -- History -- 1867-1914
In the London _Anti-Jacobin_ this summer he tells the English people
to turn their attention to Africa, to India, and to Egypt, that there
they have fields for achievement, and that other fields may be opened
when the Turkish empire passes away, and asks the English people why
they should cling to a merely nominal dominion. He evidently longs
to see Englishmen, and English treasure and English enterprise given
to assist and develop India, Africa, Egypt, or Turkey, anywhere
except Canada, which has given him a home and treated him with a
forbearance and courtesy unparalleled. The vindictive malignancy
of this suggestion to the _Anti-Jacobin_ is manifest. He sees that
emigration to the magnificent wheat fields of our North-West will
help and strengthen Canada, and so he decries Canada in his book and
writes to English journals endeavouring to divert English enterprise
and capital to countries inhabited by alien races about whose affairs
and possibilities he knows nothing. These are instances of his
systematic intrigues against the prosperity of Canada. In February
last, to attack the innate loyalty of the people, he delivered to an
organisation of young men in this city a lecture on "Loyalty." The
whole aim of the lecture was to throw ridicule upon the very idea. A
few men of bad character, who had claimed to be loyal, were quoted
to insinuate that loyalty was synonymous with vice. As I have in my
lecture on the "United Empire Loyalists" sufficiently answered him on
this point, I will pass on to the next which was on "Aristocracy." The
object of this lecture was to discredit aristocracy, to show that the
aristocracy belong to England and to the Empire, and to try to arouse
the democratic instincts of a democratic country like ours against
British connection. To weaken, if possible, the natural feeling of
the people towards the land of their ancestors. His last lecture,
on "Jingoism," is the one I principally wish to deal with, as it is
aimed at the other influences, which this Mysian desires to weaken in
furtherance of his traitorous plans. The main object is to strike at
our national spirit, at the evidences of it, and at the causes which
increase and nourish this sentiment. He combines in a few words what
he objects to: "Hoisting of flags, chanting martial songs, celebration
of battle anniversaries, erection of military monuments, decoration
of patriotic graves, arming and reviewing the very children in our
public schools." In his elegant way he says: "If Jingoism finds itself
in need of all these stimulants, we shall begin to think it must be
sick." As a matter of fact, it is these manifestations of a Canadian
national spirit that make him sick, to use his own elegant phrase. He
says, "Jingoism" originated in the music halls of London. No feeling
could have originated in that way in Canada. We have neither the
music halls nor the class of population he refers to. With his usual
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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