Well spoken, Denison! a heart beats there Loyal to more than selfish minds can grasp; Not gold our nation's wealth, or lavish ease, Nor sordid aim her rod of destiny. No! Canada hath ends beyond a life Fed by loose license, luxury, and pelf. She hath inherited through noble sires Of ancient blood, and lineage straight and clean, Great riches. A renown unequalled yet; A liberty hard won on many a field; A country wide and large, and fair and full; A loyalty as self-denying as a vow; An honour high as heaven and pure as light; A heroism that bleeds, but blenches not; An industry of muscle true as steel; A self-restraint that binds a world in bonds; An honesty contented with its own. Shall she sell these for gold? "What can gold give Better than she hath?--a nation's life A nation's liberty, a nation's self-respect." Brave words--my Denison--brave words and true! Take thou this tribute from a patriot heart. As thee our legislators ever be; Men whose whole aim is for the nation's weal And for safekeeping of her name intact. On the 30th December, 1887, the Toronto Board of Trade gave a banquet in honour of the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain. It was a very large and influential gathering. I then fired my first public shot against Commercial Union. Colonel Otter was put down to respond to the toast of the Army, Navy, and Active Militia, but the Chairman in proposing the toast, added my name also, without having given me any intimation whatever that I would be called upon to speak. I quote the report which appeared in the _World_ the next morning of my three minutes' speech: