dly, that only by
some form of Imperial Federation can the independence of Canada be
preserved, with due regard to self-respect.

If this is true, if Imperial Federation can do this, and if it can be
done in no other way, then the necessity for Imperial Federation is
proved; for national independence is an advantage so great that no
price can be named that is too great to give in payment. It is the
same with a country as with a man. Independent he must be, or he
ceases to be a man. Burns advises his young friend to "gather gear" in
every honourable way, and what for?

Not for to hoard it in a dyke,
Not for a train attendant;
But for the glorious privilege
Of being independent.

And that which is the supreme dignity of manhood is even more
essential in the case of a nation.

What do we mean when we speak of the independence of the country? We
mean something beyond price, something that is the indispensable
condition of true manhood in any country, something without which a
country is poor in the present and a butt for the world's scorn in the
future. There are men, or things that look like men, who say that as
long as we put money in our purse, nothing else counts. How that class
of men must have laughed some centuries ago at a fool called William
Wallace! How clearly they could point out that it was much better to
be part of the richer country to the south. When they heard of the
fate of the patriot, did they not serenely say: "We told you so?" Did
they not in their hearts envy the false Menteath the price he got for
betraying the man who acted as true sentiment bade? But, give it time,
and the judgment of the world is just. Even the blind can now see
whether the patriot or the so-called "practical man" did most for
Scotland's advantage. Now

At Wallace' name, what Scottish blood
But boils up in a springtime flood!
Oft have our fearless fathers strode
By Wallace' side,
Still pressing onward, red-wat shod,
Or glorious died.

What has his memory been worth to Scotland! Would you estimate it in
millions? Superior persons will tell me that Wallace is an
anachronism. In form, yes; in spirit, never. It may be said that in
the end Scotland did unite with England. Yes, but first, what a curse
the union would have been if unaccompanied, as in the case of Ireland,
with national self-respect! And, secondly, Canada is ready for union
with the States any day on the same terms as those