belief that there is no future for the monarchy. England stands to-day in the decrepitude of age, folding about her the shabby robes of worn-out custom; "perplexed with the fear of change;” unable to advance; unable to suppress the influences which are advancing step by step to throw open the temple of exclusive and hereditary privilege to the admission of the profane populace. "The voice of the people," when it utters the settled faith of a nation, " is the voice of God." And now, in the firm belief that God in his providence established this nation for a purpose,-to stand as a bulwark among the nations for the protection of the rights of man,that it will prosper in proportion as it is true to the purpose of its institution, and will cease to be, whenever it no longer performs its duty; that its manhood is attained, and its time for action arrived, it remains to inquire what can we do in the interest of universal liberty? . . . The brave young men who went forth from this college to suppress the slaveholders' attempt to reverse the decree of God and exalt slavery above liberty, sleep in bloody graves, yet live in our tender and our grateful remembrance. Their example appeals to our manhood and our conscience. They helped to carry our government through a crisis in its existence; to establish it firmly upon immutable truth; and give it the grandest opportunity a nation ever had to benefit mankind. It now devolves upon us who survive to determine whether their lives were laid down in vain. And in no way, I conceive, can we so truly honor them as in studying well and performing faithfully the duty they have helped to cast upon us. If we prove equal to our opportunity, if we stand firmly for justice and for equality among men, if we keep the lamp of liberty trimmed and burning, and allow its light to shine from our altitude throughout the world, we honor them; they have not died in vain; therefore it seems to be appropri ate to this occasion to inquire into our new duties and gird ourselves for their performance. They died for others, not for themselves; and let us so live as to exert the influence of the exalted position they have conferred upon us for the welfare of mankind and not for the attainment of selfish ends. MCGEE TH " HOMAS D'ARCY MCGEE, an eloquent Irish-Canadian statesman and orator, was born at Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland, April 13, 1825. He was the second son of Mr. James McGee, then in the coastguard service, and Dorcas Catherine Morgan, the highly educated daughter of a Dublin bookseller. About the age of seventeen, seeing little chance of advancement at home, he êmigrated to America with one of his sisters, and arrived in Boston in June, 1842. On the 4th of July he addressed the people and astonished them by his eloquence. Two years later he became chief editor of the Boston "Pilot." He rendered such good service to his countrymen that O'Connell at a public meeting referred to his editorials as the inspired writings of a young exiled boy in America." He was invited by the proprietor of the Dublin "Freeman's Journal to become its editor. But the paper was too moderate and cautious for him and he accepted the offer of Charles Gavan Duffy to help edit the 'Nation," ," which soon became the mouthpiece of what was called Young Ireland," and its fiery poetry, even more than its prose, was quoted everywhere. When the "Young Irelanders" tried to stir the famine-stricken and desperate people to rebellion some of the leaders were arrested, and a reward was offered for the arrest of McGee. He found a friend and host in Dr. Maginn, the bishop of Derry, and in the disguise of a priest sailed for America. On October 10, 1848, he reached Philadelphia, and on the 26th of that month the New York "Nation" issued its first number under the editorship of the exile. In 1850 McGee removed with his wife and infant daughter to Boston, where he began the publication of the "American Celt," which, until 1857, when it ceased to exist, was regarded by friend and foe as the best advocate of the Irish race in America; but it lost ground with the "politicians " as it took no side with any political party, and at length languished for want of support. During these years McGee had lectured in many Canadian cities and had made warm friends in Montreal. He now sold his interest in the "American Celt," and removed with his family to Montreal, where he at once established “The New Era." Before the end of his first year in Montreal he was returned to the Canadian Parliament as one of the three members for Montreal, and became one of the most popular men in Canada, being elected by acclamation and without any opposition in his second, third, and fourth elections. At times he was spoken of by his enemies as an "Irish Adventurer,” “A Stranger From Abroad," and was twitted with having been a rebel in former years. To this charge he replied calmly and candidly: "It is true, I was a rebel in Ireland in '48. I rebelled against the misgovernment of my country by Russell and his school. I rebelled becausò I saw my countrymen starving before my eyes, while my country had her trade and commerce stolen from her. I rebelled against the church establishment in Ireland; and there is not a liberal man in this community who would not have done as I did if he had been placed in my position, and followed the dictates of humanity." " About 1865 Mr. McGee's countrymen in Montreal and elsewhere presented him with a handsome residence, suitably furnished, in a pleasant part of the city which he so ably represented. In 1862 he had accepted the office of president of the executive council, and, while discharging these onerous duties, acted for a time as provincial secretary. In 1865 he visited Ireland, and, during his stay with his father in Wexford, offended his countrymen in the United States by a speech in which he contrasted the States unfavorably with Canada as a home for Irishmen. In 1867 he was sent to Paris by the government as one of the Canadian commissioners to the first exposition. In London he met by appointment some of his Canadian colleagues, who had gone to lay before the imperial government the plan for the proposed union of the British provinces, a project which was in a great measure his and had long been the object of his earnest endeavors. He was then minister of agriculture and emigration, which office he held till in the summer of 1867. The confederation was at last effected, and he took his seat as member for Montreal West in the first Parliament of the Dominion on November 6, 1867. On St. Patrick's day, 1868, he was entertained at a public banquet in Ottawa city and his speech on that occasion was one of the noblest efforts of his eloquence. It was on the general interests of the Irish race, and affirmed in the clearest language his all-enduring love for his race and country, joined with the fervent hope that he might yet do Ireland signal service in years to come. On the 6th of April he delivered one of the most striking speeches ever heard in the Canadian Parliament. The subject was the cementing of the lately-formed union of the provinces by mutual kindness and good will. Shortly after midnight he left the House and was shot from behind through the head. He is still regarded as the truest ( counsellor and guide of the Irish race in North America. "THE LAND WE LIVE IN" [Delivered before the "New England Society of Montreal, on the Anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims," December 22, 1860.] M --- R. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN,As one of the representatives of the city of Montreal, I feel it to be an act of duty, and a most agreeable duty it is, to attend the reunions of our various national societies, and to contribute anything in my power to their gratification. My respect for all these societies, and my own sense of what is decorous and fit to be said, have, I hope, always confined me to the proprieties of such occasions; but still, if I speak at all, I must speak with freedom, and free speech, I trust, will never be asserted in vain among a society composed of the men of New England and their descendants. I congratulate you and the society over which you preside, Mr. President, on the recurrence of your favorite anniversary, and not only for your own gratification as our fellow, citizens of Montreal, but in the best interests of all humanity in the New World, let us join in hope that not only the sons of New England, but Americans from all other States settled amongst us, will long be able to join harmoniously in the celebration of the arrival of the first shipload of emigrants in Massachusetts Bay on this day, 240 years ago, a ship which wafted over the sea as large a cargo of the seeds of the new civilization as any ship ever did since the famous voyage recorded in the legends of the Greeks. It is rather a hard task, this you have set me, Mr. President, of extolling the excellencies of "the land we live in," that is, praising ourselves,— especially at this particular season of the year. If it were midsummer instead of midwinter, when our rapids are flashing, and our glorious river sings its triumphal song from Ontario to the ocean; when the northern summer, like the resurrection of the just, clothes every lineament of the landscape in beauty and serenity; it might be easy to say fine things for ourselves, without conflicting with the evidence of our senses. But to eulogize Canada about Christmas time requires a patriotism akin to the Laplander, when, luxuriating in his train oil, he declares that "there is no land like Lapland under the sun." Our consolation, however, is that all the snows of the season fall upon our soil for wise and providential purposes. The great workman, Jack Frost, wraps the ploughed land in a warm covering, preserving the latesown wheat for the first ripening influence of the spring. He macadamizes roads and bridges, brooks and rivers, better than could the manual labor of 100,000 workmen. He |