re especially
associated with the concession of those great principles which have
enlarged the sphere of self-government in the colonies of the English
Crown.

{366}

During the quarter of a century that elapsed from 1842 to 1867--the
crucial period of national development--an industrious population
flowed steadily into the country, the original population became more
self-reliant and pursued their vocations with renewed energy, and
confidence increased on all sides in the ability of the provinces to
hold their own against the competition of a wonderfully enterprising
neighbour. Cities, towns, and villages were built up with a rapidity
not exceeded even on the other side of the border. In those days
Ontario became the noble province that she now is by virtue of the
capacity of her people for self-government, the energy of her
industrial classes, the fertility of her soil, and the superiority of
her climate. The maritime industry of the lower provinces was
developed most encouragingly, and Nova Scotia built up a commercial
marine not equalled by that of any New England State. The total
population of the provinces of British North America, now comprised
within the confederation of 1867, had increased from a million and a
half in 1840 to three millions and a quarter in 1861--the ratio of
increase in those years having been greater than at any previous or
later period of Canadian history. It was during this period that the
Grand Trunk Railway, which has done so much to assist the material
progress of the old province of Canada, was constructed. In 1850 there
were only fifty miles of railway in operation throughout Canada, but by
1867 there were nearly three thousand miles, and that magnificent
example of engineering skill, the Victoria Bridge, carried passengers
across {367} the St. Lawrence at Montreal, and connected Canada with
the great railway system of the United States. With railway
development must always be associated the name of Sir Francis Hincks,
an able statesman of the Liberal party, who recognised the necessities
of a new country.

So far from the act of 1840, which united the Canadas, acting
unfavourably to the French Canadian people it gave them eventually a
predominance in the councils of the country. French soon again became
the official language by an amendment to the union act, and the claims
providing for equality of representation proved a security when the
upper province increased more la