Preface

The papers comprised in these volumes were most of them given originally as lectures in the Sunday Afternoon Course at the South Place Institute, Finsbury, from 1895 to 1898, with the object of affording trustworthy information concerning the various colonies, settlements, and countries scattered over the world which go to form the whole known as ‘‘The British Empire.” It was thought that a wider and deeper knowledge of the growth, present condition, and possibilities of each integral part of our Empire would tend to strengthen the sympathetic, material, and political lies which unite the colonies to the mother country.

The generous response to the invitation to lecture was very gratifying; travellers, natives, and those to whom had been often the onerous task of governing the various provinces of our Empire, vied with one another in their willingness to impart the special knowledge which they had acquired.

The lecturers were asked, when possible, to give a short account of the country prior to its incorporation, its colonial history, the effect of Ilig British connection on the country and the natives, and the outlook for the future. To these topics were added Ilu* conditions for colonisation, of trade and commerce, the state and local government, and the laws ol the country, especially where there was any great difference from those of the United Kingdom.

The task has demonstrated the many and various interests contained in this vast subject, and has far exceeded the original limit. It is, however, hoped that the wider public to which the articles now appeal will be as sympathetic as the original audiences.

WM. SHEO WRING,
Hon. Sec. Institute Committee.
Sooth Plack Institute,
Finsbury, London, E.C.

Contents

Introduction: Canada
By J. G. Colmer, C.M.G. {Secretary to High Commissioner for Canada; Secretary, Colonisation Board).

The Dominion of Canada: General View
By the Rt. Hon. Lord Strathcona and Mount Roval, G.C.M.G. (High Commissioner for Canada).

Ontario
By Peter Byrne {Agent for Ontario).

The Province of Quebec
By Harrison Watson (Curator for the Dominion of Canada at the Imperial Institute).

New Brunswick Past and Present
By C. A. Duff Miller (Agent-General, New Brunswick).

Nova Scotia
By James S. Macdonald {of Halifax, N.S.).

Prince Edward Island
By Professor J. P. Sheldon, J.P.

Manitoba
By Sidney G. B. (Joryn.

British Columbia
By W. S. Sebright Green, F. R. C. I.,  F.R.S.I. {late of British Columbia).

The North-West Territories of Canada
By Sidney G. B. Coryn.

Canadian Women of the Time and the Women Movement
By A. C. Forster Boulton, F.R.G.S. (Member of the English and Canadian Bar).

The Canadian Aborigines
By W. Williams and S. G. B. Coryn.

A Short Review of Canadian Literature
By Sir J. G. Bourinot, K.O.M.G., LL.D., D.C.L., Lit.D. (Honorary Secretary of the Royal Society of Canada; Honorary Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, &c; Author of the ‘‘Story of Canada” (Nations Series), “Parliamentary Procedure and Government in Canada,” and other works on the History and Constitution of the Dominion).

Newfoundland
By T. B. Browning, M.A. (of the Canadian Bar).