Maple Leaves

Excerpt from Maple Leaves: Being the Papers Read Before the National Club of Toronto, at the "National Evenings", During the Winter 1890-1891 HE publication of the addresses in this little T volume was ordered by the members Of the National Club as an acknowledgment to the gentlemen who had so kindly and ably Offered them entertainment, and in the hope that they might lead kindred or other organizations to spend some Of their winter evenings in similar manner. Our country is in its initial stages, it is but a short time Since large portions of it were won from the virgin forest, and even so lately as the time Of Confedera~ tion our fathers were roused to enthusiasm by the project of uniting a country extending only from Wind sor to the Atlantic. Yet, since then, in twenty-four short years, we have joined Montreal by rail to the Sea and gained a winter outlet Of our own through Canada, have Opened up to access the mining wealth Of our Northern lakes, have discovered the boundless wheat lands of the Central prairies, dotted with sleek herds the perennial grasses of Assiniboia and Alberta, and piercing the Rockies have joined the valleys Of Columbia to the inland plains and made a half a Con tinent our own. Is not this a record Of which a population Of but five millions may well feel proud? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.