The Life of King Edward VII
and gleam of electricity. The Royal couple gave a farewell dinner on the
_Ophir_ to a select number and in the morning started for Montreal. The
journey was made in the splendid train built by the Canadian Pacific
Railway Company for the special purposes of this tour and destined to
carry the Royal visitors all over the Dominion. Their immediate train of
cars was preceded, as elsewhere throughout the country, by one bearing
the Governor-General and Lady Minto.
RECEPTION AT MONTREAL AND OTTAWA
Very few stops took place on the way to Montreal, where some change in
the programme was to be made owing to the President's funeral. At Port
Neuf, Three River's and Lanoraie, however, a few minutes' pause had been
arranged. At the Montreal station the Royal couple were received by Mr.
Raymond Prefontaine, M.P., Mayor of the city, in gorgeous official
robes. With him were Archbishop Bruchesi, Vicar-General Racicot,
Archbishop Bond, Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, Mr. T. G. Shaughnessy,
Senator Drummond, Rev. Dr. Barclay, Principal Peterson, Sir William
Hingston, Sir W. C. Van Horne and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The Civic address
was read in French and the Duke replied in English. Other addresses were
presented from the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, the Daughters of
the Empire and the Baron de Hirsch Institute. There was an immense crowd
present and the proceedings concluded with the introduction of a number
of Indian chiefs to His Royal Highness and the presentation of medals to
the South African veterans.
The procession through the streets to Lord Strathcona's house, where the
Royal visitors were to stay, was a rather swift drive and the throngs of
people were not given very much time to see the Duke and Duchess.
Elsewhere in Canada the rate was slower. Several beautiful arches
decorated the route. The cheers of the Laval students and the enthusiasm
of five thousand school children on Peel Street were the most marked
incidents of this parade through gaily decorated streets. In the evening
Lord Strathcona entertained at dinner in honour of his Royal guests and
the whole city was a blaze of light from electric illuminations and the
fireworks on Mount Royal. The Reception in the evening was cancelled
owing to the President's funeral. A visit was paid to the mountain in
the morning and then followed the formal functions of a busy day. At
McGill University an address was read by its Chancellor, Lord
Strathcona, and an honorary degree received. Then followed an address
from the Medical Faculty, read by Dr. Craik, and including the
presentation of a casket of Labradorite--a native Canadian product. The
Duke also formally opened the new Medical building.
At Laval University the decorations were most elaborate and there was a
great assemblage of local clergy. Archbishop Bruchesi extended a verbal,
instead of written, welcome and informed the Duke that the clergy and
Professors devoted themselves to training the youth of the University
"in science and in arts, in loyalty to the throne, as well as in love of
religion and country." An honorary degree was also given and accepted.
Another place visited was the Royal Victoria Hospital which, like McGill
University and its Medical Faculty, owed much to Lord Strathcona. At the
Diocesan Institute an address was presented from the assembled
Provincial Synod of Canada by the Lord Bishop of Toronto. In the
afternoon the Duke and Duchess drove out to the Ville Marie Convent
where they were received by the Archbishop of Montreal, the Lady
Superior and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. An address was presented and, as at
Laval, the Duke replied informally though here, for the first time, he
said a few words in French. A torchlight procession of the people,
general illumination of the city and more fire-works, followed in the
evening. At nine o'clock on the succeeding morning the Royal couple
started for Ottawa.
They remained in Ottawa from September 20th until September 24th. On the
way to the capital a brief stop was made at Alexandria and an address
received. The arrival at Ottawa and the Royal progress through the city
was marked by brilliant decorations, cheering crowds and finer weather
than had been the case either at Quebec or Montreal. The Civic address
was read by Major W. D. Morris in a pavilion erected on the Parliament
grounds and eighteen other addresses were received. The reply of His
Royal Highness was sympathetic and eloquent in language. It was, he
said, impossible for him not to think of the difference between forty
years ago and the present time. "Ottawa was then but the capital of two
Provinces, yoked together in uneasy union. To-day it is a capital of a
great and prosperous Dominion, stretching from the Atlantic to the
Pacific Ocean, the centre of the political life and administration of a
contented and united people. The Federation of Canada stands permanent
among the political events of the century just closed for its fruitful
and beneficent results on the life of the people concerned." He hoped
that mutual toleration and sympathy would continue and be extended to
the Empire as a whole and that, more than ever, the people would remain
"determined to hold fast and maintain the proud privileges of British
citizenship."
On leaving for Government House the Duke and Duchess were greeted with
"The Maple Leaf," sung by thousands of school children and were given a
great cheer by the students of Ottawa College. In the afternoon a visit
was paid to the Lacrosse match between the Cornwalls and Ottawas and at
night a state dinner was held at Government House. The city was
illuminated on this and subsequent evenings in a way to rival the
famous effects of the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. On the
following morning an investiture of knighthood was held at Government
House followed by a drive through Hull. At noon the statue of Queen
Victoria on the Parliament grounds was unveiled amid the usual
surroundings of state and soldiers and crowds. South African medals were
presented by the Duke and to Lieutenant E. J. Holland was given his V.C.
as well as medal. His Royal Highness was then lunched by a number of
prominent gentlemen at the Rideau Club and in the afternoon a garden
party was held at Government House. In the evening there was a quiet
dinner and drive through the city to see the illuminations.
On the following day, Sunday was quietly observed and Christ Church
Cathedral attended in the morning by the Royal couple and the
Governor-General and Lady Minto. Bishop Hamilton officiated and the
sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Kittson. The morning of September 23
was notable for the entertainment given by the lumbermen of Ottawa. The
Duke and Duchess travelled on a special electric car to their
destination, went in canoes with _voyageurs_ through the rapids,
descended the famous lumberslides of the Chaudiere, witnessed a race of
war canoes, saw tree cutting and logging, watched the strange dances of
the woodsmen, ate a lumbermen's lunch in a shanty, heard the jolly songs
of the _voyageurs_, and listened to a speech from a _habitant_ foreman
which made them and all Canada laugh heartily. In the evening a
brilliant Reception was held in the Senate Chamber.
At noon on the following morning the Royal couple left for Winnipeg
through crowded streets and cheering people. Before her departure the
Duchess of Cornwall was given a handsome cape by the women of Ottawa.
The presentation was made by Lady Laurier, on behalf of the
contributors, at Government House. In Montreal a beautiful gift had also
been made to her in the shape of a corsage ornament composed of a spray
of maple leaves made of enamel and decorated with 366 diamonds and one
large pearl. It was presented by Lady Strathcona and Mrs. George A.
Drummond. The Royal journey across the continent commenced with the
departure from Ottawa and, between the capital of the Dominion and the
metropolis of the West, a number of places were passed at a few of which
the Royal visitors paused for a brief time. At Carleton Place there was
a cheering crowd and gaily decorated station and singing school
children; at Almonte the town was _en fete_ and cheering could be heard
from even the roofs of the distant cotton mills; at Arnprior the whole
population turned out and the decorations were extensive; at Renfrew and
Pembroke the same thing occurred; at Petawawa and Chalk River crowds of
country people had gathered; at Mattawa and North Bay the stations were
gaily decorated and bands played their welcome.
Everywhere in the wilds of Algoma and along the rocky shores of Lake
Superior little groups of settlers might be seen at the lonely stations
watching for a sight of the Duke and Duchess. At Missanabie, a stop was
made to see a Hudson's Bay post and stockade and at White River, the
coldest place in Canada east of the Yukon, a picturesque party of
Indians was seen. A stop was made at Schrieber, and the whole population
turned out to see an address presented to the Duke and a bouquet to the
Duchess. Late in the evening of the 25th Fort William was reached and
the school children of the town sang "The Maple Leaf" from an
illuminated stand at the station. At Port Arthur the Duke accepted a
case of mineral specimens. Winnipeg was reached at noon of the next day
after a quick journey through the "Lake of the Woods" district and a
splendid welcome was accorded the Royal visitors. Flags flew everywhere
and decorations abounded throughout the city. At the station about a
hundred of Manitoba's leading men were gathered. The Governor-General
and Lady Minto and Sir Wilfrid Laurier were also present to assist in
the welcome, as their trains had preceded the Royal party to Winnipeg.
The same order was observed in this connection throughout the Canadian
tour.
IN WINNIPEG AND THE WEST
The Royal procession then passed along the wide main street of the city,
through splendid arches of wheat, to the City Hall, where Mayor
Arbuthnot presented the address to the Duke. Archbishop Machray then
presented an address from the Church of England in Rupert's Land,
expressive of welcome and attachment to the Throne and Empire.
Archbishop Langevin, on behalf of the Catholics of Manitoba and the
West, in his address dwelt upon the French pioneer labours in the
Northwest, and declared the pride felt by the people of his Church in
having defended England's noble standard, even at the expense of their
blood. "We thank God for the amount of religious liberty we enjoy under
the British flag." In his reply, the Duke of Cornwall and York spoke of
the marvellous progress made by Winnipeg--"the busy centre of what has
become the great granary of the Empire, the political centre of an
active and enterprising population in the full enjoyment of the
privileges and institutions of British citizenship." Then followed the
presentation of South African medals and a luncheon at Government House
attended by many leading citizens. In the afternoon the University of
Manitoba was visited and an address read by Archbishop Machray,
Chancellor of the University. A state dinner was given in the evening at
Government House and about ten o'clock the Royal visitors passed through
the crowded and illuminated streets of the city to the train, followed
by a torchlight procession and the sound of many cheers.
At Regina, on September 27th, a loyal welcome was received. The
procession to Government House was followed by the reception of twelve
addresses from Territorial centres and the distribution of South African
decorations. A luncheon was given by Lieutenant-Governor Forget, and at
3 P.M., the Royal visitors departed for Calgary. There, on the following
morning, they witnessed a thoroughly typical Western scene and received