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 possessions in North America, in spite of the somewhat unfriendly inroad of 1812, made in the name of freedom by the youthful Republic to the South; and the subsequent development of the Dominion is bound up with two factors which past history has rendered essential and indispensable, viz.: First, harmonious cooperation between the two races, which the conquest of Canada left in possession of the soil; and, secondly, ungrudging recognition on the part of the United States that there is ample room on the North American Continent for the evolution of a political ideal, a type of citizenship, and a pattern of civilization, somewhat different from its own.

Space cannot be found here for more than the barest reference to the story of the conquest of Canada, though it is one which is highly gratifying to British pride. At first the greatest gainers by the downfall of New France were our own Colonies in New England. The deliberate attempt to keep these Colonies cooped up along a comparatively narrow seaboard was foiled by Wolfe's capture of Quebec. That heroic achievement, which was only part of a wider struggle in two hemispheres at once, decided the future of the whole Continent of North America. It may be said also to have led up to the American War of Independence. For, if success had not crowned the British arms in the previous struggle, the thirteen Colonies would have had their hands full in keeping the French at bay, and would have had still to rely on British support. Destiny had decreed, however, that New France should survive on the American Continent enshrined mainly in the institutions and traditions of the Canadian Province of Quebec. Everyone is aware how different has been the fate of the region which is known as the State of Louisiana in the American Union.

One of the untoward results of the American Revolution was the dualism which it set up between the new Republic and the British possessions on its northern border. At the time of the conquest, Canada, and