The Word of the Man Who Knows

The plan of the Immigration Department of the Government to send a deputation of representative North-western farmers over to Great Britain for the purpose of bearing personal testimony to the agricultural resources of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories is one which must appeal to the practical common-sense of everyone who takes trouble to give it any consideration. The kind of immigrants that we want in Canada is not the scourings of the slums of London, nor even to a very great extent the more respectable part of the surplus population of the cities such as the ordinary immigration agent comes in contact with but the farm labourers and the small tenant farmers of the country districts, who are not prepared to give up their living, poor as it may be unless they can be thoroughly convinced that they are really going to better themselves materially. And there is little doubt that the most effective way possible of doing this is by confronting them with the evidence of men who have been through the mill themselves and can calm the fears of prospective settlers by explaining to them just how every difficulty was met in getting a foothold in the new country. Just as business men in the old country are inclined to look with suspicion upon the most persuasive of immigration agents. But let him be talked to by a man who perhaps only a few years before was in no better a position than himself and whom he may have an opportunity of cross-examining closely in regard to every step of the way leading to the coveted prosperity, and it is an entirely different proposition. A plain, hard-headed statement of what I have actually accomplished myself is bound to be more convincing than the most glowing account of achievements of which I have only a second-hand knowledge. And a couple months good hard work and heart to heart talks by half a hundred farmers who can declare with truth positiveness, "I came, I saw, I conquered," ought to do more to bring desirable colonists to Canada than hundreds of thousands of dollars expended in the ordinary methods of advertising.

To Prevent Disasters

If the invention of Mr. Louis Lacoste, of this city, and of Signor Pino, the Genoeso engineer, eventuate to anything like the extent which may reasonably be expected of them, the number of marine disasters should be reduced to a minimum.

Of the 546 British and colonial ships totally lost last year, stranding was by the most common cause, collisions came next, fires only a poor third. Recent tests of Signor Pino's hydroscope, it is understood, showed that a clear view of the bed of the sea could be obtained over an area of several thousand square yards at a depth of 400 to 500 yards. The apparatus can be easily adapted to use on shipboard and will enable a navigator to see submerged sea reefs and banks from the main deck of his ship. Among vessels equipped with this eagle eye and the Lacoste firm brake to bring the ship to a stop within its own length, the dangers of stranding should be almost entirely eliminated and collisions much more easily avoided.

Whether any of the devices for the prevention of railway accidents which the present epidemic of catastrophes has called into existence are likely to be equally valuable it is difficult for a layman, at any rate, to judge. The contrivance of Mr. Peterson, of St. Hilaire, Que., to ensure the carrying out of train orders, has already been explained in The Herald, and now a Brooklyn electrical engineer has patented a signal appliance that will work in connection with the present semaphore system, and will display the signal on board the locomotive immediately before the engineer's eyes, so that it cannot be obscured in fog or darkness and if it is a danger signal will put on the air brakes and stop the train, even though the engineer be dead in his cab

The signal works in three ways at the same time. It displays for a danger signal a red light, blows a whistle and puts on the air break simultaneously. For a precautionary signal it simply puts on a green light in front of the engineer's eyes. In order to make the system doubly sure, the semaphore lights now in use may be left on the semaphores, so that there will be signals on the cab alongside the truck. A large railway system is considering the adoption of this invention.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

(The editor of this column invites readers of The Herald to contribute questions of a literary, scientific, or miscellaneous nature, which will be answered as space will permit. The contributor's name and address should be given, but only initials or a nom de plume will be used for publication).

Stories of Northwestern Canada

A.C., Montreal - Mention some works of fiction descriptive of life in the Northwest, besides those written by Ralph Connor.

Ans.-Among other books published within the last seven years and dealing with the life in the Northwest may be mention "The Three Boys in the Wild North Land," by the Rev. Egerton R. Young. This is a good book for boys and treats of hunting adventures in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay. One part of the book tells of a young man who went bear hunting but who, after wounding his game, ran way, the bear following him to the camp, where he was at length killed by some other hunters. But the Indians highly disapproved of the boy's retreat. They said: "The young white brave should not have run away from a bear. Suppose that the bear had not been killed; and after chasing the white hunter into the protection of the camp-fire, had escaped and gone and told the other bears of his success, what a rejoicing there would have been among the other bears, and how bold and saucy the bears would have been ever after." The Indians are described as having a high opinion of the intelligence of bears; because of the hand like appearance of their paws, they think they have much of the human about them. They speak of them as holding councils among themselves. When they attack them they address them as Mr. Bear and apologize for having to kill them. Readers of Hiawatha will remember the speech made by one of the heroes of that poem, beginning:

"Hark you, bear! You are a coward!

And no brave, as you pretended!"

Saying just before he killed the bear. Robinson Crusoe's man Friday, too, is represented as mocking the bear whom he had enticed out upon the branch of a tree.

Another good book written about the same time is "The Warden of The Plains" by John MacLean, author of "Canadian Savage Folk." A missionary called the Sky Pilot is one of the characters in the book. Other stories bound up in the same volume are "The White Man's Bride," "Asokon, the Chief's Daughter," "The Spirit Guide." In one story half-breeds are described as being superior to Indians in many qualities. Both these books were published in the early part of 1897 by W. Briggs, Toronto, Ont.

Writers of Two Popular Songs

Patriot, Montreal. - 1. Who was the writer of Marching Through Georgia? Who wrote "The Maple Leaf Forever?"

Ans-1. Henry C. Clark 2. Alexander Muir

Origin of Christian Endeavour Society

C.E., Montreal - State the origin of the Christian Endeavour Society.

Ans--In the winter of 1890-91 a great revival of religion took place at the Williston Church, Portland, Me. It was desired that the large body of converts be given some active work that their membership in the church might be effective, especially in the case of the younger converts. On the evening of February 2, 1881, the Rev. T.E. Clarke, pastor of the church, presented a constitution which he had previously drawn up at a meeting of the young converts. The constitution was adopted and the new society was called the Williston Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour. This constitution is essentially the same as that adopted by the great majority of all subsequent societies of Christian Endeavour. Three years later Mr. Clarke, with the aid of the Rev. S.W. Advance, revised the constitution and framed by-laws added by the various committees, the whole forming what was called "The Model Constitution."

Children Sentenced to Death

Legal, Hochelaga - The recent murder trial of Higgins and his companion in the Maritime Provinces has given rise to a discussion as to whether or not children have been ever sentenced to the death penalty in the British Empire. Please give information.

Ans--In the year 1812, a boy of twelve, named Abraham Charlesworth, was sentenced to be hanged by an English judge, for taking part in a riot; in the course of which a factory was burned. Blackstone also mentions the case of a boy of ten whom the judges unanimously condemned to death.

Ancient British Titles

H.M.C., Montreal - 1. In old copies of the Bible James I. is styled King of Great Britain, France and Ireland. Why was the King of England called the King of France? 2. Were the sovereigns of England called Emperors and Empresses before the time of Queen Victoria and Edward VII?

Ans--1. The sovereigns of Great Britain claimed the crown of France by right of succession, and sometimes, as in the cases of Edward III. and Henry V. ,by right of conquest. The right was still claimed under James I., and later kings, although all intention of enforcing the claim passed away. 2. Previous to the Norman conquest, the Saxon Kings of England used many titles of high Imperial significance. From the time that all England was united, or at least formally united, under one sovereign, that is from the time of Egbert, in the beginning of the ninth century, the reigning monarch, if strong enough, generally assumed a sort of protectorate, or more correctly speaking, overlordship of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The title generally given was that of "Basleus of Britain." The King of England was also called "Caesar", "Imperator," "Augustus," and "Imperator Augustus." In popular British histories of the last century the term "Bretwalda," meaning wide or powerful ruler, was used. This term indeed is found in a passage of the English chronicles as far back as 827 A.D. But the terms above quoted were of more general use. Other terms less in use are those of "Monarchus," "Induperator," viz., "Aethelstanus Basileus Anglorum et Imperator regum,' "Eadred Totius Albonius Monarchus." "Eadwig (Edwy) Gubernator et Rector," "Edgar Imperator Augustus," "Etheired Imperator," "Ethelred Induperator," "Ego cnut (Canute) Misericordia Del Basileus Omnies Britania." So the titles appear in various records. But the King of the English did not claim any jurisdiction over the subjects of the rulers of Ireland and Scotland in the times of the ancient British Kings. "The King and the people of the Scots chose the King of the English as their Father, and Lord, it became his duty to protect them against her enemies and their duty to serve him against his enemies." Now these titles are, it will be noted, similar to those used by the Emperors of Rome, and Basileus, a purely Greek term, was the title of the Emperor of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. It is probable that the use of such titles did not assert the right of the King of England to the rule of the Roman dominions; although three Roman Emperors began their rule in England, but to assert (1) the independence of the English Crown against the rule of Rome; (2) the supremacy of the King of England over the Kings of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is to be noted that when a King called himself "Emperor" he did not merely claim to be Emperor of Britain, Germany or some other country; but he in theory claimed to be emperor of the whole world, as Freeman says, "For an ordinary King to call himself Emperor was very nearly as strong a measure as it would have been for an ordinary Archbishop to call himself Pope." "According to the strict Imperial theory an Emperor of Britain is an impossibility." The Emperor is essentially Lord of Rome, and of the world. The last thought of the old tyrants of provincial Emperors would have been to claim any independent existence for Britain, Gaul, or any other part of the Empire of which they might have gained possession. Each claimant to the purple at Rome claimed the whole Empire. So when centuries after Rome had evacuated Britain the English King called himself Imperator (Emperor) he meant to assert the independence of his crown from the Roman domination. When the Normans came in and introduced the Feudal system these Imperial titles were allowed to lapse. Later monarchs, however, as Henry VIII. And Elizabeth, whose herald proclaimed her Empress from "the Orcade Isles to the mountains Pyrenees," revived them to some extent. Queen Victoria was created "Empress of India" at the suggestion, I believe, of Lord Beaconsfield, and Edward VII has just been proclaimed Emperor there at the late Durbar.

Merrily Every Bosom Boundeth

Singer, Montreal - 1. Can you give the words of the above named song, which was formerly well known in Montreal?

Ans--We believe this song to be a translation of one well known in Switzerland. It was a great favourite in the Misses Forneret's and other schools in this city. There are three stanzas.

"Merrily every bosom Boundeth,

Merrily on! merrily on!

When the song of Freedom soundeth, Merrily on!

There the hunter's dog hath its fleetness,

There the maiden's heart hath its sweetness,

Every joy by life accepted,

Merrily on! Merily on!

Wearily every bosom pineth,

Wearily on, wearily on!

Where the bond of slavery toileth,

Wearily on! wearily on!

There the maiden's heart hath no sweetness,

There the hunter's dog hath no fleetness,

Every joy by life's declined,

Wearily on! wearily on!

Cheerily then from hill and valley,

Cheerily on! cheerily on!

From our native mountains sally,

Cheerily on! cheerily on!

If a glorious death won by bravery,

Sweeter by the breath side of slavery,

Round the flag of freedom rally,

Cheerily on! cheerily on!"