this reason it cannot be said that French-Canadians as a unit would be likely to favour any movement in this direction at present.
(e) Apart from this factor, however, there is a residuum of difficulty which must be attributed to the Canadian feeling of nationhood — the desire to be something more than a 'colony,' a mere appanage of the Imperial system. Lord Dufferin (than whom no Governor-General ever did more for the British connection) became aware of this feeling as soon as he came to Canada, and discussed the subject in a most interesting letter to Lord Carnarvon (vide Sir Alfred Lyall's 'Life,' vol. i., pp. 229-231). The sentiment has no necessary connection with any vague or premature aspirations for 'independence.' It rather amounts to a tacit protest against any action that might tend to stereotype the present status of the Dominion as a protected dependency. From this point of view any taxation for Imperial purposes, however small, could hardly fail to raise the difficult questions of representation and the claim to have a fair share in the determination of Imperial policy. Its advocates would probably argue that it would be better to remain, as it were, in tutelage for a while longer, until the colonial phase of her history could be quite outgrown, and Canada, as a nation, could assume a fuller partnership than is possible at present in the duties and responsibilities of Empire, as well as in its profits and advantages.
Meanwhile, in spite of the fact that Canada has not yet come up to the level of Imperial expectations in this regard, the essential thing is that there never was a time at which the spirit of loyal attachment was deeper or more widely spread. It has shown itself in various ways, and it may be depended on to make itself felt in working out an eventual solution of the problem under consideration.
