connivance of the American authorities and the powerlessness of the
Home Government. So matters progressed until the spring of 1887,
when the situation became one of extreme tension. The Conservatives
were taunted with having ruined the country financially and with
pursuing a "Jingo" policy certain to end in bloodshed. Reformers
"stumped" the country, calling on their excited audiences to march
to Ottawa and compel the Premier and his infatuated followers to
resign. Annexation was openly advocated as the only sensible way
to be relieved from the overwhelming surrounding difficulties.

A ray of hope to buoy up the sorely-tried loyalists appeared,
when Canadians who had been domiciled in all parts of the States
returned to defend their native land on hearing of the great danger
she was undoubtedly in. Having lived many years under the shadow of
the Stars and Stripes, they knew well enough all that it amounted
to; the glamour of accumulated successes had not turned their heads
for they had had opportunities of observing the sinister influences
at work in American affairs, beneath the attractive exterior.
Quebec rallied to a man, and the latent military strength of the
province was developed under efficient leaders to a formidable
degree. Invaders would have met with a warm reception in this
quarter. Manitoba and the whole North-west were up and ready,
prepared to fight, more to preserve their own independence,
however, than the integrity of the Dominion, as there was then
considerable difference in sentiment between the North-west and
the Eastern Provinces. The Manitobans, too, though the Irish
element had become very strong, did not intend to succumb to Fenian
raiders, however well organized and backed up. The weakest points
were the Maritime Provinces, Ontario and British Columbia; not that
the feeling in British Columbia was not loyal to the Dominion, but