Excerpt from The History of the Dominion of Canada In 1893 the governments Of the provinces unitedly contributed the sum Of two thousand dollars to cover the expense Of the undertaking, each paying in proportion to the number Of schools under its control. In July of that year the Dominion History Competition was opened. It was limited to British subjects who could produce satisfactory evidence Of literary ability. Though ninety persons volunteered, only forty-six were permitted to write. When the competition closed on July lst, 1895, fifteen had completed their task. The committee spent the next ten months in selecting the best manuscript, and this volume is the one to which it awarded the first place. It will be Observed that, while substantial prominence is given to important facts of a provincial character, the Object Of the author has been so to converge his narrative as to direct the mind of the reader to the federation of the provinces under the British North America Act Of 1867, and in this way unite the various currents Of provincial history into the broader channel Of the Dominion. There was in some respects a community of interests between the provinces even long before Confederation. Now, since they are happily united under one system of government, they share more intimately in a common destiny. To that union Of the interests, as well as Of the patriotic sentiments and aspirations Of all Canadians, attention is thoughtfully directed, with a view to impress upon our future citizens that we not only have a united country, but are a united people. It is to be hoped that the story of our Dominion, which in the following pages we believe is simply and faithfully told, will help to convey a fair and inspiring impression of the grandeur and importance Of the heritage committed to us as Canadians and as citizens Of the British Empire. At no more fitting time could this book be introduced to the schools of Canada than in this Jubilee year. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.