Sir 'Peter Redpath, who spoke for Canada, dwelt on the
important effect produced by the Military College in Canada, and the grant of commissions in the British Army to the young officers who acquit themselves well in that College, and suggested that a Naval College of the same kind would be useful. Also, he wished that it could be made convenient to station a battalion or two in each of the larger Colonies, on specified conditions. The Hon. P. L. Van der Byl, of the Cape of Good Hope, spoke for the steadily improving loyalty of that Colony, which had had its times of disaffection, and held that the Cape of Good Hope might become another Gibraltar, and a great safeguard to our commerce in time of war, if the Crown and the Colony would but co-operate. Lord Salisbury, in his reply, was, of course, very cordial, and also cautious. He believed that he could not overrate the importance of the deputation. " I do not ever remember," he said, " any feeling 'having grown up so suddenly and obtained such rapid increase, both in this country and in the Colonies, as the desire which is expressed by the words, a wish for Imperial Federation." At the same time, premature action would injure, not help the cause, and he praised the deputation for its great moderation. He must consult with his colleagues before granting the prayer of the deputation, but he promised that the wishes so in- fluentially expressed would receive the gravest and most cordial consideration.
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