64 OVER ON THE ISLAND

is a mural bronze tablet commemorating the fact that in this room, on September 1, 1864, was born the Dominion of Canada. It was erected and was to be unveiled in I914——the fiftieth anniversary of Con- federation-but owing to the Great \Var the ceremony was postponed.

Emerson and Milton combine to express the result of those meetings—“Providence being their guide, they builded better than they knew.” Milton’s contribution came from Paradise Lost and there are many Islanders to-day who still think that Paradise Lost is a just symbol of Confederation as far as the Island Province is concerned.

At Tupper’s feet the basic industries of his Nova Scotian Province are represented by a pick axe and a fish. He points as if saying, ”Unity is strength." The chairman of the Charlottetown Conference, Colonel Gray, holds the Roman symbol of unity—the fasces—four staves bound together. This signified the four Provinces bound together by the Confedera- tion of 1867. Sir George Etienne Cartier holds a torch and the sword of justicewa significant tribute as his great achievement was the recording of the laws of his native province, Quebec. Sir John A. Mac- donald holds the symbol of medicine and a scythe. A sheaf of wheat and a locomotive indicates the march of progress across a new country. In the corners are the Coats of Arms of the uniting provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. At the top centre is the Imperial Coat of Arms; in the centre the Prince Edward Island Coat of Arms; and at the bottom the Canadian Coat of Arms. On the right, the herald announces the triumphant news.