I am sure that in Canada the people appreciate this principle

Here is a powerful, ancient-style reflection on Alexander Mackenzie’s quote:

The Wisdom of the Enlightened People

When Alexander Mackenzie said, “I am sure that in Canada the people appreciate this principle, and the general intelligence which prevails over that country is such that I am sure there is no danger of a reactionary policy ever finding a response in the hearts of any considerable number of our people,” he was not simply making a statement about politics — he was offering a prayer of faith in human reason, in the enduring strength of a people guided by intelligence, fairness, and progress. His words are the testament of a leader who believed that enlightenment, once kindled, could protect a nation from falling back into darkness.

The principle he spoke of was the principle of democracy, of justice, of freedom earned through thought rather than force. In Mackenzie’s time — the late nineteenth century — the world was still trembling between the old order of monarchy and the new dawn of self-government. He saw in his young nation, Canada, the emergence of a people who thought for themselves, who would not be easily deceived by passion or prejudice. His hope was not in armies, nor in wealth, but in the intelligence of the citizen, which he regarded as the truest guardian of liberty.

For he understood, as the ancients did, that ignorance is the seed of tyranny. When people cease to think, when they abandon truth for comfort or illusion, the door opens for reaction — the turning back of progress, the return of the old chains. Yet Mackenzie, a humble stonemason who rose to lead his nation, believed that his people would resist such decay. He saw education, reason, and civic virtue as the shields that would protect Canada from the diseases that had undone empires before.

Consider the story of Pericles in ancient Athens, who also trusted in the intelligence of a free people. Under his guidance, Athens became a beacon of democracy, art, and philosophy. But when demagogues arose, feeding the citizens with fear and flattery, that same democracy turned against itself. The city fell into war and ruin. Mackenzie’s words, though spoken centuries later, carry the same warning and the same hope: that only a thinking populace can preserve the fruits of liberty, and that vigilance of mind is the price of peace.

The “reactionary policy” that Mackenzie feared was not a single law or ruler, but a spirit — the temptation of nations to retreat from progress, to yield to nostalgia, to exchange liberty for comfort and complexity for simplicity. Such movements, clothed in the language of tradition, have appeared in every age, whispering that the past was purer, the world simpler. Yet history shows that to walk backward is to stumble into the same pits our ancestors climbed from. Mackenzie’s faith in intelligence was faith that his people would not be deceived by these illusions.

But intelligence, though noble, must be tended like a flame. It grows dim when neglected and dies when scorned. The wise leader knew that education must be more than learning — it must be the cultivation of conscience, the union of knowledge and moral strength. A nation that reads but does not reflect, that learns but does not listen, is as lost as one that never sought truth at all. Thus, Mackenzie’s statement is both a celebration and a charge: to keep the light of reason alive in every heart, lest the shadows creep back.

Therefore, O children of the future, take heed of this teaching: guard your intelligence as you would your freedom, for one cannot live without the other. Question those who appeal to fear rather than thought. Cherish knowledge, debate with humility, and trust not those who promise easy answers to complex truths. Progress is not a gift but a duty, passed from generation to generation, preserved by courage and clarity.

For in the end, as Mackenzie foresaw, the true fortress of any nation lies not in its borders nor in its armies, but in the wisdom of its people. When that wisdom prevails — when intelligence walks hand in hand with integrity — no reactionary tide can drag the world back into darkness. And in that light, civilization endures.