among themselves, and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps, taking away at the same time trial by jury.' To the question, "Suppose Great Britain should be at war in Europe, would North America contribute to the support of it?' Dr. Franklin answered, I think they would. They consider themselves as part of the British Empire, and as having one common interest with it.'

How unwise and how stern must have been that policy which could turn allies so faithful as they had proved themselves into the most implacable enemies! These thirteen colonies have grown into thirty-three independent states, and those less than three millions of British subjects into thirty-three millions of foreigners, who have been enemies of Britain, but never allies; whose moral influence in peace or war the land of their fathers never feels. Whatever may be said of the cause of that revolution, or of the continued want of amity towards Britain on the part of her American descendants, this, at all events, cannot be denied, that England failed to retain the allegiance of those most loyal and vigorous communities of her own race while under the British Crown, and to secure their friendship after their separation from it. These are of that class of blunders, seeds sown in the infancy of society, the bitter fruits of which do not mature till the far off future, till it may be the old age of the nation.

D 2

CHAPTER IV.

INTRODUCTION OF PARLIAMENTARY OR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENTS.

British America-Responsible Government-Its EffectsBurke-Colonial Office-Disputes-Colonial Tariffs. Pp.

36-46.

To the north of the Great Republic, in the magnificent valley of the St. Lawrence, have grown up other British communities once the possessions of a foreign Power, whilst those that were British, from their foundation, are now foreign. A wiser policy has made these flourishing provinces, in 1863, what Dr. Franklin described the old ones to have been a century before, in 1763, 'British in feeling-considering themselves as part of the British Empire, and as having one common interest with it.'

Newfoundland had been occupied by the English as early as Virginia (1608). Nova Scotia, discovered by Cabot of Bristol, in 1497, came finally into the possession of Britain in 1713, after having been alternately under the French and English. New

Brunswick, like Upper Canada, was settled by the United Empire Loyalists in 1783, after the close of the American revolution; and, in 1784, separated from Nova Scotia, of which she had previously formed a part.

Quebec was captured by Wolfe in 1759, and Canada ceded to Britain at the treaty of Paris, in 1763. It was erected into a province in 1784, and divided into Upper and Lower Canada in 1791, and again united, fifty years afterwards, in 1841. Representative institutions were granted in 1791, a governor and legislative council appointed by the Crown, and an assembly elected by the people. The Act of 1841, uniting again the two provinces, enlarged the powers of their legislature. Canada had

asked for a government based upon the same principles as the British constitution-the responsibility of the advisers of the Crown to Parliament. The resolutions of the Canadian House of Assembly, passed in September 1841, clearly express the nature of their demand.

1. That the head of the executive government of the province, being within the limits of his government the representative of the sovereign, is responsible to the Imperial authority alone; but that, nevertheless, the management of our local affairs can only be conducted by him, by and with

the assistance, counsel, and information of subordinate officers in the province.'

2. That the chief advisers of the representative of the sovereign, constituting a provincial administration under him, ought to be men possessed of the confidence of the representatives of the people.'

Responsible government was made the test question at the elections in the maritime provinces, as well as in Canada; but British statesmen in this, as in many other instances, so long turned a deaf ear to just demands, that when the concessions came they were received without thanks, because yielded without grace. The colonists called to mind the contrast between their condition and that of the first settlers in America; that those acting under charters from the arbitrary Stuarts had really more freedom of action, both in their internal affairs and external relations during the first half of the seventeenth, than they in the middle of the nineteenth century; but the statesmen of England seemed to have forgotten that the attempts to restrain that liberty produced the angry dissensions ending in the loss of those colonies; and that in the spirit of their government they differed little from their ancestors of three generations before. There were indeed men at that day who enunciated in substance the principles of colonial government since adopted with

such happy results. Foremost among these was Edmund Burke, who, with that extraordinary insight into human affairs, and that practical wisdom drawn from history, which so distinguished him, used these remarkable words, in 1775, in moving his 'Resolutions for conciliation with America':

'My hold of the colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges and equal protection. These are ties which, though light as air, are as strong as iron. Let the colonies always keep the idea of their civil rights associated with your government, they will cling and grapple to you, and no power under Heaven will be able to tear them from your allegiance. But let it once be understood that your government may be one thing and their privileges another, the cement is gone, the cohesion is loosened, and everything hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have the wisdom to keep the sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary of liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the chosen race and sons of England worship freedom, they will turn their faces towards you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have; the more ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obe

dience.'