I] IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^v V\>% z .<$> 1.0 !!:■- IM I.I 11.25 45 ^ HI 12.0 12.2 1.4 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation •k^ V'fiST MAJN S RBBT WMSTIIii. V • 14580 (716) 872-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductbons historiques C^ Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D n n n Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul^e I I Cover title missing/ D Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couldur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relii avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ Lareliure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int6rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors dune restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires: L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m6thode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Pages damaged/ Pagas endommag^es □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur6es et/ou peliiculdes V Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d^color^es, tachetdes ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Qualitd in^gale de I'impression Includes supplementary materi{ Comprend du n-^ateriel supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible I I Pages detached/ rjl Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition available/ D Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partieliement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 film^es d nouveau de facon d obtenir la meilleure image possible This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqui ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grAce d la g6n6rosit6 de: La bibliothdque des Archives publiq'jes du Canada Thv images appearing here are the best quality possible considoring the condition and legibility of the original copy and in Iceeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers aie filnted beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the bacic cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol -^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many framos as required The following diagrams Hlustrate the method: Las images suivantee ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec lea conditions du contrat de fiimage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim^e sont film6s en commengant par ie premier plat et en terminant soit par ia dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'illustration, soit par ie second plat, seion Ig cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film^s en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUSVRE ". ie symbole V ^ignifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimds i des taux de r6duction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est fiim6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant ie nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent ia mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 m X OUR COUI^TRY, AND OUR DUTY TO IT. "•"M^^^r^^ ^€^*^*»^- A LECTURE DKUVEBED BEFOliE THE MECHANICS' INSTITUTE, MONTREAL, ON THE 7TH OF MARCH, 1854, #• - ■ i X) BY '■S.\- :;! ./ • * » *■ . \r B. CHAMBERLIN, ESQ., B. C. L. TO WHICH^^SUBJOINED ^fd:* iji . SOME REMARKS UPON THE PROGRESS OE CANADA. rfhc^ Taken from a Lecture delivered before the Mercantile Library AssO'^ ciation of Montreal, in the Winter of IB52-3, '"■%- PRINTED BY WILLIAM SALTER, GREAT ST. JAMES STREET. 1864. The following Lecture, written and published at the request of the officers of the Mechanics' Institute of Montreal, first appeared in the columns of tlie Montreal Gazette. Several of the writer's friends having expressed a wish that it should be given to the public in a more convenient and permanent form, as likely to serve the purpose of disseminating juster views with regard to the resources and power of British North America than are now generally preva- lent, he has consented with some reluctance to issue it as a Pamphlet, after a hasty revision. He has added, by way of appendix, a portion of a Efeciute delivered by him in. the winter of 1852-3 before the Mercantile Library Association, containing some remarks upon the Progress of Canada. A Canadian by birth and education, he sends his little Irochure forth, certain of deriving no profit or fame from so indifferent a lite- rary performance, yet humbly hoping that it may not be altogether unproductive of good in the hands of those desirous of promoting the interests of his country. Montreal, 20th March, 1854. '^VT'f^TTrr.. LECTURE. The subject I have undertaken to lecture on thin evening is one, which, when select- ed, presented many charms to my own con- templation ; but on more mat ire considera- tion respecting the manner of treating it for a popular audience, I found it to be surrounded with many and not sligh: difficullips. To some, I did not doubt, the story of the pro- gress and present position of^our country must be worn threadbare by constant study and frequent repetilion8,-T-to others, and, (as I had some reason to tear) a majority, the subject is possessed of but slight interest. As for the duty we owe our country, — what can be more trite than the leaohmgs of all ages in that regard? Yet, believing it the duty of every one to study, and of those who assume the office of public teachers, to promote a knowledge of the resources of their country in order that she may b^ appreciated at her true worth, and that all may learn how best to turn those resources to their own individual advantage and that of the public, I have de- cided to stick to my text, rather than seek some other topic about which 1 might per- haps more easily, und creditably, have fliled my paper and the hour of your time kindly allotted to my lucul>raiions. And I may add with respect to the objection of liiteness, that there are oases in which important truths, have been neylected and lo^^l sight of, alter having become trite and thcrefDre distaste ful. They therefore require to be from time to time brought Htr>-sh und'-r public consider- ation. Such 1 believe to be ttie case just now in regtird to those great truths on wtiich the duty of an unselfish Patrioiisin is based. Strange as it may seem, it is not an e»6y maltpr to decide what is considertd by in- dividuals in this province as their countiy. Those whom I see liere to-night will proba- bly have at once decided theirs, to be ''Can- ada," and this mit;hl be the nnswer given in any large assembly, but if one were to go intd the stieet and uek any four or five indi- viduals about their country, the chances are, he wouid receive four or five different an- swers. " My country"! says the first — " I've no reason to be ashamed of her -"St. George for Merrie England": "nor 1," says the second — " IVline is the land of moun- tain and of flood," ''And aa long m lh« thistle and heather shall bloom, here's a health to bonnie Scotland to thee"; while a third with a rich Milesian accent chaunts "Oh! steer my bark to Erin's shore, for Erin is my home." A fourth avows that he belongs to the great universal land of no- tions, and you must speak in other than the English tongue to the fifth in order to elicit the frank, outspoken reply *'Je suia Cancdten — enfant du sot." Ask a sixth, and he will answer indirectly by telling you his parents came from England, Scotland, Ireland or the United States; and vou will very likely require to put a seoo:.^ query to him before you learn that he was born in "this Canada," as a member of the Canadian Parliament has contemptuously called it. He periiapn belongs to a national society made up of immigrants, from his father's native land, lor all races have their national socities, their national songs, and their national tradi- tions, except British Americans. Let uw hope that they too will soon feel sufficient self respect to organise themselves in a body, and avow their nativity in the face of day. Already changes in popular sentiment are perceptible, and I trust the time is not far distant when the state of affairs I have indicated will be reckoned among the things which have passed away. It is far from creditalde to us that it should have so long existed. It is not wonderful that immigrants should look back to the land of their birth with an honest pride, and, claiming a share of the honors which their foretathers helped to win for it, should feel that to be peculiarly their country. They have come here seek- ing a fortune — many of them with a firm intention to return to the Old Country to spend their last days, and lay their bones be- side their fathers. Though this country has proved more generous in tier favors than that was, — giving them the competence or wealth denied them there, — yet it is not surprising, I repeat, that the love they feel for it, as compared with that entertained for the land of their birth, is much the same as would be felt by a young man for one who gives hink steady employment and good wagei, when LECTURE. compared with that ho feels fui the mother who bore him, who tended his helpless in- fancy, who pardoned his wrong-doing and prayed for, and bl«Bsed him in his more bois- terous youth, and who watched with fond liope and pride his growth to manhood. When such a one has attained to mature manhood, he looks around him for a helpmeet, aiid, having found her, he sets up a new family aUar, — a young brood spiings up around him, he lives a new life in the children God has given him, and loves — oh ! how tenderly he should love — their mother. The old home — bis boyhood's home — has become a pleasing reminiscence ; — his mother's is still a sacred name, indeed, blest with hallowed influences to him, but the strongest aflfections of his nature are centred in that household he has built up around him — that young troop of bright-eyed urchins who greet him with the blessed name of father,— that fair and blooming matron wl!0>e love for him i^ more than tongue can tell. So it should be with the immigrant ; and he should honest- ly wed himself to the mother-country of his (.-hildren, not treat her as a mistress, to be discarded when he has tired of her favors. — Yet if her own children lack respect for her, — if she fails to win their regard, it is but reasonable to expect that others will treat hei with co!.tiimc;iy. I'liny, ai lenst, have no excusa for laiiin:; iii (Iniitul adtciiun for her. They havt-, it is irnt>, a glorious old grandmother ovti llin (nii an, lo whom they owe veneration. — u rich ai il powerful uncle next door, foi whom thej alu/uld eiiienaiii be- coming reepf'Ct, but their inulher is here,— a fair-haired, gracelul, noble youtijj mairon j not so rich as her mother or her brolhoi .lonalhan, ImiI well to oo in tht; world ; pros- prousand thriving ; aiid if her m)iis L^eiiave themselves, she is yet v-estii.ed lo cut no mean figure in her tim»'. The uihabitants of Hritish America ehonki not be ashamt- d to confess their country. 'Jiue, olie cannot puiut to a brilliant past, to rHiiiiiii^tCui.CfH ot f;reat deeds done which siir up the heart to enlhusiaism, but she doesollei u^ltuuius fu ture to those who have strength of heart and jiurjose to look forward lo it lor rcw.nd, and direct all their energies to securti it. It is v^ell to gather wisdom fiom the experience III ail nations who have left their impic-M on 'he page of history, and l»ear:i toadiuire their great men and gieat deeds, but let ns iiot vainly rt^nt that we are not jjarticipalors in ' lie honors of (heir imimplis. I foroiie glad- .y accept the pariitioii of time that Provi- iknce has Keen tit to make lor us. I will Willingly give others all ihe past of other ands for a moderate share of the future/ w my own. It depends upon our own exer- tions whether the period and place assigned to ns shall be inglorious or not. To come back, however, mote directly to the point from which I have somewhat wan- dered, it behoves me to explain what I mean by the term '• Our Country." There is a growing feeling in the Bri- tish American Provinces that, having iden- tical institutions, interests, language, and habits, and looking to one. common Sovereign head, ihey do in reality con- stitute bat one couoiry,— their inhabitants but one people, and many are look- ing forward to the day when they shall be politically united. On this point 1 entei- tain strong feelings, and claim here as else- where, ihat, as a native of this Province, my country strelchfs from Newfoundland to Vancouver's Island, from the latitude oi Sandwich to the North Pole. It is of th« territories contained within these limits that 1 purpose to speak to-night. Let us glance at their resources. They contain a greater area than did the American Union, up to her re- cent acquisitions from Mexico,— (though with a much larger portion of it unfit tor cultivation) inhabited by a hardy, indus- trious, and intelli<>ent people. They have now a population of about 3,000,000, equal to that of the United States at the period of the Revolution. Their joint revenues, rais- ed wiiliout any oppressive or even burden- some taxati'in, do not fall much short oi X2,000,000,— w hile they have a public debt of less than hve millions and a half. The fact th.ll their se(!nrilies are of equal value with those of the United States in the Lon- don Money Maikel, shews we need not lack lor funils In (l(;ve'iope their vast resources if ihmr linances be discreetly managed. British Ameiica is the third maritime powei in the world, Milking next after Britain and the Utiied Slates: and Quebec the second ship- ping port on this continent, ranking next after New York. Really this hardly seems a position lo t>e ashamed of. But let us ex- 'imine the several Provinces a little in detail. If wc take up Ihe map of the world, and look for the shortest roiirse a vessel can take, in or- iler toestablisti a speedy cnmmuriicatioii between the old world and the nt w, within temperate lati- tudes, we find that course to lie between the Wf'Stern coast of Ireland and Ihe Kastern coast of iNewloundland. This latter island we find ly- inj;sniit;ly enouj^li in ihe mouth of the Uulfof St. Lawrence, lis area is about equal to lhat of Eng- land, and coi spqiif'ntlv greater than that of either Scotland nr Ireland. Its soil is not generally very LECTURE. fertile, and it probably will never beconne a rich agricultural country ; but its position is such that it nnust sooner or later become well peopled and tbrivinic. It now possesses a population of IW5,* 000 touls. Within convenient distance from it are the great fianks, where are the best deep sea fisheries in the world, while all around its shores ^e rich fishing preserves, maintained for the use ^f British Colonists alone. About 30,000 men, with 400 or 500 vessels and 10,000 to 1 2,000 boats, are employed in carrying on this branch of indus- try. The value of the property embarked in them in 1849 was estimated at over $2663,000. The value of the products of the colony, on an av* erage of four years, ending in 1849. was estimat- ed at $6,352,000, and it has probably increased since then. With the manner in which the cod fisheries are carried on, you are probably to some extent acquainted. Although a hard and by no means over nice work, it is yet unattended with any greater perils than are attendarit upon any sea taring Hie, and from these even, the shore boat fisheries are in a great measure exempt. But there is another kind of fishery pursued by the hardy Newtoundlanders, and their neighbours who inhabit the Labrador coast, which deserves more parlirular notice. I allude to the seal fish- eries. 1 glean »ome facts concerning them (as well as a great deal moreol the statistical inform- ation 1 am enabled to lay before yuu) from the re- port of Mr. Israel Andrews to the Senate of the United States. These fisheries were first en- tered upon some fifty years ago, but did not em- ploy any considerable number of men or vessels until 1825. Since then they have been steadily increasing, and in 1851, 380,000 seals were taken. The vessels employed range in capacity from 60 to 180 tons, with crews ot from twentt-five to forty-five men. They are got ready for sea in March, when the several crews combine, and cut their vessels out of the ice in which they have been frozen up during the winter. During that month and April the principal part of the floating Northern ice comes down, (though icebergs are more frequently met with later in the season) and upon this are found vast herds of seals. Into the midst of it the little vessels take their way. The hunters or fishers steal upon their victims white dozing comlbrtably upon the ice, enjoying a cool and happy siesta on their white-sheeted ham- mocks, and, knocking them incontinently on the bead, indefinitely prolong the slumber in which they are so deeply buried. Fire-arms have been sometimes employed, but they awaken, and frighten the other sleepers, and lead to the escape ot numbers of them, who save their grease( Greece ) by means of a spluttering duck, even as Home is said once to have been saved by a cackling gouse. When caught, the poor seals are summarily eject- ed from their skins, to which their warm lining of fat adheres, and these are carried together to, and packed carefully away in, the hold of tie ves- sel. But the seals do not always suffer alone in these expeditions. Their gallant vessels of ice are sometimes as destructive to the fleets of their enemy, as fire ships in more civilized warfare. — Their captors are surrounded with perils. Push- ing and sailing about with difficulty amid the drifting ice. and exposed to the fury of March winds, and storms of snow and sleet, they require s'rong bear's, and sturdy frames to carry them through. But the brave fellows rather court than shun the risk, and no forth chee fully, year after year, to face it. Sometimes a false step upon the shifting ice, plunges a poor fellow into the deep; it closes over bis liead ; there i* no hope of affuid- ing him assistance, — be is gone — his skipper dashes the tear from bis eye with his hard hand as he turns from the spot, his comrades gather mournfully together and talk ot him below their breath: perchance they foresee in imagination their return home, and the angui^^h of the poor fellow's widowed mother longing fondly to clasp her manly son. — the stay and comfort of her old ase, in her arms. Ah! who shall be the bearer of the tidings to her that will surely break her heart. Perhaps in sorre dark night their little vessel becomes entangled among large fields of ice,— the storm howls wildly about them ; closer and closer come the threatening masses ; they grind against the sides ol the vessel ; they crush through her ribs — they rear their crests above the deck, and sweep them clean ; and men and vessel are whelmed together in the dark waters, or lie broken, mangled, disfigured — dead on that lone, cold bed. No one survives to tell the tp|e, and a whole village perhaps mourns (or tbeir gal- lant breadwinners lost, in such a stern school as this, are trained as hardy seamen as the world e'er saw. Great Britain noir wants volunteers for her Baltic fleet, — she cannot find better than in Newloundland. Having reached the shore, the fishermen next proceed to separate the fat or blubber from tho skins. They then, says Mr. Andrews, cut it in pieces and put it into frame work vats, w here it becomes oil simply by exposure to the heat of the sun. In three or four weeks it flows freely. The first which flows ofl' is the virgin or pale oil, and the last the brown oil, known by these names in commerce. The skins are spread out and salted in bulk, and packed in bundles of five each for ex- portation. The vessels, nets, lines, provisions,8ic. for this business, are furnished by merchants, — a, middle man superintends the operations of the crew on his behalf, — and the profits of the catch are equally divided between the outfitter and the crews. A fisherman usually gels from seventy to one hundred dollars for the season, (which ends in October,) when hired for wages instead of re- ceiving a share of profits, or, as they call it, — be- ing hired " on half iheir hand." Besides the Cod and Seal fi'^heries, the Labra- dorians, our own Uasp^ fishermen, and some of the Newlounulanders cngajie in the equally hardy pursuit of whale fiBhing,aMd it is believed that this business might with profit be much extended Although Herring, Salmon and Mackerel, abound at the proper seasons around Newfound- land, they are neglected by the Islanders for the Cod, which they say is more profitable. In fact when a Newfoundlander speaks of fish he mrans Cod,~other fish being designated by their special names. You see Cod every whert-, you eat Cod 6 LECTURE. •verywhern, you smell them almost everywhere, — the shoifsbeingpertumed with them where the cleaning and dryinK process has been carried on, —and cultivated lands are '.nanured with the leiiise. Nay, if all tales told about their political and social condition be not fish stories the mind of the people baa alio been very decidedly '^od-dled. The New- foundlanders export thfir fish to almost uvery quarter of the globe, in 1851 Portugal wafl their riext best customer after Ureat Britain ; but their importations are taken almos,aiul from these points upon the completion of the lines of telegraph now being constructed, intelligence may in a very few hours be sent to almost any part ot either continent. People who nave striven so earnestly, and expended so much money and labor, to lacili- tate the transmission of intellig'^nce, as have those of Great Britain and the United States will not rest satisfied until this be done; and the Ailantic steamers will probably make St. John a port of call and probably a coaling station. Indeed, had the island been American, I am inclined to think brother Jonathan would have had it^ed that way ere this. John Bull and Jack Newfoundlander are somewhat slower in their movements — and the latter is as yet but a stripling, but they will brin!< it about in time. Having dropped her tele- graphic summary, and perhaps her mails too,— - (which may yet cross the islands by rail, thence to tbe mainland by a swilt steamer, and then ou by rail again to the uttermost parts of America,) we u:ay next expect lo see the Ocean Steamer take her passengers, and the lighter and more valuable portion of her cargo to the nearest port and Rait;?av depot in Nova Scotia, whence it will be distributed West and North and South by Railway. She will then perhaps proceed with tbe heavier portion of her cargo to Portland, Boston or New York. The ports of Nova Scotia and especi- ally that of Louisbourg, if the Gut of Canso, like Menai Straits, and the St. Lawrence should come to be biidged— present every facility for the use of this, the shortest possible water transit. There will be found coal and almost auy kinds ol ship- building material, in abundance, cheaper than at any of ibe United States ports. To me the setting of the current oi trade in this direction s^iems a mere question of time. lama >vare ol tbe ar$;ument that the great centri>s of traffic and wealth draw to themselves the trade spite of the better situation of other porU, and that New York must absorb mure and more of the trade ol the conlineat, tut may not the absorption of Ameiieaa trads by Liverpool arid Glasgow in despite of Loud'jn fur- nish a sufficient answer to that 1 Before leaving Newfoundland for Nova Scotia, let us take a hasty glance at the Labrador coact, politically annexed to that island, and only sepa- rated from it by the straits of Belleisle. - Many of you will remember that recently a Mra^ Warren came to Quebec as the bearer of a petitio J^ from the white inhabitants that they might be permitted to enjoy the blessings of commercial connection with Canada, and be rid of tbe burden of the Newfoundland Customs Tariff. The Go- vernment of that colony imposes a heavy tax upon breadstuffs coming from Canada as well as elsewhere, and in fact, makes that tax its princi* pal sourco of revenue. Tbe permanently resident white population of the coast is set down by Mr. Andrewa at only about 800 souls, living at the differrnt trading posts, scattered at consider- able distances apart, but there are large numbers of red men frequenting it, with whom the white settlers sometimes intermarry. The nunriber of fishermen from the sister colonies and the United States, who visit it each bummer, is estimated at 10,000 to 15,000. The value of the annual ex- ports is variously stated as being from 2% millions to 4 millions nf dollars, the imports being set down at $6(10,000. The exports consist princi- pally of huh, oil and furs, some of the finest varie- ties of tbe latter being obtained there. A pretty large herring fishery is also carried on there. — Another occupation of the inhabitants is that of gathering the eggs of wild fow., which are ex- ported principally to Nova Scotia. One little vessel of 25 tons cleared X^OO in this business in one season. Almost directly south of Newfoundland lies the island ot Cape Breton, separated from Nova Sco- tia, (of which it politically forms part,) by tba Gut of Canso. This narrow strait forms tb« southern passage for vessels leaving tke Gulf ol St. Lawrence, and is used by those destined foi the United States and the West Indies. As this strait may be bridged, I believe, about, or quite as easily as tbe St. Lawrence, Cape Breton may be looked upon for all commercial purposes as part of the mainland. So regarded it becomes inva- luable, being the easternmost part of the continent within a temperate climate. It has an area of 2,000,000 acres, and a population of about equal to that of this city. A great many of the settlers are emigrants from the Scotch Highlands and the Hebrides. A singular natural phenomenon exists here, supposed to have been caused by some vio- lent convulsion of nature. The island is nearly divided in twain by an arm of tbe sea, called the Bras d'Or Lake. This lake is about 50 miles long, and in some places 20 miles bioad. It ren- ders the interior of the island accessible to the lar- gest class of sea-going vessels, and it abounds in fish which are caught here in winter, through the ce, as well as in summer. In some of its bays, timber ships for England are laden at 50 or 60 miles from the open sea. This little island, with Its sparse population, exports about $ 300,000 Worth of fish an.iually. But its riches ere by no LECTURE. mraM confined to it* hiheries or ltd tucccMful husbandry. It contains a vast deposit ot coal 120 •quale miles in area, and is believed to poiisess valuable mines ot Iron and copper In fact, the Bras d'Or Lake received its name from a shininft substance visible at its bottom, formerly supposed to be gold, but since, copper. At the Sydney mines, the vein of coal is 6 feet in thickness, af- fording a profitable scope for mining operations. They are not, however, as yet worked with any degree of energy. The exports in 1849 amounted to but 13,000 chaldrons. It is said that they might be indefinitely increased, but for the monopoly of the mines by a company holding under a lease from the heirs of thfl late Duke of York, to whom the grant was unwisely and unjustly made. Some 500 vessels are annually employed in the com- merce of the island. The value of imports in 1850, was estimated at about $140,000, and that of expoits in the same year at $340,000. These, however, ate likely tu be under statements, as a good deal of the trade passes through Halifax, and swells the returns of Nova Scotia proper at the expense of Cape Breton. That its commerce is destined to be very great, seems to be most cer- tain. Our neighbours are wont to talk much of the manifest destiny of their great republic. Let us boast when occasion offers about the manifest destiny of little (Jape Breton. The Nova Scotians seem to have lacked busi- ness energy and enterpri8e,or they would have done something ere this to take advanlage of their posi- tion The first of British American authors, their own Sam Slick, has shown up this delect of theirs in hiB series of humorous works. The Blue noses have talked very long, very loudly and pretty well upon the subjpct of internal improvements, yet all their expended breath seems to have kindled no dame. Political parties have turned these things over from hacd to hand as capital to trade upon, but beyond this, nothing seems to have been effected. They have talked with Mr. Sykes and Mr. Jack- ton by turns, and their treaties with both have ended in smoke. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sykes have come away to Canada. Mr. Howe, the leader of the government in Nova Scotia, has tallied beauti- fully and persuasively to his followers and the House of Assembly about divers modes of getting railways to the West from Halifax, and Parlia- ment seemed ready to udopt his plan. Mr. John* «ton the leader of opposition — the " Rupert of de* bate" in Nova Scotia (as it would seem from his speeches) at last persuaded them to adopt his scheme. — These schemes weie both no doubt ex- cellent schemes ;— the only drawbacks to their benefits were that they have never been set in operation, nor do they now seem likely to be lor the last advices from Nova Scotia inform us that still another is on the tapis. They hav: wast- ed their breath in calling upon Hercules, and Hercules hu declined to aid them because they do nothing of themselves. For years a canal has been talked of, (and acts passed for its con- struction) to connect the waters of the sea at Hali- fax with liiose of the Bay of Fundy by the way of the river and Lake of Shubenacadie, — but the canal is still a thins of the future. The Halifax and Quebec, and Kurnpeau and N. American rail* ways have since occupied the public attention. These are grand and comprehensive schemes, tor a Province which has as yet built no Railways at all, whose first locomotive and railway cars are things yet looming in the (I hope not distant) future. Sooner or later they will get railways built, and when they have done so they will keep up with the times, and with their neighbor!. The tortoise would ot course take longer to get aboard an express train than a hare or a cat, but once on board and the steam up he will travel as fast as either of them. And so with a country traversed by railways — the people are carried alorg in spite of their prejudices, their customs, — in spite even of what vome may deem their comforts, tiet a railway built then from Quebec or Portland to Halifax, and new life and energy will be given to Nova Scotia. Once pushed so far, it will not stop at that port: on, on it will go, until it reaches the seaboard at the east- ernmost accessible harbor, — that nearest to the coast of Britain and Ireland. That harbor (if the Gut of Canso be bridged) will probably be the now dismantled and deserted one of Louisbourg. Here, it will be remembered, a town and very strong fortifications were built by the French, but taken by the British under General Amherel, in 1758, Wolfe holding a command under him. It was then dismantled, the inhabitants removed, and the settliement broken up. Ualiburton, in bis history of Nova Scotia, concludes his description of it thus : — '* The character of the whole scene is melancholy,— presenting the memorials ot former life and population, contrasted with its preseat apparent isolation from the natives of the earth. The impression is not weakened by the sight of the few miserable huts scattered along the shores of the port, and the little fishing vessels, scarcely perceptible in the mountain swells of the ocean : they serve but to recall painfully the images of elegant edifices that once graced the foreground, and of proud flags that waved upon the lace of that heaving deep. It is not easy to give a reason for the continued desolation of Louisbourg. A harbor opening directly upon the sea whence egress is unobstiuctedand expeditious, and return equally convenient at all seasons ; excellent fish- ing grounds at the very entrance ; space on shore for all the operations of curing the fish ; every ad- vantage for trade and the fisheries, is offered in vain. The place would appear to be shunned by tacit consent. The fatality which hangs over places of fallen celebrity seems to press heavily upon this once valued spot." The harbour of Sydney, a little further nortbi is also an excellent one, and then in summer the ca- pacious Bras d'Or itself, opens its mouth to receive any quantity of shipping. Sydney possesses this advantage over Louisburg that tie country around It is more fertile, and therefore more thickly set- tled. The south-eastern coast of the island it rocky and coouparatively sterile ; and these fea* tures extend to the same coast of the peninsula of Nova Scotia, whither by your leave we will now proceed. While, as I have just said, its south- eastern coast is rocky and comparatively sterile LECTURE. (•• in fuel ii all thn AtUiiiic co«rt for many hun- drediof niilM hpyond,) the interior rurn>shet muci* Kood land, and th« op|H)'«ite side of the peninsula, bordering on the Bay of Fiindy is exceedinKly fertile. Its diked m)irshfs contain as rich and inex- hau»'ible a soil as is to be found anywhere in the world. Nova Scotia loo, possesses rich fisheries on her coast, their yearly produce amouniinx to £1 ,- 000.000 Her Diitby Herring are fanned for their ex- cellence. She has rich beds of bituminous coal, from which are raised, notwithstanding the bane- ful effects of the mono|K>ly to which I have before alluded, from 110,000 to 116,000 chaldrons per annum. The average weight of a Pictou chal- dron Is 3,456 pounds, ond the coals are delivered OD board at that port for three dolian per chaldron to wholesale purehasers. 1 enter into these par- ticulars for the purpose of directing your attention to this aource of obtaining fuel v.nother season, should thsre be a prospect of firewood rising to its present excessive prices. This coal is pronounced to be equal to the best Newcastle. Besides her coal and fisheries Nova Scotia pos- sesses a great source of wealth in her dep9sitfl of gypsum, so generally used as a fertiliser, by agri- culturists. Of this she exported over 40,500 tons to the United Statea in 1851. She has yet much good timber in her forests, which, besides being employed largely in ihip-buiiding is ooade to some extent an article of export. She posseases god mines of iron, and, it is believed, ol lead and cop- 1>er, though these are as yit unworked. Excel- ent roofing state is also quarried. With auch a pos- ition and auch resources it seems mcredable that Mova Scotia should not soon become rich in ber developed industry, were those resources properly understood. Though the tide of immigration now aet> Westward, yet as long as the West exports its prodncta to Europe, must the facilities of inter- ies ; the rich deposits of the finest coal, with the test iron ore ; tb« superior quality of the timber, and extraordinary facilities for ship-building ; the rare advantage ot inland navigation bordered by food land for agricultural purposes ; *' exist* ence also of abondant salt springs, lofl^ cliffii of the beat gypsum, and the finest building stone of all kinds ; with the geographical sitnation of the Island as tbs key of the St. Lawrence, and the pos- ition which commands the entire commerce and fisheries of the Northeastern portion of North America— all combine to render Cape firatou one •f the most important and most desirable posces* slons of British North America. The natal power of France began to decline from the time of the conquest of Louisbourg. It was once said by Mr. Jno. McGregor, IVI.P,, late Secretary of the Board uf Trade, that the possession of Cape Breton would be more valuab'a to the United States as a nation than any Britiwh West India Islands ; and it it wer ' once obtained by them aa a fiihint; sta- tion, and a position to command the surrounding seas and neighboring coasts, the American Navy might safely cope with that of all Europe." These remarks concerning Cape Breton may be justly applied, though perbapa, on a diflerent degree, to the rest of Nova Scotia. —Returning to our maps, we quit Nova Scotia, and find, lying a few miles north of it, and east of Nnw Brunswick, the Island of Prince Edward, formerly, under French rule, called Inle Koyale. It mIso enjoys its share of the fisheries,— but, on areoutitof the singular fertility of its soil, they are not so much prized as on the less fertile coasts of the other colonies. Tbey boast sometimes of an average of wheat per acre equalling that of Upper Canada itself. Some of the newspapers and political economistk of the Island seek on this account to deter the Islandera from embarking in the fisheries, as they are thua led away from the more profitable pursuit of agriculturer~and, but for the nature of the land tenuis, (a leasehold derived from large proprietors, among whom the Island is parcellMt out, operating aoniawhat like oar Seigniorial 1 enure in Lower Canada,) this advice would probably be more generally fol- lowed. Shipbuilding is also carried on here to a considerable extent,— large numbers of fishing and trading vessels being sold annually to New- foundland and Great firitain. I la finances and trads aeem to be in a most flourishing state. The revenue has almost doubled in the last five years, and its debt has been reduced in the same period from X28,579 to £3,028. Its exports increased in the year ]849-*60 from $292,775 to 9.325,989. not including shipping, — and in 1851 rose to $607,389, including the new ships exported. Of these exports $93,492 represented the value of lumber, and $179,167 grain and breadstuffs, (including 160,000 bushels of potatoes, $0,000 bushels of barley, and 365,700 bushels of oats.; The products of'^ the fisheries exported amounted only to $39,000. Its importa in that year amounted to $475,871 . This, fur a country with an area ot only 2,134 square miles, and a popula- tion of only about 75,000 souls, is, it ssems to me, prstty good evidence of the absence of poverty or any lack of induatrv. Fifty or sixty miles to the north-east of Prince Edward arsthe Magdalen Islands, placed absurd- ly enough as it seems to me under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Government, and forming part, for electoral purposes, of the County of 6asp4. although twice as far from the neareat point of that County as flrem the shores of Cape Breton or Prince Edward, and a good deal further from it than from Newfoundland (to which it was at one time annexed) or New Brunswick. Their popu- lation, amounting to 2,000 souls, is principally made up of Acadian French, and tbsir origm may j J f LECTURE. 9 and Turnisb the '.eaion why tbcy detiru to form ptitof Lower Cantda. They are chiefiy Migaged in the cml fiaberjea which are vtsry valuable along the ahurei of the iaiandt, but they also progecule (he htrring and aeal fisheries. Gypsum is found on the hills and forms an article of export. That found upon one of the islands is of an exceediii({iy tine quality, resembling niabaster in the purity uf its whit«>ness. Deposits of ochreous clays are al- io found here. The total value of the products of the hsberies exported in 1848 was $224,000, but this is considered an under-statement, os it is de* rived from the Custom House returns, and a good many fish are carried away without being enter- ed. Yet it shows an exDort oi $112 per head Coming biick to the mainland from our wander- ings, we will wend our way to New Brunswick, our own next neighbour. Sam Slick used to in- clude the New Rrunswickers in his denunciations of Bluenose siothfulness, but he would hardly do so with any show of justice now, for 1 beli<>ve that nowhere in the United States or (anada are greater efforts being put forth to improv^> the coun- try, or more vigorous and successful enterprise displayed, than by thpm. They have imposed heavier taxes on themselves than the people of any other province. One will hardly find upon this continent a more thriving, bnsiling sea-porl tha8pe, with the adjoining Canadian counties, be- ing now a comparative wilderness, have as good a climate, with a richer 8oil,and,as large an area, as the kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark, which hdve a population of between three and four mil- lions. Thence we may infer what the future of this part of New Brunswick is likely to be. Re- specting the lumbt trade, 1 find that there waj got out upon the St. John river alone in 1852 tim- ber valued at about $2,000,000. The new ships built at that port in 1851, numbered 74, with a tonnage of 38,960. in 1851 , 35 vessels of nearly 22,OJO tons were exported from St. John, bringing about $809,U(J0. Neuily all the trade of that port is carried on by vessels built and owned in the Piovince. But noi lo weary you with figures, — from St. Andrews and St. Stephens on Passama- quoddy Bay, (forming the Maine boundary line,) from Cocagne, from Buctouche, (dear to the hearts and palates ol ('anadian epicures on account of its dr^licious little oysters,) from Uichibucto, from Miramichi, from Shipp^-gan, from Bathurst in the Bay of Chaleurs, which divides N. B. from Cana- da, and from Dalhnnsie and Campbelton on the Restigouche, which falls into the bay, large ind yearly increasing exfiorts of lumber and ships take place. The fisheries of the province are !'• no means confined to the Baie de Chaleurs, where they offended the oifact- s of the engineers, but extend along the gull coast, and are highly remunerative in the Bay of Fundy also. This Province has also great mineral wealth, similar to, but not so Ur developed, as that of Nova Scotia. &he already ex p«ii. 1 be- ieve 1 fairly succeeded in establishing that, taking district with dis!iict as they lie side by side, our Eiist has ndvanced as fast as their East, our West as fast as their West.. The progress of Toronto out- strips that ol any other city on the continent, and that of the Westtm peninsnU will compare favorably with that of iuiy of the famous VVesi.-m Sidles. Coming eastward we might compare the products, exports, and progress of the Ottawa country with that p.trt of tne state of N«w York lying between the Si. Lawiei ce and Lake Cham- plain, hut if 1 am not teiribly tnislaken, (lor I nave not had access to the necessary American statistics.) the comparison couid hardly he mr.iie, so lar ahead is the Canrfdian dis- trict • i\exi c mej to Montreal, and it will be found ;hat h'-r progress since she lecovered from the disasters following the repeal ot the Corn J^aws has been gic.iter than that o| Boston, the com- iiimercial nielropoli . of ^ew England; the latter enjoying the lull lenehis of hei in-rtgnificeni railway •ysiem, while ours \ut » posi'ion for themselves. 'J heir (daces liere have boen supplied by hhiewd Ameiicans wtioliave found ample room and verge enough lo establish successful manu- taciuies and acquire wealth. Most ol those men who have lett us would have fiddled away a long time and expended i vabt deal of ingenuity lo untie a Goiuiaii knot, which j^oiiie Alexander severs with a single sturdy stiCv; of his good swoid. ScoundieLs sometimes utter r are made to utter biiliianl tiuths, and Shakspepie has put one into tiie mouth of " honest itgo, '^ which is indeed a pearl ; — •' 'Tis 111 (HUM U es ilml we ;ire lliu:i or ihilv. " I arn thoroughly convinced that in Canada, it de- pends almost entirely on a man's own conduct whether he it successful or the reverse. ^ 4 j ' He 3 Kivin LECTURE. 11 i A mistrust of their own resources and tiiose of their country has been the bane of British colo- tii»t8 in America. '' Our doubts are traitors, Which ot'i (Id inalit! us lose tiie good We else niiglit win, — liy feariiig lo attempt it." ill this respect, we have yet much to learn from otii neighbours The Hon. .Mr. Howe recfntiy said Hi the Ab8eml)ly oINovaiscotia: — "iVleetan Amer- loaii where you will, and he is bragging of his own country. Let him come from the most sterile stale — or rock bound district— he is ever ready to stand up and defend it before the world. His eyes glisten a^ he relates lo you its perfections ; prolihc soil, inexhausiible resources, capacity for improvement of all kinds ; but to our discredit be it said, ^'ova Scotidtis seem to draw these compa- Msons only that they may depreciate their own country in the eyes of its own people and all the world beside. iSir, it is time that theae odious comparisons should cease ; or, if drawn, be found- ed upon something more tangible than floating fancies." Now as Americans go everywhere, even to the uttermost corners of the earth, and boast w herever they go, their country has cume to be everywhere known. This boasting may b&ve rendered them in many places disagreeable, but still, as Mr BuU lyman would say, it has had an effect. Frovin- cialists do not roam about so much, or when they do, they claim to be regarded generally as Eng- lishmen, and are too of'en willing to believe and confess that they have nothing in their native country to boast about. This is to be accuunteid for after this manner. The immigrants Either come generally from the British Islea, or the United States. They have not, in the majority of casesi^lefi their cwn countiies with any embitter- ed Iteliiigs against thefh. On the contrary, the Bri'ish immigrant has come to a British Province in preleiei.ce to the United Slates, because he was desirous of remaining a British subjict, and hoped to find here a transcript ol the insiitutions he left behind him. Finding them different he is v/ell digpused to make unlavorablc comparisons, and to grumbles at Colonial tonns. Ine Arneiican, on his Side, has the utate ol afl'airs in the great repub- lic ever in his eye, as the great model for every- thing. So between the two, the country, out of which they are making very snug fortunes, comes in tot a good share of contu.iiely and obuse. The Anglo-Canadian, m his sin.rilicity, looks up to them as necessarily sage-s because they have come frou: older and greaiei cituniries than his, — from the two great centres of Anglo-Saxondomi and so he sides witn one or the other ot ihem and grumbles on like tbe rest. Uis country in the meanwhile lacks defenders, and suffers in conse- quence. Jean Baptiste alone seems contented with his native land, though he too has been sometimes excited to irascibility against the government, to ms mind, " The direful spring Of woes uiiiiuiiibered," He would like, good easy man, a great bill for giving every body everything, which will give him land for nothing, as much education for no- thing as he might choose to take, and an efficient government and police withoutany taxation. He begins now to believe tha*^ he would very much like to have railways buiil with other people's money for hio profit and accommodation. He does not care to earn or save much himself, for if his crops should be bad he expects tbe govern- m<>nt, to which he contributes nothing, to give him relief in return for his good will and exem- plary conduct. Such have been bis notions of a perfect governmental system ; but the times are changing, and with them his ideas are changing and expanding. He has a thousand good quali- ties, and in one respect at least he puts Anglo- Canadians to the blush— he really loves his coun- try, and is neither ashamed nor backward to con- fess his place of nativity. Through poverty, dis- tress, affliction, disaster, he still clings to the shores of his loved St. Lawrence and Richelieu. He will not leave his with, but rather, like the old .Vlinstrel, would sing :— Seems as to me of all bereft, Sole friends thy woods and streams are left, And that I love thee better still Hv'n in extremity of ill." The first great duty which we owe our coun- try, that of loving her and sticking by her through good report and evil report, has been per- formed by our French Canadian brethren :— can Anglo Canadrans say as much for themselves 1 — But Jean Baptiste lacks, and the rest of us are not very abundantly endowed with, that stern deter- mination, and unflagging energy which gave the settlements ol the Puritan Fathers in New Eng- land I heir great success. They cast behind them a'l hankering after the joys of tbe country they had left, ibis new world was to be their home, tht.ir children's home, and they must make it a comfortable and happy one. They took little time to talk and plan ; they expended their pow- ers only in the perlormancii of deeds. Their cli- mate was more seven; than that they had left ; but what of that 1 They were strong men and able to endure it. The soil was not so fertile, but that mattered liLile,— they could improve it by continut'd labor— labor w'jich would make even the wilderness to blosaom like the rose. To such men no diMculties are insuperable ; under their hands any country will thrive. Are we not of ihe sam^' race — and shall we approve ourselves born of lets sturdy sirea '2 Ttie lact is, we are not sufficiently weaned of a spirit ol dependence. I would not preach disloy- alty or disa^ection. I beliere 1 am as leal a sub- ject as our good Queen possesses, but I would have the lesson duly remembered, which recent British legislation has been calculated and intend- ed to teach us — that we are big enough to go alone. In our first essays to walk, we toppled down on our noses, and lay (here sprawling for a time, kicking very vigorously, and bellowing very lustily ,but Mamma loreboi e to pick us up,and in due time ^ve found our temper and our legs, and have got on very well ever since. In the United States, the immigrant population becomes gradu- ally amalgamated with and forms part of tbe 12 LECTURE. American— it is their aim and desire to do so. — Here the Anglo Canadian, as if he had no coun- try, raLges himself among the British, or Ameri- eat< population. They lead him on ; he adopts their habits and views, not they his, which would b« ni«re natural and seemly. We lack the germ and leaven of nationality, a thing much wanted to •often down many wide differences of opinion and sentiment— to establish harmonious action among our differing races, and thus help us onward in our future progress. We lack that just apprecia- tion of the greatness of our country, which would lead us to prize it as we ought. As I said before, the first great duty which a man owes to his coun- try, is to love her. From the earliest times the love of country has been esteemed a virtue, and distinguished patriotism honored as deserving of commendation and reward. It has been reserved for. modern times to produce cosmopolites who profess as au article of their philosophy to love one country as well as n^nother. Ferhaps in- deed they do so. Some men have little hearts, and very little feeling. We know it was not always so. The love of the people of 6od for Judea and Jerusalem was most enthusiastic, it fcrmad in- deed, a part nf their religion, tor was not that the land which had been promised them, — the land flowing with milk and honey, set apart tor their use by God himself, to which He hf;d led them after their journey ings in the desert, whose kings and peoples he displaced in order to give them possession 1 Was not that the city in which God's temple stood, in which his presence was year by ytai manifested 1 In the fervid rhetoric cf the Prophecies, and the sweet strains of Pavid's pf{ales ; Not ca«llet> proud with soups and turrets ciown'd ; Not bays and broad iirni'd ports. Where lauj^liin;; at the stunn ncfi iiavius ride. No! men— hiifli-minded nieu ! Men wHo their duiies know, yet know Their rights, — and kno\vin<(, dare maintain ; Prevent the Ioiih aimed blow, and crush The lyram, while tiiey rend the cliaiii— These coiutitute a slate. But is time to bring this lecture to a close. I fear I have already detained you too long, and have been, I doubt not, somewhat tedious, espe- cially to the fairer portion of my auditors. Yet even to them 1 hope the subject, so imperfectly treated by me, is not without deep interest. For 1 remem- ber that the bravery and patriotism of Spartan men, is recorded to have been much owing to the teachings of their Spartan mothers ; and that Ro- man matrons did not fail to train their sons to hold their life well sold it it purchased a new honor or new franchise for their country. And how often in all ages has the bright eye of loved and lovinc woman lighted the rugged pathway of the soldier and patriot to deeds of chivalrous emprise. If they and 1 should fail in our appeal to any higher mo- tives, — they, at least, have it in their power to make Can&dianism or British Americanism fash- ionable,— and that will insure it a certain meas- ure of success. To conclude, — it has been my endeavour to show that wp have here a great and glorious country, well fitted for e high destiny ; that it is our boun ' den duty to learn her worth, to respect and to love her ourselves, and by every means in our power to make her respected by others. If we will but awaken to a realization of the fact that we have indeed a country, and do our duty to it earnes- nestly and continually, we shall not tail to leap a rich reward outselves; and those who come after us will enjoy the fruits of our labours in an assured and respected national position, a clear and unbounded areiia tor the attainment of national greatness. off in It amoi wil fordfi actioi degre havin pulat ment may our c is spr ed W( the most instit freedi 'f'rue subje (be passi schuc iy;ti est i M.ilc APPENDIX ■=frfl« The time and space taken up by the statistics of the Lower Provinces pre- vented me from entering upon those of Canada as fully as I could have desired in the preceding Lecture. In order to remedy, in some sort, this defect, I have determined to subjoin here some remarks upon this subject made in a previous Lecture : — When grumblers declaim against Canada they point to the United States as eclipsing her. This i< not the place, it I had time to-night, to enter upon n (tinciission of the merits of the respective forms ot izovernmeiit by which our neighbours and our- gfilves are governed, but I may refer ea passant to the fact that in exchange for the nominal Sover- eignty of Great Britain, we have been 1 reed from the expellee ol maintaining troops, or diplomaiists, no inconsiderable items of governmental expence i.i other countries. Mr. Watts, a barrister, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, thus speaks ot that Province, in an excellent lecture delivered before the Mechanics' institute of St. John this Winter, entitled 'J Want of confidence in our country and ourselves," in which he ably shows the absurdi- ty of our humility and timidity:— "Our institutions are free as the staunchest friend of freedom should desire. Our cohsritution invests us with all the power ot self government — we are at liberty to build, to re-build, and to furnish as our own sense ol our own r«;quirement8 shah dictate. The pow- er of a great nation is at our back to aid ua, its wisdom is within our reach to counsel us — the inducement ot the splendid triumphs of Republic- an America is beside us to stir up our emulation and enterprise; better than all, we have resour- ces in our country and ourselves sufficient lor the achievenr>ent of a great success; all we want is confidence in our country and ourselves, and that great success isceilain." Wo are surely as well off in Canada. It is a generally received and favorite doctrine among men of our race that the greatest progress will be made under a political system which af- fords the greatest amount of individual freedom of action. This freedom we possess in an eminent degree ; our danger Iying,melhink8, if any where, in having overmuch, ...id in the tendency towards po- pular tyranny and the excesses of popular excite- ment. Heie then are two points from which we may start in all our calculations lor the future of our country. The great body of our population is spruii4 fiom the same slock which has perform- ed wonders, in Britain, in lnshire 11}. issachusetts ! rate only hat of any a is taken i ted States, ining parts tve the «d- advantage Railroads b we may who owe ty to the > resources , them as so our own. ipulation i" is perh"ipM luld not be in these re settlements id as in the r we out- the wheat ban that oi T than that sin is her' e Edward IS 13} that of Wisconsin 14 and that of Prince Edward Island 15} bushels per bead of the aggregate population. The State of New York is an agricultural State, and the western part of it pre-eminently a wheat growing district. The population of that State is 3,097,358, that ol Western Canada not qoite 1 ,000,000, yet the wheat crop of the former is but one 27th larger than that of the Western .' ovince. Again, the whole Province contains less than 2,000,000 of inhabitants against the three millions of New York, yet our wheat crop exceeds theirs by two millions and a half of bushels. The pro- portion between New York and Western Canada are as u\x to tw»'nty.emht in favor of the latter. Comparing both sections of the Province with the six Northern States, vis , New England and New York we find, that with their population of 6,825,675— ours being under 1 ,800,000— they come behind us to the tune of 1 ,566,358 bush ; jude;ing by poffiUuon thrir inferiority is therefore much more marked. Comparisons with the States of Penn sylvania, Uhio, and Virginia exhibit similar re- sults. No other States produce any where near the quantity grown in Canada, though the average per head approaches nearer that of Western Cana- da, in Michigan and Illinois. I now quote from an Upper Canadian journal : — " Returning to the tour States whose staple pro- duction is wheat, namely New York, Pennsyl- yania, Ohio and Virginin, a detail comparatively drawn of the area of their improved farms, and those of Canada may enable us to form an esti- mate of the fruitfulness of their respective soils. Deficiency in the American Census returns which do not supply the number of acres on which wheat was grown — which our census most ad- equately furnishes — renders it more difficult to re- duce our calculations to exactness. In the State of New York the number of acren improved in farms is 15,408,968, acres; while that ol United Canada, which as we have shown^ grows upwards of two millions of bushels more wheat, is only 6,- 303,341 acres. Such a difiference in the apparent productiTenes.4 of the two countries, it may be thought, is accountable by the proportionate extent to which grazing is carried on in the Republican Territory. Such a presumption, however, we think our statistics will scarcely show to be borne out by facts. True, the New Yorkers own up- wards of double the number of sheep we raise in Canada, the respective numbers being 3,453,241, ami 1,597,840, but this would not itself account for the 5 odd millions of acres which they cultivate more than us, and atill come short of our wheat crop 2,000,000 bushels ; and the difficulty Is not solved by taking into account that we raise ^* 322,544 head of cattle, while the number in m neighboring State is 1,676,630." "This difference in sheep-raising which in New York as compared with both sections of this Prov- ice bears the proportion of 2 to 1 is worthy of attention ; but it should be noticed that in Upper Canada alone after approaching within some four hundred thousand bushels of the wheat produce of the neighboring State — on an area,be it observ- ed, of 3,767,724 acres, or less than one third that of New York— we likewise raise 968,022 sheep. We think this is sufficient to show that we do not lay «n unfounded claim to manifest superiority in the production of our staple com* modity. " Extending a similar comparison to Pennsylva- nia — whose improved area bears a nearer propor- tion to that of UnitedCanada than the State of New York— we think we have even greater reason for self'congratulation than is presented in the fore- going. The area of the improved farms of Penn- sylvania is 8,028,619, being upwards of 1,300,000 acres more than this province. Assuming the wheat produce of both countries last year to have been equal— which we think the statistics which we have already given show to be not unlikely — we must either come to the conclusion that seven million acres orgtound in Canada is worth eight million acres in Pennsylvania, for wheat-growing purposes— or that they excel us in stock-rearing. The alternative is self-evident. In Pennsylvania, the number of cattle in 1850 we find set down at 1 ,522,377 ; being a deficit in the former as com« pared with Canada of upwards 200,000 head of cattle ; and again of about an eqi^al number of sheep." I think it is fairly established ' / these figures that Canada, as a wheat growing country, is su- perior to the great States of the Union, when the comparison is made either by population or area of cultivated land. Unfortunately for the fulluens and exactitude of the details, thd agricultural re- turns of the United States do not show the capa- bilities of their soil as ours do. Had a column in their census report been devoted to a detail of the number of acres comprised in the wheat crop, it would then have been possible to form our com- parative estimate more certaialy. But it is enough for me to state the fact that our wheat growth almost equals the aggregate of 27 States and terri- tories and that it outvalues the individual produce of their greatest wheat growing States, not only in the actual returns but in relation to population as well as area of cultivation. I find I shall be compelled to pass over a subject upon which it was my inten|ion to have dwelt at considerable length, — I mean the capabilities of Canada as a manufacturing country, — a subject which of itself, treated by an able hand, would form the theme (or a most interesting and in- structive lecture. One thing is certain, that here in Lower Canada, water power is most abundant, and the requisite kind of labour cheaper than elsewhere in America. Our manufactories are already growing, and Montreal, Chambly, and Sherbrooke, seem destined to be the seats of large establishments of this kind. Several towns in Upper Canada too are sending forth excellent manufactures, as witness Gamble's blankets, and the agricultural implements of the Gananoque factory. I should like also to go into the details of our lumber trade, and the prospects of our Railroad enterprise, upon both which points much could be said which would furnish grounds for an honest firide in the capabilities of our country. Our umber trade is steadily progressing : shipbuilding too is becoming an important branch of indus- 18 APPENDIX. il'i try. Quebec built ships are commanding high prices and a ready sale in Britain, while year by year their style is beinx Improved. If 1 am right- ly informed, there are ships now upon the stocks at Quebec, Irom which we are likely to hear sonethinp, and our brethren in New Brunswick will have to look to the laurels which the Marco Polo has won for them. With such resources and such a past progress, Canadians sometimes call themselves feeble, des- pised and ill ofi. If they are eo, it is because they do not respect themselves or their country. They do not do their duty to her, but defame, and •neer at and rob her. The human mind seeks something to love, and lacking, as they suppose, a country worthy of afiection, Anglo-Canadians seek in social life, its pleasures and its dissipations to fill the void in their affections. The care of their country they leave toothers, looking on with com- parative indifference, while she is buff^etted and treated with contumely and abuse. 1 would to God my countrymen could be made to feel that they have a country worth striving for with the best ener^ of their minds and bodies, worth de- fending, if need should ever be, with their heart's best blood. (B) With regaid to the Ottawa District, the Report of the Directora of the Montreal a&d Bytown Railway, just publiabed, quotes Lord Elgin's Despatch, giving the expoi s of that District in 1852 as £1,391,713, and goes on to state— The inquiry instituted by the Provincial Grov* ernment as to the prospective duiatibn of the pine forests from whence the lumberman supplies hitn- self, removes any apprehension as to the cessation or curtailment of the lumber trade. The first out- tings of the pine foreHt for square timber, leaves untouched those trees suitable for Saw-logs, andof these latter it is calculated that at the present rate of consumption it would require biz hundred years to elapse befoie the existing stock could be ex- hausted. The magnitude of the interests embarked in the lumber trade can best be illustrated by selecting the firm of Messrs. J no. Egan &, Co., and furnish- ing a few facts connected with their operations. They employ in the forests one thousand seven hundred horses, two hundred head of bullocks — independent of lour hundred double teams on the roads constantly engaged in the conveyance of food and forage — they have at present three thousand five hundred men in their service, one hundred lumbering establishments scattered over several hundred miles of country, each conducted by a foreman drawing a salary of $100 to $800 pr. annum. Their consumption ot potk is ten thou- sand barrels annually, and their daily consumption of oats during the winter months from one thou- sand to twelve hundred bushels. They are build- ing one sawmill at the Chats, on the Ottawa, which will saw fifteen million feet of lumber B M annually — and their cash transactions requisite to keiep this immense machinery in motion exceed two BDi'li«n« of dollars. Pkooress or St. John. — Since the preced- ing Lecture wps in type, the following sta- tistics of the trade of St. John for the past year have reached me :— The total value, in sterling, of the imports &t the port of St. John N. B. and its out-bays, in the year 1863, was £1,667,907— being an increase of (£594,363 over the imports of 1853. The value of experts from St. John and out-bays in 1863, was £984,200— being an increase of £269,340 oxer those of 1852. Maritime Importance of Nova Scotim. The London Times says her progress in ship- ping is "on a scale to debote that at no distant day she ,» destined to be one of the largest shipping countries in the world. ' She owns now nearly one-third as much tonnage as France. She beats Austria by 2,400 vessels, and by 69,000 tons ; and owns 116,000 tons of shipping more than Bel- giiSm. She beats the two Sicilies by 38,449 tons ; Prussia by 99, 783. Holland, which once con- tested the supremacy of the seas with England, now owns but 72, 640 tons of shipping more than this, one of the smallest of the British colonies ; and Sweden, with a population of tbrie millions, only beats Nova Scotia in shipping by 36,927 tons.- At the same time, the comparison with the Unit- ed States is also remarkable. Out of the 31 States which constitute the Union, there are only six (New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Maryland) whose tonnage exceeds that of Nova Scotia, and the last three of these she is likely to outstrio in the course of a year or tWb. Considering that ibe colony is only 100 years old, and that her population does not exceed 300,000, these results are beyond anything ever before wit- nessed. It is curious, however, to discover that even as a wheat growing country she beats five of the New England States and twelve of the more recently settled States and territories.' In the growth of rye she is far ahead of sixteen of the States and territories of the Union; in oats she exceeds thirteen, in hay twenty-one, in buck- wheat and potatoes 23, and in barley every State and territory except Onio and New York. fncreate of Canadian Revenue. By a statement published in Le Canadien — obtained, I suppose, from the Receiver General's Office — it appears that the Revenue of Canada, derived from Public Works and Customs Duties, in 1852 and 1863, was as follows:— « 1852. 1853. Increase. Pub Works* .£108,607 2 6.*119,»74 18 l.X 11,401 IS 7 Cuslonis . .» .£704,496 3 3.£»e9,'T84 1 8.je2e6,M« 18 6 Total Increase X!nb,6fl6 14 To these must be added the revenue from Excise, Bank Imposts, Militia Fines, other fines and for- feitures, &c.. Law Fee Fund, and Territorial and Casual Revenue,— which amounted in 1852 to £105,000. •These figures, however, do not ajrrec exactly with ihe Parliameiimry Blue Books, hut are an approxima- liuri. m ■> an