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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 frames as rsquired. The follo'ving diegrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, pisnches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reprodult en un seel clichA, 11 est film* A partir da I'angia supArieur gauche, da gauche A droite, et de haut an bas. en prenant la nombre d'imagas ntcesssire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrsnt la mtthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 : 4 6 6 m f 1860. 2. w T '-"jv?''.'' ■ 1860. Colonial Constitutions and Defences. Art. IV. — Colonial Constitutions: an Out- line of the Constitutional History and Ex- isting Government of the British Depen- dencies, with Schedules of the Orders in Council, Statutes and Parliamentary Documents, relating to each Dependency. By Arthur Mills, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. London, 1856. 2. The Reports made for the year 1857 to the Secretary of State having the Depart- ment of the Colonies, in Continuation of the Reports annually made by the Gover- nors of the British Colonies, with a view to exhibit generally the Past and Pre- sent State of her Majc^ifs Colonial P^i- sessions. Presented to both Houses "i ParliameRt by command of her Majesty, 9th August, 1859. 3. Cowarfa— 1 849 to 1859. By the Hon. A. T. Galt, Finance Minister of Canada. London, 1860. 4. ITie New Zealand Constitution Act; to- gether with Correspondence between the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Governor-in- Chief of New Zealand, in ex- planation thereof . Wellington, New Zea- land, 1853. 5. Copy of Report of the Committee on Ex- pense of Military Defences in the Colonies. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 4th May 1860. Our Colonial System may be said to be composed of a number of political bodies, revolving round Great Britain as a centre planet, partaking of her progress, yet with motions peculiarly their own. The phases which they present, and the phenomena which they exhibit, cannot be objects of indiffer- ence to the inhabitants of that central orb, in the destinies of which they must in a great degree participate, and to which they are linked not less by moral affini^^les than by material relations ; for there is a principle of political gravitation which hinds them to- gether, regulates their movements, keeps them steady in their orbits, and to which even any irregularities in their apparent course are subordinate, and can be made ac- countable. It cannot, however, be denied that much apathy has long existed in considerable por- tions of the community in regard to our co- lonial possessions. It does not, happily, characterise the governing classes ; nor is it fouiul in that section of our people which originates and organizes philanthropic schemes, and which aspires to extend the blessings of civilization and of a pure reli- gion to the benighted regions of the earth. Colonies have ever been regarded by these zealous labourers as advanced outposts, from which they may send forth their missions to subdue the vast outlying regions of heathan- ism. The indifference to which we have refer- red, has, however, of late years considerably diminished ; and the more frequent discus- sion of colonial subjects, the progress of emi- gration, but more especially the wonderful development of the great Australian depen- dencies, have resulted in creating a general interest in these distant possessions of the Crown, which at an earlier period of their career, it seems difficult to believe that they would ever possess. Regarded simply in a commercial sense, there is now a disposition to attach that value to our colonies that was long denied them by some eminent political economists. It was frequently affirmed by the professors of this school, that the colonies would still send their productions to this country, and in return consume its manufac- tures, whether they continued to be British dependencies or not. But the problem ought never to have been regarded in the light of an abstract speculation, in which facts were assumed for the mere purpose of philosophi- cal investigation. Our colonies are, in ?iact dependencies of the crown ; and they cannot cease to be so prematurely without Great Britain suffering an enormous loss of pres- tige and power : and who can measure the influence of such events on her trade and com- merce 1 Nor is it an answer to say that the colonies may now buy in the cheapest mar- ket and sell in the dearest, and that they resort to Great Britain as to the m > t vantageous market. The inhabitants of the British colonies are British subjects ; they carry with them, or adopt English manners, English tastes, and English sympathies ; they imitate English habits, and they like English things ; their correspondents are generally in England ; hence the demand is almost ne- cessarily for English manufactured goods. Even if these should be a little dearer than foreign articles, they would still be bought; and the taste for these things yearly ex- tends into new and more distant countries as the English race spreads ovir the world, keeping iTritish commerce in the channels it has already entered, and constantly pour- ing it into new. It would be a bold assertion, and one very difficult to support, that if the colonies now ^iccupied by peo- ple of the British race were occupied by another people, they would be the con- sumers of British commodities to the same extent as at present ; and that those who would otherwise occupy them would not prefer the urtieles of that country of which they might be citizens, to those of another to which they were no way related. These -T.) 'i>i ■ 46 Colonial ConstUutiona and Defences. August, propositions may be illustrated by a refer- ence to ligures : — PopxUation of th« vndt. •■mtntloned Countriet, and See- portt to thim /rom tke Vniteu Kingdom, in t/ie year 1S8T. British America, Australia Uulted States, . Population. 8,ni4,oni 1,107,587 27,797,4118 Imports from tireat Britain. L 4,6ftS.86D 18,17ft,125 20,U7C,Sl»3 Here the United States exhibits a return in proportion to its vast population, which con- trasts most unfavourably with the two colo- nies above specified ; and it is impossible to doubt that the independence of the country has had much influence in restrictiiig its trade with Great Britain, large as it is, and that it might, and probably would, have been a much greater consumer of British commodities had it remained an integral part of our colonial empire. Nor is there any ground for supposing that its wonder- ful material development would not have proceeded at an equally rapid rate if it had not separated itself from the parent state. But the retention of the dependencies of the British Crown is sometimes objected, for special reasons, not without a certain degree of plausibility. An extensive colonial em- pire, it is said, is a source rather of weakness than of strength ; the cost is considerable, and the profit at least problematical. Those countries it is moreover affirmed, which, in ancient or modern times, have indulged the vanity or ambition of acquiring distant and extensive settlements, derived neither wealth in the days of their prosperity, nor assis- tance in those of adversity, from their thank- less and indifferent offspring. The Greek colonies were peculiar to their age and race. Groups of emigrants, driven by necessity or impelled by the love of adventure left their homes and renounced their allegiance, fixed their new domicile where they pleased, were bound to the parent stale by no political tie, and were indeed wholly unconnected with it except by moral sympathies and tra- ditionary associations. The colonial system of Carthage was founded on a strict mono- poly, resembling in many respects that of England in an early stage of her commercial career; and she fell v/ithout having expe- rienced, in the hour of her extremity, either aid or sympathy. Roman settlements were merely distant garrisons. Spain and Por- tugal, in recent times, justly forfeited the al- legiance of their colonists, and lost their ex- temded empires, by a combined policy of selfishness and ignorance ; and the magnifi- cent countries which they misgoverned took the earliest opportunity of trampling the symbols of their subjection in the dust and proclaiming their independence. Great Britain nlone among modern states has retained a large portion of her colonial empire. The policy on which it was origi- nally founded differed, as we have remark- ed, but little from that of other countries ; but the enlightened liberality of her leading politicians, has given a totally different de- velopment to the system from any that had been conceived possible to the less advanced states which have aspired to distant domin- ion. The rise and progress of the colonial empire of Great Britain, from the first at- tempt to plant settlements in North Ameri- ca to the lust " annexation" in India, em- braces only a period of three centuries, du- ring which a political fabric has been erec- ted, composed of fragments of almost every extinct and every existing nation of the hab- itable world ; and a power has been created to which, in the words of an eminent Amer- ican statesman, " Rome in the height of her glory was not to be compared — a power which has dotted over the whole surface of the globe with her possessions and military posts, whose morning drum-beat, following the sun, and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth daily with one con- tinuous and unbroken strain of martial music." Whatever objects may have been contem- plated in her fir^t settlements. Great Britain has not, certainly, since the unhappy quarrel with her North American colonists in the last century, attempted to obtain a tribute for her support in peace, nor does she hope to enlist troops for her defence in war,* nor to increase her ordinary revenue from any of the natural resources or productions of the colonies ; for even the untold wealth of the Australian gold-field, the indisputable property of the Crown, was abandoned with scarcely an effort for its retention, nor does she now seek in them an exclusive market for her goods, or any longer make them re- ceptacles for her delinquent population. In truth, the colonial empire of England costs the Imperial Government and the British people rather more than L.3,000,000 ster- ling per annum. For what purpose, then, is it maintained'? To those who look wholly to material results and a pecuniary balance, the question itself involves} a paradox; but to those who regird a vast empire as found- ed for some higher purpose than the creation and development of wealth, the wilful dis- memberment of such an empire seems noth- ing less than the breaking up of some vast * The regiment recently raiaod la Canada is an ex- ception, but the experiment ia not likely to be re- peated; iu faut, the coat was far greater than that of a regiment oF tlie line at home. During the hst Ruuiaa war, Great Britain, a^ is well known, had recourse to German mercenaries. > 1 1860. Colonial Constitutions and Defences. 4t and complex machinery for the progressive civilization of the human race, and an impi- ous rejection of an i -trument put into our hands by Providence for worlting out some great purpose of His government. Even the most material of our political economists, Mr. Mill, while not overlooking inferior objects, recognises colonization, al- though originating in the enterprise of indi- viduals, as involving consequences extending indefinitely beyond the present. "The question of Government intervention in the work of colonization," he says, "involves the future and permanent interests of civilization itself, and far outstretches the comparatively narrow limits of purely economical consid- erations. To appreciate the benefits of col- onization, it should be considered in its rela- tion, not to a single country, but to the col- lective economical interests of the human race. It is also a question of production, and of the most efiicient application of the resouraes of the world. The exportation of labourers and capital from old to new coun- tries, from a place where their productive power is lesr *' a place where it is greater, increases by so much the aggregate produce of the labour and capital of the world. It adds to the joint wealth of the old and the new countries what amounts, in a short pe- riod, to many times the mere cost of effect- ing the transport. There needs be no hesita- tion in aflirming that colonization, in the pre- sent state of the world, is the very best affair of business in which the capital of an old and wealthy country can possibly engage,"* Colonial selt-government is only another tertn for an extension of the principle of free- dom and the blessing of liberty over vast areas of the civilized world. This we be- lieve to be the noble " mission" of Great Britain; and her colonies arc nobly fulfilling the great purpose for which they were called into political existence. It has been w^ell to rule them with firmness during their infancy, and to contrul their inexperienced youth ; but the highest duty is to teach them how to rule themselves. Emancipation from a wholesome restraint may undoubtedly be conferred too soon ; for these young com- munities ought not to be left to themselves until they acquire a maturity at which the capacity of selfg(/vernment may be legiti- mately and safely presumed. Mistakes have undoubtedly been made both as to the mor- al fitness of some of our dependencies for the freedom conferred, as in the institutions which have been framed for them. These we shall have occasion to point out as we in revitew the various colonies of the British Empire, which we shall now proceed to do ; taking, in the first place, as the most ancient and not the least interesting of our possessions, those noble North American provinces whose loyalty to the British Crown is only exceeded by the rapid development of their wonderful resources, and the space that they must occupy in the history of the British Empire, and of the great American continent, the civilization of which is scarcely now more than two centuries old. The possession of Canada by the Crown of England dates from 1759, when it was conquered from the French by General Wolfe. It was ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of Paris in 1763. In 1791, Up- per and Lower Canada were divided, and constituted two provinces. Hoi^pes of As- sembly were at the same time formed, con- sisting of 50 members in Lower and 16 in Upper Canada. In 1840, Upper and Lower Canada were reunited, and a Legislative Council formed for the two provinces. This Council was to consist of not less than 20 members, but as many as 45 were appointed for Jife by the Crown. The Legislative As- sembly consisted of 84 members. Munici- pal institutions were established in 1840. The present constitution of Canada is the re- sult of a Reform Act passed in 1853, enlarg- ing and reconstructing the constituency, the result of which was the return of 130 mem- bers to the Legislative Assembly. In Canada the attempt was first made to place the Executive Council on the same footing of responsibility to the Representa- tive Assembly as the British Ministry stands in reference to the House of Commons — re- movable, that is to say, by a vote of censure or want of confidence. It is curious and in- structive to observe how reluctantly this un- doubted constitutional right, as it is under- stood in the mother country, was conceded to the colonies. Even the most advanced of our constitutional statesmen, Lord John Rus- sell, resolutely set his face at first against the concession. In a despatch addressed to Lord Sydenham in 1639, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, he thus expressed himself: — '• It appears from Sir George Arthur's de- spatches, that you may encounter much dif- ficulty in sul)du!ng the excitement which prevails on the question of what is called ' responsible government.' I have to instruct you, however, to refuse any explanation which may be construed to imply an acqui- escence in the petitions and addresses on this subject. The power for which a Minis- ter is responsible in England is not his own power, but that of the Crown, of which he 48 Colonial ConatitiUions and Defences. August, is, for the time, the organ. It is obvious thiit the executive councillor of a colony is in a situation totally different. The Governor under whom he serves receives his orders from the Crown of Ei.gland. But cai^ the Colonial Council be the advisers of the Crown of England 1 Evidently not ; for the Crown has other advisers for the same functions, and with superior authority. It may happen, therefore, that the Governor receives, at one and the same time, instruc- tions frum the Queen and advice from his Executive Council totally at variance with each other. If he is to obey his instructions from England, the parallel of constitutional responsibility entirely fails ; i' mi the other hand, he is to follow the a'^m -! of his Coun- cil, he is no longer a subordinate officer, but an independent sovereign." This despatch, however was almost im- mediately followed by another, in which the Secretary of State instructs the Governor- General of Canada, that hereafter the tenure of certain enumerated colonial functionaries, being members of Council and heads of ad- ministrative departments, holding office du- ring her Majesty's pleasure, would not be regarded as equivalent to a tenure duVing good behaviour, but that such officers would be called upon to retire from the public ser- vice " as often as any sufficient motives of public policy might suggest the expediency of that measure. This despatch has been regarded as the charter of " responsible glitical maturity. Municipal institutions are justly held to be valuable accessories of every free consti- tution. The Supreme Legislature can never deal in n satisfactory way with subjects de- * JSpeecli of Mr. Lowe, at a meeting of the Scoiet; far tho Rofortn of Cjlouial Uavemmeat, held June 1, 1850. VOL. XXXIII. void of general interest, however locally im- portant; and their introduction into the na- tional Senate tends only to divert it from its special duties, impair its dignity, and dimhiish its usefulness. All the laws re- lating to municipalities in Upper Canada were revised and consolidated into one statute in 1858, and a similar measure is in preparation for Lower Canada. The inhabi- tants of every county, city, town and town- ship are constituted corporations on an elec- tive principle; and the powers of these pro- vincial bodies embrace everything of a local nature, including schools, courts of justice, gaols, with rates for their support, licenses, local improvements, the care of public morals, police, together with a great number of minor matters essential to the welfare of small communities. Generally, the institu- tions of England have been taken as a guide ; and the result has been to secure to each local district the most complete man- agement of its own affiiirs, tho evils of im- proper centralization have been avoided, and every citizen finds a centre of interest and a sphere of exertion in his own imme- diate neighbourhood. In one most important department of public economy the people of Canada have advanced far beyond that of the mother country. In the provision of schools for general instruction of the population, Canada ranks conspicuously high. The Govern- ment has solved a problem which still per- plexes and divides England. In Canada the principle is established, that every child in tho country is entitled to education ; and a rate for that purpose is struck by each mu- nicipality, in addition to a grant of L.90,000 from the public exchequer. Each school district is under the management of local trustees chosen by the people. A Superin- tendent of Education is established for each county, and he is assisted by a Council of Instruction chosen from among tho leading men of the province. The school-books are selected by the Council and Superintendent. The result of the system is, that in Upper Canada alone there were, in 1858, 3866 schools and 263,683 scholars. It has been found to work satisfactorily ; and even in Lower Canada, where, until recently, educa- tion had been totally neglected, the sohools number 2800, and the scholars 130,940. Another problem presenting great diffi- culties has also been solved in Canada. Tho feudal tenures, which operated as a great obstruction to progress and material im- provement of any kind in Lower Canada, have been recently extinguished by a plan of compensation to tho lords and others ia- tcrested in, and atfected by, the change, and D-4 M 50 Colonial Constitutions and Defences. August, i ! n on indemnity from the province of L.G50,- 000. A complete social revolution has thus been effected iit a cost trifling as compared with its importance ; and it has been accom- plished quietly, without giving rise to any violence or producing even excitement, and in a manner which satisfies all parties by its justice and liberality. In legal reform, again, Canada has out- stripped her parent state in the race of im- provement. The whole statute law of the country has been consolidated into three volumes ; and a commission is now sitting, charged with the duty of codification, in Lower Canada, after the manner of the Code Napoleon. Unfortunately, the finances of the years 1857, 1858, and 1859 show marks of a tem- porary embarrassment. The diminution of revenue from various causes, together with very large undertakings in public works, to which, at the time they were commenced, Canada was financially unequal, will tax the energies of the country severely to meet the crisis and its consequences. But of the re- sult there can be no doubt ; and the develop- ment of a vast system of internt.1 communi- cation, together with the inexhaustible re- sources of the land, all point to a very bril- liant future. In a despatch from the Gov- ernor-General, Sir Edmund Head, to the Secretary of State in 1858, he states, both as his own conviction and that of subjects of the United States settled in those districts, that the whole of the trade of the north- western regions of America must ultimately look to Montreal as its port, and the St. Lawrence as its highway to the ocean ; and he adds, " I believe that no man can at pres- ent estimate the volume of the tide of com- merce which, twenty years hence, will pour down this channel." The river St. Lawrence drains a vast ex- tent of the great continent, and forms the natural channel to the ocean not merely for Canada, but also for the states of Western New Yoi-k, Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. This great district is that wherein the princi- pal cereal crop of America is produced — . bulky in its nature, comparatively low in its value, and requiring therefore the cheapest transport. Canada now possesses the most magnificent canals in the world, but without, at the present time, any trade to support them except her own ; but she has now com- bined with her unrivalled inland navigation a railroad system, the most extensive in America. The Grand Trunk Railway, with its marvellous engineering work, the Vic- toria tubular bridge, has a length of 1112 miles, and is designed to provide for the winter trade of the province, and of the great district before descril»ed, by the transport of goods to the city and harbour of Portland, U.S., being the port nearest to the river St. Lawrence. It is to be regretted that the point of departure and arrival for shipping should be in a foreign territory ; but great efforts were made, as well hy Canada as l)y New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to induce the Imperial Government to promote the extension of the Grand Trunk Railway to some colonial winter port, but without success. The American cities on the great lakes are now, it is saidf opening a direct trade through the Canadian waters with Europe ; and the time is be- lieved to be not far distant when the full ad- vantages of the St. Lawrence, as the great route from the interior of the continent to the ocean, will bo fully recognised. In connection with this grand scliemc of international communication, a proposition of a very startling character has recently been submitted by a committee of the Legis- lative Assembly of Canada, and most favour- ably received in England, for the establish- ment of a daili/ line of screw steamers, of not less than 2000 tons burthen, with a speed of from ten to twelve miles per hour, between Liverpool and Quebec, to be connected with another line of steamers of 1000 tons bur- then, of the same speed, to the W^elland Canal and Railway, Toronto, or Hamilton, intersecting a line of similar steamers on Lakes Erie or Huron to Chicago. By this connection it is calculated that first-class passengers could reach Chicago, from Liver- pool over the Grand Trunk Railway by Quebec, in twelve days. To those who arc notfiimiliar with the magnitude of the trade of the Western States of America, the idea of a daily line of steamers to England may appear preposterous ; but the scheme is founded on the soundest data, and has been considered in all its bearings ; and, by creating an identity of feeling and interests between the people of Canada and the citi- zens of the Western States of the Union, cannot fail to produce the most important commercial and political results, and may be truly considered to be one of national importance. In Canada, we seem to have solved the problem, so long deemed insoluble, how to retain a colonial dependency under the do- minion of the mother country without vio- lence and without coercion, by the mere strength of mutual interests and mutual benefits. That a country of such magnitude, with a population augmented, as it must be in no great length of time, to an equality I with that of the parent state, can remain >A August, 1860. Colonial Oonshtutions and Defences. 61 nJ of tlio , by the 1 hnibour ni'iircst to a regretted itrival lor territory ; IS well by and Novft overniiicnt the Grand lial winter 1 American r, it is saidf 10 Canadian time is bc- iho full ad- 9 the great continent to cd. d scheme of proposition has recently of the Legis- most tiivour- ;he estabiish- imcrs, of not th a speed of o'lr, between )nnected with 1)00 tons bur- ;he Welland »r Hamilton, steamers on go. By this at first-class from Liver- Railway by lOse who arc of the trade [rica, the idea Ingland may Ic scheme is tmd has been _s-, and, by [and interests and the citi- the Union, Ist important llts, and may of national solved the luble, how to Inder the do- 1 without vio- |y the mere land mutual Ih magnitude, \s it must be an equality can remain a permanent dependency of the Crown, is scarcely to bu supposed ; but whatever may bo its destiny, its people will always value as their most precious inheritance the free institutions they enjoy, and cherish an at- tachment to tliu country from which they received them. " The future," says Air. Gait, " may change our political relations ; but I feci sure the day will never arrive when Canada will withhold her support, however feeble it may bo, from Great Britain, in any contest for the maintenance of her own position, as the foremost champion of civil and religious liberty." In the mean- time, that a perfectly free community, with institutions far more democratic than our own, and conscious that it requires only an expression of its will to effect, a separation, should cling closely to our side, rival us in loyalty to our common Sovereign, and an- ticipate with enthusiasm the advent of the heir apparent of the British Empire, is a spectacle so impressive and so gratifying, that the heart of England may well beat ■with emotion and swell with justifiable pride. Can the Canada of to-day be really the same Canada, the land of endless discontents md miseries, that, a quarter of a century since, broke out into armed rebellion, and was prevented only by the presence of an over- whelming military force from following the example of America in 1770? Can the progressive Canada of to-day be the Canada of 1830, — poor, desert, and neglected, with- out capital and without credit, but with a population so hostile, it required an army to coerce it ? The land is the same, and the race is the same ; but Canada has acquired the conviction, that England has at length learned how to deal justly with her colonies ; that she has cast away the illiberpl and antiquated theories that formerly guided her conduct; that she will abstain even from interference; and that the only senti- ment she (eels is that of an attached parent, rejoicing in the approaching maturity of her political offspring. The other North American dependencies of the Crown will not occupy much of our space. They are all in a- state of pro- gressive prosperity, and entire contentment both with their institutions and the mother country. The system of responsible gov- ernment was fully recognised in Nova Scotia by the resignation of the Executive Council, in pursuance of a vote of the Pro- vincial Parliament in January 1848. The public statutes have been revised and con- solidated, and now form the code of the province. The value of the exports and imports is steadily rising, and the revenue of the province increasing. Agriculture was long almost entirely neglected in this col- ony, as otiier pursuits anbrded a more im- mediate return. The cultivation of the soil was looked upon rather as a degrading em- ployment, and ranked below that of a petty shopkeeper or intinerant pedlar. A Board of Agriculture was established in 1817, which gave to this department of industry its just value; and the progress of im- provement has since been rapid and satis- factory, and it has been found that all the agricultural productions of England ripen in great perfection. The great article of trade is fish, which has given a great devel- opment to the shipping interests of the colony. In the year 1807 the shipping of Nova Scotia amounted to only 25,000 tons ; in 1857 it had risen to 183,697 tons ; the number of vessels owned in the colony was, in that year, 1994, and their estimated value L. 1,04 1,7 72. New Brunswick and Prince Edward's Island, although distinct dependencies, with separate Legislatures, possess interests in common. The first of these two colonies was severed from Nova Scotia in 1784, and the constitution which it now enjoys was granted. It consists of a Lieutenant- Governor, aided by an Executive Council of 8 members, a Legislative Council of 17 members, and a House of Assembly of 39 representatives. The system of " responsi- ble government" was formally recognised by a vote of the Provincial Legislature in 1848. In Pbisck Edward's Island the breadth of land under cultivation is gradually on the increase ; but a desire to emigrate to New Zealand has been for some time prevalent hi this island, which has kept the population stationary as to number. Immigrants ar- rived from Scotland in the course of the year 1858 to the number of 300, chiefly composed of the friends and relatives of old settlers, and they are likely, it is said, permanently to remain ; but emigration from this island to other colonies, and to the United States, fully equals, if it does not exceed, any immigration which has yet taken place. In this dependency, also, the system of responsible government was in- troduced in 1851. In Prince Edward's Island the remarkable peculiarity is found, that the system of education adopted by the State, and which has been in operation for some years, is supported at a cost of nearly one-third of the whole revenue of the colony, and it gives such general satisfaction, that no disposition has been evinced to economise in that direction, notwithstanding the dispro- portion which so heavy a charge bears to the resources of the island. In Newfoundland the Legislative and 62 Colonial Conatitutiona and Defences. August, Executive Councils wore separated in 1854 ; and ill tiio same year the system of respon- sible government wns cstnbiishcil, the ilis- placed public officers being compi-nsnted for the loss of their official incomes. Wo turn now to the West Iniiks, where we arc compelled to admit representiitivc government has sigimlly failed. It has cer- tainly not produced those results of which free institutions in other parts of the world have hitherto been abundantly prolific. The West Indies have palpably and notoriously retrograded, both in prosperity and civiliza- tion, since the passing of the great act of justice, the emancipation of the negro sUive. In Jamaica especially, where self governnu'nt has been in existence more than two cen- turies, the constitutional system of England is not popular with the white aristocracy, who would infinitely prefer being governed from Downing Street, notwithstanding all the losses they accuse the mother country of having inflicted upon them. They are will ing to confide in the justice and wi-t en- tirely without labouring for hire; and ho is satisfied wit|^ this almost aboriginnl condi- tion, so long as he can remain in his heredi- tary haunts. There is, therefore, no rcnson to expect, notwithstanding the favourable condition of soil and climate, that the col- onists of the West Indies will ever regain the commercial position they once held. There is ft difficulty in the working of free constitutions in small dependencies which does not exist, at least not in the same degree, in the larger, — namely, the absence of a class willing to devote their time to the discharge of those duties which are most erroneously regarded a" secondary or infe- rior. Those who are in tae pursuit of wealth are too busy ; those who are not, have neither the capacity nor the information re- quisite for taking a useful part in puldic life; and in a country where money-making is the absorbing pursuit, all are generally immersed in their private affairs. Misgov- ernment is the natural result of ignorance, indiftlrenco, or neglect. " It is with the greatest difficulty," writes the Governor of (jrenada to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, " that the members of the several committees can be brought together when their services are required. They are scat- tered over the island in all directions, and, with few exceptions, do not consider them- selves bound to give up their time, and to sacrifice their convenience, to perform pub- lic duties for A^-hich they receive no remu- neration. The .inevitable consequence is, that the business of the colony is retarded, the public accounts remain unaudited, and the credit of the colony falls in proportion to the delay which takes place in liquidating its liabilities." On the Ilouse of Assembly the Governor is even more severe. " A con- siderable portion," he adds, "of what I have said with reference to the joint committees, applies also to thi^ House of Assembly. It is composed piincipally of planters, who will not absent ihemselves from their houses 4 i 1860. Colonial ComtUutiona and Defences. ear 10 shade cottHge, e milky I toiling ifhntever e enjoys 9 11 right rriviil of I and re- Inbour- stincd to from the ii fertile .most en- imd lie ia 111 cindi- is lieredi- no reason ivouralile t the. col- der regain held. oriting of endencies 1 the same e absence ime to the are most [y or infe- of wealth not, have nation re- in public 3y making generally Misgov- ignornnce, with the vernor of te for the he several her when are scat- ions, and, der them- le, and to form pub- no remu- quence is, retarded, dited, and roportion iquidating Assembly " A con- hat 1 have )muuttees, jinbly. It Iters, who leir houses 4 for more than two dajs at a time to attend I to their li'gislativo duties. The business of the House generally coniiucnces late on the i first day, and by two or three o'clock on the following day most of the country members are anxious to return home ; and little time being li'ft for the consideration of important measures, they arc either hurried through, or unavoidably postponed until another ses- sion of similar duration." In fact, there is no class in these dependencies sufliciently exiMTipted from the cures and struggles of life to devote itself to the discharge of pub- lic duties. The comparative progress which one or two of these islands have made, notwith- standing the severe blow which the planters and ttipitalists sustained in their material interests by the abolition of slavery, is at tri but able, in a great measure, to the steadi ness with which certain principles have been adhered to, and which their form of govern- ment enabled them consistently to carry out. In Trinidad, for example, which possesses no representative institutions, there has been exhibited a unity of purpose and nction which has told with remarkable effect upon the prosperity of the island. While in most of the other West India islands the exports have either retrograded, remained at a sta- tionary point, or very slightly increased, in Trinidad they have increased from the year 18.);'), wiion they were vabu-d at L.387,90!). to L1,0I3.414 in 1859. The policy of the Government has been to congregate popu- lation round certain centres of civilization, and to check, as fir as moral cpmpulsion could dt) it, its spread into distant and un- settled disirii'ts by territorial and adminis- trative arrangements having for their object the instruction and well-being of the people gemrally, and their frequent communication with each other, liut it is not our intention to discuss the condition of those British dependencies that have not yet reached the stage of develop- ment which is thought by the Imperial Gov- ernment to quality them for free institutions. We shall therefore pass them over, and pro- ceed to the important and highly interesting colony of the (Jape of Good Hope, and its kindred settlement, Natal, in South Africa. Here we are again able to indulge the fueling, so gratifying to British pride, of ad- miration for a people cautiously, but firmly and securely, treading in the footsteps of tlieir forefathers, working out for theniselves the problem of representative government in the most satisfactory manner, and deriv- ing from it, year after year, hicreasing wealth, importance, and respectability. The colony of the Capo stands in a peculiarly interesting relation, not only to Great Brit- ain but to the continent of Africa ', and it would be difKcult to estimate the importance of its political position, and the influence it may ultimately have over the future of the African race. It is therefore with peculiar gratification that we find ourselves abb; to dwell upon its moral, political, and financial well-being. Few colonies have had to strug- gle with greater difficulties, and none have more successfully surmounted them. There was, in the first place, a population alien in race, and differing in language and in man- ners from the British settlers, with which they could not readily amalgamate. The old Dutch colonists were not soon recon- ciled to a change of masters ; and many years elapsed before they acquiesced, with sullen submission, in a change of dominion, and transferred their allegiance to the Crown of England, Numbers, in fiict, threw oft' tho nominal allegiance they professed, ar.d, under a sense of real or imaginary wrongs, crossed the colonial fron^er and erected an ii:dependent government for themselves, in a country where they determined to be free from British interference. This Dutch re- public of the southern hemisphere is now a thriving state ; but, situated on the confines of barbarism, it is believed to bo not very scrupulous in its transactions with its neigh- bours, or to have made much progress in the arts of social life. The colony of the Capo has undergone several extensions within the last quarter of a centuiy, in con- sequence of tho Kaffir wars, and the neces- sity of advancing its militai-y frontier for the purpose of self defl-nce. It now pos- sesses '209,000 inhabitants. A constitution was conferred on it in 1850. The Govern- ment is composed of two elective Chambers, a Legislative Council, and a House of As- sembly. The electoral qualification is the possession of a house or land of the annual value of L,25, or the receipt of a salary of L.50 per annum, A mos*^^ remarkable de- velopment of prosperity ' inmenced with the introduction of free instii iions. Before (hat period the public revenue was declining; since representative government and minis- terial responsibility liave been introduced, it has increased from L.247,3G9, in 1849, to L.469,075, in 1859,— a remarkable proof of the influence of a constitutional government in stimulating commercial activity, and in- creasing both public and private wealth, in a colony morally fitted for it, and with a population sufficiently numerous to supply good legislators and an efficient executive. It must be added, that one of the effects of a liberal govermnent is to attach permanently to a colony many of those merchants and S4 Colonial Constitutions and Defences. August, speculators who would otherwise have oi.iy regarded it as a place of business, looking forward to a return to England, at the end of their temporary expatriation, to enjoy tlie fruits of their success. The gentlemen of the Cape now find a career of public useful- ness and importance opened for them in the colony ; they make it the land of their adop- tion, regard it as their ultimate home, and bestow upon its political interests that time and those exertions which in England would probably be absorbed by the details of a parish, or, as the object of sitpremo ambition, perhaps the judicial business of the Petty Sessions. The governors of our dependencies have often found themselves in a state of antag- onism to the local Parliaments. It required no slight d-gree of discretion and forbear- ance on tl)e part of the Queen's representa- tive, in those colonies that have been en- trusted with the duties of self government, to avoid, at first, sharp collisions with Legislatures just brought into existence, and with, perhaps, .somewhat exaggerited ideas of their importance, and inclined to carry their pretensions to the extreme limits of di^icretion. It was some time before a Si,atesman of ability, and with, perhaps, a policy of his own, could realize the true char- acter of his position, and be impresssed with a conviction, that, while he was deputed by his Sovereign to "govern" her dependency, he "'as in effect only a passive instrument for I ying out the ideas of a local Senate, without reference to his individual convic- tions or his views of Imperial interests Such, nevertheless, was ultimntoly found to be the necessity of his position. A struggle was at first made by several vigorous gov eriiors to emancipate themselves from what they thought an unconstit'itiontd thrnldom to a colonial Parliament. Lord Metcalfe, in Canada, firmly resisted the pressure put upon him by the Legislature, but he was obliged to succumb. The power of the purse was there found, as in the Kritish constitution, to be the real power of the Stiite ; and it has now become a settled maxim, that the ministry selected for carry- ing on the business of the colonial govern- ment must possess the confidence of the Leg- islature, and be t.hosen from the majority of the Assemldy. As in the Imperial Govern- ment, the Sovereign is merely an imperson- ation of the State, and may bo said to reign, but not to govern ; so, in a free coiony, the; Governor may be said to preside over, but not control, the body politic of which he is the honorary head. In the early stage of a colony, the government v.: an ai)soIute mon- archy, and such is alone adapted to its infant stale ; but when it has attained manh ou, and received a constitution, it possesses not only the power of making the laws, but the equally indispensable one to a free govern- ment, of watching over their administration. At the Cape, the unusual spectacle has been exhibited, of a colonial Parliament con- tinuing undissolved for the whole period of its legal existence; and Sir George Grey, who from the first has recognised hi^ true constit itional position, bestowed upon it, at its expiration, the following well-deserved eulogy: — "The wisdom and moderation evinced by the members of this Parliamewt have conclusively shown that the people of this colony were in every way fitted to uae well and wisely the liberal constitution which her Majesty, in her gracious care for the advancement of themselves and their descendants, was pleased to bestow on them." The highly promising colony of Natal, next to the Cape the most advanced of our African possessions, has, although compar- atively in its infiincy, rectived a constitution somewhat similar to that of the Cape, and also municipal institutions. It is a favour- able fjature in this new and rising colony, that, although the Europenn population ia small, a Superintendent of Education has l)een appointed, and a sum of L.2022 voted by the Legislature for educational purposes for the year 1860. But there is another feature in this colony on which we are un- able to comment so favourably. The chiir- ter conferring the constitution makes no exception of the natives as to electoral rights, if otherwise qualified by property. The present population of the colony consists of nbout 4000 Europeans, 4000 Dutch boers, and IHO.OOO KaflRrs;— the latter have not yet learned the value of bmdi^d property, iind thereft)ro kw are qualified to vote. Hitherto their great ambition has been to posse-ss herds of cattle; but the most active and prominent of the natives are gradually becoming sensible of the importance of other descriptions .,1" property. As a race of peo- ple, tliey are intelligent, great observers, and keen politicians in connection with their own customs and form of government. A viry small advance in the present social position of the native population would give them a nnnierical superiority of votes over the white inhabitants. At no distant day, therefore, a question, involving most impor- tant ctmsideiations, is not unlikely to arise in Natal. ^'T/ie mnssoftlieinhitepopttlatioii." writes the Lit nienant-Governor, '■'' will prob- ohhi SI el: its .solution in an arbitrary pio- hihiti'iii of electoral rifjhls to the native ; and already the e.rpedievcy of such a measure is not z:nmooied" 1860. Colonial Conatitutiona and Defences, u Wo are thus brought to the consideration of a very serious and perplexing question, the sohition of which must greatly affect, not only tiie colony of Natal, but another more interesting dependency in the southern hemi- sphere, — New Zealand, to the political and social condition of which we shall shortly ad- vert, — namely, how far the grant of consti- tionul governments may be reconcilable with the natural rights and ;;>ersonal welfare of the aborigines in those countries where they exist in a state of temporary social inferiority, but with the germs of a higher civilization implanted in their nature, and wilh aspirations and a probable future that may bring them into a state of moral anta- gonism, and possibly of political collision, with the Europeans settled in their country, and who arrogate to themselves, and are prepared to contend fov and assert, a super- iority of caste, and an unmitigated political predominancy. We may assume, as an incontrovertible axiom, that one of the most important ob- jects of all free governments is political content; but if any constitution should be found, on experience, irreconcilable with the happiness and social progress of the gov- erned, tiiiit form of polity, iri whatever part of the world it may exist, fails in the most essential of its conditions. Applying this prinei[)le to the constitutional system of some of our dependencies, we fear there is much reason to apprehend that there is an imminent danger of their transformution into oppressive oligarchies in relation to the aboriginal populations. Hut nothing can be clearer than the course of the Imperial Gov- ernment under such circumstances. It would forfeit its character as a moral state if it, did not i.'iterpnse to correct injustice, which it could neither have contemplated iior foreseen. It would be its, paramount duty to crush with the strong hand of power institutions which have been perverted and misused, and to resume its direct sway over a colony which has thus abused its freedom, and made it an instrument for the subjuga fioii of a native race. The grand gioup of colonics which has acquired such extraordinary importance, and recently burst into a sudden blaze of splendour and prosperity, is the lust which will occupy our attention. The Australian dependencies constitute one of the wonders of iHoilem civiiizition. In them some of the. i^reat (]iU'stions of modern politics are being worked out on a colossal scale, and the magnitude of the interests involved is only equalled by their complexity. We s: dl consider New Zealand iirst, together with the workings of its constitution, inas- much ns it contains a large aboriginal popu- lation nominally invested with the political franchise. The natives of these fine islands are quite capable of understanding their own interests, and, by their own enei'gy, of mak- ing their opinions known and respected. The Act for conferring a constitutional gov- ernment on New Zealand, passed the British Legislature during the short administration of Lord Derby in 1853. The constitution consists of a Governor, a nominated Legis- lative Council composed of fifteen members, and a House of Representatives consisting of thirty-six members elected every five years. The franchise is conferred upon every adult colonist or native owner of a freehold worth L.50, or leaseholder of an estate of L.IO a-year, or county tenant householder of L.5 a-year. An attempt had been made a few years previously to erect New Zealand into a constitutional govern- ment; but it was successfully opposed by Sir George Grey, the then Governor, as premature and unfair to the native inhabi- tants. In an energetic and eloquent protest he declared that »^^he Crown, by its charter, would be conferring not, as was intended, a free government on the country, but, in re- ality, giving to a portion of the people, and tiiat exclusively European, the power of governing .according to its pleasure the peo- ple of another race, and of appropriating at its discretion the whole of a large revenue raised indiscriminately from both. The constitution, moreover, as definea by the charter, virtually excluded the native popu- lation from the franchise by conferring it upon those only who could read and write the English language, while the great mass of he native population could read and write their own language. Although the objec- tionable feature does not appear in the ex- isting constitution, the share which the na- tives possess in the government of their country is altogether an illusory one. They cannot generally acquire the necessary quali- fication by reason of their peculi.T customs in reference to property. The land which the native proprietors possess forms a tribal domain, is held in common, and therefore individual rights are incapable of being de- fined so as to be made a qualification for the elective franchise. Nor, if they could, are the native inhabitants of New Zealand yet sufilciently advanced in civilization to avail themselves of ii; for acquiring political weight. As it aflects the native race, the constitution has undoubtedly, so far from conciliating, given rise to a great amount of distrust and discontent. They are, as is well known, an exceedingly intelligent peo- ple ; and their sagacity, combined with 50 Colonial Constitutions and Defences. August, great boldness and determination of cliarac- ter, makes them the least Jikely people in the world to sit down quietly under a sense of injustice. "If," they have been heard to Bay, " our affliirs are to be put into the hands of any assembly, let them be placed in the hands of an assembly of our own race." They feel that the general animus of the colonists is not favourable to them, and they would prefer being under the direct author- ity of a Governor representing the Sov- ereign to whom they first yielded their alle giance. In their treaty with the British Government they looked to the Crown or its representative as their ruler ; and little could they have supposed that, within a period of twenty years from the surrender of their independence as a people, the prac- tical g')vernment of tlieir country would pass from the crown into the hands of a popular asseml)ly, representing, and respon- sible to, only a few thousand Englishmen who have settled in their native land. They are beginning to understand the full conse- quences of this change, and an amount of discontent has been engendered which it may now be very difficult to appease. The disturbances which have recently broken out in the country, the details of which reach us while we write, although ostensibly arising from a question relating to land, have, we are persuaded, a deeper source than territorial disputes, and originate in a tirnily rooted conviction that they arc now practically governed by an alien race, to which they consider themselves in no res- pect inferior, but from which they have rea- son to apprehend oppression, and by Avhich they have been but too oflen treated with a disregard of fueling which must be peculiar- ly galling to a proud and sensitive people. Under the peculiar circumstances of that country, perhaps the wisest course that the Imperial Government could jiursuc, would be to annul the constitution of New Zeal- and, with a view to restoring it at a future day. A deadly and inveterate feud between the two races might be thus avoided, and possil>ly a war, opposed to the moral sense of the British nation, which could stop short only of the complete subjection or cxter- mination of the native race. Under the di- rect government of the Crown, we believe the Maories would bo contented and loyal, and time would certainly bring about the fusion of the two peoples. A practical remedy is about to be applied which may give them temporary satisfaction. A separate depart- ment for the regulation of native aflliirs, con- sisting of meml»crs nominated Inj the Crown, and presided over by the Governor, is to be established; and it may avert fur a time any evil consequences arising from their present anomalous political position. In the peculiar state of New Zealand, it was, we apprehend, a mistake to establish a consti- tutional government there. The gift should have been deferred until the two races had made a nearer approach towards amalgam- ation, and the natives had advanced in knowledge and civilization so far as to bo able to appreciate and take their foir share in the working of free institutions. The great Australian Continent, with its neighbouring island, Tasmania, is now ihe seat of six popular governments, in several of which the democratic principle has been carried almost to its extreme limits. It is impossible not to regard with the utniot anxiety and interest the working of these institutions in a country so peculiarly cir- cumstanced as Australia. In one important respect it is free from the difficulties that beset the governments of some of our other dependencies in the Southern hemisphere. The aboriginal inhabitants are so feeble and degenerate a branch of the human family, that they may be-, altogether excluded from political consideration. They are not sus- ceptible of improvement beyond a very limited degree, ani there is no i)robability that they will ever be further raised in the scale of existence. In flict, they are rather retrograding than advancing in the presence of the white settler; and arc probably des- tined, like the North American Indians (a tar higher race), to disappear with the r.d- vance of civilisation. The great continent, therefore, may be eonsidered, for all prac- tical purposes, as an indefinite field, not only for matcriid progress, b\it for practical poli. tics, and the development of popular institu- tions. In Australia, however, thero has been presented one of the most remarkable and sudden developments of society that ever before oecurved in the world. For more th.in half a century the great continent manifested only a torpid social life, and was little regarded in England except as a con- venient receptacle for convicts, and as a country from which a large quantity of tal- low and wool was annually exported. On the brilliant discoveries of gold in New South Wales and Victoria, the attention of the whole, civilised world was fixed on the Australian eoni inent, and, in the course of u few months, it reoi-ived from England, from several of the liuropean states, and from America, not only a vast addition to \if I.i- bouring population, but representatives of almost every order of society except the higlust. All the elements of an old and settled country were transferred at onco to a new one. In the year 1851 the province f I 'S A August, 1860. Colonial Constitutions and Defences. m of Victoria possessed a population of only 77,345 persons ; it now numbers consider- ably more tliau 500,000, and contains 211 post towns. The eflect of this vast influx of a popula- tion, carrying with it the habits, knoM'ledge, experience, developed intellect, and, we may add, the vices of an old society, necessarily was to cause a very rapid political growth in the country to which it rushed, in the ex- pectation of boundless wealth. Politics as well as other passions of human natui'c soon acquired a fever heat; and it was found that institutions which had satisfied the country during its dull and monotonous existence, were quite unsuitcd to the new society which had sprung up, with its vast commercial in- terests and vehement excitements. In 1850, the province of Victoria had been separated from New Soutli Wales, and a power was granted by tlic charter to alter and modify the constitution, and enlarge its basis, in 1S57, accordingly, the Prime Minister of the day carried through the local Parlia- ment a Reform Bill, the essence of which was ma'jhood siifTrnge. The new law placed not lesL! than 100,000 names on the register, — an enormous number in proportion to the adult population. Property qualification was at the same time abolished ; but the wise restriction was admitted, that no per- buii should be registered as an elector unless he was able to read and write. It will be extremely interesting to watch the working of this extremely democratic govornment in Victoria, where an aristocracy of the landed interest has grown up with the earlier progress of the colony, with which the new political element which has been introduced will with dilficulty combine. The land question is likely to test not only the character of parties, but the very stability of the Australian institutions. The great national dumain, extensive enough to satisfy the wants of all chisscs, is now being fought and scrambled for, iiy parties representing supposed contacting interests; and is miido a cause of contenlion and nucleus of faction, that is shaking these young governments to their funndations. An Executive, possessing a longer duration than a fi'w weeks, has be- come almost a polilical impossibility. A vote of want of confidence immediately fol- lows the inauguration of a new ministry; anothi^r is formed from the o[)pnsition, and is immediately ejected l)y a similar vote, in which two sections of the llonso of Kepre- Rcntatives arc always ready to combine again^vt a third. The niac^hinery of govern- ment arrives at a dead lock, — legislali(m is suspended, and the (lovernor is ol)ligcd to extricate the country from the embarrass- ments created by hostile fiictions as he best can, and to resort to temporary expedients for carrying on the government. A demo- cratic govei'nment that renders the existence of a durable ministry impossible, is one that cannot loug endure without some material modification. In New South Wales the same irreconcilable factions agitate the Legislature. "Amid the discordant opin- ions and confused clamour of a general election," recently wrote an able correspond- ent from Sydney, "it is impossible to foresee what sort of land law will pass; it is even doubtful whether any will be passed, and whether public opinion is yet sufficiently matured, and whether any possible ministry can propose any bill that shall enlist the support of a majority of both Houses."* In South Australia, three consecutive adminis- trations were overthrown in two months. Western Australia is not yet sufficiently advanced for a representative government. The new colony of Queensland, formerly Moreton Bay, is only in its infancy as an offset from its parent state, Sydney ; but it has carried with it the institutions of the first planted of the Australian settlements. Tasmania was declared by proclamntion independent of New South Wales in 1825, and in 1854 an elective Legislative Council and House of Assembly were constituted. The country is peaceable and orderly ; and its Legislature is free from the disquieting factions of the larger Australian states, and is successfully directing its attention to the great lesources and capabilities of the island, and the adoption of the improvements essen- tial to social progress. There is a great probability that this fertile and beautiful island will eventually become the most at- tractive of the Australian settlements. The time must, however, necessarily arrive, when these great colonies, rich in all the elements of wealth, and filled with industrious and energetic populations, will cease to be de- pendencies of England. Of the time of their separation from the parent state they will judge for themselves, as well as of the institutions which may supersede the mixed government under which they have grown to maturity. We trust that their political education will have so prepared them lor independence, that the sagacity and modera- tion which distinguish the Anglo-Saxon race will so guide their counsels, that their future career will not disgrace the people from which they sprung, and that sonn) form of federation will bind them together in a generous alliance, and give theni a political unity and a national history worthy of the * Letter fiom the Tiineb' Correspondent. 58 Colonial OonstUutiona rnd Defences. August, country from which they sprung, and of the empire of which they once formed such an important and valuable part. In the preceding sketch of our numerous dependencies and their constitutions, no no- tice has been taken of those colonics which do not possess a representative form of government, are not yet masters of their own destiny, and do not possess any effect- ive control over their own affairs. It has been our purpose to exhibit the present slate of siK'h of our possessions as enjoy free institutions, and to show the use they have made and are making of their practical independence. That in some cases the capa- bility of a colony for self-government has been miscalculated, is, we think, but too clear; in some the mixed chai'acter of the population rendered the experiment hazard- ous or unjust : — in others, where the terri- tory is too limited for the satisfactory devel- opment of the system, the forms of govern- ment present but a poor parody of their groat prototype, the British Constitution. In others, again, we recognize the true spirit of liberty combined with that steadiness of principle and vigour of administration which distinguishes states essentially free, — free not only from arbitrary and irresponsible power, but from the dominion of those pas- sions and prejudices that are not only irreconcilable with self-government but constitute in themselves the most servile and degrading of yokes. Of our great North American dependencies the iiiirest hopes may be entertainod. They are doubt- less destined to run a course of great mate- rial prosperity, and to attain a very high degree of politicil importance. Under the guidance of the able pul)lic men whom the institutions of the country are producinj,, and by the patriotism of the people, a power may be created in America, not only capa- ble of maintaining its independence, but possibly of balancing the great neighbouring democratic republic, and checking its tend- ency to a dangerous predominance. Africa can hardly fail to receive great benefits from the prosperous colony at its southern extre- mity, which seems destined to give a civi- lising impulse to the countries which border on it, and in time to impart to the benighted millions of a great continent the blessings of a regenerating faith. Nesv Zealand, with its noble native race, civilized and Christianized, and gradually prepared for solf-governmcnt, will impart to the multitudiimus islands of the Pacific a renovated existence; and the colonies of the Australian continent will, it is to be hoped, eventually work their way, through many trials, porhaps, and after much perplexity, to the dignity of a great and enlightened confederation ; and Great Britain, in the day of her decrepitude, when- ever it shall arrive, may have the satisfac- tion of seeing her political offspring at the antipodes emulating her virtues, and ani- mated by her noble example and history ; perhaps rivalling her great historic actions, and eclipsing her ancient splendour and renown. Of the fifty British dependencies, consti- tuting the empire " on which the sun never sets," there are many, by reason of minute- ness, and there is one by reason of its vast proportions and peculiar social condition, manifestly unfitted for the reception of con- stitutional government. The case of India is peculiar and exceptional, and no chango that we can reasonably imagine, as within the bounds of probability, is likely to atlect the people of Hindostan, so far as to bring them into the category of those populations qualified to exercise political rights. But while we cannot concede the privileges of freedom to a people so manifestly unquali- fied for their enjoyment, neither can we ever justly delegate the power of ruling them to the British residents in India. An agitation, it may bo remembered, was commenced in Calcutta, and in one or both of the other presidencies, a few years since, for obtaining from the Imperial Government a constitution for India, somewhat similar to those which had been granted to other dependencies; and a demand was made for an elective legislature, open discussion, and " ministerial responsibility." The plan of these gentle- men for the future government of India appeared to be based on this assumption, namely, that they and the other British inhabitants who had resorted thither for the improvement of their fortunes and the exer- cise of their proflissions, should be invested with the power, not merely of governing themselves, but with dominion over one hundred and fifty millions of Asiatics, in- cluding tributary and protected sovereigns, a proud nobility, ancient priesthoods, and populations arrived at a high degree of civi- lisation, with laws of an antiquity which no European nation can claim, and customs to which none of the usages of our modern civilization bear the slightest resemblance. This unparalleled demand involved the right of taxation, and the exercise of all the civil and military fimctions that arc now pos- sessed by the Governor-General in Council under direct responsibility to the Crown. The policy of investing a body of English- men, even in a comparatively limited terri- tory, whore there exists a largo native population, with irresponsible power, may, as wo have before suggested, be very 1860. Colonial Conatitutiona arid Defencts. 69 strongly objected to; but to entrust the future of India and the interests of its peo- ple to a few thousand British subjects, with strong European prejudices and manifold temptations to abuse their delegated trust, would be a policy so preposterous, that we can only wonder at the folly of the men who could publicly meet to discuss such a pro- position, and embody the demand in a peti- tion addressed to the Legislature of Great Britain. In one very important respect the colonial system of Great Britain differs from any now existing in Europe, and it may be said has no parallel in histoi-y. Our dependen- cies have been, get^rally speaking, free from the obligation of contributing, either by personal service or by money payment, towards their own defence. As a contrast to the extreme liberality with which this country treats her colonies, it m.iy be stated that the only two European nations which, in addition to England, possess colonics of any importance, derive considerable reve- nues from their dependencies. In 1857 the surplus revenue paid by the Dutch colonies into the metropolitan exchequer, after de- fi'aying all their military and naval expenses, was 31,858,431 florins, or about L.2,600,- 000; and the estimated surplus revenue from the Spanish colonics for the last year was 1 15,000,000 reals, or about L.l ,150,000. The dependencies of England, on the other hand, are maintained at a cost which very seriously taxes the purses of our people. Tln(| there may bo considerable indii'cct pecuniary advantages resulting from our extended colonial possessions we have, in a previous part of this essay, endeavoured to demonstrate ; nor is it any nnswer to that economical view of the question, to say that the t/adc would exist independently of the relation. The exports received from Great Britain by Australia are, as compared with its population, at the rate of twelve pounds per head, while the exports received by the United States are at the rate of less' than one • and these figures show conclusively how much larger is the oommerec with countries which remain part of the empire, than with those which have separated from it. Tlie pecuniary relations of the colonies to the mother f'o\nitry, in the matter of their military defence, cannot nevertheless be re- garded otiierwise than as a gigantic anomaly, which it is inciunbent upon us to take the earliesi; opportunity to remove, and to place the numerous dependencies of the country U|)on that just footing, in regard to cost of their proteelinn, which policy points out, and public opinion now appears imperatively to demand. In reference to this important question^ the report, the title of which we have pre- fixed to this artick, supplies many valuable details and suggestions, which, as embody- ing the opinions of several individuals of great official and colonial experience, are well worthy of attention. To this document we shall advert in some detail, presenting in the first instance a statement of the nature and amount of the liabilities incurred by Great Britain in providing for the defence of her colonies. Including, then, the cost of the German Legion established at the Cape of Good Hope, the whole military expenditure con- nected wiih the colonies amounted, fur ihe year 1858, to L.3,968,599, of which sum only L.378,253 was contributed by the colonies, being one-tenth only of the whole ; and of that contribution two-thirds were paid by Victoria and Ceylon ; and it is re- markable that no other colony but Canada, and, to a small extent, Victoria, the Cape, New Zealand, and one or two of the West India colonies, have even organized a militia, or established a volunteer force for thei» protection. " We cofisider," justly say the the Commissioners in their repoi t, " tiiat this immunity, throwing as it does the de- fence of the colonies almost entirely on the mother coimtry, is open to two main objec- tions. In the first place, it imposes an en- ormous burden and inconvenience on the people of England, not only by the addition it makes to their taxes, but by calling oifto remote stations a large proportion of their troops and ships, and thereby weakens their means of defence at home. But a still more important objection is the tendency which this system must necessarily have, to pre- vent the development of a proper s|>irit of self-reliance among our colonists, and to en- feeble their national character. By the gift of political self-government, we have be- stowed upon our colonies a most important element of national education ; but the habit of self-defence constitutes a part hardly less importnnt of the training of a free peo- ple, and it will never be acquired by our colonists if we assume exclusively the task of defending them." The number of British troops of all arms and ranks stationed in the colonies during the year 1858, was 47.251. Now, the first impression suggested by this return is the enormous waste of force which the disper- sion of such an army over a considerable portion of the globe itnplies. To scatter the land forces of the en.pire over the out- lying possessions of a grtnt mnritime state, such as Great Britain, is rather lo court dis- aster than to ensure security. The colonial ! ! III 'il it f i I i 1 80 Colonial Constitutions and Defences. Augiist, dominion of Great Britain rests entirely on her iiavul supremacy. " The mistress of the seas,'" in the emphatic langunge of the report to which we have referred, " is the mistress of whatever colonies she pleases to hold or to take ; and if ever she ceases to be mis- tress of the soas, it is not pDrts or garrisons that will save her colonies." All history proves that ihe maintenance of dominion over scattered and distant territories de- pends either upon the characlor and power of the countries themselves and their popu- lations, or upon the command of the sea. Colonial garrisons, when not very large, and in first-class fortresses, such as Malta and Gilirultar (exceptional cases, where large garrisons are maintained exclusively for im- perial interests), have, as is most justly said, always found themselves in traps, and at the mercy of naval expeditions ; md we should infallibly lose all our colonies, which do not possess natural and efficient internal means of defence, if we had ior our antagonist a power, or a combination of powers, able to command the sea, and desirous of taking khen). "Deducting the garrisons of the Mediter- ranean stations, and the other colonial pos- sessifins, which are simply military ports; in 1858 about 27,000 regular troops were employed, and more than L.2,000,000 of money was spent on the military defence of the rest of the colonies ; and we cannot but feel convinced that these troops and that money might be much more usefully em- ployed — indeed more usefully for the col- onies themselves, because in a manner more conducive to the general welfare and security of the empire. There are four or five thousand men, for example, scattered in detaehments of a few companies each in tlie West Indies ; and yet there is not a port in the whole command which they cmld hold for a week against a hostile expedition. It seems to us clear, that the same number of soldiers would be far more serviceable to the empire if stationed in England ; and that the cost of them spent on our fleet would contribute more effectually to the protection of the West Indies themselves, than the present arrangement." Such is the decisive opinion of two of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the subject. The qu istion is undoubtedly beset with difficulties, which have indeed caused some diflerencc of opinion between the three members of the commission. There is, how- ever, one plain indisputable ground on which Great Britain ought to contribute liberally towards the defence of her colonies; and that is, that the Imperial Government has the absolute control of peace and war, and is therefore bound, on the ordinary princi- ples of justice, to defend them against the consequences of its foreign policy. It would be to evade one of the highest of its obliga- tions, and to ignore one of the first of its duties, were it to omit to protect its de- pendencies from tbe consequences of any war in which it might be involved. This security, to which the colonists have a moral claim, can, as we have seen, be only obtained by such a maritime preponderance as shall put even the possibility of any hostile attack altogether out of the question. The main- tenance of a navy sufficiently numerous and powerful to command at all times the do- minion of the seas, is tl^ercfore not only a matter of ordinary selfprcservation, but a positive duty which this country owes to its colonies while they continue in a state of dependence. Ilcgarded in this point of view, the attempt of any .European power to bring British naval preponderance into question, by systematically increasing its maritime force, involves questions of the most serious international importance. The hostile mind implied in any such attempted competition cannot and ought not to be ignored. Tho peace and prosperity of our numerous dc- pendencies are at stake ; and however we may affect to overlook or slight dangers remotely threatening ourselves, there is an obligation which the slate cannot in honour evade. There was a time when any unusual ' activity in the ports and arsenals of France would have been held to justify an energetic remonstrance; and the preparation of j^ast armaments without any plausible pretext or legitimate aim, constitutes in itself aground lor categorical demands. It was an evil omen for England and her colonies, when her Foreign Minister recently rose in his place in the House of Cotnmons, and, ',,' with bated breath and whispering humbleness." said that it was natural that France should I desire to possess a strong navy ; and that he ' saw no ground for complaint on the part of ; Great Britain if our "ally" chose to aug- ! ment his fleets in any proportion he miglit I think lit. England once possessed ministers i who would have spoken in tones of thunder, '•■ followed by swift and corresponding action, 'on the first indication of such a portentous I naval development as that which has recently' : manifested itself within sixty miles of our shores.* ♦Thomson, who wns as Rood a patriot as poet, has some iioblti lintH ia his "Britannia' on the irnport- aucu of niaititaiuirig aa iudisputablo uavul pre- einineuce : — " For, oh I it much Imports yoti, 'lis your all, To keep your trade entire, eniiro the force m August, 1860. Recent Poetry. 61 )rdinary princi- im ngninst the )licy. It would st of its obliga- the first of its protect its de- [uences of any nvolved. This ts have a moral e only obtained eranco as shall y hostile attack m. The main- ' numerous and I times the do- ore not only a ervation, but a itry owes to its 3 in a state of IS point of view, power to bring into question, I its maritime le most serious he hostile mind ;ed competition ignored. The numerous de- id however we slight dangers res, there is an u)ot in honour len any unusual * lals t)f France y an energetic 1 ration ofj^ast ible pretext or itself a ground t was an evil olonies, when y rose in his )ns, and, ',,'with humbleness," France should y ; and that he on the part of ohoso to aug- rtion he might sssc'd ministers les of thunder, )onding action, a portentous eh has recently' miles of our itriot as pnet, has oil the import- tablo naval pre- ~t While protecting the colonics, as wo are bound to do, from any possible consequences of a rupture with a maritime power, it is but just that the whole of their internal police, and, as far as possible, the force re- quisite for controlling warlike neighbours or savage or semi-civilised tribes, should be > ovided exclusively by themselves. The Cape of Good Hope, in consequence of its scanty population in proportion to its extent, must be a temporary exception to this rule, it admits unhappily of no doubt, that the Cape colony, which absorbs almost an army for its defence, is quite incapable of keeping^ in check the vast hordes of bai barians tha are c6nstantly pressing on the colonial fron licr ; and that without an imposing force of British troops it would probably be speedily overrun by the Kaflir race, and every vestige of civilisation effaced in a few months of exterminating warfare. With this excep- tion, the colonies should be left to provide for their internal defences, and every eflort should bo used to promote the growth oe th'iir military strength and the cultivatioi^ of that martial spirit which is the charac-ij tcristic of their race. Hut to measure the importance of ou colonics merely by the standard of fuianc would bo to form a very false estimate their value. The time has long passed whe these magnificent possosi^ions were rogarde chiefly as the convenient but costly appurt nances of a corrupt govern\nent, supply in the means for rewarding political service and buying off troublesome oppositior They are now the homes of virtuous an happy but once depressed and sufferin multitudes, who fled to them as a refug from distress, and found in the fertile r gions beyond the seas a comfort and a independence they had sought in vain amidsj the crowd and competition of their nativ land. They still present boundless fiel " for the employment of our redundant pop lation. Nor caa there bo a doulit that tl wori \ at larj^o has greatly benelitcd by t activity of British emigration. The co nists carried the arts, scit'nces, languag and religion of the old world to lands pr viously occupied only by a few miserabl savages; the empire of civilization has bee imnieasuralily enlarged; England has bee enriched by a vast variety of new products] and by a commerce which overwhelms th imagination by its immcnBity ; and her nu- merous settlements have served to stimulate the inventive powers of genius, and to call forth some of the highest qualities of human nature, while they have abundantly re- warded, and will long continue to reward, the patient industry of man. IB your all, the force * And honour of your ficeta ; o'er that to watcli, Kven with a hand severe, and jealous eye. In interciurse ho (zciitlc, gr^nerous, just, By wisdom po i-ihcH, Htid