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Tous les autras examplairas originaux sont filmte en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une amprainte d'Impreaaion ou d'iiluatration at an tarminant par la darniire page qui co.^porte une telle empreinte. Un dee symbolea suivants apparaitra sur la demi«re image de cheque microfiche, seion le caa: le symbols — «* signifie "A SUiVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Lee cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., pauvent «tre fllm«a A dee taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour itre reproduit en un seul clicfi*. il est film« i partir de I'angle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche i droite. et de haut en baa. en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^BP>P>"">"W \ :1i i MiiiMimni«i i i ii iiii i i i ffriaaa i tv ■ , , , ..._ '■ » OUR COLONIAL EMPIRE. 3^ 1% <^ssag ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE BRITISH COLONIES. BY JAMES THOMAS, AUTHOR OP A '• PRIZE ESSAY ON MECHANICS* INSTITUTES." LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62, P ATEENOSTER ROW, E.G. Ir ^mm YATKS & ALEXANDER, TRINIERS, 7, 8, & y, CHURCH PASSAGE, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON, EC. Some g me, in ten pou on tlie the Posi in an J View," 1 I The , remarket which I . suppose I matter c I do my b( land the : PEEFACE. Some six months ago an advertisement was sent me, in whieJi three prizes, of thirty, fifteen, and ten pounds were offered, for the best three essays on the "Advantages Accruing to England from the Possession of her Various Colonies, Considered in an Economical, Political, and Moral Point of View," to be written by operatives. ( The gentleman who sent the advertisement remarked, that the subject was not one with which I was at aU familiar, and that he did not suppose I should attempt it. I considered the ^ matter over, however, and ultimately decided to I do my best with such materials as I could obtain, I and the foUowing Essay is the result. ♦ IV PREFACE. The Eev. John Philip Gell, of Nottinghill, conducted the award, and in the account sent by him to the newspapers, where the advertisement appeared, he said, " There were about sixty essays sent in, coming from England, Scotland, and Ire- land, nearly all trades, and even the British army, being effectively represented." The umpires were, the Venerable John Sinclair, Archdeacon of Middlesex, Sir Henry Young, C.B., who has been the governor of more than one colony, and Mr. Stephen Walcott, one of Her Majesty's commissioners of emigration. " It was pleasant," observes Sir Henry Young, " to note in all the essays an appreciation of the equal me benefits of emigration, and an abhorrence of divided severance from Old England and its glorious were des . „ series, M empire. « Nine essays," Mr. Gell says, " were selected to Jamei as keeping best to the point; those, namely, of Worthy oj James Thomas, James Williams, John Laurie, mer and : Thomas Stead, Archibald Forbes, Charles Brad- that foui I tingliill, sent by isement y essays md Ire- 3h army, Sinclair, mg, C.B., han one of Her y Young, on of the rrence of glorious ■e selected lamely, of n Laurie, ?les Brad- PREFACE. V ford, 2304, 'No Cross no Crown,' and Z,Z,, an invalid silk-weaver. Of these 'No Cross no Crown' was ultimately adjudged the first, Williams second, and Thomas third. The essays of Stead, of 2304, and of ZZ., were highly com- mended." J The following essay stands precisely as it was sent to the adjudicator- up to page 35. The matter following that has been subsequently added. In 1859, I wrote a prize essay on Mechanics' Institutes, for Mr. John Cassell; on that occasion James Walker's Essay and mine were deemed of equal merit, and the first and second prizes were divided between us ;— Earl KusseU said, both were deserving of a first prize. In the same •eries, Mr. John Plummer gained a second prize, to James Walker on Sanitary Eeform. It is worthy of remark therefore, that both John Plum- per and I gained prizes on Social Science, and that four years afterwards, when three prizes VI PREFACE. were offered ou the Colonie, the same men gained f '"" ^'""--^ ' ^« '^^^ entitled therefore, to con sulor that o„r success is „o,, an accident, but is d"e to special culture and inherent powers of -"d Indeed, Mr. Pl„„,„,, ,3 „„, "t>rely to literature, and like the da.^er in Macbeth, ho "marshals nae the way that°°i was going." ^ Easays written by working men seem a some- what special feature of the literary history of our t^«e In past ages, the golden light of literature g^Wed only the monrxtain tops, but in our day, it has come down and diffused its light and wannth m tiie valley below. The effect of literature on the heart and mind of the son of toil, may be likened to the glory of the dawn, which falling upon the fabled Menmon made it vibrate with hannonious sounds, and thus' shed music over the Egyptian desert. Literature makes us heirs of all ages, and ^ives us for companions the most gifted minds, which 4 4 PREFACE. ^|. • '"^' •''•^"'»*«'l «»'• «J"r„ed our nature. I am writing a preface, Lowevor, and not a volu/ne- I conchuU, therefore, by assuring my fellow-workers tlmt they will never regret ti.e time spent in mental culture, and that a little experience will soon convince them that the pleasures of litera- ture are more pure and enduring than aU the pleasures of sense. Since writing the above, I have learnt that the Essay eutitled 2,304 was written by Mr. MeKerris an old acquaintance of mine, who for several years' was a member with me of the Spicer Street Me- cl-ucs' Institute. Old members of that Institute will be glad to know, that in a competition open to all hngian,, one of the club obtained a prize and another honourable mention. I ,,,, 3tate' also tliat another member of that club is now a popular writer and lecturer. Tiiese facts show bettor than a volume of abstract argument, the' positive advantages which Mechanics' Institutes confer on the working man. JAMES THOMAS. Stepney. »tniit((« of tje Snl4 Colonb. The tho„gl.tful mind is often struck with h courts, the aeeisiol/C :ny^::s-:;CV^" >3 mHuenced fully as „u.clf ^^^^Z a*on in diploma'; 4 n few '?!,«"' t f "" "«• '"" •>■■"• "■!» -«. ota„to» 1 m and Tvhatever they have thought, they will do and by jury. We say take any twelve men and let hem all hear the same details, and as the cltl has given them all the same sense of „Vhrand wrong, the.r judgment will, and must, be un fo™ and unammous. Now it is ver; m^oh t obedience to this principle that our colonil^ power and orntoiy, and Engird, as much per- In all ages of the world colonization has .on^ hand in hand with civilization • and tVZTt and most civilized power in e;e; pe dThL th.ughouthi/i:jlrhi'^^ ^°"*^"-^ GaS'n ofin *'"' "; "'"" ""^^ ^^«*'«d » the tho Tffi 5 ".' '"'^ ""^Profoundest writers on the affinities of language and the migration of ot time to that table-land of Asia, sloping as it ouf the^ ?"' •"''•' ''"S'"^"^ ^'''■■t^d to carry out the Divme injunction, "Go forth and multiply will do and Jtituted trial nen, and let the Creator •f nght and be uniform much in iir colonial vs that all xtend their much per- 5 and done fi has gone le greatest od of his- colonizingf 'adise — at continued ■d in the writers on ration of ie stream >ing as it hat from to carry multiply and replenish the earth." The old A.' f monarchies have "died and Ipff ^ '^*'' vanished, they and their 4^^^^^^^^ leaving no trace of what tZ7T \f '^^"^^ 3ave a few mo.Mering MocL^^^^^^ 7 f ^' tombs. As the da^n breaks l ^''^'" authentic history, welL tS "^"'^ "^^^ prise of VavJ . learning and enter- eoloni/e aSfri'"?. T'" ^^^^^^^ ^^ the laws and Tore TZTl ^^"^/ ^^^^^^ing the wonder of the Iff VhTorT '"^ ^^"^ the zenith of her dowp. . '^'^ ""'^^ ^^ -'i a™. She, tZ srr'trr? host of folWerrd ;o"° ^'"'''' '^S'''^'' a smll state ris'oftrn"T'"V"''J"^"''' the. slaves. SyraLr^ Tu '^^^ ^ "^^ Greece in ITr 1 of .n r,' '"' *''^ '^^* "'«* CO Wing nat-ot' L^Z^t ^'f ^«« ^ had either a colonvTa 1^ ^ ^ "'^ "^"^"^ i£ ..-■^P J»f 4 Kome, many will say, should be to us a warning rather than an example, knowing as we do the extent of her power and the greatness of her fall. We answer, Eome deserved to fall; for her decline was due fully as much to internal decay as external invasion. She was deficient in the one thing which lies at the basis of all stable power, namely, that moral conscientiousness which distinguishes England in her treatment of her dependencies. Rome made her colonies sources of military power and revenue, drawing from them by force troops and money. This was wrong —having no regard to the rights of others— it was wrong, — contrary to inexorable justice, and therefore it faHed. The taxes thus wrongfully levied induced laziness and luxury, and the troops thus obtained were useless in the hour of need. The moral which England should draw from the story of Rome is, not that she should abandon all her dependencies and leave her colonies to the mercy of the world, but that she should continue to treat them as she now does — with scrupulous justice; seeing that right alone is permanent, and that the future will bear upon its bosom the fruit of all our evil deeds and days. Leaving Rome, and coming down to later times, we find Spain, in the reigns of Elizabeth and Cromwell, was the one dominant power in Europe, her tern- a warning we do the of lier fall. ; for her rnal decay ent in the all stable less which snt of her es sources ving from was wrong others — it istice, and »vrongfully the troops I of need. V from the bandon all ies to the 1 continue scrupulous anent, and osom the Leaving !S, we find Cromwell, , her tern- I cXfes'Tri '"^^" ^""^ ^^--^ -holly to her colomes; but by imitating Old Kome m foreign policy, and New ifome in h^J ' she has dwindled down f I religious, Aftf^v ^r. . "^^^"^ '^own to a second-rate power o" .1.. Q,-„t£™ ""' "» ■"» "■"• -- attends ifc, is consonant alike fn fi.. . power flnH f^ +1 . tlie sense of ItFwer, and to the nature of man O,,^ « «tei.s of all great nations, ^n!l\\ T , '' soTmLl^'f "' ''*' '^'^^'^ -*«d veV Jl,t In proceeding with our suhipnf fi ways in which i^t can Ctr^^vX^Z'T^ *"° ma.yenforceandillu,trar,Pti?r , . **'''' ^« P.11J, b.«... ae ta„ „, a. „„„„ 2°"; i require us to do so, namely, — " The advantages accruing to England, collectively and individually, from the possession of her various colonies, — con- sidered in economical, political, and moral points of view." The question of colonial Independence, will not detain us long, although Goldwin Smith, in the true spirit of a special pleader, considers that the help of the mother country is fruitful only of evil. Avoiding, if possible, Mr. Smith's error, and re- membering that all excessive statements only injure the cause for which they are advanced, we will at once admit that the right of colonial in- dependence is, in the abstract, admitted by all parties, and that its actual — absolute realization is only a question of time. Tlie only difference between our Government and Goldwin Smith, being whether the time for abandoning our colo- nies be already come ; our Government think not, and we also incline to tnat opinion. Time was when the Government of the day following too much in the spirit of other nations, considered their colonies as so many subject provinces, from which revenue could be wrung at pleasure, and such selfish laws and regulations enacted, as caprice or pride might dictate. The struggle, however, for American independence, gave the death-blow to all such folly and injustice. day And the connection now is not one of slave and Shi of 't',?"" '^^^ - '-"'-. "»' one side hp "'^ \''''^'' '°' ^^^^ °" *e of trade and a home found for surplus labour- on the other there is given to the poor wanderei' land Z w ''f .^'^^^ ""''^'^ ^^'P' which Eng- exut'lho 1° ^ "f' colonies,-to the pofr exiies, who leave her shores in soitow, rather than fiU her unaons, has been represented a. a leat njjustxce to English tax-payers, as having no S but pnde and no end but folly and disaster ' Certainly, m so far as our colonies provide a home for our struggling poor, the cost of p otec- t on may seem to be entailed for the sak! of a class; but as an oifset to this expense the tL paye^ are relieved from the liabuly of proviS k; tLrTal'°^"^^*""' '" *^« "hape'of'oo"^ law relief Taking an average of three years— number, ..So^o'^ SS^r i^^ totobly certain, therefore, that this large nu'mbe had to be kept, for want of sufficient employment this last sixteen years, we shall find that upwards of four milhons have left the United Kingdl Jf II S^jMMi£iir..i£^-ii^ . >■. durincr tbat period ; and of this large number it is surely vyl too much to say, that one-half would be only at removed from the pauper-class, and that en • .ition was the only thing which prevented them from falling into it. The tax-paying class, therefore, as distinguished from the indigent poor, get indirectly an equivalent for their share in colonial protection, in reduced poor-rates.^ It should also be remembered, that the spirit of colonization has undergone of late years an entire change ; it is not now confined to the mere work- ing classes, but men of education, and refinement — ^the struggling barrister, the decayed shop- keeper, even the younger members of the aristoc- racy, sometimes go to the colonies in search of a fortune, hoping for and often finding, in doing so, a worthy and an independent career. It is not only the labouring class that is over- stocked, but all grades,— the army, navy, law, medicine, trade, all- are full; and colonization is the only remedy,— a remedy which all classes are more and more inclined to use. On one occasion, and that not an uncommon one, ninety- seven barristers attended the summer assizes at York, the criminal trials were under forty, and of course the leading men would be in almost every case, the result therefore was certain ; six out of eight could have no brief whatever. I I V 31 it is would 3, and vented class, idigent [: share 58. It lirit of L entire work- aement shop- aristoc- ch of a L doing is over- y, law, ;ation is classes On one ninety- sizes at , and of »st every c out of V 9 The writer of this essay some twenty years aero Wm tt ' ' °y ^"^ ^«^'«na ^onU give mthl , ^'","'^ ^'"'^'^ ^^*'^ denied him he^ i^ t L re ' *'" '=°^°"^*'^ ^^ =^ P-bable home o fh./ ; T '""'^^'""^ » ^i«^; «« much uuitrent soiJs, chanmni"-' k- y 14 denied, is tlie chi.f '"'"«" .*'-a''e, it will not be the influence of ^Stl f' '^' ^""'^ «ys, or throughout an oS . ' ' ^"^"^^ ^^ '^"'"Bed cannot be traced '^' °^'™''^ '^''^ ^^e^it j-'t^rriaXo^x;^^^^^^^ tunate of profit nnJ i. ^'"^^^' and that our es- i-t so With orc!s ir*'"^^ ^"'^"'■« young trees, to be protect^^ \„ Jf'^, 'T'"' ^^^ acquira strengtb to w thl„d f, ' ''"'^'^ "" "^^^ flourish without the UPDO? „?".,"* °""' ''"'^ <=«" they were planted. ^^ °* "''^ "«« ^^hen the former year wa, tw. ,, Protection in the latter, only oTe Mo "'"^ '"' ^ ''"^'^-i" the cost a decreaL ^ ""'^ '^ ^'"'^' * 'hat ^11 it; while the li'"''- ""'^ '^''" "-''^'' ^e pound Uo li iHf " '"""''■^"•° ^" "* -">- goods to the ^s^.7LZnZf'i'ist'r tooK twenty-four millions, an iniro ^^^ 15 the great 'ill not be ness, and a rays, or diffused where it colonial our es- ifined to 3rchants t year's nd it is re, like lU they tnd can when le Bri- •59, it ion in f— in ' that m We com- erica > she [•cely 500 coio„ir/uH;i.T;fji:rr'«thoBri«,h ««nt In spite of t .e^ |r' ""^ "'^OO per our colonies would hoZT' ""' *"* '°^*^ '^at ^cro iruleponde t 1^, fl"''"^ »« P^Atoble if they America is po Id T^ °"'' '""'""^"'1 '^''''« ^ith To which it Ts eat n "' '"'"''^ ""'' "lustratioa ^-"ica has L:rd\xr"" *'^'"' -*'' population. In joofi J . "'"'^' of her inhabitants, she took fk',-*''''^" """"ons of "59. with a p itlTf r.°' P"''"^^' ^ took twenty-fou'/2 ^/'/S'f"^,--. «>>« increase of her Dor,nI„ , ^ "^"^""^y 'o the Pendence, tha wHw T ""^ "°' *° '^^ '-"^e- Tho true test be Lelir '""'''' "' '''' ''^'^^ colonics, in point „f^ ,'"''' *""» "« British -ount whicfi^L^r;^^^^^^^^ ^" ^^ t'on. The trade with Aaneri a f 1 82 ' '"'P"'"" 9s. per head of her Don,,W ' , f^' ''^^raged colonies ave,.ged 40s' ^^f;-g -^^^^ -"' own goods to the value of Ifi., -^^ ^^^^ 9' America took colonies took in he Imet^'?'"'^- ^^''^ri"^^ -d this last four J LrZt^r r' ^^ P'''' ''^ ' ^aged £1 4 1 Os. per head of ? ""'"''"^ ''^«- «unple, therefore 'nd a, n P''I'"'''«o»- I* i« as sun,, that duZ; the Tnf' "'/' " "'le-f-three demand for ("e ;rod„c o 7 T ^°'''°^' »« relatively greate. &«„ !f "'%'»°tl'« countiy is •^ " ''*^' "'*'> «' any after period. Thus, 16 while we give them help and protection, we get immediately a considerable return, and are laying the foundation of future greatness and prosperity. We shall proceed, in the next place, to notice a few of the political advantages accruing to England from the possession of her colonial power. In casting our eye over the current held of European politics, and in endeavouring to ascer- tain the cause and meaning of passing events, one is struck witli the immense importance which attaches to the distribution of power, not only as regards the well-being of any one state, but also in reference to the peace and prosperity of the world. When we tlunk of the long years of mis- rule, of broken promises, making the heart sick with ''hope deferred," which has composed the history for some fifty years of the Italians and the Poles ; and when we contemplate the issue of all this in the Italian war, and in the present gallant struggle of the Poles to get free, we can- not help seeing and saying, — " It is not without reason that our statesmen are sensitively jealous of the annexation of any state to an unfriendly or an arbitrary power." What is it at the present moment which dis- turbs all European cabinets, and threatens to produce a European war? Wliy, notliing, but because Poland is subject to a tyrant, and is not > 17 treated as England treats all her colonies and dependen jies ! How vast, then, is the political importance to England of having forty-four rising states scattered over the world ; all acknowledcr- mg her authority, and receiving from her free laws and institutions, and that protection which IS needful during their eady growth. It is the pride and glory of England, and should be of every Englishman, that his country is the noble nursing mother of forty-four free and rising na- tions ! Nineteen only of our colonies came to us by origmal settlement ; the other five-and-twenty were the result of successful war, or came to us by treaty, or by cession : and the case of Italy and Poland clearly show that our statesmen were rio-ht m accepting, and are justified in keeping, the control and protectorate over these dependencies rather tlian leave them to the tender mercies of Russia, or France, or Spain, or any other power. Our colonies combine for us the poHtical ad- vantages of both the Greek and the Eoman : like the latter they serve England as military outposts and like the former they establish and diffuse her laws, and her freedom. Again, one of tlie greatest questions which, for the last two centuries, has occupied the minds of statesmen, and has underlain half the European wars during that period, is the Balance of Power 's^^ "•MLLLWraiiJM!!!.!! -*» 18 By this expression it is meant, of course, that none of the states known as the Great IWers should be allowed to aggrandize itself at the expense of any other, so as to overawe it. It was this fear which caused the excitement in Jingland, and produced a certain amount of cool- ness m our statesmen towards I'ranoe, when she annexed Nice, and Savoy. It was not that the annexation would immediately injure „s, but it was the increase of French power and territory, and the preponderance it would give her in time of war, that was so offensive; and it is influenoin<^ even now our foreign policy. Tlie possession of r ,? fn?^ '^"^ considered, at the time, to be The balancing system of modern times is a product of the ages, and was suggested by the histoiy of nearly all ancient states. After the under Alexander; then Greece; and last, but no leas , Eome : all, in their turn, aimed at ;niver°a empire. The evils which arose from this ambTon of the ancients suggested to modem statesmen the principle of the Balance of Power ^ These remarks will help us to estimate the pohtica advantages of some of our colonies, and especiaUy of Canada. Political power co^^ts X >t i I 19 mainly in its relation to other nnri r. • x ~se extent and resources of the Itil continent, we shall soon see hovr necesst v T in accordance with these views {otv7 ' tion of Its vanous states under one sovernment Indeed we think it is easy to show tl "t t^!' Wzon of America into two, if no^'th e cS world f/' "°"'' '" '■''^ •^"'^ "^^ - WessiiJ ; he' world and prevent, perhaps, many fut.ire wL an opinion evidently shared bv n „, 7 of our statesmen, as Vr o^l w'^th J m "'^"f ^ synipathy with the South Even ot "nT hatred of slavery is not sufficient Z^TZ « m separation becoming apparent ' it has been estimated that, if tbe natm.nl i-esources of America were ftiy develo.S i of inhabitants, a number five times as ;reat as the whole population of the globe It w SLsHhi"*^'^ *''^*' '' '■- « -«o inciease, this immense number will actually be in existence on the American continent «2i wo or three centuries. The facts wliich support Z 2* I **^ J' gss 20 long and narrow, bein^io Tnn , '^^^' " '« ««ffieiently narrow ^ obtl .r'^' ^""^ interior the fertilizing I *'"0"ghout the and the Pacifif EltlT" °' ^'^'^ ^«^'^«« her soil. On the cm, / ."" ''^'"-«^«'^«>« of 30 wide, that ti e inteS7' ^T """^ ^^^^^ -«> >» desert. Of the t- , "'' "'"^°=t everywhere -les occupied by Etiri •"'""°'^ ^^"""^ only one-tluVd is prodnp^^ ' f '*' ^""^ ^^^a, part is poor but^lf r r/"*^ "^ *'^^* third a of America 'is If, T\ '"""'^'^^ "^ ^-^ «oil cultivation. Indeed 'the^ "''"'''' °' P^'^S'-^We " growth are found her: -2";' 7'^"'°- "^ moisture. The numbpT i ^^^ ^"^d due navigable riverl'^SdSr' ""^"'*"'^^ "^ ^ill give to America a l!f P""^"' "^ ^'^^m, future over any sblTf Pf^Ponderance in the A modern writer tat, . ! .V" '^' °^<^ ^orld. d-harges a greater tu'ntiS of "t~ "'°- eight Principal rivers' of Asia TV"? "" ludus, Oby, Sena, Amour fnd tT v ,?'"P'^'^"te«. and Kangtze of 01,11 Th *1^«"°^ ^iver it« branches, afford a L^t M>«««sippi, with "avigation tkan lu t^T '■""""* "'' '«'and Europe; andtteHataLtr"' "'"' '"^^^'^ to all the couLtivr . "' '"'P'"* ^« «"Perior collective waters of Africa." The 1 t a n h shape and ape, it is ^oiig, and lout the Atlantic ighths of frica are Jiywhere square Africa, third a the soil ■ofitable tions of id due iude of steam, i in the World. L alone tn the Eirates, Kiver . with :nland rigate perior The K^^^ 21 rivers of America are not only superior in volume, as this writer says, but they are so situated, that, with their branches, they penetrate everywhere to the very heart of the continent. The American rivers also are less rapid than those of Europe, and therefore more adapted for commerce. The Mississippi flo^vs only four miles per hour ; an advantage owing, of course, to the more gradual rise of her internal elevations. It fellows, we think, pretty conclusively from this description of America, that our statesmen are amply justified in retaining under their control at least one-fourth of that continent, com- prised in Canada and the British North American possessions. The present civH war will probably end m the separation of North and South ; and some fifty years hence perhaps Canada, Nova bcotia. New Brunswick, British Cohmibia, and Vancouver's Island, may amalgamate and form a tlnrd great state. This probable division of the Amencan continent into three distinct states would be a great political advantage to England and a valuable support to the balancing systeni of modern times. The political advantage of retaining Canada was even greater before the civil war than it is now, for the Americans themselves are cle-rly hastening to a division without European inter- ference. The political importance of Canada was lirii J BB W i***'--: m 22 conspicuously ilhlstnf,,,] 1 • of the Treat' T^^^' "' «'" ''"c-'t affair The troops in„ued;«tely senT .! ,7 '""''^^"^^'^. onned, were deen,e,i w^s ™' ' •"■' '""V'^'- »•- •"•tif Cauada had ,1 ?"'""'°"''"y "measures ■ i'-e taken suehuliro,'?; °""' ""^ -"W - «teP« ; and in tla C, t T'"^'' Preparatory -ight l,ave been mZj" ^T""' «»«-- been iin-olved in a Dern. '^ ^"^land Lave "'- seems :nore .i X""i '''""''' ^'«^^«^ connection, for we Tea °, t "' '' "'^ ^"««'' she ],as 190,000 „, t;? ■'''?"* ^''Ports that 280,000 in j/er ""^ '"; '^^ "' ^'"' ^owe, and bei'« seem certainly £ lu » 'T' ^'"^«« "««- elude all men eambl!.; ,^ • ""'' '"°«' likely i„. ^»^.. howeve ' „ , ! ''''"= "''^"^''ted. Ve 100.000menar;;eri:dX"rf'^^^^''^^^ case of need, a second ^l^^, ""''"' ^^'I that in that these ^e weTl 1,!"^ ' """ '''' "'^^'« " f .000 volunteers foS:^' '"f ^"W'°'*«d ^Y Imperial troops, a resS, '7*'' '^ '"'«!«"« of case of attack. W LTrn Sl'f "' "' ^''^f«"<^« ^« papers, that the people "ftdr '^^ '''*'"'*«" have petitioned the Lx^„ ! ^'^°'' settlement, opening of a road from r""" Parliament for the '^'"^ and a trans-Am lanT? '" ''"'"'' <^'"«-- f«ted, running t ^"1?^ ^^7'^ ^'''^ »'««» «-•?- ^•™H thus connS Srt'"' ^"«^^' «- ' ° wie Atlantic with the •V r<. cent affair meiit was iiitryjnen. pense in- measures; 'oulcl not 'paratory answer ^d have I Jierself J^ritish ^ts t]iat K and ' num- ely in- Tlio !, tliat hat in tnacle ; 3d by lis of tee in idian nent, i' the [um- SllQf- Co- tJio 23 Pacific, shortening and cheapening our transit to China and Japan. Of late years the Pacific lias been more fre- quently visited by our merchant ships and men- of-war. The breaking down of Asiatic reserve, and the gradual opening up of a large trade with China, Polynesia, and Japan, liave given to the possession of British Columbia and Vancouvers Island, a new commercial and political import- ance. Until 1859, when Vancouvers Island and British Columbia were converted into British Colonies, the English navy had no harbour of their own, along the whole of the Western Coast of America. In connection with the angle- Ame- rican Boundary Commission, Her Majesty's ship, Satellite, made a long stay in Esquimalt harbour, and its capabilities and importance as a naval station, thus became recognized ; and it is now the principal naval rendevous on the American side of the Pacific. In connection with our daily increasing trade, and, indeed, political influence 111 China and Japan, the importance of Vancou- vers Island can scarcely be over-estimated. In the event of another war with China, our ships could go to Esquimalt and i .fit, and get coal and provisions. The sick and wounded might be left there ; the great salulnity of the climate and the convenience for hospital accommodation, ren- dering it an excellent sanatorium for our China ^fcl: ^ I '■■'I • i I I i ■' 24 fleet. Tiiis iq fi China station is a^'^lnr^ "^"-"^^ the "«te of ci,i„a is „oT 2'f '^ °"''- The cli! «„tio„. Even i SS *° ''' ^"^'i^h tile lojiger one stops tLe Z ""P^ve it— for f ^'^cent writer say^ 'hTt I.' '""°"'' '' ^^^^tT J^'- o«; ships on the C'lun I •'' "°' ""''"'"'non °ne-half; ono-tiard, or "en f " ^ '"'^'^ ^"th crew, and many of' the Iwi rbr\°' '^«'^-%inal 0" Her Jlaiestv'o 1 ''^'^'^ health." f China ft-on/S . \7-'^-." stationed 9^perce„t.,winleonHerk. l.^"?Se «'* ^as a Vancouver's I.fend t.e av "^ ' ''''^'' "^^Pa^-" 2. pel' cent., the n„n be o7 ? ''°^ ^^'^^y t'»^e of staying be; Xlrt'^^*^^ and the °» «'« China stations^^f '''^^"J'''^*^'««hips eave t, „., ,.^j^^ J - teqnently obliged to MOO miles instead of 12 oon f'^"™alt is only . home. It would be a ^ f ' ^^^ '''^*a''ee from monev— in,! • i Si'iat savino- nf +; f^> a""' indeed, of iifp t =" * '^n's and for many a biuve m^n ! 7 ° ''"'' "'«« there- "-0"gh the tropics t" if ca° .'" ^'^'^ « ^4' In another part „f «f, °J° f Good ffope. " Er "' '^''^'^ and GiC;f; -'■ -Portant ----.eonneS^5r^dr,<;SJ '/ cause the The cli- ' English ^eit — for and our asionally climate, common ■rn with original th.» ationed 'k was ^opaz," s only d the ships fed to only , from and lere ; oing e. 'ant ^er- our on, re. and form a connected chain of military posts, useful m coaling and refitting our ships as they go and come from our dependencies in the eastern seas. In fact, our possessions on almost every shore, are so important in increasing our commerce and so useful in protecting it, that England ^yould not, and could not, be what she is, without them. We hasten now, in the last place, to indicate a lew of the moral and social considerations, con- nected with the subject in hand. Some half century ago, there was a celebrated book published on the laws of population, in which It was argued that population increased faster than the means of production, and that, tneintore, it was necessary to check marriages. This idea cuggested by Mr. Malthus, and now weU known as the Malthusian theory, created for some time considerable alarm; upon inquiry, however it appeared that Providence had provided for the Malthusian difficulty, and that the true law of population is, that it follows production, and onlv incidentally precedes it. The natural, that is, the : possible,ratioof increase, would doubtlesslead tothe evils which Mr. Malthus indicated ; but there are moral checks to population, which chiefly govern It, that he entirely overlooked. Man has a mmd as well as a body ; a power of looking before, and after, and the number of marriages in Hi! I »*W 36 any given vonv ;.. ;n«ny o.J,- who, iv nr"' ^ " ^'«^«««. >"on f!»"''>'- In 1852-3, fonow^ .'J'"^ '" ^"*« «",! yea. folWin, tl,„ el 7"°" ^^^^-O-tl.o Wiereforc, of instructed .nT.^""' ^"'"an, far now, „f th, MaltSi wf '"'"'« ^'«« any point, however, connected v-'^" ^''<'^« ^^ one i^- verr %«tone o t ^1' ^^^"'=^' teaches ^h^^^o population does „" as f ', "'"""^ ' «'at d'lotion, it does in fkctt,!^ , "^' °^«"un pro- ?'ff "' all great co,n„t ^l" f"'' "^^^ "« i, ;«;'"■« of the cotton , if "r«' «"«h as the «a%. as far as it operate tV, """""^ P>'aoti- *-?h increase in iSlt " T"^ *^"»- as duction,-and we have !, t ""'^'^PPed pro- present nioment, a Ct T ^ ^'^"^ashire at th- ^-'«Penc.entl;.^Ct :"■?: °{P°P"lation. '^ as the cotton, crisis, t],e e is « ^''''' ^'^'^n'^ to temporary excesses o^^ T"'*""' *«ndeney especiaUv so ;,. * Population • n,„) . ^ l-y t;adeprospects, and tST "^ ^'"^^"-^ al laihire, then, in thes,n®° ""Palpability • gather leaves, a. excess nr'^''°'' ^^^^'« t-'-or ''"- - a co„3e,„ete ; ^I«on, and in" " ^' distress and priva- / ^ tlio trade 'Masses, men ?*^*en, and "^ifG and ^fc Aiistra- tiumber of ^o man. I Jias any 3re is one touches fy; that run pro- ts lieels, as tlie practi- ing, as 3cl pro- at tlio ion. events. dency • more Eng- srned ility; —or in- iva- 27 tion And in a eountiy like ours, depcndincr so- ^mieh upon the clianges in foreign trade, over- population nmst, in one class or another, be a thing of constant recurrence. We must, therefore have some outlet-some new fields open for our surp us labour, and this outlet has been, and is supplied to us in our colonies. The moral effects,' then, upon the social life of England throu<.h the possession of our colonies, break like sun- light on the mind. Its salutary and soothin.^ influence IS not confined to the time ^yhen distress. IS at the door, and the cry of our children for bread IS dnving us to despair; but the knowledge that England has colonies where freedom rei<^ns and work IS plentiful, and success is certain; if we should ever wish, or be obliged to go, throws a tender light of hope and gladness, over the struggles, of he working man; easing his mind of thattver lurking dread of the. workhouse, and replacing it with the Idea of a new home, and a new hope Again, that every son of Adam should take a daughter of Eve is the natural tendency and law ot human life, and any state of society whicb helps to make that possible, aids in establishino- that state of things which Bentham considered thl justifier of all moral action, namely, "the greatest Happiness of the gTeatest number." That our colonies help to do this is certain, for since 1846 at least 100,000 human beings have left these 28 opened „,. to „T I fiXTl°'' '"'^^' '-- us at thoir exodus i hif , ''°""»«''ce, giving control and rcMd.trn' ^^'^"'tevcr ]ielp« to -t..o. condue^;r t„t;::r r 7 r °"^ I'^Wmiess .and prosperity ' "^ ^'"'"^^ 3id2St:;fS^:^^ - «one.,ty eon. tlaemselves 'and o 'C 'T'""^'''- f "^'^^^ *° where there is a Ifi '"'"" ''^^^°^' ^o, -a a totaf XeLfonZ:: "-I principle: leads doubtless to sorrow Inlf ^ ' ''"''''^ tohraSfdi^S';:t;rr""''™ power of En'Ld t . ' '^'^' *""«' ««»'^ the Island, hutTi: an°d fef "' '-^ *'^ ""'« makes them feel Twt fi I '" '^'^^ ■^««- I* ' *^^* "'^'"^ efforts in the battle 29 of lile must bo worthy of their country's fame and leads them iu mature life to dare and do thin^y '- ^-eU a« a physical natte a^dZr r'°''' «« past physical force ha. been the cS"?\ "' "'« *f goveniment, i„ the (nuT th '"'*"»"«»* permanence of political powe Vlf . """T'*^' "'"^ in Jts moral doimnion *'°"'''' '"ainly Pequod tribea^f £ rlr "'"'« Mohawk and greatly influenced our Gnl '' '''"'' *° have «ent of the Maori Zo^rTT !'' '''''' *«-*'- ;« r«' pride and ILS ,"''"''• ^"^ i' Englishmen, Umt, for the fit^- """°""^''' «^ ■of colonization, 'the EnS'T '" "" ^^^'^^ uniformly treated the nativf ^"^''™"'«nt I'as land with considerate \tf '""' °^ ^«^ ^ea- -nthoaty. The cfrLian t"^ ' ""' ''^"^'^='="' J[s' to come pe...rn ; .™~Y "" *« Maon race, and when the IJ T "'' '"*'' «'e political importance of Sw ."'r^^ ^"^^ known, the Church Mi. ""'""'i 'became its colonization tdSer"^' ''°'^''^*^ "PPo^ed mastery which would at oL! '^^S-i'^ ^r Missionary influen e 1 " r^^' ^'°"''' i^P^i^ extermination. .But the '^,''^'^ ""'^ i" ^Lri f aland was, fo ^1,*^ '""''"" "' N«- "'""'■^---«-=i"=G:ei:: ■ JM iM H r i y -\ 31 and when the natives formally coded the sove- reignty to the British Crown we guaranteed that no land should be taken from them without due consent and just purchase. And when the war hegan it was not strictly through a violation of this guai^ntee, but through a misunderstandin.. -the cause, Carlyle says, of all wars whatever.' The native chiefs no doubt considered our conduct a violation of the treaty of Waitangi; and we, on the contmiy thought wo were only protecting property purchased by the settlors from, and with the consent of, tlie natives. From their own points of view both were riglit. The natives who sold the land were violatinc^ It seems,_ tribal rights, and the justice of the saS was denied by the chiefs. Tiiese tribal rights were scarcely known, and certainly not recog- nised by the colonial government; they con- sidered therefore, that, by employing force, they were only protecting property lawfully purchased VTOh mutual explanations and a proper under- standing, the war closed; and the colonial government of New Zealand has «ever violated the instructions given to its first governor Cap- ain Hobson "to obtain by fair and equal cL tracts with the natives such waste lands as may be progressively required by the settlers resorting tc New Zealand." ^ la the absence of governmental control, we S2 should have hor] fi,^ followed th coliSLnf r " '"'^'^^ - wilful and violent S2en tPT"' "'^ ^-»« Jowed by reprisal and Snlf ''-«-« ^1- whzch whole settlements were !we„r '""'"' '° ing necessarily either i„ T ^ ''''^'^y' «n'l- ^ettlersortheL LLl^of^"'^^^^ °^ *^« I^ew Zealand Commnv I '"' "*"^«=- The -nt to set asideTTrerofT-/''^^"^^- scze by force u,>on allT 7 ^'^''^"8'. and to P-d; but the Oovei n f"°' "'"'^"^ °'='^"- -ted as the protecti f tie /:r "" '^^^^ ''^^ never aHowed the mere W of f' ''"'' '"'^ ''^^ over moral ideas. "^ ^'' *» Nomina;* The New ZanlanA n^ --d upon tSt d rihT;:? ""^ ""*^"'^' bwnght about the- first ;J, f, ""''' ''"'' *hus »i«etee„ Europea„?w L Tll'V 'f"'' ''^ ^'^^^ TJie Secretary of St^f?-^''.''"'* ^^« ^^"^ded. i-«ee becaus^e J ifad tri.lr^"'^^"^ ^ men, said, and to ])!« 7, V ^^ ^"^ country- "My rega'rd ft^^^J — o'/ ^^ T" '■^"°'*i ' not acquit me of the^br 5 ' ^'^'''^'■^ '^o^s plioitly my judlen of t ^' "" "^ '*^""« '^'^- ^ painful dityf Jt tW "■ P™'=«''^''"g«- It is needlessly viofated le ,S ,"' *'"' "''^^ land, the maxims of ,1 7 " ^'■""^ "^ ^ng- ■ "*• i-tice." i thtrSro "" ^""^^P^- "^--^^^^ thrown its protS;" ^^^^ J- in'K^ lacted as the same fcives fol- sacre, in ^ay, end- of the is. The Grovern- and to y oc(ju- ^st lias ^nd lias mina^e ntrary, I thus which nided. igin- ntry. •rded, does ex- It is they Cng- ■ pies has the 33 native race, determined from the outset to try the grand experiment, whether a great section of the hu- man family, long sunk in ignorance and barbarism, could, by just treatment, be elevated to the percep- tion and the enjoyment of the habits of civilized life. ' It cannot perhaps, be strictly said that this ex- periment has wholly succeeded ; but enough has been done to justify the effort made, and to make it almost certain that our best wishes will ulti- mately be attained ; and that the presence of civilized man does not necessarily lead to the ex- termination of the savage. The fearful state of cannibalism into which the Maori race had sunk, will be best conveyed, perhaps, by describing scenes which occurred on a native battle-field, as recently as 1836, — The battle is over and the combatants are encamped apart, but instead of being engaged in piously interring those who have fallen in honourable combat, you see here and there a number of bodies laid out, previously to their being cut up for the oven. " By-and-by, a body apparently that moment killed, is dragged into the camp. The head is cut off, almost before you can look round, the breast is opened and the heart is steaming with warmth, pulled out and carried off." The historian says : — that the oppi- site party remained for two days after the battle, to gorge on sixty human bodies." f. i: fi i 34 And that retired somewhat apart, a little ch;i<1 «:ght be seen nursing in his lap"^ as if Ca pW thing, one of the slain chief's hands ^ Such was New Zealand in 1836. Now on the contrary, native children, neatly clad in En^M dresses, n.ay be seen on the Sabbath day, wendS with then, s,t many an aged chief, not lon^ al an.nnmitigated savage; learning patiently Z meekly, t,„p, t,.„, ofth^Gospr^'^he h ef an, he slave," says Bishop Bronghton stand side by side, with the same holy vohfmS heir hands, each endeavouring to suipals tl "the" totw"'!/"^'''?™^'^'-^ to the Jnestions pu to them. Ihe great majority of the Maori peonle are now professing Christians, strict obsoiVeLtf l!:t^!^^'':r'^ oomnnmicants. A^ate n ent ^^l ch is not true, so far as we Inow of anv other tribe or nation, savage or civili.ed.^^Sve lUiowever, on the authority of Mr, Swainson fir to rtk^txt^r £r ^^^ "'"^'T -- ty.^ ,„ f 7 pio^ress , tiie Government Insnec- tor rei)oi ts of one sclmnl fliot " ti •, ^t""^ ablv won ", f""°^'that they write remark- ably well, and know the elementary rules of arithnietic-both as applied to simple i mbej and to money. In the practice of f .rmin.alsr they are gradually falling into European hawt: at one time they only „.cd a pointed st"k to ^ M .14 mi JK 35 , a little child i if for a play- Now, on the d in English day, wending d side by side tiot long ago atiently, and 3spel. " The • Broughton, ^^y volume in )ass the other [iiestions put M^aori people observers of its. A state- ^now, of any ed. We give wainson, for ^ Zealand, lildren seem ent Inspec- I'ite remark- ry rules of le numbers rming also, 3an habits: tick to turn I up the land, and as soon as the ground required manure, they left it for a more virgin soil ; this habit alone tended to produce and sanction a vagrant life, and a m^ere temporary habitation. The Waikato Maories, in a letter inserted in a native newspaper, says : — " Our hearts have been set upon searching out some of the customs of the Europeans, we have purchased cattle and sheep, and are now turning our attention to farming. Our lands are now divided into portions ; and these have been marked off as runs for cattle and sheep, and for growing wheat, potatoes, oats, clover, grass, &c., for disposal to the Europeans. We wish this letter to be printed by the ' Maoris' Messenger ;' that our European friends may know our thoughts. This method of cultivating the land, will lead to fixed habitations, and improved homes, and, coupled with the moral and intellectual improvements enumerated, establish, we think, the fact that the Maori race is not destined to ex- tinction ; and that in the case of the Pequod and the Mohawk, it was due to the influence of law- less force, unchecked by moral ideas ; and not a necessary result of the nature of things, — the difference between the two cases being wholly in favour of the British Government." Our task now is well-nigh ended, and like the traveller, who during the heat of the day, has ■f f*' ^f 36 ■ pleasant tablet "Xd"! "t ,''"'^^^^ °" « -ae steps we • suggested by the joume^y '" ^ ^''' ^flections days have been 1*,, ' ? *'/^ P""""^ ^^d palmy ■ showed that the'e^ 1:;";^ ^'^'^^ -«' - populous countries w«f"^ to emigration in all to force the cSrtrartt'"' "^"^'"^^ cordance with the wo. f , '^''^ '" ^'"ot ao- With this sf^.n Ur ! r' ''°"'^''^"" "f "^«°- of our race we' „ 7'^? , '""^ ^'''^'^^ *I'° ^^tory ourselves whether ItZ t ! '' "'"' *° ^* of view, is arealgai^: frl' r'"''""'"'''^' P°'"* ^-arious colonies Sere \T P°^^<^««'on of her our position is notTo ^i T' ^' '""«* '^^'"it, les« say it is the leak ?'""'""' '"""« ^'" doubt- We thL, nevertS ^T* °' °"^ «^«««-'- that the cist has att''.-n'^' '^'""'^y «''o«'n d-ease, whi e X "I'*'" ""-' -"""-Uy day. Our colonies manvSr '""'''^''"=" '^^•''^ «eiM in the first pace 2;^ "''"' '°"'^"'^^«' power, and were mafnt I . ^ '"'"' ^°^e of gardless of expense aTd 1 f ^ ™'"^ ^^^^ '^^ ^Pense and m defiance of the world ; elJing upland ; s Jiiniself on a ^ back on the like manner fc the steps we 2w reflections 'ntion to the ne and palmy ^tes ; and we ration in all id certain as in strict ac- i<^n of man. ■ the history e confidence and to ask •mical point 3sion of her nust admit, will doubt- ' argument, rty shown continually sing every doubtless, •e love of years re- fie world ; 37 but this phase of our national policy is rapidly passing away, and our statesmen no longer desire to retain dependencies from the mere pride of power, as is shown by their recent and voluntary relinquishment of the Ionian Islands. The Duke of Newcastle said, in a speech about a year ago, he hoped England would never more use force against any of her colonies ; in fact, it is pretty generally admitted that colonial independence is only a question of time. This being so, we have clearly arrived at the point, when the question of expenditure is the one thing chiefly to consider. Strongly impressed with this conviction, we suggested that the cost of our colonies should be subjected periodically to a rigid examination ; for, although we beHeve the prosperity and power of England are greatly indebted to her colonial possessions, we would neither retain them by force nor spend money upon them without sense or reason. Let us be clearly understood, we mean we would not hold our colonies against their own properly expressed will ; but, against any other European power, we would retain them and protect them against aU comers. For we hold most religiously that it is the mission and the responsible duty of England, standing as she does in the foremost file of nations, to see that throughout the world, where- ever her influence and power extend, humanity ntra -^f fl HI 38 »»-t of our „C: t ^I"^.* -'"" ^"^^'"y ^'^^ ever -r«P«lous justic „d sJ:C r*^'" """^ '-'^ Brotiier leader if . "^"'^ integrity. least renaemb: m'/J"/°'=-* -" *«- let us at the principles of Ltice • '"?'^ '^'*"'''' "^ ^'^'i. Creator, more thL' ve tV7 "*'' '" "^ ''^ ">« fi'ially fix the charalter i . '""^ ^"''^""•=*' ^i" the duration, of bS 1 '^^'' '' ^''' Sovem the Creator first pS 1? '"' "'*'°"^- ^hen earth, and gave Sml "!''" "P°" this rock-built ;;-ir, and^the\t\stfr flX/t?^^^ °^ ei^hTmTfl:^sr^^''^^-^"^^^^^^^^^^ physical strucLCtffu?'^;- '' ""^ "°* his " he,-..i, for^'tTSvS"°"'"'"^"-"8h moving, express and ad- ■'3rs£™;.»_j: ^t, but that full ! and develop- ngth and ful- f^ich indicates tendency to by an ajopeal ^ we believe ^r, politically isted, in this Y ber public '6; and we ^ntradiction, >i'y has ever with such 3grity. ^e, let us at re of man, "s by thQ ellect, will ess govern s. When rock-built " fowls of at was it, t he had s not his il though and ad- 39 > mivable,"— it was not even his intellect, with its power of peering into space, of weighing the planets as they roll, of comprehending the prin- ciple which rules all solar and stellar laws • it was not any or all these ; but because he had given him a moral nature— a conscience which not only distinguishes right from wrong, but which approves the right and condemns the wrong; it was because he had given him moral atiections, and a large heart, which " wells out -in sympathy with all living and lifeless tilings " and melts in dewy pity alike over the sins and follies of his brother. Look at that giant ran<^e of mountains called the Alleghanies which frowns down upon the Atlantic, and now look at that speck called man which walks below, and then declare why that range is only dust in com- parison; It is because man has a capacity for moral action and spiritual progress. In reflecting upon the rise and fall of nations m connection with our colonial empire, men some- times ask themselves whether England, like Greece and Eome, is destined to decay, and whether in truth, as IMacaulay imagined, the IS^ew Zealaiider shall ever " stand upon the last arch of London- bridge, and sketch the ruins of St. Paul's ;" we answer, it matters not to us whether England 'shall for ages continue great and glorious,-— the delight or terror of the nations ; but the one thing that V ■Miii 40 concerns us is, tliat the power of Enrrlnnrl d. 1 1 Patriotism was the grandest idea of all ^n t.quity. It was the highest tho„ght to which tW moftfor than patrwhsm, namely, lm„iaiut,i tl,» n.oral and political developme"^ t o m ''7t not prnuarily important whether th s or In section of our race continues predominan • w etc a tree and full develo])ment lof- n« oil ^ as we ea„. help on the "giod l^^X^^^Z^ a:r fame of England is then safe, and nee^Iingl SLai;::. ^^'" ^^- ^- -. -i«' onr It is true liome was once great and powerful is td\f •" "^"^^ ^^- numhe^rti iniuions, and it is now about 150 000- b„t although Kome has fallen to decay, whateve; was uy noble and beautiful in the Lman ha aZ S or t ; t If''"' '•'' l'^°^"°«» of the outt \ , f "l"^''"-^ and diffused throiu*- ou the world. It wiU be even so with En-d^nd V l>Ji-^iiami'iMiiarfift--i JFr - ) and