> 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 ■1.25 
 
 2.5 
 2.2 
 
 US 
 
 m m 
 
 Wtau 
 
 1-4 11.6 
 
 0%. 
 
 7] 
 
 V 
 
 ^/ 
 
 »» •^♦ 
 
 '/ 
 
 /^ 
 
 fliolDgraphic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WIST MAIU STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.y. M5S0 
 
 (716) S72-4503 
 
 d 
 
 V 
 
 ^v 
 
 4^ 
 
 "cv 
 
 •s^ 
 
 <v 
 
 
 
 i\ 
 
 '^ 
 
4> 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notes tachniquas at bibliographiquaa 
 
 Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast 
 original copy avaiiabia for filming. Faaturas of this 
 copy which may ba bibiiographicaily uniqua, 
 which may altar any of tha imagas in tha 
 raproduction, ot which may significantly changa 
 tha usual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow. 
 
 □ 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Colourad covars/ 
 Couvartura da coulaur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 Couverture andommagte 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaurAe et/ou peliicui6e 
 
 I I Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes g^ographiques en couleur 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bieue ou noire) 
 
 I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Reli6 avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La re iiure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la 
 distortion le long de la marge int^rieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within tha text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 il se peut que certainas pages blanches ajouties 
 iors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas 6t6 f ilm6es. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires supplAmentaires; 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm* la meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a txk possible de se procurer. Les details 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du 
 point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la mAthode normale de fiimaga 
 sont indiqute ci-dessous. 
 
 I I Coloured pages/ 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 
 D 
 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagias 
 
 Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 Pages restaur^es et/ou pelliculAes 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 Pages dicolories, tacheties ou piqu6es 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages ditachdes 
 
 Showthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 I I Quality of print varies/ 
 
 Quality in^gaia de I'impression 
 
 Includes supplementary material/ 
 Comprend du materiel supplimentaira 
 
 □ Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement ou partiallement 
 obscurcies par un feuiiiet d'errata, une peiure, 
 etc., ont M film^es A nouveau de fapon d 
 obtenir la meiileure image possible. 
 
 Th^ 
 to 
 
 Th( 
 poi 
 of 
 filr 
 
 Ori 
 bei 
 tha 
 sio 
 oth 
 firs 
 sio 
 or 
 
 Th< 
 sha 
 TIN 
 wh 
 
 Ma 
 diff 
 ant 
 bag 
 righ 
 reqi 
 met 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est film* au taux da reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 
 
 
 
 
 14X 
 
 
 
 
 18X 
 
 
 
 
 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 30X 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 
 
 
 16X 
 
 
 
 
 aox 
 
 
 
 
 24X 
 
 
 
 
 28X 
 
 
 
 
 32X 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
lire 
 details 
 ues du 
 t modifier 
 ger une 
 I f ilmage 
 
 / 
 ties 
 
 ire 
 
 >y errata 
 ed to 
 
 mt 
 
 me peiure, 
 
 Bfon d 
 
 The copy filmed here hea been reproduced thanka 
 to the generoalty of: 
 
 Library of the Public 
 Archlvea of Canada 
 
 The imagea appearing here are the best quellty 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with e printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and ending on the iaat page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 The last recorded freme on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol «»> (meening "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol ▼ (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely Included In one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames aa 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 1 2 3 
 
 L'exemplaire filmA fut reprodult grice A la 
 gAnArosIt* da: 
 
 La bibiiothique des Archives 
 pubiiques du Canada 
 
 Las imsges suivantes ont M reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soln, compte tenu de la condition at 
 de la nettetA de rexemplaire film*, et en 
 conformity avec lea conditions du contrat de 
 filmage. 
 
 Lea exemplalres originaux dont la couverture en 
 papier eat imprlmte sont filmAs en commenpant 
 par le premier plat et en termlnant solt par la 
 dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impreaalon ou d'lllustration, solt par le second 
 plat, salon le cas. Tous los autres exemplalres 
 originsux sont flimte en commen^ant par la 
 premlAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impresslon ou d'illustration et en termlnant par 
 la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la 
 dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 cas: le sym!jole — »» signifie "A SUIVRE". le 
 symbols V signifie "FIN". 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre 
 fllmte A des taux de reduction diffArents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre 
 reprodult en un seul clich6, 11 est flimA A partir 
 de i'engle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche i droite, 
 et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre 
 d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants 
 illustrent la mithode. 
 
 32X 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
/ 
 
 
 /" 
 
 Xi 
 
 X 
 
 c C 
 
 ■*-? 
 
 y 
 
 y 
 
 /" 
 
 / 
 
 y 
 
 ^-A 
 
 ^y<-C 
 
 /■ 
 
 C cv. 
 
 
 
 COLONIAL POLICY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE. 
 
 PART l.—CGOVERNMENT.) 
 
 m 
 
LO^DOM : 
 
 (ilLUtRT & KlVlNUTON, I'KINTKKS, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. 
 
 i 
 
 n 
 
 -/, 
 
 I 
 ■ J 
 
 sado: 
 
 fact I 
 of ai 
 enfe 
 iucr( 
 
 To/u 
 
COLONIAL POLICY 
 
 or TIM 
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE. 
 
 liV Till, 
 
 JUTJlOJi Ol THE " HISTORY OF THE BRITISH (OLON/ES," .^ . 
 
 I 
 
 PARr \.— GOVERNMENT. 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 f / 
 
 \ 
 
 /.' 
 
 Eujtlaiid shoulil louk wholly to commerce and naval afi'airs; she never can be a Continental 
 jiower, and in the attempt must be ruined ; I'Aiiglcterre est dh-hut depuis (ju'eile t'csl melie de$ 
 affaires du continent ; let her maintain the empire of t)ie seas and she may send )ier ambas- 
 sadors to the courts of Europe and demand what she pleases." — NaiioUoii when at St. Helena. 
 
 " Whatever gives colonies to France [liii{?laud] supplies her witli ships and sailors— manu- 
 factures and husbandmen. Victories by land can only give her mutinous subjects, who, instead 
 of augmenting the national force by their riclies or numbers, contribute only to dibper.^e and 
 enfeehle that force ; hut the growth of colonies supplies her with zealous citizens, and the 
 increase of real wealth and efl'ective numbers is the certain consequence." — Tnl/fi/rand on 
 Cohniei. 
 
 LONDON.— 18.i7. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 Thk following pages form the opening chapters to a carefully 
 digested work on our colonial policy, and, in reference to the 
 influence of transmarine possessions, on the rise and fall of nations, 
 as exemplified in the history of ancient and modern kingdoms. 
 The colonies of France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, &c. will be 
 examined, as to their extent, resources, and management. Statis- 
 tical Charts will be given of the whole, and the Appendix will 
 contain all official and public documents relating to the subjects 
 investigated. In order that every portion of this truly important 
 (piestion may be deliberately perused and impartially judged, the 
 work will be issued in six parts, each corresponding in paging with 
 its successor, the whole binding up together on their completion. 
 The second Part will embrace the Commercial and Financial Chap- 
 ters. The reader, desirous of examining the detailed facts from 
 which the annexed deductions are drawn, will find ample materials 
 in the five volumes of the " History of the British Colonies," and in 
 the twelve volumes of the " Colonial Library," of which, indeed, 
 the present work is a necessary sequel. 
 
 The question of an elective Upper Chamber of Legislation, p. 58, 
 and the projected Colonial Board for the Home Government of 
 the Colonies, p. 48, will be found especially deserving serious 
 attention. 
 
 R. Montgomery Martin. 
 
 April, 18b7. 
 
COLONIA.L POLICY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE. 
 
 
 .i 
 * 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Sect. I. Extent and position of the Colonies — difficulty in classify- 
 ing them ; their division into territorial, commercial, and politically 
 maritime — utility. — Sect. II. The valuable and varied products 
 of the colonies ; England's independence of foreign nations. — 
 Sect. III. Population of the Colonies, how distributed — their 
 diversity a present bond of union. — Sect. IV. Religion of the 
 colonists, their creeds and numbers. — Sect. V. Colour and 
 language ; importance of extending a knowledge of the mother 
 tongue. — Sect. VI. Effects of climate, food, and drink, on 
 character, manners, &c. ; the numbers who consu' e an animal, a 
 farinaceous, and a mixed diet, or fermented liquor . Necessity 
 for a statesman considering the various circumstances which influ- 
 ence the temper, capabilities, and habitudes of man in relation to 
 various forms of government. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 The Colonies of England are so varied in their 
 nature, so distributed in their position, so vast in 
 their extent, so diversified in their products, and so 
 anomalous in their population, that it is very difficult 
 to frame a classified view of them in any other manner 
 
 B 
 
except geographically, in reference to their territorial 
 position in each quarter of the globe, as shown on the 
 statistical chart of all the Colonies ', given with the 
 work ^ 
 
 If classed in reference to their position in the torrid 
 or temperate zones, an imperfect idea is afforded of 
 their capabilities, as elevation above the sea materially 
 alters the products of the soil '\ Moreover some colo- 
 nies have part of their territory on the verge of the 
 tropical (as Australasia), others pass from the torrid 
 into the temperate zone (Hindostan) and others from 
 the temperate almost into the frigid zone (the 
 Canadas). 
 
 To divide them according to their acquisition by 
 conquest, cession, or colonization, would be nugatory, 
 as the fortune of war has been the principal means by 
 which almost all our present possessions have been 
 acquired : Australasia, some parts of North America, 
 
 I 
 
 * The word Colony is used in this Work to signify all the trans- 
 marine possessions of the Empire, of which the United Kingdom of 
 Great Britain and Ireland is the parent state ; therefore the terri- 
 tories under the joint government of the Crown and of the East India 
 Company, as also the Norman Isles and the Isle of Man, by reason 
 of their not being represented in the Imperial Parliament, are in- 
 cluded in the list of colonies. The term Colony is derived from the 
 Latin term Colonial which springs from colo, to till, agriculture in the 
 early ages forming the principal source of wealth and occupation. 
 The word Colonia is now accepted by most European languages, but 
 the Greek term aTroiic/a, signifying a body of settlers removed to a 
 distance from their native country, is a more expressive phrase. 
 
 ^ The Statistical Chart will be given with the last Part of the work. 
 
 ' See Vol. I. Asia, 2nd Edition of the " History of the British 
 Colonies," the Himalaya, Neilgherries, Ceylon, &c. 
 
8 
 
 ial 
 ;he 
 the 
 
 « 
 
 (Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay) Penang and Sin- 
 capore, being the chief exceptions to the general 
 rule '. 
 
 To divide them according to their territorial im- 
 portance, commercial value, or maritime utility, is 
 the most practical mode of demonstrating their in- 
 trinsic worth : but this classification is also very 
 difficult, as a colony may be possessed of all the three 
 advantages, as British India ; of the two former, as 
 British Guyana, or of the two latter, as Gibraltar. 
 These three classes may be thus illustrated, and an 
 inference may then be readily drawn how far a colony 
 belongs to one or more of the divisions specified. 
 
 I. Territorial. — British India contains upwards of 
 half a million square miles, peopled by 100,000,000 
 British subjects ^ ; its territorial importance, in refer- 
 ence to the opinions elsewhere expressed, is therefore 
 clear. 
 
 The commerce of India, though yet in its infancy, 
 amounts to upwards of £ 20,000,000 sterling ^ Its 
 maritime utility consists in the quantity of shipping 
 employed by the settlements, in the excellent har- 
 bours of Calcutta, Bombay, Cochin, Trincomalee, 
 Galle, Penang, Tavoi, Mergui, Malacca, Sincapore, 
 &c., along an extent of 5000 miles of sea coast, with 
 the navigation of the Ganges, Burrampooter, and 
 
 * I do not, however, here advert to the cessions made by East 
 India princes to the British Government. 
 
 * See Section II. and Statistical Chart. 
 
 ' See History of the Colonies, and British Colonial Library, /isia. 
 
 b2 
 
Indus, in the number of excellent native seamen em- 
 ployed on its shores, and in the cheap and abundant 
 materials and resources afforded for ship-building. 
 
 II. Commercial value, — Guyana possesses 100,000 
 square miles on the South American Main, watered 
 by several noble rivers, containing a large fertile area 
 capable of supporting several millions of inhabitants, 
 and now enjoying an extensive and valuable com- 
 merce with the parent state which is capable of con- 
 siderable increase in different products. 
 
 III. Maritime utility. — Gibraltar (as before re- 
 marked) offers an illustration of a politically-maritime 
 position, combined with commercial advantages. Its 
 position at the entrance of the Mediterranean, from 
 the Atlantic, enables England to maintain a command- 
 ing political influence in the South and East of Eu- 
 rope, in Asia Minor, Egypt, &c. ; while its contiguity 
 to the Spanish, French, and Moorish territories, admi- 
 rably adapts it as a depot for the sale of British goods '. 
 
 With this preliminary explanation, we may proceed 
 to classify the colonies, in reference to the foregoing 
 heads. 
 
 Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Ultra 
 Gangetic territories, Ceylon, Malac- 
 ca, New South Wales, Van Dieman's 
 Land, Cape of Good Hope, Canada 
 (Lower), Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and 
 Trinidad. 
 
 Of territorial importance, 
 commercial value, and ma- 
 ritime utility. 
 
 ^ Before the opening of the port of Cadiz, Gibraltar imported from 
 England an immense ouantity of cotton goods for re-exportation. 
 
I 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 Canada (Upper) New Brunswick, 
 British Guyana, [comprising Deme- 
 rara, Essequibo and Bcrbice,] and 
 Honduras. 
 
 Cape Breton Isle, Newfoundland, 
 Mauritius, Gibraltar, Malta, and the 
 Ionian islands. 
 
 Swan River, South Australia, and 
 the other parts of New Holland not 
 before specified. 
 
 Prince Edward Isle, Barbadocs, 
 St. Vincent's, Grenada, Tobago, An- 
 tigua, Dominica, St. Christopher's, St. 
 Lucia, Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, 
 Sincapore, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, 
 Cape Coast Castle and Accra, and 
 Hudson Bay territories. 
 
 The Bahamas, the Bermudas, the 
 Virgin Isles, the Falkland Isles, the 
 Seychelles, Norfolk Island, St. Hele- 
 na, Ascension, Heligoland, the Nor- 
 man Isles, and Isle of Man. 
 
 
 Of territorial importance and 
 C commercial value. 
 
 Of commercial value, and 
 maritime utility. 
 
 'Territorial importance. 
 
 Commercial value. 
 
 \ Maritime utility and poll- 
 
 » 
 
 tical worth. 
 
 S 
 
 This classification, though the least exceptionable, 
 is still imperfect, for it is evident that the West India 
 Islands of St. Vincent's, St. Lucia, &c. and the other 
 settlements under the same head, are of maritime 
 utility, as well as commercial value, by affording pro- 
 tection to our trade and encouragement to our navy ; 
 — in like manner Barbadoes, Prince Edward Isle, &c. 
 are of territorial importance from the richness of their 
 soil, and the products they yield, while some colonies 
 that are now considered of territorial importance 
 
 u 
 
 I 
 
6 
 
 alone, as the various settlements of New Holland, 
 &c. are becoming daily of increased commercial value 
 and maritime utility. 
 
 The main object, however, in view, is to show the 
 varied nature of our colonies, — how useful they are 
 in every point of view, — and how valuable even a 
 barren rock, in the midst of the ocean, may be to a 
 commercial nation like England. 
 
 These points will be further exemplified in the 
 chapters on Commerce and Finance, and in the other 
 parts of this work. 
 
 If we look to the territorial extent of the Colonies 
 we shall not be less surprised than at their number, 
 varied nature, and position. In area they occupy in 
 
 Square miles. 
 
 Asia' 550,000 
 
 West Indies 13,000 
 
 North America, excluding Hudson Bay terri- 1 .„- ^„^ 
 tory of 370,000 sq. miles |4»5&,uuu 
 
 South America, including British Guyana,) laxnoo 
 Honduras and Falkland Isles . . . | ' 
 
 Africa, South and East 200,000 
 
 Africa, West 50,000 
 
 Australasia 500,000 
 
 Europe 1,500 
 
 Total 1,914,500 
 
 Or Acres 1,225,200,000 
 
 and let it be remembered that the far greater part is 
 
 ' A recent writer on British India — said to be Mr. Crawford, and 
 if so, well acquainted with the subject, and whom I quote, in order 
 
 e 
 *,<» 
 
a fertile, and, in a large proportion, a cultivated ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 In the preceding arrangement, I place all the pos- 
 sessions under the government of the East India 
 Company, together with Ceylon, Penang, Malacca 
 and Sincapore, under Asia : the West India Islands 
 and the Bermudas, under the West Indies : Demerara, 
 Essequibo, Berbice, Honduras, and the Falkland Isles, 
 under South America: the Canadas (Upper and 
 Lower), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Cape Breton, 
 Prince Edward Isle, Newfoundland, and the Hudson- 
 
 
 to show that I have not overrated the importance of this portion of 
 the Empire — thus estimates our own and the adjoining tributary ter- 
 ritory, where, as he truly remarks, we exercise a political ascendancy 
 hardly less British than that of which we administer the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Area. p„„,.iaf; « Mouths to 
 
 Square Miles. *'opuJation. g^^^^^^ j^-j^^ 
 
 ^'dtU'".'!"!'!!! !! ."'^^ '^32,483 80,636,371 186 
 Tributary ditto 563,610 54,271,092 96 
 
 ^"mL^s'tal^^"'' ^'^^^^^ ^^'1^7 297,054 6 
 
 Tributary ditto 50,000 408,000 8 
 
 Independent States in or^j 
 
 bordering on Hindos- > 137,000 7,000,000 51 
 
 tan J 
 
 Independent States be- 1 ^^^^^^ 2,500,000 14 
 
 yond Hmdostan J 
 
 Total 1,413,210 145,112,517 102 
 
 Besides the foregoing there are upwards of .linety thousand square 
 miles of British territory, (a larger extenc of country than Great 
 Britain and Ireland,) of the population of which there is no estimate. 
 In round numbers the subjects of the British Empire may most rea- 
 sonably be estimated at 100,000,000. 
 
 
8 
 
 Bay territories, under North America : the Cape of 
 Good Hope, Natal, Mauritius, and Seychelles, under 
 Southern and Eastern Africa : Sierra Leone, the Gam- 
 bia, Cape Coast Castle, Accra, St. Helena, and Ascen- 
 sion, under Western Africa : New South Wales, Van 
 Dieman's Land, South Australia, Swan River and 
 Norfolk Island, under Australasia: and Gibraltar, 
 Malta, Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaca, Zante, Paxo, Santa 
 Maura, and Cerigo, the Norman Isles, the Isle of Man 
 and Heligoland, under Europe, 
 
 Thus we perceive that in each hemisphere, under 
 every zone, and beneath various climes, England is 
 ever present — holding the strongest points, enjoying 
 the richest territories, and diffusing her influence to 
 the uttermost extremities of the earth. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Among the numerous advantages of England's 
 foreign possessions, not the least valuable is the 
 diversified products which her colonies yield, thus 
 rendering her independent of the whole world for ne- 
 cessaries, luxuries, or those raw materials on which 
 our manufacturing prosperity so much depends. 
 
 The geographical position of the colonies almost 
 sufficiently indicate the products which they either 
 now yield or are capable of yielding : sugar, coffee, 
 cacao, cotton, silk, opium, cinnamon, ginger, pimento, 
 peppers, and all the spices, indigo, arrack, rum, rice, 
 preserved fruits, gums, dye stuffs, drugs, &c. &c. are the 
 produce of her Asiatic, West Indian, South American 
 
9 
 
 and African possessions; timber, corn, oil, flax, fish, furs, 
 resins, coal, and iron ' of North America ; wool, whale- 
 bone and oil, spermaceti, hemp, wood, skins, bark, 
 coal, &c. of Australasia; wine, brandy, dried fruits, 
 grain, wool, aloes, horns, hides, tallow, ambergris, 
 fish, and oil of South Africa ; gold dust, ivory, teak, 
 rice, drugs, gums, dye stuffs, skins, and spices of 
 West Africa; and olive oil, currants, wine, grain, &c. 
 of the European possessions. 
 
 When the intelligent mind reflects on this vast 
 abundance of riches within the Hmits of the British 
 Empire, of which indeed the preceding list offers but 
 a faint image, there is ample reason to rejoice at the 
 high and independent position which England is ena- 
 bled to take among the various nations which sur- 
 round her. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The numerous, active, and skilful population which 
 inhabit the colonies is also deserving of attention. 
 Their aggregate amount is shewn in the chart pre- 
 fixed to this work^ but it would require several 
 volumes to demonstrate their varied characters, man- 
 ners, religion, &c. A few observations on the subject 
 
 * The distribution here made is rather to show the relative advan- 
 tages of the different possessions than as indicating all their staples : 
 for instance, coal, iron, timber, corn, &c. are found abundantly in 
 India as well as in our North American colonies, and so on of our 
 other possessions, as will be seen on reference to their history. 
 
 ' See "History of the Colonies," and "British Colonial Library," 
 for details of every county in each settlement. 
 
 
10 
 
 will not however be irrelevant, as they may tend to 
 prove how at present the very diversity of the popu- 
 lation is of great service to England independent of 
 numbers, pursuits, or feelings towards the parent 
 state, by its existing efficiency towards maintaining the 
 integrity of the empire. 
 
 In making this remark however, I would not wish 
 it to be inferred that I advocate the doctrine divide et 
 iinpera ; there may be states of Society that require 
 the adoption of such political expedients, but I do 
 not therefore refer to the diversity of the British Em- 
 pire as advantageous in principle or in its ultimate 
 results ; I wish merely to indicate that where a vast 
 mass of people are under subjection to a distant 
 governing power, their very homogeneousness would 
 be a dangerous instrument in the hands of any dema- 
 gogue to incite them to rebellion against the parent 
 country, before reason and conviction had assumed 
 the place of passion and prejudice. That however 
 which may be a bond of union in the beginning, will, 
 if not sedulously watched and guarded against, be a 
 source of disaffection and separation in the end. 
 
 The British possessions in India alone, i. e. on the 
 continent of Asia, under the presidencies of Bengal, 
 Madras, and Bombay, contain one hundred millions of 
 British subjects. 
 
 I say British subjects, for the inhabitants under the 
 joint go , arnment of the East India Company, and of 
 the Board of Control, owe the same fealty to the 
 British Crown, and are entitled to the same protection. 
 
 ) e 
 
 I 
 
11 
 
 as if they were born and living within the precincts of 
 England. The vast population now referred to is more 
 diversified in character, colour, manners, language, re- 
 ligion, and feelings, than the inhabitants of the whole 
 continent of Europe, whose numbers scarcely equal 
 the citizens and tributaries of our possessions on the 
 peninsula of Hindostan. Some are bold and warlike, 
 others timid and peaceful ; — some of a light olive 
 complexion, with Roman noses, and dark flowing hair, 
 others of a negro tint and appearance ; — some with 
 a polished language, others using a barbarous jargon ; 
 — some Monotheists, others sunk in the grossest 
 idolatry ; — some generous and confiding, others 
 treacherous and distrustful : in short, British India 
 presents a very remarkable variety of diversity in the 
 human race. 
 
 In the West Indies and South America there are 
 nearly 1,000,000 of British subjects, of whom a large 
 portion are African negroes, and their descendants — a 
 lesser part whites — and a considerable section, mu- 
 lattoes, or the descendants of the white and dark 
 coloured races. 
 
 These three classes of negroes, whites, and their 
 descendants, although enjoying a similarity of lan- 
 guage, (and for the most part) of institutions, manners, 
 and customs, are suflficiently distinguished from each 
 other to render their diversity a present bond of 
 union to Great Britain. 
 
 In North America England has upwards of one 
 million and a quarter of British subjects, all Eu- 
 
12 
 
 ropeans or their descendants, widely located over an 
 immense and fertile territory, and attached to their 
 father-land by the strongest ties which can unite 
 human beings together, namely, a common origin or 
 national consanguinity, and an identity of language, 
 manners, religion, and feehngs. The Canadians of 
 French extraction, in Lower Canada, can scarcely in 
 the aggregate be considered an exception to the 
 general rule ; and a wise government will either 
 subdue any opposite feelings, or, failing in that, turn 
 their antipathies to the advantage of the parent state. 
 
 Africa, Southern, Eastern, and Western, has as yet 
 but a scanty population, compared with the extent of 
 fertile territory. Our Southern possessions at the 
 Cape of Good Hope are the most densely peopled, and 
 about 150,000 English, Anglo-Dutch, Negroes, Hot- 
 tentots, and Caffrees, are comprised within the 
 precincts of the British Empire. Our other posses- 
 sions in Africa, on the Continent, and on the islands 
 thereof, amount to about 120,000 of an equally 
 varied and mixed race ; so that, in round numbers, 
 we have upwards of a quarter of a million of subjects 
 on the shores of that vast and formerly renowned 
 quarter of the globe. 
 
 Australasia presents to our view a rising empire, 
 peopled for the greater part from the refuse of our gaols 
 and prison houses, and within the brief space of half 
 a century, containing an active, industrious class of 
 Europeans and their descendants, whose numbers, to 
 the extent of about 150,000, add strength, wealth 
 
■)'■! 
 
 13 
 
 and honour, to the mother country ; while the diffe- 
 rent settlements now forming on this great southern 
 land and its adjacent coasts, hold out the prospect 
 of a rapid and valuable addition to even the mere 
 physical strength of the empire. In Ceylon and in 
 our other islands in the eastern hemisphere, upwards 
 of a million of dark-coloured, but comparatively 
 civilized people, claim and enjoy the privileges of 
 British colonists. 
 
 In Gibraltar, Malta, the Ionian Islands, the Norman 
 Isles, Heligoland and the Isle of Man, England has 
 nearly half a million European subjects, of various 
 manners, languages, religions, and feelings, entirely 
 unrepresented in the Imperial parliament, and to all 
 intents and purposes ranking as colonists of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 What an immense empire does the foregoing brief 
 sketch offer to the view of the philanthropist, the 
 statesman, and the merchant. It would require a 
 widely extended space ' to convey even a faint idea of 
 so diversified a population, amounting in the whole 
 (embracing the 26,000,000 in England, Ireland, and 
 Scotland,) to upwards of one hundred and thirty millions 
 of souls, subject to the dominion of the British crown, 
 and, for every practicable good, enjoying generally 
 all the immunities of English citizens. 
 
 
 * In the five large volumes of my " History of the British Colo- 
 nies," or in the twelve smaller volumes of my "Colonial Library," 
 the reader will find, to a certain extent, a description of the ^ariou.:: 
 classes above enumerated. 
 
14 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Amidst the variety which distinguishes a population 
 superior in numbers, industry, intelligence, and wealth, 
 to that which Rome in her most exalted days ever 
 possessed, the various forms of religion are not the 
 least remarkable, and as this work is being written 
 for the enlightenment of posterity, as well as for the 
 benefit of the present generation, a rapid enumeration 
 of the different creeds congregated within the pale of 
 one sceptre, may not be uninteresting. As round 
 numbers will be used, and only the principal sects 
 named, the reader will bear in mind that the subject 
 is touched on solely with a view to general reflec- 
 tions, and as affording materials for thought. 
 
 The creed possessing the most numerous votaries, 
 is that of Bham or Brahma ^, whose votaries number 
 about seventy millions, among the British subjects in 
 Asia. These 70,000,000 are again subdivided into 
 sects, holding different tenets but agreeing in essen- 
 tials, and reverencing Menu as their inspired law- 
 
 giver. 
 
 The Mahometans residing in our East Indian pos- 
 sessions may be enumerated at 20,000,000 ; but the 
 disciples of Islamism are divided into two sects, as 
 opposed to each other, if not more so, than the Pro- 
 testants and Roman Catholics. The various tribes of 
 
 ' See 2d Edition of " History of the British Colonies," vol. i. 
 Asia, and the •' Colonial Library," East Indies. 
 
15 
 
 Bheels, Gonds, Assamese, &c. &c. embracing all 
 Pariahs, may be estimated at 10,000,000. 
 
 The Budhists or Jains in Ceylon, and the Ultra 
 Gangetic territories, are in number about 1,000,000. 
 
 The Christian inhabitants of the empire, embracing 
 the people of the United Kingdom, and those who 
 are now being converted by the missionaries, consist 
 of 28,000,000, of various forms of worship ; — viz. 
 26,000,000 in the United Kingdom; 1,200,000 in 
 North America ; 260,000 in the West Indies ; 140,000 
 in Africa and Australasia; 100,000 in India, Ceylon, 
 &c. ; 300,000 in European colonies, — the most nume- 
 rous, being that of the Lutheran or Reformed faith, 
 (embracing the Wesleyans, Baptists, &c. &c.) amount 
 to about 20,000,000. 
 
 The professors of the Roman Catholic faith, (in 
 which I include the Greek Church in the Ionian 
 Islands, and the large part of the Syriac Church in 
 Hindostan,) may be estimated at 8,000,000. The 
 remainder of the population of the empire not enu- 
 merated in the foregoing, and whose numbers it 
 would be difficult to estimate separately, may be 
 reckoned at 1,000,000. The preceding analysis will 
 convey a sufficiently general idea on this subject. 
 
 1% 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 ;of 
 
 )1. i. 
 
 So great a diversity cannot be expected in colour, 
 as the preceding topic affords : — of the 130,000,000 
 people, not more than 30,000,000 are white, the 
 
16 
 
 remaining 100,000,000 being of various hues, from 
 the light olive of the Northern Hindoo, to the deep 
 sable of the Guinea negro, or New Holland savage '. 
 
 The languages spoken are numerous among our 
 subjects in Asia. The Bengali is spoken by about 
 25,000,000. The Hindoostani by about 30,000,000 ; 
 the Mahratti, by about 10,000,000 ; the Tamul, by 
 5,000,000; the Teloogoo, by 8,000,000; the Carnatica, 
 by 5,000,000 ; Ooria, by 4,000,000, and Singalese, 
 1,000,000, with various other languages and dialects, 
 including the Burmese or Assamese, Arab, Turkish, 
 Armenian, AfFghan, &c. The Persian is the general 
 official and learned language of nearly the whole 
 native population of Hindostan. 
 
 The English language or tongue is spoken through- 
 out the empire by 28,000,000 subjects ; and French, 
 Italian, Dutch, Greek, Spanish, and Portuguese, to- 
 gether with various other languages and dialects, are 
 used by about 2,000,000 colonists ^. 
 
 It ought to be the object of a patriotic statesman 
 to diffuse widely, but gradually and with caution, a 
 knowledge of the mother tongue ; for, although in an 
 incipient government the very diversity of language is 
 a subsidiary aid to an arbitrary sway, yet, as freedom 
 extends, other adjuvants must be adopted in our 
 
 * The chart prefixed to this work, cltassifies the white and dark 
 races, as nearly as our imperfect statistics will admit. 
 
 * I wish it again to be clearly understood, that round numbers 
 are given as affording a general illustration, and as being easier of 
 retention to the memory. 
 
 fel 
 d] 
 
 oi 
 wi 
 
11 
 
 colonial policy, and a similarity of language will be 
 found an efficient link for uniting the parent state 
 and its distant possessions. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Of the other diversities amidst the vast population 
 beneath the sway of the British sceptre, a passing 
 notice will here be amply sufficient. We have already 
 adverted to religion, language, and colour, as the three 
 leading points of dissimilarity ; but the other shades, 
 though apparently minute, are of considerable 
 moment. 
 
 The distinction between free and bond, most happily 
 for the honour of England, and the triumph of Christ- 
 ianity, no longer exists ; that fearful outrage on hu- 
 manity has received its death-blow in the British 
 Empire ; and in recording the millions of inhabitants, 
 congregated within the pale of a single government, 
 the historian cannot help feeling proud that he speaks 
 of freemen, and not of slaves. 
 
 The varied character, manners, and customs of the 
 colonists may be estimated, if we contemplate the 
 locality of the different countries, the effects that laws, 
 religion and language have on their subjects, votaries 
 and adopters, and the innumerable shades of thought, 
 feeling, and action, which variety of climate, food and 
 drink, is capable of producing. 
 
 The inhabitant of British India, living on the verge 
 of the Himalaya, is a totally different being from him 
 who dwells on the fertile, but flat region of Bengal. 
 
 c 
 
 'ii 
 
 I 
 
18 
 
 The Mussulman of Calcutla who eats animal food, 
 possesses far more animation, bravery, and useful in- 
 telligence than the disciple of Menu residinginthe same 
 city, who lives on rice and farinacious aliment, — while 
 the wine and brandy-loving boor of South Africa is 
 equally contradistinguished from his more temperate 
 fellow citizens. When, therefore, all three vary in 
 the same class of subjects, the diversity is equally great 
 in proportion to the variety of each affecting cause. 
 
 With reference more especially to climate and soil, 
 the difference both in mind and body between the 
 inhabitants of a low, hot, and damp region, and the 
 people of an elevated, cool, and dry atmosphere, is 
 too striking to require comment : indeed, in many 
 nations, although the language, laws, religion, food 
 and drink may be the same — and even the lineaments 
 of the countenance common to the highlander and 
 to the lowlander, yet is there very little affinity in 
 their tempers, genius, and character. These effects 
 of climate are not of recent observation : — the Greek 
 and Latin historians ascribed the proverbial stupidity 
 of the Boeotians to the humidity of their climate ; and 
 it was even then noted that the Britons were remark- 
 able for the longest, and the Egyptians for the least ex- 
 tended life. But whatever be the hidden principle which 
 influences the character of man — how much soever he 
 may be modified by circumstances around him as re- 
 gards his place of nativity — the manner of his physical 
 and moral training, — of this we may be assured, that 
 according to the germ within him so will be the pro- 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 f 
 
19 
 
 ^ 
 
 duct ; we may by culture — by enriching the soil — by 
 pruning the branches, and concentrating the sap 
 within, augment the size and improve the flavour of 
 the apple, until we raihe it from a small and sour to 
 a large and nutritive fruit, but it will never be any 
 thing else. Thus is it with the human race : the 
 innate qualities of the mind cannot be altered ; they 
 may be improved in each individual, and the utmost 
 advantage derivable therefrom be obtained, so as to 
 form a vast portion of general good with as little as 
 possible of operative primeval of evil ; but the attempt 
 to render all human beings homogeneous, by applying 
 to them all at the same time, without regard to their 
 cHmate, habits, previous laws, and age of civilization, 
 the same principles and views, is neither founded in 
 practical wisdom, nor consistent with that beautifully 
 successive and never-ending variety which character- 
 izes nature, and creates an undying source of im- 
 provement and happiness for all mankind. 
 
 If we look only to the divisions of the torrid and 
 temperate zones, we shall find that scarcely more than 
 thirty million of British subjects occupy the latter 
 division ; while the remaining one hundred million 
 are spread over the vast territories which lie between 
 the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Carrying our 
 view yet further, we shall perceive, that even in the 
 equatorial region every variety of climate ensues, by 
 reason of the elevation of the land above the sea, 
 from the sultry and almost submerged delta of the 
 mighty Ganges, to the snow-clad summits of the 
 
 c2 
 
 k 
 
 m 
 
 
20 
 
 lofty Himalaya ; and as the food of mankind possesses 
 also a remarkable influence on character, it may not 
 be irrelevant to remark, that of the 130,000,000 not 
 more than 26,000,000 consume flesh abundantly ; 
 about 10,000,000 eat of it more sparingly ; with 
 15,000,000, it is of only occasional use; 9,000,000 
 seldom taste it, and 70,000,000 live principally on 
 vegetables and fish. Wheat, oats, and barley con- 
 stitute the principal gramniv^rous food of about 
 34,000,000 : potatoes, peas, and other vegetables, of 
 about 6,000,000 ; and rice, maize, millet, pulse, and 
 several minor grains, of about 90,000,000. With regard 
 to fermented drink, about 5,000,000 use wine fre- 
 quently ; 25,000,000, malted liquors ; 30,000,000, 
 distilled spirits; 20,000,000 intoxicate or exhilarate 
 the animal frame with opium, heng (wild hemp), or 
 other stimulants, and about 60,000,000 may be said 
 to confine themselves generally to aqueous beverages. 
 These circumstances may, to the general or super- 
 ficial reader, appear trifling minutiae, but the philo- 
 sopher and statesman know full well that causes 
 apparently minute produce the greatest effects, and 
 that in an enlarged view of man, his capabilities, 
 habitudes, and temper, are influenced by every day- 
 occurrences, and are, therefore, each and all deserving 
 of relative consideration. Moreover, there is an 
 essential object in contemplation when making such 
 calculations ; it is to demonstrate that the British is 
 not an homogeneous empire ; to prove that great care 
 is requisite in its government, and that ordinary rules 
 
21 
 
 and abstract principles, though of unquestionable 
 justice, per se, require the greatest caution in applying 
 them to vast and varied masses of men, under different 
 degrees of civilization. It is also desirable that by 
 such a contemplation the ruhng authorities may be 
 induced to examine, whether the present system of 
 home government is the best that can be devised for 
 administering the distant affairs of so many, and such 
 varied millions of the human race. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sect. I. Nature of free government; reasons for its modifications. — 
 Sect. II. Division of colonial governments into three classes — 
 Canada government as an illustration of the first ; its principles 
 and details — The East Indian and other governments. — Sect. Ill, 
 The executive power in England over the colonies — Authority of 
 the colonial minister, unsuited to the present extent of the colo- 
 nies — The Board of Control and Court of Directors' authority over 
 India — Authority of the Lords of the Treasury, of Parliament, 
 and of the King in Council. — Sect. IV. Colonies and the mother 
 country, bear the same relation to each other, as children to a 
 parent — Necessity of strengthening the social ties, when the 
 natural are weakened — Inadequacy of the present Colonial Office 
 government — Reform therein — Plan of a Board of Colonial Com- 
 missioners — Advantages resulting therefrom — Examination of the 
 proposition of colonial representatives in the Imperial Parlia- 
 ment — Present imperfect system of colonial agency. — Sect. V. 
 Internal government of the colonies, in relation to the legislative 
 and executive councils, and in reference to the British Govern- 
 ment — Examination of the question of elective assemblies — Re- 
 sponsibility and irresponsibility. — Sect. VI. Governors of colo- 
 
* ■ 
 
 ili 
 
 22 
 
 nies — Question of military governors — Qualifications required in 
 a governor — Necessity of training up a class of civil governors. — 
 Sect. VII. General principles to be acted on in the government of 
 distant possessions, &c. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 There is no subject connected with civih'zation so 
 ill defined, or so imperfectly understood, as that of 
 governing men in masses ; and for this reason, because, 
 in the present state of mankind, the science (if it may 
 be so called) of government is not capable of reduc- 
 tion to fixed principles ; and the varied habits, feelings, 
 and social condition of our fellow beings require a 
 peculiar discrimination for the purpose of securing to 
 authority that fealty and attachment, without which 
 no constituted power can long exist. If-self govern- 
 ance as regards an individual be so diflficult, and too 
 often so unattainable when opposed to the master pas- 
 sions, how much more complicated does the question 
 of the usurped or even the delegated government of 
 a nation become, especially if that nation be far ad- 
 vanced in civilization herself, while at the same time 
 possessing numerous distant colonies in every stage 
 of social compact, from the rudest to the highest 
 grades of civilized life. 
 
 When men enter into the social compact, they 
 openly or tacitly surrrender a portion of what is termed 
 their natural liberty, in order that they may enjoy, with 
 the greater security and advantage, the free privileges 
 which they retain ; but the quantity necessarily surren- 
 dered, and the time or periods for so doing, have never 
 
 1 
 
 I? 
 
 
23 
 
 been defined^ and as long as the human mind remains 
 in a fettered and degraded state, never can be. 
 
 Some people, it is true, have a greater aptitude 
 for the acquisition of political freedom than others; 
 several quickly appreciate its advantages, but appear 
 incapable of its retention ; and too many prefer serving 
 under some superior rule, from an inability to enjoy 
 the inestimable benefits of an equal share of liberty 
 diffused among their fellow subjects. 
 
 Let it not be supposed however, that some men are 
 by nature so imperfect, as to be insensible of the bles- 
 sings of liberty ; on the contrary freedom of will is 
 given to all; the exercise of it remains with the indivi- 
 dual, — its dormantness is no proof of its non-existence : 
 but it is so feebly, so partially, and so irregularly exer- 
 cised, that the mass of mankind remain, even after 
 centuries of good example, in a comparative state of 
 barbarism and slavery. As I have elsewhere observed * 
 'Man makes ^r mars his own happiness; the good 
 created for his bliss, he too often perverts unto evil, 
 and then laments over what he erroneously terms the 
 dispensations of Providence : the free will bestowed 
 for his advantage, too seldom, alas ! is governed by the 
 influence of reason ; passion triumphs, and sin and 
 misery ensue.' 
 
 For a man to be politically free in the highest social 
 state, he must first be, as an individual, morally 
 
 ' In the introduction to my *' Analysis of the Bible." 
 
Si:!! 
 
 ,il i 
 
 24 
 
 so ; no species of real liberty can long exist without 
 the doctrine of responsibility being experienced in its 
 fullest force ; responsibiHty rests on self-agency, and 
 a human being seeking happiness individually, socially, 
 or politically, must be conscious that its attainment is 
 within his own power, and that until he internally 
 understands and appreciates it, he can never enjoy it 
 externally. 
 
 The rules that are applicable to an individual, 
 apply with as great if not greater force to him, when 
 congregated in a society, the object of which is self- 
 protection so far as it is consistent with the prosperity 
 and happiness of his neighbours ; and therefore until 
 the influence of free agency be generally felt and 
 rigidly acted on, any attempt at fixing government as 
 a science of immutable principles, to be carried into 
 operation under all circumstances and at all times, 
 must necessarily end not only in disappointment, but 
 in protracting the period when the mind is fitted for 
 the reception of truth, and prepared to act on its in- 
 fallible precepts. 
 
 In everything with which we are acquainted, im- 
 provement or perfection is arrived at by progressive 
 stages, varying in duration according to the object to 
 be attained, thus also is it with self or with general go- 
 vernment ; and it is according to our power of resist- 
 ing temptation, or of controlling the passions, that we 
 are more or less fitted to make a good use of our free 
 will, to render it practically eflScient for the manage- 
 
25 
 
 ment of our political as well as social affairs, and 
 therefore conducive not only to our national welfare, 
 but to the happiness of all mankind \ 
 
 These observations are made in reference to the 
 various forms of government which exist under the 
 British sceptre, the scale in fact varying from almost 
 a democratic to an absolute sway, modified by such 
 events as it is now proposed to explain so far as is 
 necessary to a due understanding of our colonial go- 
 vernment. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Few of the present transmarine possessions of En- 
 gland were originally acquired by actual settlement ; 
 they were chiefly obtained by conquest or cession 
 (See chart prefixed to this vol.), and to the inhabitants 
 was promised the continued enjoyment of their reli- 
 gion and laws ; — hence we see the reason why, to a 
 certain extent, such various forms of government are 
 still extant under the sway of the British crown. 
 
 In order to comprehend this intricate and important 
 subject in its full bearing, it will be necessary to take 
 a summary view of each colony as to its domestic go- 
 vernment ^ ; and we shall then be better prepared to 
 
 ' It has been aptly remarked, that before a man is fitted to preside 
 over a family, he must first be able to govern himself; and until able 
 to manage his family, he cannot be qualified to assist in the ad- 
 ministration of political affairs. 
 
 * The fullest details of each colony will be found in my " History 
 of the British colonies," and in the *' Colonial Library." 
 
 "1 
 
 .it' , 
 
26 
 
 discuss the general question of our colonial adminis- 
 tration at home and abroad. 
 
 The colonies, as to government, may be divided into 
 three classes : — 
 
 1st, Those having a representative assembly, a 
 legislative council, and a governor. 
 
 2nd, Those having no representative assembly, but 
 a legislative council and governor. 
 
 3rd, Those having neither a representative assem- 
 bly, nor a legislative council, but only a governor. 
 
 The first class may be said to comprize Canada 
 Upper, and Canada Lower, New Brunswick, Nova 
 Scotia and Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and 
 Newfoundland, in North America : — Jamaica, Barba- 
 does, Antigua, Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent, Mont- 
 serrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Honduras, the Virgin Isles, 
 the Bahamas and Bermudas, in the West Indies : — 
 The Ionian Isles, the Norman Isles and the Isle of 
 Man, in Europe. 
 
 The second class comprehends, Bengal, Madras, 
 Bombay, Penang, Malacca and Sincapore, and Cey- 
 lon, in Asia : — The Cape of Good Hope, the Mauri- 
 tius, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Cape Coast Castle 
 in Africa: — New South Wales and Van Diemen*s 
 Island in Australasia: — Demerara, Essequibo, Ber- 
 bice, Trinidad, and St. Lucia in the West Indies : — 
 and Malta and Gozo in Europe, 
 
 The third class embraces, St. Helena ', Ascension, 
 
 * I am aware that there is a council at St. Helena, and at other of 
 
27 
 
 Accra, and Seychelles in Africa : — Swan River, 
 (Western Australia) and South Australia, in Austral- 
 asia : — Gibraltar and Heligoland, in Europe. 
 
 In the first class, the people, through their represen- 
 tatives in the House of Assembly, regulate the levying 
 of taxes, and control, to a certain extent, the expen- 
 diture thereof * ; in the second class, there is no im- 
 mediate power over the council, except that of public 
 opinion in the colony ; and in the third, the governor 
 is responsible alone to the Home Government. 
 
 Canada (Lower) is an illustrative example of the 
 first class. Estimating the population at half a mil- 
 lion, the number of electors is at least 80,000, of 
 whom nine-tenths are proprietors of the soil. These 
 electors return eighty-eight representatives to form an 
 assembly (like the British House of Commons), which 
 elects its speaker, holds its annual sitting at Quebec, 
 the capital of the province, and is renewable every 
 four years, under the provisions of what is termed the 
 Quebec Act of 1791, which has been called after Mr. 
 Pitt, but which was really drawn up by Lord Grenville. 
 
 The qualifications for an elector are, in the counties 
 — being possessed of real property to the yearly value 
 
 il! 
 
 i; 
 
 the settlements included in this class, but it is a council in aid of the 
 governor, not as a controlling or directing power. 
 
 * The reader will find in my *' History of the British Colonies," 
 how far this system is carried into effect ; where the hereditary 
 revenues of the crown are retained, or where they have been surren- 
 dered for a fixed civil list. This subject, in its connection between 
 a mother country and its colonies, will be discussed in the financial 
 chapter. 
 
 
28 
 
 of forty shillings sterling ; in the towns, of the yearly 
 value of five pounds, or paying rent to the amount of 
 ten pounds sterling annually. No religious disabi- 
 lities exist as to electors, but clergymen and Jews are 
 not eligible as representatives. The elections are by 
 open voting. The representatives require no property 
 qualification ; they are paid eighteen shillings a day 
 while the session continues, and receive four shillings 
 a league travelling expenses to and from the capital. 
 
 The assembly thus described is empowered to make 
 laws for the ' peace, welfare, and good government 
 of the province,' such laws not being repugnant to 
 the act of 31 George III. c. 31. The assembly claims, 
 and if an adequate civil list ' were granted, the Im- 
 perial Government would be disposed to concede, a 
 sole control over the finances of the colony, both as 
 to the extent and mode of levying the taxes and the 
 distribution of the same. " \_See Financial Chapter. ^^ 
 
 The legislative council, or upper house, consists 
 of thirty-four members appointed by His Majesty for 
 
 ^ A colonial and civil list is sometimes understood to indicate the 
 means of paying the governor and a few of the principal functionaries; 
 but a proper civil list should include the power of carrying on the whole 
 of the civil government, which would be liable to be deranged by the 
 house of assembly stopping the annual votes of supply. 
 
 ^ England has granted more liberty to her colonies, practically 
 speaking, than any other nation ; it is true, that the French National 
 Assembly professed to do much, but their professions were very im- 
 perfectly put in execution. By a law passed in the National Assem- 
 bly at Paris, on the 8th March, 1790, the first clauses declared that 
 1 . * every colony is authorized to make known its wishes with respect 
 to the constitution, legislation, and administration, which it may deem 
 
 c 
 tl 
 
 irl 
 
29 
 
 life. The chief justice, Protestant bishop, and se- 
 veral other public functionaries are ex officii included 
 in the list of members. This house holds its sittings 
 at the same time as the house of assembly ; and its 
 functions in relation to the latter, are as those of the 
 British House of Lords to the House of Commons. 
 
 The governor of the province represents His Ma- 
 jesty, in whose name he assembles, prorogues and dis- 
 solves the two houses, which, however, he must call 
 together once in every twelve calendar months. The 
 governor gives, withholds or reserves for the further 
 signification of His Majesty's pleasure, the royal sanc- 
 tion to bills proposed and passed by the other two 
 branches, but laws assented to by the governor, may 
 be disallowed by the King within two years. 
 
 The governor is assisted by an executive council 
 of eleven members holding official rank, and appointed 
 by the crown. The executive council is somewhat 
 similar in its functions to the Privy Council in England. 
 
 The existence of a council to advise the governor 
 in the conduct of the affairs of Canada, may be traced 
 back to the first establishment of a civil government 
 
 J 
 
 most likely to conduce to the prosperity and happiness of its inhabit- 
 ants, subject however to the obligation of conforming to the general 
 principles which bind the colonies to the mother country^ and which 
 assure the preservation of their respective interests.* 
 
 2. " In the colonies where there exist colonial assemblies freely 
 chosen by the citizens, these assemblies shall be admitted to declare 
 the wishes of the colony. Tn those where there do not exist such 
 assemblies, they shall be formed without delay in order to fulfil the 
 same functions." 
 
80 
 
 in this province, under the authority of Great Britain. 
 '* The Royal Instructions to General Murray," dated the 
 7th of December 1763, commanded him to name a 
 council, consisting of four principal functionaries 
 therein specified, and of eight other persons chosen 
 from amongst the most considerable inhabitants of 
 the province ; and directed that the body so appointed 
 should have all the powers and privileges usually 
 enjoyed by the councils in His Majesty's other plan- 
 tations. Under the authority of this instruction, the 
 council seems to have exercised the function of deli- 
 berating on any matters of administration referred to 
 it by the governor, and also of assisting him in fram- 
 ing regulations for the peace, order, and good govern- 
 ment of the province. The statute of 14 Geo. 3, 
 c. 83, established the council in a more formal 
 manner, and directed that it should consist of not 
 more than twenty-three, nor less than seventeen, 
 persons empowered to concur with the governor in 
 making laws for the good government of the province. 
 The members of this council appear to have been 
 consulted also as advisers on administrative questions, 
 but to have kept separate records in that capacity ; 
 and whilst, for the purpose of making laws, it was 
 necessary that a majority of the whole should be pre- 
 bcnt, five was constituted, by the Royal Instructions, 
 a quorum for other business. However distinct the 
 functions of the council, in its legislative and executive 
 capacity, we believe that, generally speaking, no 
 separation, as to the personal composition of it, had. 
 
31 
 
 <M 
 
 ad. 
 
 up to this time, been effected in the American colo- 
 nies, though, in a work first published in 1764 by 
 Mr. Pownall, who had been governor of Massachus- 
 sett's Bay (Pownall's Administration of the Colonies, 
 ed. 5, vol. i. c. 4, s. 5) the advantages to be derived 
 from such a separation are pointed out. In Canada, 
 the council created by the Constitutional Act in 1791 
 was purely legislative, being designed to form one 
 branch of a legislature resembling, as nearly as cir- 
 cumstances would admit, the Parliament of Great 
 Britain ; and a board to advise the governor was only 
 alluded to incidentally, under the designation of " such 
 executive council as shall be appointed by His 
 Majesty for the affairs " of the province. A council 
 of this nature was accordingly appointed by the Royal 
 Instructions to Lord Dorchester, dated the 16th of 
 September, 1791 ; and the number of its members fixed 
 at nine, with a salary to each of 100/. 
 
 We find that of the nine persons named in Lord 
 Dorchester's instructions to compose his executive 
 council, six were also members of the legislative 
 council ; and that of the whole number of executive 
 counsellors who have been sworn in up to the present 
 time, amounting to forty-two, twenty were also legis- 
 lative counsellors ; and not more than eight, or at 
 most ten, did not fill salaried offices under the govern- 
 ment either at the date of their appointment to the 
 council, or at some time while they continued in it. 
 The names in Lord Dorchester's council stood alter- 
 nately English and French ; and of the eight coun- 
 
 I. 
 
 
32 
 
 sellers who were actually sworn in (the ninth, Mr. 
 Lymburner, being absent from the province,) four 
 were of French extraction, and four of English. The 
 three next appointments were of persons of English 
 origin ; and it appears that of thirty-one persons 
 named as executive counsellors, between the years 
 1793 and 1828, twenty-five were English or of Eng- 
 lish extraction, and six were French Canadians ; of 
 these six, one was Mr. Speaker Papineau, whose 
 appointment seems to have been founded on the office 
 he held as speaker, and to have lasted but a short 
 time. Since 1828 three persons only have been 
 appointed, and they are all French Canadians. 
 
 The number of executive counsellors, named in the 
 Royal Instructions to Lord Dorchester, and to whom 
 salaries were ordered to be paid, was nine. Additional 
 or honorary members were introduced as early as the 
 year 1794; but although appointed by mandamus, 
 they had no salaries. It has subsequently been the 
 custom for the governor provisionally to appoint 
 honorary members, who are supposed, however, not 
 capable of sitting in the court of appeals until they 
 are confirmed by the King. The salary of each 
 ordinary member is 100/. per annum. 
 
 The clerk of the council has a salary of 550/., and 
 about 85/. fees ; and an assistant clerk has 182/. 10s. 
 
 The executive council are required to give their 
 opinion or advice to the governor whenever it is asked 
 for. There are some cases in which, by the provisions 
 of statutes, imperial or provincial, or under his com- 
 
mission, or instructions from His Majesty, it is incum- 
 bent on tht' governor to act either by and with the 
 advice, or vvitli the advice and consent of the execu- 
 tive council ; but in far the greater part of the busi- 
 ness of government he is at Hberty to receive advice 
 or not as he pleases ; and if he does take the opinion 
 of the council, to proceed in opposition to it without 
 entering liis decision, or assigning its reasons on the 
 council books. 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, the want of any cogent 
 rules for recurring to it generally, there are two or 
 three extensive matters, of which the right of the 
 council to take cognizance has always been well 
 established. Up to 1826, when the office of commis- 
 sioner of crown lands was created, the executive 
 council had the whole superintendence of the business 
 of land granting ; it still retains the direction of it in 
 some cases, and is commonly referred to by the 
 governor in any disputed matters arising in or out of 
 the disposal of the crown or wild lands. The council 
 has also been charged from the earliest times with the 
 duty of auditing the public accounts. Another old 
 and most important attribute of the executive council 
 is that of hearing appeals from the courts of law, 
 which function, in like manner as it had belonged to 
 the former council of Quebec, was allotted to it by 
 the 34th section of the Constitutional Act, and subse- 
 quently regulated by the Provincial Statute .34 Geo. 
 III. c. 6. 
 
 Tbe council can assemble only on summons from 
 
 s 
 
34 
 
 II 
 n 
 
 I 
 II 
 
 '(!' 
 
 the governor, and cannot sit as such without his being 
 present. It may and frequently does sit in committee 
 to consider matters referred to it by the governor, 
 and these committees go through almost all the labour 
 of the financial and land business of the council ; but 
 their proceedings require to be confirmed by a regular 
 meeting, with the governor present, before they can 
 be acted on. The members of council have not the 
 right of recording their opinions individually, or of 
 entering protests on their minutes, and they are sworn 
 to secrecy without any exception or reservation^ 
 
 This will afford a sufficient idea of the nature of 
 the colonial assembly governments : for details and 
 deviations from the above, I must refer the reader 
 to my " History of the British Colonies." In some 
 of the West India colonies there is only a lieutenant- 
 governor, with a governor over several islands and 
 settlements ; thus, the governor of Barbados has 
 under him the lieutenant-governors of St. Vincent, 
 Grenada, Tobago, and British Guyana. The autho- 
 rity of the lieutenant-governor is almost equal to that 
 of the governor, the great difference being in the 
 salary and emoluments of office. 
 
 The second class, i. e, those colonies having no 
 representative assembly, but their affairs presided 
 over by a legislative council and governor, is a subor- 
 dinate step in colonial government. The legislative 
 
 * This detail relative to the executive council in Lower Canada 
 is derived from the recent Report of the Commissioners appointed by 
 the crown to investigate the alleged grievances in Lower Canada. 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
35 
 
 
 council consists of a few of the principal officers of 
 the government, viz. the chief secretary of the colony, 
 the colonial treasurer, the chief justice, and attorney- 
 general, the bishop or archdeacon, and the com- 
 mander of the troops. To these are sometimes added 
 a few of the principal merchants, or landed gentry of 
 the settlement; the whole are appointed by the 
 Crown, quamdiu bene gesserint, or, in the case of the 
 government functionaries, so long as they retain their 
 official appointments. 
 
 This council is presided over by the governor, and, 
 in some instances, its proceedings are carried on with 
 open doors (as at the Cape of Good Hope, New 
 South Wales, &c.) In some colonies there is, in 
 addition to the legislative council, an executive council, 
 consisting of the principal official servants of the 
 crown, who are to the governor what the privy 
 council is in England to the king. The government 
 of India partakes of the two latter ; the council ap- 
 pointed to aid the governor-general, or governors of 
 the respective presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and 
 Bombay, consists of the oldest and ablest civil ser- 
 vants of the Company, nominated by the Court of 
 Directors in London, to whom is added the com- 
 mander of the forces at each presidency. These 
 councils are each but four in number; they aid, 
 advise, and to some extent control ', the governor- 
 
 * See 2d Edition, vol. i. Asia, of the " History of the British 
 Colonies." 
 
 D 2 
 
i 
 
 f 
 
 36 
 
 general or governors of Madras and Bombay in all 
 executive and legislative acts ; and though the go- 
 vernor-general or governors may, on cases of emer- 
 gency, act independent of the council, yet the reai'>ons 
 for so doing must be recorded in writing on both 
 sides, and transmitted to England for final adjudi- 
 cation. 
 
 The bishop of Calcutta has no seat in the supreme 
 council, nor have the church dignitaries at either of 
 the other presidencies. 
 
 It is evident, that, in the foregoing form of govern- 
 ment, the ruled have but little control over their 
 rulers ; and that with the exception of responsibility 
 to the fluctuating and distant authorities in England, 
 it is little better than an oligarchy on a small scale, 
 without, however, the hereditary feelings of the latter 
 for the perpetuation of its authority. I do not here 
 say that a government thus constituted is unsuited 
 to some of our colonies, — I merely point out its com- 
 bined legislative and executive power, as one of those 
 precarious states of society, which require the most 
 vigilant care, prudence, and management. 
 
 The third form of government consists solely of 
 a chief appointed in England, without assembly or 
 council, and subject to no check but the Colonial 
 Office in Downing-street. This form (as may be 
 seen at p. 26) is confined to very few settlements ; 
 it is in fact, the first or elementary stage in colonial 
 government ; and the moment numbers, wealth, and 
 intelligence become somewhat concentrated, it must 
 
 I hi > 
 
 
37 
 
 pass into the second stage, which of itself is but a 
 preliminary step to the third or representative assem- 
 bly governments. 
 
 The foregoing statement will convey a sufficiently 
 distinct view of the nature of our colonial domestic 
 governments ; in some instances there are acts of 
 parliament, and in others, royal charters, under the 
 authority of which the government is carried on ; 
 but for details of such, and for the variations that 
 occur in the powers described — viz. at British Guy- 
 ana, at the Ionian Islands, &c. I must refer to the 
 history of each of those settlements. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The executive power in England over the greater 
 part of her transmarine possessions, embracing all the 
 settlements not sending representatives to the Im- 
 perial Parliament, is vested in the Colonial Office, 
 Downing-street, which is under the management of 
 one of the principal secretaries of state, an under" 
 secretary, who changes with the administration, and 
 another under-secretary, who is permanent '. 
 
 * The colonies were formerly under the management of a board, 
 to whose care was confided the trade and plantations of the empire, 
 and it is a pleasure to refer to the able and valuable documents 
 drawn up by that board ; on the abolition of the board, and the office 
 of third secretary of state, by Mr. Burke for the sake of economy, 
 the colonies were transferred to the care of the secretary of state 
 for the home department. On the breaking out of the war at the 
 close of the last century, a secretaryship of state for war was created, 
 and to this department the colonies were subsequently confided, in 
 1801. 
 
 !;. 
 
 * 
 
'(■ I' 
 
 • 1 
 
 m 
 
 
 ■ J' 
 
 1 .1 Br, .15 
 
 y 
 
 38 
 
 The possessions not under the management of the 
 Colonial Office, are — Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Pe- 
 nang, Malacca, and Sincapore, which have their 
 affairs directed by the East India Company and the 
 Board of Control (or Commissioners for the Affairs 
 of India). The Norman Isles and the Isle of Man 
 are under the superintendence of the Home Office. , 
 
 It will be necessary now to show that the power of 
 the Colonial Office is very great, its patronage vast, 
 and its responsibility imperfect. 
 
 The secretary of state for the colonies is a cabinet 
 minister of the highest rank, and in war time he 
 represents the military department of the government 
 in the cabinet. He has the nomination of the under- 
 secretary of state for the colonies, who retires with 
 him on any change of administration. He acts always 
 in the King's name, and is supposed to consult 
 His Majesty's pleasure previous to undertaking any 
 important step ; he is also bound to submit to his 
 colleagues in the cabinet measures of importance, 
 previous to their final arrangement. His patronage 
 consists in the nomination of the governors, lieute- 
 nant-governors, commanders-in-chief, judges, bishops, 
 and church dignitaries, law officers, civil functionaries 
 of every description, from members of council down 
 to tide-waiters, for the various colonies, and in fill- 
 ing up the incidental vacancies that may occur in his 
 own office in Downing-street, when the principle of 
 seniority does not interfere. His responsibility rests 
 solely with parliament, whose deplorable want of in- 
 
39 
 
 formation generally, on colonial affairs, I have before 
 demonstrated K 
 
 That such power, patronage, and irresponsibility 
 should be vested, under a free government, in a single 
 individual, may well excite surprise ; but it is perhaps 
 explainable from the circumstance, that when the 
 Colonial Office was formed, no expectation was enter- 
 tained that our transmarine dominion would have 
 attained its present magnitude and importance. 
 
 In considering this subject, and as bearing on the 
 remarks which will subsequently be made, it should 
 be stated that from the colonial secretary downwards, 
 no gentleman in the Colonial Office has visited our 
 colonies, none of them have a local knowledge of 
 their worth, and they are therefore, however great 
 their talents, necessarily unacquainted with many 
 circumstances essential to a due understanding of the 
 colonial interests. 
 
 The settlements of Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Pe- 
 nang, Malacca, and Sincapore, are under the joint 
 government of the East India Company and of the 
 crown ; the former represented by the Court of Di- 
 rectors, who hold their weekly courts at the East 
 India House, and the latter by the Board of Control, 
 or Commissioners for the Affairs of India. 
 
 The court consists of twenty-four directors, chosen 
 
 
 1.^ 
 
 'f- I 
 
 * See " History of the Colonies," passim. There are several 
 members in both houses who make colonial subjects an important 
 part of their duties ; but the generality ( onsider such topics as but 
 of secondary consequence. 
 
40 
 
 i 
 
 ■m 
 
 ■m 
 
 for life by the proprietors of East India stock, and 
 with whom the home government of India is vested 
 under the Charter Act of 1833, until the year 1854, 
 subject, however, to tlie controlling authority of the 
 Board of Commissioners in the revising of old laws, 
 in the making of new ones, in the financial man- 
 agement of the Indian revenues and debt, and in the 
 appointment of governors-general, governors, com- 
 manders-in-chief, and members of council. 
 
 The board consists of a president, who is a cabinet 
 minister, with a few unpaid and paid commissioners, 
 members of the privy council, appointed by His Ma- 
 jesty, — the two principal secretaries of state, and the 
 chancellor of the exchequer, always ex officio forming 
 three of the unpaid commissioners : the whole chang- 
 ing with any alteration in the ministry \ 
 
 The controlling functions of the board are exercised 
 in revising all dispatches prepared by the Court of 
 Directors of the East India Company, and addressed 
 to governments in India; the board possesses also 
 an originating power in requiring the Court of Direc- 
 tors to prepare a dispatch on any named subject, and 
 in altering or revising such dispatch as it may deem 
 fit K 
 
 The joint power of the court and board is exercised 
 
 i *■ 
 
 ! ■ '■■'; 
 
 
 
 * It would be advisable to have a vice-president of the Board of 
 Control in permanent office, in order to avoid the evil of ministerial 
 fluctuations. 
 
 ' See second edition, vol. i. Asia ; History of the British Colonies, 
 p. 264. 
 
41 
 
 in the framing of all laws suited to the government 
 of India, and in approving or annulling any enact- 
 ments made in India by the respective governments. 
 
 The board may be said to possess a representative 
 in India, in the person of a member of council of the 
 supreme government, nominated by the crown, and 
 not belonging to the civil or military services of the 
 East India Company'. 
 
 The patronage of India consists chiefly in appoint- 
 ments, as almost all promotion in the civil or military 
 departments goes by seniority. The patronage of 
 appointment is thus managed, — the number of writers, 
 cadets, and assistant surgeons required for the year 
 being ascertained ; it is divided into thirty shares, of 
 which the chairman and the deputy chairman of the 
 Court of Directors, and the President of the Board 
 of Control, have each two, and each director one 
 share. 
 
 His Majesty's ministers, through the president of the 
 Board of Control, have the appointment of judges, bi- 
 shops, and officers of the King's army serving in India; 
 they also possess a negative on the Court of Directors, 
 nomination of the governor-general, governors, com- 
 manders-in-chief, and members of council. 
 
 It should be added that the Court of Directors now 
 consists, for the greater part, of retired civil, military, 
 or maritime servants of the East India Company, and 
 therefore practically acquainted with the countries 
 
 
 ■■ 5 ' 
 
 ' '( 
 
 The present representative is Mr. Zachariah Macauley. 
 
42 
 
 which they are called on to govern ; and among the 
 paid or unpaid commissioners of the Board of Control 
 are not unfrequently found men who have passed a 
 part of their lives in India, and consequently possess- 
 ing a knowledge of the important duties which they 
 are called on to preside over. 
 
 The East India Company's government abroad is, 
 at each of the presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and 
 Bombay, to a certain degree controlled by the supreme 
 or King's courts established there ; each presided over 
 by a chief and two puisne judges, who are empowered 
 to watch over and protect the interests of the inhabi- 
 tants within the limits of the city of Calcutta, and the 
 towns of Madras and Bombay. There is, therefore, a 
 check on the East India Company's government 
 abroad and at home. 
 
 In like manner to the Colonial Office, parliament 
 may exercise its authority over the Court of Directors 
 and the Board of Control ; and the privy council of the 
 King nay entertain appeals from the Indian and colo- 
 nial settlements in all cases affecting property, and 
 private or public rights. 
 
 The power exercised by the Home Office over the 
 Norman Isles, and Isle of Man is very slight, as their 
 respective representative assemblies have the chief 
 management of the domestic affairs of each island. 
 The patronage consists in the appointment of the 
 chief authorities at the seats of government. 
 
 The Lords of the Treasury have some share of the 
 management of the commercial department of the 
 
43 
 
 colonies in reference to the commissariat, to the 
 supply of coin, and to some of the custom-houses in 
 each of the settlements not under the East India 
 Company's government ; the officers of these custom- 
 houses, and the chiefs of the commissariat, are ap- 
 pointed, I believe, by warrant from the Treasury. 
 
 The power of parliament is exercised chiefly as a 
 corrective ; it has no patronage in the colonies, and 
 forms rather a court of appeal for the reformation of 
 abuses, or of mal-administration in the government of 
 the settlements, than an originating authority of 
 government ; though its power to make laws binding 
 on each and every settlement is indisputable, and has 
 been recently exercised when a colonial assembly [as 
 at Jamaica,] refused to pass a law which the Imperial 
 Parliament deemed requisite. With regard to the Im- 
 perial Parliament being empowered to interfere in the 
 internal taxation of a colony, it should be observed 
 that the doubt could only arise in reference to those 
 colonies which have representative assemblies ; and 
 even in these instances the Act 18 Geo. III. did not 
 abandon the right, but liierely declared that the Par- 
 liament " will not exercise the right of internal tax- 
 ation upon the colonies." There can be no doubt 
 that the Imperial Parliament would not rashly or 
 harshly interfere in the internal concerns of a colony, 
 such as Lower Canada, but a case may arise, as we 
 have recently witnessed, where interference may be a 
 matter of duty rather than choice, if the power and 
 respect of the mother country be worth preserving. 
 
 ri 
 
 \ 
 
Ill 
 
 r. • 
 
 .. I 
 
 44 
 
 The authority of the crown over the colonies is 
 almost nominal ; it is, in fact, a legal fiction, for the 
 responsibility resting not with the King ', but with 
 His Majesty's official and confidential advisers, all 
 acts, appointments, promotions, &c. emanate from the 
 colonial secretary, in the King's name. It is true 
 that the King may not only exercise a veto on any act 
 or appointment, but may also nominate those whom 
 he pleases to oflfice. I am not aware, however, that 
 such sovereign power has been recently assumed. 
 The King in Council holds a control over the enact- 
 ments of the colonial assemblies after the following 
 manner: — Local acts of legislation, when received 
 from a colony, are transmitted by the secretary of state 
 for the colonies to the lord presidentj in order to 
 their being laid before the King in Council ; they are 
 then referred to a committee of the privy council, 
 who make a report on the same for the assistance of 
 His Majesty in deciding upon the act or acts, first 
 hearing, if required, parties objecting to the confirma- 
 tion of particular laws. On the King's sanction being 
 given in Council, an order is thence transmitted to 
 the Colonial Office to be transmitted in turn to the 
 colony. 
 
 With the foregoing data for a guide, we may now 
 
 ' It is but an act of justice to state, that no sovereign, were he 
 even individually responsible, could feel greater solicitude for the 
 colonies than King William IV., the first of England's monarchs 
 who has personally visited the transmarine possessions of the empire, 
 and which, at an early age, he bad efficiently contributed to acquire, 
 to extend, and to protect. 
 
45 
 
 proceed to consider the subject of colonial govern- 
 ment in a general point of view, and examine the 
 working of the present system. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 A nation possessed of colonics may be compared to 
 a mother with children, particularly as regards settle- 
 ments which have been founded by the parent state : 
 the greatest care is required in their infancy ; as they 
 grow in strength, a certain degree of control is neces- 
 sary, which should be relaxed as maturity approaches, 
 until mutual interests and affections be substituted for 
 maternal control and authority. 
 
 With individuals, the perpetuation of their species is 
 one, if not the most essential, of their duties ; with 
 kingdoms their permanence ought to be paramount : 
 children with the one, and colonies with the other, are 
 the means by which such results are arrived at : the 
 foundation or acquisition of colonial settlements is, 
 therefore, a desideratum to all nations. 
 
 But to an insulated kingdom, like England, colonies 
 are of vital importance ; consequently, whatever may 
 be the means of extending, and of preserving them, 
 will be deemed a public advantage, and deserving of 
 every attention which can be bestowed on a subject 
 fraught with consequences of the highest importance. 
 
 The most obvious link of connection between a 
 parent and a child, or between a nation and its colony, 
 is that of government : its efficacy, to a certain extent. 
 
 
 h 
 
 f i 
 
 ^ 
 
'i ■ 
 
 ■1, 
 
 til 
 
 f;. 
 
 ■ b'- 
 
 
 46 
 
 is admitted ; but unless affection and self-interest be 
 superadded to that of authority, the control of the 
 latter will not be long binding, and time and circum- 
 stances must daily weaken its permanence. 
 
 There are ties between a mother and her child ' 
 which, in most instances, cannot be totally eradicated ; 
 it is the same with a kingdom and its colonies, and 
 wisdom, worldly prudence, and Christianity, would 
 indicate the course to be pursued to render those ties 
 of permanence and value to both parent and child. 
 
 When a child has grown up to man's estate, the 
 feelings of consanguinity are, to a certain extent, 
 weakened, especially if the child be far removed from 
 its parent, and subject to a distant, imperfect, irregu- 
 larly exercised, and, too often, harsh or capricious 
 control. In the latter instance, it requires but time to 
 estrange almost completely the offspring from paternal 
 influence. 
 
 Thus also is it with a colony ; and hence we see 
 that under our present defective colonial government, 
 there is a continual series of disputes with the distant 
 settlements, weakening the natural ties that bind them 
 to the mother country, and threatening (as was the 
 case with the United States) the loss to England of 
 her finest possessions, as soon as they become most 
 valuable. 
 
 It is admitted, that the evil adverted to is, to a 
 
 ' I allude more particularly in the analogy to a mother instead of 
 a father, because the feelings of a child are generally stronger for tiie 
 mother than for the father, for natural reasons. 
 
 1 
 
47 
 
 a 
 
 of 
 
 iie 
 
 certain extent, easier seen and descanted on than 
 remedied, — nay, more, it will be conceded that go- 
 vernment is only one of the ties which bind a colony 
 to the originating or controlling state, — still it is a most 
 important duty to render supreme authority, on 
 which all freemen are necessarily so sensitive, lightly 
 felt, and judiciously administered on either side. 
 
 We will, therefore, proceed to a consideration of 
 our system of colonial government, and to the reforms 
 projected therein. A perusal of the first chapter, and 
 of the history, from which its facts are derived, will 
 render it obvious that one definite form of domestic 
 government, for all our transmarine possessions, would 
 be utterly absurd : he who would attempt to apply the 
 same system of rule to different communities, in diffe- 
 rent stages of civilization, would find himself most 
 grievously disappointed in his anticipated results. 
 Free institutions, as I have elsewhere remarked, are 
 the slow and progressive growth of ages, and, as stated 
 in the commencement of this chapter, only to be 
 retained by a people exercising a free will, in due sub- 
 jection to a calm and enlightened reason. Spain, 
 and other countries, afford painfully demonstrative 
 proof, that a liberal constitution will not suit all 
 nations at the same period of time, and that instead 
 of a free and representative government being a 
 boon or a blessing, it too often becomes a curse by 
 introducing civil war, and all its attendant and direful 
 discords. But if it be not desirable to encourage the 
 
 \i 
 
 W'. 
 
 (' I 
 
;;, : , 
 
 48 
 
 sudden establishment of democratic • institutions in 
 our colonies, it is an imperative duty to prepare for 
 their future and satisfactory growth and permanence. 
 This can best be done by a temperate and just, — a 
 good and dignified control ; teaching men to govern 
 their passions, to submit to order (heaven's first great 
 law), to respect the rights of others, to judge charita- 
 bly of all, and to be prudent, sober, and industrious. 
 
 The colonists of Britain, acting as they generally 
 do in unison with the foregoing principles, are well 
 entitled to the most vigilant, and even maternal atten- 
 tion from the parent state ; — but that a wise, satis- 
 factory, and permanent rule can be exercised over the 
 numerous and distant transmarine possessions of En- 
 gland by a secretary of state, shifting with every 
 majority or minority in the House of Commons, who 
 has never visited the colonies, and has no one around 
 him, or in his office, possessing a local knowledge 
 thereof, will scarcely be contended for. Within the 
 brief period of about three years there were five 
 colonial secretaries ^ — men not brought up with a 
 knowledge of commerce, and with their minds pre- 
 
 
 * I use the word democratic, in reference to the equal rights and 
 self-control, which, when properly exercised, constitutes liberty. 
 
 ' Earl of Ripon, Mr. Stanley (now Lord), Mr. Spring Rice, Earl 
 of Aberdeen, and Lord Glenelg. Nothing personal is meant by re- 
 ferring to these secretaries in particular ; their high general talents 
 and urbanity 1 am most willing to admit, but it is the system which 
 is to be deprecated. Impossibilities cannot be expected from any set 
 of men, however able and upright they may be. 
 
49 
 
 \'h 
 
 viously directed to any pursuit, but that of an 
 undivided and attentive study or examination of our 
 colonies. 
 
 Some of these secretaries have been of one political 
 party in the state, some of another, and all having 
 their own peculiar and almost irresponsible views to 
 adopt, their own relatives and connections to promote, 
 and their own partizans to serve, — while the ink might 
 be scarcely dry on a colonial dispatch by one secre- 
 tary, when a successor of opposite politics might 
 forward another. 
 
 That anxiety, dissatisfaction, and discontent should 
 therefore prevail at home among those having a stake 
 in the colonies, and abroad among those subject to 
 such an arbitrary sway„is not to be wondered at ; and 
 the patient continuance of such an anomalous and 
 dangerous system, while it demonstrates the loyalty 
 of British subjects, ought to stimulate the expeditious 
 removal of so just a cause of popular reprobation. 
 
 The means of carrying into effect this absolutely ne- 
 cessary reformation, i. e. of giving to the colonists a 
 stable imperial authority, and enabling them to make 
 their feehngs and thoughts known at home, are simple, 
 efficacious, and calculated to give general satisfaction 
 to all parties without any danger accruing to the con- 
 stitution of Great Britain. 
 
 I propose, therefore, instead of leaving the whole of 
 our vast colonial interest to the government of a per- 
 petually shifting secretary of state, that a Colonial 
 
 E 
 
 J.v 
 
 •i t 
 
 
 ! 
 ■J 
 
 II 
 
 •t 
 
 l! 
 
hi 1 
 
 I i 
 
 I- 
 
 5a 
 
 Board be formed somewhat similar to the Treasury 
 and Admiralty Boards, and that it be constituted as 
 follows : 
 
 1. A secretary of state for the colonies as at present, 
 but not representing the military department in the 
 cabinet during war. The secretary of state to be (if 
 possible) a peer, and to have the nomination of the 
 under-secretary for the colonies (a member of the 
 house of commons), who retires with him on every 
 change of administration : the concurrence of the 
 cabinet, as well as the authority of the King, however 
 necessary to his appointment. 
 
 2. Two permanent under-secretaries of state for 
 the colonies appointed by the crown, at the nomination 
 of the secretary of state, but with the concurrence of 
 the cabinet ; holding office, quamdiu bene gesserint, and 
 selected with reference to their local and general 
 knowledge of colonial affairs. The colonies in the 
 eastern hemisphere to be placed under one of these 
 secretaries, and those in the western hemisphere un- 
 der the other. 
 
 3. The Colonial Board to consist of twelve commis- 
 sioners, six to be paid salaries of 1,000/. per annum 
 each, and six to be honorary unpaid commissioners, 
 differring not in power and authority from the salaried 
 commissioners. The honorary commissioners to be 
 permanent, the salaried commissioners to change with 
 the secretary of state and the cabinet, by whom the 
 honorary and salaried commissioners are appointed, 
 
 J 
 
51 
 
 m 
 
 with the sanction of the crown. The colonies to be 
 divided into departments under the commissioners* 
 management. 
 
 4. The patronage now held by the secretary of 
 state to be vested in the Colonial Board, a majority of 
 votes deciding the appointment of candidates for pub- 
 lic employment, as well as all matters of business, and 
 the secretary of state to have a casting vote : six com- 
 missioners exclusive of the secretary of state to con- 
 stitute the board, whose sittings shall be at least once 
 a week, and who shall be required to report annually to 
 parliament the state of the colonies under their control. 
 
 The advantages resulting from the foregoing ar- 
 range »^ tare so obvious, as scarcely to require enu- 
 mera. i* : by it the single, irresponsible, fluctuating, 
 and feeble authority over the colonies is changed into 
 a strong, permanent, stable, intelligent, pure, and con- 
 sequently respected, power, whose actions will be 
 guided by long acquired experience, and whose num- 
 bers, rank, and character will give it independence, 
 integrity, and efficiency. 
 
 To the colonies themselves, the benefit will be equal 
 to that derived by the mother country ; a seat at the 
 colonial board in Downing Street will become an ob- 
 ject of honourable emulation to the highest function- 
 aries abroad, whether they be governors, judges, civil 
 or military officers, or retired merchants, while their 
 long acquired knowledge will be rendered valuable to 
 the state instead of being allowed as at present to lie 
 dormant. 
 
 e2 
 
 'I 
 
52 
 
 ',^ 
 
 But not the least advantage to be obtained from 
 this change, is the means it will afford the colonists 
 of making their wishes and sentiments known at the 
 seat of supreme government, for in the nomination 
 of commissioners, whether paid or unpaid, care should 
 be taken to appoint men from different colonies who 
 have distinguished themselves by their talents, virtues, 
 and public spirit. 
 
 The adoption of the measure here proposed is be- 
 come more imperatively necessary since the passing 
 of the Parliamentary Reform Bill, before which period 
 many gentlemen connected with the colonies procured 
 a seat in the House of Commons by means of the 
 nomination boroughs, thereby giving property abroad 
 as well as afloat, and distant as well as near interests, 
 a voice in the legislative council of the nation '. 
 
 There is another advantage attendant on the adop- 
 tion of the foregoing plan, and which is of no trifling 
 moment to a free country, namely the abolition of a 
 vast, irresponsible, and ill exercised power ; substitu- 
 ting for a single individual, a well balanced, duly or- 
 ganized, and efficient authority, independent to every 
 proper extent of the crown, and equally removed from 
 the intrigues of faction, from the pernicious effects 
 of family influence, and from the necessity of bending 
 to popular control. 
 
 ' During the discussions on the Reform Bill, this objection to it 
 was met by the Marquess of Lansdowne assuring the House that, 
 in future, Liverpool and other commercial towns would return gentle- 
 men connected with the colonies ; but in no instance, I believe, 
 has this anticipation been fulfilled. 
 
m 
 
 53 
 
 Nor are there wanting examples for the plan sug- 
 gested ; the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of 
 India ; the lords of the treasury ; the Board of Admi- 
 ralty ; the Commissioners of Woods and Forests ; the 
 Board of Excise ; the Board of Customs ; the Poor-Law 
 Board, and the contemplated Post Office Board, are 
 all corroborative of the necessity of having the colo- 
 nial affairs presided over by a Board, instead of by 
 changing (and as regards the colonies) too often unin- 
 formed individuals'. 
 
 The only objection that offers itself, as suited to the 
 present age, is the expense ; but as that could not 
 exceed 10,000/. per annum for the six paid commis- 
 sioners, and the additional permanent under-secretary, 
 it can scarcely be supposed that so paltry a sum will 
 be weighed in the scale with the advantages before 
 enumerated ; indeed ten times the sum is not to be 
 placed in competition with them. 
 
 The false principle of economy that pervades the 
 existing age is indeed much to be regretted ; it is as 
 unsuited to the character of the English nation, as it 
 is incompatible with its present position or future 
 prospects. A wise statesman, while on the one hand 
 he would sanction no waste of the public money, or ab- 
 solutely unnecessary expenditure, would, on the other. 
 
 ^ No disrespect to any person is meant by this or any other re- 
 mark in the present work ; several colonial secretaries have been 
 men of undoubted talents, as are also the gentlemen employed in the 
 Colonial Office. It is the system which is condemned — not the indi- 
 viduals 
 
54 
 
 I 
 
 
 endeavour to raise up a people, to the level of burthens 
 which must be borne as the result of civilization, 
 knowing full well that such outlay is attendant with 
 ultimate increased advantages. Principles of business 
 that are unsuited to the counting-house of the pettiest 
 trader, cannot surely be those which ought to influence 
 the policy of an extensive and especially a inercantile 
 empire. 
 
 This topic of the formation of a Colonial Board has 
 been treated at some length, because of its importance 
 to the mother country and her possessions, and 
 because it offers a practical equivalent for a measure 
 entertained by several, namely, the granting permis- 
 sion to India and the colonies, to return members of 
 parhament to the imperial legislature, in proportion 
 to their population, civilization, and wealth. 
 
 This project was set forth by the United States* 
 colonies, previous to their final separation from En- 
 gland ; they offered, as I have understood, if permitted 
 to send deputies to represent their interests in the 
 House of Commons at London, to maintain their alle- 
 giance with the parent government, and to contribute 
 100,000/. per annum, for one hundred years. The 
 offer was rejected, the scabbard flung away, and the 
 righteous declaration of independence followed. 
 
 History is philosophy teaching by example ; it 
 would have been more just, and consequently more 
 politic, to have accepted the offer of a powerful body 
 of associated colonies, and posterity would have con- 
 templated with respect and admiration, the singular 
 
55 
 
 advantages derivable from an united Eastern and 
 Western empire. 
 
 The same circumstances are not at present in opera- 
 tion, to urge the immediate adoption of an in.perial 
 colonial representation ; there is now no body of colo- 
 nists congregated together, such as the United States 
 were previous to the close of the last century, and the 
 formation of a Colonial Board, would, it is presumed, 
 meet all the existing difficulties, attendant on the 
 administration of colonial affairs in England. 
 
 The advantages attendant on the colonists' returning 
 representatives to the imperial senate, would be the 
 making known of their wishes and sentiments to the 
 British public, and having a voice in the framing of 
 such Acts as are passed in the House of Commons ; 
 but when it is considered how few Acts are passed in 
 parliament relative to the colonies, and how much of 
 their current business is transacted in Downing Street, 
 the positive gain would be small, particularly if uncon- 
 nected with the formation of the Colonial Board pro- 
 posed. The difficulties that lie in the way of imperial 
 colonial representation is in drawing the line where 
 the powers of the representatives would begin and end. 
 Whether they should only speak or vote, or do both, 
 on all colonial questions ; whether they should be 
 allowed to be present at all debates ; whether on 
 financial questions apparently applied to England only, 
 but also really affecting the colonies, (such as the sugar 
 duties, and imposts in Great Britain on various 
 articles of colonial produce,) colonial representatives 
 should have full authority to speak, vote, and act, as 
 
 1 
 
56 
 
 
 I f 
 
 if representing any borough, city, or colony, in the 
 United Kingdom ; and whether their seats should be 
 permanent, or quinquennial, or otherwise. 
 
 It is a question of no light moment, whether the 
 adoption of such a measure, would be attendant with 
 a beneficial or an evil result. How far, on a future 
 occasion, it would be wise to adopt this principle of 
 colonial government, it is not necessary to say : I do 
 not, however, think that at present it would be advi- 
 sable, if the measures proposed in this and the ensu- 
 ing sections be efficiently carried out ; I allude in the 
 first place, to the Colonial Board in Downing-street. 
 
 2. To a reformation of the existing system of 
 colonial agency in England. 
 
 3. To an improvement in the internal government 
 of the colonies. 
 
 The first has been already treated of, the third 
 will be discussed in the next section, and the second 
 will require a few explanations. 
 
 Heretofore, the system of agents for the colonies 
 (with few exceptions) has partaken of all the imper- 
 fections attendant on the svstem of home colonial 
 government. Men have been sometimes appointed 
 agents for the colonies, by the minister of the day, who 
 scarcely knew the geographical position of the place, 
 whose interests they were nominated to watch over, 
 and whose sole duties consisted in drawing quarterly 
 for their salaries K 
 
 Some are appointed colonial agents, who attend 
 
 ' The agent for one of our colonies was at last found out, by an 
 aggrieved colonist, as a cornet of dragoons on duty at Windsor. 
 
67 
 
 solely to balancing the money accounts of the colonies, 
 with the Treasury, or Downing-street ; and several 
 colonies have no representative at all in England, 
 because the secretary of state permits them no voice 
 in the nomination of their agent, for whom, however, 
 they are obliged to provide, when called on by the 
 supreme government. 
 
 To remedy these evils, I propose that every colony 
 be empowered to nominate and provide for an agent 
 to represent in England the feelings of the majority 
 of the colonists who vote for his election ; that such 
 agent be in free communication with the Colonial 
 Board, and that he be heard at the bar of parliament 
 on any occasion affecting the rights, privileges, and 
 immunities of the colonists who have deputed him. 
 
 It would be superfluous to descant on the manifold 
 good attendant on an efficiently combined system of 
 Colonial Agency and a Colonial Board. No person who 
 considers government practically, and who looks to 
 general advantages rather than to theoretical perfec- 
 tion, can as I conceive deny that in the present state 
 of our colonies such a system would work harmo- 
 niously for the empire. 
 
 '>■' 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The internal government of our colonies, as regards 
 any projected reforms therein, next claims considera- 
 tion : and here it may be remarked that in discussing 
 these and all other questions, I prefer practical ad van- 
 
58 
 
 tages to theoretical good. The experience of the past 
 is a surer guide for the affairs of men than speculative 
 opinions however plausible ; and while not undervalu- 
 ing the improvements in government which enlightened 
 Christianity is capable of producing, I would desire to 
 see the blessings of political and social freedom judi- 
 ciously conferred ; knowing full well that that which is 
 of too rapid growth is speedy in its decay, and that the 
 institutions under which a nation can be happy do 
 not spring up like the mushroom, but are like the oak 
 whose roots are struck deeper and deeper into the 
 soil, giving freshness, vigour, and vitality to the mo- 
 narch of the forest while the stream of time rolls 
 
 on. 
 
 i 
 
 Centuries of experience have demonstrated the be- 
 neficial and practical workings of the British consti- 
 tution in its three constituent, independent, and yet 
 harmonizing branches of King, Lords, and Commons; 
 and as far as it is possible, and at suitable periods, I 
 would wish to see the colonies enjoying similar con- 
 stitutions ; the governor representing the Crown, the 
 legislative council the Lords, and the house of assem- 
 bly the Commons, It must be gratifying to all friends 
 of rational freedom to reflect that England has ever 
 been foremost in bestowing on her distant settlements 
 the advantages of her own political institutes, thus 
 evincing a true sense of justice; whereas as Montesquieu 
 rightly observes, a republic governs its conquered 
 provinces with more absolute and intolerable sway 
 than a monarchy, whose remote possessions suffer all 
 
59 
 
 the evils without enjoying any of the advantages of 
 monarchical government. With certain limitations 
 elsewhere explained, the colonies enjoy all the advan- 
 tages of the British constitution so far as is compatible 
 with their situation as distant provinces of an empire. 
 The limitation of exception is, that the legislative 
 council is nominated by the crown for life, or during 
 the official tenure of those civil servants who are 
 ex officio entitled to a seat in the legislative council. A 
 question, has, however, been recently raised by a party 
 in Lower Canada *, as to the advantage of making the 
 legislative council an elective body instead of being, as 
 at present, nominated by the king through the secre- 
 tary of state. However desirous I feel for an exten- 
 sion of just democratic principles,! cannot — looking to 
 the slow progress of rational freedom, and remember- 
 ing that moral and mental independence of character 
 are essentially necessary to the due exercise of the 
 elective franchise — 1 cannot desire, either in the 
 mother country or in her colonies, two elective cham- 
 bers. I would almost prefer seeing the experiment 
 again tried of the efficacy of a single chamber, and 
 which in every country where it has been attempted 
 has been the prelude to despotism. 
 
 It may be said that the upper house, (legislative 
 council) would be chosen by a higher class of electors 
 than those who return members to the lower house. 
 
 ' This chapter was written in October, 1836, and consequently 
 before the debates on Lower Canada, relative to an elective legisla- 
 tive council, came on in the British parliament. 
 
60 
 
 
 and that therefore the popular voice would be more 
 cahnly exercised, and property would have its due 
 weight in the making of laws for the country ' : but it is 
 impossible to deny that even the higher classes in Eng- 
 land, (and how much more so in the colonies,) are to 
 a certain extent liable to great excitement, that their 
 will is not always under the control of their reason, 
 and that in times of political effervescence they would 
 be almost as subject to the influence of their stormy 
 passions as their poorer though equally honest 
 brethren. Those who have not mixed in colonial 
 society can have but a faint idea of the extent to 
 which party feeling on political subjects arrive at ; the 
 animosities thus produced are of the bitterest nature — 
 poisoning the very core of society, and even destroy- 
 ing the peace of families. Now looking at domestic 
 tranquillity, security of person, lightness of taxation, 
 and freedom from oppressive laws, as the great and 
 desirable advantages of political institutes, it would be 
 
 i 
 
 ?5 : 
 
 ' Mr. Labouchere, a gentleman whom I much respect, stated, in 
 the Canada debate in the House of Commons on the 8th March, 
 1837, that the old American colonies of England had elective legisla- 
 tive councils ; but it will be found that it was the chartered and not 
 the crown colonies which had such assemblies. Adam Smith says 
 that in three of the governments of the New England colonies, the 
 legislative councils were chosen by the representatives of the people ; 
 in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the governor was elected by the 
 colonists ; and in some the revenue officers who collected the taxes 
 were assessed by the people. Pennsylvania, which was a proprietary 
 government, was a scene of never-ending contentions, and the colo- 
 nists even petitioned the King to take its affairs under the manage- 
 ment of the crown. See Appendix. 
 
(il 
 
 insanity or criminality to throw a firebrand into the 
 small community of a colony with a pretence of gain- 
 ing some Utopian object. 
 
 Independent, however, of social considerations, we 
 have no instance on record of any state long main- 
 taining its political freedom either under a single 
 chamber of representatives, or under two elective 
 chambers, the one holding no control or check over 
 the other, and both at the mercy of fluctuating popu- 
 lar favoritism, jealousy, and caprice. Since the aboli- 
 tion of the hereditary chamber of peers in France, but 
 few traces of liberty have remained to the people, 
 and the restoration of an hereditary peerage is now 
 seriously entreated. The very antagonistic forces, 
 which an hereditary and an elective chamber exercise, 
 are essential to the preservation of the powers of both. 
 Gibbon, in reference to the Roman republic, correctly 
 observes, — ' as both the consuls and the tribunes in 
 their public and private interests were averse to each 
 other, their mutual conflicts contributed for the most 
 part to strengthen rather than to destroy the balance 
 of the constitution ; but when the consular and tribu- 
 nitian powers were united, — when they were vested 
 for life in a single person, — when the general of the 
 army was at the same time the minister of the senate, 
 and the representative of the Roman people, it was 
 impossible to resist the exercise, nor was it easy to 
 define the limits, of his imperial prerogative \* 
 
 ' Decline and Fall, Vol. i. p. 105. 
 
62 
 
 i 
 
 The United States may be cited perhaps as an 
 example in favour of the adoption of two elective 
 chambers ; but it should be remembered that a few 
 centuries of such government mus^ be experienced 
 ere we pronounce authoritatively on a subject which 
 inspires with well founded alarm, the most honest 
 and able statesmen, who clearly see with Gibbon that 
 in elective monarchies the vacancy of the throne is a 
 moment big with danger and mischief. We must wait 
 and witness the effects of civilization, of a dense popu- 
 lation, of adverse interests ; we must watch the conduct 
 of men who, like Marius and Caesar, commenced by 
 declaring themselves the protectors of the people, 
 and ended by subverting the liberties of their coun- 
 try. Moreover, we should remember that the United 
 States are a republic, and I do not think England is 
 disposed to change her hereditary, constitutional 
 monarch for an annual or quinquennial president. 
 
 Let us hear, however, the very language of the 
 most enlightened men of the United States on this 
 important subject. Judge Story, himself a republican, 
 in his commentaries on the constitution of the United 
 States of America, in treating of the Senate thus 
 correctly expresses himself on this topic : " Another 
 and most important advantage arising from this ingre- 
 dient is, the great difference which it creates in the 
 elements of the two branches of the legislature ; which 
 constitutes a great desideratum in every practical divi- 
 sion of legislative power. In fact, this division (as has 
 been already intimated,) is of little or no intrinsic 
 
 1 
 
63 
 
 
 value, unless it is so organised, that each can operate 
 as a real check upon undue and rash legislation. If 
 each branch is substantially framed upon the same 
 plan, the advantages of the division are shadowy and 
 imaginative : the visions and speculations of the brain, 
 and not the waking thoughts of statesmen or patriots. 
 It may be safely asserted, that for all the purposes 
 of liberty, and security of stable laws, and of solid 
 institutions, of personal rights, and of the protection 
 of property, a single branch is quite as good as two, 
 if their composition is the same, and their spirit and 
 impulses the same. Each will act as the other does ; 
 and each will be led by some common influence of 
 ambition, or intrigue, or passion, to the same disregard 
 of public interests and the same indifference to and 
 prostration of private rights. It will only be a duplica- 
 tion of the evils of oppression and rashness, with a 
 duplication of obstruction to effective redress. In this 
 view the organization of the Senate becomes of in- 
 estimable value." Again he says, " The improbability 
 of sinister combination will always be in proportion to 
 the dissimilarity of the genius of the two bodies ; and 
 therefore every circumstance consistent with harmony 
 in all proper measures, which points out a distmct 
 organization of the component materials of each, is 
 desirable." 
 
 Another eminent writer on the constitution of the 
 United States, the late Chancellor Kent, in treating 
 of the necessity of the powers of Government being 
 placed in separate hands, says : " The division of the 
 
64 
 
 M J 
 
 legislature into two separate and independent branches 
 is founded on such obvious principles of good policy, 
 and is so strongly recommended by the unequivocal 
 language of experience, that it has obtained the 
 general approbation of the people of this country. 
 One great object of this separation of the legislatures 
 into two houses acting separately, and with co-ordinate 
 powers, is to destroy the evil effects of sudden and 
 strong excitement and of precipitate measures, spring- 
 ing from passion, caprice, prejudice, personal influence, 
 and party intrigue, and which have been found by sad 
 experience, to exercise a potent and dangerous sway 
 in single assemblies. A hasty decision is not so likely 
 to arrive at the solemnities of a law when it is to be 
 arrested in its course and made to undergo the deli- 
 beration, and probably the jealous and critical revision, 
 of another and a rival body of men, sitting in a diffe- 
 rent place, and under better advantages, to avoid the 
 prepossessions and correct the errors of the other 
 branch. The legislatures of Pennsylvania and Georgia 
 consisted originally of a single house ^ The instability 
 and passion which marked their proceedings were 
 very visible at the time, and the subject of much 
 public animadversion : and in the subsequent reform 
 of their constitutions, the people were so sensible of 
 this defect, and of the inconvenience they had suffered 
 from it, that in both states a Senate was introduced. 
 
 v 
 
 I 
 
 ' Franklin's favourite but mistaken idea was a single legislature 
 and a plural executive. R. M. M. 
 
65 
 
 es 
 al 
 
 No portion of the political history of mankind is more 
 full of instructive lessons on this subject, or contains 
 more striking proofs of the faction, instability, and 
 misery of states under the dominion of a single, un- 
 checked assembly, than those of the Italian republics 
 of the middle ages, and which arose in great numbers, 
 and with dazzling but transient splendour, in the in- 
 terval between the fall of the western and eastern 
 empire of the Romans. They were all alike ill-con- 
 stituted, with a single unbalanced assembly. They 
 were all alike miserable, and all ended in similar dis- 
 grace. Many speculative writers and theoretical poli- 
 ticians about the time of the commencement of the 
 French revolution, were struck with the simplicity of 
 a legislature with a single assembly, and concluded 
 that more than one house was useless and expensive. 
 This led the elder President Adams to write and 
 publish his great work, entitled 'A Defence of the Con- 
 stitution of Government of the United States,' in which 
 he vindicates with much learning and ability, the value 
 and necessity of the division of the legislature into two 
 branches, and of the distribution of the different powers 
 of the government into distinct departments. He re- 
 viewed the history and examined the construction of 
 all mixed and free governments, which h?.d ever 
 existed, from the earliest records of time, in order to 
 deduce with more certainty and force this great prac- 
 tical truth, that single assembhes without check or 
 balance, or a government with all authority collected 
 into one centre, according to the notion of M. Tur- 
 
66 
 
 got, were visionary, violent, intriguing, corrupt, and 
 tyrannical domiiiations of majorities over minorities, 
 and uniformly and rapidly terminating their career in 
 a profligate despotism.'* 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, late President of the United States, 
 in his remarks on the constitution of his native state, 
 Virginia, says, " All the powers of government, legis- 
 lative, executive, and judiciary, result to the legislative 
 body. The concentrating these in the same hands is 
 precisely the definition of a despotic government. It 
 will be no alleviation, that these powers will be exer- 
 cised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. 
 One hundred and seventy-three despots would surely 
 be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it, 
 turn their eyes on the republic of Venice. An elec- 
 tive despotism is not the government we fought for'; 
 but one which should not only be founded on free 
 principles, but in which the powers of government 
 should be so divided and balanced among several 
 bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend 
 their legal limits without being effectually checked 
 and restrained by the others." 
 
 With reference, however, to the highly important 
 consideration of having no check on the irregular 
 exercise of popular power, the link that binds the 
 colony to the mother country, so far as government 
 can do so, would be materially, if not entirely injured 
 by the substitution of an elective legislative council 
 for one appointed by the crown through the function- 
 aries of the state. 
 
67 
 
 in 
 
 It 
 
 A governor, without any control over the two 
 houses of legislature in a colony, would be reduced 
 to a political cypher, and the adoption of the elective 
 principle in a governor would soon take the place 
 of a nomination by the King : in fact the independence 
 of, and separation from, the mother country would vir- 
 tually occur, whether officially announced or other- 
 wise, the colony thereby deriving all the advantages 
 of the connection, while the parent state would lose 
 every thing which made the possession valuable to the 
 empire. 
 
 It is not necessary to discuss here the relative ad- 
 vantages of the monarchical or elective principle in 
 government ; as before stated the former has been 
 tested by centuries in England, and found conducive 
 to the greatest portion of happiness that a nation has 
 yet possessed ; so long therefore as a colony be 
 united with Great Britain, it cannot be the desire or 
 the interest of any practical statesman to weaken the 
 efficacy or mitigate the just prerogatives and power of 
 the crown. 
 
 It seems to be totally forgotten by those who go 
 the length of demanding an elective legislative coun- 
 cil, that there is a wide difference between an impe- 
 rial and a provincial government ; that the former 
 must of necessity have a control over the latter so 
 long as they maintain towards each other their relative 
 positions of protecting and protected states. When 
 the latter has ceased to be a colony, it is of course 
 free to choose its own government, but so long as it 
 
 F 2 
 
II 
 
 68 
 
 remains in that state it has no right to ask, much less 
 to demand, from the mother country democratic insti- 
 tutions which she herself does not possess, and the 
 granting of which, if she did, would be fatal to all per- 
 manence of political or social connection. 
 
 The power held by the crown of appointing for life 
 the members of the legislative council is, if properly re- 
 gulated under the management of the proposed colonial 
 board, of great benefit to the colony ; it stimulates 
 the wealthy and intelligent colonists to distinguish 
 themselves in order that they may attain the highest 
 rank in their respective countries, and be deemed 
 worthy the approbation of their sovereign. There is 
 thus an honourable emulation kept up which is of the 
 most essential advantage in every community ; for, as 
 it is finely expressed by Sir William Blackstone (and 
 the remark is as applicable to a colony as to the parent 
 state), * The distinction of rank and honour is necessary 
 in every well-governed state, in order to reward such 
 as are eminent for their services to the public, in a 
 manner most desirable to individuals, and yet without 
 burden to the community ; exciting thereby an ambi- 
 tious yet laudable ardour, and generous emulation in 
 others. And emulation, or virtuous ambition, is a 
 spring of action which, however dangerous or invidi- 
 ous in a mere repubhc, or under a despotic sway, will 
 certainly be attended with good effects under a free 
 monarchy ; where, without destroying its existence, 
 its excesses may be continually restrained by that su- 
 perior power from which all honour is derived. Such 
 
69 
 
 a spirit, when nationally diffused, gives life and vigour 
 to the community ; it sets all the wheels of govern- 
 ment in motion, which, under a wise regulator, may 
 be directed to any beneficial purpose ; and thereby 
 every individual may be made subservient to the pub- 
 lic good, while he principally means to promote his 
 own particular views. 
 
 A body of nobility is also more peculiarly necessary 
 in our mixed and compounded constitution, in order 
 to support the rights of both the crown and the peo- 
 ple, by forming a barrier to withstand the encroach- 
 ments of both. It creates and preserves that gradual 
 scale of dignity, which proceeds from the peasant to 
 the prince ; rising like a pyramid from a broad foun- 
 dation, and diminishing to a point as it rises. It is 
 this ascending and contracting proportion that adds 
 stability to any government ; for when the departure 
 is sudden from one extreme to another, we may pro- 
 nounce that state to be precarious. 
 
 * The nobility, therefore, are the pillars which are 
 reared from among the people, more immediately to sup- 
 port the throne ; and if that falls, they must be also 
 buried under its ruins. Accordingly, when in the last 
 century the commons had determined to extirpate mon- 
 archy, they also voted the House of liOrds to be useless 
 and dangerous. And since titles of nobility are thus 
 expedient in the state, it is also expedient that their 
 owners should form an independent and separate 
 branch of the legislature. If they were confounded 
 with the mass of the people, and, like them, had only 
 
 
 !!< 
 
70 
 
 a vote in electing representatives, their privileges 
 would soon be borne down and overwhelmed by the 
 popular torrent, which would effectually level all dis- 
 tinctions. It is, therefore, highly necessary that the 
 body of nobles should have a distinct assembly, dis- 
 tinct deliberations, and distinct powers from the 
 commons *.' 
 
 Another proposition by a party in Lower Canada is, 
 that the executive council should be under the control 
 of the house of assembly, in order, as it is supposed, to 
 assimilate the colonial government to that of England; 
 but the propounders of these changes quite forget the 
 distinction between the imperial and provincial govern- 
 ment ; and they overlook the fact, that the executive 
 council in a colony is not similar to the ministerial 
 body at home, but analogous rather to the privy 
 council, the members of which are appointed for life. 
 With a colonial board in Downing-street, as proposed, 
 the improper and partial nominations, which have here- 
 tofore taken place to both the legislative and execu- 
 tive councils in various colonies, would be prevented 
 for the future, while the power of the crown would be 
 upheld, without hazarding the peace of any colony, or 
 its connection with the parent state. 
 
 In reference to the assertion that the legislative and 
 executive council in the colonies, and the House of 
 Lords at home, are irresponsible bodies, I may 
 remark that this is one of those seeming truths 
 
 * Quarto Edition, 1803 ; p. 158. 
 
;he 
 
 71 
 
 which mankind are so apt to be caught with, and to 
 take for granted without examination ; for it has 
 been correctly observed, that * men reflect little, read 
 negligently, judge with precipitation, and receive opi- 
 nions exactly as they do coin, because they are 
 current.* 
 
 No class of men in any civilized community are 
 above the influence of public opinion, and least of 
 all those who possess wealth, enjoy rank, and have 
 honours conferred on them by supreme authority. 
 Their conduct is closely watched, their every action 
 jealously examined, and their very motives subjected 
 to the most rigid investigation. The British House 
 of Lords is therefore, in point of fact, far more respon- 
 sible, because generally and permanently so, than the 
 House of Commons, which is but locally and tem- 
 porarily so; the members of the latter are, to a certain 
 extent, amenable to the fluctuating and fickle opinions 
 of their constituents, but a member of parliament, 
 when elected may not choose to incur the expense and 
 risk of another election ; his ambition may have been 
 sufficiently gratified, or he may find himself inade- 
 quate to the station he sought, or he may feel indif- 
 ferent to the sentiments of his constituents, and retire 
 into private life, with no restraint on his thoughts or 
 actions. 
 
 It is not so with a member of the House of Lords : 
 his oflfice is not only for life but hereditary ; he has no 
 retiring from before the public until age has incapa- 
 citated him ; his constituents consist of the whole mass 
 
72 
 
 of the community, and he is deeply responsible to 
 them, to his King, and to his God, for the due and 
 honest discharge of the seriously solemn duties to 
 which the greatest energies of his mind, and the highest 
 attributes of his nature, are devoted. There is also 
 another point of responsibility ; the electors in every 
 community, where universal suffrage does not prevail, 
 form but a portion of society ; a large and most valu- 
 able section — the working classes — are unrepresented 
 in the Commons, but not so in the Lords, who are 
 truly the guardians of the poor man's rights, and who 
 in England have identified themselves with the happi- 
 ness of the humblest classes of their fellow citizens. 
 
 The truth of these remarks is equally applicable to 
 the legislative and executive councils in the colonies, 
 whose responsibility is not confined to their fellow- 
 citizens in the island or settlement, but extends to 
 the mother country, where it is but natural they should 
 desire to maintain themselves high in the esteem of 
 their Sovereign, (with whom their appointment, on the 
 recommendation of the Colonial Board, as advised by 
 the executive council in the colony, should rest,) and 
 in the regard of so many millions of their fellow- 
 subjects. 
 
 Ere closing this section it should be observed, that 
 I would wish to see the legislative and executive 
 councils placed on as extensive a basis as it is possible 
 to adopt, so as to combine the utmost virtue, intelli- 
 gence, and wealth in each colony. Municipalities 
 might be formed in the colonies ; and in settlements 
 
 \ 
 
73 
 
 possessing legislative and executive councils, the cor- 
 porations might be empowered to return a limited 
 number of members to those assemblies, in addition 
 to the members appointed by the crown. Where 
 there was a university a similar privilege might with 
 advantage be bestowed. To lay down rules, however, 
 on the subject would be superfluous ; a wise states- 
 man will know how to combine policy with principle, 
 justice with expediency, and private worth with public 
 benefit. 
 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 One of the most important subjects connected with 
 the administration of colonial affairs is the appoint- 
 ment of governors to represent the name and power 
 of the Sovereign. Heretofore there has been no prin- 
 ciple to guide this momentous choice ; the friendship 
 of a secretary of state, the intrigues of faction, or 
 female coteries, have had far more weight than the 
 personal qualifications of the individual selected. 
 
 In several instances the selections have been good, 
 but too often the governor, by disputes with the colo- 
 nists, has formed them into adverse parties, thrown 
 the apple of discord among them, and weakened their 
 allegiance for their Sovereign, and their affection for 
 the mother country, by arbitrary, oppressive, and 
 illegal acts. This evil has to a certain extent arisen 
 from military or naval men being in general selected 
 as governors. Soldier-officers in particular have 
 
i 
 
 74 
 
 been chosen for posts which they were utterly un- 
 qualified to fill from their previous habits of life, and 
 from the Sic volo, sicjuheo tone which they are wont 
 to adopt in even the every-day transactions of common 
 life. 
 
 It would be desirable to see a class of men trained 
 up for this department as is the case with the consular 
 and diplomatic stations; and for this purpose the 
 colonial board, under the change proposed in Section 
 IV., would form an admirable initiatory school after 
 the first elements had been acquired in the colonial 
 department. 
 
 Of all sciences that of governing is the most diffi- 
 cult. Few men are able to rule themselves, — how peril- 
 ous, therefore, is it to attempt to govern others before 
 we have learnt to control our own passions, and to 
 subject the wayward and stormy impulses of our 
 nature to the methodical authority of reason, and the 
 cool dictates of unimpassioned judgment. 
 
 But other essential requisites are necessary in the 
 due fulfilment of this office ; a governor should not 
 only be a man with his passions in perfect subjection 
 to reason, but he should also have a deep knowledge 
 of human nature, of its lights and shadows, its perfect- 
 ibility and its evil propensities, judging favourably of 
 the former, and charitably of the latter ; deeply 
 reflective in his resolves, and prompt and firm in his 
 execution of them ; neither weak enough to encourage 
 favouritism, nor too proud to despise the affections 
 of the good ; stimulating virtue by his rewards, check- 
 
 
75 
 
 
 ing vice by precept and example ; rendering justice to 
 all men, fearing God, honouring his King, and loving 
 his country. Such ought to be the character and con- 
 duct of a colonial governor, and to attain it some other 
 school is necessary than the mess table of a regiment, 
 or the quarter-deck of a frigate. 
 
 I do not deny that there have been several instances 
 where naval and military men have shown themselves 
 well qualified for civil offices ; but they are exceptions 
 in proof of the rule, and their very employment in a 
 colony, in command of its troops, militates against the 
 quiet and philosophic duties which a government 
 requires in even the most infant settlement. While 
 admitting that several excellent rulers have been 
 chosen from both the army and navy, I am reminded 
 of the answer of Alexander of Russia to Madame De 
 Stael, when she was praising the mildness of hisdespotic 
 rule, — a good ruler beneficially exercising arbitrary 
 power is a happy accident ; and the possibility of the 
 reverse it is always better to guard against. 
 
 It may be said, that it is a matter of economy to 
 combine the two offices of governor and commander 
 of the forces in the one person ; but there is no justi- 
 fication in sacrificing an essential principle for the 
 purpose of gaining a minor one, and such a plea is 
 unworthy of a great nation : besides, the legislative 
 power and executive aid should be kept widely dis- 
 tinct ; their separation is indispensable to the fulfil- 
 ment of the calm majesty of the law. 
 
 No governor should be allowed to remain longer 
 
M 
 
 f 
 
 ■,;' 
 
 76 
 
 than seven years in any colony ; but a gradation of 
 governorships might be so managed, that an able and 
 upright man might rise from the chieftainship of the 
 smallest settlement to the governor -generalship of 
 India. By this means, there would be a constant 
 stimulus to a laudable ambition kept up in the breasts 
 of those who have it so much in their power, by their 
 conduct in an exalted station abroad, to uphold the 
 character of the mother country. 
 
 It would be a great public good, if the highest and 
 noblest in the land were taught to look on a colonial 
 government, however small, as an object of merito- 
 rious ambition, and a distinguished mark of the Sove- 
 reign's approbation ; we should then have a class of 
 the nobility educating themselves for this important 
 trust, and giving to the colonies the bright example 
 of moral worth in connexion with intellectual endow- 
 ments, high lineage, and hereditary honour. 
 
 It would be unnecessary to dwell on the powers 
 vested in a governor : they depend on the extent of 
 political freedom enjoyed by a colony, and his execu- 
 tive power and personal authority are therefore greater 
 or less according to the controlling authority of a 
 representative assembly, legislative council, or other- 
 wise, to which he may be subjected. To no class of 
 men have •;;reater limits been freely allowed, than to 
 the governors of the British colonies ; and, speaking 
 generally, no body of men, in any society, or in any 
 age, have less abused it : if their abilities had been 
 equal to their highly honourable intentions, there 
 
 ■•-^ 
 
 , 
 
 I' 
 
77 
 
 would have been little room for criticism. Under 
 the guidance of a Colonial Board, talent as well as 
 honour will, it is to be hoped, meet its due reward ; 
 and, by a judicious use of the combined moral and 
 mental powers, we may expect a decided improve- 
 ment in the internal condition of each settlement. 
 If men, who are placed in the high and awfully re- 
 sponsible station of governors of distant possessions, 
 would reflect on the vast quantity of good which they 
 have it in their power to effect, and consider that 
 not merely the commission of evil, but the negation 
 of good, will form the leading test for their qualifica- 
 tion to enjoy a happier existence in another phere, 
 they would not seek to be representatives of British 
 sovereignty for the sake of the dignity or the emolu- 
 ments attached thereto, they would remember, that 
 "from him to whom much is given, much will be 
 required," — and that power, riches, and rank are not 
 bestowed for individual advantage. 
 
 SECTION VIL 
 
 , 
 
 The authority vested in the colonial governments 
 possessing representative assemblies and legislative 
 councils is almost complete : namely, the power to 
 make laws suited to the people, but liable to the 
 revision or abolition of the King in council ; and the 
 entire disposal of all the revenues raised in the 
 colony, after providing a civil list for the payment of 
 the salary of the governor, judges, principal officers 
 
hl] 
 
 If 
 
 78 
 
 of the crown, and the functionaries necessary to the 
 carrying on of the most important branches of the 
 government. 
 
 This authority should be granted fully and unequi- 
 vocally to every colony enjoying a triple power of 
 governor, council, and assembly, and, as far as prac- 
 ticable, to those settlements having only a legislative 
 council ; for it ought to be the policy of the Colonial 
 Board in Downing-street to interfere as little as 
 possible in the domestic affairs of the colonists. 
 
 At what period a colony is sufficiently prepared to 
 receive a representative assembly for the regulation 
 of its domestic affairs, it is difficult to say ; much 
 depends on contingent circumstances, on the degree 
 of knowledge, the extent of wealth, and the growth 
 of proper feelings among the inhabitants, who seek 
 such an immunity, and which a wise government and 
 patriotic king will best know how to estimate. 
 
 While, on the one hand, it would be improper to 
 grant such valuable privileges unless they were duly 
 appreciated by those seeking them, and capable of 
 temperately exercising them ; so, on the other hand, 
 it would be unjust, and, consequently impolitic, to 
 delay the concession of a boon, until it came to be 
 demanded as a right, when that which was refused 
 to justice, is granted through fear, or as a premium 
 for political agitation. 
 
 I would, however, impress the necessity of not 
 making the elective franchise (in those colonies which 
 in future may have representative assemblies granted 
 
 I 
 
79 
 
 them) too low. Experience has shown, both in the 
 mother-country and in Lower Canada, that popula- 
 tion and property should go hand in hand in the 
 power to exercise political rights ; otherwise mere 
 numbers, influenced by every transient passion, drown 
 the voice of moderation and reason. 
 
 It is not possible to have any general test of the 
 moral or intellectual qualifications of a proper person 
 for an elector ; but a certain amount of property 
 proves either industry and talent in its acquirement, 
 or that it is the fruit of such in his forefathers ; 
 moreover, it gives a man a stake in the continued 
 prosperity and tranquillity of the country, and is, to a 
 certain extent, a guarantee for his good conduct as a 
 citizen of the state. 
 
 For the regulation of these and all other affairs, 
 the Colonial Board (suggested at Section IV.) will be 
 the best authority, and to such guardians of the 
 colonial interests may be safely intrusted the manage- 
 ment of matters which, in the present state of man- 
 kind, it is no easy task to define on fixed principles, 
 but which must be in a great measure regulated by 
 passing events and circumstances. 
 
 Let me not, however, be misunderstood : I wish 
 every man and every community to receive as much 
 practical liberty as they are capable of applying to a 
 good use ; but he is an injudicious or false friend to 
 political freedom, who would consign so sacred a 
 treasure to the hands of every person indiscriminately. 
 

 80 
 
 without considering whether he were fit to receive 
 it or to retain it when received. History, indeed, 
 painfully demonstrates how few are enabled to pre- 
 serve so precious a gift. I call it precious, because 
 freedom, individually or socially, is, when rightly ap- 
 preciated, one of the elements of man's happiness ; 
 and no nation can be permanently good and great, 
 unless it be morally and politically free. 
 
 With the foregoing general views of the home 
 (British) and domestic (Colonial) governments of our 
 transmarine settlements, the reader will be able to 
 form a determinate opinion. Government, however, 
 is but a link (though an important one) in the chain 
 of social connection ; the further development of 
 which will be found in the subsequent parts of this 
 work. 
 
 Ere however I close this chapter, let me be permitted 
 a brief general advertence to the claims, for what are 
 termed liberal institutions, advanced by a few of the 
 colonists in some of our possessions. I am aware that 
 the period in which we live is one of those momentous 
 epochs which mark the progress of our species in the 
 ascending scale of knowledge, virtue, and happiness. 
 1 believe that England is intimately identified with that 
 progressive perfection, and that on the permanent 
 maintenance of her power is essentially dependent the 
 weal of mankind. 
 
 So strongly do I feel in reference to the moral and 
 mental advancement of my fellow-creatures, that were 
 
receive 
 indeed, 
 to pre- 
 because 
 htly ap- 
 )piness ; 
 i great, 
 
 e home 
 s of our 
 able to 
 owever, 
 le chain 
 nent of 
 of this 
 
 jrmitted 
 /hat are 
 V of the 
 are that 
 nentous 
 5 in the 
 ppiness. 
 ^ith that 
 manent 
 lent the 
 
 >ral and 
 at were 
 
 .^r\ 
 
 #i» 
 
 81 
 
 the downfall of the British Empire necessary thereto, 
 (as was the case with ancient Rome), I would deem 
 the sacrifice trifling, in proportion to the vast good to 
 be attained. But, when a deep reflection on the 
 history of past ages forbids the idea that kingdoms, 
 like individuals, have their rise and fall, their periods 
 of birth, of manhood, of decrepitude, and death, — or 
 that with their origin are sown the seeds of dissolu- 
 tion, which evolve themselves as soon as the physical 
 and intellectual structure begins to wane'; and when 
 an attentive examination of passing events teaches me 
 to look forward with confiding hope, that Britain is 
 the nucleus around which all the nations of the earth 
 will form, eventually, themselves in concentric circles, 
 in proportion to their advancement in the scale of 
 social bliss, — I am the more intensely solicitous for 
 the preservation of the integrity oi the empire, — I am 
 tne more anxious for the gradual and careful applica- 
 tion of those doctrines of political freedom, on which 
 so much of human excellence depends; and above 
 all, I am the more deeply sensitive of the inestimable 
 value cf a true understanding, and a practical applica- 
 tion of the unalloyed pnnciples of the Christian faith. 
 
 ' I speak of the intellectual structure, us the external mind which 
 is gradually built up by the operation of the senses ; the internal 
 mind or soul, is independent of, though connected with, the external 
 mind, and therefore with the body also, but it exists immutable and for 
 ever ; while matter, though eternal, is undergoing incessant change. 
 The subject will be fully discussed, when treating of the rise and fall 
 of empires. 
 
 G 
 
I 
 
 82 
 
 without which no individual or kingdom can enjoy 
 internal peace, intellectual power, or moral greatness. 
 
 Throughout the greater part of the world we see 
 the workings of a stupendous moral revolution, 
 which, though yet in its very infancy, presents the 
 most cheering prospects for the future. 
 
 So long as men were incessantly engaged in intes- 
 tine tumults and foreign wars, for the upholding of a 
 dynasty, or the propagation of a creed, — so long as 
 the many were the prey of the few, and that millions 
 were held in bondage at the despotic sway of a single 
 ruler, — so long as myriads of human beings pined in 
 silent misery, when the means of demanding or oi 
 exercising their rights as men were at their own dis- 
 posal, — so long, there could be no hope for the rege- 
 neration of the world ; and all freedom, and all religion, 
 and all happiness were partial and isolated exceptions 
 to the general rule of universal degradation and 
 wretchedness. 
 
 Hence, we see that age after age rolled on with 
 little or no advancement in the ameHoration of the 
 great mass of our species. Now and then some 
 powerful genius has shed light and glory on the 
 world ; but it has served for little other purpose but 
 to render the surrounding darkness more visible ; and 
 until an entire nation became actuated by one con- 
 sentaneous throe, few and small were the hopes of 
 general and permanent improvement. 
 
 Peace, the precursor of enlightened civilization, 
 has changed Europe from an immense military camp 
 
83 
 
 ' i ' 
 
 to a vast hive of industry, — the cannon and the sword 
 have given place to the plough and to the scythe : — 
 agriculture, the nursery of a nation's wealth, rewards 
 the labour of the innocent husbandman, on plains not 
 long since bedewed and enriched with human gore ; — 
 and commerce, the handmaid of the arts, now plies 
 her busy avocations over seas, lakes, and rivers, too 
 long considered as imperial barriers rather than as a 
 connecting medium for bringing into quick commu- 
 nication the most distant parts of the earth. 
 
 He, who rejoices in such an alteration, cannot be 
 otherwise than feelingly anxious for its continuance, 
 for he sees therein the surely onward progress of 
 society ; and he endeavours to penetrate the thick 
 veil of futurity, to catch a glimpse of man, when 
 awakened to a sense of his capacity, of his respon- 
 sibility, and of the relation in which he stands to 
 his Creator, in reference to his present position and 
 future state. 
 
 All who thus think and feel, and especially those 
 who have the scope afforded them of demonstrating 
 the influence of mind over matter, should therefore 
 ponder well ere they tend to blight this blissful pros- 
 pect by inculcating the adoption of measures, how- 
 ever useful in themselves, but for which the ground 
 has not yet been prepared ; for goodness without wis- 
 dom mars rather than promotes the beneficent objects 
 which it may have desired to attain. 
 
 Holding these views, I am not only desirous of 
 maintaining the integrity of the British Empire, but 
 
84 
 
 
 I am equally solicitous that peace should reign within 
 it, — that justice be meted out to every portion of its 
 citizens, — that order should be upheld and the laws 
 respected, — that the privileges, the rights, and the 
 property of the crown, the aristocracy, and the people 
 be kept separate and inviolate, — and that religion be 
 in reality a bond of union, of peace, and of Christian 
 charity. 
 
 Most earnestly, therefore, would I fain impress on 
 those talented (and it may be philanthropic) men who 
 are urging, almost to desperation, some of the inhabit- 
 ants of Lower Canada, and sowing the seeds of discord, 
 disaffection, and hostility, in some of ourothcrcolonies, 
 as well as at home, to pause in this rash, baneful, and 
 unhallowed course. I would entreat them to remem- 
 ber, that if a war of principle once breaks forth, a 
 fatal check will be given to the high career of im- 
 provement now being developed in every branch of 
 art and science ; and I would point to the truth of an 
 historic fact, that any good, when attempted to be at- 
 tained by corruption, fraud, or violence, is turned into 
 evil. England is now improperly asked to grant to 
 a few colonists that which she has not conceived 
 it right in principle, or prudent in practice, to concede 
 at home. The majority of the house of assembly in 
 Lower Canada have stopped the whole business of 
 the colony, because the constitution of 1791, [by virtue 
 of which very constitution they at present sit and ex- 
 ercise the unjustifiable power which they have now 
 assumed] is not abrogated, — for by that act no provi- 
 
85 
 
 
 sion was made for rendering the legislative council of 
 the colony, as the assembly demand, elective ; none 
 for placing the executive authorities at the sole con- 
 trol and mercy of the legislative chamber ; and none 
 for depriving the crown of its hereditary rights ', and 
 sanctioning with the name of the king, the perpetra- 
 tion of gross injustice ^ 
 
 The geographical position of Lower Canada, in 
 reference to our survo\H\ding colonies, forbids the 
 possibility of casting it off as an alien from the country 
 which first gave to it the political existence, that has 
 now been turned so ungratefully against her. Con- 
 cession after concession has had no other effect on the 
 few leaders who have stimulated the naturally loyal 
 and unfactious hahitans of Lower Canada almost into 
 rebellion, but to render them more unreasonable in 
 their demands, and less scrupulous as to the means by 
 which they are to be attained. It is indispensably 
 necessary, that England should now firmly refuse to 
 listen to claims, which seem made chiefly with a view 
 to hasten the breaking up of the empire, or it may be 
 [but I would fain hope otherwise] for the purpose of 
 selfish aggrandizement. 
 
 These claims do not affect merely Lower Canada, — 
 they do not refer solely to the colonies, — but they are 
 intended to apply to the practical workings of the 
 
 1 See Financial Chapter. 
 
 * See Emigration Chapter — Section of Canada Land Company. 
 
86 
 
 ( 
 
 I 
 
 British constitution ; they are, in fact, the elements of 
 a flimsily disguised party democracy, (if I may so coin 
 the term) totally unsuited to the present condition of 
 England, and utterly impracticable in any portion of 
 the empire, which necessarily stands in the relation* 
 of a province to the parent state. 
 
 Yielding not to any one in an ardent desire for 
 practical liberty, (the elements of which, are personal 
 security, freedom of speech, and the rightful enjoy- 
 ment of property,) and feehng in common with the 
 great mass of my fellow-citizens, a yearning for the 
 improvement and prosperity of every human being in 
 this vast empire, I have endeavoured to fulfil the duty 
 I owe to my king and country. To be silent, when 
 that which freemen prize so dearly is at stake, — to be 
 inactive, when good is being perverted unto evil, — 
 would indeed be criminality ; and with a hope that the 
 statements in the foregoing pages may not be unpro- 
 ductive of a beneficial effect, and that I may be per- 
 mitted to complete the task which I have undertaken, 
 with as little of personality or party spirit as circum- 
 stances will admit, I consign this, the commencement 
 of the " Colonial Policy of the British Empire," to 
 the attention of an inteUigent and indulgent commu- 
 nity, for whose weal, as a small but most valuable 
 portion of the whole human race, I am most deeply 
 solicitous. 
 
 That the colonies of Britain may be made the 
 means of promoting peace and order, of extending civi- 
 
 le 
 
87 
 
 3nts of 
 \o coin 
 tion of 
 tion of 
 elation' 
 
 lization and happiness, and for disseminating the incal- 
 culable blessings of Christianity throughout the world, 
 will be an ample reward for the labour endured, or for 
 the obloquy which may be cast on me. 
 
 ire for 
 ersonal 
 
 enjoy- 
 nth the 
 for the 
 )eing in 
 :he duty 
 it, when 
 , — to be 
 ) evil, — 
 that the 
 e unpro- 
 
 be per- 
 iertaken, 
 
 circum- 
 ncement 
 ipire," to 
 
 commu- 
 
 valuable 
 St deeply 
 
 (' ,''■;(/ :• ( < 
 
 f % 
 
 ft 
 
 I « 
 
 i ' t I ^ , _ ^ 
 
 it J I 
 
 ' /./ 
 
 • ■■ (, '- 
 
 END OF PART I. 
 
 nade the 
 ding civi-