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^ ' iwswwVflSH^w^i^ 
 
 
 ■■#•!«.*. \- 
 
AN ADDRESS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION, RESOURCES AND PROSPECTS 
 
 OF 
 
 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, 
 
 DELIVERED BY SPECIAL REQUEST 
 
 At 
 
 THE CITY HALL, GLASGOW, 
 
 On the 2bth of March, 1857. 
 
 BV 
 
 *■ <j 
 
 i 
 
 THE HON MR. JUSTICE HALIBURTON. 
 
 •^ 
 
 LONDONi 
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,;; 
 SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, * 
 
 13, GREAT MAELBOROUGH STREET. 
 1857. 
 
 I 
 
?^ 
 
 <^ 
 
TO THE 
 
 K ON OUR ABLE ANDREW R R, 
 
 LORD PROVOST OF GLASGOW, 
 
 AKD 
 
 THE MEMBERS OF THE ATHENiEUM, 
 
 (under whose auspices it was nELlVEUED) 
 
 THIS ADDRESS 
 
 IS RESrECTl'ULLY INSCRinED 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 The Directors of this Institution having done me the 
 honour of inviting me to address you on the condition and 
 prospects of our North American Colonies, I beg to 
 assure you that I have accepted their invitation with pecu- 
 liar pleasure. Had 1 been requested to name the subject, 
 I should have chosen this, above all others, as it is one of 
 absorbing interest to me. But had the selection been left 
 to myself, I feel that I could not, with propriety, have 
 availed myself of the privilege, nor should I have had the 
 honour of addressing you at all this evening. I am a 
 stranger in this country, and that very circumstance would, 
 from a feeling of delicacy, have prevented my obtruding 
 upon you my country, and my opinions respecting it. I 
 should have felt, (unnecessarily, perhaps, but still the feel- 
 ing would have oppressed me) that I was presumptuous. 
 It is on this account, among others, that I have declined 
 similar invitations from many of the principal cities in 
 England : Manchester being the only one where I have 
 delivered an address on this topic, and at the risk of being 
 considered irrelevant, I cannot suffer this opportunity to 
 pass, without expressing the deep and grateful sense I enter- 
 tain, of the kindness and hospitality I experience^ on thJ^t 
 
^T 
 
 6 
 
 occasion. But as the subject has been chosen for me 
 to-night, I must say, I have great satisfaction in entering 
 upon it. I have an additional pleasure in doing so here, 
 in Glasgow, the great mercantile emporium of this, my 
 ancient fatherland. A Scotchman myself, i)y descent, as 
 my name, once well-known on the borders, in the strifes 
 of this country in by-gone times, may indicate, I. feel, that 
 when I address the citizens of Glasgow, 1 am not altogether 
 a stranger in a foreign land. I feel too, nay I am certain, 
 I shall find an indulgent audience ; for who is there that 
 hears me, that has not some near and dear relative, some 
 valued friend, or some worthy, though humble, dependant 
 in British America ? Who is there that hears me, that 
 will not be pleased to learn, that his countrymen, the 
 Scotch, in the colonies where they constitute a very large 
 portion of the population, form also the most respectable 
 and respected portion of it, distinguished for their zeal, 
 their intelligence, their industry, their morals, and (as a 
 consequence of these qualities) their wealth also ? Who 
 is there, that will not be proud to learn that what Scotch- 
 men have effected at home, they have also effected there, 
 and as in Great Britain, so in the distant provinces, that 
 they, and their descendants are amcftig merchants, as entei- 
 prising, among farmers as practical, among lawyers, judges, 
 and legislators as eminent, and among divines as laborious 
 and well informed, as the best examples that can be pro- 
 duced from all those of different origins together ? Con- 
 nected as you are, therefore, with us by ties of kindred and 
 of friendship, I am sure you will regard with indulgence 
 my feeble advocacy of a country, of which I am a native, 
 
T 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 in which I havft lived more than half a century, and which 
 contains, together with my descendants, the earthly remains 
 of three generations of my forefathers. I should be some- 
 thing more or less than a man, if I did not entertain a 
 deep and heartfelt interest in its welfare. For in the words 
 of your own immortal poet : 
 
 " Breathes there the man with soul so dead. 
 Who never to liimself has said 
 This is my own, my native land." 
 
 Before I ente/ upon the subject, however, it is equally 
 due to you, and to myself, that there should be no mistake 
 as to the character in which I speak, and no misappre- 
 hension as to my object. I appear before you to-night, 
 clothed with no authority whatever. I am not the official 
 exponent of the opinions or wishes of the colonies, or any 
 one of them. Nor am 1 the agent, or delegate of any 
 association, corporatiori, or legislature. I am not interested 
 in any of their projects or schemes, whether canals, rail- 
 ways, or land speculations, but simply a private individual, 
 expressing my own opinions — opinions, it is true, formed 
 from a residence of my whole life in that country, and shared 
 by thinking, and reflecting men of all shades of politics ; but 
 still opinions for which I am responsible, and no Que else. 
 As such they are entitled to no more weight than you may 
 think they deserve, when you hear them. It is right, also, 
 that I should explain to you my object : It is one that I 
 am certain you will approve, for it is loyal and patriotic. It 
 is equally beneficial to you, and to the colonies — it will 
 preserve them, and strengthen you — it will develop the 
 
I' !' 
 
 8 
 
 resources of that mngniticent country, and strcngthoh 
 and invigorate the parent state, while it will add to the 
 stability of both. 
 
 My object is, to draw toQji'ther, in more intimate bonds 
 of connexion, the two countiics, to remove distrust, to 
 assimilate interests, to combine the raw material of the 
 New, with the manufacturing skill of the Old World, to 
 enlarge the boundaries, to widen the foundations, to 
 strengthen the constitution, and to add to the grandeur 
 of the Empire. My object is, to unite indissolubly the 
 two portions of the Empire, so that there may be but 
 one interest, one country, with one constitution, one 
 parliament, one language, one literature, one and the 
 same monarch, and one and the same great and glorious 
 old flag, " that for a thousand years has braved the battle 
 and the breeze." This is my object, and I trust it will be 
 yours also, now, while it yet can be effected, ere separate 
 interests, and the angry passions they engender, draw us 
 asunder, too widely, and too rudely, ever to admit of reunion. 
 
 I propose to explain to you what constitutes British 
 North America, and to pass in rapid and short review the 
 several colonies, and their leading characteristics ; to show 
 you, that it comprises the largest, the best, the most pro- 
 ductive, prosperous, and valuable portion of the continent, 
 that it possesses the best climate, the greatest resources, 
 and the most hardy and intelligent population in America ; 
 an 1 by a few incontrovertible statistical facts, to prove to 
 you, how much in all these particulars, it exceeds the United 
 States. 
 
 Finally, I propose to show you the shameful neglept it 
 
I 
 
 9 
 
 has endured, and still endures, the degrading political 
 and cooirnercial restrictions and disal)ilitics under which 
 it lal)ours, the imminent danger there is of losing 
 these colonies ; and then to suggest some remedies, while 
 remedies can he applied. I must crave your indulgence 
 when I ask you to accompany me over this wide field, hut 
 I assure you I will endeavour to lose no time in digres- 
 sion, and to he as hrief as is consistent with an intelligihle 
 view of the suhject— indeed 1 do not wish you should have 
 to say, when asked, " what my address was ahout ?" what 
 was once said of a sermon, " that it was about half an hour 
 too long." The British territory in North America contains 
 four millions of square miles, and is larger than all li^urupe, 
 and notwithstanding the hoastiug of our repuhlican neigh- 
 hours, who say theirs is " the greatest nation in all crea- 
 tion," is larger than the United States. 
 
 Now, before I proceed fixrther, allow me to say, that I 
 am not so absurd, as to combine together all the barrens, 
 wastes, and frozen regions of the North, for the idle pur- 
 pose of boasting of the magnitude of our great countr\% 
 It would be very disrespectful to you, and shew a great 
 want of self-respect, were I to attempt thus to mislead you. 
 The greatness of a country cannot be simply represented 
 by its extent, there arc other elements of greatness be- 
 sides vastness of size. Britain is a small country in 
 its geographical extent, but still it is the greatest country 
 in the world. The real greatness of Scotland is in- 
 finitely m.agnified, when we consider its very limited pro- 
 portions. The area of it, including its islands, is only 
 nineteen millions of English acres, of which only five or 
 
! 
 
 10 
 
 six millions are cultivated. It would be idle to measure 
 the importance of our country by its extent ; I shall, there- 
 fore, not fall into the American defect of boasting, although 
 if I did, I might plead intercourse with our bragging 
 neighbours, as an extenuation of the offence, for bragging, 
 like the small-pox, is caught by contact; in America it 
 comes, like that, in the natural way, and both leave dis- 
 agreeable marks — the one disfguring the face, and the 
 other, the character. Still, I am not disposed to under- 
 value the importance of extent, especially when the re- 
 sources of the country, and its means of transport, are 
 commensurate with it. With this explanation, therefore, 
 I repeat the fact, and let it pass for what it is worth, that 
 our British Territory in North America is larger than all 
 Europe, and more extensive than all the United States. 
 It is composed of the following countries : Newfoundland, 
 Prince Edward's Island, and Cape Breton, insular pos- 
 sessions ; and Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, 
 and New Britain, continental ones. Of the first and last, 
 that is. of Newfoundland, and New Britain, I shall say 
 nothing — the one is devoted to fishing, the other to hunt- 
 ing. Of the imports and exports of Newfoundland, Custom- 
 House returns will tell you all you desire to know— of 
 New Britain, the Hudson's Bay Company will tell you 
 nothing you wish to know. The one is chiefly settled by 
 Irish, who are, generally speaking, as tranquil and as easily 
 governed as they are in Ireland, especially when they have 
 everything their own way. The other is principally held by 
 Scotchmen, who, unlike you, are all out and out old Tories, 
 and will not hear of any reform in their constitution. They 
 
11 
 
 mind their own business, which is a vory profitable one, 
 and only request you to mind yours ; unlike Cobden, they 
 do not belong to the Peace Society ; but they are all mem- 
 bers of a far more respectable one, " the anci-poke your 
 nose into other people's business society," which they 
 strongly recommend you, and your representatives to join. 
 Leaving both these countries, (which at present offer no 
 temptation to settlers) and the inhabitants of one to follow 
 the cod and the seals in the trackless ocean, and those of 
 the other, to pursue the beaver and the bear, in the equally 
 trackless forest ; let us pass on to 
 
 PRINCE Edward's island. 
 
 But we have little time to pause here, beyond saying, 
 that small as it is, containing only 1,365,000 acres, it is 
 larger than all the Ionian Islands put together, and in- 
 finitely more valuable, being all of excellent land, so free 
 from stone, as not to yield enough for building purposes, 
 and productive to a degree that is almost incredible. It 
 is divided from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by a 
 channel of about nine miles across. It contains sixty- 
 seven townships r. 20,000 acres each; the population of 
 this area is but 70,000 ; for, from causes which I shall 
 hereafter name, it has been literally locked up from settle- 
 ment. There is, however, room here for a moderate 
 degree of emigration, with every prospect of a prosperous 
 and happy home. Its imports, in 1850, were 631,000 
 dollars, exports 326,000. This extraordinary difference 
 consisting in the value of vessels built and sold in Great 
 
12 
 
 Britain, and Newfoundland, of which there is no account. 
 Passing along the coast we come to the 
 
 ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. 
 
 ? ! 
 
 Of this place, which 1 know thoroughly, from having held 
 Courts in five different sections of it, it is impossible for 
 mc to speak, in terms of sufficient praise. For its scenery, 
 it is the most beautiful island in the world, and for its 
 resources and advantages, in proportion to its extent, the 
 most valuable. This, I admit, is strong language, it may 
 sound extravagant, hut to do it justice, T cannot say less. 
 The French knew its political, as well as its intrinsic value, 
 they considered it truly as the key of the St. Lawrence, 
 commanding at once the entrance to Canada, the gulf 
 shore of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and intercepting 
 the trade of the old Colonies, now called the United States. 
 They erected on this island, the strong fortress of 
 Louisburg, at an expense of thirty million of livres, which 
 required a fleet of 150 sail, to convey thither the 
 troops under General Wolfe, for its capture. Of its 
 strength, you may judge, when you hear that 220 
 pieces of cannon were found there. 
 
 At that early day, they had 600 vessels employed in 
 the fishing trade, and exported to France 500,000 quintals 
 of fish. No sooner had this magnificent island fallen 
 into the hands of the English, than it felt the deadening 
 influence of Imperial neglect. This second Carthage was 
 doomed to destruction, it cost twelve thousand dollars to 
 blow it up, and remove all trace of it from tlie face of the 
 
13 
 
 earth, the island was closed to emigration, the few who 
 went there, were squatters, having no title to the land they 
 cleared, and no heart to improve what they occupied, lest 
 ejectment should follow. Fishermen came in summer 
 like water-fowl, and like them took wing at the approach 
 of winter ; and the wrecker and the outlaw lay hid there 
 like vultures, to feed upon what the storm*' or the 
 currents threw ashore. 
 
 It was not till 1820, when Sir James Kempt galvanized 
 this dormant body, that respiration and vitality were 
 restored to it, and even now it has scarcely recovered the 
 effect of this long torpor. During the last 100 
 years, since it fell to us, the tide of emigration has flowed 
 within sight of its shores, conveying hundreds of thou- 
 sands — nay, millions of emigrants, to augment the strength 
 of our rivals and unfriendly neighbours, the Americans, 
 without a word of invitation to them to land, and occupy 
 this vacant territory, the nearest to Europe of any part of 
 the American continent, and the best and most promising 
 of all those lands of promise. Happy, indeed, would it 
 have been for us, if the Corporation of Glasgow, instead 
 of the authorities of Downing Street, had had the direction 
 of our affairs. If practical men, like those able and 
 intelligent merchants, who preside over your city, and 
 who by their industry, their talents, and their zeal, have 
 raised it to its present state of wealth and prosperity, 
 had had the direction of our destinies also. Alas ! red tape 
 may be strong enough to bind and compress despatches, 
 but it is utterly worthless as a ligature to hold together the 
 separate and disjointed parts of an Empire. He who 
 
14 
 
 would govern us, must know us ; he who would regulate 
 our trade, must himself be conversant with commerce ; 
 a landsman cannot steer, and a sailor must be at his helm 
 if he wishes it to obey his will — as well might your affairs 
 be regulated at Quebec, as ours be directed in London. 
 The presence of a partner, as you well Isnow, is everywhere 
 necessary in extended business at foreign stations. But 
 to return to Cape Breton, whence wt have been so long 
 absent, that we can tarry there now only a few minutes. 
 
 It is separated from Nova Scotia by the narrow Strait 
 of Canso, about a mile wide. It is 100 miles long, 85 
 wide, and 275 in circumference. The Bras d'Or Lake, 
 navigable for first class vessels, nearly severs it in halves, 
 there being only a small portage of about a quarter of a 
 mile, through which a canal is now in course of construc- 
 tion. The land is generally of a superior quality, and well 
 wooded. There are three splendid coal fields of the finest 
 kind of bituminous coal, the largest of these covers an 
 area of 1 20 miles, and is situated just where it is required 
 for the Canada, Halifax, and Ameiican trade, and for the 
 convenience of ocean steamers and men of war. Canada 
 is, from its geological structure, destitute of coal, and here 
 is an inexhaustible supply. It is in the centre of the 
 Fisheries, and as there is no fog on the eastern shore, and 
 the banks in its vicinity are covered with shell fish—the 
 Cod are reckoned the best in the world. Brine springs, 
 containing twelve per cent, of salt, are found close to the 
 borders of the Lake, and the island contains some large, 
 deep, and commodious harbours, besides numerous lesser 
 ones, for small craft. I have not time to dwell farther on 
 
 l»»^.^# 
 
 ■/■«A. '^i' 
 
15 
 
 the beauty, fertility, and mineral resources of this valuable 
 island; well, indeed, may its inlet from the sea, that 
 penetrates nearly through the island, be called " Bras d'Or," 
 for it aifords access to the richest country I know of. I 
 will mention but one more fact respecting it, and then 
 hasten on. The upper part, and marginal portions of this 
 vast inlet, freeze over in winter, and settlers are in the 
 habit of driving upon it, with their pony sleds, and in less 
 than an hour, they load them with fish, with no other 
 trouble than cutting a hole in the ice, and hauling them 
 out. I strongly recommend this island to Scotch emi- 
 grants, who will be sure of a hearty welcome from their 
 countrymen, who form, as elsewhere, the largest portion of 
 the population. I recommend it also to the angler, for 
 there is the best salmon and trout fishing on the coast, while 
 the artist and the poet will find inspiration in the lovely 
 scenery of Wye :)gomah and its legends. Let the unem- 
 ployed poor man seek it, where God has given him good 
 soil to cultivate, coal for his fire, fish for his food, and 
 salt to cure it. 
 
 From Cape Breton we pass to 
 
 NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 This country is now too well known, thanks to the 
 Cunard steamers, which visit Halifax, its capital, once a 
 fortnight, to need particular description, indeed, time 
 forbids more than a general notice. It is almost an island, 
 a narrow isthmus of a few miles, dividing it from New 
 Brunswick. It contains 1 9,000 square miles^ its shores 
 

 16 
 
 are every where indented with excellent harbours, there 
 being more than double the number capable of accom- 
 modating the largest men of war, than in the whole sea- 
 board of the United States, from Maine to Mexico. No 
 part of it is more than thirty miles from navigable water j 
 it is situated in the midst of the best Transatlantic 
 Fisheries, and abounds with coal, iron, gypsum, grindstone, 
 slate, lead, manganese, copper, and other minerals, whilst 
 Dr. Jackson, the American geologist, (I would rather give 
 such scientific authority than mine), says : " The shores of 
 the Basin of Minas are strewed with agates, amethysts, 
 jaspers, cairngorams, and the entire group of the zoolite 
 minerals to be found in the amygdaloid trap." The two 
 first named minerals, coal and iron, the most valuable any 
 country can be blessed with, are in the greatest abundance, 
 and what is very important, they are in close contiguity to 
 each other. There are five large independent coal-fields ; 
 one at Pictou, spreading over an area of 120 square 
 miles, and now vigorously worked ; the second is at 
 Pomquit, the third at Londonderry, the fourth at Cumber- 
 land, (also worked), and the fifth at Windsor. Of the 
 superior quality of the iron, you have all heard, in the ex- 
 periments lately made, in its use for cannon. The 
 character of the land on the Atlantic coast, hke that of the 
 whole American sea-board, from Labrador to Mexico, is, 
 with few exceptions, poor ; but when you penetrate a 
 short distance into the interior, you enter upon a country 
 of great agricultural capacity, some portion of it, the dyked 
 marshes (alluvial land,) being of inexhaustible fertihty, 
 having yielded grass and grain crops for pne hundred years. 
 
 I 
 
i 
 
 17 
 
 without the aid of manure. Its wonderful mineral wealth, 
 its noble harbours, its fertile soil, its extensive fisheries, its 
 proximity to Europe, for the purpose of steam navigation, 
 its water power, (as it is called,) its temperate climate, arising 
 from its insular position, and last, not least, its possession 
 of the winter outlet, and through passage by railway, from 
 England, to New Brunswick, Canada, and the United 
 States, all indicate Nova Scotia as destined for an 
 extended commerce, for the seat of manufactories, the 
 support of a large population, and for wielding a controll- 
 ing power on the American continent. A railway is now 
 formed to connect Halifax with the Bay of Fundy, and 
 another is in progress, to unite it with New Brunswick, 
 and had it not been for the cold neglect, not to say un- 
 generous conduct of the Imperial Government, it would, 
 ere this, have possessed a direct line of railway to Canada, 
 to connect with the great Trunk line of that country. 
 
 Some of our people, indeed, go so far as to charge the 
 government with a direct breach of faith, in first promising, 
 and then withholding a guarantee. I am not sufficiently 
 conversant with the negotiations to use that strong term ; 
 but this I will say, never did Imperial rule, wound 
 colonists so deeply, or so materially injure British North 
 America, as on that occasion, and besides the positive 
 loss, and bitter feeling caused by this unworthy treatment, 
 who can tell, but those who have had to endure it, the 
 extent of the humiliation they have suffered from the 
 derision of their republican neighbours, who exultingly 
 ask, if this is a specimen of the blessings of English 
 connexion 1 
 
18 
 
 In addition to these railway facilities, the country is 
 everywhere penetrated by good roads, far better, than 
 those of the United States, where railways and steamers 
 have prevented due attention being paid to them, indeed 
 all the surplus revenue of the province for more than 
 half a century, has very wisely been expended upon 
 them. Prominent beyond all others in North America, is 
 Halifax Harbour, it is easy of access, deep, free from rocks 
 or reefs, well sheltered, and sufficiently capacious to con- 
 tain the united navies of England and France. This, I 
 believe is well known, and nowhere better than in Glasgow, 
 where was built the great Atlantic Royal Mail steam fleet, 
 the first, the safest, the best managed, and the most 
 successful in the world. I look back with more satisfaction 
 to my successful advocacy of that mode of conveying the 
 mails, than to any other public act of my life, and if my 
 writings have worked out no other object than that, they have 
 not been published in vain. Well, indeed, may Glasgow be 
 proud of that noble line, and Nova Scotia, of having the 
 name of one of its sons, the Honourable S. Cunard 
 impressed upon it. But there is one fact, not generally 
 known, it is an important one, and I am surprised it has 
 never yet been put forward before the public. I wish to 
 call your particuiar attention, and that of my Canadian 
 friends also to it, and when you hear, as you will, I trust, 
 ere long, of the construction of a railway from thence to 
 Canada, pray bear it in mind, Halifax Harbour is seldomer 
 closed by frost than any other in North America, not 
 excepting those in the Southern States. Such an ex- 
 traordinary event happens but once in many years, and 
 
19 
 
 then it is of very short duration. North of Halifax, nearly 
 all the harbours are closed in winter, but the farther south 
 you go, this obstruction occurs oftener, and lasts longer 
 than at Halifax ; the same frost that closes Boston 
 harbour, does not affect the other. Charleston, in South 
 Carolina, and Richmond in Virginia, are repeatedly blocked 
 up by ice, when f lalifax is perfectly open ; whether this 
 exemption arises from a deflection of the Gulf stream, 
 caused by the Isle of Sable, or otherwise, I shall not stop 
 to enquire. It is enough that it is an undoubted fact, and 
 it is one which in conjunction with other advantages, most 
 wonderfuHy combined, renders this, beyond all comparison, 
 the most valuable and important harbour in all North 
 America. The number of vessels owned and registered 
 in the province of Nova Scotia, on the 31st December, 
 1850, was 2,791, of 168,392 tons: this number has 
 since greatly increased, but I have not the returns by me. 
 The value of the fish taken, largely exceeds a million of 
 dollars — the quantity of coal raised was 115,000 chal- 
 drons; in 185], the imports were 6,527,640 dollars, 
 exports 3,542,310, inclusive of vessels built and sold 
 abroad. The population is about 300,000, and the 
 probable value of real estate alone, 33 millions of 
 dollars. 
 
 In former days in this country, the terror held over 
 naughty children by nurses, was a threat to " send them to 
 Nova Scotia." If I continue to bore you much longer 
 about it, perhaps you may wish I was back there, so 
 I shall avail myself of Halifax Harbour being now open, 
 and sail to 
 
20 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK. 
 
 And here let me tell you, this nohle province has room 
 cnougli for every unemployed man in the kingdom, and 
 every one you may have to spare for years to come. It 
 lies between Canada and Nova Scotia, and two-thirds 
 of its borders are washed by the ocean, which teems with 
 fish, while the Ristegouche, and the St. John's Rivers 
 nearly embrace it, and make it an island ; and the Mada- 
 waska, by the aid of a very short canal, would give it an 
 outlet to the St. Lawrence. It contains an area of about 
 30,000 square miles, and is (as near as may b^) as large 
 as Ireland, but differing from it in these two great essen- 
 tials, its population does not much exceed 200,000, and it 
 is exempt from bogs and barren mountains. The surface 
 is undulating, forming ridges of moderate elevation, be- 
 tween which are extensive lakes, connected by prodigious 
 rivers. It abounds with rich valleys, productive plains, and 
 noble forests. 
 
 Its water communication is so marvellous, that every 
 part of it, is accessible to settlement, - The river St. John 
 is a magnificent stream, the extent of which may be faintly 
 imagined by the fact, that it and its tributaries drain an 
 area of nine millions of acres in New Brunswick, six mil- 
 lions in the State of Maine, and two millions in Canada. 
 It is 450 miles long, to the portage of Metjamotte. 
 Steamers ply to the capital, Fredericton, a distance of ninety 
 miles, from thence to Woodstock, sixty miles, and from 
 thence to the Tobique, fifty miles. Here are what are 
 called the Grand Falls, which offer an impediment, e^n4 
 
21 
 
 require a portage, when navigation again commences, 
 and continues for forty miles on tiic Madawaska. This 
 branch is navigable for thirty miles to the Lake Tamas- 
 quota, which is twenty-seven miles long, and from two to 
 six broad, and very deep, and from tlie head of this to the 
 St. Lawrence, the land portage is but eighteen miles, so 
 that two small canals, one at the Grand Falls, and another 
 on the St. Lawrence at Trois Pistoles, would convert 
 New Brunswick into an island, and give a direct water 
 conveyance from Canada, into the Bay of Fundy. The 
 eastern coast has been furnished by nature with numerous 
 and spacious harbours, into all of which, rivers of magni- 
 tude, rising in the interior, discharge themselves in their 
 progress to the sea; these are Shediac, Cocaigne, Buc- 
 touche, Richebucto, and a port, whose river is well- 
 known to you from its export of timber, the Meramichi, 
 which is 220 miles long, and nine miles wide. Many of 
 these names are unknown in any part of Great Britain, ex- 
 cept Glasgow, whose commerce extends everywhere. The 
 ignorance that prevails on this subject is equalled only by 
 that young lady's knowledge of botany, who declared she 
 knew the names of two flowers only — " Aurora Borealis," 
 and " Delirium Tremens." 
 
 Long may Her Majesty reign over the territory of the 
 Meramichi, and merry may she be that owns it ; well may 
 she be styled " the Lady of the Lakes," while she rules 
 over her American Colonies. 
 
 Then comes the Bay of Chaleur, an enormous haven, 
 ninety miles long, by thirty miles wide, containing numer- 
 ous harbours of great capacity, such as Great and Little 
 
 c 
 
22 
 
 II 
 
 « 
 
 Chippegan, Bathurst, which is three and a half miles 
 long, and two miles wide ; fo\ir large rivers fall into it. 
 At the head of tlie bay is Restigouche Harbour ; a river 
 of the same name falling into it, whicii has five large 
 branches, its name signifying " the River of the Hantl." 
 Its principal branch is 200 miles long, its source lying 
 within a short portage of the St. John, o\cr which the 
 lumber men carry their boats, and descend the St. John. 
 This river and its tributaries drain 4,000 square miles of 
 excellent timber land. The capital of this noble province 
 is St. John, containing a population of 30,000, and it 
 has this remarkable feature attending it ; its tonnage is 
 about 100,000 — a proportion to its inhabitants altogether 
 unexampled, being over three tons to every man, woman 
 and child. Besides this, 21,730 tons of shipping were 
 built for sale in 1851, not to be found in any export table. 
 Beyond this bald statement, time will not permit me to 
 enlarge, but it would be unpardonable to omit its minerals. 
 At the Grand Lake, near St. John's, is excellent coal of 
 the coking variety ; at Woodstock, (which is approached 
 by navigable waters from St. John, and by a railway from 
 St. Andrew's,) an inexhaustible supply of red hematite 
 iron ore, making the toughest iron, and eminently suited 
 to the manufacture of steel. At the same place are found 
 manganese, and the largest bed of plumbago, in America. 
 At Sussex Vale are saline springs, from which is manu- 
 factured the finest table salt, described by Dr. Jackson as 
 being wholly free from the irapurities of lime and mag- 
 nesia. At the head of the Bay of Fundy, near the 
 borders of Nova Scotia, is found that remarkable coal, 
 
23 
 
 which from its solubility has given rise, like a similar de- 
 posit in Scotland, to a legal controversy, whether it bo 
 coal or bitumen. It contains sixty per cent of gas-mak- 
 ing bitumen, and forty per cent of coke, which yields but 
 half a pound of ashes to the (;\vt. Slate, gypsum, grind- 
 stone, lime, together with the above, have already been 
 exported, and ere long, copper and lead will also be added 
 to these exports. Such is this splendid province, inter- 
 sected in all parts by rivers and lakes, penetrated every- 
 where by excellent roads, and now being rendered still more 
 accessible by extensive railways. The emigrant who goes 
 to this colony, and to Nova Scotia, will- escape the usual 
 hardships and privations that attend the new settlers of a 
 country. Ho will find churches, schools, mills, roads, 
 bridges, and markets, instant and remunerative employ- 
 ment, peace and plenty, which will soon enable him to 
 acquire real estate, and as each succeeding wave ef emigra- 
 tion advances farther, and farther, into the wilderness, he 
 will soon find himself in the centre of a settled, and civi- 
 lized community, and his property daily rising in value 
 faster, and out of all proportion to his own exertions. 
 He will not emigrate, as our forefathers did, with hope, 
 but with a positive certainty of success. I bid him 
 " God speed, " let him go and prosper. 
 We now come to 
 
 CANADA. 
 
 A country so vast, that it is difficult to convey an ade- 
 quate idea of its size ; so fertile, that nothing short of 
 
 c 2 
 
24 
 
 official returns will exonerate a description of it, from the 
 charge of exaggeration ; so prosperous, as not merely to 
 rival, but surpass all other countries on the face of the 
 earth ; so healthy in climate, so beautiful in scenery, so 
 abundantly supplied with magnificent lakes and rivers, so 
 full of commercial resources, and so rich in minerals, that 
 I am overpowered with the magnitude of the task I have 
 imposed upon myself, in attempting to convey even a faint 
 idea of it. As regards its extent, omitting the territories 
 contiguous to it, under British sway, and limiting myself 
 to Canada proper, it is 1,600 miles long, with an average 
 bicadth of 230 miles, being one- third larger than France, 
 or Prussia, and nearly three times as large as Great 
 Britain and Ireland. It contains an area of 350,000 
 square miles, or 240 millions of acres. Well, indeed, 
 might the Count Joubert exclaim with bitter regret, whilst 
 surveying the magnificent display of agricultural and mi- 
 neral products of Canada, which obtained the Grand 
 Medal of Honour, at the Paris Exhibition, " now we can 
 form an estimate of the value of these few acres of snow, 
 ceded to England by the culpable neglect of the govern- 
 ment of Louis XV." 
 
 Accompany me, gentlemen, in one of your splendid 
 steamers, and let us take a trip to Canada, and (without 
 changing our vessel), ascend the St. Lawrence to Lake 
 Superior, a distance of three thousand miles. Let us 
 suppose ourselves arrived in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 Three hundred miles from that vast outlet of the River, 
 we pass the mouth of the Saguenay, a deep and noble 
 stream, navig{\ble for seventy miles, for the largest vessels. 
 
25 
 
 Four hundred and ten miles' sailing from the ocean, and 
 we reach Quebec, the great sea-port of Canada, with a 
 large, and increasing foreign commerce. Five hundred 
 miles sailing, finds us at the limit of tide water, and we 
 now begin, in reality, to ascend the stream of the St. 
 Lawrence. Five hundred and ninety miles bring us to 
 Montreal, near where the Ottowa, or Grand River of the 
 North, mingles its red waters with those of St. Lawrence. 
 Seven canals, of different lengths, and great capacity, 
 fitted for sea-going vessels, enable us to ascend 1 1 6 
 miles of river, and at 168 miles above Montreal, we are 
 in Lake Ontario. This Lake is 180 miles long, from 50 
 to 60 miles wide, and 500 feet deep, and has an area of 
 6,600 square miles. 
 
 Swiftly traversing its expanse, in sight, probably, of 
 hundreds of other vessels and steamers, we reach the out- 
 let of the Welland' Canal, through which, by means of 
 27 locks, we reach the waters of Lake Erie, 1,041 miles 
 from the sea. Our passage is still on through Lake Erie, 
 until we arrive at the Detroit River, 1,380 miles from the 
 sea. We pass by the city of Detroit, in the State 
 of Michigan, through Lake St. Clair, and the St. Clair 
 River into Lake Huron, 1,355 miles from our starting 
 point. 
 
 We may now sail on to St. Mary's River, and passing 
 through a short, but gigantic canal, constructed by the 
 people of the United States, enter Lake Superior, witli 
 a iresh-water sea as large as L-eland before us, and into 
 which nearly 200 rivers flow, enabling us to attain a 
 distance of 2,000 miles from the mouth of the St. 
 
 I ) 
 

 \ 
 
 26 
 
 Lawrence. In 1856, the American vessel, "Dean 
 Richmond," laden with produce at Chicago, passed the 
 Canadian Canals, and waters, and excited unbounded 
 astonishment at Liverpool j but the year previous, the 
 Canadian vessel, " Reindeer," built at the same water level, 
 and traversing the same route, excited no further curiosity 
 in London, than a hopeless inquiry of " where is Lake 
 Huron ?" 
 
 The St. Lawrence has the advantage of three outlets ; 
 first, by the Straits of Belleisle, which bring Quebec 
 nearer to England than New York ; secondly, the middle 
 channel by the island of St. Paul, which is also nearer to 
 any port in Europe, Africa, or the Indian Ocean, than New 
 York ; thirdly, by the Gut of Canso, which affords a direct 
 route to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the United States. 
 The gulf is, on an average, fifty miles wide, affording a 
 land-locked navigation, with ample beating room, is free 
 from shoals, and is fortunate in affording unerring 
 soundings. Poor old ships, with ignorant, ill-paid masters, 
 in the olden time, (ere the coast was lighted, or accom- 
 modated with tug-boats, as now,) invested it with fictitious 
 terrors ; but at present fewer accidents occur in proportion to 
 shipping, than happen in the British Channel. There is 
 another access to Lake Superior, by the still shorter route 
 of Hudson's Bay, the shores of which are not farther 
 distant from the Falls of St. Mary, than Albany is from 
 Buffalo. The stores of the Hudson's Bay Company have, 
 for many years, passed by this route. The St. Lawrence 
 is the River, par excellence, of Canada. Of its enormous 
 tributaries, I have not time even to enumerate the principal 
 
 If 
 
27 
 
 ones. I must refer you to maps and statistical works for 
 fuller information. 
 
 I shall only mention one, and that is the Ottowa — it 
 falls as 1 have said, into the St. Lawrence near Montreal. 
 It drains, with its tributaries, a valley of 80,000 square 
 miles, commanding the inexhaustible treasures of the 
 magnificent forest of the North West of Canada, that 
 cover an area of six times the superficial extent of all 
 Holland. One of the tributaries of this noble river, Hself 
 a tributary, the Gateneaux, is 750 miles long, and nearly 
 as large as the Rhine, being 1,000 feet wide, 217 miles 
 from its junction with the Ottowa. Imagine innumerable 
 other rivers of all sizes downwards, to the limited extent 
 of those in England, and you have an idea of the rivers of 
 Canada. The climate of this vast country naturally varies 
 with its extent and position, but throughout it is healthy 
 in the extreme, as the tables of mortality show us, that 
 while the proportion of deaths to population is 
 
 In France 1 to 42 
 
 „ Spain 1 „ 40 
 
 5, England 1 „ 46 
 
 „ the United States . . 1 „ 74 
 
 „ Upper Canada it is but . 1 ,,102 
 
 But I will call your attention to the people, and the 
 productions, as the best test of the climate — I ask you to 
 look at the population of Canada, and compare it with that 
 on its borders — no, I won't compare them. Comparisons 
 are odious, nor will I boast of them, for all such exaltation 
 
 . 
 
28 
 
 and exultation is vulgar, 1 will not tell you what they are ; 
 but 1 will tell you what they are not. They are not 
 hollow cheeked, sallow, bilious, gaunt-looking men, with 
 long necks, narrow chests and flat sides, but athletic, 
 healthy, rosy-cheeked, tali, well-proportioned, jolly fellows, 
 that by no means disgrace the stock they spring from, 
 and who testify to the salubrity of their climate by the silent 
 eloquence of their looks. The productions bear witness, 
 also, for the peach and the tobacco plant both arrive at great 
 perfection, and are extensively cultivated south and west of 
 Ontario, and on the peninsula between Huron and Erie. 
 
 Now, gentlemen, let me make good my assertion as to 
 its superiority over the States, in other things besides 
 extent. I do not come here to declaim, I come to state 
 facts, I know I am addressing practical men, men who 
 will value facts and not theories ; I have, therefore, pre- 
 pared a short comparative statement of the growth of the 
 population of both countries. 
 
 In 1 800 the population of the United 
 
 States was 5,305,925 
 
 In 1850 20,250,000 
 
 : 
 
 showing an increase of eleven hundred per cent, in fifty 
 years, or an increase of nearly four times. While in 
 Upper Canada, from 1811 to 1851, a period often years 
 less, the popuLtion increased ten times, closely approaching 
 three times the increase of the whole United States. 
 
 In Lower Canada, where there is much less immigration, 
 the population in twenty-five years has increased ninety 
 
29 
 
 per cent. The comparison of towns is equally striking. 
 Boston, between 1840 and 1850 increased 45 per cent. 
 In the same time, Toronto, 95 per cent. New York, the 
 greatest city in the States, increased, in the same period, 
 66 per cent, or 30 per cent less. Cincinnati, in the 30 
 years preceding 1850, increased 12 times, Toronto 18 
 times. In 1 8 years, the population of Hamilton increased 
 20,000. Brentford in 10 years has increased 300 per 
 cent. Not many years ago, the site of the city of Ottowa, 
 which now contains above 10,000, was sold for 80 
 pounds — the increase of the counties is also as marvellous. 
 Megantic in seven years, increased 116 per cent. But I 
 have said enough. Let us now look at the comparative 
 production of grain in the two countries. In 1851, 
 Upper Canada raised, at the rate of thirteen and a half 
 bushels of wheat to each individual in it, while the United 
 States in the same period, gave but four and a half bushels. 
 
 In the ten years preceding 1855, the wheat crop of the 
 United States increased 48 per cent. In Canada, in the 
 same period, it increased 480 per cent. So in Indian 
 corn, the crop for ten years preceding 1851, increased 
 56 per cent; in Canada, 163 per cent. Her cereal exports 
 have doubled every four years, and now equal half of 
 those of all the United States. 
 
 The total imports, divided among the whole population 
 on the 1st of January 1854, amounted to £3 I4s. lOrf. to 
 each individual ; in the United States, only to £2 'Js. to 
 each individual. 
 
 The total exports give to eacli individual £2 15 
 " in the United States 2 7 2 
 
 (I 
 
30 
 
 I think I have now said enough to redeem this part of 
 my assertion, as to its superior relative climate and pro- 
 duction ; and I may add this observation, as to the quality 
 of the grain — that American millers import it to mix with, 
 and improve the sweetness of their own. The vegetable 
 productions, in 1851, amounted in value to £5,200,000. 
 The total value of imports and exports, in 1851, was 
 £13,945,684. 
 
 I will now state a fact I wish every poor man in 
 this country could hear and ponder over. Let it be written 
 in letters of geld, and circulated through the length and 
 breadth of the land. I wish it to be especially promul- 
 gated in Scotland, because, of all people in the world, 
 Scotchmen are the most able to avail themselves of the 
 inheritance, that we, their countrymen, have provided for 
 them in the West — we have made the country for them, 
 by years of privation and toil, of patient industry and 
 consistent economy — we have erected cities for the 
 artizans, and made farms for the agriculturists, con- 
 structed roads, provided employm.cnt and markets, erected 
 school-houses, and built churches for them ; and God 
 has graciously been pleased to bless our undertakings. Let 
 them come and possess it. Tell them this remarkable 
 fact — that in Upper Canada the assessed and assessible 
 property, exclusive of forest, timber, and minerals, is 
 £50,000,000, which, being divided among the population, 
 gives to each family, of five persons £200 4s. 2rf., or 
 £40 Os. 2d. to each man, woman and child in it — a 
 state of prosperity almost incredible, but one that is 
 positively on the increase. The wheel of fortune revolves 
 
31 
 
 slowly in England. Those who are at the top of it, are retained 
 there by the entailment of property ; and those that are at 
 the bottom, are kept stationary by poverty. Here, labour 
 will earn bread, but fails to accumulate a store. There it 
 begins with plenty, and ends in affluence. Nor let the 
 emigrant suppose his countrymen, the Scotch, and the old 
 Loyalists, and their descendants, have left the cause of 
 education neglected. They knew that knowledge was 
 power, and that the pre-eminence of Scotland is owing 
 to its devotion to education ; and they have followed your 
 wise and excellent example. In Upper Canada there were, 
 in 1855, in actual operation, 4 universities, 6 colleges, 65 
 grammar-schools, 29 private academies, 278 private 
 schools, 3,225 common schools, in all 3,710 educational 
 establishments, teaching 240,000 pupils and students, 
 costing, mostly by self-irnposed taxation, £230,000. 
 
 Of the minerals of Canada, it is needless to say more 
 than, that, although they are inferior to those of Nova 
 Scotia, they obtained the grand medal of honour at the 
 Paris Exhibition, as I have before stated. Here, then, is 
 British North America, containing, besides vast adjacent 
 territories, five large colonies, covering an area larger than 
 that of the United States, with more than 6,000 ships, 
 3,000,000 of inhabitants, and 500,000 men capable of 
 bearing arms, and possessing a sea-board line longer than 
 a line from Glasgow to New York, a country which will, 
 in a few months, by the aid of the electric telegraph, be 
 within speaking distance of London, and is now, as regards 
 its navigation, nearer to you than any port in the United 
 
32 
 
 States. In addition to all this, it possesses within it the 
 direct route from here to China, through the St. Lawrence 
 to Lake Superior, already available, and in use, and thence 
 by land, a practicable route to Vancouver's Island, on the 
 Pacific. Of this project I will not speak, nor will I quote 
 Colonial authority, for it may be partial; nor English 
 authority, for it may not be authentic; but I will call 
 a jealous rival and an unwilling witness to speak. Hear 
 what a high American authority, writing from New York 
 on the 27th of March, 1852 says: 
 
 He states that the route " through British America 
 is in some respects even preferable to that through 
 our own territory. By the former the distance from 
 Europe to Asia is some thousand miles shorter than 
 by the latter. Passing close to Lake Superior, traversing 
 the watershed which divides the streams flowing towards 
 the Arctic Sea from those which have their exit south- 
 ward, and crossing the Rocky Mountains at an elevation 
 some 3,000 feet less than at the South Pass, the road 
 could here be constructed with comparative cheapness, and 
 would open up a region abounding in valuable timber and 
 other natural products, and admirably suited to the growth 
 of grain, and to grazing. Having its Atlantic sea-port at 
 Halifax, and its Pacific depot near Vancouver's Island, it 
 would inevitably draw to it the commerce of Europe, 
 Asia, and the United States. Thus, British America, 
 from a mere Colonial dependency, would assume a con- 
 trolling rank in the world. To her, other nations would 
 be tributary, and in vain would the United States attempt 
 
88 
 
 to be her rival ; for we could never dispute with her the 
 possession of the Asiatic commerce, or the power which 
 that commerce confers." 
 
 What I glorious future does this prophetic vision of our 
 American seer unfold? From our side of the border 
 Echo will reverberate his prediction, until prophecy shall 
 accomplish its own fulfilment. Well may he regard this 
 coming event as an eclipse, and contemplate with wonder 
 its overshadowing influence on the political horizon of the 
 RepubUc — well may her Majesty consider this empire in 
 the West, as the most splendid heritage in the world — a 
 heritage of flood and field, of strong arms and stout hearts, 
 the land of the brave and the free. When the British 
 oak shall have attained its destined size, and the full 
 majesty of its power — when it shall have obeyed the 
 inevitable and inflexible law of nature, which ordains and 
 limits the period of growth, maturity and decay of all 
 earthly things, and when it shall exhibit in its declining 
 vigour the decrepitude of age, the eyes and the hopes of 
 the world will be fixed on this noble off^-shoot in the 
 Western hemisphere, which, I trust in God, may equal the 
 parent stock in intrinsic worth, as 1 feel, and know, it will 
 excel it, in stature and in strength. 
 
 Gentlemen, 1 have to apologise to you, for having so 
 inadequately described the country upon which I have 
 addressed you — for the uninteresting manner in which I 
 have dealt with it, and the great length of time I have 
 occupied. But the field is so extensive, I have found it 
 impossible to travel faster. 
 
 If you will be so kind as to indulge me for only a few 
 
34 
 
 I 
 
 minutes longer, I will be as brief as possible in bringing it 
 to a conclusion. 
 
 Hitherto, I have gone with the current, I have now 
 arrived at a point where the stream is against me — grant 
 me the privilege of an advocate — allow me to speak out 
 plainly and in plain English. I must say a few words on 
 the Colonial policy of the empire — I shall not abuse your 
 indulgence — I have not the impertinence to come here and 
 talk politics. I have nothing to do with Conservatives, 
 Whigs, Liberals or Radicals; or with any of the great 
 questions, that agitate the public mind just now. 
 
 The retention or loss of your colonies is, in my opinion, 
 of infinitely more importance, than all others put together. 
 We have heard of justice to Ireland, till we have caught 
 the Irish accent, and more recently, with more reason, of 
 justice to Scotland ; but if you think I am going to raise 
 the cry of " Justice to the Colonies," you are mistaken. We 
 are able to do ourselves justice, and most assuredly will 
 do so, when occasion requires. I come not here to 
 threaten you, I know you too well for that, and I come 
 not to supplicate you, for I am too much of a Scotchman, 
 and too proud for that also. But I come to warn you, in 
 sorrow, and not in anger ; seriously, but amicably ; that 
 if there be not a change in the colonial policy of this 
 Empire, the distant extremities will inevitably fall off 
 from the body-politic, from their own unwieldly bulk 
 and ponderosity. 
 
 Previous to the American Revolution, Dr. Franklin 
 visited this country, and warned the government, that un- 
 less its policy was more judicious, and more conciliatory. 
 
36 
 
 it would lose the old colonies. His advice was unheeded, 
 and his prophecy was fulfilled. I do not pretend to com- 
 pare myself with him ; I have neither his talents or his 
 knowledge. But I know as much of the feeling of my 
 countrymen as he did, and without any disparagement to 
 him, I am infinitely more attached to this country than 
 he ever was. For all my predilections are monarchical, and 
 not republican. In like manner, I now warn you, that 
 there are other subjects more important, than the bombard- 
 ment of Canton, the fall of Herat, or the establishment of 
 the Danubian boundary. And first and foremost among 
 them, is the retention of British America. Don't mistake 
 me, 1 am no agitator ; I don't like agitation, even for a 
 good object. I am not a man with a hobby to ride on per- 
 petually — for such a person is a great bore ; nor a man with 
 a grievance, a character that is very troublesome ; but a 
 loyal colonist, very fond of his own country, enthu- 
 siastically attached to this, and an advocate for an intimate 
 and indissoluble union of both. You may here say as 
 has often been said, " you have a responsible government ; 
 you manage your own affairs, what do you complain of ? " 
 I will answer this question, and 1 am happy to do so, 
 here among practical, reflecting, thinking men, among men 
 that will understand me when I do speak, and who, I am 
 certain, will agree with me when they hear me. First, I 
 say, we don't complain ; and, secondly we not only don't 
 govern our own affairs, but have no voice in their manage- 
 ment, and are not even consulted about them. I say, we 
 don't complain, and for two short reasons: 1st, we have 
 nobody to complain to ; and, 2nd, if we had, we have no 
 
 \' 
 
 
\^l 
 
 4 
 
 36 
 
 means of making ourselves heard. We have been told 
 with much superciliousness by a noble Lord, who had the 
 happy knack of embroiling himself with every colony in 
 turn, that " when wc are ripe for independence, and desire it, 
 no objection will be made to it." We are obliged to him for 
 his permission, but assure him, his consent is not required. 
 He cannot accelerate it, or his insolence would long 
 since have accomplished it ; he cannot retard it, for no one 
 values his opinion — neither do we govern our own affairs 
 — we manage our local matters, and there our power ends, 
 as I shall shew you. But if we don't complain, I will tell 
 you what we say. We say, that our Eastern and Western 
 provinces, together with our other foreign possessions, 
 contain a population of one hundred millions of colonists, 
 and that they are all unrepresented ; that they are all 
 so distinct and disjointed, that, England in her hour of 
 need, as lately in the Crimea, could draw no assistance 
 in men or money from them, though they were able 
 and willing to have contributed botu ; and that where 
 this is the case, there is something '.vvong in the organi- 
 zation of the empire. We say that, in North America, 
 there are five colonies, covering a space larger than all 
 Europe, unconnected among themselves, and unconnected 
 with England : with five separate jurisdictions ; five se- 
 parate tariffs ; five different currencies ; and five different 
 couw.s of laws ; with no common bond of union, and no 
 common interest ; with no power to prevent the aggression 
 of strangers, or of one on the other; no voice in the 
 regulation of their trade — their intercourse with each 
 other, with foreign powers, or with England. That they 
 
37 
 
 RFC often involved in war without their consent, and that 
 peace is concluded without their concurrence in the treaties ; 
 — in short, that ^heir very existence is ignored, or if they are 
 named, it is only in the advertisements of Jews for old 
 clothes for the provinces, or in the debates in parliament 
 about converting them into cesspools for the reception of 
 the pollution of the crime and villainy of the mother 
 country. We say, that we arc consigned to the control of 
 an office in Downing Street, in which there is scarcely a 
 man who ever saw a Colony, and who has, however clever 
 he may be, and however well disposed (and we make no 
 personal remarks — they are all honourable men) yet who 
 has no practical knowledge of us. We say that there is 
 a striking proof of the little interest there is felt about us 
 in the fact, that in none of the electioneering speeches of 
 the candidates of all parties, at this very day, is there any 
 mention made of the Colonies. If I was not at Glasgow, 
 where people know what they are talking about — if I was 
 at an inland town, I would ask my audience, do you 
 really believe there is such a place as Canada at all? 
 When I was a boy, I learned in my geography that the 
 Channel Islands were Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and 
 Sark. Now I never saw Sark, and never met a man that 
 had seen it — I suppose there must be such a place as 
 Sark, but I have my doubts about it. And then I would 
 ask them, do you believe there is such a place as Canada 
 at all ? It is delineated in the map, but still it is strange 
 if there are 3,000,000 of people there, and is as large as 
 Sam Slick says it is, that is, " as big as all out doors ;" it 
 is passing strange, that not a single candidate has ever 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
38 
 
 mentioned it any more than he did poor unfortunate httle 
 Sark. 
 
 We say, that everywhere here, in private life, a colonist 
 meets a cordial, a hospitable and a hearty reception, (and 
 I must add, for myself, that I would be the most un- 
 grateful and most unworthy of men, if I lost any oppor- 
 tunity of acknowledging it,) but we know and feel that 
 if he has public business in charge, to transact for his 
 country, he is utterly nowhere. He is neither Scotch, 
 Irish or British ; he is neither a native or a foreigner, 
 an American, or an Englishman. He is neither fish nor 
 flesh. He is less than a Yankee skipper, for he has his 
 consul ; and less than a Haytian nigger, for he has got 
 his black ambassador. He has no nationality at all — he 
 is nobody. He is "nuUius filius." Like the Yankee 
 derelict boy, he may say, "he warn't brought up, he 
 grow'd up." 
 
 Let me pause here and ask you, if this is a fit condition 
 for a well-educated, independent, high-spirited man to 
 be reduced to? and whether you don't agree with me 
 that he deserves this degradation, if he submits to it ? 
 We say that the colonies afford a field for promotion to 
 others, while their people, are practically excluded from 
 all imperial employment and preferment. That within a 
 few years past, a constant succession of governors have been 
 sent out, with large salaries, and no earthly duty whatever to 
 perform there — unlike American Governors, they have no 
 veto, but merely act a part in a pageant — and yet, for that 
 dumb-show, four of them have been rewarded by seats in 
 the House of Lords, a fifth advanced in the peerage, and 
 
39 
 
 a sixth created a baronet, as a reward for the trying task of 
 doing nothing, while not a single colonist has been thought 
 worthy of being placed by their side — a paltry knighthood 
 or two, being deemed a sufficient condescension, and a just 
 estimate, of the value of provincial talent. But, do nit let 
 me be misunderstood as condemning 'our Governors as 
 unfit, or unworthy ; all of them have been respectable, and 
 respected, and two of them — Lord Falkland and Lord 
 Metcalfe, who introduced responsible government — won, 
 by their judicious, and skilful management, the approba- 
 tion of the whole population. What I wish to say of the 
 rest is, that our own statesmen, who in reality adminis- 
 tered our affairs, and who merited the honours, were 
 passed over in silence, and the rewards they earned were 
 bestowed upon others. Fair play in a fair field, is not an 
 unreasonable demand. We say, that while we pay — nay, 
 are compelled to pay (for we have no voice in the matter) 
 — fees to British Consuls in the States — a grievous tax, 
 amounting to £20 a year, upon each of our regular coasters, 
 colonists are excluded from the appointments ; that a whole 
 province, like Prince Edward's Island, was granted away in 
 one day, being first divided into sixty-seven townships, 
 which were disposed of by lottery ; that the Magdalen 
 Islands, fifty-six miles long, lying directly in the mouth of 
 the St. Lawrence, were some time since, granted to an 
 old Admiral, and are now in strict entail, Canada having 
 no deputy at the Colonial office, and no member in Par- 
 liiiment to prevent it. 
 
 We say, that our rights are bartered away without our 
 concurrence, and without our knowledge, that recently a 
 
 / 
 
r 
 
 I 
 
 i i^ 
 
 40 
 
 treaty, relative to the fisheries of Nova Scotia, was entered 
 into with the United States, with no other notice to us, 
 than to choose delegates to attend and advise. The 
 delegates were chosen, but were never asked to meet the 
 Commissioner, and the treaty was signed without them. 
 That the people were compelled to submit to, and adopt it, 
 by a threat from the Americans, that they would punish 
 their refusal, by discriminating duties. This was done in 
 such haste, that the fishery limits were left unsettled, and 
 greater confiision and trouble has ensued than previously 
 existed. 
 
 When Lord Ashburton ceded more than four millions 
 of the best timber lands of New Brunswick, together with 
 nearly 150 miles of the St. John, and a right of passage 
 through the remainder of the River to the Ocean, (also the 
 best mail route to Canada,) we think it not unreasonable 
 that thtj people of the Province, should have had a voice in 
 the arrangement of the treaty, or the right, and the power 
 to call him to account in Parliament. We ask, if Canada 
 had had a representative, in the House of Commons, or 
 delegates in the Colonial Office, whether Newfoundland 
 would have been permitted to grant, as it has done, a 
 monopoly to an American company, for a European line 
 of telegraph, to her exclusion, so that she must now 
 derive her English news from New York; or if Great 
 Britain thinks proper to give a permission of registration 
 to Americans for their vessels, without an equivalent, 
 whether it is equally right to grant a similar privilege to 
 them in the Colonies, without their consent, or in like 
 manner, to grant them a coasting trade, without reciprocity 
 
41 
 
 in our ports, whereby our commerce is crippled in a way 
 only intelligible to merchants. For instance, an American 
 steamer can leave Boston, with freight and passengers, for 
 St. John, New Brunswick, touching at all the intermediate 
 ports of the States, but a colonial vessel must proceed 
 direct to her port of destination, nor can she take a freight 
 from any port or place on the Atlantic, to California or 
 any port in the Pacific, because that, they interpret to be a 
 coasting voyage. I stop not to enquire if this is right or 
 wrong, but it seems to be no more than decent, when the 
 rights of others are legislated away in this manner, 
 that their concurrence should at least be asked. It 
 may be as well here to state what our neighbours the 
 Americans say, who never lose an opportunity of sowing 
 the seeds of disaffection among our people: — "Why do 
 you," they say, " continue in the degraded position of a 
 dependency to England, when you might become free 
 and independent by joining us ? Instead of having your 
 teiritory ceded to others, your fisheries bartered away, 
 vmi your rights denied or withheld, you would be pro- 
 ttofc^ I audi ncorporated v/ith us ; you would return above 
 a iiuiidred members for Congress (you are not entitled 
 to one in Parliament) ; you and your children w^ould be 
 eligible to the highest offices in our great nation (you are 
 excluded from all in Great Britain) j your real estate would 
 be increased in value, and your commerce immensely en- 
 larged, and you would at once take your place among 
 the nations of the Earth ; but there is no accounting for 
 taste, bondage may have its charms, though we do not 
 understand them," and so on. On all this I have but 
 
42 
 
 ! rv 
 
 i 
 
 one observation to make, and it is this — an allegiance like 
 ours, that neither neglect or indifference can extinguish, 
 nor reward or ridicule seduce, would, in the estimation of 
 any other Government under Heaven but that of England, 
 be considered above all praise and beyond all price. In your 
 turn, you may well say " do you put forward your bonfires, 
 your illuminations and rejoicings, at our success at 
 Sebastopol, (if success it -• ^ ; and your legislative grants 
 in aid of the compassionate i. d, as a suitable contribution 
 to the expenses of war ?" 
 
 It is a reasonable and n rational question to ask, and 
 here is an answer to it. An oifer was made to raise two 
 regiments in Canada, and conduct them to the Crimea, 
 to be commanded by colonial officers, but to be, like 
 others, under the command of the General-in-Chief, who- 
 ever he might be. The offer was returned from London 
 unanswered, it had been addressed to the wrong office, 
 I will not repeat the indignant comment made on this 
 contemptuous, and contemptible conduct; the offer was 
 not repeated, and its reception is not forgotten. But I 
 have done — I have stated to you a situation of affairs that 
 cannot last. There are four remedies: — 1st. Annexa- 
 tion to the States. 2ndly. A Federal Union of the 
 Colonies, a Colonial Board of Control, instead of the 
 Downing Street Bureau, and what the Americans call 
 Territorial Representation, that is Delegates, in Pailia- 
 ment, io advocate colonial rights, and vote on them, and 
 them only. 3rdly. Incorporation with Great Britain, 
 and a fair share of full representntion. 4thly. lude- 
 pendance. Time forbids me to enter upon these topics. 
 
y 
 
 43 
 
 1 submit them for your calm and deliberate consideration. 
 The period has arrived when you and your colonists must 
 take counsel together, all my wishes and my hopes point 
 to a union between you, and my last words are " esto per- 
 petua." If you wish any further informtition relative to 
 your colonies, I ought to tell you where to seek it. 
 Enquire of the American Ambassador in London, or the 
 Secretary of the Treasury at Washington, and I am 
 ashamed and grieved to say, and they will be able to tell 
 you more than anybody else. 
 
 If the English neglect us, we are an object of great 
 interest to the Americans. Do you sec this book of 1 000 
 pages? Congress sent an agent over every part of the 
 British provinces, to every lake, and river, forest and city, 
 harbour, and fishing bank, to every custom-house, and 
 registry office, to collect information, to procure official 
 returns, and report to them. And here is the report, 
 the fullest, the clearest, the most comprehensive, and the 
 best book extant on the subject. It is called " Andrew's 
 Report." The secret report that accompanied it, about our 
 militia, our arms, our fortifications, our assailable points, 
 our political feelings, and so forth, is doubtless a document 
 of the greatest value ; but it is for their information, not 
 ours. Alas ! alas ! is it any wonder that we are over- 
 reached in cur treaties? Fas est ah hoste doceri. 
 Gentlemen, I must now make my bow and retire. Before 
 doing so, however, I am bound publicly to thank 
 the Hon. John Young of Canada, Mr. Whitman of 
 Nova Scotia, Mr. George Sutherland of Glasgow, and 
 Mr. Perley of New Brunswick for the valuable aid I 
 
 ' 
 
 ^ 
 
have received from them. Mr. President, Ladies and 
 Gentlemen, I thank you with all my heart for your kind 
 and cordial reception, for your indulgent and patient 
 hearing, and last, not least, for the gratification I have felt 
 in having had the unexpected honour afforded me of ad- 
 dressing the citizens of this great commercial capital of my 
 ancient fatherland. * •- ;• -o >;.i!7 s 
 
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