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Tous las sutras sxamplairas origineux sont filmis sn commenqant par la premiere page qui comporta une amprainte d'lmpraaaion ou d'illustration at sn tarminant par !a darniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dee symboles suivants apparaitra sur la demiAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le caa: le symbole — » signifie "A SUIVRE", le symboie V signifie "FIN". Lee cartee. planches, tableaux, etc., pauvent Atra filmte A dee taux de rMuction diffirents. Lorsque le document asi trop grand pour 4tre reproduit en un asul clichA. il sat film* * partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche i droite. 9i de haut en bas, en prenant la nombre d'lmegea n*caasaire. Lss diagrammes suivants illustrent la m*thode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 m rW. Repi (( OUR COLONIES." AN ADDRESS DELIVERED ®a % ilemka »f % Ifltt^it/ Ittstitete, CHESTER, ON MONDAY. THE 12th NOVEMBER, 1855. BY THB RIGHT HONORABLE W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P., LATE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER. Reported by Jnstin M«y and Geo. Callaghan, "Northern Daily Times." REVISED BY THE RT. HON. MR. GLADSTONE, AND PUBLISHED BY HIS PERMISSION. LONDON : JOHN W, PARKER AND SON. WEST STRAND. MECOOLV. :;»& ADDRESS, &c. that the request which was presented to mt^waa tTmt I sLnf^'^'J/^'' ""'^ ^^'"'^ the same subject, and to the samrelSctT'T hil T^^^ friends and neirfiboura at TTnvvnwi!.« f x, ® already addressed your Now, that Httle Vord Lludfs Tn S '""Y.i' "^ «"^ ^^^^^^ "« discussion; so vast thnt ovnn tr!i • T?^*^ ™^**er of the most interesting forthemostlm;ortenr^^^^^^^ inJeritirf ''r"^ ^'-^T ^^^^^ ««'iion separate forms. If, for exarZo r nf^! ^^^^^^^ *^«^r distinct and gold in Australia-^uch a Testion asTh. if ^ *" \"'l*'°" ^' *^« discoveiy of e^igration-such a ques«oi af the h^.trvT^lt'^^^''''''^ and reguTate through which it has been brought to J 1?^ i'^^''^'^' ^"'^ ^^ means the treatment of the aborigina^^r brs ?nhabh w"n^ \ n^'^^'^"' ^S*^"' ^b vanous settlements of this great SL-or to rfnJ^"* bordering upon the question as the great subief-t of tiwF\ ' J^ ^^^^ only one more, such a distant BntishpoSessiS^each one of'tSZ'^^^^'^' ^"'^^^^ criminal to only sufficient to occupy the ntmntf l? f ' T-^''* ^*'°™ «^'eiy other, is not this night from your"ndu£encP b,!f T"",? '^^'^ ^ ^^^^^ possib y ask nights upon niglfts, weeks lpon\veeksa'nS'mnnr^ '"^^^^^* *« «^«»Py thoughts of the ablest writers ami Til :i- ™o»tts upon months, of the houses. You will, therrfore l' am sut' exclT m?if f ^*^ ^°"^' ^^^-^^'^tiv! I can Jay before yuu nothing but the rudest nnHfL ""* ^?? announce that subject so vast in its range, and you ^11 1? t o^ 7 .^l^gl^test sketch of a indulgence which I have occasion to Tsk whp„ T I "''*^1' F^"* **^ '"e the necessarily passing by and nmJf+;L ' , ! ^ ^ observe that such a sketch doubtful anf unfay?u4L Int^; effionSou^lhS ^^ "^^lo t I am sure that you will allow ine to im,P«t ^'n^ f scantiness of exposition, seem to you to give rise U infL^r^ request your favour and indulgence if T tend veiy" much'troLvfatt w£ riTp^ m^^^^^^^^ explanaSSmight offer to any gentleman who may aTforKvLnir".-^'' T^* agreeable to my power to give, without proc^eeding to su.h I & ^.?^" 'J^'P^' '^ ^^J' ^^ in meeting a second dissertatiJn ^ ""^ * ^^"^*^' ^« *« i'lflict upon the ^.V>^rt':LVa?r^^^^^ of the question, it is IS of legitimate interest to r^Bnt tS audi '7"^ ^"^Portant question ^fcich easier than to show in detai^ tlint fL «. .V ^"^^"ig. however, can be British empire has now c'me to constiff. « subject of the Colonie^ of the legitimate interest to eveiy LgliSL' 1 J r''*''"i^^. *^^« most just and favour which you testify to^the d sciSn W ^"^P^y J"«tify the zeal and to-night. Let me only, for one momenrnl.^* T'"', "■^.''''^' ^ attendance here >t be slight in its bulkfto eSSThat it^f * *" ^'^^'* " ^"«^"«-^' although tfj^ K4i :f In the middle of the last century the American colonial empire of England was, to use a hacknied phrase, but yet one which in this instance is the simple and literal ti-uth, the envy and the admiration of the world. It was then thought that nothing had been seen for centuries upon centuries at all to compare with that empire. And yet the American population at the time of the outbreak of the war of independence, (it was not known with precision, but as it was believed) amounted to nearly or about two millions of souls. And what is the statu of things now ? Wliy the single colony of Canada, not to K. , say the whole colonial empire of Great Britain, not to say even the whole of ^•^ British America, but the single colony of Canada contains a population iiearly \ equal to the whole of clio thirteen American colonies ' that time. Such is "*• the magnitude and importance to which that empire has swelled Look again at the question from this point of view : There is scarcely any European language of note or importance which is not spoken in our colonies. I do not mean merely spoken by families, or by the inhabitants of a particular village or district here or there, but by the great masses of the population. The subjects of the Queen in Malta, and those whom she protects in the Ionian Islands, speak the beautiful languages of Italy and Greece. A consi- derable portion of the Canadians, the people of the populous Island of the Mauritius, the people of St. Lucia, and other of the West Indian Islands, speak the language of the great French nation. In British Guiana and at the Cajje of Good Hope Dutch is spoken. In the important colony of Trinidad Spanish is the vernacular tongue. And thus the Queen of England, of an island which once was looked upon as a separated and remote extremity of the habitable globe, possesses an empire under which^are arrayed not only the barbarous tribes wlio speak tongues almost innumerable, but those who ■speak all the most cultivated, and all the most distinguished and famous languages of highly civilized Europe. Look at the question for a moment from another point of view : Consider the great subject of emigration. That which was formerly a matter of remote knowledge and concern — that which even twenty or thirty years ago was regarded only as a means of getting rid of the offscourings of our population — has now become, on the contrary, a matter of close and domestic interest to many of the most intelligent, and many of the best conditioned and most respected, families in this countr}'. In the year 1815, the whole number of emigrants who left the shores of England was 2,000. The average emigration of England in the fifteen years, from 1815 to 1830, was 20,000. The average for the years between 1830 and 18.U rose from 20,000 to 80,000. Between 1844 and 1854, the average rose to 267,000, and in the year 1852, the sum total reached no less a number than 308,000 people, over 1,000 persons thus quitting the shores of this country every day, to find a home in the British colonial empire. You thus see that the increase in the quantity of the emigration was of a most remai'kable character. The change in the quality is still more worthy of your notice. Because, for a long time, emigration was nothing but the resort of the most necessitous ; but now, on the contrary, in a great many cases — I dare say there may be those here who would be able to bear testimony to it in instances within their own domestic sphere, or their own private knowledge — in a great many cases, indeed, it is not the needy and the necsssitous, but it is the most adventurous, the most enterprising, the most intelligent man, the most valuable member of society in the sphere in which he moves, who goes to seek his fortune in those distant lands. This great change in the chai-acter of our emigration is capable of being brought in some degree to the test of figures, because we all know that +he greater part, or nearly the whole emi- gration, while it was only made up of our pauperism, was not only a pauper but likewise an Irish emigration. Consequently, in former years, out of the gross total which I have read to you an immense proportion consisted of the natives of Ireland. Necessity has now ceased to press upon the natives of that country as it formerly pressed upon them. The Irish emigration also {las changed its quality ; but while the Irish emigration has changed, th« ^'Ugh.sh and Scotch emigmtiou, which formerly was quite iuconsidemble, and wtiich 13 by no mcana and has never been merely or mainly an emigration of paupers and necessitous persons, has gained enormously upon the Irish emi- gration; and in the first nine months of the present year, closing with the 30th oi last September, while the Irish who left this country were 07,000, of P^nglish ana hcotch about 70,000 appear to have proceeded to the colonies. Thus I nave given, I will not say even an outline, but at least a faint indication of liie title which this great question may perhaps have to your attention. B«if Jf"^^' *^^^ ^^ *^*° ^^"■P® ^" ^^'"''^ '' presents itself to my mind. I ask my- seii tiieso two questions, both of them of the deepest interest to our country, „«„^r hrst place, why is it desirable that England, or that any other H^«S' 'lu""^'} possess colonies at all? and, in the second place, if it is uesimmo that they should be possessed, in what manner ought these colonies 10 De lounde.l, and to bo governed? When we entered upon this question iLf: I^^'' ^ «o"^ned myself almost wholly to the former of these sub- nnn^i ^"^Comparatively abstract argument, whether it be desirable that a countiy Should possess colonies, and for what reason it is to be desired? ili«^„£°"'' P«""'«f •>»• I ^^ill now endeavour to vary a little the form of our tnm.h w"i- •'';/"»ther, I should say, of my statement. I will endeavour to nmi Jii ^^.y ^^^ summarily upon that more abstract part of tlie question, nnfnvrii! ^° more at large upon the branch of the subject wffich will I^fv«ri^^f "'"''''" ,^'^.*°™''^ form-that which relates to the answer to be Sm,l-i ,..1 .^^^'O"^ «/ t''f questions that I have described, namely, how Si. ./nni '■' ^^ founded and governed? because that is a question nn«f IffW ' '"^ ™°''® immediate relation with our own country, with our i3 hi .S ?^''^?*• ^'f'*'' ^^^^""^ I "^"^ happy to think that though it may it L in no Jini'!.^''^'*'^^ question, and a question of the highest politics, yet wei4 so trea^pfl Tl^'^'^l °^ TI^^- ^¥ *™« ^^^ ^««" ^^^'^ «^««« matters has passed awnv:. iLT,^^Ti *° f'^"^ ^ *^'"«* ^'^'^ b«li«^« ^^^*' tl^at time lias passed away, that the truths relating to this great subject are beainninc to be generally acknowledged, and the English people to be tSuShlf de^nc'e anneai-s'f T'' °^ ^"^-^"^."^ «"« ^^" «^e higl^o^t ?unctJons wS P?ov^ tTofTCisat r'fW ""'I'^ *" ^1^^""*^^' """^^^y- '^^' «f conducting the imbi able i obe T wi wi'' ■ 'f^' t P^P^^'^g "*' ^ ^'^^^ Portion of the JiamtaDie globe. I will then, in the first place, run very li^litlv over variouq notions that have at different times prevailed-notiLVw ich I think we ught now to note only for tlie pui-pose of letting it be observed that we do not embrace them, but whicli have an historical importance on account c2'r^::\ut i haTs::ftr *'"' '' i? ^ ^"-^^ ^^^"^ fhinftim w/rpo'sse taiXr^hnfn^i.^ . ^^" .*'^"' ycation or their special duty, though enter- Irt^^fstulT^ss^s^trm^'^Now l''w\f Tr"" ^---^-^it- desSwe ' Ui instance, by tho wise ilispenHation of Providence, the very (lolusions of man kind were made to hci-vo their great interests. Thoy found no gold, or htth- cold— cold was found in South Amorioa ; but, after all, the colonisation of South America is not to be named for its importance in tho same day or the same year with that of North Americo. In North America there was no discovery of precious metals at oil worth naming, but there was a dis- covery of a great and powerful country, teeming with nil the resources of nature, oftering a home to mankind, and offering to them also tho oppor- tunity and tho most extended field for the development of human energy and industry in every branch. They went in search of gold— Uiov found no cold when they got there ; but observe, there is about tho idea of obtaining • gold a certain fascination so that even in these days, when the principles ot political economy come to be better understood, and when we begin at last to know that a pound's worth of gold is of no greater value than a pound s worth of anything else— there is even in these days a fascination in the prospect of obtaining gold that excites and so to speak tickles the imagina- tion, and practically acts upon man with a violence that nothing can equal. Much more so was it in those times when, according to the crude economical ideas which prevailed, it was believed, in many cases, thnt j,'.)ld constituted the only time wealth of mankind. Therefore, this false id. f, that Rold was to bo found ir immense quantities in North America, did a work which thetme idea never could have done; for depend upon it, those who went to North America never would have gone there if they had known that when thev cot tliore they would have nothing to do except to use the hatchet, tho plough, and the spade, and pursue the works of industry in the same way as Ihov had been used to do in Europe. So that their very delusion was made an "instrument in the hands of Providence for for^vardlng tho peopling of those vast countries of the earth. Gold then was the great mainspring of that immense movement; still, along with the idea that gold was to be ob- tained in immenso quantities on the other side of the Atlantic was certainlv irineled, in some miuds at least, the desire for the propagation of the gospel. Yet it does not appear that these notions wore very happily associated, for certainly, as far as we can se.s the temporal and secular motive obtained an immense preponderance over the higher and spiritual motive, and tho MstoTof European civilisation in the West is a history of anytlnng rather tlmn a history of the propagation of the gospel. I do not intend now to enter upon that gi-eat question. I only mention it as one thac would amply rewa'd inquiry, especially in tho relation it bears to another extendecl und paTnfia subject thit of an institution which has loft a deep stain iipon, I aviII ot say the name of Christianity but upon the histoiy of \t« Professors, he institution, if so it is to be called, of negro slavciy. That, of course, voud open a very wide field, distinct from that upon which we are now engaged" but I pass on to lay before you the other motives which have either LTin a great degree to the promotion of colonisation across the Atlantic, or which have been alleged as reasons why colonisation is a task fit to be pursued. Some have said, and more have thought, that colonies were to be founded for the sake of increasing and improving, by their direct contributions, the revem'e ofthe motSer country; and of this idea you have instances e^^n to thisdav in the colonies of Spain and perhaps also in some of the colonial pos- sess onVof Holland. Butthathfts never been the view with which tlie work of Brit sh colonSat on has been carried on, and the unfortunate attempt which was made oderve a revenue from the colonies in the case of America in the mtdd?e of the last century, will demand our notice at a later period of my Xtement Others again have thought that it must be desimble to possess cSonTesLcause colonies constitute a large addition to the territoiy of the SXv SoSbtedly the possession of territory is valuable provided you rnowhowtomTeuseof it, but it is not desirable fortius na ion or for any nat' on to possess an extent of territoiy without bounds and without reference to your power of turuiug ,t to account. On Ui., contraiy. accordina to tl... onitoiy yuu poasobs is nocessiirily the expense Umt you mult nlllwS or the puruoBe of defonding tliat territory, i'he lust LS tl ^iove "f S" tory have Iccn among the greatest curses of mankind. The t/rriW^f colonies, rightly used, undoubtedly is of the utmost vahiP h,,* i^- ^ ° an.l mi^chiovon. idea to nuppose tliat becauLTu can a^'-t^ '^ portion of the space which ^e surface of the glob offers XI "^'^'" tliorefore. without roferonco to your power of ushiff k „^«,.- • ' y^"/"-"- Uiat is vahiable to possess, 'in. a^gaTn peopirh^aie aTSlT;"' {!« reputation of Uiis counti-y it is desirablfi f.^ rTnuonr * "o*»"" "'at for the al/ deny tliat the possession of colonie Soes contSute^tT r"'' / ^" ""* ^^ of this countiy. Ld does add to its miS ?nSuence io^r Tf *•«?"?««» but if it is meant by Uiis doctrine that it rdesSirtri.'nt R'''^".'*«"f ! order tliat we may make a show in the world SijnM. "J. *'"^'''"''' '" stance to coirespond. that I think you will agr^^ ^^mTi ^'''! ""^ '"^; reason for desiring an extension of a coToniaremprro ^t n """^ " ^''?^ the interest of this country, or any count -v in f?^ i , . "?^®^ ^""^ ^« more tlian it is worth. What we should deL>P?« ^l "^^'Z'^' /'' ^^ *^^«" ^"»' worUi-not at less and noUt more There has a^ain h^ ''^^"''.^ ** ^'^^^ ^^ "'^ I must^ay. than any of theseXt it was desiVZrt^^r^^^^ that Uie executive g'ovemment of thL coun?^ S hKZt'n f^^ ^" ''"S"' command which was thought necessary to its bnWm n„I5 i Patronage at its pubUc appointments and places iiuffi colonies nfJ^^'!'*-/'"',.*"'* ^^"«^ *h« of us ma^e old enough L recollect occasfon'^ht"^^^^^^ ^^^ convenient cr not decorous to provide for athome hnvA vw , ** ^*^ °°* in the colonies. But of such cise« *^lro^luZtZnn''^^'^ appointments ag. iu sum. form and degree may be ins^paiSe from ?r^'"??; .^'"•^°- civilised life : but I do not envy tliat man who hnLiT^.*^'"''*'^""^"^ of -perhaps in any times, but ce?ta nly who honesThat ?n fTn^^'^'l^^^.^^^^^ government can bo carried on thromdi tL K ? ^^^^^ ^'^« these— wretched instrument; it is a feeble ttmmenfol^whl^'^'T^^- P/« * also an instrument very apt to lower the Zv^l ^L i^S to rely; and it is it. But, bo that as it may, it is not Se nT«t In T V^ *^''''^ ^^^ ^^^^ "PO" would be impossible to induce anrfvoTcolTnyTvl^^^^^^ *« i^ to submit to tliat exercise of patronace foi 1 h7n,^i ^^''^t''' ^^ P^'«««»t day Therefore we must entirely dCmks from oJr S- f ' ?^*^^ ^«*^«^- ^O""*'/ colonial empire of this coLtiris ?o bTmZf • /^^^^^^ the idea that the the auantity^of patronag^TtlliroraldTfte'gtS^^^^^^^ hasb'^e^en^So M^^atX 310^^^? tf S^^^L.^ ? far greater extent of establishing an exclusive trade the whol« ^rl^'-'f^'^-^^ ^°^ *h« Purpose fined to the mother country Snd shmndh! P^^^^of which should be con- Thiswas m fact the Ss of^e Srn .ni-^"^?^ mother countiy. not speak now of the pStJcal sy^m but t"^^^^^^^^ Europe. I do mercia laws of the countries whS h^d coloW J^l'^ *'«'^- colomsts, instead of havinc a fair fifllTi nn,i ^ i 5^* ^^ industry of the attempted to be made eitoely Sse^ient 1 ftf ?''''"5 ^^^"" to it. was the mother country. It was pSced in^ nn W *^«.i?terest8 and the profit of fact that aiey mig^t go to TLToloiS.Khat^ttye'r th^'^^^T^V^^^ ^ colonies must be sent to the British mar W «o J .^^^^ P^'^'^^ced in the British vessels to the British maSeC-nT+htrTv^* ^* ^'^^t be sent m be sent to the British CS t^Stish yei'*"^'/ .^^\P^ «>"«* produce, because if sent in other yessesaEf^^^ ^^ '"^ ^^ ^*«*« «f ^w cheaper, it would not be for 01^ nterest of ?h??Sfr l^ T"^ '^"' ^^^^^^^ and in a manufactured state it woukl not be for fh« ^ f ipowner. and if sent monufactm-er. It is not now the question f^L^-® "'*^''f'* «^ *^« British haye been desirable to establish a trldln^^n^. i^'"''^!'^^ y^hether it might time that you founded Thel^ fois^SfeZJf'l^L^^^ ^^^^ hu-ong tempora.^ stimulus, aM to S^r pro^E^Certfru^r^jJi; priies which, at their curumeuuument, are most diflicult, and might be iiui'f.*"°^ ^^ colonisation undoubtedly is to inieasotbnt.^/lnn.^ ""i ^'■^*' ^ho eflcct of countiy . Take tlic case of the ,?, f^tlf -^ ^® ''"'* emplovment of tho motlier ho go Lros. tho AtlaS > BocaS ho eKne;?r''"'1 "^' ^"'^"*^''' ^hy does judge of his own intcrosts-to^orhnf 1 ^ ''^^"""'^ *" 8^'"«"^^ ho is tho boat I'ot Ttt home. If Coefacr oss"^ the itlaSn ^ T \}' ^"^"-^ ^'^-^^ ^^^ '^^'^ the labour market at liomc Wor «^^^ '''''S^'' ^« l«"ve9 in tho rate of wages at liomo bv ca,Tvb.t bfml fi^ °'^5' '^"^ consequently raises his fellows. By going to tho eo onv L,i ^^,''-''''^/'"°"' *^^° competition with creates a demand^o >capi il tSiiS^^^S i.tT^^^^^ '' ^ "^ ^^^'^»»'' ^^^ likewise tweentho colony and TeuX; "0!?^%'^"""^ ho creates a trade be- employed in the^eolony raisi"S expo r S.,duc lonr?'*"^ ^^ '^^'''' "^"'^ uro wanted in return. Of thesecommomii. V ' ^'"' ^^^'''^* commodities sought from tlie parent coimt.Trnwni '''7 ''"^^ Ppportion is usually founded undercircumstLces w^^^^^^^ almost always find that a colony ij theverycommodiSwSXaVewS^^^^^^^^ «o fra- as trade, and the gain coSed with S^^ Tlierefore. obvious that the foundation of a colonv wW . ^f' ?^'^f ^'^coi-ned, it is perfectly circumstances of the countrv-fi,r T n.^^. o f . 'I "A^ ''""^'''^^ ^^^"It of the by an artificial olVort of S^ where it is the natural anf pXneourxesuU of «in .'^^ cn-cumstances-but the country is placed— is simT^l,! ., „! * T *^*^ circumstances in which of that country^ So and emnlov?«?.nf ""^"T^"^* ^^ ^'^« '""^^rial resources ways. They may ^e inScLed^l 7Sn n. ''^ ^'^ increased by any one of three tries; they ?.ay iJe iL"S"by tiropenTn^Tfful Sis ?n'' '" '"'^'^'^ ^-- or they may be increased by the oneLiimnf Sn^ -r, "^i^^^V^ o'^^'" count.y; ment and trade with foreign counK frf S T"" "^^onies. If emj.loy- trade. But then you are uSb^eiirnaUeT'th^^^^^ passing of unwise and bad laws irthese foSn eo,fnfH ''''^™"*^^^ *^^^* <^^« and hamper the extension of yoiu trade %hTZ^ ^^ '^ay greatly restrict .Iisadvantage. not because a ^px-oceeding of hi J Hn7 3"''?/^ *^« "^^^^^^^ loreign countries less lucrative than the trade wfthSf *V ^''''^'' '''^ never can exist permanently or for anv IpS nf V- ?" colonies; there ■ 10 country will go into the better trade with the colony until the galu oi the two are equalised. But the ditierenco is this, in the case of a foreign country your trade often may be injuriously crippled and kept down so as to suffer by the bad laws of the countiy with which you are trading, while with respect to the colony you hava no such danger, both because the sentiment of rivalry usually does not prevail, and because the commercial laws are under the con- trol of the mother country ; so that when you found colonies, and trade with them, you are practically sure that that trade will have fair play, and that the natural ■field which is open for its extension will not bo narrowed by the unwiso pro- ceedings of men. That is tlie great advantage of colonial trado. An immense advantage it is. The consequence of it has been that your colonies, although they contain but a veiy small proportion of the inhabitants of the countries with which you trade, yet, notAvithstanding, furnish you with a very consider- able proportion of that trade. If, upon the other hand, you open new fields of employment at home, such as the creating of a new trade— suppose, ^or exam- ple, wfl take suci; a case as happened ir. Scotland not so many years ago, when the ironstone of the great district which surrounds Glasgow was discovered, an event whichhas happened within the memoiy of man, it was the opening of an immense field of new employment, and /|^ia^ia&u:.;' i> oi the two country your Buffer by the ■espect to the at of rivahy ader the cou- ie with them, at the natural 3 unwise pro- An immense lies, although the countries ^ery considei'- i new fields of ise, Tor exam- ars ago, when discovered, an opening of an ise new trade, jet the profit to ntemipted or ease ofpopula- the additional 1 of the same aring the bur- ial advantages )nded trade at possess. But ced, extension trade and em- e of England, 3es — that is to s labour or his rice for either jssion of such )rofitable trade e, and a trade s the only con advantage is a sirable that co- lotiier question ease ? Why is tion goes hand 3f existence for irease of popu- ise of power, an multiplies the , and belong to f. That is the lies. We think tution that are e to be desired ent portions of ich we honour e expression is many happy :ene88 of Eng- econciled with 11 order, in which ancient institutions at^r^A ;.. u and a full recognition of popuir^ght and^^a^"^ P'P"^*' ^'^^^' found one ox their most favoured homes Well n^f^ '^'^'^'' ''"'* ^^^ ^^ave hvo in society, under laws and instituHnn« ;f • ". * '^ *^® destiny of man to under good laws and institutions Wfw«« '' °g to us, and will desirous of extending its influence, and thafi? i ^"f forefathers, that we are the narrow borders Sf this littL Mand b^t tlt^f^-."''*, ^^ ^'^^^^^'^ ^^^n create opemngs for us upon tlie broad fi^lSso^dLl* ^^T^ Providence to avail ourselves in reason and moderation nf%^ aisimit continents, we should copy of those laws and institSfons Se haSXf ' T""'?-^' ^ reproduce ?he which have made England so famous as she t n T*/*^"^ cl^aracteristics, should pass on to the second of the ^^ quttions I p^roposeT"'' ""^« *^^* ^ If it be desirable, upon thp crrrx^nA^ r v stanced as England is should be^^ZetedoTcow'*' *^'*.* '^^^^t'^ circum- the work of colonisation and pursue It with ailS •^'' '*'* '^^^^ ^^^^^ "Pon what manner ought those colonies to be foundSr^''""**.^^'" «o™niand-i„ tiiey to be governed ? Now, I think thnf+J.^"^'*'..^"'* '"^ "^^^^ manner ought form most interesting and insSve ?f flry^STr^ ^' "'^^"^^^^ inSe which histoiy affords; uud there is one peot)l/f«rr.nL • ^^'^"-"^ *° *^« standai-ds too, tOiat ma,:^' possibly have future fame in store Sff }" ^'''''^l^ *™««' ^ Pe^Pl« which we all of us owe infinitely more than w «rp v~n ""^^^ *^** ^treek race, to race so ce ebrated and renowned in histZwtfnnlf""' ^"^^'^ °^- '^^^^ <>reek It was in the work of colonisation Tm7ZT.^ ^'^''^ more remarkable than because the Greek idea of coloSsation «nS!!"^^f ^2!''' attention especially, Greeks themselves. At any ratTno courSlfnn ^'^ ?^^' ^««" ^^'^ ^"th the have realised or to haA^e given such reSSi Z^'t ^"^ "" *PP«ars so fuUy to I think that we have much to leaS frZ i T ^ '^'? *" ^'^ ^^^^^ B"* wLle a perfect idea for the times in Xch\rnveb„rAr*^^^^^^ '^^ ^^^ i* i idea as the nature of thinsrs admiffA!i T« 11 I- "* ^ *^^^^ ^t was aa perfect an of Greece. Now, tJieSks t^jf ori^^^^^^^ "*' "l« S^^^ and p^^ljerity their proper and.prevailing nai^i-thfToS "Irft'^u''^ ^""^ ^" a WcheU ; modem one~in the earliest timlT is 11^^.11 ^^''^ ^^'"g comparatively a originaUy were a tribe utterly iSnLant?'"f,^t''^"^- I¥ Hellenic race of the mountainous regions or of the pfaSVof Th?« 'f ' *"^ ip^abiting a part table energy they spread themseK nl,. L '^ ^ '' '^^t ^^7 their indomi- south between themselves and tiff If It^^ *^® ^'^^^^ country lyinff to tbp thence into the Greek fSl'^^arStTA^^f*^^ *^^ Pelo^on^esls frl' states not inferior to those cf G?eece hlrilf ^/T' ""^^'^ *^^y funded numbers, to the westward, wh^-e 6n SiHlvWr'^ ?''' *^*i»' i" immen country, and founded states ha^na^«\: ft*^^^,^^"^"^^ masters of the Bible for us to credit for if Si ?^ n ^^P^^lation which now is hardlv nn« Greek colonisatio" continld'eigK^its'S^^^ tlJe time'^f^- they peopled SicUy, and broiigSt it To no?nf .V"^^^'*^"*^ ^"*' ** ^^Y rate! from having maintained for mnnv Lrll - Point of prosperity tliat it is verv fa^ south of ItW in such sti^^gtKhrtTe^S of H*V^ ^"^V^^e peopLTthJ Great Greece. And what las tWrincin W p i^ acquired the name of be summed up in one word4t wS, niS /^ ?''®^^ colonisation? It may nient. Colonics xvere founded from rf ^'"t^^"' ^"""^ Perfect self-govS not by the meeting of rbinets or bf Se'lcS^of'^S.-^^" f'^'l '' goverfmS. taneous energy of the members of the Smm,^nSt T'^'^^T' ^"* ^^ ^^^ «Pon ' i ^/^^°«VP^*', ^" *^« globe where thcvthTSSS ^^^'"^fj^f ' who went forth 1 -r?e X^^/Js'^itu':^"-^^^^^^ -X2 ^^!^^^ -«eial appliances?fZ£SSS,SS?S;^i^Slt^^^ ="*•? IS For these men who Trent forth across the sea over to Asia, Thrace, Sicily, and Italy, carried with them the recollection and the love of the country from wh ch they came : they earned with them its laws, its religion its manners, its I™ige. its institutions. They reflected its manners and its imago. It was the crcat on of so many mirrois in which the parent Greece was throxT-n back upon herself, and the whole of that result, and the immen.se proeperity of those states was due to this- that these colonies were founded in perfect Sedom Thrnot on of interference by Uie mother countiy.thc notion of the mothe^country undertaking to show to those colonies how they should regulate tS own atiaifs-thosc notions which have been so pernicious to us, and of wMch we are only now and by slow degrees getting rid-were totally unknown to that lemarkabie people. The consequence was this-that although there was To Set politcal connection, no direct administrative connection, yet there was always to be found union in heart and character. The country founded L freedom, by virtue of that freedomdeveloped itself with the utmost rapfdity lo s rength and a harmony of feeling and of afl'^tion always remained between it and the city from which its founders came. That was tiie principle of the G -eek colonisation, and, as I have stated, its results were astonishmg Take tlic case of Sicily. It is difficult undoubtedly to give entire and implicit credence ?o the reports as they ai-e told, but it i« state.!, as I have mentioned, that sTcUy was inirabited by 8,000,000 of inhab tants after the ^jeok «f ni- sation and that the city of Syracuse was inhabited by no loss than 1,200,000 reiois a greater number of persons than at present compose the population Ke magnificent capital of France. That town of Syracuse at the present day has dwindled dow-n comparatively to a v Uagc. It is far less than halt thJ size of Chester, but at that time it was a city of the hvst order ; and I only auotett first of all to show the immense material results that followed upon ZprnciploSft.ee colonisation; and secondly, to show that it was not only matS iesults but moral results which were also secured, and that the unity Xaction and aftection, and the groat increase of influence and of po^^-or which followed Spon the extension of their race, was best obtained by abstaining from an / aUempt at interference with them, and by allowing the colony to grow and thrive under the light and warmth of the sun of heaven. Such was the Greek colonisation. It was impossible that at that time a Bolitical connexion between the mother country and the colony could be Stained for two reasons. In the first place, a line of communication was X dSl to carry on. The art of navigation was in its infancy ; and lo mde were the notions and the practice of it, that for ages the habit of those who were at sea was to creep along the coasts from pomt to pomt o haulup their vessels on the shore at night, and launch them again m the Ziiing, that they might continue their voyage. Of course we "'^y J^^f Jj^f ' under those circumstances, periodical or even regular comrnunicat on was a tCe almost impossible. Such were the hazards of it-such was the fear of Ihe honws oMhe sea-that the condition of the ancients in that respect was not foi a moment to be compared with that of the age in which we live, or Sh that of those who preceded us by 200 or 300 years^ There ib one le- markable passage in Homer, which will give an idea of the way m which Tese tMn^s pSnted themselves; speaking of the distance of Egypt from Greece7lS'sa?s?"It is so far off that not even the birds could m their flight get there withiA a year." And you may well judge that when such notions pfevailed, or a state of society which rendered such notions possib e-because undoubtedly this is figurative or exaggerated language, inasmuch as l.gypt was known to and sometimes visited by the G.eeks in the days of Homer-you may well conceive what would be the difficulty of such commumcations between the motJier country and its colonies, as are needed in order to carry on the functions of government. It is. therefore not surprising that they did not attempt to maintain a regular communication Another reason why it could not be done was this, that the development of pohtical institutions at homo was not sufficiently advanced for the purpose. Government was so much ot a 18 makeshift ; it was «o difficult for it to fulfil ifs nin^^a-r.^ „ -.i. the cominur.itv at its own doors; it warusuallvC^^r^nw -^"^Z'? ?'''«f*'** ^ pei-plexed ancf weakened bv t^; mSrab'e instituS ^f '°i '*' ^^'l'-' l^^ «° vailed throughout those heathen t^e? bo tlmffhA-f. ^^T"? "^^'"^ P^«- to discharged o.vn domestic funSSVuhX ^eaTd^^^ Sirand' regulanty, it was, of course, much morfl diffipult ft^^♦ ^^^.ree oi staDility and thr people of cities and states at a dTtarce and wTth^^^^ ''^^'* cation was almost impossible. It was therefn?AT,^^ro^K? '"^^'^ir «i>™"^"ni- maintain a system of iolonisatioi^rd cSr^^^^^^^^^^^ many perished in the cradle? mititX also surtLdn^^^ \'T 8'.^** ' became great and glorious. "^"'''^aes also survived, and through freedom But let us now consider modern colonisation. I will here-for it is n> «n lutely necessary to reject much matter whioh r>vna««L -^ fi- ^^ '^'^^O" cohfine myself to tlie case of eSm a^a^^^^^^ every side- what may be called the free coloS ofEnaland ^d SS ."^ii""^'"^^ ""^^^^^ J« to notice some of the broadest aTd most S^^^ policy of this country at different tim^^Ld?h«^.^if?T^''*^*'^^^? *^« &.r:?;;ifsLSi;s:S^^^^ - I should say, that our colonisation-not speaWn. of"'^^^^^^ tVT -^f ' T^"' (but of the political system-our coloSon and tL^fo^f^T'^^T*^*"' the mother country and the colony be^nwifSTthn lid S ^'^^^tf^^ between to its silver age; and from its silv Jr agl Tt c^e t S brLef L'.^ ^ all events, exhibit a considea^VSctio^ and etumt^^^^^^^ «!"' ** Iwhich distinguished our early colonial hikory. I SkeTSthSd^n ^T^^^^^ Iseventeenth and part of the eighteenth centurip« n,,r n!>i ? .• ^^^ *^® |.aid,practicaUy to have begun lithtre fo^mer-in ?he endTI'thT "^^^^^ IE izabeth and the beginning of the reign of^ames the Fbi Id fi ^'^"^ ^^ kS h^^or" *? 'i^g-fy^"! period witl'fL epiTet^^of StldL^*^^^ feish fr'dom XMrof/cl t-e wf cVceived in STruTsp rU of ftiseablush upon Le fJcrof^ m Fnli i *'^i.T. * "^""^^ ^"« name ever & 14 to have been a time when the principle of colonial government wlas better understood in this country than in the early part, at least, of tlie reign of Charles the Second. Now, I will describe the spirit of the I3ritish policy of that period in words which require to be introduced with no apology, for they are the words of Edmund Burke. He described the colonial poUcy Avhich presided over the foundation and government of the American states in these few words. He said — "Through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous nature has been suffered to take her own way to perfection." Of course you will readily understand the meaning of that refined expression of Mr. Burke. By a wise and salutary neglect he meant an omission to meddle, connected, no doubt more or less, with the conviction that meddling was mischievous, and that the colonists themselves were the best judges of their own affairs. It is very remarkable that at the time when the liberties of the English people at home were in a critical and hazardous condition — during the very century in which they received their development, through the midst of a disastrous and blood-stained struggle — at that very time the principles of colonial govern- ment should have been better understood than at a later day. At the same time the secret of that fact is not very difficult to penetrate. If we are asked why the governments of James thr First, Charles the Fii'st, and Charles the Second, did not meddle so much as has been done in later times with the affairs of the colonies, I believe the answer may be readily given. No doubt here was at that time, as at all times, a strong vigorous spirit of English good sense, which kept the country out of scrapes, as it has done upon many occasions ; but I believe a main reason was tliat those governments had quite enough to do at home. They found it difficult enough to govern the countrjs and to solve the problems v/hich presented themselves for solution at home ; and perhaps their conduct iwards the colonies was the consequence quite as much of their necessities as of their superior wisdom. But, whatever the cause may have been, the result undoubtedly was that the colonies at that pwiod were left practically in the enjoyment of a freedom almost as complete, for every practical pui-pose, as that which the Greek colonies formerly enjoyed. The political connexion continued. The colony had the honour and the ad- vantage of belonging to the British empire — it had the advantage of British laws, wherever the colonists did not themselves seek to modify them in con- formity with local circumstances — it had the right of calling upon England to defend it in case of need, and to recognize it as her offspring entitled to her pro tection. These w re advantages attaching to our colonial system which, as I said before, it is impossible for the Greek system to attain. The great | point, however, was, that under both systems the colonies had freedom, and that freedom produced its effects — first, a wonderfully rapid growth of great- ness and prospeiity; and second, the utmost warmth of attachment and affection to the mother countiy. I now come to consider the silver age, which undoubtedly presents a veiy great decline as compared with the golden age. I call that period the silver age v/hich immediately precedes the American war. At that period the notion of commercial monopoly, as constituting the whole value of colonies, had caused much squabbling, so to speak, amongst the various nations for the possession of each other's colonies ; and the expenses of the transatlantic war having become lieaAy, the people of England thought it only fair that their fellow-countiymen in America should contribute something towards the ex- penses of the struggle. The period of that war is one of the most remarkable | in our history, and one, in my opinion, of the most useful for us to contemplate, for it is full of salutaiy lessons. In general, people conceive of the American I war as a thing gone by. They know we inherit from it a considerable debt — I think it left us saddled with something like 160 or 180 millions of permanent debt at the end of the war more than when it began — but the debt is not all it has left us, it has left us also great lessons. We use that war now chiefly as a means of glorifying ourselves at the expense of our fathers. We think to [ ourselves that we never would have committed such folly had we lived in I mam 18 [tliosetimes. I am doubtful about that. However fl.A„«i, i* t^ discern then, as many suppose, wo catTnow nV«.^i ^^ ** T'' "^^* *<> e^X American war was a gioss Mll-aZty^Zl^^^^V'''''^^^J^ *^* «»« severely-wo have p^id for it in an^enSus aLunt Jf TvS^'* ^""^ ^* "^°»* [for It m an amount of miUtaiv and DoUfiVni ,1;!^ 1 "ebt—we have paid for many centuries been calle^d uportfunLrTrttt/ f^ Englaixd^had [rica under the pressure of American and French ^"^« ^^^^donment of Ame- Iftll in the loss of the hearts of the Am^ricais rSI"'''!^^^ *^°'' " "^os* of tieddling and peddling in her afikirt. the aZ^hmpS^f'^t ''"^r ^^ ^^^^^ of \o this country; but when they saw a dLSt^on f ?^*^*' ?^'^"/ ^^« ^t^o-^g feime-honoured hereditary pnvileges-Xn Siei «„w fiFTi^'f"' ^^ t^e^ lealous of their own liberties at home were d^nL«T. *^* .Englishmen, so Uoyment of .uch liberties by tS bzeSel^'Pr t^ «*"^* and narrow the ^deed, but yet were still thorowglily EnSmen^n ^^- T^'I^ *^« ^««^tio. ao doubt a bitterness of sentiment spS ud and fwt •.?^*'^ ^^ ieeUnss, >lt of tl^e Americans, it was the'SLT'result of nu^""'"' ^*^"«* <^« lircumstances of the time. The unhnrmv ?L ^^ °"f ®"^^ a^d of the fated in the course of that long? WoJ/ lZ'lZ?Zf °f "^^^^^S, aggm Ihe time when American independence wa^al^^l^^ ^ere thlt at lountiy towards us had receiv^ed rdesprite Mow F^'*^ ?"" affections of the [f Englishman was odious, and natuS^ odionr' ,-/7 * ^?°^ *^°^« ^« "a^e fengland was associated with oppreS aid fl,no ^^"'*- J^« "*"»« of Vho were kno^vn to entertain aSS ftw n^T ^^"5 *^^ Americans Jdious in the eyes of their fellow countrymen ^ Th^ w "" ^""^^^ ^^"^ ^^^e If feeling, Avhich was almost total, andSJh pin n- ^T'T.^'*'^"^®"^^'^* lealing influence of time, has necessarilv wf ^'''^' notwithstanding the I the mighty price we h^TplTfTZ'tSZXZ'in'^'''''' ^^^ 'p^ *f the light manner of governing our colonies! ^''^''^^ '" * nusconception .-ueiS^o^cllTK^r^^^^^^^^^ I ^-« ^-dy -d, that the [f chai-acter and affection wtHS ^ther.nn^n'J'^^^ ^^^^^ unity Upl«, or neai' thatnumbernowS>n^tnii;*^t?.«^^^ * ?^^^ ^'^ 30,000,000 df fe is really very doubtful whS Z x^^en^cl of ^'n^l^^^^^ ''^''^^'' ' ^^ borld at large is greater because theTe are 30 OoWo ** "" ?^"^?P^ ^^d the Ireat bulk of whom spmng from Se lofns of fIiS^"" ^t."^ America, the Whether the existence of Ai£erica takpt fmT.f S^^l^^'f ^* ^^ hard to say Y a member of the gi'eat^Ty of nations ll""^^^ ^ ^^ ^^'^^^ of England i^ others it adds to S B^Zpose CtinL ^^'nV'^'P^^*^ ^^ t^^es from it, fereements-suppose thXinst??d ofthat bS^S^ «f """^^^ '''^^^^^ ^d dis^ Jtead of a violent laceration of X ties thnt ?.o^ ^ "^^^^^r'^PP^^e that, in- (ountry, America had continued to X^nd nZn J^" "^^^7 *° ^« "^«tl^er leneficont influence of England, or^ev^nthatT^-''' I ^^P^^^^' ^nder the tngland as friend from frieSd, b;eaLnr onlv tii^^n?'%^!f ^^^^r^te^ from lexion, but retaining the same feeW^o= 5 ,S -^ °^ administrative con- hth her. into a state of fi^edol no?fe hlil f^ i^ ?"" ^^^' ^^d canning I the laws and institutions X ha J^i^eritSir''' ^'^M^^ kistence of America, even in this stete^lnS. ' ^ ^"""^ "^"^ ^^^^ t^at the fnguage and by la^s, wo5d have im^*^pf,^fP^5^**«nce, yet allied to us by Ingland in the worid? It was a sad Cfr'?^ increased the influence of tence of tJiat error. If this be so, it Is Tmpc -'""A'"^," ""dement in conse- llesson to us, how the en-or arose and wha^^Vl ^ "' *** ^"°^'' i^" is to be le attempt by England to lew toxS^ unon S,^^ error was. The error was My for Purposes%xclusivel7EnZhZtforfiff P^'^^ America-not cer I the expense of wars into wwT&Iand L^ -* '^''''^^ -^"^^"^^^ P^ ke believed, of America, as wellas ofhSlf R,,* ^^'^^^ ^^' ^^ benefit, so h not the error of the EnS Lopir LeMh 'T^ ^'^^^-^ ^^^ «^at tJiat [ere is one thing in history more el?«r +1,0^ ''f^ ^^ ?° "^^^^^^^e on this: if Rlion, at the be|inning of^tTe TmSn war ZS"'' •^^^^*^"* ^« ^ngUsh Ivour of the prosecutiSn of the wai An wIU , ""!*^^ ^"'^^^^ *o a man in I ^^ "^^^ ^" ^*"'' alniost without an exception, 16 have been popular in this country durlnir ih^ n,..t second and third; but .he American w^r^ wnt V^^^-ov even during the stages ; and of that I will giryou a TosrconHL'"'""^ 1^°^"''^»" ^^ ^^8 elrli^r of ^r^ Burke. M. Burke^was'^eTocJed tr bSo ' in ?m 'iT '^^ ^"^'"'^ m 1780, when next he presented himself to thp^owif ^ ' ^^ ^^'^'^ rejected in 1780, explaining his conduct, he Xted araon^nl'*"*'"''^ ' ''''^ '"^ *"« i^ech them more frequently, or as often asTlev^hoSt?.' '-^^f^^fov not viliting his main reason was the state of feeling^in Sol u-ui"*^ '* *^ ^*^« ^«"«' ^^^^ can war. Before people knew how the forfunl ? ^^ '"'^'^P^''* *» t^»e Ameri- a difference of opiSio J in Brillriatu JSfenoui^^^^^^ *^™' *^«^« ^--« trade wita America, and there were nartS t^^^ .*^^ ''^""'^'^ ^» a great when shortly after war had broken out the fcTishT''*^ *" hostilities f but field, thatpartywas entirely put domi AndvoSi n?""^ successful in the were usually successful over the Africans in t^^PfiTi? ^T^ ^^'^^ *^« ^ngUsh go into the causes-the fact impliS To renr Ih f o a '^^ ?* '' ^^ necessary to Imericahad none of the advantages at Xtti^eo^'^'"-r? ^'^''''^' '^^'^^"^^ military organisation was all on the side of EnSnd V^}^}^^^ ^^stem. The of success in the field that defeated us in the |m?io "* '* "^""^ "*^* *J'« ^^nt though we most commonly beat AmScTin tit fi"i r '^*''' '* ™« this-that before to the subjugation of the coS,^ wl^r. '*' IV''^''^ "« "^arer than camps were pitched, but we possred^nothin| eTs?'tS' ^'^'^'^'^ ^'^^^'^ *^« heart of every man, woman, and child: and driving" n^^ ^'IT^ '^"^ ^" t^e fiald did not establish our power in the hearts of «^ ^ "'"^'^'^ «^* ^^ *he for their freedom. Thus, the 8truLi«M„ ^ ""^ ^ P^«P^« ^^^o were fighting foreign intervention on behalf olAmfla C^l'l "P' "^'"'•^"^^ «««4h, b| error of tixe Government, or was k the erroi of If "' 'T'o^*^^ *^« «rror the Burke, speaking in 1780 ■— ^ °^ ^^^^ People ? Listen to Mr. « '! Ti? ^P^" ™y ^^'^^e heart to you on this snbi-A^t t ^ that there were other times besides the two "^f°*'. ^ ^.'^. l^^^ess, however, when I was not wholly without leisure for lr.^r' 1? ""^"^^ ^ ^^^^ "S'"* you But I could not bringV S to see vou ^Ynn "^ '^^' T^^ «^ my respLt. ginning of this American war (that era^calamL T'"'''^"' *^'^* ^^ ^^^ ^«- an era which no feeling mind will evei mpnft^ ^n^'T ^°^' ^"^^ downfall- _^you were gi^atly divided, anFa very Xonrbodv ^^^^^ tear for England) opposed itself to the madness which eve^ar?LS^^ "°* ^^^ strongest to render popular, in order that the eS of t hf JV^ ^'''^^v '"'^^^ employed " general blindness of the nation This onLi-f "'^^'■^. ^'^ht be lost in the " great but most unfortunate Storv at iZHT r""^''^'^ "'^"l ^"^r our ; and banks of our constancy were Kne dol n "'*' ^^'^^ ,^^^ ^he mounds American war broke in upon us like a delS ^* rf.-'' • ".'^ *^^" ^^'^"^^ ^^ t^e to put an immediate end to all difficulties nfSpnfi' ""-''^''1^' '^^"«^ «eemed nation which our unparalleledTosptS;Cd but t-'^ '^"'* °' '^"'"^" had been so very powerful and so very Drosnll,,« V? ^°''^ nurtured. We "us were degraded into the vices ami fS3 nVT- ""* ^7.?" *^'« humblest of ;; between means and ends, a^d om hLS' deL e?^h ^" ^"^' ^^^ ^«^«"re our morals. All men who wishedTr pSfce o ■ rJil'T^ "^"^ P°^^*^^« ^'^d moderation, were overborne or silenc!^." ' ^^**'^ed any sentiments of And again, a little further on— " to loiXleTtoTouT^Sfn?^^^^^^^^ ^ P--- of stability. I am ;; have five years henL. I w2 S to ilk to SZHAl^!,^"" ^"^ ^ «^»S you chose me, in my place, along wih other? to h. f -^ ^%- , ^ ^"«^^ t-^at a weathercock on the top of the edifice eSn f. P/"^'' *'- *^« «tate, not and of no use but to indicate tLSinSotlJ^^'^l ■''^'t ^"^ versatility, to God, the value of my sentiments on frekndaL^^^^^^^ ^^^^- Would this day a subject of doubt and discussi\Dn ' N^^n.* ^""f "'^ ^^^'^ ^^^"^ ^^ "had been, so that this kingdomhadkeTthVauttrri^ir^^^^^ even (luriug the pular in its earlier t' from the history ; ho was rejected and in his speech QS for not visiting ■0 have done, that ect to the Ameri- d turn, there was carried on a great ) hostilities; but successful in the that the English not necessary to bravery, because iiy system. The was not the want it was this— that e no nearer than round where the lemy was in the Idieiy out of the !io were fighting '•ally enough, by 'as the error the Listen to Mr. •nfess, however, I did visit you k of my respect. that in the be- and downfall— ar for England) the strongest, ' were employed t be lost in the until after our ill the mounds e frenzy of the which seemed i spirit of domi- nurtured. We lie humblest of >st all measure ur politics and ' sentiments of ability. I am u and I must ■ I knew that the state, not nd versatility, gale. Would I had been at my sufferings t to maintain. 17 •• by a g.uve foresight, and by an equitable temperance in the use of its powe, ^ f t^rHlf "^^^^^^^ remarkable man to Its trade mtii America-in reference to the eirorof^h^* ^^ ''•Pendent upon *^' '"^-is ^•'..^^"^ as success continued to S?d ^J that unhappy, that miser- when difficulties came to present them ^Mvnl '5' *^« ^^jT ^as popular ; but on the countiy-when Fmnce toS up S-Xn t^ "f fr"°,^« thickened -when Rus.sia and tlie other powers ofXrnnpfi^^T /^"'"^^'^ the example arms yet sufficiently indicated brthtirSuresTlfi^ '^7 ^'^ "«* '^^' "P then the popular mind recovered its hnio«^ i^^ ^^^^ adverse disposition people of Bristol not so Sclined to S^« '.T** '" ^'^^^ ^'- ^^rke found the subject of the American war as the^ tdZe^^^Tl'^f.^^'r''^^ ^n Ihe this a mere tale of the past. ITie case of thf„\ * ^^""^ *™® 'before. Nor is universally it is now aLitted Siara ' eVt '^^^^^ war-considering how and m Continuing it— is one nr^r^ u'u ^^ ^^s committed in beeinnina vantage, for all ge'neS^Lrnd"KLt'^asTmTtl'r^-'r^ with gSa"d' of circumspection, and «f moderation °®* emphatic lesson of caution, and whi^riTaTtE: '^ sSve? W^tej" ""Y^^ *^^ ^-^""^^^ -- took place with colonial affairs appSs oSv to hrA.^**^^'-*^^ special reasons; and lTom^%oX^.^^;^,,^X/--'*''^' ^''^a^ional, and fo? •oiighly) about the year ] 783, and endin/^Wtf.^""™^^^^^ ^*° ^^^ '^ to have a dawn of better things And af in th« fi. T^"* 1840, when we began nisationthe principle was that <vhat yo J in which we were placed' ^S/Zon the oT«t ''7" ^^ ^^^^^^^^ J"«^«^^ admitted that we were wrong in lesEffth^d.l^^"^' ^/!f ''^^^"8 ^"'tually to insist upon their sufferinVfor^ur etuP^itv^nd / n ^ *^' rebels, we we.^ hand we were to set an abominable mecedent^^/"H^r-«r "P"'^ ^he other the fact that men who with a^-ms in tW i;!« i I admitting anl recognizing B^inisters of the law. and the Soopatued out' in *^ "''''i'\ *^ ^^'' ^^d thf be authorised by that same law tn?L«l!! ° support of the law. were to their conduct had brought urn tl,Pm?.'''°'P'Ti''^ ^"^ *^« looses wSch felt the pressure of tSe'd fficSuy.^'moui'IThe rI'i/-' n^«*'°°- ^ ^- «^« not to pass, but the case was bird' vonrwhini «m^"'''" ^T^^ ^"1 ought satisfactoiy solution. Many wiser men tha^T;>^?'1^'^.^^'.^'^'^"^'i of Iny evil was. the bUl should dLs and If -i w *^°"/i* *^at. grievous as thJ our dignity in our pockets^upon that occ^ir'' fl^ ^' ""'''' "^^^^''^ ^ P^t ;::Ser- 1 hope the ^on,^:sto^^2s^;i^t:^k Our schemVofjoTeL'n.'S/oT ''^*^"/^"" ^" *^« «''''^^^ ^^ect of the system -no. I wiU nof:^;r4?e eiyX^td'b^^^^^^^^^^ -the hearts of the people from this coun?i^ rrffl^ ^^""^^^ *^ '^^e^'^te leading SfficJa in the co/ony ?hev to?'"''."^^"" "^°^* *^« «^«° who J.Sd executive, and called theSves thf Sl'v I'* ^T* ^S,^^ ^^ supporting the tremely loud in their Sessions o? ?^l ^^ ^'^*^- ^^^ were always ex^ newspapers to support C in JhenfrV^'"'* generally had one or more community ? UnZtunateTy allthe reTof tC .n '"T *^" *'^« '''' ^^ the Bntish; and the name that^oSghUo be delrls? n7!>T'''^y ^'^'" ^^^^^^ ^^ti- became the arbitrary distinctkm nf „ f*®^®^^ o^ all names to every colonist I community. Now, if is f Sti^e fLt Z\ Z.^^P^^^^'A *«. ^^ maL of tlie '•are exceptions indeed, the way hi whic-b li^ ^'•^' "ivaiiably. or with very mmistered. On the one sidp w«T *l ^^ ^^''^ of the colonies were ad persons, and anoCJStlebodrof ndi^T"?""'-^/*^- ^ ^^^^^ body o7 official a good many of thl having^^^^^^^^ ^''t ^^ of tJie community |-te. upon w.if wf ^e^;-i:^Sra£^«W^ ^^^ 1 1 10 TTie princinle is recojamised, and fully reeogniHed, that tlio local affiurs of free colonlos— for I do not enter into the question of colonies disabled by anv peculiar or temporary cause for full freedom— shall bo fully managed bv the colonies themselves. And now I wish to discharge a debt of justice There "^r,^, some m;.n in this countrvwho had undoubtedly proceedeaf far inadvance ot their fellow-legislators with regard to colonial affairs. I mention them because, for the most part, they were men with whoge political opinions it was my fate commonly or very frequently to differ. Moreover, I thiuk that as the time ot the greatest colonial freedom I have mentioned— namely, the reicn of Charles the Second— was eminently a Tory time, it is but fair, and in the spirit of equal justice, that we should now render their duo to men of quite a differ- ent political connexion— namely, some of the Radical members of the British Fariiament. Mr. Hume, Mr. Kocbuck, who is still amongst us, and a centle- man whoso name has only wiUiin the last few weeks been added to the list of the depai-ted— Sir William Molesworth; these were all of them, in mv opinion, great benefactors to their country, by telling the truth upon the right method of colonial government, and that at a time when the t^th was exceedingly unpopular. They showed great resolution in saying thincs for which they were looked upon at the time as little better than either traitors or madmen ; but either they were not traitors and madmen then, or we are all traitors and madmen now, because what they then scarcely ventured to utter amid universal disapprobation, no man in his senses would, in the British rariiament, now dare— I speak not without exceptions, but generally— or if ho dared would desire to contradict. Of Sir William Molesworth let me say, on ^r^T V** 1 circumstances which wiU justify a special reference to him, if- i,\j -^ ^ Pfreatest satisfaction in owning the benefit and instruction wnicn, during many years, i derived from communication with him on colonial questions, and m acknowledging how much I have learned from the speeches which he delivered on the subject of colonial policy, from time to time, in the House of Commons. He was a man of clear and comprehensive mind, of singular diligence and industry, well grounded in the principles of colonial policy and in the history of our colonies, and lull of resolution and determina tion m making his opinions known, while at the same time he promulcated those opinions m a manner entirely free from the taint of party spirit, and not arousing against him a hostile sentiment, greatly increased Uie benefits which his large research enabled him to confer upon the country. And I feel per- fectly satisfied that tlie speeches which he delivered will— though he is dead and gone— long continue to be consulted, and his name to be had in honour on account of the valuable matter they contain— not only with reference to facts on almost all colonial questions, of which he was a perfect master, but likewise with reference to the principles upon which the colonial empire of this great countiy ought to be governed. To him I wish to pay that debt of justice, and also to others, some departed and some stiU alive, who have also led us on in this work. It is now, then, coming to be understood that tlie affairs of the colonies are best traiisacted and provided for by the colonists themselves, as the affairs ot iMigland are best transacted by Englishmen. And upon this under- standing we act more and more, and with still increasing advantage. We do not attempt to force English institutions on the colonies. But then it will be asked, "do yon not intend to have English institutions in the colonies?" ceitainly, by all means let us have English institutions in the colonies to the utmost extent to which their circumstances render possible. The main question is who is to be the judge of that extension? Now, I say we are not good judges whether laws useful and convenient to this country ought to prevail m the colonies or not; we are not such good judges of this as the colonies themselves. But more, I say this— experience has proved that if you want to strengthen the connexion between the colonies and this countiy— if you want to increase the resemblance between the colonies and this country- it you want to see British law held in respect and British institutions adopted 81 and boloTed In tho colonies, never associato with them the hated name of force and coercion exercised by us, at a dlHtanco, over their rininff fortunes. Govern t^iem upon a priiiciple of freedom-let them not feel any yoke upon thou- neckb-lct them understand that the relations between you and tliein are relations of affection; even in the matter of continuing the connexion, let the colomsts be Uie judges, for they are the best judges as to whetlier they ought to continue to be with you or not, and rely upon it you will reap a rich reward in the possession of that affection unbroken and unbounded in all the uiHuence which the possession of such colonies will give you, and in all the gmnde-ir which it will add to your renown. Defend tliem against aggression from without-regulate their foreign relations (these things belong to the colonial connexion but of the duration of that connexion let them be the judges)-and I predict that if you leave them that freedom of judgment it is hard to say when the «"« «f «»-the allegiance which proceeds from the depths of tlie heart of man. You have experienced some proof of that in the occurrences of the present and past year Yoihave Zfr Z'rh ^^^""""T' ^"""^l '?^ ^^'^"^ ^y^°g*^ ^^ Antipodes! offering to you SXrrf/?^ "' i° f^'* j» «"PP«rting the wives ^d families of your so dieis the heroes that have fallen in the war. This I venture to say may be Sirtt" nTP?*'^''' *2^ ""^"8 the first fruits of that system upon wLh acSs pSn^ fh '^r-°' fifteen yeai-s you have founded a mtionaf ^lode of Yn? b„v« «^ ^ "^'''''^ ""^ y^"/ ^'^^^'^^^^ ^i^^^O'^t gratuitous interference. You have every encouragement for the extension of that system. There is S "ri""'^'' of feeling among the public, in Parliament.^Z througToit ?onfidrc7to^r '*' *^f "^'^' ^,*^«*' ''^ "^^y 1««^^ fomard with the utmost tifuUv reiol/frS^''''r*'"?-^*' ^'""-^r'' ^^d- ^r my part, I shall ever coZ;«liy!r \ ^^Y«hved ma period when so blsssed a change in our and ivnff S ^""^ brought about; a change which, I think, is full of promise. TchaCnfltf """"f'T ^^^'Pf such claims on mankind as England, but also friZn ftS*'7«fi'i ""^ ^^i' " ^^^^S ^" ^^^« d«»« "« «^«re thaA make a from n,?lii=f ™»8fortune and irom evil, almost in some cases one would say Lrre^LroTc^morensr^' '"' ^ "^^ ^^^ ^^ j^"-' ^ — ' «' IIVEBPOOL : CHARLES WILLMER, MACHTNE PRINTER, SOUTH JOHN STREET.